Skip to main content

Full text of "MASTERPIECES OF WORLD LITERATURE IN DIGEST FORM FIRST SERIES"

See other formats 


V.I 


reference 
collection 
book 


T 


kansas  city 
public  library 
kansas  city, 
missouri 


0  0001  MSMfi372  3 


Hi 


Masterpieces 
of  World  literature 

IN  DIGEST  FORM 

First  Series 


Masterpieces 
of  World  literature 

IN  DIGEST  FORM 

Original  title:  MASTERPLOTS 


First  Series 

EDITED  BY 

Frank  M  Magill 

WITH  THE  ASSISTANCE   OF 

DAYTON  KOHXER  AND  STAFF 
INTRODUCTION  BY  CLIFTON  FADIMAN 


Harper  £  Row,  Publishers 

New  York,  Evanston,  and  London 


MASTERPIECES  OF  WORLD  LITERATURE   in  Digest  Form 

Copyright,  1949,  1952,  "by  Frank  IV.  Magill 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 

All  rights  in  this  "book  are  reserved.. 
No  part  of  the  book  may  be  used  or  reproduced 
in  any  manner  whatsoever  without  -written  per 
mission  except  in  the  case  of  brief  quotations 
embodied  in  critical  articles  and  reviews.  For 
information  address 

Harper  &  Row,  Publishers,  Incorporated, 
49  East  33rd  Street,  New  York  16,  N.  Y. 

B-N 


An  earlier  version  of  this  book  originally  appeared 
under  the  title  of  MASTEKPL.OTS. 


Library  of  Congress  catalog  ca~d  number: 


PREFACE 


The  array  of  literature  represented  in  this  work  is  drawn  from  the  vast 
reservoir  of  literary  achievements  which  has  been  accumulating  since  the 
legendary  beginnings  of  Western  civilizations.  All  the  great  literature  is 
not  here;  perhaps  all  that  is  here  is  not  great.  But  these  stories  are  represen 
tative  of  the  places  and  the  times  from  which  they  sprang  and  they  have 
helped  to  tint  die  fabric  which  makes  up  the  composite  imprint  of  our 
culture.  Romance  and  adventure,  laughter  and  illusion,  dreams  and  des 
perate  hopes,  fear  and  angry  resentment — these  things  have  prodded  men's 
minds  as  they  walked  toward  our  century.  Their  insight  is  our  heritage. 

Along  with  this  heritage,  our  generation  has  fallen  heir  to  a  Busy  Age. 
Never  in  history  has  there  been  so  much  competition  for  the  attention  of 
the  average  individual.  But  though  ours  is  a  Busy  Age,  it  is  also  an  age  in 
which — thanks  to  technological  advancements — the  chances  for  enlighten 
ment  and  cultural  development,  at  all  levels,  have  never  before  been  ap 
proached  even  remotely.  Out  of  this  increased  "exposure"  must  surely  come 
a  more  intellectually  alert  society.  From  such  a  society  we  may  reasonably 
expect  an  acceleration  of  our  cultural  development.  It  is  in  the  light  of  all 
these  circumstances  that  a  work  such  as  Masterpieces  of  World  Literature 
in  Digest  Form  can  have  a  place  and  a  purpose. 

From  its  inception  in  1946,  this  survey  has  been  prepared  with  an  eye 
toward  the  Busy  Age.  Each  digest  is  preceded  by  carefully  checked,  con 
cisely  stated  reference  data  which  furnish  at  a  glance  the  authorship,  type 
of  plot,  time  of  plot,  locale,  and  publication  date.  Following  this  will  be 
found  a  list  of  the  principal  characters  and  their  relationships,  often  a 


work.  Editorial  comments  having  been  confined  to  the  "Critique,"  the 
reader  is  afforded  an  uninterrupted  opportunity  to  study  the  action,  char 
acterizations,  and  development  of  the  theme  as  the  plot-story  progresses. 
Perhaps  this  sequence-by-sequence  treatment  of  the  original  plot,  instead 
of  a  mere  description  of  the  book,  is  the  most  valuable  single  feature  of 
Masterpieces  of  World  Literature  in  Digest  Form. 


VI  PREFACE 

Of  primary  importance  from  the  beginning  was  the  selection  of  titles 
intended  for  inclusion  in  this  book.  Standard  book  lists,  library  lists,  various 
anthologies  were  consulted  as  the  list  was  built.  Tentative  lists  were  sub 
mitted  to  more  than  fifty  teachers  of  English  at  leading  colleges  and  uni 
versities,  The  helpful  responses  of  these, men  and  women  who  earn  their 
living  in  teaching  had  considerable  influence  on  the  list  as  it  took  shape. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  in  almost  every  case  living  authors  were 
consulted  about  their  own  books  which  had  been  selected.  In  some  in 
stances  they  recommended  substitutions.  For  example,  Mr.  Sinclair  Lewis 
suggested  C&ss  Tiniberlme  for  Dodsworth,  Mr.  Evelyn  Waugh  Bridesticacl 
Revisited  in  place  of  Vile  Bodies,  Because  the  relative  merit  of  contemporary 
writing  is  likely  to  be  a  subject  of  some  controversy,  the  assistance  of  authors 
themselves  concerning  their  own  works  was  valuable.  During  the  prepara 
tion  of  this  book,  the  list  was  never  static,  remaining  open  and  subject  to 
additions  and  deletions  as  seemed  desirable.  In  the  end,  about  one  hundred 
manuscripts,  representing  thousands  of  hours  of  work,  were  set  aside  in 
favor  of  new  additions  to  the  list  which  it  was  hoped  would  result  in  a  more 
balanced,  interesting,  and  helpful  book. 

Actual  preparation  of  this  book  required  an  enormous  amount  of  active 
assistance  from  a  carefully  selected  staff  of  twenty-five  English  Faculty 
associates,  chosen  after  more  than  one  hundred  personal  interviews,  at  the 
University  of  Cincinnati,  University  of  Illinois,  Indiana  University,  Miami 
University,  University  of  North  Caiolina,  North  Carolina  State  College, 
Ohio  State  University,  Purdue  University,  Virginia  Polytechnic  Institute, 
University  of  Virginia,  and  a  number  of  other  colleges  and  universities. 
Each  original  book  represented  in  Masterpieces  of  World  Literature  in 
Digest  Form  had  to  be  carefully  and  completely  read  at  least  once  and 
sometimes  two  or  three  times  by  one  or  more  staff  members  prior  to  prepara 
tion  of  the  summary  manuscript.  Manuscripts  covering  the  works  of  certain 
current  authors  were  submitted  to  the  author  concerned  for  comments  and 
approval.  Much  of  the  work  of  balancing,  condensing,  or  expanding  the 
digest  manuscripts  was  performed,  with  an  unusually  high  degree  of  skill, 
by  Dayton  Kohler,  an  associate  professor  of  English  at  Virginia  Polytechnic 
Institute.  As  an  added  precaution  against  errors  in  reference  data,  names, 
and  dates,  finished  manuscripts  were  subjected  to  one  more  check  against 
a  copy  of  the  original  book. 

The  resulting  collection  offers,  in  about  twelve  hundred  words  each,  the 
basic  "cores"  around  which  more  than  five  hundred  world-famous  literary 
works  have  been  woven.  Some  will  find  in  these  plot-stories  a  pleasant 
renewal  of  an  old  acquaintance,  a  chance  meeting  with  an  almost  forgotten 


PREFACE  Vll 

time.  This  impulse  should  lead  one  to  get  the  original,  to  read  it,  to  own 
it,  because  a  book  which  has  stood  the  test  of  time  can  usually  be  reread 
periodically  with  increased  pleasure  and  perception. 

The  preparation  of  this  work  has  been  a  formidable  task.  Without  un 
usual  assistance  and  cooperation  from  many  sources  it  would  not  have  come 
into  existence.  I  should  like  first  to  thank  the  staff  who  aided  in  the  prepa 
ration  of  the  manuscripts.  This  expression  is  intended  as  an  individual 
"thank  you"  to  the  men  and  women  who  helped  so  actively  in  this  phase 
of  the  work.  I  should  like  also  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  and  assistance 
rendered  by  those  in  charge  of  certain  facilities  of  the  Library  of  Congress 
in  Washington.  The  use  of  a  study  room  at  the  library  was  most  helpful; 
and  I  am  especially  indebted  to  supervisory  personnel  in  the  copyright 
search  section  for  valuable  and  cheerful  aid.  As  my  work  progressed,  the 
co-operation  of  many  authors,  publishers,  agents,  and  literary  trustees  was 
solicited,  and  I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  for  the  generous  assistance 
received  from  these  sources. 

It  is  my  hope  that  this  collection  will  serve  a  useful  purpose  for  busy 
people,  and  that  it  may  find  its  way  into  the  hands  of  some  who  will  be 
stimulated  to  probe  the  originals  for  facets  and  substance  which  in  this 
work  can  be  only  suggested. 

FRANK  N.  MAGILL 


INTRODUCTION 

by 
CLIFTON  FADIMAN 


For  over  two  centuries — to  be  arbitrary,  since  1721,  the  birth  date  of 
Bailey's  Universal  Etymological  English  Dictionary — the  dictionary  of  Eng 
lish  words  has  been  our  useful,  if  verbose,  chairside  companion. 

The  dictionary  of  quotations  does  not  go  back  quite  so  far:  it  was  in 
1855  that  Bartlett  first  published  his  collection  of  those  echoes  the  world 
will  not  willingly  let  die. 

As  I  write,  a  new  kind  of  dictionary,  we  are  told,  is  shortly  to  appear — 
a  sort  of  super-index  to  the  great  abstract  ideas  that  have  moved  Western 
civilization. 

And  here  under  your  hand  lies  still  another  sort  of  dictionary — a  diction 
ary  of  famous  plots. 

Palpable  tools  are  extensions  of  the  hand.  The  impalpable  tools  called 
works  of  reference  are  extensions  of  the  mind  and  memory.  In  this  sense 
Masterpieces  of  World  Literature  in  Digest  Form  is  a  master  tool.  It  should 
make  its  way  at  once  to  the  shelf  of  the  writer,  publisher,  editor,  teacher, 
lecturer,  after-dinner  speaker,  literary  agent,  bookseller,  librarian,  radio  and 
television  director  or  editor  or  producer,  motion-picture  ditto,  and  of  many 
students  and  general  readers.  In  its  field  it  seems  to  me  the  most  useful  worJk 
of  its  kind  I  have  encountered. 

Its  utility  arises  in  part  from  its  properly  limited  scope.  Half  a  thousand 
plots  arc  just  manageable.  To  tell  die  stories  of  many  more  would  have 
entailed  superficiality.  To  handle  a  much  smaller  number  would  have  re 
sulted  in  poverty  of  reference.  There  happen  to  be  510  summaries  here. 
Fifty  more  might  have  been  added,  or  fifty  subtracted — but  the  number 
seems  about  right  and  serviceable. 

Here,  then,  are  full  summaries  (sometimes  running  to  3,000  words)  of 
a  great  many  of  the  Western  world's  best-known  novels,  plays,  and  poems, 
plus  a  few  biographies,  autobiographies,  and  books  of  travel.  These  sum 
maries  are  careful  and  objective,  not  casual  or  tinctured  with  whim.  They 
are  extraordinarily  clear — in  some  cases  clear  even  beyond  the  author's 

ix 


X  INTRODUCTION 

intention.  (For  example,  one  is  lost  in  admiration  before  the  editors'  lucid 
abstract  of  that  masterpiece  of  calculated  confusion,  Tristram  Shandy.^) 

It  should  be  added  that  these  digests  arc  true  summaries,  not  to  be  con 
founded  with  those  other  "digests"  that  pretend  to  give  the  reader  the  entire 
substance,  in  abbreviated  form,  of  a  stoiy.  Our  editors  do  not  claim  to  ren 
der  anything  but  die  book's  basic  narrative  or  content.  I  lowevcr,  each  sum 
mary  is  preceded  by  a  listing  of  essential  facts  and  by  a  terse,  sensible 
critique  which  aims,  not  at  originality,  but  at  a  clear  reflection  of  what  is 
generally  considered  informed  judgment. 

One  finds,  as  is  natural,  titles  the  grounds  for  whose  inclusion  appear 
incomprehensible;  but  the  overwhelming  majority  of  items  are  here  for 
sufficient  reasons.  A  given  book  may  be  included  because  it  is  good;  or 
because,  whether  good  or  not,  it  is  of  historical  importance;  or  because, 
again  whether  good  or  not,  it  has  been  or  is  now  generally  popular;  or  for 
all  of  these  reasons  or  any  pair  of  them. 

Thus  Rex  Beach  lies  down  with  Aristophanes  and  Dickens  with  Lloycl 
Douglas.  Grandiose  trumpery  (Ben  llur,  Quo  Vadis*)  is  here;  and  so  is  The 
Magic  Mountain.  Nobody  (well,  hardly  anybody)  today  reads  poor  old 
Godwin's  Caleb  Williams,  Yet  it  occupies  an  honored  place  in  the  history 
of  the  English  novel,  is  constantly  referred  to,  and  so,  very  properly,  is  here 
summarized.  Rider  Haggard's  She  will  never  occupy  an  honored  place  in 
the  history  of  the  English  novel,  but  millions  arc  familiar  with  it,  and  so, 
with  equal  propriety,  it  finds  a  place  in  Masterpieces  of  World  Literature. 
Best  sellers  of  the  past  are  well  represented,  if  they  are  still  current  coin; 
best  sellers  of  only  yesterday  are  given  less  space,  for  they  have  yet  to  dem 
onstrate  their  power  to  endure,  in  whatever  medium,  or  merely  as  a  vivid 
memory. 

An  immortal,  homespun  folk-possession  such  as  The  M.an  Without  a 
Country  is  here;  but  so  are  highbrow  masterpieces  like  Ulysses  and  Remem 
brance  of  Things  Past,  both  of  which  difficult  works  are  forced  to  yield  a 
remarkably  transparent  synopsis  of  what  is,  of  course,  least  important  in 
them,  their  "action/'  Homer  is  here;  and  so  are  a  dozen  modern  novelists 
who  are  currently  popular  but  for  whom  most  thoughtful  critics  would  not 
predict  a  long  life.  The  editors  have  not  tried  to  limit  their  titles  to  the 
"best,"  whatever  that  may  be.  The  aim  is  not  to  elevate  taste,  nor  even  to 
instruct  (though  much  instruction  may  be  found  in  these  pages),  but  sim 
ply  to  furnish  the  interested  reader  with  a  useful  reference  tool 

On  the  whole,  they  have  succeeded  in  doing  what  they  set  out  to  do;  to 
tell,  clearly  and  fully,  the  bare  stories  of  many  of  those  works  of  the  imagi 
nation  that  seem,  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  still  to  be  alive  and  kicking  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  Western  reader. 


INTRODUCTION  XI 

The  best  way  to  test  this  reference  tool  is  to  sit  down  and  make  a  list  of 
the  first  twenty-five  really  well-known  books  of  fiction  that  pop  into  your 
head.  Then  check  your  list  in  Masterpieces.  IVe  tried  this  game,  finding 
Masterpieces'  batting  average  to  work  out  at  a  little  over  .600,  When  you 
reflect  on  the  difficulties  of  selection  that  the  editors  had  to  contend  with, 
plus  the  simple  fact  that  they  had  to  produce  a  work  light  enough  to  be  at 
least  liftable,  I  think  you'll  agree  that  this  is  good  enough. 

So — if  the  plot  of  Dostoevski's  The  Idiot  has  always  baffled  you;  if  you're 
not  sure  in  which  of  Jane  Austen's  novels  Lady  Catherine  de  Burgh 
appears;  if  you  remember  reading  Under  Two  Flags  but  have  forgotten 
completely  what  it's  about;  if  you'd  like  to  check  on  whether  William 
Faulkner's  plots  make  any  sense  at  all,  denuded  of  the  costumery  of  his 
syntax;  if  you  want  to  tell  the  children  the  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  but 
don't  want  to  reread  the  darned  thing;  if  all  your  life  you've  heard  refer 
ences  to  a  book  called  Hakluyt's  Voyages  and  feel  it's  time  to  learn  some 
thing  about  it;  if  you  want  to  compare  the  original  story  of  Quo  Vadis  with 
the  movie  version — in  all  of  these  cases,  and  in  ten  thousand  more,  Master- 
pieces  is  ready  and  waiting  to  serve  you, 


COMPLETE  LIST  OF  TITLES 


page 

Abb£  Constantin,  The  —  Ludovic  Hattvy       .  I 

Abe  Lincoln  in  Illinois  —  Robert  E.  Sherwwtd           .....  3 

Absalom,  Absalom!  —  William  Faulkner  .......  5 

Adam  Bedc  —  George  Eliot    ......,,.  8 

Admirable  Crichton,  The  —  James  M.  Earrie  ......  10 

Aeneid,  The —  Publius  Vergilius  Maro    .......  11 

Age  of  Innocence,  The  —  Edith  Wharton  .               .         .         .         .         »  14 

Alcestis  —  Euripides        ..........  16 

Aleck  Maury,  Sportsman  —  Caroline  Gordon  .         .         ,         .         .         •  17 

Alice  Adams  —  Booth  Tarkington  ........  20 

Alice  in  Wonderland  —  Lewis  Carroll     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  21 

Amelia  —  Henry  Fielding       .........  24 

American,  The  —  Henry  James       ........  27 

American  Tragedy,  An  —  Theodore  Dreiser     ......  29 

And  Quiet  Flows  the  Don  —  Mikhail  Sholokhov 30 

Anna  Kar&nina  —  Count  Leo  Tolstoy       .         .         .         •         .         •         .  32 

Anthony  Adverse  —  Hervcy  Allen  ........  34 

Antigone  —  Sophocles    ..........  37 

Apostle,  The  —  Sholem  Asch 38 

Apple  of  the  Eye,  The  —  Glenway  Wescott 40 

Arne  —  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson         ........  42 

Arrowsmith  —  Sinclair  Lewis           ........  44 

As  You  Like  It  —  William  Shakespeare  .......  46 

Aucassin  and  Nicolette  —  Unknown       .......  48 

Babbitt  —  Sinclair  Lewis        .........  50 

Bambi  —  Felix  Salteif    ..........  52 

Barchester  Towers — -Anthony  Trollope  .......  55 

Barren  Ground  —  Ellen  Glasgow 57 

Beggar's  Opera,  The  —  John  Gay  ........  59 

Bel- Ami  —  Guy  de  Maupassant       ........  62 

Bell  for  Adano,  A  —  John  Hersey 64 

Ben  Hur;  A  Tale  of  the  Christ  —  Lewis  (Lew)  Wallace  ....  66 

Beowulf  —  Unknown    ..........  68 

Big  Sky,  The  —  A.  B.  Guthrie,  Jr 70 

Black  Arrow,  The  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson    ......  72 

Black  Lamb  and  Grey  Falcon  —  Rebecca  West 75 


COMPLETE   LIST  OF  TITLES 

page 

Bleak  House  —  Charles  Dickens 77 

Brave  New  World  —  Aldous  Huxley 79 

Bread  and  Wine  —  Ignazio  Silone 81 

Brideshead  Revisited  —  Evelyn  Waugh 83 

Bridge  of  San  Luis  Key,  The  —  Thornton  Wilder 86 

Brothers  Kararnazov,  The —  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski      ...  88 

Buddenbrooks  —  Thomas  Mann      ,...,,..  91 

Cabala,  The  —  Thornton  Wilder 94 

Cadmus  —  Folk   tradition       .,.,..  96 

Caesar  or  Nothing  —  Pio  Baroja 97 

Cakes  and  Ale  —  W.  Somerset  Maugham 99 

Caleb  Williams  —  William  Godwin         .         .         .         ,         .         „         .  101 

Call  of  the  Wild,  The  —  Jack  London 103 

Camille  —  Alexandre  Dumas  (son)  .         .         ,         „         .         „         .         .  105 

Candide  —  Voltaire         ••......„.  107 

Captain  Horatio  Hornblower  —  C.  S.  Forester  .         .         ,         .         .         ,  109 

Captains  Courageous  —  Rudyard  Kipling .         ,         ,          .          »         .         .  1 1 1 

Captain's  Daughter,  The  —  Alexander  Pushkin 113 

Carmen  —  Prosper  M&rime'e  .         ,         ,         .         .         .         .         „         .  1 1 6 

Case  of  Sergeant  Grischa,  The  —  Arnold  Zweig 118 

Cass  Timberlane  —  Sinclair  Lewis  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,  120 

Castle,  The  —  Franz  Kafka 122 

Castle  of  Otranto,  The  —  Horace  Walpole      .         .         .         4         .         ,  124 

Castle  Rackrent  —  Maria  Edgewvrth       ,         .         .         .         .         „         .  126 

Casuals  of  the  Sea  —  William  McFce 128 

Cawdor  —  Robinson  Jeffers     .         .         .         .         ,         ,         .         ,         .  13Q 

Cenci,  The  — Percy  Bysshe  Shelley 131 

Charles  O'Malley  —  Charles  Lever 133 

Charterhouse  of  Parrna,  The  —  Stendhal 135 

Children  of  God  —  Vardis  Fisher 137 

Christmas  Carol,  A  —  Charles  Dickens  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  139 

Cid,  The  —  Pierre  Corneille  .........  142 

Clarissa  Harlowe  —  Samuel  Richardson  »         .         .         .         ,         .         .  143 

Claudius  the  God — l\oloert  Graves .         ,         .        ,         .         .        ,        .  146 

Clayhanger  Trilogy,  The  —  Arnold  Bennett 148 

Cloister  and  the  Hearth,  The  —  Charles  Eeade 150 

Clouds,  The  ~  Aristophanes  .         .         ,         .         .         .         .         ,         .  152 

Connecticut  Yankee  at  King  Ardiur's  Court,  A  —  Mark  Twain  .         .        .  154 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF   TITLES 

page 

Consuelo  —  George   Sand       .         .          ,          .         .         .         „         „         .  156 

Count  of  Monte-Cristo,  The  —  Alexandre  Dumas  (father')  .         .         »         .  158 

Counterfeiters,  The  —  Andrd  Gicte 160 

Country  of  the  Pointed  Firs,  The  —  Sarah  Orne  Jewett     .         ,          ,          .  163 

Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  The  —  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  .         .  165 

Cousin  Bette  —  Honor -e  de  Balzac 166 

Cream  of  the  Jest,  The  —  James  Branch  Cab ell .         .          .          .          .          ,  168 

Crime  and  Punishment  —  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski       .         .         .  170 

Crisis,  The  —  Winston  Churchill 172 

Crock  of  Gold,  The  —  James  Stephens .175 

Crome  Yellow  —  Aldous  Huxley     .         .         .         *         .         ,         .         .177 

Cruise  of  the  Cachalot,  The  —  Frank  T.  Bullen      .         .         .         ,         .  178 

Cupid  and  Psyche  —  Folk  tradition 1 80 

Daisy  Miller  —  Henry  James 1 82 

Daphnis  and  Chloe —  Attributed  to  Longus 183 

Dark  Laughter  —  Sherwood  Anderson     .         .         .         *         .         .         ,  185 

Darkness  at  Noon  —  Arthur  Koestler      .         .         .         .         .         .         .  187 

David  Copperfield  —  Charles  Dickens 189 

David  Harum  —  Edward  Noyes  Westcott .         »         ,         ,         ,         »         .  192 

Dead  Souls  —  Nikolai  V.  Gogol 194 

Dear  Brutus  —  James  M.  Barrie     .         .         .         ,         .         .         .         .  196 

Death  Comes  for  the  Archhishop  —  Willa  Gather 199 

Death  of  the  Gods,  The  —  Dmitri  Merejkowski       .         .         .         .         .  201 

Deerslayer,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper      .         ,         .                   .         .  203 

Diana  of  the  Crossways  —  George  Meredith     .,,..,  206 

Disciple,  The  —  Paul  Bourget        ........  209 

Divine  Comedy,  The  —  Dante  Alighieri  .         .         ,         .         .         .         .  211 

Dr,  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  ,         .         ,         ,         .  214 

Doll's  House,  A  —  Henrik  Ibsen 216 

Don  Juan  —  George  Gordonr  Lord  Byron .         .         .         ,         .         .         .  217 

Don.  Quixote  de  la  Mancha  —  Miguel  de  Cervantes  Saavedra    .         .         .  220 

Downfall,  The  —  Emile  Zola ,  223 

Dragon  Seed  —  Pearl  S,  Buck 226 

Drums  —  James  Boyd    ......                  ...  228 

Drums  Along  the  Mohawk  —  Walter  D,  Edmonds 230 

Duchess  of  Malfi,  The  —  John  Webster 232 

Dynasts,  The  —  Thomas  Hardy      ...,,*..  234 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF  TITLES 

page 

Edmund  Campion  —  Evelyn  Waugh       .         ,         *         *         *         •         *  237 

Education  of  Henry  Adams,  The  —  Henry  Adams    .         .         *         .         .  238 

Egoist,  The  —  George  Meredith 241 

Electra  —  Euripides         .....,..*.  243 

Emigrants,  The  —  Johan  Bojer       .         .         .         ,         „         *         „         .  244 

Emma  —  Jane  Austen    .....,.«..  246 

Enoch  Arden  —  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson   ..,.„.,  249 

Enormous  Room,  The  —  E,  E,  Cummings      .         .         ,         ,         .         *  250 

Ercwhon  —  Samuel  Butler      ....,*,*.  252 

Esther  Waters — George  Moore 254 

Ethan  Frome  —  Edith  Wharton      .         ,         ,         .         .         „         ,         *  256 

Eug&nie  Grandet  —  Honor 6  de  Balzac      ,         ,         „         »         .         .         ,  258 

Evangeline  —  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow    .         .         .         ,         .         ,  26 1 

Eve  of  St.  Agnes,  The  —  John  Keats ,  263 

Faerie  Queene,  The  —  Edmund  Spenser         .         .         .         *         .         ,  264 

Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd  —  Thomas  Hardy 266 

Farewell  to  Arms,  A  —  Ernest  Hemingway      .,,..,  269 

Father  Goriot — Honvre  de  Balzac 271 

Fathers  and  Sons — -Ivan  Turgenev         .         >         „         .         ,         .         .  273 

Faust  —  Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe    ....*.,  276 

File  No.  113—  tmile  Gaboriau 278 

Financier,  The  —  Theodore  Dreiser        .                                              „  280 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  —  Ernest  Hemingway        „  282 

Forsyte  Saga,  The  —  John  Galsworthy     ..,.,,,  284 

Fortitude  —  Hugh  Walpole 286 

Fortress,  The  —  Hugh  Walpole 288 

Forty  Days  of  Musa  Dagli,  The  —  Franz  W  erf  el     .         .         .         .         .  291 

Framley  Parsonage  —  Anthony  Trollope  .         .         .         .         .         .         ,  293 

Frankenstein  —  Mary  Godwin  Shelley     ,         ,         .         .         .         .         .  295 

Frogs,  The  —  Aristophanes     .......»,  297 

Gargantua  and  Pantagruel  —  Frang ois  Rabelais         .         .         »         .         .  298 

Ghosts  —  Henrik  Ibsen  .          .          .         ,         .          .          .         .         ,         .  301 

Giants  in  the  Earth  —  CX  E.  Rolvaag BOB 

Gil  Bias  of  Santillane  —  Alain  Rend  Le  Sage    ......  BOS 

Glass  Key,  The  —  Dashiell  Ilammett 307 

Golden  Ass  of  Lucius  Apuleius,  The  —  Lucius  A-puleius    ,  309 

Good  Companions,  The  —  J.B.Priestley.         .         .         „         .         ,         .  311 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF   TITLES 

page 

Good  Earth,  The  —  Pearl  S.  Buck 313 

Goodbye,  Mr.  Chips  —  James  Hilton        „         .         .         .         ,         .         .  316 

Grand  Hotel  —  Vicki  Eaum    .          .          .          .          ,          .          .          .          .  318 

Grandissimes,  The  —  George  W.  Cable 320 

Grandmothers,  The  —  Glenway  Wescott           ......  322 

Grapes  of  Wrath,  The  —  John  Steinbeck 324 

Great  Expectations  —  Charles  Dickens     .......  326 

Great  Gatsby,  The  —  F .  Scott  Fitzgerald 329 

Green  Bay  Tree,  The  —  Louis  Eromfield         .          .         .         .         .          .  331 

Green  Mansions  —  W.  H.  Hudson 333 

Grettir  the  Strong — Unknown 335 

Growth  of  the  Soil  —  Knut  Hamsun 338 

Gulliver's  Travels  —  Jonathan  Swift        .         ,         .         ,         .         .         .  341 

Hajji  Baba  of  Ispahan — James  Morier    .......  343 

Hakluyt's  Voyages  —  Richard  Hakluyt 346 

Hamlet,  Prince  of  Denmark  —  William  Shakespeare          ....  348 

Handful  of  Dust,  A  —  Evelyn  Waugh 350 

Handley  Cross  —  Robert  Smith  Sur tees    ,         .         .         .         .         .         .  352 

Heart  of  Midlothian,  The  —  Sir  Walter  Scott 355 

Heaven's  My  Destination  —  Thornton  Wilder  ,         .         ,         .         .         .  357 

Hedda  Gabler  —  Henrik  Ibsen 359 

Henry  Esmond  —  William  Makepeace  Thackeray     .         .         ,         .         ,  361 

Henry  the  Fifth  —  William  Shakespeare          ......  364 

Hercules  and  His  Twelve  Labors  —  Folk  tradition    .....  366 

Hereward  the  Wake  —  Charles  Kingsley         ......  367 

H.  M.  S.  Pinafore  — W.  S.  Gilbert 370 

Honey  in  the  Horn  —  H.  L.  Davis  .         .         ,         .         .         .         .         .  371 

Hoosier  Schoolmaster,  The  —  Edward  Eggleston       .         .         .         .         .  373 

Horseshoe  Robinson  —  John  P.  Kennedy           ......  376 

House  of  Atreus,  The  —  Aeschylus          .......  378 

House  of  Mirth,  The  —  Edi thW harton 380 

House  of  the  Seven  Gables,  The  —  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  ....  383 

I  low  Green  Was  My  Valley  —  Richard  Llewellyn      .....  385 

Huckleberry  Finn  —  Mark  Twain   ........  387 

Hugh  Wynne,  Free  Quaker  —  Silas  Weir  Mitchell   .....  390 

Human  Comedy,  The  —  William  Saroyan        ......  392 

Humphry  Clinker  —  Tobias  Smollett       .......  394 

Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,  The  —  Victor  Hugo     .....  397 


COMPLETE  LIST   OF  TITLES 

Fage 

Hunger  —  Knut  Hamsun       .........  400 

Hypatia —  Charles  Kingsley  ......«.,  402 

I,  Claudius  —  Robert  Graves  .....«,•,  406 

I  Speak  for  Thacldeus  Stevens — Elsie  Singmaster  ,  408 

Iceland  Fisherman,  An  —  Pierre  Loll      .         ,         .         ,         .         .         .  410 

Ides  of  March,  The  —  Thornton  Wilder 413 

Idiot,  The  —  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski  ,          ,         ,         .         .         .  415 

Idylls  of  the  King,  The  —  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson  .         .         ,         .         .  417 

If  Winter  Comes  —  A.  S.  M.  Hutchmson »  421 

Iliad,  The  —  Homer 423 

Independent  People — -Halldor  Laxness  .,...„,  425 

Invisible  Man,  The  —  H.G.Wetts 428 

Ivanhoe  — Sir  Walter  Scott 430 

Jane  Eyre  —  Charlotte  Bronte         ......  432 

Jason  and  the  Golden  Fleece  —  Folk  tradition 435 

Java  Head  —  Joseph  Hergesheimer  ......  437 

Jcan-Ghristophe —  Romain  Holland  .         ,,....,  439 

Jerusalem  Delivered  —  Torquato  Tasso  .         .         »         .         .         .         .  441 

Jew  of  Malta,  The  —  Christopher  Marlowe     .,..*.  444 

John  Brown's  Body  —  Stephen  Vincent  Benet  .         ,  445 

Joseph  Andrews  —  Henry  Fie Iding  ,         ,         .         ,         .         .         t         .  448 

Joseph  Vance  —  William  De  Morgan     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  450 

Journey  to  the  End  of  the  Night  — -  Louis-Ferdinand  C6 line      ,         .         .  453 

Jude  the  Obscure  —  Thomas  Hardy        .         .         ,         .         *         .         ,  455 

Judith  Paris — Hugh  Walpole 457 

Jungle,  The  —  Upton  Sinclair       ,        .        .         ,         „        .        .         ,  459 

Jungle  Books,  The  —  Ructyard  Kipling 461 

Jurgen  —  James  Branch  Cdbell       ....*,.,  464 

Justice  —  Jo hn  Galsworthy     ,...„..,,  466 

Kate  Fennigate  —  Booth  Tarkington       .......  467 

Kenilworth  — Sir  Walter  Scott 469 

Kidnapped  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson     .        .        *        .        ,        .        .  471 

Kim  —  Rudyard  Kipling 473 

King  Solomon's  Mines  —  H.  Rider  Haggard    ,         .         ,         .         .         .  475 

King's  Row  —  Henry  Bellamann     «         ,         .         *         .         .         *         ,  478 

Kuights,  The  —  Aristophanes  .....*.*.  480 


xvxu 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF  TITLES 

page 

Kreutzer  Sonata,  The  —  Count  Leo  Tolstoy 481 

Kristin   Lavransdatter  —  Sigrid    Undset 483 

Lady  Into  Fox  —  David  Garnett 486 

Lady  Windermere's  Fan —  Oscar  Wilde 488 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  The  —  Edward  George  Earle  Bulwer-Lytton  .         .  490 

Last  of  the  Barons,  The  —  Edward  George  Earle  Bulwer-Lytton  .         ,         .  492 

Last  of  the  Mohicans,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper     ....  494 

Last  Puritan,  The  —  George  Santayana 497 

Late  George  Apley,  The —  John  P.  Marquand 499 

Lavengro  —  George  Henry  Borrow 501 

Life  on  the  Mississippi  —  Mark  Twain  .......  504 

Life  With  Father  —  Clarence  Day,  Jr 506 

Light  in  August  —  William  Faulkner 509 

Liliom  —  Ferenc    Molnar 511 

Little  Minister,  The  —  James  M.  Barrie 513 

Little  Women  —  Louisa  May  ALcott 515 

Look  Homeward,  Angel  —  Thomas  Wolfe       .         ,         .         „         .         .  517 

Looking  Backward  —  Edward  Bellamy     ,.,....  520 

Lord  Jim  —  Joseph  Conrad     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  522 

Lorna  Doone  —  R.  D.  Black-more 524 

Lost  Horizon  —  James  Hilton.         ........  527 

Lost  Lady,  A  —  Willa  Gather 529 

Lost  Weekend,  The  —  Charles  Jackson 531 

Loyalties  —  John  Galsworthy 533 

Macbeth  —  William   Shakespeare    .         ,         ,         .         .         .         .         .  534 

McTeague  —  Frank  Norm     .........  537 

Madame  Bovary  —  Gustarve  Flaubert       .         .         .         ,         .         .         .  539 

Mademoiselle  de  Maupin  —  Th&ophile  Gautier       .....  542 

Maggie;  A  Girl  of  the  Streets  —  Stephen  Crane 543 

Magic  Mountain,  The  —  Thomas  Mann  .         ..,,.,  545 

Magnificent  Obsession,  The  —  Lloyd  C.  Douglas 547 

Main  Street  —  Sinclair  Lewis 549 

Maltese  Falcon,  The  —  Dashiell  Hammett w  551 

Man  Without  a  Country,  The  —  Edward  Everett  Hale    .         ,         .         .  553 

Manhattan  Transfer  —  John  Dos  Passos  .         .         .         .         .         ,         .  555 

Manon  Lescaut  —  AU6  Prdvost 557 

Man's  Fate  —  Andre  Malrawc        .         ,         ,         .         *         .        .        .  559 


xix 


COMPLETE   LIST   OF   TITLES 

page 

Mansfield  Parlc  —  Jane  Austen       ........  562 

Marble  Faun,  The  —  Nathaniel  Hawthorne     .         .         .         .         .         .  564 

Marching  On  —  James  Eoyd  .........  566 

Master  of  Ballantrae,  The  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson         .         .         .         .  568 

Mayor  of  Casterbridge,  The  —  Thomas  Hardy  ,          .         .         „         .         .  571 

Medea  —  Euripides         ..........  573 

Memoirs  of  a  Fox-Hunting  Man  —  Siegfried  Bassoon  .          *         .         .         .  575 

Memoirs  of  a  Midget  —  Walter  dc  la  Marc 577 

Memoirs  of  an  Infantry  Officer  —  Siegfried  Bassoon  ,         .         .         .         ,  579 

Merchant  of  Venice,  The  — William  Shakespeare  .         ,         .         ,         ,  581 

Messer  Marco  Polo — Down  Byrne  .         ,         .         .         ,         .         .         .  584 

Micah  Clarke  —  Arthur  Conan  Doyle      .         ,         ,         .         ,         .         ,  585 

Middlematch  —  George  Eliot 588 

Mikado,  The  —  W.  S.  Gilbert 591 

Mill  on  the  Floss,  The  — George  Eliot 593 

Misanthrope,  The  —  Moli&re  .         .,,...»,  595 

Mis&rables,  Les — Victor  Hugo       ........  597 

Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through  —  H.  G.  Wells 600 

Mr.  Midshipman  Easy  —  Frederick  Marryat                                       ,  602 

Mister  Roberts  —  Thomas  lleggcn  .         ,         .         .         .         *         ,         .  605 

Mrs,  Dalloway  —  Virginia  Woolf 607 

Moby  Dick  — Herman  Melville 609 

Modern  Comedy,  A- — John  Galsworthy  „         .         *         *         »         •         .  612 

Moll  Flanders  —  Daniel  Defoe       .         .         .         .         *         ,         .        *  614 

Monsieur  Beaucaire  —  Booth  Tarkington .         .         .         .         .         .        .  616 

Mont-Oriol  —  Guy  dc  Maupassant  .         .         .         .         .         .         »        .  618 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The  —  W,  Somerset  Maugham  .         .         .         .         .  621 

Moonstone,  The  —  Wilkie  Collins  ........  623 

Morte  d'Arthur,  Le  — Sir  Thotnas  Malory 625 

Mutiny  on  the  Bounty  —  Charles  Nordhoff  and  James  Norman  Hall  ,         .  628 

My  Antonia  —  Willa  Gather 630 

Mysteries  of  Paris,  The  —  Eugene  Sue    .         .         .         ,         ,         .         ,  632 

Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  The  —  Mrs.  Ann  Radcliffe  .         .         „         *         >  635 

Nana—  fa-mile  Zola 638 

Narrative  of  Arthur  Gordon  Pym,  The  —  Edgar  Allan  Poe  ....  640 

Native  Son  —  Richard  Wright       ........  64B 

Nazarene,  The  —  Sholem  Asch       ........  645 

New  Grub  Street>  The  —  George  Gissing  .......  647 


COMPLETE  LIST  OF   TITLES 

page 

Newcomes,  The  —  William  Makepeace  Thackeray 650 

Nibelungenlied,  The — Unknown  ........  652 

Night  in  the  Luxembourg,  A  —  Remy  de  Gourmont .         .         .         .         .  655 

Nightmare  Abbey  —  Thomas  Love  Peacock     ......  657 

No  Name  —  Wilkie  Collins 659 

Nocturne  —  Frank   Swinnerton        .         .         .         .         .         •         •         •  661 

O  Pioneers!—  Witta  Cather 663 

Odyssey,  The  —  Homer.         .........  665 

Oedipus  Tyrannus  —  Sophocles       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         *  668 

Of  Human  Bondage  —  W.  Somerset  Maugham       .....  670 

Of  Mice  and  Men  —  John  Steinbeck       .......  672 

Of  Time  and  the  River  —  Thomas  Wolfe 674 

Old  and  the  Young,  The  —  Luigi  Pirandello  *.....  676 

Old  Maid,  The  —  Edith  Wharton 679 

Old  Mortality  — Sir  Walter  Scott 681 

Old  Wives' Tale,  The  — Arnold  Bennett 684 

Oliver  Twist  —  Charles  Dickens     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •  686 

Omoo — Herman  Melville     .........  689 

Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel,  The  —  George  Meredith 692 

Oregon  Trail,  The  —  Francis  Parkman  .         *         .         .         .         •         •  695 

Orlando  —  Virginia  Woolf     .         .         .         .         ,         *         .         •         •  698 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice  —  Folk  tradition  .«....*  700 

Othello  —  William  Shakespeare      .         .         .         .         *         •         *         *  701 

Our  Town  —  Thornton  Wilder 704 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The  —  Walter  Van  Tilburg  Clark 706 

Pamela  —  Samuel  Richardson .         .         .         »         .         •         •         •         •  708 

Paradise  Lost  —  John  Milton  ,         .         .         .         *         ,         *         •         •  711 

Passage  to  India,  A — E.  M.  Forster 713 

Pathfinder,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper     .         .         ,         .         .         .  715 

Paul  Bunyan  —  James  Stevens       .         .         .         .         .         .         -         •  717 

Peasants,  The  —  Ladislas  Reymont  ......••  720 

Peer  Gynt  —  tjennk  Ibsen 722 

Peg  Woffington  —  Charles  Reade  ........  724 

Pendennis —  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  ,.*...  726 

Penguin  Island  —  Anatole  France  ......*•  729 

Peregrine  Pickle  —  Tobias  Smollett 731 

Persuasion  —  Jane  Austen      ,..<>•*•»•  734 


COMPLETE   LIST  OF  TITLES 

page 

Peter  Ibbetson  —  George  du  Manner 736 

Peter  Whiffle  —  Carl  Van  Vechten 739 

Phaedra  —  Jean  Baptiste   Racine     .          .          ,          .          .          .         .         .  74 1 

Pickwick  Papers  —  Charles   Dickens        .......  743 

Picture  of  Dorian  Gray,  The  —  Oscar  Wilde 746 

Pilgrim's  Progress,  The  —  John  Bunyan  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  748 

Pilot,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper       .         ,          .          .          .         ,         .  750 

Pioneers,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper .         .         .         ,         ,         ,         .  753 

Pit,  The  —  Frank  N orris 756 

Playboy  of  the  Western  World,  The  —  John  Millington  Synge  .         .         ,  758 

Point  Counter  Point  —  Aldous  Huxley 760 

Poor  White  —  Sherwood  Anderson 762 

Porgy  —  DuBose  HeywarA     .........  764 

Portrait  of  a  Lady,  The  —  Henry  James  .......  766 

Portrait  of  the  Artist  as  a  Young  Man,  A  —  James  Joyce  ....  769 

Possessed,  The  —  Fyodor  Mikhatlovieh  Dostoevski    .         .         .         .         .  771 

Power  —  Lion  Feuchtwanger  .........  773 

Prairie,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper  .......  776 

Precious  Bane  —  Mary  Webb.         ...«.».,  778 

Pride  and  Prejudice  —  Jane  Austen  *         *,....,  780 

Prisoner  of  Zenda,  The  —  Anthony  Hope 784 

Prometheus  Bound  —  Aeschylus ,         .  786 

Prometheus  Unbound  —  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley ,         .         ,         ,         .         ,  788 

Proserpine  and  Ceres  —  Folk  tradition 789 

Purple  Land,  The  —  W.  H.  Hudson     .......  791 

Quality  Street  —  James  M.  Barrie  ........  793 

Quentin  Durward  —  Sir  Walter  Scott     .         .         .         ,         .         .         .  795 

Quo  Vadis  —  Henryk  Sienkiewicz  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  797 

Rainbow,  Tlie  —  D.  H.  Lawrence  ....,,.,  800 

Rape  of  the  Lock,  The  —  Alexander  P&pe      ......  802 

Rasselas  —  Samuel  Johnson    .........  804 

Rebecca  —  Daphne  du  Mauricr     ,         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .  806 

Red  and  the  Black,  The  —  Stendhal       .......  808 

Red  Badge  of  Courage,  The  —  Stephen  Crane  .         .         .         .         .         .  811 

Red  Rover,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper     .         .         .         .         .         „  813 

Remembrance  of  Things  Past  —  Marcel  Proust .         .         .         .         .         .  815 

Return  of,  the  Native,  The  —  Thomas  Hardy 818 


COMPLETE  LIST   OF  TITLES 

page 

Revolt  o£  the  Angels,  The  —  Anatole  France 821 

Riceyman  Steps  —  Arnold  Bennett  ........  823 

Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  The  —  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  .         .         ,  825 

Ring  and  the  Book,  The  —  Robert  Browning  ......  826 

Rise  of  Silas  Lapham,  The  —  William  Dean  Howells       ,  828 

Rivals,  The  —  Richard  Erinsley  Sheridan .         ,         .         .         .         .         .  831 

River  of  Earth  —  James  Still 833 

Roan  Stallion  —  Robinson  Jeffers  ........  835 

Rob  Roy— Sir  Walter  Scott 837 

Robinson  Crusoe  —  Daniel  Defoe  .         .         .         .         .         .         •         *  839 

Roderick  Random  —  Tobias  Smollett,     .         .         *         .         *         .         •  841 

Rogue  Herries  —  Hugh  Watyole     ....,.*.  844 

Romantic  Comedians,  The  —  Ellen  Glasgow    ......  846 

Romany  Rye7  The  —  George  Henry  Borrow  .         .         .         .         .         .  849 

Rome  Haul  —  Walter  D.  Edmonds .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •  851 

Romeo  and  Juliet  —  William  Shakers  are       .         .         .         *         *         *  853 

Rornola  —  George  Eliot  ..........  856 

Roughing  It  —  Mark  Twain  .........  858 

Salammbft  —  Gustave   Flaubert                <,         .»..**  860 

Sanctuary  —  William  Faulkner       ........  862 

Sappho  —  Alphonse  Daudet 865 

Scarlet  Letter,  The  —  Nathaniel  Hawthorne 867 

School  for  Scandal,  The  —  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan     ....  869 

Sea  of  Grass,  The  — Conrad  Richter 872 

Sea  Wolf,  The  — Jack  London 874 

Sentimental  Education,  A  —  Gustave  Flaubert .         .....  876 

Sentimental  Journey,  A  ~^~  Laurence  Sterne 879 

Seventeen  —  Booth  Tarkington       ,...*...  882 

Shadows  on  the  Rock  —  Willa  Gather 884 

She  —  H.  Rider  Haggard 886 

She  Stoops  to  Conquer  —  OKver  Goldsmith 889 

Sheltered  Life,  The  —  Ellen  Glasgow 891 

Silas  Marncr  —  George  Eliot  .         .         .         .         .         ,         *         .         .  893 

Sister  Carrie  —  Theodore  Dreiser  .         .         ,         .         .         .         .         *  895 

Smoke  —  Ivan   Turgenev        ,         .         .         ,         .         •         «         .         *  897 

Snow-Bound  —  John  Greenleaf  Whittier  ....*«,  899 

So  Red  the  Rose  —  Stork  Ycnmg 901 

Songof  Bernadette,  The  —  Franz  Werfel 903 


COMPLETE   LIST  OF  TITLES 

page 

Song  of  Hiawatha,  The  —  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  .         .         .         ,  905 

Song  of  Roland,  The  —  Unknown 907 

Song  of  Songs,  The  —  Hermann  Sudermann  .          .          .         ,         .         .  910 

Sons  and  Lovers  —  D,  H.  Lawrence       .         ,         .          .         .         .         .  913 

Sorrows  of  Young  Werther,  The  —  Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe      .         .  915 

Sound  and  the  Fury,  The  —  William  Faulkner  .         .          .         ,         .         .  917 

Spoilers,  The  —  Rex  Beach 919 

Spy,  The  —  James  Fenimore  Cooper       .         .         .         .         .         ,         ,  921 

State  Fair  —  PM  Stong 925 

Story  of  a  Bad  Boy,  The  —  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich 927 

Story  of  a  Country  Town,  The  —  Edgar  Watson  Howe  ....  929 

Story  of  an  African  Farm,  The — Olive  Schreiner  .         ,         .         *         .  932 

Story  of  Gosta  Berling,  The  —  Selma  Lagerlof  .         .         .         .         .         -  934 

Strife  —  John  Galsworthy 936 

Study  in  Scarlet,  A  —  Arthur  Conan  Doyle    ,         .         .         *         .         .  938 

Sun  Also  Rises,  The  —  Ernest  Hemingway  .         .         .         .         .         .  941 

Swiss  Family  Robinson,  The  —  Johann  Rudolf  Wyss  .         .         »         .         .  943 

Tale  of  Two  Cities,  A  —  Charles  Dickens     .         .         ,         .         ,         ,  945 

Tamar — Robinson  Jeffers      ,......,.  948 

Tamburlaine  the  Great  —  Christopher  Marlowe       .         .         .         „         .  950 

Taps  for  Private  Tussie  —  Jesse  Stuart  .         .         .         .         ,         *        .  952 

Taras  Bulba  —  Nikolai  V.  Gogol 954 

Tartarin  of  Tarascon  —  Alphonse  Daudet       .         .         .         .         ,         ,  956 

Tartuffe  — Moli^re 959 

Tempest,   The  —  William  Shakespeare   .         .         .         .         .         *         ,  961 

Tenant  of  Wildfell  Hall,  The  —  Anne  Bronte 963 

Tess  of  the  d'Urbervillcs  —  Thomas  Hardy     ,         .         ,         ,         .         .  965 

Thaddeus  of  Warsaw  — Jane  Porter       .         ,         ,         ,         .         .         .  967 

Thin  Man,  The—  Dashiell  llammett 970 

Thirty-Nine  Steps,  The  —  John  Euchan 972 

This  Above  All  — Eric  Knight 974 

Three  Black  Pennys,  The  —  Joseph  Ilergcshdmer  ,  976 

Three-Cornered  Hat,  The  —  Pedro  Antonio  cle  Alarc6n  .         .         .         .  978 

Three  Musketeers,  The  — Alexandra  Dumas  Qather')       ,         ,         .         .  981 

Three  Soldiers  —  John  Dos  Pusses  ....  984 

Time  Machine,  The  —  II.  G.  Wells 986 

Time  of  Man,  The  —  Elizabeth  Madox  Roberts       .  989 

Titan,  The  — Theodore  Dreiser 991 


COMPLETE  LIST  OF   TITLES 

page 

To  The  Lighthouse  —  Virginia  Woolf 993 

Tobacco  Road  —  Erskine  Caldwell  ........  996 

Tom  Cringle's  Log  —  Michael  Scott 997 

Tom  Jones  —  Henry  Fielding  .........  1 000 

Tom  Sawyer  —  Mark  Twain  .........  1003 

Tono-Bungay  —  H.  G.  Wells 1006 

Tower  of  London,  The  —  William  Harrison  Ainsworth  .         .         .         .  1008 

Travels  of  Marco  Polo7  The  —  Marco  Polo 1011 

Travels  with  a  Donkey  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  .          .         .         .         .  1014 
Treasure  Island  —  Robert  Louis  Stevenson     .         ,         .         .         .         .1015 

Tree  Grows  in  Brooklyn,  A  —  Betty  Smith 1018 

Trial,  The  — Franz  Kafka 1020 

Trilby  —  George  du  Manner  .         ........  1023 

Tristram  —  Edwin  Arlington  Robinson  .         .         ,         .         .         ,         .1025 

Tristram  Shandy  —  Laurence  Sterne 1027 

Troilus  and  Criseyde  —  Geoffrey  Chaucer       ......  1030 

Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under  the  Sea  —  Jules  Verne  .         .         .         .  1031 

Two  Years  Before  the  Mast  —  Richard  Henry  Dana,  Jr.  .         .         .         ,  1033 

Typee  —  Herman  Melville     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •         .1035 

Ugly  Duchess,   The  —  Lion  Feuchtwanger     .          .         .         ,         *         ,1037 

Ulysses  —  James  Joyce  ..........  1040 

Unbearable  Bassington,  The  —  Saki       .......  1042 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  —  Harriet  Eeecher  Stowe 1044 

Under  Fire  —  Henri  Barbusse         ........  1047 

Under  Two  Flags  —  Ouida 1049 

U.  S.  A.  —  John  Dos  Passos 1051 

Vanessa  —  Hugh   Walpole      .........  1054 

Vanity  Fair  —  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  .         .         .         .         .         .  1056 

Venus  and  Adonis  —  William  Shakespeare       ......  1060 

Vicar  of  Wakefield,  The  — Oliver  Goldsmith 1061 

Vicomte  de  Bragelonnc,  The  —  Alexandre  Dumas  (father*)       .         .         .  1063 
Victory  —  Joseph   Conrad       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .1067 

Virgin  Soil  —  Ivan  Turgenev  .         ........  1069 

Virginian,  The  —  Owen  Wister 1072 

Virginians,  The  —  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  .....  1074 

Volpone  —  Ben  Jonson  ..........  1076 

Voyage  of  the  Beagle,  The  —  Charles  Darwin 1079 


XXV 


COMPLETE   LIST  OF  TITLES 

page 

Wanderer,  The  —  Alain-Fournier   .         .         .         ,         .         .         .         .1081 

Wandering  Jew,  The  —  -  Eugene  Sue       .,,...,       1083 
War  and  Peace  —  Count  Leo  Tolstoy      .......       1085 

War  of  the  Worlds,  The  —  H.  G.  Wells  .......        i  090 

Warden,  The  —  Anthony  Trollope  .         .,..,,,       l()l)2 
Waverky  —  Sir  Walter  Scott  .........       1094 

Way  of  All  Flesh,  The  —  Samuel  Butler  .         .         .         .         .         .  1  097 

Way  of  the  World,  The  —  William  Congreve  ......       1099 

Web  and  the  Rock,  The  —  Thoinas  Wolfe      ......       1101 

Westward  Ho!  —  Charles  Kingslay  ,         ,         .         ,         *         .         .         .1103 
What  Every  Woman  Knows  —  James  M.  Rome      *         .         *         .  1106 

White  Company,  The  —  Arthur  Comin  Doyle  ......       1  108 

Wickford  Point  —  John  P.  Marquand    .......       1110 

Wild  Duck,  The  —  Henrik  Ibsen  ........       1113 

William  Tell  —  Johann  G'hristO'pli  Fricdrich  von  Schiller  .         »         ,         -       1115 
Windsor  Castle  —  William  Harrison  Ainsworth        *         »         .         .         -       1117 
Wincsburg,  Ohio  —  Sherwood  Anderson        ,         .         *         *         .         »       1121 
Wintorsct-  —  Maxwell  Anderson     .         .         .         *         *         .         *         ,1123 
Woman  in  White,  The  ~  Wilkie  Collins        ......       1125 

Woman's  Life,  A  -  —  Guy  da  Maupassant          .         .         ,         *         .  1127 

World  of  the  Tlnbaults,  The  —  Ro^er  Martin  An  Gard      .         .         ,         .       1  130 
World's  Illusion,  The  —  Jacob  WasserHicinn    .         ,         *         »         .         .1133 
Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,  The  —  W.  Clark  Russell    .....       1135 

Wutheri  n^  Heights  —  Evilly  Rronte        .         .         ,         .         *         •         .1137 


Yearling,  The  —  Mtfrprit'  Klnnan  Rawlings    ...»,.       1140 
You  Can't  Go  I  lome  Again  —  Thomas  Wolfe  ,        *        »        *        *        *       1  142 


Masterpieces 
of  World  JUitemture 

IN  DIGEST  FORM 

First  Series 


THE  ABBE  CONSTANTIN 

Type  oj  -work:   Novel 

Author:    Ludovic  Hale"vy  (1834-1908) 

Type  of  'plot:   Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1881 

Locale:    France 

First  'published:    1882 

Principal  characters: 

ABBE  CONSTANTIN,  a  French  priest 

JEAOST  REYNAUD,  his  godson 

Mas.  SCOTT,  an  American 

Miss  PERCIVAL,  her  sister 

Critique: 

This  tale  has  long  been  a  favorite  book 
for  use  in  French  classes.  The  story  is 
full  of  pleasant  places  and  pleasant 
people.  There  is  little  if  any  conflict;  the 
one  character  who  might  possibly  be 
considered  the  villain  is  too  polite  to 
offer  much  resistance  to  the  plans  of  the 
hero  and  heroine.  The  novel  was 
crowned  by  the  French  Academy. 


The  Story; 

The  kindly  old  cure',  Abbe*  Constantin, 
stopped  before  the  chateau  of  Longue- 
val  to  look  at  posters  which  proclaimed 
that  the  chateau  and  its  surroundings 
were  to  be  sold  at  auction  either  in 
four  pieces,  or  as  a  unit.  The  abbe",  like 
the  rest  of  the  neighborhood,  smiled  at 
the  idea  that  anyone  might  be  able  to 
buy  the  entire  estate;  more  than  two 
million  francs  was  too  large  a  sum  for 
anyone  to  have.  As  he  walked  along  by 
the  old  estate,  he  thought  of  all  the  de 
lightful  days  he  had  spent  with  the  old 
marchioness  and  her  family.  He  dreaded 
the  thought  of  a  new  owner  who  might 
not  ask  him  to  dinner  twice  a  week,  who 
might  not  contribute  generously  to  the 


poor,  who  might  not  attend  all  the  serv 
ices  of  his  little  church.  The  abb6  wa< 
too  old  to  desire  a  change. 

He  walked  on  to  the  little  house  whera 
Madame  de  Lavardens  lived  with  her 
son  Paul.  Paul  had  not  turned  out  well. 
His  mother  gave  him  a  generous  allow 
ance  to  spend  every  year.  After  spend 
ing  his  money  within  three  months  in 
Paris,  he  stayed  the  rest  of  the  year  with 
his  mother  in  the  country.  At  the  de 
Lavardens  home,  the  abbe"  learned  that 
Madame  de  Lavardens  was  hoping  that 
her  agent  had  secured  at  least  one  part 
of  the  estate  for  her.  She  was  awaiting 
news  of  the  auction,  and  she  invited  the 
abb6  to  wait  with  her  and  her  son  to 
hear  what  had  happened. 

When  the  agent  arrived,  he  informed 
them  that  Mrs.  Scott,  a  wealthy  Ameri 
can,  had  bought  the  whole  estate.  The 
abb6's  heart  sank.  An  American!  She 
would  be  a  Protestant — no  doubt  a  here 
tic.  His  hopes  for  his  little  church  grew 
weak.  No  longer  would  the  hothouses 
of  the  estate  keep  his  altar  full  of  flowers; 
no  longer  would  the  poor  be  relieved 
by  the  charity  of  the  chateau.  With  * 


gloomy  heart  he  went  home  to  supper. 

Jean  Reynaud,  the  abbess  godson,  was 
his  guest  at  supper  that  night.  Jean's 
father  had  been  an  officer  in  the  same 
regiment  in  which  the  abbe*  had  been 
chaplain,  and  the  two  had  been  the  best 
of  friends.  When  Jean's  father  had  been 
killed,  the  abbe"  had  taken  care  of  Jean 
as  if  he  were  his  own  son.  The  boy 
had  insisted  on  following  his  father  in  a 
military  career.  Jean's  kindness  was  well- 
known  in  the  area.  He  gave  a  yearly 
Income  to  the  destitute  families  of  two 
men  who  had  been  killed  on  the  same 
day  as  his  father,  and  he  was  always 
doing  charitable  deeds  for  the  abbess 
poor. 

On  his  arrival  Jean  set  about  cutting 
garden  greens  for  the  salad.  He  was 
startled  when  he  looked  up  and  saw  two 
beautifully  but  simply  dressed  young 
women  who  asked  to  see  the  abbd.  They 
introduced  themselves  as  Mrs.  Scott  and 
Miss  Percival,  her  sister.  In  a  flurry  of 
excitement  the  old  abb6  came  out  to  meet 
his  unexpected  guests,  and  to  his  great 
pleasure  they  announced  that  they  were 
Catholics  of  French-Canadian  blood. 
When  each  of  the  women  gave  the  abb6 
a  thousand  francs  to  give  to  the  poor, 
the  happy  man  almost  burst  into  tears. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  chateau  were  still 
to  be  a  blessing  for  the  town. 

Jean,  overcome  by  the  beauty  of  the 
two  women,  could  not  decide  who  was 
the  more  handsome.  Miss  Percival  was 
the  younger  and  more  vivacious,  but  the 
serene  charm  of  Mrs,  Scott  was  equally 
attractive.  The  women  told  the  abb6  the 
story  of  their  lives;  of  their  poverty  as 
children,  of  the  lawsuit  which  their  dy 
ing  father  had  made  them  promise  never 
to  give  up,  and  of  the  final  success  of  the 
suit  and  the  millions  that  became  theirs 
because  of  it.  Mrs.  Scott  said  that  she 
and  her  husband  intended  to  spend  much 
time  in  France  at  their  new  home.  When 
the  ladies  left,  the  abbe"  and  Jean  were 
pKofuse  in  their  praise. 

This  meeting  was  the  first  of  many, 
The  ladies  had  grown  tired  of  social 


gaiety  during  their  stay  in  Paris,  and 
Miss  Percival  had  become  disgusted  with 
the  great  number  of  men,  thirty-four  in 
all,  who  had  proposed  marriage  to  her, 
for  she  knew  that  it  was  her  money,  not 
herself,  they  were  after.  The  women 
hoped  to  spend  a  quiet  few  weeks  in  the 
chateau,  with  the  abb£  and  Jean  as  their 
only  visitors.  During  the  visits  Jean  fell 
in  love  with  Miss  Percival.  He  was  up 
set  when  Paul  de  Lavardens  insisted  on 
being  introduced. 

Miss  Percival  knew  at  once  that  Paul's 
proposal  would  be  number  thirty-five. 
He  was  polite  and  made  conversation 
easily,  but  he  did  not  have  the  qualities 
she  had  come  to  admire  in  Jean.  The 
more  she  saw  of  Jean  the  more  she  liked 
him,  and  it  was  not  long  before  she  real 
ized  that  she  was  in  love  with  the  young 
officer. 

At  the  first  ball  held  at  the  chateau, 
Jean's  manner  showed  Miss  Percival  that 
he  loved  her.  But  he  said  nothing,  for 
he  believed  that  army  life  would  not  be 
a  happy  one  for  her.  As  he  had  neither 
social  graces  nor  the  wealth  which  could 
be  substituted  for  them,  he  did  not 
dare  to  dance  with  her  at  the  ball  for 
fear  he  would  blurt  out  his  love*  When 
she  approached  him  to  ask  for  a  dance, 
he  left  abruptly. 

Jean's  regiment  went  away  for  twenty 
days.  When  he  returned,  he  realized  that 
he  loved  Miss  Percival  more  than  ever. 
Finally  he  decided  that  his  only  course 
was  to  be  transferred  to  a  regiment  sta 
tioned  in  another  area.  On  the  night  he 
was  to  leave  he  sent  his  excuses  to  the 
chateau  and  went  to  explain  his  actions 
to  the  abb6,  who  listened  to  his  story  with 
deep  interest.  Suddenly  there  was  a 
knock  on  the  door  and  Miss  Percival 
walked  in.  She  apologised  for  her  intru 
sion,  but  said  that  she  had  come  to  con 
fess  to  the  abb&  She  asked  Jean  not  to 
leave,  but  to  stay  and  hear  her. 

She  announced  that  she  loved  Jean 
and  felt  sure  that  he  loved  her.  Jean 
had  to  admit  that  it  was  true.  She  said 
she  knew  he  had  not  dared  to  ask  hsr 


to  marry  him  because  of  her  wealth.  Con-  church,   a   fine   new   organ   played   lie 

sequently  she  was  forced  to  ask  him  to  music  for  the  service.  It  was  Miss  Perci- 

marry  her.    The  abb6  commending  her  val's  marriage  gift  to  the  church.    The 

action,  they  became  engaged.  abbe"    was   happy;    the  sale   of   the   old 

When  the  marriage  ceremony  for  the  chateau  had  brought  more  good  to  the 

happy  couple  was  performed  in  the  little  town  than  it  had  known  before. 

ABE  LINCOLN  IN  ILLINOIS 

Type  of  'work:  Drama 

Author:  Robert  E.  Sherwood  (1896-1955) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of 'plot:  1831-1861 

Locale:  New  Salem  and  Springfield,  Illinois 

First  'presented:  1938 

Principal  characters: 

MENTOR  GRAHAM,  a  schoolmaster 

ABE  LINCOLN 

ANN  RUTLEIXJE,  Abe's  early  love 

JUDGE  BOWLING  GREEN,  Justice  of  the  Peace 

NINIAN  EDWARDS,  a  politician 

JOSHUA  SPEED,  a  merchant 

WirxrAM  HERNDON,  Abe's  law  cleric 

MARY  TODD,  Abe's  wife 

STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  Abe's  political  opponent 

SETH  GALE,  Abe's  friend 

JIMMIE  GALE,  Seth's  young  son 

Critique: 

Robert  Sherwood  saw  in  the  struggles  continued  to  tap  the  keg  until  he  drank 

of  Abe  Lincoln  a  symbol  of  democracy  up  all  their  liquid  assets,  and  the  store 

in  action.    The  playwright  was  able  to  went  bankrupt.  Abe  voluntarily  assumed 

stick  fairly  close  to  the  facts  of  Lincoln's  all   the  obligations  for  the  partnership 

life  in  working  out  his  allegory  of  the  and   went  into   debt   for  about   fifteen 

growth    of    the    democratic    spirit,    but  hundred  dollars. 

in  several  scenes  he  was  forced  to  invent  At  that  time  Abe  boarded  with  Mentor 

fictitious  characters  or  incidents  to  make  Graham,  the  neighborhood  schoolmaster, 

his  point.   Whether  the  play  be  viewed  who  began  the  task  of  teaching  the  young 

as  history  or  allegory,  it  remains  as  au-  backwoodsman  the  rudiments  of  grammar, 

thentically  American  as  its  leading  char-  He  awakened  in  Abe  an  interest  in  great 

acter,  oratory    as   well   as   a  love  for  poetry. 

Graham    sensed    his    pupil's    extreme 

The  Story:  melancholy  and  preoccupation  with  death 

In  the  summer  of  1831,  when  Abe  as  well  as  his  marked  disinclination  to 
Lincoln  was  twenty-two  years  old,  he  do  anything  which  required  much  effort, 
arrived  in  New  Salem,  Illinois,  at  that  He  advised  Abe  to  go  into  politics,  de- 
time  a  frontier  village  of  fifteen  log  daring  wryly  that  there  were  only  two 
cabins.  Shortly  afterward  the  lanky  professions  open  to  a  man  who  had 
young  man  opened  a  general  store  in  failed  at  everything  else — schoolteaching 
partnership  with  a  friend  named  Berry,  and  politics. 
Their  stock  included  whiskey.  Berry  Abe's  opportunity  came  a  year  later 


ABE  LINCOLN  IN  ILLINOIS  by  Robert  E.  Sherwood.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Charlo 
ScribuerTs  Sons.    Copyright.  1937,  1938,  1939,  by  Robert  Emmet  Sherwood. 


while  he  held  the  job  o£  local  post 
master,  A  young  politician,  Ninian  Ed 
wards,  a  vigorous  opponent  of  Presi 
dent  Jackson,  appeared  at  the  Rutledge 
tavern  in  New  Salem.  He  was  looking 
for  a  possible  candidate  for  the  State 
Assembly.  Edwards  so  much  admired 
Abe's  deft  handling  of  several  quarrel 
some  Jackson  supporters  that  he  offered 
Abe  the  candidacy. 

In  making  his  offer  he  was  supported 
by  Abe's  two  loyal  and  influential  friends 
in  Salem,  Joshua  Speed,  a  merchant,  and 
Judge  Bowling  Green,  the  justice  of  the 
peace.  But  Abe,  who  had  been  consider 
ing  going  farther  west,  refused.  Then 
several  circumstances  arose  to  change  his 
mind.  Seth  Gale,  die  friend  widi  whom 
Abe  had  planned  to  make  the  trip,  re 
ceived  news  diat  his  father  was  sick  and 
he  had  to  return  to  his  native  state  of 
Maryland  at  once.  And  Ann  Rutledge, 
daughter  of  the  local  tavernkeeper,  with 
whom  Abe  had  been  secretly  in  love, 
received  a  letter  from  New  York  State 
to  the  effect  that  a  young  man  named 
McNeil,  with  whom  Ann  had  been  in 
love,  would  not  be  able  to  return  to 
New  Salem,  When  Abe  declared  his  de 
votion,  Ann,  disillusioned  with  her  for 
mer  lover,  encouraged  him.  As  a  con 
sequence,  Abe  sent  word  by  his  friend 
Judge  Bowling  Green  that  he  would  be 
a  candidate  for  the  State  Assembly. 

Fate  brought  about  another,  more  dis 
astrous,  turn  in  Abe's  fortunes.  Ann 
Rutledge  fell  suddenly  ill  of  a  fever, 
and  nothing  that  the  doctor  or  Abe  did 
could  save  her.  After  Ann's  death,  Abe 
became  completely  obsessed  by  a  feeling 
of  melancholia  from  which  none  of  his 
friends  could  rouse  him.  lie  opened  a 
Springfield  law  office  with  his  friend, 
Judge  Stuart,  but  he  refused  to  take 
much  interest  in  politics,  in  spite  of  the 
urgings  of  his  clerk,  William  Ilemdon, 
who  was  a  firebrand  Abolitionist,  Al 
though  Abe  disliked  slavery,  he  failed 
to  sec  that  the  Abolitionists  were  helping 
their  cause  by  threatening  to  split  the 
country. 


Knowing  that  something  must  be  done 
to  pull  Abe  out  of  his  lethargy,  his  old 
political  mentor,  Ninian  Edwards,  in 
troduced  him  to  his  ambitious  sister-in- 
law,  Mary  Todd.  Mary  saw  immediately 
that  Lincoln  was  a  man  she  could  inspire 
to  great  things.  Her  aristocratic  sister, 
Elizabeth,  could  not  understand  what 
Mary  saw  in  this  raw-boned  frontiers 
man,  but  Mary  saw  in  him  the  satis 
faction  of  her  own  frustrated  yearnings. 
They  became  engaged. 

But  Abe  had  not  forgotten  Ann  Rut- 
ledge.  On  the  day  of  his  wedding  to 
Mary  Todd,  he  pleaded  with  his  friend, 
Joshua  Speed,  to  deliver  to  Mary  a  letter 
he  had  written  to  tell  her  that  he  did 
not  love  her.  Speed  insisted  that  Abe 
go  to  Mary  himself  and  explain  that  he 
was  afraid  of  her,  of  the  demands  she 
would  make  upon  him.  After  he  had 
humiliated  Mary  Todd  with  his  explana 
tion,  Abe  drifted  back  to  the  prairie 
frontier  once  more. 

One  day  he  encountered  his  old 
friend,  Setn  Gale,  with  whom  he  had 
once  planned  to  go  west.  Scth  had  set 
out  from  Maryland  with  his  wife  and 
child,  and  was  headed  for  Oregon.  But 
his  child,  Jimmie,  was  ill,  and  SetH  felt 
that  if  his  son  died  neither  he  nor  his 
wife  would  have  the  courage  to  continue 
the  journey.  In  a  flash  of  insight,  Abe 
saw  in  his  friend's  predicament  a  symbol 
of  the  plight  of  the  country  as  a  whole. 
The  Dreci  Scott  Decision  had  made  it 
possible  to  extend  slavery  in  the  West, 
a  circumstance  that  would  be  fatal  to 
those  who,  like  Seth  Gale,  were  trying 
to  build  a  now  country  there.  That  vision 
crystallized  Abe's  purpose  in  life;  and 
wncn  he  offered  up  a  prayer  to  the 
Almighty  for  the  life  of  little  Jimmie, 
he  was  thinking  of  the  country  as  a 
whole,  lulled  with  a  new  purpose,  he 
pocketed  his  pride  and  wont  back  to 
Mary  Todd.  Still  believing  in  him,  she 
accepted  Abe  without  a  moment's  hesita 
tion. 

From  that  day  on  his  career  followed 
one  straight  line,  culminating  in  his 


nomination  for  the  presidency.  There 
were  his  debates  with  Stephen  A.  Doug 
las,  who  was  to  be  his  opponent  in  the 
election  that  followed.  Within  his  own 
party  there  were  political  considerations 
which  Lincoln  handled  with  dignity  and 
tact.  But  most  important  of  all,  there 
was  his  own  life  with  Mary  Todd.  In 
the  years  since  their  marriage  she  had 
borne  him  four  sons,  one  of  whom  had 
died,  and  through  those  years  she  had 
grown  more  tense  and  irritable,  until 
the  home  life  of  the  Lincolns  became 
almost  intolerable,  Abe  patiently  endured 
her  tirades  in  their  own  home,  but  when 
Mary  began  criticizing  him  in  public,  he 
resisted.  On  the  night  of  his  election 


she  had  one  of  her  tantrums,  and  Abe 
was  forced  to  send  her  home  on  the  very 
eve  of  her  triumph. 

With  his  election  to  the  highest  office 
in  die  land,  Lincoln's  troubles  increased. 
The  old  melancholia  returned,  the  old 
preoccupation  with  death.  On  an  event 
ful  day  in  1861,  standing  on  the  rear 
platform  of  the  train  which  was  to  take 
him  from  Springfield  to  Washington,  he 
tried  to  express  to  his  old  neighbors  and 
friends  his  ideals  for  the  future  of 
America.  As  the  presidential  train  pulled 
out  he  could  hear  his  well-wishers  sing 
ing  the  last  strains  of  "John  Brown's 
Body" — "His  soul  goes  marching  on!" 


ABSALOM,  ABSALOM! 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Faulkner  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot;  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Mississippi 

First  published-.  1936 

Principal  characters: 

THOMAS  SUTPEN,  owner  of  Sutpen's  Hundred 

ELLEN  COLDFIELD  SUTPEN,  his  wife 

HENRY,  and 

JUDITH,  their  children 

ROSA  COLDFIELD,  Ellen's  younger  sister 

GOODHITE  CouDtfiELD,  Ellen's  and  Rosa's  father 

CHARLES  BON,  Thomas  Sutpen's  son  by  his  first  marriage 

QUENTIN  COMPSON,  Rosa  Coldfield's  young  friend 

SHREVE  McCANNON,  Quentin's  roommate  at  Harvard 


Critique: 

This  novel  is  the  most  involved  of 
William  Faulkner's  works,  for  the  nar 
rative  is  revealed  by  recollections  years 
after  the  events  described  have  taken 
place.  Experience  is  related  at  its  fullest 
expression;  its  initial  import  is  recollected 
and  its  significance  years  thereafter  is 
faithfully  recorded.  The  conventional 
method  of  story-telling  has  been  dis 
carded.  Through  his  special  method 
Faulkner  is  able  to  re-create  human  action 
and  human  emotion  in  its  own  setting. 
Sensory  impressions  gained  at  the 


moment,  family  traditions  as  powerful 
stimuli,  the  tragic  impulses — these  focus 
truly  in  the  reader's  mind  so  that  a  tre 
mendous  picture  of  the  nineteenth-cen 
tury  South,  vivid  down  to  the  most 
minute  detail,  grows  slowly  in  the  reader's 
imagination.  Absalom,  Absalom!  is  a 
novel  of  tremendous  and  tragic  import. 

The  Story: 

In  the  summer  of  1910,  when  Quentin 
Compson  was  preparing  to  go  to  Har 
vard,  old  Rosa  Coldfield  insisted  upon 


ABSALOM  ABSALOM!  by  William  Faulkner.    By  permission  of  Tihe  author  and  the  publishers,  Random  Houae, 
lac.    Copyright,   1936,  by  William  Faulkner. 


telling  him  the  whole  infamous  story 
of  Thomas  Sutpen,  whom  she  called  a 
demon.  According  to  Miss  Rosa,  he 
had  brought  terror  and  tragedy  to  all 
who  had  dealings  with  him. 

In  1833  Thomas  Sutpen  had  come  to 
Jefferson,  Mississippi,  with  a  fine  horse 
and  two  pistols  and  no  known  past.  He 
had  lived  mysteriously  for  a  while  among 
people  at  the  hotel,  and  after  a  short 
time  he  disappeared.  Town  gossip  was 
that  he  had  bought  one  hundred  square 
miles  of  uncleared  land  from  the  Chicka- 
saws  and  was  planning  to  turn  it  into  a 
plantation. 

When  he  returned  with  a  wagon  load 
of  wild-looking  Negroes,  a  French  archi 
tect,  and  a  few  tools  and  wagons,  he 
was  as  uncommunicative  as  ever.  At  once 
he  set  about  clearing  land  and  building 
a  mansion.  For  two  years  he  labored 
and  during  all  that  time  he  hardly  ever 
saw  or  visited  his  acquaintances  in  Jef 
ferson.  People  wondered  about  the  source 
of  his  money.  Some  claimed  that  he  had 
stolen  it  somewhere  in  his  mysterious 
comings  and  goings.  Then  for  three 
years  his  house  remained  unfinished, 
without  windowpanes  or  furnishings, 
while  Thomas  Sutpen  busied  himself 
with  his  crops.  Occasionally  he  invited 
Jefferson  men  to  his  plantation  to  hunt, 
entertaining  them  with  liquor,  cards, 
and  savage  combats  between  his  giant 
slaves — combats  in  which  he  himself 
sometimes  joined  for  the  sport. 

At  last  he  disappeared  once  more,  and 
when  he  returned  he  had  furniture  and 
furnishings  elaborate  and  fine  enough 
to  make  his  great  house  a  splendid  show- 
place.  Because  of  his  mysterious  actions, 
sentiment  in  the  village  turned  against 
him.  But  this  hostility  subsided  some 
what  when  Sutpen  married  Ellen  Cold- 
field,  daughter  of  the  highly  respected 
Goodhue  Coldfield. 

Miss  Rosa  and  Quentin's  father  shared 
some  of  Sutpen's  revelations.  Because 
Quentin  was  away  in  college  many  of 
the  things  he  knew  about  Sutpen's  Hun 
dred  had  come  to  him  in  letters  from 


home.  Other  details  he  had  learned  dur 
ing  talks  with  his  father. 

He  learned  of  Ellen  Sutpen's  life  as 
mistress  of  the  strange  mansion  in  the 
wilderness.  He  learned  how  she  dis 
covered  her  husband  fighting  savagely 
with  one  of  his  slaves.  Young  Henry 
Sutpen  fainted,  but  Judith,  the  daughter, 
watched  from  the  haymow  with  interest 
and  delight.  Ellen  thereafter  refused  to 
reveal  her  true  feelings  and  ignored  the 
village  gossip  about  Sutpen's  Hundred. 

The  children  grew  up.  Young  Henry, 
so  unlike  his  father,  attended  the  uni 
versity  at  Oxford,  Mississippi,  and  there 
he  met  Charles  Bon,  a  rich  planter's 
grandson.  Unknown  to  Henry,  Charles 
was  his  half-brother,  Sutpen's  son  by  his 
first  marriage.  Unknown  to  all  of  Jef 
ferson,  Sutpen  had  got  his  money  as  the 
dowry  of  his  earlier  marriage  to  Charles 
Bon's  West  Indian  mother,  a  wife  he  dis 
carded  when  he  learned  she  was  partly 
of  Negro  blood. 

Charles  Bon  became  engaged  to  Judith 
Sutpen  but  the  engagement  was  suddenly 
broken  off  for  a  probation  period  of  four 
years.  In  the  meantime  the  Civil  War 
began.  Charles  and  Henry  served 
together.  Thomas  Sutpen  became  a 
colonel. 

Goodhue  Coldfield  took  a  disdainful 
stand  against  the  war.  He  barricaded 
himself  in  his  attic  and  his  daughter, 
Rosa,  was  forced  to  put  his  food  in  a 
basket  let  down  by  a  long  rope.  His 
store  was  looted  by  Confederate  soldiers. 
One  night,  alone  in  his  attic,  he  died. 

Judith,  in  the  meanwhile,  had  waited 
patiently  for  her  lover.  She  carried 
his  letter,  written  at  the  end  of  the 
four-year  period,  to  Quentin's  grand 
mother.  About  a  week  later  Wash  Jones, 
the  handyman  on  the  Sutpen  plantation, 
came  to  Miss  Rosa's  door  with  the 
crude  announcement  that  Charles  Bon 
was  dead,  killed  at  the  gate  of  the  plan 
tation  by  his  half-brother  and  former 
friend.  Henry  fled,  Judith  buried  her 
lover  in  the  Sutpen  family  plot  on  the 
plantation.  Rosa,  whose  mother  had  died 


when  she  was  born,  went  to  Sutpen's 
Hundred  to  live  with  her  niece.  Ellen 
was  already  dead.  It  was  Rosa's  convic 
tion  that  she  could  help  Judith. 

Colonel  Thomas  Sutpen  returned.  His 
slaves  had  been  taken  away,  and  he 
was  burdened  with  new  taxes  on  his 
overrun  land  and  ruined  buildings.  He 
planned  to  marry  Rosa  Coldfield,  more 
than  ever  desiring  an  heir  now  that 
Judith  had  vowed  spinsterhood  and 
Henry  had  become  a  fugitive.  His  son, 
Charles  Bon,  whom  he  might,  in  des 
peration,  have  permitted  to  marry  his 
daughter,  was  dead. 

Rosa,  insulted  when  she  understood 
the  true  nature  of  his  proposal,  returned 
to  her  father's  ruined  house  in  the  village. 
She  was  to  spend  the  rest  of  her  miser 
able  life  pondering  the  fearful  intensity 
of  Thomas  Sutpen,  whose  nature,  in  her 
outraged  belief,  seemed  to  partake  of  the 
devil  himself. 

Quentin,  during  his  last  vacation, 
had  learned  more  of  the  Sutpen  tragedy. 
He  now  revealed  much  of  the  story  to 
Shreve  McCannon,  his  roommate,  who 
listened  with  all  of  a  Northerner's  mis 
understanding  and  indifference. 

Quentin  and  his  father  had  visited 
the  Sutpen  graveyard,  where  they  saw 
a  little  path  and  a  hole  leading  into 
Ellen  Sutpen's  grave.  Generations  of 
opossums  lived  there.  Over  her  tomb  and 
that  of  her  husband  stood  a  marble 
monument  from  Italy.  Sutpen  himself 
had  died  in  1869.  In  1867  he  had  taken 
young  Milly  Jones,  Wash  Jones'  grand 
daughter.  When  she  bore  a  child,  a  girl, 
Wash  Jones  had  killed  Thomas  Sutpen. 

Judith  and  Charles  Bon's  son,  his  child 
by  an  octoroon  woman  who  had  brought 
her  child  to  Sutpen's  Hundred  when  he 
was  eleven  years  old,  died  in  1884  of 
smallpox.  Before  he  died  the  boy  had 


married  a  Negro  woman  and  they  had 
had  an  idiot  son,  Charles  Bon.  Rosa 
Coldfield  had  placed  headstones  on  their 
graves  and  on  Judith's  she  had  caused  to 
be  inscribed  a  fearful  message. 

In  that  summer  of  1910  Rosa  Coldfield 
confided  to  Quentin  that  she  felt  there 
was  still  someone  living  at  Sutpen's 
Hundred.  Together  the  two  had  gone 
out  there  at  night,  and  had  discovered 
Clytie,  the  aged  daughter  of  Thomas 
Sutpen  and  a  Negro  slave.  More  im 
portant,  they  discovered  Henry  Sutpen 
himself  hiding  in  the  ruined  old  house. 
He  had  returned,  he  told  them,  four  years 
before;  he  had  come  back  to  die.  The 
idiot,  Charles  Bon,  watched  Rosa  and 
Quentin  as  they  departed.  Rosa  re 
turned  to  her  home  and  Quentin  went 
back  to  college. 

Quentin's  father  wrote  to  tell  him  the 
tragic  ending  of  the  Sutpen  story. 
Months  later,  Rosa  sent  an  ambulance 
out  to  the  ruined  plantation  house,  for 
she  had  finally  determined  to  bring  her 
nephew  Henry  into  the  village  to  live 
with  her,  so  that  he  could  get  decent 
care.  Clytie,  seeing  the  ambulance,  was 
afraid  that  Henry  was  to  be  arrested 
for  the  murder  of  Charles  Bon  many  years 
before.  In  desperation  she  set  fire  to 
the  old  house,  burning  herself  and 
Henry  Sutpen  to  death.  Only  the  idiot, 
Charles  Bon,  the  last  surviving  de 
scendant  of  Thomas  Sutpen,  escaped.  No 
one  knew  where  he  went,  for  he  was 
never  seen  again.  Miss  Rosa  took  to  her 
bed  and  there  died  soon  afterward,  in 
the  winter  of  1910. 

Quentin  told  the  story  to  his  room 
mate  because  it  seemed  to  him,  some 
how,  to  be  the  story  of  the  whole  South, 
a  tale  of  deep  passions,  tragedy,  ruin, 
and  decay. 


ADAM  BEDE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Eliot  (Mary  Ann  Evans,  1819-1880) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Domestic  romance 

Time  of  fat:  1799 

JLocale:  England 

First  published;  1859 

Principal  characters: 

ADAM  BEI>E,  a  carpenter 

SHTH  BEDE,  liis  brother 

MARTIN  POYSER,  proprietor  of  Hall  Farm 

MBS,  POYSER,  his  wire 

DINAH  MORRIS,  her  niece,  a  Methodist  preacher 

HETTY  SORRJBL,  another  niece 

CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  DONNITHORNE,  the  young  squire 

Critique: 

This  novel  of  English  pastoral  life 
probably  shows  George  Eliot's  quality  as 
a  novelist  better  than  any  other  of  her 
works,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Middlemarch,  When  George  Eliot  was 
writing  of  the  peasants,  the  artisans,  the 
yeomen,  the  clergy,  and  the  squires  of 
Warwickshire,  she  was  writing  out  of 
memories  of  her  own  childhood,  and  her 
characters  come  to  life  as  people  she  had 
known.  Moreover,  she  superimposes  upon 
them  an  awareness  of  fate,  not  majestic 
as  in  Hardy,  but  growing  out  of  her  con 
victions  that  there  is  a  cause  and  effect 
relationship  in  human  behavior  as  there 
is  in  the  rest  of  nature* 


whose  husband,  Martin,  ran  the  Hall 
Farm.  Hetty,  however,  cared  nothing  for 
Adam.  She  was  interested  only  in  Cap 
tain  Donnithorne,  whom  she  had  met 
one  day  in  her  aunt's  dairy, 

No  one  in  llayslope  thought  Hetty 
would  make  Adam  a  good  wile,  least  of 
all  Adam's  mother,  Lisbeth,  who  would 
have  disapproved  of  any  girl  who  threat 
ened  to  take  her  favorite  son  from  her, 
Her  feelings  of  dependence  upon  Adam 
were  intensified  after  her  husband,  Mat 
thias  Bede,  drowned  in  Willow  Brook 
while  on  his  way  home  from  the  village 


nn. 


The  Story: 

In  the  village  of  I  layslopc  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  lived  a 
young  carpenter  named  Adam  Bede.  Tall 
and  muscular,  Adam  was  respected  by 
everyone  as  a  good  workman  and  an  hon 
est  and  upright  man.  Even  the  young 
squire,  Captain  Arthur  Donnithorne, 
knew  Adam  and  liked  him,  and  Adam  in 
turn  regarded  the  squire  as  his  best 
friend. 

Adam  was,  in  fact,  so  good  a  workman 
that  his  employer,  Mr.  Jonathan  Burge, 
the  builder,  would  have  welcomed  him  as 
his  son-in-law  and  partner.  But  Adam 
had  no  eyes  for  Mary  Burge;  his  only 
thoughts  were  of  distractingly  pretty 
Hetty  Sorrell,  niece  of  Mrs,  Poyser, 


In  the  meantime,  Adam's  brother  Seth 
had  fallen  in  love  with  the  young  Meth 
odist  preacher,  Dinah  Morris,  Dinah  was 
another  niece  of  Mrs,  Poyser,  as  unlike 
her  cousin  Hetty  as  Adam  was  unlike 
Seth.  Hetty  resembled  nothing  so  much 
as  a  soft,  helpless  kitten,  but  Dinah  was 
iirm  and  serious  in  all  things.  One  eve- 
ning  while  she  and  Seth  were  walking 
home  together  from  the  village  green, 
he  had  proposed  marriage1.  Dinah  sadly 
declined,  saying  she  had  dedicated  her 
life  to  preaching  tiie  gospel 

When  funeral  services  for  Matthias 
Bcde  were  held  in  1  layslope  Church  on 
the  following  Sunday,  the  thoughts  of 
the  congregation  were  on  many  things 
other  than  the  solemn  occasion  they  were 
attending.  Adam's  thoughts  of  Hetty 
blended  with  memories  of  his  father. 


8 


Hetty's  thoughts  were  all  of  Captain 
Donnithorne,  who  had  promised  to  make 
his  appearance.  She  was  disappointed, 
however,  for  Donnithorne  had  already 
departed  with  his  regiment.  When  he 
returned  on  leave,  the  young  squire  cele 
brated  his  twenty-first  birthday  with  a 
great  feast  to  which  nearly  all  of  Hay- 
slope  was  invited.  Adam  was  singled  out 
as  a  special  guest  to  sit  at  Donnithorne's 
table.  Adam's  mother  was  both  proud 
and  jealous  lest  her  son  be  getting  more 
and  more  out  of  her  reach. 

One  August  night,  exactly  three  weeks 
after  the  Donnithorne  party,  Adam  was 
returning  home  from  his  work  on  the 
Donnithorne  estate  when  he  saw  two 
figures  in  close  embrace.  They  were 
Donnithorne  and  Hetty  Sorrel.  When 
Adam's  dog  barked,  Hetty  hurried  away. 
Donnithorne,  embarrassed,  tried  to  ex 
plain  that  he  had  met  the  girl  by  chance 
and  had  stolen  a  kiss.  Adam  called  his 
friend  a  scoundrel  and  a  coward.  They 
came  to  blows,  and  Donnithorne  was 
knocked  senseless.  Adam,  frightened 
that  he  might  have  killed  the  young 
squire  in  his  rage,  revived  him  and  helped 
him  to  a  nearby  summerhouse.  There 
he  demanded  that  Donnithorne  write  a 
letter  to  Hetty  telling  her  that  he  would 
not  see  her  again. 

The  next  day  Donnithorne  sent  the 
letter  to  Hetty  in  Adam's  care,  thus 
placing  the  responsibility  for  its  possible 
effect  upon  Adam  himself,  Adam  gave 
her  the  letter  while  they  were  walking 
the  following  Sunday.  When,  in  the 
privacy  of  her  bedchamber,  she  read  the 
letter,  Hetty  was  in  despair.  Her  dreams 
shattered,  she  thought  only  of  finding 
some  way  out  of  her  misery.  Then  in 
November  Adam  was  offered  a  partner 
ship  in  Mr,  Surge's  business,  and  he 
proposed  to  Hetty,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Poyser 
were  delighted  to  find  that  their  niece 
was  to  marry  the  man  they  so  much 
admired* 


But  the  wedding  had  to  be  delayed 
until  two  new  rooms  could  be  added  to 
the  Bede  house.  In  February,  Hetty  told 
her  aunt  she  was  going  to  visit  Dinah 
Morris  at  Snowfield.  Actually,  however, 
she  was  determined  to  find  Donnithorne. 
When  she  arrived  at  Windsor,  where  he 
was  supposed  to  be  stationed,  she  found 
that  his  regiment  had  been  transferred 
to  Ireland.  Now  in  complete  despair 
Hetty  roamed  about  until  in  a  strange 
village,  and  in  the  house  of  a  widow 
named  Sarah  Stone,  her  child  by  Don 
nithorne  was  born.  Frightened,  Hetty 
wandered  on,  leaving  her  baby  to  die 
in  a  wood.  Later,  tortured  by  her  con 
science,  she  returned  to  find  the  child 
gone. 

When  his  grandfather  died,  Donni 
thorne  returned  to  Hayslope  to  discover 
that  Hetty  was  in  prison,  charged  with 
the  murder  of  her  child.  He  did  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  free  her,  and  Dinah 
Morris  came  to  her  prison  cell  and 
prayed  with  her  to  open  up  her  heart 
and  tell  the  truth.  Knally  poor  Hetty 
broke  down  and  confessed  everything 
that  had  happened  since  she  left  Hay- 
slope.  She  had  not  intended  to  kill  her 
baby;  in  fact,  she  had  not  actually  killed 
the  child.  She  had  considered  taking  her 
own  life.  Two  days  later,  Donnithorne, 
filled  with  shame  and  remorse,  brought 
a  reprieve.  Hetty's  sentence  was  com 
mitted  to  deportation.  A  few  years  later 
she  died  on  her  way  home.  Donnithorne 
went  to  Spain. 

Dinah  Morris  stayed  with  the  Poysers 
often  now,  and  gradually  she  and  Adam 
were  drawn  to  each  other.  But  Dinah's 
heart  was  still  set  on  her  preaching.  She 
left  Hall  Farm  and  went  back  to  Snow- 
field.  Adam  Bede  found  his  only  satis 
faction  toiling  at  his  workbench,  Then 
one  day  his  mother  spoke  again  of  Dinah 
and  her  gentle  ways.  Adam  could  wail 
no  longer.  He  went  to  find  her. 


THE  ADMIRABLE  CRICHTON 

Tyye  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  James  M,  Barrie  (1860-1937) 

Type  of  f)lot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Loam  Mouse,  Mayfair;  a  desert  island 

First 'presented:  1903 

Principal  characters: 
THE  EARL  OF  LOAM 
LADY  MAHY, 
LADY  CATHERINE,  and 
LADY  AGATHA,  his  daughters 
THE  HON.  ERNEST  WOOLLEY,  his  nephew 
WILLIAM  CRICHTON,  his  butler 


Critique; 

One  of  the  best  of  Barriers  comedies, 
The  Admirable  Crichton  contains  a  more 
definite  theme  than  Barrie  generally  put 
into  his  plays.  His  satirical  portrait  of 
an  English  aristocrat  with  liberal  ideas 
is  the  most  skillful  that  has  been  done 
on  the  subject.  Lord  Loam,  like  many 
liberals,  is  a  kind  of  social  Jekyll  and 
Hyde,  accepting  the  doctrine  of  the  rights 
of  man  in  theory,  but  holding  tightly  to 
his  vested  interests  in  practice. 

The  Story. 

Once  every  month,  the  philanthropic 
Earl  of  Loam  gave  expression  to  his 
views  on  human  equality  by  forcing  his 
servants  to  have  tea  with  him  ana  his 
family  in  the  great  hall  of  Loam  House 
in  May-fair,  It  was  a  disagreeable  ex 
perience  for  everyone  concerned,  es 
pecially  for  his  butler,  Crichton,  who 
did  not  share  his  master's  liberal  views. 
Lord  Loam  alone  enjoyed  the  occasion, 
for  he  was  the  only  one  who  remained 
completely  himself.  lie  ordered  his 
daughters  and  his  nephew  about  and 
treated  them  exactly  as  he  treated  his 
servants  on  the  remaining  days  of  the 
month. 

Lady  Mary,  his  oldest  daughter,  was  a 
spirited  young  woman  who  resented  her 
father's  high-handed  methods  with  his 
family.  Her  indignation  reached  a 


climax  one  day  when  Lord  Loam  an 
nounced  that  his  three  daughters  were 
to  have  but  one  maid  among  them  on  a 
yachting  trip  on  which  the  family  was 
about  to  embark.  Lady  Mary  was  furious, 
but  she  assumed  that  her  maid,  Fisher, 
would  go  along.  When  Fisher  learned 
that  she  was  expected  to  look  after  the 
two  younger  sisters  in  addition  to  Lady 
Mary,  she  promptly  resigned,  and  the 
two  maids  attending  Catherine  and 
Agatha  followed  suit.  Lord  Loam  was 
left  without  any  servants  for  his  pro 
jected  cruise,  for  his  valet  also  resigned. 
Although  it  hurt  his  pride  deeply, 
Crichton  finally  agreed,  out  of  loyalty  to 
his  master,  to  act  as  his  valet  on  the  trip. 
Moreover,  he  persuaded  Tweeny,  the 
housemaid  upon  whom  he  had  cast  a 
favorable  eye,  to  go  along  as  maid  to 
Lord  Loam  s  daughters. 

The  cruise  ended  unhappily  when  the 
yacht  was  pounded  to  pieces  during  a 
violent  storm  in  the  Pacific,  and  the 
party  was  cast  away  on  a  tropical  island. 
All  reached  shore  except  I  x>rd  Loam.  The 
other  survivors  had  watched  him  throw 
away  his  life  in  a  frantic  but  vain  at 
tempt  to  get  into  the  lifeboat  first. 

On  the.  island  all  tried  to  preserve  as 
much  as  possible  the  class  distinction 
which  had  prevailed  in  England,  But 
the  attempt  was  unsuccessful.  Crichton 


THE  ADMIRABLE  CRICHTON  by  lames  M.  Barrie,  from  THE  PIJVY8  OF  JAMK8  M,  BARRIE.  By  per- 
rnieaion  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribuer's  Sons,  Copyright,  1914,  by  Charles  Scribner'i  Son*.  1918,  1928, 
by  J.  M.  Barrie. 


10 


alone  knew  exactly  what  he  was  doing, 
and  it  was  upon  him  that  the  others 
had  to  depend.  So  Crichton,  the  servant, 
became  on  the  island  the  natural  leader, 
and  he  ruled  his  former  superiors  with 
a  gentle  hut  a  firm  hand.  For  example, 
he  found  the  epigrams  of  the  Hon. 
Ernest,  which  had  seemed  so  brilliant 
in  England,  a  bit  trying;  as  a  con 
sequence,  Crichton  adopted  the  policy  of 
submitting  Ernest  to  a  severe  ducking 
whenever  he  came  forth  with  an  epigram. 
The  aristocrats  worried  over  the  rising 
authority  of  their  former  butler  and  the 
decline  in  their  own  prestige.  When 
Lord  Loam  finally  appeared,  after  wash 
ing  ashore  with  some  wreckage,  they 
urged  him  to  take  a  stand  of  authority* 
Lord  Loam's  only  recourse  was  to  remove 
his  little  party  to  another  section  of  the 
island  apart  from  Crichton.  But  hunger, 
which  the  aristocrats  by  their  own  efforts 
could  not  assuage,  brought  them  meekly 
back.  Crichton  became  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  them  all. 

Crichton  took  full  advantage  of  his 
newly  acquired  authority.  Having  none  of 
the  earl's  ideas  about  equality,  he  found 
no  necessity  for  pretending  that  on  the 
island  his  former  betters  were  his  equals 
in  any  sense.  Each  was  kept  in  his  place 
and  required  to  do  his  own  work  accord 
ing  to  the  needs  of  the  camp. 

Under  Crichton's  rule  the  aristocrats 
were  happy  for  perhaps  the  first  time 
in  their  lives.  The  hard  physical  labor 
made  something  approaching  a  man  out 
of  Ernest,  and  the  task  of  helping  to 
prepare  Crichton's  food  and  waiting  on 
him  at  the  cable  turned  Lord  Loam's 
snobbish  daughters  into  attractive  and 
useful  women.  Lord  Loam,  dressed  in 
animal  skins,  was  merely  a  harmless  and 
rather  genial  old  man  with  no  particular 


talents,  whom  everyone  called  Daddy. 
But  the  greatest  change  occurred  in  Lady 
Mary.  She  alone  realized  that  in  any 
environment  Crichton  was  superior  to 
them  all,  and  that  only  the  conventions 
of  so-called  civilized  society  had  obscured 
that  fact,  Consequently  she  fell  in  love 
with  the  butler  and  did  everything  in 
her  power  to  make  herself  his  favorite. 
Crichton,  attracted  to  the  beautiful  Lady 
Mary,  considered  making  her  his  consort 
on  the  island.  He  indulged  in  the  fancy 
that  in  some  past  existence  he  had  been 
a  king  and  she  a  Christian  slave.  But 
when  a  ship  appeared  on  the  horizon, 
Crichton  realized  that  his  dreams  were 
romantic  nonsense,  On  their  return  to 
England  he  again  would  be  a  butler,  and 
she  would  be  Lady  Mary. 

It  was  as  Crichton  had  expected.  After 
the  rescue  Lord  Loam  and  his  family 
returned  to  their  old  habits  of  thought 
and  behavior.  Crichton  was  again  the 
butler.  The  Hon.  Ernest  wrote  a  book 
about  their  experiences  on  the  island 
and  made  himself  the  hero  of  their  ex 
ploits.  Crichton  was  barely  mentioned, 
Lady  Mary  reluctantly  renewed  her  en 
gagement  to  the  rather  asinine  Lord 
Brocklehurst,  whose  mother  was  greatly 
worried  over  what  had  happened  on  the 
island  and  not  sure  that  a  daughter  of 
Lord  Loam  was  a  fit  wife  for  her  son. 

But  Lady  Mary  still  recognized  Crich- 
ton's  superiority,  and  told  him  so  frankly. 
Crichton  was  shocked.  Her  views  might 
have  been  acceptable  on  the  island,  he 
said,  but  not  in  England.  When  she  ex 
pressed  the  radical  view  that  something 
might  be  wrong  with  England,  Crichton 
told  her  that  not  even  from  her  would 
he  listen  to  a  word  of  criticism  againsf 
England  or  English  ways. 


THE  ABNEID 

Type  of  -work:  Poem 

Author:  Publius  Vergilius  Maro  (70-19  B.C.) 

Type  of  flot;  Heroic  epic 

Time  of  'plot:  The  period  immediately  following  the  Trojan  War 


11 


Locale:  The  Mediterranean  region 
First  transcribed:  Augustan  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

AENEAS,  Trojan  hero  destined  to  found  the  Roman  race 

DIDO,  Queen  of  Cartilage,  in  love  with  Aeneas 

ANNA,  her  sister 

ASCANIUS,  son  of  Aeneas 

ANCHISES,  father  of  Aeneas 

VENUS,  goddess  of  love  and  beauty,  mother  of  Aeneas 

JUNO,  queen  of  the  gods  and  enemy  of  the  Trojans 

CXJMAEAN  STBYL,  prophetess  who  leads  Aeneas  to  Hades 

LATJNUS,  king  of  the  Latins,  whom  Aeneas  defeats  in  battle 

LAVINIA,  his  daughter 

TURNUS,  Latin  hero  ambitious  for  the  Latin  tlirone  and  hand  of  Lavinia 

HVANTXER,  Arcadian  Icing,  ally  of  Aeneas 

PALLAS,  his  son 

Critique: 

This  poem  is  the  distinguished  Latin 
epic  which  celebrates  the  glory  of  Rome 
in  great  poetry.  It  records  the  traditional 
story  of  the  establishment  of  the  Roman 
race  and  thus  traces  the  lineage  of  the 
Romans  back  to  Aeneas  and  Troy*  It 
has  already  stood  the  test  of  time  and  will 
go  down  in  history  as  one  of  the  world's 
great  epics. 


The  Story: 

Aeneas,  driven  by  storm  to  the  shores 
of  Libya,  was  welcomed  gladly  by  the 
people  of  Carthage.  Because  Carthage 
was  the  favorite  city  of  Juno,  divine 
enemy  of  Aeneas,  Venus  had  Cupid  take 
the  form  of  Ascanius,  son  of  Aeneas,  so 
that  the  young  god  of  love  might  warm 
the  heart  of  proud  Dido  and  Aeneas 
come  to  no  harm  in  her  land.  At  the 
close  of  a  welcoming  feast  Aeneas  was 
prevailed  upon  to  recount  his  adventures. 

He  described  the  fall  of  his  native 
Troy  at  the  hands  of  the  Greeks  after  a 
ten-year  siege,  telling  how  the  armed 
Greeks  had  entered  the  city  in  the  belly 
of  a  great  wooden  horse  and  how  the 
Trojans  had  fled  from  their  burning  city, 
among  them  Aeneas  with  his  father 
Anchises  and  young  Ascanius.  Not  long 
afterward,  Anehiscs  had  advised  setting 
sail  for  distant  lands.  Blown  by  varying 
winds,  the  Trojans  had  at  lengtn  reached 
Buthrotum,  where  had  been  foretold  a 
long  and  arduous  journey  before  Aeneas 


would  reach  Italy.  Having  set  sail  once 
more,  they  had  reached  Sicily.  There 
Anchises,  who  had  been  his  son's  sage 
counselor,  had  died  and  had  been  buried. 
Forced  to  leave  Sicily,  Aeneas  had  been 
blown  by  stormy  winds  to  the  coast  of 
Libya.  I  lere  he  ended  his  tale,  and  Dido, 
influenced  by  Cupid  disguised  as  Asca 
nius,  felt  pity  and  admiration  for  the 
Trojan  hero. 

The  next  day  Dido  continued  her  en 
tertainment  for  Aeneas,  During  a  royal 
hunt  a  great  storm  drove  Dido  and 
Aeneas  to  the  same  cave  for  refuge. 
There  they  succumbed  to  the  passion  of 
love,  Aeneas  spent  the  winter  in  Car 
thage  and  enjoyed  the  devotion  of  the 
cjueen.  But  in  the  spring  he  felt  the  need 
to  continue  his  destined  course.  When 
he  set  sail,  the  sorrowing  Dido  killed 
herself.  The  light  of  her  funeral  pyre 
was  seen  far  out  at  sea. 

Again  on  the  shores  of  Sicily,  Aeneas 
bade  his  men  refresh  themselves  with 
food,  drink,  and  games.  First  of  all  there 
was  a  boat  race  in  which  Cloamhus  was 
the  victor*  The  second  event  was  a  foot 
race,  won  by  Huryalus.  ilntellus  engaged 
Dares  in  a  boxing  match,  which  Aeneas 
stopped  before  tlxe  obviously  superior 
Hntcllus  achieved  a  knock-out.  The  final 
contest  was  with  bow  and  arrow.  Kury- 
tion  and  Acestes  made  spectacular  show 
ings  and  to  each  was  awarded  a  hand 
some  prize.  Following  the  contests,  As- 


12 


canius  and  the  other  young  boys  rode 
out  to  engage  in  war  games.  Meanwhile, 
the  women  were  grieving  the  lost  guid 
ance  of  Anchises,  and  at  the  instigation 
of  Juno  set  fire  to  the  ships.  Aeneas,  sus 
tained  by  the  gods,  bade  his  people  repair 
the  damage.  Once  more  the  Trojans  set 
sail. 

Finally,  they  reached  the  shores  of 
Italy,  at  Cumae,  famous  for  its  sibyl. 
The  sibyl  granted  Aeneas  the  privilege  of 
visiting  his  father  in  the  underworld. 
After  due  sacrifice,  the  two  of  them 
began  their  descent  into  Hades.  At  length 
they  reached  the  river  Styx  and  per 
suaded  the  boatman  Charon  to  row  them 
across.  Aeneas  saw  the  spirits  of  many 
people  he  had  known  in  life,  including 
the  ill-fated  Dido.  Then  they  came  to  the 
beginning  of  a  forked  road.  One  path 
kd  to  the  regions  of  the  damned;  the 
other  led  to  the  land  of  the  blessed.  Fol 
lowing  this  latter  road,  they  came  at  last 
to  Anchises,  who  showed  Aeneas  in  mar 
velous  fashion  all  the  future  history  of 
Rome,  and  commanded  him  to  found  his 
kingdom  at  the  place  where  he  would 
eat  his  tables.  On  his  return  to  the  upper 
regions  Aeneas  revisited  his  men  and 
proceeded  to  his  own  abode. 

Again  the  Trojans  set  sail  up  the  coast 
of  Italy,  to  the  ancient  state  of  Latium, 
ruled  over  by  Latinus.  On  the  shore 
they  prepared  a  meal,  laying  bread  under 
their  meat.  As  they  were  eating,  Asca- 
nius  jokingly  observed  that  in  eating 
their  bread  they  were  eating  their  tables. 
This  remark  told  Aeneas  that  here  was 
the  place  Anchises  had  foretold.  Next  day 
the  Trojans  came  to  the  city  of  King 
Latinus  on  the  Tiber.  Latinus  had  been 
warned  by  an  oracle  not  to  give  his 
daughter  Lavinia  in  marriage  to  any 
native  man,  but  to  wait  for  an  alien, 
who  would  come  to  establish  a  great 
people.  He  welcomed  Aeneas  as  that 
man  of  destiny, 

A  Latin  hero,  Turnus,  became  jealous 
of  the  favor  Latinus  showed  Aeneas,  and 
stirred  up  revolt  amongthe  people.  Juno, 
hating  Aeneas,  aided  Tumus.  One  day 


Ascanius  killed  a  stag,  not  knowing  chat 
it  was  the  tame  favorite  of  a  native  fam 
ily.  There  grew  from  the  incident  such 
a  feud  that  Latinus  shut  himself  up  in 
his  house  and  ceased  to  control  his  sub 
jects.  Meanwhile  Aeneas  made  prepara 
tions  for  battle  with  the  Latins  under 
Turnus. 

In  a  dream  he  was  advised  to  seek  the 
help  of  Evander,  whose  kingdom  on  the 
Seven  Hills  would  become  the  site  of 
mighty  Rome.  Evander  agreed  to  join 
forces  with  Aeneas  against  the  armies  of 
Turnus  and  to  enlist  troops  from  nearby 
territories  as  well.  Now  Venus  presented 
Aeneas  with  a  fabulous  shield  made  by 
Vulcan,  for  she  feared  for  the  safety  of 
her  son. 

When  Turnus  learned  that  Aeneas 
was  with  Evander,  he  and  his  troops  be 
sieged  the  Trojan  camp.  One  night 
Nisus  and  Euryalus,  two  Trojan  youthj, 
entered  the  camp  of  the  sleeping  Latins 
and  slaughtered  a  great  many  of  them 
before  they  were  discovered  and  put  to 
death.  The  enraged  Latins  advanced  on 
the  Trojans  with  fire  and  sword  and 
forced  them  into  open  battle.  When  the 
Trojans  seemed  about  to  beat  back  their 
attackers,  Turnus  entered  the  fray  and 
put  them  to  flight.  But  the  thought  of 
Aeneas  inspired  the  Trojans  to  such 
bravery  that  they  drove  Turnus  into  the 
river. 

Aeneas,  warned  in  a  dream  of  this 
battle,  returned  and  landed  with  his 
allies  on  the  shore  near  the  battlefield, 
where  he  encountered  Turnus  and  his 
armies.  Evander's  troops  were  being 
routed  when  Pallas,  Evander's  beloved 
son,  began  to  urge  them  on  and  himself 
rushed  into  the  fight,  killing  many  of  the 
enemy  before  he  was  slain  in  combat  with 
Turnus.  Aeneas  sought  to  take  the  life 
of  Turnus,  who  escaped  through  the  in 
tervention  of  Juno. 

Aeneas  decreed  that  the  body  of  Pallas 
should  be  sent  back  to  his  father  with 
appropriate  pomp  during  a  twelve-day 
truce.  The  gods  had  watched  the  con 
flict  from  afar;  now  Juno  relented  at 


13 


Jupiter's  command,  but  insisted  that  the 
Trojans  must  take  the  Latin  speech  and 
garb  before  their  city  could  rule  the 
world. 

Turnus  led  his  band  of  followers 
against  Aeneas  in  spite  of  a  treaty  made 
by  Latinus.  An  arrow  from  an  unknown 
source  wounded  Aeneas,  but  his  wound 
was  miraculously  healed.  The  Trojan 
hero  reentered  the  battle,  was  again 


wounded,  but  was  able  to  engage  Turnus 
in  personal  combat  and  strike  him  down. 
Aeneas  killed  his  enemy  in  the  name  of 
Pallas  and  sacrificed  his  body  to  the 
shade  of  his  dead  ally.  No  longer  op 
posed  by  Turnus,  Aeneas  was  now  free 
to  marry  Lavinia  and  establish  his  long- 
promised  new  nation.  This  was  Rome, 
the  mistress  of  the  ancient  world. 


THE  AGE  OF  INNOCENCE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Edith  Wharton  (1862-1937) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot;   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   New  York  City 

First  published;    1920 

Principal  characters: 

NEWLAND  ARCHER,  a  young  attorney 
MAY  WELLANT>,  his  fiancee 
COUNTESS  ELUEN  OLENSKA,  her  cousin 


Critique: 

This  novel  is  an  incisive  but  oblique 
attack  on  the  intricate  and  tyrannous 
tribal  customs  of  a  highly  stratified  New 
York  society  with  which  the  author  her 
self  was  familiar.  Her  psychological 
probing  of  the  meaning  and  motivation 
behind  the  apparent  facade  of  her  char 
acters'  social  behavior  shows  her  to  be 
a  true  disciple  of  Henry  James.  The 
method  is  indeed  that  of  James,  but 
Edith  Wharton's  style  is  clearer  and  less 
involved.  Here  is  a  well-made  novel,  the 
work  of  a  craftsman  for  whom  form  and 
method  are  perfectly  welded,  and  the  ac 
tion  results  inevitably  from  the  natures 
of  the  characters  themselves. 

The  Story: 

Newland  Archer,  a  handsome  and 
eligible  young  attorney  engaged  to  lovely 
May  Welland,  learned  that  the  engage 
ment  would  be  announced  at  a  party  to 
welcome  his  fianceVs  cousin,  Countess 
Ellen  Olenska.  This  reception  for  Ellen 
constituted  a  heroic  sacrifice  on  the  part 
of  the  many  Welland  connections,  for 


her  marriage  to  a  ne'er-do-well  Polish 
count  had  not  improved  her  position  so 
far  as  rigorous  and  straight-laced  New 
York  society  was  concerned.  The  fact 
that  she  contemplated  a  divorce  action 
also  made  her  suspect,  and,  to  cap  it  all, 
her  rather  bohemian  way  of  living  did 
not  conform  to  what  her  family  expected 
of  a  woman  who  had  made  an  unsuccess 
ful  marriage. 

Newland  Archer's  engagement  to  May 
was  announced.  At  the  same  party 
Archer  was  greatly  attracted  to  Ellen. 
Before  long,  with  the  excuse  that  he 
was  making  the  cousin  of  his  betrothed 
feel  at  home,  he  began  to  send  her  flowers 
and  call  on  her.  To  him  she  seemed  a 
woman  who  offered  sensitivity,  beauty, 
the  promise  of  a  life  quite  different  from 
that  he  could  expect  after  his  marriage 
to  May. 

He  found  himself  defending  Ellen 
when  the  rest  of  society  was  attacking 
her  contemplated  divorce  action.  He 
did  not,  however,  consider  breaking  his 
engagement  to  May,  but  constantly 


THE  AGE  OF  INNOCENCE  by  Edith  Wharton.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Appleton-Century-Crofu 
Inc.    Copyright,  1920,  by  D.  Appletou  &  Co.    Renewed,  1947,  by  Frederic  King, 

14 


sought  reasons  for  justifying  what  was 
to  the  rest  of  his  group  an  excellent 
union.  With  Ellen  often  in  his  thoughts, 
May  WellancTs  cool  beauty  and  correct 
but  unexciting  personality  began  to  suf 
fer  in  Archer's  estimation. 

Although  the  clan  defended  her  against 
all  outsiders,  Ellen  was  often  treated 
as  a  pariah.  Her  family  kept  check  on 
her,  trying  to  prevent  her  from  indulging 
in  too  many  bohemianisms,  such  as  her 
strange  desire  to  rent  a  house  in  a 
socially  unacceptable  part  of  town.  The 
women  of  the  clan  also  recognized  her 
as  a  dangerous  rival,  and  ruthless  Julius 
Beaufort,  whose  secret  dissipations  were 
known  by  all,  including  his  wife,  paid 
her  marked  attention.  Archer  found  him 
self  hating  Julius  Beaufort  very  much. 

Convincing  himself  that  he  was  see 
ing  too  much  of  Ellen,  Archer  went  to 
St.  Augustine  to  visit  May,  who  was 
vacationing  there  with  her  mother  and 
her  hypochondriac  father.  In  spite  of 
her  cool  and  conventional  welcome  and 
her  gentle  rebuffs  to  his  wooing,  her 
beauty  reawakened  in  him  a  kind  of 
affection,  and  he  pleaded  with  her  to 
advance  the  date  of  their  wedding.  May 
and  her  parents  refused  because  their 
elaborate  preparations  could  not  be  com 
pleted  in  time. 

Archer  returned  to  New  York.  There, 
with  tHe  aid  of  the  family  matriarch, 
Mrs.  Manson  Mingott,  he  achieved  his 
purpose,  and  the  wedding  date  was  ad 
vanced.  This  news  came  to  him  in  a 
telegram  sent  by  May  to  Ellen,  which 
Ellen  read  to  him  just  as  he  was  at 
tempting  to  advance  the  intimacy  of  their 
relationship.  Archer  left  Ellen's  house 
and  found  a  similar  telegram  from  May 
to  himself.  Telling  his  sister  Janey  that 
the  wedding  would  take  place  within  a 
month,  he  suddenly  realized  that  he  was 
now  protected  against  Ellen  and  him 
self. 

The  ornate  wedding,  the  conventional 
European  honeymoon  which  followed, 
and  May's  assumption  of  the  role  of  the 
proper  wife,  soon  disillusioned  Archer. 


He  realized  that  he  was  trapped,  that 
the  mores  of  his  society,  helped  by  his 
own  lack  of  courage,  had  prepared  him, 
like  a  smooth  ritual,  for  a  rigid  and  codi 
fied  life.  There  was  enough  intelligence 
and  insight  in  Archer,  however,  to  make 
him  resent  the  trap. 

On  his  return  to  New  York,  he  con 
tinued  to  see  Ellen.  The  uselessness  of 
his  work  as  junior  attorney  in  an  ancient 
law  firm,  the  stale  regimen  of  his  social 
life,  and  the  passive  sweetness  of  May 
did  not  satisfy  that  part  of  Archer  which 
set  him  apart  from  the  rest  of  his  clan. 

He  proposed  to  Ellen  that  they  go 
away  together,  but  Ellen,  wise  and 
kind,  showed  him  that  such  an  escape 
would  not  be  a  pleasant  one,  and  she  in 
dicated  that  they  could  love  each  other 
only  as  long  as  he  did  not  press  for  a 
consummation.  Archer  agreed.  He  fur 
ther  capitulated  when,  urged  by  her 
family,  he  advised  Ellen,  as  her  attorney 
and  as  a  relative,  not  to  get  a  divorce 
from  Count  Olenski.  She  agreed,  and 
Archer  again  blamed  his  own  cowardice 
for  his  action. 

The  family  faced  another  crisis  when 
Julius  Beaufort's  firm,  built  upon  a 
framework  of  shady  financial  transactions, 
failed,  ruining  him  and  his  duped  cus 
tomers.  The  blow  caused  elderly  Mrs. 
Mingott  to  have  a  stroke,  and  the  family 
rallied  around  her.  She  summoned  El 
len,  a  favorite  of  hers,  to  her  side,  and 
Ellen,  who  had  been  living  in  Washing 
ton,  D.  G,  returned  to  the  Mingott  house 
to  stay.  Archer,  who  had  not  met  Ellen 
since  lie  advised  her  against  a  divorce, 
began  seeing  her  again,  and  certain  re 
marks  by  Archer's  male  acquaintances 
along  with  a  strained  and  martyrlike 
attitude  which  May  had  adopted,  indi 
cated  to  him  that  his  intimacy  with  Ellen 
was  known  among  his  family  and  friends. 
The  affair  came  to  an  end,  however, 
when  Ellen  left  for  Paris,  after  learning 
that  May  was  to  have  a  baby.  It  was 
obvious  to  all  that  May  had  triumphed, 
and  Archer  was  treated  by  his  family 
as  a  prodigal  returned.  The  rebel  was 


15 


conquered.  Archer  made  his  peace  with 
society. 

Years  passed.  Archer  dabbled  in  lib 
eral  politics,  interested  himself  in  civic 
reforms.  Mis  children,  Mary  and  Dallas, 
were  properly  reared.  May  died  when 
Archer  was  in  his  fifties.  He  lamented 
her  passing  with  genuine  grief,  tie 
watched  society  changing,  and  saw  the 
old  conservative  order  give  way,  accepting 
and  rationalizing  innovations  of  a 
younger,  more  liberal  generation. 

One  day  his  son  Dallas,  about  to  be 
married,  phoned  him  and  proposed  a 
European  tour,  their  last  trip  together. 


In  Paris,  Dallas  revealed  to  his  father  that 
he  knew  all  about  Ellen  Olenska  and  had 
arranged  a  visit  to  her  apartment.  But 
when  they  arrived,  Archer  sent  his  son 
ahead,  to  pay  his  respects,  while  he  re 
mained  on  a  park  bench  outside.  A 
romantic  to  the  end,  incapable  of  acting 
in  any  situation  which  made  demands 
on  his  emotional  resources,  he  sat  and 
watched  the  lights  in  Ellen's  apartment 
until  a  servant  appeared  on  the  balcony 
and  closed  the  shutters.  Then  he  walked 
slowly  back  to  his  hotel.  The  past  was 
the  past;  the  present  was  secure. 


ALCESTIS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 
Author:  Euripides  (480-406  B.C.) 
Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 
Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 
Locale:  Plierae,  in  ancient  Greece 
First  presented:  438  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

AVOLLO,  god  of  the  sun 

ADMKTUS,  King  of  Pherae 

ALCESTXS,  his  wife 

THANATOS,  Death 

HERCULES,  son  of  Zeus  and  friend  to  Admetus 

Critique: 

Composed  by  Euripides  as  the  fourth 
play  of  a  tragic  tetrology  performed  at 
the  Feast  of  Dionysius  in  438  B.C.,  Al~ 
cestis  has  characteristics  of  both  the  tiag- 
edy  and  the  satyr  play.  Although  this 
was  a  rare  but  not  unique  form  among 
Attic  playwrights,  Alcestis  is  the  only 
surviving  example.  Consistent  with  Eu- 
ripidcan  technique,  the  conclusion  of  the 
drama  results  from  the  intervention  of 
a  heavenly  power  that  resolves  the  con 
flict,  in  tins  case  the  character  of  Her 
cules, 


The  Story: 

Phoebus  Apollo  had  a  son,  Asclepius, 
who  in  time  became  a  gocl  of  medicine 
and  healing.  Asclepius  transgressed  di 
vine  law  by  raising  a  mortal,  I  Jippolytus, 
from  the  dead,  and  Zeus,  in  anger,  killed 
Apollo's  son  with  a  thunderbolt  forged 


by  the  Cyclops.  Apollo  then  slew  the 
Cyclops,  a  deed  for  which  he  was  con 
demned  by  Zeus  to  leave  Olympus  and 
to  serve  for  one  year  as  herdsman  to 
Aclmetus,  King  of  rherne  in  Thessaly. 

Some  time  after  Apollo  had  completed 
his  term  of  service,  Aclmetus  married 
Alcestis,  daughter  of  Pelius,  King  of  lol- 
cus.  But  on  his  wedding  clay  he  offended 
the  goddess  Artemis  and  so  was  doomed 
to  die.  Apollo,  grateful  for  the  kindness 
Aclmetus  had  sliown  him  in  the  past, 

E-evailed  upon  the  Fates  to  spare  the 
ng  on  the  condition  that  when  his  hour 
of  death  should  come,  they  should  ac 
cept  in  ransom  the  life  of  whoever  would 
consent  to  die  in  his  place. 

None  of  Aclmetus'  kin,  however,  cared 
to  offer  themselves  in  his  place.  Then 
Alcestis,  in  wifely  devotion,  pledged  her 
self  to  die  for  her  husband.  Finally  the 


16 


day  arrived  when  she  must  give  up  her 
life. 

Concerned  for  the  wife  of  his  mortal 
friend,  Apollo  appealed  to  Thanatos,  who 
had  come  to  take  Alcestis  to  the  under 
world.   But  Thanatos  rejected  his  pleas, 
warning  the  god  not  to  transgress  against 
eternal    judgment    or    the    will    of    the 
Fates.    Apollo  declared  that  there  was 
one  powerful  enough  to  defy  the  Fates 
who  was  even  then  on  his  way  to  the 
palace  of  Admetus.   Meanwhile  Alcestis 
prepared  for  her  approaching  death.   On 
the  day  she  was  to  die  she  dressed  her 
self  in  her  rich  funeral  robes  and  prayed 
before  the  hearth  fire  to  Vesta,  goddess 
of  the  hearth,  asking  her  to  be  a  mother 
to  the  two  children  she  was  leaving  be 
hind,  to  find  a  helpmate  for  the  boy,  a 
gentle  lord  for  the  girl,  and  not  to  let 
them  follow  their  mother's  example  and 
die  before  their  time.  After  her  prayers, 
she  placed  garlands  of  myrtle  on  each  al 
tar  of  the  house  and  at  each  shrine  prayed 
tearlessly,  knowing  that  death  was  com 
ing.  Then  in  her  own  chamber  she  wept 
as  she  remembered  the  happy  years  she 
and  Admetus  had  lived  together.  There 
her  children  found  her,  and  she  said  her 
farewells  to  them.   The  house  was  filled 
also  with  die  sound  of  weeping  servants, 
grieving  for  the  mistress  they  loved.  Ad 
metus  also  wept  bitterly,  begging  Alcestis 
not  to  leave  him.   But  the  condition  im 
posed  by  the  Fates  had  to  be  met.  While 
he  watched,  her  breath  grew  fainter,  and 
her  cold  hand  fell  languidly.  Before  she 
died,  she  asked  him  to  promise  that  he 
would   always   care    tenderly   for   their 
children  and!  that  he  would  never  marry 
again. 

At  that  moment  Hercules  arrived  at 


the  palace  of  Admetus,  on  his  way  to  slay 
the  wild  horses  of  Diomedes  in  Thrace 
as  the  eighth  of  his  twelve  labors.  Ad 
metus  concealed  from  Hercules  the  news 
of  Alcestis'  death  so  that  he  might  keep 
the  son  of  Zeus  as  a  guest  and  carry  out 
the  proper  rites  of  hospitality.  Hercules, 
ignorant  of  what  had  taken  place  before 
his  arrival  in  Pherae,  speni  the  night 
carousing,  drinking  wine,  and  singing, 
only  to  awaken  in  the  morning  and  dis 
cover  that  Alcestis  had  died  hours  before 
he  came  and  that  his  host  had  purposely 
deluded  him  in  order  to  make  his  stay 
in  Pherae  as  comfortable  as  possible.  In 
gratitude  for  Admetus'  thoughtfulness 
and  in  remorse  for  having  reveled  while 
the  home  of  his  friend  was  deep  in 
sorrow,  he  determined  to  ambush  Thana 
tos  and  bring  Alcestis  back  from  the 
dead. 

Since  no  labor  was  too  arduous  for  the 
hero,  he  set  out  after  Thanatos  and  Al 
cestis.  Overtaking  them,  he  wrestled  with 
Thanatos  and  forced  him  to  give  up  his 
victim.  Then  he  brought  Alcestis,  heavily 
veiled,  into  the  presence  of  sorrowing 
Admetus,  and  asked  the  king  to  protect 
her  until  Hercules  returned  from  Thrace. 
When  Admetus  refused,  Hercules  in 
sisted  that  the  king  at  least  peer  beneath 
the  woman's  veil.  Great  was  the  joy  of 
Admetus  and  his  household  when  they 
learned  that  the  woman  was  Alcestis. 
miraculously  returned  from  the  grave, 
Pleased  with  his  efforts,  doughty  Her 
cules  set  out  once  more  to  face  the  peril 
ous  eighth  labor  which  Awaited  him  in 
Thrace,  firm  in  the  knowledge  that  with 
him  went  the  undying  gratitude  of  Ad 
metus  and  the  gentle  Alcestis. 


ALECK  MAURY,  SPORTSMAJST 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Caroline  Gordon  ( 1 895-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Fictional  biography 

Time  of-  flat:  Late  nineteenth,  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Missouri 

First  yulolisned:  1934 

Principal  characters: 

ALECK  MAURY,  a  Southern  sportsman 

17 


JAMES  Mormrs,  his  uncle 

VICTORIA,  his  aunt 

JULIAN,  his  cousin 

MR.  FAYERLEJE,  owner  of  Merry  Point 

MRS.  FAYERLEE,  his  wife 

MOLLY  FAYERLEE,  their  daughter,  Aleck's  wife 

RICHARD,  and 

SARAH  (SALLY),  Aleck's  and  Molly's  children 

STEVE,  Sarah's  husband 


Critique: 

This  novel  tells  of  Aleck  Maury,  who 
devoted  his  life  to  his  twin  enthusiasms 
for  gun  and  rod.  To  him,  hunting  and 
fishing  were  the  very  breath  of  life; 
everything  else  was  secondary,  including 
his  career  as  a  teacher  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
The  book  is  a  series  of  incidents 
which,  when  put  together,  describe 
Aleck  Maury  and  make  him  seem  real. 

The  Story: 

Aleck  Maury 's  love  for  hunting  and 
fishing  began  in  childhood.  At  the  age 
of  eight,  Rate,  a  Negro  handyman  at  the 
Maury  household,  took  Aleck  coon  hunt 
ing.  Not  long  after,  a  mill  owner  named 
Jones  took  the  boy  fishing  and  encouraged 
his  lifelong  love  for  that  sport.  Aleck 
was  always  happiest  when  he  was  out 
in  the  fields,  One  of  five  children,  he  was 
reared  by  his  oldest  sister  after  his  mother 
died,  Until  he  was  ten  years  old,  he  was 
educated  at  home  by  his  father,  who 
put  great  stress  upon  the  classics  and 
taught  his  children  nothing  else. 

At  the  age  of  ten,  Aleck  went  to  live 
at  Grassdale  with  his  Uncle  James  and 
Aunt  Victoria  Morris  and  their  son, 
Julian.  There  his  education  was  to  be 
broadened  under  the  tutelage  of  Aunt 
Victoria,  who  was  a  learned  woman, 
Aleck's  life  at  Grassdale  was  pleasant, 
centering  chiefly  about  sport. 

When  Aleck  was  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Virginia,  he  had  a  classical 
education  but  no  plans  for  making  a 
living,  I  le  tried  several  jobs.  I  le  cleared 
out  a  dogwood  thicket  for  a  set  sum  of 
money,  worked  on  a  construction  project 
on  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  city  en 


gineer's  office  in  Seattle,  and  as  a  day 
laborer  on  a  ranch  in  California.  While 
working  at  the  ranch,  he  contracted 
typhoid  fever  and  was  sent  back  east  as 
far  as  Kansas  City,  to  stay  with  some 
relatives  there.  At  last  through  the 
efforts  of  his  family  Aleck  became  a 
tutor  at  Merry  Point,  the  home  of  Mr, 
Fayerlee,  near  Gloversville,  Tennessee. 

Aleck,  living  with  the  Fayerlees,  be 
came  the  local  schoolmaster  for  the  chil 
dren  of  most  of  the  landowners  in  the 
area.  Aleck's  first  interest,  however, 
was  not  in  the  school  or  the  students  he 
taught,  but  in  the  possibilities  for  fish 
ing  and  hunting. 

During  his  stay  with  the  Fnyerlees, 
Aleck  fell  in  love  with  Molly  I;ayerlee, 
and  in  1890  they  were  married,  They 
continued  to  live  on  with  the  I;ayerlees 
and  Aleck  contimied  to  teach  school. 
During  his  first  year  of  marriage  Aleek 
acquired  the  pup  Ctyges,  a  small  hut 
thoroughbred  bird  dog.  lie  trained  Gy 
from  a  pup  and  became  greatly  attached 
to  him,  The  next  fall  Aleck's  son  Richard 
was  horn.  Two  years  later  a  daughter 
Sarah,  nicknamed  Sally,  was  born,  They 
all  continued  to  live  at  Merry  Point. 

When  Richard  was  seven,  Aleek  was 
offered  the  presidency  of  a  small  semi 
nary  in  Mississippi,  and  over  the  protesta 
tions  of  the  Fayerlee  family  the  Maurys 
left  Merry  Point,  On  the  way,  while 
spending  the  night  in  Cairo,  Aleck  lost 
CAT.  The  dog  was  never  heard  of  again. 
Tney  continued  their  journey  to  Oak 
land  and  the  seminary.  When  Aleck 
arrived,  he  found  that  the  school  was 
running  smoothly  under  the  able  diree- 


ALECK  MAURY,  SPORTSMAN  by  Caroline  Gordon.    By  perminion  of  the  author  and  the  publiihert,  Ch«rlci 
Scribaer'i  Son*.    Copyright,    1934,   by   Charlea   Scribncr'u  Sons. 


18 


tion  of  Harry  Morrow,  his  young  as 
sistant,  who  was  interested  in  adminis 
tration  rather  than  teaching.  A  few 
months  after  arriving  at  Oakland,  Aleck 
acquired  an  untrained  two-year-old 
pointer  named  Trecho  from  his  friend, 
William  Mason.  Once  again  Aleck 
started  the  slow,  arduous  training  of  a 
good  hunting  dog. 

When  Richard  was  fifteen,  Aleck 
tried  to  interest  him  in  the  joys  of  his 
own  life,  hunting  and  fishing,  but  his 
son,  although  he  was  a  splendid  swimmer 
and  wrestler,  had  little  interest  in  his 
father's  fondness  for  field  and  stream. 
That  summer  Richard,  while  swimming 
in  the  river  with  a  group  of  his  com 
panions,  was  drowned.  The  boy  had  been 
Molly's  favorite  and  his  loss  was  almost 
more  than  she  could  bear.  Aleck  thought 
it  would  be  best  for  all  concerned  to 
leave  for  different  surroundings. 

He  decided  after  some  correspondence 
with  friends  that  he  would  start  a  school 
in  Gloversville,  and  the  family  moved 
back  there.  Settled  in  the  small  Ten 
nessee  town,  Aleck  found  much  time  for 
fishing  and  hunting.  He  met  Colonel 
Wyndham  and  from  him  learned  a  great 
deal  about  casting,  flies,  and  the  tech 
niques  to  be  used  for  catching  various 
fish.  Finally  he  began  to  grow  tired  of 
the  same  pools  and  the  same  river,  and 
it  was  with  pleasure  that  he  accepted 
Harry  Morrow's  offer  of  a  job  on  the 
faculty  of  Rodman  College  at  Poplar 
Bluff,  Missouri,  of  which  Morrow  had 
just  been  made  president. 

Aleck's  main  reason  for  accepting  the 
position  was  the  possibility  it  offered 
for  fishing  in  the  Black  River.  Thus 
once  again,  after  ten  years  in  Gloversville, 
the  Maury  family  was  on  the  move  to 
newer  fishing  grounds.  Sally,  however, 
did  not  accompany  them,  but  went  to  a 
girls'  school  in  Nashville.  The  faithful 
Trecho  was  also  left  behind,  for  he  had 
been  destroyed  at  the  age  of  twelve  be 
cause  of  his  rheumatism. 

At  Rodman  Aleck  had  only  morning 
classes,  a  schedule  which  left  him  free 


to  fish  every  afternoon.  This  pleasant 
life — teaching  in  the  morning,  fishing  in 
the  afternoon — continued  for  seven  years. 
Then  Molly  died  after  an  emergency 
operation.  Mrs.  Fayerlee  and  Sally 
arrived  too  late  to  see  her  alive.  The 
three  of  them  took  her  back  to  be  buried 
in  the  family  plot  at  Merry  Point. 

Aleck  returned  to  Poplar  Bluff  and 
continued  teaching  there  for  a  few  years, 
but  at  last  he  resigned  his  position  and 
went  to  live  at  Jim  Buford's,  near  Glovers 
ville,  where  he  spent  the  next  two  years 
restocking  Jim's  lakes  with  bream  and 
bass.  Later  he  decided  to  go  to  Lake 
Harris  in  Florida  to  try  the  fishing;  but 
he  found  it  disappointing  because  of  the 
eel  grass  which  kept  the  fish  from  putting 
up  a  fight.  About  that  time  he  received 
a  letter  from  Sally,  who  had  married 
and  gone  touring  abroad  with  her  hus 
band.  The  letter  informed  him  that  she 
and  her  husband  were  soon  to  return 
home  and  that  they  hoped  to  find  a  quiet 
place  in  the  countiy  on  some  good 
fishing  water,  where  Aleck  would  go 
to  live  with  them.  Aleck  wrote  and 
suggested  that  they  start  their  search 
for  a  house  near  Elk  River. 

Four  weeks  later  he  meet  Sally  and 
Steve  at  Tullahoma,  only  to  learn  that 
Steve  and  Sally,  who  had  arrived  the 
day  before,  had  already  discovered  the 
place  they  would  like  to  have.  They  told 
him  it  was  the  old  Potter  house,  close 
to  the  river.  When  Aleck  saw  the  big, 
clapboard  house,  however,  all  his  dreams 
about  a  white  cottage  disappeared,  and 
when  he  looked  at  the  river  he  decided 
that  it  would  probably  be  muddy  about 
half  the  year.  Seeing  his  disappoint 
ment,  Steve  and  Sally  promised  to  con 
tinue  their  attempt  to  find  a  more  ideal 
house,  but  at  the  end  of  the  day's  search 
they  decided  that  they  still  liked  the  old 
Potter  house  the  best.  That  night  Aleck 
boarded  a  bus  bound  for  Caney  Fork,  the 
place  where  he  really  wanted  to  live,  and 
he  went  to  stay  at  a  small  inn  located 
there.  The  fishing  was  always  good  at 
Caney  Fork. 


19 


ALICE  ADAMS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Booth  Tarkington  (1869-1946) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  A  small  Midwestern  town 

First  published:  1921 

Principal  characters: 

ALICE  ADAMS,  a  small-town  girl 
Vmcit,  ADAMS,  her  father 
Mns.  ADAMS,  his  wife 
WALTER  ADAMS,  his  son 
MILDRBD  PALMER,  Alice's  friend 
ARTHUR  RUSSELL,  the  Palmers'  relative 
MR.  LAMB,  of  Lamb  and  Company 

Critique: 

Alice  Adams  is  a  rather  simply  told 
story  containing  one  plot  and  concerning 
itself  with  one  central  character.  The 
novel  is  the  vehicle  through  which  Tar- 
kington  expounds  his  philosophy  o£  life 
and  his  gentle  satire  on  small  town 
manners  and  morals. 


night  of  the  dance  Alice  departed  in  a 
made-over  formal,  carrying  a  homemade 
bouquet  of  wild  violets,  and  with  an 
unwilling  escort  who  was  driving  a 
borrowed  flivver.  The  party  itself  turned 
out  no  better  than  its  inauspicious  be 
ginning.  Alice  was  very  much  a  wall- 
ilower  except  Cor  the  attentions  of  Frank 
Dowling,  a  fat,  unpopular  hoy.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  evening  Mildred  Palmer 
introduced  Alice  to  a  new  young  man, 
Arthur  Russell,  a  distant  relative  of  the 
Palmers,  It  was  rumored  that  Mildred 
and  Arthur  would  become  engaged  in 
the  near  future,  Alice  asked  Arthur  to 
find  her  brother,  whom  she  had  not 
seen  since  the  second  dance.  When 
Arthur  found  Walter  shooting  dice  with 
the  Negro  waiters  in  the  cloakroom,  Alice 
was  mortified. 

A  week  later  Alice  acciclcntly  met 
Arthur  Russell  and  he  walked  home 
with  her,  During  their  walk  Alice 
learned  that  Arthur  had  asked  for  an 
introduction  to  her  at  the  da  nee.  Flat 
tered,  Alice  built  up  for  herself  a  back 
ground  which  did  not:  exist.  Arthur 
asked  for  permission  to  call  on  her. 

But  Arthur  failed  to  appear  the  next 
evening.  Several  nights  later,  nfter  Alice 
had  helped  with  the  dishes,  she  was 
sitting  on  the  front  poreh  when  Arthur 
finally  came  to  call.  To  hold  his  in- 

AUCE  ADAMS  by  Booth  TarkinKton.   By  permiftsion  Of  Brandt  «c  Brandt  and  the  publiihert,  Doublcday  A  Co 
Inc.  Copyright,  1921,  by  Doublcday  &  Co.,  Inc.   Renewed,  1949,  by  R.  Susannah  Tarkmjfton. 


The  Story: 

Alice  Adams  had  been  reared  in  a 
town  in  which  each  person's  business 
was  everybody's  bxisiness,  sooner  or  later. 
Her  father,  Virgil  Adams,  worked  for 
Lamb  and  Company,  a  wholesale  drag 
factory  in  the  town,  where  he  also  ob 
tained  a  job  for  his  son  Walter.  Alice 
had  been  one  of  the  town's  young  smart 
set  while  she  was  in  high  school,  but 
when  the  others  of  the  group  had  gone 
to  college  Alice  had  remained  behind  be 
cause  of  economic  reasons.  As  time 
passed  she  felt  increasingly  out  of  things, 
To  compensate  for  a  lack  of  attention, 
Alice  often  attracted  notice  to  herself 
by  affected  mannerisms, 

Alice  had  been  invited  to  a  dance 
given  by  Mildred  Palmer,  who,  according 
to  Alice,  was  her  best  friend.  Walter  had 
also  been  invited  so  as  to  provide  her 
with  an  escort*  Getting  Walter  to  go 
out  with  Alice,  however,  was  a  process 
which  took  all  the  coaxing  and  cajoling 
that  Mrs,  Adams  could  muster.  On  the 


20 


terest,  Alice  asked  him  to  promise  not  to 
listen  to  any  gossip  about  her.  As  time 
went  on,  she  repeated  her  fear  that 
someone  would  talk  about  her.  Her  pro 
testations  were  something  Arthur  could 
not  understand. 

For  many  years  Mrs.  Adams  had  been 
trying  to  convince  her  husband  to  leave 
his  job  at  Lamb  and  Company  and  go 
into  business  for  himself.  Her  idea  was 
that  he  could  start  a  factory  to  manu 
facture  glue  from  a  formula  he  and 
another  young  man  at  Lamb  and  Com 
pany  had  discovered  years  before.  Mean 
while  the  other  man  had  died  and  the 
only  people  who  knew  the  formula  were 
Mr.  Lamb  and  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Lamb 
had  lost  interest  in  the  formula.  Mr. 
Adams  felt  that  his  wife's  scheme  was 
dishonest,  and  in  spite  of  her  nagging 
he  refused  to  do  as  she  wished.  But 
after  Mr.  Lamb's  granddaughter  failed 
to  invite  Alice  to  a  dinner  party  she  was 
giving,  Mrs.  Adams  convinced  her  hus 
band  that  the  true  reason  was  their 
own  poor  economic  status.  In  that  way 
she  finally  won  his  grudging  agreement 
to  her  plan. 

Without  delay,  Mr.  Adams  began  to 
organize  his  new  business.  Walter  re 
fused  to  join  him  because  Mr.  Adams 
would  not  give  him  three  hundred  dol 
lars  immediately.  But  Mr.  Adams  needed 
all  his  money  for  his  new  project.  He 
sent  Mr.  Lamb  a  letter  of  resignation, 
telling  of  his  intention  to  start  a  glue 
factory.  He  expected  some  sort  of  action 
or  at  least  an  outburst  on  Mr.  Lamb's 
part  when  he  read  the  letter,  but  nothing 
was  forthcoming.  He  went  ahead  with 
his  arrangements  and  began  to  manu 
facture  his  glue. 

Alice's  mother  decided  the  time  had 
come  to  invite  Arthur  to  dinner,  and 
Alice  agreed  with  great  reluctance.  An 
elaborate  meal  was  prepared;  a  maid 


was  hired  to  serve,  and  Mr.  Adams  wa*> 
forced  into  his  dress  suit.  But  the 
dinner  was  a  dismal  failure,  and  every 
one,  including  Arthur,  was  extremely 
uncomfortable.  Arthur  had  more  reason 
than  the  rest  for  being  so,  for  he  had 
heard  Mr.  Adam's  venture  discussed  in 
the  most  unfavorable  light.  He  had  also 
heard  some  uncomplimentary  remarks 
about  Alice.  Before  dinner  was  over,  a 
friend  named  Charley  Lohr  came  to 
speak  to  Mr.  Adams.  When  both  her 
mother  and  father  failed  to  return  to  the 
table,  Alice  and  Arthur  went  out  to  the 
porch.  She  soon  dismissed  him,  know 
ing  that  something  had  come  between 
them.  When  she  went  into  the  house, 
Charley  Lohr  informed  her  that  her 
brother  had  been  caught  short  in  his 
accounts  and  had  skipped  town. 

Mr.  Adams  decided  to  get  a  loan  from 
the  bank  the  first  thing  in  the  morning  in 
order  to  pay  back  what  Walter  had  taken. 
However,  when  he  went  to  his  factor) 
in  the  morning,  he  discovered  that  the 
building  which  had  been  erected  across 
the  street  from  his  was  in  reality  another 
glue  factory,  one  started  by  Mr.  Lamb. 
His  hopes  of  obtaining  money  on  his 
factory  were  shattered.  Then  Mr.  Lamb 
rode  up  to  gloat  over  his  retaliation.  Mr. 
Adams  angrily  accused  Mr.  Lamb  of 
waiting  until  Walter  got  into  trouble 
before  announcing  his  new  factory  and 
thereby  making  Mr.  Adams'  property 
practically  worthless.  He  worked  himself 
into  such  a  state  that  he  had  a  stroke. 

Mr.  Lamb,  feeling  sorry  for  Mr. 
Adams,  offered  to  buy  him  out,  and  Mr. 
Adams  was  forced  to  agree.  Now  there 
was  no  income  in  the  family.  Mrs. 
Adams  decided  to  take  in  boarders,  and 
Alice  finally  made  up  her  mind  to  enroll 
in  Frincke's  Business  College.  She  had 
lost  more  than  Arthur  Russell;  she  had 
lost  her  daydreams  as  well. 


ALICE  IN  WONDERLAND 

Type  of  work:  Imaginative  tale 

Author:  Lewis  Carroll  (Charles  Lutwidge  Dodgson,  1832-1898) 

Tyy  of  ylot:  Fantasy 


21 


Time  of  plot:  Victorian  England 

Locale:  The  dream  world  of  an  imaginative  child 

First 'published:  1865 

Principal  characters: 

ALICE 

THE  WHITE  RABBIT 

THE  DUCHESS 

THE  QUEEN  OF  HEARTS 

Critique: 

Adults  will  view  this  book  as  a  gentle 
satire  on  education,  politics,  literature, 
and  Victorian  life  in  general,  seen 
through  the  eyes  of  Alice,  a  child  who 
is  the  product  of  a  confusing  environ 
ment.  The  book  is  written  with  charm 
ing  simplicity.  There  are  poetic  paro 
dies  on  Wordsworth  and  Sou  they  which 
•i»re  amusing  to  the  point  of  hilarity,  as 
\vell  as  ingenuous  observations  on  the 
status  of  powerful  female  rulers.  Through 
all  her  puzzling  adventures  in  the  dream 
world,  Alice  remains  the  very  essence 
of  little  girlhood,  Children  read  this 
book  with  delight,  finding  in  Alice  a 
heroine  who  aptly  represents  their  own 
thoughts  ancl  feelings  about  growing  up. 

The  Story; 

Alice  was  quietly  reading  over  her 
sister's  shoulder  when  she  saw  a  White 
Rabbit  dash  across  the  lawn  and  disap 
pear  into  its  hole.  She  jumped  up  to  rush 
after  him  and  found  herself  falling  down 
the  rabbit  hole.  At  the  bottom  she  saw 
the  White  Rabbit  hurrying  along  a  cor 
ridor  ahead  of  her  and  murmuring  that 
he  would  be  late.  lie  disappeared 
around  a  corner,  leaving  Alice  standing 
in  front  of  several  locked  doors. 

On  a  glass  table  she  found  a  tiny 
golden  key  which  unlocked  a  little  door 
hidden  behind  a  curtain.  The  door 
opened  upon  a  lovely  miniature  garden, 
but  she  could  not  got  through  the  door 
way  because  it  was  too  small.  She  sadly 
replaced  the  key  on  the  table.  A  little 
bottle  mysteriously  appeared.  Alice  drank 
the  contents  ancl  immediately  began  to 
grow  smaller,  so  much  so  that  she  could 
no  longer  reach  the  key  on  the  table. 
Next,  sac  ate  a  piece  of  cake  she  found 


nearby  and  soon  she  began  to  grow  to 
such  enormous  size  that  she  could  only 
squint  through  the  door,  la  despair,  she 
began  to  weep  tears  as  big  as  raindrops. 
As  she  sat  there  crying,  the  White  Rab 
bit  appeared,  bewailing  the  fact  that  the 
Duchess  would  be  angry  if  he  kept  her 
waiting. 

The  White  Rabbit  dropped  his  fan 
and  gloves.  Alice  picked  them  up  and 
as  she  did  so  she  began  to  grow  smaller. 
Again  she  rushed  to  the  garden  door, 
but  she  found  it  shut  and  the  golden 
key  once  more  on  the  table  out  of  reach. 

Then  she  fell  into  a  pool  of  her  own 
tears!  Splashing  along,  she  encountered 
a  mouse  who  had  stumbled  into  the 
pool  Alice  tactlessly  began  a  conversa 
tion  about  her  cat  Dinah,  and  the  mouse 
became  speechless  with  terror.  Soon  the 
pool  of  tears  was  filled  with  living 
creatures,  birds  ancl  animals  of  all  kinds. 
An  old  Dodo  suggested  tlvit  they  run  a 
Caucus  Race  to  get  dry.  Having  asked 
what  a  Caucus  Race  was,  Alice  was  told 
that  the  best  way  to  explain  it  was  to  do 
it.  Whereupon  the  animals  ran  them 
selves  quite  breathless  and  finally  became 
dry, 

Afterwards,  the  mouse  told  n  "Tail"  to 
match  its  own  appendage.  Alice  was 
asked  to  tell  something,  but  the  only 
thing  she  could  think  of  was  her  cat- 
Dinah.  Frightened,  the  other  creatures 
went  away,  and  Alice  was  left  alone. 

The  White  Rabbit  appeared  once 
more,  this  time  hunting  for  his  gloves  and 
fan.  Catching  sight  of  Alice,  he  sent 
her  to  his  home  to  get  him  a  fresh  pair 
of  gloves  and  another  fan.  In  the  Rab 
bit's  house  she  found  the  fan  and  gloves 
and  also  took  a  drink  from  a  bottle,  In- 


22 


stantly  she  grew  to  a  giant  size,  and  was 
forced  to  put  her  leg  up  the  chimney 
and  her  elbow  out  of  the  window  in 
order  to  keep  from  being  squeezed  to 
death. 

She  managed  to  eat  a  little  cake  and 
shrink  herself  again.  As  soon  as  she  was 
small  enough  to  get  through  the  door, 
she  ran  into  a  nearby  wood  where  she 
found  a  caterpillar  sitting  on  a  mush 
room.  The  caterpillar  was  very  rude  to 
Alice  and  he  scornfully  asked  her  to 
prove  her  worth  by  reciting  "You  Are 
Old,  Father  William/'  Alice  did  so,  but 
the  words  sounded  very  strange.  Dis 
gusted,  he  left  her  after  giving  her  some 
valuable  information  about  increasing  or 
decreasing  her  size.  She  broke  off  pieces 
of  the  mushroom  and  found  to  her  de 
light  that  by  eating  from  the  piece  in  her 
left  hand  she  could  become  taller,  and 
from  the  piece  in  her  right  hand,  smaller. 

She  came  to  a  little  house  among  the 
trees.  There  a  footman,  who  looked  very 
much  like  a  fish,  presented  to  another 
footman,  who  closely  remembled  a  frog, 
an  invitation  for  the  Duchess  to  play 
croquet  with  the  Queen.  The  two  am 
phibians  bowed  to  each  other  with  great 
formality,  tangling  their  wigs  together. 
Alice  opened  the  door  and  found  herself 
in  the  chaotic  house  of  the  Duchess.  The 
cook  was  stirring  a  large  pot  of  soup  and 
pouring  plenty  of  pepper  into  the  mix 
ture.  Everyone  was  sneezing  except  the 
cook  and  a  Cheshire  cat  which  sat  on 
the  hearth  grinning.  The  Duchess  her 
self  held  a  sneezing,  squalling  baby,  and 
sang  to  it  a  blaring  lullaby.  Alice,  in 
sympathy  with  the  poor  child,  picked 
it  up  and  carried  it  out  into  the  fresh 
air,  whereupon  the  baby  turned  slowly 
into  a  pig,  squirmed  out  of  her  arms,  and 
waddled  into  the  forest. 

Standing  in  bewilderment,  Alice  saw 
the  grinning  Cheshire  cat  sitting  in  a 
tree.  He  was  able  to  appear  and  dis 
appear  at  will,  and  after  exercising  his 
talents,  he  advised  Alice  to  go  to  a  tea 
party  given  by  the  Mad  Hatter.  The  cat 
vanished,  all  but  the  grin.  Finally  that 


too,  disappeared,  and  Alice  left  for  the 
party, 

There  Alice  found  she  had  to  deal  with 
the  strangest  people  she  had  ever  seen — 
a  March  Hare,  a  Mad  Hatter,  and  a 
sleepy  Dormouse.  All  were  too  lazy  to 
set  the  table  properly;  dirty  dishes  were 
everywhere.  The  Dormouse  fell  asleep 
in  its  teacup;  the  Mad  Hatter  told  Alice 
her  hair  needed  cutting;  the  March  Hare 
offered  her  wine  and  then  told  her  there 
was  none.  They  asked  her  foolish  riddles 
that  had  no  answers.  Then,  worse,  they 
ignored  her  completely  and  carried  on  a 
ridiculous  conversation  among  them 
selves.  She  escaped  after  the  Dormouse 
fell  asleep  in  the  middle  of  a  story  ho 
was  telling. 

Next  she  found  herself  in  a  garden  of 
talking  flowers.  Just  as  the  conversation 
was  beginning,  some  gardeners  appeared 
with  paint  brushes  and  began  to  splash 
red  paint  on  a  rose  bush.  Alice  learned 
that  the  Queen  had  ordered  a  red  bush 
to  be  placed  in  that  spot,  and  the  gar 
deners  had  made  a  mistake  and  planted 
a  white  one.  Now  they  were  busily 
and  fearfully  trying  to  cover  their  error 
before  the  Queen  arrived.  But  the  pooi 
gardeners  were  not  swift  enough.  The 
Queen  caught  them  in  the  act,  and  the 
wretched  gardeners  were  led  off  to  be 
decapitated.  Alice  saved  them  by  shov 
ing  them  down  into  a  large  flower  pot, 
out  of  sight  of  the  dreadful  Queen. 

A  croquet  game  began.  The  mallets 
were  live  flamingoes,  and  the  balls  were 
hedgehogs  which  thought  nothing  of  un 
curling  themselves  and  running  rapidly 
over  the  field.  The  Duchess  cornered 
Alice  and  led  her  away  to  the  seaside  to 
introduce  her  to  the  Mock  Turtle  and  the 
Gryphon. 

While  engaged  in  a  Lobster  Quadrille, 
they  heard  the  news  of  a  trial.  A  thief 
had  stolen  some  tarts.  Rushing  to  the 
courtroom  where  a  trial  by  jury  was  al 
ready  in  session,  Alice  was  called  upon 
to  act  as  a  witness  before  the  King  and 
Queen  of  Hearts.  But  the  excited  child 
unset  the  jury  box  and  spilled  out  all 


23 


its  occupants.  After  replacing  all  the 
animals  in  the  box,  Alice  said  she  knew 
nothing  of  the  matter.  Her  speech 
infuriated  the  Queen,  who  ordered  that 
Alice's  head  be  cut  off.  The  whole  court 


rushed  at  her,  and  Alice  defiantly  called 
them  nothing  but  a  pack  of  cards.  She 
awoke  from  her  dream  as  her  sister 
brushed  away  some  dead  leaves  blowing 
over  her  face. 


AMELIA 

Type  of  'work:  Novel 

Author:  Henry  Fielding  (1707-1754) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of 'plot;  1740's 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1751 

Principal  characters: 

CAPTAIN  BOOTH,  a  soldier 
AMELIA,  his  wife 
ELIZABETH  HARRIS,  her  sister 
SKIIGKANT  ATKINSON,  her  foster  brother 
DR.  HARRISON,  Booth's  benefactor 
Miss  MATTHEWS,  a  woman  of  the  town 
COLONKL  JAJVTHS,  Booth's  former  officer 

Critique: 

As  Fielding  declared  in  his  introduc 
tion  to  The  History  of  Amelia,  lie  satir 
ized  nobody  in  tlie  novel.  Amelia,  the 
long-suffering  wife  of  every  generation, 
is  charming  and  attractive.  The  foibles 
of  her  husband  still  ring  true*  Dr,  I  Iar~ 
rison  is  a  man  each  reader  would  like 
to  know.  Some  of  the  interest  of  the 
novel  lies  in  Fielding's  accurate  presenta 
tion  of  prison  life  and  the  courts*  Having 
been  a  magistrate  for  many  years,  he  was 
able  to  present  these  scenes  in  a  most 
modern  and  realistic  way,  for  aside  from 
presenting  the  virtuous  character  of 
Amelia,  i'ielding  wanted  his  novel  to 
interest  people  in  prison  and  legal  re 
form.  Although  the  novel  lacks  the 
extravagant  humor  of  his  earlier  novels, 
the  plot  presents  many  amusing  char 
acters  and  complex  situations. 


The  Story, 

One  night  the  watchmen  of  West 
minster  arrested  Captain  William  Booth, 
seizing  him  during  Jhis  attempt  to  rescue 
a  stranger  who  was  being  attacked  by 
two  ruffians.  The  footpads  secured  their 
own  liberty  by  bribing  the  constables, 
but  Booth,  in  spite  of  his  protests,  was 


hailed  before  an  unjust  magistrate.  The 
story  he  told  was  a  straightforward  one, 
but  because  he  was  penniless  and  shab 
bily  dressed  the  judge  dismissed  his  tale 
and  sentenced  him  to  prison.  Booth  was 
desperate,  for  there  was  no  one  he  knew 
in  London  to  whom  he  could  turn  for 
aid.  His  plight  was  made  worse  by  his 
reception  at  the  prison.  His  fellow  pris 
oners  stripped  him  of  his  coat,  and  a 
pickpocket  made  off  with  his  snulFbox. 

While  he  was  smarting  from  these  in 
dignities,  a  fashionably  dressed  young 
woman  was  brought  through  the  gates, 
Flourishing  a  bag  of  gold  in  the  face 
of  her  keepers,  she  demanded  a  private 
room  in  the  prison.  Her  appearance  and 
manner  reminded  Booth  of  an  old  friend 
of  questionable  background,  a  Miss  Mat 
thews  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  several 
years.  But  when  the  woman  passed  him 
without  a  sign  of  recognition,  he  be* 
lieved  himself  mistaken, 

Shortly  afterward  a  guard  brought  him 
u  guinea  in.  a  small  parcel,  and  with  the 
money  Booth  was  able  to  redeem  his 
coat  and  snuffbox.  The  rest  of  the  wind 
fall  he  lost  in  a  card  game.  Booth  was 
penniless  once  more  when  a  keeper  came 


24 


co  conduct  him  to  Miss  Matthews,  for 
the  woman  was  indeed  she.  Seeing  his 
wretched  condition  as  he  stood  by  the 
prison  gate,  she  had  sent  him  the  mys 
terious  guinea. 

Reunited  under  these  distressing  cir 
cumstances,  they  proceeded  to  relate  the 
stories  of  their  experiences.  Miss  Mat 
thews  told  how  she  had  been  committed 
to  await  sentence  for  a  penknife  attack 
on  a  soldier  who  had  seduced  her  under 
false  promises  of  marriage. 

Booth,  in  turn,  told  this  story.  He  had 
met  a  Miss  Amelia  Harris,  a  beautiful 
girl  whose  mother  at  first  opposed  her 
daughter's  marriage  to  a  penniless  sol 
dier.  The  young  couple  eloped  but  were 
later,  through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Harri 
son,  a  wise  and  kindly  curate,  reconciled 
with  Amelia's  mother.  Booth's  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Gibraltar,  shortly  before 
a  child  was  to  be  born  to  Amelia.  He 
left  reluctantly,  leaving  Amelia  in  the 
care  of  her  mother  and  her  older  sister, 
Elizabeth.  At  Gibraltar  Booth  earned  the 
good  opinion  of  his  officers  by  his  brav 
ery.  Wounded  in  one  of  the  battles  of 
the  campaign,  he  was  very  ill,  and 
Amelia,  learning  of  his  condition,  left 
her  child  with  her  mother  and  sister  and 
went  to  Gibraltar  to  nurse  her  sick  hus 
band.  Then  Amelia,  in  her  turn,  fell 
sick.  Wishing  to  take  her  to  a  milder 
climate,  Booth  wrote  to  Mrs.  Harris  for 
money,  but  in  reply  received  only  a  rude 
note  from  Elizabeth.  He  hoped  to  get 
the  money  from  his  army  friend,  Major 
James,  but  that  gentleman  was  away  at 
the  time.  Finally  he  borrowed  the  money 
from  Sergeant  Atkinson,  his  friend  and 
Amelia's  foster  brother,  and  went  with  his 
wife  to  Montpelier.  There  the  couple 
made  friends  with  an  amusing  English 
officer  named  Colonel  Bath  and  his  sister. 

Joy  at  the  birth  of  a  second  child,  a 
girl,  was  dampened  by  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Harrison,  who  wrote  to  tell  them  that 
old  Mrs.  Harris  was  dead,  and  that  she 
had  left  her  property  to  Amelia's  sister. 
The  Booths  returned  home,  to  be  greeted 
so  rudely  by  Elizabeth  that  they  with 


drew  from  the  house.  But  for  the  help 
of  Dr.  Harrison,  they  would  have  been 
destitute.  Harrison  set  Booth  up  as  a 
gentleman  farmer  and  tried  to  help  him 
make  the  best  of  his  half-pay  from  the 
Army.  But  because  of  several  small  mis 
takes,  Booth  made  enemies  among  the 
surrounding  farmers.  Dr.  Harrison  was 
traveling  on  the  continent  at  the  time 
and  in  his  absence  Booth  was  reduced 
almost  to  bankruptcy,  He  came  to  Lon 
don  to  try  his  fortunes  anew.  He  pre 
ceded  Amelia,  found  modest  lodgings, 
and  wrote  her  where  they  were.  It  was 
at  this  point  that  another  misfortune 
landed  him  in  prison.  At  the  end  of 
Booth's  story,  Miss  Matthews  sympa- 
thized  with  his  unfortunate  situation, 
congratulated  him  on  his  wife  and  chil 
dren,  and  paid  the  jailer  to  let  Booth 
spend  the  next  few  nights  with  her  in 
her  cell. 

Booth  and  Miss  Matthews  were  shortly 
released  from  prison,  The  soldier 
wounded  by  Miss  Matthews  having  com 
pletely  recovered,  charges  against  her 
were  dropped.  Miss  Matthews  also  se^ 
cured  the  release  of  Booth,  and  the  two 
were  preparing  to  leave  prison  when 
Amelia  arrived.  She  had  come  up  from 
the  country  to  save  him,  and  his  release 
was  a  welcome  surprise  for  the  distressed 
wife.  The  Booths  set  themselves  up  in 
London,  Shortly  afterward,  Booth  met 
his  former  officer,  now  Colonel  James, 
who  in  the  meanwhile  had  married  Miss 
Bath  and  grown  quickly  tired  of  her. 
Mrs.  James  and  Amelia  resumed  their 
old  friendship.  Booth,  afraid  that  Miss 
Matthews  would  inform  Amelia  of  their 
affair  in  prison,  told  Colonel  James  of 
his  difficulties  and  fears.  The  colonel 
gave  him  a  loan  and  told  him  not  to 
worry.  Colonel  James  was  himself  in 
terested  in  Miss  Matthews,  but  he  was 
unable  to  help  Booth  by  his  intercession. 
Miss  Matthews  continued  to  send  Booth 
reproachful  and  revealing  letters  which 
might  at  any  time  have  been  intercepted 
by  Amelia. 

While  walking  in  the  park  one  day^, 


the  Booths  met  Sergeant  Atkinson.  He 
joined  their  household  to  help  care  for 
the  children,  and  soon  he  started  a  half 
flirtation  with  a  Mrs.  Ellison,  Booth's 
landlady. 

Mrs.  Ellison  proved  useful  to  the 
Booths,  for  a  lord  who  came  also  to  visit 
her  advanced  money  to  pay  some  of 
Booth's  debts.  Meanwhile  Miss  Mat 
thews  had  spitefully  turned  Colonel 
James  against  Booth.  Colonel  Bath,  hear 
ing  his  brother-in-law's  poor  opinion  of 
Booth,  decided  that  Booth  was  neither 
an  officer  nor  a  gentleman,  and  chal 
lenged  him  to  a  duel.  Colonel  Bath  be 
lieved  in  nothing  so  much  as  a  code  of 
honor,  and  when,  in  the  duel,  Booth  had 
run  him  through,  without  serious  injury, 
the  colonel  was  so  much  impressed  by 
Booth's  gallantry  that  he  forgave  him  and 
brought  about  a  reconciliation  between 
James  and  Booth, 

During  this  time  Mrs.  Ellison  had  been 
trying  to  arrange  an  assignation  between 
Amelia  and  the  nobleman  who  had  given 
Booth  money  to  pay  his  gambling  debts. 
Amelia  was  innocently  misled  by  her 
false  friends.  But  the  nobleman's  plan 
to  meet  Amelia  secretly  at  a  masquerade 
was  thwarted  by  another  neighbor,  Mrs. 
Bennet  This  woman,  who  had  been  a 
boarder  in  Mrs.  Ellison's  house,  had  also 
met  the  noble  lord,  had  encountered 
him  at  a  masquerade,  and  had  drunk  the 
drugged  wine  he  provided.  To  prevent 
Amelia's  ruin  in  the  same  manner,  Mrs. 
Bennet  came  to  warn  her  friend.  Then 
she  informed  Amelia  that  she  had  re 
cently  married  Sergeant  Atkinson,  whom 
Amelia  had  thought  in  love  with  Mrs. 
Ellison.  But  Amelia's  joy  at  learning 
of  both  the  plot,  which  she  now  planned 
to  escape,  and  of  the  marriage,  was 
marred  by  the  news  that  Booth  had  again 
been  put  into  prison  for  debt,  this  time 
on  a  warrant  of  their  old  friend  Dr. 
[  larrison. 

Amelia  soon  discovered  that  Dr,  Har 
rison  had  been  misled  by  false  rumors 
of  Booth's  extravagance,  and  had  put 


him  in  jail  in  order  to  stop  his  rash 
spending  of  money.  Learning  the  truth, 
Dr.  Harrison  had  Booth  released  from 
prison. 

On  the  night  of  the  masquerade 
Amelia  remained  at  home  but  sent  Mrs. 
Atkinson  dressed  in  her  costume.  At  the 
dance  Mrs.  Atkinson  was  able  to  fool 
not  only  the  lord  but  also  Colonel  James. 
The  complications  of  the  affair  were 
many,  almost  every  relationship  beino 
misunderstood.  Booth  fell  in  with  an  old 
friend  and  lost  a  large  sum  of  money 
to  him.  Again  he  became  worried  about 
being  put  in  jail.  Then  he  became  in 
volved  in  a  duel  with  Colonel  Jarnes 
over  Miss  Matthews,  whom  Booth  had 
visited  only  at  her  insistence.  Before 
the  duel  could  take  place,  Booth  was 
again  imprisoned  for  debt,  and  Dr.  Har 
rison  was  forced  to  clear  his  name  with 
Colonel  James.  Finally  James  forgave 
Booth,  and  Miss  Matthews  promised 
never  to  bother  him  again. 

Called  by  chance  into  a  strange  house 
to  hear  the  deathbed  confession  of  a 
man  named  Robinson,  Dr.  1  larrison 
learned  that  Robinson  had  at  one  time 
been  a  clerk  to  a  lawyer  named  Murphy 
who  had  made  Mrs,  Harris*  will.  He 
learned  also  that  the  will  which  had  left 
Amelia  penniless  was  a  false  one  prepared 
by  Elizabeth  and  Murphy.  Dr.  Harri 
son  had  Robinson  write  a  confession  so 
that  Amelia  could  get  the  money  that 
was  rightfully  hers.  The  lawyer  Murphy 
was  quickly  brought  to  trial  and  con 
victed  of  forgery. 

Booth's  troubles  were  now  almost  at 
an  end.  With  Dr,  Harrison  he  and 
Amelia  returned  home  to  confront  Eliza 
beth  with  their  knowledge  of  her  scheme. 
Elizabeth  fled  to  France,  where  Amelia, 
relenting,  sent  her  an  annual  allowance. 
Booth's  adventures  had  finally  taught 
him  not  to  gamble,  and  with  his  faithful 
Amelia  he  settled  clown  to  a  quiet  and 
prosperous  life  blessed  with  many  chil 
dren  and  the  invaluable  friendship  of 
Dr,  Harrison  and  the  Atkinsons. 


26 


THE  AMERICAN 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Henry  James  (1843-1916) 

Type  of  •plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Paris,  France 

First  published:  1877 

Principal  characters: 

CHRISTOPHER  NEWMAN,  an  American 

MR.  TRISTRAM,  a  friend 

MRS.  TRISTRAM,  his  wife 

M.  NIOCHE,  a  shopkeeper 

MLLE.  NIOCHE,  his  daughter 

MADAME  DE  BELLEGARDE,  a  French  aristocrat 

CLAIRE  DE  CENTRE,  Madame  de  Bellegarde's  daughter 

MARQUIS  DE  BELLEGARDE,  Madame  de  Bellegarde  s  older  son 

VALENTIN  DE  BELLEGARDE,  Madame  de  Bellegarde's  younger  son 

MRS.  BREAD,  Madame  de  Bellegarde's  servant 

Critique: 

In  this  novel  Henry  James  shows  the 
interreaction  of  two  cultures,  the  Ameri 
can  and  the  French.  His  primary  interest 
is  not  in  the  action;  his  aim  is  to  analyze 
the  various  psychological  situations  cre 
ated  by  the  events  of  the  plot.  The  au 
thor  scrutinizes  the  inner  lives  of  his 
characters  and  writes  about  them  in  an 
urbane  and  polished  style  uniqxiely  his 


own. 

The  Story: 

In  1868  Christopher  Newman,  a 
young  American  millionaire,  withdrew 
from  business  and  sailed  for  Paris.  He 
wanted  to  loaf,  to  develop  his  aesthetic 
sense,  and  to  find  a  wife  for  himself. 
One  day,  as  he  wandered  in  the  Louvre, 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mile. 
Nioche,  a  young  copyist.  She  intro 
duced  him  to  her  father,  an  unsuccessful 
shopkeeper.  Newman  bought  a  picture 
from  Mile.  Nioche  and  contracted  to 
take  French  lessons  from  her  father. 

Later,  through  the  French  wife  of  an 
American  friend  named  Tristram,  he  met 
Claire  de  Cintr6,  a  young  widow, 
daughter  of  an  English  mother  and  a 
French  father.  As  a  young  girl,  Claire 
had  been  married  to  Monsieur  de  Cintre*, 
an  evil  old  man.  He  had  soon  died, 
leaviju£  Claire  with  a  distaste  for  mar 


riage.  In  spite  of  her  attitude,  Newman 
saw  in  her  the  woman  he  wished  for  his 
wife.  But  an  American  businessman  was 
not  the  person  to  associate  with  French 
aristocracy.  On  his  first  call,  Newman 
was  kept  from  entering  Claire's  house 
by  her  elder  brother,  the  Marquis  de 
Bellegarde. 

True  to  his  promise,  M,  Nioche  ap 
peared  one  morning  to  give  Newman  his 
first  lesson  in  French,  Newman  enjoyed 
talking  to  the  old  man.  He  learned  that 
Mile.  Nioche  dominated  her  father  and 
that  he  lived  in  fear  that  she  would  leave 
him  and  become  the  mistress  of  some 
rich  man.  M.  Nioche  assured  Newman 
that  he  would  shoot  her  if  she  did.  New 
man  took  pity  on  the  old  man  and  prom 
ised  him  enough  money  for  Mile, 
Nioche's  dowry  if  she  would  paint  some 
more  copies  for  him. 

Newman  left  Paris  and  traveled 
through  Europe  during  the  summer. 
When  he  returned  to  Paris  in  the  au 
tumn  he  learned  that  the  Tristrams  had 
been  helpful;  the  Bellegardes  were  will 
ing  to  receive  him.  One  evening  Claire's 
younger  brother,  Valentin,  called  on 
Newman  and  the  two  men  found  their 
opposite  points  of  view  a  basis  for  friend 
ship.  Valentin  envied  Newman's  liberty 
to  do  as  he  pleased;  Newman  wished 


himself  acceptable  to  the  society  in  which 
the  Bellegardes  moved.  After  they  had 
become  good  friends,  Newman  told  Val 
entin  that  he  wished  to  many  his  sister 
and  asked  Valentin  to  plead  his  cause. 
Warning  Newman  that  his  social  posi 
tion  was  against  him,  Valentin  promised 
to  help  the  American  as  much  as  he 
could. 

Newman  confessed  his  wish  to  Claire, 
and  asked  Madame  de  Bellegarde,  Claire's 
mother,  and  the  marquis  for  permission 
to  he  her  suitor.  The  permission  was 
given,  grudgingly.  The  Bellegardes 
needed  money  in  the  family. 

Newman  went  to  the  Louvre  to  see 
how  Mile.  Nioche  was  progressing  with 
her  copying.  There  he  met  Valentin 
and  introduced  him  to  the  young  lady. 

Mrs,  Bread,  an  old  English  servant  of 
the  Bellegardes,  assured  Newman  that  he 
was  making  progress  with  his  suit.  He 
asked  Claire  to  marry  him  and  she  ac 
cepted.  Meanwhile,  Valentin  had  chal 
lenged  another  man  to  a  duel  in  a 
quarrel  over  Mile.  Nioche,  Valentin 
left  for  Switzerland  with  his  seconds. 
The  next  morning  Newman  went  to  see 
Claire.  Mrs.  Bread  met  him  at  the 
door  and  said  that  Claire  was  leaving 
town.  Newman  demanded  an  explana 
tion.  He  was  told  that  the  Bellegardes 
could  not  allow  a  commercial  person  in 
the  family.  When  he  arrived  home,  he 
found  a  telegram  from  Valentin  stating 
that  he  had  boon  badly  wounded  and 
asking  Newman  to  come  at  once  to 
Switzerland. 

With  this  double  burden  of  sorrow, 
Newman  arrived  in  Switzerland  and 
found  Valentin  near  death.  Valentin 
guessed  what  his  family  had  done  and 
told  Newman  that  Mrs.  Bread  knew  a 
family  secret.  If  he  could  get  the  secret 
from  her,  he  could  make  them  return 
Claire  to  him.  Valentin  died  the  next 
morning. 

Newman  attended  the  funeral.  Three 
days  later  he  again  called  on  Claire,  who 
told  him  that  she  intended  to  enter  a 
convent.  Newman  begged  her  not  to 


take  this  step.  Desperate,  he  called  on 
the  Bellegardes  again  and  told  them  that 
he  would  uncover  their  secret,  Newman 
arranged  to  see  Mrs.  Bread  that  night. 
She  told  him  that  Madame  de  Belle- 
garde  had  killed  her  invalid  husband 
because  he  had  opposed  Claire's  marriage 
to  M.  de  Cintre.  The  death  had  been 
judged  natural,  but  Mrs.  Bread  had  in 
her  possession  a  document  which  proved 
that  Madame  de  Bellegarde  had  mur 
dered  her  husband.  She  gave  this  paper 
to  Newman. 

Mrs.  Bread  left  the  employ  of  the 
Bellegardes  and  came  to  keep  house  for 
Newman.  She  told  him  that  Claire  had 
gone  to  the  convent  and  refused  to  sec 
anyone,  even  her  own  family.  The  next 
Sunday  Newman  went  to  mass  at  the 
convent.  After  the  service  he  met  the 
Bellegnrdes  walking  in  the  park  and 
showed  them  a  copy  of  the  paper  Mrs. 
Bread  had  given  him. 

The  next  day  the  marquis  called  on 
Newman  and  offered  to  pay  for  the 
document,  Newman  refused  to  sell.  lie 
offered,  however,  to  accept  Claire  in  ex 
change  for  it.  The  marquis  refused. 

Newman  found  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  reveal  the  Bellegardes'  secret. 
On  the  advice  of  the  Tri strains  he  trav 
eled  through  the  English  countryside 
and  in  a  melancholy  mood  went  to  some 
of  the  places  he  had  planned  to  visit  on 
his  honeymoon.  Then  he  went  to  Ameri 
ca.  Restless,  he  returned  to  Paris  and 
learned  from  Mrs.  Tristram  that  Claire 
had  become  a  nun. 

The  next  time  he  went  to  see  Mrs. 
Tristram,  he  dropped  the  secret  docu 
ment  on  the  glowing  logs  in  her  fire 
place  and  told  her  that  to  expose  the 
Bellegardes  now  seemed  a  useless  and 
empty  gesture,  I  le  intended  to  leave 
Paris  forever,  Mrs.  Tristram  told  him 
that  he  probably  bad  not  frightened  the 
Bellegardes  with  his  threat,  because  they 
knew  that  they  could  count  on  his  good 
nature  never  to  reveal  their  secret.  New 
man  instinctively  looked  toward  the  (ire- 
place.  The  paper  had  burned  to  ashes. 


AN  AMERICAN  TRAGEDY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Theodore  Dreiser  (1871-1945) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Kansas  City,  Chicago,  and  Lycurgus,  New  York 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 
CLYDE  GRIFFITHS 
ROBERTA  ALDEN,  his  mistress 
SAMUEL  GRIFFITHS,  Clyde's  wealthy  uncle 
SONDRA  FINCHLEY,  society  girl  whom  Clyde  loves 

Critique: 

An  American  Tragedy  is  probably 
Dreiser's  best  novel.  The  tide  itself  is, 
of  course,  significant.  Dreiser  believed 
that  Clyde's  downfall  was  due  to  the 
American  economic  system  and  he  pre 
sents  a  strong  indictment  against  that 
system,  If  Clyde  had  had  the  privileges 
of  wealth  and  social  position,  he  would 
never  have  been  tempted  to  a  moral  de 
cision  and  his  consequent  ruin.  The 
novel  is  a  powerful  document  on  the 
theme  of  social  inequality  and  lack  of 
privilege. 


The  Story: 

When  Clyde  Griffiths  was  still  a  child, 
his  religious-minded  parents  took  him  and 
his  brothers  and  sisters  around  the  streets 
of  various  cities,  where  they  prayed  and 
sang  in  public.  The  family  was  always 
very  poor,  but  the  fundamentalist  faith 
of  the  Griffiths  was  their  hope  and  main 
stay  throughout  the  storms  and  troubles 
of  life. 

Young  Clyde  was  never  religious,  how 
ever,  and  he  always  felt  ashamed  of  the 
existence  his  parents  were  living.  As 
soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  make  de 
cisions  for  himself,  he  decided  to  go 
his  own  way.  At  sixteen  he  got  a  job  as  a 
bellboy  in  a  Kansas  City  hotel.  There 
the  salary  and  the  tips  he  received 
astonished  him.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life  he  had  money  in  his  pocket,  and  he 
could  dress  well  and  enjoy  himself.  Then 
a  tragedy  overwhelmed  the  family. 


Clyde's  sister  ran  away,  supposedly  to  be 
married.  Her  elopement  was  a  great 
blow  to  the  parents,  but  Clyde  himself 
did  not  brood  over  the  matter.  Life  was 
too  pleasant  for  him;  more  and  more 
he  enjoyed  the  luxuries  which  his  job 
provided.  He  made  friends  with  the 
other  bellhops  and  joined  them  in 
parties  that  centered  around  liquor  and 
women.  Clyde  soon  became  familiar  with 
drink  and  brothels. 

One  day  he  discovered  that  his  sister 
was  back  in  town.  The  man  with  whom 
she  had  run  away  had  deserted  her,  and 
she  was  penniless  and  pregnant.  Know- 
ing  his  sister  needed  money,  Clyde  gave 
his  mother  a  few  dollars  for  ner.  He 
promised  to  give  her  more;  instead  he 
bought  an  expensive  coat  for  a  girl  in 
the  hope  that  she  would  yield  herself 
to  him.  One  night  he  and  his  friends 
went  on  a  party  in  a  car  that  did  not 
belong  to  them.  Coming  back  from  their 
outing,  they  ran  over  a  little  girl.  In 
their  attempt  to  escape,  they  wrecked 
the  car.  Clyde  fled  to  Chicago. 

In  Chicago  he  got  work  at  the  Union 
League  Club,  where  he  eventually  met 
his  wealthy  uncle,  Samuel  Griffiths.  The 
uncle,  who  owned  a  factory  in  Lycurgus, 
New  York,  took  a  fancy  to  Clyde  and 
offered  him  work  in  the  factory.  Clyde 
went  to  Lycurgus.  There  his  cousin, 
Gilbert,  resented  this  cousin  from  the 
Middle  West,  The  whole  family,  with 
the  exception  of  his  uncle,  considered 


AN  AMERICAN  TRAGEDY  by  Theodore  Dreiser.    By  permission  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Dreiser  and  the  publisher*, 
The  World  Publishing  Co.   Copyright,  1925,  by  Boni  &  Livcright,  Inc. 


29 


Clyde  beneath  them  socially,  and  would 
not  accept  him  into  their  circle.  Clyde 
was  given  a  job  at  the  very  bottom  of 
the  business,  but  his  uncle  soon  made 
him  a  supervisor. 

In  the  meantime  Sondra  Finchley,  who 
disliked  Gilbert,  began  to  invite  Clyde 
to  parties  she  and  her  friends  oi:ten  gave. 
1  ler  main  purpose  was  to  annoy  Gilbert. 
Clyde's  growing  popularity  forced  the 
Griffiths  to  receive  him  socially,  much 
to  Gilbert's  disgust. 

In  the  course  of  his  work  at  the  Factory 
Clyde  met  Roberta  Alden,  with  whom 
he  soon  fell  in  love.  Since  it  was  for 
bidden  for  a  supervisor  to  mix  socially 
with  an  employee,  they  had  to  meet 
secretly.  Clyde  attempted  to  persuade 
Roberta  to  give  herself  to  him,  but  the 
girl  refused.  At  last,  rather  than  lose 
him,  she  consented  and  became  his  mis 
tress. 

At  the  same  time  Clyde  was  becoming 
fascinated  by  Sondra.  He  came  to  love 
her  and  hoped  to  marry  her,  and  thus 
acquire  the  wealth  ana  social  position 
for  which  he  yearned.  Gradually  he 
began  breaking  dates  with  Roberta  in 
order  to  be  with  Sondra  every  moment 
that  she  could  spare  him.  Roberta  began 
to  be  suspicious  and  eventually  found 
out  the  truth. 

By  that  time  she  was  pregnant.  Clyde 
went  to  drug  stores  for  medicine  that 
did  not  work.  lie  attempted  to  find  a 
doctor  of  questionable  reputation.  Roberta 
went  to  see  one  physician  who  refused 
to  perform  an  operation,  Clyde  and 
Roberta  were  both  becoming  desperate, 
and  Clyde  saw  his  possible  marriage  to 


the  girl  as  a  dismal  ending  to  all  his 
hopes  for  a  bright  future.  He  told  him 
self  that  he  did  not  love  Roberta,  that 
it  was  Sondra  whom  he  wished  to  marry. 
Roberta  asked  him  to  marry  her  for  the 
sake  of  her  child,  saying  she  would  go 
away  afterward,  if  he  wished,  so  that 
he  could  be  free  of  her.  Clyde  would 
not  agree  to  her  proposal  and  grew  more 
irritable  and  worried. 

One  day  he  read  in  the  newspaper  an 
item  about  the  accidental  drowning  of  a 
couple  who  had  gone  boating.  Slowly 
a  plan  began  to  form  in  his  mind,  He 
told  Roberta  he  would  marry  her  and  per 
suaded  her  to  accompany  him  to  an 
isolated  lake  resort.  There,  as  though 
accidentally,  he  lungecl  toward  her.  She 
was  hit  by  his  camera  and  fell  into 
the  water.  Clyde  escaped,  confident  that 
her  drowning  would  look  like  an  accident, 
even  though  he  had  planned  it  all  care* 
fully. 

But  he  had  boon  clumsy.  Letters  that 
he  and  Roberta  had  written  were  found, 
and  when  her  condition  became  known 
he  was  arrested.  I  Us  uncle  obtained  an 
attorney  for  him.  At  his  trial,  the  do* 
fense  built  up  an  elaborate  case  in  his 
favor.  But  in  spite  of  his  lawyer's  efforts, 
he  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be 
electrocuted.  1  lis  mother  came  to  see 
him  and  urged  him  to  save  his  soul.  A 
clergyman  finally  succeeded  in  getting 
Clycle  to  write,  a  statement— -a  declaration 
that  he  repented  of  his  sins.  It  is  doubt 
ful  whether  he  did.  1  le  died  in  the 
electric  chair,  si  young  man  tempted  by 
his  desire  for  luxury  and  wealth. 


AND  QUIET  FLOWS  THE  DON 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Mikhail  Sholokhov  (1905-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Tinwoffot:  1913-1918 

/  ,ocdc:  Tatarsk,  Russia 

/'Vrst  'published:  1928 

Principal  characters; 

Giuk;oit  Mi'XHKiiov,  fl  Cossack 
PIOTRA,  Gregorys  brother 


NATALIA,  Gregor's  wife 

AKSINIA  ASTAKHOVA,  Gregor's  mistress 

BUNCHUK,  a  revolutionary  leader 


Critique: 

Inasmuch  as  this  novel  has  been  so 
frequently  mentioned  by  the  Russians  as 
proof  that  great  art  can  be  produced 
under  their  form  of  government,  the 
book  deserves  careful  consideration.  The 
Russians  are  quite  right  in  being  proud 
of  Sholokhov.  And  Quiet  Flows  the  Don 
is  a  good  book,  free  of  any  propaganda 
and  standing  on  its  own  merit  as  a  novel. 
The  book  is  doubly  successful,  both  as 
historical  narrative  and  as  an  interesting 
story  of  people  living  during  a  difficult 
period  in  history. 

The  Story: 

The  Melekhov  family  lived  in  the 
small  village  of  Tatarsk,  in  the  Don 
basin  of  Tsarist  Russia.  Gregor,  the 
oldest  son,  had  a  love  affair  with  Alcsinia, 
wife  of  his  neighbor,  Stepan  Astakhova. 
Stepan  was  away  serving  a  term  in  the 
army.  In  an  effort  to  make  his  son  settle 
down,  Gregor's  father  arranged  a  marriage 
with  Natalia  Korshunov,  Because  Gregor 
never  loved  Natalia,  their  relationship 
was  a  cold  one.  Soon  Gregor  went 
openly  to  Aksinia  and  the  affair  became 
the  village  scandal. 

When  he  heard  the  gossip,  Gregor's 
father  whipped  him.  Humiliated  and 
angry,  Gregor  left  home.  With  Aksinia 
he  became  the  servant  of  the  Listnitsky 
family,  well-to-do  landowners  who  lived 
outside  the  village  of  Tatarsk.  When 
Aksinia  bore  him  a  daughter,  Gregor's 
father  relented  enough  to  pay  a  visit 
before  Gregor  left  for  the  army. 

In  the  meantime,  Gregor's  wife, 
Natalia,  tried  to  commit  suicide  because 
Gregor  did  not  return  her  love.  She 
went  back  to  her  own  home,  but  the 
Melekhovs  asked  her  to  come  to  them. 
She  was  glad  to  do  so.  When  Gregor 
returned  to  Aksinia,  on  his  first  leave 
from  the  army,  he  discovered  that  she 


had  been  unfaithful  to  him  with  Eugene 
Listnitsky,  the  young  officer-son  of  his 
employer.  Aksinia's  daughter  had  died, 
and  Gregor  felt  nothing  but  anger  at  his 
mistress.  He  fought  with  Eugene  and 
whipped  Aksinia  as  well.  Then  he  re 
turned  to  his  own  home,  and  there  he 
and  Natalia  became  reconciled.  During 
the  time  he  served  in  the  axmy,  Natalia 
bore  him  twins,  a  boy  and  a  girl. 

In  the  war  against  the  Central  Powers, 
Gregor  distinguished  himself.  Wounded* 
he  was  awarded  the  Cross  of  St.  George 
and  so  he  became  the  first  Chevalier  in 
the  village.  While  in  the  army,  he  met 
his  brother,  Piotra,  and  his  enemy, 
Stepan  Astakhova,  who  had  sworn  to 
kill  him.  Nevertheless,  on  one  occasion 
he  saved  Stepan's  life  during  an  attack. 
Discontent  was  growing  among  the 
soldiers.  Bolshevik  agitators  began  to  talk 
against  the  government  and  against  a 
continuance  of  the  war.  In  Eugene  List- 
nitsky's  company  an  officer  named  Bun- 
chuk  was  the  chief  agitator.  He  deserted 
before  Listnitsky  could  hand  him  over 
to  die  authorities. 

Then  the  provisional  government  of 
Kerensky  was  overthrown  and  a  Soviet 
Socialist  Republic  was  established.  Civil 
war  broke  out.  The  Cossacks,  proud  of 
their  free  heritage,  were  strongly  national 
istic  and  wanted  an  autonomous  govern 
ment  for  the  Don  region.  Many  of  them 
joined  the  counter-revolutionists,  under 
such  men  as  Kornilov.  Many  returned 
to  their  homes  in  the  Don  basin.  Gregor, 
joining  the  revolutionary  forces,  was 
made  an  officer  of  the  Red  Army. 

Meanwhile  the  revolutionary  troops  in 
Rostov  were  under  attack.  Bunchuk,  the 
machine  gunner,  was  prominent  in  the 
battle  and  in  the  administration  of  the 
local  revolutionary  government.  He  fell 
in  love  with  a  woman  machine  gunner, 


AND  QUIET  FLOWS  THE  DON  by  Mikhail  Sholokhov.    Translated  by  Stephen  Garry.    By 
publisher*,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1934,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


permission  of  thi 


Anna  Poodlco,  who  was  killed  during  an 
attack.  The  counter-revolutionary  troops 
were  successful,  and  the  Red  Army  troops 
had  to  retreat. 

Gregor  returned  to  the  village  and  re 
sumed  the  ordinary  life  he  had  led  before 
the  war.  Soon  news  came  that  revolution 
ary  troops  were  advancing  on  the  village. 
When  his  neighbors  prepared  to  flee, 
Gregor  refused  to  do  so.  Stories  of  burn 
ing,  looting,  and  rape  spread  through  the 
countryside.  A  counter-revolutionary  of 
ficer  attempted  to  organize  the  villagers 
against  the  approaching  enemy  troops. 
He  named  Gregor  as  commander,  but 
the  nomination  was  turned  down  in 
anger  because  all  the  village  knew  that 
Gregor  sympathized  with  the  Reds,  had 
fought  with  them.  Instead,  Gregorys 
brother  Piotra  was  named  commander* 


The  village  forces  marched  out,  Gregor 
going  with  them.  When  they  arrived 
at  their  destination,  they  found  that 
the  revolutionary  troops  had  already  been 
defeated  and  that  the  leaders  had  been 
captured.  Gregor  asked  what  would 
happen  to  them.  He  was  told  they  would 
be  shot.  Then  Gregor  came  face  to  face 
with  Podtielkov,  his  old  revolutionary 
leader.  When  the  latter  accused  him  of 
being  a  traitor  and  opportunist,  all  of 
Gregor's  suppressed  feelings  of  disgust 
and  nationalism  burst  forth.  He  re 
minded  Podtielkov  that  he  and  other 
Red  leaders  had  ordered  plenty  of  ex 
ecutions,  and  he  charged  that  Podtielkov 
had  sold  out  the  Don  Cossacks,  The 
revolutionists  died  prophesying  that  the 
revolution  would  live,  Gregor  went  back 
to  his  Cossack  village. 


ANNA  KARENINA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Count  Leo  Tolstoy  (1828-1910) 

Type  of  ylot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  ylot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  18754877 

Principal  characters: 
ANNA  KAUHNINA 
ALEXKI  KAHENIN,  her  husband 
COUNT  VRONSKY,  her  lover 
STUPAN  OrjtoNSKY,  her  brother 
KITTY  StrrcnmuJATSJCY,  Stepan's  sister-in-law 
KONSTANTINM  LEVIN,  in  love  with  Kitty 

Critique: 

Anna  Kctrtinina,  one  of  Tolstoy's  mas 
terpieces,  is  distinguished  by  its  realism. 
The  novel  contains  two  plots:  the  tragedy 
of  Madame  Kare'nina,  in  love  with  a 
man  who  is  not  her  husband,  and  the 
story  of  Konstantine  Levin,  a  sensitive 
man  whose  personal  philosophy  is  Tol 
stoy's  reason  for  writing  about  him.  The 
story  of  Anna  is  an  absorbing  one  and 
true;  the  person  of  Levin  reflects  Tol 
stoy's  own  ideas  about  the  Russian  society 
in  which  he  lived,  Thus  the  book  is  a 
closely  knit  plot  of  a  woman  bound  in 
the  fetters  of  the  Russian  social  system 


and  a  philosophy  of  life  which  attempts 
to  untangle  the  imv/e  of  incongruities 
present  in  this  society, 

The  Story: 

Anna  Kar6nmn>  the  sister  of  Stejxm 
Oblousky,  came  to  Moscow  in  an  attempt 
to  patch  up  a  tjuarrel  between  her 
brother  and  nis  wife,  Dolly*  'I 'here  she 
met  the  handsome  young  Count  Vronsky, 
who  was  rumored  to  be  in  love  with 
Dolly's  younger  sister,  Kitty* 

But  Konstantine  Levin,  of  an  old 
Muscovite  family,  was  also  in  love  with 


32 


Kitty,  and  his  visit  to  Moscow  coincided 
with  Anna's.  Kitty  refused  Levin,  but 
to  her  chagrin  she  received  no  proposal 
from  the  count.  Indeed,  Vronsky  had 
no  intention  of  proposing  to  Kitty.  His 
heart  went  out  to  Anna  the  first  time  he 
laid  eyes  on  her,  and  when  Anna  re 
turned  to  her  home  in  St.  Petersburg, 
he  followed  her. 

Soon  they  began  to  be  seen  together  at 
soirees  and  at  the  theater,  apparently 
unaware  of  gossip  which  circulated  about 
them.  Kar£nin,  Anna's  husband,  became 
concerned.  A  coldly  ambitious  and  dis 
passionate  man,  he  felt  that  his  social 
position  was  at  stake.  One  night  he 
discussed  these  rumors  with  Anna  and 
pointed  out  the  danger  of  her  flirtation, 
as  he  called  it.  He  forbade  her  to  enter 
tain  Vronsky  at  home,  and  cautioned  her 
to  be  more  careful.  He  was  not  jealous 
of  his  wife,  only  worried  over  the  social 
consequences  of  her  behavior.  He  re 
minded  her  of  her  duty  to  her  young  son, 
Seryozha,  Anna  said  she  would  obey 
him,  and  there  the  matter  rested. 

But  Anna  was  unable  to  conceal  her 
true  feelings  when  Vronsky  was  injured 
in  a  race-track  accident.  Kar£nin  up 
braided  her  for  her  indiscreet  behavior 
in  public.  He  considered  a  duel,  separa 
tion,  divorce,  but  rejected  all  of  these 
courses.  When  he  finally  decided  to 
keep  Anna  under  his  roof,  he  reflected 
that  he  was  acting  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  religion.  Anna  continued  to 
meet  Vronsky  in  secret. 

Levin  had  returned  to  his  country 
estate  after  Kitty  had  refused  him,  and 
there  he  busied  himself  in  problems  of 
agriculture  and  peasant  labor.  One  day 
he  went  into  the  fields  and  worked  with 
a  scythe  along  with  the  serfs.  He  felt  that 
he  was  beginning  to  understand  the  old 
primitive  philosophy  of  their  lives.  He 
planned  new  developments,  among  them 
a  cooperative  enterprise  system.  When 
he  heard  that  Kitty  was  not  married  after 
all,  and  that  she  had  been  ill  but  was 
soon  returning  to  Moscow,  he  resolved 
to  seek  her  hand  once  more.  Secretly, 


he  knew  she  loved  him.  His  pride,  as 
well  as  hers,  had  kept  them  apart. 

Accordingly,  Levin  made  the  journey 
to  Moscow  with  new  hope  that  soon 
Kitty  would  be  his  wife. 

Against  her  husband's  orders,  Anna 
Kar6nina  sent  for  Vronsky  and  told  him 
that  she  was  with  child.  Aware  of  his 
responsibilities  to  Anna,  he  begged  her 
to  petition  Kar&nin  for  a  divorce  so  that 
she  would  be  free  to  marry  him.  Kar6- 
nin  informed  her  coldly  that  he  would 
consider  the  child  his  and  accept  it  so 
that  the  world  should  never  know  his 
wife's  disgrace,  but  he  refused  to  think 
of  going  through  shameful  divorce  pro 
ceedings.  Kardnin  reduced  Anna  to  sub 
mission  by  warning  her  that  he  would 
take  Seryozha  away  if  she  persisted  in 
making  a  fool  of  herself. 

The  strained  family  relationship  con 
tinued  unbroken.  One  night  Kar£nin 
had  planned  to  go  out,  and  Anna  per 
suaded  Vronsky  to  come  to  the  house. 
As  he  was  leaving,  Kar^nin  met  Vronsky 
on  the  front  steps.  Enraged,  Kar£nin 
told  Anna  that  he  had  decided  to  get 
a  divorce  and  that  he  would  keep  Ser 
yozha  in  his  custody.  But  divorce  pro 
ceedings  were  so  intricate,  the  scandal 
so  great,  the  whole  aspect  of  the  step 
so  disgusting  to  Kardnin  that  he  could 
not  bring  himself  to  go  through  with  the 
process.  As  Anna's  confinement  drew 
near,  he  was  still  undecided.  After  win 
ning  an  important  political  seat,  he  be 
came  even  more  unwilling  to  risk  his 
public  reputation. 

At  the  birth  of  her  child,  Anna  became 
deathly  ill.  Vronsky,  overcome  with 
guilt,  attempted  suicide,  but  failed.  Kar6- 
nin  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  such  con 
fusion  that  he  determined  to  grant  his 
wife  any  request,  since  he  thought  her 
to  be  on  her  deathbed.  The  sight  of 
Vronsky  seemed  to  be  the  only  thing 
that  restored  her.  After  many  months 
of  illness,  she  went  with  her  lover  and 
baby  daughter  to  Italy,  where  they  lived 
under  strained  circumstances.  Mean 
while,  Levin  proposed  once  more  to  Kitty , 


and  after  a  flurry  of  preparations  they 
Were  married, 

Anna  Kar£nina  and  Vronslcy  returned 
to  Russia  and  went  to  live  on  his  estate. 
It  was  now  impossible  for  Anna  to  return 
home.  Although  Karinin  had  not  gone 
through  with  divorce  proceedings,  he 
considered  himself  separated  from  Anna 
and  was  everywhere  thought  to  he  a 
man  of  fine  loyalty  and  unswerving 
honor,  unjustly  imposed  upon  by  an  un 
faithful  wife.  Sometimes  Anna  stole 
into  town  to  see  Seryozha  but  her  fear 
of  being  discovered  there  by  her  husband 
cut  these  visits  short,  After  each  visit 
she  returned  bitter  and  sad.  She  became 
more  and  more  demanding  toward  Vron 
sky,  with  the  result  that  he  spent  less 
time  with  her.  She  took  little  interest 
in  her  child,  Before  long  she  convinced 
herself  that  Vronsky  was  in  love  with 
another  woman.  One  day  she  could  not 
stay  alone  in  the  house.  She  found  her 
self  at  the  railway  station.  She  bought 
a  ticket.  As  she  stood  on  the  platform 


gazing  at  the  tracks  below,  the  thunder 
of  an  approaching  train  roared  in  her 
ears.  Suddenly  she  remembered  a  man 
run  over  in  the  Moscow  railroad  station 
on  the  day  she  and  Vronsky  met.  Care 
fully  measuring  the  distance,  she  threw 
herself  in  front  of  the  approaching  train. 

After  her  death,  Vronsky  joined  the 
army.  He  had  changed  from  a  handsome, 
cheerful  man  to  one  who  welcomed 
death;  his  only  reason  for  living  had  been 
Anna. 

For  Levin  and  Kitty  life  became  an 
increasing  round  of  daily  work  and 
everyday  routine,  which  they  shared  with 
each  other.  Levin  knew  at  last  the  re 
sponsibility  wealth  imposed  upon  him  in 
his  dealings  with  the  peasants.  Kitty 
helped  him  to  share  his  responsibility. 
Although  there  were  many  questions  he 
could  never  answer  satisfactorily  to  him 
self,  he  was  nevertheless  aware  of  the 
satisfying  beauty  of  life,  its  toil,  leisure, 
pain,  and  happiness. 


ANTHONY  ADVERSE 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Hervcy  Allen  (1889-1949) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  eighteenth  and  curly  nineteenth  centuries 

Locale:  Western  Europe,  Africa,  North  America 

First  published:  1933 

Principal  characters: 

ANTHONY  ADVBUSB 

DON  Luis,  MAKQUIS  DA  VJNOITATA,  husband  of  Anthony's  mother 

MAUEA,  Anthony's  mother 

Mn.  BoNNYPKATuim,  Anthony's  grandfather 

FAITH  PALHOLOGCIS,  Mr.  Bormyfeather's  housekeeper 

ANTOULA  Guisiu»i>n,  Anthony's  mistress 

FjLcmtfNau  UDNKY,  Anthony's  first  wife 


, 

DOLORES  I>K  LA  FUHNTU,  Anthony's  second  wife 
VJUSTCJUNT  NOLTE,  Anthony's  friend,  a  banker 


Critique: 

Anthony  Adverse  is  the  story  of  a     mention  of  historical  personages.    Hie 
soldier  of  fortune  whose  rumblings  carry 
him   over   a   large   part   of   Europe,    to 
Africa,  and  to  North  America.  The  book 


contains  a  wealth  of  incident,  as  well  as 


characters,  however,  are  subordinate  to 
the  plot.  The  novel  is  also  interesting  be 
cause  its  various  sections  represent  dif 
ferent  types  of  romantic  fiction, 


ANTHONY  ADVERSE  by  ITcrvcy  Allen,   By  permission  of  the  author  «nd  the  publtihori,  Rx  nature  «c  O>.,  Inc. 
ttupy  right,  1933,  by  Hcrvcy  Allen. 


34 


The  Story: 

The  pretty  young  Marquise  Maria  da 
Vincitata,  daughter  of  a  Scottish  mer 
chant  of  Leghorn,  fell  in  love  with  young 
Denis  Moore  within  a  year  of  her  mar 
riage  and  met  with  him  secretly  in  France 
while  her  husband  was  taking  a  cure  for 
his  gout.  Don  Luis,  die  arrogant  Marquis 
da  Vincitata,  discovering  the  intrigue, 
spirited  his  wife  away  and  killed  her 
gallant,  luckless  lover  when  he  started 
out  in  pursuit.  Maria's  baby  was  born 
high  up  in  the  Alps.  After  his  wife  had 
died  in  childbirth,  Don  Luis  took  the 
child  to  Leghorn,  where  he  stealthily  de 
posited  the  infant  at  the  Convent  of 
Jesus  the  Child.  The  only  tokens  of  its 
parentage  were  a  cape  and  a  statue  of  the 
Madonna  which  had  belonged  to  Maria. 

The  boy,  christened  Anthony  by  the 
nuns,  lived  at  the  convent  until  he  was 
ten.  Then  he  was  delivered  to  a  prom 
inent  merchant  of  the  town,  Mr.  Bonny- 
feather,  to  become  his  apprentice, 

Bonnyfeather  and  his  housekeeper 
had  no  trouble  recognizing  the  cape  and 
the  doll  as  possessions  of  the  merchant's 
daughter,  Maria.  Although  Anthony  was 
given  the  surname  Adverse  and  was  not 
told  of  his  relationship  to  his  benefactor, 
he  was  carefully  educated  with  the  tacit 
understanding  that  he  would  one  day  in 
herit  the  flourishing  Bonnyfeather  busi 
ness. 

Anthony  matured  early.  Seduced  by 
the  housekeeper,  Faith  Paleologus,  he 
also  had  a  brief  affair  with  the  cook's 
daughter,  Angela.  He  was  attracted,  too, 
by  the  English  consul's  daughter, 
Florence  Udney,  but  was  not  encouraged 
by  her  mother,  who  was  unaware  that 
Anthony  had  any  expectations. 

Anticipating  the  eventual  arrival  of 
Napoleon's  army  in  Leghorn,  Mr.  Bonny 
feather  quietly  liquidated  his  business, 
sent  his  money  abroad,  and  made  plans 
to  retire.  Me  arranged  passage  for  his 
grandson  on  the  American  ship  Wam- 
fanoag,  under  Captain  Jorham.  Anthony 
was  to  sail  to  Cuba  to  collect  some  money 
on  a  long-overdue  account. 


The  Wawpanoag  stopped  first  at 
Genoa.  There  Anthony  visited  Fathei 
Xavier,  a  Jesuit,  who  had  been  his  guard 
ian  at  the  convent.  Mr.  Bonnyfeather 
had  given  the  priest  the  right  to  decide 
whether  the  time  had  come  to  tell  An 
thony  he  was  the  merchant's  heir.  It  was 
from  the  priest's  lips  that  Anthony 
learned  of  his  origin  and  prospects. 

When  the  Wampanoag  reached 
Havana  Anthony  discovered  that  his 
creditor,  Gallego,  was  in  Africa  as  a  slave 
trader.  With  the  aid  of  the  captain- 
general,  Don  Luis  de  la  Casas,  a  plan  was 
devised  whereby  Anthony  would  sail  to 
Africa  as  a  government  agent.  There  he 
would  impound  a  cargo  of  Gallego's 
slaves,  bring  them  to  Cuba  for  sale,  and 
split  the  proceeds  with  the  captain- 
general,  thus  satisfying  the  Bonnyfeather 
debt.  Strongly  attracted  by  Don  Luis' 
young  relation,  Dolores  de  la  Fuente, 
the  young  man  finally  agreed  to  stay  in 
Africa  and  to  ship  several  additional 
cargoes  of  slaves,  for  the  enrichment  of 
the  captain-general  and  the  increase  of 
his  own  hopes  that  he  might  one  day 
marry  Dolores. 

The  trip  aboard  the  Ariostatica  was  a 
trying  one.  Father  Francois,  a  monk  who 
was  being  shipped  to  Africa  because  he 
had  tried  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
slaves,  fell  ill  of  yellow  fever  and  nearly 
died.  Anthony,  forced  to  rule  the  crew 
and  its  captain  with  an  iron  hand,  was 
able  to  put  down  a  mutiny  as  the  ship 
sailed  up  the  Rio  Pongo  to  the  Gallego 
establishment.  There  he  learned  that 
Gallego  had  died  a  few  months  before, 
leaving  his  factor,  Ferdinando,  in  charge. 

Anthony  took  over  the  trade  station 
and  for  three  years  shipped  cargoes  of 
human  freight  to  Cuba  to  be  sold  there. 
To  the  sorrow  of  Father  Francois,  he  took 
the  half-breed  Ncleta,  Ferdinando's  sis 
ter,  as  his  mistress.  But  he  was  not  able 
completely  to  reconcile  himself  to  trading 
in  human  bodies. 

While  Anthony  was  absent  from  the 
trading  station,  Father  Francois  wa« 


35 


captured  by  a  native  witch  doctor,  Mnom- 
bibi,  and  crucified.  Upon  his  return,  An 
thony  Found  the  priest  pinioned  to  his 
own  cross.  With  the  knowledge  that  Mr. 
Bonnyfcather  was  dead,  and  that  Captain 
Bittern  of  the  Unicorn  was  waiting  in 
the  Rio  Pongo  to  bear  him  back  to 
Leghorn,  Arxliony  decided  to  leave  the 
trading  station,  He  left  Neleta  behind. 

Don  Luis,  Marquis  da  Vincitata, 
arrived  in  Leghorn  at  the  same  time. 
They  were  both  there  on  business,  the 
marquis  to  close  up  the  Casa  Bonny- 
feather,  of  which  he  was  landlord,  and 
Anthony  to  receive  the  merchant's  will 
from  Vincent  Nolte,  a  banker  with  whom 
he  had  been  friendly  in  his  youth.  Vin 
cent  suggested  that  Anthony  take  ad 
vantage  of  an  offer  made  by  M.  Ouvrard, 
a  French  financier  who  was  planning  to 
supply  the  bankrupt  Spanish  government 
witli  French  food  and  money,  in  return 
for  silver  from  Mexican  mines.  Anthony 
was  to  take  charge  of  the  shipments, 
which  would  arrive  at  New  Orleans  from 
Vera  Cruz,  and  to  reinvest  profitably  as 
much  of  the  money  as  he  could.  The  rest 
was  to  be  shipped  to  Florence  Udney's 
husband,  David  Parish,  in  Philadelphia, 
and  from  there  on  to  Europe. 

Traveling  to  Paris  to  make  arrange 
ments,  Vincent  and  Anthony  were  way 
laid  in  the  Alps  by  Don  Luis,  who  tried 
to  force  their  coach  over  a  cliff.  I  Tis  plans 
were  thwarted,  however,  and  his  own 
carriage  and  coachman  plunged  into  the 
deep  gorge.  At  the  time  Don  Luis  was 
traveling  with  Faith  Paleologus,  whom 
he  had  made  his  mistress,  The  two  had 
dismounted  to  watch  the  destruction  of 
Anthony  and  his  friend.  After  their  plot 
Jailed,  they  were  left  to  descend  the 
mountain  on  foot. 

In  Paris  Anthony  met  Angela  for  the 
first  time  in  many  years.  She  hud  borne 
him  a  son,  and  had  become  a  famous 
singer  and  the  mistress  of  Napoleon.  She 
refused  to  marry  Anthony  and  follow 


him  to  America,  but  she  did  give  him  his 
son.  At  her  entreaty,  Anthony  left  the 
child  with  Vincent's  childless  cousin, 
Anna. 

Anthony's  affairs  prospered  in  New 
Orleans,  He  was  able  to  invest  the  silver 
profitably,  to  form  a  bank,  and  to  build 
a  handsome  plantation  for  himself. 
When  David  Parish  died  of  heart  failure, 
Anthony  married  Florence.  Their  daugh 
ter,  Maria,  was  three,  when  the  planta 
tion  house  caught  fire  one  night  while 
Anthony  was  away.  His  wife  and  daugh 
ter  were  burned  to  death. 

Burdened  by  his  sorrow,  Anthony 
started  west  Captured  by  a  tribe  of 
Indians,  he  escaped,  only  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  soldiers  from  Santa  F<$. 
There  he  was  brought  before  the  gover 
nor,  Don  Luis,  and  sentenced  to  go  to 
Mexico  City  in  a  prison  train*  That 
same  day  Don  Luis  had  a  stroke  and 
died.  Faith,  his  wife  by  that  time,  pre 
pared  to  return  to  Spain. 

Anthony  spent  two  years  in  the  I  lospi- 
tal  of  St.  La'/aro  before  Dolores,  widow 
of  a  wealthy  landowner,  found  him  and 
arranged  for  his  freedom.  Later  they 
were  married  and  went  to  live  in  the  vil 
lage  of  San  Lir/,  Dolores  bore  him  two 
children.  All  wont  well  until  an  ax 
slipped  one  day  and  caught  Anthony  in 
the  groin  while  he  was  foiling  a  troo.  I  le 
bled  to  death  before1  ho  was  found, 

Many  yoars  later,  long  after  the  village 
had  been  deserted  by  Dolores  and  her 
people,  a  group  of  migrants  on  their  way 
to  Santa  I;<?  came  to  its  site,  The  little 
Madonna,  whieh  Anthony  hud  carried 
with  him  through  life,  still  stood  in  a 
chapel  in  the  ruins  of  San  Lir/,.  Mary 
Jorham,  the  young  niece  of  a  Captain 
Jorhum,  found  the  image,  Inn  she  was 
not  allowed  to  keep  it  because  her  parents 
thought  it  a  heathen  idol,  Instead,  it 
served  as  a  fine  target  for  a  shooting 
match.  It  was  splintered  into  a  thousand 
pieces. 


36 


ANTIGONE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Sophocles  (495M06  B.C.) 

Type  of  -plot:  Classical  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:  Ancient  Greece 

Locale:  The  city  of  Thebes 

First  'presented:  440  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

CREON,  tyrant  of  Thebes 
ANTIGONE,  daughter  of  Oedipus 
ISMENE,  her  sister 
HAEMON,  son  of  Creon 
TIRE  si  AS,  a  prophet 

Critique: 

Although  the  main  problem  of  this 
play  would  be  unimportant  today,  the 
discussions  of  the  responsibilities  of  a 
ruler  are  as  pertinent  now  as  in  ancient 
Greece.  The  characters  of  the  play  move 
to  their  tragic  ends  with  highly  dramatic 
speeches,  while  the  moral  and  philosophi 
cal  problems  of  the  plot  are  displayed 
through  the  chorus  and  soliloquies. 
When  first  presented,  the  play  was  so 
successful  with  Athenian  audiences  that 
Sophocles  was  made  a  general  in  the 
war  against  Samos.  Recent  presentations 
of  the  play  have  been  well  received  by 
both  audience  and  critic. 


The  Story: 

Polynices  and  Eteocles,  sons  of  the 
cursed  family  of  King  Oedipus,  led  two 
armies  against  each  other  before  the 
gates  of  Thebes,  and  both  brothers  were 
Killed  in  single  combat  with  each  other. 
Creon,  their  uncle,  and  now  the  tyrant 
ruler  of  the  city,  ordered  that  Eteocles 
be  given  full  funeral  rites,  but  that  Poly 
nices,  who  had  attacked  the  city,  be  left 
unburied  and  unmourned.  Anyone  who 
broke  this  decree  would  be  punished  with 
death. 

Antigone  and  Ismene,  the  sisters  of 
Polynices  and  Eteocles,  discussed  this 
order,  and  with  grief  for  the  unburied 
brother  tearing  at  her  heart,  Antigone 
asked  Ismene  to  aid  her  in  giving  him 
burial.  When  Ismene  refused  to  help  in 
so  dangerous  a  task,  Antigone  went  de 
fiantly  to  bury  Polynices. 


Shortly  afterward,  Creon  learned 
from  a  sentry  that  the  body  had  been 
buried.  Angrily  he  ordered  the  sentry  to 
find  the  perpetrator  of  the  deed.  The 
sentry  returned  to  the  grave  and  un 
covered  the  body.  During  a  dust  storm 
Antigone  came  to  look  at  the  grave  and, 
finding  it  open,  filled  the  air  with  lamen 
tation.  Her  cries  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  guard,  who  captured  her  and 
took  her  to  Creon. 

Questioned  by  Creon,  she  said  that  to 
bury  a  man  was  to  obey  the  laws  of  the 
gods,  even  if  it  were  against  the  laws  of 
a  man.  Pier  reply  angered  Creon.  Antig 
one  must  die.  Ismene  tried  to  soften 
Creon's  heart  toward  her  sister  by  re 
minding  him  that  Antigone  was  engaged 
to  his  son,  Haemon.  But  Creon  remained 
firm. 

Haemon  incurred  his  father's  anger  by 
arguments  that  Creon  should  soften  his 
cruel  decree  because  of  popular  sympathy 
for  Antigone.  Creon  said  that  he  cared 
nothing  for  the  ideas  of  the  town,  and 
Haemon  called  his  answer  foolish.  As  a 
punishment,  Creon  ordered  that  Antig 
one  be  killed  before  Haemon's  eyes. 
Haemon  fled  with  threats  of  revenge. 
Creon  ordered  that  Antigone  be  walled 
up  in  a  cave  outside  Thebes  and  left 
there  to  die  for  her  crime  against  his 
law. 

When  Antigone  was  led  out  of  the 
city,  the  people  of  Thebes  followed  her, 
lamenting  her  fate.  She  was  thrust  into 
the  cave.  All  this  while,  Polynices*  body 


37 


lay  unburied  outside  the  walls.  The 
prophet  Tiresias  warned  Creon  that  the 
gods  had  not  been  pleased  with  his  ac 
tion,  and  that  the  body  should  be  buried. 
He  foretold  that  before  long  Haemon 
would  die  if  his  father  did  not  bury  Poly- 
nices  and  rescue  Antigone  from  the  cave* 
Creon,  realizing  that  Tiresias'  prophe 
sies  had  never  proved  false,  hurried  to 
avert  the  fate  the  prophet  had  foretold. 
Quickly  he  ordered  a  tomb  prepared  for 
Polynices,  and  he  himself  set  off  to  re 
lease  Antigone.  But  the  will  of  the  gods 
could  not  be  changed  so  easily.  When  he 
reached  the  cave,  he  heard  his  son's  voice 
within,  crying  out  in  grief.  Creon  en 
tered  and  saw  that  Antigone  had  hanged 


herself  with  a  rope  made  from  her  own 
dress.  Haemon,  sword  in  hand,  rushed 
at  his  father  as  if  to  attack  him,  but  in 
stead  he  spat  on  the  old  man.  He  then 
fell  on  his  sword  and  killed  himself  in 
sorrow  over  Antigone's  death.  The  news 
of  these  events  quickly  traveled  back  to 
the  city,  and  Creon's  wife,  hearing  of 
so  many  misfortunes,  died  by  her  own 
hand. 

On  returning  to  Thebes  with  the  body 
of  his  son,  Creon  learned  of  his  wife's 
death.  Seeing  that  his  life  could  no 
longer  have  meaning,  he  had  himself  led 
out  of  the  city  into  exile.  He  was,  him 
self,  the  final  victim  of  his  harsh  tyranny. 


THE  APOSTLE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sholem  Asch  (1880-1957) 

Type  of  plot:  Religious  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:   Shortly  after  the  Crucifixion 

Locale:    The  Roman  Empire 

First  published:   1943 

Principal  characters: 

SAUL  OF  TARSHISH,  afterwards  known  as  Paul 

JOSEPH  BAE  NASA  OF  CYPRUS,  Saul's  friend,  an  early  convert 

REB  ISTEPHAN,  a  famous  Jewish  preacher 

SIMON  BAR  JONAH,  called  Peter 

REB  JACOB,  Joseph's  son 

Criticpie: 

The  Apostle  is  a  faithful  attempt  to 
chronicle  the  life  of  the  two  great 
apostles,  Peter  and  Paul.  Adhering  care 
fully  to  the  history  of  the  period,  the 
author  has  presented  a  sympathetic  por 
trait  of  the  struggle  of  the  early  Chris 
tians.  His  knowledge  of  contemporary 
events  gives  the  reader  a  vivid  picture  of 
the  life  of  the  period  shortly  after  the 
Crucifixion. 


The  Story: 

It  was  seven  weeks  after  the  crucifixion 
of  Yeshua  of  Nazareth  by  Pontius  Pilate. 
All  the  poor  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  found 
in  Jeshua  their  Messiah,  had  gone  into 


hiding;  but  the  word  was  spreading.  Lit 
tle  by  little  the  story  was  told,  of  Yeshua 
who  had  come  back  after  his  death,  of 
the  Messiah  who  had  appeared  to  his 
disciples.  The  matter  was  hotly  argued 
on  all  sides.  The  pious  Jews  could  not 
believe  in  a  Messiah  who  had  been  killed; 
the  Messianists  devoutly  affirmed  their 
faith. 

Saul  of  Tarshish  and  Joseph  bar  Naba 
came  upon  a  street  preacher,  a  rustic 
Galilean,  who  told  with  great  conviction 
of  Yeshua's  return  after  he  had  been 
entombed.  Cries  of  belief  and  of  re 
pugnance  interrupted  his  talk.  Saul  him 
self  spoke  with  great  bitterness  against 


THE  APOSTLE  by  Sholan  Asch.    Translated  by  Maurice  Sarane1     By  permission  nf  the  author  and  the  pub- 
lUhers,  G.  P.  Putnam'*  Sons.   Copyright,  1943,  by  Sholein  Asch. 


this  Messiah,  for  he  had  no  patience  with 
the  gentle  Yeshua  who  was  hanged. 

The  agitation  rapidly  spread.  One  of 
the  most  vigorous  upholders  of  Yeshua 
was  Reb  Istephan.  He  had  a  gift  for 
moving  men's  souls,  and  more  and  more 
Jews  became  persuaded.  Joseph  bar 
Naba  himself  had  known  Yeshua  in  his 
lifetime,  and  when  Joseph  heard  Reb 
Istephan  he  was  convinced.  Joseph  be 
came  a  Messianist.  This  conversion  dis 
gusted  Saul,  and  in  sorrow  and  bitterness 
he  turned  away  from  his  friend  Joseph. 
Then  a  dramatic  incident  took  place. 
Simon,  the  first  of  Yeshua's  disciples, 
healed  Nehemiah  the  cripple  in  the 
name  of  the  Nazarene.  Many  were  much 
impressed  by  the  cure,  but  others  re 
sented  Simon's  use  of  the  Messiah's 
name.  As  a  result  his  enemies  had  their 
way,  and  Simon  was  imprisoned  by  the 
High  Priest  to  await  trial.  Then  another 
miracle  happened!  Simon  and  his  fol 
lower  Jochanan  had  been  securely  locked 
in  a  dungeon,  but  in  the  morning  they 
were  walking  the  streets  again.  It  was 
said  that  they  had  passed  directly  through 
the  stone  walls  —  with  die  help  of 
Yeshua. 

The  resentment  against  the  wild  Gali 
leans  grew  among  the  rulers,  while  the 
humble  folk  followed  Simon  with  trust. 
The  High  Priest  again  brought  Simon  to 
trial;  but  Simon  spoke  so  well  in  defense 
of  his  doctnne  that  he  was  freed.  And 
now  the  tumult  increased.  The  ignorant 
folk,  seeing  Simon  released,  concluded 
that  there  was  official  sanction  for  the 
new  cult;  hence  more  joined  the  followers 
of  Yeshua. 

Saul  was  greatly  incensed.  He  believed 
that  the  Messiah  was  yet  to  come,  that 
the  disciples  were  corrupting  Jerusalem. 
He  went  to  the  High  Priest  and  secured 
appointment  as  official  spy.  In  his  new 
job  Saul  tracked  down  the  humble  Mes- 
sianists  and  sentenced  them  to  the  lash. 
Growing  in  power,  Saul  the  Zealot 
finally  took  Reb  Istephan  prisoner  for 
preaching  the  new  faith.  With  grim 
pleasure  Saul  led  the  way  to  the  stoning 


pit  and  watched  Istephan  sink  beneath 
the  flung  rocks.  As  he  died,  the  preachei 
murmured  a  prayer  for  the  forgiveness  of 
his  tormentors.  Saul  was  vaguely 
troubled. 

Then  the  Messianists  were  much 
heartened.  Reb  Jacob  ben  Joseph, 
Yeshua's  younger  brother,  came  to  Jeru 
salem  to  head  the  humble  cult,  and  Saul 
could  do  little  against  this  pious  and 
strict  Jew.  By  chance  the  High  Priest 
heard  of  more  Messianists  in  Damascus 
Saul  volunteered  to  investigate  and  hur 
ried  to  his  new  field.  But  on  the  way  a 
vision  appeared  to  him  and  said,  "Saul, 
Saul,  why  dost  thou  persecute  me?"  Saul 
then  recognized  Yeshua  for  his  Lord  and 
as  he  was  commanded  he  went  on  to 
Damascus,  although  he  was  still  blinded 
by  the  heavenly  apparition.  A  follower 
of  the  new  religion  baptized  him  and 
restored  his  sight.  The  penitent  Saul 
hurried  away  from  the  haunts  of  man. 
In  all  he  waited  seven  years  for  his  mis 
sion. 

Finally  as  he  prayed  in  his  mother's 
house,  the  call  came.  Joseph  bar  Naba 
asked  Saul  to  go  with  him  to  Antioch 
to  strengthen  the  congregation  there. 
At  last  Saul  was  on  the  way  to  bring 
the  word  of  the  Messiah  to  others.  He 
left  for  Antioch  with  Joseph  and  the 
Greek  Titus,  Saul's  first  convert. 

Now  Simon  had  founded  the  church 
at  Antioch  among  the  Greeks.  The  per 
plexing  question  was,  could  a  devout 
Jew  even  eat  with  the  gentiles,  let  alone 
accept  them  into  the  church?  In  Jeru 
salem  Jacob  held  firmly  to  the  law  of 
the  Torah:  salvation  was  only  for  the 
circumcised.  Simon  vacillated.  In  Jeru 
salem  he  followed  Jacob;  among  the 
Greeks  he  accepted  gentiles  fully.  Joseph 
had  been  sent  by  the  elders  of  Jerusalem 
to  Antioch  to  apply  the  stricter  rule  to 
the  growing  Messianic  church. 

Saul  at  first  met  with  much  suspicion, 
The  Messianists  remembered  too  well 
Saul  the  Zealot  who  had  persecuted  them. 
But  little  by  little  the  apostle  won  them 
over.  Yeshua  appeared  to  Saul  several 


39 


dines,  and  he  was  much  strengthened  in 
the  faith.  At  last  Saul  found  his  true 
mission  in  the  conviction  that  he  was 
divinely  appointed  to  bring  the  word  of 
Yeshua  to  the  gentiles.  He  worked  won 
ders  at  Antioch  and  huilt  a  strong  church 
there,  but  his  acceptance  of  gentiles  cost 
him  Joseph's  friendship.  As  a  symbol  of 
his  new  mission  Saul  became  Paul  and 
began  his  years  of  missionary  work. 

To  Corinth,  to  Ephesus,  to  Cyprus — 
to  all  the  gentiles  went  Paul.  Everywhere 
he  founded  a  church,  sometimes  small 
but  always  zealous.  With  him  much  of 
the  time  went  Lukas,  the  Greek  physi 
cian.  Lukas  was  an  able  minister  and  a 
scholar  who  was  writing  the  life  of 
Yeshua. 

The  devout  Jews  in  Jerusalem  were 
greatly  troubled  by  this  strange  preacher 
who  accepted  the  gentiles.  Finally  they 
brought  him  up  for  trial.  Paul  escaped 
only  by  standing  on  his  rights  as  a 
Roman  citizen.  As  such  he  could  de 
mand  a  trial  before  Caesar  himself.  Paul 
went  to  Rome  as  a  captive,  but  he  re 
joiced,  for  he  knew  the  real  test  of 
Christianity  would  be  in  Rome.  Al 
ready  Simon  was  there,  preaching  to  the 
orthodox  Jews. 

The  evil  Nero  made  Paul  wait  in 
prison  for  two  years  without  a  hearing, 


and  even  then  only  the  intervention  of 
Seneca  freed  the  apostle.  For  a  short 
time  Simon  and  Paul  worked  together, 
one  among  the  Jews  and  the  other  among 
the  gentiles.  They  converted  many,  and 
the  lowly  fervently  embraced  the  promise 
of  salvation. 

To  give  himself  an  outlet  for  his 
fancied  talents  as  an  architect,  Nero 
burned  Rome  and  planned  to  rebuild  a 
beautiful  city.  But  the  crime  was  too 
much  even  for  the  Romans.  To  divert 
suspicion  from  himself,  Nero  blamed  the 
Christians.  He  arrested  thousands  of 
them,  and  on  the  appointed  day  opened 
the  royal  carnage.  Jews  and  Christians 
hour  after  hour  were  gored  by  oxen, 
torn  by  tigers,  chewed  by  crocodiles.  At 
the  end  of  the  third  day  many  Romans 
could  no  longer  bear  the  sight,  but  still 
Nero  sat  on.  It  was  so  strange:  the 
Christians  died  well,  and  with  their  last 
breath  they  forgave  their  persecutors. 

Simon,  only  a  Jew,  was  crucified  after 
ward;  Paul,  born  a  Roman  citizen,  was 
beheaded.  With  them  to  the  execution 
went  Gabelus  the  gladiator,  who  had 
accepted  Christianity.  But  the  deaths 
of  Simon  and  Paul  were  in  reality  the 
beginning.  The  martyrdom  of  the  early 
Christians  was  the  foundation  stone  of 
the  Christian  church. 


THE  APPLE  OF  THE  EYE 

Type  of  work  Novel 

Author:  Glenway  Wescott  (1901-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  Rural  Wisconsin 

Firs*  published;  1924 

Principal  characters: 

HANNAH  MADOC,  a  primitive 

Juus  BrER,  Hannah  s  lover 

SELMA,  Jule's  wife 

ROSALIA,  Jule's  and  Selma's  daughter 

MIKE,  Rosalia's  lover 

DAN  STRANE,  Rosalia's  cousin 

Critique: 

This  novel  tells  of  the  background  and 
youth  of  Dan  Strane  in  rural  Wisconsin, 


and  the  story  of  Hannah  Madoc  reveals 
the    set    of    values    against   which    the 


THE  APPLE  OF  THE  EYE  by  Glenway  Wescott.    By  permittion  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper  ft 
Biotaert,   Copyright,  1924,  by  Dial  Press,  Inc. 

40 


author  measures  his  characters, 
himself  believed  in  Hannah's  goodness, 
but  he  was  too  weak  to  break  away 
from  his  own  social  ties  to  marry  the  girl 
he  really  loved.  The  emphasis  upon  sex 
in  the  story  is  typical  of  a  young  boy's 
wonder  at  the  difference  between  re 
ligious  doctrines  and  the  natural  functions 
of  man's  true  personality. 

The  Story: 

When  her  drunken  father  came  home 
one  night  and  swung  at  her  with  a  broom 
handle,  patient,  hard-working  Hannah 
Madoc  pushed  him  off  the  porch  in  self- 
defense.  He  died  a  few  days  later, 
leaving  his  daughter  orphaned  and  penni 
less,  and  Hannah  went  to  work  in  Mrs. 
Boyle's  store.  There  she  waited  on  cus 
tomers  during  the  day  and  served  the 
men  liquor  in  the  evening. 

One  night  Jule  Bier  saw  her  behind 
the  store  counter.  Ever  since  the  death 
of  his  wife  and  the  piling  up  of  debts, 
old  Mr.  Bier  had  struggled  to  make 
enough  money  from  his  farm  to  give 
Jule  a  chance  in  life.  Cold  and  calculat 
ing,  the  elder  Bier  had  sent  Jule  to  work 
as  a  hired  han,d  on  the  neighborhood 
farms.  Jule  began  to  court  Hannah  dur 
ing  long  walks  at  night;  he  took  her  to 
neighborhood  dances,  and  they  went  for 
rides  in  his  buggy.  Hannah  soon  tired  of 
the  attentions  of  other  men.  When  Mr. 
Boyle  attempted  to  make  love  to  her,  she 
quit  her  job  to  go  to  work  on  a  farm 
near  Jule's  home. 

Old  Mr.  Bier  sent  Jule  to  court  Selma 
Duncan,  the  oldest  daughter  of  a  wealthy 
farmer.  Blindly  obeying  his  father,  Jule 
proposed  to  the  girl  and  was  accepted. 
Then  he  realized  what  he  had  done. 
Facing  Hannah,  he  was  bewildered  by 
her  grief,  only  half  aware  of  his  own. 

Leaving  the  neighborhood  of  Sheboy- 
gan,  Hannah  went  to  Fond  du  Lac, 
where  she  became  a  prostitute  and  lost 
in  a  few  years  her  beauty  and  vitality. 
At  last  Jule  went  to  Fond  du  Lac  to 
bring  his  former  sweetheart  back  to  her 
home.  Hannah  ended  her  years  in  bitter 


sterility,  answering  a  call  for  help  from 
a  neighbor,  nursing  a  sick  calf,  or  taking 
care  of  someone's  children  when  theii 
mother  became  ill.  She  died,  prematurely 
aged  and  broken,  as  the  result  of  a  fall. 
Jule  and  Selma  had  one  daughter, 
Rosalia,  Selma's  sister,  Mrs.  Strane,  had 
a  son,  Dan,  who  was  a  boy  of  fourteen 
when  Rosalia  was  in  her  early  twenties. 
Mike,  a  young  man  with  a  keen  zest 
for  life,  worked  on  Jule's  farm.  Because 
his  mother  was  so  tight-lipped  and  be 
cause  she  tried  to  instill  in  him  a  chastity 
of  ignorance  and  abstinence,  Dan  had 
developed  an  adolescent  feeling  of  frus 
tration  and  curiosity.  He  longed  to  know 
what  sex  was,  how  it  affected  people, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  was  overcome 
by  an  inbred  feeling  of  shame.  It  was 
Mike  who  cleared  the  way  for  Dan  after 
they  became  friends.  Mike,  who  believed 
that  life  should  be  full  of  experience  both 
physical  and  mental,  made  life's  processes 
a  wonderful  thing,  not  obscene  and  dirty, 
as  Dan's  mother  had  led  the  boy  to  be 
lieve.  Breaking  away  from  the  mother 
who  had  been  his  idol,  Dan  replaced  her 
with  his  new  friend,  Mike.  Mike,  in 
love  with  Rosalia,  shared  his  deeper 
feelings  with  his  young  friend.  Dan  had 
grown  up, 

Mike  loved  Rosalia  and  he  desired  her, 
but  at  first  Rosalia  resisted  his  love-mak 
ing.  One  afternoon  he  seduced  her. 
Rosalia's  subsequent  tears  frightened  him, 
but  soon  she  learned  to  hide  her  terror 
of  love.  She  told  Mike  that  they  ought 
.0  get  married  to  redeem  their  sin,  but 
Mike's  suggestion  that  Selma  might  not 
approve  quieted  the  frightened  girl.  Mike 
was  not  certain  that  he  wanted  to  marry 
Rosalia.  When  Jule  quietly  told  Mike 
that  he  had  noticed  Rosalia's  and  Mike's 
love  and  that  he  would  not  object  to  the 
marriage  if  Mike  wanted  it,  Mike  felt 
trapped,  He  quit  his  job  with  Jule  and 
left  the  Bier  farm. 

Dan  was  inconsolable.  Having  looked 
upon  his  cousin  and  Mike  as  perfect 
lovers,  he  could  not  understand  why 
Mike  should  leave.  Rosalia  brooded,  her 


41 


sense  of  guilt  increasing  after  Mike's  de 
parture.  Although  she  hid  her  feelings 
from  her  parents,  Dan  knew  enough  of 
her  affair  with  Mike  to  be  curious  about 
Rosalia's  feelings.  But  he  could  learn 
nothing  from  her.  Rosalia  herself  was 
not  as  calm  as  she  appeared  to  be.  The 
punishment  for  love  was  a  child.  She 
felt  a  surge  of  emotion  within  her,  and 
it  seemed  permanently  a  part  of  her.  She 
concluded  that  she  must  be  with  child. 
It  was  inevitable;  she  had  sinned  and  this 
was  to  be  her  harvest.  Deserted  by  her 
lover-husband,  she  could  not  bear  to 
think  of  her  shame.  She  told  some  neigh 
bors  that  she  was  going  to  run  off  to  meet 
Mike,  and  one  night  during  a  snowstorm 
she  left  her  home. 

No  one  had  heard  from  Rosalia  or 
Mike.  Dan  and  Selma  waited  through 
the  winter.  Once,  when  Dan  went  to 
visit  his  aunt  in  Milwaukee,  he  looked 
for  Mike,  but  lie  did  not  find  him.  In 
the  spring  a  neighbor  brought  the  news 
to  Jule  that  Rosalia's  body  had  been 
found  in  the  swamp.  Fearing  that  the 
news  would  kill  the  already  ailing  Selma, 
Jule  made  the  neighbor  and  Dan 
promised  to  tell  no  one  about  Rosalia's 
body.  They  buried  the  girl  in  the  swamp, 

All  summer  Dan  worked  on  his  father's 
farm.  He  had  begun  to  hate  the  memory 


of  Mike  ever  since  he  had  helped  Jule 
bury  the  body  of  Rosalia.  A  liundred 
times  over  Dan  killed  Mike  in  effigy.  In 
the  fall  Selma  died,  and  Dan  went  to  live 
with  Jule.  The  kindly,  patient  man,  who 
had  seen  so  much  of  Hie,  won  Dan's  af 
fections. 

Jule  wanted  Dun  to  tell  him  all  he 
knew  about  Rosalia  and  Mike.  The 
wonderful  understanding  of  the  old  man 
impressed  his  nephew.  Mike  had  done 
the  best  he  knew  how,  Jule  maintained. 
In  turn,  he  told  Dan  about  Hannah 
Madoc.  If  Hannah  had  been  Rosalia's 
mother  instead  of  Selma,  Jule  said, 
Rosalia  would  not  have  been  destroyed 
through  fear.  Hannah  knew  how  to 
handle  life.  Religious  people  were  always 
trying  to  make  life  better  than  it  was, 
but  life  should  be  accepted  at  its  simple, 
natural  values.  Dan  accepted  his  uncle's 
views. 

Dan's  father  had  never  understood  his 
son.  I  laving  completed  his  high  school 
education,  Dan  was  becoming  restless. 
His  father,  realising  that  Dan  was  not 
cut  out  for  farm  work,  suggested  that 
he  go  to  college,  With  high  hopes  that 
he  would  Find  more  answers  to  his  ques 
tioning  of  life,  Dan  prepared  to  enter 
the  state  university. 


ARNE 


Type  of  work-,  Novel 

Author:  Bjomstjerne  BjoTnson  (1832-1910) 

Type  of  plot:  Pastoral  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

L&cale:  Norway 

First  published:  1858 

Principal  characters: 
NILS,  a  tailor 
MAiiorr,  his  wife 
AHNE>  their  son 
BAAIID  BORN,  Nils'  enemy 
ELI,  Baard's  daughter 

Critique: 

Arnc  is  best  described  as  a  pastoral 
story,  but  the  discerning  reader  will  find 


to  personal  honor,  their  ability  to  trans 
late  memory  into  action  of  word  or  deed. 


it  also  an  allegory  of  the  life  of  Norse      I  Ie  will  read  of  a  man  us  wicked  as  Nils 
peasants.  He  will  read  of  their  devotion      and  feel  that  Nils  was  in  a  sense  a  martyr 


42 


to  evil  spirits.  He  will  leave  the  story  of 
Arne  with  a  sense  of  completion,  for  the 
restless  and  tragic  searching  of  Nils'  life 
is  in  a  sense  fulfilled  when  the  daugh 
ter  of  his  enemy  marries  his  son. 

The  Story: 

Arne  was  born  on  the  hillside  farm 
of  Kampen.  He  was  the  son  of  Margit, 
betrayed  one  night  when  she  attended  a 
dance.  The  man  said  to  be  the  child's 
father  was  Nils,  the  tailor,  who  in  his 
free  time  fiddled  for  country  dances. 
Arne's  grandmother  was  a  frugal  widow 
who  saved  what  she  earned  so  that  her 
daughter  and  her  grandson  might  not 
want  for  lack  of  a  man  to  look  after 
them.  In  the  meantime  the  fiddler- 
tailor,  Nils,  drank  more  and  tailored  less 
so  that  his  business  fell  off. 

By  the  time  Arne  was  six  he  knew  a 
local  song  written  about  the  wild  be 
havior  of  his  father.  His  grandmother 
insisted  that  Arne  be  taught  his  origin. 
Not  long  afterward  Nils  suffered  a 
broken  back  in  a  barn  fight  with  Baard 
Boon.  About  the  same  time  the  old 
grandmother,  who  felt  that  her  days 
were  numbered,  warned  her  daughter 
against  wasting  the  money  saved  for  her 
use. 

When  the  grandmother  died,  Arne's 
mother  brought  Nils  home  to  be  nursed. 
The  next  spring  Margit  and  Nils  were 
married  ana  Nils  recovered  enough  to 
help  with  some  of  the  farm  work.  At  first 
Nils  was  gloomy  and  morose  because  he 
was  no  longer  able  to  join  the  fiddlers 
and  the  dancers  at  weddings,  and  he 
drank  heavily.  As  his  strength  returned 
he  began  to  nddle  once  more.  Arne  went 
along  to  merry-makings  to  carry  his 
fiddle  case.  By  this  companionship  Nils 
weaned  Arne  away  from  Margit  by 
degrees.  Occasionally  the  boy  was  re 
morseful,  but  his  father's  hold  grew 
stronger  as  time  passed. 

Finally,  during  a  scene  of  drunken 
violence,  Nils  died.  Arne  and  his  mother 
took  the  blame  for  his  death  partly 
upon  themselves.  Arne  became  aloof 


from  the  villagers;  he  tended  his  cattle 
and  wrote  a  few  songs. 

He  became  more  and  more  shy.  At  a 
wedding,  interpreting  one  of  the  folk 
tales  as  referring  to  him,  he  told  a  wild 
story,  part  truth,  part  fancy,  about  his 
father's  death.  Then  he  rushed  from  the 
house.  He  had  had  too  much  brandy,  and 
while  he  lay  in  the  barn  recovering,  his 
mother  told  him  she  had  once  found 
Nils  there  in  the  same  condition — on 
the  occasion  of  Arne's  christening. 

Arne  began  to  take  a  new  interest  in 
old  legends  and  ballads.  As  he  listened 
to  stories  told  by  an  old  man  of  the 
village,  he  found  himself  making  up 
tales  of  his  own.  Sometimes  he  wandered 
alone  in  the  forest  and  sang  songs  as  they 
came  into  his  head. 

From  a  distance  he  observed  Eli 
Boen  and  her  good  friend,  the  pastor's 
daughter.  He  began  to  sing  love  songs. 
Arne  did  some  carpentering  and  his 
work  took  him  into  the  village  more 
often.  That  winter  Boen  sent  for  Arne 
to  do  some  carpentering.  Ame's  mother 
was  disturbed  because  it  had  been  Boen 
who  had  caused  Nils  to  break  his  back 
years  before.  At  first  Boen's  wife  re 
fused  to  speak  to  Arne.  Eli  Boen,  who 
was  attentive  to  him  in  the  beginning, 
later  ignored  him.  One  day  Arne  brought 
word  that  the  pastor's  daughter  was 
leaving  the  village.  Eli  fainted  when  she 
heard  the  news,  for  the  two  girls  had 
been  close  friends. 

Baard  Boen  tried  to  explain  to  Arne 
what  had  happened  years  before  between 
Nils  and  himself.  But  he  did  not  manage 
to  make  himself  clear,  and  after  many 
years  he  himself  was  not  sure  of  the 
cause  of  their  long-standing  quarrel. 

Eli's  mother  became  friendly  with 
Arne  at  last  and  she  asked  him  to  sing 
for  Eli,  who  seemed  to  be  recovering 
from  her  illness.  While  he  sang,  he 
and  Eli  felt  a  deep  intimacy  spring  up 
between  them.  The  next  day,  his  work 
completed,  Arne  took  his  tools  and  left. 
From  that  time  on  he  thought  more  and 
more  about  Baard  Boen's  daughter. 


Ame  had  a  friend,  Kristian,  who  had 
gone  to  America.  Now  Kristian  began 
to  write  urging  Arne  to  join  him,  but 
Margit  hid  the  letters  as  they  came. 
Finally  she  went  to  the  pastor  for  advice. 
He  felt  that  Arne  must  be  allowed  to 
live  his  own  life  as  he  saw  fit. 

The  farm  was  beautiful  when  spring 
came.  On  one  of  his  rambles  Arne  came 
upon  Eli  and  thought  her  more  beauti 
ful  than  he  had  ever  seen  her  before. 
Margit  took  heart  from  his  fondness  for 
the  girl.  One  midsummer  evening  she 
discovered  Eli  in  the  village  and  asked 
her  to  go  for  a  walk.  She  took  the  girl 
to  her  homestead  and  showed  her  about, 


from  the  stables  to  the  chest  in  which 
Arne  kept  the  many  gifts  that  were  to 
belong  to  his  bride,  among  them  a 
hymn  book  with  a  silver  clasp.  On  the 
clasp  Eli  saw  her  own  name  engraved. 

Presently  Arne  appeared  and  later  he 
walked  with  EH  back  to  her  own  home. 
They  realized  now  that  they  were  com 
pletely  in  love. 

Shortly  afterward  they  were  married, 
Children  stood  by  the  church  bearing 
bits  of  cake.  Baard  Boen,  remembering 
his  long-ago  feud  with  Arne's  father, 
marveled  at  this  wedding  of  his  daugh 
ter  and  the  son  of  his  old  enemy. 


ARROWSMITH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sinclair  Lewis  (1885-1951) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale;  United  States  and  West  Indies 

First  published:  1924 

Principal  characters: 

MARTIN  AxmowsMtra,  a  medical  scientist 

LEOHA,  his  wife 

D&,  MAX:  GOTTLIEB,  a  scientist 

GUSTAVB  SoNj>Ekiurs>  a  scientist 

TEJURY  WXCKBTT,  Martin's  friend 

JOYCE  LANYON,  a  young  widow 

Dn,  ALMUS  PicomutrGB,  a  public  health  reformer 

Critique: 

Arrowsmith  is  one  of  the  novels  in 
which  Sinclair  Lewis  has  attempted  to 
point  out  the  insufficiencies  and  com 
placencies  of  American  life.  What 
Babbitt  did  for  the  American  business 
man,  Arrowsmith  was  intended  to  do  for 
the  American  doctor,  The  thesis  of 
Arrowsmith  would  appear  to  be  that  the 
only  decent  way  for  a  physician  to  serve 
mankind  is  by  research.  Using  Martin 
Arrowsmith  as  his  example,  Lewis  has 
tried  to  show  that  the  progressive  doctor 
is  not  appreciated  in  private  practice;  that 
the  field  of  public  health  is  politically 
corrupt;  that  the  fashionable  clinic  is 
often  a  commercial  enterprise;  that  even 


the  best   institutes  of  research  are  in 
terested  chiefly  in  publicity. 

The  Story, 

Martin  Arrowsmith  was  the  descendant 
of  pioneers  in  the  Ohio  wilderness.  He 
tfrew  up  in  the  raw  rod-brick  town  of 
Elk  Mills,  in  the  state  of  Winnemac,  a 
restless,  lonely  boy  who  spent  his  odd 
hours  in  old  Doc  Vickerson  s  office.  The 
village  practitioner  was  a  widower,  with 
no  family  of  his  own,  and  bo  encouraged 
Martin's  interest  in  medicine. 

At  twenty-one  Martin  was  a  junior 
preparing  for  medical  school  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  Winnemac.  Continuing  on  at 


ARROWSMITH  by  Sinclair  Lewii.    By  permission  of  the  author  And  publinlvcrf.  Harcourt    Brare  &  Co 
Copyright,  1925,  by  Haroourt.  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.  ' 


44 


the  medical  school,  he  was  most  in 
terested  in  bacteriology  and  research  and 
the  courses  of  Professor  Max  Gottlieb,  a 
noted  German  scientist.  After  joining  a 
medical  fraternity,  he  made  many  life 
long  friends.  He  also  fell  in  love  with 
Madeline  Fox,  a  shallow,  pseudo-intel 
lectual  who  was  taking  graduate  work 
in  English.  To  the  young  man  from 
the  prairie,  Madeline  represented  culture. 
They  became  engaged. 

Martin  spent  many  nights  in  research 
at  the  laboratory,  and  he  became  the 
favorite  of  Professor  Gottlieb.  One  day 
Gottlieb  sent  him  to  the  Zenith  City 
Hospital  on  an  errand.  There  Martin 
met  an  attractive  nurse  named  Leora 
Tozer.  He  soon  became  so  interested  in 
Leora  that  he  became  engaged  to  her 
as  well.  Thus  young  Martin  Arrowsmith 
found  himself  engaged  to  two  girls  at 
the  same  time.  Unable  to  choose  be 
tween  them,  he  asked  both  Leora  and 
Madeline  to  lunch  with  him.  When  he 
explained  his  predicament,  Madeline 
stalked  angrily  from  the  dining-room 
and  out  of  his  life.  Leora,  amused,  re 
mained.  Martin  felt  that  his  life  had 
really  begun. 

Through  his  friendship  with  Gottlieb, 
Martin  became  a  student  instructor  in 
bacteriology.  Leora  was  called  home  to 
North  Dakota.  Because  of  Leora's 
absence,  trouble  with  the  dean,  and  too 
much  whiskey,  Martin  left  school  during 
the  Christmas  holidays.  Traveling  like  a 
tramp,  he  arrived  at  Wheatsylvania,  the 
town  where  Leora  lived.  In  spite  of  the 
warnings  of  the  dull  Tozer  family,  Mar 
tin  and  Leora  were  married.  Martin  went 
back  to  Winnemac  alone.  A  married 
man  now,  he  gave  up  his  work  in  bac 
teriology  and  turned  his  attention  to 
general  study*  Later  Leora  joined  him  in 
Mohalis, 

Upon  completion  of  his  internship, 
Martin  set  up  an  office  in  Wheatsylvania 
with  money  supplied  by  his  wife's  family. 
In  the  small  prairie  town  Martin  made 
friends  of  the  wrong  sort,  according  to 
the  Tozers,  but  he  was  fairly  successful 


as  a  physician.  He  also  made  a  number 
of  enemies.  Meanwhile  Martin  and 
Leora  moved  from  the  Tozer  house  to 
their  own  home.  When  Leora's  first  child 
was  born  dead,  they  knew  that  they 
could  never  have  another  child, 

Martin  had  again  become  interested  in 
research.  When  he  heard  that  the 
Swedish  scientist,  Gustave  Sondelius, 
was  to  lecture  in  Minneapolis,  Martin 
went  to  hear  his  lecture.  In  that  way 
Martin  became  interested  in  public 
health  as  a  means  of  controlling  disease. 
Back  in  Wheatsylvania,  still  under  the 
influence  of  Sondelius,  he  became  acting 
head  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Health.  Because  Martin,  in  his  officia? 
capacity,  found  a  highly  respected  seam 
stress  to  be  a  chronic  carrier  of  typhoid 
and  sent  her  to  the  county  home  for 
isolation,  he  became  generally  unpopular. 
He  welcomed  the  opportunity  to  join  Dr. 
Almus  Pickerbaugh  of  Nautilus,  Iowa, 
as  the  Assistant  Director  of  Public 
Health,  at  a  considerable  increase  in 
salary. 

In  Nautilus  he  found  Dr.  Pickerbaugh 
to  be  a  public-spirited  evangelist  with 
little  knowledge  of  medicine  or  interest 
in  scientific  control  of  disease.  The 
director  spent  his  time  writing  health 
slogans  in  doubtful  poetic  meter,  lectur 
ing  to  clubs,  and  campaigning  for  health 
by  means  of  Better  Babies  Week,  Banish 
the  Booze  Week,  and  Tougher  Teeth 
Week.  Martin  was  gradually  drawn 
under  the  influence  of  the  flashy,  arti 
ficial  methods  used  by  his  superior. 
Although  he  tried  to  devote  some  time 
to  research,  the  young  doctor  found  that 
his  job  took  up  all  his  time.  While  Dr. 
Pickerbaugh  was  campaigning  for  elec 
tion  to  Congress,  Martin  investigated  the 
most  sanitary  and  efficient  dairy  of  the 
town.  He  found  that  the  dairy  was 
spreading  disease  through  a  streptococcus 
infection  in  the  udders  of  the  cows. 
Against  the  advice  of  Dr.  Pickerbaugh, 
Martin  closed  the  dairy  and  made  many 
enemies  for  himself.  Despite  his  act, 
however,  he  was  made  Acting  Director 


45 


of  Public  Health  when  Dr.  Pickerbaugh 
was  elected  to  Congress. 

In  his  new  capacity,  Martin  hired  a 
competent  assistant  in  order  to  have 
more  time  for  research  in  bacteriology. 
Largely  because  he  fired  a  block  of  tene 
ments  infested  with  tuberculosis,  Martin 
was  asked  to  resign.  For  the  next  year 
he  worked  as  staff  pathologist  of  the 
fashionable  Rouncefield  Clinic  in  Chi 
cago.  Then  publication  of  a  scientific 
paper  brought  him  again  to  the  attention 
of  his  old  friend  and  professor,  Max 
Gottlieb,  now  located  at  the  McGurk  In 
stitute  in  New  York.  Dr.  Arrowsmith 
was  glad  to  accept  the  position  Gottlieb 
offered  him. 

At  the  McGurk  Institute  Martin  de 
voted  his  whole  time  to  research,  with 
Gottlieb  as  his  constant  friend  and 
adviser.  He  worked  on  staphylococcus 
germs,  producing  first  a  toxin,  then  an 
antitoxin.  Under  the  influence  of  Gott 
lieb  and  Terry  Wickett,  his  colleague  at 
McGurk,  Martin  discovered  the  X  Prin 
ciple,  a  bacterial  infection  which  might 
prove  to  be  a  cure  for  disease.  Although 
Martin  wanted  to  postpone  publication 
of  his  discovery  until  he  was  absolutely 
certain  of  its  value,  the  directors  of  the 
institute  insisted  that  he  make  his  results 
public  at  once.  Before  his  paper  was 
finished,  however,  it  was  learned  that 
the  same  principle  had  already  been  dis 
covered  at  the  Pasteur  Institute,  where 
it  was  called  a  bacteriophage.  After  that 
disappointment,  Martin  began  work  on 
the  possibility  of  preventing  and  curing 
bubonic  plague  with  the  phage,  as  the 
new  antitoxin  was  called. 

Meanwhile  Gustave  Sondelius  had 
come  to  the  McGurk  Institute.  He  be 
came  so  interested  in  Martin's  work 
that  he  spent  most  of  his  time  helping 
his  young  friend.  When  a  plague  broke 


out  on  St.  Hubert,  an  island  in  the 
West  Indies,  Martin  and  Sondelius  were 
asked  to  go  there  to  help  in  the  fight 
against  the  epidemic.  Accompanied  by 
Leora  they  sailed  for  the  island  of  St. 
Hubert.  Before  leaving,  Martin  had 
promised  Gottlieb  that  he  would  conduct 
his  experiment  deliberately  by  refusing 
to  treat  some  of  the  plague  cases  with 
phage,  so  that  the  effects  of  the  treatment 
could  be  tabulated. 

The  plague  spread  daily  on  the  tropical 
island.  Sondelius  was  stricken  and  he 
died.  Martin  was  often  away  from  his 
laboratory  as  he  traveled  between  villages. 
During  one  of  his  trips  Leora  lighted  a 
half-smoked  cigarette  she  found  on  a 
table  in  his  laboratory.  The  tobacco  had 
been  saturated  with  germs  from  an  over 
turned  test  tube.  Leora  died  of  the 
plague  before  Martin's  return. 

Martin  forgot  to  be  the  pure  scientist. 
He  gave  the  phage  to  all  who  asked  for 
it.  Although  his  assistant  continued  to 
take  notes  to  carry  on  the  research,  Mar 
tin  was  no  longer  interested  in  the  re 
sults.  When  the  plague  began  to  abate, 
he  went  back  to  New  York.  There, 
lonely  and  unhappy,  he  married  Joyce 
Lanyon,  a  wealthy  young  widow  whom 
he  had  met  on  St.  Hubert.  But  the 
marriage  was  not  a  success.  Joyce  de 
manded  more  of  his  time  than  he  was 
willing  to  take  from  research;  he  felt  ill 
at  ease  among  her  rich  and  fashionable 
friends.  When  he  was  offered  the  as 
sistant  directorship  of  McGurk  Institute, 
he  refused  the  position.  In  spite  of 
Joyce's  protests,  he  went  off  to  join  his 
old  friend,  Terry  Wickett,  at  a  rural 
laboratory  in  Vermont,  where  they  in 
tended  to  experiment  on  a  cure  for  pneu 
monia.  At  last,  he  believed,  his  work — 
his  life — was  really  beginning. 


AS  YOU  LIKE  IT 


Type  of  -work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  flot:  Pastoral  romance 

Time  of  <pht:  The  Middle  Ages 


46 


Locale:  The  Forest  of  Arden  in  medieval  France 
First  presented:  c.  1600 

Principal  characters: 
THE  BANISHED  DUKE 

FREDERICK,  his  brother  and  usurper  of  his  dominions 
OLIVER,  older  son  of  Sir  Rowland  de  Boys 
ORLANDO,  younger  son  of  Sir  Rowland  de  Boys 
ADAM,  a  servant  to  Oliver 
TOUCHSTONE,  a  clown 
ROSALIND,  daughter  of  the  banished  duke 
CELIA,  daughter  of  Frederick 

Critique: 

Shakespeare  took  most  of  the  plot  of 
this  play  from  a  popular  novel  of  the 
period,  Rosalynde,  by  Thomas  Lodge. 
What  he  added  was  dramatic  characteri 
zation  and  wit.  As  You  Like  It  is  a 
comedy  compounded  of  many  elements, 
but  the  whole  is  set  to  some  of  Shake 
speare's  loveliest  poetry.  Kindliness,  good 
fellowship,  good-will — these  are  the  ele 
ments  of  As  You  Like  It,  and  Shake 
speare  shows  how  much  they  are  worth. 


The  Story: 

A  long  time  ago  the  elder  and  lawful 
ruler  of  a  French  province  had  been 
deposed  by  his  younger  brother,  Fred 
erick.  The  old  duke,  driven  from  his 
dominions,  fled  with  several  faithful  fol 
lowers  to  the  Forest  of  Arden.  There  he 
lived  a  happy  life,  free  from  the  cares 
of  the  court  and  able  to  devote  himself 
at  last  to  learning  the  lessons  nature  had 
to  teach.  His  daughter  Rosalind,  how 
ever,  remained  at  court  as  a  companion 
to  her  cousin  Celia,  the  usurping  Duke 
Frederick's  daughter.  The  two  girls  were 
inseparable,  and  nothing  her  father  said 
or  did  could  make  Celia  part  from  her 
dearest  friend. 

One  day  Duke  Frederick  commanded 
the  two  girls  to  attend  a  wrestling  match 
between  the  duke's  champion,  Charles, 
and  a  young  man  named  Orlando,  the 
special  object  of  Duke  Frederick's  hatred. 
Orlando  was  the  son  of  Sir  Rowland  de 
Boys,  who  in  his  lifetime  had  been  one 
of  the  banished  duke's  most  loyal  sup 
porters.  When  Sir  Rowland  died,  he  had 
charged  his  oldest  son,  Oliver,  with  the 


task  of  looking  after  his  younger  brother's 
education,  but  Oliver  had  neglected  his 
father's  charge.  The  moment  Rosalind 
laid  eyes  on  Orlando  she  fell  in  love  with 
him,  and  he  with  her.  She  tried  to  dis 
suade  him  from  an  unequal  contest  with 
a  champion  so  much  more  powerful  than 
he,  but  the  more  she  pleaded  the  more 
determined  Orlando  was  to  distinguish 
himself  in  his  lady's  eyes.  In  the  end  he 
completely  conquered  his  antagonist,  and 
was  rewarded  for  his  prowess  by  a  chain 
from  Rosalind's  own  neck. 

When  Duke  Frederick  discovered  his 
niece's  interest  in  Sir  Rowland's  son,  he 
banished  Rosalind  immediately  from  the 
court.  His  daughter  Celia  announced 
her  intention  of  tallowing  her  cousin.  As 
a  consequence,  Rosalind  disguised  herself 
as  a  boy  and  set  out  for  the  Forest  of 
Arden,  and  Celia  and  the  faithful  Touch 
stone,  the  false  duke's  jester,  went  with 
her.  In  the  meantime,  Orlando  also 
found  it  necessary  to  flee  because  of  his 
brother's  harsh  treatment.  He  was  ac 
companied  by  his  faithful  servant,  Adam, 
an  old  man  who  willingly  turned  over  his 
life  savings  of  five  hundred  crowns  for 
the  privilege  of  following  his  young  mas 
ter. 

Orlando  and  Adam  also  set  out  for  the 
Forest  of  Arden,  but  before  they  had 
traveled  very  far  they  were  both  weary 
and  hungry.  While  Adam  rested  in  the 
shade  of  some  trees,  Orlando  wandered 
into  that  part  of  the  forest  where  the  old 
duke  was,  and  came  upon  the  outlaws  at 
their  meal.  Desperate  from  hunger,  Or 
lando  rushed  upon  the  duke  with  a  drawn 


47 


sword  and  demanded  food.  The  duke  im 
mediately  offered  to  share  the  hospitality 
of  his  table,  and  Orlando  blushed  with 
shame  over  his  rude  manner.  Moreover; 
he  would  not  touch  a  mouthful  until 
Adam  had  been  fed.  When  the  old  duke 
found  that  Orlando  was  the  son  of  his 
friend,  Sir  Rowland  de  Boys,  he  took 
Orlando  and  Adam  under  his  protection 
and  made  them  members  of  his  band  of 
foresters. 

In  the  meantime,  Rosalind  and  Celia 
also  arrived  in  the  Forest  of  Arden,  where 
they  bought  a  flock  of  sheep  and  pro 
ceeded  to  live  the  life  of  shepherds. 
Rosalind  passed  as  Ganymede,  Gfr^a,  as  a 
sister,  Aliena.  In  this  adventure  they  en 
countered  some  real  Arcadians — Silvius, 
a  shepherd,  and  Phebe,  a  dainty  shep 
herdess  with  whom  Silvius  was  in  love. 
But  the  moment  Phebe  laid  eyes  on  the 
disguised  Rosalind  she  fell  in  love  with 
the  supposed  young  shepherd  and  would 
have  nothing  further  to  do  with  Silvius. 
As  Ganymede,  Rosalind  also  met  Or 
lando  in  the  forest,  and  twitted  him 
on  his  practice  of  writing  verses  in  praise 
of  Rosalind  and  hanging  them  on  the 
trees.  Touchstone,  in  the  forest,  displayed 
the  same  willfulness  and  whimsicality  he 
showed  at  court,  even  to  his  love  for 
Audrey,  a  country  wench  whose  sole  ap 
peal  was  her  unloveliness. 

One  morning,  as  Orlando  was  on  his 
way  to  visit  Ganymede,  he  saw  a  man 
lying  asleep  under  an  oak  tree.  A  snake 
was  coiled  about  the  sleeper's  neck,  and 
a  hungry  lioness  crouched  nearby  ready 
to  spring.  He  recognized  the  man  as 
his  own  brother,  Oliver,  and  for  a  mo 
ment  Orlando  was  tempted  to  leave  him 
to  his  fate.  But  he  drew  his  sword  and 
killed  the  snake  and  the  lioness.  In  the 
encounter  he  himself  was  wounded  by 
the  lioness.  Because  Orlando  had  saved 
his  life,  Oliver  was  duly  repentant,  and 


the  two  brothers  were  joyfully  reunited. 

His  wound  having  bled  profusely,  Or 
lando  was  too  weak  to  visit  Ganymede, 
and  he  sent  Oliver  instead  with  a  bloody 
handkerchief  as  proof  of  his  wounded 
condition.  When  Ganymede  saw  the 
handkerchief  the  supposed  shepherd 
promptly  fainted.  The  disguised  Celia 
was  so  impressed  by  Oliver's  concern  for 
his  brother  that  she  fell  in  love  with  him, 
and  they  made  plans  to  be  married  on 
die  following  day.  Orlando  was  so  over 
whelmed  by  this  news  that  he  was  a 
little  envious.  But  when  Ganymede  came 
to  call  upon  Orlando,  the  young  shepherd 
promised  to  produce  the  lady  Rosalind 
the  next  day.  Meanwhile  Phebe  came 
to  renew  her  ardent  declaration  of  love 
for  Ganymede,  who  promised  on  the 
morrow  to  unravel  the  love  tangle  of 
everyone. 

In  the  meantime,  Duke  Frederick,  en 
raged  at  the  flight  of  his  daughter,  Celia, 
had  set  out  at  the  head  of  an  expedition 
to  capture  his  elder  brother  and  put  him 
and  all  his  followers  to  death.  But  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  Forest  of  Arden  he 
met  an  old  hermit  who  turned  Frederick's 
head  from  his  evil  design.  On  the  day 
following,  as  Ganymede  had  promised, 
with  the  banished  duke  and  his  followers 
as  guests,  Rosalind  appeared  as  herself 
and  explained  how  she  and  Celia  had 
posed  as  the  shepherd  Ganymede  and 
his  sister  Aliena.  Four  marriages  took 
place  with  great  rejoicing  that  day — Or 
lando  to  Rosalind,  Oliver  to  Celia,  Sil 
vius  to  Phebe,  and  Touchstone  to  Au 
drey.  Moreover,  Frederick  was  so  com 
pletely  converted  by  the  hermit  that  he 
resolved  to  take  religious  orders,  and  he 
straightway  dispatched  a  messenger  to 
the  Forest  of  Arden  to  restore  his 
brother's  lands  and  those  of  all  his  fol 
lowers. 


AUCASSIN  AND  NICOLETTE 


Type  of  work:  Tale 
Author:  Unknown 
Ty$e  of  plot:  Chivalric  romance 


4g 


Time  of  ylot:  Twelfth  century 

Locale:  Provence,  in  France 

First  transcribed;  Fourteenth-century  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

COUNT  GARTN  DE  BEAUCAIKJS 
AUCASSIN,  his  son 
NICOLETTE,  a  slave  girl 

Critique: 

Aucassin  and  Nicolette  is  considered 
by  many  scholars  to  be  the  masterpiece 
of  the  romances  of  chivalry.  It  is  written 
in  what  is  called  the  chante-fable,  or 
song-story  style — a  prose  tale  containing 
verse  passages  which  are  sung  by  a  min 
strel.  In  it  are  found  certain  Oriental 
elements  and  much  folklore. 


The  Story: 

Count  Bougars  de  Valence  and  Count 
Garin  de  Beaucaire  were  at  war.  Count 
Garin  had  one  son,  Aucassin,  who  was  so 
smitten  by  love  that  he  would  neither 
accept  the  duties  of  knighthood  nor  par 
ticipate  in  his  father's  quarrel,  unless  his 
father  consented  to  his  love  for  Nicolette. 
She  was  a  slave  girl,  bought  by  a  captain 
of  the  town  from  the  Saracens  and  reared 
as  his  own  daughter.  Count  Garin  agreed 
to  the  marriage  of  Aucassin  to  any  daugh 
ter  of  a  king  or  count,  but  not  to  Nico 
lette.  He  went  to  see  the  captain  and  told 
him  to  send  Nicolette  away.  The  cap 
tain  said  that  he  would  keep  Nicolette 
out  of  sight,  and  so  she  was  imprisoned 
in  the  high  chamber  of  a  palace  with  an 
old  woman  to  keep  her  company. 

Rumors  sped  through  the  countryside: 
Nicolette  was  lost;  Nicolette  had  fled  the 
country;  Nicolette  was  slain  by  order  of 
Count  Garin. 

Meanwhile  the  war  between  the  two 
counts  grew  more  fierce,  but  Aucassin 
still  refused  to  fight.  Father  and  son  then 
made  a  covenant;  Aucassin  would  go  into 
the  battle,  and  if  God  willed  that  he 
should  survive,  the  count  must  agree  to 
allow  him  two  or  three  words  and  one 
kiss  from  Nicolette.  Aucassin  rode  into 
the  fray,  but  thoughts  of  Nicolette  so 
distracted  him  that  he  was  captured. 
Then  Aucassin  reflected  that  if  he  were 


slain,  he  would  have  no  chance  at  all 
to  see  Nicolette.  Therefore  he  laid  his 
hand  on  his  sword  and  began  fighting 
with  all  his  strength.  He  killed  ten 
knights  and  wounded  seven  and  took 
Count  Bougars  prisoner.  But  when  Count 
Garin  refused  to  keep  the  covenant,  Au 
cassin  released  Count  Bougars.  Aucassin 
was  cast  into  a  dungeon. 

Nicolette,  knowing  her  companion  to 
be  asleep,  escaped  from  her  prison  by  a 
rope  made  of  bed  linen  and  went  to  the 
castle  where  Aucassin  lay.  While  they 
exchanged  lovers'  vows,  the  guards  came 
searching  for  Nicolette,  as  her  escape  had 
been  discovered.  But  a  friendly  sentinel 
warned  Nicolette  of  their  coming.  She 
leaped  into  the  moat  and,  bruised  and 
bleeding,  climbed  the  outer  wall. 

Nicolette  fell  asleep  in  a  thicket  near 
the  castle.  Next  day  she  saw  some  shep 
herds  eating  their  lunch  at  a  fountain 
nearby.  She  asked  them  to  take  a  mes 
sage  to  Aucassin,  saying  there  was  a 
beast  in  the  forest  and  that  he  should 
have  this  beast  and  not  part  with  one  of 
its  limbs  for  any  price.  Nicolette  built 
herself  a  lodge  within  the  forest  and 
waited  to  prove  her  lover's  faith. 

Aucassin  was  taken  from  his  prison 
and  allowed  to  attend  a  great  feast,  but 
he  had  no  joy  in  it.  A  friendly  knight 
offered  his  horse  to  Aucassin  and  sug 
gested  that  he  ride  into  the  forest.  Au 
cassin  was  only  too  nappy  for  a  chance 
to  get  away.  He  met  the  shepherds  by 
the  fountain  and  heard  what  Nicolette 
had  told  them.  Aucassin  prayed  God 
that  he  would  find  his  quarry. 

He  rode  in  all  haste  through  the 
thorny  forest.  Toward  evening  he  began 
to  weep  because  his  search  had  been 
fruitless.  He  met  a  huge,  ugly  fellow, 


49 


leaning  on  a  terrible  cudgel.  Aucassin 
told  him  that  he  mourned  for  a  white 
hound  he  had  lost.  The  burly  fellow 
scornfully  replied  that  he  had  lost  his 
best  ox  and  had  searched  fruitlessly  for 
three  days  without  meat  or  drink.  Au 
cassin  gave  the  man  twenty  sols  to  pay 
for  the  beast.  They  parted  and  went  their 
separate  ways. 

Aucassin  found  the  lodge  built  by 
Nicolette  and  rested  there  that  night. 
Nicolette  heard  Aucassin  singing  and 
came  to  him.  The  next  day  they  mounted 
Aucassin's  horse  and  journeyed  until  they 
came  to  the  seas.  Aucassin  and  Nicolette 
embarked  upon  a  ship.  A  terrible  storm 
carried  them  to  Torelore.  First  Aucassin 
fought  with  the  king  of  that  strange 
land  and  then  freed  the  king  of  his 
enemies.  He  and  Nicolette  lived  happily 
in  Torelore  until  Saracens  besieged  the 
castle  and  captured  all  within  it.  Aucas 
sin  was  put  in  one  ship  and  Nicolette 
in  another.  A  storm  scattered  the  ships, 
and  that  in  which  Aucassin  was  a  pris 
oner  drifted  ashore  at  Beaucaire.  He 
was  now  the  Count  of  Beaucaire,  his 


parents  having  died. 

Nicolette  was  in  the  ship  bearing  the 
King  of  Carthage,  who  was  her  true 
father.  They  did  not  recognize  each 
other  because  Nicolette  had  been  but  a 
child  when  she  was  stolen.  But  when 
she  saw  the  walls  of  Carthage  memory 
came  back  to  her,  and  she  revealed  her 
identity  in  a  song.  The  king  gave  her 
great  honor  and  desired  to  marry  her  to 
a  king  of  the  Saracens,  but  Nicolette 
remained  steadfast  in  her  love  for  Au 
cassin.  She  disguised  herself  as  a  min 
strel  and  took  ship  for  Provence,  where 
she  traveled  from  castle  to  castle  until 
she  came  to  Beaucaire. 

In  the  great  hall  Nicolette  sang  of 
her  adventures.  When  Aucassin  heard 
her  song,  he  took  her  aside  and  inquired 
concerning  Nicolette.  He  asked  her  to 
return  to  the  land  where  Nicolette  lived 
and  bring  her  to  him.  Nicolette  returned 
to  the  captain's  house  and  there  she 
clothed  herself  in  rich  robes  and  sent  for 
Aucassin.  And  so  at  last  they  were 
wedded  and  lived  long  years  with  great 
joy. 


BABBITT 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Sinclair  Lewis  (1885-1951) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  The  1920's 

Locale:  Zenith,  fictional  Midwestern  town 

First  published:  1922 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  F.  BABBITT,  a  middle-aged  real  estate  broker 

MTRA,  his  wife 

TED,  their  son 

VERONA,  their  daughter 

PAUL  REISLING,  Babbitt's  friend 
A,  Paul's  shrewish  wife 


Critique: 

Babbitt  is  a  pungent  satire  about  a 
man  who  typifies  complacent  mediocrity. 
George  F.  Babbitt,  as  standardized  as  his 
electric  cigar  lighter,  revels  in  his  own 
popularity,  his  ability  to  make  money, 
his  fine  automobile,  and  his  penny- 


pinching  generosity.  Babbitt  worships 
gadgets.  He  praises  prohibition  and 
drinks  bootleg  whiskey,  bullies  his  wife, 
ogles  his  manicurist.  Though  he  is  con 
stantly  discontented  with  the  life  he 
leads,  he  is  thoroughly  satisfied  with 


BABBITT  by  Sinclair  Lewis.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copy 
right,  1922,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 


50 


George  F.  Babbitt.  Because  his  character 
is  grounded  in  realism,  Babbitt  is  one  of 
the  most  convincing  characters  in  Ameri 
can  literature. 

The  Story: 

George  F.  Babbitt  was  proud  of  his 
house  in  Floral  Heights,  one  of  the  most 
respectable  residential  districts  in  Zenith. 
Its  architecture  was  standardized;  its  in 
terior  decorations  were  standardized;  its 
atmosphere  was  standardized.  Therein 
lay  its  appeal  for  Babbitt. 

He  bustled  about  in  a  tile  and 
chromium  bathroom  in  his  morning  ritual 
of  getting  ready  for  another  day.  When 
he  went  down  to  breakfast,  he  was  as 
grumpy  as  usual.  It  was  expected  of  him. 
He  read  the  dull  real  estate  page  of  the 
newspaper  to  his  patient  wife,  Myra. 
Then  he  commented  on  the  weather, 
grumbled  at  his  son  and  daughter, 
gulped  his  breakfast  and  started  for  his 
office. 

Babbitt  was  a  real  estate  broker  who 
knew  how  to  handle  business  with  zip 
and  zowie.  Having  closed  a  deal  whereby 
he  forced  a  poor  businessman  to  buy  a 
piece  of  property  at  twice  its  value,  he 
pocketed  part  of  the  money  and  paid 
the  rest  to  the  man  who  had  suggested 
the  enterprise.  Proud  of  his  acumen,  he 
picked  up  the  telephone  and  called  his 
best  friend,  Paul  Reisling,  to  ask  him  to 
lunch. 

Paul  Reisling  should  have  been  a 
violinist,  but  he  had  gone  into  the 
tar-roofing  business  in  order  to  support 
his  shrewish  wife,  Zilla.  Lately  she  had 
made  it  her  practice  to  infuriate  door 
men,  theater  ushers,  or  taxicab  drivers, 
and  then  ask  Paul  to  come  to  her  rescue 
and  fight  them  like  a  man.  Cringing 
with  embarrassment,  Paul  would  pretend 
he  had  not  noticed  the  incident,  Later, 
at  home,  Zilla  would  accuse  him  of  being 
a  coward  and  a  weakling. 

So  sad  did  Paul's  affairs  seem  to  Bab 
bitt  that  he  suggested  a  vacation  to  Maine 
together — away  from  their  wives.  Paul 
was  skeptical,  but  with  magnificent  as 


surance  Babbitt  promised  to  arrange  the 
trip.  Paul  was  humbly  grateful. 

Back  in  his  office  Babbitt  fired  a  sales 
man  who  was  too  honest.  When  he  got 
home,  he  and  his  wife  decided  to  give 
a  dinner  party,  with  the  arrangements 
taken  bodily  from  the  contents  of  a 
woman's  magazine,  and  everything  edible 
disguised  to  look  like  something  else. 

The  party  was  a  great  success.  Bab 
bitt's  friends  were  exactly  like  Babbitt. 
They  all  became  drunk  on  prohibition- 
period  gin,  were  disappointed  when  the 
cocktails  ran  out,  stuffed  themselves 
with  food,  and  went  home  to  nurse 
headaches. 

The  next  day  Babbitt  and  Myra  paid 
a  call  on  die  Reislings.  Zilla,  trying  to 
enlist  their  sympathy,  berated  her  hus 
band  until  he  was  goaded  to  fury.  Bab 
bitt  finally  told  Zilla  that  she  was  a  nag 
ging,  jealous,  sour,  and  unwholesome 
wife,  and  he  demanded  that  she  allow 
Paul  to  go  with  him  to  Maine.  Weeping 
in  self-pity,  Zilla  consented.  Myra  sat 
calmly  during  the  scene,  but  later  she 
criticized  Babbitt  for  bullying  Paul's 
wife.  Babbitt  told  her  sharply  to  mind 
her  own  business. 

On  the  train,  Babbitt  and  Paul  met 
numerous  businessmen  who  loudly 
agreed  with  each  other  that  what  this 
country  needed  was  a  sound  business 
administration.  They  deplored  the  price 
of  motor  cars,  textiles,  wheat,  and  oil; 
they  swore  that  they  had  not  an  ounce 
of  race-prejudice;  they  blamed  Com 
munism  and  socialism  for  labor  unions 
which  got  out  of  hand.  Paul  soon  tired 
of  the  discussion  and  went  to  bed.  Bab 
bitt  stayed  up  late,  smoking  countless 
cigars,  and  telling  countless  stories- 

Maine  had  a  soothing  effect  upon 
Babbitt.  He  and  Paul  fished  and  hiked 
in  the  quiet  of  the  north  woods,  and 
Babbitt  began  to  realize  that  his  life  in 
Zenith  was  not  all  it  should  be.  He 
promised  himself  a  new  outlook  on  life, 
a  more  simple,  less  hurried  way  of  living. 

Back  in  Zenith,  Babbitt  was  asked  to 
make  a  speech  at  a  convention  of  real 


51 


estate  men  which  was  to  be  held  in 
Monarch,  a  nearby  city.  For  days  he 
tried  to  write  a  speech  about  the  good 
life,  as  he  now  thought  of  it.  But  at  the 
convention  he  scrapped  his  speech,  de 
claimed  loudly  that  real  estate  was  a 
great  profession,  that  Zenith  was  God's 
own  country — the  best  little  spot  on  earth 
— and  to  prove  his  statements  quoted 
countless  statistics  on  waterways,  textile 
production,  and  lumber  manufacture. 
The  speech  was  such  a  success  that 
Babbitt  instantly  won  recognition  as  an 
orator. 

Babbitt  was  made  a  precinct  leader  in 
the  coming  election.  His  duty  was  to 
speak  to  small  labor  groups  about  the 
inadvisability  of  voting  tor  Seneca  Doane, 
a  liberal,  in  favor  of  a  man  named  Prout, 
a  solid  businessman  who  represented  the 
conservative  element.  Babbitt's  speeches 
helped  to  defeat  Doane.  He  was  very 
proud  of  himself  for  having  Vision  and 
Ideals. 

On  a  business  trip  to  Chicago,  Babbitt 
spied  Paul  Reisling  sitting  at  dinner  with 
a  middle-aged  but  pretty  woman.  Later, 
in  his  hotel  room,  Babbitt  indignantly 
demanded  an  explanation  for  Paul's  lack 
of  morality.  Paul  told  Babbitt  that  he 
could  no  longer  stand  living  with  Zilla. 
Babbitt,  feeling  sorry  for  his  friend,  swore 
that  he  would  keep  her  husband's  secret 
from  Zilla,  Privately,  Babbitt  envied 
Paul's  independence. 

Babbitt  was  made  vice-president  of  the 
Booster's  Club.  He  was  so  proud  of 
himself  that  he  bragged  loudly  when  his 
wife  called  him  at  the  office.  It  was  a 
long  time  before  he  understood  what  she 
was  trying  to  tell  him;  Paul  had  shot 
his  wife, 

Babbitt's  world  collapsed  about  him. 
Though  Zilla  was  still  alive,  Paul  was  in 
prison*  Babbitt  began  to  question  his 


ideas  about  the  power  of  the  dollar.  Paul 
was  perhaps  the  only  person  Babbitt  had 
ever  loved.  Myra  had  long  since  become 
a  habit.  The  children  were  too  full  of 
new  ideas  to  be  close  to  their  father. 
Babbitt  felt  suddenly  alone.  He  began  to 
criticize  the  minister's  sermons.  He  no 
longer  visited  the  Athletic  Club,  rarely 
ate  lunch  with  any  of  his  business 
acquaintances. 

One  day  a  pretty  widow  Mrs.  Juclique, 
came  to  his  office.  She  became  his  mis 
tress,  and  Babbitt  joined  her  circle  of 
Bohemian  friends.  He  drank  more  than 
he  had  ever  drunk  in  his  life.  I  le  spent 
money  wildly.  Two  of  the  most  powerful 
men  in  town  requested  that  he  join  the 
Good  Citizen's  League-— or  else.  Babbitt 
refused  to  be  bullied.  For  the  first  time 
in  his  life  he  was  a  human  being.  He 
actually  made  friends  with  his  arch 
enemy,  Seneca  Doane,  and  discovered 
that  he  liked  his  liberal  ideas.  He 
praised  Doane  publicly.  Babbitt's  new 
outlook  on  life  appealed  to  his  children, 
who  at  once  began  to  respect  him  us  they 
never  had  before,  But  Babbitt  became 
unpopular  among  his  business-boosting 
friends.  When  he  again  refused  to  join 
the  Good  Citizen's  League,  he  was 
snubbed  in  the  streets,  Gradually  Bab 
bitt  found  that  he  had  no  real  resources 
within  himself.  1  le  was  miserable. 

When  Myra  became  ill,  Babbitt 
suddenly  realized  that  he  loved  his  cx>lor- 
less  wife.  He  broke  with  Mrs.  Juclique. 
I  le  joined  the  Good  Citizen's  League,  By 
the  time  Myra  was  well  again,  there  was 
no  more  active  leader  in  the  town  of 
Zenith  than  George  K  Babbitt.  Once 
more  he  announced  his  distrust  of  Seneca 
Doane.  lie  became  the  best  Booster  the 
eltib  ever  had.  His  last  gesture  of  revolt 
was  private  approval  of  his  son's  elope 
ment.  Outwardly  he  conformed! 


BAMBI 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Felix  Salten  (1869-1945) 
Type  of  plot:  Pastoral  allegory 
Time  of  'plot:  Indefinite 


52 


Locale:  The  woods 
First  published;  1929 

Principal  characters: 

BAMBI,  a  deer 

THE  OLD  PRINCE,  a  stag  who  befriends  Bambi 

BAMBI'S  MOTHER 

FALINB,  Bambi's  cousin 

GOBO,  her  brother 

Critique: 

Bambi  is  one  of  the  few  successful 
attempts  to  humanize  animals  in  fiction. 
A  fairy  tale  for  children,  but  an  allegory 
for  adults,  the  book  tells  the  story  of  a 
deer  who  learns  that  he  must  travel  alone 
if  he  is  to  be  strong  and  wise. 


The  Story: 

Bambi  was  born  in  a  thicket  in  the 
woods.  While  he  was  still  an  awkward 
young  fawn,  his  mother  taught  him  that 
he  was  a  deer.  He  learned  that  deer  did 
not  kill  other  animals,  nor  did  they 
fight  over  food  as  jaybirds  did.  He 
learned,  too,  that  deer  should  venture 
from  their  hiding  places  to  go  to  the 
meadow  only  in  the  early  morning  and 
late  in  the  evening  and  that  they  must 
rely  on  the  rustle  of  last  year's  dead 
leaves  to  give  them  warning  of  approach 
ing  danger.  On  his  first  visit  to  the 
meadow  Bambi  had  a  conversation  with 
a  grasshopper  and  a  close  look  at  a  butter 
fly. 

One  evening  Bambi  and  his  mother 
went  to  the  meadow  again.  On  his 
second  visit  he  was  introduced  to  the 
hare,  an  animal  with  big,  soft  eyes  and 
flopping  ears.  Bambi  was  not  impressed. 
The  little  deer  was  considerably  happier 
to  meet  his  cousins,  Gobo  and  Palme, 
and  their  mother,  Ena.  The  two  families 
were  about  to  separate  when  two  stags 
with  spreading  antlers  on  their  heads 
came  crashing  out  of  the  forest.  Bambf s 
mother  explained  that  the  larger,  statelier 
stag  was  Bambi's  father. 

As  he  grew  older,  Bambi  learned  the 
sounds  and  smells  of  the  forest.  Some 
times  his  mother  went  off  by  herself. 


Missing  her  one  day,  Bambi  started  out 
to  look  for  her  and  came  upon  his  cousins 
in  the  meadow.  Faline  suggested  that 
both  their  mothers  might  have  gone  to 
visit  their  fathers.  Bambi  decided  to  con 
tinue  his  search  by  himself.  As  he  stood 
at  the  edge  of  a  clearing,  he  saw  a 
creature  he  had  never  seen  before.  The 
creature  raised  what  looked  like  a  stick 
to  its  face.  Terrified,  Bambi  ran  back 
into  the  woods  as  fast  as  he  could  go. 
His  mother  appeared  suddenly,  and  they 
both  ran  home  to  their  glade.  When  they 
were  safe  again,  Bambi  learned  that  he 
had  seen  a  Man. 

On  another  day  he  began  to  call  for 
his  mother.  Suddenly  a  great  stag  stood 
before  him.  Coldly  he  asked  Bambi  why 
he  was  crying,  and  told  him  that  he 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  himself.  Then 
he  was  gone.  The  little  deer  did  not  tell 
his  mother  of  his  experience,  nor  did  he 
call  her  any  more.  Later  he  learned  that 
he  had  met  the  Old  Prince,  the  biggest 
and  wisest  stag  in  the  forest.  One  morn 
ing  Bambi  was  nibbling  in  the  meadow 
with  his  mother  when  one  of  the  stags 
came  out  of  the  forest.  Suddenly  there 
was  a  crash.  The  stag  leaped  into  the 
air  and  then  fell  dead.  Bambi  raced 
away  after  his  mother.  All  he  wanted 
was  to  go  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
forest  until  he  could  feel  free  of  that 
new  danger.  He  met  the  Old  Prince 
again.  When  Bambi  asked  him  who  Man 
was,  the  stag  only  replied  that  he  would 
find  out  for  himself.  Then  he  dis 
appeared. 

The  forest  gradually  changed  as 
summer  passed  into  fall  and  then  into 


BAMBI  by  Felix  Salten.   By  permi&sion  of  the  publisher!,  Simon  &  Schuster,  lac.    Copyright,  1928,  by  Simon  & 
Schuster,  Inc. 


53 


winter.  Snow  fell,  and  grass  was  not  easy 
to  find.  All  of  the  deer  became  more 
friendly  during  the  cold  months.  They 
would  gather  to  talk  and  sometimes  even 
one  of  the  stags  would  join  them.  Bambi 
grew  to  admire  the  stags,  lie  was  es 
pecially  interested  in  Ronno,  the  stag 
who  had  escaped  after  a  hunter  had 
wounded  him  in  the  foot.  The  constant 
topic  of  conversation  was  Man,  for  none 
of  the  deer  could  understand  the  black 
stick  he  carried,  They  were  all  afraid 
of  it. 

As  the  winter  dragged  on,  the  slaugh 
ter  of  the  weaker  animals  in  the  forest 
began.  A  crow  killed  one  of  the  hare's 
children.  A  squirrel  raced  around  with  a 
neck  wound  a  ferret  had  given  him.  A 
fox  murdered  a  pheasant,  A  party  of 
hunters  came  into  the  woods  with  their 
noise-making  sticks  and  killed  many  of 
the  animals,  Bambi's  mother  and  his 
cousin  Gobo  were  not  seen  again. 

That  spring  Bambi  grew  his  first  pair 
of  antlers.  With  his  mother  gone,  he 
had  to  spend  most  of  his  time  alone. 
The  other  stags  drove  him  away  when 
he  tried  to  approach  them,  and  Falinc 
was  shy  with  him.  Deciding  one  day 
that  he  was  not  afraid  of  any  of  the 
stags,  Bambi  charged  at  what  he  thought 
was  one  of  his  tormentors  in  a  thicket. 
The  stag  stepped  aside,  and  Bambi 
charged  past  him.  It  was  the  Old  Prince. 
Embarrassed,  the  young  cleer  began  to 
tremble  when  his  friend  came  close  to 
him.  With  an  admonishment  to  act 
bravely,  the  older  deer  disappeared  into 
the  woods. 

A  year  later  Bambi  met  Faline  again, 
and  once  more  they  played  as  they  had 
when  they  were  very  young.  Then 
an  older  stag  named  Karus  appeared 
and  tried  to  block  Bambi's  way.  When 
Bambi  attacked  him,  Karus  fled,  as  did 
the  stag  named  Ronno,  who  had  been 
pursuing  Fnline. 

Faline  and  Bambi  ventured  into  the 
meadow  one  clay  and  there  saw  a  stranger 
nibbling  the  grass.  They  were  surprised 
when  he  came  skipping  up  to  them  and 


asked  if  they  did  not  know  him.  It 
was  Gobo.  Hunters  had  caught  him  and 
kept  him  until  he  was  full-grown.  Then 
he  had  been  sent  back  to  join  his 
family  in  the  forest.  His  mother  was 
delighted  to  see  him  once  more. 

Gobo  explained  his  absence  to  an 
admiring  audience,  and  praised  Man  for 
his  kindness.  While  he  was  talking,  the 
Old  Prince  appeared  and  asked  Gobo 
about  the  strip  of  horsehair  around  his 
neck.  Gobo  answered  that  it  was  a 
halter.  The  Old  Prince  remarked  pitingly 
that  he  was  a  poor  thing,  and  vanished. 

Gobo  would  not  live  as  the  other  deer 
in  the  forest  did.  He  insisted  on  going 
about  during  the  day  and  sleeping  at 
night.  He  had  no  fear  about  eating  in 
the  meadow,  completely  exposed.  One 
day,  when  a  hunter  was  in  the  woods, 
Gobo  declared  that  he  would  go  talk  to 
him.  He  walked  out  into  the  meadow. 
Suddenly  there  was  a  loud  report,  Gobo 
leaped  into  the  air  and  then  dashed 
into  the  thicket,  where  he  fell  mortally 
wounded. 

Bambi  was  alone  when  he  met  the  Old 
Prince  for  the  first  time  since  Gobt/s 
death.  They  were  walking  together 
when  they  found  a  hare  caught  in  a 
noose.  Carefully  the  Old  Prince  managed 
to  loosen  the  snare  with  his  antlers. 
Then  he  showed  Bntnbi  how  to  test  tree 
branches  for  a  trap,  Bambi  realized  for 
the  first  time  that  there  was  no  time 
when  Man  was  not  in  the  woods, 

One  misty  morning,  as  Bambi  stood 
at  the  edge  of  the  clearing,  a  hunter 
wounded  liim.  He  raced  madly  for  the 
forest,  and  in  its  protection  lay  clown  to 
rest.  Soon  he  heard  a  voice  beside  him, 
urging  him  to  get  up,  Tt  was  the  Old 
Prince.  For  an  hour  the  veteran  led 
Bambi  through  the  woods,  crossing  and 
recrossing  the  place  where  he  had  lain 
down,  showing  him  the  herbs  which 
would  stop  his  bleeding  and  clear  his 
head.  He  stayed  with  Bambi  until  the 
wound  had  healed. 

Before  he  went  off  to  die,  the  old 
stag  showed  Bambi  a  poacher  who  had 


54 


been  killed.  He  explained  that  man,  nice 
animals,  must  die.  Bambi  understood 
then  that  there  is  someone  even  more 
powerful  than  Man. 

Walking  through  the  forest  one  day, 
Bambi  spied  a  brother  and  sister  fawn 


crying  for  their  mother.  As  the  Old 
Prince  had  spoken  to  him  so  many 
years  before,  he  asked  them  if  they 
could  not  stay  by  themselves.  Then,  as 
his  friend  had  done,  he  vanished  into  the 
forest. 


BARCHESTER  TOWERS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Anthony  Trollope  (1815-1882) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  "Barchester/'  an  English  cathedral  town 

First  published:  1857 

Principal  characters: 

BISHOP  PROUDIE,  Bishop  of  Barchester 

MRS.  PROUDIE,  his  wife 

THE  REVEREND  OBADIAH  SLOPE,  his  chaplain 

THE  REVEREND  SEPTIMUS  HARDING,  member  of  the  cathedral  chapter 

MRS.  ELEANOR  BOLD,  his  daughter 

DR.  GRANTLY,  Archdeacon  o£  Barchester 

CHARLOTTE  STANHOPE,  Mrs.  Bold's  friend 

LA  SIGNORA  MADELINE  VESEY  NERONI,  ne'e  STANHOPE,  Charlotte's  sister 

ETHELBERT  STANHOPE  (BERTIE),  Charlotte's  brother 

MR.  QUIVERFUL,  Mrs.  Proudie's  candidate  for  warden  of  Hiram's  Hospital 

THE  REVEREND  FRANCIS  ARABIN,  dean  of  the  cathedral 

Critique: 

This  novel  is  the  most  famous  of  Trol- 
lope's  Barchester  chronicles.  Its  fine  ironic 
tone  and  pleasantly  complex  situations 
make  for  interesting  reading.  No  prob 
lems  of  social  significance  are  given  seri 
ous  treatment,  for  the  chief  purpose  is 
entertainment.  The  portraits  of  cathedral 
town  characters  are  full  and  varied. 


The  Story: 

At  the  death  of  Bishop  Grantly  of 
Barchester,  there  was  much  conjecture 
as  to  his  successor.  Bishop  Grantly's 
son,  the  archdeacon,  was  ambitious  for 
the  position,  but  his  hopes  were  deflated 
when  Dr.  Proudie  was  appointed  to  the 
diocese.  Bishop  Proudie's  wife  was  of 
Low  Church  propensities.  She  was  also 
a  woman  of  extremely  aggressive  nature, 
who  kept  the  bishop's  chaplain,  Obadiah 
Slope,  in  constant  tow. 

On  the  first  Sunday  of  the  new  bish- 
op's  regime,  Mr.  Slope  was  the  preacher 
in  the  cathedral.  His  sermon  was  con 


cerned  with  the  importance  of  simplicity 
in  the  church  service  and  the  consequent 
omission  of  chanting,  intoning,  and  for 
mal  ritual.  The  cathedral  chapter  was 
aghast.  For  generations  the  services  in 
the  cathedral  had  been  chanted;  the 
chapter  could  see  no  reason  for  discon 
tinuing  the  practice.  In  counsel  it  was 
decreed  that  Mr.  Slope  never  be  per 
mitted  to  preach  from  the  cathedral 
pulpit  again. 

The  Reverend  Septimus  Harding,  who 
had  resigned  because  o£  conscientious 
scruples  from  his  position  as  warden  of 
Hiram's  Hospital,  now  had  several  rea 
sons  to  believe  that  he  would  be  returned 
to  his  post,  although  at  a  smaller  salary 
than  that  he  had  drawn  before.  But 
when  Mr.  Slope,  actually  Mrs.  Proudie's 
mouthpiece,  told  him  that  he  would  be 
expected  to  conduct  several  services  a 
week  and  also  manage  some  Sunday 
Schools  in  connection  with  the  asylum, 
Mr.  Harding  was  perturbed.  Such  duties 


55 


would  make  arduous  a  preferment  here 
tofore  very  pleasant  and  leisurely, 

Another  change  of  policy  was  effected 
in  the  diocese  when  the  bishop  an 
nounced,  through  Mr.  Slope,  that  ab 
sentee  clergymen  should  return  and  help 
in  the  administration  of  the  diocese.  Dr. 
Vesey  Stanhope  had  for  years  left  his 
duties  to  his  curates  while  he  remained 
in  Italy.  Now  he  was  forced  to  return, 
bringing  with  him  an  ailing  wife  and 
three  grown  children,  spinster  Charlotte, 
exotic  Signora  Madeline  Vesey  Stanhope 
Neroni,  and  ne'er-clo-well  Ethelbert. 
Signora  Neroni,  separated  from  her  hus 
band,  was  an  invalid  who  passed  her  days 
lying  on  a  couch.  Bertie  had  studied  art 
and  had  been  at  times  a  Christian,  a 
Mohammedan,  and  a  Jew.  He  had 
amassed  some  sizable  debts. 

The  Proudies  held  a  reception  in  the 
bishop's  palace  soon  after  meir  arrival. 
Signora  Neroni,  carried  in  with  great 
ceremony,  quite  stole  the  show.  She  had 
a  fascinating  way  with  men  and  suc 
ceeded  in  almost  devastating  Mr.  Slope. 
Mrs.  Proudie  disapproved  and  did  her 
best  to  keep  Mr,  Slope  and  others  away 
from  the  invalid. 

When  the  living  of  St  Ewold's  became 
vacant,  Dr.  Grantly  made  a  trip  to  Ox 
ford  and  saw  to  it  that  the  Reverend 
Francis  Arabin,  a  High  Churchman,  re 
ceived  the  appointment.  With  Mrs. 
Proudie  and  Mr.  Slope  advocating  Low 
Church  practices,  it  was  necessary  to 
build  up  the  strength  of  the  High  Church 
forces.  Mr.  Arabin  was  a  bachelor  of 
about  forty.  The  question  arose  as  to 
what  he  would  do  with  the  parsonage  at 
St.  E wold's. 

Mr.  1  larding's  widowed  daughter,  Mrs. 
Eleanor  Bold,  had  a  good  income  and 
was  the  mother  of  a  baby  boy.  Mr.  Slope 
had  his  eye  on  her  and  attempted  to 
interest  Mrs.  Bold  in  the  work  of  the 
Sunday  Schools.  At  the  same  time  he 
asked  Mr,  Quiverful,  of  Puddingdalc,  to 
cake  over  the  duties  of  the  hospital.  Mr. 
Quiverful's  fourteen  children  were  rea 
sons  enough  for  his  being  grateful  for 


the  opportunity.  But  Mrs.  Bold  learned 
how  her  father  felt  over  the  extra  duties 
imposed  upon  him,  and  she  grew  cold 
toward  Mr.  Slope.  In  the  end,  Mr. 
Harding  decided  that  he  simply  could 
not,  at  his  age,  undertake  me  new 
duties.  So  Mr.  Quiverful,  a  Low  Church 
man,  was  granted  the  preferment,  much 
to  Mrs.  Proudie's  satisfaction, 

Mr.  Slope  was  not  the  only  man  in 
terested  in  Mrs.  Bold.  The  Stanhope 
sisters,  realizing  that  Bertie  could  never 
make  a  living  for  himself,  decided  that 
he  should  ask  Mrs.  Bold  to  be  his  wife. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Slope  was  losing  favor 
with  Mrs.  Proudie.  That  he  should 
throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  Signora 
Neroni  was  repulsive  to  Mrs.  Proudie. 
That  he  should  be  interested  in  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Harding,  who  refused 
to  comply  with  her  wishes,  was  disgrace 
ful, 

The  Thorncs  of  Ullathorne  were  an 
old  and  affluent  family,  One  day  they 
gave  a  great  party.  Mrs.  Bold,  driving 
to  Ullathorne  with  the  Stanhopes,  found 
herself  in  the  same  carriage  with  Mr. 
Slope,  whom  by  this  time  she  greatly 
disliked.  Later  that  day,  as  she  was  walk 
ing  with  Mr.  Slope,  he  suddenly  put  his 
arm  around  her  and  declared  his  love* 
She  rushed  away  and  told  Charlotte  Stan 
hope,  who  suggested  that  Bertie  should 
speak  to  Mr.  Slope  about  his  irregularity, 
But  the  occasion  for  his  speaking  to  Mr. 
Slope  never  arose.  Bertie  himself  told 
Mrs.  Bold  that  his  sister  Charlotte  had 
urged  him  to  marry  Mrs,  Bold  for  her 
money.  Naturally  insulted,  Mrs.  Bold 
was  angered  at  the  entire  Stanhope  fam 
ily.  That  evening,  when  Dr,  Stanhope 
learned  what  had  happened,  he  insisted 
that  Bertie  go  away  and  earn  his  own 
living  or  starve.  Bertie  left  several  days 
later. 

The  Dean  of  Barchester  was  beyond 
recovery  after  a  stroke  of  apoplexy.  It 
was  understood  that  Dr.  Grantly  would 
not  accept  the  deanship-  Mr.  Slope 
wanted  the  position  but  Mrs.  Proudie 
would  not  consider  him  as  a  candidate. 


56 


When  the  dean  died,  speculation  ran 
high.  Mr.  Slope  felt  encouraged  by  the 
newspapers,  which  said  that  younger  men 
should  be  admitted  to  places  of  influence 
in  the  church. 

After  Bertie  had  gone,  Signora  Neroni 
wrote  a  note  asking  Mrs.  Bold  to  come 
to  see  her.  When  Mrs.  Bold  entered  the 
Stanhope  drawing-room,  Signora  Neroni 
told  her  that  she  should  marry  Mr.  Ara- 
bin.  With  calculating  generosity  she 
had  decided  that  he  would  make  a  good 
husband  for  Mrs.  Bold. 

Meanwhile,  Mr,  Slope  had  been  sent 
otf  to  another  diocese,  for  Mrs.  Proudie 
could  no  longer  bear  having  him  in  Bar- 
chester.  Ana  Mr,  Arabin,  through  Ox 


ford  influences,  was  appointed  to  the 
deanship — a  victory  for  the  High 
Churchmen.  With  Mr.  Slope  gone,  the 
Stanhopes  felt  safe  in  returning  to  Italy. 
Miss  Thome  asked  Mrs.  Bold  to  spend 
some  time  at  Ullathorne.  She  also  con 
trived  to  have  Mr.  Arabin  there.  It  was 
inevitable  that  Mr.  Arabin  should  ask 
Mrs.  Bold  to  be  his  wife.  Dr.  Grantly 
was  satisfied.  He  had  threatened  to  for 
bid  the  hospitality  of  Plumstead  Episcopi 
to  Mrs.  Bold  if  she  had  become  the  wire 
of  a  Low  Churchman.  In  fact,  Dr.  Grant 
ly  was  moved  to  such  generosity  that  he 
furnished  the  deanery  and  gave  wonder 
ful  gifts  to  the  entire  family,  including 
a  cello  to  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Harding. 


BARREN  GROUND 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Ellen  Glasgow  (1874-1945) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:  Rural  Virginia 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

DORINDA  OAKLEY,  daughter  of  a  poor  white  Virginia  farmer 

JOSIAH,  and 

RUFUS,  her  brothers 

JASON  GREYLOCK,  last  member  of  an  old  Virginia  family 

GENEVA  EIXGOOJ>,  later  Jason's  wife 

NATHAN  PEDLAR,  a  country  farmer  and  merchant 


Critique: 

Barren  Ground  is  an  honest,  realistic 
novel  of  the  South,  in  which  Ellen 
Glasgow  pictured  the  struggle  of  a  class 
to  maintain  high  living  standards  in  the 
face  of  humiliating  and  depressing  cir 
cumstances.  Through  her  heroine  she 
presented  the  problems  of  people  who 
are  by  blood  related  to  both  the  es 
tablished  aristocracy  and  the  poor  white 
tenant  class.  The  story  of  Dorinda's 
vitality  stands  in  sharp  contrast  to  the 
weakness  of  her  lover,  Jason  GreylocL 
In  their  frustrated  union  tragedy  results 
for  both,  a  tragedy  out  of  their  own 
blood  rather  than  one  of  willful  creation. 


The  Story: 

Late  one  cold  winter  day  Dorinda 
Oakley  started  to  walk  the  four  miles 
between  Pedlar's  Mill  and  her  home  at 
Old  Farm.  The  land  was  bleak  and 
desolate  under  a  gray  sky,  and  a  few 
flakes  of  snow  were  railing.  For  almost 
a  year  she  had  worked  in  Nathan  Pedlar's 
store,  taking  the  place  of  his  consumptive 
wife.  Her  brisk  walk  carried  her  swiftly 
over  the  rutted  roads  toward  her  father's 
unproductive  farm  and  the  dilapidated 
Oakley  house.  On  the  way  she  passed 
Green  Acres,  the  fertile  farm  of  James 
Ellgood,  and  the  run-down  farm  of  Five 
Oaks,  owned  by  dissolute  old  Doctor 


BARREN  GROUND  by  Ellen  Glasgow.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copy- 
rich*.    1925.    1933.  bv  Ellen  Glasgow. 


right,   1925,   1933,  by  Ellen  Glasgo' 


57 


Greylock,  whose  son,  Jason,  had  given  up 
his  medical  studies  to  take  over  his 
father's  practice  and  to  care  for  his 
drunken  father. 

As  she  walked,  Dorinda  thought  of 
young  Jason  Greylock.  Before  she 
reached  Old  Farm,  Jason  overtook  her  in 
his  buggy.  During  the  ride  to  her  home 
she  remembered  the  comment  of  old 
Matthew  Fairlamb,  who  had  told  her 
that  she  ought  to  marry  Jason,  The 
young  doctor  was  handsome.  He  repre 
sented  something  different  from  the 
drab,  struggling  life  Dorinda  had  always 
known,  Her  father  and  mother  and  her 
two  brothers  were  all  unresponsive  and 
bitter  people.  Mrs.  Oakley  suffered  from 
headaches  and  tried  to  forget  them  in  a 
ceaseless  activity  of  work.  At  Old  Farm, 
supper  was  followed  by  prayers  and 
prayers  by  sleep. 

Dorinda  continued  to  see  Jason.  Tak 
ing  the  money  she  had  been  saving  to 
buy  a  cow,  she  ordered  a  pretty  dress 
and  a  new  hat  to  wear  to  church  on 
Easter  Sunday.  But  her  Easter  finery 
brought  her  no  happiness.  Jason  sat  in 
church  with  the  Ellgoods  and  their 
daughter,  Geneva,  and  afterward  he 
went  home  with  them  to  dinner.  Dorinda 
sat  in  her  bedroom  that  afternoon  and 
meditated  on  her  unhappincss. 

Later,  Jason  proposed  unexpectedly, 
confessing  that  he  too  was  lonely  and 
unhappy.  He  spoke  of  his  attachment 
to  his  father  which  had  brought  him 
back  to  Pedlar's  Mill,  and  he  cursed  the 
tenant  system  which  he  said  was  ruining 
the  South,  He  and  Dorinda  planned 
to  be  married  in  the  fall.  When  they 
met  during  the  hot,  dark  nights  that 
summer,  he  kissed  her  with  half-angry, 
half-hungry  violence, 

Men n while  Geneva  EllgoocI  told  her 
friends  that  she  herself  was  engaged 
to  Jason  Greylock.  Late  in  September 
Jnson  left  for  the  city  to  buy  surgical 
instruments.  When  he  was  overlong 
in  returning,  Dorinda  began  to  worry. 
At  last  she  visited  Aunt  Mehitnble  Green, 
an  old  Negro  conjure  woman,  in  the 


hope  Aunt  Mehitable  would  have  heard 
from  the  Greylock  servants  some  gossip 
concerning  Jason.  There  Dorinda  be 
came  ill  and  learned  that  she  was  to 
have  a  child.  Distressed,  she  went  to 
Five  Oaks  and  confronted  drunken  old 
Dr.  Greylock,  who  told  her,  as  he 
cackled  with  sly  mirth,  that  Jason  had 
married  Geneva  Ellgood  in  the  city.  The 
old  man  intimated  that  Jason  was  white- 
livered  and  had  been  forced  into  the 
marriage  by  the  Ellgoods.  He  added, 
leering,  that  Jason  and  his  bride  were 
expected  home  that  night. 

On  the  way  home  Dorinda  saw,  her 
self  unseen,  the  carriage  which  brought 
Jason  and  Geneva  to  Five  Oaks.  Late 
that  night  she  went  to  the  Greylock 
house  and  attempted  to  shoot  Jason. 
Frightened,  Jason  begged  for  pity  and 
understanding.  Despising  him  for  his 
weakness  and  falseness,  she  blundered 
home  through  the  darkness.  Two  days 
later  she  packed  her  suitcase  and  left 
home.  By  accident  she  took  the  north 
bound  train  rather  than  the  one  to  Rich 
mond,  and  so  she  changed  the  course  of 
her  later  life. 

Dorinda  arrived  in  New  York  in 
October,  frightened,  friendless,  with  no 
prospects  or  work.  Two  weeks  later 
she  fortunately  met  a  kindly  middle- 
aged  woman  who  took  her  in  and  gave 
her  the  address  of  a  dressmaker  who 
might  hire  her.  But  on  the  way  to  the 
shop  Dorinda  was  knocked  clown  by  a 
cub.  She  awoke  in  a  hospital.  Dr. 
Faraday,  a  surgeon  who  had  seen  the 
accident,  saved  her  life,  but  she  lost 
her  baby.  Dr.  Faraday  hired  her  to  look 
after  his  office  and  children. 

Dorinda  lived  in  New  York  with  the 
Faradays  for  two  years.  Then  her  father 
had  a  stroke  and  she  returned  home,  1  Ter 
brother  Josiah  was  married;  Mrs,  Pedlar 
was  dead,  Dorinda  had  become  a  woman 
of  self-confidence  and  poise,  She  saw 
Geneva  Greylock,  who  already  looked 
middle-aged,  and  had  only  pity  for  the 
woman  who  had  married  Jason.  Her 
brother  Rufus  said  Jason  was  drinking 


58 


heavily  and  losing  all  his  patients.  Five 
Oaks  farm  looked  more  run-down  than 
ever.  Determined  to  make  the  Oakley 
land  productive  once  more,  Dorinda 
borrowed  enough  money  to  buy  seven 
cows.  She  found  Nathan  Pedlar  help 
ful  in  many  ways,  for  he  knew  good 
farming  methods  and  gave  her  advice. 
When  she  saw  Jason  again,  she  wondered 
how  she  could  ever  have  yielded  herself 
to  the  husk  of  a  man  that  Jason  was, 

After  her  father's  death,  Josiah  and  his 
wife  Elvira  went  to  live  on  their  own 
land.  Rufus,  who  hated  the  farm, 
planned  to  go  to  the  city.  Before  he  left 
the  farm,  however,  Rufus  was  accused 
of  murdering  a  neighboring  farmer, 
Dorinda  was  sure  that  he  had  committed 
the  murder,  but  Mrs.  Oakley  swore  under 
oath  that  her  son  had  been  at  home  with 
her  at  the  time  of  the  shooting.  Her  lie 
saved  Rufus.  Mrs.  Oakley's  conscience 
began  to  torment  her  because  of  the 
lie  she  had  told,  and  she  took  to  her 
bed.  Her  mind  broken,  she  lived  in 
dreams  of  her  youth.  When  she  died  in 
her  sleep,  Dorinda  wept.  To  her  it 
seemed  that  her  parents'  lives  had  been 
futile  and  wasted. 

During  the  next  ten  years  Dorinda 
worked  hard.  She  borrowed  more 
money  to  improve  the  farm  and  she 
saved  and  scrimped,  but  she  was  happy. 
Geneva  Greylock  was  losing  her  mind. 
One  day  she  told  Dorinda  that  she  had 
borne  a  child  but  that  Jason  had  killed 
it  and  buried  it  in  the  garden.  Geneva 
drowned  herself  the  same  day  that 
Nathan  Pedlar  asked  Dorinda  to  marry 
him. 

Together  Dorinda  and  Nathan  pros 
pered.  She  was  now  thirty-eight  and  still 
felt  young.  John  Abner  Pedlar,  Nathan's 
crippled  son,  looked  to  her  for  help  and 


she  gave  it  willingly,  Nathan's  othei 
children  meant  less  to  her,  and  she  was 
glad  when  they  married  and  moved  away, 
When  Five  Oaks  was  offered  for  sale, 
Dorinda  and  Nathan  bought  it  for  six 
thousand  dollars.  As  Jason  signed  over 
the  papers  to  her,  Dorinda  noticed  that 
he  was  his  dirty,  drunken  old  father  all 
over  again. 

The  next  few  years  Dorinda  devoted  to 
restoring  Five  Oaks.  John  Abner  was 
still  her  friend  and  helper.  There  were 
reports  that  Jason  was  living  in  an  old 
house  in  the  pine  woods  and  drinking 
heavily.  Dorinda,  busy  with  her  house 
and  dairy  farm,  had  little  time  for  neigh 
borhood  gossip, 

One  day  Nathan  took  the  train  to  the 
city  to  have  a  tooth  pulled  and  to  attend 
a  lawsuit.  The  train  was  wrecked,  and 
Nathan  was  killed  while  trying  to  save 
the  lives  of  the  other  passengers.  He 
was  given  a  hero's  funeral. 

The  years  following  Nathan's  death 
were  Dorinda's  happiest,  for  as  time 
passed  she  realized  that  she  had  regained, 
through  her  struggle  with  the  land,  her 
own  integrity  and  self-respect. 

One  day  some  hunters  found  Jason 
sick  and  starving  in  the  woods,  and  her 
neighbors  assumed  Dorinda  would  take 
him  in.  Unwillingly,  she  allowed  him 
to  be  brought  to  Old  Farm,  where  she 
engaged  a  nurse  to  look  after  him.  In 
a  few  months  Jason  died.  Many  of  the 
people  at  the  funeral  came  only  out  of 
curiosity,  and  a  pompous  minister  said 
meaningless  things  about  Jason,  whom 
he  had  never  known.  Dorinda  felt  noth 
ing  as  she  stood  beside  the  grave,  for 
her  memories  of  Jason  had  outlived  hei 
emotions.  She  sensed  that  for  good  01 
ill  the  fervor  and  fever  of  her  life  were 
ended, 


THE  BEGGAR'S  OPERA 


Type  of  work:  Comic  opera 
Author:  John  Gay  (1685-1732) 
Type  of  plot;  Social  satire 
Time  of  plot;  Early  eighteenth  century 


59 


Locale:  London 

First  presented:  1728 

Principal  characters: 

CAPTAIN  MACHEATH,  leader  of  a  band  of  robbers 

POLLY  PEACHUM,  a  young  woman  who  believes  she  is  Macheath  s  wite 

MR.  PEACHUM,  Polly's  father,  a  fence  for  stolen  goods  and  an  informer 

LUCY  LOCKIT,  a  young  woman  who  also  believes  she  is  Macheath  s  wife 

MR.  LOCKIT,  Lucy's  father,  a  jailer 

MRS.  PEACHUM,  Polly's  mother 


Critique: 

The  Beggar's  Opera  follows  in  the 
satiric  tradition  of  Swift  and  Pope.  Gay's 
purpose  was  to  ridicule  the  corrupt 
politics  of  his  day  and  the  follies  of 
polite  society.  Highwaymen  and  thieves 
stand  for  the  great  lords  and  powerful 
public  officials  of  Georgian  England. 
Depiction  and  intimation  of  crime  and 
vice  in  all  strata  of  society  and  shrewd, 
humorous  characterization  give  the  play 
its  universality. 

The  Story: 

Mr,  Peachum,  as  he  sat  reckoning  up 
his  accounts,  declared  that  his  was  an 
honest  employment.  Like  a  lawyer,  he 
acted  both  for  and  against  thieves.  That 
he  should  protect  them  was  only  fitting, 
since  they  afforded  him  a  living.  In  a 
businesslike  manner  he  was  deciding  who 
among  arrested  rogues  should  escape 
punishment  through  bribes  and  who  had 
been  unproductive  enough  to  deserve  de 
portation  or  the  gallows.  Though  Mrs. 
Peachum  found  a  favorite  of  hers  on  his 
list,  she  made  no  effort  to  influence  her 
husband's  decision  as  to  his  fate,  for  she 
knew  that  the  weakness  of  her  sex  was 
to  allow  her  emotions  to  dominate  her 
practical  nature. 

She  did  say,  however,  that  Captain 
Macheath,  a  highwayman,  stood  high  in 
her  regard,  as  well  as  in  that — so  she 
hinted  to  Mr.  Peachum — of  their  daugh 
ter  Polly.  The  news  upset  her  spouse. 
If  the  girl  married,  her  husband  might 
learn  family  secrets  and  thus  gain  power 
over  them.  Peachum  ordered  his  wife  to 
warn  the  girl  that  marriage  and  a 
husband's  domination  would  mean  her 
ruin.  Consequently  they  were  dismayed 


when  Polly  announced  her  marriage  to 
Macheath.  They  predicted  grimly  that 
she  would  not  be  able  to  keep  Macheath 
in  funds  for  gambling  and  philandering, 
that  there  would  not  even  be  enough 
money  to  cause  quarrels,  that  she  might 
as  well  have  married  a  lord. 

The  Peachums'  greatest  fear  was  that 
Macheath  would  have  them  hanged  and 
so  gain  control  of  the  fortune  which 
would  be  left  to  Polly.  Before  he  could 
do  that,  they  decided,  he  would  have  to 
be  disposed  of,  and  they  suggested  to 
Polly  that  she  inform  on  him.  Widow 
hood,  they  declared,  was  a  very  com 
fortable  state.  But  the  girl  stubbornly 
asserted  that  she  loved  the  dashing  high 
wayman.  Overhearing  the  plan  of  her 
parents  to  have  her  husband  arrested, 
Polly  warned  Macheath.  They  decided 
that  he  should  go  into  hiding  for  a 
few  weeks  until,  as  Polly  hoped,  her 
parents  should  relent. 

Parting  from  his  love,  Macheath  met 
his  gang  at  a  tavern  near  Newgate  to 
tell  diem  their  rendezvous  would  have  to 
be  confined  to  gatherings  at  their  private 
hideout  for  about  a  week,  so  that 
Peachum  would  be  led  to  believe  the 
highwayman  had  deserted  his  com 
panions.  After  his  men  had  left  to  go 
about  their  business,  some  street  women 
and  female  pickpockets  joined  Macheath. 
Two  of  them  covered  Macheath  with  his 
own  pistols  as  Peachum,  accompanied 
by  constables,  rushed  in  to  arrest  him. 
When  Macheath  had  been  carried  off  to 
spend  the  night  in  Newgate,  some  of  the 
women  expressed  their  indignation  at 
not  having  been  chosen  to  spring  the 
trap  and  share  in  the  reward  Peachum 


60 


had  offered  for  the  highwayman's 
capture. 

Though  Captain  Macheath  had  funds 
to  bribe  his  jailer  to  confine  him  with 
only  a  light  pair  of  fetters,  it  was  another 
matter  to  deal  with  Lucy  Lockit,  the 
jailer's  daughter.  As  Macheath  freely 
admitted,  she  was  his  wife  except  for 
the  ceremony.  But  Lucy,  who  had  heard 
of  his  gallantry  toward  Polly  Peachum, 
could  be  convinced  of  his  sincerity  only 
by  his  consent  to  an  immediate  marriage. 

Meanwhile  Peachum  and  Lockit 
agreed  that  they  would  split  the  reward 
for  Macheath.  As  he  went  over  his  ac 
counts,  however,  Peachum  found  cause 
to  question  his  partner's  honesty.  One 
of  his  men  had  been  convicted,  although 
he  had  bribed  Lockit  to  have  the  man  go 
free.  Also,  Peachum's  informer,  Mrs, 
Coaxer,  had  been  defrauded  of  informa 
tion  money.  The  quarrel  was  short 
lived,  however,  as  each  was  well  aware 
that  if  they  fell  out  each  had  the  power 
to  hang  the  other.  After  his  talk  with 
Peachum,  Lockit  warned  his  daughter 
that  Macheath's  fate  had  been  sealed.  He 
advised  her  to  buy  herself  widow's  weeds 
and  be  cheerful;  since  she  could  not  have 
the  highwayman  and  his  money  too,  she 
might  as  well  make  use  of  the  time 
that  was  left  to  extract  what  riches  she 
could  from  him. 

There  was  no  clergyman  to  be  found 
that  day,  but  Lucy  had  so  far  softened 
toward  her  philandering  lover  as  to  agree 
to  see  if  her  father  could  not  be  bought 
off.  She  had  just  consented  to  help  him 
when  Polly  appeared  in  search  of  her 
husband.  Macheath  managed  to  convince 
Lucy  of  his  faithfulness  by  disowning 
Polly,  who  was  carried  off  by  the  angry 
Peachum. 

After  they  had  gone,  Lucy  agreed  to 
steal  her  father's  keys  so  that  her  lover 
might  escape.  Macheath,  free  once  more, 
went  to  join  two  of  his  men  at  a  gambling 
house.  There  he  made  arrangements  to 
meet  them  again  that  evening  at  another 
den,  where  he  would  point  out  a  likely 
victim  for  them  to  rob. 


Peachum  and  Lockit  were  discussing 
the  disposal  of  some  assorted  loot  when 
they  were  joined  by  Mrs.  Trapes,  a 
procuress  who  innocently  told  them  that 
Macheath  was  at  that  moment  with  one 
of  her  girls.  While  Peachum  and  Lockit 
went  off  to  recapture  him,  Polly  paid  a 
visit  to  Lucy  Lockit.  Together  they  be 
wailed  their  common  fate — Macheath's 
neglect.  Lucy  tried  to  give  Polly  a 
poisoned  drink.  When  the  suspicious 
girl  refused  to  accept  it,  Lucy  decided 
that  perhaps  Polly  was  too  miserable  to 
deserve  to  die. 

When  Macheath  was  brought  back  to 
prison  once  more  by  Peachum  and 
Lockit,  both  girls  fell  on  their  knees 
before  their  fathers  and  begged  that  his 
life  be  spared.  Neither  parent  would  be 
moved.  Lockit  announced  that  the  high 
wayman  would  die  that  day.  As  he  pre 
pared  to  go  to  the  Old  Bailey,  Macheath 
said  that  he  was  resigned  to  his  fate, 
for  his  death  would  settle  all  disputes 
and  please  all  his  wives, 

While  Macheath  in  his  cell  reflected 
ironically  that  rich  men  may  escape  the 
gallows  while  the  poor  must  hang,  he 
was  visited  by  two  of  his  men.  He 
asked  them  to  make  sure  that  Lockit  and 
Peachum  were  hanged  before  they  them 
selves  were  finally  strung  up.  The  thieves 
were  followed  by  the  distraught  Polly 
and  Lucy,  come  to  bid  Macheath  fare 
well.  When  the  jailer  announced  that 
four  more  of  his  wives,  each  accompanied 
by  a  child,  had  appeared  to  say  goodbye, 
Macheath  declared  that  he  was  ready  to 
meet  his  fate. 

But  the  rabble,  feeling  that  the  pooi 
should  have  their  vices  as  well  as  the 
rich,  raised  so  much  clamor  for  Mac- 
heath's  reprieve  that  charges  were 
dropped  and  he  was  released  in  triumph. 
In  the  merrymaking  that  followed,  he 
himself  chose  Polly  as  his  partner,  be 
cause,  he  gallantly  announced,  she  was 
really  his  wife.  From  that  time  on  he 
intended  to  give  up  the  vices — if  not  the 
follies — of  the  rich. 


61 


had     offered     for     the     highwayman's 
capture. 

Though  Captain  Macheath  had  funds 
to  bribe  his  jailer  to  confine  him  with 
only  a  light  pair  of  fetters,  it  was  another 
matter  to  deal  with  Lucy  Lockit,  the 
jailer's  daughter.  As  Macheath  freely 
admitted,  she  was  his  wife  except  for 
the  ceremony.  But  Lucy,  who  had  heard 
of  his  gallantry  toward  Polly  Peachum, 
could  be  convinced  of  his  sincerity  only 
by  his  consent  to  an  immediate  marriage. 
Meanwhile  Peachum  and  Lockit 
agreed  that  they  would  split  the  reward 
for  Macheath.  As  he  went  over  his  ac 
counts,  however,  Peachum  found  cause 
to  question  his  partner's  honesty.  One 
of  his  men  had  been  convicted,  although 
he  had  bribed  Lockit  to  have  the  man  go 
free.  Also,  Peachum's  informer,  Mrs, 
Coaxer,  had  been  defrauded  of  informa 
tion  money.  The  quarrel  was  short 
lived,  however,  as  each  was  well  aware 
that  if  they  fell  out  each  had  the  power 
to  hang  the  other.  After  his  talk  with 
Peachum,  Lockit  warned  his  daughter 
that  Macheath's  fate  had  been  sealed.  He 
advised  her  to  buy  herself  widow's  weeds 
and  be  cheerful;  since  she  could  not  have 
the  highwayman  and  his  money  too,  she 
might  as  well  make  use  of  the  time 
that  was  left  to  extract  what  riches  she 
could  from  him. 

There  was  no  clergyman  to  be  found 
that  day,  but  Lucy  had  so  far  softened 
toward  her  philandering  lover  as  to  agree 
to  see  if  her  father  could  not  be  bought 
off.  She  had  just  consented  to  help  him 
when  Polly  appeared  in  search  of  her 
husband.  Macheath  managed  to  convince 
Lucy  of  his  faithfulness  by  disowning 
Polly,  who  was  carried  off  by  the  angry 
Peachum. 

After  they  had  gone,  Lucy  agreed  to 
steal  her  father's  keys  so  that  her  lover 
might  escape.  Macheath,  free  once  more, 
went  to  join  two  of  his  men  at  a  gambling 
house.  There  he  made  arrangements  to 
meet  them  again  that  evening  at  another 
den,  where  he  would  point  out  a  likely 
victim  for  them  to  rob. 


Peachum  and  Lockit  were  discussing 
the  disposal  of  some  assorted  loot  when 
they  were  joined  by  Mrs.  Trapes,  a 
procuress  who  innocently  told  them  that 
Macheath  was  at  that  moment  with  one 
of  her  girls.  While  Peachum  and  Lockit 
went  off  to  recapture  him,  Polly  paid  a 
visit  to  Lucy  Lockit.  Together  they  be 
wailed  their  common  fate — Macheath's 
neglect.  Lucy  tried  to  give  Polly  a 
poisoned  drink.  When  the  suspicious 
girl  refused  to  accept  it,  Lucy  decided 
that  perhaps  Polly  was  too  miserable  to 
deserve  to  die. 

When  Macheath  was  brought  back  to 
prison  once  more  by  Peachum  and 
Lockit,  both  girls  fell  on  their  knees 
before  their  fathers  and  begged  that  his 
life  be  spared.  Neither  parent  would  be 
moved.  Lockit  announced  that  the  high 
wayman  would  die  that  day.  As  he  pre 
pared  to  go  to  the  Old  Bailey,  Macheath 
said  that  he  was  resigned  to  his  fate, 
for  his  death  would  settle  all  disputes 
and  please  all  his  wives, 

While  Macheath  in  his  cell  reflected 
ironically  that  rich  men  may  escape  the 
gallows  while  the  poor  must  hang,  he 
was  visited  by  two  of  his  men.  He 
asked  them  to  make  sure  that  Lockit  and 
Peachum  were  hanged  before  they  them 
selves  were  finally  strung  up.  The  thieves 
were  followed  by  the  distraught  Polly 
and  Lucy,  come  to  bid  Macheath  fare 
well.  When  the  jailer  announced  that 
four  more  of  his  wives,  each  accompanied 
by  a  child,  had  appeared  to  say  goodbye, 
Macheath  declared  that  he  was  ready  to 
meet  his  fate. 

But  the  rabble,  feeling  that  the  pooi 
should  have  their  vices  as  well  as  the 
rich,  raised  so  much  clamor  for  Mac- 
heath's  reprieve  that  charges  were 
dropped  and  he  was  released  in  triumph. 
In  the  merrymaking  that  followed,  he 
himself  chose  Polly  as  his  partner,  be 
cause,  he  gallantly  announced,  she  was 
really  his  wife.  From  that  time  on  he 
intended  to  give  up  the  vices — if  not  the 
follies — of  the  rich. 


61 


an  important  column.  He  had  barely 
assumed  this  position  when  the  editor  of 
a  rival  newspaper,  La  Plume,  accused 
him  falsely  of  receiving  bribes  and  sup 
pressing  news.  For  the  honor  of  La  Vie 
Francaise  Duroy  was  forced  to  challenge 
his  disparager  to  a  duel.  Though  neither 
he  nor  his  opponent  was  injured,  M. 
Walter  was  pleased  with  Duroy' s  spirit. 

Duroy  moved  into  the  apartment  Mme. 
de  Marelle  had  rented  for  their  meetings 
after  he  had  promised  that  he  would 
never  bring  anyone  else  there.  Shortly 
afterward  Forestier  became  seriously  ill, 
and  Duroy  received  a  telegram  asking 
him  to  join  the  Forestiers  in  Cannes, 
where  they  had  gone  for  the  invalid's 
health.  After  Forestier's  death,  as  he  and 
Mme,  Forestier  kept  a  vigil  over  the 
corpse,  Duroy  proposed  once  more.  The 
widow  made  no  promises  but  stated  the 
next  day  that  she  might  consider  an 
alliance,  though  she  warned  her  swain 
that  she  would  have  to  be  treated  as  an 
equal  and  her  conduct  left  unquestioned. 

Mme.  Forestier  returned  to  Paris.  A 
year  later  she  and  Duroy  were  married. 
Georges  du  Roy  de  Cantel,  as  he  now 
called  himself  at  his  wife's  suggestion, 
and  his  bride  had  agreed  to  spend  their 
honeymoon  with  his  parents  in  Nor 
mandy.  However,  Mme.  de  Cantel  spent 
only  one  day  with  his  simple,  ignorant 
peasant  family  in  their  tiny  home. 

The  newspaper  man  found  in  his  wife 
a  valuable  ally  who  not  only  aided  him 
in  writing  his  articles  but  also,  as  the 
friend  of  influential  men,  helped  him  to 
find  a  place  in  political  circles.  Un 
fortunately,  friction  soon  developed  be 
tween  them.  After  he  had  moved  into 
his  wife's  home,  de  Cantel  found  that 
its  comforts  had  been  designed  to  please 
its  old  master,  and  he  soon  found  him 
self  pushed  gently  into  the  niche  his 
friend  had  occupied.  Even  the  meals 
were  prepared  according  to  Forestier's 
taste.  To  pique  his  wife  de  Cantel  be 
gan  to  call  Forestier  "poor  Charles,"  al 
ways  using  an  accent  of  infinite  pity 
when  he  spoke  the  name. 


Not  long  after  his  marriage  de  Cantel 
resumed  his  relationship  with  Mme.  de 
Marelle  and  at  the  same  time  began  an 
affair  with  Mme.  Walter.  He  had  briefly 
bemoaned  the  fact  that  he  had  not  mar 
ried  wealthy  young  Suzanne  Walter,  but 
he  soon  became  intrigued  with  the  idea 
of  seducing  her  mother,  a  pillar  of  dig 
nity.  His  conquest  was  not  a  difficult 
one.  Mme.  Walter  began  to  meet  her 
lover  at  his  rooms  and  to  shower  affection 
and  attentions  upon  him  so  heavily  that 
he  quickly  became  bored. 

Among  Mme.  de  Cantel's  political  ac 
quaintances  was  the  foreign  minister, 
Laroche-Mathieu,  who  supplied  news  of 
government  activities  to  La  Vie  Fran- 
caise.  Because  the  minister  was  also  a 
close  friend  of  M.  Walter,  it  was  not 
difficult  for  de  Cancel's  new  paramour  to 
learn  the  state  secret  that  France  would 
soon  guarantee  the  Moroccan  debt.  Mme. 
Walter  planned  to  buy  some  shares  of 
the  loan  with  the  understanding  that  de 
Cantel  would  receive  part  of  the  profit. 
While  Mme.  Walter  was  carrying  on 
her  speculations,  the  de  Cantels  received 
a  windfall  in  the  form  of  a  bequest  from 
the  late  Count  de  Vaudrec,  an  old  family 
friend  of  Mme,  de  Cantel.  De  Cantel 
objected  to  the  count's  bequest  of  one 
million  francs,  however,  on  the  grounds 
that  appearances  would  compromise  her. 
He  allowed  her  to  accept  the  money  only 
after  she  had  agreed  to  divide  it  equally 
with  him,  so  that  it  would  seem  to  out 
siders  as  if  they  had  both  received  a 
share. 

De  Cantel  profited  handsomely  when 
France  assumed  the  Moroccan  debt,  but 
his  gains  were  small  compared  to  those 
of  Laroche-Mathieu  and  M.  Walter,  who 
had  become  millionaires  as  a  result  of 
the  intrigue.  One  evening  he  and  his 
wife  were  invited  to  view  a  painting  in 
the  Walters'  magnificent  new  mansion. 
There  de  Cantel  began  a  flirtation  with 
Suzanne  Walter;  his  own  wife  and 
Laroche-Mathieu  had  become  intimates 
without  attempting  to  conceal  their 
friendship.  That  evening  de  Cantel  per- 


63 


suaded  Suzanne  to  agree  never  to  accept 
a  proposal  without  first  asking  his  advice. 
At  home  after  the  reception  lie  received 
with  indifference  the  cross  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor  which  the  foreign  minister  had 
given  him,  He  felt  that  he  was  entitled 
to  a  larger  reward  for  concealing  news  of 
the  Moroccan  affair  from  his  readers, 
That  spring  he  surprised  his  wife  and 
Laroche-Mathieu  at  a  rendezvous.  Three 
months  later  he  obtained  a  divorce,  caus 
ing  the  minister's  downfall  by  naming 
him  corespondent. 

A  free  man  again,  de  Cantel  was  able 
to  court  Suzanne  Walter.  It  was  simple 
for  him  to  persuade  the  girl  to  tell  her 
parents  she  wished  to  many  him,  to  have 
her  go  away  with  him  until  they  gave 
their  consent  to  the  match. 

Mme,  Walter  was  the  only  one  at  the 


magnificent  church  wedding  to  show  any 
signs  of  sadness.  She  hated  the  daughter 
who  had  taken  her  lover,  but  at  the  same 
time  she  was  powerless  to  prevent  the 
marriage  without  compromising  herself. 
M.  Walter  had  managed  to  resign  him 
self  to  having  a  conniving  son-in-law, 
had,  in  fact,  recognized  his  shrewdness 
by  making  him  chief  editor  of  the  news 
paper.  Suzanne  was  innocently  happy  as 
she  walked  down  the  aisle  with  her 
father.  Her  new  husband  was  also  con 
tent.  Greeting  their  well-wishers  in  the 
sacristy  after  the  ceremony,  he  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  occasion  to  reaffirm,  with 
his  eyes,  his  feelings  for  Mine,  de  Ma- 
relle.  As  he  and  his  wife  left  the  church, 
it  seemed  to  him  that  it  was  only  a  stone's 
throw  from  that  edifice  to  the  chamber 
of  deputies. 


A  BELL  FOR  ADANO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  John  Horsey  (1914-         ) 
Type,  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 
Timeofylot:  1943 
Locale:  Adano,  Italy 
first  published:  1944 
Principal  characters: 

MAJOR  VICTOR  JOXOPOLO,  American  Military  Governor  of  Ackno 

SERGEANT  Bourn,  Major  Joppolo's  subordinate 

CAPTAIN  Pimvis,  head  of  the  Military  Police 

GBNEXUL  MARVIN,  Commander-in-Cmef  of  the  American  invasion  troops  and  Majox 
Joppolo's  superior 

Critique: 

A  Bell  for  Ada-no  is  one  of  the  out 
standing  works  of  fiction  to  come  out  of 
World  War  II.  John  Mersey  has  told 
his  story  in  simple  but  effective  language. 
There  is  nothing  of  the  artificial,  the 
contrived,  or  the  melodramatic.  The 
portrayal  of  character  is  perhaps  the 
author's  greatest  achievement.  Only  a 
good  observer,  only  a  person  with  a 
deep  love  for  human  beings,  could  have 
written  so  realistically  and  so  sympatheti 
cally  of  the  American  invasion  troops, 
and  of  an  Italian  town  and  its  people 


who  had  lived   under  Fascist  rule   for 
more  than  twenty  years. 

The  Story: 

When  the  American  army  invaded 
Sicily,  Major  Victor  Joppolo  was  placed 
in  command  of  Adano*  lie  set  up  his 
office  in  the  city  hall,  re-hired  the  janitor, 
and  investigated  the  records  left  by 
the  Fascist  mayor,  who  had  fled  to  the 
hills. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  Major  Joppolo 
summoned  the  leading  citr/ens  of  the 


A  BELL  TOR  ADANO  by  John  Heraey.   By  perrmaiion  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*,  Alfred  A*  Knopf,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1944,  by  John  Hergey. 


town  and  asked  them,  through  ( 
his  interpreter,  what  they  considered  the 
most  important  thing  to  be  done.  Some 
answered  that  the  shortage  of  food  was 
the  most  pressing  problem.  Others  in 
sisted  that  what  the  town  needed  most 
was  its  bell,  which  had  been  removed 
by  the  Fascists.  The  bell,  it  seemed, 
had  a  soothing  tone.  It  also  regulated 
the  lives  of  Adano's  residents. 

The  major  promised  every  effort  to 
recover  the  bell.  Meanwhile  the  problem 
was  to  obtain  food  and  to  have  produce 
brought  into  the  town.  In  order  that  his 
directives  would  be  understood  and 
carried  out,  the  major  issued  proclama 
tions  which  the  town  crier,  after  being 
silent  for  so  long,  hastened  to  shout  in 
the  village. 

On  Sunday  morning  the  major  at 
tended  mass  at  one  of  the  churches. 
There  he  noticed  a  blonde  girl  sitting  in 
front  of  him.  When  he  later  asked 
Giuseppe  about  her,  the  interpreter  as 
sumed  that  the  American's  interest  had 
nothing  to  do  with  official  business. 
Major  Joppolo's  primary  interest,  how 
ever,  was  the  girl's  father,  Tomasino, 
owner  of  a  fishing  fleet.  He  had 
Giuseppe  ask  Tomasino  if  he  would  come 
to  see  him.  But  Tomasino,  distrustful 
of  authority,  would  not  come  to  head 
quarters.  The  major  decided  to  go  to 
Tomasino.  He  went,  followed  by  practi 
cally  all  the  townspeople.  The  old 
Italian  was  defiant,  sure  that  the  major 
had  come  to  arrest  him.  Finally  the 
Italian  was  convinced  that  the  major 
meant  neither  to  arrest  him  nor  to  ask 
For  a  cut  in  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
the  fish.  He  agreed  to  go  out  with  his 
fishing  fleet,  despite  the  danger  of  mines. 

By  that  time  the  major  and  his  policies 
had  become  the  subject  of  much  discus 
sion  among  the  people.  The  Fascist 
mayor  provided  them  with  a  great  deal 
of  amusement.  He  had  come  out  of 
hiding  and  had  been  paroled  into  Ser 
geant  Borth's  custody.  Every  morning 
the  mayor  went  to  Sergeant  Borth  and 
publicly  confessed  a  Fascist  sin.  Giuseppe 


was  astonished  to  discover  that  when  the 
major  told  him  to  report  for  work  at 
seven  in  the  mornings,  he  meant  it. 
Gargano,  the  ex-Fascist  policeman, 
learned  that  he  could  no  longer  force 
the  others  to  make  way  for  him  when 
they  stood  in  line  at  the  bakery. 

While  driving  through  Adano  one 
day,  General  Marvin  found  the  road 
blocked  by  a  mule  cart.  The  driver, 
having  had  his  daily  quota  of  wine,  was 
sleeping  peacefully. 

When  the  mule  refused  to  budge,  the 
general  ordered  the  vehicle  thrown  into 
the  ditch.  Reluctantly,  the  soldiers 
dumped  the  cart,  mule,  and  sleeping 
driver.  Swearing  furiously,  the  general 
drove  up  to  the  city  hall,  confronted 
Major  Joppolo,  and  ordered  that  the 
major  forbid  the  entrance  of  all  carts 
into  Adano. 

The  next  day  a  group  of  townspeople 
besieged  the  major.  The  carts,  they  ex 
plained,  were  essential,  for  they  brought 
food  and  water  into  the  town.  Major 
Joppolo  countermanded  the  general's 
order  and  telephoned  Captain  Purvis 
that  he  would  accept  full  responsibility. 
Captain  Purvis,  anxious  to  keep  out  of 
trouble,  ordered  Lieutenant  Trapani  to 
make  a  memorandum  and  to  send  it  to 
General  Marvin.  But  the  lieutenant, 
out  of  regard  for  Major  Joppolo,  put  the 
memorandum  among  Purvis'  papers  in 
the  hope  that  the  captain,  who  rarely 
looked  through  his  files,  would  never  find 
it 

Major  Joppolo's  efforts  to  restore  the 
bell  were  not  successful,  for  it  had  been 
melted  down  by  the  Fascists.  However, 
a  young  Naval  officer,  in  charge  of  a 
nearby  station,  promised  to  obtain  a 
ship's  bell  for  him. 

In  the  meantime  Captain  Purvis  had 
gone  through  the  papers  on  his  desk 
and  had  found  the  memorandum  for 
General  Marvin.  He  ordered  it  for 
warded  at  once.  Lieutenant  Trapani 
mailed  it,  but  addressed  it  to  the  wrong 
person  at  headquarters  in  Algiers.  From 
there  it  was  forwarded  to  the  general's 


65 


aide,  Colonel  Middleton.  Every  day  the 
colonel  met  with  General  Marvin  and 
went  over  important  communications. 
Accordingly,  he  was  half-way  through 
Purvis*  letter  before  he  realized  what 
it  was.  He  tried  to  go  on  to  the  next 
letter,  but  it  was  too  late.  The  general 
had  heard  Major  Joppolo's  name  and 
that  of  Adano,  and  remembered  both. 

The  bell  arrived  in  Adano,  It  was 
toxiched,  prodded,  sounded  by  the  ex 
perts,  and  admired  by  everybody.  When 
it  pealed  fortli,  the  townspeople  declared 
that  its  tone  was  even  better  than  that 
of  the  old  bell.  The  major  was  a  hero, 
To  show  their  appreciation  and  affection, 
the  townspeople  had  him  taken  to  a 


photographer.  From  the  resulting  picture, 
a  local  artist  painted  his  portrait. 

At  the  celebration  that  night,  Sergeant 
Borth  was  very,  very  drunk.  He  refused 
to  take  orders  from  Major  Joppolo,  say 
ing  that  the  major  was  no  longer  in  any 
position  to  give  orders.  Captain  Pur 
vis,  said  the  sergeant,  almost  sobbing, 
had  a  letter  from  General  Marvin.  It 
ordered  Major  Joppolo  back  to  Algiers, 
Next  morning  the  major  said  goodbye  to 
Borth,  who  apologized  for  his  conduct  of 
the  previous  night.  The  major  asked 
him  to  help  his  successor  make  the 
people  happy.  As  he  drove  away  from 
the  town,  he  heard  in  the  distance  the 
tolling  of  a  bell,  the  new  bell  for  Adano. 


BEN  HUR;  A  TALE  OF  THE  CHRIST 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

/tetfeor:  Lewis  (Lew)  Wallace  (1827-1905) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

lime  of  'plot:  At  the  time  of  Christ 

Locale:  Antiocli  and  Jerusalem 

First  published:  1880 

Principal  characters: 

BEN  HUR,  a  Roman-educated  Jew 

BALTHASAR,  an  Egyptian 

SXMONIDES,  a  Jewish  merchant  and  friend  of  Ben  Hur 

ESTHER,  daughter  of  Simonides 

IRAS,  daughter  of  Balthasar 

MESS  ALA,  a  Roman  and  an  enemy  of  Ben  Hur 

Critique: 

Ben  Hur  is  an  ama/Jng  book,  a  mix 
ture  of  melodramatic  adventure  and 
scholarly  research.  The  author  shows 
great  familiarity  with  the  customs  and 
traditions  of  the  society  that  he  is  describ 
ing,  and  it  is  this  detailed  knowledge  of 
Roman  and  Jewish  history  that  accounts 
for  the  value  and  importance  of  Ben  Hur, 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  characters 
never  seem  quite  real,  and  that  the 
modern  reader  cannot  feel  much  sym 
pathy  for  them. 


The  Story: 

In  the  Roman  year  747  three  travelers 
met  in  the  desert,  where  the  Athenian, 
the  Hindu,  and  the  Egyptian  had  been 


led  by  a  new  bright  star  shining  in  the 
sky,  After  telling  their  stories  to  one 
another,  they  journeyed  on,  seeking  the 
new-born  child  who  was  King  of  the 
Jews.  In  Jerusalem  their  inquiries  aroused 
the  curiosity  of  King  Herod,  who  asked 
that  they  be  brought  before  him.  I  lerocl 
then  asked  them  to  let  him  know  if  they 
found  the  child,  for  he,  too,  wished  to 
adore  the  infant  whose  birth  had  been 
foretold.  Arriving  at  last  in  Bethlehem, 
the  three  men  found  the  new-born  child 
in  a  stable,  But  having  been  warned  in 
a  dream  of  Herod's  evil  intentions,  they 
did  not  return  to  tell  the  king  of  the 
child's  whereabouts. 

At  that  time  there  lived  in  Jerusalem 


66 


three  members  of  an  old  and  eminent 
Jewish  family  named  Hur.  The  father, 
who  had  been  dead  for  some  time,  had 
distinguished  himself  in  service  to  the 
Roman  Empire  and  had,  consequently, 
received  many  honors.  The  son,  Ben 
Hur,  was  handsome,  and  the  daughter, 
Tirzah,  was  likewise  beautiful.  Their 
mother  was  a  fervent  nationalist  who  had 
implanted  in  their  minds  a  strong  sense 
of  pride  in  their  race  and  national  culture. 

When  Ben  Hur  was  still  a  young  man, 
his  friend  Messala  returned  from  his 
studies  in  Rome.  Messala  had  become 
arrogant,  spiteful,  cruel.  As  Ben  left 
Messala's  home  after  their  meeting,  he 
was  hurt,  for  he  realized  that  Messala 
had  so  changed  that  their  friendship  must 
end, 

A  few  days  later,  while  watching  a 
procession  below  him  in  the  streets,  Ben 
Hur  accidentally  dislodged  a  piece  of 
tile  which  fell  on  the  Roman  procurator. 
The  Roman  believed  that  the  accident 
was  an  attempt  on  his  life,  Led  by  Mes 
sala,  who  had  pointed  out  his  former 
friend,  the  Romans  arrested  the  Hur 
family  and  confiscated  their  property, 

Ben  Hur  was  sent  to  be  a  galleyslave. 
While  he  was  being  led  away  in  chains, 
a  young  man  took  pity  on  him  and  gave 
him  a  drink.  One  day,  while  he  was 
rowing  at  his  usual  place  in  the  galley, 
Ben  Hur  attracted  the  attention  of  Quin- 
tus  Arrius,  a  Roman  official.  Later,  dur 
ing  a  sea  battle,  Ben  Hur  saved  the  life 
of  Quintus,  who  adopted  the  young  Jew 
as  his  son.  Educated  as  a  Roman  citizen, 
Ben  Hur  inherited  his  foster  father's 
wealth  when  Quintus  died. 

Ben  Hur  went  to  Antioch,  where  he 
learned  that  his  father's  old  servant, 
Simonides,  was  now  a  prosperous  mer 
chant.  In  effect,  the  wealth  of  Simonides 
was  really  the  property  of  the  Hur  family, 
For  he  had  been  acting  as  agent  for  his 
dead  master.  Simonides  assured  himself 
that  Ben  Hur  was  really  the  son  of  his 
old  master,  and  begged  that  he  be  allowed 
to  serve  the  son  as  well.  Ben  Hur  was 
attracted  to  Simonides'  daughter,  Esther. 


In  company  with  a  servant  of  Simon 
ides,  Ben  Hur  went  to  see  a  famous  well 
on  the  outskirts  of  Antioch.  There  an 
aged  Egyptian  was  watering  his  camel, 
on  which  sat  the  most  beautiful  woman 
Ben  Hur  had  ever  seen.  While  he  looked, 
a  chariot  came  charging  through  the 
people  near  the  well.  Ben  Hur  seized 
the  lead  horse  by  the  bridle  and  swerved 
the  chariot  aside.  The  driver  was  his 
false  friend,  Messala.  The  old  Egyptian 
was  Balthasar,  one  of  the  wise  men  who 
had  traveled  to  Bethlehem.  The  beauti 
ful  girl  was  his  daughter,  Iras. 

Learning  that  the  arrogant  Messala 
was  to  race  his  chariot  in  the  games  at 
Antioch,  Ben  Hur  wished  to  defeat  and 
humiliate  his  old  playfellow.  He  had 
Simonides  and  his  friends  place  large 
wagers  on  the  race,  until  Messala  had 
staked  his  whole  fortune.  The  day  of 
the  race  came.  At  the  turn  Messala  sud 
denly  struck  with  his  whip  at  the  horses 
of  the  chariot  Ben  Hur  was  driving.  Ben 
Hur  managed  to  keep  his  team  under 
control,  and  then  in  the  last  lap  around 
the  arena  he  drove  his  chariot  so  close 
to  Messala's  vehicle  that  the  wheels 
locked.  Messala  was  thrown  under  his 
horses  and  crippled  for  life.  Because 
Messala  had  attempted  foul  play  earlier 
in  the  race,  the  judges  allowed  Ben  Hur 
to  be  proclaimed  the  winner.  Messala 
was  ruined. 

From  Balthasar,  Ben  Hur  learned  that 
the  King  of  the  Jews  to  whom  the  Egyp 
tian  and  his  companions  had  paid  homage 
some  years  before  was  not  to  be  the  king 
of  a  political  realm,  but  of  a  spiritual 
one.  But  Simonides  convinced  Ben  Hur 
that  the  promised  king  would  be  a  real 
deliverer  who  would  lead  the  Jews  to 
victory  over  the  Romans. 

From  Antioch  Ben  Hur  went  to  Jeru 
salem  to  search  for  his  mother  and  sister. 
There  he  learned  the  part  Messala  had 
played  in  the  ruin  of  his  family.  After 
his  own  arrest,  his  mother  and  sister  had 
been  thrown  into  prison,  and  Messala 
and  the  procurator  had  divided  the  con 
fiscated  property  between  them.  But 


67 


Messala  knew  nothing  of  the  fate  of  the 
two  women  after  the  procurator  had 
ordered  them  confined  to  an  underground 
cell.  There  they  had  contracted  leprosy. 
When  Pilate,  the  new  procurator,  arrived, 
he  had  ordered  all  political  prisoners 
freed  and  so  the  two  women  had  been 
set  at  liberty.  But  there  was  no  place 
for  them  to  go  except  to  the  caves  outside 
the  city  where  the  lepers  were  sent  to 
die,  A  faithful  old  servant  found  them 
and  carried  food  to  them  daily,  under 
sacred  oath  never  to  reveal  their  names. 
When  Ben  Hur  met  the  old  servant,  she 
allowed  him  to  believe  that  his  mother 
and  sister  were  dead. 

Meanwhile  Simonides  had  bought  the 
home  of  his  old  master,  and  he,  Esther, 
Balthasar,  and  Iras  took  possession  of  it 
Ben  Ilur  himself  could  visit  it  only  at 
night  and  in  disguise.  He  was  plotting 
to  overthrow  the  Roman  rule  and  was 
recruiting  an  army  to  follow  the  future 
King  of  the  Jews.  He  went  one  day 
near  the  place  where  the  lepers  usually 
gathered  on  the  hill  beyond  the  city 
gates.  On  the  way,  he  met  a  young  man 
whom  he  recognized  as  the  one  who  had 
given  him  a  drink  of  water  years  before 
when  he  was  being  led  away  to  slavery. 
The  young  man  was  the  Nazarene,  That 
day  me  old  servant  had  persuaded  Tirzah 


and  her  mother  to  show  themselves  to 
the  Nazarene  as  he  passed.  Both  were 
cured,  and  Ben  Hur  saw  the  two  lepers 
transformed  into  his  mother  and  sister. 

Ben  Hur's  attitude  toward  the  King  of 
the  Jews  was  slowly  changing.  When  he 
witnessed  the  crucifixion  in  company 
with  Simonides  and  old  Balthasar,  any 
doubts  that  he  might  have  had  were 
removed.  He  was  convinced  then  that 
Christ's  kingdom  was  a  spiritual  one. 
From  that  day  on,  he  and  his  family 
were  Christians. 

Some  years  later,  in  the  beautiful  villa 
at  Misenum,  Ben  Hur's  wife,  Esther,  re 
ceived  a  strange  visit  from  Iras,  the 
daughter  of  Balthasar.  Iras  told  Esther 
that  she  had  killed  Messala  for  the 
misery  he  had  brought  her.  When  he 
learned  of  the  visit,  Ben  Ilur  was  sure 
that  on  the  day  of  the  crucifixion,  the 
day  that  Balthasar  himself  had  died,  Iras 
had  deserted  her  father  for  Messala. 

Ben  Hur  was  happy  with  Esther  and 
their  two  children.  He  and  Simonides 
devoted  their  fortunes  to  the  Christian 
cause.  When  Nero  began  the  persecu 
tion  of  the  Christians  in  Rome  it  was 
Ben  Hur  who  went  there  to  build  the 
catacombs  under  the  city  itself,  so  that 
those  who  believed  in  the  Nazarene  could 
worship  in  safety  and  peace, 


BEOWULF 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Unknown 

Type  of  fflot:  Heroic  epic 

Time  of  'plot:   c,  Sixth  century 

Locale:  Denmark,  southern  Sweden  (land  of  the  Gcats) 

First  transcribed:  c.  1000 

Principal  characters: 
BEOWULF,  a  Goat  hero 
HROTIIGAR,  King  of  the  Danes 
UNFBKTH,  a  Danish  warrior 
WIGLAJP,  loyal  noble  of  Beowulf's  court 

Critique: 

This  poem  is  the  great  masterpiece  of 
Anglo-Saxon  literature.    Its  scribes  were 


poem  is  a  valuable  record  of  the  customs 
of  the  time,  a  pagan  story  overlaid  with 


writing  down  a  story  transmitted  orally      a  veneer  of  Christian  theology,  and  a  nar- 
for  generations  by  Northern  peoples.  The      rative  of  high  artistic  worth. 


68 


The  Story: 

Once  long  ago  in  Hrothgar's  kingdom 
a  monster  named  Grendef  roamed  the 
countryside   at  night.    Rising  from  his 
marshy  home,  Grendel  would  stalk  to  the 
hall  of  the  king,  where  he  would  seize 
fifteen   of   Hrothgar's   sleeping   warriors 
and  devour  them.    Departing,  he  would 
gather  fifteen  more  into  his  huge  arms 
and  carry  them  back  to  his  watery  lair. 
For  twelve  years  this  slaughter  continued. 
Word  of   the  terror  spread.    In   the 
land  of  the  Geats,  ruled  over  by  Hygelac, 
lived  Beowulf,  a  man  of  great  strength 
and  bravery.    When  he  heard  the  tale 
of  Hrothgar's  distress,  he  set  sail  for  Den 
mark  to  rid  the  land  of  its  fear.   With  a 
company  of  fourteen  men  he  came  ashore 
and  asked  a  coast  watcher  to  lead  him 
to  Hrothgar's  high  hall.    There  he  was 
feasted  in  great  honor  while  the  mead 
cup   went   around,     Unferth    reminded 
Beowulf  of  a  swimming  contest  which 
Beowulf  was  said  to  have  lost.   Beowulf 
answered  that  not  only  had  he  won  the 
contest,   but  he  had  also  killed  many 
deadly  monsters  in  the  sea.   At  the  close 
of  the  feast  Hrothgar  and  his  warriors 
went  to  their  rest,  leaving  Beowulf  and 
his  band  in  the  hall.    Then  came  the 
awful  Grendel  and  seized  one  of  the 
sleeping  warriors.   But  he  was  fated  to 
kill   no   more   that  night,   for  Beowulf 
without  shield  or  spear  seized  the  dread 
monster  and  wrenched   off  his  mighty 
right  arm,    Thus  maimed,  Grendel  fled 
back  to  his  marshland  home.  His  bloody 
arm  was  hung  in  Hrothgar's  hall. 

The  next  night  Grendel's  mother  came 
to  avenge  her  son.  Bursting  into  the 
great  hall,  she  seized  one  of  the  warriors, 
Acschere,  Hrothgar's  chief  counselor,  and 
fled  with  him  into  the  night.  She  took 
with  her  also  the  prized  arm  of  Grendel. 
Beowulf  was  asleep  in  a  house  removed 
irom  the  hall,  and  not  until  morning  did 
he  learn  of  the  monster's  visit.  Then, 
with  Hrothgar  leading  the  way,  a  mourn 
ful  procession  approached  the  dire  marsh. 
At  its  edge  they  sighted  the  head  of  the 
ill-fated  Aeschere  and  saw  the  stain  of 


blood  on  the  water.  Beowulf  prepared 
for  descent  to  the  home  of  the  foe.  Un 
ferth  offered  Beowulf  the  finest  sword  in 
the  kingdom,  and  thus  forfeited  his  own 
chance  of  brave  deeds. 

As  Beowulf  sank  beneath  the  waters  of 
the  marsh,  he  was  beset  on  every  hand 
by  prodigious  monsters.  After  a  long 
swim  he  came  to  the  lair  of  Grendel's 
mother.  Failing  to  wound  her  with  Un- 
ferth's  sword,  he  seized  the  monster  by 
the  shoulder  and  threw  her  to  the  ground. 
During  a  grim  hand-to-hand  battle,  in 
which  Beowulf  was  being  worsted,  he 
sighted  a  famous  old  sword  of  the  giants, 
which  he  seized  and  thrust  at  Grendel's 
mother,  who  fell  in  helpless  death  throes. 
Then  Beowulf  turned  and  saw  Grendel 
himself  lying  weak  and  maimed  on  the 
floor  of  the  lair.  Quickly  he  swung  the 
sword  and  severed  Grendel's  head  from 
his  body.  As  he  began  to  swim  back  up 
to  the  surface  of  the  marsh,  the  sword 
with  which  he  had  killed  his  enemies 
melted  until  only  the  head  and  hilt  were 

j  r°n  his  return>  the  Danes  rejoiced 
and  f£ted  him  with  another  high  feast 
He  presented  the  sword  hilt  to  Hroth^ar 
and  returned  Unferth's  sword  without 
telling  that  it  had  failed  him. 

The  time  came  for  Beowulf's  return  to 
his  homeland.  He  left  Denmark  in  great 
glory  and  sailed  toward  the  land  of  the 
Geats.    Once  more  at  the  court  of  his 
lord  Hygelac,  he  was  held  in  high  esteem 
and  was  rewarded  with  riches  and  posi 
tion.  After  many  years  Beowulf  himself 
became  king  among  the  Geats.   One  of 
the  Geats  by  accident  discovered  an  an 
cient    hoard,    and,    while    its    guardian 
dragon  slept,  carried  away  a  golden  gob 
let  which  he  presented  to  Beowulf.  The 
discovery  of  the  loss  caused  the  dragon 
to  rise  in  fury  and  to  devastate  the  land. 
Old   man   that  he   was,   Beowulf  was 
determined  to  rid  his  kingdom  of  the 
dragon's  scourge.    Daring  the  flames  of 
the  dragon's  nostrils,  he  smote  his  foe 
with  his  sword,  but  without  effect,  Once 
more  Beowulf  was  forced  to  rely  on  the 


69 


grip  of  his  mighty  hands,  Of  his  warriors 
only  Wiglaf  stood  by  his  king;  the  others 
flccl.  The  dragon  rushed  at  Beowulf  and 
sank  its  teeth  deeply  into  his  neck.  But 
Wiglaf  smote  the  dragon  with  his  sword, 
and  Beowulf  with  his  war-knife  gave  the 
dragon  its  death  blow. 

Weak  from  loss  of  blood,  the  old  hero 
was  dying.  His  last  act  was  to  give  Wig 


laf  a  king's  collar  of  gold.  The  other 
warriors  now  came  out  of  hiding  and 
burned  with  pagan  rites  the  body  of  their 
dead  king.  From  the  dragon's  lair  they 
took  the  treasure  hoard  and  buried  it  in 
the  great  mound  they  built  over  Beo 
wulf's  ashes.  Then  with  due  ceremony 
they  mourned  the  passing  of  the  great 
ana  dauntless  Beowulf. 


THE  BIG  SKY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  A.  B.  Guthrie,  Jr.  (1901-        ) 

Type  of  ylot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  off  lot:  1830-1843 

Locale:  Western  United  States 

first  published:  1947 

Principal  characters: 

BOONE  CAUDILL,  a  mountain  man 
TEAL  EYE,  his  Indian  wife 
JIM  DJGAKINS,  his  friend 
DICK  SUMMEHS,  an  old  hunter 
JOITBDONNAIS,  a  keclbout  captain 
Pooru>EViL,  <a  half-witted  Blackfoot 
ELJSHA  PEABODY,  a  Yankee  speculator 

Critique: 

For  constant  and  varied  action  this 
story  is  outstanding.  Between  episodes 
much  of  the  philosophy  of  the  Western 
hunter  and  trapper  is  set  forth.  Also, 
there  are  passages  of  vivid  description 
in  which  the  author  communicates  the 
feel  of  the  open  spaces  and  the  elemental 
emotions  of  the  men  who  roamed  them, 
Throughout  the  book  realism  is  added  by 
putting  the  words  and  thoughts  of  the 
characters  into  frontier  dialect.  The  Big 
Sky  is  a  notable  contribution  to  regional 
and  historical  fiction. 


Louisville,  where  the  sheriff  and  Boonc's 
father  were  waiting  for  the  runaway,  he 
and  Jim  were  separated,  Boone  escaped 
by  swimming  the  Ohio  River  to  the 
Indiana  shore. 

When  Boone  was  falsely  accused  of 
attempted  theft  and  jailed,  Jim,  who  had 
Followed  him  after  their  separation,  stole 
the  sheriff's  keys  and  released  him.  To 
gether  the  boys  eon  tinned  west. 

In  St.  Louis  they  signed  up  on  the 
crew  of  the  keelboat  Mcindmi.  Most  of 
the  crew  were  French,  as  was  the  leader, 
Jourdonnais.  The  boat  was  headed  for 
the  country  of  the  Blaekfeet  with  a 
store  of  whiskey  and  other  goods  to  trade 
for  furs.  Jourdonnais  also  had  aboard 
Teal  Bye,  young  daughter  of  a  Blackfoot 
chief.  She  lincl  been  separated  from  her 
tribe  for  some  time;  Jourdonnais  hoped 
to  gain  the  friendship  of  the  Indians  by 
returning  the  girl  to  them, 

The  keelboat  moved  slowly  upstream 

„„„&  BIG  SKY  by  A.  B.  Guthrie,  Jr,    By  partmgiion  of  thr  author,  hiit  HKCJINJ  Ruth  &  Maxwell  Alcy,  untl  th« 
publishers,  Willinm  Sloane  Associates,  Inc.    Copyright,   1947,  by  A.  B,  Guthrie,  Jr. 


The  Story: 

In  1830  Boone  Caudill  set  out  alone 
for  St.  Louis  and  the  West  after  a  fight 
with  his  father.  Taking  his  father's  rifle 
with  him,  he  headed  for  Louisville  to  get 
out  of  the  state  before  his  father  could 
catch  him.  On  the  road  he  met  Jim 
Dcaldns,  an  easy-going  redhead,  and  the 
two  decided  to  go  West  together.  At 


70 


by  means  of  poles,  tow  rope,  and  oars. 
Boone  and  Jim  found  a  friend  in  Dick 
Summers,  the  hunter  for  the  Mandan  f 
whose  job  was  to  scout  for  Indians  and 
keep  the  crew  supplied  with  meat.  He 
made  Boone  and  Jim  his  assistants.  Jour- 
donnais  was  worried  about  making 
Blackfoot  country  before  winter,  and  he 
worked  the  crew  hard.  At  last  they 
passed  into  the  upper  river  beyond  the 
mouth  of  the  Platte.  All  the  greenhorns, 
including  Boone  and  Jim,  were  initiated 
by  being  dunked  in  the  river  and  having 
their  hair  shaved  off. 

At  last  they  were  in  buffalo  country. 
Summers  took  Boone  with  him  to  get 
some  fresh  meat.  Attacked  by  a  hunting 
party  of  Sioux,  the  white  men  escaped 
unharmed;  but  Summers  expected 
trouble  from  the  hostiles  farther  along 
the  line.  A  few  days  later  the  Mandan 
was  ambushed  by  a  large  Indian  war 
party.  Only  the  swivel  gun  on  the  deck 
of  the  boat  saved  the  white  men  from 
death. 

Just  before  the  Mandan  arrived  at 
Fort  Union,  two  men  tried  to  sabotage 
the  cargo.  At  Fort  Union,  Jourdonnais 
accused  the  American  Fur  Company 
trader,  McKenzie,  of  trying  to  stop  him. 
McKenzie  denied  the  charge,  but  he 
tried  to  argue  Jourdonnais  out  of  con 
tinuing  upriver  and  offered  to  pay  double 
value  for  the  Mandan' '$  cargo.  Jourdon 
nais  refused.  At  Fort  Union,  Boone  met 
his  Uncle  Zeb,  an  old-time  mountain 
man.  He  predicted  that  the  days  of  hunt 
ing  and  trapping  in  open  country  were 
nearly  over,  but  Boone  and  Jim  did  not 
believe  him. 

When  the  Mandan  arrived  in  Black- 
foot  country,  Teal  Eye  escaped.  The 
crew  began  to  build  a  fort  and  trading 
post.  One  day  Indians  attacked  and  killed 
all  but  the  three  hunters,  Boone,  Jim, 
and  Summers. 

For  seven  years  these  three  hunted  to 
gether,  and  Summers  made  real  moun 
tain  men  out  of  the  others.  In  the  spring 
of  1837  the  three  headed  for  a  rendez 
vous  on  the  Seeds-Kee-Dee  River,  where 


they  could  sell  their  furs  and  gamble, 
drink,  and  fight  with  other  mountain 
men.  They  took  with  them  a  half 
witted  Blackfoot  named  Poordevil. 

At  the  rendezvous  Boone  killed  a  man 
who  said  that  he  was  going  to  take 
Poordevirs  scalp.  Then,  after  they  had 
had  their  fill  of  women  and  liquor,  the 
three  friends  left  the  camp.  But  Sum 
mers  did  not  go  hunting  with  them. 
No  longer  able  to  keep  up  the  pace  of 
the  mountain  men,  he  went  back  to 
settle  in  Missouri.  Boone,  Jim,  and 
Poordevil  headed  up  the  Yellowstone 
toward  Blackfoot  country. 

The  journey  was  Boone's  idea.  He 
knew  that  Teal  Eye  was  now  a  grown 
woman.  Her  beauty  had  remained  in  his 
memory  all  those  years;  now  he  wanted 
her  for  his  squaw.  On  the  way  to  the 
Three  Forks,  Boone  stole  a  Crow  horse 
and  took  a  Crow  scalp,  two  coups  that 
would  help  him  to  make  friends  with 
the  Blackfoot  Indians. 

They  came  upon  a  Blackfoot  village 
ravaged  by  smallpox,  but  Boone  refused 
to  stop  until  he  was  certain  that  Teal 
Eye  was  dead.  At  last  he  located  her. 
She  was  with  a  small  band  led  by  Red 
Horn,  her  brother,  who  sold  her  to 
Boone  as  his  squaw. 

Life  was  good  to  Boone.  For  five  years 
he  lived  happily  among  the  Blackfoot 
Indians  with  Teal  Eye  as  his  wife.  Jim 
lived  in  the  Blackfoot  camp  also,  but 
he  often  left  for  months  at  a  time  to  go 
back  down  the  Missouri.  He  craved  com 
panionship,  while  Boone  enjoyed  living 
away  from  crowds.  On  one  of  his  trips 
Jim  met  Elisha  Peabody,  a  shrewd 
Yankee  speculating  upon  the  future  pros 
perity  of  the  Oregon  Territory,  who 
wanted  someone  to  show  him  a  pass 
where  wagons  could  cross  the  mountains. 
Jim  and  Boone  contracted  to  show  him  a 
suitable  pass.  Before  Boone  left,  Tea] 
Eye  told  him  that  he  would  have  a  son 
when  he  returned. 

The  expedition  had  bad  luck.  Indians 
stole  all  the  horses  and  wounded  Jim 
badly.  Then  snow  fell,  destroying  all 


71 


chances  to  get  food.  Finally,  Boone  was 
able  to  shoot  some  mountain  goats.  Jim 
recovered  from  his  wound,  and  the  party 
went  ahead  on  foot.  Boone  and  Jim 
showed  Peabody  the  way  across  the 
mountains  and  into  the  Columbia  Valley. 
It  was  spring  when  Boone  returned  to 
Teal  Eye  and  his  son. 

The  child,  born  blind,  had  a  tinge  of 
red  in  his  hair.  The  baby's  blindness 
brought  a  savage  melancholy  to  Boone. 
Then  some  of  the  old  Indians  hinted  that 
the  red  hair  showed  the  child  was  Jim's 
baby.  Boone  laid  a  trap  to  catch  Jim  with 
Teal  Eye.  Jim,  suspecting  nothing,  found 
Teal  Eye  alone  in  her  lodge;  he  tried  to 
comfort  her  about  her  child's  blindness 
and  the  ugly  mood  of  her  husband, 
Boone  mistook  the  intent  of  Jim's  conver 
sation.  Entering  the  lodge,  he  shot  Jim 
in  the  chest,  killing  him.  He  cursed 
Teal  Eye  and  left  the  Blackfoot  camp. 
Then  he  headed  back  to  Kentucky  to  see 
his  mother  before  she  died, 

In   Kentucky   he  found   his  brother 


married  and  taking  care  of  the  farm. 
Boone  grew  resdess.  Slowly  it  came  to 
him  that  he  had  been  wrong  about  Jim 
and  Teal  Eye,  for  he  noticed  that  one 
of  his  brother's  children  had  a  tinge  of 
red  hair.  His  mother  said  that  there 
had  been  red  hair  in  the  family.  When 
a  neighbor  girl  insisted  that  he  marry 
her  because  he  had  made  love  to  her, 
Boone  started  back  to  the  West.  He 
longed  for  freedom  and  for  Teal  Eye. 

In  Missouri  he  visited  Summers,  who 
now  had  a  wife  and  a  farm.  Over  their 
whiskey,  Boone  revealed  to  Summers 
that  he  had  killed  Jim.  He  knew  now 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake.  Everything 
was  spoiled  for  him — Teal  Eye,  and 
all  the  West.  The  day  of  the  mountain 
man  was  nearly  over;  farmers  were  going 
to  Oregon.  Without  saying  goodbye,  he 
stumbled  out  into  the  niglit.  Summers 
could  see  him  weaving  along  the  road 
for  a  short  distance.  Then  the  darkness 
swallowed  him,  and  he  was  gone. 


THE  BLACK  ARROW 


Tyye  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  ylot;  Historical  romance 

Time  offlot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1888 


Principal  characters: 

SIR  DANIEL  BRACKLBY,  a  political  turncoat 
RIGHARJD  SHKLTON  (DxciO,  his  ward 
JOANNA  SEDLHY,  Lord  Foxham's  ward 
SIR  OLIVEXI  GATES,  Sir  Daniel's  clerk 
ELLIS  DUCKWORTH,  an  outlaw 
LAWLESS,  another  outlaw,  Dick's  friend 
RICHARD,  Duke  of  Gloucester 


Critique; 

The  Black  Arrow;  A  Tale  of  the  Two 
Roses  is  a  historical  romance  intended 
primarily  for  younger  readers.  Set  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  historical  back 
ground  of  the  plot  deals  with  a  minor 
battle  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  and 
the  appearance  of  the  infamous  Richard, 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  as  a  young  sol 
dier.  More  interesting  are  the  swiftpaced 


adventures  of  Dick  Shelron  in  his  at 
tempts  to  outwit  his  scheming  guardian, 
Sir  Daniel  Brackley.  Children  have  been 
fortunate  that  one  of  the  gifted  writers 
of  the  last  century  lent  his  talents  to 
their  pleasure, 

The  Story; 

One  afternoon  in  the  late  springtime, 


72 


the  Moat  House  bell  began  to  ring.  A 
messenger  had  arrived  with  a  message 
from  Sir  Daniel  Brackley  for  Sir  Oliver 
Gates,  his  clerk.  When  the  peasants 
gathered  at  the  summons  of  the  bell,  they 
were  told  that  as  many  armed  men  as 
could  be  spared  from  the  defense  of  Moat 
House  were  to  join  Sir  Daniel  at  Kettley, 
where  a  battle  was  to  be  fought  between 
the  armies  of  Lancaster  and  York. 

There  was  some  grumbling  at  this 
order,  for  Sir  Daniel  was  a  faithless  man 
who  fought  first  on  one  side  and  then  on 
the  other.  He  had  added  to  his  own 
lands  by  securing  the  wardships  of  chil 
dren  left  orphans  in  those  troubled  times, 
and  it  was  whispered  that  he  had  mur 
dered  good  Sir  Harry  Shelton  to  make 
himself  the  guardian  of  young  Dick  Shel 
ton  and  the  lord  of  the  Moat  House 
estates. 

Planning  to  marry  Dick  Shelton  to  the 
orphaned  heiress  of  Kettley,  Joanna  Sed- 
ley,  Sir  Daniel  had  ridden  there  to  take 
charge  of  the  girl.  Dick,  knowing  noth 
ing  of  his  guardian's  plans,  remained  be 
hind  as  one  of  the  garrison  of  the  manor. 
Old  Nick  Appleyard,  a  veteran  of  Agin- 
court,  grumbled  at  the  weakness  of  the 
defense  in  a  country  overrun  by  strag 
glers  from  warring  armies  and  insisted 
that  Moat  House  lay  open  to  attack.  His 
prophecy  came  true.  While  he  stood  talk 
ing  to  Dick  and  Rennet  Hatch,  Sir  Dan 
iel's  bailiff,  a  black  arrow  whirred  out 
of  the  woods  and  struck  Nick  between 
the  shoulder  blades.  A  message  on  the 
shaft  indicated  that  John  Amend-All,  a 
mysterious  outlaw,  had  killed  old  Nick, 

Sir  Oliver  Gates  trembled  when  he 
read  the  message  on  the  arrow.  Shortly 
afterward,  he  was  further  disturbed  by  a 
message,  pinned  on  the  church  door,  an 
nouncing  that  John  Amend- All  would 
kill  Sir  Daniel,  Sir  Oliver,  and  Bennet 
Hatch.  From  it  Dick  learned  that  the 
outlaw  accused  Sir  Oliver  of  killing  Sir 
Harry  Shelton,  his  father.  But  Sir  Oliver 
swore  that  he  had  had  no  part  in  that 
knight's  death.  Dick  decided  to  remain 
quiet  until  he  learned  more  about  the 


matter  and  in  the  meantime  to  act  in  ali 
fairness  to  Sir  Daniel. 

It  was  decided  that  Hatch  should  re* 
main  to  guard  Moat  House  while  the 
outlaws  were  in  the  neighborhood.  Dick 
rode  off  with  ten  men-at-arms  to  find  Sii 
Daniel.  He  carried  a  letter  from  Sir 
Oliver  telling  of  John  Amend-All's 
threats. 

At  Kettley  Sir  Daniel  was  awaiting  the 
outcome  of  a  battle  already  in  progress, 
for  he  intended  to  join  the  winning  side 
at  the  last  minute.  Sir  Daniel  was  also 
upset  by  the  outlaw's  threats,  and  he 
ordered  Dick  to  return  to  Moat  House 
with  a  letter  for  Sir  Oliver.  He  and  his 
men  left  to  join  the  fighting;  but  not  be 
fore  he  roundly  cursed  his  luck  because 
Joanna  Sedley,  whom  he  held  hostage, 
had  escaped  in  boy's  clothing.  He  ordered 
a  party  of  men-at-arms  to  search  for  the 
girl  and  then  to  proceed  to  Moat  House 
and  strengthen  the  defenses  there. 

On  his  return  journey  Dick  met  Jo 
anna,  still  dressed  as  a  boy,  who  told 
him  that  her  name  was  John  Matcham, 
Dick,  unaware  that  she  was  Sir  Daniel's 
prisoner,  promised  to  help  her  reach  the 
abbey  at  Holywood,  As  they  hurried  on, 
they  came  upon  a  camp  of  the  outlaws 
led  by  Ellis  Duckworth,  another  man 
ruined  by  Sir  Daniel.  Running  from  the 
outlaws,  they  saw  the  party  of  Sir  Dan 
iel's  retainers  shot  down  one  by  one. 
The  cannonading  Dick  heard  in  the  dis 
tance  convinced  him  that  the  soldiers  of 
Lancaster  were  faring  badly  in  the  day's 
battle.  Not  knowing  on  which  side  Sir 
Daniel  had  declared  himself,  he  won 
dered  whether  his  guardian  were  among 
the  victors  or  the  vanquished. 

Dick  and  his  companion  slept  in  the 
forest  that  night.  The  next  morning  a 
detachment  of  Sir  Daniel's  men  swept  by 
in  disorderly  rout.  Soon  afterward  they 
saw  a  hooded  leper  in  the  woods.  The 
man  was  Sir  Daniel,  attempting  to  make 
his  way  back  to  Moat  House  in  disguise. 
He  was  dismayed  when  he  heard  that 
the  outlaws  had  killed  a  party  of  his 
men-at-arms. 


73 


When  the  three  arrived  at  Moat 
House,  Sir  Daniel  accused  Dick  of  dis 
trust.  He  claimed  innocence  in  the  death 
of  Dick's  father  and  forced  Sir  Oliver  to 
dc  the  same.  Another  black  arrow  was 
shot  through  a  window  into  a  room  in 
which  the  three  were  talking.  Sir  Daniel 
gave  orders  to  defend  Moat  House  against 
attack.  Dick  was  placed  under  close 
watch  in  a  room  over  the  chapel,  and  he 
was  not  allowed  to  see  his  friend,  John 
Matcham. 

That  night,  when  John  Matcham  came 
secretly  to  the  room  over  the  chapel,  Dick 
learned  that  the  companion  of  his  ad 
ventures  in  the  forest  was  really  Joanna 
Sedley,  the  girl  to  whom  Sir  Daniel  had 
betrothed  him,  Warned  that  he  was 
now  in  clanger  of  his  life,  Dick  escaped 
into  the  forest.  There  he  found  Ellis 
Duckworth,  who  promised  him  that  Sir 
Daniel  would  be  destroyed. 

Meanwhile  the  war  went  in  favor  of 
Lancaster,  and  Sir  Daniel's  fortunes  rose 
with  those  of  the  house  he  followed.  The 
town  of  Shorcby  was  full  of  Lancastrians 
all  of  that  summer  and  fall,  and  there 
Sir  Daniel  had  his  own  house  for  his 
family  and  followers.  Joanna  Scdley  was 
not  with  him;  she  was  kept  in  a  lonely 
house  by  the  sea,  under  the  care  of  the 
wife  of  Bonnet  Hatch,  Dick  and  an  out 
law  companion,  Lawless,  went  to  the 
town,  and  while  recormoitering  Joanna's 
hiding  place  Dick  encountered  Lord  Fox- 
ham,  enemy  of  Sir  Daniel  and  Joanna's 
legal  guardian.  Lord  Foxham  promised 
that  if  Joanna  could  be  rescued  she  would 
become  Dick's  bride.  The  two  men  at 
tempted  a  rescue  by  sea  in  a  stolen  boat, 
but  a  storm  almost  sank  their  boat  and 
Lord  Foxham  was  injured  when  the 
party  attempted  to  land, 

1  hat  winter  Dick  and  his  faithful  com 
panion,  Lawless,  returned  to  Shoreby, 
Disguised  as  priests,  they  entered  Sir 
Daniel's  house  and  were  there  protected 
by  Alicia  Risingham,  Joanna's  friend  and 
the  niece  of  a  powerful  Lancastrian  lord. 
When  Dick  and  Joanna  met,  she  told  him 
that  the  following  day  she  was  to  marry 


Lord  Shoreby  against  her  will.  An  alarm 
was  given  when  Dick  was  forced  to  kill 
one  of  Lord  Shoreby's  spies.  Still  in  the 
disguise  of  a  priest,  he  was  taken  to  Sir 
Oliver  Oatcs,  who  promised  not  to  betray 
Dick  if  he  would  remain  quietly  in  the 
church  until  after  the  wedding  of  Joanna 
and  Lord  Shoreby.  During  the  night 
Lawless  found  Dick  and  gave  him  the 
message  that  Ellis  Duckworth  had  re 
turned  and  would  prevent  the  marriage. 

As  the  wedding  procession  entered  the 
church,  three  archers  discharged  their 
black  arrows  from  a  gallery.  Lord  Shore- 
by  fell,  two  of  the  arrows  in  his  body. 
Sir  Daniel  was  wounded  in  the  arm.  Sir 
Oliver  Oates  denounced  Dick  and  Law 
less  and  they  were  taken  before  the  Earl 
of  Risingham.  But  Dick  argued  his  cause 
with  such  vigor,  aided  by  Joanna  and 
Alicia,  that  the  earl  agreed  to  protect 
him  from  Sir  Daniel's  anger.  Later, 
learning  from  Dick  that  Sir  Daniel  was 
secretly  plotting  with  the  Yorkist  leaders, 
the  earl  set  him  and  Lawless  free. 

Dick  made  his  escape  from  Sir  Daniel's 
men  only  to  be  captured  by  the  old  sea 
man  whose  skifl:  he  had  stolen  on  the 
night  he  and  Lord  Foxhatn  had  attempted 
to  rescue  Joanna  from  Sir  Daniel  It  took 
him  half  the  night  to  elude  the  angry 
seaman  and  bis  friends.  In  the  morn 
ing  he  was  in  time  to  meet,  at  Lord  I'ox- 
ham's  request,  young  Richard  of  York, 
Duke  of  Gloucester.  On  his  arrival  at 
the  meeting  place  he  found  the  duke 
attacked  by  bandits.  lie  saved  Richard's 
life  and  later  fought  with  the  duke  in 
the  battle  of  Shorcby,  where  (he  army  of 
Lancaster  was  defeated.  For  his  bravery 
in  the  fight  he  was  knighted.  Afterward, 
when  Richard  was  giving  out  honors, 
Dick  claimed  as  his  portion  only  the 
freedom  of  the  old  seaman  whose  boat 
he  had  stolen. 

Pursuing  Sir  Daniel,  Dick  rescued  Jo 
anna  and  took  her  to  Ilolywooci  The 
next  morning  he  encountered  Sir  Daniel 
in  the  forest  near  the  abbey.  Dick  was 
willing  to  let  his  enemy  escape,  but  Ellis 
Duckworth,  lurking  nearby,  killed  the 


74 


faithless  knight.   Dick  asked  the  outlaw 
to  spare  the  life  of  Sir  Oliver  Gates. 

Dick  and  Joanna  were  married  with 
great  honor.  They  lived  quietly  at  Moat 
House,  withdrawn  from  the  bloody  dis 


putes  of  the  houses  of  Lancaster  and 
York.  Both  the  old  seaman  and  Lawless 
were  cared  for  in  their  old  age,  and  Law 
less  finally  took  orders  and  died  a  friar. 


BLACK  LAMB  AND  GREY  FALCON 

Type  of  work:  Record  of  travel 

Author:  Rebecca  West  (Cecily  Fairfield  Andrews,  1892-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Travel  sketches 

Time  of  plot:  1937 

Locale:  Yugoslavia 

First  published:  1941 

Principal  characters: 

REBECCA  WEST,  a  journalist 
HENRY  ANDREWS,  her  husband 
CONSTANTJNE,  a  Yugoslavian  poet 
GERDA,  Constantine  s  German  wife 

Critique: 

Miss  West's  book  is  more  than  a  nar 
rative  of  her  journey  through  Yugoslavia. 
She  spent  several  years  working  on  the 
hook,  building  up  a  study  of  Yugoslavia 
and  its  people  around  the  impressions 
she  had  gained  while  traveling  in  the 
country.  The  result  is  that  for  every  page 
of  travel  description  there  are  several 
pages  of  material  about  the  country 
gleaned  from  study  and  reading.  The 
work  is  full  of  digressions  on  anthro 
pology,  architecture,  cultural  history, 
literature,  politics,  philosophy,  and  Yugo 
slavian  psychology. 


The  Story: 

Rebecca  West  had  not  seen  Yugoslavia 
until  1936,  when  she  made  a  lecture 
tour  in  that  country;  but  it  impressed  her 
so  greatly  that  she  decided  to  travel 
throughout  the  country  as  a  tourist  in 
1937.  She  also  felt  that  it  was  important 
to  know  something  of  the  country  be- 
'iause  of  the  effect  it  might  have  upon 
world  politics  after  the  death  of  its  king, 
Alexander,  in  1937.  It  had  been  of  great 
importance  twenty-three  years  before, 
when  the  assassination  of  Franz  Ferdin 
and  in  Sarajevo  had  precipitated  a  world 
conflict 


The  author  and  her  husband  entered 
Yugoslavia  by  railroad  on  the  line  which 
ran  from  Munich,  Germany,  to  Zagreb, 
Yugoslavia,  Their  journey  was  not  a  very 
interesting  one,  except  for  the  antics  of 
four  fat  German  tourists  who  shared  their 
compartment  and  told  of  the  advantages 
of  Germany  over  the  barbaric  country 
they  were  entering.  Zagreb  was  interest 
ing  because  it  was  inhabited  mainly  by 
Croats,  one  branch  of  the  south  Slavic 
racial  group. 

In  Zagreb  they  met  Constantine,  a 
Yugoslavian  poet  who  had  become  a 
friend  of  the  author  on  her  previous  trip 
to  his  country.  Constantine  showed  them 
about  the  city,  introduced  them  to  various 
interesting  people,  and  promised  to  travel 
with  them  during  part  of  their  journey. 
In  Zagreb  the  tourists  were  surprised  at 
the  depth  of  feeling  and  the  frequent 
arguments  between  the  various  Yugo 
slavian  groups.  There  were  Serbs, 
Slovenes,  and  Croats,  all  under  the  gov 
ernment  at  Belgrade,  and  all  disagreeing 
heartily  on  government  policies.  The 
country  was  also  divided  internally  by 
religious  beliefs.  There  were  three  main 
religious  groups,  the  Roman  Catholics, 
the  Orthodox  Catholics,  and  the  Mos- 


BLACK  LAMB  AND  GREY  FALCON  by  Rebecca  West.    By  permission  of  the  author,  her  agent  A.  D.  Peters. 
London,  and  the  publishers,  The  Viking:  Press,  Inc.    Copyright,   1940,   1941,  by  Rebecca  West. 


75 


lems.  The  latter  were  either  Turks  who 
had  remained  in  the  country  when  the 
Turkish  regime  had  been  driven  out 
over  a  century  before,  or  Yugoslavs  who 
had  accepted  the  religion  of  the  Moslems 
during  the  five  centuries  of  Turkish  oc 
cupation  oi:  that  part  of  Europe.  Miss 
West  noted  that  in  Zagreb  the  people 
lived  in  physical  comfort,  if  not  in 
political  comfort.  She  thought  that  the 
city  had  a  warm  and  comfortable  ap 
pearance,  but  that  the  Austrian  influence 
had  deprived  it  of  much  of  its  originality 
and  naive  te\ 

From  Zagreb  the  travelers  went  to 
visit  a  castle  which  had  been  turned  into 
a  sanatorium.  They  found  the  place 
spotlessly  clean  for  such  an  old  castle. 
The  sanatorium  was  one  of  the  few 
places  in  Yugoslavia  in  which  there  was 
little  political  speculation  or  argument, 
The  doctors  were  too  busy  for  politics. 
Patients  were  forbidden  to  discuss  such 
matters. 

Returning  to  Zagreb,  the  author  and 
her  husband  went  next  to  Sushak  on  the 
Dalmatian  coast.  Their  first  impression 
of  the  coast  was  one  of  bare,  treeless 
hillsides  and  shouting,  angry  men,  It 
was  poor  country.  While  at  Sushak, 
they  crossed  the  river  to  L'iumc,  which 
seemed  to  be  the  kind  of  city  one 
would  find  in  a  bad  dream.  What  struck 
the  travelers  as  being  the  worst  aspect  of 
this  town  was  the  number  of  officials 
throughout  the  city  who  demanded  to 
see  their  passports. 

After  visiting  Fitime  they  traveled  by 
steamer  to  Senj,  a  city  which  interested 
them  because  it  had  played  a  decisive 
part  in  keeping  the  Turks  from  overrun 
ning  Western  Europe  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  The  town 
had  financed  pirate  vessels  which  terror 
ized  the  Turks  and  had  kept  them  from 
using  the  western  part  of  the  Mediter 
ranean  and  the  Adriatic. 

Farther  south  on  the  Dalmatian  coast 
they  visited  Split,  and  found  it  to  have 
an  almost  Neapolitan  air.  The  town  was 
also  famed  for  the  palace  Diocletian  had 


built  there.  Miss  West  learned  that 
from  Diocletian's  palace  eighteenth-cen 
tury  British  architects  had  borrowed  the 
Georgian  style  so  popular  in  England 
and  in  some  parts  of  the  American 
colonies. 

This  information  came  to  her  from 
a  young  Englishman  she  met  at  Split. 
The  young  man  was  making  a  living  in 
the  city  by  teaching  English.  For  him 
the  Dalmatian  coast  was  the  closest 
thing  to  a  terrestrial  heaven.  Miss  West 
was  surprised  at  the  number  of  old  build 
ings  still  in  use.  Diocletian's  mausoleum, 
for  example,  had  been  turned  into  a 
Christian  cathedral.  At  Split  Miss  West 
disclosed  that  she  had  little  respect  for 
the  Romans  and  thought  far  more  highly 
of  the  Croats  and  Slavs.  She  hoped  that 
school  children  were  not  being  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  the  Romans  had  been 
a  great  and  glorious  inline  nee  on  the 
Yugoslavian  territory  and  people,  for  she 
saw  that  their  poverty  and  their  reputa 
tion  as  barbarians  were  the  result  of  the 
Roman  attitude  toward  their  forebears, 
an  attitude  maintained  by  Central  Euro 
peans  in  the  twentieth  century. 

The  last  stop  on  the  Dalmatian  coast 
was  Dubrovnik,  a  disappointment  to  the 
travelers.  There  they  wired  their  friend 
Constantino  to  meet  them  at  Sarajevo,  to 
which  they  were  going  by  automobile 
from  Dubrovnik.  On  the  way  to  Sarajevo 
they  passed  a  valley  which  Miss  West 
could  describe  only  as  something  out  of 
Baron  Munchausen's  tales,  'This  valley 
was  a  lake  in  the  wintertime,  but  in  the 
spring  the  water  wont  out  of  the  valley 
through  some  unknown  outlet  to  the 
sea,  leaving  fertile  fields  ixt  which 
peasants  planted  crops  during  the  sum 
mer  months. 

At  Sarajevo  they  met  Constantino  and 
his  Gorman  wife,  Certla,  The  German 
woman  made  the  air  about  the  party  a 
bit  tense  because  of  the  deprecating  at 
titude  which  she,  like  most  Germans, 
took  toward  Yugoslavians.  While  at 
Sarajevo  they  wandered  all  over  the  town 
and  were  able  to  visit  the  family  of  the 


76 


man  who  had  killed  Franz  Ferdinand  in 
1914. 

The  next  phase  of  their  journey  was 
a  rail  Crip  to  the  capital  city  of  Belgrade, 
where  they  were  impressed  by  the  large 
supply  of  good  food  available  and  the 
provincial  air  of  the  capital  and  its 
people. 

That  part  of  the  journey  by  rail  from 
Belgrade  to  Skoplje  was  almost  as  un 
interesting  as  the  trip  from  Munich  to 
Zagreb.  More  enjoyable  was  a  stay  at 
Lake  Natim,  on  the  southern  edge  of 
Yugoslavia  near  Greece  and  Albania.  It 
was  a  wild  and  beautiful  part  of  the 
country,  despite  the  poverty  of  the 
land  and  its  people. 

From  the  Lake  Naum  area  they  went 
back  part  of  the  way  to  Belgrade  on  the 
railroad,  and  then  motored  to  Kotor 


on  the  Dalmatian  coast.  There  Con- 
stantine  and  his  German  wife  bade  them 
goodbye.  The  author  and  her  husband 
took  a  ship  at  Kotor  and  traveled  up 
the  coast,  and  then  returned  by  rail  to 
Zagreb.  They  visited  the  Plivitse  Lakes 
on  the  way.  The  last  leg  of  the  journey 
was  by  rail  from  Zagreb  to  Budapest, 
Hungary. 

The  sadness  of  the  plight  of  the  Yugo 
slavs  was  impressed  on  Miss  West  one 
last  time  in  Budapest.  There  she  met  a 
university  student  who  wanted  to  write 
a  paper  about  Miss  West's  work.  The 
girl  tried  to  prevent  Miss  West  from  dis 
covering  that  her  family  had  come 
from  the  Balkans,  for  the  girl  wanted 
to  be  a  part  of  the  Central  European  cul 
ture  rather  than  of  the  one  she  had  in 
herited. 


BLEAK  HOUSE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  'plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London,  Lincolnshire,  and  Hertfordshire,  England 

First  published:  1852-1853 

Principal  characters: 

JOHN  JARNDYCE,  owner  of  Bleak  House 

RICHARD  CARSTONE,  his  cousin 

ADA  CLARE,  also  his  cousin 

ESTHER  SUMMERSON,  his  ward  and  companion  to  Ada 

ALLAN  WOODCOURT,  a  young  physician 

LADY  DEDLOCK,  Sir  Leicester  Dedlock's  wife 

TULKINGHORN,  a  solicitor 

WILLIAM  GUPPY,  Tulkinghom's  clerk 


Critique: 

A  satire  on  the  methods  of  an  English 
-equity  court,  Bleak  House  is  a  great  novel 
based  upon  an  actual  case  in  Chancery. 
The  story  of  lives  sacrificed  on  the  rack 
of  a  meaningless  judicial  system  is  an 
arresting  one.  Several  of  the  minor  char 
acters  are  caricatures  of  well-known  lit 
erary  figures  of  the  day.  The  complicated 
Lady  Dedlock  plot  which  gave  Bleak 
House  its  contemporary  popularity  is 
rather  thin,  but  the  novel  as  a  whole 
stands  up  remarkably  well. 


The  Story: 

The  suit  of  Jarndyce  vs.  Jarndyce  was 
a  standing  joke  in  the  Court  of  Chancery, 
Beginning  with  a  dispute  as  to  how  the 
trusts  under  a  Jarndyce  will  were  to  be 
administered,  the  suit  had  dragged  on, 
year  after  year,  generation  after  genera 
tion,  without  settlement.  The  heirs,  or 
would-be  heirs,  spent  their  lives  waiting. 
Some,  like  Tom  Jarndyce,  blew  out  their 
brains.  Others,  like  liny  Miss  Flite, 
visited  the  Court  in  daily  expectation  of 
some  judgment  which  would  settle  the 


77 


disputed  estate  and  bring  her  the 
of  which  she  dreamed. 

Among  those  involved  in  the  suit  were 
John  Jarndyce,  great-nephew  of  the  Tom 
Jarndyce  wno  had  shot  himself  in  a  coffee 
house,  and  his  two  cousins,  Richard  Car- 
stone  and  Ada  Clare.  Jarndyce  was  the 
owner  of  Bleak  House  in  Hertfordshire, 
a  country  place  which  was  not  as  dreary 
as  its  name.  His  two  young  cousins  lived 
with  him.  He  had  provided  a  companion 
for  Ada  in  the  person  of  Esther  Summer- 
son.  Esther  had  suffered  an  unhappy 
childhood  under  the  care  of  Miss  Bar- 
bary,  her  stem  godmother,  and  a  servant, 
Mrs.  Rachel.  The  two  had  told  the  girl 
that  her  mother  was  a  wicked  woman  who 
had  deserted  her.  Miss  Barbary  was  now 
dead,  and  Mr.  Jarndyce  had  become 
Esther's  benefactor. 

Two  others  who  took  a  strange  interest 
in  the  Jarndyce  estate  were  Sir  Leicester 
and  Lady  Dedlock  of  Chesney  Wold,  in 
Lincolnshire.  Lord  Dedlock  had  a  solici 
tor  named  Tulldnghorn,  who,  like  every 
other  reputable  lawyer  in  London,  was 
involved  in  the  Jarndyce  suit.  One  day 
when  the  Dcdlocks  were  in  Tulkin^- 
horn's  office,  the  lawyer  presented  Lady 
Dedlock  with  a  document.  At  the  sight 
of  the  handwriting  on  the  paper  she 
swooned,  Immediately  suspicious,  Tul- 
kinghom  resolved  to  trace  the  handwrit 
ing  to  its  source.  His  search  led  him  to 
Mr.  Snagsby,  a  stationer,  but  the  best 
that  Snagsby  could  tell  him  was  that  the 
paper  had  been  copied  by  a  man  named 
Nemo,  a  lodger  in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Krook,  a  junk  dealer.  Mr.  Tulkinghorn 
went  to  the  house  with  Snagsby,  only  to 
find  Nemo  dead  of  an  overdose  of  opium. 
Convinced  that  Nemo  was  not  the  dead 
man's  real  name,  the  lawyer  could  learn 
nothing  of  the  man's  identity  or  con- 
ncctions. 

Esther  Smnmerson  soon  found  an  ar 
dent  friend  and  admirer  in  William 
Guppy,  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Kongo  and 
Carboy,  Jarndyce's  solicitors.  It  was 
Guppy  who  first  noticed  Esther's  resem 
blance  to  Lady  Dedlock.  Allan  Wood- 


court,  a  young  surgeon  who  had  been 
called  to  administer  to  the  dead  Nemo, 
requested  an  inquest.  One  of  the  wit 
nesses  called  was  Jo,  a  crossing  sweeper 
whom  Nemo  had  often  befriended.  A 
little  later  Jo  was  found  with  two  half- 
crowns  on  his  person.  I  Tc  explained  that 
they  had  been  given  him  by  a  lady  he 
had  guided  to  the  gate  of  the  churchyard 
where  Nemo  was  buried,  Jo  xvas  ar 
rested,  and  in  the  cross-examination 
which  followed,  Mr.  Guppy  questioned 
the  wife  of  an  oily  preacher  named 
Ghaclband  and  found  that  the  firm  of 
Kenge  and  Carboy  had  once  had  charge 
of  a  young  lady  with  whose  aunt  Mrs, 
Chaclband  had  lived,  Mrs.  Chadband  was, 
of  course,  the  Mrs.  Rachel  of  Esther 
Sumincrson's  childhood,  She  revealed 
that  Esther's  real  name  was  not  Sum- 
merson,  but  Ilawdon. 

The  mystery  surrounding  Esther  Sum- 
mcrson  began  to  clear.  A  French  maid 
who  had  left  Lady  Dcd lock's  service 
identified  her  late  mistress  as  the  lady 
who  had  given  two  half-crowns  to  the 
crossing  sweeper.  The  dead  Nemo  was 
promptly  proved  to  have  been  Captain 
I  Inwclon,  Years  before  he  ami  the  pre 
sent  Lady  Dedlock  had  fallen  in  love; 
Esther  wus  their  child.  But  Miss  Barbary, 
angry  at  her  sister's  disgrace,  had  taken 
the  child  and  moved  to  another  part  of 
the  country.  The  mother  later  married 
Lord  Dedlock,  She  was  now  overjoyed 
that  the  child  her  unforgiving  sister  had 
led  her  to  believe  dead  was  still  alive,  and 
she  resolved  to  reveal  herself  to  her. 

Mr.  Guppy  informed  Lady  Dedlock 
that  a  packet;  of  Captain  I  lawdon's  letters 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  junk  dealer, 
Krook,  Fearing  that  the  revelation  of 
these  letters  would  ruin  her  position, 
Latly  Dedlock  asked  Guppy  to  bring 
them  to  her,  and  the  wily  law  clerk 
agreed,  But  on  the  night  the  letters 
were  to  be  obtained  the  drunken  Krook 
exploded  of  spontaneous  combustion,  and 
presumably  trie  letters  burned  with  him. 

In  the  meantime,  Richard  Carstone, 
completely  obsessed  by  the  Jarndyce  case, 


78 


The  Story: 

Once  long  ago  in  Hrothgar's  kingdom 
a  monster  named  Grendel  roamed  the 
countryside   at  night.    Rising  from  his 
marshy  home,  Grendel  would  stalk  to  the 
hall  of  the  king,  where  he  would  seize 
fifteen  of   Hrothgar's  sleeping   warriors 
and  devour  them,    Departing,  he  would 
gather  fifteen  more  into  his  huge  arms 
and  carry  them  back  to  his  watery  lair. 
For  twelve  years  this  slaughter  continued. 
Word  of   the  terror  spread.    In   the 
land  of  the  Geats,  ruled  over  by  Hygelac, 
lived  Beowulf,  a  man  of  great  strength 
and  bravery.    When  he  heard  the  tale 
of  Hrothgar's  distress,  he  set  sail  for  Den 
mark  to  rid  the  land  of  its  fear.  With  a 
company  of  fourteen  men  he  came  ashore 
and  asked  a  coast  watcher  to  lead  him 
to  Hrothgar's  high  hall.    There  he  was 
feasted  in  great  honor  while  the  mead 
cup   went    around,     Unferth    reminded 
Beowulf  of  a  swimming  contest  which 
Beowulf  was  said  to  have  lost.   Beowulf 
answered  that  not  only  had  he  won  the 
contest,  but  he  had  also  killed  many 
deadly  monsters  in  the  sea.   At  the  close 
of  the  feast  Hrothgar  and  his  warriors 
went  to  their  rest,  leaving  Beowulf  and 
his  band  in  the  hall.    Then  came  the 
awful  Grendel  and  seized  one  of  the 
sleeping  warriors.   But  he  was  fated  to 
kill  no  more   that  night,   for   Beowulf 
without  shield  or  spear  seized  the  dread 
monster  and  wrenched  off  his  mighty 
right  arm,    Thus  maimed,  Grendel  fled 
back  to  his  marshland  home.  His  bloody 
arm  was  hung  in  Hrothgar's  hall. 

The  next  night  Grendel's  mother  came 
to  avenge  her  son.  Bursting  into  the 
great  hall,  she  seized  one  of  the  warriors, 
Acschere,  Hrothgar's  chief  counselor,  and 
fled  with  him  into  the  night.  She  took 
with  her  also  the  prized  arm  of  Grendel. 
Beowulf  was  asleep  in  a  house  removed 
from  the  hall,  and  not  until  morning  did 
he  learn  of  the  monster's  visit.  Then, 
with  Hrothgar  leading  the  way,  a  mourn 
ful  procession  approached  the  dire  marsh. 
At  its  edge  they  sighted  the  head  of  the 
ill-fated  Aeschere  and  saw  the  stain  of 


blood  on  the  water.  Beowulf  prepared 
for  descent  to  the  home  of  the  foe.  Un 
ferth  offered  Beowulf  the  finest  sword  in 
the  kingdom,  and  thus  forfeited  his  own 
chance  of  brave  deeds. 

As  Beowulf  sank  beneath  the  waters  of 
the  marsh,  he  was  beset  on  every  hand 
by  prodigious  monsters.    After  a  long 
swim  he  came  to  the  lair  of  Grendel's 
mother.  Failing  to  wound  her  with  Un- 
ferth's  sword,  he  seized  the  monster  by 
the  shoulder  and  threw  her  to  the  ground. 
During  a  grim  hand-to-hand  battle,  in 
which  Beowulf  was  being  worsted,  he 
sighted  a  famous  old  sword  of  the  giants, 
which  he  seized  and  thrust  at  Grendel's 
mother,  who  fell  in  helpless  death  throes. 
Then  Beowulf  turned  and  saw  Grendel 
himself  lying  weak  and  maimed  on  the 
floor  of  the  lair.   Quickly  he  swung  the 
sword  and  severed  Grendel's  head  from 
his  body.  As  he  began  to  swim  back  up 
to  the  surface  of  the  marsh,  the  sword 
with  which  he  had  killed  his  enemies 
melted  until  only  the  head  and  hilt  were 
left.    On  his  return,  the  Danes  rejoiced 
and  f£ted  him  with  another  high  feast. 
He  presented  the  sword  hilt  to  Hrothgar 
and  returned  Unferth's  sword  without 
telling  that  it  had  failed  him. 

The  time  came  for  Beowulf's  return  to 
his  homeland.  He  left  Denmark  in  great 
glory  and  sailed  toward  the  land  or  the 
Gcats.  Once  more  at  the  court  of  his 
lord  Hygelac,  he  was  held  in  high  esteem 
and  was  rewarded  with  riches  and  posi 
tion.  After  many  years  Beowulf  himself 
became  king  among  the  Geats.  One  of 
the  Geats  by  accident  discovered  an  an 
cient  hoard,  and,  while  its  guardian 
dragon  slept,  carried  away  a  golden  gob 
let  which  he  presented  to  Beowulf.  The 
discovery  of  me  loss  caused  the  dragon 
to  rise  in  fury  and  to  devastate  the  land. 
Old  man  that  he  was,  Beowulf  was 
determined  to  rid  his  kingdom  of  the 
dragon's  scourge.  Daring  the  flames  of 
the  dragon's  nostrils,  he  smote  his  foe 
with  his  sword,  but  without  effect,  Once 
more  Beowulf  was  forced  to  rely  on  the 


69 


it  might  find  itself  some  six  hundred 
years  from  our  time.  Contemporary 
trends  in  culture  are  carried  to  shocking, 
amusing,  and  fantastic  extremes  in  the 
book.  Brave  New  World,  because  of 
obvious  limitations  of  space,  contains 
features  which  beg  further  elucidation. 
Within  definite  limits,  however,  the 
author  has  succeeded  in  indicting  twen 
tieth-century  Western  culture  with  de 
lightful  acerbity  and  urbane  wit, 

The  Story: 

One  day  in  the  year  632  After  Ford, 
as  time  was  reckoned  in  the  brave  new 
world,  the  Director  of  the  Central  Lon 
don  Hatchery  and  Conditioning  Center 
took  a  group  of  new  students  on  a  tour 
of  the  plant  where  human  beings  were 
turned  out  by  mass  production.  The 
entire  process,  from  the  fertilization  of 
the  egg  to  the  birth  of  the  baby,  was 
carried  out  by  trained  workers  and 
machines.  Each  fertilized  egg  was  placed 
in  solution  in  a  large  bottle  for  scientific 
development  into  whatever  class  in 
society  the  human  was  intended.  The 
students  were  told  that  scientists  of  the 
period  had  developed  a  Bokanovsky 
Process  by  means  of  which  a  fertilized 
egg  was  arrested  in  its  growth.  The 
egg  responded  by  budding,  and  instead 
of  one  human  being  resulting,  there 
would  be  from  eight  to  ninety-six 
humans,  all  identical. 

These  Bokanovsky  Groups  were  em 
ployed  wherever  large  numbers  of  people 
were  needed  to  perform  identical  tasks. 
Individuality  was  a  thing  of  the  past;  the 
new  society  bent  every  effort  to  make 
completely  true  its  motto,  Community, 
Identity,  Stability,  After  birth  the  babies 
were  further  cotiditionecl  during  their 
childhood  for  their  predestined  class  in 
society.  Alpha  Plus  Intellectuals  and 
Epsilon  Minus  Morons  were  the  two 
extremes  of  the  scientific  Utopia. 

Mustapha  Morxd,  one  ol*  the  World 
Controllers,  joined  the  inspection  party 


and  lectured  to  the  new  students  on  the 
horrors  and  disgusting  features  of  old- 
fashioned  family  life.  To  the  great 
embarrassment  of  the  students,  he,  in 
his  position  of  authority,  dared  use  the 
forbidden  words  mother  and  father;  he 
reminded  the  students  that  in  632  A.  F. 
everyone  belonged  to  everyone  else. 

Lenina  Crowne,  one  of  the  Alpha 
workers  in  the  Hatchery,  took  an  interest 
in  Bernard  Marx.  Bernard  was  different 
— too  much  alcohol  had  been  put  into 
his  blood  surrogate  during  his  period  in 
the  prenatal  bottle  and  he  had  sensibili 
ties  similar  to  those  possessed  by  people 
in  the  time  of  Henry  Ford. 

Lenina  and  Bernard  went  by  rocket 
ship  to  New  Mexico  and  visited  the 
Savage  Reservation,  a  wild  tract  where 
primitive  forms  of  human  life  had  been 
preserved  for  scientific  study.  At  the 
pueblo  of  Malpais  the  couple  saw  an 
Indian  ceremonial  dance  in  which  a 
young  man  was  whipped  to  propitiate 
the  gods.  Lenina  was  shocked  and  dis 
gusted  by  the  filth  of  the  place  and  by 
the  primitive  aspects  of  all  she  saw. 

The  pair  met  a  white  youth  named 
John.  1  lie  young  man  disclosed  to  them 
that  his  mother,  Linda,  had  come  to 
the  reservation  many  years  before  on 
vacation  with  a  man  called  Thomakin. 
The  vacationers  had  separated  and 
Thomakin  had  returned  alone  to  the 
brave  new  world.  Linda,  marooned  in 
New  Mexico,  gave  birth  to  a  son  and 
was  slowly  assimilated  into  the  primitive 
society  of  the  reservation.  The  boy 
educated  himself  with  an  old  copy  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  which  he  had  found. 
Bernard  was  convinced  that  the  boy  was 
the  son  of  the  Director  of  Hatcheries, 
who  in  his  youth  had  taken  a  companion 
to  New  Mexico  on  vacation  and  had  re 
turned  without  her.  Bernard  had  enough 
human  curiosity  to  wonder  how  this 
young  savage  would  react  to  the  scientific 
world.  He  invited  John  and  his  mother 
to  return  to  London  with  him,  John,  at- 


BRAVE  NKW  WORLD  by  Aldoua  Huxley.    By  jxsrnwflion  of  the  author  and  the  pubUnfaeri,  Ilarpcr  &  Brottari. 
Copyright,  1932,  by  Doubleday,  Doran  A  Co.,  Inc. 


tracted  to  Lenina  and  anxious  to  see  the 
outside  world,  went  eagerly. 

Upon  Bernard's  return,  the  Director  of 
Hatcheries  publicly  proposed  to  dismiss 
him  from  the  Katchery  because  of  his 
unorthodoxy.  Bernard  produced  Linda 
and  John,  the  director's  son.  At  the 
family  reunion,  during  which  such  words 
as  mother  and  father  were  used  more 
than  once,  the  director  was  shamed  out 
of  the  plant.  He  later  resigned  his 
position. 

Linda  went  on  a  soma  holiday,  soma 
being  a  drug  which  induced  forgetful- 
ness.  John  became  the  curiosity  of  Lon 
don.  He  was  appalled  by  all  he  saw — 
by  the  utter  lack  of  any  humanistic 
culture  and  by  the  scientific  mass  pro 
duction  of  everything,  including  humans. 
Lenina  tried  to  seduce  him  but  he  was 
held  back  by  his  primitive  morality. 

John  was  called  to  attend  the  death 
of  Linda,  who  had  taken  too  much  soma 
drug.  Maddened  by  the  callousness  of 
people  conditioned  toward  death,  he  in 
stigated  a  mutiny  of  workers  as  they 
were  being  given  their  soma  ration.  Ar 
rested,  he  was  taken  by  the  police  to 
Mustapha  Mond,  with  whom  he  had  a 


long  talk  on  the  new  civilization.  Mond 
explained  that  beauty  caused  unhappiness 
and  thus  instability;  therefore  humanis 
tic  endeavor  was  checked.  Science  was 
dominant.  Art  was  stifled  completely; 
science,  even,  was  stifled  at  a  certain 
point.  And  religion  was  restrained  so 
that  it  could  not  cause  instability,  Mond 
explained,  with  a  genial  sort  of  cynicism, 
the  reasons  underlying  all  of  the  features 
of  the  brave  new  world.  Despite  Mond's 
persuasiveness,  the  Savage  continued  to 
champion  tears,  inconvenience,  God,  and 
poetry. 

John  moved  into  die  country  outside 
London  to  take  up  his  old  way  of  life. 
Sightseers  came  by  the  thousands  to  see 
him;  he  was  pestered  by  reporters  and 
television  men.  At  the  thought  of 
Lenina,  whom  he  still  desired,  John  mor 
tified  his  flesh  by  whipping  himself. 
Lenina  visited  him  and  was  whipped  to 
death  by  him  in  a  frenzy  of  passion  pro 
duced  by  his  dual  nature.  When  he 
realized  what  he  had  done,  he  hanged 
himself.  Bernard's  experiment  had  failed. 
Human  emotions  could  end  only  in 
tragedy  in  the  brave  new  world. 


BREAD  AND  WINE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ignazio  Silone  (1900-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1930's 

Locale:  Italy 

First  published:  1937 

Principal  characters: 

DON  BENEDETTO,  a  liberal  priest 
PJETKO  SPINA,  his  former  pupil  and  a  political  agitator 
BIANCHINA  GXRASOLE,  a  peasant  girl  befriended  by  Spina 
CRISTINA  COLAMARTINI,  Bianchina's  schoolmate 

Critique: 

This  novel,  which  has  been  dramatized 
and  produced  on  Broadway,  is  the  study 
of  a  character  who,  despite  tremendous 
intellectual  disappointments  and  physical 
hardships,  remained  faithful  to  his  con 
cept  of  justice.  Silone  vividly  presents 


the  widespread  compromising  of  ideal* 
which  took  place  on  all  levels  of  Italian 
society  under  the  corporate  state  of 
Mussolini,  By  showing  the  efforts  of 
several  generations  of  honest,  courageous 
Italians  in  their  struggle  for  justice  and 


BREAD  AND  WINE  by  Ignazio  Silone.   Translated  by  Gwenda  David  and  Eric  Mosbacher.    By  permission  of 
the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.    Copyright,    1937,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 


81 


social  reform,  Silone  appears  to  present 
the  thesis  that  good  men,  if  not  trium 
phant,  will  continue  the  fight  as  long  as 
man  exists. 

The  Story: 

In  the  Italian  village  of  Rocca  del 
Marsi,  Don  Benedetto,  a  former  Catholic 
teacher,  and  his  faithful  sister,  Marta, 
prepared  to  observe  the  don's  seventy- 
fifth  birthday.  It  was  April,  and  war 
with  the  Abyssinians  was  in  the  making. 
Benedetto  had  invited  several  of  his  old 
students  to  observe  his  anniversary  with 
him.  Three  appeared  and  the  group 
talked  of  old  acquaintances.  Most  of 
Benedetto's  students  had  compromised 
the  moral  precepts  that  the  high-minded 
old  scholar  had  taught  them.  Benedetto 
asked  about  Pietro  Spina,  his  favorite 
pupil,  and  learned  from  his  guests  that 
the  independent-minded  Spina  had  be 
come  a  political  agitator,  a  man  without 
a  country.  It  was  rumored  diat  Spina 
had  returned  to  Italy  to  carry  on  his 
work  among  the  peasants. 

One  day  Doctor  Nunzio  Sacca,  one  of 
those  who  had  been  at  the  party,  was 
summoned  by  a  peasant  to  come  to  the 
aid  of  a  sick  man.  Sacca,  upon  finding 
the  man  to  be  Spina,  was  filled  with 
fear,  but  the  sincerity  and  fervor  of  Spina 
made  him  ashamed.  Spina,  only  in  his 
thirties,  had,  with  iodine,  transformed 
his  features  to  those  of  an  old  man. 
Sacca  administered  to  Spina  and  arranged 
for  the  agitator's  convalescence  in  a  near 
by  mountain  village.  Later  he  furnished 
Spina  with  clerical  clothes.  Disguised  as 
a  priest  and  calling  himself  Don  Paolo 
Spada,  Spina  went  to  the  Hotel  Girasole 
in  Fossa,  where  he  brought  comfort  to 
a  young  girl  who  was  believed  dying  as 
the  result  of  an  abortion. 

In  the  mountains,  at  Pietrasecca,  Paolo 
— as  Spina  now  called  himself — stayed 
at  the  inn  of  Matelena  Ricotta.  In  his 
retreat,  Paolo  began  to  have  doubts  con 
cerning  the  value  of  the  life  he  was 
leading,  but  always  the  animal  existence 
D£  the  peasants  of  Pietrasecca  spurred 


him  on  in  his  desire  to  free  the  op 
pressed. 

Bianchina  Girasole,  the  girl  whom 
Paolo  had  comforted  at  Fossa,  appeared, 
well  and  healthy.  Attributing  her  sur 
vival  to  Paolo,  she  said  that  the  man 
was  surely  a  saint.  Bianchina,  disowned 
by  her  family,  went  to  Cristina  Cola- 
martini,  a  school  friend  who  lived  in 
Pietrasecca.  The  two  girls,  discussing 
school  days  and  old  friends,  concluded 
that  most  of  their  schoolmates  had  taken 
to  ways  of  evil  in  one  way  or  another. 
When  Bianchina  seduced  Christina's 
brother,  Alberto,  the  Colamartinis  were 
scandalized.  Paolo  lost  his  respect  for 
Cristina,  who  showed  only  too  plainly 
that  her  devotion  to  God  excluded  all 
reason  and  any  humanity;  she  avowed 
that  a  Colamartini  could  never  marry 
a  Girasole  because  of  difference  in  caste. 

Paolo  began  to  visit  more  and  more 
among  the  peasants.  Soon  he  had  a 
reputation  as  a  wise  and  friendly  priest. 
In  his  association  with  those  simple 
people  he  learned  that  no  reformer 
could  ever  hope  to  be  successful  with 
them  by  use  of  abstractions;  the  peasants 
accepted  only  facts,  either  good  or  bad. 
lie  left  the  valley.  At  Fossa  he  again 
sought  out  potential  revolutionary  ele 
ments.  I  le  spoke  of  revolution  to  Alberto 
and  Bianchina,  who  hud  moved  to  Fossa, 
and  to  Pompeo,  son  of  the  local  chemist. 
The  youths  were  delighted.  Paolo  en 
listed  Pompeo  in  the  movement. 

Paolo  next  went  to  Rome.  There,  in 
the  church  of  Scala  Santa,  he  discarded 
his  clerical  dress  to  become  Spina  once 
again.  In  Rome  he  found  an  air  of 
futility  and  despair.  Romeo,  his  chief 
contact,  told  him  that  peasant  agitators 
did  not  have  a  chance  for  success.  Spina 
explained  that  propaganda  by  words  was 
not  enough;  success  could  be  achieved 
only  by  living  the  truth  to  encourage 
the  oppressed.  Spina  saw  student  demon 
strations  in  favor  of  the  leader  and  of  the 
projected  war.  He  talked  to  Uliva,  who 
had  become  completely  disillusioned. 
Then  he  looked  for  Murica,  a  youth 


82 


from  his  own  district  who,  perhaps, 
could  direct  him  to  dependable  peasants, 
But  Murica  had  returned  to  his  home. 
Before  Spina  left  Rome  he  heard  that 
an  explosion  had  killed  Uliva  in  his 
apartment.  The  police  learned  that 
Uliva  had  been  preparing  to  blow  up  a 
church  at  a  time  when  many  high  gov 
ernment  officials  were  to  be  in  it. 

Back  at  the  Hotel  Girasole  in  Fossa, 
Spina,  again  disguised  as  Don  Paolo,  was 
sickened  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
peasants  for  the  success  of  the  Abyssinian 
war.  He  sent  Bianchina  to  Rocca  to  seek 
out  Murica,  and  during  the  pro-war 
demonstrations  he  went  about  the  village 
writing  anti-war  and  anti-government 
slogans  on  walls.  Pompeo,  who  had  gone 
to  Rome,  returned  during  the  excitement 
and  revealed  that  he  had  been  won  over 
by  the  glory  of  the  new  war;  he  had 
enlisted  for  service  in  Africa.  Paolo's 
charcoaled  slogans  soon  had  the  village 
in  an  uproar.  Pompeo,  who  suspected 
Paolo,  announced  publicly  that  he  would 
disclose  the  culprit's  identity,  but  Bian 
china  persuaded  the  youth  not  to  ex 
pose  her  beloved  Paolo. 

Paolo  went  to  visit  his  old  school 
master,  Don  Benedetto,  at  Rocca.  He 
appeared  before  the  venerable  old  priest 
as  himself,  not  as  Paolo,  and  the  two 
men,  although  of  different  generations, 
agreed  that  theirs  was  a  common  problem. 
They  asked  each  other  what  had  become 
of  God  in  the  affairs  of  men.  Neither 
could  offer  any  solution  for  the  problem, 
but  they  both  agreed  that  any  compromise 
to  ones  belief  was  fatal,  not  only  to 
the  individual  but  also  to  society. 

Paolo  gave  Bianchina  money  and 
letters  and  sent  her  to  Rome;  he  himself 
went  to  Pietrasecca.  There  a  young 
peasant  brought  him  a  letter  from  Don 


Benedetto;  the  messenger  was  Murica, 
the  man  he  had  been  seeking.  When 
Spina  revealed  his  true  identity  to 
Murica,  the  two  men  swore  to  work 
together.  News  of  Murica's  work  with 
Paolo  circulated  in  Pietrasecca  and  Paolo 
found  himself  playing  the  part  of  con 
fessor  to  Pietraseccans.  What  they  dis 
closed  to  him  from  their  secret  hearts 
disgusted  him,  but  at  the  same  time  con 
vinced  him  more  than  ever  that  the 
peasants  must  be  raised  from  their 
squalor.  He  renewed  his  acquaintance 
with  Cristina,  who  had  been  asked  by 
Don  Benedetto  to  give  Paolo  help  when 
ever  he  should  need  it. 

Don  Benedetto  had  been  threatened 
because  of  his  candid  opinions.  Called 
to  officiate  at  a  mass,  he  was  poisoned 
when  he  drank  the  sacramental  wine. 
At  the  same  time  Paolo,  having  received 
word  that  Romeo  had  been  arrested  in 
Rome,  went  to  the  Holy  City,  where 
he  found  that  Bianchina  had  become  a 
prostitute.  She  confessed  her  undying 
love  for  the  priest.  Paolo,  now  Spina, 
found  the  underground  movement  in 
Rome  in  utter  chaos  after  Romeo's  arrest , 
Despairing,  he  returned  to  his  home  dis 
trict,  where  he  learned  that  Murica  had 
been  arrested  and  killed  by  government 
authorities.  He  fled  to  Pietrasecca  to 
destroy  papers  which  he  had  left  in  the 
inn  where  he  had  stayed  during  his 
convalescence.  Learning  that  he  was 
sought  throughout  the  district,  he  fled 
into  the  snow-covered  mountains.  Cris 
tina  followed  his  trail  in  an  attempt  to 
take  him  food  and  warm  clothing.  Mists 
and  deep  snow  hindered  her  progress, 
Night  fell.  Alone  and  exhausted,  she 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross  as  hungry 
wolves  closed  in  upon  her. 


BRIDESHEAD  REVISITED 


Type  of  work;  Novel 
Author:  Evelyn  Waugh  (1903- 
Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 
Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 


83 


Locale:  England 
First  published:  1945 

Principal  characters: 

CHARLES  RYDER,  an  architectural  painter  and  the  aarratoi 

LORD  MARCHMAIN,  owner  o£  Bridesliead 

LADY  MARCHMAIN,  his  wife 

BRIDESHEAD  (BREOEY), 

SEBASTIAN, 

JULIA,  and 

CORDELIA,  their  children 

CJBJLIA,  Charles  Ryder's  wife 

ANTHONY  BLANCHE,  and 

BOY  MULCASTBR,  Oxford  friends  of  Charles  and  Sebastian 

REX  MOTTRAM,  Julia's  hushand 

CARA,  Lord  Marchmain's  mistress 


Critique: 

Most  of  Evelyn  Waugh's  books  are 
satires  on  some  phase  or  precept  of 
human  life.  Brldeshead  Revisited  is  no 
exception,  but  beneath  the  surface  buf 
foonery  and  satire  is  a  serious  dedication 
of  faith,  Memhers  of  the  Marchmain 
family  attempt,  each  in  a  different  way, 
to  escape  the  promptings  of  their  faith, 
but  each  is  drawn  back,  sooner  or  later, 
into  the  enduring  values  of  the  Church. 
Even  the  droll,  mocking  hero  is  con 
verted.  In  Waugh's  mordantly  comic 
world,  man  can  no  longer  find  his  way 
without  faith.  The  witty  yet  serious 
theme  of  the  novel  is  suggested  in  its 
subtitle,  "The  Sacred  and  Profane 
Memories  of  Captain  Charles  Ryder/' 

The  Story: 

Captain  Charles  Ryder  of  the  British 
Army  and  his  company  were  moved  to 
a  new  billet  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Brklcshead,  an  old  estate  he  had  often 
visited  during  his  student  days  at  Oxford. 
Bridcshcad  was  the  home  of  the  March- 
mains,  an  old  Catholic  family.  Follow 
ing  the  first  World  War,  the  Marquis 
of  Marchmain  went  to  live  in  Italy. 
There  he  met  Cara,  who  became  his  mis- 
tress  for  life.  Lady  Marchmain,  an 
ardent  Catholic,  and  her  four  children, 
Brideshead,  Sebastian,  Julia,  and  Cor 
delia,  remained  in  England.  They  lived 


cither  at  Brideshead  or  at  Marchmain 
I  louse  in  London. 

When  Charles  Ryder  met  Sebastian 
at  Oxford,  they  soon  became  close 
friends.  Among  Sebastian's  circle  of 
friends  were  Boy  Mukaster  and  Anthony 
Blanche.  With  Charles'  entrance  into 
that  group,  his  tastes  became  more  ex 
pensive  so  that  he  ended  his  year  with 
an  overdrawn  account  of  five  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds. 

Just  after  returning  home  from  school 
for  vacation,  Charles  received  a  telegram 
announcing  that  Sebastian  had  hccn  in 
jured,  lie  rushed  o(l!  to  Brklcshead, 
where  he  found  Sebastian  with  a  cracked 
bone  in  his  ankle.  While  at  Bricleshead, 
Charles  met  some  of  Sebastian's  family. 
Julia  had  met  him  at  the  station  and 
later  Bricley,  the  eldest  of  the  March- 
mains,  ancl  Cordelia,  the  youngest,  ar 
rived.  After  a  month,  his  ankle  having 
healed,  Sebastian  took  Charles  to  Venice. 
There  they  spent  the  rest  of  their  vacation 
with  Lord  Marchmain  and  Cara. 

Early  in  the  following  school  year 
Charles  met  Lady  Marchmain  when 
she  visited  Sebastian  at  Oxford.  Her 
famous  charm  immediately  won  Charles, 
and  he  promised  to  spend  his  Christmas 
vacation  at  Brklcshead.  During  the  first 
term,  Sebastian,  Charles,  and  Boy  Mul- 
caster  were  invited  to  a  London  charity 


UKIDKSHKAD  RKVISITFJD  by  Evelyn  Wautfh.    By  permbnion  of  the  author  and  Brandt  &  Brandt.   Published 
by  Little,  Brown  &  Co.    Copyright,  1945,  by  Kvclyn  Waugh. 


84 


ball  by  Rex  Mottram,  a  friend  of  Julia's, 
Bored,  they  left  early  and  were  later 
arrested  for  drunkenness  and  disorderly 
conduct.  Rex  obtained  their  release. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  escapade, 
Charles,  Sebastian,  and  Boy  were  sent 
back  to  Oxford,  and  Mr.  Samgrass,  who 
was  doing  some  literary  work  for  Lady 
Marchmain,  kept  close  watch  on  them 
for  the  rest  of  the  term.  Christmas  at 
Brideshead  was  spoiled  for  almost  every 
one  by  the  presence  of  Samgrass.  Back 
at  Oxford,  Charles  began  to  realize  that 
Sebastian  drank  to  escape  and  that  he 
was  trying  to  escape  his  family.  At 
Brideshead,  during  the  Easter  vacation, 
Sebastian  became  quite  drunk.  Later 
Lady  Marchmain  went  to  Oxford  to  see 
Sebastian.  During  her  visit  he  again  be 
came  hopelessly  drunk.  Shortly  after 
ward  he  left  Oxford.  After  a  visit  with 
his  father  in  Venice,  he  was  induced  to 
travel  in  Europe  under  the  guidance 
of  Samgrass. 

The  next  Christmas  Charles  was  in 
vited  to  Brideshead  to  see  Sebastian,  who 
had  returned  from  his  tour.  Sebastian 
told  Charles  that  during  their  travels 
Samgrass  had  had  complete  control  of 
all  their  expense  money  in  order  that 
Sebastian  might  not  get  any  for  drink. 
However,  just  before  coming  down  to 
Brideshead,  Sebastian  had  managed  to 
evade  Samgrass  by  pawning  his  own 
valuables,  and  by  borrowing.  He  had 
enjoyed  what  he  called  a  happy  Christ 
mas;  he  remembered  practically  nothing 
of  it.  Lady  Marchmain  tried  to  stop 
his  drinking  by  having  all  liquor  locked 
up,  but  her  efforts  proved  useless.  In 
stead  of  going  on  a  scheduled  hunt, 
Sebastian  borrowed  two  pounds  from 
Charles  and  got  damk.  Charles  left 
Brideshead  in  disgrace  and  went  to 
Paris.  Samgrass  was  also  dismissed  when 
the  whole  story  of  the  tour  was  revealed. 
Rex  Mottram  was  given  permission  to 
take  Sebai>tian  to  a  doctor  in  Zurich,  but 
Sebastian  gave  him  the  slip  in  Paris. 

Rex  Mottram,  a  wealthy  man  with  a 
big  name  in  political  and  financial  circles, 


wanted  Julia  not  only  for  herself  but 
also  for  the  prestige  and  social  position 
of  the  Marchmains,  Julia  became  en 
gaged  to  him  despite  her  mother's  pro 
tests  but  agreed  to  keep  the  engagement 
secret  for  a  year.  Lord  Marchmain  gave 
his  complete  approval.  Rex,  \vanting  a 
big  church  wedding,  agreed  to  become 
a  Catholic.  Shortly  before  the  wedding, 
however,  Bridey  informed  Julia  that 
Rex  had  been  married  once  before  and 
had  been  divorced  for  six  years.  They 
were  married  by  a  Protestant  ceremony. 

When  Charles  returned  to  England 
several  years  later,  Julia  told  him  that 
Lady  Marchmain  was  dying.  At  her  re 
quest  Charles  traveled  to  Fez  to  find 
Sebastian.  When  he  arrived,  Kurt, 
Sebastian's  roommate,  told  him  that 
Sebastian  was  in  a  hospital.  Charles 
stayed  in  Fez  until  Sebastian  had  re 
covered.  Meanwhile  word  had  arrived 
that  Lady  Marchmain  had  died.  Charles 
returned  to  London.  There  Bridey  gave 
Charles  his  first  commission;  he  was  to 
paint  the  Marchmain  town  house  before 
it  was  torn  down. 

Charles  spent  the  next  ten  years  de 
veloping  his  art.  He  married  Celia, 
Boy  Mulcaster's  sister,  and  they  had  two 
children,  Johnjohn  and  Caroline,  the 
daughter  born  while  Charles  was  ex 
ploring  Central  American  ruins.  After 
two  years  of  trekking  about  in  the 
jungles,  he  went  to  New  York,  where 
his  wife  met  him.  On  their  way  back  to 
London  they  met  Julia  Mottram,  and  she 
and  Charles  fell  in  love.  In  London 
and  at  Brideshead  they  continued  the 
affair  they  had  begun  on  shipboard. 

Two  years  later  Bridey  announced 
that  he  planned  to  marry  Beryl  Mus- 
pratt,  a  widow  with  three  children. 
When  Julia  suggested  inviting  Beryl 
down  to  meet  the  family,  Bridey  in 
formed  her  that  Beryl  would  not  come 
because  Charles  and  Julia  were  living 
there  in  sin.  Julia  became  hysterical. 
She  told  Charles  that  she  wanted  to 
marry  him,  and  they  both  made  ar 
rangements  to  obtain  divorces. 


85 


Cordelia,  who  had  been  working  with 
an  ambulance  corps  in  Spain,  returned 
at  the  end  of  the  fighting  there  and 
told  them  of  her  visit  with  Sebastian. 
Kurt  had  been  seized  by  the  Germans 
and  taken  back  to  Germany,  where 
Sebastian  followed  him.  Aher  Kurt 
had  hanged  himself  in  a  concentration 
camp,  Sebastian  returned  to  Morocco 
and  gradually  drifted  along  the  coast 
until  he  arrived  at  Carthage.  There  he 
tried  to  enter  a  monastery,  but  was  re 
fused.  Following  one  of  his  drinking 
bouts,  the  monks  found  him  lying  un 
conscious  outside  the  gate  and  took  him 
in.  Me  planned  to  stay  there  as  an 
uncler-portcr  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

While  Bridey  was  making  arrange 
ments  to  settle  at  Brideshcad  after  his 
marriage,  Lord  Marclimain  announced 
that  he  was  returning  to  the  estate  to 


spend  his  remaining  days.  Me  did  not 
arrive  until  after  he  had  seen  Bridey 
and  Beryl,  honeymooning  in  Rome.  Hav- 
ing  taken  a  dislike  to  Beryl,  Lord  March- 
main  decided  that  he  would  leave  Brides- 
head  to  Julia  and  Charles.  Before  long 
Lord  Mcirehmain's  health  began  to  fail. 
Mis  children  and  Gara,  thinking  that 
he  should  be  taken  hack  into  the  Church, 
brought  Father  Mackay  to  visit  him,  but 
he  would  not  see  the  priest.  When  he 
was  dying  Julia  again  brought  Father 
Mackay  to  his  bedside  and  Lord  March- 
main  made  the  sign  of  the  cross. 

That  day  Julia  told  Charles  what  he 
had  known  all  along,  that  she  could 
not  marry  him  because  to  do  so  would 
be  living  in  sin  and  without  Gocl. 

These  were  some  of  Captain  diaries 
Ryder's  memories  when  he  saw  Brides- 
head  again  after  many  years. 


THE  BRIDGE  OF  SAN  LUIS  KEY 

p &  of  work:  Novel 
Author,   Thornton  Wilder  (1897-        ) 
Tjp a  of  plot;   Philosophical  romance 
Time  of  plot;   Early  eighteenth  century 
Locate:    Peru 
First  published:   1927 

Principal  characters: 

BROTH  BE  JUNIPER,  a  Spanish  friar 

THE  MAKQUUSA  BH  MONTMMAYOK,  a  lonely  old  woman 

PEPXTA,  her  maid 

Txni  ABBUSS  MADIXK  MAHIA.  wa  PI&AK,  directress  of  the  Convent  of 
Santa  Maria  Rosa  do  las  Rosas 

UNCM  Pio,  tin  actoMiumagcr 

LA  PKmcxioLE,  an  actress 

MANUHL,  a  foundling 

ESTBBA.N,  Ms  brother 

Critique: 

The  Bridge  of  Ban  Luis  l\ey  tells  a 
story  of  Peru  in  tlie  golden  days  when 
it  was  a  Spanish  colony.  The  novel  is 
full  of  life,  of  interesting  sidelights  on 
an  interesting  period,  and,  above  all,  of 
excellent  character  sketches.  The  mar- 
cjuesn  is  an  unforgettable  person,  tragic 
and  comic  at  (he  same  time.  Wilder  has 
brought  together  a  group  of  unusual 


people  and  made  them  fit  into  a  nar 
rative  pattern  in  which  their  individual 
contrasts  stand  out  more  clearly.  A 
Pul it/or  pri/e  novel  of  its  clay,  the  story 
is  still  popular  and  widely  read. 

The  Story: 

On  Friday,  July  the  twentieth,  1714, 
the  bridge  of  San  Luis  Key,  the  most 


TIIK  BRIDGE  0V  SAN  LUIS  REV  by  Thornton  Wilder.    By  permission  of  the  author.    Copyright,  1927,  by 
Albert  &  Charles  Boni,  Inc. 


86 


famous  bridge  in  Peru,  collapsed,  hurling 
five  travelers  into  the  deep  gorge  below. 
Present  at  the  time  of  the  tragedy  was 
Brother  Juniper,  who  saw  in  the  event 
a  chance  to  prove,  scientifically  and  ac 
curately,  the  wisdom  of  that  act  of  God. 
He  spent  all  his  time  investigating  the 
lives  of  the  five  who  had  died,  and  he 
published  a  book  showing  that  God  had 
had  a  reason  to  send  each  one  of  them 
to  his  death  at  exactly  that  moment. 
The  book  was  condemned  by  the  Church 
authorities,  and  Brother  Juniper  was 
burned  at  the  stake.  He  had  gone  too 
far  in  explaining  God's  ways  to  man. 
Through  a  strange  quirk  or  fate,  one 
copy  of  the  book  was  left  undestroyed, 
and  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  author. 
From  it,  and  from  his  own  knowledge, 
he  reconstructed  the  lives  of  the  five 
persons* 

The  Marquesa  de  Montemayor  had 
been  an  ugly  child,  and  was  still  homely 
when  she  grew  up.  Because  of  the 
wealth  of  her  family,  she  was  fortunately 
able  to  marry  a  noble  husband,  by  whom 
she  had  a  lovely  daughter,  Doiia  Clara. 
As  she  grew  into  a  beautiful  young  wom 
an,  the  rnarquesa's  daughter  became 
more  and  more  disgusted  with  her  crude 
and  unattractive  mother,  whose  posses 
sive  and  over-expressive  love  left  Dona 
Clara  cold  and  uncomfortable.  The 
daughter  finally  married  a  man  who  took 
her  to  Spain.  Separated  from  her  one 
joy  in  life,  the  marquesa  became  more 
eccentric  than  before,  and  spent  her 
time  writing  long  letters  to  her  daughter 
in  Spain. 

In  order  to  free  herself  of  some  of  her 
household  cares,  the  marquesa  went  to 
the  Abbess  Madre  Marfa  del  Pilar  and 
asked  for  a  girl  from  the  abbess'  school 
to  come  and  live  with  her.  So  Pepita, 
unhappy  that  her  beloved  teacher  was 
sending  her  away  from  the  school,  went 
to  live  with  the  marquesa. 

When  the  marquesa  learned  by  letter 
that  Dona  Clara  was  to  have  a  child, 
she  was  filled  with  concern.  She  wore 
charms,  bought  candles  for  the  saints, 


said  prayers,  and  wrote  all  the  advice 
she  could  discover  to  her  daughter.  As 
a  last  gesture,  she  took  Pepita  with  her 
to  pay  a  visit  to  a  famous  shrine  from 
which  she  hoped  her  prayers  would 
surely  be  heard.  On  the  way  the  mar 
quesa  happened  to  read  one  of  Pepita's 
letters  to  her  old  mistress,  the  abbess. 
From  the  letter  the  marquesa  learned 
just  how  heartless  she  had  been  in  her 
treatment  of  the  girl,  how  thoughtless 
and  egotistic.  She  realized  that  she  had 
been  guilty  of  the  worst  kind  of  love 
toward  her  daughter,  love  that  was 
sterile,  self-seeking,  and  false.  Aglow 
with  her  new  understanding,  she  wrote 
a  final  letter  to  her  daughter,  telling  her 
of  the  change  in  her  heart,  asking  for 
giveness,  and  showing  in  wonderful  lan 
guage  the  change  that  had  come  over 
her.  She  resolved  to  change  her  life,  to 
be  kind  to  Pepita,  to  her  household,  to 
everyone.  The  next  day  she  and  Pepita, 
while  crossing  the  bridge  of  San  Luis 
Key,  fell  to  their  deaths. 

Uncle  Pio  had  lived  a  strange  life 
before  he  came  to  Peru.  There  he  had 
found  a  young  girl  singing  in  a  tavern. 
After  years  of  his  coaching  and  training, 
she  became  the  most  popular  actress  of 
the  Spanish  world.  She  was  called  La 
P6richole,  and  Uncle  Pio's  greatest  pleas 
ure  was  to  tease  her  and  anger  her  into 
giving  consistently  better  performances, 
All  went  well  until  the  viceroy  took  an 
interest  in  the  vivacious  and  beautiful 
young  actress.  When  she  became  his 
mistress,  she  began  to  feel  that  the  stage 
was  too  low  for  her.  After  living  as  a 
lady  and  becoming  prouder  and  prouder 
as  time  went  on,  she  contracted  small 
pox.  Her  beauty  was  ruined,  and  she 
retired  to  a  small  farm  out  of  town, 
there  to  live  a  life  of  misery  over  her 
lost  loveliness. 

Uncle  Pio  had  a  true  affection  for  his 
former  prot6g^e  and  tried  time  and  again 
to  see  her.  One  night,  by  a  ruse,  he  got 
her  to  talk  to  him.  She  refused  to  let 
him  help  her,  but  she  allowed  him  to 
take  Jaime,  her  illegitimate  son,  so  that 


87 


he  could  be  educated  as  a  gentleman. 
The  old  man  and  the  young  boy  set  off 
for  Lima.  On  the  way  they  came  to  the 
bridge,  and  died  in  the  fall  when  it 
collapsed. 

Esteban  and  Manuel  were  twin  broth 
ers  who  had  been  left  as  children  on 
the  doorstep  of  the  abbess'  school.  She 
had  brought  them  up  as  well  as  she 
could,  but  the  strange  relation  between 
them  was  such  that  she  could  never 
make  them  talk  much.  When  the  boys 
were  old  enough,  they  left  the  school 
and  took  many  lands  of  jobs.  At  last  they 
settled  down  as  scribes,  writing  letters 
for  the  uncultured  people  of  Lima.  One 
day  Manuel,  called  in  to  write  some 
letters  for  La  P6rieholc,  fell  in  love  with 
the  charming  actress.  Never  before  had 
anything  come  between  the  brothers,  for 
they  had  always  been  sufficient  in  them 
selves.  l;or  his  brother's  sake  Manuel  pre 
tended  that  he  cared  little  for  the  ac 
tress.  Shortly  afterward  he  cut  his  leg 
on  a  piece  of  metal  and  became  very 
sick,  In  his  delirium  he  let  Esteban 
know  that  he  really  was  in  love  with 
La  P^richole,  The  infection  grew  worse 
and  Manuel  died* 

Estebari  was  unable  to  do  anything 
for  weeks  after  his  brother's  death.  I  le 
could  not  face  life  without  him.  The 
abbess  finally  arranged  for  him  to  go  on 


a  trip  with  a  sea  captain  who  was  about 
to  sail  around  the  world.  The  captain 
had  lost  his  only  daughter  and  the  ab 
bess  felt  he  would  understand  Esteban's 
problem  and  try  to  help  him.  Esteban 
left  to  go  aboard  ship,  but  on  the  way 
he  fell  with  the  others  when  the  bridge 
broke. 

At  the  cathedral  in  Lima  a  great  serv 
ice  was  held  for  the  victims.  Everyone 
considered  the  incident  an  example  of  a 
true  act  of  God,  and  many  reasons  were 
offered  for  the  various  deaths.  Some 
months  after  the  funeral,  the  abbess  was 
visited  by  Dona  Clara,  the  ruarquesa's 
daughter.  Dona  Clara  had  finally  learned 
what  n  wonderful  woman  her  mother 
had  really  been.  The  last  letter  had 
taught  the  cynical  daughter  all  that  her 
mother  had  so  painfully  learned.  The 
daughter,  too,  had  learned  to  see  life 
in  a  new  way.  La  Perichole  also  came 
to  see  the  abbess.  She  had  given  up 
bemoaning  her  own  lost  beauty,  and  she 
began  a  lasting  friendship  with  the  ab 
bess,  Nothing  could  positively  be  said 
about  the  reason  for  the  deaths  of  those 
five  people  on  the  bridge.  Too  many 
events  were  changed  by  them;  one  could 
not  number  them  all.  But  the  old  abbess 
believed  that  the  true  meaning  of  the 
disaster  was  the  lesson  of  love  tor  those 
who  survived. 


THE  BROTHERS  KARAMAZOV 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  I'yotlor  Mikhailovieh  Dostoevski  (1821-1881) 

Type  of  yloli  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  ylot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  ^published:  1880 

Principal  characters: 

FYODOK  KAKAMASSOV,  a  profligate  businessman 

DMI'I'HI,  his  sensuous  oldest  sou 

IVAN,  Ins  atheistic,  intellectual  son 

ALHXMY,  his  youngest  son,  called  Alyosha 

CJnusnUNKA,  a  young  womim  loved  by  I'yodor  ami  Dmitri 

SMMIDYAKOV,  an  epileptic  servant  of  Fyodor 

Zo&fUMA,  an  aged  priest 

KATKIUNA,  betxotlied  to  Dmitri 


88 


Critique: 

The  anguish  caused  by  the  dual  nature 
of  man  recurs  in  great  chords  throughout 
this  powerful  novel.  Psychologist-novel 
ist  Dostoevski  chose  as  the  theme  for 
this  story  of  a  father  and  his  three  sons 
the  effect  of  sensuality  and  inherited 
sensuality  on  a  family  and  on  all  with 
whom  the  family  came  in  contact.  The 
earthy  barbarism  of  tsarist  Russia  can  be 
seen  beneath  the  veneer  of  Western  cul 
ture  which  covers  Dostoevski's  society. 
Several  poorly  connected  and  lengthy 
sub-plots  in  the  novel  detract  from  the 
unity  of  the  work;  their  inclusion  sug 
gests  that  Dostoevski  had  planned  a 
longer  work  which,  because  of  the  in 
stallment  form  in  which  the  novel  first 
appeared,  could  not  be  completed. 

The  Story: 

In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury  in  Skotoprigonyevski,  a  town  in  the 
Russian  provinces,  Fyodor  Karamazov 
fathered  three  sons,  the  eldest,  Dmitri,  by 
his  first  wife,  and  the  other  two,  Ivan 
and  Alexey,  by  his  second.  Fyodor,  a 
good  businessman  but  a  scoundrel  by 
nature,  abandoned  the  children  after 
their  mothers  died.  A  family  servant, 
Grigory,  saw  that  they  were  placed  in 
the  care  of  relatives. 

Dmitri  grew  up  believing  he  would 
receive  a  legacy  from  his  mother's  estate. 
He  served  in  the  army  where  he  devel 
oped  wild  ways.  Becoming  a  wastrel, 
he  went  to  his  father  and  asked  for  money 
which  he  believed  was  due  him,  Ivan, 
morose  but  not  timid,  went  from  a  gym 
nasium  to  a  college  in  Moscow.  Poverty 
forced  him  to  teach  and  to  contribute 
articles  to  periodicals,  and  he  achieved 
modest  fame  when  he  published  an  ar 
ticle  on  the  position  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts.  Alexey,  or  Alyosha,  the  youngest 
son,  a  boy  of  a  dreamy,  retiring  nature, 
entered  a  local  monastery,  where  he  be 
came  the  pupil  of  a  famous  Orthodox 
Church  elder,  Zossima.  When  Alyosha 
asked  his  father's  permission  to  become 
a  monk,  Fyodor,  to  whom  nothing  was 


sacred,  scoffed  but  gave  his  sanction. 

When  the  brothers  had  all  reached 
manhood,  their  paths  met  in  the  town 
of  their  birth.  Dmitri  returned  to  col 
lect  his  legacy.  Ivan,  a  professed  atheist, 
returned  home  for  financial  reasons. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  father  and  sons 
at  the  monastery,  Fyodor  shamed  his 
sons  by  behaving  like  a  fool  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  revered  Zossima.  Dmitri, 
who  arrived  late,  was  accused  by  Fyodor 
of  wanting  the  legacy  money  in  order  to 
entertain  a  local  adventuress  to  whom  he 
himself  was  attracted.  Dmitri,  who  was 
betrothed  at  this  time  to  Katerina,  a 
colonel's  daughter  whom  he  had  rescued 
from  shame,  raged  at  his  father,  saying 
that  the  old  man  was  a  great  sinner  and 
had  no  room  to  talk.  Zossima  fell  down 
before  Dmitri,  tapping  his  head  on  the 
floor,  and  his  fall  was  believed  to  be  a 
portent  of  an  evil  that  would  befall  the 
oldest  son.  Realizing  that  the  Karama- 
zovs  were  sensualists,  Zossima  advised 
Alyosha  to  leave  the  monastery  and  go 
into  the  world  at  Zossima's  death.  There 
was  further  dissension  among  the  Kara- 
mazovs  because  of  Ivan's  love  for  Kater 
ina,  the  betrothed  of  Dmitri. 

Marfa,  the  wife  of  Grigory,  Fyodor's 
faithful  servant,  had  given  birth  to  a 
deformed  child.  The  night  that  Marfa's 
deformed  baby  died,  Lizaveta,  an  idiot 
girl  of  the  town,  also  died  after  giving 
birth  to  a  son.  The  child,  later  to  be 
called  Smerdyakov,  was  taken  in  by 
Grigory  and  Marfa  and  was  accepted  as  a 
servant  in  the  household  of  Fyodor,  whom 
everyone  in  the  district  believed  the 
child's  true  father. 

Dmitri  confessed  his  wild  ways  to 
Alyosha.  He  opened  his  heart  to  his 
brother,  and  told  how  he  had  spent 
three  thousand  roubles  of  Katerina's 
money  in  an  orgy  with  Grushenka,  a 
local  woman  of  questionable  character 
with  whom  he  had  fallen  passionately 
in  love.  Desperate  for  the  money  to 
repay  Katerina,  Dmitri  asked  Alyosha 
to  secure  it  for  him  from  Fyodor. 


89 


Alyosha  found  Fyodor  and  Ivan  at  the 
table,  attended  by  the  servant,  Smer- 
dyakov,  who  was  an  epileptic.  Entering 
suddenly  in  search  of  Grushenka,  Dmitri 
attacked  his  father.  Alyosha  went  to 
Katerina's  house,  where  he  found  Kater 
ina  trying  to  bribe  Grushenka  into  aban 
doning  her  interest  in  Dmitri.  But  Gru 
shenka  was  not  to  be  bargained  with. 
Upon  his  return  to  the  monastery,  Al 
yosha  found  Zossima  dying.  He  returned 
to  Fyodor,  to  discover  his  father  afraid 
£  both  Dmitri  and  Ivan,  Ivan  wanted 
Dmitri  to  marry  Grushenka  so  that  he 
himself  could  marry  Katerina.  Fyodor 
wanted  to  marry  Grushenka.  The  father 
refused  to  give  Alyosha  any  money  for 
Dmitri. 

Katerina,  spurned  by  Dmitri,  dedicated 
her  life  to  watching  over  him,  although 
she  felt  a  true  love  for  Ivan,  Ivan,  seeing 
that  Katerina  was  pledged  to  torture  her 
self  for  life,  nobly  approved  of  her  deci 
sion. 

Later,  in  an  inn,  Ivan  disclosed  to  Al 
yosha  that  he  believed  in  God,  but  that 
ne  could  not  accept  God's  world.  The 
young  men  discussed  the  dual  nature  of 
man.  Ivan  disclosed  that  he  hated  Smer- 
dyakov,  who  was  caught  between  the 
wild  passions  of  Dmitri  and  Fyodor  and 
who,  out  of  fear,  worked  for  the  interests 
oi:  each  against  the  other. 

The  dying  Zossima  revived  long 
enough  to  converse  once  more  with  his 
devoted  disciples.  When  he  died,  a 
miracle  was  expected.  In  the  place  of 
a  miracle,  however,  his  body  rapidly  de 
composed,  delighting  certain  of  the 
monies  who  were  anxious  that  the  institu 
tion  of  the  elders  in  the  Orthodox  Church 
be  discredited.  They  argued  that  the 
decomposition  of  his  body  proved  his 
teachings  had  been  false. 

In  his  disappointment  at  the  turn  of 
events  at  the  monastery,  Alyosha  was 
persuaded  to  visit  Grushenka,  who 
wished  to  seduce  him.  He  found  Gru 
shenka  prepared  to  escape  the  madness 
of  the  Kuram:i?x>v$  by  running  off  with 
a  former  lover.  The  saintly  Alyosha  saw 


good  in  Grusnenka;  she,  for  her  part, 
found  him  an  understanding  soul. 

Dmitri,  eager  to  pay  his  debt  to  Kater 
ina,  made  various  fruitless  attempts  to 
borrow  the  money.  Mad  with  jealousy 
when  he  learned  that  Grushenka  was  not 
at  her  home,  he  went  to  Pyodor's  house 
to  see  whether  she  were  there,  lie  found 
no  Grushenka,  but  he  seriously  injured 
old  Grigory  with  a  pestle  with  which  he 
had  intended  to  kill  his  father.  Discov 
ering  that  Grushenka  had  fled  to  another 
man,  he  armed  himself  and  went  in  pur 
suit,  lie  found  Grushenka  with  two 
Poles  in  an  inn  at  another  village.  The 
young  woman  welcomed  Dmitri  and 
professed  undying  love  for  him  alone. 
During  a  drunken  orgy  of  the  lovers  the 
police  appeared  and  charged  Dmitri  with 
the  mu refer  of  his  Father,  who  had  been 
found  robbed  and  dead  in  his  house. 
Blood  on  Dmitri's  clothing,  his  posses 
sion  of  a  large  sum  of  money  and  pas 
sionate  statements  he  had  made  against 
Fyodor  were  all  evidence  against  him. 
Dmitri  repeatedly  protested  his  inno 
cence,  claiming  that  the  money  he  had 
spent  on  his  latest  orgy  was  half  of 
Katerina's  roubles,  He  had  saved  the 
money  to  insure  hts  future  in  the  event 
that  Grushenka  accepted  him.  But  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  made  his  ease  seem 
hopeless.  He  was  taken  into  custody 
and  placed  in  the  town  jail  to  nwait  trial, 

Grushenka  fell  sick  after  the  arrest 
of  Dmitri,  and  she  and  Dmitri  were 
plagued  with  jealousy  of  each  other, 
Dmitri,  as  the  result  of  a  strange  dream, 
began  to  look  upon  himself  as  an  inno 
cent  man  destined  to  sulfer  for  the  crimes 
of  humanity.  Ivan  and  Katerina,  in  the 
meantime,  worked  on  a  scheme  whereby 
Dmitri  might  escape  to  America. 

Before  the  trial  Ivau  interviewed  the 
servant  Smerclyakov  three  times.  The 
servant  had  once  told  Ivan  that  he  was 
able  to  feign  an  epileptic  lit;  such  a  fit 
had  been  Smerclyakov's  alibi  in  the  search 
for  the  murderer  of  I'yodor.  The  third  in 
terview  ended  when  Smerclyakov  con 
fessed  to  the  murder,  insisting,  however, 


90 


that  he  had  been  the  instrument  of  Ivan, 
who  by  certain  words  and  actions  had 
led  the  servant  to  believe  that  the  death 
of  Fyodor  would  be  a  blessing  for  every 
one  in  his  household.  Smerdyakov,  de 
pending  on  a  guilt  complex  in  the  soul 
of  Ivan,  had  murdered  his  master  at  a 
time  when  all  the  evidence  would  point 
directly  to  Dmitri.  He  had  felt  that  Ivan 
would  protect  him  and  provide  him  with 
a  comfortable  living.  At  the  end  of  the 
third  interview,  he  gave  the  stolen  money 
to  Ivan,  who  returned  to  his  rooms  and 
fell  ill  with  fever  and  delirium,  during 
which  he  was  haunted  by  a  realistic 
specter  of  the  devil  which  resided  in  his 
soul.  That  same  night  Smerdyakov 
hanged  himself. 

The  Karamazov  case  having  attracted 
widespread  attention  throughout  Russia, 
many  notables  attended  the  trial.  Prose^ 
cution  built  up  what  seemed  to  be  a 
strong  case  against  Dmitri,  but  the  de 
fense,  a  city  lawyer,  refuted  the  evidence 
piece  by  piece.  Doctors  declared  Dmitri 
to  be  abnormal,  but  in  the  end  they 
could  not  agree.  Katerina  had  her 
woman's  revenge  by  revealing  to  the 
court  a  letter  Dmitri  had  written  her,  in 
which  he  declared  his  intention  of  killing 
his  father  to  get  the  money  he  owed  her. 


Ivan,  still  in  a  fever,  testified  that 
dyakov  had  confessed  to  the  murder. 
Ivan  gave  the  money  to  the  court,  but 
he  negated  his  testimony  when  he  lost 
control  of  himself  and  told  the  court 
of  the  visits  of  his  private  devil, 

In  spite  of  the  defense  counsel's  elo 
quent  plea  in  Dmitri's  behalf,  the  jury 
returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  amid  a  tre 
mendous  hubbub  in  the  courtroom. 

Katerina,  haunted  by  guilt  because  she 
had  revealed  Dmitri's  letter,  felt  that  she 
was  responsible  for  the  jealousy  of  the 
two  brothers.  She  left  Ivan's  bedside  and 
went  to  the  hospital  where  Dmitri,  also 
ill  of  a  fever,  had  been  taken.  Alyosha 
and  Grushenka  were  present  at  their 
interview,  when  Katerina  begged  Dmitri 
for  his  forgiveness. 

Later  Alyosha  left  Dmitri  in  the  care 
of  Grushenka  and  went  to  the  funeral  of 
a  schoolboy  friend.  Filled  with  pity  and 
compassion  for  the  sorrow  of  death  and 
the  misery  of  life,  Alyosha  gently  admon 
ished  the  mourners,  most  of  them  school 
mates  of  the  dead  boy,  to  live  for  good 
ness  and  to  love  the  world  of  man.  He 
himself  was  preparing  to  go  with  Dmitri 
to  Siberia,  for  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice 
his  own  life  for  innocence  and  truth. 


BUDDENBROOKS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Mann  (1875-1955) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Germany 

First  published:  1901 

Principal  characters: 

JEAN  BUDDENBROOK,  head  of  a  German  business  house 

FRAU  BUDDENBROOK,  Jean's  wife 

ANTONIE  (TONY),  Jean's  daughter 

CHRISTIAN,  Jean's  son 

TOM,  Jean's  son 

HERR  GRUNLICH,  Tony's  first  husband 

ERICA,  daughter  of  Tony  and  Griinlich 

GERDA,  Tom's  wife 

HANNO,  son  of  Tom  and  Gerda 

HERR  PERMANEDER,  Tony's  second  husband 


91 


Critique; 

The  decadence  of  a  materialistic  society 
is  clearly  exposed  in  this  novel,  which 
had  been  compared  with  Galsworthy's 
Forsyte  Saga.  Objective  in  manner,  the 
story  nevertheless  carries  with  it  a  con 
demnation  of  its  people.  The  Buddcn- 
brooks  were  by  nature  honest  and  good; 
they  were  imbued  with  family  love  and 
loyalty  to  their  own  class,  but  they 
allowed  themselves  no  room  for  new 
blood.  Their  development,  or  rather  their 
decay,  lay  in  a  kind  of  intermarriage; 
not  intermarriage  of  blood  relations,  but 
of  class.  Their  only  mainstay  was  wealth. 
Losing  that,  they  were  destroyed. 

The  Story: 

In  the  year  1875  the  Buddenbrook 
family  was  at  its  peak,  Johann  had  main 
tained  intact  the  business  and  wealth 
he  had  inherited  from  his  father,  and  the 
Buddenbrook  name  was  held  in  high 
esteem.  Johann's  oldest  son,  Jean,  in 
herited  the  business  when  olcl  Johann 
died.  Antonic,  Jean's  first  child  was  born 
in  the  family  home  on  Mengstrasse. 
Tony  was  an  aristocrat  by  nature  and 
temperament  The  next  child  was  Tom, 
followed  by  Christian,  who  seemed 
peculiar  in  his  manners  from  birth. 
Tom  displayed  an  early  interest  in  the 
Buddenbrook  business,  but  Christian 
seemed  indifferent  to  all  family  respon 
sibilities. 

Tony  grew  into  a  beautiful  woman. 
One  day  Ilerr  Griinlich  came  to  call 
on  the  family.  Because  of  his  obvious 
interest  in  Tony,  Jean  investigated 
Grimlieh's  financial  status.  But  the  licad- 
strong  girl  despised  Grimlich  and  his 
obsequious  manner.  I  laving  gone  to  the 
seashore  to  avoid  meeting  Griinlich 
when  he  called  again,  she  fell  in  love 
with  a  young  medical  student  named 
Morten  SchartyJkopf.  Learning  of  Tony's 
interest  in  the  student,  Jean  and  Frau 
Buddenbrook  hurried  their  daughter 
home,  and  Tony  was  too  much  bred  with 


a  sense  of  her  family  duties  to  ignore 
their  arguments  in  favor  of  Griinlich 
when  he  asked  for  her  hand.  Her  wed 
ding  date  set,  Griinlich  received  a 
promise  of  a  dowry  of  eighty  thousand 
marks. 

Griinlich,  after  taking  his  twenty- 
year-old  bride  to  the  country,  would  not 
allow  her  to  call  on  any  of  her  city 
friends.  Although  she  complained  in  her 
letters  to  her  parents,  Tony  resigned 
herself  to  obeying  her  husband's  wishes. 

Tom  held  an  important  position  in  the 
business  which  was  still  amassing  money 
for  the  Budden brooks,  Christian's  early- 
distaste  for  business  and  his  ill  healtn 
had  given  him  the  privilege  of  going 
to  South  America. 

When  Griinlieh  found  his  establish 
ment  floundering,  his  creditors  urged  him 
to  send  to  his  father-in-law  for  help. 
Jean  Buddenbrook  learned  then  of  Griin- 
lich's  motive  in  marrying  Tony;  the 
Buddenbrook  reputation  had  placed 
Grunlieh's  already  failing  credit  upon  a 
sounder  basis.  Actually  Grunlich  was  a 
poor  man  who  was  depending  upon 
Jean's  concern  for  Tony  to  keep  his  son- 
in-law  from  financial  failure.  Tony 
herself  assured  her  father  that  she  hated 
Griinlich  but  that  she  did  not  wish  to 
endure  the  hardships  that  bankruptcy 
would  entail. 

Jean  brought  'Tony  and  his  grand 
daughter,  liriea  Grimlieh,  back  to  the 
Buddenbrook  home.  The  divorce,  based 
on  Grunlich's  fraudulent  handling  of 
Tony's  dowry,  was  easily  arranged. 

Jean  Buddenbrook,  loving  his  family 
dearly,  firmly  believed  in  the  greatness 
of  the  Buddenbrook  heritage.  Tony  was 
once  again  happy  in  her  father's  home, 
although  she  bore  her  sorrows  like  a 
cross  for  everyone  to  notice  and  reverence. 
Tom  had  grown  quite  close  to  his  sister, 
who  took  pride  in  his  development  and 
in  the  progress  of  the  Biuldenbrook 
firm. 


BUI>I)KNHK(K)K.S  by  Thomas  Maun,    Translated  by  TI.  T,  Lowe-Porter.    By  p#rmi§»i0n  of  the  author  nntl  the 
publishers,  Allrcd  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1924,  by  Allied  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


92 


Christian,  having  failed  in  his  enter 
prises  in  South  America,  had  returned 
home.  His  father  gave  him  a  job  and  an 
office  which  Christian  hated  and  avoided. 
His  manners  were  still  peculiar  and  his 
health  poor.  Serious  Tom  handled  the 
business  as  well  as  Jean,  and  he  remained 
fixed  in  his  attachment  to  family  customs. 
When  Jean  died  and  left  the  business  to 
Tom,  Tony  felt  that  the  family  had  lost 
its  strongest  tie.  Tom,  too,  was  greatly 
affected  by  his  father's  death,  but  the 
responsibility  of  his  financial  burdens 
immediately  became  of  foremost  im 
portance. 

Because  Christian  could  not  adjust 
himself  to  Buddenbrook  interests,  the 
ever-patient  Tom  sent  him  to  Munich 
for  his  health.  Reports  from  Munich 
that  he  was  seen  often  in  the  company 
of  a  notoriously  loose  actress  distressed 
his  family.  Then  Tom  made  a  satis 
factory  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  businessman.  Gerda,  whose 
dowry  added  to  the  Buddenbrook  fortune, 
was  an  attractive  woman  who  loved 
music.  Parties  were  once  more  held  at 
the  Buddenbrook  mansion  on  Meng- 
strasse. 

Tony  returned  from  a  trip  with  hopes 
that  a  man  whom  she  had  met  while 
traveling  would  come  to  call.  Soon  Herr 
Permaneder  did  call.  He  was  a  success 
ful  beer  merchant  in  Munich.  Tom  and 
Frau  Buddenbrook  thought  that  Per 
maneder,  in  spite  of  his  crude  manners 
and  strange  dialect,  would  make  a  satis 
factory  husband  for  Tony.  Fortified  with 
her  second,  smaller  dowry,  Tony  went 
to  Munich  as  Frau  Permaneder.  She 
sent  Erica  off  to  boarding-school. 

Once  again  Tony  wrote  passionate  ap 
peals  to  her  family  complaining  of  her 
married  life.  Finally  she  came  home, 
weeping  because  Permaneder  had  be 
trayed  her  by  making  love  to  a  servant. 
Tom  protested  against  a  second  divorce, 
but  Tony  insisted.  Prevailing  upon  Torn 
to  write  to  Permaneder,  Tony  was  sur 
prised  to  learn  that  her  husband  would 
not  fight  the  proceedings,  that  he  felt 


the  marriage  had  been  a  mistake,  and 
that  he  would  return  to  Tony  her  dowry 
which  he  did  not  need. 

Tom  and  Gerda  had  produced  a  son  to 
carry  on  the  family  name.  Little  Johann, 
or  Hanno,  as  he  was  called,  inherited  his 
mother's  love  for  music,  but  he  was  pale 
and  sickly  from  birth.  Tom  tried  to  in 
still  in  his  son  a  love  for  the  family 
business,  but  Hanno  was  too  shy  to 
respond  to  his  father. 

The  death  of  Frau  Buddenbrook 
brought  Christian,  Tony,  and  Tom  to 
gether  to  haggle  over  the  inheritance. 
Christian  demanded  his  money,  but  Tom, 
as  administrator,  refused.  Infuriated, 
Christian  quarreled  bitterly  with  Tom,  all 
the  pent-up  feeling  of  the  past  years 
giving  vent  to  a  torrent  of  abuse  against 
the  cold,  mercenary  actions  of  Tom  Bud 
denbrook. 

Tom  was  not  mercenary.  He  worked 
hard  and  faithfully,  but  in  spite  of  his 
efforts  the  business  had  declined  much 
in  the  past  few  years  because  of  economic 
changes.  In  poor  health,  he  felt  that 
sickly  Christian  would  outlive  him. 

Although  Tony  found  a  fine  husband 
for  her  daughter,  even  the  marriage  of 
Erica  and  Herr  Weinschenk  was  des 
tined  to  end  in  disaster.  Herr  Wein 
schenk  was  caught  indulging  in  some 
foul  business  practices  and  went  to  jail 
for  three  vears.  Accustomed  to  public 
scandal,  Tony  bore  that  new  hardship 
with  forbearance.  Erica,  too,  adopted 
her  mother's  attitude. 

Suddenly  Tom  died.  He  had  fallen  in 
the  snow,  to  be  brought  to  his  bed  and 
die,  a  few  hours  later,  babbling  in 
coherently.  His  loss  was  greater  to  Tony 
than  to  any  of  the  others,  Christian, 
arriving  from  Munich  for  the  funeral, 
had  grown  too  concerned  over  his  own 
suffering  to  show  grief  over  the  death 
of  his  brother.  Gerda  felt  her  own  sorrow 
deeply,  for  her  marriage  with  Tom  had 
been  a  true  love  match. 

After  the  will  had  been  read,  Christian 
returned  to  Munich  to  marry  the  mistress 
whom  Tom's  control  had  kept  him  from 


93 


marrying.  Soon  afterward  Christian's 
wife  wrote  to  Tony  that  his  illness  had 
poisoned  his  mind.  She  had  placed 
Christian  in  an  institution, 

Life  at  the  Buddenbrook  home  went 
on.  Little  Hanno,  growing  up  in  a 
household  of  women,  never  gained  much 
strength,  Thin  and  sickly  at  fifteen,  he 


died  during  a  typhoid  epidemic. 

So  passed  the  last  of  the  Buclclcnbrooks. 
From  the  days  of  the  first  Johann,  whose 
elegance  ana  power  had  produced  a  fine 
business  and  a  healthy,  vigorous  lineage, 
to  the  last  pitiably  small  generation  which 
died  with  1  lanno,  the  Buddenbrooks  had 
decayed  into  nothing. 


THE  CABALA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Thornton  Wilder  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  flot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:   About  1920 

Locale:    Rome 

First  published:   1926 

Principal  characters: 

SAMUHLK,  a  young  American  student  ami  writer 

jAMiiS  BLAIH,  his  friend 

THE  Ducmiiss  o'AQuiLANmu,  a  Cabalist 

MAUCANTOMO,  her  son 

CARDINAL  VAINX,  a  former  CKnese  missionary 

uciii  i>w  MOKI'ON  fAiNU,  a  religious  fanatic 
i>'Esi»ou,  in  love  with  James  Blair 


Critique; 

Practically  all  of  Thornton  Wilcler's 
work  is  unusual  in  one  degree  or  another. 
The  Cabala — really  a  series  of  sketches 
held  together  by  locale  and  a  group  of 
people  who  have  something  in  common 
— is  no  exception.  The  novel  is  a  fan 
tastic  story  ot  the  pagan  gods  grown  old 
and  weak.  Christianity  and  modern 
society  have  doomed  them  to  despair, 
madness,  and  death.  A  young  American 
of  Puritan  background  records  their  over 
throw,  an  ironic  ending  to  their  pagan 
power  and  pride. 

The  Story: 

When  Samuele  went  to  Rome  with 
his  friend,  James  Blair,  he  learned  of  the 
existence  there  of  a  certain  group  known 
as  the  Cabala,  talented  and  wealthy 
aristocrats,  clover  esoterics  who  had 
mysterious  influence  in  affairs  of  Church 
iuul  State.  Blair,  a  bookish  person,  was 
familiar  with  some  of  its  members,  and 


he  introduced  his  friend  into  that  strange 
circle  of  Roman  society.  Samuele  soon 
became  a  favorite  of  the  Cabalists. 

One  of  them,  the  Duchess  d'Aquila- 
nera,  had  a  great  problem  on  her  mind, 
1  ler  son  Marcuntonio,  who  was  sixteen, 
had  had  live  or  six  love  affairs  with  var 
ious  women,  and  slue  was  disturbed  by 
his  unsettled  habits.  She  bad  arranged 
a  marriage  for  him,  but  the  wedding 
would  not  take  place  unless  Mareantonio 
changed  his  ways.  She  pleaded  with 
Samuele  to  spend  a  weekend  at  her 
villa  and  to  talk  to  the  boy  in  an  effort 
to  show  him  the  errors  of  the  life  he 
was  leading.  Samuele  refused,  thinking 
the  whole  matter  ridiculous.  Then  he 
had  a  talk  with  Cardinal  Vaini,  a  friend 
of  the  duchess,  who  said  that  Marc- 
an  tonic  had  begun  his  wild  career  by 
imitating  his  older  friends,  Later  his 
vicious  morality  had  become  a  habit,  and 
linally  a  mania.  Samuele  was  so  shocked 


TUI£  CABALA  by  Thoimon  Wi'der.    By  perwimuon  *>f  the  author.    Copyright,  1926,  by  Albert  &  Churloi  Botn, 

IttC. 


94 


by  the  cardinal's  description  of  the  boy's 
character  that  he  finally  agreed  to  go  to 
the  villa,  as  the  duchess  had  requested. 

Marcantonio  liked  to  drive  automo 
biles  as  fast  as  possible.  He  also  told 
Samuele  that  he  wished  to  train  for  the 
Olympics.  Samuele,  in  a  passionate  out 
burst,  denounced  the  boy's  loose  loves. 
The  next  day  Marcantonio  jumped  from 
a  balcony  and  killed  himself. 

Samuele  was  shocked  and  grieved.  But 
he  was  soon  to  become  involved  in  the 
strange  conduct  of  another  Cabalist,  the 
Princess  Alix  d'Espoli.  Alix  always  had 
the  habit  of  falling  in  love  with  men 
who  could  not  possibly  be  attracted  to 
her.  She  had  beauty  and  charm,  but 
little  intelligence.  To  make  up  for  her 
lack,  she  cultivated  a  way  of  speaking 
that  was  interesting  and  appealing.  Al 
though  people  enjoyed  having  her  at  din 
ner,  she  accepted  few  invitations. 

One  day  she  went  to  visit  Samuele  and 
found  James  Blair  in  his  apartment. 
Though  Blair  was  rude,  she  fell  in  love 
with  him  and  proceeded  to  lay  siege  to 
his  affections.  At  last  she  was  convinced 
that  she  had  scored  a  triumph,  for  Blair 
gave  her  a  book  that  had  once  been 
mentioned  in  casual  conversation.  She 
began  going  to  his  rooms  uninvited. 
When  Blair  became  upset,  Samuele  sug 
gested  that  the  only  way  out  was  for  him 
to  leave  Rome.  After  Blair  left  on  a 
trip  to  Spain,  Alix  proceeded  to  lose  her 
self  in  the  life  of  the  city.  She  accepted 
all  sorts  of  invitations,  even  asking  to  be 
introduced  to  various  people.  She  seemed 
happy  in  a  round  of  pleasure.  Samuele 
hoped  that  she  had  forgotten  Blair. 

A  month  later  Blair  wrote  to  Samuele, 
saying  that  he  was  returning  to  Rome. 
Samuele  warned  him  to  stay  away,  but 
Blair  insisted  that  his  researches  into 
ancient  secret  societies  made  his  return 
necessary.  One  night  both  of  them  went 
to  visit  a  famous  seer  who  was  holding 
a  seance  in  an  old  Roman  palace.  While 
they  were  there,  a  heavily  veiled  woman 
came  in,  rushed  to  the  seer,  and  implored 
his  help  in  some  matter.  Recognizing 


Alix,  Samuel  and  Blair  attempted  to 
leave,  but  the  woman  saw  them  before 
they  could  get  out  of  the  room.  Abruptly, 
angrily,  she  went  away.  Later  Samuele 
heard  that  she  had  become  interested 
in  the  fine  arts,  that  she  was  studying 
music.  She  started  on  a  trip  to  Greece, 
but  returned  suddenly  without  an  ex 
planation.  Some  said  that  she  continued 
to  search  for  a  lover.  More  and  more 
she  was  spoken  of  in  a  derogatory  man 
ner. 

One  day  in  her  presence  a  Danish 
archeologist  said  that  he  had  met  Blair. 
Upon  hearing  his  name,  Alix  fainted. 

Samuele  also  spent  much  of  his  time 
with  Astr6e-Luce  de  Morfontaine,  a 
deeply  religious  woman.  She  saw  some 
spiritual  meaning  in  the  initials  of  an 
American  teacher  named  Irene  H. 
Spencer,  and  on  one  occasion  she  was 
deeply  offended  when  someone  spoke 
slightingly  of  the  pelican,  because  to  her 
the  bird  was  a  holy  symbol.  She  had 
great  faith  in  prayer.  One  day  the  cardi 
nal  spoke  derisively  of  prayer,  and  she 
broke  down.  The  cardinal  said  that  she 
had  never  suffered,  that  she  did  not  know 
the  meaning  of  suffering.  The  woman's 
faith  was  badly  shaken.  She  invited  the 
cardinal  to  her  house  for  a  party.  Dur 
ing  the  evening  she  accused  him  of  being 
the  devil,  took  out  a  pistol,  and  shot  at 
him.  He  was  not  hurt.  But  a  later  re 
conciliation  was  impossible*  The  cardi 
nal  decided  to  go  back  to  his  mission 
in  China.  En  route,  he  caught  a  fever, 
died,  and  was  buried  at  sea. 

Before  Samuele  left  Rome,  he  called 
on  Miss  Elizabeth  Grier,  an  American 
member  of  the  Cabala.  From  her  he 
learned  at  last  who  the  men  and  women 
of  the  Cabala  really  were.  They  were 
the  pagan  gods  of  Europe  grown  old, 
deities  whose  brooding  ancient  wisdom 
could  not  save  them  from  the  sufferings 
and  follies  of  ordinary  humanity.  Miss 
Grier  confused  Samuele  by  stating  her 
belief  that  he  was  the  new  god  Mercury, 
an  idea  vaguely  upsetting  to  a  young 
American  or  New  England  ancestry. 


95 


CADMUS 

Type  of  work:  Classical  legend 

Source;  Folk  tradition 

Type  of  plot:  Heroic  adventure 

Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 

Locale:  Ancient  Greece 

First  transcribed:  Unknown 

Pri  n  c ipa I  characters: 

CADMUS,  founder  of  Thebes 
JIUHTKII,  king  of  the  gods 
MINEUVA,  daughter  of  Jupiter 
MAKS,  god  of  war 
HAIIMONIA,  wife  of  Cadmus 

Critique: 

The  story  of  Cadmus  is  not  one  of  the 
best  known  myths,  but  it  is  an  important 
one,  for  it  is  a  basis  upon  which  many 
other  stories  have  been  built.  Cadmus, 
like  the  other  great  classieal  heroes,  lived 
at  least  thirty  centuries  ago,  and  the 
tales  of  his  great  deeds  have  been  tolcl 
over  and  over,  changing  a  little  with  each 
telling.  In  reading  of  Cadmus,  we  meet 
the  gods  and  goddesses,  the  serpents  and 
monsters,  and  the  other  great  Figures  who 
supposedly  roamed  the  world  when  it 
was  the  playground  of  the  gods,  All 
things  were  possible  in  those  heroic  days. 


The  Story; 

Jupiter,  in  the  form  of  a  hull,  carried 
away  Europa,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Agenor,  king  of  Phenicia.  Wlxen  her 
handmaidens  told  her  lather  of  the  kid 
naping,  he  commanded  his  son  Cadmus 
to  look  for  Europa  and  not  to  return  until 
he  had  found  her,  Cadmus  searched  for 
his  sister  for  many  years  and  in  strange 
lands,  But  though  he  searched  diligently, 
killing  many  monsters  and  endangering 
himself  many  times  in  his  quest  he  could 
not  find  her.  Afraid  to  return  to  his  father, 
he  consulted  the  oracle  of  Apollo  at  Del 
phi  and  asked  where  he  should  settle, 
The  oracle  told  him  that  he  would  find 
a  cow  in  a  Held,  and  if  he  were  to  follow 
her,  she  would  lead  him  to  a  good  land. 
Where  the  cow  stopped,  Cadmus  was  to 
build  a  great  city  and  call  it  Thebes. 

Cadmus  soon  saw  a  cow  walking  ahead 
of  him,  and  he  followed  her.  Finally 


the  cow  stopped  on  the  plain  of  Panope. 
Cadmus  prepared  to  give  thanks  to  the 
gods,  and  he  sent  his  slaves  to  find  pure 
water  for  the  sacrifice  he  would  make. 
In  a  dense  grove  they  found  a  wonderful 
clear  spring.  But  the  spring  was  guarded 
by  a  terrible  dragon  sacrecl  to  Mars,  his 
scales  shining  like  gold  and  his  body 
filled  with  a  poisonous  venom.  He  had 
a  triple  tongue  and  three  rows  of  huge, 
ragged  teem,  The  servants,  thinking 
only  to  please  their  master,  dipped  their 
pitchers  in  the  water,  whereupon  all  were 
instantly  destroyed  by  the  monster* 

Having  waited  many  hours  for  the 
return  ol  his  servants,  Cadmus  went  to 
the  grove  and  found  the  mangled  bodies 
of  his  faithful  slaves  and  close  by  the 
terrible  monster  of  the  spring.  First  Cad 
mus  threw  a  huge  stone  at  the  dragon. 
The  stone  did  not  dent  his  shining  scales. 
Then  he  drew  back  his  javelin  and 
heaved  it  at  the  serpent.  It  went  through 
the  scales  and  into  the  entrails,  The 
monster,  trying  to  draw  out  the  weapon 
with  his  mouth,  broke  the  blade  and 
left  the  point  burning  his  flesh.  He 
swelled  with  rage  as  he  advanced  toward 
the  hero,  and  Cadmus  retreated  before 
him.  Cadmus  then  threw  his  spear  at 
the  monster,  the  weapon  pinning  him 
against  a  tree  until  he  died. 

As  Cadmus  stood  gating  at  the  terrible 
creature  he  hoard  the  voice  of  the  goddess 
Minerva  telling  him  to  sow  the  dragon's 
teeth  in  a  field*  Hardly  had  he  done 
so  when  a  warrier  in  armor  sprang  up 


96 


from  each  tooth.  Cadmus  started  toward 
the  warriors,  thinking  he  must  slay  them 
all  or  lose  his  own  life,  but  again  Minerva 
spoke  to  him  and  told  him  not  to  strike. 
The  warriors  began  to  do  battle  among 
themselves  and  all  were  slain  but  five, 
who  then  presented  themselves  to  Cad 
mus  and  said  that  they  would  serve  him. 
These  six  heroes  built  the  city  of  Thebes. 
Jupiter  gave  Cadmus  Harmonia,  the 
daughter  of  Mars  and  Venus,  goddess  of 
beauty,  to  be  his  wife,  and  the  gods  came 
down  from  Olympus  to  do  honor  to  the 
couple.  Vulcan  forged  a  brilliant  neck 
lace  with  his  own  hands  and  gave  it  to 
the  bride.  Four  children  were  born,  and 
for  a  time  Cadmus  and  Harmonia  lived 
in  harmony  with  their  children.  But 
doom  hung  over  Cadmus  and  his  family 


for  the  killing  of  the  serpent,  and  Mars 
revenged  himself  by  causing  all  of  Cad 
mus'  children  to  perish. 

In  despair,  Cadmus  and  Harmonia  left 
Thebes  and  went  to  the  country  of  the 
Enchelians,  who  made  Cadmus  their 
king.  But  Cadmus  could  find  no  peace 
because  of  Mars'  curse  on  him.  One  day 
he  told  Harmonia  that  if  a  serpent  were 
so  dear  to  the  gods  he  himself  wished 
to  become  a  serpent.  No  sooner  had  he 
spoken  the  words  than  he  began  to  grow 
scales  and  to  change  his  form.  When 
Harmonia  beheld  her  husband  turned 
into  a  serpent,  she  prayed  to  the  gods 
for  a  like  fate.  Both  became  serpents, 
but  they  continued  to  love  their  fellow 
men  and  never  did  injury  to  any. 


CAESAR  OR  NOTHING 

of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Pio  Baroja  (1872-1956) 
Type  of  plot:  Political  satire 
Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 
Locale:  Spain,  Italy,  France 
First  published:  1919 

Principal  characters: 

LAURA,  Marchesa  of  Vaccarone,  formerly  Laura  Moncada 

CAESAR  MONCADA,  Laura's  brother 

AMPARO,  Caesar's  wife 

IGNACIO  ALZUGARAY,  Caesar's  friend 


Critique: 

Caesar  or  Nothing  is  a  political  novel 
of  satire  directed  against  those  elements 
of  Spanish  life  which  Baroja  considered 
opposed  to  the  improved  social  status  of 
the  common  man.  These  elements  were 
the  aristocracy  and  the  Church.  The 
novel  is  interesting  in  the  light  of  what 
has  happened  in  Spain  since  this  novel 
was  published  thirty  years  ago. 

The  Story: 

Juan  Guillen  was  a  highwayman  of 
Villanueva.  When  Vicenta,  his  youngest 
daughter,  was  ruined,  she  went  away  to 
Valencia,  where  she  married  Antonio 
Fort,  a  grocer.  Francisco,  Juan's  eldest 


son,  became  a  priest  and  changed  his 
name  to  Fray  Jos£  de  Calasanz  de  Vil 
lanueva.  Juan  Fort,  son  of  Vicenta,  be 
came  a  priest  and  was  called  Fathei 
Vicente  de  Valencia.  He  later  became 
Cardinal  Fort.  Isabel,  Vicenta's  daughter, 
married  a  soldier,  Carlos  Moncada.  Isabel 
and  Carlos  became  die  parents  of  Caesar 
Moncada  and  of  Laura,  later  the  Mar 
chesa  of  Vaccarone. 

Defying  family  tradition,  Caesar  re 
belled  at  die  idea  of  becoming  a  cleric. 
He  attended  various  schools  but  cared 
little  for  the  subjects  taught  there.  Con 
vinced  that  he  had  a  definite  mission  in 
life,  he  set  about  preparing  himself  for 


CAESAR  OR  NOTHING  by  Pio  Baroja.   Translated  by  Louis  How,    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Alfred  A, 
Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1919,  1947,  by  Alfred  A  Knopf,  Inc. 

97 


it.  Academic  subjects  did  not  enter  into 
his  plans.  At  school  in  Madrid  he  met 
Ignacio  Alzugaray,  who  became  his  life 
long  and  intimate  friend.  He  also  met 
Carlos  Yarza,  a  Spanish  author  em 
ployed  in  a  bank  in  Paris,  and  through 
him  Caesar  became  interested  in  finan 
cial  speculation.  Caesar  developed  a  sys 
tem,  which  he  could  explain  only 
vaguely,  to  use  in  playing  the  stock 
market,  but  he  had  no  money  at  the 
time  with  which  to  try  it  out. 

Caesar  and  his  sister  Laura  went  to 
Rome,  where  Laura  became  popular  in 
fashionable  society,  Caesar,  however, 
cared  little  for  social  functions,  art,  and 
the  historical  relics  of  ancient  Rome. 
After  a  time  he  did  meet  some  impor 
tant  personages,  among  them  Countess 
Brcncm,  with  whom  he  had  an  affair. 

Cardinal  l;ort,  their  kinsman,  sent  the 
Abbe"  Prccioxi  to  act  as  a  guide  for 
Caesar  and  Laura.  Caesar  disliked  his 
uncle,  the  cardinal,  and  cared  little  if 
the  abb£  carried  back  to  the  cardinal 
his  nephew's  frank  opinions  of  his 
eminence.  Through  the  abbe,  Caesar 
tried  to  find  people  who  would  help  him 
become  a  financial  dictator,  and  he  was 
directed  to  sound  out  Father  I  lerreros 
and  Father  Mir6.  The  cardinal,  how 
ever,  learned  of  Caesar's  scheming  and 
put  a  stop  to  it. 

Archibald  Marehmont  fell  in  love  with 
Laura,  Both  were  unhappily  married, 
Susanna  Marehmont',  Archibald's  wife, 
was  in  turn  attracted  to  Caesar,  and  she 
and  Caesar  took  a  trip  together  as  man 
and  wife.  While  in  Home,  Caesar  also 
met  an  Englishman  named  Kennedy 
through  whom  he  learned  much  about 
the  history  of  Rome  and  the  history 
of  the  Borjias,  Caesar  Borgia's  motto, 
"Caesar  or  Nothing/'  struck  a  responsive 
note  in  the  latent  ambition  of  Caesar 
Moncatla,  Without  cjuite  knowing  why, 
he  began  to  make  notes  about  people 
in  Rome  who  were  members  of  the 
Black  Party  and  who  had  connections  in 
Spain. 

Coming  from  the  Sistine  Chapel  one 


day,  Caesar  and  Kennedy  met  a  Spanish 
painter  who  introduced  them  to  Don 
Calixto,  a  senator  and  the  political  leader 
of  the  province  of  Zamora  in  Spain. 
Caesar  accepted  Don  Calixto's  invitation 
to  dine  with  him  and  agreed  to  act  as 
his  guide  about  Rome.  The  don  was 
appreciative,  and  when  Caesar  jokingly 
asked  whether  the  don  would  consider 
making  him  a  deputy,  Don  Calixto 
agreed  to  put  Caesar's  name  on  the  ballot 
as  a  candidate  for  the  district  of  Castro 
Duro  whenever  Caesar  returned  to  Spain. 

When  Caesar  returned  to  Spain,  he 
reminded  Don  Calixto  of  his  promise. 
Deciding  to  run  on  the  Conservative 
ticket,  Caesar  drove  about  the  country 
to  meet  the  voters  and  to  determine  the 
most  important  political  personages  of 
the  district,  Don  Platc'm  Periln'rney,  and 
Antonio  San  Roimtn  were,  he  discovered, 
quite  influential.  Father  Martin  La- 
fuer/a,  the  prior  of  a  monastery,  had 
a  great  deal  of  political  influence  in  and 
about  Castro  Duro.  Caesar's  friend, 
Ignacio  Alzugaray,  came  to  Castro  Duro 
and  made  himself  useful  to  Caesar  in 
many  ways.  At  the  house  of  Don  Calixto 
Caesar  met  Amparo,  the  don's  niece,  but 
at  first  Caesar  and  Ampuro  could  not 
get  along,  Later,  however,  they  fell  in 
love  and  planned  to  be  married, 

In  the  election  Caesar  defeated  his 
two  opponents,  Garcia  Paclilla  and  San 
Romdn,  and  left  Castro  Duro  to  go  to 
Madrid  as  deputy.  In  Madrid  he  became 
quite  influential  behind  the  political 
scene.  When  the  Minister  of  Finance 
faced  a  crisis  in  his  career,  he  sent 
Caesar  to  Parts  to  meet  a  financial  expert 
who  had  a  plan  to  save  the  government. 
Caesar,  suspecting  the  minister,  planned 
an  airtight  speculation  which  would 
make  his  own  fortune  and  remove  the 
minister  from  office. 

With  the  money  he  bad  gained 
through  his  speculations,  Caesar  began 
to  devise  and  carry  into  execution  many 
improvements  in  Castro  Duro.  lie  de 
signed  a  better  water  system  and  also 
a  library  for  the  Workmen's  Club  which 


98 


he  had  previously  established.  In  ad 
dition,  he  turned  his  back  on  the  Con 
servative  party  and  became  a  Liberal. 
Meanwhile  the  reactionary  element  in  the 
district  was  not  idle.  It  formed  institutions 
and  organizations  to  compete  with  the 
Workmen's  Club,  and  used  every  pos 
sible  means  to  wreck  the  political  organi 
zation  of  the  workers,  until  there  was 
a  state  of  undeclared  war  between 
Caesar's  group  and  the  others.  During 
those  disturbances  Caesar  and  Amparo 
were  married. 

Father  Martin's  followers  had  hired  a 
man  nicknamed  the  "Driveller"  to 
threaten  and  browbeat  the  more  timid 
members  of  Caesar's  group.  The  "Drivel 
ler"  picked  a  fight  with  "Lengthy,"  the 
son  of  "The  Cub-Slut,"  and  a  man  known 
as  "Gaffer."  When  "Lengthy"  was  killed 
in  the  fight,  the  workmen  clamored  for 
blood  because  they  believed  that  the 
"Driveller"  had  done  the  deed  at  the 
request  of  the  reactionaries  of  Father 
Martm.  Caesar  was  requested  by  "The 
Cub-Slut"  and  the  "Driveller's"  mother 
to  spare  the  "Driveller's"  life,  but  for 
different  reasons.  "The  Cub-Slut" 
wanted  to  revenge  herself  upon  him, 
whereas  the  mother  wanted  to  save  her 
son.  Caesar  was  in  a  quandary,  and  so 
he  and  Amparo  went  to  Italy  to  visit 
Laura.  It  was  believed  that  his  act  in 
dicated  a  desire  to  retire  from  politics. 

At  home  the  political  situation  grew 


worse.  When  Caesar  received  a  letter 
written  by  his  liberal  friends,  Dr.  Orti- 
gosa,  Antonio  San  Romdn,  and  Jos<6 
Camacho,  he  decided  that  he  would  not 
retire.  He  returned  to  Castro  Duro 
and  joined  his  friends  in  the  struggle 
once  more. 

The  battle  continued  right  up  to  the 
next  election.  One  day  "The  Cub-Slut" 
sent  a  note  to  Caesar,  a  message  which 
he  put  distractedly  into  his  pocket.  Set 
ting  out  to  tour  the  district,  he  was 
wounded  by  an  assassin  when  his  car 
came  to  a  crossroads.  If  he  had  read 
"The  Cub-Slut's"  letter,  he  might  not 
have  been  shot.  After  the  attempted  as 
sassination  of  Caesar,  the  Liberal  party 
began  to  lose  ground,  the  opposition  using 
every  possible  method  to  defeat  Caesar. 
Ballot  boxes  were  stuffed,  Messengers 
carrying  ballot  boxes  were  robbed  and 
false  ballots  substituted.  Voting  places 
were  hidden  and  made  known  only  to 
the  reactionary  voters.  As  a  result,  Padilla 
won  the  election.  Caesar  Moncada  re 
tired  from  politics  and,  ironically,  de 
voted  his  time  to  the  collection  of  an 
tiques  and  to  studying  primitive  Castilian 
paintings,  The  improvements  he  had 
planned  for  Castro  Duro  were  for 
gotten,  for  the  reactionary  elements  in 
the  district  had  gained  the  upper  hand 
and  they  kept  it.  Caesar  had  not  be 
come  Caesar.  He  became  nothing, 


CAKES  AND  ALE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  W.  Somerset  Maugham  (1874-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Literary  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  London  and  Kent 
d:  1930 

Principal  characters: 
ASHENEEN,  a  writer 
ALROY  KEAR,  a  popular  novelist 
EDWABJD  DRJFFIELD,  a  great  Victorian 
ROSIE,  Driffield's  first  wife 
AMY  DMFFIELD,  Drimeld's  second  wife 
GEORGE  KEMP,  Rosie's  lover 


99 


Critique; 

This  novel  is  written  with  a  lightness 
of  touch  that  defies  description.  By  con 
trasting  Alroy  Kear's  opinion  of  Drif- 
field  with  the  real  Driffield  as  Ashenden 
knew  him,  the  author  shows  up  the  sham 
of  the  literary  world  and  deepens  the 
insight  into  the  character  of  Driffield. 
Now  and  then  the  author  interrupts  the 
story  to  insert  pungent  comments  on 
literary  matters.  For  one  interested  in 
authors  and  the  world  of  letters,  Cakes 
and  Ale  is  especially  good  reading. 

The  Story: 

Alroy  Kear,  the  most  popular  novelist 
of  the  day,  arranged  to  lunch  with  his 
friend  Ashenden,  another  writer.  Ashen- 
den  was  fond  of  Kear,  hut  he  suspected 
that  his  invitation  had  been  extended  for 
a  purpose.  He  was  right.  Kear  wanted 
to  talk  about  the  late  Edward  Drif 
field,  a  famous  English  author  of  the 
past  century.  Kear  had  nothing  but  praise 
for  the  old  man's  books,  but  Ashenden 
said  that  he  had  never  thought  Driffield 
exceptionaL  Kear  enthusiastically  told 
how  well  he  had  known  Driffield  in  his 
last  years,  and  said  that  he  was  still  a 
friend  of  Driffield's  widow,  his  second 
wife.  Luncheon  ended  without  a  request 
for  a  favor.  Ashenden  was  puzzled. 

Returning  to  his  rooms,  Ashenden  fell 
into  a  reverie.  He  recalled  his  first  meet 
ing  with  Driffield.  Ashenden  was  then 
a  boy,  home  for  the  holidays  at  Black- 
stable,  a  Kentish  seacoast  town,  where 
he  lived  with  his  uncle,  the  local  vicar. 
Ashenden  met  Driffield  in  the  company 
of  his  uncle's  curate;  but  the  boy  thought 
the  writer  a  rather  common  person.  He 
learned  from  his  uncle  that  Driffield  had 
married  a  local  barmaid  after  spending 
a  wild  youth  away  from  home. 

Two  or  three  days  after  Ashenden  had 
lunched  with  Kear,  he  received  a  note 
from  Driffield's  widow.  She  wished  him 
to  visit  her  in  Blackstable.  Puzzled, 
Ashenden  telephoned  to  Kear,  who  said 


that  he  would  come  to  see  him  and  ex 
plain  the  invitation. 

Ashenden  had  seen  Mrs.  Driffield  only 
once.  He  had  gone  to  her  house  with 
some  other  literary  people  several  years 
before,  while  Driffield  was  still  alive. 
Driffield  had  married  his  second  wife 
late  in  life,  and  she  had  been  his  nurse. 
In  the  course  of  the  visit  Ashenden  had 
been  surprised  to  see  old  Driffield  wink 
at  him  several  times,  as  if  there  were 
some  joke  between  them. 

After  that  visit  Ashenden  recalled  how 
Driffield  had  taught  him  to  bicycle  many 
years  before,  Driffield  azid  his  wife, 
Rosie,  had  taught  him  to  ride  and  had 
taken  him  with  them  on  many  excursions. 
He  liked  the  Driffields,  but  he  was 
shocked  to  find  how  outspoken  they  were 
with  those  below  and  above  them  in 
social  station. 

One  evening  Ashenden  found  Rosie 
visiting  his  uncle's  cook,  her  childhood 
friend.  After  Rosie  left,  he  saw  her 
meet  George  Kemp,  a  local  contractor. 
The  couple  walked  out  of  town  toward 
the  open  fields.  Ashenden  could  not 
imagine  how  Rosie  could  be  unfaithful 
to  her  husband. 

Ashenden  went  back  to  school.  During 
the  Christmas  holiday  he  took  tea  often 
with  the  Driffields.  Kemp  was  always 
there,  but  he  and  Rosie  did  not  act  like 
lovers.  Driffield  sang  drinking  songs, 
played  the  piano,  and  seldom  talked 
about  literature.  When  Ashenden  re 
turned  to  Blackstable  the  next  summer, 
he  heard  that  the  Driffields  had  bolted, 
leaving  behind  many  unpaid  bills.  He 
was  ashamed  that  he  had  ever  been 
friendly  with  them. 

Kear  arrived  at  Ashenden's  rooms  and 
explained  that  he  was  planning  to  write 
Driffield's  official  biography.  He  wanted 
Ashenden  to  contribute  what  he  knew 
about  the  author's  younger  days.  What 
Ashenden  told  him  was  not  satisfactory, 
for  the  biography  should  contain  nothing 


CAKES  AND  ALE  by  W.  Somerset  Maugham.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Doubleday  & 
Co.,  lac.   Copyright,  1930,  by  W.  Somerset  Maugham. 


100 


co  embarrass  the  widow.  Kear  insisted 
that  Ashenden  write  down  what  he  re 
membered  of  Driffield  and  go  to  Black- 
stable  to  visit  Mrs.  Driffield.  Ashenden 
agreed. 

Ashenden  remembered  how  he  had 
met  the  Driffields  again  in  London 
when  he  was  a  young  medical  student. 
By  chance  he  saw  Rosie  on  the  street; 
he  was  surprised  that  she  was  not 
ashamed  to  meet  someone  from  Black- 
stable.  But  he  promised  to  come  to  one 
of  the  Driffields'  Saturday  afternoon 
gatherings.  Soon  he  became  a  regular 
visitoi  in  their  rooms.  Since  Driffield 
worked  at  night,  Rosie  often  went  out 
with  her  friends,  Ashenden  began  to 
take  her  to  shows.  She  was  pleasant 
company,  and  he  began  to  see  that  she 
was  beautiful.  One  evening  he  invited 
her  to  his  rooms.  She  offered  herself  to 
him  and  remained  for  the  night;  after 
that  night  Rosie  visited  his  rooms 
regularly. 

One  day  Mrs.  Barton  Trafford,  a 
literary  woman  who  had  taken  Driffield 
under  her  care,  invited  Ashenden  to  tea. 
From  her  he  learned  that  Rosie  had  run 
away  with  Kemp,  her  old  lover  from 
Blackstable.  Ashenden  was  chagrined  to 
learn  that  Rosie  cared  for  another  man 
more  than  she  did  for  him. 

After  that  Ashenden  lost  touch  with 
Driffield.  He  learned  that  the  author 
had  divorced  Rosie,  who  had  gone  to 
New  York  with  Kemp.  Mrs.  Barton 
Trafford  continued  to  care  for  Driffield 
as  his  fame  grew.  Then  he  caught 
pneumonia.  He  went  to  the  country  to 


convalesce  and  there  married  his  nurse, 
the  present  Mrs.  Driffield,  whom  Mrs. 
Trafford  had  hired  to  look  after  him. 

Ashenden  went  down  to  Blackstable 
with  Kear.  They  and  Mrs.  Driffield 
talked  of  Driffield's  early  life.  She  and 
Kear  described  Rosie  as  promiscuous. 
Ashenden  said  that  she  was  nothing  of 
the  sort.  Good  and  generous,  she  could 
not  deny  love  to  anyone;  that  was  all. 
Ashenden  knew  this  to  be  the  truth,  now 
that  he  could  look  down  the  perspective 
of  years  at  his  own  past  experience.  The 
others  disagreed  and  dismissed  the  subject 
by  saying  that,  after  all,  she  was  dead. 

But  Rosie  was  not  dead.  When  Ashen 
den  had  last  been  to  New  York,  she  had 
written  him  and  asked  him  to  call  on  her. 
He  found  her  now  a  wealthy  widow; 
Kemp  had  died  several  years  before.  She 
was  an  old  woman  who  retained  her  love 
for  living.  They  talked  of  old  times,  and 
Ashenden  discovered  that  Driffield,  too, 
had  understood  her — even  when  she  was 
being  unfaithful  to  him. 

Rosie  said  that  she  was  too  old  to 
marry  again;  she  had  had  her  fling  at 
life.  Ashenden  asked  her  if  Kemp  had 
not  been  the  only  man  she  really  cared 
for.  She  said  that  it  was  true.  Then 
Ashenden's  eyes  strayed  to  a  photograph 
of  Kemp  on  the  wall.  It  showed  him 
dressed  in  flashy  clothes,  with  a  waxed 
mustache;  he  carried  a  cane  and  flourished 
a  cigar  in  one  hand.  Ashenden  turned 
to  Rosie  and  asked  her  why  she  had  pre 
ferred  Kemp  to  her  other  lovers.  Her 
reply  was  simple.  He  had  always  been 
the  perfect  gentleman. 


CALEB  WILLIAMS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Godwin  (1756-1836) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1794 

Principal  characters: 
CALEB  WILLIAMS 

FEBDINANIX)  FALKLAND,  Caleb's  employer 
COLLINS,  Falkland's  servant 


101 


BAKNABAS  TYHRJEL,  Falkland's  enemy 

GINES,  Caleb's  enemy 

EMILY  Mi'xvn.n,  Tyrrel's  cousin 

Critique: 

Godwin  titled  his  novel,  Things  As 
They  Arc,  or  the  Adventures  of  Caleb 
Williams;  it  survives  under  the  name  of 
its  hero,  It  is  a  novel  of  divided  inter 
ests,  as  it  was  written  both  to  criticize 
society  and  to  tell  an  adventure  story. 
All  of  the  elements  which  contribute  to 
Caleb's  misery  are  the  result  of  weak 
nesses  in  eighteenth-century  English 
laws,  which  permitted  the  wealthy  land 
owners  to  hold  power  over  poorer  citizens. 


The  Story: 

Caleb  Williams  was  engaged  as  secre 
tary  by  Mr.  Ferdinando  Falkland,  the 
wealthiest  and  most  respected  squire  in 
the  country,  Falkland,  although  a  con 
siderate  employer,  was  subject  to  fits  of 
distemper  which  bewildered  Caleb,  Be 
cause  these  black  moods  were  so  contrary 
to  his  employer's  usual  gentle  nature, 
Caleb  soon  questioned  Collins,  a  trusted 
servant  of  the  household,  and  learned 
from  him  the  story  of  Falkland's  early 
life, 

Studious  and  romantic  in  his  youth, 
Falkland  lived  many  years  abroad  before 
he  returned  to  England  to  live  on  his 
ancestral  estate,  One  of  his  neighbors 
was  Barnabas  Tyrrel,  a  man  of  proud, 
combative  nature.  When  Falkland  re 
turned  to  his  family  estate,  Tyrrel  was 
the  leading  gentleman  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  Soon  Falkland,  because  of  his 
graceful  manners  and  warm  intelligence, 
began  to  win  the  admiration  of  his  neigh 
bors,  Tyrrel,  jealous,  showed  his  feelings 
by  speech  and  actions.  Falkland  tried  to 
make  peace,  but  the  ill  tempered  Tyrrel 
re  (used  his  proffered  friendship. 

Miss  Emily  Melvile,  Tyrrcl's  cousin, 
occupied  somewhat  the  position  of  a  serv 
ant  in  his  household.  One  night  she 
was  trapped  in  a  burning  building,  and 
Falkland  saved  her  from  burning.  After 
ward  Emily  could  do  nothing  but  praise 
her  benefactor,  Her  gratitude  annoyed 


her  cousin,  who  planned  to  revenge  him 
self  on  Emily  for  her  admiration  of  Falk 
land,  I  Ic  found  one  of  his  tenants, 
Grimes,  a  clumsy  ill-bred  lout,  who  con 
sented  to  marry  Emily.  When  Emily 
refused  to  marry  a  man  whom  she  could 
never  love,  Tyrrel  confined  her  to  her 
room.  As  part  of  the  plot  Grimes  helped 
Emily  to  escape  and  then  attempted  to 
seduce  her.  She  was  rescued  from  her 
plight  by  Falkland,  who  for  the  second 
time  proved  to  be  her  savior.  Further 
cruelties  inflicted  on  her  by  Tyrrel  finally 
killed  her,  and  Tyrrel  became  an  object 
of  disgrace  in  the  community. 

One  evening  Tyrrel  attacked  Falkland 
in  a  public  meeting  and  Falkland  was 
deeply  humiliated.  That  night  Tyrrel 
was  found  dead  in  the  streets.  Since  the 
quarrel  had  been  witnessed  by  so  many 
people  just  before  the  murder  of  Tyrrel, 
Falkland  was  called  before  a  jury  to  ex 
plain  his  whereabouts  during  that  fatal 
night.  No  one  really  believed  Falkland 
guilty,  but  he  was  hurt  by  what  he  con 
sidered  the  disgrace  of  his  inquisition. 
Although  on  ex-tenant  was  afterward 
arrested  and  hanged  for  the  crime,  Falk 
land  never  recovered  his  injured  pride, 
I  le  retired  to  his  estate  where  he  became 
a  recluse,  moody  and  disconsolate. 

For  a  long  time  after  learning  these 
details  Caleb  pondered  over  the  apparent 
unhappiness  of  his  employer.  Attempting 
to  understand  his  morose  personality,  he 
began  to  wonder  whether  Falkland  suf 
fered  from  the  unearned  infamy  that 
accompanied  suspicion  of  murder  or  from 
a  guilty  conscience,  Determined  to  solve 
the  mystery,  Caleb  proceeded  to  talk  to 
his  master  in  an  insinuating  tone,  to  draw 
him  out  in  matters  concerning  murder 
and  justice.  Caleb  also  began  to  look 
for  evidence  which  would  prove  Falkland 
guilty  or  innocent  Finally  the  morose 
man  became,  aware  of  his  secretary's  in 
tent.  Swearing  Caleb  to  secrecy,  Falkland 


102 


confessed  to  the  murder  of  Barnabas 
Tyrrel  and  threatened  Caleb  with  irrep 
arable  harm  if  he  should  ever  betray 
his  employer. 

Falkland's  mansion  became  a  prison 
for  Caleb,  and  he  resolved  to  run  away 
no  matter  what  the  consequences  might 
be.  When  he  had  escaped  to  an  inn,  he 
received  a  letter  ordering  him  to  return 
to  defend  himself  against  a  charge  of 
theft.  When  Falkland  produced  from 
Caleb's  baggage  some  missing  jewels  and 
bank  notes,  Caleb  was  sent  to  prison  in 
disgrace,  His  only  chance  to  prove  his 
innocence  was  to  disclose  Falkland's  mo 
tive,  a  thing  no  one  would  believe. 

Caleb  spent  many  months  in  jail,  con 
fined  in  a  dreary,  filthy  dungeon  and 
bound  with  chains.  Thomas,  a  servant 
of  Falkland  and  a  former  neighbor  of 
Caleb's  father,  visited  Caleb  in  his  cell. 
Perceiving  Caleb  in  his  miserable  con 
dition,  Thomas  could  only  wonder  at 
English  law  which  kept  a  man  so  impris 
oned  while  he  waited  many  months  for 
trial.  Compassion  forced  Thomas  to 
bring  Caleb  tools  with  which  he  could 
escape  from  his  dungeon.  At  liberty  once 
more,  Caleb  found  himself  in  a  hostile 
world  with  no  resources. 

At  first  he  became  an  associate  of 
thieves,  but  he  left  the  gang  after  he  had 
made  an  enemy  of  a  man  named  Gines. 
When  he  went  to  London,  hoping  to 
hide  there,  Gines  followed  him  and  soon 
Caleb  was  again  caught  and  arrested. 


Falkland  visited  him  and  explained  that 
he  knew  every  move  Caleb  had  made 
since  he  had  escaped  from  prison.  Falk 
land  told  Caleb  that  although  he  would 
no  longer  prosecute  him  for  theft,  he 
would  continue  to  make  Caleb's  life  in 
tolerable.  Wherever  Caleb  went,  Gines 
followed  and  exposed  Caleb's  story  to  the 
community.  Caleb  tried  to  escape  to 
Holland,  but  as  he  was  to  land  in  that 
free  country,  Gines  appeared  and  stopped 
him. 

Caleb  returned  to  England  and 
charged  Falkland  with  murder,  asking 
the  magistrate  to  call  Falkland  before 
the  court.  At  first  the  magistrate  refused 
to  summon  Falkland  to  reply  to  this 
charge.  But  Caleb  insisted  upon  his 
rights  and  Falkland  appeared.  The  squire 
had  now  grown  terrible  to  behold;  his 
haggard  and  ghostlike  appearance  showed 
that  he  had  not  long  to  live. 

Caleb  pressed  his  charges,  in  an  at 
tempt  to  save  himself  from  a  life  of 
persecution  and  misery.  So  well  did 
Caleb  describe  his  miserable  state  and 
his  desperate  situation  that  the  dying 
man  was  deeply  touched.  Demonstrating 
the  kindness  of  character  and  the  honesty 
for  which  Caleb  had  first  admired  him, 
Falkland  admitted  his  wrong  doings  and 
cleared  Caleb's  reputation. 

In  a  few  days  the  sick  man  died,  leav 
ing  Caleb  remorseful  but  determined  to 
make  a  fresh  start  in  life. 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WILD 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Jack  London  (1876-1916) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1897 

Locale:  Alaska 

First  published:  1903 

Principal  characters: 
BUCK,  a  dog 
A  SPITZ,  his  enemy 
JOHN  THORNTON,  his  friend 

Critique: 

The  most  popular  of  all  Jack  London's 
books  is  The  Call  of  the  Wild.  The  great 


dog  Buck  seems  not  an  animal  but  a 
human  being.    London  obviously  had  0 


103 


great  love  for  animals  and  the  country 
he  wrote  about,  and  he  transferred  that 
love  into  tales  which  are  read  as  widely 
now  as  they  were  when  first  published. 
For  those  who  like  adventure  and  ex 
citement,  The  Call  o\  the  Wild  is  an  ex 
cellent  evening's  entertainment, 

The  Story: 

Buck  was  the  undisputed  leader  of  all 
the  dogs  on  Judge  Miller's  estate  in  Cali 
fornia,  A  crossbreed  of  St.  Bernard  and 
Scottish  shepherd,  he  had  inherited  the 
size  of  the  first  and  the  intelligence  of 
the  other.  Buck  could  not  know  that  the 
lust  for  gold  liad  hit  the  human  beings 
of  the  country  and  that  dogs  of  his 
breed  were  much  in  demand  as  sled  dogs 
in  the  frozen  North,  Consequently  he 
was  not  suspicious  when  one  of  the 
workmen  on  the  estate  took  him  for  a 
walk  one  night.  The  man  took  Buck  to 
the  railroad  station,  where  the  dog  heard 
the  exchange  of  money.  Then  a  rope 
was  placed  around  his  neck.  When  fie 
struggled  to  get  loose,  the  rope  was 
drawn  so  tight  that  it  shut  off  his  breath 
and  he  lost  consciousness. 

He  recovered  in  a  baggage  car.  When 
the  train  reached  Seattle,  Buck  tried  to 
break  out  of  his  cage  while  he  was  being 
unloaded.  A  man  in  a  red  shirt  hit  him 
with  a  club  until  he  was  senseless.  After 
that,  Buck  knew  that  he  could  never  win 
a  fight  against  a  club.  lie  retained  that 
knowledge  for  future  use. 

Buck  was  put  in  a  pen  with  other  dogs 
of  his  type.  Each  day  some  of  the  dogs 
went  away  with  strange  men  who  came 
with  money.  One  day  Buck  was  sold. 
Two  French-Canadians  bought  him  and 
some  other  clogs  and  took  them  on  board 
a  ship  sailing  lor  Alaska.  The  men  were 
fair,  though  harsh,  masters,  and  Buck 
respected  them.  Life  on  the  ship  was  not 
particularly  enjoyable,  but  it  was  a  para 
dise  compared  to  that  which  awaited 
Buck  when  the  ship  reached  Alaska. 
There  he  found  men  and  dogs  to  be 


little  more  than  savages,  with  no  law  but 
the  law  of  force.  The  dogs  fought  like 
wolves,  and  when  one  was  downed  the 
pack  moved  in  for  the  kill.  Buck  watched 
one  of  his  shipmates  being  torn  to  pieces 
after  he  lost  a  fight,  and  he  never  forgot 
the  way  one  dog  in  particular,  a  Spitz, 
watched  sly-eyed  as  the  loser  was  slashed 
to  ribbons.  The  Spitz  was  Buck's  enemy 
from  that  time  on. 

Buck  and  the  other  dogs  were  har 
nessed  to  sleds  on  which  the  two  French- 
Canadians  carried  mail  to  prospectors  in 
remote  regions.  It  was  a  new  kind  of  life 
to  Buck,  but  not  an  unpleasant  one.  The 
men  treated  the  dogs  well,  and  Buck 
was  intelligent  enough  to  learn  quickly 
those  things  which  made  him  a  good  sled 
clog.  He  learned  to  dig  under  the  snow 
for  a  warm  place  to  sleep  and  to  keep 
the  traces  clear  and  thus  make  pulling 
easier.  When  he  was  hungry,  he  stole 
food.  The  instincts  of  his  ancestors 
came  to  life  in  him  as  the  sled  went 
farther  and  farther  north.  In  some  vague 
manner  he  sensed  the  great  cunning  of 
the  wolves  who  had  been  his  ancestors  in 
the  wilderness, 

Buck's  muscles  grew  firm  and  taut,  his 
strength  greater  than  ever.  But  his  feet 
became  sore  and  he  had  to  have  moc 
casins.  Occasionally  one  of  the  dogs 
died  or  was  killed  in  a  fight,  and  one 
female  went  mad*  The  dogs  no  longer 
worked  as  a  team,  and  the  two  men  had 
to  be  on  guard  constantly  to  prevent 
fights.  One  day  Buck  saw  his  chance,  I  le 
attacked  the  Spitz,  the  lead  clog  on  the 
sled,  and  killed  him.  After  that  Buck 
refused  to  be  harnessed  until  he  was 
given  the  lead  position.  1  le  proved  his 
worth  by  whipping  the  rebellious  dogs 
into  shape,  and  he  became  the  best  lead 
dog  the  men  had  ever  seen.  The  sled 
made  record  runs,  and  Buck  was  soon 
famous. 

When  they  reached  Skaguay,  the  two 
French-Canadians  had  oflicial  orders  to 
turn  the  team  over  to  a  Scottish  half- 


K  CAU,  OF  THK.  WIU)  by  Jack  London.    By  permiauion  of  the  publishers,  The  Marmillan  Co*    Copyright. 
f,<H)'J,  1912,  by  Tb«  Mflcmillan  Co.    Renewed,  1931,  by  Th«  Macmillan  Co. 


104 


breed.  The  sled  was  heavier  and  the 
weather  bad  on  the  long  haul  back  to 
Dawson.  At  night  Buck  lav  by  the  fire 
and  dreamed  of  his  wild  ancestors.  He 
seemed  to  hear  a  far-away  call  which 
was  like  a  wolf's  cry. 

After  two  days'  rest  in  Dawson,  the 
team  started  back  over  the  long  trail 
to  Skaguay.  The  dogs  were  almost  ex 
hausted.  Some  died  and  had  to  be  re 
placed.  When  the  team  arrived  again 
in  Skaguay,  the  dogs  expected  to  rest, 
but  three  days  later  they  were  sold  to 
two  men  and  a  woman  who  knew  noth 
ing  about  dogs  or  sledding  conditions  in 
the  northern  wilderness.  Buck  and  the 
other  dogs  started  out  again,  so  weary 
that  it  was  an  effort  to  move.  Again 
and  again  the  gallant  dogs  stumbled  and 
fell  and  lay  still  until  the  sting  of  a  whip 
brought  them  to  their  feet  for  a  few 
miles.  At  last  even  Buck  gave  up.  The 
sled  had  stopped  at  the  cabin  of  John 
Thornton,  and  when  the  men  and  the 
woman  were  ready  to  leave  Buck  refused 
to  get  up.  One  of  the  men  beat  Buck 
with  a  club  and  would  have  killed  him 
had  not  Thornton  intervened,  knocking 
the  man  down  and  ordering  him  and 
his  companions  to  leave.  They  left  Buck 
with  Thornton. 

As  Thornton  nursed  Buck  back  to 
health,  a  feeling  of  love  and  respect 
grew  between  them.  When  Thornton's 
partners  returned  to  the  cabin,  they 
understood  this  affection  and  did  not  at 
tempt  to  use  Buck  for  any  of  their 
heavy  work. 

Twice  Buck  saved  Thornton's  life 
and  was  glad  that  he  could  repay  his 
friend.  In  Dawson  Buck  won  more  than 


a  thousand  dollars  for  Thornton  on  a 
wager,  when  the  dog  broke  loose  from 
the  ice  a  sled  carrying  a  thousand-pouncJ 
load.  With  the  money  won  on  the 
wager,  Thornton  and  his  partners  went 
on  a  gold-hunting  expedition.  They 
traveled  far  into  eastern  Alaska,  where 
they  found  a  stream  yellow  with  gold, 

In  his  primitive  mind  Buck  began  to 
see  a  hairy  man  who  hunted  with  a 
club.  He  heard  the  howling  of  the 
wolves.  Sometimes  he  wandered  off  for 
three  or  four  days  at  a  time,  but  he 
always  went  back  to  Thornton.  At  one 
time  he  made  friends  with  a  wolf  that 
seemed  like  a  brother  to  Buck. 

Once  Buck  chased  and  killed  a  great 
bull  moose.  On  his  way  back  to  the 
camp,  he  sensed  that  something  was 
wrong.  He  found  several  dogs  lying 
dead  along  the  trail.  When  he  reached 
the  camp,  he  saw  Indians  dancing  around 
the  bodies  of  the  dogs  and  Thornton's 
two  partners.  He  followed  Thornton's 
trail  to  the  river,  where  he  found  the 
body  of  his  friend  full  of  arrows.  Buck 
was  filled  with  such  a  rage  that  he  at 
tacked  the  band  of  Indians,  killing  some 
and  scattering  the  others. 

His  last  tie  with  man  broken,  he 
joined  his  brothers  in  the  wild  wolf 
packs.  The  Indians  thought  him  a  ghost 
dog,  for  they  seldom  saw  more  than  his 
shadow,  so  quickly  did  he  move.  But 
had  the  Indians  watched  carefully,  they 
could  have  seen  him  closely.  Once  each 
year  Buck  returned  to  the  river  that 
held  Thornton's  body,  There  the  dog 
stood  on  the  bank  and  howled,  one  long, 
piercing  cry  that  was  the  tribute  of  a 
savage  beast  to  his  human  friend. 


CAMILLE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Alexandra  Dumas,  son  (1824-1895) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  ojplot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  France 

First  presented:  1852 

Principal  characters: 

CAMILUB  GAUTIEE,  a  woman  ox  Paris 


105 


NANHSTE,  her  maid 

COUNT  DE  VARVILLE,  who  desired  Camille 

ARMAND  DUVAL,  who  loved  her 

M.  DUVAL,  Annand's  father 

MAT>AME  PRUDENCE,  Camille's  friend 


Critique: 

Although  Camitte  was  published  as  a 
novel  in  1848,  the  story  is  better  known 
in  the  dramatic  version  first  presented  in 
1852.  Camille,  which  introduced  to  the 
French  stage  a  new  treatment  of  social 
and  moral  problems,  was  received  with 
critical  acclaim,  To  the  modern  audi 
ence  the  stoiy  of  Camille  and  her  love 
affairs  seems  somewhat  exaggerated,  for 
the  characters  in  the  play  are  sentimental 
and  unreal.  But  the  moral  problem  pre 
sented  is  one  that  is  present  in  any  soci 
ety,  whether  it  be  modern  or  a  thousand 
years  old. 

The  Story: 

Camille  Gaxitier  was  a  woman  of  poor 
reputation  in  the  city  of  Paris.  The 
symbol  of  her  character  was  the  camellia, 
pale  and  cold.  She  had  once  been  a 
noedleworker  who,  whiles  taking  a  rest 
cure  in  Bagneres,  had  been  befriended 
by  a  wealthy  duke  whose  daughter  she 
resembled.  After  the  death  of  his 
daughter,  the  duke  had  taken  Camille 
back  to  Paris  and  introduced  her  into 
society.  But  hi  some  way  the  story  of 
Canullc's  past  life  had  been  rumored  on 
the  boulevards,  and  society  frowned  upon 
her.  She  was  respected  only  by  a  few 
friends  who  knew  that  she  longed  for  a 
true  love  and  wished  to  leave  the  gay 
life  of  Paris.  She  was  heavily  in  debt  for 
her  losses  at  cards  and  had  no  money  of 
her  own  to  pny  her  creditors. 

The  Count  de  Varville,  her  latest  ad 
mirer,  oifered  to  pay  all  her  debts  if  she 
would  become  his  mistress.  Before  she 
gave  her  consent,  however,  she  met 
Annand  Duval.  Annand  had  nothing  to 
oiler  her  but  his  love.  1  le  was  presented 
to  Camille  by  her  milliner,  Madame 
Prudence,  who  pretended  to  be  her  friend 
but  who  was  loyal  to  her  only  because 
Camiile  was  generous  with  her  money. 


At  first  Camille  scorned  Annand's 
love,  for  although  she  longed  for  a  simple 
life  she  thought  she  could  never  actually 
live  in  poverty,  But  Armand  was  per 
sistent,  and  at  last  Camille.  loved  him 
and  told  him  she  would  forsake  her  pres 
ent  friends  and  go  away  with  him.  Be 
cause  she  had  a  racking  cough,  Armand 
wanted  Camille  to  leave  Paris  and  go  to 
a  qxiiet  spot  where  she  could  rest  and 
have  fresh  air. 

Camille,  Armand,  and  Naninc,  her 
maid,  moved  to  a  cottage  in  the  country. 
1,'or  many  weeks  Annand  was  suspicious 
of  Camille  and  feared  she  missed  her 
former  companions.  Convinced  at  last 
of  her  true  love,  Annand  lost  his  uneasi 
ness  and  they  were  happy  together.  The 
garden  (lowers  be  grew  replaced  the 
camellias  she  had  always  worn  in  Paris. 

Their  happiness  was  brief,  Annand's 
father  called  on  Camille  and  begged  her 
to  renounce  his  son,  lie  knew  her  past 
reputation,  and  he  felt  that  his  son  had 
placed  himself  and  his  family  in  a  dis~ 
graceful  position,  Camille  would  not 
listen  to  him,  for  she  knew  that  Armand 
loved  her  and  would  not  be  happy  with 
out  her.  Then  Annand's  father  told  her 
that  his  daughter  was  betrothed  to  a 
man  who  threatened  to  break  the  en 
gagement  if  Annand  and  Camille  insisted 
on  remaining  together.  Moved  by  sym 
pathy  Tor  the  young  girl,  Camille  prom 
ised  Annand's  father  that  she  would  send 
his  son  away.  She  knew  that  he  would 
never  leave  her  unless  she  betrayed  him, 
and  she  planned  to  tell  him  that  she  no 
longer  loved  him  but  was  going  to  return 
to  her  former  life.  Annand's  father  knew 
then  that  she  truly  loved  his  son  and  he 
promised  that  alter  her  death,  which 
she  felt  would  be  soon,  he  would  tell 
Annand  she  had  renounced  him  only  i'or 
the  sake  of  his  family. 


106 


Camilla,  knowing  that  she  could  never 
tell  Armand  that  lie,  wrote  a  note  declar 
ing  her  dislike  for  the  simple  life  he  had 
provided  for  her  and  her  intention  to  re 
turn  to  de  Varville  in  Paris.  When 
Armand  read  the  letter,  he  swooned  in 
his  father's  arms. 

He  left  the  cottage  and  then  Paris,  and 
did  not  return  for  many  weeks.  Mean 
while  Camille  had  resumed  her  old  life 
and  spent  all  her  time  at  the  opera  or 
playing  cards  with  her  former  associates, 
always  wearing  a  camellia  in  public. 
Count  de  Varville  was  her  constant  com 
panion,  but  her  heart  was  still  with 
Armand.  Her  cough  was  much  worse. 
Knowing  she  would  soon  die,  she  longed 
to  see  Armand  once  more. 

When  Camille  and  Armand  met  at 
last,  Armand  insulted  her  honor  and 
that  of  the  Count  de  Varville.  He  threw 
gold  pieces  on  Camille,  asserting  they 
were  the  bait  to  catch  and  hold  her  kind, 
and  he  announced  to  the  company  pres 
ent  that  the  Count  de  Varville  was  a 


man  of  gold  but  not  of  honor.  Chal 
lenged  by  de  Varville,  Armand  wounded 
the  count  in  a  duel  and  left  Paris.  He 
returned  only  after  his  father,  realizing 
the  sacrifice  Camille  had  made,  wrote, 
telling  him  the  true  story  of  Camille's 
deception,  and  explaining  that  she  had 
left  him  only  for  the  sake  of  his  sister's 
honor  and  happiness. 

By  the  time  Armand  could  reach  Paris, 
Camille  was  dying.  Only  Nanine  and  a 
few  faithful  friends  remained  with  her. 
Madame  Prudence  remained  because 
Camille,  even  in  her  poverty,  shared 
what  she  had.  Camille  and  Nanine  had 
moved  to  a  small  and  shabby  flat,  and 
there  Armand  found  them.  He  arrived  to 
find  Camille  on  her  deathbed  but  wear 
ing  again  the  simple  flowers  he  had  once 
given  her.  He  threw  himself  down  beside 
her,  declaring  his  undying  love  and  beg 
ging  for  her  forgiveness.  Thus,  the  once 
beautiful  Camille,  now  as  wasted  as  the 
flowers  she  wore  on  her  breast,  died  in 
the  arms  of  her  true  love. 


CANDIDE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author.  Francois  Marie  Arouet  de  Voltaire  (1694-1778) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Europe  and  South  America 

First  published:  1759 

Principal  characters: 

CANDIDE,  Baroness  Thunder-ten-tronckh's  illegitimate  son 

MLLE.  CUNEGONDE,  Baron  Thtmder-ten-troncldTs  daughter 

P  ANGLOS  s,  Candide's  friend  and  tutor 

CACAMBO,  Candide's  servant 


Critique: 

Candide,  the  most  popular  of  Voltaire's 
works,  is  a  masterful  satire  on  the  follies 
and  vices  of  men.  Everything  which 
permeates  and  controls  the  lives  of  men 
is  taken  to  task — romance,  science,  phi 
losophy,  religion,  and  government.  The 
mistakes  of  men  in  this  story  are  exactly 
the  same  that  men  make  today.  Candide 
is  a  commentary  which  is  timeless  be 
cause  it  is  as  contemporary  as  today's 
newspaper. 


The  Story. 

Candide  was  born  in  Westphalia,  the 
illegitimate  son  of  Baron  Thunder-ten- 
tronckh's  sister.  Dr.  Pang]oss,  his  tutor, 
and  a  devout  follower  of  Liebnitz,  taught 
him  metaphysico-theologo-cosmolonigolo- 
gy  and  assured  his  pupil  that  this  is  the 
best  of  all  possible  worlds.  Cunegonde, 
the  daughter  of  the  baron,  kissed  Can 
dide  one  day  behind  a  screen.  Candide 
was  expelled  from  the  noble  baron's 
household. 


107 


Impressed  into  the  army  of  the  King  of 
Bulgaria,  Candide  deserted  during  a 
battle  between  the  King  of  Bulgaria  and 
the  King  of  Abarcs.  Later  he  was  be 
friended  by  James  the  Anabaptist.  He 
also  met  his  old  friend,  Dr,  Pangloss,  now 
a  beggar.  James,  Pangloss,  and  Candide 
started  for  Lisbon.  Their  ship  was 
wrecked  in  a  storm  off  the  coast  of  Por 
tugal.  James  was  drowned,  but  Candide 
and  Pangloss  swam  to  shore  just  as  an 
earthquake  shook  the  city.  The  rulers  of 
Lisbon,  both  secular  and  religious,  de 
cided  to  punish  those  people  whose 
wickedness  had  brought  about  the  earth 
quake,  and  Canclide  and  Pangloss  were 
among  the  accused,  Pangloss  was  hanged, 
Candide  thoroughly  whipped. 

While  he  was  smarting  from  his 
wounds,  an  old  woman  accosted  Candide 
and  told  him  to  have  courage  and  to 
follow  her.  She  led  him  to  a  house  where 
he  was  fed  and  clothed.  Then  Cune- 
gonde  appeared.  Candide  was  amazed 
because  Pangloss  had  told  him  that  Cune- 
goncle  was  dead.  Cunc&omle  related  the 
story  of  her  life  from  the  time  that  she 
last  saw  Candide  to  their  happy  meeting. 
She  was  being  kept  by  a  Jew  and  an 
Inquisitor,  but  she  held  both  men  at  a 
distance.  Candide  killed  the  Jew  and  the 
Inquisitor  when  they  came  to  see  her. 

With  the  old  woman,  Cunegomle  and 
Candide  fled  to  Cadi'/,  where  they  were 
robbed,  In  despair,  they  sailed  for  Para 
guay,  where  Canclide  hoped  to  enlist  in 
the  Spanish  army  which  was  fighting  the 
rebellious  Jesuits.  During  the  voyage  the 
old  woman  told  her  story.  They  learned 
that  she  was  the  daughter  of  Pope  Urban 
X  and  the  Princess  of  Palestrina, 

The  governor  of  Buenos  Aires  de 
veloped  a  great  affection  for  Cunegomle, 
and  through  his  scheming  Candide  was 
accused  of  having  committed  robbery 
while  still  in  Spam,  Candicle  fled  witft 
his  servant,  Cacamho;  Cunegonde  ami 
the  old  woman  remained  behind.  When 
Candide  decided  to  fight  for  the  Jesuits, 
he  learned  that  the  commandant  was 
in  reality  Cunegonde's  brother.  But  the 


brother  would  not  hear  of  his  sister's 
marriage  to  Candide.  They  quarreled, 
and  Candide,  fearing  that  he  had 
killed  the  brother,  took  to  the  road  with 
Cacambo  once  more.  Shortly  afterward 
they  were  captured  by  the  Oreillons,  a 
tribe  of  savage  Indians,  but  when  Cacam 
bo  proved  they  were  not  Jesuits,  the 
two  were  allowed  to  go  free.  They 
traveled  on  to  Eldorado.  There  life  was 
simple  and  perfect,  but  Candide  was  not 
happy  because  he  missed  Cunegonde. 

At  last  he  decided  to  take  some  of  the 
useless  jeweled  pebbles  and  golden  mud 
of  Eldorado  ami  return  to  Buenos  Aires 
to  search  for  Cunegonde.  I  le  and  Cacam 
bo  started  out  with  a  hundred  sheep  laden 
with  riches,  but  they  lost  all  but  two 
sheep  and  the  wealth  these  animals 
carried. 

Canclide  approached  a  Dutch  mer 
chant  and  tried  to  arrange  passage  to 
Buenos  Aires.  The  merchant  sailed  away 
with  Candida's  money  and  treasures, 
leaving  Candide  behind.  Cacambo  then 
went  to  Buenos  Aires  to  find  Cunegonde 
and  take  her  to  Venice  to  meet  Canclide. 
After  many  adventures,  including  a  sea 
fight  and  the  miraculous  recovery  of  one 
of  his  lost  shocp  from  a  sinking  ship, 
Candide  arrived  at  Bordeaux.  I  lis  in 
tention  was  to  go  to  Venice  by  way  of 
Paris.  Police  arrested  him  in  Paris,  how 
ever,  and  Canclide.  was  forced  to  buy 
his  freedom  with  diamonds.  Later  he 
sailed  on  a  Dutch  ship  to  Portsmouth, 
Rutland,  where  he  witnessed  the  ex 
ecution  of  an  Hnglish  admiral.  From 
Portsmouth  he  went  to  Venice,  There  he 
found  no  Caeambo  and  no  Cunegonde. 
f  le  did,  however,  twct  Paqtiette,  Cune- 
gomle's  waiting  maid.  Shortly  afterward 
Cnndicle  encountered  Caeambo,  who  was 
now  a  slave,  and  who  informed  him  that 
Cum^omle  was  in  Constantinople,  In 
the  Venetian  galley  which  carried  them 
to  Constantinople,  Candide  found  Pan- 
gloss  and  Gunegonde's  brother  among 
the  galleyslnves.  Pangloss  related  that 
he  had  miraculously  escaped  from  his 
hanging  in  Lisbon  because  the  bungling 


108 


hangman  had  not  been  able  to  tie  a 
proper  knot,  Cunegonde's  brother  told 
how  he  survived  the  wound  which  Can- 
dide  had  thought  fatal.  Candide  bought 
both  men  from  the  Venetians  and  gave 
them  their  freedom. 

When  the  group  arrived  at  Constanti 


nople,  Candide  bought  the  old  woman 
and  Cunegonde  from  their  masters  and 
also  purchased  a  little  farm  to  which 
they  all  retired.  There  each  had  his  own 
particular  work  to  do.  Candide  decided 
that  the  best  thing  in  the  world  was  to 
cultivate  one's  garden. 


CAPTAIN  HORATIO  HORNBLOWER 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:  C.  S.  Forester  (1899-         ) 

Type  of  plot:    Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   The  Pacific  Ocean,  South  America,  the  Mediterranean,  Spain,  France,  England 

and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
First  published:    1937,  1938,  1939 
Principal  characters: 

CAPTAIN  HOBATTO  HORNBLOWER,  captain  of  H.  M,  S.  Lydia  and  H.  M.  S.  Sutherland 

BUSH,  first  lieutenant 

BROWN,  captain's  coxswain 

DON  JULIAN  ALVARADO  (EL  SUPREMO),  a  rich  plantation  owner  of  Central  America 

MARIA,  Hornblower's  wife 

LADY  BARBARA  WELLESLEY,  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  sister 

ADMIRAL  LEIGHTON,  Hornblower's  immediate  commander  and  Lady  Barbara's  husband 

Critique: 

C,  S.  Forester  has  created  in  Captain 
Hornblower  a  personality  of  wide  gen 
eral  appeal,  and  the  writer's  technical 
knowledge  of  war  at  sea  is  woven  into 
the  story  with  such  skill  that  one  learns 
unconsciously  the  language  of  the  sea 
men,  the  parts  of  a  fighting  ship,  and 
something  of  naval  gunnery.  The  Horn- 
blower  novels — Beat  to  Quarters,  "Plying 
Colours,  and  A  Ship  of  the  Line — have 
been  read  with  interest  and  enthusiasm 
by  readers  of  all  classes  and  all  ages. 


The  Story: 

Captain  Horatio  Hornblower,  com 
mander  of  H.  M.  S.  Lydia,  a  thirty-six- 
gun  frigate,  was  sailing  under  sealed 
orders  from  England  around  the  Horn  to 
the  Gulf  of  Fonseca  on  the  western  shores 
of  Spanish  America.  He  had  been 
ordered  to  form  an  alliance  with  Don 
Julian  Alvarado,  a  large  landowner,  to 
assist  in  raising  a  rebellion  against  Spain. 
The  Lydia  carried  the  necessary  muni 


tions  with  which  to  start  the  revolution. 
In  addition,  Hornblower  had  fifty  thou 
sand  guineas  in  gold  which  he  was  to 
give  for  the  support  of  the  rebellion 
only  if  the  revolt  threatened  to  fail  with 
out  English  gold  to  back  it.  To  do  other 
wise  would  result  in  court-martial.  His 
orders  also  casually  mentioned  the  pres 
ence  in  Pacific  waters  of  a  fifty-gun  Span 
ish  ship  called  the  Natividad.  It  was  his 
duty  to  take,  sink,  burn,  or  destroy  this 
ship  at  the  first  opportunity. 

After  the  ship  had  been  anchored  in 
the  Gulf  of  Fonseca  a  small  boat  appeared 
containing  emissaries  from  Don  Alvarado, 
who  now  called  himself  El  Supremo. 
They  told  Hornblower  that  El  Supremo 
required  the  captain's  attendance. 

Hornblower  was  not  pleased  with  evi 
dences  of  El  Supremo's  tyranny.  What 
he  observed  made  him  only  the  more 
cautious.  He  refused  to  hand  over  to  El 
Supremo  the  arms  and  ammunition  which 
he  had  until  his  ship  had  taken  on  food 


CAPTAIN  HORATIO  HORNBLOWER  by  C.   S.   Forester.    By  permission   of  Harold  Matson.    Published  by 
Litile.  Brown  &  Co.    Copyright,  1939,  by  Cecil  Scott  Forester. 


109 


and  water.  The  ship  was  loaded  with 
stores  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  the 
operation  was  going  forward  when  a 
lookout  on  the  mountain  announced  the 
approach  of  the  Natividad. 

Deciding  to  try  to  capture  her  in  the 
hay,  Hornblower  hid  the  Lydia  behind 
an  island  as  the  Natividad  approached. 
At  the  moment  which  gave  him  the 
greatest  advantage,  Hornblower  ordered 
the  Lydia  to  sail  alongside  the  Natividad 
and  rake  her  decks  with  grapeshot.  The 
British  sailors  lashed  the  two  ships  to 
gether  and  boarded  the  Natividad.  El 
Supremo  demanded  the  captured  ship 
as  his  own,  Hornblower  hesitated  to 
turn  over  his  prize  to  El  Supremo,  but 
he  dared  not  antagonize  the  dictator  if 
he  were  to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  his 
orders, 

I  lornblowcr  sailed  away  and  shortly 
afterward  learned  that  England  was  now 
an  ally  of  Spain  because  of  Napoleon's 
deposition  of  King  Ferdinand.  lie  also 
received  further  orders,  one  from  his 
admiral  and  one  from  an  English  lady 
in  Panama.  The  Englishwoman  was 
Lady  Barbara  Wellesley,  sister  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  who  requested 
transportation  to  England.  During  this 
period  the  Lydia  met  and  defeated  the 
Natividad,  now  under  El  Supremo,  A 
long  period  of  association  between  Lady 
Barbara  and  Hornblower  ended  in  deep 
mutual  love.  But  I  lornblower  could  not 
bring  himself  to  make  love  to  her  because 
of  his  wife  Maria  at  home  and  because 
of  his  own  chivalry.  Lady  Barbara  was 
carried  safely  to  England* 

Captain  I  loratio  1  lornblower  was  next 
ordered  to  command  II.  M.  S.  Slither* 
land)  a  seventy-four-gun  battleship.  He 
sailed  with  the  Pluto  and  the  Caligula 
to  protect  a  convoy  of  merchant  ships  as 
far  as  the  latitude  of  North  Africa,  They 
met  I 'rench  privateers  and  beat  them 
off.  Before  parting  company  with  the 
merchantmen,  I  lornblower  impressed 
sailors  from  the  convoy. 

Sailing  along  the  coast,  he  captured 
the  Atwlie,  attacked  the  battery  at  Llan- 


za,  burned  and  destroyed  supply  vessels, 
and  shelled  two  divisions  of  cavalry  on 
a  highway  passing  near  the  seashore. 

Admiral  Leighton — now  Lady  Bar 
bara's  husband — ordered  Hornblower  to 
join  and  take  charge  of  Spanish  forces 
at  the  siege  of  French-held  Rosas,  but 
the  operation  failed  because  the  Span 
iards  did  not  cooperate.  After  his  re 
treat  Hornblower  met  the  Cassandra,  a 
British  frigate,  and  learned  that  four 
French  ships  were  bearing  down  upon 
them.  Hornblower  decided  to  fight,  even 
though  the  odds  were  four  to  one,  and 
sent  the  Cassandra  to  seek  the  Pluto  and 
the  Caligula.  The  Cassandra  came  back 
and  relayed  a  message  to  I  lornblower  to 
engage  the  enemy,  That  order  indicated 
the  presence  of  the  admiral's  flagship. 
Hornblower  engaged  the  French  ships 
one  at  a  time.  The  fourth  French  ship, 
however,  came  upon  him  as  he  was  fight 
ing  a  two-decker  and  forced  him  to  sur 
render. 

After  his  surrender  I  lornblower  and 
Bush  were  imprisoned  at  Rosas.  Admiral 
Leighton  sailed  into  the  bay  with  the 
Pluto  and  the  Caligula  and  completed  the 
destruction  of  the  French  squadron. 
Hornblower  watched  the  battle  from  the 
walls  and  saw  the  Sutherland*  which  had 
been  beached,  take  fire  as  a  raiding  party 
of  British  seamen  burned  her  to  prevent 
her  use  by  the  French.  I  Ie  learned  from 
a  seaman  that  Admiral  1  .eighton  had  been 
injured  by  a  Hying  splinter. 

Colonel  Galliarcl,  Napoleon's  aide, 
came  to  Rosas  to  take  1  lornblower  and 
the  wounded  Bush  to  Paris.  Bush  was 
seriously  ill  as  a  result  of  losing  a  foot 
in  the  buttle,  therefore  llornblower  re 
quested  a  servant  to  attend  Bush  on  the 
long  journey.  He  selected  Brown,  the 
coxswain,  because  of  his  strength,  his 
common  sense,  and  his  ability  to  adapt 
himself  to  every  situation,  In  France 
their  stagecoach  was  halted  by  a  snow 
storm  near  Nevers,  llornblower  had 
noticed  a  small  boat  moored  to  the  bank 
of  a  river  and,  us  he  and  Brown  as 
sisted  the  French  in  trying  to  move  the 


no 


coach,  he  laid  his  plans  for  escape.  He 
himself  attacked  Colonel  Calliard  and 
Brown  tied  up  the  Frenchman  and 
threw  him  into  the  bottom  of  the  coach. 
They  lifted  Bush  out  of  the  coach  and 
carried  him  to  the  boat.  The  whole 
operation  required  only  six  minutes. 

The  fugitives  made  their  way  down 
the  river  in  the  dead  of  night  with  Horn- 
blower  rowing  while  Brown  bailed  the 
icy  water  from  the  boat.  When  the 
boat  crashed  against  a  rock,  Hornblower, 
thinking  he  had  lost  Bush  and  Brown, 
swam  ashore  in  the  darkness.  Brown, 
however,  brought  Bush  safely  to  shore. 
Shivering  with  cold,  the  three  men  made 
their  way  to  a  farmhouse  nearby,  where 
they  announced  themselves  as  prisoners 
of  war  and  were  admitted. 

Throughout  the  winter  they  remained 
as  guests  of  its  owner,  Comte  de  Gra^ay, 
and  his  daughter-in-law.  Brown  made  an 
artificial  foot  for  Bush  and,  when  Bush 
was  able  to  get  around  well,  he  and 
Brown  built  a  boat  in  which  to  travel 
down  the  Loire. 


In  early  summer  Hornblower  disguised 
himself  as  a  Dutch  customs  inspector. 
To  complete  his  disguise  the  comte  gave 
him  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
which  had  been  his  son's.  That  decora 
tion  aided  Hornblower  in  his  escape. 

When  Hornblower  and  his  two  men 
arrived  in  the  harbor  at  Nantes,  Horn- 
blower  cleverly  took  possession  of  the 
Witch  of  Endor,  taking  with  him  a  group 
of  prisoners  to  man  the  ship.  They  made 
their  way  to  England.  Upon  his  arrival, 
Hornblower  was  praised  for  his  exploits, 
knighted,  and  whitewashed  at  a  court- 
martial.  His  sickly  wife  had  died  during 
his  absence  and  Lady  Barbara  had  be 
come  guardian  of  his  young  son.  Horn- 
blower  went  to  the  home  of  Lady  Bar 
bara  to  see  his  son — and  Barbara.  She 
was  now  a  widow,  Admiral  Leighton 
having  died  of  wounds  at  Gibraltar,  and 
Hornblower  realized  from  the  quiet 
warmth  of  her  welcome  that  she  was  al 
ready  his.  He  felt  that  life  had  given 
him  fame  and  fortune — in  Barbara,  good 
fortune  indeed. 


CAPTAINS  COURAGEOUS 

Type  of  'work:  Novel 

Author:  Rudyard  Kipling  (1865-1936) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of -plot:  1890's 

Locale:  Grand  Banks  of  Newfoundland 

First  published:  1897 

Principal  characters: 

HARVEY  CHEYNE,  a  spoiled  young  rich  boy 

DISKO  TROOP,  owner  and  captain  of  the  We're  Here 

DAN  TROOP,  his  son 

MR.  CHEYNE,  Harvey's  father 

Critique: 

Captains  Courageous  is  one  of  the 
great  favorites  among  lovers  of  sea  stories, 
for  it  captures  the  spirit  of  the  men  who 
risked  their  lives  to  catch  fish  on  the 
Grand  Banks  in  the  days  before  com 
mercial  fishing  with  steam-powered 
trawlers.  One  of  the  aspects  of  the  novel, 
frequently  overlooked,  however,  is  the 
attention  paid  by  Kipling  to  the  Ameri 


can  millionaire  in  the  story.  He,  also, 
is  one  of  the  "Captains  Courageous." 
As  a  respecter  of  power  and  force,  Kipling 
esteemed  the  capitalist  as  well  as  the 
captain  of  the  fishing  vessel. 

The  Story: 

Harvey  Cheyne  was  a  rich,   spoiled 
boy  of  fifteen  years,  bound  for  Europe 


CAPTAINS  COURAGEOUS  by  Rudyard  Kipling.    By  permission,  of  Mrs.  George  Bambridge  and  the  publishers, 
Doubladay  &  Co.,  Inc.   Copyright,  1896,  1897.  by  Rudyard  Kipling.    Renewed,  1923,  by  Rudyard  Kipling. 


Ill 


aboard  a  swift  ocean  liner.  He  was  a 
seasick  young  man,  as  well,  so  seasick  that 
he  hardly  realised  what  was  happening  to 
him  when  a  huge  wave  washed  him  over 
the  rail  of  the  ship  into  the  sea.  Luckily, 
he  was  picked  up  by  a  fisherman  in  a 
dory,  and  put  aboard  the  fishing  schooner 
We're  Here.  The  owner  and  captain  oi: 
the  boat,  Disko  Troop,  was  not  pleased 
to  have  the  boy  aboard,  but  told  him  that 
he  would  pay  him  ten  dollars  a  month 
and  board  until  the  schooner  docked  in 
Gloucester  the  following  September.  It 
was  then  the  middle  of  May.  But  Har 
vey  insisted  upon  being  taken  to  New 
York  immediately,  asserting  that  his 
father  would  gladly  pay  for  the  trip.  The 
captain,  doubting  that  Harvey's  father 
was  a  millionaire,  refused  to  change  his 
plans  and  hazard  the  profits  of  the  fish 
ing  season.  Harvey  became  insulting. 
Disko  Troop  promptly  punched  him  in 
the  nose  to  teach  him  manners. 

The  captain's  son,  Dan,  soon  became 
the  friend  of  the  castaway*  He  was  glad 
to  have  someone  his  own  age  aboard  the 
fishing  boat,  and  Harvey's  stories  about 
mansions,  private  cars,  and  dinner  parties 
fascinated  him.  Bein^  a  boy,  he  recog 
nized  the  sincerity  of  the  rich  lad  and 
'mew  that  he  could  not  possibly  have 
made  up  all  the  details  of  a  wealthy 
man's  lite. 

As  Harvey  began  to  fit  into  the  life 
aboard  the  schooner,  the  fishermen  all 
took  an  interest  in  his  nautical  education. 
Long  Jack,  one  of  the  crew,  escorted  him 
about  the  boat  to  teach  him  the  names 
of  the  ropes  and  the  various  pieces  of 
equipment.  Harvey  learned  quickly,  for 
two  reasons.  First,  he  was  a  bright  young 
lad,  and,  secondly,  the  sailor  whipped 
him  roughly  with  the  end  of  a  rope  when 
he  gave  the  wrong  answers.  He  also 
learned  how  to  swing  the  dories  aboard 
when  they  were  brought  alongside  with 
the  day's  catch,  to  help  clean  the  cod 
and  salt  them  away  below  the  decks,  and 
to  stand  watoh  at  the  wheel  of  the 
schooner  as  they  went  from  one  fishing 
ground  to  another  on  the  Grand  Banks. 


Even  Disko  Troop  began  to  admit  that 
the  boy  would  be  a  good  hand  before 
they  reached  Gloucester  in  the  fall. 

Gradually  Harvey  became  used  to  the 
sea.  There  were  times  of  pleasure  as 
well  as  work.  He  enjoyed  listening  while 
the  other  eight  members  of  the  crew 
talked  and  told  sea  yarns  in  die  evenings 
or  on  the  days  when  it  was  too  rough 
to  lower  the  dories  and  go  after  cod. 
tie  discovered  that  the  crew  came  from 
all  over  the  world.  Disko  Troop  and  his 
son  were  from  Gloucester,  Long  Jack 
was  from  Ireland,  Manuel  was  a  Por 
tuguese,  Salters  was  a  farmer,  Pennsyl 
vania  was  a  former  preacher  who  had  lost 
his  family  in  the  Johnstown  flood,  and 
the  cook  was  a  Negro  who  had  been 
brought  up  in  Nova  Scotia  and  swore 
in  Gaelic.  All  these  men  fascinated  Har 
vey,  for  they  were  different  from  any 
one  lie  had  ever  known.  What  pleased 
the  boy  most  was  that  they  accepted 
him  on  his  own  merits  as  a  workman 
and  a  member  of  the  crew,  and  not  as  an 
heir  to  millions.  Of  all  the  crew,  only 
Dan  and  the  Negro  cook  believed  Har 
vey's  story* 

One  day  a  French  brig  hailed  the 
We're  Here,  Both  vessels  shortened  sail 
while  Harvey  and  Long  Jack  were  sent 
from  the  schooner  to  the  brig  to  buy 
tobacco.  Much  to  I  larvey's  chagrin, 
he  discovered  that  the  sailors  on  the 
French  boat  could  hardly  understand  his 
schoolboy  French  but  that  they  under 
stood  Long  Jack's  sign  language  perfectly. 

The  French  brig  figured  in  another 
of  Harvey's  adventures.  He  and  Dan 
went  aboard  the  ship  at  a  later  time  to 
buy  a  knife  that  had  belonged  to  a 
deceased  sailor,  Dan  bought  the  knife 
and  gave  it  to  Harvey,  thinking  it  had 
addcxl  value  because  lite.  Frenchman  had 
killed  a  man  with  it.  While  fishing  from 
a  dory  several  days  later,  Harvey  felt  a 
weight,  on  his  line  and  pulled  in  the 
Frenchman's  corpse.  The  boys  cut  the 
line  and  threw  the  knife  into  the  sea,  fox 
it  seemed  to  them  that  the  Frenchman 
had  returned  to  claim  his  knife. 


112 


Although  they  were  the  same  age, 
Harvey  was  not  nearly  as  handy  on  the 
schooner  or  in  the  dory  as  was  Dan,  who 
had  grown  up  around  fishing  boats  and 
fishermen.  But  Harvey  surpassed  Dan  in 
the  use  of  a  sextant.  His  acquaintance 
with  mathematics  and  his  ability  to  use 
his  knowledge  seemed  enormous  to  the 
simple  sailors.  So  impressed  was  Disko 
Troop  that  he  began  to  teach  Harvey 
what  he  knew  about  navigation. 

Early  in  September  the  We're  Here 
joined  the  rest  of  the  fishing  fleet  at  a 
submerged  rock  where  the  cod  fishing  was 
at  its  best,  and  the  fishermen  worked 
around  the  clock  to  finish  loading  the 
holds  with  cod  and  halibut.  The  vessel 
which  first  filled  its  holds  was  not  only 
honored  by  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  but  it 
also  got  the  highest  price  for  the  first 
cargo  into  port.  For  the  past  four  years 
the  We're  Here  had  finished  first,  and  it 
won  honors  again  the  year  Harvey  was 
aboard.  All  canvas  was  set,  the  flag 
was  hoisted,  and  the  schooner  made  the 
triumphant  round  of  the  fleet  picking 
up  letters  to  be  taken  home.  The  home 
ward-bound  men  were  the  envy  of  all 
the  other  fishermen. 

As  soon  as  the  Were  Here  had  docked 
at  Gloucester,  Harvey  sent  a  telegram  to 
his  father  informing  him  that  he  had 
not  been  drowned,  but  was  well  and 
healthy.  Mr.  Cheyne  wired  back  that 
he  would  take  his  private  car  and  travel 


to  Gloucester  as  quickly  as  he  could 
leave  California.  Great  was  the  surprise 
of  Disko  Troop  and  the  rest  of  the  crew, 
except  Dan  and  the  Negro  cook,  when 
they  discovered  that  Harvey's  claims  were 
true. 

Mr.  Cheyne  and  Harvey's  mother  were 
overjoyed  to  see  their  son,  and  their 
happiness  was  increased  many  times 
when  they  observed  how  much  good  the 
work  aboard  the  fishing  schooner  had 
done  him.  It  had  changed  him  from  a 
snobbish  adolescent  into  a  self-reliant 
young  man  who  knew  how  to  make  a 
living  with  his  hands  and  who  valued 
people  for  what  they  were  rather  than 
for  the  money  they  had.  Mr.  Cheyne, 
who  had  built  up  a  fortune  after  a  child 
hood  of  poverty,  was  particularly  glad  to 
see  the  change  in  his  son. 

Disko  Troop  and  the  crew  of  the  We're 
Here  refused  to  accept  any  reward  for 
themselves.  Dan  was  given  the  chance  to 
become  an  officer  on  a  fleet  of  fast 
freighters  Mr.  Cheyne  owned.  The 
Negro  cook  left  the  sea  to  become  a 
bodyguard  for  Harvey.  In  later  years, 
when  Harvey  had  control  of  the  Cheyne 
interests,  the  Negro  got  a  great  deal  of 
satisfaction  out  of  reminding  Dan,  who 
was  by  then  a  mate  on  one  of  Harvey's 
ships,  that  he  had  told  the  two  boys 
years  before  that  some  day  Harvey  would 
be  Dan's  master. 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  DAUGHTER 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:    Alexander  Pushkin  (1799-1837) 

Tyye  of  ^>lot;   Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:   About  1774 

Locale;    Russia 

First  published:   1836 

Principal  characters: 

PETER  ANDREITCII  GRINEFF,  a  young  Russian  officer 

MARIA  IVANOVNA,  his  sweetheart 

ALEXEY  IVANITCH  SHVABRIN,  Peter's  fellow  officer 

SAVELITCH,  Peter's  servant 

EMELYAN  POUGATCHEFF,  a  rebel  Cossack  leader 


Critique: 

One   of   the   first   pure  examples   of 


Russian  realism,  The  Captain's  Daugh' 
ter,  or  The  Generosity  of  the  Russicw 


113 


Usurper,  Pougatcheff,  is  a  narrative  con 
cisely  and  excitingly  told.  Using  the 
touch  of  a  master,  Pushkin  delineated  a 
gallery  of  characters  ranging  from  the 
simple  Maria  to  the  cruel  rebel,  Pouga- 
tcheff.  The  novel  was  written  as  the 
result  of  Pushkin's  appointment  to  the 
office  of  crown  historian,  a  position 
which  gave  him  access  to  the  state  ar 
chives  and  the  private  papers  of  the  Em 
press  Catherine  II. 

The  Story: 

Although  Peter  Andreitch  Grineff  was 
registered  as  a  sergeant  in  the  Semenov- 
sky  regiment  when  he  was  very  young, 
he  was  given  leave  to  stay  at  home  until 
he  had  completed  his  studies.  When  he 
was  nearly  seventeen,  his  father  de 
cided  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  begin 
his  military  career.  With  his  parents' 
blessing,  Peter  set  out  for  distant  Oren 
burg,  in  the  company  of  his  faithful 
servant,  Savelitch. 

The  trip  was  not  without  incident. 
One  night  the  travelers  put  up  at  Sim 
birsk,  There,  while  his  man  went  to  see 
about  some  purchases,  Peter  was  lured 
into  playing  billiards  with  a  fellow  sol 
dier,  Zourin,  and  quickly  lost  one  hun 
dred  roubles.  Toward  evening  of  the 
following  day  the  young  man  and  Save 
litch  found  themselves  on  the  snowy 
plain  with  a  storm  coming  up.  As  dark 
ness  fell  the  snow  grew  thicker,  until 
finally  the  horses  could  not  find  their 
way  and  the  driver  confessed  that  he 
was  lost.  They  were  rescued  by  another 
traveler,  a  man  with  such  sensitive  nos 
trils  that  he  was  able  to  scent  smoke  from 
a  village  some  distance  away  and  to  lead 
them  to  it.  The  three  men  and  their 
guide  spent  the  night  in  the  village.  The 
next  morning  Peter  presented  his  hare- 
skin  jacket  to  his  poorly-dressed  rescuer, 
Savelitch  warned  Peter  that  the  coat 
would  probably  be  pawned  for  drink. 

I, ate  that  <iay  the  young  man  reached 
Orenburg  and  presented  himself  to  the 
general  in  command.  It  was  decided 
that  he  should  join  due  Builogorsk  fortress 


garrison  under  Captain  Mironoff,  for  tus 
superior  felt  that  the  dull  life  at  Oren 
burg  might  lead  the  young  man  into  a 
career  of  dissipation. 

The  Bailogorsk  fortress,  on  the  edge 
of  the  Kirghis  steppes,  was  nothing  more 
than  a  village  surrounded  by  a  log  fence. 
Its  real  commandant  was  not  Captain 
Mironoff  but  his  lady,  Vassilissa  Egor- 
ovna,  a  lively,  firm  woman  who  saw  to 
the  discipline  of  her  husband's  under 
lings  as  well  as  the  running  of  her  own 
household. 

Peter  quickly  made  friends  with  a 
fellow  officer,  Shvabrin,  who  had  been 
exiled  to  the  steppes  for  fighting  a  duel. 
I  le  spent  much  time  with  his  captain's 
family  and  grew  deeply  attached  to  the 
couple  and  to  their  daughter,  Maria 
Ivanovna,  After  he  had  received  his 
commission,  he  found  military  discipline 
so  relaxed  that  he  was  able  to  indulge  his 
literary  tastes. 

The  quiet  routine  of  Peter's  life  was 
interrupted  by  an  unexpected  quarrel 
with  Shvabrin.  One  day  he  showed  his 
friend  a  love  poem  he  had  written  to 
Maria.  Shvabrin  criticized  the  work 
severely  and  went  on  to  make  derogatory 
remarks  about  Maria  until  they  quar 
reled  and  Peter  found  himself  challenged 
to  a  duel  for  having  called  the  man  a 
liar. 

The  next  morning  the  two  soldiers  met 
in  a  field  to  fight  but  they  were  stopped 
by  some  of  the  garrison,  for  Vassilissa 
Bgorovna  had  learned  of  the  duel.  Peter 
and  his  enemy,  although  apparently  re 
conciled,  intended  to  carry  out  their 
plan  at  the  earliest  opportunity.  Dis 
cussing  the  quarrel  witlx  Maria,  Peter 
learned  that  Shvabrin's  actions  could  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  he  was  her 
rejected  suitor. 

Assuring  themselves  that  they  were 
not  watched,  Shvabrin  and  Peter  fought 
their  duel  the  following  day,  Peter, 
wounded  in  the  breast,  lay  unconscious 
for  live  clays  after  the  figlit  When  he 
began  to  recover,  he  asked  Maria  to  marry 
him.  Shvabrin  had  been  jailed.  Then 


114 


Peter's  father  wrote  that  he  disapproved 
of  a  match  with  Captain  MironofFs 
daughter,  and  that  he  intended  to  have 
his  son  transferred  from  the  fortress  so 
that  he  might  forget  his  foolish  ideas. 
As  Savelitch  denied  having  written  a 
letter  home,  Peter  could  only  conclude 
that  Shvahrin  had  heen  the  informer. 

Life  would  have  become  unbearable 
for  the  young  man  after  his  father's  let 
ter  arrived  if  the  unexpected  had  not 
happened.  One  evening  Captain  Miro 
noff  informed  his  officers  that  the  Yaikian 
Cossacks,  led  by  Emelyan  Pougatcheff, 
who  claimed  to  be  the  dead  Emperor 
Peter  III,  had  risen  and  were  sacking 
fortresses  and  committing  outrages  every 
where.  The  captain  ordered  his  men  to 
keep  on  the  alert  and  to  ready  the  can 
non. 

The  news  of  PougatchefFs  uprising 
quickly  spread  through  the  garrison. 
Many  of  the  Cossacks  of  the  town  sided 
with  the  rebel,  so  that  Captain  Mironoff 
did  not  know  whom  he  could  trust  or 
who  might  betray  him.  It  was  not  long 
before  the  captain  received  from  the  Cos 
sack  leader  a  manifesto  ordering  him  to 
surrender. 

It  was  decided  that  Maria  should  be 
sent  back  to  Orenburg,  but  the  attack 
came  early  the  next  morning  before  she 
could  leave.  Captain  Mironoff  and  his 
officers  made  a  valiant  effort  to  defend 
the  town,  but  with  the  aid  of  Cossack 
traitors  inside  the  walls  Pougatcheff  was 
soon  master  of  the  fortress. 

Captain  Mironoff  and  hi$  aides  were 
hanged.  Shvabrin  deserted  to  the  rebels. 
Peter,  at  the  intercession  of  old  Save 
litch,  was  spared  by  Pougatcheff.  The 
townspeople  and  the  garrison  soldiers  had 
no  scruples  about  pledging  allegiance  to 
the  rebel  leader.  Vassilissa  Egorovna  was 
slain  when  she  cried  out  against  her 
husband's  murderer. 

When  Pougatcheff  and  his  followers 
xode  off  to  inspect  the  fortress,  Peter  be 
gan  his  search  for  Maria.  To  his  great 
relief,  he  found  that  she  had  been  hidden 
by  the  wife  of  die  village  priest,  and 


that  Shvabrin,  who  knew  her  where 
abouts,  had  not  revealed  her  identity. 
From  Savelitch  he  learned  that  the  serv 
ant  had  recognized  Pougatcheff  as  the 
man  to  whom  he  had  given  his  hare- 
skin  coat  months  before.  Later  the  rebel 
leader  sent  for  Peter  and  acknowledged 
his  identity. 

The  rebel  tried  to  persuade  Peter  to 
join  the  Cossacks,  but  respected  his  wish 
to  rejoin  his  own  forces  at  Orenburg. 
The  next  day  Peter  and  his  servant  were 
given  safe  conduct,  and  Pougatcheff  gave 
Peter  a  horse  and  a  sheepskin  coat  for 
the  journey. 

Several  days  later  the  Cossacks  at 
tacked  Orenburg.  During  a  sally  against 
them  Peter  received  a  disturbing  mes 
sage  from  one  of  the  Bailogorsk  Cos 
sacks;  Shvabrin  was  forcing  Maria  to 
marry  him.  Peter  went  at  once  to  the 
general  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
raise  the  siege  and  go  to  the  rescue  of 
the  village.  When  the  general  refused, 
Peter  and  Savelitch  started  out  once 
more  for  the  Bailogorsk  fortress.  Inter 
cepted  and  taken  before  Pougatcheff, 
Peter  persuaded  the  rebel  to  give  Maria 
safe  conduct  to  Orenburg, 

On  the  way  they  met  a  detachment  of 
soldiers  led  by  Captain  Zourin,  who  per 
suaded  Peter  to  send  Maria,  under  Save- 
litch's  protection  to  his  family,  while  he 
himself  remained  with  the  troops  in 
Orenburg, 

The  siege  of  Orenburg  was  finally 
lifted,  and  the  army  began  its  task  of 
tracking  down  rebel  units.  Some  months 
later  Peter  found  himself  near  his  own 
village  and  set  off  alone  to  visit  his 
parents'  estate.  Reaching  his  home,  he 
found  the  serfs  in  rebellion  and  his  fam 
ily  and  Maria  captives.  That  day  Shva 
brin  swooped  down  upon  them  with  his 
troops,  He  was  about  to  have  them  al! 
hanged,  except  Maria,  when  they  were 
rescued  by  Zourin's  men.  The  renegade 
was  shot  during  the  encounter  and  taker 
prisoner. 

Peter's  parents  had  changed  their  at 
titude  toward  the  captain's  daughter,  and 


115 


Peter  was  able  to  rejoin  Captain  Zourin 
with  the  expectation  that  he  and  Maria 
would  be  wed  in  a  month.  Then  an 
order  came  for  his  arrest.  He  was  ac 
cused  of  having  been  in  the  pay  of 
Pougatchefl:,  of  spying  for  the  rebel,  and 
of  having  taken  presents  from  him.  The 
author  of  the  accusations  was  the  cap 
tive,  Shvabrin,  Though  Peter  could  easily 
have  cleared  himself  by  sxmimoning 
Maria  as  a  witness,  he  decided  not  to 
drag  her  into  the  mutter,  He  was  sen 
tenced  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  in 
exile  in  Siberia. 


Maria,  however,  was  not  one  to  let 
matters  stand  at  that.  Leaving  Peter's 
parents,  she  traveled  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  went  to  Tsarskoe  Selo,  where  the 
court  was.  Walking  in  the  garden  there 
one  day,  she  met  a  woman  who  de 
clared  that  she  went  to  court  on  occa 
sion  and  would  be  pleased  to  present 
her  petition  to  the  empress.  Maria  was 
summoned  to  the  royal  presence  the  same 
clay  and  discovered  that  it  was  the  em 
press  herseir  to  whom  she  had  spoken, 
Peter  received  his  pardon  and  soon  after 
ward  married  the  captain's  daughter. 


CARMEN 


Type  of  work;  Novelette 

Author:  Prosper  M6rim<$e  (18034870) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  roxmmee 

Time  of  plot;  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Sixain 

First  pubtislietl:  1847 

Principal  characters: 
DON  Jos&,  u  soldier 
CAUMJUN,  a  cigarette  worker 
GARCIA,  Carmen's  husband 
LUG  AS,  a  toreador 

Critique; 

The  importance  of  this  short  novel 
should  not  be  underestimated.  First  of 
all,  it  is  a  romantic  and  satisfying  work, 
displaying  all  the  gifts  that  have  earned 
Me" rime" e  an  honored  place  in  world 
literature.  Secondly,  it  was  on  this  story 
that  Bizet  based  his  opera.  Bi/,et's  ver 
sion  changes  a  few  details  of  plot  and 
characterisation,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
without  the  original  story  there  would 
have  been  no  opera.  Thus  we  owe 
Me"rim6e  a  twofold  debt,  for  a  gocxl 
story  and  one  of  the  world's  most  popular 
operas, 

The  Story. 

Don  Josek  was  a  young,  handsome 
cavalryman  from  Navarre.  The  son  of  a 
good  Basque  family,  he  had  excellent 
chances  ol  being  quickly  promoted  and 
making  his  name  as  a  soldier.  But 
a  .short  time  after  arriving  at  his  post 
in  Seville,  he  happened  to  meet  a  beauti 


ful  and  clever  young  gipsy.  Her  name 
was  Carmen.  Don  Jose  loll  in  love  with 
her  at  once,  and  allowed  her  to  go  free 
after  she  had  attacked  with  a  knife  an 
other  worker  in  a  cigarette  factory. 

One  night  she  persuaded  him  to  desert 
his  post  and  go  with  her,  lie  was 
punished  by  being  ordered  to  stand 
guard.  She  went  to  him  again  and  urged 
him  to  go  with  her  once  more.  When 
he  refused,  they  argued  for  more  than 
an  hour,  until  l)on  Jos6  was  exhausted 
by  his  struggle  between  anger  and  love. 
After  he  became  her  lover,  she  caressed 
him  and  ridiculed  him  by  turn.  Carmen 
was  independent,  rebellious,  and  tor 
menting.  The  more  (iekle  she  was,  the 
more  madly  Don  Jos<f  loved  her. 

One  night,  having  agreed  to  a  rendez 
vous  with  Carmen,  he  went  to  her  apart 
ment.  While  they  were  together,  a  lieu 
tenant,  who  was  Carmen's  lover,  entered. 
There  was  an  argument  and  swordi 


116 


flashed.  In  the  struggle  that  followed 
Don  Jose"  killed  the  lieutenant.  He  him 
self  suffered  a  head  wound  from  the  of 
ficer's  sword.  Carmen  had  remained  in 
the  room  throughout  the  struggle,  and 
when  the  lieutenant  fell  to  the  floor 
she  accused  Don  Jose  of  being  stupid. 
Then  she  left  him,  only  to  return  a  few 
minutes  later  with  a  cloak.  She  told  him 
to  put  it  on  and  flee  because  he  would  be 
a  hunted  man.  All  of  Don  Jose's  hopes 
for  a  brilliant  career  were  shattered.  His 
love  had  led  him  to  murder,  and  he  was 
doomed  to  live  the  life  of  an  outlaw  with 
a  woman  who  was  a  pickpocket  and  a 
thief. 

Carmen  had  many  friends  and  ac 
quaintances  who  were  outlaws.  Because 
Don  Jose"  had  no  choice  in  the  matter, 
he  agreed  to  go  with  her  and  join  a 
small  band  of  smugglers  and  bandits  for 
whom  Carmen  was  a  spy.  In  the  mean 
time  a  reward  was  posted  for  Don  Jos6's 
capture.  The  two  set  out  together. 
Eventually  they  found  the  smugglers. 
For  a  long  time  Don  Jos6  lived  with 
them,  throwing  himself  into  his  new,  law 
less  life  with  such  vigor  and  enthusiasm 
that  he  became  known  as  a  desperate 
and  ruthless  bandit.  But  all  the  time  his 
life  was  unhappy.  By  nature  he  was 
kind  and  had  nothing  of  the  desperado 
in  him.  His  wild  life  was  not  the  type 
of  existence  he  had  envisioned.  Further, 
he  knew  that  Carmen  was  not  faithful 
to  him,  that  she  had  other  lovers,  and 
he  grew  silent  and  sullen. 

His  anger  and  jealousy  increased  when 
he  discovered  that  Garcia,  the  one-eyed 
leader  of  the  gang,  was  Carmen's  hus 
band.  The  band  had  already  been  re 
duced  in  numbers  by  that  time.  One 
day,  while  Carmen  was  absent  because 
of  a  quarrel  with  Don  Jos6,  the  latter 
killed  Garcia.  A  fellow  outlaw  told  Don 
fos£  that  he  had  been  very  stupid,  that 
Garcia  would  have  given  Carmen  to 
him  for  a  few  dollars.  When  Carmen 
returned,  he  informed  her  that  she  was 


a  widow.  Also,  the  death  of  Garcia  mean* 
that  there  were  only  two  of  the  band  left, 
on  the  eve  of  a  dangerous  raid  which 
they  had  planned. 

Don  Jos£  and  a  smuggler  named  Dan- 
caire  organized  a  new  band.  Carmen 
continued  to  be  useful  to  them.  She 
went  to  Granada  and  there  she  met  a 
toreador  named  Lucas.  Jealous  of  his 
rival,  Don  Jose"  asked  her  to  live  with 
him  always,  to  abandon  the  life  they 
were  leading  and  to  go  off  with  him  to 
America.  Carmen  refused,  telling  him 
that  nobody  had  ever  successfully  ordered 
her  to  do  anything,  that  she  was  a  gipsy, 
and  that  she  had  read  in  coffee  grounds 
that  she  and  Don  Jos6  would  end  their 
lives  together.  Her  words  half  convinced 
Don  Jos6  that  there  was  no  reason  for 
him  to  worry. 

A  short  time  later  Carmen  defied  him 
again  and  went  to  Cordova,  where  Lucas 
was  appearing  in  a  bullfight.  Don  Jos6 
followed  her,  but  he  caught  only  a 
glimpse  of  her  in  the  arena.  Lucas 
was  injured  by  a  bull.  Outside  the 
arena,  Don  Jos6  met  Carmen.  Once 
more  he  implored  her  to  be  his  forever, 
to  go  with  him  to  America.  She  laughed 
at  him  and  jeered  at  his  request. 

Don  Jose"  went  to  a  monk  and  asked 
him  to  say  a  mass  for  a  person  who  was 
in  danger  of  death.  He  returned  to 
Carmen.  When  he  asked  her  to  follow 
him,  she  said  that  she  would  go  with 
him,  even  to  her  death.  She  knew  that 
he  was  about  to  kill  her,  but  she  was 
resigned  to  her  fate.  No  longer  did  she 
love  him,  she  insisted;  and  even  if  Lucas 
did  not  love  her,  she  could  not  love  Don 
Jos6  any  more;  their  affair  was  ended, 
In  desperate  rage,  Don  Jos6  took  out  his 
knife  and  killed  her.  With  the  same 
knife  he  dug  her  grave  and  buried  her  in 
a  grove  of  trees.  Then  he  went  to  the 
nearest  constabulary  post  and  sur 
rendered.  The  monk  said  the  mass  foi 
the  repose  of  Carmen's  soul. 


117 


THE  CASE  OF  SERGEANT  GRISCHA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author.  Arnold  Zweig  ( 1887-        ) 

Type  of  plot;  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1917 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1927 

Principal  characters: 

GRISCHA,  a  Russian  soldier 

BABKA,  his  mistress 

VON  LYCHOW,  a  divisional  general 

SCHIEFFENZAHN,  an  administrative  general 

WINFRIED,  a  German  lieutenant 


Critique: 

The  plot  of  this  novel,  an  absorbing 
account  of  the  last  months  of  World 
War  I,  appeared  first  as  a  play  in  192L 
Its  great  and  deserved  popularity  led 
Zweig  to  recast  his  characters  in  the 
larger  framework  of  a  novel.  Sergeant 
Grischa,  a  Russian  prisoner,  is  only  a 
pawn  in  the  struggle  between  the  Prus 
sian  caste  system  and  middle-class  op 
portunism.  The  reader  senses  at  the  out 
set  that  Grischa  has  little  chance  to  es 
cape  in  this  clash  of  two  German  philoso 
phies. 

The  Story: 

In  the  year  1917  the  Russians  were 
nearly  beaten,  and  the  Germans  con 
tented  themselves  with  consolidating  their 
hold  on  Russian  territory  from  Riga  south 
through  Poland.  With  the  end  of  the 
bitter  fighting  a  comradeship  grew  up 
between  the  German  soldiers  and  their 
Russian  prisoners.  Even  so,  Sergeant 
Grischa  Iljitsch  Paprotkin  was  deter 
mined  to  get  away.  His  work  was  not 
hard  and  his  cheerful  strength  had  made 
him  foreman  of  the  labor  gang  and  a 
general  favorite  with  his  German  captors. 
But  Grischa,  thinking  of  his  wife  and 
son  far  to  the  east,  made  his  plans  as 
he  loaded  lumber  into  freight  cars  on  the 
railroad  siding.  He  made  a  tunnel  in 
the  car,  a  wooden  tunnel  about  the 
size  of  a  coffin.  That  night  he  succeeded 


in  concealing  himself  in  his  hideout.  Be 
fore  daybreak  the  train  pulled  out. 

Grischa  did  not  know  it?  but  his  train 
went  far  to  the  south.  After  four  days 
the  train  came  to  a  stop.  With  his  stolen 
pliers  Grischa  opened  the  door  and 
walked  cautiously  away  from  the  railroad 
tracks.  Guided  only  by  his  small  com 
pass,  he  set  his  path  toward  the  east. 

The  thick  underbrush  made  traveling 
difficult.  Somewhere  along  the  route 
Grischa  picked  up  an  old  umbrella.  By 
binding  several  ribs  together  with  a  string 
and  using  a  long  thong,  he  had  a  service 
able  bow.  Another  rib  made  an  arrow. 
With  patient  waiting  he  could  shoot 
rabbits  in  the  snow  and  he  seldom  went 
hungry.  One  day  he  came  to  the  blasted 
area  of  a  battlefield,  where  he  built  a 
fire  in  a  ruined  dugout  and  heated  snow 
water  for  a  bath.  Taking  off  his  upper 
clothes,  Grischa  stretched  out  and  began 
to  wash  himself. 

A  curious  pair,  attracted  by  his  fire, 
surprised  him  in  his  retreat.  One  was  a 
Russian  soldier,  a  deserter,  and  the  other 
was  Babka,  a  small,  dirty  woman  whose 
gray  hair  justified  her  name,  "Grand 
mother."  Both  were  armed.  After  they 
became  acquainted,  Grischa  knew  he  was 
in  luck,  for  they  were  the  leaders  of  a 
band  of  refugees  camped  comfortably 
nearby  in  a  wooden  house  made  from 
old  German  dugouts. 


THE  CASE  OF  SERGEANT  GRISCHA  by  Arnold  Zweig.    Translated  by  Eric  Sutton.    By  permission  of  the 
publishers,  The  Viking  Frew,  Inc     Copyright,  1928,  by  The  Viking  Press,  Inc. 


118 


Grischa  stayed  with  the  refugees  the 
rest  of  the  winter.  He  cut  wood  ener 
getically  and  traded  in  the  villages  of 
friendly  peasants.  More  important,  he 
slept  with  Babka,  who  was  young  and 
vital  under  her  misshapen  clothes.  Three 
years  of  war  had  turned  her  hair  gray. 
Under  the  shrewd  leadership  of  Babka 
by  day,  and  warmed  in  her  bed  at  night, 
Grischa  became  a  man  again. 

The  band  of  refugees  scattered  in  the 
spring.  Grischa  and  two  companions  were 
the  first  to  leave.  Grischa  felt  reasonably 
safe.  Babka  had  given  him  the  identi 
fication  tag  of  a  dead  Russian  soldier  and 
he  called  himself  by  a  new  name.  He 
was  no  longer  Grischa  Paprotkin,  an 
escaped  prisoner,  but  Sergeant  Pav- 
lovitsch  Bjuscheff,  a  deserter  from  the 
Russian  army  who  was  trying  to  get 
back  to  the  Russian  lines. 

In  Mervinsk  the  Germans  had  estab 
lished  military  headquarters.  With  little 
fighting  to  be  done,  the  rivalry  between 
field  troops  and  the  military  police  grew 
more  bitter.  The  fighting  men  under 
old  General  von  Lychow  were  technically 
in  charge  of  the  town,  but  the  military 
police  under  General  Schieffenzahn  had 
been  stationed  in  Mervinsk  so  long  that 
Schieffenzahn  had  consolidated  his  hold 
on  the  whole  district.  Von  Lychow  was 
a  Prussian,  a  stern  man  but  just  and 
human;  Schieffenzahn  was  an  upstart 
more  concerned  with  power. 

Outside  the  city  stood  several  rows  of 
small  wooden  villas.  Many  of  them  now 
housed  German  officers.  Grischa,  gaunt 
and  dirty,  came  upon  these  villas  one 
day  and  hid  in  an  empty  one.  A  few 
days  later  alert  military  police  discovered 
him  there. 

The  man  called  Bjuscheff  was  not 
really  afraid  at  his  trial.  Even  when  they 
said  he  must  be  a  spy  because  he  had 
spent  so  many  months  behind  the  Ger 
man  line,  he  was  easy  in  his  mind.  They 
would  merely  hold  him  prisoner  a  little 
while  in  the  town  of  Mervinsk.  Surely 
the  war  would  end  soon.  But  the  court 
declared  that  a  Russian  deserter  who, 


according  to  his  own  story,  had  wandered 
about  in  German  territory  for  nearly 
two  years  was  by  definition  a  spy.  Ser 
geant  Bjuscheff  was  condemned  to  die. 

Scarcely  understanding  what  he  was 
told,  Grischa  was  led  back  to  his  cell. 
When  the  truth  dawned  on  him,  he 
called  out  so  violently  that  an  officer 
came  to  quiet  the  disturbance  and  to  him 
Grischa  told  his  whole  story.  He  was 
not  Bjuscheff  the  deserter,  but  Grischa 
the  escaped  prisoner. 

Ponsanski,  a  famous  Jewish  lawyer 
and  aide  to  General  von  Lychow,  ques 
tioned  the  prisoner.  Impressed  by  the 
story  of  changed  identity,  but  interested 
only  from  a  legal  point  of  view,  Ponsan 
ski  collected  all  the  evidence  he  could 
and  went  to  von  Lychow.  With  the 
general's  permission,  two  guards  who 
had  known  Grischa  in  his  former  prison 
camp  went  all  the  way  to  Mervinsk  and 
identified  him.  With  legal  logic  Ponsan 
ski  claimed  that  the  court-martial  de 
cision  should  be  set  aside.  All  the  evi 
dence,  depositions,  and  signatures  were 
put  in  a  neat  packet  and  forwarded  to 
Schieffenzahn  with  a  request  that  the 
Komandatur  indicate  which  military 
court  now  had  jurisdiction  over  the  case 
of  Sergeant  Grischa. 

In  some  way  Babka  learned  where 
Grischa  was  imprisoned.  Walking  bare 
foot,  she  went  to  Mervinsk  in  the  dis 
guise  of  a  peddler  woman.  She  was  now 
carrying  Grischa's  child.  Her  plan  was 
simple.  She  would  bring  berries  and 
fruit  to  the  post  to  sell  to  the  Germans. 
She  would  get  in  to  see  Grischa.  Then, 
after  she  had  become  a  familiar  visitor, 
she  would  poison  the  guards'  schnapps. 
With  the  Germans  dead,  Grischa  could 
walk  out  a  free  rnan  once  more. 

But  Grischa  would  not  agree  to  her 
plan.  He  knew  that  all  his  papers  had 
been  sent  away  for  final  judgment.  Any 
way,  the  war  would  soon  be  over. 

When  Grischa's  papers  went  to  the 
Komandatur,  they  came  before  Wilhelmi, 
his  aide.  Knowing  the  temper  of  Schief 
fenzahn,  Wilhelmi  recommended  that 


119 


Gnsoha  be  executed  When  that  advice 
was  known  in  Mervinsk,  von  Lychow 
was  indignant.  A  new  request  was  for 
warded  to  Schieffenzahn. 

Schieffenzahn  grew  a  little  tired  of  the 
affair.  Hearing  that  von  Lychow  was 
coining  to  see  him,  he  sent  a  telegram 
ordering  Grischa's  execution  within 
twenty-four  hours.  Von  Lychow  pro 
tested.  Because  the  old  Prussian  had  in 
fluence  at  court,  Schieffenzahn  tele 
graphed  a  reprieve. 

That  telegram  was  never  delivered 
in  Mervinsk  because  of  a  snowstorm. 
Grischa  knew  at  last  that  he  would 
be  shot.  When  Babka  brought  in  the 


poisoned  schnapps,  he  poured  the  drink 
down  the  drain.  He  was  shot  according 
to  Schieffenzahn's  orders,  and  he  died 
like  a  soldier  after  digging  his  own 
grave.  Babka's  child  and  his  was  born 
just  after  his  death. 

In  Berlin  von  Lychow  smarted.  He 
drew  up  the  full  particulars  of  the  case 
and  presented  his  report  to  the  emperor. 
The  kaiser  promised  to  demote  Schief 
fenzahn,  but  his  mind  was  distracted 
by  a  present  of  a  jeweled  casket.  Be 
cause  of  the  kaiser's  joy  in  a  new  toy, 
Schieffenzahn  got  off  with  a  light  repri 
mand.  The  case  of  Sergeant  Grischa  was 
closed. 


CASS  TIMBERLANE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sinclair  Lewis  (1885-1951) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1940's 

Locale:  Grand  Republic,  Minnesota 

First  published:  1945 

Principal  characters: 

CASS  TrMBERLANE,  a  district  judge 
Jnsnsrsr  MARSHLAND  TIMBERLANE,  his  wife 
BRADD  CRILEY,  Jinny's  lover 


Critique: 

In  Cass  Timberlanej  Sinclair  Lewis 
has  once  again  attacked  his  favorite 
enemy,  the  smugness  and  cruelty  of 
small-town  life.  With  his  usual  double- 
edged  pen  he  has  drawn  portraits  of  the 
newly  rich,  who  consider  anyone  with 
an  income  of  less  than  ten  thousand 
dollars  to  be  a  revolutionist;  of  the  "good" 
families,  who  are  but  one  generation 
removed  from  bartenders  or  hod  car 
riers;  of  the  virtuous  gossips  who  attack 
the  morals  of  the  lower  classes  but  who 
are  more  generous  in  their  attitudes  to 
ward  the  affairs  of  their  social  equals. 
The  story  of  Cass  Timberlane  continues 
the  examination  of  American  manners 
and  morals  Lewis  began  in  Main  Street 
and  Babbitt. 


The  Story: 

After  his  divorce  from  his  wife, 
Blanche,  Judge  Cass  Timberlane  con 
tinued  to  meet  his  old  friends  socially 
and  to  hold  court  in  his  usual  honest 
and  effective  manner,  but  it  was  not 
until  Jinny  Marshland  appeared  in  his 
court  as  witness  in  a  routine  case  that 
Cass  once  more  began  to  find  his  life 
interesting.  Because  Cass  was  forty-one 
and  Jinny  in  her  early  twenties,  he  told 
himself  that  he  was  foolish  to  think  of 
her  in  a  romantic  manner.  But  in  spite 
of  his  logical  reasoning,  Cass  thought 
more  and  more  about  Jinny;  and  within 
a  few  days  of  their  first  meeting  he  had 
arranged  to  see  her  again.  Dignified 
Judge  Cass  Timberlane  was  falling  in 
love. 


CASS  TIMBERLANE  by  Sinclair  Lcwii.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publifthcrs,  Raxulora  Hou«e,  Inc. 
Copyright,  194-5,  by  Sinclair  Lewis. 


120 


He  had  no  smooth  romance.  His 
friends  thought  him  stupid  to  become 
involved  with  a  young  girl  of  the  work 
ing  class.  It  seemed  strange  to  Cass  that 
his  friends  would  dare  to  criticize  any 
one.  For  example,  there  was  Dr.  Roy 
Drover,  who  openly  made  love  to  any 
and  every  cheap  girl  he  met  without 
bothering  to  conceal  his  infidelities  from 
his  wife.  In  the  same  class  were  Boone 
and  Queenie  Havock,  both  loud,  brassy 
and  very  vulgar;  Jay  Laverick,  rich,  lust 
ful,  and  a  drunkard;  Bradd  Criley,  noto 
rious  for  his  affairs  with  the  wives  of  his 
best  friends.  Cass  Timberlane's  friends 
were  not  the  only  ones  opposed  to  the 
affair.  Jinny's  young  radical  friends 
thought  Cass  a  stuffy  conservative.  The 
only  two  people  who  were  sympathetic 
with  Cass  were  Chris  Grau,  who  also 
wanted  to  marry  him,  and  Mrs.  Higbee, 
his  housekeeper. 

What  his  friends  thought  of  Jinny  did 
not  matter;  it  was  what  Jinny  would 
think  of  them  that  worried  Cass  at  the 
time  of  their  marriage.  After  the  honey 
moon  they  lived  in  nis  old  family  home, 
although  Jinny  would  have  preferred 
a  new  house  in  the  country  club  section. 
They  went  out  seldom,  for  they  were 
happy  enough  to  stay  at  home  together. 
tt  was  the  first  year  of  the  war,  and 
Jinny  found  work  to  do  in  various  civic 
activities.  Cass  hoped  that  the  work 
would  keep  her  stimulated.  When  he 
noticed  that  she  was  beginning  to  be 
bored  by  civic  duties,  he  encouraged  her 
to  accept  a  part  in  a  little  theater  pro 
duction.  Later  he  was  sorry  that  he  had 
encouraged  her,  for  the  town  began  to 
talk  about  Jinny  and  various  male  mem 
bers  of  the  cast,  particularly  Jay  Laverick. 
When  Cass  spoke  to  her  about  the  gossip, 
Jinny  accused  him  of  being  unreasonably 
jealous  and  then  apologized.  Cass  loved 
her  more  than  ever. 

Cass  sold  some  property  at  an  unex 
pectedly  high  price  and  bought  the  new 
house  in  the  country  club  district. 
While  waiting  for  it  to  be  finished, 
they  took  a  trip  to  New  York.  At  first 


Jinny  was  enchanted  with  the  size  and 
brightness  of  the  city,  but  soon  she  was 
bored  by  the  unfriendliness  of  everyone 
she  met  until  Bradd  Criley  arrived  in 
New  York  and  took  them  under  his 
wing.  Then  Jinny  enjoyed  herself.  Cass 
was  not  so  happy. 

Shortly  after  they  returned  home,  they 
learned  that  Jinny  was  pregnant.  But 
their  happiness  was  marred  by  the  knowl 
edge  that  Jinny  had  diabetes.  Roy 
Drover,  her  doctor,  assured  Cass  there 
was  no  cause  for  worry  if  Jinny  followed 
her  diet  and  got  plenty  of  rest.  Because 
Bradd  Criley  seemed  to  amuse  her,  Cass 
often  invited  him  to  the  house. 

Jinny  went  through  her  delivery  safely, 
but  the  baby  died.  For  many  weeks 
afterward  she  would  see  no  one  but  Cass. 
Then  she  suddenly,  for  no  apparent 
reason,  wanted  to  have  a  party  almost 
every  night.  Cass  tried  to  be  patient 
with  her,  for  he  knew  that  she  was  still 
reacting  from  the  death  of  the  baby  and 
also  that  the  restrictions  placed  on  her 
by  her  illness  were  irritating.  When  his 
friends  once  again  warned  him  about 
allowing  Jinny  to  see  so  much  of  Bradd, 
his  patience  wore  thin;  he  almost  ordered 
Jinny  to  stop  seeing  Bradd,  and  he  told 
Bradd  to  stay  away  from  Jinny.  Later 
Bradd  apologized  to  Cass  and  the  three 
were  friends  once  more.  After  Bradd 
moved  to  New  York,  all  tension  between 
Jinny  and  Cass  seemed  to  disappear  for 
a  time.  Then  Jinny  grew  restless  again 
and  began  to  talk  of  moving  to  a  larger 
city.  Although  Cass  prized  his  judgeship 
and  hated  to  give  it  up,  he  was  still 
willing  to  do  anything  for  his  wife.  They 
took  another  trip  to  New  York,  where 
Cass  hoped  to  find  a  partnership  in  an 
established  law  firm.  They  met  Bradd 
during  their  visit.  Although  he  trusted 
his  wife,  Cass  was  relieved  when  Jinny 
told  him  that  she  knew  she  would  not 
really  like  living  in  New  York  and  that 
she  wanted  to  go  home.  They  left 
hurriedly,  without  seeing  Bradd  again 
before  their  departure. 

On  their  first  night  at  home  Jinny  *old 


121 


Cass  that  she  loved  Bradd,  that  he  had 
become  her  lover  while  she  was  in  New 
York.  When  Cass  refused  to  give  her 
a  divorce  until  she  had  had  ample  time 
to  consider  her  own  wishes  carefully, 
she  went  back  to  New  York,  to  stay 
with  Bradd's  sister  until  Cass  would 
free  her.  For  Cass,  the  town,  the  house, 
his  friends,  and  his  work  were  now 
meaningless.  He  could  think  only  of 
Jinny.  Then  he  had  a  telegram  trom 
her.  Failing  to  follow  her  diet,  she 
was  desperately  ill  and  she  wanted  Cass. 
He  flew  to  New  York  that  night.  He 
found  Jinny  in  a  coma,  but  she  awakened 


long  enough   to   ask  him  to  take   her 
home. 

After  Jinny  could  be  moved,  Cass 
took  her  to  a  seashore  hotel  and  then 
home.  He  had  forgiven  her  completely, 
but  he  warned  her  that  she  would  have 
to  work  hard  to  win  back  their  friends. 
They  still  had  to  make  their  own  private 
adjustment.  It  was  not  until  Bradd 
returned  to  Grand  Republic  that  Jinny 
was  able  to  see  him  as  the  charming 
philanderer  that  he  really  was.  That 
night  she  went  to  Cass'  room.  He  re 
ceived  her  as  if  she  had  never  been 
away. 


THE  CASTLE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Franz  Kafka  (1883-1924) 

Type  of  ylot:  Philosophical  and  religious  allegory 

Time  of  'plot:  Any  time 

Locale:  Indefinite 

First  published:  1926 

Princi'pal  characters: 
K.,  a  seeker 
FRIEDA,  a  barmaid 
BARNABAS,  a  young  man 
OLGA,  and 
AMALIA,  his  sisters 
ARTHUK,  and 
JEBEMIAH,  K.'s  assistants 


This  unfinished  novel  has  been  called 
a  modern  Pilgrims  Progress.  K.  tries  to 
find  the  grace  of  God  so  that  he  can 
fulfill  his  life,  but  his  path  is  beset  with 
the  confusion  of  the  modern  world.  K.'s 
straightforward  attack  on  the  confusion 
that  surrounds  the  castle  and  his  unre 
lenting  desire  to  solve  his  problems  are 
finally  rewarded,  but  only  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  The  unique  thing  about 
Kafka's  allegory  is  the  humor  which 
runs  through  it.  The  story  itself  is 
emotionally  and  intellectually  appealing. 

The  Story: 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  K. 
arrived  in  the  town  which  lay  before 


the  castle  of  Count  West-west.  After 
his  long  walk  through  deep  snow  K. 
wanted  to  do  nothing  so  much  as  go  to 
sleep.  He  went  to  an  inn  and  fell  asleep 
by  the  fire,  only  to  be  awakened  by  a 
man  wanting  to  sec  his  permit  to  stay  in 
the  town.  K.  explained  that  he  had  just 
arrived  and  that  lie  had  come  at  the 
count's  request  to  be  the  new  land  sur 
veyor.  A  telephone  call  to  the  castle 
established  the  fact  that  a  land  surveyor 
was  expected.  K.  was  allowed  to  rest  in 
peace. 

The  next  morning,  although  his  as 
sistants  had  not  yet  arrived,  K.  decided 
to  go  to  the  castle  to  report  for  duty. 
He  set  off  through  the  snowy  streets 


THE  CASTLE  by  Franz  Kafka.    Translated  by  Edwin  and  Willa  Muir.    By  permiftsion  of  the  publishers,  Alfred 
A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Copyright,  1930,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


122 


towards  the  castle,  which  as  he  walked 
seemed  farther  and  farther  away.  After 
a  while  he  became  tired,  and  he  stopped 
in  a  house  for  refreshment  and  directions. 
As  he  left  the  house  he  saw  two  men 
coming  from  the  castle.  He  tried  to 
speak  to  them,  but  they  refused  to  stop. 
As  evening  came  on  K.  got  a  ride  back 
to  the  inn  in  a  sledge. 

At  the  inn  he  met  the  two  men  he  had 
seen  coming  from  the  castle.  They 
introduced  themselves  as  Arthur  and 
Jeremiah,  and  said  that  they  were  his 
old  assistants.  They  were  not,  but  K. 
accepted  them,  because  he  knew  that 
they  had  come  from  the  castle,  and 
therefore  must  have  been  sent  to  help 
him.  Because  he  could  not  tell  the 
two  men  apart,  so  alike  were  they,  he 
called  them  both  Arthur.  He  ordered 
them  to  have  a  sledge  to  take  him  to  the 
castle  in  the  morning.  When  they  re 
fused,  K.  telephoned  the  castle.  A  voice 
told  him  that  he  could  never  come  to 
the  castle.  Shortly  afterward  a  messenger 
named  Barnabas  arrived  with  a  letter 
from  Klamm,  a  chief  at  the  castle.  K. 
was  ordered  to  report  to  the  superin 
tendent  of  the  town. 

K.  arranged  for  a  room  in  the  inn.  He 
asked  Barnabas  to  let  him  go  for  a  walk 
with  him.  Barnabas,  a  kind  young  man, 
agreed.  He  took  K.  to  his  home  to  meet 
his  two  sisters,  Olga  and  Amalia,  and  his 
sickly  old  mother  and  father.  But  K. 
was  ill  at  ease;  it  was  Barnabas,  not  he, 
who  had  come  home.  When  Olga  left 
to  get  some  beer  from  a  nearby  inn,  K. 
went  with  her.  At  the  inn  it  was  made 
clear  that  he  would  be  welcome  only  in 
the  bar.  The  other  rooms  were  reserved 
for  the  gentlemen  from  the  castle. 

In  the  bar  K.  quickly  made  friends 
with  the  barmaid,  Frieda,  who  seemed 
to  wish  to  save  him  from  Olga  and  her 
family.  She  hid  K.  underneath  the 
counter.  K.  did  not  understand  what 
was  happening.  He  learned  that  Frieda 
had  been  Klamm's  mistress. 

Frieda  was  determined  to  stay  with 
K.  from  then  on,  if  K.  were  willing.  K. 


thought  he  might  as  well  marry  her. 
Determined  to  get  through  to  the  castle, 
he  thought  his  chances  would  improve 
if  he  married  a  girl  who  had  been  a 
chief's  mistress.  Arthur  and  Jeremiah 
came  into  the  room  and  watched  them. 
K.  sent  the  men  away,  Frieda  decided 
to  go  to  the  inn  where  K.  was  staying. 

K.  went  to  call  on  the  village  superin 
tendent,  whom  he  found  sick  in  bed 
with  gout.  From  him  K.  learned  that  a 
land  surveyor  had  been  needed  several 
years  before,  but  that  nobody  knew  why 
K.  had  now  come  to  fill  the  unnecessary 
post.  When  K.  showed  him  Klamm's 
letter,  the  superintendent  said  that  it 
was  of  no  importance.  The  superin 
tendent  convinced  him  that  his  arrival 
in  the  town  was  a  result  of  confusion. 
K.  decided  to  remain  and  find  work  so 
that  he  could  become  an  accepted  citizen 
of  the  town. 

By  the  time  K.  returned  to  the  inn 
Frieda  had  made  his  room  comfortable. 
The  schoolmaster  came  to  offer  K.  the  job 
of  janitor  at  the  school,  At  Frieda's  in 
sistence,  K.  accepted.  That  night  K., 
Frieda,  and  the  two  assistants  went  to  the 
school  to  live.  The  next  morning  the  as 
sistants  tricked  K.  into  so  many  argu 
ments  with  the  teachers  that  K.  dismissed 
both  of  them.  After  he  had  done  his 
day's  work,  he  slipped  away  from  Frieda 
and  went  to  Barnabas'  house,  to  see  if  he 
had  received  a  message  from  the  castle. 

Barnabas  was  not  at  home.  Olga  ex 
plained  that  her  family  was  an  outcast 
group  because  of  Amalia's  refusal  to  be 
come  the  mistress  of  one  of  the  gende- 
men  of  the  castle.  He  had  written  her 
a  very  crude  and  obscene  letter,  which 
Amalia  tore  up.  Afterward  the  whole 
town  had  turned  against  them.  K.  was 
so  interested  in  this  story  that  he  did 
not  realize  how  late  he  had.  stayed.  When 
he  finally  got  ready  to  go,  he  saw  that 
Jeremiah  was  outside  spying  on  him. 

K,  slipped  out  the  back  way,  but  came 
back  down  the  street  and  asked  Jeremiah 
why  he  was  there.  The  man  sullenly 
answered  that  Frieda  had  sent  him.  She 


123 


bad  gone  back  to  her  old  job  at  the 
tavern  and  never  wanted  to  see  K.  again. 
Barnabas  came  up  with  the  news  that 
one  of  the  most  important  men  from  the 
castle  was  waiting  at  the  tavern  to  see  K. 
At  the  tavern  he  learned  that  the 
gentleman  had  gone  to  sleep.  As  he 
stood  in  the  hall,  he  saw  Frieda  going 
down  another  corridor.  He  ran  after 
her  to  explain  why  he  had  stayed  away 
so  long  with  Olga,  and  he  asked  her  to 
come  back  to  him.  Just  as  she  seemed 
to  relent,  Jeremiah  came  from  one  of 


the  rooms  and  persuaded  Frieda  to  go 
with  him.    Frieda  left  K,  forever. 

(At  this  point  the  novel  in  its 
published  form  ends,  and  for  the  rest  of 
the  story  we  have  only  the  few  state 
ments  made  by  Kafka  to  his  friends  in 
conversation.  K.  was  to  continue  his 
fight  to  live  and  work  in  die  town  and 
eventually  to  reach  the  castle.  On  his 
deathbed  he  was  to  receive  a  call  from 
the  castle,  a  message  granting  him  the 
right  to  live  in  the  town  in  peace.) 


THE  CASTLE  OF  OTRANTO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Horace  Walpole  (1717-1797) 

Type  of  'plot:  Gothic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Twelfth  century 

Locale:  Italy 

First  published:  1764 

Principal  characters: 

MANFRED,  Prince  of  Otranto 

MATILDA,  Manfred's  daughter 

CONRAD,  Manfred's  son 

ISABELLA,  Conrad's  fiancee 

FATHER  JEBOME,  a  priest 

THEODORE,  a  young  peasant,  true  heir  to  Otranto 

Critique: 

This  book  is  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  famous  of  the  Gothic  novels,  a  lit 
erary  type  characterized  by  supernatural 
occurrences  and  a  mysterious  or  sinister 
atmosphere.  These  supernatural  occur 
rences  do  not  excite  much  horror  and 
dread  in  the  modern  reader,  for  they  are 
patently  tricks  of  the  author  to  create 
interest.  The  Castle  of  Otranto  is  of  par 
ticular  interest  to  the  student  of  litera 
ture  for  its  technique  and  style. 


The  Story: 

Manfred,  the  prince  of  Otranto, 
planned  to  marry  his  fifteen-year-old 
son,  Conrad,  to  Isabella,  daughter  of  the 
Marquis  of  Vicenza.  But  on  the  day  of 
the  wedding  a  strange  thing  happened. 
A  servant  ran  into  the  hall  and  informed 
die  assembled  company  that  a  huge  hel 
met  had  appeared  mysteriously  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  castle. 


When  Count  Manfred  and  his  guests 
rushed  into  the  courtyard,  they  found 
Conrad  crushed  to  death  beneath  a  gi 
gantic  helmet  adorned  with  waving  black 
plumes,  Theodore,  a  young  peasant, 
declared  the  helmet  was  like  that  on  a 
statue  of  Prince  Alfonso  the  Good  which 
stood  in  the  chapel.  Another  spectator 
shouted  that  the  helmet  was  missing  from 
the  statue.  Prince  Manfred  imprisoned 
the  young  peasant  as  a  magician  and 
charged  him  with  the  murder  of  the  heir 
to  Otranto. 

That  evening  Manfred  sent  for  Isa 
bella,  tie  informed  her  that  he  intended 
to  divorce  his  wife  so  that  he  himself 
might  marry  Isabella  and  have  another 
male  heir.  Frightened,  Isabella  ran  away 
and  lost  herself  in  the  passages  beneath 
the  castle.  Hi  ere  she  encountered  Theo 
dore,  who  helped  her  to  escape  through 
an  underground  passage  into  a  nearby 


124 


church.  Manfred,  seaching  for  the  girl, 
accused  the  young  man  of  aiding  her.  As 
he  was  threatening  Theodore,  servants 
rushed  up  to  tell  the  prince  of  a  giant 
sleeping  in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle. 
When  Manfred  returned  to  the  hall,  the 
giant  had  disappeared. 

The  following  morning  Father  Jerome 
came  to  inform  Manfred  and  his  wife 
that  Isabella  had  taken  sanctuary  at  the 
altar  of  his  church.  Sending  his  wife 
away,  Manfred  called  upon  the  priest  to 
aid  him  in  divorcing  his  wife  and  marry 
ing  Isabella.  Father  Jerome  refused, 
warning  Manfred  that  heaven  would 
have  revenge  on  him  for  harboring  such 
thoughts.  The  priest  unthinkingly  sug 
gested  Isabella  might  be  in  love  with  the 
handsome  young  peasant  who  had  aided 
in  her  escape. 

Manfred,  enraged  at  the  possibility, 
confronted  Theodore.  Although  the 
young  man  did  not  deny  having  aided 
the  princess,  he  claimed  never  to  have 
seen  her  before.  The  frustrated  Manfred 
ordered  him  to  the  courtyard  to  be  exe 
cuted,  and  Father  Jerome  was  called  to 
give  absolution  to  the  condemned  man. 
But  when  the  collar  of  the  lad  was  loos 
ened,  the  priest  discovered  a  birthmark 
which  proved  the  young  peasant  was 
Father  Jerome's  son,  born  before  the 
priest  had  entered  the  Church.  Manfred 
offered  to  stay  the  execution  if  the  priest 
would  deliver  Isabella  to  him.  At  that 
moment  a  trumpet  sounded  at  the  gates 
of  the  castle. 

The  trumpet  signaled  the  arrival  of 
a  herald  from  the  Knight  of  the  Gigantic 
Sabre,  champion  of  Isabella's  father,  the 
rightful  heir  to  Otranto.  Greeting  Man 
fred  as  a  usurper,  the  herald  demanded 
the  immediate  release  of  Isabella  and 
the  abdication  of  Manfred,  or  else  the 
satisfaction  of  mortal  combat.  Manfred 
invited  the  Knight  of  the  Gigantic  Sabre 
to  the  castle,  hoping  through  him  to  get 
permission  to  marry  Isabella  and  keep 
the  throne.  The  knight  entered  the  castle 
with  five  hundred  men  at  arms  and  a  hun 
dred  more  carrying  one  gigantic  sword. 


After  a  feast,  during  which  the  strange 
knight  kept  silence  and  raised  his  visor 
only  to  pass  food  into  his  mouth,  Manfred 
broached  the  question  of  marrying  Isa 
bella,  telling  the  knight  he  wished  to 
marry  again  to  insure  himself  an  heir. 
Before  he  had  finished,  Father  Jerome 
arrived  with  the  news  of  Isabella's  disap 
pearance  from  the  church.  After  every 
one  had  gone  to  find  Isabella,  Matilda 
assisted  Theodore  to  escape  from  the 
castle. 

In  the  forest  Theodore  met  Isabella 
and  promised  to  protect  her.  Shortly 
thereafter  they  met  the  Knight  of  the 
Gigantic  Sabre.  Fearing  the  knight  meant 
harm  to  Isabella,  the  young  man  over 
came  him  in  combat.  Thinking  himself 
about  to  die,  the  knight  revealed  to  Isa 
bella  that  he  was  her  father  in  disguise. 

They  all  returned  to  the  castle.  There 
Isabella's  father  confided  to  her  that  he 
had  discovered  the  gigantic  sword  in  the 
Holy  Land.  It  was  a  miraculous  weapon, 
for  on  the  blade  it  was  written  that  only 
the  blood  of  Manfred  could  atone  for  the 
wrongs  committed  on  the  family  of  the 
true  ruler  of  Otranto.  Manfred  returned 
to  the  castle,  where  he  found  Theodore 
dressed  in  armor.  It  seemed  to  Manfred 
that  the  young  man  resembled  the  prince 
whose  throne  Manfred  had  usurped. 

Manfred  still  hoped  to  wed  Isabella, 
and  he  craftily  won  her  father's  consent 
by  betrothing  that  nobleman  to  Matilda. 
At  that  point  a  nearby  statue  dripped 
blood  from  its  nose,  an  omen  that  dis 
aster  would  follow  those  proposed  mar 
riages. 

Manfred  saw  only  two  courses  open  to 
him.  One  was  to  surrender  all  claims 
to  Otranto;  the  other  was  to  go  ahead 
with  his  plan  to  marry  Isabella.  In  either 
case  it  appeared  that  fate  was  against  his 
success.  Nor  did  a  second  appearance 
of  the  giant  in  the  castle  ease  the  anxiety 
he  felt.  When  news  of  the  giant  came 
to  Isabella's  father,  he  decided  not  to 
court  disaster  for  himself  by  marrying 
Matilda  or  by  permitting  Manfred  te 
marry  his  daughter.  His  resolution  was 


125 


increased  when  a  skeleton  in  the  rags  of 
a  hermit  called  upon  him  to  renounce 
Matilda. 

Hours  later  Manfred  was  told  that 
Theodore  was  in  the  chapel  with  a 
woman.  Jealous,  he  went  to  the  chapel 
and  stabhed  the  woman,  who  was  his  own 
daughter  Matilda.  Over  the  body  of 
Matilda,  Theodore  announced  that  he 
was  the  true  ruler  of  Otranto.  Suddenly 
there  appeared  the  giant  form  of  the 
dead  Prince  Alfonso,  who  proclaimed 


Theodore  to  be  the  true  heir.  Then  he 
ascended  to  heaven  where  he  was  re 
ceived  by  St.  Nicholas. 

The  truth  was  now  made  known. 
Theodore  was  the  son  of  Father  Jerome, 
then  prince  of  Falconara,  and  Alfonso's 
daughter.  Manfred  confessed  his  usurpa 
tion  and  he  and  his  wife  entered  neigh 
boring  convents.  Theodore  married  Isa 
bella  and  ruled  as  die  new  prince  of 
Otranto. 


CASTLE  RACKRENT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Maria  Edgeworth  (1767-1849) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Ireland 

first  published:  1800 

Principal  characters: 

HONEST  THAJDY  QUIRK,  die  narrator 

SIR  KIT  RACKRENT,  owner  of  Castle  Rackrent 

SIR  CONDY  RACKRENT,  Sir  Kit's  heir 

ISABELLA,  Condy's  wife 

JUDY  McQuiRK,  Thady's  niece 

JASON,  Thady 's  son 

Critique: 

Partly  imaginative  and  partly  critical, 
the  story  of  Castle  Rackrent  is  related 
with  all  the  native  candor  of  an  Irish 
family  servant,  Thady  Quirk.  The  story 
is  bare  of  any  stylistic  embellishments 
and  comes  out  as  a  straightforward  nar 
rative  of  events,  colored  only  by  the  au 
thentic  Irish  wit  and  language  of  the 
narrator.  A  footnoted  copy  would  enable 
a  modern  reader  to  enjoy  some  of  the 
hidden  references  in  Thady's  language. 


The  Story: 

After  the  death  of  his  fine  and  gener 
ous  master,  Sir  Patrick  O'Shaughlin, 
Honest  Thady  Quirk  found  himself 
working  at  Castle  Rackrent  for  the  heir, 
Sir  Murtagh,  a  penny-pinching  owner 
with  a  vicious  temper.  Lady  Murtagh, 
too,  was  more  interested  in  money  than 
in  the  happiness  of  her  tenants,  and  after 
Sir  Murtagh  died  in  a  fit  of  temper  she 
stripped  Castle  Rackrent  of  its  treasures 


and  went  to  live  in  London.  The  estate 
passed  to  her  husband's  younger  brother, 
Sir  Kit  Rackrent,  a  wild,  carefree  man. 
Finding  the  estate  in  debt  and  heavily 
mortgaged,  Sir  Kit  went  to  England  to 
marry  a  rich  wife  who  would  repair  the 
estate  and  bring  a  dowry  for  his  support, 
At  last  he  came  back  with  the  wealthy 
wife,  a  Jewess  he  had  married  while 
staying  in  Bath.  To  Honest  Thady  it 
was  soon  apparent  that  there  was  no  love 
between  the  honeymooncrs.  One  .serious 
difficulty  arose  over  the  presence  of  pig 
meat  on  the  dinner  table,  Lady  Kit 
had  insisted  that  no  such  meat  be  served, 
but  Sir  Kit  defied  her  orders.  When  the 
meat  appeared  on  the  table,  Lady  Kit 
retired  to  her  room  and  her  husband 
locked  her  in.  She  remained  a  prisoner 
for  seven  years.  When  she  became  very 
ill  and  seemed  to  be  dying,  Sir  Kit  tried 
to  influence  her  to  leave  her  jewels  to 
him,  but  she  refused.  It  was  assumed  she 


126 


would  die  shortly,  and  all  eligible  ladies 
in  the  neighborhood  were  endeavoring 
to  become  the  next  wife  of  Kit  Rackrent. 
3o  much  controversy  arose  over  his  pos 
sible  choice  that  Sir  Kit  was  finally  chal 
lenged  and  killed  in  a  duel.  Miraculously 
recovering  from  her  illness  Lady  Kit  went 
to  London.  The  next  heir  was  Sir  Condy 
Rackrent,  a  distant  cousin  of  Sir  Kit. 

Sir  Condy  Rackrent  was  a  spendthrift, 
but  a  good-natured  master.  Although 
the  estate  was  more  deeply  in  debt  than 
ever,  the  new  master  made  no  attempt  to 
relieve  the  impoverished  condition  of  his 
holdings.  On  the  neighboring  estate  lived 
a  family  with  whom  Sir  Condy  soon 
began  a  steadfast  friendship.  The  young 
est  daughter,  Isabella,  took  a  fancy  to 
Sir  Condy,  but  her  father  would  not 
hear  of  a  match  between  his  family  and 
the  owner  of  Castle  Rackrent.  Sir  Condy 
really  loved  Judy,  the  grandniece  of 
Honest  Thady.  One  day  in  Thady's 
presence  Sir  Condy  tossed  a  coin  to  de 
termine  which  girl  he  would  marry.  Judy 
lost,  and  in  a  short  while  Sir  Condy 
eloped  with  Isabella. 

It  had  been  expected  that  Isabella 
could  bring  some  money  to  the  estate, 
but  when  she  married  Sir  Condy  she  was 
disinherited  by  her  father.  While  the 
newlyweds  lived  in  careless  luxury,  the 
house  and  grounds  fell  into  neglect,  and 
the  servants  and  the  tenants  wrung  their 
hands  in  distress.  At  last  Sir  Condy, 
learning  of  a  vacancy  in  the  coming  elec 
tions,  decided  to  stand  for  Parliament. 
He  won  the  election,  but  too  late  to 
save  himself  from  his  creditors. 

Honest  Thady's  son,  Jason,  a  legal 
administrator,  helped  a  neighbor  to  buy 
up  all  of  Sir  Condy's  debts.  With  so 
much  power  in  his  hands  Jason  even 
scorned  his  own  father.  When  Lady 
Condy  learned  that  her  husband's  debtors 
were  closing  in  on  him,  she  complied 
with  the  demands  of  her  family  and  re 
turned  to  her  father's  house.  True  to  his 
good-natured  generosity,  Sir  Condy  wrote 


a  will  for  his  wife  in  which  he  willed 
her  his  land  and  five  hundred  pounds 
a  year  after  his  death.  When  Jason  de 
manded  payment  for  the  Rackrent  debts, 
Sir  Condy  said  he  had  no  way  of  pay 
ing,  explaining  that  he  had  given  an 
income  of  five  hundred  a  year  to  Lady 
Condy,  Jason  insisted  Sir  Condy  sell 
Castle  Rackrent  and  all  the  estates  to 
satisfy  his  creditors.  With  no  other  re 
course,  Sir  Condy  agreed.  The  five 
hundred  a  year  was  still  guaranteed  for 
Isabella.  Thady  was  grief-stricken  that 
his  son  had  maneuvered  this  piece  of 
villainy  against  Sir  Condy.  Jason  now 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  Honest 
Thady. 

On  her  way  back  to  her  father's  house, 
Lady  Condy  s  carriage  was  upset  and 
she  was  nearly  killed.  Assuming  she 
would  surely  die,  Jason  hurried  to  Sir 
Condy  with  a  proposal  that  Sir  Condy 
sell  him  Lady  Condy's  yearly  income. 
Sir  Condy,  needing  the  cash,  complied 
with  Jason's  proposal. 

Judy  McQuirk  had  been  married  and 
her  husband  had  died.  She  paid  a  call 
on  Sir  Condy,  who  was  staying  at  Thady's 
lodge.  The  old  servant  felt  certain  that 
now  Judy  would  become  Lady  Rackrent, 
but  Judy  told  her  uncle  that  there  was 
no  point  to  being  a  lady  without  a  castle 
to  accompany  the  title.  She  hinted  she 
might  do  better  to  marry  Jason,  who  at 
least  held  the  lands.  Thady  tried  to 
dissuade  her  from  such  a  thought,  but 
Judy  was  bent  on  fortune  hunting. 

Sir  Condy  had  been  indulging  in  such 
excesses  of  food  and  drink  that  he  suf 
fered  from  gout.  One  night  at  a  drinking 
party  he  drank  a  large  draught  too  quickly 
and  died  a  few  days  later.  After  Sit 
Condy's  death  Jason  and  Lady  Condy, 
who  had  now  recovered,  went  to  court 
over  the  title  of  the  estate.  Some  said 
Jason  would  get  the  land  and  others  said 
Lady  Condy  would  win,  Thady  could 
only  guess  how  the  suit  would  come  out. 


127 


CASUALS  OF  THE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  McFee  (1881-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1916 

Principal  characters: 

BERT  GOODERICH,  a  machinist 
MARY,  his  wife 
YOUNG  BERT,  his  son 
HANNIBAL,  another  son 
MINNIE,  Mary's  daughter 
BRISCOE,  a  ship's  captain 
NELLTE,  Hannibal's  wife 

Critique: 

Casuals  of  the  Sea  is  a  family  study, 
the  story  of  daree  children  who  did  what 
they  wanted  to  do.  William  McFee  is 
especially  well  qualified  to  write  of  the 
the  sea,  and  those  portions  of  die  novel 
which  take  place  aboard  the  Caryatid 
are  particularly  vivid. 


Minnie  was  difficult.  She  was  thin 
and  reserved,  and  her  mother,  feeling 
powerless  to  mold  her,  finally  let  her  go 
her  own  way.  Minnie  became  engaged 
to  a  coal  clerk,  but  broke  the  engage 
ment  publicly  when  her  fianc£  asked  her 
if  she  smoked. 

Minnie  worked  at  a  shop  where  she 
retouched  photographs.  C)ne  day  an 
American  firm  took  over  the  place  and 
introduced  machines.  Let  out  tor  a  time, 
she  refused  to  go  back  on  the  usual 
terms.  Mary  begged  her  to  take  back  the 
coal  clerk,  but  Minnie  was  adamant. 

Next  to  the  Gooderich  family  lived  an 
American  woman,  Mrs.  Gaynor,  and  her 
small  son  Hiram.  Mrs.  Gaynor  wrote 
an  odd  letter  of  reference  for  Minnie 
which  stated  that  the  girl  was  proud* 
stubborn,  and  conceited.  She  sent  the 
girl  with  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Wilfley,  who 
was  having  a  party  when  Minnie  arrived 
at  the  door.  Despite  her  assurance,  the 
girl  was  afraid  to  go  in,  but  middle-aged 
Anthony  Gilfillan  helped  her  to  overcome 
her  shyness.  Minnie  attended  the  party, 
listened  to  Spanish  music,  and  ate  cucum 
ber  sandwiches.  She  kept  close  to  An 
thony. 

After  the  company  had  left,  Mrs. 
Wilfley  engaged  Minnie  as  her  secretary. 
When  Bert  Gooderich  fell  off  a  bridge 
one  night  and  was  drowned,  Mrs.  Wil- 

CASUALS  OF  THE  SEA  by  William  McFee.    By  permisaion  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*,  Random  Howie, 
lac. 


The  Story: 

Mary  fell  in  love  with  the  baker's 
boy.  When  he  deserted  her,  she  went 
home,  with  country-bred  fortitude,  to 
bear  her  child.  After  Minnie  was  born, 
Mary  received  a  proposal  from  Bert 
Gooderich,  a  stolid  machinist.  Bert  of 
fered  nothing  in  the  way  of  romance, 
but  Mary  accepted  him  thankfully.  They 
settled  in  suburban  London.  In  time 
Bert  Junior  was  born,  and  later  Han 
nibal, 

Young  Bert  early  showed  a  talent  for 
fighting.  He  was  big  and  strong  and 
led  the  graders  against  the  boarder  pupils 
and  the  parochial  boys.  Noting  his  care 
fully-planned  skirmishes,  the  school  in 
spector,  an  old  army  man,  resolved  to 
keep  the  boy  in  mind.  His  resolution 
was  strengthened  when  Bert  blurted  out 
in  school  that  he  hoped  to  be  a  soldier. 
A  few  years  later  the  inspector  en 
couraged  die  boy  to  enlist.  But  young 
Bert's  career  in  the  army  was  short.  He 
was  killed  at  Pretoria. 


128 


fley  promptly  arranged  a  benefit  for  the 
family,  a  musicale  which  grossed  seventy- 
four  pounds.  Mrs.  Wilfley's  fee  was 
sixty-seven  pounds;  the  bereaved  family 
got  seven.  Minnie  was  bitter  on  the  sub 
ject. 

One  day  Anthony  Gilfillan  sent  a  tele 
gram  to  Minnie  and  asked  her  to  meet 
him  at  his  office.  He  offered  her  a  way 
to  escape  from  the  life  she  hated.  They 
went  away  to  the  continent. 

Five  years  later  Minnie,  now  known 
as  Mabel,  was  staying  in  a  little  hotel 
in  Rouen.  The  mistress  of  Captain  Bris 
coe,  she  was  respected  and  even  envied 
by  the  world  of  occasional  light  ladies 
in  Rouen.  But  Minnie  was  apprehensive; 
the  ship  captain  had  been  gone  three 
weeks,  and  he  had  promised  to  be  back 
in  one.  When  Captain  Briscoe  finally 
did  return,  he  came  only  to  say  goodbye, 
explaining  that  he  no  longer  dared  to 
keep  her  because  his  first  mate  was  from 
his  home  town.  They  parted  without  a 
scene.  Minnie  went  into  dressmaking 
in  London.  Soon,  however,  her  smitten 
captain  sought  her  out  and  offered  to 
marry  her.  A  little  amused  at  the  idea, 
she  consented. 

Hannibal  had  grown  into  a  big  lout 
of  eighteen,  troublesome  to  his  mother, 
who  often  had  to  get  him  out  of  foolish 
scrapes.  He  had  lost  his  factory  job.  One 
day  Mrs.  Gaynor  and  Hiram  came  to 
call,  Hiram  in  his  merchant  marine  uni 
form.  Hannibal,  inarticulate  and  bun 
gling,  was  attracted  by  the  idea  of  going 
to  sea  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  visit 
Hiram's  ship.  Later  he  heard  that  the 
S.  S.  Caryatid  needed  a  mess  boy,  and 
so  he  signed  on. 

On  shore,  meanwhile,  Minnie  had 
asked  her  mother  to  come  and  live  with 
her  during  Captain  Briscoe's  long  ab 
sences.  Satisfied  with  this  arrangement, 
Briscoe  joined  his  ship  at  Swansea,  the 
S.  S.  Caryatid. 

In  port  Hannibal  was  spreading  his 
wings.  Quite  by  chance  he  met  Nellie, 
a  plump,  merry  girl  who  had  come  to 
town  to  work  for  her  uncle,  a  tavern 


keeper.  Never  understanding  quite 
it  happened,  Hannibal  became  an  en 
gaged  man  before  his  ship  sailed.  He 
adapted  himself  easily  to  life  at  sea.  In 
time  he  grew  tired  of  his  job  in  the  mess 
room,  and  at  Panama  he  became  a  trim 
mer.  Wheeling  coal  was  hard  work,  but 
after  a  while  Hannibal  felt  proud  of  his 
physical  prowess. 

In  Japan  he  met  Hiram,  and  they  went 
ashore  together.  Soon  after  the  ship 
pulled  out  on  the  long  trip  home,  Han 
nibal  was  stricken  with  fever. 

Captain  Briscoe  wanted  to  look  after 
his  young  brother-in-law  but  he  had 
other  matters  to  worry  him.  He  had 
picked  up  an  English  paper  in  port  and 
had  learned  that  Minnie  was  in  jail, 
arrested  for  taking  part  in  a  suffragette 
demonstration.  To  add  to  his  confusion, 
Minnie's  letters  were  short  and  disap 
pointing.  Then  near  the  Dutch  East 
Indies  the  ship  piled  up  on  a  coral  reef 
and  was  refloated  only  after  long  delay. 
The  ship  barely  reached  England  in  time 
for  Christmas. 

Captain  Briscoe  met  Hannibal  on  the 
dock  and  persuaded  him  to  go  to  the 
hotel  where  Minnie  was  waiting.  Re 
luctant  to  go  because  of  Nellie,  Hannibal 
found  both  his  mother  and  Minnie  at  the 
hotel.  During  her  husband's  absence 
Minnie  had  earned  fat  fees  by  writing 
advertisements  for  a  cough  syrup.  She 
and  her  mother  urged  Hannibal  to  stay 
with  them,  but  he  refused. 

At  Swansea  he  learned  that  Nellie, 
now  the  licensee  of  the  tavern,  still 
wished  to  marry  him.  So  Hannibal 
settled  down  in  the  pub,  secure  and 
well-loved  by  a  capable  wife. 

His  cough  kept  bothering  him.  Finally,, 
after  trying  a  patent  cough  syrup  to  no 
avail,  Nellie  called  the  doctor.  Hannibal 
had  lobar  pneumonia.  The  coal  dust  had 
settled  in  his  lungs  and  the  cough  syrup, 
which  Nellie  had  bought  after  seeing 
an  ad  written  by  Minnie,  had  neark 
killed  him.  Hannibal  rallied  a  little 
but  he  died  within  a  few  days.  Deatfe 
seemed  as  casual  as  life  had  always  been 


129 


CAWDOR 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Robinson  Jeffers  (1887-         ) 

Type  of  ylot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1900 

Locale:  Carmel  Coast  Range,  California 

First  published:  1928 

Principal  characters: 

CAWDOR,  a  farmer 

HOOD  CAWDOR,  his  son 

GEORGE  CAWDOR,  another  son 

MICHAL  CAWDOR,  a  daughter 

MARTIAL,  a  neighbor 

FERA,  Martial's  daughter 

CONCHA  ROSAS,  Cawdor's  Indian  servant 

Critique: 

The  tragedy  of  Cawdor  is  that  all  the 
characters  lived  inwardly  for  themselves, 
not  outwardly  or  creatively.  Out  of  this 
picture  of  violence  and  self-inflicted  suf 
fering,  Jeffers  shows  us  Cawdor  arriving 
at  a  greater  understanding  of  the  mystery 
of  life  and  death.  Man  must  look  to  him 
self  for  the  strength  to  exist  and  for 
forbearance  until  death  brings  release. 
This  poem  is  in  keeping  with  the  violent 
writing  of  its  author,  a  further  demon 
stration  of  his  pessimistic  philosophy  of 
life. 


The,  Story: 

In  1899  a  terrible  fire  devastated 
many  of  the  farms  along  the  Carmel 
coast,  but  Cawdor's  farm  was  untouched. 
Early  one  morning  he  saw  two  figures 
approaching  his  house,  a  young  girl 
leading  a  blind  old  man.  They  were  the 
Martials,  who  held  the  land  bordering 
his,  and  with  whom  Cawdor  had  an 
old  feud.  Martial  had  been  blinded  by 
the  fire,  his  farm  destroyed.  His  daugh 
ter  Fera  had  only  Cawdor  to  turn  to  for 
relief. 

Cawdor  took  them  in  and  sent  his 
servant,  Concha  Rosas,  to  live  in  a  hut. 
When  the  old  man  was  well  enough  to 
walk  around,  Cawdor  spoke  of  sending 
the  two  away  unless  Fera  would  marry 
him.  She  agreed. 


Hood  Cawdor  had  left  home  after  a 
fight  with  his  father.  On  the  night  of 
the  wedding  he  dreamed  that  the  old 
man  had  died,  and  he  decided  to  return 
to  the  farm  to  see  if  all  were  well.  When 
he  reached  a  hill  overlooking  the  farm, 
he  camped  and  lit  a  fire.  His  sister 
Michal  saw  him  and  went  to  tell  him 
of  their  father's  marriage.  Cawdor  re 
ceived  his  son  in  a  friendly  manner.  For 
a  wedding  present,  Hood  gave  Fera  a 
lion  skin. 

Fera  found  in  Hood  the  same  quality 
of  hardness  which  had  drawn  her  at  first 
to  Cawdor.  She  openly  confessed  to 
Hood  that  although  she  had  loved  his 
father  when  she  married  him,  she  no 
longer  cared  for  him.  She  was  jealous, 
too,  of  Concha  Rosas,  who  had  been 
Cawdor's  mistress  before  he  married  Fera, 
and  whom  he  again  seemed  to  prefer 
to  his  wife.  Disturbed  by  Fera's  advances, 
Hood  resolved  to  leave.  But  after  a 
prowling  lion  killed  one  of  the  farm  dogs, 
he  decided  to  stay  until  he  had  killed 
the  animal.  A  terrible  storm  arose  which 
prevented  his  hunting  for  several  days. 

Fera's  father  was  dying.  On  the  pre 
text  that  Martial  wished  to  talk  to  I  lood, 
Fera  called  him  into  the  sick  room. 
Openly,  before  her  unconscious  father, 
she  confessed  her  passion.  That  night 
Fera  asked  Concha  to  watch  with  her 


CAWDOR  by  Robinson  Jeffers.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Random  Houac,  Inc.    Copy 
right,  1928,  by  Robinson  Jeffers. 


130 


by  the  old  man's  bedside.  Toward  morn 
ing  Martial  died. 

But  instead  of  summoning  her  hus 
band,  Fera  went  to  Hood's  room,  where 
Cawdor  found  them.  Fera  tried  to  lull 
his  suspicions  by  declaring  that  she  had 
tried  to  awaken  him  but  could  not,  and 
so  she  had  gone  to  rouse  Hood. 

The  next  morning  the  men  dug  a 
grave  for  the  old  man.  Fera  who  had 
been  watching  them,  called  Hood  into 
the  wood  to  help  her  pick  laurels  for 
the  grave.  Again  she  begged  for  his  love. 
Suddenly  he  drew  his  knife  and  stabbed 
himself  deep  in  the  thigh.  Once  more 
he  had  been  able  to  resist  her.  The 
funeral  service  for  her  father  was  short 
but  painful.  Afterward  Fera  found  her 
way  home  alone. 

Desperate  now,  she  covered  herself 
with  the  lion  skin  Hood  had  given  her 
and  hid  in  the  bushes.  Hood  shot  at 
her,  his  bullet  entering  her  shoulder. 
He  carried  Fera  to  her  room,  where 
Cawdor  attempted  to  set  the  bones  which 
had  been  fractured.  Fera  begged  him  to 
stop  torturing  her.  Then,  as  if  it  were 
wrenched  out  of  her  because  of  the  pain, 
she  said  that  Hood  had  seduced  her  by 
force.  Her  lie  was  a  last  resort  to  prevent 
Hood's  leaving.  But  Hood  had  already 
left  the  farm  and  was  camped  once 
more  on  the  top  of  the  hill.  There  the 
infuriated  father  found  him.  In  the  fight 
that  followed  Hood  was  pushed  off  the 
cliff,  his  body  falling  upon  the  rocks  be 
low.  Cawdor  met  Michal  on  his  way 
down  the  cliff  and  told  her  that  Hood 
had  fled.  Meanwhile  Fera  sent  Concha 
from  the  room  to  get  some  water.  Quickly 
she  unfastened  the  strap  around  her  arm, 
and  slung  it  over  the  head  of  the  bed 
and  around  her  own  neck.  When  Concha 


returned,  Fera  was  almost  dead.  Fo* 
many  days  she  lay  in  bed,  slowly  recover 
ing.  Neither  George  nor  Michal  would 
visit  her.  They  hated  her  for  what  they 
knew  must  have  been  false  charges 
against  Hood. 

Cawdor  was  haunted  by  his  secret 
sin.  Fera  tried  to  destroy  him  with  her 
own  death  wish.  She  told  him  the  truth 
about  Hood;  how,  rather  than  betray  his 
father,  he  had  stabbed  himself  with  his 
knife.  Cawdor's  grief  was  uncontrollable. 
When  Fera  taunted  him,  demanding  that 
he  kill  her,  his  fingers  fastened  around 
her  throat.  But  when  she  began  to 
struggle,  he  released  her  and  ran  into 
Hood's  old  room.  There  he  thought  he 
saw  Hood  lying  on  the  bed,  and  for  a 
moment  he  imagined  all  that  had  passed 
had  been  a  dream. 

He  was  aroused  when  Fera  came  to 
tell  him  that  every  one  knew  he  had 
killed  Hood,  that  soon  the  authorities 
were  bound  to  hear  of  his  crime.  Again 
she  urged  him  to  seek  the  peace  that 
death  would  bring.  They  were  walking 
near  her  father's  grave,  with  George  and 
Michal  nearby.  Cawdor  suddenly  de 
clared  to  them  that  their  suspicions  were 
correct,  that  he  had  killed  Hood,  and 
that  they  were  to  send  for  the  authorities. 
Then  he  reached  down  and  picked  up  a 
flint.  Without  warning,  he  thrust  it  into 
his  eyes.  Then,  patiently,  he  asked  them 
to  lead  him  back  to  the  house,  to  wail 
for  whatever  fate  his  deed  would  merit 
Fera  followed  him  weeping.  Once  again 
she  felt  that  she  had  failed.  She  had 
tried  to  get  Cawdor  to  kill  her  and  then 
himself;  instead,  he  had  shown  the 
courage  to  face  his  crime  and  pay  for  it  as 
humanity  saw  fit. 


THE  CENCI 


Type  of  work:  Dramatic  poem 

Author:  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley  (1792-1822) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  1599 

Locale:  Rome  and  the  Apennines 

First  published:  1819 


131 


Principal  characters: 

COXINT  CENCI,  a  Roman  nobleman 

BEATRICE,  his  daughter 

BERNARJX),  his  son 

GIACOMO,  his  son 

LUCRJETIA,  his  wife  and  stepmother  to  his  children 

COUNT  ORSINO,  a  priest  once  loved  hy  Beatrice 

OLIMPIO  and  MARZIO,  assassins  of  Cenci 

SAVEIXA,  a  papal  legate  who  discovers  the  murder  of  Cenci 


Critique: 

This  play,  in  spite  of  eloquent  and 
moving  passages,  has  not  been  successful 
on  the  stage.  It  is  at  best  a  play  for 
reading,  as  the  author's  purpose  was  to 
present  dramatically  the  events  of  a  typi 
cal  late  Renaissance  tragedy, 

The  Story: 

Count  Cenci  was  a  cruel  and  brutal 
man  whose  greatest  delight  was  to  make 
people  suffer.  He  had  sent  two  of  his 
sons  to  Salamanca  in  hopes  that  they 
would  starve.  His  daughter,  Beatrice, 
had  been  in  love  with  Count  Orsino,  who 
had  entered  the  priesthood.  She  was 
wretched  because  she  did  not  know 
where  to  turn  for  solace.  Her  father  was 
worse  than  cruel  to  her  and  her  lover 
had  become  a  priest.  Orsino  promised  to 
present  to  the  Pope  a  petition  in  which 
Beatrice  begged  relief  from  the  constant 
punishment  she  and  the  rest  of  her  fam 
ily  were  suffering  from  her  father.  Bea 
trice  told  Orsino  of  a  banquet  her  father 
was  giving  that  night  in  celebration  of 
some  news  from  Salamanca  and  said 
that  she  would  give  him  the  petition  at 
that  time.  When  she  left  him,  Orsino 
contemplated  his  own  problem  and  re 
solved  not  to  show  the  Pope  her  petition, 
lest  she  be  married  by  the  Pope's  order 
and  Orsino  be  left  without  a  chance  of 
winning  her  outside  wedlock.  He  resolved 
also  not  to  ask  for  special  permission  to 
marry  lest  he  lose  his  own  large  income 
from  the  Church. 

At  the  banquet  that  night,  Cenci  an 
nounced  the  purpose  of  his  celebration; 
his  two  sons  had  been  killed  by  accident 
in  Salamanca.  Since  they  had  been  given 
to  disobedience  and  rebellion,  Cenci  felt 


that  this  punishment  was  well  deserved, 
At  first  the  guests  could  not  believe  their 
ears,  Beatrice  boldly  begged  that  the 
guests  protect  her,  her  stepmother,  and 
her  remaining  two  brothers  from  further 
cruelties  at  the  hands  of  her  father. 
Cenci,  telling  them  she  was  insane,  asked 
the  guests  to  leave.  Then  he  turned  on 
his  daughter,  threatened  her  with  a  new 
cruelty,  and  ordered  her  and  his  wife 
to  accompany  him  to  his  castle  in  the 
Apennines  on  the  following  Monday, 

At  the  Cenci  palace,  Beatrice  dis 
closed  to  her  stepmother  that  Cenci  had 
committed  a  crime  against  her  which  she 
dared  not  name.  Orsino  came  to  the 
women  and  proposed  a  plan  for  the  as 
sassination  of  Cenci.  At  the  bridge  on 
the  way  to  the  Apennines  he  would  sta 
tion  two  desperate  killers  who  would  be 
glad  to  murder  Cenci.  As  the  women  left 
the  apartment,  Giacomo  entered  to  an 
nounce  that  he  had  lent  his  father  his 
wife's  dowry  and  had  never  been  able 
to  recover  it.  In  fact,  Cenci  had  accused 
him  of  spending  the  money  in  a  riotous 
night,  and  had  suggested  to  Giacomo's 
wife  that  her  husband  was  a  secret  wast 
rel.  Orsino  assured  Giacomo  that  the 
money  would  never  be  restored  and  ex 
plained  to  him  that  the  murder  o£  Cenci 
had  been  planned. 

Later  Orsino  came  to  report  to  Gia 
como  that  his  father  bad  escaped  from 
the  plot  and  was  safe  within  his  castle  in 
the  Apennines.  Giacomo  now  resolved 
to  kill  his  father  by  his  own  hand,  but 
Orsino,  restraining  him,  said  that  he 
knew  two  men  whom  Cenci  had 
wronged  and  who  would  be  willing  to 
rid  the  earth  of  their  persecutor.  At  the 


132 


Apennine  castle,  Cenci  raged  against  the 
insolence  of  his  daughter  and  confessed 
to  Lucretia  that  he  had  tried  to  corrupt 
the  soul  of  Beatrice,  While  he  was  sleep 
ing,  the  two  murderers,  Olimpio  and 
Marzio,  appeared.  Lucretia  said  she  had 
put  a  sleeping  potion  in  Cenci's  drink 
so  that  he  would  be  sure  to  sleep  soundly. 
But  the  two  men  were  hesitant.  Olimpio 
reported  that  he  could  not  kill  an  old 
man  in  his  sleep.  Marzio  thought  he 
heard  the  ghost  of  his  own  dead  father 
speaking  through  the  lips  of  the  sleep 
ing  Cenci.  Beatrice  snatched  a  dagger 
from  them  and  cried  out  that  she  herself 
would  kill  the  fiend.  Shamed  into  ac 
tion,  the  assassins  strangled  Cenci  and 
threw  his  body  over  the  balustrade  into 
the  garden. 

The  Papal  Legate,  Savella,  arrived 
with  a  warrant  for  the  immediate  execu 
tion  of  Cenci  for  his  crimes.  When 
Savella  and  his  followers  discovered  that 
Cenci  was  already  dead,  they  began  an 
investigation.  The  guards  seized  Marzio 
on  whose  person  they  found  Orsino's 


note  introducing  the  two  murderers.  Lu 
cretia  and  Beatrice  denied  knowledge  of 
the  handwriting,  but  Savella  arrested 
them  and  said  that  they  must  appear 
before  the  court  in  Rome.  Giacomo, 
tricked  by  Orsino,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Roman  police.  Orsino  escaped  in 
disguise. 

Conflicting  testimony  at  the  trial 
turned  against  the  Cenci  family.  Bea 
trice  appealed  to  Marzio  to  save  the  inno 
cent  prisoners  from  death,  but  the  assas 
sin  died  on  the  rack  without  changing  his 
testimony.  Consigned  to  cells  to  await 
the  Pope's  final  decision,  the  Cenci  fam 
ily  lived  on  in  misery.  Beatrice  tried  to 
comfort  her  stepmother  in  vain.  The 
Pope  decreed  that  the  prisoners  must  die. 
Beatrice  at  first  was  delirious  with  despair. 
Then  the  young  and  innocent  Bernardo 
went  to  beg  clemency  from  the  Pope,  but 
later  returned  filled  with  grief  that  his 
petition  had  been  useless.  When  the 
guards  came  to  take  them  away,  Beatrice 
and  her  stepmother  went  out  to  their 
execution  with  noble  resignation. 


CHARLES  O'MALLEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Lever  (1806-1872) 

Typ e  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1808-1812 

Locale:  Ireland  and  Europe 

First  published:  1841 

Principal  characters: 

CHARLES  O'MALTJEY,  an  Irish  dragoon 
GODFREY  O'MALLEY,  his  uncle 
WILLIAM  CONSIDINE,  a  family  friend 
CAPTAIN  HAMMERSLEY,  O'Malley's  rival 
GENERAL  DASHWOOD 
LUCY  DASHWOOD,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

Charles  O'Malley,  the  Irish  Dragoon 
is  a  light  novel  in  the  Irish  romantic 
style.  It  has  little  plot  and  slight  struc 
ture.  The  value  of  the  book  lies  in  its 
great  fund  of  stories  and  anecdotes  of 
Irish  prowess  and  cunning  and  in  a 
highly  romanticized  picture  of  the  Napo 
leonic  wars.  To  the  Irish  dragoon,  war 
is  a  gay  and  adventurous  affair  much  like 


a  combination  fox  hunt  and  banquet. 
The  novel  ranks  high  among  works 
written  simply  to  delight  the  reader. 

The  Story: 

At  seventeen  Charles  O'Malley  wa? 
tall  and  broad-shouldered,  deadly  with  a 
gun  and  sure  in  the  saddle.  He  possessed 
in  abundance  the  qualities  of  generosity 


133 


and  honor  expected  of  Godfrey  O'Mal- 
ley's  nephew.  Godfrey,  of  O'Malley 
Castle,  Galway,  was  still  a  good  man  on 
a  horse  and  quick  to  pass  the  bottle.  In 
his  ruined  old  castle  hard  hy  the  river 
Shannon,  he  held  the  staunch  affections 
of  his  tenants. 

Old  Godfrey  was  standing  for  election 
to  the  Irish  Parliament.  Unable  to  leave 
home  during  the  election  campaign,  he 
sent  Charles  to  the  home  of  a  distant 
cousin  named  Blake  to  ask  his  support  in 
the  coming  election.  But  Blake  belonged 
to  the  opposition,  and  although  Charles 
did  his  best  to  win  help  for  his  uncle,  he 
hardly  knew  how  to  handle  the  situation. 

Part  of  the  trouble  was  Lucy  Dash- 
wood.  She  and  her  father  were  visiting 
Blake  while  the  general  tried  to  buy 
some  good  Galway  property.  Charles 
was  jealous  of  the  general's  aide,  Captain 
Hammersley,  who  was  attentive  to  Lucy. 
At  a  fox  hunt  Charles  led  the  way  at 
first,  but  Hammersley  kept  up  with  him. 
Charles'  horse  fell  backward  in  jumping 
a  wall.  With  cool  daring  Charles  kept 
on  and  took  a  ditch  bordered  by  a  stone 
rampart.  Hammersley,  not  to  be  out 
done,  took  the  ditch  too,  but  fell  heavily. 
Charles  was  first  at  the  kill,  but  both  he 
and  Hammersley  had  to  spend  several 
days  in  bed. 

One  night  at  dinner  one  of  the  guests 
spoke  insultingly  of  Godfrey  O'Malley, 
and  Charles  threw  a  wine  glass  in  his 
face.  Billy  Considine,  who  had  been  in 
more  duels  than  any  other  Irishman  in 
Galway,  arranged  the  affair  as  Charles' 
second.  Charles  left  his  man  for  dead 
on  the  field.  Luckily  the  man  recovered, 
and  Charles  escaped  serious  consequences 
for  his  rashness. 

Charles  went  to  Dublin  to  study  law. 
There  chance  led  him  to  share  rooms 
with  Frank  Webber.  College  life  became 
for  Charles  a  series  of  dinners,  brawls  and 
escapades,  all  under  the  leadership  of 
Frank. 

While  in  Dublin,  Charles  saw  Lucy 
again,  but  she  was  distant  to  him.  Ham- 
uersley  was  now  a  favored  suitor.  Charles 


became  increasingly  attracted  to  military 
life,  the  more  so  since  he  seemed  un 
fitted  for  study.  Perhaps  Lucy  would 
approve  his  suit  if  he  became  a  dashing 
dragoon.  Godfrey  arranged  for  a  com 
mission  through  General  Dashwood,  and 
Charles  became  an  ensign. 

His  first  duty  was  in  Portugal.  Napo 
leon  had  invaded  the  peninsula,  and 
England  was  sending  aid  to  her  Portu 
guese  and  Spanish  allies.  In  Lisbon 
Charles'  superb  horsemanship  saved 
Donna  Inez  from  injury.  His  friendship 
with  Donna  Inez  was  progressing  satis 
factorily  when  he  learned  that  Inez  was 
an  intimate  of  Lucy  Dashwood. 

A  his  own  request  Charles  was  sent 
to  the  front.  There  he  soon  distinguished 
himself  by  bravery  in  battle  and  was  pro 
moted  to  a  lieutenancy. 

Lucy  had  given  him  letters  for  Ham 
mersley.  When  Charles  delivered  them, 
Hammersley  turned  pale  and  insulted 
him.  Only  the  good  offices  of  Captain 
Powers  prevented  a  duel. 

Charles  saw  action  at  Talavera  and 
Ciudad  Roderigo.  In  one  engagement  he 
sneaked  under  cover  of  darkness  to  the 
French  trenches,  and  by  moving  the  en 
gineers'  measuring  tape  he  caused  the 
French  to  dig  their  trenches  right  under 
the  British  guns,  Wherever  Charles 
went,  his  man  Michael  Free  looked  out 
for  his  master,  polished  his  buttons,  stole 
food  for  him,  and  made  love  to  all  the 
girls. 

After  Charles  received  his  captaincy, 
news  came  from  home  that  the  O'Malley 
estates  were  in  a  bad  way.  The  rents 
were  falling  off,  mortgages  were  coming 
due,  and  Godfrey's  gout  had  crippled 
him.  Charles  went  home  on  leave,  arriv 
ing  in  Galway  shortly  after  his  uncle's 
death.  There  was  little  money  for  the 
many  debts,  and  the  estate  would  require 
close  management.  Because  a  last  letter 
from  his  uncle  had  asked  him  to  stay  in 
Galway,  Charles  decided  to  sell  his  com 
mission  and  retire  to  civil  life. 

Billy  Considine,  who  acted  as  his  ad 
viser,  told  him  a  distressing  story.  Gen- 


134 


eral  Dashwood  had  sent  an  agent  to 
Galway  to  buy  property.  Thinking  of 
Dashwood  as  an  English  interloper,  God 
frey  had  written  him  a  harsh  letter  of 
warning  to  stay  out  of  Ireland.  In  spite 
of  his  gout,  Godfrey  had  offered  to  go 
to  England  to  do  battle  with  the  general, 
Billy  himself  had  sent  a  direct  challenge 
to  Dashwood.  The  general  had  answered 
in  mild  tone,  and  the  two  hot-headed 
Irishmen  felt  their  honor  had  been  vin 
dicated.  But  Charles  heard  the  story 
with  a  heavy  heart.  Lucy  seemed  lost  to 
him  forever.  For  two  years  Charles  led 
a  secluded  life,  scarcely  quitting  his  farm. 

Charles  and  Michael,  his  servant,  were 
in  Dublin  on  the  day  news  came  of 
Napoleon's  return  from  Elba,  and  Charles 
decided  to  go  back  into  the  army.  He 
and  Michael  went  to  London.  There 
he  was  appointed  to  his  old  rank  on  the 
general  staff. 

Charles  arrived  in  Brussels  just  before 
Waterloo.  The  Belgian  city  was  crowded. 
General  Dashwood  and  Lucy  were  there, 
as  were  Donna  Inez  and  her  father. 
Charles  was  safe  in  one  quarter,  how 
ever,  for  Captain  Powers  and  Inez  were 
to  be  married.  One  day  in  a  park  Lucy 
sat  down  alone  to  await  her  father. 
Hammersley  came  to  her  and  asked 


hoarsely  if  he  could  evei  hope  for  her 
hand.  Although  not  meaning  to  eaves 
drop,  Charles  heard  Lucy  dismiss  Ham 
mersley.  Charles  saw  Lucy  again  at  the 
ball,  but  she  seemed  as  distant  and  cool  as 
ever, 

Charles  became  a  special  courier,  and 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  was 
captured  by  the  French  and  thrown  into 
prison.  To  his  amazement  his  cellmate 
was  General  Dashwood,  condemned  to 
die  for  having  used  spies  against  the 
French.  St.  Croix,  a  French  officer  whom 
Charles  had  befriended  in  Spain,  offered 
to  help  him  escape.  Unselfishly  Charles 
let  General  Dashwood  go  in  his  place. 
Napoleon  himself  summoned  Charles  to 
an  audience,  and  throughout  the  battle 
of  Waterloo  he  saw  the  action  from  the 
French  lines.  He  was  watching  his 
chances,  however,  and  when  the  French 
troops  were  scattered  he  made  his  way 
back  to  the  English  lines. 

After  Charles'  heroic  action  in  saving 
her  father  from  execution,  Lucy  could 
not  longer  refuse  him.  Charles  and  Lucy 
went  back  to  Galway  to  stay,  and  the 
Irish  tenantry  bared  their  heads  in  wel 
come  to  the  new  mistress  of  O'Malley 
Castle. 


THE  CHARTERHOUSE  OF  PARMA 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Stendhal  (Marie-Henri  Beyle,  1783-1842) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Italy 

First  published:  1839 

Principal  characters: 

FABRIZIO  PEL  DONGO,  a  young  adventurer 

GTNA  PIETRANERA,  his  aunt 

COUNT  MOSCA,  Gina's  lover 

MARIETTA,  an  actress 

CLELIA  CONTT,  Fabrizio's  mistress 

Critique: 

The  Charterhouse  of  Parma  is  one  of 
the  earlier  examples  of  French  romantic 
prose.  The  scene  is  the  principality  of 


ventures,  light-hearted  and  tragic,  from 
Waterloo  to  Bologna.  The  story,  a  his 
torical  romance,  contains  also  the  ele- 


Parma  in  Italy,  and  the  long,  involved      ments  of  social  comedy  and  more  serious 
plot  takes  the  reader  through  many  ad-      reflections  on  the  futility  of  life.    The 


135 


novel  has  a  sustained  dramatic  interest 
which  contributes  much  to  its  recogni 
tion  as  a  classic  of  French  romanticism. 

The  Story: 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  Fa 
brizio,  son  of  the  Marchese  del  Dongo, 
grew  up  at  his  father's  magnificent  villa 
at  Grianta  on  Lake  Como.  His  father 
was  a  miserly  fanatic  who  hated  Napo 
leon  and  the  French,  his  mother  a  long- 
suffering  creature  cowed  by  her  domi 
neering  husband.  In  his  boyhood  Fabri 
zio  was  happiest  when  he  could  leave 
Grianta  and  go  to  visit  his  mother's 
widowed  sister,  Gina  Pietranera,  at  her 
home  in  Milan.  Gina  looked  upon  her 
handsome  nephew  very  much  as  a  son. 

When  he  was  nearly  seventeen,  Fabri- 
zio  determined  to  join  Napoleon.  Both 
his  aunt  and  his  mother  were  shocked 
but  the  boy  stood  firm.  Fabrizio's  father 
was  too  stingy  to  allow  his  womenfolk 
to  give  Fabrizio  any  money  for  his  jour 
ney,  but  Gina  sewed  some  small  dia 
monds  in  his  coat.  Under  a  false  pass 
port  Fabrizio  made  his  way  to  Paris  as 
a  seller  of  astrological  instruments. 

Following  one  of  Napoleon's  battalions 
out  of  Paris,  Fabrizio  was  arrested  and 
thrown  into  jail  as  a  spy.  His  enthusias 
tic  admiration  for  the  emperor  and  his 
bad  French  were  against  him.  Released 
from  jail  by  the  kind-hearted  wife  of  the 
turnkey,  F'abrizio  pressed  on,  anxious  to 
get  into  the  fighting.  Mounted  on  a 
horse  he  bought  from  a  good-natured 
camp  follower,  he  rode  by  accident  into 
a  group  of  hussars  around  Marshall  Ney 
at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  When  a  gen 
eral's  horse  was  shot,  the  hussars  lifted 
Fabrizio  from  the  saddle  and  the  general 
commandeered  his  mount.  Afoot,  Fabri 
zio  fell  in  with  a  band  of  French  infantry 
men  and  in  the  retreat  from  Waterloo 
killed  a  Prussian  officer.  Happy  at  being 
a  real  soldier,  he  threw  down  his  gun 
and  ran  away. 

Meanwhile,  at  home,  Gina  had  suc 
cumbed  to  the  pleadings  of  Count  Mosca, 
prime  minister  o£  Parma,  They  made  a 


happy  arrangement.  Old  Duke  San- 
severina  wanted  a  diplomatic  post  very 
badly.  In  return  for  Mosca's  favor  in 
giving  him  the  post,  he  agreed  to  marry 
Gina  and  set  her  up  as  the  Duchess  of 
Sanseverina.  Then  the  duke  left  the 
country  for  good,  and  Mosca  became 
Gina's  accepted  lover.  It  was  a  good 
thing  for  Fabrizio  that  his  aunt  had  some 
influence.  When  he  returned  to  Grianta, 
the  gendarmes  came  to  arrest  him  on  a 
false  passport  charge.  He  was  taken  to 
Milan  in  his  aunt's  carriage.  On  the  way 
the  party  passed  an  older  man  and  his 
younger  daughter,  also  arrested  but  con 
demned  to  walk.  Graciously  Gina  and 
Fabrizio  took  General  Conti  and  his 
daughter  Clelia  into  the  carriage  with 
them.  At  Milan  Fabrizio's  difficulties 
were  easily  settled. 

Gina  was  growing  very  fond  of  Fabri 
zio,  who  was  a  handsome  youth,  and 
she  took  him  with  her  to  Parma  to  ad 
vance  his  fortune.  There,  upon  the 
advice  of  Mosca,  it  was  decided  to  send 
the  young  man  to  Naples  to  study  for 
three  years  at  the  theological  seminary. 
When  he  came  back,  he  would  be  given 
an  appointment  at  court, 

At  the  end  of  his  studies  Fabrizio  was 
a  suave,  worldly  young  monsignor,  not 
yet  committed  to  a  life  of  piety  in  spite 
of  his  appointment  as  alternate  for  the 
archbishop.  At  the  theater  one  night  the 
young  cleric  saw  a  graceful  young  actress 
named  Marietta  Valsera.  His  attention 
soon  aroused  the  anger  of  a  rascal  called 
Giletti,  Marietta's  protector, 

Fearing  the  consequences  of  this  in 
discretion,  Mosca  sent  Fabrizio  to  the 
country  for  a  while  to  supervise  some 
archeological  diggings.  While  looking 
over  the  spot,  Fabrizio  borrowed  a  shot 
gun  and  walked  down  the  road  to  look 
for  rabbits.  At  that  moment  a  carriage 
drove  by,  with  Marietta  and  Giletti  in 
side.  Thinking  that  Fabrizio  intended 
to  take  Marietta,  Giletti  leaped  from  the 
caniage  and  rushed  at  Fabrizio  with  his 
dagger.  In  the  fight,  Fabrizio  killed  Gil 
etti.  The  alarmed  Marietta  took  Fabri- 


136 


zio  with  her  to  Bologna.  There  his  aunt's 
emissaries  supplied  him  with  ample 
funds,  and  Fabrizio  settled  down  to  en 
joy  his  lovely  Marietta. 

News  of  the  affair  reached  Parma. 
Political  opponents  of  Mosca  found  an 
opportunity  to  strike  at  him  through 
Gina,  and  they  influenced  the  prince  to 
try  the  fugitive  for  murder.  Fabrizio  was 
tried  in  his  absence  and  condemned  to 
death  or  imprisonment  as  a  galleyslave. 

Fabrizio  soon  tired  of  his  Marietta. 
Attracted  by  a  young  singer  named 
Fausta,  he  followed  her  to  Parma.  There 
he  was  recognized  and  imprisoned.  In 
spite  of  his  influence,  Mosca  could  do 
little  for  Gina's  nephew.  But  Fabrizio 
was  happy  in  jail,  for  Clelia,  the  daughter 
of  his  jailer,  was  the  girl  to  whom  Fabri 
zio  had  offered  a  ride  years  before.  By 
means  of  alphabet  cards  the  two  were 
soon  holding  long  conversations. 

Outside  Gina  laid  her  plans  for  Fabri- 
zio's  escape.  With  the  help  of  a  poet 
named  Ferrante,  she  arranged  to  have 
ropes  smuggled  to  her  nephew.  Clelia 


herself  was  to  carry  them  in.  Fabrizio 
escaped  from  the  tower  and  fled  to  Pied 
mont.  At  Parma,  according  to  Gina's 
instructions,  Ferrante  poisoned  the  prince 
who  had  condemned  Fabrizio  to  imprison 
ment.  In  the  resulting  confusion  Gina 
and  Fabrizio  returned  to  Parma,  now 
governed  by  the  new  prince.  Pardoned, 
he  was  named  coadjutor  by  the  arch 
bishop.  Later  he  became  archbishop  and 
attracted  great  crowds  with  his  preach 
ing.  In  the  meantime  Clelia  had  married 
a  rich  marchese.  One  day,  moved  by 
curiosity,  she  came  to  hear  Fabrizio 
preach.  Her  love  finally  led  her  to  take 
him  for  a  lover.  Every  night  he  came  to 
her  house.  After  their  child  was  born,  Fa 
brizio  took  the  baby  to  his  own  house  and 
Clelia  visited  her  small  son  there.  But 
Fabrizio  was  to  be  happy  only  a  short 
time.  The  infant  died  and  Clelia  di<J 
not  long  survive  her  child.  Saddened  bj 
her  death,  Fabrizio  gave  up  his  office  and 
retired  to  the  Charterhouse  of  Parma,  a 
monastery  on  the  river  Po,  where  quiet 
meditation  filled  his  days. 


CHILDREN  OF  GOD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Vardis  Fisher  (1895-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  'plot:  1820-1890 

Locale:  New  York,  Illinois,  Utah 

First  <puUished:  1939 

Principal  characters: 

JOSEPH  SMITH,  the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Latter-day  Saints 
BRIGHAM  YOUNG,  the  leader  of  the  Church  after  Smith's  death 
JOHN  TAYLOR,  a  later  leader  of  the  Mormon  Church 

Critique: 

Vardis  Fisher  calls  his  book  an  Ameri 
can  epic.  Certainly  the  material  dealt 
with  is  of  an  epic  character,  for  no  one 
can  doubt  the  bravery  and  the  sincerity 
of  the  Mormons  after  reading  this  ac 
count  of  the  great  migration  from  New 
York  to  Illinois  and  Missouri  and,  finally, 
to  Utah.  Taking  the  bare  bones  of  fact, 
Fisher  rounded  out  the  personalities  and 
events  of  Mormomsm  in  such  manner 


that  the  facts  seemed  to  take  on  flesh 
and  come  to  life.  The  result  is  a  novel 
in  which  history  and  fiction  are  one, 

The  Story: 

In  the  early  1820's  a  young  man  in 
Palmyra,  New  York,  had  visions  which 
led  him  to  believe  himself  a  prophet  of 
the  Lord.  The  young  man  was  Joseph 
Smith  and  his  visions  were  the  basis 


CHILDREN  OF  GOD  by  Vardis  Fisher.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Vanguard  Frew,  lac. 
Copyright,  1939,  by  Vardis  Fisher. 


137 


upon  which  he  built  the  Church  of  the 
Latter-day  Saints,  more  commonly  known 
as  the  Mormon  Church.  In  those  days 
his  followers  were  few,  being  only  his 
family  and  a  handful  of  friends. 

In  March  of  1830  the  Book  of  Mor 
mon  was  published.  Shortly  after  it  ap 
peared,  Joseph  Smith  ordained  his 
brothers  and  the  men  of  the  Whitmer 
family  as  Latter-day  Saints.  After  Joseph 
was  reported  to  have  cast  out  the  per 
sonal  devil  of  a  man  called  Newel  Knight, 
word  of  the  miracle  spread  about  the 
country  near  Palmyra  and  many  were 
converted. 

But  with  success  came  trouble.  On 
one  occasion  a  mob  of  men  almost 
lynched  the  new  prophet.  On  another,  he 
was  taken  to  court  for  trial.  He  realized 
that  his  life  was  no  longer  safe  in  the 
state  of  New  York. 

Joseph's  three  hundred  followers  left 
New  York  State  for  Ohio.  Meanwhile 
Joseph  sent  two  men,  one  of  them  Oliver 
Cowdery,  his  first  convert,  to  travel  be 
yond  the  Mississippi  River  for  the  pur 
pose  of  converting  the  Indians  and  locat 
ing  the  place  where  the  Saints  were  to 
build  their  Zion.  In  Ohio,  Joseph  Smith 
was  again  persecuted.  One  winter  night 
a  mob  abducted  him  from  his  house  and 
tarred  and  feathered  him.  Shortly  after 
ward  Joseph  decided  to  take  his  flock  to 
Missouri,  and  he  went  with  a  few  of  his 
followers  to  survey  the  country. 

More  trouble  awaited  him  when  he 
returned  to  Ohio.  Several  of  his  con 
verts  had  set  themselves  up  as  prophets 
during  his  absence.  Reports  reached  him 
that  the  people  he  had  left  in  Missouri 
were  being  mobbed.  Then  one  day  two 
men  came  to  offer  their  services  to  Joseph 
Smith.  One  was  Rrigham  Young,  the 
other  Heber  Kimball.  Brigham  Young 
was  a  great  help  to  the  Saints'  community 
because  he  could  make  men  do  what  he 
wished,  something  that  Joseph  Smith,  the 
mystic,  was  never  able  to  learn. 

While  the  Saints  in  Ohio  were  facing 
internal  strife,  the  people  of  the  new 
faith  in  Missouri  were  being  horse 


whipped,  murdered,  and  driven  from 
their  homes  by  mobs.  Eventually  Brig- 
ham  Young  was  authorized  to  organize 
an  army  to  march  upon  Missouri  and 
rescue  the  Mormons  there.  At  the  last 
minute  Joseph  Smith  went  with  it  as 
leader.  The  expedition  was  doomed  to 
failure.  Cholera  and  Indians  took  their 
toll  among  the  men.  They  never  fought 
the  Missouri  mobs. 

For  the  next  few  years  the  Saints 
prospered  in  Ohio.  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brigham  Young  opened  a  Mormon- 
operated  bank,  which  failed,  along  with 
many  others,  in  the  panic  of  1837.  The 
loss  of  their  money  turned  the  Saints 
against  their  leaders  as  nothing  else  had 
done,  and  Brigham  Young  and  Joseph 
Smith  fled  to  Missouri  for  their  lives. 
They  were  soon  joined  by  three  hundred 
families  from  Ohio  who  remained  true  to 
Joseph's  religion  and  prophetic  power. 

In  Missouri  mobs  again  harassed  their 
settlements.  The  desperate  Saints  or 
ganized  a  retaliating  secret  society  called 
the  Danites  or  Destroying  Angels, 
Finally  the  governor  of  Missouri  ordered 
all  the  Mormons  to  leave  the  state  or  be 
killed.  Again  Joseph  Smith  and  his 
leaders  were  tried  for  treason.  Through  a 
friendly  guard  they  escaped  execution. 

The  Saints  settled  next  at  Nauvoo,  in 
Illinois,  where  Joseph  Smith  began  the 
practice  of  plural  marriages  in  an  effort 
to  keep  the  women  in  the  church,  who 
outnumbered  the  men,  from  becoming 
charity  cases  or  harlots.  Joseph  himself 
soon  had  twenty  wives,  His  first  wife, 
Emma,  made  him  send  away  nil  but  two, 

Joseph  Smith  never  left  Illinois.  He 
was  killed  by  a  mob  when  he  gave  him 
self  up  to  stand  trial  for  treason  a  third 
time.  Brigham  Young  then  took  over 
the  leadership  of  the  Mormons,  not  as  a 
prophet,  but  as  a  leader.  He  decided  that 
the  only  way  for  the  Mormons  to  find 
peace  was  to  leave  the  United  States, 
to  seek  a  place  in  the  far  West. 

Trudging  westward  through  the  snow> 
three  thousand  Mormons  started  out 
under  Brigham's  leadership.  Those  leff 


138 


behind  felt  lost  without  their  leader  and 
soon  there  were  fifteen  thousand  more 
people  following  Brigharn  westward. 

In  the  spring  of  1847  Brigham  Young 
set  out  from  his  winter  camp  for  the 
Rocky  Mountains  with  a  hundred  and 
fifty  picked  men.  The  others  were  to 
follow  later.  Brigham  had  determined 
to  settle  south  of  the  salt  lake  in  Utah. 
By  the  winter  of  1 847  seventeen  hundred 
Mormons  were  already  in  Utah.  When 
Brigham  learned  that  the  Utah  territory 
had  heen  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
Mexico,  he  felt  that  the  Mormons  would 
never  have  a  land  of  their  own.  The 
next  winter  five  thousand  of  the  Mor 
mons  lived  through  a  year  of  intense  cold 
and  starvation  rations.  The  third  year 
in  Utah  brought  a  new  problem  to 
Brigham  Young.  California  gold  at 
tracted  thousands  of  rascals  and  adven 
turers,  many  of  whom  passed  through 
the  settlement  of  the  Mormons  on  their 
way  to  the  coast.  Those  scoundrels 
stole  from  the  scanty  stores  of  the  set 
tlers  and  made  trouble  among  the  women. 

As  the  years  passed,  the  Saints 
flourished.  Brigham  Young  was  elected 
governor  of  Utah  Territory.  In  1852  he 
took  a  bold  step  when  he  announced 
publicly  what  many  people  had  long 
known  or  at  least  suspected,  the  practice 
of  polygamy  by  the  leaders  of  the  Mor 
mon  Church.  The  hue  and  cry  against 
the  practice  amazed  and  embittered  Brig- 
ham,  for  he  could  say  truthfully  that  it 
had  maintained  morality  in  the  Mormon 
settlements. 

In  1855  locusts  demolished  their  crops. 
Many  of  the  Saints  turned  against  the 


practice  of  polygamy,  for  in  times  of 
famine  a  man  could  not  secure  enough 
food  for  his  over-expanded  family. 

Two  years  later  the  Mormons  heard 
that  the  Federal  government  had  sent 
an  army  to  deal  with  them.  From  their 
previous  experiences,  the  Mormons  knew 
they  could  expect  little  mercy.  The  ter 
ritorial  governor  sent  by  the  president  was 
vigorously  defied  and  the  Mormons 
threatened  to  burn  Salt  Lake  City  and 
leave  the  country  a  desert  as  they  had 
found  it.  Finally  the  president  sent  a 
pardon  to  the  Mormons. 

With  General  Grant  in  the  White 
House,  the  Mormon  problem  again  be 
came  a  pressing  one.  Federal  prosecutors 
invoked  the  anti-bigamy  law  and  began 
to  imprison  Mormon  leaders.  Then  the 
prosecutors  attempted  to  indict  the 
leaders,  including  Brigham  Young,  for 
murder.  Young  was  never  tried,  how 
ever,  for  he  died  of  natural  causes. 

After  Young's  death,  the  authorities 
secured  more  indictments  in  the  hope 
that  the  Mormons  would  repudiate  poly 
gamy.  They  also  moved  against  the  co 
operative  stores  and  industries  which  had 
been  founded,  and  attempted  to  deprive 
the  Mormon  Church  of  all  assets  in  ex 
cess  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  sum 
of  those  strains  was  too  great.  The  presi* 
dent  of  the  Mormon  Council  denounced 
plural  marriages.  No  longer  could  the 
Mormon  community  hold  itself  apart  in 
order  to  continue  its  existence.  The 
Saints  and  the  settlers  from  the  East 
would  live  side  by  side  m  the  new  state 
of  Utah, 


A  CHRISTMAS  CAROL 


Type  of  work:  Novelette 

Autkori  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London,  England 

First  published;  1843 

Principal  characters: 

EBENEZER  SCROOGE,  a  miser 
MARJLEY'S  GHOST 


139 


BOB  CKATCHIT,  Scrooge's  clerk 
TINY  TIM,  Cratchit' s  son 
SCROOGE'S  NEPHEW 


Critique: 

This  story  has  become  as  much  a  part 
of  the  tradition  of  Christmas  as  holly 
wreaths,  mistletoe,  and  Christmas  carols. 
Dickens'  skill  with  humor  and  character 
analysis  are  particularly  evident.  At  the 
beginning  or'  the  story,  we  are  made  to 
dislike  Scrooge  for  his  miserly  ways,  but 
we  are  in  sympathy  wifh  him  as  he  is 
subjected  to  the  tortures  of  his  ghostly 
journeys.  Dickens  provides  a  psycho 
logical  explanation  for  Scrooge's  bitter 
ness  and  desire  to  live  apart  from  the 
rest  of  the  world.  At  the  same  time  he 
paves  the  way  for  Scrooge's  reform,  so 
that  it  comes  as  no  surprise.  It  is  entirely 
right  that  Scrooge  should  become  an 
example  of  the  meaning  of  Christmas 
among  men. 

The  Story: 

Ebenezer  Scrooge  was  a  miser.  Owner 
of  a  successful  counting-house,  he  would 
have  in  his  bleak  office  only  the  smallest 
fire  in  the  most  bitter  weather.  For  his 
clerk,  Bob  Cratchit.,  he  allowed  an  even 
smaller  fire.  The  weather  seldom  mat 
tered  to  Scrooge,  who  was  always  cold 
within,  never  warm — even  on  Christ 
mas  Eve. 

As  the  time  approached  for  closing  the 
office  on  Christmas  Eve,  Scrooge's 
nephew  stopped  in  to  wish  him  a  Merry 
Christmas.  Scrooge  only  sneered,  for  he 
abhorred  sentiment  and  thought  only  of 
one  thing — money.  To  him  Christmas 
was  a  time  when  people  spent  more 
money  than  they  should,  and  found 
themselves  a  year  older  and  no  richer. 

Grudgingly  Scrooge  allowed  his  clerk, 
Bob  Cratchit,  to  have  Christinas  Day 
off;  that  was  the  one  concession  to  the 
holiday  that  he  made.  But  he  warned 
Cratchit  to  be  at  work  earlier  the  day 
after  Christmas.  Scrooge  left  his  office 
and  went  home  to  his  rooms  in  a  build 
ing  in  which  he  was  the  only  tenant. 
They  had  been  the  rooms  of  Scrooge'vS 


partner,  Jacob  Marley,  dead  for  seven 
years.  As  he  approached  his  door,  he 
saw  in  the  knocker  Marlcy's  face.  It  was 
a  horrible  sight.  Marley  was  looking  at 
Scrooge  with  his  eyes  motionless,  his 
ghostly  spectacles  on  his  ghostly  fore 
head.  As  Scrooge  watched,  the  knocker 
resumed  its  usual  form.  Shaken  by  this 
vision,  Scrooge  entered  the  hall  and 
lighted  a  candle;  then  he  looked  behind 
the  door,  half  expecting  to  see  Marley 's 
pigtail  sticking  out  into  the  hall.  Satis 
fied,  he  double-locked  the  cloor.  He  pre 
pared  for  bed  and  sat  for  a  time  before 
the  dying  fire.  Suddenly  an  unused  bell 
hanging  in  the  room  began  to  ring,  as  did 
every  bell  in  the  house. 

Then  from  below  came  the  sound  of 
heavy  chains  clanking.  The  cellar  door 
flew  open,  and  someone  mounted  the 
stairs.  Marley 's  ghost  walked  through 
Scrooge's  door— Marley,  dressed  as  al 
ways,  but  with  a  heavy  chain  of  cash 
boxes,  keys,  padlocks,  ledgers,  deeds,  and 
heavy  purses  around  his  middle. 

Marlcy's  ghost  sat  clown  to  talk  to  the 
frightened  and  bewildered  Scrooge.  Forc 
ing  Scrooge,  to  admit  that  he  believed  in 
him,  Marley  explained  that  in  life  he  had 
never  done  any  good  for  mankind  and  so 
in  death  he  was  condemned  to  constant 
traveling  with  no  rest  and  no  relief  from 
the  torture  of  remorse.  The  ghost  said 
that  Scrooge  still  had  a  chance  to  save 
himself  from  Marley's  fate,  Scrooge 
would  be  visited  by  three  spirits  who 
would  show  him  the  way  to  change.  The 
first  spirit  would  appear  the  next  clay  at 
the  stroke  of  one.  Tlie  next  would  arrive 
on  the  second  night,  and  the  last  on  the 
third.  Dragging  his  chain,  the  ghost 
disappeared. 

After  Marley's  ghost  had  vanished, 
Scrooge  went  to  bed  and  in  spite  of  his 
nervousness  fell  asleen  instantly.  When 
he  awoke,  it  was  still  dark.  The  clock 
struck  twelve,  He  waited  for  the  stroke 


140 


of  one.  As  the  sound  of  the  bell  died 
away,  his  bed  curtains  were  pulled 
apart,  and  there  stood  a  figure  with  a 
childlike  face,  but  with  long,  white  hair 
and  a  strong,  well-formed  body.  The 
ghost  introduced  itself  as  the  Ghost  of 
Christmas  Past,  Scrooge's  past.  When  the 
ghost  invited  Scrooge  to  go  on  a  journey 
with  him,  Scrooge  was  unable  to  refuse. 

They  traveled  like  the  wind  and 
stopped  first  at  Scrooge's  birthplace.  There 
Scrooge  saw  himself  as  a  boy,  neglected 
by  his  friends  and  left  alone  to  find  ad 
venture  in  books.  Next  he  saw  himself 
at  school,  where  his  sister  had  come  to 
take  him  home  for  Christmas.  Scrooge 
recalled  his  love  for  his  sister,  who  had 
died  young.  The  ghost  reminded  him  that 
she  had  had  a  son  whom  Scrooge  neg 
lected.  Their  next  stop  was  the  scene  of 
Scrooge's  apprenticeship,  where  every 
one  made  merry  on  Christmas  Eve.  Trav 
eling  on,  they  saw  a  young  girl  weeping 
as  she  told  young  Scrooge  that  she  real 
ized  he  loved  money  more  than  he  loved 
her.  The  ghost  showed  him  the  same 
girl,  grown  older  but  happy  with  her 
husband  and  children,  Then  the  ghost 
returned  Scrooge  to  his  room,  where  he 
promptly  fell  asleep  again. 

When  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Present 
appeared,  he  led  Scrooge  through  the  city 
streets  on  Christmas  morning.  Their 
first  stop  was  at  the  Cratchit  home,  where 
Bob  Cratchit  appeared  with  frail,  crip 
pled  Tiny  Tim  on  his  shoulder.  In  the 
Cratchit  home  a  skimpy  meal  became  a 
banquet.  After  dinner  Bob  proposed  a 
toast  to  Mr.  Scrooge,  even  though  it 
put  a  temporary  damper  on  the  holiday 
gaiety.  Then  the  ghost  and  Scrooge 
crossed  swiftly  through  the  city  where 
everyone  paused  to  wish  one  another  a 
Merry  Christmas.  As  they  looked  in  on 
the  home  of  Scrooge's  nephew,  gaiety 
prevailed  and  Scrooge  was  tempted  to 
join  in  the  games.  There,  too,  a  toast 
was  proposed  to  Scrooge's  health.  As 
die  clock  began  to  strike  twelve,  Scrooge 


found  himself  in  his  room,  and  the  ghost 
of  Christmas  Present  faded  away. 

With  the  last  stroke  of  twelve,  Scrooge 
saw  a  black-shrouded  phantom  approach 
ing  him,  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Future. 
The  phantom  extended  his  hand  and 
forced  Scrooge  to  follow  him  until  they 
came  to  a  group  of  scavengers  selling  the 
belongings  of  the  dead.  One  woman  had 
entered  a  dead  man's  room,  had  taken  his 
bed  curtains,  bedding,  and  even  the 
shirt  in  which  he  was  to  have  been 
buried.  Scrooge  saw  a  dead  man  with  his 
face  covered,  but  he  refused  to  lift  the 
covering.  Revisiting  the  Cratchits,  he 
learned  that  Tiny  Tim  had  died. 

After  seeing  his  empty  counting-house 
and  his  own  neglected  grave,  Scrooge  re 
alized  that  it  was  he  who  had  lain  on 
the  bed  in  the  cold,  stripped  room  with 
no  one  to  mourn  his  death.  Scrooge 
begged  the  spirit  that  it  should  not  be 
so,  vowing  that  he  would  change,  that 
he  would  forever  honor  Christmas  in 
his  heart.  Fie  made  a  desperate  grasp 
for  the  phantom's  hand  and  realized  that 
the  ghost  had  shriveled  away  and 
dwindled  into  a  bedpost,  Scrooge 
bounded  out  of  bed  and  thanked  Jacob 
Marley's  ghost  for  his  chance  to  make 
amends.  Dashing  into  the  street,  he  real 
ized  that  it  was  Christmas  Day.  His  first 
act  was  to  order  the  largest  turkey  avail 
able  to  be  sent  anonymously  to  the 
Cratchits.  He  stopped  a  man  whom  the 
day  before  he  had  ordered  from  his 
counting-house  for  asking  for  a  contri 
bution,  and  to  him  Scrooge  gave  a  large 
sum  of  money  for  the  poor.  Then  he 
astounded  his  nephew  by  arriving  at  his 
house  for  Christmas  dinner  and  making 
himself  the  life  of  the  party. 

Scrooge  never  reverted  to  his  old  ways. 
He  raised  Bob  Cratchit's  salary,  im 
proved  conditions  in  his  office,  contrib 
uted  generously  to  all  charities,  and  be 
came  a  second  father  to  Tiny  Tim.  It 
was  said  of  him  thereafter  that  he  truly 
knew  how  to  keep  Christmas  well. 


141 


THE  CID 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Pierre  Corneille  (1606-1684) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:  Eleventh  century 

Locale:  Seville 

First  presented:  1636 

Principal  characters: 

DON  FERNAND,  King  o£  Castile 

DONA  URBAQUE,  Infanta,  daughter  of  Fernand 

DON  DIEGUE,  father  of  Rodrigue 

DON  GOMES,  father  of  Chimene 

DON  RODRIGUE,  accepted  suitor  of  Chimene 

DON  SANCHE,  in  love  with  Chimene 

CHIMENE,  daughter  of  Don  Gomes 


Critique: 

In  France,  "Good  as  The  Cid"  became 
a  proverb  used  to  bestow  high  praise.  The 
Cid,  a  tragedy  in  the  neo-classical  tradi 
tion,  is  generally  ranked  as  the  best  of 
Corneille's  works.  The  subject  of  the 
drama  is  man  himself,  and  the  hero 
determines  his  own  fate  in  this  tragedy 
of  renunciation, 

The  Story: 

Because  she  was  the  princess  royal, 
the  Infanta  felt  she  could  not  openly  love 
Rodrigue,  a  nobleman  of  lower  rank. 
She  encouraged,  therefore,  the  growing 
attachment  between  Chimene  and  Rodri 
gue.  Chimene  asked  her  father,  Don 
Gomes,  to  choose  for  his  son-in-law  either 
Rodrigue  or  Sanche,  She  awaited  the 
choice  anxiously;  her  father  was  on  his 
way  to  court  and  she  would  soon  hear  his 
decision.  Don  Gomes  chose  Rodrigue 
without  hesitation,  chiefly  because  of 
the  fame  of  Don  Diegue,  Rodrigue's 
father. 

A  complication  soon  arose  at  court. 
The  king  had  chosen  Don  Diegue  as 
preceptor  for  his  son,  the  heir  apparent. 
Don  Gomes  felt  that  the  choice  was  un 
just.  Don  Diegue  had  been  the  greatest 
warrior  in  Castile,  but  he  was  now  old. 
Don  Gomes  considered  himself  the 
doughtiest  knight  in  the  kingdom.  In  a 
bitter  quarrel  Don  Gomes  unjustly  ac 
cused  Don  Diegue  of  gaining  the  king's 
favor  through  flattery  and  deceit.  He  felt 


the  prince  needed  a  preceptor  who  would 
be  a  living  example,  not  a  teacher  who 
would  dwell  in  the  past.  In  the  quarrel, 
Don  Gomes  slapped  his  older  rival.  Don 
Diegue,  too  feeble  to  draw  his  sword 
against  Don  Gomes,  upbraided  himself 
bitterly  for  having  to  accept  the  insult. 
His  only  recourse  was  to  call  on  his 
young  son  to  uphold  the  family  honor. 

Tom  between  love  and  duty,  Rodrigue 
challenged  Don  Gomes  to  a  duel.  Aner 
some  hesitation  because  of  Rodrigue's 
youth  and  unproved  valor,  Don  Gom&s 
accepted  the  challenge  of  his  daughter's 
suitor,  To  the  surprise  of  the  court,  Rod 
rigue,  the  untried  novice,  killed  the 
mightiest  man  in  Castile,  piercing  with 
his  sword  the  man  whom  he  respected  as 
his  future  father-in-law. 

Ghimene  now  felt  herself  in  a  des 
perate  plight  because  her  love  for  Rod 
rigue  was  mixed  with  hatred  for  the 
murderer  of  her  father,  She  finally  de 
cided  to  avenge  her  father  by  seeking 
justice  from  the  king,  Since  she  haa 
the  right  to  petition  the  king,  Don  l;er- 
nand  was  forced  to  hear  her  pleas.  In 
the  scene  at  court,  Don  Diegue  made  a 
strong  counter-plea  for  his  son,  remind 
ing  the  king  that  Rodrigue  had  done 
only  what  honor  forced  him  to  do— up 
hold  the  family  name. 

The  king  was  saved  from  the  vexing 
decision  when  fierce  Moors  assaulted  the 
walls  of  Seville,  Chim&ne  awaited  the 


142 


outcome  of  the  battle  with  mixed  emo 
tions.  The  army  of  Castile  returned  in 
triumph,  bringing  as  captives  two  Moor 
ish  kings.  And  the  man  who  had  inspired 
and  led  the  Castilians  by  his  audacity 
was  Rodrigue.  The  grateful  Icing  gave 
the  hero  a  new  title,  The  Cid,  a  Moorish 
name  meaning  "lord."  The  Infanta  was 
wretched.  Although  her  high  position 
would  not  allow  her  to  love  Rodrigue, 
she  could  love  The  Cid,  a  high  noble 
and  the  hero  of  Castile.  She  showed  her 
nobility  by  yielding  to  Chimene's  prior 
right. 

Chimene  was  still  bound  to  seek  re 
dress.  The  king  resolved  to  test  her  true 
feelings.  When  she  entered  the  throne 
room,  he  told  her  gravely  that  Rodrigue 
had  died  from  battle  wounds.  Chimene 
fainted.  The  king  advised  her  to  follow 
the  promptings  of  her  heart  and  cease 
her  quest  for  vengeance. 

Still  holding  duty  above  love,  however, 
Chimene  insisted  on  her  feudal  right  of 
a  champion.  Sanche,  hoping  to  win  the 
favor  of  Chimene,  offered  to  meet  Rodri 
gue  in  mortal  combat  and  avenge  the 
death  of  Don  Gomes.  Chimene  accepted 
him  as  her  champion.  The  king  decreed 


that  Chimene  must  marry  the  victor. 

In  private,  Rodrigue  came  to  Chimene, 
Indignant  at  first,  Chimene  soon  softened 
when  she  learned  that  Rodrigue  had  re 
solved  to  let  himself  be  killed  because 
she  wished  it.  Again  wavering  between 
love  and  duty,  Chimene  begged  him  to 
defend  himself  as  best  he  could. 

Sanche  went  bravely  to  meet  Rodrigue 
who  easily  disarmed  his  opponent  and 
showed  his  magnanimity  by  refusing  to 
kill  Chirnene's  champion.  He  sent  his 
sword  to  Chimene  in  token  of  defeat. 
As  soon  as  Chimene  saw  her  champion 
approach  with  Rodrigue's  sword  in  his 
hand,  she  immediately  thought  that 
Rodrigue  was  dead,  She  ran  in  haste  to 
the  king  and  begged  him  to  change  his 
edict  because  she  could  not  bear  to  wed 
the  slayer  of  her  lover.  When  the  king 
told  her  the  truth,  that  Rodrigue  had 
won,  Don  Diegue  praised  her  for  at  last 
avowing  openly  her  love.  Still  Chimene 
hesitated  to  take  Rodrigue  as  her  hus 
band.  The  king  understood  her  plight. 
He  ordered  The  Cid  to  lead  an  expedi 
tion  against  the  Moors.  He  knew  that 
time  would  heal  the  breach  between  the 
lovers.  The  king  was  wise. 


CLARISSA  HARLOWE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Samuel  Richardson  (1689-1761) 

Type  of  'plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1747-1748 

Principal  characters: 

CLARISSA  HARLOWE,  a  young  woman  of  family  and  fortune 

ROBERT  LOVELACE,  her  seducer 

JOHN  BELFORD,  Lovelace's  friend 

WILLIAM  MORDEN,  Clarissa's  cousin 

ARABELLA,  Clarissa's  older  sister 

JAMES,  Clarissa's  older  brother 
Critique: 

This  novel  is  unusual  for  the  modern 
reader  because  of  its  style.  It  is  an 
epistolary  novel,  made  up  entirely  of 
letters  written  by  the  various  characters 
to  each  other,  in  which  characterization 
and  plot  are  revealed  to  the  reader.  The 


drawbacks  to  this  form  of  novel  are  its 
tediousness  and  its  superfluities.  One 
wonders  huw  the  characters  found  the 
time  during  their  adventures  to  pen  such 
long,  involved,  and  painstaking  letters. 
It  is  also  difficult  for  a  twentieth-century 


143 


reader  to  follow  Clarissa's  logic.  Her  de 
cision  to  die,  rather  than  marry  the  man 
who  had  seduced  her,  is  not  of  a  pattern 
to  he  quickly  assimilated  by  a  mind  con 
ditioned  to  the  pragmatism  of  the  modern 
world.  The  book  is,  in  spite  of  senti 
mental  theme  and  physical  bulk,  Rich 
ardson's  best  novel, 

The  Story: 

Robert  Lovelace,  a  young  Englishman 
of  a  noble  family,  was  introduced  into 
the  Harlowe  household  by  Clarissa's 
uncle,  who  wished  Lovelace  to  marry 
Clarissa's  older  sister,  Arabella.  The 
young  man,  finding  nothing  admirable 
in  the  older  girl,  fell  deeply  in  love  with 
Clarissa,  but  he  quickly  learned  that  his 
suit  was  balked  by  Clarissa's  brother  and 
sister.  James  Harlowe  had  disliked  Love 
lace  since  they  had  been  together  at 
Oxford,  and  Arabella  was  offended  be 
cause  he  had  spurned  her  in  favor  of 
Clarissa.  Both  were  jealous  of  Clarissa 
because  she  had  been  left  a  fortune  by 
their  grandfather  and  they  had  not. 

James  Harlowe,  having  convinced  his 
mother  and  father  that  Lovelace  was  a 
profligate,  proposed  that  Clarissa  be  mar 
ried  to  Mr.  Solmes,  a  rich,  elderly  man 
of  little  taste  and  no  sensibility.  When 
Solmes  found  no  favor  in  the  eyes  of 
Clarissa,  her  family  assumed  she  was  in 
love  with  Lovelace,  despite  her  protesta 
tions  to  the  contrary. 

Clarissa  refused  to  allow  Solmes  to 
visit  with  her  in  her  parlor  or  to  sit  next 
to  her  when  the  family  was  together* 
Her  father,  outraged  by  her  conduct, 
ordered  her  to  be  more  civil  to  the  man 
he  had  chosen  as  her  husband.  When 
she  refused,  saying  she  would  never 
marry  a  man  against  her  will,  not  even 
Lovelace,  her  father  confined  her  to  her 
room. 

Lovelace,  smitten  with  the  girl's  beauty 
and  character,  resolved  to  seduce  her 
away  from  her  family,  partly  out  of  love 
for  her  and  partly  in  vengeance  for  the 
insults  heaped  upon  him  by  the  Har 
lowe  family. 


He  was  greatly  aided  in  his  scheme 
by  the  domineering  personalities  of  Mr. 
Harlowe  and  his  son.  They  took  away 
Clarissa's  trusted  maid  and  replaced  her 
with  a  girl  who  was  impertinent  and  in 
solent  to  the  young  woman.  They  refused 
to  let  her  see  any  member  of  the  family, 
even  her  mother.  Clarissa's  only  adviser 
whom  she  could  trust  was  Miss  Howe, 
a  friend  and  correspondent  who  advised 
her  to  escape  the  house  if  she  could,  even 
if  it  meant  accepting  Lovelace's  aid  and 
his  proposal  of  marriage. 

One  evening  Lovelace  slipped  into  the 
garden  where  Clarissa  was  walking  and 
entreated  her  to  elope  with  him.  Think 
ing  only  to  escape  her  domineering 
father,  she  went  with  him  alter  some 
protest.  Lovelace  told  her  she  would  be 
taken  to  the  home  of  Lord  M— -,  a  kins 
man  of  Lovelace,  who  would  protect  her 
until  her  cousin,  Colonel  Morclcn,  could 
return  to  England  and  arrange  for  a 
reconciliation  between  Clarissa  and  her 
family.  Lovelace  was  not  as  good  as  his 
word,  however,  for  he  took  her  to  a  house 
of  ill  repute,  where  he  introduced  her  to 
a  woman  he  called  Mrs,  Sinclair.  In 
venting  reasons  why  he  could  not  take 
her  to  Lord  M — 's  house,  he  persuaded 
the  bewildered  girl  to  pass  as  his  wife, 
for  the  time  being,  and  he  told  Mrs. 
Sinclair  that  Clarissa  was  his  wife 
with  whom  he  could  not  live  until  cer 
tain  marriage  settlements  had  been  ar 
ranged.  Clarissa  permitted  him  to  tell 
the  lie,  in  the  belief  that  it  would  pre 
vent  her  father  and  her  brother  from  dis 
covering  her  whereabouts. 

In  Mrs.  Sinclair's  house  she  was  al 
most  as  much  a  prisoner  as  she  had  been 
in  her  father's  home.  Meanwhile  her 
family  had  disowned  her  and  refused 
to  send  her  either  money  or  clothes.  In 
deed,  her  father  declared  she  was  no 
longer  his  daughter  and  he  hoped  she 
would  have  a  miserable  existence  in 
both  this  world  and  the  next. 

This  state  of  affairs  was  distressing 
to  Clarissa,  who  was  now  dependent  upon 
Lovelace  for  her  very  existence.  He  took 


144 


advantage  of  the  circumstances  to  press 
his  love  upon  her  without  mentioning 
his  earlier  promises  of  marriage.  Clarissa 
tried  to  escape  and  got  as  far  as  Hamp- 
stead  before  Lovelace  overtook  her.  There 
he  had  two  women  impersonate  his  cous 
ins  to  convince  Clarissa  that  she  should 
return  to  her  lodgings  with  them.  Upon 
her  return  to  Mrs.  Sinclair's  house,  they 
filled  her  with  drugs  and  later  Lovelace 
raped  her.  A  few  days  later  Clarissa  re 
ceived  from  Miss  Howe  a  letter  in  which 
she  learned  that  she  was  in  a  house  in 
which  no  woman  of  her  station  would  be 
seen.  Again  Clarissa  tried  to  escape,  this 
time  by  calling  for  aid  from  a  window. 
Lovelace  finally  promised  to  leave  her 
unmolested  until  she  could  get  aid  from 
her  cousin  or  from  Miss  Howe. 

Lovelace  left  London  for  a  few  days 
to  visit  Lord  M — ,  who  was  ill.  While 
he  was  gone,  Clarissa  contrived  to  steal 
the  clothes  of  a  serving-girl  and  escape 
from  the  house,  but  within  a  day  or  two 
Mrs.  Sinclair  discovered  Clarissa's  where 
abouts  and  had  her  arrested  and  im 
prisoned  for  debt.  When  John  Belford, 
a  friend  of  Lovelace,  heard  of  the  girl's 
plight,  he  rescued  her  by  proving  the 
debt  a  fraud.  He  found  shelter  for 
Clarissa  with  a  kindly  glove-maker  and 
his  wife.  Tired  of  her  miserable  exist 
ence,  Clarissa  began  to  go  into  physical 
decline,  in  spite  of  all  that  the  apothecary 
and  doctor  secured  by  John  Belford  could 
do  for  her. 

She  spent  her  time  writing  letters  in 
an  effort  to  secure  a  reconciliation  with 
her  family  and  to  acquaint  her  friends 
with  the  true  story  of  her  plight.  She 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  Love 
lace,  who  was  by  that  time  convinced 
that  he  loved  her  dearly.  He  wished  to 
marry  her,  to  make  amends  for  the 
treatment  she  had  suffered  at  his  hands, 
but  she  refused  his  offer  with  gentle  firm 
ness. 

As  she  declined  in  health,  Clarissa's 
friends  did  what  they  could  to  have  her 
family  forgive  her.  When  her  father  and 


brother  refused  to  receive  her,  she  went 
to  an  undertaking  establishment  and 
bought  a  coffin  which  she  had  fitted  as 
she  wished,  including  a  plaque  which 
gave  the  date  of  her  death  as  the  day 
on  which  she  left  her  father's  house. 

On  his  return  to  England  Colonel 
Morden  tried  to  raise  her  spirits,  but  his 
efforts  failed  because  he,  too,  was  unable 
to  effect  any  change  in  the  attitude  of 
the  Marlowe  family.  He  also  had  an 
interview  with  Lovelace  and  Lord  M — . 
The  nobleman  and  Lovelace  assured  him 
that  their  family  thought  very  highly 
of  Clarissa  and  wished  her  to  marry 
Lovelace  and  that  Lovelace  wanted  to 
marry  her.  But  even  her  cousin  was  un 
able  to  persuade  Clarissa  to  accept  Love 
lace  as  a  husband. 

Everyone,  including  the  Harlowe  fam 
ily,  saw  that  Clarissa  was  determined  to 
die.  Her  father  and  brother  lifted  their 
ban  upon  her  ever  entering  the  Harlowe 
house;  her  sister  was  sorry  she  had  been 
cruel  to  Clarissa ;  and  the  mother  was  con 
vinced  that  she  had  failed  in  her  duty 
toward  her  daughter.  They  all  wrote  to 
Clarissa,  begging  the  girl's  forgiveness 
and  expressing  their  hope  she  would  re 
cover  quickly  and  be  reunited  with  her 
family.  Their  letters,  however,  arrived 
too  late,  for  Clarissa  had  breathed  her 
last. 

Clarissa  was  returned  to  her  father's 
house  for  her  funeral.  She  was  interred  in 
the  family  vault  at  the  feet  of  the  grand 
father  whose  fortune  had  been  one  of 
the  sources  of  her  troubles.  Lovelace, 
who  was  quite  broken  up  at  her  death, 
was  persuaded  by  Lord  M —  to  go  to 
the  continent. 

There  Clarissa  was  avenged.  Lovelace 
met  Colonel  Morden  in  France,  and  early 
one  winter  morning  Clarissa's  cousin 
fought  a  duel  with  her  betrayer.  Love 
lace  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  thrust 
through  his  body.  As  he  lay  dying,  he 
expressed  the  hope  that  his  death  would 
expiate  his  crimes. 


145 


CLAUDIUS  THE  GOD 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Robert  Graves  (1895-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  A.D.  41-54 

Locale:  Rome,  Britain,  the  Near  East 

First  published:  1934 

Principal  characters: 

TIBERIUS  CLAUDIUS  DRUSUS  NERO  GERMAJSTCCUS,  Emperor  of  Rome 

MESSALINA,  his  third  wife 

CALPURNIA,  his  mistress 

AGRIPPJNILLA,  his  fourth  wife 

Lucius  DoMmus,  later  called  Nero,  Agrippinilla's  son  and  Claudius'  grandnephew 

HEROD  AGRIPPA,  Tetrarch  of  Bashan 

Critique: 

Claudius  the  God  and  His  Wife 
Messalina  is  characterized  by  meticulous 
care  of  detail  and  scrupulous  handling 
of  incident  and  character.  Graves'  tech 
nique  is  such  that  he  is  able  to  re-create 
a  strikingly  vivid  picture  of  the  life  and 
the  times  about  which  he  writes.  A 
sequel  to  I,  Claudius,  this  novel  is,  never 
theless,  an  entity  in  itself. 


The  Story: 

When  the  Emperor  Claudius  was  the 
neglected  scholar  of  the  Claudian  family, 
before  his  accession  to  the  throne,  one 
of  his  friends  and  well-wishers  was 
Herod  Agrippa.  The  Emperor  Tiberius 
had  imprisoned  Herod  for  treasonous 
sentiments,  but  when  Caligula  came  to 
the  throne  he  made  Herod  Tetrarch  of 
Bashan,  When  Caligula  was  murdered 
and  Claudius  proclaimed  emperor  by  the 
palace  guards,  Herod  was  back  in  Rome 
on  official  business. 

Claudius*  position  was  a  difficult  one 
at  first,  especially  so  as  the  result  of 
popular  opinion  that  he  was  a  cripple, 
a  stammerer,  and  an  idiot.  The  Roman 
Senate  did  not  expect  much  of  such  a 
man  and  certainly  not  a  capable  handling 
of  public  affairs  after  Caligula's  four 
years  of  misrule.  But  Claudius  im 
mediately  began  a  program  of  reforms, 
among  them  a  reorganization  of  the 
Senate,  a  stabilization  of  the  state's 


finances,  and  the  abolition  of  many  of 
Caligula's  cruel  decrees,  To  carry  out 
his  widespread  program  Claudius  ap 
pointed  many  xiew  ministers  of  state,  1  o 
his  wife,  Messalina,  he  entrusted  the 
office  of  the  Director  of  Public  Morals, 
as  she  had  been  most  helpful  in  re 
organizing  the  Senate  list.  To  his  loyal 
friend,  Herod,  Claudius  gave  the  lands 
of  Judca,  Samaria,  and  Hdom.  Then  in 
the  open  market  place  before  an  immense 
crowd  Claudius  and  I  Icrod  made  a 
solemn  pact  of  friendship  and  loyalty. 

Soon  after  Claudius'  ascent  to  the 
throne  his  son  Brittanicus  was  born, 
followed  approximately  eleven  months 
later  by  a  daughter  named  Oetavia.  Alter 
the  birth  of  his  second  child,  Messalina 
came  to  Claudius  and  requested  his  per 
mission  to  move  into  an  apartment  in 
the  new  palace  and  thus  live  apart  from 
him.  Claudius  ruefully  agreed  to  her 
plan.  Mcssalina's  real  desire  to  move  to 
the  new  palace  was  greater  freedom  than 
she  could  enjoy  under  the  eyes  of 
Claudius,  and  her  removal  to  her  new 
quarters  began  a  life  of  debauchery,  licen 
tiousness,  political  intrigue,  bribery, 
cheating,  and  murder.  Claudius  was  so 
busy  with  matters  of  state  that  seven 
years  passed  before  he  heard  rumors  of 
Mcssalina's  depravities, 

After  beginning  a  public  works  pro 
gram,  sending  an  expedition  into  Gcr- 


CLAUDIUS  THE  GOD  by  Robert  Graves.    By  pcrmisoion  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Random  Home,  Inc 
Copyright,  1934,  by  Harrison  Smith  &  Robert  Haas,  Inc. 


146 


many  to  recover  the  eagle  standard  lost 
by  Varus'  army,  and  putting  down  a 
minor  revolt  at  home,  Claudius  turned 
his  attention  to  the  conquest  of  Britain. 
The  war  was  hastened  by  the  detention 
of  Roman  trading  ships  by  Togodum- 
nus,  who  was  joint  ruler  with  his  brother 
Caractacus,  and  also  by  the  rapid  spread 
of  the  Druid  cult  through  Britain  and 
France.  Claudius  sent  Aulus  Plautius 
to  Britain  with  a  large  invasion  force  and 
the  promise  of  additional  legions  if 
Roman  losses  exceeded  a  certain  figure. 
Aulus  managed  to  cross  the  Thames  and 
capture  London.  Then  he  camped  just 
outside  London  to  await  the  arrival  of 
Claudius  and  reinforcements.  A  decisive 
battle  took  place  at  Brentwood  Hill,  a 
ridge  between  London  and  Colchester. 
The  Romans  won  it  by  means  of 
Claudius'  armchair  strategy.  At  the  age 
of  fifty-three  Claudius  fought  his  first 
battle,  won  it,  and  never  fought  again. 
In  Britain  he  was  deified  as  a  god  and 
upon  his  return  to  Rome  he  received  a 
full  triumph. 

He  now  had  to  turn  his  attentions  to 
the  East,  where  for  some  time  he  had 
been  receiving  disquieting  reports  regard 
ing  Herod  Agrippa  and  his  plot  to  estab 
lish  a  united  Jewish  empire.  Herod  had 
been  making  secret  alliances  with  neigh 
boring  princes  and  potentates,  and  he 
hoped  to  obtain  the  support  of  the  Jews 
by  declaring  himself  the  long-awaited 
Messiah.  Claudius  realized  that  affairs 
had  progressed  to  the  stage  where  there 
was  little  he  could  do  to  forestall  Herod's 
plans.  Herod,  at  the  great  festival  at 
which  he  proposed  to  proclaim  himself 
the  Messiah,  permitted  neighboring  rulers 
to  address  him  as  God  without  bothering 
to  correct  their  error.  At  that  moment 
an  owl  flew  into  the  arena.  Herod  re 
membered  a  prophecy  that  when  next  he 
saw  an  owl  his  death  would  be  near  and 
the  number  of  days  left  to  him  would  be 


the  same  as  the  number  of  hoots.  The 
owl  hooted  five  times;  five  days  later 
Herod  was  dead.  His  plot  to  set  up  a 
Jewish  kingdom  collapsed. 

About  eight  years  after  they  were 
married,  Messalina  came  to  Claudius 
with  a  strange  tale.  Barbillus  the  astrolo 
ger  had  predicted  that  her  husband  would 
die  within  thirty  days,  not  later  than 
the  Ides  of  September.  She  proposed  that 
Claudius'  death  might  be  averted  if  he 
permitted  her  to  divorce  him  in  order  to 
remarry  Silius,  her  former  husband. 
Claudius  finally  gave  in  to  her  pleading. 
But  the  whole  story  was  a  ruse  to  rid 
herself  of  Claudius  so  that  she  might 
marry  Silius;  the  two  were  plotting 
Claudius'  murder  and  their  own  acces 
sion  to  the  throne.  Her  marriage  to 
Silius  was  announced  for  September 
tenth,  but  on  the  fifth  of  September, 
while  Claudius  was  out  of  the  city,  she 
married  Silius.  Calpurnia,  a  former  mis 
tress  of  Claudius,  finally  told  him  the 
whole  truth  regarding  Messalina  and  her 
behavior  throughout  their  marriage. 
Claudius  tried  and  executed  over  one 
hundred  people,  most  of  them  the  men 
with  whom  Messalina  had  committed 
adultery.  Messalina  herself  was  killed  by 
an  officer  of  the  palace  guards. 

Claudius  married  again,  this  time  his 
niece,  Agrippinilla,  the  mother  of  Lucius 
Domitius,  later  the  emperor  Nero.  He 
no  longer  took  any  interest  in  life  but 
allowed  the  affairs  of  state  to  be  handled 
by  Agrippinilla  and  his  ministers. 
Claudius  adopted  Lucius  and  made  him 
joint  heir  with  Brittanicus.  Lucius  be 
came  of  age  first,  and  Agrippinilla,  who 
wished  to  see  her  son  sole  ruler  of  Rome, 
poisoned  Claudius.  His  death  was  con 
cealed  from  the  people  until  the  empire 
had  been  secured  for  Nero.  Thus 
Claudius,  Emperor  of  Rome  and  a  Roman 
god,  ended  his  troubled  reign. 


147 


THE  CLAYHANGER  TRILOGY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Arnold  Bennett  (1867-1931) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1870-1895 

Locale:  England 

First  yvbUshed:  1910,  1911,  1915 

Principal  characters: 

EDWIN  CLAYHANGER,  a  businessman 
HILDA  LESSWAYS,  his  wife 
MAGGIE  CLAYHANGER,  Edwin's  sister 
MR.  INGPEN,  Edwin  Clayhangcr's  friend 
GEORGE  CANNON,  Hilda's  first  husband 
DARIUS  CLAYHANGER,  Edwin's  father 

Critique: 

In  The  Clayhanger  Trilogy  (Clay- 
hanger,  Hilda,  Lessways,  These  Twain) 
Bennett  depicted  the  middle  class  of  late 
nineteenth-century  England  with  sym 
pathy  and  understanding.  He,  unlike 
the  naturalistic  novelists,  was  not  after 
ugliness  for  its  own  sake.  Though  the 
region  he  drew  was  one  of  the  least 
picturesque  in  England's  industrial  Mid 
lands,  he  did  not  see  its  ugliness  alone; 
in  it  he  perceived  a  homely  beauty. 
Certainly,  if  the  events  of  the  work  do 
not  linger  brilliantly  in  the  mind,  the 
characters  will  be  remembered  clearly 
and  long. 


The  Story: 

In  1872  sixteen-year-old  Edwin  Clay- 
hanger  left  school  to  aid  his  father  in  the 
Clayhanger  printing  shop.  His  father 
had  disregarded  Edwin's  request  that  he 
be  allowed  to  go  to  school  and  study  to 
be  an  architect.  Old  Darius  Clayhanger 
was  a  self-made  man  who  had  risen 
from  a  boyhood  experience  in  the  work 
house  to  the  position  of  affluence  he 
held  in  the  Midland  community,  and  it 
was  his  desire  that  his  work  be  carried 
on  by  his  only  son.  Since  he  was  a  com 
plete  tyrant  in  the  home,  no  one  dared 
to  cross  him. 

Several  years  later  Darius  Clayhanger 
built  a  new  house  in  a  more  pretentious 


part  of  town.  Edwin  became  friendly 
with  the  Orgreave  family,  who  lived  next 
door.  The  elder  Orgreave  was  an  archi 
tect,  with  whom  Edwin  spent  many  hours 
discussing  his  own  interest  in  that  pro 
fession.  Unknown  to  Edwin,  the  oldest 
Orgreave  daughter,  Janet,  fell  in  love 
with  him. 

Edwin  met  Hilda  Lesswnys  at  the 
Orgreave  home.  She  was  an  orphan  liv 
ing  in  Brighton  with  the  sister  of  a  for 
mer  employer,  George  Cannon,  who 
wished  to  marry  her.  Although  she  was 
attracted  to  Edwin,  she  returned  to  Brigh 
ton  and  soon  married  Cannon,  At  the 
time  of  her  marriage  she  gave  Cannon  her 
small  patrimony  to  invest  for  her, 

A  year  later  Hilda  returned  to  visit 
the  Orgreaves.  During  that  year  she  had 
learned  that  her  husband  had  been  mar 
ried  earlier  and  that  her  marriage  to  him 
was  void.  On  this  second  visit  she  fell 
in  love  with  Edwin  and  promised  to 
marry  him,  for  no  one  knew  of  her  mar 
riage  at  Brighton.  Then,  learning  that 
she  was  to  hove  a  baby,  she  returned  to 
Brighton,  She  wrote  to  Janet  Orgreave, 
saying  that  she  was  married  and  asking 
Janet  to  inform  Edwin.  I  le,  deeply  hurt, 
turned  himself  entirely  to  his  father's 
business,  for  his  father  had  become 
mentally  ill, 

Hilda,  meanwhile,  had  had  her  child 


THE  CLAYIIANGER  TRILOGY  by  Arnold  Bennett.  By  permia»ion  of  A.  P.  Wwtt  &  Sort,  London,  «nd  of  the 
publishers,  Doubleday  &  Co..  Inc.  Copyright,  1910,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Renewed,  1937,  by  Mario  Mar 
garet  Bennett. 


148 


and  had  named  him  George  Edwin,  after 
its  father  and  Edwin  Clayhanger.  She 
managed  a  rooming-house  owned  by  her 
husband's  sister.  Cannon,  discovered  by 
his  first  wife,  was  sentenced  to  serve  a 
two-year  prison  term  for  bigamy.  After 
his  release  he  was  again  imprisoned  for 
ten  years  for  passing  a  forged  check. 
The  money  he  had  imprudently  invested 
for  Hilda  was  lost  when  the  hotel  cor 
poration,  whose  shares  he  had  bought, 
collapsed.  Hilda  was  no  longer  financially 
independent. 

After  his  father's  death,  Edwin  and 
his  sister  Maggie  continued  to  live  alone 
in  the  Clayhanger  house.  Both  of  them 
became  old-maidish  in  their  habits,  al 
though  many  young  women,  including 
Janet  Orgreave,  would  have  gladly  mar 
ried  Edwin,  whose  printing  business  con 
tinued  to  prosper  and  grow. 

Edwin  became  quite  fond  of  Hilda's 
son,  who  was  living  temporarily  with  the 
Orgreaves.  When  George  Edwin  became 
ill  with  influenza,  it  was  Edwin  who 
sent  for  the  doctor  and  notified  Hilda. 

Although  neither  spoke  openly  of  their 
feelings,  Hilda  and  Edwin  renewed  their 
affection  for  one  another  when  they  met 
at  the  sick  child's  bed.  When  he  was 
well  again,  George  Edwin  and  his  mother 
went  back  to  Brighton.  Nine  years  had 
passed  since  Edwin  and  Hilda  first  had 
met.  Hilda  was  still  struggling  along  with 
the  failing  boarding-house  at  Brighton. 

Months  later  Edwin  went  to  see  Hilda 
and  found  her  penniless  and  about  to  be 
evicted.  Edwin  paid  her  bills,  and  Hilda 
told  him  all  that  had  happened  to  her, 
explaining  that  her  marriage  was  void 
and  her  child  illegitimate.  Edwin  re 
turned  home  but  at  last  he  resolved  to 
marry  Hilda  quietly.  He  met  her  in 
London,  where  they  were  married.  They 
then  moved  into  die  Clayhanger  house 
and  Maggie  went  to  live  with  a  maiden 
aunt.  Edwin  also  adopted  Hilda's  son 
and  gave  him  his  name. 

Edwin,  long  having  had  his  own  way, 
was  accustomed  to  a  certain  routine  in 
his  home  and  to  making  his  own  de 


cisions.  But  Hilda  was  a  person  of 
equally  strong  personality,  and  Edwin 
felt  that  she  was  trying  to  make  him 
conform  too  much  to  her  own  domestic 
views  and  habits.  Worst  of  all,  she  at 
tempted  to  influence  Edwin  in  business 
affairs,  a  realm  which  he  thought  was 
solely  his  own. 

A  few  months  after  the  marriage,  the 
aunt  with  whom  Maggie  Clayhanger  was 
living  became  seriously  ill.  During  her 
last  days,  Mr.  Ingpen,  Edwin's  business 
friend  was  injured  in  a  factory  accident. 
At  Ingpen 's  request,  Edwin  went  to  his 
rooms  to  destroy  some  letters  and  pic 
tures,  so  they  would  not  be  found  if 
Ingpen  died  in  the  hospital.  There  Ed 
win  found  a  woman  asleep.  She  was 
Ingpen's  mistress,  a  woman  whose  hus 
band  was  incurably  insane.  Edwin  was 
disturbed  for  his  friend,  but  Ingpen 
laughed  and  said  that  the  situation  was 
best  as  it  was  because  he  did  not  want 
to  be  trapped  in  a  marriage. 

When  Edwin's  aunt  died,  her  estate 
was  left  to  the  children  of  Edwin's 
younger  sister,  Clara.  Edwin  and  Maggie 
were  pleased,  but  Hilda  thought  that  she 
and  Edwin  should  have  received  part  of 
the  estate.  Her  selfishness  irked  Edwin, 
He  felt  that  he  was  rich  enough  and  that 
his  nieces  and  nephews  deserved  the 
money.  Seriously  thinking  that  a  divorce 
was  the  answer  to  his  present  situation, 
he  recalled  with  nostalgia  his  bachelor 
days.  The  only  bright  ray  in  his  life 
seemed  to  be  George  Edwin,  his  step 
son,  who  was  studying  the  elements  of 
architecture  with  the  aid  of  John  Or 
greaves.  Edwin  hoped  that  his  son  might 
now  have  the  chance  to  become  an  archi 
tect. 

On  a  visit  to  a  nearby  city,  Hilda  and 
Edwin  were  taken  to  inspect  a  prison. 
There  they  saw  George  Cannon.  He 
was  released  soon  afterward  when  he  was 
found  to  be  innocent  of  the  forgery 
charge.  Cannon  then  went  to  Edwin, 
unknown  to  Hilda,  and  Edwin  gave  him 
money  to  go  to  America.  Edwin  never 
expected  to  see  the  money  again,  but  he 


149 


wanted  to  get  the  man  out  of  the  country. 
He  was  also  bothered  by  the  fact  that 
Hilda  had  been  in  correspondence  with 
Cannon's  other  wife. 

The  climax  of  Edwin's  unhappiness 
with  Hilda  came  on  Christmas  day,  when 
she  took  him  to  see  a  house  in  the  coun 
try.  She  tried  to  force  him  into  buying 
it  by  diplomatic  moves  and  conversations 
with  their  friends  and  family,  so  that 
Edwin  would  appear  foolish  if  he  did  not 
buy  the  house. 

After  a  violent  argument  with  his 
wife,  whom  he  accused  of  being  grasp 
ing,  underhanded,  and  dishonest,  Edwin 
left  the  house  in  a  rage.  But  after  a 


long  walk  in  the  cold  winter  night  he 
realized  that  his  marriage  and  his  wife 
meant  a  great  deal  to  him.  He  saw  in 
his  mind  that  he  had  to  make  conces 
sions  for  his  wife  and  for  the  fact  that 
they  had  been  married  so  late  in  life 
that  they  had  already  fixed  their  habits. 
Finally  he  saw,  in  his  mind,  his  friend 
Ingpen,  who  was  unable  to  marry  the 
woman  he  loved. 

He  went  back  to  the  house  to  recon 
cile  himself  with  Hilda.  Mis  faith  in 
human  nature  was  completely  reestab 
lished  when  he  found  in  the  mail  a 
check  from  America  for  the  money  he 
had  lent  to  George  Cannon. 


THE  CLOISTER  AND  THE  HEARTH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Reade  (1814-1884) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  Holland,  Germany,  France  and  Italy 

First  published:  1861 

Principal  characters; 

GEBARB  EUASON,  a  young  artist 
MARGARET  BRANDT,  his  betrothed 
DENYS,  a  Burgundian  bowman 
MARGARET  VAN  EYCK,  sister  of  Jan  Van  Eyck 
GHYSBRBCHT  VAN  SWUBTBN,  a  burgomaster 

Critique; 

The  two  outstanding  features  of  this 
novel  are  its  photographic  details  of  fif 
teenth  century  European  life,  and  the 
idvid  character  portrayal  of  Denys,  the 
Burgundian  crossbowman,  Reade  did 
tremendous  research  in  order  -to  achieve 
his  accurate  descriptions  of  fifteenth  cen 
tury  European  life.  His  Denys  is  one 
of  the  most  delightful  characters  in  Eng 
lish  literature.  Among  the  variety  of 
Kiterary  types  found  in  The  Cloister  and 
The  Hearth  are  the  long  letter,  poetry, 
dramatic  dialogue,  the  tale  within  the 
tale,  and  picaresque  romance.  The  de 
scription  of  the  Catholic  Church  and 
clergy  in  the  late  Middle  Ages  is  illum 
inating. 


The  Story: 

Gerard,  the  son  of  Elias,  a  Dutch  cloth 


and  leather  merchant,  and  Katherine, 
his  wife,  developed  at  an  early  age  his 
talent  for  penmanship  and  illuminating. 
At  first  he  was  aided  by  the  monks  of  die 
local  convent  for  which  ho  was  destined, 
When  the  monks  could  teach  the  young 
artist  no  more,  he  became  the  pupil  of 
Margaret  Van  Eyck,  sister  of  the  famous 
painter,  Jan  Van  Eyck,  She  ancl  her 
servant,  Reich t  Iteyues,  encouraged  the 
lad  to  enter  a  pri'/e  art  competition  spon 
sored  by  Philip  the  Good,  Duke  of  Bur 
gundy  and  Earl  of  Holland. 

On  his  way  to  Rotterdam  to  an  ex 
hibit  of  the  entries,  Gerard  met  an  old 
man,  Peter  Brandt,  ancl  his  daughter, 
Margaret,  who  sat  exhausted  by  the  way 
side.  I  le  went  with  them  into  the  town. 
There  he  took  to  the  Princess  Marie, 
daughter  of  Prince  Philip,  a  letter  of 


150 


introduction  from  Dame  Van  Eyck.  Im 
pressed  by  the  lad's  talent,  the  princess 
promised  him  a  benefice  near  his  village 
of  Tergou  as  soon  as  he  had  taken  holy 
orders.  He  won  a  prize  in  the  contest 
and  returned  to  Tergou  wondering 
whether  he  would  ever  again  see  Mar 
garet  Brandt,  with  whom  he  had  fallen 
in  love. 

Gerard,  learning  accidentally  from 
Ghysbrecht  Van  Swieten,  Tergou's  bur 
gomaster,  that  the  old  man  and  his 
daughter  lived  in  Sevenbergen,  a  nearby 
village,  began  to  frequent  their  cottage. 
Ghysbrecht  disclosed  to  Katherine,  Ge 
rard's  mother,  that  the  young  man  was  in 
terested  in  Margaret  Brandt.  A  quarrel 
ensued  in  the  family,  Elias  threatening  to 
have  Gerard  imprisoned  to  prevent  his 
marrying,  Margaret  Van  Eyclc  gave 
Gerard  money  and  valuable  advice  on 
art  and  recommended  that  he  and  the 
girl  go  to  Italy,  where  Gerard's  talents 
were  sure  to  be  appreciated.  Gerard  and 
Margaret  Brandt  became  betrothed,  but 
before  they  could  be  married  the  burgo 
master  had  Gerard  seized  and  put  in  jail. 
He  was  rescued  at  night  from  the  prison 
by  Margaret,  his  sweetheart,  Giles,  his 
dwarf  brother,  and  Kate,  his  crippled 
sister.  In  the  rescue,  Giles  removed 
from  a  chest  in  the  cell  some  parchments 
which  the  villainous  Ghysbrecht  had 
hidden  there.  At  Sevenbergen,  Gerard 
buried  all  of  the  parchments  except  a 
deed  which  concerned  Margaret's  father. 

After  an  exciting  pursuit,  Gerard  and 
Margaret  escaped  the  vicinity  of  Tergou, 
They  separated,  Margaret  to  return  to 
Sevenbergen,  Gerard  to  proceed  to  Rome. 
On  the  way,  he  was  befriended' by  a  Bur- 
gundian  soldier  named  Denys,  and  the 
pair  traveled  toward  the  Rhine.  They 
went  through  a  variety  of  adventures 
together. 

In  Sevenbergen,  meanwhile,  Margaret 
Brandt  fell  sick  and  was  befriended  by 
Margaret  Van  Eyck.  Martin,  an  old 
soldier  friend  of  the  young  lovers,  went 
to  Rotterdam  where  ne  procured  a  par 
don  for  Gerard  from  Prince  Philip.  Dame 


Van  Eyck  gave  a  letter  to  Hans  Memling 
to  deliver  to  Gerard  in  Italy,  but  Mem- 
ling  was  waylaid  by  agents  of  the  burgo 
master  and  the  letter  was  taken  from  him. 

Gerard  and  Denys  came  upon  a  com 
pany  of  Burgundian  soldiers  on  their  way 
to  the  wars  and  Denys  was  ordered  to 
ride  with  them  to  Flanders.  Gerard  was 
left  to  make  his  solitary  way  to  Rome, 
Later  Denys,  released  because  of  wounds 
received  in  the  duke's  service,  set  out 
for  Holland,  where  he  hoped  to  find 
Gerard.  Elias  and  Katherine  welcomed 
him  in  Tergou  when  he  told  them  that 
he  had  been  Gerard's  comrade.  Mean 
while  old  Brandt  and  Margaret  disap 
peared  from  Sevenbergen,  and  Denys 
searched  all  Holland  for  the  girl.  They 
had  gone  to  Rotterdam,  but  only  the 
burgomaster  knew  their  whereabouts. 
When  Margaret  practiced  medicine  ille 
gally,  she  was  arrested  and  sentenced  tc 
pay  a  large  fine.  In  order  to  stay  alive 
she  took  in  laundry.  Denys  discoverer 
Margaret  in  Rotterdam  and  the  pair  re 
turned  to  Tergou,  where  Gerard's  fam 
ily  had  become  reconciled  to  Gerard's 
attachment  to  the  girl. 

Gerard  made  his  dangerous  way 
through  France  and  Germany  to  Venice. 
From  there  he  took  a  coastal  vessel  and 
continued  to  Rome.  When  the  ship  was 
wrecked  in  a  storm,  Gerard  displayed 
bravery  in  saving  the  lives  of  a  Roman 
matron  and  her  child.  He  went  on  to 
Rome  and  took  lodgings,  but  he  found 
work  all  but  impossible  to  obtain.  He 
and  another  young  artist,  Pietro,  decor 
ated  playing  cards  for  a  living.  Finally 
through  the  good  graces  of  the  woman 
whose  life  he  had  saved  in  the  ship 
wreck,  Gerard  was  hired  to  decorate 
manuscripts  for  Fra  Colonna,  a  leading 
classical  scholar. 

Hans  Memling  brought  to  Rome  a 
letter,  sent  by  Ghysbrecht,  which  gave 
Gerard  the  false  news  that  Margaret  had 
died.  Gerard  forsook  the  Church  and  in 
despair  threw  himself  into  the  Tiber.  But 
he  was  saved  and  carried  to  a  monastery, 
where  he  recovered  and  eventually  took 


151 


monastic  vows,  He  became  Brother  Clem 
ent  of  trie  Dominican  Order.  After  a  peri 
od  of  training  he  was  sent  to  teach  at  the 
University  of  Basle,  in  Switzerland. 
Meanwhile,  in  Holland,  Margaret  gave 
birth  to  Gerard's  son. 

Brother  Clement  received  orders  to 
proceed  to  England.  Preaching  as  he 
went,  he  began  the  journey  down  the 
Rhine, 

In  Rotterdam,  Luke  Peterson  became 
Margaret's  suitor.  She  told  him  he  could 
prove  his  love  for  her  by  seeking  out 
Gerard,  but  Luke's  and  Brother  Clem 
ent's  paths  were  fated  not  to  cross.  The 
priest  went  to  Sevenbergen,  where  he 
was  unable  to  find  the  grave  of  Mar 
garet.  He  proceeded  to  Rotterdam,  and 
there  Margaret  heard  him  preach  without 
recognizing  him  as  Gerard.  He  next 
went  to  Teigou  to  see  Ghysbrecht.  The 
burgomaster  was  dying;  he  confessed  to 
Brother  Clement  that  he  had  defrauded 
Margaret  of  wealth  rightfully  hers.  On 
his  deathbed  Ghysbrecht  made  full  resti 
tution. 

When  Brother  Clement  left  the  burgo 


master,  he  returned  to  Rotterdam  and 
took  refuge  in  a  hermit's  cave  outside 
the  city.  There  he  mortified  himself  out 
of  hatred  for  mankind. 

Margaret,  having  learned  his  where 
abouts  through  court  gossip,  went  to  him, 
but  he  repulsed  her  in  the  belief  that 
she  was  a  spirit  sent  by  Satan.  Margaret 
took  her  son  to  the  cave  in  an  attempt 
to  win  back  his  reason.  Brother  Clement's 
acquaintance  with  his  son,  also  named 
Gerard,  brought  him  to  his  senses.  Mar 
garet  by  shrewd  argument  persuaded  him 
to  come  with  her  to  Gouda,  where  he 
would  be  parson  by  arrangement  with 
church  authorities.  They  Hved  in  Gouda, 
but  apart,  Gerard  tending  his  flock  and 
Margaret  assisting  him  in  his  many  chari 
table  works. 

After  ten  years  at  Gouda,  Margaret 
died  of  the  plague.  Gerard,  no  longer 
anxious  to  live  after  her  death,  died  two 
weeks  later.  Their  son,  Gerard,  grew 
up  to  be  Erasmus,  the  world-famous  six 
teenth-century  Biblical  scholar  and  man 
of  letters. 


THE  CLOUDS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Aristophanes  (c.  448-385  B.C.) 

Type  of  ^lot;  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot.  Fifth  century  B.C. 

Locale-.  Athens 

First  presented:  423  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

STREPIADES,  an  Athenian  gentleman 
PHIDIPPEDES,  his  son 
SOCRATES,  a  Sophist  philosopher 

Critique: 

The  Clouds  is  one  of  the  best  known 
of  Aristophanes*  many  comedies.  This 
Greek  master,  recognized  as  a  leading 
playwright  in  liis  day  and  still  acknowl 
edged  as  the  foremost  of  comedy  writers, 
colors  this  play  with  an  air  of  buffoonery 
and  raillery,  sometimes  savage  and  bit 
ing.  The  attacks  on  the  Sophists,  the 
logic  lessons  that  Socrates  administers  to 
Strepiades,  and  the  lesson  that  Phidip- 
pides  gives  his  father,  gave  the  Athenian 


audience  moments  of  high  entertainment. 
Aristophanes  rejected  the  school  of  Soph 
ists,  whom  he  considered  irreverent  and 
artificial,  and  he  satirized  their  teachings 
in  The  Clouds. 

The  Story: 

Strepiades,  a  rich  gentleman  of  Athens, 
was  plunged  into  poverty  and  debt  by 
his  profligate  son,  Phidippides.  Hounded 
by  ms  son's  creditors,  Strepiades  pon* 


152 


dered  ways  and  means  to  prevent  com 
plete  ruin.  Hearing  reports  that  the 
Sophists  taught  a  new  logic  which  could 
be  used  to  confuse  one's  creditors  and  so 
get  one  out  of  debt,  Strepiades  saw  in 
the  Sophist  teachings  a  possible  solution 
to  his  problem.  He  pleaded  with  Phidip- 
pides  to  enter  the  school  of  the  Sophists 
and  learn  the  new  doctrines.  When 
Phidippides,  more  interested  in  horse- 
racing  than  in  learning,  refused  to  be 
come  a  pupil,  Strepiades  denounced  his 
son  as  a  wastrel  and  decided  to  enroll 
himself. 

He  went  to  the  Thoughtery  or  Think 
ing-School,  which  was  the  term  used  for 
the  classroom  of  the  Sophists,  and  asked 
to  see  Socrates,  the  philosopher.  After 
Strepiadies  had  explained  his  purpose, 
Socrates  proceeded  to  demonstrate  several 
logical  conclusions  of  the  new  school. 
More  certain  than  ever  that  the  new 
logic  would  save  him  from  ruin  and  dis 
grace,  Strepiades  pleaded  until  Socrates 
admitted  him  to  the  Thoughtery. 

Unfortunately,  Strepiades  proved  too 
old  to  master  the  Sophist  technique  in 
the  classroom.  Socrates  then  decided  that 
Strepiades  could  learn  to  do  his  thinking 
outdoors.  But  when  Socrates  put  ques 
tions  concerning  poetry  to  Strepiades,  his 
answers  showed  such  complete  ignorance 
that  Socrates  finally  admitted  defeat  and 
returned  to  the  Thoughtery.  Strepiades, 
disgusted  with  his  own  efforts,  decided 
that  he  would  either  make  Phidippides 
go  to  the  Sophist  school  or  turn  him  out 
of  the  house. 

Approached  a  second  time  by  his 
father,  Phidippides  again  protested  a- 
gainst  enrolling  in  the  school  but  finally 
yielded  to  his  father's  demands.  Strepi 
ades  felt  that  all  now  would  be  well. 

Some  time  afterward  Strepiades  went 
to  learn  what  progress  his  son  had  made. 
Socrates  assured  him  that  Phidippides  had 


done  well.  At  this  news,  Strepiades  felt 
sure  that  his  plan  had  been  a  good  one 
and  that  the  new  logic,  as  learned  by  his 
son,  would  soon  deliver  him  from  his  cred 
itors.  He  asked  Socrates  to  call  Phidip 
pides  from  the  classroom.  When  Phidip 
pides  emerged,  Strepiades  greeted  him 
between  tears  and  laughter,  and  said  it 
was  fitting  that  he  should  be  saved  by  the 
son  who  had  plunged  him  into  debt. 

He  asked  Phidippides  to  demonstrate 
his  new  learning,  and  Strepiades  was 
amazed  by  the  cunning  of  the  new  logic. 
At  that  moment  one  of  Strepiades'  credi 
tors  appeared  to  demand  money  that  was 
owed  him  for  a  horse.  Strepiades,  con 
fident  that  the  Sophist-taught  Phidip 
pides  could  turn  the  tables  on  any  credi 
tor  in  the  law  court,  refused  to  pay,  ig 
noring  threats  of  court  action.  He  treated 
a  second  creditor  in  the  same  way  and 
went  home  convinced  that  the  new  logic, 
as  argued  by  Phidippides,  would  save  him 
in  the  pending  law  suits, 

It  became  a  different  matter,  however, 
when  Phidippides  proceeded  to  demon 
strate  the  Sophist  teaching  at  home.  Ar 
guing  that  Strepiades  had  beaten  him 
often  for  his  own  good,  Phidippides 
buffeted  his  father  during  a  family  argu 
ment  and  declared  that  he  was  beating 
Strepiades  for  his  own  good.  The  old 
man  protested,  but  with  the  new  logic 
Phidippides  silenced  his  protests  and 
threatened  to  beat  his  mother  on  the 
same  principle. 

Strepiades  realized  that  the  Sophists 
could  justify  all  manner  of  evil  with 
their  tricky  logic.  Thinking  the  teachings 
dangerous  to  the  youth  of  Athens,  he 
took  a  torch  and  set  fire  to  the  Thought 
ery  .  As  Socrates  and  the  Sophist  disciples 
screamed  their  objection,  the  Thoughtery 
went  up  in  flames.  Strepiades  watched 
it  burn,  certain  that  he  bad  eliminated 
an  evil. 


A  CONNECTICUT  YANKEE  AT  KING  ARTHUR'S  COURT 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L.  Clemens,  1835-1910) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Sixth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published,:  1889 

Principal  characters: 

THE  CONNECTICUT  YANKEE,  the  Boss 

CLARENCE,  a  page 

KING  ARTHUR 

SANDY,  wife  of  the  Boss 

MERLEST,  a  magician 

Critique: 

Buried  beneath  a  layer  of  wit  is  the 
serious  social  satire  of  Mark  Twain's 
imaginative  chronicle.  The  glorified  days 
of  knight  errantry  are  exposed  as  a  form 
of  childish  barbarism.  The  Connecticut 
Yankee  finds  instead  of  the  legendary 
gallantry  a  cruel  system  of  feudalism 
where  the  common  people  are  abused  and 
impoverished.  Examining  the  Yankee's 
ideas  about  democracy,  one  can  discern 
Mark  Twain's  own  principles.  He  dem 
onstrates  that  a  government  is  good  only 
insofar  as  the  bulk  of  the  people  benefit 
by  it. 


The  Story: 

Struck  on  the  head  during  a  quarrel 
in  a  New  England  arms  factory,  a  skilled 
mechanic  awoke  to  find  himself  being 
prodded  by  the  spear  of  an  armored 
knight  on  horseback.  The  knight  was 
Sir  Kay  of  King  Arthur's  Round  Table 
and  the  time  was  June,  A.D.  528  in 
Merrie  England,  as  a  foppish  young  page 
named  Clarence  informed  me  incredu 
lous  Yankee,  when  his  captor  took  him 
back  to  white-towered  Camelot  The 
Yankee  remembered  that  there  had  been 
a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  on  June  21, 
528.  If  the  eclipse  took  place,  he  was 
indeed  a  lost  traveler  in  time  turned  back 
ward  to  the  days  of  chivalry. 

At  Camelot  the  Yankee  listened  to 
King  Arthur's  knights  as  they  bragged 
of  their  mighty  exploits.  The  magician, 


Merlin,  told  again  of  Arthur's  coming. 
Finally  Sir  Kay  told  of  his  encounter 
with  the  Yankee,  and  Merlin  advised 
that  the  prisoner  be  thrown  into  a  dun 
geon  to  await  burning  at  the  stake  on 
the  twenty-first  of  June. 

In  prison  the  Yankee  thought  about 
the  coming  eclipse.  Merlin,  he  told  Clar 
ence,  was  a  humbug,  and  he  sent  the 
boy  to  the  court  with  a  message  that  on 
the  day  of  his  death  the  sun  would 
darken  and  the  kingdom  would  be  de 
stroyed.  The  eclipse  came,  and  at  the 
right  time,  for  the  Yankee  was  about  to 
be  burned  when  the  sky  began  to  dim. 
Awed,  the  king  ordered  the  prisoner 
released.  The  people  shouted  that  he 
was  a  greater  magician  than  Merlin. 

The  court  demanded  another  display 
of  his  powers.  With  the  help  of  Clar 
ence,  the  Yankee  mined  Merlin's  tower 
with  some  crude  explosives  he  had  made 
and  then  told  everyone  he  would  cause 
the  tower  to  crumble  and  fall.  When 
the  explosion  took  place,  the  Yankee  was 
assured  of  his  place  as  the  new  court 
magician.  Merlin  was  thrown  into  prison. 

The  lack  of  mechanical  devices  in 
King  Arthur's  castle  bothered  the  in 
genious  New  Englancler,  and  the  illiter 
acy  of  the  people  hurt  his  American  pride 
in  education.  He  decided  to  make  the 
commoners  more  than  slaves  to  the  no 
bility.  He  had  a  title  of  his  own  by  this 
time,  for  the  people  called  him  the  Boss. 


A  CONNECTICUT  YANKEE  AT  KING  ARTHUR'S  COURT  by   Mark  Twain.    Published  by  Harper   & 
Brothers. 


154 


As  the  Boss,  he  intended  to  modernize 
the  kingdom. 

His  first  act  was  to  set  up  schools  in 
small  communities  throughout  the  coun 
try.  He  had  to  work  in  secret,  for  he 
feared  the  interference  of  the  Church. 
He  trained  workmen  in  mechanical  arts. 
Believing  that  a  nation  needed  a  free 
press,  he  instructed  Clarence  in  the  art 
of  journalism.  He  had  telephone  wires 
stretched  between  hamlets,  haphazardly, 
however,  because  there  were  no  maps 
by  which  to  be  guided. 

When  Sir  Sagramor  challenged  the 
Boss  to  a  duel,  the  court  decided  that  he 
should  go  upon  some  knightly  quest  to 
prepare  himself  for  the  encounter.  His 
mission  was  to  help  a  young  girl  named 
Alisande,  whose  story  he  could  not  get 
straight.  With  many  misgivings  he  put 
on  a  burdensome  coat  of  mail  and  on 
his  heavy  charger  started  off  with  Sandy, 
as  he  called  her.  Sandy  was  a  talkative 
companion  who  told  endless  tall  tales  as 
they  traveled  through  the  land.  Along 
the  way  the  Boss  marveled  at  the  pitiable 
state  of  the  people  under  the  feudal 
system.  Whenever  he  found  a  man  of 
unusual  spirit  he  sent  him  back  to  Clar 
ence  in  Camelot,  to  be  taught  reading, 
writing,  and  a  useful  trade.  He  visited 
the  dungeons  of  the  castles  at  which  he 
stayed  and  released  prisoners  unjustly 
held  by  their  grim  masters. 

In  the  Valley  of  Holiness  he  found 
another  opportunity  to  prove  his  magic 
skill.  There  a  sacred  well  had  gone  dry 
because  someone,  according  to  legend, 
had  bathed  in  it.  When  he  arrived,  Mer 
lin,  now  released  from  prison,  was  at 
tempting  magic  to  make  the  spring  flow. 
With  a  great  deal  of  pomp  and  flourish, 
the  Boss  repaired  a  leak  in  the  masonry 
at  the  bottom  of  the  well.  As  the  well 
filled,  Merlin  went  home  in  shame. 

By  chance  the  Boss  came  upon  one  of 
his  telephone  installations  in  a  cave 
nearby.  He  talked  to  Clarence,  who  told 
him  that  King  Arthur  was  on  his  way 
to  the  Valley  of  Holiness  to  see  the  flow 
ing  spring.  He  returned  to  the  spring 


to  find  a  fake  magician  assuring  the 
gaping  pilgrims  that  he  could  tell  what 
anyone  was  doing  at  that  moment.  The 
Boss  asked  him  about  King  Arthur.  The 
magician  said  that  he  was  asleep  in  his 
bed  at  Camelot.  The  Boss  grandly  pre 
dicted  that  the  king  was  on  his  way  to 
the  Valley  of  Holiness.  When  the  k 
did  arrive,  the  people  were  again  a 
by  the  Boss's  magic. 

Anxious  that  King  Arthur  be  con 
vinced  of  the  sufferings  of  his  people, 
the  Boss  suggested  that  he  and  the  king 
disguise  themselves  as  commoners  and 
travel  as  pilgrims  through  the  country. 
The  Boss  knew  that  Arthur  was  not  to 
blame  for  his  own  social  doctrines;  he 
was  a  victim  of  his  place  in  society.  On 
their  journey  the  king  proved  to  be  cou 
rageous  and  kind. 

Misfortune  soon  overtook  them.  They 
were  seized  by  an  earl  and  sold  as  slaves, 
because  they  were  unable  to  prove  them 
selves  free  men.  The  slaves  were  taken 
to  London,  where  the  Boss  picked  the 
lock  that  held  him  and  escaped.  The 
rest  of  the  slaves  were  ordered  to  be 
hanged  after  his  escape.  But  the  Boss  lo 
cated  one  of  his  telephones  and  called 
Clarence  in  Camelot,  ordering  him  to 
send  Sir  Lancelot  and  an  army  of  knights 
to  London  to  save  their  king  from  hang* 

in&. 

The  Boss  came  back  to  Camelot  in 

glory,  but  not  for  long.  He  still  had  to 
fight  a  duel  with  Sir  Sagramor — in  reality 
a  battle  between  Merlin  and  the  Boss. 
Merlin  professed  to  cover  Sir  Sagrarnor 
with  an  invisible  shield,  but  the  credu 
lous  knight  was  invisible  to  no  one  but 
himself.  The  Boss  wore  no  armor,  and 
so  on  the  field  of  the  tournament  he 
was  able  to  dodge  the  charging  knight 
until  Sir  Sagrarnor  grew  tired.  Then  the 
Boss  lassoed  him  and  pulled  him  from 
his  horse.  When  Sir  Sagramor  returnee1 
once  again  to  the  field,  Merlin  stole  the 
Boss's  lasso.  There  was  no  alternative; 
the  Boss  shot  Sir  Sagramor  with  his  gun. 
Then  he  challenged  all  the  knights  of 
the  Round  Table.  He  had  only  twelve 


155 


shots  in  his  two  revolvers,  but  fortu 
nately,  when  he  had  killed  eleven  of  the 
charging  knights,  the  line  wavered  and 
gave  up. 

Three  years  passed.  By  this  time  the 
Boss  had  married  Sandy  and  they  had  a 
little  girl.  He  and  Clarence  were  plan 
ning  to  declare  a  republic  after  the  death 
of  Arthur,  for  the  sixth-century  kingdom 
was  now  a  nineteenth-century  land  with 
schools,  trains,  factories,  newspapers,  the 
telephone  and  the  telegraph.  Although 
the  code  of  chivalry  had  been  abolished, 
the  knights  still  insisted  on  wearing  their 
armor,  Then  little  Hello-Central,  the 
Boss'  daughter,  became  ill,  and  he  and 
Sandy  took  the  child  to  the  seashore  for 
recuperation.  On  their  return,  the  Boss 


found  Camelot  in  a  shambles.  Only 
Clarence  remained  to  tell  him  the  story. 
There  had  been  a  battle  between  King 
Arthur  and  Sir  Lancelot  over  Queen 
Guinevere.  The  king  was  dead,  and  by 
interdict  the  Church  had  destroyed  the 
work  of  the  Boss.  Clarence  and  the  Boss 
built  a  fortress  surrounded  by  an  elec 
trically  charged  barrier.  In  a  battle  with 
the  surviving  chivalry  of  England  the 
Boss  was  stabbed.  When  an  old  woman 
came  to  the  fortress  from  the  enemy  lines 
and  offered  to  nurse  him,  no  one  recog 
nized  her  as  Merlin.  The  magician  cast 
a  spell  on  the  Boss  and  declared  that  he 
would  sleep  for  thirteen  hundred  years. 
And,  indeed,  the  Yankee  did  awake  once 
more  in  the  nineteenth  century. 


CONSUELO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Sand  (Mme.  Aurore  Dudevant,  1804-1876) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Venice,  Bohemia,  Vienna 

First  published:  1842 

Principal  characters: 

CONSUELO,  a  singer 

ANZOLETO,  her  betrothed 

PORPORA,  her  music  master  and  godfather 

COUNT  RUDOLSTADT,  a  Bohemian  nobleman 

ALBERT,  his  son 

GORILLA,  Consuelo's  rival 

JOSEPH  HAYDN,  a  composer 

Critique: 

Although  George  Sand  was  one  of  the 
most  popular  novelists  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  her  style  seems  somewhat  tedi 
ous  to  present-day  readers.  The  plot  of 
Consuelo,  interesting  as  it  is,  suffers 
at  times  from  the  excessive  detail  with 
which  the  thoughts  and  movements  of 
the  main  characters  are  depicted.  The 
author's  many  literary  skills  are  exhibited, 
however,  in  this  novel.  Her  descriptive 
passages  are  beautiful  and  moving,  and 
her  intimate  knowledge  of  music  and 
musicians  enabled  her  to  write  convinc 
ing  characterizations  of  many  of  the 
people  whom  Consuelo  met  in  her  travels. 
All  told,  Consuelo  is  well  worth  the  effort 


spent  reading  it,  for  xts  virtues  at  least 
balance,  if  not  outweigh,  its  defects. 

The  Story: 

At  the  church  of  the  Mcndicanti  in 
Venice,  Consuelo  was  the  most  gifted  of 
all  the  pupils  of  the  famous  teacher, 
Porpora.  Consuelo  was  a  poor  orphan 
child,  and  Porpora  had  made  her  his  god 
daughter.  Before  the  death  of  her  mother, 
Consuelo  had  promised  that  she  would 
one  day  become  betrothed  to  Anzoleto, 
another  poor  musician  of  Venice. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Anzoleto,  Con 
suelo  was  engaged  as  the  prima  donna 
at  the  theater  of  Count  Zustiniani,  re- 


156 


placing  Gorilla,  who  had  also  been  Por- 
pora's  student.  Consuelo  was  a  great 
success,  but  Anzoleto,  who  had  also  been 
engaged  in  the  theater  at  the  insistence 
of  Consuelo,  was  not  much  of  a  musician 
and  was  not  well  received.  Anzoleto, 
afraid  that  he  would  be  discharged,  pre 
tended  to  be  in  love  with  Gorilla,  think 
ing  that  he  would  be  safe  if  both  singers 
were  in  love  with  him. 

Porpora  had  never  liked  Anzoleto,  and 
at  last  he  contrived  to  have  Consuelo 
visit  Gorilla's  home.  When  they  found 
Anzoleto  there,  Consuelo  was  so  hurt 
that  she  left  Venice  at  once,  vowing  that 
she  would  never  set  foot  on  the  stage 
again,  and  renouncing  the  false  Anzo 
leto  forever. 

From  Venice  Consuelo  went  to  Bo 
hemia,  where  she  was  engaged  by  Count 
Rudolstadt  as  a  companion  for  his  niece, 
Amelia.  This  young  noblewoman  had 
been  betrothed  to  young  Count  Albert 
Rudolstadt,  but  she  feared  him  because 
he  seemed  to  be  insane,  Albert  often 
had  visions  in  which  he  saw  scenes  of  the 
past  and  often  imagined  himself  to  be  the 
reincarnated  body  of  some  person  long 
dead. 

When  Albert  first  heard  Consuelo  sing, 
he  called  her  by  her  name,  even  though 
she  had  taken  another  name  to  hide  her 
unhappy  life  in  Venice.  •  Albert  told 
Consuelo  and  the  whole  family  that  she 
was  his  salvation — that  she  nad  been 
sent  to  remove  the  curse  from  him.  Con 
suelo  was  bewildered. 

Albert  often  disappeared  for  many 
days  at  a  time,  no  one  knew  where. 
Consuelo  followed  him,  but  could  never 
find  his  hiding  place  until  the  night  she 
descended  into  a  deep  well  and  found 
steps  leading  to  a  grotto  where  Albert 
and  an  idiot  called  Zdenko  spent  many 
days  together.  Zdenko  loved  Albert  more 
than  his  own  life;  when  he  saw  Con 
suelo  coming  into  the  well,  he  thought 
she  wanted  to  harm  Albert  and  almost 
killed  her.  Consuelo  escaped  from 
Zdenko  and  found  Albert,  and  after  she 
spoke  soothingly  to  him  he  ceased  his 


mad  talk  and  seemed  to  regain  normal 
behavior.  She  persuaded  him  to  return 
to  his  family  and  not  to  go  back  to  the 
grotto  without  her.  Albert  told  Consuelo 
that  he  loved  her  and  needed  her;  but 
although  she  no  longer  loved  Anzoleto, 
she  could  not  forget  how  she  had  once 
loved  him,  and  she  asked  Albert  to  wait 
a  while  for  her  answer. 

Albert's  father  and  the  rest  of  the 
family  were  grateful  to  Consuelo  for 
helping  restore  Albert  to  his  senses.  The 
father,  Count  Rudolstadt,  even  told  Con 
suelo  that  he  would  give  his  consent  to  a 
marriage  between  his  son  and  her,  for 
the  old  gentleman  believed  that  only 
Consuelo  could  keep  his  son  sane.  While 
Consuelo  was  debating  whether  she  loved 
Albert  and  could  accept  the  honor,  Anzo 
leto,  having  deserted  Gorilla,  came  to  the 
castle  in  search  of  her.  Consuelo  slipped 
away  from  the  castle,  leaving  a  note  for 
Albert.  She  went  to  Vienna  to  rejoin 
Porpora. 

Without  funds,  Consuelo  had  great 
difficulty  in  reaching  Vienna,  and  had 
to  walk  most  of  the  way.  In  her  travels, 
she  met  Joseph  Haydn,  a  young  com 
poser  who  had  been  on  his  way  to  the 
castle  to  find  her;  he  had  hoped  he  could 
persuade  her  to  take  him  to  Porpora, 
under  whom  he  wished  to  study.  Dressed 
as  a  peasant  boy,  Consuelo  accompanied 
Haydn  to  Vienna.  One  night  they  took 
refuge  in  the  home  of  a  canon  of  the 
Church.  While  they  were  there,  Gorilla 
came  to  the  door,  seeking  a  safe  place 
to  give  birth  to  her  child.  Consuelo  had 
pity  on  her  former  enemy  and  took 
Gorilla  to  an  inn,  where  she  helped  to 
deliver  the  child.  From  a  maid,  Con 
suelo  learned  that  Anzoleto  was  the 
father.  Gorilla  did  not  recognize  Con 
suelo,  who  continued  to  wear  the  dis 
guise  of  a  boy. 

When  Joseph  and  Consuelo  finally 
reached  Vienna,  the  girl  found  Porpora 
overjoyed  to  see  her  again.  Haydn  be 
came  Porpora's  pupil,  and  Consuelo 
sang  for  the  Empress.  Then  Gorilla, 
who  had  also  corne  to  Vienna  and  learned 


157 


that  it  was  Consuelo  who  befriended 
her  during  the  birth  of  her  child,  ar 
ranged  for  Consuelo  to  sing  in  the 
theater  there.  Gorilla  hoped  to  seal  the 
lips  of  Consuelo,  who  knew  of  the  ille 
gitimate  child  and  knew  also  that  Corilla 
had  abandoned  the  baby  in  the  home  of 
the  canon  who  had  given  Consuelo  and 
Joseph  shelter.  Anzoleto  was  never  heard 
from  again. 

Consuelo  wrote  to  Albert,  telling  him 
that  she  was  almost  ready  to  return  to 
him,  but  Porpora  intercepted  the  letter 
and  tore  it  up.  Consuelo  waited  in  vain 
for  a  reply  from  Albert.  At  last,  Por 
pora  told  her  that  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  the  count,  saying  that  he  did 
not  wish  his  son  to  marry  an  actress,  and 
that  Albert  had  concurred  in  the  deci 
sion.  Consuelo  so  trusted  her  godfather 
that  she  believed  him,  not  realizing  how 
ambitious  Porpora  was  for  her  musical 
career. 

Porpora  went  with  Consuelo  to  accept 
a  theater  engagement  in  Berlin.  On  the 
way  they  met  the  brother  of  Count  Ru- 
dolstadt.  Albert  had  asked  his  father  to 
liave  someone  at  a  certain  place  on  the 
:oad  on  a  specific  day  and  at  a  specific 


hour,  saying  that  the  messenger  was  to 
bring  the  travelers  he  would  meet  there 
to  the  castle  at  once.  Albert  was  very 
ill,  and  Consuelo  persuaded  Porpora  to 
allow  her  to  go  to  Albert.  When  she 
arrived  at  the  castle,  she  learned  that  his 
father  had  received  a  letter  from  Porpora 
saying  that  he  would  never  consent  to 
a  marriage  between  Consuelo  and  Albert 
and  that  Consuelo  herself  had  renounced 
Albert.  It  had  been  the  deathblow. 
Albert  grew  very  weak  and  begged  Con 
suelo  to  marry  him  before  he  died  so 
that  his  soul  could  find  peace;  he  still 
believed  that  only  through  Consuelo 
could  he  find  salvation.  So  the  marriage 
vows  were  repeated,  and  Albert,  crying 
that  he  was  now  saved,  died  in  Con- 
suelo's  arms. 

Consuelo  stayed  with  her  husband  all 
night,  leaving  him  only  when  he  was 
carried  to  his  bier.  She  then  bade  Albert's 
family  goodbye,  refusing  to  accept  any  of 
the  fortune  which  was  now  hers.  Then 
she  left  the  castle  and  went  to  join  Por 
pora  in  Berlin,  where  Frederick  the 
Great  himself  worshipped  both  her 
beauty  and  her  art. 


THE  COUNT  OF  MONTE-CRISTO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Alexandra  Dumas,  father  (1802-1870) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

"Time  of  'plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale;  France 

First  published:  1844 

Principal  characters: 

EDMOND  DAJSTTES,  a  young  sailor 

MERCEDES,  his  sweetheart 

FERDINAND  MONDE  GO,  a  rival 

M.  DANGLARS,  an  ambitious  shipmate 

M.  VILLEPORT,  a  deputy 

VALENTINE,  his  daughter 

ABBE  FARJA,  a  prisoner  at  Chateau  D'lf 

CADEROUSSE,  an  innkeeper 

M.  MORREL,  a  shipping  master 

MAXIMILIAN,  his  son 

ALBERT,  Mondego's  son 

HAIDEE,  An  Albanian 


Critique: 

The  Count  of  Monte-Cristo  is  a  good 


story,  and  that  seems  to  be  its  chief  merit. 
The  characters  are  flat;  they  remain  cour- 


158 


ageous,  avaricious,  kind,  loyal,  selfish  or 
treacherous,  in  the  conventional  mold 
the  author  has  set  for  them.  But  in  spite 
of  many  defects  the  novel  remains  a 
great  work  in  literature,  for  the  story  of 
the  Count  of  Monte-Cristo  is  still  a 
breath-taking  experience  for  all  who  read 
his  adventure,  a  dramatic  tale  rilled  with 
mystery  and  intrigue. 

The  Story: 

When  Edmond  Dantes  sailed  into  Mar 
seilles  harbor  that  day  in  1815,  he  was 
surrounded  by  enemies.  His  shipmate, 
Danglars,  coveted  his  appointment  as 
captain  of  the  Pharaon.  Ferdinand  Mon- 
dego  wished  to  wed  Mercedes,  who  was 
betrothed  to  Edmond. 

Danglars  and  Ferdinand  wrote  a  note 
accusing  Edmond  of  carrying  a  letter 
from  Elba  to  the  Bonapartist  committee 
in  Paris.  Caderousse,  a  neighbor,  learned 
of  the  plot  but  kept  silent.  On  his  wed 
ding  day  Edmond  was  arrested  and  taken 
before  a  deputy  named  Villefort,  a 
political  turncoat,  who,  to  protect  him 
self,  had  Edmond  secretly  imprisoned  in 
the  dungeons  of  the  Chateau  Dlf.  There 
Dantes*  incarceration  was  secured  by  the 
plotting  of  his  enemies  outside  the  prison, 
notably  Villefort,  who  wished  to  cover 
up  his  own  father's  connections  with  the 
Bonapartists. 

Napoleon  came  from  Elba,  but  Ed 
mond  lay  forgotten  in  his  cell.  The  can 
nonading  at  Waterloo  died  away.  Years 
passed.  Then  one  night  Edmond  heard 
the  sound  of  digging  from  an  adjoining 
cell.  Four  days  later  a  section  of  the 
flooring  fell  in  and  Edmond  saw  an  old 
man  in  the  narrow  tunnel  below.  He 
was  the  Abb<£  Faria,  whose  attempt  to 
dig  his  way  to  freedom  had  led  him  only 
to  Edmond's  cell.  Thereafter  the  two 
met  daily,  and  the  old  man  taught  Ed 
mond  history,  mathematics,  and  lan 
guages.  In  Edmond's  fourteenth  year  of 
imprisonment  Faria,  mortally  ill,  told 
Edmond  where  to  rind  a  tremendous  for 
tune  should  he  escape  after  the  old  man's 
death.  When  death  did  come,  the  abb6's 


body  was  placed  in  a  sack,  and  Edmond 
conceived  the  idea  of  changing  places 
with  the  dead  man,  whom  he  dragged 
through  the  tunnel  into  his  own  bed. 
Jailers  threw  the  sack  into  the  sea.  Ed 
mond  ripped  the  cloth  and  swam  through 
the  darkness  to  an  islet  in  the  bay. 

At  daybreak  he  was  picked  up  by  a 
gang  of  smugglers  with  whom  he  worked 
until  a  stroke  of  luck  brought  him  to  the 
island  of  Monte-Cristo,  where  Faria's 
fortune  awaited  him.  He  landed  on  the 
island  with  the  crew  of  the  ship,  and, 
feigning  injury  in  a  fall,  persuaded  the 
crew  to  leave  him  behind  until  they 
could  return  for  him.  Thus  he  was  able 
to  explore  the  island  and  to  find  his  treas 
ure  hidden  in  an  underground  cavern. 
He  returned  to  the  mainland  and  there 
sold  some  small  jewels  to  provide  himself 
with  money  enough  to  carry  out  his 
plans  to  bring  his  treasure  from  Monte- 
Cristo.  There  he  learned  that  his  father 
had  died  and  Mercedes,  despairing  of 
Edmond's  return,  had  married  Ferdinand. 

Disguised  as  an  abbe\  he  visited  M. 
Caderousse  to  seek  information  of  those 
who  had  caused  his  imprisonment.  M. 
Villefort  had  gained  fortune  and  station 
in  life.  Danglars  was  a  rich  banker.  Fer 
dinand  had  won  wealth  and  a  title  in 
the  Greek  war.  For  this  information 
Edmond  gave  Caderousse  a  diamond 
worth  fifty  thousand  francs. 

He  learned  also  that  his  old  shipping 
master,  M.  Morrel,  was  on  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy.  In  gratitude,  because  Mor 
rel  had  given  the  older  Dantes  money 
to  keep  him  from  starvation,  Edmond 
saved  Morrel's  shipping  business. 

Edmond  took  the  name  of  his  treasure 
island.  As  the  Count  of  Monte-Cristo 
he  dazzled  all  Paris  with  his  fabulous 
wealth  and  his  social  graces.  He  and  his 
mysterious  prot6g6e,  a  beautiful  girl 
named  Haidle  whom  he  had  bought  dur 
ing  his  travels  in  Greece,  became  the  talk 
of  the  boulevards. 

Meanwhile  he  was  slowly  plotting  the 
ruin  of  the  four  men  who  had  caused 
him  to  be  sent  to  the  CMteau  Dlf.  Cad- 


159 


erousse  was  the  first  to  be  destroyed. 
Monte-Cristo  had  awakened  his  greed 
with  the  gift  of  a  diamond.  Later,  urged 
by  his  wife,  Caderousse  had  committed 
robbery  and  murder.  Now,  released  from 
prison,  he  attempted  to  rob  Monte-Cristo 
but  was  mortally  wounded  by  an  escaping 
accomplice.  As  the  man  lay  dying, 
Monte-Cristo  revealed  his  true  name — 
Edmond  Dant&s. 

In  Paris,  Monte-Cristo  had  succeeded 
in  ingratiating  himself  with  the  banker, 
Danglars,  and  was  secretly  ruining  him. 
Ferdinand  was  the  next  victim  on  his  list. 
Ferdinand  had  gained  his  wealth  by  be 
traying  Pasha  Ali  in  the  Greek  revolu 
tion  of  1823.  Monte-Cristo  persuaded 
Danglars  to  send  to  Greece  for  confirma 
tion  of  Ferdinand's  operations  there. 
Ferdinand  was  exposed  and  Haide'e, 
daughter  of  the  Pasha  Ali,  appeared  to 
confront  him  with  the  story  of  her 
fathers  betrayal.  Albert,  the  son  of 
Mercedes  and  Ferdinand,  challenged 
Monte-Cristo  to  a  duel  to  avenge  his 
father's  disgrace,  Monte-Cristo  intended 
to  make  his  revenge  complete  by  killing 
the  young  man,  but  Mercedes  came  to 
him  and  begged  for  her  son's  life.  Aware 
of  Monte-Cristo's  true  identity,  she  in 
terceded  with  her  son  as  well,  and  at 
the  scene  of  the  duel  the  young  man 
publicly  declared  his  father  s  ruin  had 
been  justified.  Mother  and  son  left 
Paris.  Ferdinand  shot  himself. 

Monte-Cristo   had   also   become   inti 


mate  with  Madame  Villefort  and  encour 
aged  her  desire  to  possess  the  wealth  of 
her  stepdaughter,  Valentine,  whom 
Maximilian  Morrel,  son  of  the  shipping 
master,  loved.  The  count  had  slyly  di 
rected  Madame  Villefort  in  the  use  of 
poisons,  and  the  depraved  woman  mur 
dered  three  people.  When  Valentine 
herself  succumbed  to  poison,  Maximilian 
went  to  Monte-Cristo  for  help.  Upon 
learning  that  his  friend  Maximilian  loved 
Valentine,  Monte-Cristo  vowed  to  save 
the  young  girl.  But  Valentine  had  ap 
parently  died.  Still  Monte-Cristo  prom 
ised  future  happiness  to  Maximilian. 

Meanwhile  Danglars'  daughter,  Eu- 
g6nie,  ran  off  to  seek  her  fortune  inde 
pendently,  and  Danglars  found  himself 
bankrupt.  He  deserted  his  wife  and  fled 
the  country.  Villefort  having  discovered 
his  wife's  treachery  and  crimes,  con 
fronted  her  with  a  threat  of  exposure. 
She  then  poisoned  herself  and  her  son 
Edward,  for  whose  sake  she  had  poisoned 
the  others.  Monte-Cristo  revealed  his 
true  name  to  Villefort,  who  subsequently 
went  mad. 

But  Monte-Cristo  had  not  deceived 
Maximilian.  He  had  rescued  Valentine 
while  she  lay  in  a  drugged  coma  in  the 
tomb.  Now  he  reunited  the  two  lovers 
on  his  island  of  Monte-Cristo.  They  were 
given  the  count's  wealth,  and  Monte- 
Cristo  sailed  away  with  Haide'e  never 
to  be  seen  again. 


THE  COUNTERFEITERS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Andre*  Gide  (1869-1951) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:   Early  1920's 

Locale:   Paris 

First  published:    1925 

Principal  characters: 

EDOUARD,  a  writer 

OLIVIER  MOLESTIER,  his  nephew 

GEORGE  MOUNTER,  Olivier  s  younger  brother 

VINCENT  MOLINIER,  Olivier's  older  brother 

BERNARD  PROFITENDIEU,  Olivier's  friend  and  Edouard's  secretary 


160 


LAURA  DOUVIERS,  Edouard's  friend 

COMTE  DE  PASSAVANT,  a  libertine 

ARMANI*  VEDEL,  Laura's  brother  and  Olivier's  friend 


Critique: 

The  Counterfeiters  traces  the  behavior 
pattern  of  a  group  of  youths,  each  stim 
ulated  by  intimate  contact  with  an  older 
individual.  It  is  generally  considered 
Gide's  finest  novel  and  one  of  the  note 
worthy  novels  in  contemporary  fiction. 
The  author's  ability  to  create  real  char 
acters,  to  understand  them  and  present 
them  for  our  understanding,  is  remark 
able.  His  intention  is  to  show  that  man 
must  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  heart 
and  ignore  convention,  if  he  wishes  to 
find  full  expression  and  happiness. 

The  Story: 

When  seventeen-year-old  Bernard  Pro- 
fitendieu  discovered  an  old  love  letter  of 
his  mother's  and  realized  that  he  was  an 
illegitimate  son,  he  left  a  scathing  letter 
for  the  man  whom  he  had  considered  his 
real  father  and  ran  away  from  home. 
He  spent  that  night  with  his  friend, 
Olivier  Molinier.  Olivier  told  him  of 
his  Uncle  Edouard,  a  writer,  who  would 
be  arriving  from  England  the  following 
day,  and  also  of  a  woman  with  whom  his 
older  brother  Vincent  was  involved. 

The  next  morning  Bernard  left  before 
Olivier  had  awakened.  For  a  time  he 
wondered  what  to  do.  He  idly  decided 
to  go  to  the  station  and  watch  Olivier 
meet  his  uncle. 

That  same  morning  Vincent  visited 
his  friend,  the  notorious  homosexual, 
Comte  de  Passavant.  He  was  disturbed 
over  his  affair  with  Laura  Douviers,  a 
married  woman  whom  he  had  met  while 
both  were  patients  in  a  sanatorium.  Upon 
her  release  she  had  followed  Vincent 
to  Paris. 

Edouard  was  returning  to  Paris  be 
cause  of  a  promise  to  Laura.  He  had 
known  her  before  her  marriage,  and  had 
told  her  to  call  upon  him  whenever 
necessary.  He  was  also  looking  forward 


to  seeing  his  nephew  Olivier,  of  whom 
he  was  very  fond.  So  excited  was  he, 
in  fact,  that,  after  checking  his  bag,  he 
threw  away  his  checkroom  ticket.  But 
the  meeting  with  his  nephew  was  un 
satisfactory. 

Bernard,  unobserved,  had  watched  the 
meeting  between  the  two.  He  picked  up 
the  checkroom  ticket  Edouard  had 
dropped  and  claimed  the  bag.  In  it  he 
discovered  a  large  sum  of  money,  which 
he  quickly  pocketed;  Edouard's  journal, 
which  he  read  without  scruple;  and 
Laura's  supplicating  letter. 

With  no  definite  plan  in  mind,  he 
called  on  Laura.  Laura  was  disturbed 
by  the  young  man  who  knew  so  much 
about  her  affairs,  but  his  actions  became 
understandable  when  Edouard  arrived 
and  Bernard  admitted  the  theft  of  the 
bag.  Bernard  said  that  he  had  stolen  it 
as  a  means  of  getting  in  touch  with 
Edouard.  Edouard  was  very  much  taken 
with  the  young  man's  impudent  charm. 
When  Bernard  suggested  that  he  might 
fill  the  role  of  a  secretary,  Edouard 
agreed. 

A  few  days  later,  with  Bernard  as  his 
secretary,  Edouard  took  Laura  to  Switzer 
land.  Bernard  wrote  to  Olivier  in  glow 
ing  terms  about  his  new  position.  Olivier 
was  jealous  of  Bernard,  who,  he  felt, 
had  taken  his  place  in  Edouard's  affec 
tions.  He  decided  to  take  an  editorial 
assignment  offered  him  by  Comte  de 
Passavant. 

In  the  meantime  Bernard  fell  in  love 
with  Laura.  When  he  confessed  his 
love,  Laura  showed  him  a  letter  from 
her  husband,  begging  her  to  come  back 
to  him  with  her  child  and  Vincent's. 
She  had  decided  to  return  to  him.  Ber 
nard  and  Edouard  returned  to  Paris. 

A  letter  arrived  from  Olivier  to  Ber 
nard.  He  was  in  Italy  with  de  Passavant 


THE  COUNTERFEITERS  by  Andre"  Gide,    Translated  by  Dorothy  Bussy.    By  permission  of  the  publisher*, 
Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1927,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


161 


and  he  wrote  complacently  about  the 
wonderful  journal  they  intended  to  pub 
lish.  Bernard  showed  the  letter  to  Ed 
ouard,  who  failed  to  realize  that  the  letter 
disguised  the  boy's  real  feelings  of  jeal 
ousy  and  hurt. 

Bernard,  although  still  acting  as 
Edouard's  secretary,  had  enrolled  in  the 
Vedel  School  and  was  living  in  the  Vedel 
household.  The  Vedels  were  Laura's 
parents  and  Edouard's  close  friends. 
Edouard  was  particularly  fond  of  Rachel, 
Laura's  older  sister,  and  it  distressed  him 
to  see  that  she  was  devoting  all  her  time 
and  energy  to  managing  the  school. 

Bernard  told  Edouard  about  some 
children,  including  George  Molinier, 
Olivier's  younger  brother,  who  were  en 
gaged  in  some  underhanded  activities. 
The  boys,  as  Bernard  was  soon  to  learn, 
were  passing  counterfeit  coins. 

Olivier  returned  to  Paris  to  get  in 
touch  with  Bernard.  The  meeting  be 
tween  the  two  was  strained.  As  they 
parted,  Olivier  invited  Edouard  and  Ber 
nard  to  a  party  which  de  Passavant  was 
giving  that  evening.  Olivier  then  went 
to  call  on  another  old  friend,  Armand 
Vedel,  Laura's  younger  brother.  Armand 
refused  the  invitation  to  the  party,  but 
suggested  that  Olivier  ask  his  sister 
Sarah  to  go  in  his  place.  Bernard,  who 
was  living  at  the  school,  was  to  serve 
as  her  escort. 

The  party  was  an  orgy.  Olivier  became 
drunk  and  quarrelsome.  Edouard  led 
him  from  the  room,  and  Olivier,  ashamed, 
begged  his  uncle  to  take  him  away. 

Bernard  escorted  Sarah  home.  Her 
room  was  beyond  Armand's,  and  her 
brother  handed  Bernard  the  candle  to 
light  the  way.  As  soon  as  Bernard  had 
gone  into  her  bedroom,  Armand  bolted 
the  door.  Bernard  spent  the  night  witK 
Sarah. 

The  next  morning  he  found  Edouard 
attempting  to  revive  Olivier.  The  boy, 
after  spending  the  night  with  his  uncle, 
had  risen  early  in  the  morning  on  the 
pretext  that  he  wanted  to  rest  on  the 
sofa.  Getting  up  later,  Edouard  had  dis 


covered  his  nephew  lying  on  the  bath 
room  floor  unconscious,  the  gas  jets 
turned  on.  Edouard  nursed  Olivier  until 
the  boy  recovered.  When  Olivier's  mother 
went  to  see  her  son,  she  expressed  to 
Edouard  her  concern  for  George  and 
his  wayward  habits.  Edouard  promised 
to  speak  to  George.  He  also  learned  that 
Vincent  had  gone  away  with  Lady 
Griffith,  a  friend  of  de  Passavant. 

A  few  days  later  Edouard  received  a 
call  from  M.  Profitendieu,  Bernard's 
foster  father.  Ostensibly  he  had  called 
in  his  office  as  magistrate  to  ask  Edouard 
to  speak  to  his  nephew  George,  who  was 
suspected  of  passing  counterfeit  coins. 
But  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  real 
object  of  his  visit  was  to  inquire  about 
Bernard.  Since  the  boy  had  left  home, 
Profitendieu  had  worried  about  him.  He 
wanted  very  much  to  have  him  home 
once  more. 

Meanwhile  Bernard's  affair  with  Sarah 
had  attracted  Rachel's  attention,  and 
she  asked  him  to  leave  the  school.  Ber 
nard  went  to  Edouard,  who  told  him  of 
the  interview  with  Profitendieu.  For 
some  time  Bernard  had  regretted  the 
harsh  letter  he  had  written,  and  the 
hatred  he  had  felt  for  his  foster  father 
had  changed  to  sympathy  and  fondness. 
It  was  evident  that  Bernard  was  no  longer 
needed  as  Edouard's  secretary.  He  de 
cided  to  return  home. 

Armand  had  succeeded  Olivier  as  edi 
tor  of  de  Passavant's  journal.  He  went 
to  see  Olivier  and  showed  him  a  letter 
from  an  older  brother  in  Egypt.  The 
writer  told  of  a  man  with  whom  he  was 
living  who  was  almost  out  of  his  mind. 
From  what  he  could  gather  from  the 
fellow's  ravings,  the  man  had  been  re 
sponsible  for  his  woman  companion's 
death.  Neither  Armand  nor  Olivier 
guessed  that  the  man  was  Olivier's 
brother  Vincent. 

George  and  his  friends  caused  a  trag 
edy  at  their  school.  Boris,  the  young 
grandson  of  an  old  friend  of  Edouard, 
had  been  invited  to  join  a  secret  society 
if  he  would  perform  the  act  of  initiation 


162 


— stand  up  before  the  class  and  shoot 
himself  through  the  temple.  It  was 
understood  that  the  cartridge  would  be 
a  blank.  One  of  the  boys,  however,  sub 
stituted  a  real  bullet  for  the  dummy,  and 
when  Boris,  pale  but  resolute,  walked  to 
the  front  of  the  class  and  shot  himself, 


the  joke  became  a  tragedy.  The  ex^ 
perience  was  terrible  enough  to  bring 
George  to  his  senses, 

Olivier  having  completely  recovered, 
Edouard  settled  down  again  to  writing 
his  book,  with  a  great  sense  of  peace  and 
happiness. 


THE  COUNTRY  OF  THE  POINTED  FIRS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sarah  Orne  Jewett  (1849-1909) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  <plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Maine  seacoast 

First  published:  1896 

Principal  characters: 

MRS.  TODD,  a  New  England  herbalist 

MRS.  BLACKETT,  her  mother 

WILLIAM,  her  brother 

THE  BOARDER,  a  writer 

ESTHER,  William's  sweetheart 

MRS.  HIGHT,  Esther's  mother 

Critique: 

In  this  book  there  are  few  episodes 
that  could  be  called  exciting.  Instead, 
the  interest  lies  in  character  portrayal 
and  nature  description.  Each  chapter 
can  stand  alone  as  a  local-color  sketch, 
a  self-contained  unit.  For  one  who  wishes 
to  explore  the  deep  springs  of  New  Eng 
land  character,  however,  this  book  is 
pleasant  and  leisurely  reading. 


schoolhouse  a  quiet  place  for  her  writing, 
and  she  spent  most  of  her  days  there. 
One  morning  she  was  surprised  to  have 
a  visit  from  old  Captain  Littlepage,  a 
retired  seaman  who  seldom  left  his  house. 
For  a  time  he  spoke  seriously  of  the  great 
English  poets.  When  he  saw  that  the 
boarder  did  not  laugh  at  him,  he  launched 
upon  a  long  narrative.  It  seemed  that 
he  had  been  shipwrecked  upon  a  small 
island  and  had  met  there  another  sailor 
who  had  been  to  the  North  Pole.  He 
told  Captain  Littlepage  of  a  town  of 
ghosts  he  had  discovered.  It  was  Captain 
Littlepage's  theory  that  in  this  town 
souls  awaited  their  passage  into  the  next 
world.  The  old  man's  narrative  stopped 
suddenly  as  his  mind  returned  to  the 
present.  The  boarder  helped  him  home 
and  told  no  one  about  his  strange  story. 
On  another  day  Mrs.  Todd  took  her 
boarder  out  to  Green  Island,  where  Mrs. 
Todd's  mother  lived.  Mrs.  Blackett  was 
over  eighty,  her  daughter  past  sixty.  Mrs. 
Blackett  still  did  her  own  work  and  kept 
house  for  her  son  William,  who  was  past 

f.  COUNTRY  OF  THE  POINTED  FIRS  by  Sarah  Orne  Jewett.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Houghton 
1m  Co.    Copyright,  1896,  by  Sarah  Orne  Jewett,  1924,  by  Mary  R.  Jewett. 


The  Story: 

A  woman  writer  came  one  summer  to 
Dunnet  Landing,  a  Maine  seacoast  town, 
to  find  seclusion  for  her  work.  She 
boarded  with  Mrs.  Almira  Todd,  a 
friendly  widow  and  the  local  herb  doc 
tor.  Besides  having  a  garden  full  of 
herbs,  Mrs.  Todd  often  roamed  far  afield 
for  rarer  specimens.  The  boarder  some 
times  took  care  of  Mrs.  Todd's  sales  of 
herbs  and  birch  beer  when  Mrs.  Todd 
was  away. 

At  last  the  boarder  realized  that  she 
must  get  to  work  on  her  book  and  give 
up  she  society  of  Mrs.  Todd  in  the  day 
time.  The  boarder  found  the  village 


163 


fifty.  William  was  a  bashful  man,  but  he 
found  a  friend  to  his  liking  in  the  boarder. 
Mrs.  Todd  and  the  boarder  gathered  some 
herbs  before  they  left  the  island,  and 
Mrs.  Todd  showed  her  the  spot  offshore 
where  her  husband  had  gone  down  in 
his  boat. 

Mrs.  Fosdick  came  to  visit  Mrs.  Todd. 
The  two  old  ladies  and  the  boarder  often 
spent  their  evenings  together.  One  night 
Mrs.  Todd  told  of  her  husband's  Cousin 
Joanna,  who  had  lived  on  Shell-heap 
Island.  Disappointed  in  love,  Joanna 
went  to  live  alone  on  the  tiny  island. 
Passing  fishermen  often  left  presents  on 
the  shore  for  her,  but  no  one  ever  visited 
her.  Finally  Mrs.  Todd  and  the  minister 
went  to  see  her,  for  die  minister  was 
worried  about  the  state  of  Joanna's  soul. 
They  found  Joanna  living  comfortably 
but  simply.  Satisfied  with  her  lonely  life, 
she  could  not  be  induced  to  return  to  the 
mainland.  Joanna  lived  out  her  life  on 
the  island  and  was  buried  there. 

Late  in  August  Mrs.  Todd  took  her 
boarder  and  Mrs.  Blackett  to  the  Bowden 
family  reunion.  They  hired  a  carriage 
and  drove  far  inland  to  the  family  seat. 
All  the  Bowdens  for  miles  around  came 
to  the  reunion,  and  Mrs.  Blackett  was  one 
of  the  privileged  guests  because  of  her 
age.  For  once  Mrs.  Todd  forgot  her 
herbs  and  spent  the  entire  day  in  the  en 
joyment  of  the  society  of  her  friends. 
William  had  not  come  to  the  gathering 
because  of  his  bashfulness.  Mrs.  Black 
ett  treasured  every  moment  of  the  day, 
for  she  knew  it  was  one  of  the  last 
reunions  she  would  attend. 

One  day  the  boarder  stood  on  the  shore 
below  Dunnet  Landing.  There  she  met 
Mr.  Tilley,  one  of  the  oldest  fishermen 
in  the  village.  Mr.  Tilley  was  reserved 
toward  strangers,  but  he  had  at  last  ac 
cepted  the  boarder  as  a  friend  and  he 
invited  her  to  visit  him  that  afternoon. 
When  the  boarder  arrived,  he  was  knit 
ting  some  socks.  The  two  friends  sat  in 
the  kitchen  while  Mr.  Tilley  told  the 
boarder  about  his  wife.  She  had  died 
tight  years  before,  but  her  husband  had 


never  got  over  his  sorrow.  He  kept  the 
house  just  as  she  had  left  it.  Proudly 
he  showed  the  boarder  the  seldom-used 
parlor  and  Mrs.  Tilley 's  set  of  china.  She 
left  the  cottage  feeling  die  loneliness 
that  surrounded  the  old  fisherman. 

When  the  clear,  cool  autumn  came,  it 
was  time  for  the  boarder  to  leave.  Mrs. 
Todd  helped  her  pack  and  get  her  be 
longings  down  on  the  wharf  for  the 
steamer.  Mrs.  Todd  took  her  leave  of  the 
boarder  before  she  left  the  house.  From 
the  deck  of  the  steamer  the  boarder 
watched  Dunnet  Landing  fade  into  the 
distance.  She  recalled  a  day  of  the 
past  summer  when  William  had  come  to 
the  mainland.  He  was  going  trout  fishing 
in  an  inland  stream.  Self-consciously 
he  asked  the  boarder  to  go  with  him. 
They  caught  no  fish,  but  William  took 
her  afterward  to  see  Mrs.  Flight  and  her 
daughter  Esther.  The  boarder  stayed 
to  talk  to  Mrs.  Might,  while  William 
went  out  to  speak  to  Esther,  who  sup 
ported  her  aged  and  crippled  mother  by 
tending  sheep.  As  William  and  the 
boarder  left,  she  realized  that  William 
and  Esther  were  lovers. 

When  the  boarder  returned  to  Dunnet 
Landing  in  the  spring,  Mrs.  Todd  told 
her  that  Mrs.  Flight  had  recently  died 
and  that  Esther  and  William  were  to 
be  married  immediately.  Fie  was  to  come 
to  the  mainland  the  next  day  if  the 
weather  proved  good. 

Early  in  the  morning  Mrs.  Todd  was 
up  to  watch  for  a  sail  from  Green  Island. 
Finally  she  saw  it  approaching.  Then 
neighbors  began  to  drop  in  to  inquire 
why  William  was  coming  to  the  main 
land.  After  the  ceremony  William  and 
Esther  stopped  for  a  moment  at  Mrs. 
Todd's  house  before  returning  to  the 
island.  Mrs.  Todd  and  the  boarder  ac 
companied  the  pair  to  the  landing  to  see 
them  off.  The  older  woman  expressed 
no  emotion  at  the  leavetaking;  but  as 
she  and  the  boarder  returned  to  the 
house,  they  walked  holding  hands  all 
the  way. 


164 


THE  COURTSHIP  OF  MILES  STANDISH 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  (1807-1882) 

Type  of  'plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  off  lot:  1621 

Locale:  Massachusetts 

First  published:  1858 

Prinic'pal  characters: 

MILES  STANDISH,  a  soldier 

JOHN  ALDEN,  Miles  Standish's  friend 

PRISCILLA,  a  girl  loved  by  Standish  and  Alden 

Critique: 

The  ironic  situation  which  results 
when  Miles  Standish  sent  John  Alden  to 
plead  his  lover's  case  before  Priscilla  is 
tempered  by  the  genial,  placid  tone  of 
this  poem.  Simply  and  gracefully  writ 
ten,  it  has  long  been  a  favorite  among 
American  romantic  poems. 


The  Story: 

In  the  Pilgrim  colony  Miles  Standish 
and  John  Alden  shared  a  cabin.  The 
latter  was  a  young  scholar;  the  former 
was  a  gruff  captain  of  the  soldiers,  whose 
wife  had  died  after  the  landing  of  the 
Mayflower  the  previous  fall. 

One  night  Standish  dropped  his  copy 
of  Caesar's  Commentaries  and  turned  to 
John,  who  was  writing  a  letter  filled  with 
praise  £or  Priscilla,  one  of  the  young  girls 
of  the  colony,  Standish  spoke  of  the 
loneliness  and  weariness  of  his  own  life, 
and  of  the  fact  that  Priscilla,  too,  was 
living  alone,  her  parents  having  died 
during  the  winter.  Since  he  himself  was 
no  scholar  but  only  a  blunt  soldier,  he 
asked  John  to  take  to  Priscilla  his  pro 
posal  of  marriage. 

Taken  aback  by  the  request,  John 
could  only  stammer  that  it  would  be 
wiser  for  Standish  to  plead  his  own  case. 
When  the  captain  asked  the  favor  in  the 
name  of  friendship,  the  youth  could  not 
refuse. 

Priscilla  was  singing  the  Hundredth 
Psalm  as  John  approached  her  cabin, 
and  as  he  opened  the  door  he  saw  her 
industriously  spinning.  Filled  with  woe 
at  what  he  must  do,  he  nevertheless 
stepped  resolutely  inside.  Seizing  what 


seemed  the  opportune  moment,  John 
blurted  out  the  captain's  proposal.  Pris 
cilla  flatly  refused,  for  she  felt  that  Stan- 
dish  himself  should  have  come  if  she 
were  worth  the  wooing.  And  she  further 
confused  the  young  man  by  asking  him 
why  he  did  not  speak  for  himself. 

Caught  between  his  own  love  for  Pris 
cilla  and  his  respect  for  Standish,  John 
decided  to  go  back  to  England  when  the 
Mayflower  sailed  next  day. 

Miles  Standish  was  enraged  when  he 
heard  the  outcome  of  John's  wooing,  but 
the  captain's  tirade  was  interrupted  by 
news  of  Indians  on  the  warpath.  He 
strode  into  the  colony's  council  room  and 
there  saw  a  snakeskin  full  of  arrows,  the 
challenge  to  battle.  Pulling  out  the 
arrows,  he  filled  the  skin  with  bullets 
and  powder,  and  defiantly  handed  it 
back  to  the  Indian.  The  savage  quickly 
disappeared  into  the  forest.  Captain 
Standish,  his  eight  men  and  their  Indian 
guide  left  the  village  next  morning  be 
fore  anyone  else  was  awake. 

Alden  did  not  sail  that  day.  Among 
the  people  on  the  beach  he  saw  Priscilla, 
who  looked  so  dejected  and  appealing 
that  he  decided  to  stay  and  protect  her. 
They  walked  back  to  the  village  to 
gether,  and  John  described  the  reaction 
of  Miles  Standish  to  Priscilla's  question. 
He  also  confided  that  he  had  planned 
to  leave  the  colony,  but  had  remained 
in  order  to  look  after  her. 

Miles  Standish,  marching  northward 
along  the  coast,  brooded  over  his  defeat, 
but  finally  concluded  that  he  should  con 
fine  himself  to  soldiering  and  forget  woo- 


165 


ing-  When  he  returned  to  the  village 
from  his  attack  on  the  Indian  camp,  he 
brought  with  him  the  head  of  one  of 
the  savages  and  hung  it  on  the  roof  of 
the  fort.  Priscilla  was  glad  then  that  she 
had  not  accepted  Miles  Standish. 

That  autumn  the  village  was  at  peace 
with  the  Indians.  Captain  Standish  was 
out  scouring  the  countryside.  John  Alden 
had  built  his  own  house,  and  often 
walked  through  the  forest  to  see  Pris 
cilla.  One  afternoon  he  sat  holding  a 
skein  of  thread  as  she  wound  it.  As  tin 
sat  talking,  a  messenger  burst  in  wii 
the  news  that  Miles  Standish  had  been 
killed  by  a  poisoned  arrow  and  his  men 
cut  off  in  ambush. 


At  last  John  felt  free  to  make  his  own 
declaration.  He  and  Priscilla  were  mar 
ried  in  the  village  church,  before  all  the 
congregation.  The  magistrate  had  read 
the  service  and  the  elder  had  finished  the 
blessing  when  an  unexpected  guest  ap 
peared  at  the  door.  It  was  Miles  Stan- 
dish — recovered  from  his  wound — and  he 
came  striding  in  like  a  ghost  from  the 
grave. 

Before  everyone,  the  gruff  soldier  and 
the  bridegroom  made  up  their  differ 
ences.  Then,  tenderly,  Standish  wished 
John  and  Priscilla  joy,  and  merrily  the 
wedding  procession  set  off  through  the 
forest  to  Priscilla's  new  home. 


COUSIN  BETTE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Honor^  de  Balzac  (1799-1850) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  ylot;  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Paris,  France 

first  published:  1847-1848 

Principal  characters: 
BARON  HULOT 
ADELINE,  liis  wife 
HORTENSE,  their  daughter 
VICTORIN,  their  son 
LISBETH,  Adeline's  Cousin  Bette 
M.  CREVEL,  Baron  Hulot's  enemy 
CELESTINE,  Victoria's  wife  and  daughter  of  M.  Crevel 
COLONEL  HULOT,  the  baron's  older  brother 
MADAME  MARNEFFE,  Baron  Hulot's  mistress 
M.  MARKEFPE,  Madame  Marneffe's  husband 
COUNT  STEINBOOK,  Hortense's  husband 
BARON  MONTES,  Mme.  Marneffe's  lover 

Critique: 

The  plot  of  this  book  is  involved;  many 
of  the  incidents  seem  contrived,  like  the 
death  of  the  newly-wed  Crevels  and  the 
rescue  of  Baron  Hulot  from  the  slums. 
Yet  the  forces  at  work  upon  the  characters 
give  the  book  a  unity.  The  characters, 
more  than  anything  else,  make  the  story 
what  it  is.  Balzac  is  a  master  at  depict 
ing  human  nature;  he  knows  what  motive 
force  lies  behind  good  and  evil  actions. 
Cousin  Bette,  the  author's  attempt  to 
present  a  person  consumed  by  hate,  will 


remain  in  the  reader's  mind  long  after 
he  has  forgotten  the  rest  of  the  book. 

The  Story: 

One  day  in  the  summer  of  1838,  M. 
Crevel  called  upon  Adeline,  the  Baroness 
Hulot,  with  an  offer  to  make  her  his 
mistress,  but  she  refused  his  offer.  M. 
Crevel  swore  that  he  would  be  revenged 
upon  Baron  Hulot,  who  had  stolen  his 
former  mistress.  Her  price  had  been 
the  baron's  fortune.  Now  he  was  unable 


166 


to  give  his  daughter  Hortense  a  satis 
factory  dowry.  Hortense  was  able  to 
forget  her  sorrow  over  her  own  marriage 
prospects  by  teasing  Lisbeth,  Adeline's 
cousin,  about  her  lover.  Lisbeth — Cous 
in  Bette — was  the  old  maid  of  the  fam 
ily;  her  lover  was  Count  Steinbock,  a 
sculptor  and  a  Polish  refugee.  The  at 
tachment  was  that  of  mother  and  son, 
but  Cousin  Bette  was  insanely  jealous. 

That  evening  the  baron's  older  brother, 
Colonel  Hulot,  and  his  son  and  daughter- 
in-law,  Victorin  and  C61estine,  came  for 
dinner.  Celestine,  the  daughter  of  M. 
Crevel,  did  not  share  her  father's  dis 
like  of  Baron  Hulot.  After  dinner  Baron 
Hulot  escorted  Cousin  Bette  home  and 
then  went  to  see  his  mistress.  He  found 
that  she  had  deserted  him  for  a  rich 
duke. 

The  next  morning  Baron  Hulot  laid 
plans  to  seduce  Madame  Marneffe,  the 
wife  of  a  clerk  who  worked  for  him.  In 
the  meantime,  Hortense  had  managed  to 
speak  to  Count  Steinbock  by  buying  one 
of  his  pieces  of  sculpture.  He  called 
shortly  afterward.  The  Hulots  felt  that 
the  penniless  young  nobleman  might  be 
a  good  match  for  Hortense,  but  the  plan 
was  kept  secret  from  Cousin  Bette. 

Baron  Hulot  arranged  to  meet  Mad 
ame  Marneffe  in  Cousin  Bette's  rooms. 
Later  he  moved  the  Marneffes  into  a 
more  lavish  establishment  in  the  Rue 
Varennes,  and  Cousin  Bette  went  there 
to  live.  Through  her  new  friend,  Cousin 
Bette  learned  of  the  coming  marriage 
between  Hortense  and  Count  Steinbock, 
for  Baron  Hulot  had  no  secrets  from 
Madame  Marneffe.  Cousin  Bette  had 
always  been  treated  in  the  family  as  the 
eccentric  old  maid  and  the  ugly  duckling; 
this  stealing  of  her  lover  was  the  final 
humiliation.  She  swore  vengeance  upon 
the  whole  Hulot  family,  and  Madame 
Marneffe  agreed  to  aid  her. 

As  her  first  step,  Cousin  Bette  intro 
duced  M.  Crevel  to  Madame  Marneffe, 
As  her  second  step,  she  had  Count  Stein 
bock  imprisoned  for  debt.  Then  she  told 
Hortense  that  he  had  returned  to  Poland. 


When  he  obtained  his  release  through 
some  friends,  the  wedding  plans  went 
ahead.  No  one  suspected  that  Cousin 
Bette  had  put  him  in  prison.  Meanwhile, 
Baron  Hulot  managed  to  raise  a  dowry 
for  Hortense  and  planned  to  keep  him 
self  solvent  by  sending  Adeline's  uncle  to 
Algiers.  There  Baron  Hulot  had  arranged 
to  steal  money  from  the  government 
through  dealings  with  the  Army  com 
missary;  the  uncle  was  to  be  an  innocent 
dupe. 

As  soon  as  Hortense  was  married, 
Baron  Hulot  moved  Adeline  to  a  more 
modest  house  so  that  he  could  spend 
more  money  upon  Madame  Marneffe. 
She  and  the  baron  conducted  their  affair 
quietly  so  as  to  attract  little  notice.  At 
the  same  time  she  was  also  intimate  with 
M.  Crevel.  M.  Marneffe  gave  little 
trouble  to  either  of  these  gentlemen  as 
long  as  they  kept  him  supplied  with 
money  and  a  good  position  at  the  war 
office. 

The  appearance  one  evening  of  Baron 
Montes,  an  old  lover  of  Madame  Mar 
neffe,  worried  Baron  Hulot  and  M.  Cre 
vel.  That  same  night  Madame  Marneffe 
denied  Baron  Hulot  access  to  her  apart 
ment.  M.  Crevel  revealed  to  Baron  Hulot 
how  he  also  had  been  the  lover  of  Mad 
ame  Marneffe.  Reconciled,  the  two  old 
rivals  went  next  day  to  Madame  Mar 
neffe' s  house.  She  agreed  to  consider 
M.  Crevel's  offer  to  marry  her  after  her 
husband  died,  but  she  told  Baron  Hulot 
that  he  need  not  hope  to  be  her  lover 
again.  After  the  two  old  men  had  left, 
she  asked  Cousin  Bette  to  try  to  get 
Count  Steinbock  to  come  to  her.  She 
had  always  wanted  to  make  a  conquest  of 
him;  his  downfall  would  also  be  Cousin 
Betters  revenge  upon  Hortense. 

Count  Steinbock  was  in  need  of 
money,  and  Cousin  Bette  slyly  suggested 
borrowing  from  Madame  Marneffe.  The 
count  went  to  see  her  secretly.  Madame 
Marneffe's  conquest  was  complete. 

When  Madame  Marneffe  found  her 
self  pregnant,  she  told  each  lover  sepa 
rately  that  he  was  the  father.  Hortense 


167 


believed  that  Count  Steinbock  was  the 
father  and  deserted  him  to  return  to  her 
mother.  Baron  Hulot  found  it  necessary 
to  visit  Adeline  in  order  to  see  Hortense 
and  ask  her  to  return  to  her  husband. 
Hortense  refused  and  made  a  violent 
scene.  Cousin  Bette  arrived  to  take  the 
side  of  Hortense.  She  said  that  she  could 
no  longer  stay  with  Madame  Marneffe; 
she  would  keep  house  for  old  Colonel 
Hulot.  It  was  her  plan  to  marry  the  old 
man  and  gain  control  of  the  only  money 
left  in  the  family. 

The  baron's  affairs  were  growing  des 
perate.  Adeline's  uncle  in  Algiers  wrote 
that  the  plot  to  steal  from  the  govern 
ment  was  discovered;  money  was  needed 
to  stop  an  investigation.  Madame  Mar 
neffe  was  insisting  upon  money  for  her 
child  and  a  better  position  for  her  hus 
band.  One  night  M.  Marneffe  brought 
the  police  to  the  lovers*  room  and  said 
that  he  would  prosecute  unless  he  were 
promoted  at  the  war  office.  Madame 
Marneffe  had  led  Baron  Hulot  into  a 
trap;  her  husband  got  his  appointment. 

At  last,  the  Algerian  scandal  broke  and 
the  uncle  killed  himself.  When  Colonel 
Hulot  learned  of  his  brother's  deed,  he 
was  crushed  by  this  blow  to  the  family 
honor.  He  paid  the  necessary  money 
from  his  own  savings  and  died  only  a  few 
days  later  from  wounded  pride.  Cousin 
Bette  had  her  revenge.  Baron  Hulot  was 
a  ruined  man. 

In  disgrace,  he  sought  shelter  with  the 
mistress  who  had  deserted  him  for  the 
duke.  She  provided  him  with  some  cap 


ital  and  a  pretty  seamstress  to  keep  him 
company.  He  lived  in  the  slums  under 
an  assumed  name.  Through  the  efforts 
of  Victorin,  now  a  successful  lawyer,  the 
family  slowly  regained  its  wealth.  Mean 
while  Madame  Marneffe's  child  was  still 
born,  and  her  husband  died.  Victorin 
was  determined  to  keep  his  father-in-law 
from  throwing  himself  away  on  the 
wretched  woman.  He  hired  an  under 
world  character  to  inform  Baron  Montes 
that  Madame  Marneffe  was  having  an 
affair  with  Count  Steinbock  and  was 
to  marry  M.  Crevel.  Baron  Montes  took 
his  revenge  upon  Madame  Marneffe  and 
M.  Crevel  by  infecting  them  with  a 
fatal  tropical  disease;  they  both  died  soon 
after  their  marriage. 

Adeline  began  to  do  charity  work  in 
the  slums.  On  one  of  her  visits  she  dis 
covered  her  husband  and  brought  him 
back  to  live  with  his  family.  Cousin 
Bette  meanwhile  had  taken  to  her  bed 
with  consumption;  she  died  soon  after 
Baron  Hulot's  return. 

Baron  Hulot  became  the  model  hus 
band.  Then  one  day  his  wife  hired 
Agathe,  a  peasant  girl,  as  a  cook.  A  few 
evenings  later  Adeline  discovered  her 
husband  in  the  servants'  quarters.  Three 
days  later  Adeline  died.  Shortly  after  his 
wife's  funeral  Baron  Hulot  left  Paris,  and 
as  soon  as  possible  he  and  Agathe  were 
married.  This  impropriety  caused  Vic 
torin  to  remark  that  parents  can  hinder 
the  marriages  of  their  children;  but  chil 
dren  can  do  nothing  about  the  actions  of 
their  parents  in  their  second  childhood. 


THE  CREAM  OF  THE  JEST 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Branch  Cabell  (1879-1958) 

Type  of  plot:  Satiric  fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

locale:  Virginia 

First  published:  1917 

Principal  characters: 

FELIX  KENNASTON,  an  author 

KATHLEEN  KENNASTON,  his  wife 

RICHARD  HABROWBY,  his  neighbor 

ETTARRJS,  a  woman  in  his  novel  and  his  dreams 


168 


Critique: 

The  Cream  of  the  Jest  is  fiction  com 
pounded  of  philosophic  speculation,  a 
fragile  plot,  and  much  literary  allusion, 
often  somewhat  obscure.  The  novel  is 
typical  of  that  period  of  CabelFs  career 
when  his  books  maintained  a  skeptical 
tone  and  presented  over  and  over  again 
the  values  of  chivalric  love.  The  story 
represents  Cabell's  effort  to  escape  the 
realities  of  naturalism  through  the  specu 
lations  of  romanticism. 

The  Story: 

Felix  Kennaston  told  his  neighbor, 
Richard  Harrowby,  about  his  dreams.  In 
writing  his  novels,  Kennaston  had  created 
a  world  much  different  from  the  ordinary 
world  of  the  Virginia  countryside,  and 
his  dreams  contained  similar  elements  of 
the  romantic  and  the  marvelous.  To 
Harrowby  the  whole  thing  seemed  in 
decent,  for  Harrowby  was  a  conventional, 
unimaginative  gentleman  farmer,  who 
had  made  his  money  in  soaps  and  beauty 
aids. 

Kennaston  was  writing  a  novel  called 
The  Audit  at  Storisende,  and  in  his 
dreams  he  identified  himself  with  a  char 
acter  named  Horvendile,  who  was  look 
ing  for  the  elusive  and  highly  improb 
able  creature,  the  ideal  woman.  In  Et- 
tarre,  his  heroine,  Kennaston  felt  he  had 
found  her.  Much  of  his  plot  centered 
about  a  broken  round  medallion  bearing 
mysterious  symbols,  a  medallion  he  called 
the  sigil  of  Scoteia. 

One  afternoon  Kennaston,  walking  in 
his  garden,  stooped  to  pick  up  a  little 
piece  of  shining  metal,  apparently  a 
broken  half  of  a  small  disc,  and  casually 
dropped  it  into  his  pocket.  Later,  while 
looking  over  some  books  in  his  library, 
he  thought  of  the  little  piece  of  metal 
in  his  pocket.  He  brought  it  out  and 
laid  it  where  the  light  of  the  lamp  fell 
upon  it.  At  once  he  seemed  to  be  talk 
ing  with  Ettarre,  who  explained  that  he 
had  picked  up  half  the  broken  sigil  of 


Scoteia  and  that  it  had  brought  him  back 
to  her  imagined  world  of  romance  and 
dream.  As  he  reached  out  to  touch  her, 
she  disappeared,  and  Kennaston  found 
himself  sitting  again  in  his  library. 

Kennaston's  novel  was  published  as 
The  Men  Who  Loved  Alison,  a  title 
which  his  publisher  assured  him  would 
bring  better  sales.  When  several  readers, 
shocked  by  what  they  called  indecency  in 
the  novel,  wrote  indignant  letters  to  the 
newspapers,  the  book  became  a  best 
seller.  Mrs.  Kennaston,  who  made  it  a 
point  never  to  read  her  husband's  books, 
enjoyed  his  success.  She  treated  Ken 
naston  with  polite  boredom. 

Strange  things  happened  to  Kennaston. 
One  day  at  a  luncheon  a  famous  man 
took  him  aside  and  asked  him  whether 
he  bred  white  pigeons.  This  question 
puzzled  Kennaston,  as  did  the  little  mir 
ror  the  man  held  in  his  hand.  At  another 
time  he  saw  an  ugly  old  woman  who  told 
him  that  there  was  no  price  of  admission 
to  her  world  but  that  one  paid  on  leaving. 
Several  times  he  talked  to  Ettarre  in  his 
dreams. 

One  day  Kennaston  received  an  in 
vitation  to  call  on  a  prelate  who  had 
come  to  Linchfield  to  attend  the  bishop's 
funeral.  The  prelate  praised  Kennaston's 
book.  He  spoke  of  pigeons,  too,  and  men 
tioned  how  useful  he  found  his  little 
mirror.  Kennaston  was  frankly  puzzled. 
He  returned  to  his  dreamland,  where, 
as  Horvendile,  he  experienced  almost 
every  passion  and  emotion  known  to  man. 
And  always,  as  he  reached  out  to  touch 
Ettarre,  the  dream  would  corne  to  an  end. 
Kennaston  read  widely  in  philosophy 
and  the  classics,  and  he  began  to  ques 
tion  the  reason  for  his  own  existence.  He 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  present 
moment  was  all  that  was  real — that  the 
past  and  future  had  no  part  in  the  reality 
of  today.  As  a  man  of  letters,  he  became 
interested  in  the  artistry  of  creation  and 
decided  that  God  must  have  been  happy 


THE  CREAM  OF  THE  JEST  by  James  Branch  Catall.   By  permission  of  the  author.   Copyright,  1917,  by  James 
Branch  Cabell.    Renewed,   1944,  by  James  Branch  Cabell. 


169 


over  his  creation  of  the  character  of 
Christ.  Probably  because  of  his  interest 
in  God  as  an  artist,  Kennaston  was  con 
firmed  in  the  country  church  nearby. 
This  act  on  his  part  increased  his  stature 
among  the  people  of  the  neighborhood. 
They  even  elected  him  to  the  vestry. 

One  day  Kennaston  went  to  the  station 
to  meet  his  wife's  train.  While  he  was 
waiting,  a  woman  with  whom  he  had 
once  been  in  love  came  up  to  him  and 
started  to  talk.  She  was  about  to  go 
back  to  her  home  in  St.  Louis.  They 
recalled  the  past  and,  as  she  left  him  to 
get  on  her  train,  he  had  a  moment  in 
which  he  identified  her  with  Ettarre. 
But  his  remark  to  his  wife  about  her  was 
that  she  was  not  keeping  her  good  looks 
as  she  grew  older.  What  haunted  him, 
however,  was  that  the  woman  had  drawn 
from  her  purse  a  medallion  resembling 
the  sigil  of  Scoteia. 

Kennaston — as  Horvendile — dreamed 
of  being  in  many  parts  of  the  world  in 
many  eras;  and  one  of  the  mysteries  was 
that  he  was  always  a  young  man  of 
about  twenty-five.  He  was  at  Queen 
Elizabeth's  court;  he  was  at  Whitehall 
with  Cromwell;  he  was  at  the  French 


court  of  Louis  Quartorze;  he  was  among 
the  aristocrats  about  to  be  beheaded 
during  the  French  Revolution.  And  al 
ways  beside  him  was  Ettarre,  whose  con 
tact  would  bring  his  dreams  to  an  end. 
One  afternoon  he  found,  quite  by  ac 
cident,  the  missing  piece  of  the  sigil  of 
Scoteia  in  his  wife's  bathroom.  After 
securing  the  other  piece,  he  put  them  to 
gether  on  his  wife's  dressing  table  and 
began  speculating  about  the  relation  of 
his  wife  to  Ettarre.  He  hoped  that  her 
discovery  of  the  entire  sigil  would  ex 
press  to  her  what  he  had  never  been  able 
to  convey.  But  she  paid  no  attention 
to  it  and  their  life  continued  its  banal 
rounds.  Eleven  months  later  Mrs.  Ken 
naston  died  in  her  sleep  without  ever 
having  discussed  the  sigil  or  its  signifi 
cance  with  her  husband.  After  her  death 
he  showed  Harrowby  the  two  halves  of 
the  sigil,  by  which  he  had  almost  made 
his  dreams  come  true.  Far  from  being 
a  magic  emblem,  the  pieces  proved  to  be 
merely  the  broken  top  of  a  cold  cream 
jar.  It  was  the  final  disillusionment  for 
Kennaston,  compelled  at  last  to  give  up 
romantic  youthful  dreaming  for  the 
realities  of  middle  age. 


CRIME  AND  PUNISHMENT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski  (1821-1881) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  ^lot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1866 

Principal  characters: 

RASKOLNIKOV,  a  Russian  student 
DOUNIA,  his  sister 
SONIA,  a  prostitute 
PORFIRY,  inspector  of  police 
RAZUMIHIN,  Raskolnikov's  friend 


Critique: 

The  theme  of  this  novel  is  that  man 
pays  by  suffering  for  his  crimes  against 
men.  Dostoevski's  Raskolnikov  is  a 
tremendous  study  of  a  sensitive  intel 
lectual  driven  by  poverty  to  believe  that 
he  was  exempt  from  moral  law.  Other 


features  of  Crime  and  Punishment  are 
the  use  of  psychology  in  police  investi 
gation,  the  author's  sympathy  for  the 
downtrodden  as  expressed  in  the  person 
of  Sonia,  a  young  prostitute,  and  realistic 
descriptions  of  slum  life  in  a  large  Russian 
city  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


170 


The  Story: 

Rodion  Raskolnikov,  an  impoverished 
student  in  St.  Petersburg,  dreamed  of 
committing  the  perfect  crime.  With  an 
ax  he  murdered  an  old  widowed  pawn 
broker  and  her  stepsister,  and  stole  some 
jewelry  from  their  flat. 

Back  in  his  room,  Raskolnikov  received 
a  summons  from  the  police.  Weak  from 
hunger  and  illness,  he  prepared  to  make 
a  full  confession.  But  the  police  had 
called  merely  to  ask  him  to  pay  a  debt 
his  landlady  had  reported  to  them.  When 
he  discovered  what  they  wanted,  he  col 
lapsed  from  relief.  Upon  being  revived, 
he  was  questioned;  his  answers  provoked 
suspicion. 

Raskolnikov  hid  the  jewelry  under  a 
rock  in  a  courtyard.  He  returned  to  his 
room,  where  he  remained  for  four  days  in 
a  high  fever.  When  he  recovered,  he 
learned  that  the  authorities  had  visited 
him  while  he  was  delirious  and  that  he 
had  said  things  during  his  fever  which 
tended  to  cast  further  suspicion  on  him. 

Luzhin,  betrothed  to  Raskolnikov's  sis 
ter  Dounia,  came  to  St.  Petersburg  from 
the  provinces  to  prepare  for  the  wedding. 
Raskolnikov  resented  Luzhin  because  he 
knew  his  sister  was  marrying  to  provide 
money  for  her  destitute  brother.  Luzhin 
visited  the  convalescent  and  left  in  a 
rage  when  the  young  man  made  no  at 
tempt  to  hide  his  dislike  for  him. 

A  sudden  calm  came  upon  the  young 
murderer;  he  went  out  and  read  me  ac 
counts  o£  the  murders  in  the  papers. 
While  he  was  reading,  a  detective  joined 
him.  The  student,  in  a  high  pitch  of 
excitement  caused  by  his  crime  and  by 
his  sickness,  talked  too  much,  revealing 
to  the  detective  that  he  might  well  be  the 
murderer.  However,  no  evidence  could 
be  found  that  would  throw  direct  sus 
picion  on  him. 

Later,  witnessing  a  suicide  attempt  in 
the  slums  of  St.  Petersburg,  Raskolnikov 
decided  to  turn  himself  over  to  the  police; 
but  he  was  deterred  when  his  friend,  an 
ex-clerk  named  Marmeladov,  was  struck 
by  a  carriage  and  killed.  Raskolnikov 


gave  the  widow  a  small  amount  of  money 
he  had  received  from  his  mother.  Later 
he  attended  a  party  given  by  some  of  his 
friends  and  discovered  that  they,  too,  sus' 
pected  him  of  complicity  in  the  murdef 
of  the  two  women. 

Back  in  his  room,  Raskolnikov  found 
his  mother  and  his  sister,  who  were  await 
ing  his  return.  Unnerved  at  their  ap 
pearance  and  not  wanting  them  to  be 
near  him,  he  placed  them  in  the  care  of 
his  friend,  Razumihin,  who,  upon  meet 
ing  Dounia,  was  immediately  attracted 
to  her. 

In  an  interview  with  Porfiry,  the  chief 
of  the  murder  investigation,  Raskolnikov 
was  mentally  tortured  by  questions  and 
ironic  statements  until  he  was  ready  to 
believe  that  he  had  been  all  but  appre 
hended  for  the  double  crime.  Partly  in 
his  own  defense,  he  expounded  his  theory 
that  any  means  justified  the  ends  of  a 
man  of  genius,  and  that  sometimes  he 
believed  himself  a  man  of  genius. 

Raskolnikov  proved  to  his  mother  and 
Dounia  that  Luzhin  was  a  pompous  fool, 
and  the  angry  suitor  was  dismissed.  Ra 
zumihin  had  by  that  time  replaced  Lu 
zhin  in  the  girl's  affections. 

Meanwhile  Svidrigailov,  who  had 
caused  Dounia  great  suffering  while  she 
had  been  in  his  employ  as  a  governess, 
arrived  in  St.  Petersburg.  His  wife  had 
died  and  he  had  followed  Dounia,  as  he 
explained,  to  atone  for  his  sins  against 
her  by  settling  upon  her  a  large  amount 
of  money. 

Razumihin  received  money  from  a  rich 
uncle  and  went  into  the  publishing  busi 
ness  with  Dounia.  They  asked  Raskol 
nikov  to  join  them  in  the  venture,  but 
the  student,  whose  mind  and  heart  were 
full  of  turmoil,  declined;  he  said  goodbye 
to  his  friend  and  to  his  mother  and  sister 
and  asked  them  not  to  try  to  see  him 
again. 

He  went  to  Sonia,  the  prostitute 
daughter  of  the  dead  Marmeladov.  They 
read  Sonia's  Bible  together,  Raskolnikov 
deeply  impressed  by  the  wretched  girl's 


171 


faith.  He  felt  a  great  sympathy  for 
Sonia  and  promised  to  tell  her  who  had 
committed  the  murders  of  the  old  pawn 
broker  and  stepsister.  Svidrigailov,  who 
rented  the  room  next  to  Sonia's,  over 
heard  the  conversation;  he  anticipated 
Raskolnikov's  disclosure  with  interest. 

Tortured  in  his  own  mind,  Raskol- 
aikov  went  to  the  police  station,  where 
Porfiry  played  another  game  of  cat-and- 
mouse  with  him.  His  conscience  and  his 
imagined  insecurity  had  resulted  in  im 
mense  suffering  and  torment  of  mind  for 
Raskolnikov, 

At  a  banquet  given  by  Marmeladov's 
widow  for  the  friends  of  her  late  hus 
band,  Luzhin  accused  Sonia  of  stealing 
money  from  his  room.  He  had  observed 
Raskolnikov's  interest  in  Sonia  and  he 
wished  to  hurt  the  student  for  having 
spoken  against  him  to  Dounia.  The  girl 
was  saved  by  the  report  of  a  neighbor 
who  had  seen  Luzhin  slipping  money 
into  Sonia's  pocket.  Later,  in  Sonia's 
room,  Raskolnikov  confessed  his  crime 
and  admitted  that  in  killing  the  two 
women  he  had  actually  destroyed  him 
self. 

Svidrigailov,  having  overheard  the  con 
fession,  disclosed  his  knowledge  to  Ras 
kolnikov.  Believing  that  Porfiry  sus 
pected  him  of  the  murder  and  realizing 
that  Svidrigailov  knew  the  truth,  Raskol 
nikov  found  life  unbearable.  Then  Por 


firy  told  Raskolnikov  outright  that  he  was 
the  murderer,  at  the  same  time  promising 
Raskolnikov  that  a  plea  of  temporary  in 
sanity  would  be  placed  in  his  behalf  and 
his  sentence  would  be  mitigated  if  he 
confessed.  Raskolnikov  delayed  his  con 
fession. 

Svidrigailov,  having  informed  Dounia 
of  the  truth  concerning  her  brother, 
offered  to  save  the  student  if  Dounia 
would  consent  to  be  his  wife.  He  made 
this  offer  to  her  in  his  room,  which  he 
had  locked  after  tricking  her  into  the 
meeting.  He  released  her  when  she  at 
tempted  unsuccessfully  to  shoot  him  with 
a  pistol  she  had  brought  with  her.  Con 
vinced  at  last  that  Dounia  would  have 
none  of  him,  Svidrigailov  gave  her  a 
large  sum  of  money  and  ended  his  life 
with  a  pistol. 

Raskolnikov,  after  being  reassured  by 
his  mother  and  his  sister  of  their  love 
for  him,  and  by  Sonia  of  her  undying 
devotion,  turned  himself  over  to  the 
police.  He  was  tried  and  sentenced  to 
serve  eight  years  in  Siberia.  Dounia  and 
Razumihin,  now  successful  publishers, 
were  married,  Sonia  followed  Raskol 
nikov  to  Siberia,  where  she  stayed  in  a 
village  near  the  prison  camp.  In  her 
goodness  to  Raskolnikov  and  to  the  other 
prisoners,  she  came  to  be  known  as  Little 
Mother  Sonia.  With  her  help,  Raskol 
nikov  began  his  regeneration. 


THE  CRISIS 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Winston  Churchill  (1871-1947) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Civil  War  period 

Locale:  Missouri  and  Virginia 

First  published:  1901 

Principal  characters: 

STEPHEN  BIUCE,  a  young  lawyer  from  Boston 
VIRGINIA  CARVEL,  his  sweetheart 
CLARENCE  COLFAX,  Brice's  rival  for  Virginia  Carvel 
JUDGE  WHIPPLE,  Brice's  employer  and  iriend 
COLONEL  CARVEL,  Virginia's  father 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
Critique: 

The  American-born  Winston  Churchill      Louis  as  the  setting  for  this  novel  First, 
had    several    reasons    for    choosing    St.      it  was  his  aim  to  show  the  remarkable 

172 


contrasts  in  the  lives  of  Sherman,  Grant, 
and  Lincoln,  all  of  whom  came  from  St. 
Louis  and  the  neighboring  state  of  Il 
linois.  Secondly,  two  streams  of  emigra 
tion,  from  the  North  and  from  the  South, 
met  at  St.  Louis,  with  the  result  that 
Northern  and  Southern  culture  could  be 
brought  into  focus  and  examined  in  de 
tail.  The  Crisis  remains  one  of  the  best 
novels  of  its  type.  The  author  brought 
in  the  historical  characters,  including  the 
almost  legendary  Lincoln,  in  a  natural 
way  not  found  in  many  later  efforts. 

The  Story: 

In  1858  Stephen  Brice  emigrated  from 
Boston  to  St.  Louis  with  his  widowed 
mother.  He  went  to  accept  the  offer  of 
Judge  Whipple,  his  father's  friend,  who 
had  promised  Stephen  an  opportunity 
to  enter  his  law  firm.  Being  a  personable 
young  man,  Stephen  Brice  found  favor 
among  the  people  of  St.  Louis,  including 
Colonel  Carvel,  and  the  colonel's  daugh 
ter,  Virginia.  Stephen  promptly  fell  in 
love  with  Virginia  Carvel.  He  was  not 
encouraged  by  die  girl  at  first  because 
he  was  a  New  Englander. 

One  day  Judge  Whipple  sent  Stephen 
to  Springfield,  Illinois,  with  a  message 
for  the  man  who  was  running  for  sena 
tor  against  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  When 
Stephen  Brice  finally  found  his  man, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  he  was  in  time  to  hear 
the  famous  Freeport  debate  between  Lin 
coln  and  Douglas.  Lincoln  made  a  deep 
impression  on  Stephen,  who  went  back 
to  St.  Louis  a  confirmed  Republican,  as 
Judge  Whipple  had  hoped.  Feeling  that 
Stephen  would  some  day  be  a  great 
politician,  the  judge  had  sent  him  to 
Lincoln  to  catch  some  o£  Lincoln's 
idealism  and  practical  politics. 

Convinced  by  Lincoln  that  no  country 
could  exist  half-slave  and  half-free, 
Stephen  Brice  became  active  in  Missouri 
politics  on  behalf  of  the  Republicans; 
a  dangerous  course  to  take  in  St.  Louis 
because  of  the  many  Southerners  living 


in  the  city.  His  anti-slavery  views  soon 
alienated  Stephen  from  the  girl  he  wanted 
to  marry,  who  then  promised  to  marry 
Stephen's  rival,  her  cousin  and  fellow 
Southerner,  Clarence  Colfax. 

Lincoln  lost  the  election  for  the  senate, 
but  in  doing  so  won  for  himself  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States  in  1860. 
During  both  campaigns,  Stephen  Brice 
worked  for  the  Republican  party.  An 
able  orator,  he  became  known  as  a  rising 
young  lawyer  of  exceptional  abilities. 

The  guns  at  Fort  Sumter  reverberated 
loudly  in  St.  Louis  in  1861.  The  city 
was  divided  into  two  factions,  pro-slavery 
Southerners  and  anti-slavery  Northerners. 
Friends  of  long  standing  no  longer  spoke 
to  each  other  and  members  of  the  same 
family  found  themselves  at  odds  over  the 
question  of  which  side  Missouri  should 
favor,  the  Union  or  the  Confederacy. 
It  was  a  trying  time  for  Stephen  Brice. 
Because  of  his  widowed  mother  and  his 
political  activities,  he  was  unable  to  join 
the  army.  Judge  Whipple  convinced  him 
that,  for  the  time  being,  he  could  do 
more  for  his  country  as  a  civilian.  It 
was  hard  for  the  young  man  to  believe 
the  judge  when  all  of  Stephen's  friends 
and  acquaintances  were  going  about  the 
city  in  uniform. 

When  war  was  declared,  Missouri  had 
a  little  campaign  of  its  own,  for  the  state 
militia  under  the  direction  of  the  governor 
attempted  to  seize  the  state.  This  action 
was  defeated  by  the  prompt  action  of 
Federal  forces  in  capturing  the  militia 
training  camp  without  firing  a  shot.  A 
spectator  at  that  minor  engagement, 
Stephen  made  the  acquaintance  of  an 
ex-army  officer  named  Sherman  and  of 
another  shambling  man  who  claimed  he 
should  be  given  a  regiment.  The  young 
officers  laughed  at  him;  his  name  was 
Ulysses  S.  Grant. 

Among  those  captured  when  Federal 
troops  overcame  the  Missouri  militia 
was  Clarence  Colfax,  Stephen's  rival. 
Clarence  refused  to  give  his  oath  and 


THE  CRISIS  by  Winston  Churchill.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The  Macmillan  Co.    Copyright,  1901,  by 
The  Macmillan  Co.   Renewed.  1929.  by  Winston  Churchill. 


173 


go  on  parole,  and  he  soon  escaped  from 
prison  and  disappeared  into  the  South. 
Virginia  Carvel  thought  him  more  of  a 
hero  than  ever. 

Because  communications  with  the 
South  and  the  Southwest  had  been  cut 
by  the  Union  armies,  Colonel  Carvel 
went  bankrupt.  He  and  his  daughter 
aided  Southern  sympathizers  attempting 
to  join  the  Confederate  Army.  At  last 
the  colonel  himself  felt  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  leave  St.  Louis  and  take  an  active 
part  in  the  hostilities. 

The  war  continued,  putting  the  lie  to 
those  optimists  who  had  prophesied  that 
hostilities  would  end  in  a  few  months. 
By  the  time  of  the  battle  at  Vicksburg, 
Stephen  had  become  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Union  Army.  He  distinguished  himself 
in  that  battle  and  came  once  more  to  the 
attention  of  Sherman.  When  the  city 
fell,  Stephen  found  Clarence  Colfax, 
now  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  Con 
federate  Army.  The  Southerner  had  re 
ceived  a  severe  wound.  To  save 
Clarence's  life,  Stephen  arranged  for  him 
to  be  sent  to  St,  Louis  on  a  hospital  ship. 
Stephen  knew  that  he  was  probably  send 
ing  his  rival  back  to  marry  Virginia  Car 
vel.  Young  Colfax  realized  what  Stephen 
had  done,  and  told  Virginia  as  much 
while  he  was  convalescing  in  St,  Louis. 
The  girl  vowed  that  she  would  never 
marry  a  Yankee,  even  if  Colfax  were 
killed. 

Judge  Whipple  had  fallen  ill,  and  he 
was  nursed  by  Virginia  and  by  Stephen's 
mother.  While  the  judge  was  sinking 
fast,  Colonel  Carvel  appeared.  At  the 
risk  of  his  life,  he  had  come  through 
the  lines  in  civilian  clothes  to  see  his 
daughter  and  his  old  friend.  There  was 
a  strange  meeting  at  Judge  Whipple's 
deathbed.  Clarence  Colfax,  Colonel  Car 
vel,  and  Stephen  Brice  were  all  there. 
They  all  risked  their  lives,  for  the  Con 
federates  could  have  been  arrested  as 
spies,  and  Stephen,  because  he  was  with 
them,  could  have  been  convicted  of 
treason.  That  night  Virginia  realized 
that  she  was  in  love  with  Stephen. 


After  the  judge's  death  Stephen  re 
turned  to  the  army.  Ordered  to  General 
Sherman's  staff,  he  accompanied  the  gen 
eral  on  the  march  through  Georgia.  At 
the  battle  of  Bentonville,  Stephen  again 
met  Clarence  Colfax,  who  had  been 
captured  by  Union  soldiers  while  in 
civilian  clothes  and  brought  to  Sherman's 
headquarters  as  a  spy.  Once  again 
Stephen  interceded  with  Sherman  and 
saved  the  Southerner's  life.  Soon  after 
ward  Stephen,  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
major,  was  sent  by  Sherman  with  some 
dispatches  to  General  Grant  at  City  Point, 
in  Virginia.  Stephen  recognized  Grant 
as  the  man  he  had  seen  at  die  engage 
ment  of  the  militia  camp  back  in  St. 
Louis. 

During  the  conference  with  the  gen 
eral  an  officer  appeared  to  summon 
Stephen  to  meet  another  old  acquaint 
ance,  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  president, 
like  Grant,  wished  to  hear  Stephen's 
first-hand  account  of  the  march  through 
Georgia  to  the  sea.  When  Stephen  asked 
for  a  pardon  for  Clarence  Colfax,  Lincoln 
said  he  would  consider  the  matter. 
Stephen  went  with  Lincoln  to  Richmond 
for  an  inspection  of  that  city  after  it 
had  fallen  to  Grant's  armies. 

Virginia  Carvel,  not  knowing  of 
Stephen's  intercession  on  behalf  of 
Clarence  Colfax,  traveled  to  Washington 
to  ask  Lincoln  for  a  pardon.  She  gained 
an  audience  with  the  president,  during 
which  she  met  Stephen  once  again.  Lin 
coln  granted  them  the  pardon,  saying 
that  with  the  war  soon  to  end  the  time 
to  show  clemency  had  come.  He  left 
Virginia  and  Stephen  alone  when  he 
hurried  to  keep  another  appointment. 
The  young  people  had  realized  during 
their  talk  with  Lincoln  that  there  was 
much  to  be  forgiven  and  forgotten  by 
both  sides  in  the  struggle  which  was 
drawing  to  a  close.  The  emotion  of  the 
moment  overcame  their  reticence  at  last, 
and  they  declared  their  love  for  each 
other.  They  were  married  the  following 
day. 

After  the  wedding  they  went  to  visit 


174 


Virginia's  ancestral  home  in  Annapolis. 
A  few  days  later  word  came  to  them  that 


Lincoln    had    died    from    an    assassin's 
bullet. 


THE  CROCK  OF  GOLD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Stephens  (1882-1950) 

Type  of  plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  'plot:  Any  time 

Locale:  Irish  countryside 

First -published:  1912 

Principal  characters; 
THE  PHILOSOPHER 
THE  THIN  WOMAN,  his  wife 
SEUMAS  AND  BRIGID,  two  children 
ANGUS  OG,  an  early  Irish  god 
CAITILIN,  his  mortal  wife 

Critique: 

This  tale  of  adventure  and  philosophi 
cal  discussions  is  a  modern  classic  in 
its  field.  Stephens  is  most  successful  in 
his  attempt  to  bring  old  Irish  legends  to 
life  in  the  pages  of  a  delightful  book. 
The  philosophic  discussions  abound  with 
a  delightful  humor,  and  the  seriousness 
of  some  of  the  observations  in  no  way 
lessens  the  magic  quality  of  the  story.  The 
tale  is  a  wandering  one,  containing  many 
elements  and  telling  many  stories.  All 
of  them  are  entertaining  to  read,  and 
most  of  diem  are  perfect  in  execution. 


The  Story: 

In  the  center  of  a  very  dark  pine  wood 
lived  the  two  old  Philosophers  and  their 
wives,  the  Grey  Woman  of  Dun  Gortin 
and  the  Thin  Woman  of  Inis  Magrath. 
One  couple  had  a  little  boy  named 
Seumas,  the  other  a  little  girl  named 
Brigid.  Both  were  born  on  die  same  day. 

When  the  children  were  ten  years 
old,  one  of  the  old  Philosophers  decided 
that  he  had  now  learned  all  he  was 
capable  of  learning.  This  conclusion  de 
pressed  him  so  much  that  he  decided  to 
die.  It  was  unfortunate,  as  he  pointed 
out,  that  at  the  time  he  was  in  the  best 
of  health.  However,  if  the  time  had  come 
for  him  to  die,  then  die  he  must.  He 
took  off  his  shoes  and  spun  around  in 


the  center  of  the  room  for  fifteen  minutes 
until  he  fell  over  dead.  So  grieved  was 
the  Grey  Woman  that  she,  too,  killed 
herself,  but  as  she  was  much  toughei 
than  her  husband  she  spun  for  forty- 
five  minutes  before  she  died.  The  Thin 
Woman  calmly  buried  the  two  bodies 
under  the  hearthstone. 

The  people  who  lived  on  the  edge 
of  the  pine  wood  often  came  to  see  the 
Thin  Woman's  husband  when  they 
needed  advice.  One  day  Meehawl  Mac- 
Murrachu  came  to  the  Philosopher  to 
learn  who  had  stolen  his  wife's  scrubbing 
board.  The  Philosopher,  after  much  ques 
tioning,  finally  decided  that  the  fairies 
had  taken  it.  He  advised  Meehawl  to 
go  to  a  certain  spot  and  steal  the  Crock 
of  Gold  that  the  Leprecauns  of  Gort  na 
Gloca  Mora  had  buried  there.  For  years 
the  Leprecauns  had  been  filling  their 
Crock  of  Gold  by  clipping  the  edges  of 
gold  coins  that  they  found  in  men's 
houses  at  night.  They  needed  the  gold 
to  ransom  any  of  the  little  people  caught 
by  human  beings. 

Losing  their  gold  to  Meehawl  made 
the  Leprecauns  angry,  and  they  tried  to 
make  Meehawl  bring  it  back  by  giving 
him  and  his  wife  all  kinds  of  aches 
and  pains.  Next  they  came  stealthily  and 
lured  Brigid  and  Seurnas  down  into  a 


THE  CROCK  OF  GOLD  by  James  Stephens.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The  Macmillan  Co.    Copyright, 
1912,  by  The  Macmillan  Co.    Renewed,   1940,  by  James  Stephens. 


175 


little  house  in  the  roots  of  a  tree,  but 
fear  of  the  Thin  Woman  was  on  them 
and  they  set  the  children  free.  Then 
they  sent  the  Great  God  Pan,  the  god 
of  the  beast  which  is  in  every  man,  to 
lure  away  Caitilin,  Meehawl's  daughter, 
with  the  music  of  his  pipes. 

When  Meehawl  came  with  his  tale  of 
sorrow,  the  Philosopher  sent  Brigid  and 
Seumas  to  tell  Pan  to  let  the  girl  go. 
But  Pan  refused  to  answer  their  ques 
tions.  When  they  told  the  Philosopher, 
he  became  so  angry  that  he  ordered  his 
wife  to  bake  him  some  cakes  to  eat  on 
the  way,  and  he  started  off  by  himself 
to  visit  Pan.  But  none  of  the  Philoso 
pher's  arguments  could  persuade  Pan  to 
free  Caitilin,  and  the  Philosopher  went 
off  to  get  the  help  of  Angus  Og  of  the 
old  gods. 

Angus  Og  himself  went  to  see  Pan 
and  the  girl  in  their  cave  and  forced  the 
girl  to  choose  between  them.  Caitilin, 
who  had  learned  the  true  meaning  of 
hunger  and  pain  with  Pan,  did  not  know 
how  to  choose,  Angus  Og  explained  to 
her  that  he  was  Divine  Inspiration,  and 
that  if  she  would  come  and  live  with 
him  and  be  his  wife,  he  would  show 
her  peace  and  happiness.  By  several 
signs  he  proved  that  he  was  the  favorite 
of  the  gods  of  the  earth  and  had  more 
power  than  Pan.  Caitilin  sensed  that 
true  happiness,  which  she  had  never 
known,  would  be  found  with  Angus  Og, 
and  that  only  hunger  could  be  found  with 
Pan.  So  she  chose  to  leave  Pan  and  go 
with  Angus  Og.  Thus  she  was  saved 
from  the  beast  in  man. 

The  Philosopher,  on  his  way  back 
home,  delivered  several  messages  from 
the  god.  One  message  he  gave  to  a  young 
boy,  a  promise  from  Angus  Og  that  in 
time  the  old  gods  would  return,  and 
that  before  they  did  the  boy  would  write 
a  beautiful  poem  in  their  praise.  Cheered 
by  the  news  that  the  gods  would  soon 
come  back,  the  Philosopher  finally  ar 
rived  home,  where  he  greeted  his  wife 
with  such  affection  that  she  decided  al 


ways  to  be  kind  to  him  and  never  again 
to  say  a  cross  word. 

Unknown  to  them,  the  Leprecauns 
had  informed  the  police  in  the  village 
that  there  were  two  bodies  buried  under 
the  hearthstone  in  the  Philosopher's 
house.  One  day  the  police  broke  into 
the  house,  found  the  bodies,  and  accused 
the  Philosopher  of  murder.  Meanwhile 
Brigid  and  Seumas  were  playing  in  the 
woods,  and  quite  by  chance  they  hap 
pened  to  dig  a  hole  and  find  the  Crock 
of  Gold  where  Meehawl  had  buried  it. 
They  gave  it  back  to  the  Leprecauns, 
but  the  return  of  the  gold  was  not  enough 
to  set  matters  right.  The  police  kept  the 
Philosopher  in  jail.  Then  the  Thin 
Woman  baked  some  cakes  and  set  out 
to  find  Angus  Og,  dragging  the  children 
behind  her  and  saying  the  worst  curses 
there  were  against  the  police.  The  first 
gods  she  met  were  the  Three  Absolutes, 
the  Most  Beautiful  Man,  the  Strongest 
Man,  and  the  Ugliest  Man.  By  her  wis 
dom  the  Thin  Woman  was  able  to 
answer  their  questions  and  save  herself 
and  the  children  from  their  frightful 
powers.  When  they  had  passed  these 
gods,  they  found  the  house  of  Angus 
Og.  He  was  waiting  for  someone  to  come 
and  ask  him  to  aid  the  Philosopher,  for 
it  is  impossible  for  the  gods  to  help  any 
one  unasked. 

Calling  all  the  old  gods  together, 
Angus  Og  and  his  wife  led  a  great  dance 
across  the  fields,  and  then  they  went 
down  into  the  town  with  all  the  gods 
following.  In  the  town  their  merry 
laughter  brought  happiness  to  all  who 
saw  them  except  the  most  evil  of  men. 
The  charges  against  the  Philosopher  were 
forgotten  and  he  was  free  to  go  back  to 
his  house  in  the  pine  woods  and  dis 
pense  wisdom  once  more.  Then  the  gods 
returned  singing  to  their  own  country 
to  await  the  birth  of  Caitilin's  and  Angus 
Og's  child  and  the  day  when  the  old 
Irish  gods  could  again  leave  their  hidden 
caves  and  hollows  and  rule  over  the  land 
with  laughter  and  song. 


176 


CROME  YELLOW 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Aldous  Huxley  ( 1 894-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  1920's 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1922 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  WIMBUSH,  owner  of  Crome 

ANNE  WIMBUSH,  his  niece 

DENIS  STONE,  a  young  poet 

MR.  SCROGAN,  a  man  or  reason 

GOMBAULD,  an  artist 

MARY  BRACEGIRDLE,  a  victim  of  repressions 

JENNY  MULLION,  a  keen-eyed  observer 

Critique: 

Aldous  Huxley  has  written  an  amusing 
satire  on  the  ill-fated  love  affair  of  a 
sensitive  young  poet.  Using  the  plot  as 
an  excuse  for  bringing  together  all  sorts 
of  interesting  and  unusual  facts  and 
stories,  he  holds  the  reader's  interest  by 
an  almost  continual  shift  of  emphasis. 
We  learn  of  each  of  the  guests  at  the 
house  party ,  their  faults,  interests,  and 
virtues.  As  in  all  of  Huxley's  novels, 
there  is  much  philosophical  discussion. 
No  particular  ideas  are  set  forth  as  cor 
rect,  but  a  precise  picture  of  the  early 
twenties  as  Huxley  saw  them  is  presented 
to  the  reader  with  wit  and  dexterity. 


The  Story: 

Denis  Stone,  a  shy  young  poet,  went 
to  a  house  party  at  Crome,  the  country 
home  of  Henry  Wimbush  and  his  wife. 
He  went  because  he  was  in  love  with 
Wimbush's  niece,  Anne.  Anne  looked 
down  on  Denis  because  he  was  four  years 
younger  than  she,  and  treated  him  with 
scorn  when  he  attempted  to  speak  of  love. 

Mr.  Wimbush  was  interested  in  little 
except  Crome  and  the  histories  of  the 
people  who  had  lived  in  the  old  house. 
Mrs.  Wimbush  was  a  woman  with  red 
hair,  probably  false,  and  an  interest  in 
astrology,  especially  since  she  had  recently 
won  a  bet  on  a  horse  with  her  star-given 
information.  Other  guests  at  the  party 


included  Gombauld,  an  artist  who  had 
been  invited  to  paint  Anne's  picture; 
the  diabolically  reasonable  Mr.  Scrogan; 
deaf  Jenny  Mullion;  and  Mary  Brace- 
girdle,  who  was  worried  about  her 
Freudian  dreams.  Denis  and  Anne  quar 
reled,  this  time  over  their  philosophies 
of  life.  Denis  tried  to  carry  all  the  cares 
of  the  world  on  his  back,  but  Anne 
thought  that  things  should  be  taken  for 
granted  as  they  came.  The  quarrel  cost 
Denis  his  first  opportunity  to  tell  Anne 
that  he  loved  her. 

Mary  Bracegirdle  discussed  with  Anne 
her  dreams  and  repressions.  Having  de 
cided  to  secure  either  Gombauld  or  Denis 
for  a  husband,  she  chose  the  wrong  times 
to  talk  with  both  men.  Gombauld  was 
busy  painting  when  Mary  came  up  to 
him.  Denis  was  smarting  with  jealousy 
over  the  time  Anne  and  Gombauld  spent 
together. 

Ivor  Lombard  arrived  for  the  party* 
Ivor,  a  painter  of  ghosts  and  spirits, 
turned  his  attentions  toward  repressed 
Mary,  and  secretly  visited  her  one  night 
in  the  tower.  He  went  away  without 
seeing  her  again. 

From  time  to  time  Mr.  Wimbush 
called  the  party  together  while  he  read 
stories  of  the  early  history  of  Crome. 
These  stories  were  from  a  history  at  which 
Mr.  Wimbush  had  worked  for  thirty 


CROME  YELLOW  by  Aldous  Huxl«y.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brother*. 
Copyright,  1922,  by  George  H.  Doran  &  Co. 

177 


jears.  Denis  often  wondered  if  he  would 
ever  get  a  chance  to  tell  Anne  that  he 
loved  her.  Walking  in  the  garden  after 
a  talk  with  Mr.  Scrogan,  whose  cold 
blooded  ideas  about  a  rationalized  world 
annoyed  him,  he  found  a  red  notebook 
in  which  Jenny  had  been  writing  for 
the  past  week.  In  it  he  found  a  collection 
of  sharply  satirical  cartoons  of  all  the 
people  at  the  house  party.  Jenny  had 
drawn  him  in  seven  attitudes  which 
showed  up  his  absurd  jealousy,  incom 
petence,  and  shyness.  The  cartoons 
deeply  wounded  his  vanity  and  shattered 
his  conception  of  himself. 

He  was  further  discouraged  by  the 
fact  that  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  do 
at  a  charity  fair  held  in  the  park  outside 
Crome  a  few  days  later.  Mr.  Scrogan 
made  a  terrifying  and  successful  fortune 
teller;  Jenny  played  the  drums;  Mr.  Wim- 
bush  ran  the  various  races;  and  Denis 
was  left  to  walk  aimlessly  through  the 
fair  as  an  official  with  nothing  to  do. 
Gombauld  made  sketches  of  the  people 


in  the  crowd,  and  Anne  stayed  by  his 
side. 

The  night  after  the  fair  Denis  over 
heard  part  of  a  conversation  between 
Gombauld  and  Anne.  Without  knowing 
that  Anne  had  repulsed  Gombauld,  for 
she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  accept 
Denis  if  he  ever  got  around  to  asking 
her,  Denis  spent  hours  of  torture  think 
ing  of  the  uselessness  of  his  life.  At 
last  he  decided  to  commit  suicide  by 
jumping  from  the  tower.  There  he  found 
Mary  grieving  because  she  had  received 
only  a  brisk  postcard  from  Ivor.  She 
convinced  Denis  that  both  their  lives 
were  ruined,  and  advised  him  to  flee 
from  Anne.  Convinced,  Denis  arranged 
a  fake  telegram  calling  him  back  to  Lon 
don  on  urgent  business.  When  it  ar 
rived,  Denis  realized  with  dismay  that 
Anne  was  miserable  to  see  him  go.  The 
telegram  was  the  one  decisive  action  of 
his  life.  Ironically,  it  separated  him  from 
Anne, 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CACHALOT 

Type  of  work:  Pseudo-factual  account 
Author:  Frank  T.  Bullen  (1857-1915) 
Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 
Locale:  At  sea 
First  published:  1898 

Principal  characters: 

FRANK  T.  BULLEN,  the  narrator 

MR.  JONES,  fourth  mate 

ABNER  GUSHING,  a  sailor 

MR.  COUNT,  first  mate 

CAPTAIN  SLOCUM,  of  the  Cachalot 

Critique: 

The  Cruise  of  the  Cachalot  was  for 
some  years  a  favorite  with  boys,  because 
of  its  dramatic  picture  of  life  aboard  an 
American  whaler  during  the  last  century. 
There  is  no  plot  and  almost  no  character 
analysis;  indeed  the  author  made  no  pre 
tense  at  writing  a  literary  work.  The 
chief  value  of  the  book  lies  in  its  full 
descriptions  of  whale  hunting.  As  natural 


history  the  book  must  seem  inexact  to 
a  modern  reader;  and  the  author's  un 
questioning  acquiescence  in  the  many 
needless  hardships  of  the  common  sailor 
is  indicative  of  an  uncritical  approach. 

The  Story: 

By  a  strange  combination  of  circum 
stances,  Frank  Bullen,  found  himself  in 


THE  CACHALOT  by  Frank  T'  Bullen« 


the  puUisken,  Apploton-Gmtury- 


178 


New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  looking  for 
a  ship.  He  was  only  eighteen  at  the 
time,  but  already  he  had  spent  six  years 
at  sea. 

He  was  strolling  down  a  street  in  New 
Bedford,  intent  on  a  possible  berth  aboard 
any  ship,  for  his  pockets  were  empty, 
when  he  was  hailed  by  a  scraggy  Yankee 
with  the  inevitable  tobacco  juice  drib 
bling  down  his  whiskers.  Asked  if  he 
wanted  to  ship  out,  he  accepted  eagerly 
without  knowing  the  type  of  craft  or  any 
of  the  conditions  of  employment.  He 
accompanied  the  sharp-featured  Yankee 
to  a  small,  dirty  hall  where  he  joined  a 
group  of  men  all  bound  for  the  same  ship. 
When  he  saw  die  motley  crowd  of  green 
horns,  he  felt  doubts  about  joining  the 
ship,  but  there  was  little  chance  to  back 
out.  After  hastily  signing  the  ship's 
articles,  he  went  with  his  mates  to  the 
docks. 

All  of  the  crew  were  carefully  kept 
together  until  they  were  safe  in  the 
small  boat.  On  the  trip  out  into  the 
harbor  Bullen  saw  with  many  misgivings 
the  Cachalot,  which  would  be  his  home 
for  three  years.  He  deeply  regretted 
signing  on,  for  the  Cachalot  was  a  whaler 
and  whalers  were  notoriously  the  worst 
ships  afloat.  The  Cachalot  did  not  com 
pare  favorably  with  the  trim  English 
whalers  with  which  he  was  more  familiar. 
She  was  small,  a  three  hundred  and  fifty 
tonner,  dirty  and  unpainted,  and  quite 
dumpy-looking  because  she  had  no  raised 
bow  or  poop. 

Once  on  board,  Bullen's  worst  fears 
were  realized.  The  officers  were  hard  and 
mean;  they  carried  lashes  with  them 
and  a  clumsy  or  slow  sailor  often  felt 
the  sting  of  a  lash  on  his  back.  The 
men  needed  a  great  deal  of  discipline, 
however,  to  do  a  halfway  decent  job. 
Of  the  twelve  white  crew  members,  Bul 
len  was  the  only  one  who  had  been  to 
sea  before.  The  hands  were  beaten  and 
cursed,  and  they  were  not  even  allowed 
to  rest  while  they  were  seasick. 

Along  with  tne  white  greenhorns, 
there  were  a  score  of  Portuguese,  all  ex 


perienced  whaling  men.  There  were  also 
four  mates  and  Captain  Slocum.  The 
captain  was  a  hard  driver  and  a  foul 
talker.  The  first  mate,  Mr.  Count,  was 
an  older  man,  the  only  decent  officer 
aboard.  The  fourth  mate,  Mr.  Jones, 
was  a  giant  Negro. 

Because  of  his  past  experience,  Bullen 
escaped  most  of  the  abuse  rneted  out  to 
his  fellows,  After  the  ship  had  been 
scrubbed  and  polished,  and  the  men  had 
been  licked  into  shape,  he  became  almost 
fond  of  the  ship.  That  feeling  was 
heightened  when  he  learned  the  Cachalot 
was,  in  spite  of  her  lines,  seaworthy. 

The  ship  was  heading  toward  the 
Azores,  to  the  delight  of  the  Portuguese. 
At  last  the  first  whale  was  sighted. 
Bullen  was  put  into  the  boat  of  the  first 
mate  and  told  to  mind  the  sail.  The 
boat  came  up  almost  on  top  of  the  whale 
before  Louis,  the  harpooner,  threw  his 
great  hook.  When  the  whale  sounded, 
the  hands  paid  out  over  two  hundred 
fathoms  of  line.  Then  the  whale  began 
to  rush  away  at  full  speed,  towing  the 
boat  in  his  wake.  When  he  slowed  down, 
the  boat  was  brought  close  enough  for 
the  harpooner  to  use  his  lance.  After 
a  final  flurry,  the  whale  died  and  was 
towed  alongside. 

After  some  months  at  sea,  Bullen  had 
an  unpleasant  picture  of  ship's  discipline. 
Abner  Gushing,  a  Yankee  sailor,  tried 
to  make  some  beer  in  the  forecastle. 
Needing  some  potatoes  for  his  brew,  he 
stole  a  few  from  the  officers'  galley.  One 
of  the  Portuguese  reported  the  theft  to 
the  captain  and,  as  punishment,  Abner 
was  strung  up  by  the  thumbs  and  lashed 
vigorously  by  one  of  the  harpooners  until 
he  fainted.  When  his  punishment  was 
over,  he  was  not  allowed  to  go  below, 
but  was  forced  to  turn  to  immediately. 

The  cruise  was  an  ill-fated  one  for 
Abner.  He  was  in  a  small  boat  when 
a  whale  unexpectedly  turned  and  bore 
down  on  the  frail  craft.  The  line  was 
hurriedly  pulled  in.  Then  the  whale 
sounded,  and  as  the  line  was  paid  out 
Abner's  neck  caught  in  a  loop.  The 


179 


weight  of  the  descending  whale  severed 
his  head  neatly. 

Mr.  Jones,  after  the  Cachalot  had  been 
at  sea  over  a  year,  became  greatly  de 
pressed..  He  recalled  a  fortune-teller's 
prediction  that  he  would  die  in  a  fight 
with  a  white  man  and  finally  decided 
that  Captain  Slocum  was  destined  to 
cause  his  death.  Deranged,  he  went 
on  the  bridge,  wrapped  his  huge  arms 
around  the  captain,  and  jumped  with 
him  into  the  sea.  When  Mr.  Count 
assumed  command,  he  promoted  Bullen 
to  Mr.  Jones'  vacant  post. 

Once  Bullen  nearly  met  his  end  when 
a  harpooned  cachalot  suddenly  turned 
sidewise  and  with  his  mighty  tail  smashed 
a  boat  to  bits.  His  foot  tangled  in  the 


wreckage,  Bullen  went  under.  When 
he  came  up,  nearly  exhausted,  he  caught 
blindly  at  a  rope  and  hauled  himself 
along  until  he  came  to  the  inert  whale. 
He  clambered  aboard  and  clung  to  the 
harpoon  in  the  side  of  the  dead  whale. 
But  the  whale  suddenly  came  to  life. 
When  the  other  boats  came  alongside 
after  the  whale  had  finally  died,  Bullen 
had  a  dislocated  thigh  and  severe  rope 
burns  on  each  arm. 

At  last,  after  three  years,  the  Cacha 
lot's  barrels  were  full,  and  the  ship 
headed  home  around  Cape  Horn.  In 
good  time  the  lookout  sighted  Cape 
Navesink.  With  every  flag  flying,  she 
came  into  New  Bedford.  The  cruise  of 
the  Cachalot  was  ended. 


CUPID  AND  PSYCHE 

Type  of  -work:  Classical  myth 

Source:  Folk  tradition 

Type  of  'plot:  Allegory  of  love 

Time  of  plot:  The  Golden  Age 

Locale:  Ancient  Greece 

First  transcribed:  Unknown 

Principal  characters: 

PSYCHE,  daughter  of  a  Greek  king 
CUPID,  the  god  of  love 
VENUS,  the  goddess  of  beauty 

Critique: 

Cupid  and  Psyche  is  the  simple  but 
moving  story  of  the  union  of  a  mortal, 
Psyche,  and  the  god  Cupid.  In  this 
ancient  mythological  tale  a  beautiful 
maiden  achieved  immortality  because  her 
love  and  faith  triumphed  over  mistrust. 

The  Story: 

Psyche,  daughter  of  a  Greek  king,  xvas 
as  beautiful  as  Venus  and  sought  after 
by  many  princes,  Her  father,  seeking  to 
know  what  fate  the  gods  might  have  in 
store  for  her,  sent  some  of  his  men  to 
Apollo's  oracle  to  learn  the  answer. 

To  the  king's  horror,  the  oracle  replied 
that  Psyche  was  to  become  the  mate  of  a 
hideous  monster,  and  the  king  was 
ordered  to  leave  his  daughter  to  her  fate 
upon  a  mountaintop,  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  his  people.  Psyche  was 


led,  clad  in  bridal  dress,  to  a  rocky  sum 
mit  and  left  there  alone.  The  weary  girl 
soon  fell  into  a  swoon. 

Venus,  jealous  of  Psyche's  beauty, 
called  her  son  Cupid  and  ordered  him  to 
use  his  arrows  to  turn  Psyche's  heart 
toward  a  creature  so  hideous  that  mortals 
would  be  filled  with  loathing  at  the 
sight  of  Psyche's  mate.  But  when  Cupid 
saw  his  victim  asleep  he  fell  in  love  with 
her  and  decided  that  she  should  be  his 
forever.  While  Psyche  slept,  Zcphyrus 
came  at  Cupid's  bidding  and  carried  her 
to  the  valley  in  which  Love's  house 
stood.  There  she  awoke  in  a  grove  of 
trees  in  which  stood  a  magnificent  golden 
palace.  She  entered  the  building  and 
wandered  through  the  sumptuously  fur 
nished  rooms. 

At  noon  Psyche  found  a  table  lavishly 


180 


spread.  A  voice  invited  her  to  eat,  as 
sured  her  that  the  house  was  hers,  and 
told  her  that  the  being  who  was  to  be 
her  lover  would  come  that  night. 

As  she  lay  in  bed  that  night  a  voice 
close  beside  her  told  her  not  to  be  afraid. 
The  voice  spoke  so  tenderly  that  the  girl 
welcomed  her  unseen  suitor  and  held  out 
her  arms  to  him.  When  Psyche  awoke 
the  next  morning,  her  lover  had  gone, 
but  he  had  left  behind  a  gold  ring  and 
had  placed  a  circlet  on  her  head. 

For  a  time  Psyche  lived  happily  in 
the  golden  palace,  visited  each  night  by 
the  lover  whose  face  she  had  not  seen. 
But  at  last  she  became  homesick  for  her 
two  sisters  and  her  father.  One  night 
she  asked  her  lover  to  permit  her  sisters 
to  visit  her  the  next  day.  He  gave  his 
consent,  but  he  warned  that  she  was  not 
to  tell  them  about  him. 

Zephyrus  carried  die  sisters  to  the 
valley.  Overjoyed  to  see  them,  Psyche 
showed  them  die  beauties  of  the  palace 
and  loaded  them  with  gifts.  Jealous  of 
her  good  fortune,  they  tried  to  make  her 
suspicious  of  her  unseen  lover.  They 
suggested  that  her  lover  was  a  serpent 
who  changed  into  the  form  of  a  youth 
at  night,  a  monster  who  would  at  last 
devour  her.  To  save  herself,  they  ad 
vised  her  to  hide  a  lamp  and  a  knife 
by  her  bed  so  that  she  might  see  him  and 
slay  him  as  he  slept. 

Psyche  did  as  they  had  suggested. 
That  night,  as  her  love  lay  asleep,  she 
lit  the  lamp  and  brought  it  close  so  that 
she  might  look  at  him.  When  she  saw 
the  handsome  young  man  by  her  side,  she 
was  powerless  to  use  her  knife.  As  she 
turned,  sobbing,  to  extinguish  the  flame, 
a  drop  of  burning  oil  fell  on  Cupid's 
shoulder.  Awaking  with  a  cry,  he  looked 
at  her  reproachfully.  With  the  warning 
that  love  cannot  live  with  suspicion,  he 
left  the  palace.  Psyche  tried  to  follow,  but 
fell  in  a  swoon  at  the  threshold. 

When  she  awoke,  the  palace  had 
vanished.  Determined  to  seek  her  lover, 
she  wandered  alone  across  the  countryside 
and  through  cities  hunting  the  god. 


Meanwhile  Cupid  tooK  nis  vengeance 
on  her  sisters.  To  each  he  sent  a  dream 
that  she  would  become  his  bride  if  she 
were  to  throw  herself  from  the  mountain- 
top.  Both  sisters,  obeying  the  summons, 
found  only  the  arms  of  Death  to  wel 
come  them. 

No  god  would  give  the  wandering 
Psyche  shelter  or  comfort,  or  protect  her 
from  the  wrath  of  Venus.  At  the  temples 
of  Ceres  and  Juno  she  was  turned  away, 
At  last  she  came  to  the  court  of  Venus 
herself.  Warned  by  her  heart  to  flee, 
she  was  nevertheless  drawn  before  the 
throne  of  the  goddess.  Venus  decided 
that  Psyche  should  be  kept  as  a  slave. 
She  was  to  be  given  a  new  task  to  do 
each  day  and  was  to  live  until  she  once 
more  began  to  hope. 

Psyche's  first  task  was  to  sort  a  huge 
pile  of  mixed  seeds  and  grain  into 
separate  heaps,  with  the  warning  that 
if  there  were  so  much  as  one  seed  in 
the  wrong  pile  she  would  be  punished. 
But  by  dusk  she  had  separated  only 
small  heaps  of  grain.  Cupid  so  pitied 
her  that  he  commanded  myriads  of  ants 
to  complete  the  task  for  her. 

Next  day  Psyche  was  ordered  to  gather 
the  golden  fleece  of  Venus'  sheep.  Obey 
ing  the  advice  of  a  reed  at  the  edge  of 
the  river,  she  waited  until  the  animals 
had  lain  down  to  sleep  and  then  col 
lected  the  wool  which  had  been  left 
clinging  to  the  bushes. 

Psyche's  third  task  was  to  fill  a  jug 
with  the  black  water  which  flowed  down 
a  steep  mountain  into  the  rivers  Styx 
and  Cocytus.  This  task  she  was  able  to 
complete  with  the  aid  of  a  bird  who 
carried  the  jug  to  the  stream,  collected 
the  water,  and  brought  it  back  to  her. 

On  the  fourth  day  Psyche  was  given 
her  most  difficult  task;  she  was  to  go  to 
the  land  of  the  dead  and  there  collect 
some  of  the  beauty  of  the  goddess  Proser 
pine  in  a  golden  box.  If  she  succeeded, 
Venus  promised,  she  would  treat  Psyche 
kindly  thereafter.  But  to  visit  Proserpine 
and  to  return  was  an  almost  impossible 
achievement.  In  despair,  Psyche  deter- 


181 


mined  to  cast  herself  from  a  tower,  but 
as  she  was  about  to  kill  herself  a  voice 
called  to  her  and  told  her  how  she  might 
fulfill  her  mission. 

Following  instructions,  Psyche  traveled 
to  Proserpine's  realm.  There  she  might 
have  stayed  on  forever  if  she  had  not 
thought  suddenly  of  her  love.  On  her 
way  back,  she  had  almost  reached  the 
daylight  when  envy  seized  her.  She 
opened  the  box,  thinking  she  would  have 
whatever  it  contained  for  herself,  but 
no  sooner  had  she  lifted  the  lid  than 
she  fell  into  a  deep  sleep  filled  with 
nightmares. 


She  might  have  lain  that  way  for 
ever  if  Cupid,  going  in  search  of  her, 
had  not  found  her.  He  awoke  her 
with  one  of  his  arrows  and  sent  her  on 
to  his  mother  with  the  box.  Then  he 
flew  oif  and  presented  himself  before 
Jove  with  his  petition  that  Psyche  be 
made  immortal.  Jove,  after  hearing  his 
pleas,  sent  Mercury  to  conduct  Psyche 
into  the  presence  of  the  gods.  There 
she  drank  from  the  golden  cup  of  am 
brosia  Jove  handed  her  and  became  im 
mortal.  So  she  and  Cupid  were  at  last 
united  for  all  time. 


DAISY  MILLER 


Type  of  -work:  Novelette 
Author:  Henry  James  (1843-1916) 
Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 
Time  of  'plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 
Locale:  Vevey,  Switzerland,  and  Rome 
First  published:  1878 


Principal  characters: 

DATSY  MILLER,  an  American  tourist 
WrNTERBouRNE,  an  American  expatriate 
GIOVANELLI,  Daisy's  Italian  suitor 


Critique: 

As  in  most  of  James'  work,  there  is 
practically  no  plot  in  Daisy  Miller. 
Rather,  James  is  interested  in  a  conflict 
between  European  and  American  customs 
and  ideals.  The  crudities  and  touching 
innocence  of  Daisy  Miller  are  revealed 
against  a  background  of  European  man 
ners  and  morals,  and  both  are  shown 
from  the  point  of  view  of  an  expatriate 
American  who  has  lived  abroad  too  long. 
The  special  point  of  view  makes  Daisy 
Miller  an  ironic  study  of  contrasts. 

The  Story: 

Winterboume  was  a  young  American 
who  had  lived  in  Europe  for  quite  a 
while.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
at  Vevey,  which  was  a  favorite  spot  of 
his  aunt,  Mrs.  Costello.  One  day,  while 
he  was  loitering  outside  the  hotel,  he 
was  attracted  by  a  young  woman  who 


appeared  to  be  related  to  Randolph  Mil 
ler,  a  young  American  boy  with  whom 
he  had  been  talking.  After  a  while 
the  young  woman  exchanged  a  few 
words  with  him.  Her  name  was  Daisy 
Miller.  The  boy  was  her  brother,  and 
they  were  in  Vevey  with  their  mother. 
They  came  from  schenectady,  Winter- 
bourne  learned,  and  they  intended  to  go 
next  to  Italy.  Randolph  insisted  that  he 
wanted  to  go  back  home,  Winterboume 
learned  that  Daisy  hoped  to  visit  the 
Castle  of  Chillon.  He  promised  to  take 
her  there,  for  he  was  quite  familiar  with 
the  old  castle. 

Winterboume  asked  his  aunt,  Mrs. 
Costello,  to  meet  Daisy.  Mrs.  Costello, 
however,  would  not  agree  because  she 
thought  the  Millers  were  common.  That 
evening  Daisy  and  Winterboume 
planned  &>  go  out  on  the  lake,  much  to 


182 


the  horror  of  Eugenio,  the  Millers'  travel 
ing  companion,  who  was  more  like  a 
member  of  the  family  than  a  courier.  At 
the  last  moment  Daisy  changed  her  mind 
about  the  night  excursion.  A  few  days 
later  Winterbourne  and  Daisy  visited 
the  Castle  of  Chillon.  The  outing  con 
firmed  Mrs.  Costello's  opinion  that  Daisy 
was  uncultured  and  unsophisticated. 

Winterbourne  made  plans  to  go  to 
Italy.  When  he  arrived,  he  went  directly 
to  the  home  of  Mrs,  Walker,  an  Ameri 
can  whom  he  had  met  in  Geneva.  There 
he  met  Daisy  and  Randolph.  Daisy  re 
proved  him  for  not  having  called  to  see 
her.  Winterbourne  replied  that  she  was 
unkind,  as  he  had  just  arrived  on  the 
train.  Daisy  asked  Mrs.  Walker's  per 
mission  to  bring  an  Italian  friend,  Mr. 
Giovanelli,  to  a  party  Mrs.  Walker  was 
about  to  give.  Mrs.  Walker  agreed.  Then 
Daisy  said  that  she  and  the  Italian  were 
going  for  a  walk.  Mrs.  Walker  was 
shocked,  as  young  unmarried  women  did 
not  walk  the  streets  of  Rome  with 
Italians.  Daisy  suggested  that  there  would 
be  no  objection  if  Winterbourne  would 
go  with  her  to  the  spot  where  she  was  to 
meet  the  Italian  and  then  walk  with 
them. 

Winterbourne  and  Daisy  set  out  and 
eventually  found  Giovanelli.  They 
walked  together  for  a  while.  Then  Mrs. 
Walker's  carriage  drew  alongside  the 
strollers.  She  beckoned  to  Winterbourne 
and  implored  him  to  persuade  Daisy  to 
enter  her  carriage.  She  told  him  that 
Daisy  had  been  ruining  her  reputation 
by  such  behavior;  she  had  become 
familiar  with  Italians  and  was  quite  heed 
less  of  the  scandal  she  was  causing.  Mrs. 
Walker  said  she  would  never  speak  to 
Winterbourne  again  if  he  did  not  ask 
Daisy  to  get  into  the  carriage  at  once. 
But  Daisy,  refusing  the  requests  of  Mrs. 


Walker   and   Winterbourne,    continued 
her  walk  with  the  Italian. 

Mrs.  Walker  determined  to  snub 
Daisy  at  the  party.  When  Winterbourne 
arrived,  Daisy  had  not  made  her  ap 
pearance,  Mrs.  Miller  arrived  more  than 
an  hour  before  Daisy  appeared  with 
Giovanelli.  Mrs.  Walker  had  a  moment 
of  weakness  and  greeted  them  politely. 
But  as  Daisy  came  to  say  goodnight, 
Mrs.  Walker  turned  her  back  upon  her. 
From  that  time  on  Daisy  and  Giovanelli 
found  all  doors  shut  to  them.  Winter 
bourne  saw  her  occasionally,  but  she 
was  always  with  the  Italian.  Everyone 
thought  they  were  carrying  on  an  in 
trigue.  When  Winterbourne  asked  her 
if  she  were  engaged,  Daisy  said  that  she 
was  not. 

One  night,  despite  the  danger  from 
malarial  fever,  Giovanelli  took  Daisy 
to  the  Colosseum.  Winterbourne,  en 
countering  them  in  the  ancient  arena, 
reproached  the  Italian  for  his  thoughtless 
ness.  Giovanelli  said  that  Daisy  had 
insisted  upon  viewing  the  ruins  by  moon 
light.  Within  a  few  days  Daisy  was 
dangerously  ill.  During  her  illness  she 
sent  word  to  Winterbourne  that  she  had 
never  been  engaged  to  Giovanelli.  A 
week  later  she  was  dead. 

As  they  stood  beside  Daisy 's  grave  in 
the  Protestant  cemetery  in  Rome,  Gio 
vanelli  told  Winterbourne  that  Daisy 
would  never  have  married  her  Italian 
suitor,  even  if  she  had  lived.  Then 
Winterbourne  realized  that  he  himself 
had  loved  Daisy  without  knowing  his 
own  feelings,  that  he  could  have  married 
her  had  he  acted  differently.  He 
reasoned,  too  late,  that  he  had  lived  in 
Europe  too  long,  that  he  had  forgotten  the 
freedom  of  American  manners  and  the 
complexity  of  the  American  character. 


DAPHNIS  AND  CKLOE 


Type  of  work:  Tale 

Author:  Attributed  to  Longus  (third  century) 

Type  of  'plot:  Pastoral  romance 


183 


"Time  of  ylot:  Indefinite 
Locale:  Island  of  Lesbos 
first  transcribed:  Third  century  manuscript 

Principal  characters: 

DAPHNIS,  a  young  shepherd 
CHLOE,  a  shepherdess 

Critique: 

A  product  of  decadent  Greek  litera 
ture,  Daphnis  and  Chloe.  is  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  the  early  predecessors  of 
the  modern  novel.  Highly  romantic  in 
both  characterization  and  incident,  it 
centers  about  the  innocent  though  pas 
sionate  love  of  two  children  of  nature 
amid  idyllic  scenes  of  natural  beauty. 
We  forgive  the  many  extravagant  im 
probabilities  of  the  story  because  of  the 
charming  portrayal  of  the  refreshing, 
often  amusing,  naivete"  of  two  children 
unspoiled  by  contact  with  city  manners. 


The  Story: 

On  the  Greek  island  of  Lesbos  a 
goatherd  named  Lamo  one  day  found  a 
richly  dressed  infant  boy  being  suckled 
by  one  of  his  goats.  Lamo  and  his  wife, 
Myrtale,  hid  the  purple  cloak  and  ivory 
dagger  the  boy  had  worn  and  pretended 
he  was  their  own  son.  They  named  him 
Daphnis.  Two  years  later  a  shepherd 
named  Dryas  discovered  in  a  cave  of  the 
Nymphs  an  infant  girl  being  nursed  by 
one  of  his  sheep.  This  child  also  was 
richly  dressed.  Dryas  and  his  wife  Nape 
kept  the  girl  as  their  own,  giving  her  the 
name  Chloe. 

When  the  two  children  were  fifteen 
and  thirteen  respectively,  they  were  given 
flocks  to  tend.  Daphnis  and  Chloe  played 
happily  together,  amusing  themselves  in 
many  ways.  One  day,  while  chasing  a 
goat,  Daphnis  fell  into  a  wolf-pit,  from 
which  he  was  rescued  unharmed  by 
Chloe  and  a  herdsman  she  had  sum 
moned  to  help  her.  Daphnis  began  to 
experience  delightful  but  disturbing  feel 
ings  about  Chloe.  Dorco,  a  herdsman, 
asked  permission  to  marry  Chloe  but  was 
refused  by  Dryas.  Disguising  himself  in  a 
wolfskin,  Dorco  shortly  afterward  at 


tempted  to  seize  Chloe.  Attacked  by  the 
flock  dogs,  he  was  rescued  by  Daphnis 
and  Chloe,  who  innocently  thought  he 
had  merely  been  playing  a  prank.  Love, 
little  understood  by  either,  grew  between 
Daphnis  and  Chloe. 

In  the  autumn  some  Tyrian  pirates 
wounded  Dorco,  stole  some  of  his  oxen 
and  cows,  and  took  Daphnis  away  with 
them.  Chloe,  who  heard  Daphnis  call 
ing  to  her  from  the  pirate  ship,  ran  to 
aid  the  mortally  wounded  Dorco.  Dorco 
gave  her  his  herdsman's  pipe,  telling  hei 
to  blow  upon  it.  When  she  blew,  the 
cattle  jumped  into  the  sea  and  overturned 
the  ship.  The  pirates  drowned,  but 
Daphnis,  catching  on  to  the  horns  of  two 
swimming  cows,  came  safely  to  shore. 

After  the  celebration  of  the  autumn 
vintage  Daphnis  and  Chloe  returned  to 
their  flocks.  They  attempted  in  their 
innocence  to  practice  the  art  of  love, 
but  they  were  not  successful.  Some  young 
men  of  Methymne  came  to  the  fields 
of  Mitylene  to  hunt.  When  a  goat 
gnawed  in  two  a  withe  used  as  a  cable 
to  hold  their  small  ship,  the  Metliym- 
neans  blamed  Daphnis  and  set  upon 
him.  In  a  trial  over  the  affair  Daphnis 
was  judged  innocent.  The  angry 
Methymneans  later  carried  away  Chloe. 
The  god  Pan  warned  the  Methymnean 
captain  in  a  dream  that  he  should  bring 
back  Chloe,  and  she  was  returned.  Daph- 
nis  and  Chloe  joyfully  celebrated  holi 
days  in  honor  of  Pan, 

The  two  lovers  were  sad  at  being 
parted  by  winter  weather,  which  kept 
the  flocks  in  their  folds.  In  the  spring 
the  lovers  happily  drove  their  flocks  again 
to  the  fields.  When  a  woman  named 
Lycaenium  became  enamored  of  the  boy, 
Daphnis  finally  learned  how  to  ease  the 


184 


pains  he  had  felt  for  Chloe;  but  Ly- 
caenium  warned  him  that  Chloe  would 
be  hurt  the  first  time  she  experienced  the 
ecstasy  of  love.  Through  fear  of  doing 
physical  harm  to  his  sweetheart  the 
tender  Daphnis  would  not  deflower  his 
Chloe,  Meanwhile  many  suitors,  Lampis 
among  them,  asked  for  the  hand  of 
Chloe,  and  Dryas  came  near  consenting. 
Daphnis  bewailed  his  inability  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  suitors  because  of 
his  poverty.  Then  with  the  aid  of  the 
Nymphs  he  found  a  purse  of  silver,  which 
he  gave  Dryas  in  order  to  become  con 
tracted  to  Chloe.  In  return  Dryas  asked 
Lamo  to  consent  to  the  marriage  of  his 
son,  but  Lamo  answered  that  first  he 
must  consult  his  master,  Dionysophanes. 
Lamo,  Daphnis,  and  Chloe  prepared 
to  entertain  Dionysophanes;  but  Lampis 
ravaged  the  garden  they  had  prepared 
because  he  had  been  denied  Chloe's  hand. 
Fearing  the  wrath  of  his  master,  Lamo 
lamented  his  ill  fortune.  Eudromus,  a 
page,  helped  to  explain  the  trouble  to 
Larno's  young  master  Astylus,  who 


promised  to  intercede  with  his  father  and 
blame  the  wanton  destruction  on  some 
horses  in  the  neighborhood,  Astylus' 
parasite,  Gnatho,  fell  in  love  with  Daph 
nis  but  was  repulsed.  Finally  the  de 
praved  Gnatho  received  Astylus'  per 
mission  to  take  Daphnis  with  him  to  the 
city.  Just  in  time  Lamo  revealed  the 
story  of  the  finding  of  Daphnis,  who  was 
discovered  to  be  Dionysophanes'  son. 
Meanwhile  Lampis  stole  Chloe,  who  was 
later  rescued  by  Gnatho.  After  Dryas 
told  how  Chloe  had  been  found  as  a 
child,  it  was  learned  that  she  was  the 
daughter  of  Megacles  of  Mitylene.  Thus 
the  supposed  son  and  daughter  of  Lamo 
and  Dryas  were  revealed  as  the  children 
of  wealthy  parents  who  were  happy  to 
consent  to  their  marriage.  The  wedding 
was  celebrated  amid  the  rural  scenes 
dear  to  both  bride  and  groom.  Daphnis 
became  Philopoemen  and  Chloe  was 
named  Agele.  On  her  wedding  night 
Chloe  at  last  learned  from  Daphnis  how 
might  be  obtained  the  delights  of  love. 


DARK  LAUGHTER 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Sherwood  Anderson  (1876-1941) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  'plot:  1920' s 

Locale:  Old  Harbor,  Indiana 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

BRUCE  DUDLEY,  formerly  John  Stockton,  a  Chicago  reporter 
SPONGE  MARTIN,  a  workman  close  to  the  grass  roots 
FRED  GREY,  owner  of  an  automobile  wheel  factory 
ALINE,  his  wife 

Critique: 

Dark  Laughter,  Sherwood  Anderson's 
most  popular  novel,  is  a  book  of  moods 
rather  than  of  plot.  Its  simple  story  is 
that  of  two  individuals  in  revolt  against 
the  restrictions  of  modern  life  and  seek 
ing  happiness  together.  Anderson  seems 
to  say  that  Bruce  Dudley  and  Aline  Grey 
were  unhappy  because  they  were  re 


pressed;  they  gave  themselves  over  to 
the  secret  desires  within  them  and  there 
fore  they  became  happy.  One  may 
question  whether  Bruce  and  Aline  were 
not  merely  restless  and  somewhat  ado 
lescent  emotionally,  rather  than  strong 
and  brave  in  their  attempt  to  live  by 
amoral  standards. 


DARK  LAUGHTER  by  Sherwood  Anderson.    By  permission  of  Mrs.  Sherwood  Anderson,  of  Harold  Ober,  *n 
tho  publishers,  Liveright  Publishing  Corp.    Copyright,   1925,  by  Boni  &  Liveright,  lac. 


185 


The  Story: 

Bruce  Dudley's  name  was  not  Bruce 
Dudley  at  all.  It  was  John  Stockton. 
But  he  had  grown  tired  of  being  John 
Stockton,  reporter  on  a  Chicago  paper, 
married  to  Bernice  who  worked  on  the 
same  paper  and  who  wrote  magazine 
stories  on  the  side.  She  thought  him 
flighty  and  he  admitted  it.  He  wanted 
adventure.  He  wanted  to  go  down  the 
Mississippi  as  Huckleberry  Finn  had 
done.  He  wanted  to  go  back  to  Old  Har 
bor,  the  river  town  in  Indiana  where  he 
had  spent  his  childhood.  And  so,  with 
less  than  three  hundred  dollars,  he  left 
Chicago,  Bernice,  and  his  job  on  the 

giper.  He  picked  up  the  name  Bruce 
udley  from  two  store  signs  in  an 
Illinois  town.  After  his  trip  to  New 
Orleans  he  went  to  Old  Harbor  and  got 
a  job  varnishing  automobile  wheels  in 
the  Grey  Wheel  Company. 

Sponge  Martin  worked  in  the  same 
room  with  Bruce.  Sponge,  a  wiry  old 
fellow  with  a  black  mustache,  lived  a 
simple,  elemental  life.  That  was  the 
reason,  perhaps,  why  Bruce  liked  him 
so  much.  Sometimes  when  the  nights 
were  fair  and  the  fish  were  biting, 
Sponge  and  his  wife  took  sandwiches 
and  some  moonshine  whiskey  and  went 
down  to  the  river.  They  fished  for  a 
while  and  got  drunk,  and  then  Sponge's 
wife  made  him  feel  like  a  young  man 
again.  Bruce  wished  he  could  be  as 
happy  and  carefree  as  Sponge. 

When  Bruce  was  making  his  way 
down  the  Mississippi  and  when  he  stayed 
for  five  months  in  an  old  house  in  New 
Orleans — that  was  before  he  came  to 
Old  Harbor — he  watched  the  Negroes 
and  listened  to  their  songs  and  laughter. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  they  lived  as 
simply  as  children  and  were  happy, 
laughing  their  dark  laughter. 

Aline,  the  wife  of  Fred  Grey,  who 
owned  the  Grey  Wheel  Company,  saw 
Bruce  Dudley  walking  out  the  factory 
door  one  evening  as  she  sat  in  her  car 
waiting  for  Fred.  Who  he  was  she  did 
not  know,  but  she  remembered  another 


man  to  whom  she  had  felt  attracted  in 
the  same  way.  It  happened  in  Paris 
after  the  war.  She  had  seen  the  man  at 
Rose  Frank's  apartment  and  she  had 
wanted  him.  Then  she  had  married 
Fred,  who  was  recovering  from  the 
shock  of  the  war.  He  was  not  what 
she  wished  for,  but,  somehow,  she  had 
married  him. 

One  evening  Bruce  Dudley  passed 
by  the  Grey  home  as  Aline  stood  in  the 
yard.  He  stopped  and  looked  first  at  the 
house  and  then  at  Aline.  Neither  spoke 
but  something  passed  between  them. 
They  had  found  each  other. 

Aline,  who  had  advertised  for  a  gar 
dener,  hired  Bruce  after  turning  down 
several  applicants.  Bruce  had  quit  his 
job  at  the  factory  shortly  before  he  saw 
her  advertisement.  When  Bruce  began  to 
work  for  her,  the  two  maintained  some 
reserve,  but  each  was  determined  to  have 
the  other.  Bruce  and  Aline  carried  on 
many  imaginary  conversations.  Fred  ap 
parently  resented  Brace's  presence  about 
the  grounds,  but  he  said  nothing  to  the 
man.  When  he  questioned  his  wife,  he 
learned  that  she  knew  nothing  of  Bruce 
except  that  he  was  a  good  worker. 

As  Aline  watched  her  husband  leave 
for  the  factory  each  morning  she 
wondered  how  much  he  knew.  She 
thought  a  great  deal  about  her  own  life 
and  about  life  in  general.  Her  husband 
was  no  lover.  Few  women  nowadays  had 
true  lovers.  Modern  civilization  told  one 
what  he  could  not  have.  One  belittled 
what  he  could  not  possess.  Because  one 
did  not  have  love,  one  made  fun  of  it, 
was  skeptical  of  it,  and  besmirched  it. 
The  little  play  of  the  two  men  and  the 
woman  went  on  silently.  Two  Negro 
women  who  worked  in  Aline's  house 
watched  the  proceedings.  From  time 
to  time  they  laughed,  and  their  dark 
laughter  seemed  mocking.  White  folks 
were  queer.  They  made  life  so  involved. 
Negroes  took  what  they  wanted — simply, 
openly,  happily. 

One  day  in  June,  after  Fred  had  gone 


186 


to  march  in  a  veterans*  parade  and  the 
Negro  servants  had  gone  to  watch  the 
parade,  Aline  and  Bruce  were  left  alone. 
She  sat  and  watched  him  working  in 
the  garden.  Finally  he  looked  at  her, 
and  he  followed  her  into  the  house 
through  a  door  she  purposely  left  open. 
Before  Fred  returned,  Bruce  had  left 
the  house.  He  disappeared  from  Old 
Harbor.  Two  months  later  Aline  told 
Fred  she  was  going  to  have  a  child. 

As  Fred  came  home  one  evening  in 
the  early  fall,  he  saw  his  wife  and 
Bruce  together  in  the  garden.  Aline 
calmly  called  to  him  and  announced  that 
the  child  she  was  expecting  was  not  his. 
She  and  Bruce  had  waited,  she  went  on, 
so  that  she  might  let  him  know  they 
were  leaving.  Fred  pleaded  with  her  to 
stay,  knowing  she  was  hurting  herself, 
but  they  walked  away,  Bruce  carrying 
two  heavy  bags. 

Fred  told  himself,  as  he  stood  with 


his  revolver  in  his  hand  a  few  minutes 
later,  that  he  could  not  dispassionately 
let  another  man  walk  away  with  his 
wife.  His  mind  was  filled  with  confused 
anger.  For  a  moment  he  thought  of 
killing  himself.  Then  he  followed  the 
pair  along  the  river  road.  He  was  de 
termined  to  kill  Bruce.  But  he  lost  them 
in  the  darkness.  In  a  blind  fury  he  shot 
at  the  river.  On  the  way  back  to  his 
house  he  stopped  to  sit  on  a  log.  The 
revolver  fell  to  the  ground  and  he  sat 
crying  like  a  child  for  a  long  time. 

After  Fred  had  returned  to  his  home 
and  gone  to  bed,  he  tried  to  laugh  at 
what  had  happened.  He  could  not.  But 
outside  in  the  road  he  heard  a  sudden 
burst  of  laughter.  It  was  the  younger 
of  the  two  Negresses  who  worked  in  the 
Grey  home.  She  cried  out  loudly  that 
she  had  known  it  all  the  time,  and  again 
there  came  a  burst  of  laughter — darl 
laughter. 


DARKNESS  AT  NOON 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Arthur  Koestler  (1905-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1930's 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1941 

Principal  characters: 

NICHOLAS  RUBASHOV,  a  political  prisoner 
IVANOV,  a  prison  official 
GLETKIN,  another  official 
MICHAEL  BOGBAV,  another  prisoner 
KIEFFER  (HABJE-Lip),  an  informer 

Critique: 

This  remarkable  modem  novel  by 
Arthur  Koestler  is  a  highly  analytical 
piece  of  writing  which  transports  the 
reader  into  a  Russian  prison  and  into 
the  very  consciousness  of  a  political 
prisoner,  accused  of  crimes  he  never  com 
mitted.  Darkness  at  Noon  represents  an 
ironic  and  scathing  criticism  of  the  Mos 
cow  trials.  At  the  same  time,  it  presents 
a  careful  analysis  of  the  Soviet  principles. 


Reference  to  Russia  is  made  only  in  the 
foreword,  however,  and  the  party  leader 
is  known  only  as  No.  1  in  this  powerful 
but  highly  restrained  social  document. 

The  Story: 

Nicholas  Rubashov,  ex-Commissar  of 
the  People  and  once  a  power  in  the 
party,  was  in  prison.  Arrested  at  his 
lodgings  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  he 


DARKNESS  AT  NOON  by  Arthur  Koestler.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  The  Macmillan  Co. 
Copyright,  1941,  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 


187 


had  been  taken  secretly  to  cell  404, 
which  bore  his  name  on  a  card  just 
above  the  spy-hole.  He  knew  that  he 
was  located  in  an  isolation  cell  for  con 
demned  political  suspects. 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  Ruba- 
shov  was  awakened  by  a  bugle,  but  he 
did  not  get  up,  Soon  he  heard  sounds 
in  the  corridor.  He  imagined  that  some 
one  was  to  be  tortured,  and  he  dreaded 
hearing  the  first  screams  of  pain  from  the 
victim,  When  the  footsteps  reached  his 
own  section,  he  saw  through  the  judas- 
eye  that  guards  were  serving  breakfast. 
Rubashov  did  not  receive  any  breakfast 
because  he  had  reported  himself  ill.  Pie 
began  to  pace  up  and  down  the  cell, 
six  and  a  half  steps  to  the  window,  six 
and  a  half  steps  back. 

Soon  he  heard  a  quiet  knocking  from 
the  wall  of  adjoining  cell  402.  In  com 
municating  with  each  other  prisoners 
used  the  "quadratic  alphabet,"  a  square  of 
twenty-five  letters,  five  horizontal  rows 
of  five  letters  each.  The  first  series  of 
taps  represented  the  number  of  the  row; 
the  second  series  the  number  of  the 
letter  in  the  row.  From  the  tappings 
Rubashov  pictured  his  neighbor  as  a 
military  man,  one  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  methods  of  the  great  leader  or  with 
the  views  of  Rubashov  himself.  From 
his  window  he  saw  prisoners  walking  in 
the  courtyard  for  exercise.  One  of  these, 
a  man  with  a  hare-lip,  looked  repeatedly 
up  at  Rubashov's  window.  From  his 
neighbor  in  cell  402,  Rubashov  learned 
that  Hare-lip  was  a  political  prisoner 
who  had  been  tortured  by  a  steam  bath 
the  day  before*  A  little  later  Hare-lip, 
in  cell  400,  sent  Rubashov  his  greetings, 
through  the  inmate  of  402,  but  he  would 
not  give  his  name. 

Three  days  later  Rubashov  was  brought 
up  for  his  first  examination.  The  ex 
aminer  was  Ivanov,  Rubashov's  old  col 
lege  friend  and  former  battalion  com 
mander.  During  the  interview  the 
prisoner  learned  that  he  was  accused  of 
belonging  to  the  opposition  to  the  party 
and  that  he  was  suspected  of  an  attempt 


on  the  party  leader's  life.  Ivanov 
promised  a  twenty-year  prison  term  in 
stead  of  the  death  penalty  if  Rubashov 
confessed.  The  prisoner  was  given  a  fort 
night  to  arrive  at  a  decision. 

After  the  hearing  Rubashov  was  al 
lowed  to  have  paper,  pencil,  soap,  towels, 
and  tobacco.  He  started  writing  in  his 
journal  and  recasting  his  ideas  about  the 
party  and  the  movement.  He  recalled 
a  young  man  named  Richard  arrested  in 
Germany  while  Rubashov  was  at  the  head 
of  the  party  Intelligence  and  Control 
Department.  He  could  not  forget  an 
incident  which  had  happened  in  Belgium 
two  years  later.  There  Rubashov  had 
been  tortured  and  beaten.  In  Belgium 
he  expelled  from  the  party  a  hunch 
backed,  eager  worker  who  later  hanged 
himself  in  his  room.  Rubashov  also 
thought  constantly  of  Arlova  who  had 
been  his  mistress  and  who  had  met  her 
death  because  of  him. 

The  night  before  the  time  set  by 
Ivanov  had  expired,  Rubashov  felt  a 
tenseness  in  the  atmosphere.  His  friend 
in  402  communicated  to  him  that  one  of 
the  prisoners  was  to  be  shot.  This 
prisoner  was  Michael  Bograv,  who  had 
always  been  Rubashov's  close  friend.  As 
the  condemned  man  was  brought  through 
the  corridors,  the  prisoners  tapped  his 
progress  from  one  cell  to  another  and 
drummed  on  the  doors  of  their  cells  as 
he  passed.  The  beaten,  whimpering 
figure  of  Bograv  came  by  Rubashov's 
cell.  Rubashov  believed  that  his  friend 
shouted  to  him  as  he  was  dragged  down 
the  stairs. 

Rubashov's  second  hearing  took  place 
late  at  night.  Ivanov  came  to  Rubasliov's 
cell  with  a  bottle  of  brandy  and  con 
vinced  him  that  to  keep  faith  with  the 
living  was  better  than  betrayal  of  the 
dead.  Accordingly,  Rubashov  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  Public  Prosecutor  renouncing 
his  own  oppositional  attitude  and  ac 
knowledging  his  errors.  The  third  night 
after  delivering  the  letter  to  the  warder, 
Rubashov  was  awakened  and  taken  to  die 
office  of  Cletkin,  another  official  of  the 


188 


prison.  Under  blinding  lights  in  Glet- 
kin's  office,  he  was  questioned  day  and 
night  for  an  interminable  period  of  time. 
Ivanov,  he  learned,  had  been  liquidated 
for  conducting  Rubashov's  case  negli 
gently.  Gletkin  called  in  Hare-lip  as  a 
witness  against  Rubashov.  It  was  only 
with  great  difficulty  that  Rubashov  recog 
nized  in  that  broken,  cringing  man  the 
son  of  his  former  friend  and  associate, 
Keiffer.  The  bright  spotlight,  the  lack  of 
sleep,  the  constant  questionings — these 
factors  combined  to  make  Rubashov  sign 


a  trumped-up  charge  that  he  had  plotted 
to  take  the  life  of  the  party  leader. 

Rubashov  had  committed  none  of  these 
crimes.  He  was  merely  the  victim  of  a 
change  in  party  policy.  One  night  he 
heard  the  sound  of  drumming  along  the 
corridor.  The  guards  were  taking  Hare 
lip  to  be  executed.  When  the  drumming 
started  again,  Rubashov  knew  that  his 
time  had  come.  He  was  led  into  the 
cellar.  An  officer  struck  him  twice  on 
the  head  with  a  revolver.  Another  party 
incident  was  closed. 


DAVID  COPPERFIELD 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1849-1850 

Principal  characters: 

DAVID  COPPERFIELD,  the  narrator 

CLARA  CoppERFrEuo,  his  mother 

Miss  BETSY  TROTWOOD,  David's  great-aunt 

PEGGOTTY,  a  nurse 

MR.  PEGGOTTY,  her  brother 

LITTLE  EM'LY,  his  orphan  niece 

HAM,  his  orphan  nephew 

MR.  MURDSTONE,  David's  stepfather 

Miss  JANE  MURDSTONE,  his  sister 

MR..  CREAKLE,  master  o£  Salem  House 

JAMES  STEERFORTH,  David's  schoolmate 

TOMMY  TRADDLES,  a  student  at  Salem  House 

MR.  WILKINS  MICAWBER,  a  man  of  pecuniary  difficultie 

MR.  WICKFIELD,  Miss  Trotwood's  solicitor 

AGNES  WICKFIELD,  his  daughter 

URIAH  HEEP,  a  clerk 

MR.  SPENLOW,  under  whom  David  studied  law 

DORA  SPENLOW,  his  daughter,  later  David's  wife 

MR.  DICK,  Miss  Betsy's  protege" 

Critique: 

One  of  the  many  qualities  that  dis 
tinguish  David  Copper-field  from  more 
modern  and  more  sophisticated  novels  is 
its  eternal  freshness.  It  is,  in  short,  a  work 
of  art  which  can  be  read  and  re-read, 
chiefly  for  the  gallery  of  characters  Dick 
ens  has  immortalized.  The  novel  has  its 
flaws.  These  faults  seem  insignificant, 
however,  when  the  virtues  of  the  novel  as 
a  whole  are  considered.  The  first-person 


point  of  view  adds  much  to  realistic 
effects  and  sympathetic  treatment  of  char 
acter  and  helps  to  explain,  in  part,  why 
David  Copperfield  is  the  most  loved  piece 
of  fiction  in  the  English  language. 

The  Story: 

David  Copperfield  was  born  at  Blun- 
derstone,  in  Suffolk,  six  months  after  his 
father's  death.  Miss  Betsy  Trotwood,  an 


189 


eccentric  great-aunt  was  present  on  the 
night  of  his  birth,  but  she  left  the  house 
Abruptly  and  indignantly  when  she  learned 
that  the  child  was  a  boy  who  could  never 
bear  her  name.  David  spent  his  early 
years  with  his  pretty  young  mother, 
Clara  Copperfield,  and  a  devoted  servant 
named  Peggotty,  Peggotty  was  plain  and 
plump;  when  she  bustled  about  the  house 
her  buttons  popped  off  her  dress. 

The  youthful  widow  was  soon  courted 
by  Mr.  Murdstone,  who  proved,  after 
marriage,  to  be  stingy  and  cruel.  Whsn 
his  mother  married  a  second  time,  David 
was  packed  off  with  Peggotty  to  visit  her 
relatives  at  Yarmouth.  There  her  brother 
had  converted  an  old  boat  into  a  seaside 
cottage,  where  he  lived  with  his  niece, 
Little  Em'ly,  and  his  sturdy  young  ne 
phew,  Ham.  Little  Em'ly  and  Ham  were 
David's  first  real  playmates,  and  his 
visit  to  Yarmouth  remained  a  happy  mem 
ory  of  his  lonely  and  unhappy  childhood. 
After  Miss  Jane  Murdstone  arrived  to 
take  charge  of  her  brother's  household, 
David  and  his  mother  were  never  to  feel 
free  again  from  the  dark  atmosphere  of 
suspicion  and  gloom  the  Murds tones 
brought  with  them. 

One  day  in  a  fit  of  childish  terror 
David  bit  his  stepfather  on  the  hand. 
He  was  immediately  sent  off  to  Salem 
House,  a  wretched  school  near  London. 
There  his  life  was  more  miserable  than 
ever  under  a  brutal  headmaster  named 
Creakle.  But  in  spite  of  the  harsh  sys 
tem  of  the  school  and  the  bullyings  of 
Mr.  Creakle,  his  life  was  endurable  be 
cause  of  his  friendship  with  two  boys 
whom  he  was  to  meet  again  under  much 
different  circumstances  in  later  life — 
lovable  Tommy  Traddles  and  handsome, 
lordly  James  Steerforth. 

His  school  days  ended  suddenly  with 
the  death  of  his  mother  and  her  infant 
child.  When  he  returned  home,  he  dis 
covered  that  Mr.  Murdstone  had  dis 
missed  Peggotty.  Barkis,  the  stage  driver, 
whose  courtship  had  been  meager  but 
earnest,  had  taken  Peggotty  away  to 
become  Mrs.  Barkis  and  David  was  left 


friendless  in  the  home  jf  his  cruel  step 
father. 

David  was  put  to  work  in  an  export 
warehouse  in  which  Murdstone  had  an 
interest.  As  a  ten-year-old  worker  in  the 
dilapidated  establishment  of  Murdstone 
and  Grinby,  wine  merchants,  David  was 
overworked  and  half-starved.  He  loathed 
his  job  and  associates  such  as  young 
Mick  Walker  and  Mealy  Potatoes.  The 
youngster,  however,  met  still  another 
person  with  whom  he  was  to  associate 
in  later  life.  That  was  Wilkins  Micaw- 
ber,  a  pompous  ne'er-do-well  in  whose 
house  David  lodged.  The  impecunious 
Mr.  Micawber  found  himself  in  debtor's 
prison  shortly  afterward.  On  his  re 
lease  he  decided  to  move  with  his  brood 
to  Plymouth,  Having  lost  these  good 
friends,  David  decided  to  run  away  from 
the  environment  he  detested. 

When  David  decided  to  leave  Murd 
stone  and  Grinby,  he  knew  he  could  not 
return  to  his  stepfather.  The  only  other 
relative  he  could  think  of  was  his  father's 
aunt,  Miss  Betsy  Trotwood,  who  had 
flounced  indignantly  out  of  the  house  on 
the  night  of  David's  birth.  Hopefully  he 
set  out  for  Dover,  where  Miss  Betsy  lived, 
but  not  before  he  had  been  robbed  of  all 
his  possessions.  Consequently,  he  ar 
rived  at  Miss  Betsy's  home  physically  and 
mentally  wretched. 

David's  reception  was  at  first  not  cor 
dial.  Miss  Betsy  had  never  forgotten  the 
injustice  done  her  when  David  was  born 
instead  of  a  girl.  However,  upon  the 
advice  of  Mr.  Dick,  a  fceblc-minclcd  dis 
tant  kinsman  who  was  staying  with  her, 
she  decided  to  take  David  in,  at  least 
until  he  had  been  washed  thoroughly. 
While  she  was  deliberating  further  about 
what  to  do  with  her  bedraggled  nephew, 
she  wrote  to  Mr.  Murdstone,  who  came 
with  his  sister  to  Dover  to  claim  his 
stepson.  Miss  Betsy  decided  she  disliked 
both  Murdstones  intensely,  Mr.  Dick 
solved  her  problem  by  suggesting  that  she 
keep  David. 

Much  to  David's  joy  and  satisfaction, 
Miss  Betsy  planned  to  let  the  boy  con- 


190 


tinue  his  education,  and  almost  immedi 
ately  sent  him  to  a  school  in  Canterbury, 
run  by  a  Mr.  Strong,  a  headmaster  quite 
different  from  Mr.  Creakle.  During  his 
stay  at  school  David  lodged  with  Miss 
Betsy's  lawyer,  Mr.  Wickfield,  who  had 
a  daughter,  Agnes.  David  became  very 
fond  of  her.  At  Wickfield's  he  also  met 
Uriah  Heep,  Mr.  Wickfield's  cringing 
clerk,  whose  hypocritical  humility  and 
clammy  handclasp  filled  David  with  dis 
gust. 

David  finished  school  when  he  was 
seventeen.  Miss  Betsy  suggested  he  travel 
for  a  time  before  deciding  on  a  profes 
sion.  On  his  way  to  visit  his  old  nurse, 
Peggotty,  David  met  James  Steerforth 
and  went  home  with  his  former  school 
mate.  There  he  met  Steerforth's  mother 
and  Rosa  Dartle,  a  girl  passionately  in 
love  with  Steerforth.  Years  before,  the 
quick-tempered  Steerforth  had  struck 
Rosa,  who  carried  a  scar  as  a  reminder  of 
Steerforth's  brutality. 

After  a  brief  visit,  David  persuaded 
Steerforth  to  go  with  him  to  see  Peg 
gotty  and  her  family.  At  Yarmouth,  Steer- 
forth  met  Little  Em'ly.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  she  was  engaged  to  Ham,  she 
and  Steerforth  were  immediately  attracted 
to  each  other. 

At  length  David  told  his  aunt  he 
wished  to  study  law.  Accordingly,  he 
was  articled  to  the  law  firm  of  Spenlow 
and  Jorkins.  At  this  time  David  saw 
Agnes  Wickfield,  who  told  him  she 
feared  Steerforth  and  asked  David  to 
stay  away  from  him.  Agnes  also  expressed 
a  iear  of  Uriah  Heep,  who  was  on  the 
point  of  entering  into  partnership  with 
her  senile  father.  Shortly  after  these 
revelations,  by  Agnes,  David  encountered 
Uriah  himself,  who  confessed  he  wanted 
to  marry  Agnes.  David  was  properly  dis 
gusted. 

On  a  visit  to  the  Spenlow  home,  David 
met  Dora  Spenlow,  his  employer's  pretty 
but  childish  daughter,  with  whom  he  fell 
instantly  in  love.  Soon  they  became  se 
cretly  engaged.  Before  this  happy  event, 
however,  David  heard  some  startling 


news — Steerforth  had  run  away  with 
Little  Em'ly. 

Nor  was  this  elopement  the  only  blow 
to  David's  happiness.  Shortly  after  his 
engagement  to  Dora,  David  learned  from 
his  aunt  that  she  had  lost  all  her  money, 
and  from  Agnes  that  Uriah  Heep  had 
become  Mr.  Wickfield's  partner.  David 
tried  unsuccessfully  to  be  released  from 
his  contract  with  Spenlow  and  Jorkins. 
Determined  to  show  his  aunt  he  could  re 
pay  her,  even  in  a  small  way,  for  her 
past  sacrifices,  he  took  a  part-time  job 
as  secretary  to  Mr.  Strong,  his  former 
headmaster. 

But  the  job  with  Mr.  Strong  paid  very 
little;  therefore  David  undertook  to  study 
for  a  position  as  a  reporter  of  parliamen 
tary  debates.  Even  poor  simple  Mr.  Dick 
came  to  Miss  Betsy's  rescue,  for  Traddles, 
now  a  lawyer,  gave  him  a  job  as  a  clerk. 

The  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Spenlow  dis 
solved  the  partnership  of  Spenlow  and 
Jorkins,  and  David  learned  to  his  dismay 
that  his  former  employer  had  died  almost 
penniless.  With  much  study  on  his  part, 
David  became  a  reporter.  At  twenty-one 
he  married  Dora,  who,  however,  never 
seemed  capable  of  growing  up.  During 
these  events,  David  had  kept  in  touch 
with  Mi.  Micawber,  now  Uriah  Heep's 
confidential  secretary.  Though  some 
thing  had  finally  turned  up  for  Mr. 
Micawber,  his  relations  with  David,  and 
even  with  his  own  family,  were  mys 
teriously  strange,  as  though  he  were  hid 
ing  something. 

David  soon  learned  what  the  trouble 
was,  for  Mr.  Micawber's  conscience  got 
the  better  of  him.  At  a  meeting  arranged 
by  him  at  Mr.  Wickfield's,  he  revealed 
in  Uriah's  presence  and  to  an  assembled 
company,  including  Agnes,  Miss  Betsy, 
David,  and  Traddles,  the  criminal  per 
fidy  of  Uriah  Heep,  who  for  years  had 
robbed  and  cheated  Mr.  Wickfield.  Miss 
Betsy  discovered  that  Uriah  was  also  re 
sponsible  for  her  own  financial  losses. 
With  the  exposure  of  the  villainous  Uriah, 
partial  restitution  both  for  her  and  foi 
Mr.  Wickfield  was  not  long  in  coming. 


191 


His  conscience  cleared  by  his  exposure 
of  Uriah  Heep's  villainy,  Mr.  Micawber 
proposed  to  take  his  family  to  Australia. 
There,  he  was  sure  something  would 
again  turn  up.  To  Australia,  too,  went 
Mr.  Peggotty  and  Little  Em'ly;  she  had 
turned  to  her  uncle  in  sorrow  and  shame 
after  Steerforth  had  deserted  her.  David 
watched  as  their  ship  put  out  to  sea. 
It  seemed  to  him  the  sunset  was  a  bright 
promise  for  them  as  they  sailed  away  to  a 
new  life  in  the  new  land.  The  darkness 
fell  about  him  as  he  watched. 

The  great  cloud  now  in  David's  life 
was  his  wife's  delicate  health.  Day  after 
day  she  failed,  and  in  spite  of  his  ten- 
derest  care  he  was  forced  to  see  her  grow 
more  feeble  and  wan.  Agnes  Wickfaeld, 
like  the  true  friend  she  had  always  been, 
was  with  him  on  the  night  of  Dora's 
death.  As  in  his  earlier  troubles,  he  turned 
to  Agnes  in  the  days  that  followed  and 
found  comfort  in  her  sympathy  and  un 
derstanding. 

Upon  her  advice  he  decided  to  go 


abroad  for  a  while.  But  first  he  went  to 
Yarmouth  to  put  into  Ham's  hands  a  last 
letter  from  Little  Emly.  There  he  wit 
nessed  the  final  act  of  her  betrayal.  Dur 
ing  a  storm  the  heavy  seas  battered  a 
ship  in  distress  off  the  coast.  Ham  went 
to  his  death  in  a  stout-hearted  attempt 
to  rescue  a  survivor  clinging  to  a  broken 
mast.  The  bodies  washed  ashore  by  the 
rolling  waves  were  those  of  loyal  Ham 
and  the  false  Steerforth. 

David  lived  in  Europe  for  three  years. 
On  his  return  he  discovered  again  his 
need  for  Agnes  Wickfield's  quiet  friend 
ship.  One  day  Miss  Betsy  Trotwood  slyly 
suggested  that  Agnes  might  soon  be  mar 
ried.  Heavy  in  heart,  David  went  off  to 
offer  her  his  good  wishes.  When  she 
burst  into  tears,  he  realized  that  what  he 
had  hoped  was  true — her  heart  was  al 
ready  his.  They  were  married,  to  match 
making  Miss  Betsy's  great  delight,  and 
David  settled  down  to  begin  his  career 
as  a  successful  novelist 


DAVID  HARUM 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edward  Noyes  Westcott  (1846-1898) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Upstate  New  York 

First  published:  1898 

Principal  characters: 

DAVID  HARUM,  a  banker  and  horse  trader 
JOHN  LENOX,  Harum's  assistant 
MARY  BLAKE,  John's  sweetheart 
POLLY  BIXBEE,  Harum's  widowed  sister 


Critique: 

Westcott,  who  himself  had  been  a 
banker  in  upper  New  York  State,  wrote 
David  Harum  to  give  the  country  at  large 
a  picture  of  his  region  and  its  people.  The 
greatness  of  the  book  lies  in  the  char 
acterization  of  David  Harum,  that  orig 
inal  and  delightfully  humorous  horse 
trader  who  has  fascinated  two  generations 
of  readers.  Harum  was  a  dry,  quaint, 


semi-literate  countryman  with  a  shrewd 
knowledge  of  human  nature.  Unfor 
tunately,  the  horse-trading  banker  does 
not  dominate  the  story  completely.  The 
novel  is  threaded  together  by  a  love 
story  involving  I  larum's  banking  assistant 
and  a  young  heiress.  The  best  chapters, 
by  far,  are  those  in  which  David  Harum 
tells  stories  in  dialect,  swaps  horses,  or  in 
dulges  in  reminiscences  or  other  days. 


DAVID  HARXJM  by  Edward  Noyes  Westcott.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Appleton-Century-Crofts,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1898,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.    Renewed,  1926,  by  Philip  N.  Westcott. 


192 


The  Story: 

John  Lenox  was  the  son  of  a  well-to- 
do  businessman  in  New  York.  After 
college  he  lived  for  several  years  in 
Europe  at  his  father's  expense.  He  was 
twenty-six  years  old  when  he  returned 
to  America,  without  having  done  any 
thing  which  fitted  him  to  earn  a  living. 

John  returned  to  find  that  his  father's 
business  was  failing  rapidly  and  that  he 
would  soon  have  to  make  a  living  for 
himself.  His  father  found  a  place  for 
him  with  a  New  York  law  firm,  but 
reading  law  proved  uncongenial.  When 
his  father  died,  John  left  the  firm.  Then, 
through  an  old  friend  of  his  father's, 
John  became  assistant  to  the  owner  of  a 
small  bank  in  Homeville,  New  York. 

David  Harum,  the  owner  of  the  bank, 
was  a  crusty  old  man  who  enjoyed  his 
reputation  as  a  skinflint,  What  most  of 
the  townspeople  did  not  know  was  that 
he  was  quite  a  philanthropist  in  his  own 
way,  but  preferred  to  cover  up  his  charity 
and  good  deeds  with  gruff  words. 
Harum's  one  vice  was  horse  trading.  His 
aster,  who  kept  house  for  him,  firmly 
Relieved  that  he  would  rather  trade  horses 
han  eat  or  sleep.  Moreover,  he  usually 
.ame  out  ahead  in  any  swapping  deal. 

David  Harum  was  well  pleased  with 
Jie  appearance  of  his  new  assistant,  John 
Lenox.  And  when  John  took  hold  of  his 
duties  better  than  any  other  clerk  in  the 
bank  had  ever  done,  David  Harum  began 
£0  think  seriously  of  looking  after  the 
young  man's  future.  Harum  felt  that 
John  should  have  an  opportunity  to 
better  himself,  but  he  wanted  first  to  be 
certain  that  he  was  not  mistaken  in 
judging  the  young  man's  character.  He 
set  out  to  discover  what  he  wanted  to 
know  in  a  peculiar  way.  He  let  John 
live  uncomfortably  in  a  broken-down 
hotel  for  several  months  to  ascertain  his 
fortitude.  He  also  gave  John  several 
chances  to  be  dishonest  by  practices 
which  a  sharp  trader  like  Harum  might 
be  expected  to  approve.  John's  straight 
forward  dealings  won  Harum's  respect 
and  approval  He  casually  gave  John 


five  ten-dollar  gold  pieces  and  asked  him 
to  move  into  a  room  in  Harum's  own  large 
house  with  him  and  his  sister,  Polly. 

John  had  begun  to  discover  that 
Harum  was  not  the  selfish  and  crusty 
old  man  he  appeared.  He  knew  that 
Harum  had  called  in  a  widow  whose 
mortgage  was  overdue  and  had  torn  up 
the  paper  because  the  woman's  husband 
had  at  one  time  taken  Harum  to  the 
circus  when  the  banker  was  a  little 
boy  without  a  cent  to  his  name.  Evert 
Harum's  horse  trading  was  different  when 
one  carne  to  know  him.  As  John  Lenox 
discovered,  Harum  only  let  people  cheat 
themselves.  If  someone  professed  to  knou 
all  about  horses,  Harum  used  the  trade 
to  teach  him  a  lesson,  but  if  a  tyro  pro 
fessed  his  ignorance  of  the  animals 
Harum  was  sure  to  give  him  a  fair  ex 
change.  He  was  a  living  example  of  the 
proverb  which  propounds  shrewdly  that 
it  is  impossible  to  cheat  an  honest  man, 
and  the  corollary,  that  it  is  almost  impos 
sible  not  to  cheat  a  dishonest  one. 

John  Lenox's  life  in  Homeville  was 
restricted,  and  he  was  thrown  much  on 
his  own  resources.  He  secured  a  piano 
for  himself  and  played  in  the  evenings 
or  read  from  a  small  collection  of  books 
which  he  had  saved  from  his  father's 
library.  His  only  real  friends  were  David 
Harum  and  Harum's  sister,  Polly,  both 
old  enough  to  be  John's  parents.  He 
spent  many  pleasant  hours  in  Harum's 
company.  They  would  often  take 
Harum's  horses  out  for  a  drive,  during 
which  the  loquacious  banker  would  regale 
the  young  man  with  stories  of  horse 
trading,  of  the  foibles  of  the  people  in 
the  community,  or  of  Harum's  early  life 
when  he  had  run  away  from  home  to 
work  along  the  Erie  Canal.  On  one  of 
these  rides  Harum  learned  that  John  was 
in  love  with  an  heiress  he  had  met  in 
Europe.  John  felt  that  he  could  not 
ask  her  to  marry  him  until  he  had  proved 
himself  a  success. 

Soon  afterward  Harum  gave  John  an 
opportunity  to  make  a  large  amount  of 


193 


money.  Harum  had  a  tip  on  a  corner  in 
pork  on  the  Chicago  market.  Harum 
and  John  bought  several  thousand  bar 
rels  of  pork  and  sold  them  at  a  con 
siderable  profit.  This  deal  was  the  first 
step  Harum  took  to  make  John  financially 
independent. 

John's  second  year  in  Homeville  was 
more  eventful.  By  that  time  he  had  been 
accepted  as  a  member  of  the  community 
and  had  made  friends  both  in  the  town 
and  among  the  wealthy  people  who  came 
to  Homeville  during  the  summer  months. 
Meanwhile  Harum  revealed  to  his  sister 
his  plan  to  retire  from  active  work  in 
the  bank  and  to  make  John  his  partner. 
He  also  revealed  to  her  that  John  had  a 
tract  of  land  in  Pennsylvania  which 
everyone  had  considered  worthless,  but 
which  was  likely  to  produce  oil.  Harum, 
in  his  younger  days,  had  spent  some 
time  in  the  Pennsylvania  oil  fields,  and 
like  most  small-town  bankers  of  the 
time,  he  knew  something  about  a  great 
many  financial  activities.  What  he  did 
not  reveal  to  his  sister  was  that  he  also 
planned  to  leave  his  estate  to  John,  for, 
excepting  Polly,  he  had  no  relatives. 

By  the  end  of  his  third  year  in 
Harum's  bank,  John  had  made  enough 
money  through  market  operations  to  make 
himself  independent,  and  he  could  have 
left  the  bank  and  the  town  for  New 
York  City  if  he  had  cared  to  do  so.  When 
the  banker  broached  the  subject  to  him, 


John  admitted  that  two  years  before 
the  prospect  of  returning  to  the  city 
would  have  been  welcome.  Now  he 
had  come  to  like  Homeville  and  had  no 
desire  to  leave  the  home  of  David  Harum 
and  his  sister.  That  was  exactly  what 
Harum  wanted  to  hear.  He  told  John 
that  he  was  to  become  a  partner  in  the 
bank.  Harum  also  told  him  that  a  com 
pany  wanted  to  lease  his  Pennsylvania 
land  for  the  purpose  of  drilling  for  oil. 

Then  John  fell  ill,  and  his  doctor  sent 
him  on  a  Mediterranean  cruise.  While 
aboard  ship,  John  met  Mary  Blake,  the 
young  heiress  with  whom  he  had  fallen 
in  love  several  years  before.  At  first 
John  thought,  because  of  an  error  in  the 
ship's  passenger  list,  that  Mary  Blake 
was  already  married.  One  moonlight 
night,  on  a  mountain  overlooking  the 
bay  at  Naples,  Mary  informed  John  of 
his  mistake  and  promised  to  marry  him, 
and  a  few  days  later  Harum  was  over 
joyed  to  receive  a  cable  announcing 
John's  marriage.  Harum  wired  back  the 
good  news  that  drilling  had  begun  on  the 
property  in  Pennsylvania. 

When  John  and  Mary  Lenox  rcturnexl 
to  the  United  States  several  months 
later,  they  settled  in  Homeville  and  John 
took  over  the  bank.  Then  David  Harum 
was  free  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days 
driving  about  the  countryside  and  swapj 
ping  horses. 


DEAD  SOULS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Nikolai  V,  Gogol  (1809-1852) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  'published:  1842 

Principal  characters: 

PAVEL  IVANOVJTCH  TCHITCHIKOFF,  an  adventurer 
MANILOFF,  from  whom  he  bought  souls 
TENTETNIKOFF,  whom  he  tried  to  marry  off 
PJLATON  PLATONOFF,  with  whom  he  later  traveled 
KLOBUEFF,  whose  estate  Jbe  bought 
KOSTANZHOGLO,  who  lent  him  money 
AJLEXEI  IVANOVITCH  LYENITZEN,  who  threw  tim  into  jail 


.194 


Critique: 

This  novel  is  written  in  high  good 
humor.  Its  portraits  of  various  Russian 
types — peasant,  landholder,  prince — are 
delightful.  The  plot  itself  is  not  com 
plex.  The  length  of  the  novel  is  ac 
counted  for  by  the  author's  numerous 
digressions,  which  add  up  to  a  rich  picture 
of  provincial  Russian  life  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century.  The  satire  ranks 
with  the  best  the  world  has  produced. 

The  Story: 

Pavel  Ivanovitch  Tchitchikoff  had  ar 
rived  in  the  town  accompanied  by  his 
coachman,  Selifan,  and  his  valet,  Pe- 
trushka.  He  had  been  entertained 
gloriously  and  had  met  many  interesting 
people,  who  insisted  on  his  visiting  them 
in  their  own  homes.  Nothing  could 
have  suited  Tchitchikoff  better.  After 
several  days  of  celebration  in  the  town, 
he  took  his  coachman  and  began  a  round 
of  visits  to  the  various  estates  in  the 
surrounding  country. 

His  first  host  was  ManilofT,  a  genial 
man  who  wined  him  and  dined  him  in 
a  manner  fit  for  a  prince.  When  the 
time  was  ripe,  Tchitchikoff  began  to 
question  his  host  about  his  estate  and 
learned,  to  his  satisfaction,  that  many 
of  Maniloff's  souls,  as  the  serfs  were 
called,  had  died  since  the  last  census 
and  that  Maniloff  was  still  paying  taxes 
on  them  and  would  continue  to  do  so  un 
til  the  next  census.  Tchitchikoff  offered  to 
buy  these  dead  souls  from  Maniloff  and 
so  relieve  him  of  his  extra  tax  burden. 
The  contract  signed,  Tchitchikoff  set  out 
for  the  next  estate. 

Selifan  got  lost  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  drew  up  to  a  house  which  be 
longed  to  Madame  Korobotchkina,  from 
whom  Tchitchikoff  also  bought  dead 
souls.  When  he  left  his  hostess,  he  found 
his  way  to  an  inn  in  the  neighborhood. 
There  he  met  Nozdreff,  a  notorious 
gambler  and  liar.  Nozdreff  had  re 
cently  lost  a  great  deal  of  money  at 
ribling,  and  Tchitchikoff  thought 
would  be  a  likely  seller  of  dead  souls. 


But  when  he  broached  the  subject,  Noz 
dreff  asked  him  the  reason  for  his  in 
terest  in  dead  souls.  For  every  reason 
Tchitchikoff  gave,  Nozdreff  called  him  a 
liar.  Then  Nozdreff  wanted  to  play  at 
cards  for  the  souls,  but  Tchitchikoff  re 
fused.  They  were  arguing  when  a  police 
captain  came  in  and  arrested  Nozdreff 
for  assault  on  a  man  while  drunk. 
Tchitchikoff  thought  himself  well  rid  of 
the  annoying  Nozdreff. 

His  next  host  was  Sobakevitch,  who 
at  first  demanded  the  unreasonable  sum 
of  one  hundred  roubles  for  each  name 
of  a  dead  soul.  Tchitchikoff  finally 
argued  him  into  accepting  two  and  a 
half  roubles  apiece,  a  higher  price  than 
he  had  planned  to  pay. 

Pliushkin,  with  whom  he  negotiated 
next,  was  a  miser.  He  bought  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  dead  souls  and  seventy- 
eight  fugitives  after  considerable  hag 
gling.  Pliushkin  gave  him  a  letter  to  Ivan 
Grigorievitch,  the  town  president. 

Back  in  town,  Tchitchikoff  persuaded 
the  town  president  to  make  his  recent 
purchases  legal.  Since  the  law  required 
that  souls  when  purchased  be  transferred 
to  another  estate,  Tchitchikoff  told  the 
officials  that  he  had  land  in  the  Kherson 
province.  He  had  no  trouble  in  making 
himself  sound  plausible.  Some  bribes  to 
minor  officials  helped. 

Tchitchikoff  proved  to  be  such  a  de 
lightful  guest  that  the  people  of  the  town 
insisted  that  he  stay  on  and  on.  He 
was  the  center  of  attraction  at  many 
social  functions,  including  a  ball  at  which 
he  was  especially  interested  in  the  gover 
nor's  daughter.  Soon,  however,  rumors 
spread  that  Tchitchikoff  was  using  the 
dead  souls  as  a  screen,  that  he  was  really 
planning  to  elope  with  the  governor's 
daughter.  The  men,  in  consultation  at 
the  police  master's  house,  speculated 
variously.  Some  said  he  was  a  forger; 
others  thought  he  might  be  an  officer 
in  the  governor-general's  office;  one  man 
put  forth  the  fantastic  suggestion  that 
he  was  really  the  legendary  Captain 


195 


Kopeykin  in  disguise.  They  questioned 
Nozdreff,  who  had  been  the  first  to  re 
port  the  story  of  the  purchase  of  dead 
souls.  At  their  interrogation  Nozdreff 
confirmed  their  opinions  that  Tchitchi 
koff  was  a  spy  and  a  forger  who  was 
trying  to  elope  with  the  governor's  daugh 
ter. 

Meanwhile  Tchitchikoff  had  caught 
a  cold  and  was  confined  to  his  bed.  When 
at  last  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  go 
out,  he  found  himself  no  longer  wel 
come  at  the  houses  of  his  former  friends. 
He  was,  in  fact,  turned  away  by  serv 
ants  at  the  door,  Tchitchikoff  realized 
it  would  be  best  for  him  to  leave  town. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was  that 
Tchitchikoff  had  begun  his  career  as  a 
humble  clerk.  His  father  had  died 
leaving  no  legacy  for  his  son,  who  served 
in  various  capacities,  passing  from  cus 
toms  officer  to  smuggler  to  pauper  to  legal 
agent.  When  he  learned  that  the  Trustee 
Committee  would  mortgage  souls,  he  hit 
upon  the  scheme  of  acquiring  funds  by 
mortgaging  dead  souls  that  were  still 
on  the  census  lists.  It  was  this  purpose 
which  had  sent  him  on  his  current  tour. 

He  turned  up  next  on  the  estate  of 
Andrei  Ivanovitch  Tentetnikoff,  a  thirty- 
three-year-old  bachelor  who  had  retired 
from  public  life  to  vegetate  in  the  coun 
try.  Learning  that  Tentetnikoff  was  in 
love  with  the  daughter  of  his  neighbor, 
General  Betrishtcheff,  Tchitchikoff  went 
to  see  the  general  and  won  his  consent 
to  TentetnikofFs  suit.  He  brought  the 
conversation  around  to  a  point  where 
he  could  offer  to  buy  dead  souls  from 
the  general.  He  gave  as  his  reason  the 
story  that  his  old  uncle  would  not  leave 


him  an  estate  unless  he  himself  already 
owned  some  property.  The  scheme  so 
delighted  the  general  that  he  gladly  made 
the  transaction. 

Tchitchikoff 's  next  stop  was  with 
Pyetukh,  a  generous  glutton  whose  table 
Tchitchikoff  enjoyed.  There  he  met  a 
young  man  named  Platonoff,  whom 
Tchitchikoff  persuaded  to  travel  with  him 
and  see  Russia.  The  two  stopped  to  see 
Platonoff's  sister  and  brother-in-law, 
Konstantin  Kostanzhoglo,  a  prosperous 
landholder.  Tchitchikoff  so  impressed  his 
host  that  Kostanzhoglo  agreed  to  lend  him 
ten  thousand  roubles  to  buy  the  estate  of 
a  neighboring  spendthrift  named  Klo- 
bueff.  Klobueff  said  he  had  a  rich  old 
aunt  who  would  give  great  gifts  to 
churches  and  monasteries  but  would  not 
help  her  destitute  relatives.  Tchitchikoff 
proceeded  to  the  town  where  the  old 
woman  resided  and  forged  a  will  to  his 
own  advantage.  But  he  forgot  to  insert 
a  clause  canceling  all  previous  wills.  On 
her  death  he  went  to  interview  His  Ex 
cellency,  Alexei  Ivanovitch  Lyenitzen, 
who  told  him  that  two  wills  nad  been 
discovered,  each  contradicting  the  other. 
Tchitchikoff  was  accused  of  forging  the 
second  will  and  was  thrown  into  prison. 
In  the  interpretation  of  this  mix-up, 
Tchitchikoff  learned  a  valuable  lesson  in 
deception  from  the  crafty  lawyer  he 
consulted.  The  lawyer  managed  to  con 
fuse  the  affair  with  every  public  and 
private  scandal  in  the  province,  so  that 
the  officials  were  soon  willing  to  drop  the 
whole  matter  if  Tchitchikoff  would  leave 
town  immediately.  The  ruined  adven 
turer  was  only  too  glad  to  comply. 


DEAR  BRUTUS 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  James  M.  Barrie  (1860-1937) 

Type  of  plat:  Romantic  fantasy 

Time  of  ^lot:  Midsummer  Eve 

Locale:  England 

First  presented:  1917 


196 


Principal  characters: 
LOB,  the  ancient  Puck 
MATEY,  his  butler 
GUESTS  AT  LOB'S  HOUSE  PARTY 


Critique: 

Barrie's  thesis — that  the  exigencies  of 
human  life  are  the  fault  of  the  individual, 
not  of  so-called  Fate — is  fancifully  de 
veloped  in  Dear  Brutus  by  means  of  a 
folk  superstition  concerning  Midsummer 
Eve.  The  play  is  fantastic  and  realistic 
at  the  same  time,  fantastic  in  that  its 
characters  are  transported  into  the  realm 
of  the  unreal,  realistic  in  the  perfectly 
candid  way  in  which  the  various  relation 
ships  among  the  characters  are  set  forth. 

The  Story: 

Dinner  was  over,  and  the  ladies  of 
Lob's  house  party  returned  to  the  draw 
ing-room  after  leaving  the  gentlemen  to 
their  cigars  and  wine.  Matey,  the  butler, 
had  stolen  jewelry  from  one  of  the  guests. 
The  women  called  him  in  to  tell  him  they 
knew  he  was  the  thief.  When  Matey 
returned  the  jewelry,  the  women  stated 
that  they  would  not  report  him  if  he 
told  them  why  they  were  guests  at  the 
house.  Matey  either  could  not  or  would 
not  give  them  a  direct  answer.  In  the 
course  of  the  conversation  it  was  learned 
that  their  host  was  mysteriously  ageless 
and  that  Lob  was  another  name  for  the 
legendary  Puck.  Matey  admitted  that 
Lob  always  asked  a  different  party  of 
guests  to  his  house  for  Midsummer 
Week.  He  warned  the  women  not  to 
venture  outside  the  garden  on  this  Mid 
summer  Eve.  When  he  left  them  with 
the  warning  not  to  go  into  the  wood, 
the  women  were  puzzled  because  there 
was  no  wood  within  miles  of  the  house. 

Host  Lob  entered  thoughtfully.  He 
was  followed  by  old  Mr.  Coade,  who 
was  collecting  notes  for  a  projected 
work  on  the  Feudal  System,  and  Mr. 
Purdie,  an  intellectual  young  barrister. 
Coade  and  Purdie  suggested  that  the 


group  take  a  walk  to  discover  a  mysterious 
wood.  Lob  said  slyly  that  the  villagers 
believed  that  a  wood  appeared  in  a  dif 
ferent  part  of  the  neighborhood  each 
Midsummer  Eve.  He  pretended  skep 
ticism  to  sharpen  the  curiosity  of  hit. 
guests,  who  went  to  prepare  for  the 
adventure, 

Among  Lob's  guests  was  Lady  Caroline. 
Laney,  unmarried  and  of  disdainful  poise, 
and  Joanna  Trout,  single  and  in  love 
with  love.  Joanna  and  Mr.  Purdie  were 
caught  kissing  in  the  living  room  by 
Mabel  Purdie,  who  saw  them  from  the 
garden.  She  came  in.  Joanna,  surprised, 
asked  Mabel  what  she  was  doing  in  the 
garden.  Mabel  answered  that  she  was 
looking  for  her  lost  love.  Her  calm 
candor  caught  Jack  Purdie  and  Joanna 
completely  off  guard.  Jack  admitted 
his  love  for  Joanna.  Mabel  left  the  lovers 
grieving  that  fate  had  not  brought  them 
together  earlier.  Alice  Dearth  entered. 
Cattishly,  Joanna  revealed  that  Mrs. 
Dearth  had  at  one  time  been  an  artist's 
model.  Dearth,  an  artist  now  broken  by 
drink,  entered.  Alice  Dearth  had  grown 
to  despise  him  for  his  sottishness.  Dearth 
regretted  not  having  a  child;  Alice  Dearth 
regretted  not  having  married  a  former 
suitor. 

When  the  party  reassembled,  Lob  re 
vealed  that  to  go  into  the  forest  gave  one 
another  chance,  something  nearly  every 
one  in  the  group  was  seeking.  Dearth 
drew  aside  the  curtain  to  reveal  a  forest 
in  the  place  of  the  garden.  He  entered 
the  wood  and  disappeared.  Mabel  Purdie 
followed  him.  Next  went  Jack  Purdie 
and  Joanna,  followed  by  Alice  Dearth, 
Lady  Caroline,  and  old  Mr.  Coade.  Lob 
enticed  Matey  to  the  edge  of  the  wood 
and  pushed  him  into  it. 


EAR  BRUTUS  by  Tames  M.  Barrie,  from  THE  PLAYS  OF  JAMES  M.  BARRIE.    By  permission  of  th«  pub- 
iiheru,  Charles  Scribner'i  Son*.    Copyright,  1914-,  by  Charles  Scribner'a  Sons,  1918,  1928,  by  J.  M.  Barrie. 


197 


In  the  moonlight  of  Midsummer  Eve, 
in  the  fanciful  realm  of  the  second 
chance,  Matey  and  Lady  Caroline  dis 
covered  that  they  were  vulgar  husband 
and  wife.  Joanna  was  in  search  of  her 
husband.  When  Mr,  Coade,  now  a  wood- 
lander,  appeared  dancing  and  blowing 
a  whistle,  Joanna  said  that  she  was  Mrs. 
Purdie;  she  suspected  her  husband  of 
being  in  the  forest  with  another  woman. 
They  saw  Purdie  in  the  company  of 
Mabel,  whom  he  chased  among  the  trees. 
In  the  forest,  Mabel  and  Joanna  had 
changed  places.  Purdie  and  Mabel 
mourned  that  they  had  met  too  late. 

In  another  part  of  the  forest,  Will 
Dearth  and  his  young  daughter  Mar 
garet  raced  to  the  spot  where  the  artist's 
easel  was  set  up,  for  Dearth  was  painting 
a  moonlit  landscape.  Margaret  was 
worried  over  her  excess  of  happiness;  she 
expressed  her  fear  that  her  father  would 
be  taken  from  her.  The  pair  agreed  that 
artists,  especially,  needed  daughters  and 
that  fame  was  not  everything. 

Alice,  a  vagrant  searching  for  scraps  to 
eat,  passed  the  happy  pair.  She  told  them 
that  she  was  the  Honorable  Mrs.  Finch- 
Fallowe,  the  wife  of  the  suitor  that  she 
had  recalled  in  Lob's  house,  and  that  she 
had  seen  good  times.  Dearth  approached 
a  nearby  house  to  get  food  for  the 
vagrant  woman.  Margaret,  somehow 
afraid,  tried  to  restrain  him. 

Back  in  the  house,  Lob  was  waiting 
for  the  return  of  his  guests.  There  was  a 
tapping  on  the  window  and  Jack  Purdie 
and  Mabel,  still  charmed,  entered.  They 
noticed  but  did  not  recognize  the  sleep 
ing  Lob.  Still  under  the  influence  of 
Midsummer  magic,  Purdie  spoke  words 
of  love  to  Mabel.  He  was  interrupted  by 
the  entrance  of  Joanna,  his  Midsummer 
Eve  wife.  Lob  seemed  to  leer  in  his 
sleep.  Suddenly  the  enchantment  dis 


appeared;  the  trio  recognized  the  room 
and  Lob.  After  the  complete  return  to 
reality,  Purdie  realized  that  fate  was  not 
to  blame  for  human  destiny.  Ashamed 
but  honest,  he  admitted  that  he  was  a 
philanderer  and  asked  Mabel  to  forgive 
him. 

Matey  returned,  still  the  vulgarian  in 
speech  and  dress.  He  stated,  to  the  sur 
prise  of  those  present,  that  his  wife  was 
with  him  and  he  introduced  Lady  Caro 
line  Matey,  The  charm  was  broken,  to 
the  horror  of  the  fastidious  Caroline 
Laney  and  to  the  embarrassment  of 
Matey. 

Still  piping  on  his  whistle,  Mr.  Coade 
returned.  Although  he  did  not  recog 
nize  Mrs.  Coade,  he  expressed  his  admira 
tion  for  her  lovable  face.  The  old  man 
returned  to  reality  after  making  his  wife 
proud  that  he  had  chosen  her  again  in 
the  world  of  the  second  chance. 

Alice  Dearth,  hungry,  entered  and 
looked  ravenously  at  the  refreshments. 
Between  mouthfuls  of  cake  she  bragged 
of  her  former  aflluence  as  Mrs.  Finch- 
Fallowe;  she  mystified  the  other  guests 
with  talk  of  a  painter  and  his  daughter 
in  the  forest.  Dearth,  the  happy  painter 
of  the  forest,  came  in.  In  their  disen 
chantment,  Alice  knew  that  she  would 
have  been  unhappy  with  the  former 
suitor,  and  that  Will  Dearth  would  have 
been  happier  without  her.  Dearth  was 
momentarily  crushed  by  the  loss  of  Mar 
garet,  but  he  recovered  to  thank  Lob 
for  providing  that  night's  experience. 

Lob,  who  had  been  curled  up  in  a 
chair  in  a  trance-like  sleep  during  the 
adventures,  and  who  had  leered  and 
smiled  in  his  sleep  as  his  guests  came 
back  to  the  actual  world,  returned  to  the 
care  of  his  beloved  flowers.  Midsummer 
Eve  was  past;  the  world  of  might-have- 
been  had  ended. 


198 


DEATH  COMES  FOR  THE  ARCHBISHOP 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Willa  Gather  (1876-1947) 

Type  of  plot:    Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    New  Mexico  and  Arizona 

First  published:     1927 

Principal  characters: 

FATHER  JEAN  MARIE  LATOUR,  Vicar  Apostalic  of  New  Mexico 

FATHER  JOSEPH  VAILLANT,  his  friend,  a  missionary  priest 

KIT   CARSON,    frontier   scout 

JACINTO,  an  Indian  guide 

Critique: 

Death  Comes  for  the  Archbishop  is 
a  novel  reaffirming  the  greatness  of  the 
American  past.  This  chronicle  of  the 
Catholic  Southwest  is  a  story,  beau 
tifully  told,  which  re-creates  in  the  lives 
of  Bishop  Latour  and  Father  Vaillant, 
his  vicar,  the  historical  careers  of  Bishop 
Lamy  and  Father  Macheboeuf,  two  de 
vout  and  noble  missionary  priests  in  the 
Vicarate  of  New  Mexico  during  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Bishop  Latour  is  scholarly  and  urbane; 
Father  Vaillant,  energetic  and  passion 
ately  the  man  of  feeling.  A  novel  of 
these  dedicated  lives,  the  book  presents 
also  a  picture  of  a  region  and  a  culture. 
There  are  many  strands  of  interest  here 
— the  bleak  desert  country  of  sand  and 
gaunt  red  mountains,  colorful  adobe 
towns  and  Mexican  customs,  conflicts 
with  a  stubborn  and  sometimes  corrupt 
native  clergy,  missionary  journeys  in  all 
weathers,  the  rituals  and  legends  of 
the  Indian  pueblos,  frontier  heroes  like 
Kit  Carson  and  desperadoes  like  Buck 
Scales,  relics  of  die  conquistadores  who 
brought  the  sword  and  the  Cross  into 
the  New  World.  The  novel  lives  in  its 
bright  glimpses  of  the  past,  stories  that 
cut  backward  into  time  so  that  the  action 
is  not  always  upon  the  same  level.  Tales 
and  legends  that  go  beyond  the  period  of 
American  occupation  into  three  centuries 
of  Spanish  colonial  history  and  back  to 
the  primitive  tribal  life  of  the  Hopi,  the 
Navajo,  and  the  vanished  cliff-dwellers 


break  this  chronicle  at  many  points 
and  give  the  effect  of  density  and  variety 
to  a  work  which  recaptures  so  completely 
the  spirit  and  movement  of  the  pioneei 
West. 

The  Story: 

In  1851  Father  Jean  Marie  Latou* 
reached  Santa  F£,  where  he  was  to  be 
come  Vicar  Apostolic  of  New  Mexico. 
His  journey  from  the  shores  of  Lake 
Ontario  had  been  long  and  arduous.  He 
had  lost  his  belongings  in  a  shipwreck 
at  Galveston  and  had  suffered  painful  in 
jury  in  a  wagon  accident  at  San  Antonio. 

Upon  Father  Latour's  arrival,  in 
company  with  his  good  friend,  Father 
Joseph  Vaillant,  the  Mexican  priests 
refused  to  recognize  his  authority.  He 
had  no  choice  but  to  ride  three  thousand 
miles  into  Mexico  to  secure  the  necessary 
papers  from  the  Bishop  of  Durango. 

On  the  road  he  lost  his  way  in  an  arid 
landscape  of  red  hills  and  gaunt  junipers. 
His  thirst  became  a  vertigo  of  mind  and 
senses,  and  he  could  blot  out  his  own 
agony  only  by  repeating  the  cry  of  the 
Saviour  on  the  Cross.  As  he  was  about 
to  give  up  all  hope,  he  saw  a  tree  grow 
ing  in  the  shape  of  a  cross.  A  short 
time  later  he  arrived  in  the  Mexican 
settlement  called  Agua  Secreta,  Hidden 
Water.  Stopping  at  the  home  of  Benito, 
Bishop  Latour  first  performed  the  mar 
riage  ceremonies  and  then  baptized  al] 
the  children. 


DEATH  COMES  FOR  THE  ARCHBISHOP  by  Willa   Gather.    By   permission  of  the   publisher*,   Alfred  A 
Knopf,  Inc.    Copyright,  1926,  1927,  by  Willa  Gather. 


199 


At  Durango  he  received  the  necessary 
documents  and  started  the  long  trip  back 
to  Santa  F6.  Meanwhile  Father  Vaillant 
had  won  over  the  inhabitants  from  en 
mity  to  amity  and  had  set  up  the  Episco 
pal  residence  in  an  old  adobe  house.  On 
the  first  morning  after  his  return  to  Santa 
F6  the  bishop  heard  the  unexpected  sound 
of  a  bell  ringing  the  Angelus.  Father 
Vaillant  told  him  that  he  had  found  the 
bell,  bearing  the  date  1356,  in  the  base 
ment  of  old  San  Miguel  Church. 

On  a  missionary  journey  to  Albuquer 
que  in  March,  Father  Vaillant  acquired 
as  a  gift  a  handsome  cream-colored  mule 
and  another  just  like  it  for  his  bishop. 
These  mules,  Contento  and  Angelica, 
served  the  men  in  good  stead  for  many 
years. 

On  another  such  trip  the  two  priests 
were  riding  together  on  their  mules. 
Caught  in  a  sleet  storm,  they  stopped 
at  the  rude  shack  of  an  American,  Buck 
Scales.  His  Mexican  wife  warned  the 
travelers  by  gestures  that  their  lives  were 
in  danger,  and  they  rode  on  to  Mora 
without  spending  the  night.  The  next 
morning  the  Mexican  woman  appeared 
in  town.  She  told  them  that  her  husband 
had  already  murdered  and  robbed  four 
travelers,  and  that  he  had  killed  her 
four  babies.  The  result  was  that  Scales 
was  brought  to  justice,  and  his  wife, 
Magdalena,  was  sent  to  the  home  of  Kit 
Carson,  the  famous  frontier  scout.  From 
that  time  on  Kit  Carson  was  a  valuable 
friend  of  the  bishop  and  his  vicar.  Mag 
dalena  later  became  the  housekeeper 
and  manager  for  the  kitchens  of  the 
Sisters  of  Loretto. 

During  his  first  year  at  Santa  Fe, 
the  bishop  was  called  to  a  meeting  of 
the  Plenary  Council  at  Baltimore.  On 
the  return  journey  he  brought  back  with 
him  five  nuns  sent  to  establish  the 
school  of  Our  Lady  of  Light.  Next, 
Bishop  Latour,  attended  by  the  Indian 
Jacinto  as  his  guide,  spent  some  time 
visiting  his  own  vicarate.  Padre  Gal- 
legos,  whom  he  visited  at  Albuquerque, 
acted  more  like  a  professional  gambler 


than  a  priest,  but  because  he  was  very 
popular  with  the  natives  Bishop  Latour 
did  not  remove  him  at  that  time.  At 
last  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  the  top 
of  the  mesa  at  Acoma,  the  end  of  his 
long  journey.  On  that  trip  he  heard 
the  legend  of  Fray  Baltazar,  killed  during 
an  uprising  of  the  Acoma  Indians. 

A  month  after  the  bishop's  visit,  he 
suspended  Padre  Gallegos  and  put  Father 
Vaillant  in  charge  of  the  parish  at 
Albuquerque.  On  a  trip  to  the  Pecos 
Mountains  the  vicar  fell  ill  with  an 
attack  of  die  black  measles.  The  bishop, 
hearing  of  his  illness,  set  out  to  nurse 
his  friend.  Jacinto  again  served  as  guide 
on  the  cold,  snowy  trip.  When  Bishop 
Latour  reached  his  friend's  bedside,  he 
found  that  Kit  Carson  had  arrived  be 
fore  him.  As  soon  as  the  sick  man  could 
sit  in  the  saddle,  Carson  and  the  bishop 
took  him  back  to  Santa  Fe\ 

Bishop  Latour  decided  to  investigate 
the  parish  of  Taos,  where  the  powerful 
old  priest,  Antonio  Jose*  Martinez,  was 
the  ruler  of  both  spiritual  and  temporal 
matters.  The  following  year  the  bishop 
was  called  to  Rome.  When  he  returned, 
he  brought  with  him  four  young  priests 
from  the  Seminary  of  Montferrand  and 
a  Spanish  priest  to  replace  Padre  Mar 
tinez  at  Taos. 

Bishop  Latour  had  one  great  ambi 
tion;  he  wanted  to  build  a  cathedral  in 
Santa  F6.  In  that  project  he  was  assisted 
by  the  rich  Mexican  ranchero$>  but  to 
the  greatest  extent  by  his  good  friend, 
Don  Antonio  Olivares.  When  Don  An 
tonio  died,  his  will  stated  that  his  estate 
was  left  to  his  wife  and  daughter  during 
their  lives,  and  after  their  decease  to  the 
Church.  Don  Antonio's  brothers  con 
tested  the  will  on  the  grounds  that  the 
daughter,  Senorita  Inez,  was  too  old  to 
be  Dona  Isabella's  daughter,  and  the 
bishop  and  his  vicar  had  to  persuade  the 
vain,  coquettish  widow  to  swear  to  her 
true  age  of  fifty-three,  rather  than  the 
forty-two  years  she  claimed.  Thus  the 
money  was  saved  for  Don  Antonio's  fam 
ily  and,  eventually,  the  Church. 


200 


Father  Vaillant  was  sent  to  Tucson, 
but  after  several  years  Bishop  Latour  de 
cided  to  recall  him  to  Santa  Fe\  When 
he  arrived,  the  bishop  showed  him  the 
stone  for  building  the  cathedral.  About 
that  time  Bishop  Latour  received  a  let 
ter  from  the  Bishop  of  Leavenworth.  Be 
cause  of  the  discovery  of  gold  near 
Pike's  Peak,  he  asked  to  have  a  priest 
sent  there  from  Father  Latour's  diocese. 
Father  Vaillant  was  the  obvious  choice. 

Father  Vaillant  spent  the  rest  of  his 
life  doing  good  works  in  Colorado, 
though  he  did  return  to  Santa  F6  with 
the  Papal  Emissary  when  Bishop  Latour 
was  made  an  archbishop.  Father  Vaillant 
became  the  first  Bishop  of  Colorado.  He 
died  there  after  years  of  service,  and 
Archbishop  Latour  attended  his  im 
pressive  funeral  services. 

After  the  death  of  his  friend,  Father 
Latour  retired  to  a  modest  country  estate 
near  Santa  Fe\  He  had  dreamed  during 


all  his  missionary  years  of  the  time  when 
he  could  retire  to  his  own  fertile  green 
Auvergne  in  France,  but  in  the  end  he 
decided  that  he  could  not  leave  the  land 
of  his  labors  for  his  faith.  Memories  of 
the  journeys  he  and  Father  Vaillant  had 
made  over  thousands  of  miles  of  desert 
country  "became  the  meaning  of  his  later 
years.  Bernard  Ducrot,  a  young  Semi 
narian  from  France,  became  like  a  son  to 
him. 

When  Father  Latour  knew  that  his 
time  had  come  to  die,  he  asked  to  be 
taken  into  town  to  spend  his  last  days 
near  the  cathedral.  On  the  last  day  of 
his  life  the  church  was  filled  with  people 
who  came  to  pray  for  him,  as  word  that 
he  was  dying  spread  through  the  town, 
He  died  in  the  still  twilight,  and  the 
cathedral  bell,  tolling  in  the  early  dark 
ness,  carried  to  the  waiting  countryside 
the  news  that  at  last  death  had  come  for 
Father  Latour. 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  GODS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Dmitri  Merejkowski  (1865-1941) 

Type  of  plot:    Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Fourth  century 

Locale:   Ancient  Rome 

First  published:    1896 

Principal  characters: 

CAESAR  CONSTANTIUS,  the  Roman  Emperor 
JULIAN  FLAVIUS,  Caesar's  cousin 
GALLUS  FLAVIUS,  Julian's  brother 
ARSINO&,  Julian's  beloved 

Critique: 

Merejkowski,  one  of  the  most  success 
ful  of  modern  Russian  novelists  of  the 
old  regime,  saw  European  civilization  as 
a  result  of  the  meeting  of  Hellenism  and 
Christianity.  In  this  novel  he  attempted 
to  show  how  that  meeting  was  carried 
on  in  the  reign  of  Julian  the  Apostate, 
a  Roman  emperor  of  the  fourth  century. 
The  novelist's  success  in  re-creating  what 
is  distant,  both  in  point  of  time  and 


place,  is  almost  unparalleled  in  any 
national  literature.  Little  street  urchins 
of  Constantinople,  common  soldiers  in 
the  Roman  legions,  innkeepers  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  fawning  courtiers  of  Cae 
sar's  court,  all  take  on  flesh  and  life  as 
they  pass  through  the  story,  all  of  them 
reflecting  in  greater  or  lesser  degree  the 
struggle  between  the  two  great  philoso 
phies,  paganism  and  Christianity. 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  GODS  by  Dmitri  Merejkowski.  Translated  by  Herbert  Trench.  By  permission  of  th* 
publishers,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  Copyright,  1901,  by  Herbert  Trench.  Renewed,  1929,  by  Desmond  Patrick 
Trench. 


201 


The  Story: 

The  Roman  Emperor  Constantius  had 
risen  to  power  by  a  series  of  assassina 
tions.  Two  of  his  cousins,  Julian  and 
Callus,  were  still  alive,  prisoners  in  Cap- 
padocia.  No  one  knew  why  they  were 
permitted  to  live,  for  they  were  the  last 
people  who  could  challenge  the  right 
of  the  emperor  to  his  position.  Julian 
was  the  greater  of  the  two,  a  young  man 
steeped  in  the  teachings  of  the  philoso 
phers.  His  brother  was  younger  and 
more  girlish  in  his  habits.  Both  knew 
that  they  could  expect  death  momen 
tarily. 

When  Julian  was  twenty  years  old, 
Constantius  gave  him  permission  to  travel 
in  Asia  Minor,  where  the  lad  affected  the 
dress  of  a  monk  and  passed  as  a  Chris 
tian.  His  younger  brother,  Callus,  was 
given  high  honors  as  co-regent  with  Con 
stantius  and  named  Caesar.  The  affection 
which  Constantius  seemed  to  bestow  on 
Callus  was  shortlived,  however,  for  soon 
the  young  man  was  recalled  to  Milan 
and  on  his  journey  homeward  he  was 
beheaded  by  order  of  the  emperor.  When 
word  of  his  brother's  death  reached 
Julian,  he  wondered  how  much  longer 
he  himself  had  to  live. 

While  Julian  wandered  about  Asia 
Minor,  he  met  many  philosophers,  and 
was  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Mithra, 
the  sun  god.  Julian  felt  more  power  in 
the  religion  of  the  pagans  than  he  did 
in  the  Christ  which  his  grandfather  had 
declared  the  official  religion  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  Knowing  die  danger  of  his 
beliefs,  Julian  kept  them  secret. 

One  day,  Publius  Porphyrius  took 
Julian  to  an  ancient  wrestling  arena 
where  they  watched  a  young  woman 
playing  at  the  ancient  Grecian  games. 
She  was  Arsinoe,  who,  like  Julian,  found 
more  joy  in  paganism  than  in  Christian 
ity.  One  night  she  told  him  that  he 
must  believe  in  himself  rather  than  in 
any  gods,  and  he  replied  to  her  that 
such  was  his  aim. 

Before  long  Julian  had  an  opportun 
ity  to  strike  at  Constantius.  Raised  to  a 


position  of  honor  at  court  and  given  the 
purple  robe  of  a  Caesar,  he  was  trained 
as  a  warrior  and  sent  to  Gaul  to  tame 
the  barbarians.  Contrary  to  Constantius' 
hopes  that  the  young  man  would  be 
killed,  he  was  highly  successful  in  Gaul. 
When  Constantius  sent  an  emissary  to 
recall  several  of  Julian's  legions,  the 
soldiers  revolted  and  hailed  Julian  as  the 
emperor  and  made  him  accept  the  crown. 
Meanwhile  Julian's  anger  against  all 
Christians  had  risen;  his  wife  refused  to 
share  his  bed  because  she  had  decided  to 
become  a  nun.  Fie  felt  no  pity  when  she 
fell  ill  and  died.  He  thought  her  actions 
had  disgraced  him. 

With  his  loyal  legions  Julian  began  a 
march  of  conquest  through  the  empire. 
While  he  was  crossing  Macedonia,  he 
received  word  that  Constantius  had  died 
in  Constantinople. 

As  soon  as  word  spread  among  Julian's 
legions  that  he  was  now  the  rightful 
emperor,  he  gathered  his  men  together 
for  a  ceremony  at  which  he  denied 
Christianity  and  affixed  the  statue  of 
Apollo  in  place  of  the  Cross  on  his 
standards.  That  act  was  only  the  begin 
ning  of  changes  in  the  empire.  On  his 
arrival  in  Constantinople  he  reinstated 
the  pagan  gods  and  returned  to  their 
temples  the  treasure  which  had  been 
taken  from  them  by  the  Christian  monks. 

The  Christians  were  outraged  at  his 
practices,  and  his  popularity  waned.  Few 
visited  the  reopened  pagan  temples.  Soon 
Julian  began  to  wonder  if  he  would  be 
successful  in  restoring  a  golden  age  of 
Hellenism  to  his  empire.  He  discovered 
that  even  his  beloved  Arsinoe  had  be 
come  a  Christian  nun  in  his  absence. 
When  he  went  to  visit  her,  she  agreed 
to  see  him;  but  she  refused  to  marry  him 
and  become  the  empress.  Julian  began 
to  wonder  to  what  end  he  was  headed. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  his 
reign  as  emperor  of  the  Eastern  Roman 
Empire,  Julian  found  that  he  had  be 
come  the  laughing-stock  of  his  people, 
despite  his  power  as  a  ruler.  His  ap- 


202 


pearance  and  his  scholarly  activities 
earned  him  the  disrespect  of  all  his  sub 
jects,  who  were  accustomed  to  a  Caesar 
of  martial  power.  When  the  Christians 
began  to  ridicule  him  and  openly  defy 
his  edicts,  Julian  decided  to  adopt  a 
different  course.  He  hit  upon  the  idea 
of  a  campaign  against  Persia.  He  hoped 
that  after  he  had  conquered  that  coun 
try  and  returned  as  a  victor,  his  people 
would  respect  both  him  and  his  anti- 
Christian  views. 

Julian's  army  assembled  at  Antioch, 
but  before  it  was  ready  to  march  Julian 
had  a  demonstration  of  the  feeling  he 
had  evoked  by  championing  the  Olym 
pian  deities  against  Christianity.  When 
he  ordered  a  Christian  chapel  removed 
from  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Antioch, 
the  Christians  burned  the  temple  and 
destroyed  the  idol  in  the  presence  of  the 
emperor  and  his  legions. 

In  the  spring  Julian  and  his  armies 
left  Antioch  and  started  toward  the  Per 
sian  frontier.  They  marched  along  the 
Euphrates  until  they  came  to  the  canal 
which  the  Persians  had  built  to  con 
nect  that  river  with  the  Tigris.  The 
Persians  had  flooded  the  area  to  halt 
the  invaders,  and  Julian's  army  marched 
in  water  up  to  their  knees  until  they 
were  far  down  the  Tigris.  After  days 
of  marching  under  a  burning  sun,  they 
reached  Perizibar,  a  Persian  fortress.  The 
fort  was  gallantly  defended,  but  the 
Romans  finally  battered  down  the  walls. 

After  resting  his  army  for  two  days, 
Julian  pushed  on  to  Maogamalki.  By 
brilliant  strategy  and  some  luck,  he  car 
ried  the  second  of  the  Persian  defense 
posts  and  then  pushed  onward  to  Ctesi- 


phon,  the  Persian  capital. 

Arriving  at  a  point  across  the  river  from 
the  city,  Julian  consulted  his  pagan 
priests.  When  they  failed  to  foretell  a 
successful  attack  on  the  city,  Julian  be 
came  as  enraged  at  Apollo  and  the  other 
pagan  gods  as  he  had  been  at  Christian 
ity.  In  a  frenzy  he  overturned  the  altars, 
said  that  he  trusted  no  god  but  him 
self,  and  added  that  he  meant  to  attack 
the  city  immediately. 

By  a  ruse,  Julian  and  his  army  crossed 
the  Tigris  in  boats  at  night.  The  next 
morning  a  single  Persian  came  to  their 
camp  and  persuaded  Julian  to  burn  his 
boats  so  that  his  men  would  not  lose  heart 
and  retreat  from  the  assault.  He  promised 
also  to  lead  the  Romans  into  the  city  by 
a  secret  way.  Too  late,  his  boats  de 
stroyed,  Julian  realized  he  had  been 
tricked.  Unable  to  take  the  city,  he 
ordered  a  retreat.  After  the  Romans  had 
been  weakened  by  forced  marches  under 
burning  desert  suns,  the  Persians  at 
tacked. 

In  the  battle,  the  Romans  won  a  vic 
tory  against  heavy  odds;  but  it  was  a  vic 
tory  for  the  Romans,  not  for  their  em 
peror.  In  the  battle  Julian,  dressed  in  his. 
purple  robes,  refused  to  wear  any  armor. 
He  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  javelin 
while  giving  chase  to  a  band  of  Per- 
sians.  When  he  was  carried  to  his  tent, 
Arsinoe,  who  was  still  a  nun,  came  to 
him  and  attempted  to  make  him  see  that 
Christ  was  a  god  of  beauty  and  mercy. 
Julian  would  not  listen  to  her.  As  he 
died,  he  lifted  himself  up  and  cried  out 
to  his  attendants  that  the  Galilean  had 
defeated  him. 


THE  DEERSLAYER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1740 

Locale:  Northern  New  York  State 

First  'published:  1841 

Principal  characters: 

NATTY  BUMPPO,  called  Deerslayer  by  the  Delaware 

203 


HURRY  HARRY,  a  frontier  scout 

CHINGACHGOOK,  Deerskyer's  Indian  friend 

THOMAS  H UTTER,  owner  of  the  lake 

JUDITH  BUTTER,  a  girl  Thomas  Hutter  claims  as  his  daughter 

HETTY  HUTTER,  Judith's  sister 

WAH-TA!-WAH,  Chingachgook's  beloved 


Critique: 

There  is  no  question  that  the  savages 
and  the  woodsman,  Natty  Bumppo,  come 
off  best  in  this  first  of  the  Leatherstock- 
ing  Tales.  Deerslayer  and  the  Indians, 
good  and  bad,  are  depicted  as  having 
codes  of  honor  and  morality.  Tom  Flutter 
and  Hurry  Harry  are  motivated  by  greed 
and  viciousness  in  their  efforts  to  obtain 
Iroquois  scalps  and  in  their  murder  of 
an  innocent  Indian  girl.  The  simple- 
minded  Hetty  Hutter  and  Judith,  her 
vain  sister,  are  but  two-dimensioned  char 
acters,  however,  in  this  novel  of  atmos 
phere  and  exciting  action. 

The  Story: 

Natty  Bumppo,  a  young  woodsman 
known  as  Deerslayer,  and  Hurry  Harry 
traveled  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Glimmer- 
glass  together.  It  was  a  dangerous  jour 
ney,  for  the  French  and  their  Iroquois 
allies  were  on  the  warpath.  Deerslayer 
was  planning  to  meet  his  friend  Chin- 
gachgook,  the  young  Delaware  chief,  so 
that  they  might  go  against  the  Iroquois. 
Hurry  Harry  was  on  his  way  to  the  lake 
to  warn  Thomas  Hutter  and  his  daughters 
that  hostile  Indians  were  raiding  along 
the  frontier.  Harry  was  accustomed  to 
hunt  and  trap  with  Hutter  during  the 
summer,  and  he  was  an  admirer  of  Hut- 
ter's  elder  daughter,  the  spirited  Judith. 

Hutter  and  his  daughters  lived  in  a 
cabin  built  on  piles  in  the  middle  of  the 
lake.  Hutter  had  also  built  a  great,  scow- 
like  vessel,  known  among  frontiersmen 
as  the  ark,  on  which  he  traveled  from  one 
shore  of  the  lake  to  the  other  on  his 
hunting  and  trapping  expeditions.  On 
their  arrival  at  the  lake  the  two  found 
a  hidden  canoe.  Having  paddled  out  to 
the  cabin  and  found  it  deserted,  they 
proceeded  down  the  lake  and  came  upon 
the  ark  anchored  in  a  secluded  outlet. 


Hutter  had  already  learned  of  the  Indian 
raiders.  The  party  decided  to  take  refuge 
in  the  cabin,  where  they  could  be  at 
tacked  only  over  the  water.  The  men 
managed  to  maneuver  the  ark  out  of  the 
narrow  outlet  and  sail  it  to  the  cabin. 
They  had  one  narrow  escape.  As  the  ark 
was  clearing  the  outlet,  six  Indians  tried 
to  board  the  boat  by  dropping  from  the 
overhanging  limbs  of  a  tree.  Each  missed 
and  fell  into  the  water. 

Under  cover  of  darkness,  Hutter,  Deer- 
slayer,  and  Flurry  Harry  took  the  canoe 
and  paddled  to  shore  to  get  Mutter's  two 
remaining  canoes  hidden  there.  They 
found  the  canoes  and,  on  their  way  back 
to  the  ark,  sighted  a  party  of  Indians 
camped  under  some  trees.  While  Deer- 
slayer  waited  in  a  canoe  offshore,  the 
other  two  men  attacked  the  Iroquois 
camp  in  an  attempt  to  obtain  scalps,  for 
which  they  could  obtain  bounties.  They 
were  captured.  Deerslayer,  knowing  that 
he  was  powerless  to  help  them,  lay  down 
to  sleep  in  the  canoe  until  morning. 

When  Deerslayer  awoke,  he  saw  that 
one  of  the  canoes  had  drifted  close  to 
shore.  To  rescue  it,  he  was  forced  to 
shoot  an  Indian,  the  first  man  he  had 
ever  killed. 

Returning  to  the  fort  with  his  prizes, 
Deerslayer  told  the  girls  of  their  father's 
fate.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  delay 
any  attempt  at  rescue  until  the  arrival  of 
Chingachgook,  whom  Deerslayer  was  to 
meet  that  night. 

Under  cover  of  darkness,  the  party 
went  in  the  ark  and  met  Chingaehgook 
at  the  spot  where  the  river  joined  the 
lake.  Back  in  the  cabin,  Deerslayer  ex 
plained  that  the  Delaware  had  come  to 
the  lake  to  rescue  his  sweetheart,  Wah- 
ta!-Wah,  who  had  been  stolen  by  the 
Iroquois.  Suddenly  they  discovered  that 


204 


Hetty  Hutter  had  disappeared.  The  girl, 
who  was  somewhat  feeble-minded,  had 
cast  off  in  one  of  the  canoes  with  the 
intention  of  going  to  the  Indian  camp  to 
rescue  her  father  and  Hurry  Harry. 

The  next  morning  Wah-ta!-Wah  came 
upon  Hetty  wandering  in  the  forest.  She 
took  the  white  girl  to  the  Iroquois  camp. 
Because  the  Indians  believed  deranged 
persons  were  protected  by  the  Great 
Spirit,  she  suffered  no  harm. 

It  was  Deerslayer's  idea  to  ransom  the 
prisoners  with  some  rich  brocades  and 
carved  ivory  he  and  Judith  found  in  Tom 
Hutter's  chest.  Its  contents  had  been 
known  only  to  Hutter  and  the  simple- 
minded  Hetty,  but  in  this  emergency, 
Judith  did  not  hesitate  to  open  the  coffer. 
Meanwhile  a  young  Iroquois  had  rowed 
Hetty  back  to  the  cabin  on  a  raft.  Deer- 
slayer  told  him  that  the  party  in  the  cabin 
would  give  two  ivory  chessmen  for  the 
release  of  the  captives.  He  was  unable 
to  drive  quite  the  bargain  he  had 
planned.  In  the  end,  four  chessmen 
were  exchanged  for  the  men,  who  were 
returned  that  night. 

Hetty  brought  a  message  from  Wah- 
ta!-Wah.  Chingachgook  was  to  meet  the 
Indian  girl  at  a  particular  place  on  the 
shore  when  the  evening  star  rose  above 
the  hemlocks  that  night.  Hurry  Harry 
and  Tom  Hutter  were  still  determined 
to  obtain  scalps,  and  when  night  closed 
in  they  and  Chingachgook  reconnoitered 
the  camp.  To  their  disappointment,  they 
found  it  deserted  and  the  Indians  camped 
on  the  beach,  at  the  spot  where  Wah-ta!- 
Wah  was  to  wait  for  Chingachgook. 

While  Hutter  and  Harry  slept,  the 
Delaware  and  Deerslayer  attempted  to 
keep  the  rendezvous.  Unfortunately,  the 
girl  was  under  such  close  watch  that  it 
was  impossible  for  her  to  leave  the  camp. 
The  two  men  entered  the  camp  and 
boldly  rescued  her  from  her  captors. 
Deerslayer,  who  remained  at  their  rear 
to  cover  their  escape,  was  taken  prisoner. 

When  Judith  heard  from  Chingach 
gook  of  Deerslayer's  capture,  she  rowed 
Hetty  ashore  to  learn  what  had  become 


of  the  woodsman.  Once  more  Hetty 
walked  unharmed  among  the  supersti 
tious  savages.  Deerslayer  assured  her 
there  was  nothing  she  could  do  to  help, 
that  he  must  await  the  Iroquois'  pleasure. 
She  left  to  return  to  Judith.  - 

As  the  girls  paddled  about,  trying  to 
find  the  ark  in  the  darkness,  they  heard 
the  report  of  a  gun.  Torches  on  shore 
showed  them  that  an  Indian  girl  had  been 
mortally  wounded  by  a  shot  from  the 
ark.  Soon  the  lights  went  out.  Paddling 
to  the  center  of  the  lake,  they  tried  to 
get  what  rest  they  might  before  morning 
came. 

When  daylight  returned,  Hutter  head 
ed  the  ark  toward  the  cabin  once  more. 
Missing  his  daughters,  he  had  con 
cluded  the  cabin  would  be  the  most 
likely  meeting  place.  Hutter  and  Harry 
were  the  first  to  leave  the  ark  to  go  into 
the  cabin.  There  the  Iroquois,  who  had 
come  aboard  in  rafts  under  cover  of 
darkness,  were  waiting  in  ambush.  Harry 
managed  to  escape  into  the  water,  where 
he  was  saved  by  Chingachgook.  Judith 
and  Hetty  came  to  the  ark  in  their  canoe. 
After  the  savages  had  gone  ashore,  those 
on  the  ark  went  to  the  cabin.  They 
found  Hutter  lying  dead.  That  evening 
he  was  buried  in  the  lake.  Hurry  Harry 
took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  pro 
pose  to  Judith,  but  she  refused  him. 

Shortly  afterward  they  were  surprised 
to  see  Deerslayer  paddling  toward  the 
ark.  He  had  been  given  temporary  lib 
erty  in  order  to  bargain  with  the  fugitives. 
The  Iroquois  sent  word  that  Chingach 
gook  would  be  allowed  to  return  to  his 
own  people  if  Wah-ta!-Wah  and  Judith 
became  brides  of  Iroquois  warriers.  Hetty, 
they  promised,  would  go  unharmed  be 
cause  of  her  mental  condition.  Although 
Deerslayer's  life  was  to  be  the  penalty 
for  refusal,  these  terms  were  declined, 

Deerslayer  did  not  have  to  return  to 
his  captors  until  the  next  day,  and  that 
evening  he  and  Judith  examined  care 
fully  the  contents  of  her  father's  chest. 
To  the  girl's  wonder,  she  found  letters 
indicating  that  Hutter  had  not  been  her 


205 


real  f ather,  but  a  former  buccaneer  whom 
her  mother  had  married  when  her  first 
husband  deserted  her*  Saddened  by  this 
knowledge,  Judith  no  longer  wished  to 
live  at  the  lake.  She  intimated  slyly  to 
Deerslayer  that  she  loved  him,  only  to 
find  he  considered  her  above  him  in  edu 
cation  and  intelligence, 

When  Deerslayer  returned  to  the 
Iroquois  the  next  day,  he  was  put  to 
torture  with  hatchets,  Hetty,  Judith,  and 
Wah-ta!-Wah  came  to  the  camp  and 
attempted  to  intercede  for  him,  but 
to  no  avail.  Suddenly  Chingachgook 
bounded  in,  and  cut  his  friend's  bonds. 
Deerslayer's  release  was  the  signal  for 
the  regiment  from  the  nearest  fort  to 
attack,  for  Hurry  Harry  had  gone  to 
summon  help  during  the  night. 


The  Iroquois  were  routed.  Hetty  was 
mortally  wounded  during  the  battle.  The 
next  day  she  was  buried  in  the  lake  be 
side  her  parents.  Judith  joined  the  sol 
diers  returning  to  the  fort.  Deerslayer  de 
parted  for  the  Delaware  camp  with  Chin 
gachgook  and  his  bride. 

Fifteen  years  later,  Deerslayer,  Chin 
gachgook,  and  the  latter's  young  son, 
Uncas,  revisited  the  lake.  Wah-ta!-Wah 
was  long  since  dead,  and,  though  the 
hunter  inquired  at  the  fort  about  Judith 
Flutter,  he  could  find  no  one  who  knew 
her.  Rumor  was  that  a  former  member  of 
the  garrison,  then  living  in  England  on 
his  paternal  estates,  was  influenced  by  a 
woman  of  rare  beauty  who  was  not  his 
wife.  The  ark  and  the  cabin  in  the  lake 
were  falling  into  decay. 


DIANA  OF  THE  CROSSWAYS 

Type  oj  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Meredith  (1828-1909) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published,:  1885 

Principal  characters: 

DIANA  MEBJON  WARWICK,  a  woman  of  beauty  and  charm 

AUGUSTUS  WARWICK,  her  husband 

LADY  EMMA  DUNSTANE,  Diana's  friend 

THOMAS  REDWORTH,  Diana's  friend  and  admirer 

LORD  DANNISBURGH,  another  friend 

SIR  PERCY  DACIER,  a  young  politician  in  love  with  Diana 

Critique: 

Any  novel  by  George  Meredith  re 
quires  attention  not  only  to  the  book  in 
question  but  also  to  the  wider  aspects  of 
the  technique  of  fiction,  for  Meredith,  al 
ways  an  original,  was  a  writer  of  deep 
concentration  and  mature  force.  His  Diana 
is  a  character  head  and  shoulders  above 
most  heroines  in  nineteenth-century  Eng 
lish  novels.  She  offers  the  charm  of 
femininity,  perplexed  by  convention  and 
yet  aware  of  its  force.  Her  predicament 
is  at  once  an  error  in  judgment  and  a 
glory  to  her.  Her  career  compels  our 
belief  that  a  life  which  will  not  let  go 
its  harvest  of  errors  until  they  are  thor 
oughly  winnowed  is  a  human  drama  of 


deepest  interest,  for  that  life  extracts  the 
wisdom  experience  can  offer.  Diana, 
beautiful,  witty,  skeptical  of  social  con 
vention  and  moral  expediency,  is  the  em 
bodiment  of  Meredith's  philosophy  and 
art. 

The  Story: 

All  of  fashionable  London  was  amazed 
and  shocked  when  Diana  Warwick  sud 
denly  left  her  husband's  house.  Society 
should  not  have  been  surprised  at  her 
action,  however;  the  marriage  had  been 
ill-fated  from  the  start.  For  Augustus 
Warwick,  a  calculating,  ambitious  pol 
itician,  his  marriage  to  tlie  beautiful  and 


206 


charming  Diana  Merion  had  been  large 
ly  one  o£  convenience.  Diana,  in  her 
turn,  accepted  his  proposal  as  a  refuge 
from  unwelcome  attentions  to  which  her 
own  position  as  an  orphan  had  exposed 
her. 

Diana  Merion  had  first  appeared  in 
society  at  a  state  ball  in  Dublin,  where 
her  unspoiled  charm  and  beauty  attracted 
many  admirers.  Lady  Emma  Dunstane 
introduced  Diana  to  Thomas  Redworth, 
a  friend  of  her  husband,  Sir  Lukin  Dun 
stane,  and  Redworth's  attentions  so  en 
raged  Mr.  Sullivan  Smith,  a  hot-tempered 
Irishman,  that  he  attempted  to  provoke 
the  Englishman  to  a  duel.  Redworth 
pacified  the  Irishman,  however,  to  avoid 
compromising  Diana  by  a  duel  fought 
on  her  account. 

Later,  while  visiting  Lady  Emma  at 
Copsley,  the  Dunstane  country  home  in 
England,  Diana  was  forced  to  rebuff 
Sir  Lukin  when  he  attempted  to  make 
love  to  her.  Leaving  Copsley,  she  went 
to  visit  the  Warwicks.  Meanwhile, 
Thomas  Redworth  announced  to  Lady 
Emma  that  he  loved  Diana.  His  an 
nouncement  came  too  late.  Diana  was 
already  engaged  to  Augustus  Warwick. 

In  London  the  Warwicks  took  a  large 
house  and  entertained  lavishly.  Among 
their  intimates  was  Lord  Dannisburgh, 
an  elderly  peer  who  became  Diana's 
friend  ana  adviser.  While  Warwick  was 
away  on  a  government  mission,  the  two 
were  often  seen  together,  and  Diana  was 
so  indiscreet  as  to  let  Lord  Dannisburgh 
accompany  her  when  she  went  to  visit 
Lady  Emma.  Gossip  began  to  circulate. 
On  his  return  Warwick,  who  was  in 
capable  of  understanding  his  wife's  in 
nocence  and  charm,  served  Diana  with  a 
process  in  suit.  Accusing  her  of  infidelity, 
he  named  Lord  Dannisburgh  as  core 
spondent.  Diana  disappeared  from  War 
wick's  house  and  from  London.  In  a 
letter  to  Lady  Emma  she  had  said  that 
she  intended  to  leave  England.  Her 
friend,  realizing  that  flight  would  be 
tantamount  to  confession,  felt  sure  that 
Diana  would  go  to  Crossways,  her  father's 


old  home,  before  she  left  the  country. 
Determined  that  Diana  should  remain 
and  boldly  defend  the  suit,  Lady  Emma 
sent  Redworth  to  Crossways  with  instruc 
tions  to  detain  Diana  and  persuade  her 
to  go  to  stay  with  the  Dunstanes  at  Cop 
sley. 

Lady  Emma  had  guessed  correctly; 
Diana  was  at  Crossways  with  her  maid. 
At  first  Diana  was  unwilling  to  see  Lady 
Emma's  point  of  view,  for  she  thought 
of  her  flight  as  a  disdainful  stepping  aside 
from  Warwick's  sordid  accusations;  but  at 
last  she  gave  in  to  Redworth's  arguments 
and  returned  with  him  to  Copsley. 

Although  the  court  returned  a  verdict 
of  not  guilty  to  the  charge  Warwick  had 
brought  against  her,  Diana  felt  that  her 
honor  had  been  ruined  and  that  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  she  was  still  guilty. 
For  a  time  she  was  able  to  forget  her  own 
distress  by  nursing  her  friend,  Lady  Em 
ma,  who  was  seriously  ill.  Later  she  left 
England  to  go  on  a  Mediterranean  cruise. 
Before  her  departure  she  had  written  a 
book,  The  Princess  Egeria. 

In  Egypt  she  met  Redworth,  now  a 
brilliant  member  of  Parliament.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Sir  Percy  Dacier,  Lord 
Dannisburgh's  nephew  and  a  rising 
young  politician.  Falling  in  love  with 
Diana,  Sir  Percy  followed  her  to  the  con 
tinent.  He  was  recalled  to  London  by  the 
illness  of  his  uncle.  Diana  followed  him 
a  short  time  later,  to  learn  on  her  arrival 
in  London  that  Redworth  had  been  active 
in  making  her  book  a  literary  triumph. 
He  had  stirred  up  interest  among  the 
critics  because  he  knew  that  Diana  was 
in  need  of  money. 

Lord  Dannisburgh  died,  with  Diana  at 
his  bedside  during  his  last  illness.  He 
had  been  her  friend,  and  she  paid  him 
that  last  tribute  of  friendship  and  respect 
regardless  of  the  storm  of  criticism  it 
created.  When  Lord  Dannisburgh's  will 
was  read,  it  was  learned  that  he  had  left 
a  sum  of  money  to  Diana. 

In  the  meantime  Diana  had  made  an 
enemy  of  the  socially  ambitious  Mrs. 
Wathin,  who  thought  it  her  social 


207 


duty  to  tear  Diana's  reputation  to  shreds. 
Part  of  her  dislike  was  motivated  by 
jealousy  that  Diana  should  be  accepted 
by  people  who  would  not  tolerate  Mrs. 
Wathin.  Some  of  her  actions  were  in 
spired  by  Warwick,  Mrs.  Wathin's 
friend,  who,  having  lost  his  suit  against 
Diana,  was  trying  to  force  his  wife  to 
return  to  him. 

Sir  Percy's  attentions  were  also  dis 
tressing  to  Diana.  Half  in  love  with 
him,  she  was  not  free  to  marry  again. 
She  faced  a  crisis  in  her  affairs  when 
Mrs.  Wathin  called  to  announce  that 
Warwick,  now  ill,  wanted  Diana  to  re 
turn  and  to  act  as  his  nurse.  Diana  re 
fused.  Warwick  then  threatened  to  exer 
cise  his  legal  rights  as  her  husband.  Sir 
Percy,  who  informed  her  o£  Warwick's 
intention,  asked  her  to  elope  with  him 
to  Paris.  She  agreed.  She  was  saved 
from  that  folly  by  the  appearance  of 
Redworth,  who  arrived  to  tell  her  that 
Lady  Emma  was  ill  and  about  to  undergo 
a  serious  operation  at  Copsley.  Diana 
went  with  him  to  be  at  her  friend's  side. 

Lady  Emma  nearly  died,  and  the  grav 
ity  of  her  condition  restored  Diana's  own 
sense  of  responsibility.  She  ordered  Sir 
Percy  to  forget  her,  but  in  spite  of  her 
protests  he  continued  to  follow  her 
about.  One  day  he  confided  a  tremen 
dous  political  secret  to  her — the  prime 
minister  was  about  to  call  upon  Parlia 
ment  to  pass  some  revolutionary  reform 
measures.  Having  told  her  his  secret,  he 
attempted  to  resume  his  former  court 
ship.  Diana  refused  to  listen  to  his  plead 
ings.  After  he  had  gone,  she  felt  broken 
and  cheated.  If  she  would  not  have  Sir 
Percy  as  a  lover,  she  felt,  she  could  not 
keep  him  as  a  friend.  Diana  was  des 
perately  in  need  of  money.  She  had  been 
forced  to  sell  Crossways  to  pay  her  debts 
and  her  later  novels  had  been  failures. 
Feeling  herself  a  complete  adventuress, 
she  went  to  the  editor  of  a  paper  which 
opposed  the  government  party  and  sold 
him  the  information  Sir  Percy  had  given 
her. 


When  the  paper  appeared  with  a  full 
disclosure  of  the  prime  minister's  plan, 
Sir  Percy  accused  her  of  betraying  him 
and  broke  with  her.  A  short  time  later 
he  proposed  to  a  young  lady  of  fortune. 
About  the  same  time  Warwick  was  struck 
down  by  a  cab  in  the  street  and  killed. 
Diana  had  her  freedom  at  last,  but  she 
was  downcast  in  spirit.  She  knew  that 
she  was  in  public  disgrace.  Although 
she  had  burned  the  check  in  payment  for 
the  information  she  had  disclosed,  it  was 
common  knowledge  that  she  had  be 
trayed  Sir  Percy  and  that  he  had  re 
taliated  by  his  marriage  to  Constance 
Asper,  an  heiress.  When  Sullivan  Smith 
proposed  for  her  hand,  Diana  refused  him 
and  sought  refuge  in  the  company  of  her 
old  friend,  Lady  Emma.  Her  stay  at 
Copsley  freed  her  of  her  memories  of 
Sir  Percy,  so  much  so  that  on  her  return 
to  London  she  was  able  to  greet  him  and 
his  bride  with  dignity  and  charm.  Her 
wit  was  as  sharp  as  ever,  and  she  took 
pleasure  in  revenging  herself  upon  those 
who  had  attempted  to  destroy  her  reputa 
tion  with  their  gossip  and  slander. 

On  another  visit  to  Copsley  she  again 
encountered  Redworth,  now  a  railroad 
promoter  and  still  a  distinguished  mem 
ber  of  Parliament,  When  he  invited  her 
and  Lady  Emma  to  visit  Crossways,  Diana 
learned  that  it  was  Redworth  who  had 
bought  her  old  home  and  furnished  it 
with  her  own  London  possessions,  which 
she  had  been  forced  to  sell  in  order  to 
pay  her  debts.  He  bluntly  told  Diana 
that  he  had  bought  the  house  and  fur 
nished  it  for  her  because  he  expected 
her  to  become  his  wife.  Not  wishing  to 
involve  him  in  the  scandals  which  had 
circulated  about  her,  she  at  first  pretended 
indifference  to  his  abrupt  wooing.  Lady 
Emma,  on  the  other  hand,  urged  her  to 
marry  Redworth,  who  had  loved  her  for 
many  years,  so  that  he  could  protect  her 
from  social  malice.  At  last,  knowing  that 
she  brought  no  real  disgrace  to  Red- 
worth's  name,  she  consented  to  become 
his  wife. 


208 


THE  DISCIPLE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Paul  Bourget  (1852-1935) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Paris  and  Riom 

First  published:  1889 

Principal  characters: 

ADRIEN  SIXTE,  a  philosopher 

ROBERT  GRESLOU,  his  disciple 

M.  DE  JUSSAT,  a  hypochondriac  nobleman 

CHARLOTTE,  his  daughter 

LUCIEN,  her  younger  brother 

ANDRE,  her  older  brother 

Critique: 

Bourget  represents  in  some  ways  the 
transition  in  French  letters  from  nat 
uralistic  materialism  to  the  more  tradi 
tional  religious  and  moral  disciplines,  and 
The  Disciple  is  the  mid-point  in  the 
work  of  this  distinguished  critic,  novelist, 
and  academician.  This  novel  is  a  psycho 
logical  study  of  the  moral  bases  in  ab 
stract  learning.  Bourget  has  written  an 
impeccable  novel  which  combines  solid 
psychological  analysis  with  a  sensational 
murder  story. 


The  Story: 

Adrien  Sixte  grew  up  in  a  peculiar 
way.  His  hardworking  father  wanted 
him  to  study  for  one  of  the  professions, 
but  despite  the  boy's  early  promise  in 
school  he  never  went  to  a  university. 
His  indulgent  parents  allowed  him  to 
spend  ten  lonely  years  in  study.  In  1868, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  Adrien  Sixte 
published  a  five-hundred-page  study  of 
The  Psychology  of  God.  By  the  outbreak 
of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  Adrien  had 
become  the  most  discussed  philosopher  in 
the  country.  He  followed  his  first  study 
with  two  books  even  more  provocative, 
The  Anatomy  of  the  Will  and  The 
Theory  of  the  Passions. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  his  parents, 
Adrien  settled  down  to  a  well-regulated 
life  in  Paris.  So  regular  was  he  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  quarter  could  set  their 


watches  by  his  comings  and  goings.  He 
spent  eight  hours  of  the  twenty-four  in 
work,  took  two  walks  each  day,  received 
callers,  chiefly  students,  one  afternoon  a 
week,  and  on  another  afternoon  made 
calls  on  other  scholars.  By  patient  labor 
and  brilliant  insight  he  developed  to  his 
complete  satisfaction  his  deterministic 
theory  that  each  effect  comes  from  a 
cause,  and  that  if  all  causes  are  known, 
results  can  be  predicted  accurately.  He 
applied  his  theory  to  all  forms  of  numan 
activity,  to  vices  as  well  as  virtues. 

One  day  the  neighbors  were  startled 
to  see  Adrien  leave  his  apartment  hur 
riedly  at  an  unusual  hour.  He  had  re 
ceived,  to  his  great  consternation,  a  notice 
to  appear  before  a  magistrate  in  the  affair 
of  Robert  Greslou,  one  of  his  students, 
and  he  had  also  a  letter  from  Robert's 
mother  saying  that  she  would  visit  him 
that  very  day  at  four  on  an  urgent  mat 
ter. 

The  sophisticated  judge  was  incredu 
lous  when  he  learned  that  Adrien  never 
read  the  papers.  The  celebrated  savant 
had  not  heard  of  Greslou's  imprisonment 
after  being  charged  with  the  murder  of 
Charlotte  de  Jussat.  Adrien  soon  learned 
that  the  suspect  had  been  arrested  on 
purely  circumstantial  evidence,  that  the 
proof  of  his  guilt  or  innocence  might 
well  be  only  psychological.  Hence 
Adrien,  the  master,  must  testify  as  to  his 


THE  DISCIPLE  by  Paul  Bourget.   By  permission  of  the  publisher*,  Charles  Scribner'a  Son». 


209 


disciple's  ideas  on  multiplied  psychologi 
cal  experience.  Adrien  explained  that  if 
a  chemist  can  analyze  water  into  hydro 
gen  and  oxygen,  he  can  synthesize  hydro 
gen  and  oxygen  into  water.  Similarly,  if 
a  psychological  result  can  be  analyzed 
into  its  causes,  the  result  can  be  re 
produced  by  those  same  causes;  that  is, 
by  scientific  method  one  can  predict 
human  behavior.  The  judge  was  much 
interested  and  inquired  if  his  theory  ap 
plied  to  vices.  Adrien  said  that  it  did,  for 
psychologically  vices  are  forms  of  be 
havior  as  interesting  and  valid  as  social 
virtues, 

When  he  returned  home,  Adrien 
found  Robert's  mother  waiting  for  him. 
She  protested  her  son's  innocence  and 
begged  Adrien  to  save  her  boy.  Adrien 
remembered  Robert  as  a  precocious  stu 
dent  of  philosophy,  but  he  really  knew 
little  of  him  as  a  person.  The  mother 
begged  Adrien  to  help  and  gave  him  a 
manuscript  written  by  Robert  while  in 
jail.  On  the  outside  of  the  manuscript 
was  a  note.  If  Adrien  read  the  docu 
ment,  he  must  agree  not  to  try  to  save 
Robert;  if  the  condition  were  unaccept 
able,  he  must  burn  the  manuscript  im 
mediately.  With  many  misgivings  Adrien 
took  the  document  and  read  it.  It  was  a 
minute  and  detailed  account  of  Robert's 
upbringing,  his  studies,  and  his  experi 
ences  in  the  de  Jussat  home. 

Robert  was  always  brilliant.  He  did 
outstanding  work  in  school  and  early  in 
his  studies  showed  a  pronounced  talent  in 
psychology.  Most  of  his  time  was  de 
voted  to  study,  but  a  developing  sensual 
ity  showed  itself  sporadically.  Since  he 
grew  up  at  Clermont,  he  lacked  some  of 
the  polish  imparted  at  Paris;  in  conse 
quence  he  failed  an  examination.  While 
waiting  another  opportunity  to  enter  the 
university,  Robert  accepted  a  year's  ap 
pointment  as  tutor  to  Lucien  de  Jussat. 
At  the  de  Jussat  country  home  Robert 
found  an  interesting  household.  Lucien, 
his  pupil,  was  a  fat,  simple  boy  of  thir 
teen.  Andr£,  the  older  brother,  was  an 
army  officer  fond  of  hunting  and  riding. 


The  father  was  a  hypochondriac  and  a 
boor.  But  Charlotte,  the  daughter  of  the 
family,  was  a  beautiful  girl  of  nineteen. 

Robert  soon  began  the  studied  seduc 
tion  of  Charlotte.  He  had  three  reasons 
for  such  a  step.  First,  he  wanted  to  have 
some  sort  of  revenge  against  the  wealthy 
family.  In  the  second  place,  his  developed 
sexuality  made  the  project  attractive. 
Also,  and  probably  more  important,  he 
wanted  to  test  his  theory  that  if  he  could 
determine  the  causes  leading  to  love  and 
sexual  desire,  he  could  produce  desire  by 
providing  the  causes.  Robert  kept  care 
ful  notes  on  procedures  and  results. 

He  knew  that  pity  is  close  to  love. 
Consequently  he  aroused  the  pity  of 
Charlotte  by  mysterious  allusions  to  his 
painful  past.  Then,  by  carefully  selecting 
a  list  of  novels  for  her  to  read,  he  set 
about  inflaming  her  desire  for  passionate, 
romantic  love.  But  Robert  was  too  hasty. 
He  made  an  impassioned  avowal  to  Char 
lotte  and  frightened  her  into  leaving  for 
Paris.  Just  as  Robert  began  to  despair  of 
ever  accomplishing  his  purpose,  trie  ill 
ness  of  Lucien  recalled  Charlotte.  Robert 
wrote  her  a  note  telling  her  he  would 
commit  suicide  if  she  did  not  come  to 
his  room  by  midnight.  He  prepared  two 
vials  of  strychnine  and  waited.  When 
Charlotte  came,  he  showed  her  the  poison 
and  proposed  a  suicide  pact.  Charlotte 
accepted,  provided  she  could  be  the  first 
to  die.  They  spent  the  night  together, 
Robert  had  triumphed. 

Robert  repudiated  the  pact,  prompted 
in  part  by  a  real  love  for  Charlotte.  The 
next  day  she  threatened  to  call  her 
brother  if  Robert  attempted  to  stop  her 
own  attempt  at  suicide,  for  she  had  read 
Robert's  notes  and  knew  she  was  simply 
the  object  of  an  experiment.  After  writ 
ing  to  her  brother  Andre*  a  letter  telling 
him  of  her  intended  suicide,  she  drank 
the  strychnine.  Robert  was  arrested  soon 
afterward  on  suspicion  of  murder. 

When  Adrien  Sixte  came  to  the  end 
of  the  manuscript,  he  began  to  feel  a 
moral  responsibility  for  his  disciple's  act. 
Disregarding  the  pledge  implicit  in  his 


210 


reading,  he  sent  a  note  to  Andre"  asking 
him  if  he  intended  to  let  Robert  be  con 
victed  of  murder  by  concealing  Char 
lotte's  letter.  Andre*  resolved  to  tell  the 
truth,  and  in  a  painful  courtroom  scene 
Robert  was  acquitted. 

Immediately  after  the  trial,  Andre 
went  to  look  for  Robert.  Scarcely  able 
to  resist,  since  he  had  been  ready  to  die 


with  Charlotte's  secret  safe,  Robert  went 
with  Andre*  willingly.  On  the  street, 
Andre"  pulled  out  a  gun  and  shot  Robert 
in  the  head.  Robert's  mother  and  Adrien 
mourned  beside  the  coffin,  Adrien  be 
cause  he  accepted  moral  responsibility  for 
the  teachings  that  had  prompted  his  dis 
ciple's  deed. 


THE  DIVINE  COMEDY 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Dante  Alighieri  (1265-1321) 

Type  of  plot:  Christian  allegory 

Time  of  plot:  The  Friday  before  Easter,  1300 

Locale:  Hell,  Purgatory,  Paradise 

First  transcribed:  c.  1307 

Principal  characters: 

DANTB 

VIRGIL,  his  guide 

BEATRICE,  the  soul  of  Dante's  beloved 

Critique: 

No  words  can  describe  the  greatness 
of  this  work,  a  greatness  both  of  theme 
and  poetry.  As  a  poet,  Dante  takes  his 
place  in  the  ranks  of  the  foremost  artists 
the  world  has  ever  known.  The  theme 
which  he  treats  is  universalj  it  involves 
the  greatest  concepts  which  man  has  ever 
attained.  Only  a  master  could  find  the 
loftiness  of  tone  and  the  splendor  and 
variety  of  images  and  scenes  which  are 
presented  in  The  Divine  Comedy. 

The  Story: 

Dante  found  himself  lost  in  a  dark 
and  frightening  wood,  and  as  he  was 
trying  to  regain  his  path,  he  came  to  a 
mountain  which  he  decided  to  climb  in 
order  to  get  his  bearings.  Strange  beasts 
blocked  his  way,  however,  and  he  was 
forced  back  to  the  plain.  As  he  was 
bemoaning  his  fate,  the  poet  Virgil  ap 
proached  Dante  and  offered  to  conduct 
him  through  Hell,  Purgatory,  and  bliss 
ful  Paradise. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  gates  of  Hell, 
Virgil  explained  that  here  were  confined 
those  who  had  lived  their  lives  without 
regard  for  good  or  evil.  At  the  River 
Aoieron,  where  they  found  Charon,  the 


ferryman,  Dante  was  seized  with  terror 
and  fell  into  a  trance.  Aroused  by  a  loud 
clap  of  thunder,  he  followed  his  guide 
through  Limbo,  the  first  circle  of  Hell. 
The  spirits  confined  there,  he  learned, 
were  those  who,  although  they  had  lived 
a  virtuous  life,  had  not  been  baptized. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  second  circle 
of  Hell,  Dante  met  Minos,  the  Infernal 
Judge,  who  warned  him  to  take  heed  how 
he  entered  the  lower  regions.  Dante  was 
overcome  by  pity  as  he  witnessed  the 
terrible  punishment  which  the  spirits 
were  undergoing.  They  had  been  guilty 
of  carnal  sin,  and  for  punishment  they 
were  whirled  around  without  cessation 
in  the  air.  The  third  circle  housed  those 
who  had  been  guilty  of  the  sin  of  glut 
tony.  They  were  forced  to  lie  deep  in 
the  mud,  under  a  constant  fall  of  snow 
and  hail  and  stagnant  water.  Above  them 
stood  Cerberus,  a  cruel  monster,  barking 
at  the  helpless  creatures  and  tearing  at 
their  flesh.  In  the  next  circle,  Dante 
witnessed  the  punishment  of  the  prodi 
gal  and  the  avaricious,  and  realized  the 
vanity  of  fortune. 

He   and   Virgil    continued   on    their 
journey  until  they  reached  the  Stygian 


211 


Lake,  in  which  the  wrathful  and  gloomy 
were  suffering.  At  Virgil's  signal,  a 
Ferryman  transported  them  across  the 
lake  to  the  city  of  Dis.  They  were  denied 
admittance,  however,  and  the  gates  were 
closed  against  them  by  a  multitude  of 
horrible  demons.  Dante  and  Virgil 
gained  admittance  into  the  city  only  after 
an  angel  had  interceded  for  them.  There 
Dante  discovered  that  tombs  burning 
with  a  blistering  heat  housed  the  souls  of 
heretics,  Dante  spoke  to  two  of  these 
tormented  spirits  and  learned  that  al 
though  they  had  the  power  to  predict  the 
future,  they  had  no  way  of  knowing  what 
was  occurring  in  the  present. 

The  entrance  to  the  seventh  circle  was 
guarded  by  the  Minotaur,  and  only 
after  Virgil  had  pacified  him  could  the 
two  travelers  pass  down  the  steep  crags 
to  the  base  of  the  mountain.  There  they 
discerned  a  river  of  blood  in  which  those 
who  had  committed  violence  in  their 
lifetimes  were  confined.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  river  they  learned  that  those 
who  had  committed  suicide  were  doomed 
to  inhabit  the  trunks  of  trees.  Beyond 
the  river  they  came  to  a  desert  in  which 
were  confined  those  who  had  sinned 
against  God,  or  Art,  or  Nature.  A  stream 
flowed  near  the  desert  and  the  two  poets 
followed  it  until  the  water  plunged  into 
an  abyss.  In  order  that  they  might  de 
scend  to  the  eighth  circle,  Virgil  sum 
moned  Geryon,  a  frightful  monster,  who 
conducted  them  below.  There  they  saw 
the  tortured  souls  of  seducers,  flatterers, 
diviners,  and  barterers.  Continuing  along 
their  way,  they  witnessed  the  punish 
ment  accorded  hypocrites  and  robbers. 
In  the  ninth  gulf  were  confined  scandal 
mongers  and  spreaders  of  false  doctrine. 
Among  the  writhing  figures  they  saw 
Mahomet,  Still  farther  along,  the  two 
discovered  the  horrible  disease-ridden 
bodies  of  forgerers,  counterfeiters,  al 
chemists,  and  all  those  who  deceived 
under  false  pretenses. 

They  were  summoned  to  the  next 
circle  by  the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  In  it 
were  confined  all  traitors.  A  ring  of 


giants  surrounded  the  circle,  one  of  whom 
lifted  both  Dante  and  Virgil  and  de 
posited  them  in  the  bottom  of  the  circle. 
There  Dante  conversed  with  many  of 
the  spirits  and  learned  the  nature  of  their 
particular  crimes. 

After  this  visit  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
Hell,  Dante  and  Virgil  emerged  from 
the  foul  air  to  the  pure  atmosphere  which 
surrounded  the  island  of  Purgatory.  In 
a  little  while,  they  saw  a  boat  conducted 
by  an  angel,  in  which  were  souls  being 
brought  to  Purgatory.  Dante  recognized 
that  of  a  friend  among  them.  The  two 
poets  reached  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
where  passing  spirits  showed  them  the 
easiest  path  to  climb  its  slope.  On  their 
way  up  the  path  they  encountered  many 
spirits  who  explained  that  they  were 
confined  to  Purgatory  because  they  had 
delayed  their  repentance  too  long.  They 
pleaded  with  Dante  to  ask  their  families 
to  pray  for  their  souls  when  he  once 
again  returned  to  earth.  Soon  Dante  and 
Virgil  came  to  the  gate  of  Purgatory, 
which  was  guarded  by  an  angel.  The 
two  poets  ascended  a  winding  path  and 
saw  men,  bent  under  the  weight  of  heavy 
stones,  who  were  expiating  the  sin  of 
pride.  They  examined  the  heavily  carved 
cornices  which  they  passed,  and  found 
them  covered  with  inscriptions  urging 
humility  and  righteousness.  At  the  sec 
ond  cornice  were  the  souls  of  those  who 
had  been  guilty  of  envy.  They  wore 
sackcloth  and  their  eyelids  were  sewed 
with  iron  thread.  Around  them  were  the 
voices  of  angels  singing  of  great  examples 
of  humility  and  the  futility  of  envy.  An 
angel  invited  the  poets  to  visit  the  third 
cornice,  where  those  who  had  been  guilty 
of  anger  underwent  repentance,  Dante 
was  astonished  at  the  examples  of  pa 
tience  which  lie  witnessed  there.  At  the 
fourth  cornice  he  witnessed  the  purging 
of  the  sin  of  indifference  or  gloominess. 
He  discussed  with  Virgil  the  nature  of 
love.  The  Latin  poet  stated  that  there 
were  two  kinds  of  love,  natural  love, 
which  was  always  right,  and  love  of  the 
soul,  which  might  be  misdirected.  At  the 


212 


fifth  cornice,  avarice  was  purged.  On 
their  way  to  the  next  cornice,  the  two 
were  overtaken  by  Statius,  whose  spirit 
had  been  cleansed  and  who  was  on  his 
way  to  Paradise.  He  accompanied  them 
to  the  next  place  of  purging,  where  the 
sin  of  gluttony  was  repented,  while 
voices  sang  of  the  glory  of  temperance. 
The  last  cornice  was  the  place  for  purg 
ing  by  fire  of  the  sin  of  incontinence. 
Here  the  sinners  were  heard  to  recite 
innumerable  examples  of  praiseworthy 
chastity. 

An  angel  now  directed  the  two  poets 
and  Statius  to  a  path  which  would  lead 
them  to  Paradise.  Virgil  told  Dante  that 
he  might  wander  through  Paradise  at 
his  will  until  he  found  his  love,  Bea 
trice.  As  he  was  strolling  through  a 
forest,  Dante  came  to  a  stream,  on  the 
other  side  of  which  stood  a  beautiful 
woman.  She  explained  to  him  that  the 
stream  was  called  Lethe,  and  helped  him 
to  cross  it.  Then  Beatrice  descended  from 
heaven  and  reproached  him  for  his  un 
faithfulness  to  her  during  her  life,  but 
the  virgins  in  the  heavenly  fields  inter 
ceded  with  her  on  his  behalf.  Convinced 
of  his  sincere  repentance  and  remorse, 
she  agreed  to  accompany  him  through 
the  heavens. 

On  the  moon  Dante  found  those  who 
had  made  vows  of  chastity  and  deter 
mined  to  follow  the  religious  life,  but 
who  were  forced  to  break  their  vows. 
Beatrice  led  him  to  the  planet  Mercury, 
the  second  heaven,  and  from  there  to 
Venus,  the  third  heaven,  where  Dante 
conversed  with  many  spirits  and  learned 
of  their  virtues.  On  the  sun,  the  fourth 
heaven,  they  were  surrounded  by  a  group 
of  spirits,  among  them  Thomas  Aquinas. 
He  named  each  of  the  spirits  in  turn  and 
discussed  their  individual  virtues.  A  sec 
ond  circle  of  blessed  spirits  surrounded 
the  first,  and  Dante  learned  from  each 
how  he  had  achieved  blessedness. 

Then  Beatrice  and  Dante  came  to 
Mars,  the  fifth  heaven,  where  were  cher 
ished  the  souls  of  those  who  had  been 
martyred.  Dante  recognized  many  re 


nowned  warriors  and  crusaders  among 
them. 

On  Jupiter,  the  sixth  heaven,  Dante 
saw  the  souls  of  those  who  had  adminis 
tered  justice  faithfully  in  the  world.  The 
seventh  heaven  was  on  Saturn,  where 
Dante  found  the  souls  of  those  who  had 
spent  their  lives  in  meditation  and  reli 
gious  retirement.  From  there  Beatrice  and 
her  lover  passed  to  the  eighth  heaven, 
the  region  of  the  fixed  stars.  Dante 
looked  back  over  all  the  distance  which 
extended  between  the  earth  and  this  apex 
of  Paradise  and  was  dazzled  and  awed  by 
what  he  saw.  As  they  stood  there,  they 
saw  the  triumphal  hosts  approaching, 
with  Christ  leading,  followed  by  Mary. 

Dante  was  questioned  by  the  saints. 
Saint  Peter  examined  his  opinions  con 
cerning  faith;  Saint  James,  concerning 
hope,  and  Saint  John,  concerning  charity. 
Adam  then  approached  and  told  the  poet 
of  the  first  man's  creation,  of  his  life  in 
Paradise,  and  of  his  fall  and  what  had 
caused  it.  Saint  Peter  bitterly  lamented 
the  avarice  which  his  apostolic  successors 
displayed,  and  all  the  sainted  host  agreed 
with  him. 

Beatrice  then  conducted  Dante  to  the 
ninth  heaven,  where  he  was  permitted 
to  view  the  divine  essence  and  to  listen 
to  the  chorus  of  angels.  She  then  led 
him  to  the  Empyrean,  from  the  heights 
of  which,  and  with  the  aid  of  her  vision, 
he  was  able  to  witness  the  triumphs  of 
the  angels  and  of  the  souls  of  the  blessed. 
So  dazzled  and  overcome  was  he  by  this 
vision  that  it  was  some  time  before  fee 
realized  Beatrice  had  left  him.  At  bis 
side  stood  an  old  man  whom  he  recog 
nized  as  Saint  Bernard,  who  told  hna 
Beatrice  had  returned  to  her  throne.  He 
then  told  Dante  that  if  he  wished  tx 
discover  still  more  of  the  heavenly  vision, 
he  must  join  with  him  in  a  prayer  to 
Mary.  Dante  received  the  grace  to  con 
template  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  glimpse, 
for  a  moment,  the  greatest  of  mysteries, 
the  Trinity  and  man's  union  with  the 
divine. 


213 


DR.  JEKYLL  AND  MR.  HYDE 

Type  of  work:  Novelette 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  'plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  ylot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  published:  1886 

Principal  characters: 

DR.  HENRY  JEKYLL,  a  London  physician 
MR.  UTTEHSON,  counselor  for  Dr.  Jekyll 
POOLE,  Dr.  Jekyll's  manservant 
DR.  HASTIE  LANYON,  Dr.  Jekyll's  close  friend 

Critique: 

The  Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and 
Mr.  Hyde  has  steadily  maintained  the 
popularity  which  it  had  originally.  The 
story  is  basically  one  of  romantic  adven 
ture  and  fantasy,  of  the  type  currently 
found  in  paper  pulps.  Yet  by  merit  of 
Stevenson's  understanding  of  human  na 
ture  and  his  mastery  of  English  prose, 
the  story  holds  subtle  values  as  an  illustra 
tion  of  man's  dual  nature.  It  is  not  neces 
sary  to  believe  the  story  in  order  to  under 
stand  and  believe  the  symbolism. 


The  Story: 

Mr.  Richard  Enfield,  and  his  cousin, 
Mr.  Utterson,  a  lawyer,  were  strolling  ac 
cording  to  their  usual  Sunday  custom 
when  they  came  upon  an  empty  building 
on  a  familiar  street  Mr.  Enfield  told  that 
some  time  previously  he  had  seen  an  ill- 
tempered  man  trample  down  a  small  child 
at  the  doorway  of  the  deserted  building. 
He  and  other  indignant  bystanders  had 
forced  the  stranger,  who  gave  his  name 
as  Hyde,  to  pay  over  a  sum  of  money  for 
the  child's  welfare.  Enfield  remembered 
the  man  Hyde  with  deep  loathing. 

Utterson  had  reasons  to  be  interested 
in  Hyde.  When  he  returned  to  his  a- 
partment  he  reread  the  strange  will  of 
Dr.  Henry  Jekyll.  The  will  stipulated 
that  in  the  event  of  Dr.  Jekyll's  death  all 
of  his  wealth  should  go  to  a  man  named 
Edward  Hyde. 

Utterson  sought  out  Hyde,  the  man 
whom  Enfield  had  described,  to  discover 
if  he  were  the  same  who  Lad  been 
named  heir  to  Dr.  Jekyll's  fortune.  Sus 


picious  of  Utterson's  interest,  Hyde  be 
came  enraged  and  ran  into  his  house. 
Questioned,  Dr.  Jekyll  refused  to  discuss 
the  matter,  but  insisted  that  in  the  event 
of  his  death  the  lawyer  should  see  to  it 
that  Mr,  Hyde  was  not  cheated  out  of 
his  fortune.  The  lawyer  believed  that 
Hyde  was  an  extortioner  who  was  getting 
possession  of  Dr.  Jekyll's  money  and  who 
would  eventually  murder  the  doctor. 

About  a  year  later  Hyde  was  wanted 
for  the  wanton  murder  of  a  kindly  old 
man,  Sir  Danvers  Carew,  but  he  escaped 
before  he  could  be  arrested.  Dr.  Jekyll 
presented  the  lawyer  and  the  police  with 
a  letter  signed  by  Hyde,  in  which  the 
murderer  declared  his  intention  of  mak 
ing  good  his  escape  forever.  Tie  begged 
Dr.  Jekyll's  pardon  for  having  ill-used 
his  friendship. 

About  this  time  Dr.  Lanyon,  who  had 
been  for  years  a  great  friend  of  Dr. 
Jekyll,  became  ill  and  died.  Among  his 
papers  was  a  letter  addressed  to  Utterson. 
Opening  it,  Utterson  discovered  an  inner 
envelope  also  sealed  and  bearing  the 
notice  that  it  was  not  to  be  opened  until 
after  Dr.  Jekyll's  death.  Utterson  felt 
that  it  was  somehow  associated  with  the 
evil  Hyde,  but  he  could  in  no  way 
fathom  the  mystery. 

One  Sunday  Enfield  and  Utterson 
were  walking  again  in  the  street 
where  Enfield  had  seen  Hyde  mistreating 
the  child.  They  now  realized  that  the 
strange  deserted  building  was  a  side  en 
trance  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Jekyll,  an 
additional  wing  used  as  a  laboratory. 


214 


Looking  up  at  the  window,  they  saw  Dr. 
Jekyll  sitting  there.  He  looked  discon 
solate.  Then  his  expression  seemed  to 
change,  so  that  his  face  took  on  a  grimace 
of  horror  or  pain.  Suddenly  he  closed 
the  window.  Utterson  and  Enfield  walked 
on,  too  overcome  by  what  they  had  seen 
to  talk  further. 

Not  long  afterward  Utterson  was  sit 
ting  by  his  fireside  when  Poole,  Dr. 
Jekyll's  manservant,  sought  entrance.  He 
related  that  for  a  week  something  strange 
had  been  going  on  in  Dr.  Jekyll's  lab 
oratory.  The  doctor  himself  had  not  ap 
peared.  Instead,  he  had  ordered  his 
meals  to  be  sent  in  and  had  written  cur 
ious  notes  demanding  that  Poole  go  to 
all  the  chemical  houses  in  London  in 
search  of  a  mysterious  drug.  Poole  was 
convinced  that  his  master  had  been  slain 
and  that  the  murderer,  masquerading  as 
Dr.  Jekyll,  was  still  hiding  in  the  lab 
oratory. 

Utterson  and  Poole  returned  to  Dr. 
JekylFs  house  and  broke  into  his  labora 
tory  with  an  ax.  Entering,  they  discovered 
that  the  man  in  the  laboratory  had  killed 
himself  by  draining  a  vial  of  poison  just 
as  they  broke  the  lock.  The  man  was 
Edward  Hyde. 

They  searched  in  vain  for  the  doctor's 
body,  certain  it  was  somewhere  about 
after  they  discovered  a  note  of  that  date 
addressed  to  Utterson.  In  the  note  Dr. 
Jekyll  said  he  was  planning  to  disappear, 
ana  he  urged  Utterson  to  read  the  note 
which  Dr.  Lanyon  had  left  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  An  enclosure  contained 
the  confession  of  Henry  Jekyll. 

Utterson  returned  to  his  office  to  read 
the  letters.  The  letter  of  Dr.  Lanyon 
described  how  Dr.  Jekyll  had  sent  Poole 
to  Dr.  Lanyon  with  a  request  that  Dr. 
Lanyon  search  for  some  drugs  in  Dr. 
JekylFs  laboratory.  Hyde  had  appeared 
to  claim  the  drugs.  Then,  in  Dr.  Lan 
yon 's  presence,  Hyde  had  taken  the 
drugs  and  had  been  transformed  into  Dr. 
Jekyll.  The  shock  of  this  transformation 
had  caused  Dr.  Lanyon's  death. 

Dr.  Jekyll's  own  account  of  the  hor 


rible  affair  was  more  detailed.  He  had 
begun  early  in  life  to  live  a  double  life. 
Publicly  he  had  been  genteel  and  cir 
cumspect,  but  privately  he  had  practiced 
strange  vices  without  restraint.  Becom 
ing  obsessed  with  the  idea  that  people 
had  two  personalities,  he  reasoned  that 
men  were  capable  of  having  two  physical 
beings  as  well.  Finally,  he  had  com 
pounded  a  mixture  which  transformed 
his  body  into  the  physical  representation 
of  his  evil  self.  He  became  Hyde.  In 
his  disguise  he  was  free  to  haunt  the 
lonely,  narrow  comers  of  London  and 
to  do  the  darkest  acts  without  fear  of 
recognition. 

He  tried  in  every  way  to  protect  Hyde. 
He  cautioned  his  servants  to  let  him  in  at 
any  hour;  he  took  an  apartment  for  him, 
and  he  made  out  his  will  in  Hyde's  favor. 
His  life  proceeded  safely  enough  until  he 
awoke  one  morning  in  the  shape  of  Ed 
ward  Hyde  and  realized  that  his  evil 
nature  had  gained  the  upper  hand. 
Frightened,  he  determined  to  cast  off  the 
nature  of  Hyde.  He  sought  out  better 
companions  and  tried  to  occupy  his  mind 
with  other  things.  However,  he  was  not 
strong  enough  to  change  his  true  nature. 
He  finally  permitted  himself  to  assume 
the  shape  of  Hyde  again,  and  on  that 
occasion  Hyde,  full  of  an  overpowering 
lust  to  do  evil,  murdered  Sir  Danvers 
Carew. 

Dr.  Jekyll  renewed  his  effort  to  aban 
don  the  nature  of  Hyde.  Walking  in  the 
park  one  day,  he  suddenly  changed  into 
Hyde.  On  that  occasion  he  had  sought 
out  his  friend  Dr.  Lanyon  to  go  to  his 
laboratory  to  obtain  the  drugs  which 
would  change  him  back  to  the  personality 
of  the  doctor.  Dr.  Lanyon  had  watched 
the  transformation  with  horror.  There 
after  the  nature  of  Hyde  seemed  to  assert 
itself  constantly.  When  his  supply  of 
chemicals  had  been  exhausted  and  could 
not  be  replenished,  Dr.  Jekyll,  as  Hyde, 
shut  himself  up  in  his  laboratory  while  he 
experimented  with  one  drug  after  another. 
Finally,  in  despair,  as  Utterson  now  re 
alized,  he  killed  himself. 


215 


A  DOLL'S  HOUSE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Henrik  Ibsen  (1828-1906) 

Type  of  plot;  Social  criticism 

Time  of  pkt:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

Pirst  presented:  1879 

Principal  characters: 

TORVALD  HELMER,  a  bank  manager 

NORA  HELMER,  his  wife 

MRS.  LCNDE,  Nora's  old  school  friend 

KROGSTAD,  a  bank  clerk 

DR.  RANK,  a  friend  of  the  Helmers 

Critique: 

A  Doll's  House  is  the  best  known  and 
one  of  the  most  popular  of  Ibsen's  works. 
A  classic  expression  of  the  theme  of 
woman's  rights,  the  play  shocked  Ibsen's 
contemporaries,  because  in  the  end  Nora 
leaves  her  husband  and  children.  In  the 
character  of  Dr.  Rank  there  is  a  fore 
shadowing  of  the  heredity  theme  later 
to  be  developed  by  Ibsen  in  Ghosts. 


The  Story: 

On  the  day  before  Christmas,  Nora 
Helmer  was  busying  herself  with  last 
minute  shopping,  for  this  was  the  first 
Christmas  since  her  marriage  that  she 
had  not  had  to  economize.  Her  husband, 
Torvald,  had  just  been  made  manager  of 
a  bank  and  after  the  New  Year  their 
money  troubles  would  be  over.  She 
bought  a  tree  and  plenty  of  toys  for  the 
children,  and  she  even  indulged  herself 
in  some  macaroons,  her  favorite  confec 
tion,  but  of  which  Torvald  did  not  en 
tirely  approve.  He  loved  his  wife  dearly, 
but  he  regarded  her  very  much  as  her 
own  father  had  seen  her,  as  an  amusing 
doll — a  plaything. 

It  was  true  that  she  did  behave  like  a 
child  sometimes  in  her  relations  with  her 
husband.  She  pouted,  wheedled,  and 
chattered  because  Torvald  expected  these 
things;  he  would  not  have  loved  his  doll- 
wife  without  them.  Actually,  Nora  was 
not  a  doll  but  a  woman  with  a  woman's 
loves,  hopes,  and  fears.  This  was  shown 
seven  years  before,  just  after  her  first 
child  was  born,  when  Torvald  had  been 


ill,  and  the  doctor  said  that  unless  he 
went  abroad  immediately  he  would  die. 
Nora  was  desperate.  She  could  not  seek 
Torvald's  advice  because  she  knew  he 
would  rather  die  than  borrow  money.  She 
could  not  go  to  her  father,  for  he  himself 
was  a  dying  man.  She  did  the  only 
thing  possible  under  the  circumstances. 
She  borrowed  the  requisite  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  from  Krogstad,  a  money 
lender,  forging  her  father's  name  to  the 
note,  so  that  Torvald  could  have  his  holi 
day  in  Italy. 

Krogstad  was  exacting,  and  she  had 
to  think  up  ways  and  means  to  meet  the 
regular  payments.  When  Torvald  gave 
her  money  for  new  dresses  and  such 
things,  she  never  spent  more  than  half 
of  it,  and  she  found  other  ways  to  earn 
money,  One  winter  she  did  copying, 
but  she  kept  this  work  a  secret  from 
Torvald,  for  he  believed  that  the  money 
for  their  trip  had  come  from  her  father. 

Then  Krogstad,  who  was  in  the  em 
ploy  of  the  bank  of  which  Torvald  was 
now  manager,  determined  to  use  Torvald 
to  advance  his  own  fortunes.  But  Tor 
vald  hated  Krogstad,  and  was  just  as  de 
termined  to  be  rid  of  him.  The  oppor 
tunity  came  when  Christina  Linde, 
Nora's  old  school  friend,  applied  to  Tor 
vald  for  a  position  in  the  bank.  Torvald 
resolved  to  dismiss  Krogstad  and  hire 
Mrs.  Linde  in  his  place. 

When  Krogstad  discovered  that  he  was 
to  be  fired,  he  called  on  Nora  and  in 
formed  her  that  if  he  were  dismissed  he 


216 


would  ruin  her  and  her  husband.  He 
reminded  her  that  the  note  supposedly 
signed  by  her  father  was  dated  three  days 
after  his  death.  Frightened  at  the  turn 
matters  had  taken,  Nora  pleaded  unsuc 
cessfully  with  Torvald  to  reinstate  Krog- 
stad  in  the  bank.  Krogstad,  receiving 
from  Torvald  an  official  notice  of  his 
dismissal,  wrote  in  return  a  letter  in 
which  he  revealed  the  full  details  of  the 
forgery.  He  dropped  the  letter  in  the 
mailbox  outside  the  Helmer  home. 

Torvald  was  in  a  holiday  mood.  The 
following  evening  they  were  to  attend  a 
fancy  dress  ball,  and  Nora  was  to  go  as 
a  Neapolitan  fisher  girl  and  dance  the 
tarantella.  To  divert  her  husband's  at 
tention  from  the  mailbox  outside,  Nora 
practiced  her  dance  before  Torvald  and 
Dr.  Rank,  an  old  friend.  Nora  was 
desperate,  not  knowing  quite  which  way 
to  turn.  She  had  thought  of  Mrs.  Linde, 
with  whom  Krogstad  had  at  one  time  been 
in  love.  Mrs.  Linde  promised  to  do  what 
she  could  to  turn  Krogstad  from  his 
avowed  purpose.  Nora  thought  also  of 
Di.  Rank,  but  when  she  began  to  confide 
in  him  he  made  it  so  obvious  that  he 
was  in  love  with  her  that  she  could  not 
tell  her  secret  However,  Torvald  had 
promised  her  not  to  go  near  the  mailbox 
until  after  the  ball. 

What  bothered  Nora  was  not  her  own 
fate,  but  Torvald's.  She  pictured  herself 
as  already  dead,  drowned  in  icy  black 
water.  She  pictured  the  grief-stricken 
Torvald  taking  upon  himself  all  the 
blame  for  what  she  had  done  and  being 
disgraced  for  her  sake.  But  the  reality 


did  not  quite  correspond  with  Nora's 
picture.  Mrs,  Linde,  by  promising  to 
marry  Krogstad  and  look  after  his  chil 
dren,  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to 
withdraw  all  accusations  against  the 
Helmers,  but  she  realized  that  Nora's 
affairs  had  come  to  a  crisis  and  that  sooner 
or  later  Nora  and  Torvald  would  have  to 
come  to  an  understanding. 

This  crisis  came  when  Torvald  read 
Krogstad's  letter  after  their  return  from 
the  ball  He  accused  Nora  of  being  a 
hypocrite,  a  liar,  and  a  criminal,  of  hav-- 
ing  no  religion,  no  morality,  no  sense  of 
duty.  He  declared  that  she  was  unfit  to 
bring  up  her  children.  He  informed  her 
that  she  might  remain  in  his  household 
but  she  would  no  longer  be  a  part  of  it. 

Then  another  letter  arrived  from  Krog 
stad,  declaring  that  he  intended  to  take 
no  action  against  the  Helrners.  Torvald's 
whole  attitude  changed,  and  with  a  sigh 
of  relief  he  boasted  that  lie  was  saved. 
For  the  first  time  Nora  saw  her  husband 
for  what  he  was — a  selfish,  pretentious 
hypocrite  with  no  regard  for  her  position 
in  the  matter.  She  reminded  him  that 
no  marriage  could  be  built  on  inequality, 
and  announced  her  intention  of  leaving 
his  house  forever.  Torvald  could  not  be 
lieve  his  ears  and  pleaded  with  her  to  re 
main.  But  she  declared  she  was  going  to 
try  to  become  a  reasonable  human  being, 
to  understand  the  world — in  short,  to  be 
come  a  woman,  not  a  doll  to  flatter  Tor- 
vald's  selfish 'vanity.  She  went  out  and 
with  irrevocable  finality,  slammed  the 
door  of  her  doll  house  behind  her. 


DON  JUAN 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  George  Gordon,  Lord  Byron  C1788-1824) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Late  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Spain,  Turkey,  Russia,  England 

first  published:  By  Cantos,  1819-1824 
Principal  characters: 

DON  JUAN,  a  young  Spaniard 
DONNA  INEZ,  his  mother 
DONNA  JULIA,  his  first  mistress 

217 


HATD&E,  his  second  love 

THE  SULTANA,  who  coveted  Juan 

CATHERINE,  Empress  of  Russia 

LADY  ADELKSTE  AMUNDEVILLE,  Juan's  adviser 

DUCHESS  OF  Frrz-FuLKE,  who  pursued  Juan 

AURORA  RABY,  pursued  by  Juan 


Critique: 

Although  Byron  said  that  Don  Juan 
was  to  be  an  epic,  his  story  does  not  fol 
low  epic  tradition  but  becomes  a  vehicle 
for  digression  on  any  and  every  subject 
and  person  that  entered  his  mind  as  he 
wrote.  The  plot  itself  is  almost  a  minor 
part  of  the  poem,  for  much  more  interest 
ing  are  Byron's  bitter  tirades  on  England, 
wealth,  power,  society,  chastity,  poets, 
and  diplomats.  For  that  reason,  Juan's 
adventures  being  largely  incidental,  the 
poem  holds  a  high  place  among  literary 
satires,  even  though  unfinished  at  Byron's 
death, 

The  Story: 

When  Don  Juan  was  a  small  boy,  his 
father  died,  leaving  the  boy  in  the  care 
of  his  mother,  Donna  Inez.  Donna  Inez 
was  a  righteous  woman  who  had  made 
her  husband's  life  miserable.  She  had 
her  son  tutored  in  the  arts  of  fencing, 
riding,  and  shooting,  and  she  herself  at 
tempted  to  rear  him  in  a  moral  manner. 
But  even  though  young  Don  Juan  read 
widely  in  the  sermons  and  lives  of  the 
saints,  he  did  not  seem  to  absorb  from 
his  studies  the  qualities  his  mother 
thought  essential. 

At  sixteen,  he  was  a  handsome  lad 
much  admired  by  his  mother's  friends. 
Donna  Julia,  in  particular,  often  looked 
pensively  at  the  youth.  Donna  Julia  was 
just  twenty-three  and  married  to  a  man 
of  fifty.  Although  she  loved  her  husband, 
or  so  she  told  herself,  she  thought  often 
of  young  Don  Juan.  One  day,  finding 
herself  alone  with  him,  she  gave  herself 
to  the  young  man. 

The  young  lovers  spent  long  hours  to 
gether  during  the  summer,  and  it  was 
not  until  November  that  Don  Alfonso, 
her  husband,  discovered  their  intrigue. 
When  Don  Alfonso  found  Don  Juan  in 


his  wife's  bedroom,  he  tried  to  throttle 
him.  But  Don  Juan  overcame  Don  Al 
fonso  and  fled,  first  to  his  mother's  home 
for  clothes  and  money.  Then  Donna 
Inez  sent  him  to  Cadiz,  there  to  begin  a 
tour  of  Europe.  The  good  lady  prayed 
that  the  trip  would  mend  his  morals. 

Before  his  ship  reached  Leghorn  a 
storm  broke  it  apart.  Don  Juan  spent 
many  days  in  a  lifeboat  without  food  or 
water.  At  last  the  boat  was  washed 
ashore,  and  Don  Juan  fell  exhausted  on 
the  beach  and  slept.  When  he  awoke, 
he  saw  bending  over  him  a  beautiful  girl 
who  told  him  that  she  was  called  Haidee 
and  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  the 
ruler  of  the  island,  one  of  the  Cyclades, 
Her  father,  Lambro,  was  a  pirate,  deal 
ing  in  jewels  and  slaves.  Because  she 
knew  her  father  would  sell  Don  Juan  to 
the  first  trader  who  came  by,  Haide'e  hid 
Don  Juan  in  a  cave  and  sent  her  maids  to 
wait  on  him. 

When  Lambro  left  on  another  expedi 
tion,  Haide'e  took  Don  Juan  from  the 
cave  and  they  roamed  together  over  the 
island.  Haide'e  heaped  jewels  and  fine 
foods  and  wines  on  Don  Juan,  for  he  was 
the  first  man  she  had  ever  known  except 
her  father  and  her  servants.  Although 
Don  Juan  still  tried  to  think  of  Donna 
Julia,  he  could  not  resist  I  Iaide*e.  A  child 
of  nature  and  passion,  she  gave  herself  to 
him  with  complete  freedom.  Again  Don 
Juan  lived  an  idyllic  existence,  until 
ITaideVs  father  returned  unexpectedly. 
Don  Juan  again  fought  gallantly,  but  at 
last  he  was  overcome  by  the  old  man's 
servants  and  put  aboard  a  slave  ship 
bound  for  a  distant  market.  He  never 
saw  Haid6e  again,  and  he  never  knew 
that  she  died  carrying  his  unborn  child. 

The  slave  ship  took  Don  Juan  to  a 
Turkish  market,  where  he  and  anodier 


218 


prisoner  were  purchased  by  a  Negro 
eunuch  and  taken  to  the  palace  of  a 
sultan.  There  Don  Juan  was  made  to 
dress  as  a  dancing  maiden  and  present 
himself  to  the  sultana,  the  fourth  and 
favorite  wife  of  the  sultan.  She  had 
passed  by  the  slave  market  and  had  seen 
Don  Juan  and  wanted  him  for  a  lover. 
In  order  to  conceal  his  sex  from  the  sul 
tan,  she  forced  the  disguise  on  Don  Juan. 
But  even  at  the  threat  of  death,  Don 
Juan  would  not  become  her  lover,  for  he 
still  yearned  for  Haidee.  Perhaps  his  con 
stancy  might  have  wavered,  if  the  sultana 
had  not  been  an  infidel,  for  she  was 
young  and  beautiful. 

Eventually  Don  Juan  escaped  from 
the  palace  and  joined  the  army  of  Cath 
erine  of  Russia.  The  Russians  were  at 
war  with  the  sultan  from  whose  palace 
Don  Juan  had  fled.  Don  Juan  was  such 
a  valiant  soldier  that  he  was  sent  to  St. 
Petersburg,  to  carry  the  news  of  a  Rus 
sian  victory  to  Empress  Catherine.  Cath 
erine  also  cast  longing  eyes  on  the  hand 
some  stranger,  and  her  approval  soon 
made  Don  Juan  the  toast  of  her  capital. 

In  the  midst  of  his  luxury  and  good 
fortune,  Don  Juan  grew  ill.  Hoping  that 
a  change  of  climate  would  help  her  favor 
ite,  Catherine  resolved  to  send  him  on  a 
mission  to  England.  When  he  reached 
London  he  was  well  received,  for  he  was 
a  polished  young  man,  well  versed  in 
fashionable  etiquette.  His  mornings  were 
spent  in  business,  but  his  afternoons  and 
evenings  were  devoted  to  lavish  entertain 
ment.  He  conducted  himself  with  such 
decorum,  however,  that  he  was  much 
sought  after  by  proper  young  ladies  and 
much  advised  by  older  ones.  Lady  Ade 
line  Amundeville,  made  him  her  prot£g6, 
and  advised  him  freely  on  affairs  of  the 
heart.  Another,  the  Duchess  of  Fitz- 
Fulke,  advised  him  too,  but  her  sugges 
tions  were  of  a  more  personal  nature  and 
seemed  to  demand  a  secluded  spot  where 


there  was  no  danger  from  intruders.  Be 
cause  of  the  Duchess  of  Fitz-Fulke's  at 
tentions  to  Don  Juan,  Lady  Adeline 
began  to  talk  to  him  about  selecting  a 
bride  from  the  chaste  and  suitable  young 
ladies  attentive  to  him. 

Don  Juan  thought  of  marriage,  but  his 
interest  was  stirred  by  a  girl  not  on  Lady 
Adeline's  list.  Aurora  Raby  was  a  plain 
young  lady,  prim,  dull,  and  seemingly 
unaware  of  Don  Juan's  presence.  Her 
lack  of  interest  served  to  spur  him  on  to 
greater  efforts,  but  a  smile  was  his  only 
reward  from  the  cold  maiden. 

His  attention  was  diverted  from  Aurora 
Raby  by  the  appearance  of  the  ghost  of 
the  Black  Friar,  who  had  once  lived  in 
the  house  of  Lady  Adeline,  where  Don 
Juan  was  a  guest.  The  ghost  was  a  leg 
endary  figure  reported  to  appear  before 
births,  deaths,  or  marriages.  To  Don 
Juan,  the  ghost  was  an  evil  omen,  and 
he  could  not  laugh  off  the  tightness  about 
his  heart.  Lady  Adeline  and  her  husband 
seemed  to  consider  the  ghost  a  great 
joke.  Aurora  Raby  appeared  to  be  a  little 
sympathetic  with  Don  Juan,  but  the 
Duchess  of  Fitz-Fulke  merely  laughed 
at  his  discomfiture. 

The  second  time  the  ghost  appeared, 
Don  Juan  followed  it  out  of  the  house 
and  into  the  garden.  It  seemed  to  float 
before  him,  always  just  out  of  his  reach. 
Once  he  thought  he  had  grasped  it,  but 
his  fingers  touched  only  a  cold  wall. 
Then  he  seized  it  firmly  and  found  that 
the  ghost  had  a  sweet  breath  and  full, 
red  lips.  When  the  monk's  cowl  fell 
back,  the  Duchess  of  Fitz-Fulke  was  re 
vealed. 

On  the  morning  after,  Don  Juan  ap 
peared  at  breakfast,  wan  and  tired. 
Whether  he  had  overcome  more  than  the 
ghost,  no  one  will  ever  know.  The  duch 
ess,  too,  came  down,  seeming  to  have  the 
air  of  one  who  had  been,  rebuked.  .  .  . 


219 


DON  QUIXOTE  DB  LA  MANCHA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Miguel  de  Cervantes  Saavedra  (1547-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Spanish  Renaissance 

Locale:  Spain 

first  published:  Pact  I,  1605;  Part  II,  1615 
Principal  characters: 

DON  QUIXOTE  DE  LA  MANCHA,  a  Icnight-  errant 

SANCHO  PANZA,  his  squire 

DULCINEA  DEL  Tofioso,  a  village  wench 

PEDRO  PEREZ,  a  village  curate 

MASTER  NICHOLAS,  a  barber 

SAMSON  CARRASCO,  a  young  bachelor  of  arts 

Critique: 

Macauley  said  that  Don  Quixote  is 
"the  best  novel  in  the  world,  beyond 
comparison."  This  belief  was,  is,  and 
certainly  will  be  shared  by  lovers  of  lit 
erary  excellence  everywhere.  Cervantes' 
avowed  purpose  was  to  ridicule  the  books 
of  chivalry  which  enjoyed  popularity 
even  in  his  day.  But  he  soared  beyond 
this  satirical  purpose  in  his  wealth  of 
fancy  and  in  his  irrepressible  high  spirit 
as  he  polces  fun  at  social  and  literary  con 
ventions  of  his  day.  The  novel  provides 
a  cross-section  of  Spanish  life,  thought, 
and  feeling  at  the  end  o£  the  chivalric 
age. 


The  Story: 

A  retired  and  impoverished  gentleman 
named  Alonzo  Quixano  lived  in  the 
Spanish  province  of  La  Mancha.  He  had 
read  so  many  romances  of  chivalry  that 
his  mind  became  stuffed  with  fantastic 
accounts  of  tournaments,  knightly  quests, 
damsels  in  distress,  and  strange  enchant 
ments,  and  he  decided  one  day  to  imitate 
the  heroes  of  the  books  he  read  and  to 
revive  the  ancient  custom  of  knight- 
errantry.  Changing  his  name  to  Don 
Quixote  de  la  Mancha,  he  had  himself 
dubbed  a  knight  by  a  rascally  publican 
whose  miserable  inn  he  mistook  for  a  tur- 
reted  castle. 

For  armor  he  donned  an  old  suit  of 
mail  which  had  belonged  to  his  great 
grandfather.  Then  upon  a  bony  old  nag 
he  called  Rosinante,  he  set  out  upon  his 


first  adventure.  Not  far  from  his  village 
he  fell  into  the  company  of  some  travel 
ing  merchants  who  thought  the  old  man 
mad  and  beat  him  severely  when  he  chal 
lenged  them  to  a  passage  at  anus. 

Back  home  recovering  from  his  cuts 
and  bruises,  he  was  closely  watched  by 
his  good  neighbor,  Pedro  Perez,  the  vil 
lage  priest,  and  Master  Nicholas,  the 
barber.  Hoping  to  cure  him  of  his  fancies, 
the  curate  and  the  barber  burned  his 
library  of  chivalric  romances.  Don  Quix 
ote,  however,  believed  that  his  books  had 
been  carried  off  by  a  wizard.  Undaunted 
by  his  misfortunes,  he  determined  to  set 
out  on  the  road  again,  with  an  uncouth 
rustic  named  Sancho  Panza  as  his  squire. 
As  the  mistress  to  whom  he  would  dedi 
cate  his  deeds  of  valor  he  chose  a  buxom 
peasant  wench  famous  for  her  skill  in 
salting  pork.  He  called  her  Dulcinea  del 
Toboso. 

The  knight  and  his  squire  had  to  sneak 
out  of  the  village  under  cover  of  dark 
ness,  but  in  their  own  minds  they  pre 
sented  a  brave  appearance:  the  lean  old 
man  on  his  bony  horse  and  his  squat, 
black-browed  servant  on  a  small  ass, 
Dapple.  The  don  carried  his  sword  and 
lance,  Sancho  Panza  a  canvas  wallet  and 
a  leather  bottle.  Sancho  went  with  the 
don  because  in  his  shallow-brained  way 
he  hoped  to  become  governor  of  an  isle. 

The  don's  first  encounter  was  with  a 
score  of  windmills  on  the  plains  of  Mon- 
tiel.  Mistaking  them  for  monstrous  giants, 


220 


he  couched  his  lance,  set  spurs  to  Rosi- 
nante's  thin  flanks,  and  charged  full  tilt 
against  them.  One  of  the  whirling  vanes 
lifted  him  from  his  saddle  and  threw  him 
into  the  air.  When  Sancho  Panza  ran  to 
pick  him  up,  he  explained  that  sorcerers 
had  changed  the  giants  into  windmills. 

Shortly  afterward  he  encountered  two 
monks  riding  in  company  with  a  lady  in 
a  coach  escorted  by  men  on  horseback 
Don  Quixote  imagined  that  the  lady  was 
a  captive  princess.  Haughtily  demanding 
her  release,  he  unhorsed  one  of  the  friars 
in  an  attempted  rescue.  Sancho  was 
beaten  by  the  lady's  lackeys.  Don  Quix 
ote  bested  her  Biscayan  squire  in  a  sword 
fight,  sparing  the  man's  life  on  condition 
that  he  go  to  Toboso  and  yield  himself 
to  the  peerless  Dulcinea.  Sancho,  having 
little  taste  for  violence,  wanted  to  get  on 
to  his  isle  as  quickly  as  possible. 

At  an  inn  Quixote  became  involved  in 
an  assignation  between  a  carrier  and  a 
servant  girl.  He  was  trounced  by  the 
carrier.  The  don,  insulted  by  the  inn 
keeper's  demand  for  payment,  rode  away 
without  paying.  Sancho,  to  his  terror, 
was  tossed  in  a  blanket  as  payment  for  his 
master's  debt. 

The  pair  came  upon  dust  clouds  stirred 
up  by  two  large  flocks  of  sheep.  Don 
Quixote,  sure  that  they  were  two  medie 
val  armies  closing  in  combat,  intervened, 
only  to  be  pummeled  with  rocks  by  the 
indignant  shepherds,  whose  sheep  he  had 
scattered. 

At  night  the  don  thought  a  funeral 
procession  was  a  parade  of  monsters.  He 
attacked  and  routed  the  mourners  and 
was  called  the  Knight  of  the  Sorry  Aspect 
by  Sancho.  The  two  came  upon  a  roaring 
noise  in  the  night.  Quixote,  believing 
it  to  be  made  by  giants,  wanted  to  attack 
immediately,  but  Sancho  judiciously 
hobbled  Rosinante  so  he  could  not  move. 
The  next  day  they  discovered  the  noise 
carne  from  the  pounding  of  a  mill. 

Quixote  attacked  an  itinerant  barber 
and  seized  the  poor  barber's  bowl,  which 
he  declared  to  be  the  famous  golden  hel 
met  of  Mambrino,  and  his  packsaddle, 


which  he  believed  to  be  a  richly-jeweled 
caparison. 

Next,  the  pair  came  upon  a  chain- 
gang  being  taken  to  the  galleys.  The  don 
interviewed  various  prisoners  and  decided 
to  succor  the  afflicted.  He  freed  them, 
only  to  be  insulted  by  their  remarks  con 
cerning  his  lady,  the  fair  Dulcinea.  San 
cho,  afraid  of  what  would  ensue  from 
their  releasing  of  the  galley  slaves,  led 
Quixote  into  the  mountains  for  safety. 
There  they  came  upon  a  hermit,  a  noble 
man,  who  told  them  a  long  story  of  un 
requited  love.  Quixote  and  the  hermit 
fought  over  the  virtues  of  their  inamora 
tas.  Deciding  to  do  penance  and  to  fast 
for  the  love  of  Dulcinea,  Quixote  gave  a 
letter  to  Sancho  to  deliver  to  the  maiden. 
When  Sancho  returned  to  the  village 
Don  Quixote's  friends  learned  from 
Sancho  the  old  man's  whereabouts.  They 
returned  with  Sancho  to  the  mountains, 
in  hopes  that  they  could  trick  Don  Quix 
ote  into  returning  with  them.  The  priest 
devised  a  scheme  whereby  a  young  peas 
ant  woman  would  pose  as  a  distressed 
princess.  Don  Quixote,  all  but  dead  from 
hunger  and  exposure,  was  easily  deceived, 
and  the  party  started  homeward. 

They  came  to  the  inn  where  Sancho 
had  been  tossed  in  the  blanket.  The 
priest  explained  the  don's  vagaries  to  the 
alarmed  innkeeper,  who  admitted  that 
he,  too,  was  addicted  to  the  reading  of 
romances  of  chivalry.  At  the  inn  Don 
Quixote  fought  in  his  sleep  with  ogres 
and  ran  his  sword  through  two  of  the 
innkeeper's  precious  wine-skins.  The 
itinerant  barber  stopped  by  and  de 
manded  the  return  of  his  basin  and  pack- 
saddle.  After  the  party  had  sport  at  the 
expense  of  the  befuddled  barber,  restitu 
tion  was  made.  An  officer  appeared  with 
a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  the  don  and 
Sancho  for  releasing  the  galleyslaves. 
The  priest  explained  his  friend's  mental 
condition  and  the  officer  departed. 

Seeing  no  other  means  of  getting  Don 
Quixote  quietly  home,  his  friends  dis 
guised  themselves  and  placed  the  don  in 
a  cage  mounted  on  an  oxcart.  He  was 


22! 


later  released  under  oath  not  to  attempt 
to  escape.  A  canon,  joining  the  party, 
sought  to  bring  Quixote  to  his  senses  by 
logical  argument  against  books  of  knight- 
errantry.  The  don  refuted  the  canon  with 
a  charming  and  brilliant  argument  and 
went  on  to  narrate  a  typical  romance  of 
derring-do.  Before  the  group  reached 
home,  they  came  upon  a  goatherd  who 
told  them  a  story  and  by  whom  Quixote 
was  beaten  through  a  misunderstanding. 

Sometime  later  the  priest  and  the  bar 
ber  visited  the  convalescing  Don  Quixote 
to  give  him  news  of  Spain  and  of  the 
world.  When  they  told  him  there  was 
danger  of  an  attack  on  Spain  by  the 
Turks,  the  don  suggested  that  the  king 
assemble  all  of  Spain's  knights-errant  to 
repulse  the  enemy.  At  this  time,  Sancho 
entered  despite  efforts  to  bar  him.  He 
brought  word  that  a  book  telling  of  their 
adventures  had  appeared.  The  sight  of 
Sancho  inspired  the  don  to  sally  forth 
again.  His  excuse  was  a  great  tourna 
ment  to  be  held  at  Saragossa. 

Failing  to  dissuade  Don  Quixote  from 
going  forth  again,  his  friends  were  re 
assured  when  a  village  student  promised 
he  would  waylay  the  flighty  old  gentle 


man. 


Don  Quixote's  first  destination  was  the 
home  of  Dulcinea  in  nearby  El  Toboso. 
While  the  don  awaited  in  a  forest,  Sancho 
saw  three  peasant  girls  riding  out  of  the 
village.  He  rode  to  his  master  and  told 
him  that  Dulcinea  with  two  handmaidens 
approached.  Frightened  by  the  don's  fan 
tastic  speech,  the  girls  fled.  Don  Quixote 
swore  that  Dulcinea  had  been  enchanted. 

Benighted  in  a  forest,  the  knight  and 
his  squire  were  awakened  by  the  arrival 
of  another  knight  and  squire.  The  other 
knight  boasted  that  he  had  defeated  in 
combat  all  Spanish  knights.  The  don, 
believing  the  knight  to  be  mistaken,  chal 
lenged  him.  They  fought  by  daylight 
and,  miraculously,  Don  Quixote  unhorsed 
the  Knight  of  the  Wood,  who  was  Car- 
rasco,  the  village  student,  in  disguise.  His 
squire  was  an  old  acquaintance  of 
Sancho.  The  don  declared  the  resem 


blances  were  the  work  of  magicians  and 
continued  on  his  way.  Upset  by  his 
failure,  Carrasco  swore  vengeance  on  Don 
Quixote. 

Sancho  filled  Quixote's  helmet  with 
curds  which  he  procured  from  shepherds. 
When  the  don  suddenly  clapped  on  his 
helmet  at  the  approach  of  another  ad 
venture,  he  thought  his  brains  were 
melting.  This  new  adventure  took  the 
form  of  a  wagon  bearing  two  caged  lions. 
Quixote,  ever  intrepid,  commanded  the 
keeper  to  open  one  cage — he  would  en 
gage  a  lion  in  combat.  Unhappily,  the 
keeper  obeyed.  Quixote  stood  ready,  but 
the  lion  yawned  and  refused  to  come  out. 

The  don  and  Sancho  joined  a  wedding 
party  and  subsequently  attended  a  wed 
ding  festival  at  which  the  rejected  lover 
tricked  the  bride  into  marrying  him  in 
stead  of  the  rich  man  she  had  chosen. 

Next,  the  pair  were  taken  to  the  Caves 
of  Montesinos,  where  Quixote  was  low 
ered  underground.  He  was  brought  up 
an  hour  later  asleep,  and,  upon  awaken 
ing,  he  told  a  story  of  having  spent  three 
days  in  a  land  of  palaces  and  magic 
forests  where  he  had  seen  his  enchanted 
Dulcinea. 

At  an  inn  Quixote  met  a  puppeteer 
who  had  a  divining  ape.  By  trickery,  the 
rascal  identified  the  don  and  Sancho 
with  the  help  of  the  ape.  He  presented 
a  melodramatic  puppet  show  which  Don 
Quixote,  carried  away  by  the  make-be 
lieve  story,  demolished  with  his  sword. 
The  don  paid  for  the  damage  done  and 
struck  out  for  the  nearby  River  Ebro, 
He  and  Sancho  took  a  boat  and  were  car 
ried  by  the  current  toward  some  churn 
ing  mill  wheels,  which  the  don  thought 
were  a  beleaguered  city  awaiting  deliver 
ance.  They  were  rescued  by  millers  after 
the  boat  had  been  wreckecl  and  the  pair 
thoroughly  soaked. 

Later,  in  a  forest,  the  pair  met  a  hunt 
ress  who  claimed  knowledge  of  the  fam 
ous  knight  and  his  squire.  They  went 
with  the  lady  to  her  castle  and  were 
welcomed  by  a  duke  and  his  duchess 
who  had  read  of  their  previous  adventures 


222 


and  who  were  ready  to  have  great  fun  at 
the  pair's  expense.  The  hosts  arranged 
an  elaborate  night  ceremony  to  disen 
chant  Dulcinea,  who  was  represented  by 
a  disguised  page.  Sancho  was  told,  to 
his  great  discomfort,  that  he  would  re 
ceive  five  hundred  lashes  as  his  part  of 
the  disenchantment.  Part  of  the  jest  was 
a  ride  through  space  on  a  magic  wooden 
horse.  Blindfolded,  the  pair  mounted 
their  steed  and  servants  blew  air  in  their 
faces  from  bellows  and  thrust  torches 
near  their  faces. 

Sancho  departed  to  govern  his  isle,  a 
village  in  the  domains  of  the  duke  and 
duchess,  while  the  female  part  of  the 
household  turned  to  the  project  of  com 
promising  Quixote  in  his  worship  of  Dul 
cinea.  Sancho  governed  for  a  week.  He 
made  good  laws  and  delivered  wise  judg 
ments,  but  at  the  end  of  a  week  he 
yearned  for  the  freedom  of  the  road.  To 
gether  he  and  his  master  proceeded 
toward  Saragossa.  Don  Quixote  changed 
their  destination  to  Barcelona,  however, 


when  he  heard  that  a  citizen  of  that 
city  had  written  a  spurious  account  of 
his  adventures. 

In  Barcelona  they  marveled  at  the 
city,  the  ships,  and  the  sea.  Don  Quixote 
and  Sancho  were  the  guests  of  Moreno, 
who  took  them  to  inspect  the  royal 
galleys.  The  galley  which  they  visited 
suddenly  put  out  to  sea  in  pursuit  of 
pirates  and  a  fight  followed.  Sancho  was 
terrified. 

There  came  to  Barcelona  a  Knight  of 
the  White  Moon,  who  challenged  Don 
Quixote  to  combat.  After  the  old  man 
had  been  overcome,  the  strange  knight, 
in  reality  the  student  Carrasco,  sentenced 
him  to  return  home.  Don  Quixote  went 
back,  determined  next  to  follow  a  pas 
toral  shepherd  life.  At  home,  the  tired 
old  man  quickly  declined.  Before  he 
died,  he  renounced  as  nonsense  all  to  do 
with  knight-errantry,  not  realizing  that 
in  his  high-minded,  noble-hearted  nature 
he  himself  had  been  a  great  chivalric 
gentleman. 


THE  DOWNFALL 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Emile  Zola  (1840-1902) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Timeofjtlot:  1870-1871 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1892 

Principal  characters: 

MAURICE  LEVASSEUR,  a  private  in  the  French  Army 

JEAN  MACQUART,  his  corporal 

DELAHERCHE,  a  textile  manufacturer 

WEISS,  his  secretary 

HENRIETTE,  twin  sister  of  Maurice  and  wife  of  Weiss 

FOUCHARD,  a  shrewd  farmer 

HONORE,  his  son 

SILVTNE,  Fouchard's  servant 


Critique: 

Zola's  theme  in  this  highly  contrived 
novel  would  seem  to  be  that  France  paid 
in  full  measure  for  the  indulgences  of 
seventy  years  in  her  wretched  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  Bismarck  and  Von  Moltke 
in  1870-71.  Each  character  is  a  symbol 


of  an  economic  or  social  group.  Zola's 
account  of  Sedan,  of  the  events  leading 
up  to  Sedan,  and  of  the  insurrection  in 
Paris,  command  admiration  for  his  re 
search.  The  plot  makes  even  more  dra 
matic  the  historical  facts. 


223 


The  Story: 

Corporal  Jean  Macquart,  a  sturdy 
French  peasant,  led  the  squad  of  infantry 
of  which  Private  Maurice  Levasseur  was 
a  member.  The  squad  was  a  part  of  the 
106th  Regiment  of  the  Seventh  Corps 
of  the  French  Army.  A  state  of  war 
existed  between  France  and  Prussia;  the 
year  was  1870.  At  the  outset  it  had 
been  felt  in  France  that  the  war  would  be 
nothing  more  than  a  quick  promenade  to 
Berlin,  but  shortages  of  equipment,  the 
rivalry  of  the  French  commanders,  and 
quick  Prussian  success  made  the  outcome 
of  the  conflict  doubtful. 

Maurice,  a  scapegrace  who  had  enlisted 
to  get  away  from  financial  troubles  in 
Paris,  believed  in  the  evolutionary  neces 
sity  of  war.  As  a  member  of  the  middle 
class,  he  loathed  Jean,  whose  peasant 
common  sense  was  unendurable  to  him. 

Misinformation  and  lack  of  informa 
tion  led  the  leader  of  the  Seventh  Corps 
to  order  his  divisions  to  fall  back  from 
their  positions  around  Mulhausen,  in 
Alsace.  Defeat  was  in  the  air.  Civilians, 
having  heard  that  the  Prussians  were 
sweeping  all  before  them,  were  fleeing 
westward.  Demoralized,  the  troops  threw 
away  their  packs  and  rifles.  At  Belfort 
the  corps  entrained  for  Rheims,  where 
the  retreating  and  disorganized  French 
forces  were  regrouping. 

Prussian  victories  cost  Emperor  Na 
poleon  III  his  command  of  the  French 
armies.  But  Napoleon,  with  his  official 
entourage,  remained  with  the  troops. 
Maurice,  in  Rheims,  learned  from  battle 
veterans  that  the  Prussians  were  young, 
healthy,  well-organized,  and  well- 
equipped.  He  lost  all  hope  for  France 
when  he  caught  sight  of  the  sickly  em 
peror  in  Rheims. 

The  army  was  ordered  to  march  to 
Verdun.  Mendacious  ministers  and 
journalists  lulled  the  French  forces  into 
a  false  sense  of  security.  When  the 
troops  reached  the  Ardennes,  there  were 
marches  and  counter-marches,  for  the 
positions  of  the  Prussian  armies  were 
not  known  by  the  French  commanders. 


Regiments  became  mobs  as  the  French 
approached  Sedan.  By  that  time  Maurice 
had  become  reconciled  to  his  fate,  and 
had  even  grown  to  admire  Jean,  whose 
steadiness  had  kept  the  squad  together. 

Near  Sedan,  Maurice,  Jean,  and  Hon- 
or6,  an  artilleryman,  rescued  Honor6's 
father,  old  Fouchard,  from  pillaging  sol 
diers.  There  Honor6  also  promised  to 
marry  Silvine,  Fouchard's  servant,  who 
had  had  a  baby  by  Fouchard's  hired 
hand,  Goliath.  The  hired  man  was 
suspected  of  being  a  Prussian  spy,  for  at 
the  beginning  of  hostilities  he  had  dis 
appeared  from  the  Fouchard  farm. 

Sedan  was  a  place  of  confusion,  where 
men  were  separated  from  their  units  be 
cause  there  was  no  discipline  and  no 
organization.  In  the  confusion,  Jean  and 
Maurice  met  at  the  house  of  Delaherche, 
a  Sedan  textile  manufacturer,  whose 
secretary,  Weiss,  was  the  husband  of 
Maurice's  twin  sister,  Henriette.  After 
a  rest  Jean  and  Maurice  rejoined  their 
regiment.  Napoleon  III  accompanied  the 
troops  to  Sedan. 

As  the  French  pourccl  into  Sedan,  it 
became  evident  that  the  Prussians  were 
drawing  a  ring  around  the  fortified  town, 
Weiss  and  Delaherche  went  to  Bazeilles, 
a  village  near  Sedan,  to  check  the  safety 
of  property  which  they  owned  there. 
Weiss,  caught  in  a  battle  which  took 
place  in  the  village,  joined  the  French 
forces  against  the  Prussians,  Delaherche 
hastened  back  to  Sedan.  Maurice,  in 
the  meantime,  experienced  his  first  artil 
lery  barrage. 

At  Bazeilles  the  Prussians  closed  in 
on  inferior  French  forces.  Weiss,  in  his 
house,  was  joined  by  a  small  group  of 
French  soldiers  and  one  civilian  to  make 
a  last  ditch  stand.  Captured,  Weiss  was 
put  up  against  a  wall  to  be  shot.  Hen 
riette  appeared,  and  despite  her  plea  to 
be  shot  with  her  husband,  she  was  pushed 
aside  while  the  Prussians  shot  Weiss. 
Henriette,  nearly  out  of  her  mind  with 
grief,  wandered  about  the  field  where 
the  battle  was  still  going  on. 


224 


The  106th  Regiment  was  decimated 
in  a  futile  attempt  to  retake  a  strategic 
hill.  When  Jean  was  wounded,  Maurice 
carried  him  to  safety.  Honore"  Fouchaid 
was  killed  at  his  gun*  Napoleon  had  a 
white  flag  raised  over  a  city  roof,  but  it 
was  torn  down.  Delaherche's  factory- 
was  converted  into  a  hospital,  soon  filled 
to  overflowing  with  French  wounded. 
Napoleon  sent  General  Reille  to  the 
Prussians  with  a  letter  of  capitulation. 

Maurice,  Jean,  and  several  survivors 
of  the  106th  made  their  way  into  Sedan, 
where  Maurice  met  Henriette  and 
learned  of  Weiss'  gallant  death.  They 
were  engaged  in  a  fight  with  Prussian 
Guards  commanded  by  an  officer  whom 
Maurice  recognized  to  be  his  cousin 
Gunther.  Henriette  kept  Maurice  from 
shooting  Gunther. 

By  nightfall  all  had  become  silent  ex 
cept  for  the  turmoil  created  by  the  move 
ment  of  thousands  of  French  troops  into 
Sedan.  The  French  were  forced  to  accept 
the  demands  of  Bismarck  and  Von 
Moltke. 

The  next  day  Silvine  went  out  to  the 
battlefield  and  recovered  the  body  of 
Honore".  Henriette  learned  that  Weiss' 
body  had  been  consumed  in  fires  started 
by  the  Prussians  at  Bazeilles. 

The  surrendered  French  soldiers  were 
herded  together  to  await  deportation  to 
Germany.  A  few  French  officers  who 
promised  never  to  take  up  arms  again 
were  released.  In  the  camp  men  were 
murdered  for  filthy  scraps  of  bread  and 
spoiled  horseflesh.  Maurice,  who  no 
longer  believed  in  anything,  nearly  lost 
control  of  himself.  Jean,  a  cool  veteran 
of  previous  campaigns,  placed  himself 
and  Maurice  among  soldiers  of  a  regi 
ment  leaving  for  Germany.  At  a  stop 
along  the  way,  Jean  procured  civilian 
clothes  from  a  sympathetic  French  girl 
who  was  selling  bread.  The  pair  changed 
quickly  inside  a  tent  and  escaped  into 
a  forest.  When  they  came  to  a  Prussian 
outpost,  Jean  was  wounded  by  rifle  fire, 
but  they  managed  to  escape  and  make 


their  way  back  to  old  Fouchard's  farm, 
where  they  found  Henriette.  Maurice 
went  on  to  aid  in  the  defense  of  Paris; 
Jean  remained  with  Fouchard  to  be 
nursed  back  to  health  by  Henriette. 

The  proclamation  of  the  Second  Re 
public  was  followed  by  the  capitulation 
of  Marshal  Bazaine  at  Metz.  Paris  was 
invested  by  the  Prussians  while  frantic 
attempts  were  made  to  organize  new 
French  armies  in  other  parts  of  France. 

Goliath,  employed  by  the  Prussians  as 
a  spy  around  Sedan,  came  to  Silvine  seek 
ing  her  good  graces.  Upon  her  refusal, 
he  threatened  to  expose  Fouchard's  con 
nection  with  French  partisans.  When 
Goliath  returned  for  his  answer,  two  of 
the  partisans,  assisted  by  Silvine,  killed 
him. 

In  Sedan  Delaherche  became  friendly 
with  Prussian  Captain  Von  Gartlauben, 
who  was  billeted  in  the  Delaherche 
house;  he  found  the  captain's  friendship 
to  be  most  advantageous  in  the  matter 
of  reestablishing  his  textile  works. 

Jean,  well  again,  joined  the  Army  of 
the  North.  Maurice,  meanwhile,  took 
part  in  the  defense  of  Paris.  Sick  of  the 
Republic,  he  deserted  after  the  capitula 
tion  of  Paris  and  took  a  room  near  the 
boulevards.  When  the  Commune  took 
command  in  Paris  and  civil  war  broke 
out,  Maurice  joined  the  forces  of  the 
Commune  to  fight  against  the  Republi 
can  forces,  of  which  Jean's  regiment  was 
a  part.  The  insurrectionists  fired  the 
city  as  they  were  pushed  back.  Maurice 
was  bayoneted  by  Jean  during  night 
fighting  in  the  streets.  Jean  disguised 
Maurice  as  a  Republican  soldier  and  took 
him  to  Maurice's  lodgings,  where  Henri 
ette,  who  had  come  to  Paris  to  seek 
Maurice,  was  waiting.  There  Maurice 
passed  the  crisis  safely,  but  a  later  hemor 
rhage  killed  him.  Jean,  broken-hearted 
at  having  been  the  cause  of  his  friend's 
death,  told  Henriette  goodbye,  with  the 
feeling  that  here  was  a  pin-point  of  the 
desolation  all  France  must  know. 


225 


DRAGON  SEED 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Pearl  S.  Buck  (1  892- 
Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 
Time  of  plot:  World  War  II 
Locale:  China 

1942 


Principal  characters: 

LING  TAN,  a  Chinese  farmer 

LING  SAO,  his  wife 

LAO  TA, 

LAO  ER, 

LAO  SAN,  and 

PANSIAO,  their  children 

ORCHID,  Lao  Ta's  wife 

JADE,  Lao  Er's  wife 

Wu  LIEN,  Ling  Tan's  son-in-law 

MAYLI,  a  mission  teacher 


Critique: 

The  plot  of  this  novel  as  a  social  chron 
icle  is  swiftly  paced  and  convincing  until 
the  appearance  of  Mayli;  then  the  em 
phasis  shifts  to  the  rather  improbable  love 
affair  of  Mayli  and  Lao  San.  Background 
and  character  remain  superior  to  plot. 
As  a  result,  the  reader  absorbs  an  excel 
lent  impression  of  these  people  of  an  alien 
culture,  through  colorful  details  woven 
into  the  pattern  of  the  narrative.  Dragon 
Seed  also  tells  what  World  War  II  meant 
to  the  Chinese  peasantry. 

The  Story: 

Ling  Tan's  family  all  lived  together  in 
his  ancestral  home.  Besides  Ling  Tan 
and  his  wife,  Ling  Sao,  there  were  three 
sons,  Lao  Ta,  Lao  Er,  and  Lao  San,  and 
a  daughter,  Pansiao.  Lao  Ta  and  his  wife 
Orchid  had  two  children.  Lao  Er  and  his 
wife  Jade  as  yet  had  none. 

Jade  was  a  strange  woman  who  cared 
little  for  the  old  rules  and  customs  gov 
erning  Chinese  wives.  Her  free  manners 
and  frank  tongue  were  an  embarrassment 
to  Lao  Er,  for  the  men  chided  him  about 
it.  Then,  too,  he  felt  as  if  he  did  not 
really  understand  his  wife.  One  evening, 
after  they  had  both  heard  how  the  Jap 
anese  had  begun  war  in  the  north,  they 
unburdened  their  hearts  to  each  other, 


and  Lao  Er  accepted  the  fact  that  he  was 
married  to  a  woman  who  was  not  like 
the  others.  He  promised  to  go  to  the  city 
and  buy  her  a  book  so  that  she  could 
learn  what  was  happening  in  the  world. 

While  Lao  Er  was  in  the  city,  he 
visited  Wu  Lien,  a  merchant  who  had 
married  his  older  sister.  Some  Chinese 
students  destroyed  the  Japanese  merchan 
dise  that  Wu  Lien  had  for  sale  and 
branded  him  as  a  traitor.  When  Ling  Sao 
heard  this  bad  news,  she  too  went  to  the 
city.  Wu  Lien  was  sick  with  worry  over 
what  had  happened  to  him;  he  had  also 
heard  that  the  Japanese  had  landed  on 
the  coast  nearby  and  wore  pushing  in 
land.  Ling  Sao  comforted  him  as  well  as 
she  could  and  returned  home. 

The  next  morning  Ling  Tan  was  work 
ing  in  his  fields  when  he  saw  Japanese 
aircraft  approaching  to  bomb  the  city. 
Me  and  the  other  farmers  watched  the 
planes,  curious  and  unafraid.  That  night 
Wu  Lien  came  to  his  father-in-law's 
house  seeking  refuge,  for  his  shop  had 
been  hit  by  a  bomb.  Only  then  did  Ling 
Tan's  family  learn  the  meaning  of  what 
had  happened  that  clay. 

The  next  clay  Ling  Tan  and  Lao  San 
went  to  the  city,  where  they  were  caught 
in  the  second  air  raid.  Gravely,  Ling  Tan 


DRAGON  SEED  by  Pearl  S,  Buck.    By  permission  of  the  author,  her  agent  David  Lloyd,  and  the  publishers, 
The  John  Day  Co.,  Inc.   Copyright,  1941,  1942,  by  Pearl  S.  Buck. 


226 


asked  his  family  how  they  were  going 
to  resist  this  enemy.  Lao  Er  and  Jade 
said  that  they  must  go  westward  into  the 
hills,  for  Jade  was  now  with  child.  The 
rest  of  the  family  decided  to  stay  and  hold 
the  ancestral  land  at  all  costs. 

Streams  of  refugees  passed  along  the 
road  toward  the  west,  and  Lao  Er  and 
Jade  joined  a  group  of  students  who 
were  moving  their  school  inland.  Lao  Er 
promised  to  send  word  when  the  baby 
was  born.  Other  students  passed  through 
the  village  and  stopped  to  tell  of  the 
atrocities  of  the  Japanese,  but  the  simple 
farmers  could  not  believe  the  stories  they 
heard.  After  a  month  or  so  Ling  Tan  and 
his  family  could  hear  the  roar  of  the 
Japanese  guns  as  they  approached  the 
city,  Chinese  soldiers  deserted  to  the 
hills,  leaving  the  inhabitants  at  the  mercy 
of  the  enemy.  For  a  few  days  after  the 
city  was  taken  all  was  peaceful.  Then 
some  Japanese  marched  to  the  village  and 
demanded  wine  and  women.  Ling  Tan 
hid  his  family  in  the  fields.  The  soldiers 
discovered  Wu  Lien's  mother,  who  was 
too  old  and  fat  to  flee.  When  they  found 
no  other  women,  they  attacked  her  and 
killed  her.  Then  they  wrecked  the  house 
and  left. 

Since  he  knew  now  that  no  woman 
was  safe  from  the  Japanese,  Ling  Tan 
put  all  of  the  women  of  his  family  with 
the  white  missionary  lady  in  the  city. 
The  men  remained  at  the  farm,  except 
for  Wu  Lien.  He  returned  to  his  shop 
in  the  city  and  advertised  for  Japanese 
business. 

Meanwhile  the  soldiers  came  again  to 
Ling  Tan's  house  in  search  of  women. 
When  they  found  none,  they  attacked 
Lao  San,  the  youngest  son.  Humiliated 
and  filled  with  hatred,  the  boy  left  to  join 
the  hill  people  who  were  fighting  the 
Japanese. 

Wu  Lien  ingratiated  himself  with  the 
conquerors  and  was  appointed  to  a  job 
in  the  new  city  government.  He  took 
his  family  from  the  mission  and  moved 
into  spacious  quarters  provided  by  the 
Japanese. 


Orchid  grew  bored  in  the  mission. 
She  thought  that  the  city  was  quiet  now 
and  nothing  could  happen  to  her.  One 
day  she  went  for  a  walk.  Five  soldiers 
captured  her  and  killed  her  while  they 
satisfied  their  lust.  When  her  body  was 
returned  to  the  mission,  Ling  Sao  sent 
for  Ling  Tan  and  Lao  Ta.  She  could  no 
longer  stay  in  the  city.  She  returned  to 
the  farm  with  Ling  Tan,  Lao  Ta,  and  the 
two  children  of  Orchid  and  Lao  Ta.  Pan- 
siao  was  sent  westward  to  a  mission 
school  in  the  hills,  where  she  would  be 
safe. 

A  message  from  Lao  Er  announced 
that  Jade  had  a  son.  Ling  Tan  sent  foi 
Lao  Er  and  his  family  to  come  and  help 
with  the  farm.  Lao  Er  obeyed  the  sum 
mons,  for  he  could  be  useful  as  a  mes 
senger  between  the  village  and  the 
guerilla  warriors  in  the  hills.  He  and 
Jade  made  a  secret  cavern  under  the 
house  where  they  could  store  arms  for  the 
villagers.  Meanwhile  the  children  of  Lao 
Ta  died  of  flux  and  fever.  Despondent, 
he  left  for  the  hills  to  join  Lao  San.  Ling 
Tan  worked  his  farm  as  best  he  could 
and  held  back  from  the  enemy  as  much 
grain  as  he  dared. 

Lao  San  and  Lao  Ta  returned  from  the 
hills  with  rifles  to  hide  in  the  secret 
cavern.  Whenever  there  were  no  witness 
es,  the  farmers  killed  Japanese  soldiers 
and  secretly  buried  them.  Jade  succeeded 
in  poisoning  many  Japanese  leaders  at  a 
great  feast  in  the  city.  A  cousin  of  Ling 
Tan  went  to  the  city  and  stole  a  radio 
from  Wu  Lien.  Afterwards  he  was  able 
to  report  to  the  people  the  progress  of  the 
war.  The  people  took  heart  from  the 
knowledge  that  there  were  others  fighting 
the  Japanese. 

Lao  San  had  become  a  ruthless  killer 
and  Ling  Tan  thought  that  he  needed  a 
spirited  wife  to  tame  him.  Jade  wrote 
to  Pansiao,  asking  her  to  find  a  wife  for 
Lao  San  among  the  girls  at  the  mission. 
Pansiao  told  one  of  her  teachers,  the 
daughter  of  a  Chinese  ambassador,  about 
her  brother.  This  girl,  Mayli,  traveled  to 
see  Lao  San  for  herself.  The  young  peo- 


227 


pie  fell  in  love  at  first  sight,  but  Mayli  Tan  began  to  brood.  Then  one  day  Lao 

returned  to  the  hills  to  wait  for  Lao  San  Er  took  the  old  man  to  the  city  to  hear 

to  come  after  her.  Lao  Ta  also  returned  the  news  from  the  hidden  radio.    They 

home  with  a  new  wife.  Ling  Tan's  house  heard  that  England  and  the  United  States 

was  full  again,  for  Jade  gave  birth  to  were  now  fighting  on  their  side.    Ling 

twin  boys.  Tan   wept   for  joy.    Perhaps  some  day 

The  hardships  continued.    Losing  all  there  would  be  an  end  to  the  war.  Once 

hope  of  conquering  the  Japanese,  Ling  again  there  was  hope. 

DRUMS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  James  Boyd  (1888-1944) 
Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 
Time  of  'plot:  American  Revolution 
Locale:  North  Carolina  and  London 
First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

SQUIRJE  PHASER,  a  North  Carolina  planter 

MRS.  FRASER,  his  wife 

JOHN  PHASER,  their  son 

SIR  NAT  DUKINFIELD,  a  sportsman 

CAPTAIN  TENNAIST,  Collector  of  the  Port  at  Eclenton 

EVE  TENNANT,  his  daughter 

WYLIE  JONES,  a  plantation  owner 

PAUL  JONES,  a  sailor 

SALLY  MERRILLEE,  a  neighbor  of  the  Frasers 

Critique: 

In  Drums  the  author  attempted  to  re-  Nat  Dukinfield,  a  young  rake,  asked 
produce  the  feelings  and  actions  of  all  John  to  go  riding  with  him  one  after- 
classes  of  Americans  during  the  Revolu-  noon.  They  parted  close  friends.  Through 
tion,  and  he  accomplished  his  purpose  Dr.  Clapton,  John  met  Captain  Tennant,. 
admirably,  sometimes,  however,  at  the  ex-  the  Collector  of  the  Port  at  Edcnton, 
pense  of  the  movement  of  the  plot.  The  Captain  Tennant  took  John  home  with 
episodes  at  the  race  track  and  on  the  him  and  introduced  him  to  Eve,  his 
sea  stand  out  in  vividness  above  the  rest  daughter,  who  overwhelmed  John  and 
of  the  action,  The  book  is  a  pleasing  embarrassed  him  with  her  coquettish 
mixture  of  history  and  adventure,  with  manners.  Captain  Flood,  a  river  boat 
little  emphasis  upon  character.  skipper,  was  another  of  his  friends.  The 

old  man  taught  him  some  sea  lore  and  on 
The  Story:  ys  tl^s  Up  ancj  c[own  tiie  rjver  actccj  as 

John  Fraser  lived  with  his  mother  and  a  messenger  between  John  and  his  par- 
father  in  the  backwoods  of  North  Caro-  ents, 

Una.  Squire  Fraser,  a  strict  but  kind  John  went  often  to  visit  Captain  Ten- 
Scotsman,  was  determined  that  his  son  nant  and  Eve.  One  evening  two  other 
should  have  a  gentleman's  education,  and  gentlemen  arrived  at  their  house,  Mr. 
so  he  sent  John  to  the  coastal  town  of  Hewes,  a  shipbuilder,  and  Mr,  Battle,  a 
Edenton  to  be  tutored  by  Dr.  Clapton,  an  young  lawyer,  A  bitter  argument  began 
English  clergyman.  among  the  gentlemen  over  the  new  tax 

There  John  made  many  friends.    Sir  on  tea.   Autumn  came,  and  Squire  Fra- 

DRUMS  by  James  Boyd.  By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  Copyright  1925  by  Charlc* 
Scribnor  s  Sons.  * 

228 


ser  sent  for  John  to  come  home  for  a 
short  vacation.  Captain  Flood  took  John 
up  the  river  to  Halifax.  There  he  stayed 
overnight  at  the  plantation  of  Wylie 
Jones,  a  rich  young  landowner. 

After  three  years  of  schooling  from 
Dr.  Clapton,  John  became  a  young  pro 
vincial  gentleman.  The  only  cloud  on 
his  horizon  was  the  report  of  troubles 
with  the  British  in  Boston.  Many  people 
were  angry;  some  predicted  violence.  But 
John  thrust  dark  thoughts  aside,  for  to 
morrow  was  the  day  of  the  races.  Sir  Nat 
was  to  match  his  horse  against  a  thorough 
bred  from  Virginia.  Everyone  seemed  to 
be  excited  over  the  holiday  except  Mr. 
Hewes,  Mr.  Battle,  and  Wylie  Jones. 
The  three  sat  apart  at  a  table  in  the 
tavern  and  talked  seriously  among  them 
selves  while  the  rest  of  the  company 
sang  songs.  At  last  Wylie  Jones  rose  and 
announced  that  the  ministers  in  Parlia 
ment  had  requested  the  king  to  declare 
the  American  Colonies  in  a  state  of  re 
bellion. 

The  next  day  John  rode  to  the  races 
with  Sir  Nat;  Eve  was  going  with  fat 
Master  Hal  Cherry,  a  repulsive  boy, 
but  rich.  Sir  Nat's  horse  was  in  perfect 
condition;  his  jockey,  who  had  been 
drunk  the  night  before,  was  not.  He  lost 
the  first  heat  to  the  horse  from  Virginia. 
Then  Sir  Nat  turned  to  John  and  asked 
him  to  ride.  John  rode  the  next  two  heats 
and  won  both  of  them.  His  friends  cele 
brated  the  victory  he  had  won  for  North 
Carolina. 

Spring  came.  Sir  Nat,  putting  no  stock 
in  rumors  of  war  with  the  Colonies,  vol 
unteered  for  the  English  cavalry;  he 
wanted  to  fight  the  French.  The  day 
after  Sir  Nat  left  for  England,  John 
learned  of  the  battle  fought  at  Lexington. 

Squire  Fraser  sent  a  letter  to  his  son 
with  instructions  to  come  home  at  once 
if  British  authority  were  overthrown  at 
Eden  ton.  John  went  to  say  goodbye  to 
Captain  Tennant  and  Eve,  and  then,  fol 
lowing  his  father's  instructions,  he  took 
leave  of  Dr.  Clapton  and  went  up  the 
river  with  Wylie  Jones.  At  Wylie's 


plantation  he  met  Paul  Jones,  an  adven 
turous  seaman  who  had  taken  Wylie's  last 
name.  Mr.  Battle,  Paul  Jones,  and  Wylie 
discussed  a  naval  war  against  the  British. 
They  urged  John  to  decide  soon  on  which 
side  he  would  be.  He  rode  sadly  home 
from  Wylie's,  but  he  brightened  when 
he  met  Sally  Merrillee,  an  old  playmate. 
He  suddenly  decided  that  he  liked  her 
backwoods  manners,  so  different  from 
those  of  Eve  Tennant.  Later  a  company 
of  militia  camped  on  the  Merrillee  prop 
erty,  and  the  officers  were  billeted  in 
Sally's  house.  John  became  angry  at  Sal 
ly's  attentions  to  the  militia  officers  and 
ceased  courting  her.  Finally,  Squire 
Fraser  sent  John  to  England  to  put  the 
family  money  in  a  safe  bank.  John  was 
happy  at  a  chance  for  an  honorable  es 
cape  from  his  problem.  But  when  he 
went  to  say  goodbye  to  Sally,  she  had 
only  contempt  for  him.  Her  brother  had 
gone  with  the  militia. 

In  London,  John  became  the  clerk  of 
an  importing  firm  and  again  met  Eve 
and  Captain  Tennant.  He  received  a 
letter  from  Wylie  Jones,  who  asked  him 
to  deliver  some  money  to  Paul  Jones' 
mother  in  Scotland.  John  was  staying 
at  an  inn  on  the  Scottish  coast  the  night 
American  sailors  made  a  shore  raid.  Sud 
denly  homesick  for  America,  he  went 
back  with  them  to  their  ship.  The  captain 
was  Paul  Jones.  Grateful  for  the  favor 
John  had  done  for  him  in  Scotland,  he 
signed  John  on  as  a  crew  member. 

After  a  naval  engagement,  the  ship 
anchored  in  the  French  harbor  of  Brest. 
Then  came  long  months  of  waiting  while 
Paul  Jones  tried  to  get  a  larger  ship  from 
the  French.  Sir  Nat  arrived  from  Eng 
land  to  visit  John.  One  evening  the  two 
became  involved  in  a  tavern  brawl,  and 
Sir  Nat  was  killed.  At  last  Paul  Jones 
obtained  another  ship,  the  Bonhomme 
Richard. 

The  ship  put  to  sea  with  a  motley 
crew  and  captured  several  British  mer 
chant  vessels.  Then,  in  a  running  fight 
with  the  Baltic  Fleet,  John  was  wounded 
in  the  left  elbow.  No  longer  fit  for  active 


229 


duty  and  still  feverish  from  his  wound, 
he  sailed  home  to  North  Carolina  on  a 
Dutch  ship.  As  soon  as  his  arm  had 
healed,  he  volunteered  in  the  militia,  but 
they  wanted  no  stiff-armed  men.  He 
helped  out  Sally's  mother  on  her  farm. 
Sally  had  gone  north  to  nurse  her  brother, 
who  had  smallpox.  Mr.  Merrillee  had 
been  killed  in  the  war. 

When  Sally  returned,  John  went  to 
call  on  her.  But  when  he  tried  to  tell  her 
that  he  loved  her,  she  wept.  Thinking 
she  was  rejecting  his  love,  he  left  discon 
solately.  He  volunteered  again  for  the 
militia  and  was  accepted.  In  a  skirmish 
with  British  troops  he  was  wounded  a 
second  time. 

His  arm  now  useless,  John  spent  his 


days  sitting  on  the  front  porch.  One  day 
Sally's  mother  came  to  call  on  him  and 
scolded  him  for  neglecting  her  daughter. 
Sally  was  in  love  with  him;  he  had  mis 
taken  her  reason  for  crying.  John  sud 
denly  felt  much  better.  He  felt  better 
still  when  his  father  heard  that  the 
British  were  retreating.  As  he  sat  on  the 
porch,  General  Greene's  victorious  army 
passed  along  the  road.  John  stumbled 
down  to  the  fence  and  raised  his  stiff  arm 
in  an  Indian  salute  as  the  last  man  of 
the  rear  guard  came  to  the  crest  of  a 
hill.  The  distant  soldier,  silhouetted 
against  the  sunset,  raised  his  rifle  over  his 
head  in  answer.  The  war  was  over.  In 
a  few  days  he  would  be  strong  enough  to 
visit  Sally* 


DRUMS  ALONG  THE  MOHAWK 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Walter  D,  Edmonds  (1903-        ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  1775-1783 

Locale:  The  Mohawk  Valley 

First  published:  1936 

Principal  characters: 

GILBERT  MARTIN,  a  young  pioneer 

MAGDELANA  BORST  MARTIN  (LANA),  his  wife 

MARK  DEMOOTH,  a  captain  of  the  militia 

JOHN  WOLFF,  a  Tory 

BLUE  BLACK,  a  friendly  Oneida  Indian 

MRS.  McKLENNAR,  Captain  Barnabas  McKlermar's  widow 

JOSEPH  BRANT,  an  Indian  chief 

GENERAL  BENEDICT  ARNOLD 

NANCY  SCHUYLER,  Mrs.  Demooth's  maid 

JURRY  McLoNis,  a  Tory 

HON  YOST,  Nancy's  brother 

Critique: 

Drums  Along  the  Mohawk  depicts 
with  great  clarity  the  history  of  those 
stirring  years  from  1775  to  1783.  Ed 
monds  does  not  attempt  a  sweeping  pic 
ture  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Instead, 
he  shows  how  the  times  affected  the 
farmers  and  residents  of  the  Mohawk  Val 
ley  in  upstate  New  York.  Realistically 
told,  the  novel  gains  added  authenticity 
because  its  people,  with  some  exceptions, 


actually  lived  during  that  period  of  Amer 
ican  history.  Edmonds  lists  his  fictitious 
characters  in  an  Author's  Note. 

The  Story: 

Magdelana  Borst,  the  oldest  of  five 
daughters,  married  Gilbert  Martin  and 
together  they  started  ojflf  from  her  home 
at  Fox's  Mjfll  to  settle  farther  west  in  their 
home  at  Deerfield.  The  time  was  July, 


DRUMS  ALONG  THE  MOHAWK  by  Walter  D.  Edmonds.    By  permission  of  the  author,  of  Harold  Ober,  and 
the  publishers,  Little,  Brown  &  Co.    Copyright,   1936,  by  Walter  D.  Edmondi. 


230 


1776,  and  the  spirit  of  the  revolution 
was  reaching  into  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
where  settlers  who  sided  with  the  rebels 
had  already  formed  a  company  of  militia 
commanded  by  Mark  Demooth.  Soon 
after  he  came  to  his  new  home  Gil  had 
to  report  for  muster  day.  Some  Indians 
had  been  seen  in  the  vicinity.  Also,  the 
militia  had  decided  to  investigate  the 
home  of  John  Wolff,  suspected  of  being 
a  king's  man.  Finding  evidence  that  a 
spy  had  been  hidden  on  the  Wolff  farm, 
they  arrested  John  Wolff,  convicted  him 
of  aiding  the  British,  and  sent  him  to 
the  Newgate  Prison  at  Simsbury  Mines. 

A  few  months  after  their  arrival  at 
Deerfield,  Gil  decided  to  have  a  log-roll 
ing  to  clear  his  land  for  farming.  The 
Weavers,  the  Realls,  and  Clem  Copper- 
nol  all  came  to  help  with  the  work. 
When  they  were  about  half  finished, 
Blue  Black,  a  friendly  Oneida  Indian, 
came  to  warn  them  that  a  raiding  party 
of  Seneca  Indians  and  whites  was  in  the 
valley.  The  settlers  immediately  scattered 
for  home  to  collect  the  few  movable  be 
longings  which  they  might  save,  and  then 
drove  to  Fort  Schuyler.  Lana,  who  was 
pregnant,  lost  her  baby  as  a  result  of 
the  wild  ride  to  the  fort.  The  enemy  de 
stroyed  the  Deerfield  settlement.  All  the 
houses  and  fields  were  burned;  Gil's  cow 
was  killed,  and  Mrs.  Wolff,  who  had  re 
fused  to  take  refuge  with  the  people  who 
had  sent  her  husband  to  prison,  was  re 
ported  missing.  Gil  and  Lana  rented  a 
one-room  cabin  in  which  to  live  through 
the  winter.  With  spring  coming  on  and 
needing  a  job  to  support  himself  and 
Lana,  Gil  became  the  hired  man  of  Mrs. 
McKlennar,  a  widow.  The  pay  was 
forty-five  dollars  a  year  plus  the  use  of  a 
two-room  house  and  their  food. 

General  Herkimer  tried  to  obtain  a 
pledge  of  neutrality  from  the  Indian 
chief,  Joseph  Brant,  but  was  unsuccess 
ful.  At  the  end  of  the  summer,  word 
came  that  the  combined  forces  of  British 
and  Indians,  commanded  by  General  St. 
Leger,  were  moving  down  from  Canada 
to  attack  the  valley.  The  militia  was 


called  up  and  set  out  westward  t*  en- 
counter  this  army.  But  the  attack  by  the 
militia  was  badly  timed  and  the  party 
was  ambushed.  Of  nearly  six  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  only  two  hundred  and 
fifty  survived.  The  survivors  returned  in 
scattered  groups.  Gil  received  a  bullet 
wound  in  the  arm.  General  Herkimer, 
seriously  injured  in  the  leg,  died  of  his 
wounds. 

After  the  death  of  General  Herkimer, 
General  Benedict  Arnold  was  sent  out 
to  reorganize  the  army  and  lead  it  in 
another  attack — this  time  against  General 
St.  Leger 's  camp. 

When  Nancy  Schuyler,  Mrs.  De- 
mooth's  maid,  heard  that  her  brother, 
Hon  Yost,  was  in  the  neighborhood  with 
a  group  of  Tories,  she  decided  to  sneak 
out  to  see  him.  On  the  way  she  met 
another  Tory,  Jurry  McLonis,  who  se 
duced  her.  Before  she  was  able  to  see 
Hon,  the  American  militia  broke  up  the 
band.  Hon  was  arrested  but  was  later 
released  when  he  agreed  to  go  back  to 
the  British  camp  and  spread  false  reports 
of  the  American  strength.  As  a  result  of 
her  meeting  with  Jurry  McLonis,  Nancy 
became  pregnant.  About  that  same  time 
John  Wolff  escaped  from  the  prison  at 
Simsbury  Mines  and  made  his  way  to 
Canada  to  join  Butler  and  to  look  for  his 
wife. 

The  following  spring  brought  with  it 
General  Butler's  destructives,  raiding 
parties  that  would  swoop  down  to  burn 
and  pillage  small  settlements  or  farms. 
Mrs.  Demooth  tormented  Nancy  con 
stantly  because  of  her  condition  and  one 
night  frightened  the  girl  so  completely 
that  Nancy,  in  terror,  packed  a  few  of 
her  belongings  in  a  shawl  and  ran  away. 
Her  only  idea  was  to  try  to  get  to  Niagara 
and  find  her  brother  Hon,  but  she  had 
not  gone  far  before  labor  pains  overtook 
her  and  she  bore  her  child  beside  a 
stream.  An  Indian  found  her  there  and 
took  her  with  him  as  his  wife.  Lana  had 
her  child  in  May.  The  destruction  by  the 
raiding  parties  continued  all  through  that 
summer,  and  the  harvest  was  small  Mrs. 


231 


McKlennar's  stone  house  was  not  burned, 
but  there  was  barely  enough  food  for 
her  household  that  winter.  In  the  spring 
Colonel  Van  Schaick  came  to  the  settle 
ment  with  an  army,  and  the  militia  head 
ed  west  once  again,  this  time  to  strike 
against  the  Onondaga  towns. 

Lana  had  her  second  child  the  follow 
ing  August.  Because  of  the  lack  of  food 
during  the  winter,  she  was  still  weak 
from  nursing  her  first  boy,  Gilly,  and 
after  the  birth  of  her  second  boy  it  took 
her  a  long  while  to  recover.  The  next 
winter  they  all  had  enough  to  eat  but 
the  cold  was  severe.  During  that  winter 
Mrs.  McKlennar  aged  greatly  and  kept 
mostly  to  her  bed.  The  destructives  con 
tinued  their  raids  through  the  next  spring 
and  summer.  The  men  never  went  out 
to  their  fields  alone;  they  worked  in 
groups  with  armed  guards.  One  day, 
after  all  the  men  had  gone  to  the  fort, 
Lana  took  the  two  boys  for  a  walk  and 
then  sat  down  at  the  edge  of  a  clearing 
and  fell  asleep.  When  she  awoke,  Gilly 
was  gone.  Two  Indians  were  near  the 
house.  She  put  the  baby,  Joey,  into  a 
hiding  place  and  then  searched  for  Gilly. 
She  found  him  at  last  and  the  two  of 
them  crawled  into  the  hiding  place 


also.  Meanwhile  the  two  Indians  had 
entered  the  house  and  set  it  on  fire.  Over 
whelmed  by  Mrs.  McKlennar's  righteous 
indignation,  they  carried  out  her  bed  for 
her.  They  fled  when  men,  seeing  the 
smoke,  came  hurrying  from  the  fort. 
Gil  and  the  two  scouts,  Adam  Helmer 
and  Joe  Boleo,  built  a  cabin  to  house 
them  all  during  the  coming  winter. 

With  the  spring  thaws,  a  flood  inun 
dated  the  valley.  As  the  waters  receded, 
Marinus  Willett  came  into  the  Mohawk 
Valley  with  his  army,  with  orders  to  track 
down  and  destroy  the  British  forces  under 
General  Butler.  Butler's  army  already 
was  having  a  difficult  time,  for  British 
food  supplies  were  running  out  and 
tracking  wolves  killed  all  stragglers.  The 
militia  finally  caught  up  with  Butler, 
harassed  his  army  for  several  miles,  killed 
Butler,  and  scattered  the  routed  army  in 
the  wilderness.  The  Mohawk  Valley  was 
saved. 

Three  years  later,  the  war  over,  Gil 
and  Lana  went  back  to  their  farm  at 
Deerfield.  They  now  had  a  baby  girl  and 
Lana  and  Gil  felt  content  with  their 
hard-won  security,  their  home,  their  chil< 
dren,  and  each  other. 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  MAUF1 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  John  Webster  (1580-1638) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  Arnalfi  and  Milan,  Italy 

First  presented:  c.  1613 

Principal  characters: 

GIOVAJNNA,  Duchess  of  Amalfi 

ANTONIO,  her  second  husband 

FEBBINAND,  Duke  of  Calabria,  jealous  brother  of  the  duchess 

THE  CARDINAL,  another  brother  of  the  duchess 

BOSOLA,  die  brothers'  spy  and  executioner 


Critique: 

Webster's  play  is  a  blood-tragedy  typi 
cal  of  the  so-called  decadent  drama  of  the 
reign  of  James  I  of  England,  The  melo 
drama  of  its  scenes,  however,  is  not 
enough  to  detract  from  the  general  dig 
nity  and  tragedy  of  the  play.  A  peculiarity 


of  this  play  is  that  a  year  elapses  between 
the  first  and  second  acts  and  another 
two  years  between  the  second  and  third 
acts,  the  passage  of  time  made  apparent 
to  tl\e  audience  by  the  birth  of  children 
to  the  duchess.  As  in  most  of  the  bloody 
tragedies,  the  setting  is  a  Latin  country, 


232 


The  Story: 

The  Duchess  of  Malfi  was  a  young 
widow  whose  two  brothers,  one  a  Car 
dinal  and  the  other  Ferdinand,  the  Duke 
of  Calabria,  were  desperately  jealous 
lest  she  marry  again,  for  they  planned  to 
inherit  her  title  and  estates.  Their  spy 
in  her  household  was  Bosola,  her  master 
of  horse. 

In  spite  of  the  warnings  of  her  brothers, 
the  duchess  fell  in  love  with  Antonio, 
her  steward,  and  married  him,  Later, 
unknown  to  any  person  in  the  court 
except  Antonio  and  Cariola,  a  servant 
girl,  she  had  a  child,  a  boy.  Unfortu 
nately,  the  happy  father  wrote  out  the 
child's  horoscope  according  to  the  rules 
of  astrology  and  then  lost  the  paper. 
Bosola  found  the  document  and  so 
learned  about  the  duchess'  child.  He  dis 
patched  a  letter  immediately  to  Rome 
to  inform  the  brothers.  The  duke  swore 
that  only  her  blood  could  quench  his 
anger  and  threatened  that  once  he  knew 
for  certain  the  duchess'  lover,  he  would 
be  content  only  with  her  complete  ruin. 

The  years  passed  and  the  duchess  bore 
Antonio  two  more  children,  a  second 
son  and  a  daughter.  Antonio  told  his 
friend  Delio  that  he  was  worried  because 
Duke  Ferdinand  was  too  quiet  about  the 
matter  and  because  the  people  of  Malfi, 
not  aware  of  their  duchess'  marriage,  were 
calling  her  a  common  strumpet. 

Duke  Ferdinand  had  come  to  the  court 
to  propose  Count  Malateste  as  a  second 
husband  for  the  duchess.  She  refused. 
Meanwhile  Bosola  had  not  been  able  to 
discover  the  father  of  the  duchess'  chil 
dren.  Impatient  with  his  informer,  the 
duke  decided  on  a  bolder  course  of  action. 
He  determined  to  gain  entrance  to  the 
duchess'  private  chamber,  and  there  to 
wring  a  confession  from  her.  That  night, 
using  a  key  Bosola  had  given  him,  the 
duke  went  to  her  bedroom.  Under  threats 
she  confessed  to  her  second  marriage, 
but  she  refused  to  reveal  Antonio's  name. 
After  the  duke  left,  she  called  Antonio 
and  Cariola  to  her  chamber.  They 
planned  Antonio's  escape  from  Malfi  be 


fore  his  secret  became  known  to  the 
duchess'  brothers. 

The  duchess  called  Bosola  and  told 
him  that  Antonio  had  falsified  some  ac 
counts.  As  soon  as  Bosola  left,  she  re 
called  Antonio  and  told  him  of  the 
feigned  crime  of  which  she  had  accused 
him  to  shield  both  their  honors,  and  then 
bade  him  flee  to  the  town  of  Ancona, 
where  they  would  meet  later.  In  the 
presence  of  Bosola  and  the  officers  of  her 
guard  she  again  accused  Antonio  of 
stealing  money,  and  banished  him  from 
Malfi.  Antonio  replied  that  such  was 
the  treatment  of  stewards  of  thankless 
masters,  and  then  left  for  Ancona.  The 
duped  Bosola  upheld  Antonio  in  an  ar 
gument  with  the  duchess.  She  then  felt 
that  she  could  trust  Bosola  with  the  secret 
of  her  marriage,  and  she  asked  him  to 
take  jewels  and  money  to  her  husband 
at  Ancona.  Bosola,  in  return,  advised  her 
to  make  her  own  departure  from  the  court 
more  seemly  by  going  to  Ancona  by  way 
of  the  shrine  of  Loretto,  so  that  the  flight 
might  seem  a  religious  pilgrimage. 

Bosola  immediately  traveled  from  Malfi 
to  Rome,  where  he  betrayed  the  plans 
of  Antonio  and  the  duchess  to  Duke 
Ferdinand  and  the  Cardinal.  They  had 
the  lovers  banished  from  Ancona. 

Bosola  met  the  duchess  and  Antonio 
near  Loretto  with  a  letter  from  Duke 
Ferdinand  bidding  Antonio  report  to  him, 
since  now  he  knew  Antonio  as  his  sister's 
husband.  Antonio  refused  and  fled  with 
his  oldest  son  toward  Milan.  After  An 
tonio's  departure,  Bosola  took  the  duchess 
back  to  her  palace  at  Malfi,  a  prisoner 
by  Duke  Ferdinand's  command.  At  Malfi 
the  duke  again  visited  her  in  her  cham 
ber.  He  presented  her  with  a  dead  man's 
hand,  implying  that  it  was  from  An 
tonio's  corpse.  Finally  Bosola  came  to 
the  duchess  and  strangled  her.  Cariola 
and  the  children  were  also  strangled, 
though  not  with  the  quiet  dignity  with 
which  the  duchess  was  murdered.  When 
Bosola  asked  Duke  Ferdinand  for  his  re 
ward,  the  hypocritical  duke  laughed  and 


233 


replied  that  the  only  reward  for  such  a 
crime  was  its  pardon, 

In  Milan,  meanwhile,  Antonio  planned 
to  visit  the  Cardinal's  chamber  during 
the  night  to  seek  a  reconciliation  with 
the  duchess'  brothers.  He  intended  to 
approach  the  Cardinal  because  Duke 
Ferdinand  had  lost  his  mind  after  caus 
ing  his  sister's  murder.  The  Cardinal 
ordered  Bosola  that  same  evening  to  seek 
out  Antonio,  who  was  known  to  be  in 
Milan,  and  murder  him.  But  when  so 
ordered,  Bosola  accused  the  Cardinal  of 
having  plotted  the  duchess'  murder  and 
requested  his  reward.  When  a  reward 
was  again  refused,  Bosola  swore  to  him 
self  to  join  forces  with  Antonio  to 
avenge  the  duchess'  death. 


That  night  all  plans  miscarried.  In 
the  dark  Bosola  accidentally  murdered 
Antonio,  the  man  he  hoped  to  make  an 
ally  in  his  revenge  on  Duke  Ferdinand 
and  the  Cardinal.  A  few  minutes  later, 
Bosola  stabbed  the  Cardinal  and  was  in 
turn  stabbed  by  the  mad  Duke  Ferdi 
nand,  who  baa  rushed  into  the  room, 
Bosola,  with  his  last  strength,  stabbed 
the  duke  and  they  both  died.  Alarmed, 
the  guards  broke  into  the  apartments  to 
discover  the  bodies.  Into  the  welter  of 
blood  a  courtier  led  the  young  son  of 
the  Duchess  of  Malfi  and  Antonio,  whom 
Antonio  had  taken  to  Milan,  He  was 
proclaimed  ruler  of  the  lands  held  by  his 
mother  and  uncles. 


THE  DTOAJSTS 

Type  of  work:  Dramatic  poem 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  epic 

Time  of 'plot:  1806-1815 

Locale:  Europe 

First  published:  1903-1908 

Princi-pal  characters: 
NAPOLEON  I 
JOSEPHINE,  his  first  wife 
MABJE  LOUISE,  his  second  wife 
Krisrc  GEORGE  III  OF  ENGLAND 
TSAR  ALEXANDER  OF  RUSSIA 
EMPEROR  FRANCIS  OF  AUSTRIA 
SIR  WILLIAM  PITT,  Prime  Minister  of  England 
SPIRIT  OF  YEARS, 
SHADE  OF  EARTH, 
SPIRIT  OF  PITIES, 
SPIRIT  SINISTER,  and 
SPIRIT  IRONIC,  allegorical  figures 

Critique: 

Written  in  various  types  of  verse  and 
in  poetic  prose,  The  Dynasts,  a  vast  epic- 
drama  of  the  tragedy  of  Napoleon,  marks 
Hardy's  greatest  eifort  to  portray  Man 
as  completely  subject  to  a  disinterested 
Destiny.  Among  his  manifold  points  of 
view,  shifting  from  a  point  somewhere 
above  the  earth  to  the  courts  of  emperors 
or  the  cottager's  fireside,  diat  of  the  rural 


folk  of  southern  England  is  the  most  ef 
fective.  Long  prose  stage  directions  fill 
out  the  historical  perspective  of  this 
sweeping  panoramic  treatment  of  the  con 
stant  turmoil  in  Europe  from  1805  to 
1815.  The  array  of  allegorical  spectators 
who  comment  on  the  events  of  the  drama 
as  they  occur,  and  I  lardy 's  device  of 
switching  the  point  of  view,  tend  to  make 


THE  DYNASTS  by  Thomas  Hardy.    By  permission  of  the  publinhers,  The  MaamUan  Co,    Copyright,   1904,  by 
The  Macmillan  Co.   Renewed,  1931,  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 


234 


strikingly  trivial  the  alarums  and  excur 
sions  of  earth-bound  humanity. 

The  Story: 

The  Spirit  of  Years,  Shade  of  Earth, 
Spirit  Sinister,  Spirit  Ironic,  Spirit  of 
Pities,  and  their  accompanying  choruses, 
forgathered  somewhere  above  the  earth 
to  watch  the  larger  movements  of  men  in 
western  Europe  in  1805.  The  design  of 
the  Immanent  Will  manifested  itself  at 
the  time  in  Napoleon's  preparations  for 
the  invasion  of  England. 

Sir  William  Pitt,  in  England,  con 
tended  with  isolationist  members  of  Par 
liament  in  order  to  secure  proper  defense 
against  the  invasion.  Meanwhile  Napole 
on  went  to  Milan  to  be  crowned  King 
of  Italy.  The  spirits  made  light  of  the 
chicanery  and  pomp  that  attended  the 
coronation.  The  Spirit  of  Pities  descended 
to  earth  and  disturbed  Napoleon  by  re 
minding  him  of  his  original  intention  of 
championing  liberty. 

At  sea,  a  Pyrrhic  victory  of  the  French 
and  Spanish  over  the  English  prevented 
the  support  required  for  the  planned  in 
vasion.  On  the  south  coast  of  England 
the  Phantoms  of  Rumor  caused  great  dis 
turbance.  A  fleet  of  fishing  craft  was 
mistaken  for  the  invasion  fleet,  and  civil 
ians  fled  from  the  coastal  towns  as  signal 
fires  flared  upon  the  cliffs  and  hills. 

When  Napoleon  learned  that  his  ad 
miral,  Villeneuve,  had  returned  to  Cadiz, 
he  discarded  his  invasion  plan  and  moved 
eastward  against  Austria  and  Russia, 
countries  which  Pitt  had  enlisted  in  the 
English  cause.  The  Spirit  of  Years  re 
marked  that  the  ensuing  campaign  would 
be  a  model  in  tactics  for  all  time. 

At  Ulm,  Napoleon  defeated  the  Aus- 
trians,  who  had  hoped  in  vain  that  the 
English  fleet  would  hold  the  French 
forces  in  northern  France.  In  London, 
Pitt,  unsuccessful  in  gaining  permission 
from  the  king  to  form  a  coalition  govern 
ment,  visibly  declined  in  health  under 
his  terrible  burden. 

Villeneuve  was  ordered  out  of  Cadiz. 
The  British  under  Nelson  met  the  French 


and  Spanish  off  Trafalgar  and  defeated 
them.  Nelson  was  killed  in  the  engage 
ment;  Villeneuve  subsequently  ended  his 
own  life  in  an  inn  at  Rennes. 

Napoleon  defeated  the  Austrians  and 
Russians  at  Austerlitz.  Then,  hearing  of 
the  English  victory  at  Trafalgar,  he  de> 
clared  his  intention  of  closing  all  con 
tinental  ports  to  English  ships.  He  dictated 
peace  terms  to  Emperor  Francis  of  Austria 
while  attendant  Austrian  officers  stood  by 
in  disgust  at  the  sight  of  a  nobody  dictat 
ing  to  true  royalty.  In  Paris  the  Spirit 
of  Rumor  commented  on  the  way  Napo 
leon  was  uprooting  old  dynasties  and 
founding  new  ones. 

Pitt  having  died  and  King  George  III 
being  mentally  ill,  England,  in  the  per 
son  of  Charles  James  Fox,  negotiated 
with  Napoleon  for  peace;  but  the  em 
peror  used  the  negotiations  as  a  screen 
for  his  real  plans.  He  marched  on  Prus 
sia  and  defeated  the  Germans  at  the  Bat 
tle  of  Jena.  In  Berlin  he  decreed  that  all 
British  ships  were  barred  from  continental 
ports.  Next,  Napoleon  and  Tsar  Alex 
ander  of  Russia  met  at  the  River  Nie- 
men,  where  the  two  drew  up  a  Franco- 
Russian  alliance.  During  this  meeting 
Napoleon  expressed  the  desire  to  cement 
his  various  alliances  with  blood  ties.  The 
Spirit  of  Years  remarked  ironically  that 
Napoleon  was  one  of  the  few  men  who 
could  see  the  working  of  the  Immanent 
Will. 

Napoleon  invaded  Spain  as  a  friend  to 
help  the  Spanish  gain  Portugal.  The 
Spanish  Bourbons  abdicated  and  Napo 
leon's  brother,  Joseph,  was  proclaimed 
king.  When  Bourbon  partisans  enlisted 
English  aid,  an  English  invasion  fleet 
sailed  for  Portugal. 

Back  in  Paris,  Napoleon  told  his  wife, 
Josephine,  that  he  wished  a  divorce. 
Josephine  had  borne  the  emperor  no 
children  and  he  was  anxious  to  perpetu 
ate  the  dynasty  he  had  founded.  The 
British  invasion  of  the  Iberian  Peninsula 
drew  the  emperor  to  Spain  to  direct  the 
campaign  there.  Preparation  for  war  in 
Austria  caused  Napoleon  next  to  invade 


235 


that  country  and  to  defeat  its  forces  at 
Wagram.  The  British,  under  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  held  their  own  against 
the  French  in  Spain.  At  that  point  the 
Spirit  Sinister  reminded  the  Spirit  Ironic 
not  to  sneer  for  fear  Immanent  Will 
would  cut  short  the  comedy  that  was 
taking  place. 

A  British  force  was  sent  to  the  Scheldt, 
but  the  expedition  ended  disastrously 
when  the  army  was  decimated  by  mias- 
mal  fever.  Napoleon,  fearful  of  assassina 
tion  and  still  anxious  to  perpetuate  his 
line,  negotiated  with  the  Russians  for  the 
hand  of  a  Russian  princess,  and  with  the 
Austrians  for  the  hand  of  Princess  Marie 
Louise.  The  tsar  accepted  the  offer,  but 
Napoleon  had  already  arranged,  through 
Metternich,  for  a  marriage  with  the 
Austrian  princess,  Marie  Louise.  The 
marriage  was  performed  in  the  conspic 
uous  absence  of  many  high  clergy,  and 
the  Russians,  incensed,  prepared  for  war. 
In  the  meantime  the  British  in  Spain 
under  the  Duke  of  Wellington  gained  a 
decisive  victory  at  Albuera. 

In  due  time  Marie  Louise  gave  birth 
to  Napoleon's  heir.  The  insane  King  of 
England  died  after  hearing  of  British  suc 
cesses  in  Spain.  On  the  continent  war 
became  imminent  between  France  and 
Russia, 

Again  on  the  banks  of  the  Niemen, 
Napoleon  received  an  evil  portent  when 
Tie  was  thrown  from  his  horse.  The  Spirit 
of  Pities  foresaw  misery  for  the  French 
Grand  Army  in  the  Russian  campaign. 
Wellington  in  Spain  defeated  the  French 
at  Salamanca.  Napoleon  gained  a  costly 
victory  over  the  Russians  at  Borodino,  and 
the  French  entered  Moscow  to  find  the 
city  deserted  and  in  flames.  There  fol 
lowed  a  general  retreat  by  the  French 
across  snow-covered  Russian  steppes  to 
Lithuania.  Thousands  perished  from  the 
cold  or  were  killed  by  harassing  Russian 


cavalry.  Napoleon  deserted  his  army  and 
raced  back  to  Paris  in  order  to  arrive 
there  before  the  news  of  his  failure  in 
Russia.  His  chief  task  now  was  to  hold 
his  empire  together. 

As  the  British  continued  their  successes 
in  Spain,  Austria  joined  the  allies. 
Napoleon  met  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the 
Austrians  and  Prussians  at  Leipzig.  The 
allies  invaded  France.  Napoleon,  forced 
to  abdicate,  was  exiled  to  Elba,  an  island 
in  the  Mediterranean.  Marie  Louise  and 
the  infant  King  of  Italy  went  to  Austria 
to  stay.  The  Bourbons  reassumed  the 
throne  of  France  and  a  congress  to  delib 
erate  on  general  peace  in  Europe  met  in 
Vienna. 

Napoleon  escaped  from  Elba  and  re 
turned  to  Paris  at  the  head  of  an  army 
he  had  picked  up  on  his  way.  The  allies 
outlawed  Napoleon  and  prepared  to  over 
throw  him  again. 

A  private  ball  in  Brussels  was  broken 
up  by  the  news  that  the  French  army  was 
nearing  the  Belgian  frontier.  Almost 
overnight,  Napoleon  had  organized  and 
put  into  the  held  a  large  army.  But  he 
failed  to  separate  the  British  and  Prus 
sians  in  Belgium,  and  he  was  brought  to 
utter  defeat  on  the  fields  south  of  Water 
loo.  The  Hundred  Days  were  ended. 

The  Spirit  of  Years  pointed  out  to  the 
Spirits  assembled  that  the  human  beings 
below  them  behaved  as  though  they  were 
in  a  dream,  as  though  they  were  puppets 
being  drawn  by  strings  manipulated  by 
Immanent  Will.  The  Spirit  of  Years 
pointed  to  Napoleon  in  defeat  and  com 
pared  him  to  a  tiny  insect  on  an  obscure 
leaf  in  the  chart  of  the  Ages.  When  the 
Spirit  of  Pities  asked  for  what  purpose 
the  events  below  had  taken  place,  the 
Spirit  of  Irony  answered  that  there  was 
no  purpose,  for  only  a  dumb  thing  turned 
the  crank  which  motivated  and  directed 
human  behavior. 


236 


EDMUND  CAMPION 

Type  of  work:  Novelized  biography 

Author:  Evelyn  Waugh  (1903-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  Oxford,  London,  Douai,  Rome,  Prague 

First  published:  1935 

Principal  characters: 

EDMUND  CAMPION,  an  English  martyr 
DR.  WILLIAM  ALLEN,  head  of  the  English  College  at  Douai 
ROBERT  PERSONS,  Campion's  classmate  at  Oxford 
GEORGE  ELIOT,  a  priest-hunter 

Critique: 

This  book  is  an  intelligent,  sober,  and 
admirably  written  biography  of  a  man 
dear  to  the  hearts  of  Anglo-Saxon  Cath 
olics.  Evelyn  Waugh  has  written  a  fine 
impressionistic  portrait  of  the  English 
martyr  after  whom  Campion  Hall  at  Ox 
ford  was  named.  Waugh  warns  that  in 
tolerance  is  a  growing  evil  in  our  modern 
world,  and  martyrs  may  again  be  forced  to 
die  for  their  faith. 


and  make  his  way  to  Douai  and  the  Eng 
lish  College  there. 

The  mild  restrictions  against  Catholics 
turned  into  persecution  when  the  Pope 
issued  a  Bull  of  Excommunication  against 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Because  of  the  fear  of 
a  French-Spanish  alliance  against  Eng 
land,  the  Bull  caused  grave  anxiety  in 
England  and  led  to  reprisals  against  Cath 
olics.  It  became  illegal  to  hear  mass,  to 
harbor  a  priest,  or  openly  to  profess  Ca 
tholicism. 

With  the  Catholic  bishops  imprisoned, 
thereby  preventing  the  ordination  of 
priests,  and  with  all  Catholic  schools 
closed,  the  faith  began  to  die  out  in  Eng 
land.  The  college  at  Douai  sent  young 
English  priests  into  England  to  preserve 
the  faith  of  the  English  Catholics. 

Campion  went  to  Douai  and  became 
a  priest.  Then  he  announced  his  inten 
tion  of  going  to  Rome  and  entering  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  Although  Dr.  Allen,  the 
venerable  head  of  the  college,  did  not 
like  to  lose  him  to  the  Jesuits,  he  made 
no  objection  to  Campion's  plans.  Admit 
ted  into  the  Society,  Campion  was  sent 
to  Bohemia,  where  he  held  important 
posts  at  the  University  of  Prague. 

Dr.  Allen  wrote  Campion  a  letter  in 
forming  him  that  he  was  to  go  to  Eng 
land.  He  and  a  few  others,  including 
Robert  Persons,  who  had  been  an  under 
graduate  at  Oxford  during  the  time  of 
Campion's  proctorship,  were  to  be  smug- 

EDMUND  CAMPION  by  Evelyn  Waugh.    By  permission  of  the  author,  of  Brandt  &  Brandt,  and  th«  publishers 
Little,  Brown.  &  Co.   Copyright,  1946,  by  Evelyn  Waugh. 


The  Story: 

Edmund  Campion,  bom  in  1540,  was 
one  of  the  most  promising  young  men  at 
Oxford.  When  Elizabeth  visited  the  uni 
versity  in  1566,  she  was  so  impressed  by 
him  that  she  assured  him  of  her  patron 
age.  Although  there  was  a  strong  Protes 
tant  group  in  the  university,  Oxford  then 
had  a  population  of  students  who  were 
mostly  Catholic  in  religion,  for  laws 
against  Catholics  were  not  rigidly  en 
forced.  Campion,  who  as  proctor  held 
a  responsible  position,  was  suspected  of 
Catholicism,  however,  and  was  asked  to 
make  a  public  declaration  of  his  princi 
ples  by  delivering  a  sermon  in  a  suitable 
church.  He  refused,  and  when  his  term 
was  over  he  left  for  Dublin,  where  he 
was  warmly  received  by  the  Stanihurst 
family.  A  university  was  to  be  built  in 
Dublin,  and  he  was  waiting  to  accept  a 
post  on  its  faculty.  Then  rebellion 
threatened,  and  all  Catholics  were  ordered 
arrested.  Campion  managed  to  escape 


237 


gled  into  England,  there  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  the  Church,  They  all  realized 
that  capture  meant  certain  death.  Cam 
pion  demanded  that  Persons  be  made  his 
superior  before  the  group  departed. 
Though  the  English  government  had 
learned  of  the  group's  intentions  and  had 
all  the  ports  guarded,  the  priests  succeed 
ed  in  getting  into  England. 

In  disguise,  Campion  visited  the  homes 
of  various  Catholics,  where  he  said  mass 
and  brought  the  sacraments  to  the  faith 
ful  who  had  been  long  without  them. 
He  wrote  his  famous  Campion's  Brag,  a 
defense  of  himself  and  his  Church,  which 
the  best  minds  of  the  Anglican  Church 
were  called  upon  to  answer.  Persons 
wrote  his  own  Censure  of  the  Anglican 
reply.  Later  Campion  wrote  his  equally 
famous  Ten  Reasons. 

Persecution  grew  more  intense,  with 
Campion  the  prize  the  government  most 
hoped  to  capture.  During  one  of  his 
tours  Campion  was  persuaded  to  stop  at 
Lyford  Grange,  the  home  of  Mr.  Yate, 
a  well-known  Catholic.  He  stayed  there 
briefly,  warning  everyone  not  to  tell  the 
neighbors  of  his  presence.  After  his  de 
parture  some  neighbors  heard  of  his  visit 
and  were  distressed  that  they  had  missed 
the  visit  of  Father  Campion.  Father  Ford 
was  sent  after  him  and  reluctantly  Cam 
pion  returned. 


A  certain  George  Eliot,  a  professional 
priest-hunter,  stopped  at  Lyford  Grange. 
He  was  informed  by  a  servant,  who  pre 
sumed  Eliot  to  be  Catholic,  that  Father 
Campion  was  there.  He  was  shown  into 
the  room  where  Campion  was  saying 
mass.  After  receiving  communion  from 
Campion,  Eliot  went  to  notify  the  author 
ities.  They  came  at  once,  but  all  evi 
dence  of  the  mass  had  been  destroyed 
and  the  priests  had  been  hidden  behind  a 
secret  panel.  The  guards  found  nothing 
and  were  preparing  to  go  when  one  of  the 
searchers  happened  to  tap  a  hollow- 
sounding  portion  of  the  wall.  The  priests 
were  discovered  in  a  secret  room. 

Months  of  imprisonment  followed. 
Four  conferences  were  held  at  which 
Campion  and  the  Anglican  clergy  dis 
puted  points  of  doctrine.  Campion  was 
tortured  and  finally  brought  to  trial  with 
some  other  prisoners  who  were  charged 
with  having  plotted  to  murder  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  with  conspiring  with  for 
eign  powers.  But  Campion  insisted  that 
their  only  crime  was  their  faith.  They 
were  tried  by  a  court  that  was  absolutely 
biased.  Found  guilty,  they  were  sentenced 
to  die  by  hanging,  and  their  bodies  to  be 
drawn  and  quartered.  Father  Campion 
and  the  others  went  to  the  scaffold  and 
died  the  death  of  martyrs  on  December 
first,  1581. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  HENRY  ADAMS 

Type  of  work:  Novelized  autobiography 

Author:  Henry  Adams  (1838-1918) 

Type  of  plot:  Intellectual  and  social  history 

Time  of  plot:  1838-1905 

Locale:  America,  England,  France 

First  published:  1907 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  ADAMS,  an  American 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  his  father 

JOHN  HAY,  his  friend 

CLARENCE  KrNG,  whom  he  admired 

Critique: 

The  theme  of  The  Education  of  Henry 
Adamsis  the  process  of  multiplication  and 


acceleration  of  mechanical  forces  which, 
during  his  own  lifetime,  led  to  the  break- 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  HENRY  ADAMS  by  Henry  Adams.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Houston  Mifllin 
Co.   Copyright,  1918,  by  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.    Renewod,  1946,  by  Charles  Francis  Adams. 

238 


down  of  moral  relationships  between  men 
and  the  degeneration  of  their  pursuits  into 
money-seeking  or  complete  lassitude.  The 
book  is,  too,  an  excellent  autobiography, 
tracing  Adams'  thought  processes  in 
timately,  and  on  an  intellectual  plane  not 
generally  achieved  by  most  writers.  Both 
for  style  and  content  this  book  ranks  with 
the  finest  of  American  autobiographies. 

The  Story: 

Henry  Brooks  Adams  was  born  of  the 
union  of  two  illustrious  Massachusetts 
families,  the  Brookses  and  the  Adamses, 
and  he  was,  in  addition,  the  grandson 
and  the  great-grandson  of  presidents.  His 
wealth  and  social  position  should  have 
put  him  among  the  leaders  of  his  genera 
tion. 

Although  the  period  of  mechanical  in 
vention  had  begun  in  1838,  Henry 
Adams  was  raised  in  a  colonial  atmos 
phere.  He  remembered  that  his  first 
serious  encounter  with  his  grandfather, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  occurred  when  he 
refused  to  go  to  school,  and  that  gentle 
man  led  him  there  by  the  hand.  For 
Henry  Adams,  the  death  of  the  former 
president  marked  the  end  of  his  eight 
eenth-century  environment. 

Charles  Francis  Adams,  Henry's  father, 
was  instrumental  in  forming  the  Free- 
Soil  party  in  1848,  and  he  ran  on  its 
ticket  with  Martin  Van  Buren.  Henry 
considered  that  his  own  education  was 
chiefly  a  heritage  from  his  father,  an 
inheritance  of  Puritan  morality  and  in 
terest  in  politics  and  literary  matters. 
In  later  life,  looking  back  on  his  for 
mal  education,  he  concluded  that  it 
had  been  a  failure.  Mathematics,  French, 
German,  and  Spanish  were  needed  in 
the  world  in  which  he  found  himself 
an  adult,  not  Latin  and  Greek.  He  had 
opportunity  to  observe  the  use  of  force 
in  the  violence  with  which  the  people 
of  Boston  treated  the  anti-slavery  Wen 
dell  Phillips,  and  he  had  seen  Negro 
slaves  restored  to  the  South. 

Prompted  by  his  teacher,  James  Russell 
Lowell,  he  spent  nearly  two  years  abroad 


after  his  graduation  from  college.  He  en 
rolled  to  study  civil  law  in  Germany,  but 
finding  the  lecture  system  atrocious  he 
devoted  most  of  his  stay  to  enjoying  the 
paintings,  the  opera,  the  theater  in  Dres 
den. 

When  he  returned  to  Boston  in  1860, 
Henry  Adams  settled  down  briefly  to 
read  Blackstone.  In  the  elections  that 
year,  however,  his  father  became  a  Con 
gressman,  and  Henry  accompanied  him 
to  the  capitol  as  his  secretary.  There  he 
met  John  Hay,  who  was  to  become  his 
best  friend. 

In  1861  President  Lincoln  named 
Charles  Francis  Adams  Minister  to  Eng 
land.  Henry  went  with  his  father  to 
Europe.  The  Adams  party  had  barely  dis 
embarked  when  they  were  met  by  bad 
news.  England  had  recognized  the  bel 
ligerency  of  the  Confederacy.  The  North 
was  her  undeclared  enemy.  The  battle 
of  Bull  Run  proved  so  crushing  a  blow 
to  American  prestige  that  Charles  Francis 
Adams  felt  he  was  in  England  on  a  day- 
to-day  sufferance.  The  Trent  Affair  and 
the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  were 
equally  disastrous  abroad.  Finally,  in 
1863,  the  tide  began  to  turn.  Secretary 
Seward  sent  Thurlow  Weed  and  Wil 
liam  Evarts  to  woo  the  English,  and  they 
were  followed  by  announcements  of  vic 
tories  at  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg. 
Charles  Francis  Adams  remained  in  Eng 
land  until  1868,  for  Andrew  Johnson 
had  too  many  troubles  at  home  to  make 
many  diplomatic  changes  abroad. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  Henry  Adams 
had  no  means  of  earning  a  livelihood. 
He  had,  however,  developed  some  taste 
as  a  dilletante  in  art,  and  several  of  his 
articles  had  been  published  in  the  North 
American  Review.  On  his  return  to 
America,  Henry  Adams  was  impressed 
by  the  fact  that  his  fellow-countrymen, 
because  of  the  mechanical  energy  they 
had  harnessed,  were  all  traveling  in  the 
same  direction.  Europeans,  he  had  felt, 
were  trying  to  go  in  several  directions  at 
one  time.  Flandicapped  by  his  education 
and  by  his  long  absence  from  home,  he 


239 


had  difficulty  in  adapting  himself  to  the 
new  industrial  America,  He  achieved 
some  recognition  with  his  articles  on  legal 
tender  and  his  essays  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  and  he  hoped  that  he  might  be 
offered  a  government  position  if  Grant 
were  elected  president.  But  Grant,  a  man 
of  action,  was  not  interested  in  reformers 
or  intellectuals  like  Henry  Adams. 

In  1869  Adams  went  back  to  Quincy 
to  begin  his  investigation  of  the  scandals 
of  the  Grant  administration,  among  them 
Jay  Gould's  attempts  to  obtain  a  corner 
on  gold,  Senator  Charles  Sumner's  ef 
forts  to  provoke  war  with  England  by 
compelling  her  cession  of  Canada  to  the 
United  States,  and  the  rivalries  of  Con 
gressmen  and  Cabinet  members. 

He  decided  it  would  be  best  to  have 
his  article  on  Gould  published  in  Eng 
land,  to  avoid  censorship  by  the  powerful 
financier.  Gould's  influence  was  not  con 
fined  to  the  United  States,  however,  and 
Adams  was  refused  by  two  publications. 
His  essay  on  Gould  was  finally  published 
by  the  Westminster  Review. 

Adams  became  assistant  professor  of 
Medieval  History  at  Harvard  and  taught 
at  Cambridge  for  seven  years.  During 
that  time  he  tried  to  abandon  the  lecture 
system  by  replacing  it  with  individual 
research.  He  found  his  students  apt  and 
quick  to  respond,  but  he  felt  that  he 
needed  a  stone  against  which  to  sharpen 
his  wits.  He  gave  up  his  position  in 
1871  and  went  west  to  Estes  Park  with 
a  Government  Geological  Survey.  There 
he  met  Clarence  King,  a  member  of  the 
party,  with  whom  he  could  not  help 
contrasting  himself.  King  had  a  system 
atic,  scientific  education  and  could  have 
his  choice  of  scientific,  political,  or  liter 
ary  prizes.  Adams  felt  his  own  limita 
tions. 

After  his  flight  from  Harvard  he  made 
his  permanent  home  in  Washington, 
where  he  wrote  a  series  of  books  on 
American  history.  In  1893  he  visited 
the  Chicago  Exhibition.  From  his  obser 
vations  of  the  steamship,  the  locomotive, 
and  the  newly-invented  dynamo,  he  con 


cluded  that  force  was  the  one  unifying 
factor  in  American  thought.  Back  in 
Washington,  he  saw  the  gold  standard 
adopted,  and  concluded  that  the  capital 
istic  system  and  American  intervention  in 
Cuba  offered  some  signs  of  the  direction 
in  which  the  country  was  heading.  Dur 
ing  another  visit  to  the  Exhibition  in 
1900  Adams  formulated  an  important 
theory.  In  observing  the  dynamo,  he  de 
cided  that  history  is  not  merely  a  series 
of  causes  and  effects,  of  men  acting  upon 
men,  but  the  record  of  forces  acting  upon 
men.  For  him,  the  dynamo  became  the 
symbol  of  force  acting  upon  his  own 
time  as  the  Virgin  had  been  the  symbol 
of  force  in  the  twelfth  century. 

During  the  next  five  years  Henry 
Adams  saw  his  friends  drop  away. 
Clarence  King  was  the  first  to  go.  He 
lost  his  fortune  in  the  panic  of  1893  and 
died  of  tuberculosis  in  1901.  John  Hay, 
under  McKinley,  became  American  Min 
ister  to  England,  and  then  Secretary  of 
State.  He  was  not  well  when  he  ac 
cepted  the  President's  appointments,  and 
the  enormous  task  of  bringing  England, 
France,  and  Germany  into  accord  with 
the  United  States,  and  of  attempting  to 
keep  peace,  unsuccessfully,  between 
Russia  and  Japan,  caused  his  death  in 
1905. 

Adams  considered  that  his  education 
was  continuous  during  his  lifetime.  He 
had  found  the  tools  which  he  had  been 
given  as  a  youth  utterly  useless  and  he 
had  to  spend  all  of  his  days  forging  new 
ones.  As  he  grew  older,  he  found  the 
moral  standards  of  his  father's  and  grand 
father's  times  disintegrating,  so  that  cor 
ruption  and  greed  existed  on  the  highest 
political  levels.  According  to  his  calcula 
tions,  the  rate  of  change,  clue  to  mechani 
cal  force,  was  accelerating,  and  the 
generation  of  1900  could  rely  only  on 
impersonal  forces  to  teach  the  generation 
of  2000.  He  himself  could  see  no  end 
to  the  multiplicity  of  forces  which  were 
so  rapidly  dwarfing  mankind  into  insig 
nificance. 


240 


THE  EGOIST 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Meredith  (1828-1909) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1879 

Principal  characters: 

SIR  WILLOUGHBY  PATTEBNE,  the  egoist 

VERNON  WHITFORD,  his  cousin 

COLONEL  DE  CRAYE,  his  relative 

LAETITIA  DALE,  a  neighbor 

CLARA  MIDDLETON,  Sir  Willoughby's  betrothed 

DOCTOR  MIDDLETON,  her  father 

CROSSJAY  PATTERNS,  Sir  Willoughby's  distant  kinsman 

Critique: 

The  Egoist  creates  a  fantastic  world 
where,  in  scenes  of  subtle  comedy,  the 
characters  are  treated  realistically.  The 
effect  is  one  of  drollery.  Each  character 
is  a  symbol  of  some  virtue  or  vice  rather 
than  a  living  individual.  All  the  char 
acters  speak  alike,  and  they  speak  the 
language  of  Meredith.  This  novel  stands 
apart  from  Meredith's  other  novels,  dis 
tinguished  as  it  is  by  its  originality  of 
technique  and  purpose.  It  is,  to  use 
Meredith's  own  term,  "a  comedy  in  nar 
rative." 


The  Story: 

On  the  day  of  his  majority  Sir  Wil- 
loughby  Patterne  announced  his  engage 
ment  to  Miss  Constantia  Durham.  Lae- 
titia  Dale,  who  lived  with  her  old  father 
in  a  cottage  on  Willoughby's  estate,  bore 
her  love  for  him — she  thought — secretly, 
but  everyone,  including  Willoughby  him 
self,  knew  about  it.  Ten  days  before  the 
wedding  day  Constantia  astonished  her 
betrothed  by  eloping  with  Harry  Oxford, 
a  military  man.  For  a  few  weeks  after 
that,  the  proud  Willoughby  courted  Lae- 
titia  while  the  neighborhood  gossiped 
about  the  poor  girl's  chances  to  become 
his  wife.  There  was  great  disappointment 
when  he  suddenly  decided  to  go  abroad 
for  three  years.  On  his  return  to  his 
estate  he  brought  with  him  his  cousin, 
Vernon  Whitford,  as  an  adviser  in  the 
management  of  his  properties,  and  a 


young  distant  kinsman  named  Crossjay 
Fatterne. 

At  first  Laetitia,  the  faithful,  was  over 
joyed  at  Willoughby 's  return,  but  soon 
she  saw  that  again  she  was  to  lose  him,, 
for  he  became  engaged  to  Clara  Middle- 
ton,  the  daughter  of  a  learned  doctor. 
Middleton  and  his  daughter  came  to 
Willoughby 's  estate  to  visit  for  a  few 
weeks.  It  might  have  been  the  contro 
versy  over  Crossjay  or  even  the  existence 
of  Laetitia  that  caused  Clara  to  see  Wil 
loughby  for  what  he  really  was.  In 
spite  of  Willoughby's  objections,  Vernon 
wanted  Crossjay  to  enter  the  Marines  and 
the  young  man  was  sent  to  Laetitia  to  be 
tutored  for  his  examination.  Vernon, 
a  literary  man,  wanted  to  go  to  London, 
but  Willoughby  overruled  him.  Noting 
Willoughby's  self-centered  attitude  to 
ward  Crossjay,  his  complete  and  selfish 
concern  with  matters  affecting  himself 
and  his  attempt  to  dominate  her  own 
mind,  Clara  began  to  feel  trapped  by  her 
betrothal.  She  reflected  that  Constantia 
had  escaped  by  finding  a  gallant  Harry 
Oxford  to  take  her  away,  but  she  sor 
rowfully  realized  that  she  had  no  one  to 
rescue  her. 

When  Clara  attempted  to  break  her 
engagement,  she  found  Willoughby  in 
tractable  and  her  father  too  engrossed  in 
his  studies  to  be  disturbed.  Meanwhile, 
Willoughby  had  picked  Laetitia  Dale  as 
Vernon's  wife.  This  was  Willoughby's 


241 


plan  to  keep  near  him  both  his  cousin 
and  the  woman  who  fed  his  ego  with 
her  devotion.  Vernon  could  retire  to  one 
of  the  cottages  on  the  estate  and  write 
and  study.  Asked  by  Willoughby  to  aid 
him  in  his  plan,  Clara  took  the  opportu 
nity  to  ask  Vernon's  advice  on  her  own 
problem.  He  assured  her  that  she  must 
move  subtly  and  slowly. 

In  desperation,  she  persuaded  Doctor 
Middleton  to  agree  to  take  a  trip  to 
France  with  her  for  a  few  weeks.  From 
such  a  trip  she  hoped  never  to  return  to 
Willoughby.  But  this  wary  lover  in 
troduced  Dr,  Middleton  to  his  favorite 
brand  of  claret.  Two  bottles  of  the  wine 
put  the  doctor  in  such  an  amiable  mood 
that  when  Clara  asked  him  if  he  were 
ready  to  go  to  London  with  her,  he  told 
her  that  the  thought  was  preposterous. 
Willoughby  had  won  the  first  round. 

Colonel  De  Craye  arrived  to  be  best 
man  at  the  wedding.  Little  by  little  he 
sensed  that  Clara  was  not  happy  at  the 
prospect  of  her  approaching  marriage. 
In  desperation  Clara  resorted  to  other 
means  of  escape.  She  wrote  to  her  friend 
Lucy  Darleton  in  town  and  received  from 
that  young  lady  an  invitation  to  visit  her 
in  London. 

Clara  gave  Cross  jay  the  privilege  of 
accompanying  her  to  the  train  station. 
A  hue  and  cry  was  raised  at  her  absence 
from  the  estate,  and  Vernon,  accidentally 
discovering  her  destination,  followed  her 
to  the  station  and  urged  her  to  come 
back.  Only  because  she,  believed  that  her 
behavior  might  cause  an  injury  to  Cross- 
jay's  future  did  Clara  return  to  her  prison. 
If  she  were  to  leave  now,  Willoughby 
would  have  full  control  of  the  young 
boy,  for  Vernon  was  soon  to  go  to  London 
to  follow  his  writing  career. 

Complications  resulted  from  Clara's 
attempted  escape.  At  the  station  Vernon 
had  had  her  drink  some  brandy  to  over 
come  the  effects  of  the  rainy  weather. 
The  neighborhood  began  to  gossip.  Wil 
loughby  confronted  Crossjay,  who  told 
him  the  truth  about  Clara's  escape.  Clara 
hoped  that  Willoughby  would  release 


her  because  of  the  gossip,  but  he  refused. 
Doctor  Middleton  seemed  ignorant  of 
what  was  happening.  He  was  determined 
that  his  daughter  should  fulfill  her  pledge 
to  marry  Sir  Willoughby.  Furthermore, 
he  liked  Willoughby 's  vintage  wines  and 
Willoughby's  estate. 

By  this  time  the  Egoist  knew  that  his 
marriage  to  Clara  would  not  take  place. 
Pie  decided  upon  the  one  move  that 
would  soothe  his  wounded  vanity — he 
asked  Laetitia  to  become  his  wife.  She 
refused,  declaring  she  no  longer  loved 
him. 

Colonel  De  Craye  shrewdly  surmised 
what  had  happened.  He  told  Clara  the 
hopeful  news.  Clara  felt  that  her  only 
remaining  obstacle  was  her  father's  insist 
ence  that  she  must  not  break  her  promise 
to  Willoughby,  Now  she  could  show 
that  Willoughby  had  broken  his  promise 
first  by  proposing  to  Laetitia  while  he 
was  still  pledged  to  Clara. 

Willoughby's  world  blew  up  in  his 
face.  Dr.  Middleton  announced  firmly 
that  Clara  need  not  marry  Willoughby. 
He  had  decided  that  he  admired  Vernon's 
scholarship  more  than  he  liked  Wil 
loughby's  wines.  But  the  twice-jilted 
lover  had  other  plans  for  his  own  pro 
tection.  He  must  even  the  score.  If  he 
could  get  Clara  to  consent  to  marry 
Vernon,  he  felt  there  would  be  some 
measure  of  recompense  for  himself,  for 
such  a  marriage  would  have  the  ironic 
touch  to  satisfy  Willoughby.  But  Clara 
told  him  it  was  already  her  intention 
to  wed  Vemon  as  soon  as  her  engage 
ment  to  Willoughby  could  be  broken. 
The  Egoist's  selfishness  and  arrogance 
had  brought  them  together. 

The  Egoist  was  defeated.  He  went 
straight  to  Laetitia,  offering  her  his  hand 
without  love.  He  was  willing  for  her  to 
marry  him  only  for  money.  Laetitia  ac 
cepted  on  the  condition  that  Crossjay  be 
permitted  to  enter  the  Marines.  Clara  and 
the  doctor  planned  to  leave  for  Europe. 
Vernon  arranged  to  meet  them  in  the 
Swiss  Alps,  where  he  and  Clara  would 
marry. 


242 


ELECTRA 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author;  Euripides  (480-406  B.C.) 

Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  After  the  fall  ot  Tray 

Locale:  Argos 

First  presented:  c.  413  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

ELECTRA,  daughter  o£  Agamemnon 
ORESTES,  her  Brother 
CLYTEMNESTRA,  her  mother 
AEGISTHXIS,  lover  of  Clytemnestra 

Critique: 

The  Electra  of  Euripides  is  a  psycho 
logical  study  of  a  woman's  all-consuming 
hatred  for  her  mother  and  stepfather  on 
the  one  hand,  and  love  for  her  murdered 
father  and  exiled  brother  on  the  other. 
The  character  of  Electra  clearly  domi 
nates  the  action,  for  it  is  she  who  spurs 
her  brother  on  to  kill  those  whom  she 
hates-  In  Electra,  her  brother,  and  her 
mother,  Euripides  created  three  charac 
ters  who  are  as  alive  today  as  they  were 
on  the  Athenian  stage. 


The  Story: 

After  Agamemnon,  King  of  Argos,  had 
returned  home  from  the  Trojan  War,  his 
wife,  Clytemnestra,  and  her  lover,  Aegis- 
thus,  murdered  him  in  cold  blood  during 
the  home-coming  banquet.  Afterward 
Aegisthus  and  Clytemnestra  were  mar 
ried,  and  Aegisthus  became  king.  Ores 
tes,  young  son  of  Agamemnon,  was  sent 
by  a  relative  to  Phocis  before  Aegisthus 
could  destroy  him,  Electra,  the  daughter, 
remained,  but  was  given  in  marriage  to 
an  old  peasant,  lest  she  marry  a  warrior 
powerful  enough  to  avenge  her  father's 
death. 

One  day,  after  Electra  and  the  peasant 
had  gone  out  to  do  the  day's  work,  Ores 
tes  came  in  disguise  with  his  best  friend, 
Pylades,  to  the  farm  to  seek  Electra. 
Tney  heard  her  singing  a  lament  for  her 
lot  and  for  the  death  of  her  father.  A 
messenger  interrupted  her  lament  with 
word  that  a  festival  would  be  held  in 
honor  of  the  Goddess  Hera  and  that  all 
Argive  maidens  were  to  attend.  Electra 


said  she  preferred  to  remain  on  thfl 
farm  away  from  the  pitying  eyes  of  the 
people  of  Argos.  The  messenger  advised 
her  to  pay  honor  to  the  gods  and  to  ask 
their  help. 

Electra  mistook  Orestes  and  Pylades 
for  friends  of  her  brother  and  told  them 
the  story  of  her  grief.  She  urged  that 
Orestes  avenge  the  death  of  Agamemnon 
and  the  ill  treatment  of  himself  and 
Electra.  Aegisthus,  meanwhile,  had 
offered  a  reward  for  the  death  of  Orestesr 

The  peasant  returned  from  his  work 
and  asked  Orestes  and  Pylades  to  re 
main  as  his  guests,  Electra  sent  her 
husband  to  bring  the  relative  who  had 
taken  Orestes  away  from  Argos.  On  his 
way  to  the  peasant's  cottage,  the  old 
foster  father  noticed  that  a  sacrifice  had 
been  made  at  the  tomb  of  Agamemnon 
and  that  there  were  some  red  hairs  on 
the  grave.  He  suggested  to  Electra  that 
Orestes  might  be  in  the  vicinity,  but 
Electra  answered  that  there  was  no 
chance  of  his  being  in  Argos.  When 
Orestes  came  out  of  the  cottage,  the  old 
man  recognized  a  scar  on  his  forehead; 
thus  brother  and  sister  were  made  known 
to  each  other. 

At  the  advice  of  the  old  peasant,  Ores 
tes  planned  to  attend  a  sacrificial  feast 
over  which  Aegisthus  would  preside. 
Electra  sent  her  husband  to  tell  Clytem 
nestra  that  she  had  given  birth  to  a  baby. 
Electra  and  Orestes  invoked  the  aid  of 
the  gods  in  their  venture  to  avenge  the 
death  of  their  father. 

Orestes  and  Pylades  were  hailed  by 


243 


Aegisthus  as  they  passed  him  in  his 
garden.  The  pair  told  Aegisthus  that 
they  were  from  Thessaly  and  were  on 
their  way  to  sacrifice  to  Zeus.  Aegisthus 
informed  them  that  he  was  preparing 
to  sacrifice  to  the  nymphs  and  invited 
them  to  tarry.  At  the  sacrifice  of  a  calf, 
Orestes  plunged  a  cleaver  into  Aegisthus' 
back  while  Aegisthus  was  examining  the 
entrails  of  the  beast.  Orestes  then  revealed 
his  identity  to  the  servants,  who  cheered 
the  son  of  their  former  master.  Orestes 
carried  the  corpse  of  Aegisthus  back  to 
the  cottage  where  it  was  hidden  after 
Electra  had  reviled  it. 

At  the  sight  of  Clytemnestra  approach 
ing  the  peasant's  hut,  Orestes  had  mis 
givings  about  the  plan  to  murder  her. 
He  felt  that  matricide  would  bring  the 
wrath  of  the  gods  upon  his  head.  But 
Electra,  determined  to  complete  the  re 
venge,  reminded  Orestes  that  an  oracle 
had  told  him  to  destroy  Aegisthus  and 
Clytemnestra. 

Clytemnestra  defended  herself  before 
Electra  with  the  argument  that  Agamem 
non  had  sacrificed  Iphegenia,  their  child, 


as  an  offering  before  the  Trojan  venture 
and  that  he  had  returned  to  Argos  with 
Cassandra,  princess  of  Troy,  as  his  con 
cubine.  Electra  indicted  her  mother  on 
several  counts  and  said  that  it  was  only 
just  that  she  and  Orestes  murder  Clytem 
nestra,  The  queen  entered  the  hut  to 
prepare  a  sacrifice  for  Electra's  supposed 
first-born;  within,  she  was  killed  by  Ores 
tes,  who  moaned  in  distress  at  the  vio 
lence  and  bloodshed  and  matricide  in 
which  the  gods  had  involved  him. 

The  Dioscuri,  twin  sons  of  Zeus  and 
brothers  of  the  half-divine  Clytemnestra, 
appeared  to  the  brother  and  sister,  who 
were  overcome  with  mixed  feelings  of 
hate  and  love  and  pride  and  shame  at 
what  they  had  done.  The  twin  gods 
questioned  the  wisdom  of  Apollo,  whose 
oracle  had  advised  this  violent  action; 
they  decreed  that  Orestes  should  give 
Electra  to  Pylades  in  marriage  and  that 
Orestes  himself  should  be  pursued  by 
the  Furies  until  he  could  face  a  trial  in 
Athens,  from  which  trial  he  would 
emerge  a  free  man. 


THE  EMIGRANTS 

Type  of  'work:  Novel 

Author:  Johan  Bojer  (1872-1959) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    Norway  and  the  American  West 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

ERIK  Foss,  an  emigrant  leader 

OLA  VATTSTE,  a  laborer 

ELSE,  his  wife 

MORTEN  KVIT>AL,  a  joiner 

KAL  SKARET,  a  crofter 

KAREN,  his  wife 

PER  POLL,  a  young  workman 

ANNE,  his  wife 

BERGITTA,  Morten's  wife;  Anne's  sister 

Critique: 

The  Emigrants  is  a  saga  of  the  Nor-  stock  from  which   our  prairie  pioneers 

wegians  who  settled  the  wheat  lands  of  came,   and   his  visits  to  America   have 

the  Dakotas.   Bojer  is  well  qualified  for  made  him   familiar  with  the  American 

his  subject.  A  Norwegian,  he  knows  the  scene.   The  result  is  a  lasting  novel,  an 

THE  EMIGRANTS  by  Johan  Bojer.    Translated  by  A.  G.  Jayne.    By  permiwion  of  Curtia  Brown,  Ltd.    Pub 
lished  by  The  Century  Co.    Copyright,  1925,  by  Johan  Bojer. 


244 


American   story   written  in   Norwegian. 
It  is  a  vital  part  of  our  cultural  heritage. 

The  Story: 

Erik  Foss  came  back  to  Norway  after 
some  time  spent  working  in  America, 
and  to  the  cramped,  class-conscious  farm 
ers  and  laborers  of  his  Norwegian  coun 
tryside  he  held  out  hope  for  a  more  free 
and  generous  life  in  the  new  country. 
Many  resolved  to  join  his  party  of  emi 
grants  to  America, 

There  was  Ola,  the  colonel's  hired 
boy.  Ola  had  a  way  with  people,  es 
pecially  with  girls,  and  Else,  the  colonel's 
daughter,  looked  on  him  with  eager 
eyes.  But  Ola  was  poor  and  the  stories 
about  him  did  not  please  the  colonel. 
After  his  dismissal  from  the  farm,  Ola 
set  fire  to  the  barn.  He  spent  a  year 
in  prison  and  came  out  in  time  to  join 
the  emigrants.  Else  came  too,  as  Ola's 
wife.  There  was  Per  Foil,  a  big,  hulking 
man  and  his  new  wife,  Annie,  the 
most  attractive  girl  in  the  parish,  already 
carrying  a  baby  who  was  to  be  born  too 
soon  after  her  marriage.  There  were 
Kal  Skaret  and  Karen,  a  kindly  and  slow- 
moving  couple.  The  tax  collector  took 
their  only  cow  when  they  could  not  pay 
even  the  previous  year's  taxes.  There 
was  Morten  Kvidal,  a  skilled  joiner. 

When  the  steamer  left,  the  little  band 
sorrowed  to  leave  Norway.  But  Erik 
was  strong  and  he  knew  the  way  and 
he  had  enough  money  to  help  them. 

That  first  summer  the  emigrants 
reached  Wisconsin.  They  stayed  there 
during  the  bleak  winter,  the  men  working 
in  the  sawmills  to  add  to  their  meager 
funds.  Early  the  next  spring,  they  started 
out  across  the  prairie.  Erik  had  been  to 
the  Red  River  Valley  before;  he  had 
tested  the  soil  and  knew  it  was  good. 
The  settlers  had  wagons  and  oxen,  now, 
and  all  their  supplies. 

Erik  said  they  had  arrived  when  they 
came  to  a  vast  level  land  covered  witn 
a  six-foot  stand  of  grass. 

Kal  took  the  quarter  farthest  to  the 
west.  There  he  swung  his  scythe  in 


sweeping  strokes.  The  children  arid  Karen 
piled  the  fodder,  enough  to  feed  a  cow 
all  winter!  Now  he  would  plow.  Mor 
ten  took  no  heed  of  the  buffalo  grass; 
he  set  his  great  breaking  plow  and  turned 
it  under.  They  built  their  homes  from 
the  grass,  too,  piling  squares  of  turf  for 
their  sod  houses. 

That  summer  there  was  drought  and 
the  wheat  crop  was  poor.  Ola  went  into 
town  with  one  of  the  loads,  and  gambled 
and  drank  up  all  his  money.  Without 
the  help  of  the  others,  Ola  and  Else 
would  never  have  survived  the  winter. 
During  a  blizzard  Erik's  feet  were  frost 
bitten  while  he  hunted  his  strayed  stock. 
When  gangrene  set  in,  Morten  made 
the  long  trip  to  town  on  skis;  but  he 
returned  too  late  with  medicine  for  the 
sick  man. 

After  Erik's  death,  the  leadership  of 
the  small  band  fell  to  Morten.  Good 
times  and  bad  followed. 

Per  thought  long  and  bitterly  about 
Anne,  for  he  could  never  forget  that 
his  first-born  boy  had  come  into  the 
world  too  soon  after  his  marriage.  When 
Morten's  young  brother  visited  his  house 
too  frequently,  Per  began  to  roam  the 
prairie.  They  had  to  tie  him  finally  and 
take  him  to  the  madhouse,  leaving  Anne 
with  her  children  and  a  sense  of  sin. 

Although  well  established,  Morten 
felt  compelled  to  go  back  to  Norway. 
When  he  returned  to  Dakota,  he  brought 
with  him  a  wife,  Bergitta,  Ajine's  sister. 
He  became  an  agent  for  the  new  rail 
road.  He  said  that  the  people  should 
have  their  own  bank  and  grain  elevators 
so  that  they  would  not  be  at  the  mercy 
of  speculators.  The  Norwegians  became 
Americans.  At  a  party  they  put  up  an 
American  flag  beside  the  Norwegian 
banner. 

Kal  and  Karen  built  outbuildings  o£ 
wood,  and  each  son  took  up  another 
quarter.  Before  long  Kal's  fields  stretched 
to  the  horizon,  and  he  had  to  ride  from 
one  wheat  planting  to  the  other.  When 
the  steam  thresher  came,  an  army  of 
laborers  piled  up  the  mounds  of  grain; 


245 


it  poured  too  fast  to  cart  away.  In  his 
machine  shed,  in  a  tiny  strong  room, 
Kal  stored  wheat,  so  that  his  family 
would  never  be  hungry.  Under  his  bed, 
in  his  emigrant  chest,  he  kept  his  money. 
He  and  Karen  were  proud  on  the  day 
their  son  came  back  from  school  in  St. 
Louis  and  preached  in  their  own  church. 
Morten  grew  old.  He  still  acted  for 
the  railroad;  he  ran  the  bank;  he  was 
elder  of  the  church;  he  put  up  buildings 


for  the  growing  town.  Bergitta  died.  A 
lamp  exploded  in  Morten's  face,  blinding 
him.  Now  his  grandson  read  to  him. 
The  old  man  thought  of  Norway  often. 
He  went  back,  blind  and  old,  to  his 
home.  His  people  were  dead;  only  the 
old  land  remained.  It  must  be  like  that, 
he  realized.  The  old  settlers  are  a  part 
Norwegian  always,  but  their  children 
belong  to  the  new  world. 


EMMA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  comedy 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Surrey,  England 

First  published:  1816 

Principal  characters: 

EMMA  WOODHOUSE,  heiress  of  Hartfield 

MR.  WOODHOUSE,  her  father 

HARKCET  SMITH,  Emma's  prot£ge*e 

Miss  BATES,  the  village  gossip 

JANE  FAIRFAX,  Miss  Bates'  niece 

MR.  GEORGE  KNIGHTLEY,  Emma's  brother-in-law 

MRS.  WESTON,  Emma's  former  governess 

FRANK  CHURCHILL,  stepson  of  Lmma's  former  governess 

MR.  ELTON,  a  rector 

ROBERT  MARTIN,  a  yeoman 

Critique: 

The  major  problem  in  the  world  of 
Jane  Austen's  novels  is  that  of  getting 
the  characters  properly  married,  and 
Emma  is  no  exception.  Its  plot  is  con 
cerned  with  the  complications  taking 
place  before  the  couples  are  paired  off 
correctly,  and  with  Emma's  sometimes 
unwise  attempts  to  help  things  along. 
She  is  perhaps  a  less  generally  appealing 
heroine  than  Elizabeth  Bennet  in  Pride 
and  Prejudice,  but  she  is  excellently  done, 
as  are  her  father  and  the  rest  of  the 
Highbury  circle.  Miss  Bates  and  Mrs. 
Elton  remain  unsurpassed  in  English 
satire. 


The  Story: 

Emma  Woodhouse,  rich,  clever,  beau 
tiful,  and  no  more  spoiled  and  self-satis- 
Hed  than  one  would  expect  under  such 


circumstances,  had  just  seen  her  friend, 
companion,  and  ex-governess,  Miss  Tay 
lor,  married  to  a  neighboring  widower, 
Mr.  Western,  While  the  match  was  suit 
able  in  every  way,  Emma  could  not 
help  sighing  over  her  loss,  for  now  only 
she  and  her  father  were  left  at  Hartfield 
and  Mr.  Woodhouse  was  too  old  and  too 
fond  of  worrying  about  trivialities  to  be 
a  companion  for  his  daughter.  , 

The  Woodhouscs  were  the  great  family 
in  the  village  of  Highbury.  In  their 
small  circle  of  friends  mere  were  enough' 
middle-aged  ladies  to  make  up  card  tables 
for  Mr.  Woodhouse  but  no  young  lady  to 
be  friend  and  confidante  to  Emma.  Lonely 
for  her  beloved  Miss  Taylor,  now  Mrs. 
Weston,  Emrna  took  under  her  wing  Har 
riet  Smith,  the  parlor  boarder  at  a  nearby 
boarding-school  Harriet  was  an  ex- 


246 


tremely  pretty  girl  of  seventeen,  not  in 
the  least  brilliant,  but  witb  pleasing,  un 
assuming  manners,  and  a  gratifying  habit 
of  looking  up  to  Emma  as  a  paragon. 

Harriet  was  the  natural  daughter  of 
some  mysterious  person,  and  Emma,  be 
lieving  that  the  girl  might  be  of  noble 
family,  persuaded  her  that  the  society  in 
which  she  had  moved  was  not  good 
enough  for  her.  She  encouraged  her  to 

g've  up  her  acquaintance  with  the  Martin 
mily,  respectable  farmers  of  some  sub 
stance  though  of  no  fashion.  Instead  of 
thinking  of  Robert  Martin  as  a  husband 
for  Harriet,  Emma  influenced  the  girl 
to  aspire  to  Mr.  Elton,  the  young  rector. 

Emma  believed  from  Mr.  Elton's  man 
ner  that  he  was  beginning  to  fall  in  love 
with  Harriet,  and  she  flattered  herself 
upon  her  matchmaking  schemes.  Mr. 
Knightley,  brother  of  a  London  lawyer 
married  to  Emma's  older  sister  and  one 
of  the  few  people  who  could  see  Emma's 
faults,  was  concerned  about  her  intimacy 
with  Harriet.  He  warned  her  that  no 
good  could  come  of  it  for  either  Harriet 
or  herself,  and  he  was  particularly  upset 
when  he  learned  that  Emma  had  influ 
enced  Harriet  to  turn  down  Robert  Mar 
tin's  proposal  of  marriage.  Emma  her 
self  suffered  from  no  such  qualms,  for 
she  was  certain  that  Mr.  Elton  was  as 
much  in  love  with  Harriet  as  Harriet — 
through  Emma's  instigation — was  with 
him. 

Emma  suffered  a  rude  awakening 
when  Mr.  Elton,  finding  her  alone,  asked 
her  to  marry  him.  She  suddenly  realized 
that  what  she  had  taken  for  gallantries 
to  Harriet  had  been  meant  for  herself, 
and  what  she  had  intended  as  encourage 
ment  to  his  suit  of  her  friend,  he  had 
taken  as  encouragement  to  aspire  for 
Emma's  hand.  His  presumption  was  bad 
enough,  but  the  task  of  breaking  the 
news  to  Harriet  was  much  worse. 

Another  disappointment  now  occurred 
in  Emma's  circle.  Frank  Churchill,  who 
had  promised  for  months  to  come  to  see 
his  father  and  new  stepmother,  again 
put  off  his  visit.  Churchill,  Mr.  Weston's 


son  by  a  first  marriage,  had  taken  the 
name  of  his  mother's  family.  Mr.  Knight- 
ley  believed  that  the  young  man  now 
felt  himself  above  his  father.  Emma  ar 
gued  with  Mr.  Knightley,  but  she  found 
herself  secretly  agreeing  with  him. 

Although  the  Hartfield  circle  was 
denied  Churchill's  company,  it  did  ac 
quire  an  addition  in  the  person  of  Jane 
Fairfax,  niece  of  the  garrulous  Miss 
Bates.  Jane  rivaled  Emma  in  beauty  and 
accomplishment,  one  reason  why,  as  Mr. 
Knightley  hinted,  Emma  had  never  been 
friendly  with  Jane.  Emma  herself  blamed 
Jane's  reserve  for  their  somewhat  cool 
relationship. 

Soon  after  Jane's  arrival,  the  Westons 
received  a  letter  from  Churchill  setting 
another  date  for  his  visit.  This  time  he 
actually  appeared,  and  Emma  found  him 
a  handsome,  well-bred  young  man.  He 
called  frequently  upon  the  Woodhouses, 
and  also  upon  the  Bates  family,  because 
of  prior  acquaintance  with  Jane  Fairfax. 
Emma  rather  than  Jane  was  the  recipient 
of  his  gallantries,  however,  and  Emma 
could  see  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weston  were 
hoping  that  the  romance  would  prosper. 

About  this  time  Jane  Fairfax  received 
the  handsome  gift  of  a  pianoforte,  anony 
mously  given.  It  was  presumed  to  have 
come  from  some  rich  friends  with  whom 
Jane,  an  orphan,  had  lived,  but  Jane 
herself  seemed  embarrassed  with  the 
present  and  refused  to  discuss  it.  Emma 
wondered  if  it  had  come  from  Mr. 
Knightley,  after  Mrs.  Weston  pointed 
out  to  her  his  seeming  preference  and 
concern  for  Jane.  Emma  could  not  bear 
to  think  of  Mr.  Knightley's  marrying 
Jane  Fairfax,  and  after  observing  tnem 
together,  she  concluded  to  her  own  satis 
faction  that  he  was  motivated  by  friend 
ship,  not  love. 

It  was  now  time  for  Frank  Churchill 
to  end  his  visit,  and  he  departed  with 
seeming  reluctance.  During  his  last  call 
at  Hartfield,  he  appeared  desirous  of 
telling  Emma  something  of  a  serious 
nature:  but  she,  believing  him  to  be  on 
the  verge  of  a  declaration  of  love,  did 


247 


not  encourage  him  because  in  her  day 
dreams  she  always  saw  herself  refusing 
him  and  their  love  ending  in  quiet  friend 
ship. 

Mr.  Elton  returned  to  the  village  with 
a  hastily  wooed  and  wedded  bride,  a  lady 
of  small  fortune,  extremely  bad  manners, 
and  great  pretensions  to  elegance.  Har 
riet,  who  had  been  talked  into  love  by 
Emma,  could  not  be  so  easily  talked  out 
of  it;  but  what  Emma  had  failed  to  ac 
complish,  Mr.  Elton's  marriage  had,  and 
Harriet  at  last  began  to  recover.  Her 
recovery  was  aided  by  Mr.  Elton's  rude 
ness  to  her  at  a  ball,  When  he  refused 
to  dance  with  her,  Mr.  Knightley,  who 
rarely  danced,  offered  himself  as  a  part 
ner,  and  Harriet,  without  Emma's  knowl 
edge,  began  to  think  of  him  instead  of 
Mr.  Elton, 

Emma  herself  began  to  think  of 
Churchill  as  a  husband  for  Harriet,  but 
she  resolved  to  do  nothing  to  promote 
the  match.  Through  a  series  of  misin 
terpretations,  Emma  thought  Harriet  was 
praising  Churchill  when  she  was  really 
referring  to  Mr.  Knightley. 

The  matrimonial  entanglement  was 
further  complicated  because  Mrs.  Weston 
continued  to  believe  that  Mr.  Knightley 
was  becoming  attached  to  Jane  Fairfax. 
Mr.  Knightley,  in  his  turn,  saw  signs  of 
some  secret  agreement  between  Jane 
Fairfax  and  Frank  Churchill.  His  sus 
picions  were  finally  justified  when 
Churchill  confessed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Weston  that  he  and  Jane  had  been  se 
cretly  engaged  since  October.  The  Wes- 
tons'  first  thought  was  for  Emma,  for  they 
feared  that  Churchill's  attentions  to  her 
might  have  had  their  effect.  Emma  as 
sured  Mrs.  Weston  that  she  had  at  one 
time  felt  some  slight  attachment  to 
Churchill,  but  that  that  time  was  now 
safely  past.  Her  chief  concerns  now  were 
that  she  had  said  things  about  Jane  to 
Churchill  which  she  would  not  have  said 


had  she  known  of  their  engagement,  and 
also  that  she  had,  as  she  believed,  en 
couraged  Harriet  in  another  fruitless  at 
tachment. 

When  she  went  to  break  the  news 
gently  to  Harriet,  however,  Emma  found 
her  quite  unperturbed  by  it,  and  after 
a  few  minutes  of  talking  at  cross  pur 
poses  Emma  learned  that  it  was  not 
Churchill  but  Mr.  Knightley  upon  whom 
Harriet  had  now  bestowed  her  affections. 
When  she  told  Emma  that  she  had  rea 
sons  to  believe  that  Mr.  Knightley  re 
turned  her  sentiments,  Emma  suddenly 
realized  the  state  of  her  own  heart;  she 
herself  loved  Mr.  Knightley.  She  now 
wished  she  had  never  seen  Harriet  Smith. 
Aside  from  the  fact  that  she  wanted  to 
marry  Mr.  Knightley  herself,  she  knew 
a  match  between  him  and  Harriet  would 
be  an  unequal  one,  hardly  likely  to  bring 
happiness, 

Emma's  worry  over  this  state  of  affairs 
was  soon  ended  when  Mr.  Knightley 
asked  her  to  marry  him.  Her  complete 
happiness  was  marred  only  by  the  fact 
that  she  knew  her  marriage  would  upset 
her  father,  who  disliked  change  of  any 
kind,  and  that  she  had  unknowingly 
prepared  Harriet  for  another  disappoint 
ment.  The  first  problem  was  solved  when 
Emma  and  Mr.  Knightley  decided  to  re 
side  at  Hartlielcl  with  Mr.  Woodhouse  as 
long  as  he  lived.  As  for  Harriet,  when 
Mr,  Knightley  was  paying  attention  to 
her,  he  was  really  trying  to  determine  the 
real  state  of  her  affections  for  his  young 
farm  tenant.  Consequently  Mr.  Knightley 
was  able  to  announce  one  morning  that 
Robert  Martin  had  again  offered  himself 
to  Harriet  and  had  been  accepted.  Emma 
was  overjoyed  that  Harriet's  future  was 
now  assured.  She  could  always  reflect 
that  all  parties  concerned  had  married 
according  to  their  stations,  a  prerequisite 
for  their  true  happiness. 


248 


ENOCH  ARDEN 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson  (1809-1892) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published;  1864 

Principal  characters: 

ENOCH  ARDEN,  a  shipwrecked  sailor 

ANNIE  LEE,  his  wife 

PHILIP  RAY,  his  friend 

MIRIAM  LANE,  a  tavern  keeper 

Critique: 

To  some  modern  readers  the  language 
of  Enoch  Arden  may  seem  stilted  and  the 
story  of  his  unselfish  love  mawkishly  ro 
mantic,  hut  we  must  remember  that  it 
was  written  during  a  period  when  un 
requited  love  and  unselfish  devotion  to 
one's  family  were  favorite  subjects  of 
the  reading  public  of  England  and  Ameri 
ca.  Tennyson  has  one  virtue  not  shared 
by  all  of  his  contemporaries;  his  poems 
are  easily  read  and  understood,  He  ex 
pressed  better  than  any  other  poet  of  his 
time  the  essential  character  of  the  Eng 
lish  people  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


The  Story: 

Annie  Lee,  Philip  Ray,  and  Enoch 
Arden  played  together  as  children.  Some 
times  Philip  was  the  husband,  sometimes 
Enoch,  but  Annie  was  always  the  mis 
tress.  If  the  boys  quarreled  over  her, 
Annie  would  weep  and  beg  them  not  to 
quarrel  and  say  she  would  be  a  wife  to 
both  of  them. 

As  they  grew  older  and  ceased  their 
childish  games,  Enoch  and  Philip  grew 
to  love  Annie.  Enoch  told  her  of  his 
love,  but  Philip  kept  silent,  Philip  was 
the  millers  son  and  a  rich  boy;  Enoch 
was  a  poor  orphan.  He  bought  a  small 
boat  and  became  a  fisherman.  He  sailed 
aboard  a  merchant  ship  for  a  full  year 
before  he  had  enough  money  to  make  a 
home  for  Annie.  When  he  reached  his 
twenty-first  year  he  asked  her  to  be  his 
wife.  While  the  two  lovers  talked  to 
gether,  Philip  looked  down  on  them  as 
they  sat  at  the  edge  of  the  wood.  He 


went  away  quietly,  locking  his  love  te 
Annie  deep  in  his  heart. 

For  seven  years  Enoch  and  Annie 
lived  in  health  and  prosperity.  They  had 
two  children,  a  girl  and  a  boy.  Then 
misfortune  came.  Enoch  slipped  and  fell 
and  lay  months  recovering.  While  he 
was  ill,  a  sickly  child  was  born,  his 
favorite.  There  was  no  money  and  the 
children  were  hungry,  and  Enoch's  heart 
almost  broke  to  see  his  family  in  want. 

The  chance  came  for  him  to  sail  again 
on  a  merchantman  bound  for  China. 
He  sold  his  fishing  boat  that  he  might 
get  a  small  store  of  goods  and  set  Annie 
up  as  a  trader  while  he  was  gone,  so  that 
she  and  the  children  might  not  be  in  want 
before  his  return.  Annie  begged  him 
for  their  children's  sake  not  to  take  this 
dangerous  voyage.  But  Enoch  laughed 
at  her  fears  and  told  her  to  give  all  her 
cares  to  God,  for  the  sea  was  His  as  well 
as  the  land,  and  He  would  take  care  oi 
Enoch  and  bring  him  safely  home.  Annie 
cut  a  lock  of  hair  from  the  sickly  child 
and  gave  it  to  Enoch  when  he  sailed. 

For  many  months  Annie  waited  for 
word  from  Enoch.  Her  business  did  not 
prosper;  she  did  not  know  how  to  bar 
gain.  In  the  third  year  the  sicldy  child 
died  and  Annie  was  crushed  by  grief. 

After  the  funeral  Philip  broke  his 
silence.  He  begged  to  send  the  children 
to  school  and  care  for  them  for  the  sake 
of  his  friendship  with  her  and  Enoch, 
Enoch  had  been  gone  for  ten  long  years 
before  Philip  asked  Annie  to  be  his  wife. 
He  had  not  spoken  before  because  he 


249 


Jcnew  that  she  still  waited  for  Enoch's 
return.  Annie  asked  him  to  wait  one 
year  more.  Six  months  beyond  the  year 
passed  before  she  and  Philip  were  wed. 
But  still  she  feared  to  enter  her  own 
house  and  thought  that  one  day  she 
would  see  Enoch  waiting  for  her.  It  was 
not  until  after  she  bore  Philip  a  child 
that  she  was  at  peace  with  herself, 

Enoch  had  been  shipwrecked  and  cast 
upon  a  desert  island.  Although  he  did 
not  lack  for  food  and  shelter,  his  heart 
was  heavy  with  loneliness  and  worry 
about  his  wife  and  children.  One  day 
a  ship  came  to  the  island  and  took  him 
aboard.  When  he  returned  to  England 
he  was  old  and  stooped  and  no  one  knew 
him.  Finding  his  old  house  empty,  he 
took  lodging  in  a  tavern  kept  by  a  widow, 


Miriam  Lane.  Not  knowing  who  he 
was,  Mrs.  Lane  told  him  of  Annie  and 
Philip  and  their  new  baby.  Enoch  could 
only  murmur  that  he  was  lost.  Watching 
from  a  high  wall  behind  Philip's  house, 
he  saw  Annie  and  the  children  in  their 
happiness,  He  knew  he  could  never 
shatter  that  new  life. 

He  lived  quietly  and  did  what  work 
he  could  and  told  no  one  his  name  or 
from  where  he  came.  At  last,  sick  and 
dying,  he  called  Mrs.  Lane  to  his  bed 
side  and  told  her  his  story.  He  asked 
her  to  tell  Annie  and  Philip  and  the 
children  that  he  died  blessing  them,  and 
he  sent  the  lock  of  hair  to  Annie  so  she 
would  know  he  spoke  the  truth.  His 
was  a  great  unselfish  love  until  the  end. 


THE  ENORMOUS  ROOM 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  E.  E.  Cumrnings  (1894-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Autobiographical  fiction 

Time  of  plot:  1917 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1922 

Principal  characters: 

E,  E.  CUMMINGS,  an  American  ambulance  driver 

W.  S.  B.,  his  American  friend 

APOLLYON,  head  of  die  French  prison 

ROCKYFELIJBR, 

THE  WAJSPOERER, 

Zoo-Loo, 

SURPLICE,  and 

JEAN  LE  N&GRE,  fellow  prisoners 

Critique: 

The  Enormous  Room  tells  of  more 
than  three  uncomfortable  months  in 
prison;  it  tells  of  the  outrage  and  terror 
and  hope  and  fear  of  men  caught  in  the 
mesh  of  wartime  government.  E.  E. 
Cummings  did  not  want  the  book  to 
stand  merely  as  an  indictment  of  the 
French  government;  he  wanted  it  to  tell 
of  the  strange  and  amazing  things  he 
had  learned  about  people  while  in  prison. 
In  reading  the  book,  one  gets  to  know 
not  only  the  author  and  his  friend  B., 


but  all  the  inmates  of  the  enormous 
room.  Each  is  a  study  of  some  human 
quality.  Abounding  with  sharply  drawn 
scenes  and  portraits,  the  novel  is  com 
pelling  in  its  vivid  detail.  The  book  is  not 
so  much  a  study  of  the  stupidity  and 
brutality  of  war  as  it  is  a  quietly  pas 
sionate  vindiction  of  the  animal  Man. 

The  Story: 

E.  E.  Cummings  and  his  friend,  B., 
were  unhappy  as  members  of  the  Norton- 


ITHE  ENORMOUS  ROOM  by  E.  E   Cummings    By  permi8sion  of  the  author,  of  Brandt  &  Brandt,  and  the  pub- 
Ushers,  Livenght  Publishing  Corp.    Copyright,  1922,  by  Boni  &  Liveright,  Inc. 

250 


Harjes  Ambulance  Service,  a  unit  sent 
by  Americans  to  aid  the  French  during 
World  War  I.  One  day  they  were 
arrested  by  French  military  police.  From 
hints  dropped  during  an  investigation 
Cummings  gathered  that  B.  had  written 
some  letters  suspected  by  the  censor. 
Because  they  were  good  friends,  both 
men  were  held  for  questioning.  Exactly 
what  they  were  suspected  of  doing  they 
never  found  out.  On  one  occasion  Cum 
mings  was  asked  whether  he  hated  the 
Germans.  He  replied  that  he  did  not, 
that  he  simply  loved  the  French  very- 
much.  The  investigating  official  could 
not  understand  how  one  could  love  the 
French  and  not  hate  Germans.  Finally 
Cummings  and  B.  were  separated  and 
sent  to  different  prisons.  As  time  went 
by,  Cummings  was  questioned  again  and 
again  and  moved  from  one  spot  to  an 
other,  always  under  strict  guard. 

Late  one  night  he  was  taken  to  a 
prison  in  the  little  provincial  town  of 
Mace.  There  he  was  thrown  into  a 
huge  darkened  room,  given  a  straw  mat 
tress,  and  told  to  go  to  sleep.  In  the 
darkness  he  counted  at  least  thirty  voices 
speaking  eleven  different  languages. 
Early  the  next  morning  he  was  told  that 
B.,  his  friend,  was  in  the  same  room. 
The  two  men  were  happy  to  see  each 
other  again.  B.  told  him  that  the 
prisoners  in  the  room  were  all  suspected 
of  being  spies,  some  only  because  they 
spoke  no  French. 

That  morning  he  learned  the  routine 
of  the  prison.  The  enormous  room  was 
lined  with  mattresses  down  each  side, 
with  a  few  windows  to  let  in  light  at  one 
end.  It  smelled  of  stale  tobacco  and 
sweat.  Some  of  the  men  in  the  room 
were  mad;  most  of  them  were  afraid  they 
might  become  so.  To  all  of  them  life 
consisted  of  following  dull  prison  routine. 
At  five-thirty  in  the  morning  someone 
went  down  to  the  kitchen  under  guard 
and  brought  back  a  bucket  of  sour,  cold 
coffee.  After  coffee,  the  prisoners  drew 
lots  to  see  who  would  clear  the  room, 
sweep  the  floors,  and  collect  the  trash.  At 


seven-thirty  they  were  allowed  to  walk 
for  two  hours  in  a  small,  walled-in  court 
yard.  Then  came  the  first  meal  of  the 
day,  followed  by  another  walk  in  the 
garden.  At  four  they  had  supper.  At 
eight  they  were  locked  in  the  enormous 
room  for  the  night. 

There  was  little  entertainment  except 
fighting  and  conversation.  Some  of  the 
men  spent  their  time  trying  to  catch 
sight  of  women  kept  in  another  part  of 
the  prison.  Cummings  began  to  accustom 
himself  to  the  enormous  room  and  to 
make  friends  among  the  various  inmates. 
One  of  the  first  of  these  was  Count  Bra- 
gard,  a  Belgian  painter  who  specialized  in 
portraits  of  horses.  The  count  was  & 
perfect  gentleman,  even  in  prison,  and 
always  looked  neat  and  suave.  He  and 
Cummings  discussed  painting  and  the 
arts  as  if  they  were  at  some  polite  party. 
Before  Cummings  left,  the  count  began 
to  act  strangely.  He  withdrew  from  his 
old  friends.  He  was  losing  his  mind. 

One  day  Cummings  was  taken  to  see 
the  head  of  the  prison,  a  gross  man  he 
called  Apollyon,  after  the  devil  in  Pil 
grim's  Progress.  Apollyon  had  no  interest 
in  the  prisoners  as  long  as  they  made  as 
little  trouble  as  possible  for  him.  He 
questioned  Cummings  for  a  considerable 
time  in  an  effort  to  learn  why  the  Ameri 
can  was  there,  a  circumstance  over  which 
the  American  himself  often  wondered. 

When  new  inmates  arrived  in  the 
room,  everyone  looked  them  over  hope 
fully,  some  to  find  a  man  with  money  he 
would  lend,  some  to  find  a  fellow- 
countryman,  and  some  to  find  a  friend. 
One  day  a  very  fat,  roby-cheeked  man 
joined  the  group.  He  had  been  a  suc 
cessful  manager  of  a  disreputable  house. 
Because  he  had  a  large  sum  of  money 
with  him,  he  was  nicknamed  Rocky- 
feller.  He  hired  a  strong  man  to  act  as 
his  bodyguard.  Nobody  liked  him,  for 
he  bought  special  privileges  from  the 
gxiards. 

During  his  stay  in  the  room,  Cum- 
mings  met  three  men,  very  different 
from  each  other,  whose  personal  qualities 


251 


were  such  that  they  made  life  seem 
meaningful  to  him.  He  called  them  the 
Delectable  Mountains,  after  the  moun 
tains  Christian  found  in  Pilgrims  Prog 
ress.  The  first  was  the  Wanderer,  whose 
wife  and  three  little  children  were  in 
the  women's  ward  of  the  prison.  He  was 
a  strong  man,  simple  in  his  emotions  and 
feelings.  Cummings  liked  to  talk  with 
him  about  his  problems.  One  of  the 
Wanderer's  children,  a  little  boy,  some 
times  came  to  the  enormous  room  to 
visit  his  father.  His  pranks  and  games 
both  bothered  and  amused  the  men.  The 
Wanderer  treated  his  son  with  love  and 
the  deepest  kind  of  understanding.  Until 
he  was  sent  away  he  remained  Cum 
mings'  best  friend. 

The  second  Delectable  Mountain  was 
called  Zoo-loo,  a  Polish  farmer  who  could 
speak  neither  French  nor  English,  but 
who  could  communicate  by  signs.  In  a 
short  time  he  and  Cummings  knew  all 
about  each  other.  Zoo-loo  had  a  knack 
for  hiding  money,  and  despite  the  fact 
that  the  head  of  the  prison  had  him 
searched  from  head  to  toe,  and  all  his 
belongings  searched,  he  seemed  always 
able  to  produce  a  twenty  franc  note  from 
his  left  ear  or  the  back  of  his  neck.  His 
kindnesses  to  Cummings  and  B.  were 
innumerable. 

The  third  Delectable  Mountain  was 
an  amazing  little  man  named  Surplice. 
Everything  astonished  him.  When  Cum 
mings  had  some  candy  or  cheese,  Sur 
plice  was  sure  to  come  over  to  his  cot 
and  ask  questions  about  it  in  a  shy 
manner.  His  curiosity  and  friendly  con 
versation  made  everything  seem  more 


important  and  interesting  than  it  really 
was. 

One  morning  Jean  le  N&gre  was 
brought  to  the  enormous  room,  a  gigantic, 
simple-minded  Negro  whom  Cummings 
was  to  remember  as  the  finest  of  his 
fellow  prisoners.  Jean  was  given  to 
practical  jokes  and  tall  tales;  he  had  been 
arrested  for  impersonating  an  English 
officer  and  had  been  sent  to  the  prison 
for  psychopathic  observation.  Because  of 
his  powerful  body,  the  women  prisoners 
called  their  approval  and  admiration 
when  he  walked  in  the  courtyard.  His 
favorite  was  Lulu,  who  smuggled  money 
and  a  lace  handkerchief  to  him.  When 
she  was  sent  to  another  prison,  Jean 
was  disconsolate.  When  one  of  the 
prisoners  pulled  at  Lulu's  handkerchief, 
Jean  handled  him  roughly.  A  scuffle 
followed.  The  guards  came  and  Jean 
was  taken  away  for  punishment.  Calls 
from  the  women  prisoners  aroused  him 
so  that  he  attacked  the  guards  and  sent 
them  flying  until  he  was  quieted  and 
bound  by  a  fellow  prisoner  whom  he 
trusted.  After  that  experience  Jean  grew 
quiet  and  shy. 

Just  before  Cummings  himself  was 
released,  B.  was  sent  away.  Jean  le 
Negre  tried  to  cheer  Cummings  with 
his  funny  stories  and  exaggerated  lies, 
but  without  much  success.  Cummings 
was  afraid  B.  might  never  get  free  from 
the  prisons  of  France,  a  groundless  fear 
as  he  learned  Inter.  He  himself  left  the 
enormous  room  knowing  that  in  it  he 
had  learned  the  degradation  and  nobility 
and  endurance  of  human  nature. 


EREWHON 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Samuel  Butler  (1835-1902) 

Type  of  plot;  Utopian  satire 

Time  of  plot;  1870's 

Locale:  Erewhon  and  England 

First  published:  1872 

Principal  characters: 

STRONG,  a  traveler  in  Erewhon 

CHOWBOK,  a  native 


252 


NOSNIBOK,  a  citizen  of  Erewhon 
AROWHENA,  his  daughter 
Critique: 

Erewhon  is  an  anagram  of  nowhere, 
but  the  institutions  satirized  in  this  story 
of  an  imaginary  land  are  unmistakably 
British,  Beginning  as  an  adventure  story, 
the  book  becomes  an  elaborate  allegory. 
Some  of  Butler's  satire  grows  out  of  the 
ideas  of  Darwin  and  Huxley,  In  the  main 
the  book  is  original  and  often  prophetic, 
The  "straighteners"  of  Erewhon  are  the 
psychologists  of  today,  and  the  treatment 
of  Erewhonian  criminals  is  somewhat 
like  that  advocated  by  our  own  liberal 
thinkers.  The  novel  is  humorous,  but 
it  is  also  serious. 


The  Story: 

Strong,  a  young  man  of  twenty-two, 
worked  on  a  sheep  farm.  From  the 
plains  he  looked  often  at  the  seemingly 
impassable  mountain  range  that  formed 
the  edge  of  the  sheep  country  and  won 
dered  about  the  land  beyond  those  tower 
ing  peaks.  From  one  old  native  named 
Chowbok  he  learned  that  the  country 
was  forbidden.  Chowbok  assumed  a 
strange  pose  when  questioned  further 
and  uttered  unearthly  cries.  Curious, 
Strong  persuaded  Chowbok  to  go  on  a 
trip  with  him  into  the  mountains. 

They  were  unable  to  find  a  pass 
through  the  mountains.  One  day  Strong 
came  upon  a  small  valley  and  went  up 
it  alone.  He  found  that  it  led  through 
the  mountains.  When  he  went  back  to 
get  Chowbok,  he  saw  the  old  native  flee 
ing  toward  the  plains.  He  went  on 
alone.  After  climbing  down  treacherous 
cliffs  and  crossing  a  river  on  a  reed  raft, 
he  finally  came  to  beautiful  rolling  plains. 
Fie  passed  by  some  strange  manlike 
statues  which  made  terrifying  noises  as 
the  wind  circled  about  them.  He  recog 
nized  in  them  the  reason  for  Chowbok's 
performance. 

Strong  awoke  next  morning  to  see  a 
flock  of  goats  about  him,  two  girls  herd 
ing  them.  When  the  girls  saw  him  they 
ran  and  brought  some  men  to  look  at 


him.  All  of  them  were  physically  hand 
some.  Convinced  at  last  that  Strong  was 
a  human  being,  they  took  him  to  a  small 
town  close  by.  There  his  clothing  was 
searched  and  a  watch  he  had  with  him 
was  confiscated.  The  men  seemed  to  be 
especially  interested  in  his  health,  and 
he  was  allowed  to  leave  only  after  a 
strict  medical  examination.  He  wondered 
why  there  had  been  such  confusion  over 
his  watch  until  he  was  shown  a  museum 
in  which  was  kept  old  pieces  of  machin 
ery.  Finally  he  was  put  in  jail. 

In  jail  he  learned  the  language  and 
something  of  the  strange  customs  of  the 
country,  which  was  called  Erewhon.  The 
oddest  custom  was  to  consider  disease  a 
crime;  anyone  who  was  sick  was  tried 
and  put  in  jail.  On  the  other  hand, 
people  who  committed  robbery  or  murdei 
were  treated  sympathetically  and  given 
hospital  care.  Shortly  afterward  the 
jailor  informed  Strong  that  he  had  been 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  king  and 
queen,  and  that  he  was  to  be  the  guest 
of  a  man  named  Nosnibor.  Nosnibor 
had  embezzled  a  large  sum  of  money 
from  a  poor  widow,  but  he  was  now  re 
covering  from  his  illness.  The  widow, 
Strong  learned,  would  be  tried  and  sen 
tenced  for  allowing  herself  to  be  imposed 
upon. 

In  the  capital  Strong  stayed  with  Nos 
nibor  and  his  family  and  paid  several 
visits  to  the  court.  He  was  well  received 
because  he  had  blond  hair,  a  rari  ty  among 
the  Erewhonians.  He  learned  a  great 
deal  about  the  past  history  of  the  country. 
Twenty-five  hundred  years  before  a 
prophet  had  preached  that  it  was  unlaw 
ful  to  eat  meat,  as  man  should  not  kill 
his  fellow  creatures.  For  several  hundred 

5 is  the  Erewhonians  were  vegetarians, 
en  another  sage  showed  that  animals 
were  no  more  the  fellow  creatures  of  man 
than  plants  were,  and  that  if  man  could 
not  kill  and  eat  animals  he  should  not 
kill  and  eat  plants.  The  logic  of  his 


arguments  overthrew  the  old  philosophy. 
Two  hundred  years  before  a  great  scien 
tist  had  presented  the  idea  that  machines 
had  minds  and  feelings  and  that  if  man 
were  not  careful  the  machine  would 
finally  become  the  ruling  creature  on 
earth.  Consequently  all  machines  had 
been  scrapped, 

The  economy  of  the  country  was  un 
usual,  There  were  two  monetary  sys 
tems,  one  worthless  except  for  spiritual 
meaning,  one  used  in  trade.  The  more 
respected  system  was  the  valueless  one, 
and  its  work  was  carried  on  in  Musical 
Banks  where  people  exchanged  coins  for 
music.  The  state  religion  was  a  worship 
of  various  qualities  of  godhead,  such  as 
love,  fear,  and  wisdom,  and  the  main 
goddess,  Ydgrun,  was  at  the  same  time 
an  abstract  concept  and  a  silly,  cruel 
woman.  Strong  learned  much  of  the 
religion  from  Arowhena,  one  of  Nosni- 
bor's  daughters.  She  was  a  beautiful  girl, 
and  the  two  fell  in  love. 

Because  Nosnibor  insisted  that  his 
older  daughter,  Zulora,  be  married  first, 
Strong  and  his  host  had  an  argument, 
and  Strong  found  lodgings  elsewhere. 
Arowhena  met  him  often  at  the  Musical 
Banks.  Strong  visited  the  University  of 
Unreason,  where  the  young  Erewhonian 
boys  were  taught  to  do  anything  except 
that  which  was  practical.  They  studied 
obsolete  languages  and  hypothetical  sci 
ences.  He  saw  a  relationship  between 


these  schools  and  the  mass-mind  which 
the  educational  system  in  England  was 
producing.  Strong  also  learned  that 
money  was  considered  a  symbol  of  duty, 
and  that  the  more  money  a  man  had  the 
better  man  he  was. 

Nosnibor  learned  that  Strong  was 
meeting  Arowhena  secretly.  Then  the 
king  began  to  worry  over  the  fact  that 
Strong  had  entered  the  country  with  a 
watch,  and  he  feared  that  Strong  might 
try  to  bring  machinery  back  into  use. 
Planning  an  escape,  Strong  proposed  to 
the  queen  that  he  make  a  balloon  trip 
to  talk  with  the  god  of  the  air.  The 
queen  was  delighted  with  the  idea.  The 
king  hoped  that  Strong  would  fall  and 
kill  himself. 

Strong  smuggled  Arowhena  aboard  the 
balloon  with  laim.  The  couple  soon 
found  themselves  high  in  the  air  and 
moving  over  the  mountain  range.  When 
the  balloon  settled  on  the  sea,  Strong 
and  Arowhena  were  picked  up  by  a 
passing  ship.  In  England,  where  they 
were  married,  Strong  tried  to  get  up  an 
expedition  to  go  back  to  Ere  when.  Only 
the  missionaries  listened  to  his  story. 
Then  Chowbok,  Strong's  faithless  native 
friend,  showed  up  in  England  teaching 
religion,  and  his  appearance  convinced 
people  that  Erewhon  actually  did  exist, 
Strong  hoped  to  return  to  the  country 
soon  to  teach  it  Christianity. 


ESTHER  WATERS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Moore  (1852-1933) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1894 

Principal  characters: 

ESTHER  WATERS,  a  servant  girl 
WILLIAM  LATCH,  her  betrayer 
MRS.  BARFIELD,  her  mistress 
SARAH  TUCKER,  her  enemy 
JACKIE,  her  son 
FRED  PARSONS,  her  betrothed 
Miss  RICE,  her  employer 


254 


Critique: 

Esther  Waters  is  a  landmark  in  the 
development  of  realism  in  English  fiction. 
The  story   of   Esther   and   her   struggle 
^ainst  almost  insurmountable  odds  shows 
influence  of  Balzac  and  Zola.    Be 
tween  Richardson's  Pamela  and  Moore's 
Esther  Waters  there  is  a  dividing  line  of 
a  completely  new  theory  of  art  as  well 
as  a  division  of  time  in  the  history  of 
the  novel. 

The  Story: 

The  first  person  Esther  Waters  met 
when  she  arrived  at  Woodview  was  Wil 
liam  Latch,  the  son  of  the  cook  under 
whose  direction  Esther  was  to  work.  Wil 
liam  was  the  bane  of  his  mother's  life, 
for  he  was  like  his  dead  father,  a  gambler. 
Mrs.  Latch  had  hoped  that  William 
would  become  a  delivery  boy  and  leave 
Woodview,  but  William  was  determined 
to  go  into  service  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bar- 
field,  the  owners  of  Woodview,  in  order 
to  observe  their  racing  stable. 

The  position  as  kitchenmaid  at  Wood- 
view  was  a  godsend  to  Esther,  for  her 
stepfather,  claiming  that  he  had  too  many 
mouths  to  feed,  had  forced  her  to  leave 
home.  The  workhouse  might  have  been 
her  only  refuge  if  she  had  not  secured 
a  position  with  the  Barfields.  But  in 
spite  of  her  efforts  to  do  her  work  well, 
it  was  hard  for  her  to  get  along  with  the 
other  servants.  Mrs.  Latch  seemed  to 
go  out  of  her  way  to  make  life  unpleasant 
for  Esther,  and  the  maids  teased  her  be 
cause  she  was  religious.  Among  the  serv 
ants,  William  was  at  first  her  only 
champion,  and  she  was  grateful  to  him. 
Then  Esther  found  an  unexpected  friend 
in  her  mistress,  Mrs.  Barfield.  She,  too, 
was  deeply  religious,  and  she  invited 
Esther  to  join  the  services  she  held  in 
her  room  each  Sunday  morning.  Learn 
ing  that  Esther  could  not  read,  Mrs.  Bar- 
field  tried  to  teach  her.  To  Esther,  Mrs. 
Barfield  seemed  a  friend  as  well  as,  an 
employer. 


Mrs.  Barfield's  interest  made  Esther's 
life  easier  for  a  time.  William  continued 
to  pay  her  special  attention,  to  the  an 
guish  of  Sarah  Tucker,  another  of  the 
maids.  After  a  servant's  ball  in  celebra 
tion  of  the  victory  of  one  of  the  Wood- 
view  horses,  William  took  Esther  out  to 
some  wheat  stacks  and  seduced  her  after 
telling  her  that  they  would  be  married 
as  soon  as  he  had  enough  money.  By  the 
following  morning  Esther  had  convinced 
herself  that  she  had  been  betrayed,  and 
she  refused  to  speak  to  William.  He  tried 
to  reason  with  her,  telling  her  that  he 
loved  her  and  they  would  be  married 
soon,  but  she  would  not  listen.  Tiring  at 
last  of  her  sulking,  he  turned  to  Miss 
Peggy  Barfield,  a  cousin  of  his  master, 
and  after  a  few  weeks  eloped  with  her. 

Three  months  later  Esther  realized  that 
she  was  pregnant.  Strangely,  the  servant 
girls  who  had  been  her  former  tormentors 
became  kind  and  sympathetic,  and  their 
kindness  made  her  feel  even  more 
ashamed  of  her  wickedness.  In  spite  of 
her  sympathy,  Mrs.  Barfield  had  to  send 
Esther  away,  for  she  had  become  a  bad 
example  for  the  other  girls. 

There  was  no  place  for  her  to  go  but 
to  her  home.  There  she  found  her  mother 
also  pregnant  and  her  stepfather  more 
cruel  than  ever.  But  he  tolerated  her  as 
long  as  she  paid  her  rent  and  gave  him 
money  to  buy  beer.  At  last  Esther  knew 
that  she  would  have  to  leave  before  all 
her  savings  were  used  up  and  there 
would  be  nothing  left  for  her  baby. 

She  took  lodgings  close  to  the  hospital 
where  she  was  to  be  confined.  After  her 
son,  Jackie,  was  born,  she  was  filled  with 
a  happiness  she  had  never  known  before, 
but  her  joy  was  lessened  when  she 
learned  that  her  mother  had  died  in 
childbirth,  just  a  few  days  after  Esther's 
baby  was  born.  Soon  afterward  Esther's 
stepfather  and  the  other  children  went 
to  Australia;  with  their  going  Esther  felt 
that  she  was  really  alone  in  the  world. 


ESTHER  WATERS  by  Georgt  Moore.  By  permission  of  Mr.  C.  D.  Medley,  London,  and  the  publishers 
LiverigV  PublJahing  Corp.  Copyright,  1901,  by  H.  S.  Stone  &  Co.,  1917,  by  Brentano'0,  1932.  by  Liveright 
Publishing  Corp. 


255 


For  Esther  the  next  few  years  were 
terrible  ones.  Sometimes  she  worked 
seventeen  and  eighteen  hours  a  day. 
Once  she  had  to  go  to  the  workhouse. 
Her  greatest  grief  was  the  need  to  leave 
her  child  in  someone's  care  while  she 
worked,  for  Jackie  was  her  whole  life. 
When  he  was  six  years  old,  Esther  found 
work  with  Miss  Rice,  a  writer  whose 
home  was  a  haven  to  Esther.  Miss  Rice 
knew  Esther's  story  and  tried  to  make  the 
girl's  life  easier  for  her. 

One  day  Esther  met  Fred  Parsons,  a 
colorless  man,  but  honest,  dependable, 
and  religious.  When  Esther  told  him 
her  story,  he  readily  forgave  her.  She 
took  Fred  to  see  Jackie,  and  the  man  and 
the  boy  were  fast  friends  from  the  first 
meeting.  Esther  and  Fred  planned  to  be 
married  as  soon  as  Miss  Rice  could  get 
another  servant,  for  Esther  would  not 
leave  her  mistress  uncared-for.  One  eve 
ning,  while  on  an  errand  for  Miss  Rice, 
Esther  unexpectedly  met  William  Latch, 
who  told  her  that  Peggy  had  left  him. 
When  he  learned  that  Esther  had  borne 
his  child,  he  pleaded  to  come  back  to  her, 
and  hinted  that  it  was  her  Christian  duty 
to  Jackie  to  give  the  boy  his  rightful 
father.  Esther  knew  that  she  would  be 
better  off  with  Fred,  as  would  Jackie,  for 
William  had  become  a  tavern  keeper  and 
a  bookie.  But  Jackie  met  his  father  and 
loved  him  instantly.  For  his  sake  Esther 
and  William  were  married. 

At  first  William  made  money.  Jackie 
was  put  in  a  good  school,  and  Esther 
had  two  servants  to  wait  on  her.  But 
there  were  days  of  anxious  waiting  to 
hear  the  results  of  a  race.  Often  Wil 
liam  had  thousands  of  pounds  to  cover  if 
the  favorite  won.  After  a  time  he  began 


to  lose  heavily.  It  was  against  the  law 
to  accept  bets  at  the  tavern,  and  William 
was  in  constant  danger  of  being  reported 
to  the  police.  Fred  Parsons  came  to  warn 
Esther  to  leave  William,  to  tell  her  that 
the  tavern  was  to  be  raided,  but  Esther 
refused  to  desert  her  husband.  Then 
Sarah  Tucker  came  to  the  tavern  to  ask 
for  help  after  she  had  stolen  a  silver 
plate  from  her  employer.  The  police 
found  her  there.  Later,  when  the  tavern 
was  raided,  William's  fine  was  heavy. 
Business  began  to  dwindle,  and  Esther 
and  William  had  lean  times. 

After  William  became  tubercular,  the 
dampness  and  fog  of  the  race  tracks  only 
made  him  cough  more,  and  at  last  he  had 
to  go  to  the  hospital.  There  the  doctors 
told  him  that  he  must  go  to  Egypt  for 
his  health.  He  and  Esther  gambled  all 
their  money  on  a  single  race,  and  lost. 
Esther  tried  to  be  cheerful  for  William's 
sake,  but  when  he  died  a  few  days  later 
she  wished  that  she  had  died  with  him. 
She  had  no  money  and  no  place  to  go. 
Her  only  blessing  was  that  Jackie  was 
big  enough  to  take  care  of  Himself. 

Esther  went  back  to  Woodview.  Only 
Mrs.  Barfield  was  left,  and  she  was  poor. 
Most  of  the  land  had  gone  to  pay  racing 
debts,  But  Esther  would  have  stayed 
with  Mrs.  Barfield  without  wages,  for  she 
had  never  forgotten  her  old  friend's  kind 
ness.  Jackie  enlisted  in  the  army  and 
went  to  Woodview  to  tell  his  mother 
goodbye.  With  pride  she  introduced  him 
to  Mrs.  Barfield.  She  knew  that  her  sin 
had  been  redeemed  and  that  she  would 
never  have  to  be  ashamed  again.  She 
had  given  her  country  a  fine  soldier.  Few 
women  could  do  more. 


ETHAN  FROME 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Edith  Wharton  (1862-1937) 
Type  of  'plot:  Domestic  tragedy 
Time  oj  'plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 
Locale:  Starkfield,  Massachusetts 
First  published:  1911 


256 


Principal  characters: 

ETHAN  FROME,  a  New  England  farmer 
ZENOBIA  FROME  (ZEENA),  his  wife 
MATTIE  SILVER,  Zeena 's  cousin 


Critique: 

Although  not  considered  representative 
of  Edith  Wharton's  works,  Ethan  Frame 
is  probably  the  best  and  most  popular  of 
her  novels.  Told  in  less  than  two  hun 
dred  pages,  it  is  a  tragic  story  of  three 
peoples'  wasted  lives:  Ethan  Frome; 
Zeena,  his  wife;  and  young  Mattie  Silver, 
Zeena's  cousin.  Through  the  flash-back 
technique,  Edith  Wharton  permits  us  to 
glimpse  the  fate  of  Ethan  Frome  at  the 
beginning,  but  we  must  wait  until  the 
end  of  the  book  to  see  how  that  fate  is 
brought  about.  Although  we  know  that 
the  story  is  to  have  an  unhappy  ending, 
the  author's  crushing  use  of  irony  makes 
the  conclusion  come  as  a  surprise. 

The  Story: 

Ethan  Frome  was  twenty-eight  years 
old  when  he  married  Zenobia  Pierce,  a 
distant  cousin  who  nursed  his  sick  mother 
during  her  last  illness.  It  was  a  wedding 
without  love.  Zenobia,  called  Zeena,  had 
no  home  of  her  own,  and  Ethan  was 
lonely.  So  they  were  married.  But  Zee 
na's  talkativeness,  which  had  been  pleas 
ing  to  Ethan  during  his  mother's  illness, 
quickly  subsided,  and  within  a  year  of 
their  marriage  Zeena  developed  the  sick- 
liness  which  was  to  plague  her  husband 
all  her  life.  Ethan  became  increasingly 
dissatisfied  with  his  life.  He  was  an 
intelligent  and  ambitious  young  man  who 
had  hoped  to  become  an  engineer  or  a 
chemist.  But  he  soon  found  himself 
chained  to  a  wife  he  detested  and  a  farm 
he  could  not  sell. 

The  arrival  of  Mattie  Silver  brightened 
the  gloomy  house  considerably.  Mattie, 
Zeena's  cousin,  had  come  to  Starkfield 
partly  because  she  had  no  other  place  to 
go  and  partly  because  Zeena  felt  in  need 
of  a  companion  around  the  house.  Ethan 


saw  in  Mattie's  goodness  and  beauty 
every  fine  quality  that  Zeena  lacked. 

When  Zeena  suggested  that  Ethan 
help  Mattie  find  a  husband,  he  began  to 
realize  how  much  he  himself  was  attract 
ed  to  the  girl.  When  he  went  to  a  church 
social  to  bring  Mattie  home  and  saw  he* 
dancing  with  the  son  of  a  rich  Irish 
grocer,  he  realized  that  he  was  jealous  of 
his  rival  and  in  love  with  Mattie.  On 
his  way  home  with  her,  Ethan  felt  his 
love  for  Mattie  more  than  ever,  for  on 
that  occasion  as  on  others,  she  flattered 
him  by  asking  him  questions  on  astron 
omy.  His  dreams  of  happiness  were 
short-lived  however,  for  when  he  reached 
home  Zeena  was  her  nagging,  sour  self. 
The  contrast  between  Zeena  and  Mattie 
impressed  him  more  and  more. 

One  day  Ethan  returned  from  his 
morning's  work  to  find  Zeena  dressed  in 
her  traveling  clothes.  She  was  going  to 
visit  a  new  doctor  in  nearby  Bettsbridge. 
Ordinarily  Ethan  would  have  objected  to 
the  journey  because  of  the  expensive  rem 
edies  which  Zeena  was  in  the  habit  of 
buying  on  her  trips  to  town.  But  on  that 
occasion  he  was  overjoyed  at  the  news  of 
Zeena's  proposed  departure,  for  he  real 
ized  that  he  and  Mattie  would  have 
the  house  to  themselves  overnight. 

With  Zeena  out  of  the  way,  Ethan 
again  became  a  changed  man.  Later 
in  the  evening,  before  supper,  Ethan  and 
Mattie  sat  quietly  before  the  fire,  just  as 
Ethan  imagined  happily  married  couples 
would  do.  During  supper  the  cat  broke 
Zeena's  favorite  pickle  dish,  which  Mattie 
had  used  to  brighten  up  the  table.  In 
spite  of  the  accident,  they  spent  the  rest 
of  the  evening  happily.  They  talked 
about  going  sledding  together,  and  Ethan 
told  shyly — and  perhaps  wistfully — that 


ETHAN  FROME   by  Edith  Wharton.    By   permission   of  the  publishers,   Charles  Scribner's   Sous.     Copyright 
1911,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    Renewed,  1939,  by  Frederic  and  Leroy  King. 


257 


he  had  seen  Ruth  Varnum  and  Ned 
Hale,  a  young  engaged  couple,  stealing  a 
kiss  earlier  in  the  evening. 

In  the  morning  Ethan  was  happy,  but 
not  because  of  anything  out  of  the  ordi 
nary  the  night  before.  In  fact,  when  he 
went  to  bed,  he  remembered  sadly  that 
he  had  not  so  much  as  touched  Mattie's 
fingertips  or  looked  into  her  eyes.  He 
was  happy  because  he  could  imagine 
what  a  wonderful  life  he  could  have  if  he 
were  married  to  Mattie.  He  got  glue 
to  mend  the  pickle  dish,  but  Zeena's  un 
expected  return  prevented  him  from  re 
pairing  it.  His  spirits  were  further 
dampened  when  Zeena  told  him  that  the 
Bettsbridge  doctor  considered  her  quite 
sick.  He  had  advised  her  to  get  a  girl  to 
relieve  her  of  all  household  duties,  a 
stronger  girl  than  Mattie.  She  had  al 
ready  engaged  the  new  girl.  Ethan  was 
dumbfounded  by  this  development.  In 
her  insistence  that  Mattie  be  sent  away 
Zeena  gave  the  first  real  hint  that  she 
may  have  been  aware  of  gossip  about  her 
husband  and  Mattie. 

When  Ethan  told  Mattie  of  Zeena's 
decision,  the  girl  was  as  crestfallen  as 
Ethan.  Zeena  interrupted  their  lamenta 
tions,  however,  by  coming  downstairs  for 
something  to  eat.  After  supper  she  re 
quired  stomach  powders  to  relieve  a  case 
of  heartburn.  In  getting  the  powders, 
which  she  had  hidden  in  a  spot  supposed 
ly  unknown  to  Mattie,  Zeena  discovered 
the  broken  pickle  dish,  which  had  been 


carefully  reassembled  in  order  to  give  the 
appearance  of  being  unbroken.  Having 
detected  the  deception  and  learned  that 
Mattie  was  responsible  for  the  broken 
dish,  Zeena  called  Mattie  insulting  names 
and  showed  plainly  that  the  girl  would 
be  sent  away  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment. 

Faced  with  the  certainty  of  Mattie's 
departure,  Ethan  thought  of  running 
away  with  her.  But  his  poverty,  as  well 
as  his  sense  of  responsibility  to  Zeena, 
offered  no  solution  to  his  problem,  only 
greater  despair.  On  the  morning  Mattie 
was  to  leave  Starkfield,  Ethan,  against 
the  wishes  of  his  wife,  insisted  on  driv 
ing  Mattie  to  the  station,  The  thought 
of  parting  was  unbearable  to  both.  They 
decided  to  take  the  sleigh  ride  that  Ethan 
had  promised  Mattie  the  night  before. 
Down  the  hill  they  went,  narrowly  miss 
ing  a  large  elm  tree  at  the  bottom.  Mat- 
tie,  who  had  told  Ethan  that  she  would 
rather  die  than  leave  him,  begged  until 
Ethan  agreed  to  take  her  down  the  hill 
a  second  time  and  run  the  sled  into  the 
elm  at  the  bottom  of  the  slope.  But  they 
failed  to  hit  the  tree  with  force  sufficient 
to  kill  them.  The  death  they  sought  be 
came  a  living  death,  for  in  the  accident 
Mattie  suffered  a  permanent  spine  injury 
and  Ethan  an  incurable  lameness.  The 
person  who  received  Mattie  into  her 
home,  who  waited  on  her,  and  who 
cooked  for  Ethan  was — Zeena. 


EUGENIE  GRANDET 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Honor£  de  Balzac  (1799-1850) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Saumur,  France 

first  'published:  1833 


Principal  characters: 

MONSIEUR  GRANDET,  a  miser 
EUGENIE,  his  daughter 
CHARLES  GRANDET,  his  nephew 
MONSIEUR  DE  GRASSINS,  a  banker 
MONSIEUR  CRUCHOT,  a  notary 


258 


Critique: 

Eugenie  Grandet  is  one  of  the  best  of 
Balzac's  novels.  His  use  of  realistic  detail, 
so  cumbersome  and  boring  in  many  of  his 
works,  is  restricted  here  to  what  is  actu 
ally  needed.  Primarily  the  book  is  a 
character  sketch  of  a  loathsome  miser 
whose  greed  has  warped  his  own  life 
and  made  the  lives  of  his  wife  and  daugh 
ter  miserable.  The  story  is  told  simply 
and  concisely,  Its  tragedy  lies  in  the  fact 
that  Eugenie  is  doomed  to  a  lonely  and 
loveless  life.  In  any  event,  she  and 
Grandet  are  two  of  Balzac's  most  success 
ful  creations. 

The  Story: 

In  the  French  town  of  Saumur,  old 
Grandet  was  a  prominent  personality,  and 
the  story  of  his  rise  to  fortune  was  known 
throughout  the  district.  He  was  a  master 
cooper  who  had  married  the  daughter 
of  a  prosperous  wood  merchant.  When 
the  new  French  Republic  offered  for  sale 
the  church  property  in  Saumur,  Grandet 
used  his  savings  and  his  wife's  dowry  to 
buy  an  old  abbey,  a  fine  vineyard,  and 
several  farms.  Under  the  Consulate  he 
became  mayor  and  grew  still  more 
wealthy.  In  1806  he  inherited  three  for 
tunes  from  his  wife's  mother,  her  grand 
father,  and  her  grandmother.  By  this 
time  he  owned  the  abbey,  a  hundred 
acres  of  vineyard,  thirteen  farms,  and  the 
house  in  which  he  lived.  In  1811  he 
bought  the  nearby  estate  of  an  impov 
erished  nobleman. 

He  was  known  for  his  miserliness,  but 
he  was  respected  for  the  same  reason. 
His  manners  were  simple,  his  table  was 
meager,  but  his  speech  and  gestures  were 
the  law  of  the  countryside.  His  house 
hold  consisted  of  his  wife,  his  daughter, 
Eugenie,  and  a  servant,  Nanon.  Old 
Grandet  had  reduced  his  wife  almost  to 
slavery,  using  her  as  a  screen  for  his 
devious  financial  dealings.  Nanon,  who 
did  all  of  the  housework,  was  gaunt  and 
ugly  but  of  great  strength.  She  was  de 
voted  to  her  master  because  he  had  taken 
her  in  after  everyone  else  had  refused 


to  hire  her  because  of  her  appearance, 
On  each  birthday  Eugenie  received  a  gold 
piece  from  her  father  and  a  winter  and 
a  summer  dress  from  her  mother.  Each 
New  Year's  Day  Grandet  would  ask  to 
see  the  coins  and  would  gloat  over  their 
yellow  brightness. 

He  begrudged  his  family  everything 
except  the  bare  necessities  of  life.  Every 
day  he  would  carefully  measure  and  dole 
out  the  food  for  the  household — a  few 
lumps  of  sugar,  several  pieces  of  butter, 
a  loaf  of  bread.  He  forbade  the  lighting 
of  fires  in  the  rooms  before  the  middle 
of  November.  His  family,  like  his  ten 
ants,  lived  under  the  austere  circum 
stances  he  imposed  upon  them. 

The  townspeople  wondered  whom 
Eugenie  would  marry.  There  were  two 
rivals  for  her  hand.  One  of  them,  M. 
Cruchot,  was  the  son  of  the  local  notary. 
The  other,  M.  de  Grassins,  was  the  son 
of  the  local  banker.  On  Eugenie's  birth 
day,  in  the  year  1819,  both  called  at  the 
Grandet  home.  During  the  evening  there 
was  an  unexpected  knock  at  the  door, 
and  in  came  Charles  Grandet,  the  miser's 
nephew.  Charles'  father  had  amassed  a 
fortune  in  Paris,  and  Charles  himself, 
dressed  in  the  most  fashionable  Parisian 
manner,  was  an  example  of  Parisian 
customs  and  habits  for  these  awkward, 
gawking  provincials  whom  he  tried  to 
impress  with  his  superior  airs. 

Eugenie  outdid  herself  in  an  effort 
to  make  the  visitor  welcome,  even  defy 
ing  her  father  in  the  matter  of  heat, 
candlelight,  and  other  luxuries  for 
Charles.  Grandet  was  polite  enough  to 
his  nephew  that  evening,  as  he  read  a 
letter  Charles  had  brought  from  his 
father.  In  it  Grandet' s  brother  announced 
he  had  lost  his  fortune,  that  he  was  about 
to  commit  suicide,  and  that  he  entrusted 
Charles  to  his  brother's  care.  The  young 
man  was  quite  unaware  of  what  his  fathei 
had  written,  and  when  informed  next  day 
of  his  father's  failure  and  suicide,  he 
burst  into  tears  and  remained  in  his 
room  for  several  days.  Finally  he  wrote 


259 


to  a  friend  in  Paris  and  asked  him  to 
dispose  of  his  property  and  pay  his  debts. 
To  Eugenie,  her  mother,  and  Nanon,  he 
gave  little  trinkets.  Grandet  looked  at 
them  greedily  and  said  he  would  have 
them  appraised.  He  informed  his  wife 
and  daughter  that  he  intended  to  turn 
the  young  man  out  as  soon  as  his  father's 
affairs  were  settled. 

Charles  felt  there  was  a  stain  on  his 
honor,  Grandet  felt  so  too,  especially 
since  he  and  his  late  brother  had  the  same 
family  name.  In  consultation  with  the 
local  banker,  M.  de  Grassins,  he  arranged 
a  plan  whereby  he  could  save  the  family 
reputation  without,  at  the  same  time, 
spending  a  penny.  M.  de  Grassins  went 
to  Paris  to  act  for  Grandet,  He  did  not 
return,  but  lived  a  life  of  pleasure  in 
the  capital. 

In  the  meantime,  Eugenie  fell  in  love 
with  Charles.  Sympathizing  with  his 
penniless  state,  she  decided  to  give  him 
her  hoard  of  coins  so  that  he  could  go  to 
the  Indies  and  make  his  fortune.  The  two 
young  people  pledged  everlasting  love  to 
each  other,  and  Charles  left  Saumur. 

On  the  following  New  Year's  Day, 
Grandet  asked  to  see  Eugenie's  money. 
Her  mother,  who  knew  her  daughter's 
secret,  kept  silent.  In  spite  of  Eugenie's 
denials,  Grandet  guessed  what  she  had 
done  with  the  gold.  He  ordered  her  to 
keep  to  her  room,  and  he  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  either  her  or  her 
mother.  Rumors  began  to  arise  in  the 
town.  The  notary,  M.  Cruchot,  told 
Grandet  that  if  his  wife  died,  there 
would  have  to  be  a  division  of  the  prop 
erty — if  Eugenie  insisted  on  it.  The  vil 
lage  whispered  that  Mme.  Grandet  was 
dying  of  a  broken  heart  and  the  maltreat 
ment  of  her  husband.  Realizing  that  he 
might  lose  a  part  of  his  fortune,  Grandet 
relented  and  forgave  them  both.  When 
his  wife  died,  he  tricked  Eugenie  J 


signing  over  to  him  her  share  of  the 
property. 

Five  years  passed,  with  no  word  from 
Charles  to  brighten  Eugenie's  drab  exist 
ence.  In  1827,  when  Grandet  was  eighty- 
two  years  old,  he  was  stricken  with  paral 
ysis.  He  died  urging  Eugenie  to  take 
care  of  his  money. 

Eugenie  lived  with  old  Nanon,  still 
waiting  for  Charles  to  return.  One  day 
a  letter  came.  Charles  no  longer  wished 
to  marry  her.  Instead,  he  hoped  to  marry 
the  daughter  of  a  titled  nobleman  and 
secure  by  royal  ordinance  his  father-in- 
law's  title  and  coat  of  arms.  Eugenie  re 
leased  Charles,  but  M.  de  Grassins  hur 
ried  to  Charles  and  told  him  that  his 
father's  creditors  had  not  been  satisfied. 
Until  they  were,  his  fianceVs  family 
would  not  allow  a  marriage.  Learning  of 
his  predicament,  Eugenie  herself  paid  the 
debt,  and  Charles  was  married, 

Eugenie  continued  to  live  alone.  The 
routine  of  the  house  was  exactly  what 
it  had  been  while  Grandet  lived.  Suitors 
came  again.  Young  de  Grassins  was  now 
in  disgrace  because  of  the  loose  life  his 
father  was  living  in  Paris,  but  M.  Cru 
chot,  who  had  risen  to  a  high  post  in  the 
provincial  government,  continued  to 
press  his  suit.  At  last  Euge'nie  agreed  to 
marry  him,  providing  he  did  not  demand 
the  prerogatives  of  marriage,  for  she 
would  be  his  wife  in  name  only.  They 
were  married  only  a  short  time  before 
M.  Cruchot  died.  To  her  own  property 
Euge'nie  added  his.  Nanon  herself  had 
married  and  she  and  her  husband  stayed 
with  Euge'nie,  Convinced  that  Nanon 
was  her  only  friend,  the  young  widow  re 
signed  herself  to  a  lonely  life.  She  lived 
as  she  had  always  lived  in  the  bare  old 
house.  She  had  great  wealth,  but,  lack 
ing  everything  else  in  life,  she  was  in 
different  to  it 


260 


EVANGELINE 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  (1807-1882) 

Type  of  plot:  Pastoral  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:  French  Canada  and  the  United  States 

First  published:  1847 

Principal  characters: 

EVANGELINE  BELLEFONTAINE 
GABRIEL  LAJEUNESSE,  her  betrothed 
BASIL  LAJEUNESSE,  Gabriel's  father 
BENEDICT  BELLEFONTAINE,  Evangeline's  father 

Critique: 

The  note  of  gentleness  on  which 
Evangeline,  A  Tale  of  Acadie  begins 
never  falters  throughout  the  poem.  The 
description  of  a  kindly,  contented  people, 
who  accept  their  exile  as  God's  will,  is 
followed  by  an  account  of  Evangeline's 
wanderings  and  her  patience  through  a 
lifetime  of  disappointment.  Force  and 
drama  exist  only  in  distilled  forms,  but 
the  freshness,  music,  and  poetic  imagery 
of  Evangeline  give  it  wide  popularity. 


The  Story: 

In  the  Acadian  province,  in  the  village 
of  Grand-Pr6,  lived  a  peaceful  farming 
people  who  were  undisturbed  by  the 
wars  between  the  French  and  British. 
In  a  land  where  there  was  enough  for  all, 
there  was  no  covetousness  and  no  envy, 
and  every  man  lived  at  peace  with  his 
neighbor.  Benedict  Bellefontaine  had 
his  farm  somewhat  apart  from  the  village. 
His  daughter,  Evangeline,  directed  her 
father's  household.  Although  she  had 
many  suitors,  she  favored  only  one,  Ga 
briel  Lajeunesse,  the  son  of  Basil,  the 
village  blacksmith.  Their  fathers  were 
friends,  and  the  children  had  grown  up 
together. 

One  fall  day,  while  Benedict  rested  by 
the  fire  and  Evangeline  sat  at  her  spin 
ning  wheel,  Basil  brought  word  that  the 
men  of  the  village  were  to  meet  at  the 
church  the  next  day.  They  were  to  be 
told  the  plans  of  the  English,  whose  ships 
were  riding  at  anchor  in  the  harbor. 

That  night  Benedict  and  Basil  signed 
the  wedding  contract  which  would  unite 


their  children.  Then,  while  their  fathers 
played  draughts,  Evangeline  and  Gabriel 
whispered  in  the  darkening  room  until 
it  was  time  to  say  goodnight. 

The  next  morning  everyone,  including 
the  folk  from  the  oudying  districts,  came 
to  the  village  to  hear  the  announcement 
the  English  commander  was  to  make. 
Everybody  wore  holiday  dress,  as  if  the 
occasion  were  one  for  celebration.  At  the 
Bellefontaine  farm  there  was  especial 
joy,  for  with  a  feast  and  dancing  the 
family  and  its  guests  were  celebrating 
the  betrothal  of  Gabriel  and  Evangeline. 
In  the  afternoon  the  church  bell  rang, 
summoning  the  men  to  the  church. 
When  they  filed  in,  they  were  followed 
by  the  guard  from  the  ship.  Outside  the 
women  stood,  waiting. 

The  news  the  English  commander  had 
for  die  little  community  was  a  crushing 
blow.  By  order  of  the  king,  their  land, 
houses,  and  cattle  were  forfeited  to  the 
crown,  and  the  entire  population  of 
Grand-Pr6  was  to  he  transported.  The 
men  were  to  consider  themselves  his 
prisoners. 

The  tragic  news  spread  quickly 
through  the  village,  and  to  the  farm 
where  Evangeline  was  awaiting  Bene 
dict's  return.  At  sunset  she  started  toward 
the  church,  on  her  way  comforting  the 
downcast  women  she  met.  Outside  she 
called  Gabriel's  name,  but  there  was  no 
answer  from  the  church  where  the  men 
were  imprisoned. 

The  men  were  held  prisoners  for  five 
days.  On  the  fifth,  the  women  brought 


261 


their  household  goods  to  the  shore  to 
!be  loaded  in  boats,  and  late  that  after 
noon  the  men  were  led  out  of  the  church 
by  their  guards.  Evangeline,  standing  at 
the  side  of  the  road,  watched  them  com 
ing  toward  her.  She  was  able  to  comfort 
Gabriel  with  the  assurance  that  their  love 
would  keep  them  from  harm,  but  for 
her  father  she  could  do  nothing.  In  the 
five  days  he  had  aged  greatly. 

Basil  and  his  son  were  put  on  separate 
ships.  Evangeline  remained  on  the  beach 
with  Benedict.  That  night  the  villagers 
of  Grand-Pre"  watched  their  homes  go  up 
in  flames,  and  listened  to  their  animals 
bellowing  as  the  barns  burned.  Turning 
from  the  sight,  Evangeline  saw  that  her 
father  had  fallen  dead,  She  dropped  in 
a  swoon  upon  his  breast  and  lay  there 
until  morning;  then  with  the  aid  of 
Father  Felician,  the  village  priest,  the 
Acadians  buried  Benedict  Bellefontaine 
by  the  shore.  That  day  Evangeline  sailed 
with  the  other  exiles. 

The  scattered  exiles  from  Grand-Pr£ 
wandered  far  over  the  face  of  North 
America  in  search  of  their  friends  and 
families.  Sometimes  Evangeline  lingered 
for  a  while  in  a  town,  but  always  she 
was  driven  on  by  her  longing  for  Gabriel. 
Looking  at  unmarked  graves,  she  imag 
ined  they  might  contain  her  lover.  Some 
times  she  heard  rumors  of  his  where 
abouts;  sometimes  she  spoke  with  people 
who  had  actually  seen  and  known  him, 
but  always  long  ago.  The  notary's  son, 
Baptiste  Leblanc,  followed  her  faithfully 
and  loyally  through  her  years  of  search 
ing,  but  she  would  have  no  one  but  Ga 
briel  for  a  husband. 

Finally  a  band  of  exiles  rowed  down 
the  Mississippi,  bound  for  Louisiana, 
where  they  hoped  to  find  some  of  their 
kinsmen.  Evangeline  and  Father  Felician 
were  among  them,  Evangeline  heartened 
because  she  felt  she  was  nearing  Gabriel 
at  last.  Then  in  the  heat  of  the  noonday, 
the  voyagers  pulled  their  craft  to  shore 
and  lay  down  to  sleep  behind  some 
bushes.  While  they  slumbered,  Gabriel, 
in  the  company  of  hunters  and  trappers, 


passed  the  spot  on  his  way  to  the  West 

That  evening,  when  the  exiles  wem 
ashore,  the  prosperous  herdsman  who 
welcomed  them  proved  to  be  Basil.  Evan 
geline  learned  that  Gabriel  had  left  home 
that  day,  too  troubled  by  thoughts  of  his 
love  to  endure  the  quiet  life  in  his  father's 
house, 

For  a  time  Basil  helped  Evangeline 
carry  on  her  search.  Leaving  his  peace 
ful  home  in  the  South,  the  herdsman 
traveled  with  the  girl  to  the  base  of  the 
Ozark  Mountains.  They  were  guided  by 
rumors  of  Gabriel's  whereabouts,  and 
sometimes,  from  the  distance,  they  saw, 
or  thought  they  saw,  his  campfire.  But 
when  they  reached  the  spot,  he  had  al 
ready  gone  ahead. 

One  evening  a  Shawnee  Indian  woman 
came  into  the  camp,  on  her  way  back  to 
her  own  people  after  her  husband's  mur 
der  by  Comanchcs,  In  the  night,  after 
the  others  were  asleep,  she  and  Evange 
line  exchanged  stories.  When  Evange 
line  had  finished  hers,  the  woman  told 
the  tale  of  Mowis,  the  bridegroom  made 
of  snow,  and  of  the  Indian  girl  who 
married  and  followed  him,  only  to  see 
him  dissolve  and  fade  with  the  sunshine. 
She  told  of  Lilinau,  who  had  followed 
her  phantom  lover  into  the  woods  until 
she  disappeared  forever.  Evangeline  felt 
that  she,  too,  was  following  a  phantom. 

The  next  day  the  party  traveled  to 
the  Jesuit  Mission  on  the  western  side 
of  the  mountains,  where  they  hoped  to 
hear  some  word  of  Gabriel.  A  priest  told 
them  Gabriel  had  gone  to  the  north  to 
hunt  six  days  before.  Because  it  seemed 
certain  he  would  pass  that  way  on  his 
journey  home  in  the  fall,  Evangeline  de 
cided  to  wait  at  the  mission.  Basil  and 
his  companions  returned  to  their  homes. 

Autumn  and  winter  passed  and  spring 
came,  with  no  news  of  Gabriel.  Finally 
Evangeline  heard  that  he  was  camping 
in  the  forests  of  Michigan  on  die  Sagi- 
naw  River,  When  she  reached  his  camp, 
it  was  deserted  and  in  ruins. 

For  many  years  she  wandered  over  the 
country  in  search  of  her  lover,  but  always 


262 


she  met  with  disappointment.  At  last, 
grown  gray,  her  beauty  gone,  she  became 
a  Sister  of  Mercy  in  Philadelphia,  where 
she  went  because  the  soft-spoken  Quakers 
reminded  her  of  her  own  people.  When 
pestilence  struck  the  town,  she  visited 
the  almshouse  to  nurse  the  destitute.  One 
Sunday  morning,  she  saw  on  the  pallet 
before  her  a  dying  old  man.  It  was  Ga 
briel.  In  his  last  moments  he  dreamed  of 


Evangeline  and  Grand-Pr6.  Trying  to 
utter  her  name,  he  died.  Evangeline 
murmured  a  prayer  of  thanks  as  she 
pressed  her  lover  to  her. 

The  lovers  lie  side  by  side  in  name 
less  graves  in  Philadelphia,  far  from  theii 
old  home  in  the  north.  But  a  few  peas 
ants  who  wandered  back  from  exile  still 
keep  their  story  alive. 


THE  EVE  OF  ST.  AGNES 
Type  of  work:  Poem 
Author:  John  Keats  (1795-1821) 
Type  of  plot:  Chivalric  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Middle  Ages 
Locale:  A  castle 
First  published:  1820 

Principal  characters: 

MADELINE,  a  young  girl 

PORPHYRO,  her  lover 

ANGELA,  an  old  nurse 

Critique: 

The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes  is  doubtless 
Keats'  most  beautiful  and  compelling 
composition.  Musical  in  its  matchless 
verse,  vivid  in  colors,  sights,  and  sounds, 
the  poem  is  generally  thought  of  as  a 
highly  idealized  picture  of  the  world  as 
imagined  by  two  young,  ecstatic  lovers. 
The  story  itself  is  built  around  the  an 
cient  superstition  that  a  maiden  who  re 
tires  to  her  bed  after  practising  a  certain 
ritual  on  St.  Agnes'  Eve  will  be  awakened 
in  a  dream  by  her  lover.  The  use  of 
medieval  legend  and  setting  add  to  the 
romantic  effects  of  the  poem. 


The  Story: 

A  cold  St.  Agnes'  Eve  it  was — so  cold 
that  the  owl  with  all  its  feathers  shivered, 
so  cold  that  the  old  Beadsman's  fingers 
were  numb  as  he  told  his  rosary  and  said 
his  prayers.  Passing  by  the  sculptured 
figures  of  the  dead,  he  felt  sorry  for  them 
in  their  icy  graves.  As  he  walked  through 
the  chapel  door,  he  could  hear  the  sound 
of  music  coming  from  the  castle  hall.  He 
saolly  turned  again  to  his  prayers. 

The  great  hall  of  the  castle  was  a  scene 
of  feasting  and  revelry,  but  one  among 


the  merry  throng  was  scarcely  aware  of 
her  surroundings.  The  lovely  Madeline's 
thoughts  were  on  the  legend  of  St.  Agnes' 
Eve,  which  told  that  a  maiden,  if  she 
followed  the  ceremonies  carefully  and 
went  supperless  to  bed,  might  there  meet 
her  lover  in  a  dream. 

Meanwhile,  across  the  moonlit  moors 
came  Porphyro.  He  entered  the  castle 
and  hid  behind  a  pillar,  aware  that  his 
presence  meant  danger,  because  his  fam 
ily  was  an  enemy  of  Madeline's  house. 
Soon  the  aged  crone,  Angela,  came  by 
and  offered  to  hide  him,  lest  his  enemies 
find  him  there  and  kill  him. 

He  followed  her  along  dark  arched  pas 
sageways,  out  of  sight  of  the  revelers 
When  they  stopped,  Porphyro  begged 
Angela  to  let  him  have  one  glimpse  of 
Madeline.  He  promised  on  oath  that 
if  he  so  much  as  disturbed  a  lock  of  her 
hair,  he  would  give  himself  up  to  thf 
foes  who  waited  below.  He  seemed  in 
such  sorrow  that  the  poor  woman  gave  ir 
to  him.  She  took  Porphyro  to  the  maiden's 
chamber  and  there  hid  him  in  a  closet 
where  was  stored  a  variety  of  sweet  meats 
and  confections  brought  from  the  feast 


263 


downstairs.  Angela  then  hobbled  away, 
and  soon  the  breathless  Madeline  ap 
peared. 

She  came  in  with  her  candle,  which 
blew  out,  and  kneeling  before  her  high 
arched  casement  window,  she  began  to 
pray.  Watching  her  kneel  there,  her  head 
a  halo  of  moonlight,  Porphyro  grew  faint 
at  the  sight  of  her  beauty.  Soon  she  dis 
robed  and  crept  into  bed,  where  she  lay 
entranced  until  sleep  came  over  her. 

Porphyro  stole  from  the  closet  and 
gazed  at  her  in  awe  as  she  slept.  For  an 
instant  a  door  opened  far  away,  and  the 
noises  of  another  world,  boisterous  and 
festive,  broke  in;  but  soon  the  sounds 
faded  away  again.  In  the  silence  he 
brought  dainty  foods  from  the  closet — 
quinces,  plums,  jellies,  candies,  syrups 


and  spices  that  perfumed  the  chilly 
room.  Madeline  slept  on,  and  Porphyro 
began  to  play  a  soft  melody  on  a  lute. 
Madeline  opened  her  eyes  and  thought 
her  lover  a  vision  of  St.  Agnes'  Eve. 
Porphyro,  not  daring  to  speak,  sank  upon 
his  knees  until  she  spoke,  begging  him 
never  to  leave  her  or  sne  would  die. 

St.  Agnes'  moon  went  down.  Outside 
the  casements,  sleet  and  ice  began  to  dash 
against  the  windowpanes.  Porphyro  told 
her  that  they  must  flee  before  the  house 
awakened.  Madeline,  afraid  and  trem 
bling,  followed  her  lover  down  the  cold, 
gloomy  corridors,  through  the  wide  de 
serted  hall,  and  past  the  porter,  asleep 
on  his  watch.  So  they  fled — into  die 
wintry  dawn. 


THE  FAERIE  QUEENE 

Type  of  •work:  Poem 

Author:  Edmund  Spenser  (1552M599) 

Type  of  plot:  Allegorical  epic 

Time  of  plot:  Middle  Ages 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1590-1595 

Principal  characters: 

GLORIANA,  the  Fairy  Queen,  representing  Queen  Elizabeth 

THE  RED  CROSS  KNIGHT,  representing  Holiness 

UNA,  representing  Religion 

ARCHIMAGO,  a  magician 

DUES s A,  representing  Roman  Catholicism 

BRITOMART,  representing  Chastity 

GUYON,  representing  Temperance 

ARTEGALL,  representing  Justice 

PRINCE  ARTHUR,  legendary  English  king 

Critique: 

The  Faerie  Queen  was  the  first  sus 
tained  poetic  creation  after  Chaucer,  and 
its  beauty  and  poetic  power  made  for  it 
a  secure  place  in  our  literature  as  soon 
as  it  was  given  to  the  world.  At  present 
it  is  generally  accorded  a  high  place  in 
the  history  of  English  literary  art.  The 
Spenserian  stanza — nine  lines,  eight  of 
five  feet  and  one  of  six,  riming  ababbcbcc 
— is  a  genuine  artistic  innovation.  Com 
bined  with  his  poetic  power,  Spenser  was 
animated  by  a  high  moral  purpose.  Only 
six  books  of  the  twelve  planned  by  Spen 


ser  were  completed.  The  fragmentary 
seventh  book  was  published  in  1609,  ten 
years  after  his  death. 

The  Story: 

Gloriana,  the  Fairy  Queen,  was  hold 
ing  her  annual  twelve-day  feast.  As  was 
the  custom,  any  one  in  trouble  could 
appear  before  the  court  and  ask  for  a 
champion.  The  fair  lady  Una  came  rid 
ing  on  a  white  ass,  accompanied  by  a 
dwarf.  She  complained  that  her  father 
and  mother  had  been  shut  up  in  a 


264 


castle  by  a  dragon.  The  Red  Cross 
Knight  offered  to  help  her,  and  the  party 
set  out  to  rescue  Una's  parents. 

In  a  cave  the  Red  Cross  Knight  en 
countered  a  horrible  creature,  half  ser 
pent,  half  woman.  Although  the  foul 
stench  nearly  overpowered  him,  the 
knight  slew  the  monster.  After  the  battle, 
the  Red  Cross  Knight  and  Una  lost  their 
way.  A  friendly  stranger  who  offered 
them  shelter  was  really  Archimago,  the 
wicked  magician.  By  making  the  Red 
Cross  Knight  dream  that  Una  was  a 
harlot,  Archimago  separated  Una  from 
her  champion. 

Una  went  on  her  way  alone.  Archi 
mago  quickly  assumed  the  form  of  the 
Red  Cross  Knight  and  followed  her  to 
do  her  harm.  Meanwhile  the  Red  Cross 
Knight  fell  into  the  company  of  Duessa, 
an  evil  enchantress.  They  met  the  great 
giant  Orgoglio,  who  overcame  the  Red 
Cross  Knight  and  made  Duessa  his  mis 
tress.  Prince  Arthur,  touched  by  Una's 
misfortunes,  rescued  the  Red  Cross 
Knight  from  Orgoglio  and  led  him  to 
Una.  Once  again  Una  and  her  champion 
rode  on  their  mission. 

At  last  they  came  to  Una's  kingdom, 
and  the  dragon  who  had  imprisoned  her 
parents  came  out  to  do  battle.  After  two 
days  of  fighting,  the  Red  Cross  Knight 
overthrew  the  dragon.  After  the  parents 
had  been  freed,  the  Red  Cross  Knight 
and  Una  were  betrothed. 

Still  hoping  to  harm  the  Red  Cross 
Knight,  Archimago  told  Sir  Guy  on  that 
the  Red  Cross  Knight  had  despoiled  a 
virgin  of  her  honor.  Shocked,  Guyon  set 
out  to  right  the  wrong.  The  cunning 
Archimago  disguised  Duessa  as  a  young 
girl  and  placed  her  on  the  road,  where 
she  told  a  piteous  tale  of  wrong  done  by 
the  Red  Cross  Knight  and  urged  Guyon 
to  avenge  her.  When  Guyon  and  the  Red 
Cross  Knight  met,  they  lowered  their 
lances  and  began  to  fight.  Fortunately 
the  signs  of  the  Virgin  Mary  on  the  armor 
of  each  recalled  them  to  their  senses,  and 
Guyon  was  ashamed  that  he  had  been 
tricked  by  the  magician. 


In  his  travels  Guyon  fell  in  with 
Prince  Arthur,  and  the  two  visited  the 
Castle  of  Alma,  the  stronghold  of  Tem 
perance.  The  most  powerful  enemy  of 
Temperance  was  the  demon  Maleger.  In 
a  savage  battle  Prince  Arthur  vanquished 
Maleger.  Guyon  went  on  to  the  Bower 
of  Bliss,  where  his  arch  enemy  Acrasy 
was  living.  With  stout  heart  Guyon 
overthrew  Acrasy  and  destroyed  the  last 
enemy  of  Temperance. 

After  sending  Acrasy  back  to  the  fairy 
court  under  guard,  Guyon  and  Prince 
Arthur  went  on  their  way  until  on  an 
open  plain  they  saw  a  knight  arming 
for  battle.  With  Prince  Arthur's  per 
mission,  Guyon  rode  against  the  strange 
knight,  and  in  the  meeting  Guyon  was 
unhorsed  by  the  strong  lance  of  his  op 
ponent.  Ashamed  of  his  fall,  Guyon 
snatched  his  sword  and  would  have  con 
tinued  the  fight  on  foot. 

The  palmer,  attending  Guyon,  saw 
that  the  champion  could  not  prevail 
against  the  stranger,  for  the  strange 
knight  was  enchanted.  When  he  stopped 
the  fight,  the  truth  was  revealed;  the 
strange  knight  was  really  the  lovely  Brit- 
omart,  a  chaste  and  pure  damsel,  who 
had  seen  the  image  of  her  lover,  Artegall, 
in  Venus*  looking-glass  and  had  set  out 
in  search  of  him.  With  the  situation  ex 
plained,  Britomart  joined  Guyon,  Prince 
Arthur,  and  Arthurs'  squire,  Timias;  and 
the  four  continued  their  quest. 

In  a  strange  wood  they  traveled  for 
days,  seeing  no  one,  but  everywhere  they 
met  bears,  lions,  and  bulls.  Suddenly  a 
beautiful  lady  on  a  white  palfrey  galloped 
out  of  the  brush.  She  was  Florimell,  pur 
sued  by  a  lustful  forester  who  spurred  his 
steed  cruelly  in  an  attempt  to  catch  her. 
The  three  men  joined  the  chase,  but  out 
of  modesty  Britomart  stayed  behind.  She 
waited  a  long  time;  then,  despairing  of 
ever  finding  her  companions  again,  she 
went  on  alone. 

As  she  approached  Castle  Joyous  she 
saw  six  knights  attacking  one.  She  rode 
into  the  fight  and  demanded  to  know 
why  they  were  fighting  in  such  cowardly 


265 


fashion.  She  learned  that  any  knight 
passing  had  to  love  the  lady  of  Castle 
Joyous  or  fight  six  knights.  Britomart 
denounced  the  rule  and  with  her  magic 
lance  unhorsed  four  of  the  knights.  She 
entered  Castle  Joyous  as  a  conqueror. 

After  meeting  the  Red  Cross  Knight 
in  the  castle,  Britomart  resolved  to  go  on 
as  a  knight  errant.  She  heard  from  Mer 
lin,  whom  she  visited,  that  she  and  Arte- 
gall  were  destined  to  have  illustrious 
descendants. 

Meanwhile  Timias  had  been  wounded 
while  pursuing  the  lustful  forester.  Bel- 
phoebe,  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the 
Garden  of  Adonis,  rescued  him  and 
healed  his  wounds.  Timias  fell  in  love 
with  Belphoebe. 

Amoret,  the  fair  one,  was  held  prisoner 
by  a  young  knight  who  attempted  to 
defile  her.  For  months  she  resisted  his 
advances.  Then  Britomart,  hearing  of  her 
sad  plight,  overcame  the  two  knights  who 
guarded  Amoret Js  prison  and  freed  her. 
Greatly  attracted  to  her  brave  rescuer, 
Amoret  set  out  with  Britomart. 

At  a  strange  castle  a  knight  claimed 
Amoret  as  his  love.  Britomart  jousted 
with  him  to  save  Amoret,  and  after  win 
ning  the  tourney  Britomart  was  forced 
to  take  off  her  helmet.  With  her  identity 
revealed,  Britomart  and  Amoret  set  off 
together  in  search  of  their  true  loves. 

Artegall,  in  search  of  adventure,  joined 
Scudarnour,  knight  errant.  They  met 
Amoret  and  Britomart,  who  was  still  dis 
guised  as  a  knight.  Britomart  and  Arte 
gall  fought  an  indecisive  battle  during 
which  Artegall  was  surprised  to  discover 
that  his  opponent  was  his  lost  love, 
Britomart.  The  two  lovers  were  reunited 
at  last,  but  in  the  confusion  Amoret 
was  abducted  by  Lust.  With  the  help 


of  Prince  Arthur,  Scudarnour  rescued 
Amoret  from  her  loathsome  captor.  He 
wooed  Amoret  in  the  Temple  of  Love, 
where  they  found  shelter. 

Artegall,  champion  of  true  justice,  was 
brought  up  and  well-trained  by  Astraea. 
When  Artegall  was  of  age,  Astraea  gave 
him  a  trusty  groom,  and  the  new  knight 
set  out  on  his  adventures.  Talus,  the 
groom,  was  an  iron  man  who  carried  an 
iron  flail  to  thresh  out  falsehood.  Irene, 
who  asked  at  the  fairy  court  for  a  cham 
pion  against  the  wicked  Grantorto,  set  out 
with  Artegall  and  Talus  to  regain  her 
heritage.  With  dispatch  Artegall  and 
Talus  overcame  Grantorto  and  restored 
Irene  to  her  throne. 

Later  Artegall  entered  the  lists  against 
a  strange  knight  who  was  really  the  dis 
guised  Amazon,  Radigund.  Artegall 
wounded  Radigund,  but  when  he  saw 
that  his  prostrate  foe  was  a  comely 
woman,  he  threw  away  his  weapons. 
The  wounded  Amazon  then  rushed  on 
the  defenseless  Artegall  and  took  him 
prisoner.  Artegall  was  kept  in  shameful 
confinement  until  at  last  Talus  informed 
Britomart  of  his  fate.  Britomart  went  to 
her  lover's  rescue  and  slew  Radigund. 

Continuing  his  quest,  Artegall  met 
two  hags,  Envy  and  Detraction,  who  de 
famed  his  character  and  set  the  Blatant 
Beast  barking  at  his  heels.  But  Artegall 
forbade  Talus  to  beat  the  hags  and  re 
turned  to  the  fairy  court. 

The  Blatant  Beast,  defamcr  of  knightly 
character  and  the  last  remaining  enemy 
of  the  fairy  court,  finally  met  his  match. 
The  courteous  Calidore,  the  gentlest  of 
all  the  knights,  conquered  the  beast  and 
led  him,  tamed,  back  to  the  court  of  the 
Fairy  Queen. 


FAR  FROM  THE  MADDING  CROWD 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1869-1873 

Locale:  "Wessex,"  England 

First  published:  1874 


266 


Principal  characters: 

GABRIEL  OAK,  a  shepherd 

BATHSHEBA  EVERDENE,  mistress  of  Weatherbury  Farm 

SERGEANT  TROY,  her  first  husband 

FARMER  BOLDWOOD,  her  suitor 

FANNY  ROBIN,  betrayed  by  Troy 


Critique: 

This  early  novel  by  Thomas  Hardy  is 
less  marked  by  the  cold  fate-ridden  phi 
losophy  characteristic  of  his  later  work. 
The  clarity  and  realism  of  the  characters 
hold  the  reader's  interest  throughout,  and 
Hardy's  poetic  style  and  constant  citation 
of  Biblical  phrase  and  incident  give  the 
novel  a  unique  quality  of  language  and 
atmosphere.  Although  the  end  of  the 
story  has  been  considered  contrived  by 
some,  the  general  structure  of  the  plot 
leads  logically  to  Hardy's  conclusion. 

The  Story: 

Gabriel  Oak  was  a  farmer  on  a  small 
scale,  but  his  honesty,  integrity,  and 
ability  had  won  him  the  respect  of  all 
his  neighbors.  When  he  heard  that  a 
young  girl  named  Bathsheba  Everdene 
nad  moved  into  the  neighborhood,  he 
went  out  of  his  way  to  see  her  and  fell 
immediately  in  love.  Gabriel  was  the 
kind  of  man  who  had  to  look  only  once 
to  know  that  he  had  found  the  right 
woman  for  him.  After  seeing  her  only 
a  few  times,  he  went  to  her  aunt,  for 
whom  Bathsheba  worked,  and  asked  for 
the  girl's  hand  in  marriage.  Although  he 
was  refused,  he  felt  that  it  was  the  rela 
tive,  not  Bathsheba,  who  had  denied 
him. 

A  short  time  later  Gabriel's  sheep  dog 
became  excited  and  chased  his  flock 
of  sheep  over  a  cliff,  killing  them  all. 
Ruined,  Gabriel  had  to  give  up  his  farm 
and  go  elsewhere  to  find  work.  On  his 
way  across  the  country  he  happened  to 
pass  a  burning  barn  and  ran  to  aid  the 
men  fighting  the  flames.  After  the  fire 
had  been  put  out,  the  owner  of  Weather- 
bury  Farm  arrived,  and  it  was  suggested 
that  Gabriel  be  hired  as  shepherd  in  re 
turn  for  the  fine  work  he  had  done.  To 
his  surprise,  the  owner  of  the  farm  was 


Bathsheba  Everdene,  who  had  recent)) 
inherited  the  place  from  her  uncle. 
Gabriel  became  her  shepherd.  He  was 
struck  by  the  change  in  their  positions 
in  such  a  short  while.  Now  Bathsheba 
was  landowner,  Gabriel  the  servant. 

On  his  way  to  his  new  quarters  Gabriel 
met  a  girl  standing  in  the  woods.  She 
spoke  to  him  and  asked  him  not  to  say 
that  he  had  seen  her,  and  he  promised  to 
keep  silent.  The  next  morning,  while 
working  at  his  new  job,  he  heard  that 
Fanny  Robin,  one  of  Bathsheba's  maids, 
had  disappeared,  and  he  rightly  guessed 
that  Fanny  was  the  girl  he  had  met.  It 
was  suspected  that  she  had  gone  off  to 
meet  a  soldier  who  had  been  stationed  in 
the  area  a  short  time  before.  This  sus 
picion  was  correct.  Fanny  had  gone  to 
find  Sergeant  Troy  at  his  new  station, 
for  he  had  promised  to  marry  her  if  she 
came  to  him.  A  date  was  set  for  the  wed 
ding,  but  Fanny  went  to  the  wrong 
church.  When  she  finally  found  Troy  he 
refused  to  make  arrangements  for  a  mar 
riage  a  second  time. 

Weatherbury  Farm  prospered,  for 
Bathsheba  was  a  good  manager.  But, 
being  a  woman,  she  had  her  caprices. 
One  of  these  was  to  send  an  anonymous 
valentine  to  Farmer  Boldwood,  a  con 
servative,  serious  man  who  was  her  neigh 
bor.  Boldwood  was  upset  by  the  valen 
tine,  especially  after  he  learned  that 
Gabriel  had  recognized  Bathsheba's  hand 
writing.  The  more  Boldwood  saw  of 
Bathsheba,  however,  the  more  deeply  he 
fell  in  love  with  her.  One  day  during 
the  sheep-washing  he  asked  her  to  marry 
him,  but  she  refused  his  proposal.  Never 
theless,  Gabriel  and  the  rest  of  the  work 
ers  felt  sure  that  she  would  eventually 
marry  Boldwood. 

About   that   time    Sergeant   Troy   re 


267 


turned  to  the  neighborhood.  Bathsheba 
was  attracted  to  him  at  once.  Gabriel 
knew  enough  of  Troy's  character  to  know 
that  he  was  not  the  man  for  Bathsheba 
and  he  told  her  so.  Not  knowing  the 
story  of  Fanny  Robin,  Bathsheba  was 
Furious.  She  and  Troy  were  married  soon 
afterward  and  the  former  sergeant  became 
the  master  of  Weatherbury  Farm. 

With  Troy  running  the  farm,  things 
did  not  go  very  well.  Gabriel  was  forced 
to  do  most  of  the  work  of  overseeing,  and 
often  he  was  compelled  to  correct  the 
mistakes  Troy  made.  Troy  gambled  and 
drank  and  caused  Bathsheba  much  un- 
happiness.  Gabriel  and  Bathsheba  were 
alternately  friendly  and  unfriendly.  One 
day  Troy  and  Bathsheba,  riding  in  a 
horse  cart,  passed  a  young  girl  walking 
down  the  road.  Troy  stopped  the  cart 
and  went  to  talk  to  her.  The  woman  was 
Fanny  Robin,  who  was  feeble  and  ill. 
Troy  told  her  to  go  on  to  the  next  town 
and  there  wait  for  him  to  come  and  give 
her  money.  As  soon  as  they  arrived  home, 
Troy  asked  Bathsheba  for  some  money. 
She  gave  it  to  him  after  a  quarrel. 

Fanny  went  on  to  Casterbridge,  but 
she  was  so  weak  and  ill  when  she  arrived 
there  that  she  died  shortly  afterward. 
When  news  of  her  death  reached  Weath 
erbury  Farm,  Bathsheba,  not  knowing 
that  Troy  had  been  the  girl's  lover,  sent 
a  cart  to  bring  the  body  to  the  farm  for 
burial.  When  the  body  arrived,  Gabriel 
saw  scrawled  on  the  coffin  lid  a  message 
that  both  Fanny  and  a  child  were  in 
side.  He  erased  the  last  words  in  his 
fear  that  the  real  relationship  of  Fanny 
and  Troy  might  reach  Bathsheba's  ears. 
But  Bathsheba,  suspecting  that  the  coffin 
concealed  some  secret,  opened  the  casket 
late  that  night.  At  the  same  moment 
Troy  entered  the  room  and  learned  of 
Fanny's  death  and  the  death  of  his  child. 
Torn  with  grief,  he  told  Bathsheba  that 
she  meant  nothing  to  him,  that  Fanny 
had  been  the  only  woman  he  had  ever 
loved.  He  had  married  Bathsheba  only 
for  her  looks  and  her  money.  Bathsheba 
shut  herself  up  in  an  attic  room. 


Troy  had  a  beautiful  tombstone  put  up 
over  Fanny's  grave,  which  he  covered 
with  roses  and  lilies.  During  the  night 
there  was  a  heavy  storm  and  water,  pour 
ing  from  the  church  roof  through  the 
mouth  of  a  gargoyle,  splashed  on  the 
grave  and  ruined  all  his  work.  Troy  dis 
appeared  from  Casterbridge.  News  came 
shortly  afterward  that  he  had  been  caught 
in  a  dangerous  current  while  swimming 
in  the  ocean  and  had  been  drowned. 

Bathsheba  did  not  believe  that  Troy 
was  really  dead.  But  Fanner  Bold  wood, 
convinced  of  Troy's  death,  did  his  best  to 
get  Bathsheba  to  promise  to  marry  him 
if  Troy  did  not  reappear  within  seven 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  would 
be  legally  declared  dead.  One  night,  at 
a  party  Boldwood  gave  for  her,  Bath 
sheba  yielded  to  his  protestations  of  love 
and  said  that  after  the  time  had  passed  she 
would  marry  him.  As  she  was  leaving  the 
party,  Troy  entered.  He  had  been  res 
cued  at  sea  and  had  wandered  slowly 
back  to  Casterbridge  in  the  character  of  a 
strolling  player. 

At  his  entrance  Bathsheba  fell  to  the 
floor  in  a  faint.  Everyone  was  so  con 
cerned  for  her  and  surprised  by  Troy's 
appearance  that  they  did  not  see  Bold- 
wood  when  he  took  down  a  gun  from 
the  wall.  Boldwood  aimed  at  Troy  and 
shot  him  in  the  chest.  Troy  died  im 
mediately. 

Boldwood  was  tried  for  the  murder, 
but  because  his  mind  had  given  way  he 
was  committed  to  an  institution,  Gabriel, 
who  had  made  every  effort  to  save  Bold- 
wood  from  hanging,  had  become  a  leader 
in  the  neighborhood.  As  Bathsheba's 
bailiff,  he  managed  her  farm  and  that  of 
Boldwood  as  well.  Of  her  three  lovers,  he 
was  the  only  one  left. 

One  day  Gabriel  went  to  Bathsheba 
and  told  her  that  he  was  planning  to 
leave  her  service.  Bathsheba  listened 
quietly  and  agreed  with  all  he  had  to  say. 
Later  that  night,  however,  she  went  to 
his  cottage  and  there  told  him,  by  gesture 
more  than  by  word,  that  he  was  the  only 
person  left  to  her  now  and  that  she 


268 


needed  both  his  help  and  his  love.  The 
farmers  of  the  district  were  all  delighted 
when  Bathsheba  became  Mrs.  Oak,  and 


Gabriel  became  the  master  of  Weather 

bury  Farm. 


A  FAREWELL  TO  ARMS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ernest  Hemingway  (1899-1961) 

Type  of  plot:  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  World  War  I 

Locale:  Northern  Italy  and  Switzerland 

First  published:  1929 

Principal  characters: 

FREDERIC  HENRY,  an  American  serving  with  an  Italian  ambulance  unit 

CATHERINE  BARKLEY,  an  English  nurse 

Critique: 

Hemingway  combines  austere  realism 
and  poetic  language  to  present  a  power 
ful  argument  against  war  and  to  tell  a 
touching  love  story  at  the  same  time.  Pos 
sessed  of  the  most  remarkable  time  sense 
of  the  period  between  wars,  his  disillu 
sioned  temperament  and  technical  skill 
have  influenced  a  whole  generation  of 
writers.  In  spite  of  its  hard-boiled  real 
ism  of  detail  and  its  tragic  ending,  A 
Farewell  to  Arms  is  nevertheless  an  ideal 
istic  book.  The  novel  was  dramatized  by 
Laurence  Stallings  and  was  made  into  a 
motion  picture. 


The  Story: 

Lieutenant  Frederic  Henry  was  a 
young  American  attached  to  an  Italian 
ambulance  unit  on  the  Italian  front.  An 
offensive  was  soon  to  begin,  and  when 
Henry  returned  to  the  front  from  leave 
he  learned  from  his  friend,  Lieutenant 
Rinaldi,  that  a  group  of  British  nurses 
had  arrived  in  his  absence  to  set  up  a 
British  hospital  unit.  Rinaldi  introduced 
him  to  nurse  Catherine  Barkley. 

Between  ambulance  trips  to  evacuation 
posts  at  the  front,  Henry  called  on  Miss 
Barkley.  He  liked  the  frank  young  Eng 
lish  girl  in  a  casual  sort  of  way,  but  he 
was  not  in  love  with  her.  Before  he  left 
for  the  front  to  stand  by  for  an  attack,  she 
give  him  a  St.  Anthony  medal. 

At   the   front,    as   Henry   and   some 


Italian  ambulance  drivers  were  eating  in 
a  dugout,  an  Austrian  projectile  exploded 
over  them.  Henry,  badly  wounded  in  the 
legs,  was  taken  to  a  field  hospital.  Later 
he  was  moved  to  a  hospital  in  Milan. 

Before  the  doctor  was  able  to  see 
Henry  in  Milan,  the  nurses  prohibited  his 
drinking  wine,  but  he  bribed  a  porter  to 
bring  him  a  supply  which  he  kept  hidden 
behind  his  bed.  Catherine  Barkley  came 
to  the  hospital  and  Henry  knew  that  he 
was  in  love  with  her.  The  doctors  told 
Henry  that  he  would  have  to  lie  in  bed 
six  months  before  they  could  operate  on 
his  knee.  Henry  insisted  on  seeing  an 
other  doctor,  who  said  that  the  operation 
could  be  performed  the  next  day.  Mean 
while,  Catherine  managed  to  be  with 
Henry  constantly. 

After  his  operation,  Henry  convalesced 
in  Milan  with  Catherine  Barkley  as  his 
attendant.  Together  they  dined  in  out 
of  the  way  restaurants,  and  together  they 
rode  about  the  countryside  in  a  carriage. 
Henry  was  restless  and  lonely  at  nights 
and  Catherine  often  came  to  his  hospital 
room. 

Summer  passed  into  autumn.  Henry's 
wound  had  healed  and  he  was  due  to 
take  convalescent  leave  in  October.  He 
and  Catherine  planned  to  spend  the 
leave  together,  but  he  came  down  with 
jaundice  before  he  could  leave  the  hos 
pital.  The  head  nurse  accused  him  of 


A  FAREWELL  TO  ARMS  by  Ernest  Hemingway.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Charlef 
Scribner's  Sons.    Copyright,  1929,  by  Charles  ScrLbner's  Sons. 


269 


bringing  on  the  jaundice  by  drink,  in 
order  to  avoid  being  sent  back  to  the 
front.  Before  he  left  for  the  front,  Henry 
and  Catherine  stayed  together  in  a  hotel 
room;  already  she  had  disclosed  to  him 
that  she  was  pregnant. 

Henry  returned  to  the  front  with  or 
ders  to  load  his  three  ambulances  with 
hospital  equipment  and  go  south  into  the 
Po  valley.  Morale  was  at  low  ebb.  Rin- 
aldi  admired  the  job  which  had  been 
done  on  the  knee  and  observed  that 
Henry  acted  like  a  married  man.  War 
weariness  was  all-pervasive.  At  the  front, 
the  Italians,  having  learned  that  German 
divisions  had  reinforced  the  Austrians, 
began  their  terrible  retreat  from  Capo- 
retto.  Henry  drove  one  of  the  ambulances 
loaded  with  hospital  supplies.  During 
the  retreat  south,  the  ambulance  was 
held  up  several  times  by  wagons,  guns, 
and  trucks  which  extended  in  stalled 
lines  for  miles.  Henry  picked  up  two 
straggling  Italian  sergeants.  During  the 
night  the  retreat  was  halted  in  the  rain 
for  hours. 

At  daybreak  Henry  cut  out  of  the  long 
line  and  drove  across  country  in  an  at 
tempt  to  reach  Udine  by  side  roads.  The 
ambulance  got  stuck  in  a  muddy  side 
road.  The  sergeants  decided  to  leave,  but 
Henry  asked  them  to  help  dislodge  the 
car  from  the  mud,  They  refused  and  ran. 
Henry  shot  and  wounded  one;  the  other 
escaped  across  the  fields.  An  Italian 
ambulance  corpsman  with  Henry  shot  the 
wounded  sergeant  through  the  back  of 
the  head.  Henry  and  his  three  comrades 
struck  out  on  foot  for  Udine.  On  a 
bridge,  Henry  saw  a  German  staff  car  and 
German  bicycle  troops  crossing  another 
bridge  over  the  same  stream.  Within 
sight  of  Udine,  one  of  Henry's  group 
was  killed  by  an  Italian  sniper.  The 
others  hid  in  a  barn  until  it  seemed  safe 
to  circle  around  Udine  and  join  the 
main  stream  of  the  retreat  toward  the 
Tagliamento  River. 

By  that  time  the  Italian  army  was  noth 
ing  but  a  frantic  mob.  Soldiers  were 
throwing  down  their  arms  and  officers 


were  cutting  insignia  of  rank  from  their 
sleeves.  At  the  end  of  a  long  wooden 
bridge  across  the  Tagliamento  military 
carabiniere  were  seizing  all  officers,  giving 
them  drumhead  trials,  and  executing 
them  by  the  river  bank.  Henry  was  de 
tained,  but  in  the  dark  of  night  he  broke 
free,  plunged  into  the  river,  and  escaped 
on  a  log.  He  crossed  the  Venetian  plain 
on  foot,  then  jumped  aboard  a  freight 
train  and  rode  to  Milan,  where  he  went 
to  the  hospital  in  which  he  had  been 
a  patient.  There  he  learned  that  the 
English  nurses  had  gone  to  Stresa. 

During  the  retreat  from  Caporetto 
Henry  had  made  his  farewell  to  arms. 
He  borrowed  civilian  clothes  from  an 
American  friend  in  Milan  and  went  by 
train  to  Stresa,  where  he  met  Catherine, 
who  was  on  leave.  The  bartender  of  the 
hotel  in  which  Henry  was  staying  warned 
Henry  that  authorities  were  planning  to 
arrest  him  for  desertion  the  next  morn 
ing;  he  offered  his  boat  by  means  of 
which  Henry  and  Catherine  could  escape 
to  Switzerland.  Henry  rowed  all  night. 
By  morning  his  hands  were  so  raw  that 
he  could  barely  stand  to  touch  the  oars. 
Over  his  protests,  Catherine  took  a  turn 
at  the  rowing.  They  reached  Switzerland 
safely  and  were  arrested.  Henry  told  the 
police  that  he  was  a  sportsman  who  en 
joyed  rowing  and  that  he  had  come  to 
Switzerland  for  the  winter  sports.  The 
valid  passports  and  the  ample  funds  that 
Henry  and  Catherine  possessed  saved 
them  from  serious  trouble  with  the 
authorities. 

During  the  rest  of  the  fall  and  the 
winter  the  couple  stayed  at  an  inn  out 
side  Montreux.  They  discussed  marriage, 
but  Catherine  would  not  be  married 
while  she  was  with  child.  They  hiked, 
read,  and  talked  about  what  they  would 
do  together  after  the  war. 

When  the  time  for  Catherine's  confine 
ment  approached,  she  and  Henry  went 
to  Lausanne  to  be  near  a  hospital.  They 
planned  to  return  to  Montreux  in  the 
spring.  At  the  hospital  Catherine's  pains 
caused  the  doctor  to  use  an  anaesthetic 


270 


on  her.  After  hours  of  suffering  she  was 
delivered  of  a  dead  baby.  The  nurse 
sent  Henry  out  to  get  something  to  eat. 
When  he  went  back  to  the  hospital,  he 
learned  that  Catherine  had  had  a  hem 
orrhage.  He  went  into  the  room  and 


stayed  with  her  until  she  died.  There  was 
nothing  he  could  do,  no  one  he  could 
talk  to,  no  place  he  could  go.  Catherine 
was  dead.  He  left  the  hospital  and 
walked  back  to  his  hotel  in  the  dark.  It 
was  raining. 


FATHER  GORIOT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Honor6  de  Balzac  (1799-1850) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:  About  1830 

Locale:  Paris 

First  published:  1835 

Principal  characters: 

FATHER  GORIOT,  a  boarder  at  the  Maison  Vauquer 
EUGENE  DE  RASTIGNAC,  a  young  law  student 
COUNTESS  ANASTASIE  DE  RESTAUD,  Goriot's  daughter 
BARONESS  DELPHINE  DE  NUCDSTGEN,  another  daughter 
MADAME  DE  BEAUSEANT,  Rastignac's  cousin 
MONSIEUR  VAUTRIN,  Rastignac's  fellow  boarder 
VICTORTNE  TAILLEFER,  another  boarder 


Critique: 

This  account  of  the  subtle  transforma 
tion  of  Eugene  de  Rastignac  from  a 
naive  provincial  to  a  Parisian  gentleman 
is  among  the  most  credible  stories  in  fic 
tion.  The  story  of  the  ruin  of  a  success 
ful  merchant,  Goriot,  because  of  his  love 
for  two  ungrateful  daughters  is  effective 
but  less  realistic.  These  are  but  a  few 
of  the  fascinating  gallery  of  characters 
Balzac  assembled  at  Mme.  Vauquer's 
boarding-house. 

The  Story: 

There  were  many  conjectures  at  Mad 
ame  Vauquer's  boarding-house  about  the 
mysterious  Monsieur  Goriot.  He  had 
talcen  the  choice  rooms  on  the  first  floor 
when  he  first  retired  from  his  vermicelli 
business,  and  for  a  time  his  landlady  had 
eyed  him  as  a  prospective  husband. 
When,  at  the  end  of  his  second  year  at 
the  Maison  Vauquer,  he  had  asked  to 
move  to  a  cheap  room  on  the  second  floor, 
he  was  credited  with  being  an  unsuccess 
ful  speculator,  a  miser,  a  money-lender. 
The  mysterious  young  women  who  flitted 
up  to  his  rooms  from  time  to  time  were 


said  to  be  his  mistresses,  although  he  pro 
tested  that  they  were  only  his  two 
daughters.  The  other  boarders  called 
him  Father  Goriot. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  year,  Goriot 
moved  to  a  still  cheaper  room  on  the 
third  floor.  By  that  time  he  was  the 
common  butt  of  jokes  at  the  boarding- 
house  table,  and  his  daughters  visited 
him  only  rarely. 

One  evening  the  impoverished  law  stu 
dent,  Eugene  de  Rastignac,  came  home 
late  from  the  ball  his  wealthy  cousin, 
Madame  de  Beaus^ant,  had  given.  Peek 
ing  through  the  mysterious  Goriot's  key 
hole,  he  saw  him  molding  some  silver 
plate  into  ingots.  The  next  day  he  heard 
his  fellow  boarder,  Monsieur  Vautrin, 
say  that  early  in  the  morning  he  had  seen 
Father  Goriot  selling  a  piece  of  silver  to 
an  old  money-lender.  What  Vautrin 
did  not  know  was  that  the  money  thus 
obtained  was  intended  for  Goriot's 
daughter,  Countess  Anastasie  de  Restaud, 
whom  Eugene  had  met  at  the  dance  the 
night  before. 

That  afternoon  Eugene  paid  his  re- 


271 


spects  to  the  countess.  Father  Goriot  was 
leaving  the  drawing-room  when  he  ar 
rived.  The  countess,  her  lover,  and  her 
husband  received  Eugene  graciously  be 
cause  of  his  connections  with  Madame  de 
Beaus£ant.  But  when  he  mentioned  they 
had  the  acquaintance  of  Father  Goriot 
in  common,  he  was  quickly  shown  to 
the  door,  the  count  leaving  word  with 
his  servant  that  he  was  not  to  be  at  home 
if  Monsieur  de  Rastignac  called  again. 

After  his  rebuff,  Eugene  went  to  call 
on  Madame  de  Beauseant,  to  ask  her  aid 
in  unraveling  the  mystery.  She  quickly 
understood  what  had  happened,  and  ex 
plained  that  de  Restaud's  house  would 
be  barred  to  him  because  both  of  Goriot's 
daughters,  having  been  given  sizable 
dowries,  were  gradually  severing  all  con 
nection  with  their  father  and  therefore 
would  not  tolerate  anyone  who  had 
knowledge  of  Goriot's  shabby  circum 
stances.  She  suggested  that  Eugene  send 
word  through  Goriot  to  his  other  daugh 
ter,  Delphine  de  Nucingen,  that  Madame 
de  Beauseant  would  receive  her.  Del 
phine,  she  knew,  would  welcome  the 
invitation,  and  would  be  grateful  to  Eu 
gene  and  become  his  sponsor. 

Vautrin  had  another  suggestion  for 
the  young  man.  Under  Madame  Vau- 
quer's  roof  lived  Victorine  Taillefer,  who 
had  been  disinherited  by  her  wealthy 
father  in  favor  of  her  brother.  Eugene 
had  already  found  favor  in  her  eyes,  and 
Vautrin  suggested  that  for  a  two  hundred 
thousand  francs  he  would  have  the 
brother  murdered,  so  that  Eugene  might 
marry  the  heiress,  He  was  to  have  two 
weelcs  in  which  to  consider  the  offer. 

Eugene  escorted  Madame  de  Beau- 
se"ant  to  the  theater  next  evening.  There 
he  was  presented  to  Delphine  de  Nucin 
gen,  who  received  him  graciously.  The 
next  day  he  received  an  invitation  to  dine 
with  the  de  Nucingens  and  to  go  to 
the  theater.  Before  dinner  he  and  Del 
phine  drove  to  a  gambling  house  where, 
at  her  request,  he  gambled  and  won 
six  thousand  francs.  She  explained  that 
her  husband  would  give  her  no  money, 


and  she  needed  it  to  pay  a  debt  she  owed 
to  an  old  lover. 

Before  long  Eugene  learned  that  it 
cost  money  to  keep  the  company  of  his 
new  friends.  Unable  to  press  his  own 
family  for  funds,  he  would  not  stoop  to 
impose  on  Delphine.  Finally,  as  Vautrin 
had  forseen,  he  was  forced  to  take  his 
fellow  boarder's  offer.  The  tempter  had 
just  finished  explaining  the  duel  be 
tween  Victorine's  brother  and  his  con 
federate  which  was  to  take  place  the 
following  morning  when  Father  Goriot 
came  in  with  the  news  that  he  and  Del 
phine  had  taken  an  apartment  for  Eu 
gene. 

Eugene  wavered  once  more  at  the 
thought  of  the  crime  which  was  about 
to  be  committed  in  his  name.  He  at 
tempted  to  send  a  warning  to  the  victim 
through  Father  Goriot,  but  Vautrin,  sus 
picious  of  his  accomplice,  thwarted  the 
plan.  Vautrin  managed  to  drug  their 
wine  at  supper  so  that  both  slept  soundly 
that  night. 

At  breakfast  Eugene's  fears  were  real 
ized.  A  messenger  burst  in  with  the  news 
that  Victorine '$  brother  had  been  fatally 
wounded  in  a  duel.  After  the  girl  hur 
ried  off  to  see  him,  another  singular  event 
occurred.  Vautrin,  after  drinking  his 
coffee,  fell  to  the  ground  as  if  he  had 
suffered  a  stroke.  When  he  was  carried 
to  his  room  and  undressed,  it  was  as 
certained  by  marks  on  his  back  that  he 
was  the  famous  criminal,  Trompe-la- 
Mort.  One  of  the  boarders,  an  old  maid, 
had  been  acting  as  an  agent  for  the  police; 
she  had  drugged  Vnutrin's  collce  so  that 
his  criminal  brand  could  be  exposed. 
Shortly  afterward  the  police  appeared  to 
claim  their  victim. 

Eugene  and  Father  Godot  wore  prepar 
ing  to  move  to  their  new  quarters,  for 
Goriot  was  to  have  a  room  over  the  young 
man's  apartment.  Delphine  arrived  to 
interrupt  Goriot's  packing.  She  was  in 
distress.  Father  Goriot  had  arranged  with 
his  lawyer  to  force  de  Nucingen  to  make 
a  settlement  so  that  Delphine  would  have 
an  independent  income  on  which  to 


272 


draw,  and  she  brought  the  news  that  her 
money  had  been  so  tied  up  by  invest 
ments  it  would  be  impossible  for  her 
husband  to  withdraw  any  of  it  without 
bringing  about  his  own  ruin. 

Hardly  had  Delphine  told  her  father 
of  her  predicament  when  Anastasie  de 
Restaud  drove  up.  She  had  sold  the  de 
Restaud  diamonds  to  help  her  lover  pay 
off  his  debts,  and  had  been  discovered 
by  her  husband.  De  Restaud  had  bought 
them  back,  but  as  punishment  he  de 
manded  control  of  her  dowry. 

Eugene  could  not  help  overhearing  the 
conversation  through  the  thin  partition 
between  the  rooms,  and  when  Anastasie 
said  she  still  needed  twelve  thousand 
francs  for  her  lover  he  forged  one  of 
Vautrin's  drafts  for  that  amount  and 
took  it  to  Father  Goriot's  room.  Anas- 
tasie's  reaction  was  to  berate  him  for 
eavesdropping. 

The  financial  difficulties  of  his  daugh 
ters  and  the  hatred  and  jealousy  they 
had  shown  proved  too  much  for  Father 
Goriot.  At  the  dinner  table  he  looked 
as  if  he  were  about  to  have  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy,  and  when  Eugene  returned 
from  an  afternoon  spent  with  his  mis 


tress,  Delphine,  the  old  man  was  in  bed, 
too  ill  to  be  moved  to  his  new  home.  He 
had  gone  out  that  morning  to  sell  his  last 
few  possessions,  so  that  Anastasie  might 
pay  her  dressmaker  for  an  evening  gown. 

In  spite  of  their  father's  serious  con 
dition,  both  daughters  attended  Madame 
de  Beauseant's  ball  that  evening,  and 
Eugene  was  too  much  under  his  mistress' 
influence  to  refuse  to  accompany  her.  The 
next  day  Goriot  was  worse.  Eugene  tried 
to  summon  his  daughters.  Delphine  was 
still  abed  and  refused  to  be  hurried  over 
her  morning  toilet.  Anastasie  arrived  at 
his  bedside  only  after  Father  Goriot  had 
lapsed  into  a  coma  and  no  longer  knew 
her. 

Father  Goriot  was  buried  in  a  pauper's 
grave  the  next  day.  Eugene  tried  to 
borrow  burial  money  at  each  daughter's 
house,  but  they  sent  word  they  were  in 
deep  grief  over  their  loss  and  could  not 
be  seen.  He  and  a  poor  medical  student 
from  the  boarding-house  were  the  only 
mourners  at  the  funeral.  Anastasie  and 
Delphine  sent  their  empty  carriages  to 
follow  the  coffin.  It  was  their  final  trib 
ute  to  an  indulgent  father. 


FATHERS  AND  SONS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Ivan  Turgenev  (1818-1883) 

Type  of  ^plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of 'plot:  1859 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1862 

Principal  characters: 

KIRSANOFF,  a  Russian  gentleman 
PAVEL,  his  older  brother 
ARKADY,  his  son 
FENICHKA,  KirsanofFs  mistress 
BAZAROFF,  Arkady's  friend 
VASILY,  BazarofFs  father 
MADAME  ODINTZOFF,  a  widow 
KATYA,  her  younger  sister 

Critique: 

Fathers  and  Sons  is  important  in  the 
political  history  of  Russia.  Turgenev  was 
here  the  first  to  use  the  word  nihilist  to 
describe  a  believer  in  political  anarchy 


at  a  time  when  nihilism  was  the  main 
current  of  liberal  thought.  There  are 
excellent  studies  of  the  unsettled  Russian 
peasants  iust  before  their  emancipation, 


273 


Beyond  this  historical  importance,  Fathers 
and  Sons  is  a  novel  which  dramatizes  the 
conflict  and  differences  between  genera 
tions.  The  novel  is  relatively  straight 
forward  in  plot  and  the  characters  are 
simply  drawn.  These  characteristics  are 
not  common  in  nineteenth-century  Rus 
sian  novels;  the  clarity  of  Fathers  and 
Sons  is  probably  a  big  factor  in  its  popu 
larity. 

The  Story: 

At  a  provincial  posting  station  Kirsa 
noff  waited  impatiently  for  his  son,  Ar 
kady,  who  had  completed  his  education 
at  the  university  in  St.  Petersburg.  Kir- 
sanoff  reflected  that  Arkady  had  probably 
changed,  but  he  hoped  his  son  had  not 
grown  away  from  him  entirely.  Arkady 's 
mother  was  dead,  and  the  widower  was 
strongly  attached  to  his  son, 

At  last  the  coach  appeared,  rolling 
along  the  dusty  road.  Arkady  jumped 
out.  But  he  was  not  alone.  Lounging 
superciliously  behind  was  a  stranger 
whom  Arkady  introduced  as  Bazaroff, 
a  fellow  student.  Something  in  Arkady's 
manner  told  Kirsanoff  that  here  was  a 
special  attachment.  In  a  low  aside  Arkady 
begged  his  father  to  be  gracious  to  his 
guest. 

Feeling  some  qualms  about  his  unex 
pected  guest,  Kirsanoff  was  troubled  dur 
ing  the  trip  home.  He  was  hesitant  about 
his  own  news,  but  finally  told  Arkady 
that  he  had  taken  a  mistress,  Fenichka, 
and  installed  her  in  his  house.  To  his 
great  relief,  Arkady  took  the  news  calmly 
and  even  congratulated  his  father  on  the 
step.  Later  Arkady  was  pleased  to  learn 
that  he  even  had  a  little  half-brother. 

Very  soon  Kirsanoff  found  he  had 
good  reason  to  distrust  BazarofF,  who  was 
a  doctor  and  a  clever  biologist.  Arkady 
seemed  too  much  under  his  influence. 
Worse,  BazarofF  was  a  nihilist.  At  the 
university  the  liberal  thinkers  had  con 
sciously  decided  to  defy  or  ignore  all  au 
thority — state,  church,  home,  pan-Rus- 
sianism.  Bazaroff  was  irritating  to  talk 
to,  Kirsanoff  decided,  because  he  knew 


so  much  and  had  such  a  sarcastic  tongue. 

Pavel,  KirsanofFs  older  brother,  was 
especially  irritated  by  Bazaroff.  Pavel  was 
a  real  aristocrat,  bound  by  tradition,  who 
had  come  to  live  in  retirement  with  his 
younger  brother  after  a  disappointing 
career  as  an  army  officer  and  the  lover  of 
a  famous  beauty,  the  Princess  R — .  With 
his  background  and  stiff  notions  of  pro 
priety,  Pavel  often  disagreed  with  Baza 
roff. 

Luckily,  Bazaroff  kept  busy  most  of 
the  time.  He  collected  frogs  and  infusoria 
and  was  always  dissecting  and  peering 
into  a  microscope.  He  would  have  been 
an  ideal  guest,  except  for  his  calmly 
superior  air  of  belonging  to  a  generation 
far  surpassing  Pavel's.  Kirsanoff,  loving 
his  son  so  much,  did  his  best  to  keep 
peace,  but  all  the  while  he  regretted 
the  nihilism  which  had  so  affected  Ar 
kady. 

Kirsanoff  was  harassed  by  other 
troubles.  Soon,  by  law,  the  serfs  would 
be  freed.  Kirsanoff  strongly  approved 
this  change  and  had  anticipated  the  new 
order  by  dividing  his  farm  into  smaller 
plots  which  the  peasants  rented  on  a 
sharecropping  basis.  But  with  their  new 
independence  the  peasants  cheated  him 
more  than  ever  and  were  slow  in  paying 
their  rent. 

Arkady  and  Bazaroff,  growing  bored 
with  quiet  farm  life,  went  to  visit  in  the 
provincial  capital,  where  they  had  intro 
ductions  to  the  governor.  In  town  they 
ran  into  Sitnikoff,  a  kind  of  polished 
jackal  who  felt  important  because  he  was 
one  of  the  nihilist  circle.  Sitnikoff  intro 
duced  them  into  provincial  society. 

At  a  ball  the  two  friends  met  and 
were  greatly  taken  by  a  young  widow, 
Madame  Odintzoff.  Arkady  did  not 
dance,  but  he  sat  out  a  mazurka  with  her. 
They  became  friends  at  once,  especially 
when  she  found  that  Arkady's  mother 
had  been  an  intimate  friend  of  her  own 
mother.  After  the  ball  Madame  Odint 
zoff  invited  the  two  men  to  visit  her 
estate. 

Arkady  and  Bazaroff  accepted  the  in- 


274 


vitation  promptly,  and  in  a  few  days  they 
settled  down  to  the  easy  routine  of 
favored  guests  in  a  wealthy  household. 
Katya,  Madame  OdintzofFs  young  sister, 
was  especially  attracted  to  Arkady.  Baza- 
roff,  older  and  more  worldly,  became  the 
good  friend  of  the  widow. 

Although  Bazaroff,  as  a  good  nihilist, 
despised  home  and  family  life,  he  made 
a  real  effort  to  overcome  his  scruples. 
But  when  he  finally  began  to  talk  of 
love  and  marriage  to  Madame  Odintzoff, 
he  was  politely  refused.  Chagrined  at 
his  rejection,  he  induced  Arkady  to  leave 
with  him  at  once.  The  two  friends  then 
went  on  to  BazarofFs  home, 

Vasily,  BazarofFs  father,  was  glad  to 
see  his  son,  whom  he  both  feared  and 
admired.  He  and  his  wife  did  all  they 
could  to  make  the  young  men  comfort 
able.  At  length  Arkady  and  Bazaroff 
quarreled,  chiefly  because  they  were  so 
bored.  Abruptly  they  left,  and  impul 
sively  called  again  on  Madame  Odintzoff. 
She  received  them  coolly.  Feeling  that 
they  were  unwelcome,  they  went  back  to 
the  Kirsanoff  estate. 

Because  Bazaroff  was  convinced  that 
Arkady  was  also  in  love  with  Madame 
Odintzoff,  his  friendship  with  Arkady 
became  greatly  strained.  Arkady,  thinking 
all  the  time  of  Katya,  returned  by  him 
self  to  the  Odintzoff  estate  to  press  his 
suit  of  the  younger  sister. 

At  the  Kirsanoff  home  Bazaroff  be 
came  friendly  with  Fenichka.  He  pre 
scribed  for  her  sick  baby  and  even  for 
her.  Fenichka,  out  of  friendship,  spent 
much  of  her  time  with  Bazaroff.  One 
morning,  as  they  sat  in  a  garden,  Bazaroff 
kissed  her  unexpectedly,  to  her  distress 
and  confusion.  Pavel  witnessed  the  scene 
by  accident  and  became  incensed  all  the 
more  at  the  strange  nihilist. 

Although  Pavel  did  not  consider  Baza 


roff  a  gentleman,  he  challenged  him  to 
a  duel  with  pistols.  In  the  encounter 
Pavel  was  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  Baza 
roff  left  the  house  in  haste,  never  to 
return.  Pavel  recovered  from  his  wound, 
but  he  felt  a  never-ending  shame  at  be 
ing  wounded  by  a  low  nihilist.  He 
urged  Kirsanoff  to  marry  Fenichka,  and 
returned  to  his  old  life.  He  spent  the 
rest  of  his  days  as  an  aging  dandy  in 
Dresden. 

Bazaroff  stopped  briefly  at  the  Odint 
zoff  home.  Still  convinced  that  Arkady 
was  in  love  with  Madame  Odintzoff,  he 
attempted  to  help  his  friend  in  his  suit. 
Madame  Odintzoff  ridiculed  him,  how 
ever,  when  Arkady  made  his  request  for 
the  hand  of  Katya.  With  a  sense  of  fu 
tility,  Bazaroff  took  his  leave  and  re 
joined  his  own  family. 

Vasily  was  the  local  doctor,  and  he 
eagerly  welcomed  his  son  as  a  colleague. 
For  a  time  Bazaroff  led  a  successful  life, 
helping  to  cure  the  ailments  of  the  peas 
ants  and  pursuing  his  research  at  the 
same  time.  When  one  of  his  patients 
came  down  with  typhus,  he  accidentally 
scratched  himself  with  a  scalpel  he  had 
used.  Although  Vasily  cauterized  the 
wound  as  well  as  he  could,  Bazaroff  be 
came  ill  with  a  fever.  Sure  that  he  would 
die,  he  summoned  Madame  Odintzoff  to 
his  side.  She  came  gladly  and  helped 
to  ease  him  before  his  death, 

Madame  Odintzoff  eventually  made  a 
good  marriage  with  a  lawyer.  Arkady 
was  happy  managing  his  father's  farm 
and  playing  with  the  son  born  to  him  and 
Katya.  Kirsanoff  became  a  magistrate  and 
spent  most  of  his  life  settling  disputes 
brought  about  by  the  liberation  of  the 
serfs.  Fenichka,  at  last  a  respected  wife 
and  mother,  found  great  happiness  in  her 
daughter-in-law,  Katya, 


275 


FAUST 

Type  of  work:  Dramatic  poem 

Author:  Johann.  Wolfgang  von  Goethe  (1749-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Philosophical  allegory 

Time  of  'plot:  Timeless 

Locale:  The  world 

First  published:  1790-1831 

Principal  characters: 

FAUST,  a  student  of  all  knowledge 
GRETCHEN,  a  maiden 
MEPHISTOPHELES,  the  devil 
WAGNER,  Faust's  servant 
HELEN  OF  TROY 
HOMUNCULUS,  a  spirit 

Critique: 

The  philosophical  problem  of  human 
damnation  through  desire  for  knowledge 
is  here  presented.  Goethe,  echoing  the 
eighteenth-century  Age  of  Reason,  as 
serted  that  man's  rationality  was  die 
supreme  truth  in  life.  This  poem  con 
tains  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
aspiring  passages  in  all  literature.  Faust's 
lofty,  anguished  cry  for  one  moment  in 
life  which  would  cause  him  to  desire  its 
continuance  is  echoed  throughout  the 
ages  in  the  emotions  of  all  men  of  all 
times.  The  universal  problem  presented 
by  the  play  renders  it  impossible  to  place 
the  locale  of  the  action  or  the  time  of 
the  action,  for  Faust  exists  forever  and 
everywhere. 


The  Story: 

While  three  archangels  were  singing 
the  praise  of  God's  lofty  works,  Mephi 
stopheles,  the  devil,  appeared  and  said 
that  he  found  conditions  on  earth  to  be 
bad.  The  Lord  tacitly  agreed  that  man 
had  his  weaknesses,  but  He  slyly  pointed 
out  that  His  servant  Faust  could  not  be 
swayed  from  the  path  of  righteousness. 
Mephistopheles  made  a  wager  with  the 
Lord  that  Faust  could  be  tempted  from 
his  faithful  service.  The  Lord  knew  that 
He  could  rely  on  the  righteous  integrity 
of  Faust,  but  that  Mephistopheles  could 
lead  Faust  downward  if  he  were  able  to 
lay  hold  of  Faust's  soul.  Mephistopheles 


considered  Faust  a  likely  victim,  for  Faust 
was  trying  to  obtain  the  unobtainable. 

Faust  was  not  satisfied  with  all  the 
knowledge  he  had  acquired.  He  realized 
man's  limits,  and  he  saw  his  own  insig 
nificance  in  the  great  macrocosm.  In  this 
mood,  he  went  for  a  walk  with  his  serv 
ant,  Wagner,  among  people  who  were  not 
troubled  by  thoughts  of  a  philosophical 
nature.  In  such  a  refreshing  atmosphere, 
Faust  was  able  to  feel  free  and  to  think 
clearly.  Faust  told  Wagner  of  his  two 
souls,  one  which  clung  to  earthly  things, 
and  another  which  strove  toward  super- 
sensual  things  that  could  never  be  at 
tained  as  long  as  his  soul  resided  within 
his  fleshly  body.  Feeling  so  limited  in 
his  daily  life  and  desiring  to  learn  the 
meaning  of  existence,  Faust  was  ready 
to  accept  anything  which  would  take  him 
to  a  new  kind  of  life. 

Mephistopheles  recognized  that  Faust 
was  ready  for  his  attack.  In  the  form  of 
a  dog,  Mephistopheles  followed  Faust 
to  his  home  when  the  scholar  returned 
to  his  contemplation  of  the  meaning  of 
life.  After  studying  the  Bible,  he  con 
cluded  that  man's  power  should  be  used 
to  produce  something  useful.  Witnessing 
Faust's  struggle  with  his  ideas,  the  dog 
stepped  forth  in  his  true  identity.  But 
Faust  remained  unmoved  by  the  argu 
ments  of  Mephistopheles. 

The  next  time  Mephistopheles  came, 


.FAUST  by  Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe.    Published  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


276 


he  found  Faust  much  more  receptive  to 
his  plot.  Faust  had  decided  that,  although 
his  struggles  were  divine,  he  had  pro 
duced  nothing  to  show  for  them.  Faust 
was  interested  in  life  on  this  earth.  At 
Mephistopheles'  suggestion  that  he  could 
peacefully  enjoy  a  sensual  existence, 
Faust  declared  that  if  ever  he  could  lay 
himself  in  sloth  and  be  at  peace  with 
himself,  or  if  ever  Mephistopheles  could 
so  rule  him  with  flattery  that  he  became 
self-satisfied,  then  let  that  be  the  end 
of  Faust.  But  Faust  had  also  renounced 
all  things  that  made  life  worthwhile  to 
most  men.  So  he  further  contracted  with 
Mephistopheles  that  if  ever  he  found  ex 
perience  so  profound  that  he  would  wish 
it  to  endure,  then  Faust  would  cease  to 
be.  This  would  be  a  wager,  not  the 
selling  of  a  soul. 

After  two  trials  Mephistopheles  had 
failed  to  tempt  Faust  with  cheap  de 
bauchery.  The  next  offering  he  pre 
sented  was  love  for  a  woman.  First  Faust 
was  brought  to  the  Witch's  Kitchen, 
where  his  youth  was  restored.  Then  a 
pure  maiden,  Gretchen,  was  presented  to 
Faust,  but  when  he  saw  her  in  her  own 
innocent  home,  he  vowed  he  could  not 
harm  her.  Mephistopheles  wooed  the 
girl  with  caskets  of  jewels  which  she 
thought  came  from  Faust,  and  Faust  was 
so  tempted  that  he  returned  to  Gretchen. 
She  surrendered  herself  to  him  as  a  ful 
fillment  of  her  pure  love. 

Gretchen's  brother  convinced  her  that 
her  act  was  a  shameful  one  in  the  eyes 
of  society.  Troubled  by  Gretchen's  grief, 
Faust  finally  killed  her  brother.  Gretchen 
at  last  felt  the  full  burden  of  her  sin. 
Mephistopheles  showed  Faust  more 
scenes  of  debauchery,  but  Faust's  spirit 
was  elevated  by  the  thought  of  Gretchen 
and  he  was  able  to  overcome  the  evil 
influence  of  the  devil.  Mephistopheles 
had  hoped  that  Faust  would  desire  the 
moment  of  his  fulfillment  of  love  to  en 
dure.  However,  Faust  knew  that  endur 
ing  human  love  could  not  satisfy  his 
craving.  He  regretted  Gretchen's  state 
of  misery,  and  he  returned  to  her;  but  she 


had  killed  her  child  and  would  not  let 
her  lover  save  her  from  the  death  to 
which  she  had  been  condemned. 

Mephistopheles  brought  Faust  to  the 
emperor,  who  asked  Faust  to  show  him 
the  most  beautiful  male  and  female  who 
had  ever  existed — Paris,  and  Helen  of 
Troy.  Faust  produced  the  images  of 
these  mythological  characters,  and  at  the 
sight  of  Helen,  his  desire  to  possess  her 
was  so  strong  that  he  fainted,  and  Mephi 
stopheles  brought  him  back  in  a  swoon 
to  his  own  laboratory.  Mephistopheles 
was  unable  to  comprehend  Faust's  de 
sire  for  the  ideal  beauty  that  Helen  repre 
sented. 

With  the  help  of  Wagner,  Mephistoph 
eles  created  a  formless  spirit  of  learn 
ing,  Homunculus,  who  could  see  what 
was  going  on  in  Faust's  mind.  Homun 
culus,  Mephistopheles,  and  Faust  went 
to  Greece,  where  Mephistopheles  bor 
rowed  from  the  fantastic  images  of  clas 
sical  mythology  one  of  their  grotesque 
forms.  With  Mephistopheles'  interven 
tion,  a  living  Helen  was  brought  to  Faust. 
It  seemed  now,  with  the  attainment  of 
this  supreme  joy  of  beauty  in  Helen,  that 
Faust  would  cry  for  such  a  moment  to 
linger  forever,  but  he  soon  realized  that 
the  enjoyment  of  transitory  beauty  was 
no  more  enduring  than  his  other  experi 
ences. 

With  a  new  knowledge  of  himself, 
Faust  returned  to  his  native  land. 
Achievement  was  now  his  goal,  as  he  re 
affirmed  his  earlier  pledge  that  his  power 
should  be  used  to  produce  something 
useful  to  man.  The  mystical  and  magical 
powers  which  Faust  had  once  held  were 
banished  so  that  he  could  stand  before 
nature  alone.  He  obtained  a  large  strip 
of  swamp  land  and  restored  it  to  produc 
tivity. 

Many  years  passed.  Now  old  and 
blind,  Faust  realized  he  had  created  a 
vast  territory  of  land  occupied  by  people 
who  would  always  be  active  in  making 
something  useful  for  themselves.  Having 
participated  in  this  achievement,  Faust 
beheld  himself  as  a  man  standing  among 


277 


free  and  active  people  as  one  of  them. 
At  the  moment  when  he  realized  what  he 
had  created,  he  cried  out  for  this  moment, 
so  fair  to  him,  to  linger  on.  Faust  had 
emerged  from  a  self-centered  egoist  into 
a  man  who  saw  his  actions  as  a  part  of  a 
creative  society. 

He  realized  that  life  could  be  worth 
living,  but  in  that  moment  of  perception 
he  lost  his  wager  to  Mephistopheles.  The 
devil  now  claimed  Faust's  soul,  but  in 


reality  he  too  had  lost  the  wager.  The 
Almighty  was  right.  Although  Faust  had 
made  mistakes  in  his  life,  he  had  always 
remained  aware  of  goodness  and  truth. 

Seeing  his  own  defeat,  Mephistopheles 
attempted  to  prevent  the  ascension  of 
Faust's  soul  to  God.  Angels  appeared  to 
help  Faust,  however,  and  he  was  carried 
to  a  place  in  Heaven  where  all  was  active 
creation — exactly  the  kind  of  after-life 
that  Faust  would  have  chosen. 


FILE  NO.   113 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Emile  Gaboriau  (1835-1873) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1866 

Locale:  Paris 

First  puly  lished:  1867 

Principal  characters: 

M.  ANDRE  FAUVEL,  a  Parisian  banker 
VALENTINE,  his  wife 
MADELEINE,  his  niece 
PROSPER  BERTOMY,  his  cashier 
RAOUL  DE  LAGORS,  Valentine's  nephew 
Louis  DE  CLAMERAN,  an  adventurer 
GYPSY,  Prosper's  mistress 
M.  LECOQ,  a  detective 
FANFERLOT,  another  detective 

Critique: 

Gaboriau's  mystery  stories  have  always 
been  popular  among  readers  of  this  type 
of  fiction,  and  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  he  had  a  large 
following  both  in  France  and  abroad. 
Many  of  our  common  conceptions  of  the 
French  Surete*  and  French  detectives 
come  from  his  work.  In  Gaboriau's  nov 
els  the  detective  is  a  brilliant  individualist 
who  always  gets  his  man  by  reasoning, 
theatrics,  and  agility.  M.  Lecoq,  for  in 
stance,  is  always  disguised;  not  even  his 
fellows  at  the  police  department  have 
ever  seen  his  true  appearance.  Usually 
he  is  even  disguised  from  the  reader. 
Gaboriau  makes  full  use  of  melodrama, 
extravagant  emotions,  and  improbable 
motives. 


The  Story: 

Prosper   Bertomy,    a    trusted   cashier, 


came  into  the  bank  rather  late  one  morn 
ing.  Louis  de  Clameran  was  impatiently 
waiting,  for  the  bank  had  agreed  to  have 
his  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
francs  ready  for  him  that  day.  Prosper 
hurried  to  the  safe  to  get  the  money,  but 
when  he  opened  the  cloor  he  discovered 
that  the  money  was  gone. 

In  great  agitation  he  called  for  M.  Fau- 
vel.  When  a  search  failed  to  reveal  the 
missing  money,  M.  Fauvcl  called  the 
police.  During  a  preliminary  questioning, 
it  was  learned  that  only  Prosper  and  his 
employer,  M.  Fauvcl,  had  keys  to  the 
safe.  Only  they  knew  the  wore!  to  use  on 
the  alphabetical  combination.  Either  M, 
Fauvel  or  Prosper  had  taken  the  money. 

It  was  unthinkable  that  dignified,  up 
right  M.  Fauvel  would  steal  from  him 
self.  Prosper,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
lost  heavily  at  the  gaming  tables  and  he 


278 


was  the  intimate  of  Raoul  de  Lagors,  the 
dissolute  nephew  of  Mme.  Valentine 
Fauvel.  Prospers  richly  furnished  apart 
ment  was  presided  over  by  the  beautiful 
but  notorious  woman  known  as  Gypsy. 
In  the  light  of  these  facts,  M.  Fauvel 
raised  no  objection  when  the  police  took 
Prosper  off  to  jail. 

As  Prosper  left  the  bank,  he  contrived 
to  throw  a  folded  note  to  Cavaillon,  a 
young  friend.  Following  the  directions, 
Cavaillon  set  off  to  deliver  the  message. 
Fanferlot,  a  detective,  followed  Cavaillon 
until  the  youth  turned  into  an  apart 
ment  building.  There  the  detective  easily 
cowed  Cavaillon  and  took  away  the  note, 
which  warned  Gypsy  to  flee  immediately. 
Fanferlot,  posing  as  Prospers  friend,  de 
livered  the  note  and  induced  the  fright 
ened  girl  to  move  into  lodgings  at  the 
Archangel,  a  hotel  run  by  Mme.  Alex- 
andre,  secretly  Fanferlot's  wife.  Well 
pleased  with  himself,  Fanferlot  went 
back  to  headquarters  to  report. 

The  examining  judge,  convinced  of 
Prosper's  guilt,  pried  into  the  cashier's 
financial  affairs  with  detailed  knowledge 
of  that  unhappy  man's  speculations.  He 
even  knew  that  Gypsy's  real  name  was 
Chocareille  and  that  she  had  once  been 
in  prison.  The  judge  brought  out  the 
fact  that  Prosper  had  also  been  the 
favored  suitor  of  Madeleine,  the  niece  of 
the  Fauvels,  but  that  the  intimacy  had 
been  broken  off  suddenly.  Throughout 
the  investigation  Prosper  stoutly  main 
tained  his  innocence.  Unable  to  shake 
his  story,  the  judge  sent  Prosper  back  to 
his  cell. 

At  the  Archangel,  Fanferlot  kept  a 
close  watch  on  Gypsy.  One  day  she  re 
ceived  a  note  asking  her  to  meet  an  un 
known  man  at  a  public  rendezvous.  Fan 
ferlot  trailed  her  to  the  meeting  and  saw 
her  talking  to  a  fat  man  with  red  whisk 
ers.  When  they  left  in  a  cab,  Fanferlot 
jumped  on  the  springs  behind  them.  As 
soon  as  the  horses  pulled  up,  he  withdrew 
into  an  areaway  to  watch.  But  no  one 
got  out.  Gypsy  and  her  escort  had  given 
him  the  slip  by  getting  in  one  door  of 


the  cab  and  out  the  other.  Dejected  at 
his  failure,  Fanferlot  went  to  report  to 
Lecoq,  his  chief. 

To  his  amazement  the  fat  man  with 
red  whiskers  was  in  Lecoq's  apartment. 
Lecoq  himself,  with  his  great  talent  for 
disguise,  had  been  Gypsy's  mysterious 
companion.  Then  Lecoq  showed  Fanfer 
lot  a  photograph  of  the  safe  and  pointed 
out  a  scratch  on  the  door.  With  sure 
logic  he  explained  that  two  people  had 
been  involved  in  the  robbery.  One  held 
the  key  and  started  to  open  the  door; 
the  second  tried  to  draw  away  the  hand 
of  the  first.  In  the  struggle  the  door  was 
scratched. 

After  Lecoq  had  convinced  the  judge 
that  there  was  no  strong  case  against 
Prosper,  the  cashier  was  released  in  the 
company  of  Lecoq,  who  had  become 
transformed  into  the  clownish  M.  Vendu- 
ret.  Prosper  put  himself  completely  in 
the  hands  of  his  new  friend  and  the  two 
of  them  began  the  work  of  locating  the 
guilty  parties. 

Suspicion  pointed  to  Raoul  de  Lagors 
and  Louis  de  Clameran.  They  had  a 
great  deal  of  influence  in  the  Fauvel 
household,  and  Valentine  Fauvel  seemed 
greatly  taken  with  her  brilliant,  hand 
some  nephew.  Suspecting  a  clandestine 
love  affair,  Lecoq  went  to  the  south  of 
France  to  ferret  out  the  backgrounds  of 
Raoul  and  de  Clameran.  There  he 
learned  that  in  1841  the  de  Clameran 
family  had  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhone  near  Tarascon.  The  family  con 
sisted  of  the  old  marquis,  his  older  son 
Gaston,  and  his  younger  son  Louis. 
Across  the  river  lived  the  Countess  de  la 
Verberie  and  her  daughter  Valentine.  Be 
tween  the  two  families  there  had  been 
a  feud  for  generations. 

Gaston,  the  older  brother,  fell  in  love 
with  Valentine  and  often  met  her  secret 
ly.  When  their  affair  became  known, 
Gaston  defended  her  honor  in  a  public 
brawl  in  which  he  killed  two  men.  After 
the  fight  he  fled  to  South  America.  The 
old  marquis  died  from  the  shock,  and 
Louis  left  home  to  lead  a  life  of  de- 


279 


pravity.  Within  a  few  months  Valentine 
gave  birth  to  Gaston's  child  in  England, 
and  her  mother  sternly  took  the  baby 
away  and  placed  him  with  an  English 
family.  Later  Valentine  married  M.  Fau- 
vel  without  telling  him  about  her  child. 

By  chance  Louis  de  Clameran  dis- 
tovered  Mrne.  Fauvel's  secret.  Her  son, 
he  claimed,  was  the  man  known  as  Raoul 
de  Lagors.  With  de  Clameran's  help  the 
conscience-stricken  woman  introduced 
Raoul  to  her  husband  as  her  nephew  and 
made  him  one  of  the  Fauvel  household. 
Raoul,  at  the  instigation  of  de  Clameran, 
extorted  large  sums  of  money  from  her. 

At  last  the  time  came  when  she  had 
neither  money  nor  jewels  left,  and  de 
Clameran  threatened  to  expose  her.  Made 
leine,  overhearing  his  threats,  loyally 
stood  by  her  aunt  and  promised  to  marry 
de  Clameran  to  buy  his  silence.  Raoul, 
playing  on  his  mother's  sympathies,  per 
suaded  her  to  give  him  the  key  to  the 
bank  safe,  and  she  even  went  with  him 
to  rob  her  husband.  At  the  last  moment 


Valentine  regretted  her  decision,  and  in 
her  attempts  to  take  away  the  key  she 
scratched  the  door,  Raoul,  ignoring  her 
pleas,  took  the  money  from  the  safe. 

When  Lecoq  told  the  whole  story  to 
Prosper,  the  cashier  was  shocked.  He  had, 
in  an  anonymous  letter,  told  M.  Fauvel 
that  Raoul  was  Valentine's  lover. 

Angry  and  grief-stricken  after  reading 
the  letter,  M.  Fauvel  confronted  Raoul 
and  his  wife.  He  was  threatening  to 
shoot  Raoul  when  Lecoq  appeared,  un 
masked  Raoul  as  an  imposter,  and  re 
turned  the  stolen  money  to  M.  Fauvel. 
Valentine's  real  son  had  died  years  ago; 
Raoul  had  been  coached  in  the  part  by 
de  Clameran.  M.  Fauvel  forgave  his 
wife's  past  and  was  reunited  with  her. 

With  his  innocence  established,  Pros 
per  was  free  to  marry  Madeleine.  De 
Clameran  went  mad  in  prison.  Lecoq  at 
last  revealed  that  he  had  saved  Prosper 
merely  to  shame  Gypsy,  who  had  deserted 
Lecoq  to  become  Prospers  mistress. 


THE  FINANCIER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Theodore  Dreiser  (1871-1945) 

Type  of  'plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:  About  1850  to  1874 

Locale:  Philadelphia 

First  published:  1912 

Principal  characters: 

FRANK  A.  COWPERWOOP,  the  financier 
LILLIAN  SEMPLE  COWPERWOOD,  his  wife 
EDWARD  BUTLER,  contractor  and  politician 
AILEEN  BUTLER,  his  daughter 
HENRY  COWPERWOOD,  Frank's  father 


In  this  novel  characters  are  more  sharp 
ly  drawn  and  more  dynamic  than  they 
are  in  other  of  Dreiser's  creations.  Cow- 
perwood  himself,  by  contrast  with  Sister 
Carrie,  Jennie  Gerhardt,  and  Clyde  Grif 
fiths,  is  more  than  a  pawn  of  destiny,  a 
victim  of  society.  He  is  an  aggressive  per 
son  who  fights  and  plans,  who  can  adapt 
himself  to  circumstances  and  environ 


ment.  He  is  both  a  realist  and  a  fighter. 
It  is  plain  that  Dreiser  thought  of  him 
as  the  typical  capitalist,  the  financier. 

The  Story: 

From  his  very  early  years  Frank  Cow- 
perwood  was  interested  in  only  one  thing 
— making  money.  When  he  was  still  in 
his  teens  he  made  his  first  successful 


THE  FINANCIER  by  Theodore  Dreiser.   By  permission  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Dreiser  and  the  publishers,  The  World 
Publishing:  Co.  Copyright,  1912,  by  Harper  &  Brothers.    Renewed,  1940,  by  Theodbre  Dreiser. 


280 


business  transaction.  While  passing  by 
an  auction  sale,  he  successfully  bid  for 
a  lot  of  Java  coffee,  which  he  sold  to  a 
grocer  at  a  profit  of  one  hundred  per 
cent.  His  family  marveled  at  Frank's 
ability  and  his  wealthy  uncle,  Seneca 
Davis,  encouraged  him  to  go  into  business 
as  soon  as  possible. 

Through  several  well-paying  positions 
and  shrewd  speculation  Frank  acquired 
enough  money  to  open  his  own  broker 
age  house.  Within  a  short  time  he  was 
immensely  successful,  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  young  financiers  in  Philadel 
phia. 

One  day  he  met  Lillian  Semple,  the 
wife  of  a  business  associate.  About  a  year 
later  her  husband  died  and  Frank  married 
the  widow.  By  that  time  he  had  accu 
mulated  a  large  fortune,  and  he  was  fa 
miliar  with  local  and  state  politicians, 
among  them  Edward  Butler,  who  had 
risen  from  being  a  mere  collector  of  gar 
bage  to  a  leading  position  in  local  politics. 
Through  Butler  Frank  met  many  other 
influential  people  as  his  business  and 
popularity  increased. 

Frank  and  Lillian  had  several  children, 
but  the  youngsters  did  not  particularly 
interest  him.  Rather,  his  sole  interest  was 
his  business.  His  father,  Henry  Cowper- 
wood,  finally  became  president  of  the 
bank  in  which  he  was  employed.  Both 
Cowperwoods  built  expensive  houses 
and  furnished  them  luxuriously.  Frank 
bought  fine  paintings  and  other  rare  ob 
jects  of  art. 

His  home  life  was  not  satisfactory. 
Lillian  was  older,  more  passive  than  he, 
and  her  beauty  had  almost  disappeared. 
By  contrast,  Edward  Butler's  daughter 
Aileen  was  tremendously  appealing.  She 
young,  beautiful,  high-spirited. 


was 


Frank  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  in  spite 
of  her  strong  religious  training  she  be 
came  his  mistress.  Fie  rented  a  house 
where  they  met  and  furnished  it  with 
the  paintings  and  statues  he  had  bought. 
Though  Frank  had  become  one  of  the 
financial  powers  in  Philadelphia,  he  had 
to  plan  and  scheme  continually  in  order 


to  thwart  more  powerful  monopolists.  He 
managed  to  acquire  large  sums  from  the 
state  treasury  through  local  politicians. 
The  city  treasurer,  Stener,  proved  amen 
able  in  many  ways,  and  he  and  Frank 
became  involved  in  many  shady  transac 
tions.  Frank  bought  shares  in  railroads 
and  local  streetcar  properties. 

After  the  great  Chicago  fire,  some  of 
Frank's  investments  were  in  a  perilous 
state.  He  went  to  friends  and  associates 
and  urged  them  to  stand  together  in  order 
to  avoid  losses.  But  so  widespread  were 
the  effects  of  the  fire  that  the  manipula 
tions  of  the  city  politicians  were  certain 
to  be  discovered  on  the  eve  of  an  election. 
Something  had  to  be  done  to  satisfy  in 
dignant  reform  groups  who  would  de 
mand  action  when  they  discovered  what 
had  occurred. 

In  the  meantime  someone  had  sent  an 
anonymous  note  to  Edward  Butler,  telling 
him  that  Frank  and  Aileen  were  living 
together.  When  Frank  went  to  Butler, 
the  contractor  refused  to  help  him,  and 
Frank  knew  that  somehow  he  had  dis 
covered  his  relationship  with  Aileen.  But 
ler,  who  had  become  his  enemy,  urged 
the  other  politicians  to  make  Frank  a 
scapegoat  for  their  dishonest  dealings. 

As  a  result  Frank  and  Stener,  the  city 
treasurer,  were  indicted  on  charges  of  em 
bezzlement  and  grand  larceny.  Ruined 
financially,  Frank  pleaded  not  guilty,  but 
the  jury  convicted  both  him  and  Stener. 
He  appealed,  and  posted  hail  to  avoid  jail. 
The  appeal  was  denied,  although  the 
judges  were  not  united  in  their  decision. 
As  soon  as  the  appeal  had  been  denied, 
the  sheriff  was  supposed  to  take  Frank  to 
jail  until  he  should  be  sentenced.  But  the 
sheriff  was  bribed,  and  Frank  had  a  few 
more  days  of  freedom.  His  property  was 
sold  to  pay  his  debts.  His  father  resigned 
his  position  at  the  bank. 

Frank  and  Aileen  had  given  up  the 
house  where  they  formerly  met.  Theii 
meetings  now  took  place  at  a  house  in 
another  part  of  town.  Determined  to  put 
an  end  to  the  affair,  Butler  and  Pinkerton 
detectives  entered  the  house  and  con- 


281 


fronted  the  couple.  Butler  tried  various 
schemes  to  make  Aileen  leave  Philadel 
phia,  but  all  failed  after  Aileen  learned 
that  her  father  had  hired  detectives  to 
trail  her. 

Frank  was  sentenced  to  four  years  and 
nine  months  in  the  penitentiary.  Aileen 
remained  faithful  to  him.  When  Lillian 
went  to  visit  him,  Frank  asked  her  for  a 
divorce.  She  refused. 

After  Edward  Butler  died,  Frank's 
friends  managed  to  get  him  a  parole.  At 
the  end  of  thirteen  months  in  jail,  he 
was  freed  in  March,  1873.  Through 
Wingate,  a  friend  and  business  associate, 
he  had  succeeded  in  rebuilding  his  busi 


ness  He  had  a  bachelor  apartment  where 
Aileen  visited  him.  Though  he  was 
ostensibly  still  living  with  his  wife,  all 
of  the  town  had  long  ago  known  of  his 
relationship  with  Aileen. 

In  September,  1873,  the  panic  came. 
Frank,  who  had  bought  stocks  cheaply, 
made  a  fortune.  Several  months  later  he 
went  with  Aileen  to  Chicago,  where  he 
planned  to  reestablish  himself.  Lillian 
got  a  divorce  but  remained  friendly  with 
the  Cowperwood  family.  She  lived  luxur 
iously;  Frank,  to  buy  his  own  freedom, 
had  provided  handsomely  for  her  and  the 
children. 


FOR  WHOM  THE  BELL  TOLLS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ernest  Hemingway  (1899-1961) 

Type  of  plot:  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1937 

Locale:  Spain 

First  published:  1940 

Principal  characters: 

ROBERT  JORDAN,  an  American 
PABLO,  a  guerrilla  leader 
PILAR,  his  wife 
MARIA,  loved  by  Jordan 
ANSELMO,  another  guerrilla 

Critique: 

In  order  to  understand  Ernest  Heming 
way's  motive  in  writing  For  Whom  the 
Bell  Tolls,  it  is  necessary  to  know  the 
essence  of  the  quotation  from  John 
Donne,  from  which  Hemingway  took  his 
theme:  ".  .  .  any  mans  death  diminishes 
me,  because  I  am  involved  in  Mankinde; 
And  therefore  never  send  to  know  for 
whom  the  bell  tolls;  It  tolls  for  thee." 
Hemingway  wanted  his  readers  to  feel 
that  what  happened  to  the  Loyalists  in 
Spain  in  1937  was  a  part  of  that  crisis 
of  the  modern  world  in  which  we  all 
share.  The  novel  tells  the  story  of  three 
days  in  the  life  of  a  young  American 
who  had  concerned  himself  with  the 
Loyalist  cause  in  Spain,  It  is  a  story 
of  courage,  of  loyalty,  of  the  human  will 


fighting  with  the  Spanish  Loyalists 


to  endure.  For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls  is 
a  tragic  novel,  but  one  of  great  nobility 
and  compassion.  Hemingway  is  one  of 
the  great  spokesmen  of  our  time. 

The  Story: 

At  first  nothing  was  important  but  the 
bridge,  neither  his  life  nor  the  imminent 
danger  of  his  death — just  the  bridge. 
Robert  Jordan  was  a  young  American 
teacher  who  was  in  Spain  fighting  with 
the  Loyalist  guerrillas.  1 1  is  present  and 
most  important  mission  was  to  blow  xip 
a  bridge  which  would  be  of  groat  strategic 
importance  during  a  Loyalist  offensive 
three  days  hence.  Jordan  was  behind  the 
Fascist  lines,  with  orders  to  make  contact 
with  Pablo,  the  leader  of  a  guerrilla  band, 


FOR  WHOM  THE  BELL  TOLLS  by  Ernest  Hemingway.    By  permission  of   the  author  and   the  publishers, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    Copyright,  1940,  by  Ernest  Hemingway. 


282 


and  with  his  wife  Pilar,  who  was  the 
really  strong  figure  among  the  partisans. 
While  Pablo  was  weak  and  a  drunken 
braggart,  Pilar  was  strong  and  trust 
worthy.  She  was  a  swarthy,  raw-boned 
woman,  vulgar  and  outspoken,  but  she 
was  so  fiercely  devoted  to  the  Loyalist 
cause  that  Jordan  knew  she  would  carry 
out  her  part  of  the  mission  regardless  of 
her  personal  danger. 

The  plan  was  for  Jordan  to  study  the 
bridge  from  all  angles  and  then  to  make 
final  plans  for  its  destruction  at  the  proper 
moment.  Jordan  had  blown  up  many 
bridges  and  three  trains,  but  this  was  the 
first  time  that  everything  must  be  done  on 
a  split-second  schedule.  Pablo  and  Pilar 
were  to  assist  Jordan  in  any  way  they 
could,  even  to  rounding  up  other  bands 
of  guerrillas  if  Jordan  needed  them  to  ac 
complish  his  mission. 

At  the  cave  hideout  of  Pablo  and  Pilar, 
Jordan  met  a  beautiful  young  girl  named 
Maria,  who  had  escaped  from  the  Fas 
cists.  Maria  had  been  subjected  to  every 
possible  indignity  that  a  woman  could 
suffer.  She  had  been  starved  and  tortured 
and  raped,  and  she  felt  unclean.  At  the 
camp  Jordan  also  met  Anselmo,  a  loyal 
old  man  who  would  follow  orders  regard 
less  of  his  personal  safety.  Anselmo  hated 
having  to  till  but,  if  he  were  so  ordered, 
faithful  Anselmo  would  kill. 

Jordan  loved  the  brutally  shrewd,  des 
perate,  loyal  guerrillas,  for  he  knew  their 
cruelties  against  the  Fascists  stemmed 
from  poverty  and  ignorance.  But  the 
Fascists'  cruelty  he  abhored,  for  the 
Fascists  came  largely  from  the  wealthy, 
ambitious  people  of  Spain.  Maria's  story 
of  her  suffering  at  their  hands  filled  him 
with  such  hatred  that  he  could  have 
killed  a  thousand  of  them,  even  though 
he,  like  Anselmo,  hated  to  kill. 

The  first  night  he  spent  at  the  guerrilla 
camp  destroyed  his  cold  approach  to  the 
mission  before  him,  for  he  fell  deeply 
in  love  with  Maria.  She  came  to  his  sleep 
ing  bag  that  night,  and  although  they 
talked  but  little  he  knew  after  she  left 
that  he  was  no  longer  ready  to  die.  He 


told  Maria  that  one  day  they  would  be 
married,  but  he  was  afraid  of  the  future. 
And  fear  was  dangerous  for  a  man  on  an 
important  mission. 

Jordan  made  many  sketches  of  the1 
bridge  and  laid  his  plans  carefully.  There 
his  work  was  almost  ruined  by  Pablo's 
treachery.  On  the  night  before  the  blow 
ing  up  of  the  bridge  Pablo  deserted  after 
stealing  and  destroying  the  explosives  and 
the  detonators  hidden  in  Jordan's  pack. 
Pablo  returned,  repentant,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  mission,  but  the  damage  had 
been  done.  The  loss  of  the  detonators 
and  the  explosives  meant  that  Jordan  and 
his  helper  would  have  to  blow  the  bridge 
with  hand  grenades,  a  much  more  dan 
gerous  method.  Pablo  had  tried  to  redeem 
himself  by  bringing  with  him  another 
small  guerrilla  band  and  their  horses.  Al 
though  Jordan  despised  Pablo  by  that 
time,  he  forgave  him,  as  did  Pilar. 

At  the  bridge  Jordan  worked  quickly 
and  carefully.  Each  person  had  a  specific 
job  to  do,  and  each  did  his  work  well.  First 
Jordan  and  Anselmo  had  to  kill  the  sen 
tries,  a  job  Anselmo  hated.  Pablo  and 
his  guerrillas  attacked  the  Fascist  lines 
approaching  the  bridge,  to  prevent  their 
crossing  before  the  bridge  was  demol 
ished.  Jordan  had  been  ordered  to  blow 
up  the  bridge  at  the  beginning  of  a 
Loyalist  bombing  attack  over  the  Fascist 
lines.  When  he  heard  the  thudding  ex 
plosions  of  the  bombs,  he  pulled  the  pins 
and  the  bridge  shot  high  into  the  air. 
Jordan  got  to  cover  safely,  but  Anselmo 
was  killed  by  a  steel  fragment  from  the 
bridge.  As  Jordan  looked  at  the  old  man 
and  realized  that  he  might  be  alive  if 
Pablo  had  not  stolen  the  detonators,  he 
wanted  to  kill  Pablo.  But  he  knew  that 
his  duty  was  otherwise,  and  he  ran  to 
the  designated  meeting  place  of  the  fugi 
tive  guerrillas. 

There  he  found  Pablo,  Pilar,  Maria, 
and  the  two  remaining  gipsy  partisans. 
Pablo,  herding  the  extra  horses,  said  that 
all  the  other  guerrillas  had  been  killed, 
Jordan  knew  that  Pablo  had  ruthlessly 
killed  the  other  men  so  that  he  could  get 


283 


dieir  horses.  When  he  confronted  Pablo 
with  this  knowledge,  Pablo  admitted  the 
slaughter,  but  shrugged  his  great  shoul 
ders  and  said  that  the  men  had  not  been 
of  his  band. 

The  problem  now  was  to  cross  a  road 
which  could  be  swept  by  Fascist  gun 
fire,  the  road  that  led  to  safety.  Jordan 
knew  that  the  first  two  people  would 
have  the  best  chance,  since  probably  they 
could  cross  before  the  Fascists  were  alert 
ed.  Because  Pablo  knew  the  road  to 
safety,  Jordan  put  him  on  the  first  horse. 
Maria  was  second,  for  Jordan  was  deter 
mined  that  she  should  be  saved  before 
the  others.  Pilar  was  to  go  next,  then  the 
two  remaining  guerrillas,  and  last  of  all 
Jordan.  The  first  four  crossed  safely,  but 
Jordan's  horse,  wounded  by  Fascist  bul 
lets,  fell  on  Jordan's  leg.  The  others 
dragged  him  across  the  road  and  out  of 
the  line  of  fire,  but  he  knew  that  he 
could  not  go  on;  he  was  too  badly  injured 
to  ride  a  horse.  Pablo  and  Pilar  under 
stood,  but  Maria  begged  to  stay  with 
him.  Jordan  told  Pilar  to  take  Maria  away 


when  he  gave  the  signal,  and  then  he 
talked  to  the  girl  he  loved  so  much.  He 
told  her  that  she  must  go  on,  that  as 
long  as  she  lived,  he  lived  also.  But  when 
the  time  came,  she  had  to  be  put  on  her 
horse  and  led  away. 

Jordan,  settling  down  to  wait  for  the 
approaching  Fascist  troops,  propped  him 
self  against  a  tree,  with  his  submachine 
gun  across  his  knees.  As  he  waited,  he 
thought  over  the  events  that  had  brought 
him  to  that  place.  He  knew  that  what 
he  had  done  was  right,  but  that  his  side 
might  not  win  for  many  years.  But  he 
knew,  too,  that  if  the  common  people 
kept  trying,  kept  dying,  someday  they 
would  win.  He  hoped  they  would  be 
prepared  when  that  day  came,  that  they 
would  no  longer  want  to  kill  and  torture, 
but  would  struggle  for  peace  and  for 
good  as  they  were  now  struggling  for 
freedom.  He  felt  at  the  end  that  his  own 
part  in  the  struggle  had  not  been  in  vain. 
As  he  saw  the  first  Fascist  officer  ap 
proaching,  Robert  Jordan  smiled.  He  was 
ready. 


THE  FORSYTE  SAGA 

Type  of  -work;   Novel 
Author:    John  Galsworthy  (1867-19333 
Type  of  flat:    Social  chronicle 
Time  of  plot:   1886-1920 
Locale:    England 

First  published:    1906,   1920,   J921 
Principal  characters: 

SOAMES  FORSYTE,  a  man  of  property 

IRENE,  his  wife 

OLD  JOLYON  FORSYTE,  his  uncle 

YOUNG  JOLYON,  Old  Jolyon's  son 

JUNE,  Young  Jolyon's  daughter 

PHILIP  BOSINNEY,  an  architect  engaged  to  June 

ANNETTE,  Soames'  second  wife 

FtFtm,  their  daughter 

JON,  Irene's  and  Young  Jolyon's  son 

WINIFRED  DARTIE,  Soames   sister;  Monty  Dartie's  wife 
Critique: 

Galsworthy's  trilogy  —  The  Man  of 
Property,  In  Chancery,  To  Let — concerns 
an  Tapper  middle -class  English  family 
and  traces,  through  the  story  of  a  group 


of  related  characters,  the  changing  aspects 
of  manners  and  morals  from  the  Vic 
torian  age  to  the  period  between  wars. 
In  his  preface  John  Galsworthy  points 


o!, 
t,  1922,  by  Charle 


by  John  Galsworthy.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribiier'*  Sons.    Copy- 
icribtter'a  Sons.  *' 


284 


to  the  general  theme  of  the  series — the 
disturbance  that  Beauty  creates  in  the 
lives  of  men,  as  exemplified  by  the  story 
of  Irene,  The  Forsyte  Saga  achieves  a 
high  point  of  excellence  as  social  history 
and  art. 

The  Story: 

In  1886  all  the  Forsytes  gathered  at 
Old  Jolyon  Forsyte's  house  to  celebrate 
the  engagement  of  his  granddaughter, 
June,  to  Philip  Bosinney,  a  young  archi 
tect.  Young  Jolyon  Forsyte,  June's  father, 
was  estranged  from  his  family  because 
he  had  run  away  with  a  governess,  whom 
he  had  married  after  June's  mother  died. 

Old  Jolyon  complained  that  he  saw 
little  of  June.  Lonely,  he  called  on 
Young  Jolyon,  whom  he  had  not  seen 
in  many  years.  He  found  his  son  work 
ing  as  an  underwriter  for  Lloyd's  and 
painting  water-colors.  By  his  second  wife 
he  had  two  children,  Holly  and  Jolly. 

The  family  knew  that  Soames  had 
been  having  trouble  with  his  lovely  wife, 
Irene.  She  had  a  profound  aversion  for 
Soames,  and  had  recently  reminded  him 
of  her  premarital  stipulation  that  she 
should  have  her  freedom  if  the  marriage 
were  not  a  success.  In  his  efforts  to 
please  her,  Soames  planned  to  build  a 
large  country  place.  Deciding  that  June's 
fiance*  would  be  a  good  choice  for  an 
architect,  he  bought  an  estate  at  Robin 
Hill  and  hired  Bosinney  to  build  the 
house. 

When  Soames  made  suggestions  about 
the  plans,  Bosinney  appeared  offended, 
and  in  the  end  the  plans  were  drawn  as 
Bosinney  wished.  As  the  work  proceeded, 
Soames  and  Bosinney  argued  over  costs 
that  exceeded  the  original  estimate. 

One  day  Swithin  Forsyte,  Soames* 
uncle,  took  Irene  to  see  the  house.  Bosin 
ney  met  them,  and  while  Swithin  dozed 
the  architect  talked  to  Irene  alone.  That 
day  Irene  and  Bosinney  fell  hopelessly 
in  love  with  one  another.  Irene's  al 
ready  unbearable  life  with  Soames  be 
came  impossible.  She  asked  for  a  separate 


room. 


There  were  new  troubles  over  the 
house.  Bosinney  had  agreed  to  decorate 
it,  but  only  if  he  could  have  a  free  hand. 
Soames  finally  agreed.  Irene  and  Bosin 
ney  began  to  meet  secretly.  As  their 
affair  progressed,  June  became  more  un 
happy  and  self-centered.  Finally  Old 
Jolyon  took  June  away  for  a  holiday.  He 
wrote  to  Young  Jolyon,  asking  him  to 
see  Bosinney  and  learn  his  intentions 
toward  June.  Young  Jolyon  talked  to 
Bosinney,  but  the  report  he  made  to 
his  father  was  vague. 

When  the  house  was  completed, 
Soames  sued  Bosinney  for  exceeding  his 
highest  estimate  and  Irene  refused  to 
move  to  Robin  Hill.  When  the  lawsuit 
over  the  house  came  to  trial,  Soames  won 
his  case  without  difficulty.  That  same 
night  Bosinney,  after  spending  the  after 
noon  with  Irene  and  learning  that  Soames 
had  forced  himself  on  her,  was  acciden 
tally  run  over,  Irene  left  her  husband  on 
the  day  of  the  trial,  but  that  night  she 
returned  to  his  house  because  there  was 
now  no  place  else  for  her  to  go.  June 
persuaded  her  grandfather  to  buy  Robin 
Hill  for  Jolyon's  family. 

A  short  time  after  Bosinney's  death 
Irene  left  Soames  permanently,  settled  in 
a  small  flat,  and  gave  music  lessons  to 
support  herself.  Several  years  later  she 
visited  Robin  Hill  secretly  and  there  met 
Old  Jolyon.  She  won  him  by  her  gende- 
ness  and  charm,  and  during  that  summer 
she  made  his  days  happy  for  him.  Late 
in  the  summer  he  died  quietly  while 
waiting  for  her. 

After  his  separation  from  Irene,  Soames 
devoted  himself  to  making  money.  Then, 
still  hoping  to  have  an  heir,  he  began 
to  court  a  French  girl,  Annette  Lamotte. 
At  the  same  time  his  sister  Winifred  was 
in  difficulties.  Her  husband,  Monty 
Dartie,  stole  her  pearls  and  ran  away 
to  South  America  with  a  Spanish  dancer, 
When  he  decided  to  marry  Annette, 
Soames  went  to  Irene  to  see  if  she  would 
provide  grounds  for  his  suit.  He  found 
that  she  had  lived  a  model  life.  While 
visiting  her,  Soames  realized  that  he  stili 


285 


loved  her  and  he  tried  to  persuade  her 
to  come  back  to  him.  When  she  refused, 
he  hired  a  detective  to  get  the  evidence 
he  needed, 

Old  Jolyon  had  willed  a  legacy  to 
Irene,  with  Young  Jolyon,  now  a  widower, 
as  trustee.  When  Soames  annoyed  Irene, 
she  appealed  to  Young  Jolyon  for  pro 
tection.  Irene  went  to  Paris  to  avoid 
Soames  and  shortly  afterward  Young 
Jolyon  joined  her.  His  visit  was  cut 
short  by  Jolly,  who  announced  that  he 
had  joined  the  yeomanry  to  fight  in  the 
Boer  War.  Holly  had  in  the  meantime 
fallen  in  love  with  Val  Dartie,  her  cous 
in.  When  Val  proposed  to  Holly,  he 
was  overheard  by  Jolly,  who  dared  Val 
to  join  the  yeomanry  with  him.  Val 
accepted.  June  then  decided  to  become 
a  Red  Cross  nurse,  and  Holly  went  with 
her.  Monty  Dartie  reappeared  unex 
pectedly.  To  avoid  further  scandal,  Win 
ifred  decided  to  take  him  back. 

Soames  went  to  Paris  in  a  last  effort 
to  persuade  Irene.  Frightened,  Irene  re 
turned  to  Young  Jolyon.  Before  they 
became  lovers  in  deed,  they  were  pre 
sented  with  papers  by  Soames'  lawyer. 
They  decided  to  go  abroad  together.  Be 
fore  their  departure  Young  Jolyon  re 
ceived  word  that  Jolly  had  died  or  enteric 
fever  during  the  African  campaign.  Later 
Soames  secured  his  divorce  and  married 
Annette.  Val  married  Holly,  to  the  dis 
comfiture  of  both  branches  of  the  fam- 
ily. 

Irene  presented  Jolyon  with  a  son, 
Jon.  When  Annette  was  about  to  give 
birth  to  a  child,  Soames  had  to  choose 
between  saving  the  mother  or  the  child. 
Wishing  an  heir,  Soames  chose  to  save 
the  child.  Fortunately,  both  Annette  and 
the  baby  lived. 


Little  Jon  grew  up  under  the  adoring 
eyes  of  his  parents.  Fleur  grew  up  spoiled 
by  her  doting  father. 

Years  passed.  Monty  Dartie  was  dead. 
Val  and  Holly  were  training  race  horses. 
One  day  in  a  picture  gallery  Soames  im 
pulsively  invited  a  young  man,  Michael 
Mont,  to  see  his  collection  of  pictures. 
That  same  afternoon  he  saw  Irene  and 
her  son  Jon  for  the  first  time  in  twenty 
years.  By  chance  Fleur  and  Jon  met. 
Having  decided  that  he  wanted  to  try 
farming,  Jon  went  to  stay  with  Val 
Dartie.  Fleur  also  appeared  to  spend 
the  week  with  Holly.  Jon  and  Fleur 
fell  deeply  in  love. 

They  had  only  vague  ideas  regarding 
the  cause  of  the  feud  between  their 
respective  branches  of  the  family.  Later 
Fleur  learned  all  the  details  from  Prosper 
Profond,  with  whom  Annette  was  having 
an  affair,  and  from  Winifred  Dartie.  She 
was  still  determined  to  marry  Jon.  Mean 
while  Michael  Mont  had  Soamcs'  per 
mission  to  court  Fleur.  When  Soames 
heard  of  the  affair  between  Annette  and 
Prosper,  she  did  not  deny  it,  but  she 
promised  there  would  be  no  scandal. 

Fleur  tried  to  persuade  Jon  into  a 
hasty  marriage.  She  failed  because  Young 
Jolyon  reluctantly  gave  his  son  a  letter 
revealing  the  story  of  Soames  and  Irene, 
Reading  it,  Jon  realized  that  he  could 
never  marry  Fleur.  His  decision  became 
irrevocable  when  his  father  died.  He 
left  England  at  once  and  went  to  Amer 
ica,  where  Irene  joined  him.  Fleur, 
disappointed,  married  Michael  Mont. 

When  Timothy,  the  last  of  the  old 
Forsytes,  died,  Soames  realized  that  the 
Forsyte  age  had  passed.  Its  way  of  life 
was  like  an  empty  house — to  let,  He 
felt  lonely  and  old. 


FORTITUDE 


Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Hugh  Walpole  (1884-1941) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1913 


286 


Principal  characters: 

PETER  WESTCOTT,  a  young  writer 

STEPHEN  BRANT,  a  friend 

CLAKE,  Peter's  wife 

BOBBY  GALLEON,  a  student  at  Dawson's 

JERRY  CAKDILLAC  (CARDS},  another  student 

MR.  ZANTI,  a  bookseller 

NORA  MONOGUE,  Peter's  friend  and  adviser 


Critique: 

Hugh  Walpole's  novel  is  likely  to  at 
tract  readers  for  some  time  to  come  be 
cause  of  its  sympathetic  story.  As  the  title 
suggests,  the  author  points  to  the  fact 
that  life  is  not  a  simple  process  and  that 
fortitude  is  the  most  desirable  quality  for 
a  young  man  facing  life. 

The  Story: 

Peter  Westcott  lived  with  his  harsh 
father  and  his  invalid  mother  at  Scaw 
House,  near  the  town  of  Treliss  in  Corn 
wall,  As  he  grew  up,  Peter  made  friends 
with  Stephen  Brant,  a  farmer  who  oc 
casionally  took  the  child  to  the  Bending 
Mule  Inn.  One  Christmas  Eve,  at  the 
inn,  Peter  watched  Stephen  fighting  with 
another  man  over  a  girl.  That  night  he 
arrived  home  late  from  the  Bending  Mule 
and  his  father  gave  him  the  most  severe 
whipping  he  had  yet  received.  On  an 
other  day,  Stephen  took  him  to  the  curios 
ity  shop  operated  by  Zachary  Tan.  There 
Peter  was  introduced  to  a  jovial  Mr. 
Emilio  Zanti,  from  London,  who  treated 
the  boy  with  special  consideration.  At 
supper  that  night  Peter's  father  told  him 
that  he  was  to  go  off  to  school  in  Devon 
shire. 

The  next  phase  of  Peter's  life  revolved 
about  Dawson's  School,  where  his  best 
friends  were  Bobby  Galleon  and  Jerry 
Cardillac.  Bobby  was  the  son  of  a  famous 
writer.  Cardillac,  called  Cards,  was  Peter's 
idol;  he  was  everything  which  Peter 
would  have  liked  to  have  been,  and  was 
not.  After  Cards  left  at  the  end  of 
Peter's  second  year,  affairs  did  not  pro 
gress  so  smoothly  for  Peter.  One  day  he 
found  Jerard,  the  best  bowler  in  school, 
forcing  whiskey  down  the  throat  of  a 


small  boy.  Despite  the  fact  that  it  was 
the  eve  of  a  big  game  in  which  Jerrard's 
services  were  needed,  Peter,  in  his  capac 
ity  as  a  monitor,  turned  him  in  to  the 
authorities.  Jerrard  was  expelled,  and 
Dawson's  lost  the  game.  On  the  last  day 
of  the  term  the  whole  school  joined  in 
hissing  Peter  when  he  called  the  roll. 
Bobby  Galleon  was  the  single  exception. 

He  was  spared  the  indignity  of  re 
turning  to  Dawson's  when  the  school 
was  closed  after  the  summer  holidays  be 
cause  of  lack  of  funds.  His  father  then 
sent  Peter  to  read  law  in  the  office  of  Mr. 
Aitchinson  in  Treliss.  Meanwhile  Peter 
became  aware  of  his  mother.  She  had 
been  for  many  years  an  invalid  who  never 
left  her  room,  and  Peter  was  not  en 
couraged  to  visit  her.  One  day,  when  his 
father  was  away,  Peter  went  to  her  room. 
He  found  that  she  was  dying  as  the  result 
of  his  father's  cruel  and  harsh  attitude 
toward  her,  and  his  visit  hastened  her 
death.  A  short  time  after  her  funeral 
Peter  again  saw  Mr.  Zanti,  who  offered 
the  lad  a  job  in  his  bookshop  in  London. 
Peter,  finding  life  at  Scaw  House  intoler 
able,  decided  to  leave  home.  On  Easter 
morning  he  met  a  little  girl  who  gave  her 
name  as  Clare  Elizabeth  Rossiter.  Accord 
ing  to  his  plans,  Peter  left  home,  but  only 
after  fighting  with  his  father. 

In  London  Peter  worked  in  Mr.  Zanti's 
bookshop  as  an  assistant  to  Gottfried 
Hanz.  Mr.  Zanti  had  found  him  lodgings 
with  Mrs.  Brockett,  and  there  he  met 
Nora  Monogue,  who  encouraged  Peter 
when  he  began  to  write.  A  strange  aspect 
of  the  bookshop  was  the  great  number 
of  people  who  visited  it  without  buying 
any  books,  visitors  who  passed  mysterious- 


FORTITUDE  by  Hugh  Walpole.  By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  Sir  Hugh  Walpole,  and  of  the  pub 
lishers,  Messrs,  MacMillan  &  Co.,  London.  Copyright,  1913,  by  George  H.  Doran  Co.  Renewed,  1940,  by  Hugh 
Walpole. 

287 


ly  into  the  back  room  of  the  shop.  For 
seven  years  Peter  Westcott  worked  in 
Zanti's  shop  and  wrote  in  his  room  at 
Brockets.  In  November,  1895,  he  fin 
ished  his  first  novel,  Reuben  Hallard,  and 
began  to  look  for  a  publisher.  One  day 
he  again  met  Clare  Rossiter,  who  had 
come  to  call  on  Nora  Monogue.  Almost 
at  once  Peter  found  himself  falling  in 
love  with  her.  Meanwhile  strange  things 
had  been  happening  at  the  bookstore. 
When  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Schloss 
visited  London,  one  of  the  visitors  to 
the  shop  threw  a  bomb  at  Queen  Victoria 
as  the  royal  procession  passed.  Shortly 
afterward  Stephen  Brant  appeared  to  take 
Peter  away  from  the  shop.  They  found 
lodgings  in  the  slums  of  Bucket  Lane. 

Neither  of  the  two  was  able  to  find 
steady  employment.  When  Peter  became 
ill  from  lack  of  food,  Stephen  notified 
Peter's  friend  from  Dawson's,  Bobby  Gal 
leon,  whom  Peter  had  met  in  the  city. 
Peter  was  moved  to  his  friend's  house, 
where  Bobby  and  his  wife  nursed  him 
back  to  health.  In  a  short  time  Reuben 
Hallard  was  published.  It  was  an  im 
mediate  success,  and  Peter  Westcott  be 
came  known  in  literary  circles.  Thus  he 
met  Mrs.  Launce,  who  was  finally  instru 
mental  in  bringing  Peter  and  Clare  to 
gether.  After  they  were  married,  they 
took  a  house  in  Chelsea.  There  a  child 
was  born  to  Clare,  a  son  named  Stephen. 
But  the  marriage  was  not  a  success.  Clare 


disapproved  of  Stephen  and  Mr.  Zanti. 
Peter's  second  novel  brought  little  money. 
Back  to  London  came  Peter's  old  school 
friend,  Jerry  Cardillac,  and  Clare  became 
interested  in  him. 

The  final  blow  to  Peter's  happiness 
came  when  little  Stephen  died.  Peter 
blamed  Clare  for  the  child's  death.  A 
short  time  later  she  left  him  to  join 
Cardillac  in  France,  after  refusing  Peter's 
constant  offers  to  try  to  make  her  life  as 
she  wanted  it.  Then  Peter's  third  novel 
proved  a  failure.  He  decided  to  leave 
London  and  return  to  Scaw  House.  In 
Treliss  he  encountered  Nora  Monogue; 
she  had  been  sent  to  Cornwall  because 
she  could  live,  at  the  most,  only  a  few 
weeks.  At  Scaw  House  he  found  his 
father  sodden  in  drink  and  sharing  the 
musty  house  with  a  slatternly  housekeep 
er.  Peter  was  slipping  into  the  same 
useless  life.  But  Nora  Monogue  felt  that 
Peter,  now  thirty  years  old,  could  still 
be  a  successful  writer,  and  she  used  the 
last  of  her  rapidly  failing  strength  to  per 
suade  him  to  go  back  to  London.  As  a 
final  resort,  Nora  admitted  that  she  had 
always  loved  him,  and  her  dying  request 
was  that  he  leave  his  father  and  return 
to  London  to  start  writing  again.  So  Peter 
became  a  man,  realizing  for  the  first  time 
that  during  his  whole  life  his  attitude  had 
been  childish.  He  learned  fortitude  from 
the  dying  Nora,  and  he  became  the 
master  of  his  own  destiny. 


THE  FORTRESS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Hugh  Walpole  (1884-1941) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1932 

Principal  characters: 

JUDITH  PARTS,  Rogue  Herries'  daughter 
WALTER  MERRIES,  Judith's  cousin 
JENNIFER  HERRTES,  another  cousin 
ADAM  PARIS,  Judith's  son 
JOHN,  Jennifer's  son 
ELIZABETH,  Walter's  daughter 
UHLAND,  Walter's  son 
MARGARET,  Adam's  wife 


288 


Critique: 

The  Fortress  is  part  three  of  the  Her- 
ries  chronicle,  which  covers  more  than 
two  hundred  years  of  English  social  his 
tory.  The  present  work  portrays  the 
later  life  of  Judith  Paris  and  her  quarrel 
with  Walter,  The  scope  of  the  chronicle 
is  vast,  and  The  Fortress  alone  covers  a 
space  of  over  fifty  years  and  a  host  of 
people.  Although  at  times  The  Fortress 
stalls  among  the  multitude  of  characters 
and  their  gossip,  it  has  considerable  nar 
rative  power.  Walpole  must  be  con 
sidered  a  competent  popular  novelist. 

The  Story: 

The  quarrel  between  Walter  Herries 
of  Westaways  and  Jennifer  Herries,  his 
kinswoman  at  Fell  House,  went  back  a 
long  way.  Christabel,  Walter's  weak 
mother,  had  been  insulted  by  Jennifer 
over  the  breaking  of  a  fan  at  a  ball,  and 
Walter  never  forgot  the  slight  to  his 
proud,  snobbish  family.  He  resented 
also  the  presence  of  Judith  Paris  and  her 
illegitimate  son,  living  brazenly,  as  he 
thought,  at  Fell  House,  so  near  his  own 
fine  house,  Westaways.  By  one  method 
or  another  he  had  determined  to  drive  out 
the  whole  household.  And  he  might  have 
succeeded  had  it  not  been  for  Judith. 

Judith  accused  her  cousin  outright  of 
having  incited  a  riot  in  which  Reuben 
Sunwood,  another  kinsman,  had  been 
killed.  Admitting  the  charge,  Walter 
Herries  said  he  had  had  no  way  of  fore 
seeing  Reuben's  death.  He  proposed  that 
Jennifer  and  Judith  should  sell  him  Fell 
House  at  a  fair  price  and  move  away. 
If  they  did  not,  Walter  would  persecute 
them  until  they  would  be  glad  to  leave. 
When  Judith  refused,  Walter  bought 
Ireby,  a  high  hill  overlooking  Fell  House. 
There  he  planned  to  build  a  huge  man 
sion  to  dwarf  Jennifer's  modest  home  and 
he  would  be  there  always  to  spy  on  the 
people  of  Fell  House  and  hurt  them.  He 
also  reminded  Judith  of  Francis,  Jen 
nifer's  husband,  who  had  committed  sui 
cide.  Walter  had  exposed  Jennifer's  lover 


to  him,  and  the  coward  had  shot  himseli 
rather  than  the  man  who  had  defiled  his 
home.  But  Judith  defied  Walter's  angry 
boasts  of  his  power  and  cunning. 

At  Fell  House  she  took  complete 
charge  and  Jennifer  thankfully  let  her 
assume  management  of  the  household. 
Since  she  was  firm  and  headstrong,  they 
did  not  give  in  to  Walter  even  when  he 
poisoned  their  cows. 

Uhland  and  Elizabeth  were  Walter's 
children.  The  girl  was  beautiful  and 
kind,  but  Uhland  was  his  father's  pride. 
The  son  was  lame  and  pampered.  At  an 
early  age  he  shared  his  father's  hatred 
of  Judith  and  her  close  kin.  One  day 
as  he  walked  in  the  woods  he  saw  his 
sister  Elizabeth  and  John,  Jennifer's  son, 
together.  He  ordered  his  sister  to  see  no 
more  of  John.  But  Elizabeth,  who  had 
a  mind  of  her  own,  refused,  knowing  that 
her  brother  could  never  bring  himself  to 
tell  his  father.  Uhland  himself,  lame 
and  pale,  was  much  attracted  to  robust 
Adam  Paris,  Judith's  son. 

As  Adam  Paris  grew  up  into  a  strong, 
rebellious  boy,  he  soon  learned  that  he 
was  illegitimate  and  that  his  aunt  had 
taken  a  lover.  The  knowledge  made  him 
resentful  of  all  restraint  and  only  by  the 
grace  of  the  family  name  was  he  allowed 
to  remain  at  Rugby. 

When  Walter  really  began  to  build  on 
Ireby  hill,  the  countryfolk  named  his 
great  mansion  The  Fortress.  Walter  had 
carried  out  his  threat  to  dwarf  the  house 
of  Judith  and  to  spy  on  her  people.  Jen 
nifer  was  greatly  disturbed.  Her  fear  of 
Walter  made  her  go  every  day  to  Ireby 
and  survey  the  progress  made.  Finally 
the  strain  was  too  much  to  bear;  Jennifer 
died  quietly  from  sheer  apprehension. 

When  Walter's  family  moved  into  The 
Fortress  they  gave  a  big  reception,  but 
even  the  crowds  and  the  huge  fires  could 
not  warm  the  great  stone  house.  Eliz 
abeth,  especially,  was  unhappy  in  the 
gloomy,  rambling  mansion.  She  and  John 
had  agreed  not  to  see  each  other  any 


THE  FORTRESS  by  Hugh  Walpole.    By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  Sir  Hugh  Walpole,  and  of  the 
publishers,  Messrs.  MacMillan  &  Co.,  London.   Copyright,  1932,  by  Doubleday.  Doran  &  Co,,  Ttxc 


289 


more,  as  marriage  seemed  an  impossibility 
while  their  families  were  enemies.  Con 
sequently,  when  she  was  invited  to  visit 
her  Herries  cousins  in  London,  she  ac 
cepted  gratefully.  But  once  in  fine  soci 
ety,  she  was  troubled.  She  felt  lonely  and 
left  out.  Mr.  Temple,  a  fat  lawyer,  pur 
sued  her  vigorously, 

Uhland  followed  his  sister  to  London. 
When  he  saw  that  Elizabeth  could  marry 
the  rich  and  eligible  Mr.  Temple,  he 
fiercely  urged  the  match.  Elizabeth  felt 
more  than  ever  estranged  from  her  family, 
and  when  her  father  wrote  and  com 
manded  the  marriage,  Elizabeth  promptly 
and  vehemently  refused  Mr.  Temple's 
awkward  proposal.  Enlisting  the  help  of 
a  friendly  maid,  she  stole  out  of  the 
Herries  house  and  took  a  job  as  governess 
with  a  family  named  Golightly. 

In  her  new  position  Elizabeth  had  little 
to  do.  Her  employers,  however,  were 
common,  noisy  people  and  she  soon  began 
to  detest  her  place  with  them.  Then  her 
ridiculous  employer,  old  enough  to  be  her 
father,  declared  his  love  for  her  and  his 
resolution  to  leave  his  wife.  Terrified, 
Elizabeth  wrote  an  appeal  to  John.  For 
getting  their  families'  enmity,  John  and 
Elizabeth  were  quietly  married. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  Adam  Paris 
decided  to  leave  Fell  House.  He  had 
been  threatening  to  go  away  for  five 
years,  but  each  time  his  mother  had  put 
him  off. 

In  London  Adam  found  only  tempo 
rary  employment,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
he  was  hungry  and  penniless.  Taken  in 
by  chance  by  the  Kraft  family,  he  soon 
joined  the  Chartist  movement.  In  that 
struggle  Caesar  Kraft  became  Adam's 
guide  and  Kraft's  daughter,  Margaret,  of 
fered  Adam  sympathy  and  finally  love. 

The  1840's  were  stirring  times  in 
England.  Widespread  unemployment, 
poverty,  and  child  labor  made  reform 
necessary.  The  Chartists,  helped  by 
Adam  and  many  others,  planned  their 
big  procession  to  Parliament  Caesar 
Kraft  was  a  moderate  man,  and  at  a 
Chartist  meeting  he  counseled  patience. 


When  the  procession  was  broken  up,  the 
hotheads  blamed  him  for  their  failure, 
and  in  the  riot  that  followed  Kraft  was 
clubbed  to  death. 

Adam  and  Margaret  were  married 
shortly  afterward.  Adam's  small  skill  at 
editing  and  hack  writing  kept  them  going 
in  a  tiny  apartment.  On  their  visits  to 
Fell  House,  Margaret  was  very  unhappy. 
She  saw  her  husband  engulfed  by  his 
mother's  love  and  herself  an  outsider. 
When  she  broke  down  one  night  and 
wept,  Adam  began  to  understand  her 
feelings  and  desires.  From  that  time 
on  Judith  took  second  place  with  him, 
even  after  they  moved  to  Fell  House  to 
stay. 

In  London  John  Herries  did  well,  and 
as  a  parliamentary  secretary  his  future 
seemed  bright.  But  Uhland  was  madly 
determined  to  make  John  pay  for  having 
the  impertinence  to  marry  his  sister. 
Everywhere  John  went  he  knew  Uhland 
was  dogging  his  path.  John  was  not 
exactly  afraid,  but  contact  with  Uhland 
left  him  powerless  before  that  great 
hatred. 

In  a  desperate  attempt  to  shake  off 
his  incubus,  John  met  Uhland  in  a 
deserted  country  house.  There  he 
suddenly  lost  his  terror  of  His  tormentor 
and  jumped  up,  daring  Uhland  to  follow 
him  any  more.  In  a  mad  rage  Uhland 
seized  his  gun  and  shot  John  and  then 
killed  himself.  So  Elizabeth  was  left 
with  Benjie,  her  small  son.  Walter's  hate 
had  borne  its  final,  bitter  fruit. 

In  The  Fortress  Walter  lived  out  his 
drunken  old  age  with  a  gaudy  house 
keeper.  Steadfastly  he  refused  to  answer 
Elizabeth's  letters  or  to  let  her  call. 
Finally,  when  she  was  over  sixty,  Eliza 
beth  heard  that  her  father  was  seriously 
ill.  She  stormed  The  Fortress,  sent  the 
blowzy  housekeeper  packing,  and  nursed 
the  old  drunkard  back  to  health.  So 
successful  was  she  with  the  chastened 
old  man  that  on  Judith's  hundredth  birth 
day  Elizabeth  brought  her  father  with 
her  as  a  guest  to  Fell  House. 


290 


THE  FORTY  DAYS  OF  MUSA  DAGH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Franz  Werfel  (1890-1945) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  1915 

Locale:  Near  Antioch,  Syria 

First  published:  1934 

Principal  characters: 

GABRIEL  BAGEADIAN,  an  Armenian  patriot 

JULIETTE  BAGRADIAN,  his  wife 

STEPHAN  BAGRADIAN,  their  son 

TER  HAIGASUN,  Armenian  priest  of  the  village  of  Yoghonoliik 

Critique: 

The  triumphant  defense  of  the  strong 
hold  of  Musa  Dagh  by  a  small  band  of 
Armenians  is  a  moving  story  in  itself. 
It  can  only  be  added  that  Franz  Werfel 
has,  with  beautiful  restraint,  given  this 
narrative  of  sacrifice  and  devotion  a  uni 
versal  meaning. 


The  Story: 

After  twenty-three  years  spent  in  Paris, 
Gabriel  Bagradian  returned  with  his 
wife  and  child  to  his  ancestral  village  of 
Yoghonoluk.  He  had  gone  back  to 
Turkey  in  order  to  settle  the  affairs  of  his 
dying  brother,  and  after  his  death  Gabriel 
stayed  on  in  the  village  to  await  the 
end  of  European  hostilities. 

One  Sunday  his  son's  tutor  told  him 
officials  had  been  through  the  village 
collecting  all  passports.  To  learn  what 
had  happened,  Bagradian  saddled  a  horse 
and  started  for  Antioch.  There  the  Kai- 
makam,  or  governor,  gave  only  evasive  an 
swers  about  the  passport  incident.  Later, 
in  a  Turkish  bath,  Bagradian  heard  that 
the  Turkish  war  minister  had  ordered  all 
Armenians  disarmed  and  given  menial 
work.  From  his  Mohammedan  friend, 
Agha  Rifaat  Bereket,  Bagradian  learned 
that  rich  and  prominent  Armenians 
would  soon  be  persecuted. 

Gabriel  was  worried.  On  his  return 
to  Yoghonoluk  he  began  to  collect  data 
on  the  number  of  men  of  fighting  age  in 
the  vicinity.  Ter  Haigasun,  the  Gre 
gorian  priest,  told  him  one  day  that  there 


had  been  a  mass  arrest  in  Antioch 
Bagradian  began  a  survey  of  Musa  Dagh, 
a  mountain  which  lay  between  the 
Armenian  villages  and  the  Mediter 
ranean  Sea.  After  having  maps  drawn 
of  the  terrain,  Bagradian  knew  that  the 
plateau  with  its  natural  fortifications  of 
fered  a  refuge  for  his  people. 

One  day  a  friendly  Turkish  police 
man  confided  to  Bagradian  that  in  three 
days  the  village  would  be  ordered  to  pre 
pare  for  its  trip  into  exile.  Bagradian 
called  a  meeting  of  the  people.  The 
Protestant  pastor,  Nokhudian,  and  his 
congregation  voted  to  accept  banishment, 
the  rest  of  the  population  to  defend 
Musa  Dagh.  Ter  Haigasun  was  elected 
leader.  The  next  morning  the  young 
men  under  Bagradian's  directions  began 
the  construction  of  trenches  and  other 
defenses  on  Musa  Dagh,  and  at  night 
the  people  carried  provisions  up  the 
mountain.  Unfortunately  there  were  not 
enough  rifles  to  go  around  and  very  little 
ammunition,  but  the  men  of  the  village 
were  augmented  by  army  deserters  who 
drifted  in  from  the  desert  until  there 
were  sixty  armed  men  in  the  community. 
On  the  third  day  the  convoy  escort  ar 
rived.  The  village  pretended  to  busy 
itself  with  preparations  for  the  trip,  but 
that  night  everyone  but  Pastor  Nok- 
hudian's  flock  secretly  departed  for  Musa 
Dagh. 

It  took  five  days  for  the  Turks  to  dis 
cover  Bagradian's  mountain  retreat,  for 


THE  FORTY  DAYS  OF  MUSA  DAGH  by  Franz  Werfel.   Translated  by  Geoffrey  Dunlop.   By  permission  of  the 
publishers,  The  Viking  Press  Inc.   Copyright,  1934,  by  The  Viking  Press  Inc. 


291 


the  woods  were  so  thick  and  the  trenches 
dug  so  cleverly  that  the  encampment 
was  not  visible  from  below.  During 
that  time  the  trenches  were  completed, 
posts  assigned,  and  patterns  for  daily 
living  laid  down.  Everyone  was  given  a 
task,  and  the  food  of  the  community  was 
held  in  common  so  that  all  might  be 
treated  fairly. 

The  first  sortie  ended  in  a  victory  for 
the  holders  of  Musa  Dagh.  The  four 
hundred  regulars  and  gendarmes  who 
boldly  attacked,  not  even  seeking  cover, 
were  quickly  routed  and  substantial 
booty  or  badly  needed  ammunition,  boots, 
and  uniforms  was  recovered.  The  second 
attack  came  several  days  later.  Turkish 
howitzers  managed  to  do  considerable 
damage,  wounding  six  non-combatants  in 
the  town  enclosure  and  setting  the  grain 
depot  on  fire.  Sarkis  Kilikian,  com 
mander  of  the  south  bastion,  rigged  up  a 
catapult  to  hurl  stones  at  the  attackers. 
These  in  turn  caused  a  landslide  which 
killed  or  maimed  half  the  Turkish  force. 
Young  Stephan  Bagradian  and  his  friend, 
Haik,  raided  the  Turkish  gun  emplace 
ments.  Sixteen  of  the  defenders  were 
killed. 

Three  days  later  there  were  again  signs 
of  activity  in  the  valley.  The  Kaimakam 
had  imported  families  of  Arabs  to  take 
over  the  Armenian  houses  and  farms.  On 
Musa  Dagh  a  Greek-American  adven 
turer,  Gonzague  Maris,  who  had  fled 
with  the  Armenians  and  who  had  since 
seduced  Juliette  Bagradian,  tried  to  per 
suade  her  to  flee  with  him  under  the 
protection  his  passport  afforded.  She  was 
undecided.  Bagradian  and  his  wife  had 
grown  apart  in  those  troubled  times.  He 
was  burdened  with  military  duties,  and 
she  seemed  indifferent  to  his  fate.  Bagra 
dian  found  his  only  companionship  in 
Iskuhi,  a  refugee  from  Zeitun. 

The  next  attack  was  carried  out  by 
two  thousand  trained  Turkish  soldiers. 
In  fierce  fighting  they  captured  the  first 
line  of  trenches  below  the  southern  bas 
tion.  That  night  Bagradian  had  his  troops 
counterattack  and  the  trenches  were  re 


taken.  The  defenders  also  set  a  fire  which 
raced  down  the  mountain,  driving  the 
Turks  into  the  valley.  Musa  Dagh  was 
again  saved. 

Gonzague  Maris  begged  Juliette  sev 
eral  times  to  go  away  with  him,  but  she 
did  not  have  the  courage  to  tell  her 
husband  she  was  leaving  him.  Then 
Bagradian  discovered  the  lovers  together 
and  took  his  wife  off,  half-unconscious, 
to  her  tent.  She  was  seriously  ill  with 
fever.  The  Greek  disappeared  of  his  own 
accord. 

That  same  night  Stephan  Bagradian 
left  Musa  Dagh,  without  permission,  to 
accompany  his  friend  Haik,  who  was 
being  sent  to  the  American  consul  in 
Aleppo  to  ask  for  intervention  on  behalf 
of  his  people.  Haik  made  his  way  safely 
to  Aleppo,  but  Stephan  developed  a  fever 
and  had  to  start  back  to  the  mountain. 
On  the  way,  the  Turks  captured  and 
killed  him.  His  body  was  thrown  into 
the  cemetery  yard  in  Yoghonoluk  where 
it  was  found  by  some  old  women  who 
took  it  to  his  father.  The  last  of  the 
Bagradians  was  buried  on  Musa  Dagh. 

The  next  day  flocks  grazing  beyond 
the  fortifications  were  captured  by  the 
Turks.  There  was  now  only  enough  food 
to  last  three  or  four  days  more. 

On  the  fortieth  day  on  Musa  Dagh 
the  people  were  suffering.  It  was  their 
third  day  of  famine.  Gabriel  had  planned 
one  last  desperate  attack  for  that  night, 
an  attempt  to  reach  the  valley  with  his 
men,  capture  some  high  officials  as  hos 
tages,  and  return  to  the  mountain.  But 
that  afternoon,  as  Ter  Hnigasun  held  a 
service  to  petition  God  for  help,  Sarkis 
Kilikian  and  his  deserters  broke  into  the 
town  enclosure  to  steal  ammunition  and 
food.  They  fled,  setting  fire  to  the  build 
ings  to  cover  their  escape.  The  Turks 
took  advantage  of  their  desertion  to 
capture  the  south  bastion.  The  next 
day  they  would  capture  the  plateau. 

Kilikian  was  brought  back  by  deserters 
who  felt  it  would  be  better  to  die  with 
their  own  people  than  to  be  captured  by 
the  Turks.  He  was  put  to  death. 


292 


As  the  Turks  prepared  to  advance  at 
dawn,  a  French  cruiser  dropped  its  first 
shell  into  the  valley.  Its  commander 
had  seen  the  fire  in  the  town  enclosure 
the  day  before.  Approaching  to  investi 
gate,  he  had  seen  the  enormous  flag  the 
Armenians  were  using  as  a  distress  signal. 
The  Turks  retreated  into  the  valley. 
Bagradian  led  the  weary  defenders  to 
the  coast  and  saw  them  safely  aboard  a 
cruiser  and  a  troopship.  Then  he  started 
back  up  the  mountain  for  a  last  view  of 


his  son's  grave.  Exhausted  by  his  ordeal^ 
he  fell  asleep  halfway  up  the  mountain 
side.  When  he  awoke,  the  ships  were 
already  standing  out  at  sea.  He  started 
to  signal  them  but  changed  his  mind.  He 
felt  that  his  life  was  now  complete.  Up 
he  climbed  until  he  reached  his  son's 
grave.  There  a  bullet  from  a  Turkish 
scout  caught  him  in  the  temple.  On 
his  son's  grave  he  lay,  Stephan's  cross 
on  his  heart. 


FRAMLEY  PARSONAGE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Anthony  Trollope  (1815-1882) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1850's 

Locale:  "Barsetshire"  and  London 

First  published:  1861 

Principal  characters: 

MARK  ROBARTS,  vicar  of  Framley  in  Barsetshire 

FANNY,  his  wife 

LUCY,  his  sister 

LADY  LUFTON,  mistress  of  Framley  Court,  Mark's  benefactress 

LORD  LUFTON,  her  son,  Mark's  close  friend 

So  WERE  Y,  squire  of  Chaldicotes,  acquaintance  of  Lord  Lufton  and  Mark 

Miss  DUNSTABLE,  Sowerby's  benefactress 

DR.  THORNE,  the  man  she  married 

Critique: 

This  novel  is  one  of  the  long,  leisurely 
Barchester  series.  It  contains  no  great 
moral  theme,  but  it  does  present  some 
delightful  portraits  of  ecclesiastical  char 
acters  and  other  nineteenth-century 
figures.  It  is  marked  by  slowly  paced 
development  of  plot  and  by  conversational 
interruptions  from  the  author.  Without 
stepping  over  into  sentimentality,  but 
rather  maintaining  a  wise,  ironical  tone, 
the  novel  provides  pleasant,  heart-warm 
ing  entertainment. 


The  Story: 

Mark  Robarts  was  the  vicar  of  Fram 
ley,  an  appointment  secured  through 
Lady  Lufton  of  Framley,  who  was  very 
fond  of  him.  He  was  ambitious,  how 
ever,  and  he  went  to  a  house  party  at 
Chaldicotes,  the  estate  of  Mr.  Sowerby, 
of  whom  Lady  Lufton  disapproved. 


Sowerby  was  notorious  for  living  on  other 
people's  money,  for  he  had  long  since 
run  through  his  own  fortune.  While 
Mark  was  visiting  him,  Sowerby  played 
on  the  vicar's  sympathy  to  such  an  extent 
that  Mark  signed  his  name  to  a  note  for 
four  hundred  pounds.  From  Chaldicotes 
Mark  went  to  another  house  party  at 
Gatherum  Castle,  home  of  the  Duke  of 
Omnium.  The  Duke  of  Omnium  was 
also  an  enemy  of  Lady  Lufton.  Mark 
felt  the  contacts  he  would  make  at  these 
parties  would  help  him  in  climbing 
higher  in  his  career. 

When  Mark  returned  home,  he  told 
Lord  Lufton  he  had  signed  a  note  for 
Sowerby.  Young  Lufton  could  hardly 
believe  a  man  of  Mark's  position  would 
do  such  a  thing,  for  Mark  could  not 
afford  to  pay  the  note  and  certainly  he 
would  never  recover  the  money  from 


293 


Sowerby,  Before  Mark  told  his  wife, 
Fanny,  about  the  debt  he  had  incurred, 
his  fatter  died  and  his  sister  Lucy  came 
to  live  at  Framley  parsonage.  During 
the  next  three  months  Lucy  and  Lord 
Lufton  became  very  friendly.  Lucy  was 
a  small  girl  without  striking  beauty,  and 
inclined  to  be  quiet,  but  when  she  was 
with  Lord  Lufton,  she  found  herself 
talking  with  great  ease. 

When  Sowerby's  note  came  due,  he 
asked  Mark  to  sign  another  for  five 
hundred  pounds,  a  sum  which  would 
cover  the  first  note  and  allow  an  ad 
ditional  hundred  pounds  for  extras.  Mark 
saw  the  treachery  of  Sowerby's  scheme, 
but,  unable  to  pay  the  note  due,  he 
was  forced  to  sign. 

Lady  Lufton  hinted  to  Fanny  that  she 
hoped  to  find  a  better  match  than  Lucy 
for  her  son,  but  by  this  time  the  two 
young  people  had  fallen  in  love  with 
each  other,  Disturbed  also  by  Mark's 
attentions  to  the  Chaldicotes  set,  Lady 
Lufton  sent  Mr.  Crawley,  a  strait-laced 
clergyman  from  the  nearby  austere  parish 
of  Hogglestock,  to  remonstrate  with 
Mark,  After  his  visit  Mark  resolved  to 
act  more  in  accordance  with  Lady  Luf- 
ton's  wishes. 

One  day  Lord  Lufton  declared  his  love 
for  Lucy  and  asked  her  to  marry  him, 
Lucy,  mindful  of  Lady  Luf ton's  feelings, 
said  she  could  not  love  him.  Lufton 
was  full  of  disappointment  and  grief. 

Sowerby  informed  Mark  that  the  new 
prime  minister  had  it  in  his  power  to 
appoint  the  new  precentor  at  Barchester 
Cathedral,  Through  Sowerby's  influence, 
Mark  received  the  appointment.  He 
bought  a  race  horse  from  Sowerby  to 
show  his  gratitude. 

Sowerby,  greatly  in  debt  to  the  Duke 
of  Omnium,  was  about  to  lose  his  estate. 
Sowerby's  sister,  Mrs.  Harold  Smith, 
was  a  close  friend  of  Miss  Dunstable,  a 
middle-aged  spinster  whose  father  had 
left  her  a  fortune  made  in  patent  medi 
cine.  Mr«,  Smith  suggested  that  Sowerby 
ask  Miss  Dunstable  to  marry  him  and  to 
say  frankly  that  he  wanted  her  chiefly 


for  her  money,  since  Miss  Dunstable  her 
self  was  a  forthright,  outspoken  woman. 
Sowerby  sent  his  sister  to  propose  for 
him.  Although  Miss  Dunstable  refused 
his  proposal,  she  agreed  to  buy  Chaldi 
cotes  and  let  Sowerby  live  in  the  house 
for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  She  said 
she  would  marry  only  a  man  who  was  not 
interested  in  her  money. 

That  man,  she  thought,  was  Dr. 
Thome,  a  bachelor  physician  from  Bar- 
setshire.  She  had  informed  Dr.  Thome's 
niece  of  her  admiration  for  him  and  the 
niece  had  tried  to  show  her  uncle  how 
wonderful  life  would  be  with  Miss  Dun- 
stable.  He  was  shocked  at  the  idea  of 
proposing.  Though  Miss  Dunstable 
talked  to  him  alone  at  a  party  she  gave 
in  London,  Dr,  Thome  said  nothing  at 
all  about  marriage.  Back  home,  he  de 
cided  that  Miss  Dunstable  would,  after 
all,  make  an  admirable  wife.  He  wrote 
her  a  letter  of  proposal  and  was  accepted. 

Lord  Lufton  went  to  Norway  on  a 
fishing  trip.  While  he  was  away,  Mrs. 
Crawley  became  ill  of  typhoid  fever  at 
Plogglestock,  and  Lucy  went  to  nurse  her 
through  her  sickness.  The  Crawley  chil 
dren  were  taken  to  Framley  parsonage 
against  Crawley's  will,  for  lie  felt  they 
might  become  accustomed  to  comforts 
he  could  not  afford. 

Sowerby's  second  note  was  coming  due. 
Mark  could  consider  no  plan  to  get  him 
out  of  his  difficulty.  If  he  had  to  go  to 
jail,  he  would  go.  If  he  had  to  forfeit 
the  furniture  in  his  house,  he  would 
forfeit  it.  But  under  no  circumstances 
would  he  ever  put  his  name  to  another 
note. 

Lord  Lufton  returned  from  Norway 
and  learned  from  his  mother  that  she 
thought  Lucy  insignificant.  When  he 
heard  Lucy  was  at  Holies  rock,  he  went 
there  and  again  asked  her  to  marry  him. 
She  replied  that  she  did  indeed  love  him 
but  she  would  not  marry  him  unless  his 
mother  approved.  At  first  Lady  Lufton 
refused  to  consider  the  match,  but  when 
she  saw  how  determined  her  son  was  to 
have  Lucy,  she  gave  in  and  actually  asked 


294 


Lucy  to  become  her  daughter-in-law. 

Meanwhile,  the  bailiffs  had  come  to 
Framley  parsonage  to  take  inventory  of 
the  furniture,  which  was  to  be  sold  to 
pay  Mark's  obligations.  When  Lord  Luf- 
ton  discovered  what  was  going  on,  he 
dismissed  the  bailiffs  and  persuaded  Mark 
to  accept  a  loan  for  payment  of  the  note, 

Sowerby  lived  at  Chaldicotes  for  only 


a  short  time  before  he  disappeared,  and 
Mark  was  relieved  of  worry  over  his 
foolish  debt.  Miss  Dunstable  married 
Dr.  Thome  and,  after  the  departure  of 
Sowerby,  moved  into  the  house  at  Chaldi 
cotes,  Lucy  married  Lord  Lufton  and 
became  mistress,  at  least  nominally,  of 
Framley  Court.  Fate  seemed  to  have 
for  each  some  fair  reward. 


FRANKENSTEIN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Mary  Godwin  Shelley  (1797-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Gothic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Europe 

First  published:  1817 

Principal  characters: 

ROBERT  WALTON,  an  explorer 

VICTOR  FRANKENSTEIN,  an  inventor 

ELIZABETH,  his  foster  sister 

WILLIAM,  his  brother 

JUSTINE,  the  Frankensteins'  servant 

CLERVAL,  Victor's  friend 

THE  MONSTER 

Critique: 

Frankenstein:  or,  The  Modern  Prome 
theus  is  a  weird  tale,  a  wholly  incredible 
story  told  with  little  skill.  Although 
not  often  read  now,  it  is  known  very 
widely  by  name.  The  endurance  of 
this  Gothic  romance  depends  on  perhaps 
two  factors.  First,  Mary  Shelley  would 
be  remembered  if  she  had  written  noth 
ing,  for  she  was  the  wife  of  Percy  Bysshe 
Shelley  under  romantic  and  scandalous 
circumstances.  Indeed,  Frankenstein  was 
written  as  a  result  of  a  conversation  be 
tween  Byron  and  the  Shelleys.  Second, 
the  idea  of  creating  a  monster  has  wide 
appeal.  Frankenstein  has  become  part  of 
the  popular  imagination. 


The  Story: 

Walton  was  an  English  explorer  whose 
ship  was  held  fast  in  polar  ice.  As  the 
company  looked  out  over  the  empty  ice 
field,  they  were  astonished  to  see  a  sledge 
drawn  by  dogs  speeding  northward.  The 
sledge  driver  looked  huge  and  misshapen. 
That  night  an  ice  floe  carried  to  the  ship 


another  sledge,  one  dog,  and  a  man  in 
weakened  condition.  When  the  new 
comer  learned  that  his  was  the  second 
sledge  sighted  from  the  ship,  he  became 
much  agitated. 

Walton  was  greatly  attracted  to  the 
man  during  his  convalescence,  and  as 
they  continued  fast  in  the  ice,  the  men 
had  leisure  to  get  acquainted.  At  last, 
after  he  had  recovered  somewhat  from 
exposure  and  hunger,  the  man  told  Wal 
ton  his  story: 

Victor  Frankenstein  was  born  of  good 
family  in  Geneva.  As  a  playmate  for 
their  son,  the  parents  had  adopted  a 
lovely  little  girl  of  the  same  age.  Victor 
and  Elizabeth  grew  up  as  brother  and 
sister.  Much  later  another  son,  William, 
was  bom  to  the  Frankensteins. 

Victor  early  showed  promise  in  the 
natural  sciences.  He  devoured  the  works 
of  Paracelsus  and  Albertus  Magnus,  and 
thought  in  his  ignorance  that  they  were 
the  real  masters.  When  he  grew  older, 
his  father  decided  to  send  Victor  to  the 


29$ 


university  at  Ingolstadt.  There  he  soon 
learned  all  that  his  masters  could  teach 
him  in  the  fields  of  natural  science.  En 
gaged  in  brilliant  and  terrible  research, 
he  stumbled  by  chance  on  the  secret  of 
creating  life.  Once  he  had  that  knowl 
edge  he  could  not  rest  until  he  had 
employed  it  to  create  a  living  being. 
By  haunting  the  butcher  shops  and  dis 
secting  rooms,  he  soon  had  the  necessary- 
raw  materials.  With  great  cunning  he 
fashioned  an  eight-foot  monster  and  en 
dowed  him  with  life. 

But  as  soon  as  he  had  created  his 
monster,  he  was  subject  to  strange  mis 
givings.  During  the  night  the  monster 
came  to  his  bed.  At  the  sight  of  that 
horrible  face,  he  shrieked  and  frightened 
the  monster  away.  The  horror  of  his  act 
prostrated  him  with  a  brain  fever.  His 
best  friend,  Henry  Clerval,  arrived  from 
Geneva  and  helped  to  nurse  him  through 
his  illness.  He  was  unable  to  tell  Cler 
val  what  he  had  done. 

Terrible  news  came  from  Geneva. 
William,  Victor's  young  brother,  was 
dead  by  the  hand  of  a  murderer.  He  had 
been  round  strangled  in  a  park,  and  a 
faithful  family  servant,  Justine,  had  been 
charged  with  the  crime.  Victor  hurried 
to  Geneva. 

At  the  trial  Justine  told  a  convincing 
story.  She  had  been  looking  for  William 
in  the  countryside  and,  returning  after 
the  city  gates  had  been  closed,  ha<i  spent 
the  night  in  a  deserted  hut.  But  she 
could  not  explain  how  a  miniature  from 
William's  neck  came  to  be  in  her  pocket. 
Victor  and  Elizabeth  believed  the  girl's 
story,  but  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  Jus 
tine  was  convicted  and  condemned. 

Depressed  by  these  tragic  events,  Vic 
tor  went  hiking  over  the  mountainous 
countryside.  Far  ahead  on  the  glacier,  he 
saw  a  strange,  agile  figure  that  filled  him 
with  horrible  suspicions.  Unable  to  over 
take  the  figure,  he  sat  down  to  rest.  Sud 
denly  the  monster  appeared  before  him, 
The  creature  demanded  that  Victor  lis 
ten  to  his  story. 

When  he  left  Victor's  chambers  in 


Ingolstadt,  everyone  he  met  screamed  and 
ran  away.  Wandering  confusedly,  the 
monster  finally  found  shelter  in  an  aban 
doned  hovel  adjoining  a  cottage.  By  great 
stealth  he  remained  there  during  daylight 
and  at  night  sought  berries  for  food. 
Through  observation  he  began  to  learn 
the  ways  of  man.  Feeling  an  urge  to 
friendship,  he  brought  wood  to  the  cot 
tage  every  day.  But  when  be  attempted 
to  make  friends  with  the  cottagers,  he  was 
repulsed  with  such  fear  and  fury  that 
his  heart  became  bitter  toward  all  men. 
When  he  saw  William  playing  in  the 
park,  he  strangled  the  boy  and  took  the 
miniature  from  his  neck.  Then  during 
the  night  he  came  upon  Justine  in  the 
hut  and  put  the  picture  in  her  pocket. 

Presently  the  monster  made  a  horrible 
demand.  He  insisted  that  Victor  fashion 
a  mate  for  him  who  would  give  him  love 
and  companionship.  The  monster  threat 
ened  to  ravage  and  kill  at  random  if  Vic 
tor  refused  the  request.  But  if  Victor 
agreed,  the  monster  promised  to  take  his 
mate  to  the  wilds  of  South  America  where 
they  would  never  again  be  seen  by  man. 
It  was  a  hard  choice  but  Victor  felt  that 
he  must  accept. 

Victor  left  for  England  with  his  friend 
Clerval.  After  parting  from  his  friend 
he  went  to  the  distant  Orkneys  and  began 
his  task.  I  le  was  almost  ready  to  animate 
the  gross  mass  of  flesh  when  his  con 
science  stopped  him.  He  could  not  let 
the  two  monsters  mate  and  spawn  a  race 
of  monsters.  He  destroyed  his  work. 

The  monster  was  watching  at  a  win 
dow.  Angered  to  see  his  mate  destroyed, 
he  forced  his  way  into  the  house  and 
warned  Victor  that  a  terrible  punishment 
would  fall  upon  the  young  man  on  his 
wedding  night.  Then  the  monster  es 
caped  by  sea.  Later,  to  torment  his  maker, 
he  fiendishly  killed  Clerval. 

Victor  was  suspected  of  the  crime.  Re 
leased  for  lack  of  evidence,  he  went  back 
to  Geneva.  There  he  and  Elizabeth  were 
married.  Although  Victor  was  armed  nnd 
alert,  the  monster  got  into  the  nuptial 
chamber  and  strangled  the  bride.  Victor 


296 


shot  at  him,  but  he  escaped  again.  Victor 
vowed  eternal  chase  until  the  monster 
could  be  killed. 

That  was  Victor's  story.  Weakened  by 
exposure,  he  died  there  in  the  frozen 
North,  with  Elizabeth,  William,  Justine, 
and  Clerval  unavenged.  Then  to  the 
dead  man's  cabin  came  the  monster,  and 


Walton,  stifling  his  fear,  addressed  the 
gigantic,  hideous  creature.  Victor's  was 
the  greater  crime,  the  monster  said.  He 
had  created  a  man,  a  man  without  love  or 
friend  or  soul.  He  deserved  his  punish 
ment.  So  saying,  the  monster  vanished 
over  the  ice  field. 


THE  FROGS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Aristophanes  (c.  448-385  B.C.) 

Type  of  plot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Fifth  century  B.C. 

Locale:  Underworld 

First  presented:  405  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

BACCHUS,  god  of  wine  and  revelry 
XANTHIAS,  his  slave 
HERCULES,  mythological  hero 
CHARON,  ferryman  of  Hades 
EURIPIDES,  a  famous  Greek  playwright 
AESCHYLUS,  another  Greek  dramatist 

Critique: 

So  vigorous  was  the  mind  of  Aristoph 
anes  that  his  comedies  extant  today 
maintain  vitality  which  is  still  a  sharp 
and  penetrating  comment  upon  human 
nature.  One  does  not  need  to  be  a 
scholar  to  understand  and  love  the  work 
of  Aristophanes.  Satirist  for  all  ages,  he 
wrote  to  expose  the  timeless  foibles  and 
follies  of  human  nature. 


The  Story: 

Wishing  to  visit  the  underworld,  Bac 
chus  set  out  with  his  slave,  Xanthias,  to 
visit  Hercules,  from  whom  the  god  of  the 
vine  hoped  to  get  directions  for  his  visit 
to  the  lower  regions.  On  the  way  Xan 
thias  continued  to  grumble  and  moan 
about  his  many  bundles.  Xanthias  was 
really  riding  a  donkey,  but  he  complained 
loudly  until  Bacchus  finally  lost  patience 
and  suggested  that  perhaps  Xanthias 
would  like  to  carry  the  donkey  for  a 
while. 

Hercules,  when  consulted,  suggested 
that  Bacchus  allow  himself  to  be  killed 
and  thus  arrive  in  the  land  of  the  dead. 


But  Bacchus  wanted  to  go  there  alive 
because  he  was  anxious  to  see  and  talk 
to  the  great  playwrights,  the  critics  having 
told  him  that  all  who  were  good  were 
dead  and  gone.  He  was  particularly 
anxious  to  meet  Euripides.  Hercules  ad 
vised  him  to  be  content  with  the  play 
wrights  still  alive.  Bacchus  argued  that 
none  of  them  was  good  enough  for  hisa, 
and  so,  after  getting  directions  from 
Hercules,  he  started  out,  Xanthias  still 
complaining  about  his  bundles. 

They  came  to  the  River  Acheron  and 
met  Charon,  who  ferried  Bacchus  across. 
The  grim  ferryman  insisted,  however, 
that  Bacchus  row  the  boat,  and  he  made 
Xanthias  walk  around  the  margin  of  the 
stream  since  Xanthias  had  dishonored 
himself  by  not  volunteering  for  a  naval 
victory.  Xanthias  tried  to  excuse  himself 
on  the  grounds  that  he  had  had  sore  eyes, 
but  Charon  refused  to  listen. 

While  Bacchus  and  Xanthias  talked 
to  Charon,  a  chorus  of  frogs  set  up  a 
hoarse  croaking,  imitating  the  noisy  ple 
beians  at  the  theater  with  a  senseless  kind 


297 


«f  hooting.  Bacchus  sprained  his  back 
with  his  rowing  and  the  frogs  thought 
his  groans  quite  amusing. 

Safely  on  the  other  side,  Bacchus  paid 
his  fare  and  joined  his  slave.  The  two 
met  a  monster  which  Bacchus  took  care 
to  avoid  until  it  turned  into  a  beautiful 
woman.  They  found  their  way  with  diffi 
culty  to  the  doorway  of  Pluto's  realm. 
Xanthias  still  grumbled  because  he  had 
his  heavy  bundles. 

At  the  entrance  to  Hades,  Bacchus 
foolishly  pretended  to  be  Hercules — a 
mistake  on  his  part,  for  Aeacus,  the  door 
man,  raised  a  clamor  over  the  theft  of 
Cerberus,  the  watchdog.  When  Aeacus 
threatened  all  sorts  of  punishment,  Bac 
chus  revealed  himself  as  he  really  was. 
Xanthias  accused  him  of  cowardice  but 
Bacchus  stoutly  denied  the  charge. 

Bacchus  and  Xanthias  decided  to 
change  characters.  Xanthias  pretended  to 
be  Hercules  and  Bacchus  took  up  the 
bundles  his  slave  had  carried.  But  when 
servants  of  Proserpine  entered  and  offered 
Xanthias  a  fine  entertainment,  Bacchus 
demanded  his  rightful  character  once 
more. 

Aeacus  returned,  eager  to  punish  some 
one,  and  Xanthias  gave  him  permission 
to  beat  Bacchus.  Bacchus  said  that  he  was 
a  deity;  therefore,  they  should  not  beat 
him.  Xanthias  countered  by  saying  that 
since  Bacchus  was  an  immortal  he  need 
not  mind  the  beating.  Aeacus  decided 
they  both  should  be  beaten  soundly. 

Aeacus  finally  decided  to  take  them 
both  to  Pluto  and  Proserpine,  to  discover 
who  really  was  the  deity.  Aeacus  said 
Bacchus  was  apparently  a  gentleman  and 
Xanthias  agreed  wholeheartedly,  saying 


Bacchus  did  not  do  anything  except  dis 
sipate  and  carouse. 

In  Pluto's  realm  they  found  two  dead 
dramatists,  Aeschylus  and  Euripides, 
fighting  for  favor.  The  rule  in  Hades 
was  that  the  most  famous  man  of  any  art 
or  craft  ate  at  Pluto's  table  until  some 
more  talented  man  in  his  field  should  die 
and  come  to  I  lades.  Aeschylus  had  held 
the  seat  Euripides  was  now  claiming. 

Aeacus  said  that  the  dramatists  in 
tended  to  measure  their  plays  line  for 
line  by  rules  and  compasses  to  determine 
the  superior  craftsman.  The  quarreling 
dramatists  debated,  accusing  each  of  the 
other's  faults.  Aeschylus  said  he  was  at 
a  disadvantage  because  Euripides'  plays 
died  with  him  and  were  present  to  help 
him,  whereas  his  own  plays  still  lived  on 
earth. 

Bacchus  offered  to  be  the  judge,  and 
each  dramatist  then  began  to  defend 
himself.  In  the  midst  of  their  violent 
quarrel  Pluto  appeared.  Bacchus  ordered 
each  to  recite  from  his  own  works.  Eu 
ripides  seemed  to  have  the  worst  of  this 
contest,  but  Bacchus  wisely  refused  to 
judge  so  as  not  to  make  cither  playwright 
angry  with  him.  Pluto  wearily  insisted 
that  he  pick  one  winner  and  take  his 
choice  back  with  him  to  the  upper  world 
in  order  to  stop  needless  rival ry  in  Hades. 

At  last  Bacchus  voted  for  Aeschylus. 
Euripides  complained  at  the  choice.  He 
was  consoled,  however,  when  Pluto  said 
he  might  be  sure  of  a  good  meal  in  the 
underworld,  while  Aeschylus  would  be 
burdened  forever  with  the  task  of  earning 
his  living  by  his  attempts  to  reform  folly 
and  evil  in  the  world  above. 


GARGANTUA  AND  PANTAGRUEL 

Type  of  work:  Mock-heroic  chronicle 
Author:  Francois  Rabelais  (1490?-! 553) 
Type  of  'plot:  Burlesque  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Renaissance 
Locale:  France 

First  published:  Begun  1533;  first  complete  edition,  1567 
Principal  characters: 

GBANGOSXER,  a  giant  king 

GARGAMELLE,  his  wife 

298 


GARGANTUA,  their  son 

PANTAGRUEL,  son  o£  Gargantua 

PANURGE,  a  clever  rascal 

FRIAR  JOHN  OF  THE  FUNNELS,  a  lusty  monk 

Critique: 

The  book  Rabelais  titled  The  Lives, 
Heroic  Deeds  and  Sayings  of  Gargantua 
and  His  Son  Pantagruel  is  a  vast  pano 
rama  of  an  amiable  dynasty  o£  giants. 
The  characters  are  prodigious  eaters  and 
drinkers,  gay  and  earthy.  The  five  books 
which  contain  the  adventures  of  a  galaxy 
of  types  are  loosely  held  together  by  the 
main  actors.  Discursive  and  monumental, 
Gargantua  and  Pantagruel  is  an  astound 
ing  achievement.  Rabelaisian  and  gar 
gantuan  as  adjectives  indicate  the  opin 
ion  of  many  readers.  But  Rabelais  had  a 
serious  purpose.  He  demonstrated  hero 
ically  his  theme  that  the  real  meaning  of 
life  is  to  expand  the  soul  by  knowing 
all  the  sources  of  experience. 


The  Story: 

Grangosier  and  Gargamelle  were  ex 
pecting  a  child.  During  the  eleventh 
month  of  her  pregnancy,  Gargamelle  ate 
too  many  tripes  and  then  played  tag  on 
the  green.  That  afternoon  in  a  green 
meadow  Gargantua  was  born  from  his 
mother's  left  ear. 

Gargantua  was  a  prodigy,  and  with  his 
first  breath  he  began  to  clamor  for  drink. 
Seventeen  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
thirteen  cows  were  needed  to  supply  him 
with  milk.  For  his  clothing  the  tailors 
used  nine  hundred  ells  of  linen  to  make 
his  shirt  and  eleven  hundred  and  five  ells 
of  white  broadcloth  to  make  his  breeches. 
Eleven  hundred  cowhides  were  used  for 
the  soles  of  his  shoes. 

At  first  Gargantua's  education  was  in 
the  hands  of  two  masters  of  the  old 
school,  Holofernes  and  Joberlin  Bride. 
Seeing  that  his  son  was  making  no  prog 
ress,  however,  Grangosier  sent  him  to 
Paris  to  study  with  Ponocrates.  Aside 
from  some  mishaps,  as  when  he  took  the 
bells  from  the  tower  of  Notre  Dame  to 
tie  around  his  horse's  neck,  Gargantua 
did  much  better  with  his  studies  in  Paris. 


Back  home  a  dispute  arose.  The  bakers 
of  Lerne  refused  to  sell  cakes  to  the 
shepherds  of  Grangosier.  In  the  quarrel 
a  shepherd  felled  a  baker,  and  King  Pic- 
rochole  of  Lerne  invaded  the  country. 
Grangosier  baked  cartloads  of  cakes  to 
appease  Picrochole,  but  to  no  avail,  for 
no  one  dared  oppose  Picrochole  except 
doughty  Friar  John  of  the  Funnels,  Fi 
nally  Grangosier  asked  Gargantua  to  come 
to  his  aid. 

Gargantua  fought  valiantly.  Cannon 
balls  seemed  to  him  as  grape  seeds,  and 
when  he  combed  his  hair  cannon  balls 
dropped  out.  After  he  had  conquered  the 
army  of  Lerne,  he  generously  let  all  the 
prisoners  go  free. 

All  his  helpers  were  rewarded  well, 
but  for  Friar  John,  Gargantua  built  the 
famous  Abbey  of  Theleme,  where  men 
and  women  were  together,  all  could  leave 
when  they  wished,  and  marriage  and  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  were  encouraged. 

When  he  was  more  than  four  hundred 
years  old,  Gargantua  had  a  son,  Panta 
gruel.  Pantagruel  was  a  remarkable  baby, 
hairy  as  a  bear  at  birth  and  of  such  great 
size  that  he  cost  the  life  of  his  mother. 
Gargantua  was  sorely  vexed  between 
weeping  for  his  wife  and  rejoicing  for  his 
son. 

Pantagruel  required  the  services  of 
four  thousand  six  hundred  cows  to  nurse 
him.  Once  he  got  an  arm  out  of  his 
swaddling  clothes  and,  grasping  the  cow 
nursing  him,  he  ate  the  cow.  Afterwards 
PantagrueFs  arms  were  bound  with  an 
chor  ropes.  One  day  the  women  forgot 
to  clean  his  face  after  nursing,  and  a 
bear  came  and  licked  the  drops  of  milk 
from  the  baby's  face.  By  a  great  effort 
Pantagruel  broke  the  ropes  and  ate  the 
bear.  In  despair,  Gargantua  bound  his 
son  with  four  great  chains,  one  of  which 
was  later  used  to  bind  Lucifer  when  he 
had  the  colic.  But  Pantagruel  broke  the 


299 


five-foot  beam  which  constituted  the 
Footboard  of  his  cradle  and  ran  around 
with  the  cradle  on  his  back. 

Pantagruel  showed  great  promise  as 
a  scholar.  After  a  period  of  wandering 
he  settled  down  in  Paris.  There  he  was 
frequently  called  on  to  settle  disputes 
between  learned  lawyers.  One  day  he 
met  a  ragged  young  beggar.  On  speaking 
to  him,  Pantagruel  received  answers  in 
twelve  known  and  unknown  tongues. 
Greatly  taken  by  this  fluent  beggar,  Pan 
tagruel  and  Panurge  became  great  friends. 
Panurge  was  a  merry  fellow  who  knew 
sixty-three  ways  to  make  money  and  two 
hundred  fourteen  ways  to  spend  it. 

Pantagruel  learned  that  the  Dipsodes 
had  invaded  the  land  of  the  Amaurots. 
Stirred  by  this  danger  to  Utopia,  he  set 
out  by  ship  to  do  battle.  By  trickery  and 
courage,  Pantagruel  overcame  the  wicked 
giants.  Their  king,  Anarchus,  he  married 
to  an  old  lantern-carrying  hag  and  made 
the  king  a  crier  of  green  sauce.  Now  that 
the  land  of  Dipsody  had  been  conquered, 
Pantagruel  transported  there  a  colony  of 
Utopians  numbering  9,876,543,210  men, 
besides  many  women  and  children.  All 
these  people  were  very  fertile.  Every 
nine  months  each  married  woman  bore 
seven  children.  In  a  short  time  Dipsody 
was  populated  by  virtuous  Utopians. 

For  his  services  and  friendship  Panurge 
was  made  Laird  of  Salmigondin.  The 
revenue  from  this  lairdship  amounted  to 
6,789,106,789  gold  royals  a  year,  but 
Panurge  managed  to  spend  his  income 
well  in  advance.  Then,  thinking  to  settle 
down,  Panurge  began  to  reflect  seriously 
on  marriage,  and  he  consulted  his  lord 
Pantagruel.  They  came  to  no  conclusion 
in  the  matter  because  they  got  into  an 
argument  about  the  virtues  of  borrowing 
and  lending  money.  But  the  flea  in  his 
ear  kept  reminding  Panurge  of  his  con 
templated  marriage,  and  he  set  off  to  seek 
other  counsel. 

Panurge  consulted  the  Sibyl  of  Pan- 
zoult,  the  poet  Raminagrobis,  Herr  Tripa, 
and  Friar  John.  When  all  the  advice  he 


received  proved  contradictory,  Panurge 
prevailed  on  Pantagruel  and  Friar  John 
to  set  out  with  him  to  consult  the  Oracle 
of  the  Holy  Bottle.  From  Saint  Malo  the 
party  sailed  in  twelve  ships  for  the  Holy 
Bottle,  located  in  Upper  India.  The  Por 
tuguese  sometimes  took  three  years  for 
that  voyage,  but  Pantagruel  and  Panurge 
cut  that  time  to  one  month  by  sailing 
across  the  Frozen  Sea  north  of  Canada. 

The  valiant  company  had  many  ad 
ventures  on  the  way.  On  the  Island  of 
the  Ennasins,  they  found  a  race  of 
people  with  noses  shaped  like  the  ace  of 
clubs.  The  people  who  lived  on  the 
Island  of  Ruach  ate  and  drank  nothing 
but  wind.  At  the  Ringing  Islands  they 
found  a  strange  race  of  Siticines  who  had 
long  ago  turned  to  birds.  On  Condemna 
tion  Island  they  fell  into  the  power  of 
Gripe-men-all,  Archduke  of  the  Furred 
Law-cats,  and  Panurge  was  forced  to  solve 
a  riddle  before  the  travelers  were  given 
their  freedom. 

At  last  they  came  to  the  island  of  the 
Sacred  Bottle.  Guided  by  a  Lantern  from 
Lanternland,  they  came  to  a  large  vine 
yard  planted  by  Bacchus  himself.  Then 
they  went  underground  through  a  plas 
tered  vault  and  came  to  marble  steps. 
Down  they  went,  a  hundred  steps  or 
more.  Panurge  was  greatly  afraid,  but 
Friar  John  took  him  by  the  collar  and 
heartened  him.  At  the  bottom  they  came 
to  a  great  mosaic  floor  on  which  was 
shown  the  history  of  Bacchus.  Finally 
they  were  met  by  the  priestess  Bacbuc, 
who  was  to  conduct  them  to  the  Bottle, 
Panurge  knelt  to  kiss  the  rim  of  the 
fountain.  Bacbuc  threw  something  into 
the  well  and  the  water  began  to  boil, 
When  Panurge  sang  the  prescribed  ritual, 
the  Sacred  Bottle  pronounced  the  one 
word,  "trine."  Bacbuc  looked  up  the 
word  in  a  huge  silver  book.  It  meant 
drink,  a  word  declared  to  be  the  most 
gracious  and  intelligible  she  had  ever 
heard  from  the  Sacred  Bottle.  Panurge 
took  the  word  as  a  sanction  for  his 
marriage. 


300 


GHOSTS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 
Author:  Henrik  Ibsen  (1828-1906) 
Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 
Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 
Locale:  Rosenvold,  Norway 
First  presented:  1881 

Principal  characters: 

MRS.  HELEN  ALVING,  a  widow 

OSWALD  ALVING,  her  son,  an  artist 

MANDERS,  pastor  of  the  parish 

JACOB  ENGSTRAND,  a  carpenter 

REGINA  ENGSTRAND,  his  daughter,  in  Mrs.  Alving's  service 

Critique: 

Ghosts  is  Ibsen's  effort  to  substitute 
the  modern  scientific  concept  of  heredity 
for  the  Greek  idea  of  Fate.  But  there  is 
more  to  the  play  than  merely  a  study  in 
degenerative  heredity;  it  is  a  mordant 
attack  upon  society  and  the  standards  by 
which  it  lives.  Ibsen  explicitly  says  that 
these  standards  were  responsible  for  the 
tragedy  of  Mrs.  Alving,  and  in  so  doing 
he  tossed  a  bombshell  into  the  conven 
tional  and  even  the  liberal  thought  of  his 
day.  The  play  can  still  be  read  as  a 
study  in  what  has  come  to  be  known  as 
the  science  of  semantics — the  disruptive 
effect  caused  when  words  or  concepts  are, 
in  society,  divorced  from  the  realities  for 
which  they  are  supposed  to  stand. 


The  Story: 

Pastor  Manders  called  on  Mrs.  Helen 
Alving  on  the  eve  of  the  tenth  anniver 
sary  of  her  husband's  death,  to  discuss 
certain  details  concerning  the  opening  of 
an  orphanage  in  memory  of  her  late 
husband.  The  pastor  found  Mrs.  Alving 
in  the  best  of  spirits,  for  her  son  Oswald, 
an  artist,  had  returned  from  Paris  to 
attend  the  dedication  of  the  memorial  to 
his  father.  Although  he  was  now  twenty- 
six,  Oswald  had  lived  away  from  his 
parents  since  he  was  seven,  and  Mrs.  Al 
ving  was  delighted  at  the  prospect  of 
having  her  son  spend  the  entire  winter 
with  her. 

Oswald  had  idealized  his  father,  for 


in  her  letters  his  mother  had  always  pic 
tured  Captain  Alving  as  a  sort  of  hero. 
The  boy's  own  memories  of  his  father 
were  confined  to  one  incident  in  his 
childhood  when  his  father  had  taken 
him  on  his  knee  and  encouraged  him  to 
smoke  a  large  meerschaum  pipe.  Oswald 
remembered  this  episode,  and  upon  his 
return  home  he  took  a  certain  pride  in 
lighting  up  his  father's  old  pipe  and 
parading  in  front  of  his  mother  and 
Pastor  Manders. 

Pastor  Manders  did  not  approve  of 
smoking;  in  fact,  he  did  not  approve  of 
anything  which  could  even  loosely  be  in 
terpreted  as  sin.  He  did  not  approve  of 
Oswald's  bohemian  way  of  life  in  Paris 
and  blamed  Mrs.  Alving's  neglect  for 
her  son's  ideas.  He  reminded  Mrs.  Alving 
that  hardly  a  year  after  her  marriage  she 
had  come  to  him  willing  to  leave  her 
husband,  and  that  he  had  sent  her  back 
to  her  duty.  This  was  an  act  Manders 
considered  the  greatest  moral  victory  of 
his  life. 

Mrs.  Alving  thought  it  high  time  that 
Manders  be  informed  of  the  truth  about 
her  late  husband.  Years  before,  when  he 
advised  her  return  to  Captain  Alving,  the 
minister  had  been  quite  aware  of  her 
husband's  profligacy.  What  he  did  not 
know  was  that  the  profligacy  continued 
after  his  wife's  dutiful  return.  Her  entire 
relationship  with  her  husband  consisted 
largely  of  helping  him  into  bed  after 


GHOSTS  by  Henrik  Ibsen.    Published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


301 


one  of  his  drinking  bouts,  and  on  one 
occasion  she  had  surprised  him  making 
love  to  her  own  maidservant.  But  the 
most  abominable  aspect  of  the  situation 
was  the  fact  that  she  had  discovered,  soon 
after  her  marriage,  that  her  husband  was : 
diseased  and  her  son  would  have  to  go 
hrough  life  with  his  father's  curse  upon 
his  head.  Manders'  religious  influence 
and  Mrs.  Alving's  cowardice  had  con 
spired  to  keep  silence. 

Now  it  began  to  look  as  if  the  moral 
consequences  would  play  themselves  out. 
While  Mrs,  Alving  and  the  minister 
calked,  Oswald  was  attempting  familiar 
ities  in  the  adjoining  dining-room  with 
the  maid,  Regina,  his  own  stepsister. 
To  Mrs.  Alving  it  seemed  as  if  this  act 
were  the  ghost  of  her  unhappy  marriage, 
for  Regina,  ostensibly  the  daughter  of  a 
drunken  carpenter  named  Jacob  Eng- 
strand,  was  actually  the  result  of  Captain 
Alving's  escapade  with  the  maidservant, 
the  discovery  of  which  had  sent  Mrs, 
Alving  flying  to  Pastor  Manders  for  solace 
and  help.  Engstrand  had  been  willing  to 
turn  Regina  over  to  Mrs.  Alving  for  her 
education  and  care.  Now,  however,  he 
had  other  ideas  for  the  girl's  future.  He 
planned  to  enlist  her  aid  in  the  establish 
ment  of  a  seamen's  home.  But  Regina 
had  other  plans  for  herself,  and  saw  no 
reason  why  she  should  throw  herself 
away  on  worthless  and  irresponsible  sail 
ors  when  she  might  have  the  heir  of  a 
wealthy  family. 

Oswald  himself,  unaware  of  any  blood 
relationship,  wanted  to  marry  Regina. 
He  confided  to  his  mother  that  before  he 
left  Paris  he  had  gone  to  a  doctor  re 
garding  a  feeling  of  malaise  which 
robbed  him  of  his  ambition  to  paint.  The 
doctor  had  commented  on  the  sins  of 
fathers.  Oswald,  knowing  only  the  pic 
ture  of  his  father  that  his  mother's  let 
ters  had  given  him,  was  furious,  and  he 
thought  he  had  brought  about  his  own 


downfall.  He  told  his  mother  that  he 
wanted  to  marry  Regina  and  make  what 
was  left  of  his  life  happy.  Mrs.  Alving 
realized  that  at  last  she  must  tell  the 
two  young  people  the  truth.  But  before 
she  had  a  chance  to  do  so,  news  came 
that  the  orphanage  which  was  to  have 
been  Captain  Alving's  memorial  was 
afire. 

When  the  orphanage  caught  fire, 
Manders  and  Engstrand  were  in  the  car 
penter  shop  nearby.  After  the  fire,  Eng 
strand  accused  the  pastor  of  dropping  a 
lighted  candle  wick  into  some  shavings. 
Though  not  guilty,  Manders  was  fright 
ened  because  of  his  position  in  the  com 
munity.  When  Engstrand  offered  to 
take  the  blame  for  the  fire  in  return  for 
enough  money  from  the  remainder  of 
Captain  Alving's  fortune  to  build  his 
sailor's  home,  the  self-righteous  Manders 
agreed  to  this  blackmail  and  promised  to 
help  Engstrand  in  the  transaction. 

Mrs.  Alving  told  Oswald  and  Regina 
the  story  of  their  late  father.  She  tried 
to  explain  why  Alving  had  been  doomed 
from  the  beginning.  When  it  was  re 
vealed  that  she  was  really  Alving's  daugh 
ter,  Regina  was  angry,  feeling  that  she 
should  have  been  reared  and  educated  as 
a  lady.  She  preferred  to  east  her  lot 
with  Engstrand.  Alone  with  his  mother, 
Oswald  revealed  the  final  horror;  an 
affliction  had  already  attacked  his  brain 
and  would  result  in  complete  regression 
to  childhood.  Mrs.  Alving  assured  her 
son  that  she  would  always  l>e  by  his  side 
to  take  care  of  him.  Oswald  urged  his 
mother  to  kill  him  if  the  need  should 
arise.  Shocked,  Mrs.  Alving  refused 
when  he  showed  her  the  morphia  tablets 
he  had  brought  with  him.  They  were 
still  talking  at  daybreak.  Mrs.  Alvine 
blew  out  the  light.  But  while  she  stood 
and  looked  in  horror,  Oswald  sat  crying 
childishly  for  the  sun. 


302 


GIANTS  IN  THE  EARTH 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  O.  E.  Rolvaag  (1876-1931) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  Dakotas 

First  published:  1924-1925 

Principal  characters: 

PER  HANSA,  a  Norwegian  settler 

BERET,  his  wife 

OLE, 

ANNA  MARIE, 

HANS  KRISTIAN,  and 

PEDER  VICTORIOUS,  their  children 

Critique: 

Giants  in  the  Earth  is  a  tremendous 
contribution  to  our  understanding  of 
pioneer  life.  Perhaps  some  day  it  will  he 
condensed  into  a  saga,  its  story  sharpened 
down  into  the  short,  keen  points  of  myth 
and  its  Per  Hansa  viewed  as  an  Ameri 
can  folk  hero.  It  is  important  to  realize 
that  Rolvaag,  writing  in  the  tradition  of 
Western  Europe,  and  writing  for  a  Euro 
pean  audience,  was  able  to  blend  old 
and  new  and  to  create  a  story  which  an 
American  audience  would  accept.  The 
theme  of  the  novel  is  a  great  one:  man's 
struggle  with  the  stubborn  earth.  This 
theme  is  of  principal  importance  to 
Americans.  It  is  the  story  of  man  bearing 
his  memory  of  other  lands  into  a  new 
country,  and  out  of  that  experience  build 
ing  a  new  homeplace  and  a  new  people. 


The  Story: 

Per  Hansa  moved  all  his  family  and 
his  possessions  from  Minnesota  into  the 
Dakota  territory.  His  family  consisted  of 
his  wife,  Beret,  and  three  children,  Ole, 
Anna  Marie,  and  Hans  Kristian.  Beret 
was  fearful  and  sad,  for  she  had  been 
uprooted  too  often  and  the  prairie  country 
through  which  they  traveled  seemed 
bleak,  lonely,  savage. 

Per  Hansa  staked  out  his  claim  near 
the  family  of  Hans  Olsa  at  Spring  Creek. 
Then  Beret  announced  that  she  was 
carrying  another  child.  Money  was 


scarce.  Per  Hansa  faced  overwhelming 
odds  and  thoughts  of  the  great  risks  he 
was  taking  kept  him  awake  long  after 
Beret  and  the  children  slept.  Being 
something  of  a  poet,  Per  Hansa  thought 
at  times  that  the  land  spoke  to  him,  and 
often  he  watched  and  listened  and  forgot 
to  keep  to  his  work  as  he  cleared  his 
land  and  built  his  house.  He  labored 
from  before  dawn  until  after  dark  during 
those  long,  northern  summer  days. 

When  Indians  came  and  drove  away 
the  settlers'  cows,  only  Per  Hansa  had  the 
courage  to  follow  after  them.  Only  he 
had  the  sense  to  doctor  a  sick  Indian. 
Beret  mistrusted  his  wisdom  for  foolish 
ness  and  there  were  harsh  words  between 
them.  The  grateful  Indian  gave  Per 
Hansa  a  pony.  Then  Per  Hansa  went 
on  a  buying  expedition  and  returned 
with  many  needed  supplies  and,  what 
was  more,  news  of  coming  settlers. 

The  next  summer  Per  Hansa  dis 
covered  claim  stakes  which  bore  Irish 
names.  The  stakes  were  on  his  neighbor's 
land;  the  homesteaders  had  settled  where 
others  had  already  filed  claim.  Secretly 
he  removed  the  stakes  and  burned  them, 
but  not  before  Beret  realized  what  he 
was  doing.  She  began  to  worry  over  hei 
husband's  deed.  Per  Hansa  sold  some 
potatoes  to  people  traveling  through  and 
awoke  the  slumbering  jealousy  of  his 
neighbors. 


CIA^TS  IN  THE  EARTH  by  O.  E.  Rolvaag.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.    Copyright, 
1927,  1929,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 


303 


In  midsummer  more  people  arrived, 
the  settlers  who  had  set  out  the  stakes 
that  Per  Hansa  had  burned.  They  called 
the  Norwegians  claim  jumpers,  but  after 
a  fight  they  took  up  other  land  nearby. 
Per  Hansa  managed  to  sell  some  o£  his 
goods  to  them.  That  fall  more  Nor 
wegians  came.  The  little  community 
was  thriving,  But  Beret,  depressed  by  the 
open  spaces  and  her  fear  that  her  husband 
had  done  a  bad  thing,  brewed  a  dark 
remorse  within  herself.  Day  by  day  she 
brooded  over  her  lonely  life,  and  she 
covered  her  window  at  night  because  of 
her  nameless  fears.  At  least  Per  Hansa 
on  his  infrequent  trips  around  to  dif 
ferent  settlements  met  other  people. 

When  winter  came  Per  Hansa  rested. 
He  could  sleep  long  hours  while  the 
winds  blew  outside,  but  his  wife  worried 
and  fretted.  He  began  to  quarrel  with 
her.  Soon,  however,  he  noticed  that  his 
neighbors  were  suffering  hardship  and 
privation.  The  unmarried  young  men 
who  had  settled  near  the  Hansas  were 
planning  to  desert  the  settlement.  It 
required  all  his  ability  to  convince  them 
to  stay  and  to  face  the  desolate,  bitter 
winter  to  its  end. 

The  settlers  began  to  talk  of  a  school 
which  would  move  from  house  to  house 
so  that  the  parents  might  learn  English 
along  with  the  children. 

During  the  winter  Per  Hansa  became 
lost  in  a  blizzard  and  only  his  tremendous 
strength  and  courage  saw  him  and  his 
oxen  safely  through  the  storm  to  the 
Tronders'  settlement.  The  following  day, 
forgetting  how  Beret  must  be  worrying 
about  him,  he  stayed  on  and  cut  a  load 
of  wood  to  take  back  home  with  him. 

His  next  expedition  was  to  bargain 
with  the  Indians  for  furs.  He  suffered 
greatly  from  exposure  and  lost  two  toes 
through  frostbite. 

When  spring  came,  Per  Hansa  could 
not  wait  to  get  into  his  fields  to  plant 
his  wheat.  His  friends  thought  he  was 
planting  too  early.  And  so  it  seemed,  for 
tsnow  fell  the  next  day  and  freezing 
weather  set  in.  Determined  not  to  lose 


heart,  Per  Hansa  decided  to  plant  pota 
toes  in  place  of  the  wheat.  Beret  took  to 
her  Bible,  convinced  that  evil  was  work 
ing  its  way  into  their  lives.  Then,  unex 
pectedly,  their  wheat  came  up. 

Another  couple  arrived.  They  were 
exhausted  with  travel,  the  wife  saddened 
by  the  death  of  her  son  on  the  prairie. 
Per  Hansa  and  Beret  took  them  in. 
When  they  moved  on,  greater  despond 
ency  seized  Beret.  She  felt  some  doom 
was  working  its  way  closer  and  closer  to 
her  life. 

That  summer  grasshoppers  destroyed 
much  of  the  grain.  Most  of  Per  Hansa's 
crop  was  saved,  but  Beret  took  his  good 
fortune  only  as  a  sign  that  the  under 
ground  trolls,  or  evil  spirits,  were  plan 
ning  greater  ruin  for  her  and  her  hus 
band. 

In  the  following  years  the  scourge 
of  the  grasshoppers  returned.  Many 
of  the  settlers  were  ruined.  Some  starved. 
Some  went  mad.  One  summer  a  traveling 
Norwegian  minister  took  up  residence 
with  them  to  plan  a  religious  service  for 
the  whole  community.  His  coming 
worked  a  change  in  Per  Hansa's  house 
hold.  Per  Hansa  took  courage  from  it 
and  consolation,  but  deeper  and  stranger 
grew  the  reveries  in  Beret's  mind.  Be 
cause  it  was  the  largest  house  in  the 
district  the  minister  held  a  communion 
service  in  Per  Hansa's  cabin.  Discon 
nected  parts  of  the  service  floated  all  that 
week  in  Beret's  head.  Her  mind  was 
filled  with  strange  fancies.  She  began 
to  think  of  Peeler  Victorious,  her  youngest 
child,  who  was  born  on  the  prairie,  as  a 
savior  who  would  work  their  salvation. 

As  the  autumn  came  on,  tlie  great 
plains  seemed  hungry  for  the  blood  and 
strength  of  those  who  had  come  to  con 
quer  it. 

That  winter  Hans  Olsa  froze  his  legs 
and  one  hand.  In  spite  of  all  that  Per 
Hansa  and  the  others  did  for  their  neigh 
bor,  Hans  Olsa  grew  weaker.  Beret 
stood  beside  him,  predicting  that  he  had 
not  long  to  live.  She  put  into  the  sick 
man's  mind  the  idea  to  send  for  die 


304 


minister.  Per  Hansa  thought  that  Ha 
Olsa  was  weak  in  calling  for  a  minister 
and  that  the  way  to  throw  off  illness  was 
to  get  out  of  bed  and  go  to  work.  He 
had  never  spared  himself,  nor  had  he 
spared  his  sons.  He  was  the  man  to  go 
for  the  minister,  but  this  time  he  was  un 
willing  to  set  out  on  a  long  winter  jour 
ney.  Hans  Olsa  was  a  good  man;  he  did 
not  need  a  minister  to  help  him  die.  The 
weather  itself  was  threatening.  However, 


Hansa  reconsidered.  His  sons  were 
digging  a  tunnel  through  snow  to  the 
pigsty.  Inside,  his  wife  was  preparing  a 
meal  for  him.  They  watched  as  he  took 
down  his  skis  and  prepared  to  make  the 
journey  for  the  sake  of  his  dying  friend. 
He  did  not  look  back  at  his  house  or 
speak  farewell  to  Beret  as  he  started  out. 
So  Per  Hansa,  on  his  errand  of  mercy, 
walked  into  the  snowstorm.  There  death 
overtook  him. 


GIL  BLAS  OF  SAJNTTILLANE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Alain  Rene"  Le  Sage  (1668-1747) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  Spain 

First  published:  1715,  1724,  1735 

Principal  characters: 
GIL  BLAS,  a  rogue 
SCIPIO,  his  secretary 
DON  ALPHONSO,  his  patron 

Critique: 

The  Adventures  of  Gil  Bias  of  Santil- 
lane  is  a  long  novel  made  up  of  many 
disconnected  episodes.  One  of  the  first 
works  to  introduce  thieves,  vagabonds, 
and  vulgar  peasantry  into  fiction,  it  is 
a  precursor  of  the  realism  of  Flaubert  and 
Balzac.  The  setting  is  supposedly  Spain, 
but  the  characters  and  settings  are  in 
reality  French,  and  particularly  Breton. 
The  appeal  of  this  book  comes  from  the 
skilled  narration  of  exciting  tales,  and 
from  its  author's  shrewd  insight  into  the 
minds  of  his  picturesque  characters. 

The  Story: 

Bias  of  Santillane  retired  from  the 
wars  and  married  a  chambermaid  no 
longer  young.  After  the  birth  of  Gil, 
the  parents  settled  in  Oviedo,  where  the 
father  became  a  minor  squire  and  the 
mother  went  into  service. 

Happily,  Gil  Perez,  Gil  Bias'  uncle, 
was  a  canon  in  the  town.  He  was  three 
and  a  half  feet  high  and  enormously 
fat.  Without  his  aid,  Gil  Bias  would 
never  have  received  an  education.  He 


provided  a  tutor  for  his  nephew  and  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  Gil  Bias  had  studied 
the  classics  and  some  logic. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  seek 
his  fortune,  the  family  sent  Gil  Bias  to 
Salamanca  to  study.  The  uncle  provided 
him  with  forty  pistoles  and  a  mule. 
Shortly  after  setting  out,  Gil  Bias  was 
foolish  enough  to  join  the  train  of  a  mule 
teer  who  concocted  a  story  that  he  had 
been  robbed  of  a  hundred  pistoles  and 
threatened  all  his  passengers  with  arrest 
and  torture.  His  purpose  was  to  frighten 
the  men  away  so  that  he  could  seduce 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  travelers.  Gil 
Bias  had  some  thought  of  helping  the 
woman,  but  he  fled  upon  the  arrival  of 
a  police  patrol. 

Gil  Bias  was  found  in  the  woods  by  a 
band  of  ruffians  who  had  an  underground 
hideout  nearby.  Under  Captain  Rolando, 
they  made  Gil  their  serving-boy.  After 
an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  escape,  he  set 
out  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  captain. 
At  the  end  of  six  months  he  became  a 
member  of  the  gang  and  embarked  on  a 


305 


career  of  robbery  and  murder.  One  day 
the  robbers  attacked  a  coach,  killed  all 
the  men,  and  captured  a  beautiful 
woman.  Since  she  was  well-bom  and 
modest,  Gil  Bias  resolved  to  rescue  her. 
Waiting  until  the  robbers  were  asleep, 
he  tied  up  the  cook  and  escaped  with 
the  woman,  whose  name,  he  learned,  was 
Donna  Mencia.  She  was  very  grateful 
for  her  rescue,  and,  dressing  Gil  Bias  in 
fine  clothes,  she  presented  him  with  a 
bag  of  money.  So  he  went  on  his  way, 
comparatively  rich  and  comfortable. 

On  his  travels  he  met  Fabricio,  a 
former  schoolmate  who  had  become  a 
barber.  Scornful  of  Gil's  intention  to 
study,  Fabricio  soon  prevailed  upon  him 
to  go  into  service  as  a  lackey.  As  it 
turned  out,  Gil  was  well  adapted  to  flat 
tery  and  intrigue,  and  he  soon  became 
proficient  by  serving  a  variety  of  masters, 
among  them  Doctor  Sangrado,  a  physi 
cian.  The  doctor's  one  remedy  for  all 
maladies  was  forced  drinking  of  water 
and  frequent  bleeding.  Gil  Bias  won  the 
doctor's  esteem  and  was  permitted  to  at 
tend  poor  patients  in  his  master's  place. 
During  an  epidemic,  he  made  a  record 
as  good  as  that  of  Sangrado;  all  of  their 
patients  died. 

Another  master  was  Don  Matthias,  a 
fashionable  man  about  town.  By  means 
of  a  little  judicious  thievery  and  daring, 
Gil  Bias  found  his  new  life  highly  satis 
fying.  Each  day  was  spent  in  eating  and 
polite  conversation,  every  night  in  carous 
ing.  During  this  service  Gil  dressed  in 
his  master's  clothes  and  tried  to  get  a 
mistress  among  the  titled  ladies  of  the 
town.  An  old  lady  who  arranged  these 
affairs  introduced  him  to  a  grand  lady 
who  was  pining  for  a  lover.  Gil  was  dis 
illusioned  when  he  went  with  Don  Mat 
thias  to  the  house  of  Arsenia,  an  actress, 
and  found  that  his  grand  lady  was  really 
a  serving-maid. 

After  Don  Matthias  was  killed  in  a 
duel,  Gil  attended  Arsenia  for  a  time. 
Later  he  went  into  service  in  the  house 
hold  of  Aurora,  a  virtuous  young  woman 
who  grieved  because  a  student  named 


Lewis  paid  no  attention  to  her  charms.  At 
GiPs  suggestion,  Aurora  disguised  her 
self  as  a  man  and  took  an  apartment  in 
the  same  house  with  Lewis.  Striking  up 
a  friendship  with  him,  Aurora  skillfully 
led  him  on.  Then  she  received  him  in 
her  own  house  in  her  proper  person,  and 
soon  Lewis  and  Aurora  were  married. 
Gil  Bias  left  their  service  content  with  his 
part  in  the  romance. 

On  the  road  again,  Gil  was  able  to 
frustrate  a  band  of  robbers  who  had 
planned  to  kill  Don  Alphonso.  Thus 
Gil  and  the  don  began  a  lasting  friend 
ship. 

After  losing  a  situation  because  he 
learned  that  the  duenna  had  an  ulcer  on 
her  back,  Gil  next  took  service  with  an 
archbishop.  His  work  was  to  write  out 
the  homilies  composed  by  the  archbishop. 
After  he  had  won  his  master's  confidence, 
the  churchman  made  Gil  promise  to  tell 
him  when  his  homilies  showed  signs  of 
degenerating  in  quality.  After  a  stroke, 
the  archbishop  failed  mentally,  and  Gil 
told  him  his  homilies  were  not  up  to 
the  usual  standard.  In  his  rage,  the  arch 
bishop  dismissed  Gil,  who  learned  in  this 
manner  the  folly  of  being  too  truthful. 

Engaged  as  secretary  by  the  Duke  of 
Lerrna,  prime  minister  of  Spain,  Gil  soon 
became  the  duke's  confidential  agent. 
Now  Gil  was  in  a  position  to  sell  favors, 
and  his  avarice  grew  apace  with  his  suc 
cess  in  court  intrigue.  During  this  suc 
cessful  period,  he  engaged  Scipio  as  his 
servant.  Gil's  high  position  enabled  him 
to  secure  the  governorship  of  Valencia 
for  Don  Alphonso. 

Gil  became  involved  in  high  court 
scandal.  At  the  request  of  the  prime 
minister,  he  acted  as  pander  for  the 
prince  of  Spain,  the  heir  apparent.  About 
the  same  time  Scipio  arranged  a  wealthy 
marriage  for  Gil  with  the  daughter  of 
a  rich  goldsmith.  But  one  night  the  king's 
spies  caught  Gil  conducting  the  prince 
to  a  house  of  pleasure  and  Gil  was  con 
fined  to  prison.  Faithful  Scipio  shared 
his  imprisonment.  After  months  of  sick 
ness,  Gil  was  released  and  exiled  from 


306 


Madrid.  Fortunately  Don  Alphonso  gave 
Gil  a  country  estate  at  Lirias,  and  there 
he  and  Scipio  settled  to  lead  the  simple 
lives  of  country  gentlemen.  Attracted 
by  Antonia,  the  daughter  of  one  of  his 
farmers,  Gil  married,  but  his  happiness 
was  brief.  After  Antonia  and  his  baby 
daughter  died,  Gil  became  restless  for 
new  fields.  The  prince  was  now  king, 
and  Gil  resolved  to  try  court  life  again. 
He  became  an  intimate  of  the  new  prime 


minister,  Count  Olivarez.  Once  again  he 
was  employed  to  arrange  a  liaison  for 
the  king,  a  mission  that  turned  out  badly. 
Forced  to  resign,  Gil  returned  for  good 
to  Lirias. 

There  he  made  a  second  marriage  with 
a  girl  named  Dorothea.  Now  content, 
Gil  Bias  hoped  for  children  whose  edu 
cation  would  provide  amusement  for  his 
old  age. 


THE  GLASS  KEY 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:    Dashiell  Hammett  (1894-         ) 

Type  of  plot:    Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1930's 

Locale:    New  York  area 

First  published:    1931 

Principal  characters: 

NED  BEAUMONT,  gambler  and  amateur  detective 

PAUL  MADVIG,  his  friend  and  the  city's  political  boss 

SENATOR  HENRY,  Madvig's  candidate  for  reelection 

JANET  HENRY,  his  daughter 

SHAD  O'RORY,  Madvig's  rival 

OPAL  MADVIG,  Madvig's  daughter 

BERNIE  DE SPAIN,  a  gambler  owing  Ned  money 

Critique: 

In  this  detective  novel  Hammett  has 
followed  the  customary  pattern  but  has 
varied  the  circumstances  so  as  to  give 
the  story  an  interesting  twist.  In  addi 
tion  to  tracking  down  the  murderer,  the 
hero  also  breaks  up  a  bootlegging  gang 
and  gives  the  city  officials  something 
about  which  to  worry.  The  novel  has 
stylistic  qualities  above  the  ordinary. 
It  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  modern 
school  of  hard-boiled  realism. 


The  Story: 

Ned  Beaumont  reported  to  his  friend, 
Paul  Madvig,  the  political  boss  of  the 
city,  that  he  had  found  the  dead  body 
of  Taylor  Henry  in  the  street.  Taylor 
was  the  son  of  Senator  Henry,  Madvig's 
candidate  for  reelection.  When  Madvig 
failed  to  show  much  interest,  Ned  told 


his  story  to  the  police.  Next  day  he  went 
to  collect  from  Bernie  Despain  the 
thirty-two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  that 
he  had  won  on  a  horse  race  and  found 
that  Bernie  had  vanished,  leaving  be 
hind  twelve  hundred  dollars  worth  of 
Taylors  LO.U.'s.  Ned  had  himself  ap 
pointed  special  investigator  in  the  district 
attorney's  office  so  that  he  could  work 
on  Taylor  Henry's  case.  What  he  really 
wanted  to  do  was  to  find  Bernie  and  get 
his  money. 

His  first  step  was  to  get  the  help  of 
Madvig's  daughter  Opal,  who  had  been 
meeting  Taylor  secretly.  Ned  had 
found  no  hat  on  Taylor  the  night  of 
the  murder.  Opal  got  one  for  him  from 
the  room  she  and  Taylor  had  rented. 
Then  Ned  went  to  New  York  to  a  speak 
easy  that  Bernie  frequented.  Bernie 


THE  GLASS  KEY  by  Dashiell  Hamraett.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  lac.    Copyright, 
1931,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


307 


came  in  accompanied  by  a  burly  body 
guard  who,  when  Ned  asked  for  his 
money,  struck  Ned  a  terrific  blow.  With 
the  help  of  Jack  Rumsen,  a  private 
detective,  Ned  trailed  Bemie  from  the 
hotel  where  he  was  staying  to  a  brown- 
stone  house  on  Forty-ninth  Street.  There 
he  told  Bernie  that  he  had  planted  Tay 
lor's  hat  behind  a  sofa  cushion  in  Ber- 
nie's  hotel  room  and  would  leave  it 
there  for  the  police  to  find  if  Bernie 
did  not  pay  him  the  money.  Bernie 
paid  off. 

Back  from  New  York,  Ned  went  to 
see  Farr,  the  district  attorney.  Farr 
showed  Ned  an  envelope  enclosing 
paper  on  which  were  typed  three  ques 
tions  implicating  Madvig  in  Taylor's 
murder.  Meanwhile  Madvig  had  decided 
to  have  the  police  close  down  several 
speak-easies  belonging  to  Shad  O'Rory, 
gangster  and  ward  boss.  O'Rory  re 
opened  the  Dog  House,  where  Ned  went 
to  get  information.  O'Rory  had  him 
tortured  for  several  days.  Finally  he 
escaped.  He  was  taken  to  a  hospital. 

There  he  had  many  callers,  including 
Madvig  and  Janet  Henry,  Taylor's  sis 
ter.  Opal  Madvig  went  to  tell  Ned  she 
was  sure  her  father  had  killed  Taylor. 
Ned  assured  her  he  did  not  believe  Mad 
vig  had  committed  the  murder.  Partly 
recovered,  he  left  the  hospital  against 
orders. 

Shortly  afterward  Ned  and  Madvig 
dined  with  Senator  Henry  and  his  daugh 
ter  Janet.  Ned  made  Janet  admit  that 
she  secretly  hated  Madvig,  who  was  in 
love  with  her. 

Ned  went  to  see  Madvig  and  told  him 
that  even  his  henchmen  were  beginning 
to  betray  him  because  they  thought  he 
had  committed  the  murder.  Madvig  ad 
mitted  Taylor  had  followed  him  out  of 
the  Henry  house  that  night,  that  they 
had  quarreled,  and  that  he  killed  Tay 
lor  with  a  brown,  knobby  cane  which 
Taylor  had  been  carrying.  Madvig 
claimed  that  he  had  then  carried  the 
cane  away  under  his  coat  and  burned  it. 
Ned  later  asked  Janet  to  look  for  the 


cane.  She  said  it  was  with  some  others 
in  the  hall  of  their  home.  She  also  told 
him  of  a  dream  in  which  she  and  Ned 
had  found  a  house  with  a  banquet 
spread  inside;  they  had  to  unlock  the 
door  and  let  out  a  great  many  snakes 
before  they  could  go  in  to  enjoy  the 
food. 

Ned  went  next  to  Farr's  office  and 
signed  an  affidavit  telling  of  Madvig's 
confession.  Then  he  went  to  a  bar  where 
he  found  Jeff,  O'Rory 's  bodyguard.  In 
a  private  room  upstairs  he  accused  Jeff 
of  a  gangster  killing  planned  by  O'Rory. 
O'Rory  walked  in  on  them  and  in  the 
ensuing  quarrel  Jeff  strangled  O'Rory. 
Ned  had  a  waiter  call  the  police  to  the 
scene. 

Ned  went  to  the  Madvig  home,  where 
Madvig's  mother  said  that  Madvig  was 
nowhere  to  be  found  and  that  Opal  had 
unsuccessfully  attempted  to  commit  sui 
cide.  Next  morning  Ned  went  to  Senator 
Henry's  house  and  told  the  senator  that 
Madvig  had  confessed.  It  was  all  Janet 
and  Ned  could  do  to  keep  the  senator 
from  rushing  out  to  kill  Madvig.  The  sen 
ator  asked  Janet  to  leave  him  alone  with 
Ned.  Ned  told  him  that  Janet  hated 
Madvig.  The  senator  insisted  he  was  not 
going  to  permit  the  murderer  of  his  son  to 
go  unpunished.  Then  Ned  accused  the 
senator  of  killing  Taylor,  of  wanting  to 
kill  Madvig  so  that  lie  would  not  testify 
against  him,  of  caring  more  for  his  own 
reelection  than  for  the  life  of  his  son. 
The  senator  confessed  that  he  had  in 
terfered  in  a  street  quarrel  between 
Taylor  and  Madvig  and  had  asked  the 
political  boss  to  leave  him  with  his  son* 
Madvig  had  done  so  after  giving  him  the 
cane  Madvig  had  taken  away  from  Tay 
lor.  The  senator,  angry  with  his  son 
because  of  the  quarrel  he  had  forced  upon 
Madvig,  had  angrily  struck  Taylor  with 
the  cane  and  killed  him.  He  had  then 
carried  home  the  cane.  After  hearing 
the  old  man's  confession,  Ned  refused  to 
leave  him  alone  because  he  feared  the 
senator  would  kill  himself  before  the 
police  arrived. 


308 


Next  day  Janet  begged  Ned  to  let  her 
go  with  him  to  New  York.  She  said 
the  key  to  the  house  in  her  dream  had 
been  of  glass  and  had  shattered  just  as 
they  opened  the  door  because  they  had 


had  to  force  the  lock.  When  Madvig 
came  in,  he  learned  that  he  had  lost 
Janet,  that  she  was  going  away  with 
Ned  Beaumont. 


THE  GOLDEN  ASS  OF  LUCIUS  APULEIUS 

Type  of  work:  Tale 
Author:  Lucius  Apuleius  (125?-?) 
Type  of  p]ot:  Picaresque  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Early  second  century 
Lowle:  Greece 

Fir  ft  ftrrjcribed:  Second  century  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

Lucius,  a  traveler 

CHARITES,  a  Greek  lady 

LEPOLEMUS,  her  husband 

THRASIIXUS,  in  love  with  Charites 

MILO,  a  usurer 

PAMPHLLE,  his  wife 

FOTTS,  her  maid 

Critique: 

The  Golden  Ass  is  a  rich  repository 
of  gusty,  fantastic  anecdotes.  In  tone  it 
is  bawdy  and  realistic;  in  approach  it  is 
a  mixture  of  fancy  and  shrewd  observa 
tion.  An  allegory  runs  through  the  story, 
the  maturing  of  man,  but  the  symbolism 
is  dim  and  inconclusive.  Two  notable 
themes  distinguish  Apuleius'  work — the 
metamorphosis  of  the  hero  into  an  ass, 
which  is  a  reworking  of  an  earlier  Greek 
tale,  and  a  lengthy  retelling  of  the  story 
of  Cupid  and  Psyche. 


The  Story: 

When  Lucius  set  out  on  his  travels  in 
Thessaly,  he  happened  to  fall  in  with 
two  strangers  who  were  telling  unusual 
stories  of  the  mysterious  life  of  the  region. 
At  the  urging  of  Lucius,  one  of  the 
strangers,  a  merchant  named  Aristomenes, 
told  of  his  strange  adventure  in  Hippata, 
the  chief  city  of  Thessaly. 

Aristomenes  had  gone  to  the  market 
to  buy  honey  and  cheese,  but  he  found 
that  a  rival  merchant  had  been  there 
before  him  and  had  bought  up  the 
supply.  As  he  turned  sadly  away,  he 


spied  his  friend  Socrates,  clad  in  rags, 
sitting  on  the  ground.  Socrates  had  fallen 
among  thieves,  who  beat  him  and  robbed 
him  even  of  his  clothes.  Touched  by  his 
friend's  plight,  Aristomenes  led  him  to 
an  inn,  bathed  and  clothed  him,  and 
took  him  to  his  own  chamber  to  sleep. 

Socrates  warned  of  the  woman  who 
kept  the  inn,  a  carnal  woman  possessed 
of  magical  powers.  When  she  saw  a 
comely  man,  she  wanted  him  for  a  lover; 
if  he  refused,  he  was  changed  into  a 
beast  or  bird.  Aristomenes  was  a  little 
frightened;  he  barred  the  door  securely 
and  moved  his  bed  against  it  for  safety. 
Socrates  was  already  sleeping  soundly. 

About  midnight  two  hags  came  to  the 
door,  which  fell  away  at  their  approach. 
One  bore  a  torch  and  the  other  a  sponge 
and  sword.  While  the  landlady  stood 
over  Socrates  and  accused  him  of  trying 
to  get  away  from  her,  the  two  hags  seized 
his  head,  thrust  the  sword  into  his  throat, 
and  reached  in  and  took  out  his  heart* 
They  caught  all  his  blood  in  a  bladder. 
Then  they  put  the  sponge  in  the  gaping 
throat  wound. 


THE  GOLDEN  ASS  OF  LUCIUS  APULEIUS  by  Lucius  Apuleius.   Published  by  Liveright  Publishing  Corp. 


309 


In  the  morning  Socrates  looked  like  a 
whole  man.  The  two  friends  crept  away 
quietly,  without  arousing  the  landlady. 
A  few  miles  out  of  town,  they  stopped 
to  eat.  Socrates,  after  eating  a  whole 
cheese,  leaned  over  to  drink  from  the 
stream.  As  he  did  so,  the  wound  in  his 
throat  opened,  the  sponge  fell  out,  and 
Socrates  fell  dead. 

Warned  by  this  story  of  what  he  might 
expect  in  Thessaly,  Lucius  presented  his 
letter  of  introduction  to  Milo,  a  rich 
usurer.  He  was  well  received  in  Milo's 
house.  Attracted  by  Fotis,  a  buxom  maid, 
Lucius  hung  around  the  kitchen  admir 
ing  her  hair  and  hips.  She  agreed 
quickly  to  come  to  his  room  that  night 
as  soon  as  she  had  put  her  mistress,  Pam- 
phile,  to  bed.  Fotis  was  as  good  as  her 
word,  and  several  nights  were  passed 
agreeably  enough. 

In  the  city  Lucius  met  a  cousin,  Byr- 
rhaena,  a  rich  gentlewoman.  She  invited 
him  to  dine  and  at  dinner  warned  him 
of  the  witch  Pamphile.  Full  of  wine, 
Lucius  on  his  way  home  saw  three  thugs 
trying  to  get  into  Mile's  house.  He  rushed 
on  them  and  slew  them  with  his  sword. 
The  next  day  was  the  Feast  of  Laughter. 
As  an  elaborate  hoax,  Lucius  was  ar 
rested  and  tried  for  murder  in  the  public 
place.  At  the  last  minute  the  three 
"corpses"  were  revealed  to  be  three  blad 
ders,  blown  up  and  given  temporary  life 
by  Pamphile. 

One  night  Fotis  let  Lucius  look 
through  the  keyhole  of  Pamphile's  bed 
room.  To  his  amazement,  Lucius  saw  the 
witch  smear  herself  with  ointment  and 
turn  into  an  eagle  that  flew  away  in 
majestic  flight.  Filled  with  envy,  Lucius 
demanded  of  Fotis  that  she  smear  him 
with  ointment  and  turn  him  into  an 
eagle.  Fotis  consented  but  with  reluc 
tance. 

At  a  propitious  time  Fotis  stole  a 
box  of  ointment  and  smeared  Lucius,  but 
to  his  horror  he  found  himself  turned 
into  an  ass  instead  of  an  eagle.  He  looked 
around  at  the  mocking  Fotis,  who  pro 
fessed  to  have  made  a  mistake  and  prom 


ised  to  get  him  some  roses  in  the 
ing.  If  he  would  only  eat  roses,  he  would 
turn  into  a  man  again.  So  Lucius  re 
signed  himself  to  being  an  ass  for  the 
night. 

But  during  the  darkness  thieves  broke 
into  Milo's  house,  loaded  much  of  Milo's 
gold  on  Lucius*  back,  and  drove  him  out 
on  the  road.  That  morning  Lucius  saw 
some  roses  along  the  way,  but  as  he  was 
about  to  eat  them  he  suddenly  thought 
that  if  he  turned  into  a  man  in  the  com 
pany  of  thieves  they  would  surely  kill 
him.  He  trotted  on  until  they  came  to 
the  thieves'  lair,  which  was  governed  by 
an  old  woman. 

On  another  night  the  thieves  took  cap 
tive  the  gentle  Charites,  whom  they  had 
abducted  from  her  wedding  with  Lepol- 
emus.  Charites  wept  bitterly.  To  con 
sole  her,  the  old  hag  told  the  story  of 
Cupid  and  Psyche. 

There  was  a  merchant  who  had  three 
daughters.  The  two  older  girls,  well- 
favored,  were  soon  married  off.  The 
youngest,  a  true  beauty,  was  admired  by 
all  who  saw  her.  No  man  came  to  woo 
her,  however,  for  Venus  had  become 
jealous  of  her  beauty  and  had  put  a 
spell  upon  the  girl. 

In  despair,  the  parents  consulted  an 
oracle,  wno  told  them  to  expose  the  girl 
on  a  rocky  cliff,  where  she  would  become 
the  bride  of  a  loathsome  beast.  The  sor 
rowing  couple  obeyed,  and  the  lovely 
virgin  was  exposed  one  night  on  a  cliff. 
After  she  had  been  left  alone,  a  gentle 
wind  whisked  her  down  into  a  rich 
castle. 

That  night  a  man  with  a  caressing 
voice,  but  whose  face  she  never  saw, 
made  her  his  wife.  For  a  while  she  was 
content  not  to  sec  her  husband,  but  at 
last  her  jealous  sisters  persuaded  her  to 
light  a  lamp  in  order  to  see  his  face. 
When  she  did,  she  learned  her  husband 
was  Cupid,  who  had  succumbed  to  her 
charms  when  Venus  had  sent  him  to 
make  her  fall  in  love  with  a  monster. 

Although  the  girl  was  pregnant,  Venus 
refused  to  recognize  her  son's  marriage 


3.10 


with  a  mortal.  Then  Jupiter  took  pity 
on  her  and  brought  her  to  heaven.  There 
he  conferred  immortality  on  her  and 
named  her  Psyche.  So  Cupid  and  Psyche 
became  the  epitome  of  faithful  love. 

Lepolemus,  the  resourceful  bride 
groom,  rescued  Charites  by  ingratiating 
himself  with  the  robbers  and  becoming 
one  of  their  band.  Watching  his  chance, 
he  made  them  all  drunk  and  chained 
them.  Setting  Charites  on  the  back  of 
Lucius,  Lepolemus  took  his  bride  home 
and  returned  with  a  band  of  aroused 
citizens,  who  killed  all  the  thieves  of 
the  den. 

Lucius  was  given  over  to  a  herdsman 
of  Charites,  and  for  a  time  he  lived  a 
hard  life  as  a  mill  ass.  One  day  news 
came  of  the  death  of  Lepolemus,  who 
was  killed  on  a  hunting  trip  with  his 
friend,  Thrasillus.  In  a  dream,  Lepol 
emus  told  Charites  that  Thrasillus  had 
killed  him.  When  Thrasillus  came  woo 
ing  Charites  soon  afterward,  she  pre 
tended  to  listen  to  his  proposals.  He 
came  to  her  chamber  late  one  night,  and 
there  the  old  nurse  of  Charites  gave  him 


wine.  When  he  was  drunk,  Charites  took 
a  pin  and  pricked  out  both  his  eyes. 

These  irregularities  of  their  owners 
made  the  shepherds  uneasy,  In  a  body 
they  left  Charites'  estate  and  struck  out 
on  their  own.  Lucius  passed  through 
several  hands,  some  good  owners,  some 
bad.  He  bore  his  lot  as  best  he  could, 
but  he  could  never  be  a  proper  ass  be 
cause  he  still  longed  to  eat  bread  and 
meat.  One  of  his  owners  discovered  this 
peculiarity  and  exhibited  Lucius  as  a 
performing  ass. 

As  a  performer  Lucius  led  an  easier 
life.  Now  that  spring  was  approaching, 
he  hoped  to  find  some  roses.  In  the 
meantime  he  enjoyed  himself;  he  even 
had  a  rich  matron  as  his  mistress  for  a 
few  nights.  But  when  his  master  pro 
posed  to  exhibit  him  in  a  cage,  making 
love  to  a  harlot,  Lucius  decided  to  rebel. 

He  escaped  and  sought  the  aid  of 
Queen  Isis.  Taking  pity  on  Lucius,  she 
caused  a  priest  to  carry  a  garland  of 
roses  in  a  parade.  The  priest  offered  the 
flowers  to  Lucius,  who  ate  them  eagerly. 
Once  again  Lucius  became  a  man. 


THE  GOOD  COMPANIONS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  J.   B.   Priestley   (1894-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  The  1920's 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1929 

Principal  characters: 

Miss  TBANT,  a  well-to-do  British  woman 

INIGO  JOLLIFANT,  a  teacher  at  a  boys'  school 

JESS  OAKROYD,  a  workman 

SUSIE  DEAN,  a  comedienne 

JERRY  JERNINGHAM,  a  dancer 

Critique: 

J.  B.  Priestley's  novel  is  a  very  human 
portrayal  of  a  group  of  his  contemporary 
Britishers  in  the  1920's.  In  many  ways 
the  novel  is  reminiscent  of  the  work  of 
Charles  Dickens,  both  in  characterization 
and  in  atmosphere.  The  descriptions  of 
the  English  countryside  and  towns  are 


particularly  good.  With  such  descriptions 
the  author  effectively  sets  the  locale  of 
the  various  parts  of  the  novel.  The  best 
character  of  the  novel  is  the  Yorkshire 
workman,  Jess  Oakroyd.  His  northern 
dialect  is  a  source  of  amusement  both  to 
the  characters  in  the  novel  and  to  the 


THE  GOOD  COMPANIONS  by  J.  B.  Priestley.    By  permission  of  the  author,  his  agent  A.  D.  Peters,  London 
and  the  publishers.  Harper  &  Brothers.   Copyright,  1929,  by  J.  B.  Priestley. 


311 


reader,  and  he  is  the  English  parallel  to 
the  almost  mythical  American  Yankee 
who  says  little,  thinks  much,  and  ends 
up  by  proving  more  astute  than  the 
sophisticated  people  about  him. 

The  Story; 

Jess  Oakroyd  was  a  stolid,  proper  sort 
of  Yorkshireman,  but  his  wife's  nagging, 
coupled  with  the  sarcastic  remarks  of  his 
son,  finally  forced  him  to  pack  a  small 
basket  of  clothes  and  set  off  to  travel 
about  England.  His  adventures  began 
immediately,  for  he  got  a  ride  in  a  large 
van  loaded  with  stolen  goods.  The  driver 
of  the  van  and  the  driver's  helper  left 
Jess  at  an  inn  in  a  small  hamlet  after 
having  robbed  him  while  he  was  asleep. 
Rudely  awakened  by  the  innkeeper,  Jess 
had  no  money  to  buy  his  breakfast. 
Setting  off  afoot,  he  came  upon  another 
van,  in  which  a  man  was  attempting  to 
repair  a  battered  peddler's  stall.  In  re 
turn  for  Jess'  help,  the  owner  gave  him 
breakfast  and  a  ride.  Jess  stayed  for  three 
days  with  the  peddler,  who  sold  fancy 
balloons. 

After  leaving  the  balloon  trade,  the 
Yorkshireman  set  out  to  walk  the  roads  of 
England  once  again.  Within  the  hour  he 
came  upon  a  stalled  car  and  helped  the 
woman  driver  to  start  the  motor.  The 
woman  was  Miss  Trant,  who  had  in 
herited  several  hundred  pounds  from  her 
father.  Since  all  her  previous  adventures 
had  been  in  the  realm  of  historical  novels, 
Miss  Trant  had  also  decided  to  travel 
over  England,  At  the  age  of  thirty-five 
she  was  already  an  old  maid. 

While  they  were  getting  the  car  started, 
rain  began  to  fall,  and  Jess  and  Miss 
Trant  headed  for  a  little  tearoom  nearby. 
There  they  met  Inigo  Jollifant  and  an 
odd-looking  companion  who  was  carrying 
a  banjo.  Inigo  had  begun  his  adventures 
on  the  previous  Monday  evening,  as  had 
Jess  and  Miss  Trant. 

An  instructor  at  a  boys'  school,  Inigo 
had  been  unhappy  there  because  of  the 
petty  tyranny  of  the  headmaster  and  his 
termagant  wife.  On  Monday  evening  he 


had  been  dismissed  because  he  became 
drunk  and  played  the  piano  in  celebra 
tion  of  his  twenty-sixth  birthday.  Inigo, 
too  drunk  to  do  the  prudent  thing,  had 
packed  a  knapsack  and  set  out  on  his 
travels  immediately.  In  the  railroad 
station  of  a  small  town  he  had  met 
his  banjo-carrying  companion,  Morton 
Mitcham,  a  professional  entertainer. 

In  die  tearoom  the  shrewish  woman 
proprietress  was  berating  a  group  of  cus 
tomers  who  were  unable  to  pay  their  bill. 
The  banjo  player  recognized  them  as 
members  of  a  theatrical  troupe  stranded, 
as  they  explained,  when  their  manager 
ran  away  with  a  young  woman  and 
their  funds. 

On  impulse,  Miss  Trant  decided  to 
take  over  the  stranded  company.  That 
night  they  made  plans  for  taking  the 
show  on  the  road  once  more.  The  new 
troupe  took  the  name  of  The  Good  Com 
panions,  It  was  made  up  of  an  elderly 
comedian,  a  young  and  pretty  comedienne 
named  Susie  Dean,  Morton  Mitcham,  a 
dancer  named  Jerry  Jerningham,  a  girl 
singer,  and  an  older  couple  who  sang 
duets,  Miss  Trant  was  the  manager, 
Inigo  the  accompanist,  and  Jess,  at  Miss 
Trant's  insistence,  the  handyman. 

Their  first  appearance  was  in  the  little 
town  where  Miss  Trant  had  found  them, 
The  show  was  not  successful,  but  their 
second  engagement,  at  n  seaside  hotel, 
met  with  obvious  favor.  The  most  ap 
preciated  actors  were  Jerry  Jerningham 
and  Susie  Dean,  who  were  aided  by  the 
gay  songs  which  were  written  for  their 
acts  by  Inigo  Jollifant.  For  several  weeks 
the  routine  of  the  company  was  one  of 
rehearsals  and  performances,  with  train 
rides  between  two  or  three-night  engage 
ments  in  each  town. 

As  the  weeks  passed,  Inigo  Jollifant  fell 
in  love  with  Susie  Dean,  who  laughed  at 
him,  saying  she  could  not  fall  in  love  and 
marry  until  she  had  become  a  musical 
comedy  star  and  had  played  in  London. 
Miss  Trant  was  having  a  delightful  ex 
perience.  All  her  life  had  been  spent 
in  the  sleepy  village  of  Hitherton  in 


southern  England,  wnere  ner  father  had 
settled  upon  his  retirement  from  the 
army.  Her  theatrical  associates  were  far 
more  interesting  than  the  small  sedate 
group  of  her  fadier's  village  friends. 

Next  The  Good  Companions  played 
in  an  almost  deserted  mill  town  in  the 
Midlands.  The  mills  had  been  shut  down 
for  some  months  and  the  townspeople 
had  little  money  or  interest  in  a  traveling 
vaudeville  troupe.  Since  the  audiences 
were  small  and  not  sympathetic,  the 
troupe  became  dispirited  and  almost  broke 
up.  But  Jess  Oakroyd  persuaded  the 
troupe  to  stick  with  Miss  Trant,  since 
she  would  lose  her  money  if  they  did 
not  carry  on  with  their  engagements. 

At  last  the  fortunes  of  the  troupe  had 
a  turn  for  the  better.  Inigo  Jollifant  com 
posed  new  tunes  for  the  acts  which  met 
with  great  success.  His  love  affair,  how 
ever,  did  not  fare  as  well.  Susie  Dean 
could  not  understand  why  he  did  not  take 
his  music  as  seriously  as  he  did  his  writ 
ing  for  literary  periodicals.  She  felt  sure 
that  he  was  making  a  mistake  in  trying 
to  be  a  second-rate  essayist  when  he 
could  be  a  first-rate  song  writer. 

The  Good  Companions  finally  had  a 
long  engagement  in  a  series  of  prosperous 
manufacturing  towns.  The  large  audi 
ences  they  drew  began  to  recoup  the 
money  Miss  Trant  had  invested.  They 
became  bold  enough  to  engage  a  large 
hall  for  a  stand  of  several  nights.  In 
the  meantime  Inigo  went  to  London, 
where  a  famous  producer  listened  to  his 
new  songs.  Inigo,  determined  to  help 
Susie  become  a  top-ranking  musical 
comedy  star,  refused  to  let  the  producer 
use  his  songs  unless  the  man  went  with 
him  to  hear  Susie  Dean. 


The  first  night  in  the  large  auditorium 
was  disastrous.  The  operator  of  the  local 
motion  picture  houses  hired  toughs  to 
start  a  riot  and  set  fire  to  the  hall  during 
the  performance.  The  producer  from 
London  was  punched  on  the  nose  in  the 
melee  and  so  refused  to  hear  any  more 
about  either  Inigo's  music  or  Susie  Dean. 
Miss  Trant  was  injured  during  the  riot. 

Finally,  when  the  future  looked  dark 
est,  an  elderly  woman  took  a  fancy  to 
Jerry  Jerningham.  She  married  him  and 
put  her  money  and  influence  at  his  dis 
posal.  The  result  was  that  an  even  greater 
producer  gave  Susie  Dean  her  chance  at 
musical  comedy  in  London  and  bought 
Inigo's  music. 

The  troupe  disbanded;  but  at  Jerning- 
ham's  request  the  other  performers  found 
excellent  places  with  the  same  producer. 
In  the  hospital  Miss  Trant  met  a  doctoi 
with  whom  she  had  been  in  love  for  many 
years,  and  she  prepared  to  marry  him  as 
soon  as  she  was  well.  Jess  Oakroyd  did  a 
little  detective  work  in  connection  with 
the  riot.  With  the  help  of  the  balloon 
peddler,  he  discovered  who  had  hired  the 
men  to  start  the  rioting  and  set  fire  to 
the  theater,  Held  responsible  for  the  dis 
turbance,  these  men  had  to  take  over 
Miss  Trant's  debts  for  the  damages. 

After  solving  the  mystery  of  the  riot, 
Jess  went  back  to  his  home  in  Yorkshire, 
for  he  had  had  a  telegram  from  his  son 
telling  him  that  Mrs.  Oakroyd  was 
seriously  ill.  She  died  shortly  thereafter 
and  Jess  made  preparations  to  continue 
his  traveling.  He  decided  to  visit  his 
married  daughter  in  Canada,  for  he  had 
discovered  that  even  a  man  as  old  and 
settled  as  he  could  become  addicted  to  the 
pleasures  of  adventuring  away  from  home. 


THE  GOOD  EARTH 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Pearl  S.  Buck  (1892-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Northern  China 

First  published:  1931 


313 


Principal  Characters: 

WANG  LUNG,  a  Chinese  farmer 

O-LAN,  his  wife 

LOTUS  BLOSSOM,  his  concubine 

PEAR  BLOSSOM,  his  slave 

NUNG  EN,  Wang  Lung's  oldest  son 

NUNG  WEN,  Wang  Lung's  second  son 

THE  FOOL,  Wang  Lung's  first  daughter 


Critique: 

In  an  almost  pastoral  style,  The  Good 
Earth  describes  the  cycle  of  birth,  mar 
riage,  and  death  in  a  Chinese  peasant 
family.  The  book  is  written  realistically, 
without  any  overt  attempts  to  awaken 
sympathy  for  any  of  the  characters.  It 
is  the  absorbing  story  of  Wang  Lung's 
life  on  the  farm,  his  trip  to  the  city 
when  starvation  threatens,  and  of  his 
life  until  it  is  time  for  him  to  be  claimed 
by  the  good  earth. 

The  Story: 

His  father  had  chosen  a  slave  girl  to 
be  the  bride  of  Wang  Lung,  a  slave 
from  the  house  of  Hwang,  a  girl  who 
would  keep  the  house  clean,  prepare  the 
food,  and  not  waste  her  time  thinking 
about  clothes.  On  the  morning  he  led  her 
out  through  the  gate  of  the  big  house, 
they  stopped  at  a  temple  and  burned  in 
cense.  That  was  their  marriage. 

O-lan  was  a  good  wife.  She  thriftily 
gathered  twigs  and  wood,  so  that  they 
would  not  have  to  buy  fuel.  She  mended 
Wang  Lung's  and  his  father's  winter 
clothes  and  scoured  the  house.  She 
worked  in  the  fields  beside  her  husband, 
even  on  the  day  she  bore  their  first  son. 

The  harvest  was  a  good  one  that  year. 
Wang  Lung  had  a  handful  of  silver 
dollars  from  the  sale  of  his  wheat  and 
rice.  He  and  O-lan  bought  new  coats 
for  themselves  and  new  clothes  for  the 
baby.  Together  they  went  to  pay  their 
respects,  with  their  child,  at  the  home 
in  which  O-lan  had  once  been  a  slave. 
With  some  of  the  silver  dollars  Wang 
Lung  bought  a  small  field  of  rich  land 
from  the  Hwangs. 


The  second  child  was  born  a  year 
later.  It  was  again  a  year  of  good 
harvest. 

Wang  Lung's  third  baby  was  a  girl. 
On  the  day  of  her  birth  crows  flew  about 
the  house,  mocking  Wang  Lung  with 
their  cries.  The  farmer  did  not  rejoice 
when  his  little  daughter  was  born,  for 
poor  farmers  raised  their  daughters  only 
to  serve  the  rich.  The  crows  had  been 
an  evil  omen.  The  child  was  born  feeble 
minded. 

That  summer  was  dry,  and  for  months 
no  rain  fell.  The  harvest  was  poor.  After 
the  little  rice  and  wheat  had  been  eaten 
and  the  ox  killed  for  food,  there  was 
nothing  for  the  poor  peasants  to  do  but 
die  or  go  south  to  find  work  and  food  in 
a  province  of  plenty.  Wang  Lung  sold 
their  furniture  for  a  few  pieces  of  silver, 
and  after  O-lan  had  borne  their  fourth 
child,  dead  with  bruises  on  its  neck  when 
he  saw  it  for  the  first  time,  the  family 
began  their  journey.  Falling  in  with  a 
crowd  of  refugees,  they  were  lucky.  The 
refugees  led  them  to  a  railroad,  and  with 
the  money  Wang  Lung  had  received  for 
his  furniture  they  traveled  on  a  train  to 
their  new  home. 

In  the  city  they  constructed  a  hut  of 
mats  against  a  wall,  and,  while  O-lan 
and  the  two  older  children  begged,  Wang 
Lung  pulled  a  ricksha.  In  that  way  they 
spent  the  winter,  each  day  earning 
enough  to  bxiy  rice  for  the  next. 

One  day  an  exciting  thing  happened. 
There  was  to  be  a  battle  between  soldiers 
in  the  town  and  an  approaching  enemy. 
When  the  wealthy  people  in  the  town 
fled,  the  poor  who  lived  so  miserably 


THE  GOOD  EARTH  by  Pearl  S.  Buck.    By  permission  of  the  author,  of  her  agent  David  Lloyd,  and  the  pub 
lishers,  The  John  Day  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,   1931,  by  Pearl  S.  Buck. 


314 


broke  into  the  houses  of  the  rich.  By 
threatening  one  fat  fellow  who  had  been 
left  behind,  Wang  Lung  obtained  enough 
money  to  take  his  family  home. 

O-lan  soon  repaired  the  damage  which 
the  weather  had  done  to  their  house  dur 
ing  their  absence;  then,  with  jewels  which 
his  wife  had  managed  to  plunder  during 
the  looting  in  the  city,  Wang  Lung 
bought  more  land  from  the  house  of 
Hwang.  He  allowed  O-lan  to  keep  two 
small  pearls  which  she  fancied.  Now 
Wang  Lung  had  more  land  than  one  man 
could  handle,  and  he  hired  one  of  his 
neighbors,  Ching,  as  overseer.  Several 
years  later  he  had  six  men  working  for 
him.  O-lan,  who  had  borne  him  twins, 
a  boy  and  a  girl,  after  their  return  from 
the  south,  no  longer  went  out  into  the 
fields  to  work,  but  kept  the  new  house 
he  had  built.  Wang  Lung's  two  oldest 
sons  were  sent  to  school  in  the  town. 

When  his  land  was  flooded  and  work 
impossible  until  the  water  receded,  Wang 
Lung  began  to  go  regularly  to  a  tea 
shop  in  the  town.  There  he  fell  in  love 
with  Lotus  and  brought  her  home  to  his 
farm  to  be  his  concubine.  O-lan  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  girl,  and 
Wang  Lung  was  forced  to  set  up  a  sep 
arate  establishment  for  Lotus  in  order 
to  keep  the  peace. 

When  he  found  that  his  oldest  son 
visited  Lotus  often  while  he  was  away, 
Wang  Lung  arranged  to  have  the  boy 
marry  the  daughter  of  a  grain  merchant 
in  the  town.  The  wedding  took  place 
shortly  before  O-lan,  still  in  the  prime  of 
life,  died  of  a  chronic  stomach  illness. 
To  cement  the  bond  between  the  farmer 
and  the  grain  merchant,  Wang  Lung's 
second  son  was  apprenticed  to  Liu,  the 
merchant,  and  his  youngest  daughter  was 
betrothed  to  Liu's  young  son.  Soon  after 
O-lan's  death  Wang  Lung's  father  fol 
lowed  her.  They  were  buried  near  one 
another  on  a  hill  on  his  land. 

When  he  grew  wealthy,  an  uncle,  his 


wife,  and  his  shiftless  son  came  to  li?M 
with  Wang  Lung.  One  year  there  was  a 
great  flood,  and  although  his  neighbors' 
houses  were  pillaged  by  robbers  during 
the  confusion,  Wang  Lung  was  not 
bothered.  Then  he  learned  that  his  uncle 
was  second  to  the  chief  of  the  robbers. 
From  that  time  on  he  had  to  give  way 
to  his  uncle's  family,  for  they  were  his 
insurance  against  robbery  and  perhaps 
murder. 

At  last  Wang  Lung  coaxed  his  uncle 
and  aunt  to  smoke  opium,  and  so  they 
became  too  involved  in  their  dreams 
to  bother  him.  But  there  was  no  way 
he  could  curb  their  son.  When  the  boy 
began  to  annoy  the  wife  of  Wang  Lung's 
oldest  son,  the  farmer  rented  the  deserted 
house  of  Hwang  and  he,  with  his  own 
family,  moved  into  town.  The  cousin  left 
to  join  the  soldiers.  The  uncle  and  aunt 
were  left  in  the  country  with  their  pipes 
to  console  them. 

After  Wang  Lung's  overseer  died,  he 
did  no  more  farming  himself.  From  that 
time  on  he  rented  his  land,  hoping  that 
his  youngest  son  would  work  it  after  his 
death.  But  he  was  disappointed.  When 
Wang  Lung  took  a  slave  young  enough 
to  be  his  granddaughter,  the  boy,  who 
was  in  love  with  her,  ran  away  from 
home  and  became  a  soldier. 

When  he  felt  that  his  death  was  near, 
Wang  Lung  went  back  to  live  on  his 
land,  taking  with  him  only  his  slave, 
young  Pear  Blossom,  his  foolish-witted 
first  daughter,  and  some  servants.  One 
day  as  he  accompanied  his  sons  across 
the  fields,  he  overheard  them  planning 
what  they  would  do  with  their  inherit 
ance,  with  the  money  they  would  get 
from  selling  their  father's  property.  Wang 
Lung  cried  out,  protesting  that  they 
must  never  sell  the  land  because  only 
from  it  could  they  he  sure  of  earning  a 
living.  He  did  not  know  that  they  looked 
at  each  other  over  his  head  and  smiled. 


315 


GOODBYE,  MR.  CHIPS 

Type  of  work:  Novelette 

Author:  James  Hilton  (1900-1954) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance. 

Time  of  plot:  1870-1933 

Locale:  An  English  boys*  school 

First  published:  1933 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  CHIPS,  an  old  schoolmaster 
MRS.  WICKETT,  his  landlady 
BROOKFIEUO  BOYS 


Critique: 

This  charming  story  of  an  old  school 
master  was  written  when  the  young 
journalist,  James  Hilton,  was  given  an 
assignment  to  produce  a  Christmas  story 
for  an  English  newspaper.  The  almost 
instantaneous  success  of  the  book  de 
termined  to  a  large  degree  the  wide 
public  reputation  of  its  author.  The 
novel  consists  largely  of  a  series  of  happy 
and  sad  reminiscences  of  a  beloved  and 
almost  legendary  teacher  who,  sitting  in 
his  little  room  one  gray  November  day, 
thinks  of  the  many  years  he  has  spent 
in  a  boys'  school. 

The  Story: 

Chips  was  old  —  eighty-five  —  but  of 
course,  he  thought,  far  from  ill.  Dr.  Men- 
vale  had  told  him  he  should  not  venture 
out  on  this  cold  November  day,  but  he 
also  added  that  Chips  was  fitter  than  the 
doctor  himself.  What  Chips  did  not  know 
was  that  the  doctor  had  told  the  landlady, 
Mrs.  Wickett,  to  look  after  him;  Chips' 
chest  clouded  in  bad  weather. 

Chips  sank  into  his  armchair  by  the 
fire,  happy  in  the  peace  and  warmth.  The 
first  thing  about  his  remembered  career 
set  him  laughing.  He  had  come  to  teach 
at  Brookfield  in  1870,  and  in  a  kindly 
talk  old  Wetherby,  the  acting  head,  ad 
vised  him  to  watch  his  disciplinary 
measures.  Mr.  Wetherby  had  heard  that 
discipline  was  not  one  of  Chips*  strong 
points.  On  the  first  day  of  class,  when 
one  of  the  boys  dropped  his  desk  top 
rather  too  loxidly,  Chips  assigned  him  a 


hundred  lines  and  had  no  trouble  after 
that.  The  boy's  name  was  Collev — Chips 
seldom  forgot  a  name  or  a  face — and 
years  later,  he  remembered,  he  taught 
Colley's  son,  and  then  his  grandson,  who, 
he  said  pleasantly,  was  the  biggest  young 
nitwit  of  them  all.  Chips  was  fond  of 
making  little  jokes  about  the  boys,  who 
took  his  jibes  well  and  grew  to  love  him 
for  his  honesty  and  friendliness.  Indeed, 
Chips'  jokes  were  regarded  as  the  funniest 
anywhere,  and  the  boys  had  great  sport 
telling  of  his  latest. 

Remembering  these  things,  Chips 
thought  growing  old  was  a  great  joke, 
though  a  little  sad.  And  when  Mrs. 
Wickett  came  in  with  his  tea,  she  could 
not  tell  whether  Chips;  was  laughing  or 
crying.  Tears  were  spilling  down  his 
withered  cheeks. 

Brookfield  had  known  periods  of 
grandeur  and  decay.  When  Chips  ar 
rived  there,  the  school  was  already  a 
century  old  and  regarded  as  a  place 
for  boys  whose  lineage  was  respectable 
but  seldom  distinguished.  Chips'  own 
background  was  not  distinguished,  either, 
but  it  had  been  hard  for  him  to  realize 
that  his  mind  was  not  the  type  to  assume 
leadership.  He  had  longed  to  work  his 
way  into  the  position  of  headmaster,  but 
after  many  failures  he  knew  that  his 
role  was  one  of  teaching,  and  he  gave  up 
his  administrative  ambitions,  But  lie  grew 
to  love  his  students.  They  would  often 
come  to  chat  with  him  over  tea  and 
crumpets.  Sometimes  they  remarked,  as 


GOODBYE,  MR.  CHIPS  by  James  Hilton,    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*,  Little,  Brown  &  Co 
Copyright,  1934,  by  James  Hilton. 


316 


they  left,  what  a  typical  bachelor  old 
Chips  was. 

It  was  painful  to  Chips  that  no  one 
at  Brookfield  remembered  his  wife.  He 
had  married  Kathy  Bridges  at  forty-eight, 
and  even  now  he  wondered  how  the 
miracle  had  taken  place.  He  had  seen  a 
girl  waving  from  the  top  of  a  rocky  ledge 
one  day  when  he  was  out  walking,  and 
thinking  her  in  trouble  he  set  out  to 
rescue  her.  On  the  way  he  sprained  his 
ankle,  and  Kathy  had  assisted  him.  It  was 
a  remarkable  love,  for  she  was  years 
younger  than  he.  But  Kathy  left  an  en 
during  mark  upon  Chips.  He  grew  more 
lenient  with  the  boys,  more  understand 
ing  of  their  problems,  and  more  cou 
rageous  in  his  teaching.  Ironically,  Kathy 
died  on  April  first,  in  childbirth,  and  that 
day,  not  realizing  the  tragedy  that  had 
befallen  Chips,  the  boys  played  April 
Fool  jokes  on  the  stricken  teacher. 

Chips  began  to  remember  the  war 
years.  Names  of  boys  whose  faces  he 
could  still  vizualize  were  read  out  in 
chapel  from  the  casualty  lists.  When  the 
headmaster  died  and  no  one  could  be 
found  to  fill  his  place,  Chips  was  asked 
to  head  Brookfield.  Standing  in  his 
tattered  gown,  which  was  often  con 
sidered  disgraceful  by  newcomers,  he  read 
out  the  names  as  tears  filled  his  eyes. 
Even  now,  sitting  in  front  of  the  fire,  he 
could  recall  that  roll,  and  he  read  it  over 
to  himself,  remembering  the  faces  that 
had  looked  so  hopefully  at  him  in  the 
classroom. 

One  day  he  was  meeting  a  Latin  class 
while  German  bombs  were  crashing  near 
by.  The  boys  squirmed  in  their  seats  as 
the  explosions  sounded  nearer  and  nearer, 
but  Chips  quietly  told  them  that  they 
should  never  judge  the  importance  of 
anything  by  the  noise  it  made.  Then, 
asking  one  of  the  more  courageous  lads 
to  translate,  Chips  chose  from  Caesar  a 
passage  which  was  particularly  apt  be 
cause  it  dealt  with  German  methods  of 


fighting.  Later  the  boys  told  how  Chips 
stood  steady  and  calm,  and  they  re 
marked  that  even  though  they  might 
consider  Latin  a  dead  language,  it  was 
nevertheless  valuable  at  times. 

After  the  war  Chips  gave  up  his  head- 
mastership  and  returned  to  his  room  at 
Mrs.  Wickett's.  Now,  fifteen  years  later, 
he  was  always  asked  to  greet  visiting 
dignitaries  who  came  to  Brookfield.  He 
was  amused  to  find  that  many  of  the 
barons,  Parliament  members,  and  war 
heroes  had  been  his  former  pupils,  and 
he  remembered  their  faces,  though  now, 
to  his  chagrin,  he  often  forgot  their 
names.  He  would  make  amusing,  ap 
propriate  remarks,  not  always  complimen 
tary,  and  the  visitors  would  shake  with 
laughter.  Sometimes  during  those  post 
war  years,  he  was  asked  to  make  little 
speeches  at  school  banquets,  and  because 
of  his  reputation  for  funny  sayings  his 
audience  would  laugh  uproariously,  often 
before  Chips  reached  the  point  of  his 
jokes.  Chips  was  privileged  now;  his  ec 
centricities  only  made  him  more  loved 
at  Brookfield.  Indeed,  Chips  was  Brook- 
field. 

Chips  thought  of  the  rich  life  he  had 
led.  There  were  so  many  things  for 
laughter  and  sorrow.  Now,  as  he  sat  by 
the  fire,  he  heard  a  timid  knock  at  the 
door,  and  a  youngster,  much  abashed, 
came  in.  He  had  been  told  that  Chips 
had  sent  for  him.  The  old  man  laughed, 
knowing  that  this  was  a  prank  the  old 
boys  often  played  on  a  newcomer,  and  he 
saved  the  boy  from  embarrassment  by 
saying  that  he  had  sent  for  him.  Aftei 
conversation  and  tea.  Chips  dismissed 
the  boy  in  his  abrupt  but  lundly  fashion. 
The  boy  waved  as  he  went  down  the 
walk. 

Later  that  youth  thought  of  Chips 
sadly  and  told  his  comrades  that  he  had 
been  the  last  to  tell  him  goodbye.  For 
Mr.  Chips  died  quietly  in  his  sleep  that 
cold  November  night. 


317 


GRAND  HOTEL 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Yield  Baum  (1888-1960) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  <plot:  1920's 

Locale:  Berlin 

Fim  published:  1930 

Principal  characters: 

BARON  GAIGERN,  a  gambler  and  thief 

EUSAVETA  ALEXANDROVNA  GRUSINSKAYA,  a  ballerina 

OTTO  KRTNGELEIN,  a  junior  clerk  of  the  Saxonia  Cotton  Company 

HERR  GENERALDIRJEKTOR  PRJEYSING,  manager  of  the  Saxonia  Cotton  Company 

DR.  OTTERJSTSCHLAG,  a  retired  physician 

Miss  FLAMM  (FLAJBMMCHEN),  a  public  stenographer  and  model 

Critique: 

In  this  novel  Vicki  Baum  uses  a  time- 
honored  device  o£  fiction  by  bringing  to 
gether  a  group  of  characters  in  a  partic 
ular  time  and  place,  and  showing  how 
they  react  upon  and  influence  each  other. 
The  parallel,  concurrent  actions  of  her 
characters  are  well  synthesized  into  a 
picture  of  European  society  in  the  period 
between  wars. 


The  Story: 

Through  the  revolving  doors  of  the 
Grand  Hotel  in  Berlin  came  people  from 
various  walks  of  life.  The  meetings  of 
these  people  and  their  effects  upon  one 
another  thereafter  were  as  varied  as  the 
people  themselves.  Each  one  had  his 
own  life,  his  own  worries,  and  his  own 
problems,  and  each  pursued  his  own  self 
ish  ends. 

Baron  Gaigern  was  living  in  luxury  at 
the  hotel.  He  never  seemed  to  lack  money 
and  he  possessed  well-tailored  clothes. 
The  baron,  however,  was  a  gambler  and 
a  thief  staying  at  the  hotel  for  the  pur 
pose  of  stealing  Elisaveta  Alexandrovna 
Grusinslcaya's  famous  pearls,  which  had 
been  given  to  the  ballerina  by  the  Grand 
Duke  Sergei.  Gaigern's  plan  to  steal  the 
pearls  was  based  on  a  timing  of  Grusin- 
skaya's  actions.  One  night  he  crawled 
along  the  outside  of  the  building  to  the 
dancer's  room,  where  she  kept  her  jewels 
in  an  unlocked  case.  That  night  Grusin- 


skaya  returned  earlier  than  usual  and 
found  him  in  her  room. 

Grusinskaya,  die  aging  ballerina,  knew 
that  her  youth  was  slipping  away  from 
her.  On  that  particular  night,  feeble  ap 
plause  after  one  of  her  best  numbers 
made  her  leave  the  theater  before  the  per 
formance  was  over  and  return  to  her  room 
at  the  hotel.  When  she  discovered 
Gaigern  in  her  room,  he  convinced  her 
that  because  he  loved  her  he  had  come  to 
sit  there  while  she  was  away  at  the 
theater.  Willing  to  believe  him,  she  let 
him  stay  with  her  the  rest  of  the  night. 
The  next  morning,  before  she  awoke,  he 
replaced  the  pearls  in  their  case.  Grusin 
skaya  left  Berlin  that  morning  and 
Gaigern  promised  to  meet  her  in  Vienna 
three  days  later. 

Still  in  need  of  money,  Gaigern  de 
cided  to  get  it  from  the  wealthy  and  ap 
parently  ailing  provincial  in  room  70. 
Gaigern  did  not  suspect  that  the  rich 
provincial,  Otto  Kringclein  by  name, 
was  in  reality  only  a  junior  clerk  of 
the  Saxonia  Cotton  Company  of  Freders- 
dorf.  Kringelein  at  forty-six,  had  learned 
that  he  was  dying,  and  he  decided  that 
before  his  death  he  would  see  some 
thing  of  life  after  years  of  being  bullied 
at  the  office  by  his  superiors  and  at 
home  by  his  wife  Anna,  With  a  small 
legacy  left  him  by  his  father,  his  sav 
ings  in  the  bank,  and  a  loan  on  his 


GRAND  HOTEL  by  Vicki  Baum.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publi*her»,  Doubleday  &  Co,,  Inc.    Copy- 
•ight,  1930,  1931,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc. 


318 


life  insurance  policy,  he  planned  to  live 
the  life  of  a  rich  man  for  a  few  weeks 
before  he  died.  On  the  morning  Grusin- 
skaya  left  Berlin,  Gaigem  met  Kringelein 
and  took  him  to  be  outfitted  by  his  own 
tailor.  In  the  evening  they  went  to  the 
boxing  matches  and  then  to  a  gambling 
casino.  Kringelein  paid  for  the  evening's 
entertainment,  for  Gaigern  admitted  that 
he  was  without  funds.  Gaigern  had 
hoped  to  win  enough  money  to  pay  his 
way  to  Vienna,  but  he  lost  steadily. 
Kringelein  won  thirty-four  hundred 
narks.  They  ended  the  evening  at  the 
AJhambra,  a  shabby  night  club,  where 
Kringelein  became  ill.  On  the  way  back 
to  the  hotel  Gaigern  stole  Kringelein's 
pocketbook.  Later  in  Kringelein's  room, 
he  returned  it  at  Dr.  Otternschlag's  in 
sistence. 

Dr.  Otternschlag,  a  middle-aged  physi 
cian  badly  disfigured  in  the  war,  spent 
one  or  two  months  every  year  at  the 
Grand  Hotel.  He  did  nothing,  went  prac 
tically  nowhere,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
interests  whatsoever.  He  had  begun  to 
show  a  slight  interest  in  Kringelein  when 
Gaigem  intruded.  It  was  Otternschlag 
who  gave  Kringelein  a  hypodermic  to 
lessen  his  pains,  but  after  a  polite  word 
of  thanks  to  the  doctor  Kringelein  turned 
to  Gaigern,  whom  he  begged  to  remain 
with  him.  Otternschlag  was  forgotten. 

In  the  morning  Kringelein  received  a 
letter  from  his  wife,  complaining  about 
the  inconveniences  of  the  house  in  which 
they  lived,  a  house  owned  by  the  Saxonia 
Cotton  Company.  Kringelein  angrily 
stamped  down  to  Generaldirektor  Prey- 
sing's  room  to  air  his  grievance.  Herr 
Preysing  had  married  the  daughter  of  the 
owner  of  the  Saxonia  Cotton  Company 
years  before  and  had  gradually  worked 
himself  up  to  the  position  of  manager. 
He  was  in  Berlin  to  bring  about  an 
amalgamation  between  his  company  and 
the  Chemnitz  Manufacturing  Company, 
a  merger  necessary  to  forestall  huge  losses 
for  the  Saxonia  Company.  When  Prey- 
sing  saw  that  the  representatives  of  the 
Chemnitz  Company  were  about  to  re 


ject  his  offer,  he  told  a  lie  which  he 
knew  would  win  him  their  consent.  He 
assured  them  that  a  trade  agreement 
existed  between  the  company  and  Bur- 
leigh  &  Sons,  importers,  of  Manchester, 
England.  The  merger  was  then  signed. 
During  his  stay  in  Berlin,  Preysing  had 
hired  a  stenographer,  Miss  Flamm,  a 
beautiful  girl  who  worked  part  time  as 
a  photographer's  model.  Preysing  became 
quite  enamored  of  her.  When  she  hinted 
that  she  would  be  willing  to  travel  with 
him  as  his  secretary,  Preysing  decided  to 
go  to  Manchester  and  confer  with  the 
English  company.  He  asked  Flaemmchen, 
as  he  called  her,  to  accompany  him  and 
she  agreed,  after  setting  her  price  at 
one  thousand  marks.  Preysing  immediate 
ly  engaged  an  adjoining  room  for  her  at 
the  Grand  Hotel. 

That  night  Preysing  was  in  Flaemrn- 
chen's  room  when  he  heard  a  noise  in 
his  own  room  and  went  to  see  what  it 
was.  There  stood  Gaigern  in  his  pajamas. 
Preysing  saw  that  his  billfold  was  miss 
ing  from  the  table  where  he  had  placed 
it,  and  he  demanded  its  return.  Gaigern 
threatened  to  shoot.  Preysing  seized  a 
bronze  inkstand  and  hit  Gaigern  over  the 
head  with  it,  killing  him.  Flaemmchen 
ran  to  call  for  help.  Kringelein  heard  her 
and  opened  his  door,  to  have  her  fall  un 
conscious  into  his  arms.  He  took  her 
in  and  when  she  regained  consciousness 
he  learned  the  whole  story  from  her.  He 
then  went  down  to  Preysing's  room,  gath 
ered  up  Flaemmchen's  clothes,  and  told 
Preysing  to  call  the  police.  When  they 
arrived,  Preysing  was  arrested  and  his 
plea  of  self-defense  after  robbery  seemed 
weak,  for  Gaigem  had  had  no  gun  on 
him.  Preysing  stayed  in  jail  for  three 
months.  During  that  time  his  affair  with 
Flaemmchen  was  exposed,  his  wife  di 
vorced  him,  and  his  father-in-law  dis 
charged  him.  Meanwhile  Kringelein  and 
Flaemmchen,  having  become  friends,  de 
cided  to  go  to  England  together. 

Lives  had  been  changed  by  chance 
meetings.  Gaigern,  the  strong,  vital  man, 
was  now  dead.  Preysing,  the  respectable 


319 


citizen,  was  in  jail  accused  of  murder. 
Ottemschlag,  who  claimed  to  have  no 
interest  in  life,  found  when  he  tried  to 
commit  suicide  that  he  wanted  very 
much  to  live.  Meek,  downtrodden  Krin- 
gelein  began  to  assume  the  authority  that 
carne  with  responsibility,  responsibility  in 


the  form  of  Flaemmchen.  The  tired  and 
aging  ballerina,  Grusinskaya,  had  left  the 
hotel  feeling  young  and  loved  once 
more.  And  as  their  rooms  were  vacated 
one  by  one,  new  visitors  entered  the  hotel 
where  life,  mysterious  or  stupid  or  cruel, 
went  on. 


THE  GRANDISSIMES 

Tyy e  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  George  W.  Cable  (1844-1925) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1804 

Locale:  New  Orleans 

First  published:  1880 

Principal  characters: 

HONORE  GRANDISSIME,  head  of  the  GrandissimevS 

THE  DARKER  HONORE  GRANDISSIME,  his  quadroon  half-brother 

AGRJCOLA  FUSILIER,  Honoris  uncle 

AURORA  NANCANOU,  a  young  widow 

CLOTILDE  NANCANOU,  her  daughter 

JOSEPH  FROWENFELD,  a  young  American 

DR.  KEENE,  Joseph's  physician  and  friend 

PALMYRE,  a  freed  slave 

Critique: 

George  W.  Cable  knew  intimately 
the  Creole  society  of  New  Orleans,  and 
this  novel  re-creates  for  the  reader  a  seg 
ment  of  American  life  which  has  van 
ished  forever.  Through  the  author's  at 
tempt  at  reproducing  Creole  dialect,  the 
book  acquires  a  unique  flavor.  The  plot 
presents  the  tragedy  of  the  Negro  in  a 
more  effective  and  more  truthful  manner 
than  do  many  modern  books  on  the 
subject. 


The  Story: 

Honore*  Grandissime  and  Aurora  Nan- 
canou,  both  members  of  the  Creole  aris 
tocracy,  met  at  a  masked  ball  and  fell  in 
love  at  first  sight.  Each  was  unaware  of 
the  other's  identity.  Honore"  was  a  young 
merchant,  the  head  of  the  Grandissime 
family.  Aurora,  a  young  widow,  was  the 
daughter  of  a  De  Grapion.  Honoris 
uncle,  Agricola  Fusilier,  had  killed  Au 
rora's  husband  in  a  duel,  after  he  had 
accused  Agricola  of  cheating  at  cards. 
Agricola  won  the  duel,  cleared  his  honor, 
and  collected  the  gambling  debt,  the 


entire  estate  of  Aurora's  husband.  Aurora 
and  her  daughter  Clotilde,  were  left  pen 
niless.  Agricola  gave  Aurora's  estate  to 
Honore*  and  made  him  a  wealthy  man. 

Shortly  afterward  Joseph  Frowenfeld, 
a  young  American  immigrant,  arrived  in 
New  Orleans  with  his  parents  and  sisters. 
All  were  stricken  with  fever;  only  Joseph 
survived.  The  lonely  young  man  formed 
a  friendship  with  his  physician,  Dr. 
Kcene,  Joseph  and  ITonor6  met  by 
chance  one  day  and  found  a  common 
interest  in  their  concern  over  the  injustice 
of  slavery  and  the  caste  system  of  New 
Orleans  society.  Honor's  life  however 
depended  upon  these  institutions.  Joseph 
wished  to  have  them  wiped  out  at  once. 

Deciding  to  earn  his  living  as  a  drug 
gist,  Joseph  opened  a  small  shop  and 
soon  became  friendly  with  his  aristo 
cratic  landlord.  The  landlord  was  actu 
ally  HonoreVs  half-brother  and  he  bore 
the  same  name,  but  he  was  not  acknowl 
edged  as  a  member  of  the  family  because 
he  was  a  quadroon.  He  was  called  the 
darker  Honored 


320 


Joseph  found  another  new  friend  in 
old  Agricola.  He  was  also  struck  by  the 
charm  of  Aurora  and  Clotilde  when  they 
called  to  make  purchases.  He  learned 
more  about  Aurora  from  Dr.  Keene.  The 
physician  told  him  about  Palmyre,  a  freed 
slave  who  had  once  been  Aurora's  maid. 
The  girl  hated  Agricola.  One  night 
Joseph  was  awakened  by  pistol  shots 
nearby.  A  few  minutes  later  Dr.  Keene 
and  several  others  entered  the  shop  with 
the  wounded  Agricola;  he  had  been 
stabbed,  and  his  companions  had  fired 
upon  his  assailant. 

Several  days  later  Aurora  called  upon 
her  landlord  in  order  to  make  some  ar 
rangements  about  the  rent  she  could  not 
pay.  She  knew  her  landlord's  name  was 
Honor6  Grandissime,  but  she  did  not 
connect  this  name  with  the  man  she 
loved.  Upon  learning  that  they  were 
half-brothers,  Aurora  was  upset  and  her 
family  pride  caused  her  to  be  harsh  with 
Honored 

When  Dr.  Keene  fell  sick,  he  asked 
Joseph  to  attend  one  of  his  patients.  The 
patient  was  Palmyre,  who  had  been 
wounded  as  she  ran  away  after  stabbing 
Agricola.  Joseph  promised  Dr.  Keene 
to  keep  her  trouble  a  secret  and  went 
to  dress  the  wound. 

Joseph  paid  his  last  visit  to  the 
wounded  Palmyre,  now  almost  recovered. 
Palmyre  begged  him  to  help  her  make 
the  white  Honore"  love  her,  But  Pal- 
myre's  maid,  misunderstanding  the  con 
versation,  thought  that  Joseph  had 
wronged  her  mistress.  She  struck  him 
over  the  head,  and  Joseph  reeled  groggily 
into  the  street.  Some  passing  pedestrians, 
seeing  him  emerge  bleeding  from  Pal- 
myre's  house,  drew  a  natural  inference, 
and  soon  everyone  knew  about  Joseph's 
misfortune.  Only  Clotilde  and  Honore" 
believed  him  innocent. 

Public  feeling  was  running  high 
against  the  Americans,  and  Joseph  found 
himself  despised  by  most  of  the  Creoles. 
Both  his  liberal  views  and  his  trouble  at 
Palmyre's  house  were  against  him. 

Honoris  conscience  bothered  him.  He 


felt  that  he  unjustly  held  Aurora's  prop 
erty,  but  he  also  knew  he  could  not 
return  it  to  her  without  ruining  the  fi 
nances  of  his  family.  But  he  made  his 
choice.  He  called  upon  Aurora  and 
Clotilde  and  presented  them  with  theii 
property  and  the  income  from  it.  Now 
he  could  not  declare  his  love  for  Aurora; 
if  he  did  so,  his  family  would  think  he 
had  returned  the  property  because  of 
love  instead  of  a  sense  of  justice. 

On  his  way  home  from  Aurora's  house, 
Honor£  met  the  darker  Honor£  with 
Dr.  Keene.  The  physician  had  risen  from 
his  sickbed  because  he  had  heard  of 
Honore's  call  at  Aurora's  house.  Dr. 
Keene,  also  in  love  with  Aurora,  was 
jealous.  His  exertion  caused  a  hemor 
rhage  of  the  lungs,  and  the  two  Honores 
carried  him  home  and  watched  over  him. 

While  they  attended  the  sick  man, 
the  darker  Honore  proposed  to  his 
brother  that  they  go  into  partnership,  so 
that  the  darker  Honore's  money  could 
save  the  family  from  ruin.  His  brother  ac 
cepted  the  offer.  But  this  action  turned 
Honore" 's  family  against  him.  Agricola 
led  an  unsuccessful  lynching  party  to 
find  the  darker  Honored  Not  rinding  him, 
the  mob  broke  the  windows  of  Joseph's 
shop  as  a  gesture  against  liberal  views  in 
general. 

Aurora  set  Joseph  up  in  business  again 
on  the  ground  floor  of  her  house  and 
made  Clotilde  a  partner  in  the  store. 
Brought  together  in  this  manner,  the  two 
young  people  fell  in  love.  At  the  same 
time,  the  darker  Honor£  lay  wasting  away 
for  love  of  Palmyre,  who  was  trying  to 
revenge  herself  upon  Agricola  by  voodoo 
spells.  When  Agricola  could  no  longer 
sleep  at  night,  his  family  determined  to 
catch  Palmyre  in  her  acts  of  witchcraft 
They  caught  her  accomplice,  but  Pal 
myre  escaped. 

Meanwhile  the  darker  Honore"  went  to 
Joseph's  store  to  get  some  medicine  foi 
himself.  Meeting  Agricola,  who  insulted 
him,  the  darker  Honor6  stabbed  Agriuola 
and  escaped.  The  wounded  man  was  car 
ried  upstairs  to  Aurora's  house  to  die; 


321 


there  the  two  families  were  united  again 
at  his  deathbed.  Agricola  revealed  that 
he  had  once  promised  to  Aurora's  father 
a  marriage  between  Aurora  and  Honor6. 

The  darker  Honore*  and  Palmyre  es 
caped  together  to  France.  There  he  com 
mitted  suicide  because  she  still  would 
not  accept  his  love. 

Joseph   finally   declared   his   love   for 


Clotilde.  But  Aurora  would  not  accept 
Honoris  offer  of  marriage  because  she 
thought  he  had  made  it  out  of  obligation 
to  Agricola.  Then  Honor6  made  his  offer 
again  as  a  man  in  love.  As  a  last  gesture 
of  family  pride  Aurora  refused  him,  but 
at  the  same  time  she  threw  herself  into 
her  lover's  arms. 


THE  GRANDMOTHERS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Glenway  Wescott  (1901-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:   1830-1925 

Locale:  Wisconsin 

First  published:   1927 

Principal  characters: 

ALWYN  TOWER,  a  young  boy 
HENEY  TOWER,  his  grandfather 
ROSE  TOWER,  lais  grandmother 
JIM  TOWER,  his  uncle 
EVAN  TOWER,  another  uncle 
FLORA  TOWER,  his  aunt 
RALPH  TOWER,  his  father 
MARIANNE  TOWER,  his  mother 

Critique: 

The  heritage  which  Alwyn  Tower 
studied  as  he  pored  over  the  family  al 
bums  is  the  heritage  of  most  Americans. 
The  struggles  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
Tower  family  were  the  struggles  of  all 
pioneers.  Glenway  Wescott  has  told  a 
story  of  the  loves  and  hates,  the  madness, 
the  strength,  and  the  weakness  found  in 
the  histories  of  all  families.  The  char 
acters  are  vivid  and  authentic,  the  events 
realistic  and  moving.  The  writer  must 
have  loved  the  people  about  whom  he 
wrote;  he  portrays  them  so  sympatheti 
cally.  The  Grandmothers  is  a  truly 
American  story. 


The  Story: 

During  his  childhood,  Alwyn  Tower 
spent  many  hours  poring  over  the  family 
albums,  for  everything  any  of  his  an 
cestors  or  relatives  had  done  was  interest 
ing  to  the  boy.  He  begged  his  Grand 


mother  Tower  to  tell  him  stories  of  her 
childhood  and  stories  about  her  children 
and  other  relatives.  Often  the  old  lady 
could  not  remember  what  he  wanted  to 
know,  and  sometimes  she  seemed  re 
luctant  to  talk  about  the  past.  But  piece 
by  piece,  from  his  Granclmother  Tower, 
his  parents,  his  aunts  ancl  uncles,  and 
from  the  albums,  Alwyn  learned  some 
thing  of  what  he  wanted  to  know. 

Alwyn's  Grandfather  Tower  died  when 
the  boy  was  twelve  years  old,  and  so  his 
memories  of  that  old  man  were  rather 
vague.  Grandfather  Tower's  chiof  in 
terest  during  his  old  age  was  his  garden, 
where  he  never  allowed  his  grandchildren 
to  go  without  his  permission.  He  had 
failed  at  farming,  but  he  was  the  best 
gardener  in  that  part  of  Wisconsin. 

Grandfather  Tower  had  come  to  Wis 
consin  from  New  York.  Like  so  many 
others,  he  had  planned  to  get  rich  in  the 


THE  GRANDMOTHERS  by  Glenway  Wescott.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper  & 
Brothers.   Copyright,  1927,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 


322 


new  West;  like  so  many  others,  he  had 
failed.  He  had  been  a  young  boy  full 
of  dreams  when  he  first  cleared  the 
wilderness  for  his  farm.  He  fell  in  love 
with  and  married  Serena  Cannon,  and 
shortly  afterward  went  off  to  the  Civil 
War.  When  he  returned,  Serena  was  ill 
with  a  fever  and  died  soon  after,  leaving 
a  baby  boy.  Grandfather  Tower  could 
never  love  another  as  he  had  loved 
Serena.  Because  the  boy  needed  a  mother, 
however,  he  married  Rose  Hamilton,  who 
had  been  jilted  by  his  brother  Leander. 
Serena's  boy  died,  a  week  before  Rose 
bore  his  first  child.  After  that  life  seemed 
unimportant  to  Henry  Tower.  There 
were  more  children,  some  a  small  pleas 
ure  to  him,  some  a  disgrace.  But  they 
seemed  to  be  Rose's  children,  not  his. 
Part  of  Grandfather  Tower  had  died  with 
Serena,  and  although  he  lived  to  be 
eighty-two  years  old,  he  had  never  seemed 
to  be  completely  alive  as  far  as  Alwyn 
was  concerned. 

Grandmother  Tower,  too,  had  come 
to  Wisconsin  when  she  was  a  child. 
Growing  up  in  the  wilderness,  she  suf 
fered  aU  the  hardships  of  the  pioneers 
— hunger  and  cold  and  fear  of  Indians. 
When  she  was  in  her  early  teens  she  met 
and  fell  in  love  with  Leander  Tower. 
When  the  Civil  War  came,  Leander  en 
listed,  and  the  girl  went  to  stay  with 
Serena  Tower.  While  Serena  lay  ill  with 
fever,  the  young  girl  cared  for  her  and 
the  baby.  Leander  returned,  but  he  had 
changed.  Although  he  could  not  explain 
himself  clearly,  Rose  knew  that  he  no 
longer  wanted  to  marry  her.  After  Ser 
ena's  husband  came  home  and  Serena 
had  died,  Leander  went  to  California. 
Rose  married  Serena's  widower  and  bore 
his  children,  but  like  him  she  was  only 
partly  alive.  She  never  ceased  to  love 
Leander,  but  she  was  faithful  to  Grand 
father  Tower,  even  after  Leander  re 
turned  to  Wisconsin.  To  Alwyn,  she  was 
a  quiet,  serene  woman,  resigned  to  life, 
but  not  unhappy  with  her  lot. 

Alwyn  learned  about  many  of  his 
more  distant  relatives  as  he  studied  the 


albums  and  listened  to  the  stories  of 
his  elders.  There  was  his  Great-Aunt 
Nancy  Tower,  who  had  been  insane  for 
part  of  her  life.  There  was  his  Great- 
Aunt  Mary  Harris,  who  had  been  mar 
ried  three  times  and  had  traveled  all  ovei 
the  world.  Grandmother  Tower  said  that 
Great-Aunt  Mary  was  a  real  pioneer.  She 
had  seen  her  first  husband  killed  by 
Southerners  because  he  sympathized  with 
the  Union.  Her  second  husband  was  a 
drunken  sot  who  beat  her,  and  often  she 
had  to  beg  for  food  to  stay  alive.  After 
her  second  husband  divorced  her,  she 
married  one  of  the  Tower  men,  and  for 
the  first  time  she  knew  happiness  and 
prosperity. 

Old  Leander  Tower  seemed  to  be  hap 
py  only  when  he  was  helping  a  young 
boy.  His  younger  brother  Hilary  had  dis 
appeared  in  the  war,  and  it  seemed  almost 
as  if  Leander  were  trying  to  find  a  sub 
stitute  for  his  brother. 

Alwyn  knew  his  father's  brothers  and 
sisters  quite  well.  His  Uncle  Jim  was 
a  minister  who  had  married  a  rich  wo 
man,  and  they  took  Alwyn  to  live  with 
them  in  Chicago,  giving  the  boy  his  only 
chance  for  a  good  education.  Uncle  Jim's 
wife  persuaded  her  husband  to  give  up 
preaching.  After  her  death  he  continued 
to  live  with  her  mother  and  sisters  and  to 
humor  their  whims.  Alwyn  liked  his 
Uncle  Jim,  but  he  could  not  admire  him. 

Uncle  Evan,  a  deserter  in  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  had  gone  west  to  live 
after  taking  a  new  name.  Once  or  twice 
he  came  home  to  visit  his  father,  but 
both  men  seemed  embarrassed  during 
those  meetings.  Grandfather  Tower  had 
always  been  ashamed  of  Evan,  and  dur 
ing  die  last  visit  Evan  made  the  old  man 
refused  to  enter  the  house  while  his  son 
was  there. 

Aunt  Flora  was  an  old  maid,  although 
she  still  thought  of  herself  as  a  young 
girl.  She  had  had  many  chances  to  marry, 
but  she  was  afraid  of  the  force  of  love, 
afraid  that  something  hidden  in  her 
would  be  roused  and  not  satisfied.  It  was 
a  mysterious  thing  she  could  not  under 


323 


stand.  She  turned  to  Alwyn,  giving  him  in  showing  that  hatred.  Alwyn's  mother 

her  love  and  accepting  his,  for  she  could  was  a  lonely  child  until  she  met  Ralph 

love  tlie  young  boy  whole-heartedly,  hav-  Tower,  Sometimes  it  embarrassed  Alwyn 

ing  nothing  to  fear  from  him.  When  she  to  see  his  parents  together  because  they 

was  twenty-nine  years  old,  she  fell  ill  revealed  so  much  of  their  feeling  for  each 

and   died.    Alwyn   thought  she  looked  other, 

happy  as  she  took  her  last  breath.  Alwyn  realized  that  the  Towers  were 

Alwyn's  father,  Ralph  Tower,  had  al-  one  of  the  last  pioneer  families  in  Amer- 
ways  wanted  to  be  a  veterinarian,  for  ica.  He  knew  that  in  his  heritage  there 
he  had  a  way  with  animals.  But  Uncle  was  a  deep  religious  feeling,  a  willing- 
Jim  had  been  the  one  chosen  for  an  ness  to  accept  poverty  and  hardship  as 
education,  and  after  Uncle  Evan  deserted  the  will  of  God.  His  heritage  was  a  dis- 
and  went  west,  Ralph  had  to  take  over  ordered  one;  a  deserter,  an  insane  wom- 
the  farm  for  his  father.  He  was  never  an,  a  man  and  a  wife  who  hated  each 
bitter;  merely  resigned.  Perhaps  he  would  other,  an  uncle  who  lived  on  the  wealth 
have  envied  Jim  if  it  had  not  been  for  of  his  wife's  mother.  But  these  people 
Alwyn's  mother.  were  just  as  much  a  part  of  him  as  were 

His  parents  had  one  of  the  few  really  the   others.    Alwyn  knew  that  his  life 

happy  marriages  in  the  family,  Alwyn  would  be  a  rearrangement  of  the  charac- 

realized  as  he  watched  them  together,  ters  of  the  others.  Pie  knew  that  he  could 

Alwyn  knew  something  of  the  girlhood  of  understand  himself  if  once  he  understood 

his  mother.   Her  parents  had  hated  each  his  people, 
other  fiercely,   and  had   taken  pleasure 

THE  GRAPES  OF  WRATH 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  John  Steinbeck  (1902-          ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   1930's 

Locale:  Southwest  United  States  and  California 

First  published:  1939 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  JOAD,  an  ex-convict 

PA  JOAD,  an  Okie 

MA  JOAD,  his  wife 

ROSE  OF  SHARON,  Tom's  sister 

JIM  CASY,  a  labor  agitator 

Critique: 

In  The  Grapes  of  Wrath  Steinbeck  of  his  land.   The  outstanding  feature  of 

has  achieved  an  interesting  contrapuntal  The  Grapes  of  Wrath  is  its  photographi- 

efTect  by  ^  breaking   the  narrative  at  in-  cally  detailed,   if  occasionally  scntimen- 

tervals   with   short,    impressionistic   pas-  talized,  description  of  the  American  farm- 

sages  recorded  as  though  by  a  motion  ers  of  the  Dust  Bowl  in  the  mid-thirties 

picture  camera  moving  quickly  from  one  of  the  twentieth  century, 
scene   to  another  and  from   one   focus 

to  another.   The  novel  is  a  powerful  in-  The  Story: 

dictment  of  our  capitalistic  economy  and          Tom  Joad  was  released  from  the  Okla- 

a   sharp   criticism   of   the    southwestern  homa  state  penitentiary  where  he  had 

farmer  for  his  imprudence  in  the  care  served  a  sentence  for  killing  a  man  in 

Mn  SteJnbeck'    By  **"»"«<»  of  the  publisher*,  The  Viking  Prc,a  Inc.    Copy- 

324 


self-defense.  He  traveled  homeward 
through  a  region  made  barren  by  drought 
and  dust  storms.  On  the  way  he  met 
Jim  Casy,  an  ex-preacher;  the  pair  went 
together  to  the  home  of  Tom's  people. 
They  found  the  Joad  place  deserted. 
While  Tom  and  Casy  were  wondering 
what  had  happened,  Muley  Graves,  a 
die-hard  tenant  farmer,  carne  by  and  dis 
closed  that  all  of  the  families  in  the 
neighborhood  had  gone  to  California 
or  were  going.  Tom's  folks,  Muley  said, 
had  gone  to  a  relative's  place  preparatory 
to  going  west.  Muley  was  the  only 
sharecropper  to  stay  behind. 

All  over  the  southern  Midwest  states, 
farmers,  no  longer  able  to  make  a  living 
because  of  land  banks,  weather,  and 
machine  farming,  had  sold  or  were  forced 
out  of  the  farms  they  had  tenanted. 
Junk  dealers  and  used-car  salesmen 
profiteered  on  them.  Thousands  of  fam 
ilies  took  to  the  roads  leading  to  the 
promised  land,  California. 

Tom  and  Casy  found  the  Joads  at 
Uncle  John's  place,  all  busy  with  prep 
arations  to  leave  for  California.  As 
sembled  for  the  trip  were  Pa  and  Ma 
Joad;  Noah,  their  mentally  backward 
son;  Al,  the  adolescent  younger  brother 
of  Tom  and  Noah;  Rose  of  Sharon,  Tom's 
sister,  and  her  husband,  Connie;  the 
Joad  children,  Ruthie  and  Winfield;  and 
Granma  and  Grampa  Joad.  Al  had 
bought  an  ancient  truck  to  take  them 
west.  The  family  asked  Jim  Casy  to 
go  with  them.  The  night  before  they 
started,  they  killed  the  pigs  they  had 
left  and  salted  down  die  meat  so  that 
they  would  have  food  on  the  way. 

Spurred  by  handbills  which  stated 
that  agricultural  workers  were  badly 
needed  in  California,  the  Joads,  along 
with  thousands  of  others,  made  their 
torturous  way,  in  a  worn-out  vehicle, 
across  the  plains  toward  the  mountains. 
Grampa  died  of  a  stroke  during  their 
first  overnight  stop.  Later  there  was  a 
long  delay  when  the  truck  broke  down. 
Small  business  people  along  the  way 
treated  the  migrants  as  enemies.  And, 


to  add  to  the  general  misery,  returning 
migrants  told  the  Joads  that  there  was 
no  work  to  be  had  in  California,  that 
conditions  were  even  worse  than  they 
were  in  Oklahoma.  But  the  dream  of 
a  bountiful  West  Coast  urged  the  Joads 
onward. 

Close  to  the  California  line,  where 
the  group  stopped  to  bathe  in  a  river, 
Noah,  feeling  he  was  a  hindrance  to  the 
others,  wandered  away.  It  was  there 
that  the  Joads  first  heard  themselves 
addressed  as  Okies,  another  word  for 
tramps. 

Granma  died  during  the  night  trip- 
across  the  desert.  After  burying  her,  the 
group  went  into  a  Hooverville,  as  the 
migrants'  camps  were  called.  There 
they  learned  that  work  was  all  but  im 
possible  to  find.  A  contractor  came  to  the 
camp  to  sign  up  men  to  pick  fruit  in 
another  county.  When  the  Okies  asked 
to  see  his  license,  the  contractor  turned 
the  leaders  over  to  a  police  deputy  who 
had  accompanied  him  to  camp.  Tom 
was  involved  in  the  fight  which  followed. 
He  escaped,  and  Casy  gave  himself  up 
in  Tom's  place.  Connie,  husband  of  the 
pregnant  Rose  of  Sharon,  suddenly  dis 
appeared  from  the  group.  The  family 
was  breaking  up  in  the  face  of  its  hard 
ships.  Ma  Joad  did  everything  in  her 
power  to  keep  the  group  together. 

Fearing  recrimination  after  the  fight, 
the  Joads  left  Hooverville  and  went  to 
a  government  camp  maintained  for  tran 
sient  agricultural  workers.  The  camp 
had  sanitary  facilities,  a  local  govern 
ment  made  up  of  the  transients  them 
selves,  and  simple  organized  entertain 
ment.  During  the  Joads'  stay  at  the 
camp  the  Okies  successfully  defeated 
an  attempt  of  the  local  citizens  to  give 
the  camp  a  bad  name  and  thus  to  have 
it  closed  to  the  migrants.  For  the  first 
time  since  they  had  arrived  in  California, 
the  Joads  found  themselves  treated  as 
human  beings. 

Circumstances  eventually  forced  then 
to  leave  the  camp,  however,  for  there 
was  no  work  in  the  district.  They  drove 


325 


to  a  large  farm  where  work  was  being 
offered.  There  they  found  agitators  at 
tempting  to  keep  the  migrants  from  tak 
ing  the  work  because  of  unfair  wages 
offered.  But  the  Joads,  thinking  only  of 
food,  were  escorted  by  motorcycle  police 
in  to  the  farm.  The  entire  family  picked 
peaches  for  five  cents  a  box  and  earned 
in  a  day  just  enough  money  to  buy 
food  for  one  meal.  Tom,  remembering 
the  pickets  outside  the  camp,  went  out 
at  night  to  investigate.  He  found  Casy, 
who  was  the  leader  of  the  agitators. 
While  Tom  and  Casy  were  talking, 
deputies,  who  had  been  searching  for 
Casy,  closed  in  on  them.  The  pair  fled, 
but  were  caught.  Casy  was  killed.  Tom 
received  a  cut  on  his  head,  but  not 
before  he  had  felled  a  deputy  with  an 
ax  handle.  The  family  concealed  Tom 
in  their  shack.  The  rate  for  a  box  of 
peaches  dropped,  meanwhile,  to  two-and- 
a-half  cents,  Tom's  danger  and  the 
futility  of  picking  peaches  drove  the 
Joads  on  their  way.  They  hid  the  in 
jured  Tom  under  the  mattresses  in  the 
back  of  the  truck  and  told  the  suspicious 
guard  at  the  entrance  to  the  farm  that 
the  extra  man  they  had  had  with  them 


when  they  came  was  a  hitchhiker  who 
had  stayed  on  to  pick. 

The  family  found  at  last  a  migrant 
crowd  encamped  in  abandoned  boxcars 
along  a  stream.  They  joined  the  camp 
and  soon  found  temporary  jobs  picking 
cotton.  Tom,  meanwhile,  hid  in  a  cul 
vert  near  the  camp.  Ruthie  innocently 
disclosed  Tom's  presence  to  another  little 
girl.  Ma,  realizing  that  Tom  was  no 
longer  safe,  sent  him  away.  Tom  pronr 
ised  to  carry  on  Casy's  work  in  trying 
to  improve  the  lot  of  the  downtrodden 
everywhere. 

The  autumn  rains  began.  Soon  the 
stream  which  ran  beside  the  camp  over 
flowed  and  water  entered  the  boxcars, 
Under  these  all  but  impossible  conditions, 
Rose  of  Sharon  gave  birth  to  a  dead  baby. 
When  the  rising  water  made  their  posi 
tion  no  longer  bearable,  the  family  moved 
from  the  camp  on  foot.  The  rains  had 
made  their  old  car  useless.  They  came  to 
a  barn,  which  they  shared  with  a  boy  and 
his  starving  father.  Rose  of  Sharon,  bereft 
of  her  baby,  nourished  the  famished  man 
with  the  milk  from  her  breasts.  So  the 
poor  kept  each  other  alive  in  the  depres 
sion  years. 


GREAT  EXPECTATIONS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1 860- 1 86 1 

Principal  characters: 
PIP,  an  orphan 

JOE  GARGERY,  Pip's  brother-in-law 
Miss  HAVISHAM,  an  eccentric  recluse 
ESTELLA,  Miss  Havisham's  ware] 
HERBERT  POCKET,  Pip's  roommate 
MR.  JAGGERS,  a  solicitor 
ABEL  MAG  WITCH  (MR.  PROVIS),  a  convict 
COMPEYSON,  a  villain 

Critique: 

Miss  Havisham  was  deserted  on  her 
wedding  day.  Pip  gave  help  to  an  es 
caped  prisoner  hiding  in  a  marsh.  From 
these  two  events  Dickens  weaves  an 
amazing  story  of  vindictiveness  on  one 


hand  and  gratitude  on  the  other;  and 
both  of  these  motives  affected  Pip's  life, 
for  Miss  Ilavisham  had  marked  him  as 
one  of  her  victims,  and  the  prisoner  had 
sworn  to  reward  the  small  boy  who  had 


326 


helped  him  in  the  marsh.  Although  an 
absorbing  tale,  this  is  also  a  gloomy  one, 
not  lightened  by  Dickens*  usual  capri 
cious  characterizations.  There  are  few 
moments  to  relieve  the  reader  from  the 
pressure  of  Pip's  problems  in  life. 

The  Story: 

Little  Pip  had  been  left  an  orphan 
when  he  was  a  small  boy,  and  his  sister, 
much  older  than  he,  had  grudgingly 
reared  him  in  her  cottage.  Pip's  brother- 
in-law,  Joe  Gargery,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  kind  and  loving  to  the  boy.  In  the 
marsh  country  where  he  lived  with  his 
sister  and  Joe,  Pip  wandered  alone.  One 
day  he  was  accosted  by  a  wild-looking 
stranger  who  demanded  that  Pip  secretly 
bring  him  some  food,  a  request  whicn 
Pip  feared  to  deny.  The  stranger,  an  es 
caped  prisoner,  asked  Pip  to  bring  him 
a  file  to  cut  the  iron  chain  that  bound 
his  leg.  When  Pip  returned  to  the  man 
with  a  pork  pie  and  file,  he  saw  another 
mysterious  figure  in  the  marsh.  After  a 
desperate  struggle  with  the  escaped  pris 
oner,  the  stranger  escaped  into  the  fog. 
The  man  Pip  had  aided  was  later  appre 
hended.  He  promised  Pip  he  would 
somehow  repay  the  boy  for  helping  him. 

Mrs.  Joe  sent  Pip  to  the  large  mansion 
of  the  strange  Miss  Havisham  upon  that 
lady's  request.  Miss  Havisham  lived  in 
a  gloomy,  locked  house  where  all  clocks 
had  been  stopped  on  the  day  her  bride 
groom  failed  to  appear  for  the  wedding 
ceremony.  She  often  dressed  in  her 
bridal  robes;  a  wedding  breakfast  mold- 
ered  on  the  table  in  an  unused  room. 
There  Pip  went  every  day  to  entertain 
the  old  lady  and  a  beautiful  young  girl, 
named  Estella,  who  delighted  in  tor 
menting  the  shy  boy.  Miss  Havisham 
enjoyed  watching  the  two  children  to 
gether,  and  she  encouraged  Estella  in 
her  haughty  teasing  of  Pip, 

Living  in  the  grim  atmosphere  of  Joe's 
blacksmith  shop  and  the  uneducated 
poverty  of  his  sister's  home,  Pip  was 
eager  to  learn.  One  day  a  London  solici 
tor  named  Jaggers  presented  him  with 


the  opportunity  to  go  to  London  and 
become  a  gentleman.  Both  Pip  and  Joe 
accepted  the  proposal.  Pip  imagined  that 
his  kind  backer  was  Miss  Havisham  her 
self.  Perhaps  she  wanted  to  make  a 
gentleman  out  o£  him  so  he  would  be  fit 
some  day  to  marry  Estella. 

In  London  Pip  found  a  small  apart* 
ment  set  up  for  him,  and  for  a  living 
companion  he  had  a  young  relative  of 
Miss  Havisham,  Herbert  Pocket.  When 
Pip  needed  money,  he  was  instructed  to 
go  to  Mr.  Jaggers.  Although  Pip  pleaded 
with  the  lawyer  to  disclose  the  name  of 
his  benefactor,  Jaggers  advised  the  eager 
young  man  not  to  make  inquiries,  for 
when  the  proper  time  arrived  Pip's  bene 
factor  would  make  himself  known. 

Soon  Pip  became  one  of  a  small  group 
of  London  dandies,  among  them  a  dis 
agreeable  chap  named  Bendey  Drummle. 
Joe  Gargery  came  to  visit  Pip,  much  to 
Pip's  disturbance,  for  by  now  he  had 
outgrown  his  rural  background  and  he 
was  ashamed  of  Joe's  manners.  But 
Herbert  Pocket  cheerfully  helped  Pip  to 
entertain  the  uncomfortable  Joe  in  their 
apartment.  Plainly  Joe  loved  Pip  very 
much,  and  after  he  had  gone  Pip  felt 
ashamed  of  himself.  Joe  had  brought 
word  that  Miss  Havisham  wanted  to  see 
the  young  man,  and  Pip  returned  with 
his  brother-in-law.  Miss  Havisham  and 
Estella  marked  the  changes  in  Pip,  and 
when  Estella  had  left  Pip  alone  with  the 
old  lady,  she  told  him  he  must  fall  in 
love  with  the  beautiful  girl.  She  also  said 
it  was  time  for  Estella  to  come  to  London, 
and  she  wished  Pip  to  meet  her  adopted 
daughter  when  she  arrived.  This  request 
made  Pip  feel  more  certain  he  had  been 
sent  to  London  by  Miss  Havisham  to  be 
groomed  to  marry  Estella. 

Estella  had  not  been  in  London  long 
before  she  had  many  suitors.  Of  all  the 
men  who  courted  her,  she  seemed  to 
favor  Bentley  Drummle.  Pip  saw  Estella 
frequently.  Although  she  treated  him 
kindly  and  with  friendship,  he  knew  she 
did  not  return  his  love. 

On  his  twenty-first  birthday  Pip  re- 


327 


ceived  a  caller,  the  man  whom  Pip  had 
helped  in  the  marsh  many  years  before. 
Ugly  and  coarse,  he  told  Pip  it  was  he 
who  had  been  financing  Pip  eVer  since 
he  had  come  to  London.  At  first  the  boy 
was  horrified  to  discover  he  owed  so 
much  to  this  crude  ex-criminal,  Abel 
Magwitch.  He  told  Pip  that  he  had  been 
sent  to  the  colonies  where  he  had  grown 
rich.  Now  he  had  wanted  Pip  to  enjoy 
all  the  privileges  he  had  been  denied  in 
life,  and  he  had  returned  to  England  to 
see  the  boy  to  whom  he  had  tried  to  be  a 
second  father.  He  warned  Pip  that  he 
was  in  danger  should  his  presence  be 
discovered,  for  it  was  death  for  a  prisoner 
to  return  to  England  once  he  had  been 
sent  to  a  convict  colony.  Pip  detested  his 
plight.  Now  he  realized  Miss  Havisham 
had  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  great 
expectations  in  life,  but  he  was  too  con 
scious  of  his  debt  to  consider  abandon 
ing  the  man  whose  person  he  disliked. 
He  determined  to  do  all  in  his  power  to 
please  his  benefactor.  Magwitch  was 
using  the  name  Provis  to  hide  his  iden 
tity.  Provis  told  Pip  furthermore  that 
the  man  with  whom  Pip  had  seen  him 
struggling  long  ago  in  the  marsh  was  his 
enemy,  Compeyson,  who  had  vowed  to 
destroy  him.  Herbert  Pocket,  who  was 
a  distant  cousin  of  Miss  Havisham,  told 
Pip  that  the  lover  who  had  betrayed  her 
on  the  day  of  her  wedding  was  named 
Arthur  Compeyson. 

Pip  went  to  see  Miss  Havisham  to  de 
nounce  her  for  having  allowed  him  to 
believe  she  was  helping  him.  On  his 
arrival  he  was  informed  that  Estella  was 
to  marry  Bentley  Drummle.  Since  Miss 
Havisham  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of 
one  faithless  man,  she  had  reared  Estella 
to  inflict  as  much  hurt  as  possible  upon 
the  many  men  who  loved  her.  Estella  re 
minded  Pip  that  she  had  warned  him 
not  to  fall  in  love  with  her,  for  she  had 
no  compassion  for  any  human  being. 
Pip  returned  once  more  to  visit  Miss 
Havisham  after  Estella  had  married.  An 
accident  started  a  fire  in  the  old,  dust- 
filled  mansion,  and  although  Pip  tried 


to  save  the  old  woman  she  died  in  the 
blaze  that  also  badly  damaged  her  gloomy 
house. 

From  Provis'  story  of  his  association 
with  Compeyson  and  from  other  evi 
dence,  Pip  had  learned  that  Provis  was 
Estella's  father;  but  he  did  not  reveal 
his  discovery  to  anyone  but  Jaggers, 
whose  housekeeper,  evidently,  was 
Estella's  mother.  Pip  had  learned  also 
that  Compeyson  was  in  London  and 
plotting  to  kill  Provis.  In  order  to  pro 
tect  the  man  who  had  become  a  foster 
father  to  him,  Pip  with  the  help  of  Her 
bert  Pocket  arranged  to  smuggle  Provis 
across  the  channel  to  France.  There  Pip 
intended  to  join  the  old  man.  Elaborate 
and  secretive  as  their  plans  were,  Com 
peyson  managed  to  overtake  them  as  they 
were  putting  Provis  on  the  boat.  The 
two  enemies  fought  one  last  battle  in  the 
water,  and  Provis  killed  his  enemy.  He 
was  then  taken  to  jail,  where  he  died 
before  he  could  be  brought  to  trial. 

When  Pip  fell  ill  shortly  afterward, 
it  was  Joe  Gargery  who  came  to  nurse 
him.  Older  and  wiser  from  his  many 
experiences,  Pip  realized  that  he  need 
no  longer  be  ashamed  of  the  kind  man 
who  had  given  so  much  love  to  him  when 
he  was  a  boy.  His  sister,  Mrs.  Joe,  had 
died  and  Joe  had  married  again,  this  time 
very  happily.  Pip  returned  to  the  black 
smith's  home  to  stay  awhile,  still  desolate 
and  unhappy  because  of  his  lost  Estella. 
Later  Herbert  Pocket  and  Pip  set  up 
business  together  in  London. 

Eleven  years  passed  before  Pip  went 
to  see  Joe  Gargery  again.  Curiosity  led 
Pip  to  the  site  of  Miss  Havisham's  former 
mansion.  There  he  found  Estella,  now  a 
widow,  wandering  over  the  grounds. 
During  the  years  she  had  lost  her  cool 
aloofness  and  had  softened  a  great  deal. 
She  told  Pip  she  had  thought  of  him 
often.  Pip  was  able  to  foresee  that  per 
haps  he  and  Estella  would  never  have  to 
part  again.  The  childhood  friends  walked 
hand  in  hand  from  the  place  which  had 
once  played  such  an  enormous  part  in 
both  their  lives. 


328 


THE  GREAT  GATSBY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  F.  Scott  Fitzgerald  (1896-1940) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   1922 

Locale:  New  York  City  and  Long  Island 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

NICK  CARRAWAY,  a  young  bond  salesman 

DAISY  BUCHANAN,  his  cousin 

TOM  BUCHANAN,  her  husband 

MYRTLE  WILSON,  Tom's  mistress 

JAY  GATSBY,  a  racketeer  of  the  Twenties 

Critique: 

The  short  life  of  F.  Scott  Fitzgerald 
was  long  enough  for  that  brilliant  young 
man  to  show  what  the  United  States 
meant  in  terms  of  the  reckless  Twenties. 
Prohibition  and  speak-easies,  new  auto 
mobiles,  victory  abroad,  popular  fads, 
new  wealth — he  understood  and  wrote 
about  all  these  things.  Despite  its  limita 
tions  of  style  and  its  imperfections  in 
character  development,  The  Great  Gatsby 
belongs  to  that  literature  which  endeavors 
honestly  to  present  the  American  scene 
during  those  riotous  years  from  the  first 
World  War  to  the  depression.  If  F.  Scott 
Fitzgerald's  view  of  character  was  limited, 
it  may  be  because  his  over-all  comprehen 
sion  of  society  was  so  positive.  His  acute 
sensibility  was  devoted  to  an  understand 
ing  of  the  results  of  human  action,  rather 
than  an  understanding  of  the  reasons 
for  human  action. 


Almost  at  once  he  learned  that  Tom  and 
Daisy  were  not  happily  married.  It  ap 
peared  that  Daisy  knew  her  husband  was 
deliberately  unfaithful. 

Nick  soon  learned  to  despise  the  drive 
to  the  city  through  unkempt  slums;  par 
ticularly,  he  hated  the  ash  heaps  and  the 
huge  commercial  signs.  He  was  far  more 
interested  in  the  activities  of  his  wealthy 
neighbors.  Near  his  house  lived  Jay 
Gatsby,  a  mysterious  man  of  great  wealth. 
Gatsby  entertained  lavishly,  but  his  past 
was  unknown  to  his  neighbors. 

One  day  Tom  Buchanan  took  Nick 
to  call  on  his  mistress,  a  dowdy,  over- 
plump,  married  woman  named  Myrtle 
Wilson,  whose  husband,  George  Wilson, 
operated  a  second-rate  auto  repair  shop. 
Myrtle,  Tom,  and  Nick  went  to  the 
apartment  Tom  kept,  and  there  the  three 
were  joined  by  Myrtle's  sister  Catherine 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee.  The  party 
settled  down  to  an  afternoon  of  drinking, 
Nick  unsuccessfully  doing  his  best  to  get 
away. 

A  few  days  later  Nick  attended  another 
party,  one  given  by  Gatsby  for  a  large 
number  of  people  famous  in  speak-easy 
society.  Food  and  liquor  were  dispensed 
lavishly.  Most  of  the  guests  had  never 
seen  their  host  before. 

At  the  party  Nick  met  Gatsby  for  the 
first  time.  Gatsby,  in  his  early  thirties, 
looked  like  a  healthy  young  roughneck, 

-  u,    tooc    u    n    i     _  by  F   Scott  Fitzgerald.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    Copy 
right,  1925,  by  Charles  Scnbner  s  Sons. 


The  Story: 

Young  Nick  Carraway  decided  to  for 
sake  the  hardware  business  of  his  family 
in  the  Middle  West  in  order  to  sell  bonds 
in  New  York  City.  He  took  a  small 
house  in  West  Egg  on  Long  Island  and 
there  became  involved  in  the  lives  of  his 
neighbors.  At  a  dinner  party  at  the  home 
of  Tom  Buchanan  he  renewed  his  ac 
quaintance  with  Tom  and  Tom's  wife, 
Daisy,  a  distant  cousin,  and  he  met  an 
attractive  young  woman,  Jordan  Baker. 


329 


He  was  offhand,  casual,  eager  to  enter 
tain  his  guests  as  extravagantly  as  pos 
sible.  Frequently  he  was  called  away  by 
long-distance  telephone  calls.  Some  of 
the  guests  laughed  and  said  that  he  was 
trying  to  impress  them  with  his  impor 
tance. 

That  summer  Gatsby  gave  many  par 
ties.  Nick  went  to  all  of  them,  enjoying 
each  time  the  society  of  people  from  all 
walks  of  life  who  appeared  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  Gatsby 's  bounty.  From  time 
to  time  Nick  met  Jordan  Baker  there,  but 
he  began  to  lose  interest  in  her  after  he 
heard  that  she  had  cheated  in  an  amateur 
golf  match. 

Gatsby  took  Nick  to  lunch  one  day  and 
introduced  him  to  a  man  named  Wolf- 
shiem,  who  seemed  to  be  Gatsby's  busi 
ness  partner.  Wolfshiem  hinted  at  some 
dubious  business  deals  that  betrayed 
Gatsby's  racketeering  activities  and  Nick 
began  to  identify  the  sources  of  some  of 
Gatsby's  wealth. 

Jordan  Baker  told  Nick  the  strange 
story  of  Daisy's  wedding.  Before  the 
bridal  dinner  Daisy,  who  seldom  drank, 
became  wildly  intoxicated  and  announced 
there  would  be  no  wedding,  that  she  had 
changed  her  mind  and  intended  to  go 
back  to  an  old  flame,  Jay  Gatsby.  Her 
friends  and  family,  however,  had  argued 
with  her  until  she  finally  married  Tom 
Buchanan.  At  the  time  Gatsby  was  poor 
and  unknown;  Tom  was  rich  and  in 
fluential. 

But  Gatsby  was  still  in  love  with  Daisy, 
and  he  wanted  Jordan  and  Nick  to  bring 
Daisy  and  him  together  again.  It  was  ar 
ranged  that  Nick  should  invite  Daisy  to 
tea  the  same  day  he  invited  Gatsby.  Gats 
by  awaited  the  invitation  nervously. 

On  the  eventful  day  it  rained.  De 
termined  that  Nick's  house  should  be 
presentable,  Gatsby  sent  a  man  to  mow 
the  wet  grass;  he  also  sent  over  flowers 
for  decoration.  The  tea  was  a  strained 
affair  at  first,  both  Gatsby  and  Daisy  shy 
and  awkward  in  their  reunion.  After 
ward  they  went  over  to  Gatsby's  man 
sion,  where  he  showed  them  his  furni 


ture,  clothes,  swimming  pool,  and  gar 
dens.  Daisy  promised  to  attend  his  next 
party. 

When  Daisy  disapproved  of  his  guests, 
Gatsby  stopped  entertaining.  The  house 
was  shut  up  and  the  bar-crowd  turned 
away. 

Gatsby  informed  Nick  of  his  origin. 
His  true  name  was  Gatz,  and  he  had  been 
born  In  the  Middle  West.  His  parents 
were  poor.  But  when  he  was  a  boy  he 
had  become  the  prote"g£  of  a  wealthy  old 
gold  miner  and  had  accompanied  him  on 
his  travels  until  the  old  man  died.  Then 
he  changed  his  name  to  Gatsby  and 
began  to  dream  of  acquiring  wealth  and 
position.  In  the  war  he  had  distinguished 
himself.  After  the  war  he  had  returned 
penniless  to  the  States,  too  poor  to  marry 
Daisy,  whom  he  had  met  during  the 
war.  Later  he  became  a  partner  in  a  drug 
business.  He  had  been  lucky  and  had 
accumulated  money  rapidly.  He  told 
Nick  ^that  he  had  acquired  the  money 
for  his  Long  Island  residence  after  three 
years  of  hard  work. 

Gatsby  gave  a  quiet  party  for  Jordan, 
the  Buchanans,  and  Nick.  The  group 
drove  into  the  city  and  took  a  room  in  a 
hotel.  The  day  was  hot  and  the  guests 
uncomfortable.  On  the  way,  Tom,  driv 
ing  Gatsby's  new  yellow  car,  stopped  at 
Wilson's  garage.  Wilson  complained  be 
cause  Tom  had  not  helped  him  in  a  pro 
jected  car  deal.  He  said  he  needed  money 
because  he  was  selling  out  and  taking 
his  wife,  whom  he  knew  to  be  unfaith 
ful,  away  from  the  city. 

At  the  hotel  Tom  accused  Gatsby  of 
trying  to  steal  his  wife  and  also  of  being 
dishonest.  lie  seemed  to  regard  Gatsby's 
low  origin  with  more  disfavor  than  his 
interest  in  Daisy.  During  the  argument, 
Daisy  sided  with  both  men  by  turns. 

On  the  ride  back  to  the  suburbs  Gats 
by  drove  his  own  car,  accompanied  by 
Daisy,  who  temporarily  would  not  speak 
to  her  husband. 

Following  them,  Nick  and  Jordan  and 
Tom  stopped  to  investigate  an  accident 
in  front  of  Wilson's  garage.  They  dis- 


330 


covered  an  ambulance  picking  up  the 
dead  body  of  Myrtle  Wilson,  struck  by  a 
hit-and-run  driver  in  a  yellow  car.  They 
tried  in  vain  to  help  Wilson  and  then 
went  on  to  Tom's  house,  convinced  that 
Gatsby  had  struck  Myrtle  Wilson. 

Nick  learned  the  next  day  from  Gatsby 
that  Daisy  had  been  driving  when  the 
woman  was  hit.  However,  Gatsby  was 
willing  to  take  the  blame  if  the  death 
should  be  traced  to  his  car.  Gatsby  ex 
plained  that  Myrtle,  thinking  that  Tom 
was  in  the  yellow  car,  had  run  out  of 
the  house,  and  Daisy,  an  inexpert  driver, 
had  run  her  down  and  then  collapsed. 
Gatsby  had  driven  on. 

In  the  meantime  George  Wilson,  hav 
ing  traced  the  yellow  car  to  Gatsby,  ap 


peared  on  the  Gatsby  estate.  A  few  hours 
later  both  he  and  Gatsby  were  discovered 
dead.  He  had  shot  Gatsby  and  then 
lulled  himself. 

Nick  tried  to  make  Gatsby's  funeral  re 
spectable,  but  no  one  attended  except 
Gatsby's  father,  who  thought  his  son  had 
been  a  great  man.  None  of  Gatsby's 
racketeering  associates  appeared.  His  bar- 
friends  had  also  deserted  him. 

Shortly  afterward  Nick  learned  of 
Tom's  part  in  Gatsby's  death.  Tom  had 
visited  Wilson  and  had  let  Wilson  be 
lieve  that  Gatsby  had  been  Myrtle's  lover. 
Nick  vowed  that  his  friendship  with  Tom 
and  Daisy  was  at  an  end.  He  decided  to 
return  to  his  people  in  the  Middle  West. 


THE  GREEN  BAY  TREE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Louis  Bromfield  (1896-1956) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Middle  West 

First  published:  1924 

Principal  characters: 

JULIA  SHANE,  a  wealthy  widow 

LILY,  and 

IRENE  SHANE,  her  daughters 

THE  GOVERNOR,  father  of  Lily's  child 

HATTXE  TOLLTVER,  Julia  Shane's  niece 

ELLEN  TOLLTVER,  Hattie's  daughter 

MONSIEUR  CYON,  Lily's  husband 

Critique: 

This  novel  has  a  double  theme.  The 
first  is  that  the  children  of  the  United 
States  have  a  problem  which  their  parents 
did  not  face,  the  problem  of  being  pio 
neers  with  no  frontier  left  in  which  to 
exercise  their  energy  and  their  talents. 
The  second  theme  is  that  all  of  us  have 
secrets  of  the  soul  which  cannot  be  vio 
lated.  Through  the  book  also  runs  a 
deprecation  of  material  progress  and  the 
materialistic  philosophy  of  America  in 
the  early  twentieth  century.  Bromfield, 
however,  is  not  carried  away  by  the 
naturalism  or  sharp  social  criticism  of  his 


contemporaries  in  dealing  with  this  aspect 
of  American  life. 

The  Story: 

Julia  Shane  was  a  wealthy  old  woman, 
living  with  her  two  daughters  in  a  man 
sion  which  had  decayed  greatly  since 
the  mills  of  the  town  had  encroached 
upon  her  grounds.  Although  the  house 
was  now  surrounded  on  three  sides  by 
railroad  yards  and  steel  mills,  Julia  Shane 
refused  to  move  away.  Mrs.  Shane  was 
worried  about  her  girls.  Irene,  the  young 
er,  was,  in  her  mother's  opinion,  too 


THE  -GREEN  BAY  TREE  by  Louis  Bromfield.    By  permission   of  the  author  »-d   the 
Brothers.    Copyright,  1924,  by  Frederick  \    Stokes  Co. 


Harper  & 


33] 


pious  to  live.  Lily,  who  was  twenty-four 
years  old,  had  been  in  love  with  the 
governor,  a  man  twenty  years  older  than 
she.  The  real  complication  was  that  Lily 
was  going  to  have  a  baby  and  refused 
to  marry  the  governor  despite  the  urg- 
ings  of  both  the  man  and  her  mother. 

The  Shanes  were  wealthy;  it  was  easy 
for  Lily  to  leave  the  town  for  a  trip 
abroad.  Her  departure  caused  no  talk 
or  scandal,  although  Mrs.  Harrison, 
whose  son  Lily  had  also  refused,  was 
suspicious. 

During  the  four  years  Lily  was  in 
Europe,  life  was  dull  in  the  gloomy  old 
mansion.  Irene  taught  English  to  the 
workers  in  the  mills  and  tried  to  con 
vince  her  mother  that  she  wanted  to 
become  a  nun.  Old  Julia  Shane,  the  last 
of  a  long  line  of  Scottish  Presbyterians, 
would  hear  none  of  such  nonsense. 

Then,  unexpectedly,  Lily  came  home. 
Once  again  there  were  parties  and  dances 
in  the  old  house.  Lily  was  much  im 
pressed  by  her  cousin,  Ellen  Tolliver,  a 
talented  pianist,  and  offered  to  help  the 
girl  if  she  would  go  to  Paris.  The  day 
after  Christmas,  Irene  and  Lily  were 
taken  on  a  tour  of  the  steel  mills  by  Wil 
lie  Harrison,  the  mill  owner,  who  once 
again  asked  Lily  to  marry  him.  She  re 
fused,  disgusted  with  the  spineless  busi 
nessman  who  was  ruled  by  his  mother. 
When  news  came  from  Paris  that  her 
small  son  had  the  measles,  Lily  was  glad 
to  leave  the  town  again.  Shortly  after 
ward  Ellen  Tolliver  also  escaped  from 
the  town  by  marrying  a  salesman  from 
New  York. 

Several  years  later  there  was  a  strike 
in  the  steel  mills.  Only  Hattie  Tolliver, 
Julia  Shane's  niece  and  Ellen's  mother, 
braved  the  pickets  to  enter  the  mansion. 
Without  her  help  life  at  the  house  would 
have  been  extremely  difficult.  Although 
Julia  Shane  was  dying  and  confined  to 
her  bed,  the  merchants  of  the  town  re 
fused  to  risk  deliveries  to  a  house  so  near 
to  the  mills  where  shots  were  occasionally 
fired  and  where  mobs  of  hungry  strikers 
loitered.  On  one  of  her  errands  of  mercy 


Hattie  Tolliver  learned  that  her  daughter, 
now  a  widow,  was  in  Paris  studying 
music. 

When  she  heard  that  her  mother  was 
dying,  Lily  returned  from  Europe.  She 
and  Hattie  Tolliver  stayed  with  Julia 
Shane  until  she  died  a  few  weeks  later. 
Irene  was  no  help.  Hattie  Tolliver 
shrewdly  summed  up  Irene  for  Lily  by 
noting  that  the  younger  girl  was  selfish 
in  her  unselfishness  to  the  poor  workers 
and  filled  with  pride  in  her  lack  of  ordi 
nary  worldly  pride. 

After  her  death,  Julia  Shane's  daugh 
ters  remained  in  the  mansion  until  the 
estate  was  settled.  Lily  was  bored,  but 
excitement  came  to  ner  through  the 
strikers.  Her  sister  had  given  them  per 
mission  to  hold  meetings  in  the  large 
park  surrounding  the  house.  Lily  watched 
the  meetings  from  a  darkened  window. 
She  recognized  Krylenko,  a  huge  Russian 
who  had  been  Irene's  pupil  and  who  was 
now  a  close  friend.  While  Krylenko  was 
speaking,  he  was  shot  by  a  gun  fired  from 
one  of  the  mill  sheds.  Krylenko  entered 
the  mansion  with  a  key  Irene  had  given 
him.  Lily  bound  up  his  wound.  When 
she  almost  fainted,  Krylenko  placed  her 
on  the  sofa.  As  he  did  so,  Irene  entered 
and  saw  them.  She  berated  them  both 
with  all  die  suspicions  which  her  sterile 
mind  evoked.  Both  she  and  Lily  refused 
to  speak  the  next  day,  Lily  returned  to 
Paris. 

In  Paris  Lily  confined  herself  to  the 
friends  of  her  chaperon,  Mme.  Gigon. 
It  was  a  quiet  life,  but  Lily  was  happy 
with  her  house,  her  growing  son,  and 
her  lover,  the  officer  son  of  an  old 
aristocratic  family.  Ellen  Tolliver,  who 
had  taken  the  professional  name  of  Lily 
Barr,  was  now  a  famous  concert  pianist 
on  the  continent  and  in  England,  and 
lived  part  of  the  time  with  Lily. 

In  1913  Lily's  lover  told  her  that 
war  with  Germany  was  inevitable.  The 
news  increased  Lily's  moods  of  depres 
sion  which  had  begun  to  come  upon 
her  as  she  approached  middle  age.  The 
news  that  the  town  wished  to  buy  die 


332 


old  Shane  mansion  and  use  the  grounds 
for  a  railroad  station  further  aroused  her 
antagonism.  She  did  not  need  the  money 
and  also  felt  that  the  attempt  to  buy  the 
place  was  an  intrusion  into  her  private 
life.  Later  Lily's  lawyer  wrote  that  the 
Shane  mansion  had  burned  down. 

One  day  Lily  unexpectedly  met  Willie 
Harrison  in  Paris.  He  had  left  the  mills 
and  sold  most  of  his  holdings.  He  brought 
word  that  Irene  had  become  a  Carmelite 
nun  and  was  in  France  in  a  convent  at 
Lisieux. 

When  France  entered  the  First  World 
War,  Lily's  lover  and  her  son  were  sent 
to  the  front.  Only  the  son  was  to  return, 
and  he  was  to  come  back  a  cripple. 
When  the  Germans  invaded  France,  Lily 
was  at  her  country  house  with  Mme. 
Gigon,  who  was  dying.  During  the  night 
the  soldiers  were  there  Lily  discovered 
they  were  going  to  blow  up  the  bridge 
in  the  vicinity.  Armed  with  a  pistol  she 
had  stolen  from  a  German  officer,  she 
killed  several  men  and  an  officer  and 
saved  the  bridge,  not  for  France  partic 
ularly,  but  with  the  hope  that  it  might 
be  of  some  help  to  her  lover  and  her 
son,  for  she  knew  that  their  regiment 
was  in  the  area. 

During  the  years  of  the  war  she  be 
came  closely  acquainted  with  M.  Cyon, 


a  French  diplomat  whom  she  married 
shortly  after  the  Armistice.  During  the 
peace  meetings  at  Versailles  she  saw  the 
governor  whom  she  had  refused  to  marry 
years  before.  She  was  glad  she  had  not 
married  him,  for  he  had  become  a  florid, 
portly,  vulgar  politician.  She  preferred 
her  dignified  French  diplomat  for  a  hus 
band,  despite  his  white  hair  and  greater 
number  of  years. 

Shortly  after  her  meeting  with  the 
governor,  Lily  received  a  letter  from  the 
Carmelites  telling  her  that  Sister  Monica 
had  died.  For  a  few  moments  Lily  did 
not  realize  that  the  person  of  whom  they 
had  written  was  Irene.  Lily  had  come 
to  think  of  her  sister  as  dead  when  she 
had  entered  the  Church;  it  was  some 
thing  of  a  shock  to  receive  word  of  a  more 
recent  death. 

Lily's  last  link  with  America  and  the 
town  was  broken  when  she  read  in  a 
Socialist  newspaper  that  Krylenko,  who 
had  become  an  international  labor  leader, 
had  died  of  typhus  in  Moscow.  Now  her 
family  and  old  friends  were  all  gone. 
Only  Lily  survived.  It  was  with  pleasure 
that  she  saw  her  white-haired  husband 
enter  the  garden  and  walk  toward  her. 
There,  at  least,  was  peace  and  security, 
instead  of  a  lonely  old  age  in  a  drab 
Midwestern  town. 


GREEN  MANSIONS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  W.  H.  Hudson  (1841-1922) 

Type  of  plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  South  American  jungles 

First  published:  1904 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  ABEL,  an  old  man 
RrMA,  a  creature  of  the  forest 
NUFLO,  an  old  hunter 

Critique: 

The  only  legend  of  its  kind  that  has 
become  a  modern  classic,  Green  Mansions 
owes  its  popularity  to  its  mystic,  religious 


ing,  poetic  expressions.  Loving  nature 
and  the  wild  life  of  the  countries  which 
he  explored,  Hudson  was  able  to  express 


feeling  and  to  the  beauty  of  Rima's  halt-      his  own  deep  feeling  through  the  charac- 

GREEN  MANSIONS  by  W.  H.  Hudson.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Copyright, 
1916,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Renewed,  1943,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


333 


ter  of  Rima,  the  strange  birdlike  girl  who 
was  one  with  the  forest  and  whose  sorrow 
of  loneliness  was  so  great  that  she  would 
suffer  no  one  to  look  into  the  depth  of 
her  soul.  Perhaps,  to  Hudson,  nature 
was  like  that;  too  lonely  and  sorrowful 
to  impart  complete  understanding  and 
knowledge  of  herself  to  mankind. 

The  Story: 

No  one  in  Georgetown  could  remem 
ber  his  full  name,  and  so  he  was  known 
only  as  Mr.  Abel.  He  told  a  strange  story 
one  evening  as  he  sat  talking  to  a  friend, 
a  tale  of  his  youth. 

While  he  was  living  among  the  Indians 
in  the  jungle,  a  nearby  savannah  caught 
his  fancy.  The  Indians  claimed  it  was 
haunted  and  would  not  go  near  it.  One 
day  he  set  out  to  explore  the  savannah 
for  himself,  For  a  long  while  he  sat  on 
a  log  trying  to  identify  the  calls  of  the 
birds.  One  particularly  engaging  sound 
seemed  almost  human,  and  it  followed 
him  as  he  returned  to  the  Indian  village. 
Soon  he  bribed  one  of  the  Indians  to 
enter  the  haunted  savannah.  The  Indian 
became  frightened,  however,  and  ran 
away,  leaving  Abel  alone  with  the  weird 
sound.  The  Indian  had  said  that  the 
daughter  of  the  spirit  Didi  inhabited  the 
forest.  Abel  felt  sure  that  the  nearly 
intelligible  language  of  the  birdlike 
sounds  were  associated  with  the  one  to 
whom  die  Indian  referred. 

Again  and  again  Abel  returned  to  the 
forest  in  his  search  for  the  source  of 
the  warbling  sound,  but  always  it  eluded 
him.  Then  one  day  he  saw  a  girl  playing 
with  a  bird.  The  girl  disappeared  among 
the  trees,  but  not  before  Abel  had  de 
cided  that  she  must  be  connected  in  some 
way  with  the  warbling  sounds  he  had 
heard. 

The  Indians  had  been  encouraging 
him  to  continue  his  quests  into  the  area 
of  mystery.  He  decided  at  last  that  they 
were  hoping  he  would  try  to  kill  the 
creature  who  seemed  to  be  haunting  their 
forest.  He  was  stricken  with  horror  at 
the  idea.  One  day  he  came  face  to  face 


with  the  elusive  being.  He  had  been 
menaced  by  a  small  venomous  snake,  and 
he  was  about  to  kill  it  with  a  rock  when 
the  girl  appeared  before  him  to  protest 
vigorously  in  her  odd  birdlike  warbling 
language.  She  was  not  like  any  human 
he  had  ever  seen.  Her  coloring  was  her 
most  striking  characteristic;  it  was  lumi 
nescent  and  it  changed  with  her  every 
mood.  As  he  stood  looking  at  her,  fasci 
nated  by  her  loveliness,  the  snake  bit  him 
on  the  leg. 

He  started  back  toward  the  village 
for  help,  but  a  blinding  rainstorm  over 
took  him  on  the  way.  Alter  falling  uncon 
scious  while  running  through  the  trees, 
he  awakened  in  a  hut  with  a  bearded 
old  man  named  Nuflo.  The  man  ex 
pressed  fear  and  hatred  of  the  Indians 
who,  he  said,  were  afraid  of  his  grand 
child,  Rima.  It  was  she  who  had  saved 
Abel  from  dying  of  the  snake's  venom 
and  it  was  she  who  had  been  following 
him  in  the  forest.  Abel  could  not  believe 
that  the  listless,  colorless  girl  standing  in 
a  corner  of  the  hut  was  the  lovely  bird- 
like  creature  he  had  met.  On  closer 
examination  he  coulcl  detect  a  likeness  of 
figure  and  features,  but  her  luminous 
radiance  was  missing.  When  Rima  ad 
dressed  him  in  Spanish,  he  questioned 
her  about  the  musical  language  that  she 
emitted  in  the  trees.  She  gave  no  ex 
planation  and  ran  away. 

In  a  few  days  Abel  learned  that  Rima 
would  harm  no  living  creature,  not  even 
for  her  own  food,  Abel  grew  to  love  the 
strange,  beautiful,  untamed  girl  of  the 
green  forest.  When  he  questioned  her, 
she  spoke  willingly,  but  her  speech  was 
strangely  poetic  and  difficult  to  under 
stand.  She  expressed  deep,  spiritual 
longings  and  made  him  understand  that 
in  the  forest  she  communed  with  her 
mother,  who  had  died  long  ago, 

Rima  began  to  sense  that  since  Abel, 
the  only  person  she  Had  known  except 
her  grandfather,  could  not  understand 
her  language  and  did  not  understand  her 
longings,  she  must  be  unlike  other  human 
beings  in  the  world,  In  her  desire  to 


334 


meet  other  people  and  to  return  to  the 
place  of  her  birth  where  her  mother  had 
died,  Rima  revealed  to  Ahel  the  name  of 
her  birthplace,  a  mountain  he  knew  well. 
Rima  demanded  that  her  grandfather 
guide  her  to  Riolama  Mountain.  Old 
Nuflo  consented  and  requested  that  Abel 
come  also. 

Before  he  took  the  long  journey  with 
Rima  and  Nuflo,  Abel  returned  to  the 
Indian  village.  There,  greeted  with  quiet 
suspicion  and  awe  because  of  where  he 
had  been,  Abel  was  held  a  prisoner.  After 
six  days'  absence  he  returned  to  Rima's 
forest.  Nuflo  and  Abel  made  prepara 
tions  for  their  journey.  When  they 
started,  Rima  followed  them,  only  show 
ing  herself  when  they  needed  directions. 

Nuflo  began  Rima's  story.  He  had 
been  wandering  about  with  a  band  of 
outlaws  when  a  heavenly-looking  woman 
appeared  among  them.  After  she  had 
fallen  and  broken  her  ankle,  Nuflo,  who 
thought  she  must  be  a  saint,  nursed  her 
back  to  health.  Observing  that  she  was 
to  have  a  baby,  he  took  her  to  a  native 
village.  Rima  was  born  soon  after.  The 
woman  could  learn  neither  Spanish  nor 
the  Indian  tongue,  and  the  soft  melodious 
sounds  which  fell  from  her  lips  were  un 
intelligible  to  everyone.  Gradually  the 
woman  faded.  As  she  lay  dying,  she 
made  the  rough  hunter  understand  that 
Rima  could  not  live  unless  she  were  taken 
to  the  dry,  cool  mountains. 

Knowing  their  search  for  her  mother's 
people  to  be  in  vain,  Abel  sought  to  dis 
suade  Rima  from  the  journey.  He  ex 
plained  to  her  that  they  must  have  disap 
peared  or  have  been  wiped  out  by 
Indians.  Rima  believed  him,  but  at  the 


thought  of  her  own  continued  loneliness 
she  fell  fainting  at  his  feet.  When  she 
had  recovered,  she  spoke  of  being  alone, 
of  never  finding  anyone  who  could  under 
stand  the  sweet  warbling  language  which 
she  had  learned  from  her  mother.  Abel 
promised  to  stay  with  her  always  in  the 
forest.  Rima  insisted  on  making  the 
journey  back  alone  so  that  she  could  pre 
pare  herself  for  Abel's  return. 

The  return  to  the  savannah  was  not 
easy  for  Abel  and  the  old  man.  They 
were  nearly  starving  when  they  came  to 
their  own  forest  and  saw,  to  their  horror, 
that  the  hut  was  gone.  Rima  could  not 
be  found.  As  Abel  ran  through  the  forest 
searching  for  her,  he  came  upon  a  lurk 
ing  Indian.  Then  he  realized  that  she 
must  be  gone,  for  the  Indian  would  not 
have  dared  to  enter  the  savannah  if  the 
daughter  of  Didi  were  still  there.  He 
went  back  to  the  Indian  village  for  food 
and  learned  from  them  that  Rima  had 
returned  to  her  forest.  Finding  her  in  a 
tree,  the  Indian  chief,  Runi,  had  ordered 
his  men  to  burn  the  tree  in  order  to 
destroy  the  daughter  of  Didi, 

Half  mad  with  sorrow,  Abel  fled  to  the 
village  of  an  enemy  tribe.  There  he  made 
a  pact  with  the  savages  for  the  slaughter 
of  the  tribe  of  Runi.  He  then  went  to  the 
forest,  where  he  found  Nuflo  dead.  He 
also  found  Rima's  bones  lying  among  the 
ashes  of  the  fire-consumed  tree.  He  placed 
her  remains  in  an  urn  which  he  carried 
with  him  back  to  civilization. 

Living  in  Georgetown,  Abel  at  last 
understood  Rima's  sorrowful  loneliness. 
Having  known  and  lost  her,  he  was  suf 
fering  the  same  longings  she  had  felt 
when  she  was  searching  for  her  people. 


GRETTIR  THE  STRONG 

Type  of  work:    Saga 
Author:    Unknown 
Type  of  plot:   Adventure  romance 
Time  of  plot:    Eleventh  century 
Locale:    Iceland,  Norway,   Constantinople 
First  transcribed:    Thirteenth-century  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

GKETTTR  THE  STRONG,  an  outlaw 
ASMUND  LONGHAIR,  his  father 

335 


ILLUGI,  his  youngest  brother 

THORBJORN  OXMAIN,  Grettir's  enemy 

THORBJORN  SLOWCOACH,  Oxmain's  kinsman,  killed  by  Grettir 

THORIR  OF  GARJ>,  an  Icelandic  chief 

THORBJORN  ANGLE,  Grettir's  slayer 

THORSTEXNN  DROMUND,  Grettir's  half-brother  and  avenger 


Critique: 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  all  Norse 
sagas  is  the  story  of  Grettir,  hero  and 
outlaw  of  medieval  Iceland.  Grettir,  born 
about  997,  was  descended  from  Vikings 
who  colonized  Iceland  in  the  second 
half  of  the  ninth  century,  after  they 
had  refused  to  acknowledge  Harold  Fair- 
hair  as  their  king.  Grettir  emerges  from 
his  mist-shrouded,  lawless  world  as  a 
man  so  memorable  that  his  story  was 
handed  down  by  word  of  mouth  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years  after  his 
death.  By  the  time  his  story  was  finally 
committed  to  writing,  it  had  absorbed 
adventures  of  other  folk  heroes  as  well; 
but  in  the  main  the  saga  is  true  to  the 
political  and  social  history  of  the  age. 

The  Story: 

Grettir  the  Strong  was  descended  from 
Onund,  a  Viking  famed  for  enemies 
killed  in  war  and  the  taking  of  booty 
from  towns  plundered  on  far  sea  raids. 
In  a  battle  at  Hafrsfjord  Onund  lost 
a  leg  and  was  thereafter  known  as  Onund 
Tree  foot.  His  wife  was  Aesa,  daughter 
of  Ofeig.  Thrand,  a  great  hero,  was  his 
companion  in  arms.  During  a  time  of 
great  trouble  in  Norway  the  two  heroes 
sailed  to  Iceland  to  be  free  of  injustice 
in  their  homeland,  where  the  unscrupu 
lous  could  rob  without  fear  of  redress. 
Onund  lived  in  quiet  and  plenty  in  the 
new  land  and  his  name  became  re 
nowned,  for  he  was  valiant.  At  last  he 
died.  His  sons  fought  after  his  death 
and  his  lands  were  divided. 

Grettir  of  the  line  of  Onund  was  born 
at  Biarg.  As  a  child  he  showed  strange 
intelligence.  He  quarreled  constantly 
with  Asmund  Longhair,  his  father,  and 
he  was  very  lazy,  never  doing  anything 
cheerfully  or  without  urging.  When  he 
was  fourteen  years  old,  grown  big  in 


body,  he  killed  Skeggi  in  a  quarrel  over 
a  provision  bag  fallen  from  his  horse, 
and  for  that  deed  his  father  paid  blood 
money  to  the  kinsmen  of  Skeggi.  Then 
the  Lawman  declared  that  he  must  leave 
Iceland  for  three  years.  In  that  way 
the  long  outlawry  of  Grettir  began. 

Grettir  set  sail  for  Norway.  The  ship 
was  wrecked  on  rocks  off  the  Norwegian 
coast,  but  all  got  safely  ashore  on  land 
that  belonged  to  Thorfinn,  a  wealthy 
landman  of  the  district.  With  him 
Grettir  made  his  home  for  a  time.  At 
Yuletide,  Thorfinn  with  most  of  his 
household  went  to  a  merrymaking  and 
left  Grettir  to  look  after  the  farm.  In 
Thorfinn's  absence  a  party  of  berserks, 
or  raiders,  led  by  Thorir  and  Ogmund, 
came  to  rob  and  lay  waste  to  the  dis 
trict.  Grettir  tricked  them  by  locking 
them  in  a  storehouse.  When  they  broke 
through  the  wooden  walls,  Grettir,  armed 
with  sword  and  spear,  killed  Thorir  and 
Ogmund  and  put  the  rest  to  flight.  Some 
time  before  this  adventure  he  had  en 
tered  the  tomb  of  Karr-the-Old,  father 
of  Thorfinn,  a  long-dead  chieftain  who 
guarded  a  hidden  treasure.  For  his  brave 
clced  in  killing  the  berserks  Thorfinn 
gave  him  an  ancient  sword  from  the 
treasure  hoard  of  Karr-the-Old. 

Next  Grettir  killed  a  great  bear  which 
had  been  carrying  off  the  sheep.  In 
doing  so  he  incurred  the  wrath  of  Bjorn, 
who  was  jealous  of  Grettir's  strength 
and  bravery.  Then  Grettir  killed  Bjorn 
and  was  summoned  before  Jarl  Sveinn. 
Friends  of  Bjorn  plotted  to  take  Grettir's 
life.  After  he  killed  two  of  his  enemies, 
his  friends  saved  him  from  the  wrath 
of  the  jarl,  who  had  wished  to  banish 
him.  His  term  of  outlawry  being  ended, 
Grettir  sailed  back  to  Iceland  in  the 
spring. 


336 


At  that  time  in  Iceland  young  TTiorgils 
Maksson,  Asrnund's  kinsman,  was  slain 
in  a  quarrel  over  a  whale,  and  Asmund 
took  up  the  feud  against  those  who  had 
killed  him.  The  murderers  were  ban 
ished. 

When  Grettir  returned,  Asmund  gave 
him  the  welcome  that  was  his  due  be 
cause  of  his  fame  as  a  brave  hero.  Short 
ly  after  his  return,  Grettir  fought  with 
some  men  after  a  horse  fight.  The  strug 
gle  was  halted  by  a  man  named  Thor 
bjorn  Oxmain.  The  feud  might  have 
been  forgotten  if  Thorbjorn  Oxmain's 
kinsman,  Thorbjorn  Slowcoach,  had  not 
sneered  at  the  hero. 

Word  came  that  a  fiend  had  taken 
possession  of  the  corpse  of  Glam,  a  shep 
herd.  At  night  Glam  ravaged  the  country 
side.  Because  he  could  find  no  man  with 
whom  he  could  prove  his  strength,  Gret 
tir  went  to  meet  Glam.  They  struggled 
in  the  house  of  Thorhall  and  ripped 
down  beams  and  rafters  in  their  angry 
might.  At  last  Glam  fell  exhausted. 
Defeated,  he  predicted  that  Grettir  would 
have  no  greater  strength  and  less  honor 
in  arms  from  that  day  on,  and  that  he 
would  grow  afraid  of  the  dark.  Grettir 
cut  off  Glam's  head  and  burned  the  body 
to  destroy  the  evil  spirit  that  possessed 
the  dead  shepherd. 

Grettir  decided  to  return  to  Norway. 
Among  the  passengers  on  the  boat  was 
Thorbjorn  Slowcoach;  they  fought  and 
Grettir  killed  his  foe.  The  travelers  landed 
on  a  barren  shore  where  they  were  with 
out  fire  to  warm  themselves  and  Grettir 
swam  across  the  cove  to  get  burning 
brands  at  an  inn  where  the  sons  of 
Thorir  of  Gard,  an  Icelandic  chieftain, 
were  holding  a  drunken  feast.  He  had 
to  fight  to  get  the  fire  he  wanted,  and 
in  the  struggle  hot  coals  set  fire  to  the 
straw  on  the  inn  floor  and  the  house 
burned.  Charged  with  deliberately  set 
ting  fire  to  the  inn  and  burning  those 
within,  Grettir  went  to  lay  the  matter 
before  the  king.  To  prove  his  innocence 
of  the  charge  of  willful  burning,  he  was 
sentenced  to  undergo  trial  by  fire  in  the 


church,  but  the  ordeal  ended  when  Gret 
tir  became  angry  and  threw  a  bystander 
into  the  air.  The  king  then  banished  him 
from  Norway,  but  because  no  ships  could 
sail  to  Iceland  before  the  spring  Grettir 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country 
that  winter.  He  lived  some  time  with 
a  man  named  Einar,  on  a  lonely  farm 
to  which  came  the  berserk  Snaekoll, 
a  wild  man  who  pretended  great  frenzy 
during  his  lawless  raids.  Grettir  seized 
him  in  his  mad  fit  and  killed  the  robber 
with  his  own  sword.  Grettir  fell  in  love 
with  Einar's  beautiful  daughter  but  he 
knew  that  Einar  would  never  give  his 
child  to  a  man  of  Grettir's  reputation. 
Giving  up  his  suit,  he  went  to  stay  with 
his  half-brother,  Thorsteinn.  Dromund. 
Because  they  were  men  of  the  same 
blood,  Thorsteinn  swore  to  avenge  Gret 
tir  if  ever  he  were  killed. 

Grettir's  father,  Asmund,  died.  On 
his  deathbed  he  said  that  little  good 
would  come  of  his  son.  Grettir's  time  of 
bad  luck  in  Iceland  began.  Thorbjorn 
Oxmain  killed  Adi,  Grettir's  brother,  in 
revenge  for  the  slaying  of  Thorbjorn 
Slowcoach,  and  Thorir  of  Gard,  hearing 
that  his  sons  had  been  killed  in  the 
burning  of  the  inn,  charged  Grettir  with 
their  murder  before  the  court  of  the 
Althing.  By  the  time  Grettir  returned, 
he  had  been  proclaimed  an  outlaw 
throughout  Iceland.  He  had  little  worry 
over  his  oudawry  from  the  inn-burning, 
Determined  to  avenge  his  brother,  ha 
went  alone  to  Thorbjorn  Oxmain's  farm 
and  killed  both  the  man  and  his  son. 
Grettir's  mother  was  delighted  with  his 
deed,  but  she  predicted  that  Grettir 
would  not  live  freely  to  enjoy  his  vic 
tory.  Thorir  of  Gard  and  Thorodd, 
Thorbjorn  Oxmain's  kinsman,  each  put 
a  price  of  three  silver  marks  upon  his 
head.  Soon  afterward  Grettir  was  cap 
tured  by  some  farmers  but  he  was  re 
leased  by  a  wise  woman  named  Thor- 
bjorg. 

Avoided  by  most  of  his  former  friends, 
who  would  no  longer  help  him,  Grettir 
went  far  north  to  find  a  place  to  live. 


337 


He  met  in  the  forest  another  outlaw 
named  Grim,  but  a  short  time  later  he 
was  forced  to  kill  his  companion  because 
Grim  intended  to  kill  him  for  the  reward 
offered  for  Grettir's  head.  About  that 
time  there  was  growing  upon  Grettir 
a  fear  of  the  dark,  as  Glam  had  prophe 
sied.  Thorir  of  Gard  hired  Redbeard, 
another  outlaw,  to  kill  Grettir,  but  Gret 
tir  discovered  the  outlaw's  plans  and 
killed  him  also.  At  last  Grettir  realized 
that  he  could  not  take  any  forest  men 
into  his  trust,  and  yet  he  was  afraid  to 
live  alone  because  of  his  fear  of  the 
dark. 

Thorir  of  Gard  attacked  Grettir  with 
eighty  men,  but  the  outlaw  was  able 
to  hold  them  off  for  a  time.  Unknown  to 
him,  a  friend  named  Hallmund  attacked 
Thorir's  men  from  the  rear,  and  the 
attempt  to  capture  Grettir  failed.  But 
Grettir  could  no  longer  stay  long  in  any 
place,  for  all  men  had  turned  against 
him.  Hallmund  was  treacherously  slain 
for  the  aid  he  had  given  Grettir;  as  he 
died  he  hoped  that  the  outlaw  would 
avenge  his  death. 

One  night  a  troll-woman  attacked  a 
traveler  named  Gest  in  the  room  where 
he  lay  sleeping.  They  struggled  all 
night,  but  at  last  Gest  was  able  to  cut 
off  the  monster's  right  arm.  Then  Gest 
revealed  himself  as  Grettir. 

Steinvor  of  Sandhauger  gave  birth  to 
a  boy  whom  many  called  Grettir's  son, 
but  he  died  when  he  was  seventeen  and 
left  no  saga  about  himself. 

Thorodd  then  tried  to  gain  favor  by 
killing  Grettir,  but  the  outlaw  soon  over 
came  him  and  refused  to  kill  his  enemy. 
Grettir  went  north  once  more,  but  his 
fear  of  the  dark  was  growing  upon  him 


so  that  he  could  no  longer  live  alone 
even  to  save  his  life.  At  last,  with  his 
youngest  brother,  Illugi,  and  a  servant, 
he  settled  on  Drangey,  an  island  which 
had  no  inlet  so  that  men  had  to  climb 
to  its  grassy  summit  by  rope  ladders. 
There  Grettir,  who  had  been  an  outlaw 
for  some  sixteen  years,  was  safe  for  a 
time,  because  none  could  climb  the  steep 
cliffs  to  attack  him.  For  several  years 
he  and  his  companions  lived  on  the 
sheep  which  had  been  put  there  to 
graze  and  on  eggs  and  birds.  His  enemies 
tried  in  vain  to  lure  him  from  the 
island.  At  last  an  old  woman  cut  magic 
runes  upon  a  piece  of  driftwood  which 
floated  to  the  island.  When  Grettir 
attempted  to  chop  the  log,  his  ax  slipped, 
gashing  his  leg.  He  felt  that  his  end 
was  near,  for  the  wound  became  swollen 
and  painful. 

Thorbjorn  Angle,  who  had  paid  the 
old  woman  to  cast  a  spell  upon  the  fire 
wood,  led  an  attack  upon  the  island 
while  Grettir  lay  near  death.  Grettir 
was  already  dying  when  he  struck  his 
last  blows  at  his  enemies.  Illugi  and  the 
servant  died  with  him.  After  Thorbjorn 
had  cut  off  Grettir's  head  as  proof  of  the 
outlaw's  death,  Stcinn  the  Lawman  de 
creed  that  the  murderer  had  cut  off  the 
head  of  a  man  already  dead  and  that  he 
could  not  collect  the  reward  because 
he  had  used  witchcraft  to  overcome  Gret 
tir.  Outlawed  for  his  deed,  Thorbjorn 
went  to  Constantinople,  where  he  en 
listed  in  the  emperor's  guard.  There 
Thorsteinn  Dromund  followed  him  and 
cut  off  the  murderer's  head  with  a  sword 
which  Grettir  had  taken,  years  before, 
from  the  treasure  hoard  of  Karr-the-Old 


GROWTH  OF  THE  SOIL 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Knut  Hamsun  (Krmt  Pedersen  Hamsimd,  1859-1952) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

first  pub  lished:    1917 


338 


Principal  characters: 

ISAK,  a  Norwegian  peasant 
INGER,  his  wife 
ELESEUS, 
SIVERT, 

LEOPOLDINE,  and 
REBECCA,  their  children 
OLESTE,  Inger's  relative 
GEISSLER,  Isak's  friend 
AXEL  STROM,  a  neighbor 
BARBRO,  Axel's  wife 


Critique: 

One  of  the  great  modern  novels, 
Growth  of  the  Soil  won  for  its  author  the 
Nobel  prize  for  literature  in  1921.  It  is 
the  story  of  the  development  of  a  home 
stead  in  the  wilds  of  Norway.  The  sim 
plicity  and  power  of  the  style  are  rem 
iniscent  of  the  Bible.  Reading  the  book 
is  like  crumbling  the  earth  between  one's 
fingers;  it  brings  nature  to  life  on  the 
printed  page.  The  reader  will  not  soon 
forget  Isak,  the  silent  pioneer  to  whom 
the  soil  is  life. 

The  Story: 

Isak  left  a  small  Norwegian  village  and 
set  out  into  the  wilds  to  claim  a  home 
stead.  Carrying  some  food  and  a  few  rude 
implements,  he  wandered  until  he  found 
a  stretch  of  grass  and  woodland,  with  a 
stream  nearby.  There  he  cleared  his  farm- 
site.  He  had  to  carry  everything  out  from 
the  village  on  his  own  back.  He  built  a 
sod  house,  procured  some  goats,  and  pre 
pared  for  winter. 

He  sent  word  by  some  traveling  Lapps 
that  he  needed  a  woman  to  help  in  the 
fields.  One  day  Inger  appeared  with  her 
belongings.  She  was  not  beautiful  be 
cause  of  her  harelip.  But  she  was  a  good 
worker,  and  she  snared  Isak's  bed.  She 
brought  more  things  from  her  home,  in 
cluding  a  cow. 

That  winter  Inger  bore  her  first  child, 
Eleseus.  He  was  a  fine  boy,  with  no 
harelip.  In  the  spring  Inger 's  relative 
Oline  came  to  see  the  new  family.  She 
promised  to  return  in  the  fall  to  take 


care  of  the  farm  while  Inger  and  Isak 
went  to  be  married  and  to  have  the  child 
baptized.  The  farm  grew  through  the 
summer. 

The  harvest  was  not  good,  but  potatoes 
carried  Isak's  family  through  the  winter 
without  hunger.  Inger  bore  a  second  son, 
Sivert.  Then  Geissler,  the  sheriff's  of 
ficer,  came  to  tell  Isak  that  he  would  have 
to  pay  the  government  for  his  land.  He 
promised  to  make  the  terms  as  easy  as 
possible  for  Isak.  But  Geissler  lost  his 
position.  A  new  officer  came  to  look  at 
the  land  with  his  assistant,  Brede  Olsen. 
He  also  promised  to  do  what  he  could  for 
Isak. 

One  day  Inger  sent  her  husband  to 
town.  While  he  was  gone,  she  bore  her 
third  child,  a  girl  with  a  harelip.  Know 
ing  what  the  deformed  child  would  suf 
fer,  Inger  strangled  the  infant  and  buried 
the  body  in  the  woods.  Later  she  con 
vinced  Isak  she  had  not  really  been  preg 
nant. 

But  Oline  had  known  of  Inger's  con 
dition,  and  when  she  came  again  she 
found  the  grave  in  the  woods.  Inger  ex 
plained  her  deed  as  well  as  she  could  to 
Isak;  he  was  satisfied.  Then  Lapp  beg 
gars  told  the  story  of  the  hidden  grave  and 
the  sheriff's  officer  heard  of  it.  There  was 
an  investigation.  After  her  trial,  Inger 
was  sent  away  to  prison  at  Bergen  for 
eight  years.  For  lack  of  anyone  else, 
Isak  was  forced  to  hire  Oline  to  come  and 
help  with  the  farm  and  the  children. 
Isak  got  the  deed  for  his  land  and  paid 

GROWTH  OF  THE  SOIL  by  Knut  Hamsun.    Translated  by  W.  W.  Worster.    By  permission  of  the  publishers 
Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Copyright,  1921,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Renewed,  1949,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


339 


the  first  installment.  But  there  was  no 
joy  in  his  farming,  now  that  Inger  was 
gone.  He  worked  only  from  habit  and 
necessity.  Geissler  reappeared  to  tell  Isak 
that  he  had  seen  Inger  in  Bergen.  She 
had  borne  a  girl  in  prison,  a  child  without 
a  blemish. 

The  old  life  was  changing.  Men  came 
through  putting  up  a  telegraph  line.  Be 
tween  Isak's  place  and  the  village,  Brede, 
the  helper  of  the  sherifFs  officer,  started  a 
farm.  Other  settlers  appeared  as  the 
years  passed.  Oline  was  unbearable.  She 
stole  livestock  from  Isak  and  spent  his 
money  for  trifles.  Speculating  on  copper 
mining,  Geissler  bought  some  of  Isak's 
land.  With  the  help  of  Geissler,  Inger 
was  finally  released  from  prison. 

At  first  Inger,  whose  harelip  had  been 
operated  on  in  Bergen,  was  happy  to  re 
turn  with  little  Leopoldine.  But  she  had 
learned  city  ways,  and  now  farm  life 
seemed  rough  and  lonely.  She  no  longer 
helped  Isak  with  his  work.  Eleseus  was 
sent  to  town,  where  he  got  a  job  in  an 
office.  Sivert,  who  was  much  like  his 
father,  remained  at  home. 

Axel  Strom  now  had  a  farm  near  Isak's. 
Brede's  daughter,  Barbro,  came  to  stay 
with  Axel  and  help  him  with  his  work. 

Inger  bore  another  daughter,  Rebecca, 
and  Isak  hired  a  girl  to  help  with  the 
housework.  Eleseus  returned  from  town 
to  help  on  the  farm.  Geissler  sold  the 
copper  mine  property  and  Isak  also  re 
ceived  a  large  sum  for  the  rights  he  had 
retained  on  the  property.  He  was  able 
to  buy  the  first  mowing  machine  in  the 
district. 

Eleseus  took  an  interest  in  Barbro,  but 
when  he  discovered  she  was  pregnant,  he 
went  back  to  the  city.  Axel  bought 
Brede's  farm  when  Brede  moved  back  to 
town.  One  day  he  found  Barbro  down 
by  the  brook  with  her  drowned  baby. 
She  said  she  had  fallen  and  the  baby  had 
been  born  in  the  water.  Axel  did  not 
quarrel  with  her,  for  fear  she  would  leave 
him. 

That  winter  Barbro  went  to  Bergen  and 
Axel  had  to  manage  the  farm  himself. 


One  day  he  was  pinned  to  the  ground  by 
a  falling  tree  during  a  snowstorm.  Brede, 
who  was  angry  with  Axel,  passed  by  with 
out  offering  to  help.  By  chance,  Oline 
heard  Axel's  cries  for  help  and  released 
him.  Afterward  she  stayed  to  manage  his 
house  for  him,  and  never  did  she  let  him 
forget  his  debt  to  her  for  saving  his  life. 
Little  by  little,  she  learned  the  story  of 
Barbro  and  the  baby. 

A  man  named  Aronsen  built  a  big 
store  in  the  new  neighborhood.  Soon 
miners  moved  in  to  begin  work  on  the 
land  Geissler  and  Isak  had  sold.  Then 
the  mine  played  out.  Geissler  owned  the 
additional  land  needed  to  keep  the  mine 
working,  but  he  asked  more  than  the 
mine  owners  would  pay.  The  mine  re 
mained  idle. 

The  trouble  about  Barbro  and  the  baby 
at  last  came  to  the  attention  of  the  au 
thorities,  and  Axel  and  Barbro  had  to  ap 
pear  for  trial  in  the  town.  Because  there 
was  so  little  evidence,  Axel  went  free. 
Barbro  went  to  work  for  the  wife  of  the 
sheriff's  officer,  who  promised  to  see  that 
Barbro  behaved  herself. 

There  seemed  little  hope  that  the  mine 
would  reopen,  for  Geissler  would  not  sell 
his  land.  After  Aronsen  sold  his  store  to 
Isak,  Eleseus  was  persuaded  to  return 
from  the  city  and  take  over  the  store  prop 
erty.  Isak  was  now  a  rich  man.  Then  in 
the  spring  Geissler  sold  his  land  and  work 
resumed  at  the  mine.  But  the  miners 
lived  on  the  far  side  of  the  property  in 
another  district.  The  village  was  no  better 
off  than  before. 

Barbro  could  no  longer  stand  the 
watchfulness  of  the  wife  of  the  sheriff's 
officer.  When  she  returned  to  Axel,  he 
took  her  in  again  after  he  was  sure  she 
meant  to  stay  and  marry  him.  Old  Oline 
would  not  leave  Axel  s  farm.  But  she 
soon  grew  ill  and  died,  leaving  the  young 
people  by  themselves. 

Eleseus  did  not  manage  the  store  well. 
At  last,  when  he  saw  the  failure  he  had 
made,  he  borrowed  more  money  from  his 
father  and  set  out  for  America.  He  never 
returned.  Sivert  and  two  other  men 


340 


carried  some  of  the  goods  from  the  store 
to  the  new  mine.  But  the  mine  had  shut 
down  again.  They  found  Geissler 
wandering  about  the  deserted  mine;  he 
said  that  he  was  thinking  of  buying  back 
the  property. 


When  the  three  men  returned,  IsaK 
was  sowing  corn.  The  copper  mine  and 
the  store,  good  times  and  bad,  had  come 
and  gone.  But  the  soil  was  still  there. 
For  Isak  and  Inger,  the  first  sowers  in  the 
wilds,  the  corn  still  grew. 


GULLIVER'S  TRAVELS 

Type  of  work;  Simulated  record  of  travel 

Author:  Jonathan  Swift  (1667-1745) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  1699-1713 

Locale:  England  and  various  fictional  lands 

First  published:  1726-1727 

Principal  character: 

LEMUEL  GULLIVER,  surgeon,  sea  captain,  and  traveler 

Critique: 

It  has  been  said  that  Dean  Swift  hated 
Man,  but  loved  individual  men.  His 
hatred  is  brought  out  in  this  caustic  polit 
ical  and  social  satire  aimed  at  the  Eng 
lish  people,  representing  mankind  in 
general,  and  at  the  Whigs  in  particular. 
By  means  of  a  disarming  simplicity  of 
style  and  of  careful  attention  to  detail 
in  order  to  heighten  the  effect  of  the 
narrative,  Swift  produced  one  of  the 
outstanding  pieces  of  satire  in  world 
literature.  Swift  himself  attempted  to 
conceal  his  authorship  of  the  book  under 
its  original  tide — Travels  into  Several 
Remote  Nations  of  the  World,  by  Lemuel 
Gulliver. 


The  Story: 

Lemuel  Gulliver,  a  physician,  took  the 
post  of  ship's  doctor  on  the  Antelope, 
which  set  sail  from  Bristol  for  the  South 
Seas  in  May,  1699.  When  the  ship  was 
wrecked  in  a  storm  somewhere  near  Tas 
mania,  Gulliver  had  to  swim  for  his  life. 
Wind  and  tide  helped  to  carry  him  close 
to  a  low-lying  shore  where  he  fell,  ex 
hausted,  into  a  deep  sleep.  Upon  awaking, 
he  found  himself  held  to  the  ground  by 
hundreds  of  small  ropes.  He  soon  dis 
covered  that  he  was  the  prisoner  of  hu 
mans  six  inches  tall.  Still  tied,  Gulliver 
was  fed  by  his  captors;  then  he  was 


placed  on  a  special  wagon  built  for  the 
purpose  and  drawn  by  fifteen  hundred 
small  horses.  Carried  in  this  manner  to 
the  capital  city  of  the  small  humans,  he 
was  exhibited  as  a  great  curiosity  to  the 
people  of  Lilliput,  as  the  land  of  the 
diminutive  people  was  called.  He  was 
kept  chained  to  a  huge  Lilliputian  build 
ing  into  which  he  crawled  at  night  to 
sleep. 

Gulliver  soon  learned  the  Lilliputian 
language,  and  through  his  personal  charm 
and  natural  curiosity  he  came  into  good 
graces  at  the  royal  court.  At  length  he 
was  given  his  freedom,  contingent  upon 

his  obeying  many  rules  devised  by  the 

6       -i  -        i  -     j  • 

emperor  prescribing   his   deportment  in 

Lilliput.  Now  free,  Gulliver  toured  Mil- 
dendo,  the  capital  city,  and  found  it  to 
be  similar  to  European  cities  of  the  time. 
Learning  that  Lilliput  was  in  danger 
of  an  invasion  by  the  forces  of  the  neigh 
boring  empire,  Blefuscu,  he  offered  his 
services  to  the  emperor  of  Lilliput.  While 
the  enemy  fleet  awaited  favorable  winds 
to  carry  their  ships  the  eight  hundred 
yards  between  Blefuscu  and  Lilliput, 
Gulliver  took  some  Lilliputian  cable, 
waded  to  Blefuscu,  and  brought  back  the 
entire  fleet  by  means  of  hooks  attached 
to  the  cables.  He  was  greeted  with  great 
acclaim  and  the  emperor  made  him  a 


341 


nobleman.  Soon,  however,  the  emperor 
and  Gulliver  fell  out  over  differences  con 
cerning  the  fate  of  the  now  helpless 
Blefuscu,  The  emperor  wanted  to  reduce 
the  enemy  to  the  status  of  slaves;  Gul 
liver  championed  their  liberty.  The  pro- 
Gulliver  forces  prevailed  in  the  Lillipu 
tian  parliament;  the  peace  settlement  was 
favorable  to  Blefuscu.  But  Gulliver  was 
now  in  disfavor  at  court. 

He  visited  Blefuscu,  where  he  was  re 
ceived  graciously  by  the  emperor  and  the 
people.  One  day,  while  exploring  the 
empire,  he  found  a  ship's  boat  washed 
ashore  from  some  wreck.  With  the  help 
of  thousands  of  Blefuscu  artisans,  he 
repaired  the  boat  for  his  projected  voyage 
back  to  his  own  civilization.  Taking  some 
little  cattle  and  sheep  with  him,  he  sailed 
away  and  was  eventually  picked  up  by 
an  English  vessel. 

Back  in  England,  Gulliver  spent  a 
short  time  with  his  family  before  he 
shipped  aboard  the  Adventure,  bound  for 
India.  The  ship  was  blown  off  course 
by  fierce  winds.  Somewhere  on  the  coast 
of  Great  Tartary  a  landing  party  went 
ashore  to  forage  for  supplies.  Gulliver, 
who  had  wandered  away  from  the  party, 
was  left  behind  when  a  gigantic  human 
figure  pursued  the  sailors  back  to  the 
ship.  Gulliver  was  caught  in  a  field  by 
giants  threshing  grain  that  grew  forty  feet 
nigh.  Becoming  the  pet  of  a  fanner  and 
his  family,  he  amused  them  with  his 
human-like  behavior.  The  farmer's  nine- 
year-old  daughter,  who  was  not  yet  over 
forty  feet  high,  took  special  charge  of 
Gulliver. 

The  farmer  displayed  Gulliver  first  at 
a  local  market  town.  Then  he  took  his 
little  pet  to  the  metropolis,  where  Gulli 
ver  was  put  on  show  to  the  great  detri 
ment  of  his  health.  The  farmer,  seeing 
that  Gulliver  was  near  death,  sold  him  to 
the  queen,  who  took  a  great  fancy  to  the 
little  curiosity.  The  court  doctors  and 
philosophers  studied  Gulliver  as  a  quaint 
trick  of  nature.  He  subsequently  had  ad 
ventures  with  giant  rats  the  size  of  lions, 
with  a  dwarf  thirty  feet  high,  with  wasps 


as  large  as  partridges,  with  apples  the 
size  of  Bristol  barrels,  and  with  hailstones 
the  size  of  tennis  balls. 

He  and  the  king  discussed  the  institu 
tions  of  their  respective  countries,  the 
king  asking  Gulliver  many  questions 
about  Great  Britain  that  Gulliver  found 
impossible  to  answer  truthfully  without 
embarrassment. 

After  two  years  in  Brobdingnag,  the 
land  of  the  giants,  Gulliver  escaped 
miraculously  when  a  large  bird  carried 
his  portable  quarters  out  over  the  sea.  The 
bird  dropped  the  box  containing  Gulliver 
and  he  was  rescued  by  a  ship  which  was 
on  its  way  to  England.  Back  home,  it 
took  Gulliver  some  time  to  accustom  him 
self  once  more  to  a  world  of  normal  size. 

Soon  afterward  Gulliver  went  to  sea 
again.  Pirates  from  a  Chinese  port  at 
tacked  the  ship.  Set  adrift  in  a  small 
sailboat,  Gulliver  was  cast  away  upon 
a  rocky  island.  One  day  he  saw  a  large 
floating  mass  descending  from  the  sky. 
Taken  aboard  the  flying  island  of  Laputa, 
he  soon  found  it  to  be  inhabited  by  in 
tellectuals  who  thought  only  in  the  realm 
of  the  abstract  and  the  exceedingly  im 
practical.  The  people  of  the  island,  in 
cluding  the  king,  were  so  ahsent-minded 
they  had  to  have  servants  following  them 
to  remind  them  even  of  their  trends  of 
conversation.  When  the  floating  island 
arrived  above  the  continent  of  Balnibari, 
Gulliver  received  permission  to  visit  that 
realm.  There  he  inspected  the  Grand 
Academy,  where  hundreds  of  highly  im 
practical  projects  for  the  improvement  of 
agriculture  and  building  were  under  way, 

Next  Gulliver  journeyed  by  boat  to 
Glubbdubdrib,  the  island  of  sorcerers. 
By  means  of  magic,  the  governor  of  the 
island  showed  Gulliver  such  great  his 
torical  figures  as  Alexander,  Hannibal, 
Caesar,  Pompcy,  and  Sir  Thomas  More. 
Gulliver  talked  to  the  apparitions  and 
learned  from  them  that  nistory  books 
were  inaccurate. 

From  Glubbdubdrib,  Gulliver  went  to 
Luggnagg.  There  he  was  welcomed  by 
the  king,  who  showed  him  the  Luggnag- 


342 


gian  immortals,  or  stuldbniggs — beings 
who  would  never  die. 

Gulliver  traveled  on  to  Japan,  where 
he  took  a  ship  back  to  England*  He  had 
been  away  for  more  than  three  years. 

Gulliver  became  restless  after  a  brief 
stay  at  his  home,  and  he  signed  as  captain 
of  a  ship  which  sailed  from  Portsmouth 
in  August,  1710,  destined  for  the  South 
Seas.  The  crew  mutinied,  keeping  Cap 
tain  Gulliver  prisoner  in  his  cabin  for 
months.  At  length,  he  was  cast  adrift 
in  a  long  boat  off  a  strange  coast.  Ashore, 
he  came  upon  and  was  nearly  over 
whelmed  by  disgusting  half-human,  half- 
ape  creatures  who  fled  in  terror  at  the 
approach  of  a  horse.  Gulliver  soon  dis 
covered,  to  his  amazement,  that  he  was 
in  a  land  where  rational  horses,  the 
Houyhnhnms,  were  masters  of  irrational 
human  creatures,  the  Yahoos.  He  stayed 
in  the  stable-house  of  a  Houyhnhnm  fam 
ily  and  learned  to  subsist  on  oaten  cake 
and  milk.  The  Houyhnhnms  were  hor 
rified  to  learn  from  Gulliver  that  horses 
in  England  were  used  by  Yahoo-like  crea 
tures  as  beasts  of  burden.  Gulliver  de 


scribed  England  to  his  host,  much  to  the 
candid  and  straightforward  Houyhn- 
hnm's  mystification.  Such  things  as  wars 
and  courts  of  law  were  unknown  to  this 
race  of  intelligent  horses.  As  he  did  in 
the  other  lands  he  visited,  Gulliver  at 
tempted  to  explain  the  institutions  of 
his  native  land,  but  the  friendly  and 
benevolent  Houyhnhnms  were  appalled 
by  many  of  the  things  Gulliver  told  them. 
Gulliver  lived  in  almost  perfect  con 
tentment  among  the  horses,  until  one 
day  his  host  told  him  that  the  Houyhn 
hnm  Grand  Assembly  had  decreed  Gul 
liver  either  be  treated  as  an  ordinary 
Yahoo  or  be  released  to  swim  back  to 
the  land  from  which  he  had  come.  Gul 
liver  built  a  canoe  and  sailed  away.  At 
length  he  was  picked  up  by  a  Portuguese 
vessel.  Remembering  the  Yahoos,  he  be 
came  a  recluse  on  the  ship  and  began  to 
hate  all  mankind.  Landing  at  Lisbon,  he 
sailed  from  there  to  England.  But  on 
his  arrival  the  sight  of  his  own  family 
repulsed  him;  he  fainted  when  his  wife 
kissed  him.  His  horses  became  his  only 
friends  on  earth. 


HAJJI  BABA  OF  ISPAHAN 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Morier  (1780-1849) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Persia 

First  published:  1824 

Principal  characters: 
HAJJI  BABA,  a  rogue 
OSMAN  AGHA,  a  Turkish 
ZEENAB,  a  slave  girl 
Critique: 

The  Adventures  of  Hajji  Baba  of  Ispa 
han  is  a  combination  of  travel  book  and 
rogue  story,  and  it  does  for  Persia  very 
much  what  Le  Sage's  Gil  Bias  did  for 
Spain.  Persia,  even  in  this  day  of  broad 
travel,  has  never  been  widely  viewed  by 
Americans.  Moreover,  the  Persia  of  the 
time  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  a  Persia 
that  has  now  disappeared.  Customs  and 
manners  are  as  much  a  part  of  Morier's 
entertaining  narrative  as  the  picaresque 


merchant 


humor  of  Hajji  Baba's  adventures  and 
the  satire  of  the  rogue's  shrewd  com 
ments  on  human  nature. 

The  Story, 

Hajji  Baba  was  the  son  of  a  successful 
barber  of  Ispahan.  By  the  time  he  was 
sixteen  he  had  learned  the  barber's  trade, 
as  well  as  a  store  of  bazaar  tales  and 
quotations  from  the  Persian  poets.  With 
these  he  entertained  the  customers  who 


343 


came  to  his  father's  shop,  among  them 
a  wealthy  Turkish  merchant  named  Os- 
man  Agha,  who  was  on  his  way  to 
Meshed  to  buy  goatskins  of  Bokhara.  So 
taken  was  this  merchant  with  Hajji 
Baba  that  he  begged  the  young  man  to 
accompany  him  on  the  journey.  With  his 
father's  blessing  and  a  case  of  razors, 
Hajji  Baba  set  out  with  his  new  patron. 

Before  the  caravan  had  been  many 
days  on  its  way  it  was  attacked  by  a  band 
of  Turcoman  robbers.  Osman  Agha  had 
prudently  sewed  fifty  gold  ducats  in  the 
skullcap  under  his  turban,  but  when 
the  caravan  was  captured  he  was  stripped 
of  his  finery  and  the  skullcap  was  tossed 
in  a  corner  of  the  robber  chief's  tent. 
The  robbers  spared  Hajji  B  aba's  life 
when  they  learned  he  was  a  skilled 
barber,  and  he  became  a  favorite  of  the 
wife  of  the  chief.  One  day  he  persuaded 
the  foolish  woman  to  let  him  borrow 
Osman  Agha's  cap.  He  ripped  the  gold 
pieces  from  the  lining  and  hid  them, 
against  the  time  when  he  might  escape 
from  his  captors.  Osman  Agha  had  been 
sold  to  some  camel  herders. 

Hajji  Baba  traveled  with  the  robbers 
on  their  raids  throughout  the  region.  One 
of  these  raids  was  on  Ispahan  itself, 
from  which  the  robbers  carried  away  a 
rich  booty.  But  at  the  division  of  the 
spoils,  Hajji  Baba  got  only  promises 
and  praise. 

One  day  the  robbers  encountered  the 
armed  escort  of  a  Persian  prince.  When 
the  others  fled,  Hajji  Baba  gladly  allowed 
himself  to  be  taken  prisoner  by  the 
prince's  men.  They  mistook  him  for  a 
Turcoman,  however,  and  cruelly  mis 
treated  him,  stripping  him  of  his  clothes 
and  his  hidden  gold.  When  he  com 
plained  to  the  prince,  the  nobleman  sent 
for  the  guilty  ones,  took  the  money  from 
them,  and  then  kept  the  gold  himself. 

Hajji  Baba  went  with  the  prince  and 
his  train  to  Meshed,  where  he  became  a 
water  vendor,  carrying  a  leather  bag  filled 
with  dirty  water  which  he  sold  to  pil 
grims  with  assurances  that  it  was  holy 
water  blessed  by  the  prophet.  With 


money  so  earned,  he  bought  some  tobacco 
which  he  blended  with  dung  and  then 
peddled  through  the  streets  of  the  holy 
city.  His  best  customer,  Dervish  Sefer, 
introduced  him  to  other  dervishes.  They 
applauded  Hajji  Baba's  shrewdness  and 
enterprise  and  invited  him  to  become  one 
of  their  number.  But  one  day  a  com 
plaint  was  lodged  against  him  on  account 
of  the  bad  tobacco  he  sold,  and  the  au 
thorities  beat  his  bare  feet  until  he  lost 
consciousness.  Having  in  the  meantime 
saved  a  small  amount  of  money,  he  de 
cided  to  leave  Meshed,  which  seemed 
to  him  an  ill-omened  city. 

He  set  out  on  his  way  to  Teheran. 
On  the  road  a  courier  overtook  him  and 
asked  him  to  read  some  letters  the  mes 
senger  was  carrying.  One  was  a  letter 
from  a  famous  court  poet,  commending 
the  bearer  to  officials  high  at  court.  Hajji 
Baba  waited  until  the  courier  was  fast 
asleep,  took  the  messenger's  horse,  and 
rode  away  to  deliver  the  courier's  letters. 
Through  these  stolen  credentials  he  was 
able  to  obtain  a  position  of  confidence 
with  the  court  physician. 

Hajji  Baba  remained  with  the  physi 
cian,  even  though  his  post  brought  him 
no  pay.  He  soon  found  favor  with 
Zeenab,  the  physician's  slave,  and  sought 
her  company  whenever  he  could  do  so 
without  danger  of  being  caught.  Then 
the  shah  himself  visited  the  physician's 
establishment  and  received  Zeenab  as  a 
gift.  Hajji  Baba  was  disconsolate,  but  he 
was  soon  made  happy  by  a  new  appoint 
ment,  this  time  to  the  post  of  sub-lieuten 
ant  to  the  chief  executioner  of  the  shah. 
Again  he  received  no  pay,  for  he  was 
supposed  to  get  his  money  as  other  mem 
bers  of  the  shah's  entourage  did,  by  ex 
tortion.  It  was  soon  discovered  that 
Zeenab  was  in  a  condition  which  could 
only  be  regarded  as  an  insult  to  the 
shah's  personal  honor,  and  Ilajji  Baba 
was  summoned  to  execute  the  girl.  Soon 
afterward  suspicion  fell  on  him  for  his 
own  part  in  the  affair,  and  he  fled  to  the 
holy  city  of  Koom. 

In  Koom  he  pretended  to  be  a  priest* 


344 


The  shah  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  city, 
and  during  his  visit  the  chief  priest  pre 
sented  Hajji  Baba's  petition  to  the  ruler, 
Hajji  Baba  explained  that  he  had  acted 
in  all  innocence  because  he  had  no  idea 
of  the  high  honor  to  be  conferred  upon 
Zeenab.  The  shah  reluctantly  pardoned 
Hajji  Baba  and  allowed  him  to  return 
to  Ispahan. 

He  arrived  to  discover  that  his  father 
had  died  and  that  his  fortune  had  dis 
appeared.  Hajji  Baba  sold  his  father's 
shop  and  used  the  money  to  set  himself 
up  as  a  learned  scribe.  Before  long  he 
found  service  with  Mollah  Nadan,  a  cele 
brated  priest,  who  planned  to  organize 
an  illegal  but  profitable  marriage  market. 
Hajji  Baba  was  supposed  to  find  hus 
bands  for  women  the  mollah  would  pro 
vide.  When  Hajji  Baba  visited  the  three 
women  for  whom  he  was  supposed  to 
find  husbands,  he  discovered  them  all 
to  be  ugly  old  hags,  one  the  wife  of  his 
former  master,  the  physician,  who  had 
recently  died.  Later,  Hajji  Baba  dis 
covered  his  first  master,  Osman  Agha, 
who  had  finally  escaped  from  the  Turco 
mans  and  regained  some  of  his  fortune. 
Hajji  Baba  tricked  Agha  into  marrying 
one  of  the  three  women. 

Mollah  Nadan  undertook  to  gain 
favor  by  punishing  some  Armenians  dur 
ing  a  drought,  but  he  incurred  the  shah's 
wrath  and  he  and  Hajji  Baba  were 
driven  from  the  city.  Mollah  Nadan's 
property  was  confiscated,  Hajji  Baba 
stole  back  into  the  city  to  see  if  any  of 
the  mollah Js  property  could  be  saved,  but 
the  house  had  been  stripped.  He  went 
to  visit  the  baths,  and  there  he  discovered 
Mollah  Bashi,  who  had  been  taken  with 
a  cramp  and  had  drowned.  Hajji  Baba 
was  afraid  that  he  would  be  accused  of 
murder,  as  Mollah  Bashi  had  helped 
to  bring  about  Mollah  Nadan's  ruin. 
But  the  slave  attendant  failed  to  recog 
nize  Hajji  Baba  in  the  darkness  and  Hajji 
Baba  escaped,  dressed  in  the  mollah's 
robes.  On  the  horse  of  the  chief  execu 
tioner  he  set  out  to  collect  money 
owed  to  Mollah  Bashi.  In  the  clothes 


of  the  mollah  and  riding  a  fine  horse, 
he  cut  a  dashing  figure  until  he  met 
Mollah  Nadan  and  was  persuaded  tc 
change  robes  with  him.  Mollah  Nadan 
was  arrested  and  charged  with  the  death 
of  Mollah  Bashi.  Hajji  Baba,  who  had 
kept  the  money  he  had  collected,  decided 
to  become  a  merchant. 

He  encountered  the  caravan  of  the 
widow  of  Mollah  Bashi.  She  was  taking 
her  husband's  body  to  Kerbelai  for  holy 
burial.  When  the  leader  of  the  caravan 
revealed  that  Hajji  Baba  was  suspected 
of  the  murder,  he  began  to  fear  for  his 
life.  But  about  that  time  a  band  of 
marauders  attacked  the  caravan,  and  in 
the  confusion  Hajji  Baba  escaped.  In 
Bagdad  he  reencountered  his  old  master, 
Osman  Agha,  and  with  him  proceeded 
to  invest  the  money  he  had  available.  He 
bought  pipe  sticks  and  planned  to  sell 
them  at  a  profit  in  Constantinople. 

There  a  wealthy  widow  sought  him 
out  and  he  decided  to  marry  her,  first, 
however,  intimating  that  he  was  as 
wealthy  as  she.  He  married  her  and 
began  to  live  on  her  income.  But  his 
old  bazaar  friends,  jealous  of  his  good 
luck,  betrayed  him  to  his  wife's  relatives. 
Thrown  out  as  an  imposter,  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  the  help  of  the  Persian 
ambassador.  The  ambassador  advised  him 
not  to  seek  revenge  upon  his  former 
wife's  relatives,  as  they  would  surely 
murder  him  in  his  bed.  Instead,  he  found 
^se  for  Hajji  Baba  in  an  intrigue  develop 
ing  among  representatives  of  England 
and  France.  Hajji  Baba  was  employed 
as  a  spy  to  find  out  what  the  foreign 
emissaries  sought  in  the  shah's  court. 

Here  at  last  Hajji  Baba  found  favor. 
He  discovered  that  his  life  among  cut 
throats  and  rogues  had  admirably  fitted 
him  for  dealing  diplomatically  with  the 
representatives  of  foreign  countries,  and 
he  was  finally  made  the  shah's  repre 
sentative  in  his  own  city  of  Ispahan.  He 
returned  there  with  considerable  wealth 
and  vast  dignity,  to  lord  it  over  those 
who  had  once  thought  his  station  in  life 
far  below  their  own. 


345 


HAKLUYT'S  VOYAGES 


of  -work:    Travel  narratives 
Author:  Richard  Hakluyt  (c.  1553-1616) 
Type  of  plot;    Adventure  and  exploration 
Time  of  plot:    c.  517  to  1600 
Locale:  The  known  world 
First  published:   1589 

Critique: 

This  work  is  an  anthology  of  the 
explorations  and  travels  of  British  ad 
venturers  down  to  the  author's  own 
time.  The  accounts  are  bold  and  vig 
orous,  usually  giving  only  the  main 
events  of  the  journeys,  many  of  them 
written  by  the  men  who  made  the 
voyages.  Published  by  Hakluyt  in  refu 
tation  of  a  French  accusation  that  the 
English  were  insular  and.  spiritless,  the 
book  is  of  value  in  several  lights.  It 
gives  faithful  accounts  of  many  sixteenth- 
century  exploratory  journeys;  it  is  an 
index  to  the  temper  of  Elizabethan  Eng 
land;  and  it  reflects  the  enthusiasm  for 
travel  literature  which  was  so  prevalent 
at  the  time  of  the  original  publication. 

The    Stones: 

The  first  group  of  voyages  give  thirty- 
eight  accounts  of  travel  and  exploration 
made  by  Britons  up  to  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  first  stories  go 
back  to  the  medieval  ages,  for  the  nar 
rative  which  begins  the  work  is  that  of 
a  probably  mythical  voyage  by  King 
Arthur  of  Britain  to  Iceland  and  the  most 
northern  parts  of  Europe  in  517. 

The  first  ten  narratives  deal  with  voy 
ages  made  before  1066,  the  year  of  the 
Norman  Conquest.  They  include  such 
journeys  as  the  conquest  of  the  isles 
of  Man  and  Anglesey  by  Edwin,  King 
of  Northumberland,  in  624,  the  trips  of 
Octher  into  Norway  and  Denmark  in 
890  and  891,  the  voyage  of  Wolstan  into 
Danish  waters  in  the  tenth  century, 
the  voyage  of  King  Edgar,  with  four 
thousand  ships,  about  the  island  of 
Britain,  and  the  journey  of  Edmund 
Ironside  from  England  to  Hungary  in 
1017. 


The  other  voyages  described  are  those 
taken  after  the  Norman  Conquest.  The 
first  of  these  is  an  account  of  a  mar 
velous  journey  made  by  a  company  of 
English  noblemen  to  escort  the  daughter 
of  King  Harold  to  Russia,  to  marry  the 
Duke  of  Russia  in  1067.  The  next  ac 
count  is  of  the  surprising  journey  of  an 
unknown  Englishman  who  traveled  as 
far  into  Asia  as  Tartaria  in  the  first 
half  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

One  notable  voyage  describes  the  ad 
ventures  of  Nicolaus  de  Linna,  a  Fran 
ciscan  friar,  to  the  northern  parts  of 
Scandinavia,  The  twenty-second  voyage 
was  that  of  Anthony  Jenkinson  who 
traveled  to  Russia  rrom  England  in 
order  to  return  Osep  Napea,  the  first 
ambassador  from  Muscovia  to  Queen 
Mary  of  England,  to  his  own  country  in 
1557. 

Surprisingly,  almost  half  of  the  jour 
neys  described  in  this  first  collection  are 
those  made  to  Russia  by  way  of  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  around  northern  Scandi 
navia.  It  is  not  ordinarily  realized  that 
there  was  any  traffic  at  all  between  Eng 
land  and  Russia  at  that  time,  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  both  water  and  land 
transportation  between  the  two  coun 
tries. 

The  final  narrative  of  the  first  group 
tells  of  the  greatest  event  of  Elizabethan 
England,  the  meeting  of  the  British  fleet 
with  the  great  Armada  which  Philip  II 
of  Spain  had  sent  to  subdue  England 
and  win  for  Spain  the  supremacy  of  the 
seas. 

The  second  group  of  voyages  describe 
trips  taken  to  the  region  of  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  and  the  countries  surround 
ing  the  Mediterranean  Sea*  Eleven  of 


346 


these  accounts  describe  trips  made  before 
die  Norman  Conquest  in  1066  and  fifty- 
two  describe  trips  made  after  that  date. 
The  earliest  story  is  that  of  Helena,  the 
wife  of  a  Roman  emperor  and  a  daugh 
ter  of  Coelus,  one  of  the  early  kings  of 
Britain.  Helena,  famous  as  the  mother 
of  Constantine  the  Great,  who  made 
Christianity  the  official  religion  of  Rome, 
traveled  to  Jerusalem  in  337  because 
of  her  interest  in  the  early  Christian 
church.  She  built  several  churches  there 
and  brought  back  to  Europe  a  collection 
of  holy  relics.  One  of  the  relics  was  a 
nail  reputed  to  be  from  the  True  Cross. 
It  was  incorporated  some  time  later  into 
the  so-called  Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy, 

Another  voyage  which  took  place 
before  the  Norman  Conquest  was  that 
of  a  man  named  Erigena,  who  was  sent 
by  Alfred,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  to 
Greece.  Alfred  was  one  of  the  most 
cultured  of  British  kings  in  pre-medieval 
times  and  very  much  interested  in  the 
classic  civilizations.  His  emissary,  Erige 
na,  went  as  far  as  Athens  in  885,  a 
long  voyage  for  those  ancient  times. 

Several  of  the  post-Conquest  voyages 
were  trips  made  by  Englishmen  to  help 
in  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem  from  the 
Saracens  during  the  Crusades.  Among 
the  best  known  are  those  of  Richard 
the  First,  often  called  the  Lion-Hearted, 
and  of  Prince  Edward,  son  of  Henry 
III,  who  went  to  Syria  in  the  last  half 
of  the  thirteenth  century. 

Another  story  is  a  narrative  of  the 
voyage  of  the  English  ship,  Susan,  which 
took  William  Harebome  to  Turkey  in 
1582.  Hareborne  was  the  first  ambas 
sador  sent  by  a  British  monarch  to  the 
ruler  of  Turkey,  who  was  at  that  time 
Murad  Khan. 

Another  interesting  voyage  was  that 
of  Ralph  Fitch,  a  London  merchant. 
Between  the  years  1583  and  1591  he 
traveled  to  Syria,  to  Ormuz,  to  Goa  in 
the  East  Indies,  to  Gambia,  to  the  River 
Ganges,  to  Bengala,  to  Chonderi,  to 
Siam,  and  thence  back  to  his  homeland. 
-It  was  rare  for  people  to  travel,  even  in 


the  spice  trade,  as  far  as  did  merchant 
Fitch  during  the  sixteenth  century. 

A  third  group  of  voyages  are  accounts 
connected  with  the  exploration  and  dis 
covery  of  America.  The  first  account  is 
of  a  voyage  supposedly  made  to  the  West 
Indies  in  1170  by  Madoc,  the  son  of 
Owen  Guined,  a  prince  of  North  Wales. 
It  is  also  recorded  that  in  February  of 
1488  Columbus  offered  his  services  to 
Henry  VII  of  England  and  petitioned 
that  monarch  to  sponsor  a  voyage  to  the 
westward  seas  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
covering  a  new  route  to  the  East  Indies. 
Bartholomew,  brother  of  Columbus,  re 
peated  the  request  a  year  later,  but  was 
refused  a  second  time  by  the  English 
king. 

Several  voyages  described  are  those 
made  to  America  for  die  purpose  of  dis 
covering  a  Northwest  Passage  to  the 
Orient.  The  early  voyage  of  Cabot  is 
among  them,  as  well  as  the  voyages  of 
Martin  Frobisher  and  John  Davis.  Fro- 
bisher  made  three  voyages  in  search  of 
the  Northwest  Passage,  in  the  three  suc 
cessive  years  between  1576  and  1578. 
John  Davis  also  made  three  fruitless  ef 
forts  to  find  the  passage  in  the  years 
from  1585  to  1587.  All  of  these  were  an 
important  part  of  the  colonial  effort  in 
Hakluyt's  own  time. 

Several  exploratory  trips  to  Newfound 
land  and  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  are  also  related,  the  earliest  the 
voyage  of  Sir  Humfrey  Gilbert  to  New 
foundland.  The  ship  Grace  of  Bristol, 
England,  also  made  a  trip  up  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  as  far  as  Assumption  Island. 
There  are  also  accounts  of  trips  made 
by  explorers  of  other  European  nations 
in  the  New  World,  such  as  the  journeys 
made  in  Canada  as  far  as  Hudson's  Bay 
by  Jacques  Carrier  in  1534  and  1535. 

There  are  full  accounts  of  all  the  voy 
ages  made  to  Virginia  in  the  sixteenth 
century  and  the  two  unsuccessful  at 
tempts  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  found 
a  colony  there  in  1585  and  in  1587. 

Another  group  of  stories  tell  of  both 
English  and  Spanish,  explorations  of  the 


347 


Gulf  of  California.  The  voyage  of  Fran 
cis  Drake  is  given,  particularly  that  part 
of  his  around- the-world  trip  during  which 
he  sailed  up  the  western  coast  of  Amer 
ica  to  a  point  forty-three  degrees  north 
of  the  equator  and  landed  to  take  pos 
session  of  what  he  called  Nova  Albion, 
in  the  name  of  his  monarch,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  thus  giving  the  British  a  claim 
to  that  part  of  the  New  World. 

Also  described  is  a  voyage  taken  under 
orders  of  the  viceroy  of  New  Spain  by 
Francis  Gualle.  Gualle  crossed  the 
Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Philippine  Islands, 
where  he  visited  Manila.  From  there  he 
went  to  Macao  in  the  East  Indies  and 
to  Japan,  and  returned  from  the  Orient 
to  Acapulco,  Mexico,  in  the  1580's. 

Another  group  of  stories  contain  short 
accounts  of  trips  by  Englishmen  to  var 


ious  parts  of  Spanish  America.  Among 
these  were  trips  to  Mexico  City  as  early 
as  1555,  barely  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  it  had  been  conquered  by  Cortez, 
as  well  as  to  the  Antilles  Islands  in  the 
West  Indies,  to  Guiana,  to  the  coast  of 
Portuguese  Brazil,  to  the  delta  of  the 
Rio  Plata,  and  to  the  Straits  of  Magel 
lan. 

Every  schoolboy  knows  the  stories  of 
the  first  two  voyages  made  to  the  Straits 
of  Magellan  and  thence  around  the 
world,  first  by  Magellan  himself  and 
then  by  Sir  Francis  Drake.  The  third 
man  to  sail  through  the  Straits  and  then 
to  proceed  around  the  world  is  one  of 
the  forgotten  men  of  history,  liakluyt 
gave  the  credit  for  this  trip  to  Thomas 
Cavendish,  an  Englishman  who  circled 
the  globe  in  the  years  1586  to  1588. 


HAMLET,  PRINCE  OF  DENMARK 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  c>  1200 

Locale:  Elsinore,  Denmark 

First  presented:  1602 

Principal  characters: 

HAMLET,  Prince  of  Denmark 

THE  GHOST,  Hamlet's  father,  former  King  of  Denmark 

CLAUDIUS,  the  present  king 

GERTRUDE,  Hamlet's  mother 

POLONIUS,  a  courtier 

OPHELIA,  his  daughter 

LAERTES,  his  son 


Critique: 

Whether  Hamlet  is  considered  as  lit 
erature,  as  philosophy,  or  simply  as  a 
play,  its  great  merit  is  generally  admitted; 
but  to  explain  in  a  few  words  the  reasons 
for  its  excellence  would  be  an  impossible 
task.  The  poetry  of  the  play  is  superb; 
its  philosophy,  although  not  altogether 
original  with  Shakespeare,  is  expressed 
with  matchless  artistry.  The  universal 
ity  of  its  appeal  rests  in  large  measure 
on  the  character  of  Hamlet  himself. 
Called  upon  to  avenge  his  father's  mur 
der,  he  was  compelled  to  face  problems 


of  duty,  morality,  and  ethics,  which  have 
been  the  concern  of  men  throughout  the 
ages.  In  Hamlet  himself  are  mirrored  the 
hopes  and  fears,  the  feelings  of  frustra 
tion  and  despair,  of  all  mankind. 

The  Story: 

Three  times  the  ghost  of  Denmark's 
dead  king  had  stalked  tlie  battlements 
of  Elsinore  Castle.  On  the  fourth  night 
Horatio,  Hamlet's  friend,  brought  the 
young  prince  to  see  the  specter  .,[  liis 
father,  two  months  dead.  Since  his 


348 


father's  untimely  death,  Hamlet  had  been 
grief-stricken  and  in  an  exceedingly  mel 
ancholy  frame  of  mind.  The  mysteri 
ous  circumstances  surrounding  the  death 
of  his  father  had  perplexed  him;  then 
too,  his  mother  had  married  Claudius,  the 
dead  king's  brother,  much  too  hurriedly 
to  suit  Hamlet's  sense  of  decency. 

That  night  Hamlet  saw  his  father's 
ghost  and  listened  in  horror  to  what  it 
had  to  say.  He  learned  that  his  father 
had  not  died  from  the  sting  of  a  ser 
pent,  as  had  been  supposed,  but  that 
he  had  been  murdered  by  his  own 
brother,  Claudius,  the  present  king.  The 
ghost  added  that  Claudius  was  guilty  not 
only  of  murder  but  also  of  incest  and 
adultery.  But  the  spirit  cautioned  Ham 
let  to  spare  Queen  Gertrude,  his  mother, 
so  that  heaven  could  punish  her. 

The  ghost's  disclosures  should  have 
left  no  doubt  in  Hamlet's  mind  that 
Claudius  must  be  killed.  But  the  intro 
spective  prince  was  not  quite  sure  that 
the  ghost  was  his  father's  spirit,  for  he 
feared  it  might  have  been  a  devil  sent 
to  torment  him.  Debating  with  himself 
the  problem  of  whether  or  not  to  carry 
out  the  spirit's  commands,  Hamlet  swore 
his  friends,  including  Horatio,  to  secrecy 
concerning  the  appearance  of  the  ghost, 
and  in  addition  told  them  not  to  consider 
him  mad  if  from  then  on  he  were  to 
act  queerly. 

Meanwhile  Claudius  was  facing  not 
only  the  possibility  of  war  with  Norway, 
but  also,  and  much  worse,  his  own  con 
science,  which  had  been  much  troubled 
since  his  hasty  marriage  to  Gertrude.  In 
addition,  he  did  not  like  the  melancholia 
of  the  prince,  who,  he  knew,  resented 
the  king's  hasty  marriage.  Claudius 
feared  that  Hamlet  would  take  his  throne 
away  from  him.  The  prince's  strange 
behavior  and  wild  talk  made  the  king 
think  that  perhaps  Hamlet  was  mad, 
but  he  was  not  sure.  To  learn  the  cause 
of  Hamlet's  actions — madness  or  ambi 
tion — Claudius  commissioned  two  of 
Hamlet's  friends,  Rosencrantz  and  Guil- 
denstern,  to  spy  on  the  prince.  But  Ham 


let  saw  through  their  clumsy  efforts  and 
confused  them  with  his  answers  to  their 
questions. 

Polonius,  the  garrulous  old  chamber 
lain,  believed  that  Hamlet's  behavior  re 
sulted  from  lovesickness  for  his  daughter, 
Ophelia.  Hamlet,  meanwhile,  had  be 
come  increasingly  melancholy.  Rosen 
crantz  and  Guildenstern,  as  well  as  Po 
lonius,  were  constantly  spying  on  him. 
Even  Ophelia,  he  thought,  had  turned 
against  him.  The  thought  of  deliberate 
murder  was  revolting  to  Him,  and  he 
was  constantly  plagued  by  uncertainty  as 
to  whether  the  ghost  were  good  or  bad. 
When  a  troupe  of  actors  visited  Elsinore, 
Hamlet  saw  in  them  a  chance  to  discover 
whether  Claudius  were  guilty.  He 
planned  to  have  the  players  enact  before 
the  king  and  the  court  a  scene  like  that 
which,  according  to  the  ghost,  took  place 
the  day  the  old  king  died.  By  watching 
Claudius  during  the  performance,  Ham 
let  hoped  to  discover  for  himself  signs  of 
Claudius'  guilt 

His  plan  worked.  Claudius  became  so 
unnerved  during  the  performance  that 
he  walked  out  before  the  end  of  the 
scene.  Convinced  by  the  king's  actions 
that  the  ghost  was  right,  Hamlet  had 
no  reason  to  delay  in  carrying  out  the 
wishes  of  his  dead  father.  Even  so,  Ham 
let  failed  to  take  advantage  of  his  first 
real  chance  after  the  play  to  kill  Clau 
dius.  He  came  upon  the  king  in  an  atti 
tude  of  prayer,  and  could  have  stabbed 
him  in  the  back.  Hamlet  did  not  strike 
because  he  believed  that  the  king  would 
die  in  grace  at  his  devotions. 

The  queen  summoned  Hamlet  to  her 
chamber  to  reprimand  him  for  his  in 
solence  to  Claudius.  Hamlet,  remember 
ing  what  the  ghost  had  told  him,  spoke  to 
her  so  violently  that  she  screamed  for 
help.  A  noise  behind  a  curtain  followed 
her  cries,  and  Hamlet,  suspecting  that 
Claudius  was  eavesdropping,  plunged 
his  sword  through  the  curtain,  killing  old 
Polonius.  Fearing  an  attack  on  his  own 
life,  the  king  hastily  ordered  Hamlet  to 
England  in  company  with  Rosencrantz 


349 


and  Guildenstem,  who  carried  a  warrant 
for  Hamlet's  death.  But  the  prince  dis 
covered  the  orders  and  altered  them  so 
that  the  bearers  should  be  killed  on  their 
arrival  in  England.  Hamlet  then  re 
turned  to  Denmark. 

Much  had  happened  in  that  unhappy 
land  during  Hamlet's  absence.  Because 
Ophelia  had  been  rejected  by  her  former 
lover,  she  went  mad  and  later  drowned, 
Laertes,  Polonius'  hot-tempered  son,  re 
turned  from  France  and  collected  a  band 
of  malcontents  to  avenge  the  death  of 
his  father.  He  thought  that  Claudius  had 
killed  Polonius,  but  the  king  told  him 
that  Hamlet  was  the  murderer  and  even 
persuaded  Laertes  to  take  part  in  a  plot 
to  murder  the  prince. 

Claudius  arranged  for  a  duel  between 
Hamlet  and  Laertes.  To  allay  suspicion 
of  foul  play,  the  king  placed  bets  on 


Hamlet,  who  was  an  expert  swordsman. 
At  the  same  time,  he  had  poison  placed 
on  the  tip  of  Laertes'  weapon  and  put 
a  cup  of  poison  within  Hamlet's  reach 
in  the  event  that  the  prince  became 
thirsty  during  the  duel.  Unfortunately, 
Gertrude,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  king's 
treachery,  drank  from  the  poisoned  cup 
and  died.  During  the  contest,  Hamlet 
was  mortally  wounded  with  the  poisoned 
rapier,  but  the  two  contestants  exchanged 
foils  in  a  scufHe,  and  Laertes  himself  re 
ceived  a  fatal  wound.  Before  he  died, 
Laertes  was  filled  with  remorse  and  told 
Hamlet  that  Claudius  was  responsible 
for  the  poisoned  sword.  Hesitating  no 
longer,  Hamlet  seized  his  opportunity  to 
act,  and  fatally  stabbed  the  Icing.  Then 
the  prince  himself  died.  But  the  ghost 
was  avenged. 


A  HANDFUL  OF  DUST 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Evelyn  Waugli  ( 1903-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1934 

Principal  characters: 

TONY  LAST,  owner  of  Hetton  Abbey 

BRJENDA  LAST,  his  wife 

JOHN,  their  son 

MRS.  BEAVER,  an  interior  decorator 

JOHN  BEAVER,  her  son 

JOCK  GRANT-MENZIES,  Tony's  friend 

DR.  MESSINGER,  an  explorer 

TODD,  a  half-caste  tracter  who  loved  Dickens 

Critique. 

This  novel,  which  portrays  the  decline 
of  the  English  landed  aristocracy,  is  full 
of  foolish  people  who  find  their  lives  to 
be  no  more  than  "a  handful  of  dust/' 
The  contrasts  between  the  Gothic  mag 
nificence  of  Hetton  Abbey,  the  lives  of 
Brenda  and  Tony,  and  the  aspirations  of 
the  successors  to  Tony's  property,  are  ef 
fective  instruments  for  bringing  out  the 
meaning  of  the  story.  The  author  writes 


finished   dialogue;   the  narrative   moves 
smoothly  from  beginning  to  end. 

The  Story: 

John  Beaver  lived  in  London  with  his 
mother,  an  interior  decorator,  Beaver  was 
a  worthless  young  man  of  twenty-five 
who  moved  in  the  social  circles  of  his 
mother's  wealthy  customers.  I  le  was  not 
well  liked,  but  he  was  often  invited  to 


A  HANDFUL  OF  DUST  by  Evelyn  Waugh.    By  permission  of  the  author,  of  Brandt  &  Brandt,  and  the  pd> 
Ushers,  Little,  Brown  &  Co.    Copyright,  1934,  by  Evelyn  Waugh. 


350 


parties  and  weekends  to  fill  a  space  made 
vacant  at  the  last  moment. 

One  weekend  Beaver  was  invited  to 
Hetton  Abbey  by  its  young  owner,  Tony 
Last.  Tony  lived  in  the  old  Gothic  abbey 
with  his  wife,  Brenda,  and  his  young  son, 
John.  It  was  Tony's  dream  that  some  day 
he  would  restore  his  mansion  to  its  former 
feudal  glory.  Brenda  was  bored  with  her 
husband's  attachment  to  the  past,  how 
ever;  she  found  relief  in  her  weekly  trips 
to  London. 

Beaver's  stay  at  Hetton  Abbey  was 
rather  dull,  but  Brenda  liked  him  and  did 
her  best  to  entertain  him.  On  her  next 
trip  to  London  she  saw  him  again  and 
asked  him  to  take  her  to  a  party.  At  first 
Beaver  seemed  reluctant;  then  he  agreed 
to  escort  her. 

Beaver  and  Brenda  left  the  party  early, 
creating  some  idle  gossip.  In  a  way,  the 
gossipers  were  correct,  for  Brenda  had 
definitely  decided  to  have  an  affair  with 
Beaver.  She  returned  home  to  the  un 
suspecting  Tony  and  told  him  that  she 
was  bored  with  life  in  the  country.  She 
said  that  she  wanted  to  take  some  courses 
in  economics  at  the  university  in  London. 
Tony,  feeling  sorry  for  her,  allowed  her  to 
rent  a  one-room  flat  in  a  building  owned 
by  Mrs.  Beaver.  Brenda  moved  to  Lon 
don  and  returned  to  Hetton  Abbey  only 
on  weekends. 

One  day,  when  Tony  went  to  London 
on  impulse,  he  found  that  his  wife  al 
ready  had  engagements.  He  was  forced 
to  spend  the  evening  getting  drunk  with 
his  bachelor  friend,  Jock  Grant-Menzies. 

Tony's  escapade  bothered  his  con 
science  so  much  that  when  Brenda  re 
turned  for  the  weekend  she  was  able  to 
persuade  him  to  let  Mrs.  Beaver  re 
decorate  in  modern  style  one  of  the  rooms 
of  the  old  house. 

Brenda 's  conscience  bothered  her  also. 
She  tried  to  interest  Tony  in  a  girl  she 
brought  down  for  a  weekend,  but  it  was 
no  use.  He  only  wanted  to  have  his  wife 
back  home.  However,  he  still  trusted  her 
and  suspected  nothing  of  her  intrigue  in 
London. 


Things  might  have  gone  on  that  way 
indefinitely  if  young  John  Last  had  not 
been  killed  by  a  horse  while  he  was  fox 
hunting.  Tony  sent  Jock  up  to  London 
to  break  the  news  to  Brenda.  At  first 
Brenda  thought  that  Jock  was  speaking 
of  John  Beaver's  death,  for  he  was  out  of 
town.  When  she  learned  the  truth,  she 
was  relieved,  realizing  for  the  first  time 
how  much  she  cared  for  Beaver. 

With  young  John  dead,  she  felt  that 
nothing  held  her  to  Tony  any  longer. 
She  wrote,  telling  him  everything,  and 
asked  for  a  divorce.  Stunned,  Tony  could 
not  believe  that  Brenda  had  been  false 
to  him.  At  last  he  consented  to  spend  a 
weekend  at  Brighton  with  another  woman 
to  give  her  grounds  for  divorce. 

Brenda's  family  was  against  the  divorce 
and  attempted  to  prevent  it.  Then,  when 
they  saw  that  the  divorce  would  go 
through,  they  tried  to  force  Tony  to  give 
Brenda  more  alimony  than  he  had 
planned.  He  refused,  for  he  could  raise 
more  money  only  by  selling  Hetton 
Abbey.  The  proposal  angered  him  so 
much  that  he  changed  his  mind  about  the 
divorce.  He  would  not  set  Brenda  free. 

Tony,  wishing  to  get  away  from 
familiar  faces,  accompanied  an  explorer, 
Dr.  Messinger,  on  an  expedition  to  find 
a  lost  city  in  the  South  American  jungles. 
During  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic 
Tony  had  a  short  affair  with  a  young 
French  girl  from  Trinidad.  But  when 
she  learned  that  he  was  married  she 
would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  him. 

Once  the  explorers  had  left  civilization 
behind  them,  Tony  found  himself  think 
ing  of  what  was  going  on  in  London.  He 
did  not  enjoy  jungle  life  at  all;  insect 
bites,  vermin,  and  vampire  bats  made 
sleep  almost  impossible. 

When  Negro  boatmen  had  taken  Tony 
and  Dr.  Messinger  far  up  the  Demarara 
River,  they  left  the  explorers  in  the  hands 
of  Indian  guides.  Then  the  expedition 
struck  out  into  unmapped  territory. 

Meanwhile,  back  in  London,  Brenda 
no  longer  found  Beaver  an  ardent  lover. 
He  had  counted  strongly  on  getting  a 


351 


considerable  amount  of  money  when  he 
married  Brenda;  now  Brenda  could  get 
neither  the  money  nor  a  divorce. 

Brenda  began  to  grow  desperate  for 
money.  She  asked  Mrs.  Beaver  for  a  job, 
but  Mrs,  Beaver  thought  that  it  would 
not  look  well  for  her  to  employ  Brenda. 
A  short  time  later  Beaver  decided  to  ac 
company  his  mother  on  a  trip  to  Cali 
fornia. 

At  last  Tony  and  Dr.  Messinger  came 
to  a  river  they  believed  must  flow  into 
the  Amazon,  and  they  ordered  the  Indians 
to  build  canoes.  The  Indians  obeyed,  but 
they  refused  to  venture  down  the  river. 
There  was  nothing  for  the  white  men  to 
do  but  to  continue  the  journey  without 
guides.  Soon  after  they  set  out  Tony 
came  down  with  fever.  Dr.  Messinger 
left  him  on  shore  and  went  on  alone  to 
find  help,  but  the  explorer  drowned  when 
his  boat  capsized.  Tony  in  his  delirium 
struggled  through  the  jungle  and  came 
by  chance  to  the  hut  of  a  trader  named 
Todd,  who  nursed  him  back  to  health 
but  kept  him  a  prisoner.  Tony  was  forced 
to  read  the  novels  of  Dickens  aloud  to  his 
captor.  When  some  Englishmen  came  in 


search  of  Tony,  the  trader  made  them  be 
lieve  his  captive  had  died  of  fever.  Tony 
faced  lifelong  captivity  to  be  spent  read 
ing  over  and  over  Dickens'  novels  to  the 
illiterate  half-caste,  for  no  white  man 
could  travel  in  the  jungle  without  native 
help. 

Beaver  left  for  California.  Brenda 
knew  that  their  affair  was  over.  No 
news  came  from  Tony  in  South  America. 
Without  his  permission,  Brenda  could  not 
draw  upon  the  family  funds. 

Then  Tony  was  officially  declared 
dead,  and  Hetton  Abbey  became  the 
property  of  another  branch  of  the  Last 
family.  The  new  owner  of  Hetton  Abbey 
bred  silver  fox.  Although  he  had  even 
fewer  servants  than  his  predecessor  and 
had  shut  off  most  of  the  house,  he  still 
dreamed  that  some  day  Hetton  Abbey 
would  again  be  as  glorious  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Cousin  Tony. 

He  erected  a  memorial  to  Tony  at 
Hetton  Abbey,  but  Brenda  was  unable  to 
attend  its  dedication.  She  was  engaged 
elsewhere  with  her  new  husband,  Jock 
Grant-Menzies, 


HANDLEY  CROSS 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author;   Robert  Smith  Surtees  (1803-1864) 
Type  of  plot;    Humorous  satire 
Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 
Locale:   England 

First  published:    1843;  enlarged  1854 
Principal  characters: 

JOHN  JORROCKS,  a  wealthy  grocer 

MRS.  JORROCKS,  his  wife 

BELINDA,  his  niece 

PIGG,  his  huntsman 

CAPTAIN  DOLEFUL,  a  master  of  ceremonies 

Critique: 

Hundley  Cross  is  a  fairly  typical  ex- 
imple  of  nineteenth-century  English 
sporting  tales.  The  novel  contains  little 
plot  and  little  attempt  at  dramatic  moti 
vation,  but  to  an  enthusiastic  fox  hunter 
Handley  Cross  is  fascinating  because  of 
its  gusty  hunting  tales  and  the  single- 
minded  devotion  of  its  characters  to  the 


sport.  Jorrocks,  appearing  in  a  number 
of  Surtees'  works,  is  clear  to  devotees  of 
the  hard-riding,  hard-drinking  sporting 
set. 

The  Story; 

For  years  Michael   Hardy  had  been 
the  leader   of   the  hunt  in  Sheepwash 


352 


Vale.  While  he  did  not  pay  quite  all 
the  expenses  of  the  sport,  his  personality 
and  vigor  kept  fox  hunting  popular  in  the 
district.  Michael  was  one  of  the  old 
school;  his  hounds  were  unkenneled  and 
boarded  here  and  there,  and  the  horses 
were  mostly  pickups.  At  his  death  it 
seemed  that  fox  hunting  could  no  longer 
be  accounted  an  attraction  in  the  coun- 

*y- 

There  were  some  other  difficulties. 
The  village  of  Handley  Cross  was  rapidly 
growing.  Having  discovered  by  chance 
the  curative  values  of  the  local  spring, 
a  reprobate  physician  named  Swizzle  had 
set  up  as  a  spa  doctor,  and  in  a  few 
years  Handley  Cross  became  a  fashion 
able  watering  place.  Swizzle  was  a  per 
fect  doctor  for  many  people.  He  in 
variably  prescribed  game  pie  and  rare 
beef  for  his  patients,  and  advised  two 
quarts  of  port  wine  at  dinner.  He  be 
came  a  familiar  sight  in  the  village,  as 
he  buttonholed  his  patients  on  the  street 
and  inspected  their  coated  tongues  and 
gouty  joints.  With  this  new  fame  as 
a  health  resort  hotels  and  souvenir  stands 
sprang  up  to  bring  life  to  the  sleepy  vil 
lage. 

But  there  is  no  good  proposition  with 
out  competition.  Another  shady  practi 
tioner,  a  sanctimonious  doctor  named 
Mello,  moved  in.  He  bought  land  with 
a  small  spring  on  it,  poured  epsom  salts 
in  the  water  every  night,  and  set  up  a 
rival  establishment.  In  no  time  the  town 
was  divided  into  Melloites  and  Swizzle- 
ites.  The  important  change,  however, 
was  in  the  social  life  of  Handley  Cross. 

Captain  Doleful,  a  lean,  hypocritical 
half-pay  captain,  appointed  himself  mas 
ter  of  ceremonies  for  the  town.  With 
the  help  of  august  Mrs.  Barnington,  the 
social  arbiter  of  the  fashionable  set,  balls 
and  teas  soon  became  popular  and  social 
eminence  became  the  goal  of  the  visiting 
gentry. 

In  a  resort  so  fashionable  it  was  un 
thinkable  not  to  have  a  hunt  club.  Cap 
tain  Doleful  and  some  other  worthies 
attempted  to  carry  on  after  Michael 


Hardy  died,  but  their  efforts  were  unsuc 
cessful.  For  one  thing,  the  leaders  of 
the  hunt  rode  in  gigs,  conveyances  un 
thinkable  in  Hardy's  day.  In  addition, 
the  townspeople  were  too  poor  or  too 
parsimonious  to  hire  a  whipper-in  and 
a  huntsman.  Worst  of  all,  subscribers 
to  the  hunt  were  often  slow  in  paying; 
soon  there  were  not  enough  funds  to 
pay  for  damage  done  to  crops  and  fences. 

The  fashionables  decided  that  the 
only  solution  was  a  real  master  of  the 
hunt,  one  not  too  elegant  for  a  small 
spa  but  rich  enough  to  pay  the  difference 
between  subscriptions  and  expenses.  A 
committee  headed  by  Captain  Doleful 
and  the  secretary  Fleeceall  decided  to 
invite  John  Jorrocks,  whose  fame  had 
spread  far,  to  become  master  of  the  hunt. 
Accordingly  a  letter  was  sent,  and  the 
negotiations  were  soon  brought  to  a 
conclusion,  for  Jorrocks  was  an  easy 
victim. 

After  a  life  devoted  to  selling  tea  and 
other  groceries,  Jorrocks  was  a  wealthy 
man.  He  had  turned  to  hunting  as  a 
hobby,  and  in  spite  of  his  Cockney  ac 
cent  and  ample  girth,  he  was  soon  ac 
cepted  in  the  field.  Although  he  had  the 
bad  habit  of  selling  cases  of  groceries  to 
his  fellow  huntsmen,  in  Surrey  Jorrocks 
soon  became  a  fixture  among  the  sport 
ing  set.  Now,  he  was  to  be  master  in 
his  own  right.  Captain  Doleful  secured 
a  lodge  for  him,  and  the  date  was  set 
for  his  arrival  in  Handley  Cross. 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  four-piece 
band  turned  out  and  the  whole  town 
assembled  at  the  station.  Several  of 
the  villagers  carried  banners  bearing  the 
legend  "Jorrocks  Forever."  When  the 
train  pulled  in,  Captain  Doleful  looked 
through  the  first-class  section  but  found 
no  Jorrocks.  The  second-class  carriages 
produced  no  Jorrocks.  Finally,  on  a  flat 
car  at  the  end  of  the  train,  he  found 
Jorrocks  and  his  family  snugly  sitting 
in  their  own  coach  with  the  horses  al 
ready  hitched.  Loud  were  the  cheers  as 
the  new  hunt  master  drove  through  the 
streets  of  Handley  Cross. 


353 


Jorrocks  was  soon  installed  in  his  new 
lodging  with  Mrs.  Jorrocks  and  Belinda, 
his  pretty  niece.  Belinda  added  greatly 
to  JorrocFs  popularity. 

The  new  hunt  master  looked  over  his 
kennels  and  the  few  broken-down  hacks 
in  the  stable.  Besides  building  up  both 
the  pack  and  the  stud,  he  had  to  have  a 
real  huntsman.  He  finally  hired  Pigg, 
chiefly  because  his  skinny  shanks  and 
avowed  delicate  appetite  outweighed  his 
speech  of  such  broad  Scots  that  few 
could  understand  what  he  said.  Jor 
rocks  was  quickly  disillusioned  about  his 
new  huntsman.  When  Pigg  ate  his  first 
meal  in  the  kitchen,  there  was  a  great 
uproar.  Hurrying  in,  Jorrocks  found 
Pigg  greedily  eating  the  whole  supper 
joint  and  holding  the  other  servants  at 
bay.  And  Pigg  could  drink  more  ale 
and  brandy  than  Jorrocks  himself. 

Many  were  the  fine  hunts  that  winter. 
Because  Pigg  was  skillful  and  Jorrocks 
persistent,  the  collection  of  brushes  grew 
fast.  One  night  Jorrocks  was  far  from 
home,  separated  from  his  trusty  Pigg  and 
the  pack,  and  caught  in  a  downpour  of 
rain.  He  turned  into  the  first  gate  he 
saw  and  knocked.  An  efficient  groom  took 
his  horse  and  two  flunkies  politely  con 
ducted  the  dripping  Jorrocks  to  his 
room.  On  the  bed  were  dry  clothes,  in 
the  small  tub  was  hot  water,  and  on  the 
table  was  a  bottle  of  brandy.  Jorrocks 
peeled  off  his  clothes  and  settled  into 
the  rub.  He  had  just  started  on  his 
third  glass  of  brandy  when  some  one 
knocked.  Jorrocks  ignored  the  noise  for 
a  while  but  the  knocker  was  insistent. 

At  last  a  determined  voice  from  the 
hall  demanded  his  clothes.  Jorrocks 
quickly  got  out  of  the  tub,  put  on  the 
clothes  which  did  not  fit,  and  took  a 
firm,  possessive  grip  on  the  brandy  bot 
tle.  Then  he  shouted  forcefully  that  he 
would  keep  the  clothes. 

When  Jorrocks  came  down  to  dinner, 
he  was  surprised  to  be  told  that  he  was 
in  Ongar  Castle.  His  unwilling  host  was 


servants 
an    invited 


the  Earl  of  Bramber,  whose 
had  mistaken  Jorrocks  for 
guest  and  by  mistake  had  put  him  in  the 
room  of  a  captain.  Jorrocks  looked  at  the 
angry  captain,  who  was  wearing  an  out 
fit  of  his  host.  Only  Jorrocks'  Cockney 
impudence  could  have  brazened  out  such 
a  situation. 

At  last  the  company  sat  down  to  din 
ner.  As  usual,  Jorrocks  drank  too  much, 
and  while  giving  a  rousing  toast  to  fox 
hunting  he  fell  fast  asleep  on  the  floor 
He  awoke  immersed  in  water.  Calling 
lustily  for  help,  he  struck  out  for  the 
shore.  When  a  flunky  brought  a  candle, 
he  saw  that  he  had  been  put  to  bed  in 
the  bathhouse  and  that  while  walking 
in  his  sleep  he  had  fallen  into  the  small 
pool.  But  Jorrocks  was  irrepressible;  in 
the  morning  he  parted  from  the  earl  on 
good  terms, 

After  a  hard-riding  winter,  spring 
finally  spoiled  the  hunting  and  the  Jor 
rocks  family  left  for  London.  Pigg 
stayed  in  Handley  Cross  to  dispose  of  the 
dogs  and  horses.  Captain  Doleful  bought 
Jorrocks'  own  mount  for  twenty-five 
pounds.  When  the  horse  became  sick 
and  died  soon  afterward,  parsimonious 
Doleful  sued  Jorrocks  for  the  purchase 
price.  The  court  decided  in  favor  of  Jor 
rocks,  holding  that  no  one  can  warrant  a 
horse  to  stay  sound  in  wind  and  limb. 

Jorrocks'  business  associates  looked  on 
his  hunting  capers  as  a  tinge  of  mad 
ness.  That  fall  Jorrocks  was  heard  to 
exclaim  in  delight  at  the  sight  of  a 
frostbitten  dahlia;  it  would  soon  be  fox 
hunting  time.  But  at  last  Jorrocks  was 
committed  by  a  lunacy  commission  for 
falling  victim  to  the  fox  hunting  mad 
ness.  In  vain  Jorrocks  sputtered  and 
protested;  his  vehemence  only  added  to 
the  charge  against  him.  Poor,  fat  Jorrocks 
spent  some  time  in  an  asylum  before  an 
understanding  chancellor  freed  him. 
Luckily  he  regained  his  freedom  before 
the  hunting  season  was  too  far  gone. 


354 


THE  HEART  OF  MIDLOTHIAN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Scotland 

First  published:  1818 

Principal  characters: 

DAVID  DEANS,  a  dairyman 

JEANIE  DEANS,  his  daughter 

EFFIE  DEANS,  another  daughter 

REUBEN  BUTLER,  Jeanie's  betrothed 

GEORDIE  ROBERTSON,  Effie's  betrayer,  in  reality  George  Staunton 

MEG  MURDOCKSON,  an  evil  woman 

THE  DUKE  OF  ARGYLE,  Jeanie's  benefactor 

Critique: 

The  story  of  Jeanie  Deans  and  her 
great  effort  to  save  her  sister's  life  is 
supposedly  based  on  fact.  Fact  or  fiction, 
it  is  an  exciting  story,  told  as  only  Sir 
Walter  Scott  could  tell  it.  The  Heart  of 
Midlothian  is  filled  with  suspense, 
mystery,  and  romance,  and  there  is  a 
happy  ending.  Many  consider  this  Scott's 
greatest  novel. 


The  Story: 

The  first  knowledge  Jeanie  Deans  had 
that  her  sister  EfKe  was  in  trouble  came 
just  a  few  moments  before  officers  of 
justice  arrived  at  the  cottage  to  arrest 
Effie  for  child  murder.  They  told  Jeanie 
and  her  father,  David  Deans,  that  Effie 
had  borne  a  male  child  illegitimately  and 
had  killed  him  or  caused  him  to  be  killed 
soon  after  he  was  bom.  Effie  admitted 
the  birth  of  the  child  but  refused  to  name 
her  seducer.  She  denied  that  she  had 
killed  her  baby,  saying  that  she  had  fallen 
into  a  stupor  and  had  recovered  to  find 
that  the  midwife  who  attended  her  had 
disposed  of  the  child  in  some  fashion 
unknown  to  Effie.  In  the  face  of  the 
evidence,  however,  she  was  convicted  of 
child  murder  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
Jeanie  might  have  saved  her  sister,  for  it 
was  the  law  that  if  a  prospective  mother 
had  told  anyone  of  her  condition  she 
would  not  be  responsible  for  her  baby's 
death.  But  Jeanie  would  not  lie,  even  to 


save  her  sister's  life.  Since  there  was  no 
one  to  whom  Effie  had  told  her  terrible 
secret,  there  was  no  defense  for  her,  and 
she  was  placed  in  the  Tolbooth  prison  to 
await  execution. 

Another  prisoner  in  the  Tolbooth  was 
Captain  John  Porteous,  who  was  awaiting 
execution  for  firing  into  the  crowd  attend 
ing  the  hanging  of  Andrew  Wilson,  a 
smuggler.  Wilson's  accomplice,  Geordie 
Robertson,  had  escaped,  and  the  officers 
feared  that  Robertson  might  try  to  rescue 
Wilson.  For  that  reason,  Porteous  and  a 
company  of  soldiers  had  been  sent  to  the 
scene  of  the  execution  to  guard  against  a 
possible  rescue.  Because  Porteous  had 
fired  into  the  crowd  without  provocation, 
killing  several  people,  he  was  to  be 
hanged.  But  when  his  execution  was 
stayed  for  a  few  weeks,  a  mob  headed  by 
Robertson,  disguised  as  a  woman,  broke 
into  the  prison,  seized  Porteous,  and 
hanged  him.  For  that  deed  Robertson 
became  a  hunted  man. 

Meanwhile  Jeanie  Deans,  who  had  re 
fused  to  lie  to  save  her  sister,  had  not  for 
saken  Effie.  When  she  visited  Effie  in 
prison,  she  learned  that  Robertson  was 
the  father  of  her  child.  He  had  left  her 
in  the  care  of  old  Meg  Murdockson,  con 
sidered  by  many  to  be  a  witch,  and  it 
must  have  been  Meg  who  had  killed  or 
sold  the  baby.  Meg's  daughter  Madge 
had  long  before  been  seduced  by  Robert- 


355 


son  and  had  lost  her  mind  for  love  of 
him,  and  Meg  had  sworn  revenge  on  any 
other  woman  Robertson  might  love.  But 
proving  the  old  woman's  guilt  or  Efne's 
innocence  was  not  possible,  for  Robert 
son  had  disappeared,  and  Meg  swore  that 
she  had  seen  Effie  coming  back  from  the 
river  after  drowning  the  baby. 

Jeanie,  determined  to  save  her  sister, 
decided  to  walk  to  London  to  seek  a 
pardon  from  the  king  and  queen.  She  told 
her  plans  to  Reuben  Butler,  a  minister 
to  whom  she  had  long  been  betrothed. 
Reuben  had  not  been  able  to  marry  her, 
for  he  had  no  position  other  than  that 
of  an  assistant  schoolmaster  and  his  salary 
was  too  small  to  support  a  wife.  Although 
he  objected  to  Jeanie's  plan,  he  was  able 
to  aid  her  when  he  saw  that  she  could 
not  be  swayed  from  her  purpose. 
Reuben's  grandfather  had  once  aided  an 
ancestor  of  the  present  Duke  of  Argyle, 
and  Reuben  gave  Jeanie  a  letter  asking 
the  duke's  help  in  presenting  Jeanie  to  the 
king  and  queen. 

The  journey  to  London  was  a  long 
and  dangerous  one.  Once  Jeanie  was 
captured  by  Meg  Murdockson,  who  tried 
to  kill  her  so  that  she  could  not  save 
Effie.  But  Jeanie  escaped  from  the  old 
woman  and  sought  refuge  in  the  home  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Staunton.  There  she  met 
the  minister's  son,  George  Staunton,  and 
learned  from  him  that  he  was  Geordie 
Robertson,  the  betrayer  of  her  sister.  He 
admitted  his  responsibility  to  Effie,  telling 
Jeanie  that  he  had  planned  and  executed 
the  Porteous  incident  in  order  to  rescue 
Effie  from  the  prison.  But  she  had  re 
fused  to  leave  with  him.  Pie  had  tried 
many  other  schemes  to  save  her,  including 
an  attempt  to  force  from  Meg  the  confes 
sion  that  she  had  taken  the  baby,  but 
everything  had  failed.  He  told  Jeanie 
that  he  had  been  on  his  way  to  give  him 
self  up  in  exchange  for  Effie's  release 
when  he  fell  from  his  horse  and  was  in 
jured.  He  told  Jeanie  to  bargain  with  the 
Duke  of  Argyle,  and  as  a  last  resort  to 
offer  to  lead  the  authorities  to  Robert 
son  in  exchange  for  Effie's  pardon. 


George  promised  not  to  leave  his  father's 
house  until  Effie  was  free. 

Jeanie  at  last  reached  London  and  pre 
sented  herself  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle  with 
Reuben's  letter.  The  duke,  impressed 
with  Jeanie's  sincerity  and  simplicity,  ar 
ranged  for  an  audience  with  the  queen. 
She  too  believed  Jeanie's  story  of  Effie's 
misfortune,  and  through  her  efforts  the 
king  pardoned  Effie,  with  the  stipulation 
that  she  leave  Scotland  for  fourteen 
years.  Jeanie  secured  the  pardon  with 
out  revealing  George  Staunton's  secret. 

The  duke  was  so  impressed  with 
Jeanie's  goodness  and  honesty  that  he 
made  her  father  the  master  of  an  ex 
perimental  farm  on  one  of  his  estates  in 
Scotland,  and  he  made  Reuben  the  min 
ister  of  the  church.  Jeanie's  heart  was 
overflowing  with  joy  until  she  learned 
that  Effie  had  eloped  with  her  lover  just 
three  nights  after  her  release  from  prison. 
No  one  knew  where  they  were,  as  the 
outlaw's  life  was  in  constant  danger  be 
cause  of  his  part  in  the  Porteous  hanging. 

Reuben  and  Jeanie  were  married  and 
were  blessed  with  three  fine  children. 
They  prospered  in  their  new  life,  and 
Jeanie's  only  sorrow  was  her  sister's 
marriage  to  George  Staunton.  She  kept 
Effie's  secret,  however,  telling  no  one  that 
George  was  actually  Robertson.  After 
several  years,  George  and  Effie  returned 
to  London,  George  having  inherited  a 
title  from  his  uncle,  and  as  Sir  George 
and  Lady  Staunton  they  were  received  in 
court  society.  Effie  wrote  secretly  to 
Jeanie  and  sent  her  large  sums  of  money 
which  Jeanie  put  away  without  telling 
her  husband  aoout  them.  Even  to  him 
she  could  not  reveal  Effie's  secret. 

By  chance  Jeanie  found  a  paper  con 
taining  the  last  confession  of  Meg  Mur 
dockson,  who  had  been  hanged  as  a 
witch.  In  it  Meg  confessed  that  she  had 
stolen  Effie's  baby  and  had  given  him  to 
an  outlaw.  Jeanie  sent  this  information 
to  Effie,  in  London,  and  before  long  E£Ee, 
as  Lady  Staunton,  paid  Jeanie  a  visit. 
Effie  had  used  a  pretext  of  ill  health  to 
go  to  Scotland  while  her  husband,  acting 


356 


on  the  information  in  Meg's  letter,  tried 
to  trace  the  whereabouts  of  their  son. 
Although  it  was  dangerous  for  George 
to  be  in  Scotland,  where  he  might  be 
recognized  as  Geordie  Robertson,  he 
followed  every  clue  given  in  Meg's  con 
fession.  In  Edinburgh  he  met  Reuben 
Butler,  who  was  there  on  business,  and 
secured  an  invitation  to  accompany 
Reuben  back  to  the  manse.  Reuben,  not 
knowing  George's  real  identity,  was  happy 
to  receive  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  friend. 
Reuben,  at  that  time,  did  not  know  that 
Effie  was  also  a  guest  in  his  home. 

As  Reuben  and  George  walked  toward 
the  manse,  they  passed  through  a  thicket 
where  they  were  attacked  by  outlaws. 
One,  a  young  fellow,  ran  his  sword 
through  George  and  killed  him.  It  was 
not  until  Reuben  had  heard  the  whole 
story  of  the  Stauntons  from  Jeanie  that 
he  searched  George's  pockets  and  found 
there  information  which  proved  beyond 
doubt  that  the  young  outlaw  who  had 


killed  George  was  his  own  son,  stolen 
many  years  before.  Because  Erne  was 
grief-stricken  by  George's  death,  Jeanie 
and  Reuben  thought  it  useless  to  add  to 
her  sorrow  by  revealing  the  identity  of  his 
assailant.  Reuben  later  traced  the  boy  to 
America,  where  the  young  man  continued 
his  life  of  crime  until  he  was  captured 
and  probably  killed  by  Indians. 

Effie  stayed  with  Reuben  and  Jeanie 
for  more  than  a  year.  Then  she  went 
back  to  London  and  the  brilliant  society 
she  had  known  there.  No  one  but  Jeanie 
and  Reuben  ever  knew  the  secret  of 
Effie  and  George.  After  ten  years,  Effie 
retired  to  a  convent  on  the  continent, 
where  she  spent  her  remaining  years 
grieving  for  her  husband  and  die  son 
she  had  never  known. 

Reuben  and  Jeanie  Butler,  who  had 
been  so  unavoidably  involved  in  sordid- 
ness  and  crime,  lived  out  their  lives 
happily  and  carried  their  secret  with  them 
to  the  grave. 


HEAVEN'S  MY  DESTINATION 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thornton  Wilder  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  1930-1931 

Locale:  Middle  West 

First  published;   1935 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  MARVIN  BRUSH,  a  traveling  salesman 

ROBERTA,  a  farmer's  daughter 

GEORGE  BURKIN,  a  peeping  Tom 

HERB,  a  newspaper  reporter 

ELIZABETH,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

In  George  Marvin  Brush,  Thornton 
Wilder  would  seem  to  have  synthesized 
the  American  character  with  its  many 
tragic  inconsistencies.  One  admires 
George  Brush  one  moment  and  detests 
him  as  a  prig  the  next.  The  irony  and  the 
deceptive  simplicity  of  Heaven's  My  Des 
tination  are  terrifying.  Although  George 
Brush  is  not  the  picaresque  hero-type, 
the  novel,  with  its  many  colorful  and 


unprincipled  characters  and  its  episodic 
form,  resembles  the  picaresque  genre. 


The  Story: 

George  Marvin  Brush,  a  straight-laced, 
clean-living  non-smoker  and  non-drinker 
of  twenty-three,  was  a  salesman  for  the 
Caulkins  Educational  Press;  his  territory 
was  the  Middle  West.  He  was  the  amuse 
ment  and  the  despair  of  all  the  traveling 


HEAVEN'S  MY  DESTINATION  by  Thornton  Wilder.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper 
&  Brother*.    Copyright,  1935,  by  Harper  and  Brothers. 


357 


salesmen  in  the  same  territory  who  knew 
him.  One  day  Doremus  Blodgett,  a 
hosiery  salesman,  caught  George  in  the 
act  of  penning  a  Bible  text  on  a  hotel 
blotter  and  invited  George  up  to  his  room 
to  chaff  him.  The  righteousness  of 
George  infuriated  Blodgett,  but  the 
hosiery  man  was  almost  reconciled  when 
George  admitted  to  him  that  he  had  once 
wronged  a  farmer's  daughter. 

At  another  time  George  withdrew  all 
his  savings  from  the  bank.  In  his  attempt 
to  explain  to  the  bank  president  his  plan 
of  voluntary  poverty,  he  insulted  that 
executive  by  saying  that  banks  owed  their 
existence  only  to  man's  fear  of  insecurity. 
Being  thought  rnad,  George  was  jailed, 
but  his  ingenuousness  confounded  even 
his  jailers.  One  of  them,  after  hearing 
George  propound  his  theories,  withdrew 
his  own  savings  from  the  bank. 

In  Oklahoma  City  George  again  saw 
Blodgett  and  his  "cousin,"  Mrs.  Margie 
McCoy.  There  he  talked  of  the  injustice 
of  his  receiving  raises  in  pay,  to  the  utter 
confusion  of  Blodgett  and  Mrs.  McCoy. 
He  told  them  that  he  had  gone  through 
college  and  had  had  a  religious  conversion 
in  order  to  be  of  an  independent  mind. 
All  he  wanted,  he  said,  was  a  perfect  girl 
for  his  wife,  six  children,  and  a  real 
American  home.  He  confessed  that  he 
was  hindered  in  his  quest  for  these  ideals 
by  his  having  wronged  a  Kansas  farm 
girl,  one  Roberta,  whose  farm  home  he 
had  been  unable  to  find  since  he  had 
left  it. 

George  went  from  Oklahoma  City  to 
the  Chautauqua  at  Camp  Morgan,  Okla 
homa,  to  see  Judge  Corey,  a  state  legisla 
tor  who  was  interested  in  textbook  con 
tracts.  There  he  was  shocked  by  Jessie, 
a  college  girl  who  believed  in  evolution; 
he  pestered  a  distraught  businessman  who 
wanted  to  be  left  alone;  and  he  turned 
down  Judge  Corey's  offer  of  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars  and  a  state  job  if  he 
would  marry  the  judge's  daughter,  Mis 
sissippi. 

From  Camp  Morgan  George  went  to 
Kansas  City,  where  he  stayed  in  Queenie's 


boarding-house  with  his  four  wild  friends, 
Herb  and  Morrie,  reporters;  Bat,  a  motion 
picture  mechanic;  and  Louie,  a  hospital 
orderly.  Accord  lasted  between  the 
four  and  George  as  long  as  George  did 
not  preach  his  anti-tobacco  and  anti- 
alcohol  creeds.  They,  in  turn,  restrained 
their  actions  and  their  speech  in  his 
presence.  Three  of  them  and  George, 
who  had  a  beautiful  voice,  formed  an 
expert  barbershop  quartet.  In  Kansas 
City  George  became  the  victim  of  an 
elaborate  practical  joke  arranged  by  his 
friends.  After  they  had  tricked  him  into 
drunkenness,  the  five  went  on  a  rampage. 
The  second  step  in  their  plan  to  lead 
George  to  perdition  came  when  Herb 
tricked  George  into  going  to  dinner  one 
Sunday  at  a  brothel.  Herb  represented 
the  house  to  George  as  an  old  mansion, 
its  proprietor,  Mrs.  Crofut,  as  a  pillar  of 
Kansas  City  society,  and  the  troop  of 
prostitutes  as  her  daughters.  George, 
completely  duped,  was  impressed  by  the 
graciousness  of  Mrs.  Crofut  and  by  the 
beauty  of  her  daughters.  He  treated  the 
girls  to  a  neighborhood  movie. 

Back  at  Queenie's,  George  would  not 
believe  Herb  when  his  friend  told  him 
the  truth  about  Mrs,  Crofut's  genteel 
establishment.  Irritated  by  George's  prig- 
gishncss  and  stupidity,  his  four  friends 
beat  him  nearly  to  death.  Later,  ;it  the 
hospital,  Louie  told  George  that  he  ought 
to  live  and  let  live. 

Out  of  the  hospital,  George  continued 
his  book  selling.  On  a  train  he  met  an 
evangelist  who  said  that  money  did  not 
matter;  however,  George  gave  the  man 
money  when  he  learned  that  the  man's 
family  was  destitute.  In  Fort  Worth 
George  exasperated  a  bawdy  house  pro 
prietor  posing  as  a  medium,  by  telling 
her  that  she  was  a  fake. 

Having  learned  that  Roberta  had  taken 
a  job  as  a  waitress  in  Kansas  City,  George 
went  there  and  forced  himself  upon  the 
girl,  who  wanted  nothing  to  do  with 
him.  He  adopted  Elizabeth,  the  daughter 
of  his  friend  Herb,  who  died  with  few 
illusions  about  life. 


358 


In  Ozarkville,  Missouri,  George  an 
gered  a  father  when  he  talked  to  the 
man's  young  daughter  in  the  street.  Then 
he  went  to  a  country  store  to  buy  a  doll 
for  the  girl  and  became  involved  in  a 
hold-up.  Carrying  out  one  of  his  strange 
theories,  he  assisted  the  amazed  burglar. 
The  storekeeper,  Mrs.  Efrim,  thought  that 
George  was  out  of  his  mind.  Arrested, 
he  was  put  in  jail,  where  he  met  George 
Burkin,  a  movie  director  who  had  been 
arrested  as  a  peeping  Tom.  Burkin  ex 
plained  to  George  that  he  peeped  only 
to  observe  unself-conscious  human  be 
havior. 

George's  trial  was  a  sensation  in  Ozark 
ville.  The  little  girl  and  Mrs.  Efrim  lied 
in  their  testimony,  and  George  attempted 
to  explain  his  theories  of  life  to  a  con 
founded  court.  When  he  explained  what 
he  called  ahimsa,  or  the  theory  of  re 
acting  to  every  situation  in  a  manner  that 
was  the  exact  opposite  from  what  was 
expected,  the  bewildered  judge  released 
him,  telling  him  to  be  cautious,  however, 
because  people  were  afraid  of  ideas. 

After  George  and  Burkin  had  left 
Ozarkville  in  Burkin's  car,  they  picked 
up  a  hitchhiker  who  turned  out  to  be  the 
burglar  whom  George  had  tried  to  help. 
George  attempted  to  work  his  radical 
theory  for  the  treatment  of  criminals  on 
the  burglar,  but  the  man  only  fled  in  con 
fused  anger.  George  and  Burkin  argued 
about  George's  theories,  Burkin  saying 
that  George  had  never  really  grown  up, 
and  George  claiming  that  Burkin  had 


thought  too  much   and  had  not  lived 
enough. 

Back  in  Kansas  City,  George  met 
Roberta  and  her  sister  Lottie  for  the  pur 
pose  of  reaching  a  decision  in  his  relation 
ship  with  Roberta.  Lottie  suggested  that 
the  couple  marry  and  get  a  divorce  as 
soon  as  possible,  so  that  Roberta  could 
be  accepted  again  by  her  family.  George, 
however,  could  not  countenance  divorce. 
Being  finally  persuaded,  Roberta  married 
George  and  the  couple  moved  into  a  flat 
over  a  drug  store.  But  their  married  life 
grew  more  and  more  trying.  George 
found  himself  taking  notes  for  topics 
that  he  and  Roberta  could  safely  discuss. 
They  competed  for  Elizabeth's  affections. 
At  last  Roberta  decided  to  leave  George 
and  return  to  the  farm. 

George,  unhappy,  continued  to  sell 
books.  He  lost  his  faith  and  began  to 
lead  what  many  people  would  call  a 
normal  life.  At  length  he  fell  sick  and 
was  hospitalized.  In  the  hospital  he  ad 
mitted  to  a  Methodist  pastor  that  he  had 
broken  all  but  two  of  the  ten  command 
ments  but  that  he  was  glad  he  had  broken 
them.  He  shocked  the  pastor  by  saying 
that  one  cannot  get  better  and  better. 
While  in  the  hospital  he  received  a  spoon 
which  had  been  willed  to  him  by  a  man 
whom  he  had  never  met  but  whom  he 
had  admired  reciprocally  through  a 
mutual  friend.  He  recovered,  left  the 
hospital,  and  reverted  to  his  old  ways. 
George  Brush  was  incurable. 


HEDDA  GABLER 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Henrik  Ibsen  (1828-1906) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

First  presented:  1 890 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  TESMAN,  a  scholar 

HEDDA  TESMAN,  his  wife 

Miss  JULIANA  TESMAN,  his  aunt 

MRS.  ELVSTED,  Hedda's  old  schoolmate 

JUDGE  BRACK,  a  friend  of  the  Tesmans 

EILERT  LOVBERG,  Hedda's  former  suitor 

359 


Critique: 

Hedda  Gabler  has  in  it  most  of  the  ele 
ments  of  good  theater  which  Ibsen  pains 
takingly  learned  from  the  popular  French 
playwrights  of  the  last  half  of  the  nine 
teenth  century.  In  Hedda,  he  created  a 
woman  with  hardly  one  redeeming  vir 
tue.  She  is  spiritually  as  empty  as  she 
assumes  her  environment  to  be.  Nearly 
every  great  actress  of  the  last  half-century 
has  played  Hedda  and  audiences  have  al 
ways  been  attracted  to  her  powerful  but 
ruthless  personality. 

The  Story: 

When  aristocratic  Hedda  Gabler, 
daughter  of  the  late  General  Gabler,  con 
sented  to  marry  Doctor  George  Tesman, 
everyone  in  Hedda's  set  was  surprised 
and  a  little  shocked.  Although  George 
was  a  rising  young  scholar  soon  to  be 
made  a  professor  in  the  university,  he 
was  hardly  considered  the  type  of  person 
Hedda  would  marry.  Pie  was  dull  and 
prosaic,  absorbed  almost  exclusively  in 
his  dusty  tomes  and  manuscripts,  while 
Hedda  was  the  beautiful,  spoiled  darling 
of  her  father  and  of  all  the  other  men 
who  had  flocked  around  her.  But  Hedda 
was  now  twenty-nine,  and  George  was 
the  only  one  or  her  admirers  who  was 
willing  to  offer  her  marriage  and  a  villa 
which  had  belonged  to  the  widow  of  a 
cabinet  minister. 

The  villa  was  somewhat  beyond 
George's  means,  but  with  the  prospect 
of  a  professorship  and  with  his  Aunt 
Juliana's  help,  he  managed  to  secure  it 
because  it  was  what  Hedda  wanted. 
He  arranged  a  long  wedding  tour  lasting 
nearly  six  months  because  Hedda  wished 
that  also.  On  their  honeymoon  George 
spent  most  of  his  time  delving  into 
libraries  for  material  on  his  special  field, 
the  history  of  civilization,  Hedda  was 
bored.  She  returned  to  the  villa  hating 
George.  Then  it  began  to  look  as  if 
George  might  not  get  die  professorship, 
in  which  case  Hedda  would  have  to 
forego  her  footman  and  saddlehorse  and 


HEDDA  GABLER  by  Henrik  Ibsen,   Publi$hed  by  Charles  Scribner'i  Scmu. 


some  of  the  other  luxuries  she  craved. 
George's  rival  for  the  post  was  Eilert  Lov- 
berg,  a  brilliant  but  erratic  genius  who 
had  written  a  book,  acclaimed  a  master 
piece,  in  George's  own  field.  Hedda's 
boredom  and  disgust  with  her  situation 
was  complete.  She  found  her  only  ex 
citement  in  practicing  with  the  brace  of 
pistols  which  had  belonged  to  General 
Gabler,  the  only  legacy  her  father  had 
left  her. 

George  discovered  that  Eilert  had 
written  another  book,  more  brilliant  and 
important  than  the  last,  a  book  written 
with  the  help  and  inspiration  of  a  Mrs. 
Elvsted,  whose  devotion  to  the  erratic 
genius  had  reformed  him.  The  manu 
script  of  this  book  Lovberg  brought  with 
him  one  evening  to  the  Tesman  villa. 
Hedda  proceeded  to  make  the  most  of 
this  situation.  In  the  first  place,  Thea 
Elvsted  was  Hedda's  despised  schoolmate, 
and  her  husband's  former  sweetheart. 
The  fact  that  this  mouse-like  creature 
had  been  the  inspiration  for  the  success 
and  rehabilitation  of  Eilert  Lovberg  was 
more  than  Hedda  could  bear.  For  Eilert 
Lovberg  had  always  been  in  love  with 
Hedda,  and  she  knew  it.  In  the  distant 
past,  he  had  urged  her  to  throw  in  her 
lot  with  him  and  she  had  been  tempted 
to  do  so  but  had  refused  because  his 
future  had  been  uncertain.  Now  Hedda 
felt  a  pang  of  regret  mingled  with  anger 
that  another  woman  possessed  what  she 
had  lacked  the  courage  to  hold  for  her 
self. 

Her  only  impulse  was  to  destroy,  and 
circumstances  played  into  her  hands. 
When  Lovberg  called  at  the  Tesman  villa 
with  his  manuscript,  George  was  on 
the  point  of  leaving  with  his  friend, 
Judge  Brack,  for  a  bachelor  party.  They 
invited  Lovberg  to  accompany  them,  but 
he  refused,  preferring  to  remain  at  the 
villa  with  Mrs.  Elvsted  and  Iledda.  But 
Hedda,  determined  to  destroy  the  handi 
work  of  her  rival,  deliberately  sent  Lov 
berg  off  to  the  party.  All  night,  Hedda 


360 


and  Mrs.  Elvsted  awaited  the  revelers' 
return.  George  was  the  first  to  appear 
with  the  story  of  the  happenings  of  the 
night  before. 

The  party  had  ended  in  an  orgy,  and 
on  the  way  home  Lovberg  had  lost  his 
manuscript,  which  George  recovered  and 
brought  home.  In  despair  over  the  sup 
posed  loss  of  his  manuscript,  Lovberg 
had  spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening 
at  Mademoiselle  Diana's  establishment. 
When  he  finally  made  his  appearance  at 
the  villa,  George  had  gone.  Lovberg  told 
Mrs.  Elvsted  he  had  destroyed  his  manu 
script,  but  later  he  confessed  to  Hedda 
that  it  was  lost  and  that,  as  a  consequence, 
he  intended  to  take  his  own  life.  With 
out  revealing  that  the  manuscript  was  at 
that  moment  in  her  possession,  Hedda 
urged  him  to  do  the  deed  beautifully,  and 
she  pressed  into  his  hand  a  memento  of 
their  relationship,  one  of  General  Ga- 
bler's  pistols — the  very  one  with  which 
she  had  once  threatened  Lovberg. 

After  his  departure,  Hedda  coldly  and 
deliberately  thrust  the  manuscript  into 
the  fire.  When  George  returned  and 
heard  from  Hedda's  own  lips  the  fate  of 
Lovberg's  manuscript,  he  was  unspeak 
ably  shocked;  but  half  believing  that  she 
burned  it  for  his  sake,  he  was  also  flat 
tered.  He  resolved  to  keep  silent  and 


devote  his  life  to  reconstructing  the  book 
from  the  notes  kept  by  Mrs.  Elvsted. 

Except  for  two  circumstances,  Hedda 
would  have  been  safe.  The  first  was  the 
manner  in  which  Lovberg  met  his  death. 
Leaving  Hedda,  he  had  returned  to  Mad 
emoiselle  Diana's,  where  instead  of  dy 
ing  beautifully,  as  Hedda  had  planned, 
he  became  embroiled  in  a  brawl  in  which 
he  was  accidentally  killed.  The  second 
was  the  character  of  Judge  Brack,  a  so 
phisticated  man  of  the  world,  as  ruthless 
in  his  way  as  Hedda  was  in  hers.  He  had 
long  admired  Hedda's  cold,  dispassionate 
beauty,  and  had  wanted  to  make  her  his 
mistress.  The  peculiar  circumstances  of 
Eilert  Lovberg's  death  gave  him  his  op 
portunity.  He  had  learned  that  the  pistol 
with  which  Lovberg  met  his  death  was 
one  of  a  pair  belonging  to  Hedda.  If  the 
truth  came  out,  there  would  be  an  investi 
gation  followed  by  scandal  in  which 
Hedda  would  be  involved.  She  could 
not  face  either  a  public  scandal  or  the 
private  ignominy  of  the  judge's  proposal. 
So  while  her  husband  and  Mrs.  Elvsted 
were  beginning  the  long  task  of  recon 
structing  the  dead  Lovberg's  manuscript, 
Hedda  calmly  went  to  her  boudoir  and 
with  the  remaining  pistol  she  died  beau 
tifully — as  she  had  urged  Lovberg  to  do 
— by  putting  a  bullet  through  her  head. 


HENRY  ESMOND 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 

Type  of  plot;  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Late  seventeenth,  early  eighteenth  centuries 

Locale:  England  and  the  Low  Countries 

First  published:  1852 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  ESMOND,  a  Castlewood  ward 

FRANCIS  ESMOND,  Viscount  Castlewood 

RACHEL  ESMOND,  his  wife 

BEATRIX,  their  daughter 

FRANK,  their  son 

LORD  MOHUN,  a  London  rake 

FATHER  HOLT,  a  Jacobite  spy 

JAMES  STUART,  the  exiled  pretender 

Critique: 

Thackeray  did  not  have  high  regard      present  history  as  he  thought  it  should 
for  the  average  historian  of  his  day.   To      be  presented,  he  wrote  The  History  of 

361 


Henry  Esmond,  a  novel  which  contains 
a  blend  of  fact  and  fiction.  There  is  fact 
in  the  many  historical  characters  of  the 
book.  There  is  fiction  in  the  love  story 
of  Colonel  Henry  Esmond,  who  was  in 
love  with  two  women.  Today's  reader  is 
likely  to  lose  patience  with  Henry  Es 
mond,  whose  attempts  at  winning  Bea 
trix  are  so  ineffectual  as  to  be  almost 
ludicrous;  but  no  reader  can  escape  the 
witchery  of  Beatrix's  charms.  In  her, 
Thackeray  has  created  one  of  the  most 
delightfully  puzzling  and  fascinating  co 
quettes  in  all  English  literature. 

The  Story: 

Henry  Esmond  grew  up  at  Castlewood. 
He  knew  there  was  some  mystery  about 
his  birth  and  he  dimly  remembered  that 
long  ago  he  had  lived  with  weavers  who 
spoke  a  foreign  tongue.  Thomas  Esmond, 
Viscount  Castlewood,  had  brought  him 
to  England  and  turned  him  over  to  Father 
Holt,  the  chaplain,  to  be  educated.  That 
much  he  learned  as  he  grew  older. 

All  was  not  peace  and  quiet  at  Castle 
wood  in  those  years,  when  his  lordship 
and  Father  Holt  were  engaged  in  a  plot 
for  the  restoration  of  the  exiled  Stuart 
king,  James  II.  When  James  attempted 
to  recover  Ireland  for  the  Stuarts,  Thomas 
Esmond  rode  off  to  his  death  at  the 
battle  of  the  Boyne.  His  widow  fled  to  her 
dower  house  at  Chelsea.  Father  Holt  dis 
appeared.  Henry,  a  large-eyed,  grave- 
faced  twelve-year-old  boy,  was  left  alone 
with  servants  in  the  gloomy  old  house. 

There  his  new  guardians  and  distant 
cousins,  Francis  and  Rachel  Esmond, 
found  him  when  they  arrived  to  take  pos 
session  of  Castlewood.  The  new  Vis 
count  Castlewood,  a  bluff,  loud-voiced 
man,  greeted  the  boy  kindly  enough.  His 
wife  was  like  a  girl  herself — she  was  only 
eight  years  older  than  Henry — and 
Henry  thought  her  the  loveliest  lady  he 
had  ever  seen.  With  them  were  a  little 
daughter,  Beatrix,  and  a  son,  Frank,  a 
baby  in  arms. 

As  Henry  grew  older  he  became  more 
and  more  concerned  over  the  rift  he  saw 


coming  between  Rachel  Esmond  and  her 
husband,  both  of  whom  he  loved  because 
they  had  treated  him  as  one  of  the  im 
mediate  family  in  the  household  at 
Castlewood.  It  was  plain  that  the  hard- 
drinking,  hard-gambling  nobleman  was 
wearying  of  his  quiet  country  life.  After 
Rachel's  face  was  disfigured  by  small 
pox,  her  altered  beauty  caused  her  hus 
band  to  neglect  her  even  more.  Young 
Beatrix  also  felt  that  relations  between 
her  parents  were  strained. 

When  Henry  was  old  enough,  he  went 
to  Cambridge,  sent  there  on  money  left 
Rachel  by  a  deceased  relative.  Later, 
when  he  returned  to  Castlewood  on  a 
vacation,  he  realized  for  the  first  time 
that  Beatrix  was  exceptionally  attractive. 
Apparently  he  had  never  really  noticed 
her  before.  Rachel,  for  her  part,  had 
great  regard  for  her  young  kinsman.  Be 
fore  his  arrival  from  Cambridge,  accord 
ing  to  Beatrix,  Rachel  went  to  Henry's 
room  ten  times  to  see  that  it  was  ready. 

Relations  between  Rachel  and  the  vis 
count  were  all  but  severed  when  the 
notorious  Lord  Moliun  visited  Castle 
wood.  Rachel  knew  her  husband  had 
been  losing  heavily  to  Moliun  at  cards, 
but  when  she  spoke  to  the  viscount  about 
the  bad  company  he  was  keeping,  he  flew 
into  a  rage.  He  was  by  no  means  calmed 
when  Beatrix  innocently  blurted  out  to 
her  father,  in  the  company  of  Mohun, 
that  that  gentleman  was  interested  in 
Rachel.  Jealous  of  another  man's  atten 
tions  to  the  wife  he  himself  neglected, 
the  viscount  determined  to  seek  satisfac 
tion  in  a  duel. 

The  two  men  fought  in  London,  where 
the  viscount  had  gone  on  the  pretext  of 
seeing  a  doctor,  Henry,  who  suspected 
the  real  reason  for  the  trip,  went  along, 
for  he  hoped  to  engage  Mohun  in  a  fight 
and  thus  save  the  life  of  his  beloved 
guardian.  The  viscount,  however,  was  in 
no  mood  to  be  cheated  out  of  an  excuse 
to  provoke  a  quarrel*  He  was  heavily  in 
debt  to  Mohun  and  thought  a  fight  was 
the  only  honorable  way  out  of  his  diffi 
culties.  Moreover,  lie  knew  Mohun  had 


362 


written  letters  to  Rachel,  although,  as  the 
villain  explained,  she  had  never  answered 
them.  They  fought,  and  Mohun  foully 
and  fatally  wounded  the  viscount.  On  his 
deathbed  the  viscount  confessed  to  his 
young  kinsman  that  Henry  was  not  an 
illegitimate  child,  but  the  son  of  Thomas, 
Lord  Castlewood,  by  an  early  marriage, 
and  the  true  heir  to  the  Castlewood  title. 
Henry  Esmond  generously  burned  the 
dying  man's  confession  and  resolved 
never  to  divulge  the  secret. 

For  his  part  in  the  duel  Henry  Esmond 
was  sent  to  prison.  When  Rachel  visited 
Henry  in  prison,  she  was  enraged  be 
cause  he  had  not  stopped  the  duel  and 
because  he  had  allowed  Mohun  to  go  un 
punished.  She  rebuked  Henry  and  for 
bade  him  to  return  to  Castlewood.  When 
Henry  left  prison  he  decided  to  join  the 
army.  For  that  purpose  he  visited  the 
old  dowager  viscountess,  his  stepmother, 
who  bought  him  a  commission. 

Henry's  military  ventures  were  highly 
successful,  and  won  for  him  his  share  of 
wounds  and  glory.  He  fought  in  the  cam 
paign  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough 
against  Spain  and  France  in  1702  and 
in  the  campaign  of  Blenheim  in  1704. 
Between  the  two  campaigns  he  returned 
to  Castlewood,  where  he  was  reconciled 
with  Rachel.  There  he  saw  Frank,  now 
Lord  Castlewood,  and  Beatrix,  who  was 
cordial  toward  him.  Rachel  herself  cau 
tioned  Henry  that  Beatrix  was  selfish  and 
temperamental  and  would  make  no  man 
happy  who  loved  her. 

After  the  campaign  of  1704  Henry  re 
turned  to  his  cousins,  who  were  living 
in  London.  To  Henry,  Beatrix  was  more 
beautiful  than  ever  and  even  more  the 
coquette.  But  he  found  himself  unable 
to  make  up  his  mind  whether  he  loved 
her  or  Rachel.  Later,  during  the  cam 
paign  of  1706,  he  learned  from  Frank 
that  the  ravishing  Beatrix  was  engaged 
to  an  earl.  The  news  put  Henry  in  low 
spirits  because  he  now  felt  she  would 
never  marry  a  poor  captain  like  himself. 
Henry's  affairs  of  the  heart  were  put 
temporarily  into  the  background  when 


he  came  upon.  Father  Holt  in  Brussels, 
The  priest  told  Henry  that  while  on  an 
expedition  in  the  Low  Countries,  Thomas 
Esmond,  his  father,  had  seduced  the 
young  woman  who  was  Henry's  mother. 
A  few  weeks  before  his  child  was  born 
Thomas  Esmond  was  injured  in  a  duel, 
Thinking  he  would  die,  he  married  the 
woman  so  that  her  child  would  be  born 
with  an  untainted  name.  But  Thomas 
Esmond  did  not  die,  and  when  he  re 
covered  from  his  wounds  he  deserted  his 
wife  and  married  a  distant  kinswoman, 
the  dowager  viscountess,  Henry's  step 
mother. 

When  Henry  returned  to  Castlewood, 
Rachel  informed  him  she  had  learned  his 
secret  from  the  old  viscountess  and  con 
sequently  knew  that  he,  not  Frank,  was 
the  true  heir.  For  the  second  time  Henry 
refused  to  accept  the  tide  belonging  to 
him. 

Beatrix's  interest  in  Henry  grew  after 
she  became  engaged  to  the  Duke  of  Ham 
ilton  and  learned  that  Henry  was  not 
illegitimate  in  birth  but  the  bearer  of  a 
title  her  brother  was  using.  Henry  wanted 
to  give  Beatrix  a  diamond  necklace  for  a 
wedding  present,  but  the  duke  would  not 
permit  his  fiancee  to  receive  a  gift  from 
one  of  illegitimate  birth.  Rachel  came 
to  the  young  man's  defense  and  declared 
before  the  duke,  her  daughter,  and 
Henry  the  secret  of  his  birth  and  title. 
Later  the  duke  was  killed  in  a  duel  with 
Lord  Mohun,  who  also  met  his  death  at 
the  same  time.  The  killing  of  Rachel's 
husband  was  avenged. 

The  Duke  of  Hamilton's  death  gave 
Henry  one  more  chance  to  win  Beatrix's 
heart.  He  threw  himself  into  a  plot  to 
put  the  young  Stuart  pretender  on  the 
throne  when  old  Queen  Anne  died.  To 
this  end  he  went  to  France  and  helped 
to  smuggle  into  England  the  young 
chevalier  whom  the  Jacobites  called  James 
III,  the  king  over  the  water.  The  two 
came  secretly  to  the  Castlewood  home 
in  London,  the  prince  passing  as  Frank, 
the  young  viscount,  and  there  the  royal 
exile  saw  and  fell  in  love  with  Beatrix. 


363 


Fearing  the  results  of  this  infatuation, 
Lady  Castlewood  and  Henry  sent  Beatrix 
against  her  will  to  Castlewood.  When 
a  report  that  the  queen  was  dying  swept 
through  London,  the  prince  was  nowhere 
to  be  found.  Henry  and  Frank  made  a 
night  ride  to  Castlewood.  Finding  the 
pretender  there,  in  the  room  used  by 
Father  Holt  in  the  old  days,  they  re 
nounced  him  and  the  Jacobite  cause. 
Henry  realized  his  love  for  Beatrix  was 
dead  at  last.  He  felt  no  regrets  for  her 
or  for  the  prince  as  he  rode  back  to  Lon 


don  and  heard  the  heralds  proclaiming 
George  I,  the  new  king. 

The  prince  made  his  way  secretly  back 
to  France,  where  Beatrix  joined  him  in 
his  exile.  At  last  Henry  felt  free  to 
declare  himself  to  Rachel,  who  had  grown 
very  dear  to  him.  Leaving  Frank  in  pos 
session  of  the  title  and  the  Castlewood 
estates,  Henry  and  his  wife  went  to 
America.  In  Virginia  he  and  Rachel  built 
a  new  Castlewood,  reared  a  family,  and 
found  happiness  in  their  old  age. 


HENRY  THE  FIFTH 

Type  of  'work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century 

"Locale:  England  and  France 

First  presented:  1600 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  THE  FIFTH,  King  of  England 
CHARLES  THE  SIXTH,  King  of  France 
PRINCESS  KATHARINE,  his  daughter 
THE  DAUPHIN,  his  son 
MONTJOY,  a  French  herald 

Critique: 

In  The  Life  of  Henry  the  Fifth  Shake 
speare  skillfully  combined  poetry,  pag 
eantry,  and  history  in  his  effort  to  glorify 
England  and  Englishmen.  King  Henry 
himself  represents  all  that  is  finest  in 
English  royalty;  and  yet  when  Henry 
notes  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Agin- 
court  that  he  is  also  a  man  like  other 
men,  Shakespeare  shows  us  an  English 
man  who  possesses  that  quality  of  humil 
ity  which  makes  great  men  even  greater. 
Few  can  see  or  read  the  play  without 
sharing,  at  least  for  the  moment,  Shake 
speare's  pride  in  England  and  in  things 
English,  and  without  sensing  the  vigor 
and  the  idealism  that  are  part  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  heritage. 


The  Story: 

Once  the  toss-pot  prince  of  FalstafFs 
tavern  brawls,  Henry  V  was  now  king  at 
Westminster,  a  stern  but  just  monarch 


concerned  with  his  hereditary  claim  to 
the  crown  of  France.  Before  the  arrival 
of  the  French  ambassadors,  the  young 
king  asked  for  legal  advice  from  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury.  The  king  thought 
that  he  was  the  legal  heir  to  the  throne  of 
France  through  Edward  III,  whose  claim 
to  the  French  throne  was,  at  best,  ques 
tionable.  The  Archbishop  assured  Henry 
that  he  had  as  much  right  to  the  French 
throne  as  did  the  French  king;  conse 
quently,  both  the  Archbishop  and  the 
Bishop  of  Ely  urged  Henry  to  press  his 
demands  against  the  French. 

When  the  ambassadors  from  France 
arrived,  they  came,  not  from  Charles,  the 
king,  but  from  his  arrogant  eldest  son, 
the  Dauphin.  According  to  the  ambas 
sadors,  the  Dauphin  considered  the  Eng 
lish  monarch  the  same  hot-headed,  irre 
sponsible  youth  he  had  been  before  he 
ascended  the  throne.  To  shw  that  he 


364 


considered  Henry  an  unfit  ruler  whose 
demands  were  ridiculous,  the  Dauphin 
presented  Henry  with  some  tennis  balls. 
Enraged  by  the  insult,  Henry  told  the 
French  messengers  to  warn  their  master 
that  the  tennis  balls  would  be  turned 
into  gun-stones  for  use  against  the 
French. 

The  English  prepared  for  war.  The 
Dauphin  remained  contemptuous  of 
Henry,  but  others,  including  the  French 
Constable  and  the  ambassadors  who  had 
seen  Henry  in  his  wrath,  were  not  so 
confident.  Henry's  army  landed  to  lay 
siege  to  Harfieur,  and  the  king  threatened 
to  destroy  the  city,  together  with  its  in 
habitants,  unless  it  surrendered.  The 
French  governor  had  to  capitulate  be 
cause  help  promised  by  the  Dauphin 
never  arrived.  The  French,  meanwhile, 
were — with  the  exception  of  King 
Charles — alarmed  by  the  rapid  progress 
of  the  English  through  France.  That 
ruler,  however,  was  so  sure  of  victory 
that  he  sent  his  herald,  Montjoy,  to 
Henry  to  demand  that  the  English  king 
pay  a  ransom  to  the  French,  give  himself 
up,  and  have  his  soldiers  withdraw  from 
France.  Henry  was  not  impressed  by  this 
bold  gesture,  and  retorted  that  if  King 
Charles  wanted  him,  the  Frenchman 
should  come  to  get  him. 

On  the  eve  of  the  decisive  battle  of 
Agincourt,  the  English  were  outnum 
bered  five  to  one.  Henry's  troops  were  on 
foreign  soil  and  ridden  with  disease.  To 
encourage  them,  and  also  to  sound  out 
their  morale,  the  king  borrowed  a  cloak 
and  in  this  disguise  walked  out  among 
his  troops,  from  watch  to  watch  and  from 
tent  to  tent.  As  he  talked  with  his  men, 
he  told  them  that  a  king  is  but  a  man  like 
other  men,  and  that  if  he  were  a  king  he 
would  not  want  to  be  anywhere  except 
where  he  was,  in  battle  with  his  soldiers. 
To  himself,  Henry  mused  over  the  cares 
and  responsibilities  of  kingship.  Again  he 
thought  of  himself  simply  as  a  man  who 


differed  from  other  men  only  in  cere 
mony,  itself  an  empty  thing. 

Henry's  sober  reflections  on  the  eve  of 
a  great  battle,  in  which  he  thought  much 
English  blood  would  be  shed,  were  quite: 
different  from  those  of  the  French,  who 
were  exceedingly  confident  of  their  abil 
ity  to  defeat  their  enemy.  Shortly  before 
the  conflict  began,  Montjoy  again  ap 
peared  before  Henry  to  give  the  English 
one  last  chance  to  surrender.  Henry 
again  refused  to  be  intimidated.  He  was 
not  discouraged  by  the  numerical  inferi 
ority  of  his  troops,  for,  as  he  reasoned  in 
speaking  with  one  of  his  officers,  the 
fewer  troops  the  English  had,  the  greater 
would  be  the  honor  to  them  when  they 
won. 

The  following  day  the  battle  began. 
Because  of  Henry's  leadership,  the  Eng 
lish  held  their  own.  When  French  re 
inforcements  arrived  at  a  crucial  point 
in  the  battle,  Henry  ordered  his  men  to 
kill  all  their  prisoners  so  that  the  energies 
of  the  English  might  be  directed  entirely 
against  the  enemy  in  front  of  them,  not 
behind.  Soon  the  tide  turned.  A  much 
humbler  Montjoy  approached  Henry  to 
request  a  truce  for  burying  the  French 
dead.  Henry  granted  the  herald's  request, 
and  at  the  same  time  learned  from  him 
that  the  French  had  conceded  defeat. 
Ten  thousand  French  had  been  killed, 
and  only  twenty-nine  English. 

The  battle  over,  nothing  remained  foi 
Henry  to  do  but  to  discuss  with  the 
French  king  terms  of  peace.  Katharine, 
Charles'  beautiful  daughter,  was  Henry's 
chief  demand,  and  while  his  lieutenants 
settled  the  details  of  surrender  with  the 
French,  Henry  made  love  to  the  princess 
and  asked  her  to  marry  him.  Though 
Katharine's  knowledge  of  English  was 
slight  and  Henry's  knowledge  of  French 
little  better,  they  were  both  acquainted 
with  the  universal  language  of  love. 
French  Katharine  consented  to  become 
English  Kate  and  Henry's  bride. 


365 


HERCULES  AND  HIS  TWELVE  LABORS 


Type  of  work:  Classical  myth 
Source:  Folk  tradition 
Type  of  'plot:  Heroic  adventure 
Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 
Locale:  Mediterranean  region 
First  transcribed:  Unknown 


Principal  characters: 

HERCULES,  hero  of  virtue  and  strength 
EURYSTHEUS,  his  cousin 


Critique: 

Hercules  is  the  mighty  hero  of  popular 
imagination  in  Western  culture.  Art 
galleries  feature  paintings  and  sculpture 
of  the  splendid  body  of  the  hero.  The 
latest  engines,  the  strongest  building 
materials,  the  most  powerful  utilities  bear 
his  name.  Hercules,  not  born  a  god, 
achieved  godhood  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
according  to  tradition,  because  he  de 
voted  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  fellow 
men.  Some  authorities  link  Hercules  with 
legends  of  the  sun,  as  each  labor  took 
him  further  from  his  home  and  one  of  his 
tasks  carried  him  around  the  world  and 
back.  His  twelve  labors  have  been  com 
pared  to  the  signs  of  the  zodiac. 

The  Story: 

Hercules  was  the  son  of  a  mortal, 
Alcmene,  and  the  god  Jupiter.  Because 
Juno  was  hostile  to  all  children  of  her 
husband  by  mortal  mothers,  she  decided 
to  be  revenged  upon  the  child.  She  sent 
two  snakes  to  kill  Hercules  in  his  crib, 
but  the  infant  strangled  the  serpents 
with  ease.  Then  Juno  caused  Hercules 
to  be  subject  to  the  will  of  his  cousin, 
Eurystheus, 

Hercules  as  a  child  was  taught  by 
Rhadamanthus,  who  one  day  punished 
the  child  for  misdeeds.  Hercules  im 
mediately  killed  his  teacher.  For  this  his 
foster  father,  Amphitryon,  took  Hercules 
away  to  the  mountains,  to  be  brought  up 
by  rude  shepherds.  Early  in  youth  Her 
cules  began  to  attract  attention  for  his 
great  strength  and  courage.  He  killed  a 
lion  single-handedly  and  took  heroic  part 
in  a  war.  Juno,  jealous  of  his  growing 


success,  called  on  Eurystheus  to  use  his 
power  over  Hercules.  Eurystheus  then 
demanded  that  Hercules  carry  out  twelve 
labors.  The  plan  was  that  Hercules 
would  perish  in  one  of  them. 

The  first  labor:  Juno  had  sent  a  lion  to 
eat  the  people  of  Ncmea.  The  lion's  hide 
was  so  protected  that  no  arrow  could 
pierce  it.  Knowing  that  he  could  not  kill 
the  animal  with  his  bow,  Hercules  mel 
the  lion  and  strangled  it  with  his  bare 
hands.  Thereafter  he  wore  the  lion's 
skin  as  a  protection  when  he  was  fighting, 
for  nothing  could  penetrate  that  magic 
covering. 

The  second  labor:  Hercules  had  to 
meet  the  Lcrnaean  hydra.  This  creature 
lived  in  a  swamp,  and  the  odor  of  its 
body  killed  all  who  breathed  its  fetid 
fumes.  Hercules  began  the  battle  but 
discovered  that  for  every  head  he  severed 
from  the  monster  two  more  appeared. 
Finally  he  obtained  a  flaming  brand  from 
a  friend  and  burned  each  head  as  he 
severed  it.  When  he  came  to  the  ninth 
and  invulnerable  head,  he  cut  it  off  and 
buried  it  under  a  rock.  Then  he  dipped 
his  arrows  into  the  body  of  the  hydra  so 
that  he  would  possess  more  deadly 
weapons  for  use  in  future  conflicts. 

The  third  labor:  Hercules  captured  the 
Erymanthian  boar  and  brought  it  back 
on  his  shoulders.  The  sight  of  the  wild 
beast  frightened  Eurystheus  so  much  that 
he  hid  in  a  large  jar.  With  a  fine  sense 
of  humor  the  hero  deposited  the  captured 
boar  in  the  same  jar.  While  on  this  trip 
Hercules  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  cen 
taurs  by  drinking  wine  which  they  had 


366 


claimed  for  their  own.  In  order  to  escape 
from  them  he  had  had  to  kill  most  of  the 
half -horse  men. 

The  fourth  labor:  Hercules  had  to 
capture  a  stag  which  had  antlers  of  gold 
and  hoofs  of  brass.  In  order  to  capture 
this  creature  Hercules  pursued  it  for  a 
whole  year. 

The  fifth  labor:  The  Stymphalian 
birds  were  carnivorous.  Hercules  alarmed 
them  with  a  bell,  shot  many  of  them  with 
his  arrows,  and  caused  me  rest  to  fly 
away. 

The  sixth  labor:  Augeas,  king  of  Elis, 
had  a  herd  of  three  thousand  oxen  whose 
stables  had  not  been  cleansed  for  thirty 
years.  Commanded  to  clean  the  stables, 
Hercules  diverted  the  rivers  Alpheus  and 
Peneus  through  them  and  washed  them 
clean  in  one  day.  Augeas  refused  the 
payment  agreed  to  and  as  a  result  Her 
cules  later  declared  war  on  him. 

The  seventh  labor:  Neptune  had  given 
a  sacred  bull  to  Minos  king  of  Crete. 
Minos'  wife,  Pasiphae,  fell  in  love  with 
the  animal  and  pursued  it  around  the 
island.  Hercules  overcame  the  bull  and 
took  it  back  to  Eurystheus  by  making  it 
swim  the  sea  while  he  rode  upon  its 
back. 

The  eighth  labor:  Like  the  Stym 
phalian  birds,  the  mares  of  Diomedes  fed 
on  human  flesh.  Usually  Diomedes 
found  food  for  them  by  feeding  to  them 
all  travelers  who  landed  on  his  shores. 
Diomedes  tried  to  prevent  Hercules  from 
driving  away  his  herd.  He  was  killed 
and  his  body  was  fed  to  his  own  beasts. 

The  ninth  labor:  Admeta,  daughter  of 
Eurystheus,  persuaded  her  father  to  send 
Hercules  for  the  girdle  of  Hippolyta, 
queen  of  the  Amazons.  The  Amazon 
queen  was  willing  to  give  up  her  girdle, 
but  Juno  interfered  by  telling  the  other 


Amazons  that  Hercules  planned  to  kid 
nap  their  queen.  In  the  battle  that 
followed  Hercules  killed  Hippolyta  and 
took  the  girdle  from  her  dead  body. 

The  tenth  labor:  Geryoneus,  a  three- 
bodied,  three-headed,  six-legged,  winged 
monster  possessed  a  herd  of  oxen. 
Ordered  to  bring  the  animals  to  Eurys 
theus,  Hercules  traveled  beyond  the 
pillars  of  Hercules,  now  Gibraltar.  He 
killed  a  two-headed  shepherd  dog  and 
a  giant  herdsman,  and  finally  slew  Ge- 
ryones.  He  loaded  the  cattle  on  a  boat 
and  sent  them  to  Eurystheus.  He  himself 
returned  afoot  across  the  Alps.  He  had 
many  adventures  on  the  way,  including 
a  fight  with  giants  in  the  Phlegraean 
fields,  near  the  present  site  of  Naples. 

The  eleventh  labor:  His  next  labor 
was  more  difficult,  for  his  task  was  to 
obtain  the  golden  apples  in  the  garden 
of  the  Hesperides.  No  one  knew  where 
the  garden  was,  and  so  Hercules  set  out 
to  roam  until  he  found  it.  In  his  travels 
he  killed  a  giant,  a  host  of  pygmies, 
and  burned  alive  some  of  his  captors  in 
Egypt.  In  India  he  set  Prometheus  free. 
At  last  he  discovered  Atlas  holding  up  the 
sky.  This  task  Hercules  assumed,  re 
leasing  Atlas  to  go  after  the  apples.  Adas 
returned  with  the  apples  and  reluctantly 
took  up  his  burden.  Hercules  brought  the 
apples  safely  to  Eurystheus. 

The  twelfth  labor:  This  was  the  most 
difficult  of  all  his  labors.  After  many 
adventures  he  brought  the  three-headed 
dog  Cerberus  from  the  underworld.  He> 
was  forced  to  carry  the  struggling  animal 
in  his  arms  because  he  had  been  for 
bidden  to  use  weapons  of  any  kind. 
Afterward  he  took  Cerberus  back  to  the 
king  of  the  underworld.  So  ended  the 
labors  of  this  mighty  ancient  hero. 


HEREWARD  THE  WAKE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875) 
Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 
Time  of  'plot:  Eleventh  century 
Locale:  England,  Scotland,  Flanders 
First  published:  1866 


367 


Principal  characters: 

HEREWARD  THE  WAKE,  a  Saxon  thane  and  outlaw 

LADY  GODIVA,  his  mother 

TORFRIDA,  his  wife 

ALFTRUDA,  his  second  wife 

MARTIN  LIGHTFOOT,  a  companion  in  his  wanderings 

WILLIAM  THE  CONQUEROR,  Duke  of  Normandy  and  King  of  England 


Critique: 

Here-ward  the  Wake  is  one  of  the  very 
few  stories  that  deal  realistically  and 
credibly  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  period  of 
English  history.  Although  elements  of 
the  chivalric  romance,  in  the  more 
academic  sense  of  that  term,  are  present 
in  this  novel,  Kingsley  has  re-created  the 
age  and  its  people  in  a  believable  and 
highly  interesting  manner.  Hereward 
the  Wake  is  both  an  interesting  story 
and  a  valuable  historical  study. 

The  Story: 

Hereward  was  the  son  of  the  powerful 
Lord  of  Bourne,  a  Saxon  nobleman  of  a 
family  close  to  the  throne.  A  high- 
spirited,  rebellious  youth,  he  was  a  source 
of  constant  worry  to  his  mother,  Lady 
Godiva.  Hereward  lacked  a  proper  re 
spect  for  the  Church  and  its  priests  and 
lived  a  boisterous  life  with  boon  com 
panions  who  gave  him  their  unquestion 
ing  loyalty. 

One  day  a  friar  came  to  Lady  Godiva 
and  revealed  that  Hereward  and  his 
friends  had  attacked  him  and  robbed 
him  of  what  the  priest  insisted  was 
money  belonging  to  the  Church.  Lady 
Godiva  was  angry  and  hurt.  When 
Hereward  came  in  and  admitted  his 
crime,  she  said  that  there  was  no  alterna 
tive.  For  his  own  good,  she  maintained, 
he  should  be  declared  a  wake,  or  outlaw. 
Upon  his  promise  not  to  molest  her 
messenger,  for  Hereward  really  did  not 
mind  being  outlawed  as  he  wished  to 
see  more  of  the  world,  Lady  Godiva  sent 
Martin  Lightfoot,  a  servant,  to  carry  the 
news  of  Hereward's  deed  to  his  father 
and  to  the  king.  Hereward  was  then 
declared  an  outlaw  subject  to  imprison 
ment  or  death. 

Before  he  left  his  father's  house,  how 


ever,  he  released  his  friends  from  their 
oath  of  allegiance.  Martin  Lightfoot 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  follow  him,  not 
as  his  servant  but  as  his  companion. 
Then  Hereward  set  out  to  live  among 
the  rude  and  barbarous  Scottish  tribes 
of  the  north. 

His  first  adventure  occurred  when  he 
killed  a  huge  bear  that  threatened  the 
life  of  Alftruda,  ward  of  a  knight  named 
Gilbert  of  Ghent.  For  his  valorous  deed 
he  achieved  much  renown.  But  the 
knights  of  Gilbert's  household,  jealous 
of  Hereward's  courage  and  his  prowess, 
tried  to  kill  him.  Though  he  escaped  the 
snares  laid  for  him,  he  decided  that  it 
would  be  best  for  him  to  leave  Scotland. 

Accordingly,  he  went  to  Cornwall, 
where  he  was  welcomed  by  the  king. 
There  the  king's  daughter  was  pledged 
in  marriage  to  a  prince  of  Waterford. 
But  a  giant  of  the  Cornish  court  had  be 
come  so  powerful  that  he  had  forced  the 
king's  agreement  to  give  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  the  ogre.  Hereward,  with 
the  help  of  the  princess  and  a  friar,  slew 
the  giant,  whose  death  freed  the  princess 
to  marry  the  prince  whom  she  really 
loved. 

After  leaving  Cornwall,  Hereward  and 
his  companions  were  wrecked  upon  die 
Flemish  coast.  There  Hcrewarcl  stayed 
for  a  time  in  the  service  of  Baldwin  of 
Flanders  and  proved  his  valor  by  defeat 
ing  the  French  in  battle.  There,  too, 
Torfrida,  a  lady  wrongly  suspected  of 
sorcery,  schemed  to  win  his  love.  They 
were  wed  after  lie-reward  had  fought 
in  a  successful  campaign  against  the 
Hollanders,  and  a  daughter  was  born  of 
the  marriage. 

Meanwhile  King  Edward  had  died 
and  Harold  reigned  in  England.  A  mes- 


368 


senger  came  to  Hereward  with  the  news 
that  Duke  William  of  Normandy  had 
defeated  the  English  at  the  battle  of 
Hastings  and  that  King  Harold  had  been 
killed.  Hereward  then  decided  to  return 
to  Bourne,  his  old  home.  There,  ac 
companied  by  Martin  Lightfoot,  he 
found  the  Norman  raiders  encamped. 
He  found  too  that  his  family  had  been 
despoiled  of  all  its  property  and  that  his 
mother  had  been  sent  away.  He  and 
Martin,  without  revealing  their  identity, 
secretly  went  out  and  annihilated  all  the 
Normans  in  the  area.  Hereward  swore 
that  he  would  return  with  an  army  that 
would  push  the  Norman  invaders  into 
the  sea. 

Hereward  then  went  to  his  mother, 
who  received  him  happily.  Lady  Godiva 
accused  herself  of  having  wronged  her 
son  and  lamented  the  day  she  had  pro 
claimed  him  an  outlaw.  He  took  her  to 
a  place  of  refuge  in  Croyland  Abbey. 
Later  he  went  to  the  monastery  where 
his  aged,  infirm  uncle,  Abbot  Brand,  was 
spending  his  last  days  on  earth.  There 
Hereward  was  knighted  by  the  monks, 
after  the  English  fashion.  Hereward 
went  secretly  to  Bourne  and  there  re 
cruited  a  rebel  army  to  fight  against 
Duke  William. 

Although  there  were  many  men  eager 
to  fight  the  Normans,  the  English  forces 
were  disunited.  Another  king,  an  un 
tried  young  man,  had  been  proclaimed, 
but  because  of  his  youth  he  did  not 
have  the  support  of  all  the  English 
factions.  Hereward  had  been  promised 
help  from  Denmark,  but  the  Danish 
king  sent  a  poor  leader  through  whose 
stupidity  the  Danes  were  inveigled  into 
positions  where  they  were  easily  defeated 
by  the  Normans  at  Dover  and  Norwich. 
Then,  instead  of  coming  to  Hereward's 
aid,  the  Danes  fled.  Hereward  was 
forced  to  confess  the  failure  of  his  allies 
to  his  men,  but  tbcy  renewed  their 

E  ledge  to  him  and  promised  to  keep  on 
ghting.   The  sifv-ation  seemed  hopeless 
when  Hereward  and  his  men  took  refuge 
on    the    island    of    Ely.    There,    with 


Torfrida's  wise  advice,  Hereward  de 
feated  Duke  William's  attack  upon  the 
beleaguered  island.  Hereward  and  his 
men  retreated  to  another  camp  of  refuge. 
Shortly  afterward  Torfrida  learned  of 
Hereward's  infidelity  with  Alftruda,  the 
ward  of  Gilbert  of  Ghent.  She  left  Here 
ward  and  went  to  Croyland  Abbey, 
where  she  proposed  to  spend  the  last  of 
her  days  ministering  to  the  poor  and  to 
Hereward's  mother.  Hereward  himself 
went  to  Duke  William  and  submitted 
to  him.  The  conqueror  declared  that 
he  had  selected  a  husband  for  Here 
ward's  daughter*  In  order  to  free  herself 
from  Hereward,  Torfrida  falsely  con 
fessed  that  she  was  a  sorceress,  and  her 
marriage  to  Hereward  was  annulled  by 
the  Church.  Hereward  then  married 
Alftruda  and  became  Lord  of  Bourne 
under  Duke  William.  His  daughter,  de 
spite  her  entreaties,  was  married  to  a 
Norman  knight. 

But  Hereward,  the  last  of  the  English, 
had  many  enemies  among  the  French, 
who  continually  intrigued  against  him  for 
the  favor  of  Duke  William.  As  a  result, 
Hereward  was  imprisoned.  The  jailer 
was  a  good  man  who  treated  his  noble 
prisoner  as  kindly  as  he  could,  although, 
for  his  own  sake,  he  was  forced  to  chain 
Hereward. 

One  day,  while  Hereward  was  being 
transported  from  one  prison  to  another, 
he  was  rescued  by  his  friends.  Freed, 
he  went  back  to  Alftruda  at  Bourne,  but 
his  life  was  not  a  happy  one.  His  enemies 
plotted  to  kill  him.  Taking  advantage 
of  a  day  when  his  retainers  were  escort 
ing  Alftruda  on  a  journey,  a  group  of 
Norman  knights  broke  into  Bourne 
castle.  Though  Hereward  fought  valiant 
ly,  he  was  outnumbered.  He  was  killed 
and  his  head  was  exhibited  in  victory 
over  the  door  of  his  own  hall. 

When  she  heard  of  his  death,  Torfrida 
came  from  Croyland  Abbey  and  de 
manded  Hereward's  body.  All  were  so 
frightened,  especially  Alftruda,  by  Tor- 
jErida's  wild  appearance  and  her  reputa 
tion  as  a  witch,  that  Hereward's  first 


369 


wife  got  her  way  and  the  body  was  de 
livered  to  her.  She  carried  it  away  to 
Croyland  for  burial.  Thus  did  Here- 
ward,  the  last  of  the  English,  die,  and 


thus,  too,  did  William  of  Normandy  be 
come  William  the  Conqueror  and  King 
of  England. 


H.  M.  S.  PINAFORE 

Type  of  work:  Comic  opera 

Author:  W.  S.  Gilbert  (1836-1911) 

Type  of  'plot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Portsmouth  harbor,  England 

First  presented:  1878 

Principal  characters: 

JOSEPHINE,  the  Captain's  daughter 

RALPH,  the  lowly  sailor  who  loves  Josephine 

SIR  JOSEPH  PORTER,  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  Josephine's  suitor 

THE  CAPTAIN,  Josephine's  father 

LITTLE  BUTTERCUP,  who  loves  the  Captain 

Critique: 

W.  S.  Gilbert  shared  the  honors  of  this 
operetta  with  his  composer-partner,  Sir 
Arthur  Sullivan.  H.  M.  S.  Pinafore;  or, 
The  Lass  That  Loved  A  Sailor  was  writ 
ten  to  be  sung  and  acted  on  the  stage; 
it  was  not  meant  to  be  published  and  read 
by  itself.  Gilbert  and  Sullivan  obviously 
were  poking  fun  at  the  extravagances  of 
grand  opera,  and  at  the  improbable  plots 
in  particular.  The  plot  of  Pinafore, 
which  effectively  disregards  the  element 
of  time,  is  a  successful  vehicle  of  comedy 
and  satire.  Every  song,  every  scene  is  full 
of  mischievous  and  clever  rhymes,  adroit 
and  ingenious  dialogue. 


The  Story: 

Lying  at  anchor  in  Portsmouth  har 
bor,  the  Pinafore  was  the  scene  of  hectic 
activity,  for  Sir  Joseph  Porter,  K.C.B., 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  had  an 
nounced  his  intention  to  visit  the  ship. 
The  sailors  swabbed  the  decks  and  were 
inspected  by  the  Captain,  who  was  as 
content  with  them  as  they  were  with 
him.  One  member  of  the  crew,  however, 
was  far  from  happy.  Ralph,  the  lowly 
foremast  hand,  was  sunk  in  gloom  and 
despair.  He  loved  Josephine,  the  Cap 
tain's  daughter,  but  because  of  his  low 
rank  she  repulsed  his  advances  and  re 
jected  his  love. 


Before  Sir  Joseph's  arrival,  Little  But 
tercup  came  on  board,  plying  her  trade 
as  a  seller  of  ribbons  and  laces,  scissors 
and  knives,  treacle  and  toffee.  In  a  con 
versation  with  the  Captain  she  hinted 
that  appearances  are  often  deceiving.  The 
Captain  noticed  that  Little  Buttercup  had 
physical  charms  not  displeasing  to  him. 

Sir  Joseph's  barge  approached,  and  the 
First  Lord  was  soon  on  board,  accom 
panied  by  his  sisters,  his  cousins,  and  his 
aunts.  After  inspecting  the  crew,  he  gave 
them  instructions  for  success.  His  own 
formula  had  been  simple  enough.  He  had 
polished  door  handles,  stuck  close  to  his 
desk,  and  never  gone  to  sea.  Sir  Joseph 
then  proceeded  to  the  purpose  of  his 
visit.  He  had  come  to  ask  Josephine  to 
marry  him. 

Josephine  had  no  intention  of  marry 
ing  Sir  Joseph,  whom  she  disliked.  Not 
able  to  give  an  outright  refusal,  she  in 
formed  him  that  marriage  with  such  a 
high-ranking  officer  was  impossible  be 
cause  she  was  only  a  captain's  daughter. 
Sir  Joseph  admired  her  modesty,  but 
brushed  the  objection  aside.  Rank,  he 
assured  her,  was  absolutely  no  barrier, 
for  love  leveled  all  rank*  Josephine  has 
tened  to  agree  with  him,  and  everyone 
immediately  assumed  that  a  marriage 
would  soon  take  place. 


370 


Giving  up  all  hope  of  winning  Jose 
phine,  Ralph  put  a  pistol  to  his  head 
and  prepared  to  pull  the  trigger.  At  that 
moment  Josephine  rushed  in,  told  him 
not  to  destroy  himself,  and  proclaimed 
her  undying  love  for  him.  At  this  turn  of 
events  there  was  general  rejoicing  among 
Ralph's  messmates,  with  the  exception  of 
an  unsavory  character  by  the  name  of 
Dick  Dead-eye. 

The  couple  laid  plans  to  steal  ashore 
the  next  evening  to  be  married.  Once 
the  ceremony  was  performed,  they  rea 
soned,  nobody  could  do  anything  about 
it.  But  Dick  Dead-eye  went  to  the  Cap 
tain  and  warned  him  of  the  plan.  Ac 
cordingly,  just  as  the  lovers  and  their 
accomplices  were  quietly  tiptoeing  away, 
the  Captain  entered,  enraged  at  Ralph's 
presumption  and  at  the  low  company  in 
which  he  found  his  daughter.  Ralph  was 
thrown  into  the  brig. 

Attracted  by  the  Captain's  swearing, 
Sir  Joseph  came  rushing  up  in  time  to 
hear  what  had  happened.  The  sisters,  the 


cousins,  and  the  aunts  were  horribly 
shocked.  Sir  Joseph  was  equally  shocked, 
so  shocked  that  he  administered  a  very 
severe  rebuke  to  the  Captain.  In  the 
midst  of  the  argument,  Little  Buttercup 
appeared.  To  the  astonishment  of  every 
one,  she  announced  that  many  years  ago 
she  had  been  a  baby-farmer.  Two  in 
fants  had  been  put  into  her  care,  one  of 
lowly  birth,  the  other  of  high  position. 
Because  she  was  very  fond  of  one  of 
them  she  had  changed  them  around.  The 
Captain  was  really  of  low  birth,  and 
Ralph  was  the  patrician. 

This  astounding  announcement  re 
sulted  in  a  very  odd  situation  which  was 
quickly  and  amicably  arranged.  The 
Captain  changed  places  with  Ralph,  who 
became  captain  instead.  Sir  Joseph  an 
nounced  that  he  could  not  marry  Jose 
phine  since  she  was  only  the  daughter  of 
a  common  sailor.  Accordingly,  Josephine 
married  Ralph;  the  Captain  married 
Little  Buttercup,  and  Sir  Joseph  had  no 
one  to  marry  except  a  well-bom  cousin. 


HONEY  IN  THE  HORN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  H.  L.  Davis  (1896-        ) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1906-1908 

Locale:  Oregon 

First  published,:   1935 

Principal  characters: 

CLAY  CALVERT,  a  migrant  worker 
WADE  SHIVELEY,  his  stepfather 
UNCLE  PRESS  SHIVELEY,  Wade's  father 
LUCE,  Cky's  woman 
THE  HORSE  TRADER,  Luce's  father 

Critique: 

The  story  told  in  this  novel  is  less 
important  than  the  character  studies  of 
some  people  who  settled  Oregon  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.  In  his  intro 
duction  the  author  states  that  he  is 
neither  criticizing  any  social  group  nor 
suggesting  reforms;  rather,  he  attempts 
to  give  an  accurate  picture  of  the 
migrants  who  were  always  seeking  new 


homes  in  better  lands.  The  story  itself 
is  excellent,  however — fast-moving  and 
interestingly  told.  There  have  been 
many  novels  of  pioneers  and  early  settlers 
during  the  last  two  decades,  but  few 
surpass  Honey  in  the  Horn. 

The  Story: 
Wade   Shiveley  had   killed  his  own 


HONEY  IN  THE  HORN  by  H.  L.  Davis.    By  permission  of  the  author.   Published  by  Harper  &  Brothers.    Copy 
right,  1935,  oy  Harper  &  Brothers. 

371 


brother  in  a  fight  over  a  squaw  and  had 
murdered  and  robbed  old  man  Howell. 
Now  he  had  been  captured.  The  officers 
wanted  Uncle  Press  Shiveley,  Wade's 
father,  to  try  to  get  Wade  to  say  where 
he  had  hidden  the  money.  But  Uncle 
Press  had  threatened  to  shoot  Wade  if 
he  ever  laid  eyes  on  him  again,  and  so 
in  his  place  he  sent  Clay  Calvert,  the 
son  of  one  of  Wade's  wives.  Clay  did 
not  want  to  go  because  he  also  hated 
Wade,  Uncle  Press  gave  Clay  a  gun 
to  slip  to  Wade  in  the  jail.  Having 
loaded  the  gun  with  blank  cartridges, 
he  hoped  Wade  would  use  the  worthless 
gun  to  attempt  an  escape  and  thus  be 
shot  down  by  the  officers. 

On  the  way  to  the  jail,  Clay  met  a 
horse  trader  and  his  wife  and  daughter. 
When  Clay  slipped  the  gun  to  Wade 
in  the  jail,  Wade  said  that  he  had  not 
killed  Howell,  that  Howell  was  killed 
by  a  bullet  that  split  when  it  was  fired 
and  that  such  a  bullet  did  not  fit  his  own 
gun.  Wade  had  always  been  a  liar,  but 
Clay  suspected  that  this  time  he  might 
be  telling  the  truth. 

Clay  left  town  to  hide  in  Wade's 
abandoned  shack  until  after  Wade  had 
been  killed  and  buried.  Later  Uncle 
Press  sent  a  half-breed  Indian  to  tell  him 
that  Wade  had  escaped  and  that  the 
sheriff  was  now  looking  for  Clay  as  an 
accomplice.  Clay  left  the  shack  with 
the  Indian,  taking  with  him  Wade's 
rifle  he  had  found  there,  and  after  travel 
ing  awhile  they  met  the  horse  trader  and 
his  women  again.  Clay  learned  that  the 
girl  was  called  Luce  and  that  she  traveled 
around  with  her  father  and  stepmother, 
trading  horses,  racing  them,  and  picking 
hops  in  season.  Since  he  wanted  to  get 
out  of  the  immediate  territory  and  be 
cause  he  was  strongly  attracted  to  Luce, 
Clay  decided  to  travel  with  the  horse 
trader's  family.  The  Indian  stole  Wade's 
rifle  from  Clay  and  ran  away. 

Clay  and  the  horse  trader's  family 
worked  for  a  time  in  the  hop  fields.  The 
trader  was  a  weak  man  who  lost  all  he 
and  his  family  earned  by  gambling,  and 


Luce  took  the  responsibility  for  the 
family  on  her  shoulders.  Clay  and  Luce 
liked  each  other  very  much,  but  they 
quarreled  frequently,  and  one  day  Clay 
moved  away  from  the  wagon.  When  the 
sheriff  appeared  at  the  field  one  day, 
Clay  became  frightened  and  left  hurried 
ly,  traveling  toward  the  coast. 

Luce  and  her  folks  found  him  after 
awhile,  and  Luce  and  Clay  decided  to 
stay  together.  There  was  no  place  for 
them  to  get  married.  They  spent  the 
winter  in  a  little  settlement  on  the  coast, 
in  a  cabin  apart  from  the  horse  trader's. 
Luce  rescued  some  bags  of  flour  which 
had  floated  to  shore  from  a  wrecked 
ship,  and  with  money  earned  by  selling 
the  flour  to  the  Indians  she  and  Clay 
were  able  to  buy  a  wagon  and  start  on 
their  own. 

Clay  and  Luce  left  for  eastern  Oregon, 
but  Clay  refused  to  let  her  father  and 
stepmother  go  with  them,  for  he  could 
not  stand  the  sight  of  the  weak  horse 
trader.  They  traveled  across  the 
mountains  and  into  Looking  Glass 
Valley,  where  they  joined  another  group 
of  settlers  led  by  Clark  Burdon.  Burdon 
described  to  Clay  a  stranger  who  was 
looking  for  him,  and  Clay  knew  the 
man  was  Wade.  Clay  liked  Burdon  and 
told  him  the  story  of  Wade  and  his 
killings  and  escape.  Burdon  promised 
to  help  him  get  rid  of  Wade.  That  night 
Clay  shot  a  man  he  thought  was  Wade, 
but  the  dead  prowler  turned  out  to  be 
the  son  of  one  of  the  settlers.  When 
Burdon  and  Clay  declared  that  Wacle 
had  shot  the  boy,  the  men  formed  a 
posse  and  captured  Wade.  After  Wade 
tried  to  kill  Clay,  the  men  believed  that 
the  outlaw  was  trying  to  keep  Clay  from 
testifying  against  him;  and  the  posse 
vowed  to  hang  Wade.  Clay  felt  guilty, 
for  he  doubted  that  Waclc  had  killed 
Howell  and  he  knew  that  he  himself 
had  shot  the  prowler.  But  it  was  his 
life  or  Wade's,  and  so  he  kept  silent. 
He  felt  dirty  and  sick  when  he  saw 
Wade  hanged. 

The   settlers  traveled  eastward,   Clay 


372 


and  Luce  with  them.  Luce  had  a  mis 
carriage.  She  would  not  let  Clay  go  for 
a  doctor,  for  she  was  terrified  that  he 
would  leave  her  and  never  come  back. 
The  rest  of  the  caravan  had  gone  on 
and  they  were  alone.  Clay  finally  left 
Luce,  promising  to  return  with  help  as 
soon  as  possible.  He  came  back  with  an 
Indian  midwife,  to  find  that  Luce  had 
gone  away  in  the  wagon.  There  were 
two  sets  of  wagon  wheels,  and  Clay 
knew  instinctively  that  her  father  had 
come  by  and  that  Luce  had  left  with 
him.  Angry  and  hurt  by  her  desertion, 
Clay  decided  to  go  on  alone. 

He  rode  his  horse  into  the  threshing 
country  and  worked  with  a  mowing 
crew.  There  he  met  the  half-breed  from 
the  Shiveley  ranch  and  told  the  Indian 
to  be  on  the  lookout  for  Luce  and  her 
father.  The  Indian  did  meet  the  horse 
trader  and  made  a  large  wager  on  a 
race  with  him.  The  horse  trader  lost 
the  race  and  the  Indian  collected  the 
money.  Next  day  the  Indian  was  found 
with  a  bullet  in  the  back  of  his  head 
and  no  money  in  his  clothing,  and  the 
horse  trader  and  Luce  had  disappeared. 
Clay  helped  bury  the  Indian,  but  before 
the  burial  he  shot  Wade's  rifle,  which 
the  Indian  had  stolen.  The  bullet  did 
not  split.  Clay  knew  then  that  Wade 
had  been  telling  the  truth  about  not 
killing  HowelL  He  suspected  that  Luce's 


father  had  killed  and  robbed  both  Howell 
and  the  Indian. 

Clay  joined  a  party  moving  on  to  a 
railroad  construction  camp,  On  their 
way  there  was  an  accident,  and  one  of 
the  horses  had  to  be  killed.  When  Clay 
saw  the  horse,  he  recognized  it  as  one 
belonging  to  Luce's  father,  and  he  knew 
that  she  was  in  the  group.  He  volun 
teered  to  shoot  the  horse,  but  first  he 
found  Luce  and  asked  for  her  rifle.  With 
it  he  killed  the  animal  and  later,  ex 
amining  the  bullet,  he  saw  that  it  was 
split.  When  he  told  her  that  the  trader 
had  murdered  Howell  and  the  Indian, 
she  claimed  she  had  done  the  killings. 
She  said  that  her  father,  who  was  now 
dead,  had  lost  a  lot  of  money  to  Howell 
and  that  her  stepmother  and  Howell 
had  fought.  Luce  had  shot  the  old  man 
during  the  fight  and  had  taken  the 
money  her  father  had  lost  to  him.  Later 
she  killed  the  Indian  because  he  had 
won  her  father's  money  in  the  horse 
race. 

Clay  suspected  that  Luce  was  trying 
to  protect  her  dead  father.  Besides,  he 
still  wanted  her.  He  climbed  into  her 
wagon  and  they  joined  the  long  line  of 
settlers  who  were  still  seeking  a  place 
where  they  could  make  real  homes. 
Whatever  their  past,  they  would 
always  go  on  together. 


THE  HOOSIER  SCHOOLMASTER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edward  Eggleston  (1837-1902) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  About  1850 

Locale:  Indiana 

First 'published:  1871 

Principal  characters: 

RALPH  HARTSOOK,  a  young  schoolmaster 

BUD  MEANS,  Ralph's  pupil  and  friend 

HANNAH  THOMSON,  the  Means'  bound-girl 

DR.  SMALL,  Ralph's  enemy 

PETE  JONES,  Dr.  Small's  partner  in  crime 

WALTER  JOHNSON,  Ralph's  cousin,  one  of  the  robbers 

MARTHA  HAWKINS,  Bud  Means'  sweetheart 

SHOCKY,  Hannah's  brother 


373 


Critique: 

Eggleston  wrote  The  Hoosier  School 
master  as  a  regional  study.  In  it  he  caught 
the  Hoosiers  of  his  day,  with  their  sin 
gular  twists  of  phrasing,  their  rough 
frontier  conduct.  His  simple  plots,  stock 
characters  and  thinly-disguised  morality 
were  all  subordinate  to  his  main  purpose. 
If  The  Hoosier  Schoolmaster  is  not  a 
great  hook,  it  certainly  is  not  to  be  over 
looked,  for  its  author  faithfully  recorded 
the  place  and  time  he  wished  to  describe. 

The  Story: 

Ralph  Hartsook  had  not  thought 
schoolteachers  were  judged  by  their  mus 
cular  ability  when  he  applied  for  the 
job  as  schoolmaster  of  Flat  Creek,  Indi 
ana.  Before  long,  however,  he  learned 
his  competence  would  be  judged  by  his 
power  to  keep  his  pupils  from  driving 
him  out  of  the  schoolhouse.  His  first  step 
was  to  make  friends  with  Bud  and  Bill 
Means,  sons  of  the  school  trustee,  in 
whose  house  he  was  to  board  for  a  time. 
He  was  tired  from  the  ten  miles  he  had 
trudged  to  apply  for  his  job,  but  he 
walked  almost  the  same  distance  that 
evening  when  he  went  coon  hunting 
with  the  boys. 

Ralph  Hartsook  held  his  own  against 
the  pranks  and  challenges  of  his  pupils 
until  the  night  of  the  big  spelling-bee. 
Then  before  most  of  the  people  in  Flat 
Creek  he  was  defeated  by  the  Means' 
bound-girl,  Hannah  Thomson. 

Finding  himself  strongly  attracted  to 
the  girl,  he  escorted  her  home  after  the 
spelling-bee. 

Kept  awake  by  curiosity  about  Han 
nah's  past,  Ralph  had  trouble  sleeping 
that  night.  At  two  in  the  morning  he 
got  up,  restless,  and  strolled  down  the 
road  toward  the  schoolhouse.  Three 
horsemen  passed  him  in  the  darkness,  one 
riding  a  horse  with  white  markings.  A 
few  minutes  later  Dr.  Small  rode  by, 
returning,  Ralph  supposed,  from  a  night 
call.  He  went  back  to  Pete  Jones'  house, 
where  he  was  staying  at  the  time.  The 
next  morning  he  discovered  that  the 


horse  with  the  white  markings  stood  in 
Pete's  stable,  and  he  learned  from  Shocky 
Thomson,  Hannah's  young  brother,  that 
there  had  been  a  robbery  the  night  be 
fore. 

He  decided  not  to  tell  what  he  knew. 
He  had  no  proof  that  Pete  Jones  was 
connected  with  the  housebreaking  and 
it  would  have  been  awkward  to  explain 
his  own  rarnblings  at  an  early  hour.  To 
add  to  his  misery  that  day,  Mirandy 
Means,  who  had  been  casting  sheep's  eyes 
at  him,  informed  him  that  her  brother 
Bud  was  fond  of  Hannah. 

Squire  Hawkins  invited  Ralph  to 
spend  the  weekend  with  him.  Walking 
toward  the  squire's  house  with  Shocky, 
who  took  the  same  direction  home  from 
school,  he  learned  from  the  boy  that  his 
father  was  dead  and  his  blind  mother 
in  the  poorhouse.  When  Hannah  went 
to  live  with  the  Means,  he  himself  had 
been  taken  in  by  Mr.  Pearson,  a  basket- 
maker. 

That  evening  Ralph  was  surprised  to 
see  Dr,  Small's  horse  tied  in  front  of 
Granny  Sander's  cabin.  She  had  a  repu 
tation  as  a  witch  among  the  people  of 
Flat  Creek,  and  she  was  a  malicious 
gossip.  Ralph  did  not  know  that  the 
doctor  was  busy  planting  the  seeds  of 
rumors  in  Granny  Sander's  mind,  rumors 
that  Ralph  had  been  a  philanderer  at 
home,  and  that  he  was  somehow  impli 
cated  in  the  robbery.  Small  disliked 
Ralph,  though  Ralph  had  never  been 
able  to  find  any  reason  for  it.  Rumor  had 
done  its  ugly  work  by  Sunday  morning. 
At  church  Ralph's  neighbors  had  little 
to  say  to  him. 

On  Christmas  Day,  which  came  the 
following  week,  the  boys  did  not  follow 
the  custom  of  asking  the  teacher  for  a 
holiday.  Instead  Bud  and  others  of  the 
older  pupils  barricaded  themselves  in  the 
schoolhouse  to  keep  Ralph  from  entering 
and  had  to  be  forced  out  by  sulphur 
thrown  down  the  chimney.  Later  Bud 
threatened  to  thrash  Ralph  because  the 
schoolmaster  had  taken  the  squire's  niece, 


374 


Martha,  to  church  the  Sunday  before. 
Bud  was  jealous.  Ralph  immediately  de 
clared  he  was  really  inclined  toward  Han 
nah,  but  had  avoided  seeing  her  because 
of  Mirandy's  statement.  He  and  Ralph 
quickly  became  fast  friends.  Now,  the 
schoolmaster  felt,  he  had  a  clear  field  for 
courting. 

Before  Bud  and  Ralph  finished  their 
talk,  Shocky  burst  into  the  schoolhouse 
with  the  news  that  Mr.  Pearson  was 
about  to  be  tarred  and  feathered  by  the 
people  of  Flat  Creek,  who  had  been  led 
by  Pete  Jones  to  believe  the  basket-maker 
was  guilty  of  the  robbery.  Pearson,  too, 
had  seen  three  men  riding  by  on  the 
night  of  the  robbery,  and  Jones  had  de 
cided  the  best  way  to  divert  suspicion 
from  himself  would  be  to  accuse  Shocky 's 
benefactor. 

Hoping  to  protect  the  old  man,  Bud 
Means  started  toward  the  Pearson  home. 
On  the  way  he  met  Jones  to  whom  he 
gave  a  sound  drubbing. 

That  night  Bud  helped  Pearson  to 
escape  to  his  brother's  home  in  the  next 
county.  To  thwart  Pete  Jones*  efforts 
to  have  Shocky  Thomson  bound  out  by 
declaring  the  Pearsons  paupers,  Ralph 
took  the  boy  to  stay  with  his  friend, 
Miss  Nancy  Sawyer,  in  his  home  town 
of  Lewisburg.  His  aunt,  Mrs.  Matilda 
White,  refused  to  have  Shocky's  mother 
in  her  house  because  she  was  a  pauper, 
and  so,  at  Miss  Sawyer's  own  suggestion, 
Mrs.  Thomson  was  brought  to  die  Saw 
yer  home  to  spend  the  weekend  with 
her  son.  Through  Miss  Sawyer's  efforts, 
a  collection  was  taken  up  at  church  that 
Sunday  afternoon,  and  with  that  dona 
tion  and  the  money  she  earned  knitting 
socks,  Mrs.  Thompson  was  able  to  make 
a  home  of  her  own  for  Shocky. 

That  same  Sunday  Bud,  intending  to 
ask  Martha  to  marry  him,  visited  Squire 
Hawkins'  house.  Suddenly  bashful,  he 
told  her  only  of  the  spelling-bee  to  take 
place  at  the  schoolhouse  on  Tuesday 
night.  Shortly  afterward  the  squire  re 
ceived  an  anonymous  letter,  threatening 
him  with  the  burning  of  his  barn  if 


Martha  associated  with  Bud,  the  implica 
tion  being  that  Bud  was  incriminated  in 
the  robbery.  The  squire  persuaded  Mar 
tha  to  ignore  Bud.  Chagrined  by  her  re 
fusal  to  let  him  escort  her  home  from 
the  spelling-bee,  Bud  began  to  cultivate 
Pete  Jones  and  his  friends,  among  them 
Dr.  Small  and  Walter  Johnson,  Ralph's 
cousin. 

Bud  soon  proved  he  was  still  Ralph's 
friend.  One  day  Hannah  brought  Ralph 
a  letter  Bud  had  sent  warning  him  that 
he  was  suspected  of  the  robbery  and 
that  there  was  a  plan  afoot  to  tar  and 
feather  him  that  night.  Ralph  saved 
himself  from  the  mob  by  going  to  a 
nearby  town  and  giving  himself  up  to 
the  authorities  there.  His  trial  was  held 
the  next  day. 

All  of  Flat  Creek  was  present  to  sea 
the  schoolmaster  convicted.  Mrs.  Means 
and  Pete  Jones,  particularly,  were  willing 
to  offer  damaging  testimony,  the  former 
because  Ralph  had  spurned  Mirandy's 
attentions.  It  was  Dr.  Small  who  vin 
dicated  Ralph,  however,  by  overshooting 
the  mark  in  his  anxiety  to  clear  himself 
of  Ralph's  testimony  that  the  doctor  had 
been  out  on  the  night  of  the  robbery. 

Small  had  Walter  Johnson  called  to 
the  stand  to  testify  they  had  spent  the 
evening  together  in  the  physician's  office. 
But  Johnson,  at  a  prayer  meeting  he  had 
attended  with  Bud,  had  been  deeply  im 
pressed  by  the  minister's  warning  of 
eternal  damnation  for  sinners.  Sum 
moned  before  the  court,  he  gave  way  to 
his  guilty  conscience  and  declared  that 
he,  Small,  Pete  Jones,  and  Pete's  brother 
had  committed  the  robbery,  and  that 
Ralph  and  Mr.  Pearson  were  innocent. 

Walter  Johnson  went  free  because  of 
his  testimony,  but  Dr.  Small,  who  had 
been  the  ringleader  o£  the  band,  was 
hanged.  Jones  and  his  brother  were  given 
prison  sentences. 

Ralph  Hartsook  returned  to  Lewisburg 
to  teach  in  a  new  academy  there.  Shortly 
afterward  he  married  Hannah.  At  Ralph's 
wedding  Bud  found  his  courage  at  last 
and  proposed  to  Martha. 


375 


HORSESHOE  ROBINSON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  John  P.  Kennedy  (1795-1870) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1780 

Locale:  The  Carolinas 

First  published:  1835 

Principal  characters: 

SERGEANT  HORSESHOE  ROBINSON,  a  colonial  patriot 

MAJOR  ARTHUR  BUTLER,  his  friend 

MR.  LINDSAY,  a  Loyalist 

MILDRED,  Lindsay's  daughter 

HENRY,  Lindsay's  son 

WAT  ADAIR,  a  Tory 

TYRREL,  a  British  officer 

MARY  MUSGROVE,  a  patriot 

JOHN  RAMSAY,  Mary  s  sweetheart 

Critique: 

Horseshoe  Robinson,  A  Tale  of  the 
Tory  Ascendency  is  a  love  story  and  a 
war  story.  A  good  narrative  description  of 
the  effect  of  the  American  Revolution  on 
the  people  of  the  Carolinas,  the  novel  is 
unspoiled  by  flag-waving  sentimentality. 
Horseshoe  Robinson  is  a  hunter  and  a 
woodsman  with  a  personality  much  like 
that  of  our  common  story-book  concep 
tion  of  early  American  pioneers.  The 
love  story  is  important  in  this  novel,  but 
it  is  trivial  compared  to  the  importance 
of  the  war  itself.  From  a  historical  point 
of  view,  the  book  makes  a  valuable  con 
tribution  with  its  portrayal  of  the  con 
fusion  caused  by  divided  loyalties  be 
tween  England  and  the  Colonies. 


The  Story: 

In  the  secluded  back  country  of  South 
Carolina  two  men  in  the  service  of  the 
revolutionary  colonial  forces  were  travel 
ing  together.  They  were  Major  Arthur 
Butler  and  his  shrewd  sergeant,  a  man 
known  throughout  the  region  as  Horse 
shoe  Robinson,  because  of  his  former 
occupation  as  a  blacksmith.  Although 
they  passed  as  chance  travelers,  they  were 
on  a  secret  mission  to  trace  the  move 
ments  of  the  enemy  and  to  enlist  aid  for 
the  cause  of  colonial  independence. 

Before  setting  out  on  their  dangerous 
journey,  Arthur  Butler  was  moved  to 


stop  near  Dove-Cote,  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Lindsay,  a  Loyalist  gentleman  who 
had  come  to  this  territory  to  live  because 
he  wished  to  avoid  the  conflict  between 
the  colonists  and  the  British  government. 
He  himself  was  loyal  to  the  crown  be 
cause  of  financial  interests  in  England, 
but  his  son  Henry  was  sympathetic  to  the 
American  cause.  Mildred,  Lindsay's 
daughter,  was  in  love  with  Arthur  But 
ler,  but  because  of  the  major's  connec 
tions  with  the  colonial  army  Mr.  Lindsay 
had  forbidden  her  to  see  Butler.  For 
this  reason  they  met  secretly  in  a  grove 
not  far  from  Dove-Cote*  After  the  meet 
ing  she  returned  unseen  to  Mr.  Lindsay's 
house,  and  Butler  and  Horseshoe  Robin 
son  went  to  the  inn  of  Mistress  Dimock, 
not  far  away. 

That  night  at  the  inn  Horseshoe  en 
countered  a  Tory  spy  named  James 
Curry,  a  stealthy  rascal  who  was  passing 
as  the  servant  of  Mr,  Tyrrel,  a  guest  at 
Dove-Cote.  Tyrrel,  a  disguised  British 
officer,  was  often  at  Mr.  Lindsay's  home, 
ostensibly  to  secure  that  gentleman's  aid 
for  the  Loyalists,  but  in  reality  to  court 
Mildred,  who  despised  him  and  every 
thing  he  stood  for.  Seeing  Curry  at  the 
inn,  Horseshoe  knew  that  Tyrrel  was 
again  visiting  Dove-Cote.  Although  he 
let  the  fellow  escape,  he  was  afraid  that 
Tyrrel  and  Curry  might  cause  trouble  for 


376 


Butler  and  himself  on  their  trip  through 
South  Carolina. 

Major  Butler  had  been  sent  "by  General 
Gates  on  a  mission  to  another  rebel  gen 
eral  in  Georgia.  With  Horseshoe  as  a 
companion,  the  major  felt  certain  that 
he  could  complete  his  undertaking.  On 
their  first  night  in  the  forest  Horseshoe 
led  Butler  to  the  home  of  Wat  Adair,  an 
old  friend  whom  he  thought  loyal  to  the 
rebel  cause.  However,  Wat  was  not  a 
true  friend.  Having  been  bought  off  by 
the  Tories,  he  planned  that  night  to 
direct  Butler  and  Horseshoe  to  an  am 
bush  in  the  forest.  But  a  relative  of  Wat, 
Mary  Musgrove,  overheard  Wat  plotting 
with  another  Tory,  and  being  loyal  to 
the  rebels  she  whispered  to  Butler  the 
plans  she  had  learned. 

Through  her  warning  Horseshoe  and 
Butler  avoided  one  trap,  only  to  fall  into 
an  ambush  of  some  rough  Tories,  among 
them  Curry.  Fearing  that  the  drunken 
crew  planned  to  murder  Butler  and  him 
self,  Horseshoe  escaped,  hoping  to  rescue 
Buder  later. 

The  family  of  Mary  Musgrove  was  a 
rebel  family,  and  Horseshoe  proceeded  to 
their  home  to  get  help  in  his  plan.  In 
addition,  the  family  of  Mary's  sweet 
heart,  John  Ramsay,  was  a  rebel  family. 
With  the  Ramsays  and  the  Musgroves, 
Horseshoe  planned  to  engage  the  enemy 
and  bring  Buder  to  safety.  Mary,  pre 
tending  to  be  a  vendor  of  fruit,  was  to 
enter  die  Tory  camp  where  Butler  was 
being  held.  There  she  was  to  communi 
cate  with  the  major  and  give  him  word 
of  his  rescuers*  plans. 

James  Curry  had  charged  Buder  with 
conspiring  to  murder  Mr.  Lindsay,  a 
loyal  subject  of  the  king.  In  order  to  dis 
prove  this  charge,  Horseshoe  returned 
to  Dove-Cote.  Mildred's  distress  at  the 
news  of  her  lover's  arrest  had  caused  her 
father  great  grief,  and  he  relented  his 
stern  stand  against  Butler  and  assured 
Mildred  that  he  would  not  punish  her  for 
her  concern  over  the  major.  When 
Horseshoe  found  Mildred  and  her  brother 
Henry  at  Dove-Cote,  Mr.  Lindsay  had 


gone  off  with  Tyrrel  to  a  meeting  of 
Loyalists  in  a  nearby  town.  Having  heard 
Horseshoe's  account  of  the  charges 
against  Butler,  Mildred  resolved  to  go  to 
Cornwallis,  the  English  general,  and 
plead  with  him  for  Butler's  life.  Mildred 
was  confident  she  could  prove  that  But 
ler  could  never  have  had  designs  on  the 
father  of  the  girl  he  loved.  Accompanied 
by  Henry  Lindsay  and  Horseshoe  Robin 
son,  she  set  out  for  Cornwallis'  head 
quarters. 

John  Ramsay  and  Mary  were  able  to 
effect  Butler's  escape  from  the  camp 
where  he  was  held  prisoner,  but  John 
was  killed  before  they  reached  a  place  of 
safety.  Grief-stricken  by  the  loss  of  her 
sweetheart,  Mary  attended  the  funeral 
services,  which  were  conducted  by  her 
father,  Allen  Musgrove.  While  the  serv 
ices  were  going  on,  they  were  interrupted 
by  some  British  troops,  and  Butler  was 
once  again  taken  prisoner. 

When  Mildred  and  her  two  compan 
ions  succeeded  in  getting  an  interview 
with  Cornwallis,  the  courtly  general  gave 
Mildred  his  promise  that  no  harm  would 
befall  Butler.  While  the  general  was 
speaking  with  Mildred,  he  received  a 
message  that  Butler  had  escaped.  Mil 
dred  set  out  for  Dove-Cote  with  Horse 
shoe  and  her  brother.  On  their  way  they 
met  Mary  Musgrove,  her  family,  and  the 
Ramsays,  who  told  them  of  Butler's  sec 
ond  capture  by  British  troops  from  a 
nearby  camp.  Again  Mildred  resolved 
to  intercede  on  behalf  of  her  lover,  and 
Henry  and  Horseshoe  agreed  to  accom 
pany  her. 

While  Mildred  awaited  an  opportunity 
to  seek  Butler,  the  forces  of  the  Loyalists 
and  the  rebels  were  engaging  in  the 
battle  of  King's  Mountain.  During  the 
fighting  Horseshoe  rescued  Buder  and 
brought  him  safely  back  to  Mildred.  Then 
the  two  lovers  revealed  that  they  had 
been  married  for  over  a  year,  in  a  secret 
ceremony  witnessed  by  Mistress  Dimock 
and  Henry  Lindsay. 

Wat  Adair  was  captured,  and  Horse 
shoe  saw  to  it  that  he  received  just  pun- 


377 


ishment  for  betraying  his  American 
friends.  Wat  told  Horseshoe  that  Tyrrel 
was  really  an  English  general  who  had 
bribed  Wat  to  lead  Butler  and  Horse 
shoe  into  a  trap.  Henry,  who  had  par 
ticipated  in  the  battle,  found  Tyrol's 
body  lying  among  the  dead  and  wounded. 
James  Curry  was  captured  by  rebel 
forces.  It  seemed  certain  that  the  Tory 
ascendency  in  South  Carolina  was  at  an 
end. 

But  the  happy  reunion  of  the  lovers 
was  clouded  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Lindsay. 
When  he  learned  that  Mildred  had  gone 


to  see  Cornwallis,  he  set  out  to  find  her 
before  the  battle  began.  Following  Tyrrel 
toward  the  scene  of  the  fighting,  Mr. 
Lindsay  was  fatally  wounded  and  Tyrrel 
killed.  Mildred  and  Henry  were  able  to 
speak  with  their  father  before  he  died, 
however,  and  he  lived  long  enough  to 
take  the  hands  of  Mildred  and  Butler 
and  forgive  them  for  having  disobeyed 
him.  He  died  shortly  afterward  in  a  de 
lirium  brought  on  by  his  fever. 

Mildred  and  Butler  returned  to  Dove- 
Cote  to  live  a  long  and  prosperous  life 
together. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  ATREUS 

Type  of  -work:  Drama 

Author:  Aeschylus  (525-456  B.C.) 

Type  of  'plot:  Classical  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:  After  the  fafl  of  Troy 

Locale:  Argos 

First  'presented:  458  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 
AGAMEMNON,  the  king 
CLTTEMNESTKA,  his  queen 
CASSANTJKA,  a  Trojan  captive 
AEGISTHUS,  paramour  of  Clytemnestra 
ORESTES,  son  of  Agamemnon 
ELECTRA,  his  sister 

Critique: 

In  the  archonship  of  Philocles,  in  458 
B.C.,  Aeschylus  won  first  prize  with  his 
dramatic  trilogy,  The  House  of  Atreus. 
This  story  of  the  doomed  descendants  of 
the  cruel  and  bloody  Atreus  is  one  of  the 
great  tales  of  classic  literature.  Aeschy 
lus,  building  his  plays  upon  themes  of 
doom  and  revenge,  was  deeply  concerned 
with  moral  law  in  the  Greek  state.  For 
diis  reason  the  moral  issues  of  the  plays 
are  clear  and  steadfast,  simple  and  devas 
tating  in  implication,  especially  the  work 
ing  of  conscience  in  the  character  of 
Orestes.  Agamemnon,  The  Libation-Bear 
ers,  and  The  Furies  are  the  individual 
tides  which  make  up  the  trilogy. 


The   Story: 

The  house  of  Atreus  was  accursed  be 
cause  in  the  great  palace  at  Argos  the 
tyrant,  Atreus,  had  killed  the  children 


of  Thyestes  and  served  their  flesh  to  their 
father  at  a  royal  banquet.  Agamemnon 
and  Menelaus  were  the  sons  of  Atreus. 
When  Helen,  wife  of  Menelaus,  was 
carried  off  by  Paris,  Agamemnon  was 
among  the  Greek  heroes  who  went  with 
his  brother  to  battle  the  Trojans  for  her 
return.  But  on  the  way  to  Troy,  while 
the  fleet  lay  idle  at  Aulis,  Agamemnon 
was  prevailed  upon  to  sacrifice  his  daugh 
ter,  Iphigenia,  to  the  gods.  Hearing  of 
this  deed,  Clytemnestra,  his  wife,  vowed 
revenge.  She  gave  her  son,  Orestes,  into 
the  care  of  the  King  of  Phods,  and  in 
the  darkened  palace  nursed  her  consum 
ing  hate. 

In  her  desire  for  vengeance  she  was 
joined  by  Aegisthus,  surviving  son  of 
Thyestes,  who  had  returned  from  his 
long  exile.  Hate  brought  the  queen  and 
Aegisthus  together  in  a  common  cause; 


378 


they  became  lovers  as  well  as  plotters 
in  crime. 

The  ship  of  Menelaus  having  been  de 
layed  by  a  storm,  Agamemnon  returned 
alone  from  the  Trojan  wars.  A  watch 
man  first  saw  the  lights  of  his  ship  upon 
the  sea  and  brought  to  his  queen  the  news 
of  the  king's  return.  Leaving  his  men 
quartered  in  the  town,  Agamemnon 
drove  to  the  palace  in  his  chariot,  beside 
him  Cassandra,  captive  daughter  of  the 
king  of  Troy  and  an  augeress  of  all  mis 
fortunes  to  come,  who  had  fallen  to 
Agamemnon  in  the  division  of  the  spoils. 
She  had  already  warned  the  king  that 
some  evil  was  to  befall  him. 

Agamemnon,  however,  had  no  sus 
picions  of  his  homecoming,  as  Clytem- 
nestra  came  to  greet  him  at  the  palace 
doorway,  her  armed  retainers  about  her, 
magnificent  carpets  unrolled  for  the  feet 
of  the  conqueror  of  Troy.  Agamemnon 
chided  his  queen  for  the  lavishness  of 
her  reception  and  entered  the  palace  to 
refresh  himself  after  his  long  journey. 
He  asked  Clytemnestra  to  receive  Cas 
sandra  and  to  treat  his  captive  kindly. 

After  Agamemnon  had  retired,  Cly 
temnestra  returned  and  ordered  Cassan 
dra,  who  had  refused  to  leave  the  chariot, 
to  enter  the  palace.  When  Cassandra 
persisted  in  remaining  where  she  was,  the 
queen  declared  she  would  not  demean 
herself  by  bandying  words  with  a  com 
mon  slave  and  a  madwoman.  She  re- 
entered  the  palace.  Cassandra  lifted  her 
face  toward  the  sky  and  called  upon 
Apollo  to  tell  her  why  she  had  been 
brought  to  this  cursed  house.  She  in 
formed  the  spectators  in  front  of  the 
palace  that  Clytemnestra  would  murder 
Agamemnon.  She  lamented  the  fall  of 
Troy,  recalled  the  butchery  of  TKyestes' 
children,  and  the  doom  that  hung  over 
the  sons  of  Atreus,  and  foretold  again 
the  murder  of  Agamemnon  by  his  queen. 
As  she  entered  the  palace,  those  outside 
heard  the  death  cry  of  Agamemnon 
within. 

A  moment  later  Clytemnestra  appeared 
in  the  doorway,  the  bloody  sword  of 


Aegisthus  in  her  hand.  Behind  her  lay 
the  body  of  the  king,  entangled  in  the 
rich  carpets.  Clytemnestra  defended  her 
self  before  the  citizens,  saying  she  had 
killed  the  king  for  the  murder  of  Iphi- 
genia,  and  had  also  killed  Cassandra,  with 
whom  Agamemnon  had  shamed  her 
honor.  Her  deed,  she  told  the  citizens 
defiantly,  had  ended  the  bloody  lust  of 
the  house  of  Atreus. 

Then  she  presented  Aegisthus,  son  of 
Thyestes,  who  asserted  that  his  venge 
ance  was  just  and  that  he  intended  to 
rule  in  the  palace  of  Agamemnon.  Re 
proaches  were  hurled  at  the  guilty  pair. 
There  were  cries  that  Orestes  would 
avenge  his  father's  murder.  Aegisthus 
and  Clytemnestra,  in  a  fury  of  guilty 
horror,  roared  out  their  self-justification 
for  the  crime  and  defied  the  gods  them 
selves  to  end  their  seizure  of  power. 

Orestes,  grown  to  manhood,  returned 
from  the  land  of  Phocis,  to  discover  that 
his  mother  and  Aegisthus  had  murdered 
his  father.  He  mourned  his  father's 
death  and  asked  the  king  of  the  gods  to 
give  him  ability  to  take  vengeance  upon 
the  guilty  pair.  Electra,  daughter  of 
Agamemnon,  also  mourned  and  cursed 
the  murderers.  Encountering  her  brother, 
she  did  not  at  first  recognize  him,  for 
he  appeared  in  the  disguise  of  a  mes 
senger  who  brought  word  of  the  death 
of  Orestes.  They  met  at  their  father's 
tomb,  where  he  made  himself  known  to 
his  sister.  There  he  begged  his  father's 
spirit  to  give  him  strength  in  his  under 
taking,  Electra  assured  him  nothing  but 
evil  could  befall  any  of  the  descendants 
of  Atreus  and  welcomed  the  quick  fulfill 
ment  of  approaching  doom. 

Learning  that  Clytemnestra  had  once 
dreamed  of  suckling  a  snake  which  drew 
blood  from  her  breast,  Orestes  saw  in  this 
dream  the  image  of  himself  and  the  deed 
he  intended  to  commit.  He  went  to  the 
palace  in  disguise  and  killed  Aegisthus. 
Then  he  confronted  Clytemnestra,  his 
sword  dripping  with  the  blood  of  his 
mother's  lover,  and  struck  her  down. 

Orestes  displayed  the  two  bodies  to 


379 


the  people  and  announced  to  Apollo  that 
he  had  done  the  deed  required  of  him. 
But  he  realized  that  he  must  suffer  for 
his  terrible  crime.  He  began  to  go  mad 
as  Furies,  sent  by  his  mother's  dead  spirit, 
pursued  him. 

The  Furies  drove  Orestes  from  land 
to  land.  Finally  he  took  refuge  in  a 
temple,  but  the  Pythian  priestess  claimed 
the  temple  was  profaned  by  the  presence 
of  the  horrible  Furies,  who  lay  asleep 
near  Orestes.  Then  Apollo  appeared  to 
tell  Orestes  that  he  had  put  the  Furies 
to  sleep  so  the  haunted  man  could  get 
some  rest.  He  advised  Orestes  to  visit 
the  temple  of  Pallas  Athena  and  there 
gain  full  absolution  for  his  crime. 

Wbile  Orestes  listened,  the  ghost  of 
Clytemnestra  spitefully  aroused  the 
Furies  and  commanded  them  to  torture 
Orestes  again.  When  Apollo  ordered  the 
Furies  to  leave,  the  creatures  accused  him 
of  blame  for  the  murder  of  Clytemnestra 
and  Aegisthus  and  the  punishment  of 
Orestes.  The  god  confessed  he  had  de 
manded  the  death  of  Agamemnon's  mur 
derers.  He  was  told  that  by  his  demands 
he  had  caused  an  even  greater  crime, 
matricide.  Apollo  said  Athena  should 
decide  the  justice  of  the  case. 

In  Athens,  in  the  temple  of  the  god 


dess,  Orestes  begged  Athena  to  help  him. 
Replying  the  case  was  too  grave  for  her 
to  decide  alone,  she  called  upon  the 
judges  to  help  her  reach  a  wise  decision. 
There  were  some  who  believed  the  an 
cient  laws  would  be  weakened  if  evidence 
were  presented,  and  they  claimed  Orestes 
deserved  his  terrible  punishment. 

When  Orestes  asked  why  Clytem 
nestra  had  not  been  persecuted  for  the 
murder  of  Agamemnon,  he  was  told  her 
crime  had  not  been  the  murder  of  a 
blood  relative,  as  his  was.  Apollo  was 
another  witness  at  the  trial.  He  claimed 
the  mother  was  not  the  true  parent,  that 
the  father,  who  planted  the  seed  in  the 
mother's  womb,  was  the  real  parent,  as 
shown  in  the  tracing  of  descent  through 
the  male  line.  Therefore,  Orestes  was 
not  guilty  of  the  murder  of  a  true  mem 
ber  of  his  blood  family. 

The  judges  decided  in  favor  of  Orestes. 
There  were  many,  however,  who  in  an 
angry  rage  cursed  and  condemned  the 
land  where  such  a  judgment  might  pre 
vail.  They  cried  woe  upon  the  younger 
gods  and  all  those  who  tried  to  wrest 
ancient  rights  from  the  hands  of  estab 
lished  tradition.  But  Athena  upheld  the 
judgment  of  the  court  and  Orestes  was 
freed  from  the  anger  of  the  Furies. 


THE  HOUSE  OF  MIRTH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edith  Wharton  (1862-1937) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  New  York 

First  published:  1905 

Principal  characters: 

LILY  BART,  a  social  schemer 
MR.  SEUDEN,  her  friend 
MR.  ROSEDALE,  a  financier 
PERCY  GRYCE,  an  eligible  young  man 
Gus  TRENOR,  a  wealthy  socialite 
JUDY  TRENOR,  his  wife 
BERTHA  DORSET,  who  hated  Lily 
GEORGE  DORSET,  Bertha's  husband 

Critique: 

The  House  of  Mirth  is  still  popular 
among  readers  who  enjoy  stories  about 


the  social  life  of  the  early  part  of  tnis 
century.    The  theme  of  the  book  is  a 


380 


criticism  of  the  emptiness  and  folly  of 
life  among  the  idle  rich.  Lily  Bart 
sacrificed  herself,  her  principles,  her 
chance  for  real  love,  and  even  her  life, 
in  a  vain  attempt  to  find  a  life  of  ease 
for  herself.  The  conflict  arose  when  her 
better  nature  exerted  itself.  In  that  re 
spect  she  was  superior  to  those  who 
scorned  her,  for  most  of  them  had  no 
redeeming  qualities  of  character.  The 
story  is  easily  read,  for  it  is  written  with 
Edith  Wharton's  usual  skill. 

The  Story: 

Selden  enjoyed  watching  Lily  Bart  put 
a  new  plan  into  operation.  She  was  a 
very  beautiful  and  clever  young  lady, 
and  no  matter  how  impromptu  any 
action  of  hers  appeared,  Selden  knew 
that  she  never  moved  without  a  definitely 
worked  out  plan. 

Lily  had  almost  no  money  of  her 
own;  her  beauty  and  her  good  family 
background  were  her  only  assets.  Her 
father  had  died  soon  after  a  reversal  of 
his  financial  affairs,  and  her  mother  had 
drilled  into  her  the  idea  that  a  wealthy 
marriage  was  her  only  salvation.  After 
her  mother's  death,  Lily  was  taken  in 
by  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Peniston.  Mrs.  Penis- 
ton  supplied  her  with  fashionable  clothes 
and  a  good  home,  but  Lily  needed 
jewels,  gowns,  and  cash  to  play  bridge 
if  she  were  to  move  in  a  social  circle 
filled  by  wealthy  and  eligible  men. 

Mr.  Rosedale,  a  Jewish  financier, 
would  gladly  have  married  Lily  and 
provided  her  with  a  huge  fortune,  for 
he  wanted  to  be  accepted  into  the 
society  in  which  Lily  moved.  But  Lily 
thought  that  she  still  had  other  prospects 
less  repulsive  to  her,  the  most  likely  one 
being  Percy  Gryce,  who  lived  protected 
from  scheming  women  by  his  watchful 
widowed  mother. 

Lily  used  her  knowledge  of  his  quiet 
life  to  her  advantage.  Selden,  Lily,  and 
Gryce  were  all  house  guests  at  the  home 
of  Gus  and  Judy  Trenor,  and  the  op 


portunity  was  a  perfect  one  for  Lily, 
who  assumed  the  part  of  a  shy,  demure 
young  girl.  But  when  Gryce  was  ready 
to  propose,  she  let  the  chance  slip  away 
from  her,  for  Lily  really  hated  the  kind 
of  person  she  had  become.  In  addition, 
although  Selden  was  poor  and  offered 
her  no  escape  from  her  own  poverty,  she 
was  attracted  to  him  because  only  he 
really  understood  her. 

Gus  Trenor  offered  to  invest  some  of 
Lily's  small  income,  and  over  a  period 
of  time  he  returned  to  her  more  than 
eight  thousand  dollars,  which  he  assured 
her  was  profit  on  the  transaction.  With 
that  amount  she  was  able  to  pay  most 
of  her  creditors  and  reopen  her  charge 
accounts.  Gus  seemed  to  think,  how 
ever,  that  his  wise  investment  on  her 
account  should  make  them  better  friends 
than  Lily  felt  was  desirable. 

In  the  meantime,  Lily  unexpectedly 
got  possession  of  some  letters  which 
Bertha  Dorset  had  written  to  Selden. 
Bertha  had  once  loved  Selden,  but  George 
Dorset's  fortune  was  great  and  she  had 
left  Selden  for  George.  She  continued 
to  write  to  Selden  after  her  marriage. 

When  Gus  Trenor  began  to  get  more 
insistent  in  his  demands  for  Lily's  com 
panionship,  she  became  really  worried. 
She  knew  that  people  were  talking  about 
her  a  great  deal  and  that  her  position  in 
society  was  precarious.  She  turned  to 
Selden  for  advice.  He  told  her  that  he 
loved  her  for  what  she  could  be,  but 
that  he  could  give  her  nothing  now.  He 
had  no  money,  and  he  would  not  even 
offer  her  his  love  because  he  could  not 
love  her  as  she  was,  a  scheming,  ruthless 
fortune-hunter. 

One  night  Lily  received  a  message 
that  Judy  Trenor  wanted  her  to  call. 
When  she  arrived  at  the  Trenor  home, 
Lily  found  Gus  there  alone.  He  had  sent 
the  message.  Gus  told  her  then  that  the 
money  had  not  been  profit  on  her  in 
vestment,  but  a  gift  from  him.  When 
he  intimated  that  she  had  always  known 


THE  HOUSE  OF  MIRTH  by  Edith  Wharton.    By  peramsion  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner'*  Son*.    Copy 
right,  1905,  by  Charles  Scribner'*  Sons.   Renewed,  1933,  by  Edith  Wharton. 


381 


the  money  was  from  him  personally, 
Lily  was  terrified,  but  at  last  she  man 
aged  to  get  out  of  the  house.  She  knew 
then  that  there  was  only  one  thing  for 
her  to  do.  She  must  accept  Rosedale's 
offer  of  marriage.  But  before  she  wrote 
to  Rosedale  accepting  his  offer,  the  Dor- 
sets  invited  her  to  take  a  Mediterranean 
cruise  on  their  yacht.  The  moment  of 
decision  was  postponed  for  a  time. 

Selden  also  left  New  York.  Unknown 
to  her,  he  had  seen  Lily  leave  the  Trenor 
house  on  the  night  Gus  had  tricked  her 
into  thinking  Judy  wanted  her  to  call. 
Selden  had  always  refused  to  believe 
the  unsavory  stories  circulating  about 
Lily,  but  the  evidence  of  his  own  eyes, 
he  thought,  was  too  plain  to  be  ignored. 
When  he  met  Lily  abroad,  he  treated  her 
with  courteous  disinterest. 

Lily  returned  to  New  York.  Her  aunt, 
Mrs.  Peniston,  had  died,  leaving  Lily 
ten  thousand  dollars.  Lily  planned  to 
repay  Gus  Trenor  with  her  inheritance, 
and  she  found  intolerable  the  delay  in 
settling  her  aunt's  estate.  Meanwhile 
Bertha  Dorset's  insinuations  about  Lily's 
conduct  abroad,  coupled  with  the  talk 
about  Lily  and  Gus  Trenor,  finished 
Lily's  reputation.  She  took  various 
positions,  until  at  last  she  was  reduced 
to  working  in  the  factory  of  a  milliner. 
She  had  first  offeied  to  accept  Rosedale's 
former  proposal  of  marriage,  but  she  was 
no  longer  useful  to  Rosedale  since  her 
fall  from  favor,  and  he  refused  to  marry 
her.  He  knew  that  Lily  had  the  letters 
Bertha  had  written  Selden,  and  he  also 
knew  that  George  Dorset  no  longer  loved 
his  wife  and  would  gladly  marry  Lily. 
It  seemed  to  Rosedale  that  Lily  had  only 
two  alternatives,  either  to  take  George 
Dorset  away  from  Bertha  or  to  go  to 
Bertha  with  the  letters  and  force  her 
to  receive  Lily  once  more. 

At  first  Lily's  feeling  for  Selden  made 


her  shrink  from  doing  anything  that 
would  harm  him.  Then  she  lost  her 
position.  Without  money  to  buy  food 
or  to  pay  for  her  room  in  a  dingy  board 
ing-house,  she  reluctantly  took  the  letters 
and  started  to  the  Dorset  home.  On  the 
way  she  stopped  to  see  Selden.  When 
he  again  told  her  that  he  loved  her,  or 
rather  that  he  would  love  her  if  she 
would  only  give  up  her  greed  for  wealth 
and  position,  she  gave  up  her  plan  and, 
unseen  by  him,  dropped  the  letters  into 
the  fireplace.  Then  she  thanked  him  for 
the  kindness  he,  and  he  alone,  had  given 
her,  and  walked  out  into  the  night. 

When  she  returned  to  her  room,  she 
found  the  check  for  the  ten  thousand 
dollars  of  her  inheritance.  She  sat  down 
at  once  and  wrote  a  check  to  Gus  Trenor 
for  the  amount  she  owed  him  and  put 
it  in  an  envelope.  In  another  envelope 
she  placed  the  ten  thousand  dollar  check 
and  addressed  the  envelope  to  her  bank. 
She  put  the  two  envelopes  side  by  side 
on  her  desk  before  she  lay  down  to 
sleep. 

But  sleep  would  not  come.  At  last 
she  took  from  her  bureau  a  bottle  of 
chloral,  which  she  had  bought  for  those 
nights  when  she  could  not  sleep.  She 
poured  the  contents  of  the  bottle  into  a 
glass  and  drank  the  whole.  Then  she 
lay  down  again  upon  her  bed. 

The  next  morning,  feeling  a  sudden 
need  to  see  Lily  at  once,  Selden  went 
early  to  her  rooming-house.  There  he 
found  a  doctor  already  in  attendance 
and  Lily  dead  from  an  overdose  of 
chloral.  On  her  desk  he  saw  the  two 
envelopes.  The  stub  of  the  open  check 
book  beside  them  told  the  whole  story 
of  Lily's  last  effort  to  get  her  accounts 
straight  before  she  died.  He  knew  then 
that  his  love  for  her  had  been  justified, 
but  the  words  he  spoke  as  he  knelt  by 
her  bed  came  too  late. 


382 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  SEVEN  GABLES 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  (1804-1864) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1850 

Locale:  Salem,  Massachusetts 

First  published:  1851 

Principal  characters: 

Miss  HEPZIBAH  PYNCHEON,  a  spinster 
CLIFFORD  PYNCHEON,  her  brother 
JUDGE  JAFFREY  PYNCHEON,  a  kinsman 
PHOEBE  PYNCHEON,  a  distant  cousin 
MR.  HOLGRAVE,  Miss  Hepzibah's  lodger 

Critique: 

The  theme  of  Hawthorne's  justly  fam 
ous  novel  is  obviously  that  the  sins  of 
the  fathers  are  passed  on  to  the  children 
in  succeeding  generations.  In  the  in 
genious  plot  of  this  novel  the  reader 
watches  the  gradual  expiation  of  old 
Matthew  Maule's  curse  on  the  Pyncheon 
family,  as  youth  in  the  guise  of  Phoebe 
and  Holgrave  enters  the  old  house.  Evi 
dent  in  the  finely-written  pages  of  The 
House  of  the  Seven  Gables  is  the  author's 
lively  interest  in  New  England  history, 
and  his  increasing  doubts  about  a  mori 
bund  New  England  that  looked  back 
ward  to  past  times. 


The  Story: 

The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables  was  a 
colonial  house  built  in  the  English  style 
of  half-timber  and  half-plaster.  It  stood 
on  Pyncheon  Street  in  quiet  Salem.  The 
house  had  been  built  by  Colonel  Pyn 
cheon,  who  had  wrested  the  desirable 
site  from  Matthew  Maule,  a  poor  man 
executed  as  a  wizard.  Because  Colonel 
Pyncheon  was  responsible  and  because 
he  was  taking  the  doomed  man's  land, 
Maule  at  the  moment  of  his  execution  de 
clared  that  God  would  give  the  Pyn- 
cheons  blood  to  drink.  But  in  spite  of 
this  grim  prophecy  the  colonel  had  his 
house,  and  its  builder  was  Thomas 
Maule,  son  of  the  old  wizard. 

Colonel  Pyncheon,  dying  in  his  great 
oak  chair  just  after  the  house  had  been 
completed,  choked  with  blood  so  that 


his  shirt  front  wa/  turned  soarlet.  Al 
though  doctors  explained  the  cause  of 
his  death  as  apoplexy,  the  townsfolk  had 
not  forgotten  old  Maule's  prophecy.  The 
time  of  the  coloriters  death  was  inaus 
picious.  It  was  slid  he  had  just  com 
pleted  a  treaty  by  which,  he  had  bought 
huge  tracts  of  land  from  the  Indians, 
but  this  deed  had  not  been  confirmed  by 
the  general  court  and  was  never  discov 
ered  by  any  of  his  heirs.  Rumor  also  had 
it  that  a  man  was  seen  leaving  the  house 
about  the  time  Colonel  Pyncheon  died. 

More  recently  another  startling  event 
had  occurred  at  the  House  of  the  Seven 
Gables.  Jaffrey  Pyncheon,  a  bachelor, 
had  been  found  dead  in  the  colonel's 
great  oaken  armchair,  and  his  nephew, 
Clifford  Pyncheon,  had  been  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  after  being  found  guilty 
of  the  murder  of  his  uncle. 

These  events  were  in  the  unhappy 
past,  however,  and  in  1850,  the  House 
of  the  Seven  Gables  was  the  home  of 
Miss  Hepzibah  Pyncheon,  an  elderly, 
single  woman,  who  let  one  wing  of  the 
old  house  to  a  young  man  of  radical 
tendencies,  a  maker  of  daguerreotypes, 
whose  name  was  Mr.  Holgrave. 

Miss  Hepzibah  was  about  to  open  a 
shop  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  her  house. 
Her  brother  Clifford  was  coming  home 
from  the  state  prison  after  thirty  years, 
and  she  had  to  earn  money  in  some  way 
to  support  him.  But  on  the  first  day  of 
her  venture  as  a  storekeeper  Miss  Hepzi- 


3o3 


bah  proved  to  be  a  failure.  The  situa 
tion  was  saved,  however,  by  the  arrival 
of  young  Phoebe  Pyncheon  from  the 
country.  Soon  she  was  operating  the 
shop  at  a  profit, 

Clifford  arrived  from  the  prison  a 
broken  man  of  childish,  querulous  ways. 
Once  he  tried  to  throw  himself  from  a 
big  arched  window  which  afforded  him 
almost  his  only  contact  with  the  outside 
world.  He  was  fond  of  Phoebe,  but  Miss 
Hepzibah  irritated  him  with  her  sullen 
scowling.  For  acquaintances  Clifford  had 
Uncle  Venner,  a  handy  man  who  did 
odd  jobs  for  the  neighborhood,  and  the 
tenant  of  the  house,  Mr.  Holgrave,  the 
daguerreotypist 

The  only  other  relative  living  in  town 
was  the  highly-respected  Judge  Pyn 
cheon,  another  nephew  of  the  old  Jaffrey 
Pyncheon,  for  whose  murder  Clifford 
had  spent  thirty  years  in  prison.  He  was, 
in  fact,  the  heir  of  the  murdered  man 
and  he  had  been  somehow  involved  with 
Clifford's  arrest  and  imprisonment.  For 
these  reasons  Clifford  refused  to  see  him 
when  the  judge  offered  to  give  Clifford 
and  Hepzibah  a  home  at  his  countryseat. 

Meanwhile,  Phoebe  had  become 
friendly  with  Mr,  Holgrave.  In  turn,  he 
thought  that  she  brought  light  and  hope 
into  the  gloomy  old  house,  and  he  missed 
her  greatly  when  she  returned  to  her 
home  in  the  country.  Her  visit  was  to  be 
a  brief  one,  however,  for  she  had  gone 
only  to  make  some  preparations  before 
coming  to  live  permanently  with  Miss 
Hepzibah  and  Clifford. 

Before  Phoebe  returned  from  the 
country,  Judge  Pyncheon  visited  the 
House  of  the  Seven  Gables  and,  over 
Miss  Hepzibah's  protest,  insisted  on  see 
ing  Clifford,  who,  he  said,  knew  a  fam 
ily  secret  which  meant  great  wealth  for 
the  judge.  When  at  last  she  went  out 
of  the  room  to  summon  her  brother,  Judge 
Pyncheon  sat  down  in  the  old  chair  by 
the  fireplace,  over  which  hung  the  por 
trait  of  the  Colonel  Pyncheon  who  had 
built  the  house.  As  the  judge  sat  in  the 
old  chair,  his  ticking  watch  in  his  hand, 


an  unusually  strong  family  likeness  could 
be  noted  between  the  stern  judge  and  his 
Puritan  ancestor  in  the  portrait.  Un 
able  to  find  Clifford,  to  deliver  the  judge's 
message,  Miss  Hepzibah  returned.  As 
she  approached  the  door,  Clifford  ap 
peared  from  within,  laughing  and  point 
ing  to  the  chair  where  the  judge  sat 
dead  of  apoplexy  under  the  portrait  of 
the  old  colonel.  His  shirt  front  was 
stained  with  blood.  The  wizard's  curse 
had  been  fulfilled  once  more;  God  had 
given  him  blood  to  drink. 

The  two  helpless  old  people  were  so 
distressed  by  the  sight  of  the  dead  man 
that  they  crept  away  from  the  house 
without  notifying  anyone  and  departed 
on  the  train.  The  dead  body  of  the  judge 
remained  seated  in  the  chair. 

It  was  some  time  before  the  body  was 
discovered  by  Holgrave.  When  Phoebe 
returned  to  the  house,  he  admitted  her. 
He  had  not  yet  summoned  the  police 
because  he  wished  to  protect  the  old 
couple  as  long  as  possible.  While  he  and 
Phoebe  were  alone  in  the  house,  Hol 
grave  declared  his  love  for  her.  They 
were  interrupted  by  the  return  of  Miss 
Hepzibah  and  the  now  calm  Clifford. 
They  had  decided  that  to  run  away  would 
not  solve  their  problem. 

The  police  attributed  the  judge's  death 
to  natural  causes,  and  Clifford,  Miss  Hep 
zibah,  and  Phoebe  became  the  heirs  to 
his  great  fortune.  It  now  seemed  certain 
that  Jaffrey  Pyncheon  had  also  died  of 
natural  causes,  not  by  Clifford's  hand, 
and  that  the  judge  had  so  arranged  the 
evidence  as  to  make  Clifford  appear  a 
murderer. 

In  a  short  time  all  the  occupants  of 
the  House  o£  the  Seven  Gables  were 
ready  to  move  to  the  judge's  country  es 
tate  which  they  had  inherited.  They  gath 
ered  for  the  last  time  in  the  old  room 
under  the  dingy  portrait  of  Colonel 
Pyncheon.  Clifford  said  he  had  a  vague 
memory  of  something  mysterious  con 
nected  with  the  picture.  Holgrave  offered 
to  explain  the  mystery  and  pressed  a  se 
cret  spring  near  the  picture.  When  he 


384 


did  so,  the  portrait  fell  to  the  floor,  dis 
closing  a  recess  in  the  wall.  From  this 
niche  Holgrave  drew  out  the  ancient 
Indian  deed  to  the  lands  which  the  Pyn- 
cheons  had  claimed.  Clifford  then  re 
membered  he  had  once  found  the  secret 
spring.  It  was  this  secret  which  Judge 
Pyncheon  had  hoped  to  learn  from  Clif 
ford. 

Phoebe  asked  how  Holgrave  happened 
to  know  these  facts.  The  young  man  ex 
plained  his  name  was  not  Holgrave,  but 
Maule.  He  was,  he  said,  a  descendant 


of  the  wizard,  Matthew  Maule,  and  of 
Thomas  Maule  who  built  the  House  of 
the  Seven  Gables.  The  knowledge  of 
the  hidden  Indian  deed  had  been  handed 
down  to  the  descendants  of  Thomas 
Maule,  who  built  the  compartment  be 
hind  the  portrait  and  secreted  the  deed 
there  after  the  colonel's  death.  Hol 
grave  was  the  last  of  the  Maules  and 
Phoebe,  the  last  of  the  Pyncheons,  would 
bear  his  name.  Matthew  Maule's  curse 
had  been  expiated. 


HOW  GREEN  WAS  MY  VALLEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Richard  Llewellyn  (Richard  D.  V.  Llewellyn  Lloyd,  1907- 

Type  of  'plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:   Wales 

First  published:    1940 

Principal  characters: 

GWILYM  MORGAN,  a  Welsh  miner 

BETH  MORGAN,  his  wife 

Huw  MORGAN,  their  son  and  the  narrator 

IVOR, 

DAVY, 

OWEN, 

IANTO,  and 

GWILYM,  other  sons 

ANGHARAJ>,  their  daughter 

BRONWEN,  Ivor's  wife 

MARGED,  Gwilym's  wife 

LESTYN  EVANS,  Angharad's  husband 


Critique: 

How  Green  Was  My  Valley  is  a 
story  of  the  life  of  a  Welsh  boy,  seen 
through  the  eyes  of  an  old  man  who  has 
only  memory  to  sustain  him.  The  novel 
was  published  during  the  war  years,  and 
perhaps  the  strife  that  was  everywhere 
then  accounted  somewhat  for  its  great 
popularity.  There  was  trouble  in  the 
lives  of  the  people  we  meet  in  this  story, 
but  the  kindness  of  the  main  characters 
was  so  great  that  even  death  seemed 
gentle  and  not  to  be  feared.  The  novel 
is  simply  and  beautifully  told. 


The  Story: 

How  beautiful  and  peaceful  the  val 
ley  looked  to  Huw  Morgan  when  he  was 
ready  to  leave  it!  All  the  memories  of 
a  long  lifetime  came  back  to  him. 

Huw's  earliest  memories  were  of  his 
father  and  brothers  when  they  came 
home  from  the  mines  on  Saturday  night 
There  was  trouble  brewing  at  the  mines. 
The  men  talked  of  unions  and  organiz' 
ing,  and  the  owners  were  angry. 

Huw  loved  his  family  very  much,  and 
when  he  learned  that  his  brother  Ivor 
was  to  marry  he  was  sorry  to  lose  his 


HOW  GREEN  WAS  MY  VALLEY  by  Richard  Llewellyn.    By  permission  of  Curtis  Brown,  Ltd.,  and  the  pub 
lishers,  The  Macmillan  Co.   Copyright,  1940,  by  Richard  D.  V.  Llewellyn  Lloyd. 


385 


brother.  But  from  the  first  moment  Huw 
saw  Ivor's  Bronwen,  he  loved  her,  and 
that  love  for  his  sister-in-law  stayed  with 
him  all  of  his  life. 

Another  Brother,  lanto,  married  soon 
afterward.  His  wife  was  a  girl  from 
the  village,  where  lanto  went  to  live. 

Trouble  came  at  last  to  the  mines. 
The  men  in  the  pits  went  on  strike  for 
twenty-two  weeks,  but  the  owners  were 
the  stronger  because  they  were  not  watch 
ing  their  families  starve.  The  men  finally 
went  back  to  work  for  less  money  than 
before.  After  that  first  strike,  the  father 
would  never  again  join  the  men  trying 
to  form  a  union,  for  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  lead  men  out  of  work.  Davy 
and  the  other  hoys,  however,  were  more 
bitter  than  ever.  When  the  father 
ordered  his  sons  never  to  attend  another 
meeting,  Davey,  Owen,  and  Gwilym  left 
home  and  took  a  room  in  a  lodging- 
house.  Their  mother  cried  all  night,  but 
the  father  would  not  change  his  mind. 
It  was  a  miserable  time  for  six-year-old 
Huw.  When  his  sister  Angharad  found 
that  the  three  boys  were  living  in  filth, 
she  went  to  the  rooming-house  to  take 
care  of  them.  Then  the  father  relented 
and  allowed  the  boys  to  come  home,  but 
he  said  that  they  would  be  lodgers  only, 
not  sons. 

After  the  father  became  superintendent 
at  the  mine,  Huw  heard  some  of  the  min 
ers  say  that  his  father  and  Ivor,  who 
agreed  with  him,  might  be  beaten  or 
even  killed  hy  some  of  the  more  violent 
miners.  Frightened,  he  told  his  mother 
what  he  had  heard.  One  winter  night 
she  and  Huw  went  to  the  mountain 
where  the  miners  were  meeting,  and  she 
told  the  men  there  that  she  would  kill 
anyone  who  harmed  her  husband.  On 
the  way  home  his  mother  slipped  on  the 
bank  of  a  little  river.  Huw,  standing  in 
the  icy  water,  supported  his  mother  on 
the  bank  until  help  came.  After  that 
he  knew  nothing  until  he  awoke  in  his 
bed  and  his  father  told  him  that  he  had 
saved  his  mother's  life  and  the  life  of  his 
new  baby  sister.  Huw  had  fever  in  his 


legs  for  almost  five  years  and  never  left 
his  bed  during  that  time. 

During  his  sickness  Bronwen  nursed 
him  and  his  brothers  read  to  him  until 
he  was  far  beyond  his  years  in  learning. 
While  he  was  in  bed,  he  first  met  the 
new  minister,  Mr.  Gruffydd,  who  was  to 
become  his  best  friend. 

Huw's  brother  Owen  fell  in  love  with 
Marged  Evans.  When  Marged's  father 
found  Owen  kissing  Marged,  he  said 
terrible  things  to  the  boy,  so  that  Owen 
would  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
Marged.  Gwilym  married  her,  for  he 
had  always  loved  her. 

lanto's  wife  died  and  he  came  home 
to  live.  By  this  time  Huw,  well  once 
more,  went  to  the  National  School,  over 
the  mountain.  He  had  many  fights  be 
fore  he  was  accepted  by  the  other  boys, 

Angharad  and  lestyn  Evans,  the  son 
of  the  mine  owner,  began  to  keep  com 
pany,  but  Angharad  did  not  seem  to  be 
happy.  It  was  some  time  before  Huw 
learned  that  Angharad  loved  Mr. 
Gruffydd  but  that  he  could  not  take  a 
wife  because  he  was  poor.  Huw  began 
to  think  love  caused  heartache  instead 
of  happiness. 

One  day  he  took  a  basket  of  food  to 
Gwilym's  house,  and  there  he  found 
Marged  completely  mad.  Thinking  he 
was  Owen,  she  told  him  she  could  not 
live  without  him.  Huw  ran  to  find 
Gwilym.  Before  he  returned  with  his 
brother,  Marged  had  thrown  herself  into 
the  fire  and  burned  to  death.  Afterward 
Gwilyrn  and  Owen  went  away  together, 
no  one  knew  where. 

lestyn  Evans'  father  died,  and  soon 
after  lestyn  and  Angharad  were  married 
in  London.  Davy  was  married  before 
they  came  home,  and  for  the  wedding 
Huw  had  his  first  long  trousers.  Bron 
wen  told  him  that  he  was  now  a  man. 

Shortly  afterward  Huw  was  put  out 
of  school  for  giving  the  teacher  a  beating 
because  he  had  made  a  small  child  wear 
around  her  neck  a  sign  announcing  that 
she  was  Welsh.  Huw  went  to  work  in 
the  pits  with  his  brothers.  Owen  and 


386 


Gwilym  had  returned  home  and  all  the 
Kays  lived  again  in  the  valley.  But  soon 
Owen  had  a  telegram  from  London 
about  an  engine  he  was  trying  to  per 
fect,  and  he  and  Gwilym  left  again. 
From  London  they  went  to  America. 
Soon  afterward  Davy  went  to  London 
on  mine  union  business. 

Angharad  came  home  from  London 
alone,  lestyn  having  gone  to  Cape  Town 
on  business.  Soon  gossip  started  because 
Mr.  Gruffydd  and  Angharad  often  took 
carriage  rides  together.  Finally  Angharad 
left  the  valley  and  went  to  Cape  Town. 
Mr.  Gruffydd  also  left  the  valley. 

When  Ivor  was  killed  in  a  cave-in  at 
the  mine,  Huw's  mother  sent  him  to  live 
with  Bronwen  in  her  loneliness.  Dis 
charged  from  the  mines  for  striking  one 


of  the  workmen  who  made  a  slurring 
remark  about  Angharad  and  Mr.  Gruf 
fydd,  Huw  became  a  carpenter.  lanto 
had  already  left  the  pits  and  only  his 
father  and  Davy  were  left  in  the  mines. 
Davy  decided  to  go  to  New  Zealand, 
lanto  went  to  Germany,  where  he 
thought  he  could  do  better  in  his  trade. 
The  family  was  now  scattered. 

One  day  the  workers  flooded  the  mines 
and  Huw's  father  was  crushed  by  a  cave- 
in.  Huw  crawled  to  his  father  and 
stayed  with  him  until  he  died.  Huw's 
heart  was  as  empty  as  his  mother's  when 
he  told  her  the  terrible  news. 

Everyone  of  whom  Huw  had  thought 
during  this  reverie  was  now  dead.  He 
walked  slowly  away  from  his  valley  and 
from  his  memories. 


HUCKLEBERRY  FINN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L.  Clemens,  1835-1910) 

Type  of  'plot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  ^plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Along  the  Mississippi  River 

First  published:  1885 

Principal  characters: 
HUCKLEBERRY  FINN 
TOM  SAWYEE,  his  friend 
JIM,  a  Negro  slave 

Critique: 

Not  to  have  read  The  Adventures  of 
Huckleberry  Finn  is  nearly  as  sad  as  never 
having  been  to  a  circus  or  never  having 
played  baseball  with  the  neighborhood 
gang.  Huck  is  every  young  boy  who 
ever  lived,  and  he  is  also  an  individual 
worth  knowing.  He  swears  and  smokes, 
but  he  has  a  set  of  ethics  of  his  own. 
Reared  haphazardly  in  the  South,  he 
believes  that  slaves  belong  to  their  right 
ful  owners,  yet  in  his  honest  gratitude 
toward  his  friend  Jim,  he  helps  him 
escape  his  slavery.  Huck  could  not  bear 
to  cheat  the  three  Wilks  girls,  but  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  steal  food  when  he  was 
hungry.  Huck  talks  with  a  lowbrow  dia 
lect,  but  he  is  keen-witted  and  intelligent. 


He  tells  his  story  with  a  straight-faced 
forwardness,  but  the  reader  finds  laughter 
and  shrewd,  sharp  comment  on  human 
nature  in  every  chapter  of  his  adventures 
along  the  Mississippi. 

The  Story: 

Tom  Sawyer  and  Huckleberry  Finn 
had  found  a  box  of  gold  in  a  robber's 
cave.  After  Judge  Thatcher  had  taken 
the  money  and  invested  it  for  the  boys, 
each  had  a  huge  allowance  of  a  dollar 
a  day.  The  Widow  Douglas  and  her  sis 
ter,  Miss  Watson,  had  taken  Huck  home 
with  them  to  try  to  reform  him.  At  first 
Huck  could  not  stand  living  in  a  tidy 
house  where  smoking  and  swearing  were 


HUCKLEBERRY  FINN  by  Mark  Twain.   Published  by  Harper  &  Brothers 


387 


forbidden.  Worse,  he  had  to  go  to 
school  and  learn  how  to  read.  But  he 
managed  to  drag  himself  to  school  almost 
every  day,  except  for  the  times  when  he 
sneaked  off  for  a  smoke  in  the  woods  or 
to  go  fishing  in  the  Mississippi. 

Life  was  beginning  to  become  bearable 
to  him  when  one  day  he  noticed  some 
tracks  in  the  snow.  Examining  them 
closely,  he  realized  that  they  belonged  to 
the  worthless  father  whom  Huck  had  not 
seen  for  over  a  year.  Knowing  that  his 
father  would  be  back  hunting  him  when 
the  old  man  learned  about  the  six  thou 
sand  dollars,  Huck  rushed  over  to  Judge 
Thatcher  and  persuaded  the  judge  to 
take  the  fortune  for  himself.  The  judge 
was  puzzled,  but  he  signed  some  papers, 
and  Huck  was  satisfied  that  he  no  longer 
had  any  money  for  his  father  to  take 
from  him. 

Huck's  father  finally  showed  up  one 
night  in  Huck's  room  at  Widow  Doug- 
las'  home.  Complaining  that  he  had 
been  cheated  out  of  his  money,  the  old 
drunkard  took  Huck  away  with  him  to 
a  cabin  in  the  woods,  where  he  kept  the 
boy  a  prisoner,  beating  him  periodically 
and  half  starving  him.  Before  long  Huck 
began  to  wonder  why  he  had  ever  liked 
living  with  the  widow.  With  his  father, 
he  could  smoke  and  swear  all  he  wanted, 
and  his  life  would  have  been  pleasant  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  beatings.  One 
night  Huck  sneaked  away,  leaving  a 
bloody  trail  from  a  pig  he  had  killed  in 
the  woods.  Huck  wanted  everyone  to 
believe  he  was  dead.  He  climbed  into  a 
boat  and  went  to  Jackson's  Island  to 
hide  until  all  the  excitement  had  blown 
over. 

After  three  days  of  freedom,  Huck 
wandered  to  another  part  of  the  island 
and  there  he  discovered  Jim,  Miss  Wat 
son's  Negro  slave.  Jim  told  Huck  that 
he  had  run  off  because  he  had  overheard 
Miss  Watson  planning  to  sell  him  down 
south  for  eight  hundred  dollars.  Huck 
swore  he  would  not  report  Jim.  The 
two  stayed  on  the  island  many  days,  Jim 
giving  Huck  an  education  in  primitive 


superstition.  One  night,  Huck  rowed 
back  to  the  mainland.  Disguised  as  a 
girl,  he  called  on  a  home  near  the  shore. 
There  he  learned  that  his  father  had  dis 
appeared  shortly  after  the  people  of  the 
town  had  decided  that  Huck  had  been 
murdered.  Since  Jim's  disappearance  had 
occurred  just  after  Huck's  alleged  death, 
there  was  now  a  three  hundred  dollar 
reward  posted  for  Jim's  capture,  as  most 
people  believed  that  Jim  had  killed  Huck. 

Fearing  that  Jackson's  Island  would 
be  searched,  Huck  hurried  back  to  Jim 
and  the  two  headed  down  the  Missis 
sippi.  They  planned  to  leave  the  raft 
at  Cairo  and  then  go  on  a  steamboat  up 
the  Ohio  into  free  territory.  Jim  told 
Huck  that  he  would  work  hard  in  the 
North  and  then  buy  his  wife  and  children 
from  their  masters  in  die  South.  Helping 
a  runaway  slave  bothered  Huck's  con 
science,  but  he  reasoned  that  it  would 
bother  him  more  if  he  betrayed  such  a 
good  friend  as  Jim,  One  night  as  they 
were  drifting  down  the  river  on  their 
raft,  a  large  boat  loomed  before  them, 
and  Huck  and  Jim,  knowing  that  the 
raft  would  be  smashed  under  the  hull  of 
the  ship,  jumped  into  the  water.  Huck 
swam  safely  to  shore,  but  Jim  disap 
peared. 

Huck  found  a  home  with  a  friendly 
family  named  Grangerford.  The  Granger- 
fords  were  feuding  with  the  Shepherd- 
sons,  another  family  living  nearby.  The 
Grangerfords  left  Huck  mosdy  to  him 
self  and  gave  him  a  young  slave  to 
wait  on  him.  One  day  the  slave  asked 
him  to  come  to  the  woods  to  see  some 
snakes.  Following  the  boy,  Huck  came 
across  Jim,  who  had  been  hiding  in  the 
woods  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  send 
for  Huck.  Jim  had  repaired  the  broken 
raft.  That  night  one  of  the  Granger- 
ford  daughters  eloped  with  a  young  Shep- 
herdson,  and  the  feud  broke  out  once 
more.  Huck  and  Jim  ran  away  during 
the  shooting  and  set  off  down  the  river. 

Shortly  afterward,  Jim  and  Huck  met 
two  men  who  pretended  they  were  roy 
alty  and  made  all  sorts  of  nonsensical  de- 


388 


mands  on  Huck  and  Jim.  Huck  was  not 
taken  in,  but  he  reasoned  that  it  would 
do  no  harm  to  humor  the  two  men  to 
prevent  quarreling.  The  Duke  and  the 
King  were  clever  schemers.  In  one  of 
the  small  river  towns  they  staged  a  fake 
show  which  lasted  long  enough  to  net 
them  a  few  hundred  dollars.  Then  they 
ran  off  before  the  angered  townspeople 
could  catch  them. 

The  Duke  and  the  King  overheard 
some  people  talking  about  the  death  of 
a  Peter  Wilks,  who  had  left  considerable 
property  and  some  cash  to  his  three 
daughters.  Wilks'  two  brothers,  whom 
no  one  in  the  town  had  ever  seen,  were 
living  in  England.  The  King  and  the 
Duke  went  to  the  three  daughters,  Mary 
Jane,  Susan,  and  Joanna,  and  presented 
themselves  as  the  two  uncles.  They  took 
a  few  thousand  dollars  of  the  inheritance 
and  then  put  up  the  property  for  auction 
and  sold  the  slaves.  This  high-handed 
deed  caused  great  grief  to  the  girls,  and 
Huck  could  not  bear  to  see  them  so  un 
happy.  He  decided  to  expose  the  two 
frauds,  but  he  wanted  to  insure  Jim's 
safety  first.  Jim  had  been  hiding  in  the 
woods  waiting  for  his  companions  to  re 
turn  to  him.  Employing  a  series  of  lies, 
subterfuges,  and  maneuverings  that  were 
worthy  of  his  ingenious  mind,  Huck  ex 
posed  the  Duke  and  King.  Huck  fled 
back  to  Jim,  and  the  two  escaped  on  their 
raft.  Just  as  Jim  and  Huck  thought  they 
were  on  their  way  and  well  rid  of  their 
former  companions,  the  Duke  and  King 
came  rowing  down  the  river  toward  them. 

The  whole  party  set  out  again  with 
their  royal  plots  to  hoodwink  the  public. 
In  one  town  where  they  landed,  Jim  was 
captured,  and  Huck  learned  that  the 
Duke  had  turned  him  in  for  the  reward. 
Huck  had  quite  a  tussle  with  his  con 
science.  He  knew  that  he  ought  to  help 
return  a  slave  to  the  rightful  owner,  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  thought  of  all  the 
fine  times  he  and  Jim  had  had  together 
and  how  loyal  a  friend  Jim  had  been. 
Finally,  Huck  decided  that  he  would  help 
Jim  to  escape. 


Learning  that  Mr.  Phelps  was  holding 
Jim,  he  headed  for  the  Phelps  farm. 
There,  Mrs.  Phelps  ran  up  and  hugged 
him,  mistaking  him  for  the  nephew 
whom  she  had  been  expecting  to  come 
for  a  visit.  Huck  wondered  how  he  could 
keep  Mrs.  Phelps  from  learning  that  he 
was  not  her  nephew.  Then  to  his  relief 
he  learned  they  had  mistaken  him  for 
Tom  Sawyer.  Huck  rather  liked  being 
Tom  for  a  while,  and  he  was  able  to  tell 
the  Phelps  all  about  Tom's  Aunt  Polly 
and  Sid  and  Mary,  Tom's  brother  and 
sister.  Huck  was  feeling  proud  of  him 
self  for  keeping  up  the  deception.  When 
Tom  Sawyer  really  did  arrive,  he  told 
his  aunt  that  he  was  Sid. 

At  the  first  opportunity  Huck  tolc? 
Tom  about  Jim's  capture.  To  his  sur 
prise,  Tom  offered  to  help  him  set  Jim 
free.  Huck  could  not  believe  that  Tom 
would  be  a  slave  stealer,  but  he  kept  his 
feelings  to  himself.  Huck  had  intended 
merely  to  wait  until  there  was  a  dark 
night  and  then  break  the  padlock  on  the 
door  of  the  shack  where  Jim  was  kept. 
But  Tom  said  the  rescue  had  to  be  done 
according  to  the  books,  and  he  laid  out 
a  most  complicated  plan  with  all  kinds  of 
story-book  ramifications.  It  took  fully 
three  weeks  of  plotting,  stealing,  and 
deceit  to  let  Jim  out  of  the  shack.  Then 
the  scheme  failed.  A  chase  began  after 
Jim  escaped,  and  Tom  was  shot  in  the 
leg.  After  Jim  had  been  recaptured,  Tom 
was  brought  back  to  Aunt  Sally's  house 
to  recover  from  his  wound.  Then  Tom 
revealed  the  fact  that  Miss  Watson  had 
died,  giving  Jim  his  freedom  in  her  will. 
Huck  was  greatly  relieved  to  learn  that 
Tom  was  not  really  a  slave  stealer  after 
all. 

To  complicate  matters  still  more,  Tom's 
Aunt  Polly  arrived.  She  quickly  set 
straight  the  identities  of  the  two  boys. 
Jim  was  given  his  freedom  and  Tom 
gave  him  forty  dollars.  Tom  told  Huck 
that  his  money  was  still  safely  in  the 
hands  of  Judge  Thatcher,  but  Huck 
moaned  that  his  father  would  likely  be 
back  to  claim  it  again.  Then  Jim  told 


389 


Huck  that  his  father  was  dead;  Jim  had 
seen  him  lying  in  an  abandoned  boat 
along  the  river. 

Huck  was  ready  to  start  out  again  be 
cause  Aunt  Sally  said  she  thought  she 


might  adopt  him  and  try  to  civilize  him. 
Huck  thought  that  he  could  not  go 
through  such  a  trial  again  after  he  had 
once  tried  to  be  civilized  under  the  care 
of  Widow  Douglas. 


HUGH  WYNNE,  FREE  QUAKER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Silas  Weir  Mitchell  (1829-1914;) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  ^lot:  1753-1783 

Locale:  Colonial  America 

First  published:  1897 

Principal  characters: 

JOHN  WYNNE,  a  Quaker 

MARIE,  his  wife 

HUGH  WYISHSTE,  John's  son 

JACK  WARDER,  Hugh's  friend 

ARTHUR  WYNNE,  Hugh's  cousin 

DARTHEA  PENISTON,  who  marries  Hugh 

GAJNOR  WY^nsna,  John's  sister 


Critique: 

Hugh  Wynne,  Free  Quaker  is  one  of 
the  best  novels  of  the  American  Revo 
lution.  The  veracity  of  its  events  in  the 
historical  sense  can  be  judged  by  any 
student  of  history,  and  its  faithfulness 
to  the  social  history  of  the  time  can  be 
judged  by  reading  diaries  and  chronicles 
of  those  who  lived  through  the  war  years. 
More  than  historical  fiction,  however,  the 
novel  is  a  touching  revelation  of  a  child- 
parent  relationship  and  of  the  con 
sequences  of  too  much  doctrinal  dis 
cipline. 

The  Story: 

The  Wynne  family  had  descended 
from  an  ancient  Welsh  line.  That  part 
of  the  family  which  had  remained  in 
Wales  now  held  the  family  estate  of 
Wyncote.  The  American  branch,  being 
Quaker,  had  dissociated  itself  from  the 
more  worldly  family  at  Wyncote,  and 
Hugh  Wynne  grew  up  under  the  stern 
discipline  of  John  Wynne's  orthodoxy. 
John's  sister,  Gainor  Wynne,  had  not 
become  a  Quaker.  Because  Hugh  was 


HUGH  WYNNE,  FREE  QUAKER  by  Silas  Weir  Mitchell.    By  permis&Icm  of  the  publishers,  Aj 
Crofts,  Inc.    Copyright,  1896,  by  The  Ceatury  Co.   Renewed,  1923,  by  Langden  Elwyn  Mitchell. 


his  aunt's  favorite,  early  in  his  life  he 
fell  under  the  influence  of  those  who 
were  outside  the  ways  of  the  Quakers. 

Jack  Warder  was  Hugh's  closest 
friend,  the  two  boys  having  gone  to 
school  together.  Aunt  Gainor  often  in 
vited  both  boys  to  her  home  in  Phila 
delphia,  where  she  was  surrounded  by 
a  worldly  group  of  English  officers,  men 
upon  whom  the  Quakers  frowned.  Hugh 
enjoyed  their  society,  to  the  delight  of 
his  aunt,  who  wished  her  nephew  to 
break  his  Quaker  ties.  Jack  Warder, 
however,  did  not  like  Gainor  Wynne's 
friends.  When  he  and  Hugh  were  old 
enough  to  judge  moral  values  for  them 
selves,  their  friendship  became  strained. 
Hugh's  father  was  never  fully  aware 
of  the  way  Hugh  spent  his  time  away 
from  home. 

One  night,  while  drinking  and  gam 
bling  with  his  worldly  friends,  Hugh  met 
a  cousin,  Arthur  Wynne,  of  the  family 
at  Wyncote.  He  instinctively  disliked 
his  relative  because  of  his  superior  ways 
and  his  deceitful  manner.  During  the 

lis&Ion.  of  the  publishers,  Appleton-Century- 


390 


evening  Hugh  became  very  drunk.  Sud 
denly  his  mother  and  Jack  Warder  burst 
into  the  room. 

This  incident  marked  the  beginning 
of  Hugh's  break  with  his  father's  church 
and  the  renewal  of  his  friendship  with 
Jack  Warder.  Hugh,  realizing  his  folly, 
was  thankful  that  Jack  had  seen  him  on 
the  streets  and  had  led  his  mother  to 
rescue  him  from  the  drunken  party.  He 
began  to  realize  the  depth  of  his  mother's 
love  and  understanding.  John  Wynne 
was  quite  different  in  his  attitude.  A 
few  nights  later  he  took  Hugh  to  a 
Quaker  meeting,  where  public  prayers 
were  offered  to  save  Hugh's  soul.  Hugh's 
embarrassment  caused  him  to  lose  all  of 
his  love  for  the  Quaker  religion  and  to 
bear  a  deep  resentment  against  his  father. 

At  Gainor  Wynne's  home,  Jack  and 
Hugh  heard  much  conversation  about 
disagreement  between  the  Americans  and 
the  British.  Gainor  was  a  Whig,  and 
under  her  influence  Jack  and  Hugh 
gained  sympathy  for  their  American 
compatriots.  Arthur  Wynne  too  had  be 
come  part  of  the  society  that  gathered 
at  Gainor  Wynne's  house.  Jack  and 
Hugh  had  never  liked  Arthur,  but  now 
they  had  a  new  cause  for  their  dislike. 
Arthur  made  no  secret  of  his  admiration 
for  Darthea  Peniston,  a  schoolmate  of 
Jack  and  Hugh,  and  his  bragging  about 
Wyncote  seemingly  won  her  interest, 
thus  arousing  Hugh's  jealousy.  When 
Hugh  told  Darthea  of  his  love,  she  in 
sisted  that  she  did  not  love  him. 

Meanwhile  Hugh's  parents  went 
abroad.  During  their  absence  he  stayed 
with  Gainor  Wynne.  Claiming  that  the 
time  was  not  far  off  when  he  would  need 
such  a  skill,  she  urged  him  to  take 
fencing  lessons.  Jack  practiced  the  sport 
with  his  friend,  although  he  knew  it  to 
be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  church. 
Hugh  and  Jack  both  knew  that  soon 
they  would  join  the  American  cause  for 
liberty. 

While  John  Wynne  and  his  wife  were 
abroad,  Hugh  received  a  letter  telling 
that  his  mother  had  died.  On  his  return 


John  showed  no  signs  of  his  grief  at  the 
loss  of  his  wife.  Hugh  himself  felt  her 
loss  deeply. 

At  Gainer's  home,  where  he  spent 
more  time  than  ever  since  the  death  of 
his  mother,  Hugh  quarreled  with  an 
English  officer  and  was  challenged  to  a 
dueL  With  Jack  as  his  second,  Hugh 
answered  the  challenge.  As  a  result  the 
Quakers  notified  both  boys  that  unless 
they  changed  their  ways  and  repented 
for  their  sins,  they  could  no  longer  be 
long  to  the  Society  of  Friends.  Jack  and 
Hugh  announced  that  they  intended  to 
join  the  American  army;  fighting  had 
already  begun  at  Lexington. 

Jack  went  to  join  the  troops.  After 
a  short  time  Hugh  decided  to  follow  him, 
in  spite  of  his  father's  crafty  excuses  that 
he  needed  Hugh  to  conduct  his  business 
affairs  for  him.  When  he  did  join  the 
army,  Hugh  was  captured  by  the  British 
and  sent,  wounded  and  sick,  to  a  filthy 
prison.  In  the  prison  Arthur  Wynne, 
now  a  Tory  captain,  saw  his  cousin,  but 
left  Hugh  to  die.  Hugh  never  forgave 
him  for  this  cruelty  and  for  his  subse 
quent  lie  concerning  the  meeting. 

Hugh  recovered  and  escaped  from 
prison  to  return  to  Gainor  Wynne's 
house.  Arthur  Wynne  was  staying  at 
the  home  of  John  Wynne  and  ingrati 
ating  himself  in  the  eyes  of  the  old  man. 
Hugh  knew  that  there  was  something 
mysterious  in  relation  to  the  Welsh  estate 
of  Wyncote.  Supposedly  Arthur's  father 
owned  the  estate,  having  bought  it  from 
John's  father.  Gainor  Wynne  urged 
Hugh  to  investigate  the  tide  of  the  estate. 
John  Wynne,  it  seemed,  still  possessed 
the  tide,  and  out  of  sympathy  for 
Arthur's  alleged  poverty  had  promised  to 
give  it  to  him.  Hugh  was  unable  to 
change  his  father's  decision,  even  after 
he  told  of  Arthur's  cruel  desertion  when 
Hugh  lay  near  death  in  prison.  His 
father  refused  to  believe  Hugh's  story. 

Hugh  could  not  tell  Darthea  about 
Arthur's  behavior,  for  he  felt  that  she 
would  rush  to  Arthur's  defense  if  he 
said  anything  against  his  cousin. 


391 


Once,  while  Hugh  was  at  home,  his  before  her,  she  felt  that  she  was  free 

father,    thinking    Hugh    was    Arthur,  at  last  to  breai  her  engagement, 
handed    him    the    deed    to    Wyncote.  Again  Hugh  asked  her  to  marry  him 

Knowing  that  his  father's  mind  had  often  and  she  surprised  him  by  accepting.  Hugh 

misled  him  of  late,  Hugh  tried  to  con-  still  did  not  want  the  title  to  Wyncote, 

vince   the   old   man   that   he   was   not  and  Darthea  agreed  with  him  that  after 

Arthur,  but  John  insisted  that  Hugh  take  he  had  taken  Arthur's  betrothed  it  would 

the    deed.     Hugh    took    it    to    Gainor  not  become  Hugh  to  take  his  inheritance 

Wynne.  from    him    as   well.     Although    Gainor 

After  a  rest  of  a  few  months,  Hugh  Wynne  wished  to  press  the  legality  of  the 

rejoined  the  American  troops.    He  was  ancient  deed,  Darthea  threw  it  into  the 

able  to  perform  a  courageous  service  for  fire,  and  so  destroyed  any  claim  Hugh 

General  Washington,  for  which  he  re-  might  have  upon  the  ancestral  estate, 
ceived  praise  and  a  captaincy.  Jack,  too,          John  Wynne,  who  had  ceased  to  live 

bad  become  an  officer.  for  Hugh  when  he  had  lost  his  mental 

When  Hugh  and  Jack  returned  to  faculties,  died  soon  after  the  war  ended. 
Philadelphia  on  leave,  Gainor  Wynne  Darthea  and  Hugh  were  happily  married, 
managed  to  expose  Arthur  to  Darthea.  and  they  lived  long  years  together  to 
Although  the  young  girl  had  lost  her  watch  their  children  and  their  grand- 
earlier  love  for  the  Tory  officer,  she  had  children  grow  up  unburdened  by  the 
been  unwilling  to  break  her  promise  to  rigorous  religious  control  which  Hugh 
him.  But  with  proof  of  Arthur's  villainy  had  known  in  his  youth. 

THE  HUMAN  COMEDY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Saroyan  (1908-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  Ithaca,  California 

First  'published:  1943 

Prind'pa.l  characters: 

KATEY  MACAULEY,  a  widow 

HOMER, 

ULYSSES,  and 

MARCUS,  her  sons 

BESS,  her  daughter 

MARY  ARENA,  Marcus'  sweetheart 

THOMAS  SP ANGLER,  manager  of  the  telegraph  office 

MR.  GROGAN,  assistant  in  the  telegraph  office 

TOBEY  GEORGE,  Marcus'  friend  from  the  army 

LIONEL,  Ulysses'  friend 

Critique:  The  Story: 

This  novel  has  for  its  theme  the  idea          Mr.  Macauley  was  dead  and  his  wife 

that  no  human  can  ever  die  as  long  as  and  children  had  to  take  care  of  them- 

he  lives  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  loved  selves.    When    Marcus   went   into   the 

him.  The  story  deals  with  the  family  of  army,  Homer,  the  next  oldest,  obtained 

a  soldier  who  died  in  the  war.   Frankly  a  job  on  the  night  shift  in  the  telegraph 

sentimental,  The  Human  Comedy  is  one  office  at  Ithaca,  California.    He  worked 

of  the  most  touching  of  Saroyan's  works.  at  night  because  he  was  still  attending 

TTTE  HUMAN  COMEDY  by  William  Saroyan.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher!,  Harcourt,  Brace 
&  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,  1943,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 

392 


school  during  the  day.  Little  Ulysses 
watched  his  family  and  wondered  what 
was  going  on,  for  his  baby's  mind  could 
not  comprehend  all  the  changes  that  had 
taken  place  in  his  home. 

Every  morning  Homer  arose  early 
and  exercised  in  his  room  so  that  he 
would  be  physically  fit  to  run  the  two- 
twenty  low  hurdles  at  high  school.  After 
he  and  Bess  had  eaten  their  breakfast, 
Mary  Arena,  who  was  in  love  with  Mar 
cus,  came  from  next  door,  and  she  and 
Bess  walked  to  school  together. 

In  the  ancient  history  class,  taught  by 
Miss  Hicks,  Homer  and  Hubert  Ackley 
the  Third  insulted  each  other,  and  Miss 
Hicks  kept  the  boys  after  school.  But 
Coach  Byfield  had  picked  Hubert  to  run 
the  two-twenty  low  hurdles  that  after 
noon,  and  Hubert  told  Miss  Hicks  that 
the  principal  had  asked  that  he  be  ex 
cused.  Indignant  at  the  deceit,  Miss 
Hicks  also  sent  Homer  to  run  the  race. 
Although  Hubert  was  the  winner,  Homer 
felt  that  justice  had  been  done. 

Thomas  Spangler  was  in  charge  of  the 
telegraph  office  and  Mr.  Grogan,  an  old 
man  with  a  weak  heart,  was  his  assistant. 
Because  Mr.  Grogan  got  drunk  every 
night,  one  of  Homer's  duties  was  to  see 
to  it  that  Mr.  Grogan  stayed  awake  to 
perform  his  duties.  A  problem  which 
had  weighed  on  Homer's  mind  ever  since 
he  had  taken  his  new  job  and  had  grown 
up  overnight  was  whether  the  war  would 
change  anything  for  people.  Mr.  Gro 
gan  and  Homer  often  talked  about  the 
world,  Homer  declaring  that  he  did  not 
like  things  as  they  were.  Seeing  every 
one  in  the  world  mixed  up  and  lonely, 
Homer  said,  he  felt  that  he  had  to  say 
and  do  things  to  make  people  laugh. 

Mrs.  Macauley  was  happy  that  her 
children  were  so  human.  Ever  since  her 
husband  had  died,  Katey  Macauley  had 
pretended  to  see  him  and  discuss  with 
him  problems  that  arose  concerning  the 
rearing  of  her  family.  She  felt  that  the 
father  was  not  dead  if  he  lived  again 
in  the  lives  of  his  children.  One  after 
noon  she  had  a  premonition  of  Mar 


cus*  death,  for  she  imagined  that  her 
husband  came  to  her  and  told  her  he  was 
going  to  bring  Marcus  with  him. 

Little  Ulysses  had  a  friend,  Lionel, 
who  was  three  years  older  than  Ulysses. 
The  older  boys  chased  Lionel  away  from 
their  games  because  they  said  that  he 
was  dumb.  When  Lionel  came  to  Mrs. 
Macauley  to  ask  her  whether  he  was 
stupid,  tie  kind  woman  assured  him  that 
he  was  as  good  as  everyone  else.  Lionel 
took  Ulysses  to  the  library  with  him  to 
look  at  all  the  many-colored  books  on  the 
shelves.  Ulysses,  who  spent  his  time 
wandering  around  and  watching  every 
thing,  was  pleased  with  the  new  ex- 
perience. 

Marcus  wrote  to  Homer  from  an  army 
camp  somewhere  in  the  South,  and 
Homer  took  the  letter  back  to  the  tele 
graph  office  with  him.  The  letter  told 
about  Marcus'  friend,  an  orphan  named 
Tobey  George.  Marcus  had  described 
his  family,  Homer,  Ulysses,  Bess,  his 
mother,  and  his  sweetheart,  Mary,  to 
Tobey.  Because  Tobey  had  no  family  of 
his  own,  he  was  grateful  to  Marcus 
for  bringing  to  him  second-hand  the 
Macauley  family.  Marcus  had  told 
Tobey  that  after  the  war  he  wanted 
Tobey  to  go  to  Ithaca  and  marry  Bess. 
Tobey  was  not  so  certain  that  Bess 
would  want  to  marry  him,  but  he  felt 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had 
a  family  that  was  almost  his  own.  Mar 
cus  had  written  to  Homer,  as  the  new 
head  of  the  family,  to  tell  him  about 
Tobey  George  and  to  ask  him  to  look 
after  his  mother  and  Bess. 

Homer  was  moved  by  his  brother's 
letter.  When  he  had  finished  reading 
it,  he  told  Mr.  Grogan  that  if  Marcus 
should  be  killed  he  would  spit  at  the 
world.  Homer  could  express  his  love 
for  Marcus  in  no  other  way. 

The  same  events  repeated  themselves 
many  times  in  Ithaca.  Ulysses  continued 
to  watch  everything  with  increasing  in 
terest.  Mary  and  Bess  sang  their  songs 
and  went  for  their  evening  walks.  Tele 
grams  came,  and  Homer  delivered  them. 


393 


Soldiers  began  coming  home  to  Ithaca, 
to  their  motheis  and  to  their  families. 

Homer  had  been  working  at  the  tele 
graph  office  for  six  months.  One  Sunday 
night,  while  he  was  walking  downtown 
with  Lionel  and  Ulysses,  he  saw  through 
the  window  of  the  telegraph  office  that 
Mr.  Grogan  was  working  alone.  He  sent 
the  two  small  boys  home  and  went  in  to 
see  if  Mr.  Grogan  needed  him.  The 
old  man  had  suffered  one  of  his  heart 
attacks,  and  Homer  ran  to  the  drug  store 
to  get  some  medicine  for  him.  Mr.  Gro 
gan  attempted  to  type  out  one  more 
telegram,  a  message  for  Katey  Macauley 
telling  her  that  her  son  Marcus  had  been 
killed  in  action.  When  Homer  returned 
with  the  medicine,  he  found  Mr.  Grogan 
slumped  over  the  typed-out  message.  He 
was  dead.  Homer  went  home  with  the 
message  that  Marcus  had  been  killed. 


That  night  a  soldier  had  got  off  the 
train  at  Ithaca.  He  was  Tobey  George. 
He  walked  around  for  a  time  before  he 
went  to  see  Marcus*  family.  When  he 
came  to  the  Macauley  porch,  he  stood 
and  listened  to  Bess  and  Mary  singing 
inside  the  house.  Bess  came  outside  and 
sat  next  to  him  while  he  told  her  that 
Marcus  had  sent  him  to  be  a  member 
of  the  family.  When  Homer  came  to 
the  porch  with  the  telegram,  Tobey 
called  him  aside  and  told  him  to  tear 
up  the  message.  Tobey  assured  him  that 
Marcus  was  not  dead;  Marcus  could 
never  die.  Mrs.  Macauley  came  onto  the 
porch,  and  Ulysses  ran  to  Tobey  and 
took  his  hand.  For  a  while  the  mother 
looked  at  her  two  remaining  sons.  Then 
she  smiled  at  her  new  son  as  the  family 
walked  into  the  house. 


HUMPHRY  CLINKER 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Tobias  Smollett  (1721-1771) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Mid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England,  Scotland,  Wales 

First  published:  1771 

Principal  characters: 

MATTHEW  BRAMBLE,  a  Welsh  squire 

Miss  TABITHA  BRAMBLE,  his  sister 

LYDIA  MELFORD,  his  niece 

JERRY  MELFORD,  his  nephew 

WINIFRED  JENKINS,  a  maid 

HUMPHRY  CLINKER,  a  servant,  discovered  to  be  Mr.  Bramble's  natural  son 

LIEUTENANT  OBADIAH  LISMAHAGO,  an  adventurer  and  sportsman 

MR.  DENNISON,  a  country  gentleman 

GEORGE  DENNISON,  his  son,  the  actor  known  as  Wilson 

Critique: 

This  novel,  written  in  the  form  of 
letters,  is  easy  to  read  and  continually 
amusing.  The  characters  of  the  writers  of 
the  letters  are  shown  by  the  variation  of 
their  descriptions  of  the  same  events.  The 
picture  is  one  of  a  realistic  if  somewhat 
eccentric  family,  whose  members  display 
the  manners  and  customs  of  eighteenth- 
century  society.  The  Expedition  of 
Humphry  Clinker,  to  use  its  full  tide, 
has  often  been  called  the  greatest  of  the 


letter-novels,    and    an    outstanding 
ample  of  English  humor. 


ex- 


The  Story: 

Squire  Matthew  Bramble  was  an  ec 
centric  and  skeptical  gentleman  with 
large  estates  in  Wales.  With  him  lived 
his  sister,  Miss  Tabitha  Bramble,  a  mid 
dle-aged  maiden  of  high  matrimonial 
hopes  that  were  greater  than  her  expec 
tations.  Painfully  afflicted  with  the  gout, 


394 


the  squire  set  out  for  Bath  to  try  the 
waters,  but  with  few  hopes  of  their  heal 
ing  properties.  With  him  went  his  sister; 
her  servant,  Winifred  Jenkins;  his  own 
manservant,  and,  at  the  last  minute,  his 
niece  and  nephew,  Lydia  and  Jerry  Mel- 
ford. 

The  young  Melf ords  were  orphans  and 
Squire  Bramble's  wards.  Lydia  had  been 
in  boarding-school,  where,  unfortunately, 
she  had  fallen  in  love  with  an  actor — a 
circumstance  Squire  Bramble  hoped  she 
would  soon  forget  among  the  gay  and 
fashionable  gatherings  at  Bath.  Her 
brother,  who  had  just  finished  his  studies 
at  Oxford,  had  tried  to  fight  a  duel  with 
the  actor,  but  an  opportunity  to  defend 
his  sister's  honor  had  not  presented  it 
self  to  his  satisfaction. 

On  the  way  to  Bath  a  Jewish  peddler 
made  his  way  into  Squire  Bramble's  lodg 
ings  on  the  pretext  of  selling  glasses,  and 
in  a  whisper  made  himself  known  to 
Lydia  as  George  Wilson,  the  strolling 

Der.  The  lovesick  girl  ordered  Wini- 
Jenkins  to  follow  the  actor  and  talk 
with  him.  The  maid  came  back  in  a 
great  flurry.  He  had  told  her  that  Wilson 
was  not  his  real  name,  that  he  was  a 
gentleman,  and  that  he  intended  to  sue 
for  Lydia's  hand  in  his  proper  character. 
But,  alas,  the  excited  maid  had  forgotten 
Wilson's  real  name.  There  was  nothing 
for  poor  Lydia  to  do  but  to  conjecture 
and  daydream  as  the  party  continued  on 
toward  Bath. 

Arriving  at  Bath  without  further  in 
cident,  the  party  entered  the  gay  festivi 
ties  there  with  various  degrees  of  pleas 
ure.  Tabitha  tried  to  get  proposals  of 
marriage  out  of  every  eligible  man  she 
met,  and  the  squire  became  disgusted 
with  the  supposed  curative  powers  of  the 
waters  which  were  drunk  and  bathed  in 
by  people  with  almost  any  infirmity  in 
hopes  of  regaining  their  health.  Lydia 
was  still  languishing  over  Wilson,  and 
Jerry  enjoyed  the  absurdity  of  the  social 
gatherings.  In  an  attempt  to  lighten  his 
niece's  spirits,  Squire  Bramble  decided  to 
go  on  to  London. 


They  had  traveled  only  a  short  way 
toward  London  when  the  coach  acciden 
tally  overturned  and  Miss  Tabitha's  lap- 
dog,  in  the  excitement,  bit  the  squire's 
servant.  Miss  Tabitha  made  such  loud 
complaint  when  the  servant  kicked  her 
dog  in  return  that  the  squire  was  forced 
to  discharge  the  man  on  the  spot.  He 
also  needed  another  postilion,  as  Miss 
Tabitha  declared  herself  unwilling  to 
drive  another  foot  behind  the  clumsy  fel 
low  who  had  overturned  the  coach.  The 
squire  hired  a  ragged  country  fellow 
named  Humphry  Clinker  to  take  the 
place  of  the  unfortunate  postilion,  and 
the  party  went  on  to  the  next  village. 

Miss  Tabitha  was  shocked  by  what 
she  called  Humphry's  nakedness,  for  he 
wore  no  shirt.  The  maid  added  to  the 
chorus  of  outraged  modesty.  Yielding  to 
these  female  clamors,  the  squire  asked 
about  Humphry's  circumstances,  listened 
to  the  story  of  his  life,  gruffly  read  him  a 
lecture  on  the  crimes  of  poverty  and  sick 
ness,  and  gave  him  a  guinea  for  a  new 
suit  of  clothes.  In  gratitude  Humphry  re 
fused  to  be  parted  from  his  new  bene 
factor  and  went  on  with  the  party  to 
London. 

In  London  they  were  well  entertained 
by  a  visit  to  Vauxhall  Gardens  as  well 
as  by  several  public  and  private  parties. 
Squire  Bramble  was  disconcerted  by  the 
discovery  that  Humphry  was  a  preacher 
by  inclination,  and  had  begun  giving 
sermons  in  the  manner  of  the  Methodists. 
Miss  Tabitha  and  her  maid  were  already 
among  Humphry's  followers.  The  squire 
attempted  to  stop  what  he  considered 
either  hypocrisy  or  madness  on  Hum 
phry's  part.  Miss  Tabitha,  disgusted  with 
her  brother's  action,  begged  him  to  allow 
Humphry  to  continue  his  sermons. 

The  family  was  shocked  to  learn  one 
day  that  Humphry  had  been  arrested  as 
a  highway  robber,  and  was  in  jail.  When 
the  squire  arrived  to  investigate  the  case, 
he  discovered  that  Humphry  was  ob 
viously  innocent  of  the  charge  against 
him,  which  had  been  placed  by  an  ex- 
convict  who  made  money  by  turning  in 


395 


criminals  to  the  government.  Humphry 
had  made  a  fine  impression  on  the  jailer 
and  his  family  and  had  converted  several 
of  his  fellow  prisoners.  The  squire  found 
the  man  who  supposedly  had  been  robbed 
and  got  him  to  testify  that  Humphry  was 
not  the  man  who  had  committed  the  rob 
bery.  In  the  meantime  Humphry 
preached  so  eloquently  that  he  kept  the 
prison  taproom  empty  of  customers. 
When  this  became  evident  he  was  hur 
riedly  released,  and  Squire  Bramble 
promised  to  allow  him  to  preach  his  ser 
mons  unmolested. 

Continuing  their  travels  north  after 
leaving  London,  the  party  stopped  in 
Scarborough,  where  they  went  bathing. 
Squire  Bramble  undressed  in  a  little  cart 
which  could  be  rolled  down  into  the 
sea,  so  that  he  was  able  to  bath  nude  with 
the  greatest  propriety.  When  he  en 
tered  the  water,  he  found  it  much  colder 
than  he  had  expected  and  gave  several 
shouts  as  he  swam  away.  Hearing  these 
calls  from  the  squire,  Humphry  thought 
his  good  master  was  drowning,  and 
rushed  fully  clothed  into  the  sea  to  res 
cue  him.  He  pulled  the  squire  to  shore, 
almost  twisting  off  his  master's  ear,  and 
leaving  the  modest  man  shamefaced  and 
naked  in  full  view  upon  the  beach. 
Humphrey  was  forgiven,  however,  be 
cause  he  had  meant  well. 

At  an  inn  in  Durham,  the  party  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Lieutenant  Lisma- 
hago,  who  seemed  somewhat  like  Don 
Quixote.  The  lieutenant,  regaling  the 
company  with  tales  of  his  adventures 
among  the  Indians  of  North  America, 
quite  captured  the  heart  of  Miss  Tabitha. 
Squire  Bramble  was  also  charmed  with 
the  crusty  conversation  of  the  retired  sol 
dier,  and  made  plans  to  meet  him  later 
on  in  their  journey.  The  group  became 
more  and  more  fond  of  Humphry  as  time 
went  on,  especially  Winifred.  After  a 
short  and  frivolous  flirtation  with  Jerry's 
part-time  valet,  she  settled  down  to  win 
Humphry  as  a  husband. 

The  party  continued  its  trip  through 
In  Edinburgh  Lydia  fainted 


when  she  saw  a  man  who  looked  like 
Wilson,  an  action  which  showed  her 
uncle  that  she  had  not  yet  forgotten  the 
affair.  After  visiting  several  parts  of  Scot 
land  and  enjoying  the  most  gracious  hos 
pitality  everywhere,  they  continued  by 
coach  back  to  England.  As  they  were 
traveling  south,  Lieutenant  Lismahago 
rejoined  the  party  and  Miss  Tabitha  re 
newed  her  designs  on  him. 

Just  outside  Dumfries  the  coach  was 
overturned  in  the  middle  of  a  stream. 
Jerry  and  Lismahago  succeeded  in  getting 
the  women  out  of  the  water  after  a 
struggle,  and  Humphry  staged  a  heroic 
rescue  of  the  squire,  who  had  been 
caught  in  the  bottom  of  the  coach.  They 
found  lodgings  at  a  nearby  inn  until 
the  coach  could  be  repaired.  While  all 
were  gathered  in  the  parlor  of  a  tavern, 
Squire  Bramble  was  accosted  by  an  old 
college  friend  named  Dennison,  a  success 
ful  farmer  of  the  county.  Mr.  Dennison 
had  known  the  squire  only  as  Matthew 
Lloyd,  a  name  he  had  taken  for  a  while 
in  order  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  a  will. 
When  Humphry  heard  his  master  called 
Lloyd,  he  rushed  up  in  a  flutter  of  ex 
citement  and  presented  the  squire  with 
certain  papers  he  had  always  carried 
with  him.  These  papers  proved  that 
Humphry  was  the  squire's  natural  son. 
In  a  gracious  way,  Squire  Bramble  wel 
comed  his  offspring,  and  presented  him 
to  the  rest  of  his  family.  Humphry  was 
overcome  with  pleasure  and  shyness. 
Winifred  was  afraid  that  his  discovery 
would  spoil  her  matrimonial  plans,  but 
Humphry  continued  to  be  the  mild  re 
ligious  man  he  had  been  before. 

The  squire  was  also  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  actor  who  had  called  himself 
Wilson  was  really  Dennison's  son,  a  fine 
proper  young  man  who  had  run  away 
from  school  and  become  an  actor  only 
to  escape  a  marriage  his  father  had 
planned  for  him  long  before.  He  had  told 
his  father  about  his  love  for  Lydia,  but 
Dennison  had  not  realized  that  the  Mr. 
Bramble  who  was  her  uncle  was  his  old 
friend  Matthew  Lloyd.  Now  the  two 


396 


young  lovers  were  brought  together  for 
a  joyous  reunion. 

Lieutenant  Lismahago  was  moved  to 
ask  for  Miss  Tabitha's  hand  in  marriage, 
and  both  the  squire  and  Miss  Tabitha 
eagerly  accepted  his  offer.  The  whole 
party  went  to  stay  at  Mr.  Dennison's 
house  while  preparations  were  being 
made  for  the  marriage  of  Lydia  and 
George.  The  coming  marriages  prompted 
Humphry  to  ask  Winifred  for  her  hand, 


and  she  also  said  yes,    The  three  wed 
dings  were  planned  for  the  same  day. 

George  and  Lydia  were  a  most  attrac 
tive  couple.  The  lieutenant  and  Tabitha 
seemed  to  be  more  pleasant  than  ever  be 
fore.  Humphry  and  Winifred  both 
thanked  God  for  the  pleasures  He  saw  fit 
to  give  them.  The  squire  planned  to 
return  home  to  the  tranquility  of  Bram- 
bleton  Hall  and  the  friendship  of  his 
invaluable  doctor  there. 


THE  HUNCHBACK  OF  NOTRE  DAME 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Victor  Hugo  (1802-1885) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1831 

Principal  characters: 

QUASIMODO,  the  hunchback  of  Notre  Dame 
ESMERELDA,  a  gipsy  dancer 
CLAUDE  FROIXO,  archdeacon  of  Notre  Dame 
PHOEBUS  DE  CHATEAUPERS,  Esmerelda's  sweetheart 
GRTNGOIRE,  a  stupid  and  poverty-stricken  poet 

Critique: 

Victor  Hugo,  leader  of  the  French  ro 
mantic  movement,  not  only  could  tell  a 
gripping  story,  but  also  could  endow  his 
essentially  romantic  characters  with  a 
realism  so  powerful  that  they  have  be 
come  monumental  literary  figures.  The 
Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame  has  every 
quality  of  a  good  novel:  an  exciting  story, 
a  magnificent  setting,  and  deep,  lasting 
characterizations.  Perhaps  the  compel 
ling  truth  of  this  novel  lies  in  the  idea 
that  God  has  created  in  man  an  imperfect 
image  of  Himself,  an  image  fettered  by 
society  and  by  man's  own  body  and  soul, 
but  one  which,  in  the  last  analysis,  has 
the  freedom  to  transcend  these  limita 
tions  and  achieve  spiritual  greatness. 


The  Story: 

Louis  XI,  King  of  France,  was  to  marry 
his  oldest  son  to  Margaret  of  Flanders, 
and  in  early  January,  1482,  the  king  was 
expecting  Flemish  ambassadors  to  his 
court.  The  great  day  arrived,  coinciding 


both  with  Epiphany  and  the  secular  cele 
bration  of  the  Festival  of  Fools.  All  day 
long,  raucous  Parisians  had  assembled  at 
the  great  Palace  of  Justice  to  see  a  moral 
ity  play  and  to  choose  a  Prince  of  Fools. 
The  throng  was  supposed  to  await  the 
arrival  of  the  Flemish  guests,  but  when 
the  emissaries  were  late  Gringoire,  a  pen 
niless  and  oafish  poet,  ordered  the  play  to 
begin.  In  the  middle  of  the  prologue, 
however,  the  play  came  to  a  standstill 
as  the  royal  procession  passed  into  the 
huge  palace.  After  the  procession  passed 
the  play  was  forgotten,  and  the  crowd 
shouted  for  the  Prince  of  Fools  to  be 
chosen. 

The  Prince  of  Fools  had  to  be  a  man 
of  remarkable  physical  ugliness.  One  by 
one  the  candidates,  eager  for  this  one 
glory  of  their  disreputable  lives,  showed 
their  faces  in  front  of  a  glass  window,  but 
the  crowd  shouted  and  jeered  until  a 
face  of  such  extraordinary  hideousness 
appeared  that  the  people  acclaimed  this 


397 


candidate  at  once  as  the  Prince  of  Fools. 
It  was  Quasimodo,  the  hunchback  bell- 
ringer  of  Notre  Dame.  Nowhere  on  earth 
was  there  a  more  grotesque  creature.  One 
of  his  eyes  was  buried  under  an  enormous 
wen.  His  teeth  hung  over  his  protruding 
lower  lip  like  tusks.  His  eyebrows  were 
Ted  bristles,  and  his  gigantic  nose  curved 
over  his  upper  lip  like  a  snout.  His  long 
urms  protruded  from  his  shoulders,  dan 
gling  like  an  ape's.  Though  he  was  deaf 
from  long  years  of  ringing  Notre  Dame's 
thunderous  bells,  his  eyesight  was  acute. 

Quasimodo  sensed  that  he  had  been 
chosen  by  popular  acclaim,  and  he  was  at 
once  proud  and  suspicious  of  his  honor 
as  he  allowed  the  crowd  to  dress  him 
in  ridiculous  robes  and  hoist  him  above 
their  heads.  From  this  vantage  point  he 
maintained  a  dignified  silence  while  the 
parade  went  through  the  streets  of  Paris, 
stopping  only  to  watch  the  enchanting 
dance  of  a  gipsy  girl,  La  Esmerelda, 
whose  grace  and  charm  held  her  audience 
spellbound.  She  had  with  her  a  little 
trained  goat  that  danced  to  her  tambou 
rine.  The  pair  were  celebrated  through 
out  Paris,  though  there  were  some  who 
thought  the  girl  a  witch,  so  great  was 
her  power  in  captivating  her  audience. 

Late  that  night  the  poet  Gringoire 
walked  the  streets  of  Paris.  He  had  no 
shelter,  owed  money,  and  was  in  desper 
ate  straits.  As  the  cold  night  came  on, 
he  saw  Esmerelda  hurrying  ahead  of  him. 
Then  a  black-hooded  man  came  out  of 
the  shadows  and  seized  the  gipsy.  At  the 
same  time,  Gringoire  caught  sight  of  the 
hooded  man's  partner,  Quasimodo,  who 
struck  Gringoire  a  terrible  blow.  The  fol 
lowing  moment  a  horseman  came  riding 
from  the  next  street.  Catching  sight  of 
Esmerelda  in  the  arms  of  the  black- 
hooded  man,  the  rider  demanded  that  he 
free  the  girl  or  pay  with  his  life.  The 
attackers  fled.  Esmerelda  asked  the  name 
of  her  rescuer.  It  was  Captain  Phoebus 
de  Chateaupers.  From  that  moment  Es 
merelda  was  hopelessly  in  love  with 
Phoebus. 

Gringoire  did  not  bother  to  discover 


the  plot  behind  the  frustrated  kidnap 
ing,  but  had  he  known  the  truth  he 
might  have  been  more  frightened  than 
he  was.  Quasimodo's  hooded  companion 
had  been  Claude  Frollo,  archdeacon  of 
Notre  Dame,  a  man  who  had  once  been  a 
pillar  of  righteousness,  but  who  now, 
because  of  loneliness  and  an  insatiable 
thirst  for  knowledge  and  experience,  had 
succumbed  to  die  temptations  of  necro 
mancy  and  alchemy. 

Frollo  had  befriended  Quasimodo 
when  the  hunchback  had  been  left  at 
the  gates  of  Notre  Dame  as  an  unwanted 
baby,  and  to  him  Quasimodo  was  slav 
ishly  loyal.  He  acted  without  question 
when  Frollo  asked  his  aid  in  kidnaping 
the  beautiful  gipsy.  Frollo,  having  ad 
mired  Esmerelda  from  a  distance,  planned 
to  carry  her  off  to  his  small  cell  in  the 
cathedral,  where  he  could  enjoy  her 
charms  at  his  leisure. 

As  Quasimodo  and  Frollo  hurried  back 
to  the  cathedral,  Gringoire  continued  on 
his  way  and  found  himself  in  a  disrepu 
table  quarter  of  Paris.  Captured  by 
thugs,  he  was  threatened  with  death  if 
none  of  the  women  in  the  thieves'  den 
would  marry  him.  When  no  one  wanted 
the  pale,  thin  poet,  a  noose  was  lowered 
about  his  neck.  Suddenly  Esmerelda 
appeared  and  volunteered  to  take  him. 
But  Gringoire  enjoyed  no  wedding  night. 
Esmerelda's  heart  belonged  to  Phoebus; 
she  had  rescued  the  poet  only  out  of  pity. 

In  those  days  the  courts  of  Paris  often 
picked  innocent  people  from  the  streets, 
tried  them,  and  convicted  them  with 
little  regard  for  justice.  Quasimodo  had 
been  seen  in  his  role  as  the  Prince  of 
Fools  and  had  been  watched  as  he  stood 
before  the  gipsy  girl  while  she  danced. 
It  was  rumored  that  Esmerelda  was  a 
witch,  and  most  of  Paris  suspected  that 
Frollo,  Quasimodo's  only  associate,  was 
a  sorcerer.  Consequently  Quasimodo  was 
brought  into  a  court,  accused  of  keeping 
questionable  company,  and  sentenced  to 
a  severe  flogging  and  exposure  on  the 
pillory.  Quasimodo  endured  his  disgrace, 
stoically,  but  after  his  misshapen  back 


398 


had  been  torn  by  the  lash,  he  was  over 
come  with  a  terrible  thirst.  The  crowd 
jeered  and  threw  stones.  They  hated 
and  feared  Quasimodo  because  of  his 
ugliness. 

Presently  Esmerelda  mounted  the  scaf 
fold  and  put  her  flask  to  Quasimodo's 
blackened  lips.  This  act  of  kindness 
moved  him  deeply  and  he  wept.  At  that 
same  time  Frollo  had  happened  upon  the 
scene,  caught  sight  of  Quasimodo,  and 
departed  quickly.  Later  Quasimodo  was 
to  remember  this  betrayal. 

One  day  Phoebus  was  entertaining  a 
lady  in  a  building  overlooking  the  square 
where  Esmerelda  was  dancing.  The 
gipsy  was  so  smitten  with  Phoebus  that 
she  had  taught  her  goat  to  spell  out  his 
name  with  alphabet  blocks.  When  she 
had  the  animal  perform  this  trick,  the 
lady  called  her  a  witch  and  a  sorceress. 
But  Phoebus  followed  the  gipsy  and  ar 
ranged  for  a  rendezvous  with  her  for 
the  following  night. 

Gringoire,  meanwhile,  happened  to 
meet  Frollo,  who  was  jealous  of  the  poet 
because  he  was  rumored  to  be  Esmerelda's 
husband.  But  Gringoire  explained  that 
Esmerelda  did  not  love  him;  she  had  eyes 
and  heart  only  for  Phoebus. 

Desperate  to  preserve  Esmerelda  for 
himself,  Frollo  trailed  the  young  gallant 
and  asked  him  where  he  was  going.  Phoe 
bus  said  that  he  had  a  rendezvous  with 
Esmerelda.  The  priest  offered  him  money 
in  exchange  for  an  opportunity  to  conceal 
himself  in  the  room  where  this  rendez 
vous  was  to  take  place,  ostensibly  to  dis 
cover  whether  Esmerelda  were  really  the 
girl  whose  name  Phoebus  had  mentioned. 
It  was  a  poor  ruse  at  best,  but  Phoebus 
was  not  shy  at  love-making  and  he  agreed 
to  the  bargain.  When  he  learned  that 
the  girl  was  really  Esmerelda,  Frollo 
leaped  from  concealment  and  wounded 
Phoebus  with  a  dagger.  Esmerelda  could 
not  see  her  lover's  assailant  in  the  dark 
ness  and  when  she  fainted  Frollo  escaped. 
A  crowd  gathered,  murmuring  that  the 
sorceress  had  slain  Phoebus.  They  took 
the  gipsy  off  to  prison. 


Now  tales  of  Esmerelda's  sorcery  be 
gan  to  circulate.  At  her  trial  she  was 
convicted  of  witchcraft,  sentenced  to  do 
penance  on  the  great  porch  of  Notre 
Dame  and  from  there  to  be  taken  to  a 
scaffold  in  the  Place  de  Greve  and  pub 
licly  hanged. 

Captain  Phoebus  was  not  dead,  but  he 
had  kept  silence  rather  than  implicate 
himself  in  a  case  of  witchcraft.  When 
Esmerelda  was  on  her  way  to  Notre 
Dame,  she  caught  sight  of  him  riding  on 
his  beautiful  horse,  and  called  out  to 
him,  but  he  ignored  her  completely.  She 
then  felt  that  she  was  doomed. 

When  she  came  before  Frollo  to  do 
penance,  he  offered  to  save  her  if  she 
would  be  his;  but  she  refused.  Quasi 
modo  suddenly  appeared  on  the  porch, 
took  the  girl  in  his  arms,  and  carried 
her  to  sanctuary  within  the  church. 
Esmerelda  was  now  safe  as  long  as  she 
remained  within  the  cathedral  walls. 

Quasimodo  hid  her  in  his  own  cell, 
where  there  was  a  mattress  and  water, 
and  brought  her  food.  He  kept  the 
cell  door  locked  so  that  if  her  pursuers  did 
break  the  sanctuary,  they  could  not 
reach  her.  Aware  that  she  would  be  ter 
rified  of  him  if  he  stayed  with  her,  he 
entered  her  cell  only  to  bring  her  his 
own  dinner. 

Frollo,  knowing  that  the  gipsy  was 
near  him  in  the  cathedral,  secured  a  key 
to  the  chamber  and  stole  in  to  see  Esmer 
elda  one  night.  She  struggled  hopelessly, 
until  suddenly  Quasimodo  entered  and 
dragged  the  priest  from  the  cell.  With 
smothered  rage,  he  freed  the  trembling 
archdeacon  and  allowed  him  to  run  away. 

One  day  a  mob  gathered  and  de 
manded  that  the  sorceress  be  turned  from 
the  cathedral.  Frollo  was  jubilant.  Quasi 
modo,  however,  barred  and  bolted  the 
great  doors.  When  the  crowd  charged 
the  cathedral  with  a  battering  ram,  Quasi 
modo  threw  huge  stones  from  a  tower 
where  builders  had  been  working.  The 
mob  persisting,  he  poured  melted  lead 
upon  the  crowd  below.  Then  the  mob 
secured  ladders  and  began  to  mount  the 


399 


facade,  but  Quasimodo  seized  the  ladders 
and  pushed  them  from  the  wall.  Hun 
dreds  of  dead  and  wounded  lay  below 
him* 

The  king's  guards  joined  the  fray, 
Quasimodo,  looking  down,  thought  that 
the  soldiers  had  arrived  to  protect  Esmer- 
elda.  He  went  to  her  cell,  but  to  his 
amazement  he  found  the  door  open  and 
Esmerelda  gone. 

Frollo  had  given  Gringoire  the  key  to 
her  chamber  and  had  led  the  poet 
through  the  cathedral  to  her  cell.  Grin 
goire  convinced  her  that  she  must  fly, 
since  the  church  was  under  siege.  She 
followed  him  trustingly,  and  he  led  her 
to  a  boat  where  Frollo  was  already  wait 
ing.  Frightened  by  the  violence  of  the 
priest,  Gringoire  fled.  Once  more,  Frollo 
offered  to  save  Esmerelda  if  she  would 
be  his,  but  she  refused  him.  Fleeing,  she 
sought  refuge  in  a  cell  belonging  to  a 
madwoman.  There  the  soldiers  found 
her  and  dragged  her  away  for  her  execu 
tion  the  next  morning  at  dawn. 

Quasimodo,  meanwhile,  roamed  the 
cathedral  searching  for  Esmerelda.  Mak 
ing  his  way  to  the  tower  which  looked 
down  upon  the  bridge  of  Notre  Dame, 
Quasimodo  came  upon  Frollo,  who  stood 
shaking  with  laughter  as  he  watched  a 
scene  far  below.  Following  the  direction 
of  the  priest's  gaze,  Quasimodo  saw  a 


gibbet  erected  in  the  Place  de  Greve  and 
on  the  platform  a  woman  in  white.  It 
was  Esmerelda.  Quasimodo  saw  the  noose 
lowered  over  the  girl's  head  and  the  plat 
form  released.  The  body  swayed  in  the 
morning  breeze.  Then  Quasimodo  picked 
up  Frollo  and  thrust  him  over  the  wall 
on  which  he  had  been  leaning.  At  that 
moment  Quasimodo  understood  every 
thing  that  the  priest  had  done  to  ensure 
the  death  of  Esmerelda.  He  looked  at 
the  crushed  body  at  the  foot  of  the 
tower  and  then  at  the  figure  in  white 
upon  the  gallows.  He  wept. 

After  the  deaths  of  Esmerelda  and 
Claude  Frollo,  Quasimodo  was  not  to  be 
found.  Then  in  the  reign  of  Charles 
VIII  the  vault  of  Montfaucon,  in  which 
the  bodies  of  criminals  were  interred,  was 
opened  to  locate  the  remains  of  a  famous 
prisoner  who  had  been  buried  there. 
Among  the  skeletons  were  those  of  a 
woman  who  had  been  clad  in  white  and 
of  a  man  whose  bony  arms  were  wrapped 
tightly  around  the  woman's  body.  His 
spine  was  crooked,  one  leg  was  shorter 
than  the  other,  and  it  was  evident  that 
he  had  not  been  hanged,  for  his  neck 
was  unbroken.  When  those  who  dis 
covered  these  singular  remains  tried  to 
separate  the  two  bodies,  they  crumbled 
into  dust. 


HUNGER 

I  'ype  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Knut  Hamsun  (Knut  Pedersen  Hamsund,  1859-1952) 
Type  of  plot;  Impressionistic  realism 
Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 
Locale:  Norway 
first  published:  1890 

Principal  character: 

THE  NARRATOR,  a  young  writer 

Critique: 

Hunger  was  the  work  that  immedi-  treatment  are  highly  impressionistic, 
ately  brought  Hamsun  to  the  attention  Hamsun  has  given  us  a  striking  study 
of  a  wide  literary  audience,  and  the  novel  of  a  man's  mind  under  stress,  but  it  is 
has  been  reprinted  and  translated  many 
times.  Realistic  in  subject,  its  form  and 


not  a  clinical  study;  it  is  an  artistic  piece 
of  literature. 


HUNGER  by  Knut  Hamsun.   Translated  by  George  Egerton.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf 
Inc.    Copyright,  1920,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Renewed,  1948,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


400 


The  Story: 

T  awoke  at  six  o'clock  and  lay  awake 
in  my  bed  until  eight.  Hungry,  I 
searched  in  my  packet  of  odds  and  ends, 
but  there  was  not  even  a  crumb  of  bread. 
I  knew  that  I  should  have  gone  out  early 
to  look  for  work,  but  I  had  been  refused 
so  often  I  was  almost  afraid  to  venture 
out  again. 

At  last  I  took  some  paper  and  went 
out,  for  if  the  weather  permitted  I  could 
write  in  the  park.  There  were  several 
good  ideas  in  my  head  for  newspaper 
articles.  In  the  street  an  old  cripple  with 
a  big  bundle  was  using  all  his  strength 
to  keep  ahead  of  me. 

When  I  caught  up  with  him  he  turned 
around  and  whined  for  a  halfpenny  to 
buy  milk.  Not  having  a  cent  on  me,  I 
hurried  back  to  the  pawnbroker's  dark 
shop.  In  the  hall  I  took  off  my  waistcoat 
and  rolled  it  in  a  ball.  The  pawnbroker 
gave  me  one  and  six  for  it.  I  found  the 
old  cripple  again  and  gave  him  his  half 
penny.  He  stared  at  me  with  his  mouth 
open  as  I  hurried  away. 

Two  women,  one  of  them  young,  were 
idly  strolling  about.  When  I  told  the 
young  woman  that  she  would  lose  her 
book,  she  looked  frightened  and  they 
hurried  on.  Seeing  them  standing  before 
a  shop  window,  I  went  up  to  them  again 
and  told  the  younger  woman  that  she 
was  losing  her  book.  She  looked  her 
self  over  in  a  bewildered  way;  she  had 
no  book.  I  kept  following  them,  but 
they  put  me  down  as  a  harmless  mad 
man. 

In  the  park  I  could  not  write  a  thing. 
Little  flies  stuck  to  my  paper.  All  after 
noon  I  tried  to  brush  them  off.  Then 
I  wrote  an  application  for  a  job  as  book 
keeper.  After  a  day  or  two  I  went  to 
see  the  man  in  person.  He  laughed  at 
my  desire  to  become  a  bookkeeper  be 
cause  I  had  dated  my  letter  1848,  years 
before  I  was  born.  I  went  home  dis 
couraged. 

On  my  table  was  a  letter.  I  thought 
it  a  notice  from  my  landlady,  for  I  was 
behind  in  my  rent.  But  no,  my  story 


had  been  accepted.  The  editor  saicl  ft 
would  be  printed  right  away.  He  had 
included  a  half  sovereign  in  payment. 
I  had  written  a  masterpiece  and  I  had  a 
half  sovereign. 

A  few  weeks  later  I  went  out  for  an 
evening  walk  and  sat  in  a  churchyard 
with  a  new  manuscript.  At  eight  o'clock, 
when  the  gates  were  closed,  I  meant  to 
go  straight  home  to  the  vacant  tinker's 
workshop  which  I  had  permission  to 
occupy,  but  I  stumbled  around  hardly 
knowing  where  I  was.  I  felt  feverish 
because  I  had  not  eaten  for  several  days. 
At  last  I  sat  down  and  dozed  off.  I 
dreamed  that  a  beautiful  girl  dressed  in 
silk  waited  for  me  in  a  doorway  and 
led  me  down  a  hall,  she  holding  my 
hand.  We  went  into  a  crimson  room 
where  she  clasped  me  tightly  and  begged 
me  to  kiss  her. 

A  policeman  woke  me  up  and  advised 
me  to  go  to  the  police  barracks  as  a 
homeless  man.  When  I  got  there,  I  lied 
about  my  name  and  said  that  it  was  too 
late  for  me  to  get  back  to  my  lodgings. 
The  officer  believed  me  and  gave  me  a 
private  room.  In  the  morning,  thinking 
I  was  only  a  young  rake  instead  of  a 
destitute,  the  police  gave  me  no  break 
fast  ticket.  I  drank  a  lot  of  water  but  I 
could  scarcely  keep  it  down. 

Faint  with  hunger,  I  cut  the  buttons 
from  my  coat  and  tried  to  pawn  them, 
but  the  pawnbroker  laughed  at  me.  Or* 
the  way  out  I  met  a  friend  bringing  his 
watch  to  pawn.  He  fed  me  and  gave  me 
five  shillings. 

I  went  to  see  an  editor  who  critically 
read  my  sketch  on  Corregio.  He  was 
kind,  saying  that  he  would  like  to  pub 
lish  my  work  but  that  he  had  to  keep 
his  subscribers  in  mind.  He  asked  if  1 
could  write  something  more  to  the  com 
mon  taste.  When  I  prepared  to  leave,  he 
also  asked  me  if  I  needed  money.  He 
was  sure  I  could  write  it  out.  Although  I 
had  not  eaten  a  real  meal  for  some  time, 
I  thanked  him  and  left  without  an  ad 
vance  payment. 


401 


A  lady  in  black  stood  every  night  on 
die  corner  by  my  tinker's  garret.  She 
would  look  intently  at  my  lodging  for  a 
while  and  then  pass  on.  After  several 
days  I  spoke  to  her  and  accompanied 
her  on  her  walk.  She  said  she  had  no 
special  interest  in  my  poor  garret  or  in 
me.  When  she  lifted  her  veil,  I  saw  she 
was  the  woman  I  had  followed  and 
spoken  to  about  the  book.  She  was 
merry  with  me  and  seemed  to  enjoy  my 
company. 

One  night  she  took  me  to  her  home. 
Once  inside,  we  embraced;  then  we  sat 
down  and  began  to  talk.  She  confessed 
that  she  was  attracted  to  me  because  she 
thought  I  was  a  madman.  She  was  an 
adventurous  girl,  on  the  lookout  for  odd 
experiences,  I  told  her  the  truth  about 
myself,  that  I  acted  queerly  because  I 
was  so  poor.  Much  of  the  time  I  was 
so  hungry  that  I  had  a  fever.  She  found 
my  story  hard  to  believe,  but  I  convinced 
her.  She  was  sympathetic  for  a  moment. 
I  had  to  leave,  for  her  mother  was  re 
turning,  and  I  never  saw  her  again. 

I  awoke  sick  one  morning.  All  day  I 
shivered  in  bed.  Toward  night  I  went 
down  to  the  little  shop  below  to  buy  a 
eandle,  for  I  felt  I  had  to  write  some 
thing.  A  boy  was  alone  in  the  store.  I 
gave  him  a  florin  for  my  candle,  but  he 
gave  me  change  for  a  crown.  I  stared 
stupidly  at  the  money  in  my  hand  for  a 


long  time,  but  I  got  out  without  betray 
ing  myself, 

I  took  a  room  in  a  real  hotel  and  had 
a  chamber  to  myself  and  breakfast  and 
supper.  About  the  time  my  money  was 
gone  I  started  on  a  medieval  play.  The 
landlady  trusted  me  for  quite  a  while, 
for  I  explained  that  I  would  pay  her  as 
soon  as  my  play  was  finished.  One  night 
she  brought  a  sailor  up  to  my  room  and 
turned  me  out,  but  she  let  me  go  down 
and  sleep  with  the  family. 

For  some  time  I  slept  on  a  sofa  in  the 
entryway,  and  once  in  a  while  a  servant 
gave  me  bread  and  cheese.  In  my  nervous 
condition  it  was  hard  to  be  meek  and 
grateful.  The  break  came  one  evening 
when  the  children  were  amusing  them 
selves  fcy  sticking  straws  into  the  nose 
and  ears  of  the  paralyzed  grandfather 
who  lay  on  a  bed  before  the  fire.  I 
protested  against  their  cruel  sport.  The 
landlady  flew  at  me  in  a  rage  and 
ordered  me  out. 

I  wandered  down  to  the  docks  and 
got  a  berth  on  a  Russian  freighter  going 
to  England.  I  came  back  to  the  hotel 
for  my  possessions  and  on  the  step  met 
the  postman.  He  handed  me  a  letter 
addressed  in  a  feminine  hand.  Inside 
was  a  half  sovereign.  I  crumpled  the 
envelope  and  coin  together  and  threw 
them  in  the  landlady's  face. 


HYPATIA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Fifth  century 

Locale:  Egypt  and  Italy 

First  published:  1853 

Principal  characters* 

PHILAMMON,  a  young  monk 

HYPATIA,  a  female  Greek  philosopher  and  teacher 

RAPHAEL  ABEN-EZRA,  a  young  Jew,  Hypatia's  pupil 

MIRIAM,  an  old  Jewish  crone 

AMAL,  a  young  Gothic  chiei 

PELAGIA,  AmaT's  mistress 

ORESTES,  Roman  prefect  of  Alexandria 


402 


Critique: 

In  Alexandria  in  the  fifth  century 
after  Christ's  death,  there  were  many 
forces,  Pagan,  Christian,  and  Jewish,  all 
struggling  for  the  souls  of  men.  Hypatia 
is  the  story  of  that  conflict,  which  ended 
with  the  disintegration  of  a  victorious 
Christian  faction  that  used  violence  to 
gain  its  ends.  The  larger  background  of 
the  novel  is  the  dissolving  Roman  Em 
pire. 

The  Story: 

Philammon  might  never  have  left  the 
little  colony  of  monks  three  hundred 
miles  above  Alexandria  if  he  had  not 
strayed  into  an  ancient  temple  in  search 
of  kindling.  There,  on  the  temple  walls, 
he  saw  paintings  of  a  life  undreamed  of 
in  his  monastic  retreat,  and  he  longed 
to  visit  the  greater  outside  world.  That 
very  day,  against  the  advice  of  the  abbot 
and  Aufugus,  a  monk  whom  he  highly 
respected,  he  started  out  in  a  small  boat 
and  traveled  down  the  river  toward 
Alexandria. 

In  that  splendid  city  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Nile  lived  Hypatia,  the  beautiful 
philosopher  and  teacher,  one  of  the  last 
to  champion  the  ancient  Greek  gods. 
As  she  sat  with  her  books  one  day,  she 
was  visited  by  the  Roman  prefect, 
Orestes,  with  the  news  that  Pelagia,  a 
beautiful  courtesan  who  was  Hypatia's 
rival  for  the  hearts  and  souls  of  men,  had 
left  the  city.  Pelagia  had  transferred  her 
affections  to  Amal,  a  Goth  chieftain,  and 
had  joined  him  on  a  trip  up  the  Nile 
in  search  of  Asgard,  home  of  the  old 
Gothic  gods. 

Cyril,  the  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  had 
reported  to  Orestes  that  the  Jews  of  the 
city  were  about  to  rise  and  slaughter 
the  Christians,  but  Orestes  chose  to 
ignore  the  matter  and  let  events  take 
their  course.  Hypatia,  who  also  had 
reason  to  oppose  the  Christian  patriarch, 
suggested  that  Cyril  make  his  charges 
before  the  Roman  tribunal,  which  would, 
of  course,  postpone  action  against  the 
Jews. 


A  wealthy  young  Jew,  Raphael  Aben- 
Ezra,  whom  Orestes  met  on  his  way  to 
the  palace,  suggested  that  the  prefect 
plead  ignorance  of  any  plot  in  his  reply 
to  Cyril.  Raphael  disclosed  to  the  Roman 
that  Heraclian,  a  Roman  leader,  had 
recently  sailed  for  Italy,  where  he 
planned  to  destroy  the  Gothic  conquerors 
of  Rome  and  make  himself  emperor.  His 
news  led  Orestes  to  think  of  the  power 
he  might  hold  south  of  the  Mediterranean 
if  the  expedition  succeeded. 

Sailing  down  the  Nile,  Philammon 
met  Pelagia  and  the  party  of  Goths 
traveling  in  the  opposite  direction.  He 
helped  the  men  kill  a  hippopotamus. 
When  he  warned  them  that  they  could 
never  cross  the  cataracts  to  the  south,  the 
Goths  decided  to  turn  back.  Philammon 
was  given  a  place  in  their  boat. 

Orestes  sent  Hypatia  a  letter  delivered 
by  the  old  Jewish  crone,  Miriam.  It 
contained  Raphael's  news  and  a  pro 
posal  that  Hypatia  marry  the  prefect  and 
share  the  throne  he  was  planning  to 
create  for  himself  in  Egypt.  Hypatia's 
reply  was  that  she  would  accept  the 
offer  if  Orestes  would  renounce  his 
Christian  faith  and  aid  her  in  restoring 
the  Greek  gods. 

Orestes,  having  no  desire  to  face  ex 
communication,  was  disturbed  by  her 
answer.  At  Raphael's  suggestion,  he  de 
cided  to  wait  for  a  month  in  the  hope 
that  Hypatia's  desire  to  marry  a  future 
emperor  would  overcome  her  religious 


When  they  arrived  in  Alexandria, 
Philammon  left  the  Goths  and  went  to 
deliver  to  the  Patriarch  Cyril  the  letters 
of  introduction  he  carried.  While  wait 
ing  to  see  the  patriarch,  Philammon  over 
heard  a  plot  to  raid  the  Jewish  quarter 
the  next  day. 

That  night,  as  he  lay  in  bed  in  the 
patriarch's  house,  Philammon  heard  cries 
that  the  Jews  were  burning  Alexander's 
Church.  Joining  a  crowd  of  monks 
hurrying  toward  that  edifice,  he  was  at 
tacked  by  a  band  of  Hebrew  marauders, 


403 


But  the  report  of  the  conflagration  was 
false;  it  had  been  a  trick  of  the  Jews 
to  lure  the  Christians  into  ambush.  Dur 
ing  the  street  fighting  the  Roman  con 
stabulary,  which  was  supposed  to  keep 
order,  remained  aloof. 

The  next  morning  Miriam,  who  took 
a  mysterious  interest  in  Raphael's  wel 
fare,  hastened  to  his  quarters  to  warn 
him  to  flee.  Christians,  attacking  the 
Jewish  quarter,  were  pillaging  the  houses 
and  expelling  their  inhabitants.  To 
Miriam's  exasperation,  Raphael  showed 
no  interest  in  the  fate  of  his  wealth. 
Calmly  exchanging  his  rich  robes  for  a 
Christian's  tattered  rags,  he  prepared  to 
leave  the  city.  Miriam  was  left  to  save 
what  she  could  of  his  possessions. 

Philammon  was  one  of  the  Christians 
who  aided  in  despoiling  the  Jews.  During 
the  rioting  he  began  to  compare  the 
conduct  of  the  monks  of  Alexandria  with 
the  principles  of  charity  and  good  works 
he  himself  had  been  taught.  Hearing 
of  Hypatia  and  her  teachings,  he  naively 
went  to  the  museum  where  she  lectured, 
in  the  hope  of  converting  her  to  Chris 
tianity  by  his  arguments.  Nearly  put  out 
of  the  building  by  her  pupils  when  he 
rose  to  dispute  with  her,  he  was  spared 
at  Hypatia's  request.  After  the  lecture 
she  invited  him  to  visit  her  the  following 
day. 

The  Alexandrian  monks  were  incensed 
when  they  learned  that  one  Philammon 
had  been  to  listen  to  the  discourse  of  a 
pagan.  When  he  visited  Hypatia  again, 
they  accused  him  of  being  a  heretic,  and 
the  young  monk  barely  escaped  being 
murdered.  Philammon,  charmed  by 
Hypatia's  beauty  and  purity,  begged  to 
become  her  pupil. 

Raphael,  who  had  fled  to  Italy,  found 
himself  in  a  devastated  Rome.  Heraclian, 
after  his  defeat  by  the  Goths,  was  pre 
paring  to  reembark  for  Africa.  After 
Raphael  had  saved  one  member  of  the 
ill-fated  expedition  and  his  daughter, 
Victoria,  from  two  barbarian  soldiers,  he 
sailed  with  them  from  Ostia  to  Berenice, 
a  port  on  the  coast  of  Africa. 


Meanwhile,  in  Alexandria,  Philam 
mon  had  become  Hypatia's  favorite 
pupil.  Aufugus,  learning  that  the  youth 
had  deserted  his  Christian  brethren, 
went  to  the  city  to  find  him.  One  day 
the  two  men  met  in  the  street.  Aufugus, 
seeing  that  Philammon  was  determined 
to  remain  with  his  mentor,  declared  that 
the  young  monk  was  actually  his  slave, 
and  he  appealed  to  Orestes,  who  was 
passing  by,  to  force  Philammon  to  go 
with  his  legal  owner.  Philammon  fled 
to  take  temporary  refuge  with  the  Goths 
in  Pelagia's  house. 

After  Philammon  had  returned  to  his 
own  rooms,  he  received  a  summons  from 
Miriam.  She  confirmed  the  fact  that  he 
was  Aufugus'  slave,  for  she  had  seen 
Philammon  bought  in  Athens  fifteen 
years  before.  Although  Miriam  had  re 
ceived  the  report  of  Heraclian's  defeat 
by  fast  messenger,  she  wrote  a  letter 
which  declared  that  Heraclian  had  been 
the  victor.  She  sent  Philammon  to  de 
liver  the  letter  to  Orestes. 

The  prefect  immediately  planned  a 
great  celebration,  in  which  the  beauti 
ful  Pelagia  should  dance  as  Venus  An- 
adyomene.  Philammon  hotly  objected 
to  the  plan,  for  when  Miriam  told  him 
he  was  a  slave  she  had  implied  also  that 
Pelagia  was  his  sister.  Annoyed,  Orestes 
ordered  the  monk  to  be  thrown  into  jail. 
There  Philammon  was  held  prisoner  un 
til  the  day  of  the  celebration.  Released, 
he  hurried  to  the  arena  in  time  to  witness 
the  slaughter  of  some  Libyan  slaves  by 
professional  gladiators.  Orestes,  with 
Hypatia  beside  him,  watched  from  his 
box. 

When  Pelagia  was  carried  into  the 
amphitheater  by  an  elephant  and  intro 
duced  as  Venus,  Orestes'  hirelings  tried 
to  raise  a  cry  to  proclaim  him  Emperor 
of  Africa.  No  one  responded.  Pelagia 
danced  before  her  audience  until  Philam 
mon,  overcome  by  shame,  could  bear 
the  sight  no  longer.  Running  to  stop  her 
shameful  dance,  he  was  caught  up  by  the 
elephant's  trunk  and  would  have  been 
dashed  to  death  if  Pelagia  had  not  per- 


404 


suaded  the  animal  to  put  him  down. 
Pelagia  left  the  amphitheater.  Philam 
mon  was  hustled  away  by  the  guards. 

Orestes,  however,  was  determined  that 
his  plan  should  succeed.  When  the  up 
roar  caused  by  Philammon  began  to  die 
down,  he  stepped  forward  and  offered 
himself  as  emperor.  As  had  been  pre 
arranged,  the  city  authorities  began  a 
clamor  for  him;  but  hardly  had  they 
started  their  outcry  when  a  monk  in  the 
topmost  tiers  shouted  that  Heraclian  had 
been  defeated.  Orestes  and  Hypatia  fled. 

Philammon,  when  he  returned  home, 
found  Pelagia  in  his  quarters.  He  begged 
his  sister,  as  he  now  called  her,  to  leave 
the  Goth,  Amal,  and  repent  her  ways, 
but  the  courtesan  refused.  Instead,  she 
entreated  him  to  ask  Hypatia  to  accept 
her  as  a  pupil,  so  that  Amal,  whose  af 
fection  for  her  was  failing,  would  love 
and  respect  her  as  the  Greek  woman  was 
respected.  But  Hypatia  had  no  pity  for 
her  hated  rival.  Philammon,  carrying 
the  news  of  her  refusal  to  his  sister, 
could  not  help  thinking  fondly  of  his 
own  religion,  with  its  offer  of  pity  to  all 
transgressors. 

Hypatia  knew  the  populace  would 
soon  be  clamoring  for  her  blood  and  that 
she  would  be  forced  to  flee.  In  one  last 
desperate  effort  to  hold  to  her  creed,  she 
forced  herself  into  a  trance  that  she 
might  have  a  visitation  from  the  gods. 
The  only  face  she  saw,  however,  was 
Pelagians. 

When  Miriam  visited  Hypatia  the 
same  day  with  the  promise  that  she 
should  see  Apollo  that  night  if  she 
would  visit  the  house  of  the  Jewess, 
the  distraught  philosopher  agreed.  But 
the  Apollo  the  crone  showed  her  was 
Philammon,  stupefied  by  drugged  wine. 
As  Miriam  had  foreseen,  Hypatia  realized 
at  last  that  the  only  gods  she  would  ever 
see  were  those  that  existed  in  her  own 
mind.  Shamed  and  angry,  she  went 
away.  The  final  blow  to  fall  on  Hypatia 


was  the  news  Raphael  brought  her  on 
his  return  to  Alexandria  the  next  day. 
Under  the  persuasion  of  Augustine,  the 
famous  philosopher-monk,  he  had  be 
come  a  converted  Catholic  before  leav 
ing  Berenice,  and  he  had  married  Vic 
toria.  That  afternoon,  as  she  started  for 
the  museum  to  give  her  farewell  lecture, 
Hypatia  was  torn  to  pieces  by  some  of 
Cyril's  monks. 

Philammon,  when  he  learned  of  Hy- 
patia's  fate,  visited  Pelagia  and  pleaded 
with  her  to  flee  with  him.  By  chance 
he  met  Amal,  and  in  a  struggle  that 
ensued  they  fell  from  a  tower  together, 
and  the  Goth  was  killed.  After  Amal's 
death,  Pelagia  was  willing  to  leave  the 
city.  Together  they  returned  to  the 
desert,  where  Pelagia  lived  in  solitary 
penitence  and  Philammon  became  abbot, 
eventually,  of  the  community  he  had 
left.  Brother  and  sister  died  at  the  same 
time  and  were  buried  in  a  common  grave. 

Before  he  departed  from  Alexandria 
forever,  Raphael  learned  from  Miriam 
that  she  was  his  mother.  A  Jewess  by 
birth,  she  had  been  converted  to  Chris 
tianity  and  had  lived  in  a  convent  until 
it  was  sacked  by  the  heathen.  Afterward 
she  had  renounced  her  faith  and  had 
sworn  the  destruction  of  everyone  not  of 
her  own  race.  Raphael  had  been  given 
to  a  rich  Jewess,  who  had  represented 
him  to  her  husband  as  her  own  child. 
After  confessing  her  relationship  to  her 
son,  Miriam  died  on  his  shoulder.  She 
had  been  mortally  wounded  by  the  Goths 
after  the  death  of  their  leader. 

The  victory  which  the  Patriarch  Cyril 
gained  by  Hypatia's  death  was  only 
temporary.  Though  it  marked  the  end 
of  her  creed  in  Egypt,  it  also  signified  the 
decline  of  the  Egyptian  Church,  for  the 
Christians,  splitting  into  many  factions, 
did  not  hesitate  to  use  on  each  other  the 
same  violence  they  had  once  displayed 
toward  the  Greek  philosopher. 


405 


I,  CLAUDIUS 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Ro"bert  Graves  (1895-         ) 

Type  of  'plot;  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  10  B,  C.-A.  D.  41 

Locale:  Rome 

First 'published:  1934 

Principal  characters: 

TIBERIUS  CLAUDIUS  DRUSUS  NERO  GERMANICUS,  Emperor  oJ 

Rome  after  Caligula 

AUGUSTUS  CAESAR,  first  Emperor  of  Rome 
LIVIA,  his  wife,  Claudius'  grandmother 
TIBERIUS,  Claudius*  uncle,  successor  to  Augustus 
GERMANICUS,  Claudius'  brother 
CALIGULA,  Germanicus'  son,  successor  to  Tiberius 

Critique: 

I,  Claudius  is  a  semi-fictional  recon 
struction  of  an  interesting  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Roman  empire.  In  it  are 
snatches  of  history,  records  of  conquest, 
Roman  scenes,  and  names  famous  in 
history  books.  It  is  told  in  an  informal 
manner,  Claudius  going  to  great  lengths 
to  reveal  plot  after  plot,  and  the  narrative 
method  obscures  in  part  the  scholarly 
research  and  historical  accuracy  of  the 
author. 


The  Story: 

Claudius,  Emperor  of  Rome,  was  held 
in  little  esteem  because  he  was  a  stam 
merer*  He  was,  moreover,  a  scholar  in  a 
nation  which  worshipped  soldiering.  He 
had  compiled  state  histories  but  he 
realized  that  they  were  dull,  sententious 
drivel.  At  last  he  decided  to  tell  the 
true  story  of  his  own  life.  As  the  source 
of  his  inspiration  he  cited  the  Cumaean 
sibyl  whom  he  had  visited  in  her  inner 
cavern.  She  had  said  that  eventually  he 
would  speak  clearly. 

From  the  beginning,  the  Claudian 
family  felt  ashamed  of  young  Claudius 
because  he  was  a  lame  stammerer  who 
seemed  unlikely  to  carry  on  the  family 
tradition  of  power.  For  that  reason  he 
developed  into  a  scholarly  person  in 
terested  in  the  lives  of  others.  His 
teachers  told  him  stories  about  famous 


people  and  from  many  sources  he  picked 
up  stray  scraps  of  knowledge  about  them 
as  he  grew  up. 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  his  grand 
mother,  the  Empress  Livia.  Bored  with 
her  husband,  she  had  secured  a  divorce, 
arranged  her  own  marriage  with  the 
Emperor  Augustus,  and  poisoned  there 
after  anyone  who  interfered  with  her 
plans.  Power  was  her  sole  delight. 

Another  of  the  infamous  people  about 
him  was  Tiberius,  who  was  for  years  the 
successor-to-be  of  Augustus.  Son  of  Livia 
by  an  early  marriage,  he  married  the 
wanton  Julia,  daughter  of  Livia  and 
Augustus.  When  Tiberius,  having  of 
fended  Augustus,  was  banished,  Livia 
insisted  that  Julia  be  banished  too. 
Tiberius,  tired  of  his  banishment, 
promised  that  if  Livia  would  secure  his 
return  he  would  agree  with  her  every 
wish  thereafter.  About  that  time  the 
two  sons  of  Julia  and  Tiberius  died 
mysteriously. 

Between  Claudius*  ninth  and  sixteenth 
years  he  occupied  himself  with  affairs  of 
his  older  relatives.  He  was  married  early 
to  a  girl  named  Urgulanilla,  who  de 
tested  him  as  much  as  he  detested  her. 
Claudius'  first  love  had  been  mysterious 
ly  poisoned  and  Claudius  suspected 
Livia,  who  later  forced  him  to  marry 
Urgulanilla.  Claudius'  scholarship  and 


I,  CLAUDIUS  by  Robert  Graves.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Random  Houic,  Inc.    Copy 
right,  1934,  by  Harrison  Smith  &  Robert  Haas,  Inc. 


stability  eventually  brought  him  into  the 
good  graces  of  Augustus  and  Livia.  They 
made  him  a  priest  of  Mars  and  showed 
by  public  interest  in  him  that  he  was  an 
accepted  member  of  the  imperial  family. 

Grain  shortage  caused  rioting  accom 
panied  by  arson.  Augustus  distributed 
grain  according  to  the  usual  custom, 
banished  such  people  as  did  not  hold 
property  in  Rome,  and  rationed  what 
food  was  available.  Livia  staged  a  sword 
fight  in  the  arena  to  restore  the  good 
will  of  the  populace.  Because  Claudius 
fainted  publicly  at  the  brutal  sports, 
Livia  decided  that  never  again  might  he 
show  his  face  in  public.  Soon  afterward 
the  last  of  Augustus'  sons  was  banished 
for  life.  Tiberius  was  proclaimed  the 
adopted  son  and  successor  of  Augustus. 

Tiberius  and  young  Germanicus, 
brother  of  Claudius,  campaigned  against 
the  barbarians,  but  Tiberius  was  not 
popular  in  spite  of  his  victories  with  the 
army.  Augustus  suffered  stomach  dis 
orders  and  died.  Claudius  knew  that 
about  a  month  before  his  death  he  had 
decided  to  restore  his  banished  son,  Pos 
tumus,  grant  money  and  honor  to  Clau 
dius,  and  replace  Tiberius.  Claudius  sus 
pected  Livia  of  the  emperor's  death. 

Postumus  was  reported  killed  by  a 
captain  of  the  guard  which  had  been 
placed  around  him.  Livia  slowly  starved 
Julia  to  death.  Because  Germanicus  was 
too  honorable  to  seize  the  empire  from 
Tiberius,  there  remained  only  the  proof 
that  Postumus  was  really  dead  to  make 
Tiberius  safe  upon  the  throne.  When 
Postumus  returned,  to  disprove  reports 
of  his  death,  Tiberius  had  him  tortured 
and  killed. 

Germanicus  continued  his  successful 
campaign  against  the  Germans.  Tiberius, 
jealous,  insisted  that  Germanicus  re 
turn  to  Rome  for  his  triumph.  In 
A.  D.  17  Germanicus  returned.  By  that 
time  Livia  suspected  Claudius  and  Ger 
manicus  of  plotting  against  Tiberius.  She 
sent  Claudius  to  Carthage  to  dedicate  a 
temple  to  Augustus,  who  had  been  deified 
by  the  Roman  Senate. 


Germanicus  was  next  dispatched  to  the 
East  to  command  the  armies  there.  But 
Livia  and  Tiberius  began  to  fear  that 
Germanicus  would  win  favor  in  the  East 
as  he  had  already  done  in  the  West, 
Germanicus  was  finally  poisoned.  His 
wife,  Agrippina,  sought  protection  from 
Claudius. 

Claudius  promised  his  thirteen-year- 
old  son  in  marriage  to  the  daughter  of 
Se janus,  the  friend  of  Tiberius.  A  few 
days  later  his  son  was  found  dead.  Again 
he  suspected  Livia.  Shortly  afterward  a 
divorce  was  arranged  for  Claudius  by 
Sejanus,  who  was  anxious  to  have 
Claudius  marry  Aelia,  his  sister  bv 
adoption.  Claudius  knew  better  than  to 
oppose  the  wills  of  those  in  power  and 
he  accepted  his  new  wife  with  practi 
cally  no  concern. 

Tiberius  set  Livia  aside.  She  was  now 
growing  old  and  he  no  longer  had  great 
reason  to  fear  her.  Bitter  at  the  removal 
of  her  power,  she  began  to  make  plans 
for  his  successor.  She  determined  that 
Caligula,  the  son  of  Germanicus,  should 
succeed  him.  She  called  in  Claudius  to 
declare  a  truce  with  him  on  the  con 
dition  that  he  would  have  her  declared 
a  goddess  after  her  death.  In  return,  she 
told  Claudius  most  of  her  state  secrets; 
she  said  that  all  the  murders  she  had 
planned  were  committed  solely  for  the 
good  of  the  state. 

Tiberius,  sixty-seven  years  old,  seemed 
destined  to  die  before  long.  He  was 
living  on  Capri  with  a  court  of  scholars, 
doctors,  confidants,  and  entertainers, 
Sejanus  having  been  left  in  Rome  with 
authority  to  rule  for  him.  When  Livia 
finally  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six, 
Tiberius  refused  to  return  to  Rome  even 
for  her  funeral. 

Tiberius  began  a  reign  of  terror  agains 
all  members  of  Livia's  faction.  When 
Sejanus  attempted  to  rebel  against  the 
emperor's  cruel  decrees,  Tiberius  ordered 
his  execution.  His  children  were  also 
put  to  death.  Claudius  was  ordered  to 
divorce  Aelia. 

At  last  the  mad  Tiberius  lay  dying  at 


407 


Misenum.  Macro,  commander  of  the 
guards,  and  Caligula,  next  in  line  for  the 
throne,  planned  to  take  over  the  country. 
Caligula,  already  infamous  among  people 
who  knew  him,  was  still  popular  with 
the  Romans.  In  too  great  a  hurry  they 
took  command  of  the  army.  Then,  learn 
ing  that  Tiberius  was  still  alive,  they 
smothered  him. 

In  order  to  establish  himself,  Caligula 
pretended  sympathy  and  generosity,  but 
Claudius  wrote  in  his  history  that  Calig 
ula  held  the  record  for  infamy  among 
princes  up  to  that  time.  He  began  by 
spending  the  money  Tiberius  and  Livia 
had  hoarded  so  long.  Then  he  fell  ill. 
When  he  began  to  recover,  he  announced 
to  Claudius  that  he  had  been  transformed 
into  a  god,  in  fulfillment  of  the  many 
prophecies  that  a  god  was  soon  to  be 


given  to  the  earth. 

Caligula  celebrated  his  godhood  by 
wholesale  assassination.  Claudius* 
mother  committed  suicide  because  of 
Caligula's  infamies.  Soon  Macro  was 
forced  to  kill  himself.  At  last  the  people 
began  to  turn  against  Caligula  because 
of  levies  forced  from  the  populace  and 
the  indescribable  depravities  of  the  palace 
brothel.  Caligula,  deciding  to  become  a 
general,  led  an  expedition  into  Germany. 
On  his  return  he  forced  Claudius  to 
marry  his  cousin  Messalina.  Calpurnia, 
Claudius'  only  true  friend,  was  banished. 
The  Romans  were  now  plotting,  almost 
openly,  the  assassination  of  Caligula. 
Before  long  he  was  murdered,  and  Clau 
dius,  the  retiring  scholar,  was  named 
Emperor  of  Rome. 


I  SPEAK  FOR  THADDEUS  STEVENS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Elsie  Singmaster  (Mrs.  E.  S.  Lewars,  1879-1958) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    1792-1868 

Locale:   Vermont,  Pennsylvania,  Washington,  D.  C. 

First  published:    1947 

Principal  characters: 

THADDEUS   STEVENS,  lawyer  and  statesman 

SALLY  MOKRTLL  STEVENS,  his  mothei 

JOSHUA, 

MORRTLL,  and 

ALANSON,  his  brothers 

LYTJIA  SMITH,  his  housekeeper 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ANDREW  JOHNSON 

MEMBERS  OF  CONGRESS,  the  CABINET,  and  the  ARMED  FORCES 


Critique: 

1  Speak  for  Thaddeus  Stevens  is  a 
biography  in  the  form  of  a  novel,  a  work 
making  understandable  as  a  man  the 
complex  and  often  contradictory  charac 
ter  of  the  famous  partisan  statesman  of 
the  Civil  War  period.  The  author  tells 
the  story  of  his  fife  as  a  series  of  dramatic 
episodes,  each  under  its  proper  date  and 
each  presenting  some  crisis,  either  a 
triumph  or  a  defeat,  in  his  private  affairs 


or  public  career.  Much  of  the  material 
in  the  book  is  based  upon  Stevens  letters 
and  papers  previously  unused  by  histor 
ians;  the  result  is  a  carefully  detailed  por 
trait  of  the  man  against  the  unsettled  age 
in  which  he  lived.  A  native  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  Elsie  Singmaster  has  presented 
faithfully  in  her  novels  and  short  stories 
the  regional  patterns  of  Pennsylvania 
German  life  and  the  history  of  the  state 


I  SPEAK  FOR  THADDEUS  STEVENS  by  Elsie  Singmaster.    By  permission  of  the  author  -  *  she  publishers, 
Houghton  Mifflin  Co.   Copyright,  1947,  by  Elsie  Singmaster  Lewars. 


408 


through  three  decisive  periods  in  our 
national  life — the  frontier  in  French  and 
Indian  days,  the  American  Revolution, 
and  the  Civil  War. 

The  Story: 

In  a  Vermont  cabin,  on  April  4, 
1792,  neighbor  women  had  looked  pity 
ingly  at  a  sleeping  young  mother  while 
they  wrapped  the  deformed  foot  of  her 
newborn  child.  There  was  no  need, 
however,  to  pity  Sally  Morrill  Stevens, 
whose  brave  spirit  was  greater  than  her 
frail  body.  She  would  care  for  her  second 
son  as  tenderly  as  she  had  looked  after 
little  Joshua,  his  father's  namesake  and 
a  cripple  at  birth.  She  called  the  baby 
Thaddeus,  after  Thaddeus  Kosciusko — 
a  hero's  name. 

When  Joshua  Stevens,  shiftless  cob 
bler  and  surveyor,  disappeared  at  last 
into  the  wilderness,  there  were  two  more 
children  in  the  cabin.  Morrill  and  Alan- 
son  stood  up  straight  and  were  quick 
on  their  feet,  but  lame  Thaddeus  was 
Sally's  favorite.  Ambitious  for  her  sons, 
she  never  complained  as  she  worked  and 
planned  for  their  future. 

Thaddeus  struggled  to  excel.  One  day 
he  limped  through  deep  snow,  his  legs 
cut  and  bleeding  on  the  icy  crust,  to 
speak  before  patrons  and  students  of  the 
grammar  school  in  Peacham.  His  subject 
was  free  and  universal  education.  Sensi 
tive  because  of  his  own  deformity,  he 
learned  to  hate  suffering  and  to  sympa 
thize  with  the  weak.  Swimming  and  rid 
ing  gave  him  an  athlete's  body.  His 
teachers  and  books  borrowed  from  John 
Mattocks,  Peacham  lawyer,  had  trained 
him  well  by  the  time  he  was  ready  for 
Dartmouth  College.  Sally  had  hoped  he 
would  preach.  He  thought  of  Webster, 
already  famous,  and  told  her  that  he 
wanted  to  be  a  lawyer. 

Vermont  seemed  a  sparse  land  to  her 
ambitious  sons.  Crippled  Joshua  traveled 
west  with  his  bride.  Thaddeus  went  to 
York,  Pennsylvania,  to  teach  and  read 
for  the  law.  Too  impatient  and  poor  to 
complete  another  year's  residence  before 


he  could  practice  in  York  County,  he 
rode  south  across  the  state  line  and  be 
came  a  member  of  the  Maryland  bar. 

Returning,  he  settled  in  Gettysburg. 
At  first  no  clients  found  their  way  to  his 
office  and  few  Getrysburgians  wanted  to 
hear  his  frank  opinions  on  slavery  and 
education,  but  children  flocked  around 
him  to  hear  his  stories  of  the  Vermont 
woods.  Blacks  watched  him  on  the 
street  and  whispered  that  he  was  their 
friend  as  well. 

Defense  lawyer  in  a  murder  trial,  he 
lost  his  first  case  in  court,  but  his  towns 
men  praised  him  after  he  made  his  plea 
for  justice  and  mercy.  As  his  reputation 
grew  men  could  measure  his  success  by 
his  fine  house  in  Gettysburg  and  the 
great  tract  of  mountain  land  providing 
ore  and  charcoal  for  Caledonia  Forge, 
of  which  he  was  a  partner.  Sally  Stevens 
now  owned  a  fine  farm  in  Peacham;  he 
gave  openhandedly  to  his  brothers — 
Joshua  in  Indiana;  Morrill,  a  doctor  in 
Vermont;  Alanson,  with  Sally  on  the 
farm.  He  fought  Masons  and  Jackson 
Democrats  and  men  cheered  all  night 
under  his  windows  when  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature.  He  was  forty-one. 
There  was  still  time  for  Washington,  for 
Congress,  perhaps  the  White  House. 

In  1837  word  came  to  him  in  Phila 
delphia  that  the  free  education  bill  was 
about  to  be  repealed.  By  train  and  stage 
coach  he  hurried  to  Harrisburg  and 
risked  his  political  future  with  his  pro 
posed  amendment  to  strike  out  the  bill 
of  repeal  and  to  insert  after  the  clause, 
"Be  it  enacted/'  the  words  "To  establish 
a  General  System  of  Education  by  Com 
mon  Schools."  Speaking  on  that  mo 
tion,  he  saved  the  free  school  system  of 
Pennsylvania. 

His  fame  spread.  Men  respected  and 
hated  and  feared  the  blunt,  shrewd  orator 
whose  voice  was  heard  everywhere.  In 
Philadelphia,  during  the  Buckshot  War, 
a  mob  attacked  an  assembly  hall  and  he 
and  his  friends  escaped  through  a  win 
dow.  Campaigning  for  Harrison,  he 
hoped  for  a  Cabinet  appointment.  But 


409 


Harrison  died  and  Tyler  forgot  campaign 
promises.  Ruined  by  his  partner's  failure 
in  1842,  he  moved  to  Lancaster.  There 
he  made  money  and  paid  his  debts. 
Young  men  begged  the  opportunity  to 
read  law  in  his  office.  He  became  an 
ironmaster,  owner  of  a  great  furnace 
at  Caledonia.  Sometimes  Washington 
seemed  a  long  way  off.  He  waited. 

Free-Soil  Whigs  elected  him  to  Con 
gress  in  1848.  Fighting  the  compromise 
measures  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
he  spoke  for  gentle  Sally  Stevens,  for 
old  John  Mattocks,  lover  of  justice,  for 
slaves  fleeing  northward  along  the  Under 
ground  Railroad.  He  defended  the  three 
white  men  and  thirty-eight  Negroes  ac 
cused  after  the  death  of  a  Maryland 
farmer  in  the  Christiana  riot;  later  he 
was  to  recall  how  Lucretia  Mott  and 
other  Quakers  had  dressed  the  Negroes 
alike,  to  the  confusion  of  witnesses  and 
prosecution.  Retired  from  Congress,  he 
traveled  to  Vermont  in  1854.  Sally 
Stevens  was  dead,  Morrill  and  Alanson 
before  her.  The  slander  of  his  enemies 
could  never  hurt  her  now.  Joshua  was 
soon  to  die.  Thaddeus  was  sixty-two 
and  failing,  but  men  were  mistaken  when 
they  said  he  was  too  old  for  public  life. 

In  1855  he  helped  to  launch  the  Re 
publican  Party  in  Lancaster.  In  1858 
he  returned  to  Congress.  In  Chicago, 
in  1860,  he  heard  Abraham  Lincoln 
nominated. 

He  rode  the  war  years  like  an  eagle 
breasting  a  whirlwind.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  President,  but  Thaddeus  Stevens 
spoke  for  the  Republican  Party.  Often 
impatient  with  the  sad-eyed,  brooding 
man  in  the  White  House,  he  steered 
through  Congress  the  bills  which  gave 
Lincoln  men  and  money  to  fight  the  Civil 


War.  Lydia  Smith,  the  decent  mulatto 
at  whom  men  sneered,  kept  his  house 
on  B  Street.  Sometimes  he  thought  of 
the  Cabinet  post  or  Senate  seat  he  be 
lieved  his  due,  but  usually  more  im 
portant  matters  filled  his  mind.  Con 
federate  troops,  marching  toward  Gettys 
burg,  had  burned  Caledonia  Furnace. 
A  nephew  died  at  Chickamauga.  Un 
bowed  by  personal  misfortune,  he  argued 
for  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  insisted 
upon  education  and  suffrage  for  the 
Negro.  There  was  little  time  for  the 
card  games  he  loved;  he  read  more  often 
when  he  went  to  bed  at  night — Shake 
speare,  Homer,  the  Bible. 

Hating  weakness  and  compromise,  he 
fought  Andrew  Johnson  after  Lincoln's 
death.  Congress,  he  thundered,  should 
be  the  sovereign  power  of  the  nation. 
Sick  and  weak,  he  proposed  Article 
Eleven  by  which  the  House  hoped  to 
impeach  Johnson.  Too  ill  to  walk,  h^ 
was  carried  into  the  Senate  to  hear  that 
decisive  roll  call.  He  heard  around  him 
whispers  of  relief,  anger,  and  despair  as 
the  telling  votes  were  cast.  Friends  asked 
him  if  he  wished  to  lie  down  after  his 
ordeal.  He  answered  grimly  that  he 
would  not. 

Although  bitter  in  defeat,  he  would 
not  let  his  fellow  Republicans  punish 
Vinnie  Ream,  the  little  sculptress  in 
volved  in  Johnson's  trial,  and  he  angrily 
insisted  that  she  keep  her  studio  in  the 
Capitol.  His  detractors  claimed  he  was 
too  mean  to  die  when  he  refused  to  take 
to  his  bed  during  that  hot  Washington 
summer,  but  by  August  the  end  was  near. 
Devoted  son,  generous  kinsman,  loyal 
friend,  harsh  enemy,  he  died  at  midnight 
on  August  11,  1868.  The  telegraph 
clicked  the  news  to  the  world. 


AN  ICELAND  FISHERMAN 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Pierre  Loti  (Julien  Viaud,  1850-1923) 

Type  of  plot:  Impressionistic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Brittany  and  at  sea 

First  published:  1886 


410 


Principal  characters: 

SYLVESTER,  a  young  Breton 
YVONNE,  his  grandmother 
GAUD,  his  cousin 
YANN,  a  fisherman 


Critique: 

The  number  of  translations  and  edi 
tions  of  An  Iceland  Fisherman  are  in 
dicative  of  the  warmth  created  by  the 
reading  of  this  beautiful  story.  Pierre 
Loti,  of  the  French  Academy,  exempli 
fied  in  this  unadorned  tale  the  virtues  of 
French  literature:  clarity,  simplicity, 
power.  The  exotic  always  appealed  to 
Loti,  and  An  Iceland  Fisherman  reflects 
this  appeal  in  the  descriptions  of  the 
fishing  fleet  in  Iceland  waters.  The  love 
interest  is  well  presented  and  well  within 
bounds.  The  characters  of  little  Sylvester, 
big  Yann,  and  serious  Gaud  are  those  of 
real  people,  whose  fortunes  are  of  genu 
ine  concern  to  the  reader. 

The  Story: 

In  the  foc'sl  head,  a  hollow,  pointed 
room  like  the  inside  of  a  gigantic  sea 
gull,  five  men  were  sitting  around  the 
massive  table  which  filled  almost  all  the 
space  between  the  bulkheads.  They  were 
waiting  to  take  their  turn  on  watch,  for 
it  was  nearly  midnight.  They  had  cracked 
some  biscuit  with  a  hammer  and  had 
eaten.  Now  they  were  drinking  wine 
and  cider. 

Around  the  room  little  pigeonholes 
near  the  ceiling  served  as  bedchambers, 
for  these  fishermen  were  outside  so  much 
they  seemed  to  need  no  air  while  they 
slept.  A  murky  lamp  swung  back  and 
forth  with  the  gentle  swell  of  the  sea. 

Sylvester,  who  was  only  seventeen, 
was  impatient  for  the  appearance  of 
Yann.  They  were  celebrating  in  honor 
of  their  patron,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
Yann  had  to  take  part  in  the  toasts. 
Finally  Yann  opened  the  little  hatch  in 
the  deck  and  came  down  the  narrow 
ladder.  Yann,  in  his  late  twenties,  and  a 
giant  of  a  man,  was  a  hero  to  Sylvester. 


The  whole  company  brightened  on  his 
arrival. 

It  was  midnight.  The  toasts  were 
quickly  drunk.  Then  the  watch  went 
on  deck  for  their  turn  to  fish.  Outside 
it  was  daylight,  for  in  those  latitudes  it 
never  got  dark  in  summer.  It  was  monot 
onous  and  soothing  to  fish  in  the  day- 
light. 

At  the  rail  Yann  and  Sylvester  baited 
their  hooks  and  dropped  their  lines.  Be 
hind  them  William  waited  with  sheath 
knife  and  salt.  Regularly,  in  turn,  Yann 
and  Sylvester  brought  up  their  hooks, 
passed  the  plump  cod  to  William,  and 
rebaited.  Quickly  William  slit  the  fish, 
cleaned  them,  and  packed  them  in  the 
salt  barrel.  The  pile  of  kegs  in  the  hold 
represented  the  income  of  whole  Breton 
families  for  a  year.  For  his  share  of  the 
catch  Yann  would  bring  home  fifteen 
hundred  francs  to  his  mother. 

While  they  were  fishing  Sylvester 
talked  of  marriage.  Although  still  a 
boy,  he  was  already  engaged  to  Yann's 
sister.  He  did  his  best,  as  he  had  done 
all  summer,  to  talk  Yann  into  the  idea  of 
marriage  with  Gaud.  Always  Yann  shook 
his  head;  he  was  engaged  to  the  sea,  he 
said,  and  some  day  he  would  celebrate 
that  wedding. 

Gentle  and  serious  Gaud,  Sylvester's 
cousin,  was  attracted  to  Yann.  She  was, 
however,  a  mademoiselle  with  fine  hands 
and  good  clothes.  Her  father  was  rich. 
Yann  could  scarcely  help  knowing  that 
Gaud  liked  him,  but  with  Breton  stub- 
borness  and  simplicity  he  could  not  think 
of  pretending  seriously  to  a  young  woman 
of  the  upper  class. 

In  September  the  fishing  boat  returned 
to  Paimpol  in  Brittany.  The  return  of  the 
Iceland  fleet  was  the  signal  for  quickened 


AN  ICELAND  FISHERMAN  by  Pierre  Loti.   Published  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


411 


life  among  these  simple  folk.  The  women 
and  children  and  the  old  men  spent  the 
whole  spring  and  summer  raising  small 
gardens  and  waiting.  Then  in  the  fall, 
when  the  men  came  back,  there  were 
weddings  and  engagements  and  feasts 
and  pardons.  Too  often  a  ship  did  not 
return,  and  several  families  would  wear 
black  that  winter. 

That  fall  there  was  a  big  wedding  with 
the  traditional  procession  to  the  seashore 
and  afterward  a  ball.  Yann  went  to  the 
ball  and  danced  the  whole  evening  with 
Gaud.  Yann  told  her  of  his  life  at  sea 
and  of  his  big  family  in  Pors-Even.  Part 
of  the  time  Yann  watched  his  little  sis 
ter,  who  danced  with  Sylvester.  The  seri 
ousness  of  the  engaged  children  amused 
Yann.  Gaud  was  greatly  pleased,  for  at 
last  Yann  had  unbent  and  his  talk 
seemed  to  her  too  gentle  for  casual  con 
versation. 

Gaud  waited  all  that  winter  in  her 
rich  home  with  its  fine  furniture,  but 
Yann  never  came  to  see  her.  At  length, 
overcoming  her  modesty,  she  went  on  a 
business  errand  for  her  father  to  Yann's 
house,  in  the  hope  of  seeing  him.  She 
paid  a  sum  of  money  to  Yann's  father  and 
waited  longer  than  she  should  have,  but 
Yann  did  not  come  home.  Later,  she 
knew,  Yann  would  come  to  see  her  father 
to  conclude  the  business,  and  she  re 
solved  to  talk  with  him  then.  But  when 
Yann  came  to  see  her  father,  he  prepared 
to  leave  without  inquiring  for  her.  As 
he  came  into  the  hall,  Gaud  stopped  him. 
Yann  simply  told  her  he  could  not  court 
her  because  she  was  rich  and  he  was 
poor. 

In  the  spring  Yann  and  Sylvester  sailed 
again  with  the  Iceland  fleet.  Gaud,  dur 
ing  that  summer,  felt  an  occasional  thrill 
when  she  wrote  letters  to  Sylvester  for 
his  grandmother,  Yvonne.  Often  the 
doting  old  woman  would  dictate  a  short 
message  to  Yann.  So  Gaud  was  not 
completely  out  of  touch  with  her  simple, 
stubborn  fisherman. 

Events  were  soon  to  bring  Gaud  and 
Yann  close  together.  Sylvester,  the  next 


winter,  had  to  leave  for  his  military 
service.  His  grandmother,  Yvonne,  visited 
him  once  at  the  barracks  just  before  he 
left  for  French  Indo-China.  He  was  to 
be  gone  five  years,  and  Yvonne  was  in 
consolable. 

Sylvester  made  a  brave  sailor  in  the 
French  navy.  On  shore  in  the  East  he 
was  sent  with  an  armed  patrol  to  re- 
connoiter.  When  the  small  band  was 
surprised  and  surrounded  by  a  large  de 
tachment  of  Tonkinese,  Sylvester  led  a 
spirited  counter-attack,  until  he  was  cut 
down  by  a  sharpshooter.  He  was  buried 
far  from  the  rocky  Breton  coast  in  a 
green,  strange  land.  An  efficient,  soul 
less  government  sent  back  his  poor  effects 
to  Yvonne.  She  was  now  really  alone, 
with  only  a  memory  growing  dimmer  as 
time  passed. 

Gaud's  father  committed  one  folly  after 
another  and  lost  more  money  trying  to 
recoup  earlier  losses.  Finally,  at  his  death, 
he  was  a  ruined  man.  Gaud,  the  rich 
man's  daughter,  became  a  seamstress. 
With  quick  sympathy  she  went  to  live 
with  Yvonne,  so  that  the  two  bereft 
women  could  comfort  each  other. 

Yvonne,  infirm  of  limb  and  mind,  was 
unmercifully  teased  by  a  group  of  small 
boys  who  thought  she  was  drunk.  Falling 
into  the  mud,  she  vainly  tried  to  regain 
her  footing.  Gaud  came  along  to  set  the 
old  woman  on  her  feet  again  and  brush 
the  mud  from  her  clothes.  Just  then 
Yann  happened  on  the  scene  and  chased 
the  tormentors  away.  He  escorted  the 
two  women  home. 

Yann  was  slowly  changing  his  mind. 
Now  that  Gaud  was  poor,  he  felt  a  bar 
rier  between  them  had  been  removed.  He 
also  felt  a  great  bond  of  sympathy  for 
Yvonne  because  of  her  grandson,  and 
Gaud  was  part  of  that  sympathy.  At  the 
urging  of  his  relatives  and  Yvonne,  he 
proposed  to  Gaud.  Much  of  that  winter 
the  couple  sat  by  the  fire  in  Yvonne's 
poor  hut  while  the  old  woman  slept.  Six 
days  before  the  fleet  was  to  leave  in 
March,  Gaud  and  Yann  were  married. 

When  the  fishermen  departed  on  their 


412 


summer  cruise,  Gaud  for  the  first  time 
was  part  of  the  busy,  weeping  crowd. 
Yann's  ship  was  towed  out  into  the  har 
bor  to  wait  a  favorable  wind.  During  the 
delay  Yann  came  ashore  again  for  a  final 
three  hours.  Gaud  watched  the  ship  dis 
appear  in  the  twilight. 

The  summer  passed  uneventfully 
enough.  Gaud  made  fair  wages  from  her 
sewing,  enough  to  refurnish  Yvonne's 
poor  cottage.  In  September  the  fishing 
fleet  came  straggling  back.  Yann's  ship 
was  not  among  them,  At  the  end  of  the 


month  Gaud  still  had  hope.  Each  mas 
culine  step  along  the  path  sent  her  scur 
rying  to  the  window.  Yann's  father,  also 
worried,  called  to  comfort  her.  He  told 
her  many  stories  of  ships  delayed  by  fog 
until  December.  The  fall  and  early  win 
ter  came  and  went,  and  still  Gaud 
waited. 

She  never  saw  Yann  again.  In  August 
his  ship  had  become  separated  from  the 
others  and  was  blown  north,  Some 
where  off  Iceland,  Yann  had  kept  a  tryst, 
his  wedding  with  the  sea. 


THE  IDES  OF  MARCH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thornton  Wilder  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  45  B.  C. 

Locale:  Ancient  Rome 

First  published:   1948 

Principal  characters: 
JULIUS  CAESAR 
POMPEIA,  his  second  wife 
CALPURNIA,  his  third  wife 
LADY  CLODIA  PULCHER,  a  conspirator 
CATULLUS,  a  famous  poet 
CLEOPATRA,  Queen  of  Egypt 
MARCUS  BRUTUS,  another  conspirator 

Critique: 

When  an  author  writes  a  novel  whose 
plot  is  already  well-known,  and  that 
novel  becomes  a  best  seller,  we  must 
assume  that  his  style  is  superior  or  that 
the  story  is  so  loved  that  we  want  to  hear 
it  again  and  again.  In  The  Ides  of  March 
we  have  both  factors.  Thornton  Wilder 
has  retold  the  events  of  the  last  months 
of  Caesar's  life  with  warmth  and  depth 
of  feeling.  From  imaginary  letters  and 
documents  he  has  reconstructed  the  plots 
and  intrigues  leading  to  the  fatal  stabbing 
of  the  great  Roman. 


The  Story: 

There  were  so  many  different  groups 
plotting  to  assassinate  Caesar  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  guard  himself 
from  all  of  them.  Each  day  new  leaders 


rose  to  incite  the  people  against  him. 
Many  of  the  leaders  were  friends  of 
Caesar;  some  were  relatives;  some  were 
merely  ambitious  men;  and  some  were 
citizens  who  sincerely  believed  that  Rome 
was  suffering  under  Caesar's  rule  and 
wanted  to  free  her.  The  last  group  had 
Caesar's  admiration.  He  knew  that  he 
had  restricted  the  freedom  of  the  people, 
but  he  knew,  too,  that  the  masses  of 
people  shrink  from  accepting  responsibil 
ity  for  their  actions.  They  want  to  be 
ruled  by  one  who  will  make  all  im 
portant  decisions  for  them,  yet  they 
resent  that  ruler  because  he  has  taken 
their  freedom  from  them.  Caesar  knew 
that  he  would  one  day  be  assassinated, 
but  he  hoped  that  he  would  see  in  the 
face  of  his  murderer  a  love  for  Rome. 


THE  IDES  OF  MARCH  by  Thornton  Wilder.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothert 
Copyright,  1948,  by  Thornton  Wilder. 


413 


Among  the  most  persistent  of  the 
plotters  was  the  mother  of  Marcus  Bru 
tus.  She  had  long  hated  Caesar  and 
wanted  her  son  to  assume  the  place  of 
the  dictator.  Many  Romans  said  that 
Brutus  was  the  illegitimate  son  of  Caesar, 
but  no  one  had  ever  been  able  to  prove 
the  accusation.  Brutus  was  loyal  to 
Caesar  until  the  very  end;  only  his 
mother's  repeated  urging  led  him  at  last 
to  join  the  conspirators. 

Another  important  figure  among  Cae 
sar's  enemies  was  Clodia  Pulcher,  a 
woman  of  high  birth,  great  wealth,  and 
amazing  beauty.  Because  of  her  ambi 
tions  and  lusts  she  had  become  a  crea 
ture  of  poor  reputation,  so  much  so  that 
her  name  was  scribbled  on  public  walls, 
accompanied  by  obscene  verses.  She  was 
aided  in  her  plots  by  her  brother  and  by 
Catullus,  the  most  famous  poet  in  Rome. 
Catullus  was  a  young  man  so  much  in 
love  with  Clodia  that  he  would  do  any 
thing  she  asked,  and  he  wrote  many 
poems  and  tracts  against  Caesar.  Clodia 
spumed  Catullus  and  his  love,  but  her 
ridicule  of  him  only  strengthened  his 
passion  for  her. 

While  all  these  plots  against  Caesar 
were  taking  shape,  he  and  the  rest  of 
Rome  were  preparing  for  the  visit  of 
Cleopatra,  Queen  of  Egypt.  She,  too, 
suffered  from  a  bad  reputation,  for  her 
many  conquests  in  love  were  well-known 
in  Rome.  Most  of  the  high  ladies  planned 
to  receive  her  only  because  Caesar  had 
so  ordered,  among  them  Pompeia,  Cae 
sar's  wife,  who  knew  of  his  earlier  re 
lations  with  the  queen.  But  at  Caesar's 
command  Cleopatra  was  accorded  the 
honor  due  a  queen.  He  visited  her 
many  times,  always  in  disguise,  and  on 
one  of  his  visits  barely  missed  being 
killed.  He  could  never  be  sure  whether 
Cleopatra  knew  of  the  plot.  Marc  An 
tony  had  begun  to  find  favor  in  the  eyes 
of  Cleopatra,  and  as  Marc  Antony  was 
involved  in  the  attempted  assassination, 
Caesar  suspected  that  she  too  might  be 
involved. 

After    Cleopatra's    arrival,    all    Rome 


began  to  plan  for  the  mysteries  of  the 
Good  Goddess.  This  festival  took  place 
each  year  on  December  11,  and  every 
Roman  woman  of  high  birth  and  moral 
virtue  took  part  in  the  ceremonies.  The 
Vestal  Virgins  participated  in  the  festi 
val  also,  and  only  women  whose  reputa 
tions  were  above  reproach  were  allowed 
to  attend  the  mysteries.  Clodia's  recent 
actions  had  given  rise  to  the  possibility 
that  she  might  be  rejected.  In  fact, 
petitions  had  been  sent  to  Lady  Julia 
Marcia,  Caesar's  aunt  and  a  directress  of 
the  mysteries,  to  debar  Clodia.  Caesar 
interfered  in  behalf  of  Clodia,  however, 
for  just  as  he  could  understand  the 
reasoning  of  his  enemies,  he  could  under 
stand  Clodia.  She  felt  that  she  was 
fated  to  live  the  life  she  did  and  blamed 
the  gods  for  her  actions  rather  than 
herself. 

But  Clodia  was  vengeful.  When  she 
learned  a  compromise  had  been  reached 
— she  was  to  be  allowed  to  attend  the 
mysteries  only  until  the  Vestal  Virgins 
appeared — she  arranged  to  have  her 
brother  dress  in  the  robes  of  a  woman 
and  attend  the  ceremonies  with  her.  No 
man  had  ever  been  present  at  that  sacred 
rite,  and  the  profanation  was  the  great 
est  scandal  ever  to  reach  the  streets  of 
Rome.  The  two  criminals,  for  so  they 
were  called,  were  arrested,  but  Caesar 
pardoned  them,  thus  adding  another 
reason  for  public  resentment.  Once  again 
it  was  suspected  that  Cleopatra  knew  of 
the  plot,  for  she  too  had  wanted  to  at 
tend  the  mysteries  and  had  been  told 
she  would  have  to  leave  when  the  Vir 
gins  appeared.  It  was  rumored  that 
Pompeia  had  known  of  Clodia's  plan, 
and  for  these  rumors  Caesar  divorced 
Pompeia,  his  reason  being  that  regard 
less  of  whether  the  rumors  were  true 
Pompeia  should  have  conducted  herself 
so  that  no  rumors  could  be  started  about 
her. 

After  his  divorce  Caesar  married  Cal- 
purnia.  Catullus  had  died  in  the  mean 
time,  and  Caesar  reflected  much  on  the 
poet's  death.  He  was  not  sure  about  his 


414 


own  beliefs  concerning  the  gods  and 
their  influence  on  the  world.  Often  he 
felt  that  there  were  no  gods,  that  each 
man  was  the  master  of  his  own  destiny. 
He  wished  that  he  were  not  guided  by 
fear  and  superstition  concerning  life  and 
death,  but  he  continued  to  employ 
soothsayers  and  magicians  and  hoped 
daily  for  good  omens  from  the  heavens. 
There  were  few  good  omens  for 
Caesar  at  that  time.  His  chief  sooth 
sayer  had  warned  him  of  several  danger 
ous  days,  but  as  all  of  them  had  passed 
uneventfully  Caesar  began  to  be  less 
careful;  and  he  planned  to  leave  for  the 
Parthian  battlefront  on  March  17.  He 
asked  Brutus  and  his  wife  to  care  for 
Calpurnia  while  he  was  gone.  He  knew 
Brutus  had  been  among  his  enemies, 
but  he  loved  the  younger  man  and  be 


lieved  that  Brutus  was  now  his  friend. 

Brutus  promised  Caesai  to  care  for 
Calpurnia;  but  Brutus  was  to  play  a 
different  role  within  a  few  days,  The 
fateful  Ides  of  March  came.  Caesai 
walked  to  the  Senate  chambers  to  make 
his  farewell  speech  before  leaving  for 
the  war.  Approaching  the  capitol,  he 
was  surrounded  by  the  conspirators.  One 
plunged  his  dagger  into  Caesar's  throat 
as  the  others  closed  in.  Caesar  was 
stabbed  twenty-three  times.  When  he 
saw  that  he  was  surrounded,  he  sat  down 
and  wrapped  his  robe  about  him.  He 
did  not  cry  out,  but  there  are  those  who 
say  that  when  he  saw  Brutus  he  said, 
"You,  too,  Brutus?"  and  ceased  to  strug 
gle.  Perhaps  he  was  satisfied  with  Ms 
assassin. 


THE  IDIOT 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski  (1821-1881) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  St.  Petersburg,  Russia 

First  published:  1868-1869 

Principal  characters: 

PRINCE  LEF  NICOLAIEVITCH  MYSHKIN 

PARFEN  ROGOZHTN,  friend  of  the  prince 

MME.  EPANCHIN,  friend  and  relative  of  the  prince 

AGLAYA  EPANCHIN,  her  daughter 

NATASYA  FILIPOVNA,  Aglaya's  rival 

GANYA  ARDALIONOVITCH,  secretary  to  General  Epanchin 

Critique: 

Because  this  book  was  written  by  the 
author  of  Crime  and  Punishment  and 
The  Brothers  Karamazov,  it  will  always 
have  a  significant  place  in  literature.  Like 
so  many  characters  in  Russian  fiction, 
however,  the  people  in  this  novel  exhibit 
a  behavior  so  foreign  to  the  American 
temperament  that  the  majority  of  readers 
may  find  the  entire  story  rather  incred 
ible.  Perhaps  the  most  serious  handicap 
lies  in  the  author's  portrayal  of  Prince 
Myshkin.  It  would  seem  that  he  is  meant 
to  be  the  foil  for  the  other  characters, 


the  person  who  seems  foolish  but  is,  in 
reality,  very  wise  and  good.  But  the  fact 
that  the  prince  suffers  from  epilepsy  con 
fuses  the  issue,  and  one  wonders  if  he 
really  is  an  idiot.  However,  as  a  pano 
rama  of  Russian  morals,  manners,  and 
philosophy  of  the  period,  The  Idiot  is  an 
interesting  and  informative  novel. 

The  Story: 

After  four  years  spent  in  Switzerland, 
where  he  was  treated  for  epilepsy  at  a 
sanitarium,  Prince  Myshkin  returned  to 


THE  IDIOT  by  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski.    Published  by  The  Modern  Library,  Inc. 


415 


St.  Petersburg.  On  the  train  the  thread 
bare  shabbiness  of  his  clothing  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  other  passengers. 
One  of  these,  Parfen  Rogozhin,  began  to 
question  him.  By  the  time  they  reached 
St.  Petersburg,  the  prince  and  Rogozhin 
were  well-informed  about  one  another, 
and  Rogozhin  offered  to  take  the  prince 
to  his  home  and  to  give  him  money. 

Myshkin,  however,  first  wanted  to  in 
troduce  himself  to  General  Epanchin, 
whose  wife  was  distantly  related  to  him. 
At  the  Epanchin  home  he  met  the  gen 
eral  and  his  secretary,  Ganya,  who  in 
vited  him  to  become  one  of  his  mother's 
boarders.  The  prince  interested  the  gen 
eral,  who  gave  him  some  money,  and  he 
also  fascinated  the  general's  wife  and 
three  daughters.  His  lack  of  sophistica 
tion,  his  naivete",  his  frankness,  charmed 
and  amused  the  family.  Soon  they  began 
to  call  him  "the  idiot/'  half  in  jest,  half 
in  earnest,  but  he  remained  on  good  terms 
with  them. 

Ganya,  a  selfish  young  man  given  to 
all  kinds  of  scheming,  wanted  to  marry 
the  beautiful  Aglaya  Epanchin,  chiefly 
for  her  money.  At  the  time  he  was  also 
involved  in  an  affair  with  the  notorious 
Natasya,  an  attractive  young  woman 
who  lived  under  the  protection  of  a  man 
she  did  not  love.  Extremely  emotional 
and  neurotic,  Natasya  was  really  innocent 
of  the  sins  charged  against  her.  Myshkin 
realized  her  helplessness  and  pitied  her. 
At  a  drinking  party  one  night  soon  after 
his  arrival,  he  asked  her  to  marry  him, 
saying  that  he  had  received  an  unex 
pected  inheritance.  She  refused,  declar 
ing  that  she  had  no  desire  to  cause  his 
ruin.  Instead  she  went  with  Rogozhin, 
who  had  brought  her  a  hundred  thousand 
roubles. 

More  than  ever,  Natasya  became  the 
object  of  spirited  controversy  among  the 
Epanchins  and  their  circle.  Myshkin 
alone  remained  unembittered  and  always 
kind-hearted.  Ganya  and  Rogozhin 
poured  out  their  troubles  to  him,  bared 
the  sordidness  and  shamelessness  of  their 
lives,  and  swore  undying  friendship  for 


him.  Nevertheless,  they  distrusted  Mysh 
kin  and  plotted  against  him.  When  Na 
tasya  left  Rogozhin,  he  swore  that  he 
would  kill  "the  idiot"  because  he  was 
sure  that  Natasya  had  fled  from  him  be 
cause  she  really  loved  Myshkin. 

Myshkin  then  became  the  victim  of 
an  extortion  attempt.  During  a  violent, 
repugnant  scene,  at  which  the  Epanchins 
were  present,  he  successfully  refuted  the 
charge  that  he  had  deprived  Rogozhin's 
supposed  illegitimate  son  of  his  rightful 
heritage.  Having  proved  that  the  indi 
vidual  who  sought  the  money  was  not 
the  illegitimate  son,  he  then,  to  the  dis 
gust  of  Mme.  Epanchin,  offered  to  give 
money  to  the  extortionist  and  to  become 
his  friend.  Mme.  Epanchin  considered 
the  prince  more  of  an  idiot  than  ever. 

Meanwhile,  Aglaya  Epanchin  fell  in 
love  with  Myshkin,  but  she  continued 
to  treat  him  scornfully  and  at  first  re 
fused  to  admit  that  she  was  in  love  with 
him.  When  her  true  feelings  at  last 
became  apparent,  Mme.  Epanchin  gave 
reluctant  consent  to  their  betrothal  and 
planned  an  evening  party  to  introduce 
Myshkin  to  St.  Petersburg  society.  Wor 
ried  lest  he  should  commit  some  social 
blunder,  she  and  her  daughter  advised 
him  to  sit  quietly  and  to  say  nothing 
during  the  evening.  But  at  the  party 
Mme.  Epanchin  herself  drew  out  the 
prince,  so  that  he  was  soon  launched  on 
one  of  his  wild  and  peculiar  conversa 
tions.  The  staid,  conservative  guests  were 
astounded.  In  the  midst  of  the  discussion 
he  knocked  over  a  huge  and  priceless 
vase,  then  stared  at  the  debris  like  "an 
idiot."  A  few  minutes  later  he  fell  into 
an  epileptic  fit  and  had  to  be  carried  to 
his  home.  For  several  days  the  Epan 
chins  were  cold  to  him,  but  Mme.  Epan 
chin  finally  relented  and  invited  him  to 
their  home  once  more. 

In  the  meantime  Aglaya  had  been  cor 
responding  with  Natasya,  and  a  friend 
ship  had  strangely  developed  between 
them.  One  evening  Aglaya  asked  Mysh 
kin  to  go  with  her  to  see  Natasya. 

In  Natasya's  apartment  a  hectic  and 


416 


turbulent  argument  developed,  so  that 
the  two  women  showed  their  anger  and 
bitterness  against  each  other.  For  the 
first  time  Aglaya  revealed  fully  her  love 
for  Myshkin.  During  the  argument  Na- 
tasya  fainted.  When  Myshkin  rushed  to 
her  aid,  Aglaya  considered  herself  re 
jected  and  angrily  left  the  house.  The 
scene  between  the  two  women  became  a 
scandal,  and  the  Epanchins  barred  their 
home  to  Myshkin.  Natasya  agreed  to 
marry  him  and  made  preparations  for  the 
wedding.  But  on  the  day  of  the  wed 
ding,  while  Myshkin  waited  at  the 
church,  Natasya  fled  with  Rogozhin,  still 
haunted  by  her  own  helplessness  and  his 
terrible  possessiveness. 

Myshkin  received  the  news  calmly. 
Although  there  were  many  who  laughed 
at  "the  idiot/'  there  were  some  who  were 
sorry  for  him  when  he  attempted  to  dis 
cover  Natasya's  whereabouts.  He  left 
the  village  where  the  ceremony  was  to 
have  been  performed  and  went  to  the 
city.  There  he  inquired  among  Natasya's 


acquaintances,  but  nobody  knew  where 
she  was.  Finally  he  went  to  Rogozhin's 
apartment  and  learned  from  a  porter 
that  Rogozhin  had  slept  there  the  previj 
ous  night.  Myshkin  continued  his  search, 
convinced  that  Rogozhin  would  kill  him 
if  he  could.  But  Rogozhin  himseif 
stopped  him  on  the  street  and  took  him 
to  the  apartment,  where  Myshkin  found 
Natasya  lying  on  the  bed.  Rogozhin 
had  killed  her. 

Filled  with  compassion  for  the  miser 
able  Rogozhin,  Myshkin  spent  that  night 
with  the  body  of  Natasya  and  her  mur 
derer.  At  daybreak  Natasya's  worried 
friends  and  the  police  broke  into  the 
apartment.  Rogozhin  confessed  to  the 
murder.  Myshkin  was  questioned  by  the 
police,  but  he  was  not  implicated  in  the 
crime.  He  was  sent  back  to  the  sanitarium 
in  Switzerland,  where  he  was  visited, 
from  time  to  time,  by  the  Epanchin 
family  and  other  friends.  There  was 
little  hope  that  he  would  ever  recover 
from  his  epilepsy. 


THE  IDYLLS  OF  THE  KING 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson  (1809-1892) 
Type  of  plot:  Chivalric  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Fifth  century 
Locale:  England 

First  published:  Separately,  1859-1885 
Principal  characters: 

KING  ARTHUR 

QUEEN  GUINEVERB 

SIR  LANCELOT, 

GARETH, 

GERAINT, 

BALTN, 

BALAN, 

GAWAIN, 

SIR  GALAHAD, 

SIR  BORS, 

SIR  PELLEAS, 

SIR  PERCIVALE, 

SIR  MODRED, 

SIR  TRISTRAM,  and 

SIR  BEDIVERE,  Knights  of  the  Round  Table 

MERLIN,  a  magician 

LSTNTETTE,  who  married  Gareth 

ENID,  who  married  Geraint 


417 


VIVIEN,  an  enchantress 
ELAINE,  the  lily  maid  of  Astalot 
ETTARRE,  loved  by  Pelleas  and  Gawain 
ISOLT,  of  the  white  hands,  Tristram's  wife 

Critique: 

Divided  into  twelve  sections,  each 
symbolic  of  one  month  of  the  year,  these 
poems  present  to  the  reader  the  span  of 
a  man's  life,  extending  from  the  coming 
of  Arthur  to  his  passing.  If  one  cared 
to  search  into  the  symbolism  of  this  long 
narrative  poem,  he  would  find  it  filled 
with  mystic  and  spiritual  meanings.  Al 
though  Tennyson's  stories  of  King  Arthur 
and  the  Knights  of  the  Round  Table  lack 
the  realism  and  vitality  of  Malory's 
tales,  The  Idylls  of  the  King  have  a 
poetic  compactness  and  allegorical  signifi- 
-sance  lacking  in  the  original. 


The  Stories: 

THE   COMING  OF   ARTHUR 

Gorlois  and  Ygerne  had  borne  one 
daughter,  Bellicent.  King  Uther  over 
came  Gorlois  in  battle  and  forced  the 
widow  to  marry  him  immediately.  Short 
ly  afterward  King  Uther  died.  Ygerne's 
son,  Arthur,  was  born  at  a  time  when 
he  could  have  been  the  son  of  Gorlois 
or  the  son  of  Uther  born  too  soon. 

The  birth  of  Arthur  was  shrouded 
in  great  mystery.  Merlin  the  magician 
reared  the  prince  until  it  was  time  for 
him  to  take  over  Uther's  kingdom  and 
to  receive  from  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  the 
magic  sword,  Excalibur.  After  the  mar 
riage  of  Arthur  and  Guinevere,  the  king 
and  his  loyal  members  of  the  Round 
Table,  in  twelve  battles,  drove  the  enemy 
out  of  the  kingdom. 

GARETH  AND    LYNETTB 

Bellicent,  Arthur's  sister,  allowed  her 
youngest  son  to  join  his  two  brothers  in 
King  Arthur's  court  on  the  condition 
that  Gareth  serve  as  a  kitchen  knave 
under  the  surly  directions  of  Sir  Kay 
the  seneschal.  When  the  young  boy  pre 
sented  himself  to  King  Arthur,  Gareth 
made  the  king  promise  to  give  him  the 
first  quest  which  came  along  without 
revealing  his  identity.  One  day  Lynette 


came  to  the  court  asking  for  Sir  Lancelot 
to  save  her  sister  from  wicked  knights 
who  held  her  captive.  King  Arthur  sent 
Gareth  questing  with  Lynette,  who 
grumbled  disdainfully  at  the  kitchen 
knave  ordered  to  serve  her. 

The  first  knight  Gareth  overcame  was 
the  Morning  Star.  Lynette  still  sneered 
at  the  knave.  After  Gareth  had  defeated 
another  knight,  Lynette  began  to  relent. 
When  he  conquered  a  third  strong 
knight,  she  allowed  him  to  ride  at  her 
side.  Next  Gareth  encountered  a  ter 
rible  knight,  Death,  who  proved  to  be 
a  mere  boy  forced  by  his  brothers  to 
assume  a  fierce  appearance.  Gareth  re 
turned  to  the  Round  Table  victorious 
and  married  Lynette, 

THE    MARRIAGE   OF    GERAINT 
and  GERAINT  AND  ENID 

Geraint,  on  a  quest  for  Guinevere, 
came  to  the  impoverished  castle  of  Earl 
Yniol  and  his  daughter  Enid,  a  girl 
whose  faded  brocades  spoke  of  former 
wealth  and  family  pride.  There  Geraint 
learned  that  the  rejected  suitor  of  Enid 
had  caused  the  ruin  of  Yniol.  The  earl 
gave  Geraint  Enid  for  his  wife. 

Geraint,  fearing  that  the  sin  of  the 
queen's  love  for  Lancelot  would  taint 
Enid's  love,  went  to  his  own  castle  and 
there  idled  away  the  hours  in  company 
with  his  wife  until  neighbors  began  to 
gossip  that  Geraint  had  lost  his  courage. 
Enid  feared  to  tell  her  lord  about  the 
gossip,  and  Geraint,  observing  her  strange 
attitude,  decided  that  she  had  fallen  in 
love  with  some  knight  of  the  Round 
Table.  One  morning,  bidding  Enid  to 
don  her  faded  brocade  gown,  Geraint 
set  out  with  his  wife  after  ordering  her 
not  to  speak  to  him.  Riding  ahead  of 
Geraint,  Enid  encountered  men  who 
would  attack  her  husband,  and  each  time 
she  broke  his  command  by  warning  him 
of  his  danger.  After  a  while  Enid  was 


418 


able  to  prove  her  love  to  her  suspicious 
husband.  They  returned  to  Camelot, 
where  Guinevere  warmly  welcomed  Enid 
to  the  court. 

BALIN  AND  BALAN 

Balan  left  the  care  of  Balin,  his  mad 
brother,  and  went  on  a  mission  to  quell 
King  Pellam,  who  had  refused  to  pay 
his  yearly  tribute  to  King  Arthur.  With 
his  brother  gone,  Balin  was  left  alone 
in  his  gloomy  moods.  He  worshipped 
the  purity  of  Lancelot  and  the  faithful 
ness  of  Guinevere  until  one  day  he  saw 
his  two  idols  speaking  familiarly  in  the 
garden.  Disillusioned,  Balin  fled  to  the 
woods.  There  he  met  Vivien,  a  wanton 
woman  of  the  court,  who  further  poi 
soned  his  mind  against  Lancelot  and 
Guinevere.  He  left  hanging  on  a  tree 
the  shield  Guinevere  had  given  him 
years  before.  Hearing  Balin's  mad  shrieks 
among  the  trees,  Balan  rushed  at  Balin, 
whom  he  did  not  recognize  without  the 
shield  of  Guinevere.  In  the  struggle 
Balin  killed  Balan  and  then  was  crushed 
by  his  own  horse. 

VIVIEN 

Vain  and  coquettish  Vivien  set  out 
to  ensnare  the  most  chivalric  man  in 
all  the  kingdom,  King  Arthur,  but  her 
wiles  failed  to  win  the  attention  of  a 
king  whose  mind  could  harbor  no  evil 
thoughts.  Vivien  then  turned  to  Mer 
lin,  who  she  knew  possessed  a  magic 
spell.  She  tried  to  charm  the  magician 
with  her  beauty,  pretending  to  love  the 
ancient,  bearded  man,  but  he  knew  that 
she  was  not  to  be  trusted.  When  she 
asked  him  to  teach  her  the  spell,  he 
refused.  But  Vivien  was  not  to  be  denied. 
At  last,  tricked  by  her  beauty,  Merlin 
taught  her  his  magic  powers.  She  en 
chanted  him  and  caused  him  to  disap 
pear  forever,  a  prisoner  in  a  hollow 
tree. 

LANCELOT  AND  ELAINE 

Lancelot  in  disguise  went  to  Astalot, 
where  he  left  his  shield  with  Elaine  and 
rode  off  with  her  brother  Lavaine  to  the 
tournaments.  Lancelot  won  the  jousts; 
then,  wounded,  he  fled  before  anyone 


could  discover  who  he  was.  King  Arthur 
sent  Gawain  to  search  for  the  winner  of 
the  tournament.  Gawain  rode  to  Asta 
lot,  where  he  lingered  because  he  had 
fallen  in  love  with  Elaine.  She  told  him 
that  she  loved  the  knight  who  had  left 
his  shield  with  her.  When  Gawain  saw 
the  shield,  he  identified  it  as  that  of 
Lancelot. 

Elaine  nursed  Lancelot  back  to  health 
in  the  hope  that  he  would  return  her 
love.  Recovered,  he  sadly  told  her  that 
he  could  never  marry  any  woman.  After 
he  had  gone,  Elaine  became  ill  and 
finally  died  in  her  grief.  Her  dying  wish 
was  to  be  put  into  a  boat  and  sent  to 
Camelot,  in  her  hand  a  letter  to  Lance 
lot. 

In  Camelot  Guinevere  coldly  rejected 
Lancelot,  for  Gawain  had  told  of  the  af 
fair  between  Lancelot  and  Elaine.  When 
the  body  of  Elaine  floated  to  Camelot, 
King  Arthur  and  Lancelot  found  the 
beautiful  maiden  in  her  boat,  the  letter 
in  her  hand. 

Lancelot  authorized  a  fitting  burial  for 
the  lily  maid.  He  unhappily  lamented 
his  hopeless  love  for  the  queen,  not 
knowing  that  he  would  die  a  monk. 

THE  HOLY  GRAIL 

One  day  while  Sir  Galahad,  the 
youngest  and  purest  of  all  the  knights, 
sat  in  Merlin's  chair,  the  Holy  Grail  de 
scended  upon  the  Round  Table  in  a 
flash  and  then  was  gone.  When  the 
knights  swore  to  go  on  a  quest  for  the 
Holy  Grail,  King  Arthur  gloomily  pre 
dicted  that  the  search  would  end  in 
disaster  for  many  of  his  knights  because 
none  was  pure  enough,  save  Galahad  or 
Percivale,  to  see  the  holy  vessel. 

To  Galahad  the  Grail  appeared  in 
all  its  splendor.  Percivale,  who  followed 
him,  also  saw  the  holy  sign.  Sir  Bors 
returned  to  King  Arthur  to  report  that 
he  had  viewed  the  Grail;  but  Lancelot 
had  seen  only  a  sign  of  it.  Some  of  the 
other  knights  never  returned  to  the 
Round  Table  from  their  perilous  quest. 

PELLEAS  AND   ETTARRE 

Pelleas  had  given  Ettarre  a  trophy  he 


419 


had  won  in  a  tournament,  but  she,  scorn 
ing  the  young  knight,  barred  him  from 
her  court.  Gawain,  meeting  Pelleas  in 
his  despair,  offered  to  help  him.  After 
telling  the  knight  to  hide  in  the  forest, 
Gawain  went  to  Ettarre  and  told  her 
he  had  killed  Pelleas.  As  the  days  passed, 
Pelleas  became  impatient.  One  night, 
stealing  into  the  castle,  he  found  Gawain 
and  Ettarre  sleeping  together  and  placed 
his  naked  sword  across  the  throats  of  the 
sleeping  lovers.  Then  in  a  mad  rage  he 
rode  through  the  forest  until  he  met 
Percivale,  who  accidentally  revealed  to 
Pelleas  the  scandal  about  Lancelot  and 
Guinevere.  Disillusioned,  the  young 
knight  returned  to  the  Round  Table, 
where  his  rude  manner  to  the  queen 
foreshadowed  evil  to  Lancelot  and  Guin 
evere.  Sir  Modred  saw  that  the  ruin  of 
the  Round  Table  was  near  at  hand. 

THE    LAST    TOURNAMENT 

To  a  tournament  at  Camelot  came 
Tristram,  who  had  left  his  bride,  Isolt 
of  the  white  hands.  Her  name  was  the 
same  as  that  of  his  beloved,  Isolt,  the 
wife  of  King  Mark  of  Cornwall.  Lance 
lot,  laboring  under  the  guilt  of  his  sinful 
love  for  Guinevere,  decided  to  fight  with 
the  similarly  guilty  Tristram,  who  won 
the  tournament.  Tristram  then  went  to 
Isolt  of  Cornwall.  King  Mark  was  away 
on  a  hunting  trip.  He  returned  un 
expectedly,  found  the  lovers  together, 
and  killed  Tristram. 

In  the  north  a  knight  rebelled  against 
King  Arthur's  rule  and  charged  that  the 
Round  Table  was  a  thing  of  falseness 
and  guilt  where  harlots  and  adulterers 
lived  disguised  as  ladies  and  knights. 
King  Arthur  rode  to  quell  the  revolt  and 
the  guilty  man  was  killed;  but  King 
Arthur  was  heavy  in  heart  when  he  re 
turned  to  Camelot. 

GUINEVERE 

Fearing  exposure  of  her  love  for  Lan 
celot,  Guinevere  asked  him  to  leave 


Camelot.  On  the  night  of  their  fare 
well  Modred  trapped  the  lovers  to 
gether,  and  Guinevere,  feeling  that  she 
was  shamed  forever,  went  to  Almesbury 
and  took  refuge  in  a  nunnery.  There 
she  recalled  how  Lancelot  had  brought 
her  from  her  father's  home  to  marry 
Arthur,  how  she  had  thought  Arthur 
cold  and  had  fallen  in  love  with  the 
courtly,  gay  Lancelot. 

King  Arthur  went  to  Almesbury.  To 
Guinevere  he  spoke  of  his  pride  in  the 
marvelous  truths  which  the  Round  Table 
had  upheld,  and  which  Guinevere  had 
inspired.  Now  all  was  lost,  but  he  for- 

fave  Guinevere  before  he  went  off  to 
ght    against    Modred    and    his    traitor 
knights. 

Filled  with  remorse,  Guinevere  asked 
the  nuns  to  accept  her  in  their  order. 
There  she  gave  her  services  until  they 
made  her  abbess.  After  three  years  in 
that  rank  she  died. 

THE    PASSING   OF   ARTHUR 

In  Modred's  revolt  King  Arthur  was 
wounded.  As  he  lay  dying  he  told  Sir 
Bedivere  to  cast  the  sword  Excalibur 
into  the  lake.  When  Bedivere  finally 
brought  to  King  Arthur  die  tale  that 
amid  flashing  and  strange  sights  an  arm 
reached  out  from  the  lake  to  receive  the 
sword,  King  Arthur  knew  that  Bedivere 
had  truly  sent  Excalibur  back  to  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake.  Next  King  Arthur 
told  Bedivere  to  carry  him  to  the  shore. 
There  three  maidens  came  in  a  barge 
to  take  King  Arthur  away.  As  Bedivere 
stood  weeping,  King  Arthur  assured  him 
that  the  old  order  of  the  Round  Table 
must  pass  to  give  way  to  something  new. 

So  King  Arthur  passed,  in  the  manner 
of  his  legendary  beginning,  back  across 
the  waters  to  Avalon,  but  many  men 
believed  that  some  day  he  would  return 
to  his  people  in  their  need.  Bedivere 
watched  on  the  shore  until  the  wintry 
dawn  broke  bringing  a  new  year. 


42C 


IF  WINTER  COMES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  A.  S.  M.  Hutchinson  (1880-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of 'plot:  1912-1919 

Locale:  Southern  England 

First  published:  1920 

Principal  characters: 

MABK  SABKE,  an  idealist 
MABEL  SABRE,  his  wife 
LADY  NONA  TYBAR,  a  friend 
MR.  FORTUNE,  Mark's  employer 
MR.  TWYNTNG,  a  business  associate 
HAROLD  TWYNTNG,  Twyning's  son 
EFFIE  BRIGHT,  Sabre's  friend 

Critique: 

The  very  least  that  can  be  said  about 
If  Winter  Comes  is  that  it  is  a  beautiful 
and  heart-warming  novel.  It  is  the  story 
of  a  man  who  loved  all  humanity,  but 
who  was  persecuted  and  betrayed  by 
those  who  did  not  understand  him.  Al 
though  the  book  makes  no  pretensions 
to  great  literature,  it  is  a  perennial 
favorite  among  all  classes  of  readers. 


The  Story: 

Most  of  his  friends  thought  Mark 
Sabre  a  queer  sort,  in  spite  of  die  normal 
life  he  led.  He  was  married  to  a  girl 
of  his  own  class  and  he  worked  in  the 
very  respectable  firm  of  Fortune,  East, 
and  Sabre,  suppliers  for  the  best  churches 
and  schools  in  England.  It  was  his  at 
titude  toward  life  that  seemed  queer.  He 
had  no  definite  convictions  about  any 
thing,  and  he  could  always  see  both 
sides  of  any  controversy.  He  hated  the 
restrictions  that  convention  placed  on 
people,  but  at  the  same  time  he  believed 
that  conventions  were  based  on  sound 
principles.  Mabel  Sabre,  one  of  the  most 
conventional  women  alive,  was  totally 
unable  to  understand  anything  her  hus 
band  tried  to  discuss  with  her. 

The  only  person  who  understood  him 
well  was  Lady  Nona  Tybar,  with  whom 
Sabre  had  once  been  in  love.  Nona's 


husband,  Lord  Tybar,  was  a  charming 
man,  but  completely  without  moral  prin 
ciples.  When  he  flaunted  other  women 
in  Nona's  face,  she  turned  to  Sabre  for 
comfort  in  his  friendship,  but  Mabel, 
Sabre's  wife,  could  not  understand  their 
friendship  any  better  than  she  could 
understand  anything  else  about  her  hus 
band.  After  five  years  of  marriage  Mabel 
and  Sabre  were  living  almost  as  strangers 
under  one  roof.  Mark  Sabre's  employer, 
Mr.  Fortune,  and  his  business  associate 
Mr.  Twyning,  despised  him  because  they 
did  not  understand  him,  and  so  Sabre 
felt  that  he  lived  only  as  he  bicycled  be 
tween  his  home  and  his  office,  for  then 
he  could  know  himself  as  he  really  was. 
Sabre  felt  that  there  was  a  mystery  to 
life  which  he  could  unlock  if  he  found 
the  right  key.  And  his  life  was  almost 
dedicated  to  finding  that  key. 

In  addition  to  Nona,  Sabre  had  three 
friends  with  whom  he  liked  to  spend 
his  time.  They  were  his  neighbors,  Mr. 
Fargus  and  old  Mrs.  Perch  and  her  son. 
When  the  war  came,  young  Perch 
wanted  to  enlist,  but  he  could  not  leave 
his  invalid  mother  alone.  Sabre  knew 
that  Erne  Bright,  daughter  of  an  em 
ployee  at  his  office,  wanted  a,  position 
as  a  companion,  and  he  arranged  to  have 
her  stay  with  Mrs.  Perch  after  her  SOD 


IF  WINTER  COMES  by  A.  S.  M.  Hutchinson.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Little, 
&  Co.    Copyright,  1921,  by  A.  S.  M.  Hutchinson.   Renewed,  1949,  by  A.  S.  M.  Hutckinson 


421 


went  to  the  army.  Young  Perch  was 
killed,  and  when  his  mother  received 
the  news  she  died  too.  Shortly  after 
the  old  lady's  death,  Sabre  himself  joined 
the  army.  Because  Mabel  did  not  want 
to  stay  alone,  she  employed  Effie  to  stay 
with  her.  However,  she  treated  Effie  as 
a  servant. 

Lord  Tybar  was  a  hero  in  the  war, 
winning  the  Victoria  Cross  before  he 
was  killed.  Nona  went  to  France  after 
her  husband's  death  and  drove  an  am 
bulance  for  the  rest  of  the  war  years. 
When  Sabre  carne  home  on  leave,  Mabel 
discharged  Effie.  She  said  that  the  girl 
was  impertinent  and  unreliable. 

Late  in  1917,  Sabre  was  wounded  and 
sent  home  to  stay.  Mabel  took  no  more 
interest  in  him  than  she  had  before, 
until  the  day  she  received  a  letter  from 
Effie.  Effie  begged  to  come  back  to  the 
Sabres.  She  now  had  an  illegitimate 
child  and  no  one,  including  her  father, 
would  take  her  in.  Mabel  was  right 
eously  angry  at  the  proposal,  and  when 
Sabre  tried  to  defend  the  girl  she  began 
to  suspect  that  he  might  have  a  reason 
to  help  Effie.  Before  they  reached  a 
decision  Effie,  having  no  other  place  to 
go,  arrived  with  her  baby.  When  Sabre 
insisted  that  she  stay,  Mabel  left,  de 
claring  she  would  not  return  until  the 
girl  and  her  baby  had  gone.  Mr.  Fortune 
and  Mr.  Twyning,  who  had  been  made 
a  partner  in  the  firm,  would  not  allow 
Sabre  to  return  to  the  firm  unless  he  sent 
Effie  away.  They  feared  scandal  would 
hurt  their  business.  But  Sabre  would  not 
be  forced  to  do  what  he  felt  would  be 
an  injustice  and  a  sin.  For  he  had  found 
the  key  to  the  puzzle;  he  knew  that  the 
solution  to  the  mystery  of  the  world  is 
simply  that  God  is  love.  Love  for  one's 
fellow  men  could  set  the  world  right 
again.  He  loved  Effie  as  he  loved  all 
mankind,  as  he  loved  even  his  wife  and 
the  others  who  hated  him. 

But  keeping  Effie  in  the  face  of  crit 
icism  brought  only  disaster  to  him  and 
to  the  girl.  Mabel  sued  for  divorce  on 
grounds  of  adultery,  naming  Effie.  Sabre 


was  away  from  his  home  when  the 
papers  were  served,  and  before  he  could 
quite  comprehend  that  his  wife  could 
believe  such  a  foul  thing  he  was  arrested, 
Effie  had  taken  poison,  first  killing  hei 
baby.  She  had  learned  of  Mabel's  suit 
and  thought  she  could  help  Sabre  best 
by  committing  suicide.  Sabre's  enemies 
were  not  satisfied.  He  was  taken  to 
court  and  accused  of  being  responsible 
for  her  death.  Effie's  father,  Mabel,  and 
Mr.  Twyning  all  claimed  that  he  was  the 
father  of  Effie's  baby  and  that  he  had 
bought  the  poison  which  she  drank.  It 
was  proved  that  he  could  have  been  the 
father  of  the  child.  Only  one  voice  was 
raised  in  his  defense.  Nona  returned 
from  France  and  appeared  at  the  trial. 
But  there  was  little  she  could  do. 

The  verdict  made  Sabre  responsible 
for  Effie's  suicide.  Sabre  went  home, 
but  he  would  not  allow  Nona  to  go  with 
him.  In  his  house  he  found  a  letter 
from  Effie,  In  it  she  told  him  that  she 
was  taking  her  life  and  that  of  her  baby 
because  she  had  caused  him  so  much 
trouble.  She  also  named  the  father  of 
her  baby;  it  was  Harold  Twyning,  the 
son  of  Sabre's  enemy.  The  boy  had  been 
afraid  of  his  father's  anger  and  had  not 
claimed  his  responsibility. 

Enraged,  Sabre  went  to  his  old  office 
prepared  to  kill  Mr.  Twyning.  But  when 
he  reached  the  office,  he  learned  that  his 
enemy  had  just  received  word  of  Har 
old's  death  in  battle.  Sabre  dropped 
Effie's  letter  in  the  fire  and  offered  his 
sympathy  to  the  man  mainly  responsible 
for  ruining  him.  Then  he  went  into  his 
old  office  and  collapsed  from  a  cerebral 
hemorrhage.  Nona  found  him  there 
and  took  him  home.  For  many  months 
he  could  remember  nothing  that  had 
happened  to  him,  but  gradually  he  be 
gan  to  piece  together  the  sordid,  tragic 
story.  He  learned  that  Mabel  had  secured 
her  divorce  and  remarried.  He  learned 
to  know  Nona  again,  but  he  asked  her 
to  go  away  because  he  had  accepted  dis 
grace  rather  than  reveal  the  story  ol 
Effie's  letter.  Nona  refused  to  leave  him, 


422 


and  atter  a  year  they  were  married.  Sabre 
knew  then  that  he  had  really  found  the 
key  to  the  mystery  of  existence  in  that 


dark  season  of  life  before  winter  gives 
way  to  spring. 


THE  ILIAD 

Type  of  -work:  Poem 

Author;  Homer  (c.  ninth  century  B.  C.) 

Type  of  'plot:  Heroic  epic 

Time  of  'plot:  Trojan  War 

Locale:  Troy 

First  transcribed:  Sixth  century  B.  C. 
Principal  characters: 
PRIAM,  King  of  Troy 
HECTOR,  a  Trojan  warrior,  Priam's  son 
HELEN  OF  TKOY 

PARIS,  Hector's  brother  and  Helen's  lover 
MENELAUS,  Helen's  husband 
AGAMEMNON,  Menelaus'  brother 
ACHILLES,  a  Greek  warrior 
PATROCLUS,  Achilles'  friend 

Critique: 

Homer  has  been  hailed  as  the  father 
of  all  poetry,  and  the  Iliad  has  survived 
as  a  masterpiece  for  all  time.  The  Iliad, 
within  a  three-day  period  of  the  Trojan 
wars,  tells  the  story  of  the  wrath  of 
Achilles  against  King  Agamemnon.  The 
battle  episodes  reveal  the  true  characters 
of  the  warriors,  their  strength  and  their 
weaknesses.  These  figures  step  out  of 
unrecorded  history  as  human  beings, 
not  of  one  era,  but  of  all  eras  and  for  all 
time. 


The  Story: 

The  Greeks  were  camped  outside  the 
walls  of  Troy,  in  the  tenth  year  of  their 
siege  on  that  city.  Agamemnon,  king  of 
the  Achaians,  wanted  the  maid,  Briseis, 
for  his  own,  but  she  was  possessed  by 
Achilles,  the  son  of  Zeus.  When  Achil 
les  was  forced  to  give  up  the  maid,  he 
withdrew  angrily  from  the  battle  and 
returned  to  his  ship.  But  he  won  from 
Zeus  the  promise  that  the  wrong  which 
he  was  enduring  would  be  revenged 
on  Agamemnon. 

That  evening  Zeus  sent  a  messenger  to 
the  Greek  king  to  convey  to  him  in  a 
dream  an  order  to  rise  and  marshal 
his  Achaian  forces  against  the  walls  of 


Troy.  When  the  king  awoke,  he  called 
all  his  warriors  to  him  and  ordered  them 
to  prepare  for  battle.  All  night  long  the 
men  armed  themselves  in  battle  array, 
making  ready  their  horses  and  their 
ships.  The  gods  appeared  on  earth  in 
the  disguise  of  warriors,  some  siding  with 
the  Greeks,  some  hastening  to  warn  the 
Trojans.  With  the  army  mustered,  Aga 
memnon  began  the  march  from  the 
camp  to  the  walls  of  the  city,  while  all 
the  country  around  was  set  on  fire.  Only 
Achilles  and  his  men  remained  behind, 
determined  not  to  fight  on  the  side  of 
Agamemnon. 

The  Trojan  army  came  from  the  gates 
of  the  city  ready  to  combat  the  Greeks. 
Then  Paris,  son  of  King  Priam  and 
Helen's  lover,  stood  out  from  the  ranks 
and  suggested  that  he  and  Menelaus 
settle  the  battle  in  a  fight  between  them, 
the  winner  to  take  Helen  and  all  lier 
possessions,  and  friendship  to  be  de 
clared  between  the  warring  nations. 
Menelaus  agreed  to  these  words  of  his 
rival,  and  before  the  warriors  of  bofh 
sides,  and  under  the  eyes  of  Helen,  who 
had  been  summoned  to  witness  the  scene 
from  the  walls  of  Troy,  he  and  Paris 
began  to  battle.  Menelaus  was  the 


423 


mightier  warrior.  As  he  was  about  to 
pierce  his  enemy,  the  goddess  Aphrodite, 
who  loved  Paris,  swooped  down  from 
the  air  and  carried  him  off  to  his  cham 
ber.  She  summoned  Helen  there  to 
minister  to  her  wounded  lord.  Then  the 
victory  was  declared  for  Menelaus. 

In  the  heavens  the  gods  who  favored 
the  Trojans  were  much  disturbed  by  this 
decision.  Athena  appeared  on  earth  to 
Trojan  Pandarus  and  told  him  to  seek 
out  Menelaus  and  kill  him.  He  shot  an 
arrow  at  the  unsuspecting  king,  but  the 
goddess  watching  over  Menelaus  deflect 
ed  the  arrow  so  that  it  only  wounded 
him.  When  Agamemnon  saw  that 
treacherous  deed,  he  revoked  his  vows 
of  peace  and  exhorted  the  Greeks  once 
more  to  battle.  Many  Trojans  and  many 
Greeks  lost  their  lives  that  day,  because 
of  the  foolhardiness  of  Pandarus. 

Meanwhile  Hector,  son  of  King  Priam, 
had  returned  to  the  city  to  bid  farewell 
to  Andromache,  his  wife,  and  to  his 
child,  for  he  feared  he  might  not  return 
from  that  day's  battle.  He  rebuked 
Paris  for  remaining  in  his  chambers 
with  Helen  when  his  countrymen  were 
dying  because  of  his  misdeeds.  While 
Paris  made  ready  for  battle,  Hector  said 
goodbye  to  Andromache,  prophesying 
that  Troy  would  be  defeated,  himself 
killed,  and  Andromache  taken  captive. 
Then  Paris  joined  him  and  they  went 
together  into  the  battle. 

When  evening  came  the  Greeks  and 
the  Trojans  retired  to  their  camps.  Aga 
memnon  instructed  his  men  to  build  a 
huge  bulwark  around  the  camp  and  in 
front  of  the  ships,  for  fear  the  enemy 
would  press  their  attack  too  close.  Zeus 
then  remembered  his  promise  to  Achilles 
to  avenge  the  wrong  done  to  him  by 
Agamemnon.  He  summoned  all  the  gods 
and  forbade  them  to  take  part  in  the 
war.  The  victory  was  to  go  to  the  Tro 
jans. 

The  next  day  Hector  and  the  Trojans 
swept  through  the  fields  slaughtering  the 
Greeks.  Hera,  the  wife  of  Zeus,  and 
many  of  the  other  goddesses  could  not 


be  content  to  watch  the  defeat  of  their 
mortal  friends.  But  when  they  attempted 
to  intervene,  Zeus  sent  down  his  mes 
sengers  to  warn  them  to  desist. 

Fearing  his  armies  would  be  destroyed 
before  Achilles  would  relent,  Agamem 
non  sent  Odysseus  to  Achilles  and  begged 
the  hero  to  accept  gifts  and  be  pac 
ified.  But  Achilles,  still  wrathful,  threat 
ened  to  sail  for  home  at  the  break  of 
day.  Agamemnon  was  troubled  by  the 
proud  refusal  of  Achilles.  That  night  he 
stole  to  the  camp  of  the  wise  man, 
Nestor,  to  ask  his  help  in  a  plan  to  de 
feat  the  Trojans.  Nestor  told  him  to 
awaken  all  the  great  warriors  and  sum 
mon  them  to  a  council.  It  was  decided 
that  two  warriors  should  steal  into  the 
Trojan  camp  to  determine  its  strength 
and  numbers.  Diomedes  and  Odysseus 
volunteered.  As  they  crept  toward  the 
camp,  they  captured  and  killed  a  Trojan 
spy.  Then  they  themselves  stole  into 
the  camp  of  the  enemy,  spied  upon  it, 
and  as  they  left,  took  with  them  the 
horses  of  one  of  the  kings. 

The  next  day  the  Trojans  pressed 
hard  upon  the  Greeks  with  great 
slaughter.  Both  Diomedes  and  Odysseus 
were  wounded  and  many  warriors  tilled. 
Achilles  watched  the  battle  from  his  ship 
but  made  no  move  to  take  part  in  it.  He 
sent  his  friend  Patroclus  to  Nestor  to 
learn  how  many  had  been  wounded. 
The  old  man  sent  back  a  despairing 
answer,  pleading  that  Achilles  give  up 
his  anger  and  help  his  fellow  Greeks.  At 
last  the  Trojans  broke  through  the  walls 
of  the  enemy,  and  Hector  was  foremost 
in  an  attack  upon  the  ships. 

Meanwhile  many  of  the  gods  plotted 
to  aid  the  Greeks.  Hera  lulled  Zeus  to 
sleep,  and  Poseidon  urged  Agamemnon 
to  resist  the  onrush  of  the  Trojans.  In 
the  battle  that  day  Hector  was  wounded 
by  Aias,  but  as  the  Greeks  were  about  to 
seize  him  and  bear  his  body  away  the 
bravest  of  the  Trojans  surrounded  their 
hero  and  covered  him  with  their  shields 
until  he  could  be  carried  to  safety. 

When  Zeus  awakened  and  saw  what 


424 


had  happened,  his  wrath  was  terrible, 
and  he  ordered  Apollo  to  restore  Hector 
to  health.  Once  again  the  walls  were 
breached  and  the  Trojans  stormed  toward 
the  ships,  eager  to  fire  them.  Zeus  in 
spired  the  Trojans  with  courage  and 
weakened  the  Greeks  with  fear.  But  he 
determined  that  after  the  ships  were  set 
afire  he  would  no  longer  aid  the  Trojans 
but  would  allow  the  Greeks  to  have  the 
final  victory. 

Patroclus  went  to  his  friend  Achilles 
and  again  pleaded  with  him  to  return  to 
the  fight.  Achilles,  still  angry,  refused. 
Then  Patroclus  begged  that  he  be  al 
lowed  to  wear  the  armor  of  Achilles  so 
that  the  Greeks  would  believe  their  hero 
fought  with  them,  and  Achilles  con 
sented.  Patroclus  charged  into  the  fight 
and  fought  bravely  at  the  gates  of  the 
city.  But  there  Hector  mortally  wounded 
Patroclus  and  stripped  from  his  body 
the  armor  of  Achilles. 

All  that  day  the  battle  raged  over  the 
body  of  Patroclus.  Then  a  messenger 
carried  to  Achilles  word  of  his  friend's 
death.  His  sorrow  was  terrible,  but  he 
could  not  go  unarmed  into  the  fray  to 
rescue  the  body  of  Patroclus. 

The  next  morning  his  goddess  mother, 
Thetis,  brought  him  a  new  suit  of  armor 
from  the  forge  of  Hephaestus.  Then 
Achilles  decked  himself  in  the  glittering 
armor  which  the  lame  god  of  fire  had 
prepared  for  him  and  strode  forth  to  the 
beach.  There  he  and  Agamemnon  were 
reconciled  before  the  assembly  of  the 
Greeks,  and  he  went  out  to  battle  with 
them.  The  whole  plain  was  filled  with 
men  and  horses,  battling  one  another. 
Achilles  in  his  vengeance  pushed  back 
the  enemy  to  the  banks  of  the  River 


Xanthus,  and  so  many  were  the  bodies 
of  the  Trojans  choking  the  river  that  at 
length  the  god  of  the  river  spoke  to 
Achilles,  ordering  him  to  cease  throwing 
their  bodies  into  his  waters.  Proud 
Achilles  mocked  him  and  sprang  into 
the  river  to  fight  with  the  god.  Feeling 
himself  overpowered,  he  struggled  out 
upon  the  banks,  but  still  the  wrathful 
god  pursued  him.  Achilles  then  called 
on  his  mother  to  help  him,  and  Thetis, 
with  the  aid  of  Hephaestus,  quickly 
subdued  the  angry  river  god. 

As  Achilles  drew  near  the  walls  of 
Troy,  Hector  girded  on  his  armor.  Amid 
the  wailing  of  all  the  Trojan  women 
he  came  from  the  gates  to  meet  the 
Greek  warrior.  Not  standing  to  meet 
Achilles  in  combat,  he  fled  three  times 
around  the  city  walls  before  he  turned 
to  face  Achilles'  fatal  spear.  Then  Achil 
les  bound  Hector's  body  to  his  chariot 
and  dragged  it  to  the  ships,  a  prey  for 
dogs  and  vultures. 

In  the  Trojan  city  there  was  great 
grief  for  the  dead  hero.  The  aged  King 
Priam  resolved  to  drive  in  a  chariot  to 
the  camp  of  Achilles  and  beg  that  the 
body  of  his  son  Hector  be  returned  to 
him.  The  gods,  too,  asked  Achilles  to 
curb  his  wrath  and  restore  the  Trojan 
warrior  to  his  own  people,  and  so 
Achilles  received  King  Priam  with  re 
spect,  granted  his  request,  and  agreed  to 
a  twelve-day  truce  that  both  sides  might 
properly  bury  and  mourn  their  dead. 
Achilles  mourned  for  Patroclus  as  the 
body  of  his  friend  was  laid  upon  the 
blazing  funeral  pyre.  In  the  city  the 
body  of  mighty  Hector  was  also  burned 
and  his  bones  were  buried  beneath  a 
great  mound  in  the  stricken  city. 


INDEPENDENT  PEOPLE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Halld6r  Laxness  (1902- 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  Iceland 

First  published;  1934-1935 


425 


Principal  characters: 
BJARTUR,  a  crofter 
ROSA,  his  first  wife 
FiNNA;  his  second  wife 
ASTA  SOLLILJA,  Rosa's  daughter 
GVENDUK,  Bjartur's  son 
NONNI,  his  younger  son 
INGOLFUR  ABNARSON,  Asta's  father 


Critique: 

Independent  People  is  one  of  the  few 
novels  to  give  us  a  faithful  and  artistic 
picture  of  the  essentially  unrewarding 
life  in  bleak,  small  Iceland.  In  addition 
to  the  background,  Laxness  has  written 
in  a  style  and  with  a  scope  approaching 
the  epic.  We  get  some  of  the  feeling  of 
the  traditions  of  the  Vikings,  and  we  see 
the  old  give  way  to  the  new.  Only  the 
hard,  barren  life  of  the  crofter  is  un 
changing,  for  the  Icelander  in  the  re 
moter  sections  of  his  country  lives  on 
about  the  plane  of  the  primitive  savage. 

The  Story: 

After  working  for  eighteen  years  for 
Bailiff  Jon,  Bjartur  was  at  last  able  to 
buy,  with  a  heavy  mortgage,  the  croft 
called  Winterhouses.  Proud  of  his  new 
status  as  a  landowner  and  fiercely  in 
dependent,  Bjartur  promptly  renamed 
the  place  Summerhouses.  It  was  a  poor 
place,  fit  only  for  sheep  grazing.  The 
house,  which  Bjartur  rebuilt,  consisted 
of  one  room  over  the  stable.  The  walls 
were  of  sod,  and  the  roof  was  made  of 
a  few  sheets  of  corrugated  iron  covered 
with  turf.  But  it  was  his  own  place,  and 
Bjartur  was  determined  to  be  hired  work 
man  for  no  man  and  to  put  his  trust  in 
sheep. 

For  his  wife  he  chose  the  twenty-six 
year-old  Rosa,  a  small  sturdy  girl  with 
a  cast  in  one  eye,  who  had  also  been  in 
service  to  the  bailiff. 

Rosa  was  disappointed  in  her  house, 
and  Bjartur  was  disappointed  in  Rosa. 
He  soon  found  that  she  was  far  from 
innocent,  and  worse,  she  was  already 
pregnant.  He  suspected,  and  was  sure 


much  later,  that  the  man  had  been  the 
bailifFs  son,  Ingolfur. 

After  a  few  months  of  marriage  Bjar 
tur  left  on  a  cold  winter  day  to  look  for 
his  sheep.  Seeing  a  buck  reindeer  in  the 
woods,  he  jumped  on  the  animal's  back 
and  attempted  to  subdue  him.  But  the 
reindeer  was  too  strong  and  took  off  in 
mad  flight  for  the  river.  With  Bjartur 
still  holding  on,  the  animal  swam  down 
stream  and  finally  landed  on  the  other 
shore.  Bjartur,  nearly  frozen  to  death, 
stayed  to  recuperate  at  a  nearby  croft. 

He  returned  home  after  several  days 
to  find  his  wife  dead  from  childbirth  and 
a  baby  daughter  still  alive.  Disregarding 
the  parentage  of  the  girl,  he  proudly 
named  her  Asta  Sollilja.  The  bailifFs 
wife  sent  pauper  Finna  and  her  mother 
to  look  after  Bjartur  and  the  baby.  Finna 
was  nearly  forty  but  strong  and  well 
preserved.  To  settle  the  problem  of  the 
child's  care,  Bjartur  married  her. 

Each  year  Finna  had  another  child, 
usually  stillborn.  But  after  some  years 
there  were  Helgi,  Gvendur,  and  Nonni, 
and  their  sister  Asta.  The  croft  was 
crowded,  and  the  beds  were  all  dirty  and 
filled  with  vermin,  but  the  land  was 
clear  of  debt. 

A  southerner  came  to  the  croft  one 
day  to  ask  permission  to  camp  and  hunt. 
The  stranger  delighted  Asta,  who  was 
awkward  and  uncouth  but  bursting  with 
love.  The  stranger  hardly  noticed  her, 
however,  and  each  night  he  was  gone 
most  of  the  night.  The  reason  for  his 
visit  came  out  later,  when  the  bailiff's 
daughter  left  the  country  in  great  haste. 

After  little  Helgi  was  lost  on  the  moor, 


INDEPENDENT  PEOPLE  by  Halld6r  Laxness.    Translated  by  J.  A.  Thompson.    By  permission  of  the  pub- 
iisoeiti,  Alfred  A.  Knoof,  Inc.   Copyright,  1946,  by  Hallddr  Laineas. 


426 


the  tie  between  Asta  and  Bjartur  became 
closer.  When  Finna  died  from  poor  diet 
and  rapid  childbearing,  the  father  tried 
his  best  to  make  life  easier  for  the  girl. 
He  refused  to  let  Asta  go  to  school,  but 
he  did  teach  her  much  of  the  old  Ice 
landic  poetry. 

Bjartur  took  Asta  on  his  yearly  trip 
to  town,  where,  after  doing  the  shopping, 
they  stayed  overnight  in  a  lodging-house 
for  country  folk.  To  save  money,  father 
and  daughter  both  slept  in  the  same 
bed.  Asta  was  unhappy.  The  town 
people  had  laughed  at  her  homely 
clothes,  and  the  snores  of  the  drunken 
farmers  in  the  nearby  beds  were  terrify 
ing.  She  snuggled  closer  to  her  father 
and  kissed  him.  He  put  his  arms  around 
her,  but  to  his  horror  found  that  she 
was  kissing  him  repeatedly.  Abruptly 
Bjartur  got  up  and  went  out  for  their 
horse.  Father  and  daughter  left  for  home 
in  the  rainy  night. 

Then  a  series  of  misfortunes,  which 
the  Icelanders  laid  to  a  witch  buried 
near  Summerhouses,  greatly  reduced 
Bjartur's  flock  of  sheep,  and  he  went  to 
town  to  work.  Trying  to  meet  his  obliga 
tions  to  his  children,  Bjartur  sent  a 
schoolmaster  to  instruct  Asta,  Gvendur, 
and  Nonni  during  the  winter.  But  Bjar- 
tur's  choice  of  teacher  was  unfortunate. 
After  getting  drunk  one  night  the  school 
master  took  Asta.  When  Bjartur  came 
home  in  the  spring,  Asta  was  pregnant. 
In  his  rage  Bjartur  cast  out  his  daughter, 
who  went  gladly,  full  o£  romantic  notions 
of  her  lover.  She  walked  to  his  fine 
town  house,  which  turned  out  to  be  a 
shack.  There  she  learned  that  he  had 
many  children  and  that  his  wife  was 
again  pregnant. 

Nonni,  just  before  the  World  War, 
went  to  America  to  join  his  uncle.  Only 
Gvendur  and  Bjartur  were  left,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  old  mother-in-law.  The 
war  boom  raised  the  price  of  lambs  and 
Bjartur  prospered.  He  now  had  two  cows 
and  three  horses.  At  the  same  time,  a 
cooperative  movement,  with  Ingolfur  at 
its  head,  was  organized.  In  the  parish 


only  Bjartur  held  out;  he  remained  loyal 
to  the  merchants  who  had  been  gouging 
him  for  years. 

Nonni  sent  two  hundred  dollars  from 
America  to  pay  for  Gvendur's  passage. 
In  spite  of  his  father's  objections,  Gven 
dur,  who  was  seventeen  and  big  and 
strong  for  his  age,  decided  to  emigrate. 
He  put  on  his  best  clothes  and  went  to 
town  to  take  the  coastal  steamer.  There 
he  was  admired  because  he  was  going 
to  America.  During  the  day  and  night 
Gvendur  had  to  wait  before  his  ship 
sailed,  he  met  the  bailiff's  granddaughter. 
She  took  him  riding  on  the  moor,  where 
they  spent  the  night  together.  Hoping 
to  win  her  love,  Gvendur  renounced  his 
emigration  and  went  back  to  Summer- 
houses. 

In  spite  of  the  depression  following  the 
war,  Bjartur  resolved  to  build  his  new 
house.  He  went  deeply  into  debt  to  buy 
great  supplies  of  stone  and  timber.  That 
year  he  got  the  walls  and  roof  completed, 
but  there  were  no  doors  and  windows. 
Before  he  could  finish  the  house,  the 
mortgage  was  foreclosed  and  Summer- 
houses  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
bank. 

The  only  place  left  for  the  family  was 
the  mother-in-law's  old  croft,  long  since 
abandoned.  During  the  moving  Bjartur 
met  Asta  and  was  reconciled  to  her.  Asta 
had  a  second  child  by  another  man,  and 
she  was  carrying  a  third.  The  family  was 
complete  again,  except  for  Nonni. 

Asta,  like  Bjartur,  was  independent. 
Ingolfur,  now  rich  and  a  member  of 
Parliament,  had  revealed  to  her  that  he 
was  her  father.  His  offer  of  support  had 
been  soundly  rejected. 

Bjartur  fell  in  with  some  strikers  who 
had  struck  against  the  government's  low 
wages.  For  a  while  he  was  sympathetic 
with  the  men,  who  were,  in  a  way, 
Communist  led.  Gvendur  was  even  more 
sympathetic.  But  they  both  rejected  in 
principle  the  idea  of  collective  action. 
They  were  independent  farmers  and 
herders. 

So  they  moved  to  the  wretched  hovel 


427 


far  to  the  north,  with  only  Blesi,  their 
twenty-five-year-old  horse,  to  do  the 
hauling.  By  hard  work  they  could  con 
tinue  their  old  way  of  life.  They  would 


have  one  room  in  a  turf-covered  hut. 
Their  diet  would  be  refuse  fish.  With 
luck  they  would  be  only  a  little  less 
comfortable  than  savages  in  a  jungle. 


THE  INVISIBLE  MAN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  H.  G.  Wells  (1866-1946) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1897 

Principal  characters: 

GBIFFEST,  the  Invisible  Man 

MR.  HALL,  landlord  of  the  Coach  and  Horses  Inn 

MRS.  HALL,  his  wife 

DR.  KEMP,  a  Burdock  physician 

COLONEL  AYDE,  chief  of  the  Burdock  police 

MARVEL,  a  tramp 

Critique: 

The  Invisible  Man  belongs  to  that 
series  of  pseudo-scientific  romances  which 
H.  G.  Wells  wrote  early  in  his  literary 
career.  The  plot  is  one  of  sheer  and 
fantastic  invention,  but  it  achieves  an 
air  of  probability  by  means  of  the  homely 
and  realistic  details  with  which  it  is 
built  up.  The  characters  involved  in 
Griffin's  strange  predicament  are  also  in 
no  way  remarkable;  their  traits,  habits, 
and  fears  are  revealed  convincingly.  The 
novel  has  outlived  the  time  of  its  pub 
lication  because  of  the  psychological 
Factors  arising  from  the  central  situation 
and  the  suspense  created  by  the  unfold 
ing  of  an  unusual  plot. 


The  Story: 

The  stranger  arrived  at  Bramblehurst 
railway  station  on  a  cold,  snowy  day  in 
February.  Carrying  a  valise,  he  trudged 
through  driving  snow  to  Iping,  where 
he  stumbled  into  the  Coach  and  Horses 
Inn  and  asked  Mrs.  Hall,  the  hostess, 
for  a  room  and  a  fire.  The  stranger's 
face  was  hidden  by  dark-blue  spectacles 
and  bushy  side-whiskers. 

He  had  his  dinner  in  his  room.  When 
Mrs.  Hall  took  a  mustard  jar  up  to  him, 


she  saw  that  the  stranger's  head  was 
completely  bandaged.  While  she  was  in 
his  room,  he  covered  his  mouth  and 
chin  with  a  napkin. 

His  baggage  arrived  the  next  day — 
several  trunks  and  boxes  of  books  and  a 
crate  of  bottles  packed  in  straw.  The 
drayman's  dog  attacked  the  stranger, 
tearing  his  glove  and  ripping  his  trousers. 
Mr.  Hall,  landlord  of  the  inn,  ran  up 
stairs  to  see  if  the  stranger  had  been 
hurt  and  entered  his  room  without  knock 
ing.  He  was  immediately  struck  on  the 
chest  and  pushed  from  the  room.  When 
Mrs.  Hall  took  up  the  lodger's  supper, 
she  saw  that  he  had  unpacked  his  trunks 
and  boxes  and  set  up  some  strange  ap 
paratus.  The  lodger  was  not  wearing 
his  glasses;  his  eyes  looked  sunken  and 
hollow. 

In  the  weeks  that  followed  the  vil 
lagers  made  many  conjectures  as  to  the 
stranger's  identity.  Some  thought  he 
suffered  from  a  queer  disease  that  had 
left  his  skin  black-and-white  spotted. 
Unusual  happenings  also  mystified  the 
village.  One  night  the  vicar  and  his 
wife  were  awakened  by  a  noise  in  the 
vicar's  study  and  the  clinking  of  money. 


THE  INVISIBLE  MAN  by  H.  G.  Wells.  By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  IT   G   Wells  and  the 
publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.  Copyright,  1897,  by  H.  G.  Wells.  Renewed,  1924. 

428 


Upon  investigation,  they  saw  no  one, 
although  a  candle  was  burning  and  they 
heard  a  sneeze. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Hall  found 
clothing  and  bandages  scattered  about 
the  lodger's  room;  the  stranger  had  dis 
appeared.  The  landlord  went  downstairs 
to  call  his  wife.  They  heard  the  front 
door  open  and  shut,  but  no  one  came 
into  the  inn.  While  they  stood  wonder 
ing  what  to  do,  their  lodger  came  down 
the  stairs.  Where  he  had  been  or  how 
he  had  returned  to  his  room  unnoticed 
was  a  mystery  he  made  no  attempt  to 
explain. 

A  short  time  later,  the  stranger's  bill 
being  overdue,  Mrs.  Hall  refused  to  serve 
him.  When  the  stranger  became  abusive, 
Mr.  Hall  swore  out  a  warrant  against 
him.  The  constable,  the  landlord,  and 
a  curious  neighbor  went  upstairs  to 
arrest  the  lodger.  After  a  struggle,  the 
man  agreed  to  unmask.  The  men  were 
horror-stricken;  the  stranger  was  invisible 
to  their  view.  In  the  confusion  the  In 
visible  Man,  as  the  newspapers  were  soon 
to  call  him,  fled  from  the  inn. 

The  next  person  to  encounter  the  In 
visible  Man  was  a  tramp  named  Marvel. 
The  Invisible  Man  frightened  Marvel 
into  accompanying  him  to  the  Coach 
and  Horses  Inn  to  get  his  clothing  and 
three  books.  They  arrived  at  the  inn 
while  the  vicar  and  the  village  doctor 
were  reading  the  stranger's  diary.  They 
knocked  the  two  men  about,  snatched  up 
the  clothes  and  books,  and  left  the  inn. 

Newspapers  continued  to  print  stories 
of  unnatural  thefts;  money  had  been 
taken  and  carried  away,  the  thief  in 
visible  but  the  money  in  plain  view. 
Marvel  always  seemed  to  be  well- 
supplied  with  funds. 

One  day  Marvel,  carrying  three  books, 
came  running  into  the  Jolly  Cricketers 
Inn.  He  said  that  the  Invisible  Man 
was  after  him.  A  barman,  a  policeman, 
and  a  cabman  awaited  the  Invisible 
Man's  arrival  after  hiding  Marvel.  But 
the  Invisible  Man  found  Marvel,  dragged 
him  into  the  inn  kitchen,  and  tried  to 


force  him  through  the  door.  The  three 
men  struggled  with  the  unseen  creature 
while  Marvel  crawled  into  the  bar-parlor. 
When  the  voice  of  the  Invisible  Man  was 
heard  in  the  inn  yard,  a  villager  fired 
five  shots  in  the  direction  of  the  sound. 
Searchers  found  no  body  in  the  yard. 

Meanwhile,  in  Burdock,  Dr.  Kemp 
worked  late  in  his  study.  Preparing  to 
retire,  he  noticed  drops  of  drying  blood 
on  the  stairs.  He  found  the  doorknob 
of  his  room  smeared  with  blood  and  red 
stains  on  his  bed.  While  he  stared  in 
amazement  at  a  bandage  that  was  ap 
parently  wrapping  itself  about  nothing 
in  midair,  a  voice  called  him  by  name. 
The  Invisible  Man  had  taken  refuge  in 
Kemp's  rooms. 

He  identified  himself  as  Griffin,  a 
young  scientist  whom  Kemp  had  met  at 
the  university  where  both  had  studied. 
Griffin  asked  for  whiskey  and  food.  He- 
said  that  except  for  short  naps  he  had 
not  slept  for  three  days  and  nights. 

That  night  Kemp  sat  up  to  read  all  the 
newspaper  accounts  of  the  activities  of 
the  Invisible  Man.  At  last,  after  much 
thought,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Colonel 
Adye,  chief  of  the  Burdock  police. 

In  the  morning  Griffin  told  his  story 
to  Kemp.  He  explained  that  for  three 
years  he  had  experimented  with  refrac 
tions  of  light  on  the  theory  that  a 
human  body  would  become  invisible  if 
the  cells  could  be  made  transparent. 
Needing  money  for  his  work,  he  had 
robbed  his  father  of  money  belonging 
to  someone  else  and  his  father  had  shot 
himself.  At  last  his  experiments  were 
successful.  After  setting  fire  to  his  room 
in  order  to  destroy  the  evidence  of  his 
research,  he  had  begun  his  strange  ad 
ventures.  He  had  terrorized  Oxford 
Street,  where  passersby  had  seen  only 
his  footprints.  He  discovered  that  in  his 
invisible  state  he  was  compelled  to  fast, 
for  all  unassirnilated  food  or  drink  was 
grotesquely  visible.  At  last,  prowling 
London  streets  and  made  desperate  by 
his  plight,  he  had  gone  to  a  shop  selling 
theatrical  supplies.  There  he  had  stolen 


429 


the  dark  glasses,  side-whiskers,  and 
clothes  he  wore  on  his  arrival  in  Iping. 

Griffin  planned  to  use  Kemp's  house 
as  a  headquarters  while  terrorizing  the 
neighborhood.  Kemp  believed  Griffin 
mad,  When  he  attempted  to  restrain 
Griffin,  the  Invisible  Man  escaped,  and 
shortly  thereafter  a  Mr.  Wicksteed  was 
found  murdered.  A  manhunt  began. 

The  next  morning  Kemp  received  a 
note  which  announced  that  the  reign  of 
terror  had  begun;  one  person  would  be 
executed  daily.  Kemp  himself  was  to 
be  the  first  victim.  He  was  to  die  at 
noon;  nothing  could  protect  him. 

Kemp  sent  at  once  for  Colonel  Adye. 
While  they  were  discussing  possible 
precautions,  stones  were  hurled  through 
the  windows.  The  colonel  left  to  return 
to  the  police  station  for  some  blood 
hounds  to  set  on  Griffin's  trail,  but  out 


side  the  house  Griffin  snatched  a  re 
volver  from  Adye's  pocket  and  wounded 
the  police  officer.  When  Griffin  began 
to  smash  Kemp's  kitchen  door  with  an 
ax,  the  doctor  climbed  through  a  window 
and  ran  to  a  neighbor's  house.  He  was 
refused  admittance.  He  ran  to  the  inn. 
The  door  was  barred.  Suddenly  his  in 
visible  assailant  seized  him.  While  they 
struggled,  some  men  came  to  the  doctor's 
rescue.  Kemp  got  hold  of  Griffin's  arms. 
A  constable  seized  his  legs.  Someone 
struck  through  the  air  with  a  spade. 
The  writhing  unseen  figure  sagged  to  the 
ground.  Kemp  announced  that  he  could 
not  hear  Griffin's  heartbeats.  While  the 
crowd  gathered,  Griffin's  body  slowly 
materialized,  naked,  dead.  A  sheet  was 
brought  from  the  inn  and  the  body  was 
carried  away.  The  reign  of  terror  was 
ended. 


IVANHOE 

Type  of  work:  Navel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1194 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1820 

Principal  characters: 

CEDRIC  THE  SAXON,  of  Rotherwood  Grange 

WILFRED  OF  IVANHOE,  his  disinherited  son 

THE  LAT>Y  ROWENA,  his  ward,  loved  by  Ivanhoe 

ISAAC  OF  YORK,  a  Jewish  money-lender 

REBECCA,  his  daughter 

SIR  BRIAN  DE  BOIS-GUILBERT,  a  Norman  Knight  Templar 

KING  RICHARD  I,  returned  from  the  Third  Crusade 

ROBEST  HOOD,  an  outlaw 


Critique: 

For  over  a  hundred  years  Ivanhoe  has 
held  its  charm  in  the  popular  mind  as  the 
epitome  of  chivalric  novels.  It  has  among 
its  characters  two  of  the  most  popular  of 
English  heroes,  Richard  the  Lion-Hearted 
and  Robin  Hood,  and  tells  a  story  of 
chivalric  romance.  It  has  sufficient  action 
and  color  to  appeal  to  a  great  numbei  of 
people.  Although  Ivanhoe  may  not  be 
Scott's  greatest  novel,  it  is  without  doubt 
his  most  popular. 


The  Story: 

Night  was  drawing  near  when  Prior 
Aymer  of  Jorvaux  and  the  haughty  Tem 
plar,  Brian  de  Bois-Guilbert,  overtook  a 
swineherd  and  a  fool  by  the  roadside  and 
asked  directions  to  Rotherwood,  the 
dwelling  of  Cedric  the  Saxon.  The  an 
swers  of  these  serfs  so  confused  the 
Templar  and  the  prior  that  they  would 
have  gone  far  afield  had  it  not  been  for 
a  pilgrim  from  the  Holy  Land  whom  they 
encountered  shortly  afterward.  The  pil- 


430 


grim  was  also  traveling  to  Rotherwood, 
and  he  brought  them  safely  to  Cedric's 
hall,  where  they  claimed  lodging  for  the 
night.  The  custom  of  those  rude  days 
afforded  hospitality  to  all  benighted  trav 
elers,  and  so  Cedric  gave  a  grudging  wel 
come  to  the  Norman  lords. 

There  was  a  feast  at  Rotherwood  that 
night.  On  the  dais  beside  Cedric  the 
Saxon  sat  his  ward,  the  lovely  Lady 
Rowena,  descendant  of  the  ancient  Saxon 
princes.  It  was  the  old  man's  ambition  to 
wed  her  to  Athelstane  of  ConingsburgL 
of  the  line  of  King  Alfred.  Because  his 
son,  Wilfred  of  Ivanhoe,  had  fallen  in 
love  with  Rowena,  Cedric  had  banished 
him,  and  the  young  knight  had  gone 
with  King  Richard  to  Palestine.  None  in 
the  banquet  hall  that  night  suspected  that 
the  pilgrim  was  Ivanhoe  himself. 

Another  traveler  who  had  claimed 
shelter  at  Rotherwood  that  night  was 
an  aged  Jew,  Isaac  of  York.  Hearing 
some  orders  the  Templar  muttered  to 
his  servants  as  the  feast  ended,  Ivanhoe 
warned  the  old  Jew  that  Bois-Guilbert 
had  designs  on  his  moneybag  or  his  per 
son.  Without  taking  leave  of  their  host 
the  next  morning,  the  disguised  pilgrim 
and  Isaac  of  York  left  Rotherwood  and 
continued  on  their  way  to  the  nearby 
town  of  Ashby  de  la  Zouche. 

Many  other  travelers  were  also  on  their 
way  to  the  town,  for  a  great  tournament 
was  to  be  held  there.  Prince  John, 
Regent  of  England  in  King  Richard's  ab 
sence,  would  preside.  The  winner  of 
the  tournament  would  be  allowed  to 
name  the  Queen  of  Love  and  Beauty  and 
receive  the  prize  of  the  passage  of  arms 
from  her  hands. 

Ivanhoe  attended  the  tournament  with 
the  word  Disinherited  written  upon  his 
shield.  Entering  the  lists,  he  struck  the 
shield  of  Bois-Guilbert  with  the  point 
of  his  lance  and  challenged  that  knight 
to  mortal  combat.  In  the  first  passage 
both  knights  splintered  their  lances  but 
neither  was  unhorsed.  At  the  second 
passage  Ivanhoe 's  lance  struck  Bois-Guil- 
bert's  helmet  and  upset  him.  Then  one 


by  one  Ivanhoe  vanquished  five  knights 
who  had  agreed  to  take  on  all  comers. 
When  the  heralds  declared  the  Disin 
herited  Knight  victor  of  the  tourney, 
Ivanhoe  named  Rowena  the  Queen  of 
Love  and  Beauty. 

In  the  tournament  on  the  following 
day  Ivanhoe  was  pressed  hard  by  three 
antagonists,  but  he  received  unexpected 
help  from  a  knight  in  black,  whom  the 
spectators  had  called  the  Black  Sluggard 
because  of  his  previous  inactivity.  Ivanhoe, 
because  of  his  earlier  triumphs  during 
the  day,  was  named  champion  of  the 
tournament  once  more.  In  order  to  re 
ceive  the  gift  from  Lady  Rowena,  Ivan 
hoe  had  to  remove  his  helmet.  When  he 
did  so,  he  was  recognized.  He  received 
the  chaplet,  his  prize,  kissed  the  hand  of 
Lady  Rowena,  and  then  fainted  from  loss 
of  blood.  Isaac  of  York  and  his  daughter, 
Rebecca,  were  sitting  nearby,  and  Re 
becca  suggested  to  her  father  that  they 
nurse  Ivanhoe  until  he  was  well.  Isaac 
and  his  daughter  started  for  their  home 
with  the  wounded  knight  carried  in  a 
horse  litter.  On  the  way  they  joined  the 
train  of  Cedric  the  Saxon,  who  was  still 
ignorant  of  the  Disinherited  Knight's 
identity. 

Before  the  travelers  had  gone  far,  how 
ever,  they  were  set  upon  and  captured 
by  a  party  led  by  three  Norman  knights, 
Bois-Guilbert,  Maurice  de  Bracy,  and 
Reginald  Front  de  Boeuf.  They  were  im 
prisoned  in  Front  de  Boeufs  castle  of 
Torquilstone.  De  Bracy  had  designs  upon 
Lady  Rowena  because  she  was  an  heiress 
of  royal  lineage.  The  Templar  desired 
to  possess  Rebecca.  Front  de  Boeuf  hoped 
to  extort  a  large  sum  of  money  from  the 
aged  Jew.  Cedric  was  held  for  ransom. 
The  wounded  knight  was  put  into  the 
charge  of  an  ancient  hag  named  Ulrica. 

Isaac  and  his  daughter  were  placed  in 
separate  rooms.  Bois-Guilbert  went  to 
Rebecca  in  her  tower  prison  and  asked 
her  to  adopt  Christianity  so  that  they 
might  be  married.  But  the  plot  of  the 
Norman  nobles  with  regard  to  their 
prisoners  was  thwarted  by  an  assault 


431 


on  the  castle  by  Richard  the  Lion- 
Hearted,  The  Black  Sluggard  of  the  tour 
nament  at  Ashby,  in  company  with  Robin 
Hood  and  his  outlaws.  Ulrica  aided  the 
besiegers  by  starting  a  fire  within  the 
castle  walls.  Robin  Hood  and  his  men 
took  the  prisoners  to  the  forest  along  with 
the  Norman  nobles.  In  the  confusion, 
however,  Bois-Guilbert  escaped  with  Re 
becca,  and  Isaac  made  preparation  to 
ransom  her  from  the  Templar.  De  Bracy 
was  set  free  and  he  hurried  to  inform 
Prince  John  that  he  had  seen  and  talked 
with  Richard.  John  plotted  to  make 
Richard  his  prisoner. 

Isaac  went  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Knights  Templar  and  begged  to  see  Bois- 
Guilbert.  Lucas  de  Beaumanoir,  the 
grand  master  of  the  Templars,  ordered 
Isaac  admitted  to  his  presence.  Isaac  was 
frightened  when  the  grand  master  asked 
him  his  business  with  the  Templar. 
When  he  told  his  story,  the  grand  master 
learned  of  Bois-Guilbert's  seizure  of  Re 
becca.  It  was  suggested  that  Bois-Guilbert 
was  under  a  spell  cast  by  Rebecca.  Con 
demned  as  a  witch,  she  was  sentenced 
to  be  burned  at  the  stake.  In  desperation 
she  demanded,  as  was  her  right,  a  cham 
pion  to  defend  her  against  the  charge. 
Lucas  de  Beaumanoir  agreed  and  named 
Bois-Guilbert  champion  of  the  Temple. 

The  day  arrived  for  Rebecca's  execu 
tion.  A  pile  of  wood  had  been  laid 
around  the  stake.  Rebecca,  seated  in  a 
black  chair,  awaited  the  arrival  of  her 
defender.  Three  times  the  heralds  called 
upon  her  champion  to  appear.  At  the 
third  call  a  strange  knight  rode  into  the 
lists  and  announced  himself  as  Rebecca's 


champion.  When  Bois-Guilbert  realized 
that  the  stranger  was  Ivanhoe,  he  at  first 
refused  combat  because  Ivanhoe's  wounds 
were  not  completely  healed.  But  the 
grand  master  gave  orders  for  the  contest 
to  begin.  As  everyone  expected,  the  tired 
horse  of  Ivanhoe  and  its  exhausted  rider 
went  down  at  the  first  blow,  so  that 
Ivanhoe's  lance  merely  touched  the  shield 
of  the  Templar.  Then  to  the  astonish 
ment  of  all,  Bois-Guilbert  reeled  in  his 
saddle  and  fell  to  the  ground.  Ivanhoe 
arose  from  where  he  had  fallen  and  drew 
his  sword.  Placing  his  foot  on  the  breast 
of  the  fallen  knight,  he  called  upon  Bois- 
Guilbert  to  yield  himself  or  die  on  the 
spot.  There  was  no  answer  from  Bois- 
Guilbert,  for  he  was  dead,  a  victim  of 
the  violence  of  his  own  passions.  The 
grand  master  declared  that  Rebecca  was 
acquitted  of  the  charge  against  her. 

At  that  moment  the  Black  Knight  ap 
peared,  followed  by  a  band  of  knights 
and  men-at-arms,  It  was  King  Richard, 
come  to  arrest  Rebecca's  accusers  on  a 
charge  of  treason.  The  grand  master  saw 
the  flag  of  the  Temple  hauled  down  and 
the  royal  standard  raised  in  its  place. 

King  Richard  had  returned  in  secret 
to  reclaim  his  throne.  Robin  Hood  be 
came  his  true  follower.  Athelstane  re 
linquished  his  claims  to  Lady  Rowena's 
hand  so  that  she  and  Ivanhoe  could  be 
married.  Cedric  the  Saxon,  reconciled  at 
last  with  his  son,  gave  his  consent,  and 
Richard  himself  graced  their  wedding. 

Isaac  and  Rebecca  left  England  for 
Granada,  hoping  to  find  in  that  foreign 
land  greater  happiness  than  could  evet 
be  theirs  in  England. 


JANE  EYRE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Charlotte  Bronte  (1816-1855) 

Type  oj  plot:  Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1800 

Locale:  Northern  England 

First  published:  1847 

Principal  characters: 

JANE  EYRE,  an  orphan 

MRS.  REED,  mistress  of  GatesLead  Hall 


432 


BESSIE  LEAVEN,  a  nurse 
EDWARD  ROCHESTER,  owner  of  TLornfield 
ST.  JOHN  RIVERS,  a  young  clergyman 
MART,  and 


DIANA  RIVERS,  his  sisters 
Critique: 

Charlotte  Bronte  published  Jane  Eyre 
under  the  pseudonym  of  Currer  Bell,  a 
name  chosen,  she  said,  because  it  was 
neither  obviously  feminine  nor  mascu 
line.  But  the  emotions  behind  the  book 
are  purely  feminine.  Literary  criticism 
may  point  to  the  extravagance,  melodrama, 
and  faulty  structure  of  the  novel,  but 
lasting  popularity  is  sufficient  evidence 
of  its  charm  and  character  for  generations 
of  readers.  Charlotte  Bronte  wrote  wisely 
when  she  cast  her  novel  in  the  form  of 
an  autobiography.  The  poetry  and  ten 
sion  of  Jane  Eyre  marked  a  new  devel 
opment  in  adult  romanticism,  just  as 
Jane  herself  brought  to  English  fiction 
a  new  type  of  heroine,  a  woman  of  intel 
ligence  and  passion. 

The  Story: 

Jane  Eyre  was  an  orphan.  Both  her 
father  and  mother  had  died  when  Jane 
was  a  baby,  and  the  little  girl  passed 
into  the  care  of  Mrs.  Reed  of  Gateshead 
Hall.  Mrs.  Reed's  husband,  now  dead, 
had  been  the  brother  of  Jane  Eyre's 
mother,  and  on  his  deathbed  he  had  di 
rected  Mrs.  Reed  to  look  after  the  orphan 
as  she  would  her  own  three  children.  At 
Gateshead  Hall  Jane  knew  ten  years  of 
neglect  and  abuse.  One  day  a  cousin 
knocked  her  to  the  floor.  When  she 
fought  back,  Mrs.  Reed  punished  her  by 
sending  her  to  the  gloomy  room  where 
Mr.  Reed  had  died.  There  Jane  lost 
consciousness.  Furthermore,  the  experi 
ence  caused  a  dangerous  illness  from 
which  she  was  nursed  slowly  back  to 
health  by  sympathetic  Bessie  Leaven,  the 
Gateshead  Hall  nurse. 

Feeling  that  she  could  no  longer  keep 
her  unwanted  charge  in  the  house,  Mrs. 
Reed  made  arrangements  for  Jane's  ad 
mission  to  Lowood  School.  Early  one 
morning,  without  farewells,  Jane  left 


Gateshead  Hall  and  rode  fifty  miles  by 
stage  to  Lowood,  her  humble  possessions 
in  a  trunk  beside  her. 

At  Lowood,  Jane  was  a  diligent  stu 
dent,  well-liked  by  her  superiors,  espe 
cially  by  Miss  Temple,  the  mistress,  who 
refused  to  accept  without  proof  Mrs. 
Reed's  low  estimate  of  Jane's  character. 
During  the  period  of  Jane's  schooldays 
at  Lowood  an  epidemic  of  fever  caused 
many  deaths  among  the  girls.  It  resulted, 
too,  in  an  investigation  which  caused 
improvements  at  the  institution.  At  the 
end  of  her  studies  Jane  was  retained  as 
a  teacher.  When  Jane  grew  weary  of  her 
life  at  Lowood,  she  advertised  for  a  posi 
tion  as  governess.  She  was  engaged  by 
Mrs.  Fairfax,  housekeeper  at  Thomfield, 
near  Millcote. 

At  Thomfield  the  new  governess  had 
only  one  pupil,  Adele  Varens,  a  ward  of 
Jane's  employer,  Mr.  Edward  Rochester. 
From  Mrs.  Fairfax,  Jane  learned  that 
Mr.  Rochester  traveled  much  and  seldom 
came  to  Thomfield.  Jane  was  pleased 
with  the  quiet  country  lifex  with  the 
beautiful  old  house  and  gardens,  the 
book-filled  library,  and  her  own  com 
fortable  room. 

Jane  met  Mr.  Rochester  for  the  first 
time  while  she  was  out  walking,  going  to 
his  aid  after  his  horse  had  thrown  him. 
She  found  her  employer  a  somber,  moody 
man,  quick  to  change  in  his  manner 
toward  her,  brusque  in  his  speech.  He 
commended  her  work  with  Adele,  how 
ever,  and  confided  that  the  girl  was  the 
daughter  of  a  French  dancer  who  had 
deceived  him  and  deserted  her  daughter. 
Jane  felt  that  this  experience  alone  could 
not  account  for  Mr.  Rochester's  moody 
nature. 

Mysterious  happenings  occurred  at 
Thomfield.  One  night  Jane,  alarmed  by 
a  strange  noise,  found  Mr.  Rochester'* 


433 


door  open  and  his  bed  on  fire.  When  she 
attempted  to  arouse  the  household,  he 
commanded  her  to  keep  quiet  about  the 
whole  affair.  She  also  learned  that 
Thornfield  had  a  strange  tenant,  a  woman 
who  laughed  like  a  maniac  and  who 
stayed  in  rooms  on  the  third  floor  of  the 
house.  Jane  believed  that  this  woman 
was  Grace  Poole,  a  seamstress  employed 
by  Mr.  Rochester. 

Mr.  Rochester  attended  numerous 
parties  at  which  he  was  obviously  paying 
court  to  Blanche  Ingram,  daughter  of 
Lady  Ingram.  One  day  the  inhabitants 
of  Thornfield  were  informed  that  Mr. 
Rochester  was  bringing  a  party  of  house 
guests  home  with  him.  In  the  party  was 
the  fashionable  Miss  Ingram.  During 
the  house  party  Mr.  Rochester  called 
Jane  to  the  drawing-room,  where  the 
guests  treated  lier  with  the  disdain  which 
they  thought  her  humble  position  de 
served.  To  herself  Jane  had  already  con 
fessed  her  interest  in  her  employer,  but 
it  seemed  to  her  that  he  was  interested 
only  in  Blanche  Ingram.  One  evening 
while  Mr.  Rochester  was  away  from 
home  the  guests  played  charades.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  game  a  gipsy  fortune 
teller  appeared  to  read  the  palms  of  the 
lady  guests.  Jane,  during  her  interview 
with  the  gipsy,  discovered  that  the  so- 
called  fortune-teller  was  Mr,  Rochester 
in  disguise. 

While  the  guests  were  still  at  Thorn- 
field,  a  stranger  named  Mason  arrived  to 
see  Mr.  Rochester  on  business.  That 
night  Mason  was  mysteriously  wounded 
by  the  strange  inhabitant  of  the  third 
floor.  The  injured  man  was  taken  away 
secretly  before  daylight. 

One  day  Bessie  Leaven  came  from 
Gateshead  to  tell  Jane  that  Mrs.  Reed, 
now  on  her  deathbed,  had  asked  to  see 
her  former  ward.  Jane  returned  to  her 
aunt's  home.  The  dying  woman  gave 
Jane  a  letter,  dated  three  years  before, 
from  John  Eyre  in  Madeira,  who  asked 
that  his  niece  be  sent  to  him  for  adop 
tion.  Mrs.  Reed  confessed  that  she  had 
let  him  believe  that  Jane  had  died  in  the 


epidemic  at  Lowood.  The  sin  of  keeping 
from  Jane  news  which  would  have  meant 
relatives,  adoption,  and  an  inheritance 
had  become  a  heavy  burden  on  the  con 
science  of  the  dying  woman. 

Jane  went  back  to  Thornfield,  which 
she  now  looked  upon  as  her  home.  One 
night  in  the  garden  Edward  Rochester 
embraced  her  and  proposed  marriage. 
Jane  accepted  and  made  plans  for  a 
quiet  ceremony  in  the  village  church. 
She  wrote  also  to  her  uncle  in  Madeira, 
explaining  Mrs.  Reed's  deception  and 
telling  him  she  was  to  marry  Mr. 
Rochester. 

Shortly  before  the  date  set  for  the 
wedding  Jane  had  a  harrowing  experi 
ence.  She  awakened  to  find  a  strange, 
repulsive-looking  woman  in  her  room. 
The  intruder  tried  on  Jane's  wedding  veil 
and  then  ripped  it  to  shreds.  Mr.  Roch 
ester  tried  to  persuade  Jane  that  the 
whole  incident  was  only  her  imagination, 
but  in  the  morning  she  found  the  torn 
veil  in  her  room.  At  the  church,  as  the 
vows  were  being  said,  a  stranger  spoke  up 
declaring  the  existence  of  an  impedi 
ment  to  the  marriage.  He  presented  an 
affirmation,  signed  by  the  Mr.  Mason 
who  had  been  wounded  during  his  visit 
to  Thornfield.  The  document  stated  that 
Edward  Fairfax  Rochester  had  married 
Bertha  Mason,  Mr.  Mason's  sister,  in 
Spanish  Town,  Jamaica,  fifteen  years  be 
fore.  Mr.  Rochester  admitted  this  fact; 
then  he  conducted  the  party  to  the  third- 
story  chamber  at  Thornfield.  There  they 
found  the  attendant  Grace  Poole  and  her 
charge,  Bertha  Rochester,  a  raving  mani 
ac.  Mrs.  Rochester  was  the  woman  Jane 
had  seen  in  her  room. 

Jane  felt  that  she  must  leave  Thorn- 
field  at  once.  She  notified  Mr.  Rochester 
and  left  quietly  early  the  next  morning, 
using  all  her  small  store  of  money  for  the 
coach  fare.  Two  days  later  she  was  set 
down  on  the  moors  of  a  north  midland 
shire.  Starving,  she  actually  begged  for 
food.  Finally  she  was  befriended  by  the 
Reverend  St.  John  Rivers  and  his  sisters, 
Mary  and  Diana,  who  took  Jane  in  and 


434 


nursed  her  back  to  health.  Assuming 
the  name  of  Jane  Elliot,  she  refused  to 
divulge  anything  of  her  history  except 
her  connection  with  the  Lowood  institu 
tion.  Reverend  Ravers  eventually  found 
a  place  for  her  as  mistress  in  a  girl's 
school. 

Shortly  afterward  St.  John  Rivers  re 
ceived  from  his  family  solicitor  word  that 
John  Eyre  had  died  in  Madeira,  leaving 
Jane  Eyre  a  fortune  of  twenty  thousand 
pounds.  Because  Jane  had  disappeared 
under  mysterious  circumstances,  the  law 
yer  was  trying  to  locate  her  through  the 
next  of  kin,  St.  John  Rivers.  Jane's  iden 
tity  was  now  revealed  through  her  con 
nection  with  Lowood  School,  and  she 
learned,  to  her  surprise,  that  St.  John 
and  his  sisters  were  really  her  own  cous 
ins.  She  then  insisted  on  sharing  her 
inheritance  with  them. 

When  St.  John  decided  to  go  to  India 
as  a  missionary,  he  asked  Jane  to  go  with 
him  as  his  wife — not  because  he  loved 
her,  as  he  frankly  admitted,  but  because 


he  admired  her  and  wanted  her  services 
as  his  assistant.  Jane  felt  indebted  to  him 
for  his  kindness  and  aid,  but  she  hesi 
tated  to  accept  his  proposal. 

One  night,  while  St.  John  was  await 
ing  her  decision,  she  dreamed  that  Mr. 
Rochester  was  calling  her  name.  The 
next  day  she  returned  to  Thornfield  by 
coach.  Arriving  there,  she  found  the 
mansion  gutted — a  burned  and  black 
ened  ruin.  Neighbors  told  her  that  the 
fire  had  broken  out  one  stormy  night,  set 
by  the  madwoman,  who  died  while  Mr. 
Rochester  was  trying  to  rescue  her  from 
the  roof  of  the  blazing  house. 

Mr.  Rochester,  blinded  during  the  fire, 
was  living  at  Ferndean,  a  lonely  farm 
some  miles  away.  Jane  Eyre  went  to  him 
at'  once,  and  there  they  were  married. 
For  both,  their  story  had  an  even  happier 
ending.  After  two  years  Mr.  Rochester 
regained  the  sight  of  one  eye,  so  that 
he  was  able  to  see  his  first  child  when 
it  was  put  in  his  arms. 


JASON  AND  THE  GOLDEN  ELEECE 


Type  of  work:  Classical  legend 
Source:  Folk  tradition 
Type  oj  plot:  Heroic  adventure 
Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 
Locale:  Ancient  Greece 
First  transcribed:  Unknown 


Principal  characters: 
JASON,  Prince  of  lolcus 
KING  PELIAS,  his  uncle 
CHIRON,  the  Centaur  who  reared  Jason 
JEETES,  King  of  Colchis 
MEDEA,  his  daughter 


Critique: 

The  story  of  Jason  and  the  Golden 
Fleece  has  been  repeated  in  story  and 
song  for  more  than  thirty  centuries.  Jason 
lived  when  great  heroes  lived  and  gods 
supposedly  roamed  the  earth  in  human 
form.  The  story  of  the  golden  ram  and 
his  radiant  fleece  is  read  and  loved  by 
adults  as  it  is  by  children.  The  story 
has  been  told  in  many  different  forms, 
but  its  substance  remains  unchanged. 


The  Story: 

In  ancient  Greece  there  lived  a  prince 
named  Jason,  son  of  a  king  who  had 
been  driven  from  his  throne  by  a  wicked 
brother  named  Pelias.  To  protect  the 
boy  from  his  cruel  uncle,  Jason's  father 
took  him  to  a  remote  mountaintop  wherf ; 
he  was  raised  by  Chiron  the  Centaur, 
whom  many  say  was  half  man  and  half 
horse.  When  Jason  had  grown  to  young 
manhood,  Chiron  the  Centaur  told  him 


435 


Pelias  had  seized  his  brother's  crown. 
Jason  was  instructed  to  go  and  win  hack 
his  father's  kingdom, 

Pelias  had  been  warned  to  beware  of 
a  stranger  who  came  with  one  foot  san 
daled  and  the  other  bare.  It  happened 
that  Jason  had  lost  one  sandal  in  a  river 
he  crossed  as  he  came  to  lolcus,  where 
Pelias  ruled.  When  Pelias  saw  the  lad 
he  was  afraid  and  plotted  to  kill  him. 
But  he  pretended  to  welcome  Jason.  At 
a  great  feast  he  told  Jason  the  story  of 
the  golden  fleece. 

In  days  past  a  Greek  king  called  Ath- 
amas  banished  his  wife  and  took  another, 
a  beautiful  but  wicked  woman  who  per 
suaded  Athamus  to  kill  his  own  children. 
But  a  golden  ram  swooped  down  from 
the  skies  and  carried  the  children  away. 
The  girl  slipped  from  his  back  and  fell 
into  the  sea,  but  the  boy  came  safely  to 
the  country  of  Colchis.  There  the  boy 
let  the  king  of  Colchis  slaughter  the  ram 
for  its  golden  fleece.  The  gods  were 
angered  by  these  happenings  and  placed 
a  curse  on  Athamus  and  all  his  family 
until  the  golden  fleece  should  he  returned 
to  Colchis. 

As  Pelias  told  Jason  the  story,  he  could 
see  that  the  young  prince  was  stirred, 
and  he  was  not  surprised  when  Jason 
vowed  that  he  would  bring  back  the 
golden  fleece.  Pelias  promised  to  give 
Jason  his  rightful  throne  when  he  re 
turned  from  his  quest,  and  Jason  trusted 
Pelias  and  agreed  to  the  terms.  He  gath 
ered  about  him  many  great  heroes  of 
Greece — Hercules,  the  strongest  and 
bravest  of  all  heroes;  Orpheus,  whose 
music  soothed  savage  beasts;  Argus,  who 
with  the  help  of  Juno  built  the  beautiful 
ship  Argo;  Zetes  and  Calais,  sons  of 
the  North  Wind,  and  many  other  brave 
men. 

They  encountered  great  dangers  on 
their  journey.  One  of  the  heroes  was 
drawn  under  the  sea  by  a  nymph  and 
was  never  seen  again  by  his  comrades. 
They  visited  Salmydessa  where  the  blind 
King  Phineus  was  surrounded  by  Har 
pies,  loathsome  creatures,  with  the  faces 


of  women  and  the  bodies  of  vultures. 
Zetes  and  Calais  chased  the  creatures 
across  the  skies,  and  the  heroes  left  the 
old  king  in  peace. 

Phineus  had  warned  the  heroes  about 
the  clashing  rocks  through  which  they 
must  pass.  As  they  approached  the  rocks 
they  were  filled  with  fear,  but  Juno  held 
the  rocks  back  and  they  sailed  past  the 
peril.  They  rowed  along  the  shore  until 
they  came  to  the  land  of  Colchis. 

^Eetes,  King  of  Colchis,  swore  never 
to  give  up  the  treasure,  but  Jason  vowed 
that  he  and  his  comrades  would  do  battle 
with  -^Eetes.  Then  ^Eetes  consented  to 
yield  the  treasure  if  Jason  would  yoke  to 
the  plow  two  wild,  fire-breathing  bulls 
and  sow  a  field  with  dragon's  teeth. 
When  a  giant  warrior  sprang  from  each 
tooth,  Jason  must  slay  each  one.  Jason 
agreed  to  the  trial. 

^Eetes  had  a  beautiful  daughter 
Medea,  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  the 
handsome  Jason,  and  she  brewed  a  magic 
potion  which  gave  Jason  godlike  strength; 
thus  it  was  that  he  was  able  to  tame 
the  wild  bulls  and  slay  the  warriors. 
/Eetes  promised  to  bring  forth  the  fleece 
the  next  day,  but  Jason  saw  the  wicked 
ness  in  the  king's  heart  and  warned  his 
comrades  to  have  the  Argo  ready  to  sail. 

In  the  night  Medea  secured  the  seven 
golden  keys  that  unlocked  the  seven  doors 
to  the  cave  where  the  golden  fleece  hung 
and  led  Jason  to  the  place.  Behind  the 
seven  doors  he  found  a  hideous  dragon 
guarding  the  treasure.  Medea's  magic 
caused  the  dragon  to  fall  asleep,  and 
Jason  seized  the  fleece.  It  was  so  bright 
that  night  seemed  like  day. 

Fearing  for  her  life,  Medea  sailed 
away  from  her  father's  house  with  Jason 
and  the  other  heroes.  After  many  months 
they  reached  their  homeland,,  where 
Jason  placed  the  treasure  at  the  feet  of 
Pelias.  But  the  fleece  was  no  longer 
golden.  Pelias  was  wrathful  and  swore 
not  to  give  up  his  kingdom.  But  in  the 
night  the  false  king  died.  Afterward 
Jason  wore  the  crown  and  the  enchant 
ress  Medea  reigned  by  his  side. 


436 


JAVA  HEAD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Joseph  Hergesheimer  (1880-1954) 

Type  of  plot:  Period  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1840's 

Locale:  Salem,  Massachusetts 

First  published:  1919 

Principal  characters: 

GERRIT  AMMIDON,  a  Yankee  sea  captain 
TAOU  YUEN,  Gerrit's  Chinese  bride 
NETTIE  VOLLAR,  Gerrit's  former  sweetheart 
EDWARD  DUNSACK,  Nettie's  uncle 
JEREMY  AMMIDON,  Gerrit's  father 

Critique: 

Java  Head  is  a  novel  of  colorful  de 
tail  and  romantic  incident,  its  scene  laid 
in  a  historic  port  town  during  the  period 
when  the  clipper  ship  was  making 
America  the  mistress  of  the  seas.  In  this 
novel  Hergesheimer  recaptures  the  spirit 
of  an  era,  and  by  placing  the  exotic  Taou 
Yuen  against  a  late  Puritan  background 
he  presents  also  a  contrast  of  civilizations. 
One  of  the  interesting  features  of  the 
book  is  the  fact  that  each  chapter  is 
written  from  the  point  of  view  of  a 
different  character. 


The  Story: 

In  Salem,  Massachusetts,  one  spring 
in  the  early  1840's,  there  was  concern 
because  the  ship  Nautilus,  owned  by 
Ammidon,  Ammidon,  and  Saltonstone, 
was  seven  months  overdue.  The  captain 
of  the  ship  was  young  Gerrit  Ammidon, 
son  of  Captain  Jeremy  Ammidon,  senior 
partner  of  the  firm.  Nettie  Vollar  grew 
more  disturbed  as  the  weeks  passed.  On 
the  day  the  Nautilus  left  Salem,  her 
grandfather  had  ordered  Gerrit  from  the 
house  before  he  reached  the  point  of 
announcing  his  love  for  Nettie  and  ask 
ing  her  to  marry  him.  The  old  man's 
reason  for  his  action  had  been  that  Nettie 
was  an  illegitimate  child  and,  as  such, 
did  not  deserve  to  be  married  and  lead  a 
normal  life.  His  theory  was  that  the  girl 
had  been  placed  on  earth  only  as  a 
punishment  for  her  mother. 


Old  Jeremy  Ammidon  also  awaited 
the  return  of  the  Nautilus}  for  Gerrit 
was  the  favorite  of  his  two  sons.  The 
other  son,  William,  was  primarily  a 
tradesman  interested  in  making  money. 
Old  Jeremy  and  William  clashed  regular 
ly  over  the  kind  of  trade  the  firm  was 
to  take,  the  liberty  to  be  given  its  cap 
tains  in  trading,  and  whether  the  ships 
of  the  firm  should  be  replaced  by  the 
swift  new  clippers  that  were  revolution 
izing  the  Pacific  trade.  William  had 
never  told  old  Jeremy  that  the  firm  had 
two  schooners  engaged  in  carrying  opium, 
a  cargo  the  older  man  detested.  The 
atmosphere  at  Java  Head,  the  Ammidon 
mansion  in  Salem,  was  kept  more  or  less 
in  a  state  of  tension  because  of  the 
disagreements  between  the  father  and 
son.  Rhoda  Ammidon,  William's  cheer 
ful  and  sensible  wife,  was  a  quieting  in 
fluence  on  both  men. 

Not  many  days  later  the  Nautilus 
was  sighted.  When  it  cast  anchor  off  the 
Salem  wharves,  Gerrit  asked  that  the 
Ammidon  barouche  be  sent  to  carry  him 
to  Java  Head.  The  reason  for  his  request 
became  clear  when  the  carriage  dis 
charged  at  the  door  of  the  mansion  not 
only  Gerrit  but  also  his  Manchu  wife, 
Taou  Yuen.  The  sight  of  her  resplendent 
clothes  and  lacquered  face  was  almost  too 
much  for  Gerrit's  conservative  New  Eng 
land  family.  Only  William's  wife  was 
able  to  be  civil;  the  father  said  nothing, 


JAVA  HEAD  by  Joseph  Hergesheimer.     By  permission,  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1918,  by  Alfred  A..  Knopf,  Inc.   Renewed,  1946,  by  Joseph  Hergesheimer. 


437 


and  William  declared  that  the  painted 
foreign  woman  was  an  unpleasant  sur 
prise. 

Gerrit's  first  difficulty  came  when  he 
assured  his  family  that  the  Chinese  mar 
riage  ceremony  which  had  united  him 
with  Taou  Yuen  was  as  binding  as  the 
Christian  service  of  William  and  Rhoda. 
The  people  of  Salem  wished  to  look 
upon  the  Chinese  noblewoman  as  a  mis 
tress  rather  than  as  a  wife.  Nor  did  they 
understand  that  Taou  Yuen  was  from 
one  of  the  finest  families  of  China,  as 
far  removed  from  the  coolies  and  trading 
classes  of  Chinese  ports  as  the  New  Eng- 
landers  themselves. 

The  first  Sunday  afternoon  after  the 
arrival  of  the  Nautilus  Edward  Dunsack 
appeared  to  thank  Gerrit  Ammidon  for 
bringing  a  chest  from  China  for  him. 
The  sight  of  Taou  Yuen  stirred  Dunsack, 
largely  because  he  was  homesick  for 
China.  When  he  left  Java  Head,  his 
mind  was  filled  with  a  sense  of  injustice 
that  Gerrit  Ammidon  should  have  the 
Manchu  woman  as  his  bride  instead  of 
Edward  Dunsack  and  that  Gerrit  had 
married  the  Chinese  woman  instead  of 
Dunsack's  niece,  Nettie  Vollar. 

Back  in  port,  Gerrit  saw  to  the  re 
fitting  of  the  Nautilus.  He  did  not  see 
Nettie  Vollar,  Then,  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  the  Ammidons  met  Nettie  on  the 
street  and  took  her  back  to  Java  Head 
for  the  evening,  lest  she  be  injured  or 
insulted  by  rough  sailors  on  the  streets. 
She  did  not  see  Taou  Yuen,  however, 
for  the  Chinese  woman  had  remained 
in  her  room  during  the  day.  When  it 
was  time  for  Nettie  to  return  home, 
Gerrit  escorted  her.  It  was  the  first  time 
they  had  been  alone  together  since  he  had 
been  ordered  from  her  home  months  be 
fore.  Gerrit  returned  to  the  Ammidon 
house  realizing  that  he  had  done  Nettie 
a  great  wrong  when  he  married  Taou 
Yuen. 

The  following  morning  misfortune 
struck  the  Ammidons.  Old  Jeremy  ac 
companied  his  son  William  down  to 
the  offices  of  the  firm  to  inspect  the 


specifications  for  two  new  clipper  ships, 
and  among  some  papers  he  discovered 
a  bill  of  lading  for  one  of  the  firm's  two 
schooners  engaged  in  the  opium  trade. 
His  anger  was  roused  to  such  an  extent 
that  his  heart  could  not  carry  the  strain. 
He  collapsed  and  died  in  the  office. 

After  the  funeral,  Gerrit,  sick  of  the 
life  ashore,  took  the  Nautilus  as  his  share 
in  the  estate,  left  the  company,  and  pre 
pared  to  return  to  sea  as  an  independent 
trader.  Even  his  wife  had  become  un 
bearable  to  him  since  he  had  renewed  his 
friendship  with  Nettie.  Nevertheless,  he 
determined  to  take  Taou  Yuen  back  with 
him  and  to  establish  their  household  in 
Shanghai,  where  he  would  no  longer  face 
the  complications  which  arose  from  resi 
dence  in  Salem. 

One  day  Edward  Dunsack  appeared 
at  the  Ammidon  home  to  ask  Gerrit  to 
pay  a  call  on  his  niece  Nettie,  who  had 
been  severely  injured  by  a  carriage, 
Gerrit  left  immediately,  and  Dunsack 
took  the  opportunity  to  attempt  the 
seduction  of  Taou  Yuen.  Failing  in  his 
design,  he  poisoned  her  mind  with  an 
account  of  the  love  affair  between  his 
niece  and  Gerrit.  In  the  meantime  Ger 
rit,  after  a  regretful  interview  with  Net 
tie,  had  gone  down  to  the  Nautilus  to 
regain  his  peace  of  mind, 

The  next  day  Taou  Yuen  was  driven 
in  the  Ammidon  carriage  to  pick  up 
Rhoda  Ammidon  at  the  Dunsack  home, 
where  the  latter  had  made  a  call  on  Net 
tie  Vollar.  Rhoda  had  already  left.  On 
an  impulse  Taou  Yuen  went  into  the 
house  to  see  her  rival.  Angered  because 
she  thought  Nettie  commonplace  and 
plain,  Taou  Yuen  began  to  contemplate 
suffocating  the  girl.  Suddenly  Edward 
Dunsack,  drug-crazed,  entered  the  room 
and  locked  the  door.  Nettie  fainted. 
When  Taou  Yuen  repelled  Edward,  he 
threatened  to  strangle  her  so  as  to  leave 
marks  on  her  throat.  To  escape  such 
disfiguration,  forbidden  by  Confucius, 
Taou  Yuen  quickly  swallowed  some 
opium  pills  lying  on  the  table  beside 
the  invalid  Nettie's  bed. 


438 


When  help  came  a  short  time  later, 
Taou  Yuen  was  already  unconscious. 
She  died  soon  afterward.  Edward  Dun- 
sack  had  gone  mad. 

Several  days  later,  after  the  Christian 


burial  of  Taou  Yuen,  trie  Nautilus  sailed 
from  Salem  harbor.  It  carried  its  young 
captain  and  his  new  wife,  Nettie,  to 
what  they  hoped  would  be  a  happier 
life. 


JEAN-CHRISTOPHE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Remain  Holland  (1866-1944) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:  Germany,  France,  Switzerland 

First -published:  1904-1912 

Principal  characters: 

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE  KRAFFT,  a  musician 

MELCHIOR,  his  father 

JEAN  MICHEL,  his  grandfather 

LOUISA,  his  mother 

ANTOINETTE,  a  French  girl 

OLIVIER,  her  brother 

GRAZIA,  Jean-Christophe's  friend 

Critique: 

Jean-Christophe  is  a  two-thousand-page 
novel  originally  published  in  ten  volumes, 
the  painstaking  record  of  the  artistic  de 
velopment  of  a  musical  genius.  Romain 
Rolland  set  out  to  portray  the  adventures 
of  the  soul  of  his  hero  and  succeeded 
magnificently;  in  addition  he  broke  down 
the  artistic  barrier  between  France  and 
Germany.  The  experiences  of  Jean- 
Christophe  are  those  of  every  genius 
who  turns  from  the  past  to  serve  the 
future.  In  1915  Rolland  was  awarded 
the  Nobel  Prize  for  Literature,  in  great 
part  for  Jean-Christ&phe. 


The  Story: 

Melchior  Krafft  was  a  virtuoso,  his 
father  Jean  Michel  a  famous  conductor. 
It  was  no  wonder  that  Melchior's  son, 
Christophe,  should  be  a  musician. 

Louisa,  Melchior's  wife,  was  a  stolid 
woman  of  the  lower  class.  Her  father- 
in-law  had  been  furious  at  his  son  for 
marrying  beneath  him,  but  he  was  soon 
won  over  by  the  patient  goodness  of 
Louisa.  It  was  fortunate  that  there  was 
a  strong  tie  between  them,  for  Melchoir 


drank  and  wasted  his  money.  Often  the 
grandfather  gave  his  little  pension  to 
Louisa  because  there  was  no  money  for 
the  family. 

Melchior  by  chance  one  day  heard  his 
three-year-old  Christophe  playing  at  the 
piano.  In  his  drunken  enthusiasm,  Mel 
chior  conceived  the  idea  of  creating  a 
musical  prodigy.  So  began  Christophe's 
lessons.  Over  and  over  he  played  his 
scales;  over  and  over  he  practiced  until 
he  was  letter  perfect.  Often  he  re 
belled.  Whipping  only  made  him  more 
rebellious,  but  in  the  end  the  piano 
always  pulled  him  back. 

His  grandfather  noticed  that  he  would 
often  improvise  melodies  as  he  played 
with  his  toys.  Sitting  in  a  different  room, 
he  would  transcribe  those  airs  and  ar 
range  them.  Christophe  showed  real 
genius  in  composition. 

At  the  age  of  seven  and  a  half 
Christophe  was  ready  for  his  first  con 
cert.  Dressed  in  a  ridiculous  costume, 
he  was  presented  at  court  as  a  child 
prodigy  of  six.  He  played  works  of  some 
of  the  German  masters  and  then  per- 


JE  AN -CHRISTOPHE  by  Romain  Rolland.    Translated  by  Gilbert  Caanan.    By   permission   of  the  publishers, 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright,  1910,  1911,  1913,  1938,  by  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc. 


439 


formed  with  great  success  his  own  com 
positions  gathered  into  an  expensive 
privately  printed  volume,  The  Pleasures 
of  Childhood:  Aria,  Minuetto,  Valse,  and 
Marcia,  Opus  1,  by  ) ean-Christophe 
Krafft.  The  grand  duke  was  delighted 
and  bestowed  the  favor  of  the  court  on 
the  prodigy. 

Before  reaching  his  teens,  Christophe 
was  firmly  installed  as  official  second 
violinist  in  the  court  orchestra,  where 
his  father  was  concert  master.  Rehearsals, 
concerts,  composition,  lessons  to  give 
and  take — that  was  his  life.  He  became 
the  mainstay  of  the  family  financially, 
even  collecting  his  father's  wages  before 
Melchior  could  get  his  hands  on  them. 
All  the  other  phases  of  his  life  were 
neglected;  no  one  even  bothered  to  teach 
him  table  manners. 

When  Melchior  finally  drowned  him 
self,  his  death  was  a  financial  benefit  to 
the  Kraffts.  But  when  Jean  Michel  died, 
it  was  a  different  matter.  Christophers 
two  brothers  were  seldom  home,  and 
only  Louisa  and  her  musician  son  were 
left.  To  save  money,  they  moved  into 
a  smaller,  more  wretched  flat. 

Meanwhile  Christophe  was  going 
through  a  series  of  love  affairs  which 
always  terminated  unhappily  because  of 
his  unswerving  honesty  and  lack  of 
social  graces.  In  his  early  twenties  he 
took  Ada,  a  vulgar  shop  girl,  for  his  mis 
tress.  Because  of  gossip,  he  found  it  much 
harder  to  get  and  keep  pupils.  When 
he  dared  to  publish  a  criticism  of  the 
older  masters,  he  lost  his  standing  at 
court.  He  had  almost  decided  to  leave 
Germany. 

At  a  peasant  dance  one  night  he  pro 
tected  Lorchen,  a  farm  girl,  from  a  group 
of  drunken  soldiers.  In  the  ensuing 
brawl,  one  soldier  was  killed  and  two 
were  seriously  injured.  With  a  warrant 
out  for  his  arrest,  Christophe  escaped  to 
Paris. 

Once  in  France,  a  country  he  greatly 
admired,  Christophe  found  it  difficult  to 
acclimate  himself.  He  met  a  group  of 
wealthy  and  cynical  Jews,  Americans, 


Belgians,  and  Germans,  but  he  judged 
their  sophistication  painful  and  their  af 
fectations  boring.  His  compositions,  al 
though  appreciated  by  a  few,  were  not 
generally  well  received  at  first. 

After  a  time,  with  increasing  recog 
nition,  he  found  himself  alternately 
praised  and  blamed  by  the  critics.  But 
he  was  noticed,  and  that  was  the  im 
portant  thing.  Although  he  was  received 
in  wealthy  homes  and  given  complimen 
tary  tickets  for  theaters  and  concerts,  he 
was  still  desperately  poor. 

At  the  home  of  the  Stevens  family, 
where  he  was  kindly  received,  he  in 
structed  Colette,  the  coquettish  daughter, 
and  the  younger,  gender  Grazia,  her 
cousin.  Without  falling  in  love  with 
Colette,  he  was  for  a  time  her  teacher 
and  good  friend.  Grazia,  who  adored 
him,  was  only  another  pupil. 

One    night    a    blushing,    stammering 

Suing  man  of  letters  was  introduced  to 
m.  It  was  Olivier,  who  had  long  been 
a  faithful  admirer  of  Christophe's  music. 
Christophe  was  immediately  attracted  to 
Olivier,  although  at  first  he  was  not 
quite  sure  why.  Olivier's  face  was  only 
hauntingly  familiar. 

It  turned  out  that  Olivier  was  the 
younger  brother  of  Antoinette,  a  girl 
whose  image  Christophe  cherished.  Be 
fore  he  left  Germany,  a  Jewish  friend  had 
given  Christophe  tickets  for  a  box  at  the 
theater.  Knowing  no  one  to  ask  to  ac 
company  him,  he  went  alone  and  in  the 
lobby  saw  a  French  governess  who  was 
being  turned  away  from  the  box  office. 
Impulsively,  Christophe  took  her  in  with 
him.  The  Grunebaums,  the  girl's  em 
ployers,  had  expected  to  be  invited  also, 
and  they  were  angry  at  the  fancied 
slight.  Antoinette  was  dismissed  from 
their  employ. 

As  she  was  returning  to  France,  Chris 
tophe  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  on  the 
train.  That  was  all  the  contact  he  ever 
had  with  Antoinette.  Now  he  learned 
that  she  had  worn  herself  out  by  sup 
porting  Olivier  until  he  could  enter  the 
Nonnale.  When  he  finally  passed 


440 


the  entrance  examinations,  she  had  al 
ready  contracted  consumption,  and  she 
died  before  Christophe  came  to  Paris. 

Finding  a  real  friend  in  Olivier,  Chris 
tophe  took  an  apartment  with  him.  The 
house  was  only  middle-class  or  less;  but 
in  that  house  and  its  inhabitants,  and 
with  Olivier's  guidance,  Christophe  be 
gan  to  find  the  real  soul  of  France.  Away 
from  the  sophisticated  glitter  of  Paris, 
the  ordinary  people  lived  calm  and  pur 
poseful  lives  filled  with  the  ideal  of 
personal  liberty. 

Olivier  became  a  champion  of  Chris 
tophe  and  helped  establish  his  reputation 
in  the  reviews.  Then  some  one,  an  im 
portant  person,  worked  anonymously  on 
Christophers  behalf.  In  a  few  years  he 
found  himself  famous  in  France  and 
abroad  as  the  foremost  composer  of  the 
new  music. 

Olivier's  marriage  to  the  shallow 
Jacqueline  separated  the  two  friends.  In 
his  eventful  fife  Christophe  made  many 
more  friends,  but  none  so  dear  as  Olivier. 
He  did,  however,  discover  his  anonymous 
benefactor.  It  was  Grazia,  no  longer  in 
love  with  him  and  married  to  a  secretary 


of  the  Austrian  legation. 

Jacqueline  left  Olivier,  and  he  and 
Christophe  became  interested  in  the 
syndicalist  movement.  They  attended  a 
May  Day  celebration  which  turned  into 
a  riot.  Olivier  was  fatally  stabbed.  After 
killing  a  soldier,  Christophe  fled  the 
country. 

During  his  exile  in  Switzerland,  Chris 
tophe  went  through  an  unhappy  love 
affair  with  Anna,  the  wife  of  a  friend, 
and  the  consequent  sense  of  guilt  tem 
porarily  stilled  his  genius.  But  with  the 
help  of  the  now  widowed  Grazia,  Chris 
tophe  spent  ten  fruitful  years  in  Switzer 
land. 

When  he  returned  to  France,  he  was 
sought  after  and  acclaimed.  He  was 
vastly  amused  to  find  himself  an  es 
tablished  master,  and  even  considered  out 
of  date  by  younger  artists. 

Although  Grazia  and  Christophe  never 
married,  they  remained  steadfast  and 
consoling  friends.  Grazia  died  in  Egypt, 
far  from  her  beloved  Christophe.  He 
died  in  Paris.  To  the  end,  Christophe 
was  uncompromising,  for  he  was  a  true 
artist. 


JERUSALEM  DELIVERED 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Torquato  Tasso  (1544-1595) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Middle  Ages 

Locale:  The  Holy  Land 

Pirst  published:  1580-1581 

Principal  characters: 

GODFREY  DE  BOUIIXON,  leader  of  the  Crusaders 

CLORINDA,  a  female  warrior 

AUGANTES,  a  pagan  knight 

ERMTNIA,  princess  of  Antioch 

AEMTDA,  an  enchantress 

RINALDO,  an  Italian  knight 

TANCKED,  a  Prankish  knight 

Critique; 

Jerusalem  Delivered  is  one  of  the  great 
poems  to  come  out  of  the  Italian  Renais 
sance,  and  since  that  time  the  work  has 
remained  a  landmark  of  heroic  literature. 
The  treatment  of  the  Crusades  is  highly 


romantic,  with  both  God  and  Satan  freely 
taking  an  active  part  and  magicians,  an 
gels,  and  fiends  frequently  changing  the 
course  of  events.  The  descriptions  of  the 
fighting  are  in  the  typical  romantic,  chiv- 


441 


aliic  vein.  The  action  is  rapid,  scene  fol 
lowing  scene  in  kaleidoscopic  review.  In 
all,  we  have  here  an  absorbing  tale, 

The  Story: 

For  six  years  the  Crusaders  had  re 
mained  in  the  Holy  Land,  meeting  with 
success.  Tripoli,  Antioch,  and  Acre  were 
in  their  hands,  and  a  large  force  of 
Christian  knights  occupied  Palestine. 
Yet  there  was  a  lassitude  among  the 
nobles;  they  were  tired  and  satiated  with 
fighting.  They  could  not  generate  enough 
warlike  spirit  to  continue  to  the  real 
objective  of  their  Crusade,  the  capture 
of  Jerusalem. 

In  the  spring  of  the  seventh  year,  God 
sent  the  Archangel  Gabriel  to  Godfrey 
de  Bouillon,  ordering  him  to  assemble  all 
his  knights  and  encouraging  him  to  be 
gin  the  march  on  Jerusalem.  Obeying 
the  Lord's  command,  Godfrey  called  a 
council  of  the  great  nobles  and  reminded 
them  stirringly  of  their  vows.  When 
Peter  the  Hermit  added  his  exhortations, 
the  Crusaders  accepted  their  charge,  and 
all  preparations  were  make  to  attack  the 
Holy  City. 

Within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  the 
\vicked  King  Aladine  heard  of  the  pro 
jected  attack.  At  the  urging  of  Ismeno 
the  sorcerer  he  sent  soldiers  to  steal  the 
statue  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  hoping  to 
make  the  Christian  symbol  a  palladium 
for  Jerusalem.  But  next  morning  the 
statue  had  disappeared.  Enraged  when 
he  could  not  find  the  culprit  who  had 
spirited  away  the  statue,  Aladine  ordered 
a  general  massacre  of  all  his  Christian 
subjects.  To  save  her  co-religionists,  the 
beautiful  and  pure  Sophronia  confessed 
to  the  theft.  Aladine  had  her  bound  to 
the  stake.  As  her  guards  were  about  to 
light  the  fire,  Olindo,  who  had  long 
loved  Sophronia  in  vain,  attempted  to 
save  her  by  confessing  that  he  himself 
had  stolen  the  statue. 

Aladine  ordered  them  both  burned. 
While  they  were  at  the  stake,  Sophronia 
admitted  her  love  for  Olindo.  They  were 
saved  from  burning,  however,  by  the 


arrival  of  Clorinda,  a  beautiful  woman 
warrior  who  knew  that  both  were  admit 
ting  the  theft  to  save  the  other  Christians 
from  death.  Released,  Sophronia  and 
Olindo  fled  from  the  city. 

Clorinda  was  a  great  warrior  who 
scorned  female  dress.  On  a  previous 
campaign  she  had  met  Tancred,  a  mighty 
Christian  noble,  and  Tancred  had  fallen 
in  love  with  her;  but  she  rejected  his 
love.  On  the  other  hand,  Erminia  of 
Antioch  had  become  enamored  of  Tan 
cred  when  he  had  taken  her  city,  but 
Tancred  felt  only  friendship  for  her. 

The  Christians  came  within  sight  of 
Jerusalem.  A  foraging  party  encountered 
first  a  small  force  under  Clorinda.  She 
was  so  valorous  that  she  defeated  them. 

The  King  of  Egypt,  whose  army  was 
advancing  to  the  aid  of  Jerusalem,  sent 
Argantes  to  parley  with  Godfrey.  The 
Crusader  chief  haughtily  rejected  the 
overtures  of  the  Egyptians,  and  Argantes 
angrily  joined  the  infidel  defenders  of 
the  Holy  City.  Although  the  Crusaders 
met  with  some  initial  successes,  Argantes 
was  always  a  formidable  opponent. 

Satan  was  annoyed  at  the  prospect  of 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  He  induced  Ar- 
mida,  an  enchantress,  to  visit  the  Chris 
tian  camp  and  tell  a  false  story  of  perse 
cution.  Many  of  the  knights  succumbed 
to  her  wiles  and  eagerly  sought  permis 
sion  to  redress  her  wrongs.  Godfrey  was 
suspicious  of  her,  but  he  allowed  ten 
knights  chosen  by  lot  to  accompany  her. 
In  the  night  forty  others  slipped  away 
to  join  her,  and  she  led  the  fifty  to  her 
castle  where  she  changed  them  into 
fishes.  Their  loss  was  a  great  blow  to 
Godfrey  because  the  pagans  were  slaying 
many  of  his  men. 

Rinaldo,  one  of  the  Italian  knights 
among  the  Crusaders,  sought  the  cap 
taincy  of  a  band  of  Norwegian  adven 
turers.  Gernando,  who  sought  the  same 
post,  quarreled  with  him,  and  in  a  joust 
Gernando  was  killed.  For  this  breach  of 
discipline  Rinaldo  was  banished. 

When  Argantes  challenged  to  personal 
combat  any  champion  in  the  Crusaders* 


442 


camp,  Tancred  was  chosen  to  meet  Kim. 
On  the  way  to  the  fight,  Tancred  saw 
Clorinda  and  stopped  to  admire  her. 
Otho,  his  companion,  took  advantage  of 
his  bemusement  and  rushed  in  ahead  to 
the  battle.  Otho  was  defeated  by  Ar- 
gantes  and  taken  prisoner.  Then  Tan 
cred,  realizing  what  had  happened,  ad 
vanced  to  meet  the  pagan  knight.  Both 
men  were  wounded  in  the  mighty,  day 
long  duel.  They  retired  to  recuperate, 
agreeing  to  meet  again  in  six  days. 

When  Erminia  heard  of  Tancred's 
wounds,  she  put  on  Clorinda's  armor  and 
went  to  his  camp  to  attend  him.  He  heard 
of  her  coming  and  waited  impatiently, 
thinking  his  beloved  Clorinda  was  ap 
proaching.  But  Erminia  was  surprised 
by  the  sentries,  and  in  her  maidenly 
timidity  she  ran  away  to  take  refuge 
with  a  shepherd. 

When  the  supposed  Clorinda  did  not 
arrive,  Tancred  went  in  search  of  her 
and  came  to  the  castle  of  Armida,  where 
he  was  cast  into  a  dungeon. 

Godfrey  received  word  that  Sweno, 
Prince  of  Denmark,  who  had  been  occu 
pying  Palestine,  had  been  surprised  by 
pagan  knights  and  killed  with  all  his 
followers.  The  messenger  announced 
that  he  had  been  divinely  appointed  to 
deliver  Sweno's  sword  to  Rinaldo.  Al 
though  Rinaldo  was  still  absent,  God 
frey  set  out  to  avenge  the  Palestine  gar 
rison. 

Godfrey  and  his  army  fought  valiantly, 
but  Argantes  and  Clorinda  were  fighters 
too  powerful  for  the  shaken  Christians 
to  overcome.  Then  Tancred  and  the 
fifty  knights,  who  had  been  freed  from 
Armida's  enchantment,  arrived  to  rout 
the  pagans  with  great  losses.  Godfrey 
learned  that  the  missing  men  had  been 
liberated  by  Rinaldo.  Peter  the  Hermit 
was  then  divinely  inspired  to  foretell  the 
glorious  future  of  Rinaldo. 

In  preparation  for  the  attack  on  Jeru 
salem  the  Christians  celebrated  a  solemn 
mass  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  before  they 


began  the  assault.  Wounded  by  one  of 
Clorinda's  arrows,  Godfrey  retired  from 
the  battle  while  an  angel  healed  his 
wound.  The  Christians  set  up  rams  and 
towers  to  break  the  defense  of  the  city. 

At  night  Clorinda  came  out  of  the  city 
walls  and  set  fire  to  the  great  tower  by 
which  the  Christians  were  preparing  to 
scale  the  wall.  She  was  seen,  however, 
by  the  Crusaders,  and  Tancred  engaged 
her  in  combat.  After  he  had  run  his 
sword  through  her  breast,  he  discovered 
to  his  sorrow  that  he  had  killed  his  love. 
He  had  time  to  ask  her  pardon  and  bap 
tize  her  before  her  death. 

Godfrey  was  taken  in  a  vision  to 
heaven  where  he  talked  with  Hugh,  the 
former  commander  of  the  French  forces. 
Hugh  bade  him  recall  Rinaldo,  and  God 
frey  sent  two  knights  to  find  the  ban 
ished  Italian.  On  the  Fortunate  Islands 
the  messengers  discovered  the  Palace  of 
Armida  where  Rinaldo,  having  fallen  in 
love  with  the  enchantress,  was  dallying 
with  his  lady  love.  The  sight  of  the  two 
knights  quickly  reminded  him  of  his 
duty.  Leaving  his  love,  he  joined  the 
besieging  forces  of  Godfrey. 

With  the  arrival  of  Rinaldo,  the  Chris 
tians  were  greatly  heartened.  Then  the 
Archangel  Michael  appeared  to  Godfrey 
and  showed  him  the  souls  of  all  the 
Christians  who  had  died  in  the  Crusades. 
With  this  inspiration,  the  Crusaders  re 
doubled  their  efforts  to  capture  Jerusalem. 

The  walls  of  the  city  were  breached. 
Tancred  met  Argantes  and  killed  him  in 
single  combat.  Finally  the  victorious  in 
vaders  stormed  through  the  streets  and 
sacked  the  Holy  City.  When  the  Egyp 
tians  arrived  to  help  the  pagan  defenders 
of  Jerusalem,  they  too  were  beaten  and 
their  king  was  slain  by  Godfrey.  Armida, 
all  hope  gone,  surrendered  herself  to 
Rinaldo,  who  had  been  the  most  valor 
ous  of  the  conquerors. 

After  the  fighting  was  over,  Godfrey 
and  all  his  army  worshipped  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre. 


443 


THE  JEW  OF  MALTA 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Christopher  Marlowe  (1564-1593) 

Type  of  ylofc  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  Malta 

First  ^presented:  c.  1589 

Principal  characters: 

B  ARAB  AS,  a  Jewish  merchant 
ABIGAJX,,  his  daughter 
ITHAMOBE,  a  slave 
THE  GOVEKNOR  OF  MALTA 

Critique: 

The  Machiavellian  character  of  Bara- 
bas  dominates  The  Jew  of  Malta;  the 
other  characters  are  merely  sketched  in. 
The  plot  of  the  play  seems  to  have  come 
wholly  from  the  fertile  mind  of  Marlowe, 
whose  exotic  plots  and  romantic  heroes 
set  a  pattern  which  was  followed  hy  subse 
quent  Elizabethan  playwrights,  including 
Shakespeare.  Mechanically,  The  Jew  of 
Malta  begins  well,  but  it  degenerates 
into  an  orgy  of  blood  after  the  second 
act. 

The  Story: 

Barabas,  a  Christian-hating  merchant 
of  Malta,  received  in  his  counting-house 
a  party  of  merchants  who  reported  the 
arrival  of  several  vessels  laden  with 
wealth  from  the  East  At  the  same  time 
three  Jews  arrived  to  announce  an  im 
portant  meeting  at  the  senate. 

The  import  of  the  meeting  was  that 
the  Turkish  masters  of  Malta  had  de 
manded  tribute  long  overdue.  The  Turk 
ish  Grand  Seignior  had  purposely  let  the 
payment  lapse  over  a  period  of  years  so 
that  the  Maltese  would  find  it  impossible 
to  raise  the  sum  demanded.  The  Maltese 
had  a  choice  of  payment  or  surrender. 
The  Christian  governor  of  the  island, 
attempting  to  collect  the  tribute  within 
a  month,  decreed  that  the  Jews  would 
have  to  give  over  half  of  their  estates  or 
become  Christians,  All  of  the  Jewish 
community  except  Barabas  submitted  to 
the  decree  of  the  governor  in  one  way  or 
another.  TTie  governor  seized  all  of  Bara 
bas*  wealth  as  punishrnent  and  had  the 


Jew's  house  turned  into  a  Christian  con 


vent. 


Barabas,  to  avoid  complete  ruin,  pur 
posely  failed  to  report  part  of  his  treasure 
hidden  in  the  foundation  of  nis  house. 
Then  he  persuaded  his  daughter,  Abigail, 
to  pretend  that  she  had  been  converted 
to  Christianity  so  that  she  might  enter 
the  convent  and  recover  the  treasure. 
Abigail  dutifully  entered  the  nunnery  as 
a  convert  and  subsequently  threw  the 
bags  of  money  out  of  the  window  at  night 
to  her  waiting  father. 

Martin  Del  Bosco,  vice-admiral  of 
Spain,  sailed,  into  the  harbor  of  Malta  for 
the  purpose  of  selling  some  Turkish  slaves 
he  had  aboard  his  ship.  The  governor 
was  reluctant  to  allow  the  sale  because 
of  the  difficulties  he  was  having  with 
the  Grand  Seignior.  Del  Bosco,  by  prom 
ising  military  aid  from  Spain,  persuaded 
the  governor  to  defy  the  Turks  and  to 
permit  the  sale. 

Barabas  bought  one  of  the  slaves,  an 
Arabian  named  Ithamore.  During  the 
sale,  Barabas  fawned  upon  Don  Lodo- 
wick,  the  governor's  son,  and  Don  Mathi- 
as.  He  invited  the  two  young  men  to 
his  house  and  ordered  Abigail,  now  re 
turned  from  the  convent,  to  show  favor 
to  both.  In  his  desire  for  revenge,  Bara 
bas  arranged  with  each  young  man,  sep 
arately,  to  marry  his  daughter.  He  then 
sent  forged  letters  to  Don  Lodowick  and 
Don  Mathias,  and  provoked  a  duel  in 
which  the  young  men  were  killed.  Mean 
while  Barabas  trained  his  slave,  Itha 
more,  to  be  his  creature  in  his  plot  against 


444 


the  governor  and  the  Christians  of  Malta. 

Because  of  her  father's  evil  intentions, 
Abigail  returned  to  the  convent.  Barabas, 
enraged,  sent  poisoned  porridge  to  the 
convent  as  his  gesture  of  thanks  on  the 
Eve  of  St.  Jacques,  the  patron  saint  of 
Malta.  All  in  the  convent  were  poisoned, 
and  Abigail,  before  she  died,  confessed 
to  Friar  Jacomo,  disclosing  to  him  all  that 
Barabas  had  done  and  all  that  he  planned 
to  do. 

When  the  Turks  returned  to  Malta  to 
collect  the  tribute,  the  governor  defied 
them  and  prepared  for  a  siege  of  the 
island. 

Meanwhile  the  friars,  in  violation  of 
canon  law,  revealed  the  information  they 
had  gained  from  Abigail's  confession. 
Barabas,  again  threatened,  pretended  a 
desire  to  become  a  convert  and  promised 
all  of  his  worldly  wealth  to  the  friars 
who  would  receive  him  into  the  Christian 
faith.  The  greediness  of  the  friars  caused 
differences  to  arise  among  them;  Barabas 
took  advantage  of  this  situation  and  with 
the  help  of  Ithamore  strangled  a  friar 
named  Bernardine.  He  then  propped  up 
Bernardine's  body  in  such  a  way  that 
Friar  Jacomo  knocked  it  down.  Observed 
in  this  act,  Friar  Jacomo  was  accused  of 
the  murder  of  one  of  his  clerical  brothers. 

Ithamore  met  a  strumpet,  Bellamira, 
who,  playing  upon  the  slave's  pride  and 
viciousness,  persuaded  him  to  extort 


money  from  his  master  by  threatening  to 
expose  Barabas.  His  master,  alarmed  bv 
threats  of  blackmail,  disguised  himself  as 
a  French  musician,  went  to  the  strum 
pet's  house,  and  poisoned  Bellamira  and 
Ithamore  with  a  bouquet  of  flowers. 

Before  their  deaths,  they  managed  to 
communicate  all  they  knew  to  the  gov 
ernor,  who,  despite  his  preoccupation 
with  the  fortifications  of  Malta,  threw 
Barabas  into  prison.  By  drinking  poppy 
essence  and  cold  mandrake  juice,  Barabas 
appeared  to  be  dead.  His  body  was  placed 
outside  the  city.  Reviving,  he  joined  the 
Turks  and  led.  them  into  the  city.  As  a 
reward  for  his  betraying  Malta,  Barabas 
was  made  governor.  He  now  turned  to 
the  conquered  Maltese,  offering  to  put 
the  Turks  into  their  Lands  for  a  sub 
stantial  price. 

Under  the  direction  of  Barabas,  ex 
plosives  were  set  beneath,  the  barracks 
of  the  Turkish  troops.  Then  Barabas  in 
vited  the  Turkish  leaders  to  a  banquet 
in  the  governor's  palace,  after  planning 
to  have  them  fall  through  a  false  floor 
into  cauldrons  of  boiling  liquid  beneath. 
On  signal,  the  Turkish  troops  were  blown 
sky-high,  but  the  Christian  governor, 
who  preferred  to  seize  the  Turkish  leaders 
alive,  exposed  Barabas  scheme.  The  Jew 
of  Malta  perished  in  the  trap  he  had  set 
for  the  Turks. 


JOHN  BROWN'S  BODY 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Stephen  Vincent  Ben^t,  (1898-1943) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of 'plot:   1858-1865 

Locale:  The  United  States 

First  published:  1928 

Principal  characters: 

JACK  ELLYAT,  a  soldier  from  Connecticut 
CLAY  WTNGATE,  a  soldier  from  Georgia 
LUKE  BRECKTNBIDGE,  a  Southern  mountaineer 
MELORA  VELAS,  Jack  Ellyat's  "beloved 
SALLY  DUPRE,  Clay  Wingate's  fiancee 
LUCY  WEATHERBY,  Sally's  rival 
SHTPPY,  a  Union  spy 
SOPHY,  a  Richmond  hotel  employee 


445 


Critique: 

John  'Browns  Body,  which  won  the 
Pulitzer  Prize  for  1929,  tells,  in  free  and 
formal  verse,  the  tragic  story  of  the  Civil 
War  and  its  effects  upon  the  nation. 
Benet  achieves  an  effective  counterpoint 
by  weaving  several  small  plots  concerned 
with  fictional  characters  into  the  main 
plot  which  we  know  as  the  actual  history 
of  the  time.  He  manipulates  his  charac 
ters  so  that  important  phases  of  the  war 
are  interfused  with  his  minor  plots,  and 
the  two  are  carried  forward  simultane 
ously.  His  re-creation  of  the  atmos 
phere  of  a  burgeoning,  adolescent 
United  States  is  excellent. 

The  Story: 

Jack  Ellyat,  a  Connecticut  youth,  had 
premonitions  of  trouble  as  he  walked 
with  his  dog  in  the  mellow  New  Eng 
land  Indian  summer.  He  and  his  family 
were  Abolitionists.  The  influence  of 
Emerson  and  Thoreau  was  felt  in  Con 
cord,  where  they  talked  about  an  ideal 
state.  But  in  Boston  Minister  Higgin- 
son  and  Dr.  Howe  waited  for  reports  of 
a  project  planned  for  Harper's  Ferry.  In 
Georgia  young  Clay  Wingate  also  re 
ceived  a  premonition  of  impending  dis 
aster  and  great  change. 

John  Brown,  rock-hard  fanatic,  believ 
ing  he  was  chosen  by  God  to  free  the 
black  man  in  America,  led  his  troop  of 
raiders  to  seize  the  United  States  arsenal 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia.  The  first 
man  killed  in  the  fracas  was  Shepherd 
Heyward,  a  free  Negro.  The  South  was 
alarmed.  Federal  troops  under  Robert 
E.  Lee  subdued  the  Brown  party  in 
fifteen  minutes;  all  was  ended  but  the 
slow,  smoldering  hates  and  the  deaths 
to  come. 

At  Wingate  Hall  in  Georgia  all  was 
peaceful.  Sally  Dupre  and  Clay  Win- 

Ste   were  expected    to   marry.    When 
idjo,  the  major-domo  of  the  Wingate 
plantation,  heard  of  the  Harper's  Ferry 
raid  and  John  Brown,   he  opined  that 


the  Negro's  business  was  not  the  white 
man's  business.  In  Connecticut  Mrs. 
Ellyat  prayed  for  John  Brown. 

Brown  was  tried  at  Charles  Town, 
Virginia.  During  the  trial  he  denied 
the  complicity  of  anyone  but  himself 
and  his  followers  in  the  raid.  He  in 
sisted  that  he  had  done  what  he  thought 
was  right.  A  legend  grew  around  his 
name  and  mushroomed  after  he  was 
hanged.  Songs  were  sung.  John  Brown's 
body  rested  in  its  grave,  but  his  spirit 
haunted  the  consciences  of  North  and 
South  alike. 

Fort  Sumter  surrendered,  and  the 
Confederate  States  of  America  elected 
gaunt,  tired  Jefferson  Davis  president. 
Lank,  sad-faced  Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
frontier  wit  and  small-time  politician, 
was  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
ordered  conscription  of  fighting  men. 
Clay  Wingate,  loyal  to  Dixie,  joined  the 
Black  Horse  Troop  and  rode  away  to 
the  war.  Jack  Ellyat  marched  off  with 
the  Connecticut  volunteers. 

Raw  soldiers  of  North  and  South  met 
at  Bull  Run  under  the  direction  of 
Generals  McDowell,  Johnston,  and  Beau- 
regard.  Congressmen  and  their  ladies 
drove  out  from  Washington  to  watch 
the  Union  victory.  While  they  watched, 
the  Union  lines  broke  and  retreated  in 
panic.  A  movement  to  treat  with  the 
Confederacy  for  peace  got  under  way 
in  the  North.  Lincoln  was  alarmed,  but 
he  remained  steadfast. 

Jack  Ellyat  was  mustered  out  after 
Bull  Run.  Later  he  joined  the  Illinois 
volunteers  in  Chicago  and  became  known 
as  "Bull  Run  Jack."  Near  Pittsburg 
Landing,  in  Tennessee,  he  lost  his  head 
and  ran  during  a  surprise  attack.  He 
was  captured  but  escaped  again  during 
a  night  march.  Hungry  and  worn  out, 
Jack  arrived  at  the  Vilas  farm,  where  he 
stayed  in  hiding  and  fell  in  love  with 
Melora  Vilas.  At  last  he  left  the  farm 
to  seek  the  manhood  he  had  lost  near 


JOHN  BROWN'S  BODY  by  Stephen  Vincent  Benet.    By  permission  of  Brandt  &  Brandt  and  the  publishers, 
Rinehart  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,  1927,  1928,  by  Stephen  Vincent  Benet. 


446 


Pittsburg  Landing,  but  not  before  he 
had  got  Melora  with  child.  He  was 
recaptured  soon  afterward. 

Meanwhile  Clay  Wingate  returned 
to  Georgia  on  leave.  At  Wingate  Hall 
the  war  seemed  far  away,  for  the  suc 
cessful  running  of  the  Union  blockade 
of  Southern  ports  made  luxuries  still 
available.  Lucy  Weatherby,  a  Virginian 
whose  sweetheart  had  been  killed  at 
Bull  Run,  attended  a  dance  at  Wingate 
Hall  and  replaced  Sally  Dupre  in  Clay's 
affections.  Spade,  a  slave  on  the  nearby 
Zachary  plantation,  escaped  that  same 
night. 

New  Orleans  was  captured.  Davis 
and  Lincoln  began  to  bow  under  the 
burdens  of  the  war.  McClellan  began 
his  Peninsular  campaign.  Lee  inflicted 
defeat  after  defeat  on  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  Jack  Ellyat  was  sent  to  a 
prison  in  the  deep  South.  The  fortunes 
of  the  Union  were  at  their  lowest  ebb 
after  the  Confederate  victory  at  the 
Second  Manassas,  and  the  spirit  of  John 
Brown  was  generally  invoked  by  editors 
and  preachers.  Lincoln  issued  the  Eman 
cipation  Proclamation.  In  the  meantime, 
Spade  made  his  way  north  and  swam 
across  a  river  to  freedom,  but  when  he 
arrived  in  the  land  of  the  free  he  was 
railroaded  into  a  labor  gang.  McClellan 
was  relieved  by  Burnside,  who,  in  turn, 
was  relieved  by  Hooker,  as  commander 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Jack  Ellyat, 
sick,  was  returned  to  the  North  in  an 
exchange  of  prisoners  of  war. 

Slowly  the  Confederacy  began  to  feel 
the  effects  of  the  blockade  and  the  ter 
rible  cost  of  war.  Clay  Wingate  thought 
of  his  next  leave — and  of  Lucy  Weather- 
by.  Jack  Ellyat  spent  the  dark  winter  of 
1862-63  convalescing  at  his  home  in  the 
cold  Connecticut  hills.  He  had  been 
assigned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
as  soon  as  his  recovery  was  complete.  In 
Tennessee,  Melora  Vilas  gave  birth  to 
a  baby  boy. 

Grant  and  Sherman  led  the  Union 
forces  to  victory  in  the  West;  Vicksburg 
was  surrounded.  Hunger  and  anti-in 


flation  riots  broke  out  in  Richmond 
America,  meanwhile,  was  expanding 
New  industries  sprang  up  in  the  North, 
and  the  West  was  being  developed.  In 
Richmond,  Shippy,  a  Union  spy  posing 
as  a  peddler,  promised  Sophy,  a  servant 
at  the  Pollard  Hotel,  to  bring  her  some 
perfume  from  the  North.  Sophy  knew 
that  Clay  Wingate  and  Lucy  Weatherby 
had  stayed  together  in  the  hotel.  Luke 
Breckinridge,  Sophy's  rebel  suitor,  was 
a  member  of  a  patrol  that  stopped  Shippy 
to  search  him.  When  they  found  in 
criminating  papers  in  his  boots,  Luke 
gloated,  for  he  was  jealous  of  Shippy. 

Stonewall  Jackson  was  killed  by  his 
own  pickets,  and  Lee,  desperate  for  pro 
visions,  invaded  the  North.  Jack  Ellyat 
was  in  the  Union  army  that  converged 
on  Gettysburg  and  was  wounded  during 
a  battle  there.  After  three  days  of  bloody 
fighting  at  Gettysburg,  Lee  fell  back  to 
Virginia.  Then  Vicksburg  surrendered. 
Defeated,  the  South  continued  to  hang 
on  doggedly.  Sheridan  marched  through 
the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  left  it  bare 
and  burned.  Petersburg  was  besieged. 
Luke,  along  with  thousands  of  other 
rebel  troops,  deserted  from  the  Confeder 
ate  Army,  and  when  he  headed  back 
toward  his  laurel-thicket  mountains  he 
took  Sophy  with  him.  Melora  and  her 
father,  John  Vilas,  traveled  from  place 
to  place  in  search  of  Jack  Ellyat;  they 
became  a  legend  in  both  armies. 

General  Sherman  captured  Atlanta 
and  marched  on  to  the  sea.  During 
Sherman's  march,  Wingate  Hall  caught 
fire  accidentally  and  burned  to  the 
ground.  Clay  Wingate  was  wounded 
in  a  rear-guard  action  in  Virginia.  The 
war  came  to  an  end  when  Lee  sur 
rendered  to  Grant  at  Appomattox. 

Spade,  who  had  gone  from  the  labor 
gang  into  the  Union  Army  and  who 
had  been  wounded  at  the  Petersburg 
crater,  hired  out  as  a  farm  laborer  in 
Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania.  Clay 
Wingate  returned  to  his  ruined  home  in 
Georgia,  where  Sally  Dupre  was  waiting. 
And  in  Connecticut  Jack  Ellyat  heard 


447 


stories   of   strange    gipsy   travelers  who      creaking  cart.   One  day  he  was  standing 


were  going  from  town  to  town  looking 
for  a  soldier  who  was  the  father  of  the 
child  of  the  woman  who  drove  the 


beneath  the  crossroads  elms  when  he 
saw  a  cart  come  slowly  up  the  hill.  He 
waited.  The  woman  driving  was  Melora. 


JOSEPH  ANDREWS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Henry  Fielding  (1707-1754) 

Type  of  flat:  Comic  epic 

Time  of  -plot:  Early  eighteenth  century 


Locale:  Eng 
First  publish 


zd:  1742 

Principal  characters: 

JOSEPH  ANDREWS,  a  footman  to  Lady  Booby 

PAMELA  ANDREWS,  his  sister,  wife  of  Squire  Booby 

LADY  BOOBY,  aunt  of  Squire  Booby 

FANNY,  Joseph's  sweetheart 

MRS.  SLIPSLOP,  Lady  Booby's  maid 

PARSON  ADAMS,  parson  of  Booby  parish  and  friend  of  Joseph 


Critique: 

The  History  of  the  Adventures  of 
Joseph  Andrews,  and  of  his  Friend  Mr. 
Abraham  Adams  is  the  full  title  of  the 
work  often  called  the  first  realistic  novel 
of  English  literature.  Henry  Fielding 
turned  aside  from  the  episodic  senti 
mental  writing  of  the  age  to  give  an  hon 
est  picture  of  the  manners  and  customs 
of  his  time  and  to  satirize  the  foibles  and 
vanities  of  human  nature.  In  particular, 
he  ridiculed  affectation,  whether  it 
stemmed  from  hypocrisy  or  vanity.  Al 
though  the  structure  of  the  novel  is  loose 
and  rambling,  the  realistic  settings  and 
the  vivid  portrayal  of  English  life  in  the 
eighteenth  century  more  than  compen 
sate  for  this  one  weakness,  Joseph  is 
presented  as  the  younger  brother  of  Sam 
uel  Richardson's  heroine,  Pamela. 

The  Story: 

Joseph  Andrews  was  ten  or  eleven 
years  in  the  service  of  Sir  Thomas  Booby, 
uncle  of  the  Squire  Booby  who  married 
the  virtuous  Pamela,  Joseph's  sister. 
When  Lord  Booby  died,  Joseph  remained 
in  the  employ  of  Lady  Booby  as  her  foot 
man.  This  lady,  much  older  than  her 
twenty-one-year-old  servant,  and  ap- 
arently  little  disturbed  by  her  husband's 
leath,  paid  entirely  too  much  attention 


to  pleasant-mannered  and  handsome  Jo 
seph.  But  Joseph  was  as  virtuous  as  his 
famous  sister,  and  when  Lady  Booby's 
advances  became  such  that  even  his 
innocence  could  no  longer  deny  their 
true  nature,  he  was  as  firm  in  resisting 
her  as  Pamela  had  been  in  restraining 
Squire  Booby.  Insulted,  the  lady  dis 
charged  Joseph  on  the  spot,  in  spite  of 
the  protests  of  Mrs.  Slipslop,  her  maid, 
who  found  herself  also  attracted  to  the 
young  man. 

With  very  little  money  and  fewer 
prospects,  Joseph  set  out  from  London 
to  Somersetshire  to  see  his  sweetheart, 
Fanny,  for  whose  sake  he  had  withstood 
Lady  Booby's  advances.  The  very  first 
night  of  his  journey,  Joseph  was  attacked 
by  robbers,  who  stole  his  money,  beat 
him  soundly,  and  left  him  lying  naked 
and  half  dead  in  a  ditch.  A  passing 
coach  stopped  when  the  passengers  heard 
his  cries,  and  he  was  taken  to  a  nearby 

irm, 

Joseph  was  well  cared  for  until  the 
innkeeper's  wife  discovered  that  he  was 
penniless.  He  was  recognized,  however, 
by  another  visitor  at  the  inn,  his  old 
tutor  and  preceptor,  Parson  Adams,  who 
was  on  his  way  to  London  to  sell  a  collec 
tion  of  his  sermons.  He  paid  Joseph's 


448 


bill  with  his  own  meager  savings;  then, 
discovering  that  in  his  absent-mindedness 
he  had  forgotten  to  bring  die  sermons 
with  him,  he  decided  to  accompany 
Joseph  back  to  Somersetshire. 

They  started  out,  alternately  on  foot 
and  on  the  parson's  horse.  Fortunately, 
Mrs.  Slipslop  overtook  them  in  a  coach 
on  her  way  to  Lady  Booby's  country 
place.  She  accommodated  the  parson  in 
the  coach  while  Joseph  rode  the  horse. 
The  inn  at  which  they  stopped  next 
had  an  innkeeper  who  gauged  his  cour 
tesy  according  to  the  appearance  of  his 
guests.  There  Joseph  was  insulted  by  the 
host.  In  spite  of  the  clerical  cassock  he 
was  wearing,  Parson  Adams  stepped  in  to 
challenge  the  host,  and  a  fist  fight  fol 
lowed,  the  ranks  being  swelled  by  the 
hostess  and  Mrs.  Slipslop.  When  the 
battle  finally  ended,  Parson  Adams  was 
the  bloodiest  looking,  since  the  hostess 
in  the  excitement  had  doused  him  with  a 
pail  of  hog's  blood. 

The  journey  continued,  this  time  with 
Joseph  in  the  coach  and  the  parson  on 
foot,  for  with  typical  forgetfulness  the 
good  man  had  left  his  horse  behind.  How 
ever,  he  walked  so  rapidly  and  the  coach 
moved  so  slowly  that  he  easily  outdis 
tanced  his  friends.  While  he  was  resting 
on  his  journey,  he  heard  the  shrieks  of 
a  woman.  Running  to  her  rescue,  he  dis 
covered  a  young  woman  being  cruelly 
attacked  by  a  burly  fellow,  whom  the 
parson  belabored  with  such  violence  that 
he  laid  the  attacker  at  his  feet.  As  some 
fox  hunters  rode  up,  the  ruffian  rose  from 
the  ground  and  accused  Parson  Adams 
and  the  woman  of  being  conspirators  in 
an  attempt  to  rob  him.  The  parson  and 
the  woman  were  quickly  taken  prisoners 
and  led  off  to  the  sheriff.  On  the  way  the 
parson  discovered  that  the  young  woman 
whom  he  had  aided  was  Fanny.  Having 
heard  of  Joseph's  unhappy  dismissal  from 
Lady  Booby's  service,  she  had  been  on  her 
way  to  London  to  help  hrm.  when  she 
had  been  so  cruelly  molested. 

After  some  uncomfortable  moments 
before  the  judge,  the  parson  was  recog 


nized  by  an  onlooker,  and  both  he  and 
Fanny  were  released.  They  went  to  the 
inn  where  Mrs.  Slipslop  and  Joseph  were 
staying. 

Joseph  and  Fanny  were  overjoyed  to 
be  together  once  more.  Mrs.  Slipslop, 
displeased  to  see  Joseph's  display  of  affec 
tion  for  another  woman,  drove  off  in  the 
coach,  leaving  Parson  Adams  and  the 
young  lovers  behind. 

None  of  the  three  had  any  money  to 
pay  their  bill  at  the  inn.  Parson  Adams, 
with  indomitable  optimism,  went  to  visit 
the  clergyman  of  the  parish  in  order  to 
borrow  the  money,  but  with  no  success. 
Finally  a  poor  peddler  at  the  inn  gave 
them  every  penny  he  had,  just  enough 
to  cover  the  bill. 

They  continued  their  trip  on  foot, 
stopping  at  another  inn  where  the  host 
was  more  courteous  than  any  they  had 
met,  and  more  understanding  about  their 
financial  difficulties.  Still  farther  on  their 
journey,  they  came  across  a  secluded 
house  at  which  they  were  asked  to  stop 
and  rest.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  were  a 
charming  couple  who  gave  their  guests  a 
warm  welcome.  Mr.  Wilson  entertained 
the  parson  with  the  story  of  his  life.  It 
seemed  that  in  his  youth  he  had  been 
attracted  by  the  vanity  of  London  life, 
had  squandered  his  money  on  foppish 
clothes,  gambling,  and  drinking,  and  had 
eventually  been  imprisoned  for  debt. 
From  this  situation  he  was  rescued  by  a 
kindly  cousin  whom  he  later  married, 
The  two  had  retired  from  London  to  this 
quiet  country  home.  They  had  two 
lovely  children  and  their  only  sorrow,  but 
that  a  deep  one,  was  that  a  third  child, 
a  boy  with  a  strawberry  mark  on  his 
shoulder,  had  been  stolen  by  gipsies  and 
had  never  been  heard  of  since. 

After  a  pleasant  visit  with  the  kindly 
family,  the  travelers  set  out  again.  Their 
adventures  were  far  from  ended.  Parson 
Adams  suddenly  found  himself  caught  in 
the  middle  of  a  hare  hunt,  with  the 
hounds  inclined  to  mistake  him  for  the 
hare.  Their  master  goaded  on  the  dogs, 
but  Joseph  and  the  parson  were  victorious 


449 


in  the  battle.  They  found  themselves 
face  to  face  with  an  angry  squire  and  his 
followers.  But  when  the  squire  caught 
sight  of  the  lovely  Fanny,  his  anger 
softened,  and  he  invited  the  three  to 
dine. 

Supper  was  a  trying  affair  for  the 
parson,  who  was  made  the  hurt  of  many 
practical  jokes.  Finally  the  three  travelers 
left  the  house  in  great  anger  and  went 
to  an  inn.  In  the  middle  of  the  night, 
some  of  the  squire's  men  arrived,  over 
came  Joseph  and  the  parson,  and  ab 
ducted  Fanny.  On  the  way,  however,  an 
old  acquaintance  of  Fanny,  Peter  Pounce, 
met  the  party  of  kidnapers,  recognized 
Fanny,  and  rescued  her. 

The  rest  of  the  journey  was  relatively 
uneventful.  When  they  arrived  home 
however,  further  difficulties  arose.  Joseph 
and  Fanny  stayed  at  the  parsonage  and 
waited  eagerly  for  the  publishing  of  their 
wedding  banns.  Lady  Booby  had  also 
arrived  in  the  parish',  the  seat  of  her 
summer  home.  Still  in  love  with  Joseph, 
she  exerted  every  pressure  of  position 
and  wealth  to  prevent  the  marriage.  She 
even  had  Fanny  and  Joseph  arrested.  At 
this  point,  however,  Squire  Booby  and 
his  wife  Pamela  arrived.  That  gentleman 
insisted  on  accepting  his  wife's  relatives 


as  his  own,  even  though  they  were  of  a 
lower  station,  and  Joseph  and  Fanny  were 
quickly  released  from  custody. 

All  manner  of  arguments  were  pre 
sented  by  Pamela,  her  husband,  and  Lady 
Booby  in  their  attempts  to  turn  Joseph 
aside  from  his  intention  of  marrying 
Fanny.  Her  lowly  birth  made  a  differ 
ence  to  their  minds,  now  that  Pamela  had 
made  a  good  match  and  Joseph  had  been 
received  by  the  Booby s. 

Further  complications  arose  when  a 
traveling  peddler  revealed  that  Fanny, 
whose  parentage  until  then  had  been 
unknown,  was  the  sister  of  Pamela.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Andrews  were  summoned  at 
this  disclosure,  and  Mrs.  Andrews  de 
scribed  how,  while  Fanny  was  still  a 
baby,  gipsies  had  stolen  the  child  and 
left  behind  them  a  sickly  little  boy  she 
had  brought  up  as  her  own.  Now  it 
appeared  that  Joseph  was  the  foundling. 
However,  a  strawberry  mark  on  Joseph's 
chest  soon  established  his  identity.  He 
was  the  son  of  the  kindly  Wilsons. 

Both  lovers  were  now  secure  in  their 
social  positions,  and  nothing  further 
could  prevent  their  marriage,  which  took 
place,  to  the  happiness  of  all  concerned, 
soon  afterward. 


JOSEPH  VANCE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  De  Morgan  (1839-1917) 

Type  of  plot;  Simulated  autobiography 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1906 


Principal  characters: 

JOSEPH  VANCE,  who  wrote  his  memoirs 

Ma.  CHRISTOPHER  VANCE,  his  father 

DR.  RANDALL  THORPE,  Joseph's  foster  father 

LOSSES  THORPE,  Dr.  Thorpe's  daughter 

JOE  THORPE  (BEPPINO),  her  brother 

VIOLET  THORPE,  her  sister 

NOLLY  THORPE,  another  brother 

BONY  MACALUSXER,  Joseph's  business  partner 

GENERAL  DESPREZ,  Lossie's  husband 

JANEY  SPENCER,  Joseph's  wife 

PHEENER,  a  maid 


450 


Critique: 

Joseph  Vance  is  an  early  example  of 
the  now  popular  type  of  autobiographical 
novel.  It  is  the  story  of  the  life  of 
Joseph  Vance  from  his  earliest  recollec 
tions  until  the  last  years  of  his  life.  As 
the  author  tells  us  through  the  words 
of  his  main  character,  there  is  much  that 
might  have  been  left  out,  since  there 
are  many  threads  of  the  plot  which  are 
unimportant  to  the  story.  Humor  and 
pathos  are  successfully  mixed;  the  humor 
particularly  is  the  quiet  kind  that  makes 
us  chuckle  to  ourselves.  It  comes  large 
ly  from  the  character  of  Vance's  father, 
whose  firm  belief  it  is  that  to  be  a  success 
a  person  must  know  absolutely  nothing 
about  doing  the  job  he  is  hired  to  do. 
De  Morgan  gave  his  novel  a  subtitle,  An 
Hi-Written  Autobiography,  but  few  of 
his  readers  will  agree  with  him. 

The  Story: 

Joseph  Vance's  father  was  more  often 
drunk  than  sober.  But  he  was  a  good 
man,  never  mean  when  he  was  drunk. 
Having  lost  several  positions  because  of 
his  drinking,  he  was  in  no  way  de 
pressed.  He  took  Joe  with  him  to  visit 
a  pub  on  the  night  of  his  discharge 
from  his  last  position,  and  while  there 
he  quarreled  with  a  chimney  sweep  and 
had  the  poor  end  of  the  fight.  Forced 
to  spend  some  time  in  the  hospital  after 
the  affair,  he  decided  to  give  up  his 
excessive  drinking. 

After  his  release  from  the  hospital 
he  set  himself  up  as  a  builder  and  drain 
repairman,  by  virtue  of  acquiring  a  sign 
board  advertising  the  possessor  as  such 
a  workman.  Mr.  Vance  knew  nothing 
about  the  building  trade,  but  he  believed 
that  it  was  his  ignorance  which  would 
cause  him  to  be  a  success  at  the  business. 
He  appeared  to  be  right.  His  first  job 
was  for  Dr.  Randall  Thorpe,  of  Poplar 
Villa,  and  Dr.  Thorpe  was  so  pleased 
with  the  work  that  he  recommended 
Mr.  Vance  for  more  jobs  until  his  reputa 


tion  was  such  that  he  was  much  in 
demand.  Mr.  Vance  took  Joe  with  him 
on  his  first  call  at  Poplar  Villa,  and  there 
Joe  met  Miss  Lossie  Thorpe,  the  first  real 
young  lady  he  had  ever  seen.  At  this 
time  Joe  was  nine  and  Lossie  fifteen,  but 
he  knew  from  the  first  meeting  that  she 
was  to  be  his  lady  for  the  rest  of  his 
life. 

When  Dr.  Thorpe  learned  that  Joe 
was  a  bright  boy,  he  sent  him  to  school 
and  made  him  almost  one  of  the  family. 
Lossie  was  like  a  sister  to  him;  in  fact, 
she  called  him  her  little  brother  and 
encouraged  him  in  his  studies.  In  the 
Thorpe  household  were  also  young  Joe 
Thorpe,  called  Beppino,  a  sister  Violet, 
and  another  brother  named  Nolly.  With 
these  young  people  Joe  Vance  grew  up, 
and  Dr.  Thorpe  continued  to  send  him 
to  school,  even  to  Oxford  when  he  was 
ready.  Although  Dr.  Thorpe  had  hoped 
that  Joe  Vance  might  excel  in  the  clas 
sics,  the  boy  found  his  interest  in  engi 
neering.  Beppino  did  grow  up  to  be  a 
poet,  but  he  wrote  such  drivel  that  his 
father  was  disgusted.  Meanwhile  a  deep 
friendship  had  developed  between  Joe 
Vance  and  Lossie,  a  brother-and-sister 
love  that  made  each  want  the  other's 
happiness  above  all  else. 

Mr.  Vance's  business  prospered  so 
much  that  he  and  his  wife  took  a  new 
house  and  hired  a  cook  and  a  maid. 
After  Joe  had  finished  at  Oxford,  he 
joined  his  old  school  friend,  Bony  Macal- 
lister,  and  they  established  an  engineer 
ing  firm.  Their  offices  were  in  the  same 
building  with  Mr.  Vance.  By  that  time 
Lossie  had  married  General  Desprez,  a 
wealthy  army  officer,  and  had  moved 
with  ham  to  India.  Joe  suffered  a  great 
deal  at  the  loss  of  his  dear  friend,  but 
he  knew  that  General  Desprez  was  a 
fine  man  who  would  care  for  Lossie 
and  love  her  tenderly. 

Shortly  after  Lossie  sailed  for  India, 
Joe's  mother  died,  and  his  father  began 


JOSEPH  VANCE  by  William  De  Morgan.   By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright. 
1906,  by  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc.   Renewed,  1934,  by  Mary  Beatrice  De  Morgan. 

451 


to  drink  once  more.  Joe  tried  to  think  of 
some  way  to  help  his  father.  Joe  thought 
that  if  ne  married  his  wife  might  in 
fluence  his  father,  and  he  asked  Janey 
Spencer,  a  friend  of  Lossie,  to  marry  him. 
She  accepted,  hut  when  she  learned  that 
Joe  wanted  to  marry  her  only  for  the 
sake  of  his  father,  she  "broke  the  engage 
ment  and  did  not  relent  until  two  years 
later.  By  that  time  Joe  knew  he  really 
loved  her,  and  she  married  him.  In  the 
meantime,  Joe's  father  had  married 
Pheener,  his  housemaid,  and  for  a  time 
she  kept  him  from  the  bottle. 

After  Janey  and  Joe  had  been  married 
for  five  years,  they  took  a  trip  to  Italy. 
The  ship  caught  on  fire  and  almost  all 
on  board  were  lost.  When  Janey  refused 
to  get  into  a  lifeboat  without  her  hus 
band,  they  tried  to  swim  to  shore.  Janey 
was  drowned.  Joe's  life  was  empty  with 
out  her,  and  only  his  visits  with  Dr. 
Thorpe  and  his  letters  from  Lossie  gave 
him  any  comfort. 

Joe's  business  prospered,  as  did  his 
father's.  But  one  day  Mr.  Vance,  while 
drunk,  caused  an  explosion  and  a  fire 
in  the  building.  He  was  seriously  in 
jured,  and  he  seemed  to  he  ruined  be 
cause  he  had  let  his  insurance  lapse. 
But  before  the  catastrophe  he  had  given 
Pheener  a  tiara  worth  fifteen  thousand 
pounds,  and  with  the  money  received 
from  the  sale  of  the  jewels  he  was  able 
to  start  his  business  anew. 

In  the  meantime  Beppino  was  griev 
ing  his  family  by  an  affair  with  a  mar 
ried  woman.  For  the  sake  of  the  Thorpes, 
Joe  took  Beppino  to  Italy.  On  Joe's 
return  Beppino  remained  behind.  When 
Beppino  returned,  he  met  and  married 
Sibyl  Perceval,  an  heiress,  and  the  fam 
ily  believed  he  had  changed  his  ways. 
But  Beppino  died  of  typhoid  fever 
shortly  after  his  marriage,  and  then  Joe 
learned  what  Beppino  had  done  while 
in  Italy.  He  had  married  an  Italian  girl, 


using  the  name  of  Joe  Vance,  and  she 
had  had  a  child.  The  Italian  girl  had 
died,  too,  and  her  relatives  wrote  to  Joe 
in  the  belief  that  he  was  the  father. 
Joe  told  General  Desprez  of  Beppino's 
duplicity,  the  General  and  Lossie  having 
come  home  for  a  visit,  and  the  two  men 
agreed  that  Lossie  must  never  know  of 
her  brother's  deed.  Joe  went  to  Italy 
and  told  the  girl's  relatives  that  he  was 
a  friend  of  the  baby's  father.  He  arranged 
to  send  money  for  the  boy's  care. 

Shortly  afterward  Joe  went  to  Brazil 
on  an  engineering  project.  While  there, 
he  sent  for  Beppino's  boy  and  adopted 
him.  The  next  twenty  years  of  his  life 
he  spent  in  Brazil.  He  heard  from 
Lossie  and  Dr.  Thorpe  frequently,  but 
otherwise  he  had  no  connection  with 
England.  His  father  died  and  Pheener 
remarried.  While  Joe  was  in  Brazil, 
Lossie  heard  rumors  from  Italy  that  he 
was  the  baby's  real  father.  She  was  so 
disappointed  in  her  foster  brother  that 
she  never  wrote  again,  Joe  returned  to 
England.  Living  near  Lossie,  he  did  not 
see  her  or  let  her  know  he  was  back 
in  the  country.  The  boy  was  attending 
school  in  America.  Lossie's  husband  died 
without  telling  the  real  story  about  the 
child,  and  Joe  would  not  tell  the  truth 
even  to  save  himself  in  Lossie's  f yes.  He 
wrote  the  story  in  his  memoirs,  but  left 
his  papers  to  be  burned  after  his  return 
to  Brazil. 

But  a  maid  burned  the  wrong  pack 
age,  and  a  publisher's  note  completed 
Joe's  story.  Lossie  found  a  letter  from 
Beppino  in  some  of  her  husband's 
papers  and  surmised  the  truth.  She 
found  Joe  Vance  before  he  left  for  Bra 
zil  and  made  him  confess  that  he  had 
acted  only  to  save  her  feelings.  She 
begged  Joe  to  forgive  her.  Reunited,  the 
two  friends  went  to  Italy  and  spent  their 
remaining  days  together. 


452 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  NIGHT 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Louis-Ferdinand  Celine  (Louis  Ferdinand  Destouches,  1894-1961) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:   World  War  I  and  following  years 

Locale:    France 

First  'published:    1932 

Principal  characters: 

FERDINAND,  a  rogue 

LEON,  his  friend 

MADELON,  engaged  to  Le"on 

Critique: 

In  tone  Journey  to  the  End  of  the 
Night  is  pessimistic,  in  style  abrupt  and 
whittled  down,  in  form  experimental. 
The  action  is  seen  through  die  eyes  of 
a  neurotic  narrator  who  reduces  all  his 
experience  to  a  cynical  level  In  a  way 
the  approach  can  be  called  symbolical; 
that  is,  impressions  are  suggested  rather 
than  realistically  described.  The  abrupt, 
fragmentary  recounting  of  important 
events  lends  a  tough,  terse  quality  to  the 
work.  The  philosophy  is  that  of  post 
war  disillusionment. 


The  Story: 

Ferdinand,  an  indifferent  student  of 
medicine  in  Paris,  was  violently  pacifistic, 
even  anarchistic  in  his  reaction  to  au 
thority.  Just  prior  to  World  War  I  he 
was  expounding  his  cynical  disregard 
for  nationalistic  pride  in  a  cafe.  Down 
the  street  came  a  colonel  at  the  head  of 
a  military  band.  Because  the  music  and 
the  uniforms  captured  Ferdinand's  fickle 
fancy,  he  rushed  off  to  enlist.  During 
the  fighting  he  was  a  runner  constandy 
exposed  to  scenes  of  savage  brutality  and 
to  dangerous  errands  Qn  one  mission 
he  met  Le"on,  who  was  always  to  be  a 
kind  of  incubus  to  him. 

When  Ferdinand  suffered  a  slight 
wound  in  his  arm,  he  was  given  con 
valescent  leave  in  Paris.  There  he  met 
Lola,  an  American  Red  Cross  worker  who 
idolized  the  French.  She  romanticized  his 
wound,  became  his  temporary  mistress, 
and  filled  him  with  stories  of  the  United 


States.  When  she  finally  discovered 
Ferdinand's  cowardice  and  cynicism,  she 
left  him. 

The  thought  of  losing  Lola  was  more 
than  Ferdinand  could  bear.  When  his 
mind  gave  way,  he  was  sent  to  a  variety 
of  mental  hospitals,  where  he  quickly 
learned  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
psychiatrists  by  agreeing  with  everything 
they  said.  His  tactics  at  last  procured 
his  release  as  cured  but  unfit  for  active 
duty. 

In  Paris  he  led  a  precarious  life  for 
a  time,  but  later  he  bettered  his  existence 
considerably  by  acting  as  a  go-between  for 
Musyne,  a  dancer  who  was  gready  sought 
after  by  rich  Argentine  meat  dealers. 
The  thought  of  all  that  beef  to  be  sold 
at  high  prices  was  too  much  for  Ferdinand 
after  some  months  with  Musyne,  and  he 
left  for  Colonial  Africa. 

In  French  West  Africa  he  was  as 
signed  to  a  trading  post  far  in  the  in 
terior.  He  made  the  ten-day  trip  by 
canoe  into  the  hot,  lush  jungle,  where 
his  trading  post  turned  out  to  be  a  cozy 
shack  anchored  by  two  big  rocks.  The 
mysterious  trader  he  had  come  to  relieve 
was  frankly  a  thief,  who  told  Ferdinand 
that  he  had  no  goods  left  to  trade,  very 
little  rubber,  and  only  canned  stew  for 
provisions.  The  rascal  gave  Ferdinand 
three  hundred  francs,  saying  it  was  all 
he  had,  and  left  in  the  direction  of  a 
Spanish  colony.  Only  after  he  had  gone 
did  Ferdinand  realize  that  his  predecessor 
had  been  L6on. 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  NIGHT  by  Louis-Ferdinand  Celine.   Translated  by  John  H.  P.  Marks.    By 
permission  of  the  present  publishers,  New  Direction*.     Copyright,  193 4-,  by  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 


453 


After  several  weeks  of  fever  and  canned 
stew,  Ferdinand  left  the  trading  post.  The 
shack  having  accidentally  burned,  his 
only  baggage  was  the  three  hundred 
francs  and  some  canned  stew.  His  over 
land  safari  was  a  nightmare.  His  fever 
rose  dangerously  high,  and  during  much 
of  the  trip  he  was  delirious.  At  last  his 
hlack  porters  stole  his  money  and  left 
him  with  a  Spanish  priest  in  a  seaport. 
The  priest,  for  a  fee,  delivered  him  to  a 
captain  of  easy  scruples.  Ferdinand,  still 
sick,  was  shanghaied  on  a  ship  bound  for 
the  United  States. 

When  he  attempted  to  jump  ship  in 
New  York,  he  was  caught  by  the  immi 
gration  authorities.  Pretending  to  be  an 
expert  on  flea  classification,  he  was 
put  to  work  in  a  quarantine  station 
catching  and  sorting  fleas  for  the  Port 
of  New  York.  After  gaining  the  con 
fidence  of  his  chief,  he  was  sent  into 
the  city  to  deliver  a  report,  although 
technically  he  was  still  under  detention. 
In  New  York  he  looked  up  Lola,  now 
older  but  still  attractive,  who  gave  him 
a  hundred  dollars  to  get  rid  of  him.  With 
the  money  lie  took  a  train  to  Detroit. 
Soon  he  was  employed  by  the  Ford 
Motor  Company. 

In  Dearborn  he  fell  in  love  with 
Molly,  who  lived  in  a  brothel.  Each  day 
he  escorted  her  to  the  bordello  in  the 
early  evening.  Then  he  rode  streetcars 
until  she  was  through  for  the  night. 
On  one  of  his  nightly  trips  he  met  Leon 
again.  Leon  was  unhappy  in  America 
because  he  could  not  learn  enough  Eng 
lish  to  get  along.  He  had  to  be  content 
with  a  janitor's  job.  Ferdinand  learned 
that  Leon  also  wished  to  return  to  France. 

Although  he  loved  Molly  very  much, 
Ferdinand  left  her  and  Detroit  to  go 
back  to  Paris.  Completing  his  medical 
course,  he  was  certified  as  a  doctor,  and 
he  settled  down  to  practice  in  a  poor 
suburb.  All  his  patients  were  poor  and 
rarely  paid  him.  Mostly  he  was  called  in 
on  shady  abortion  cases. 

One  day  the  Henrouilles  summoned 
him  to  attend  the  old  grandmother  who 


lived  in  a  hut  behind  their  house.  They 
hated  to  spend  the  money  necessary  to 
feed  the  old  woman  and  Mme.  Henrou- 
ille  offered  Ferdinand  a  thousand  francs  if 
he  would  certify  that  the  grandmother 
was  insane.  Through  conscience  or  fear, 
Ferdinand  refused.  Then  L6on  was  called 
in  on  the  same  case.  He  agreed  to  set  a 
bomb  next  to  the  old  woman's  hut  so 
that  she  would  Ml  herself  when  she 
opened  the  door.  But  clumsy  Leon 
bungled  the  job;  he  accidentally  deto 
nated  the  bomb  and  lost  his  sight. 

With  the  help  of  the  Abbe  Protiste, 
the  family  worked  out  a  scheme  to  get 
rid  of  both  the  old  woman  and  Leon. 
They  proposed  to  send  the  two  to  Tou 
louse,  where  there  was  a  display  of 
mummies  connected  with  a  church.  Leon 
would  be  a  ticket  seller  and  old  Mme. 
Henrouille  would  be  the  guide.  For 
persuading  Le"on  to  accept  die  proposi 
tion,  Ferdinand  received  a  fee  of  a  thou 
sand  francs. 

Ferdinand's  practice  grew  smaller.  At 
last  he  went  to  the  Montmartre  section 
of  Paris,  where  for  a  time  he  was  well 
pleased  with  his  job  as  supernumerary 
in  a  music  hall.  The  Abb6  Protiste 
looked  him  up  after  some  months  and 
offered  to  pay  his  expenses  to  Toulouse, 
where  Ferdinand  was  to  see  if  Leon  were 
likely  to  make  trouble  for  the  Henrou 
illes  on  the  score  of  attempted  murder. 

In  Toulouse  Ferdinand  learned  that 
Leon  was  regaining  his  sight.  He  had 
also  become  engaged  to  Madelon.  The 
old  lady  was  a  vigorous  and  successful 
guide.  Ferdinand  dallied  a  little  with  the 
complaisant  Madelon,  but  decided  to 
leave  before  their  intimacy  was  dis 
covered.  Old  Mme.  Henrouille  fell,  or 
was  tripped,  on  the  stairs  and  was  killed 
in  the  fall.  It  was  a  good  time  for 
Ferdinand  to  leave — hurriedly. 

Dr.  Baryton  ran  a  genteel  madhouse. 
By  great  good  luck  Ferdinand  was  hired 
on  his  staff.  He  ingratiated  himself  with 
his  employer  by  giving  him  English  les 
sons.  Dr.  Baryton  read  Macaulay's  His 
tory  of  England  and  became  so  enamored 


454 


of  things  English  that  he  departed  for 
foreign  lands  and  left  Ferdinand  in 
charge.  Shortly  afterward  Leon  showed 
up,  broke  and  jobless.  He  had  run  away 
from  Madelon.  Ferdinand  took  him  in 
and  gave  him  a  job. 

Madelon  came  looking  for  Leon  and 
haunted  the  hospital  gate.  Hoping  to  ap 
pease  her,  Ferdinand  arranged  a  Sunday 


party  to  visit  a  carnival.  In  the  party 
were  Leon,  Madelon,  Ferdinand,  and 
Sophie,  Ferdinand's  favorite  nurse.  After 
a  hectic  day  they  took  a  taxi  tome.  On 
the  way  Leon  declared  he  no  longei 
loved  Madelon.  The  spumed  girl  took 
out  her  revolver  and  killed  him.  Ferdi 
nand  knew  that  the  time  had  arrived  for 
him  to  move  on  once  more. 


JUDE  THE  OBSCUHE 

Type  of  'work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  'plot:  Philosophical  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Wessex 

first 'published:   1894 

Principal  characters: 

JUDE  FAWLEY,  a  stonemason 

ARABELLA  DONN,  a  vulgar  country  girl 

SUE  BRTDEHEAD,  Jude's  cousin,  a  neurotic  free-thinker 

LrrrxE  FATHER  TTME,  Jude's  son  by  Arabella 

RICHARD  PHJLLOTSON,  a  schoolmaster 

DRU  SULLA  FAWLEY,  Jude's  great-grandaunt 

Critique: 

Jude  the  Obscure  marks  the  peak  of 
Hardy's  gloom  and  deterministic  philoso 
phy.  Sunshine  never  breaks  through  the 
heavy  clouds  of  tragedy  that  smother 
this  narrative  of  war  between  the  flesh 
and  the  spirit.  The  gloom  becomes 
steadily  heavier  as  circumstances  conspire 
to  keep  the  hero  from  realizing  any  hap 
piness  he  seeks.  The  plot  is  believable; 
the  characters  are  three-dimensional.  The 
story  itself  is  a  vehicle  for  Hardy's  feel 
ings  toward  contemporary  marriage  laws 
and  academic  snobbery.  His  sexual 
frankness,  his  unconventional  treatment 
of  the  theme  of  marriage,  and  his  use  of 
pure  horror  in  scenes  like  the  deaths  of 
Little  Father  Time  and  the  younger 
children  outraged  readers  of  his  genera 
tion. 


The  Story: 

In  the  nineteenth  century  eleven-year- 
old  Jude  Fawley  said  goodbye  to  his 
schoolmaster,  Richard  Phillotson,  who 


was  leaving  the  small  English  village  of 
Marygreen  for  Christminster,  to  study 
for  a  degree.  Young  Jude,  hungry  for 
learning,  yearned  to  go  to  Christminster 
too,  but  he  had  to  help  his  great-grand- 
aunt,  Drusilla  Fawley,  in  her  bakery. 
At  Christminster,  Phillotson  did  not  for 
get  his  former  pupil.  He  sent  Jude  some 
classical  grammars  which  the  boy  studied 
eagerly. 

Anticipating  a  career  as  a  religious 
scholar,  Jude  apprenticed  himself,  at 
nineteen,  to  a  stonemason  engaged  in 
the  restoration  of  medieval  churches  in 
a  nearby  town.  Returning  to  Marygreen 
one  evening,  he  met  three  young  girls 
who  were  washing  pigs'  chitterlings  by 
a  stream  bank.  One  of  the  girls,  Arabella 
Donn,  caught  Jude's  fancy  and  he  ar 
ranged  to  meet  her  later.  The  young 
man  was  swept  off  his  feet  and  tricked 
into  marriage,  but  he  soon  realized  that 
he  had  married  a  vulgar  country  girl 
with  whom  he  had  nothing  in  common. 


JUDE  THE  OBSCURE  by  Thomas  Hardy.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.    Copyright, 
1395,  by  Harper  &  Brothers,    Renewed,  1923.  by  Thomas  Hardy. 


455 


Embittered,  he  tried  unsuccessfully  to 
commit  suicide;  when  he  began  to  drink, 
Arabella  left  him. 

Jude,  now  free,  decided  to  carry  out 
his  original  purpose.  With  this  idea  in 
mind,  he  went  to  Christminster,  where 
he  took  work  as  a  stonemason.  He  had 
heard  that  his  cousin,  Sue  Bridehead, 
lived  in  Christminster,  but  he  did  not 
seek  her  out  because  his  aunt  had  warned 
him  against  her  and  because  he  was 
already  a  married  man.  Eventually  he 
met  her  and  was  charmed.  She  was  an 
artist  employed  in  an  ecclesiastical  ware 
house.  Jude  met  Phillotson,  again  a 
simple  schoolteacher.  Sue,  at  Jude's  sug 
gestion,  became  Phillotson's  assistant. 
The  teacher  soon  lost  his  heart  to  his 
bright  and  intellectually  independent 
young  helper.  Jude  was  hurt  by  evi 
dence  of  intimacy  between  the  two. 
Disappointed  in  love  and  ambition,  he 
turned  to  drink  and  was  dismissed  by  his 
employer.  He  went  back  to  Marygreen. 

At  Marygreen  Jude  was  persuaded  by 
a  minister  to  enter  the  church  as  a  licen 
tiate.  Sue,  meanwhile,  had  won  a  schol 
arship  to  a  teacher's  college  at  Mel- 
chester;  she  wrote  Jude  asking  him  to 
come  to  see  her.  Jude  worked  at  stone- 
masonry  in  Melchester  in  order  to  be 
near  Sue,  even  though  she  told  him  she 
had  promised  to  marry  Phillotson  after 
her  schooling.  Dismissed  from  the  col 
lege  after  an  innocent  escapade  with 
Jude,  Sue  influenced  him  away  from 
the  church  with  her  unorthodox  beliefs. 
Shortly  afterward  she  married  Phillotson. 
Jude,  despondent,  returned  to  Christmin 
ster,  where  he  came  upon  Arabella 
working  in  a  bar.  Jude  heard  that  Sue's 
married  Me  was  unbearable.  He  con 
tinued  his  studies  for  the  ministry  and 
thought  a  great  deal  about  Sue. 

Succumbing  completely  to  his  pas 
sion  for  Sue,  Jude  at  last  forsook  the 
ministry.  His  Aunt  Dmsilla  died,  and 
at  the  funeral  Jude  and  Sue  realized 
that  they  could  not  remain  separated. 
Phillotson,  sympathizing  with  the  lovers, 
released  Sue,  who  now  lived  apart  from 


her  husband.  The  lovers  went  to  Ald- 
brickham,  a  large  city  where  they  would 
not  be  recognized.  Phillotson  gave  Sue 
a  divorce  and  subsequently  lost  his  teach 
ing  position.  Jude  gave  Arabella  a  divorce 
so  that  she  might  marry  again. 

Sue  and  Jude  now  contemplated  mar 
riage,  but  they  were  unwilling  to  be 
joined  by  a  church  ceremony  because 
of  Sue's  dislike  for  any  binding  contract. 
The  pair  lived  together  happily,  Jude 
doing  simple  stonework.  One  day  Ara 
bella  appeared  and  told  Jude  that  her 
marriage  had  not  materialized.  Sue, 
jealous,  promised  Jude  that  she  would 
marry  Kim.  Arabella's  problem  was 
solved  by  eventual  marriage,  but  out  of 
fear  of  her  husband  she  sent  her  young 
child  by  Jude  to  live  with  him  and  Sue, 
This  pathetic  boy,  nicknamed  Little 
Father  Time,  joined  the  unconventional 
Fawley  household. 

Jude's  business  began  to  decline,  and 
he  lost  a  contract  to  restore  a  rural 
church  when  the  vestry  discovered  that 
he  and  Sue  were  unmarried.  Forced  to 
move  on,  they  traveled  from  place  to 
place  and  from  job  to  job.  At  the  end 
of  two  and  a  half  years  of  this  itinerant 
life,  the  pair  had  two  children  of  their 
own  and  a  third  on  the  way.  They  were 
five,  including  Little  Father  Time.  Jude, 
in  failing  health,  became  a  baker  and 
Sue  sold  cakes  in  the  shape  of  Gothic 
ornaments  at  a  fair  in  a  village  near 
Christminster.  At  the  fair  Sue  met  Ara 
bella,  now  a  widow.  Arabella  reported 
Sue's  poverty  to  Phillotson,  who  was 
once  more  the  village  teacher  in  Mary- 
green. 

Jude  took  his  family  to  Christminster, 
where  the  celebration  of  Remembrance 
Week  was  under  way.  Utterly  defeated 
by  failure,  Jude  still  had  a  love  for  the 
atmosphere  of  learning  which  pervaded 
the  city. 

The  family  had  difficulty  finding  lodg 
ings  and  they  were  forced  to  separate. 
Sue's  landlady,  learning  that  Sue  was 
an  unmarried  mother  and  fearful  lest  she 
should  have  the  trouble  of  childbirth  in 


456 


her  rooming-house,  told  Sue  to  find  other 
lodgings.  Bitter,  Sue  told  Little  Father 
Time  that  children  should  not  be  brought 
into  the  world.  When  she  returned 
from  a  meal  with  Jude,  she  found  that 
the  boy  had  hanged  the  two  babies  and 
himself.  She  collapsed  and  gave  pre 
mature  birth  to  a  dead  baby. 

Her  experience  brought  about  a  change 
in  Sue's  point  of  view.  Believing  she 
had  sinned  and  wishing  now  to  conform, 
she  asked  Jude  to  live  apart  from  her. 
She  also  expressed  the  desire  to  return 
to  Phillotson,  whom  she  believed,  in  her 
misery,  to  be  still  her  husband.  She  re 
turned  to  Phillotson  and  the  two  remar 


ried.  Jude,  utterly  lost,  began  drinking 
heavily.  In  a  drunken  stupor,  he  was 
again  tricked  by  Arabella  into  marriage. 
His  lungs  failed;  it  was  evident  that  his 
end  was  near.  Arabella  would  not 
communicate  with  Sue,  whom  Jude  de 
sired  to  see  once  more,  and  so  Jude  trav 
eled  in  the  rain  to  see  her.  The  lovers 
had  a  last  meeting.  She  then  made  com 
plete  atonement  for  her  past  mistakes  by 
becoming  Phillotson's  wife  completely. 
This  development  was  reported  to  Jude, 
who  died  in  desperate  misery  of  mind 
and  body.  Fate  had  grown  tired  of  its 
sport  with  a  luckless  man. 


JUDITH  PARIS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Hugh  Walpole  (1884-1941) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1931 

Principal  characters: 

JUDITH  MERRIES,  later  Judith  Paris,  daughter  of  Rogue  Herries 

DAVID  HERRIES,  her  half-brother 

FRANCIS  HERRIES,  her  nephew 

JENNIFER,  Francis'  wife 

REUBEN  SUNWOOD,  Judith's  cousin 

GEORGES  PARIS,  Judith's  husband 

WILLIAM  HERRTES,  Francis*  brother 

CHRISTABEL,  William's  wife 

WALTER  HERRIES,  William's  son 


Critique: 

Judith  Paris  is  the  second  of  four 
novels  dealing  with  the  history  of  the 
Herries  family.  Like  the  others,  it  con 
tains  many  characters  and  covers  about 
half  a  century.  While  Judith  Paris  is 
an  independent  novel,  it  should  be  read 
in  sequence  with  the  others,  or  many  of 
the  allusions  may  confuse  the  reader. 
Like  the  preceding  Rogue  Herries  and 
the  succeeding  The  Fortress  and  Vanes 
sa,  Judith  Paris  is  long  and  comprehen 
sive  in  scope,  with  many  references  to 
the  political  and  social  background  of 
the  period. 


The  Story: 

On  the  wild  winter  night  Judith 
Herries  was  born  in  the  gloomy  old  house 
at  Herries  in  Rosthwaite,  her  aged  father 
and  young  gipsy  mother  both  died.  The 
country  midwife  laid  out  the  parents 
with  as  much  respect  as  she  thought 
Rogue  Herries  and  his  strange  wife  de 
served.  The  baby  she  wrapped  up  warm 
ly,  for  it  was  bitterly  cold.  Then  to 
fortify  her  own  thin  blood  she  sat  down 
with  a  bottle  of  strong  drink.  The  wind 
rose  and  a  loose  windowpane  blew  in. 
The  snow  drifted  in  upon  the  cradle,  but 
the  midwife  slept  on. 


JUDITH  PARIS  by  Hugh  Walpole.    By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  Sir  Hugh  Walpole,  and  the  pub- 
Ushers,  Messrs.  MacMiilan  &  Co.,  London.    Copyright,  1931,  by  Doubleday,  Doran  &  Co.,  Inc. 


457 


Squire  Gauntry,  tough  and  taciturn, 
came  by  tired  from  hunting.  He  stopped 
when  he  heard  the  child's  thin  wail 
above  the  howling  wind.  Failing  to 
arouse  the  stupid  countrywoman,  he  took 
the  baby  home  to  his  masculine  hall  until 
her  half-brother,  David  Henries,  arrived 
to  claim  her. 

Judith  Herries  grew  up  at  Fell  House, 
near  Uldale,  with  David  Herries  and 
his  family.  But  David  was  fifty-five  years 
older  than  Judith  and  often  he  clashed 
with  his  young  sister.  She  was  spanked 
many  times;  the  most  serious  punish 
ment  canie  when  she  danced  naked  on 
the  roof.  Judith  frequently  visited  Stone 
Ends,  Squire  Gauntry's  place,  where 
there  were  no  restrictions. 

One  significant  visit  came  in  her 
eleventh  year,  when  she  ran  away  from 
Fell  House  after  being  punished  for  dis 
obedience.  Rough  Gauntry  welcomed 
her  to  a  strange  gathering.  With  the 
gentlemen  who  were  drinking  and  play 
ing  cards,  there  were  two  women.  One 
was  vast  Emma,  Gauntry's  mistress,  who 
was  always  to  be  Judith's  friend,  and  the 
other  was  beautiful  Madame  Paris,  the 
mother  of  Georges.  Georges,  only  a  year 
or  so  older  than  Judith,  came  up  to  her 
and  enticed  her  away  on  a  childish  prank. 
He  kissed  her  soundly  and  she  slapped 
his  face. 

That  night,  when  Judith  went  to  bed, 
she  entered  the  room  she  usually  slept  in 
at  Stone  Ends.  There  she  saw  Georges* 
beautiful  mother  standing  naked  beside 
the  bed.  On  his  knees  before  her,  dressed 
only  in  his  shirt,  knelt  a  gentleman  who 
was  kissing  Madame  Paris'  knees.  From 
that  night  on  Judith  thought  as  a  wom 
an. 

When  she  was  fourteen,  she  saw 
Georges  again  at  a  display  of  fireworks 
by  the  lake.  Disobeying  orders,  she 
went  out  in  a  boat  with  kirn.  His  kisses 
that  night  were  more  grown-up. 

WTien  she  was  seventeen,  Judith  mar 
ried  Georges.  It  was  a  bad  match  in 
every  way,  except  that  Judith  really 
loved  her  husband.  Georges  installed  her 


at  Watendlath,  a  remote  northern  farm. 
There  she  lived  a  lonely  life.  Georges,  a 
smuggler,  spent  little  time  at  home. 

After  some  years  Georges  and  Judith 
went  to  London,  where  the  smuggler 
turned  gambler  and  intriguer  to  recoup 
their  fortunes.  During  a  comparatively 
harmonious  interval,  they  attended  the 
famous  ball  given  by  Will  Herries. 

Jennifer  Cards  was  the  belle  of  the 
ball.  She  was  a  strikingly  beautiful  wom 
an  of  twenty-six,  still  single  by  prefer 
ence.  Many  of  the  married  Herries  men 
followed  her  like  sheep.  Christabel, 
Will's  wife,  was  much  upset  and  scolded 
Jennifer  for  being  without  a  chaperon. 
Jennifer  answered  roughly  and  in  her 
anger  she  seized  ChristabeFs  fan  and 
broke  it.  That  was  the  occasion  for  the 
great  Herries  quarrel.  Ever  after  Will 
and  then  his  son  Walter  were  intent  on 
destroying  Jennifer. 

Their  quarrel  eventually  involved 
Francis,  Judith's  well-loved  nephexv,  for 
Francis,  thirty-six  years  old  and  a  pa 
thetic,  futile  man  of  deep  sensibility,  mar 
ried  Jennifer  soon  afterward. 

Georges  at  last  seemed  to  be  serious 
in  attempting  to  advance  his  fortunes. 
Judith  never  knew  exacdy  what  he  was 
doing,  but  part  of  his  project  meant 
standing  in  well  with  Will  Herries,  who 
was  a  real  power  in  the  city.  Mysterious 
men  came  and  went  in  the  Paris'  shabby 
rooms.  Stane  was  the  one  whom  Judith 
distrusted  most,  and  often  she  begged 
Georges  to  break  with  him.  Her  sus 
picions  were  verified  one  day  when 
Georges  came  home  exhausted  and  in 
wild  despair.  All  his  projects  had  failed, 
and  Stane  had  lied  his  way  into  Will's 
favor. 

Despondent,  Georges  and  Judith  went 
back  to  Watendlath,  and  Georges  re 
turned  to  smuggling.  After  one  of  his 
mysterious  trips  Georges  appeared  hag 
gard  and  upset,  to  tell  her  that  off  Nor 
way  he  choked  Stane  to  death.  Then  he 
had  overturned  the  small  boat,  to  make 
the  death  appear  an  accident,  and  swam 
ashore.  Although  Georges  was  unsus- 


458 


pected,  lie  needed  Judith  now.   She  had 
him  to  herself  at  last. 

Then  old  Stane  came,  professing  to 
seek  shelter  with  his  dead  son's  friend. 
When  he  had  satisfied  his  suspicion  of 
Georges'  guilt,  the  powerful  old  man 
threw  Georges  over  the  rail  and  broke 
his  back,  killing  him. 

Now  a  widow,  Judith  left  Watendlath 
and  at  their  strong  urging  went  to  stay 
with  Francis  and  Jennifer.  The  beautiful 
Jennifer  now  had  two  children,  John 
and  Dorothy.  Since  she  had  never  loved 
Francis,  Jennifer  felt  no  compulsion  to 
keep  his  love.  She  gave  herself  to 
Fernyhirst,  a  neighbor.  Although  most 
of  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  knew 
of  her  in  fidelity7  Francis  shut  his  eyes 
to  it. 

Then  came  the  news  that  Will  Herries 
had  bought  Westaways,  only  eight  miles 
away  from  Fell  House,  where  Judith 
lived  in  the  uneasy  home  of  Jennifer  and 
Francis.  They  were  sure  that  Will  meant 
to  harm  them  for  the  slight  to  his  wife 
years  before,  and  indeed  Will  hated  them 
savagely.  It  was  Walter,  however,  who 
was  to  be  the  agent  for  his  father's  hate. 

Warren  Forster  brought  the  news  of 
Will's  plans  to  Fell  House.  He  was  a 
tiny,  kindly  man  who  had  long  admired 
Judith.  The  two  went  riding  one  day, 
and  out  of  pity  and  friendship  Judith 
gave  herself  to  Warren,  whose  wife  had 
left  him  years  before. 

When  Judith,  who  was  nearly  forty, 


knew  that  she  was  carrying  Warren's 
child,  she  went  to  Paris  with  blowzy 
Emma,  now  on  the  stage.  It  was  just 
after  Waterloo,  and  Paris  was  filled  with 
Germans  and  Englishmen.  When  War 
ren  finally  found  them,  he  was  a  sick 
man.  In  their  little  apartment,  he  died 
with  only  Judith  and  Emma  to  attend 
him. 

One  night,  while  Judith  was  dining  in 
a  cafe,  a  vengeful  Frenchman  shot  a 
Prussian  sitting  at  the  next  table.  The 
shock  unnerved  Judith,  and  there,  be 
hind  a  screen,  her  son  Adam  was  born. 

In  England,  Walter  was  determined  to 
harm  Jennifer.  He  knew  of  her  affair 
with  Fernyhirst  and  he  knew  also  of  a 
journey  Francis  was  taking.  After  he 
sent  a  note  of  warning  to  the  inn  where 
Francis  was  staying,  Francis  returned 
unexpectedly  to  Fell  House.  There  he 
found  his  wife's  lover  in  her  room  and 
fell  on  him  savagely.  Later  he  overtook 
the  fleeing  Fernyhirst  and  fought  a  duel 
with  him,  but  Fernyhirst  ran  away.  In 
futile  despair  Francis  killed  himself. 

Now  Judith  had  to  manage  a  shaken 
and  crumpled  Jennifer  and  fight  a  savage 
Walter.  A  riot,  incited  by  Walter, 
caused  the  death  of  Reuben  Sunwood, 
Judith's  kinsman  and  staunch  friend, 
and  a  fire  of  mysterious  origin  broke  out 
in  the  stables.  Judith  gave  up  her  plan 
to  return  to  Watendlath.  For  Jennifer's 
sake  she  and  Adam  went  back  to  Fell 
House  to  stay. 


THE  JUNGLE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Upton   Sinclair   (1878-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Chicago 

First  published:    1 906 

Principal  characters: 

JURGIS  RIIDKUS,  a  stockyards  worker 
ANTANAS  RUDKHS,  his  father 
ONA,  Juxgis'  wife 
ELZBIETA,  Ona/s  stepmother 
JONAS,  Elzbieta's  brother 
MAKIJA,  Ona's  orphan  cousin 


459 


Critique: 

The  Jungle  is  an  indignant  book,  writ 
ten  in  anger  at  the  social  injustices  of 
the  meat-packing  industry,  and  from  this 
anger  the  novel  derives  its  power.  At  the 
time  of  publication  the  book  served  its 
purpose  in  arousing  public  sentiment 
against  unfair  practices  in  the  meat  in 
dustry.  It  is  still  an  honestly  told  and 
gripping  story. 

The  Story: 

While  he  was  still  a  peasant  boy  in 
Lithuania,  Jurgis  Rudkus  had  fallen  in 
love  with  a  gentle  girl  named  Ona.  When 
Ona's  father  died,  Jurgis,  planning  to 
marry  her  as  soon  as  he  had  enough 
money,  came  to  America  with  her  fam 
ily.  Besides  the  young  lovers,  the  emi 
grant  party  was  composed  of  Antanas, 
Jurgis'  father;  Elzbieta,  Ona's  stepmother; 
Jonas,  Elzbieta's  brother,  Marija,  Ona's 
orphan  cousin,  and  Elzbieta's  six  cMLdren. 

By  the  time  the  family  arrived  in  Chi 
cago  they  had  very  little  money.  Jonas, 
Marija,  and  Jurgis  at  once  got  work  in 
the  stockyards.  Antanas  tried  to  find 
work,  but  he  was  too  old.  They  all  de 
cided  that  it  would  be  cheaper  to  buy 
a  house  on  installments  than  to  rent.  A 
crooked  agent  sold  them  a  ramshackle 
house  which  had  a  fresh  coat  of  paint 
and  told  his  ignorant  customers  that  it 
was  new. 

Jurgis  found  his  job  exhausting,  but  he 
thought  him. self  lucky  to  be  making  forty- 
five  dollars  a  month.  At  last  Antanas 
also  found  work  at  the  plant,  but  he 
had  to  give  part  of  his  wages  to  the  fore 
man  in  order  to  keep  his  job.  Jurgis 
and  Ona  saved  enough  money  for  their 
wedding  feast  and  were  married.  Then 
the  family  found  that  they  needed  more 
money.  Elzbieta  lied  about  the  age  of 
her  oldest  son,  Stanislovas,  and  he  too 
got  a  job  at  the  plant.  Ona  had  already 
begun  to  work  in  order  to  help  pay  for 
the  wedding. 

Antanas  worked  in  a  moist,  cold  room 


where  he  developed  consumption.  When 
he  died,  the  family  had  scarcely  enough 
money  to  bury  him.  Winter  came,  and 
everyone  suffered  in  the  flimsy  house. 
When  Marija  lost  her  job,  the  family 
income  diminished.  Jurgis  joined  a  union 
and  became  an  active  member.  He  went 
to  night  school  to  learn  to  read  and  speak 
English. 

At  last  summer  came  with  its  hordes 
of  flies  and  oppressive  heat.  Marija 
found  work  as  a  beef  trimmer,  but  at 
that  job  the  danger  of  blood  poisoning 
was  very  great.  Ona  had  her  baby,  a 
fine  boy,  whom  they  called  Antanas 
after  his  grandfather.  Winter  came 
again,  and  Jurgis  sprained  his  ankle  at 
the  plant.  Compelled  to  stay  at  home 
for  months,  he  became  moody.  Two 
more  of  Elzbieta's  children  left  school  to 
sell  papers. 

When  Jurgis  was  well  enough  to  look 
for  work  again,  he  could  find  none,  be 
cause  he  was  no  longer  the  strong  man 
he  had  been.  Finally  he  got  a  job  in  a 
fertilizer  plant,  a  last  resource,  for  men 
lasted  only  a  few  years  at  that  work. 
One  of  Elzbieta's  daughters  was  now  old 
enough  to  care  for  the  rest  of  the  chil 
dren,  and  Elzbieta  also  went  to  work. 

Jurgis  began  to  drink,  Ona,  pregnant 
again,  developed  a  consumptive  cough 
and  was  often  seized  with  spells  of 
hysteria.  Hoping  to  save  the  family  with 
the  money  she  made,  she  went  to  a 
house  of  prostitution  with  her  boss, 
Connor.  When  Jurgis  learned  what  she 
had  done,  he  attacked  Connor  and  was 
sentenced  to  thirty  days  in  jail.  Now  that 
he  had  time  to  think,  Jurgis  saw  how 
unjustly  he  had  been  treated  by  society. 
No  longer  would  he  try  to  be  kind,  ex 
cept  to  his  own  family.  From  now  on 
he  would  recognize  society  as  an  enemy 
rather  than  a  friend. 

After  he  had  served  his  sentence,  Jur 
gis  went  to  look  for  his  family.  He  found 
that  they  had  lost  the  house  because  they 


THE  JUNGLE  by  Upton  Sinclair.    By  penniwion  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  The  Viking  Press,   Inc. 
Copyright,  1905,  1906,  1933,  1946,  by  Upton  Sinclair. 


460 


could  not  meet  the  payments,  and  tad 
moved.  He  found  them  at  last  in  a 
rooming-house.  Ona  was  in  labor  with 
her  second  child,  and  Jurgis  frantically 
searched  for  a  midwife.  By  the  time  he 
found  one,  Ona  and  the  child  had  died. 
Now  he  had  only  little  Antanas  to  live 
for.  He  tried  to  find  work.  Blacklisted 
in  the  stockyards  for  his  attack  on  Con 
nor,  he  finally  found  a  job  in  a  harvest 
ing  machine  factory.  Shortly  afterward 
he  was  discharged  when  his  department 
closed  down  for  a  lack  of  orders. 

Next  he  went  to  work  in  the  steel 
mills.  In  order  to  save  money  he  moved 
near  the  mills  and  came  home  only  on 
weekends.  One  weekend  he  came  home 
to  find  that  little  Antanas  had  drowned 
in  the  street  in  front  of  the  house.  Now 
that  he  had  no  dependents,  he  hopped  a 
freight  train  and  rode  away  from  Chi 
cago.  He  became  one  of  the  thousands 
of  migratory  farm  workers;  his  old 
strength  came  back  in  healthful  sur 
roundings. 

In  the  fall  Jurgis  returned  to  Chicago. 
He  got  a  job  digging  tunnels  under  the 
streets.  Then  a  shoulder  injury  made 
him  spend  weeks  in  a  hospital.  Dis 
charged  with  his  arm  still  in  a  sling,  he 
became  a  beggar.  By  luck  he  obtained 
a  hundred-dollar  bill  from  a  lavish  drunk. 
When  he  went  to  a  saloon  to  get  it 
changed,  however,  the  barkeeper  tried 


to  cheat  him  out  of  his  money.  In  a 
rage  Jurgis  attacked  the  man.  He  was 
arrested  and  sent  to  jail  again.  There 
he  met  a  dapper  safe-cracker,  Jack  Duane. 
After  their  release,  Jurgis  joined  Duane 
in  several  holdups  and  became  acquaint 
ed  with  Chicago's  underworld.  At  last 
he  was  making  money. 

Jurgis  became  a  political  worker. 
About  that  time  the  packing  plant  work 
ers  began  to  demand  more  rights  through 
their  unions.  When  packing  house 
operators  would  not  listen  to  union  de 
mands,  there  was  a  general  strike.  Jur 
gis  went  to  work  in  the  plant  as  a  scab. 
One  day  he  met  Connor  and  attacked 
him  again.  Jurgis  fled  from  the  district 
to  avoid  a  penitentiary  sentence.  On  the 
verge  of  starvation,  he  found  Marija 
working  as  a  prostitute.  Jurgis  was 
ashamed  to  think  how  low  he  and 
Marija  had  fallen  since  they  came  to  Chi 
cago.  She  gave  him  some  money  so  that 
he  might  look  for  a  job. 

Jurgis  was  despondent  until  one  night 
he  heard  a  Socialist  speak.  Jurgis  be 
lieved  that  he  had  found  a  remedy  for  the 
ilk  of  the  world.  At  last  he  knew  how  the 
workers  could  find  self-respect.  He  found 
a  job  in  a  hotel  where  the  manager  was 
a  Socialist.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a 
new  life  for  Jurgis,  the  rebirth  of  hope 
and  faith. 


THE  JUNGLE  BOOKS 


Type  of  work:  Short  stories 

Author:  Rudyard  Kipling  (1865-1936) 

Type  of  plot:  Beast  fables 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  India 

first  published:  1894,1895 

Principal  characters: 

MOWGLI,  an  Indian  boy 
FATHER  WOLF 
MOTHER  WOLF 
SHERE  KHAN,  the  tiger 
AKELA,  leader  of  the  wolf  pack 
BAGHEERA,  the  black  panther 
BALOO,  the  bear 
KAA,  the  rock  python 


461 


THE  BAimajR-LoG,  the  monkey  people 
HATHI,  the  elephant 

MESSUA,  a  woman  who  adopted  Mowgli  for  a  time 
MESSUA'S  HUSBAND 


BUIDEO,  a  village  hunter 
GRAY  BROTHER,  a  young  wolf 

Critique; 

Rudyaid  Kipling,  winner  o£  the  Nobel 
Prize  in  1907,  wrote  these  stories  for 
children  while  living  in  Brattleboro,  Ver 
mont.  The  jungle  Book  and  The  Second 
Jungle  Book  are  children's  classics 
which  attempt  to  teach  the  lessons  of 
justice,  loyalty,  and  tribal  laws.  It  is 
evident  from  reading  these  books  that 
here  is  a  master  writer  who  loved  children 
and  could  tell  them  a  good  story  with 
an  underlying  meaning  that  adults  can 
appreciate  as  well. 


The  Stones: 

Shere  Khan,  the  tiger,  pursued  a  small 
Indian  boy  who  had  strayed  from  his 
native  village,  but  Shere  Khan  was  lame 
and  missed  his  leap  upon  the  child. 
When  Father  Wolf  took  the  boy  home 
with  him  to  show  to  Mother  Wolf,  Shere 
Khan  followed  and  demanded  the  child 
as  his  quarry.  Mother  Wolf  refused. 
The  tiger  retired  in  anger.  Mowgli,  the 
frog,  for  such  he  was  named,  was  reared 
by  Mother  Wolf  along  with  her  own 
cubs. 

Father  Wolf  took  Mowgli  to  the 
Council  Rock  to  be  recognized  by  the 
wolves.  Bagheera,  the  panther,  and  Ba- 
loo,  the  bear,  spoke  for  Mowgli's  ac 
ceptance  into  the  Seeonee  wolf  pack. 
Thus  Mowgli  became  a  wolf. 

Baloo  became  Mowgli's  teacher  and 
instructed  him  in  the  lore  of  the  jungle. 
Mowgli  learned  to  speak  the  languages 
of  all  the  jungle  people.  Throughout  his 
early  life  the  threat  of  Shere  Khan  hung 
over  him,  but  Mowgli  was  certain  of 
his  place  in  the  pack  and  of  his  friends' 
protection.  But  some  day  when  Akela, 
the  leader  of  the  wolves,  would  miss  his 
kill,  the  pack  would  turn  on  bfn>  and 


Mowgli.  Bagheera  told  Mowgli  to  get 
the  Red  Flower,  or  fire,  from  the  village 
to  protect  himself.  When  Akela  missed 
his  quarry  one  night  and  was  about  to 
be  deposed  and  killed,  Mowgli  attacked 
all  of  their  mutual  enemies  with  his  fire 
sticks  and  threatened  to  destroy  anyone 
who  molested  Akela.  That  night  Mow 
gli  realized  that  the  jungle  was  no  place 
for  him,  and  that  some  day  he  would 
go  to  live  with  men.  But  that  time  was 
still  far  off. 

One  day  Mowgli  climbed  a  tree  and 
made  friends  with  the  Bandar-Log,  the 
monkey  tribe,  who  because  of  their 
stupidity  and  vanity  were  despised  by  the 
other  jungle  people.  When  the  Bandar- 
Log  carried  off  Mowgli,  Bagheera  and 
Baloo  went  in  pursuit,  taking  along  Kaa, 
the  rock  python,  who  loved  to  eat 
monkeys.  Mowgli  was  rescued  at  the 
old  ruined  city  of  the  Cold  Lairs  by  the 
three  pursuers,  and  Kaa  feasted  royally 
upon  monkey  meat, 

One  year  during  a  severe  drought  in 
the  jungle,  Hathi  the  elephant  pro 
claimed  the  water  truce;  all  animals 
were  allowed  to  drink  at  the  water  hole 
unmolested.  Shere  Khan  announced  to 
the  animals  gathered  there  one  day  that 
he  had  killed  a  Man,  not  for  food  but 
from  choice.  The  other  animals  were 
shocked.  Hathi  allowed  the  tiger  to 
drink  and  then  told  him  to  be  off.  Then 
Hathi  told  the  story  of  how  fear  came 
to  the  jungle  and  why  the  tiger  was 
striped.  It  was  the  tiger  who  first  killed 
Man  and  earned  the  human  tribe's  un 
relenting  enmity,  and  for  his  deed  the 
tiger  was  condemned  to  wear  stripes. 
Now  for  one  day  a  year  the  tiger  was 
not  afraid  of  Man  and  could  kill  him. 


462 


This  day  was  called,  among  jungle  peo 
ple,  the  Night  of  the  Tiger. 

One  day  Mowgli  wandered  close  to  a 
native  village,  where  he  was  adopted 
by  Messua,  a  woman  who  had  lost  her 
son  some  years  before.  Mowgli  became 
a  watcher  of  the  village  herds,  and  so 
from  time  to  time  he  met  Gray  Wolf, 
his  brother,  and  heard  the  news  of  the 
jungle.  Learning  that  Shere  Khan  in 
tended  to  kill  him,  he  laid  plans  with 
Akela  and  Gray  Brother  to  MU  the  tiger. 
They  lured  Shere  Khan  into  a  gully  and 
then  stampeded  the  herd.  Shere  Khan 
was  trampled  to  death.  Stoned  from  the 
village  because  he  was  believed  to  be  a 
sorcerer  who  spoke  to  animals,  Mowgli 
returned  to  the  jungle  resolved  to  hunt 
with  the  wolves  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Buldeo,  the  village  hunter,  followed 
the  trail  of  Mowgli,  Gray  Brother,  and 
Akela.  Mowgli  overheard  Buldeo  say 
that  Messua  and  her  husband  were  im 
prisoned  in  their  house  and  would  be 
burned  at  the  stake.  Messua's  husband 
had  saved  some  money  and  he  had  one 
of  the  finest  herds  of  buffaloes  in  the  vil 
lage.  Knowing  that  the  imprisonment 
of  Messua  and  her  husband  was  a  scheme 
for  the  villagers  to  get  their  property, 
Mowgli  laid  plans  to  help  his  friends. 
Entering  the  village,  he  led  Messua  and 
her  husband  beyond  the  gates  in  the 
darkness.  Then  the  jungle  people  began 
to  destroy,  little  by  Httle,  the  farms,  the 
orchards,  and  the  cattle,  but  no  villager 
was  harmed  because  Mowgli  did  not 
desire  the  death  of  any  human.  Finally, 
just  before  the  rains,  Hathi  and  his  three 
sons  moved  into  the  village  and  tore 
down  the  houses.  The  people  left  and 
thus  the  jungle  was  let  into  the  village. 

Kaa  took  Mowgli  to  Cold  Lairs  to  meet 
the  guardian  of  the  king's  treasure,  an 
old  white  cobra  who  had  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  Mowgli.  The  old  cobra 
showed  them  all  the  treasure,  and  when 
he  left  Mowgli  took  a  jeweled  elephant 
goad,  a  king's  ankus,  with  him,  even 
tiiov^h  the  cobra  had  said  it  brought 
death  to  the  person  who  possessed  it. 


Back  in  the  jungle  Mowgli  threw  the 
ankus  away.  Later  that  day  he  went 
with  Bagheera  to  retrieve  the  ankus  and 
discovered  that  it  was  gone.  They  fol 
lowed  the  trail  of  the  man  who  had 
picked  it  up  and  found  that  altogether  six 
men  who  had  had  possession  of  the  ankus 
had  died.  Believing  it  to  be  cursed,  Mow 
gli  returned  the  ankus  to  the  treasure 
room  in  the  Cold  Lairs. 

Sometimes  fierce  red  dogs  called  dholes 
traveled  in  large  packs,  destroying  every 
thing  in  their  paths.  Warned  of  the 
approach  of  the  dholes,  Mowgli  led  the 
marauders,  by  insults  and  taunts,  toward 
the  lairs  of  the  Little  People,  the  bees. 
Then  he  excited  the  bees  to  attack  the 
dholes.  The  destruction  of  the  red  dogs 
that  escaped  the  fury  of  the  bees  was 
completed  by  the  wolves  lying  in  am 
bush  a  Httle  farther  down  the  river 
which  flowed  under  the  cliffs  where  the 
Little  People  lived.  But  it  was  the  last 
battle  of  old  Akela,  the  leader  of  the 
pack  when  Mowgli  was  a  little  boy.  He 
crawled  out  slowly  from  under  a  pile 
of  carcasses  to  bid  Mowgli  goodbye  and 
to  sing  his  death  song. 

The  second  year  after  the  death  of 
Akela,  Mowgli  was  about  seventeen  years 
old.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  Mowgli 
knew  that  he  was  unhappy,  but  none 
of  his  friends  could  tell  him  what  was 
wrong.  Mowgli  left  his  own  jungle  to 
travel  to  another,  and  on  the  way  he 
met  Messua.  Her  husband  had  died, 
leaving  her  with  a  child.  Messua  told 
Mowgli  that  she  believed  he  was  her 
own  son  lost  in  the  jungle  years  before 
and  that  her  baby  must  be  his  brother. 
Mowgli  did  not  know  what  to  make  of 
the  child  and  the  unhappiness  he  felt. 
When  Gray  Brother  came  to  Messua's 
hut,  Mowgli  decided  to  return  to  the 
jungle.  But  on  the  outskirts  of  the  vil 
lage  he  met  a  girl  coining  down  the 
path.  Mowgli  melted  into  the  jungle 
and  watched  the  girl.  He  knew  at  last 
that  the  jungle  was  no  longer  a  place 
for  him  and  that  he  had  returned  to  the 
Man-pack  to  stay. 


463 


JURGEN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Branch  Cabell  (1879-1958) 

Type  of  plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Middle  Ages 

Locale:  Poictesme,  a  land  of  myth 

First -published:  1919 

Principal  characters: 

JTJKGEN,  a  middle-aged  pawnbroker 

DAME  LISA,  his  wife 

DOROTHY  LA  DESTREE,  Kis  childhood  sweetheart 

QUEEN  GUENEVERE 

DAME  ANATTLS 

CHLORIS,  a  Hamadryad 

QOEEN  HELEN  of  Troy 

MOTHER  SEREDA 

KOSHCHEI,  the  maker  of  things  as  they  are 

Critique: 

]urgen,  A  Comedy  of  Justice,  is  one  of 
a  series  dealing  with  the  mythical  coun 
try  of  Poictesme.  Although  it  was  once 
charged  in  the  courts  with  being  an  ob 
scene  book,  it  is  by  no  means  merely  an 
erotic  tale.  This  novel  can  be  read  on 
many  levels;  as  a  narrative  of  fantastic 
love  and  adventure,  as  a  satire,  and  as 
a  philosophic  view  of  life.  The  book  is 
an  interesting  product  of  a  romantic 
imagination  and  a  critical  mind. 


The  Story: 

Once  in  the  old  days  a  middle-aged 
pawnbroker  named  Jurgen  said  a  good 
word  for  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  In 
gratitude,  the  Prince  of  Darkness  re 
moved  from  the  earth  Dame  Lisa,  Jur- 
gen's  shrewish  wife.  Some  time  later 
Jurgen  heard  that  his  wife  had  returned 
to  wander  on  Amneran  Heath;  conse 
quently  the  only  manly  thing  for  hi™  to 
do  was  to  look  for  her. 

It  was  Walburga's  Eve  when  Jurgen 
met  Dame  Lisa  on  the  heath.  She  led 
him  to  a  cave,  but  when  he  followed  her 
inside  she  disappeared  and  Jurgen  found 
a  Centaur  instead.  Jurgen  inquired  for 
his  wife.  The  Centaur  replied  that  only 
Koshchei  the  Deathless,  the  maker  of 
things  as  they  are,  could  help  Jurgen  in 


his  quest  The  Centaur  gave  Jurgen 
a  beautiful  new  shirt  and  started  off 
with  him  to  the  Garden  between  Dawn 
and  Sunrise,  the  first  stopping  place  of 
Jurgen's  journey  to  find  Koshchei. 

In  the  garden  Jurgen  found  Dorothy 
la  Desiree,  his  first  sweetheart,  who  re 
tained  all  the  beauty  he  had  praised  in 
his  youthful  poetry.  She  no  longer  knew 
him,  for  she  was  in  love  only  with  Jur 
gen  as  he  had  been  in  youth,  and  he 
could  not  make  her  understand  that  in 
the  real  world  she  also  had  become  mid 
dle-aged  and  commonplace.  So  he  parted 
sadly  from  her  and  found  himself  sud 
denly  back  in  his  native  country. 

His  friend  the  Centaur  had  now  be 
come  an  ordinary  horse.  Jurgen  mounted 
and  rode  through  a  forest  until  he  came 
to  the  house  of  Mother  Sereda,  the  god 
dess  who  controlled  Wednesdays  and 
whose  job  it  was  to  bleach  the  color  out 
of  everything  in  the  world.  By  flattery 
Jurgen  persuaded  her  to  let  him  live 
over  a  certain  Wednesday  in  his  youth 
with  Dorothy  la  Desiree.  But  when  the 
magic  Wednesday  ended,  Dorothy  la 
Desiree  turned  into  the  old  woman  she 
really  was,  and  Jurgen  quickly  departed. 

He  wandered  again  to  Amneran  Heath 
and  entered  the  cave  to  look  for  Kosh- 


JURGEN  by  James  Branch  Cabell.    By  permission  of  the  author.    Copyright,  1919,  by  Robert  M.  McBride  Co. 
Renewed,  194-6,  by  Jamet  Branch  Cabell. 


464 


chei  and  Dame  Lisa,  There  he  found 
a  beautiful  girl  who  said  that  she  was 
Guenevere,  the  daughter  of  King  Gogyr- 
van.  Jurgen  offered  to  conduct  her  back 
to  her  home.  When  they  arrived  at  the 
court  of  King  Gogyrvan,  Jurgen,  pretend 
ing  to  be  the  Duke  of  Logreus,  asked  for 
the  hand  of  Guenevere  as  a  reward  for 
her  safe  return.  But  she  had  already 
been  promised  to  King  Arthur.  Jurgen 
stayed  on  at  court.  He  had  made  the 
discovery  that  he  still  looked  like  a  young 
man;  the  only  trouble  was  that  his 
shadow  was  not  his  shadow;  it  was  the 
shadow  of  Mother  Sereda. 

King  Arthur's  envoys,  Dame  Anaitis 
and  Merlin,  had  arrived  to  take  Guene 
vere  to  London.  Jurgen  watched  her  de 
part  for  London  without  feeling  any  sor 
row  because  of  a  magic  token  Merlin 
had  given  him.  Then  Dame  Anaitis  in 
vited  Jurgen  to  visit  her  palace  in  Co- 
caigne,  the  country  where  Time  stood 
still.  There  Jurgen  participated  with 
her  in  a  ceremony  called  the  Breaking 
of  the  Veil,  to  learn  afterwards  that  it 
had  been  a  marriage  ceremony  and  that 
Dame  Anaitis  was  now  his  wife.  Dame 
Anaitis,  a  myth  woman  of  lunar  legend, 
instructed  Jurgen  in  every  variety  of 
strange  pleasures  she  knew. 

Jurgen  visited  a  philologist,  who  said 
that  Jurgen  had  also  become  a  legend; 
consequently  he  could  not  remain  long 
in  Cocaigne.  When  the  time  came  for 
him  to  leave  the  country,  Jurgen  chose 
to  go  to  Leuke4,  the  kingdom  where 
Queen  Helen  and  Achilles  ruled.  Jur- 
gen's  reason  for  wishing  to  go  there  was 
that  Queen  Helen  resembled  his  first 
sweetheart,  Dorothy  la  Desiree. 

In  Leuke,  Jurgen  met  Chloris,  a  Ham 
adryad,  and  married  her.  He  was  still 
curious  about  Queen  Helen,  however, 
and  one  evening  he  entered  her  castle 
and  went  to  her  bedchamber.  The  sleep 
ing  queen  was  Dorothy  la  Desiree,  but 
he  dared  not  touch  her.  Her  beauty, 
created  from  the  dreams  of  his  youth, 
was  unattainable.  He  left  the  castle  and 
returned  to  Chloris. 


Shortly  afterward  the  Philistines  in 
vaded  Leuke  and  condemned  all  its 
mythical  inhabitants  to  limbo.  Jurgen 
protested  because  he  was  flesh  and  blood 
and  he  offered  to  prove  his  claim  by 
mathematics.  Queen  Dolores  of  the  Phi 
listines  agreed  with  him  after  he  had 
demonstrated  his  proof  to  her  by  means 
of  a  concrete  example.  However,  he  was 
condemned  by  the  great  tumble-bug  of 
the  Philistines  for  being  a  poet. 

After  Chloris  had  been  condemned  to 
limbo,  Jurgen  went  on  to  the  hell  of  his 
fathers.  There  he  visited  Satan  and 
learned  that  Koshchei  had  created  hell 
to  humor  the  pride  of  Jurgen's  fore 
fathers.  Then  he  remembered  that  he 
was  supposed  to  be  looking  for  Dame 
Lisa.  Learning  that  she  was  not  in  hell, 
he  decided  to  look  for  her  in  heaven. 
Mistaken  for  a  pope  by  means  of  the 
philologist's  charm,  he  managed  to  gain 
entrance  to  heaven.  Dame  Lisa  was 
not  there.  St.  Peter  returned  him  to 
Amneran  Heath. 

On  the  heath  he  again  met  Mother 
Sereda,  who  took  away  his  youth  and 
returned  him  to  his  middle-aged  body. 
Actually,  it  was  a  relief  to  Jurgen  to  be 
old  again.  Then  for  the  third  time  he 
entered  the  cave  in  search  of  Dame 
Lisa.  Inside  he  found  the  Prince  of 
Darkness  who  had  taken  her  away.  The 
Prince  was  really  Koshchei;  Jurgen  was 
near  the  end  of  his  quest.  He  asked 
Koshchei  to  return  Dame  Lisa  to  him. 

Koshchei  showed  him  Guenevere, 
Dame  Anaitis,  and  Dorothy  la  Desiree 
again.  But  Jurgen  would  not  have  them. 
He  had  had  his  youth  to  live  over,  and 
he  had  committed  the  same  follies.  He 
was  content  now  to  be  Jurgen  the  pawn 
broker. 

Koshchei  agreed  to  return  Jurgen  to 
his  former  life,  but  he  asked  for  the 
Centaur's  shirt  in  return.  Jurgen  gladly 
gave  up  the  shirt.  Koshchei  walked  with 
him  from  the  heath  into  town.  As  they 
walked,  Jurgen  noticed  that  the  moon 
was  sinking  in  the  east.  Time  was  turn 
ing  backward. 


465 


It  was  as  if  the  past  year  had  never  table  was  set  for  supper.  Inside,  Dame 
been.  For  now  he  approached  his  house  Lisa  sat  sewing  and  looking  quite  as  if 
and  saw  through  the  window  that  the  nothing  had  ever  happened. 

JUSTICE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  John  Galsworthy  (1867-1933) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1910 

Locale:  London 

First  presented:  1910 

Principal  characters: 

WILLIAM  FALDER,  a  solicitor's  clerk 

COEESON,  a  senior  clerk 

RUTH  HONEYWTLL,  with  whom  Falder  is  in  love 
Critique: 

Since  1910,  when  this  play  was  writ 
ten,  prison  reforms  have  progressed  con 
siderably.  The  play  is  a  protest  against 
dehumanized  institutionalism,  with  par 
ticular  attention  directed  toward  the 
evils  of  solitary  confinement  and  the 
strict  parole  system.  The  problem  of 
making  a  convicted  man  into  a  useful 
citizen  once  more  is  complex.  Galsworthy 
thought  rehabilitation  likely  only  if  all 
who  came  into  contact  with  the  man 
accepted  their  share  of  the  responsibility. 


the  right  side  of  the  law  but  also  on  the 
right  side  of  ethics.  James  How  entered 
from  the  partners'  room.  He  and  Walter 
began  to  check  the  firm's  balance,  which 
they  decided  was  below  what  they  re 
membered  it  should  have  been.  Then 
they  discovered  that  a  check  written  the 
previous  Friday  had  been  altered  from 
nine  to  ninety  pounds. 

The  check  had  been  cashed  on  the 
same    day    that    another    junior    clerk, 


The  Story: 

Cokeson,  managing  clerk  for  the  firm 
of  James  and  Walter  How,  solicitors, 
was  interrupted  one  July  morning  by  a 
woman  asking  to  see  the  junior  clerk, 
Falder.  The  woman,  Ruth  Honeywill, 
seemed  in  great  distress,  and  though  it 
was  against  office  rules,  Cokeson  permit 
ted  her  to  see  Falder. 

Falder  and  Ruth  Honeywill  were  plan 
ning  to  run  away  together.  Ruth's  hus- 
band,  a  drunken  brute,  had  abused  her 
until  she  would  no  longer  stay  with 
him.  Falder  arranged  to  have  Ruth  and 
her  two  children  meet  him  at  the  railway 
station  that  night  Ruth  left  and  Falder 
went  back  to  work. 

Young  Walter  How  came  to  the  office. 


Davis,  had  gone  away  on  some  firm  busi 
ness.  Cokeson  was  quickly  cleared.  When 
it  became  certain  that  the  check  stub 
had  been  altered  after  Davis  had  started 
on  his  trip,  suspicion  fell  on  Falder. 

The  bank  cashier  was  summoned.  He 
recognized  Falder  as  the  man  who  had 
cashed  the  check.  James  How  accused 
Falder  of  the  felony.  Falder  asked  for 
mercy,  but  How,  convinced  that  the 
felony  had  been  premeditated,  sent  for 
the  police.  Falder  was  arrested. 

When  the  case  came  to  court,  Frome, 
Falder's  counsel,  tried  to  show  that 
Falder  had  conceived  the  idea  and  car 
ried  it  out  within  the  space  of  four 
minutes,  and  that  at  the  time  he  had 
been  greatly  upset  by  the  difficulties  of 
Ruth  Honeywill  with  her  husband. 
Frome  called  Cokeson  as  the  first  wit- 


Cokeson    was    skeptical   of    the    young      ness,  and  the  managing  clerk  gave  the 
man's  desire  to  keep  the  firm  not  only  on      impression    that    Falder   had   not   been 


J°^GaI\W°1^^nP^S,by^J?ha  Gal*wortfcy-    By  pemission  of  the  publisher.,  Charles 
.    Copyright,  1909,  1910,  by  John  Galsworthy,  1928,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


466 


himself  on  the  day  in  question.  Ruth 
Honeywill  was  the  most  important  wit 
ness.  She  indicated  that  Falder  had 
altered  the  check  for  her  sake.  Cleaver, 
the  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  tried  his 
utmost  to  make  her  appear  an  undutiful 
wife. 

In  defense  of  Falder,  Frorne  tried  to 
press  the  point  that  Falder  had  been  al 
most  out  of  his  mind.  Cleaver  questioned 
Falder  until  the  clerk  admitted  that 
he  had  not  known  what  he  was  doing. 
Then  Cleaver  declared  Falder  had  known 
enough  to  keep  the  money  he  had 
stolen  and  to  turn  in  the  sum  for  which 
the  check  originally  had  been  written. 
The  jury  found  Falder  guilty  and  the 
judge  sentenced  him  to  three  years. 

At  Christmas  time  Cokeson  visited  the 
prison  on  Falder's  behalf.  He  attempted 
to  have  Falder  released  from  solitary 
confinement  and  asked  for  permission 
to  bring  Ruth  Honeywill  to  see  Falder. 
Cokeson 's  visit  accomplished  nothing. 
Both  the  chaplain  and  the  prison  gover 
nor  were  incfifferent  to  his  appeal. 

When  Falder  was  finally  released  on 
parole,  Ruth  Honeywill  went  to  in 
tercede  for  him  at  How's  office.  She 


intimated  that  she  had  kept  herself  and 
her  children  alive  by  living  with  another 
man  after  she  left  her  husband.  Falder 
went  to  tell  Cokeson  that  his  relatives 
wanted  to  give  him  money  to  go  to 
Canada.  He  was  depressed  and  ill  at 
ease;  he  had  seen  Ruth  only  once  since 
his  release.  James  How  made  it  clear 
that  if  Falder  refused  to  abide  by  strict 
standards  of  justice  there  would  be  no 
hope  that  the  firm  would  take  him  back. 
James  How,  aware  that  Ruth  Honey- 
will  had  been  living  with  another  man, 
crudely  broke  the  news  to  Falder.  He 
did,  however,  give  Falder  and  Ruth  an 
opportunity  to  talk  over  their  predica 
ment.  While  they  were  talking  in  a 
side  room,  a  detective  sergeant  came 
looking  for  Falder.  Falder  was  to  be 
arrested  again  because  he  had  failed  to 
report  to  the  police  according  to  the 
parole  agreement.  Although  How  and 
Cokeson  refused  to  disclose  Falder's 
whereabouts,  the  detective  discovered 
Falder  in  the  side  room.  As  he  was 
rearresting  Falder,  the  clerk  suddenly 
broke  loose  and  killed  himself  by  jump 
ing  from  the  office  window. 


KATE  FENNIGATE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Booth  Tarkington  (1869-1946) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  realism, 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  The  Middle  West 

First  published:  1943 

Principal  characters: 

KATE  FENNIGATE,  a  managing  woman 

AUNT  DAISY,  her  aunt 

MARY,  Aunt  Daisy's  daughter 

AMES  LANNTNG,  Mary's  husband 

CELIA,  their  daughter 

LAILA  CAPPER,  Kate's  schoolmate 

TUEE  SPEER,  Ames'  friend 

ME.  ROE,  owner  of  Roe  Metal  Products 

Critique: 

Twenty  years  intervene  between  the 
publication   o£  Alice  Adams  and  Kate 


Fennigate.    By  comparing  the  two,  ont 
observes  the  great  improvement  of  the 


KATE  FENNIGATE  by  Booth  Tarkington.    By  permission  of  Brandt  &  Brandt  and  the  publishers,  Doubledaj 
&  Co.,  Inc.   Copyright,  1943,  by  Booth  Tarkington, 


467 


latter  over  the  former.  A  single  protag 
onist  is  offered  to  the  reader  in  each 
novel;  but  the  technique  of  Kate  Fenni- 
gaie  is  vastly  superior  to  that  of  Alice 
Adams.  In  Kate  Fennigate  the  chief 
characters  have  more  of  a  third  dimen 
sion;  the  background  seems  more  real 
istic,  and,  as  a  whole,  the  novel  is  a 
more  unified  work. 

Tke  Story: 

Kate  Fennigate  was  a  manager,  even 
as  a  young  child;  she  influenced  her 
mother,  her  schoolmates,  and,  particular 
ly,  her  father.  But  because  of  her  good 
manners  Kate  was  never  offensive  in 
her  desire  to  lead.  Her  father,  who  had 
showed  great  promise  as  a  lawyer  when 
he  was  young,  had  permitted  both  wom 
en  and  liquor  to  interfere  with  his 
career.  Mrs,  Fennigate  had  no  great 
interest  in  life  except  eating,  and  Mr. 
Fennigate  had  no  great  interest  in  her. 
Kate  grew  into  a  pretty,  quiet,  well- 
mannered  girl  with  a  managing  complex. 
Her  only  intimate  was  Laila  Capper,  a 
self-centered,  unintelligent,  but  beauti 
ful  girl  who  attended  Miss  Carroll's  day 
school  with  Kate.  Kate  found  it  flatter 
ing  to  help  Laila  with  her  homework, 
and  to  get  for  her  invitations  to  parties  to 
which  Laila  would  not  otherwise  have 
been  invited. 

At  a  school  dance,  just  before  she 
graduated,  Kate  first  became  aware  of 
her  love  for  Ames  Lanning,  her  cousin 
Mary's  husband.  Not  long  after  Kate's 
graduation,  her  mother  died,  and  she 
and  her  father  sold  the  house  and  went 
to  Europe  for  two  years.  Her  father, 
who  had  been  ill  even  before  they  left 
America,  died  and  was  buried  in  Europe. 
When  Kate  returned  home,  Aunt 
Daisy,  the  tyrant  of  her  family,  insisted 
that  Kate  stay  with  her.  With  the  excuse 
of  protecting  Kate,  she  made  a  house 
hold  drudge  of  her.  Kate  was  nurse  to 
Mary,  Aunt  Daisy's  daughter,  governess 
to  Mary's  child,  Celia,  and  maid-of-all- 
work  about  the  house.  In  return,  she 
received  only  her  room  and  board.  Kate 


realized  what  Aunt  Daisy  was  doing,  but 
she  preferred  to  stay  on.  She  wanted 
to  help  Ames  make  something  of  his 
talents  as  a  lawyer  and  to  get  him  from 
under  his  mother-in-law's  thumb. 

Ames  introduced  Kate  to  Tuke  Speer, 
his  friend.  But  Laila  also  took  an  in 
terest  in  Tuke,  who  fell  deeply  in  love 
with  Kate's  friend.  Aunt  Daisy  taunted 
Kate  for  losing  out  to  Laila,  but  since 
Aunt  Daisy  did  not  guess  where  Kate's 
true  feelings  lay,  the  girl  did  not  mind. 

When  Mary,  a  semi-invalid  for  years, 
died,  Aunt  Daisy  was  inconsolable.  Her 
whole  life  had  been  wrapped  up  in 
her  child,  her  money,  and  her  house. 
The  first  of  her  interests  was  gone.  Kate 
convinced  Ames  that  he  could  now  take 
the  position  he  wanted  with  Mr.  Bort- 
shlert,  an  established  lawyer.  The  second 
blow  fell  on  Aunt  Daisy  not  long  after 
ward,  when  the  stock  market  crashed 
and  she  lost  everything.  Her  mind 
broken,  she  had  a  fall  from  the  roof 
and  lay  an  uncomprehending  invalid  for 
years  afterwards. 

Kate  obtained  a  position  at  the  Roe 
Metal  Products.  She  and  Ames  shared 
the  expenses  of  caring  for  Aunt  Daisy 
and  the  house,  which  no  one  would  buy. 
Tuke  asked  Kate  to  renew  her  friendship 
with  Laila  because  Laila  would  need 
someone  now  that  her  family  was  moving 
out  of  town.  Laila  became  a  frequent 
visitor  at  the  house  and  soon  tried  her 
wiles  on  Ames.  When  he  asked  Laila 
to  marry  him,  she  agreed,  but  later 
she  changed  her  mind  and  eloped  with 
Tuke  Speer.  Ames,  hurt  and  disillu 
sioned,  asked  Kate  to  marry  him.  She 
accepted. 

Ten  years  later  their  life  together 
was  running  smoothly  enough.  Officially, 
Ames  was  Mr.  Roe's  chief  adviser  at 
the  plant.  War  was  threatening,  and 
Roe  Metal  Products,  which  had  been 
expanding  all  during  the  depression, 
would  soon  open  its  fifth  plant.  Mr.  Roe 
thought  highly  of  both  Ames  and  Kate, 
and  they  planned  a  party  to  introduce  his 
twin  grandchildren,  Marjie  and  Marvin, 


468 


to  society.  Miley  Stuart,  a  new  young  en 
gineer  at  the  plant,  met  Celia  at  the  party 
and  the  two  became  good  friends.  After 
the  party  Ames  informed  Kate  that  he  was 
tired  of  her  efforts  to  manage  his  life. 
She  then  and  there  silently  resolved  to 
offer  him  no  more  suggestions. 

Laila,  who  in  the  passing  years  had 
lost  none  of  her  beauty,  had  also  lost 
none  of  her  selfishness.  She  had  hounded 
poor  Tuke  for  more  money  and  a  better 
position,  until  the  good-looking  young 
redhead  he  had  been  was  no  longer  vis 
ible  in  the  gaunt,  hollow-cheeked,  gray 
ing  man.  Laila  tormented  Tuke  by  once 
again  trying  her  charms  on  Ames.  Hav 
ing  built  up  among  their  friends  the 
idea  that  she  was  a  martyr  to  Tuke's 
drunken  moods,  she  nagged  him  into  an 
insulting  remark  while  they  were  calling 
on  the  Lannings.  Laila  turned  to  Ames 
for  comfort.  He  took  her  into  the  library, 
where  she  threw  herself,  weeping,  into 
his  arms.  Ames  tried  to  console  her 
and  ended  up  by  kissing  her.  Two  in 
terested  observers  of  that  scene  were 
Tuke,  who  was  looking  in  the  window 


from  outside,  and  Celia,  who  was  passing 
the  library  door.  Celia  also  saw  Tuke's 
face  while  he  watched  Laila  and  Ames 
in  each  other's  arms. 

Celia,  thoroughly  frightened,  asked 
Miley  Stuart  to  keep  an  eye  on  Tuke 
for  fear  he  would  do  something  violent. 
Planning  to  divorce  Tuke,  Laila  asked 
Ames  to  divorce  Kate  so  that  he  would 
be  free  to  marry  her.  When  she  revealed 
her  intention  to  Ames  in  his  office,  he 
was  aghast,  for  he  regarded  her  only  as 
a  good  friend  who  needed  help.  Laila 
was  furious  when  he  refused  to  do  as 
she  wished,  and  she  threatened  to  ruin 
him  with  false  gossip. 

It  was  necessary  for  Kate  to  become  a 
manager  once  more,  to  save  Ames  from 
disaster.  She  proposed  to  Ames  and  Mr. 
Roe  that  Tuke  be  offered  the  opportunity 
of  managing  the  New  York  office  for  the 
firm.  Tuke  accepted  the  position,  which 
provided  enough  money  to  allow  Laila 
to  live  in  the  manner  she  desired.  It 
also  took  her  far  away  from  Kate  and 
Ames. 


KENILWORTH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1575 

Locale:  England 

First  published;  1821 

Principal  characters: 

DUDLEY,  Earl  of  Leicester 

RICHARD  VARN^Y,  his  master  of  horse 

AMY  ROBSART,  wife  of  Dudley 

EDMUND  TRESSUJAN,  a  Cornish  gentleman,  friend  of  Amy  Robsart 

WAYLAND  SMITH,  his  servant 

THE  EARL  OF  SUSSEX 

QUEEN  ELTZABETH 

SrR  WALTER  RALEIGH 

MICHAEL  LAMBOURNE,  nephew  of  Giles  Gosling,  an  innkeeper 

DOCTOR  DOBOOBEE,  alias  Alasco,  an  astrologer  and  alchemist 

DICKIE  SLUDGE,  alias  Flibbertigibbet,  a  bright  child  and  friend  of  Wayland  Smith 

Critique: 


Kenilworth  is  evidence  that  Scott  spoke 
the  truth  when  he  said  that  the  sight  of 
a  ruined  castle  or  similar  relic  of  the 
medieval  period  made  him  wish  to  re 


construct  the  life  and  times  of  what  he 
saw.  Scott  spends  much  time  and  space 
in  setting  the  stage  for  the  action.  How 
ever,  this  scene  setting  is  not  without 


469 


literary  merit,  £01  it  offers  a  detailed 
historical  background  for  his  novel.  Al 
though  the  plot  itself  is  very  slight,  the 
characters  are  well  portrayed. 

The  Story: 

Michael  Lambourne,  who  in  his  early 
youth  had  been  a  ne'er-do-well,  had  just 
returned  from  his  travels.  While  drink 
ing  and  boasting  in  Giles  Gosling's  inn, 
he  wagered  that  he  could  gain  admittance 
to  Cumnor  Place,  a  large  manor  where 
an  old  friend  was  now  steward.  It  was 
rumored  in  the  village  that  Tony  Foster 
was  keeping  a  beautiful  young  woman 
prisoner  at  the  manor.  Edmund  Tressil- 
ian,  another  guest  at  the  inn,  went  with 
Michael  to  Cumnor  Place.  As  Tressilian 
had  suspected,  he  found  the  woman  there 
to  be  his  former  sweetheart,  Amy  Rob- 
sart,  apparently  a  willing  prisoner.  At 
Cumnor  Place  he  also  encountered  Rich 
ard  Vamey,  her  supposed  seducer,  and  a 
sword  fight  ensued.  The  duel  was  broken 
up  by  Michael  Lambourne,  who  had  de 
cided  to  ally  himself  with  his  old  friend, 
Tony  Foster. 

Contrary  to  Tressilian's  idea,  Amy  was 
not  Varney 's  paramour  but  the  lawful 
wife  of  Varney 's  master,  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  Varney  being  only  the  go- 
between  and  accomplice  in  Amy's  elope 
ment.  Leicester,  who  was  a  rival  of  the 
Earl  of  Sussex  for  Queen  Elizabeth's 
favor,  feared  that  the  news  of  his  mar 
riage  to  Amy  would  displease  the  queen, 
and  he  had  convinced  Amy  that  their 
marriage  must  be  kept  secret. 

Tressilian  returned  to  Lidcote  Hall  to 
obtain  Hugh  Robsarfs  permission  to  bring 
Varney  to  justice  on  a  charge  of  seduc 
tion.  On  his  way  there  he  employed  as 
his  manservant  Wayland  Smith,  for 
merly  an  assistant  to  Dr.  Doboobie,  an  al 
chemist  and  astrologer.  Later  he  visited 
the  Earl  of  Sussex,  through  whom  he 
hoped  to  petition  either  the  queen  or  the 
Earl  of  Leicester  in  Amy's  behalf.  While 
there,  Wayland  Smith  saved  Sussex's  life 
after  the  earl  had  been  poisoned. 

When  the  earl  heard  Tressilian's  story, 


he  presented  the  petition  directly  to  the 
queen.  Confronted  by  Elizabeth,  Var 
ney  swore  that  Amy  was  his  lawful  wife, 
and  Leicester,  who  was  standing  by,  con 
firmed  the  lie.  Elizabeth  then  ordered 
Varney  to  present  Amy  to  her  when  she 
visited  Kenil worth  the  following  week. 

Leicester  sent  a  letter  to  Amy  asking 
her  to  appear  at  Kenilworth  as  Varney 's 
wife.  She  refused.  In  order  to  have  an 
excuse  for  disobeying  Elizabeth's  orders 
regarding  Amy's  presence  at  Kenilworth, 
Varney  had  Alasco,  the  former  Dr.  Do 
boobie,  mix  a  potion  which  would  make 
Amy  ill  but  not  kill  her.  This  plan  was 
thwarted,  however,  by  Wayland  Smith, 
who  had  been  sent  by  Tressilian  to  help 
her.  She  escaped  from  Cumnor  Place  and 
with  the  assistance  of  Wayland  Smith 
made  her  way  to  Kenilworth  to  see 
Leicester, 

When  she  arrived  at  Kenilworth,  the 
place  was  bustling  in  preparation  for 
Elizabeth's  arrival  that  afternoon.  Way- 
land  Smith  took  Amy  to  Tressilian's 
quarters,  where  she  wrote  Leicester  a 
letter  telling  him  of  her  escape  from 
Cumnor  Place  and  asking  his  aid.  Way- 
land  Smith  lost  the  letter  and  through  a 
misunderstanding  he  was  ejected  from  the 
castle.  Amy,  disappointed  that  Leicester 
did  not  come  to  her,  left  her  apartment 
and  went  into  the  garden.  There  the 
queen  discovered  her.  Judging  Amy  to 
be  insane  because  of  her  contradictory 
statements,  she  returned  Amy  to  the  cus 
tody  of  Varney,  her  supposed  husband. 

Leicester  decided  to  confess  the  true 
story  to  the  queen.  But  Vamey,  afraid 
for  his  own  fortunes  if  Leicester  fell  from 
favor,  convinced  the  earl  that  Amy  had 
been  unfaithful  to  him,  and  that  Tres 
silian  was  her  lover.  Leicester,  acting 
upon  Vamey 's  lies,  decided  that  the  death 
of  Amy  and  her  lover  would  be  just  pun 
ishment.  Varney  took  Amy  back  to  Cum 
nor  Place  and  plotted  her  death.  Leices 
ter  relented  and  sent  Michael  Lam- 
bourne  to  tell  Varney  that  Amy  must  not 
die,  but  Varney  killed  Lambourne  in 
order  that  he  might  go  through  with  his 


470 


murder  of  Amy.  Leicester  and  Tressilian 
fought  a  duel,  but  before  either  harmed 
the  other  they  were  interrupted  by  Dickie 
Sludge,  the  child  who  had  stolen  Amy's 
letter.  Reading  it,  Leicester  realized  that 
Amy  had  been  faithful  to  him  and  that 
the  complications  of  the  affair  had  been 
caused  by  the  machinations  of  Varney. 

Leicester  immediately  went  to  the 
queen  and  told  her  the  whole  story. 
Elizabeth  was  angry,  but  she  sent  Tres 
silian  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  bring 
Amy  to  Kenil  worth.  Unfortunately, 
Tressilian  arrived  too  late  to  save  Amy. 


She  had  fallen  through  a  trapdoor  so 
rigged  that  when  she  stepped  upon  it 
she  plunged  to  her  death. 

Tressilian  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
seized  Varney  and  carried  him  off  to 
prison.  There  Varney  committed  suicide. 
Elizabeth  permitted  grief-stricken  Leices 
ter  to  retire  from  her  court  for  several 
years  but  later  recalled  him  and  installed 
him  once  more  in  her  favor.  Much  later 
in  life  he  remarried.  He  met  his  death 
as  a  result  of  poison  he  intended  for 
someone  else. 


KIDNAPPE0 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1751 

Locale:  Scotland 

First  published:  1886 

Principal  characters: 

DAVTD  BALFOUR,  who  was  kidnapped 
EBENEZER  BALFOUR  OF  SHAW,  his  uncle 
MR,  RANKEUXOR,  a  lawyer 
ALAN  BRECK,  a  Jacobite  adventurer 

Critique: 

For  a  tale  of  high  adventure,  told 
simply  but  colorfully,  there  are  few  to 
equal  Kidnapped.  Stevenson  was  a  master 
story-teller.  He  wove  this  tale  around  the 
great  and  the  small,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  men  of  virtue  and  scoundrels,  and 
each  character  was  truly  drawn.  A  stolen 
inheritance,  a  kidnapping,  a  battle  at 
sea,  several  murders — these  are  only  a 
few  of  the  adventures  that  befell  the  hero. 
It  is  easily  understood  why  Kidnapped 
is  a  favorite  with  all  who  read  it. 


The  Story: 

When  David  Balfour's  father  died,  the 
only  inheritance  he  left  his  son  was  a 
letter  to  Ebenezer  Balfour  of  Shaw,  who 
was  his  brother  and  David's  uncle.  Mr. 
Campbell,  the  minister  of  Essendean,  de 
livered  the  letter  to  David  and  told  him 
that  if  things  did  not  go  well  between 
David  and  his  uncle  he  was  to  return 


to  Essendean,  where  his  friends  would 
help  him.  David  set  off  in  high  spirits. 
The  house  of  Shaw  was  a  great  one  in 
the  Lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  David  was 
eager  to  take  his  rightful  place  among 
the  gentry.  He  did  not  know  why  his 
father  had  been  separated  from  his 
people. 

As  he  approached  the  great  house,  he 
began  to  grow  apprehensive.  Everyone 
of  whom  he  asked  the  way  had  a  curse 
for  the  name  of  Shaw  and  warned  him 
against  his  uncle.  But  he  had  gone  too 
far  and  was  too  curious  to  turn  back 
before  he  reached  the  mansion.  What 
he  found  was  not  a  great  house.  One 
wing  was  unfinished  and  many  windows 
were  without  glass.  No  friendly  smoke 
came  from  the  chimneys,  and  the  closed 
door  was  studded  with  heavy  nails. 

David  found  his  Uncle  Ebenezer  even 
more  forbidding  than  the  house,  and  he 


471 


began  to  suspect  that  his  uncle  had 
cheated  his  father  out  of  his  rightful 
inheritance.  When  his  uncle  tried  to 
kill  him,  he  was  sure  of  Ebenezer's  vil 
lainy.  His  uncle  promised  to  take  David 
to  Mr.  Rankeillor,  the  family  lawyer,  to 
get  the  true  story  of  David's  inheritance, 
and  they  set  out  for  Queen's  Ferry.  Be 
fore  they  reached  the  lawyer's  office, 
David  was  tricked  by  Ebenezer  and  Cap 
tain  Hoseason  into  boarding  the  Cove 
nant,  and  the  ship  sailed  away  with  David 
a  prisoner,  bound  for  slavery  in  the 
American  colonies. 

At  first  he  lived  in  filth  and  starvation 
in  the  bottom  of  the  ship.  The  only  per 
son  who  befriended  him  was  Mr.  Riach, 
the  second  officer.  Later,  however,  he 
found  many  of  the  roughest  seamen  to  be 
kind  at  times.  Mr.  Riach  was  kind  when 
he  was  drunk,  but  mean  when  he  was 
sober;  while  Mr.  Shuan,  the  first  officer, 
was  gentle  except  when  he  was  drinking. 
It  was  while  he  was  drunk  that  Mr. 
Shuan  beat  to  death  Ransome,  the  cabin 
boy,  because  the  boy  had  displeased  him. 
After  Ransome's  murder,  David  "became 
the  cabin  boy,  and  for  a  time  life  on  the 
Covenant  was  a  little  better. 

One  night  the  Covenant  ran  down  a 
small  boat  and  cut  her  in  two.  Only  one 
man  was  saved,  Alan  Breck,  a  High 
lander  of  Scotland  and  a  Jacobite  with 
a  price  on  his  head.  Alan  demanded  that 
Captain  Hoseason  set  him  ashore  among 
his  own  people,  and  the  captain  agreed. 
When  David  overheard  the  captain  and 
Mr.  Riach  planning  to  seize  Alan,  he 
warned  Alan  of  the  plot.  Together  the 
two  of  them  held  the  ship's  crew  at  bay, 
killing  Mr.  Shuan  and  three  others  and 
wounding  many  more,  including  Captain 
Hoseason.  Afterwards  Alan  and  David 
were  fast  friends  and  remained  so  during 
the  rest  of  their  adventures.  Alan  told 
David  of  his  part  in  the  rebellion  against 
King  George  and  of  the  way  he  was 
hunted  by  the  king's  men,  particularly  by 
Colin  of  Glenure,  known  as  the  Red 
Fox.  Alan  was  the  king's  enemy  while 
David  was  loyal  to  the  monarch,  yet  out 


of  mutual   respect  they  swore  to  help 
each  other  in  time  of  trouble. 

It  was  not  long  before  they  had  to 
prove  their  loyalty.  The  ship  broke  apart 
on  a  reef,  and  David  and  Alan,  separated 
at  first,  soon  found  themselves  together 
again,  deep  hi  the  part  of  the  Highlands 
controlled  by  Alan's  enemies.  When 
Colin  of  Glenure  was  murdered,  the 
blame  fell  on  Alan.  To  be  caught  meant 
they  would  both  hang.  So  began  their 
attempt  to  escape  to  the  Lowlands  and 
to  find  Mr.  Rankeillor,  their  only  chance 
for  help.  They  hid  by  day  and  traveled 
by  night.  Often  they  went  for  several 
days  without  food  and  only  a  flask  of  rum 
for  drink.  They  were  in  danger  not  only 
from  the  king's  soldiers,  but  also  from 
Alan's  own  people.  There  was  always  the 
danger  that  a  trusted  friend  would  betray 
them  for  the  reward  offered.  But  David 
was  to  learn  what  loyalty  meant.  Many 
of  Alan's  clan  endangered  themselves  to 
help  the  hunted  pair. 

When  David  was  too  weak  to  go  on 
and  wanted  to  give  up,  Alan  offered  to 
carry  him.  They  finally  reached  Queen's 
Ferry  and  Mr.  Rankeillor.  At  first  Mr. 
Rankeillor  was  skeptical  when  he  heard 
David's  story,  but  it  began  to  check  so 
well  with  what  he  had  heard  from  others 
that  he  was  convinced  of  the  boy's  hon 
esty;  and  he  told  David  the  whole  story 
of  his  father  and  his  Uncle  Ebenezer. 
They  had  both  loved  the  same  woman, 
and  David's  father  had  won  her.  Be 
cause  he  was  a  kind  man  and  because 
Ebenezer  had  taken  to  his  bed  over  the 
loss  of  the  woman,  David's  father  had 
given  up  his  inheritance  as  the  oldest 
son  in  favor  of  Ebenezer.  The  story  ex 
plained  to  David  why  his  uncle  had  tried 
to  get  rid  of  him.  Ebenezer  knew  that 
his  dealings  with  David's  father  would 
not  stand  up  in  the  courts,  and  he  was 
afraid  that  David  had  come  for  his  in 
heritance. 

With  the  help  of  Alan  and  Mr.  Ran 
keillor,  David  was  able  to  frighten  his 
uncle  so  much  that  Ebenezer  offered  him 
two-thirds  of  the  yearly  income  from  the 


472 


land.  Because  David  did  not  want  to 
submit  his  family  to  public  scandal  in 
the  courts,  and  because  he  could  better 
help  Alan  if  the  story  of  their  escape 
were  kept  quiet,  he  agreed  to  the  settle 
ment.  In  this  way  he  was  able  to  help 
Alan  reach  safety  and  pay  his  debt  to  his 
friend. 


So  ended  the  adventures  of  David  Bal- 
four  of  Shaw.  He  had  been  kidnapped 
and  sent  to  sea;  he  had  known  -danger 
and  untold  hardships;  he  had  traveled  the 
length  of  his  native  island;  but  now  he 
had  come  home  to  take  his  rightful  place 
among  his  people. 


KIM 

Type  of  work  Novel 

Author:  Rudyard  Kipling  (1865-1936) 

Type  of  'plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  British  India 

First -published:  1901 

Principal  characters: 

KIMBALL  O'HAJRA  (Km),  a  street  boy 

A  TIBETAN  LAMA,  Kim's  teacher 

MAHBUB  An,  a  horse  trader 

COLONEL  CREIGHTON,  director  of  the  British  Secret  Service 

HURREE  CHUNT>ER  MOOKEEJEE,  a  ba"bu 

Critique: 

Kim  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  the  com 
plexities  of  India  under  British  rule.  It 
shows  the  life  of  the  bazaar  mystics,  of 
the  natives,  of  the  British  military.  The 
dialogue,  as  well  as  much  of  the  indirect 
discourse,  makes  use  of  Indian  phrases, 
translated  by  the  author,  to  give  the 
flavor  of  native  speech.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  action  and  movement,  for  Kip 
ling's  vast  canvas  is  painted  in  full  derail. 
There  are  touches  of  irony  as  well  as  a 
display  of  native  shrewdness  and  cun 
ning. 


The  Story: 

Kim  grew  up  on  the  streets  of  Lahore. 
His  Irish  mother  had  died  when  he 
was  born.  His  father,  a  former  color- 
sergeant  of  an  Irish  regiment  called  the 
Mavericks,  died  eventually  of  drugs  and 
drink,  and  left  his  son  in  the  care  of  a 
half-caste  woman.  So  young  Kimball 
O'Hara  became  Earn,  and  under  the 
hot  Indian  sun  his  skin  grew  so  dark 
that  one  could  not  tell  he  was  a  white 
boy. 


One  day  a  Tibetan  lama,  in  search  of 
the  holy  River  o£  the  Arrow  that  would 
wash  away  all  sin,  came  to  Lahore. 
Struck  by  the  possibility  of  exciting  ad 
venture,  Kim  attached  himself  to  the 
lama  as  his  pupil.  His  adventures  began 
almost  at  once.  That  night,  at  the  edge 
of  Lahore,  Mahbub  Ali,  a  horse  trader, 
gave  Kim  a  cryptic  message  to  deliver 
to  a  British  officer  in  Umballa.  Kim  did 
not  know  that  Mahbub  was  a  member 
of  the  British  Secret  Service.  He  de 
livered  the  message  as  directed,  and 
then  lay  in  the  grass  and  watched  and 
listened  until  he  learned  that  his  message 
meant  that  eight  thousand  men  would 
go  to  war. 

Out  on  the  big  road  the  lama  and  Kim 
encountered  many  people  of  all  sorts. 
Conversation  was  easy.  One  group  in 
particular  interested  Kim,  an  old  lady 
traveling  in  a  family  bullock  cart  at 
tended  by  a  retinue  of  eight  men.  Kim 
and  the  lama  attached  themselves  to  her 
party*  Toward  evening,  they  saw  a 
group  of  soldiers  making  camp.  It  was 


KIM  by  Rudyard  Kipling.    By  permission  of  Mrs.  George  Bambridge  and  the  publishers,  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc 
Copyright,  1900,  1901,  by  Rudyard  Kipling.   Renewed,  1927,  by  Rudyard. 


473 


the  Maverick  regiment.  Kim,  whose 
horoscope  said,  that  his  life  would  be 
changed  at  the  sign  of  a  red  bull  in  a 
field  of  green,  was  fascinated  by  the 
regimental  flag,  which  was  just  that,  a 
red  bull  against  a  background  of  bright 
green. 

Caught  by  a  chaplain,  the  Reverend 
Arthur  Bennett,  Kim  accidentally  jerked 
loose  the  amulet  which  he  carried  around 
his  neck.  Mr.  Bennett  opened  the  amu 
let  and  discovered  three  papers  folded 
inside,  including  Kim's  baptismal  certifi 
cate  and  a  note  from  his  father  asking 
that  the  boy  be  taken  care  of.  Father 
Victor  arrived  in  time  to  see  the  papers. 
When  Kim  had  told  his  story,  he  was 
informed  that  he  would  be  sent  away 
to  school.  Kim  parted  sadly  from  the 
lama,  sure,  however,  that  he  would  soon 
escape.  The  lama  asked  that  Father 
Victor's  name  and  address,  and  the  costs 
of  schooling  Kim,  be  written  down  and 
given  to  him.  Then  he  disappeared. 
Kim,  pretending  to  prophesy,  told  the 
priests  what  he  had  heard  at  Umballa. 
They  and  the  soldiers  laughed  at  him. 
But  the  next  day  his  prophecy  came 
true,  and  eight  thousand  soldiers  were 
sent  to  put  down  an  uprising  in  the 
north.  Kim  remained  in  camp. 

One  day  a  letter  arrived  from  the 
lama.  He  enclosed  enough  money  for 
Kim's  first  year  at  school  and  promised 
to  provide  the  same  amount  yearly.  He 
requested  that  the  boy  be  sent  to  St. 
Xavier's  for  his  education.  Meanwhile 
the  drummer  who  was  keeping  an  eye 
on  Kim  had  been  cruel  to  his  charge. 
When  Mahbub  Ali  came  upon  the  two 
boys,  he  gave  the  drummer  a  beating, 
and  began  talking  to  Kim.  While  they 
were  thus  engaged,  Colonel  Creigh- 
ton  came  up  and  learned  from  Mahbub 
Ali,  in  an  indirect  way,  that  Kim  would 
be,  when  educated,  a  valuable  member  of 
the  secret  service, 

At  last  Kim  was  on  his  way  to  St. 
Xavier's,  Near  the  school  he  spied  the 
lama,  who  had  been  waiting  a  day  and 
a  half  to  see  him.  They  agreed  to  see 


each  other  often.  Kim  was  an  apt  pupil, 
but  he  disliked  being  shut  up  in  class 
rooms  and  dormitories.  When  vacation 
time  came,  he  went  to  Umballa  and  per 
suaded  Mahbub  Ali  to  let  him  return 
to  the  road  until  school  reopened. 

Traveling  with  Mahbub  Ali,  he  played 
the  part  of  a  horse  boy  and  saved  the 
trader's  life  when  he  overheard  two 
men  plotting  to  kill  the  horse  dealer. 
At  Simla,  Kim  stayed  with  Mr.  Lurgan, 
who  taught  him  a  great  many  subtle 
tricks  and  games  and  the  art  of  make-up 
and  disguise.  For,  as  Mahbub  Ali  had 
said,  he  was  now  learning  the  great 
game,  as  the  work  of  the  secret  service 
was  called.  At  the  end  of  the  summer 
Kim  returned  to  St.  Xavier's.  He  studied 
there  for  a  total  of  three  years. 

In  conference  with  Mr.  Lurgan  and 
Colonel  Creighton,  Mahbub  Ali  ad 
vised  that  Kim  be  permitted  once  more 
to  go  out  on  the  road  with  his  lama. 
Kim's  skin  was  stained  dark  and  again 
he  resumed  the  dress  of  a  street  boy. 
Given  the  password  by  Hurree  Chunder 
Mookerjee,  a  babu  who  was  another 
member  of  the  secret  service,  Kim  set 
out  with  his  lama  after  begging  a  train 
ticket  to  Delhi. 

Still  seeking  his  river,  the  lama  moved 
up  and  down  India  with  Kirn  as  his 
disciple.  The  two  of  them  once  more 
encountered  the  old  woman  they  had 
met  on  the  road  three  years  before.  A 
little  later  Kim  was  surprised  to  see  the 
babu,  who  told  him  that  two  of  the  five 
kings  of  the  north  had  been  bribed 
and  that  the  Russians  had  sent  spies 
down  into  India  through  the  passes  that 
the  kings  had  agreed  to  guard.  Two 
men,  a  Russian  and  a  Frenchman,  were 
to  be  apprehended,  and  the  babu  asked 
Kim's  aid.  To  the  lama  Kim  suggested 
a  journey  into  the  foothills  of  the 
Himalayas,  and  so  he  was  able  to  follow 
the  babu  on  his  mission. 

During  a  storm  the  babu  came  upon 
the  two  foreigners.  Discovering  that  one 
of  their  baskets  contained  valuable  let 
ters,  including  a  message  from  one  of 


474 


the  traitorous  kings,  he  offered  to  be 
their  guide,  and  in  two  days  he  had  led 
them  to  the  spot  where  Kim  and  the  lama 
were  camped.  When  the  foreigners  tore 
almost  in  two  a  holy  drawing  made  by 
the  lama,  the  babu  created  a  disturbance 
in  which  the  coolies,  according  to  plan, 
carried  off  the  men's  luggage.  The  lama 
conducted  Kim  to  the  village  of  Sham- 
legh.  There  Kim  examined  all  of  the 
baggage  which  the  coolies  had  carried 
off.  Everything  except  letters  and  note 
books  he  threw  over  an  unscalable  cliff. 
The  documents  he  hid  on  his  person. 
In  a  few  days  Kim  and  the  lama  set 
out  again.  At  last  they  came  to  the 
house  of  the  old  woman  who  had  be 


friended  them  twice  before.  When  she 
saw  Kirn's  emaciated  condition,  she  put 
him  to  bed,  where  he  slept  many  days. 
Before  he  went  to  sleep,  he  asked  that 
a  strongbox  be  brought  to  him.  In  it  he 
deposited  his  papers;  then  he  locked 
the  box  and  hid  it  under  his  bed.  When 
he  woke  up,  he  heard  that  the  babu 
had  arrived,  and  to  him  Kim  delivered 
the  papers.  The  babu  told  him  that 
Mahbub  All  was  also  in  the  vicinity. 
They  assured  Kim  that  he  had  played 
his  part  well  in  the  great  game.  The  old 
lama  knew  nothing  of  these  matters. 
He  was  happy  because  Kim  had  brought 
him  to  his  river  at  last,  a  brook  on  the 
old  lady's  estate. 


KING  SOLOMON'S  MINES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  H.  Rider  Haggard  (1856-1925) 

Type  of  'plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  Nineteenth  century 

locale:  Africa 

First  published:    1886 

Principal  characters: 

ALLAN  QUATERMAIN,  an  English  explorer 

SIR  HENRY  CURTIS,  his  friend 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  GOOD.,  Curtis'  friend 

UMBOPA,  a  Zulu,  in  reality  Ignosi,  hereditary  chieftain  of  the  Kukuanas 

TWALA,  ruler  of  the  Kukuanas 

GAGOOL,  a  native  sorceress 

Critique: 

This  story  of  the  search  for  King 
Solomon's  legendary  lost  treasure,  hidden 
in  the  land  of  the  Kukuanas,  provides 
absorbing  reading  for  children  and  adults 
alike.  The  slaughter  provoked  by  the 
cruelty  of  King  Twala  and  the  character 
of  the  ancient  sorceress,  Gagool,  make 
King  Solomons  Mines  a  book  which  is 
not  soon  forgotten. 


The  Story: 

Returning  to  his  home  in  Natal  after 
an  unsuccessful  elephant  hunt,  Allan 
Quatennain  met  aboard  ship  Sir  Henry 
Curtis  and  his  friend,  retired  Captain 
John  Good.  Sir  Henry  inquired  whether 
Quatermain  nad  met  a  man  named 
Neville  in  the  Transvaal.  Learning  that 


he  had,  Sir  Henry  explained  that  Neville 
was  his  younger  brother,  George,  witt 
whom  ne  had  quarreled.  When  Sii 
Henry  inherited  his  parents'  estate, 
George  had  taken  the  name  Neville  and 
had  gone  to  Africa  to  seek  his  fortune 
He  had  not  been  heard  from  since. 

Quatermain  said  that  Neville  was  re 
ported  to  have  started  for  King  Solomon's 
Mines,  diamond  mines  reputed  to  lie 
far  in  the  interior.  Ten  years  before  he 
himself  had  met  a  Portuguese,  Jose  Sil- 
vestre,  who  had  tried  unsuccessfully  to 
cross  the  desert  to  the  mines  and  had 
dragged  himself  into  his  camp  to  die. 
Before  he  expired,  Jose  had  given  him 
a  map  showing  the  location  of  the 
treasure.  It  was  written  on  a  piece  of 


475 


a  shirt  which  had  belonged  to  his  relative, 
another  Jose  Silvestre,  three  hundred 
years  before.  That  Silvestre  had  seen 
the  mines,  but  had  died  in  the  mountains 
while  trying  to  return.  His  servant  had 
brought  the  map  back  to  his  family,  and 
it  had  been  passed  down  through  suc 
ceeding  generations  of  the  Silvestre  fam 
ily.  By  the  time  the  ship  reached  Natal, 
Quatermain  had  agreed  to  help  Sir  Henry 
Curtis  find  his  brother. 

In  Natal,  Quatermain  got  their  equip 
ment  together,  and  the  trio  chose  the 
five  men  who  were  to  go  with  them. 
Besides  the  driver  and  the  leader  for  the 
oxen  which  were  to  pull  their  cart,  they 
hired  three  servants;  a  Hottentot  named 
Ventvogel,  and  two  Zulus,  Khiva  and 
Umbopa.  Umbopa  explained  that  his 
tribe  lived  far  to  the  north,  in  the  direc 
tion  in  which  they  were  traveling,  and 
that  he  was  willing  to  serve  for  nothing 
if  he  might  go  with  the  party.  Quater 
main  was  suspicious  of  the  native's  offer, 
but  Sir  Henry  agreed  to  take  Umbopa 
as  his  servant 

On  the  journey  from  Durban  they 
lost  Khiva  when,  trying  to  save  Captain 
Good  from  attack  by  a  wounded  bull 
elephant,  the  native  was  torn  in  two  by 
the  animal.  At  Sitandra's  Kraal,  at  the 
edge  of  the  desert,  the  men  left  all  the 
equipment  they  could  not  carry  on  their 
backs.  Quatermain's  plan  was  to  travel 
at  night  so  as  to  avoid  the  heat  of  the 
sun  and  to  sleep  during  the  day.  On 
the  third  day  out,  however,  the  men 
could  find  no  shelter  from  the  heat. 
They  decided  that  trekking  was  more 
comfortable  than  trying  to  rest.  By  the 
fourth  day  they  were  out  of  water,  but 
on  the  following  day  Ventvogel  dis 
covered  a  spring.  Refreshing  themselves, 
they  started  off  again  that  night.  At  the 
end  of  the  next  night  they  reached  the 
lower  slope  of  a  mountain  marked  on 
the  map  as  Sheba's  left  breast.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  mountain  lay  King 
Solomon's  road,  which  was  supposed  to 
lead  to  the  diamond  mines. 

The  climb  up  the  mountain  was  not 


an  easy  one.  The  higher  they  ascended, 
the  colder  it  grew.  At  the  top  of  the 
ridge  they  found  a  cave  and  climbed 
into  it  to  spend  the  night.  Ventvogel 
froze  to  death  before  morning. 

Ventvogel  was  not  the  only  dead  man 
in  the  cave.  The  next  morning,  when 
it  grew  light,  one  of  the  party  saw  the 
body  of  a  white  man  in  its  rocky  recesses. 
Quatermain  decided  that  it  was  the  body 
of  the  first  Jose  Silvestre,  preserved  by 
the  cold. 

Leaving  the  bodies  in  the  cave,  the 
remaining  men  started  down  the  moun 
tain  slope.  As  the  mist  cleared  they  could 
distinguish  fertile  lands  and  woods  be 
low  them.  Reaching  King  Solomon's 
road,  they  followed  it  into  the  valley. 
The  road  was  a  magnificent  engineering 
feat  which  crossed  a  ravine  and  even 
tunneled  through  a  ridge.  In  the  tunnel 
the  walls  were  decorated  with  figures 
driving  in  chariots.  Sir  Henry  declared 
the  pictures  had  been  painted  by  ancient 
Egyptians. 

When  Quatermain  and  his  party  had 
descended  to  the  valley,  they  stopped 
to  eat  and  rest  beside  a  stream.  Captain 
Good  undressed  to  shave  and  bathe. 
Suddenly  Quatermain  realized  that  they 
were  being  observed  by  a  party  of  natives. 
As  the  leader  of  the  band,  an  old  man 
stepped  up  to  speak  to  them,  Quater 
main  saw  that  he  greatly  resembled  Um 
bopa. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  Captain  Good's 
peculiarities,  the  four  men  would  surely 
have  been  killed.  Luckily,  Captain 
Good's  false  teeth,  bare  legs,  half -shaven 
face  and  monocle  fascinated  the  savages 
so  that  they  were  willing  to  believe 
Quatermain's  story  that  he  and  his 
friends  had  descended  from  the  stars. 
To  make  the  story  more  credible,  he  shot 
an  antelope  with  what  he  declared  was 
his  magic  tube.  At  Quatermain's  in 
sistence,  the  old  man,  whose  name  was 
Infadoos,  agreed  to  lead  the  men  to 
Twala,  King  of  the  Kukuanas.  After 
a  three-day  journey  Quatermain  and  his 
party  reached  Loo,  where  Twala  was 


476 


holding  his  summer  festival.  The  white 
men  were  introduced  to  the  hideous  one- 
eyed  giant  before  an  assemblage  of 
eight  thousand  of  his  soldiers. 

Before  Twala's  annual  witch  hunt 
began  that  evening,  the  four  travelers 
had  a  conference  with  Infadoos.  From 
him  they  learned  that  Twala  and  his 
son,  Scragga,  were  hated  for  their  cruel 
ty.  Umbopa  then  revealed  that  he  was, 
in  reality,  Ignosi,  son  of  the  rightful 
king,  whom  Twala  had  murdered.  On 
the  death  of  her  husband  his  mother 
had  fled  across  the  mountains  and  desert 
with  her  child.  As  proof  of  his  claim, 
Ignosi  displayed  a  snake  which  was 
tattooed  around  his  middle.  The  snake 
was  the  sign  of  Kukuana  kingship. 

All  the  men,  including  Infadoos, 
agreed  that  they  would  help  him  over 
come  Twala  and  gain  the  throne.  In 
fadoos  declared  that  he  would  speak  to 
some  of  the  chiefs  after  the  witch  hunt 
and  win  them  to  IgnosTs  cause.  He  was 
certain  that  they  could  have  twenty 
thousand  men  in  their  ranks  by  the  next 
morning. 

That  night  Gagool  and  her  sister  sor 
ceresses  helped  Twala  search  out  over 
a  hundred  of  his  men  charged  with  evil 
thoughts  or  plots  against  their  sovereign. 
When  in  their  wild  dances  they  stopped 
before  any  one  of  the  twenty  thousand 
soldiers  who  were  drawn  up  in  review, 
the  victim  was  immediately  stabbed  to 
death.  Gagool  did  not  hesitate,  in  her 
blood  thirst,  to  stop  in  front  of  Ignosi. 
Quatennain  and  his  friends  fired  their 
guns  to  impress  Twala  and  persuade 
him  that  Ignosi's  life  should  be  spared. 

Infadoos  was  true  to  his  word.  He 
brought  the  chiefs  he  could  muster,  and 
Ignosi  again  exhibited  the  tattooing 
around  his  waist.  The  men  feared  he 
might  be  an  impostor,  however,  and 
asked  for  a  further  sign.  Captain  Good, 
who  knew  from  his  almanac  that  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun  was  due,  swore  that 
they  would  darken  the  sun  the  follow 
ing  day. 

King  Twala,  continuing  his  festival, 


had  his  maidens  dance  before  him  the 
next  afternoon.  When  they  had  finished, 
he  asked  Quatermain  to  choose  the  most 
beautiful,  it  being  his  custom  to  have 
the  loveliest  of  the  dancers  slain  each 
year.  The  girl  Foulata  was  selected,  but 
before  she  could  be  killed  the  white  men 
interfered  on  her  behalf.  As  they  did 
so,  the  sun  began  to  darken.  Scragga, 
mad  with  fear,  threw  his  spear  at  Sir 
Henry,  but  the  Englishman  was  luckily 
wearing  a  mail  shirt,  a  present  from 
Twala.  Seizing  the  weapon,  he  hurled 
it  back  at  Scragga  and  killed  him. 

Quatennain  and  his  friends,  including 
Infadoos  and  the  girl,  took  advantage  of 
the  eclipse  to  flee  from  the  town  with 
the  chiefs  who  had  rallied  to  them.  On 
a  hill  about  two  miles  from  Loo  ap 
proximately  twenty  thousand  men  pre 
pared  for  battle. 

Twala's  regiments,  numbering  about 
thirty  thousand  soldiers,  attacked  the 
next  day.  They  were  driven  back  and 
then  set  upon  by  their  enemies  who, 
driving  at  them  from  three  directions, 
surrounded  and  slaughtered  many  of 
the  Kukuanas.  The  vanquished  Twala 
was  slain  in  a  contest  with  Sir  Henry, 
who  lopped  off  his  head  with  a  battle- 
ax. 

In  return  for  the  help  which  his  white 
friends  had  given  him,  the  new  king, 
Ignosi,  ordered  Gagool  to  lead  them  to 
King  Solomon's  mines,  which  lay  in  the 
mountains  at  the  other  end  of  the  great 
road.  Deep  into  the  hills  they  went,  past 
three  enormous  figures  carved  in  the 
rock,  images  which  Quatermain  believed 
might  be  the  three  false  gods  for  whom 
Solomon  had  gone  astray.  To  reach  the 
treasure  room  they  had  to  pass  through 
a  cave  which  Gagool  called  the  Place  of 
Death.  There,  seated  around  a  table, 
were  all  the  dead  kings  of  the  Kukuanas, 
petrified  by  siliceous  water  dripping  upon 
them. 

While  the  men  stood  dumbfounded 
by  the  sight,  Gagool,  unobserved  moved 
a  lever  which  caused  a  massive  stone  to 
rise,  On  the  other  side  of  it  were  boxes 


477 


full   of  diamonds  and   stores  of  ivory. 

As  the  men  stood  gloating  over  the 
treasure,  Gagool  crept  away.  After  stab 
bing  Foulata  fatally,  she  released  a  lever 
to  bring  the  door  down  again.  Before 
she  could  pass  under  it  to  the  other 
side,  however,  it  dropped  and  crushed 
her. 

For  several  hours  Quatermain  and  his 
friends  believed  that  they  were  buried 
alive,  for  thev  had  no  idea  where  to  find 
the  secret  of  the  door.  At  last,  in  the 
dark,  they  found  a  lever  which  dis 
closed  a  subterranean  passage.  Through 
it  they  found  their  way  once  more  to  tie 
outside  and  to  Infadoos,  who  was  waiting 
for  them. 

A  few  weeks  later  some  of  Ignosfs  men 
guided  them  out  of  Kukuanaland,  across 
the  mountains,  and  on  the  first  stage  of 
their  trip  back  across  the  desert.  The 
only  treasure  they  had  with  them  was 


a  handful  of  diamonds  Quatermain  had 
stuffed  into  his  pockets  before  they  found 
a  way  out  of  the  treasure  room. 

Their  guides  who  knew  of  a  better 
trail  than  that  by  which  the  travelers 
had  come,  led  them  to  an  oasis  from 
which  they  could  pass  on  to  other  green 
spots  along  their  way. 

On  their  return  trip  they  found,  near 
the  bank  of  a  stream,  a  small  hut  and  in  it 
Sir  Henry's  lost  brother,  George.  He  had 
been  badly  injured  by  a  boulder,  two 
years  before,  and  had  not  been  able  to 
travel  since  that  time.  Quatermain  and 
his  friends  supported  George  across  the 
desert  to  SitancLra's  Kraal,  and  then  on  to 
Quatermain's  home.  According  to  their 
agreement  before  setting  out  on  the  ex 
pedition,  the  diamonds  were  divided.  He 
and  Captain  Good  each  kept  a  third,  and 
the  rest  of  the  stones  they  gave  to 
George,  Sir  Henry's  brother. 


KING'S  ROW 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Henry  Belkmann  (1882-1945) 

Type  of  ylat:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  'plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  Middle  West 

First  published:  1940 

Principal  characters: 

PARRIS  MITCHELL,  of  King's  Row 

DRAKE  McHtiGH,  Parris*  mend 

RA*O>Y  MONACHAL,  who  married  McHugh 

CASSANDRA  TOWER  (CASsrE),  Parris*  friend 

ELTSB  SANBOH,  newcomer  to  Ring's  Row,  Parris'  friend 


Critique: 

Although  Parris  Mitchell  is  the  hero  of 
this  novel,  the  story  is  also  that  of  his 
home  town,  King's  Row.  For  the  struggle 
is  always  between  Parris  and  the  town. 
Life  in  King's  Row  is  more  tragic  than 
happy,  and  Henry  Rellamann  has  vividly 
depicted  the  town  and  its  people.  The 
result  is  an  extremely  skillful  and  moving 
storv. 


The  Story: 

Parris  Mitchell  lived  with  his  German- 
born  grandmother*  Speaking  English 
with  a  decided  accent,  he  seemed  dif 
ferent  from  the  other  boys  his  own  age, 
and  he  was,  consequently,  much  alone. 
He  had  only  a  few  friends.  There  was 
Jamie  Wakefield,  whom  Parris  liked  but 
who  made  him  feel  uncomfortable. 
There  was  Renee,  with  whom  he  went 


JONG'S  ROW  fay  Henry  Bellamann.   By  permission  of  Ann  Watkins,  Inc.    Published  by  Simon  &  Schuster,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1940,  by  Henry  BeUanoann. 


478 


swimming  and  experienced  his  first  love 
affair.  Renee  suddenly  moved  away. 
Later  Cassandra  Tower  gave  herself  to 
him.  Although  he  always  remembered 
Rene"e,  he  was  also  in  love  with  Cassie. 
But  his  best  friend  was  another  orphan 
like  himself,  Drake  McHugh,  a  young 
idler  whose  life  was  almost  completely 
concerned  with  women. 

Parris  studied  with  Cassie's  father,  Dr. 
Tower,  a  mysterious  figure  in  King's 
Row,  but  a  doctor  who  other  physicians 
admitted  was  superior  to  them  in  knowl 
edge.  Parris'  grandmother,  Madame  von 
Eln,  saw  to  it,  too,  that  he  studied  the 
piano  with  Dr.  Perdorff.  His  grand 
mother  arranged  her  affairs  so  that  he 
could  go  to  Vienna  for  his  medical 
studies. 

He  knew  that  his  grandmother  was 
dying  because  Cassie  Tower  told  him  so. 
Shortly  after  her  death,  Cassie  herself 
died,  shot  by  Dr.  Tower,  who  later  com 
mitted  suicide,  leaving  his  money  and 
property  to  Parris.  Parris  went  to  stay 
with  Drake  McHugh,  who  lived  by  him 
self  following  the  deaths  of  his  aunt  and 
uncle.  Drake  told  Parris  not  to  mention 
to  anyone  his  connection  with  the 
Towers.  No  one  knew  why  Dr.  Tower 
had  killed  himself  and  Cassie.  While 
going  through  Dr.  Tower's  papers,  Parris 
discovered  that  Dr.  Tower  had  been  hav 
ing  incestuous  relations  with  his  daugh 
ter. 

While  Parris  was  in  Europe,  Drake 
continued  his  life  of  pleasure.  His 
romance  with  Louise  Gordon,  daughter 
of  a  local  doctor,  was  forbidden  by  her 
parents.  Drake  made  plans  to  invest  in 
a  real  estate  development.  In  the  mean 
time,  he  became  friendly  with  Randy 
Monaghan,  daughter  of  a  railroad  em 
ployee.  Then  Drake's  guardian  ab 
sconded  with  his  money  and  he  was 
left  penniless.  For  weeks  he  haunted  the 
saloons  and  drank  heavily.  One  morning, 
unkempt  and  weary,  he  went  to  Randy's 
home.  Shortly  afterward  Randy's  father 
got  him  a  job  on  the  railroad.  One  day 
he  had  an  accident.  Dr.  Gordon  was 


summoned,  and  he  immediately  ampu 
tated  both  of  Drake's  legs. 

Meanwhile  Parris  had  known  nothing 
of  what  had  happened  to  his  friend,  for 
Drake  asked  Randy  and  Jamie  Wakefield 
not  to  mention  his  misfortunes  in  their 
letters  to  Parris.  But  after  the  accident 
Randy  wrote  to  Parris,  who  answered 
and  gave  instructions  for  taking  care  of 
Drake.  A  short  time  later,  Randy  and 
Drake  were  married.  Parris  cabled  con 
gratulations  and  turned  over  the  Tower 
property  to  them. 

With  that  money,  Drake  and  Randy 
went  into  the  real  estate  business.  Then 
Parris  came  back  to  King's  Row  as  a 
staff  physician  at  the  insane  asylum. 
Louise  Gordon  suddenly  accused  her 
father  of  having  been  a  butcher,  of 
having  performed  needless  operations  and 
amputations.  When  Mrs.  Gordon  called 
in  Dr.  Mitchell  to  attend  Louise,  he  was 
advised  by  his  superior,  Dr.  Nolan,  that 
Louise  would  fall  in  love  with  him.  In 
fact,  local  gossip  was  already  linking 
Dr.  Mitchell's  name  with  Louise. 

Parris  investigated  Louise's  charges  and 
found  them  to  be  true.  With  that  dis 
covery,  he  realized  that  Drake's  legs 
had  been  cut  off  perhaps  needlessly. 
Parris  told  Randy  that  at  the  bottom  of 
every  tragedy  in  King's  Row  the  hand 
of  Dr.  Gordon  could  probably  be  found. 
Drake  and  Randy  made  Parris  a  silent 
partner  in  their  business.  While  he  was 
away  on  another  trip  to  Europe,  a  local 
newspaper  published  a  story  charging  he 
had  profited  from  the  sale  of  land  to  the 
hospital.  Following  the  advice  of  Dr. 
Nolan,  Parris  kept  silent  and  nothing 
came  of  the  charges. 

Parris  became  friendly  with  Elise 
Sandor,  whose  father  had  bought  his 
grandmother's  house,  and  soon  he  was 
spending  much  of  his  time  there.  Then 
Drake  McHugh  became  seriously  ill,  and 
it  seemed  clear  that  his  illness  resulted 
from  the  amputation,  Parris  knew  that 
his  friend  had  no  chance  to  survive. 
Drake  died  several  weeks  later. 

Randy,  only  thirty-two  years  old,  was 


479 


a  widow.  She  decided  to  sell  the  busi 
ness  and  look  after  her  brother  Tod,  who 
was  mentally  incompetent.  Those  hap 
penings  were  all  matters  of  concern  to 


Dr.  Parris  Mitchell  on  the  night  he 
walked  towards  the  Sandor  home  where 
Elise  was  waiting  for  him. 


THE  KNIGHTS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Aristophanes  (c.  448-385  B.C.) 

Type  of  plot:  Political  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Fifth  century  B.C. 

Locale:  Athens 

First  -presented:  424  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

DEMUS,  a  slave  master,  a  personification  of  the  Athenian  people 

DEMOSTHENES,  slave  of  Dennis 

NICIAS,  another  slave 

GLEON  THE  PAPHLAGONIAN,  a  favorite  slave  and  a  personification 
of  the  Athenian  tyrant 

A  SAUSAGE-SELLER,  later  called  Agoracritus 
Critique: 

In  426  B.C.,  Cleon,  tyrant  of  Athens, 
accused  Aristophanes  of  fraudulently  us 
ing  the  privileges  of  his  citizenship.  In 
this  play,  presented  two  years  later,  the 
playwright  attacked  and  ridiculed  his 
powerful  enemy,  whom  he  presents  as  a 
fawning  slave  to  his  master  but  insolent 
and  arrogant  to  his  fellow  slaves.  As 
political  satire,  the  play  is  one  of  wit  and 
wisdom.  Aristophanes*  message  is  that  as 
long  as  men  will  not  look  beyond  their 
noses,  they  will  continue  to  sell  each 
other  short,  never  realizing  that  at  the 
same  time  they  are  giving  themselves  the 
shortest  weight. 


The  Story: 

Demus,  a  selfish  and  irritable  old  man, 
a  tyrant  to  his  slaves,  had  purchased  a 
tanner,  who  was  nicknamed  the  Paph- 
lagonian.  This  slave,  a  fawning,  foxy 
fellow,  quickly  ingratiated  himself  with 
his  new  master,  to  the  dismay  of  all  the 
other  slaves  in  Demus'  household,  Demos 
thenes  and  Nicias  in  particular.  Be 
cause  of  the  Paphlagonian's  lies,  Demos 
thenes  and  Nicias  received  many  flog 
gings.  The  two  at  one  time  considered 
running  away,  but  decided  against  this 
course  because  of  the  terrible  punish 
ment  they  would  receive  if  caught  and 


returned  to  their  owner.  They  also  con 
sidered  suicide,  but  in  the  end  they  de 
cided  to  forget  their  troubles  by  tippling. 
Going  for  the  wine,  Nicias  found  the 
Paphlagonian  asleep  in  a  drunken  stupor. 

While  the  drunken  man  slept,  Nicias 
stole  the  writings  of  the  sacred  oracle 
that  the  Paphlogonian  guarded  carefully. 
In  the  prophecies  of  the  oracle,  Demos 
thenes  and  Nicias  read  that  an  oakum- 
seller  should  first  manage  the  state's 
affairs;  he  should  be  followed  by  a  sheep- 
seller,  and  he  in  turn  should  be  followed 
by  a  tanner.  At  last  the  tanner  would 
be  overthrown  by  a  sausage-seller. 

As  they  were  about  to  set  out  in  search 
of  a  sausage-seller,  a  slave  of  that  butcher's 
trade  came  to  the  house  of  Demus  to  sell 
his  wares.  Nicias  and  Demosthenes  soon 
won  him  over  to  their  cause,  flattering 
him  out  of  all  reason  and  assuring  him 
that  his  stupidity  and  ignorance  fitted 
him  admirably  for  public  Hfe. 

When  the  Paphlagonian  awoke,  he 
loudly  demanded  the  return  of  the  oracle's 
writings.  The  Sausage-Seller,  however, 
able  to  out  bawl  him.  Spectators 


was 


became  involved.  Some  of  the  citizens 
protested  against  the  Paphlagonian's  un 
just  accusations  of  the  Sausage-Seller. 
Others  claimed  that  the  state  was  fall- 


480 


ing  into  ruin  while  this  shameless  name- 
calling  continued.  Others  accused  the 
Paphlagonian  of  deafening  all  Athens 
with  his  din.  The  Sausage-Seller  accused 
the  Paphlagonian  of  cheating  everybody, 
A  few  citizens  gloated  that  someone  even 
more  arrogant  and  dishonest  than  the 
Paphlagonian  had  been  found  in  the  per 
son  of  the  Sausage-Seller.  Others  feared 
that  this  new  demagogue  would  destroy 
all  hope  of  defending  Athens  from  her 
enemies. 

While  the  citizens  clamored,  the  Sau 
sage-Seller  and  the  Paphlagonian  con 
tinued  to  out-boast,  out-shout,  and  out- 
orate  each  other.  The  Sausage-Seller  said 
that  he  would  make  meatballs  out  of  the 
Paphlagonian.  Demus'  pampered  slave 
threatened  to  twitch  the  lashes  off  both 
the  Sausage-Seller's  eyes.  Demosthenes 
broke  in  to  suggest  that  the  Sausage-Seller 
inspect  the  Paphlagonian  as  he  would  a 
hog  before  butchering  it. 

At  last  both  began  to  clamor  for 
Demus,  asking  him  to  come  out  of  his 
house  and  decide  the  merits  of  their 
claims.  When  he  answered  their  calls, 
both  boasted  of  a  greater  love  to  do  him 
service.  Convinced  by  the  assurances  of 
the  Sausage-Seller,  Demus  decided  to 
dismiss  the  Paphlagonian  and  demanded 


that  his  former  favorite  return  his  seal  of 
office.  Both  continued  their  efforts  to 
bribe  Demus  for  his  favor.  At  last  the 
rivals  ran  to  consult  the  oracles,  to  prove 
to  Demus  the  right  of  their  contentions. 

Each  brought  back  a  load  of  prophetic 
writings  and  insisted  upon  reading  them 
aloud  to  Demus.  In  their  prophecies 
they  continued  to  insult  one  another,  at 
the  same  time  flattering  Demus.  The 
Sausage-Seller  related  a  dream  in  which 
Athena  had  come  down  from  Olympus 
to  pour  ambrosia  upon  Demus  and  the 
sourest  of  pickles  upon  the  Paphlagonian. 

Demus  sent  them  off  on  another  fool 
ish  errand,  laughing  meanwhile  because 
he  had  duped  both  of  them  into  serving 
him.  But  at  last  the  Sausage-Seller  con 
vinced  the  Paphlagonian  that  he  had  the 
right  of  stewardship  by  the  word  of  an 
ancient  oracle  in  whom  both  believed. 
Having  won  his  victory,  the  Sausage- 
Seller,  now  calling  himself  Agoracritus, 
began  to  browbeat  his  new  master  and 
to  accuse  him  of  stupidity  and  avarice. 
He  boasted  that  he  would  now  grow 
wealthy  on  bribes  the  Paphlagonian  had 
formerly  pocketed.  To  show  his  power, 
he  ordered  Cleon  the  Paphlagonian  to 
turn  sausage-seller  and  peddle  tripe  in 
the  streets. 


THE  KREUTZER  SONATA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Count  Leo  Tolstoy  (1828-1910) 

Type  of  -plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1889 

Principal  characters: 

VASYLA  POZDNISHEF,  a  Russian  aristocrat 
MME.  POZDNISHEF,  his  wife 
TRUKHASHEVSKY,  lover  of  Mme.  Pozdnishef 


Critique: 

This  book  has  been  much  misunder 
stood  as  representing  Tolstoy 's  own  views 
on  marriage  and  the  relationships  of  the 
sexes  in  Russian  society.  Actually,  the 
story  is  the  confession  of  an  insane  man 
who  fo>^  murdered  Ms  wife  in  a  fit  of 


jealousy  brought  on  by  his  insanity.  Most 
important,  however,  is  the  Christian  as 
pect  of  sexual  morality  which  underlies 
the  book.  Explaining  his  novel,  Tolstoy 
said  that  he  wanted  to  do  away  with 
the  false  conception  that  sexual  relation- 


481 


ships  were  necessary  for  health,  to  bring 
to  public  attention  the  fact  that  sexual 
immorality  was  based  in  part  on  a  wrong 
attitude  toward  marriage,  and  to  restore 
the  birth  of  children  to  a  proper  place 
in  the  sphere  of  marriage. 

The  Story: 

One  spring  night  a  railway  train  was 
speeding  across  Russia.  In  one  of  the 
cars  a  sprightly  conversation  about  the 
place  of  women,  both  in  public  and  in 
the  home,  was  in  progress  among  a  group 
of  aristocrats.  One  of  the  listeners  finally 
broke  into  the  conversation  with  the 
statement  that  Russians  married  only  for 
sexual  reasons  and  that  marriage  was  a 
hell  for  most  of  them  unless  they,  like 
himself,  secured  release  by  killing  the 
other  party  to  the  marriage.  With  that 
remark  he  left  the  group  and  retired  to 
his  own  seat  in  the  car.  Later  on  he 
told  his  story  to  his  seat  companion. 

His  name  was  Pozdnishef  and  he  was  a 
landed  proprietor.  As  a  young  man  he 
had  learned  many  vices,  but  he  had  al 
ways  kept  his  relationships  with  women 
on  a  monetary  basis,  so  that  he  would 
have  no  moral  responsibility  for  the  un 
fortunates  with  whom  he  came  in  con 
tact.  His  early  life  had  taught  him  that 
people  of  his  class  did  not  respect  sex. 
The  men  looked  on  women  only  in  terms 
of  pleasure.  The  women  sanctioned 
such  thoughts  by  openly  marrying  men 
who  had  become  libertines;  the  older 
people  by  allowing  their  daughters  to  be 
married  to  men  whose  habits  were  known 
to  be  of  a  shameful  nature. 

At  the  age  of  thirty  Pozdnishef  fell  in 
love  with  a  beautiful  woman  of  his  own 
class,  the  daughter  of  an  impoverished 
landowner  in  Penza.  During  his  en 
gagement  to  the  girl  he  was  disturbed 
Because  they  had  so  little  about  which 
to  converse  when  they  were  left  alone. 
They  would  say  one  sentence  to  each 
other  and  then  become  silent.  Not  know- 
'ing  what  should  come  next,  they  would 
fall  to  eating  bonbons.  The  honeymoon 
was  a  failure,  shameful  and  tiresome  at 


the  beginning,  painfully  oppressive  at 
the  end.  Three  or  four  days  after  the 
wedding  they  quarreled,  and  both  real 
ized  that  in  a  short  time  they  had  grown 
to  hate  each  other.  As  the  months  of 
marriage  passed,  their  quarrels  grew  more 
frequent  and  violent.  Pozdnishef  became 
persuaded  in  his  own  mind  that  love  was 
something  low  and  swinish. 

The  idea  of  marriage  and  sex  became 
an  obsession  with  him.  When  his  wife 
secured  a  wet-nurse  for  their  children,  he 
felt  that  she  was  shirking  a  moral  duty 
by  not  nursing  her  offspring.  Worse, 
Pozdnishef  was  jealous  of  every  man  who 
came  into  his  wife's  presence,  who  was 
received  in  his  home,  or  who  received  a 
smile  from  his  wife.  He  began  to  sus 
pect  that  his  wife  had  taken  a  lover. 

The  children  bom  to  Pozdnishef  and 
his  wife  were  a  great  trouble  to  him  in 
other  ways  as  well.  They  were  continu 
ally  bothering  him  with  real  or  fancied 
illnesses,  and  they  broke  up  the  regular 
habits  of  life  to  which  he  was  accustomed. 
They  were  new  subjects  over  which  he 
and  his  wife  could  quarrel. 

In  the  fourth  year  of  their  marriage, 
the  couple  had  reached  a  state  of  com 
plete  disagreement.  They  ceased  to  talk 
over  anything  to  the  end.  They  were 
almost  silent  when  they  were  alone,  much 
as  they  had  been  during  their  engage 
ment.  Finally  the  doctors  told  the  woman 
she  could  have  no  more  children  with 
safety.  Pozdnishef  felt  that  without  chil 
dren  to  justify  their  relations,  the  only 
reason  for  their  life  together  was  the  other 
children  who  had  been  born  and  who 
held  them  like  a  chain  fastening  two 
convicts. 

In  the  next  two  years  the  young 
woman  filled  out  and  bloomed  in  health, 
after  the  burden  of  bearing  children  was 
taken  from  her.  She  became  more  attrac 
tive  in  the  eyes  of  other  men,  and  her 
husband's  jealousy  sharply  increased. 

Mrne.  Pozdnishef  had  always  been  in 
terested  in  music,  and  she  played  the 
piano  rather  well.  Through  her  musical 
interest  she  met  a  young  aristocrat  who 


482 


had  turned  professional  musician  when 
his  family  fortune  had  dwindled  away. 
His  name  was  Trukhashevsky.  When  he 
appeared  on  the  scene  the  Pozdnishefs 
had  passed  through  several  crises  in  their 
marriage.  The  husband  had  at  times 
considered  suicide  and  the  wife  had  tried 
to  poison  herself.  One  evening,  after 
a  violent  scene  in  which  Pozdnishef  had 
told  his  wife  he  would  like  to  see  her 
dead,  she  had  rushed  to  her  room  and 
swallowed  an  opium  compound.  Quick 
action  on  the  part  of  the  husband  and  a 
doctor  had  saved  her  life,  but  neither 
could  forget  her  desperate  attempt. 

One  evening  Trukhashevsky  came  to 
Pozdnishefs  home  in  Moscow.  He  and 
Mme.  Pozdnishef  played  during  the 
evening  for  a  number  of  guests.  The 
first  piece  they  played  together  was  Bee 
thoven's  Kreutzer  Sonata.  The  first 
movement,  a  rapid  allegro,  worked  upon 
the  highly-strung  emotions  of  the  hus 
band  until  he  began  to  imagine  that  there 
was  already  an  understanding  between 
the  musician  and  his  wife.  The  idea  ob 
sessed  him  so  that  he  could  hardly  wait 
until  the  other  man  was  out  of  the  house. 
Never  in  his  life  had  music  affected  Poz 
dnishef  in  that  manner.  Between  it  and 
his  jealousy,  he  was  almost  violently 
insane. 

Two  days  later  Pozdnishef  left  Moscow 
to  attend  a  meeting.  He  went  away  fear 
ful  of  what  might  happen  while  he  was 
gone.  On  the  second  day  of  his  absence, 
Pozdnishef  received  a  letter  from  his  wife 
saying  that  the  musician  had  called  at 
the  house. 


jealousy  immediately  seized  the  hus 
band.  He  rushed  back  to  Moscow  as 
fast  as  carriage  and  trains  could  carry 
him.  He  arrived  at  his  home  after  mid 
night.  Lights  were  burning  in  his  wife's 
apartment.  Taking  off  his  shoes,  he 
prowled  about  the  house.  He  soon  dis 
covered  the  musician's  overcoat.  He  went 
to  the  nursery  and  the  children's  rooms, 
but  found  everyone  there  asleep.  Return 
ing  to  his  study,  he  seized  a  dagger  and 
made  his  way  to  his  wife's  apartment. 
There  he  found  his  wife  and  the  musician 
seated  at  a  table,  eating.  He  rushed  at 
the  man,  who  escaped  by  ducking  under 
the  piano  and  then  out  the  door.  Pozdni 
shef,  beside  himself  with  anger  and  jeal 
ousy,  seized  his  wife  and  stabbed  her, 
When  she  dropped  to  the  floor,  he  ran 
from  the  room  and  went  to  his  study. 
There  he  fell  asleep  on  a  sofa. 

A  few  hours  later  his  sister-in-law 
awakened  him  and  took  him  to  see  his 
dying  wife.  Shortly  afterward  the  au 
thorities  carried  Pozdnishef  away  to 
prison.  He  went  under  police  escort  to 
his  wife's  funeral.  It  was  only  after  he 
had  looked  at  the  waxen  face  of  the 
corpse  that  he  realized  he  had  committed 
a  murder.  Then,  at  his  trial,  Pozdnishef 
was  found  innocent  because  he  had  mur 
dered  while  in  the  heat  of  anger  at  find 
ing  his  wife  unfaithful  to  him. 

Now  judged  insane,  Pozdnishef  de 
clared  that  if  lie  had  it  to  do  over,  he 
would  never  marry.  Marriage,  he  insisted, 
was  not  for  true  Christians  with  strong 
sensibilities  and  weak  moral  restraints. 


KRISTIN  LAVRANSDATTER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sigrid  Undset  (1882-1949) 

Type  of  Plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  Fourteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

First  published:  1920-1922 

Princi-pal  characters: 

KKISTTN  LAVEANSDATTER 

LAVRANS  BJORGULFSON,  Kristin's  father,  owner  of  Jorundgaard 

RAGNFRTD  IVARSDATTER,  Kristin's  mother 

ULVHELD,  and 


483 


BAMBOEG,  Kristin's  sisters 

ERLEND  NEKULAUSSON,  owner  of  Husaby 

SIMON  ANDKESSQN,  son  of  a  neighboring  landowner 

LADY  AASHTUD,  Erlend's  aunt 

NEKUIATJS  (NAAKVE), 

BJORGUU, 

GAUTE, 

SKUUB, 

IVAR, 

LAVBANS 

MUKAN,  and 

ERJ-END,  sons  of  Erlend  and  Kristin 


Critique: 

Kristin  Lavransdatter  is  a  trilogy — 
T}ie  Bridal  Wreath,  The  Mistress  of 
Husaby ',  and  The  Cross — for  which  Sig- 
rid  Undset  received  the  Nobel  Prize  in 
Literature.  Madame  Undset's  work  is 
characterized  by  consummate  artistry  in 
her  delineation  of  character,  in  her 
selection  of  detail,  and  above  all  in  her 
ability  to  tell  a  story.  These  three  novels 
kid  in  medieval  Norway,  a  period  little 
known  to  the  general  reader,  make  pos 
sible  the  reader's  acquaintance  with 
many  characters  who  lived  long  ago, 
but  who  faced  many  of  the  same  great 
problems  that  the  world  knows  today. 

The  Story: 

Lavrans  Bjorgulfson  and  his  wife 
Ragnfrid  Ivarsdatter  were  descended 
from  powerful  landowners.  Although 
Kristin  had  been  born  at  her  father's 
manor  Skog,  she  spent  most  of  her  child 
hood  at  Jorundgaard,  which  fell  to  Lav 
rans  and  Ragnfrid  upon  the  death  of 
Ragnfrid's  father.  Kristin's  childhood 
was  exceedingly  happy. 

A  second  daughter,  Ulvhild,  was 
crippled  at  the  age  of  three.  Lady 
Aashild,  a  declared  witch-wife,  was  sent 
for  to  help  the  child.  Kristin  became 
well  acquainted  with  Lady  Aashild  that 
summer. 

When  she  was  fifteen,  Kristin's  father 
betrothed  her  to  Simon  Andresson  of 
Dyfrin.  One  evening  Kristin  slipped 
away  to  bid  goodbye  to  a  childhood 
playmate,  Arne  Gyrdson,  and  on  her  way 


home  Bentein,  Sira  Eirik's  grandson,  ac 
costed  her.  She  escaped  after  a  fight 
with  him,  physically  unharmed  but  men 
tally  tortured.  Later  that  year  Arne  was 
brought  home  dead  after  having  fought 
with  Bentein  over  Bentein's  sly  insinua 
tions  regarding  Kristin.  Kristin  per 
suaded  her  father  to  put  off  the  betrothal 
feast  and  permit  her  to  spend  a  year  in 
a  convent  at  Oslo. 

Soon  after  entering  the  Convent  of 
Nonneseter,  Kristin  and  her  bed-partner, 
Ingebjorg  Filippusdatter,  went  into  Oslo 
to  shop,  accompanied  by  an  old  servant. 
When  they  became  separated  from  the 
old  man,  they  were  rescued  by  a  group 
of  men  riding  through  the  woods.  In 
that  manner  Kristin  met  Erlend  Niku- 
lausson,  the  nephew  of  Lady  Aashild. 
In  July,  Kristin  and  Erlend  met  once 
more  at  the  St.  Margaret's  Festival  and 
that  night  vowed  to  love  each  other. 
The  following  morning  Kristin  learned 
from  Ingebjorg  of  Eline  Ormsdatter, 
whom  Erlend  had  stolen  from  her  hus 
band,  and  by  whom  Erlend  had  had  two 
children.  Later  that  summer,  while  visit 
ing  her  uncle  at  Skog,  Kristin  and  Erlend 
met  secretly  and  Kristin  surrendered  to 
Erlend.  During  the  following  winter 
Kristin  and  Erlend  managed  to  meet 
frequently.  In  the  spring,  Kristin  told 
Simon  of  her  love  for  Erlend  and  her 
desire  to  end  their  betrothal.  He  agreed, 
much  against  his  will.  Lavrans  and  Ragn 
frid  unwillingly  accepted  Kristin's  and 
Simon's  decision. 


KRISTIN  I^VRANSDATTCR  by  Sigrid  Undset.    Translated  by  Charles  Archer  and  T.  S.  Scott.    By  permiwion 
of  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1925,  1925,  1927,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


484 


When  Erlend's  kinsmen  brought  suit 
for  Kristin's  hand  in  marriage,  Lavians 
refused.  During  the  winter  Erlend  and 
Kristin  planned  to  elope  to  Sweden. 
While  they  were  making  their  plans  at 
Lady  Aashild's  home,  EHne  Orrnsdatter 
overtook  them.  Discovered  by  Erlend 
when  she  was  trying  to  give  poison  to 
Kristin,  she  stabbed  herself.  Erlend  and 
Sir  Bjorn,  Lady  Aashild's  husband,  put 
her  on  a  sled  and  took  her  south  to  be 
buried.  Kristin  returned  home. 

The  following  spring  Erlend's  rela 
tives  again  made  a  bid  for  Kristin's  hand, 
and  worn  out  with  suffering — Ulvhild's 
death  and  Kristin's  unhappiness — Lav- 
rans  agreed  to  the  betrothal.  During  Er 
lend's  visit  at  Whitsuntide,  Kristin  be 
came  pregnant.  On  the  night  of  the 
wedding  Lavrans  realized  that  Kristin 
already  belonged  to  Erlend.  He  had 
given  to  Erlend  what  Erlend  had  already 
possessed. 

After  her  marriage  Kristin  moved  to 
Erlend's  estate  at  Husaby.  She  was  quick 
to  notice  the  neglect  everywhere  evident. 
In  the  next  fifteen  years  she  bore  Er 
lend  seven  sons — Nikulaus,  Bjorgulf, 
Gaute,  the  twins  Ivar  and  Skule,  Lav 
rans,  and  Munan.  At  the  same  time  she 
struggled  to  save  her  sons'  inheritance 
by  better  management  of  Husaby.  But 
Erlend,  intent  on  becoming  a  great  man, 
sold  land  to  pay  his  expenses  and  granted 
tenants  free  rent  in  exchange  for  supplies 
for  his  military  musters. 

Simon  Andresson  who  lived  at  Formo 
with  his  sister  Sigrid  and  his  illegitimate 
daughter,  Amgjerd,  made  suit  to  Lav 
rans  for  Kristin's  youngest  sister,  Ram- 
borg.  The  following  year  Lavrans  died, 
followed  two  years  later  by  Ragnfrid. 
Kristin's  part  of  the  inheritance  was 
Jorundgaard. 

There  was  much  unrest  in  the  country 
at  that  time.  A  boy,  Magnus  VII,  had 
been  named  king  of  both  Sweden  and 
Norway,  and  during  his  childhood  Er- 
ling  Vidkunsson  was  made  regent  of  Nor 
way.  When  Magnus  reached  the  age  of 
sixteen,  Sir  Erling  resigned  and  soon  Nor 


way  had  little  law  or  order.  During  those 
years  of  unrest  Erlend  conspired  to  put 
another  claimant  on  the  throne  of  Nor 
way.  Arrested,  he  was  tried  for  treason 
by  a  king's-men's  court.  Erlend  came  off 
with  his  life,  but  he  had  to  forfeit  all 
his  lands. 

Erlend  went  with  Kristin  and  his  sons 
to  Jorundgaard  to  live;  but  he  cared 
little  for  farming  or  for  the  people  of 
the  dale,  and  the  neighbors  avoided 
Jorundgaard.  As  the  children  grew  to 
manhood,  Kristin  became  more  fearfu? 
for  their  future.  In  her  desire  to  further 
their  fortunes,  she  and  Erlend  came  to 
harsh  words  and  she  told  him  he  was  not 
a  fit  lord  of  Jorundgaard.  He  left  he! 
and  went  to  Haugen,  the  farm  when 
Lady  Aashild  had  spent  her  last  days 
Kristin,  although  she  longed  to  have  Er 
lend  back,  felt  that  she  had  been  in  the 
right  and  struggled  along  with  the  help 
of  Ulf,  a  servant,  to  make  Jorundgaard 
produce. 

The  following  winter  her  brother-in- 
law  Simon  died  as  a  result  of  a  cut  on 
the  arm,  sustained  while  separating  two 
drunken  fighters.  Before  he  died,  he 
asked  Kristin  to  go  to  Erlend  and  settle 
their  quarrel.  Kristin  promised  to  do  so. 
Ramborg  gave  birth  to  her  son  six  weeks 
early,  and  upon  Simon's  death  named 
the  child  Simon  Simonsson. 

Kristin  kept  her  promise  and  went  to 
Haugen  to  ask  Erlend  to  return  to 
Jorundgaard,  but  he  refused.  She  stayed 
at  Haugen  that  summer  and  then  re 
turned  home  to  her  sons.  Finding  her 
self  again  with  child,  she  sent  her 
sons  to  tell  her  husband.  When  the  child 
was  born,  Erlend  still  did  not  come  to 
her.  The  child  died  before  it  was  three 
months  old.  Soon  thereafter,  when 
Bishop  Halvard  came  to  the  parish,  Jard- 
trud,  Ulf 's  wife,  went  to  him  and  charged 
Ulf  with  adultery  with  Kristin.  Lavrans, 
unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  family,  rode 
to  Haugen  to  get  his  father.  Erlend  re 
turned  immediately  with  his  son,  but  in 
a  scuffle  in  the  courtyard  he  was  wounded 
and  he  died.  The  same  year  Munan 


485 


died  of  a  sickness  which  went  around  the 
parish.  Thus  Kristin  was  left  with  six 
sons,  each  of  whom  must  make  his  way 
in  the  world. 

Ivar  and  Skule,  the  twins,  took  serv 
ice  with  a  distant  kinsman.  Ivar  married 
Signe  Gamalsdatter,  a  wealthy  young 
widow.  Nikulaus  and  Bjorgulf  entered 
the  brotherhood  at  Tautra.  Gaute  fell  in 
love  with  Jofrid  Helgesdatter,  heiress  of 
a  rich  landowner.  The  two  young  people 
eloped  and  were  not  married  until  the 
summer  after  the  birth  of  their  child, 
Erlend.  During  that  winter  they  lived 
at  Jorundgaard  and  after  their  marriage 
Kristin  relinquished  the  keys  of  the 


manor  to  Jofrid.  Lavrans  took  service 
with  the  Bishop  of  Skaalholt  and  sailed 
to  Iceland. 

Kristin,  who  felt  out  of  place  in  her 
old  home  after  she  was  no  longer  mis 
tress  there,  decided  to  go  to  Nidaros  and 
enter  a  convent.  In  the  year  1349,  after 
Kristin  had  been  in  the  cloister  for  about 
two  years,  her  son  Skule  went  to  see 
her.  From  him  she  received  the  first 
news  of  the  Black  Plague.  The  disease 
soon  engulfed  the  whole  city,  carried  off 
her  two  sons  in  the  convent,  Nikulaus 
and  Bjorgulf,  and  finally  caused  Kristin's 
own  death. 


LADY  INTO  FOX 


Type  of  work  Novelette 

Author:  David  Garnett  (1892-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:    1880 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1923 

Principal  characters: 
MR.  RICHARD  TEBRJCK 
SELVIA  Fox  TEBRICK,  Kis  wife 

Critiqite: 

Lady  Into  Pox  is  a  story  in  which  its 
author,  like  Coleridge  in  The  Rime  of 
the  Ancient  Mariner,  attempts  to  make 
the  unreal  seem  probable.  Perhaps  many 
a  bridegroom,  and  as  suddenly,  has  found 
himself  married  to  a  vixen.  The  book  is 
fantasy,  but  fantasy  written  with  scrupu 
lous  regard  for  realistic  detail.  So  far  as 
the  book's  underlying  meaning  is  con 
cerned,  the  reader  may  make  whatever 
interpretation  he  will.  It  is  first  of  all  an 
entertaining  story. 


The  Story: 

Silvia  Fox  married  Richard  Tebrick  in 
1879  and  went  to  live  with  him  at  Ry- 
lands,  near  Stokoe,  Oxon.  The  bride 
xvas  oddly  beautiful,  a  woman  with  small 
hands  and  feet,  reddish  hair,  brownish 
skin,  and  freckles.  Early  in  the  year 


1880,  while  the  two  were  still  very 
much  in  love,  Silvia  accompanied  her 
husband  on  a  walk.  Hearing  the  sounds 
of  a  hunt,  Mr.  Tebrick  pulled  his  bride 
forward  to  get  a  good  view  of  the  hounds. 
Suddenly  she  snatched  her  hand  away 
and  cried  out.  Beside  him  on  the  ground 
where  his  wife  had  stood  Mr.  Tebrick 
saw  a  small  red  fox. 

Even  in  her  changed  form,  he  could 
still  recognize  his  wife.  When  she  began 
to  cry,  so  did  he,  and  to  soothe  her  he 
kissed  her  on  the  muzzle.  Waiting  until 
after  dark,  he  buttoned  her  inside  his 
coat  and  took  her  home.  First  he  hid  her 
in  the  bedroom;  then  he  announced  to 
the  maid  that  Mrs.  Tebrick  had  been 
called  to  London.  When  he  carried  her 
tea  to  the  bedroom  and  found  his  poor 
fox  trying  to  cover  herself  with  a  dressing 


LADY  INTO  FOX  by  David  Garnett.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1923,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


486 


gown,  he  dressed  her  properly,  set  her  up 
on  some  cushions,  and  served  her  tea, 
which  she  drank  daintily  from  a  saucer 
while  he  fed  her  sandwiches. 

Because  the  dogs  had  all  that  time 
been  making  a  clamor,  he  went  out  into 
the  yard  and  shot  them.  Then  he  dis 
missed  the  servants  and  retired  to  bed, 
sleeping  soundly  with  his  vixen  in  his 
arms.  The  next  morning  their  daily 
routine  started.  First  he  would  cook 
breakfast;  later  he  would  wash  and  brush 
his  wife.  Next  they  would  eat  break 
fast  together,  the  same  food  Silvia  had 
enjoyed  before  her  transformation.  Once 
he  started  reading  to  her  from  Clarissa 
Harlowe,  but  he  found  her  watching  a 
pet  dove  in  its  cage  nearby.  Soon  Mr. 
Tebrick  began  to  take  his  vixen  out 
doors  to  walk.  On  such  occasions  her 
chief  joy  was  chasing  ducks  near  the 
pond. 

One  day  after  tea  she  led  him  to  the 
drawing-room  with  gestures  that  showed 
she  wished  him  to  play  the  piano.  But 
when  she  continued  to  watch  the  bird, 
he  freed  the  dove  from  its  cage  and  tore 
his  wife's  picture  into  bits.  He  also 
found  himself  disgusted  by  the  way 
she  ate  a  chicken  wing  at  the  table.  One 
night  she  refused  to  share  his  bed  and 
pranced  about  the  room  all  night. 

The  next  morning  the  poor  husband 
tried  an  experiment.  From  town  he 
brought  her  a  basket  containing  a  bunch 
of  snowdrops  and  a  dead  rabbit.  Silvia 
pretended  to  admire  the  flowers;  but 
when  her  husband  left  the  room  pur 
posely,  she  devoured  the  rabbit.  Later 
she  repented  and  showed  by  motions  that 
she  wanted  him  to  bring  out  the  stereo 
scope  so  that  she  could  admire  the  views. 
She  refused  to  sleep  with  him  again  that 
night.  Next  day  she  pulled  off  her 
clothes  and  threw  them  into  the  pond. 
From  that  time  on  she  was  a  naked 
vixen,  and  Richard  Tebrick  drank  fre 
quently  to  drown  his  sorrows. 

At  last  Mr.  Tebrick  decided  that  to 
avoid  scandal  he  must  move  to  another 
location  with  his  vixen,  and  he  chose 


the  cottage  of  Nanny  Cork,  Silvia's  old 
nurse,  as  his  place  of  retreat.  He  drove 
over  in  a  dog  cart  with  his  wife  in  a 
wicker  basket  on  the  seat  beside  him. 
The  best  feature  of  their  new  home  was 
a  walled  garden  in  which  the  fox  could 
enjoy  the  air  without  being  seen,  but 
she  soon  began  to  dig  under  the  walls 
in  her  attempts  to  escape.  Once,  thwarted 
in  an  attempt  to  escape,  she  bit  her  hus 
band  on  the  hand.  Finally  he  gave  his 
vixen  her  freedom,  and  allowed  her  to 
run  wild  in  the  woods. 

Stricken  with  grief  over  the  loss  of  his 
wife,  Mr.  Tebrick  hired  a  jockey  named 
Askew  to  follow  the  hunts  and  report 
on  the  foxes  killed.  He  shot  two  fox 
hounds  who  strayed  on  his  land. 

One  night  Mr.  Tebrick  heard  a  fox 
bark.  He  heard  the  barking  again  in  the 
morning.  His  vixen  had  returned  to  lead 
him  to  her  earth  and  proudly  display 
her  litter  of  five  tiny  cubs.  Mr.  Tebrick 
was  jealous,  but  at  last  he  overcame  his 
scruples  and  went  each  day  to  visit  the 
young  foxes.  Able  to  identify  the  cubs 
by  that  time,  he  christened  them  Sorel, 
Kaspar,  Selwyn,  Esther,  and  Angelica. 
Of  the  whole  litter,  Angelica  was  his 
favorite  because  she  reminded  him  of  her 
mother. 

The  Reverend  Canon  Fox  arrived  to 
visit  Mr.  Tebrick.  After  hearing  Mr. 
Tebrick's  story,  the  clergyman  decided 
that  the  man  was  insane.  As  the  cubs 
grew  older,  Mr.  Tebrick  spent  most  of 
his  time  in  the  woods,  hunting  with  the 
vixen  and  her  young  by  day  and  sleeping 
outside  with  them  at  nignt.  Once  he 
purchased  and  brought  to  them  a  beehive 
of  honey. 

One  winter  day  Mr.  Tebrick  was  out 
side  listening  to  the  sounds  o£  a  hunting 
chase  that  ended  at  his  own  gate. 
Suddenly  the  vixen  leaped  into  his  arms, 
the  dogs  so  close  after  her  that  Mr. 
Tebrick  was  badly  mauled.  Silvia  was 
dead.  For  a  long  time  Mr.  Tebrick's 
life  was  despaired  of;  but  he  recovered 
to  live  to  a  hale  old  age,  and  may  be 
still  living. 


487 


LADY  WINDERMERE'S  FAN 

Type  of  work:   Drama 

Author:  Oscar  Wilde  (1856-1900) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  presented:  1892 

Principal  characters: 

LADY  WINDERMERE,  a  proper  woman 

LORD  WESTDERMERE,  her  husband 

LORD  DARLINGTON,  a  man  about  town 

MRS.  ERLYNNE,  an  adventuress 

LORD  AUGUSTUS  LORTON,  Mrs.  Erlynne's  fiance" 

Critique; 

This  play  is  noted  for  one  of  the 
wittiest  and  best  constructed  first  acts  in 
the  history  of  drama.  The  exposition, 
terse  and  interesting,  leads  inevitably  to 
the  scene  in  which  Lady  Windermere 
threatens  to  strike  with  a  fan  her  own 
mother,  whose  true  relationship  she  does 
not  know.  The  plot  of  the  drama  is  dated 
today,  but  it  still  conveys,  to  an  amazing 
degree,  Wilde's  central  idea  that  the 
"good  woman"  often  costs  a  great  deal 
more  than  she  is  worth. 


The  Story: 

On  her  birthday  Lord  Windennere 
presented  his  wife  with  a  very  beautiful 
and  delicately  wrought  fan  with  her 
name,  Margaret,  engraved  upon  it  She 
intended  to  carry  the  fan  at  a  ball  she 
was  giving  that  evening,  a  ball  to  which 
everyone  of  importance  in  London  had 
been  invited. 

That  afternoon  the  Duchess  of  Ber 
wick  called  on  Lady  Windennere,  to 
tell  nex  friend  of  a  rumored  affair  be 
tween  Lord  Windennere  and  Mrs.  Er- 
lynne,  a  fascinating  but  notorious  woman 
not  received  in  the  best  houses.  Accord 
ing  to  the  duchess*  story,  Lord  Winder- 
mere  had  for  some  months  been  supply 
ing  Mrs,  Erlynne  with  funds  for  her 
support,  and  the  old  dowager's  sug 
gestion  was  that  Lady  Windennere  should 
take  immediate  steps  to  learn  the  relation 
ship  between  the  two. 

Lady  Windermere  was  naturally  upset 
Determined  to  find  out  if  there  were 


any  truth  in  the  gossip,  she  opened  her 
husband's  desk.  In  a  locked  bank  book, 
which  she  ripped  open,  she  found  evi 
dence  of  her  husband's  duplicity,  a  record 
of  checks  issued  to  Mrs.  Erlynne  over  a 
long  period  of  time. 

Angry  and  hurt  at  Lord  Windermere's 
apparent  failure  to  appreciate  love  and 
virtue,  she  turned  on  him  the  moment 
he  appeared.  His  main  concern  was  an 
noyance  that  his  wife  had  dared  tamper 
with  his  property  behind  his  back.  He 
informed  her  that  his  relations  with 
Mrs.  Erlynne  were  perfectly  honorable, 
that  she  was  a  fine  but  unfortunate 
woman  who  wished  to  win  the  regard  of 
society  once  more.  Moreover,  Lord 
Windennere  explicitly  ordered  his  wife 
to  send  Mrs.  Erlynne  an  invitation  to  the 
ball.  When  Lady  Winderrnere  refused, 
her  husband  wrote  an  invitation.  Angered 
at  his  act,  Lady  Windermere  threatened 
to  strike  Mrs.  Erlynne  with  the  fan  if  she 
dared  cross  the  threshold  of  Windermere 
House. 

But  when  Mrs.  Erlynne  appeared  at 
the  ball,  Lady  Windermere  lost  her  reso 
lution  and  let  the  fan  drop  to  the  floor. 
The  guests,  believing  that  Mrs.  Erlynne 
had  been  invited  by  Lady  Windermere 
herself,  naturally  accepted  her.  She  was 
lionized  by  all  the  men,  and  the  women, 
curious  because  of  the  many  stories  they 
had  heard,  wanted  to  see  at  first  hand 
what  she  was  really  like.  Among  her 
special  admirers  was  Lord  Augustus  Lor- 
ton,  the  Duchess  of  Berwick's  disrepu- 


488 


table  brother,  to  whom  she  had  just  be 
come  engaged  to  be  married.  Mrs.  Er- 
lynne  was  not  the  only  woman  greatly 
admired  that  evening.  Lord  Darlington 
was  persistently  attentive  to  Lady  Win- 
dermere.  Mrs.  Erlynne's  presence  at  the 
ball  having  put  Lady  Windermere  into 
a  reckless  mood,  Lord  Darlington  suc 
ceeded  in  persuading  his  hostess  to  leave 
her  husband  and  come  to  him. 

After  the  guests  had  gone,  Lady  Win 
dermere  had  a  violent  struggle  with  her 
self,  the  outcome  being  a  letter  in 
forming  Lord  Windermere  that  she  was 
leaving  his  house  forever.  She  gave  the 
letter  to  a  servant  to  deliver  and  left  for 
Lord  Darlington's  apartments. 

Mrs.  Erlynne,  who  with  Lord  Augus 
tus  had  remained  behind  to  talk  with 
Lord  Windermere,  discovered  the  letter 
Lady  Windermere  had  written,  and  the 
thought  of  that  lady's  rash  act  brought 
back  old  memories.  Twenty  years  be 
fore  Mrs.  Erlynne  had  written  a  similar 
letter  to  her  husband,  and  had  left  him 
and  their  child  for  a  lover  who  had  de 
serted  her.  Her  years  of  social  ostracism 
had  made  her  a  stranger  to  her  own 
daughter.  Perhaps,  however,  she  could 
keep  her  daughter  from  making  the  same 
mistake.  Lady  Windermere  should  never 
feel  the  remorse  that  her  mother,  Mrs. 
Erlynne,  had  known. 

Mrs.  Erlynne  took  Lady  Windermere's 
letter  and  hurried  to  Lord  Darlington's 
apartments,  first  persuading  Lord  Augus 
tus  to  take  Lord  Windermere  to  his  club 
and  keep  him  there  for  the  rest  of  the 
night.  In  Lord  Darlington's  rooms,  with 
out  revealing  her  identity,  Mrs.  Erlynne 
managed  to  persuade  Lady  Windermere 
to  think  of  her  child  and  go  back  to  her 
husband.  Out  of  the  depths  of  her  own 
bitter  experience^  Mrs,  Erlynne  insisted 


that  Lady  Windermere's  first  duty  was 
not  to  her  husband  but  to  her  child. 

As  Lady  Windermere  was  leaving, 
Lord  Darlington  returned,  accompanied 
by  Lord  Windermere  and  Lard  Augus 
tus.  Mrs.  Erlynne,  after  hurrying  her 
daughter  to  a  waiting  carriage,  remained 
to  face  the  gentlemen.  It  was  an  ordeal, 
for  in  her  haste  Lady  Windermere  had 
forgotten  her  fan  and  Lord  Windermere, 
discovering  it,  became  suspicious.  Mrs. 
Erlynne  appeared  from  behind  a  curtain 
with  the  explanation  that  she  had  taken 
the  fan  in  mistake  for  her  own  when  she 
left  Windermere  House.  Her  explanation 
saved  Lady  Windermere  at  the  cost  of 
her  own  reputation.  Lord  Windermere 
was  furious,  for  he  felt  that  he  had  in 
good  faith  befriended  and  helped  a 
woman  who  was  beneath  contempt.  Lord 
Augustus  promptly  declared  that  he  could 
have  nothing  further  to  do  with  Mrs. 
Erlynne. 

Lady  Windermere  alone  defended  Mrs. 
Erlynne.  She  realized  at  last  that  by  some 
strange  irony  the  bad  woman  had  ac 
cepted  public  disgrace  in  order  to  save 
the  good  one.  Lord  Windermere,  know 
ing  nothing  of  what  had  happened,  re 
solved  to  learn  the  whole  truth  when 
Mrs.  Erlynne  arrived  to  return  the  fan. 
But  the  mother,  not  wanting  to  shatter 
Lady  Windermere's  illusions,  refused  to 
reveal  herself  to  the  daughter.  Wait 
ing  for  Mrs.  Erlynne  outside  the  house, 
however,  was  Lord  Augustus,  who  had 
accepted  her  explanation  that  his  own 
interests  had  taken  her  to  Lord  Darling 
ton's  rooms.  Lord  Windermere  felt  that 
Lord  Augustus  was  marrying  a  very 
clever  woman.  Lady  Windermere  in 
sisted  that  he  was  marrying  someone 
rarer,  a  good  woman. 


489 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  POMPEII 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edwaid  George  Earle  Bulwer-Lytton  (1803-1873) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  A.D.  79 

Locale:  Pompeii 

First  published:  1834 

Principal  characters: 

GLAUCUS,  a  wealthy  young  Greek 

ARE  ACES,  Egyptian  priest  of  Isis 

IONE,  his  Greek  ward 

APAECIDES,  her  brother 

NYPIA,  a  blind  flower  girl 

Critiqiie; 

This  novel  has  found  many  readers 
among  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
Classical  civilization  which  ended  when 
barbarians  took  over  the  Mediterranean 
world.  Bulwer-Lytton's  handling  of  plot, 
character,  and  passion  followed  a  tradi 
tion  which  has  not  maintained  its  hold. 
It  is  the  tradition  of  nineteenth-century 
drama,  direct,  obtuse,  fiery.  Concerned 
with  indirection  today,  the  reader  finds 
the  descriptions  of  the  characters'  thoughts 
unrealistic.  Their  passions  are  too  ap 
parent,  their  actions  too  much  explained. 
Cast  in  a  different  mold  from  novels  of 
today,  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  offers 
one  of  the  longest,  most  sustained  views 
of  the  world  we  call  classic. 


The  Story: 

Late  one  afternoon  in  the  ancient  city 
of  Pompeii  the  fashionable  rich  young 
men  were  congregating  for  the  daily  rite 
of  the  public  baths.  Among  them  were 
Clodius,  a  foppish  Roman,  and  Glaucus, 
a  popular  young  Greek.  Together  the 
two  strolled  toward  the  baths,  mingling 
with  slaves  bearing  bronze  buckets,  idlers 
Downed  in  purple  robes.  Along  the  way 
&ey  saw  the  beautiful  blind  flower  girl, 
Nydia,  She,  too,  was  from  Greece  and 
for  that  reason  Glaucus  took  an  interest 
in  her.  It  was  still  too  early  for  the  baths, 
and  the  two  friends  walked  along  the  sea 
front  as  Glaucus  described  a  Neapolitan 
girl  of  Greek  birth  with  whom  he  had 
fallen  in  love.  Unfortunately,  he  had 
lost  contact  with  the  girl  and  was  now 


morose.  While  they  talked,  Arbaces,  the 
evil-looking  Egyptian  priest  of  Isis,  in 
tercepted  them.  The  two  young  men 
were  barely  able  to  conceal  their  dislike 
for  the  Egyptian. 

Arbaces  secretly  defied  the  Romans 
and  the  Greeks,  and  prayed  for  the  day 
when  Egypt  would  once  more  be  power 
ful.  He  revealed  to  a  lesser  priest  his 
interest  in  the  brother  and  sister,  Apae- 
cides  and  lone,  his  wards.  He  hoped  to 
make  a  priest  of  Apaecides,  and  he 
planned  to  marry  lone.  They  had  been 
in  Naples,  but  recently  he  had  brought 
them  to  Pompeii,  where  he  could  influ 
ence  them. 

Glaucus  met  lone  at  a  party.  She  was 
the  girl  he  had  seen  and  lost  in  Naples. 
At  the  same  time  Arbaces  developed  his 
hold  over  Apaecides,  who  was  growing 
more  and  more  confused  after  coining  in 
contact  with  the  sophistries  of  the  cor 
rupt  priest  of  Isis.  Meanwhile  the  blind 
flower  girl,  Nydia,  was  falling  hopelessly 
in  love  with  Glaucus. 

It  happened  that  Glaucus  and  Clodius 
were  loitering  in  the  establishment  of 
Burbo,  the  wine-seller,  when  the  inn 
keeper  and  his  wife  were  beating  Nydia, 
whose  slave  she  was.  Glaucus,  hearing 
the  girl's  cries,  bought  her;  he  planned  to 
give  her  to  lone.  Nydia  realized  Glaucus 
could  never  love  her  after  he  gave  her 
a  letter  to  deliver  to  lone.  In  this  letter 
he  accused  Arbaces  of  false  imputations. 
On  reading  his  letter,  lone  decided  to 
go  at  once  to  Arbaces'  palace  and  to  face 


490 


him  with  Glaucus'  charges. 

Knowing  the  danger  to  lone  at  Ar 
baces'  palace,  Nydia  warned  both  lone's 
brother  and  Glaucus.  Glaucus  hurried 
to  the  palace  to  confront  the  priest.  An 
earthquake  interrupted  the  quarrel  be 
tween  the  two  men.  When  tie  goddess 
Isis  fell  from  a  pedestal,  striking  Arbaces, 
Glaucus  and  lone  ran  from  the  building 
to  join  the  throng  in  the  street.  Alone, 
deserted,  the  blind  slave  wept  bitterly. 

The  next  day,  the  earthquake  having 
passed  with  but  little  damage,  the  people 
of  Pompeii  took  up  again  the  threads  of 
their  varied  lives.  Apaecides  became  a 
convert  to  Christianity.  Glaucus  and 
lone  remained  together. 

Julia,  daughter  of  a  wealthy  freedman 
named  Diomed,  was  also  in  love  with 
Glaucus  and  sought  to  interfere  between 
him  and  lone.  She  went  to  the  house  of 
Arbaces,  where  the  two  plotted  together. 
Arbaces  had  a  drug  prepared  which  was 
administered  to  Glaucus.  The  drug 
drove  him  into  a  demented  stupor  so  that 
he  ran  from  his  house  into  a  cemetery. 
To  this  cemetery  came  Apaecides  and 
Arbaces.  They  quarreled  and  Arbaces 
stabbed  Apaecides,  killing  him.  Then, 
hoping  to  kill  Glaucus  indirectly,  the 
priest  summoned  the  crowd  and  declared 
that  Glaucus  in  his  drunken  rage  had 
killed  Apaecides.  Glaucus  and  a  Chris 
tian  who  attempted  to  defend  him  were 
arrested.  They  were  condemned  to  be 
given  to  wild  beasts  at  the  public  games. 

After  the  funeral  of  her  brother,  lone 
resolved  to  declare  her  belief  in  the 
innocence  of  Glaucus.  But  before  she 
could  carry  out  her  plan  Arbaces  had 
seized  her  and  carried  her  off  to  his  pal 
ace.  The  only  one  who  knew  of  Arbaces' 
guilt  was  a  priest  who  was  also  his  pris 
oner.  But  Arbaces  reckoned  without 
Nydia,  who  as  a  dancing  girl  had  learned 
most  of  the  secrets  of  his  palace.  Nydia, 
contacting  the  priest  imprisoned  by  Ar 
baces,  agreed  to  carry  his  story  to  the  au 
thorities.  Unfortunately,  she  too  was  cap 
tured.  She  persuaded  a  slave  to  carry 


the  message  to  Sallust,  a  friend  of  Glati 
cus.  But  tie  message  was  delivered  while 
Sallust  was  drunk  and  he  refused  to 
read  it. 

The  last  day  of  Pompeii  arrived.  It 
was  also  a  day  of  celebrari.n-n  in  thp 
arena,  for  wnich  the  populace  had  been 
waiting.  The  games  began  with  gladi 
atorial  combat  which  the  audience 
watched  listlessly,  bored  because  the 
deaths  did  not  come  fast  enough  or  with 
enough  suffering.  After  one  combat  an 
unpopular  gladiator  was  condemned  to 
death,  by  the  action  of  the  crowd.  His 
body  was  dragged  from  the  arena  and 
placed  on  the  heap  with  those  previously 
slain.  Unfortunately  for  the  crowd's 
amusement,  the  lion  turned  loose  in  the 
arena  with  Glaucus  crept  with  a  moan 
back  into  its  cage.  Before  the  lion  could 
be  prodded  into  action  Sallust  appeared 
demanding  the  arrest  of  Arbaces.  A  slave 
had  called  his  attention  to  Nydia's  letter, 
which  he  had  thrown  aside  the  night 
before.  Reading  it,  he  had  hurried  to  lay 
his  information  before  the  praetor.  The 
mob,  not  to  be  cheated  after  Glaucus 
had  been  set  free,  demanded  that  Arbaces 
be  thrown  to  the  lion. 

Then  the  famous  fatal  eruption  began, 
The  whole  gladiatorial  scene  became 
chaos  as  terrified  thousands  poured  out 
of  the  doomed  amphitheater,  crushing 
the  weakest  in  their  hurry  to  escape.  Loot 
ing  began  in  the  temples.  Nydia  reached 
Glaucus.  Together  they  hurried  to  the 
house  of  Arbaces  to  discover  and  save 
lone.  It  was  too  dark  to  see,  but  Nydia, 
accustomed  to  darkness,  was  able  to  lead 
lone  and  Glaucus  through  the  streets. 
Arbaces  was  killed  in  the  earthquake.  At 
last  Glaucus,  lone,  and  Nydia  gained  the 
safety  of  the  seaside  and  put  out  to  sea 
in  a  small  ship. 

All  night  they  slept  in  the  boat.  In  the 
morning  Glaucus  akid  lone  discovered 
that  before  they  had  awakened,  the  heart 
broken  Nydia  had  cast  herself  into  the 
sea. 


491 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  BARONS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edward  Geor& v 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 
Time  of  ?loti  1467-1471 
Locale:  England 
First  published:  1843 

Principal  characters: 

EABI  OF  WARWICK,  the  kingmaker 

ISABELLA,  his  older  daughter 

ANNE,  his  younger  daughter 

KATHERTNE  DE  BONVTLIJE,  his  sister 

EDWARD  IV,  King  of  England 

WnxiAM  DE  HASTINGS,  a  royal  chamherlain 

ADAM  WARNER,  an  alchemist 

SEBYIX,  his  daughter 

NICHOLAS  ALWYN,  a  goldsmith 

MARMADUKE  NEVIIJE,  kinsman  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick 


Critique: 

The  Last  of  the  Rarons  is  a  complex, 
involved,  and  fascinating  novel  of  a 
troubled  period  in  English  history.  After 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses  the  House  of  York 
seemed  secure,  the  leaders  of  the  House 
of  Lancaster  heing  dead  or  in  exile.  Ed 
ward  IV  was  a  popular  ruler  who  might 
have  enjoyed  a  peaceful  reign  if  he  had 
not  insulted  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the 
last  of  the  great  lords  whose  power  over 
shadowed  the  king's.  A  dramatic  moment 
in  history  has  been  recaptured  by  Bulwer- 
Lytton  in  this  novel. 

The  Story; 

Just  outside  London  a  crowd  had 
gathered  to  watch  an  archery  contest. 
Several  shot  at  the  white  cloth  on  the 
butt,  but  no  one  hit  the  mark  squarely. 
Then  in  a  haughty  and  preoccupied  way 
a  commoner  stepped  up,  fitted  his  arrow, 
and  pierced  the  center  of  the  white  field. 
While  his  fellow  tradesmen  applauded, 
he  dropped  back  into  the  crowd. 

A  young  noble,  who  was  not  entered 
in  the  contest,  borrowed  a  bow.  With 
sure  aim  he  hit  fairly  the  little  peg  that 
secured  the  cloth  to  the  butt.  Gallantly 
he  returned  the  bow  and  strode  away. 
As  he  was  leaving,  the  commoner  who 
had  hit  the  cloth  stopped  him.  At  once 


their  recognition  was  mutual,  and  they 
began  to  talk  delightedly  of  past  times. 

The  commoner  was  Nicholas  Alwyn, 
a  goldsmith  who  had  been  the  younger 
son  of  a  good  family.  He  had  rejected 
the  monk's  habit,  the  usual  lot  of  younger 
sons,  and  had  chosen  to  go  into  trade. 
He  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  the 
future  greatness  of  England  lay  in  the 
prosperous  middle  class  and  that  the 
day  of  feudal  nobility  was  nearly  over. 
He  had  taken  part  in  the  tournament 
simply  to  advertise  his  profession,  not 
through,  love  of  decadent  sport.  The 
young  noble,  who  was  his  foster  brother, 
was  Marmaduke  Nevile.  He  had  come 
from  his  northern  estate  to  seek  service 
with  his  kinsman,  the  powerful  Earl  of 
Warwick,  who  was  known  as  the  king 
maker. 

On  Alwyn's  advice,  Marmaduke  went 
up  to  Lord  Montagu,  the  Earl  of  War 
wick's  brother,  and  made  known  his 
errand.  The  nobleman  repulsed  Mar 
maduke  in  full  view  of  his  retinue,  for 
Mannaduke's  father  had  fought  on  the 
side  of  Lancaster  in  the  recent  wars, 
and  the  Warwicks  had  successfully  sup 
ported  the  Yorkists. 

Feeling  abashed,  Marmaduke  accom 
panied  Alwyn  into  the  city.  Alwvn  ad- 


492 


vised  him  to  go  to  see  the  earl  in  person, 
and  Marmaduke  resolved  to  do  so  the 
very  next  day. 

On  the  road  to  his  inn  he  met  a 
gentle  girl  surrounded  by  a  screaming 
moh  of  women  who  earned  their  living 
by  dancing  and  playing  timbrels  for  fair 
crowds.  Accusing  the  girl  of  trying  to 
earn  money  by  playing  her  gittem  at 
the  tournament,  they  would  have  harmed 
ber  if  Marmaduke  had  not  come  to  her 
rescue.  He  escorted  the  frightened  girl 
away,  but  through  faint-heartedness  he 
did  not  take  her  all  the  way  home.  As 
soon  as  he  left  her,  the  women  set  upon 
her  again.  She  was  rescued  by  an  older 
man,  a  true  knight  who  saw  her  to  her 
mined  dwelling. 

It  was  dusk  when  Marmaduke  left  the 
city.  Shortly  afterward  he  was  attacked 
by  a  band  of  robbers  who  slashed  him 
severely  and  left  him  to  die.  He  man 
aged  to  make  his  way  to  a  nearby  house, 
and  there  he  was  cared  for  by  the  girl 
whom  he  had  deserted  a  short  time  be 
fore.  She  was  Sibyll  Warner,  daughter 
of  Adam  Warner,  a  philosopher  and 
alchemist  who  spent  all  his  time  in  his 
laboratory.  He  had,  after  years  of  labor, 
nearly  completed  a  crude  model  of  a  small 
steam  engine.  In  those  superstitious  days 
Adam  was  accounted  a  sorcerer  and  his 
daughter  was  suspected  of  witchcraft. 

During  his  convalescence  Marmaduke 
was  greatly  attracted  to  Sibyll,  but  her 
superior  learning  was  a  barrier  between 
them.  Alwyn,  who  came  to  the  house 
many  times,  also  fell  in  love  with  the 
girl.  But  Sibyll  thought  always  of  the 
great  knight  who  had  brought  her  to 
her  door. 

When  Marmaduke  was  well  and  able 
to  leave  the  house,  he  at  once  sought  an 
audience  with  the  mighty  Earl  of  War 
wick.  Warwick  welcomed  him  and  made 
him  a  courtier.  There  he  met  Isabelle, 
Warwick's  haughty  older  daughter,  and 
Anne,  her  gentle  young  sister. 

Warwick  was  preparing  to  go  to  France 
on  a  mission  to  the  court  of  Louis  XI. 
On  Warwick's  advice,  King  Edward  IV 


had  agreed  to  marry  his  sister  Margaret 
to  one  of  the  French  princes.  During 
Warwick's  absence  Marmaduke  served 
in  the  king's  household. 

As  soon  as  Warwick  had  left  the 
country,  Edward's  wife  and  all  her  kins 
men  of  the  Woodville  family  began  to 
work  on  the  king's  pride.  The  Wood- 
villes,  intensely  jealous  of  Warwick,  en 
couraged  the  king  to  defy  the  king 
maker's  power.  They  proposed  that  Ed 
ward  hastily  affiance  his  sister  to  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy.  Edward,  persuaded 
by  his  wife,  at  once  invited  the  illegiti 
mate  brother  of  the  Burgundian  ruler 
to  England  and  concluded  the  alliance. 

Warwick,  hurrying  back  when  he 
heard  the  news,  felt  keenly  the  slight  to 
his  honor.  When  he  found  Edward  at 
a  hunting  party,  he  immediately  de 
manded  Edward's  reasons  for  his  step. 
Edward  was  frightened,  but  he  assumed 
an  air  of  confidence  and  declared  that 
he  had  followed  what  seemed  the  best 
policy  of  diplomacy.  Although  he  was 
much  mortified,  Warwick  magnanimously 
forgave  the  king  and  withdrew.  His 
many  followers  sought  him  out  and  of 
fered  to  rebel,  but  Warwick  withdrew 
entirely  from  court  and  went  into  seclu 
sion  on  his  own  estate. 

Meanwhile  Adam  Warner  had  been 
brought  to  the  court  as  alchemist  to  the 
Duchess  of  Bedford.  Sibyll  fitted  in  well 
with  court  life,  and  Lord  Hastings  be 
came  attached  to  her.  In  time  they  be 
came  engaged,  and  Lord  Hastings  awaited 
only  the  king's  permission  to  marry  her. 
Katherine  de  Bonville,  Warwick's  sister, 
had  been  his  first  love,  but  Warwick  had 
refused  his  consent  to  a  marriage  because 
Lord  Hastings  then  was  not  powerful 
enough  to  aspire  to  a  connection  with  the 
Warwicks.  Although  Katherine  had  later 
married  another,  Lord  Hastings  still  loved 
her;  his  attachment  to  Sibyll  was  only 
temporarily  the  stronger. 

As  Warwick  had  f  orseen,  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  proved  an  unworthy  ally  of 
England  and  the  incensed  French  king 
never  ceased  to  make  trouble  for  the 


493 


English.  At  last  Edward  had  to  confess 
that  he  could  not  rule  the  kingdom  with 
out  Warwick  to  advise  him.  The  king 
swallowed  his  pride  and  invited  War 
wick  back  to  London  with  more  honors 
and  power  than  he  had  held  before.  The 
gallant  earl,  as  a  gesture  of  friendship, 
brought  his  daughter  Anne  to  live  in  the 
queen's  retinue. 

Anne  chose  Sibyll  as  her  companion 
and  the  two  girls  became  close  friends. 
One  night  the  lecherous  Edward  ac 
costed  Anne  in  her  bedroom.  The  girl 
screamed  with  fright  and  ran  to  Adam 
Warner  for  help.  There  the  king  found 
her  and  abjectly  begged  her  pardon,  but 
Anne  was  still  hysterical.  Marmaduke 
smuggled  Anne  out  of  the  castle  and  told 
her  father  what  had  happened. 

Warwick  at  once  put  Marmaduke  at 
the  head  of  a  hundred  men  who  tried 
to  capture  the  king,  but  Edward  stayed 
secure  in  his  tower.  Warwick  then  with 
drew  his  followers  from  the  court  and 
embarked  for  France. 

In  London,  Lord  Hastings  and  Sibyll 


continued  to  meet.  Then  Katherine  de 
Bonville's  husband  died  and  she  was 
free  once  more.  Lord  Hastings'  old  love 
revived  and  he  married  her  secretly  in 
France. 

Margaret  of  Anjou,  the  Lancastrian 
queen  in  exile,  joined  forces  with  War 
wick  hi  France.  When  the  mighty  earl 
returned  to  England,  the  people  wel 
comed  him  and  joined  his  cause.  Ed 
ward  fled  without  fighting  a  battle.  War 
wick  restored  Henry  VI  to  the  throne. 

The  success  of  his  kingmaking  made 
Warwick  careless.  Edward's  power  lay 
not  with  the  nobles  but  with  the  mer 
chants,  and  a  coalition  of  the  rich  mer 
chants  and  the  adherents  of  the  House  of 
York  soon  put  Edward  back  into  power. 
On  the  battlefield  of  Barnet  Warwick 
was  killed  and  his  chiefs  were  either  ex 
ecuted  or  exiled.  Somehow  Adam  War 
ner  and  Sibyll  died  together  in  the  same 
fight.  Alwyn,  an  adherent  of  Edward, 
took  Marmaduke  prisoner  but  later  tried 
to  secure  his  freedom.  History  does  not 
tell  whether  he  succeeded. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS 

Type  of  -work;  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  O 789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1757 

Locale:  Northern  New  York  State 

First  published:  1826 

Principal  characters: 

NATTY  BUMPPO,  a  frontier  scout  known  as  Hawkeye 

CHESTGACHGOOK,  Hawkeye's  Indian  friend 

UNCAS,  Ghingachgook's  son 

MAJOR  DUNCAN  HEYWAKD,  an  English  soldier,  Hawkeye's  friend 

MAGUA,  a  renegade  Huron 

CORA  MONRO,  daughter  of  the  commander  of  Fort  William  Henry 

ALICE  MUNRO,  her  sister 


stocking   Tales,   a   classic   story   of   the 
French  and  Indian  wars. 

The  Story: 

Major  Duncan  Heyward  had  been 
ordered  to  escort  Cora  and  Alice  Munro 
from  Fort  Edward  to  Fort  William 


The  battles  and  exciting  pursuits 
which  constitute  the  plot  of  The  Last  of 
the  Mohicans  are  rounded  out  by  inter 
esting  Indian  lore  and  the  descriptive 
style  of  the  author.  In  spite  of  Cooper's 
awkward  characterizations,  this  novel  re 
mains  the  most  popular  of  the  Leather- 


494 


Henry,  where  Colonel  Munro,  rather  of 
the  girls,  was  commandant.  In  the  party 
was  also  David  Gamut,  a  Connecticut 
singing-master.  On  their  way  to  Fort  Wil 
liam  Henry  they  did  not  follow  the  mili 
tary  road  through  the  wilderness.  In 
stead,  they  placed  themselves  in  the 
hands  of  a  renegade  Huron  known  as 
Magua,  who  claimed  that  he  could  lead 
them  to  their  destination  by  a  shorter 
trail. 

It  was  afternoon  when  the  little  party 
met  the  woodsman,  Hawkeye,  and  his 
Delaware  Mohican  friends,  Chingach- 
gook  and  his  son  Uncas.  To  their  dis 
may,  they  learned  they  were  hut  an 
hour's  distance  from  their  starting  point. 
Hawkeye  quickly  decided  Magua  had 
been  planning  to  lead  the  party  into  a 
trap.  His  Mohican  comrades  tried  to 
capture  the  renegade,  but  Magua  took 
alarm  and  fled  into  the  woods. 

At  Heyward's  urging  the  hunter  agreed 
to  guide  the  travelers  to  their  destination. 
The  horses  were  tied  and  hidden  among 
some  rocks  along  a  river.  Hawkeye  pro 
duced  a  hidden  canoe  from  among  some 
bushes  and  paddled  the  party  to  a  rock 
at  the  foot  of  Glenn's  Falls.  There  they 
prepared  to  spend  the  night  in  a  cave. 

That  night  a  band  of  Iroquois  led  by 
Magua  surprised  the  party.  The  fight 
might  have  been  a  victory  for  Hawkeye 
if  their  supply  of  powder  and  ball  had 
held  out.  Unfortunately,  their  ammuni 
tion  had  been  left  in  the  canoe  which, 
unnoticed  until  it  was  too  late,  was  stolen 
by  one  of  the  enemy  who  had  ventured 
to  swim  the  swirling  river.  The  only 
hope  then  lay  in  the  possibility  of  future 
rescue,  for  the  capture  of  the  rock  and 
the  little  group  was  a  certainty.  Hawkeye, 
Chingachgook,  and  Uncas  escaped  by 
floating  downstream,  leaving  the  girls  and 
Major  Hey  ward  to  meet  the  savages. 

Captured,  Cora  and  Alice  were  allowed 
to  ride  their  horses,  but  Heyward  and 
David  were  forced  by  their  captors  to 
walk.  Although  they  took  a  road  paral 
leling  that  to  Fort  William  Henry,  Hey 
ward  could  not  determine  the  destination 


the  Indians  had  in  mind.  Drawing  close 
to  Magua,  he  tried  to  persuade  him  to 
betray  his  companions  and  deliver  the 
party  safely  to  Colonel  Munro.  The 
Huron  agreed,  if  Cora  would  come  to  live 
with  him  among  his  tribe  as  his  wife. 
When  she  refused,  the  enraged  Magua 
had  everyone  bound.  He  was  threatening 
Alice  with  his  tomahawk  when  Hawkeye 
and  his  friends  crept  silently  upon  the 
band  and  attacked  them.  The  Iroquois 
fled,  leaving  several  of  their  dead  behind 
them.  The  party,  under  David's  guid 
ance,  sang  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving,  and 
then  pushed  onward. 

Toward  evening  they  stopped  at  a 
deserted  blockhouse  to  rest.  Many  years 
before  it  had  been  the  scene  of  a  fight 
between  the  Mohicans  and  the  Mohawks, 
and  a  mound  still  showed  where  bodies 
lay  buried.  While  Chingachgook  watched, 
the  others  slept. 

At  moonrise  they  continued  on  their 
way.  It  was  dawn  when  Hawkeye  and 
his  charges  drew  near  Fort  William 
Henry.  They  were  intercepted  and  chal 
lenged  by  a  sentinel  of  the  French  undei 
Montcalm,  who  was  about  to  lay  siege 
to  the  fort.  Heyward  was  able  to  answer 
him  in  French  and  they  were  allowed  to 
proceed.  Chingachgook  killed  and  scalped 
the  French  sentinel.  Then,  through  the 
fog  which  had  risen  from  Lake  George, 
and  through  the  enemy  forces  which 
thronged  the  plain  before  the  fort,  Hawk- 
eye  led  the  way  to  the  gates  of  the  fort. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  the  siege,  Hawkeye, 
who  had  been  sent  to  Fort  Edward  to 
seek  help,  was  intercepted  on  his  way 
back  and  a  letter  he  carried  was  captured. 
Webb,  the  commander  of  Fort  Edward, 
refused  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Munro. 

Under  a  flag  of  truce,  Montcalm  and 
Munro  held  a  parley.  Montcalm  showed 
Webb's  letter  to  Munro  and  offered  hon 
orable  terms  of  surrender.  Colonel  Munro 
and  his  men  would  be  allowed  to  keep 
their  colors,  their  arms,  and  their  bag 
gage,  if  they  would  vacate  the  fort  the 
next  morning.  Helpless  to  do  otherwise, 
Munro  accepted  these  terms.  During  one 


495 


of  the  parleys  Heyward  was  surprised  to 
see  Magua  in  the  camp  of  the  French. 
He  had  not  been  killed  during  the  earlier 
skirmish. 

The  following  day  the  vanquished 
English  started  their  trip  hack  to  Fort 
Edward.  Under  the  eyes  of  the  French 
and  their  Indian  allies  they  passed  across 
the  plain  and  entered  the  forest.  Sud 
denly  an  Indian  grabbed  at  a  brighdy-col- 
ored' shawl  worn  by  one  of  the  women. 
Terrified,  she  wrapped  her  child  in  it. 
The  Indian  darted  to  her,  grabbed  the 
child  from  her  arms,  and  dashed  out  its 
brains  on  the  ground.  Then  under  the 
eyes  of  Montcalm,  who  did  nothing  to 
discourage  or  to  hold  back  his  savage 
allies,  a  monstrous  slaughter  began. 

Cora  and  Alice,  entrusted  to  David 
Gamut's  protection,  were  in  the  midst  of 
the  killing  when  Magua  swooped  down 
upon  them  and  carried  Alice  away  in  his 
arms.  Cora  ran  after  her  sister,  and  faith 
ful  David  dogged  her  footsteps.  They 
were  soon  atop  a  hill,  from  which  they 
watched  the  slaughter  of  the  garrison. 

Three  days  later,  Hawkeye,  leading 
Heyward,  Munro,  and  his  Indian  com 
rades,  traced  the  girls  and  David  with  the 
help  of  Cora's  veil  which  had  caught  on 
a  tree.  Heyward  was  particularly  con 
cerned  for  the  safety  of  Alice.  The  day 
before  the  massacre  he  had  been  given 
her  father's  permission  to  court  her. 

Hawkeye,  knowing  that  hostile  Indi 
ans  were  on  their  trail,  decided  to  save 
time  by  traveling  across  the  lake  in  a 
canoe  which  he  discovered  in  its  hiding 
place  nearby.  He  was  certain  Magua 
had  taken  the  girls  north,  where  he 
planned  to  rejoin  his  own  people.  Head 
ing  their  canoe  in  that  direction,  the  fire 
men  paddled  all  day,  at  one  point  having 
a  close  escape  from  some  of  their  inter 
cepting  enemies.  They  spent  that  night 
in  the  woods  and  next  day  turned  west 
in  an  effort  to  find  Magua's  trail. 

After  much  searching  Uncas  found  the 
trail  of  the  captives.  That  evening,  as  the 
party  drew  near  the  Huron  camp,  they 
met  David  Gamut  wandering  about.  He 


told  his  friends  that  the  Indians  thought 
him  crazy  because  of  his  habit  of  break 
ing  into  song,  and  they  allowed  him  to 
roam  the  woods  unguarded.  Alice,  he 
said,  was  being  held  at  the  Huron  camp. 
Cora  had  been  entrusted  to  the  care  of 
a  tribe  of  peaceful  Delawares  a  short 
distance  away. 

Heyward,  disguising  his  face  with 
paint,  went  to  the  Huron  camp  in  an 
attempt  to  rescue  Alice,  while  the  others 
set  about  helping  Cora.  Heyward  was 
in  the  camp  but  a  short  time,  posing  as 
a  French  doctor,  when  Uncas  was 
brought  in,  a  captive.  Called  to  treat  an 
ill  Indian  woman,  Heyward  found  Alice 
in  the  cave  with  his  patient.  He  was 
able  to  rescue  the  girl  by  wrapping  her 
in  a  blanket  and  declaring  to  the  Hurons 
that  she  was  his  patient,  whom  he  was 
carrying  off  to  the  woods  for  treatment, 
Hawkeye,  attempting  to  rescue  Uncas, 
entered  the  camp  disguised  in  a  medicine 
man's  bearskin  he  had  stolen.  Uncas 
was  cut  loose  and  given  the  disguise, 
while  the  woodsman  borrowed  David 
Gamut's  clothes.  The  singer  was  left  to 
take  Uncas'  place  while  the  others  es 
caped,  for  Hawkeye  was  certain  the 
Indians  would  not  harm  David  because  of 
his  supposed  mental  condition.  Uncas 
and  Hawkeye  fled  to  the  Delaware  camp. 

The  following  day  Magua  and  a  group 
of  his  warriors  visited  the  Delawares  in 
search  of  their  prisoners.  The  chief  of 
that  tribe  decided  the  Hurons  had  a  just 
claim  to  Cora  because  Magua  wished  to 
make  her  his  wife. 

Under  inviolable  Indian  custom,  the 
Huron  was  permitted  to  leave  the  camp 
unmolested,  but  Uncas  warned  him  that 
in  a  few  hours  he  and  the  Delawares 
would  follow  his  trail 

During  a  bloody  battle  Magua  fled 
with  Cora  to  the  top  of  a  cliff.  There, 
pursued  by  Uncas,  he  stabbed  and  killed 
the  young  Mohican,  and  was  in  his  turn 
sent  to  his  death  by  a  bullet  from  Hawk- 
eye's  long  rifle.  Cora,  too,  was  killed  by 
a  Huron.  Amid  deep  mourning  by  the 
Delawares,  she  and  Uncas  were  laid  in 


496 


their  graves  in  the  forest.  Colonel  Munro 
and  Heyward  conducted  Alice  to  English 
territory  and  safety.  Hawkeye  returned 


to  the  forest.  He  had  promised  to  remain 
with  his  sorrowing  friend  Chingachgook 
forever. 


THE  LAST  PURITAN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Santayana  Q863-1952) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  -plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  England 

First  published:  1936 

Principal  characters: 

OLIVER  AJLDEN,  the  last  puritan 

PETER  ALDEN,  his  father 

HARRIET  ALDEN,  his  mother 

FRAUXEIN  IRMA  SCHLOTE,  Oliver's  governess 

JIM  DARNLEY,  Oliver's  friend 

ROSE  DARNLEY,  Jim's  sister 

MARIO  VAN  DE  WEYER,  Oliver's  cousin 

EDITH  VAN  DE  WEYER,  another  cousin 

BOBBY,  Jim's  illegitimate  son 

Critique: 

Although  he  is  hest  known  as  a  philos 
opher  and  essayist,  George  Santayana 
has  invaded  the  field  of  fiction  with  great 
success.  The  Last  Puritan  is  bis  first 
novel;  but,  unlike  most  first  novels,  it  is 
the  work  of  a  mature  mind.  In  the  story 
of  Oliver  Alden,  Santayana  has  given  us 
a  character  sketch  of  an  almost  extinct 
type  of  American,  a  puritan. 


best  treatment  possible  and,  as  a  con 
sequence,  Peter  married  the  doctor's 
daughter  Harriet.  Oliver  was  their  only 

7 


Little  Oliver  was  a  puritan  from  the 
beginning.  He  accepted  things  as  they 
were,  never  complaining,  never  wonder 
ing  why.  There  were  no  other  children 
with  whom  he  could  play  because  his 
mother  feared  that  other  children  might 
be  dirty  or  vulgar.  And  there  were  no 
stories,  songs,  or  prayers  for  the  boy,  as 
Mrs.  Alden  would  not  have  him  filled 
with  nonsensical  ideas.  His  father  was 
no  more  than  a  polite  stranger  to  little 
Oliver,  for  he  spent  most  of  his  time 
traveling  about  the  world. 

Fraulein  Irma  Schlote,  a  German,  be 
came  Oliver's  governess,  and  from  her 
he  had  what  little  brightness  there  was 
in  his  childhood.  On  their  long  walks 
together,  Irma  instilled  in  Oliver  his  first 
love  of  nature  and  a  love  for  the  Ger 
man  language.  But  even  with  Irma, 
Oliver  remained  a  stoical  little  puritan. 
If  he  were  tired  or  his  foot  hurt,  there 
was  no  use  to  complain.  They  had  come 

-  --^  ^AST  PURITAN  by  George  Santayana.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    Copy- 
right,  1936,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


The  Story: 

Young  Peter  Alden  was  educated  in 
America  but  left  Harvard  before  he  had 
completed  his  studies  and  went  abroad 
with  a  tutor.  After  he  had  come  of  age 
and  had  inherited  his  money  he  wandered 
aimlessly  about  the  world,  studying  occa 
sionally.  He  was  in  his  early  middle 
years  before  he  completed  any  one  course. 
Licensed  to  practice  medicine,  his  prac 
tice  was  limited  to  himself,  for  he  had 
burdened  himself  with  many  ills,  some 
real  but  most  of  them  imaginary.  Once 
he  consulted  Dr.  Bumstead,  a  psychia 
trist  whose  main  concern  was  Peter's 
money.  Dr.  Bumstead  convinced  Peter 
that  a  home  and  a  wife  would  be  the 


497 


for  a  walk,  and  they  must  finish  that 
walk.  One  must  do  his  duty,  even  an 
unpleasant  one.  As  he  grew  older, 
Oliver  hated  human  weakness  with  the 
hatred  of  a  true  puritan. 

When  Oliver  was  fifteen,  he  went  to 
high  school,  where  he  excelled  in  scholar 
ship  and  in  athletics  because  it  was  his 
duty  to  keep  his  body  strong  and  because 
it  was  his  duty  to  do  everything  that 
the  school  demanded. 

During  one  holiday  season  Oliver 
joined  his  father  on  his  yacht  There 
he  met  Jim  Darnley,  the  captain,  who 
had  been  a  British  sailor  before  he  be 
came  involved  in  a  scandal.  Jim  was  an 
entirely  new  type  of  person  in  Oliver's 
world.  Oliver  knew  that  the  sailor  was 
worldly  and  had  no  sense  of  duty,  but 
strangely  enough  Oliver  was  always  to 
consider  Jim  his  dearest  friend. 

After  his  graduation  from  high  school, 
Oliver  joined  his  father  and  Jim  in  Eng 
land.  There,  while  visiting  Jim's  family, 
he  learned  to  respect  Jim's  minister  father 
and  to  enjoy  the  company  of  Rose,  Jim's 
young  sister.  He  learned  also  that  Jim 
had  an  illegitimate  child,  Bobby,  who 
lived  with  Mrs.  Bowler,  his  tavern-keep 
ing  mother. 

While  in  England,  Oliver  also  met 
his  distant  cousin,  Mario  Van  de  Weyer, 
a  worldly  young  man  dependent  upon  his 
rich  relatives  for  his  education  and  liveli 
hood.  Mario  also  puzzled  Oliver.  Mario 
had  nothing,  not  even  much  real  in 
telligence,  yet  he  was  happy.  Oliver, 
who  had  everything,  was  not  consciously 
happy;  he  merely  lived  as  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  live. 

Before  they  left  England,  Oliver's 
father  committed  suicide.  He  felt  that 
Oliver  needed  to  be  free  of  him  and  as 
much  as  possible  of  his  own  mother. 
Rather  than  see  the  boy  torn  between  his 
conflicting  duties  to  both  parents,  Peter 
took  his  own  life. 

Back  in  America,  Oliver  entered  Wil 
liams  College.  While  playing  football, 
he  broke  his  leg.  In  the  infirmary  he 
was  visited  by  his  cousin  Mario  and 


another  cousin,  Edith  Van  de  Weyer. 
Mario,  who  attended  Harvard  on  Oliver's 
money,  seemed  to  feel  no  reluctance 
about  living  extravagantly  on  his  cousin's 
bounty.  Oliver  began  to  think  of  Edith 
as  a  possible  wife.  Like  his  father,  he 
did  not  consider  love  an  important 
element  in  marriage,  but  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  marry  and  have  children. 

In  his  last  year  of  college,  Oliver 
transferred  to  Harvard  University.  There 
he  spent  much  time  with  Mario,  until 
that  young  man  was  forced  to  leave 
college  because  he  had  been  found  in  his 
room  with  a  young  woman.  When  he 
went  to  Edith's  home  to  tell  her  about 
Mario,  Oliver  found  that  Edith's  family 
had  already  heard  the  story  from  Mario 
and  had  forgiven  him.  Oliver  also  learned 
that  Edith  had  great  affection  for  Mario. 
But  because  he  thought  a  match  between 
himself  and  Edith  a  sensible  one,  he  pro 
posed  to  her  anyway,  forgetting  to  men 
tion  love.  Edith  refused  him.  She  knew 
that  marriage  with  Oliver  would  be  a 
dutiful  experience  only,  and  she  wanted 
more  than  duty. 

When  he  had  finished  college,  Oliver 
took  a  cruise  around  the  world.  Then 
he  settled  in  England  and  lived  for  a 
time  near  Jim  Darnley 's  family.  War  was 
coming  closer,  but  Oliver  felt  no  duty 
toward  either  side.  Mario  enlisted  at 
once,  for  Mario  was  romantic.  The  war 
became  more  personal  for  Oliver  when 
he  learned  that  Jim  had  been  killed 
Jim's  death  seemed  proof  of  war's  use 
less  waste.  More  practically,  Jim's  death 
meant  that  Bobby  and  Rose  were  now 
Oliver's  responsibility. 

When  the  United  States  entered  the 
war,  Oliver  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
go  home  and  join  the  army.  After  his 
training  he  was  sent  to  France.  Before 
he  went  to  the  front,  he  wrote  to  Rose 
Darnley,  asking  her  to  marry  him  at 
once,  so  that  she  would  be  his  wife  and 
would  be  cared  for  if  he  were  killed. 
But  Rose,  like  Edith,  wanted  love,  and 
she  refused  to  marry  him.  She  knew, 
too,  that  Oliver  should  never  marry,  be- 


498 


cause  love  should  be  unreasoning  and 
illogical  at  times,  conditions  which  Oliver 
could  never  accept. 

After  Rose's  refusal,  Oliver  seemed 
free  for  the  first  time.  No  one  needed 
him  any  longer.  Jim  was  dead.  Mario 
was  in  the  army  and  provided  for  in  case 
of  Oliver's  death.  Bobby  had  been  made 
secure  financially.  Edith  was  engaged  to 
be  married.  Rose  was  provided  for  in 
Oliver's  will.  All  his  life  he  had  acted 
in  accordance  with  duty,  in  his  parental 
relations,  in  school,  in  the  army.  At 
least  he  would  not  be  a  dutiful  husband. 
Now  he  need  be  true  only  to  himself. 
That  night  he  slept  peacefully. 

Oliver  was  killed,  but  not  in  battle. 
He  was  a  post-Armistice  casualty,  the 
victim  of  a  motorcycle  accident.  His  will 


told  the  story  of  his  life.  He  had  left 
adequate,  but  not  extravagant,  provisions 
for  Mario,  Rose,  Mrs.  Darnley,  Fraulein 
Irma,  and  Bobby.  The  bulk  of  his  for 
tune  he  left  to  his  mother  because  he 
had  believed  it  his  duty  to  provide  for 
her. 

So  Oliver  Alden  ended  his  life  a  true 
puritan,  doing  what  must  be  done  with 
out  flinching,  taking  little  pleasure  in 
worldly  things,  yet  not  withdrawing  from 
the  world.  He  did  not  believe  in  puri- 
tanism,  for  he  knew  that  those  who 
lived  selfishly  were  often  more  happy 
than  he.  He  was  not  a  prig.  He  had 
been  a  puritan  in  spite  of  himself,  and 
for  that  reason,  perhaps,  the  last  true 
puritan. 


THE  LATE  GEORGE  APLEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  John  P.  Marquand  C 1893-1 960) 

Type  of  plot:  Simulated  biography 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:  Boston 

First  published:   1937 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  APLEY,  a  proper  Bostonian 

JOHN,  his  son 

ELEANOR,  his  daughter 

CATHARINE,  his  wife 

Ms.  WILLING,  George  Apley's  biographer 

Critique: 

Satire  has  been  said  to  require  the 
utmost  of  great  minds.  In  a  sense  it  re 
quires  a  man  to  have  two  visions:  one 
of  society  as  it  might  be  and  one  as  it  is. 
The  range  between  those  two  points 
offers  the  opportunity  for  satirical  com 
parisons.  In  Tine  Late  George  Apley  the 
satire  is  double-edged  because  of  the 
method  of  telling  the  story.  The  novel 
is  sub-tided  "A  Novel  in  the  Form  of  a 
Memoir/'  Mr.  Willing,  the  supposed 
biographer  of  these  memoirs,  is  as  much 
a  source  of  satire  as  George  Apley  him 
self,  for  without  Mr.  Willing,  the  staid, 


nx^  LATE  GEORGE  APLEY  by  John  P.  Marquand. 
Brown  &  Co    Copyright,  1937,  by  John  P.  Marquand. 


polished,  and  politely-dull  annotator,  the 
book  would  be  only  one  more  realistic 
novel. 

The  Story: 

George  William  Apley  was  born  on 
Beacon  Hill,  on  January  25,  1866.  The 
Apleys  were  an  old  family  in  Massachu 
setts.  Thomas,  known  in  the  old  records 
as  Goodman  Apley,  had  emigrated  from 
England  to  America  and  settled  in  Rox- 
bury  in  1636.  Goodman  Apley's  son, 
John,  had  graduated  from  Harvard  in 
1662.  From  his  time  there  had  been  an 

67  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Little 


499 


Apley  in  Harvard  in  each  succeeding 
generation.  John  Apley's  son,  Nathaniel, 
established  himself  in  Boston.  A  later 
Apley,  Moses,  hecame  a  shipping  master 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Apley 
fortune.  Moses  Apley  was  George  Apley's 
grandfather. 

George  Apley  grew  up  in  a  quiet 
atmosphere  of  wealth  and  social  position. 
He  learned  his  parents'  way  of  living 
calmly  and  with  fortitude.  In  an  orderly 
way  he  was  introduced  to  the  polite 
world,  at  first  through  visits  to  relatives; 
later,  through  study  at  Harvard. 

His  Harvard  days  were  probably  the 
high  point  of  his  life.  He  was  sent  to 
Harvard  to  weld  those  qualities  of  gentle 
manly  behavior  which  private  grammar 
school  and  parents  together  had  tried 
to  encourage.  His  parents  were  anxious 
that  he  should  make  friends  with  the 
right  people.  George  was  carefully  in 
structed  in  the  ways  of  high-minded 
gentlemen.  His  training  was  indicated 
by  a  theme  in  which  he  wrote  a  descrip 
tion  of  a  Boston  brothel  in  terms  express 
ing  his  repulsion  and  shock.  In  the 
gymnasium  George  won  distinction  as  a 
boxer.  Moreover,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  the  Harvard  Lampoon. 
He  was  taken  into  the  Club,  an  honor 
his  father  appreciated  greatly.  In  his 
junior  and  senior  years  he  took  part  in 
the  musical  extravaganzas  of  the  Hasty 
Pudding  Club.  In  spite  of  these  activities 
he  never  neglected  his  studies  and  he 
was  known  as  a  respectable  student  with 
grades  placing  nim  in  the  middle  of  his 
class  at  graduation. 

While  in  college,  he  fell  in  love  with 
an  impossible  girl,  Mary  Monahan.  The 
affair  was  cut  short  by  the  Apleys  and 
never  referred  to  publicly.  Shortly  there 
after  his  family  prescribed  a  sea  voyage 
for  him.  When  he  returned  home  he 
took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  board  for  the  Boston 
Waifs'  Society. 

George  was  instructed  in  the  shrewd 
businesslike  manners  and  knowledge  of 
tne  Apleys.  He  was  sent  to  work  with 


his  Uncle  William  for  one  summer.  Wil 
liam  sensed  that  his  nephew  would  never 
make  a  good  businessman  and  advised 
that  George  should  be  put  into  law  or 
made  a  trustee  of  other  peoples'  money, 
not  his  own.  As  a  result  George,  like 
many  of  his  friends,  never  went  actively 
into  business,  but  spent  his  lifetime 
clipping  coupons. 

In  February,  1890,  George  followed 
his  parents*  wishes  and  suitably  became 
engaged  to  Catharine  Bosworth.  Both 
his  father-in-law  and  his  own  father  saw 
to  it  that  the  young  couple  had  a  sum 
mer  cottage  and  a  house  for  the  winter. 
The  two  mothers  were  equally  solicitous. 
George  discovered  that  he  had  married 
not  only  Catharine  but  also  her  family. 

As  the  years  passed,  George  devoted 
his  time  to  charitable  groups,  learned 
societies,  and  to  writing  for  his  clubs. 
One  of  his  papers,  "Jorias  Good  and  Cow 
Corner,"  was  said  to  be  among  the  best 
papers  read  before  the  Browsers  in  fifty 
years. 

His  first  child's  name  was  a  subject 
for  debate  in  his  own  and  Catharine's 
family.  The  name,  John,  common  to 
both  families,  was  finally  chosen.  His 
second  child  was  a  daughter,  Eleanor. 

Shortly  after  his  sister  Amelia's  mar 
riage,  George's  father  died  of  an  apoplec 
tic  stroke.  He  left  a  million  dollars  to 
Harvard,  other  large  sums  to  his  charities, 
and  the  remainder  of  his  fortune  in 
trust  for  his  family.  George  had  to  pay 
a  sum  of  money  to  a  woman  who  claimed 
she  had  borne  a  son  to  his  father.  Al 
though  he  did  not  believe  the  charge,  he 
paid  rather  than  cause  scandal  in  the 


George  invested  in  a  place  known  as 
Pequod  Island  and  there  he  took  his 
friends  when  he  wanted  to  get  away 
from  Boston.  On  the  island  he  and  his 
friends  condescended  to  share  the  camp- 
fire  with  their  guides.  Planned  as  a  male 
retreat,  the  island  was  soon  overrun  with 
literary  lights  of  the  times  invited  by 
George's  wife  and  sister. 

As  his  son  grew  up,  George  noted 


500 


an  increasing  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
younger  generation  to  be  wild  and  care 
less  with  money.  Later,  George  began 
to  realize  that  he  and  his  generation 
had  let  much  slip  and  that  Boston  was 
going  to  the  Irish.  He  gave  his  name 
10  the  "Save  Boston  Association"  as  he 
considered  his  membership  an  Apley 
duty.  He  also  interested  himself  in 
bird  lore  and  philosophy  and  toot  as 
much  personal  concern  as  possible  in  the 
affairs  of  his  children.  When  his  mother 
died  in  1908,  George  counted  her  death 
one  of  his  most  poignant  tragedies. 

When  George's  son  entered  Harvard, 
George  took  a  new  interest  in  the  uni 
versity  and  noted  many  changes  he  did 
not  like. 

Old  Uncle  William,  now  over  eighty, 
still  controlled  the  Apley  mills  and  held 
out  successfully  against  the  new  labor 
unions.  One  day  the  old  man  shocked 
his  family  by  marrying  his  nurse,  a  Miss 
Prentiss. 

His  daughter  Eleanor's  marriage  was 
completely  unsatisfactory  to  George  be 
cause  she  did  not  induce  her  husband  to 
give  up  his  job  for  a  position  in  the  Apley 
mills  and  to  take  up  residence  near  her 
family.  But  George  was  proud  of  his 
son  John  for  his  service  at  the  front. 
George  himself  belonged  to  the  Home 
Guards.  When  John  married  a  girl  of 
good  connections  after  the  war,  George 
was  doubly  pleased. 

At  last  George  came  into  opposition 
with  a  man  named  O'Reilly,  whom  George 
planned  to  have  brought  before  criminal 


court  on  charges  of  extortion.  However, 
O'Reilly  tricked  George  into  a  scandal. 
George  intended  to  have  the  whole  case 
cleared  in  court,  but  before  the  trial 
he  received  a  note  from  his  one-time 
sweetheart,  Mary  Monahan.  After  an 
interview  with  her,  he  settled  the  case 
quietly  and  bought  off  his  opponents. 

In  1928  he  became  a  grandfather.  As 
soon  as  the  baby  had  been  born,  Georg 
telegraphed  Groton  to  include  his  grand 
son's    name    among    the    entrance    aj 
plicants. 

In  his  last  years  George  took  interest 
in  the  new  novels,  condemning  those 
too  blatant  in  their  description  of  sex 
and  fighting  against  the  inclusion  of 
some  of  them  in  the  Boston  libraries. 
His  own  copy  of  Lady  Chatterly's  Lover 
he  hid  in  the  silver  safe  to  keep  his 
daughter  from  seeing  it.  He  defied  pro 
hibition  as  an  abuse  of  his  rights  and 
kept  a  private  bootlegger  on  principle 
because  he  thought  it  important  to  help 
break  the  prohibition  law. 

He  thought,  too,  that  the  colossal 
fortunes  being  gathered  by  the  unedu 
cated  should  be  handed  over  to  the  gov 
ernment.  In  the  autumn  of  1929  he  and 
his  wife  made  a  trip  to  Rome,  where 
they  visited  Horatio  Apley,  recently  ap 
pointed  to  a  diplomatic  post  there.  George 
was  absent  from  America  when  the  stock 
market  crash  came.  His  financial  affairs 
did  not  suffer  greatly,  but,  his  health 
breaking,  he  began  to  plan  his  will  and 
his  funeral. 

George  Apley  died  in  December,  1933, 


LAVENGRO 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Henry  Borrow  (1803-1881) 

Type  of  plot:  Simulated  autobiography 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England,  Scotland,  Ireland 

First  published:  1851 

Principal  characters: 

LAVENGRO,  a  scholar,  journalist,  and  tinker 

JOHN,  his  brother 

JASPER  PETULENGRO,  his  gipsy  friend 

MBS.  HEENE,  an  old  crone 


501 


THE  FLAMING  TINMAN,  a  bully  of  the  roads 
ISOPEL  BERNERS,  Lavengro's  companion 
PETER  WILLIAMS,  an  evangelist 
WINIFRED,  his  wife 

Critique: 

Lavengro;  The  Scholar — The  Gipsy — 
The  Priest  is  a  long  novel,  in  part  fic 
tion  and  in  part  the  autobiography  of 
its  eccentric  author,  which  gives  an  in 
teresting  and  unusual  picture  of  England 
during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century. 
The  autobiographical  method  of  the  nar 
rative  has  aroused  the  interest  of  scholars 
as  to  what  is  fact  in  the  book  and  what 
is  pure  imagination.  To  the  general 
reader,  Lavengro  is  most  interesting  for  its 
accounts  of  nomadic  gipsy  life  and  char 
acter  studies  of  tinkers,  beggars,  and 
thieves  who  roamed  the  English  highways 
more  than  a  hundred  years  ago. 


The  Story: 

Lavengro  was  the  son  of  an  army  officer 
who  had  fought  against  Napoleon,  and 
the  boy  spent  his  early  years  at  army 
garrisons  in  various  parts  of  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales.  When  he 
was  six  years  old,  Lavengro  discovered 
Robinson  Crusoe,  a  book  which  stimu 
lated  his  imagination  and  aroused  in  him 
a  desire  to  read  and  to  study  languages. 
One  day,  wandering  on  the  outskirts  of  a 
garrison  town,  he  met  a  group  of  gipsies 
toho  threatened  to  do  him  harm.  They 
drew  back,  however,  when  he  showed 
them  a  tame  snake  which  he  was  carry 
ing.  The  gipsies,  becoming  friendly, 
nicknamed  turn  Sapengro,  or  snake  tamer. 
A  young  gipsy  named  Jasper  declared  that 
they  would  always  be  brothers.  He  met 
also  at  the  gipsy  camp  a  Romany  whom 
he  saw  hanged  fifteen  years  later  at  New 
gate. 


died  more  Latin  and  Greek  and,  in  an 
incidental  fashion,  learned  to  speak  Irish. 
His  brother  John  was  made  an  ensign 
and  transferred  to  a  post  some  few  miles 
away.  After  peace  was  signed  with  the 
French,  opportunities  for  military  em 
ployment  were  few.  John  had  always 
wanted  to  paint;  therefore,  his  father 
allowed  him  to  go  to  London  to  study 
his  art. 

Lavengro  again  met  Jasper,  his  gipsy 
friend,  and  discovered  that  Jasper's  last 
name  was  Petulengro.  Jasper  was  now 
a  Romany  Krai — or  gipsy  king — a  horse- 
shoer,  pugilist,  jockey,  and  soothsayer. 
Through  Jasper,  Lavengro  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  a  malignant  old  crone 
named  Herne,  who  hated  him  because 
she  believed  that  he  was  stealing  the 
Romany  tongue.  It  was  Jasper  who 
named  him  Lavengro,  which  means 
"word-master,"  because  he  learned  the 
gipsy  language  so  rapidly.  All  of  the  gip 
sies  departed  for  London,  except  Mrs, 
Herne,  who  went  to  Yorkshire.  Laven 
gro  remained  at  home  with  his  parents 
while  his  father  tried  to  decide  what  to 
do  with  him.  It  was  finally  agreed  that 
Lavengro  would  enter  a  solicitor's  office 
to  study  law.  But  Lavengro  neglected  his 
Blackstone  while  he  studied  Welsh  and 
translated  the  poetry  of  Ab  Gwilym. 
About  the  same  time,  Lavengro  obtained 
a  Danish  book  and  learned  to  read  it  by 
first  studying  the  Danish  Bible.  One  day 
Lavengro  was  sent  to  deliver  a  thousand 
pounds  to  a  magistrate  with  whom  he  had 
a  very  entertaining  conversation  concern- 


A  few  years  later  he  began  the  study      ing  the  manly  art  of  self-defense.  In  spite 
of  Latin.  About  the  same  time  his  father      of  the  magistrate's  fondness  for  boxing, 
was  ordered  to  Edinburgh.  In  Scodand,      however,  he  refused  a  pkce  on  his  land 
Lavengro  took  part  in  several  bickers,  or 
fights,  with  his  schoolmates  and  learned 
mountain  climbing.    Then  in   1815  his 
father  was  ordered  to  Ireland.   Lavengro 
went  to  a  seminary  at  Clonmel  and  stu- 


for  a  match. 

Lavengro  met  Jasper  again  and  put  on 
the  gloves  with  him  for  a  friendly  bout. 
Later  he  returned  home  and  discovered 
that  his  father  was  seriously  ill.  His 


502 


brother  John  also  arrived  home  just  be 
fore  Bis  father  died.  Shortly  afterward 
Lavengro  went  to  London  to  seek  his 
fortune  as  a  writer,  taking  with  him  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  a  noted  pub 
lisher.  The  publisher  seemed  delighted 
to  be  able  to  employ  him,  but  was  not 
interested  in  such  things  as  Lavengro's 
translations  of  the  songs  of  Ab  Gwilym 
and  his  translations  of  Danish  songs. 
Lavengro  was  informed  that  the  reading 
public  scoffed  at  works  like  these.  In 
stead,  the  publisher  recommended  a  story 
somewhat  along  the  line  of  The  Dairy 
man's  Daughter. 

While  walking  through  Cheapside  one 
day,  Lavengro  climbed  upon  the  balus 
trade  of  a  bridge  in  order  to  see  some 
thing  below.  An  old  woman  selling 
apples  nearby  thought  he  was  trying  to 
commit  suicide  and  begged  him  not  to 
fling  himself  over.  The  old  lady  had  a 
partiality  for  a  book  about  the  '"blessed" 
Mary  Flanders.  Lavengro  returned  from 
time  to  time  to  see  her  and  to  talk  with 
her. 

Lavengro,  invited  to  dinner  at  the  pub 
lisher's  house  one  Sunday,  discovered 
that  the  publisher  did  not  believe  in  eat 
ing  meat  or  drinking  wine.  After  dinner 
Lavengro  heard  what  was  to  be  his  new 
assignment  since  the  publisher  had  now 
decided  not  to  publish  anything  like  The 
Dairyman's  Daughter.  He  was  to  pre 
pare  a  collection  of  the  stories  of  the 
lives  and  trials  of  famous  criminals  in 
carcerated  at  Newgate.  In  addition,  he 
was  to  translate  the  publisher's  book  of 
philosophy  into  German  and  to  write 
an  article  about  it  for  the  Review. 

In  the  company  of  an  acquaintance 
named  Francis  Ardry,  Lavengro  visited 
many  of  the  underworld  spots  of  London 
End  this  experience,  together  with  the 
series  on  criminals  which  he  was  pre 
paring,  gave  him  a  wide  and  practical 
knowledge  of  the  underworld.  Then 
Lavengro's  brother  came  to  London  and 
introduced  him  to  a  painter  of  the  heroic. 
The  peculiar  thing  about  this  painter's 
pictures  was  the  short  legs  of  the  people 


in  his  paintings.  When  Lavengro's  stories 
of  crime  were  finished,  he  took  them  to 
the  publisher.  But  the  publisher  was  dis 
pleased  because  Lavengro  had  omitted 
several  of  the  publisher's  favorite  crim 
inal  histories. 

Lavengro  went  to  visit  the  apple- 
woman  again  and  his  despondent  appear 
ance  led  her  to  think  that  he  had  been 
caught  stealing.  The  apple-woman  never 
became  aware  of  Lavengro's  profession. 
He  talked  her  into  letting  him  read  her 
cherished  copy  of  the  life  of  Mary 
Flanders. 

The  publisher's  speculations  failed  and 
left  Lavengro  without  money,  but  Laven- 
gro  finally  obtained  all  the  wages  that 
were  due  him.  Taggart,  the  publisher's 
assistant,  told  Lavengro  that  Glorious 
John,  another  printer,  would  publish  his 
ballads  and  the  songs  of  Ab  Gwilym.  But 
Lavengro  never  offered  his  ballads  to 
Glorious  John.  In  midwinter  he  went 
again  to  visit  the  apple-woman  and  found 
that  she  had  moved  her  stall  to  the  other 
side  of  the  bridge.  He  promised  to  take 
her  book  and  trade  it  in  for  a  Bible, 
However,  he  lost  the  book  and  had 
nothing  to  trade.  He  decided  to  purchase 
a  Bible  and  never  let  her  know  about  his 
negligence. 

About  this  time  Lavengro  saved  an 
Armenian  from  pickpockets.  The  Ar 
menian  wished  him  to  translate  some 
Armenian  fables  into  English,  but  Laven 
gro  refused.  The  Armenian,  who  had 
inherited  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
from  his  father,  was  intent  upon  doubling 
the  amount  through  his  speculation.  The 
Armenian  ran  into  a  bit  of  luck  and  came 
into  possession  of  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds.  Lavengro's  advice  to  the  Ar 
menian  was  to  take  his  fortune  and  fight 
the  Persians. 

Lavengro  decided,  when  his  money  got 
short,  to  do  the  translations  for  the 
Armenian  but  the  man  had  already  de 
parted  to  invest  his  money  in  a  war 
against  the  Persians. 

Lavengro  left  London  after  having 
some  small  success  writing  fiction.  He 


503 


met  and  talked  with  many  and  various 
people  on  his  travels  about  England.  On 
his  rambles  he  heard  the  stories  concern 
ing  the  Raming  Tinman,  who  held  a 
great  repute  as  a  fighter  and  who  had 
forced  Jack  Slingsby,  another  tinker,  out 
of  business  on  threats  of  death.  Lavengro 
met  Slingsby  and  bought  him  out.  He 
decided  to  become  a  tinker  himself  in  the 
hope  of  meeting  the  Flaming  Tinman. 

One  day,  while  he  was  mending  pots 
and  pans,  he  encountered  Mrs*  Herne 
and  Leonora,  a  thirteen-year-old  girl  who 
was  traveling  with  the  old  woman.  Leo 
nora  brought  him  cakes  made  by  Mrs. 
Herne.  He  ate  one  of  them  and  that 
night  became  seriously  ill.  When  the 
evil  old  crone  came  to  gloat  over  him,  he 
realized  that  the  cakes  had  been  poisoned. 
Then  the  sound  of  wheels  frightened  the 
old  woman  away,  and  Lavengro  was 
saved  by  the  timely  arrival  of  Peter 
Williams,  a  traveling  Welsh  preacher, 
and  Winifred,  his  wife.  Peter  Williams 
told  Lavengro  the  sad  story  of  his  life 
and  related  how  he  had  been  led  to 
commit  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
a  sin  for  -which  there  was  no  redemption. 
Peter  had  become  a  preacher  to  warn 
other  people  against  the  unforgivable  sin. 
Lavengro  journeyed  with  Peter  and  his 
wife  as  far  as  the  Welsh  border,  where 
he  left  them  to  join  Jasper  Petulengro 
and  his  band  of  gipsies. 

Jasper  told  Lavengro  how  Mrs.  Herne 
had  hanged  herself  because  of  her  failure 
to  poison  him.  Since  Jasper  was  a  blood- 
kinsman  of  Mrs.  Herne,  it  was  required 


by  Romany  law  that  he  obtain  revenge 
from  Lavengro.  Lavengro,  however,  was 
really  only  indirectly  responsible  for  the 
old  woman's  death,  a  fact  of  which  Jasper 
was  well  aware.  They  retired  to  a  place 
where  they  could  fight,  and  there  Jasper 
received  full  satisfaction  when  he  made 
Lavengro's  nose  bleed. 

Soon  after  his  friendly  tussle  with 
Jasper,  Lavengro  met  the  Haming  Tin 
man,  Moll,  his  wife,  and  Isopel  Berners, 
child  of  a  gipsy  mother  and  a  noble 
father  and  now  a  free  woman  of  the 
roads*  Isopel  was  responsible  for  Laven 
gro's  victory  in  a  brawl  with  the  Flaming 
Tinman,  for  she  had  told  him  to  use  his 
right  hand  and  to  strike  at  the  bully's 
face.  The  Flaming  Tinman  and  Moll  de 
parted,  leaving  the  territory  to  Lavengro 
the  tinker,  but  Isopel  remained  behind 
with  her  belongings.  The  story  of  the 
Flaming  Tinman's  defeat  was  soon  known 
throughout  the  neighborhood,  and  Laven 
gro  became  a  hero  of  the  roads.  At  a 
public  house  he  met  a  priest  whom  he 
called  the  Man  in  Black.  He  and  Laven 
gro  had  many  conversations  concerning 
religion  and  the  attempt  to  establish 
Catholicism  as  the  religion  in  England. 

On  a  wild  stormy  night  Isopel  and 
Lavengro  helped  a  coachman  right  his 
coach  which  had  overturned.  Later  the 
coachman  told  them  the  story  of  his 
life,  and  his  tale  was  proof  that  in  those 
days  romance  journeyed  on  the  highways 
and  adventure  waited  around  the  turn  of 
any  English  lane. 


LIFE  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI 

Type  of  work:  Reminiscence 

Author:  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L,  Clemens,  1835-1910) 

Type  of  <plat:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  -plot;  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  IVIississippi  River  region 

first  published:  1883 

Principal  characters: 
MABK  TWAIN 
MB.  BIXBY,  a  river  pilot 


504 


Critique: 

It  is  extraordinary  that  a  book  with 
so  many  defects  should  have  become  one 
of  the  classics  of  our  national  heritage. 
There  is,  for  example,  a  sharp  and  obvi 
ous  division  between  the  first  twelve  or 
fourteen  chapters  and  the  rest  of  the 
book.  It  is  clear  that  it  was  not  written 
all  at  one  time,  and  the  effects  of  bad 
composition  are  evident.  The  chapters  are 
badly  organized  and  there  are  many 
labored  passages.  Despite  this  lack  of 
craftsmanship,  Life  on  the  Mississip'pi  is 
a  vivid,  dramatic,  and  extremely  interest 
ing  collection  of  reminiscences.  Like  the 
mighty  river  with  which  it  is  concerned, 
the  book  has  become  part  of  the  American 
tradition,  part  of  our  national  pride  and 
history. 

The  Story: 

When  Mark  Twain  was  a  boy,  he  and 
his  comrades  in  Hannibal,  Missouri,  had 
one  great  ambition;  they  hoped  to  be 
come  steamboatmen.  They  had  other 
ambitions,  too,  such  as  joining  the  circus 
or  becoming  pirates,  but  these  soon 
passed.  Only  the  ambition  to  be  a  steam- 
boatman  remained,  renewed  twice  each 
day  when  the  upriver  and  the  down 
river  boats  put  in  at  the  rickety  wharf 
and  woke  the  sleepy  village  to  bustling 
life.  Through  the  years,  boy  after  boy 
left  the  river  communities,  to  return 
later,  swaggering  in  his  importance  as  a 
worker  on  a  steamboat.  Mark  Twain  saw 
these  boys  often,  and  the  fact  that  some 
of  them  had  been  considered  as  undeni 
ably  damned  in  the  eyes  of  the  pious 
folk  shook  Twain's  convictions  pro 
foundly.  He  wondered  why  these  boys 
who  flouted  Sunday  School  maxims  and 
ran  away  from  home  should  win  the  re 
wards  of  adventure  and  romance  that 
meeker  town  boys  never  knew. 

Mark  Twain,  too,  had  this  dream  of 
adventure.  His  ambition  was  a  lofty  one. 
He  determined  to  become  a  cub-pilot. 
While  in  Cincinnati,  he  heard  that  a 
government  expedition  was  exploring  the 
Amazon.  With  thirty  dollars  he  had  saved 


he  took  a  boat  bound  for  New  Orleans. 
His  intention  was  to  travel  on  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  Amazon.  But  the 
ship  was  grounded  at  Louisville,  and 
during  the  delay  Mark  came  to  the  at 
tention  of  Mr.  Bixby,  the  most  famous 
pilot  on  the  Mississippi  River.  He  pre 
vailed  upon  Bixby  to  teach  him  how  to 
navigate. 

At  first  the  adventure  was  a  glorious 
one.  But  soon  Mark  found  that  the  more 
he  knew  about  the  river,  the  less  ro 
mantic  it  seemed.  Though  he  was  a  duti 
ful  student,  he  discovered  that  he  could 
not  remember  everything  Bixby  told  him, 
regardless  of  how  important  this  informa 
tion  seemed  to  be.  Furthermore,  to  his 
astonishment  and  despair,  his  instructor 
told  him  that  the  river  was  changing  its 
course  continually;  that  there  were  no 
such  things  as  permanent  landmarks;  that 
the  river  channel  was  never  the  same,  but 
always  variable.  There  were  times  when 
the  young  cub-pilot  was  frightened, 
especially  when  he  narrowly  missed  hit 
ting  another  ship,  or  trimmed  the  boat 
too  close  to  shore.  But  worse  was  the 
experience  of  piloting  in  the  dead  of 
night,  with  no  landmarks  to  observe  and 
only  deep  blackness  all  around. 

Bixby  claimed  the  secret  of  navigation 
was  not  to  remember  landmarks,  which 
changed,  but  to  learn  the  shape  of  the 
river,  and  then  to  steer  by  the  shape  in 
one's  head. 

It  was  undeniably  an  interesting  life. 
The  pilot  had  to  be  on  the  lookout  for 
rafts  sailing  the  river  at  night  without 
lights.  Often  a  whole  family  would  be 
on  a  raft,  and  they  would  shout  impre 
cations  at  the  steamboat  which  had  just 
barely  missed  dumping  them  all  into  the 
river.  Then  there  was  the  fascinating  be 
havior  of  the  river  itself.  Prosperous 
towns  would  be  isolated  by  a  new  cut-off 
and  reduced  to  insignificance;  towns  and 
islands  in  one  state  would  be  moved  up 
or  down  and  into  another  state,  or,  as 
sometimes  happened,  into  an  area  that 
belonged  to  no  state  at  all! 


505 


The  river  pilot  reigned  supreme  on 
his  boat.  The  captain  was  theoretically 
the  master;  but  as  soon  as  the  boat  got 
under  way,  the  pilot  was  in  charge,  and 
only  a  very  foolhardy  captain  would  have 
interfered.  The  importance  of  the  pilot 
in  river  navigation  eventually  led  to  the 
formation  of  a  pilots'  association.  At  first 
the  idea  seemed  ridiculous.  But  the 
union  grew  as,  one  by  one,  all  the  good 
pilots  joined.  As  a  result  pilots  could 
make  their  own  terms  with  the  owners. 
Not  only  were  wages  guaranteed,  but 
pilots  secured  better  working  conditions, 
pensions,  and  funds  for  their  widows  and 
orphans.  Within  a  few  years  the  asso 
ciation  was  the  most  indestructible 
monopoly  in  the  country.  But  its  days 
were  numbered.  First  of  all,  the  railroads 
came  in  and  river  transportation  was 
gradually  abandoned  in  favor  of  rail  traf 
fic.  Then,  too,  the  Civil  War  reduced 
navigation  to  a  mere  trickle  and  dealt 
a  deathblow  to  river  commerce.  The 
steamboat  was  no  longer  an  important 
means  of  transportation. 

From  then  on  the  river  was  different.  It 
seemed  very  different  to  Mark  Twain 
when  he  returned  after  many  years  away 
Erom  it,  and  saw  the  changes  with  nos 
talgic  regret.  He  traveled  once  more  on 
the  Mississippi,  but  this  time  as  a  pas 
senger  and  under  an  assumed  name.  He 
listened  tolerantly  to  the  man  who  told 
him  wild  and  improbable  stories  about 
the  river,  and  to  a  fellow  traveler  who 
explained,  very  explicitly,  how  every 
thing  worked. 

Mark  Twain  decided  to  search  for  a 
large  sum  of  money  left  by  a  murderer 
whom  he  had  met  in  Germany.  He  and 
his  companions  made  plans  about  the  ten 


thousand  dollars  soon  to  be  in  their 
possession,  and  they  asked  to  get  off  their 
boat  at  Napoleon  to  look  for  it.  Unfor 
tunately,  the  Arkansas  River,  years  be 
fore,  had  swept  the  whole  town  into  the 
Mississippi! 

On  his  return  to  the  river,  Mark 
Twain  learned  many  things  he  had  not 
known.  He  witnessed  the  vast  improve 
ments  in  navigation  and  in  the  construc 
tion  of  the  boats,  improvements  that  made 
navigation  easier  and  safer.  He  talked  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Vicksburg,  who  de 
scribed  their  life  during  the  bombard 
ment  of  the  town  by  Union  forces.  He 
visited  Louisiana  and  expressed  horror  at 
the  sham  castles  that  passed  for  good 
architecture.  He  read  Southern  news 
papers  and  saw  in  them,  as  in  so  many 
Southern  traditions,  the  romantic  senti 
mentality  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  an  influ 
ence  that  he  regretted,  hated,  and  held 
responsible  for  the  South's  lack  of  prog 
ress.  He  came  in  contact  with  a  cheerful 
and  clever  gambler;  he  heard  about  sense 
less  feuds  that  wiped  out  entire  families; 
he  saw  new  and  large  cities  that  had 
grown  up  since  he  had  left  the  river; 
he  met  such  well-known  writers  as  Joel 
Chandler  Harris  and  George  W.  Cable; 
he  had  an  experience  with  a  spiritualist 
who  grew  rich  on  the  credulous  and  the 
superstitious;  he  witnessed  tragedy,  and 
lost  friends  in  steamboat  explosions. 

The  river  would  never  be  the  same 
again.  The  age  of  mechanization  had 
arrived  to  stay.  The  days  of  the  old  river 
pilots,  such  as  Mr.  Bixby,  were  now  a 
thing  of  the  past.  America  was  growing 
up,  and  with  that  growth  the  color  and 
romance  of  the  Mississippi  had  faded 
forever. 


LIFE  WITH  FATHER 


Type  of  work:  Short  stories 

Author.  Clarence  Day,  Jr.,  (1874-1935) 

Type,  of  -plot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth,  century 

Locale:  New  York  City 

First  published:  1935 


506 


Principal  characters: 
CLARENCE  DAY,  SR. 
MRS.  CLARENCE  DAY,  his  wife 
CLARENCE  DAY,  JR.,  the  narrator 


Critique: 

This  narrative  of  personal  recollections 
is  a  humorous  commentary  on  American 
manners  in  the  Victorian  age.  Father 
is  a  domestic  tyrant  whose  bark  is  con 
siderably  worse  than  his  bite.  His  crotch 
ety  behavior  is  the  last  resort  of  masculine 
aggressiveness  in  a  woman-dominated 
world. 

The  Story: 

The  Day  household  existed  under  the 
eccentric  domination  of  Clarence  Day, 
Sr.,  a  Wall  Street  businessman  who  was 
convinced  that  he  was  always  right.  His 
son  stood  in  awe  of  him.  The  boy's 
greatest  treat  was  to  be  taken  to  his 
father's  office  on  Saturday  mornings. 
With  Father  dressed  formally  in  silk  hat 
and  tailed  coat,  they  rode  downtown  on 
the  elevated  and  the  boy  gaped  curiously 
into  the  windows  of  flophouses  and 
wished  that  he  could  enjoy  the  luxury 
and  freedom  of  being  a  tramp.  That 
ambition  he  did  not  reveal  to  his  father. 
Once  he  ventured  to  suggest  that  he 
would  like  to  be  a  cowboy,  but  Father 
retorted  that  cowboys  were  shiftless  peo 
ple. 

Father's  office  seemed  very  mysterious 
to  the  boy,  and  he  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  filling  inkwells  and  running  errands. 
Later  there  would  be  luncheon  at  Del- 
monico's.  Father  and  his  favorite  waiter 
always  chatted  in  French  about  the 
menu,  and  Father  enjoyed  himself  great 
ly.  But  the  boy  did  not  think  highly 
of  the  food.  There  was  too  little  of  it, 
scarcely  enough  to  satisfy  his  appetite. 
Seeing  the  starved  look  on  his  face, 
Father  would  order  a  large  chocolate 
eclair  for  him. 

One  of  Father's  chief  worries  was  the 
fear  of  becoming  fat.  The  members  of 
his  club  recommended  long  walks,  but 


Father  was  already  taking  long  walks. 
Then  they  suggested  horseback  riding. 
Accordingly,  Father  became  a  member 
of  the  Riding  Club  on  East  Fifty-eighth 
Street.  Apart  from  stabling  conveniences, 
the  club  had  a  park  for  riding,  really 
only  a  little  ring.  But  it  was  tame  enough 
for  Father,  who  liked  things  to  be  order 
ly  and  suitably  arranged  for  his  use. 
In  a  very  short  time  he  felt  as  if  the 
park  belonged  to  him,  and  if  the  leaves 
were  not  raked,  if  papers  were  lying 
around,  he  would  take  the  neglect  as  a 
personal  affront. 

The  first  horse  Father  bought  was  an 
independent,  rebellious  creature.  There 
was  little  love  lost  between  them.  The 
climax  came  one  morning  when  the 
horse  refused  to  obey.  It  reared  and 
reared  until  Father  gave  up  in  disgust 
and  went  back  to  the  club.  Since  the 
rest  of  the  family  wanted  a  horse  of 
their  own,  Father  gave  them  that  one, 
He  bought  another  for  himself. 

Having  never  been  sick,  Father  be 
came  very  annoyed  whenever  anybody 
else  was  ill;  and  he  had  no  sympathy 
whatever  for  people  whose  illnesses  he 
considered  to  be  simply  imaginary. 
Whenever  he  was  unlucky  enough  to 
catch  a  cold,  his  method  of  treating  it 
was  to  blow  his  nose  loudly  or  to  sneeze. 
Whenever  he  had  a  sick  headache,  he 
would  not  eat.  After  he  had  starved  out 
his  illness,  he  would  eat  again  and 
triumphantly  light  up  a  cigar. 

Father's  laws  were  regarded  as  edicts 
not  to  be  challenged.  Accordingly,  young 
Clarence  was  amazed  when  anyone  did 
not  respond  to  Father's  whims  and 
orders.  While  out  in  the  country  one 
summer,  the  family  ran  out  of  ice.  Be 
cause  Father's  wine  must  always  be 
chilled,  the  crisis  was  a  grave  one.  Noth- 


LTFE   WITH   FATHER  by  Clarence  Day,  Jr.  By  permission   of   the  publishers,  Alfred  A,  Knopf,   Inc.  Copyright, 
1920,  1922,  1923,  1924,  1933,  1934,  1935,  by  Clarence  Day,  Ir. 


507 


ing  the  family  could  do  was  successful. 
But  when  Father  came  home,  he  went 
down  to  the  village,  intimidated  a  deal 
er  into  selling  rn'm  an  icebox,  provided 
he  would  somehow  get  it  filled  with  ice, 
and  argued  the  iceman  into  delivering 
a  load  immediately. 

Father  got  things  done  in  his  own 
way.  The  family  could  never  keep  serv 
ants  for  very  long.  One  day  the  cook 
left.  Father  stormed  into  an  employment 
agency,  looked  over  the  assembled  girls, 
and  then,  over  the  manager's  protests, 
picked  out  the  one  he  liked.  Although 
she  had  not  wanted  to  be  a  cook,  the 
girl  went  with  him  meekly  and  stayed  on 
in  the  Day  household  for  twenty-six 
years.  Her  name  was  Margaret. 

In  the  summer  Margaret  always  stayed 
in  New  York  to  look  after  the  house, 
and  each  year  there  arose  the  problem 
of  a  temporary  cook  during  the  time 
that  the  family  was  in  the  country.  One 
year  they  hired  Delia.  Before  long  Father 
insisted  that  she  was  starving  him  to 
death.  Delia  was  replaced  by  a  Japanese. 
At  the  first  meal  prepared  by  the  Jap 
anese,  Father  moaned  with  pain  and  de 
clared  that  he  was  poisoned.  Margaret 
was  hastily  summoned  from  the  city, 
and  Father  was  happy  again. 

What  really  vexed  Father  was  Moth 
er's  inability  to  keep  household  accounts 
according  to  the  system  he  tried  to  teach 
her.  The  money  always  inexplicably  dis 
appeared,  and  the  bills  were  always  high. 
In  addition,  Mother  was  fond  of  charge 
accounts.  It  was  so  easy  to  buy  things 
that  way,  and  the  first  of  the  month 
seemed  far  off  in  the  distance.  When 
the  bills  came  in,  however,  Father  always 
raged — and  then  gave  in. 

When  Mother  went  on  a  trip  to  Egypt, 
Father  could  not  understand  why  she 
should  want  to  go  off  to  the  far  corners 
of  the  world  just  to  see  pyramids.  When 
she  came  back  with  part  of  her  expense 


money  unaccounted  for,  Father  was 
curious.  At  last  Mother  admitted  that 
she  had  not  spent  it,  but  intended  to 
keep  it.  Father,  wanting  to  know  what 
good  it  would  do  her  to  keep  it,  de 
manded  its  return.  But  again  he  lost 
out.  Mother  kept  the  money. 

Young  Clarence  witnessed  many  ex 
amples  of  Father's  behavior.  He  was 
urged  to  be  prompt  for  breakfast  and 
bribed  with  the  offer  of  a  watch.  He 
suffered  whenever  Father  opened  his 
mail,  particularly  when  the  letters  were 
from  young  ladies.  Father  could  never 
understand  that  letters  could  ever  be 
for  anyone  else.  When  Father  finally 
agreed  to  have  a  telephone  installed,  he 
likewise  assumed  that  all  calls  were  for 
him.  Once  he  was  very  perturbed  when 
a  young  lady,  thinking  she  was  speak 
ing  to  young  Clarence,  invited  him  to 
lunch. 

Women,  Father  insisted,  did  not  know 
anything  about  politics.  When  Mother 
came  under  the  influence  of  Miss  Gulick, 
an  emancipated  young  woman,  he  snort 
ed  contemptuously.  Though  he  liked  to 
dine  out  with  friends,  he  did  not  like 
company  in  his  own  house.  Once  he 
startled  a  group  of  Mother's  friends  by 
uttering  a  lone,  monosyllabic  word  as 
he  stamped  past  the  dining-room  on  his 
way  upstairs. 

Because  he  had  disliked  some  mem 
bers  of  his  family  buried  in  the  family 
plot  in  the  cemetery,  he  did  not  wish  to 
be  buried  there  after  his  death.  Mother 
reminded  him  that  such  matters  are  not 
important  to  the  dead.  But  Father  in 
sisted  that  he  was  going  to  buy  a  new 
plot  in  the  cemetery,  one  all  for  him 
self,  and  in  a  comer  where  he  could 
get  out.  Mother  looked  at  him  in  aston 
ishment.  She  whispered  to  young  Clar 
ence  that  she  almost  believed  he  could  do 
it. 


508 


LIGHT  IN  AUGUST 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Faulkner  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Mississippi 

First  published:  1932 

Principal  characters: 

JOE  CHRISTMAS,  a  white  Negro 

Doc  HINES,  his  grandfather 

MR.  McEACHERN,  his  foster  father 

JOANNA  BURDEN,  his  benefactress  and  mistress 

JOE  BROWN,  alias  Lucas  Burch,  his  partner 

LENA  GROVE,  mother  of  Brown's  child 

BYRON  BUNCH,  in  love  with  Lena 


Critique: 

This  novel  makes  a  study  of  the  race 
problem  in  the  South  and  psychological 
obsession  with  the  Civil  War.  It  is  a 
fascinating  narrative  told  with  little  re 
gard  for  strict  time  sequence.  Sometimes 
the  author's  sentence  structure  becomes 
obscure;  sometimes  the  exact  meaning 
of  his  poetic  compression  is  lost.  But  the 
novel  is  important  in  its  vivid  treatment 
of  a  theme  of  widespread  social  signfi- 
cance. 

The  Story: 

Joe  Christmas  was  the  illegitimate  son 
of  a  circus  trouper  of  Negro  blood  and  a 
white  girl  named  Milly  Hines.  Joe's 
grandfather,  old  Doc  Hines,  killed  the 
circus  man,  let  Milly  die  in  childbirth, 
and  put  Joe — at  Christmas  time;  hence 
his  last  name — into  an  orphanage,  where 
the  children  learned  to  call  him  "Nig 
ger."  Doc  Hines  then  arranged  to  have 
Joe  adopted  by  a  religious  and  heartless 
fanner  named  McEachern,  whose  cruel 
ties  to  Joe  were  met  with,  a  matching 
stubbornness  that  made  of  the  boy  an 
almost  subhuman  being. 

One  day  in  town  McEachern  took  Joe 
to  a  disreputable  restaurant,  where  he 
talked  to  the  waitress,  Bobbie  Allen.  Mc 
Eachern  told  the  adolescent  Joe  never 
to  patronize  the  pkce  alone.  But  Joe 
went  back.  He  met  Bobbie  at  night  and 


became  her  lover.  Night  after  night, 
while  the  McEacherns  were  asleep,  he 
would  creep  out  of  the  house  and  hurry 
to  meet  her  in  town. 

One  night  McEachern  followed  Joe 
to  a  country  dance  and  ordered  him 
home.  Joe  reached  for  a  chair,  knocked 
McEachern  unconscious,  whispered  to 
Bobbie  that  he  would  meet  her  soon,  and 
raced  McEachern *s  mule  home.  There 
he  gathered  up  all  the  money  he  could 
lay  his  hands  on  and  went  into  town. 
At  the  house  where  Bobbie  stayed  he 
encountered  the  restaurant  proprietor  and 
his  wife  and  another  man.  The  two  men 
beat  up  Joe,  took  his  money,  and  left 
for  Memphis  with  the  two  women. 

Joe  moved  on.  Sometimes  he  worked. 
More  often  he  simply  lived  off  the  money 
women  would  give  him.  He  slept  with 
many  women  and  nearly  always  told 
them  he  was  of  Negro  blood. 

At  last  he  went  to  Jefferson,  a  small 
town  in  Mississippi,  where  he  got  work 
shoveling  sawdust  in  a  lumber  mill.  He 
found  lodging  in  a  long-deserted  Negro 
cabin  near  the  country  home  of  Mis? 
Joanna  Burden,  a  spinster  of  Yankee 
origin  who  had  few  associates  in  Jef 
ferson  because  of  her  zeal  for  bettering 
the  lot  of  the  Negro.  She  fed  Joe  and, 
when  she  learned  that  he  was  of  Negro 
blood,  planned  to  send  him  to  a  Negro 


LIGHT  IN  AUGUST  by  William  Faulkner.  By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher!,  Random  House,  lac 
Copyright,  1932,  by  William  Faulkner. 


509 


school.  Joe  was  her  lover  for  three  years. 
Her  reactions  ranged  from  sheer  animal 
ism  to  evangelism,  in  which  she  tried  to 
make  Joe  repent  his  sins  and  turn 
Christian. 

A  young  man  who  called  himself  Joe 
Brown  came  to  work  at  the  sawmill,  and 
Joe  Christmas  invited  Brown  to  share 
his  cabin  with  him.  The  two  began  to 
sell  bootleg  whiskey.  After  a  while  Joe 
told  Brown  that  he  was  part  Negro; 
before  long  Brown  discovered  the  rela 
tions  of  Joe  and  Miss  Burden.  When 
their  bootlegging  prospered,  they  bought 
a  car  and  gave  up  their  jobs  at  the  lum 
ber  mill. 

One  night  Joe  went  to  Miss  Burden's 
room  half-determined  to  kill  her.  That 
night  she  attempted  to  shoot  him  with 
an  antiquated  pistol  that  did  not  fire. 
Joe  cut  her  throat  with  his  razor  and 
ran  out  of  the  house.  Later  in  the  eve 
ning  a  fire  was  discovered  in  Miss  Bur 
den's  house.  When  the  townspeople 
started  to  go  upstairs  in  the  burning 
house,  Brown  tried  to  stop  them.  They 
brushed  him  aside.  They  found  Miss 
Burden's  body  in  the  bedroom  and  car 
ried  it  outside  before  the  house  burned 
to  the  ground. 

Through  a  letter  in  the  Jefferson 
bank,  the  authorities  learned  of  Miss 
Burden's  New  Hampshire  relatives, 
whom  thev  notified.  Almost  at  once  word 
came  back  offering  a  thousand  dollars 
reward  for  the  capture  of  the  murderer. 
Brown  tried  to  teU  the  story  as  he  knew 
it,  putting  the  blame  on  Joe  Christmas, 
so  that  he  could  collect  the  money.  Few 
beMeved  his  story,  but  he  was  held  in 
custody  until  Joe  Christmas  could  be 
found. 

Joe  Christmas  remained  at  large  for 
several  days,  but  at  last  with  the  help  of 
bloodhounds  he  was  tracked  down. 
Meanwhile  old  Doc  I  lines  had  learned 
of  his  grandson's  crime  and  he  came  with 
his  wife  to  Jefferson.  He  urged  the  white 
people  to  lynch  Joe,  but  for  the  most 
part  his  ranrings  went  unheeded. 

On  the  way  to  face  indictment  by  the 


grand  jury  in  the  courthouse,  Joe,  hand 
cuffed  but  not  manacled  to  the  deputy, 
managed  to  escape.  He  ran  to  a  Negro 
cabin  and  found  a  gun.  Some  volunteer 
guards  from  the  American  Legion  gave 
chase,  and  finally  found  him  in  the 
kitchen  of  the  Reverend  Gail  Hightower, 
a  one-time  Presbyterian  preacher  who 
now  was  an  outcast  because  he  had  driven 
his  wife  into  dementia  by  his  obsession 
with  the  gallant  death  of  his  grand 
father  in  the  Civil  War.  Joe  had  gone 
to  Hightower  at  the  suggestion  of  his 
grandmother,  Mrs.  Hines,  who  had  had 
a  conference  with  him  in  his  cell  just 
before  he  escaped.  She  had  been  advised 
of  this  possible  way  out  by  Byron  Bunch, 
Hightower's  only  friend  in  Jefferson. 
The  Legionnaires  shot  Joe  down;  then 
their  leader  mutilated  him  with  a  knife. 

Brown  now  claimed  his  reward.  A 
deputy  took  him  out  to  the  cabin  where 
he  had  lived  with  Joe  Christmas.  On 
entering  the  cabin,  he  saw  Mrs.  Hines 
holding  a  new-born  baby.  In  the  bed 
was  a  girl,  Lena  Grove,  whom  he  had 
slept  with  in  a  town  in  Alabama.  Lena 
had  started  out  to  find  Brown  when  she 
knew  she  was  going  to  have  a  baby. 
Traveling  most  of  the  way  on  foot,  she 
had  arrived  in  Jefferson  on  the  day  of 
the  murder  and  the  fire.  Directed  to  the 
sawmill,  she  had  at  once  seen  that 
Byron  Bunch,  to  whom  she  had  been 
sent,  was  not  the  same  man  as  Lucas 
Burch,  which  was  Brown's  real  name. 
Byron,  a  kindly  soul,  had  fallen  in  love 
with  her.  Having  identified  Brown  from 
Byron's  description,  she  was  sure  that 
in  spite  of  his  new  name  Brown  was 
the  father  of  her  child.  She  gave  birth 
to  the  baby  in  Brown's  cabin,  where 
Byron  had  made  her  as  comfortable  as 
he  could,  with  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Hines. 

Brown  jumped  from  a  back  window 
and  ran  away.  Byron,  torn  between  a 
desire  to  marry  Lena  and  the  wish  to 
give  her  baby  its  rightful  father,  tracked 
Brown  to  the  railroad  grade  outside  town 
and  fought  with  him.  Brown  escaped 
aboard  a  freight  train. 


510 


Three  weeks  later  Lena  and  Byron  where  the  truck  was  parked.    But  next 

took  to  the  road  with  the  baby,  Lena  morning  he  was  waiting  at  the  bend  of 

still  searching  for  Brown.  A  truck  driver  the  road,   and  he  climbed  up   on  the 

gave  them  a  lift.  Byron  was  patient,  but  track  as  it  made  its  way  toward  Ten- 

one  night  tried  to  compromise  her.  When  nessee. 
she  repulsed  him,  he  left  the  little  camp 

LILIOM 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Ferenc  Molnar  (1878-1952) 

Type  of  plot:   Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:   Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Budapest 

First  presented:    1909 

Principal  characters: 

LIUOM,  a  merry-go-round  barker 

MRS.  MUSKAT,  his  employer 

JULIE,  his  wife 

MARIE,  her  friend 

WOLF,   Marie's   husband 

MRS.  HOLLUNDER,  Julie's  aunt 

FICSUR,  liliom's  friend 

LrNZMAN,  the  cashier  whom  Ficsur  suggests  robbing 

LOUISE,  daughter  of  Julie  and  Liliom 
Critique: 

This  play  is  a  popular  favorite  on  the  would  be  thrown  out,  as  she  did  not  wish 

stages    of    Europe    and   America.     The  to  lose  her  license  because  of  questionable 

authors  purpose  was  to  tell  a  story  of  behavior  in  the  park.    Liliom,  however, 

love    and   loyalty    among   the    working  told  Julie  to  come  back  any  time  and 

classes.  As  literature  the  play  is  not  pro-  she  would  be  welcome.   Although  Mrs. 

found,  but  as  an  entertainment  piece  it  Muskat  was  reluctant  to  let  Liliom  go, 

wiH  probably  enjoy  a  long  life.  she  could  not  ignore  his  insolence,  and 


tnrv- 

^^*  Liliom,  to  show  his  independence,  an- 

Liliom  was  a  barker  for  Mrs.  Mus-  nounced  that  he  was  going  to  get  some 

kats  merry-go-round   at  an  amusement  beer.    While  he  was  collecting  his  be- 

park   on  the  edge  of  Budapest.    As  a  longings,   Marie  disclosed  to  Julie  that 

barker  he  was  a  great  success,  for  he  had  she  was  in  love  with  a  man  in  a  uni- 

a  stock   of  funny  jokes  that  kept  the  form,  a  porter,  however,  not  a  soldier. 

customers  laughing,  and  he  had  a  play-  When  Liliom  returned,  he  turned  Marie 

ful  way  with  the  girls.  away  and  began  to  discuss  love  with 

One    day    two    young    servant    girls,  Julie,    bragging    and    bullying    all    the 

Mane  and  Julie,  came  to  the  merry-go-  while.  Julie  showed  that  she  was  deeply 

T°V       £T°  MrS"  Muskat's  indignation,  in  love,  for  she  had  forfeited  her  job  by 

Liliom  followed  Julie  onto  the  merry-go-  staying  out  so  late.  Two  policemen  look- 

round  and  put  his  arm  around  her.  Mrs.  ing  for  vagrants  interrupted  their  conver- 

Muskat  warned  Julie  that  if  she  ever  sation.    After   asking  routine   questions 

came  near  l*16  merry-go-round  again  she  and  warning  Julie   that  Liliom   was  a 

rnar-    ?4^ated  b*  Benjamin  F.  (gazer.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  hi,  agent  Dr 

TSS^  LiVCri8bt  ^"^  °"*    °W*£   1921. 


511 


notorious  ne'er-do-well,  the  policemen 
continued  on  their  rounds.  Though  Julie 
protested  that  site  did  not  love  Uliom,  it 
was  obvious  that  she  did.  So  they  were 
married. 

They  moved  into  a  run-down  photog 
rapher's  shop  operated  hy  the  Hollanders, 
mother  and  son,  at  the  edge  of  the  park. 
Mrs.  Hollunder,  Julie's  aunt,  provided 
them  not  only  with  shelter  but  also  with 
food  and  fuel.  She  grumbled  all  the 
time,  but  she  was  good-hearted  beneath 
her  gruffness.  Marie,  meanwhile,  was 
falling  more  deeply  in  love  with  Wolf, 
the  porter.  One  day,  while  the  two  girls 
were  exchanging  confidences,  Mrs.  Hol 
lunder  came  in  and  said  that  Julie's 
other  suitor,  a  widowed  carpenter  with 
two  children  and  a  respectable  income, 
still  wanted  to  take  her  out  of  the  poverty 
in  which  she  lived.  Julie  preferred  to 
stay  where  she  was.  Then  Mrs.  Muskat 
came  and  offered  to  take  Liliom  back, 
but  he  refused.  He  and  a  friend  named 
Ficsur  had  a  scheme  for  getting  a  great 
deal  of  money;  he  was  no  longer  inter 
ested  in  his  old  job  at  the  merry-go- 
round. 

Ficsur  was  planning  a  robbery.  Each 
Saturday  a  cashier  for  a  leather  factory 
passed  a  nearby  railway  embankment, 
with  the  workmen's  wages  in  a  leather 
bag.  Liliom  was  to  accost  the  man  and 
ask  him  what  time  it  was  while  Ficsur 
was  to  come  up  from  behind  and  stab  the 
man.  Ficsur  encouraged  Liliom  to  steal 
a  knife  from  Mrs.  Hollunder's  kitchen. 
Julie,  knowing  that  the  two  men  were 
up  to  no  good,  begged  Liliom  not  to  go 
out  with  Ficsur,  for  she  had  arranged  to 
have  the  carpenter  come  that  evenina 
and  offer  Liliom  work.  After  Liliom  had 
gone,  Mrs.  Hollunder  missed  her  knife 
and  suspected  Liliom  of  taking  it.  Julie 
lied,  saying  that  she  had  gone  through 
Liliom's  pockets  and  had  found  only  a 
pack  of  cards. 

Liliom  and  Ficsur  arrived  at  the  em 
bankment  just  as  the  six  o'clock  train 
passed.  Being  early,  they  started  a  game 
af  twenty-one  and  Ficsur  won  from 


Liliom  his  share  in  the  loot  they  hoped 
to  take  from  the  cashier.  Liliom  accused 
Ficsur  of  cheating.  Then  their  victim 
appeared  and  Liliom  accosted  him.  As 
Ficsur  was  about  to  strike,  however,  the 
cashier  seized  Ficsur 's  arm.  He  pointed 
a  pistol  at  Liliom's  breast.  Ironically,  he 
had  come  from  the  factory,  where  he  had 
just  finished  paying  off  the  workers,  and 
if  Ficsur  had  killed  him  the  robbers 
would  have  got  no  money.  As  the 
cashier  called  out  to  two  policemen  in  the 
distance,  Liliom  broke  away  and  stabbed 
himself  with  the  kitchen  knife. 

The  policemen  attempted  to  take  him 
to  a  hospital,  but  his  condition  was  too 
critical.  They  took  him  back  to  the 
photographer's  studio,  where  he  died  with 
Julie  by  his  side  holding  his  hand. 

Dying,  Liliom  had  a  vision.  Two 
heavenly  policemen  came  to  him  and 
told  him  to  follow  them.  They  reminded 
him  that  death  was  not  the  end,  that 
he  was  not  through  with  earth  until  his 
memory  had  also  passed  away.  Then  they 
led  him  to  the  heavenly  court  assigned 
to  suicide  cases.  There  he  learned  that 
after  a  period  of  purification  by  fire, 
suicides  were  sent  back  to  earth  for  one 
day  to  see  whether  they  had  profited  by 
their  purification.  Liliom  was  sentenced 
to  sixteen  years  in  the  fires. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  Liliom  re 
turned  to  earth  to  find  his  wife  and  six 
teen-year-old  daughter  Louise  about  to 
lunch  in  the  garden  of  their  dilapidated 
little  house.  Liliom  was  unrecognized. 
Julie  gave  him  some  food.  He  learned 
from  Louise  that  her  father,  a  handsome 
man,  had  gone  to  America  before  she 
was  born,  and  had  died  there.  When 
Liliom  accused  her  husband  of  having 
struck  her,  Julie  denied  that  he  had  ever 
mistreated  her,  and  she  dismissed  Liliom 
as  an  ungrateful  wretch.  Liliom  tried  to 
please  his  daughter  with  card  tricks  and 
with  a  beautiful  star  which  he  had  stolen 
from  heaven,  but  Louise  would  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  him.  As  he  left 
he  struck  her  hard  on  the  hand,  but  the 
blow  felt  as  tender  as  a  caress  to  her. 


512 


Her  mother  told  her  that  there  had  keen  Liliom  left  in  the  company  of  the  two 
times  when  she,  too,  had  experienced  policemen,  who  shook  their  heads  in  pro- 
that  sort  of  reaction  from  a  blow.  So  found  regret  at  Liliom's  failure. 

THE  LITTLE  MINISTER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  James  M.  Barrie  (1860-1937) 
Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 
Locale:  The  village  of  Thrums  in  Scotland 
First  published:  1891 
Principal  characters: 

GAVIN  DISHART,  the  little  minister  of  Thrums 

MARGARET  DISHART,  his  mother 

MR,  OGILVY,  the  schoolmaster,  Margaret's  second  husband,  and  the  narrator 

ROB  Dow,  a  drunkard  converted  by  Gavin 

BABBIE,  a  gipsy  who  loves  Gavin 

NANNY  WEBSTER,  an  old  woman  saved  from  the  poorhouse  by  Babbie 

LORD  RTNTOUL,  Babbie's  guardian  and  her  betrothed 

Critique: 

Barriers  sensitivity  and  deep  apprecia 
tion  of  human  values  explain  the  popu 
larity  of  this  novel.  The  quiet,  reserved 
humor  appeals  to  the  intellect  and  the 
heart  rather  than  to  a  ludicrous  sense  of 
buffoonery,  and  the  frequent  note  of 
sentiment  is  delicate  and  restrained.  The 
book  displays  Barrie's  gift  for  character 
portrayal  and  his  lack  of  self -conscious 
ness  in  his  whimsical,  ironic  style. 


The  Story: 

Mr.  Ogilvy,  the  schoolmaster  of  Glen 
Quharity,  had  not  seen  Margaret  Dish- 
art  for  eighteen  years  until  that  day 
when  he  stood  in  the  crowd  that  had 
gathered  to  welcome  Gavin  Dishart,  the 
new  minister  of  Auld  Licht  parish  in 
Thrums.  When  the  dominie  saw  Mar 
garet  again,  he  knew  that  all  her  happi 
ness  lay  in  her  son  Gavin.  The  school 
master  did  not  allow  Margaret  to  see 
him,  as  he  never  would  even  in  the  dis 
turbed  days  to  come.  He  knew  that  he 
was  best  out  of  her  life,  that  he  could 
bring  her  only  unhappiness.  When  he 
heard  Gavin  deliver  his  first  sermon  at 
Auld  Licht,  the  dominie  knew  that  the 
little  minister,  who  was  just  twenty-one, 
had  indeed  received  the  "call/' 


Lord  Rintoul's  castle  stood  in  the  Spit- 
tal  on  the  hill  above  Glen  Quharity. 
It  was  rumored  that  he  had  in  his  house 
hold  a  young  girl  whom  he  expected  to 
marry  soon,  but  no  one  had  seen  the 
girl  except  the  sheriff  of  Thrums,  who 
stopped  at  the  castle  to  tell  Lord  Rintoul 
that  a  detachment  of  militia  was  coming 
to  Thrums  to  arrest  some  insurgent 
weavers.  Dressed  as  a  gipsy,  the  young 
bride-to-be  ran  to  the  village  to  warn  the 
people  that  soldiers  were  on  their  way. 

Gavin  Dishart  met  her  that  night  as 
he  was  walking  through  Windyghoul  to 
ward  Caddam.  She  ran  dancing  and 
singing,  and  laughed  at  him  as  she  dart 
ed  past  him  toward  Thrums.  When 
Gavin  caught  up  with  her,  they  became 
rivals  as  Gavin  attempted  to  calm  the 
workers  whom  the  gipsy  had  aroused 
against  the  soldiers.  Her  activities  on 
the  night  the  militia  came  was  a  topic 
of  discussion  in  Thrums  for  days  after 
ward — this  mysterious  gipsy  whose  origin 
no  one  could  guess.  Even  Gavin  spent 
more  hours  than  was  proper  pondering 
over  the  girl  who  had  brazenly  claimed, 
when  the  soldiers  had  tried  to  arrest  her, 
that  she  was  his  wife. 

Gavin's  next  meeting  with  the  gipsy 


THE  LITTLE  MINISTER  bf  James  M.  Barrie.    Published  by  Charles  Scribner'*  Sons 

513 


was  in  the  cottage  of  old  Nanny  Web 
ster,  a  parish  charge.  This  story  the 
schoolmaster  heard  through  tillage  gos 
sip.  The  story  of  how  Gavin  had  gone 
with  Dr.  McQueen  to  take  old  Nanny 
to  the  poorhouse,  and  how  the  gipsy 
girl,  Babbie,  interrupted  the  proceedings 
by  offering  to  provide  Nanny  with  an 
income  for  the  old  woman's  support, 
reached  the  dominie  only  in  minor.  Most 
of  the  villagers  believed  that  the  little 
minister  had  done  the  good  work;  few 
knew  about  the  gipsy's  part  in  the  story. 

Gavin  could  have  avoided  ever  seeing 
Babbie  again,  but  he  did  not.  He  even 
went  so  for  as  to  tell  her  when  he  would 
be  walking  through  Caddam  woods.  Bab 
bie  was  not  like  the  people  of  Thrums. 
She  horrified  old  Nanny  with  her  im 
pertinence  to  the  little  minister  of  Auld 
Debt.  She  embarrassed  Gavin  by  teas 
ing  him  about  his  height,  a  fact  which 
had  caused  him  great  distress  all  his  life. 
Ever  on  the  lookout  for  the  pair  was 
Rob  Dow,  who  skulked  among  the  pines 
of  Windyghoul  spying  on  his  beloved 
minister  and  the  witch  who  had  cast  a 
spell  on  Gavin.  Rob,  a  drunkard  whom 
Gavin  had  converted,  feared  for  his 
minister  after  he  had  seen  the  gipsy 
nearly  succeed  in  her  attempt  to  make 
the  minister  kiss  her.  Rob  jealously  guard 
ed  his  secret,  for  he  was  no  gossip.  To 
his  death,  Rob  protected  the  little  min 
ister  who  had  saved  him  from  drink. 

While  the  dominie  feared  lest  Mar 
garet  be  hurt  by  this  woodland  court 
ship,  Gavin  was  troubled  by  his  love  for 
the  brazen  gipsy.  As  she  gradually  be 
came  aware  of  his  devotion,  the  gipsy 
girl  began  to  love  bim  in  turn.  No  one 
had  ever  loved  her  before.  Lord  Rin- 
toul  only  played  at  watching  her  beauty. 
When  Gavin  stated  that  he  would  marry 
her,  Babbie  protested  that  he  would  be 
banished  from  Thrums  and  so  break 
his  mother's  heart. 

One  night  the  lovers  walked  together 
through  Windyghoul.  Unknown  to  any 
one,  the  dominie,  Mr.  Ogilvy,  often 
strolled  through  the  same  wood  so  that 


he  could  gaze  at  the  manse  where  Mar 
garet  lived.  That  night  he  met  Gavin 
and  Babbie.  Immediately  sensing  their 
relationship  and  thinking  only  of  Mar 
garet,  Ogilvy  stepped  into  the  affair  and 
there  he  remained  until  it  ended,  not 
for  Gavin's  sake  but  for  Margaret's  pro 
tection.  There  were  no  words  exchanged 
that  night,  but  each  knew  that  the  dom 
inie  was  aware  of  the  love  between  Gavin 
and  Babbie. 

In  Windyghoul,  the  next  day,  Babbie 
met  Micah,  Rob  Dow's  small  son.  Sob 
bing,  the  child  told  her  that  his  father 
had  taken  to  drink  again  because  the 
little  minister  had  been  bewitched  by  the 
gipsy.  If  only  she  would  go  away,  Rob 
could  regain  his  faith  in  the  minister 
and  stop  his  drinking  once  more.  Bab 
bie  realized  then  that  Gavin's  duty  called 
him  from  her.  She  never  laid  eyes  again 
on  her  lover  until  the  terrible  day  of  the 
great  rain. 

On  the  day  of  the  great  rain  plans 
were  being  made  at  the  Spittal  for  Lord 
RintouTs  wedding  to  his  young  bride.  On 
this  same  day  there  was  a  fight  in 
Thrums,  and  false  news  spread  that  Gavin 
had  been  killed  by  a  drunken  High 
land  piper.  When  the  news  traveled  as 
far  as  the  Spittal,  Babbie,  alarmed  for 
Gavin  and  Margaret,  ran  to  Mr.  Ogilvy 
to  ask  his  aid.  The  schoolmaster  went 
with  her  to  Windyghoul,  where  they  en 
countered  Gavin.  When  the  two  lovers 
were  reunited,  Babbie  told  Gavin  that 
this  was  the  day  of  her  wedding  to  Lord 
Rintoul.  Again  Gavin  asserted  that  he 
would  marry  her. 

They  hurried  away  to  a  gipsy  camp 
and  there  the  gipsy  king  married  them 
over  the  tongs.  Meanwhile  Lord  Rintoul, 
searching  for  his  bride,  had  followed  her 
in  time  to  witness  the  ceremony.  In  the 
confusion  of  the  gipsy  camp,  Babbie 
cried  out  to  Gavin  that  she  heard  Lord 
Rintoul's  voice.  As  Gavin  rushed  to  en 
counter  his  rival,  Babbie  was  suddenly 
snatched  away.  Assuming  that  Lord 
Rintoul  would  bring  her  back  to  the 
Spittal,  Gavin  headed  toward  Glen  Qu- 


514 


harity.    The  increasing  rain  drove  him 
to  Mr.  Ogilvy's  house  for  shelter. 

The  dominie  ordered  Gavin  to  end 
his  fruitless  pursuit,  but  the  little  minis 
ter  insisted  that  he  would  take  Babbie 
back  to  the  manse  as  his  bride.  Then 
Mr.  Ogilvy  had  to  tell  Gavin  about 
Margaret.  The  schoolmaster — his  name 
was  Gavin  also — had  married  Margaret 
after  her  first  husband,  Adam  Dishart, 
had  disappeared  at  sea.  Six  years  after 
little  Gavin's  birth  Adarn  Dishart  had 
returned  to  claim  his  wife  and  little 
Gavin  as  his  own.  Mr.  Ogilvy,  perceiv 
ing  the  sorrow  in  Margaret's  eyes  as  she 
faced  the  two  men  who  claimed  her,  had 
disappeared  and  had  sworn  never  to  allow 
Margaret  to  know  of  his  existence  again. 
It  was  too  late  for  the  little  minister  and 
his  real  father  to  find  any  filial  love  after 
the  schoolmaster's  painful  revelation. 
Gavin  acknowledged  his  father,  but  he 
claimed  that  it  was  more  God's  will  that 
he  find  Babbie  again.  As  Gavin  set  out 
toward  the  Spittal,  Mr.  Ogilvy  started 
toward  Thrums  to  protect  Margaret  from 
village  gossip  that  might  reach  her. 

Babbie  had  not  been  captured  by 
Lord  Rintoul.  Rob  Dow,  resolved  to 
destroy  the  cause  of  his  minister's  down 
fall,  had  seized  her.  The  gipsy  eluded 
him  during  the  severe  storm,  however, 
and  ran  to  the  manse  to  find  Gavin. 

Gavin,  meanwhile,  had  lost  all  trace 
of  Lord  Rintoul  in  the  rain-swept  dark 
ness.  While  he  was  making  his  way 
across  the  storm-flooded  countryside,  he 
came  upon  a  ravine  where  some  men 


shouted  to  him  that  Lord  Rintoul  was 
stranded  on  a  small  islet  which  was 
being  washed  away  by  the  swiftly-flowing 
water.  He  could  be  saved  if  a  man 
would  jump  down  onto  the  island  with 
a  rope.  Although  he  had  no  rope,  Gavin 
jumped  in  the  hope  that  he  could  help 
Lord  Rintoul  to  maintain  his  foothold 
on  the  tiny  piece  of  dwindling  turf.  As 
the  villagers  gathered  at  the  brink  of 
the  ravine,  their  minister  shouted  to 
them  that  he  had  married  Babbie  the 
gipsy  and  that  Mr.  Ogilvy  was  to  carry 
the  news  of  his  death  to  his  mother  and 
his  wife.  Then  a  man  leaped  into  the 
ravine  with  a  rope.  It  was  Rob  Dow, 
who  performed  his  last  living  act  to  save 
the  little  minister  whom  he  loved. 

Gavin,  followed  by  his  admiring  con 
gregation,  returned  to  the  manse.  There 
he  found  his  mother  and  Babbie,  who 
now  could  reveal  herself,  not  as  the  wild 
gipsy  of  Windyghoul,  but  as  the  lady 
whom  Lord  Rintoul  had  planned  to 
wed.  Gavin  and  Babbie  were  married 
again  under  the  prayers  of  a  real  min 
ister,  but  Gavin  always  felt  that  he  had 
really  married  her  under  the  stars  in  the 
gipsy  camp. 

Mr.  Ogilvy  told  the  story  of  Gavin  and 
Babbie  to  the  eager  little  girl  who  was 
the  daughter  of  the  little  minister  and 
his  wife.  At  the  schoolmaster's  request, 
Margaret  Dishart  had  never  learned  of 
his  part  in  Gavin's  love  affair.  But  after 
her  death  Gavin  Ogilvy  heard  Babbie's 
and  Gavin's  daughter  call  him  grand 
father. 


LITTLE  WOMEN 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Louisa  May  Alcott  (1832-1888) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  A  New  England  village;  New  York  City;  Italy 

First  published:  1868 

Principal  characters: 

MEG, 

Jo, 

BETH,  and 

AMY,  the  March  sisters 


515 


MRS.  MAKCH  (MABMEE),  their  mother 

MR.  MARCH,  their  father 

THEODORE  LAWRENCE  (LAURIE),  a  young  neighbor 

PROFESSOR  BHAER,  a  tutor,  in  love  with  Jo 


Critique: 

Little  Women  is  one  of  the  best-loved 
books  of  all  time,  as  popular  today  as 
•A'hen  it  was  written  eighty  years  ago. 
Although  it  is  actually  a  children's  book, 
it  appeals  to  grownups  as  well,  who  see 
in  it  a  mirror  of  their  own  childhood,  or 
at  least  the  childhood  they  would  have 
preferred.  The  story  is  largely  autobio 
graphical,  the  March  girls  being  Louisa's 
own  sisters,  with  herself  as  Jo. 

The  Story: 

The  March  family  lived  in  a  small 
house  next  door  to  the  Lawrence  man 
sion,  where  young  Theodore  Lawrence 
and  his  aged  grandfather  had  only  each 
other  for  company  in  the  great  house. 
Old  Mr.  Lawrence  was  wealthy  and  he 
indulged  every  wish  of  his  grandson,  but 
often  Laurie  was  lonely.  When  the  lamp 
was  lit  and  the  shades  were  up  in  the 
March  house,  he  could  see  the  four 
March  girls  with  their  mother  in  the 
center  seated  around  a  cheerful  fire.  He 
learned  to  know  them  by  name  before 
he  met  them,  and  in  his  imagination  he 
almost  felt  himself  a  member  of  the 
family. 

The  oldest  was  plump  Meg,  who  had 
to  earn  her  living  as  governess  of  a 
group  of  unruly  youngsters  in  the  neigh 
borhood.  Next  was  Jo,  tall,  awkward, 
and  tomboyish,  who  liked  to  write,  and 
who  spent  all  her  spare  time  devising 
plays  and  entertainments  for  her  sisters. 
Then  there  was  gentle  Beth,  the  home 
body,  content  to  sit  knitting  by  the  fire, 
or  to  help  her  mother  take  care  of  the 
house.  The  youngest  was  curly-haired 
Any,  a  schoolgirl  who  dreamed  of  some 
day  becoming  a  famous  artist  like  Michel 
angelo  or  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 

At  Christinas  time  the  girls  were  con 
fronted  with  the  problem  of  what  to  do 


with  the  dollar  Mannee,  as  they  called 
their  mother,  had  said  they  might  spend. 
At  first  each  thought  only  of  her  own 
pleasure,  but  all  ended  by  buying  a  gift 
for  Marmee  instead.  On  Christmas  morn 
ing  they  insisted  on  sharing  their  break 
fast  with  the  Hummels,  a  poor  family 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  for  this  unsel 
fishness  they  were  rewarded  when  rich 
Mr.  Lawrence  sent  over  a  surprise  Christ 
mas  feast  consisting  of  ice  cream,  bon 
bons,  and  four  bouquets  of  flowers  for  the 
table. 

Many  happy  days  followed,  with 
Laurie,  who  had  met  Jo  at  a  fashionable 
New  Year's  Eve  dance,  becoming  a  part 
of  the  March  family  circle.  But  in 
November  of  that  same  year  a  telegram 
brought  a  message  that  their  father,  an 
army  chaplain  in  the  Civil  War,  was 
critically  ill.  Mrs.  March  did  not  know 
what  to  do.  She  felt  that  she  should  go 
to  her  husband  at  once,  but  she  had 
barely  five  dollars  in  her  purse.  She  was 
hesitant  about  going  to  wealthy,  irascible 
Aunt  March  for  help.  Jo  solved  the  prob 
lem  by  selling  her  beautiful,  long,  chest 
nut  hair,  which  was  her  only  vanity,  for 
twenty-five  dollars.  She  made  the  sacri 
fice  willingly,  but  that  night,  after  the 
others  had  gone  to  bed,  Meg,  who 
thought  Jo  was  asleep,  heard  her  weeping 
softly.  Gently,  Meg  asked  if  Jo  were  cry 
ing  over  her  father's  illness,  and  Jo  sobbed 
that  it  was  not  her  father  she  was  crying 
for  now,  but  for  her  hair. 

During  Marmee's  absence  dark  days 
fell  upon  the  little  women.  Beth,  who 
had  never  been  strong  at  best,  contracted 
scarlet  fever,  and  for  a  time  it  looked  as 
if  Jo  were  going  to  lose  her  dearest  sister. 
Marmee  was  sent  for,  but  by  the  time 
she  arrived  the  crisis  had  passed  and  her 
little  daughter  was  better.  By  the  next 


LITTLE  WOMEN  by  Louisa  May  Alcott.   Published  by  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

516 


Christmas,  Beth  was  her  old  contented 
self  again.  Mr.  March  surprised  them  all 
when  he  returned  home  from  the  front 
well  and  happy.  The  little  family  was 
together  once  more. 

Then  John  Brooke,  Laurie's  tutor,  fell 
in  love  with  Meg.  This  fact  was  dis 
closed  when  Mr.  Brooke  surreptitiously 
stole  one  of  Meg's  gloves  and  kept  it  in 
his  pocket  as  a  memento.  Laurie  discov 
ered  the  glove  and  informed  Jo.  To  his 
great  surprise,  she  was  infuriated  at  the 
idea  that  the  family  circle  might  he  dis 
turbed.  But  she  was  quite  reconciled 
when,  three  years  later,  Meg  "became 
Mrs.  Brooke. 

In  the  meantime,  Jo  herself  had  grown 
up.  She  began  to  take  her  writing  seri 
ously,  and  even  sold  a  few  stories  which 
helped  with  the  family  budget. 

Her  greatest  disappointment  came 
when  Aunt  Carrol,  a  relative  of  the 
Marches,  decided  she  needed  a  companion 
on  a  European  trip,  and  asked  not  Jo  but 
the  more  lady-like  Amy  to  accompany 
her.  Then  Jo,  with  Marmee's  permission, 
decided  to  go  to  New  York.  She  took  a 
job  as  governess  for  a  Mrs.  Kirke,  who 
ran  a  large  boarding-house.  There  she 
met  Professor  Bhaer,  a  lovable  and  ec 
centric  German  tutor,  who  proved  to  be 
a  good  friend  and  companion. 

Upon  her  return  home,  Laurie,  who 
had  always  loved  Jo,  asked  her  to  marry 
him.  Jo,  who  imagined  that  she  would 
always  remain  an  old  maid,  devoting  her 
self  exclusively  to  her  writing,  tried  to 
convince  Laurie  that  they  were  not  made 
for  each  other.  He  persisted,  pointing 
out  that  his  grandfather  and  her  family 
both  expected  them  to  marry.  When  she 


made  him  realize  that  her  refusal  was 
final,  he  stamped  off,  and  shortly  after 
ward  went  to  Europe  with  his  grand 
father.  In  Europe  he  saw  a  great  deal 
of  Amy,  and  the  two  became  close  friends, 
so  that  Laurie  was  able  to  transfer  to  her 
younger  sister  a  great  deal  of  the  feeling 
he  previously  had  for  Jo. 

In  the  meantime  Jo  was  at  home  car 
ing  for  Beth,  who  had  never  fully  re 
covered  from  her  first  illness.  In  the 
spring,  Beth  died,  practically  in  Jo's  arms, 
and  after  the  loss  of  her  gentle  sister  Jo 
was  lonely  indeed.  She  tried  to  comfort 
herself  with  her  writing,  and  with  Meg's 
two  babies,  Daisy  and  Demi,  but  not 
until  the  return  of  Amy,  now  married  to 
Laurie,  did  she  begin  to  feel  her  old 
self  again.  When  Professor  Bhaer  stopped 
off  on  his  way  to  a  university  appoint 
ment  in  the  Midwest,  Jo  was  delighted. 
One  day,  under  an  umbrella  he  had  sup 
plied  to  shield  her  from  a  pouring  rain, 
he  asked  her  to  marry  him,  and  Jo  ac 
cepted.  Within  a  year  old  Aunt  March 
died  and  willed  her  home,  Plumfield,  to 
Jo.  She  decided  to  open  a  boys'  school, 
where  she  and  her  professor  could  de 
vote  their  lives  to  instructing  the  young. 

So  the  little  women  reached  maturity, 
and  on  their  mother's  sixtieth  birthday 
they  all  had  a  great  celebration  at  Plum- 
field.  Around  the  table,  at  which  there 
was  but  one  empty  chair,  sat  Marmee, 
her  children  and  her  grandchildren. 
When  Laurie  proposed  a  toast  to  her,  she 
replied  by  stretching  out  her  arms  to 
them  all  and  saying  that  she  could  wish 
nothing  better  for  them  than  this  present 
happiness  for  the  rest  of  their  lives. 


LOOK  HOMEWARD,  ANGEL 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Wolfe  (1900-1938) 

Type  of  plot:  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1900  to  1920 

Locale:  North  Carolina 

First  published:  1929 


517 


Principal  characters: 
EUGENE  GAJSTT 
ELIZA  GANT,  his  mother 
OUVER  GANT,  his  father 
BEN  GANT,  his  brother 
MAXGAKET  LEONARD,  his  teacher 
LAURA  JAMES,  his  first  sweetheart 


Critique: 

The  work  of  Thomas  Wolfe  contains 
two  invariable  elements.  One  is  a  re 
liance  on  characters  of  exceptional  bril 
liance  and  vitality.  The  other  is  the  por 
trayal  of  a  central  character  who  is  the 
sensitive  artist  isolated  in  a  hostile  world. 
The  latter  character  is  generally  Thomas 
Wolfe  himself.  In  his  fiction  Wolfe  at 
tempted  to  re-create  the  whole  American 
experience  in  his  own  image,  and  be 
neath  the  sprawling,  often  chaotic  mass 
of  his  novels  there  are  firm  outlines  of 
the  naked  and  innocent  story  of  the 
American  land  and  its  people.  Although 
his  emotional  range  is  limited  to  the 
adolescent  and  the  romantic,  he  stands 
plainly  in  the  succession  of  American 
writers  who  have  expressed  in  their  work 
the  symbols  of  a  haunted  inner  world  of 
thought  and  feeling. 

The  Story: 

Eugene,  the  youngest  child  in  the 
Gant  farnilv,  came  into  the  world  when 
Eliza  Gant  was  forty-two  years  old.  His 
father  went  on  periodic  drinking  sprees 
to  forget  his  unfulfilled  ambitions  and 
the  unsatisfied  wanderlust  which  had 
brought  him  to  Altamont  in  the  hills  of 
old  Catawba.  When  Eugene  was  born, 
his  father  was  asleep  in  a  drunken 
stupor. 

Eliza  disapproved  of  her  husband's  de 
bauches,  but  she  lacked  the  imagination 
to  understand  their  cause.  Oliver,  who 
had  been  raised  amidst  the  plenty  of  a 
Pennsylvania  farm,  had  no  comprehen 
sion  of  the  privation  and  suffering  which 
had  existed  in  the  South  after  the  Civil 
War,  the  cause  of  the  hoarding  and 
acquisitiveness  of  his  wife  and  her  Pent- 


land  relations  in  the  Catawba  hill  coun 
try. 

Eliza  bore  the  burden  of  Oliver's 
drinking  and  promiscuousness  until  Eu 
gene  was  four  years  old.  Then  she  de 
parted  for  St.  Louis,  taking  all  the 
children  but  the  oldest  daughter,  Daisy, 
with  her.  It  was  1904,  the  year  of  the 
great  St.  Louis  Fair,  and  Eliza  had  gone 
to  open  a  boarding-house  for  her  visiting 
fellow  townsmen.  The  idea  was  abhor 
rent  to  Oliver.  He  stayed  in  Altamont. 

Eliza's  sojourn  in  St.  Louis  ended 
abrupdy  when  twelve-year-old  Grover 
fell  ill  of  typhoid  and  died.  Stunned, 
she  gathered  her  remaining  children  to 
her  and  went  home. 

Young  Eugene  was  a  shy,  awkward 
boy  with  dark,  brooding  eyes.  He  was, 
like  his  ranting,  brawling  father,  a  dream 
er.  He  was  not  popular  with  his  school 
mates,  who  sensed  instinctively  that  he 
was  different,  and  made  him  pay  the 
price;  and  at  home  he  was  the  victim 
of  his  sisters'  and  brothers'  taunts  and 
torments.  His  one  champion  was  his 
brother  Ben,  though  even  he  had  been 
conditioned  by  the  Gants'  unemotional 
family  life  to  give  his  caresses  as  cuffs. 
But  there  was  little  time  for  Eugene's 
childish  daydreaming.  Eliza  believed 
early  jobs  taught  her  boys  manliness  and 
self-reliance.  Ben  got  up  at  three  o'clock 
every  morning  to  deliver  papers.  Luke 
had  been  a  Saturday  Evening  Post  agent 
since  he  was  twelve.  Eugene  was  put  un 
der  his  wing.  Although  the  boy  loathed 
the  work,  he  was  forced  every  Thursday 
to  corner  customers  and  keep  up  a  con 
tinuous  line  of  chatter  until  he  broke 
down  their  sales  resistance. 


LOOK    HOMEWARD,    ANGEL    by    Thomas    Wolfe.    By    permission    of   Edward    C.    Aswell,    Administrator,    Estate 
of  Thomas   Wolfe,  and   the  publishers,  Charles  Scribncr's  Sons.   Copyright,   1929,   by   Charles  Scribner's   Sons. 

518 


Eugene  was  not  yet  eight  when  his 
parents  separated.  Eliza  had  bought  the 
Dixieland  boarding-house  as  a  good  in 
vestment.  Helen  remained  at  the  old 
house  with  her  father.  Daisy  married 
and  left  town.  Mrs.  Gant  took  Eugene 
with  her.  Ben  and  Luke  were  left  to 
shift  for  themselves,  to  shuttle  back  and 
forth  between  the  two  houses.  Eugene 
grew  to  detest  his  new  home.  When 
the  Dixieland  was  crowded,  there  was 
no  privacy,  and  Eliza  advertised  the 
Dixieland  on  printed  cards  which  Eugene 
had  to  distribute  to  customers  on  his 
magazine  route  and  to  travelers  arriving 
at  the  Altamont  station. 

But  although  life  at  the  boarding- 
house  was  drabness  itself,  the  next  four 
years  were  the  golden  days  of  Eugene's 
youth,  for  he  was  allowed  to  go  to  the 
Leonards'  private  school.  Margaret  Leon 
ard,  the  tubercular  wife  of  the  school 
master,  recognized  Eugene's  hunger  for 
beauty  and  love,  and  was  able  to  find  in 
literature  the  words  that  she  herself  had 
not  the  power  to  utter.  By  the  time  he 
was  fifteen  Eugene  knew  the  best  and 
the  greatest  lyrics  almost  line  for  line. 

Oliver  Gant,  who  had  been  fifty  when 
his  youngest  son  was  bom,  was  beginning 
to  feel  his  years.  Although  he  was  never 
told,  he  was  slowly  dying  of  cancer. 

Eugene  was  fourteen  when  the  World 
War  broke  out.  Ben,  who  wanted  to  join 
the  Canadian  Army,  was  warned  by  his 
doctor  that  he  would  be  refused  because 
he  had  weak  lungs. 

At  fifteen,  Eugene  was  sent  to  the 
university  at  Pulpit  Hill.  It  was  his 
father's  plan  that  Eugene  should  be  well 
on  his  way  toward  being  a  great  states 
man  before  the  time  carne  for  old  Oliver 
to  die.  Eugene's  youth  and  tremendous 
height  made  him  a  natural  target  for 
dormitory  horseplay,  and  his  shy,  awk 
ward  manners  were  intensified  by  his 
ignorance  of  the  school's  traditions  and 
rituals.  He  roomed  alone.  His  only 
friends  were  four  wastrels,  one  of  whom 
contributed  to  his  social  education  by 
introducing  frrm  to  a  brothel. 


That  summer,  back  at  the  Dixieland, 
Eugene  met  Laura  James.  Sitting  with 
her  on  the  front  porch  at  night,  he  was 
trapped  by  her  quiet  smile  and  clear, 
candid  eyes.  He  became  her  lover  on  a 
summer  afternoon  of  sunlit  green  and 
gold.  But  Laura  went  home  to  visit  her 
parents  and  wrote  Eugene  that  she  was 
about  to  marry  a  boy  to  whom  she  had 
been  engaged  for  nearly  a  year. 

Eugene  went  back  to  Pulpit  Hill  that 
fall,  still  determined  to  go  his  way  alone. 
Although  he  had  no  intimates,  he  grad 
ually  became  a  campus  leader.  The 
commonplace  good  fellows  of  his  world 
tolerantly  made  room  for  the  one  who 
was  not  like  them. 

In  October  of  the  following  year  Eu 
gene  received  an  urgent  summons  to 
come  home.  Ben  was  finally  paying  the 
price  of  his  parents'  neglect  and  the 
drudgery  of  his  life.  He  was  dying  of 
pneumonia.  Eliza  had  neglected  to  call  a 
competent  doctor  until  it  was  too  late,  and 
Oliver,  as  he  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  dying 
boy's  bed,  could  think  only  of  the  expense 
the  burial  would  be.  As  the  family  kept 
their  vigil  through  Ben's  last  night, 
they  were  touched  with  the  realization 
of  the  greatness  of  the  boy's  generous 
soul.  Ben  was  given,  a  final  irony,  the 
best  funeral  money  could  buy. 

With  Ben  went  the  family's  last  pre 
tenses.  When  Eugene  came  back  to  the 
Dixieland  after  graduation,  Eliza  was  in 
control  of  Oliver's  property  and  selling  it 
as  quickly  as  she  could  in  order  to  use 
the  money  for  further  land  speculations. 
She  had  disposed  of  their  old  home. 
Oliver  lived  in  a  back  room  at  the 
boarding-house.  His  children  watched 
each  other  suspiciously  as  he  wasted 
away,  each  concerned  for  his  own  inherit 
ance.  Eugene  managed  to  remain  un- 
embroiled  in  their  growing  hatred  of  each 
other,  but  he  could  not  avoid  being  a 
target  for  that  hatred.  Helen,  Luke,  and 
Steve  had  always  resented  his  school 
ing.  In  September,  before  he  left  for 
Harvard  to  begin  graduate  work,  Luke 
asked  Eugene  to  sign  a  release  saying 


519 


that  he  had  received  his  inheritance  as 
tuition  and  school  expenses.  Though  his 
father  had  promised  him  an  education 
when  he  was  still  a  child  and  Eliza  was 
to  pay  for  his  first  year  in  the  North, 
Eugene  was  glad  to  sign.  He  was  free, 
and  he  was  never  coming  back  to  Alta- 
mont. 

On  his  last  night  at  home  he  had  a 


vision  of  his  dead  brother  Ben  in  the 
moonlit  square  at  midnight;  Ben,  the 
unloved  of  the  Gants,  and  the  most  lov 
able,  It  was  for  Eugene  as  well  a  vision 
of  old,  unhappy,  unforgotten  years,  and 
in  his  restless  imagination  he  dreamed 
of  the  hidden  door  through  which  he 
would  escape  forever  the  mountain- 
rimmed  world  of  his  boyhood. 


LOOKING  BACKWARD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edward  Bellamy  (1850-1898) 

Type  of  plct:  Utopian  romance 

Time  of  plot:  A.D.  2000 

Locale:  Boston,  Massachusetts 

First  published:  1888 

Principal  characters: 

JHUAN  WEST,  a  traveler  in  time 
EDITH  BAHTTLETT,  his  nineteenth  century  fiancee 
DR.  LEETE,  a  twentieth  century  citizen 
EDITH  LEETE,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

The  main  value  of  Looking  Backward: 
2000-1887  lies  in  its  credible  presenta 
tion  of  a  socialist  Utopia,  and  the  boot 
has  served  to  introduce  many  famous 
people  to  the  theory  of  socialism.  Bel 
lamy  was  not  merely  a  follower  of  Marx 
and  other  economists;  he  rationalized  for 
himself  the  case  for  economic  revolution. 
The  prophecies  he  makes  for  the  world 
by  A.D.  2000  are  sometimes  strikingly 
shrewd,  and  his  judgments  made  of 
modern  society  are  pointed  and  witty. 
Bellamy's  idea  was  to  present  the  ideas 
of  socialism,  as  he  saw  them,  in  a  way 
which  would  appeal  to  a  wide  reading 
public,  both  of  yesterday  and  today. 


The  Story: 

Julian  West  had  a  hard  time  sleeping. 
In  order  to  have  complete  quiet  he  had 
built  a  sound-proof  room  with  thick 
cement  walls  in  the  cellar  of  his  house. 
He  was  also  in  the  habit  of  having  a 
quack  doctor  named  Pillsbury  put  him 
to  sleep  by  hypnosis. 

One  night  he  went  to  dinner  with  his 
fiancee's  family  and  spent  an  enjoyable 


evening  with  Edith  and  her  father,  Mr. 
Barrlett  He  went  home,  had  the  doctor 
give  him  a  treatment,  and  went  to  sleep. 
He  awoke  to  find  strange  people  in  the 
room.  They  asked  him  who  he  was,  and 
when  he  had  gone  to  sleep.  Julian  was 
amazed  when  he  realized  that  he  had 
been  asleep  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
years,  three  months,  and  eleven  days. 

From  much  questioning,  Julian  learned 
what  must  have  happened.  During  the 
night  that  he  last  remembered,  his  house 
had  burned  down  except  for  the  sealed 
room  in  which  he  slept;  and  apparently 
everyone  assumed  that  he  had  died  in 
the  fire.  Because  of  his  hypnotic  state, 
his  body  had  remained  the  same.  He  was 
still  a  young  man  of  thirty  when  he  was 
discovered  by  Dr.  Leete  in  the  year  2000. 
Dr.  Leete  and  his  daughter,  Edith,  were 
very  kind  to  their  guest  from  the  past  and 
tried  to  explain  the  changes  in  the  world 
since  he  had  last  seen  it. 

Boston  was  a  new  city  with  only  the 
bay  and  the  inlets  as  he  remembered 
them.  The  city  was  beautiful,  with  at 
tractive  buildings  and  spacious  parks. 


520 


The  strikes  and  labor  troubles  of  the 
nineteenth  century  had  resulted  in  a 
bloodless  revolution,  and  now  a  socialized 
government  controlled  all  business.  There 
was  no  smoke  because  all  heating  was 
done  by  electricity.  All  the  people  were 
healthy  and  happy. 

Dr.  Leete  tried  to  explain  the  world 
of  A.D.  2000.  There  was  no  money. 
The  state  gave  everyone,  no  matter  what 
his  job,  a  card  which  contained  the  same 
amount  of  credit  for  a  years  expenses. 
There  was  no  chance,  however,  for  any 
one  to  spend  his  credit  foolishly  and 
starve.  If  a  person  proved  incapable  of 
handling  his  credit  card  intelligently,  the 
government  took  care  to  see  that  he  was 
supervised.  Julian  was  taken  to  one  of 
the  big  stores  to  see  how  goods  were  sold. 
The  store  had  nothing  but  samples,  rep 
resenting  every  type  of  material  made  in 
or  imported  by  the  United  States.  The 
buyer  picked  out  the  items  he  wanted, 
called  a  clerk,  gave  the  order,  and  the 
clerk  relayed  the  order  to  the  central 
warehouse  from  which  the  item  was 
delivered  to  the  buyer's  home  before  he 
returned  from  the  store.  Julian  was  much 
impressed  with  this  system. 

He  learned  from  Dr.  Leete  how  edu 
cation  was  handled.  Everyone  was  given 
a  full  education  until  he  was  twenty-one. 
A  broad  cultural  course  was  taught  so 
that  there  was  no  intellectual  snobbery 
among  the  people.  At  twenty-one,  the 
student  went  into  menial  service  for 
three  years.  During  this  time  he  waited 
on  tables  in  the  large  public  eating 
houses,  or  did  some  other  simple  task. 
After  three  years,  he  was  given  an  ex 
amination  to  qualify  him  for  one  of  the 
government  professional  schools.  If  he 
failed,  he  was  helped  to  find  the  job  for 
which  he  was  best  suited  and  which  he 
would  most  enjoy.  If  this  job  proved  to 
be  the  wrong  one,  he  could  change  his 
position.  In  order  that  all  necessary  jobs 
would  be  chosen  by  enough  people  to  do 
the  essential  work,  the  jobs  were  ar 
ranged  so  as  to  be  equally  attractive.  If 
one  job  was  so  boring  that  few  people 


would  want  to  choose  it,  the  hours  were 
made  shorter  so  that  enough  applicants 
could  be  found.  Whether  a  citizen  was 
a  doctor  or  a  bricklayer,  he  was  given 
the  same  amount  of  credit  for  his  work. 

Crime  was  treated  as  a  mental  disease; 
criminals  were  put  in  hospitals  and 
treated  as  mental  cases.  Julian  learned 
that  crime  had  been  cut  down  amazingly 
as  soon  as  money  was  abolished.  Theft 
became  silly  when  everyone  had  the 
right  and  power  to  own  the  same  things. 
At  the  head  of  the  government  was  the 
President,  who  was  controlled  by  Con 
gress.  Education  and  medicine  were  con 
trolled  by  boards  made  up  of  older  pro 
fessional  advisers  to  the  President.  A 
woman  chosen  by  the  women  of  the 
country  had  the  power  to  veto  any  bill 
concerning  the  rights  of  the  female 
population.  There  was  no  public  dis 
content  with  government,  and  there  was 
wonderful  international  cooperation. 

Julian  asked  Dr.  Leete  what  he  had 
done  in  life,  and  learned  that  the  doctor 
had  practiced  medicine  until  he  was 
forty-five  years  old.  At  that  time  he  had 
retired.  Now  he  studied  and  enjoyed 
various  kinds  of  recreation. 

Edith  Leete  took  great  pleasure  in 
showing  Julian  the  various  advances  toe 
world  had  made  in  culture  since  his  day. 
She  showed  him  how  music  was  carried 
into  all  the  homes  in  the  country  by 
telephone.  She  showed  him  the  public 
libraries  in  which  Julian  learned  that  his 
old  favorites  were  still  read.  Dickens  was 
especially  popular,  as  the  new  world 
thought  him  one  of  the  wisest  men  in 
judging  the  sadness  of  the  old  capitalistic 
system.  When  an  author  wrote  a  book, 
it  was  published  at  his  own  expense  by 
the  government.  If  it  proved  a  success, 
he  received  royalties  in  additional  credit 
cards.  Works  of  art  were  voted  on  by  the 
public  in  the  same  way.  When  Julian 
commented  that  this  plan  would  not  have 
worked  in  his  day  because  of  the  lack  of 
public  taste,  Edith  told  him  that  with 
general  education  the  taste  of  the  people 
had  developed  greatly,  Julian  became 


521 


very  fond  of  Edith,  and  thought  how 
strange  it  was  that  she  should  have  the 
same  name  as  his  long-dead  fiance'e. 

When  Julian  became  worried  about  a 
means  of  support,  Dr.  Leete  told  him 
that  he  had  arranged  for  him  to  take  a 
college  lectureship  in  history,  as  Julian 
knew  much  about  the  past  which  even 
historians  would  be  delighted  to  learn. 
Knowing  that  he  was  secure  in  this  new 
world,  Julian  asked  Edith  to  marry  him. 
She  told  him  that  she  had  always  loved 
him. 


When  Julian  asked  how  this  was  pos 
sible,  she  explained  that  she  was  the 
great-granddaughter  of  Edith  Bartlett. 
She  had  found  some  of  Julian's  old  love 
letters  to  the  other  Edith,  and  had  been 
charmed  by  them.  She  had  always  told 
her  parents  that  she  would  marry  only  a 
man  like  the  lover  who  had  written  them. 
Julian  was  pleased  at  this  unexpected 
turn  of  affairs,  and  the  two  planned  to 
marry  and  live  happily  in  the  wonderful 
world  of  the  twenty-first  century. 


LORD  JEM 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Joseph  Conrad  (Teodor  J6zef  Konrad  Korzeniowski,  1857-1924) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Ports  and  islands  of  the  East 

First  published:  1900 

Principal  characters: 

LORD  JrM,  a  British  sailor 

MARLOW,  his  friend 

STEIN,  a  trader 

DAIN  WABJS,  a  native 


Critique: 

Lord  ]irn  first  ran  as  a  magazine  serial 
that  puzzled  many  readers.  Conrad 
claimed  that  he  had  planned  the  nar 
rative  as  a  novel.  Critics  claimed  that 
he  had  written  a  short  story  which  had 
run  away  from  him.  The  fact  remains 
that  the  story  is  told  in  a  unique  frame 
work.  At  its  beginning  it  seems  to  skip 
haphazardly  backward  and  forward 
through  time  at  no  one's  direction.  It  is 
told  partly  by  Conrad,  partly  in  narrative 
by  Marlow,  and  partly  through  a  letter 
written  by  Marlow.  The  reader  must 
solve  for  himself  the  problem  of  Jim's 
character.  Certainly,  Conrad  was  at 
tempting  to  illustrate  in  Jim's  weakness 
and  strength  the  mystery  of  human  char 
acter  and  to  reveal  the  hidden  springs  of 
human  conduct 


The  Story: 

Jim  was  an  outcast,  a  wanderer.  Hired 
as  water  clerk  in  seaports  throughout  the 
East,  he  would  keep  his  job  only  until 
his  identity  became  known.  Then  he 
would  move  on.  The  story  of  Lord  Jim 
began  when  he  determined  to  leave 
home  to  go  to  sea.  Accordingly,  his  father 
obtained  a  berth  for  him  as  an  officer 
candidate  and  he  began  his  service.  Al 
though  he  loved  the  sea,  his  beginning 
was  not  heroic.  Almost  at  once  he  was 
injured  and  was  left  behind  in  an  East 
ern  port  When  he  recovered,  he  accept 
ed  a  berth  as  chief  mate  aboard  an 
ancient  steamer,  the  Patna,  carrying  Mos 
lem  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  Mecca. 

The  steamer  was  unseaworthy,  her 
German  captain  a  gross  coward,  her  chief 
engineer  liquor-soaked.  One  sultry  night 


JIM  by  Jo 


by  Joseph  Conrad.  By  permission  of  J.  M.  Dent  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  agents  for  the  trustees  of  the  estate 
f  Joseph  Conrad  Published  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright,  1899,  1900,  by  Joseph  Conrad,  1921  by 
>oubleday,  Page  &  Co.  Renewed,  1926,  by  Jessie  Conrad. 


522 


hi  the  Red  Sea  the  ship  struck  a  floating 
object.  The  captain  sent  Jim  to  check. 

A  month  later  Jim  testified  in  court 
that  when  he  went  to  investigate  he 
found  the  forward  hold  rapidly  filling 
with  sea  water.  Hearing  his  report,  the 
captain  declared  the  Patna  would  sink 
quickly  and  gave  orders  to  abandon  ship. 
At  first  Jim  was  determined  to  stand  by 
his  post.  At  the  last  minute,  on  sudden 
impulse,  he  jumped  to  join  the  other 
white  men  in  the  lifeboat  they  had 
launched.  The  pilgrims  were  left  aboard 
the  sinking  vessel. 

But  the  Patna  had  not  sunk.  A  French 
gunboat  overtook  the  vessel  and  towed 
it  and  the  abandoned  passengers  into 
port  without  its  chief  officers  aboard. 

Marlow,  a  white  man,  sat  at  the  in 
quiry.  Later,  he  took  up  the  thread  of 
the  story  as  he  had  learned  it  from  Jim. 
Something  in  Jim  was  fixed  to  Marlow's 
memory  so  that  he  was  forced  to  recall 
the  event  and  to  tell  the  story  to  friends 
as  long  as  he  lived;  it  became  a  part 
of  his  own  life. 

It  always  began  the  same  way.  First 
there  had  come  a  cable  from  Aden  tell 
ing  that  the  Patna,  abandoned  by  its 
officers,  had  been  towed  into  port.  Then 
two  weeks  later  the  captain,  the  two 
engineers,  and  Jim  had  come  ashore,  their 
boat  having  been  picked  up  by  a  steamer 
of  the  Dale  Line.  They  were  whisked 
into  court  at  once  for  the  investigation. 
The  captain  lost  his  papers  for  deserting 
his  ship,  and  he  stormed  away  declaring 
that  his  disgrace  did  not  matter;  he  would 
become  an  American  citizen. 

The  chief  engineer  went  to  a  hospital. 
There,  raving  in  delirium  tremens,  he 
declared  he  had  seen  the  Patna  go  down. 
The  Patna  was  full  of  reptiles  when  she 
sank7  he  declared.  He  also  declared  that 
the  space  under  his  bed  was  crammed 
with  pink  toads.  The  second  engineer, 
his  arm  broken,  was  also  in  the  hospital. 
Neither  was  called  to  testify. 

Jim,  with  his  recollection  of  his  fam 
ily  and  his  father's  teaching,  as  well  as 
his  own  deeply  established  sense  of 


honor,  was  a  marked  man  for  the  rest 
of  his  life.  Marlow  told  how  he  had 
dinner  with  Jim  during  the  trial.  The 
boy  seemed  of  a  different  stamp  from 
the  other  officers  o£  the  Patna.  Marlow 
was  determined  to  fathom  the  boy's 
spirit,  just  as  Jim  was  determined  to  re 
gain  his  lost  moral  identity. 

Jim  told  Marlow  how  the  disgraceful 
affair  had  happened.  After  he  had  in 
vestigated  the  damage,  he  had  felt  that 
the  ship  could  not  remain  afloat,  for  her 
plates  were  rust-eaten  and  unable  to 
stand  much  strain.  There  were  eight 
hundred  passengers  and  seven  boats,  and 
not  enough  time  to  get  into  the  boats 
the  few  passengers  who  could  be  carried 
to  safety.  Shortly  afterward  he  discovered 
the  captain  and  the  engineers  making 
ready  to  desert  the  ship.  They  insisted 
that  he  join  them;  the  passengers  were 
doomed  anyway.  The  acting  third  en 
gineer  had  a  heart  attack  in  the  excite 
ment  and  died.  Jim  never  knew  when — 
or  why — he  had  jumped  into  the  life 
boat  the  other  officers  had  launched.  Jim 
told  Marlow  how  they  had  agreed  to 
tell  the  same  story.  Actually,  he  and  his 
companions  thought  that  the  Patna  had 
gone  down.  Jim  said  that  he  had  felt 
relief  when  he  had  learned  that  the  pas 
sengers  were  safe.  The  whole  story  made 
sailor-talk  in  all  ports  where  seamen  met 
and  talked.  After  the  inquiry  Marlow 
offered  to  help  Jim,  but  Jim  was  deter 
mined  to  become  a  wanderer,  to  find  out 
by  himself  what  had  happened  to  his 
soul. 

Jim  began  his  wanderings,  to  Bombay, 
to  Calcutta,  to  Penang,  Batavia,  and  the 
islands  of  the  East.  For  a  time  he  found 
work  with  an  acquaintance  of  Marlow's, 
but  he  gave  up  his  job  when  the  second 
engineer  of  the  Patna  turned  up  un 
expectedly.  Afterward  he  became  a  run 
ner  for  some  ship  chandlers,  but  he  left 
them  because  he  had  heard  one  of  the 
owners  discussing  the  case  of  the  Patna. 
He  moved  on,  always  toward  the  East, 
from  job  to  job. 

Marlow  continued  his  efforts  to  help 


523 


Jim.  He  sought  out  Stein,  a  trader  who 
owned  a  number  of  trading  posts  on  the 
smaller  islands  of  the  East  Indies.  Stein 
made  Jim  his  agent  at  Patusan,  an  out- 
of-the-way  settlement  where  he  was  sure 
Jim  might  recover  his  balance.  There, 
in  that  remote  pkce,  Jim  tried  to  find 
some  answer  to  his  self-hatred.  Deter 
mined  never  to  leave  Patusan,  he  as 
sociated  with  the  natives,  and  hy  his 
gentleness  and  consideration  became  their 
leader.  They  called  him  Tuan  Jim — 
Lord  Jim.  Dain  Waris,  the  son  of  Dora- 
min,  the  old  native  chief,  was  his  friend. 

The  rumor  spread  in  the  ports  that 
Jim  had  discovered  a  valuable  emerald, 
and  that  he  had  presented  it  to  a  native 
woman.  There  was  a  story  about  a  native 
girl  who  loved  him  and  who  had  given 
him  warning  when  some  jealous  natives 
came  to  murder  him, 

Marlow  followed  Jim  to  Patusan. 
When  Marlow  prepared  to  leave,  Jim 
accompanied  him  part  of  the  way.  He 
explained  to  Marlow  that  at  last  ne  felt 
as  though  his  way  had  been  justified. 


Somehow,  because  the  simple  natives 
trusted  him,  he  felt  linked  again  to  the 
ideals  of  his  youth.  Marlow  felt  there 
was  a  kind  of  desperateness  to  his  con 
viction. 

The  end  came  when  Gentleman 
Brown,  a  roving  cutthroat,  determined 
to  loot  Lord  Jim's  stronghold.  He  arrived 
while  Jim  was  away.  Led  by  Dain  Wans, 
the  natives  isolated  Brown  and  his 
marauders  on  a  hilltop  but  were  unable 
to  capture  them.  Lord  Jim  returned  and 
after  a  long  talk  with  Brown  became 
convinced  that  Brown  would  leave  peace 
ably  if  the  siege  were  lifted.  He  per 
suaded  the  reluctant  natives  to  with 
draw.  The  vicious  Brown  repaid  Lord 
Jim's  magnanimity  by  vengefully  mur 
dering  Dain  Waris.  Lord  Jim  went  un 
flinchingly  to  face  native  justice  when 
he  offered  himself  to  the  stern  old  chief 
tain  as  the  cause  of  Dain  Waris'  death. 
Doramm  shot  Jim  through  the  breast. 

Marlow,  who  had  watched  Jim's  life 
so  closely,  felt  that  Jim  had  at  last  won 
back  his  lost  honor. 


LORNA  DOONE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  R.  D.  BlackmoTe  (1825-1900) 
Ty-pe  of  plot:  Historical  romance 
Time  of  'plot:  Late  seventeenth  century 
Locale:  England 

1869 


Principal  characters: 

JOHN  RTDD,  yeoman  of  the  parish  of  Oare  in  Somerset 

SIR  ENSOR  DOONE,  head  of  the  outlaw  Doone  clan 

LORNA  DOONE,  his  ward 

CARVER  DOONE,  bis  son 

TOM  FAGOTS,  a  highwayman 

JEREMY  STICKLES,  Hag's  messenger 

REUBEN  HUCKABACK,  John  Ridd^  great-uncle 


Critique: 

R.  D.  Blackmore,  in  his  preface  to 
Lorna  Doone:  A  Romance  of  Exmoor, 
was  content  to  call  his  work  a  "romance," 
because  the  historical  element  was  only 
incidental  to  the  work  as  a  whole.  Secret 
agents,  highwaymen,  clannish  marauders, 
and  provincial  fanners  figure  against  a 


LORJtfA  DOONE  by  R.  D.  Blackmore.  Published  by  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  Inc. 


background  of  wild  moor  country.  A 
feeling  for  the  old  times,  for  great, 
courageous  people,  for  love  under  duress 
made  the  novel  popular  with  Victorian 
readers.  People  who  have  read  it  in  their 
youth  remember  it  with  nostalgia,  for  the 
book  has  a  penetrating  simplicity.  Told 


524 


in  the  first  person  by  John  Ridd,  the 
main  character  in  the  novel,  it  has  an 
authentic  ring,  the  sound  of  a  garrulous 
man  relating  the  adventures  of  his  youth. 

The  Story: 

John  Ridd  was  engaged  in  a  schoolboy 
fight  in  the  yard  of  old  BlundelTs  school 
when  John  Fry,  employed  by  Ridd's 
father,  called  for  the  boy  to  summon  him 
home.  Before  the  two  left,  however, 
young  John  completed  his  fight  by  knock 
ing  out  his  opponent.  On  their  way  home 
through  the  moorlands  they  were  nearly 
captured  by  members  of  the  outlaw 
Doone  band,  who  had  been  ravaging  the 
countryside,  stealing  and  killing.  When 
John  Ridd  reached  his  father's  farm,  he 
learned  that  only  a  few  days  before,  the 
Doones  had  set  upon  and  murdered  his 
father.  This  incident  stimulated  the  de 
sire  for  revenge  by  all  the  members  of 
the  parish  of  Oare,  for  the  murdered  man 
had  been  greatly  respected. 

John  settled  down  to  the  responsibili 
ties  which  the  death  of  his  father  had 
thrust  upon  him.  At  first  his  time  was 
greatly  taken  by  farm  work,  as  he  grew 
and  matured  into  the  largest  and  strongest 
man  in  the  Exmoor  country.  As  he  grew 
up,  John  learned  much  about  the  wild 
Doone  clan.  There  was  one  Doone, 
however,  for  whom  he  felt  no  animosity. 
This  was  the  beautiful  child  of  the  man 
supposed  to  be  the  murderer  of  John's 
father.  At  first  sight  John  had  been 
stirred  by  the  beauty  of  Lorna  Doone. 
Thereafter  he  was  in  great  conflict 
when  he  understood  that  his  passion  was 
directed  toward  the  girl  whom  he  ought 
for  his  father's  sake  to  hate. 

When  John's  great-uncle,  Master  Reu 
ben  Huckaback,  was  attacked  and  robbed 
by  the  Doones,  he  went  with  John  to 
swear  out  a  warrant  for  their  arrest,  but 
he  had  no  luck  because  the  magistrates 
were  unwilling  to  incur  the  enmity  of 
the  Doones. 

John  was  drawn  deeper  into  his  re 
lationship  with  Lorna  Doone.  At  their 
secret  meetings  in  Doone  Valley  she  told 


him  the  story  of  her  life  with  the  out 
laws;  how  she  always  had  loved  her 
grandfather,  Sir  Ensor  Doone,  but  feared 
and  lately  had  come  to  hate  the  rough, 
savage  sons,  nephews,  and  grandsons  of 
Sir  Ensor.  This  hatred  was  increased 
when  Carver  Doone  cold-bloodedly  mur 
dered  Lord  Alan  Brandir,  a  distant  rela 
tive,  who  had  come  to  take  her  away  from 
the  Doones. 

About  this  time  John  was  called  to 
London  to  serve  the  cause  of  James  II's 
tottering  throne.  There  he  disclosed  all 
he  knew  of  the  Doones'  activities  and  of 
the  false  magistrates  who  seemed  to  be 
in  league  with  them.  He  was  warned 
that  Tom  Faggus,  a  highwayman  who 
was  John's  own  cousin,  might  go  to 
the  gallows  before  long.  He  returned 
to  his  mother  and  his  farm  no  penny 
richer  or  poorer  than  when  he  left,  be 
cause  of  his  refusal  to  accept  bribes  or 
to  become  the  dupe  of  sly  lawyers  in  the 
city. 

In  the  meantime  concern  over  Lorna, 
who  had  two  suitors  among  the  Doones 
themselves,  had  almost  unhinged  John's 
mind.  He  was  delighted  to  discover  that 
Lorna,  still  only  seventeen,  held  off  the 
two  Doones.  At  the  same  time  he  feared 
more  than  ever  his  chance  of  winning 
the  ward  of  the  outlaws  he  was  pledged 
to  help  the  king  destroy.  However,  he 
at  last  won  Lorna  over  to  his  suit,  and 
with  her  agreement  he  felt  nothing  could 
stop  him. 

At  home  the  love  of  his  sister  Annie 
for  her  cousin,  Tom  Faggus,  reminded 
John  of  his  duties  as  his  father's  son  and 
plunged  him  into  the  worries  over  his 
mother  and  Annie  and  the  farm.  John's 
mother  had  other  plans  for  his  marriage, 
but  when  he  revealed  the  only  course  his 
love  must  take,  he  won  her  over.  In  the 
meantime  Master  Jeremy  Stickles  brought 
news  of  the  rising  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth  and  of  troubles  brewing  for  the 
king. 

Suddenly,  Lorna's  signals  stopped. 
John  made  his  will  and  descended  into 
the  Doone  hideout  and  there  at  great 


525 


risk  discovered  that  Loma  had  been  kept 
her   rooms  because   she   would   not 


m 


marry  Carver  Doone.  John  managed  to 
talk  to  her  and  she  pledged  never  to  give 
in  to  her  family.  He  narrowly  escaped 
capture,  and  at  the  same  time  managed 
to  save  the  life  of  Jeremy  Stickles,  king's 
messenger,  by  overhearing  the  outlaws 
as  they  plotted  to  kill  Jeremy  when  he 
should  he  crossing  the  valley  bridge.  The 
Doones'  plot  to  kill  Stickles  brought 
further  plans  for  retaliation  from  the 
king's  men, 

Old  Sir  Ensor  Doone  was  close  to 
death.  Before  he  died,  he  gave  John 
Ridd  and  Loma  Doone  his  blessing  and 
to  Loma  he  presented  the  glass  necklace 
he  had  kept  for  her  since  childhood. 
Then  John  took  Loma  home  with  him  to 
his  mother's  farm.  Jeremy  Stickles  went 
south  to  muster  forces  for  the  destruction 
of  the  Doone  clan. 

The  counselor  of  the  Doones  took  ad 
vantage  of  his  absence  to  visit  the  Ridd 
farm  in  order  to  make  a  truce  with  John 
Ridd.  His  offer  was  rejected,  but  he 
threw  trouble  into  the  paths  of  the  lovers 
by  telling  them  that  Lorna's  father  had 
murdered  John's  father  and  that  his  own 
father  was  the  murderer  of  Lorna's 
father.  Moreover,  he  tricked  them  out 
of  Lorna's  necklace,  which  by  now, 
through  the  word  of  Tom  Faggus,  they 
knew  to  be  made  of  diamonds. 

Uncle  Reuben  Huckaback  grew  in 
terested  in  having  John  marry  his  grand 
daughter  Ruth,  and  took  John  to  see  the 
gold  mine  he  had  just  bought  Upon  his 
return,  John  learned  that  Loma  had  dis 
appeared.  She  had  been  taken  axvay  by 
the  Dugals,  who  claimed  her  as  their 
missing  heiress. 

When  Tom  Faggus  joined  the  rebels 
against  the  king,  John,  at  his  sister  An 
nie's  request,  went  to  find  him  and  to 
bring  him  back  to  safety.  John  discov 
ered  Tom  almost  dead.  John  was  taken 
prisoner  and  was  nearly  executed.  He 


was  saved  only  by  the  arrival  of  his 
friend,  Jeremy  Stickles. 

John  went  to  London  and  there  saw 
Lorna.  By  good  chance  and  virtue  of 
his  great  strength  he  overcame  two  vil 
lains  who  were  attempting  to  rob  and 
kill  a  nobleman.  The  man  happened  to 
be  Lorna's  relative.  In  return  for  this 
deed,  the  king  gave  John  the  title  of 
knight.  Moreover,  he  had  the  court  of 
heralds  design  a  coat  of  arms  for  John's 
family.  The  coat  of  arms  was  soundly 
made  and  the  queen  herself  paid  for  it, 
the  king  declining. 

When  John  returned  from  London, 
covered  with  honors,  he  discovered  the 
Doones  had  been  raiding  once  more. 
Then  came  the  long  awaited  revenge. 
The  Doones  were  routed,  their  houses 
were  burned,  and  their  stolen  booty 
was  divided  among  those  who  put  in 
claims  for  redress.  The  counselor  re 
vealed  that  it  was  Carver  Doone  who 
had  killed  John's  father.  The  necklace 
was  recovered. 

Arrangements  for  the  wedding  of  John 
and  Lorna  were  made.  At  the  end  of  the 
ceremony  in  the  church,  Carver  Doone, 
out  of  his  great  jealousy,  shot  Lorna. 
Without  a  weapon  in  his  hand,  John 
rushed  out  in  pursuit  of  Carver  and  found 
him  at  Barrow  Down.  There  took  place 
the  greatest  battle  between  two  men  ever 
told  of  in  books.  It  was  a  fight  of  giants. 
As  John  felt  his  ribs  cracking  in  Carver's 
tremendous  hug,  he  fastened  his  own 
iron  grip  upon  his  enemy's  arm  and 
ripped  it  loose.  Then  he  threw  his 
crushed  and  bleeding  enemy  into  the 
bog  and  saw  Carver  Doone  sucked  down 
into  its  black  depths. 

Thus  the  greatest  enemy  of  John  Ridd 
was  at  last  destroyed  and  John  returned 
to  his  bride  to  find  that  she  might  live. 
She  did  survive  and  in  peace  and  plenty 
John  Ridd  lived  among  his  friends  to  a 
hearty  old  age. 


526 


LOST  HORIZON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Hilton  C 1900- 1954) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1931 

Locale:  Tibet 

First  published:   1933 

Principal  characters: 

HUGH  CONWAY,  a  British  consul 

RUTHERFORD,  his  friend 

HENRY  BARNARD,  an  American  embezzler 

Miss  BRLNKLOW,  a  missionary 

CAPTAIN  MAIXISON,  another  British  consul 

CHANG,  a  Chinese  lama 

FATHER  PERRAULT,  the  High  Lama 

Critique: 

Shangri-La,  the  name  for  the  setting 
of  this  novel,  has  come  to  mean  to  most 
Americans  a  place  of  peace  and  content 
ment.  Such  was  the  strange  Utopia 
James  Hilton  described  in  Lost  Horizon, 
making  it  seem  like  a  real  place,  peopled 
ty  living  beings,  rather  than  the  land  of 
an  impossible  ideal. 


The  Story: 

When  Rutherford  had  found  Hugh 
Conway,  a  former  schoolmate,  suffering 
from  fatigue  and  amnesia  in  a  mission 
hospital,  Conway  had  related  a  weird 
and  almost  unbelievable  story  concern 
ing  his  disappearance  many  months  be 
fore. 

Conway  was  a  member  of  the  consu 
late  at  Baskul  when  trouble  broke  out 
there  in  May,  1931,  and  he  was  con 
sidered  something  of  a  hero  because  of 
the  efficiency  and  coolness  he  displayed 
while  white  civilians  were  being  evac 
uated.  When  it  was  his  turn  to  leave, 
he  boarded  a  plane  in  the  company  of 
Miss  Roberta  Brinklow,  a  missionary; 
Henry  Barnard,  an  American,  and  Cap 
tain  Charles  Mallison,  another  member 
of  the  consulate.  The  plane  was  a  special 
high-altitude  cabin  aircraft  provided  by 
the  Maharajah  of  Chandapore.  Conway, 
thirty-seven  years  old,  had  been  in  the 
consular  service  for  ten  years.  His  work 


had  not  been  spectacular  and  he  was 
expecting  to  rest  in  England  before  being 
assigned  to  another  undistinguished  post. 

After  the  plane  had  been  in  the  air 
about  two  hours,  Mallison  noticed  that 
their  pilot  was  the  wrong  man  and  that 
they  were  not  headed  toward  Peshawur, 
the  first  scheduled  stop.  Conway  was 
undisturbed  until  he  realized  they  were 
flying  over  strange  mountain  ranges. 
When  the  pilot  landed  and  armed  tribes 
men  refueled  the  plane  before  it  took 
off  again,  Conway  began  to  agree  with 
Mallison  and  Barnard,  who  thought  they 
had  been  kidnaped  and  would  be  held 
for  ransom. 

When  Conway  tried  to  question  the 
pilot,  the  man  only  pointed  a  revolver  at 
him.  A  little  after  midnight  the  pilot 
landed  again,  this  time  narrowly  averting 
a  crackup.  Climbing  out  of  the  plane,  the 
passengers  found  the  pilot  badly  injured. 
Conway  believed  that  they  were  high 
on  the  Tibetan  plateau,  far  beyond  the 
western  range  of  the  Himalaya  Moun 
tains,  The  air  was  bitterly  cold,  with  no 
signs  of  human  habitation  in  that  region 
of  sheer-walled  mountains.  The  pilot 
died  before  morning,  murmuring  some 
thing  about  a  lamasery  called  Shangri- 
La.  As  the  little  group  started  in  search 
of  the  lamasery,  they  saw  a  group  of 
men  coming  toward  them. 


LOST  HORIZON  by  James  Hilton.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  William  Morrow  & 
Co.,  Inc.   Copyright,  1933,  1936,  by  William  Borrow  &  Co.,  Inc. 

527 


When  the  men  reached  them,  one  in 
troduced  himself  in  perfect  English;  he 
was  a  Chinese  named  Chang.  Following 
the  men,  Con  way  and  his  friends  arrived 
at  the  lamasery  of  Shangri-La  that  eve 
ning.  There  they  found  central  heat, 
plumbing,  and  many  other  luxuries  more 
commonly  found  only  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere.  They  were  given  fine  rooms 
and  excellent  food.  They  learned  that 
there  was  a  High  Lama  whom  they 
would  not  be  privileged  to  meet.  Al 
though  Chang  told  them  porters  would 
arrive  in  a  few  weeks  to  lead  them  back 
to  the  outer  world,  Conway  had  the 
strange  feeling  that  their  coming  had 
not  been  an  accident  and  that  they  were 
not  destined  soon  to  leave. 

Presently  Chang  told  them  that  Con- 
way  was  to  be  honored  by  an  interview 
with  the  High  Lama.  Mallison  begged 
him  to  force  the  High  Lama  to  provide 
guides  for  them,  for  Mallison  had  learned 
that  Barnard  was  wanted  for  fraud  and 
embezzlement  in  the  United  States  and 
he  was  anxious  to  turn  Barnard  over  to 
the  British  authorities.  But  Conway  did 
not  discuss  their  departure  with  the  High 
Lama,  whom  he  found  a  very  intelligent, 
very  old  man.  Instead,  he  listened  to 
the  lama's  remarkable  story  of  Father 
Perrault,  a  Capuchin  friar  lost  in  the 
mountains  in  1734,  when  he  was  fifty- 
three  years  old.  Father  Perrault  had 
found  sanctuary  in  a  lamasery  and  had 
stayed  there  after  adopting  the  Buddhist 
faith.  In  1789  the  old  man  lay  dying, 
but  the  miraculous  power  of  some  drugs 
he  had  perfected,  coupled  with  the  mar 
velous  air  on  the  plateau,  prolonged  his 
life.  Later  tribesmen  from  the  valley 
helped  him  build  the  lamasery  of  Shan 
gri-La,  where  he  lived  the  life  of  a 
scholar.  In  1 804  another  European  came 
to  the  lamasery;  then  others  came  from 
Europe  and  from  Asia,  No  guest  was 
ever  allowed  to  leave. 

Conway  learned  then  that  the  kidnap 
ing  of  their  plane  had  been  deliberate. 
But,  more  important,  he  learned  that 
the  High  Lama  was  Father  Perrault  and 


that  he  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
old.  The  old  man  told  Conway  that  all 
who  lived  at  Shangri-La  had  the  secret 
of  long  life.  He  had  sent  the  pilot  for 
new  people  because  he  believed  a  war 
was  coining  which  would  destroy  all 
known  civilization  and  Shangri-La  would 
then  be  the  nucleus  of  a  new  world.  His 
picture  of  life  in  the  lamasery  pleased 
Conway.  He  was  content  to  stay. 

Conway,  knowing  that  the  others 
would  find  it  hard  to  accept  the  news,  did 
not  tell  them  that  they  could  never  leave. 
Mallison  continued  to  talk  of  the  coining 
of  the  porters,  but  Barnard  and  Miss 
Brinklow  announced  that  they  intended 
to  pass  up  the  first  opportunity  to  leave 
Shangri-La  and  wait  for  a  later  chance. 
Barnard  faced  jail  if  he  returned,  and 
Miss  Brinklow  thought  she  should  not 
miss  the  opportunity  to  convert  the  lamas 
and  the  tribesmen  in  the  valley. 

The  weeks  passed  pleasantly  for  Con- 
way.  He  met  a  Frenchman  called  Briac, 
who  had  been  Chopin's  pupil.  He  also 
met  Lo-Tsen,  a  Chinese  girl  who  seemed 
quite  young,  but  Chang  told  him  she 
was  really  sixty-five  years  old.  Conway 
had  more  meetings  with  the  High  Lama; 
at  one  of  them  the  old  man  told  Conway 
that  he  knew  he  was  going  to  die  at  last 
and  that  he  wanted  Conway  to  take 
his  place  as  ruler  of  the  lamasery  and  the 
valley  and  to  act  wisely  so  that  all  culture 
would  not  be  lost  after  war  had  destroyed 
Western  civilization. 

While  he  was  explaining  these  mat 
ters,  the  old  lama  lay  back  in  his  chair, 
and  Conway  knew  he  was  dead.  Conway 
wandered  out  into  the  garden,  too 
moved  to  talk  to  anyone.  He  was 
interrupted  by  Mallison,  with  the  news 
that  the  porters  had  arrived.  Although 
Barnard  and  Miss  Brinklow  would  not 
leave,  Mallison  had  paid  the  porters  to 
wait  for  him  and  Conway.  Mallison 
said  that  the  Chinese  girl  was  going 
with  them,  that  he  had  made  love  to 
her  and  that  she  wanted  to  stay  with 
him.  Conway  tried  to  tell  Mallison  that 
the  girl  was  really  an  old  woman  who 


528 


would  die  if  she  left  the  valley,  but 
Mallison  refused  to  listen.  At  first  Con- 
way  also  refused  to  leave  Shangri-La,  but 
after  Mallison  and  the  girl  started  and 
then  came  back  because  they  were  afraid 
to  go  on  alone,  Conway  felt  that  he  was 
responsible  for  them  as  well  and  he  left 
the  lamasery  with  them.  He  felt  that 
he  was  fleeing  from  the  place  where  he 
would  be  happy  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
no  matter  how  long  that  life  might  be. 


Rutherford  closed  his  manuscript  at 
that  point,  for  Conway  had  slipped  away 
and  disappeared.  Later  Rutherford  met 
a  doctor  who  told  him  that  Conway  had 
been  brought  to  the  mission  by  a  woman, 
a  bent,  withered,  old  Chinese  woman. 
Perhaps,  then,  the  story  was  true.  Con 
vinced  that  Conway  had  headed  for  the 
hidden  lamasery,  Rutherford  hoped  that 
his  journey  had  been  successful,  that 
Conway  had  reached  Shangri-La. 


A  LOST  LADY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:    Willa  Gather  (1876-1947) 

Type  of  plot:   Regional  realism 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   Nebraska 

First  published:    1923 

Principal  characters: 

CAPTAIN  FORRESTER,  a  railroad  constructor 

Mas.  FORRESTER,  ids  wife 

JUDGE  POMMEROY,  his  friend  and  legal  adviser 

NrEL  HERBERT,  the  judge's  nephew 

IVY  PETERS,  a  shyster  lawyer 

Critique: 

This  book,  which  is  marked  by  a 
studied  attention  to  form,  achieves  an 
epic-like  tone.  In  part  this  is  derived 
from  the  theme  as  well  as  from  the  view 
point  of  the  novel.  The  theme  expresses 
a  feeling  of  admiration  which  most 
Americans  share  for  the  builders  who 
opened  the  West,  a  herculean  task  which 
could  not  be  done  twice.  The  viewpoint 
is  that  of  a  young  man  whose  youth 
claims  the  right  of  sentimental  ardor 
which  makes  youth  so  delightful.  More 
over,  Miss  Gather  captured  the  tone  of 
many  women  of  the  generation  about 
which  she  was  writing.  Mrs.  Forrester 
possessed  more  valiant  self-reliance  than 
many  of  her  contemporaries.  As  such  she 
was  able  to  be  a  lost  lady  and  still  keep 
her  own  personality  intact. 


The  Story: 

The  Forrester  home  at  Sweet  Water 
was  a  stopping  off  place  for  railroad  mag 


nates  riding  through  the  prairie  states 
along  the  Burlington  line.  Old  Captain 
Forrester  liked  to  drive  his  guests  from 
the  station  and  watch  them  as  they  ap 
proached  his  estate.  He  enjoyed  their 
praise  of  his  stock  farm  and  their  delight 
when  his  charming  wife  met  them  at  the 
front  door.  Everyone  from  railroad  presi 
dents  to  the  village  butcher  boy  and  the 
kitchen  maids  liked  Mrs.  Forrester;  her 
manner  was  always  one  of  friendliness 
and  respect. 

Niel  Herbert's  acquaintance  with  Mrs. 
Forrester  began  when  he  fell  from  a 
tree  while  playing  with  some  village 
boys  on  the  captain's  property  and  Mrs. 
Forrester  summoned  a  doctor.  He  did 
not  know  it  at  the  time,  but  Mrs.  For 
rester  had  already  singled  him  out  from 
the  others  because  he  was  Judge  Pom- 
meroy's  nephew.  After  his  recovery  he 
was  often  invited  to  the  Forrester  home 
with  his  uncle. 


OST  LADY  by  Willa  Gather.    By  permission  of  the  publishers.  Alfred  A.  Knopf.  Inc.    Copyright,  1923.  by 


529 


The  boy  who  had  caused  Niel's  fall 
was  Ivy  Peters.  He  had  winged  a  wood 
pecker  and  then  had  slit  its  eyes.  The 
bird  had  fumbled  back  into  its  hole,  and 
Niel  was  trying  to  reach  the  creature  to 
put  it  out  of  its  misery  when  he  lost  his 
balance  and  fell. 

During  a  period  of  hard  times  NieFs 
father  went  out  of  business  and  left 
Sweet  Water.  Niel  stayed  on  to  read 
kw  in  his  uncle's  office.  A  few  days 
before  Christmas,  Mrs.  Forrester  invited 
Niel  to  her  home  to  help  entertain  Con 
stance  Ogden,  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
captain's  friends,  who  was  coming  to 
spend  the  holidays  with  the  Forresters. 
Also  included  in  the  party  was  Frank 
Ellinger,  a  bachelor  of  forty.  The  dinner 
was  a  gay  one.  Niel  decided  that  Con 
stance  was  neither  pretty  nor  pleasant. 
It  was  plain  that  she  had  designs  on 
Frank  EUinger. 

The  following  day  Niel  was  asked  to 
stay  with  Constance  during  the  after 
noon,  while  Mis.  Forrester  and  Frank 
took  the  small  cutter  and  went  after 
cedar  for  the  Christmas  decorations.  The 
Blum  boy,  out  hunting,  saw  Mrs.  For 
rester  and  Frank  after  he  came  upon  the 
deserted  cutter  beside  a  thicket,  but  he 
did  not  give  away  their  secret.  The 
doings  of  the  rich  were  not  his  concern 
and  Mrs.  Forrester  had  been  kind  to 


on  many  occasons. 

During  that  winter  Judge  Pommeroy 
and  his  nephew  often  went  to  play  cards 
with  the  Forresters.  One  night,  during  a 
snowstorm,  Mrs.  Forrester  revealed  to 
Niel  how  much  she  missed  the  excite 
ment  and  glamour  of  former  winters 
at  fashionable  resorts.  She  mocked  the 
life  of  quiet  domesticity  in  which  she 
and  the  captain  were  living. 

In  the  spring  the  captain  went  to  Den 
ver  on  business  and  while  he  was  gone 
Frank  Ellinger  arrived  for  a  visit  One 
morning  Niel  cut  a  bouquet  of  wild  roses 
to  leave  outside  the  windows  of  Mrs. 
Forrester's  bedroom.  Suddenly  he  heard 
from  the  bedroom  the  voices  of  Mrs. 
Forrester  and  Frank  Ellinger.  The  first 


illusion  of  his  life  was  shattered  by  a 
man's  yawn  and  a  woman's  laugh. 

When  the  captain  came  home  from 
Denver,  he  announced  that  he  was  a  poor 
man.  Having  satisfied  his  creditors,  he 
had  left  only  his  pension  from  the  Civil 
War  and  the  income  from  his  farm. 
Shortly  afterward  the  captain  had  a 
stroke. 

Niel  continued  to  visit  the  sick  man 
and  his  wife.  He  realized  that  Mrs.  For 
rester  was  facing  her  new  life  with  terror 
she  tried  to  hide  for  her  husband's  sake. 
Niel,  having  decided  to  become  an  archi 
tect,  left  Sweet  Water  to  spend  two  years 
at  school  in  the  East.  When  he  returned, 
he  learned  that  Ivy  Peters,  shrewd  and 
grasping,  had  become  an  important  per 
son  in  the  town.  Niel,  who  despised 
Peters,  was  disappointed  to  learn  that 
Peters,  now  the  captain's  tenant,  had 
drained  the  marsh  where  the  boys  had 
gone  fishing  years  before.  The  captain 
himself  had  become  wasted  and  old. 
Most  of  the  time  he  sat  in  his  garden 
staring  at  a  strange  sundial  he  had  made. 

Niel  learned  that  Mrs.  Forrester,  who 
seemed  little  older,  was  still  writing  to 
Frank  EUinger.  He  observed,  too,  that 
Mrs.  Forrester  treated  Peters  with  easy 
familiarity,  and  he  wondered  how  she 
could  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
pushing  young  lawyer. 

That  summer  a  storm  flooded  the 
fields  along  the  creek.  Niel  went  to 
Judge  Pommeroy 's  office  to  read.  He 
thought  of  an  item  he  had  seen  in  the 
Denver  paper  earlier  in  the  day;  Frank 
Ellinger  had  finally  married  Constance 
Ogden.  Close  to  midnight  Mrs.  For 
rester,  drenched  to  the  skin,  appeared  at 
the  office.  At  her  demand  Niel  made 
the  telephone  connection  with  Ellinger 
in  Colorado  Springs.  Mrs.  Forrester 
began  to  talk  politely,  as  though  compli 
menting  Ellinger  on  his  marriage.  Then 
she  became  hysterical.  When  she  began 
to  scream  reproaches,  Niel  cut  the  wires. 

Mrs.  Forrester  recovered  after  her  col 
lapse,  but  the  gossipy  town  telephone 
operator  pieced  together  a  village  scandal 


from  what  she  had  managed  to  over 
hear. 

Captain  Forrester  died  in  December. 
None  of  his  wealthy  friends  attended 
the  funeral,  but  old  settlers  and  former 
employees  came  to  do  honor  to  the  rail 
road  pioneer  who  had  been  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  early  West. 

One  day  Mr.  Ogden  stopped  in  Sweet 
Water.  He  thought  that  Judge  Pom- 
meroy  ought  to  send  to  Washington  a 
claim  to  have  Mrs.  Forrester's  pension 
increased.  Niel  was  forced  to  explain 
that  Mrs.  Forrester  had  turned  her  affairs 
over  to  Ivy  Peters. 

After  her  husband's  death  Mrs.  For 
rester  began  to  entertain  Ivy  Peters  and 
other  young  men  from  the  village.  At 
her  urging  Niel  went  to  one  party,  but 
he  was  disgusted  with  the  cheap  man 
ners  of  both  hostess  and  guests.  He  could 
not  bear  to  see  the  old  captain's  home 
thus  abused. 

Niel  felt  that  an  era  was  ending.  The 
great  old  people,  such  as  the  judge  and 
trie  captain  and  their  friends,  were  pass 
ing,  the  men  who  had  built  the  railroads 


and  the  towns.  The  old  men  of  gallant 
manners  and  their  lovely  ladies  had  gone 
forever.  In  their  place  was  a  new  type 
of  man,  the  shrewd  opportunist,  like  Ivy 
Peters.  On  the  day  Niel  saw  Peters 
putting  his  arms  around  Mrs.  Forrester, 
he  decided  to  leave  Sweet  Water. 

As  long  as  his  uncle  lived,  however, 
he  had  news  of  Mrs.  Forrester.  The 
judge  wrote  that  she  was  sadly  broken. 
Then  his  uncle  died  and  Niel  heard  no 
more  for  many  years. 

A  long  time  afterward  a  mutual  friend 
told  him  what  had  happened  to  his  lost 
lady.  She  had  gone  to  California.  Later, 
she  had  married  a  rich  Englishman  and 
had  gone  with  him  to  South  America. 
She  had  dyed  her  hair  and  had  dressed 
expensively  in  an  effort  to  keep  her 
youth. 

Finally,  one  year,  the  G.A.R.  post  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Forrester's  Eng 
lish  husband.  It  enclosed  money  for  the 
continued  care  of  Captain  Forrester's 
grave.  His  gift  was  a  memorial  to  his 
late  wife,  Marian  Forrester  Collins. 


THE  LOST  WEEKEND 


Type  of  -work:   Novel 

Author:    Charles  Jackson   (1903-         ) 

Type  of  plot:    Psychological  melodrama 

Time  of  plot:    Twentieth  century 

Locale:    New  York  City 

First  published:    1944 

Principal  characters: 

DON  BIRNAM,  an  alcoholic 
WICK,  his  brother 
HELEN,  his  friend 

Critique: 

Although  The  Lost  Weekend  is  in 
some  respects  more  a  case  history  than 
a  novel,  it  is  nevertheless  a  vivid  and 
convincing  story  of  a  maladjusted  per 
sonality.  Jackson  shows  considerable  in 
sight  into  alcoholism  as  a  social  problem 
without  destroying  the  personal  quality 
of  his  hero's  experience  and  the  des 
peration  of  his  struggle  during  a  long 


weekend  when  he  is  thrown  upon  his 
own  resources.  In  this  novel  the  drama 
remains  objective;  the  underlying  cause 
of  Don  Bimam's  alcoholism  is  dramatized 
rather  than  analyzed. 

The  Story: 

Don    Birnam    was    an    unsuccessful 
writer  who  drank  too  much.   Time  and 


THE  LOST  WEEKEND  by  Charles  Jackson.    By  permission  of  Brandt  &  Brandt  and  the  publishers,  Rinehart 
&  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright,    1944,  by  Charles  Jackson. 


531 


again,  his  brother  Wick  and  his  friend 
Helen  tried  to  break  him  of  the  habit. 
They  kept  money  out  of  his  reach  so  that 
he  could  not  buy  liquor.  TTiey  warned 
neighbors  and  bartenders  against  his 
habits.  They  sent  him  to  a  rest  farm 
for  the  cure.  But  even  there  he  managed 
to  get  something  to  drink. 

One  weekend  Don  was  left  alone 
while  Wick  went  to  the  country.  As 
soon  as  his  brother  had  gone,  Don  took 
the  money  Wick  had  left  for  the  house 
keeper  and  went  out  to  buy  liquor.  He 
went  into  a  bar  and  chatted  with  Gloria, 
the  hostess.  He  told  her  about  his  life, 
about  his  wife  who  was  frigid,  his  chil 
dren,  and  other  details  all  equally  fan 
tastic  and  imaginary.  He  asked  Gloria 
to  meet  him  later.  After  being  convinced 
that  he  was  not  joking,  she  accepted. 

That  night  Don  went  into  another  bar 
and  began  drinking  heavily.  While  there, 
idly  watching  a  young  couple,  he  sud 
denly  decided  to  steal  the  girl's  purse. 
He  would  do  it  only  as  a  joke,  he  told 
himself.  Later  he  could  return  the  purse 
and  they  would  all  laugh  at  his  prank. 
He  picked  up  the  purse  and  slipped  it 
under  his  coat,  acting  calmly  and  natu 
rally  all  the  time,  but  as  he  was  walking 
out  a  waiter  stopped  him.  Luckily,  the 
girl  did  not  want  to  press  charges.  Don 
was  pushed  out  into  the  street. 

He  went  from  one  bar  to  another. 
When  he  drifted  back  to  Sam's  bar, 
Gloria  was  angry  because  he  had  forgot 
ten  his  date  with  her.  He  could  not 
understand  why  she  asked  him  about  his 
wife  and  his  children,  because  he  had 
neither.  Next  morning  he  found  that  his 
money  had  disappeared  and  that  there 
was  no  money  in  the  apartment.  He 
decided  to  pawn  his  typewriter.  He 
walked  up  and  down  the  streets,  but  all 
the  pawnshops  were  closed  because  it 
was  a  Jewish  holiday.  He  went  home, 
changed  his  clothes,  and  borrowed  ten 
dollars  from  a  nearby  merchant.  He  went 


out  to  drink  again.  Coining  back,  he 
fell  down  a  flight  of  stairs  and  lost  con 
sciousness. 

When  he  awoke,  he  was  in  the  alco 
holic  ward  of  a  hospital.  With  him  were 
a  doctor  and  Bim,  a  male  nurse.  He 
wanted  his  clothes,  he  insisted;  he  wanted 
to  go  home.  At  last  the  doctor  told  him 
that  he  could  go  if  he  would  sign  a 
paper  absolving  the  hospital  of  aU  re 
sponsibility. 

Leaving  the  hospital,  Don  went 
straight  to  his  apartment,  where  he  fell 
asleep.  The  ringing  of  the  telephone 
awoke  }iim.  He  could  not  remember 
when  he  had  last  eaten.  When  he  tried 
to  get  up,  he  almost  collapsed,  and  he 
sank,  exhausted,  into  a  chair.  After  a 
while  he  heard  a  key  in  the  lock.  It 
was  Helen,  corning  to  see  how  he  was 
getting  along  while  Wick  was  away. 
She  helped  him  to  get  dressed  and  took 
him  to  her  apartment.  When  the  maid 
came  in,  Helen  went  out  on  an  errand. 
Don  tried  to  get  the  key  to  the  closet,  but 
the  maid  pretended  that  she  had  no  idea 
where  it  was.  Don  was  growing  more 
and  more  desperate  for  liquor.  Before 
Helen  left  the  apartment,  he  had  called 
to  her  in  terror  because  he  thought  a 
bat  was  devouring  a  mouse  in  the  room. 
His  thirst  was  growing  worse.  Seeing 
Helen's  fur  coat,  he  seized  it  and  ran 
out  of  the  apartment.  He  pawned  the 
coat  for  five  dollars  and  bought  several 
pints  of  whiskey.  He  went  back  to  his 
own  apartment.  Afraid  that  Wick  might 
return,  he  hid  one  bottle  in  the  bathroom 
and  suspended  the  other  on  a  string  out 
side  his  window. 

He  lay  down  on  the  bed  and  took 
a  long  drink  of  whiskey.  He  felt  wonder 
ful.  The  ordeal  was  over;  he  had  come 
through  once  more.  There  was  no  tell 
ing  what  might  happen  the  next  time, 
but  he  saw  no  reason  to  worry  now. 
He  wondered  why  Wick  and  Helen 
made  such  a  fuss  about  it  all. 


532 


LOYALTIES 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:   John  Galsworthy  (1867-1933) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  1920's 

locale:  London 

First  -presented:  1922 

Principal  characters: 

FERDINAND  DE  LEVIS,  a  rich  young  Jew 
CAPTAIN  RONALD  DANCY,  D.  S.  O.,  retired 
MABEL,  his  wife 

Critiqite: 

Loyalties  is  one  of  the  first  plays  to 
deal  honestly  and  openly  with  the  prob 
lem  of  anti-Semitism.  Galsworthy  takes 
such  pains  to  deal  fairly  with  both  sides 
of  the  question,  however,  that  he  comes 
close  to  destroying  his  own  thesis.  The 
most  completely  drawn  character  is  prob 
ably  Captain  Dancy,  a  man  of  action 
trying  to  adjust  himself  to  a  static  society 
and  finding  an  outlet  in  anti-social  be 
havior.  Although  he  does  not  ask  us  to 
condone  Dancy Js  behavior,  Galsworthy 
certainly  enables  us  to  understand  it. 


The  Story: 

Having  retired  from  His  Majesty's 
service,  young  Captain  Ronald  Dancy, 
D.S.O.,  was  at  loose  ends  as  to  what 
to  do  with  himself.  Accustomed  to  a  life 
of  action,  he  at  first  absorbed  himself 
in  horses  and  women,  but  he  found  in 
neither  the  violent  excitement  he  craved. 
His  stable  was  so  expensive  that  he  was 
at  last  forced  to  give  his  Rosemary  filly 
to  his  friend,  Ferdinand  De  Levis,  be 
cause  he  could  no  longer  afford  to  keep 
her.  As  for  his  women,  he  decided  to 
throw  them  all  over  and  marry  a  woman 
who  admired  him,  and  who  had  the 
spirit  which  Ronny  desired  in  his  wife. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was  obvious 
ly  penniless,  Ronny  managed  to  keep 
his  memberships  in  his  favorite  London 
clubs,  and  friends  invited  him  and  his 
wife  to  their  weekend  parties  in  the 
country.  At  Meldon  Court,  the  home  of 
his  old  friend,  Charles  Winsor,  Ronny 


discovered  that  De  Levis  had  sold  for 
a  thousand  pounds  the  horse  Ronny  had 
given  him.  He  was  naturally  embittered 
by  the  discovery,  and  later  in  the  eve 
ning  his  resentment  prompted  him  to 
bet  De  Levis  ten  pounds  that  he  could 
jump  to  the  top  of  a  bookcase  four  feet 
high.  He  won  his  bet,  but  De  Levis 
was  contemptuous  of  a  man  who  would 
indulge  in  such  parlor  games  for  the  sake 
of  a  little  money. 

Around  midnight,  Winsor  and  his 
wife  were  awakened  by  De  Levis,  who 
announced  that  the  thousand  pounds  he 
had  received  for  the  sale  of  the  filly  had 
been  stolen  from  under  his  pillow.  De 
Levis  demanded  an  investigation.  The 
Winsors  were  reluctant  to  incriminate 
either  their  servants  or  their  guests,  but 
at  the  insistence  of  De  Levis  the  police 
were  called. 

Ronny  *s  friends  immediately  arrayed 
themselves  against  De  Levis  for  his  tact 
lessness  in  handling  the  matter.  He  in 
stantly  interpreted  their  attitude  as  the 
result  of  prejudice  because  he  was  a 
Jew,  and  Ronny  substantiated  his  con 
clusion  by  taunting  De  Levis  with  his 
race.  Although  they  tried  desperately  to 
be  fair,  Ronny 's  friends  had  to  admit  that 
De  Levis  had  behaved  badly,  and  they 
suddenly  remembered  that  his  father  had 
sold  carpets  wholesale  in  the  city.  Aftei 
all,  De  Levis  was  a  little  too  pushing;  in 
spite  of  his  money  he  did  not  exactly 
belong  to  the  Mayfair  and  country  set. 

De  Levis  carried  into  the  club  to  which 


LOYALTIES  by  John  Galsworthy,  from  PLAYS  by  John  Galsworthy,    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charlei 
Scribner'i  Son*.    Copyright,  1909.  1910,  by  John  Galsworthy,  1928,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


533 


both  men  belonged  the  enmity  aroused 
by  Ronny's  insult  to  his  race,  and  he 
openly  accused  Ronny  of  the  theft.  Ron- 
ny  immediately  challenged  him  to  a  duel, 
but  since  such  barbaric  customs  were  no 
longer  tolerated  among  gentlemen,  De 
Levis  was  saved. 

Ronny  urged  his  wife  Mabel  to  go 
with  him  to  Nairobi.  But  she,  believing 
in  her  husband's  innocence,  begged  him 
to  remain  and  fight  for  his  good  name. 
Realizing  that  to  do  otherwise  would 
be  an  admission  of  guilt,  Ronny  con 
sulted  a  lawyer  and  entered  a  suit 
against  De  Levis  for  defamation  of 
character.  However,  the  lawyer  selected 
to  defend  Ronny's  case  was  the  worst 
choice  that  a  man  in  Ronny's  position 
could  possibly  have  made.  Old  Jacob 
Twisden,  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of 
Twisden  and  Graviter,  was  a  lawyer  of 
the  old  school  who  believed  that  simple 
justice  should  take  precedence  over  all 
loyalties,  whether  they  were  racial,  eco 
nomic,  social,  political,  or  merely  per 
sonal. 

In  addition  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
stolen  De  Levis's  money,  Ronny  had  also 
withheld  from  his  wife  and  his  friends 
his  relations  with  an  Italian  girl  before 
his  marriage.  The  girl's  father,  a  wine 
dealer  named  Ricardos,  had  threatened 
to  inform  Ronny's  wife  of  the  relation 
ship  unless  he  provided  for  the  girl. 
Out  of  fear,  Ronny  had  been  prompted 
to  make  a  daring  jump  from  his  room 


to  that  of  De  Levis  to  obtain  the  money 
with  which  to  pay  Ricardos.  The  stolen 
notes  were  eventually  identified  as  hav 
ing  passed  through  these  different  hands. 
When  Twisden  learned  the  true  circum 
stances  on  which  the  case  he  was  defend 
ing  were  based,  he  advised  Ronny  to 
drop  the  suit  and  leave  the  country  as 
soon  as  possible.  In  that  proposal  he  was 
seconded  by  Ronny's  own  superior  of 
ficer,  General  Canynge,  who  offered 
Ronny  a  way  out  with  a  billet  in  the 
Spanish  war. 

When  De  Levis  discovered  that  the 
suit  was  to  be  dropped,  he  appeared 
willing  to  let  bygones  be  bygones  because 
he  felt  that  he  had  been  vindicated;  he 
wanted  no  money  in  return.  But  Ronny's 
problems  were  still  unsolved.  When  he 
confessed  to  his  wife  the  truth  about 
all  that  had  happened,  she  at  first  refused 
to  believe  his  story.  At  last  she  agreed 
to  follow  Ronny  wherever  he  might 
choose  to  go.  Before  Ronny  could  make 
his  escape,  however,  the  police  arrived 
with  a  warrant  for  his  arrest.  He  fled  to 
his  room  and  called  to  the  officers  to  come 
and  get  him.  Before  they  could  reach 
Kim,  he  had  shot  himself. 

What  Ronny  never  knew  was  that 
both  he  and  De  Levis  were  victims  of 
social  conventions.  Because  Ronny  be 
longed,  his  friends  had  been  loyal.  But 
loyalty,  as  they  now  realized,  was  not 
enough. 


MACBETH 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Eleventh  century 

Locale:  Scotland 

First  presented:  1606 

Principal  characters: 

MACBETH,  a  Scottish  thane 
LADY  MACBETH,  his  wife 
DUNCAN,  King  of  Scotland 
MALCOLM,  his  son 
BANQUO,  a  Scottish  chieftain 
MAGDU?F,  a  rebel  lord 


Critique: 

The  Tragedy  of  Macbeth,  one  of 
Shakespeare's  shortest  dramas,  is  the  story 
of  a  highly  imaginative,  ambitious  and 
conscience-stricken  nohleman  whose  wife 
drove  him  to  murder.  Macbeth,  at  first 
a  man  of  honor  and  integrity,  had  one 
major  flaw  —  ambition.  When  the  op 
portunity  for  power  was  presented  to 
him,  he  committed  his  first  crime.  Later 
he  was  forced  into  utter  degradation  in 
order  to  conceal  that  first  evil  step.  The 
macabre  settings  of  Macbeth,  the  gloomy 
castle  and  the  eerie  heath,  are  in  keeping 
with  the  weird  tone  of  the  whole  play. 

The  Story: 

On  a  lonely  heath  in  Scotland,  three 
witches  sang  their  riddling  runes  and 
said  that  soon  they  would  meet  Macbeth. 

Macbeth  was  the  noble  thane  of 
Glamis,  recently  victorious  in  a  great 
battle  against  Vikings  and  Scottish  reb 
els.  For  his  brave  deeds,  King  Duncan 
intended  to  confer  upon  him  the  lands 
of  the  rebellious  thane  of  Cawdor. 

But  before  Macbeth  saw  the  king,  he 
and  his  friend  Banquo  met  the  three 
weird  witches  upon  the  dark  moor.  The 
wild  and  frightful  women  greeted  Mac 
beth  by  first  calling  him  thane  of  Glamis, 
then  thane  of  Cawdor,  and  finally,  King 
of  Scotland.  Too,  they  prophesied  that 
Banquo's  heirs  would  reign  in  Scotland 
in  years  to  come. 

When  Macbeth  tried  to  question  the 
three  hags,  they  vanished.  Macbeth 
thought  very  little  about  the  strange 
prophecy  until  he  met  one  of  Duncan's 
messengers,  who  told  him  that  he  was 
now  thane  of  Cawdor.  This  piece  of 
news  stunned  Macbeth,  and  he  turned 
to  Banquo  to  confirm  the  witches* 
prophecy.  But  Banquo,  unduped  by  the 
witches,  thought  them  evil  enough  to 
betray  Macbeth  by  whetting  his  ambition 
and  tricking  him  into  fulfilling  the  proph 
ecy.  Macbeth  did  not  heed  Banquo's 
warning;  the  words  of  the  witches  as 
they  called  him  king  had  gone  deep  into 
his  soul  He  pondered  over  the  possibil 


ity  of  becoming  a  monarch  and  set  his 
whole  heart  on  the  attainment  of  this 
goal.  If  he  could  be  thane  of  Cawdor, 
perhaps  he  could  rule  all  of  Scotland  as 
well.  But  as  it  was  now,  Duncan  was 
king,  with  two  sons  to  rule  after  him. 
The  problem  was  great.  Macbeth  shook 
off  his  ambitious  dreams  to  go  with 
Banquo  to  greet  Duncan. 

A  perfect  ruler,  Duncan  was  kind, 
majestic,  gentle,  strong;  Macbeth  was 
fond  of  him.  But  when  Duncan  men 
tioned  that  his  son,  Malcolm,  would  suc 
ceed  him  on  the  throne,  Macbeth  saw 
the  boy  as  an  obstacle  in  his  own  path, 
and  he  hardly  dared  admit  to  himself 
how  this  impediment  disturbed  him. 

On  a  royal  procession,  Duncan  an 
nounced  that  he  would  spend  one  night 
at  Macbeth's  castle.  Lady  Macbeth,  who 
knew  of  the  witches'  prophecy,  was  even 
more  ambitious  than  her  husband,  and 
she  saw  Duncan's  visit  as  a  perfect  op 
portunity  for  Macbeth  to  become  king. 
She  determined  that  he  should  murder 
Duncan  and  usurp  the  throne. 

That  night  there  was  much  feasting 
in  the  castle.  After  everyone  was  asleep, 
Lady  Macbeth  told  her  husband  of  her 
plan  for  the  king's  murder.  Horrified  at 
first,  Macbeth  refused  to  do  the  deed. 
But  on  being  accused  of  cowardice  by 
his  wife,  and  having  bright  prospects  of 
his  future  dangled  before  his  eyes,  Mac 
beth  finally  succumbed  to  her  demands. 
He  stole  into  the  sleeping  king's  chamber 
and  plunged  a  knife  into  his  heart. 

The  murder  was  blamed  on  two 
grooms  whom  Lady  Macbeth  had  smeared 
with  Duncan's  blood  while  they  were 
asleep.  But  the  deed  was  hardly  without 
suspicion  in  the  castle,  and  when  the 
murder  was  revealed,  the  dead  king's 
sons  fled  —  Malcolm  to  England,  Donal- 
bain  to  Ireland.  Macbeth  was  proclaimed 
king.  But  Macduff,  a  nobleman  who  had 
been  Duncan's  close  friend,  also  carefully 
noted  the  murder,  and  when  Macbeth 
was  crowned  king,  Macduff  suspected 
him  of  the  bloody  killing. 


535 


Macbeth  began  to  have  horrible 
dreams;  his  mind  was  never  free  from 
fear.  Often  he  thought  of  the  witches' 
second  prophecy,  that  Banquo's  heirs 
would  hold  the  throne,  and  the  predic 
tion  tormented  him.  Macbeth  was  so 
determined  that  Banquo  would  never 
share  in  his  own  hard-earned  glory  that 
he  resolved  to  murder  Banquo  and  his 
son,  Fleance. 

Lady  Macbeth  and  her  husband  gave 
a  great  banquet  for  the  noble  thanes  of 
Scotland.  At  the  same  time,  Macbeth 
sent  murderers  to  waylay  Banquo  and  his 
son  before  they  could  reach  the  palace. 
Banquo  was  slain  in  the  scuffle,  but 
Fleance  escaped.  Meanwhile  in  the  large 
banquet  hall  Macbeth  pretended  great 
sorrow  that  Banquo  was  not  present.  But 
Banquo  was  present  in  spirit,  and  his 
ghost  majestically  appeared  in  Macbeth Js 
own  seat  The  startled  king  was  so 
frightened  that  he  almost  betrayed  his 
guilt  when  he  alone  saw  the  apparition. 
Lady  Macbeth  quickly  led  him  away  and 
dismissed  the  guests. 

More  frightened  than  ever,  thinking 
of  Banquo's  ghost  which  had  returned  to 
haunt  him,  and  of  Fleance  who  had  es 
caped  but  might  one  day  claim  the 
throne,  Macbeth  was  so  troubled  that 
he  determined  to  seek  solace  from  the 
witches  on  the  dismal  heath.  They  as 
sured  Macbeth  that  he  would  not  be 
overcome  by  man  born  of  woman,  nor 
until  the  forest  of  Birnam  came  to  Dun- 
sinane  Hill.  They  warned  him  to  beware 
of  Macduff,  When  Macbeth  asked  if 
Banquo's  children  would  reign  over  the 
kingdom,  the  witches  disappeared.  The 
news  they  gave  him  brought  him  cheer. 
Macbeth  felt  he  need  fear  no  man,  since 
afl  were  born  of  women,  and  certainly 
the  great  Birnam  forest  could  not  be 
moved  by  human  power. 


Then  Macbeth  heard  that  Macduff 
was  gathering  a  hostile  army  in  England, 
an  army  to  be  led  by  Malcolm,  Duncan's 
son,  who  was  determined  to  avenge  his 
father's  murder.  So  terrified  was  Mac 
beth  that  he  resolved  to  murder  Mac- 
duff's  wife  and  children  in  order  to  bring 
the  rebel  to  submission.  After  this 
slaughter,  however,  Macbeth  was  more 
than  ever  tormented  by  fear;  his  twisted 
mind  had  almost  reached  the  breaking 
point,  and  he  longed  for  death  to  release 
him  from  his  nightmarish  existence. 

Before  long  Lady  Macbeth's  strong 
will  broke.  Dark  dreams  of  murder  and 
violence  drove  her  to  madness.  The  hor 
ror  of  her  crimes  and  the  agony  of  being 
hated  and  feared  by  all  of  Macbeth's 
subjects  made  her  so  ill  that  her  death 
seemed  imminent. 

On  the  eve  of  MacdufFs  attack  on 
Macbeth's  castle,  Lady  Macbeth  died, 
depriving  her  husband  of  all  courage  she 
had  given  him  in  the  past.  Rallying, 
Macbeth  summoned  strength  to  meet 
his  enemy.  Meanwhile,  Birnam  wood 
had  moved,  for  Malcolm's  soldiers  were 
hidden  behind  cut  green  boughs,  which 
from  a  distance  appeared  to  be  a  moving 
forest.  Macduff,  enraged  by  the  slaughter 
of  his  innocent  family,  was  determined  to 
meet  Macbeth  in  hand-to-hand  conflict. 

Macbeth  went  out  to  battle  filled  with 
the  false  courage  given  him  by  the 
witches'  prophecy  that  no  man  bom  of 
woman  would  overthrow  him.  Meeting 
Macduff,  Macbeth  began  to  fight  him, 
taunting  him  at  the  same  time  about  his 
having  been  born  of  woman.  But  Mac- 
duff  had  been  ripped  alive  from  his 
mother's  womb.  The  prophecy  was  ful 
filled.  Macbeth  fought  with  waning 
strength,  all  hope  of  victory  gone,  and 
Macduff,  with  a  flourish,  severed  the 
head  of  the  bloody  King  of  Scotland. 


536 


McTEAGUE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Frank  Norris  (1870-1902) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:   1890's 

Locale:  San  Francisco  and  Death  Valley 

First  published:  1899 

Principal  characters: 
McTEAGUE,  a  dentist 
TRTNA,  his  wife 
MARCUS  SCHOUUBR,  McTeague's  friend  and  Trina's  cousin 

Critique: 

McTeague,  generally  considered  the 
best  of  Norris'  novels,  falls  into  the 
category  of  naturalism,  a  mode  popular 
in  the  early  1900's.  Two  characteristics 
of  this  school  were  the  hero  of  much 
brawn  and  few  brains,  and  the  influences 
of  heredity  and  environment  upon  char 
acter.  McTeague,  Trina,  and  Marcus  are 
drawn  inevitably  to  catastrophe  through 
their  own  inherited  qualities  acted  upon 
by  environmental  forces.  The  novel  is 
at  once  powerful  and  terrifying. 


The  Story: 

McTeague,  born  in  a  small  mining 
town,  worked  with  his  unambitious  father 
in  the  mines.  But  his  mother  saw  in 
her  son  a  chance  to  realize  her  own 
dreams.  The  opportunity  to  send  him 
away  for  a  better  education  came  a  few 
years  after  McTeague's  father  had  died. 
A  traveling  dentist  was  prevailed  upon 
to  take  the  boy  as  an  apprentice. 

McTeague  learned  something  of  den 
tistry,  but  he  was  too  stupid  to  under 
stand  much  of  it.  When  his  mother  died 
and  left  him  a  small  sum  of  money,  he 
set  up  his  own  practice  in  an  office-bed 
room  in  San  Francisco.  McTeague  was 
easily  satisfied.  He  had  his  concertina 
for  amusement  and  enough  money  from 
his  practice  to  keep  him  well  supplied 
with  beer. 

In  the  flat  above  McTeague  lived  his 
friend,  Marcus  Schouler.  Marcus  was 
in  love  with  his  cousin,  Trina  Sieppe, 
whom  he  brought  to  McTeague  for  some 


dental  work.  While  they  were  waiting 
for  McTeague  to  finish  with  a  patient, 
the  cleaning  woman  sold  Trina  a  lottery 
ticket. 

McTeague  immediately  fell  in  love 
with  Trina.  Marcus,  realizing  his  friend's 
attachment,  rather  enjoyed  playing  the 
martyr,  setting  aside  his  own  love  in 
order  that  McTeague  might  feel  free  to 
court  Trina.  He  invited  the  dentist  to 
go  with  him  to  call  on  the  Sieppe  family, 
From  that  day  on  McTeague  was  a  steady 
visitor  at  the  Sieppe  home.  To  celebrate 
their  engagement,  McTeague  took  Trina 
and  her  family  to  the  theater.  Afterward 
they  returned  to  McTeague's  flat,  to  find 
the  building  in  an  uproar.  Trina's  lot 
tery  ticket  had  won  five  thousand  dol 
lars. 

In  preparation  for  their  wedding,  Tri 
na  was  furnishing  a  flat  across  from  Mc 
Teague's  office.  When  she  decided  to 
invest  her  winnings  and  collect  the 
monthly  interest,  the  dentist  was  disap 
pointed,  for  he  had  hoped  to  spend  the 
money  on  something  lavish  and  exciting. 
But  Trina's  wishes  prevailed.  With  that 
income  and  McTeague's  earnings,  as  well 
as  the  little  that  Trina  earned  from  her 
hand-carved  animals,  the  McTeagues 
could  be  assured  of  a  comfortable  life- 

Marcus  slowly  changed  in  his  attitude 
toward  his  friend  and  his  cousin.  One 
day  he  accused  McTeague  of  stealing 
Trina's  affection  for  the  sake  of  the  five 
thousand  dollars.  In  his  fury  he  struck 
at  his  old  friend  with  a  knife.  McTeague 


McTEAGUE  by  Frank  Norris.    By  permission  of  die  publishers,  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,    1899,  bj 
Dt^hleday  &  Co.,  Inc.    Renewed,  1926,  by  Jeannette  Preston. 


537 


was  not  hurt,  but  his  anger  was  thor 
oughly  aroused. 

In  the  early  months  after  their  wed 
ding,  McTeague  and  Trina  were  ex 
tremely  happy.  Trina  was  tactful  in 
the  changes  she  began  to  make  in  her 
husband.  Gradually  she  improved  his 
manners  and  appearance.  They  both 
planned  for  the  rime  when  they  could 
afford  a  home  of  their  own.  Because  of 
those  plans  they  had  their  first  real 
quarrel.  McTeague  wanted  to  rent  a 
nearby  house,  hut  Trina  objected  to  the 
high  rent.  Her  thriftiness  was  slowly 
turning  into  iniserliness.  When  Mc 
Teague,  unknown  to  her,  rented  the 
house,  she  refused  to  move  or  to  con 
tribute  to  the  payment  of  the  first  month's 
rent  which  signing  of  the  lease  entailed. 

Some  days  later  they  went  on  a  picnic 
to  which  Marcus  was  also  invited.  Out 
wardly  he  and  McTeague  had  settled 
their  differences,  but  jealousy  still  ran 
kled  in  Marcus.  When  some  wrestling 
matches  were  held,  Marcus  and  the 
dentist  were  the  winners  in  their  bouts. 
It  now  remained  for  the  two  winners  to 
compete.  No  match  for  the  brute  strength 
of  McTeague,  Marcus  was  thrown. 
Furious,  he  demanded  another  match. 
In  that  match  Marcus  suddenly  leaned 
forward  and  bit  off  the  lobe  of  the 
dentist's  ear.  McTeague  broke  Marcus* 
arm  in  his  anger. 

Marcus  soon  left  San  Francisco.  Short 
ly  thereafter  an  order  from  City  Hall 
disbarred  McTeague  from  his  practice 
because  he  lacked  college  training.  Mar 
cus  had  informed  the  authorities. 

Trina  and  McTeague  moved  from 
their  flat  to  a  tiny  room  on  the  top  floor 
of  the  building,  for  the  loss  of  Mc- 
Teague's  practice  had  made  Trina  more 
niggardly  than  ever.  McTeague  found 
a  job  making  dental  supplies.  Trina  de 
voted  almost  every  waking  moment  to 
her  animal  carvings.  She  allowed  her 
self  and  tie  room  to  become  slovenly, 
she  begrudged  every  penny  they  spent, 
and  when  McTeague  lost  his  job  she 
insisted  that  they  move  to  even  cheaper 


lodgings.  McTeague  began  to  drink, 
and  drinking  made  him  vicious.  When 
he  was  drunk,  he  would  pinch  or  bite 
Trina  until  she  gave  him  money  for 
more  whiskey. 

The  new  room  into  which  they  moved 
was  filthy  and  cramped.  McTeague 
grew  more  and  more  surly.  One  mom- 
ing  he  left  to  go  fishing  and  failed  to 
return.  That  night,  while  Trina  was 
searching  the  streets  for  him,  he  broke 
into  her  trunk  and  stole  her  hoarded 
savings.  After  his  disappearance  Trina 
learned  that  the  paint  she  used  on  her 
animals  had  infected  her  hand.  The 
fingers  of  her  right  hand  were  amputated. 
Trina  took  a  job  as  a  scrub  woman, 
and  the  money  she  earned  together  with 
the  interest  from  her  five  thousand  dol 
lars  was  sufficient  to  support  her.  Now 
that  the  hoard  of  money  that  she  had 
saved  was  gone,  she  missed  the  thrill  of 
counting  over  the  coins,  and  so  she  with 
drew  the  whole  of  her  five  thousand 
dollars  from  the  bank  and  hid  the  coins 
in  her  room.  One  evening  there  was  a 
tap  on  her  window.  McTeague  was 
standing  outside,  hungry  and  without  a 
place  to  sleep.  Trina  angrily  refused  to 
let  him  in.  A  few  evenings  later,  drunk 
and  vicious,  he  broke  into  a  room  she 
was  cleaning.  When  she  refused  to  give 
him  any  money,  he  beat  her  until  she 
fell  unconscious.  She  died  early  next 
morning. 

McTeague  took  her  money  and  went 
back  to  the  mines,  where  he  fell  in  with 
another  prospector.  But  McTeague  was 
haunted  by  the  thought  that  he  was 
being  followed.  One  night  he  stole  away 
from  his  companion  and  started  south 
across  Death  Valley.  The  next  day,  as 
he  was  resting,  he  was  suddenly  accosted 
by  a  man  with  a  gun.  The  man  was 
Marcus. 

A  posse  had  been  searching  for  Mc 
Teague  ever  since  Trina's  body  had 
been  found,  and  as  soon  as  Marcus  heard 
about  the  murder  he  volunteered  for 
the  manhunt.  While  the  two  men  stood 
facing  each  other  in  the  desert,  Me- 


53.* 


Teague's  mule  ran  away,  carrying  on  its 
back  a  canteen  bag  of  water.  Marcus 
emptied  his  gun  to  kill  the  animal,  but 
its  dead  body  fell  on  the  canteen  bag 
and  the  water  was  lost.  The  five  thou 
sand  dollars  was  also  lashed  to  the  back 
of  the  mule.  As  McTeague  went  to 
unfasten  it,  Marcus  seized  him.  In  the 
struggle  McTeague  killed  his  enemy  with 
his  bare  hands.  But  as  he  slipped  to  the 


ground,  Marcus  managed  to  snap  one 
handcuff  to  McTeague's  wrist,  the  other 
to  his  own.  McTeague  looked  stupidly 
around,  at  the  hills  about  a  hundred 
miles  away,  and  at  the  dead  body  to 
which  he  was  helplessly  chained.  He 
was  trapped  in  the  parching  inferno  of 
the  desert  that  stretched  away  on  every 
side. 


MADAME  BOVARY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Gustave  Flaubert  (1821-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1857 

Principal  characters: 

CHARGES  BOVAJRY,  a  provincial  doctor 

EMMA,  his  wife 

LEON  DUPUIS,  a  young  lawyer 

RODOLPHE  BOULANGER,  a  wealthy  landowner 

Critique: 

Flaubert's  genius  lay  in  his  infinite 
capacity  for  taking  pains,  and  Madame 
Bovary,  so  true  in  its  characterizations,  so 
vivid  in  its  setting,  so  convincing  in  its 
plot,  is  ample  testimony  to  the  realism 
of  his  work.  This  novel  was  one  of  the 
first  of  its  type  to  come  out  of  France,  and 
its  truth  shocked  contemporary  readers. 
Condemned  on  the  one  hand  for  pic 
turing  the  life  of  a  romantic  adulteress, 
he  was  acclaimed  on  the  other  for  the 
honesty  and  skill  with  which  he  handled 
his  subject.  Flaubert  does  not  permit 
Emma  Bovary  to  escape  the  tragedy 
which  she  brings  upon  herself.  Emma 
finds  diversion  from  the  monotony  of  her 
life,  but  she  finds  it  at  the  loss  of  her  own 
self-respect*  The  truth  of  Emma's  strug 
gle  is  universal  and  challenging. 


The  Story: 

Charles  Bovary  was  a  student  of  medi 
cine  who  married  for  his  own  advance 
ment  a  woman  much  older  than  himself. 
She  made  his  life  miserable  with  her 
nagging  and  groundless  suspicions.  One 


day  Charles  was  called  to  the  bedside  of 
M.  Rouaulr,  who  had  a  broken  leg,  and 
there  he  met  the  farmer's  daughter, 
Emma,  a  beautiful  but  restless  girl  whose 
early  education  in  a  French  convent  had 
given  her  an  overwhelming  thirst  for 
broader  experience.  Charles  found  his 
patient  an  excellent  excuse  to  see  Emma, 
whose  charm  and  grace  had  captivated 
the  young  doctor.  But  his  whining  wife, 
Heloise,  soon  began  to  suspect  the  true 
reason  for  his  visits  to  the  Rouault  farm. 
She  heard  rumors  that  in  spite  of  Emma's 
peasant  background,  the  girl  conducted 
herself  like  a  gentlewoman.  Angry  and 
tearful,  Heloise  made  Charles  swear  that 
he  would  not  visit  the  Rouault  home 
again.  Then  Heloise's  fortune  was  found 
to  be  non-existent.  There  was  a  violent 
quarrel  over  her  deception  and  a  stormy 
scene  between  her  and  the  parents  of 
Charles  brought  on  an  attack  of  an  old 
illness.  Heloise  died  quickly  and  quietly. 
Charles  felt  guilty  because  he  had  so 
few  regrets  at  his  wife's  death.  At  old 
Rouault's  invitation,  he  went  once  more 


539 


to  the  farm  and  again  fell  under  the 
influence  of  Emma's  charms.  As  old 
Rouault  watched  Charles  fall  more  deeply 
in  love  with  his  daughter,  he  decided  that 
the  young  doctor  was  dependable  and 
perfectly  respectable,  and  so  he  forced 
the  young  man's  hand,  told  Charles  he 
could  have  Emma  in  marriage,  and  gave 
the  couple  his  blessing. 

During  the  first  weeks  of  marriage 
Emma  occupied  herself  with  changing 
their  new  home,  and  busied  herself  with 
every  household  task  she  could  think  of 
to  keep  herself  from  being  utterly  dis 
illusioned.  Emma  realized  that  even 
though  she  thought  she  was  in  love  with 
Charles,  the  rapture  which  should  have 
come  with  marriage  had  not  arrived.  All 
the  romantic  books  she  had  read  during 
her  early  years  had  led  her  to  expect  more 
from  marriage  than  she  received,  and  the 
dead  cairn  of  her  feelings  was  a  bitter 
disappointment.  The  intimacy  of  mar 
riage  disgusted  her.  Instead  of  a  per 
fumed,  handsome  lover  in  velvet  and 
lace,  she  found  herself  tied  to  a  dull- 
witted  husband  who  reeked  of  medi 
cines  and  drugs. 

As  she  was  about  to  give  up  all  hope 
of  rinding  any  joy  in  her  new  life,  a 
noble  patient  whom  Charles  had  treated 
invited  them  to  a  ball  at  his  chateau.  At 
the  ball  Emma  danced  with  a  dozen  part 
ners,  tasted  champagne,  and  received 
compliments  on  her  beauty.  The  con 
trast  between  the  life  of  the  Bovarys  and 
that  of  the  nobleman  was  painfully  evi 
dent,  Emma  became  more  and  more 
discontented  with  Charles.  His  futile 
and  clumsy  efforts  to  please  her  only  made 
her  despair  at  his  lack  of  understanding. 
She  sat  by  her  window,  dreamed  of 
Paris,  moped,  and  became  ill. 

Hoping  a  change  would  improve  her 
condition,  Charles  took  Emma  to  Yon- 
ville,  where  he  set  up  a  new  practice  and 
Emma  prepared  for  the  birth  of  a  child. 

When  her  daughter  was  born,  Emma's 
chief  interest  in  the  child  was  confined 
to  laces  and  ribbons  for  its  dresses.  The 
child  was  sent  to  a  wet  nurse,  where 


Ernma  visited  her,  and  where,  acciden 
tally,  she  met  Le*on  Dupuis,  a  law  clerk 
bored  with  the  town  and  seeking  diver 
sion.  Charmed  with  the  youthful  mother, 
he  walked  home  with  her  in  the  twi 
light,  and  Emma  found  him  sympathetic 
to  her  romantic  ideas  about  life.  Later 
Leon  visited  the  Bovarys  in  companv 
with  Homais,  the  town  chemist.  Homais 
held  little  soirees  at  the  local  inn,  to 
which  he  invited  the  townsfolk.  There 
Emma's  acquaintance  with  Leon  ripened. 
The  townspeople  gossiped  about  the 
couple,  but  Charles  Bovary  was  not  acute 
enough  to  sense  the  interest  Emma  took 
in  L£on. 

Bored  with  Yonville  and  tired  of  lov 
ing  in  vain,  Leon  went  to  Paris  to  com 
plete  his  studies.  Broken-hearted,  Emma 
deplored  her  weakness  in  not  giving  her 
self  to  Leon,  fretted  in  her  boredom,  and 
once  more  made  herself  ill. 

She  had  not  time  to  become  as  melan 
choly  as  she  was  before,  however,  for  a 
stranger,  Rodolphe  Boulanger,  came  to 
town.  One  day  he  brought  his  farm 
tenant  to  Charles  for  bloodletting.  Ro 
dolphe,  an  accomplished  lover,  saw  in 
Emma  a  promise  of  future  pleasure. 
When  he  began  his  suit,  Emma  realized 
that  if  she  gave  herself  to  him  her  sur 
render  would  be  immoral.  But  she  ration 
alized  her  doubts  by  convincing  herself 
that  nothing  as  romantic  and  beautiful 
as  love  could  be  sinful. 

Deceiving  Charles,  Emma  met  Ro 
dolphe,  rode  over  the  countryside  with 
him,  listened  to  his  urgent  avowals  of 
love,  and  finally  succumbed  to  his  per 
suasive  appeals.  At  first  she  felt  guilty, 
but  later  she  identified  herself  with 
adulterous  heroines  of  fiction  and  be 
lieved  that,  like  them,  she  had  known 
true  romance.  Sure  of  Emma's  love,  Ro 
dolphe  no  longer  found  it  necessary  to 
continue  his  gentle  lover's  tricks.  He  no 
longer  bothered  to  maintain  punctuality 
in  his  meetings  with  Emma;  and  though 
he  continued  to  see  her,  she  began  to 
suspect  that  his  passion  was  dwindling. 

Meanwhile  Charles  became  involved 


540 


in  Homais'  attempt  to  cure  a  boy  of  a 
clubfoot  with  a  machine  Charles  had  de 
signed.  Both  Homais  and  Charles  were 
convinced  that  the  success  of  their  opera 
tion  would  raise  their  future  standing  in 
the  community.  But  after  weeks  of  tor 
ment,  the  boy  contracted  gangrene,  and 
his  leg  had  to  be  amputated.  Homais' 
reputation  was  undamaged,  for  he  was 
by  profession  a  chemist,  but  Bovary,  a 
doctor,  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 
His  practice  began  to  fall  away. 

Disgusted  with  Charles'  failure,  Emma, 
in  an  attempt  to  hold  Rodolphe,  scorned 
her  past  virtue,  spent  money  recklessly 
on  jewelry  and  clothes,  and  involved  her 
husband  deeply  in  debt.  She  finally  se 
cured  Rodolphe's  word  that  he  would 
take  her  away,  but  on  the  very  eve  of 
what  was  to  be  her  escape  she  received 
from  him  a  letter  so  hypocritically  re 
pentant  of  their  sin  that  she  read  it  with 
sneers.  Then,  in  horror  over  the  reali 
zation  that  she  had  lost  him,  she  almost 
threw  herself  from  the  window.  She 
was  saved  when  Charles  called  to  her. 
But  she  became  gravely  ill  with  brain- 
fever,  and  lay  near  death  for  several 
months. 

Her  convalescence  was  slow,  but  she 
was  finally  well  enough  to  go  to  Rouen 
to  the  theater.  The  tender  love  scenes 
behind  the  footlights  made  Emma  breath 
less  with  envy.  Once  more,  she  dreamed 
of  romance.  In  Rouen  she  met  Leon 
Dupuis  again. 

This  time  Leon  was  determined  to 
possess  Emma.  He  listened  to  her  com 
plaints  with  sympathy,  soothed  her,  and 
took  her  driving.  Emma,  whose  thirst 
for  romance  still  consumed  her,  yielded 
herself  to  Leon  with  regret  that  she  had 
not  done  so  before. 

Charles  Bovary  grew  concerned  over 
his  increasing  debts.  In  addition  to  his 
own  financial  worries,  his  father  died, 
leaving  his  mother  in  ignorance  about 
the  family  estate.  Emma  used  the  excuse 
of  procuring  a  lawyer  for  her  mother-in- 
law  to  visit  Leon  in  Rouen,  where  he  had 
set  up  a  practice.  At  his  suggestion  she 


secured  a  power  of  attorney  from  Charles, 
a  document  which  left  her  free  to  spend 
his  money  without  his  knowledge  of  her 
purchases. 

Finally,  in  despair  over  his  debts,  the 
extent  of  which  Emma  only  partly  re 
vealed,  Charles  took  his  mother  into 
his  confidence  and  promised  to  destroy 
Emma's  power  of  attorney.  Deprived  of 
her  hold  over  Charles'  finances  and  un 
able  to  repay  her  debts,  Emma  threw  her 
self  upon  Leon's  mercy  with  all  disregard 
for  caution.  Her  corruption  was  so  com 
plete  that  she  had  to  seek  release  and 
pleasure  or  go  out  of  her  mind. 

In  her  growing  degradation,  Emma 
began  to  realize  that  she  had  brought 
her  lover  down  with  her.  She  no  longer 
respected  him,  and  she  scorned  his  faith 
fulness  when  he  was  unable  to  give  her 
money  she  needed  to  pay  her  bills.  When 
her  name  was  posted  publicly  for  a  debt 
of  several  thousand  francs,  the  bailiff 
prepared  to  sell  Charles'  property  to  settle 
her  creditors'  claims.  Charles  was  out  of 
town  when  the  debt  was  posted,  and 
Emma,  in  one  final  act  of  self-abasement, 
appealed  to  Rodolphe  for  help.  He,  too, 
refused  to  lend  her  money. 

Knowing  that  the  framework  of  lies 
with  which  she  had  deceived  Charles  was 
about  to  collapse,  Emma  Bovary  resolved 
to  die  a  heroine's  death  and  swallowed 
arsenic  bought  at  Homais'  shop.  Charles, 
returning  from  his  trip,  arrived  too  late 
to  save  her  from  a  slow,  painful  death. 

Charles,  pitiful  in  his  grief,  could 
barely  endure  the  sounds  of  the  hammer 
as  her  coffin  was  nailed  shut.  Later, 
feeling  that  his  pain  over  Emma's  death 
had  grown  less,  he  opened  her  desk,  to 
find  there  the  carefully  collected  love 
letters  of  Leon  and  Rodolphe.  Broken 
with  the  knowledge  of  his  wife's  infidel 
ity,  scourged  with  debt,  and  helpless  in 
his  disillusionment,  Charles  died  soon 
after  his  wife,  leaving  a  legacy  of  only 
twelve  francs  for  the  support  of  his  or 
phaned  daughter.  The  Bovary  tragedy 
was  complete. 


541 


MADEMOISELLE  DE  MAUPIN 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Theophile  Gautier  (1811-1872) 

Type  of  plot:   Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    France 

First  published:    1835 

Principal  characters: 

M.  D'ALBEBT,  a  young  esthete 

ROSETTE,  his  mistress 

THEODORE  DE  SERANNES,  in  reality  Mademoiselle  Madelaine  de  Maupiz: 

Critique: 

France,  in  the  1830's,  was  going 
through  one  of  those  occasional  periods  of 
high  morality  which  at  intervals  excite  the 
world,  and  Gautier,  disgusted  with  the 
hypocrisy  of  many  of  the  period's  defend 
ers,  wrote  this  romance  of  passion  as 
his  challenge  to  the  period.  In  a  long 
and  boastful  preface  he  pleads  the  cause 
of  moral  freedom  in  art.  The  novel  is 
highly  sensual,  its  plot  based  partly  on 
history  and  partly  on  Shakespeare's  As 
You  Like  It. 


The  Story: 

D'Albert  was  a  young  Frenchman  of 
twenty-two,  handsome,  well-educated, 
artistic,  and  well-versed  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  He  loved  beauty,  especially 
female  beauty.  All  his  life  he  had 
dreamed  of  women,  but  he  had  never 
met  the  girl  of  his  dreams,  who  would 
combine  the  beauty  of  a  Ruben's  nude 
with  that  of  a  Titian  nude.  It  was  little 
wonder  that  he  had  not  found  her. 

The  one  thing  lacking  in  d' Albert's 
life  was  a  mistress.  One  day  his  friend 

de  C offered  to  take  him  around 

the  town  and  discourse  on  the  various 
ladies  of  his  acquaintance  so  that  d'Albert 
could  make  a  choice.  The  expedition 

was  a  delightful  one,  as  de  C seemed 

to  have  precise  and  full  information  on 
every  beauty,  not  only  on  her  outward 
circumstances,  but  also  on  the  very 
quality  of  her  mind.  D'Albert,  after 
some  hesitation,  finally  decided  to  lay 
siege  to  Rosette,  a  beautiful  young  wom 
an  who  seemed  the  most  likely  to  bring 


his  romantic  and  poetic  mind  down  to 
earth. 

It  did  not  take  d'Albert  long  to  win 
the  love  of  Rosette,  and  they  were  soon 
acknowledged  lovers.  Rosette  was  pliable, 
versatile,  and  always  entertaining.  She 
did  not  let  d'Albert  alone  long  enough 
for  him  to  go  off  into  musing  daydreams. 
Variety  was  the  spice  of  their  love. 

For  five  months  the  two  continued  to 
be  the  happiest  of  lovers,  but  at  last 
d'Albert  began  to  tire  of  Rosette.  As 
soon  as  she  noticed  the  cooling  of  his 
ardor,  Rosette  knew  that  she  must  do 
something  different  if  she  wished  to  keep 
his  love.  If  he  were  growing  tired  of 
her  in  the  solitary  life  they  were  lead 
ing,  perhaps  he  would  regain  his  interest 
if  he  saw  her  among  a  group  of  people. 
For  this  reason  Rosette  took  d'Albert  to 
her  country  estate  for  a  visit.  There 
she  planned  parties,  dinners,  and  visits 
to  keep  him  amused,  but  he  remained 
bored. 

One  day  a  visitor,  an  old  friend  of 
Rosette,  arrived.  The  guest  was  an  ex 
tremely  handsome  young  man  named 
Theodore  de  Serannes,  whose  conver 
sation,  riding,  and  swordsmanship  all 
entranced  d' Albert.  The  two  men  met 
every  day  and  went  hunting  together,  and 
the  more  d'Albert  saw  of  Theodore  the 
more  fascinated  he  became.  In  time 
d'Albert  was  forced  to  admit  to  himself 
that  he  was  in  love  with  Theodore. 

He  was  in  love  with  a  man,  and  yet 
he  always  thought  of  him  as  a  woman. 
DAlbert's  mind  grew  sick  with  the 


542 


problem  of  Theodore's  true  identity. 
Some  days  he  would  he  sure  that  Theo 
dore  was  a  woman  in  disguise.  Then, 
seeing  him  fencing  or  jumping  his  horse, 
d' Albert  would  be  forced  to  conclude  that 
Theodore  was  a  man.  Rosette,  he  knew, 
was  also  in  love  with  The'odore,  and  her 
infatuation  kept  her  from  noticing  d'Al- 
bert's  interest  in  the  same  young  man. 

One  day  d' Albert  mentioned  that  his 
favorite  play  was  Shakespeare's  As  You 
Like  It.  The  rest  of  the  company  im 
mediately  decided  to  present  the  play. 
At  first  Rosette  was  chosen  for  the  part 
of  Rosalind,  the  heroine  who  dressed  as 
a  man  in  order  to  escape  from  her  uncle, 
but  when  she  refused  to  wear  men's 
clothes  the  part  was  given  to  Theodore. 

As  soon  as  d' Albert  saw  Theodore 
dressed  in  woman's  clothes,  he  guessed 
rightly  that  The'odore  really  was  a  wom 
an.  What  he  did  not  know  was  that 
Theodore,  who  was  really  named  Made- 
kine  de  Maupin,  had  decided  that  she 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  men  until 
she  had  found  a  good  and  noble  lover. 
She  knew  that  as  a  woman  she  would 
bave  no  chance  to  see  men  as  they  really 
were,  and  so  she  had  hit  upon  the  device 
of  learning  about  them  by  dressing  as 
a  man.  But  she  had  found  perfidy  and 
falseness  in  every  man  she  met.  Made 
moiselle  de  Maupin  had  with  amusement 
seen  d' Albert  fall  in  love  with  her,  and 
she  had  watched  the  tortures  of  his  mind 
when  he  could  not  decide  whether  she 
was  male  or  female. 


As  the  rehearsals  of  the  play  went  on, 
the  parallels  between  the  play  and  real 
life  became  even  more  amusing  to  both 
d'Albert  and  Mademoiselle  de  Maupin. 
At  last,  after  the  play  had  been  pre 
sented,  d'Albert  wrote  Mademoiselle  de 
Maupin  a  letter.  In  it  he  said  that  he 
was  sure  she  was  a  woman,  and  that  he 
loved  her  deeply. 

She  took  so  long  to  reply  to  his  letter 
that  d'Albert  again  became  afraid  that 
she  really  was  a  man.  One  night,  how 
ever,  as  d'Albert  stood  at  a  window  a 
hand  gently  touched  his  shoulder.  He 
looked  around  and  beheld  Mademoiselle 
de  Maupin  dressed  in  her  costume  as 
Rosalind.  He  was  struck  dumb  with 
amazement.  Mademoiselle  de  Maupin 
told  him  her  story,  and  said  that  since 
he  was  the  first  man  to  see  through  hei 
disguise,  he  should  be  the  man  to  first 
have  her  as  a  woman. 

That  night  d'Albert  learned  that  she 
was  truly  die  woman  of  his  dreams.  In 
the  morning  he  found  himself  alone. 
Mademoiselle  de  Maupin  had  gone,  leav 
ing  a  letter  in  which  she  told  d'Albert 
and  Rosette  that  they  would  never  see 
her  again.  She  wrote  to  d'Albert  that 
they  had  known  one  perfect  night.  She 
had  answered  his  dream,  and  to  fulfill  a 
dream  once  was  enough.  Her  letter  ended 
by  telling  d'Albert  to  try  to  console 
Rosette  for  the  love  she  had  wasted  on 
the  false  Theodore,  and  she  hoped  that 
the  two  would  be  very  happy  for  many 
years  to  come. 


MAGGIE:  A  GIRL  OF  THE  STREETS 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:    Stephen  Crane  (1871-1900) 

Type  of  plot;  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  New  York 

First  published:    1893 

Principal  characters: 

MAGGIE,  a  gid  of  the  slums 

JEMMY,  her  brother 

PETE,  Jimmy's  friend  and  Maggie's  lover 

THE  MOTHEB 


543 


Critique: 

The  importance  of  Maggie  is  primarily 
historical,  for  it  was  the  first  novel  to 
deal  realistically  and  straightforwardly 
with  the  sordid  life  of  the  slums.  It  is, 
therefore,  the  first  naturalistic  novel  in 
America  of  any  real  value,  and  in  spite 
of  its  many  faults  of  style  and  structure 
it  gave  rise  to  the  naturalistic  fiction  of 
our  day.  For  this  contribution  to  our  lit 
erature  we  owe  Stephen  Crane  a  great 
debt. 

The  Story: 

In  the  slum  section  of  New  York 
City,  Maggie  and  her  two  brothers  grew 
up  in  the  squalor  and  corruption,  both 
moral  and  physical,  of  that  poverty- 
stricken  area.  Her  father  usually  came 
home  from  work  drunk,  and  her  mother, 
too,  was  fond  of  the  bottle.  The  children 
were  neglected.  When  the  drunken 
parents  ranted  at  each  other,  the  children 
hid  in  terror  under  the  table  or  the  bed. 

Somehow  Maggie  managed  to  remain 
untouched  by  that  sordidness.  Her 
younger  brother  died.  Jimmy,  her  older 
brother,  went  to  work  after  the  father 
died.  He  fought,  drank,  and  had  many 
affairs  with  women.  From  time  to  time 
he  was  hounded  by  some  of  the  women, 
who  demanded  support  for  themselves 
and  the  illegitimate  children  he  had 
fathered.  Jimmy  brushed  them  aside. 

When  Jimmy  brought  his  best  friend 
home  with  him,  Maggie  fell  in  love. 
Pete,  a  bartender,  was  handsome,  flashy, 
and  exciting.  One  night  he  took  her 
out  to  show  her  the  night  life  of  the 
city.  Maggie's  wonder  knew  no  bounds, 
for  to  her  the  experience  was  the  height 
of  luxury.  On  the  doorstep  she  allowed 
Pete  to  kiss  her  goodnight.  Pete  was 


disappointed,  but  not  discouraged.  He 
took  Maggie  out  again.  The  next  time 
she  surrendered  and  went  to  live  with 
him. 

But  Pete  soon  grew  tired  of  Maggie, 
and  she  was  compelled  to  return  home. 
In  furious  indignation,  her  mother 
ordered  her  out  of  the  house.  She  had 
done  everything,  the  mother  insisted,  to 
bring  Maggie  up  to  be  a  fine,  decent  girl. 
She  had  been  an  excellent  mother  and 
had  spared  no  pains  to  keep  her  daughter 
on  the  path  of  virtue.  Now  her  daughter 
would  be  dead  to  her.  The  neighbors 
joined  in,  denouncing  Maggie.  Jimmy, 
the  seducer  of  other  men's  sisters,  became 
indignant  He  and  a  companion  went 
to  the  bar  where  Pete  worked,  intent 
upon  beating  him  up.  When  they  failed, 
Jimmy  contented  himself  by  shrugging 
his  shoulders  and  condemning  his  sister. 

Maggie  was  now  homeless  and  pen 
niless.  She  went  to  see  Pete,  but  he 
sent  her  away,  irritated  and  fearful  lest 
he  should  lose  his  job.  She  turned  to 
prostitution,  plying  her  trade  by  night, 
accosting  poor  and  wealthy  alike.  But 
she  did  not  have  much  luck.  One  night 
she  walked  forlornly  and  unsuccessfully 
in  the  waterfront  district.  Resignedly  she 
trudged  on,  toward  the  pier  and  the 
black,  murky  depths  of  the  river. 

A  short  time  later,  Jimmy  came  home 
from  one  of  his  prolonged  absences. 
Maggie,  the  mother  wailed,  was  dead. 
With  the  neighbors  around  her,  she 
sobbed  and  moaned.  What  the  Lord  had 
given  the  Lord  had  taken  away,  the 
neighbors  told  her.  Uncomforted,  Mag 
gie's  mother  shrieked  that  she  forgave 
her  daughter;  oh  yes,  she  forgave  Mag 
gie  her  sins. 


MAGGIE:  A  GIRL  OF  THE  STREETS,  by  Stephen  Crane.    By  permission  of  the  publisher.    Alfred  A.  Knopf, 


544 


THE  MAGIC  MOUNTAIN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Tliomas  Mann  (1875-1955) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Philosophical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  1907-1914 

Locale:  Davos,  Switzerland 

First  published:  1924 

Principal  characters: 

HANS  CASTORP,  a  German  engineer 
JOACHIM  ZEEMSSEN,  his  cousin 
SETTEMBRINI,  a  patient  at  Davos 
NAPHTA,  Settembrini's  friend 
CLAVDIA,  Hans'  friend 

Critique: 

Tlfie  Magic  Mountain  is  a  novel  con 
cerned  with  perspectives  of  history  and 
philosophy  in  our  time.  In  it  the  modern 
age  has  become  the  International  San 
atorium  Berghof  high  in  the  Swiss  Alps, 
and  to  this  institution  gravitate  various 
and  conflicting  currents  of  thought  and 
activity  in  the  persons  of  a  group  of 
invalids  exiled  by  disease  to  a  pinnacle 
of  the  "magic  mountain."  The  magic  it 
exercises  in  their  lives  is  to  cut  them  off 
from  calendar  time.  Time  flows  through 
their  days  and  years  with  quiet  nothing 
ness  and  perceptions  of  reality  stretch 
into  eternity.  Modern  ideologies  and 
beliefs  are  represented  by  characters  like 
the  Italian  humanist,  the  absolutist  Jew 
ish  Jesuit,  a  German  doctor,  a  Polish 
scientist,  and  hedonistic  Mynheer  Peeper- 
kom.  The  magic  mountain  is  the  sick 
world  of  Europe,  and  its  people  are  vari 
ous  aspects  of  the  modem  consciousness. 


The  Story: 

Hans  Castorp  had  been  advised  by  his 
doctor  to  go  to  the  mountains  for  a  rest. 
Accordingly,  he  decided  to  visit  his  cous 
in,  Joachim  Ziemssen,  who  was  a  patient 
in  the  International  Sanatorium  Berghof 
at  Davos-Platz  in  the  mountains  of 
Switzerland.  He  planned  to  stay  there 
for  three  weeks  and  then  return  to  his 
home  in  Hamburg.  Hans  had  just  passed 
his  examinations  and  was  now  a  qualified 
engineer;  he  was  eager  to  get  started 


in  his  career.  His  cousin  was  a  soldiet 
by  profession.  His  cure  at  the  sanatorium 
was  almost  complete.  Hans  thought 
Joachim  looked  robust  and  well. 

At  the  sanatorium,  Hans  soon  dis 
covered  that  the  ordinary  notions  of  time 
did  not  exist.  Day  followed  day  almost 
unchangingly.  He  met  the  head  of  the 
institution,  Dr.  Behrens,  as  well  as  the 
other  patients,  who,  at  dinner,  sat  in 
groups.  There  were,  for  instance,  two 
Russian  tables,  one  of  which  was  known 
to  the  patients  as  the  bad  Russian  table. 
A  couple  who  sat  at  the  latter  table 
had  the  room  next  to  Hans.  Through 
the  thin  partitions,  he  could  hear  them — 
even  in  the  daytime — chase  each  other 
around  the  room.  Hans  was  rather  re 
volted,  inasmuch  as  he  could  hear  every 
derail  of  their  love-making. 

There  was  another  patient  who  in 
terested  him  greatly,  a  gay  Russian  wom 
an,  supposedly  married,  named  Clavdia 
Cauchat.  Every  time  she  came  into  the 
dining-room  she  would  bang  the  door, 
an  act  which  annoyed  Hans  a  great  deal. 
Hans  also  met  Settembrini,  an  Italian,  a 
humanist  writer  and  philosopher.  Set 
tembrini  introduced  him  to  a  Jew,  Naph- 
ta,  who  turned  out  to  be  a  converted 
Jesuit  and  a  cynical  absolutist.  Because 
the  two  men  spent  their  time  in  endless 
discussions,  Settembrini  finaDy  left  the 
sanatorium  to  take  rooms  in  the  village, 
in  the  house  where  Naphta  lodged. 


THE  MAGIC  MOUNTAIN  by  Thomas  Mann.    Translated  by  H.  T.  Lowe-Porter.    By  permission  of  the  author 
^d  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1927,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 

545 


From  the  very  first  day  of  his  ar 
rival,  Hans  felt  feverish  and  a  bit  weak. 
When  his  three  weeks  were  almost  up, 
he  decided  to  take  a  physical  examina 
tion.  The  examination  proved  that  he 
had  tuberculosis.  So  he  stayed  on  as  a 
patient.  One  day,  defying  orders,  he 
went  out  skiing  and  was  caught  in  a 
snowstorm.  The  exposure  aggravated  his 
condition. 

His  interest  in  Clavdia  was  heightened 
when  he  learned  that  Dr.  Behrens,  who 
liked  to  dabble  in  art,  had  painted  her 
picture.  Further,  the  doctor  gave  Hans 
an  X-ray  plate  of  Clavdia's  skeletal  struc 
ture.  The  plate  Hans  kept  on  his  bureau 
in  his  room. 

Most  of  his  free  time  he  spent  with 
Joachim  or  with  Settembrini  and  Naph 
ta.  The  Italian  and  the  Jesuit  were  given 
to  all  sorts  of  ideas,  and  Hans  became 
involved  in  a  multitude  of  philosophical 
discussions  on  the  duration  of  time,  God, 
politics,  astronomy,  and  the  nature  of 
reality.  Joachim,  who  was  rather  humor 
less  and  unimaginative,  did  not  enjoy 
those  talks.  But  Hans,  since  he  himself 
had  become  a  patient  at  the  sanatorium, 
felt  more  at  home  and  was  not  quite  so 
attached  to  Joachim.  Besides,  it  was 
Clavdia  who  interested  him. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  carnival,  when 
some  of  the  restrictions  of  the  sanatorium 
had  been  lifted,  Hans  declared  his  love 
for  Clavdia,  She  thought  him  foolish 
and  refused  his  proposal.  The  next  day 
she  left  for  Russia.  Hans  was  in  despair 
and  became  listless.  Joachim  grew  even 
more  impatient  with  the  progress  of  his 
cure  when  the  doctor  told  him  that  he 
was  not  yet  well  and  would  have  to  re 
main  on  the  mountain  for  six  more 
months.  Wanting  to  rejoin  his  regiment, 
Joachim,  in  defiance  of  the  doctor's  in 
junctions,  left  the  sanatorium.  The  doc 
tor  told  Hans  that  he  could  leave  too; 
but  Hans  knew  that  the  doctor  was  angry 
when  he  said  it,  and  he  remained. 

Before  long  Joachim  returned,  his 
condition  now  so  serious  that  his  mother 
was  summoned  to  the  sanatorium.  He 


died  shortly  afterward.  Clavdia  Cauchat 
also  returned.  She  had  been  writing  to 
the  doctor  and  Hans  had  heard  of  her 
from  time  to  time.  But  she  did  not  return 
alone.  As  a  protector,  she  had  found 
an  old  Dutchman  named  Mynheer  Peep- 
erkorn,  an  earthy,  hedonistic  planter  from 
Java.  Hans  became  very  friendly  with 
Peeperkorn,  who  soon  learned  that  the 
young  engineer  was  in  love  with  Clav 
dia.  The  discovery  did  not  affect  their 
friendship  at  all,  a  friendship  that  lasted 
until  the  Dutchman  died. 

For  a  time  the  guests  amused  them 
selves  with  spiritualist  seances.  A  young 
girl,  a  new  arrival  at  the  sanatorium, 
claimed  that  she  was  able  to  summon 
anyone  from  the  dead.  Hans  took  part 
in  one  meeting  and  asked  that  Joachim 
be  called  back  from  the  dead.  But  Dr. 
Krokowski,  the  psychologist  at  the  san 
atorium,  was  opposed  to  the  seances  and 
the  sessions  broke  up.  Then  Naphta  and 
Settembrini  got  into  an  argument.  A 
duel  was  arranged  between  the  two 
dialecticians.  When  the  time  came,  the 
Italian  said  he  would  fire  into  the  air. 
When  he  did  so,  Naphta  became  more 
furious  than  ever.  Realizing  that  Set 
tembrini  would  not  shoot  at  him,  Naphta 
turned  the  pistol  on  himself  and  pulled 
the  trigger.  Dying,  he  fell  face  down 
ward  in  the  snow. 

Hans  Castorp  had  come  to  the  sana 
torium  for  a  visit  of  three  weeks.  That 
stay  turned  out  to  be  more  than  seven 
years.  During  that  time  he  saw  many 
deaths,  many  changes  in  the  institution. 
He  became  an  old  patient,  not  just  a 
visitor.  The  sanatorium  became  another 
home  in  the  high,  thin  air  of  the  moun- 
taintop.  For  him  time,  as  measured  by 
minutes,  or  even  years,  no  longer  existed. 
Time  belonged  to  the  flat,  busy  world 
below. 

Then  an  Austrian  archduke  was  as 
sassinated.  Newspapers  brought  the  world 
suddenly  to  the  International  Sanatorium 
Berghof,  with  news  of  war  declared  and 
troop  movements.  Some  of  the  patients 
remained  in  neutral  Switzerland.  Other* 


546 


packed  to  return  home.    Hans  Castorp      of  his  generation,  had  overtaken  him  at 
said  goodbye   to  Settembrini,  who  was      last,  and  the  sanatorium  was  no  longei 


his  best  friend  among  the  old  patients, 
and  the  disillusioned  humanist  wept  at 
their  parting.  Hans  was  going  back  to 
Germany  to  fight.  Time,  the  tragic  hour 


his  refuge.  Dodging  bullets  and  bombs 
in  a  front  line  trench,  he  disappeared  in 
to  the  smoky  mists  that  hid  the  future  e£ 
Europe. 


THE  MAGNIFICENT  OBSESSION 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Lloyd  C.  Douglas  (1877-1951) 

Type  of  plot:  Quasi-mysticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Detroit  and  Europe 

First  published:  1929 

Principal  characters: 

DR.  WAYNE  HUDSON,  a  famous  brain  surgeon 

HELEN  BRENT  HUDSON,  the  doctor's  second  wife 

JOYCE  HUDSON,  the  doctor's  daughter  and  Helen's  school  friend 

ROBERT  MERRICK,  a  physician 

NANCY  ASHFORD,  superintendent  at  the  Hudson  Clinic 

Critique: 

The  author  accomplishes  in  The  Mag- 
nificient  Obsession  one  of  the  most  dif 
ficult  problems  in  novel-writing,  the 
exposition  of  an  idea,  and  he  makes  an 
excellent  case  for  the  theory  of  extending 
personality  and  gaining  moral  power  by 
doing  good  for  other  individuals.  The 
motive  behind  the  novel  is,  of  course, 
to  prove  that  Christian  teachings  can  be 
applied  to  modern  life,  even  in  the  case 
of  the  selfish  materialist. 


The  Story: 

The  staff  at  the  Hudson  Clinic  was 
worried  about  the  head  of  the  hospital, 
Dr.  Wayne  Hudson.  The  doctor  had 
suddenly  become  nervous  and  haggard, 
a  bad  condition  for  an  eminent  practic 
ing  surgeon,  and  his  staff  tried  to  advise 
the  doctor  to  take  six  months  away  from 
his  work.  The  doctor  himself  surprised 
his  staff  by  announcing  that  he  was  about 
to  marry  his  daughter's  school  friend, 
Miss  Helen  Brent.  The  couple  were 
married  within  a  short  time  and  went 
to  live  at  the  doctor's  lakeside  cottage. 

Soon  afterward  a  shocking  tragedy  oc 
curred  at  the  lake.  Dr.  Hudson  drowned 


because  the  inhalator  that  might  have 
saved  his  life  had  been  dispatched  across 
the  lake  to  resuscitate  a  wealthy  young 
playboy,  Robert  Merrick. 

While  he  was  recuperating  from  his 
experience,  young  Merrick  felt  that  the 
doctors  and  the  nurses  at  the  Hudson 
clinic  resented  him.  He  did  not  yet 
know  that  it  was  at  the  expense  of  the 
life  of  the  hospital's  chief  surgeon  that 
he  himself  was  alive.  He  questioned  the 
superintendent  of  the  clinic,  Nancy  Ash- 
ford,  who  had  been  in  love  with  her 
chief,  Doctor  Hudson,  but  Miss  Ashford 
did  not  give  him  a  satisfactory  answer. 
Later,  overhearing  a  conversation,  Mer 
rick  discovered  why  the  people  at  the 
hospital  seemed  to  despise  him.  He  talked 
again  to  Nancy  Ashford,  who  told  him 
the  only  way  he  could  ever  make  amends 
would  be  to  take  Dr.  Hudson's  place  in 
life  by  becoming  a  great  surgeon. 

After  weeks  of  pondering  on  the  idea 
of  going  to  medical  school,  Merrick  de 
cided  that  he  would  try  to  fill  Dr.  Hud 
son's  place.  When  he  went  back  to 
Nancy  Ashford  to  tell  her  of  his  plans, 
she  told  him  the  story  of  the  doctor's 


THE  MAGNIFICENT  OBSESSION  by  Lloyd  C.  Douglas.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*, 
Honghtcn  Mifflic  Co.     Copyright,   1929.  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 


547 


many  philanthropies.  She  also  gave  him 
a  book  which  the  doctor  had  written  in 
code.  After  many  days  and  nights  of 
perseverance,  the  young  man  managed 
to  break  the  cipher.  When  he  had  done 
so,  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  doctor, 
whom  he  had  come  to  look  upon  as  an 
ideal,  had  been  a  lunatic,  for  the  book 
was  a  strange,  mystic  tract  about  doing 
good.  From  Nancy  Ashford  he  learned 
that  the  deceased  doctor  had  been  a 
great  mystic,  believing  that  his  gift  as  a 
surgeon  came  to  him  from  what  he  called 
the  Major  Personality.  That  power  was 
earned  by  doing  good  unknown  to  others, 
philanthropy  that  would  aid  the  recipient 
in  leading  a  valuable  life  of  service. 

During  the  next  few  years  Merrick 
attended  the  state  medical  school.  One 
night,  as  he  sat  studying,  he  suddenly 
felt  a  call  to  go  to  a  night  club  where 
he  knew  Joyce  Hudson,  the  doctor's 
daughter,  was  to  be.  After  rescuing  her 
from  a  drunken  scene,  he  took  her  home. 
There  he  met  the  doctor's  widow. 

That  semester  Merrick  almost  failed 
at  medical  school.  Discouraged  with  his 
own  efforts,  he  decided  to  experiment 
with  the  knowledge  he  had  gained  from 
the  dead  surgeon's  manuscript  He  aided 
a  feDow  student,  Dawson,  who  was  about 
to  leave  school  because  he  kcked  funds. 
Immediately  he  felt  renewed  hope  and 
plunged  into  his  work  with  enthusiasm. 

Helen  Hudson,  the  doctor's  widow, 
had  gone  to  Europe,  where  she  remained 
three  years.  Near  the  end  of  that  time 
she  discovered  that  the  cousin  who  was 
handling  her  affairs  was  dishonest.  Need 
ing  funds,  she  wrote  to  Nancy  Ashford 
to  ask  if  her  stock  in  the  Hudson  Clinic 
could  be  sold.  Nancy  told  Merrick,  now 
a  doctor  at  the  clinic.  He  sent  Helen 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  and  sold 
some  of  the  stock  for  her.  Toward  the 
end  of  her  stay  in  Europe  Helen  met 
Mrs.  Dawson,  wife  of  the  medical  stu 
dent  whom  Merrick  had  helped  through 
medical  school  Merrick  had  asked  Mrs. 
Dawson  to  learn  something  of  Helen's 
financial  losses  so  that  he  might  put  her 


affairs  in  order.  After  telling  Mrs.  Daw- 
son  her  troubles,  Helen  discovered  an 
envelope  Mrs.  Dawson  had  addressed  to 
Merrick.  Helen  promptly  disappeared. 
Merrick  went  to  the  cousin  who  was 
managing  Helen's  financial  affairs.  The 
man  had  robbed  Helen  of  about  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  Merrick  made 
good  the  loss  and  sent  the  man  out  of 
the  country,  bringing  no  charges  against 
him  because  he  was  related  to  Helen. 
Before  the  cousin  left,  he  learned  Mer- 
rick's  theory  of  personality  projection 
and  made  up  his  mind  to  lead  an  honest 
life. 

Tired  from  overwork,  Merrick  took 
a  vacation  in  the  country  for  several 
weeks.  Then  he  returned  to  his  labora 
tory  and  began  a  program  of  hard  work. 
His  meals  were  returned  to  the  kitchen 
almost  untouched.  His  labors  were  at 
last  successful,  for  he  perfected  a  scalpel 
which  automatically  cauterized  by  elec 
tricity.  The  device  opened  a  new  field 
of  brain  surgery  because  it  prevented 
hemorrhage  as  it  cut  into  the  tissue. 

About  Christmas  Helen  returned  to 
the  United  States.  In  Detroit  she  went 
to  her  trust  company  and  asked  to  see 
the  shares  of  stock  which  they  held  in 
her  name.  As  she  suspected,  they  had 
been  transferred  from  Merrick.  When 
she  left  the  bank,  she  did  not  know 
whether  to  feel  thankful  or  insulted. 

Helen  went  from  the  bank  to  the 
Hudson  Clinic,  where  she  asked  to  see 
Merrick  immediately.  Her  confusion  was 
even  greater  when  he  told  her  he  could 
not  take  back  the  money.  He  tried  to 
explain  the  transfer  of  her  stock,  but 
she  was  in  no  mood  for  explanations. 
As  he  took  her  to  the  door  they  met  her 
stepdaughter.  Joyce  complicated  the  tense 
situation  by  proposing  a  theater  party 
for  the  next  day.  In  order  not  to  create 
gossip,  both  Helen  and  Merrick  agreed 
to  go  to  dinner  and  the  theater  after 
ward.  As  he  handed  Helen  into  the 
taxi,  Merrick  managed  to  murmur  that 
he  loved  her. 

The  next  evening  at  dinner  Merrick 


548 


asked  Helen  not  to  tell  all  she  had  done 
for  a  needy  Italian  family  at  Assisi.  He 
added  that  the  philanthropy  would  there 
by  lose  its  value  if  the  story  were  told. 
The  following  summer  Merrick  went 
to  Europe  to  visit  eminent  surgeons  in 
Vienna  and  to  demonstrate  his  cauteriz 
ing  scalpel  to  them.  While  he  was  in 
Paris  he  heard  that  Helen  had  heen  in 
jured  in  a  train  wreck  near  Rome.  Hurry 
ing  to  Rome,  he  operated  on  the  injured 
woman  and  saved  her  life.  Then,  in 
quixotic  fashion,  he  left  Rome  before 
anyone  could  tell  her  who  had  per 


formed  the  delicate  operation.  Helen 
guessed  Merrick's  identity,  however,  from 
the  few  words  he  had  mumbled  in  her 
presence.  Weeks  later,  when  she  dis 
covered  that  he  was  planning  to  visit 
her,  Helen,  ashamed  of  her  previous 
attitude  toward  his  interest  in  her  affairs, 
arranged  to  leave  for  the  United  States, 
But  Merrick  flew  to  Le  Havre  ahead  ot 
her,  arranged  for  their  marriage,  and  met 
her  on  the  dock.  When  she  saw  him 
waiting,  she  walked  into  his  arms.  She 
did  not  have  to  he  told  why  he  had 
come. 


MAIN  STREET 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Sinclair  Lewis  (1885-1951) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  c.  1910-1920 

Locale:  Small  Midwestern  town 

First  published:  1920 

Principal  characters: 

CAROL  KENNICOTT,  an  idealist 
DR.  WELL  KENNICOTT,  her  husband 

Critique: 

To  puncture  the  egos  of  smug,  self- 
satisfied  Americans  who  consider  their 
home  towns  flawless,  Sinclair  Lewis  wrote 
Main  Street,  a  novel  which  deals  with 
the  life  of  Gopher  Prairie,  a  fictitious, 
small,  and  supposedly  typical  Midwestern 
town  in  Minnesota.  Carol  Kennicott  is 
intent  upon  reforming  not  only  her  hus 
band,  a  doctor  in  Gopher  Prairie,  hut  also 
the  town.  Lewis  speaks  blunt  truths 
about  the  inadequacies  of  small-town  life, 
but  his  satire  is  rarely  vicious;  and  if  the 
reader  sees  himself  or  his  town  reflected 
in  the  author's  pages,  he  cannot  help 
admitting  that  much  that  Lewis  says  is 
true,  uncomfortable  as  truth  may  be. 


The  Story: 

When  Carol  Milford  was  graduated 
from  Blodgett  College  in  Minnesota,  she 
determined  to  conquer  the  world.  In 
terested  in  sociology,  and  village  im 
provement  in  particular,  she  often  longed 


to  set  out  on  a  crusade  of  her  own  to 
transform  dingy  prairie  towns  to  thriv 
ing,  beautiful  communities.  When  she 
met  Will  Kennicott,  a  doctor  from 
Gopher  Prairie,  and  listened  to  his  praise 
of  his  home  town,  she  agreed  to  marry 
him.  He  had  convinced  her  that  Gopher 
Prairie  needed  her. 

Carol  was  essentially  an  idealist.  On 
the  train,  going  to  her  new  home,  she 
deplored  the  run-down  condition  of  the 
countryside  and  wondered  about  the 
future  of  the  northern  Middle  West. 
Will  did  not  listen  to  her  ideas  sympa 
thetically.  The  people  were  happy,  he 
said.  Through  town  after  town  they 
traveled,  Carol  noting  with  sinking  heart 
the  shapeless  mass  of  hideous  buildings, 
the  dirty  depots,  the  flat  wastes  of  prairie 
surrounding  everything,  and  she  knew 
that  Gopher  Prairie  would  be  no  dif 
ferent  from  the  rest. 

Gopher  Prairie  was  exactly  like  the 


MAIN  STREET  by  Sinclair  Lewis.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc 
Copyright,  1920,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.    Renewed,    1948,  by  Sinclair  Lewis. 


549 


other  towns  Carol  had  seen,  except  that 
it  was  a  little  larger.  The  people  were 
as  drab  as  their  houses,  as  flat  as  their 
fields.  A  welcoming  committee  met  the 
newlyweds  at  the  train.  To  Carol,  all 
the  men  were  alike  in  their  colorless 
clothes;  over-friendly,  over-enthusiastic. 
The  Kennicott  house  was  a  Victorian 
horror.  But  Will  said  he  liked  it 

Introduced  to  the  townsfolk  at  a  party 
held  in  her  honor,  Carol  heard  the  men 
talk  of  motor  cars,  train  schedules,  "fur- 
riners,"  and  praise  Gopher  Prairie  as 
God's  own  country.  The  women  were 
interested  in  gossip,  sewing,  and  cooking, 
and  most  of  them  belonged  to  the  two 
women's  clubs,  the  Jolly  Seventeen  and 
the  Thanatopsis  Club.  At  the  first  meet 
ing  of  the  Jolly  Seventeen,  Carol  brought 
wrath  upon  her  head  when  she  stated 
that  the  duty  of  a  librarian  was  to  get 
people  to  read.  The  town  librarian 
staunchly  asserted  that  her  primary  trust 
was  to  preserve  the  books. 

Carol  did  many  things  which  were  to 
cause  her  great  unhappiness.  She  hired 
a  maid  and  paid  her  the  over-generous 
sum  of  six  dollars  a  week.  She  gave 
a  party  with  an  Oriental  motif.  Some 
times  she  even  kicked  off  a  slipper  under 
the  table  and  revealed  her  arches.  The 
women  frovraed  on  her  unconventional 
behavior.  Worse,  she  redecorated  the 
old  Kennicott  house  and  got  rid  of  the 
mildew,  the  ancient  bric-a-brac,  the  dark 
wallpaper.  Will  protested  against  her 
desire  to  change  things. 

Carol  also  joined  the  Thanatopsis 
Club,  for  she  hoped  to  use  the  club  as 
a  means  of  awakening  interest  in  social 
reform.  But  the  women  of  Gopher 
Prairie,  while  professing  charitable  in 
tentions,  had  no  idea  of  improving  social 
conditions.  When  Carol  mentioned  that 
something  should  be  done  about  the  poor 
people  of  the  town,  everyone  firmly  stat 
ed  that  there  was  no  real  poverty  in 
Gopher  Prairie.  Carol  also  attempted  to 
raise  funds  for  a  new  city  hall,  but  no 
one  could  see  that  the  ugly  old  building 
needed  to  be  replaced.  The  town  voted 


against  appropriating  the  necessary  funds. 

Will  Kennicott  bought  a  summer  cot 
tage  on  Lake  Minniemashie.  There  Carol 
enjoyed  outdoor  life  and  during  the  sum 
mer  months  almost  lost  her  desire  for  re 
form.  But  when  September  came  she 
hated  the  thought  of  returning  to  Gopher 
Prairie. 

Carol  resolved  to  study  her  husband. 
He  was  well  thought  of  in  the  town,  and 
she  romanticized  herself  as  the  wife  of 
a  hard-working,  courageous  country  doc 
tor.  She  fell  in  love  with  Will  again  on 
the  night  she  watched  him  perform  a 
bloody  but  successful  operation  upon  a 
poor  farmer.  But  Carol's  praise  of  her 
husband  had  little  effect.  Will  was  not 
the  romantic  figure  she  had  pictured.  He 
accepted  his  duties  as  a  necessary  chore, 
and  the  thought  that  he  had  saved  the 
life  of  a  human  being  did  not  occur  to 
him.  His  interest  in  medicine  was  iden 
tical  with  his  interest  in  motor  cars. 
Once  more  Carol  turned  her  attention 
to  Gopher  Prairie. 

Carol,  trying  to  interest  the  Thanatop 
sis  Club  in  literature  and  art,  finally 
persuaded  the  members  to  put  on  an 
amateur  theatrical.  But  enthusiasm  soon 
waned.  Carol's  choice  of  a  play,  Shaw's 
Androdes,  was  vetoed,  and  The  Girl 
from  Kankakee  put  in  its  place.  Carol 
considered  even  that  choice  too  subtle  for 
Gopher  Prairie,  but  at  least  the  town's 
interest  in  the  theater  had  been  revived. 

After  three  years  of  marriage,  Carol 
discovered  that  she  was  pregnant.  Al 
most  immediately  the  neighborhood  be 
came  interested  in  her  condition.  When 
her  son  was  born,  she  resolved  that  some 
day  she  would  send  little  Hugh  away 
from  Gopher  Prairie,  to  Harvard,  Yale, 
or  Oxford. 

With  a  new  son  and  the  new  status 
of  motherhood,  Carol  found  herself  more 
a  part  of  the  town,  but  she  devoted  nine- 
tenths  of  her  attention  to  Hugh  and  had 
little  time  to  criticize  the  town.  She 
wanted  a  new  house,  but  she  and  Will 
could  not  agree  on  the  type  of  building. 
He  was  satisfied  with  a  square  frame 


550 


house.  Carol  had  visions  of  a  Georgian 
mansion,  with  stately  columns  and  wide 
lawns,  or  a  white  cottage  like  those  at 
Cape  Cod. 

Then  Carol  met  a  tailor  in  town,  an 
artistic,  twenty-five-year-old  aesthete,  with 
whom  she  imagined  herself  in  love.  She 
often  dropped  hy  his  shop  to  see  him, 
and  one  day  Will  warned  her  that  the 
gossip  in  town  was  growing.  Ashamed, 
Carol  promised  she  would  not  see  him 
again.  The  tailor  left  for  Minneapolis. 

Carol  and  Will  decided  to  take  a  trip 
to  California.  When  they  returned  three 
months  later,  Carol  realized  that  her 
attempt  to  escape  Gopher  Prairie  had 
been  unsuccessful.  For  one  thing,  Will 
had  gone  with  her.  What  she  needed  now 
was  to  get  away  from  her  husband.  After 
a  long  argument  with  Will,  Carol  took 
little  Hugh  and  went  off  to  Washington, 
where  she  planned  to  do  war  work.  But 
hers  was  an  empty  kind  of  freedom.  She 
found  the  people  in  Washington  an  ac 
cumulation  of  the  population  of  thou 


sands  of  Gopher  Prairies  all  over  the 
nation.  Main  Street  had  merely  been 
transplanted  to  the  larger  city.  Dis 
heartened  by  her  discovery,  Carol  had 
too  much  pride  to  return  home. 

After  thirteen  months,  Will  went  to 
get  her.  He  missed  her  terribly,  he  said, 
and  begged  her  to  come  back.  Hugh 
was  overjoyed  to  see  his  father,  and 
Carol  realized  that  inevitably  she  would 
have  to  return  to  Gopher  Prairie. 

Home  once  more,  Carol  found  that 
her  furious  hatred  for  Gopher  Prairie 
had  burned  itself  out.  She  made  friends 
with  the  clubwomen  and  promised  her 
self  not  to  be  snobbish  in  the  future. 
She  would  go  on  asking  questions — she 
could  never  stop  herself  from  doing  that 
— but  her  questions  now  would  be  asked 
with  sympathy  rather  than  with  sarcasm. 
For  the  first  time  she  felt  serene.  In 
Gopher  Prairie  she  felt  at  last  that  she 
was  wanted.  Her  neighbors  had  missed 
her.  For  the  first  time  Carol  felt  that 
Gopher  Prairie  was  her  home. 


THE  MALTESE  FALCON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  DashieU  Hammett  (1894-         ) 

Type  of  ylot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  San  Francisco 

First  published:  1930 

Principal  characters: 
SAM  SPADE,  detective 
BRIGID  O'SHAUGHNESSY,  his  client 
CASPER  GUTMAN,  her  employer 
WILMER,  Gutman's  bodyguard 
JOEL  CAIRO,  Gutman's  one-time  agent 
MILES  ARCHER,  Spade's  partner 
FLOYD  THTTRSBY,  Brigid's  murdered  accomplice 

Critique: 

The  Maltese  Fdcon  is  a  detective 
novel  of  the  hard-boiled  school.  Its  dis 
tinction  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  detective 
himself  becomes  involved  in  crime 
through  a  large  bribe.  Written  in  racy, 
colloquial  language,  the  book  pretends 


to  no  more  than  pure  entertainment,  but 
it  is  a  classic  example  of  its  type. 

The  Story: 

Brigid    O'Shaughnessy    went    to    the 
office  of  Sam  Spade  and  Miles  Archer, 


THE  MALTESE  FALCON  by  DashieU  Hammett.    By  pennis»ioa  of  the  publisher!,   Alfred  A.   Knopf,    Inc. 
Copyright,  1929,  1930,  by  Alfred  A.  Kaopf,  Inc. 


551 


detectives,  to  ask  them  to  trail  a  Floyd 
Thursby.  Archer,  who  undertook  the 
job,  was  killed  the  first  night.  About 
an  hour  later  Thursby  himself  was  killed 
in  front  of  his  hotel.  The  police  were 
inclined  to  suspect  Spade  of  the  murder 
of  his  partner,  for  it  was  known  that 
Iva  Archer  had  been  wanting  a  divorce 
so  that  she  could  marry  Spade. 

Brigid  left  word  at  Spade's  office  that 
she  wanted  to  see  him-  She  had  changed 
hotels  because  she  was  afraid.  She  said 
she  could  not  tell  Spade  the  whole  story, 
but  that  she  had  met  Thursby  in  the 
Orient  and  that  they  had  arrived  in 
San  Francisco  the  week  before.  She 
said  she  did  not  know  who  killed  Thurs- 
by. 

When  Spade  returned  to  his  office, 
Joel  Cairo  was  waiting  for  him.  He 
asked  Spade  where  the  statuette  of  the 
black  bird  was  and  offered  five  thousand 
dollars  for  the  recovery  of  the  ornament. 
That  night  Spade  was  trailed  by  a  small 
young  man  in  a  gray  overcoat  and  cap. 
Spade  eluded  his  pursuer  long  enough  to 
slip  into  Brigid's  hotel  unseen.  There 
he  learned  that  Brigid  was  connected  in 
some  way  with  a  mysterious  black  bird, 
an  image  of  a  falcon.  Later  she  went 
with  Spade  to  his  apartment,  to  meet 
Cairo.  She  told  Cairo  that  she  did  not 
have  the  prize,  that  he  would  have  to 
wait  possibly  a  week  for  its  return. 

When  the  police  arrived  to  question 
Spade  about  his  relations  with  Iva,  they 
discovered  Cairo  and  Brigid  in  the  apart 
ment.  Spade  introduced  Brigid  as  an 
operator  in  his  employ  and  explained  that 
he  had  been  questioning  Cairo  about  the 
murders  of  Archer  and  Thursby.  After 
Cairo  and  the  police  had  gone,  Brigid 
told  Sam  that  she  did  not  know  what 
made  the  falcon  so  important.  She  had 
been  hired  to  get  it  away  from  a  Rus 
sian  named  Kemidov  in  Constantinople. 
Next  morning,  before  Brigid  was 
awake,  Spade  went  out  to  get  groceries  for 
breakfast  and  incidentally  to  search  her 
hotel  room  for  the  falcon,  which  he  failed 
to  find.  He  was  certain  that  Brigid  knew 


where  the  falcon  was.  Brigid  was  afraid 
of  what  Cairo  might  do,  however,  and 
Spade  arranged  for  her  to  stay  a  few 
days  at  the  home  of  his  secretary. 

Because,  in  explaining  to  Cairo  how 
Thursby  was  killed,  Brigid  had  outlined 
the  letter  G  in  the  air,  Spade  knew  that 
there  was  some  special  significance  at 
tached  to  the  letter.  He  again  saw  the 
young  man  trailing  him  in  the  corridor 
of  a  hotel  and  went  up  to  him.  Spade 
said  that  someone  would  have  to  talk, 
and  G  might  as  well  know  it.  Shortly 
afterward  a  Mr.  Gutman  called  and  asked 
Spade  to  go  see  him.  Spade  told  him 
that  Cairo  was  offering  hirn  ten  thousand 
dollars,  not  five,  for  the  return  of  the 
falcon.  Gutman  laughed  derisively;  the 
bird  was  obviously  worth  an  enormous 
fortune.  Angry  because  Gutman  would 
tell  him  no  more,  Spade  left,  saying  he 
would  give  Gutman  until  five-thirty  to 
talk. 

From  a  taxi  driver  Spade  learned  that 
Brigid  had  gone  to  the  Ferry  Building 
and  not  to  his  secretary's  house  and  that 
she  had  stopped  on  the  way  to  buy  a 
newspaper.  When  he  returned  to  Gut- 
man's  hotel,  he  learned  that  the  falcon 
was  an  old  ornament,  made  in  Malta,  en 
crusted  with  precious  gems  and  covered 
with  black  enamel  for  protection.  Gut 
man  had  traced  it  to  the  Constantinople 
home  of  Kemidov,  where  Gutman's 
agents  had  got  it.  Now  Gutman  was 
wondering  where  it  was. 

Next  day  Spade  searched  Cairo's  hotel 
room  and  found  that  the  ships'  schedules 
had  been  torn  out  of  a  newspaper  of  the 
day  before.  He  bought  a  copy  of  the 
paper  and  saw  that  the  ship  La  Paloma 
had  arrived  from  Hongkong.  Remember 
ing  that  Brigid  had  mentioned  the  Orient, 
he  associated  her  going  to  the  Ferry 
Building  with  the  arrival  of  the  ship. 
Later  he  learned  that  Cairo  had  checked 
out  of  his  hotel  room.  Meanwhile  Spade 
had  gone  aboard  the  La  Paloma  and  had 
learned  that  Gutman,  Cairo,  the  strange 
young  man,  and  Brigid  had  had  a  long 
conference  with  Jacobi,  the  captain. 


552 


While  Spade  was  telling  liis  secretary 
of  ills  discoveries,  a  man  came  in,  Held 
out  a  bundle  to  Spade,  and  dropped  over 
dead.  Spade  opened  the  package  and 
discovered  the  falcon.  Spade  was  sure 
that  the  man  was  Jacob! .  He  had  his 
secretary  call  the  police  while  he  checked 
the  package  in  a  station  nearby.  The 
key  he  mailed  to  his  post-office  box.  He 
then  went  to  answer  a  distress  call  from 
Brigid,  but  she  was  not  in  her  room. 
Instead,  Spade  found  Gutman's  daugh 
ter,  who  sent  him  to  the  suburbs  on  a 
wild-goose  chase.  When  he  returned  to 
his  apartment,  he  met  Brigid  waiting 
outside,  obviously  frightened.  Opening 
the  door,  he  found  Gutman,  the  young 
man,  and  Cairo  waiting  for  him. 

Spade  realized  that  his  wild-goose 
chase  had  been  planned  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way  long  enough  to  give  these  people 
a  chance  to  find  Jacobi  before  he  re 
turned.  Since  they  were  all  together, 
Spade  said  he  would  give  them  the  fal 
con  in  return  for  ten  thousand  dollars 
and  someone  on  whom  to  blame  the 
murders.  He  suggested  the  young  man, 
whose  name  was  Wilmer,  as  the  suspect. 
Spade  explained  that  if  Winner  were 
hanged  for  the  murder  of  Thursby,  the 
district  attorney  would  drop  the  case, 


taking  it  for  granted  that  Jacobi  had  been 
murdered  by  the  same  person.  Gutman, 
sure  that  Thursby  had  killed  Archer, 
finally  consented  to  make  Wilmer  the 
victim. 

Gutman  produced  ten  one-thousand- 
dollar  bills.  Then  Spade  called  his  secre 
tary  and  asked  her  to  get  the  claim  check 
from  the  post-office  and  redeem  the  fal 
con.  After  she  had  delivered  the  pack 
age  to  Spade's  apartment,  Gutman  un 
tied  it  and,  to  make  sure  he  had  the 
genuine  falcon,  began  to  scratch  away 
the  enamel.  The  falcon  was  a  lead  imi 
tation.  Kemidov  had  tricked  him.  Spade 
gave  back  nine  thousand  dollars, 
Then  he  called  the  police  and  told  them 
that  Wilmer  had  killed  Jacobi  and 
Thursby. 

Knowing  that  Gutman  would  tell 
about  his  and  Brigid's  part  in  the  plot, 
Spade  made  Brigid  confess  to  him  that 
she  had  drawn  Archer  into  an  alley  that 
first  night  and  had  killed  him  with  a 
pistol  borrowed  from  Thursby.  He  told 
Brigid  that  he  intended  also  to  turn  her 
over  to  the  police.  He  had  to  clear  him 
self  of  suspicion  of  killing  his  partner, 
and  he  could  not  let  a  woman  stand  in 
his  way. 


THE  MAN  WITHOUT  A  COUNTRY 


Type  of  work:  Short  story 

Author:  Edward  Everett  Hale  (1822-1909) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  United  States  and  the  high  seas 

First  published:  1863 

Principal  character: 

PTTTT.TP  NOLAN 

Critique: 

Written  originally  as  propaganda  for 
the  bitterly-contested  presidential  cam 
paign  of  1864,  The  Man  Without  a 
Country  has  become  a  classic  of  our  liter 
ature.  No  story  better  expresses  the  spirit 
of  American  nationalism.  Cut  off  from 
his  native  land,  Philip  Nolan  wished 
himself  dead  rather  than  to  experience 


the  exile  which  he  was  forced  to  endure 
because  of  his  youthfully  rash  statement 
and  deed, 

The  Story: 

Few  people  noticed  in  the  newspaper 
columns  of  1863  the  report  of  the  death 
of  Philip  Nolan.  Few  people  would  have 


553 


recognized  his  name,  in  fact,  for  since 
Madison's  administration  went  out  in 
1817,  it  liad  never  been  mentioned  in 
public  by  any  naval  officer  and  the 
records  concerning  his  case  had  been  de 
stroyed  by  fire  years  before  his  death. 

When  he  was  a  young  officer  in  Texas, 
PhiKp  Nolan  met  Aaron  Burr  and  be 
came  involved  in  Burr's  infamous  plot 
against  the  United  States  Government. 
When  Burr's  treason  was  revealed  and 
the  rebels  were  brought  to  trial,  Nolan 
was  indicted  along  with  some  of  the  lesser 


bgures 


of  the  plot.    Asked  at  his  trial 


whether  he  had  any  statement  to  make 
concerning  his  loyalty  to  the  United 
States,  Nolan,  in  a  frenzy,  cursed  the 
name  of  his  country.  Shocked,  Colonel 
Morgan,  who  was  conducting  the  court- 
martial,  sentenced  Philip  Nolan  never 
again  to  hear  the  name  of  his  native  land. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  re 
quested  to  place  the  prisoner  aboard  a 
naval  ship  with  a  letter  to  the  captain 
explaining  Nolan's  peculiar  punishment. 
For  the  remainer  of  his  life  Nolan  and 
this  letter  went  from  one  ship  to  another, 
Nolan  traveling  alone,  speaking  only  to 
officers  who  guarded  their  country's  name 
from  his  ears.  None  of  the  officers  wanted 
to  have  him  around  because  his  presence 
prevented  any  talk  of  home  or  of  politics. 
Once  in  a  while  he  was  invited  to  the 
officers'  mess,  but  most  of  the  time  he 
*te  alone  under  guard.  Since  he  wore  an 
irmy  uniform  with  perfectly  plain  but 
tons,  he  became  known  as  "Plain  But 
tons." 

The  periodicals  and  books  he  read  had 
to  be  edited  in  order  to  delete  any  naming 
of  or  allusion  to  the  United  States.  One 
incident  was  marked  well  by  those  who 
witnessed  it.  Some  officers  were  gathered 
on  deck  one  day  reading  aloud  to  one 
another  Scott's  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel. 
When  it  came  his  turn,  Nolan  took  up 
the  poem  at  the  section  which  contained 
the  lines,  "This  is  my  own,  my  native 
land!"  He  colored,  choked,  and  threw 
the  book  into  the  water  as  he  ran  to  his 
room.  He  did  not  emerge  for  two  months. 


Nolan  altered  considerably  as  time 
passed,  and  he  lost  the  bragging  air  of 
unconcern  he  had  assumed  at  first.  After 
the  incident  of  the  poem  he  became  shy 
and  retiring,  conversing  with  few  people 
and  staying  in  his  quarters  most  of  the 
time.  He  was  transferred  from  ship  to 
ship,  never  coming  closer  than  a  hundred 
miles  to  the  land  whose  name  he  was 
forbidden  to  hear.  Once  Nolan  came 
close  to  gaining  his  freedom  from  this 
bondage  of  silence.  It  happened  during 
a  naval  battle  with  a  British  ship.  A  good 
shot  from  the  enemy  struck  one  of  the 
ship's  guns,  killing  the  officer  in  charge 
and  scattering  the  men.  Unexpectedly 
Nolan  appeared  to  take  command  of  the 
gun,  heroically  ignoring  his  own  safety 
and  aiding  in  the  defeat  of  the  English 
ship.  He  was  highly  praised  by  the  cap 
tain,  who  promised  to  mention  him  in 
his  naval  report.  Nolan's  case  had  been 
so  forgotten  in  Washington  that  there 
seemed  to  be  no  orders  concerning  him. 
His  punishment  was  being  carried  on 
simply  by  repetitious  habit  and  naval 
form. 

During  his  extensive  studies  Nolan 
kept  scholarly  notebooks.  For  diversion 
he  began  to  collect  organic  specimens  of 
wild  fife,  which  were  brought  to  him 
by  ship's  men  who  went  ashore.  He  was 
never  known  to  be  ill,  and  often  he  nursed 
those  who  were.  So  the  expatriate  passed 
his  years,  nameless,  friendless,  loveless.  If 
there  were  any  record  of  him  in  Washing 
ton,  no  evidence  of  such  papers  could 
ever  be  uncovered.  So  far  as  the  govern 
ment  was  concerned,  Nolan  did  not  exist. 
Stories  about  the  lonely  man  circulated 
through  mess  halls,  but  many  were  untrue. 

During  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his 
life  Nolan  aged  rapidly.  The  men  whom 
he  had  known  when  he  first  began  his 
endless  journey  in  1 807  had  retired,  and 
younger  men  took  their  places  on  the 
ships.  Nolan  became  more  reserved  than 
ever,  but  he  was  always  well  regarded 
by  those  who  knew  him.  It  is  said  that 
young  boys  idolized  him  for  his  advice 
and  for  his  interest  in  them. 


554 


Constantly  the  men  were  on  guard 
never  to  reveal  to  their  prisoner  any  news 
about  the  United  States.  This  secrecy 
was  often  difficult  to  maintain,  for  the 
nation  was  growing  rapidly.  With  the 
annexation  of  Texas  there  arose  a  strained 
incident.  The  officers  puzzled  over  the 
removal  of  that  state  from  Nolan's  maps, 
but  they  decided  that  the  change  would 
give  him  a  hint  of  westward  expansion. 
There  were  other  inconvenient  taboos. 
When  the  states  on  the  west  coast  joined 
the  Union,  the  ships  which  bore  Nolan 
had  to  avoid  customary  landings  there. 
Although  Nolan  suspected  the  reason  for 
this  change  in  his  habitual  itinerary,  he 
kept  silent. 

When  Nolan  lay  dying,  the  captain  of 
the  ship  came  to  see  him.  He  found  that 


Nolan  had  draped  the  ^tars  and  stripes 
around  a  picture  of  Washington.  On  one 
bulkhead  hung  the  painting  of  an  eagle 
grasping  the  entire  globe  in  its  claws, 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  was  a  map  of 
the  United  States  which  Nolan  had 
drawn  from  memory.  When  the  dying 
man  asked  for  news  from  home,  the  cap 
tain,  who  liked  and  pitied  Nolan,  told 
him  about  the  progress  of  the  United 
States  during  the  more  than  fifty  years, 
of  Nolan's  exile.  Seeing  Nolan's  joy  at 
the  news  of  his  country,  the  captain  could 
not  bring  himself,  however,  to  tell  the 
dying  man  that  the  United  States  was 
engaged  in  the  Civil  War. 

Philip  Nolan  died  in  1863.  His  last 
request  was  that  he  be  buried  at  sea,  his 
only  home. 


MANHATTAN  TRANSFER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  John  Dos  Passes  (1896-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  World  War  I 

Locale:  New  York  City 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

ELLEN  THATCHER,  an  actress 

CONGO,  a  French  sailor  who  later  became  a  wealthy  bootlegger 

Gus  McNiEL,  a  milkman  who  later  became  an  assemblyman 

JIMMY  HEKF,  a  newspaper  reporter 

GEORGE  BALDWIN,  a  lawyer 

JOE  HARLAJSTD,  a  drunk 

JOE  O'KEEFE,  a  young  labor  organizer 

STAN  EMERY,  whom  Ellen  loves 


Critique: 

In  this  novel  Dos  Passos  presents  a 
panoramic  portrait  of  New  York  City. 
The  book  is  composed  of  many  episodes 
in  the  lives  of  many  different  characters. 
Some  of  the  episodes  are  connected;  others 
stand  by  themselves.  The  author's  style 
is  abrupt;  the  scene  shifts  without  warn 
ing.  The  complexity  of  the  plot  real 
istically  reflects  the  complexity  of  metro 
politan  life. 


The  Story: 

Ed  Thatcher  and  his  wife  Susie  had 
their  first  child,  a  girl  named  Ellen.  After 
the  birth  of  the  child,  Susie  became 
neurotic;  she  wanted  to  die. 

Congo  and  Emile,  two  French  boys, 
came  to  New  York  to  make  their  for 
tunes.  Emile  married  a  widowed  French 
woman  who  owned  a  delicatessen.  Con 
go  did  not  like  New  York  and  went  to 
sea  again. 

MANHATTAN  TRANSFER  by  John  Dos  Passos.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Houston 
Miffin  Co.   Copyright,  1924,  by  John  Dos  Passos. 


555 


Gus  McNiel,  a  milkman,  was  run  over 
by  a  train.  George  Baldwin,  a  young 
lawyer,  took  Gus*  case  against  the  rail 
road  and  obtained  a  settlement  for  the 
injured  man.  While  Gus  was  in  the 
hospital  recovering  from  the  accident, 
George  had  an  affair  with  Gus'  wife, 
Nellie. 

Jimmy  Herf  arrived  from  Europe  with 
his  widowed  mother,  who  was  in  delicate 
health.  One  evening  she  had  a  heart 
attack;  not  long  afterward  she  died. 
Jimmy's  rich  Uncle  Jeff  and  Aunt  Emily 
Merivale  then  became  his  legal  guard 
ians.  One  evening  at  their  house  Jimmy 
met  Joe  Harland,  the  drunken  black 
sheep  of  the  family,  who  had  won  and 
lost  several  fortunes  on  Wall  Street. 

Susie  Thatcher  died,  and  Ed  worked 
hard  for  little  Ellen.  He  stayed  at  the 
office  until  late  each  evening,  working 
and  dreaming  of  all  the  fine  things  he 
would  do  for  his  daughter  some  day. 
Ellen  grew  up,  went  on  the  stage,  and 
married  John  Oglethorpe,  a  competent 
but  lazy  actor.  Her  married  life  was 
unhappy,  for  she  discovered  that  her 
husband  was  a  homosexual. 

Jimmy  Herf  s  Uncle  Jeff  tried  to  get 
him  interested  in  business,  but  Jimmy 
would  have  none  of  it.  He  got  a  job  as  a 
reporter  and  became  acquainted  with 
Ruth  Prynne,  a  young  actress  who  lived 
in  the  boarding-house  where  Ellen  and 
John  Oglethorpe  stayed. 

George  Baldwin  had  forgotten  Nellie 
McNiel.  He  was  now  interested  in 
Ellen.  One  afternoon,  as  he  and  Ellen 
sat  together  at  tea,  a  drunken  college  boy 
stopped  at  their  table.  George  introduced 
him  to  Ellen  as  Stan  Emery. 

Joe  Harland,  the  black  sheep  relative 
of  the  Merivales  and  Jimmy  Herf,  was 
now  forty-five  and  almost  broke.  He 
spent  his  last  money  on  a  few  shots  of 
whiskey  to  bring  back  memories  of  the 
old  prosperous  days  on  Wall  Street. 

Ellen  and  Stan  fell  in  love.  When 
she  was  with  him,  she  was  happy.  But 
when  she  went  home  to  John,  she  was 
miserable.  Ellen  decided  that  she  and 


John  could  no  longer  live  together.   She 
packed  her  things  and  moved  to  a  hotel. 

Stan  Emery  came  to  Jimmy  Herfs 
room.  Stan  was  on  a  long  drunk  after 
being  expelled  from  college.  Later  in  the 
day  they  met  John  and  Ellen  drinking 
tea  together.  Stan  left,  but  Jimmy  stayed 
to  talk  with  Ellen. 

George  Baldwin  sat  at  breakfast  with 
his  wife,  Cecily.  He  had  married  her 
for  social  position;  they  were  not  happy. 
Cecily  knew  of  his  other  affairs.  George 
did  all  he  could  to  keep  her  from 
leaving  home  because  a  scandal  would 
ruin  him  in  the  business  world. 

Ellen  moved  from  her  hotel  to  an 
apartment.  She  was  supporting  herself 
well  now,  for  she  had  become  a  success 
on  Broadway. 

Joe  Harland  had  finally  got  a  job  as 
a  night  watchman.  One  evening  he  was 
visited  by  a  young  labor  organizer,  Joe 
O'Keefe.  The  older  man  warned  him 
against  getting  mixed  up  in  labor  troubles. 
But  O'Keefe  said  that  Gus  McNiel,  now 
an  assemblyman,  was  on  the  side  of 
labor. 

Harry  Goldweiser,  a  rich  Broadway 
producer,  fell  in  love  with  Ellen.  He 
asked  her  to  marry  him.  She  refused, 
but  in  a  friendly  way,  for  her  career 
depended  upon  Goldweiser. 

Gus  McNiel  retained  George  Baldwin 
as  his  lawyer  throughout  his  rise  to 
political  power.  George  warned  him 
against  getting  mixed  up  with  labor  be 
cause,  as  a  member  of  a  conservative  law 
firm,  George  could  not  help  Gus  with 
labor  troubles. 

Ellen  wanted  Stan  to  stop  drinking 
so  much,  but  he  would  not  reform. 
Drink  was  the  only  means  by  which  he 
could  adjust  himself  to  the  world. 

One  evening  Ellen  went  out  to  din 
ner  with  George  Baldwin.  Everyone  was 
excited  about  the  beginning  of  the 
World  War.  But  George  could  think 
only  of  Ellen,  and  in  a  fit  of  rage  he 
threatened  her  with  a  gun.  Gus  Mc 
Niel,  who  was  nearby,  took  away  the 
gun  and  hushed  up  the  incident.  Jimmy 


556 


Herf,  who  had  been  talking  to  the  bar 
tender,  Congo,  took  Ellen  outside  and 
sent  her  home  in  a  taxi. 

Ellen  finally  obtained  a  divorce  from 
John,  and  Harry  Goldweiser  renewed  his 
attentions.  One  evening  Ellen  and  Harry 
met  Stan  dancing  with  a  girl  named 
Pearline.  Stan  revealed  that  he  and 
Pearline  had  been  on  a  long  drunk  and 
had  been  married.  Later  Stan  came  home 
drunk,  disgusted  with  his  life  and  with 
Pearline.  He  poured  kerosene  around 
the  apartment  and  set  fire  to  it.  Pearline 
returned  just  in  time  to  see  the  firemen 
carry  Stan  from  the  burning  building. 

Ellen  was  crushed  by  Stan's  death, 
for  he  was  the  only  man  she  had  really 
loved.  To  be  with  Jimmy  Herf  gave  her 
some  comfort  because  he  had  been  Stan's 
friend.  But  Jimmy  wanted  to  be  more 
than  a  friend  to  Ellen;  he  still  loved  her. 
She  told  him  that  she  was  going  to  have 
Stan's  baby;  she  wanted  to  leave  show 
business  and  rear  the  child.  But  she 
had  an  abortion  instead.  Ellen  and  Jimmy 
went  to  Europe  to  do  Red  Cross  work 
during  the  war.  Finally  they  were  mar 
ried.  They  returned  from  France  with 
their  baby. 

Joe  O'Keefe  came  back  from  the  war 
with  a  chip  on  his  shoulder.  He  thought 


the  veterans  deserved  a  bonus  because 
they  had  lost  out  on  the  big  money  at 
home.  He  had  another  reason  for  feel 
ing  bitter:  somewhere  overseas  he  had 
caught  syphilis. 

George  Baldwin's  home  life  was  still 
troubled.  Having  post-war  political  am 
bitions,  he  turned  against  his  old  friend, 
Gus  McNiel,  and  ran  for  mayor  on  a 
reform  ticket.  Meanwhile  Jimmy  and 
Ellen  drifted  apart.  Jimmy  became  des 
pondent  and  quit  his  job.  George  Bald 
win  finally  got  a  divorce.  He  proposed 
to  Ellen.  Too  weary  of  her  muddled 
life  to  resist  him,  she  accepted  his  pro 
posal. 

One  night  Jimmy  Herf  was  walking 
the  streets  when  a  car  drew  up  beside 
him  and  stopped.  In  it  was  the  French 
man,  Congo,  now  a  wealthy  bootlegger. 
He  took  Jimmy  home  with  him  and  tried 
to  cheer  him,  up.  Late  one  evening  aftei 
a  party  Jimmy  Herf  wandered  down  by 
the  river.  As  he  waited  for  a  ferry  to 
take  him  from  Manhattan,  he  realized 
that  he  felt  gay  and  happy  for  the  first 
time  in  many  months.  Morning  found 
him,  walking  along  a  concrete  highway, 
penniless  but  still  happy.  He  did  not 
know  where  he  was  going;  he  knew  only 
that  it  would  be  a  long  way. 


MANON  LESCAUT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Abbe  PreVost  (Antoine  Francois  Provost  d'Exiles,   1697-1763) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1700 

Locale:  France  and  New  Orleans 

First 'published:  1731 

Principal  characters: 

MANON  LESCAIJT,  a  courtesan 

THE  CHEVALIEK  DBS  GRIEIIX,  her  lover 

TIBERGE,  Ms  friend 

M.  DE  G —  M — ,  a  wealthy  nobleman 

M.  LESCAUT,  Manon's  brother 

Critique: 

The  Story  of  Manon  Lescaut  and  the 
Chevalier  des  Grieux  is  an  early  example 
of  the  sentimental  romance  and  as  such 
it  has  had  a  considerable  influence  on  ro 
mantic  fiction  in  different  literatures.  The 


book  is  not  widely  read  today,  but  the 
popular  operatic  version  of  the  story  is 
familiar  enough.  Despite  its  importance 
in  the  history  of  fiction,  the  modern 
reader  is  apt  to  be  out  of  sympathy  with 


557 


its  swashbuckling  hero  and  its  senti 
mental  heroine.  The  Abbe  Prevost  would 
have  the  reader  sympathize  with  these 
characters,  but  many  readers  will  feel 
that  the  pair  received  much  less  misfor 
tune  than  their  conduct  deserved. 

Tk&  Story: 

While  the  young  Chevalier  des  Grieux 
was  a  student  of  philosophy  at  Amiens, 
he  became  friendly  with  a  fellow  student 
named  Tiberge.  One  day  he  stood  idly 
with  his  friend  and  \vatched  the  arrival 
of  the  Arras  coach.  Among  the  pas 
sengers  was  a  beautiful  young  girl  who 
attracted  the  chevalier' s  attention.  Politely 
introducing  himself,  he  learned  that  her 
name  was  Manon  Lescaut  and  that  she 
had  come  to  Amiens  under  the  protec 
tion  of  an  elderly  man.  Against  her  will 
she  was  to  enter  a  convent.  She  accepted 
the  chevalier's  offer  to  set  her  free  from 
such  an  irksome  life,  and  after  skillfully 
and  untruthfully  disposing  of  her  escort 
she  went  with  the  young  student  to  an 
inn.  On  the  morrow  they  planned  to 
flee  to  Paris.  Tiberge  argued  with  his 
friend  against  this  folly,  but  the  chevalier 
was  hopelessly  infatuated.  In  Paris  he 
and  Manon  took  a  furnished  apartment, 
where  for  three  weeks  they  were  absorbed 
in  each  other. 

The  idyll  came  to  an  end  when  the 

young  lover  discovered  that  his  mistress 

had  also  bestowed  her  affections  on  M. 

de   B — .    But   the    chevalier's   love   for 

Manon  was  so  great  he  forgave  her.  Then 

three    lackeys,    sent    by    the    chevalier's 

father,  came  to  the  apartment  and  took 

the  young  man  home.   There  his  father 

tried  in  vain  to  persuade  him  that  Manon 

had  behaved  treacherously.    Finally  the 

father  locked  his  son  in  his  room  for  a 

period  of  six  weeks.    During  this  time 

Tiberge  came  to  visit  him,  bringing  him 

news  that  Manon  was  being  kept  at  the 

expense  of  M.  de  B — .   Finally  Tiberge 

persuaded  the  young  man  to  enroll  at  the 

Seminary  of  Saint-Supplice  as  a  student 

of  theology.  With  his  father's  permission, 

he  entered  the  school  where  he  became 


an  outstanding  student.  Manon  was  pres 
ent  to  hear  his  declamation  at  the  public 
disputation  at  the  Sorbonne,  and  after 
the  ceremonies  she  came  to  visit  him.  A 
single  passionate  embrace  made  him  for 
get  his  future  in  the  Church.  The  chev 
alier  escaped  from  school  without  any 
money;  his  mistress  furnished  the  funds 
to  set  up  quarters  at  Chaillot,  outside 
Paris. 

Then  began  a  life  of  extravagance  and 
riotous  living  far  beyond  their  slender 
means.  In  Paris  they  met  Manon's 
brother,  M.  Lescaut  of  the  Royal  Guards, 
who  did  not  scruple  to  install  himself 
in  their  house.  When  a  fire  destroyed  all 
their  money  and  possessions,  the  brother 
suggested  that  Manon  sell  her  charms  to 
some  free-handed  nobleman.  The  chev 
alier  rejected  this  proposal,  but  con 
sented  to  become  a  professional  gambler 
in  order  to  support  Manon.  He  borrowed 
from  Tiberge  enough  money  to  begin  his 
career  as  a  card  cheat.  For  a  time  his 
luck  held,  but  their  period  of  prosperity 
ended  when  a  maid  and  a  valet  fled  with 
all  the  valuable  possessions  of  the  new 
household.  Urged  by  her  brother,  Manon 
consented  to  become  the  mistress  of  the 
old  and  wealthy  M.  de  G — M — ,  who 
had  promised  her  a  house,  servants,  and  a 
large  sum  of  money. 

The  young  couple  decided  to  play  on 
Manon's  protector  by  introducing  the 
chevalier  into  the  household  as  hef 
brother.  Having  duped  the  man  to  make 
his  settlement  on  Manon,  they  ran  away 
with  the  jewels  and  money  he  had  given 
her.  But  they  were  followed  by  the  police, 
apprehended,  and  imprisoned — Manon 
at  the  Common  Hospital;  the  chevalier 
at  Saint-Lazare. 

Once  lodged  at  Saint-Lazare,  the  chev 
alier  began  to  plan  his  escape.  He  cul 
tivated  his  superiors  and  made  a  show  of 
reading  theology.  M.  de  G — M — ,  hear 
ing  of  the  chevalier's  studious  habits, 
came  to  visit  him.  But  when  the  young 
man  heard,  for  the  first  time,  that  Manon 
was  also  imprisoned,  he  seized  the  old 
man  by  the  throat  and  tried  to  throttle 


558 


him.    The  monks  stopped  the  fight  and 
saved  the  old  man's  life. 

The  chevalier  now  wrote  to  Tiherge, 
asking  his  old  friend  to  visit  Saint-Lazare. 
To  Tiberge  he  entrusted  a  note  addressed 
to  M.  Lescaut.  Using  a  pistol  which 
Manon's  brother  brought  him  soon  after 
ward,  the  chevalier  escaped,  killing  a 
turnkey  in  his  flight.  Later,  by  bribing 
the  attendants  at  the  hospital,  he  was 
able  to  arrange  for  Manon's  escape. 
Manon,  wearing  men's  clothing,  was 
safely  conveyed  to  her  brother's  house, 
but  just  as  the  happy  pair  descended  from 
the  carriage  M.  Lescaut  was  shot  by  a 
man  whose  fortune  the  guardsman  had 
won  at  cards.  Manon  and  the  chevalier 
fled  to  the  inn  at  Chaillot  to  escape  ap 
prehension  for  the  murder. 

In  Paris  the  next  day  the  chevalier 
borrowed  a  hundred  pistoles  from  Ti 
berge.  He  also  met  M.  de  T — ,  a  friend, 
whom  he  invited  to  Chaillot  for  supper. 
During  the  meal  the  son  of  old  M.  de 
G — M —  arrived  at  the  inn.  The  im 
petuous  young  chevalier  wanted  to  kill 
him  at  once  to  get  revenge  on  the  father, 
but  M.  de  T —  persuaded  him  rather  to 
meet  young  de  G — M —  in  a  friendly 
manner  over  the  supper  table.  The  young 
man  was  charmed  with  Manon,  and  like 
his  father  offered  to  maintain  her  hand 
somely.  But  Manon  and  her  lover  had 
made  plans  to  deceive  the  gullible  young 
man,  in  order  to  get  revenge  on  his  rather. 
She  accepted  his  rich  presents.  The  chev 
alier  planned  to  have  street  ruffians  cap 
ture  and  hold  the  infatuated  young  man 
while  Manon  and  the  chevalier  enjoyed 
the  supper  and  the  bed  de  G — M —  had 


arranged  for  himself  and  his  mistress. 
But  the  young  man's  father  learned  of 
the  scheme  and  Manon  and  the  chevalier 
were  surprised  by  the  police,  who  hurried 
them  off  to  the  Chatelet. 

The  young  chevalier  then  appealed  to 
his  father,  whose  influence  was  great 
enough  to  secure  his  son's  release.  He  re 
fused  to  interest  himself  in  Manon,  how 
ever,  and  she  was  sentenced  to  exile  on 
the  next  shipload  of  convicts  to  be  sent 
to  the  penal  colony  in  Louisiana.  After  a 
feeble  attempt  to  rescue  her  from  the 
prison  guards,  the  chevalier  accompanied 
his  mistress  on  the  trip  from  the  prison 
to  Havre-de-Grace.  He  also  gained  per 
mission  to  accompany  her  on  the  voyage 
to  America.  On  shipboard  and  on  their 
arrival  in  New  Orleans  they  passed  as 
man  and  wife. 

In  New  Orleans  they  settled  in  a  rude 
shelter.  After  the  chevalier  secured  hon 
orable  employment,  Manon  desired  above 
all  things  that  they  become  legally  man 
and  wife.  The  chevalier  appealed  to  the 
governor  for  permission  to  marry  and  ad 
mitted  his  earlier  deceit.  The  governor 
refused,  for  his  nephew  M.  Synnelet, 
had  fallen  in  love  with  Manon.  As  a  re 
sult,  the  chevalier  fought  a  duel  with 
Synnelet.  Thinking  that  he  had  killed 
his  opponent,  he  and  Manon  left  the 
colony,  but  on  the  journey  Manon,  ill 
from  fatigue,  died  in  a  lonely  field.  The 
chevalier  was  disconsolate. 

Tiberge  followed  his  friend  to  America 
and  persuaded  him  to  return  to  France. 
Back  home,  the  chevalier  resolved  to  turn 
to  God  in  penance. 


MAN'S  FATE 

Typ e  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Andre  Malraux  (1895-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   1927 

Locale:  Shanghai,  China 

First  published:  1933 

Principal  characters: 

CH'EN,  a  Chinese  terrorist 

KTO,  a  Communist  organizer  of  French  and  Japanese  parentage 


559 


GISOBS,  Kyo's  father 

MAY,  Kyo's  German  wife 

BABON  DE  CLAPPIQUE,  a  French  adventurer 

KATOV,  a  Russian  revolutionist 

HEMMELRICH,  a  German  revolutionist 

FERRAL,  a  French  businessman 

KONIG,  chief  of  Chiang  Kai-shek's  police 

Critique: 

Man's  Fate  is  in  part  an  eye-witness 
account  of  a  troubled  period  of  crisis  in 
China's  troubled  history.  Malraux,  him 
self  a  revolutionary  at  the  time,  was  first 
of  all  a  literary  artist  in  the  writing  of 
this  novel.  His  characters  are  the  melting 
pot  of  cosmopolitan  Shanghai.  The  epi 
sodic  plot  is  significant  chiefly  as  an 
illustration  of  leftist  dialectics  in  modem 
fiction. 


The  Story; 

The  Reds,  a  revolutionary  group  with 
a  nucleus  of  Moscow  agents,  had  made 
a  temporary  alliance  with  Chiang  Kai- 
shek,  their  immediate  object  being  to 
control  Shanghai  with  the  help  of  the 
Kuomintang.  But  the  alliance  was  an 
uneasy  one,  for  neither  side  trusted  the 
other.  The  Reds  had  completed  their 
plans  to  seize  Shanghai,  ostensibly  as 
part  of  Chiang  Kai-shek's  campaign,  but 
they  intended  to  put  a  Communist  in 
control  before  the  Blue  army  arrived.  On 
their  part,  the  Blues  hoped  to  use  the 
Communists  to  seize  the  city  and  after 
wards  disperse  the  revolutionaries. 

Ch'en,  the  terrorist,  stood  ready  to 
strike  through  the  mosquito  netting  and 
kill  the  sleeper  in  the  bed.  Nerving 
himself  for  his  first  murder,  he  plunged 
his  dagger  into  the  man's  heart.  Quickly 
from  the  dead  man  he  took  a  paper  which 
would  authorize  the  delivery  of  arms 
now  aboard  the  Shantung,  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor.  The  Reds  counted  on 
these  arms  to  seize  control  of  the  city 
before  government  troops  arrived. 

Ch'en  took  the  document  to  Hemmel- 
rich's  phonograph  shop,  where  Kyo  was 
waiting.  There  they  all  congratulated 


him,  Kyo,  Katov,  and  Hemmelrich.  Kyo 
and  Katov  tested  their  new  code  of  paral 
leled  phonograph  records.  One  record 
gave  an  innocent  language  lesson,  the 
other  gave  a  loud  hiss  which  covered  all 
but  the  key  words  on  the  first  record.  Sat 
isfied  with  their  work,  they  planned  a 
final  check  of  their  revolutionary  cells. 
Hemmelrich  refused  to  go  with  them;  his 
wife  and  child  were  sick. 

Kyo  and  Katov  visited  their  two  hun 
dred  units.  A  general  strike  at  noon 
would  paralyze  the  city.  At  the  same 
time  saboteurs  would  wreck  the  railway 
so  that  the  government  could  not  send 
reinforcements  from  the  battle  front. 
Other  groups  would  take  over  police 
stations  and  army  posts  and  seize  all  fire 
arms.  With  the  grenades  already  on 
hand,  they  would  be  equipped  to  resist 
even  tanks. 

Kyo  went  to  the  Black  Cat,  a  night 
club  where  he  knew  he  could  find  de 
Clappique,  The  Frenchman  was  drunk, 
but  he  had  to  be  trusted.  De  Clappique 
was  commissioned  to  take  a  forged  order 
to  the  Shantung,  directing  her  to  shift 
anchorage. 

Tired  and  tense,  Kyo  went  home. 
Gisors,  his  father,  was  still  awake,  and 
Kyo  told  him  a  few  details  of  the  plan. 
Then  May,  Kyo's  wife,  came  home  ex 
hausted  from  her  hospital  work.  She 
was  one  of  the  few  women  doctors  in  all 
Shanghai,  a  woman  with  advanced  views 
on  marriage  relationships.  She  and  Kyo 
quarreled  because  of  her  affair  with 
another  doctor.  During  the  quarrel  de 
Clappique  came  to  report  that  the  Shan 
tung  had  moved.  A  messenger  recalled 
Kyo  to  headquarters. 


by  Haakon  M.  Chevalier.     By  permission  of  the  author's  agent 
^^  Pa-'  -d  °f  *»*»  House,  Inc. 


560 


Dressed  as  government  soldiers,  Kyo 
and  Katov  with  ten  others  "boarded  the 
Shantung  and  got  the  arms,  but  only 
after  seizing  the  captain  and  holding  him 
prisoner.  Now  the  revolutionaries  could 
plan  with  confidence. 

Meanwhile  Ferral,  head  of  the  French 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  decided  to  throw 
Jus  support  to  Chiang  Kai-shek.  After 
giving  orders  to  send  funds  to  the  Blues, 
he  retired  with  his  mistress  Valerie.  It 
was  arranged  that  she  would  see  him 
die  following  night  at  her  hotel.  He  was 
to  bring  her  a  pet  bird  in  a  cage.  At 
the  appointed  time  Ferral  asked  for 
Valerie  at  the  hotel  desk.  To  his  sur 
prise,  she  was  out.  A  young  English 
man  was  also  waiting  for  her  with  a 
caged  bird.  To  revenge  himself,  Ferral 
bought  the  entire  stock  of  a  pet  store 
— forty  birds  and  a  kangaroo,  and  set 
them  loose  in  Valerie's  room. 

The  uprising  took  place  as  planned. 
Ch'en  seized  one  police  station  with 
ease  and  armed  his  small  band.  The 
second  station  was  better  defended,  and 
grenades  failed  to  dislodge  officers  bar 
ricaded  on  the  top  floor.  Ch'en  set  fire 
to  the  building,  killing  the  resisters  as 
well  as  his  own  wounded  comrades. 

The  feeble  central  government  could 
not  fight  both  Chiang  and  the  Reds  at 
the  same  time.  While  the  government 
forces  were  occupied  with  the  Blues,  the 
Reds  easily  took  control  of  the  city. 

Two  days  later  the  Blues  under  Chiang 
approached  Shanghai.  The  general  had 
been  shrewd  enough  to  send  his  first 
division,  composed  largely  of  Commun 
ists,  to  another  front;  consequently  the 
Communists  found  themselves  confront 
ing  an  unsympathetic  Blue  army  which 
in  turn  took  over  the  city.  Many  of  the 
Communists  were  arrested.  When  Mos 
cow  ordered  all  armed  Communists  to 
surrender  their  weapons  to  Chiang's 
police,  dissension  broke  out  among  the 
Reds.  Many  of  the  Chinese  deserted  the 
Moscow  party  and  embarked  on  a  ter 


roristic  campaign  of  their  own. 

Ch'en  conceived  the  idea  that  he  must 
kill  Chiang  in  order  to  free  China.  With 
two  companions  he  lay  in  wait  to  throw 
a  bomb  into  the  general's  car.  His  first 
attempt  having  foiled,  Ch'en  went  to 
Hemmelrich's  shop.  Hemmelrich  refused 
to  shelter  him.  In  a  second  attempt, 
Ch'en  threw  himself  with  his  bomb  under 
the  automobile.  The  car  was  wrecked 
and  Ch'en  was  killed,  but  Chiang  was 
not  in  the  car. 

Chiang's  police  destroyed  Hemmel- 
rich's  shop,  accidentally  killing  his  wife 
and  baby.  Believing  his  cowardice  was 
the  cause  of  Ch'en's  action  and  the  sub 
sequent  riot,  Hemmelrich  seized  a  rifle 
and  joined  the  rioters.  He  was  quickly 
killed  by  Chiang's  police. 

Now  in  complete  control,  Chiang's 
police  chief,  Konig,  began  to  round  up 
the  Communists,  Katov  among  them. 
When  the  word  went  out  that  Kyo  was 
to  be  arrested,  Gisors  begged  de  Clap- 
pique  to  intervene  because  the  baron 
was  Konig's  good  friend.  Instead  of 
warning  Kyo,  de  Ckppique  lingered  in 
a  gambling  house  until  after  Kyo  had 
been  arrested.  Later  de  Ckppique  went 
to  Konig  to  ask  for  Kyo's  release.  The 
Frenchman  was  given  only  forty-eight 
hours  to  leave  China. 

In  prison  Katov  gave  his  cyanide  tab 
let  to  Kyo,  who  poisoned  himself.  Katov 
and  his  revolutionary  group  were  ex 
ecuted. 

Each  of  the  survivors  sought  safety  in 
his  own  way.  Gisors  returned  to  Japan 
to  teach  painting.  May  went  to  Moscow 
to  practice  medicine.  By  disguising  him 
self  de  Clappique  got  aboard  the  same 
French  liner  that  was  taking  Ferral  back 
to  France.  So  the  Communists  and  their 
sympathizers  were  destroyed  by  relent 
less  Chiang  and  the  vacillating  policy  of 
Moscow.  Yet  there  was  good  news  from 
China  for  the  survivors;  the  quiet  work 
of  revolution  had  already  started  again. 


561 


MANSFIELD  PARK 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Northamptonshire,  England 

Pirst  published'  1814 

Principal  characters: 

FANNY  PRICE,  a  poor  relation  at  Mansfield  Park 

Sm  THOMAS  BERTRAM,  owner  of  Mansfield  Park 

LATYT  BERTRAM,  his  wife 

TOM, 

EDMUND, 

MABIA,  and 

JTTLIA  BERTRAM,  Fanny's  cousins 

Mas.  NORRIS,  a  busybody 

HENRY  CRAWFORD,  a  self -centered  young  gentleman 

MARY  CRAWFORD,  his  sister 

MR.  RUSETCVOKTH,  Maria  Bertram's  suitor 

MR.  YATES,  a  young  man  of  fashion 

Critique: 

Mansfield  Park  is  the  most  obviously 
didactic  of  Jane  Austen's  novels:  virtue  is 
universally  rewarded  and  vice  just  as  cer 
tainly  punished.  The  characterization, 
also,  is  inclined  more  to  black  and  white 
than  is  true  of  her  greater  works.  As  al 
ways,  the  feminine  characters  are  more 
convincing  than  the  men.  The  heroine, 
Fanny  Price,  is  appealing  and  sweet, 
while  Mrs.  Norris  is  a  masterly  satirical 
sketch  of  the  universal  type  of  busybody. 


The  Story: 

Of  the  three  Ward  sisters,  one  had 
married  very  well  to  a  baronet,  one  very 
badly  to  a  lieutenant  of  the  marines,  and 
one  neither  too  badly  nor  too  well  to  a 
clergyman.  The  fortunate  sister,  Lady 
Bertram,  agreed  at  the  instigation  of  the 
clerical  sister,  Mrs.  Norris,  to  care  for  one 
of  the  unfortunate  sister's  nine  children. 
Accordingly,  Fanny  Price,  ten  years  old, 
and  a  shy  and  sensitive  child,  came  to 
make  her  home  at  Mansfield  Park. 
Among  her  four  Bertram  cousins,  Tom, 
Edmund,  Maria,  and  Julia,  Fanny  found 
a  real  friend  only  in  Edmund.  The 
others  usually  ignored  her  except  when 
she  could  be  of  use  to  them,  but  Edmund 
comforted  her,  and  advised  her.  He  alone 
seemed  to  recognize  her  good  qualities — 


cleverness,  grace,  and  a  pleasant  disposi 
tion.  Besides  Edmund's  attentions,  Fanny 
received  some  of  a  very  different  kind 
from  her  selfish  and  hypocritical  Aunt 
Norris,  who  was  constantly  calling  un 
necessary  attention  to  Fanny's  dependent 
position. 

When  Fanny  was  fifteen,  Sir  Thomas 
Bertram  went  to  Antigua  to  look  after 
some  business  affairs.  With  him  went 
his  oldest  son,  who  was  inclined  to  ex 
travagance  and  dissipation,  and  the  fam 
ily  was  left  to  Edmund's  and  Lady  Ber 
tram's  care.  During  Sir  Thomas'  absence, 
his  older  daughter,  Maria,  became  en 
gaged  to  Mr.  Rushworth,  a  young  man 
who  was  rich  and  well-connected  but 
extremely  stupid. 

Another  event  of  importance  was  the 
arrival  in  the  village  of  Mary  and  Henry 
Crawford,  the  sister  and  brother  of  Mrs. 
Grant,  whose  husband  had  become  the 
rector  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Norris.  Both 
of  the  Bertram  girls  liked  Henry  im 
mensely,  but  since  Maria  was  engaged, 
he  rightfully  belonged  to  Julia.  They 
also  became  close  friends  with  Mary 
Crawford,  who  in  turn  attracted  both 
Tom,  now  returned  from  abroad,  and 
Edmund. 

Fanny  regretted  the  Crawfords'  com- 


562 


ing,  for  she  saw  that  Edmund,  whom  she 
herself  loved,  was  falling  in  love  with  the 
shallow,  worldly  Mary,  and  that  her  cous 
in  Maria  was  carrying  on  a  most  un 
seemly  flirtation  with  Henry.  The  less 
observant,  like  Mrs.  Norris,  saw  only 
what  they  wished  to  see  and  insisted  that 
he  was  paying  particular  attention  to 
Julia. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Yates,  a 
pleasure-loving  friend  of  Tom,  the  young 
people  decided  to  engage  in  some  private 
theatricals  and  chose  for  their  entertain 
ment  the  sentimental  "Lovers'  Vows." 
Fanny  opposed  the  scheme  from  the  start, 
for  she  knew  Sir  Thomas  would  have 
disapproved.  Edmund  tried  to  dissuade 
the  others,  but  finally  let  himself  be 
talked  into  taking  a  part  because  there 
were  not  enough  men  for  all  the  roles. 
Rehearsals  and  preparations  went  for 
ward,  the  plan  growing  more  elaborate 
as  it  progressed.  However,  the  unex 
pected  return  of  Sir  Thomas  put  an  end 
to  the  rehearsals.  The  house  was  soon 
cleared  of  all  theatrical  gear,  including 
Mr.  Yates,  whose  trifling,  affected  ways 
Sir  Thomas  had  disliked  immediately. 

Maria,  willing  to  break  her  engage 
ment  to  Mr.  Rushworth,  had  hoped  her 
father's  return  would  bring  a  declaration 
from  Henry.  Instead  of  declaring  him 
self,  he  announced  his  departure  for  a 
stay  in  Bath.  Although  her  pride  was 
hurt,  Maria  resolved  that  Henry  Craw 
ford  should  never  know  she  had  taken 
their  flirtation  seriously.  She  was  duly 
married  to  Mr.  Rushworth. 

Julia  went  to  Brighton  with  the  Rush- 
worths.  With  both  the  Bertram  sisters 
gone,  Henry  began  an  idle  flirtation  with 
Fanny  and  ended  by  falling  in  love  with 
her.  One  of  his  plans  for  winning  her 
favor  was  a  scheme  for  getting  her  be 
loved  brother  William,  who  had  just 
visited  her  at  Mansfield  Park,  a  promo 
tion  in  the  navy.  Although  Fanny  was 
grateful  for  this  favor,  she  refused  him 
promptly  when  he  proposed.  In  doing 
so,  she  incurred  the  serious  displeasure 
of  hex  uncle,  Sir  Thomas,  who  regarded 


as  sheer  perversity  the  sentiments  which 
made  her  turn  down  such  an  advan 
tageous  match.  Even  Edmund  encour 
aged  her  to  change  her  mind,  for  he 
was  too  preoccupied  with  his  attachment 
to  Mary  Crawford  to  guess  that  Fanny 
had  more  than  a  cousinly  regard  for  him. 
Edmund  had  just  been  ordained  as  a 
clergyman,  a  step  which  Mary  Crawford 
had  ridiculed,  and  he  was  not  sure  she 
would  accept  him  as  a  husband.  He  per 
sisted  in  believing,  however,  that  her 
frivolous  dislike  of  the  clergy  was  only 
a  trait  she  had  acquired  from  worldly 
friends,  and  that  her  opinion  could  be 
changed. 

About  this  time  Fanny  went  to  Ports 
mouth  to  visit  her  family.  The  stay  was 
a  depressing  one,  for  she  found  her  fam 
ily,  with  the  exception  of  William,  dis 
orderly  and  ill-bred,  by  Mansfield  Park 
standards.  Also,  several  catastrophes  oc 
curred  at  Mansfield  Park  to  make  her 
long  to  be  helpful  there.  Tom,  the  oldest 
son,  had  such  a  serious  illness  that  his 
recovery  was  uncertain;  Maria,  now  Mrs. 
Rushworth,  ran  away  with  Henry,  who 
forgot  his  love  for  Fanny  long  enough 
to  commit  an  irrevocable  indiscretion; 
and  Julia  eloped  with  Mr.  Yates.  The 
Bertram  family,  crushed  under  this  series 
of  blows,  at  last  realized  Fanny's  value 
and  dearness  to  them,  and  welcomed  her 
back  to  Mansfield  Park  with  tenderness 
that  touched  her  deeply. 

Mrs.  Norris,  as  spiteful  as  ever,  said 
that  if  Fanny  had  accepted  Henry  Craw 
ford  as  she  should  have,  he  would  never 
have  run  away  with  Maria.  But  Sii 
Thomas  gave  Fanny  credit  for  seeing 
Henry's  character  more  clearly  than  he 
had,  and  forgave  her  for  having  refused 
Henry.  He  blamed  himself  for  Maria's 
downfall,  for  he  realized  he  had  never 
taken  the  trouble  to  know  his  children 
well. 

But  good  came  from  all  this  evil.  Tom's 
ill -ness  sobered  him,  and  he  proved  a 
better  son  thereafter.  Mr.  Yates,  though 
not  a  great  match  for  Julia,  had  more  in 
come  and  fewer  debts  than  Sir  Thomas 


563 


had  anticipated,  and  seemed  inclined  to 
settle  down  to  quiet  domesticity.  Henry 
and  Maria  separated  after  spending  a  few 
unhappy  months  together.  Sir  Thomas 
refused  to  receive  her  at  Mansfield  Park, 
but  provided  a  home  for  her  in  another 
part  of  the  country.  There  Mrs.  Norris 
went  to  live  with  her  favorite  niece,  to 
the  great  relief  of  everyone  at  Mansfield 
Park. 


Edmund  had  finally  realized  Mary 
Crawford's  frivolous  and  worldly  nature 
when  she  treated  his  sister's  and  her 
brother's  affair  quite  lightly.  Her  levity 
shocked  him,  and  made  it  easier  for  him 
to  give  up  thoughts  of  an  unsuitable 
marriage.  Eventually  he  fell  in  love  with 
Fanny,  who  had  loved  him  so  long.  They 
were  married  and  lived  at  the  parsonage 
near  Mansfield  Park. 


THE  MARBLE  FAUN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  (1804-1864) 

Type  of  plot:  Allegorical  romance 

Time  of  plot;  JMid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Rome 

First  published:  1860 

Principal  characters: 
MIRIAM,  an  artist 

HILDA,  another  artist,  friend  of  Miriam 
KENTON,  an  American  sculptor 
DONATEIXO,  a  young  Italian 

Critique: 

A  romance  filled  with  moral  and  sym 
bolic  overtones  and  undertones,  The 
Marble  Faun,  or,  The  Romance  of  Monte 
Beni  exhibits  Hawthorne's  preoccupation 
with  the  problem  of  evil.  Hawthorne 
himself  was  a  complex  person,  and  some 
of  the  psychological  concerns  of  his  own 
character  are  reflected  in  this  novel.  The 
book  is  a  study  of  the  birth  of  the  human 
conscience,  the  consequences  of  a  sin 
committed  by  a  simple,  pagan  spirit  who 
through  his  unthinking  deed  releases  a 
new  sense  of  intellectual  and  moral  re 
sponsibility.  The  Marble  Faun  is  one  of 
the  American  classics,  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  ability  and  insight  of  one  of  our 
greatest  native  writers. 


The  Story: 

Nothing  at  all  was  known  about 
Miriam.  In  the  artistic  world  of  Rome, 
she  lived  without  revealing  anything 
about  herself  and  without  arousing  the 
curiosity  or  suspicion  of  those  living 
around  her.  With  a  New  England  girl, 
Hilda,  and  Kenyon,  a  sculptor,  she  en 


joyed  a  friendship  which  even  her  mys 
terious  origin  did  not  shadow,  so  complete 
was  their  understanding  and  trust  of  one 
another. 

One  day  the  three  friends,  accom 
panied  by  Donatello,  a  young  Italian,  saw 
a  statue  of  the  faun  by  Praxiteles.  Struck 
by  the  resemblance  of  the  statue  to  Dona 
tello,  they  asked  jokingly  to  see  if  the 
Italian  also  had  pointed  ears  under  his 
golden  locks.  Indeed,  Donatello  was  very 
much  like  a  faun  in  his  character.  He  had 
great  agility,  cheerfulness,  and  a  sunny 
nature  unclouded  by  melancholy  or  care. 
He  was  deeply  in  love  with  Miriam. 

On  another  occasion,  the  trio  went  to 
visit  the  catacombs.  While  there,  Miriam 
disappeared  for  a  moment.  When  she 
came  back,  she  returned  with  a  strange 
individual  whom  she  had  met  inside  one 
of  the  tombs.  This  person  followed  her 
for  months  to  come.  No  one  knew  any 
thing  about  him.  He  and  Miriam  had 
conversations  together,  and  he  spoke  of 
the  hold  he  had  on  her,  of  their  life  to 
gether  in  a  mysterious  past.  Miriam  be' 


564 


came  more  and  more  unhappy.  She  tola 
Donatella — who  was  ever  ready  to  de 
fend  her — that  he  must  go  away,  for  she 
would  bring  doom  and  destruction  upon 
him.  But  Donatello  stayed,  as  ardent  as 
ever. 

Her  persecutor  appeared  everywhere, 
followed  her  wherever  she  went.  One 
day  Miriam  went  to  Hilda  and  left  a 
packet  for  Hilda  to  deliver  on  a  certain 
date  to  the  address  she  would  find  written 
on  the  outside.  Shortly  afterward,  the 
friends  went  out  one  night  and  climbed 
the  Tarpeian  Rock,  over  which  the  old 
Romans  used  to  throw  their  criminals. 
As  they  were  getting  ready  to  return 
home,  Miriam's  persecutor  appeared. 
Miriam  went  with  him,  followed  by  Don 
atello.  Donatello  attacked  the  man  and 
with  the  stranger  secure  in  his  grasp 
looked  at  Miriam.  Her  eyes  gave  him  his 
answer.  He  threw  the  tormentor  over  a 
cliff  to  his  death. 

United  by  this  crime,  Miriam  and 
Donatello  also  became  united  in  love. 
But  they  did  not  know  that  Hilda  had 
witnessed  the  murder,  that  she  was  suf 
fering  because  of  it.  They  had  all  agreed 
to  visit  the  Church  of  the  Capuchins  the 
following  afternoon  in  order  to  see  a 
painting  which  supposedly  bore  a  re 
semblance  to  Miriam's  tormentor.  But 
Hilda  did  not  keep  the  appointment.  The 
others  went,  to  find  a  mass  for  the  dead 
in  progress.  The  dead  man  was  Miriam's 
persecutor.  Later,  when  Miriam  went  to 
see  Hilda,  the  American  girl  told  Miriam 
that  their  friendship  was  over. 

Donatello,  too,  had  changed.  He  was 
no  longer  the  unworried  faun,  but  a  per 
son  with  a  very  guilty  conscience.  He 
began  to  avoid  Miriam,  even  to  hate  her. 
He  left  Rome  and  went  back  to  his  an 
cestral  home.  Kenyon  went  there  to  visit 
his  friend.  Hilda  stayed  in  Rome  by 
herself,  lonely,  distraught. 

At  Donatello's  country  home,  Kenyon 
learned  the  local  tradition  about  his 
friend's  family,  a  legend  that  Donatello 
was,  in  fact,  descended  from  a  race  of 
fauns  who  had  inhabited  the  countryside 


in  remote  times.  He  learned,  too,  of 
Donatello's  feeling  of  guilt,  but  he,  un 
aware  of  the  killing,  did  not  know  the 
reason  for  Donatello's  changed  spirit. 
When  Miriam  followed  Donatello  to  his 
home,  he  would  not  see  her.  Kenyon  told 
her  Donatello  still  loved  her,  however, 
and  she  agreed  to  meet  both  of  them  later 
on.  When  they  met  in  the  city  square, 
Miriam  stood  quietly,  waiting  for  Dona 
tello  to  speak.  At  last  he  spoke  her  name, 
and  she  went  to  him.  So  they  were 
united  once  more,  but  the  union  was 
haunted  by  their  sin. 

In  the  meantime  Hilda  had  gone  to 
deliver  the  packet  Miriam  had  left  in  her 
keeping.  The  address  was  that  of  one 
high  in  the  affairs  of  the  government. 
Kenyon  looked  for  Hilda  everywhere,  for 
he  had  seen  her  but  briefly  since  his 
return.  Realizing  at  last  that  he  was  in 
love  with  her,  he  was  worried  about  her 
disappearance.  During  the  carnival  sea 
son  he  met  Donatello  and  Miriam,  who 
promised  him  he  would  soon  see  Hilda 
again.  He  did,  on  the  day  the  carnival 
was  at  its  height  and  the  streets  were 
filled  with  a  merry-making  throng. 

Hilda  told  him  her  story.  Her  knowl 
edge  of  the  crime  had  weighed  so  heavily 
upon  her  that  at  last  she  had  gone  to 
confession  in  St.  Peter's  and  had  poured 
out  the  tale  to  a  listening  priest.  Later 
she  had  delivered  the  packet,  as  Miriam 
had  requested  her,  and  afterward  she 
had  been  detained  in  a  convent  until  the 
authorities  were  satisfied  she  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  murder  on  the  Tarpeian 
Rock.  She  had  just  been  released  from 
her  strange  captivity.  While  they  stood 
talking,  there  was  a  commotion  in  the 
crowd  nearby.  The  police  had  seized 
Donatello  and  were  taking  him,  to  jail. 

For  his  crime  Donatello  was  sentenced 
to  prison.  Miriam  was  not  brought  to 
trial,  for  her  only  crime  had  been  the 
look  in  her  eyes  which  had  told  Donatello 
to  murder  her  persecutor.  But  Miriam's 
history  was  finally  revealed.  Although 
she  herself  was  innocent,  her  family  had 
been  involved  in  a  crime  which  made 


565 


its  name  infamous.  She  had  gone  to 
Rome  and  attempted  to  live  down  the 
past,  hut  evil  had  continued  to  haunt 
her,  and  the  past  had  reappeared  in  the 
form  of  a  tormentor  who  had  dogged  her 
footsteps,  threatening  to  make  her  iden 
tity  known  to  the  world,  until  Dona- 
teUo  had  thrown  hi-m  over  the  cliff . 


Kenyon  and  Hilda  were  married.  Once 
again  they  saw  Miriam,  kneeling  in  the 
Pantheon  before  the  tomh  of  Raphael. 
As  they  passed,  she  stretched  out  her 
hands  to  them  in  a  gesture  that  both 
blessed  them  and  repulsed  them.  They 
left  her  to  her  expiation  and  her  grief. 


MARCHING  ON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Boyd  (1888-1944) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  The  Civil  War  period 

Locale:  North  Carolina 

First  -published;  1927 

Principal  characters: 

JAMES  ERASER,  a  farm  boy 

STEWART  PREVOST,  a  rich  planter's  daughter 

COLONEL  PBEVOST,  her  fatter 

CHARLES  PHEVOST,  her  brother 


Critique: 

When  James  Boyd  wrote  Marching 
On,  he  obviously  had  two  motives:  one, 
to  depict  the  spirit  of  the  soldiers  who 
fought  heroically  for  a  lost  cause,  and, 
two,  to  show  how  the  spirit  of  one  boy, 
James  Fraser,  kept  marching  on  to  the 
point  where  he  could  hold  up  his  head 
proudly  among  those  he  had  once  thought 
of  as  his  superiors.  Both  parts  of  the  plot 
have  been  developed,  in  an  interesting 
and  challenging  manner.  Marching  On 
is  not  one  of  the  best-known  Civil  War 
novels,  but  it  is  a  good  story,  well  told. 

The  Story: 

When  James  Eraser  fell  in  love  with 
Stewart  Prevost,  he  loved  her  in  a  hope 
less  way.  He  was  the  son  of  a  poor 
farmer  who  lived  in  the  swamps  of 
North  Carolina,  and  Stewart  was  the 
daughter  of  Colonel  Prevost,  a  gentle 
man  planter.  Although  Colonel  Prevost 
was  always  courteous  and  friendly  with 
the  Erasers,  his  friendliness  was  reserved; 
James  knew  that  he  must  keep  his  place. 

James  loved  his  father  and  mother, 
both  hard-working,  God-fearing  people 


who  toiled  endlessly  with  meager  reward. 
But  he  felt  that  he  must  somehow  rise 
above  their  station  in  life,  that  he  must 
gain  an  equal  footing  with  the  planters 
and  other  gentlemen  toward  whom  he 
was  forced  to  show  a  servile  attitude.  On 
nights  when  he  was  filled  with  despair 
and  confusion,  he  slipped  out  of  the 
house  and  played  his  fiddle.  Into  his 
music  he  could  pour  his  dreams  without 
fear  of  ridicule. 

James  first  saw  Stewart  when  he  de 
livered  a  load  of  wood  to  her  father. 
She  said  only  a  few  words  in  greeting, 
but  to  James  the  words  were  as  beautiful 
as  the  ringing  of  bells.  During  the 
next  weeks  he  saw  her  often;  it  seemed 
to  him,  that  she  was  always  on  the  road 
leading  to  the  plantation  as  he  passed 
with  a  load  of  wood.  When  he  was 
alone,  he  cursed  himself  for  a  fool;  no 
girl  in  Stewart's  position  would  purposely 
seek  out  an  awkward,  uncouth  farm  boy. 
He  swore  to  himself  that  he  would  avoid 
her.  At  last  Stewart  began  to  talk  with 
him  about  life.  When  he  told  her  that 
he  would  like  to  go  away  and  work  on 


MARCHING  ON  by  James  Boyd.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     Copyright,  1927, 
by  Charle*  Scribner's  Sons. 

566 


the  railroad,  she  offeree  to  give  him 
money  to  start  him  on  his  way.  He  bit 
terly  decided  that  she  only  wanted  to  get 
rid  of  him, 

For  a  few  days  James  avoided  the 
plantation.  Then  his  pride  forced  him 
to  call  at  Stewart's  home  and  ask  to  see 
her.  Colonel  Prevost  answered  the  door 
and  went  to  call  Stewart.  He  returned 
to  tell  James  that  Stewart  was  busy — 
and  would  be  busy  in  the  future.  Trying 
to  save  his  dignity,  the  boy  stumbled 
blindly  down  the  steps.  The  next  mom- 
ing  he  told  his  father  and  mother  that 
he  was  going  away. 

James  went  to  Wilmington  and  took 
a  job  on  the  railroad.  His  interest  in 
machines  and  his  determination  to  suc 
ceed  made  him  an  excellent  worker.  He 
lived  well  and  sent  money  home  each 
week.  He  made  friends,  but  the  vision 
of  Stewart  would  not  leave  him  and  he 
was  lonely.  The  men  with  whom  he 
associated  were  all  concerned  over  the 
coining  election,  for  they  believed  that 
there  would  be  trouble  if  Abraham  Lin 
coln  were  elected.  Everywhere  he  went, 
abolition  and  war  were  the  main  topics 
of  conversation.  Not  long  after  Lincoln 
had  been  elected,  the  Secession  began. 

In  April,  after  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
attacked,  James  went  home  to  join  the 
company  being  formed  by  Colonel  Pre 
vost.  Stewart's  brother  Charles  was  to 
be  the  captain,  for  he  had  attended  Vir 
ginia  Military  Institute.  On  the  night 
before  the  company  was  to  leave  the 
plantation  James  wrote  Stewart  a  note 
and  asked  her  to  meet  him.  His  love 
was  greater  than  his  pride,  and  for  that 
he  would  always  be  grateful;  Stewart 
swore  to  him  that  her  father  had  never 
told  her  that  James  had  come  to  see  her 
once  before,  and  she  said  regretfully  that 
her  offer  of  money  had  been  thoughtlessly 
given.  She  promised  to  write  to  him,  and 
she  asked  him  to  look  after  her  brother 
Charles,  for  she  had  a  premonition  that 
he  would  be  killed. 

The  next  three  years  were  later  to 
Teem  to  James  like  one  continuous  night 


mare.  Their  company  engaged  in  battle 
with  the  Yankees  only  three  or  four 
times,  but  the  men  marched  and  marched 
until  they  slept  as  they  walked.  Most  of 
the  time  they  were  starving.  When  their 
shoes  wore  out,  they  wrapped  their  swol 
len  feet  in  rags.  Still  they  went  on. 
Charles  was  killed.  Although  James 
killed  the  men  who  had  attacked  Charles, 
he  feared  that  Stewart  would  not  for 
give  him  for  failing  in  his  promise.  He 
wrote  her,  but  it  was  two  years  before 
her  answer  reached  him.  By  that  time 
he  was  a  prisoner.  Her  letter  was  the 
only  thing  that  kept  him  sane  during 
his  years  in  prison.  All  the  prisoners 
were  gaunt  and  sick,  unbelievably  thin 
and  emaciated.  The  Yankees  were  fairly 
kind,  but  there  was  not  enough  food  and 
clothing  for  anyone  in  those  terrible 
years.  James  tried  to  keep  a  record  of 
the  number  of  days  he  had  been  a 
prisoner,  but  the  problem  was  too  great 
for  his  fuzzy  mind.  To  him  only  Stew 
art's  letter  was  real. 

Released  at  last  in  an  exchange  of 
prisoners,  James  went  immediately  tc 
the  Prevost  plantation.  He  was  dirty 
and  in  rags  and  too  weak  to  walk  without 
help,  but  Stewart  drew  him  like  a  mag 
net.  When  he  climbed  the  long  steps 
to  her  house,  she  was  waiting  for  him 
at  the  top. 

James  stayed  at  the  plantation  until  he 
was  stronger.  Stewart  told  him  she  loved 
him  and  would  marry  him.  Although 
Colonel  Prevost  was  courteous  and  gra 
cious,  James  knew  that  the  old  gentle 
man  still  considered  him  little  bettei 
than  a  poor  white  cracker  and  would  be 
glad  when  he  went  to  his  own  home, 
At  last  James  went  back  to  his  father 
and  mother. 

James  had  been  home  only  a  short 
time  before  he  learned  that  the  Union 
army  was  attacking  a  town  close  to  the 
plantation.  Because  the  Fraser  farm 
was  off  the  main  path  of  the  soldiers, 
he  went  to  the  plantation  to  bring 
Stewart  and  her  father  home  with  him. 
The  colonel  could  not  believe  that  South- 


567 


em  troops  would  be  defeated  again  and 
he  did  not  want  to  leave  his  house. 
While  James  was  there,  the  old  man 
apologized  for  his  attitude  and  told  the 
boy  that  he  was  pleased  that  Stewart 
was  going  to  marry  him.  He  honored 
James  by  showing  him  a  picture  of  Stew 
art's  dead  mother,  his  most  prized  treas 
ure. 

The  town  fell.  James  and  Stewart 
went  to  his  home,  with  the  colonel's 
promise  that  he  would  follow  them  as 
soon  as  he  had  arranged  for  the  pro 
tection  of  his  slaves  and  overseers.  But 
he  never  came,  James  returned  to  the 
plantation  after  he  had  taken  Stewart 
to  safety.  There  he  found  that  Yankees 


had  ransacked  the  house  and  killed  the 
colonel  as  he  tried  to  save  his  wife's 
picture.  Filled  with  a  desire  to  avenge 
the  colonel's  death,  James  started  down 
the  road  after  the  troops.  He  wanted  to 
kill  any  Yankee  he  saw.  He  had  an  op 
portunity  to  kill  three  of  them,  but  he 
suddenly  changed  his  mind  when  he  saw 
that  the  men  were  released  prisoners. 
They  had  fought  for  what  they  thought 
was  right,  just  as  he  had.  He  could  think 
of  them  only  as  brothers  who  had  suf 
fered  in  the  same  war.  He  put  his  gun 
away  and  gave  them  the  little  food  he 
had.  Then  he  started  back  to  Stewart.  He 
was  going  home. 


THE  MASTER  OF  BALLANTRAE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Scotland,  India,  France,  America 

First  published:  1889 

Principal  characters: 

JAMES  BOBBIE,  Master  of  Ballantrae 
HJ53SH.Y  DuBBJE,  James'  brother 
ALISON  GRAEME,  Henry's  wife 
MR.  MACKETJ.AR,  factor  of  Durrisdeer 
SECUTSTDRA  DASS,  James'  servant 

Critique: 

The  Master  of  Ballantrae:  A  Winter's 
Tale  is  considered  by  many  to  be  Steven 
son's  best  novel,  although  it  probably  is 
Qot  as  well  known  as  Treasure  Island  or 
Kidnapped.  The  story  is  engrossing, 
moves  with  commendable  speed,  and  gen 
erally  does  not  seem  incredible.  How 
ever,  the  novel  is  lacking  in  background 
detail,  the  author's  chief  aim,  apparently, 
being  a  delineation  of  character. 


The  Story: 

When  the  Stuart  Pretender  landed  in 
Scotland  in  1745,  to  assert  his  right  to 
the  throne  of  England  by  force  of  arms 
if  necessary,  the  Durries  of  Durrisdeer 
decided  to  steer  a  middle  course.  One 
son  would  fight  for  the  exiled  Stuart,  the 
other  would  bide  at  home  in  loyalty  to 


King  George.  James,  Master  of  Ballan 
trae  and  his  father's  heir,  won  the  toss  of 
a  coin  and  elected  to  join  the  Stuart 
cause.  The  younger  son,  Henry,  stayed 
at  Durrisdeer.  By  this  means  it  was  hoped 
by  their  shrewd  old  father  that  either  way 
the  struggle  went,  the  family  estate  would 
remain  intact. 

Soon  after  came  word  of  the  defeat  of 
the  Scottish  forces  at  Culloden  and  the 
news  of  James'  death.  Henry  became 
the  Master  of  Ballantrae.  In  1748,  he 
married  Alison  Graeme,  who  had  been 
betrothed  to  James.  But  even  after  a 
daughter  and  a  son  had  been  bom  to 
them,  their  marriage  was  overshadowed 
by  the  spirit  of  the  former  Master  of 
Ballantrae.  James  had  been  the  favorite 
son.  Old  Lord  Durrisdeer  had  denied 


568 


him  nothing,  and  Alison  had  loved  him. 
This  feeling  led  to  domestic  difficulties, 
and  later  the  village  gossips  idolized  James 
and  accused  Heniy  of  selling  out  the 
Stuart  cause. 

Colonel  Francis  Burke,  an  Irishman, 
came  into  this  strained  situation  and  an 
nounced  that  he  and  James  had  escaped 
together  from  the  field  at  Culloden.  The 
old  lord  was  exceedingly  happy  with  this 
news;  Henry  felt  frustrated;  Alison 
seemed  pleased.  Burke's  mission  was  to 
get  money  from  the  estate  to  take  to 
James,  who  was  living  in  France.  Henry 
arranged  to  send  him  money  by  Burke. 

Burke  described  his  association  with 
James  and  their  adventures  after  leaving 
Scotland.  The  ship  on  which  they  es 
caped  was  boarded  by  pirates,  and  James 
and  Burke  were  taken  aboard  the  pirate 
ship.  The  pirates,  under  the  leadership 
of  Teach,  their  captain,  were  a  drunken, 
incompetent,  ignorant  lot. 

James  bided  his  time,  and  when  the 
ship  put  in  for  repairs,  he  escaped  with 
Burke  and  several  members  of  the  crew, 
after  robbing  the  store  chest  of  money 
and  treasure  Teach  had  accumulated. 
With  their  spoils  James  and  Burke  even 
tually  arrived  in  New  York,  where  they 
met  Chew,  an  Indian  trader.  They  took 
off  with  him  into  the  wilderness.  When 
Chew  died,  they  were  left  without  a 
guide.  James  and  Burke  quarreled  and 
separated.  James  buried  the  treasure  he 
had  and  set  off  through  the  wilderness 
for  Fort  St.  Frederick.  When  he  arrived 
at  the  fort,  he  again  met  Burke,  who  wel 
comed  him  as  a  long-lost  brother  and 
paid  his  fare  to  France. 

In  France,  James  served  in  the  French 
army  and  became  a  man  of  consequence 
at  the  French  court  because  of  his  adept- 
ness  at  politics,  his  unscrupulousness,  and 
the  money  from  his  inheritance  in  Scot 
land.  His  demands  finally  put  the  estate 
in  financial  difficulties,  for  over  a  period 
of  seven  years  he  demanded  and  obtained 
a  sum  amounting  to  more  than  eight 
thousand  pounds.  Because  he  practiced 
strict  economy  to  provide  funds  for  his 


brother,  Henry  acquired  a  reputation  as 
a  miser  and  was  upbraided  by  his  wife. 
Then  in  1756  Alison  learned  the  true 
state  of  affairs  from  Mackellar,  Henry's 
factor. 

After  that  matters  ran  more  smoothly 
in  the  household  until  James  returned 
suddenly  from  France  aboard  a  smuggler's 
lugger.  His  father  was  overjoyed  to  see 
his  favorite  son,  who  during  his  stay  at 
Ballantrae  was  known  as  Mr.  Bally. 
James'  hatred  for  Henry  was  known  only 
to  Henry  and  Mackellar.  In  the  presence 
of  the  household  James  seemed  to  be  on 
the  friendliest  terms  with  his  brother,  but 
when  no  one  was  around  he  goaded 
Henry  by  subtle  innuendoes  and  insinu 
ations.  Henry  bore  this  state  of  affairs  as 
best  he  could  because  James,  even  in 
exile,  was  the  true  Master  of  Ballantrae. 
As  a  further  torment  for  his  patient 
brother,  James  paid  marked  attention  to 
Alison,  and  it  really  seemed  she  preferred 
his  company  to  Henry's. 

Matters  came  to  a  head  one  night  when 
James  casually  mentioned  to  Henry  that 
there  ne\rer  was  a  woman  who  did  not 
prefer  him  when  Henry  was  around. 
WTaen  this  assertion  was  made,  there 
was  no  one  present  but  Mackellar,  Henry, 
and  James.  Henry  struck  James  and  hot 
words  quickly  led  to  drawn  swords.  The 
brothers  ordered  Mackellar  to  carry 
candles  into  the  garden.  They  went  out 
side,  Mackellar  remonstrating  all  the 
while,  but  he  could  not  stop  the  duel. 
The  air  was  so  still  that  the  light  of  the 
candles  did  not  waver  as  the  brothers 
crossed  swords.  From  the  onset  Henry 
became  the  aggressor,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  James  realized  he  stood  to  lose  the 
fight  He  then  resorted  to  trickery.  As 
Henry  lunged,  James  seized  his  brother's 
blade  in  his  left  hand.  Henry  saved  him 
self  from  James'  stroke  by  leaping  to  one 
side,  and  James,  slipping  to  one  knee 
from  the  force  of  his  lunge,  impaled  him 
self  on  Henry's  sword.  Mackellar  ran 
to  the  fallen  James  and  declared  him 
dead. 

Henry  seemed  stupified  and  made  off 


569 


toward  the  house  at  a  stumbling  pace. 
Mackellar  toot  it  upon  himself  to  tell 
Alison  and  the  old  lord  what  had  hap 
pened.  The  four  decided  that  the  first 
thing  to  do  was  to  remove  James'  corpse. 
But  when  they  arrived  at  the  scene  of  the 
duel,  the  body  had  disappeared.  They 
decided  that  smugglers,  attracted  by  the 
light  of  the  candles  in  the  shrubbery, 
had  found  the  body  and  taken  it  away, 
and  their  belief  was  confirmed  by  blood 
stains  they  found  on  the  boat  landing 
the  next  morning.  Mr.  Bally  was  reported 
in  the  neighborhood  to  have  left  Dur- 
risdeer  as  suddenly  as  he  had  arrived. 

As  the  affair  turned  out,  James  had 
been  found  alive  but  seriously  wounded, 
He  was  taken  aboard  a  smuggler's  ship, 
and  when  he  recovered  he  went  to  India. 
After  he  made  a  fortune  there,  he  re 
turned  once  more  to  Scotland  in  the 
company  of  an  Indian  named  Secundra 
Dass. 

They  arrived  at  Durrisdeer  early  one 
morning.  That  night  Henry  with  his 
wife  and  two  children  left  the  house 
secretly  and  took  the  next  ship  to  New 
York.  James,  having  learned  of  Henry's 
plans  through  the  eavesdropping  of  Se 
cundra  Dass,  sailed  for  New  York  three 
weeks  later,  and  Mackellar,  hoping  to 
help  his  master,  went  with  James  and 
his  servant.  When  they  arrived  in  New 
York,  Mackellar  was  pleased  to  learn  that 
Henry  had  already  taken  precautions  to 
forestall  any  claims  which  James  might 
make. 

When  James'  allowance  from  his 
brother  proved  insufficient  for  him  to 
live  in  the  style  he  desired,  he  set  up 
shop  as  a  tailor,  and  Secundra  Dass  em 
ployed  himself  as  a  goldsmith.  Hatred 
for  James  gradually  became  an  obsession 
with  Henry.  He  reveled  in  the  fact  that 
after  many  years  of  humiliation  and  dis 
tress  he  had  his  wicked  brother  in  his 
power. 


To  recoup  his  fortunes,  James  made 

Elans  to  recover  the  treasure  which  he 
ad  previously  hidden  in  the  wilderness. 
He  asked  Henry  to  lend  him  the  money 
to  outfit  an  expedition,  but  Henry  re 
fused.  Mackellar,  although  he  hated 
James,  could  not  bear  to  see  a  Durrie 
treated  in  such  a  haughty  manner;  there 
fore,  he  sent  to  Scodand  for  his  own 
savings  to  assist  James.  But  Henry  had 
plans  of  his  own,  and  he  conspired  with 
a  man  of  unsavory  reputation  to  guide 
James  into  the  wilderness  and  there  kill 
him.  Again  Secundra  Dass  overheard  a 
chance  conversation  and  warned  his  mas 
ter  of  danger.  Then  James  sickened  and 
died.  He  was  buried,  and  his  guide  re 
turned  to  report  his  death  to  Henry. 

Henry,  however,  believed  his  brother 
James  to  be  in  league  with  the  devil,  with 
the  ability  to  die  and  return  to  life  seem 
ingly  at  will.  With  Mackellar  and  a 
small  party,  he  set  out  for  James'  grave. 
They  arrived  one  moonlit  night  in  time 
to  see  Secundra  Dass  in  the  act  of  ex 
huming  James'  body  and  they  gathered 
around  to  see  what  would  happen.  After 
digging  through  the  frozen  earth  for  a 
short  distance,  Secundra  Dass  removed 
his  master's  body  from  the  shallow  grave. 
Then  the  Indian  began  strange  ministra 
tions  over  the  corpse.  The  moon  was 
setting.  The  watchers  imagined  that  in 
the  pale  light  they  saw  the  dead  man's 
eyelids  flutter.  When  the  eyes  opened 
and  James  looked  full  into  his  brother's 
face,  Henry  fell  to  the  ground.  He  died 
before  Mackellar  could  reach  his  side. 

But  the  Indian  trick  of  swallowing  the 
tongue  to  give  the  appearance  of  death 
would  not  work  in  the  cold  American 
climate,  and  Secundra  Dass  failed  to 
bring  James  completely  to  life.  James, 
the  Master  of  Ballantrae,  and  his  brother 
were  united  in  death  in  the  wilderness  of 
America. 


570 


THE  MAYOR  OF  CASTERBRIDGE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  "Wessex,"  England 

First  published:  1886 

Principal  characters: 

MICHAEL  HENCHARD,  the  mayor  of  Casterhridge 
SUSAN  HENCHARD-NEWSON,  his  abandoned  wife 
ELIZABETH-JANE  NEWSON,  his  stepdaughter 
RICHARD  NEWSON,  a  sailor 
DONALD  FAKFRAE,  a  grain  merchant 

LUCETTA  LE  StJEUR,  loved  by  Henchard,  later  Farfrae's  wife 
Critique: 

Despite  contrived  events,  the  plot  of 
The  Mayor  of  Casterbridge  works  out 
well.  Descriptions  of  the  Wessex  country 
side  are  excellent.  Hardy's  simple  coun 
try  people  are  realistic  and  sometimes 
funny,  if  not  always  sympathetic.  The 
modern  reader  is  likely  to  question  the 
melodramatic  and  spectacular  opening 
scenes  of  the  novel,  in  spite  of  Hardy's 
insistence  that  such  occurrences  did  take 
place  in  rural  districts  during  the  last 
century.  The  plot  illustrates  Hardy's  be 
lief  that  "in  fiction  it  is  not  improbabil 
ities  of  incident  but  improbabilities  of 
character  that  matter." 


The  Story: 

One  kte  summer  afternoon,  early  in 
the  •nineteenth  century,  a  young  farm 
couple  with  their  baby  arrived  on  foot 
at  the  village  of  Weydon-Priors.  A  fair 
was  in  progress.  The  couple,  tired  and 
dusty,  entered  a  refreshment  tent  where 
the  husband  proceeded  to  get  so  drunk 
that  he  offered  his  wife  and  child  for 
sale.  A  sailor  strange  to  the  village  bought 
the  wife,  Susan,  and  the  child,  Elizabeth- 
Jane,  for  five  guineas.  The  young  woman 
tore  off  her  wedding  ring  and  threw  it 
in  her  drunken  husband's  face;  then,  car 
rying  her  child,  she  followed  the  sailor 
out  of  the  tent. 

When  he  awoke  sober  the  next  morn 
ing,  Michael  Henchard,  the  young  fann 
er,  realized  what  he  had  done.  After 
taking  an  oath  not  to  touch  liquor  for 


twenty  years,  he  searched  many  months 
for  his  wife  and  child.  In  a  western  sea 
port  he  was  told  that  three  persons  an 
swering  the  description  he  gave  had  emi 
grated  a  short  time  before.  He  gave  up 
his  search  and  wandered  on  until  he  came 
to  the  town  of  Casterbridge.  There  he 
stayed  to  seek  his  fortune. 

Richard  Newson,  the  sailor,  convinced 
Susan  Henchard  that  she  had  no  moral 
obligations  to  the  husband  who  had  sold 
her  and  her  child.  He  married  her  and 
moved  with  his  new  family  to  Canada. 
Later  they  returned  to  England.  Susan, 
meanwhile,  had  learned  of  the  illegality 
of  her  marriage  to  Newson,  but  before 
she  could  make  a  positive  move  Newson 
was  lost  at  sea.  Susan  and  Elizabeth-Jane, 
now  eighteen  and  attractive,  returned  to 
Weydon-Priors.  There  they  heard  that 
Henchard  had  gone  to  Casterbridge. 

Henchard,  in  the  intervening  period, 
had  become  a  prosperous  grain  merchant 
and  the  mayor  of  Casterbridge.  When 
the  women  arrived  in  the  town  they 
heard  that  Henchard  had  sold  some  bad 
grain  to  bakers  and  restitution  was  ex 
pected.  Donald  Farfrae,  a  young  Scots 
corn  expert  who  was  passing  through 
Casterbridge,  heard  of  Henchard's  pre 
dicament  and  told  him  a  method  for  par 
tially  restoring  the  grain.  Farfrae  so  im 
pressed  Henchard  and  the  people  of  the 
town  that  they  prevailed  on  him  to  re 
main.  Farfrae  became  Henchard's  man- 
agex. 


571 


At  the  meeting  of  Susan  and  Hench 
ard,  it  was  decided  Susan  and  her  daugh 
ter  would  take  lodgings  and  Henchard 
would  pay  court  to  Susan.  Henchard, 
trusting  young  Farfrae,  told  the  Scot  of 
his  philandering  with  a  young  woman 
named  Lucetta  Le  Sueur,  from  Jersey. 
He  asked  Farfrae  to  meet  Lucetta  and 
keep  her  from  coming  to  Casterhridge. 

Henchard  and  Susan  were  married. 
Elizabeth-Jane  developed  into  a  beautiful 
young  woman  for  whom  Donald  Farfrae 
had  a  growing  attraction.  Henchard 
wanted  Elizabeth-Jane  to  take  his  name, 
but  Susan  refused  his  request,  much  to 
his  mystification.  He  noticed  that  Eliza 
beth-Jane  did  not  possess  any  of  his 
personal  traits. 

Bad  feeling  came  between  Henchard 
and  Farfrae  over  Henchard's  harsh  treat 
ment  of  a  simple-minded  employee.  Far 
frae  had  succeeded  Henchard  in  popu 
larity  in  Casterbridge.  The  complete 
break  came  when  a  country  dance  spon 
sored  by  Farfrae  drew  all  the  populace, 
leaving  Henchard's  dance  unattended. 
Farfrae,  anticipating  his  dismissal,  set  up 
his  own  establishment  but  refused  to 
take  any  of  Henchard's  business  away 
from  him.  Henchard,  antagonized,  would 
not  allow  Elizabeth-Jane  and  Farfrae  to 
see  each  other. 

Henchard  received  a  letter  from  Lu 
cetta  saying  she  would  pass  through  Cas 
terbridge  to  pick  up  her  love  letters. 
When  Lucetta  failed  to  keep  the  appoint 
ment,  Henchard  put  the  letters  in  his 
safe.  Susan  fell  sick  and  wrote  a  letter 
for  Henchard  to  open  on  the  day  Eliza 
beth-Jane  was  married.  Soon  afterward 
she  died  and  Henchard  told  the  girl  that 
he  was  her  real  father.  Looking  for  some 
documents  to  corroborate  his  story,  he 
found  the  letter  his  wife  had  left  in  his 
keeping  for  Elizabeth-Jane.  Henchard, 
unable  to  resist,  read  Susan's  letter  and 
learned  that  Elizabeth-Jane  was  really 
the  daughter  of  Newson  and  Susan,  his 
own  daughter  having  died  in  infancy. 
His  wife's  reluctance  to  have  the  girl 
take  his  name  was  now  clear,  and  Hench- 


ard's  attitude  toward  Elizabeth-Jane  be 
came  distant  and  cold. 

One  day  Elizabeth-Jane  met  a  strange 
woman  at  the  village  graveyard.  The 
woman  was  Lucetta  Templeman,  for 
merly  Lucetta  Le  Sueur,  who  had  in 
herited  property  in  Casterbridge  from  a 
rich  aunt  named  Templeman.  She  took 
Elizabeth-Jane  into  her  employ  to  make  it 
convenient  for  Henchard,  her  old  lover, 
to  call  on  her. 

Young  Farfrae  came  to  see  Elizabeth- 
Jane,  who  was  away  at  the  time.  He  and 
Miss  Templeman  were  immediately  at 
tracted  to  each  other,  and  Lucetta  re 
fused  to  see  Henchard  after  meeting 
Farfrae.  Elizabeth-Jane  overheard  Hench 
ard  berate  Lucetta  under  his  breath  for 
refusing  to  admit  him  to  her  house;  she 
was  made  further  uncomfortable  when 
she  saw  that  Farfrae  had  succumbed  to 
Lucetta's  charms.  Henchard  was  now  de 
termined  to  ruin  Farfrae.  Advised  by  a 
weather  prophet  that  the  weather  would 
be  bad  during  the  harvest,  he  bought 
grain  heavily.  When  the  weather  stayed 
fair,  Henchard  was  almost  ruined  by  low 
grain  prices.  Farfrae  bought  cheap.  The 
weather  turned  bad  late  in  the  harvest, 
and  prices  went  up.  Farfrae  became 
wealthy. 

In  the  meantime,  Farfrae  continued 
his  courtship  of  Lucetta.  Henchard,  jeal 
ous,  threatened  to  expose  Lucetta's  past 
unless  she  married  him.  Lucetta  agreed. 
But  an  old  woman  disclosed  to  the  vil 
lage  that  Henchard  was  the  man  who  had 
sold  his  wife  and  child  years  before. 
Lucetta,  ashamed,  left  town.  On  the 
day  of  her  return,  Henchard  rescued  her 
and  Elizabeth-Jane  from  an  enraged  bull. 
He  asked  Lucetta  to  give  evidence  to  a 
creditor  of  their  engagement.  Lucetta 
confessed  that  in  her  absence  she  and 
Farfrae  had  been  married.  Henchard, 
utterly  frustrated,  again  threatened  to 
expose  her.  Elizabeth-Jane,  upon  learn 
ing  of  the  marriage,  left  Lucetta's  service. 
The  news  that  Henchard  had  sold  his 
wife  and  child  spread  through  the  vil 
lage.  His  creditors  closed  in,  and  he  be- 


572 


came  a  recluse.  He  and  Elizabeth-Jane 
were  reconciled  during  his  illness.  Upon 
his  recovery  he  hired  out  to  Farfrae  as 
a  common  laborer. 

Henchard's  oath  having  expired,  he 
began  to  drink  heavily.  Farfrae  planned 
to  set  up  Henchard  and  Elizabeth-Jane 
in  a  small  seed  shop,  but  the  project 
did  not  materialize  because  of  a  misun 
derstanding.  Farfrae  became  mayor  of 
Casterbridge  despite  the  desire  of  Lucetta 
to  leave  the  village. 

Jopp,  a  former  employee  of  Henchard, 
blackmailed  his  way  into  the  employ  of 
Farfrae  through  Lucetta,  whose  past  he 
knew,  because  he  had  lived  in  Jersey 
before  he  came  to  Casterbridge.  Hench 
ard,  finally  taking  pity  on  Lucetta,  gave 
Jopp  the  love  letters  to  return  to  her. 
Before  delivering  them,  Jopp  read  the 
letters  aloud  in  an  inn. 

Royalty  visited  Casterbridge.  Hench 
ard,  wishing  to  retain  his  old  stature  in 
the  village,  forced  himself  among  the 
receiving  dignitaries,  but  Farfrae  pushed 
him  aside.  Later,  Henchard  got  Farfrae 
at  his  mercy,  during  a  fight  in  a  ware 
house  loft,  but  the  younger  man  shamed 
Henchard  by  telling  him  to  go  ahead  and 
kill  him. 

The  townspeople,  excited  over  the  let 
ters  they  had  heard  read,  devised  a  mum 


mery  employing  effigies  of  Henchard  and 
Lucetta  riding  back  to  back  on  a  donkey. 
Farfrae's  friends  arranged  to  have  him 
absent  from  the  village  during  the  mum 
mers'  parade,  but  Lucetta  saw  it  and  was 
prostrated.  She  died  of  a  miscarriage 
that  night. 

Richard  Newson,  not  lost  after  all, 
came  to  Casterbridge  in  search  of  Susan 
and  Elizabeth-Jane.  He  met  Henchard, 
who  sent  him  away  with  the  information 
that  both  Susan  and  Elizabeth-Jane  were 
dead. 

Elizabeth-Jane  went  to  live  with 
Henchard  in  his  poverty.  They  opened 
a  seed  shop  and  began  to  prosper  in  a 
modest  way.  Farfrae,  to  the  misery  of 
the  lonely  Henchard,  began  to  pay  court 
to  Elizabeth-Jane,  and  they  planned  to 
marry  soon.  Newson  returned,  obviously 
knowing  he  had  been  duped.  Henchard 
left  town  but  returned  for  the  marriage 
festivities,  bringing  with  him  a  goldfinch 
as  a  wedding  present.  When  he  saw 
that  Newson  had  completely  replaced 
him  as  Elizabeth-Jane's  father,  he  went 
sadly  away.  Newson,  restless,  departed 
for  the  sea  again,  after  Farfrae  and  his 
daughter  were  settled.  Henchard  pined 
away  and  died,  ironically  enough,  in  the 
secret  care  of  the  simple-minded  old  man 
whom  he  had  once  tyrannized. 


MEDEA 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Euripides  (48CM06  B.C.) 

Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 

Locale:  Corinth 

First  presented:  4B1  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 
MEDEA,  a  sorceress 
JASON,  her  lover 
CREON,  King  of  Corinth 
GIADCE,  daughter  of  Creon 
AEGEUS,  King  of  Athens 

Critique: 

Medea  is  justly  one  of  the  best  known 

of  Greek  tragedies,  for  although  it  was 

written  more   than  two  thousand  years 

ago  it  has  meaning  and  significance  today. 


Jason  and  Medea  are  purely  human  and 
even  without  the  intervention  of  super 
natural  agencies,  tragedy  is  implicit  in 
their  characters.  Their  story  is  a  peren- 


573 


oial  caution  against  excess  of  emotion  and 
a  stern  warning  against  bitter  vengeance. 

The  Story: 

When  Medea  discovered  that  Jason 
had  deserted  her  and  married  Glance,  the 
daughter  of  Creon,  she  vowed  a  terrible 
vengeance.  Her  nurse,  although  she 
loved  Medea,  recognized  that  a  frightful 
threat  now  hung  over  Corinth,  for  she 
knew  that  Medea  would  not  let  the  in 
sult  pass  without  some  dreadful  revenge. 
She  feared  especially  for  Medea's  two 
sons,  since  the  sorceress  included  her 
children  in  the  hatred  which  she  now 
felt  for  their  father. 

Her  resentment  increased  still  further 
when  Creon,  hearing  of  her  vow,  ordered 
her  and  her  children  to  be  banished  from 
Corinth.  Slyly,  with  a  plan  already  in 
mind,  Medea  persuaded  him  to  allow  her 
just  one  day  longer  to  prepare  herself 
and  her  children  for  the  journey.  She 
had  already  decided  the  nature  of  her 
revenge;  the  one  problem  that  remained 
was  a  place  of  refuge  afterward.  Then 
Aegeus,  King  of  Athens  and  a  long-time 
friend  of  Medea,  appeared  in  Corinth 
on  his  way  home  from  a  journey.  Sym 
pathetic  with  her  because  of  Jason's 
brutal  desertion,  he  offered  her  a  place 
of  refuge  from  her  enemies  in  his  own 
kingdom.  In  this  manner  Medea  assured 
herself  of  a  refuge,  even  after  Aegeus 
should  learn  of  the  deeds  she  intended 
to  commit  in  Corinth. 

When  the  Corinthian  women  came  to 
visit  her,  Medea  told  them  of  her  plan, 
but  only  after  swearing  them  to  absolute 
secrecy.  At  first  she  had  considered  kill 
ing  Jason,  his  princess,  and  Creon,  and 
then  fleeing  with  her  children.  But  after 
she  had  considered,  she  felt  that  revenge 
would  be  sweeter  should  Jason  live  to 
suffer  long  afterward.  Nothing  could 
be  more  painful  than  to  grow  old  without 
a  lover,  without  children,  and  without 
friends,  and  so  Medea  planned  to  kill 
the  king,  his  daughter,  and  her  own 
children. 

She  called  Jason  to  her  and  pretended 


that  she  forgave  him  for  what  he  had 
done,  recognizing  at  last  the  justice  and 
foresight  he  had  shown  in  marrying 
Glauce.  She  begged  his  forgiveness  for 
her  earlier  rage,  and  asked  that  she  be 
allowed  to  send  her  children  with  gifts 
for  the  new  bride,  as  a  sign  of  her  re 
pentance.  Jason  was  completely  deceived 
by  her  supposed  change  of  heart,  and  ex 
pressed  his  pleasure  at  the  belated  wis 
dom  she  was  showing. 

Medea  drew  out  a  magnificent  robe 
and  a  fillet  of  gold,  presents  of  her  grand 
father,  Helios,  the  sun  god,  but  before 
she  entrusted  them  to  her  children  she 
smeared  them  with  a  deadly  drug.  Shortly 
afterward,  a  messenger  came  to  Medea 
and  told  her  to  flee.  One  part  of  her 
plan  had  succeeded.  After  Jason  and 
the  children  had  left,  Glauce  had  dressed 
herself  in  her  wonderful  robe  and  walked 
through  the  palace.  But  as  the  warmth 
and  moisture  of  her  body  came  in  con 
tact  with  the  drug,  the  fillet  and  gown 
clung  to  her  body  and  seared  her  flesh. 
She  tried  frantically  to  tear  them  from 
her,  but  the  garments  only  wrapped 
more  tightly  around  her,  and  she  died  in 
a  screaming  agony  of  flames.  When 
Creon  rushed  in  and  saw  his  daughter 
writhing  on  the  floor,  he  attempted  to 
lift  her,  but  was  himself  contaminated 
by  the  poison.  His  death  was  as  ago 
nized  as  hers  had  been. 

Meanwhile  the  children  had  returned 
to  Medea.  As  she  looked  at  them  and 
felt  their  arms  around  her,  she  was  torn 
between  her  love  for  them  and  her  hatred 
of  Jason;  between  her  desire  for  revenge 
and  the  commands  of  her  mother-instinct. 
But  the  barbarian  part  of  her  nature — 
Medea  being  not  a  Greek,  but  a  barbarian 
from  Colchis — triumphed.  After  reveling 
in  the  messenger's  account  of  the  deaths 
of  Creon  and  his  daughter,  she  entered 
her  house  with  the  children  and  barred 
the  door.  While  the  Corinthian  women 
stood  helplessly  outside,  they  listened  to 
the  shrieks  of  the  children  as  Medea 
killed  them  with  a  sword.  Jason  ap 
peared,  frantically  eager  to  take  his  dhil- 


574 


dren  away  lest  they  be  killed  by  Creon's 
followers  for  having  brought  the  dreadful 
gifts.  When  he  learned  Medea  had  killed 
iais  children,  he  was  almost  insane  with 
grief.  As  he  hammered  furiously  on  the 
barred  doors  of  the  house,  Medea  sud 
denly  appeared  above,  holding  the  bodies 
of  her  dead  children,  and  drawn  in  a 
chariot  which  Helios,  the  sun  god,  had 
sent  her.  Jason  alternately  cursed  her 
and  pleaded  with  her  for  one  last  sight 
of  his  children  as  Medea  taunted  him 


with  the  loneliness  and  grief  to  which  he 
was  doomed.  She  told  him  that  her  own 
sorrow  would  be  great,  but  it  was  com 
pensated  for  by  the  sweetness  of  her 
revenge. 

The  chariot,  drawn  by  winged  dragons, 
carried  her  first  to  the  mountain  of  the 
goddess  Hera.  There  she  buried  her 
children.  Then  she  journeyed  to  Athens, 
where  she  would  spend  the  remainder 
of  her  days  feeding  on  the  gall  and  worm 
wood  of  her  terrible  grief  and  revenge. 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  FOX-HUNTING  MAN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Siegfried  Sassoon  Q886-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of 'plot:   1895-1916 

Locale:  England  and  France 

First  published:   1929 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  SKERSTON,  the  fox-hunting  man 

AUNT  EVELYN,  with  whom  he  lived 

TOM  DrxoN,  Aunt  Evelyn's  groom 

DENIS  MHJ>EN,  George's  friend  and  master  at  Ringwell,  later  at  Packlestone 

STEPHEN  COLWOOD,  George's  schoolmate  and  friend 

MR.  PENNETT,  George's  trustee 

DICK:  TELTWOOD,  George's  friend  in  the  army 

Critique: 

Memoirs  of  a  P 'ox-Hunting  Man  is 
the  scarcely  concealed  autobiography  of 
the  author.  The  tone  of  the  book  is 
nostalgic.  The  passages  concerning  crick 
et  and  the  more  technical  passages  about 
fox  hunting  are  somewhat  tedious,  but 
for  the  most  part  this  sensitive  record 
of  a  young  man's  quiet,  well-ordered 
life  in  pre-war  England  is  interesting  and 
illuminating.  The  class  distinctions  may 
be  difficult  for  an  American  reader  to 
understand,  but  Sassoon.  indicates  that 
later  in  life  he  himself  came  to  he  more 
liberal  in  his  feeling  about  people  of 
lower  social  ranks. 


The  Story: 

George  Sherston  was  orphaned  so  early 
that  he  could  not  remember  when  he 
had  not  lived  with  his  Aunt  Evelyn  at 


Butley.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  became 
the  possessor  of  a  pony,  bought  at  the 
urgent  request  of  Aunt  Evelyn's  groom, 
Tom  Dixon.  Aunt  Evelyn  would  not 
let  George  go  to  school  until  he  was 
twelve,  and  his  early  training  was  given 
him  by  an  incompetent  tutor,  Mr.  Star. 
Dixon,  however,  taught  him  to  ride,  and 
this  training  he  valued  more  highly  than 
anything  Mr.  Star  taught  him.  Because 
George's  early  life  was  often  lonely,  he 
welcomed  the  diversion  of  riding. 

At  last  Dixon  thought  George  was 
ready  to  see  some  fox  hunting.  Since 
there  was  no  hunting  in  the  Sherston 
neighborhood,  they  had  to  ride  some 
nine  miles  to  the  Dumborough  Hunt, 
where  George  was  thrilled  by  the  color 
and  excitement  of  the  chase.  He  saw  a 
boy  of  about  his  own  age  who  carried 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  FOX-HUNTING  MAN  by  Siegfried  Sassooa.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*, 
Doubleday  &  O,.,  Inc.   Copyright,  1931,  by  Coward-McCann  Inc. 


575 


himself  well  and  was  obviously  one  to 
be  imitated.  The  next  Friday  at  a  dance 
George  saw  the  boy  again  and  was  pleased 
that  the  boy,  Denis  Milden,  remembered 
seeing  him  at  the  hunt. 

After  his  first  year  in  school  at  Ball- 
boro*  George  was  happy  to  be  back  at 
Aunt  Evelyn's.  Dixon  met  him  at  the 
station  with  the  word  that  he  had  secured 
a  place  for  George  on  the  village  cricket 
team,  which  would  play  next  day  at  the 
Flower  Show  Match.  George  had  played 
good  cricket  at  school,  but  he  did  not 
know  how  he  would  show  up  facing 
players  of  long  experience.  The  next 
day,  learning  that  he  was  to  be  last  at 
bat,  he  spent  the  afternoon  trying  to 
forget  his  nervousness.  Once  in  the 
game,  he  suddenly  gained  confidence  and 
brought  his  side  the  victory. 

George's  trustee  and  guardian,  Mr. 
Pennett,  was  disturbed  when  his  ward 
quit  Cambridge  without  a  degree.  George 
settled  down  with  Aunt  Evelyn  at  But- 
ley.  He  played  some  cricket  and  some 
golf.  He  ordered  a  great  many  books 
from  London.  Dixon  began  to  revive 
George's  interest  in  hunting,  but  Mr. 
Pennett  would  not  give  George  the  full 
amount  of  his  annual  income  and  so 
George  could  not  afford  the  kind  of 
horse  he  wanted,  Dixon,  however,  soon 
found  a  suitable  horse  within  the  limits 
of  George's  budget,  a  hunter  named 
Harkaway.  The  season  was  well  on,  and 
George  was  out  only  three  days.  Later 
in  the  spring  he  attended  the  Ringwell 
Hunt  Point-to-Point  Races,  where  Ste 
phen  Colwood,  a  friend  whom  he  had 
known  at  BaHboro',  won  the  Heavy- 
Weight  Race. 

The  following  autumn  George  made 
one  of  his  rare  trips  to  London.  There 
he  heard  a  concert  by  Fritz  Kreisler  and 
bought  some  clothes  suitable  for  a  fox 
hunting  man.  His  first  hunting  was 
with  the  Potford  Hunt,  an  experience 
he  found  much  more  exciting  than  that 
he  had  known  with  the  Dumborough. 
He  also  went  down  to  Sussex  to  stay 
with  Stephen  at  his  father's  rectory. 


While  visiting  Stephen,  George  bought 
another  horse,  Cockbird,  in  defiance  of 
Mr.  Pennett.  When  he  returned  to  Bur- 
ley  with  his  new  horse,  his  Aunt  Evelyn, 
realizing  that  he  could  not  afford 
the  hunter,  sold  one  of  her  rings  and 
gave  George  the  money  for  Christmas. 

Cockbird  was  more  than  a  satisfactory 
horse.  Riding  him  with  the  Ringwell 
Hounds,  George  qualified  for  the 
Colonel's  Cup  Race.  One  of  his  com 
petitors  was  riding  a  horse  owned  by 
Nigel  Croplady,  a  noisy  young  braggart 
liked  by  very  few  people.  Another  com 
petitor  was  his  friend  Stephen.  During 
the  race  Stephen  was  forced  to  drop 
back,  but  he  encouraged  George  so  much 
that  George  came  in  to  win.  As  the 
afternoon  came  to  a  close,  someone  drew 
his  attention  to  the  new  master  of  the 
Ringwell  Hounds.  It  was  Denis  Milden. 

That  summer  George  played  in  a 
number  of  cricket  matches.  Stephen,  now 
in  the  artillery,  spent  a  weekend  at  But- 
ley.  As  autumn  drew  on,  George  became 
impatient  for  the  hunting  season  to  be 
gin.  Stephen,  now  stationed  near  his 
home,  asked  George  to  spend  some  time 
at  the  rectory  and  ride  with  the  Ring- 
well  Hounds.  Nothing  could  have 
pleased  George  more,  for  he  was  a  great 
admirer  of  Denis.  The  two  became  good 
friends,  and  George  sometimes  stayed 
at  the  kennels  with  Denis.  Denis 
proved  to  be  an  excellent  master,  skillful 
in  the  hunt  and  careful  and  patient  with 
his  hounds. 

Early  in  the  following  season,  how 
ever,  Denis  resigned  to  become  master 
of  the  Packlestone  Hunt,  and  he  in 
sisted  that  George  go  up  to  the  Midlands 
with  him.  To  ride  with  the  Packlestone 
Hounds  would  be  an  expense  George 
knew  he  could  not  afford,  but  he  went 
for  the  first  season.  He  was  always  em 
barrassed,  for  he  knew  that  his  new 
friends  were  unaware  of  his  economic 
limitations.  The  year  was  1914. 

War  was  declared.  George,  aware  of 
his  incompetency  as  a  soldier,  had  turned 
down  two  opportunities  to  be  an  officer, 


576 


and  was  serving  in  the  army  as  a 
cavalryman.  To  have  to  salute  Nigel 
Croplady  made  him  feel  silly.  One  day 
the  horse  George  was  riding  threw  him, 
and  he  broke  his  arm.  Two  months 
later  he  was  sent  home  to  allow  his  arm 
to  heal.  One  afternoon  he  went  to  see 
his  neighbor,  Captain  Huxtable,  and 
asked  that  he  be  recommended  for  a 
commission  in  the  infantry.  The  com 
mission  came  through.  George  proceeded 
to  his  new  camp.  There  he  made  friends 
with  Dick  Tiltwood,  a  pleasant  young 
man  not  long  out  of  school. 

They  crossed  the  Channel  together 
and  were  assigned  to  a  battalion  coming 
back  from  the  front  for  a  rest.  Dick  and 


George  spent  many  hours  sightseeing 
and  talking  and  reading.  George  took 
Dick  out  riding  frequently.  They  would 
pretend  they  were  fox  hunting.  George, 
assigned  to  headquarters,  felt  rather 
shaken  when  Dick  was  sent  to  the 
trenches  without  him.  Word  reached 
George  that  Stephen  had  been  killed. 
Dixon,  who  was  also  in  service  and  who 
wanted  to  be  transferred  to  George's 
company,  died  of  pneumonia.  Then  when 
George  learned  that  Dick  had  died  of  a 
throat  wound,  he  asked  to  be  transferred 
to  the  trenches.  There  he  served  bravely, 
always  angry  at  the  war  which  had  takeo 
away  his  best  friends. 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MIDGET 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Walter  de  la  Mare  (1873-1956) 

Type  of  'plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    England 

First  published:    1921 

Principal  characters: 
Miss  M.,  a  midget 
MRS.  Bo  WATER,  her  landlady 
FANNY  BOWATER,  Mrs.  Bowater's  daughter 
MRS.  MONNEREB,  Miss  M.'s  patroness 
MR.  ANON,  a  dwarf 

Critique: 

Memoirs  of  a  Midget  is  a  highly  origi 
nal  novel  which  mingles  poetry  and 
social  criticism.  Exquisitely  written,  it 
has  an  unfailing  charm  and  interest.  Re 
markable  is  the  careful  and  exact  use  of 
the  proper  perspective  throughout  the 
thoughtfully  executed  work.  Nor  can 
the  reader  fail  to  note  the  veiled  criticisms 
of  society  which  the  author  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  tiny  Miss  M. 


The  Story: 

Miss  M.,  a  perfectly-formed  midget, 
was  born  to  normal  parents  and  in  pleas 
ant  surroundings.  Until  her  eighteenth 
year  she  was  brought  up  in  seclusion. 
Then  her  mother  died,  followed  shortly 


thereafter  by  her  father,  and  tiny  Miss 
M.  was  left  alone  in  the  world.  Her  god 
mother  offered  to  take  her  in,  but  the 
girl,  having  inherited  a  modest  fortune, 
decided  to  take  lodgings  instead.  She 
made  her  first  humiHating  excursion  in 
public  when  she  moved  to  her  new 
home. 

Her  lodgings  were  in  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Bowater,  a  stern  woman,  who  never 
theless  had  a  great  affection  for  her  small 
roomer.  At  Mrs.  Bowater's  Miss  M.  met 
Fanny,  the  daughter  of  her  landlady. 
A  teacher  in  a  girls*  school,  Fanny  was 
both  charming  and  clever.  Because  of 
the  friendship  between  the  two,  the 
midget  became  involved  in  the  love 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MIDGET  by  Walter  de  la  Marc.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Alfred  A. 
Knopf,  Inc.   Copyright,  1922,  by  Walter  de  la  Mare. 


577 


affair  of  Fanny  Bowater  and  the  curate, 
an  affair  which  ended  with  the  curate's 
suicide  when  Fanny  rejected  his  suit 

After  a  time  Miss  M.  began  to  go  out 
in  society.  She  "became  the  friend  of  Lady 
Pollacke,  whose  friendship  she  was  never 
to  lose.  At  their  home  she  met  the 
wealthy  Mrs.  Monnerie,  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Lord  B.  Mrs.  Monnerie 
took  such  a  fancy  to  the  tiny  girl  that 
she  invited  her  for  a  vacation  at  Lyme 
Regis,  a  fashionable  watering  place  in 
Dorsetshire. 

Before  she  left  on  her  vacation  Miss 
M.  accidentally  met  a  new  friend,  Mr. 
Anon,  a  deformed  and  hunchbacked 
creature  only  a  few  inches  taller  than 
Miss  M.  Miss  M.,  unaware  of  the  ways 
of  the  world,  introduced  Mr.  Anon  to 
Mrs.  Bowater,  who  approved  of  him  in  a 
grudging  way.  They  saw  each  other  fre 
quently,  and  Miss  M.  once  solicited  his 
aid  when  she  wanted  to  secure  money 
for  Fanny  while  she  was  away  at  Lyme 
Regis.  Soon  after  they  returned  from 
their  holiday,  Mrs.  Monnerie  invited 
j\lidgetina,  as  she  called  Miss  M.7  to 
visit  at  her  elaborate  town  house  in  Lon 
don. 

Miss  M.  accepted  the  invitation  and 
became  another  prized  possession  Mrs. 
Monnerie  could  exhibit  to  her  guests. 
In  London  she  met  the  niece  and  nephew 
of  her  patroness.  Percy  Maudlen  was  a 
languid,  ill-mannered  youth  whom  the 
small  girl  disliked.  Susan  Monnerie  was 
a  pleasant  person  of  whom  Miss  M.  be 
came  very  fond.  After  a  visit  of  six 
weeks,  Miss  M.  returned  briefly  to  Mrs. 
Bowater's.  There  she  received  a  letter 
from  Fanny,  begging  her  to  try  to  use 
her  influence  with  Mrs.  Monnerie  to 
secure  a  position  for  Fanny  as  a  govern 
ess.  During  Miss  M.'s  stay  with  Mrs. 
Bowater  she  again  met  Mr.  Anon,  who 
declared  his  love  for  her.  The  midget 
told  him  that  she  was  not  able  to  return 
his  love. 

Before  long  Ivliss  M.  returned  to  Lon 
don,  where  her  pampered  way  of  living 
did  much  to  spoil  her.  During  her  stay 


Mrs.  Bowater  came  with  the  news  that 
she  was  going  to  South  America  to  nurse 
her  sick  husband,  a  sailor.  Shortly  after 
ward  Miss  M.'s  solicitors  informed  her 
that  her  small  inheritance  had  dwindled 
because  of  the  gifts  and  trifles  she  had 
bought  and  because  of  her  loans  to 
Fanny.  When  Miss  M.  confessed  her 
troubles  to  Sir  Walter  Pollacke,  he  con 
sented  to  become  both  her  guardian  and 
financial  adviser.  Meanwhile,  Miss  M. 
had  not  forgotten  Fanny  Bowater's  re 
quest.  Through  the  little  person's  per 
suasion,  Mrs.  Monnerie  found  a  place 
for  Fanny  as  morning  governess  and 
invited  the  girl  to  stay  with  her. 

Mr.  Anon  wrote  and  proposed  mar 
riage,  but  Miss  M.  was  horrified  at  the 
idea  of  repeating  the  performance  of 
Tom  Thumb  and  Mercy  Lavinia  Bump 
Warren.  Then  it  became  evident  that 
Mrs.  Monnerie  was  no  longer  amused  by 
her  little  charge,  for  Fanny  had  become 
her  favorite.  To  celebrate  Miss  M.'s  birth 
day,  Percy  Maudlen  planned  a  banquet 
in  her  honor,  but  the  party  was  a  dismal 
failure  so  far  as  Miss  M.  was  concerned. 
The  menu  disgusted  her,  and  when  Percy 
proposed  a  toast  Miss  M.  responded  by 
drinking  down  her  glass  of  chartreuse 
at  a  single  gulp  and  staggering  drunk- 
enly  down  the  table.  In  this  condition 
she  hurled  at  Fanny  a  reference  to  the 
unfortunate  suicide  of  the  curate. 

Such  actions  deserved  punishment. 
Mrs.  Monnerie  sent  Miss  M.  in  disgrace 
to  Monks'  House,  her  summer  place  in 
the  country.  One  afternoon  Miss  M. 
saw  the  caravans  of  a  circus  passing  the 
gate.  Because  she  knew  that  she  could 
no  longer  count  on  Mrs.  Monnerie  for 
support,  Miss  M.  was  desperate  and 
she  suddenly  decided  to  hire  herself  to 
the  circus.  The  owner  engaged  her  to 
ride  a  pony  in  the  ring,  and  she  agreed 
to  appear  for  four  nights  for  fifteen 
guineas.  She  also  told  fortunes.  She 
was  a  great  success,  the  most  popukr  at 
traction  of  the  circus. 

Her  solitude  during  the  day  at  Monks' 
House  was  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of 


578 


Fanny  Bowater.  Fanny  seemed  to  know 
of  her  escapades  at  the  circus,  and  the 
two  quarreled  violently.  Then  Mrs.  Mon- 
nerie  arrived.  She  was  in  a  high  state 
of  excitement  over  the  news  of  the  mid 
get  who  was  so  popular  at  the  circus. 
She  had  even  made  up  a  party  to  attend 
the  performance  on  the  last  night.  When 
Miss  M.  flatly  refused  to  perform,  Mrs. 
Monnerie  sent  her,  like  a  child,  to  bed. 
At  the  last  minute  Miss  M.  felt 
that  she  must  appear  at  the  circus  to 
keep  her  contract.  Setting  out  on  foot, 
she  encountered  Mr.  Anon,  and  they 
went  on  to  the  circus  together.  Although 
he  tried  to  persuade  her  not  to  appear, 
she  exhibited  herself  in  the  tent,  un 
recognized,  in  her  disguise,  by  all  of  the 


members  of  Mrs.  Monnerie's  party  except 
Fanny.  Mr.  Anon,  determined  that  he 
would  take  her  place  in  the  riding  act, 
put  on  her  costume  and  rode  into  the 
ring.  Thrown  from  the  pony,  he  died  in 
Miss  M.'s  arms. 

Through  a  legacy  from  her  grand 
father,  Miss  M.  became  financially  inde 
pendent,  and  settled  down  at  Lyndsey 
with  Mrs.  Bowater  as  her  housekeeper. 
But  one  night  Miss  M.  disappeared 
mysteriously,  leaving  a  note  saying  that 
she  had  been  called  suddenly  away.  She 
was  never  seen  again,  and  her  memoirs 
were  eventually  presented  to  the  public 
by  her  faithful  friend,  Sir  Walter  Pol- 
lacke. 


MEMOIRS  OF  AN  INFANTRY  OFFICER 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Siegfried  Sassoon  (1886-         3 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  1916-1917 

Locale:  France  and  England 

First  published:  1930 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  SHERSTON,  an  infantry  officer 
DAVID  CROMLECH,  his  friend 
AUNT  EVELYN,  his  aunt 

Criticjue: 

This  novel — the  second  of  a  series 
which  also  includes  Memoirs  of  a  Fox- 
Hunting  Man  and  Sherston  s  Progress — 
is  almost  a  caricature  of  what  many  peo 
ple  regard  as  typical  English  behavior. 
The  war  is  a  very  casual,  very  personal 
thing,  almost  devoid  of  import  and  strat 
egy.  The  officers  who  meet  Sherston 
briefly  are  men  who  exhibit  just  the 
right  amount  of  detachment  and  regard 
for  good  form.  Underneath  the  well-bred 
tolerance  for  the  real  discomfort  and 
danger  of  trench  warfare  there  is  a  thread 
of  revolt  which  culminates  in  Sherston's 
letter  informing  his  colonel  that  the 
war  is  needlessly  being  prolonged.  Even 
the  authorities,  however,  are  too  well- 
bred  to  take  the  letter  seriously,  and 


Sherston  falls  back  into  nonchalance.  The 
book  is  quiet  but  effective  satire  on  upper- 
class  English  life, 

Tlie  Story: 

Spring  arrived  late  in  1916  in  the 
trenches  near  Mametz.  Sherston  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  die,  because  under 
the  circumstances  there  seemed  to  be 
little  else  to  do.  The  battle  of  the  Somme 
had  exhausted  him.  Colonel  Kin  jack 
could  see  that  Sherston  was  looking  for 
trouble  and  so,  to  forestall  any  un 
pleasantness,  he  sent  Sherston  to  the 
Fourth  Army  School  at  Flix6court  for 
a  month's  training. 

The  beds  at  the  school  were  clean  and 
comfortable,  and  the  routine  was  not 


MEMOIRS  OF  AN  INFANTRY  OFFICER  by  Siegfried  Sassoon.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  pub 
lishers,  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,  1930,  by  Coward-McCaan  Inc. 


579 


too  onerous.  Sherston  settled  Back  to  for 
get  the  war.  He  attended  a  big  game 
hunter's  lectures  on  sniping  and  prac 
ticed  with  a  bayonet.  To  him  it  was  a 
little  incongruous  to  listen  to  advice 
from  civilians  and  army  men  who  had 
never  been  close  to  real  war.  All  the 
instructors  concentrated  on  open  warfare; 
they  were  sure  that  the  trenches  would 
soon  be  abandoned. 

One  hot  Saturday  afternoon  he  went 
back  to  his  outfit,  where  the  talk  was 
all  of  an  impending  raid.  There  seemed 
to  be  some  jealousy  involved,  for  a 
Canadian  raid  a  short  time  before  had 
been  a  great  success. 

Sherston,  sure  he  would  accompany 
the  raiders,  wrote  a  farewell  letter  to 
his  Aunt  Evelyn,  a  letter  in  which,  he 
slyly  assumed  toe  attitude  of  the  "happy 
warrior."  Entering  a  dugout,  he  was 
a  little  surprised  to  see  the  raiders  putting 
burnt  cork  on  their  faces.  Their  ap 
pearance  reminded  him  ridiculously  of 
a  minstrel  show.  Requested  to  take  the 
raiders  up  to  headquarters,  he  jumped 
at  the  opportunity  to  present  his  plea 
to  the  commanding  officer. 

To  his  disappointment,  Colonel  Kin- 
jack  brusquely  told  him  he  had  to  stay 
behind  to  count  the  raiders  when  they 
returned.  So  he  was  condemned  to 
stand  in  the  trench  and  wait. 

As  soon  as  the  raiders  were  well  over 
the  parapet,  the  explosions  began.  The 
men  struggled  back  defeated  when  the 
second  belt  of  German  wire  proved  in- 
mlnerable.  They  had  all  tossed  their 
bombs  and  retired.  Skerston  began  to 
£0  out  into  No  Man's  Land  to  bring 
»n  the  casualties.  A  gray-haired  lance 
corporal  was  glad  of  his  wound,  for  he 
had  been  waiting  eighteen  months  for 
a  chance  to  go  home.  O'Brien,  the  major, 
was  killed,  and  Sherston  had  to  drag 
him  out  of  a  shell  crater.  Luckily  the 
Germans,  perhaps  out  of  pity,  stopped 
firing. 

The  result  of  the  raid  was  two  Trilled 
and  ten  wounded.  In  the  newspapers, 
the  account  was  somewhat  changed. 


Aunt  Evelyn  read  that  the  party  entered 
the  German  trenches  without  difficulty, 
displayed  admirable  morale,  and  with 
drew  after  twenty-five  minutes  of  hand- 
to-hand  fighting. 

The  big  push,  the  summer  offensive, 
was  in  the  air.  Before  Sherston  really 
had  time  to  think  much  about  impend 
ing  events,  he  was  given  a  leave.  At 
first  it  was  strange  to  be  back  in  England, 
where  everyone  seemed  to  know  about 
the  projected  onslaught.  Out  of  defer 
ence  to  one  who  would  take  part  in  it, 
however,  they  seldom  mentioned  it. 
Aunt  Evelyn  soon  found  out  about  the 
raid  when  Sherston  grandly  announced 
that  he  was  due  for  a  military  cross. 
She  was  horrified,  for  she  thought  her 
nephew  was  still  in  the  transport  serv 
ice. 

On  his  way  back  to  France  he  stopped 
in  the  Army  and  Navy  Store  and  bought 
two  pairs  of  wire  cutters.  Then,  because 
he  was  late  in  returning  from  leave, 
he  bought  a  salmon  and  two  bottles  of 
brandy  to  appease  his  colonel. 

When  the  offensive  began,  Sherston's 
company  advanced  fifteen  hundred  yards 
in  four  hours.  Then  the  guides  became 
confused,  and  all  forward  progress 
stopped.  According  to  the  General  Staff, 
the  Germans  were  supposed  to  be  out 
of  the  Mametz  Woods,  but  they  were 
still  there.  The  company  waited. 

Sherston  was  going  along  a  communi 
cations  trench  when  his  companion,  Ken- 
die,  was  killed  by  a  sniper.  Furious  at 
the  unexpected  killing,  Sherston  took  a 
mills  bomb  in  each  hand  and  went  over 
the  top.  After  a  while  he  was  looking 
down  into  a  well-ordered  trench  filled 
with  Germans.  Fortunately  they  were 
just  leaving,  and  he  jumped  into  Wood 
Trench,  until  lately  the  German  front 
line.  Then  he  lost  his  perspective.  Not 
knowing  what  to  do  with  the  trench,  he 
returned  to  his  own  lines.  His  colonel 
reproved  him  severely  for  not  "consolidat 
ing"  the  trench  or  even  reporting  the  in 
cident. 

During  the  battle  of  Bazentin  Ridge 


580 


Sherston  was  kept  in  reserve  in  the 
transport  lines.  In  this  brief  respite,  he 
met  his  old  friend,  David  Cromlech.  For 
a  while  they  shared  experiences,  but 
both  were  reluctant  to  talk  about  the 
battle  of  the  Somme.  David  irritated 
the  other  officers  greatly  by  his  habit 
of  making  bold  pronouncements  about 
sacred  things.  For  instance,  he  said  that 
all  sports  except  boxing,  football,  and 
rock  climbing  were  snobbish  and  silly. 

When  Sherston  was  finally  recalled 
to  his  battalion,  it  was  with  the  expecta 
tion  that  he  would  go  into  action  at 
once.  As  it  turned  out,  however,  he 
came  down  with  enteritis  before  he  ar 
rived  in  the  front  lines.  It  was  an  escape, 
really,  for  he  was  removed  to  the  base 
hospital  and  eventually  was  sent  back 
to  England. 

At  the  military  hospital  in  Oxford, 
Sherston  recovered  enough  to  go  canoe 
ing  occasionally.  By  the  end  of  August 
he  was  back  with  Aunt  Evelyn  on  a 
month's  sick  leave  with  a  possibility  of 
extension.  Several  letters  from  fellow 
officers  kept  him  informed  about  his 
battalion,  mostly  reports  on  men  killed. 
He  remained  fairly  cheerful,  however, 
by  riding  in  the  local  fox  hunts.  In 
February  he  went  back  to  Rouen. 

The  Germans  were  retreating  from 
the  Hindenburg  Line,  and  the  British 
were  on  the  offensive  in  the  battle  of 
Arras.  To  his  surprise  and  gratification, 


Sherston  was  put  in  charge  of  a  hun 
dred  bombers  who  were  clearing  the 
trenches.  He  carried  out  his  task  with 
great  skill  and  bravery.  When  the  mis 
sion  was  nearly  accomplished,  he  was 
struck  by  a  rifle  bullet. 

Back  in  England  again,  he  rebelled 
against  going  into  action  a  third  time. 
With  the  help  of  Tyrrell,  a  pacifist  phi 
losopher,  he  composed  a  defiant  letter  to 
his  colonel,  saying  that  he  refused  to 
take  part  in  the  war  any  longer  because 
he  was  sure  it  was  being  unnecessarily 
continued  by  those  in  power.  He  was 
sure,  above  all,  that  the  Germans  would 
surrender  if  the  Allies  would  publish 
their  war  aims.  Expecting  to  be  court- 
martialed  for  this  breach  of  discipline, 
he  was  resolved  to  accept  even  execution. 

To  his  chagrin,  the  superiors  refused 
to  take  him  seriously.  He  went  before 
a  board  which  investigated  his  sanity. 
Then  David  Cromlech  was  called  in  to 
talk  to  him  at  Clitherland  Camp.  Unable 
to  persuade  him  to  recant  by  any  other 
means,  David  finally  told  Sherston  that 
if  he  refused  to  retract  his  statements  he 
would  be  confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum  for 
the  duration  of  the  war.  Sherston  knew 
David  was  only  telling  a  friendly  lie, 
but  he  did  not  want  to  see  his  friend 
proved  a  liar.  He  decided  to  admit  his 
mistake  and  see  the  war  through  to  its 
finish. 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  Q564-1616) 

Type  of  'plot:  Tragi-comedy 

Time  of  plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  Venice 

First  presented:  c.  1596 

Principal  characters: 

SBCXXOCE:,  a  Jewish  money-lender 

PORTIA,  a  wealthy  young  woman 

ANTONIO,  an  impoverished  merchant,  Shylock's  enemy,  championed  by  Portia 

BASSANIO,  Portia  s  husband,  Antonio's  friend 

NERISSA,  Portia's  waiting-woman 

GBATIANO,  Nerissa's  husband,  Bassanio's  friend 

JESSICA,  Shylock's  daughter 

LOBENZO,  Jessica's  husband 


581 


Critique: 

Though  the  closing  scenes  of  The 
Merchant  of  Venice  keep  it  from  "be 
coming  a  tragedy,  it  is  essentially  a  ser 
ious  study  of  the  use  and  misuse  of 
wealth,  of  love  and  marriage.  The  en 
counter  between  the  greedy,  vengeful 
Jew,  Shylock,  and  the  wise  and  fine 
Portia,  gives  the  pky  a  theme  of  grave 
beauty. 

The  Story: 

Bassanio,  meeting  his  wealthy  friend, 
Antonio,  revealed  that  he  had  a  plan  for 
restoring  his  fortune,  carelessly  spent, 
and  for  paying  the  debts  he  had  incurred. 
In  the  town  of  Belmont,  not  far  from 
Venice,  there  lived  a  wealthy  young 
woman  named  Portia,  who  was  famous 
for  her  beauty.  If  he  could  secure  some 
money,  Bassanio  declared,  he  was  sure 
he  could  win  her  as  his  wife. 

Antonio  replied  that  he  had  no  funds 
at  hand  with  which  to  supply  his  friend, 
as  they  were  all  invested  in  the  ships 
which  he  had  at  sea,  but  he  would 
attempt  to  borrow  some  money  in  Venice. 

Portia  had  many  suitors  for  her  hand. 
According  to  the  strange  conditions  of 
her  father's  will,  however,  anyone  who 
wished  her  for  his  wife  had  to  choose 
among  three  caskets  of  silver,  gold,  and 
lead  the  one  which  contained  a  message 
that  she  was  his.  Four  of  her  suitors, 
seeing  that  they  could  not  win  her  except 
under  the  conditions  of  the  will,  de 
parted.  A  fifth,  a  Moor,  decided  to  take 
his  chances.  Tlie  unfortunate  man  chose 
the  golden  casket,  which  contained  only 
a  skull  and  a  mocking  message.  For  his 
failure  he  was  compelled  to  swear  never 
to  reveal  the  casket  he  had  chosen  and 
never  to  woo  another  woman. 

The  Prince  of  Arragon  was  the  next 
suitor  to  try  Ms  luck.  In  his  turn  he 
chose  the  silver  casket,  only  to  learn 
from  the  note  it  bore  that  he  was  a  fool. 

True  to  his  promise  to  Bassanio, 
Antonio  arranged  to  borrow  three  thou 
sand  ducats  from  Shylock,  a  wealthy  Jew. 
Antonio  was  to  have  the  use  of  the 


money  for  three  months.  If  he  should 
be  unable  to  return  the  loan  at  the  end 
of  that  time,  Shylock  was  to  have  the 
rioht  to  cut  a  pound  of  flesh  from  any 
part  of  Antonio's  body.  In  spite  of  Bas- 
sanio's  objections,  Antonio  insisted  on 
accepting  the  terms,  for  he  was  sure  his 
ships  would  return  a  month  before  the 
payment  would  be  due.  He  was  con 
fident  that  he  would  never  fall  into  the 
power  of  the  Jew,  who  hated  Antonio 
because  he  often  lent  money  to  others 
without  charging  the  interest  Shylock 
demanded. 

That  night  Bassanio  planned  a  feast 
and  a  masque,  In  conspiracy  with  his 
friend,  Lorenzo,  he  invited  Shylock  to 
be  his  guest.  Lorenzo,  taking  advantage 
of  her  father's  absence,  ran  off  with  the 
Jew's  daughter,  Jessica,  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  take  part  of  Shylock's  fortune 
with  her. 

Shylock  was  cheated  not  only  of  his 
daughter  and  his  ducats  but  also  of  his 
entertainment,  for  the  wind  suddenly 
changed  and  Bassanio  set  sail  for  Bel 
mont. 

As  the  days  passed,  the  Jew  began  to 
hear  news  of  mingled  good  and  bad 
fortune.  In  Genoa,  Jessica  and  Lorenzo 
were  making  lavish  use  of  the  money  she 
had  taken  with  her.  The  miser  flinched 
at  the  reports  of  his  daughter's  extrava 
gance,  but  for  compensation  he  had  the 
news  that  Antonio's  ships,  on  which  his 
fortune  depended,  had  been  wrecked  at 


sea. 


Portia,  much  taken  with  Bassanio  when 
he  came  to  woo  her,  would  have  had 
Kim  wait  before  he  tried  to  pick  the 
right  casket.  Sure  that  he  would  fail 
as  the  others  had,  she  hoped  to  have 
his  company  a  little  while  longer.  Bas- 
sanio,  however,  was  impatient  to  try 
his  luck.  Not  deceived  by  the  ornate- 
ness  of  the  gold  and  silver  caskets,  but 
philosophizing  that  true  virtue  is  inward 
virtue,  he  chose  the  lead  box.  In  it  was 
a  portrait  of  Portia.  He  had  chosen 
correctly. 


582 


To  seal  their  engagement,  Portia  gave 
Bassanio  a  ring.  She  declared  he  must 
never  part  with  it,  for  if  he  did  it  would 
signify  the  end  of  their  love. 

Gratiano,  a  friend  who  had  accom 
panied  Bassanio  to  Belmont,  spoke  up. 
He  was  in  love  with  Portia's  waiting- 
woman,  Nerissa.  With  Portia's  delighted 
approval,  Gratiano  planned  that  both 
couples  should  be  married  at  the  same 
time. 

Bassanio's  joy  at  his  good  fortune  was 
soon  blighted.  Antonio  wrote  that  he 
was  ruined,  all  his  ships  having  failed 
to  return.  The  time  for  payment  of  the 
loan  being  past  due,  Shylock  was  de 
manding  his  pound  of  flesh.  In  closing, 
Antonio  declared  that  he  cleared  Bas 
sanio  of  his  debt  to  him.  He  wished  only 
to  see  his  friend  once  more  before  his 
death. 

Portia  declared  that  the  double  wed 
ding  should  take  place  at  once.  Then 
her  husband,  with  her  dowry  of  six 
thousand  ducats,  should  set  out  for  Ven 
ice  in  an  attempt  to  buy  off  the  Jew. 

After  Bassanio  and  Gratiano  had  gone, 
Portia  declared  to  Lorenzo  and  Jessica, 
who  had  come  to  Belmont,  that  she  and 
Nerissa  were  going  to  a  nunnery,  where 
they  would  live  in  seclusion  until  their 
husbands  returned.  She  committed  the 
charge  of  her  house  and  servants  to  Jes 
sica  and  Lorenzo. 

Instead  of  taking  the  course  she  had 
described,  however,  Portia  set  about  ex 
ecuting  other  plans.  She  gave  her  serv 
ant,  Balthasar,  orders  to  take  a  note 
to  her  cousin,  Doctor  Bellario,  a  famous 
lawyer  of  Padua,  in  order  to  secure  a 
message  and  some  clothes  from  him.  She 
explained  to  Nerissa  that  they  would  go 
to  Venice  disguised  as  men. 

The  Duke  of  Venice,  before  whom 
Antonio's  case  was  tried,  was  reluctant 
to  exact  the  penalty  which  was  in  Shy- 
lock^  terms.  When  his  appeals  to  the 
Jew's  better  feelings  went  unheeded,  he 
could  see  no  course  before  him  except 
to  give  the  money-lender  his  due.  Bas 
sanio  also  tried  to  make  Shylock  relent 


by  offering  him  the  six  thousand  ducats, 
but,  like  the  Duke,  he  met  only  a  firm 
refusal. 

Portia,  dressed  as  a  lawyer,  and  Neris 
sa,  disguised  as  her  clerk,  appeared  in  the 
court.  Nerissa  offered  the  duke  a  letter 
from  Doctor  Bellario.  The  doctor  ex 
plained  that  he  was  very  ill?  but  that 
Balthasar,  his  young  representative,  would 
present  his  opinion  in  the  dispute. 

When  Portia  appealed  to  the  Jew's 
mercy,  Shylock  answered  with  a  demand 
for  the  penalty.  Portia  then  declared 
that  the  Jew,  under  the  letter  of  the 
contract,  could  not  be  offered  money  in 
exchange  for  Antonio's  release.  The  only 
alternative  was  for  the  merchant  to  for 
feit  his  flesh. 

Antonio  prepared  his  bosom  for  the 
knife,  for  Shylock  was  determined  to 
take  his  portion  as  close  to  his  enemy's 
heart  as  he  could  cut.  Before  the  opera 
tion  could  begin,  however,  Portia,  exam 
ining  the  contract,  declared  that  it  con 
tained  no  clause  stating  that  Shylock 
could  have  any  blood  with  the  flesh. 

The  Jew,  realizing  that  he  was  de 
feated,  offered  at  once  to  accept  the 
six  thousand  ducats,  but  Portia  declared 
that  he  was  not  entitled  to  the  money 
he  had  already  refused.  She  stated  also 
that  Shylock,  an  alien,  had  threatened 
the  life  of  a  Venetian  citizen.  For  that 
crime  Antonio  had  the  right  to  seize 
half  of  his  property  and  the  state  the 
remainder. 

Antonio  refused  that  penalty,  but  it 
was  agreed  that  one  half  of  Shylock's 
fortune  should  go  at  once  to  Jessica 
and  Lorenzo.  Shylock  was  to  keep  the 
remainder,  but  it  too  was  to  be  willed  the 
couple.  In  addition,  Shylock  was  to 
undergo  conversion.  The  defeated  man 
agreed  to  those  terms. 

Pressed  to  accept  a  reward,  Portia 
took  only  a  pair  of  Antonio's  gloves  and 
the  ring  which  she  herself  had  given  Bas 
sanio.  Nerissa,  likewise,  managed  to  se 
cure  Gratiano's  ring.  Then  the  pair 
started  back  for  Belmont,  to  be  there 
when  their  husbands  returned. 


583 


Portia  and  Nerissa  arrived  home 
shortly  before  Bassanio  and  Gratiano  ap 
peared  in  company  with  Antonio.  Pre 
tending  to  discover  that  their  husbands' 
rings  were  missing,  Portia  and  Nerissa  at 
first  accused  Bassanio  and  Gratiano  of 
unfaithfulness.  At  last,  to  the  surprise 


of  all,  they  revealed  their  secret,  which 
was  vouched  for  by  a  letter  from  Doctor 
Bellario.  For  Jessica  and  Lorenzo  they 
had  the  good  news  of  their  future  in 
heritance,  and  for  Antonio  a  letter, 
secured  by  chance,  announcing  that  some 
of  his  ships  had  arrived  safely  in  port 


MESSER  MARCO  POLO 

Type  of  tf  orb:  Novelette 

Author;  Domi  Byrne  (1889-1928) 

Type  of  plot:  Exotic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Thirteenth  century 

Locale:  Venice  and  China 

First  published:  1921 

Principal  characters: 

MARCO  POLO,  the  Venetian 
KTTBLA  KHAN,  Emperor  of  China 
GOUDEN  BELLS,  Kubla  Khan's  daughter 
Li  Po,  court  poet 
SANANG,  court  magician 

Critique: 

A  mixture  of  three  elements  gives  this 
simple  tale  a  unique  flavor.  A  modern 
Irishman  tells  the  adventures  of  a  Chris 
tian  Italian  in  pagan  China.  Irish  mysti 
cism  mingles  with  the  mystery  of  the 
East  to  produce  a  romantic  and  tragic 
love  story  hased  upon  the  visit  of  Marco 
Polo  to  the  court  of  Kuhla  Khan.  The 
author  succeeds  in  hringing  together,  in 
one  framework,  folk  tale,  history,  and 
imagination.  His  simple  narrative  style 
is  of  a  kind  very  rarely  found  among 
modem  authors;  it  suggests  the  fireside 
stories  and  poems  of  the  past  which 
passed  from  generation  to  generation  hy 
word  of  mouth. 


The  Story: 

On  the  first  night  of  spring  young 
Marco  Polo  deserted  his  work  in  his 
father's  counting-house  and  wandered 
restlessly  through  the  streets  of  Venice. 
He  entered  a  wine  shop  in  the  hope  of 
talking  with  some  of  the  foreign  people 
gathered  there.  The  people  inside  were 
gambling  and  drinking,  except  for  one 
man  who  sat  by  himself  at  a  table.  Marco 


recognized  him  as  a  Chinese  sea  captain 
and  sat  down  to  talk  to  him.  In  a  friendly 
argument  over  the  merits  of  their  native 
countries,  the  sea  captain  got  the  better 
of  young  Marco  by  describing  the  beauty 
of  Golden  Bells,  the  daughter  of  Kubla 
Khan. 

From  that  night  on,  the  image  of 
Golden  Bells  haunted  Marco  Polo.  When 
his  father  and  uncle,  Nicholas  and  Mat 
thew  Polo,  returned  from  China,  Marco 
told  them  that  he  wished  to  go  with 
them  on  their  next  trip.  Kubla  Khan 
had  told  the  Polos  to  bring  a  Christian 
missionary  back  with,  them  from  Venice, 
and  they  chose  young  Marco  to  play  the 
part.  He  was  delighted,  for  he  had  con 
vinced  himself  that  it  was  his  mission 
to  convert  Golden  Bells  to  Christianity. 

The  wise  old  Pope  gave  his  blessing 
to  Marco  as  he  started  out  for  China,  but 
he  warned  the  young  man  not  to  expect 
to  convert  many  pagans.  Marco,  his 
uncle,  and  his  father  set  out  with  their 
camel  caravan  for  the  court  of  Kubla 
Khan.  Marco  saw  on  the  way  many 
strange  countries  and  cities.  At  last  the 


MESSER  MARCO  POLO  by  Donn   Byrne.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Appleton-Century-Crofts,  lac. 
Copyright,  1921,  by  The  Cenimy  Co.    Renewed,  1949,  by  Dorothea  Craig. 


584 


travelers  came  to  the  Desert  of  tlie  Sing 
ing  Sands.  Many  deserted  or  died  until 
there  were  only  six  of  the  caravan  left. 
When  a  great  sandstorm  came  upon 
them,  Marco  struggled  until  his  strength 
gave  out  and  he  lay  down  to  die. 

Meanwhile  Golden  Bells  sat  in  the 
garden  of  Kubla  Khan  and  talked  with 
Li  Po,  the  court  poet.  Sanang,  the  court 
magician,  joined  them.  He  told  Golden 
Bells  that  he  could  see  in  his  crystal 
ball  the  troubles  of  Marco  Polo.  Golden 
Bells  felt  pity  for  the  young  man  and 
begged  Sanang  to  save  him  from  death 
in  the  Desert  of  the  Singing  Sands. 
Through  his  magic  power  Sanang  called 
upon  the  Tartar  tribesmen  to  rescue 
Marco.  Golden  Bells  was  joyful  when 
the  old  magician  assured  her  the  young 
man  had  been  saved.  Li  Po  smiled  and 
said  he  would  write  a  marriage  song  for 
her.  She  said  that  she  was  in  love  with 
no  one,  but  she  refused  to  sing  any 
more  the  sad  "Song  of  the  Willow 
Branches/' 

The  desert  tribesmen  brought  Marco 
before  Kubla  Khan  and  Golden  Bells. 
The  emperor  asked  him  to  tell  something 
about  the  Christian  religion.  Marco 
quoted  the  Beatitudes  and  related  the 
life  of  Christ,  but  Kubla  Khan  and  his 
court  were  not  impressed  by  that  story 
of  gentleness  and  love.  Golden  Bells 
alone,  of  all  the  court,  told  Marco  that 
she  wras  his  convert. 

Marco  began  to  instruct  Golden  Bells 
and  told  her  all  the  Bible  stories  he  knew. 


She  was  charmed  by  his  voice.  He  tried 
to  explain  to  her  what  sin  was,  but 
she  could  not  believe  that  the  beauty  of 
a  woman  was  a  curse.  Finally,  when 
he  had  told  her  all  he  knew  of  Christian 
ity,  he  spoke  of  returning  to  Venice. 
Golden  Bells  was  heartbroken.  At  last 
Marco  took  her  in  his  arms. 

For  three  years  they  lived  happily; 
then  Golden  Bells  died.  Marco  remained 
on  for  fourteen  years  in  the  service  of 
the  emperor.  One  evening  Kubla  Khan 
came  to  Marco  with  Li  Po  and  Sanang 
and  told  him  that  he  should  return  to 
Venice,  for  some  of  the  people  in  the 
land  were  jealous  of  Marco's  power.  It 
was  for  his  own  good  that  he  should 
return. 

Marco  refused  to  go.  He  did  not  wish 
to  leave  the  place  where  he  had  been 
happy.  Only  a  sign  from  the  dead  Golden 
BeHs  would  make  him  leave.  Then 
Sanang  cast  a  magic  spell  and  Li  Po 
sang  a  magic  song.  A  ghastly  moonlight 
appeared  at  the  end  of  the  palace  gar 
den,  and  there,  slim  in  the  moonlight, 
stood  Golden  Bells.  With  her  pleading 
eyes  and  soundless  lips  she  begged  Marco 
to  return  to  Venice;  then  she  disap 
peared.  Marco  was  overcome  with  grief, 
but  he  promised  to  go.  As  he  took  leave 
of  his  three  old  friends,  he  said  that  he 
was  going  home  to  be  an  exile  in  his 
own  land.  The  sunshine  and  the  rain 
of  China — and  the  memory  of  Golden 
Bells — would  be  always  in  his  heart. 


MICAH  CLAUKE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  (1859-1930) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Late  seventeenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1888 

Principal  characters: 

MICAH  CLARKE,  an  English  youth 

JOSEPH  CLARKE,  his  father 

DECEMUS  SAXON,  an  old  soldier 

REUBEN  LOCKARBY,  Micah's  friend 

SIR  GERVAS,  a  Cavalier 

THZ  DUKE  OF  MONMOUTH,  pretender  to  the  throne 

585 


Critique: 

Micah  Clarke  is  one  of  a  group  of 
historical  romances  by  the  writer  who 
will  always  be  best  known  for  his  crea 
tion  of  Sherlock  Holmes.  Micah  Clarke 
is  a  stirring  adventure  story  as  well  as  a 
careful  reconstruction  of  the  events  of 
1685,  when  the  Duke  of  Monmouth 
attempted  to  seize  the  English  throne. 
The  pictures  of  the  determined  Protes 
tants  who  preferred  death  to  a  Catholic 
king  are  unforgettable. 

The  Story: 

At  Havant,  near  Portsmouth,  young 
Micah  Clarke  grew  up  under  the  domina 
tion  of  his  strong  Puritan  father,  Joseph 
Clarke.  He  led  a  vigorous,  active  life, 
but  he  spent  much  time  praying  and 
hymn  singing.  From  his  father  he  heard 
many  tales  of  Cromwell  and  the  Puritans, 
for  Joseph  had  fought  in  the  wars  of 
those  troubled  times.  Save  for  a  year 
at  an  Established  Church  school,  Micah's 
education  was  taken  in  hand  by  his 
father  himself.  At  the  age  of  twenty, 
Micah  was  the  strongest  man  in  the  vil 
lage. 

As  was  their  custom,  Micah  and  his 
good  friend  Reuben  set  out  to  fish  in 
Langston  Bay.  They  pulled  up  to  their 
favorite  fishing  ground  just  as  the  sun 
was  setting,  threw  out  the  large  anchor 
stone,  and  set  their  lines.  Not  far  away 
a  king's  ship  stood  hi  for  the  channel. 
The  two  youths  watched  her  until  their 
attention  was  drawn  to  a  large  brig  not 
over  a  quarter  mile  distant.  The  ship 
seemed  to  be  out  of  control,  for  she 
yawed  as  if  there  were  no  hand  at  the 
tiller.  While  they  watched,  they  heard 
two  musket  shots  aboard  the  brig.  A  few 
minutes  later  a  cannon  shot  sounded  and 
the  ball  passed  close  to  their  boat  as  the 
brig  came  about  and  headed  down  the 
channel.  Reuben  urged  his  friend  to  pull 
hard,  for  there  was  a  man  in  the  water. 
They  could  soon  see  Mm  swimming 
easily  along,  and  as  they  came  alongside 
the  swimmer  experdy  hoisted  himself 
aboard.  He  was  a  tall,  lean  man,  over 


fifty  but  wiry  and  strong.  Their  pas 
senger  looked  them  over  coolly,  drew  out 
a  wicked  knife,  and  ordered  them  to 
head  for  the  French  coast.  But  when 
Micah  lifted  his  oar  and  threatened  to 
knock  the  man  over  the  head,  their  pas 
senger  gave  in  meekly  and  handed  over 
his  knife  with  good  grace.  He  told  them 
that  he  had  jumped  overboard  from  the 
brig  after  he  and  his  brother,  the  cap 
tain,  had  exchanged  musket  shots  during 
a  quarrel. 

As  they  headed  shoreward,  the  stranger 
heard  Reuben  use  the  name  Clarke. 
Instantly  the  man  became  interested  and 
asked  Micah  if  he  were  the  son  of 
Joseph  Clarke.  When  Micah  replied 
that  he  wTas,  the  stranger  pulled  out  his 
pouch  and  showed  them  that  he  carried 
a  letter  for  Joseph  Clarke,  as  well  as  for 
twenty  others  in  the  district.  Reassured, 
Micah  took  the  man  home,  where  he 
learned  that  the  stranger  was  Decimus 
Saxon,  a  mercenary  soldier  recruiting 
soldiers  for  the  army  of  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  the  Protestant  pretender  who 
was  coming  to  wrest  his  throne  from 
Catholic  King  James.  Joseph  was  too 
old  to  fight,  but  mindful  of  his  duty  he 
permitted  Micah  to  go  to  the  wars.  With 
many  prayers  Micah  set  out  in  Saxon's 
company  to  meet  Monmouth,  who  was 
soon  to  land  somewhere  in  Devonshire. 
Even  though  he  was  a  good  member  of 
the  Church  of  England,  Reuben  went 
with  them  for  friendship's  sake. 

Saxon  soon  threw  off  his  sanctimoni 
ous  manner,  and  to  Micah's  dismay 
showed  himself  a  hardened  man  of  the 
world.  One  night  at  an  inn  Saxon  fought 
a  king's  officer  over  a  card  game  and 
they  were  forced  to  flee,  pursued  by  a 
body  of  horsemen  and  dogs.  Only  by 
stout  courage  and  luck  were  they  able 
to  kill  the  dogs  and  go  on  their  way. 

That  night  they  found  shelter  in  the 
hut  of  a  recluse,  Sir  Jacob  Clancy.  The 
hermit  had  lost  all  his  estates  through 
helping  Charles  II  to  gain  his  throne. 
Now  renounced  by  the  Stuart  kings,  he 


586 


worked  at  his  alchemy  in  solitude.  When 
he  heard  that  his  guests  were  going  to 
join  the  rebel  Monmouth,  he  pressed  on 
Micah  some  bars  of  gold  to  give  to  the 
Protestant  pretender,  and  also  a  scroll 
^n  which  was  written: 

'When  thy  star  is  in  the  trine 
Between  darkness  and  shine 
Duke  Monmouth,  Duke  Monmouth 
Beware  of  the  Rhine." 

On  another  night  the  trio  stayed  at 
an  inn  kept  by  a  buxom  widow.  The 
landlady  cast  sheep's  eyes  at  Saxon,  and 
that  soldier  seemed  mightily  interested. 
Reuben  and  Micah  listened  anxiously 
as  he  muttered  to  himself  the  advantages 
of  keeping  an  inn.  Saxon  was  shocked 
when  a  powdered  and  perfumed  knight 
came  into  the  tavern  and  kissed  the 
widow  heartily.  In  anger  he  left  the 
table  and  the  newly-arrived  fop  took 
his  seat. 

Micah  soon  learned  that  the  new 
comer  was  Sir  Gervas,  a  London  dandy 
who  had  gambled  and  drunk  away  an 
his  estates.  When  Sir  Gervas  heard 
that  Micah  was  going  to  join  Monmouth, 
he  nonchalantly  agreed  to  go  with  them. 
Afterward  Saxon  returned  to  the  dining- 
room.  No  longer  thinking  of  settling 
down  as  an  innkeeper,  he  welcomed  Sir 
Gervas  as  a  good  recruit  to  the  cause. 

The  Protestants  were  rallying  at 
Taunton,  the  strong  center  of  the  Dis 
senters.  The  mayor,  Stephen  Timewell, 
was  a  wealthy  wool  merchant  and  a 
staunch  enemy  of  Rome,  and  so  in 
Taunton  the  ragged  but  rugged  horde  of 
Dissenters  found  a  secure  headquarters. 
On  their  arrival,  Saxon  was  made  a 
colonel  and  Micah  and  Reuben  became 
captains  of  infantry.  Sir  Gervas  headed 
a  hundred  musketeers.  In  all  the  tur- 
moil  of  drill  and  inspections,  the  most 
prominent  figures  were  the  gowned 
clergy,  who  intoned  prayers  and  hymns 
for  the  godly  rebels  who  were  to  fight 
the  Lord's  battles  against  Papist  King 
James. 

Micah  thrilled  to  see  the  arrival  of 
Monmouth  at  the  head  of  his  small  but 


growing  army.  Because  of  his  strength 
and  manly  bearing,  Micah  soon  found 
his  way  into  Monmouth's  inner  circle. 
At  a  council  meeting  Micah  gave  over 
the  gold  and  the  scroll  entrusted  to  him 
by  Sir  Jacob  Clancy.  Monmouth  blanched 
at  the  prophecy,  but  after  nervously  ex 
claiming  he  would  be  fighting  in  Eng 
land,  not  in  Germany,  he  ignored  the 
warning. 

The  Protestants  needed  at  least  one 
great  and  powerful  lord  to  support  their 
cause.  So  far  Monmouth  had  rallied 
the  peasants,  the  ministers,  and  a  few 
reckless  cavaliers.  He  knew,  however, 
that  his  forces  were  too  weak  to  meet 
the  royal  army.  After  prolonged  debate 
the  Protestants  decided  that  the  Duke 
of  Beaufort  was  the  most  likely  convert. 
Lord  of  all  Wales,  he  had  always  been  an 
enemy  of  Catholicism,  and  he  was  under 
obligations  to  Monmouth.  Micah  was 
chosen  to  bear  a  message  to  the  noble 
lord. 

Micah  set  off  alone  to  make  the  long 
trip  from  Taunton  to  Bristol,  Near  the 
channel  he  half  dozed  on  his  horse  dur 
ing  the  night  Suddenly  he  was  knocked 
from  the  saddle,  bound,  and  dragged 
to  a  cave,  where  he  learned  that  smug 
glers  had  kidnaped  him  because  they 
had  mistaken  him  for  a  tax  collector. 
When  he  was  able  to  establish  his 
identity  and  errand,  the  smugglers 
changed  their  attitude;  they  even  took 
him  and  his  horse  in  a  lugger  up  the 
channel  to  Bristol. 

Micah  tried  to  talk  to  Beaufort  alone, 
but  he  was  forced  to  deliver  his  papers 
in  full  sight  of  the  duke's  court.  Beau 
fort  became  very  angry  at  the  idea  of 
deserting  King  James  and  had  Micah 
imprisoned  in  a  dungeon.  Expecting  to 
be  hanged  as  a  traitor,  Micah  resigned 
himself  to  his  last  night  on  earth.  But 
during  the  night  a  rope  dropped  mysteri 
ously  from  an  opening  in  the  ceiling. 
Climbing  up,  Micah  saw  that  his  de 
liverer  was  Beaufort  himself.  The  duke 
explained  that  he  had  not  dared  say  any 
thing  in  council,  but  if  Monmouth  could 


587 


get  to  Bristol  Beaufort  would  join  him. 
Micah  carried  the  news  back  to  Mon- 
mouth,  who  announced  his  immediate 
decision  to  march  toward  Bristol.  The 
ragged  army  encamped  at  Sedgemoor  and 
decided  to  make  a  stand  there.  As  Mon- 
mouth  looked  over  the  battlefield,  he 
was  startled  to  hear  the  natives  refer 
to  a  big  ditch  nearby  as  the  "rhine."  In 
deed  the  ihine  was  an  omen,  for  the 
small  band  of  Protestant  zealots  proved 


no  match  for  the  king's  men.  As  the 
battle  raged,  Monmouth  fled  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  save  his  own  skin. 

Micah  himself  was  captured  and 
sentenced  to  be  sold  as  a  slave.  Saxon 
saved  his  life.  Using  money  which  he 
had  blackmailed  from  Beaufort,  Saxon 
bought  Micah's  release.  Thankfully 
Micah  set  out  for  the  continent  to  be 
come  a  man-at-arms  in  the  foreign  wars. 


MIDDLEMARCH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Eliot  (Mary  Ann  Evans,  1819-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  pubMied:  1871-1 872 

Principal  characters: 

DOROTHEA  BROOKE,  an  idealistic  girl 
EDWAKD  CASAUBON,  her  scholarly  husband 
Wnx  LADISLAW,  Casaubon's  cousin 
TERTIUS  LYDGATE,  a  doctor 
ROSAMOND  VINCY,  whom  he  married 
CELIA,  Dorothea's  sister 
Sm  JAMES  CHETTAM,  Celia's  husband 


Critique: 

In  this  story  of  the  provincial  English 
life  of  the  mid-nineteenth  century, 
George  Eliot  has  contrived  a  work  of  art 
that  exemplifies  a  theme  both  noble  and 
coherent  The  lives  of  her  characters,  as 
she  reveals  them,  indicate  the  truth  of 
the  writers  statement  that  ideals  are 
often  thwarted  when  applied  to  an  im 
perfect  social  order.  This  novel  is  an 
ample  picture  of  many  aspects  of  English 
sodal  life  during  the  Victorian  period. 

The  Story: 

Dorothea  Brooke  and  her  younger  sis 
ter,  Celia,  were  young  women  of  good 
birth,  who  lived  with  their  bachelor 
uncle  at  Tipton  Grange  near  the  town 
of  Middlemarch.  So  serious  was  Doro 
thea's  cast  of  mind  that  she  was  reluctant 
to  keep  jewelry  she  had  inherited  from 
her  dead  mother,  and  she  gave  all  of  it 
to  her  sister.  Upon  reconsideration,  how 
ever,  she  did  keep  a  ring  and  bracelet. 


At  a  dinner  party  where  Edward 
Casaubon,  a  middle-aged  scholar,  and  Sir 
James  Chettam  both  vied  for  her  atten 
tion,  she  was  much  more  attracted  to 
the  serious-minded  Casaubon.  Casaubon 
must  have  had  an  inkling  that  his  chances 
with  Dorothea  were  good,  for  the  next 
morning  he  sought  her  out.  Celia,  who 
did  not  like  his  complexion  or  his  moles, 
escaped  to  other  interests. 

That  afternoon  Dorothea,  contemplat 
ing  the  wisdom  of  the  scholar,  was 
walking  and  by  chance  encountered  Sir 
James;  he,  in  love  with  her,  mistook  her 
silence  for  agreement  and  supposed  she 
might  love  him  in  return. 

When  Casaubon  made  his  proposal  of 
marriage  by  letter,  Dorothea  accepted 
him  at  once.  Mr.  Brooke,  her  uncle, 
thought  Sir  James  a  much  better  match; 
Dorothea's  acceptance  merely  confirmed 
his  bachelor  views  that  women  were  diffi 
cult  to  understand.  He  decided  not  to 


588 


interfere  in  her  plans,  but  Celia  felt  that 
the  event  would  be  more  like  a  funeral 
than  a  marriage,  and  frankly  said  so. 

Casaubon  took  Dorothea,  Celia,  and 
Mr.  Brooke  to  see  his  home  so  that  Doro 
thea  might  order  any  necessary  changes. 
Dorothea,  intending  in  all  things  to  defer 
to  Casaubon's  tastes,  said  she  would  make 
no  changes  in  the  house.  During  the  visit 
Dorothea  met  Will  Ladislaw,  Casaubon's 
second  cousin,  who  seemed  to  be  hardly 
in  sympathy  with  his  elderly  cousin's 
marriage  plans. 

While  Dorothea  and  her  new  husband 
were  traveling  in  Italy,  Tertius  Lydgate, 
an  ambitious  and  poor  young  doctor,  was 
meeting  pretty  Rosamond  Vincy,  to 
whom  he  was  much  attracted.  Fred 
Vincy,  Rosamond's  brother,  had  indicated 
that  he  expected  to  come  into  a  fine  in 
heritance  when  his  uncle,  Mr.  Feather- 
stone,  should  die.  Vincy,  meanwhile,  was 
pressed  by  a  debt  he  was  unable  to  pay. 

Lydgate  became  involved  in  petty  local 
politics.  When  the  time  came  to  choose 
a  chaplain  for  the  new  hospital  of  which 
Lydgate  was  the  head,  the  young  doctor 
realized  that  it  was  to  his  best  interest 
to  vote  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
Nicholas  Bulstrode,  an  influential  banker 
and  founder  of  the  hospital.  A  clergy 
man  named  Tyke  received  the  office. 

In  Rome,  Ladislaw  encountered  Doro 
thea  and  her  middle-aged  husband. 
Dorothea  had  begun  to  realize  too  late 
how  pompous  and  incompatible  she 
found  Casaubon.  Seeing  her  unhappi- 
ness,  Ladislaw  fast  pitied  and  then  fell 
in  love  with  his  cousin's  wife.  Unwilling 
to  live  any  longer  on  Casaubon's  charity, 
Ladislaw  announced  his  intention  of  re 
turning  to  England  and  finding  some 
kind  of  gainful  occupation. 

When  Fred  Vincy 's  note  came  due,  he 
tried  to  sell  a  horse  at  a  profit  but  the 
animal  turned  out  to  be  vicious.  Caleb 
Garth,  who  had  signed  his  note,  now 
stood  to  lose  a  hundred  and  ten  pounds 
because  of  Fred's  inability  to  raise  the 
money.  Fred  fell  ill,  and  Lydgate  was 
summoned  to  attend  him.  Lydgate  used 


his  professional  calls  to  further  his  suit 
with  Rosamond. 

Dorothea  and  her  husband  returned 
from  Rome  in  time  to  hear  of  Celia's  en 
gagement  to  Sir  James  Chettarn.  Will 
Ladislaw  included  a  note  to  Dorothea  in 
a  letter  he  wrote  to  Casaubon.  This  atten 
tion  precipitated  a  quarrel  which  was 
followed  by  Casaubon's  serious  illness. 
Lydgate,  who  attended  him,  urged  him 
to  give  up  his  studies  for  the  time  being. 
To  Dorothea,  Lydgate  confided  that 
Casaubon  had  a  weak  heart  and  must  be 
guarded  from  all  excitement. 

Meanwhile  all  the  relatives  of  old  Mr. 
Featherstone  were  waiting  impatiently  for 
his  death,  but  he  hoped  to  circumvent 
their  desires  by  giving  his  fortune  to  Mary 
Garth,  daughter  of  the  man  who  had 
signed  Fred  Vincy's  note.  When  she  re 
fused  it,  he  fell  into  a  rage  and  died  soon 
afterward.  When  his  will  was  read,  it 
was  learned  he  had  left  nothing  to  his 
relatives;  most  of  his  money  was  to  go 
to  a  Joshua  Riggs,  who  was  to  take  the 
name  of  Featherstone,  and  a  part  of  his 
fortune  was  to  endow  the  Featherstone 
Almshouses  for  old  men. 

Plans  were  made  for  Rosamond's  mar 
riage  with  Lydgate.  Fred  Vincy  was 
ordered  to  prepare  himself  finally  for  the 
ministry,  since  he  was  to  have  no  inherit 
ance  from  his  uncle.  Mr.  Brooke,  having 
gone  into  politics,  enlisted  the  help  of 
Ladislaw  in  publishing  a  liberal  paper. 
Mr.  Casaubon  had  come  to  dislike  Ladis 
law  intensely  after  his  cousin  had  rejected 
further  financial  assistance,  and  he  had 
forbidden  Ladislaw  to  enter  his  house. 

Casaubon  died  suddenly.  A  codicil  to 
his  will  gave  Dorothea  all  of  his  property 
as  long  as  she  did  not  marry  Ladislaw. 
This  strange  provision  caused  Dorothea's 
friends  and  relatives  some  concern  be 
cause  if  publicly  given  out,  it  would  ap 
pear  that  Dorothea  and  Ladislaw  ha<J 
been  indiscreet. 

Mr.  Brooke,  on  the  advice  of  his  Tory 
friends,  gave  up  his  liberal  newspaper 
and  thus  cut  off  his  connection  with 
Ladislaw.  The  latter  realized  that  Doro 


589 


thea's  family  was  in  some  way  trying  to 
separate  him  from  Dorothea  hut  he  re 
fused  to  be  disconcerted  about  the  matter. 
He  resolved  to  stay  on  in  Middlemarch 
until  he  was  ready  to  leave.  When  he 
heard  of  the  codicil  to  Casaubon's  will, 
he  was  more  than  ever  determined  to 
remain  so  that  he  could  eventually  dis 
prove  the  suspicions  of  the  village  con 
cerning  hirn  and  Dorothea. 

Meanwhile  Lydgate  and  Rosamond 
had  married,  and  the  doctor  had  gone 
deeply  in  debt  to  furnish  his  house. 
When  he  found  that  his  income  did  not 
meet  his  wife's  spendthrift  habits,  he 
asked  her  to  help  him  economize.  He 
and  his  wife  began  to  quarrel.  His  prac 
tice  and  popularity  decreased. 

A  disreputable  man  named  Raffles  ap 
peared  in  Middlemarch.  Raffles  knew 
that  Ladislaw's  grandfather  had  amassed 
a  fortune  as  a  receiver  of  stolen  goods  and 
that  Nicholas  Bulstrode,  the  highly  re 
spected  banker,  had  once  been  the  con 
fidential  clerk  of  Ladislaw's  ancestor. 
More  than  that,  Bulstrode  Js  first  wife  had 
been  his  employer's  wido\v.  Upon  money 
inherited  from  her,  money  which  should 
have  gone  to  Ladislaw's  mother,  Bui- 
strode  had  built  his  own  fortune. 

Already  blackmailed  by  Raffles,  Bui- 
strode  reasoned  that  the  scoundrel  would 
tell  Ladislaw  the  whole  story.  To  fore 
stall  trouble,  he  sent  for  Ladislaw  and 
offered  him  an  annuity  of  five  hundred 
pounds  and  liberal  provision  in  his  will. 
Ladislaw,  feeling  that  his  relatives  had 
already  tainted  his  honor,  refused,  un 
willing  to  be  associated  in  any  way  with 
the  unsavory  business.  Deciding  to  leave 
Middlemarch,  Ladislaw  wrent  to  London 
without  the  assurance  that  Dorothea 
loved  him. 

Lydgate  drifted  deeper  into  debt 
When  he  wished  to  sell  what  he  could 
and  take  cheaper  lodgings,  Rosamond 
managed  to  make  him  hold  on,  to  keep 
up  the  pretense  of  prosperity  a  little 
longer.  At  the  same  time  Bulstrode  gave 
up  his  interest  in  the  new  hospital  and 
withdrew  his  financial  support. 


Faced  at  last  with  the  seizure  of  his 
goods,  Lydgate  went  to  Bulstrode  and 
asked  for  a  loan.  The  banker  advised 
him  to  seek  aid  from  Dorothea  and 
abruptly  ended  the  conversation.  But 
when  Raffles,  in  the  last  stages  of  alco 
holism,  returned  to  Middlemarch  and 
Lydgate  was  called  in  to  attend  him,  Bul 
strode,  afraid  the  doctor  would  learn  the 
banker's  secret  from  Raffles*  drunken  rav 
ings,  changed  his  mind  and  gave  Lydgate 
a  check  for  a  thousand  pounds.  The  loan 
came  in  time  to  save  Lydgate's  goods  and 
reputation.  When  Raffles  died,  Bulstrode 
felt  at  peace  at  last.  But  it  soon  became 
common  gossip  that  Bulstrode  had  given 
money  to  Lydgate  and  that  Lydgate  had 
attended  Raffles  in  his  final  illness.  Bul 
strode  and  Lydgate  were  publicly  accused 
of  malpractice  in  Raffles'  death.  Only 
Dorothea  took  up  Lydgate's  defense.  The 
rest  of  the  town  was  busy  with  gossip 
over  the  affair.  Rosamond  was  anxious 
to  leave  Middlemarch  to  avoid  public  dis 
grace.  Bulstrode  also  was  anxious  to  leave 
town  after  his  secret,  which  Raffles  had 
told  while  drunk  in  a  neighboring  village, 
became  known.  But  he  became  ill  and 
his  doctors  would  not  permit  him,  to 
leave  his  bed. 

Dorothea,  sympathetic  with  Lydgate, 
determined  to  give  her  support  to  the 
hospital  and  to  try  to  convince  Rosamond 
that  the  only  way  Lydgate  could  recover 
his  honor  was  by  remaining  in  Middle- 
march.  Unfortunately,  she  came  upon 
Will  Ladislaw,  to  whom  poor  Rosamond 
was  pouring  out  her  grief.  Afraid  Rosa 
mond  was  involved  with  Ladislaw,  Doro 
thea  left  abruptly.  Angered  at  the  false 
position  Rosamond  had  put  him,  in,  Lad 
islaw  explained  that  he  had  always  loved 
Dorothea,  but  from  a  distance.  When 
Dorothea  forced  herself  to  return  to  Lyd- 
gate's  house  on  the  following  morning, 
Rosamond  told  her  of  Ladislaw's  declara 
tion.  Dorothea  realized  she  was  willing 
to  give  up  Casaubon's  fortune  for  Ladis 
law's  affection. 

In  spite  of  the  protests  of  her  family 
and  friends,  they  were  married  several 


590 


weeks  later  and  went  to  London  to  live. 
Lydgate  and  Rosamond  lived  together 
with  better  understanding  and  prospects 
of  a  happier  future.  Fred  Vincy  became 
engaged  to  Mary  Garth,  with  whom  he 


had  long  been  in  love.  For  a  time  Doro 
thea's  family  disregarded  her,  but  they 
were  finally  reconciled  after  Dorothea's 
son  was  born  and  Ladislaw  was  elected 
to  Parliament. 


THE  MIKADO 

Type  of  work:  Comic  opera 

Author:  W.  S.  Gilbert  (1836-1911) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Middle  Ages 

Locale:  Titipu,  Japan 

First  presented:  1885 

Principal  characters: 

Ko-Ko,  Lord  High  Executioner  of  Titipu 

THE  MIKADO  OF  JAPAN 

NANKI-POO,  his  son,  disguised  as  a  minstrel 

POOH-BAH,  Lord  High  Everything  Else 

YUM-YUM,  Prrn-SiNG,  and  PEEP-Bo,  wards  of  Ko-Ko 

KATISHA,  an  elderly  lady  in  love  with  Nanki-Poo 

PiSH-TusH,  a  noble  lord 

Critique: 

The  Mikado,  or  The  Town  of  Titipu, 
is  one  of  the  many  works  of  the  famous 
light  opera  collaborators,  Sir  William  Gil 
bert  and  Sir  Arthur  Seymour  Sullivan 
(1842-1900).  Although  they  began  their 
creative  careers  independently,  their 
greatest  fame  is  the  result  of  the  work 
they  did  as  co-workers,  Gilbert  as  libret 
tist  and  Sullivan  as  composer,  after  1871. 
The  Mikado  is  a  comic  opera  in  two 
acts.  Like  most  of  the  Gilbert  and  Sulli 
van  productions,  it  contains  much  light 
humor  and  pointed  satire. 


The  Story: 

Ko-Ko  had  become  the  Lord  High  Exe 
cutioner  in  the  town  of  Titipu  in  old 
Japan,  and  to  his  courtyard  came  many 
knights  and  lords  to  flatter  and  cajole  the 
holder  of  so  dread  and  august  an  office. 

One  day  a  stranger  appeared  at  Ko-Ko 's 
palace,  a  wandering  minstrel  who  carried 
his  guitar  on  his  back  and  a  sheaf  of 
ballads  in  his  hand.  The  Japanese  lords 
were  curious  about  his  presence  there, 
for  he  was  obviously  not  of  noble  birth 
and  therefore  could  expect  no  favors 
from  powerful  Ko-Ko.  At  last  Pish-Tush 
questioned  tn'm  about  his  business  with 


Ko-Ko.  Introducing  himself  as  Nanki- 
Poo,  the  minstrel  announced  that  he 
sought  Yum-Yum,  the  beautiful  ward  of 
Ko-Ko,  with  whom  he  had  fallen  in  love 
while  playing  the  second  trombone  in 
the  Titipu  town  band  a  year  before.  He 
had  heard  that  Ko-Ko  was  to  be  executed 
for  flirting,  a  capital  offense  in  the  land  of 
the  Mikado,  and  since  Ko-Ko  was  to  die, 
he  hoped  that  Yum-Yum  would  be  free 
to  marry  him. 

Pish-Tush  corrected  the  rash  young 
man,  telling  him  that  the  Mikado  had  re 
voked  the  death  sentence  of  Ko-Ko  and 
raised  him  at  the  same  time  to  the  great 
and  noble  rank  of  the  Lord  High  Execu 
tioner  of  Titipu.  Nanki-Poo  was  crest 
fallen,  for  he  realized  that  the  ward  of 
an  official  so  important  would  never  be 
allowed  to  marry  a  lowly  minstrel. 

Pooh-Bah,  another  nobleman,  secretly 
resented  the  fact  that  he,  a  man  of  an 
cient  lineage,  had  to  hold  minor  office 
under  a  man  like  Ko-Ko,  previously  a 
mere  tailor.  But  Pooh-Bah  was  interested 
in  any  opportunity  for  graft;  he  was  even 
willing  to  betray  the  so-called  state  secret 
of  Ko-Ko's  intention  to  wed  his  beautiful 
ward.  Pooh-Bah  advised  Nanki-Poo  to 


591 


leave  Titipu  and  by  all  means  to  stay 
away  from  Yum- Yum. 

Meanwhile,  Ko-Ko  had  been  preparing 
a  list  of  the  types  of  criminals  he  intended 
to  execute — autograph  hunters,  people 
who  insist  upon  spoiling  t£te-a-tetes, 
people  who  eat  peppermint  and  breathe 
in  one's  face,  the  man  who  praises  every 
country  but  his  own,  and  apologetic 
statesmen. 

Uncertain  of  the  privileges  of  his  new 
office,  the  Lord  High  Executioner  con 
sulted  the  Lord  High  Everything  Else 
about  the  money  to  be  spent  on  his  im 
pending  marriage.  Pooh-Bah  advised 
him,  first  as  Private  Secretary,  and  gave 
one  opinion;  then  as  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  he  expressed  a  contrary  point 
of  view.  He  had  a  different  opinion  for 
ever}7  one  of  his  many  offices  and  official 
titles.  They  were  interrupted,  however, 
by  the  appearance  of  Yum-Yum  and  her 
sisters  Peep-Bo  and  Pirn-Sing.  Ko-Ko 
attempted  to  kiss  his  bride-to-be,  but  she 
openly  expressed  her  reluctance  and  dis 
taste. 

When  the  three  sisters  saw  Nanki-Poo 
loitering  nearby,  they  rushed  to  greet 
him,  astonished  to  find  him  in  Titipu. 
Ko-Ko,  baffled  and  displeased  by  their 
schoolgirl  mirth,  demanded  an  introduc 
tion  to  the  stranger. 

When  Yum-Yum  and  Nanki-Poo  had 
a  few  moments  alone  with  each  other,  the 
minstrel  revealed  his  true  identity  as  the 
son  of  the  Mikado,  and  confessed  the 
reasons  for  his  flight  from  court  Katisha, 
i  middle-aged  woman  in  the  court,  had 
misunderstood  acts  of  Nanki-Poo  as  over 
tures  of  romance.  She  mentioned  them 
to  the  Mikado.  He  in  turn  misunderstood 
his  son's  conduct  and  requested  that 
Nanki-Poo  marry  Katisha.  Nanki-Poo, 
already  in  love  with  Yum-Yum,  fled  the 
court  in  the  disguise  of  a  minstrel  and 
went  to  Titipu. 

That  same  day  Ko-Ko  received  from 
the  Mikado  a  communication  which  in 
structed  him  to  execute  somebody  within 
a  month.  Otherwise  the  office  of  Lord 


High  Executioner  would  be  abolished; 
Ko-Ko  would  be  beheaded  for  neglecting 
his  duties,  and  the  city  of  Titipu  would 
be  ranked  as  only  a  village.  Perplexed 
by  this  sudden  and  unhappy  news,  Ko- 
Ko  saw  no  solution  until  he  discovered 
Nanki-Poo  carrying  a  rope  with  which  to 
hang  himself.  Seeing  a  way  of  escape, 
Ko-Ko  bargained  with  Nanki-Poo,  prom 
ising  him  a  luxuriant  life  for  thirty  days, 
if  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  minstrel 
would  allow7  himself  to  be  executed  offi 
cially.  Nanki-Poo  agreed  on  the  condition 
that  he  could  marry  Yum-Yum  at  once. 

This  acceptable  solution  was  upset, 
however,  by  the  arrival  of  Katisha,  who 
recognized  Nanki-Poo  and  tried  to  claim 
him  for  ner  husband.  When  she  learned 
that  he  was  to  marry  Yum-Yum,  she  at 
tempted  to  reveal  his  true  identity,  but 
her  voice  was  not  heard  above  the  singing 
and  shouting  instigated  by  Yum-Yum. 

Hearing  of  the  proposed  marriage  of 
Yum-Yum  and  Nanki-Poo,  Pooh-Bah  in 
formed  Ko-Ko  that  the  wife  of  a  be 
headed  man  must  he  buried  alive,  a  law 
which  would  mean  Yum-Yum  Js  death  if 
Nanki-Poo  were  executed.  Again  lost  as 
to  a  way  out  of  his  problem,  Ko-Ko  was 
spurred  to  action  by  the  unexpected  ar 
rival  of  the  Mikado  himself.  Desperate, 
he  concealed  Nanki-Poo  and  showed  the 
Mikado  a  forged  certificate  of  Nanki- 
Poo's  execution. 

But  when  the  Mikado  read  the  name 
of  the  victim,  he  announced  that  the 
heir-apparent  had  been  executed.  Ac 
cording  to  law,  Ko-Ko's  life  must  now  be 
forfeited. 

Luckily  for  Ko-Ko,  Nanki-Poo  and 
Yum-Yum  appeared  at  that  moment, 
Man  and  wife  at  last,  they  were  ready 
to  start  on  their  honeymoon.  Seeing  his 
son  happily  married  and  not  dead  as  he 
had  supposed,  the  Mikado  forgave  every 
one  concerned  in  Ko-Ko's  plot — the  un 
fortunate  Lord  High  Executioner,  how 
ever,  only  after  he  had  wed  the  jilted 
Katisha. 


592 


THE  MILL  ON  THE  FLOSS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Eliot  (Mary  Ann  Evans,  1819-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

pirst  published:  1860 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  TULLIVER,  owner  of  the  mill  on  the  Floss 

MRS.  TUIXIVER,  his  wife 

TOM  TUIXTVER,  their  son 

MAGGEE  TULLTVER,  their  daughter 

AUNT  GLEGG,  and 

AUNT  PULXET,  sisters  of  Mrs*  Tulliver 

PHILIP  WAKEM,  Maggie's  suitor 

LUCY  DEANE,  cousin  of  Tom  and  Maggie 

STEPHEN  GUEST,  Lucy's  fianc£ 


Critique: 

This  book  is  more  than  a  revelation  of 
manners  and  conventions.  It  is  the  Happy 
union  of  knowledge  with  sympathy,  of 
understanding  with  determination  to  re 
veal  some  of  the  real  differences  between 
people.  There  is  also  bitterness  in  this 
book,  a  kind  of  grimness  which  is  basic. 
People  who  get  on  in  the  book  are  those 
who  are  iron-willed,  who  go  after  what 
they  want  and  subdue  all  emotions  and 
desires  that  lie  close  to  the  heart.  Those 
who  try  to  live  both  by  bread  and  by 
spirit  end  tragically,  as  do  Tom  and 
Maggie  Tulliver,  both  unfitted  for  the 
roles  life  chose  for  them. 

The  Story: 

Dorlcote  Mill  stood  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Floss  near  the  village  of  St.  Ogg's. 
Owned  by  the  ambitious  Mr.  Tulliver, 
it  provided  a  good  living  for  him  and  his 
family,  but  he  dreamed  of  the  day  when 
his  son  Tom  would  climb  to  a  higher 
station  in  life. 

Mrs.  Tulliver's  sisters,  who  had  mar 
ried  well,  criticized  Mr.  Tulliver's  un 
seemly  ambition  and  openly  predicted 
the  day  when  his  air  castles  would  bring 
himself  and  his  family  to  ruin.  Aunt 
Glegg,  richest  of  the  sisters,  held  a  note 
on  his  property,  and  when  he  quarreled 
with  her  over  his  plans  for  Tom's  edu 


cation,  Mr.  Tulliver  determined  to  bor 
row  the  money  and  repay  her. 

For  Torn,  who  had  inherited  the  placid 
arrogance  of  his  mother's  people,  life  was 
not  difficult.  He  was  resolved  to  be  just 
in  all  his  dealings  and  to  deliver  punish 
ment  to  whomever  it  was  due.  His  sister 
Maggie  grew  up  with  an  imagination  be 
yond  her  years  of  understanding.  Her 
aunts  predicted  she  would  come  to  a  bad 
end  because  she  was  tomboyish,  dark- 
skinned,  dreamy,  and  indifferent  to  their 
wills.  Frightened  by  ill  luck  in  her  at 
tempts  to  please  her  brother  Tom,  her 
cousin  Lucy,  and  her  mother  and  aunts, 
Maggie  ran  away,  determined  to  live  with 
the  gipsies.  But  she  was  glad  enough  to 
return.  Her  father  scolded  her  mother 
and  Tom  for  abusing  her.  Her  mother 
was  sure  Maggie  would  come  to  a  bad 
end  because  of  the  way  Mr.  Tulliver 
humored  her. 

Tom's  troubles  began  when  his  father 
sent  Kim  to  study  at  Mr.  Stelling's  school. 
Having  little  interest  in  spelling,  gram 
mar,  or  Latin,  Tom  found  himself  wish 
ing  he  were  back  at  the  mill,  where  he 
might  dream  of  romeday  riding  a  horse 
like  his  father's  and  giving  orders  to 
people  around  him.  Mr.  Stalling  was 
convinced  that  Tom  was  not  only  ob 
stinate  tut  also  rtapid.  Returning  home 


593 


for  the  Christmas  holidays,  Tom  learned 
that  Philip  Wakem,  son  of  a  lawyer  who 
was  his  father's  enemy,  would  also  enter 
Mr.  Stelling's  school. 

Philip  Wakem  was  a  cripple,  and  so 
Tom  was  not  able  to  heat  him  up  as  he 
should  have  liked  at  first.  Philip  could 
draw,  and  he  knew  Latin  and  Greek. 
After  they  overcame  their  initial  reserve, 
the  two  hoys  became  useful  to  one 
another.  Philip  admired  Tom's  arrogance 
and  self-possession  and  Tom  needed 
Philip's  knowledge  to  help  him  in  his 
studies.  But  their  fathers'  quarrel  kept 
a  breach  between  them.  Tom  felt  that 
Philip  needed  to  be  watched,  that  he  was 
the  son  of  a  rascal. 

When  Maggie  came  to  visit  Tom,  she 
met  Philip,  and  the  two  became  close 
friends.  Then,  after  Maggie  had  been 
sent  away  to  school  with  her  cousin  Lucy, 
Mr.  Tulliver  became  involved  in  a  law 
suit.  Because  Mr.  Wakem  defended  the 
opposition,  Mr.  Tulliver  said  his  children 
should  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do 
with  Philip. 

Mr.  Tulliver  lost  his  suit  and  stood  to 
lose  all  his  property  as  well.  In  order 
to  pay  off  Aunt  Glegg,  he  had  borrowed 
money  on  his  household  furnishings. 
Now  he  hoped  Aunt  Pullet  would  lend 
him  the  money  to  pay  the  debt  against 
which  his  household  goods  stood  forfeit. 
He  could  no  longer  afford  to  keep  Maggie 
and  Tom  in  school.  Then  Mr.  Tulliver 
learned  that  Mr.  Wakem  had  bought  up 
his  debts,  and  the  discovery  brought  on 
a  stroke.  Tom  made  Maggie  promise 
never  to  speak  to  Philip  Wakem  again. 
Mrs.  Tulliver  wept  because  her  house 
hold  things  were  to  be  put  up  at  auction. 
In  the  ruin  which  followed,  Tom  and 
Maggie  rejected  the  scornful  offers  of 
help  from  their  aunts. 

Bob  Jakin,  a  country  lout  with  whom 
Tom  had  fought  as  a  boy,  turned  up  to 
offer  Tom  partnership  with  him  in  a 
venture  where  Tom's  education  would 
help  Bob's  native  business  shrewdness. 
But  both  were  without  capital.  For  the 
time  being  Tom  took  a  job  in  a  ware 


house  and  studied  bookkeeping  each 
night. 

Mr.  Wakem  bought  the  mill  but  per 
mitted  Mr.  Tulliver  to  act  as  its  man 
ager  for  wages.  It  was  Wakem's  plan 
eventually  to  turn  the  mill  over  to  his 
son.  Tulliver,  not  knowing  what  else  to 
do,  stayed  on  as  an  employee  of  his 
enemy,  but  he  asked  Tom  to  sign  a 
statement  in  the  Bible  that  he  would  wish 
the  Wakems  evil  as  long  as  he  lived. 
Against  Maggie's  entreaties,  Tom  signed 
his  name.  Finally  Aunt  Glegg  gave  Tom 
some  money  which  he  invested  with  Bob 
Jakin.  Slowly  Tom  began  to  accumulate 
funds  to  pay  off  his  father's  debts. 

Meanwhile  Maggie  and  Philip  had 
been  meeting  secretly  in  the  glades  near 
the  mill.  One  day  he  asked  Maggie  if 
she  loved  him.  She  put  him  off.  Later, 
at  a  family  gathering,  she  betrayed  her 
feeling  for  Philip  in  a  manner  which 
aroused  Tom's  suspicions.  He  made  her 
swear  on  the  Bible  not  to  have  anything 
more  to  do  with  Philip,  and  then  he 
sought  out  Philip  and  ordered  him  to  stay 
away  from  his  sister. 

Shortly  afterward  Tom  showed  his 
father  his  profits.  The  next  day  Mr. 
Tulliver  thrashed  Mr.  Wakem  and  then 
suffered  another  stroke,  from  which  he 
never  recovered. 

Two  years  later  Maggie,  now  a  teacher, 
went  to  visit  her  cousin,  Lucy  Deane, 
who  was  also  entertaining  young  Stephen 
Guest  in  her  home.  One  difficulty  Lucy 
foresaw  was  that  Philip,  who  was  friendly 
with  both  her  and  Stephen,  might  absent 
himself  during  Maggie's  visit.  Stephen 
had  already  decided  that  Lucy  was  to  be 
his  choice  for  a  wife,  but  at  first  sight 
he  and  Maggie  were  attracted  to  one 
another.  Lucy,  blind  to  what  was  hap 
pening,  was  pleased  that  her  cousin 
Maggie  and  Stephen  were  becoming  good 
friends. 

Maggie  asked  Tom's  permission  to  see 
Philip  Wakem  at  a  party  Lucy  was  giv 
ing.  Tom  replied  that  if  Maggie  should 
ever  consider  Philip  as  a  lover,  she  must 
expect  never  to  see  her  brother  again. 


594 


Tom  stood  by  his  oath  to  his  father.  He 
felt  his  dignity  as  a  Tulliver,  and  he 
believed  Maggie  was  apt  to  follow  the  in 
clination  of  the  moment  without  giving 
consideration  to  the  outcome.  He  was 
right.  Lacking  the  iron  will  which  marked 
so  many  of  her  relatives,  Maggie  loved 
easily  and  without  restraint. 

Meanwhile  Lucy's  father  had  promised 
to  try  to  buy  back  the  mill  for  Tom. 
Learning  of  this  plan,  Philip  hoped  to 
persuade  his  father  to  sell  the  mill.  For 
this  service  Philip  felt  sure  Tom  would 
forget  his  old  hatred. 

At  a  dance  Stephen  Guest  tried  to 
kiss  Maggie.  She  evaded  him  and  the 
next  day  avoided  Philip  Wakem  as  well. 
She  felt  she  owed  it  to  Lucy  not  to  allow 
Stephen  to  fall  in  love  with  her,  and 
she  felt  that  she  owed  it  to  her  brother 
not  to  marry  Philip. 

She  was  carried  along  by  the  tide.  Her 
relatives  would  not  let  her  go  back  into 
teaching,  for  Tom's  good  luck  continued 
and  he  repossessed  his  father's  mill.  Both 
Stephen  and  Philip  urged  her  to  marry 
them  without  the  knowledge  of  each 
other's  aims.  Certainly,  Lucy  did  not 
suspect  Stephen's  growing  indifference  to 
her. 

One  day  Stephen  took  Maggie  boating 
and  tried  to  convince  her  to  run  away 


with  him  and.  be  married.  She  refused 
his  offer.  Then  the  tide  carried  them  be 
yond  the  reach  of  shore  and  they  were 
forced  to  spend  the  night  in  the  boat. 

Maggie  dared  the  wrath  and  judgment 
of  her  relatives  when  she  returned  and 
attempted  to  explain  to  Lucy  and  the 
others  what  had  happened.  They  refused 
to  listen  to  her.  Tom  turned  her  away 
from  the  mill  house,  with  the  word  that 
he  would  send  her  money  but  that  he 
never  wished  to  see  her  again.  Mrs.  Tul 
liver  resolved  to  go  with  Maggie,  and 
Bob  Jakin  took  them  in, 

Maggie  slowly  began  to  realize  what 
ostracism  meant,  for  one  by  one  people 
deserted  her.  Only  Aunt  Glegg  and  Lucy 
offered  any  sympathy.  Stephen  wrote  to 
her  in  agony  of  spirit,  as  did  Philip. 
Maggie  wanted  to  be  by  herself.  She 
wondered  if  there  could  be  love  for  her 
without  pain  for  others. 

That  autumn  a  terrible  flood  ravaged 
St.  Ogg's.  Knowing  that  Tom  was  at 
the  mill,  Maggie  attempted  to  reach  him 
in  a  boat.  The  two  were  reunited  and 
Tom  took  over  the  rowing  of  the  boat. 
But  the  full  force  of  the  flood  over 
whelmed  them  and  they  drowned,  to 
gether  at  the  end  as  they  had  been  whei? 
thev  were  children. 


THE  MISANTHROPE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Moliere  (Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin,  1622-1673) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  Paris 

First  presented:  1666 

Principal  characters: 

ALCESTE,  in  love  with  Celimene 
PHELTNTE,  friend  of  Alceste 
ORONTE,  in  love  with  Celimene 
CE'LIMENE,  a  young  widow 
ET.TANTE,  cousin  of  Celimene 

Critique: 

Moliere,  born  Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin, 

is  the  outstanding  French  writer  of  com 
edies,   above  all,  comedies  of  manners; 

and  he  is  sometimes  compared  in   the 


breadth  and  humanity  of  his  genius  with 
Shakespeare.  The  Misanthrope  is  a  com 
edy  with  a  rather  sad  conclusion;  but  the 
merit  of  the  play  rests  on  its  depiction  of 


595 


manners.  We  can  see  in  The  Misan 
thrope  Moliere's  objective  analysis  of  his 
own  time,  for  he  exposes  to  die  public 
eye  the  frivolity  and  inconsistency  of  his 
contemporaries. 

The  Story: 

Alceste  had  been  called  a  misanthrope 
by  many  of  his  friends,  and  he  took  a 
rather  obstinate  delight  in  the  name. 
This  characteristic  led  him  to  quarrel 
heatedly  with  his  good  friend  Philinte, 
who  accepted  uncritically  the  frivolous 
manners  of  the  day.  When  Philinte 
warmly  embraced  a  chance  acquaintance, 
as  was  customary,  Alceste  maintained 
that  such  behavior  was  hypocritical,  es 
pecially  since  Philinte  hardly  knew  the 
man. 

Philinte  reminded  Alceste  that  his  law 
suit  was  nearly  ready  for  trial,  and  that 
he  would  do  well  to  moderate  his  atti 
tude  toward  people  in  general.  His  op 
ponents  in  the  suit  were  doing  every 
thing  possible  to  curry  favor,  but  Alceste 
insulted  everyone  he  met  and  made  no 
effort  to  win  over  the  judges. 

Philinte  also  taunted  Alceste  on  his 
love  for  Celimene,  who,  as  a  leader  in 
society,  was  hypocritical  most  of  the  time. 
Alceste  had  to  admit  that  his  love  could 
not  be  explained  rationally. 

Oronte  interrupted  the  quarrel  by  com 
ing  to  visit  Alceste,  who  was  puzzled  by 
a  visit  from  suave  and  elegant  Oronte. 
Oronte  asked  permission  to  read  a  sonnet 
he  had  lately  composed,  as  he  was  anx 
ious  to  have  Alceste's  judgment  of  its 
literary  merit. 

After  some  affected  hesitation,  Oronte 
read  his  mediocre  poem.  Alceste,  too 
honest  to  give  false  praise,  condemned 
the  verses  and  even  satirized  the  poor 
quality  of  the  writing.  Oronte  instantly 
took  offense  at  this  criticism,  and  a  new 
quarrel  broke  out.  Although  the  argu 
ment  was  indecisive,  there  were  hints  of 
a  possible  duel. 

Alceste  then  went  to  call  on  Celimene. 
As  soon  as  he  saw  her,  he  began  per 
versely  to  upbraid  her  for  her  frivolous 


conduct  and  her  hypocritical  attitude  to 
ward  other  people.  Although  Celimene 
could  slander  and  ridicule  with  a  keen 
wit  and  a  barbed  tongue  while  a  person 
was  absent,  she  was  all  flattery  and  at 
tention  when  talking  with  him.  This  at 
titude  displeased  Alceste. 

The  servant  announced  several  callers, 
including  Eliante.  To  Alceste's  dismay, 
they  all  sat  down  for  an  interminable 
conversation.  The  men  took  great  delight 
in  naming  over  all  their  mutual  acquaint 
ances,  and  as  each  name  was  mentioned, 
Celimene  made  unkind  remarks.  The 
only  gentle  person  in  the  room  was  Eli- 
ante,  whose  good  sense  and  kind  heart 
were  in  striking  contrast  with  Celim&ne's 
caustic  wit.  Eliante  was  overshadowed, 
however,  by  the  more  brilliant  Celimene. 
The  men  all  declared  they  had  nothing 
to  do  all  day,  and  each  swore  to  outstay 
the  other,  to  remain  longer  with  Celi 
mene.  Alceste  determined  to  be  the  last 
to  leave. 

A  guard  appeared,  however,  to  sum 
mon  Alceste  before  the  tribunal.  Aston 
ished,  Alceste  learned  that  his  quarrel 
with  Oronte  had  been  noised  about,  and 
the  authorities  intended  to  prevent  a 
possible  duel.  Loudly  protesting  that 
except  for  an  order  direct  from  the  king 
nothing  could  make  him  praise  the  poetry 
of  Oronte,  Alceste  was  led  away. 

Arsinoe,  an  austere  woman  who  made 
a  pretense  of  great  virtue,  came  to  call  on 
Celimene.  She  took  the  opportunity  to 
warn  Celimene  that  her  conduct  was  cre 
ating  a  scandal,  because  her  many  suitors 
and  her  sharp  tongue  were  hurting  her 
reputation.  Celimene  spoke  bitingly  of 
Arsinoe's  strait-laced  character. 

Arsinoe  decided  to  talk  privately  with 
Alceste,  with  whom  she  was  half  in  love. 
She  comforted  him  as  best  she  could  for 
being  so  unfortunate  as  to  love  Celimene, 
and  complimented  him  on  his  plain  deal 
ings  and  forthright  character.  Carried 
away  by  the  intimacy  of  her  talk,  Arsino£ 
offered  to  do  much  for  Alceste  by  speak 
ing  in  his  favor  at  court.  But  the  two 
concluded  that  the  love  of  Alceste  for 


596 


Celimene,  though  unsuitable  from  almost 
every  point  of  view,  was  a  fast  tie. 

Eliante  and  Philinte  were  in  the  mean 
time  discussing  Alceste  and  his  habit  of 
antagonizing  his  friends  through  his 
frankness.  Philinte  told  her  of  Alceste's 
hearing  before  the  tribunal.  He  had  in 
sisted  that  Oronte's  verses  were  bad,  but 
he  had  nothing  more  to  say.  Eliante  and 
Philinte  ^began  to  discover  a  mutual  lik 
ing.  If  Eliante  ever  lost  her  fondness  for 
Alceste,  Philinte  intended  to  offer  him 
self  as  a  lover. 

Alceste  received  an  unflattering  letter, 
purporting  to  come  from  Celimene,  which 
described  him  in  malicious  terms.  After 
much  coy  hesitation,  Celimene  admitted 
that  she  had  sent  the  letter  and  expressed 
surprise  at  Alceste's  indignation.  Other 
suitors  appeared,  each  holding  a  letter 
and  each  much  upset.  On  comparing 
notes,  they  found  that  they  had  all  been 
ridiculed  and  insulted. 

Meanwhile,  ^Alceste  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  ask  Eliante  to  marry  him,  but 
reconsidered  when  he  realized  that  his 
proposal  would  seem  to  spring  from  a 
desire  to  avenge  himself  on  Celimene. 
To  the  misanthrope  there  seemed  to  be 
no  solution  except  to  go  into  exile  and 


live  a  hermit's  life. 

When  Celim&ne's  suitors  clamored  for 
an  explanation,  she  told  them  that  she 
had  written  the  letters  because  she  was 
tired  of  the  niceties  of  polite  conversa 
tion.  For  once  she  decided  to  say  what 
she  really  thought.  This  confession  was 
shocking  to  the  suitors  who  thought 
frankness  and  rudeness  were  unpardon 
able  crimes.  Hypocrisy,  flattery,  cajolery, 
extravagances — these  were  the  marks  of 
a  gentle  lady.  Protesting  and  disdainful, 
they  left  together,  never  to  return. 

Only  Alceste  remained.  Even  the  co 
quettish  and  malicious  heart  of  Celimene 
was  touched.  When  Alceste  repeated  his 
vows  of  fidelity  and  asked  her  once  more 
to  marry  him,  she  almost  consented.  But 
when  Alceste  revealed  that  he  wanted 
them  to  go  into  exile  and  lead  quiet, 
simple  lives,  she  refused.  Celimene  could 
never  leave  the  false,  frivolous  society 
she  loved. 

Now  completely  the  misanthrope,  Al 
ceste  stalked  away  with  the  firm  resolve 
to  quit  society  forever,  to  become  a  her 
mit,  far  removed  from  the  artificial  sham 
of  preciosity.  Philinte  and  Eliante,  more 
moderate  in  their  views,  however,  de 
cided  that  they  would  many. 


LES  MISERABLES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Victor  Hugo  (1802-1885) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  'plot:  About  1815  to  1835 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1862 

Prind'pat  characters: 

JEAN  VALJEAN,  also  known  as  Father  Madeleine 

FANTTNE,  a  woman  befriended  by  Valjean 

COSETTE,  her  daughter 

M.  JAVERT,  inspector  of  police 

MARTUS  PONTMEKCY,  in  love  with  Cosette 

M.  THENARDEER,  known  also  as  Jondrette,  a  rogue 

EPONINE  THENAHDLER,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

Les  Miserables  is  a  romantic  novel, 
packed  with  exciting  incidents.  It  is  also 
a  sociological  study  of  poverty  and  slum 


life.  Victor  Hugo  spent  fourteen  years  on 
the  book,  a  fact  which  probably  accounts 
for  the  numerous  digressions  and  addi- 


597 


tions  to  the  story.  The  core  of  this  ex 
tremely  long  novel  is  the  life  story  of  a 
criminal,  Jean  Valjean,  who  serves  as  an 
example  of  the  misery  and  contradictions 
of  society  with  which  the  author  was 
especially  concerned  at  the  time  of  writ 
ing.  Les  Miserables  is  both  a  powerful 
social  document  and  an  extremely  in 
teresting  and  dramatic  narrative.  Hugo's 
masterpiece,  it  is  one  of  the  great  novels 
of  the  world. 

The  Story: 

In  1815,  in  France,  a  man  named  Jean 
Valjean  was  released  after  nineteen  years 
in  prison.  He  had  been  sentenced  to  a 
term  of  five  years  because  he  stole  a  loaf 
of  bread  to  feed  his  starving  sister  and 
her  family,  but  the  sentence  was  later 
increased  because  of  his  attempts  to  es 
cape.  During  his  imprisonment  he  aston 
ished  others  by  his  exhibitions  of  unusual 
physical  strength. 

Freed  at  last,  he  started  out  on  foot 
for  a  distant  part  of  the  country.  Inn 
keepers  refused  him  food  and  lodging 
because  bis  yellow  passport  revealed  that 
he  was  an  ex-convict.  Finally  be  came  to 
the  house  of  the  Bishop  of  Digne,  a 
saintly  man  who  treated  him  graciously, 
fed  him,  and  gave  him  a  bed.  During  the 
night  Jean  stole  the  bishop's  silverware 
and  fled.  He  was  immediately  captured 
by  the  police.,  who  returned  him  and  the 
stolen  goods  to  the  bishop.  Without  any 
censure,  the  priest  not  only  gave  him 
what  be  had  stolen,  but  also  added  his 
silver  candlesticks  to  the  gift.  The  aston 
ished  gendarmes  let  the  prisoner  go. 
Alone  with  the  bishop,  Jean  was  con 
founded  by  the  churchman's  attitude,  for 
the  bishop  asked  only  that  he  use  the 
silver  as  a  means  of  living  an  bonest  life. 

In  Paris,  in  1817,  lived  a  beautiful 
girl  named  Fantine.  She  gave  birth  to 
an  illegitimate  child,  Cosette,  whom  she 
left  with  M.  and  Mme.  Thenardier  to 
bring  up  with  their  own  children.  As 
time  went  on,  the  Th^nardiers  demanded 
more  and  more  money  for  Cosette's  sup 
port,  yet  treated  the  child  cruelly  and 


deprived  her  even  of  necessities.  Fantine, 
meanwhile,  had  gone  to  the  town  of  M — 
and  obtained  a  job  in  a  glass  factory  oper 
ated  by  Father  Madeleine,  a  kind  and 
generous  man  w7hose  history  was  known 
to  no  one,  but  whose  good  deeds  and 
generosity  to  the  poor  were  public  infor 
mation.  He  had  arrived  in  M —  a  poor 
laborer,  and  by  a  lucky  invention  he  was 
able  to  start  a  business  of  his  own.  Soon 
he  built  a  factory  and  employed  many 
workers.  After  five  years  in  the  city  he 
was  named  mayor  and  was  beloved  by  all 
the  citizens.  He  was  reported  to  have 
prodigious  strength.  Only  one  man,  Ja 
vert,  a  police  inspector,  seemed  to  watch 
him  with  an  air  of  suspicion.  Javert  was 
born  in  prison.  His  whole  life  was  in 
fluenced  by  that  fact  and  his  fanatical 
attitude  toward  duty  made  him  a  man  to 
be  feared.  He  was  determined  to  discover 
the  facts  of  Father  Madeleine's  previous 
life.  One  day  he  found  a  clue  while 
watching  Father  Madeleine  lift  a  heavy 
cart  to  save  an  old  man  who  had  fallen 
under  it.  Javert  realized  that  he  had 
known  only  one  man  of  such  prodigious 
strength,  a  former  convict  named  Val 
jean. 

Fantine  had  told  no  one  of  Cosette, 
but  knowledge  of  her  illegitimate  child 
spread  and  caused  Fantine  to  be  dis 
charged  from  the  factory  without  the 
knowledge  of  Father  Madeleine.  Finally 
Fantine  became  a  prostitute  in  an  effort 
to  pay  the  increasing  demands  of  the 
Thenardiers  for  Cosette's  support.  One 
night  Javert  arrested  her  while  she  was 
walking  the  streets.  When  Father  Made 
leine  heard  the  details  of  her  plight,  and 
learned  that  she  had  tuberculosis,  he  sent 
Fantine  to  a  hospital  and  promised  to 
bring  Cosette  to  her.  Just  before  the 
mayor  left  to  get  Cosette,  Javert  con 
fessed  that  he  had  mistakenly  reported 
to  the  Paris  police  that  he  suspected 
Father  Madeleine  of  being  the  ex-convict, 
Jean  Valjean.  He  said  that  the  real  Jean 
Valjean  had  been  arrested  at  Arras  under 
an  assumed  name.  The  arrested  man  was 
to  be  tried  two  days  later. 


598 


That  night  Father  Madeleine  struggled 
with  his  own  conscience,  for  he  was  the 
real  Jean  Valjean.  Unwilling  to  let  an 
innocent  man  suffer,  he  went  to  Arras 
for  the  trial  and  identified  himself  as 
Jean  Valjean.  After  telling  the  authori 
ties  where  he  could  be  found,  he  went 
to  Fantine.  J avert  came  there  to  arrest 
him.  Fantine  was  so  terrified  that  she 
died.  After  a  day  in  prison  Jean  Valjean 
escaped. 

Valjean,  some  time  later,  was  again 
imprisoned  by  Javert.  Once  more  he 
made  his  escape.  Shortly  afterward  he 
was  able  to  take  Cosette,  a  girl  of  eight, 
away  from  the  Thenardiers.  He  grew  to 
love  the  child  greatly,  and  they  lived  to 
gether  happily  in  the  Gorbeau  tenement 
on  the  outskirts  of  Paris.  When  Jarvert 
once  more  tracked  them  down,  Valjean 
escaped  with  the  child  into  a  convent 
garden,  where  they  were  rescued  by  Fau- 
chelevant,  whose  life  Valjean  had  saved 
when  the  old  peasant  fell  beneath  the 
cart.  Fauchelevant  was  now  the  convent 
gardener.  Valjean  became  his  helper, 
and  Cosette  was  put  into  the  convent 
school. 

Years  passed.  Valjean  left  the  convent 
and  took  Cosette,  her  schooling  finished, 
to  live  in  a  modest  house  on  a  side  street 
in  Paris.  The  old  man  and  the  young 


girl  were  little  noticed  by  their  neighbors. 
Meanwhile  the  blackguard  Thenardier 
had  brought  his  family  to  live  in  the  Gor 
beau  tenement.  He  now  called  himself 
Jondrette.  In  the  next  room  lived  Marius 
Pontmercy,  a  young  lawyer  estranged 
from  his  aristocrat  grandfather  because  of 
his  liberal  views.  Marius  was  the  son  of 
an  officer  whose  life  Thenardier  had 
saved  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  The 
father,  now  dead,  had  asked  his  son  some 
day  to  repay  Thenardier  for  his  deed. 
Marius  never  suspected  that  Jondrette 
was  really  his  father's  benefactor.  When 
the  Jondrettes  were  being  evicted  from 
their  quarters,  however,  he  paid  their 
rent  from  his  meager  resources. 

During  one  of  his  evening  walks  Mari 
us  met  Cosette  and  Valjean.   He  fell  hi 


love  with  the  girl  as  he  continued  to 
see  her  in  the  company  of  her  white 
haired  companion.  At  last  he  followed 
her  to  her  home.  Valjean,  noticing  Mari 
us,  took  Cosette  to  live  in  another  house. 

One  morning  Marius  received  a  beg 
ging  letter  deHvered  by  Eponine  Jon 
drette.  His  neighbors  were  again  asking 
for  help,  and  he  began  to  wonder  about 
them.  Peeping  through  a  hole  in  the 
wall,  he  heard  Jondrette  speak  of  a  bene 
factor  who  would  soon  arrive.  When  the 
man  came,  Marius  recognized  him  as 
Cosette's  companion.  From  Eponine  he 
later  learned  Cosette's  address,  but  be 
fore  he  saw  Cosette  again  he  overheard 
the  Jondrettes  plotting  against  the  man 
whom  he  believed  to  be  Cosette's  father. 
Alarmed,  he  told  the  details  of  the  plot 
to  Inspector  Javert 

Marius  was  at  the  wall  watching  when 
Valjean  returned  to  give  Jondrette  money. 
While  they  talked,  numerous  heavily- 
armed  men  appeared  in  the  room.  Jon 
drette  then  revealed  himself  as  Th£nard- 
ier.  Marius,  horrified,  did  not  know 
whom  to  protect,  the  man  his  father  had 
requested  him  to  befriend  or  the  father 
of  Cosette.  Threatened  by  Thenardier, 
Valjean  agreed  to  send  to  his  daughter 
for  more  money,  but  he  gave  a  false 
address.  When  this  ruse  was  discovered, 
the  robbers  threatened  to  kill  Valjean. 
Marius  threw  a  note  of  warning  through 
the  hole  in  the  wall  as  Javert  appeared 
and  arrested  all  but  Valjean,  who  made 
his  escape  through  a  window. 

Marius  finally  located  Cosette.  One 
night  she  told  him  that  she  and  her 
father  were  leaving  for  England.  He  tried 
to  get  his  grandfather's  permission  to 
marry  Cosette.  It  was  refused.  In  de 
spair,  he  returned  to  Cosette  and  found 
the  house  where  she  had  lived  empty. 
Eponine  met  him  there  and  told  him 
that  his  revolutionary  friends  had  begun 
a  revolt  and  were  waiting  for  him  at  the 
barricades.  Because  Cosette  had  disap 
peared,  he  gladly  followed  Eponine  to 
the  barricades,  where  Javert  had  been 
seized  as  a  spy  and  bound.  During  the 


599 


fighting  Eponine  gave  her  life  to  save 
Marius.  As  she  died,  she  gave  him  a 
note  which  Cosette  had  given  her  to  de 
liver.  In  it  Cosette  told  him  where  she 
could  he  found. 

In  answer  to  her  note,  Marius  wrote 
that  his  grandfather  would  not  permit  his 
marriage,  that  he  had  no  money,  and  that 
he  would  he  killed  at  the  barricade.  Val 
jean  discovered  the  notes  and  set  out 
for  the  barricades.  Finding  Javert  tied 
up  by  the  revolutionists,  he  freed  the 
inspector.  The  barricades  fell.  In  the 
confusion  Valjean  came  upon  the 
wounded  Marius  and  carried  him  into 
the  Paris  sewers. 

After  hours  of  wandering  he  reached 
a  locked  outlet.  There  Thenardier,  un 
recognized  in  the  dark,  met  Kim  and 
agreed  to  open  the  grating  in  exchange 
for  money.  Outside  Valjean  met  Javert, 
who  took  him  into  custody.  Valjean 
asked  only  that  he  be  allowed  to  take 
Marius  to  his  grandfather's  house.  Javert 
agreed  to  wait  at  the  door,  but  suddenly 
he  turned  and  ran  toward  the  river.  Tor 


mented  by  his  conscientious  regard  for 
duty  and  his  reluctance  to  return  to  prison 
the  man  who  had  saved  his  life,  he 
drowned  himself  in  the  Seine. 

When  Marius  recovered,  he  and  Co 
sette  were  married.  Valjean  gave  Cosette 
a  generous  dowry,  and  for  the  first  time 
Cosette  learned  that  Valjean  was  not  her 
real  father.  Valjean  told  Marius  only  that 
he  was  an  escaped  convict,  believed  dead, 
and  he  begged  to  be  allowed  to  see  Co 
sette  occasionally.  But  gradually  Marius 
banished  him  from  the  house.  Then 
Marius  learned  from  Thenardier  that  it 
was  Valjean  who  had  rescued  Marius  at 
the  barricade.  Marius  and  Cosette  hur 
ried  to  Valjean's  lodgings,  to  find  him 
on  his  deathbed.  He  died  knowing  that 
his  children  loved  him  and  that  all  his 
entangling  past  was  now  clear.  He  be 
queathed  the  bishop's  silver  candlesticks 
to  Cosette,  with  his  last  breath  saying  that 
he  had  spent  his  life  in  trying  to  be 
worthy  of  the  faith  of  the  Bishop  of 
Digne.  He  was  buried  in  a  grave  with 
no  name  on  the  stone. 


MR.  BRITLING  SEES  IT  THROUGH 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  H.  G.  Wells  C 1 866-1946) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  World  War  I 

Locale:  England 

Fkst  published:  1916 

Principal  characters: 

MB.  DIHECK,  an  American 

MR.  BRITLING,  an  English  writer 

HUGH,  Mr.  Ending's  oldest  son 

TEDDY,  Mr.  Ending's  secretary 

LETT?,  Teddy's  wife 

CISSIE,  Letty's  sister  and  Mr.  Direck's  sweetheart 

HF.TNRICH,  the  Ending  children's  tutor 

Critique: 

In  this  bock  the  author  tries  to  show  anyone  who  enjoys  novels  of  theme 

the  effect  o£  World  War  I  upon  the  is  a  rewarding  and  inspiring  book, 
mind  of  one  man.    Mr.  Britling  passes 

from   optimism  to  despair  and  hack  to  The  Story: 

optimism  as  he  ponders  questions  of  war,          Mr.    Direck,    secretary    of   a    Boston 

religion,  morality,  and  social  reform.  For  cultural  society,  was  in  England  for  the 

MR.  BRITLING  SEES  IT  THROUGH  by  H.  G.  Wells.    By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  H   G 
and  the  publisher*  The  Maoruikn  Co.    Copyright,  1916,  by  H.  G.  Wdls.     Renewed,   1944,  by  H    G.  V 

600 


purpose  of  persuading  Mr.  Britling,  a 
famous  writer,  to  deliver  a  series  of  leo- 
tures  in  the  United  States.  Direck  found 
England  all  that  he  had  expected,  as  he 
traveled  from  London  to  Matching's  Easy 
in  Essex  to  meet  Mr.  Britling.  However, 
Mr.  Britling  did  not  support  the  illusion. 
He  neither  dressed  like  an  Englishman 
nor  acted  like  an  intellectual,  and  Direck 
was  disappointed.  But  Mr.  Britling's 
family  and  friends  aroused  his  interest 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Britling  had  three  boys. 
The  oldest,  Hugh,  was  the  son  of  Mr. 
Britling1  s  first  wife.  In  addition  to  the 
immediate  family,  an  old  aunt  and  a 
young  German  tutor,  Heinrich,  lived 
in  the  house.  Mr.  Bidding's  secretary 
Teddy,  his  wife  Letty,  and  her  sister 
Cissie,  lived  in  a  cottage  nearby.  Direck 
fell  in  love  with  Cissie,  a  vivacious  and 
intelligent  girl. 

Largely  because  of  Cissie,  Direck 
entered  with  zest  into  the  entertainments 
of  the  Britling  household,  and  at  times 
he  almost  forgot  the  real  reason  for  his 
visit.  Several  times,  however,  he  and 
his  host  had  serious  discussions.  Once 
they  spoke  about  possible  war  with  Ger 
many.  Mr.  Britling  said  the  idea  was 
nonsense;  it  had  been  expected  for  a 
long  time  and  had  never  happened.  Un 
known  to  Direck  and  Mr.  Britling,  tow- 
ever,  an  attempt  was  at  that  moment 
being  made  to  kill  Archduke  Francis 
Ferdinand  of  Austria.  The  fatal  march 
of  events  had  begun, 

One  morning  Mr.  Britling  took  Direck 
on  a  ride  around  the  countryside.  Mr. 
Britling,  a  poor  driver,  was  involved  in 
an  accident  with  a  motorcycle.  He  was 
not  hurt,  but  Direck  broke  his  wrist. 
He  saw  in  the  accident  an  opportunity 
to  prolong  His  stay  at  Matching's  Easy. 
Meanwhile,  war  brewed  behind  the 
scenes.  France  was  unsettled.  The  Brit 
ish  were  troubled  with  civil  war  in 
Ireland.  Heinrich  anxiously  questioned 
Mr.  Britling  about  the  war.  Mr.  Britling 
was  still  confident  that  Germany  could 
not  be  so  foolish  as  to  fight  the  rest  of 
the  world. 


When  the  time  finally  came  for  Direck 
to  leave  Matching's  Easy,  he  decided 
that  he  could  not  go  without  confessing 
his  love  to  Cissie.  Because  she  had  not 
yet  made  up  her  mind  about  her  love 
for  him,  Direck  left  for  a  tour  of  Europe. 
He  felt  hopeful  because  Cissie  had  not 
definitely  rejected  him. 

Mr.  Britling,  too,  was  involved  in  a 
love  affair.  He  and  his  wife  had  ceased 
to  love  each  other  years  before,  but  they 
cooperated  admirably  to  run  their  pleas 
ant  household.  Life  ran  smoothly  at 
tome.  Away  from  home  there  was  Mrs. 
Harrowdean,  a  widow.  The  love  affair 
between  her  and  Mr.  Britling  did  not 
run  smoothly.  At  the  time  they  had 
ceased  to  see  each  other  and  were 
Quarreling  by  mail. 

The  threat  of  war  crept  forward.  Hein 
rich  was  called  home  for  mobilization. 
He  left  sadly.  He  did  not  believe  in 
war.  The  Britlings  urged  him  to  stay, 
but  he  said  that  he  must  serve  his  coun 
try. 

Germany  invaded  France,  and  Russia 
invaded  Germany.  Although  forced  to 
readjust  his  thinking.  Mr.  Britling  firmly 
believed  that  Germany  could  never  win. 
With  a  troubled  mind  he  drove  into  the 
country,  half-determined  to  call  on  Mrs. 
Harrowdean,  but  on  the  way  he  began 
to  think  of  what  the  war  would  mean 
to  the  world.  Instead  of  going  to  see 
Mrs.  Harrowdean,  he  returned  home  to 
his  writing  desk.  The  war  had  arrived 
to  fill  the  mind  of  Mr.  Britling  to  the 
exclusion  of  everything  else. 

When  the  Germans  attacked  Belgium, 
England  declared  war.  Direck,  who  had 
been  in  Germany  when  war  was  de 
clared,  returned  immediately  to  England, 
where  he  found  Cissie  thinking  only  of 
England  and  the  war.  Direck,  being  an 
American,  remained  only  an  interested 
spectator. 

Gradually  it  dawned  on  Mr.  Britling 
that  Germany  could  not  easily  be  beaten. 
The  Ending  household  slowly  became 
involved  in  the  war.  First  Teddy  volun 
teered,  then  Hugh,  Mr.  Britling  at  last 


601 


got  a  job  as  a  constable  guarding  bridges 
and  public  works.  Mrs.  Britling  worked 
for  the  Red  Cross.  A  Belgian  refugee 
and  his  family  came  to  live  with  them 
for  a  time.  Later  two  squads  of  soldiers 
were  billeted  in  their  barn. 

Mr.  Britling  did  a  lot  of  thinking  in 
his  attempt  to  adjust  his  mind  to  Ger 
many's  attitude  in  the  war.  To  most 
Englishmen,  the  war  was  a  game  to  be 
played  and  won  against  an  honorable 
enemy;  to  many  Germans,  the  war  was 
a  campaign  of  hate.  Mr.  Britling  thought 
often  of  Heinrich.  There  had  to  be  other 
Germans  as  good  as  Heinrich,  for  not 
all  of  them  could  be  evil.  Then  he 
realized  that  the  British  were  growing 
as  cruel  and  hardened  as  the  enemy. 
This  war,  after  all,  was  no  different  from 
the  ones  that  had  gone  before,  and  men 
on  both  sides  were  victims  of  their  own 
foolishness  and  stupidity. 

Hugh  lied  about  his  age  and  managed 
to  be  sent  to  the  front  in  Flanders.  Teddy 
was  there  too,  and  one  day  Letty  received 
a  telegram  -which  said  that  he  was 
missing.  Mr.  Britling  was  so  disturbed 
that  writing  was  now  impossible.  Direck, 
still  a  civilian,  left  for  the  continent  to 
learn  news  of  Teddy.  Then  a  telegram 
announced  that  Hugh  had  been  killed. 
The  war  was  leaving  its  mark  upon  Mr. 
Ending  of  Matching's  Easy. 

Although   Direck  had   found   almost 


certain  evidence  that  Teddy  had  been 
killed,  Letty  still  believed  him  to  be 
alive.  Cissie  tried  to  make  her  sister 
face  the  truth.  Convinced,  Letty  went 
alone  out  into  the  fields  with  her  grief. 
There  she  met  Mr.  Britling.  He  had 
become  reconciled  to  Hugh's  death  be 
cause  he  had  convinced  himself  that  the 
boy  had  not  died  in  vain.  A  better  world 
was  in  the  making;  after  the  war  things 
would  be  different. 

Letty  returned  home,  strangely  quieted 
by  what  Mr.  Britling  had  told  her;  she, 
too,  had  become  reconciled  to  the  idea 
of  death.  Suddenly  she  saw  a  familiar 
figure  in  front  of  the  cottage.  It  was 
Teddy.  He  was  alive,  with  one  hand 
gone.  Now  it  was  Cissie  who  must  begin 
to  worry.  Direck  had  volunteered  in  the 
Canadian  Army. 

Some  weeks  later  Mr.  Britling  learned 
that  Heinrich  had  died.  He  tried  to 
compose  a  letter  to  Heinrich's  parents, 
but  the  effort  was  useless.  He  wrote  all 
night  without  being  able  to  express  what 
he  felt.  Hugh  and  Heinrich  had  both 
died  for  a  reason.  With  the  promise  of 
a  better  world  to  come,  now  was  not 
the  time  for  despair.  Mr.  Britling  rose 
from  his  desk  and  watched  the  morning 
begin.  His  mind  was  calm.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  whole  world  was  bathed  in 


sunrise. 


MR.  MIDSHIPMAN  EASY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author.  Frederick  Maixyat  (1792-1848) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Napoleonic  wars 

Locale:  Mediterranean  Sea  and  European  coastal  waters 

first  published:  1836 

Principal  characters: 

JACK  EASY,  a  midshipman 
GASCOIGNE,  another  midshipman 
MESTY,  an  Ashantee  Negro 

REBIEBA,  Easy's  Sicilian  sweetheart 


Critique: 

Marryat  wrote  from  experience,  having 
himself  been  a  captain  in  the  British 
navy,  and  his  book  gives  a  fully  detailed 


account  of  life  aboard  a  war  vessel,  in 
cluding  vivid  accounts  of  several  battles 
at  sea.  Unlike  many  other  stories  about 


602 


the  British  or  American  navy  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century,  he  did  not  charge  the 
naval  system  of  discipline  with  being  too 
harsh.  Rather,  he  tried  to  show  that  it 
developed  the  best  that  was  in  a  man. 
Marryat  thought  poorly  of  the  theories 
of  equality  which  had  been  popularized 
in  France  during  the  French  Revolution. 

The  Story: 

Jack  Easy  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy 
landowner  in  the  county  of  Hampshire, 
England.  Jack's  father  and  mother  had 
almost  spoiled  the  boy  for  any  good  in 
the  world,  the  former  by  his  over-simpli 
fied  philosophy  of  equality,  and  the  latter 
by  her  doting.  Fortunately  for  the  young 
lad,  the  family  physician,  Doctor  Middle- 
ton,  rescued  him  from  Ms  home  and  put 
him  in  a  school  where  he  began  to  learn 
that  the  survival  of  the  fittest  was  the 
way  of  the  world.  When  he  left  school, 
it  was  decided  he  should  go  to  sea  as  mid 
shipman  with  Captain  Wilson,  a  poor 
relation  who  was  indebted  to  Mr.  Easy 
for  a  loan  of  one  thousand  pounds  and 
who  was  in  command  of  the  warship 
Harpy. 

Jack  soon  made  friends  aboard  the 
Harpy  through  the  use  of  his  fists  in 
beating  down  bullies  among  the  ship's 
company  and  through  the  obvious  good 
will  which  the  captain  showed  him.  It 
was  hard  at  first  for  the  young  man  to 
become  accustomed  to  life  aboard  the  war 
ship.  The  duties  of  a  midshipman  kept 
him  busy,  but  the  small  living  quarters 
and  the  discipline  proved  irksome  to  the 
son  of  a  philosopher  who  preached  a 
doctrine  of  equality. 

Jack's  first  naval  adventure  occurred 
when  the  ship  was  not  far  from  Tarra 
gona.  In  command  of  a  boat  during  the 
capture  of  a  Spanish  vessel  by  a  board 
ing  party,  he  was  left  behind  when  the 
Harpy  sailed  away.  Captain  Wilson 
thought  that  Easy's  boat  had  been  sunk 
with  all  hands.  The  following  night 
Easy's  boat  captured  another  Spanish 
vessel  by  boarding.  Easy  ordered  the 
crew  and  passengers,  including  an  elderly 


Sicilian  and  his  wife  and  two  beautifuJ 
daughters,  overboard  into  a  small  boat, 
A  few  days  later,  after  Easy  had  vainly 
tried  to  find  the  Harpy,  the  crew  landed 
on  an  island  and  refused  to  return  to 
the  captured  ship.  But  an  Ashantee 
Negro,  Mesty,  was  loyal  to  Easy  because 
the  midshipman  had  befriended  him  and 
Lad  treated  him  as  an  equal.  Through 
the  efforts  of  Mesty,  the  men  were 
brought  back  on  board  in  a  docile  condi 
tion  and  Easy  again  set  sail  to  look  for 
the  Harpy.  After  a  week  had  passed, 
Easy  and  his  crew  found  the  British 
warship  engaged  with  a  Spanish  vessel. 
The  timely  aid  of  gunfire  from  Easy's 
prize  helped  the  Harpy  take  its  opponent. 
Everyone,  including  Captain  Wilson, 
was  amused  at  the  flag  which  Easy  had 
flown  in  the  engagement.  Having  no 
British  flag  aboard  the  prize,  he  had 
hoisted  a  lady's  green  petticoat. 

The  first  stop  for  the  Harpy  in  the 
Mediterranean  was  at  Malta,  There 
Easy  fought  a  duel.  Thinking  he  had 
killed  his  man,  he  and  a  fellow  midship 
man,  Gascoigne,  ran  away  in  a  native 
boat  they  had  hired.  A  storm  drove  their 
small  craft  to  the  Sicilian  shore,  where, 
the  two  young  sailors  hid  in  a  cart  and 
there  fell  asleep.  When  they  awakened 
they  found  themselves  in  the  yard  of  a 
great  house.  Hearing  loud  cries,  they 
rushed  into  the  house  in  time  to  prevent 
the  owner  from  being  murdered  by  two 
relatives.  The  man  and  his  family  proved 
to  be  the  passengers  whom  Easy  had  put 
into  a  small  boat  when  he  had  taken  his 
prize  a  month  earlier.  Before  Don  Rebi- 
era  sent  them  to  Palermo,  Easy  had  fallen 
deeply  in  love  with  the  Sicilian  noble 
man's  daughter,  Agnes. 

At  Palermo  the  two  midshipmen  went 
aboard  a  British  frigate  which  took  them 
back  to  Malta  to  rejoin  the  Harpy.  Since 
Easy's  opponent  in  the  duel  had  not  died, 
Captain  Wilson  forgave  their  escapade. 

A  few  weeks  later  the  Harpy  was 
sailing  off  the  coast  of  Africa.  In  another 
battle  to  board  a  vessel,  Easy  distin 
guished  himself  a  second  time.  The  prize 


603 


was  taken  back  to  Malta,  where  Captain 
Wilson  learned  that  he  had  been  pro 
moted  to  the  command  of  a  larger  ship, 
the  Aurora.  When  he  left  the  Harpy, 
Captain  Wilson  took  Easy,  Gascoigne, 
and  Mesty  with  him. 

Separated  from  the  fleet  during  a 
storm,  the  Aurora  was  struck  by  light 
ning  and  set  afire.  Many  of  her  officers 
and  men  were  killed  or  injured.  Both 
Easy  and  Gascoigne  were  heroic  in  their 
efforts  to  help  stop  the  blaze  and  get  the 
ship  seaworthy  enough  to  reach  Malta  for 
repairs.  Back  at  Malta,  Easy  and  Gas 
coigne  had  still  further  adventures. 
Chosen  to  accompany  a  Sicilian  noble 
man  who  was  visiting  the  ship,  they  re 
cognized  him  as  one  of  the  men  who  had 
tried  to  assassinate  Don  Rebiera,  The  im 
postor  was  arrested  by  the  authorities  and 
returned  to  Sicily. 

Several  weeks  later  the  Aurora  sighted 
a  galley,  filled  with  criminals,  sinking 
off  the  Sicilian  coast.  A  party  was  sent 
to  release  the  prisoners  and  set  them 
ashore.  During  the  operation  Easy  recog 
nized  the  man  who  had  attempted  to 
assassinate  Don  Rebiera  and  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  galleys  just  a  few  weeks 
before.  He  notified  Captain  Wilson,  who 
immediately  informed  the  authorities  on 
the  island  and  then  permitted  Easy,  Gas 
coigne,  and  Mesty  to  go  ashore  to  warn 
their  friends.  Easy  and  his  companions 
arrived  at  Don  Rebiera  Js  home  in  time 
to  warn  the  household  of  its  danger.  A 
battle  of  a  day  and  a  night  ensued.  At 
the  end  of  that  time  Sicilian  troops  ar 
rived  and  rescued  the  besieged  house  and 
its  defenders  from  the  band  of  escaped 
galleyslaves  under  the  leadership  of  Don 
Rebiera's  enemy. 

The  next  day  Easy  asked  Agnes'  father 
if  he  might  many  her.  The  father,  in 


debted  to  Easy  and  knowing  that  his 
daughter  loved  the  young  midshipman, 
could  not  give  his  permission  immediately 
because  of  the  Church.  His  family  con 
fessor  threatened  excommunication  if  the 
marriage  took  place. 

Not  to  be  daunted,  Easy  and  Gas 
coigne,  with  the  help  of  Mesty,  pretended 
to  have  broken  their  legs  in  a  carriage 
accident.  Captain  Wilson  was  forced  to 
leave  them  behind  to  convalesce  when 
the  Aurora  left  port.  As  soon  as  the  ship 
had  sailed,  Mesty  was  sent  with  a  bribe 
to  the  confessor.  The  priest,  in  his  turn, 
tried  to  get  Mesty's  aid  in  poisoning 
Easy  in  order  to  prevent  the  marriage. 
Mesty  promised  to  help  the  priest  but 
administered  the  poison  to  the  confessor 
instead.  Don  Rebiera  then  withdrew  his 
objection  to  the  marriage  if  he  could 
have  the  written  permission  of  the  mid 
shipman's  father,  since  Easy  was  still 
under  age.  Easy  eagerly  reported  to  the 
Aurora  to  resign  from  the  navy  and  re 
turn  to  England  to  get  his  father's  per 
mission  to  marry. 

Back  in  England,  Easy  learned  that 
his  mother  had  died  and  his  father  had 
become  insane.  While  the  son  was 
straightening  out  the  affairs  of  the  fam 
ily,  the  father  also  died,  leaving  Easy  a 
large  fortune.  Since  the  seas  were  not  a 
safe  place  to  travel  as  a  passenger  in  a 
merchant  vessel,  Easy  bought  a  small 
ship.  Armed  with  cannon  and  letters  of 
marque,  he  sailed  for  Sicily.  There  he 
married  Agnes. 

He  and  his  bride  returned  to  England 
after  Easy  had  helped  to  secure  Gas- 
coigne's  resignation  from  the  navy. 
Neither  Easy  nor  Gascoigne  went  to  sea 
again,  but  settled  down  as  country  gentle 
men  on  Easy's  large  estate  in  Hampshire. 


604 


MISTER  ROBERTS 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Heggen  (1919-1949) 

Type  of  plot:  Humorous  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Last  months  of  World  War  EC 

Locale:  Southwest  Pacific 

First  published:   1946 

Principal  characters: 

DOUGLAS  ROBERTS,  First  Lieutenant,  U.  S.  S.  Reluctant 

CAPTAIN  MORTON,  skipper  of  the  Reluctant 

ENSIGN  KEITH,  USNR 

BOOKSER,  a  seaman 

FRANK  THOMPSON,  radio  man 

Critique: 

Mister  Roberts,  first  published  serially 
in  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  became  a  na 
tional  best  seller  soon  after  its  appearance 
in  book  form.  The  subject  matter  offers 
relief  from  the  general  run  of  war  litera 
ture;  the  style  ranges  from  almost  poetic 
prose  to  screaming  farce.  An  air  of  lusty 
masculinity  pervades  the  narrative.  Heg 
gen  has  perfectly  reproduced  the  un 
inhibited  idiom  of  men  at  war.  The 
success  of  the  novel  led  Heggen,  with 
Joshua  Logan,  to  dramatize  it  into  an 
equally  successful  play.  Heggen's  artistic 
motive  in  writing  the  novel  must  surely 
have  been  his  wish  to  show  the  public 
that  the  backwashes  of  the  war  also 
have  their  tragedy  and  comedy,  and  even 
their  romance,  despite  their  apparent  lack 
of  color. 


The  Story: 

Douglas  Roberts,  First  Lieutenant  on 
the  Reluctant,  a  U.  S.  Navy  supply  ship 
in  the  Pacific,  was  the  guiding  spirit  of 
the  crew's  undeclared  war  against  the 
skipper,  Captain,  Morton,  an  officious, 
childish,  and  unreasonable  officer.  The 
Reluctant  was  non-combatant,  plying 
among  islands  left  in  the  backwash  of 
the  war.  None  of  its  complement  had 
seen  action,  and  none  wanted  action  ex 
cept  Roberts,  who  had  applied  without 
success  for  transfer  to  a  ship  of  the  line. 

In  the  continuously  smoldering  war 
fare  between  the  captain  and  the  other 


officers  and  the  men  of  the  ship,  Roberts 
scored  a  direct  hit  on  the  captain's  funda 
ment  with  a  wad  of  lead-foil  shot  from 
a  rubber  band  while  the  captain  was 
watching  movies  on  board.  Ensign  Pul- 
ver,  who  spent  most  of  his  time  devising 
ways  of  making  the  skipper's  life  un 
bearable,  manufactured  a  giant  fire 
cracker  to  be  thrown  into  the  captain's 
cabin  at  night  The  premature  and 
violent  explosion  of  the  firecracker  put 
the  entire  Reluctant  on  a  momentary 
battle  footing.  Ensign  Pulver  was  burned 
badly. 

Ensign  Keith  came  to  the  Reluctant 
by  way  of  middle-class  Boston,  Bowdoin 
College,  and  accelerated  wartime  naval 
officer  training.  He  was  piped  aboard  in 
the  blazing  sunshine  of  Tedium  Bay, 
hot  in  his  blue  serge  uniform  but  self- 
assured  because  Navy  Regulations  pre 
scribed  blues  when  reporting  for  duty. 
Despite  the  discomfort  of  a  perspiration- 
soaked  shirt  and  a  wilted  collar,  Ensign 
Keith  immediately  showed  the  crew  that 
they  would  have  to  follow  naval  regula 
tions  if  he  had  his  way  aboard  ship. 
One  night,  however,  while  he  was  on 
watch,  he  came  upon  a  drinking  and 
gambling  party  presided  over  by  Chief 
Dowdy.  Keith  was  hoodwinked  by  the 
men  into  trying  some  of  their  drink. 
Not  much  later,  under  the  influence  of 
Chief  Dowdy's  "pineapple  juice,"  Keith 
had  become  roaring  drunk,  all  regula- 


MISTER  ROBERTS  by  Thomas  Heggen.   By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Hougkton  Mifflin  Co. 
Copyright,  1946,  by  Thomas  Heggen. 


605 


tions  and  service  barriers  forgotten.  His 
initiation  completed,  Ensign  Keith  never 
again  referred  to  rules  and  regulations. 

At  a  forward  area  island  base,  where 
the  Reluctant  had  docked  to  unload 
cargo,  the  crew  quickly  learned  that  the 
military  hospital  was  staffed  by  real  live 
nurses.'  Every  available  binocular,  tele 
scope,  and  range-finder  on  board  was  soon 
trained  on  the  nurses  quarters.  Interest 
rose  to  fever-pitch  when  it  was  dis 
covered  that  a  bathroom  window  shade 
in  quarters  was  never  lowered.  Officers 
and  men  soon  came  to  know  the  nurses 
by  their  physical  characteristics,  if  not  by 
formal  introduction.  One  day  a  nurse 
came  aboard  and  overheard  two  seamen 
making  a  wager  concerning  her  physical 
characteristics.  That  same  day  the  bath 
room  shade  was  lowered,  never  to  be 
raised  again. 

For  days  in  advance  the  ship's  com 
plement  planned  their  shore  leave  in 
Elysium,  a  civilized  port  of  call.  Seaman 
Bookser,  the  spiritual  type,  wras  the  butt 
of  many  jokes  concerning  his  liberty 
plans.  At  Elysium  half  of  the  men 
were  given  shore  leave.  From  sundown 
until  the  following  dawn  they  were 
brought  back  by  jeep  and  truck.  They 
had  fought  with  army  personnel,  in 
sulted  local  citizens,  stolen  government 
property,  wrecked  bars  and  saloons,  and 
damaged  the  house  of  the  French  consul. 
Further  shore  leave  was  canceled.  Book 
ser,  the  spiritual  seaman,  was  driven  up 
to  the  dock  in  a  large  car  on  the  day 
of  departure.  Beside  him  was  a  beautiful 
young  woman  whom  he  kissed  long  and 
passionately  before  leaving  her.  Aston 
ished  at  Bookser  and  proud  of  him  at  the 
same  time,  the  crew  made  him  the  hero 
of  the  stop  at  Elysium. 

Roberts  listened  to  V-E  Day  reports 
on  the  ship's  radio.  The  apathy  of  his 
fellow  officers  toward  events  happening 
in  Europe  led  him  to  pitch  the  captain's 
pet  potted  palm  overboard  late  that 
night.  At  the  same  time  Roberts  stirred 
up  the  noise-hating  captain  by  slamming 
a  lead  stanchion  against  a  stateroom 


bulkhead.  Roberts  was  not  caught,  nor 
did  he  give  himself  up  during  the  cap 
tain's  mad  search  for  the  culprit.  The 
crew  manufactured  a  medal  and  pre 
sented  it  to  Roberts  for  valor  above  and 
beyond  the  call  of  duty — a  seaman  had 
seen  Roberts  in  action  on  V-E  night. 

Frank  Thompson,  a  radio  man  and 
the  ship's  monopoly  expert,  was  informed 
by  wire  that  his  baby,  whom  he  had 
never  seen,  had  died  in  California. 
Thompson,  anxious  to  go  to  the  funeral 
and  to  be  with  his  wife,  applied  for 
permission  to  fly  to  the  States.  The  cap 
tain  refused.  Roberts  advised  him  to  go 
to  a  nearby  island  to  see  the  chaplain 
and  the  flag  secretary.  Thompson  went, 
but  he  was  told  that  no  emergency 
leave  could  be  permitted  without  his 
captain's  approval.  He  then  walked 
alone  in  a  deserted  section  of  the  island 
for  several  hours  before  he  returned  to 
the  Reluctant  and  took  his  usual  place 
at  the  head  of  the  monopoly  table. 

Not  long  after  V-E  Day,  Roberts  re 
ceived  orders  to  report  back  to  the  States 
for  reassignment.  The  night  before  he 
left  the  Reluctant  he  spent  with  his 
special  friends  among  officers  and  men, 
drinking  punch  made  of  crew-concocted 
raisin  brew  and  grain  alcohol  from  dis 
pensary  supplies.  The  effect  of  Roberts' 
leaving  the  ship  was  immediate.  No 
longer  was  there  a  born  leader  aboard. 
All  functions  and  activities  in  ship's 
routine  went  wrong;  no  longer  was  there 
any  one  man  upon  whom  the  officers 
could  depend  to  maintain  their  balance 
in  the  tedium  of  a  dull  tropic  supply 
run.  No  longer  did  the  enlisted  men 
have  an  officer  upon  whom  they  could 
depend  as  a  link  between  them  and  the 
ship's  authorities. 

Roberts  was  assigned  to  duty  aboard 
a  destroyer  which  was  part  of  a  task 
force  bombarding  the  Japanese  home 
islands.  Not  long  before  V-J  Day,  En 
sign  Pulver  received  a  letter  from  a 
friend  aboard  the  same  ship.  The  letter 
stated  that  a  Japanese  kamikaze  plane 
had  broken  through  anti-aircraft  de- 


606 


fenses  and  had  crashed  into  the  bridge 
of  the  destroyer.  Among  those  killed  in 
the  explosion  was  Roberts,  who  was  in 


the  officers'  mess  drinking  coffee  with 
another  officer.  Mr.  Roberts  had  seen 
action  at  last 


MRS.  DALLCWAY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author.  Virginia  Woolf  (1882-1941) 

Type  of  plot:   Psychological  realism 

Ti-meofplot:  1920's 

Locale:  London 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 
CLARISSA  DALLOWAY 
RICHABD  DALLOWAY,  her  husband 
PETER  WALSH,  a  former  suitor 
ELIZABETH,  Mrs.  Dalloway's  daughter 
Miss  KZLMAN,  Elizabeth's  friend 
SALLY  SETON,  an  old  friend  of  Clarissa  and  Peter 


Critique: 

Mrs.  Dalloway  is  a  cleverly  written 
book.  The  author  has  used  the  stream- 
of-consciousness  method,  encompassing 
within  a  single  day  the  activities  of  Cla 
rissa  Dalloway's  life  and  the  lives  of  other 
people  as  well.  There  is  little  action  but 
much  intense  probing  of  memory. 

The  Story: 

Mrs.  Clarissa  Dalloway  went  to  make 
last-minute  preparations  for  an  evening 
party.  During  her  day  in  the  city  she 
enjoyed  the  summer  air,  the  many  sights 
and  people,  the  general  bustle  of  Lon 
don.  She  met  Hugh  Whitbread,  now  a 
court  official,  a  handsome  and  sophisti 
cated  man.  She  had  known  Hugh  since 
her  youth,  and  she  knew  his  wife, 
Evelyn,  as  well,  but  she  did  not  partic 
ularly  care  for  Evelyn.  Other  people 
came  down  to  London  to  see  paintings,  to 
hear  music,  or  to  shop.  The  Whitbreads 
came  down  to  consult  doctors,  for  Evelyn 
was  always  ailing. 

Mrs.  Dalloway  went  about  her  shop 
ping.  While  she  was  in  a  flower  shop, 
a  luxurious  limousine  pulled  up  outside. 
Everyone  speculated  on  the  occupant 
behind  the  drawn  curtains  of  the  car. 


Everywhere  the  limousine  went,  it  was 
followed  by  curious  eyes.  Mrs.  Dallo 
way,  who  had  thought  that  the  queen 
was  inside,  felt  that  she  was  right  when 
the  car  drove  into  the  Buckingham  Pal 
ace  grounds. 

The  sights  and  sounds  of  London  re 
minded  Mrs.  Dalloway  of  many  things. 
She  thought  back  to  her  youth,  to  the 
days  before  her  marriage,  to  her  husband, 
to  her  daughter  Elizabeth.  Her  daughter 
was  indeed  a  problem  and  all  because 
of  that  horrid  Miss  Kilman  who  was 
her  friend.  Miss  Kilman  was  something 
of  a  religious  fanatic,  who  scoffed  at  the 
luxurious  living  of  the  Dalloways  and 
felt  sorry  for  Mrs.  Dalloway.  Mrs.  Dallo 
way  hated  her.  Miss  Kilman  was  not 
at  all  like  the  friend  of  her  own  girlhood. 
Sally  Seton  had  been  different.  Mrs. 
Dalloway  had  really  loved  Sally. 

Mrs.  Dalloway  wondered  what  love 
really  was.  She  had  loved  Sally,  but  she 
had  loved  Richard  Dalloway  and  Petei 
Walsh,  too.  She  had  married  Richard, 
and  then  Peter  had  left  for  India.  Later 
she  learned  that  he  had  married  some 
one  he  met  on  shipboard.  She  had  heard 
little  about  his  wife  since  his  marriage. 


MRS.  DALLOWAY  by  Virginia  Woolf.   By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright, 
1925,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 


607 


But  die  day  was  wonderful  and  life  it 
self  was  wonderful.  The  war  was  over 
and  she  was  giving  a  party. 

While  Mrs.  Dalloway  was  shopping, 
Septimus  Smith  and  his  wife  were  sit 
ting  in  the  park.  Septimus  had  married 
Lucrezia  while  he  was  serving  in  Italy, 
and  she  had  given  up  her  family  and 
her  country  for  him.  Now  he  frightened 
her  because  he  acted  so  queerly  and 
talked  of  committing  suicide.  The  doc 
tor  said  that  there  was  nothing  ivrong 
with  him,  nothing  wrong  physically. 
Septimus,  one  of  tie  first  to  volunteer 
for  war  duty,  had  gone  to  war  to  save 
his  country,  the  England  of  Shakespeare. 
When  he  got  back,  he  was  a  war  hero 
and  he  was  given  a  good  job  at  the 
office.  They  had  nice  lodgings  and 
Lucrezia  was  happy.  Septimus  began 
reading  Shakespeare  again.  He  was  un 
happy;  he  brooded.  He  and  Lucrezia 
had  no  children.  To  Septimus  the  world 
was  in  such  horrible  condition  that  it 
was  unjust  to  bring  children  into  it. 

When  Septimus  began  to  have  visita 
tions  from  Evans,  a  comrade  who  had 
been  killed  in  the  war,  Lucrezia  became 
even  more  frightened  and  she  called  in 
Dr.  Holmes.  Septimus  felt  almost  com 
pletely  abandoned  by  that  time.  Lucrezia 
could  not  understand  why  her  husband 
did  not  like  Dr.  Holmes,  for  he  was  so 
kind,  so  much  interested  in  Septimus. 
Finally  she  took  her  husband  to  Sir 
William  Bradshaw,  a  wealthy  and  noted 
psychiatrist  Septimus  had  had  a  bril 
liant  career  ahead  of  him.  His  employer 
spoke  highly  of  his  work.  No  one  knew 
why  he  wanted  to  kill  himself.  Septimus 
said  that  he  had  committed  a  crime,  but 
his  wife  said  that  he  was  guilty  of  ab 
solutely  nothing.  Sir  William  suggested 
a  place  in  the  country,  where  Septimus 
would  be  by  himself,  without  his  wife. 
It  was  not,  Sir  William  said,  a  question 
of  preference.  Since  he  had  threatened 
suicide,  it  was  a  question  of  law. 

In  the  meantime  Nks.  Dalloway  re 
turned  home.  Lady  Bruton  had  invited 
Richard  Dalloway  to  lunch.  Mrs.  Dal 


loway  had  never  liked  Millicent  Bruton; 
she  was  far  too  clever.  Then  Peter 
Walsh  came  to  call,  and  Mrs.  Dalloway 
was  surprised  and  happy  to  see  him 
again.  She  introduced  him  to  her  Eliz 
abeth.  He  asked  Mrs.  Dalloway  if  she 
were  happy;  she  wondered  why.  When 
he  left,  she  called  out  to  him  not  to 
forget  her  party.  Peter  thought,  Clarissa 
Dalloway  and  her  parties!  That  was 
all  life  meant  to  her.  He  had  been 
divorced  from  his  wife  and  had  come  to 
England.  For  him,  life  was  far  more 
complicated.  He  had  fallen  in  love  with 
another  woman,  one  who  had  two 
children,  and  he  had  come  to  London 
to  arrange  for  her  divorce  and  to  get 
some  sort  of  a  job.  He  hoped  Hugh 
Whitbread  would  find  him  one,  some 
thing  in  the  government. 

That  night  Clarissa  Dalloway 's  party 
was  a  great  success.  At  first  she  was 
afraid  that  it  would  fail.  But  at  last 
the  prime  minister  arrived  and  her  eve 
ning  was  complete.  Peter  was  there,  and 
Peter  met  Lady  Rossetter.  Lady  Rosset- 
ter  turned  out  to  be  Sally  Seton.  She 
had  not  been  invited,  but  had  just 
dropped  in.  She  had  five  sons,  she  told 
Peter.  They  chatted.  Then  Elizabeth 
came  in  and  Peter  noticed  how  beautiful 
she  was. 

Later,  Sir  William  Bradshaw  and  his 
wife  entered.  They  were  late,  they  ex 
plained,  because  one  of  Sir  William's 
patients  had  committed  suicide.  For 
Septimus  Smith,  feeling  altogether 
abandoned,  had  jumped  out  of  a  win 
dow  before  they  could  take  him  into  the 
country.  Clarissa  was  upset.  Here  was 
death,  she  thought.  Although  the  suicide 
was  completely  unknown  to  her,  she 
somehow  felt  it  was  her  own  disaster, 
her  own  disgrace.  The  poor  young  man 
had  thrown  away  his  life  when  it  became 
useless.  Clarissa  had  never  thrown  away 
anything  more  valuable  than  a  shilling 
into  the  Serpentine.  Yes,  once  she  had 
stood  beside  a  fountain  while  Peter 
Walsh,  angry  and  humiliated,  had  asked 
her  whether  she  intended  to  marry 


608 


Richard.  And  Richard  had  never  been 
prime  minister.  Instead,  the  prime  min 
ister  came  to  her  parties.  Now  she  was 
growing  old.  Clarissa  Dalloway  knew 
herself  at  last  for  the  beautiful,  charm 
ing,  inconsequential  person  she  was. 

Sally  and  Peter  talked  on.  They 
thought  idly  of  Clarissa  and  Richard,  and 
wondered  whether  they  were  happy  to 


gether.  Sally  agreed  that  Richard  had 
improved.  She  left  Peter  and  went  to 
talk  with  Richard.  Peter  was  feeling 
strange.  A  sort  of  terror  and  ecstasy  took 
hold  of  him,  and  he  could  not  be  cer 
tain  what  it  was  that  excited  him  so  sud 
denly.  It  was  Clarissa,  he  thought.  Even 
after  all  these  years,  it  must  be  Clarissa. 


MOBY  DICK 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Herman  Melville  (1819-1891) 

Type,  of  plot:  Symbolic  allegory 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  high  seas 

First  published:  1851 

Principal  characters: 
ISHMAEL,  the  narrator 
QUEEQUEG,  a  savage  harpooner 
AHAB,  captain  of  the  Pequod 
STARBUCK,  the  first  mate 
STUBB,  the  second  mate 
FEPAT.T.ATT,  Captain  AhaVs  Parsee  servant 


Critique: 

Moby  'Dick,  or,  The  White  Whale  is 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  finest  novels  in 
American  literature.  On  one  level  it  has 
an  appeal  for  children,  and  on  another  a 
deep  and  penetrating  significance  for  all 
men.  Melville  intended  to  indicate  in 
this  work  the  disaster  which  must  result 
when  man  constitutes  himself  a  god  and 
sets  out  to  eliminate  a  force  established 
by  God  throughout  the  universe.  The 
whale  symbolizes  evil,  but  Ahab,  in  be 
lieving  that  alone  he  could  hope  to  de 
stroy  it,  was  also  evil.  Here  is  a  universal 
problem,  handled  with  skill  and  under 
standing. 

The  Story: 

Ishmael  was  a  schoolmaster  who  often 
felt  that  he  must  leave  his  quiet  existence, 
and  go  to  sea.  Much  of  his  life  had  been, 
spent  as  a  sailor,  and  his  voyages  were 
a  means  for  ridding  himself  of  the  rest 
lessness  which  frequently  seized  him. 
One  day  he  decided  that  he  would  sign 
on  a  whaling  ship,  and  packing  his  car 


petbag  he  left  Manhattan  and  set  out, 
bound  for  Cape  Horn  and  the  Pacific. 

On  his  arrival  in  New  Bedford  he  went 
to  the  Spouter  Inn  near  the  waterfront 
to  spend  the  night.  There  he  found  he 
could  have  a  bed  only  if  he  consented 
to  share  it  with  a  harpooner.  His  strange 
bedfellow  frightened  him  when  he  en 
tered  the  room,  for  Ishmael  was  certain 
that  he  was  a  savage  cannibal.  After  a 
few  moments,  however,  it  became  evi 
dent  that  the  native,  whose  name  was 
Queequeg,  was  a  friendly  person,  for  he 

E resented    Ishmael   with    an    embalmed 
ead  and  offered  to  share  his  fortune  of 
thirty    dollars.    The    two   men    quickly 
became  friends,  and  decided  to  sign  on 
the  same  ship. 

After  some  difficulty,  they  were  both 
signed  on  as  harpooners  aboard  the 
Pecjuod,  a  whaler  out  of  Nantucket.  Al 
though  several  people  seemed  dubious 
about  the  success  of  a  voyage  on  a  vessel 
such  as  the  Pequod  was  reported  to  be, 
under  so  strange  a  man  as  Captain.  Ahab. 


609 


neither  Ishmael  nor  Queequeg  had  any 
intention  of  giving  up  their  plans.  They 
were,  however,  curious  to  see  Captain 
Ahab. 

For  several  days  after  the  vessel  had 
sailed  there  was  no  sign  of  the  captain, 
as  he  remained  hidden  in  his  cabin.  The 
ninning  of  the  ship  was  left  to  Starbuck 
and  Stubb,  two  of  the  mates,  and  al 
though  Ishmael  became  friendly  with 
them,  he  learned  very  little  more  about 
Ahab.  One  day,  as  the  ship  was  sailing 
southward,  the  captain  strode  out  on 
deck.  Ishmael  was  struck  by  his  stern, 
relentless  expression.  In  particular,  he 
noticed  that  the  captain  had  lost  a  leg 
and  that  instead  of  a  wooden  leg  he  now 
wore  one  cut  from  the  bone  of  the  jaw 
of  a  whale.  A  livid  white  scar  ran  down 
one  side  of  his  face  and  was  lost  beneath 
his  collar,  so  that  it  seemed  as  though  he 
were  scarred  from  head  to  foot. 

For  several  days  the  ship  continued 
south  looking  for  the  whaling  schools. 
The  sailors  began  to  take  turns  on  mast 
head  watches  to  give  the  sign  when  a 
whale  was  sighted.  Ahab  appeared  on 
deck  and  summoned  all  his  men  around 
him.  He  pulled  out  an  ounce  gold  piece, 
nailed  it  to  the  mast,  and  declared  that 
the  first  man  to  sight  the  great  white 
whale,  known  to  the  sailors  as  Moby 
Dick,  would  have  the  gold.  Everyone 
expressed  enthusiasm  for  the  quest  ex 
cept  Starbuck  and  Stubb,  Starbuck  espe 
cially  deploring  the  madness  with  which 
Ahab  had  directed  all  his  energies  to  this 
one  end.  He  told  the  captain  that  he 
was  like  a  man  possessed,  for  the  white 
whale  was  a  menace  to  those  who  would 
attempt  to  kill  him.  Ahab  had  lost  his 
leg  in  his  last  encounter  with  Moby 
Dick;  he  might  lose  his  life  in  the  next 
meeting.  But  the  captain  would  not  lis 
ten  to  the  mate's  warning.  Liquor  was 
brought  out,  and  at  the  captain's  orders 
the  crew  drank  to  the  destruction  of 
Moby  Dick. 

Ahab,  from  what  he  knew  of  the  last 
reported  whereabouts  of  the  whale, 
plotted  a  course  for  the  ship  which  would 


bring  it  into  the  area  where  Moby  Dick 
was  most  likely  to  be.  Near  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  the  ship  came  across  a 
school  of  sperm  whales,  and  the  men 
busied  themselves  harpooning,  stripping, 
melting,  and  storing  as  many  as  they 
were  able  to  catch. 

When  they  encountered  another  whal 
ing  vessel  at  sea,  Captain  Ahab  asked  for 
news  about  the  white  whale.  The  cap 
tain  of  the  ship  warned  him  not  to  at 
tempt  to  chase  Moby  Dick,  but  it  was 
clear  by  now  that  nothing  could  deflect 
Ahab  horn  the  course  he  had  chosen. 

Another  vessel  stopped  them,  and  the 
captain  of  the  ship  boarded  the  Pequod 
to  buy  some  oil  for  his  vessel.  Captain 
Ahab  again  demanded  news  of  the  whale, 
but  the  captain  knew  nothing  of  the 
monster.  As  the  captain  was  returning 
to  his  ship,  he  and  his  men  spotted  a 
school  of  six  whales  and  started  after 
them  in  their  rowboats.  While  Starbuck 
and  Stubb  rallied  their  men  into  the 
Pequod's  boats,  their  rivals  were  already 
far  ahead  of  them.  But  the  two  mates 
urged  their  crew  until  they  outstripped 
their  rivals  in  the  race  and  Queequeg 
harpooned  the  largest  whale. 

Killing  the  whale  was  only  the  begin 
ning  of  a  long  and  arduous  job.  After 
the  carcass  was  dragged  to  the  side  of  the 
boat  and  lashed  to  it  by  ropes,  the  men 
descended  the  side  and  slashed  off  the 
blubber.  Much  of  the  body  was  usually 
demolished  by  sharks,  who  streamed 
around  it  snapping  at  the  flesh  of  the 
whale  and  at  each  other.  The  head  of 
the  whale  was  removed  and  suspended 
several  feet  in  the  air,  above  the  deck  of 
the  ship.  After  the  blubber  was  cleaned, 
it  was  melted  in  tremendous  try-pots,  and 
then  stored  in  vats  below  deck. 

The  men  were  kept  busy,  but  their 
excitement  increased  as  their  ship  neared 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  probable  sport 
ing  grounds  of  the  white  whale.  Before 
long  they  crossed  the  path  of  an  English 
whaling  vessel,  and  Captain  Ahab  again 
demanded  news  of  Moby  Dick.  In  an 
swer,  the  captain  of  the  English  ship 


610 


held  out  his  arm,  which  from  the  elbow 
down  consisted  of  sperm  whalebone. 
Ahab  demanded  that  his  boat  be  lowered 
at  once,  and  he  quickly  boarded  the  deck 
o£  the  other  ship.  The  captain  told  him 
of  his  encounter,  and  warned  Captain 
Ahab  that  it  was  foolhardy  to  try  to  pur 
sue  Moby  Dick.  When  he  told  Ahab 
where  he  had  seen  the  white  whale  last, 
the  captain  of  the  Pequod  waited  for  no 
civilities,  but  returned  to  his  own  ship 
to  order  the  course  changed  to  carry  him 
to  Moby  Dick's  new  feeding  ground. 

Starbuck  tried  to  reason  with  the  mad 
captain,  to  persuade  him  to  give  up  this 
insane  pursuit,  but  Ahab  seized  a  rifle 
and  in  his  fury  ordered  the  mate  out  of 
his  cabin. 

Meanwhile,  Queequeg  had  fallen  ill 
with  a  fever.  When  it  seemed  almost 
certain  he  would  die,  he  requested  that 
the  carpenter  make  him  a  coffin  in  the 
shape  of  a  canoe,  according  to  the  cus 
tom  of  his  tribe.  The  coffin  was  then 
placed  in  the  cabin  with  the  sick  man, 
but  as  yet  there  was  no  real  need  for  it. 
Queequeg  recovered  from  his  illness  and 
rejoined  his  shipmates.  He  used  his 
coffin  as  a  sea  chest  and  carved  many 
strange  designs  upon  it. 

The  sailors  had  been  puzzled  by  the 
appearance  early  in  the  voyage  of  the 
Parsee,  Fedallah.  His  relationship  to  the 
captain  could  not  be  determined,  but 
that  he  was  highly  regarded  was  evident. 
Fedallah  had  prophesied  that  the  captain 
would  die  only  after  he  had  seen  two 
strange  hearses  for  carrying  the  dead 
upon  the  sea,  one  not  constructed  by 
mortal  hands,  and  the  other  made  of 
wood  grown  in  America.  But  he  said  that 
the  captain  himself  would  have  neither 
hearse  nor  coffin  for  his  burial. 

A  terrible  storm  arose  one  night. 
Lightning  struck  the  masts  so  that  all 
three  flamed  against  the  blackness  of  the 
night,  and  the  men  were  frightened  by 
this  omen.  It  seemed  to  them  the  hand 
of  God  was  motioning  them  to  turn  from 
the  course  to  which  they  had  set  them 
selves  and  return  to  their  homes.  Only 


Captain  Ahab  was  undaunted  by  the 
sight.  He  planted  himself  at  the  foot 
of  the  mast  and  challenged  the  god  of 
evil  which  the  fire  symbolized  for  him. 
He  vowed  once  again  his  determination 
to  find  and  kill  the  white  whale. 

A  few  days  later  a  cry  rang  through 
the  ship.  Moby  Dick  had  been  spotted. 
The  voice  was  Captain  Ahab's,  for  none 
of  the  sailors,  alert  as  they  had  been, 
had  been  able  to  sight  him  before  their 
captain.  Then  boats  were  lowered  and 
the  chase  began,  with  Captain  Ahab's 
boat  in  the  lead.  As  he  was  about  to 
dash  his  harpoon  into  the  side  of  the 
mountain  of  white,  the  whale  suddenly 
turned  on  the  boat,  dived  under  it,  and 
split  it  into  pieces.  The  men  were  thrown 
into  the  sea,  and  for  some  time  the 
churning  of  the  whale  prevented  rescue. 
At  length  Ahab  ordered  the  rescuers  to 
ride  into  the  whale  and  frighten  him 
away,  so  he  and  his  men  might  be  picked 
up.  The  rest  of  that  day  was  spent 
chasing  the  whale,  but  to  no  avail. 

The  second  day  the  men  started  out 
again.  They  caught  up  with  the  whale 
and  buried  three  harpoons  in  his  white 
flanks.  But  he  so  turned  and  churned 
that  the  lines  became  twisted,  and  the 
boats  were  pulled  every  way,  with  no 
control  over  their  direction.  Two  of  them 
were  splintered,  and  the  men  hauled  out 
of  the  sea,  but  Ahab's  boat  had  not  as 
yet  been  touched.  Suddenly  it  was  lifted 
from  the  water  and  thrown  high  into  the 
air.  The  captain  and  the  men  were 
quickly  picked  up,  but  Fedallah  was  no 
where  to  be  found. 

When  the  third  day  of  the  chase  began, 
Moby  Dick  seemed  tired,  and  the  Pe- 
quod's  boats  soon  overtook  him.  Bound 
to  the  whale's  back  by  the  coils  of  rope 
from  the  harpoon  poles  they  saw  the  body 
of  Fedallah.  The  first  part  of  his  proph 
ecy  had  been  fulfilled.  Moby  Dick,  en 
raged  by  his  pain,  turned  on  the  boats 
and  splintered  them.  On  the  Pequod 
Starbuck  watched  and  turned  the  ship 
toward  the  whale  in  the  hope  of  saving 
the  captain  and  some  of  the  crew.  The 


611 


infuriated  monster  swam  directly  into  the 
Pequod,  shattering  the  ship's  timbers. 
Ahab,  seeing  the  ship  founder,  cried  out 
that  the  Peqiiod — made  of  wood  grown 
America — was  the  second  hearse  of 


in 


Fedallah's  prophecy.  The  third  prophecy, 
Ahab's   death   by    hemp,    was   fulfilled 


when  rope  from  Ahab's  harpoon  coiled 
around  his  neck  and  snatched  him  from 
his  boat.  All  except  Ishmael  perished.  He 
was  rescued  by  a  passing  ship  after  cling 
ing  for  hours  to  Queequeg's  canoe-cof 
fin,  which  had  bobbed  to  the  surface  as 
the  Pequod  sank. 


A  MODERN  COMEDY 

Type  of  -irorfe:  Novel 

Author:  John  Galsworthy  (1867-1933) 

Type  of  flat:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of 'plot:   1922-1926 

Locale:  England  and  America 

First  published:  1924,  1926,  1928 

Principal  characters: 

SOAMES  FORSYTE,  the  man  of  property 
FLEOE  MONT,  his  daughter 
MICHAEL  MONT,  his  son-in-law 
JON  FORSYTE,  Fleur's  former  lover 
MABJOBTE  FERRAR,  an  acquaintance  of  Fleur 

Critique: 

A  Modern  Comedy  is  part  of  the 
Forsyte  Chronicles  (1886-1926),  in 
which  Galsworthy  pictures  the  life  of 
a  large,  upper  middle-class  family  against 
a  carefully  detailed  background  of  Eng 
lish  life.  Solid  and  very  readable,  this 
novel  is  important  as  a  social  document 
aside  from  its  value  as  literature.  The 
volume  is  composed  of  three  long  sec 
tions — The  White  M-Oinkey,  The  Silver 
Spoon,  and  Swan  Song — originally  pub 
lished  as  separate  novels,  and  two  inter 
ludes.  Galsworthy's  social  history  is  valu 
able  as  a  record  of  the  various  currents 
of  British  life  in  the  1920's. 


The  Story: 

Soarnes  Forsyte  was  a  member  of  the 
board  of  the  Providential  Premium  Reas 
surance  Society.  Against  his  better  judg 
ment,  the  society  had  invested  much 
of  its  holdings  in  foreign  securities.  Be 
cause  the  European  exchange  was  so 
unstable,  Soames  insisted  that  the  report 
to  the  stockholders  be  detailed.  Not  long 
afterward,  Butterfield,  a  clerk  in  the 
P.P.R.S.  office,  overheard  a  conversation 


between  Elderson,  the  manager,  and  a 
German.  The  German  insisted  that 
Elderson,  who  had  received  commissions 
on  the  society's  investments  in  Germany, 
should  see  to  it  that  the  board  made 
good  any  losses  if  the  mark  fell  in  value. 
Accused  of  bribery,  Elderson  denied  the 
charge  and  dismissed  Butterfield.  When 
pressed,  however,  Elderson  escaped  to  the 
continent.  The  stockholders  were  out 
raged  that  the  board  had  permitted  Elder- 
son  to  get  away.  Although  Soames  ex 
plained  that  any  early  revelation  of  the 
manager's  dishonesty  would  have  been 
futile,  he  received  very  little  support 
from  his  listeners.  He  resigned  from  the 
board. 

Michael  Mont,  Soames*  son-in-law,  was 
a  publisher.  When  Butterfield  lost  his 
job  with  the  P.P.R.S.,  Soames  asked 
Michael  to  give  the  clerk  employment. 
Butterfield  prospered  as  a  salesman  of 
special  editions. 

Michael's  wife,  Fleur,  had  been  spoiled 
by  her  father.  She  was  restless,  pas 
sionate,  and  not  in  love  with  her  hus 
band.  Wilfred  Desert,  an  artist,  was 


A  MODERN  COMEDY  by  John  Galsworthy.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.    Copy- 
right,  1928,  by  John  Galsworthy. 


612 


deeply  in  love  with  her,  but  she  knew 
that  he  could  provide  only  adventure, 
not  love.  Wilfred  finally  left  the  country 
for  Arabia.  For  a  time  the  relationship  of 
Michael  and  Fleur  appeared  happier, 
and  Fleur  gave  birth  to  a  son,  whom  they 
named  Christopher. 

Before  she  married  Michael,  Fleur 
had  been  in  love  with  her  cousin,  Jon 
Forsyte,  but  because  of  a  family  feud 
she  could  not  marry  him.  Jon  had  gone 
to  America,  where  he  fell  in  love  with 
a  Southern  girlt  Anne  Wilmot,  and  mar 
ried  her. 

A  year  or  so  after  Christopher's  birth, 
Michael  entered  Parliament.  To  help 
her  husband  and  to  provide  her?elf  with 
diversion,  Fleur  entertained  many  prom 
inent  people.  One  night  Soames  over 
heard  one  of  Fleur's  guests,  Marjorie 
Ferrar,  speak  of  her  as  a  snob.  He  asked 
Marjorie  to  leave  the  house.  Fleur  was 
impatient  with  her  father  for  interfering, 
but  she  criticized  Marjorie  for  creating 
an  unpleasant  scene.  Marjorie  demanded 
an  apology.  After  an  offer  of  settlement 
from  Soames,  Marjorie  still  insisted  on 
the  apology  and  took  her  suit  into  court, 
Soames  and  his  lawyer  managed  to  prove 
that  Marjorie  was  a  woman  of  irresponsi 
ble  morals.  Fleur  won  the  case,  but  the 
victory  brought  her  so  many  snubs  from 
former  friends  that  she  was  more  unhappy 
than  ever. 

Francis  Wilmot,  whose  sister  Anne 
had  married  Jon,  arrived  from  America 
to  see  what  England  was  like.  He  stayed 
for  a  time  with  Fleur  and  Michael  but, 
having  fallen  in  love  with  Marjorie 
Ferrar,  he  moved  out  after  the  un 
pleasantness  between  Marjorie  and  Fleur. 
Marjorie  refused  to  marry  him,  however, 
and  go  to  what  she  felt  would  be  a  dull 
life  in  America.  Francis  contracted  pneu 
monia  in  a  lonely  hotel  and  would  have 
died  but  for  the  kindliness  of  Fleur. 
He  recovered  and  went  back  to  America. 

Fleur,  discontented  with  her  life  in 
London,  persuaded  Soames  to  take  her 
on  a  trip  around  the  world.  Michael 
could  not  leave  until  the  current  session 


of  Parliament  had  adjourned.  He  was 
fostering  Foggartism — a  plan  for  a  re 
turn  to  the  land  and  for  populating  the 
dominions  with  the  children  of  the  Brit 
ish  poor — and  he  felt  that  he  must  remain 
in  London.  It  was  arranged  that  he 
would  meet  Reur  and  Soames  in  Van 
couver  £ve  months  later.  Meanwhile, 
little  Christopher  would  be  in  the  care 
of  his  grandmother,  Soames'  wife. 

While  in  Washington,  Fleur,  Michael, 
and  Soames  stayed  at  the  hotel  where 
Jon  Forsyte  and  his  mother,  Irene,  were 
also  staying.  It  was  Soames'  first  sight  of 
his  divorced  wife  in  many  years.  He 
kept  discreetly  in  the  background,  how 
ever,  and  saw  to  it  that  Fleur  did  not 
encounter  Jon. 

Back  in  London,  with  the  Marjorie 
Ferrar  affair  almost  forgotten,  Fleur  was 
eager  for  activity.  When  the  general 
strike  of  1926  began,  she  opened  a  can 
teen  for  volunteer  workers.  One  day  she 
saw  Jon  there.  He  had  come  over  from 
France  to  work  during  the  strike.  Jon's 
conscience  would  not  let  him  fall  in  love 
again  with  Fleur,  but  she  managed  to 
be  near  him  as  often  as  she  could.  After 
a  single  night  together,  Jon  wrote  that 
he  could  not  see  her  again. 

Foggartism  having  met  with  high  dis 
favor  and  unpopularity,  Michael  became 
interested  in  slum  improvement.  Fleur, 
still  smarting  from  Jon's  rebuff,  estab 
lished  a  country  rest  home  for  working 
girls.  Michael's  work  had  taught  him 
that  the  poor  would  never  have  con 
sented  to  part  with  their  children,  even 
though  keeping  them  would  always  mean 
privation  and  suffering.  He  realized  that 
he  was  well  out  of  Foggartism. 

Soames,  unhappy  in  an  environ 
ment  of  post-war  confusion  and  family 
unrest,  spent  more  and  more  time  among 
his  collection  of  great  paintings.  One 
night,  awakened  by  the  odor  of  smoke, 
he  discovered  that  his  picture  gallery 
was  on  fire.  With  the  aid  of  his  chauf 
feur,  he  managed  to  save  many  of  his 
pictures  by  tossing  them  out  the  window- 
At  last,  when  they  could  stay  in  the  room 


613 


no  longer,  they  went  outside,  where 
Soames  directed  the  firemen  as  well  as 
he  could.  Then  he  saw  that  one  of  his 
heavily  framed  pictures  was  about  to  fall 
from  the  window  above.  He  also  saw 
that  Fleur  was  deliberately  standing 
where  the  frame  would  fall  on  her.  He 
ran  to  push  her  out  of  the  way,  and 


received  the  blow  himself.  He  died  from 
exhaustion  and  from  the  injury.  Fleur 
was  further  desolated  because  she  knew 
that  her  own  desire  for  death  had  killed 
her  father.  The  death  of  Soames  brought 
her  to  her  senses,  however.  Michael  was 
assured  that  her  affair  with  Jon  was 
over  forever. 


MOLL  FLANDERS 

Tyfe  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Daniel  Defoe  (1661?-1731) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  England  and  the  American  colonies 

First  published;  1722 

Principal  characters: 

MOLL  FLANDERS,  a  female  rogue 

ROBIN,  her  first  husband 

A  SEA  CAPTAIN,  Moll's  half-brother  and  husband 

JEMMY  E.,  a  rogue 

Critique: 

The  complete  original  tide  of  this  re 
markable  volume  was  as  follows:  The 
Fortunes  and  Misfortunes  of  the  famous 
Moll  Flanders,  who  was  'born  in  New 
gate,  and  during  a  life  of  continued  vari 
ety,  for  threescore  years,  besides  her  child 
hood,  was  twelve  years  a  Whore,  five 
times  a  Wife  (thereof  once  to  her  own 
brother*),  twelve  years  a  Thief,  eight 
years  a  transported  Felon  in  Virginia,  at 
last  grew  rich,  lived  honest,  and  died  a 
penitent*  Written  from  her  own  Mem 
orandums.  As  this  title  suggests,  the  hero 
ine  of  the  story  is  perhaps  the  world's 
best-known  female  picaroon.  Lite  the 
story  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  this  book  is  so 
convincingly  written,  with  such  a  wealth 
of  intimate  detail,  the  reader  feels  it  must 
be  true. 


The  Story: 

When  her  mother  was  transported  to 
the  colonies  as  a  felon,  eighteen-month- 
old  Moll  Flanders  was  left  without  family 
or  friends  to  care  for  her.  For  a  time  she 
was  befriended  by  a  band  of  gipsies, 
who  deserted  her  in  Colchester.  There 
the  child  was  a  charge  of  the  parish.  Be 


coming  a  favorite  of  the  wife  and  daugh 
ters  of  the  mayor,  Moll  received  gentle 
treatment  and  no  little  attention  and 
flattery. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  Moll  Flanders 
was  again  left  without  a  home.  When  her 
indulgent  instructress  died,  she  was  taken 
in  service  by  a  kindly  woman  of  means, 
receiving  instruction  along  with  the 
daughters  of  the  family.  In  all  but  wealth 
Moll  was  superior  to  these  daughters. 
During  her  residence  there  she  lost  her 
virtue  to  the  oldest  son  of  the  family  and 
secredy  became  his  mistress.  Later  when 
Robin,  the  youngest  son,  made  her  a  pro 
posal  of  marriage,  she  accepted  him.  At 
the  end  of  five  years  Robin  died.  Soon 
afterward  Moll  married  a  spendthrift 
draper,  who  quickly  went  through  her 
savings  and  was  imprisoned.  In  the  mean 
time  Moll  took  lodgings  at  the  Mint. 
Passing  as  a  widow,  she  called  herself 
Mrs.  Flanders. 

Her  next  venture  in  matrimony  was 
with  a  sea  captain  with  whom  she  sailed 
to  the  Virginia  colony.  There  she  dis 
covered  to  her  extreme  embarrassment 
that  she  was  married  to  her  own  half- 


614 


brother.  After  eight  years  of  residence 
in  Virginia  she  returned  to  England  to 
take  up  her  residence  at  Bath.  In  due 
time  she  became  acquainted  with  a 
gentleman  whose  wife  was  demented. 
Moll  helpfully  nursed  him  through  a 
serious  illness.  Later  she  became  his 
mistress.  When  she  found  herself  with 
child  she  made  arrangements  for  her 
lying-in,  sent  the  child  to  nurse,  and  re 
joined  her  companion.  During  the  six 
years  in  which  they  lived  together,  she 
gave  birth  to  three  children  and  saved 
enough  money  to  support  herself  after 
the  gentleman  had  regretted  his  indiscre 
tions  and  left  her. 

Next  the  ambitious  girl  met  a  banker 
with  whom  she  carried  on  a  mild  flirta 
tion.  However,  she  left  him  to  marry  an 
Irishman  named  Jemmy  E.,  supposedly 
a  very  wealthy  gentleman  of  Lancashire. 
Moll  had  allowed  him  to  believe  she  had 
means.  She  soon  learned  that  her  new 
husband  was  penniless.  He  had  played 
on  her  the  same  trick  she  had  used  on 
him.  Both  rogues,  they  were  a  congenial 
couple,  but  eventually  they  decided  to 
separate;  he  to  follow  his  unlawful  pro 
fession  of  highway  robbery,  she  to  re 
turn  to  the  city.  After  Jemmy  had  left 
her,  Moll  found  that  she  was  again  to 
become  a  mother.  Lying-in  at  the  house 
of  a  midwife,  Moll  was  delivered  of  a 
healthy  boy  who  was  boarded  out. 

In  the  meantime  Moll  Flanders  had 
been  receiving  letters  from  her  admirer, 
the  bank  clerk.  They  met  at  an  inn  and 
were  married  there.  On  the  day  after 
the  ceremony  she  saw  her  Lancashire 
husband,  the  highwayman,  in  the  court 
yard  of  the  inn,  and  she  was  able  to  save 
him  from  arrest.  For  five  years,  until  his 
death,  Moll  lived  with  the  banker  in 
great  happiness.  After  his  death  she  sold 
her  property  and  took  lodgings.  Forty- 
eight  years  old  and  with  two  children 
as  dependents,  she  was  prompted  by  the 
devil  to  steal  a  bundle  from  an  apothe 
cary  shop.  Next  she  stole  a  necklace 
from  a  pretty  little  girl  on  her  way  home 
from  dancing  school.  Thus  Moll  Flanders 


embarked  on  a  twelve-year  period  as  a 
thief.  Sometimes  she  disguised  herself 
in  men's  clothing.  A  chance  encounter 
with  a  gentleman  at  Bartholomew  Fair 
resulted  in  an  affair  which  the  two  car 
ried  on  for  some  time.  Moll  became, 
after  a  period  of  apprenticeship,  the  rich 
est  thief  in  all  England.  Her  favorite 
disguise  was  that  of  a  beggar  woman. 

Finally  she  was  seized  while  trying  to 
steal  two  pieces  of  silk  brocade  and  was 
imprisoned  in  Newgate  prison.  There 
she  saw  again  her  former  husband,  the 
highwayman,  committed  at  Newgate  for 
a  robbery  on  Hounslow  Heath.  Before 
going  up  for  trial  and  sentence,  Moll  re 
pented  of  her  sins;  nevertheless  she  was 
sentenced  to  death  by  the  court.  But 
through  the  kind  offices  of  a  minister, 
Moll  Flanders,  now  truly  repentant,  was 
given  a  reprieve.  The  next  day  she 
watched  her  fellow  prisoners  being  car 
ried  away  in  carts  for  the  fate  which  had 
been  spared  her.  She  was  finally  sen 
tenced  to  transportation  to  America. 

The  highwayman,  with  whom  she  had 
become  reconciled,  was  awarded  a  like 
sentence.  The  pair  embarked  for  Vir 
ginia  in  the  same  ship,  having  made  all 
arrangements  for  a  comfortable  journey, 
and  stocked  themselves  with  the  tools  and 
materials  necessary  for  running  a  planta 
tion  in  the  new  world.  Forty-two  days 
after  leaving  an  Irish  port  they  arrived 
in  Virginia.  Once  ashore,  Moll  found 
that  her  mother  had  died.  Her  brother, 
whom  she  had  once  married,  and  her  son 
were  still  living  near  the  spot  where  she 
had  disembarked. 

Not  yet  wishing  to  meet  her  relatives, 
and  not  desiring  to  be  known  as  a  trans 
ported  criminal  in  America,  she  arranged 
for  transportation  to  the  Carolina  colony. 
After  crossing  Chesapeake  Bay,  she  and 
the  highwayman  found  the  ship  already 
overloaded.  They  decided  to  stay  in 
Maryland  and  set  up  a  plantation  there. 
With  two  servants  and  fifty  acres  of  land 
under  cultivation,  they  soon  prospered. 
Then  Moll  arranged  an  interview  with 
her  son  in  Virginia  across  the  bay. 


615 


In  due  course  she  learned  that  her 
mother  had  willed  her  a  plantation  on 
the  York  River,  a  plantation  complete 
with  stock  and  sen-ants.  To  her  son  she 
presented  one  of  the  stolen  watches  which 
she  had  brought  from  London.  After 
five  weeks  she  returned  to  Maryland, 
where  she  and  her  husband  became 
wealthy  and  prosperous  planters  of  good 
repute  throughout  all  the  colonies.  This 
prosperity  was  augmented  by  the  arrival 


of  a  second  cargo  of  goods  from  England, 
for  which  Moll  had  arranged  before  she 
sailed.  In  the  meantime  the  man  who 
had  been  both  brother  and  husband  to 
Moll  died  and  she  was  able  to  see  her 
son  without  any  embarrassment. 

At  the  age  of  seventy  years,  Moll 
returned  to  England.  Her  husband  soon 
joined  her  there,  and  they  resolved  to 
spend  the  rest  of  their  lives  in  repentance 
for  their  numerous  sins. 


MONSIEUR  BEAUCAIRE 

Type  of  work:  Novelette 

Author:  Booth  Tarkington  (1869-1946) 

Type  of  plot:  Period  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Bath,  England 

First  published:   1900 

Principal  characters: 

LOUIS-PHELLTPE  DE  VALOIS,  Duke  of  Orleans,  alias  Victor,  M.  Beaucaire, 
and  M.  de  Chateaurien;  nephew  of  King  Louis  XV  of  France 

DUKE  DE  WINTERSET,  an  English  scoundrel 

LAJ>Y  MARY  CARLISLE,  a  shallow  aristocrat 

MOLYNEAUS^  a  sympathetic  Englishman 

BEAU  NASH,  social  arbiter  of  Bath 

Critique: 

Booth  Tarkington  achieved  interna 
tional  fame  with  the  appearance  of  this 
slight  and  romantic  story  of  disguise  and 
intrigue.  The  truism  embodied  in  Mon 
sieur  Beaueaire — that  a  man's  name  is 
unimportant,  that  it  is  the  man  himself 
who  is  important — is  proved  delightfully 
enough,  not  by  a  nobody  but  by  a  real 
prince,  and  at  the  expense  of  a  snob 
bish  English  aristocracy.  Beaucaire  duels 
twice  in  Tarkington's  Bath;  in  the  histori 
cal  Bath  dueling  was  outlawed  by  social 
arbiter  Beau  Nash.  The  story  was 
dramatized  in  1901. 


The  Story: 

Victor,  alias  Monsieur  Beaucaire,  the 
barber  of  the  French  ambassador  to  Eng 
land,  gambled  with  the  socially  elite  of 
Bath  for  any  amount.  It  was  the  early 
eighteenth  century,  when  Bath  society 
was  under  the  leadership  of  Beau  Nash. 


One  night  M.  Beaucaire  caught  the 
English  Duke  de  Winterset  cheating  at 
his  table.  But  instead  of  hush  money, 
Beaucaire  exacted  Winterset's  promise 
to  take  him,  a  barber  in  disguise,  to  Lady 
Malbourne's  ball,  and  there  to  introduce 
him  to  the  young  and  beautiful  Lady 
Mary  Carlisle. 

Winterset  was  disgusted  beyond  words, 
for  he  was  sure  the  barber  would  be 
recognized  and  he  himself  shamed  be 
fore  his  acquaintances.  Beaucaire  then 
shed  the  disguise  he  wore  and  appeared 
before  Winterset  as  an  entirely  different 
person.  He  declared  that  he  would  be 
Monsieur  le  Due  de  Chateaurien. 

It  was  dawn  when  the  ball  ended. 
The  gallant  M.  de  Chateaurien,  assist 
ing  Lady  Mary  to  her  sedan  chair, 
begged  her  for  a  rose.  She  refused  but 
managed  to  drop  a  flower  to  the  ground 
for  him  to  retrieve.  Within  a  short  time 


MONSIEUR  BEAUCAIRE  by  Booth  Tarkington.   By  permission  of  Brandt  &  Brandt  and  the  publishers,  Harper 
&  Brothers.    Copyright,  1899,  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.    Renewed,  1926,  by  Booth  Tarkington. 


616 


M.  de  Chateaurien  became,  along  with 
Winterset,  the  cynosure  of  Bath  society. 
But  Winterset  planned  revenge  for  the 
way  in  which  this  upstart  barber  had 
blackmailed  him.  Unable  to  expose  Beau- 
caire  without  ruining  his  own  reputation, 
Winterset  had  a  captain  in  his  debt  pro 
voke  M.  de  Chateaurien  by  insulting 
French  womanhood.  In  the  ensuing 
duel,  Chateaurien  was  victorious;  he  sent 
Winterset  a  basket  of  roses.  Another  of 
Winterset's  minions  then  daringly  sug 
gested  that  M.  de  Chateaurien  was  an 
impostor.  The  Frenchman,  avowedly 
fighting  to  defend  the  honor  of  his  spon 
sor,  Winterset,  was  victorious  a  second 
time. 

All  the  while  M.  de  Chateaurien 
gained  favor  with  Lady  Mary.  After  a 
grand  fete  he  was  granted  the  privilege 
of  riding  beside  her  coach.  As  they 
talked,  Lady  Mary  more  than  tacitly  con 
fessed  her  love  for  the  supposed  duke. 
Armed  and  masked  horsemen  suddenly 
attacked  M.  de  Chateaurien  and  shouted 
that  they  intended  to  kill  the  barber.  He 
defended  himself  skillfully,  but  was 
finally  overcome  by  superior  numbers.  As 
he  was  being  prepared  for  a  lashing,  his 
servants  rode  up  in  force  and  dispersed 
the  attackers.  Winterset,  who  was  the 
leader  of  the  attackers,  returned  to  the 
coach  and  disclosed  to  Lady  Mary  that 
M.  de  Chateaurien  was  an  impostor  who 
had  blackmailed  Winterset  into  spon 
soring  his  introduction  to  Bath  society. 
To  the  horror  of  Lady  Mary,  M.  de 
Chateaurien  confessed  that  he  was  really 
a  barber.  Also  he  promised  to  see  Winter- 
set  at  the  assembly  in  a  week's  time. 

The  assembly  progressed  under  the 
watchful  eye  of  Beau  Nash.  The  Cha 
teaurien  affair  was  on  every  tongue,  and 
Winterset,  now  the  hero  of  Bath,  was 
again  Lady  Mary's  favorite.  Beau  Nash 
assured  Winterset  that  the  house  and 


grounds  were  being  guarded,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  ridiculous 
barber  to  enter. 

As  the  Marquis  de  Mirepoix,  the 
French  ambassador,  and  the  Comte  de 
Beaujolais  entered  the  house,  Lady  Marj 
retired  to  a  side  room  where  she  dis 
covered  Molyneaux,  a  Bath  dandy,  and 
M.  de  Chateaurien  playing  cards.  She 
vilified  Molyneaux  for  associating  with  a 
common  barber,  and  she  refused  to  heed 
M.  de  Chateaurien's  plea  to  her  to  con 
sider  him  not  as  a  name,  but  as  a  man. 

Winterset,  upon  being  told  of  the 
barber's  presence  at  the  assembly,  pre 
pared  to  eject  the  impostor  forcibly.  The 
decorations  and  orders  on  the  French 
man's  chest  aroused  indignation  among 
the  English  gentry.  Molyneaux  returned 
from  the  ballroom  with  the  Comte  de 
Beaujolais,  who  addressed  M.de Chateau 
rien  as  Phillipe.  It  soon  became  evident 
that  M,  de  Chateaurien  and  de  Beaujolais 
were  brothers,  and  that  de  Beaujolais  had 
come  to  England  to  escort  Phillipe  back 
to  France  now  that  certain  family  prob 
lems  had  been  resolved. 

M.  de  Chateaurien,  or  Prince  Louis- 
Phillipe  de  Valois,  Duke  of  Orleans, 
shamed  the  Englishmen  present  for  their 
blindness.  He  said  that  the  humblest 
French  peasant  would  have  recognized 
his  high  nobility  if  he  had  seen  the 
sword  fight  of  a  week  previous.  He  ex 
posed  Winterset  as  a  base  coward  and 
a  cheat.  When  Lady  Mary  asked  the 
prince's  forgiveness,  he  said  that  he 
would  return  to  France  and  marry  the 
lady  that  his  uncle,  King  Louis  XV,  had 
chosen  for  him;  he  was  sure  that  she 
would  accept  him  whether  he  were  Vic 
tor,  the  barber;  M.  Beaucaire,  the  gam 
bler;  M.  Chateaurien,  the  gentleman,  or 
Prince  Louis-Phillipe,  nephew  of  the 
king. 


617 


MONT-ORIOL 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Guy  de  Maupassant  (1850-1893) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth,  century 

Locale:  Auvergne,  France 

First  published:  1887 

Principal  characters: 

CHRISTTANE  ANDERMATT,  a  young  married  woman 
PAUL  BRETIGNY,  Christiane's  lover 
WILLIAM  ANDERMATT,  Christiane's  husband 
GONTRAN  DE  RAVENEL,  Christiane's  brother 
FATHER  OBIOL,  a  wealthy  peasant  landowner 
CHARLOTTE,  and 
LOUISE,  OrioFs  daughters 


Critique: 

There  are  two  stories  told  in  Mont- 
OrioL  One  deals  with  the  love  intrigues 
of  Christiane  Andennatt,  her  brother,  and 
her  lover.  The  other  describes  the  finan 
cial  scheming  of  William  Andennatt, 
Father  Oriol,  and  the  physicians  at  the 
health  resort.  The  fact  that  the  love 
affair  carried  on  by  Christiane  and  Paul 
Bretigny  is  often  melodramatic  and  un 
convincing  is  more  than  compensated 
for,  however,  by  the  skill  and  humor  with 
which  some  of  the  minor  characters,  such 
as  the  crafty  Oriol  and  Christiane's  witty 
brother  Gontran,  are  drawn, 

The  Story: 

The  Marquis  of  Ravenel,  who  was  an 
enthusiastic  patron  of  the  baths  at  Enval, 
persuaded  ins  young  daughter  Chris 
tiane  and  her  husband,  William  Ander- 
matt,  to  join  him.  On  the  advice  of  one 
of  the  doctors  at  the  spring,  Christiane 
agreed  to  take  a  series  of  baths,  internal 
and  external,  in  the  hope  that  they  would 
cure  her  childlessness. 

When  the  young  couple  arrived,  they 
were  joined  by  Christiane's  spendthrift 
brother  Gontran  and  his  friend,  Paul 
Bretigny,  who  had  come  to  the  country 
to  recover  from  a  disappointing  love  af 
fair.  During  their  stay,  learning  that 
Father  Oriol,  a  wealthy  peasant  land 
owner  of  the  district,  was  going  to  blast 
out  a  huge  rock  which  hindered  cultiva 


tion  of  his  fields,  the  party  went  to  watch 
the  event. 

To  everyone's  surprise,  a  spring  came 
gushing  from  the  ground  after  the  ex 
plosion.  Andennatt  decided  that  if  the 
water  were  of  medicinal  value  he  would 
make  Oriol  an  offer  for  it,  for  he  hoped 
to  build  an  establishment  that  would  give 
the  existing  baths  heavy  competition* 
That  same  evening  Andennatt,  accom 
panied  by  Gontran,  went  to  the  Oriol 
house  and  placed  his  proposal  before 
the  peasant. 

Oriol,  whose  bargaining  ability  was 
also  one  to  be  reckoned  with,  decided 
that  he  would  have  to  be  careful  not 
to  ask  too  much  for  the  spring  and  the 
fields  around  it;  on  the  other  hand,  he 
would  not  let  the  possibility  of  obtaining 
great  wealth  slip  from  his  grasp.  To  in 
flame  Andermatt's  desire,  he  engaged  a 
beggar  named  Clovis  to  help  him.  Clo- 
vis,  who  engaged  in  poaching  by  night 
and  feigned  rheumatism  by  day  to  escape 
the  attentions  of  the  police,  was  to  bathe 
in  the  spring  for  an  hour  each  day — 
for  a  fee.  At  the  end  of  a  month  he  was 
to  be  examined.  If  he  were  cured  of 
his  rheumatism,  his  condition  would 
prove  the  medicinal  value  of  the  spring. 

The  unsuspecting  Andennatt  was  en 
thusiastic  about  the  projected  plan,  and 
he  himself  agreed  to  pay  Clovis  for 
undergoing  treatment.  Meanwhile  he 


and  Oriol  agreed  to  sign  a  promise  of 
sale. 

In  order  that  the  Oriol  family  might 
be  won  over  to  his  project,  Andermatt 
decided  to  hold  a  charity  fete  and  a 
lottery,  in  which  the  Oriol  girls  and 
Christiane  would  participate. 

Andermatt  returned  to  Paris,  leaving 
Christiane  at  the  baths.  She  and  her 
family,  accompanied  by  Paul  Bretigny 
and  the  Oriol  girls,  made  numerous  ex 
cursions  about  the  countryside.  Paul 
began  to  confide  in  her,  to  tell  her  of 
his  adventures,  his  love  affairs.  As  their 
conversations  became  more  intimate,  she 
realized  that  he  was  paying  court  to 
her.  To  inflame  his  desire,  she  held  him 
at  arm's  length  until  finally,  as  they 
were  starting  back  from  a  jaunt  at  night 
fall,  he  caught  at  her  shawl  while  she 
walked  in  front  of  him  and  kissed  it 
madly.  She  had  all  she  could  do  to 
master  her  agitation  before  she  joined 
the  others  in  the  carriage. 

A  few  days  later,  when  the  party  went 
to  view  the  ruins  of  a  nearby  castle  by 
moonlight,  Paul  threw  himself  at 
Christiane's  feet  and  she  submitted  to 
him. 

The  following  morning  Andermatt 
returned.  Losing  no  time,  the  financier 
set  about  reaching  an  agreement  with 
Oriol.  According  to  the  terms  decided 
upon  after  much  discussion,  the  company 
which  Andermatt  had  formed  was  as 
signed  the  lands  along  the  newly-created 
stream  and  the  crest  and  slope  of  the 
hill  down  which  it  ran.  In  return,  Oriol 
was  to  receive  one  fourth  of  the  profits 
to  be  made. 

Andermatt  rushed  back  to  Paris  after 
completing  his  arrangements.  That  night 
Paul  went  to  Christiane's  room.  During 
Andermatt's  absence  they  had  nearly 
a  month  for  uninterrupted  lovemaking. 
It  was  a  blow  to  both  of  them  when  they 
learned  that  Andermatt  was  arriving 
within  a  few  days  and  that  he  was  plan 
ning  to  take  Christiane  back  to  Paris 
with  him  when  he  left 

The  financier  brought  several  mem 


bers  of  the  newly-formed  company  with 
him.  The  terms  of  the  purchase  were 
read  and  signed  before  the  village  notary, 
and  Andermatt  was  elected  president  of 
the  company,  over  the  dissenting  votes 
of  Oriol  and  his  son.  It  was  agreed  that 
the  baths  should  be  known  as  Mont- 
Oriol. 

That  night  Paul  sorrowfully  said 
goodbye  to  his  love.  He  felt  that,  al 
though  they  might  meet  later  in  Paris, 
part  of  the  enchantment  of  their  affair 
would  be  gone  forever.  Christiane,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  full  of  plans  for 
future  meetings  and  ways  of  evading  the 
notice  of  her  servants. 

The  first  of  July  in  the  following  year 
was  set  as  the  dedication  date  for  the 
new  baths  at  Mont-Oriol.  Christiane, 
big  with  child,  walked  with  her  father 
and  brother  and  Paul  to  watch  the  ded 
ication  of  the  three  new  springs.  They 
were  to  be  known  as  the  Christiane, 
Charlotte,  and  Louise  springs,  the  latter 
two  named  after  the  Oriol  girls.  But 
Clovis,  who  had  seemed  so  successfully 
cured  the  previous  summer,  was  again 
doubled  up  by  his  assumed  rheumatism. 
He  threatened  to  become  a  serious  men 
ace  to  business,  for  he  declared  to  the 
guests  who  would  listen  that  the  waters 
had  ultimately  done  him  more  harm 
than  good.  At  last  Andennatt  was  forced 
to  reckon  with  him,  and  Clovis  finally 
agreed  to  undergo  treatment  every  year. 
It  was  decided  that  his  return  annually 
for  the  same  treatment  would  only  prove 
to  the  public  the  medicinal  value  of  the 
baths. 

Andermatt  had  planned  an  operetta 
and  a  display  of  fireworks  for  that  eve 
ning.  Gontran,  observing  that  his  sister 
was  suffering  from  the  heat  of  the  room 
in  which  the  entertainment  was  begin 
ning,  sneaked  out  and  set  off  the  rocket 
which  was  the  signal  for  the  fireworks 
display  to  start.  Everyone  dashed  out,  to 
Andermatt's  disgust,  but  he  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  unexpected  interlude  to 
have  a  serious  conversation  with  Gon 
tran.  Having  been  informed  that  Oriol 


619 


intended  to  give  the  lands  around  Mont- 
Oriol  as  his  daughters'  dowries,  Ander- 
matt  proposed  that  Gontran,  who  was 
deeply  in  debt,  should  recoup  his  finances 
by  marrying  either  Charlotte  or  Louise. 
Gontran,  after  meditating  for  a  few 
moments,  announced  that  he  would  open 
the  ball  to  he  held  later  that  e\^ening  by 
dancing  with  Charlotte  Oriol,  the 
younger  and  prettier  of  the  two  sisters. 

Christiane,  too,  made  use  of  the  in 
terruption.  She  proposed  to  Paul  that 
they  walk  along  the  road  on  which  they 
had  said  goodbye  the  previous  year. 
At  that  time  he  had  fallen  to  his  knees 
and  kissed  her  shadow.  Her  hopes  that 
he  would  repeat  the  act  were  dashed, 
for  although  the  child  she  was  carrying 
was  his,  her  shadow  betrayed  too  clearly 
her  changed  form. 

Gontran  paid  court  to  Charlotte  Oriol 
at  the  ball  and  the  news  of  his  interest 
in  her  soon  became  common  gossip  at  the 
springs.  The  innocent  girl  responded  so 
freely  that  Christiane  and  Paul,  who 
were  fond  of  her,  began  to  fear  that 
she  would  eventually  find  herself  com 
promised.  They  were  satisfied,  however, 
when  Gontran  confided  to  them  his  in 
tention  to  ask  for  her  hand.  When  he 
asked  Andennart  to  sound  out  Oriol, 
the  crafty  peasant,  realizing  that  his 
younger  daughter  would  be  easier  to  dis 
pose  of  than  the  older,  said  that  he 
planned  to  endow  her  with  the  lands  on 
the  other  side  of  the  mountain.  Because 
those  lands  were  of  no  use  to  Andennatt 
at  the  moment,  Gontran  realized  that  he 
would  have  to  change  his  tactics. 

He  persuaded  Louise  that  he  had 
courted  Charlotte  only  to  arouse  the 
older  sister's  interest.  He  managed  to 
meet  her  frequently  at  the  home  of  one 
of  the  doctors  and  on  walks,  and  when 
the  time  seemed  ripe  he  sent  Andennatt 
once  more  to  talk  to  Oriol.  As  the  reward 
for  his  efforts  he  received  a  signed  state 
ment  which  assured  him  a  dowry  and 


the  promise  of  the  girl's  hand. 

Paul,  unaware  of  Gontran's  and 
Andermatt's  designs,  had  been  incensed 
by  the  sudden  desertion  of  Charlotte. 
Gradually  his  feeling  grew  to  love.  One 
day  her  father  found  them  together. 
Partly  because  he  was  in  love,  and  partly 
because  he  did  not  want  to  compromise 
Charlotte,  his  immediate  reaction  was 
to  propose.  When  he  agreed  to  sign  a 
statement  as  to  his  satisfactory  income, 
the  peasant  gave  his  consent  to  the  mar 
riage. 

The  next  morning  Christiane  learned 
that  Paul  was  to  marry  Charlotte.  Her 
informant  was  the  doctor  who  came  to 
examine  her,  for  she  felt  ill.  As  soon 
as  she  heard  that  her  lover  was  to  marry, 
she  went  into  labor  from  the  shock. 
Fifteen  hours  later  a  little  girl  was  bom. 
She  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  baby  at  first,  but  when  Andennatt 
brought  the  child  to  her  she  found  the 
infant  irresistible,  and  wanted  it  kept 
near  her. 

Because  there  was  no  one  else  to  nurse 
her,  the  doctor's  wife  was  chosen  to 
keep  Christiane  company  during  her 
recovery.  The  talkative  woman  knew 
the  Oriols  well,  and  Christiane  was  able 
to  learn  from  her  most  of  the  details  of 
Paul's  courtship.  Upset  by  the  realiza 
tion  that  he  had  given  Charlotte  the  same 
attentions  she  had  once  received,  she  fell 
into  a  delirium  for  a  day.  The  next  day 
her  condition  began  to  improve. 

When  the  baby  was  a  few  days  old, 
Christiane  asked  that  Paul  be  sent  to 
see  her.  He  went,  planning  to  beg  her 
pardon,  but  he  found  there  was  no  need 
to  do  so.  Christiane,  engrossed  in  the 
child,  had  only  a  few  conventional  words 
for  him.  Although  he  had  hoped  to  see 
the  infant  that  was  partly  his,  he  noted 
that  the  curtains  of  the  cradle  were  sig 
nificantly  fastened  in  the  front  with 
some  of  Christiane's  pins. 


620 


THE  MOON  AND  SIXPENCE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  W.  Somerset  Maugham  (1874-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Fictional  biography 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England,  France,  Tahiti 

First  published:  1919 

Principal  characters: 

CHAJLLES  STBICKLAND,  an  artist 

DIRK  STROEVE,  his  friend 

BLANCHE  STROEVE,  Dirk's  wife 

ATA,  Strickland's  Tahitian  wife 

AMY  STRICKLAND,  Strickland's  English  wife 

Critique: 

A  fictionalized  biography  of  the  French 
artist,  Paul  Gauguin,  this  novel  attempts 
to  portray  the  character  of  a  pure  artist, 
a  man  of  renunciation.  The  material 
world  meant  nothing  to  Strickland;  man 
meant  nothing  to  him,  either.  He  lived 
ruthlessly  for  his  art.  There  is  shrewd 
comment  on  the  world's  attitude  toward 
a  man  who  passes  by  the  material  and 
the  sensual  to  fulfill  some  spiritual  need. 
If  by  chance  his  intent  is  to  help  man 
kind,  then  he  is  proclaimed  a  saint;  but 
if  he  is  like  Charles  Strickland,  and 
ignores  mankind,  he  is  vested,  with  the 
spirit  of  the  devil.  Maugham  passes  no 
judgment  on  this  painter.  He  merely 
presents  him  as  he  was. 


Strickland  was  living  in  a  shabby 
hotel;  his  room  was  filthy,  but  he  ap 
peared  to  be  living  alone.  Much  to  the 
discomfort  of  the  friend,  he  candidly 
admitted  his  beastly  treatment  of  his 
wife,  but  there  was  no  emotion  in  his 
statements  concerning  her  and  her 
future  welfare.  When  asked  about  the 
woman  with  whom  he  had  allegedly  run 
away,  he  laughed,  explaining  to  Mrs. 
Strickland's  emissary  that  he  had  really 
run  off  to  paint.  He  knew  he  could 
if  he  seriously  tried.  The  situation  was 
incredible  to  Mrs.  Strickland's  friend. 
Strickland  said  he  did  not  care  what  peo 
ple  thought  of  him. 

Stubbornly,  Strickland  began  to  take 
art  lessons.  Although  his  teacher  laughed 
at  his  work,  he  merely  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  continued  to  paint  in  his 
own  way.  Back  in  England,  the  friend 
tried  to  explain  to  Mrs.  Strickland  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  trying  to  reconcile 
her  husband.  She  could  not  realize  her 
defeat  at  first.  If  Strickland  had  gone 
off  with  a  woman,  she  could  have  under 
stood  him.  She  was  not  able  to  cope  with 
an  idea, 

Dirk  Stroeve,  a  very  poor  painter  with 
a  delicate  feeling  for  art,  had  married 
an  Englishwoman  and  settled  in  Paris. 
Impossible  as  it  seemed,  Dirk,  who  had 
become  acquainted  with  Strickland, 
thought  the  red-haired  Englishman  a 
great  painter.  But  Strickland  did  not 

THE  MOON  AND  SIXPENCE  by  W.  Somerset  Maugham.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers, 
Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.    Copyright,  1919,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.    Renewed,  1946,  by  W.  Somerset  Maugham. 


The  Story: 

Charles  Strickland,  a  dull  stockbroker, 
lived  in  England  with  his  wife  and  two 
children.  Mrs.  Strickland  was  a  model 
mother,  but  her  husband  seemed  bored 
with  her  and  with  his  children.  To 
everyone  else,  it  was  Strickland  himself 
who  seemed  commonplace.  The  family 
had  spent  the  summer  at  the  seashore, 
and  Strickland  had  returned  ahead  of 
his  wife.  When  she  wrote  him  that  she 
was  coining  home,  he  had  answered 
from  Paris,  simply  stating  that  he  was 
not  going  to  live  with  her  any  more. 
With  singleness  of  intention,  Mrs.  Strick 
land  dispatched  a  friend  to  Paris  to  bring 
back  her  husband. 


621 


want  any  man's  opinion.  Indifferent  to 
physical  discomfort,  he  had  not  tried  to 
sell  his  paintings  in  order  to  eat.  When 
he  needed  money,  he  found  odd  jobs  in 
and  around  Paris. 

It  was  apparent  that  the  Stroeves  were 
very  much  in  love.  A  buffoon  and  a 
fool,  Dirk  was  constantly  berating  him 
self,  but  Blanche  seemed  to  hold  him  in 
high  esteem.  When  Strickland  became 
very  ill,  Dirk  rushed  home  to  Blanche 
and  pleaded  with  her  to  nurse  the  sick 
artist  back  to  health.  She  bitterly  pro 
fessed  her  hatred  of  the  man  who  had 
laughed  at  her  husband's  paintings,  and 
she  tearfully  begged  Stroeve  not  to  bring 
that  monster  near  her.  Nevertheless, 
Dirk  was  able  to  persuade  her  to  allov\ 
Strickland  to  come  to  their  home. 

Although  she  and  Strickland  rarely 
spoke  to  each  other,  Blanche  proved  a 
capable  nurse.  There  seemed  to  be 
something  electrifying  in  the  air  when 
they  were  together  in  the  same  room. 
Strickland  recovered.  Because  he  ad 
mired  Strickland's  work,  Dirk  was 
anxious  that  he  stay  and  work  in  Dirk's 
studio.  Strickland  took  possession  of  the 
studio.  When  Dirk  finally  gathered 
enough  courage  to  ask  him  to  leave, 
Blanche  said  that  she  would  leave  also. 
Dirk  fell  before  her,  groveling  at  her 
feet,  and  pleaded  with  her  to  stay,  but 
his  adoring  demonstrations  only  bored 
her.  When  he  saw  that  she  would  indeed 
return  with  Strickland  to  the  filthy  hovel 
which  was  the  Englishman's  studio, 
Dirk's  generous  soul  could  not  bear  to 
think  that  his  beloved  Blanche  should 
live  in  such  poverty.  He  said  that  she 
need  not  leave;  he  would  go.  Thanking 
her  for  having  given  him  so  much  hap 
piness,  he  left  her  with  half  of  what 
he  owned. 

Dirk  hung  around  Paris  waiting  for 
the  time  to  come  when  Blanche  would 
need  him  again  after  Strickland  had 
tired  of  her.  Once  he  followed  her  when 
she  went  shopping.  He  walked  along 
with  her,  telling  her  of  his  devotion;  she 
would  not  speak  to  him.  Suddenly  she 


slapped  him  in  the  face  and  walked 
away.  One  day  the  police  informed 
Dirk  that  Blanche  had  swallowed  oxalic 
acid.  After  she  died,  Dirk  felt  com 
pelled  to  return  to  his  studio.  There 
he  found  a  nude  portrait  of  his  wife, 
evidently  the  work  of  Strickland.  In  a 
mad  passion  of  jealousy  he  started  to 
hack  at  the  picture  with  a  knife,  but 
he  was  arrested  by  the  obvious  fact  that 
it  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  art.  No 
matter  what  he  felt,  Dirk  could  not 
mutilate  the  painting.  He  packed  his 
belongings  and  went  back  to  Holland  to 
live  with  his  mother. 

Strickland  had  taken  Blanche  Stroeve 
because  he  thought  she  had  a  beautiful 
body  to  paint.  When  he  had  finished 
the  picture,  he  was  through  with  her. 
Thinking  that  the  picture  was  not  satis 
factory,  he  had  left  it  in  the  studio. 
The  death  of  Blanche  and  the  misery 
of  Dirk  did  not  move  him.  He  was  an 
artist. 

After  Blanche's  death  Strickland  went 
to  Marseilles,  and  finally,  after  many 
wanderings,  to  Tahiti.  There  ne  painted 
his  vivid  awkward-looking  pictures  and 
left  them  with  people  all  over  the  island 
in  payment  for  lodging  and  food.  No 
one  thought  the  pictures  worth  any 
thing,  but  years  later  some  who  had 
saved  the  pictures  were  pleasantly  sur 
prised  to  sell  them  for  enormous  sums 
of  money  to  English  and  French  col 
lectors  who  came  to  the  island  looking 
for  the  painter's  work. 

At  one  of  the  hotels  in  Tahiti,  Strick 
land  had  been  befriended  by  a  fat  old 
woman,  Tiare,  who  looked  after  his 
health  and  his  cleanliness.  She  even 
found  him  a  wife,  a  seventeen-year-old 
native  girl  named  Ata.  For  three  years 
Ata  and  her  husband  lived  together  in 
a  bungalow  just  off  the  main  road. 
These  were  perhaps  the  happiest  years 
in  Strickland's  life.  He  painted,  read, 
and  loafed.  Ata  had  a  baby. 

One  day  Ata  sent  to  the  village  for 
a  doctor.  When  the  doctor  came  to  the 
artist's  bungalow,  he  was  struck  with 


622 


horror,  for  to  his  experienced  eye  Strick 
land  bore  the  thickened  features  of  a 
leper.  More  than  two  years  passed.  No 
one  went  near  Strickland's  plantation, 
for  the  natives  knew  well  the  meaning 
of  Strickland's  disease.  Only  Ata  stayed 
faithfully  with  him,  and  everyone 
shunned  her  just  as  they  shunned  Strick 
land.  Two  more  years  passed.  One  of 
Ata's  children  died.  Strickland  was  now 
so  crippled  hy  the  disease  that  he  would 
not  even  permit  the  doctor  to  see  him. 
He  was  painting  on  the  walls  of  his 
bungalow  when  at  last  he  went  blind. 
He  sat  in  the  house  hour  after  hour, 


trying  to  remember  his  paintings  on  die 
walls — his  masterpieces.  Caring  nothing 
for  the  fame  his  art  might  bring,  Strick 
land  made  Ata  promise  to  destroy  this 
work  upon  his  death,  a  wish  she  faith 
fully  carried  out. 

Years  later  a  friend  of  Strickland,  just 
returned  from  Tahiti,  went  to  call  on 
Mrs.  Strickland  in  London,  She  seemed 
little  interested  in  her  husband's  last 
years  or  his  death.  On  the  wall  were 
several  colored  reproductions  of  Strick 
land's  pictures.  They  were  decorative, 
she  thought,  and  went  so  well  with  her 
Bakst  cushions. 


THE  MOONSTONE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Wilkie  Collins  (1824-1889) 

Type  of  -plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1799-1849 

Locale:  India  and  England 

First  published:  1868 

Principal  characters: 

JOHN  HERNCASTLE,  an  adventurer 

LADY  VERTNDER,  his  sister 

RACHEL  VERTNDER,  his  niece 

FRANKLTN  BLAKE,  Lady  Verinder's  nephew 

GODFREY  ABLEWHTTE,  a  charity  worker 

DR.  CAKDY,  a  physician 

SERGEANT  CUFF,  an  inspector  from  Scotland  Yard 

ROSANNA  SPEARMAN,  a  maid 

Critiqiie: 

The  Moonstone  is  often  called  the  first 
and  best  of  detective  stories.  The  true 
story  of  the  theft  of  the  Moonstone  is 
told  by  several  different  hands  who  were 
judged  best  able  to  describe  the  various 
phases  of  the  solution  of  the  plot.  These 
papers  have  been  brought  together  and 
studied  by  one  of  the  suspects,  and  in 
due  time  the  mystery  is  solved.  There 
is  not  as  much  true  detection  in  this 
novel  as  there  is  in  the  later  detective 
story,  but  the  fine  characterization  and 
the  humor  of  the  book  compensate  for 
anv  loss. 


The  Story: 

£Q   the  storming  of  Bering 
India,  in  the  year  1799,  John  1 


ipatam  in 
lerncastle, 


a  violent  and  cruel  man,  stole  the  sacred 
Hindu  diamond  called  the  Moonstone. 
The  jewel  had  been  taken  years  before 
from  the  forehead  of  the  Moon-God  in 
its  Brahmin  shrine,  and  Hemcastle's  theft 
was  only  one  of  a  series.  Since  the  stone 
had  first  been  stolen  three  faithful  Hin 
dus  had  followed  its  trail,  sworn  to  re 
cover  the  gem  and  return  it  to  the  statue 
of  the  Moon-God.  Herncastle  took  the 
gem  to  England  and  kept  it  in  a  bank 
vault.  He  saved  himself  from  murder 
by  letting  the  Hindus  know  that  if  he 
were  killed  the  stone  would  be  cut  up  into 
smaller  gerns,  thus  losing  its  sacred  iden 
tity.  Herncastle  left  the  jewel  to  his 
niece,  Rachel  Verinder,  at  his  death. 
The  stone  was  to  be  presented  tc 


623 


Rachel  on  her  birthday  following  her 
uncle's  death,  and  young  Franklin  Blake, 
Lady  Verinder's  nephew,  was  asked  by 
Herncastle's  lawyer  to  take  the  gift  to 
his  cousin.  Franklin  took  the  stone  to 
his  cousin's  estate  and  barely  missed  death 
at  the  hands  of  the  Hindus  before  reach 
ing  his  destination.  On  the  advice  of 
Gabriel  Betteredge,  the  Verinders'  old 
family  servant,  Franklin  put  the  gem  in 
the  vault  of  a  bank  nearby  until  the 
birthday  arrived,  as  the  Hindus  had  been 
seen  in  the  neighborhood  about  three 
weeks  before.  Franklin  and  Rachel  fell 
in  love,  and  even  the  appearance  of  God 
frey  Ablewhite,  a  handsome  and  accom 
plished  charity  worker,  failed  to  weaken 
Rachel's  affection.  Godfrey  had  been 
asked  to  attend  the  birthday  celebration, 
together  with  a  number  of  guests,  includ 
ing  Dr.  Candy,  the  town  physician,  and 
Mr.  Bruff,  the  family  lawyer. 

While  the  guests  at  the  birthday  din 
ner  were  admiring  the  beauty  of  the 
jewel,  they  heard  the  beating  of  a  drum 
on  the  terrace.  Three  Hindus  had  ap 
peared,  disguised  as  jugglers.  One  of  the 
guests  was  Mr.  Murthwaite,  a  famous 
traveler  in  the  Orient,  and  at  a  sharply 
spoken  word  from  him  the  Indians  re 
treated.  Watchdogs  were  released  to 
protect  the  house  that  night.  There  was 
no  disturbance  to  alarm  the  household, 
however,  and  everyone  thought  all  had 
gone  well  until  Rachel  announced  the 
jewel  had  disappeared  from  an  unlocked 
cabinet  in  her  dressing-room. 

Over  Rachel's  protests,  Franklin  Blake 
insisted  the  police  be  called  in.  The 
Hindus  were  arrested  and  put  in  jail, 
but  to  the  astonishment  of  everyone  they 
were  able  to  prove  an  alibi  for  the  entire 
night. 

Little  about  the  crime  was  discovered 
until  Sergeant  Cuff  of  Scotland  Yard 
arrived.  He  decided  that  some  fresh 
paint  from  the  door  in  Rachel's  dressing- 
room  must  have  come  off  on  someone's 
clothes.  Rachel,  for  some  unknown  rea 
son,  refused  to  allow  a  search  for  the 
stained  clothing.  Sergeant  Cuff  sus 


pected  that  Rachel  had  staged  the  theft 
herself,  and  her  actions  seemed  to  sub 
stantiate  his  theory.  He  also  thought 
that  Rosanna  Spearman,  a  maid  with  a 
criminal  record,  was  a  party  to  the  plot, 
for  he  learned  that  Rosanna  had  made 
a  new  nightdress  shortly  after  the  theft. 
Sergeant  Cuff  guessed  it  was  to  take  the 
place  of  another  dress  which  was  stained. 
Because  the  Verinders  opposed  his  efforts, 
he  dropped  the  case.  The  only  other 
clue  he  had  was  that  Rosanna  might  have 
hidden  something  in  the  rocks  by  the 
seashore.  He  suspected  it  was  the  stained 
dress.  Rosanna  committed  suicide  soon 
afterward  by  throwing  herself  into  a  pool 
of  quicksand.  Betteredge  discovered  she 
had  left  a  letter  for  Franklin,  who  had 
departed  from  the  country  by  the  time  it 
was  found. 

Rachel  went  to  London  with  her 
mother,  and  in  time  became  engaged  to 
Godfrey  Ablewhite.  When  Mr.  Bruff 
told  her  Godfrey  had  secretly  learned  the 
terms  of  her  mother's  will  before  asking 
for  her  hand,  Rachel  broke  the  engage 
ment.  Franklin  returned  to  England  later 
in  the  year  and  went  to  visit  Betteredge, 
who  told  him  about  Rosanna's  letter. 
Franklin  got  the  letter  and  learned  from 
it  that  she  had  thought  him  guilty  of 
the  crime.  The  letter  also  gave  him  di 
rections  for  recovering  a  box  which,  as 
Sergeant  Cuff  had  thought,  she  had 
buried  by  the  sea.  The  box  proved  to 
have  the  stained  nightgown  in  it,  but 
it  was  not  Rosanna's  nightgown.  On  the 
contrary,  it  was  Franklin's! 

Unable  to  account  for  this  strange 
fact,  Franklin  returned  to  London,  where 
he  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Bruff  about 
the  case.  Mr.  Bruff  informed  Franklin 
that  the  Moonstone  must  be  in  a  certain 
bank  in  London,  deposited  there  by  a 
notorious  pawnbroker  named  Luker.  A 
mysterious  attack  upon  the  money-lender 
seemed  to  confirm  this  belief.  Franklin 
told  Mr.  Bruff  of  the  strange  discovery 
of  the  nightgown.  Mr.  Bruff  planned  a 
surprise  meeting  between  Franklin  and 
Rachel,  at  which.  Franklin  learned  that 


Rachel  had  actually  seen  him  come  into 
the  room  and  steal  the  stone.  Because 
she  loved  him  she  had  refused  to  let 
the  investigation  go  on.  Franklin  tried 
to  convince  her  he  had  no  memory  of  the 
deed. 

On  Mr.  BrufFs  advice,  Franklin  re 
turned  to  the  country  place  and  tried  to 
discover  what  had  happened  to  him  that 
night.  From  Dr.  Candy's  assistant,  Ezra 
Jennings,  he  learned  that  the  doctor  had 
secretly  given  him  a  dose  of  laudanum 
on  the  night  of  the  theft,  so  that  Frank 
lin,  suffering  from  insomnia,  would  get 
a  good  night's  sleep.  Jennings  suggested 
administering  a  like  dose  to  Franklin 
again,  in  the  same  setting,  to  see  what  he 
would  do.  Mr.  Bruff  and  Rachel  came 
down  from  London  to  watch  the  experi 
ment. 

With  the  help  of  Betteredge  the  scene 
was  set  and  Franklin  given  the  laudanum. 
Under  its  influence  he  repeated  his  ac 
tions  on  the  night  of  the  theft.  Rachel 
watched  hirn  come  to  her  room  and  take 
out  a  substitute  stone.  She  was  now 
convinced  that  his  original  act  had  been 
an  attempt  to  protect  her  from  the  Hin 
dus  by  removing  the  stone  to  another 
room.  Before  Franklin  could  recollect 
what  he  did  with  the  stone  after  he  left 
Rachel's  room,  however,  the  drug  took 
full  effect  and  he  fell  sound  asleep. 

The  experiment  explained  how  the 
stone  disappeared  from  Rachel's  room, 
but  not  how  it  got  into  a  London  bank 
through  the  hands  of  Luker.  Mr.  Bruff 


suggested  that  the  gem  might  shortly 
be  redeemed  from  Luker.  Sergeant  Cuff 
was  called  back  into  the  case,  and  a  watch 
set  on  the  bank.  One  day  Luker  came 
into  the  bank  and  claimed  the  stone. 
On  his  way  out  he  could  have  passed  it 
to  any  of  three  people.  All  three  men 
were  followed.  Two  proved  to  be  inno 
cent  citizens.  BrufFs  office  boy  trailed 
the  third,  a  bearded  man  who  looked  like 
a  sailor,  to  an  inn  where  the  suspect  took 
lodgings  for  the  night. 

When  Franklin  and  Sergeant  Cuff  ar 
rived  at  the  inn?  they  found  the  sailor 
dead  and  the  box  from  the  bank  empty. 
Sergeant  Cuff  examined  the  dead  man 
closely  and  then  tore  away  a  false  wig 
and  beard  to  expose  the  features  of  God 
frey  Ablewhite.  From  Luker  they  learned 
that  Godfrey  had  seen  Franklin  go  into 
Rachel's  room  the  night  of  the  robbery, 
and  that  Franklin  had  given  Godfrey 
the  stone  with  instructions  to  put  it  in 
the  bank.  Since  Franklin  had  remem 
bered  nothing  of  this  request  the  next 
day,  Godfrey  kept  the  jewel.  The  mys 
tery  solved,  Rachel  and  Franklin  were 
happily  reunited. 

Several  years  later  Mr.  Murthwaite, 
the  explorer,  told  them  of  a  great  festival 
in  honor  of  the  Moon-God  which  he 
had  witnessed  in  India.  When  the  idol 
was  unveiled,  he  saw  gleaming  in  the 
forehead  of  the  stone  image  the  long-lost 
treasure  of  the  god — the  sacred  Moor* 
stone. 


LE  MORTE  D'ARTHUR 

Type  of  work-  Chronicle 

Author:  Sir  Thomas  Malory  (1400M471) 

Type  of  'plot:  Chivalric  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  Golden  Age  of  chivalry 

Locale:  Britain 

First  published:  1485 

Principal  characters: 

ARTHUR,  King  of  Britain 

QUEEN  GUINEVERE,  his  wife 

SIR  MORDRED,  his  natural  son 

SDR  LAUNCELOT, 

SIR  TRISTRAM,  and 

SIR  GAT..AHAO,  knights  of  the  Round  Table 

625 


Critique: 

Le  Marts  £  Arthur  is  a  monumental 
work  which  made  the  Arthurian  cycle 
available  for  the  first  time  in  English. 
Malory  took  a  hody  of  legends  which  had 
gone  from  the  folklore  of  Celtic  Britain 
into  French  literature  by  way  of  Brittany, 
gave  these  tales  a  typically  English  point 
of  view,  and  added,  amended,  and  de 
leted  for  his  own  purposes,  to  produce 
a  work  which  has  had  tremendous  influ 
ence  on  literature  ever  since.  Because  of 
the  episodic  nature  of  its  contents,  the 
romance  concerns  itself  at  great  length 
with  figures  associated  with  King  Arthur, 
to  the  extent  that  Arthur,  as  a  man,  never 
quite  materializes.  But  Arthur,  as  the 
symbol  of  knighthood  at  its  full  flower, 
pervades  the  book. 

The  Story: 

King  Uther  Pendragon  saw  and  loved 
Igraine,  the  beautiful  and  chaste  Duchess 
of  Cornwall.  His  desires  being  checked 
by  Igraine's  husband,  King  Uther  made 
war  on  Cornwall  and  in  that  war  the 
duke  was  killed.  By  means  of  magic, 
King  Uther  got  Igraine  with  child;  the 
couple  were  subsequently  married.  The 
child,  named  Arthur,  was  raised  by  a 
noble  knight,  Sir  Ector.  After  the  death 
of  King  Uther,  Arthur  proved  his  right 
to  the  throne  by  removing  a  sword  from 
an  anvil  which  was  imbedded  in  a  rock. 
From  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  he  received 
his  famous  sword,  Excalibur.  When  the 
independent  kings  of  Britain  rebelled  and 
made  war  on  the  young  king,  they  were 
defeated.  Arthur  ruled  over  all  Britain. 

King  Arthur  married  Guinevere,  the 
daughter  of  King  Leodegrance,  who  pre 
sented  to  Arthur  as  a  wedding  gift  the 
Round  Table  and  a  hundred  knights. 
Merlin  the  magician  was  enticed  by  one 
of  the  Ladies  of  die  Lake  into  eternal 
imprisonment  under  a  rock. 

Five  foreign  kings  invaded  Arthur's 
realm  and  were  defeated  after  a  long 
war.  To  show  his  gratitude  to  God  for 


his  victory,  King  Arthur  founded  the 
Abbey  of  the  Beautiful  Adventure  at  the 
scene  of  his  victory. 

Sir  Accolon,  the  paramour  of  Morgan 
Le  Fay,  enchantress  sister  of  King  Arthur, 
fought  Arthur  with  Excalibur,  which 
Morgan  had  procured  from  Arthur  by 
black  magic.  Arthur  was  nearly  over 
come,  but  in  the  fight  their  swords  were 
accidentally  exchanged  and  the  king  de 
feated  Accolon. 

King  Lucius  of  Rome  sent  ambassa 
dors  to  Britain  to  demand  tribute  of  King 
Arthur.  When  Arthur  refused  to  pay, 
he  was  promised  aid  in  war  by  all  of  the 
knights  of  his  realm.  In  the  war  that 
followed,  the  British  defeated  Lucius 
and  conquered  Germany  and  Italy.  Ar 
thur  was  crowned  Emperor  of  Rome. 

Back  in  England,  Sir  Launcelot,  a 
knight  of  the  Round  Table  and  Queen 
Guinevere's  favorite,  set  out  on  adven 
tures  to  further  the  honor  and  glory  of 
himself  and  of  his  queen.  After  many 
long  and  arduous  adventures,  all  of  them 
triumphant,  Sir  Launcelot  returned  to 
Camelot,  the  seat  of  King  Arthur,  and 
was  acclaimed  the  first  knight  of  all 
Christendom. 

Elizabeth,  queen  of  King  Meliodas  of 
Liones,  died  in  giving  birth  to  a  son,  who 
was  named  Tristram  because  of  the  sad 
circumstances  surrounding  his  birth. 
Young  Tristram  was  sent  with  his  pre 
ceptor,  Gouvemail,  to  France,  where  he 
was  trained  in  all  the  accomplishments 
of  knighthood.  When  the  king  of  Ireland 
demanded  tribute  from  King  Mark  of 
Cornwall,  Sir  Tristram,  defending  the 
sovereignty  of  King  Mark,  his  uncle,  slew 
the  Irish  champion,  Sir  Marhaus,  but  was 
wounded  in  the  contest*  He  was  nursed 
by  Isolde,  princess  of  Ireland.  Tristram 
and  Isolde  fell  in  love  and  promised  to 
remain  true  to  each  other.  Later,  King 
Mark  commissioned  Sir  Tristram  to  re 
turn  to  Ireland  to  bring  back  Isolde, 
whom  the  king  had  contracted  to  marry. 


LE  MORTE  d'ARTHUR  by  Sir  Thoma,  Malory.   Published  by  Appleton-Ccntury-Crofts,  Inc. 


626 


During  the  return  voyage  from  Ireland 
to  Cornwall,  Tristram  and  Isolde  drank 
a  love  potion  and  swore  undying  love. 
Isolde  married  King  Mark,  and  Sir  Tris 
tram  later  married  Isolde  La  Blanche 
Mains,  daughter  of  King  Howels  of  Brit 
tany.  But  Tristram,  unable  to  remain 
separated  from  Isolde  of  Ireland,  joined 
her  secretly.  At  last,  fearing  discovery 
and  out  of  his  mind  for  love  of  Isolde, 
Tristram  fled  into  the  forest.  In  a  pitiful 
condition  he  was  carried  back  to  the 
castle,  where  a  faithful  hound  revealed 
his  identity  to  King  Mark.  King  Mark 
then  banished  Tristram  from  Cornwall 
for  ten  years.  The  knight  went  to  Cam 
elot,  where  he  won  great  renown  at 
tourneys  and  in  knightly  adventures.  King 
Mark,  hearing  of  Tristram's  honors,  went 
in  disguise  to  Camelot  to  kill  Tristram. 
Sir  Launcelot  recognized  King  Mark  and 
took  him  to  King  Arthur,  who  ordered 
the  Cornish  sovereign  to  allow  Sir  Tris 
tram  to  return  to  Cornwall.  In  Cornwall, 
King  Mark  attempted  unsuccessfully  to 
get  rid  of  Tristram.  But  Tristram  man 
aged  to  avoid  all  the  traps  set  for  him, 
and  he  and  Isolde  escaped  to  England 
and  took  up  residence  in  Castle  Joyous 
Guard. 

An  old  hermit  prophesied  to  King 
Arthur  that  a  seat  which  was  vacant  at 
the  Round  Table  would  be  occupied  by 
a  knight  not  yet  born — one  who  would 
win  the  Holy  Grail. 

After  Sir  Launcelot  was  tricked  into 
lying  with  Elaine,  the  daughter  of  King 
Pelles,  the  maid  gave  birth  to  a  boy 
named  Galahad.  Some  years  later  there 
appeared  in  a  river  a  stone  with  a  sword 
imbedded  in  it.  A  message  on  the  sword 
stated  that  the  best  knight  in  the  world 
would  remove  it.  All  the  knights  of  the 
Round  Table  attempted  to  withdraw  the 
sword,  without  success.  Finally  an  old 
man  brought  a  young  knight  to  the 
Round  Table  and  seated  him  in  the 
vacant  place  at  which  the  young  knight's 
name,  Sir  Galahad,  appeared  magically 
after  he  had  been  seated.  Sir  Galahad 
withdrew  the  magic  sword  from  the  stone 


and  set  out,  with  other  of  Arthur's 
knights,  in  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Dur 
ing  his  quest,  he  was  joined  part  of  the 
time  by  his  father,  Sir  Launcelot.  Sir 
Launcelot  tried  to  enter  the  Grail  cham 
ber  and  was  stricken  for  twenty-four 
days  as  penance  for  his  years  of  sin.  A 
vision  of  Christ  came  to  Sir  Galahad, 
who,  with  his  comrades,  received  com 
munion  from  the  Grail.  They  came  to  a 
near-Eastern  city  where  they  healed  a 
cripple.  Because  of  this  miracle  they 
were  thrown  into  prison  by  the  pagan 
king.  When  the  king  died,  Sir  Galahad 
was  chosen  king;  he  saw  the  miracle  of 
the  Grail  and  died  in  holiness. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  in  Camelot 
after  the  questing  knights  returned.  Sir 
Launcelot  forgot  the  promises  he  had 
made  during  the  quest  and  began  to  con 
sort  again  with  Guinevere. 

One  spring,  while  traveling  with  her 
attendants,  Guinevere  was  captured  by 
a  traitorous  knight,  Sir  Meliagrance.  Sir 
Launcelot  rescued  the  queen  and  killed 
the  evil  knight.  Enemies  of  Launcelot 
reported  to  King  Arthur  Launcelot's  love 
for  Guinevere.  A  party  championing  the 
king's  cause  engaged  Launcelot  in  com 
bat.  All  members  of  the  party  except 
Mordred,  Arthur's  natural  son,  were 
slain.  Guinevere  was  sentenced  to  be 
burned,  but  Sir  Launcelot  and  his  party 
saved  the  queen  from  the  stake  and  re 
tired  to  Castle  Joyous  Guard.  When  King 
Arthur  besieged  the  castle,  the  Pope  com 
manded  a  truce  between  Sir  Launcelot 
and  the  king.  Sir  Launcelot  and  his  fol 
lowers  went  to  France,  where  they  be 
came  rulers  of  that  realm.  King  Arthur 
invaded  France  with  the  intent  of  over 
throwing  Sir  Launcelot,  and  in  Arthur's 
absence  Mordred  seized  the  throne  of 
Britain  and  tried  to  force  Guinevere  to 
become  his  queen.  Guinevere  escaped  to 
London,  where  she  took  refuge  in  the 
Tower.  King  Arthur,  hearing  of  the  dis 
affection  of  Sir  Mordred,  returned  to  Eng 
land  and  in  a  great  battle  drove  the 
usurper  and  his  false  knights  back  tt 
Canterbury. 


627 


At  a  parley  between  King  Arthur  and 
Sir  Mordred,  an  adder  caused  a  knight 
to  draw  his  sword.  This  action  brought 
on  a  pitched  battle  in  which  Mordred 
was  killed  and  King  Arthur  was  mortally 
wounded.  On  his  deathbed  King  Arthur 
asked  Sir  Bedivere  to  cast  Excalibur  back 
into  the  lake  from  which  the  sword  had 
come.  Sir  Bedivere  hid  the  sword  twice, 
but  was  reproached  by  the  king  each  time. 
Finally,  Sir  Bedivere  threw  the  sword 


into  the  lake,  where  it  was  caught  by  a 
hand  and  withdrawn  under  the  water. 

King  Arthur  died  and  was  carried  on 
a  barge  down  the  river  to  the  Vale  of 
Avalon.  When  Sir  Launcelot  returned 
from  France  to  avenge  his  king  and 
queen,  he  learned  that  Guinevere  had 
become  a  nun.  Sir  Launcelot  retired  to 
a  hermitage  and  took  holy  orders.  Sir 
Constantine  of  Cornwall  was  chosen  king 
to  succeed  King  Arthur. 


MUTINY  ON  THE  BOUNTY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Authors:  Charles  Nordhoff  (1887-1947;)  and  James  Norman  Hall  (1887-1951) 

Type  of  plot;  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot;   Late  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  South  Pacific  and  Tahiti 

First  published:  1932 

Principal  characters: 

LIEUTENANT  WTTJ.TAM  BUGH,  captain  of  H.M.S.  Bounty 

ROGER  BYAM,  a  rrnrUVnpman 

FLETCHER  CHEISX[AN-,  leader  of  the  mutiny 

GEORGE  STEWAB.T,  midshipman  friend  of  Byam 

TEHANI,  a  Taidtian  girl 

Critique: 

Written  in  the  form  of  a  novel  and 
completely  romantic  in  temper,  Mutiny 
on  the  Bounty  is  a  great  story  of  adven 
ture  based  upon  actual  fact.  The  story 
of  the  voyage  of  the  Bounty,  which 
sailed  from  England  in  1787,  the  mutiny 
aboard  her,  the  exploit  of  Captain  Bligh 
in  piloting  a  small  boat  across  thirty-six 
hundred  miles  of  open  sea,  the  trial  of 
the  mutineers,  and  the  final  refuge  of 
others  on  bleak  Pitcairn  Island,  are  all 
matters  of  record.  The  authors'  free 
arrangement  of  their  material  is  designed 
to  give  to  factual  narrative  the  drama 
and  romantic  atmosphere  of  fiction. 


The  Story: 

In  1787  Roger  Byam  accepted  Lieu 
tenant  Bligh's  offer  of  a  berth  as  mid 
shipman  on  H.  M.  S.  Bounty,  a  ship 
commissioned  by  the  English  government 
to  carry  the  edible  breadfruit  tree  of 


Tahiti  to  English  possessions  in  the  West 
Indies,  to  be  used  there  as  a  cheap  food 
supply  for  the  black  slaves  of  English 
planters.  Byam's  special  commission  was 
to  work  at  the  task  of  completing  a 
study  of  Tahitian  dialects  for  the  use  of 
English  seamen.  After  filling  the  ship's 
roster  and  getting  favorable  weather,  the 
Bounty  set  sail,  and  Midshipman  Byam 
began  to  learn  the  ways  of  a  ship  at 
sea.  He  also  began  to  learn,  when  only 
a  few  days  from  England,  of  the  many 
traits  of  his  captain  which  were  to  lead 
eventually  to  mutiny.  Bligh's  fanaticism 
rested  on  discipline,  which  he  often  en 
forced  at  the  cost  of  justice  through  ex 
cessive  floggings  of  the  seamen  aboard 
the  Bounty.  However,  the  principal  ob 
jection  the  men  had  was  their  captain's 
exploitation  of  them  and  their  rations 
for  private  graft 

When  the  Bounty  arrived  in  Tahiti, 


MUTINY  ON  THE  BOUNTY  by  Charles  Nordhoff  and  James  Norman  Hall.  By  permission  of  Mrs.  Laura 
Nordhoff,  Mr.  James  Norman  Hall,  and  the  publishers,  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  Copyright,  1932,  by  Little,  Brown 
8c  Co. 


628 


the  crew  was  given  the  freedom  it 
deserved.  Making  use  of  the  native 
custom,  each  of  the  men  chose  for  him 
self  a  taio,  or  special  friend  from  among 
the  natives,  who,  during  the  sailor's  stay 
in  Tahiti,  would  supply  him  with  all 
the  delicacies  the  island  had  to  offer. 

During  the  stay  at  Tahiti,  Byam,  liv 
ing  ashore,  collected  information  for  his 
language  study.  Most  of  the  sailors  found 
women  with  whom  they  lived  and  to 
whom  some  of  them  were  later  married. 
Fletcher  Christian  chose  Maimiti,  the 
daughter  of  Byam's  taio.  George  Stewart 
chose  a  Tahitian  girl  named  Peggy, 
Byam  saw  Tehani,  later  his  wife,  only 
once  during  his  stay  on  the  island,  hut 
from  this  one  appearance  he  was  highly 
impressed  with  the  beauty  of  the 
princess. 

Captain  Bligh,  on  the  Bounty,  had 
continued  to  practice  the  cruelties  which 
the  men  considered  not  only  unfair  but 
also  illegal.  One  practice  was  the  con 
fiscation  of  gifts  which  the  islanders  had 
brought  to  the  men  on  shipboard  and 
which  rightfully  belonged  to  those  men. 
The  gifts  he  ordered  to  be  put  into  the 
ship's  stores.  He  had  further  placed  the 
men  on  salt  pork  rations,  amid  all  the 
plentiful  fresh  fruits  of  the  island.  Just 
before  leaving  Tahiti,  Bligh  falsely  ac 
cused  Christian  of  stealing  a  coconut. 

Collection  of  the  breadfruit  trees  was 
finally  completed  and  the  Bounty  left 
for  England,  but  not  before  four  of  the 
chagrined  crewmen  had  attempted  deser 
tion.  They  were  caught,  returned,  and 
flogged  before  the  crew.  This  was  one 
more  incident  to  add  to  the  already  sullen 
attitude  of  the  sailors.  Feeling  continued 
to  run  high  against  Bligh  during  the 
early  part  of  the  voyage,  until  that  fate 
ful  night  when  a  sudden  impulse  led 
Christian  into  mutiny.  With  his  muti- 
neering  friends  he  gained  control  of  the 
ship  and  subsequently  set  Bligh  adrift 
in  the  Bounty's  launch,  in  the  company 
of  as  many  of  the  loyal  crewmen  as 
that  boat  would  hold.  The  launch  was 
too  gmflll  to  hold  all  of  the  loyal  hands 


and  so  seven  had  to  stay  behind,  among 
them  Byam  and  Stewart,  his  close  friend. 
The  mutiny  left  the  Bounty  manned  by 
twenty-three  men,  including  the  seven 
loyal  men. 

With  Christian  in  command,  the 
Bounty  sailed  about  in  the  South  Seas, 
the  mutineers  searching  for  a  suitable 
island  on  which  to  establish  a  permanent 
settlement.  After  several  attempts,  all 
balked  by  unfriendly  natives,  Christian 
returned  with  the  crew  to  Tahiti.  By  a 
show  of  hands,  the  crew  again  split, 
some  of  the  men  continuing  with 
Christian  their  search  for  a  permanent 
home,  the  others,  including  Byam  and 
Stewart,  remaining  at  Tahiti.  They  ex 
pected  eventually  to  be  picked  up  by 
an  English  vessel  and  returned  home 
to  continue  their  naval  careers. 

After  Christian  and  his  crew  had 
sailed  to  an  unknown  destination,  Byam 
and  his  friend  established  homes  on 
the  island  by  marrying  the  native  girls 
with  whom  they  had  fallen  in  love  dur 
ing  the  first  visit  to  the  island.  Byam 
went  to  live  in  the  home  of  Tehani,  his 
wife,  and  there  continued  his  language 
studies.  During  that  idyllic  year  on 
the  island,  children  were  born  to  the 
wives  of  both  Byam  and  Stewart.  Then 
H.  M.  S.  Pandora  arrived,  searching  for 
the  lost  Bounty.  Unaware  that  Bligh, 
who  had  miraculously  reached  England, 
had  not  distinguished  between  mutineer 
and  loyal  sailor  among  the  men  who 
remained  on  the  Bounty,  Byam  and 
Stewart,  anxious  for  some  word  of  home, 
eagerly  met  the  newly  arrived  ship. 
They  were  promptly  placed  in  irons  and 
imprisoned.  They  saw  their  wives  only 
once  after  imprisonment,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  ship's  doctor  on  the  Pan 
dora  they  would  have  suffered  greatei 
hardship  than  they  had  experienced  on 
the  Bounty.  The  doctor  made  it  possible 
for  Byam  to  go  on  with  his  studies,  a  task 
which  gave  the  prisoners  something  to 
do  and  kept  them  from  losing  their 
minds. 

The  Pandora  sailed  for  England  with 


629 


a  total  of  seven  prisoners,  four  of  whom 
were  not  guilty  of  mutiny.  They  suffered 
many  unnecessary  hardships,  the  greatest 
occurring  during  a  storm  in  which  the 
Pandora  was  sunk.  The  captain  delayed 
releasing  the  men  from  their  irons  until 
the  last  possible  moment,  an  act  which 
cost  the  life  o£  Stewart,  who  was  unable 
to  get  clear  of  the  sinking  Pandora  and 
drowned. 

The  survivors,  gathered  on  a-  small 
island,  were  forced  into  a  decision  to 
try  to  make  the  voyage  to  Timor,  in  the 
Dutch  East  Indies,  the  nearest  island 
of  call.  Their  experiences  hi  open  boats, 
with  little  or  no  water  and  food,  were 
savagely  cruel  because  of  the  tropic  sun, 
the  madness  from  lack  of  water,  and 
the  foolish  attempts  of  the  Pandoras 
captain  to  continue  to  treat  the  prisoners 
as  prisoners.  Eventually  the  group 
reached  Timor  and  there  found  passage 
on  a  Dutch  ship  bound  for  England. 

Returned  to  England,  the  prisoners 
awaited  court-martial  for  mutiny.  The 
loyal  men,  falsely  accused,  were  Byam, 


Morrison,  and  Muspratt.  Three  of  the 
mutineers  with  them  were  Ellison,  Burk- 
itt,  and  Millward,  sailors  who  were  con 
victed  of  their  crime  and  hanged.  The 
evidence  concerning  the  innocent  men 
finally  reached  a  point  where  the  deci 
sion  rested  upon  the  testimony  of  Robert 
Tinkler,  another  midshipman  on  the 
Bounty.  Tinkler  was  believed  lost  at 
sea,  but  he  turned  up  in  time  to  save 
the  lives  of  Byam,  Muspratt,  and  Mor 
rison. 

Byam  continued  his  naval  career  and 
eventually  he  became  the  captain  of  his 
own  ship.  In  1810  he  returned  to 
Tahiti.  Tehani,  his  wife,  was  dead.  His 
daughter  he  found  alive  and  the  image 
of  her  mother.  In  a  last  romantic  gesture, 
he  saw  that  he  could  not  make  Himself 
known  to  her,  and  he  left  Tahiti  without 
telling  her  he  was  her  father.  To  him 
that  beautiful  green  island  was  a  place 
filled  with  ghosts  of  younger  men,  and 
young  Midshipman  Byam  was  one  of 
them. 


MY  ANTONIA 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:    Wffla  Gather  (1876-1947) 

Type  of  plot:   Regional  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:  Nebraska  prairie  knd 

First  published:    1918 

Principal  characters: 

JIM  BLTELDEN,  the  narrator  and  Antonia's  friend 
ANTONIA  SHTMERDA,  a  Bohemian  peasant  gid 

Critique: 

Perhaps  the  most  beautiful  aspect  of 
this  book  is  its  disarming  simplicity. 
There  are  no  witty  phrases,  no  com 
plicated  characters;  indeed,  there  is 
scarcely  any  plot  And  yet  there  is  a 
quiet,  probing  f  depth  in  Miss  Gather's 
writing.  My  Antonia  is  the  story  of  a 
Bohemian  girl  whose  family  came  from 
the  old  country  to  settle  on  the  open 


prairies  of  Nebraska.  While  she  lives 
on  her  farm  and  tills  the  soil,  she  is  a 
child  of  the  prairie,  almost  as  much  a 
part  of  her  setting  as  the  waving  grass 
and  the  tall  com.  But  Antonia  goes  also 
to  the  city,  and  there  she  knows  heart 
break.  She  finds  peace  and  meaning  in 
life  only  after  her  return  to  the  land 
which  is  her  heritage. 


MY  ANTONIA  by  WUla  Other.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Hougbtoa  JvCfflin  Co.    Copyright,  1918,  by 
Will*  S.  Cither.   Renewed,  1946,  by  WUla  S.  Gather. 


630 


The  Story: 

Jim  Burden's  father  and  mother  died 
when  he  was  ten  years  old,  and  the 
boy  made  the  long  trip  from  Virginia 
to  his  grandparents'  farm  In  Nebraska 
in  the  company  of  Jake  Marpole,  a  hired 
hand  who  was  to  work  for  Jim's  grand 
father.  Arriving  by  train  late  at  night 
in  the  prairie  town  of  Black  Hawk,  the 
boy  noticed  an  immigrant  family  hud 
dled  on  the  station  platform.  He  and 
Jake  were  met  by  a  lanky,  scar-faced 
cowboy  named  Otto  Fuchs,  who  drove 
them  in  a  jolting  wagon  across  the  empty 
prairie  to  the  Burden  farm. 

Jim  grew  to  love  the  vast  expanse  of 
land  and  sky.  One  day  Jim's  grand 
mother  suggested  that  the  family  pay 
a  visit  to  the  Shimerdas,  an  immigrant 
family  just  arrived  in  the  territory.  At 
first  the  newcomers  impressed  Jim  un 
favorably.  The  Shimerdas  were  poor  and 
lived  in  a  dugout  cut  into  the  earth. 
The  place  was  dirty.  The  children  were 
ragged.  Although  he  could  not  under 
stand  her  speech,^  Jim  made  friends  with 
the  oldest  girl,  Antonia. 

Jim  found  himself  often  at  the^Shimer- 
da  home.  He  did  not  like  Antonia's 
surly  brother,  Arnbrosch,  or  her  grasping 
mother,  but  Antonia,  with  her  eager 
smile  and  great,  warm  eyes  won  an  im 
mediate  place  in  Jim's  heart.  One  day 
her  father,  his  English  dictionary  tucked 
under  his  arm,  cornered  Jim  and  asked 
him  to  teach  the  girl  English.  She 
learned  rapidly.  Jim  respected  Antonia's 
father.  He  was  a  tall,  thin,  sensitive 
man,  a  musician  in  the  old  country.  Now 
he  was  saddened  by  poverty  and  burdened 
with  overwork.  He  seldom  laughed  any 
more. 

Jim  and  Antonia  passed  many  happy 
hours  on  the  prairie.  Then  tragedy  struck 
the  Shimerdas.  During  a  severe  winter, 
Mr.  Shimerda,  broken  and  beaten  bv  the 
prairie,  shot  himself-  Antonia  had  loved 
her  father  more  than  any  other  member 
of  the  family,  and  after  his  death  she 
shouldered  his  share  of  the  farm  work. 
When  spring  came,  she  went  with 


Arnbrosch  into  the  fields  and  plowed 
like  a  man.  The  harvest  brought  money. 
The  Shimerdas  soon  had  a  house,  and 
with  the  money  left  over  they  bought 
plowshares  and  cattle. 

Because  Jim's  grandparents  were  grow 
ing  too  old  to  keep  up  their  farm,  they 
dismissed  Jake  and  Otto  and  moved  to 
the  town  of  Bkck  Hawk.  There  Jim 
longed  for  the  open  prairie  land,  the 
gruff,  friendly  companionship  ^of  Jake 
and  Otto,  and  the  warmth  of  Antonia's 
friendship.  He  suffered  at  school  and 
spent  his  idle  hours  roaming  the  barren 
gray  streets  of  Black  Hawk. 

At  Jim's  suggestion,  his  grandmother 
arranged  with  a  neighbor,  Mrs.  Harling, 
to  bring  Antonia  into  town  as  her 
hired  girl.  Antonia  entered  into  her  tasks 
with  enthusiasm.  Jim  saw  a  change  in 
her.  She  was  more  feminine;  she  laughed 
oftener;  and  though  she  never  shirked 
her  duties  at  the  Harling  house,  she 
was  eager  for  recreation  and  gaiety. 

Almost  every  night  she  went  to  a 
dance  pavilion  with  a  group  of  hired 
girls.  There,  in  new,  handmade  dresses, 
the  immigrant  girls  gathered  to  dance 
with  the  village  boys.  Jim  Burden  went, 
too,  and  the  more  he  saw  of  the  hired 
girls,  the  better  he  liked  them.  Once 
or  twice  he  worried  about  Antonia,  who 
was  popular  and  trusting.  When  she 
earned  a  reputation  for  being  a  little  too 
gay,  she  lost  her  position  with  the  Har- 
lings  and  went  to  work  for  a  cruel  money 
lender,  Wick  Cutter,  who  had  a  licen 
tious  eye  on  her. 

One  night,  Antonia  appeared  at  the 
Burdens  and  begged  Jim  to  stay  in  her 
bed  for  the  night  and  let  her  remain  at 
the  Burdens.  Wick  Cutter  was  supposed 
to  be  out  of  town,  but  Antonia  suspected 
that,  with  Mrs.  Cutter  also  gone,  he 
might  return  and  harm  her.  Her  fears 
proved  correct,  for  as  Jim  lay  awake  in 
Antonia's  bed  Wick  returned  and  went 
to  the  bedroom  where  he  thought  Antonia 
was,  sleeping. 

Antonia    returned    to   work    for   the 


631 


Harlings.  Jim,  eager  to  go  off  to  college, 
studied  hard  during  the  summer  and 
passed  his  entrance  examinations.  In  the 
fall  he  left  for  the  state  university  and 
although  he  found  there  a  whole  new 
world  of  literature  and  art,  he  could 
not  forget  his  early  years  under  the 
blazing  t  prairie  sun  and  his  friendship 
with  Antonia.  He  heard  little  of 
Antonia  during  those  years.  One 
of  her  friends,  Lena  Lingard,  who  had 
also  worked  as  a  hired  girl  in  Black 
Hawk,  visited  him  one  day.  He  learned 
from  her  that  Antonia  was  engaged  to 
be  married  to  a  man  named  Larry  Dono 
van. 

Jim  went  on  to  Harvard  to  study  law, 
and  for  years  heard  nothing  of  his 
Nebraska  friends.  He  assumed  that 
Antonia  was  married.  When  he  made 
a  trip  back  to  Black  Hawk  to  f  see  his 
grandparents,  he  learned  that  Antonia, 
deceived  by  Larry  Donovan,  had  left 
Black  Hawk  in  shame  and  returned  to 
her  family.  There  she  worked  again  in 
the  fields  until  her  baby  was  born. 
When  Jim  went  to  see  her,  he  found 
her  still  the  same  lovely  girl,  though  her 
eyes  were  somber  and  she  had  lost  her  old 
gaiety.  She  welcomed  him  and  proudly 
showed  him  her  baby. 

Jim  thought  that  his  visit  was  probably 
the  last  time  he  would  see  Antonia.  He 
told  her  how  much  a  part  of  him  she 
had  become  and  ^how  sorry  he  was  to 
leave  her  again.  Antonia  knew  that  Jim 
would  always  be  with  her,  no  matter 
where  he  went.  He  reminded  her  of 
her  beloved  father,  who,  though  he  had 


been  dead  many  years,  still  lived  nobly 
in  her  heart.  She  told  Jim  goodbye  and 
watched  him  walk  back  toward  town 
along  the  familiar  road. 

It  was  twenty  years  before  Jim  Burden 
saw  Antonia  again.  On  a  Western  trip 
he  found  himself  not  far  from  Black 
Hawk,  and  on  impulse  he  drove  out  in 
an  open  buggy  to  the  farm  where  she 
lived.  He  found  the  place  swarming  with 
children  of  all  ages.  Small  boys  rushed 
forward  ^to  greet  him,  then  fell  back 
shyly.  Antonia  had  married  well,  at 
last.  The  grain  was  high,  and  the  neat 
farmhouse  seemed  to  be  charged  with 
an  atmosphere  of  activity  and  happiness. 
Xntonia  seemed  as  unchanged  as  she 
was  when  she  and  Jim  used  to  whirl 
over  the  dance  floor  together  in  Black 
Hawk.  Cusak,  her  husband,  seemed 
to  know  Jim  before  they  were  introduced, 
for  Antonia  had  told  all  her  family  about 
Jim  Burden.  After  a  long  visit  with  the 
Cuzaks,  Jim  left,  promising  that  he  would 
return  the  next  summer  and  take  two 
of  the  Cuzak  boys  hunting  with  him. 

Waiting  in  Black  Hawk  for  the  train 
that  would  take  him  East,  Jim  found  it 
hard  to  realize  the  long  time  that  hac1 
passed  since  the  dark  night,  years  before, 
when  he  had  seen  an  immigrant  family 
standing  wrapped  in  their  shawls  on  the 
same  platform.  All  his  memories  of  the 
prairie  came  back  to  him.  Whatever  hap 
pened  now,  whatever  they  had  missed, 
he  and  Antonia  had  shared  precious 
years  between  them,  years  that  would 
never  be  forgotten. 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  PARIS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Eugene  Sue  (1804-1857) 

Type  of  plot:    Mystery  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale-.   France  and  Germany 

First  published:  1842-1843 

Principal  characters: 

RODOLPH,  Grand  Duke  of  Gerolstein 

FLEUR-DE-MABIE,  his  daughter  by  Lady  Sarah  Macgregor 

LADY  SABAH  MACGREGOR,  his  morganatic  wife 


632 


CLEMENCE  D'HARVTJLLE,  wife  of  one  of  Rodolph's  friends 

LA  CHOUETTE,  and 

SCHOOLMASTER,  two  Paris  criminals 

JACQUES  FERRAND,  a  hypocritical  and  cruel  lawyer 

MADAME  GEORGES,  befriended  by  RodolpK 

RIGOUBTTE,  Fleur-de-Marie's  friend 


Critique: 

The  Mysteries  of  Paris  is  a  novel 
which  was  written  mainly  to  arouse  pub 
lic  opinion  for  reform  of  the  penal  system 
and  the  poor  laws.  The  descriptions  of 
the  poor,  the  needy,  and  the  afflicted 
among  the  unfortunates  of  Paris  are 
many  and  vivid.  The  novel  is  inter 
spersed  with  short  tales  of  misfortune 
and  comments  by  the  author  as  to  how 
many  of  the  difficulties  could  be  rem 
edied  by  new  laws  and  new  charities. 
The  story  which  allows  full  freedom  to 
the  expression  of  these  ideas  is  an  amaz 
ing  one.  It  contains  almost  a  hundred 
main  characters,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
numerous  minor  character  studies.  Almost 
every  minor  plot  contains  enough  mate 
rial  for  a  novel ,  and  the  major  plot  is 
intricate  and  detailed. 

The  Story: 

Rodolph,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Gerol- 
stein,  a  small  German  state,  was  a  hand 
some  young  man  in  his  thirties  in  1838. 
Behind  him  lay  a  strange  past.  As  a 
youth  he  had  been  brought  up  in  his 
father's  court  by  an  evil  tutor  named 
Polidori,  who  had  done  his  best  to  warp 
and  confuse  the  young  prince's  mind. 
Polidori  had  been  urged  on  by  the  beauti 
ful  but  sinister  Lady  Sarah  Macgregor, 
who  had  been  told  in  her  youth  that  she 
was  destined  some  day  to  be  a  queen. 

Sarah  had  decided  that  Rodolph,  heir 
to  a  duchy,  would  be  the  perfect  hus 
band  for  her,  and  with  the  aid  of  Polidori 
she  had  forced  Rodolph  into  a  secret 
morganatic  marriage.  In  England,  where 
she  had  fled,  she  gave  birth  to  a  daughter. 
Rodolph's  father  was  furious,  and  he 
had  the  marriage  annulled.  One  day, 
after  he  had  threatened  to  kill  his  father, 
Rodolph  was  sent  into  exile.  Before 
long  Sarah  lost  all  interest  in  her  child 


and  paid  her  Paris  lawyer,  Jacques  Fer- 
rand,  to  find  a  home  for  the  girl.  Fer- 
rand  gave  the  child  into  the  care  of  some 
unscrupulous  child-takers  and  after  a  few 
years  falsely  wrote  to  Sarah  that  the 
child  had  died.  Sarah  forwarded  the 
letter  to  Rodolph. 

Rodolph  moved  to  Paris  where  he 
amused  himself  by  roaming  through  the 
slums  in  disguise.  Although  he  was 
strong,  agile,  and  a  fine  fighter,  the 
young  duke  was  always  followed  by  his 
faithful  servant,  Sir  Walter  Murphy. 
Together  they  ferreted  out  the  secrets 
and  mysteries  of  Paris  streets.  One  night 
Rodolph  chanced  to  save  a  young  girl 
who  was  being  attacked.  When  he  had 
heard  her  story,  he  was  so  touched  by  it 
that  he  decided  to  help  her.  Fleur-de- 
Marie,  as  she  was  called,  was  an  orphan 
who  had  been  brought  up  by  gangsters 
and  had  been  in  prison.  Freed,  she  was 
recognized  by  her  old  tormentors  and 
captured  by  them,  drugged,  made  a 
prisoner,  and  compelled  to  suffer  the 
greatest  indignities.  Feeling  that  she  was 
really  innocent  of  the  crimes  into  which 
she  had  been  forced,  Rodolph  took  her 
to  the  farm  of  Madame  Georges.  The 
girl's  beauty,  her  sad  plight,  and  the 
fact  that  she  was  the  age  his  dead 
daughter  would  have  been,  aroused  his 
interest  and  pity. 

Madame  Georges  was  likewise  a  wom 
an  whom  the  duke  had  befriended. 
Her  criminal  husband  had  deserted  her, 
taking  their  son  with  him.  Rodolph  had 
searched  the  streets  of  Paris  for  a  clue 
to  the  whereabouts  of  Madame  Georges' 
son.  At  the  farm  Fleur-de-Marie  soon 
developed  into  a  devout  and  delightful 
young  woman. 

Rodolph  continued  to  live  his  double 
life.  He  attended  diplomatic  balls  and 


633 


the  parties  of  thieves,  and  on  both 
planes  he  found  much  to  do  to  help 
people  to  live  better  lives.  At  last,  in 
order  to  learn  better  the  secrets  of  Paris, 
he  took  lodgings  in  a  boarding-house 
in  one  of  the  poorer  sections  of  town. 
There  he  met  many  needy  families,  and 
in  countless  ways  he  helped  them  all. 
One  of  the  occupants  of  the  house  was 
a  girl  named  Rigolette,  who  had  been 
Fleur-de-Marie's  friend  in  prison.  Rigo- 
lette  was  hard-working  and  kind,  and 
Rodolph  learned  a  great  deal  about  the 
people  of  the  house  from  her. 

One  day  he  learned  that  Cl^mence 
d'Harville,  the  wife  of  one  of  his  good 
friends,  was  involved  in  an  intrigue  with 
a  lodger  in  the  house.  It  did  not  take 
him  long  to  discover  that  the  person 
behind  this  affair,  plotting  the  destruc 
tion  of  d'Harville  and  his  wife,  was 
Lady  Sarah  Macgregor.  As  soon  as  he 
could,  Rodolph  warned  Clemence  and 
saved  her  from  her  folly.  Clemence  was 
unfortunate  in  that  she  had  been  forced 
into  marriage  with  d'Harville  by  her 
mother-in-law,  for  she  did  not  love  her 
husband.  Because  he  and  their  daughter 
were  subject  to  epileptic  fits,  her  life 
was  an  unhappy  one.  D'Harville  by 
chance  learned  of  his  wife's  un happiness, 
and  contrived  to  commit  suicide  in  such 
a  way  that  everyone  thought  his  death 
accidental.  By  this  act  he  saved  Clemence 
from  greater  unhappiness  and  atoned  for 
the  evil  he  had  committed  in  marrying 
her. 

While  staying  at  the  lodging-house, 
Rodolph  had  learned  of  the  numerous 
evil  deeds  of  the  hypocritical  lawyer, 
Jacques  Ferrand.  When  Rodolph  learned 
that  Ferrand  was  planning  the  murder 
of  Glemence's  father,  he  and  Sir  Walter 
Murphy  succeeded  in  thwarting  the 
lawyer's  evil  scheme.  Ferrand  was  also 
responsible  for  the  imprisonment  of 
Rigolette's  lover.  In  order  to  get  to  the 
bottom  of  Ferrand's  plans,  Rodolph  re 
membered  Cicely,  a  beautiful  woman 
who  had  once  been  married  to  his  private 
doctor,  but  who  later  became  a  depraved 


creature.  Rodolph  secured  her  release 
from  prison  and  had  her  introduced  into 
Ferrand's  household,  where  she  could 
spy  on  his  activities  and  learn  his  secrets. 

Meanwhile  Sarah  had  asked  Ferrand 
to  find  a  young  girl  whom  she  could 
claim  was  really  her  child  by  Rodolph, 
for  she  hoped  that  if  she  could  produce 
the  dead  girl  she  could  effect  a  reconcilia 
tion,  now  that  Rodolph  was  the  reign 
ing  duke  of  Gerolstein.  Ferrand,  learn 
ing  the  whereabouts  of  Fleur-de-Marie, 
hired  La  Chouette,  an  ugly  one-eyed 
woman,  and  a  criminal  called  the  School 
master  to  kidnap  the  girl  from  the  farm 
of  Madame  Georges.  When  the  School 
master  arrived  at  the  farm,  he  discovered 
that  Madame  Georges  was  his  wife,  the 
woman  he  had  deserted.  He  did  not 
succeed  in  getting  Fleur-de-Marie.  In 
stead,  she  was  put  in  jail  for  failing  to 
give  testimony  concerning  a  crime  she 
had  witnessed  before  Rodolph  had  saved 
her  from  the  slums.  By  chance,  Cle 
mence  found  the  girl  while  on  a  charita 
ble  errand.  Not  knowing  that  Fleur-de- 
Marie  knew  Rodolph,  she  tried  to  make 
the  girl's  life  more  pleasant  in  prison. 

When  Sarah  learned  that  Fleur-de- 
Marie  had  been  under  the  care  of 
Rodolph's  friends,  she  became  jealous 
and  made  arrangements  to  have  her 
killed  as  soon  as  she  could  be  released 
from  the  prison.  Ferrand,  entrusted  with 
plans  for  her  death,  had  her  released 
from  prison  by  an  accomplice  who  pre 
tended  to  be  an  agent  of  Clemence 
d'Harville.  On  leaving  the  prison,  Fleur- 
de-Marie  met  Rigolette  and  told  her  old 
friend  of  her  fortune.  Rigolette,  who 
knew  Clemence  through  Rodolph,  was 
pleased.  After  they  parted,  Fleur-de- 
Marie  was  seized  by  Ferrand's  hirelings 
and  taken  into  the  country,  where  she 
was  thrown  into  the  river.  But  some 
passersby  saw  her  in  the  water  and 
pulled  her  ashore  in  time  to  save  her  life. 

In  the  meanwhile  La  Chouette,  learn 
ing  that  Fleur-de-Marie  was  really  the 
daughter  of  Rodolph  and  Sarah,  had 
hurried  to  Sarah  with  her  information. 


634 


Sarah  was  shocked  at  the  discovery.  La 
Chouette,  seeing  a  chance  to  make  more 
money  by  killing  Sarah  and  stealing  her 
jewels,  stabbed  her  protector.  The  at 
tacker  escaped  with  the  jewels  and 
returned  to  the  Schoolmaster  to  taunt 
him  with  her  success.  The  two  got 
into  a  fight,  and  the  Schoolmaster 
killed  La  Chouette.  He  was  captured 
and  put  into  prison. 

Through  Cicely,  Rodolph  had  also 
learned  that  his  daughter  was  not  really 
dead.  Cicely  had  had  little  difficulty  in 
uncovering  Ferrand's  past.  As  soon  as 
he  knew  what  Sarah  had  done,  Rodolph 
went  to  see  her,  and  despite  her  terrible 
wound  he  accused  her  violently  of  the 
shameful  and  criminal  neglect  of  her 
daughter. 

On  returning  home,  Rodolph  was  sur 
prised  to  hear  that  Clemence  had  visited 
him.  C16mence  had  had  the  fortune  to 
find  Fleur-de-Marie  in  the  home  where 
she  had  been  cared  for  after  her  escape 
from  drowning,  and  she  had  brought  the 
girl  to  Rodolph.  Clemence  did  not  know 
that  events  had  proved  that  Fleur-de- 
Marie  was  Rodolph  Js  daughter,  and  so 
the  reunion  of  father  and  child  was  not 
without  pain  as  well  as  pleasure,  for 
Clemence  and  Rodolph  had  long  secretly 
known  that  they  loved  each  other. 
Rodolph  begged  Clemence  to  marry  him 
and  be  a  mother  to  his  child.  He  felt 
sure  that  Sarah  would  die,  and  the  way 
would  thus  be  clear  for  their  happy  life 
together. 

Rodolph  remarried  Sarah  on  her 
deathbed  so  that  their  daughter  could 
be  called  truly  legitimate.  Information 
that  Rodolph  had  received  from  Cicely 


also  made  it  possible  for  him  to  free 
Rigolette's  lover  from  prison,  and  it 
turned  out  that  he  was  the  long-lost  SOD 
of  Madame  Georges.  With  these  problems 
solved,  Rodolph  planned  to  return  to 
Germany.  First,  however,  he  used  his 
knowledge  of  Ferrand's  activities  to  force 
the  lawyer  to  establish  many  worthy 
charities.  His  money  gone,  Ferrand  went 
into  a  decline  and  died  soon  afterward. 
Rigolette's  lover  became  administrator 
for  one  of  the  charities,  and  after  their 
marriage  he  and  Rigolette  lived  happily 
with  Madame  Georges. 

Rodolph  returned  to  Germany  with 
Fleur-de-Marie  as  his  legitimate  daughter 
and  Clemence  as  his  wife.  For  a  time 
the  three  lived  together  with  great  hap 
piness.  Then  Rodolph  noticed  that  Fleur- 
de-Marie  seemed  to  have  moods  of  de 
pression.  One  day  she  explained,  weep 
ing,  that  his  goodness  to  her  was  without 
compare,  but  that  the  evil  life  that  she 
had  led  before  he  had  rescued  her  from 
the  slums  preyed  constantly  on  her 
mind.  She  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
enter  a  convent  Seeing  that  nothing  he 
could  say  would  change  her  mind,  Ro 
dolph  gave  his  permission. 

While  serving  as  a  novice  at  the  con 
vent,  Fleur-de-Marie's  conduct  was  so 
perfect  that  when  she  was  admitted  to 
the  order  she  immediately  became  the 
abbess.  This  honor  was  too  much  for 
her  gentle  soul  to  bear,  or  for  her  weak, 
sick  body  to  withstand,  and  that  very 
night  she  died.  Rodolph,  noting  that 
the  day  of  her  death  was  the  anniversary 
of  the  day  on  which  he  had  tried  to  kill 
his  father,  felt  that  the  ways  of  fate 
are  strange. 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  UDOLPHO 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Mis.  Ann  Radcliffe  (1764-1823) 

Type  of  plot:  Gothic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  sixteenth  century 

Locale:  France  and  Italy 

First  published:  1794 


635 


Principal  characters: 

EMILT  ST.  AETBERT,  a  young  French  aristocrat 

SJGNOR  MONTONI,  a  villainous  Italian  married  to  Emily's  aunt 

VATANCOURT,  Emily 's  sweetheart 

COUNT  MORANO,  a  Venetian  nobleman  in  love  with  Emily 

MADAME  MONTONI,  Emily's  aunt 


Critique: 

Tfee  Mysteries  of  Udolpho  is  the  most 
famous  of  the  Gothic  novels  extremely 
popular  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury.  The  mysterious  elements  of  the 
story  are  always  explained  in  some  nat 
ural  way,  for  Mrs.  Radcliffe  was  too 
much  of  an  eighteenth-century  rationalist 
to  succumb  completely  to  the  super 
natural.  The  characters  in  the  book  are 
stilted  both  in  action  and  conversation. 
Mrs.  Radcliffe  was  at  her  best  only  when 
describing  scenery,  such  as  the  rugged 
Pyrenees  and  Apennines,  or  when  de 
scribing  an  atmosphere  of  suspense  in 
creating  her  effects  of  terror. 

The  Story: 

After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Monsieur 
St,  Aubert,  a  French  aristocrat,  took  his 
daughter  on  a  trip  in  the  Pyrenees  Moun 
tains.  High  on  a  mountain  road  the  St. 
Auberts  met  a  young  nobleman  dressed 
in  hunting  clothes.  He  was  Valancourt, 
the  younger  son  of  a  family  with  which 
M.  St.  Aubert  was  acquainted.  Joining 
the  St.  Auberts  on  their  journey,  the 
young  man  soon  fell  in  love  with  eight 
een-year-old  Emily  St.  Aubert,  and  the 
girl  felt  that  she,  too,  might  lose  her 
heart  to 


St.  Aubert  became  desperately  ill  and 
died  in  a  cottage  near  the  Chateau-le- 
Blanc,  ancestral  seat  of  the  noble  Villeroi 
family.  After  her  father's  burial  at  the 
nearby  convent  of  St.  Glair,  Emily  re 
turned  to  her  home  at  La  Vallee  and 
promptly  burned  some  mysterious  letters 
which  her  father  had  requested  her  to 
destroy.  With  the  letters  she  found  a 
miniature  portrait  of  a  beautiful  un 
known  woman.  Since  she  had  not  been 
told  to  destroy  the  portrait,  she  took  it 
with  her  when  she  left  La  Vallee  to 
stay  with  her  aunt  in  Toulouse. 


Valancourt  followed  Emily  to  Toulouse 
to  press  his  suit.  After  some  remon 
strance,  the  aunt  gave  her  permission 
for  the  young  couple  to  marry.  Then,  a 
few  days  before  the  ceremony,  the  aunt 
married  Signor  Montoni,  a  sinister  Ital 
ian,  who  immediately  forbade  his  new 
niece's  nuptials.  To  make  his  refusal 
doubly  positive,  he  took  Emily  and  her 
aunt  to  his  mansion  in  Venice. 

There  Emily  and  Madame  Montoni 
found  themselves  in  unhappy  circum 
stances,  for  it  soon  became  apparent  that 
Montoni  had  married  in  order  to  secure 
for  himself  the  estates  of  his  new  wife 
and  her  niece.  When  he  tried  to  force 
Emily  to  marry  a  Venetian  nobleman, 
Count  Morano,  Emily  was  in  despair. 
Suddenly,  on  the  night  before  the  wed 
ding,  Montoni  ordered  his  household  to 
pack  and  leave  for  his  castle  at  Udolpho, 
high  in  the  Apennines. 

When  the  party  arrived  at  Udolpho, 
Montoni  immediately  began  to  repair  the 
fortifications  of  the  castle.  Emily  did 
not  like  the  dark,  cold,  mysterious  castle 
from  which  the  previous  owner,  Lady 
Laurentini,  had  disappeared  under  mys 
terious  circumstances.  Superstitious  serv 
ants  claimed  that  apparitions  flitted  about 
the  halls  and  galleries  of  the  ancient 
fortress. 

Soon  after  Montoni  and  his  household 
had  settled  themselves,  Count  Morano 
attempted  to  kidnap  Emily.  Foiled  by 
Montoni,  who  wounded  him  severely  in 
a  sword  fight,  Morano  threatened  re 
venge. 

A  few  days  later  Montoni  tried  to 
force  his  wife  to  sign  over  her  estates  to 
him.  When  she  refused,  he  caused  her 
to  be  locked  up  in  a  tower  of  the  casde. 
Emily  tried  to  visit  her  aunt  that  night. 
Terrified  at  finding  fresh  blood  on  the 


636 


tower  stairs,  she  believed  her  aunt  mur 
dered. 

Ghostly  sounds  and  shadows  about 
Udolpho  began  to  make  everyone  un 
easy.  Even  Montoni,  who  had  organized 
a  band  of  marauders  to  terrorize  and  pil 
lage  the  neighborhood,  began  to  believe 
the  castle  was  haunted.  Emily  heard 
that  several  hostages  had  been  taken.  She 
was  sure  that  Valancourt  was  a  prisoner 
because  she  had  heard  someone  singing 
a  song  he  had  taught  her  and  because  one 
night  a  mysterious  shadow  had  called 
her  by  name.  Her  life  was  made  one  long 
torment  by  Montonf  s  insistence  that  she 
sign  away  her  estates  to  him,  lest  she 
suffer  the  same  fate  as  her  aunt. 

The  aunt  had  not  been  murdered,  as 
Emily  found  out  through  her  maid,  but 
had  become  so  ill  because  of  harsh  treat 
ment  that  she  had  died  and  had  been 
buried  in  the  chapel  of  the  castle. 

Morano  made  another  attempt  to  steal 
Emily  away  from  the  castle,  this  time 
with  her  assistance,  as  she  was  now 
afraid  for  her  life.  But  Montoni  and  his 
men  discovered  the  attempt  in  time  to 
seize  the  abductors  outside  the  casde 
walls.  Shortly  afterward  Montoni  sent 
Emily  away,  after  forcing  her  to  sign  the 
papers  which  gave  him  control  of  her 
estates  in  France.  At  first  she  thought 
she  was  being  sent  to  her  death,  but 
Montoni  sent  her  to  a  cottage  in  Tuscany 
because  he  had  heard  that  Venetian  au 
thorities  were  sending  a  small  army  to 
attack  Udolpho  and  seize  him  and  his 
bandits.  His  depredations  had  caused 
alarm  after  the  villas  of  several  rich  Vene 
tians  had  been  robbed. 

When  Emily  returned  to  the  castle, 
she  saw  evidence  that  there  had  been  a 
terrible  battle.  Emily's  maid  and  Ludo- 
vico,  another  servant,  disclosed  to  Emily 
on  her  return  that  a  prisoner  who  knew 
her  was  in  the  dungeons  below.  Emily 
immediately  guessed  that  the  prisoner 
was  Valancourt  and  made  arrangements 
to  escape  with  him.  But  the  prisoner 
turned  out  to  be  Monsieur  Du  Pont,  an 
old  friend  of  her  father.  Emily,  Monsieur 


Du  Pont,  the  girl's  maid,  and  Ludovico 
made  their  escape  and  reached  Leghorn 
safely.  There  they  took  ship  for  France. 
Then  a  great  storm  drove  the  ship  ashore 
close  to  the  Chateau-le-Blanc,  near  which 
Emily's  father  had  been  buried. 

Emily  and  her  friends  were  rescued  b) 
Monsieur  Villefort  and  his  family.  The 
Villeforts  had  inherited  the  chateau  and 
were  attempting  to  live  in  it,  although  it 
was  in  disrepair  and  said  to  be  haunted. 
While  at  the  chateau  Emily  decided  to 
spend  several  days  at  the  convent  where 
her  father  was  buried.  There  she  found 
a  nun  who  closely  resembled  the  mys 
teriously  missing  Lady  Laurentini,  whose 
portrait  Emily  had  seen  at  the  castle  of 
Udolpho. 

When  Emily  returned  to  the  chateau 
she  found  it  in  a  state  of  turmoil  because 
of  weird  noises  that  seemed  to  come  from 
the  apartments  of  the  former  mistress  of 
the  chateau.  Ludovico  volunteered  to 
spend  a  night  in  the  apartment.  Although 
all  the  windows  and  doors  were  locked, 
he  was  not  in  the  rooms  the  next  morn 
ing.  "When  the  old  caretaker  came  to  tell 
Emily  this  news,  she  noticed  the  minia 
ture  Emily  had  found  at  La  Vallee.  The 
miniature,  said  the  servant,  was  a  portrait 
of  her  former  mistress,  the  Marquise  de 
Villeroi.  More  than  that,  Emily  closely 
resembled  the  portrait. 

Meanwhile  Valancourt  reappeared  and 
once  again  made  plans  to  marry  Emily, 
but  Monsieur  Villefort  told  her  of  gam 
bling  debts  the  young  man  had  incurred 
and  of  the  wild  life  he  had  led  in  Paris 
while  she  had  been  a  prisoner  in  Italy. 
Because  of  that  report  Emily  refused  to 
marry  him.  She  returned  in  distress  to 
her  home  at  La  Vallee  to  learn  that 
Montoni  had  been  captured  by  the  Vene 
tian  authorities.  Since  he  had  criminally 
secured  the  deeds  to  her  lands,  the  court 
now  restored  them  to  her,  and  she  was 
once  again  a  young  woman  of  wealth  and 
position. 

While  Emily  was  at  La  Vallee,  the 
Villefort  family  made  a  trip  high  into 
the  Pyrenees  to  hunt.  Almost  captured 


637 


by  bandits,  they  were  rescued  by  Ludo- 
vico,  who  had  so  inexplicably  disappeared 
from  the  chateau.  He  had  been  kid 
naped  by  smugglers  who  had  used  the 
vaults  of  the  chateau  to  store  their  treas 
ure,  and  he  disclosed  that  the  noises  in 
the  chateau  had  been  caused  by  the  out 
laws  in  an  effort  to  frighten  away  the 
rightful  owners. 

Informed  of  what  had  happened,  Emily 
returned  to  the  chateau  to  see  her 
friends.  While  there,  she  again  visited 
the  convent  of  St.  Glair.  The  nun  whom 
she  had  seen  before,  and  who  resembled 
the  former  mistress  of  Udolpho,  was 
taken  mortally  ill  while  Emily  was  at  the 
convent.  On  her  deathbed  the  nun  con 
fessed  that  she  was  Lady  Laurentini,  who 
had  left  Udolpho  to  go  to  her  former 


lover,  the  Marquis  de  Villeroi.  Finding 
him  married  to  M.  St.  Aubert's  sister, 
she  ensnared  him  once  more  and  made 
him  an  accomplice  in  her  plot  to  poison 
his  wife.  When  the  marquis,  overcome 
by  remorse,  fled  to  a  distant  country  and 
died  there,  she  had  retired  to  the  convent 
to  expiate  her  sins. 

Emily's  happiness  was  complete  when 
Monsieur  Du  Pont,  who  had  escaped 
with  her  from  Udolpho,  proved  that  Val- 
ancourt  had  gambled  only  to  secure 
money  to  aid  some  friends  who  were  on 
the  brink  of  misfortune.  Reunited,  they 
were  married  and  went  to  La  Vallee, 
where  they  lived  a  happy,  tranquil  life 
in  contrast  to  the  many  strange  adven 
tures  which  had  parted  them  for  so  long. 


NANA 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Emile  Zola  (1840-1902) 

Type  of  'plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:  1860's 

Locale:  Paris  and  rural  France 

First  published:  1880 

Principal  characters: 

NANA,  a  beautiful  courtesan 

FAUCHERY,  a  dramatic  critic 

STEINER,  a  wealthy  banker 

GEORGE  HUGON,  a  student 

PHILIPPE  HUGON,  his  brother,  an  officer 

FONTAN,  an  actor 

Coii^r  MUFF  AT  DE  BETJVTLLE, 

SABINE,  his  wife 

MARQUIS  DE  CHOUARD,  and 

COUNT  XAVTEH  DE  VAXDEUVBES,  well-known  figures  of  the  Parisian 
world  of  art  and  fashion 


Critique: 

Nona,  one  of  Zok's  Rougon-Maequart 
series  of  novels  picturing  French  life  and 
society  in  the  period  from  1852  to  1870, 
was  written  to  portray  a  successful  cour 
tesan  not  sentimentally  or  romantically 
but  realistically.  As  Zola  presents  her, 
Nana  is  moronic,  vulgar,  greedy,  and 
cruel,  and  her  story  is  a  sermon  warning 
men  against  a  devotion  to  lust.  The 
novel  is  a  powerful  indictment  of  the 


social  decay  which  marked  the  reign  of 
Napoleon  III 

The  Story: 

M.  Fauchery,  theatrical  reviewer  for 
a  Paris  paper,  was  attending  the  premiere 
of  The  Blonde  Venus  at  the  Variety 
Theatre  because  he  had  heard  rumors  of 
Nana,  Venus  of  the  new  play. 

Smart  Paris  was  well  represented  at 


638 


the  theatre  tb-at  night,  and  Fauchery 
and  his  cousin  Hector  de  la  Faloise  noted 
a  few  of  the  more  interesting  people.  In 
the  audience  were  Steiner,  a  crooked  "but 
very  rich  hanker  who  was  the  current 
lover  of  Rose  Mignon,  an  actress  in  The 
Blonde  Venus;  Mignon,  who  served  as 
procurer  for  his  own  wife;  Daguenet,  a 
reckless  spender  reputed  to  he  Nana's 
lover  for  the  moment;  Count  Xavier  de 
Vandeuvres;  Count  Muffat  de  Beuville 
and  his  wife,  and  several  of  the  city's 
well-known  courtesans. 

The  play,  a  vulgar  travesty  on  the  life 
of  the  Olympian  gods,  was  becoming 
boresome  when  Nana  finally  appeared, 
and  with  beautiful  golden  hair  floating 
over  her  shoulders  walked  confidently 
toward  the  footlights  for  her  feature  song. 
When  she  began  to  sing,  she  seemed 
such  a  crude  amateur  that  murmurs  and 
hisses  were  beginning  to  sound.  But 
suddenly  a  young  student  exclaimed 
loudly  that  she  was  stunning.  Every  one 
laughed,  including  Nana.  It  was  as 
though  she  frankly  admitted  that  she 
had  nothing  except  her  voluptuous  self 
to  offer.  But  Nana  knew  that  was  suf 
ficient  for  her  audience.  As  she  ended 
her  song  she  retired  to  the  back  of  the 
stage  amid  a  roar  of  applause.  In  the 
last  act,  Nana's  body  was  veiled  only  by 
her  golden  locks  and  a  transparent  gauze. 
The  house  grew  quiet  and  tense.  Nana 
smiled  confidently,  knowing  that  she  had 
conquered  them  with  her  marble-like 
flesh. 

Thus  Nana,  product  of  the  streets  o£ 
Paris,  started  her  career  as  mistress  of 
the  city.  To  get  money  for  her  scrofulous 
little  son,  Louis,  and  for  her  own  ex 
travagant  wants,  she  sold  herself  at  vary 
ing  prices  to  many  men.  She  captivated 
Steiner,  the  banker,  at  an  all-night  party 
after  her  initial  success  as  Venus.  He 
bought  her  a  country  place,  La  Mignotte, 
a  league  from  Les  Fondettes,  home  of 
Madame  Hugon,  whose  seventeen-year- 
old  son  George  had  called  Nana  stunning 
the  opening  night  of  The  Blonde  Venus 
and  who  had  been  enraptured  with  her 


at  Nana's  party.  Nana,  making  no  pr^ 
tense  of  belonging  exclusively  to  Steiner, 
invited  a  number  of  friends  to  visit  hei 
at  La  Mignotte. 

Madame  Hugon  entertained  Count 
Muffat,  his  wife  Sabine,  and  their  daugh 
ter  Estelle  at  her  home  in  September. 
George,  who  had  been  expected  several 
tinies  during  the  summer,  suddenly 
came  home.  He  had  invited  Fauchery 
and  Daguenet  for  a  visit.  M.  de  Van 
deuvres,  who  had  promised  for  five  years 
to  conie  to  Les  Fondettes,  was  likewise 
expected.  Madame  Hugon  was  unaware 
of  any  connection  between  the  coming 
of  Nana  to  La  Mignotte  and  the  simul 
taneous  visits  of  all  these  men  to  Les 
Fondettes. 

George  escaped  from  his  doting  mothei 
and  went  in  the  rain  to  Nana,  who 
found  him  soaking  wet  as  she  was  gather 
ing  strawberries  in  her  garden.  While 
his  clothes  were  drying,  he  dressed  in 
some  of  Nana's.  Despite  Nana's  feeling 
that  it  was  wrong  to  give  herself  to  such 
an  innocent  boy,  she  finally  submitted  to 
George's  entreaties  —  and  she  was  faith 
ful  to  him  for  almost  a  week. 

Muffat,  who  had  lived  a  circumspect 
life  for  forty  years,  became  increasingly 
inflamed  by  passion  as  he  paid  nighdy 
visits  to  Nana's  place,  only  to  be  rebuffed 
each  time.  He  talked  with  Steiner,  who 
likewise  was  being  put  off  by  Nana  with 
the  excuse  that  she  was  not  feeling  well. 
Meanwhile  Muffat's  wife  attracted  the 
attention  of  Fauchery,  the  journalist. 

Eleven  of  Nana's  Parisian  friends  ar 
rived  in  a  group  at  La  Mignotte.  George 
was  seen  with  Nana  and  her  friends  by 
his  mother,  who  kter  made  him  promise 
not  to  visit  the  actress,  a  promise  he  had 
no  intention  of  keeping.  His  brother 
Philippe,  an  army  officer,  threatened  to 
bring  him  back  by  his  ears  if  he  had  any 
thing  more  to  do  with  Nana. 

Being  true  to  George  was  romantically 
pleasing,  but  financially  it  was  unwise, 
and  Nana  at  last  gave  herself  to  the  per 
sistent  Muffat  the  night  before  she  re 
turned  to  Paris  to  see  whether  she  could 


639 


recapture  the  public  that  had  acclaimed 
her  in  The  Blonde  Venus. 

Three  months  later  Muffat,  who  had 
taken  the  place  of  castoff  George,  was 
involved  in  financial  trouhles.  During  a 
quarrel  with  Nana  he  learned  that  his 
wife  Sabine  and  Fauchery  were  making 
a  cuckold  of  him.  Nana,  by  turns  irri 
tated  or  bored  by  Muffat  and  then  sorry 
for  him,  chose  this  means  of  avenging 
herself  on  Fauchery>  who  had  \vritten  a 
scurrilous  article  entided  The  Golden 
Fly,  obviously  about  Nana  herself. 

Having  broken  with  Muffat  and 
Steiner,  Nana  gave  up  her  place  in  the 
Boulevard  Haussmann  and  went  to  live 
with  the  actor  Fontan.  But  Fontan  be 
came  increasingly  difficult  and  even 
vicious,  beating  her  night  after  night  and 
taking  all  her  money.  Nana  returned  to 
her  old  profession  of  streetwalking  to 
pick  up  a  few  francs.  After  a  close  brush 
with  the  police,  Nana  grew  more  dis 
creet.  Also,  she  left  the  brutal  Fontan 
and  sought  a  part  as  a  grand  lady  in  a 
new  pky  at  the  Variety  Theatre.  Given 
the  part,  she  failed  miserably  in  it;  but 
she  began  to  play  the  lady  in  real  life  in 
a  richly  decorated  house  which  Muffat 
purchased  for  her.  Despite  Nana's  cal 
lous  treatment  of  him,  Muffat  could  not 
stay  away  from  her. 

In  her  mansion  in  the  Avenue  de 
Villiers  Nana  squandered  money  in  great 
sums.  Finding  Muffat's  gifts  insufficient, 
she  added  Count  Xavier  de  Vandeuvres 
as  a  lover.  She  planned  to  get  eight  or 
ten  thousand  francs  a  month  from  him 
for  pocket  money.  George  Hugon  re 
appeared,  but  he  was  less  interesting 
than  he  had  once  been.  When  Philippe 
Hugori  tried  to  extricate  his  young 


brother  from  Nana's  net,  he  also  was 
caught.  Nana  grew  bored.  From  the 
streets  one  day  she  picked  up  the  slut 
Satin,  who  became  her  vice. 

In  a  race  for  the  Grand  Prize  of  Paris 
at  Longchamps,  Nana  won  two  thou 
sand  louis  on  a  horse  named  for  her.  But 
de  Vandeuvres,  who  owned  the  filly 
Nana  as  well  as  the  favorite  Lusignan, 
lost  everything  through  some  crooked 
betting.  He  set  fire  to  his  stable  and  died 
with  his  horses. 

Muffat  found  Nana  in  George's  arms 
one  evening  in  September  and  from  that 
time  he  ceased  to  believe  in  her  sworn 
fidelity.  Yet  he  became  more  and  more 
her  abject  slave,  submitting  meekly 
when  Nana  forced  Kim  to  play  woollv 
bear,  horse,  and  dog  with  her,  and  then 
mocked  his  ridiculous  nudity.  Muffat 
was  further  degraded  when  he  discovered 
Nana  in  bed  with  his  father-in-law,  the 
ancient  Marquis  de  Chouard. 

George,  jealous  of  his  brother  Phi 
lippe,  stabbed  himself  in  Nana's  bed 
room  when  she  refused  to  marry  him. 
He  died  of  his  self-inflicted  wound  and 
Nana  was  briefly  sorry  for  him.  This 
utterly  evil  woman  also  broke  Philippe. 
He  was  imprisoned  for  stealing  army 
funds  to  spend  on  her. 

Nana  thrived  on  those  she  destroyed. 
It  was  fate  which  caught  her  at  last. 
Visiting  her  dying  son  after  a  long  ab 
sence  and  many  conquests  in  foreign 
lands,  she  caught  smallpox  from  him 
and  died  horribly  in  a  Paris  hospital. 
The  once-beautiful  body  which  had  de 
stroyed  so  many  men  lay  like  a  rotting 
ruin  in  a  deserted  room  as  outside  there 
sounded  the  French  battlecry.  The 
Franco-Prussian  war  of  1 870  had  begun. 


THE  NARRATIVE  OF  ARTHUR  GORDON  PYM 

Type  of  work:   Short  story 

Author:   Edgar  Allan  Poe  (1809-1849) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale;   High  seas 

First  published:    1838 


640 


characters: 
ARTHUR  GORDON  PYM,  an  adventurer 
AUGUSTUS  BARNARD,  his  friend 
DIRK  PETERS,  a  sailor 


Critique: 

Presented  as  the  journal  of  Arthur 
Gordon  Pym,  this  story  is  one  of  those 
celebrated  literary  hoaxes  so  well  suited 
to  Poe's  talents  and  taste.  The  model  of 
the  story  is  the  Gothic  tale  of  horror,  and 
in  its  effects  of  terror  and  the  unbeliev 
able  it  equals  any  other  of  Poe's  tales. 
It  includes  such  matters  as  the  eating 
of  human  flesh  and  the  discovery  of 
human  life  in  regions  where  the  map  of 
the  world  shows  only  sea  waste.  In  all 
other  respects  the  story  illustrates  the 
remarkable  ability  of  the  writer  to  simu 
late  the  truth  when  dealing  with  the 
unnatural  or  the  supernatural. 

The  Story: 

Arthur  Gordon  Pym  was  born  the  son 
of  a  respectable  trader  at  Nantucket. 
While  still  young  he  attended  an  acad 
emy  and  there  met  Augustus  Barnard, 
the  son  of  a  sea  captain,  and  the  two  be 
came  close  friends.  One  night  after  a 
party  Augustus  awoke  Pym  from  his 
sleep  and  together  they  set  off  for  the 
harbor.  There,  Augustus  took  charge 
of  a  small  boat  and  they  headed  out  to 
sea. 

Before  long,  Pym,  seeing  that  his 
companion  was  unconscious,  realized  the 
sad  truth  of  the  escapade.  Augustus  had 
been  drunk,  and  now  in  the  cold  weather 
was  lapsing  into  insensibility.  As  a  re 
sult  their  boat  was  run  down  by  a  whaler 
and  the  two  narrowly  escaped  with  their 
lives.  They  were  taken  aboard  the  ship 
which  had  run  them  down  and  returned 
to  port  at  Nantucket. 

The  two  friends  became  even  more 
intimate  after  this  escapade.  Captain 
Barnard  was  at  that  time  preparing  to 
fit  out  the  Grampus,  an  old  sailing  hulk, 
for  a  voyage  on  which  Augustus  was 
to  accompany  him.  Against  his  father's 
wishes,  Pym  planned  to  sail  with  his 
friend.  Since  Captain  Barnard  would 


not  willingly  allow  Pym  to  sail  without 
his  father's  permission,  the  two  boys 
decided  to  smuggle  Pym  aboard  and  hide 
him  in  the  hold  until  the  ship  should 
be  so  far  at  sea  the  captain  would  not 
turn  back. 

At  first  everything  went  according  to 
schedule.  Pym  was  hidden  below  in  a 
large  box  with  a  store  of  water  and  food 
to  last  him  approximately  four  days. 
Great  was  his  consternation  to  discover, 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  day,  that  his 
way  to  the  main  deck  was  barred.  His 
friend  Augustus  did  not  appear  to 
rescue  him.  In  that  terrible  state  he  re 
mained  for  several  days,  coming  each 
day  closer  to  starvation  or  death  from 
thirst. 

At  last  his  dog,  which  had  followed 
Pym  aboard  the  ship,  found  his  way  to 
his  master.  Tied  to  the  dog's  body  was  a 
paper  containing  a  strange  message  con 
cerning  blood  and  a  warning  to  Pym  to 
keep  silent  if  he  valued  his  life. 

Pym  was  sick  from  hunger  and  fever 
when  Augustus  at  last  appeared.  TTie 
story  he  had  to  tell  was  a  terrible  one. 
Shortly  after  the  ship  had  put  to  sea 
the  crew  had  mutinied,  and  Captain 
Barnard  had  been  set  adrift  in  a  small 
boat.  Some  of  the  crew  had  been  killed, 
and  Augustus  himself  was  a  prisoner  of 
the  mutineers.  Pym  and  Augustus  lo 
cated  a  place  of  comparative  safety  where 
it  was  agreed  Pym  should  hide. 

Pyrn  now  began  to  give  his  attention 
to  the  cargo,  which  seemed  not  to  have 
been  stowed  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
for  safety.  Dirk  Peters,  a  drunken  muti 
neer,  helped  both  Pym  and  Augustus 
and  provided  them  with  food. 

When  the  ship  ran  into  a  storm,  some 
of  the  mutineers  were  washed  overboard. 
Augustus  was  once  more  given  free  run 
of  the  ship.  Augustus,  Pym,  and  Peters 
planned  to  overcome  the  other  mutineers 


641 


and  take  possession  of  the  sliip.  To 
frighten  tlie  mutineers  during  a  drunken 
brawl,  Pym  disguised  himself  to  resemble 
a  sailor  recently  killed.  The  three  killed 
all  of  the  mutineers  except  a  sailor  named 
Parker.  Meanwhile  a  gale  had  come  up, 
and  in  a  few  hours  the  vessel  was  re 
duced  to  a  hulk  by  the  heavy  seas.  Be 
cause  the  ship's  cargo  was  made  up  of 
empty  oil  casks,  there  was  no  possibility 
of  its  sinking  from  the  violence  of  the 
heavy  seas.  When  the  storm  abated,  the 
four  survivors  found  themselves  weak 
and  without  food  or  the  hope  of  securing 
stores  from  the  flooded  hold.  One  day 
a  vessel  was  sighted,  hut  as  it  drew  near 
those  aboard  the  Grampus  saw  that  it 
was  adrift  and  all  of  its  passengers  were 
dead. 

Pym  tried  to  go  below  by  diving,  but 
he  brought  up  nothing  of  worth.  His 
companions  were  beginning  to  go  mad 
from  strain  and  hunger.  Pyrn  revived 
them  by  immersing  each  of  them  in  the 
water  for  awhile.  As  their  agony  in 
creased,  a  ship  came  near,  but  it  veered 
away  without  coming  to  their  rescue. 

In  desperation  the  men  considered  the 
possibility  of  eating  one  of  their  num 
ber.  When  they  £ew  lots,  Parker  was 
chosen  to  be  eaten.  For  four  days  the 
other  three  lived  upon  his  flesh. 

At  last  they  made  their  way  into 
the  stores  and  secured  food.  Rain  fell, 
and  the  supply  of  fresh  water,  together 
with  the  food,  restored  their  hope. 
Augustus,  who  had  suffered  an  arm  in 
jury,  died.  He  was  devoured  by  sharks 
as  soon  as  his  body  was  cast  overboard. 

A  violent  lurch  of  the  ship  threw 
Pym  overboard,  but  he  regained  the  ship 
with  Peters'  help  just  in  time  to  be 
saved  from  sharks.  The  floating  hulk 
having  overturned  at  last,  the  two  sur 
vivors  fed  upon  barnacles.  Finally,  when 
they  were  nearly  dead  of  thirst,  a  British 
ship  came  to  their  rescue.  It  was  the 
Jane  Guy  of  Liverpool,  bound  on  a 
sealing  and  trading  voyage  to  the  South 
Seas  and  Pacific, 

i'eters   and    Pym   began    to   recover. 


Within  two  weeks  they  were  able  to  look 
back  upon  their  horrible  experiences  with 
almost  the  same  feeling  with  which  one 
recollects  terrible  dreams. 

The  vessel  stopped  at  Christmas  Har 
bor,  where  some  seals  and  sea  elephants 
were  killed  for  their  hides.  The  captain 
was  anxious  to  sail  his  vessel  into 
Antarctica  on  a  voyage  of  exploration. 
The  weather  turned  cold.  There  was 
an  adventure  with  a  huge  bear  which 
Peters  killed  in  time  to  save  his  compan 
ions.  Scurvy  afflicted  the  crew.  Once  the 
captain  decided  to  turn  northward,  but 
later  he  foolishly  took  the  advice  of  Pym 
to  continue  on.  They  sailed  until  they 
sighted  land  and  encountered  some  sav 
ages  whom  they  took  aboard. 

The  animals  on  the  island  were  strange, 
and  the  water  was  of  some  peculiar  com 
position  which  Pym  could  not  readily 
understand.  The  natives  on  that  strange 
coast  lived  in  a  state  of  complete  savagery. 
Bartering  began.  Before  the  landing 
party  could  depart,  however,  the  sailors 
were  trapped  in  what  seemed  to  be  an 
earthquake,  which  shut  off  their  passage 
back  to  the  shore.  Only  Pym  and  Peters 
escaped,  to  learn  that  the  natives  had 
caused  the  tremendous  earth  slide  by 
pulling  great  boulders  from  the  top  of 
a  towering  cliff.  The  only  white  men 
left  on  the  island,  they  were  faced  by 
the  problem  of  evading  the  natives,  who 
were  now  preparing  to  attack  the  ship. 
Unable  to  warn  their  comrades,  Pym 
and  Peters  could  only  watch  helplessly 
while  the  savages  boarded  the  Jane  Guy 
and  overcame  the  six  white  men  who  had 
remained  aboard.  The  ship  was  almost 
demolished.  The  savages  brought  about 
their  own  destruction,  however,  for  in 
exploring  the  ship  they  set  off  the  am 
munition  and  the  resulting  explosion 
killed  about  a  thousand  of  them. 

In  making  their  escape  from  the  island 
Pym  and  Peters  discovered  ruins  similar 
in  form  to  those  marking  the  site  of 
Babylon.  When  they  came  upon  two 
unguarded  canoes,  they  took  possession  of 
one  and  pushed  out  to  sea*  Savages 


642 


chased  them  but  eventually  gave  up  the 
pursuit.  They  began  to  grow  listless  and 
when  their  canoe  entered  a  warm 
Ashy  material  fell  continually 


sea. 


around  and  upon  them.   At  last  the  boat 


rushed  rapidly  into  a  cataract,  and  a 
human  figure,  much  larger  than  any 
man  and  as  white  as  snow,  arose  in  the 
pathway  of  the  doomed  boat.  So  ended 
the  journal  of  Arthur  Gordon  Pym. 


NATIVE  SON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Richard  Wright  (1909-1960) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  'plot:  1930's 

Locale:    An  American  city 

First  published:    1940 

Principal  characters: 

BIGGER  THOMAS,  a  young  Negro 
MR.   DALTON,   Bigger's   employer 
MRS.  DALTON,  Mr.  Dalton's  wife 
MARY  DALTON,  their  daughter 
JAN  ERLONE,  Mary's  sweetheart 
BRITTEN,  Dalton's  private  detective 
BESSES  MEARS,  Bigger's  mistress 
BUCKLEY,  state  prosecutor 
BORIS  A.  MAX,  Bigger's  lawyer 


Critique: 

Written  in  simple,  unadorned  English, 
Native  Son  succeeds  in  unfolding  hu 
man  emotions  of  the  most  primitive  and 
sensuous  nature.  Richard  Wright  at 
tempts  in  this  story  to  create  mutual 
understanding  between  his  own  race 
and  the  white.  Bigger  Thomas  is  not 
merely  one  twenty-year-old  boy;  he  is  an 
entire  race.  Native  Son  shows  that  the 
underprivileged  Negro  is  either  the 
church-loyal,  praying,  submissive  type  or 
the  embittered,  criminal  type.  The  socio 
logical  pleading  of  the  novel  is  subordi 
nate,  however,  to  the  drama  of  a  boy  who 
finds  freedom  through  killing  and  who 
learns  the  meaning  of  life  by  facing 
death. 

The  Story: 

In  a  one-room  apartment  Bigger 
Thomas  lived  with  his  brother,  sister, 
and  mother.  Always  penniless,  haunted 
by  a  pathological  hatred  of  white  people, 
driven  by  an  indescribable  urge  to  make 
others  cringe  before  him,  Bigger  had 

NATIVE  SON  by  Richard  Wright.     By  permission  of  the  publishers.   Harper  &  Brothers      Cotxyifrfct,    1940, 
by  Richard  Wright. 


retreated   into    an    imaginary    world    of 
fantasy. 

Through  the  aid  o£  a  relief  agency  he 
obtained  employment  as  a  chauffeur  for 
a  wealthy  family.  His  first  assignment 
was  to  drive  Mary  Dalton,  his  employer's 
daughter,  to  the  university.  Mary,  how 
ever,  was  on  her  way  to  meet  Jan  Erlone, 
her  sweetheart.  Hie  three  of  them,  Mary 
and  Jan,  white  people  who  were  crusad 
ing  with  the  Communist  Party  to  help 
the  black  people,  and  Bigger,  a  reluctant 
ally,  spent  the  evening  driving  and 
drinking.  When  Bigger  brought  Mary 
home,  she  was  too  drunk  to  take  herself 
to  bed.  With  a  confused  medley  of  hatred, 
fear,  disgust,  and  revenge  playing  within 
his  mind,  Bigger  helped  her  to  her  bed 
room.  When  Mary's  blind  mother  entered 
the  room,  Bigger  covered  the  girl's  face 
with  a  pillow  to  keep  her  from  making 
any  sound  that  might  arouse  Mrs.  Dal' 
ton's  suspicions.  The  reek  of  whiskey 
convinced  Mrs.  Dalton  that  Mary  was 
drunk,  and  she  left  the  room.  Then 


Bigger  discovered  that  he  had  smothered 
Mary  to  death.  To  delay  discovery  of 
his  crime,  he  took  the  body  to  the  base 
ment  and  stuffed  it  into  the  furnace. 

Bigger  began  a  weird  kind  of  ration 
alization.  The  next  morning  in  his 
mother's  home  he  began  thinking  that 
he  was  separated  from  his  family  because 
he  had  killed  a  white  girl.  His  plan 
was  to  involve  Jan  in  connection  with 
Mary's  death. 

When  Bigger  returned  to  the  Dalton 
home,  the  family  was  worrying  over 
Mary's  absence.  Bigger  felt  secure  from 
incrimination  because  he  had  covered  his 
activities  by  lying.  He  decided  to  send 
ransom  notes  to  her  parents,  allowing 
them  to  think  Mary  had  been  kidnaped. 
But  there  were  too  many  facts  to  re 
member,  too  many  lies  to  tell.  Britten, 
the  detective  whom  Mr.  Dalton  had 
hired,  tried  to  intimidate  Bigger,  but 
his  methods  only  made  Bigger  more 
determined  to  frame  Jan,  who  in  his 
desire  to  protect  Mary  lied  just  enough 
to  help  Bigger's  cause.  When  Britten 
brought  Bigger  face  to  face  with  Jan 
for  questioning,  Bigger's  fear  mounted. 
He  went  to  Bessie,  his  mistress,  who 
wrung  from  him  a  confession  of  murder. 
Bigger  forced  her  to  go  with  him  to  hide 
in  an  empty  building  in  the  slum  section 
of  the  city.  There  he  instructed  her  to 
pick  up  the  ransom  money  he  hoped  to 
receive  from  IMr.  Dalton. 

Bigger  was  eating  in  the  Dalton  kitch 
en  when  the  ransom  note  arrived.  Jan 
had  already  been  arrested.  Bigger  clung 
tenaciously  to  his  lies.  It  was  a  cold 
day.  Attempting  to  build  up  the  fire, 
Bigger  accidentally  drew  attention  to  the 
furnace.  When  reporters  discovered 
Mary's  bones,  Bigger  fled.  Hiding  with 
Bessie  in  the  deserted  building,  he  real 
ized  that  he  could  not  take  her  away 
with  him.  Afraid  to  leave  her  behind 
to  be  found  and  questioned  by  the 
police,  he  killed  her  and  threw  her  body 
down  an  air  shaft. 

When  Bigger  ventured  from  his  hide 
out  to  steal  a  newspaper,  he  learned  that 


the  city  was  being  combed  to  find  him. 
He  fled  from  one  empty  building  to 
another,  constantly  buying  or  stealing 
newspapers  so  that  he  could  know  his 
chances  for  escape.  Finally  he  was 
trapped  on  the  roof  of  a  penthouse  by  a 
searching  policeman.  Bigger  knocked  him 
out  with  the  butt  of  the  gun  he  had 
been  carrying  with  him.  The  police 
finally  captured  Bigger  after  a  chase 
across  the  rooftops. 

In  jail  Bigger  refused  to  eat  or  speak. 
His  mind  turned  inward,  hating  the 
world,  but  he  was  satisfied  with  himself 
for  what  he  had  done.  Three  days  later 
Jan  Erlone  came  to  see  Bigger  and 
promised  to  help  him.  Jan  introduced 
Boris  A.  Max,  a  lawyer  from  the  Com 
munist  front  organization  for  which  Jan 
worked. 

Buckley,  the  prosecuting  attorney,  tried 
to  persuade  Bigger  not  to  become  in 
volved  with  the  Communists.  Bigger 
said  nothing  even  after  the  lawyer  told 
bi-m  that  Bessie's  body  had  been  found. 
But  when  Buckley  began  listing  crimes 
of  rape,  murder,  and  burglary  which  had 
been  charged  against  him,  Bigger  pro 
tested,  vigorously  denying  rape  and  Jan's 
part  in  Mary's  death.  Under  a  steady 
fire  of  questions  from  Buckley,  Bigger 
broke  down  and  signed  a  confession. 

The  opening  session  of  the  grand  jury 
began.  First  Mrs.  Dalton  appeared  as 
a  witness  to  identify  one  of  her  daughter's 
earrings,  which  had  been  found  in  the 
furnace.  Next  Jan  testified,  and  under 
the  slanderous  anti-Communist  question 
ing,  Max  rose  in  protest  against  the 
racial  bigotry  of  the  coroner.  Max  ques 
tioned  Mr.  Dalton  about  his  ownership 
of  the  high-rent  rat-infested  tenements 
where  Bigger's  family  lived.  Generally, 
the  grand  jury  session  became  a  trial 
of  the  race  relations  which  had  led  to 
Bigger's  crime  rather  than  a  trial  of  the 
crime  itself.  As  a  climax  to  the  session 
the  coroner  brought  Bessie's  body  into 
the  courtroom  in  order  to  produce  evi 
dence  that  Bigger  had  raped  and  mur 
dered  his  Negro  sweetheart.  Bigger  was 


644 


returned  to  jail  after  Max  had  promised 
to  visit  him.  Under  the  quiet  questioning 
of  Max,  Bigger  at  last  was  able  to  talk 
about  his  crime,  his  feelings,  his  reasons. 
He  had  been  thwarted  by  white  people 
all  his  life,  he  said,  until  he  had  killed 
Mary  Dalton;  that  act  had  released  him. 
At  the  opening  session  of  the  trial 
Buckley  presented  witnesses  who  attested 
Digger's  sanity  and  his  ruthless  character. 
The  murder  was  dramatized  even  to  the 
courtroom  reconstruction  of  the  furnace 
in  which  Mary's  body  had  been  burned. 
Max  refused  to  call  any  of  his  own  wit 
nesses  or  to  cross-examine,  promising  to 
act  in  Digger's  behalf  as  sole  witness 
for  the  defense.  The  next  day  in  a  long 
speech  Max  outlined  an  entire  social 
structure,  its  effect  on  an  individual  such 
as  Bigger,  and  Bigger's  particular  inner 
compulsions  when  he  killed  Mary  Dal 
ton.  Pleading  for  mitigation  on  the 


grounds  that  Bigger  was  not  totally  re 
sponsible  for  his  crime,  he  argued  that 
society  was  also  to  blame. 

After  another  race-prejudiced  attack 
by  Buckley,  the  court  adjourned  for  one 
hour.  It  reopened  to  sentence  Bigger 
to  death.  Max's  attempts  to  delay  death 
by  appealing  to  the  governor  were  un 
successful. 

In  the  last  hours  before  death  Bigger 
realized  his  one  hope  was  to  communicate 
his  feelings  to  Max,  to  try  to  have  Max 
explain  to  him  the  meaning  of  his  life 
and  his  death.  Max  helped  him  see  that 
the  men  who  persecuted  Negroes,  poor 
people,  or  others,  are  themselves  filled 
with  fear.  Bigger  could  forgive  them 

oo  o 

because  they  were  suffering  the  same 
urge  that  he  had  suffered.  He  could  for 
give  his  enemies  because  they  did  not 
know  the  guilt  of  their  own  social  crimes. 


THE  NAZARENE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Sholem  Asch  ( 1880-195  7) 

Type  of  'plot:  Religions  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:   First  and  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:    Poland,  Italy,  Palestine 

First  -published:    1939 

Principal  characters: 

PAN  ViATX)MSKY,  a  learned  man,  an  antiquarian,  who  believes  himself 
a  reincarnation  of  Cornelius  the  Ciliarch,  Hegemon  of  Jerusalem 

A  JEWISH  STUDENT 

YE  SHU  A,  Jesus 

PONTIUS  PELATE 

JUDAH  IsH-KiRioT,  a  disciple  of  Yeshua 

MIRIAM  OF  IVIiGDAL,  Mary  Magdalene 

BAB  ABBA,  a  rebel  robber 


Critique: 

The  Nazarene  attempts  to  tell  the 
story  of  Christ  as  an  eyewitness  account, 
and  the  author's  knowledge  of  historical 
background  and  his  consummate  artistry 
in  handling  character,  plot,  and  action 
make  for  one  of  the  better  novels  of  our 
time.  Part  one  is  related  by  Pan  Viadom- 
sky,  who  believes  himself  to  be  the  rein 


carnation  of  Cornelius  the  Ciliarch,  the 
military  governor  of  Jerusalem  undei 
Pontius  Pilate.  Part  two  purports  to  be 
the  Gospel  according  to  Judas  Iscariot. 
Part  three  is  narrated  by  a  young  Jewish 
scholar  whom  Pan  Viadomsky  calls  Jo- 
sephus,  who  later  imagines  himself  a 
reincarnation  of  Jochanan,  a  student 
under  Nicodemon. 


THE  NAZARENE  fay  Sholem  Asch.     Translated  by  Maurice  Samuel.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  th« 
publishers,  G.  P.  Putnam's  Son*.     Copyright,   1939,  by  Sholem  Asch. 


645 


The  Story: 

Pan  Viadomsky  had  a  peculiar  reputa 
tion  in  Warsaw.  He  was  generally  ac 
counted  a  great  classical  scholar — and 
a  trickster.  He  earlier  had  been  a  fre 
quent  contributor  to  the  journals  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  and  often  he  settled  contro 
versial  matters  with  a  curiously  minute 
and  cunning  knowledge  of  the  ancients. 
But  after  several  years  he  went  too  far: 
he  talked  and  wrote  of  hidden  or  obscure 
events  with  a  maddening  air  of  superior 
ity.  He  announced  the  discovery  of 
ancient  manuscripts,  but  he  would  allow 
no  competent  scholar  to  examine  the 
documents. 

On  an  expedition  to  Mediterranean 
lands,  Pan  Viadomsky  pretended  that  he 
had  found  old  documents  of  great  worth. 
Some  of  his  colleagues,  however,  found 
him  in  the  company  of  a  notorious  forger. 
The  learned  world  then  began  to  dis 
count  Pan's  scholarship,  and  gradually 
many  people  thought  or  him  as  a  simple 
trickster. 

Still,  Jochanan  the  Jew  was  glad  to 
work  with  Pan,  even  though  he  was  a 
vindictive  anti-Semite,  after  the  Jew  had 
heard  of  Pan's  Hebrew  manuscript  and  of 
bis  desire  for  a  Hebrew  scholar  to  read 
it  with  him.  Jochanan  became  well 
acquainted  with  the  famous  Pan?  even 
indispensable  to  him,  and  little  by  little 
a  strange  friendship  grew  between  them. 
On  his  side  Pan  sneered  at  all  Jews  but 
he  sometimes  made  an  exception  for 
Jochanan;  on  his  side  Jochanan  was 
awe-struck  by  Pan's  detailed  knowledge 
of  Jewish  history,  particularly  of  the  time 
of  Christ. 

One  day,  almost  against  his  will,  Pan 
told  part  of  his  secret,  the  source  of  his 
detailed  and  exact  knowledge.  He  an 
nounced  that  he  was  in  reality  the  rein 
carnation  of  the  Hegemon  of  Jerusalem, 
Pontius  Pilate's  right  hand  man!  At  first 
Jochanan  took  the  story  for  an  old  man's 
babbling,  but  he  listened  to  the  tale  with 
increasing  belief. 

Pontius  Pilate  had  been  a  great  soldier 
of  Rome,  one  of  the  best  lieutenants  of 


Gennanicus.  But  in  Romt.  Pilate  dis 
credited  his  former  commander,  and 
doughty  Germanicus  retired  from  official 
life  a  ruined  man.  Then  Pilate  cast 
covetous  eyes  on  Judea,  a  poor  place, 
but  a  land  where  he  could  get  rich 
through  bribery.  He  sought  and  won 
the  hand  of  Claudia,  the  debauched 
daughter  of  Tiberius  Caesar.  After  the 
marriage  Pilate  was  appointed  Procurator 
of  Judea.  He  took  with  him  his  friend, 
a  young  soldier,  as  Hegemon  of  Jeru 
salem. 

Once  in  Jerusalem  Pilate  ordered  the 
Hegemon  to  display  the  hated  Roman 
eagle  in  the  sacred  temple  of  the  Jews. 
The  pious  Jews  were  astounded  and 
aroused,  for  by  law  Roman  authority 
did  not  extend  to  religious  matters.  But 
Pilate  was  firm  and  the  Hegemon  cruelly 
beat  back  the  attempts  of  the  Jews  to 
storm  his  fortress.  At  last  the  Jews 
gave  in,  and  the  crafty  High  Priest  of 
the  Temple  paid  an  enormous  bribe  to 
Pilate. 

Afterward  the  Hegemon  visited  around 
in  Judea  a  great  deal.  He  met  and  was 
drawn  to  the  great  courtesan  and  dancer, 
Miriam  of  Migdal.  He  was  in  the  castle 
of  Herod  Antipater  that  infamous  night 
when  Salome  danced,  and  the  Hegeman 
saw  the  head  of  Jochanan  the  Baptist 
brought  in  on  a  platter.  He  visited  K'far 
Nahum  and  heard  the  new  Rabbi  Yeshua 
preach.  The  Hegemon  was  strangely 
drawn  to  this  young  rabbi  of  Nazareth, 
but  a  real  Roman  could  not  deign  to 
listen  to  a  poor  Jew,  the  fanatical  son  of 
a  carpenter. 

Jochanan  had  to  believe  Pan,  this 
scholar  who  knew  so  much.  Pan  Viadom 
sky  wras  really  the  Hegemon  come  back 
to  life! 

Now  that  the  secret  was  out,  Pan 
finally  showed  him  his  great  manu 
script,  Jochanan  looked  at  the  strange 
document  with  wonder,  and  then  he 
examined  it  with  searching  care.  There 
could  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  in  fact 
what  Pan  said  it  was.  Jochanan  had 


646 


before  him  the  true  manuscript  that 
had  been  carefuUy  deposited  in  the  tomb- 
cave  of  Sepphoris  in  Galilee.  It  was  the 
record  of  Judah  Ish-Kiriot,  written  with 
his  own  hand,  the  story  of  Judah's  time 
with  Yeshua!  Through  reading  it,  Jo- 
chanan  learned  more  of  the  great  story. 

Judah  was  young  and  impetuous,  and 
he  followed  his  Rabbi  Yeshua  with  much 
love.  In  return  Yeshua  made  Judah 
treasurer  for  the  little  band  of  disciples. 

Judah  went  everywhere  with  Yeshua. 
He  even  went  on  that  terrible  journey 
into  Zidon,  where  Yeshua  was  appalled 
at  the  sin  and  suffering  and  shame  of 
the  gentiles.  On  their  return  to  Jeru 
salem  Yeshua  preached  with  more  learn 
ing  and  with  more  purity  than  before. 
When  Yeshua  preached  before  Pharisees 
and  Saduccees  he  was  especially  in 
spired. 

The  small  band  of  twelve  grew  in 
number.  Miriam,  Yeshua's  mother,  came 
to  be  near  her  son,  and  Miriam  of  Mig- 
dal  repented  of  her  sins  and  ministered 
to  the  needs  of  Yeshua.  But  always  there 
was  fear  among  them.  Was  Yeshua  really 
the  Messiah?  Would  he  deliver  Judea 
from  the  Romans? 

Here  the  manuscript  broke  off.  When 
he  had  finished  the  reading,  Jochanan 
was  troubled.  Why  did  these  scenes  seem 
so  real?  Pan  Viadom  sky's  face  peered 
forth  through  a  haze,  and  Pan's  look  was 
triumphant.  So  that  was  it!  Jochanan  had 
a  vivid  racial  memory  of  that  other  Jo 
chanan,  the  young  pupil  of  Nicodemon. 

With  the  transformation  backward  in 
time,  Jochanan  and  the  Hegemon  fin 
ished  together,  from  their  joint  memories, 
the  story  of  Yeshua. 


Judah  had  been  one  of  Rabbi  Nico- 
demon's  pupils,  but  he  spent  more  and 
more  time  with  Yeshua.  Judah  was  sure 
Yeshua  was  the  Messiah,  and  that  im 
petuous  feeling  finally  led  him  to  point 
out  Yeshua  for  the  Romans.  Judah  did 
it  merely  to  test  his  rabbi;  he  expected 
Yeshua  to  annihilate  the  Romans. 

The  Hegemon  had  been  perturbed  by 
Yeshua.  He  thought  the  rabbi  was  in 
citing  the  people  to  rebellion.  The  Hege 
mon  went  to  the  High  Priest  and  de 
manded  that  Yeshua  be  tried  for  treason, 
Both  the  Pharisees  and  the  Saducees 
agreed  that  Yeshua  was  innocent  of  any 
crime,  but  under  the  urging  of  the  Hege 
mon,  the  High  Priest  brought  Yeshua  be 
fore  Pilate.  Pilate,  little  aware  of  what 
was  going  on,  hesitated  to  order  Yeshua's 
crucifixion.  He  decided  to  let  the  people 
choose  whether  Yeshua  or  Bar  Abba,  a 
robber,  should  be  released.  When  the 
crowd  shouted  for  the  release  of  Bar 
Abba,  Pilate  had  no  choice.  He  ordered 
the  Hegernon  to  crucify  Yeshua.  With 
zest  and  Roman  thoroughness,  the  Hege 
mon  carried  out  the  sentence. 

Now  the  story  was  over.  Pan  Viadom- 
sky  sank  back  exhausted.  Jochanan  was 
still  in  a  whirl,  trying  to  separate  the  old 
from  the  new. 

Then  Pan  confessed  the  rest  of  his 
secret.  At  the  crucifixion  Yeshua  had 
conquered  the  Hegemon's  spirit.  As  retri 
bution  and  penance  the  Hegemon's  soul 
remained  on  earth,  inhabiting  different 
bodies.  Now  Pan  Viadomsky  was  ready 
to  die,  but  his  spirit  would  stay  on  in 
another  body.  The  Hegemon  of  Jeru 
salem  had  to  live  forever. 


THE  NEW  GRUB  STREET 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Gissing  (1857-1903) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  'plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  'published:   1891 

Principal  Characters: 

JASPAR  MELVAIN,  a  writer 
ALFRED  YULE,  a  literary  hack 

647 


MABJAN  Yuuer  Alfred's  daughter 
AMY  REAEDOX,  Alfred's  niece 
EDWEST  REABDON,  Amy's  husband 
DORA  MTLVATN,  and 
MAUD  MELVATN,  Jaspar's  sisters 


Critique: 

Jaspar  Milvain  may  be  classed  as  an 
egoist.  At  any  rate,  he  is  a  mercenary 
whose  literary  aspirations  tend  only 
toward  the  material  but  pretend  to  be 
striving  for  the  artistic.  The  new  Grub 
Street  portrayed  by  Gissing  is  not  a  place 
for  talented  but  poor  writers;  it  is  a 
ruthless  contest  among  moneymongers. 

The  Story: 

There  had  been  three  Yule  brothers. 
John,  the  oldest,  had  gone  into  a  profita 
ble  paper  manufacturing  business;  he 
abhorred  the  relatively  impoverished 
state  of  his  brother  Alfred,  a  writer. 
Edmund  Yule,  the  third  brother,  died, 
leaving  only  a  small  income  to  his  wife, 
his  daughter  Amy,  and  his  son  John. 
Arny  married  Edwin  Reardon,  a  man 
with  much  promise  as  a  writer,  but  who 
had  little  success  after  his  first  book. 
Jaspar  Milvain  was  Edwin's  friend.  Jas 
par  spent  most  of  his  time  writing  small 
pieces  for  different  publications  and 
making  friends  among  people  who 
counted  in  the  world  of  letters.  He  be 
lieved,  as  Arny  did,  that  Edwin  would 
some  day  become  financially  successful 
in  his  work. 

Alfred  Yule  had  married  a  poor  wo 
man  of  a  lower  class,  who,  because  of 
her  lack  of  breeding,  had  become  a 
drawback  to  his  career.  An  unfortunate 
quarrel  with  an  editor  named  Fadge  had 
caused  Alfred  to  hate  Fadge  and  those 
associated  with  him.  When  Jaspar  Mil- 
vain  accepted  his  first  literary  appoint 
ment  from  Fadge,  Alfred  did  not  want  to 
invite  the  young  man  to  call  at  his  home 
in  London,  although  Marian,  his  daugh 
ter,  wished  him  to  do  so. 

Jaspar's  mother  died,  leaving  his  two 
sisters,  Dora  and  Maud,  with  no  means 
of  support,  so  Jaspar  brought  the  girls 
to  London  to  live  with  him.  When  his 


sisters  arrived  in  London,  Jaspar  called 
at  Alfred  Yule's  home  to  ask  Marian  if 
she  wTould  become  friends  with  them. 
Marian  was  happy  to  meet  Dora  and 
Maud,  as  she  had  no  close  friends  of  her 
own. 

Because  of  her  calls  on  his  sisters, 
Jaspar  was  able  to  see  Marian  frequently. 
Aware  of  their  brother's  selfishness,  Dora 
and  Maud  viewed  with  trepidation  their 
new  friend's  affection  toward  Jaspar. 
He  was  looking  for  a  rich  wife  to  sup 
port  him  while  he  made  his  way  in  the 
world  of  letters.  If  Marian  suspected 
Jaspar 's  mercenary  motives,  she  did  not 
admit  them  to  herself.  Her  great  sorrow 
was  that  her  father  hated  Jaspar  along 
with  his  enemy,  Fadge. 

Edwin  Reardon's  personality  was  such 
that  he  succumbed  easily  to  adversity. 
When  he  became  discouraged,  Amy,  who 
loved  her  husband,  tried  to  push  him 
back  to  work.  Edwin  became  irritable, 
and  depended  more  and  more  for  inspira 
tion  on  Amy's  love.  They  began  to 
quarrel  until  they  hardly  spoke  a  civil 
word  to  one  another. 

One  day  Amy  and  Edwin  realized  that 
they  would  be  starving  within  a  month, 
for  there  was  no  hope  that  Edwin  could 
produce  a  profitable  story  in  time  to  save 
them.  Edwin  felt  he  could  no  longer 
write.  Having  been,  before  his  mar 
riage,  a  clerk  in  a  charitable  institution, 
he  resumed  his  former  occupation  as  a 
means  o£  saving  himself  from  ruin,  both 
spiritual  and  financial.  Amy  was  furious 
to  think  her  husband  would  degrade  him 
self  by  accepting  the  position  of  a  mere 
clerk.  She  had  believed  that  she  had 
married  a  clever  writer;  Edwin  as  a  clerk 
did  not  appeal  to  her.  Finally  they 
parted,  Amy  to  return  to  her  mother's 
home,  and  Edwin  to  assume  his  clerical 
job. 


648 


Jaspar  hesitated  to  become  too  much 
involved  with  Marian  Yule.  Although 
he  found  her  well  suited  to  himself  in 
temperament  and  intellect,  he  could  not 
many  her  because  she  was  poor. 

Suddenly  fortune  fell  upon  all  these 
confused  people.  John  Yule  died,  leav 
ing  a  large  sum  of  money  to  his  nieces, 
Amy  and  Marian.  Jaspar  immediately 
proposed  to  Marian.  Convincing  herself 
that  Jaspar's  proposal  came  from  the  love 
he  bore  her  ratter  than  from  her  new 
wealth,  Marian  promised  to  marry  him. 
Her  greatest  problem  was  to  reconcile 
Alfred  to  his  future  son-in-law. 

Amy  was  so  stunned  by  the  money 
that  John  had  left  her  that  at  first  she 
failed  to  realize  her  problems  were  at  an 
end.  The  legacy  would  make  it  possible 
for  her  to  return  to  Edwin,  who  could 
now  write  with  no  fear  of  poverty  re 
sulting  from  literary  failure.  But  Edwin 
refused  her  aid.  In  the  first  place,  he 
was  sure  he  had  lost  his  ability  to  write. 
Furthermore,  his  pride  would  not  allow 
him  to  accept  Amy's  kindness,  since  he 
felt  he  had  lost  her  love.  His  health 
broke.  When  he  retired  at  last  to  his  bed 
because  of  a  serious  congestion  in  his 
lungs,  he  would  not  allow  his  friends 
to  tell  Amy  of  his  condition.  He  did  not 
want  her  to  come  to  him  out  o£  pity,  or 
through  a  sense  of  duty. 

Marian  soon  saw  Jaspar's  love  put  to 
a  test  when  she  learned  that  because  of 
unfortunate  investments  she  could  re 
ceive  only  a  small  part  of  the  original 
inheritance,  Jaspar,  hearing  the  news, 
said  they  should  not  consider  marriage 
until  he  could  establish  himself.  Mean 
while  Alfred  Yule  learned  his  eyesight 
was  failing,  so  that  in  a  short  while  he 
would  be  blind  and  incapable  of  earning 
enough  money  to  support  his  wife  and 
his  daughter.  Planning  to  retire  to  a 
small  institution  with  his  wife,  he  called 
Marian  to  him  and  told  her  that  hence 
forth  she  must  try  to  earn  her  own  in 
come  in  anticipation  of  the  rime  when 
he  could  no  longer  support  her. 

Edwin  received  a  telegram  from  Amy, 


asking  him  to  come  to  her  immediately 
because  their  son,  Willie,  was  sick.  Ed 
win  went  back  to  his  wife.  The  two,  in 
their  sorrow  over  their  son's  danger,  were 
reconciled.  Willie  died,  and  Amy  went 
with  Edwin  to  nurse  him  in  his  own  ill 
ness.  His  last  few  days  were  lightened 
by  her  cheerfulness  and  devotion. 

Jaspar's  situation  became  more  uncom 
fortable;  Marian  without  her  money  was 
a  luxury  impossible  for  him  to  contem 
plate.  While  his  sister  Dora  disdainfully 
looked  on,  Jaspar  secretly  proposed  to 
another  woman  of  his  acquaintance,  a 
woman  who  had  both  money  and  con 
nections.  When  the  woman  refused  his 
proposal,  Jaspar  went  to  Marian  and  in 
sisted  that  she  marry  him  immediately. 
Because  her  blind  father  was  now  totally 
dependent  upon  Marian  for  support, 
Jaspar  hoped  to  break  the  engagement 
by  forcing  Marian  to  make  a  decision  be 
tween  him  and  her  parents.  Marian  des 
perately  tried  to  hold  the  love  she  had 
always  imagined  that  Jaspar  had  for  her. 
But  at  last  she  saw  him  as  he  really  was 
and  broke  their  engagement. 

A  posthumous  publication  o£  the  works 
of  Edwin  Reardon  occasioned  a  very 
complimentary  criticism  from  the  pen  of 
Jaspar  Milvain,  and  a  series  of  grateful 
letters  from  Amy  Reardon  sealed  the 
friendship  which  had  once  existed  be 
tween  Jaspar  and  the  wife  of  his  former 
friend.  Jaspar  realized  that  he  must  have 
wealth  to  attain  his  goals  in  the  literary 
world,  and  Amy  recognized  that  a  suc 
cessful  man  must  know  how  to  use  his 
social  and  financial  advantages.  They 
were  married  after  a  very  brief  courtship. 

With  Amy's  help  and  with  Jaspar's 
wise  manipulations,  the  Milvains  soon 
achieved  the  success  which  Jaspar  had 
coldly  calculated  when  he  had  proposed 
to  Marian  Yule.  Shortly  after  their  mar 
riage,  Jaspar  was  appointed  to  the  editor 
ship  which  Fadge  had  vacated.  Jaspar 
and  Amy  accepted  with  mutual  admira 
tion  and  joy  their  unexpected  success  in 
life  together,  both  satisfied  that  they 
were  perfectly  mated. 


649 


THE  NEWCOMES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1854-1855 

Principal  characters: 

COLONEL  THOMAS  NEWCOME,  Anglo-Indian  soldier 

CLTVE  NEWCOME,  the  colonel's  son 

BRIAN  NEWCOME,  the  colonel's  half -brother 

HOBSON  NEWCOME,  another  half-brother 

LADY  ANN,  Brian**  wife 

BARNES,  Brian's  son 

ETHEL,  Brian's  daughter 

LADY  KEW,  Lady  Ann's  mother 

JAMES  BINNTE,  the  colonel's  friend 

MRS.  MACKENZIE,  Binnie's  half-sister 

ROSEY,  &lrs.  Mackenzie's  daughter 

LADY  CLARA,  Barnes'  wife 

Critique: 

In  true  Victorian  style  Thackeray  tells 
this  story  with  zest  and  skill.  The  ladies 
are  either  virtuous  or  wicked.  Many  ad 
mirers  of  Thackeray  have  insisted  that 
Colonel  Newcome  is  the  most  perfect 
gentleman  in  fiction.  Thackeray  meant 
to  show  the  reader  the  evil  effect  of  cer 
tain  social  conventions  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  such  as  parental  marriage 
choices,  the  over-indulgence  in  the  accu 
mulation  of  wealth,  and  the  worldliness 
of  the  upper  classes.  Ethel,  the  heroine, 
goes  through  all  these  experiences,  but 
withal  she  emerges  at  the  end  a  happy 
woman. 


The  Story: 

The  elder  Thomas  Newcome  married 
his  childhood  sweetheart,  who  died  after 
bearing  him  one  son,  named  for  his 
father.  Thomas  remarried,  and  his  sec 
ond  wife  bore  two  sons,  Brian  and  Hob- 
son.  Young  Thomas  proved  to  be  a  trial 
to  his  stepmother.  When  he  was  old 
enough,  he  went  to  India  where  he  later 
became  a  colonel.  He  married  and  had 
a  son,  Clive,  whom  he  loved  with  a  pas 
sion  far  beyond  the  normal  devotion  of 
a  father.  Having  lost  his  mother,  little 
Clive  was  sent  to  England  to  begin  his 
education. 


Brian  and  Hobson  Newcome  had  in 
herited  their  mother's  wealthy  banking 
house.  Brian  married  Lady  Ann,  who 
was  well-known  in  London  for  her  lavish 
parties.  When  little  Clive  had  spent 
about  seven  years  in  England,  his  im 
patient  father  crossed  the  ocean  to  join 
him.  He  expected  to  receive  a  warm 
welcome  from  his  two  half-brothers, 
Brian  and  Hobson.  Much  to  the  colo 
nel's  bewilderment,  the  bankers  received 
him  politely  but  coldly  and  passed  on 
the  responsibility  of  entertaining  him  to 
young  Barnes,  Brian's  son,  a  youthful 
London  swell  and  a  familiar  figure  at 
the  city's  clubs. 

Colonel  Thomas  Newcome's  late  wife 
had  a  sister  and  a  brother.  The  sister, 
Miss  Honeyman,  ran  a  boarding-house 
in  Brighton,  where  little  Alfred  and 
Ethel  came  with  their  mother,  Lady  Ann., 
for  a  vacation.  There  Colonel  Newcome 
and  Clive  had  also  arrived  for  a  visit. 
Mr.  Honeyman  lived  in  another  house  in 
Brighton,  where  the  keeper's  young  son, 
John  James  Ridley,  delighted  in  drawing 
pictures  from  the  story-books  which  he 
found  in  Mr.  Honeyman's  room.  While 
Clive,  who  aspired  to  be  an  artist,  de 
lighted  in  Ridley's  drawings,  Ethel  be 
came  extremely  fond  of  the  colonel  and 


650 


his  unaffected  mannerisms.  The  colo 
nel's  great  love  for  children  caused  him 
to  be  a  favorite  with  all  the  Newcome 
youngsters,  but  it  was  fair-haired  little 
Ethel  who  won  the  colonel's  heart  with 
her  simple,  adoring  ways  and  her  sin 
cerity. 

Colonel  Newcorne  bought  a  house  in 
London,  where  he  lived  with  Clive  and 
Mr.  James  Binnie,  the  colonel's  friend. 
Clive  was  given  a  tutor,  but  the  young 
man  neglected  his  studies  to  sketch  every 
thing  he  saw  and  everyone  he  knew.  If 
the  colonel  was  disappointed  by  Clive's 
choice  of  career,  he  said  nothing,  but 
allowed  Clive  to  attend  art  school  with 
his  friend  Ridley.  Clive  was  becoming 
a  kind,  generous  and  considerate  young 
man.  The  colonel  himself  was  satisfied 
that  his  son  was  growing  up  to  be  the 
fine  man  that  the  retired  officer  wished 
him  to  be.  He  spent  a  great  deal  of 
money  fitting  up  a  w7ell-lighted  studio 
for  Clive  in  a  house  not  far  from  his 
own.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Binnie  had  taken 
a  fall  from  a  horse  and  was  laid  up  in 
bed.  Binnie's  widowed  half-sister,  Mrs. 
Mackenzie,  and  her  daughter,  Rosey, 
came  to  stay  with  the  bedridden  Binnie 
in  the  colonel's  house. 

After  a  time  the  colonel  found  him 
self  financially  embarrassed.  Realizing 
that  he  could  no  longer  live  on  his  in 
come  in  London,  he  planned  to  return 
to  India  until  he  reached  a  higher  grade 
in  the  army.  Then  with  the  increased 
pension  he  could  afford  to  retire  in 
London. 

Ethel  Newcome  grew  into  a  beautiful 
and  charming  young  lady,  and  the  colo 
nel  dreamed  of  a  match  between  Ethel 
and  Clive,  but  Lady  Ann  placed  an  early 
prohibition  on  such  a  match.  She  told 
her  brother-in-law  that  Ethel  had  been 
promised  to  Lord  Kew,  a  relative  of  Lady 
Kew,  Lady  Ann's  mother.  The  other 
Newcomes  thought  that  Rosey  Macken 
zie  would  be  a  fine  wife  for  Clive. 

After  Colonel  Newcome  had  returned 
to  India,  leaving  Clive  with  a  substantial 
income,  Clive  and  Ridley,  now  a  suc 


cessful  artist,  went  to  Baden.  There 
Clive  met  Ethel  and  the  other  Newcome 
children  vacationing  without  the  damp 
ening  presence  of  Lady  Ann  or  her  aris 
tocratic  mother.  Ethel  and  Clive  enjoyed 
a  short  period  of  companionship  and 
innocent  pleasure,  and  Clive  fell  in  love 
with  his  beautiful  cousin.  When  Lady 
Ann  and  Lady  Kew  arrived,  Clive  was 
warned  that  he  must  not  press  his  suit 
with  Ethel  any  longer,  for  Ethel  must 
marry  in  her  own  station  of  life.  Clive 
was  reminded  that  the  family  had  as 
sumed  him  to  have  found  in  Miss  Rosey 
Mackenzie  a  woman  of  his  own  social 
level.  Bitterly  Clive  took  his  leave  and 
went  to  Italy  with  Ridley. 

Ethel,  beginning  to  rebel  against  the 
little  niche  that  had  been  assigned  to  her 
in  society,  defied  social  custom  and  de 
fended  Clive  against  the  charges  her 
brother  Barnes  repeatedly  hurled  at 
him.  Finally  she  broke  her  engagement 
to  young  Lord  Kew.  When  Clive  learned 
of  the  broken  betrothal,  he  returned  to 
England  to  press  his  own  suit  once  more. 

In  London  Clive  had  little  time  foi 
his  art.  He  was  fast  becoming  a  favorite 
in  London  society,  whose  fashionable 
hostesses  thought  him  the  only  son  of  a 
wealthy  officer  in  India.  Against  the 
wishes  of  her  grandmother,  Lady  Kew, 
Ethel  arranged  frequent  meetings  with 
Clive,  and  at  last  Clive  proposed  mar 
riage.  But  Ethel  sadly  explained  that 
she  would  not  inherit  Lady  Kew's  for 
tune  unless  she  married  properly,  Ethel 
claimed  that  her  younger  brothers  and 
sisters  were  in  need  of  the  money,  for 
after  her  father's  death  Barnes  Newcome 
had  selfishly  kept  the  family  fortune  for 
himself.  Meanwhile  Lady  Kew  was  woo 
ing  Lord  Farintosh  for  Ethel. 

After  three  years*  absence  Colonel 
Newcome  returned  to  London.  During 
his  absence  the  colonel  had  amassed  a 
large  fortune  for  his  son,  and  armed  with 
this  wealth  Colonel  Newcome  went  to 
Barnes  with  a  proposal  of  marriage  be 
tween  Ethel  and  Clive.  Barnes  was  per 
lite  but  non-committal.  Shortly  after- 


651 


ward  Lady  Kew  announced  Ethel's 
engagement  to  Lord  Farintosh.  Then, 
suddenly,  Lady  Kew  died,  leaving  her 
immense  fortune  to  Ethel,  whose  only 
concern  was  that  the  money  should  go 
to  her  younger  brothers  and  sisters. 

Barnes'  marriage  to  Lady  Clara  Pul- 
levn  had  never  been  happy.  Soon  after 
they  were  married  he  had  begun  to  mis 
treat  his  wife,  who  at  last  decided  that 
she  could  no  longer  stand  his  bullying 
treatment.  She  ran  off  with  her  first 
lover,  leaving  her  small  children  behind. 
The  shock  of  the  scandal  and  the  subse 
quent  divorce  opened  Ethel's  eyes  to 
dangers  of  loveless  marriages.  Realizing 
that  she  could  never  be  happy  with  Lord 
Farintosh  because  she  did  not  love  him, 
she  broke  her  second  engagement. 

Ethel  retired  from  her  former  social 
life  to  rear  Barnes'  children.  Clive, 
meanwhile,  had  succumbed  to  the  wishes 
of  Mr.  Binnie  and  his  own  father.  Be 
fore  the  news  of  Ethel's  broken  engage 
ment  with  Lord  Farintosh  had  reached 
the  colonel  and  his  son,  Clive  had  mar 
ried  sweet-faced  Rosey  Mackenzie. 

Clive's  marriage  was  gentle  but  bare. 
The  colonel  was  Rosey's  chief  protector 
and  her  greater  admirer.  Clive  tried  to 
be  a  good  husband,  but  inwardly  he 
longed  for  more  companionship.  Once 
he  admitted  to  his  father  that  he  still 
loved  Ethel. 

The  colonel  had  been  handling  the 
family  income  very  unwisely  since  his 
return  from  India.  Shortly  after  the 


birth  of  Clive's  son,  Thomas,  an  Indian 
company  in  which  the  colonel  had  heavy 
investments  failed,  and  he  went  bank 
rupt.  Clive,  Rosey,  and  Colonel  New- 
come  were  now  nearly  penniless.  Rosey's 
mother,  Mrs.  Mackenzie,  descended  upon 
them,  and  in  a  few  months  she  began 
ruling  them  with  such  tyranny  that  life 
became  unbearable  for  the  colonel.  With 
the  help  of  some  friends  he  retired  to  a 
poorhouse  and  lived  separated  from  his 
beloved  son.  Clive  faithfully  stayed  with 
Rosey  under  the  forceful  abuse  of  his 
mother-in-law.  He  was  able  to  make  a 
meager  living  by  selling  his  drawings. 

When  Ethel  learned  of  the  pitiful  con 
dition  of  the  old  colonel,  whom  she  had 
always  loved,  and  of  Clive's  distress,  she 
contrived  a  plan  whereby  she  was  able 
to  give  them  six  thousand  pounds  with 
out  their  knowing  that  it  came  from  her. 
Rosey  had  been  very  ill.  One  night 
Ethel  visited  Clive,  and  Mrs.  Mackenzie 
raised  such  an  indignant  clamor  that 
Rosey  was  seriously  affected.  She  died 
the  following  day.  The  colonel,  broken 
in  spirit,  also  grew  weaker  from  day  to 
day,  and  soon  afterward  he  too  died. 

Clive  had  never  lost  his  love  for  Ethel 
through  all  the  years  of  his  unfortunate 
marriage  to  Rosey.  Many  months  after 
the  death  of  his  wife,  he  went  once  more 
to  Baden  with  little  Thomas.  There  it 
was  said,  by  observers  who  knew  the 
Newcomes,  that  Clive,  Ethel,  and  little 
Tommy  often  were  seen  walking  together 
through  the  woods. 


THE  NEBELUNGENLIED 

Type  of  work:  Saga 

Author:  Unknown 

Type  of  plot:  Heroic  epic 

Time  of  -plot:  The  Siegfried  story  is  legendary.  The  Burgundian  story  is  based  on  historical 
events  of  about  437. 

Locale:  North  Central  Europe 

First  transcribed:  c.  1200 

Principal   characters: 

SIEGFRIED,  son  of  Siegmund  and  Sieglind 
KJUEMLKELD,  Buigundian  princess,  Siegfried's  wife 

GONTHER, 


652 


GERNOT,  and 

GISELHER,  brothers  of  Kriemhild 

HAGEN,  their  retainer 

BRUNHTLD,  wife  of  Cumber 

ETZEL  (ArnuO,  Kriemhild's  second  husband 

DANKWART,  Hagen's  brother 


Critique: 

Chief  among  the  battle  sagas  of  Ger 
manic  peoples,  The  Nibelungenlied  has 
merged  and  remerged  with  countless  other 
legends  and  myths.  In  it  are  echoes  of 
the  ancient  worship  of  the  pagan  gods  as 
well  as  Christian  ritual.  In  it  are  tales, 
like  the  battle  of  Siegfried  and  the  dragon, 
that  go  back  to  prehistoric  myths.  In  it 
are  names  and  themes  that  seem  to  run 
into  the  substructure  of  Western  civiliza 
tion.  Even  in  modern  times  the  saga  per 
sists  in  poetry  and  music.  Its  revelation  of 
hatred  and  greed,  of  honor  and  glory, 
stands  changeless,  indifferent  to  the  pass 
ing  of  time. 

The  Story: 

In  Burgundy  there  lived  a  noble  fam 
ily  which  numbered  three  brothers  and 
a  sister.  The  sons  were  Gunther,  who 
wore  the  crown,  Gernot,  and  Giselher; 
the  daughter  was  Kriemhild.  About 
them  was  a  splendid  court  of  powerful 
and  righteous  knights,  including  Hagen 
of  Trony,  his  brother  Dankwart  and 
mighty  Hunold.  Kriemhild  dreamed  one 
night  that  she  reared  a  falcon  which 
then  was  slain  by  two  eagles.  When  she 
told  her  dream  to  Queen  Uta,  her 
mother's  interpretation  was  that  Kriem 
hild  should  have  a  noble  husband  but 
that  unless  God's  protection  followed 
him  he  might  soon  die. 

Siegfried  was  born  in  Niderland,  the 
son  of  King  Siegrnund  and  Queen  Sieg- 
lind.  In  his  voung  manhood  he  heard 
of  the  beautiful  Kriemhild,  and,  al 
though  he  had  never  seen  her,  he  de 
termined  to  have  her  for  his  wife.  Un 
deterred  by  reports  of  her  fierce  and 
warlike  kinsmen,  he  made  his  armor 
ready  for  his  venture.  Friends  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  to  bid  him  fare 
well,  and  many  of  them  accompanied 


him  as  retainers  into  King  Gunther's 
land.  When  he  arrived  at  Gunther'? 
court,  Hagen,  who  knew  his  fame,  told 
the  brothers  the  story  of  Siegfried's  first 
success,  relating  how  Siegfried  had  killed 
great  heroes  and  had  won  the  hoard  of 
the  Nibelung,  a  treasure  of  so  much 
gold  and  jewels  that  five  score  wagons 
could  not  carry  all  of  it.  He  also  told 
how  Siegfried  had  won  the  cloak  of  in 
visibility  from  the  dwarf  Albric,  and 
how  Siegfried  had  become  invincible 
from  having  bathed  in  the  blood  of  a 
dragon  he  had  slain. 

Gunther  and  his  brothers  admitted 
Siegfried  to  their  hall  after  they  had 
heard  of  his  exploits,  and  the  hero 
stayed  with  them  a  year.  But  in  all  that 
time  he  did  not  once  see  Kriemhild, 

The  Saxons  led  by  King  Ludger 
threatened  to  overcome  the  kingdom  of 
the  Burgundians.  Siegfried  pledged  to 
use  his  forces  in  overcoming  the  Saxons, 
and  in  the  battle  he  led  his  knights  and 
Gunther Js  troops  to  a  great  victory.  In 
the  following  days  there  were  great  cele 
brations  at  which  Queen  Uta  and  her 
daughter  Kriemhild  appeared  in  public. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  Siegfried  and 
Kriemhild  met  and  became  betrothed. 

King  Gunther,  wanting  to  marry 
Brunhild,  Wotan's  daughter,  told  Sieg 
fried  that  if  he  would  help  him  win 
Brunhild  then  he  might  wed  Kriemhild. 
Gunther  set  out  at  the  head  of  a  great 
expedition,  all  of  his  knights  decked  in 
costly  garments  in  order  to  impress  Brun 
hild.  But  her  choice  for  a  husband  was 
not  for  a  well-dressed  prince  but  for  a 
hero.  She  declared  that  the  man  who 
would  win  her  must  surpass  her  in  feats  o£ 
skill  and  strength.  With  Siegfried's  aid 
Gunther  overcame  Brunhild,  and  she 
agreed  to  go  with  Gunther  as  his  bride. 


653 


Siegfried  was  sent  on  ahead  to  an 
nounce  a  great  celebration  in  honor  of 
the  coming  marriage  of  Gunther  to  Brun 
hild.  A  double  ceremony  took  place,  with 
Kriemhild  becoming  the  bride  of  Sieg 
fried  at  the  same  time.  At  the  wedding 
feast  Brunhild  burst  into  tears  at  the 
sight  of  Kriemhild  and  Siegfried 
together.  Gunther  tried  to  explain  away 
her  unhappiness.  But  once  more  Gun 
ther  needed  Siegfried's  aid,  for  Brunhild 
had  determined  never  to  let  Gunther 
share  her  bed.  Siegfried  went  to  her 
chamber  and  there  overpowered  her. 
She,  thinking  she  had  been  overcome  by 
Gunther,  was  thus  subdued  to  Gunther's 
wit  and  will. 

Brunhild  bore  a  son  who  was  named 
for  Siegfried.  As  time  passed  she  wished 
once  more  to  see  Siegfried,  who  had  re 
turned  with  Kriemhild  to  his  own  coun 
try.  Therefore,  she  instructed  Gunther 
to  plan  a  great  hunting  party  to  which 
Siegfried  and  Kriemhild  should  be  in 
cited. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  two  royal  fam 
ilies  there  was  great  rivalry  between 
Brunhild  and  Kriemhild.  They  vied 
with  each  other  by  overdressing  their  at 
tendants  and  then  fell  to  arguing  as  to 
the  place  each  should  have  in  the  royal 
procession.  Finally,  Kriemhild  took  re 
venge  when  she  told  Brunhild  the  true 
story  of  her  wedding  night  Accusing 
Brunhild  of  acting  the  part  of  a  harlot, 
she  said  that  Brunhild  had  slept  first 
with  Siegfried,  then  with  her  husband, 
Gunther.  For  proof,  she  displayed  Brun 
hild's  ring  and  girdle,  both  of  which 
Siegfried  had  won  from  Brunhild  the 
night  he  had  overcome  her.  Brunhild, 
furious  and  desirous  of  revenge,  sought 
out  her  husband  and  confronted  him 
with  the  story  of  her  humiliation  and 
betrayal. 

Gunther  and  Siegfried  soon  settled  to 
their  own  satisfaction  the  wanton  quarrel 
between  the  two  women.  But  Hagen, 
the  crafty  one,  stirred  up  trouble  among 
Gunther's  brothers  with  his  claim  that 
Siegfried  had  stained  the  honor  of  their 


house,  and  they  plotted  to  trap  Siegfried 
and  destroy  him.  When  it  was  reported 
that  the  Saxons  were  to  attack  Gunther's 
knights,  Kriemhild  unwittingly  revealed 
Siegfried's  one  vulnerable  spot.  While 
bathing  in  the  dragon's  blood,  he  had 
failed  to  protect  a  portion  of  his  body  the 
size  of  a  linden  leaf  because  a  leaf  had 
fallen  down  between  his  shoulders.  The 
villainous  Hagen  asked  her  to  sew  a 
token  on  the  spot  so  that  he  could  pro 
tect  Siegfried  during  the  fighting. 

Hagen  sent  men  to  say  that  the  Saxons 
had  given  up  the  attack.  Then,  the  fear 
of  battle  over,  Gunther  rode  out  to  hunt 
with  all  his  knights.  There,  deep  in  the 
forest,  as  Siegfried  was  bending  over  a 
spring  to  drink,  he  was  struck  in  the 
fatal  spot  by  an  arrow  from  Hagen's  bow. 
Before  he  died  Siegfried  cursed  the  Bur- 
gundians  and  their  tribe  forever.  Indif 
ferent  to  the  dying  man's  curse,  Hagen 
carried  home  the  body  of  the  dead  hero. 

He  placed  Siegfried's  body  in  the  path 
where  Kriemhild  would  see  it  on  her 
way  to  church,  but  a  chamberlain  dis 
covered  the  body  before  she  passed. 
Kriemhild  knew  instinctively  whose 
hand  had  done  the  deed.  A  thousand 
knights  headed  by  Siegmund,  his  father, 
mourned  the  dead  hero,  and  everyone 
claimed  vengeance.  The  widow  gave 
vast  sums  of  money  to  the  poor  in  honor 
of  Siegfried.  When  Siegmund  prepared 
to  leave  for  Niderland,  he  asked  Kriem 
hild  to  go  with  him.,  but  she  refused, 
allowing  him,  however,  to  take  Sieg 
fried's  son  with  him.  She  herself  was 
determined  to  stay  with  the  Burgundians. 
Queen  Brunhild,  however,  offered  no 
compassion.  The  Nibelungen  hoard  was 
given  to  Kriemhild,  for  it  was  her  wed 
ding  gift.  However,  by  order  of  Hagen, 
who  planned  to  get  possession  of  the 
treasure,  all  of  it  was  dropped  to  the 
bottom  of  the  Rhine.  In  the  years  that 
followed  Kriemhild  remained  in  mourn 
ing  for  Siegfried. 

At  last  the  mighty  Etzel,  King  of  the 
Huns,  sought  to  marry  Kriemhild.  After 
a  long  courtship  he  won  Kriemhild  and 


654 


took  her  to  his  land  to  be  ids  wife.  Etzel 
was  rich  and  strong,  and  after  her  long 
years  of  mourning  KriemKild  again  occu 
pied  a  position  of  power  and  honor.  Now 
she  began  to  consider  how  she  might 
avenge  herself  for  the  death  of  Siegfried. 
Hoping  to  get  Hagen  in  her  power,  she 
sent  a  messenger  to  her  brothers,  saying 
that  she  longed  to  see  all  of  them  again. 

When  they  received  her  message,  the 
brothers  and  Hagen  set  out.  Old  Queen 
Uta  told  them  that  in  a  dream  she  had 
seen  a  vision  of  dire  foreboding,  but  the 
Burgundians  refused  to  heed  her  \varn- 
ing.  Furthermore,  Hagen  received  a 
token  from  some  mermaidens,  who  said 
none  of  the  knights  would  return  from 
Hunland.  He  disregarded  the  prediction. 
Then  a  quarrel  broke  out  among  the 
Burgundians,  and  Dankwart  slew  Gel- 
frat.  Three  evil  omens  now  attended 
the  coming  journey,  but  still  the  brothers 
refused  to  turn  back.  At  last  the  Bur 
gundians  came  to  Etzel's  castle. 

Gunther  and  his  brothers  were  put 
into  separate  apartments.  Dankwart  and 
Hagen  were  sent  to  other  quarters. 
Warned  by  Sir  Dietrich  that  Kriemhild 
still  plotted  vengeance  for  Siegfried's 
death,  Hagen  urged  them  all  to  take 
precaution.  When  Kriemhild  asked  them 
to  give  her  their  weapons,  Hagen  replied 
that  it  could  not  be.  The  Burgundians 
decided  to  post  a  guard  to  prevent  a  sur 
prise  attack  while  they  slept. 

The  court  went  to  mass.  At  the  serv 
ices  the  Huns  were  displeased  to  see  that 
Gunther  and  his  party  jostled  Queen 
Kriemhild. 

In  honor  of  the  Burgundians,  a  great 


tournament  was  held  for  all  the  knights. 
So  bad  was  the  feeling  between  the 
Burgundians  and  the  Huns  that  King 
Etzel  was  forced  to  intervene  in  order 
to  keep  the  peace.  To  appease  the 
brothers,  Etzel  gave  them  Kriemhild's 
small  son,  Ortlieb,  as  a  hostage.  But  Sir 
Bloedel  pressed  into  Dankwart's  quarters 
demanding  justice  for  Kriemhild. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  had  aroused  the 
anger  of  Dankwart,  who  rose  from  his 
table  and  killed  Bloedel.  For  this  deed 
the  angered  Huns  killed  Dankwart's  re 
tainers.  Dankwart,  at  bay,  ran  to  Hagen 
for  help.  Hagen,  knowing  that  he  would 
not  live  to  seek  his  vengeance  on  Kriem- 
hild  later,  skughtered  the  little  prince, 
Ortlieb.  Then  followed  a  mighty  battle 
in  which  Hagen  and  Gunther  managed 
to  kill  most  of  their  adversaries. 

Kriemhild  now  urged  her  heroes  to 
kill  Hagen.  The  first  to  take  up  the  chal 
lenge  was  Iring.  After  he  had  wounded 
Hagen,  he  rushed  back  to  Kriemhild  for 
praise.  Hagen  recovered  quickly  and 
sought  Iring  to  kill  him. 

The  battle  continued,  many  knights 
from  both  sides  falling  in  the  bloody 
combat.  Outnumbered,  the  Burgundians 
fell  one  by  one.  Kriemhild  herself  slew 
Hagen,  the  last  of  the  Burgundians  to 
survive.  He  died  without  revealing  the 
location  of  the  treasure. 

King  Etzel  grieved  to  see  so  many 
brave  knights  killed.  At  a  sign  from  him, 
Hildebrand,  one  of  his  retainers,  lifted 
his  sword  and  ended  the  life  of  Kriem 
hild  as  well. 

So  died  the  secret  of  the  new  hiding 
place  of  the  Nibelungen  treasure  hoard. 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  LUXEMBOURG 

Type  of  work:  Novelette 

Author:  Remy  de  Gouimont  (1858-1915) 

Type  of  plot:  Rationalized  mysticism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Paris 

First  published:   1906 

Principal  characters: 

M.  JAMES  SAISTOY  ROSE,  a  journalist 

"HE" 

ELISE 

655 


Critique: 

Remy  de  Gounnont  was  accused  of 
blasphemy  and  indecency  as  a  result  of 
this  book.  Certainly  de  Gourmont  lacked 
no  honesty  in  presenting  his  views  of 
the  world  based  upon  personal  observa 
tion  of  certain  facts.  In  any  case,  im 
morality  and  indecency  depend  upon  the 
point  of  view  of  the  reader.  For  those 
readers  who  think  and  who  are  not  dis 
turbed  at  facing  the  reality  of  ideas 
this  book  could  well  be  a  revelation. 

The  Story: 

When  James  Sandy  Rose,  foreign  cor 
respondent  for  the  Northern  Atlantic 
Monthly?  died,  the  newspapers  printed 
only  a  part  of  the  ciraimstances  surround 
ing' his  death.  Among  his  personal  affects 
was  a  diary  which  threw  more  light  upon 
his  private  experience  and  belief.  In 
this  diary  Rose  related  how  he  had  gone 
to  the  Luxembourg  and  had  noticed  a 
peculiar  light  shining  through  the  win 
dows  of  the  Church  of  Saint-Sulpice.  His 
curiosity  aroused,  he  went  into  the 
church  and  discovered  a  man  standing 
before  the  statue  of  the  Virgin.  At 
first  glance  the  man  was  very  ordinary 
looking,  but  when  he  looked  at  Rose 
there  was  something  striking  and  attrac 
tive  in  his  appearance.  Rose  merely 
called  the  niar>  "He"  in  long  passages 
of  the  diaiy  that  reported  a  discussion 
between  them  on  philosophical  and  re 
ligious  subjects. 

Little  by  little,  it  became  apparent  to 
Rose  that  this  strange  man  was  really 
Christ.  Rose  followed  the  man  out  into 
the  garden,  which  had  suddenly  become 
clothed  in  summer  foliage.  There  they 
met  three  beautiful  women,  one  of  whom 
was  called  Elise.  In  that  pastoral  set 


ting  their  conversations  concerning 
divinity,  religion,  and  philosophy  con 
tinued.  In  a  short  interlude  between  dis 
cussions  Rose  and  Elise  had  an  affair. 

"He"  informed  Rose  that  Epicurus* 
and  Spinoza  were  nearer  to  "Him"  than 
anyone  else,  including  the  saints.  "He" 
told  the  reporter  also  that  the  gods  are 
superior  but  not  Immortal — they  merely 
live  longer.  Destiny  is  the  creator  and 
the  regulator  of  the  world.  There  is  n_v 
truth  because  the  world  is  perpetual!} 
changing.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
were  no  more  miraculous  than  those  in 
"Aladdin  and  the  Marvelous  Lamp," 
but  the  men  who  wrote  of  those  Acts 
touched  God  with  their  hands.  Man's 
superiority  to  the  animal  world,  particu 
larly  the  termites,  was  brought  about  by 
the  lowering  of  the  world's  temperature. 
Civilizations  came  into  being  because  of 
the  discoveries  of  fire  and  leisure.  Lucre 
tius'  poem  concerning  Epicurus  would 
have  been  a  greater  book  for  mankind 
than  the  Bible.  Men  will  perhaps  never 
recover  from  the  wound  given  them  by 
Christianity.  Great  hypocrites  are  always 
the  chosen  masters  of  the  world.  Suicide 
is  not  an  act  of  cowardice.  Happiness 
for  men  is  not  possession  but  desire. 
The  difference  between  the  girl  of  a  pub 
lic  harem  and  a  goddess  is  only  a  dif 
ference  created  by  social  custom  and  its 
conception  of  sin. 

When  "He"  departed,  Rose  took  Elise 
with  him  and  went  to  his  lodgings.  There 
Rose  died  mysteriously,  leaving  no  trace 
as  to  the  exact  manner  of  his  death. 
In  his  rooms  there  were  evidences  of 
the  presence  of  a  woman  but  nothing 
else  of  importance  except  the  diary  he 
had  written. 


A  NIGHT  IN  THE  LUXEMBOURG  by  Remy  de  Gourmont.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  John  W.  Luce 
&  Co. 


656 


NIGHTMARE  ABBEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Love  Peacock  (1785-1866) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:    1818 

Principal  characters: 

CHRISTOPHER  GLOWRY,  roaster  o£  Nightmare  Abbey 

SCYTHROP,  his  son 

MR.  FLO  SKY,  a  visitor 

MARIONETTA,  Glowry's  niece 

MR.  TOOBAD,  Glowry's  friend 

CELTNDA,  his  daughter 

LISTLESS,  a  dandy 


Critique: 

Peacock  is  one  o£  the  interesting  minor 
novelists  of  his  time.  Apart  from  his 
own  writings,  he  is  remembered  for  his 
friendship  with  Shelley.  Many  of  the 
literary  figures  of  his  time  are  but  thinly 
disguised  in  his  novels.  Peacock,  in 
Nightmare  Abbey,  has  written  light  com 
edy  with  a  heavy  touch,  and  has  satirized 
many  of  the  customs  of  his  day.  The 
tide  of  the  novel  suggests  the  influence 
of  the  popular  Gothic  horror  tale. 

The  Story: 

Refused  by  one  young  lady  in  his 
youth,  Glowry  immediately  married  an 
other.  His  wife  was  cold  and  gloomy, 
and  Nightmare  Abbey  was  a  fitting  name 
for  her  house.  Glowry  found  relief  from 
his  unhappy  life  in  food  and  drink,  and 
when  his  lady  died,  he  was  easily  con 
soled  by  increasing  his  consumption  of 
food  and  wine.  She  left  one  son,  Scy- 
throp,  who  was  gloomy  enough  to  suit 
his  father  and  Nightmare  Abbey.  A 
university  education  had  so  stripped 
Scythrop  of  his  thin  veneer  of  social 
graces  that  he  was  rapidly  becoming  a 
country  boor  like  his  father. 

While  his  father  was  away  in  London 
attending  to  an  important  lawsuit,  Scy 
throp  amused  himself  by  constructing 
miniature  dungeons,  trapdoors,  and  se 
cret  panels.  One  day  he  discovered  by 
chance  an  apartment  in  the  main  wing 
of  the  abbey  which  had  no  entrance  or 
exit;  through  an  error  in  construction, 


the  apartment  had  remained  hidden  for 
many  years.  He  imported  a  dumb  car 
penter  and  together  they  constructed  a 
cunning  secret  panel  through  which  one 
could  step  from  the  library  into  the 
hidden  apartment.  Then,  Scythrop  had 
a  private  refuge  for  his  gloomy  medita 
tions. 

Miss  Emily  Girouette  declined  de 
cidedly  to  marry  Scythrop.  In  conse 
quence,  when  his  cousin  Marionetta 
carne  to  visit,  she  rapidly  conquered  the 
heart  of  that  sad  young  man.  But  Mar 
ionetta  had  no  fortune,  and  Glowry  re 
fused  to  hear  of  the  marriage.  Scythrop, 
however,  grew  more  enamored  daily  of 
his  coquettish  cousin. 

Glowry  viewed  the  increasing  attach 
ment  of  Scythrop  and  Marionetta  with 
great  concern.  Finally,  he  told  Scythrop 
the  girl  would  have  to  leave.  Furious, 
Scythrop  rushed  to  his  tower  and  filled 
a  human  skull  with  Madeira  wine.  Con 
fronting  his  father  and  holding  high  the 
skull,  he  declared  in  ringing  tones  that 
if  Marionetta  ever  left  Nightmare  Abbey 
except  of  her  own  free  will,  he  would 
drink  the  potion.  Convinced  that  the 
skull  contained  poison,  his  father  con 
sented  to  have  Marionetta  stay  on  as  a 
guest.  Scythrop  drank  the  wine  with 
gusto. 

Glowry  confided  his  troubles  to  his 
friend,  Toobad,  who  agreed  that  marriage 
with  Marionetta  was  unsuitable  in  every 
way.  He  proposed  his  own  daughter 


657 


Celinda,  a  young  woman  then  studying 
abroad,  as  a  good  match,  for  Scythrop. 
With  dowry's  hearty  approval  Toobad 
went  to  London  to  meet  his  daughter 
and  return  with,  her  to  Nightmare  Ab 
bey.  But  Celinda,  refusing  to  have  a 
husband  chosen  for  her,  fled  from  her 
domineering  father.  Toobad  appeared  at 
the  abbey  and  left  again,  vowing  to  all 
that  he  would  find  his  unruly  daughter. 

The  house  party  at  Nightmare  Abbey 
grew  larger.  Mr/Flosky,  a  poet  of  the 
supernatural,  carne  and  spread  confusion 
with  his  metaphysical  paradoxes.  Listless, 
a  bored  dandy,  came  with  Fatout,  his 
French  valet,  who  was  the  guardian  of  his 
mind  and  body.  Another  addition  to  the 
party  was  Mr.  Asterias  the  ichthyologist, 
engaged  in  tracing  down  rumors  of  mer 
maids  in  the  vicinity  of  the  abbey.  It  was 
not  clear  what  a  mermaid  would  do  in  the 
fens  around  the  abbey,  but  Mr.  Asterias 
had  faith.  That  faith  was  rewarded  one 
night  when  dimly  Mr.  Asterias  perceived 
the  form  of  a  woman  clad  in  black.  As  he 
rushed  across  the  moat,  the  mysterious 
figure  disappeared. 

Scythrop  took  as  much  delight  as  he 
could  in  Marionetta's  company.  But  List 
less  was  the  gayest  person  in  the  room 
when  Marionetta  wras  present.  As  far  as 
his  languid  airs  would  permit,  he  followed 
her  about  with  great  eagerness. 

Watching  Scythrop's  affection  for  Mar 
ionetta,  Glowry  decided  that  he  had  been 
too  harsh  with  his  son,  and  he  suddenly 
announced  his  approval  of  their  betrothal. 
To  his  father's  surprise,  Scythrop  stam 
mered  that  he  did  not  want  to  be  too  pre 
cipitate.  So  the  generosity  of  the  father 
went  unrewarded. 

There  was  some  mystery  about  Scy 
throp.  For  some  time  he  had  been  more 
distraught  than  usual;  now  he  practically 
refused  marriage  with  his  beloved.  More 
than  that,  every  time  Glowry  went  to 
his  son's  rooms,  he  found  the  door  locked 
and  Scythrop  slow  in  answering  his 
knock.  Always,  before  the  door  opened, 
a  strange,  heavy  thud  sounded  in  the 


room. 


One  evening,  while  the  whole  com 
pany  was  sitting  in  the  drawing-room, 
a  tall  and  stately  figure  wearing  a  bloody 
turban  suddenly  appeared.  Lisdess  rolled 
under  the  sofa.  Glowry  roared  his  alarm 
in  Toobad's  ear,  and  Toobad  tried  to 
run  away.  But  he  mistook  a  window  for 
a  door,  and  fell  into  the  moat  below.  Mr. 
Asterias7  still  looking  for  a  mermaid, 
fished  him  out  with  a  landing  net. 

These  mysteries  went  back  to  the 
night  Mr.  Asterias  thought  he  saw  the 
mermaid.  Scythrop  was  sitting  alone  in 
his  library  when  the  door  opened  softly 
and  in  stepped  a  beautiful,  stately  wom 
an.  She  looked  at  Scythrop  carefully, 
and  reassured  by  what  she  saw,  she  sat 
down  confidendy.  The  bewildered  man 
could  only  sit  and  stare.  Gently  the 
mysterious  stranger  asked  him  if  he  were 
the  illustrious  author  of  the  pamphlet, 
'Thilosophical  Gas."  Flattered,  Scythrop 
acknowledged  his  authorship  of  that  pro 
found  work,  only  seven  copies  of  which 
had  been  sold.  Then  the  girl  asked  his 
protection  from  a  marriage  that  would 
make  her  the  slave  of  her  sex.  Already 
smitten,  Scythrop  agreed  to  hide  her  in 
his  secret  apartment. 

Then  Scythrop  began  his  dual  ro 
mance.  The  serious  girl,  who  called  her 
self  Stella,  talked  night  after  night  of  the 
German  metaphysicians  and  quoted  Ger 
man  tragedy.  On  the  other  hand,  Mario 
netta  was  always  gay  and  lively.  Scythrop 
did  not  know  whom  to  choose. 

One  night  his  father  demanded  entry 
into  his  room  while  Stella  was  there. 
Stelk  decided  to  show  herself,  regardless 
of  consequences.  Toobad  recognized  his 
long-lost  daughter  Celinda.  Scythrop 
now  had  to  choose  either  Celinda  or 
Marionetta.  But  he  hesitated  to  make  a 
choice,  feeling  that  he  could  not  relin 
quish  either.  The  next  day,  however, 
the  decision  was  made  for  him,  Mario 
netta  had  accepted  Listless  and  Celinda 
would  soon  be  Mrs.  Flosky.  Stoically, 
Glowry  reminded  his  son  that  there  were 
other  maidens.  Scythrop  agreed,  and 
ordered  the  Madeira. 


658 


NO  NAME 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Wilkie  Collins  (1824-1889) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1862 

Principal  characters: 

ANDREW  VANSTONE,  a  country  gentleman 

Mas.  VANSTONE,  his  wife 

NORAH,  and 

MAGDALEN,  their  daughters 

NOEL  VANS-TONE,  a  cousin,  whom  Magdalen  married 

CAPTAIN  WRAGGE,  a  distant  relative 

Miss  GARTH,  a  nurse 

ME.  CLARE,  a  neighbor 

FRANK  CLARE,  his  son 

CAPTAIN  KIRKE,  Magdalen's  second  husband 


Critique: 

No  Name  rivaled  The  Woman  in 
White  and  The  Moonstone  in  popularity 
among  readers  of  Collins'  own  day. 
Judged  by  modern  taste,  the  novel  is  still 
one  which  diverts  the  reader  and  offers 
an  excellent  picture  of  Victorian  customs 
and  manners,  domestic  life,  and  morals. 
Its  effectiveness  lies  chiefly  in  its  presen 
tation  of  character  and  in  its  realistic 
criticism  of  laws  which  often  worked  to 
the  disadvantage  of  those  whom  they 
should  have  served.  Magdalen  Vanstone 
is  presented  as  a  headstrong  but  capable 
girl  who  fights  for  rights  she  believes  are 
hers.  Her  sister  Norah,  a  quiet,  less 
determined  girl,  works  out  her  future 
according  to  her  own  nature.  The  amiable 
Captain  Wragge  is  one  of  the  most  de 
lightful  rogues  in  English  fiction. 

The  Story: 

The  Vanstone  house  at  Combe  Raven 
was  one  of  contentment  and  ease.  In 
it  were  two  lovely  and  charming  daugh 
ters — Norah  and  Magdalen — Andrew 
Vanstone  and  his  wife,  and  a  wise,  kindly 
nurse  and  governess.  Miss  Garth.  It 
was  a  household  in  which  cook  and  serv 
ants  enjoyed  immunity  from  scolding, 
pets  were  allowed  to  range  freely,  and 
the  affairs  of  the  house  ran  as  smoothly 
as  an  old  but  trustworthy  clock. 

One  morning  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vanstone 


broke  the  quiet  routine  of  the  household 
with  the  announcement  that  they  must 
go  immediately  to  London  on  urgent  but 
secret  business.  This  announcement  came 
after  the  arrival  of  a  letter  postmarked 
New  Orleans.  They  were  gone  for  al 
most  a  month.  On  their  return  they 
refused  to  reveal  by  any  statement  or 
hint  the  nature  of  their  trip. 

Shortly  after  their  return  a  stranger 
made  his  appearance  in  the  neighbor 
hood.  The  girls  learned  only  that  his 
name  was  Captain  "Wragge  and  that  he 
was  distantly  connected  with  Mrs.  Van- 
stone's  family.  She  sent  him  away  with 
out  revealing  to  her  husband  the  cir 
cumstances  of  his  arrival  or  departure. 
It  was  apparent  that  Captain  Wragge 
was  attempting  to  obtain  money  from 
his  kinswoman. 

The  Vanstones  had  an  eccentric  and 
surly  neighbor,  Mr.  Clare,  a  scholar  and 
cynic  who  frequently  asserted  that  he 
hated  most  of  mankind.  Frank,  his  son, 
had  been  the  childhood  playmate  of 
Magdalen  Vanstone,  and  for  him  Mr. 
Vanstone  had  secured  a  position  in  a 
commercial  house  in  London.  Mr.  Clare 
held  a  low  opinion  of  his  son's  abilities; 
consequently  he  was  not  disappointed 
when  Frank  was  dismissed  by  his  em 
ployers  as  being  of  little  account  in  the 
business.  In  spite  of  his  shortcomings, 


659 


however,  Magdalen  was  stifl  attracted 
to  her  old  plavmate.  Mr.  Clare  com 
mented  ironically  that  some  people  al 
ways  flocked  after  the  worthless  of  the 
world — a  view  he  felt  confirmed  when 
Mr.  Vanstone  arranged  to  have  Frank 
given  another  chance  in  the  business 
firm  in  London,  rather  than  have  him 
sent  to  China  to  work  in  the  tea  and 
silk  trade. 

Magdalen  and  Frank  played  in  some 
private  theatricals  given  in  one  of  the 
country  houses  nearby.  Magdalen  did 
so  well  in  her  role  that  a  theatrical  agent 
who  saw  her  performance  ga\xe  her  his 
card  as  a  reference  in  case  she  should 
ever  decide  upon  a  career  in  the  theater. 

Mr.  Vanstone  was  unexpectedly  killed 
in  a  train  wreck.  His  wife,  overcome  by 
grief,  died  before  she  could  put  her 
name  to  a  paper  which  her  husband's 
lawyer  was  anxious  to  have  her  sign. 

Then  the  mystery  of  the  Vanstones 
came  to  light,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vanstone 
had  been  married  during  their  hurried 
trip  to  London.  They  had  not  been  able 
to  do  so  before  because  of  Mr.  Vanstone's 
earlier  marriage  to  an  adventuress  whose 
death  had  been  reported  at  last  from  New 
Orleans.  Because  Mr.  Vanstone  had 
died  before  he  could  make  a  new  will, 
the  legitimacy  of  his  daughters  was  not 
recognized  in  the  English  courts;  there 
fore  the  Vanstone  fortune  reverted  to  an 
uncle,  a  selfish  and  bad-tempered  old  man 
who  refused  to  recognize  his  brother's 
daughters  or  to  share  the  inheritance 
with  them. 

Frank  Clare  could  no  longer  look  for 
ward  to  marriage  with  Magdalen  after 
she  had  lost  her  fortune.  Without  Mr. 
Vanstone  to  back  him,  he  was  forced  to 
take  the  offer  of  work  in  China. 

Miss  Garth  took  Norah  and  Magdalen 
with  her  to  her  sister's  home  for  a  time. 
There  it  was  decided  that  the  girls  should 
find  employment  as  governesses.  One 
day  Magdalen  suddenly  disappeared. 
Captain  Wragge  discovered  her  after  a 
reward  had  been  offered  for  news  of  her 
whereabouts,  but  instead  of  claiming  the 


reward  he  took  ner  home  to  Mrs.  Wragge, 
a  sad  giantess  of  a  woman.  Learning  of 
Magdalen's  desire  to  be  an  actress,  he 
promised  to  train  her  and  act  as  her 
manager. 

The  uncle  who  had  inherited  the  Van- 
stone  fortune  died.  Magdalen,  disguised 
to  resemble  Miss  Garth,  went  to  see  his 
son,  Noel  Vanstone.  He  proved  to  be  a 
weak,  miserable  creature,  as  miserly  as 
his  father  had  been. 

At  last  Magdalen  received  a  letter 
from  Frank  Clare,  a  cruel  whining  mes 
sage  in  which  he  reproached  her  for 
allowing  him  to  leave  England  and  re 
pudiated  his  engagement  to  her.  Mag 
dalen  went  on  the  stage.  Without  reveal 
ing  her  whereabouts  or  her  occupation, 
she  corresponded  infrequently  with 
Norah  and  with  Miss  Garth.  Norah,  in 
the  meantime,  had  hired  out  as  a  gov 
erness. 

Having  been  hurt  by  Frank  Clare's 
selfish  and  spiteful  letter,  Magdalen  de 
cided  to  marry  Noel  Vanstone  and  thus 
secure  the  fortune  she  believed  rightfully 
hers  and  her  sister's.  Using  the  money 
she  had  earned  as  an  actress,  she  estab 
lished  Captain  Wragge  in  a  cottage  near 
Noel's  house.  She  herself  passed  as  JVliss 
Bygrave,  the  captain's  niece. 

Noel  was  completely  under  the  in 
fluence  of  his  housekeeper,  Mrs.  Le 
Count,  who  was  suspicious  of  the  sup 
posed  Miss  Bygrave  from  the  beginning. 
Convinced  that  the  girl  was  the  person 
who  had  impersonated  the  elderly  Miss 
Garth  some  time  before,  the  woman  was 
unable  to  confirm  her  suspicions.  She 
was  successful,  however,  in  thwarting 
Magdalen's  attempt  to  win  a  proposal 
from  Noel.  At  last  Captain  Wragge 
tricked  the  housekeeper  into  going  to 
Zurich  to  visit  a  supposedly  dying 
brother.  Before  she  departed,  Mrs.  Le 
Count  learned  from  Captain  Wragge's 
stupid  wife  the  details  of  the  conspiracy 
in  which  the  captain  was  involved,  and 
she  wrote  Noel  a  letter  to  warn  him 
against  Magdalen.  Captain  Wragge  in 
tercepted  the  letter.  A  date  for  the  wed- 


660 


ding  was  set.  As  that  day  approached 
Magdalen  shrank  from  carrying  through 
the  scheme  she  had  so  carefully  planned, 
but  at  the  last  minute  she  stiffened  her 
resolution  and  married  Noel. 

Mrs.  Le  Count  arrived  in  Zurich  and 
there  realized  the  trick  played  on  her. 
She  returned  to  England  and  began  a 
search  for  Noel.  Tracing  him  to  Scot 
land,  she  arrived  there  shortly  after  Mag 
dalen  had  gone  to  London  to  see  her 
sister.  Noel  was  shocked  when  the 
housekeeper  revealed  the  conspiracy  of 
which  he  had  been  a  victim.  Never  in 
good  health,  he  grew  rapidly  worse  and 
died  after  making  a  new  will  which  gave 
his  fortune  to  Admiral  Bartram,  a  distant 
kinsman.  Mrs.  Le  Count  had  also  per 
suaded  him  to  write  a  codicil  by  which 
George  Bartram,  the  admiral's  nephew, 
was  to  inherit  the  money  if  he  married, 
within  a  specified  time,  a  woman  ap 
proved  by  the  admiral.  Magdalen,  noti 
fied  that  her  husband  had  died  suddenly 
without  providing  for  her,  was  also  in 
formed  that  the  will  was  valid  only  if 
the  codicil  were  properly  executed. 

Meanwhile  George  Bartram  had  met 
Norah  and  had  become  engaged  to  her. 
His  uncle  had  no  objections  to  his 
nephew's  marriage  to  Norah,  but  the  in 
quiries  he  made  so  hurt  the  girl's  pride 
that  she  refused  to  marry  George  within 
the  time  specified  in  the  codicil.  The  de 
lay  made  Noel's  will  invalid. 


Not  knowing  the  nature  of  the  codicil 
but  hoping  that  its  terms  might  work 
to  her  advantage,  Magdalen  hired  out 
as  a  parlormaid  in  the  admiral's  house 
hold  in  order  to  search  for  the  document. 
She  found  it  eventually,  but  by  that 
time  the  situation  had  grown  even  more 
complicated.  Admiral  Bartram  died  and 
left  his  fortune,  including  his  inheritance 
from  Noel  Vanstone,  to  his  nephew. 
Too  proud  to  ask  for  her  share  of  the 
money  and  without  funds,  she  contracted 
a  fever  and  was  desperately  ill.  While 
she  was  being  taken  to  a  London  hospital, 
she  was  recognized  by  Captain  Kirke,  an 
admirer  little  regarded  when  she  was 
planning  to  marry  Noel  for  his  money. 
He  provided  for  her  until  word  of  her 
illness  could  Be  carried  to  her  sister  and 
Miss  Garth. 

Good  fortune  came  to  her  during  her 
convalescence.  Norah  wrote  to  say  that 
the  codicil  had  been  discovered  and  that 
by  its  terms  the  money  bequeathed  by 
Noel  Vanstone  was  legally  hers.  Captain 
Wragge  appeared  to  announce  that  he 
had  grown  prosperous  through  the  man 
ufacture  of  a  patent  medicine.  Mr.  Clare 
wrote  to  say  that  Frank  had  married  a 
wealthy  widow.  Magdalen  felt  that 
Frank's  marriage  broke  her  last  tie  with 
her  unhappy  past.  She  could  look  for 
ward  to  the  future  as  Captain  Kirke's 
wife. 


NOCTURNE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Frank  Swinnerton  (1884-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  published:  1917 

Principal  characters: 

JENNY  BLANCHAEB,  a  milliner's  assistant 

EMMY  BLANCHARD,  her  sister 

PA  BLANCHARD,  their  invalid  father 

ALF  RYLETT,  Jenny's  suitoi 

KEITH  REDINGTON,  Jenny's  beloved 


NOCTURNE  by  Frank  Swinnerton.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Doubleday  &  Co..  Ia« 
Copyright,  1917,  by  George  H.  Doraa  Co.     Renewed,   1945,  by  Frank  Smnnertom. 


661 


Critique: 

Nocturne  is  almost  a  play,  for  the 
entire  novel  is  written  in  the  form  of 
duologues.  Swinnerton  has  adhered 
strictly  to  the  classical  dramatic  unity 
of  time  and  only  a  little  less  strictly  to 
the  unities  of  place  and  action.  The 
author  reveals  a  shrewd  insight  into 
the  psychological  kinship  in  frustration 
of  two  sisters  who  had  nothing  in  com 
mon  in  the  way  of  physical  appearance, 
personality,  or  character.  The  form  of 
this  compact  novel  is  so  fascinating  that 
it  sometimes  obscures  the  content  and 
the  sympathetic  picture  of  human  ex 
perience  presented. 

The  Story: 

At  six  o'clock  one  afternoon  Jenny 
Blanchard,  a  milliner's  assistant,  returned 
on  the  tram  from  her  place  of  work  in 
London's  West  End  to  her  home  in  Ken- 
nington  Park,  a  suburb  south  of  the 
Thames  River.  As  the  tram  passed  over 
the  dark  Thames,  she  felt  a  sense  of 
great  unhappiness  and  frustration;  but 
the  mysterious  quality  of  her  reflection  in 
the  tram  window  gave  her  momentary 
satisfaction. 

The  Blanchard  house  was  one  of  a 
row  of  identical  houses  in  Kennington 
Park.  There  Jenny  and  her  sister  Emmy 
took  care  of  their  semi-invalid  father, 
who  lived  on  a  pension  and  on  money 
that  Jenny  earned  at  the  milliner's  shop. 
Emmy,  older  than  Jenny,  was  the  house 
keeper;  she  stayed  at  home  to  prepare 
meals  and  to  look  after  Pa  Blanchard. 
The  sisters  were  quite  different  in  per 
sonality,  character,  and  appearance.  Jen 
ny  was  thin,  tall,  rather  beautiful,  and 
of  an  independent  nature.  Emmy  was 
plain,  domestic,  and  dependent.  The 
sisters  shared,  however,  a  frustration 
brought  on  by  commonplace  routine  and 
dull  existence. 

Jenny  began  a  quarrel  when  she  ex 
pressed  her  intense  dislike  for  their 
supper  of  stew  and  bread  pudding;  she 
felt,  somehow,  that  she  was  entitled  to 
better  fare,  but  she  was  sure  that  the 


colorless  Emmy  enjoved  stew  and  pud 
ding.  Jealousy  and  frustration  gave 
rise  to  bitter  words  between  the  two. 
Emmy  was  upset,  too,  because  Jenny 
kept  company  with  Alf  Rylett,  whom 
she  herself  wanted.  Jenny,  disdainfully 
offering  Emmy  her  share  of  Alf,  said 
that  she  kept  company  with  him  only 
for  diversion. 

After  supper,  as  Jenny  was  preparing 
to  remake  a  hat,  Alf  entered  and  told 
her  that  he  haxi  two  tickets  to  the 
local  theater.  Jenny  tricked  Alf  into 
asking  Emmy  to  go  with  him.  While 
Emmy  was  changing,  Jenny  parried  Alf's 
protestations  of  love.  Emmy,  appearing 
actually  lovely  after  her  change,  swal 
lowed  her  pride  and  went  with  Alf,  whom 
she  idolized.  It  was  eight  o'clock. 

Jenny  put  Pa  to  bed  and  resumed 
work  on  her  hat.  She  rationalized  her 
throwing  over  of  Alf  hy  saying  to  her 
self  that  she  wanted  adventure  and  that 
steady  Alf  was  not  the  man  to  satisfy 
her  dreams  of  romance.  Besides,  Emmy 
was  the  marrying  kind,  not  she.  While 
Jenny  was  wishing  ardently  for  some 
thing  thrilling  to  happen  in  her  drab 
life,  a  knock  sounded  at  the  door.  A 
liveried  servant  handed  her  a  letter  and 
waited.  The  letter,  which  was  signed 
Keith,  bade  her  to  come  to  him  im 
mediately.  Apprehensively,  she  left  Pa 
alone  and  rode  in  a  large  car  to  the 
Thames.  There  she  met  Keith  Reding- 
ton,  whom  she  had  known  only  three 
days  during  a  seaside  vacation.  He  rowed 
her  out  to  a  yacht  anchored  in  the  river. 
The  yacht,  of  which  Keith  was  the  cap 
tain,  belonged  to  a  wealthy  lord.  It  was 
nine  o'clock. 

On  the  yacht  Jenny  found  supper  set 
for  two.  She  was  suspicious  of  Keith's 
intentions  and  annoyed  at  his  confidence 
that  she  would  come.  The  couple,  little 
more  than  strangers,  gradually  warmed 
to  each  other;  Jenny  discarded  her  sus 
picions  in  her  desire  for  happiness.  Keith 
told  her  of  his  life,  of  three  women  he 
had  loved,  one  of  whom  had  been  his 


662 


wife,  and  of  his  desire  to  marry  Jenny, 
Jenny,  hungry  for  an  entirely  different 
story,  was  hurt,  but  Keith's  enthusiasm 
in  explaining  his  romantic  plans  for  the 
two  of  them  completely  mollified  her. 
The  romantic  dream  of  going  off  to 
Alaska  or  to  Labrador  was  crushed,  how 
ever,  when  Jenny  thought  of  Pa.  At 
midnight  she  left  Keith  and  was  driven 
home  by  the  liveried  chauffeur. 

Meanwhile,  Alf  and  Emmy  had  gone 
to  the  theater.  The  demure  and  domes 
tic  little  Emmy  having  provoked  startling 
reactions  in  AlFs  mind  and  heart,  they 
took  the  long  way  home  after  the  show 
and  Alf  quickly  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  Emmy  was,  after  all,  the  girl  for  him. 
They  kissed  and  decided  to  marry  as  soon 
as  possible.  Emmy  invited  Alf  into  the 
house  for  a  late  supper. 

In   the   kitchen   they  stumbled  over 


the  body  of  Pa,  who  had  fallen  and 
struck  his  head  in  an  attempt  to  get  at 
his  beer,  which  was  kept  on  a  high 
shelf.  As  they  revived  Pa,  Jenny  entered. 
Later  Emmy,  glowing  with  happiness, 
revealed  to  Jenny  what  had  happened 
between  her  and  Alf;  Jenny  then  told 
Emmy  about  Keith  and  the  yacht  and: 
their  plans  to  run  away  to  a  romantic 
land.  In  spite  of  her  distrust  of  Keith, 
Emmy,  in  her  happiness,  expressed  ap 
proval.  The  sisters  retired  in  the  early 
hours  of  the  morning,  both  lost  in  the 
utter  completeness  of  the  day.  But 
Jenny,  in  bed,  became  conscious-stricken 
because  she  had  left  Pa  and  because  she 
had  given  up  her  independence  and  free 
dom  by  admitting  her  love  for  Keith. 
The  romantic  nocturne  was  fading  into 
common  day. 


O  PIONEERS! 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  Wilk  Gather  (1876-1947) 

Type  of  ^lot:   Regional   chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  1880-1910 

Locale:  Nebraska 

First  published:  1913 

Principal  characters: 

ALEXANDBA  BEE.GSON,  a  homesteader 

OSCAR, 

Lou,  and 

EMTL,  her  brothers 

CABX,  LJNDSTRUM, 

MARIE  TOVESKT,  and 

FRANK  SHABATA,  neighbors 

CRAZY  IVAR,  a  hired  man 


Critique: 

O  Pioneers!  is  more  of  a  literary  land 
mark  than  many  of  its  readers  realize. 
Aside  from  its  plot  and  the  fact  that 
it  deals  with  an  important  part  of  Amer 
ican  history,  there  is  the  matter  of  the 
author's  concept  of  her  art  In  this 
novel  we  find  both  the  old  chronological 
arrangement  of  circumstances  and  evi 
dences  of  newer  writing  freedoms.  It  is 


a  novel  of  local  color  and  realistic  re 
porting.     In    comparison    with    anothei 


:  on  the  pioneer  theme,  Giants  in  the 
Earth,  this  book  stands  on  a  completely 
different  plane.  Giants  in  the  Earth  is 
more  mystical.  O  Pioneers!  is  a  realistic 
study  of  people  who  made  a  success  of 
their  efforts  and  who  fathered  a  new  na 
tion  that  was  both  heroic  and  mediocre 


>  by 


663 


The  Story: 

Hanover  was  a  frontier  town  huddled 
on  the  windblown  Nebraska  prairie.  One 
winter  day  young  Alexandra  Bergson  and 
her  small  brother  F.mil  went  into  town 
from  their  new  homestead.  The  Bergsons 
were  Swedes.  Their  life  in  the  new 
country  was  one  of  hardship  because 
the  father  was  sick  and  the  children  were 
too  young  to  do  all  the  work  on  their 
prairie  acres.  Alexandra  went  to  the 
village  doctor  s  office  to  get  some  medicine 
for  her  father.  The  doctor  told  her 
there  was  no  hope  for  Bergson's  recovery. 

F.mil  had  brought  his  kitten  to  town 
with  him.  He  was  crying  on  the  street 
because  it  had  climbed  to  the  top  of  the 
telegraph  pole  and  would  not  come  down. 
When  Alexandra  returned,  she  met 
their  neighbor,  Carl  Lindstnim,  who 
rescued  the  cat.  The  three  rode  toward 
home  together  and  Carl  talked  of  his 
drawing.  When  Alexandra  and  Emil 
arrived  home,  their  supper  was  waiting 
and  their  mother  and  father  were  anxious 
for  their  return.  Shortly  afterward  Berg- 
son  called  his  family  about  him  and  told 
them  to  listen  to  Alexandra,  even  though 
she  was  a  girl,  for  she  had  proved  her 
abilities  to  run  the  farm  capably.  Above 
all,  they  were  to  keep  the  land. 

Alexandra  was  still  a  girl  when  her 
father  died,  but  she  assumed  at  once 
the  family's  domestic  and  financial 
troubles;  she  guided  everything  the  fam 
ily  did,  and  through  her  resourcefulness 
she  gained  security  and  even  a  measure 
of  wealth  for  her  brothers  and  herself. 

F.mil,  the  youngest  brother,  remained 
the  dreamer  of  the  family,  in  his  moon 
ing  over  Marie  Tovesky,  whom  he  had 
first  loved  as  a  little  child.  Marie  had 
married  Frank  Shabata.  Frank  was  wildly 
possessive  and  mistrusted  everyone  who 
showed  the  slightest  kindness  to  Marie. 

Alexandra  was  in  love  with  Carl  Lind- 
strum,  whose  father  gave  up  his  farm 
because  the  new,  stubborn  land  seemed 
too  hard  to  subdue.  He  returned  to  more 
settled  country  and  took  Carl  with 
to  learn  the  engraver's  trade. 


Alexandra  depended  upon  Crazy  Ivar 
for  many  things.  He  was  a  hermit, 
living  in  a  hole  dug  into  the  side  of  a 
river  bed.  The  kinder  Swedes  claimed 
he  had  been  touched  by  God.  Those 
who  were  unsympathetic  were  sure  he 
was  dangerous.  Actually,  he  was  a  kind- 
hearted  mystic  who  loved  animals  and 
birds  and  who  let  his  beard  grow  accord 
ing  to  the  custom  of  ancient  prophets. 
Through  his  lack  of  concern  for  -worldly 
matters  he  lost  his  claim,  and  Alexandra 
gave  him  shelter  on  her  own  farm,  much 
to  the  dismay  of  her  brothers  and  their 
wives.  They  demanded  that  she  send 
Crazy  Ivar  to  an  institution,  but  she 
refused.  She  respected  Crazy  Ivar  as  she 
did  few  other  people. 

In  the  same  way,  Alexandra  defended 
Carl  Lindstrum.  After  an  absence  of 
sixteen  years  he  came  back  to  their  settle 
ment.  He  had  studied  much,  but  in 
the  eyes  of  the  thrifty  Swedes  his  life 
was  a  failure  because  he  had  not  mar 
ried,  because  he  had  no  property,  because 
he  seemed  willing  to  marry  Alexandra, 
who  was  by  now  quite  wealthy.  Her 
brothers,  Oscar  and  Lou,  told  Alexandra 
that  she  must  not  marry  Carl,  and  she 
ordered  them  from  her  house.  Carl, 
hearing  of  the  disagreement,  set  out  for 
the  West  at  once. 

Alexandra  applied  herself  to  new 
problems.  She  paid  passage  for  other 
Swedes  to  come  to  America;  she  experi 
mented  with  new  farming  methods.  She 
became  friendlier  with  Marie  Shabata, 
whose  husband  was  growing  more  jeal 
ous.  She  saw  to  it  that  Emil  received 
an  education,  let  him  go  off  to  the  univer 
sity  despite  the  criticism  of  the  other 
brothers.  By  now  Rmil  knew  he  loved 
Marie  Shabata,  and  he  went  away  to 
study  because  he  felt  that  if  he  stayed 
in  the  community  something  terrible 
would  happen.  Even  attending  the  uni 
versity  did  not  help  him.  Other  girls  he 
met  seemed  less  attractive.  His  secret 
thoughts  were  always  about  Marie, 

Frank  Shabata  discharged  hired 


664 


because  he  suspected  them.  He  followed 
Marie  about  everywhere.  Even  at  the 
Catholic  Church  he  was  at  her  heels 
scowling  at  every  one  to  whom  she 
talked.  His  jealousy  was  like  a  disease. 
At  the  same  time  he  treated  her  coldly 
and  insulted  her  publicly  in  front  of 
their  friends.  She,  on  her  part,  was 
headstrong  and  defiant. 

At  last  Emil  returned  from  college. 
His  friend  Amedee  became  ill  while 
working  in  his  wheat  fields  and  died 
shortly  afterward.  Following  the  funeral, 
Emil  resolved  to  see  Marie,  to  say  good 
bye  to  her  before  leaving  the  neighbor 
hood  permanently.  He  found  her  in 
her  orchard  under  the  mulberry  tree. 
There  for  the  first  time  they  became 
lovers. 

Frank  returned  from  town  slightly 
drunk.  Finding  a  Bergson  horse  in  his 
stable,  he  took  a  weapon  and  went  in 
search  of  Emil.  When  he  saw  the  two 
he  fired,  killing  both.  Then  Frank,  mad 


with  horror,  started  to  run  away. 

Crazy  Ivar  discovered  the  dead  "bodies 
and  ran  with  the  news  to  Alexandra. 
For  the  next  few  months  Alexandra 
seemed  in  a  daze  and  spent  much  of 
her  time  in  the  cemetery.  She  was  caught 
there  during  a  terrible  storm,  and  Crazy 
Ivar  had  to  go  after  her.  During  the 
storm  she  regained  her  old  self-possession. 
Frank  Shabata,  who  had  been  captured 
soon  after  the  shooting,  had  been  tried 
and  sentenced  to  prison.  Alexandra  de 
termined  to  do  what  she  could  to  secure 
his  freedom.  If  she  could  no  longer 
help  her  brother,  she  would  help  Frank 

While  trying  to  help  Frank,  sht 
heard  that  Carl  Lindstmm  had  returned 
He  had  never  received  her  letter  telling 
of  the  tragedy,  but  on  his  return  from 
Alaska  he  had  read  of  the  trial  and  had 
hurried  to  Alexandra.  His  mine  was  a 
promising  venture.  The  two  decided 
that  they  could  now  marry  and  bring 
their  long  separation  to  an  end. 


THE  ODYSSEY 

Type  of  work:  Poem 
Author:  Homer  (c.  Ninth  century  B.  C.) 
Type  of  plot:  Heroic  epic 

Time  of  plot:  Years  immediately  following  Trojan  War 
Locale:  Greece  and  Mediterranean  lands 
First  transcribed:  Sixth  century  B.  C. 
Principal  cliaracters: 

ODYSSEUS,  the  wandering  hero  of  the  Trojan  War 

PENELOPE,  his  faithful  wife 

TELEMACHUS,  his  son 


Critique: 

Such  a  wealth  of  material  has  grown 
around  trie  name  of  Homer  that  the 
legendary  blind  bard  might  just  as  well 
himself  be  included  in  the  Greek  pan 
theon  of  gods  about  whom  he  wrote  so 
well.  The  ttiad,  an  epic  poem  concerned 
with  an  incident  in  the  Trojan  War,  and 
the  Odyssey,  concerned  with  Odysseus' 
difficulties  in  getting  home  after  the  war 
had  been  won  by  the  Greeks,  are  the 
great  epic  masterpieces  of  Western  litera 
ture  and  a  storehouse  of  Greek  folklore 
and  myth.  The  Odyssey,  with  its  saga 


cious  and  always  magnificent  hero,  its 
romantic  theme,  and  its  frequent  change 
of  scene,  has  enjoyed  greater  popularity 
through  the  ages  than  has  the  Iliad. 

The  Story: 

Of  the  Greek  heroes  who  survived  the 
Trojan  War  only  Odysseus  had  not  re 
turned  home,  for  he  had  been  detained 
by  the  god  Poseidon  because  of  an  of 
fense  that  he  had  committed  against  the 
god  of  the  sea. 

At  a  conclave  of  the  gods  on  Olympus 


665 


Zeus  decreed  that  Odysseus  should  be 
allowed  at  last  to  return  to  his  home  and 
family  in  Ithaca.  The  goddess  Athene 
was  sent  to  Ithaca  where,  in  disguise, 
she  told  Telemachus,  Odysseus*  son,  that 
his  father  was  alive.  She  advised  the 
youth  to  rid  his  home  of  the  great  num 
ber  of  suitors  suing  for  the  hand  of  his 
mother,  Penelope,  and  to  go  in  search 
of  his  father.  The  suitors  refused  to 
leave  the  house  of  Odysseus,  but  they 
gave  ready  approval  to  the  suggestion 
that  Telemachus  begin  a  quest  for  his 
father,  since  the  venture  would  take  him 
far  from  the  shores  of  Ithaca. 

The  youth  and  his  crew  sailed  to  Pylos, 
where  the  prince  questioned  King  Nestor 
concerning  the  whereabouts  of  Odysseus. 
Nestor,  a  wartime  comrade  of  Odysseus, 
advised  Telemachus  to  go  to  Lacedae- 
mon,  where  Menelaus,  who  reigned  there 
as  king,  could  possibly  give  him,  the  in 
formation  he  sought.  At  the  palace  of 
Menelaus  and  Helen,  for  whom  the 
Trojan  War  had  been  waged,  Telema 
chus  learned  that  Odysseus  was  a  pris 
oner  of  the  nymph  Calypso  on  her  island 
of  Ogygia,  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

Meanwhile  Zeus  sent  Hermes,  the 
messenger  of  the  gods,  to  Ogygia,  with 
orders  that  Calypso  was  to  release  Odys 
seus.  When  the  nymph  reluctantly  com 
plied,  the  hero  constructed  a  boat  in 
four  days  and  sailed  away  from  his  island 
prison.  But  Poseidon,  ever  the  enemy 
Df  Odysseus,  sent  great  winds  to  destroy 
his  boat  and  to  wash  him  ashore  on  the 
coast  of  the  Phaeacians.  There  he  was 
found  by  Nausicaa,  daughter  of  King 
Alcinous  of  the  Phaeacians,  when  she 
went  down  to  the  river  mouth  with  her 
handmaidens  to  wash  linen.  The  naked 
Odysseus  awoke,  saw  Nausicaa  and  her 
maidens,  and  asked  them  where  he  was. 
Frightened  at  first  by  this  stranger  hiding 
behind  the  shrubbery,  Nausicaa  soon  per 
ceived  that  he  was  no  vulgar  person. 
She  told  him  where  he  was,  supplied 
him  with  clothing,  and  gave  him  food 
and  drink.  Then  she  conducted  him  to 
the  palace  of  King  Alcinous  and  Queen 


Arete.  The  royal  pair  welcomed 
and,  at  his  asking,  promised  to  provide 
him  with  passage  to  his  native  land.  At 
a  great  feast  the  minstrel  Demodocus 
sang  of  the  Trojan  War  and  of  the  hard 
ships  suffered  by  the  returning  Greeks, 
and  Alcinous  saw  that  the  stranger  wept 
during  the  singing.  At  the  games  which 
followed  the  banquet  and  songs,  Odys 
seus  was  goaded  by  a  young  Phaeacian 
athlete  into  revealing  his  great  strength. 
Later,  at  Alcinous'  insistence,  Odysseus 
told  the  following  story  of  his  wander 
ings  since  the  war's  end. 

When  Odysseus  left  Ilium  he  was 
blown  to  Ismarus,  the  Cicones'  city, 
which  he  and  his  men  sacked.  Then 
they  were  blown  by  an  ill  wind  to  the 
land  of  the  Lotus-eaters,  where  Odys 
seus  had  difficulty  in  getting  his  men  to 
leave  a  slothful  life  of  ease.  Arriving  in 
the  land  of  the  Cyclops,  the  one-eyed 
monsters  who  herded  giant  sheep,  Odys 
seus  and  twelve  of  his  men  were  caught 
by  a  Cyclops,  Polyphemus,  who  ate  the 
men  one  by  one,  saving  Odysseus  until 
last.  But  the  wily  hero  tricked  the  giant 
into  a  drunken  stupor,  blinded  him  with 
a  sharpened  pole,  and  fled  back  to  his 
ship.  On  an  impulse,  Odysseus  disclosed 
his  name  to  the  blinded  Polyphemus  as 
he  sailed  away.  Polyphemus  called  upon 
his  father,  Poseidon,  to  avenge  him  by 
hindering  the  return  of  Odysseus  to  his 
homeland. 

Odysseus'  next  landfall  was  Aeolia, 
where  lived  Aeolus,  the  god  of  the  winds. 
Aeolus  gave  Odysseus  a  sealed  bag  con 
taining  all  the  contrary  winds,  so  that 
they  could  not  block  his  homeward 
voyage.  But  the  crew,  thinking  that  the 
bag  contained  treasure,  opened  it,  re 
leasing  all  the  winds,  and  the  ship  was 
blown  to  the  land  of  the  Laestrigonians, 
half -men,  half -giants,  who  plucked  mem 
bers  of  the  crew  from  the  ship  and  de 
voured  them.  Most  managed  to  escape, 
however,  and  came  to  Aeaea,  the  land 
of  the  enchantress  Circe.  Circe  changed 
the  crew  members  into  swine,  but  with 
the  aid  of  the  herb,  Moly,  which  Hermes 


666 


gave  him,  Odysseus  withstood  Circe's 
magic  and  forced  her  to  change  his  crew 
back  into  men.  Reconciled  to  the  great 
leader,  Circe  told  the  hero  that  he  could 
not  get  home  without  first  consulting  the 
shade  o£  Teiresias,  the  blind  Theban 
prophet.  On  the  shore  Odysseus  dug  a 
deep  pit  and  in  it  sacrificed  sheep. 
Thereupon  appeared  spirits  from  Hades, 
among  them  the  shade  of  Teiresias,  who 
warned  Odysseus  to  beware  of  danger 
in  the  land  of  the  sun  god. 

On  his  homeward  way  Odysseus  was 
forced  to  sail  past  the  isle  of  the  Sirens, 
maidens  who  by  their  beautiful  voices 
drew  men  to  their  death  on  treacherous 
rocks.  By  sealing  the  sailors'  ears  with 
wax  and  by  having  himself  tied  to  the 
ship's  mast,  Odysseus  passed  the  Sirens 
safely.  Next,  he  sailed  into  a  narrow 
sea  passage  guarded  by  the  monsters, 
Scylla  and  Charybdis.  Scylla's  six  horri 
ble  heads  seized  six  of  the  crew,  but  the 
ship  passed  safely  through  the  narrow 
channel.  On  the  island  of  the  sun  god, 
Hyperion,  the  starving  crew  slaughtered 
some  of  Hyperion's  sacred  cows,  despite 
a  warning  from  their  leader.  The  sun 
god  caused  the  ship  to  be  wrecked  in  a 
storm,  all  of  the  crew  being  lost  but 
Odysseus,  who  was  ultimately  washed 
ashore  on  Ogygia,  the  island  of  Calypso. 

His  story  finished,  Odysseus  received 
many  gifts  from  Alcrnoiis  and  Arete. 
They  accompanied  him  to  a  ship  they 
had  provided  for  his  voyage  to  Ithaca 
and  bade  him  farewell,  and  the  ship 
brought  him  at  last  to  his  own  land. 

Odysseus  hid  in  a  cave  the  vast  treas 
ure  he  had  received  from  his  Phaeacian 
hosts.  The  goddess  Athene  appeared  to 
him  and  counseled  him  on  a  plan  by 
which  he  could  avenge  himself  on  the 
rapacious  suitors.  The  goddess,  after 
changing  Odysseus  into  an  old  beggar, 
went  to  Lacedaemon  to  arrange  the  re 
turn  of  Telemachus  from  the  court  of 
Menelaus  and  Helen. 

Odysseus  went  to  the  rustic  cottage  of 
his  old  steward,  Eumaeus,  who  wel 
comed  the  apparent  stranger  and  offered 


him  hospitality.  The  faithful  servant 
disclosed  the  unpardonable  behavior  of 
Penelope's  suitors  and  told  how  Odys 
seus'  estate  had  been  greatly  reduced  by 
their  greed  and  love  of  luxury. 

Meanwhile,  Athene  advised  Telema 
chus  to  leave  the  ease  of  the  Lacedaemon 
court  and  return  home.  On  his  arrival 
he  went  first  to  the  hut  of  Eumaeus  in 
order  to  get  information  from  the  old 
steward.  There,  Athene  having  trans 
formed  Odysseus  back  to  his  heroic  self, 
son  and  father  were  reunited. 

After  pledging  his  son  to  secrecy, 
Odysseus  described  his  plan  of  attack. 
Eumaeus  and  Odysseus,  again  disguised 
as  a  beggar,  went  to  Odysseus'  house 
where  a  meal  was  in  progress.  Reviled 
by  the  suitors,  who  had  forgotten  that 
hospitality  to  a  stranger  was  a  practice 
demanded  by  Zeus  himself,  Odysseus 
bided  his  time,  even  when  arrogant 
Antinoiis  threw  a  stool  which  struck 
Odysseus  on  the  shoulder. 

Odysseus  ordered  Telemachus  to  lock 
up  all  weapons  except  a  few  which  were 
to  be  used  by  his  own  party;  the  women 
servants  were  also  to  be  locked  in  their 
quarters.  Penelope  questioned  Odysseus 
concerning  his  identity  but  Odysseus 
deceived  her  with  a  fantastic  tale.  When 
Eurycleia,  ancient  servant  of  the  king, 
washed  the  beggar's  feet  and  legs,  she 
recognized  her  master  by  a  scar  above 
the  knee,  but  she  did  not  disclose  his 
secret. 

Penelope  planned  an  impossible  feat 
of  strength  to  free  herself  of  her  suitors. 
One  day,  showing  the  famous  bow  of 
Eurytus,  and  twelve  battle-axes,  she  said 
that  she  would  give  her  hand  to  the 
suitor  who  could  shoot  an  arrow  through 
all  twelve  ax  handles.  Telemachus,  to 
prove  his  worth,  attempted,  but  failed  to 
string  the  bow.  One  after  another  the 
suitors  failed  even  to  string  the  bow. 
Finally  Odysseus  asked  if  an  old  beggar 
might  attempt  the  feat.  The  suitors 
laughed  scornfully  at  his  presumption. 
Then  Odysseus  strung  the  bow  with  ease 
and  shot  an  arrow  through  the  twelve 


667 


ax  hafts.  Throwing  aside  his  disguise, 
he  next  shot  Antinous  in  the  throat. 
There  ensued  a  furious  battle,  in  which 
all  the  suitors  were  killed  by  Odysseus 
and  his  small  partv.  Twelve  women 


the  suitors  were  hanged  in  the  court 
yard. 

Penelope,  in  her  room,  heard  what 
Odysseus,  the  erstwhile  beggar,  had 
done,  and  husband  and  wife  were  hap- 


servants  who  had  been  sympathetic  with      pily  reunited  after  years  of  separation. 

OEDIPUS  TYRANNUS 
Type  of  work:  Drama 
Author:  Sophocles  (495M06  B.  C.) 
Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 
Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 
Locale:  Thebes 
First  presented:  c.  429  B.  C. 

Principal  characters: 

OEDIPUS,  king  of  Thebes 

JOCASTA,  his  wife 

CREON,  Jocasta  *s  brother 

TEIRESIAS,  a  seer 

Critique: 

Oedipus  Tyrannus  is  Sophocles'  mas 
terpiece  and  considered  by  many  the 
greatest  of  classic  Greek  tragedies.  Aris 
totle  referred  to  it  continually  in  his 
Poetics,  pointing  out  features  of  the  ideal 
tragic  poem.  Character  and  action  are  in 
nearly  perfect  harmony.  The  fall  of  the 
Icing  is  made  doubly  horrifying  by  Sopho 
cles'  extremely  effective  use  of  dramatic 
irony.  The  play  probably  was  written  for 
production  at  one  of  the  periodic  drama 
competitions  held  in  Athens. 


The  Story: 

Thebes  having  been  stricken  by  a 
plague,  the  people  asked  King  Oedipus 
to  deliver  them  from  its  horrors.  Creon, 
brother  of  Jocasta,  Oedipus*  queen,  re 
turned  from  the  oracle  of  Apollo  and  dis 
closed  that  the  plague  was  punishment 
for  the  murder  of  King  Laius,  Oedipus' 
immediate  predecessor,  to  whom  Jocasta 
had  been  wife.  Creon  further  disclosed 
that  the  citizens  of  Thebes  would  have 
to  discover  and  punish  the  murderer  be 
fore  the  plague  would  be  lifted.  The 
people,  meanwhile,  mourned  their  dead, 
and  Oedipus  advised  them,  in  their  own 
interest,  to  search  out  and  apprehend 
the  murderer. 

Asked    to   help    £nd    the    murderer, 


Teiresias,  the  ancient,  blind  seer  of 
Thebes,  told  Oedipus  that  it  would  be 
better  for  all  if  he  did  not  tell  what  he 
knew.  He  said  that  coming  events  would 
reveal  themselves.  Oedipus  raged  at  the 
seer's  reluctance  to  tell  the  secret  until 
the  old  man,  angered,  said  that  Oedipus 
was  the  one  responsible  for  the  afflic 
tions  of  Thebes,  that  Oedipus  was  the 
murderer,  and  that  the  king  was  living 
in  intimacy  with  his  nearest  kin.  Oedi 
pus  accused  the  old  man  of  being  in 
league  with  Creon,  whom  he  suspected 
of  plotting  against  his  throne.  Teiresias 
answered  that  Oedipus  would  be  ashamed 
and  horrified  when  he  learned  the  truth 
about  his  true  parentage,  a  fact  Oedipus 
did  not  know.  Oedipus  defied  the  seer, 
saying  that  he  would  welcome  the  truth 
as  long  as  it  freed  his  kingdom  from  the 
plague.  Suspicious,  Oedipus  threatened 
Creon  with  death,  but  Jocasta  and  the 

Siople  advised  him  not  to  do  violence  on 
e    strength    of   rumor    or   momentary 
passion.     Oedipus    yielded,    and    Creon 
was  banished. 

Jocasta,  grieved  by  the  enmity  be 
tween  her  brother  and  Oedipus,  told  her 
husband  that  an  oracle  had  informed 
King  Laius  that  he  would  be  killed  by 
his  own  child,  the  offspring  of  Laius 


668 


and  Jocasta.  Jocasta  declared  Laius  could 
not  have  been  killed  by  his  own  child 
because  soon  after  the  child  was  born 
it  was  abandoned  on  a  deserted  moun 
tainside.  When  Oedipus  heard  from 
Jocasta  that  Laius  had  been  killed  by  rob 
bers  at  the  meeting  place  of  three  roads, 
he  was  deeply  disturbed.  Learning  that 
the  three  roads  met  in  Phocis,  he  began 
to  suspect  that  he  was,  after  all,  the  mur 
derer.  Hesitating  to  reveal  his  crime,  he 
became  more  and  more  convinced  of  his 
own  guilt. 

Oedipus  told  Jocasta  he  had  believed 
himself  the  son  of  Polybus  of  Corinth 
and  Merope,  until  at  a  feast  a  drunken 
man  had  announced  that  the  young 
Oedipus  was  not  really  Polybus'  son.  Dis 
turbed,  he  had  gone  to  consult  the 
oracle  of  Apollo,  who  had  told  him  he 
would  sire  children  by  his  own  mother 
and  he  would  kill  his  own  father.  Leav 
ing  Corinth,  at  a  meeting  place  of  three 
roads,  Oedipus  had  been  offended  by  a 
man  in  a  chariot.  He  killed  the  man  and 
all  of  his  servants  but  one.  Thereafter 
he  had  come  to  Thebes  and  had  become 
the  new  king  by  answering  the  riddle 
of  the  Sphinx,  a  riddle  which  asked 
what  went  on  all  fours  before  noon,  on 
two  legs  at  noon,  and  on  three  legs  after 
noon.  Oedipus  had  answered,  correctly, 
that  Man  walks  on  all  fours  as  an  infant, 
on  two  legs  in  his  prime,  and  with  the 
aid  of  a  stick  in  his  old  age.  With  the 
kingship,  he  also  won  the  hand  of  Jo 
casta,  King  Laius*  queen. 

The  servant  who  had  reported  that 
King  Laius  had  been  killed  by  robbers 
was  summoned.  Oedipus  awaited  his  ar 
rival  fearfully.  Jocasta  assured  her  hus 
band  that  the  entire  matter  was  of  no 
great  consequence,  that  surely  the  proph 
ecies  of  the  oracles  would  not  come  true. 

A  messenger  from  Corinth  announced 
that  Polybus  was  dead  and  that  Oedipus 
was  now  king.  Because  Polybus  had 
died  of  sickness,  not  by  the  hand  of  his 
son,  Oedipus  and  Jocasta  were  at  ease 
for  the  time  being.  Oedipus  told  the 
messenger  he  would  not  go  to  Corinth 


for  fear  of  siring  children  by  his  mother, 
Merope,  thus  fulfilling  the  prophecy  of 
the  oracle. 

The  messenger  then  revealed  that 
Oedipus  was  not  really  the  son  of  Poly 
bus  and  Merope,  but  a  foundling  whom 
the  messenger,  at  that  time  a  shepherd, 
had  taken  to  Polybus.  The  messenger 
related  how  he  had  received  the  baby 
from  another  shepherd,  who  was  a  serv 
ant  of  the  house  of  King  Laius.  Jocasta, 
realizing  the  dreadful  truth,  did  not  wish 
any  longer  to  see  the  old  servant  who 
had  been  summoned,  but  Oedipus,  de 
siring  to  have  the  matter  out  regardless 
of  the  cost,  called  again  for  the  servant. 
When  the  servant  appeared,  the  mes 
senger  recognized  him  as  the  herdsman 
from  whom  he  had  received  the  child 
years  before.  The  old  servant  then  con 
fessed  he  had  been  ordered  by  King 
Laius  to  destroy  the  boy,  but  out  of  pity 
he  had  given  the  infant  to  the  Corinthian 
to  raise  as  his  foster  son. 

Oedipus,  now  all  but  mad  from  the 
realization  of  what  he  had  done,  entered 
the  palace  to  discover  that  Jocasta  had 
hanged  herself  by  her  hair.  He  removed 
her  golden  brooches  and  with  therr 
pierced  his  eyes.  Blinded,  he  would  not 
be  able  to  see  the  results  of  the  horrible 
prophecy.  Then  he  displayed  himself, 
blind  and  bloody  and  miserable,  to  the 
Thebans  and  announced  himself  as  the 
murderer  of  their  king  and  the  defiler 
of  his  own  mother's  bed.  He  cursed  the 
herdsman  who  had  saved  him  from  death 
years  before. 

Creon,  having  returned,  ordered  the 
attendants  to  lead  Oedipus  back  into  the 
palace.  Oedipus  asked  Creon  to  have 
him  conducted  out  of  Thebes  where  no 
man  would  ever  see  him  again.  Also, 
he  asked  Creon  to  give  Jocasta  a  proper 
burial  and  to  see  that  the  sons  and  daugh 
ters  of  the  unnatural  marriage  should 
be  cared  for  and  not  be  allowed  to  live 
poor  and  unmarried  because  of  any 
shame  attached  to  their  parentage,  Creon 
led  the  wretched  Oedipus  away  to  his 
exile  of  blindness  and  torment. 


669 


OF  HUMAN  BONDAGE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  W.  Somerset  Maugham  (1874-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  oj  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1915 

Principal  characters: 

PHILIP  CABEY,  an  orphan  boy 
WILLIAM  CAREY,  his  uncle 
LOUISA  CABEY,  his  aunt 
Miss  WILKINSON,  Philip's  first  love 
3Mnj>R£r>  ROGERS,  a  waitress 
THORPE  ATHELNY,  Philip's  friend 
SALLY  ATHELNY,  his  daughter 


Critique: 

Without  question,  Oj  Human  Bond 
age  is  one  of  the  few  classics  of  the  pres 
ent  day.  In  this  novel  Maugham  tells 
x)f  a  young  man's  search  for  a  way  of 
life.  It  is  the  story  of  the  thoughts  and 
actions  of  a  bitter,  confused,  warped  boy7 
and  it  is  a  story  told  with  the  mature 
wisdom  of  an  author  who  had  suffered 
some  of  the  same  tangled  emotions  in 
his  own  youth.  Maugham  tells  us  that 
the  emotions  are  his  own,  with  the  events 
and  situations  drawn  partly  from  his  own 
life  and  partly  from  experiences  of  his 
friends.  Many  critics  believe  tnat  Of 
Human  Bondage  is  Maugham's  greatest 
contribution  to  prose  fiction. 

The  Story: 

Philip  Carey  was  nine  years  old  when 
his  mother  died  and  he  was  sent  to  live 
with  his  aunt  and  uncle  at  the  vicarage 
of  Blackstable,  forty  miles  outside  Lon- 
lon.  Uncle  William  Carey  was  a  penny- 
pinching  smugly  religious  man  who 
made  Philip's  life  miserable.  Having 
been  bom  with  a  clubfoot,  Philip  was 
extremely  sensitive  about  his  deformity, 
and  he  grew  up  bitter  and  rebellious. 
The  only  love  he  was  shown  was  given 
to  him  by  his  Aunt  Louisa,  who  had 
never  been  able  to  have  children  of  her 
own. 


At  school  Philip's  clubfoot  was  a 
source  of  much  ridicule,  for  children 
are  crueL  Philip  was  so  sensitive  that 
any  reference  to  his  foot,  even  a  kind 
reference,  caused  him  to  strike  out  at 
the  speaker. 

When  he  was  eighteen,  Philip,  with 
a  small  inheritance  of  his  own,  went  to 
Berlin  to  study.  He  took  rooms  in  the 
home  of  Professor  and  Frau  Erlin.  There 
he  studied  German,  French,  and  math 
ematics  with  tutors  from  the  University 
of  Heidelberg.  He  met  several  young 
men,  among  them  Weeks,  an  American, 
and  Hayward,  a  radical  young  English 
man.  From  their  serious  discussions  on 
religion  Philip  decided  that  he  no  longer 
believed  in  God.  This  decision  made 
him  feel  free,  for  in  discarding  God  he 
subconsciously  discarded  his  memories 
of  his  cold  and  bitter  youth  at  the  vicar 
age. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  the  Black- 
stable,  Philip  became  involved  with  a 
spinster  twice  his  age,  a  Miss  Emily 
Wilkinson  who  was  a  friend  of  his 
Aunt  Louisa.  She  was  not  attractive  to 
him,  but  be  thought  a  man  of  twenty 
should  experience  love.  It  was  typical 
of  Philip's  attitude  that  even  after  they 
became  lovers  he  continued  to  call  the 
woman  Miss  Wilkinson. 

_JNT  BONDAGE  by  W.  Somerset  Maugham.  By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers, 
Lteubleday  &  Co.,  lac.  Copyright,  1915,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Renewed,  1942,  by  W.  Somerset 
Maugbam. 


670 


Not  long  after  that  affair  Philip  went 
to  London  to  begin  a  career  as  a  clerk 
in  an  accounting  firm.  Dissatisfied,  he 
worked  only  a  year;  then  he  went  to 
Paris  to  study  art.  But  two  years  later 
he  gave  up  the  idea  of  becoming  an 
artist  and  returned  to  London  for  his 
third  great  start  on  a  career.  He  had 
decided  to  study  medicine. 

In  London,  Philip  met  Mildred  Rog 
ers,  a  waitress.  She  was  really  nothing 
more  than  a  wanton,  but  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  Philip  saw  her  for  what  she 
was,  he  loved  her  and  desired  her  above 
all  else.  He  gave  her  presents  which 
were  extravagant  for  his  small  income. 
He  neglected  his  studies  to  be  with  her. 
She  gave  him  nothing  in  return.  When 
he  asked  her  to  marry  him,  for  it  seemed 
that  that  was  the  only  way  he  could 
ever  possess  her,  she  told  him  bluntly 
that  he  did  not  have  enough  money  for 
her  and  that  she  was  marrying  someone 
else.  Philip  loved  her  and  hated  her  so 
much  that  he  was  almost  consumed  by 
his  emotions. 

He  had  begun  to  forget  Mildred,  in  his 
affection  for  another  girl,  when  she  re 
turned  to  London.  Alone  and  penniless, 
she  told  him  that  the  other  man  had  not 
married  her,  that  he  already  had  a  wife 
and  children.  She  was  pregnant.  Philip 
forgot  the  other  girl  and  took  Mildred 
back  again.  He  paid  her  hospital  bill 
and  her  lodging  bills  and  sent  her  to 
the  coast  to  rest.  Mildred  repaid  him  by 

fDing  off  for  a  holiday  with  a  man 
hilip  considered  his  good  friend.  They 
used  Philip's  money  to  pay  their  ex 
penses.  Despising  himself,  he  begged 
Mildred  to  come  back  to  him  after  her 
trip  with  the  other  man;  he  could  not 
overcome  his  insane  desire  for  her.  But 
Mildred  did  not  come  back. 

Philip  forced  himself  to  study  harder 
than  ever  then.  He  met  Thorpe  Athel- 
ny,  a  patient  in  the  hospital  where  he 
was  studying,  and  the  two  men  became 
good  friends.  Philip  visited  the  Athelny 
home  almost  every  Sunday.  It  was  a 
noisy  house,  filled  with  happy  children 


and  with  love  and  kindness,  and  the 
cheerful  atmosphere  filled  an  empty  place 
in  Philip's  heart. 

One  evening  Philip  saw  Mildred 
again.  She  was  highly  painted  and  over 
dressed,  and  she  was  sauntering  slowly 
down  the  street  with  a  vulgar  swing  of 
her  hips.  She  had  become  a  common 
street-walker.  Although  Philip  knew 
then  that  he  had  lost  his  desire  for  her, 
out  of  pity  he  took  her  and  her  child 
into  his  home.  Mildred  was  to  act  as 
his  housekeeper.  Because  Philip's  funds 
were  small,  they  were  forced  to  live 
frugally.  Mildred  once  again  took  all  he 
had  to  offer  and  gave  him  nothing  in 
return.  Her  only  payment  was  an  un 
knowing  one,  for  Philip  loved  her  child 
very  much  and  he  had  many  hours  of 
pleasure  holding  the  baby  girl  in  his 
arms.  Mildred  tried  again  and  again  to 
resume  their  old  relationship,  but  each 
time  Philip  repulsed  her.  At  last  she 
became  insanely  angry  and  left  his 
apartment  with  her  baby.  Before  she 
left,  however,  she  completely  wrecked 
the  apartment,  ripped  his  clothing  and 
linens  with  a  knife,  smashed  furniture 
and  dishes,  and  tore  up  his  pictures. 

A  short  time  later  Philip  lost  what 
little  money  he  had  in  a  bad  invest 
ment.  The  Athelny  family  took  him. 
into  their  home,  and  Thorpe  obtained 
work  for  him  as  a  window  dresser  in 
the  store  where  Thorpe  himself  was  em 
ployed.  Philip  had  to  give  up  his  studies 
at  die  hospital  because  of  lack  of  money. 
Then,  when  he  was  thirty,  his  Uncle 
William  died  and  left  him  enough  money 
to  finish  his  medical  education.  When 
he  walked  down  the  steps  with  his 
diploma  in  his  hand,  Philip  thought  that 
he  was  ready  at  last  to  begin  his  real 
life.  He  planned  to  sign  on  as  a  ship's 
doctor  and  sail  around  the  world  before 
he  settled  down  to  a  permanent  prac 
tice. 

But  before  he  accepted  a  position, 
Philip  went  on  a  holiday  trip  with  the 
Athelnys.  While  on  that  holiday  he 
realized  with  a  distinct  shock  that  one 


671 


of  the  Athelny  girls  whom  he  had  always 
thought  of  as  a  child  had  definitely 
grown  up.  As  they  walked  home  to 
gether  one  night,  he  and  Sally  Athelny 
became  lovers.  Back  in  London,  a  few 
weeks  later,  Sally  told  him  that  she 
thought  she  was  pregnant.  Philip  im 
mediately  gave  up  his  dreams  of  travel 
ing  over  the  world  and  accepted  a  small- 
salaried  practice  in  a  little  fishing  village, 
so  that  he  and  Sally  could  be  mar 
ried.  But  Sally's  fears  proved  ground 
less.  Free  to  travel  and  be  his  own 
master,  Philip  suddenly  realized  that 
what  he  really  wanted  was  a  home  and 


a  family  and  security.  He  had  never 
been  normal  because  of  his  deformity, 
and  he  had  never  done  what  he  wanted 
to  do  but  always  what  he  thought  he 
should  do.  He  had  always  lived  in  the 
future.  Now  he  wanted  to  live  in  the 
present.  And  so  he  asked  Sally  to  marry 
him,  to  go  with  him  to  that  little  fishing 
village.  He  offered  her  nothing  but  his 
love  and  the  fruit  of  the  lessons  he  had 
learned  from  hard  teachers,  but  Sally 
accepted  his  proposal.  Philip  felt  that 
he  was  his  own  master  after  his  bleak, 
bitter  years  of  mortal  bondage. 


OF  MICE  AND  MEN 

Typ e  of  work;  Novel 
Author:  John  Steinbeck  (1902-         ) 
Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  melodrama 
Time  oj  plot:  Twentieth  century 
LOC&Z&;  Salinas  Valley,  California 
First  published:    1937 

Principal  cliaracters: 

LENNIE  SMALT,,  a  simple-minded  giant 

GEORGE  JMnTON,  his  friend 

CANDY,  swamper  on  the  ranch  on  which  George  and  Lennie  worked 

CURUBY,  the  owner's  son 

SLIM,  the  jerkline  skinner  on  the  ranch 

CROOKS,  the  colored  stable  buck 

Critique: 

Written  in  terms  of  theatrical  melo 
drama,  the  compact,  tragic  story  of 
Of  Mice  and  Men  spins  itself  out  in 
only  three  days.  In  that  brief  time 
Curley  has  his  hand  smashed,  his  wife 
Is  murdered,  the  old  swamper's  dog  is 
lolled,  Lennie  loses  his  life,  and  George 
shoots  his  best  friend.  The  effect  of  the 
tightly-knit  story  is  heightened  by  the 
naturalness  of  the  setting  and  the  men's 
talk,  and  by  the  underlying  sympathy 
Steinbeck  has  for  all  of  his  creations, 
even  the  meanest 


River.  One  man — his  companion  called 
him  George — was  small  and  wiry.  The 
other  was  a  large,  lumbering  fellow  whose 
arms  hung  loosely  at  his  sides.  After 
they  had  drunk  at  the  sluggish  water 
and  washed  their  faces,  George  sat  back 
with  his  legs  drawn  up.  His  friend  Len 
nie  imitated  him. 

The  two  men  were  on  their  way  to 
a  ranch  where  they  had  been  hired  to 
buck  barley.  Lennie  had  cost  them 
their  jobs  at  their  last  stop  in  Weed, 
where  he  had  been  attracted  by  a  girl's 
red  dress.  Grabbing  at  her  clothes,  he 
had  been  so  frightened  by  her  screaming 
that  George  had  been  forced  to  hit  him 
over  the  head  to  make  him  let  go.  They 
had  run  away  to  avoid  a  lynching. 

9F,  **?££,  A^H  MEN  by  Joha  St*111**^     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The  Viking  Press,   Inc.     Copy 
right,  19-i?,  by  John  Stemheck. 


The  Story: 

Late  one  hot  afternoon  two  men  carry 
ing  blanket  rolls  trudged  down  the  path 
that  led  to  the  bank  of  the  Salinas 


672 


After  George  had  lectured 
panion  about  letting  him 


his  com 
to  their 

new  employer  when  they  were  inter 
viewed,  Lennie  hegged  for  a  story  he  had 
already  heard  many  times.  It  was  the 
story  of  the  farm  they  would  own  one 
day.  It  would  have  chickens,  rabbits, 
and  a  vegetable  garden,  and  Lennie 
would  be  allowed  to  feed  the  rabbits. 

The  threat  that  Lennie  would  not  be 
allowed  to  care  for  the  rabbits  if  he  did 
not  obey  caused  him  to  keep  still  when 
they  arrived  at  the  ranch  the  next  day. 
In  spite  of  George's  precautions,  their 
new  boss  was  not  easy  to  deal  with.  He 
was  puzzled  because  George  gave  Len 
nie  no  chance  to  talk. 

While  the  men  were  waiting  for  the 
lunch  gong,  the  owner's  son  Curley  came 
in,  ostensibly  looking  for  his  father,  but 
actually  to  examine  the  new  men.  After 
he  had  gone,  Candy,  the  swamper  who 
swept  out  the  bunkhouse,  warned  them 
that  Curley  was  a  prizefighter  who  de 
lighted  in  picking  on  the  men  and  that 
he  was  extremely  jealous  of  his  slatternly 
bride. 

Lennie  had  a  foreboding  of  evil  and 
wanted  to  leave,  but  the  two  men  had 
no  money  with  which  to  continue  their 
wanderings.  But  by  evening  Lennie  was 
happy  again.  The  dog  belonging  to 
Slim,  the  jerkline  skinner,  had  had  pups 
the  night  before,  and  Slim  had  given 
one  to  simple-minded  Lennie. 

Slim  was  easy  to  talk  to.  While  George 

£yed  solitaire  that  evening,  he  told 
new  friend  of  the  incident  in  Weed. 
He  had  just  finished  his  confidence 
when  Lennie  came  in,  hiding  his  puppy 
inside  his  coat.  George  told  Lennie  to 
take  the  pup  back  to  the  barn.  He  said 
that  Lennie  would  probably  spend  the 
night  there  with  the  animal. 

The  bunkhouse  had  been  deserted 
by  all  except  old  Candy  when  Lennie 
asked  once  more  to  hear  the  story  of 
the  land  they  would  some  day  buy.  At 
its  conclusion  the  swamper  spoke  up. 
He  had  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
saved,  he  said,  and  he  knew  he  would 


not  be  able  to  work  many  more  yearst 
He  wanted  to  join  George  and  Lennie 
in  their  plan.  George  finally  agreed,  for 
with  Candy's  money  they  would  soon 
be  able  to  buy  the  farm  they  had  in 
mind. 

Lennie  was  still  grinning  with  de 
lighted  anticipation  when  Curley  came 
to  the  bunkhouse  in  search  of  his  wife. 
The  men  had  been  taunting  him  about 
her  wantonness  when  he  spied  Lennie's 
grin.  Infuriated  with  the  thought  that 
he  was  being  laughed  at,  Curley  attacked 
the  larger  man.  Lennie,  remembering 
George's  warnings,  did  nothing  to  de 
fend  himself  at  first.  Finally  he  grabbed 
Curley 's  hand  and  squeezed.  When  he 
let  go,  every  bone  had  been  crushed. 

Curley  was  driven  off  to  town  for 
treatment,  with  instructions  from  Slim 
to  say  that  he  had  caught  his  hand  in  a 
machine.  Slim  warned  him  that  the 
truth  would  soon  be  known  if  he  failed 
to  tell  a  convincing  story. 

After  the  others  had  started  to  town 
with  Curley,  Lennie  went  to  talk  to 
Crooks,  the  colored  stable  buck,  who 
had  his  quarters  in  the  harness  room 
instead  of  the  bunkhouse.  Crooks'  cool 
ness  quickly  melted  before  Lennie's  in 
nocence.  While  Lennie  told  the  colored 
man  about  the  dream  of  the  farm,  Candy 
joined  them.  They  wyere  deep  in  discus 
sion  of  the  plan  when  Curley's  wife 
appeared,  looking  for  her  husband.  The 
story  about  her  husband  and  the  machine 
did  not  deceive  her,  and  she  hinted  that 
she  was  pleased  with  Lennie  for  what 
he  had  done.  Having  put  an  end  to  the 
men's  talk,  she  slipped  out  noiselessly 
when  she  heard  the  others  come  back 
from  town. 

Lennie  was  in  the  barn  petting  his 
puppy.  The  other  workmen  pitched 
horseshoes  outside.  Lennie  did  not  real 
ize  that  the  dog  was  already  dead  from 
the  mauling  he  had  innocently  given 
it.  As  he  sat  in  the  straw,  Curley 's 
wife  came  around  the  corner  of  the 
stalls.  He  would  not  speak  to  her  at 
first,  afraid  that  he  would  not  get  to  feed 


673 


the  rabbits  if  he  did  anything  wrong, 
but  the  girl  gradually  managed  to  draw 
his  attention  to  her  and  persuaded  him 
to  stroke  her  hair. 

When  she  tried  to  pull  her  head 
away,  Lennie  held  on,  growing  angry 
as  she  tried  to  yell.  Finally  he  shook 
her  violently  and  broke  her  neck. 

Curley 's  wife  was  lying  half-buried 
in  the  hay  when  Candy  came  into  the 
barn  in  search  of  Lennie.  Finding  Len 
nie  gone,  he  called  George,  and  while 
the  latter  went  off  to  get  a  gun  the 
swamper  spread  the  alarm.  The  op 
portunity  to  catch  the  murderer  was 
what  Curley  had  been  looking  for. 


Carrying  a  loaded  shotgun,  he  started 
off  with  the  men,  George  among  them. 
It  was  George  who  found  Lennie 
hiding  in  the  bushes  at  the  edge  of  a 
stream.  Hurriedly,  for  the  last  time,  he 
told  his  companion  the  story  of  the  rab 
bit  farm,  and  when  he  had  finished 
Lennie  begged  that  they  go  at  once  to 
look  for  the  farm.  Knowing  that  Lennie 
could  not  escape  from  Curley  and  the 
other  men  who  were  searching  for  him, 
George  put  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  to 
the  back  of  his  friend's  head  and  pulled 
the  trigger.  Lennie  was  dead  whea  the 
others  arrived. 


OF  TIME  AND  THE  RIVER 

Type   of  -work:   Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Wolfe  O900-1938) 

Type  of  plot:  Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1920's 

Locale:  Harvard,  New  York,  France 

First  -published:  19B5 

Principal  characters: 

EUGENE  GASFC,  a  young  student  and  writer 

BASCOM  PENTLANT*,  his  uncle 

FHANCIS  STAEWICK,  a  friend 

ANN,  and 

EUDSOK,  Starwick's  friends 

ROBERT  WEAVER,  Eugene's  friend 

Critique: 

With  this  novel,  his  second,  Thomas 
Wolfe  became  a  more  mature  craftsman. 
Trie  book  is  a  happy  blend  of  the  best 
aspects,  the  enthusiasm  and  freshness  of 
Look  Homeward,  Angel  and  of  Wolfe's 
growing  ability  as  a  writer.  Thomas 
Wolfe  had  his  limitations.  Yet  what  he 
gave  contains  some  of  the  best  writing 
America  has  produced.  Wolfe  was  not 
a  sophisticated  novelist.  He  wrote  of 
life,  of  the  pains,  hungers,  sorrows,  of 
the  common  people.  More  than  any 
other  writer  in  America,  he  has  suc 
ceeded  in  vividly  describing  the  sights, 
smells,  fears,  and  hopes  of  our  nation 
and  our  people.  Of  Time  and  the  River 


is   a    masterpiece    of   which   Americans 
can  be  proud. 

The  Story: 

Eugene  Gant  was  leaving  Altamont 
for  study  at  Harvard.  His  mother  and 
his  sister  Helen  stood  on  the  station 
platform  and  waited  with  him  for  the 
train  that  would  take  him  north.  Eugene 
felt  that  he  was  escaping  from  his  strange, 
unhappy  childhood,  that  the  train  would 
take  him  away  from  sickness  and  worry 
over  money,  away  from  his  mother's 
boarding-house,  the  Dixieland,  away  from 
memories  of  his  gruff,  kind  brother  Ben, 
away  from  all  ghosts  of  the  past.  While 


OF  TIME  A^'D  THE  MVER  by  Thomas  Wolfe.     By  permission  of  Edward  C.  Aswell,  Administrator,  Estate 
of  Thomas  \\oiie,  and  tke  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     Copyright,  1935,  b7  Charles  Scribner's  Son*. 


674 


they  waited,  they  met  Robert  Weaver, 
who  was  also  on  his  way  to  Harvard. 
Mrs.  Gant  said  that  Robert  was  a  fine 
boy,  but  that  there  was  insanity  in  his 
family.  She  told  Eugene  family  scandals 
of  the  town  before  the  train  came 
puffing  in. 

Eugene  broke  his  trip  in  Baltimore  to 
visit  his  father,  who  was  slowly  dying 
of  cancer.  Old  Gant  spent  much  of  his 
time  on  the  sunlit  hospital  porch,  dream 
ing  of  time  and  of  his  youth. 

At  Harvard,  Eugene  enrolled  in  Pro 
fessor  Hatcher's  drama  class.  Hungry  for 
knowledge,  he  browsed  in  the  library, 
pulling  books  from  the  library  shelves 
and  reading  them  as  he  stood  by  the 
open  stacks.  He  wrote  plays  for  the 
drama  workshop.  Prowling  the  streets 
of  Cambridge  and  Boston,  he  wondered 
about  the  lives  of  people  he  met,  whose 
names  he  would  never  know. 

One  day  he  received  a  note  from 
Francis  Starwick,  Professor  Hatcher's 
assistant,  asking  Eugene  to  have  din 
ner  with  him  that  night  As  Eugene 
had  made  no  friends  at  the  university, 
he  was  surprised  by  Starwick's  invita 
tion.  Starwick  turned  out  to  be  a  pleas 
ant  young  man  who  welcomed  Eugene's 
confidences  but  returned  none. 

In  Boston  Eugene  met  his  uncle,  Bas- 
com  Pentland,  and  his  wife.  Uncle 
Bascom  had  once  been  a  preacher,  but 
he  had  left  the  ministry  and  was  now 
working  as  a  conveyancer  in  a  law  orBce. 

One  day  Eugene  received  a  telegram 
telling  him  that  his  father  was  dying. 
He  had  no  money  for  a  ticket  home,  and 
so  he  went  to  see  Wang,  a  strange,  secre 
tive  Chinese  student  who  roomed  in  the 
same  house.  Wang  gave  him  money  and 
Eugene  went  back  to  Altamont,  but  he 
arrived  too  late  to  see  his  father  alive. 
Old  Gant  died  painfully  and  horribly. 
Only  with  his  death  did  his  wife  and 
children  realize  how  much  this  ranting, 
roaring  old  man  had  meant  in  their  lives. 

Back  at  Harvard,  Eugene  and  Star- 
wick  became  close  friends.  Starwick 
always  confused  Eugene  when  they  were 


together;  Eugene  had  the  feeling  that 
everything  Starwick  did  or  said  was  like 
the  surface  of  a  shield,  protecting  his 
real  thoughts  or  feelings  underneath. 

One  night  Robert  Weaver  came  to 
Eugene's  rooms.  He  was  drunk  and 
shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  He 
wanted  Eugene  to  go  out  with  him,  but 
Eugene  finally  managed  to  get  him  to 
bed  on  a  cot  in  Wang's  room. 

Eugene  dreamed  of  becoming  a  great 
playwright.  After  he  had  completed  his 
course  at  Harvard,  he  went  back  to 
Altamont  and  waited  to  have  one  of 
his  plays  accepted  for  production  on 
Broadway.  That  was  a  summer  of  un- 
happiness  and  suspense.  His  plays  were 
rejected.  While  visiting  a  married  sistei 
in  South  Carolina,  he  ran  into  Roberf 
Weaver  again.  The  two  got  drunk  and 
landed  in  jail. 

In  the  fall  Eugene  went  to  New 
York  to  become  an  English  instructor 
at  a  city  university.  After  a  time  Robert 
Weaver  appeared.  He  had  been  living 
at  a  club,  but  now  he  insisted  that 
Eugene  get  him  a  room  at  the  apart 
ment  hotel  where  Eugene  lived.  Eugene 
hesitated,  knowing  what  would  happen 
if  Weaver  went  on  one  of  his  sprees. 
The  worst  did  happen.  Weaver  smashed 
furniture  and  set  fire  to  his  room,  He 
also  had  a  mistress,  a  woman  who  had 
married  her  husband  because  she  knew 
he  was  dying  and  would  leave  her  his 
money.  One  night  the  husband  found 
his  wife  and  Weaver  together.  There 
was  a  scuffle.  The  husband  pulled  a  gun 
and  attempted  to  shoot  Weaver  before 
he  collapsed.  It  looked  very  much  as  if 
Eliza  Gant's  statement  about  insanity 
in  the  Weaver  family  were  true. 

Eugene  also  renewed  a  college  friend 
ship  with  Joel  Pierce,  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  family.  At  Joel's  invitation  he 
went  to  visit  at  the  magnificent  Pierce 
estate  along  the  Hudson  River.  Seeing 
the  fabulously  rich  close  at  hand  for 
the  first  time,  Eugene  was  both  fascinated 
and  disappointed. 

At  vacation  time  Eugene  went  abroad, 


675 


first  to  England,  where  he  lived  with 
the  strange  Coulson  family,  and  then  to 
France.  In  Paris  he  met  Starwick  again, 
standing  enraptured  upon  the  steps  of 
the  Louvre.  Starwick  was  doing  Europe 
with  two  women  from  Boston,  Elinor 
and  Ann.  Elinor,  who  had  left  her  hus 
band,  was  mistakenly  believed  by  her 
friends  to  he  Starwick's  mistress.  Eugene 
went  to  see  the  sights  of  Paris  with 
them.  Ann  and  Elinor  paid  all  of  Star- 
wick's  bills.  One  night,  in  a  cabaret, 
Starwick  got  into  an  argument  with  a 
Frenchman  and  accepted  a  challenge  to 
duel.  Ann,  wanting  to  end  the  ridiculous 
affair,  paid  the  Frenchman  money  to 
satisfy  him  for  damages  to  his  honor. 

Eugene  attempted  to  make  love  to 
Arm,  but  when  she  resisted  him  he 
realized  that  she  was  in  love  with  Star 
wick.  What  made  the  affair  even  more 
tragic  was  Eugene's  discovery  that  Ann's 
love  was  wasted  because  Starwick  was 
a  homosexual. 

Disgusted  with  the  three,  Eugene 
went  to  Chartres  by  himself.  From 
Chartres  he  went  to  Orleans.  There  he 
met  an  eccentric  old  countess  who  be 
lieved  that  Eugene  was  a  correspondent 
for  the  New  York  Times,  a  journalist 
planning  to  write  a  book  of  travel  im 
pressions.  She  secured  for  him  an  invita 
tion  to  visit  the  Marquise  de  Mornaye, 
who  was  under  the  mistaken  impression 
that  Eugene  had  known  her  son  in 


America. 

Eugene  went  to  Tours.  There  in  that 
old  town  of  white  buildings  and  narrow, 
cobble-stoned  streets,  memories  of  Amer 
ica  suddenly  come  flooding  back  to  him. 
He  remembered  the  square  of  Altamont 
on  a  summer  afternoon,  the  smell  of 
woodsmoke  in  the  early  morning,  the 
whistle  of  a  train  in  the  mountain 
passes.  He  remembered  the  names  of 
American  rivers,  the  parade  of  the  states 
that  stretched  from  the  rocky  New  Eng 
land  coastline  across  the  flat  plains  and 
the  high  mountains  to  the  thunder  of 
the  Pacific  slope,  the  names  of  battles 
fought  on  American  soil.  He  remembered 
his  family  and  his  own  childhood.  He 
felt  that  he  had  recaptured  the  lost  dream 
of  time  itself. 

Homesick,  he  started  back  to  America. 
One  day  he  caught  sight  of  Starwick  and 
his  two  women  companions  in  a  Mar 
seilles  cafe,  but  he  went  away  before 
they  saw  him. 

He  sailed  from  Cherbourg.  On  the 
tender  taking  passengers  out  to  the 
great  ocean  liner  he  suddenly  heard  an 
American  voice  above  the  babble  of 
the  passengers  grouped  about  him.  He 
looked.  A  woman  pointed  eagerly  toward 
the  ship,  her  face  glowing  with  an  excite 
ment  as  great  as  that  Eugene  himself 
felt.  A  woman  companion  called  her 
Esther.  Watching  Esther,  Eugene  knew 
that  she  was  to  be  his  fate. 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  YOUNG 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author;  Luigi  Pirandello  (1867-1936) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  'plot:   1891-1892 

Locale:  Sicily  and  Rome 

first  published:   1913 

Principal  characters: 

FLAMTNIO  SALVO,  a  Sicilian  capitalist 

CAPOLTNO,  a  politician  friend 

ROBERTO  AURITI,  Capolino's  political  opponent 

PRINCE  GERLANDO  LAURENTANO,  Auriti's  cousin,  a  Socialist 

PRINCE  IPPOLITO  LAURENTANO,  Gerlando's  father  and  fiance"  of  Salvo's  sister 

DIANELLA  SALVO,  Salvo's  daughter 

AURELIO  COSTA,  Dianella's  lover 

MAURO  MORTASA,  an  old  rna-n  who  had  followed  Garibaldi 


676 


Critique: 

The  story  of  The  Old  and  the  Young 
is  as  hectic  as  the  bitter  politics  of  Italy 
were  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury,  when  families  were  still  divided 
because  of  the  revolutions  of  1848  and 
1860.  Outstanding  passages  in  the  novel 
are  the  scene  in  which  a  mob  seizes 
and  destroys  two  victims  and  the  scene 
which  describes  the  visit  of  two  Social 
ists  to  a  cemetery  where  they  are  allowed 
to  inspect  the  bodies  of  several  people 
slain  by  troops  during  a  Socialist-incited 
demonstration. 

The  Story: 

As  late  as  the  last  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  political  air  of 
Italy  and  Sicily  was  troubled  by  the 
events  of  the  Garibaldi  uprisings  of  1848 
and  1860.  There  were  still  people  of 
influence  who  looked  back  a  half  century 
to  the  time  when  the  Bourbons  had 
dominated  Italy.  There  were  also  those 
who  had  followed  Garibaldi  in  his  revolu 
tion,  and  now,  among  the  younger  peo 
ple,  there  were  those  who  had  become 
Socialists  and  took  to  heart  all  the  preach 
ings  of  that  doctrine.  Italian  politics 
were  as  confused  as  they  were  corrupt 

In  Sicily,  where  a  representative  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  had  died,  a 
campaign  was  under  way  for  a  successor 
to  represent  the  district  of  Girgenti.  One 
of  the  candidates  was  Roberto  Auriti, 
who  at  twelve  years  of  age  had  been 
with  Garibaldi  in  Rome  and  whose  rather 
had  been  a  Garibaldist  leader.  Auriti 
was  opposed  by  Capolino,  who  was 
backed  by  the  clerical  parry  and  Flaminio 
Salvo,  a  capitalist  who  owned  the  coal 
and  sulphur  mines  in  the  district. 

The  situation  was  particularly  strained 
for  Salvo  because  he  wanted  to  marry 
his  spinster  sister  to  Auriti' s  uncle,  Prince 
Ippolito  Laurentano,  an  old  man  who 
still  believed  in  the  Bourbon  influence 
and  lived  apart  from  the  world  on  his 
Sicilian  estate.  Salvo's  plans  for  the 


marriage  xvere  blocked  because  the  old 
man  refused  to  submit  to  the  civil 
ceremony  of  a  government  he  had  never 
recognized.  The  prince  swore  he  would 
have  only  the  Church  officiate  at  his 
wedding.  Salvo  was  also  disturbed  be 
cause  the  old  man's  grown  son,  Gerlando 
Laurentano,  declared  that  he  would  not 
attend  his  father's  wedding,  thus  with 
holding  his  sanction.  Since  Salvo  was 
after  money  and  power,  it  was  necessary 
for  his  honor  that  young  Laurentano 
be  at  his  father's  second  marriage  cere 
mony. 

To  complicate  the  affairs  of  Salvo 
even  more,  there  was  a  real  effort  to 
foster  discontent  among  his  workers  by 
the  Socialists,  under  tie  leadership  of 
Gerlando  Laurentano.  His  activities  did 
not  endear  young  Laurentano  to  the 
financier,  who  stood  to  lose  much  by 
the  young  man's  refusal  to  agree  to  terms 
that  Salvo  thought  reasonable  and  proper, 

When  the  election  returns  had  been 
counted  and  the  excitement  of  the  elec 
tion  had  begun  to  die  down,  it  was 
found  that  Capolino  had  been  elected 
to  represent  the  district  in  which  Salvo's 
interests  were  located.  Salvo  was  soon 
to  discover,  however,  that  the  government 
did  not  take  kindly  to  his  candidate  be 
cause  of  the  backing  which  Capolino  had 
also  received  from  the  clericals.  Capolino 
was  reduced  to  a  place  among  the  minor 
ity  opposition  in  the  Chamber  of  Dep 
uties. 

Meanwhile  Capolino's  wife,  Nicoletta, 
a  woman  much  younger  than  her  hus 
band,  had  formed  an  attachment  for 
another  deputy,  a  scapegrace  named 
Corrado  Selmi,  who  owed  a  great  deal 
of  money  and  who  had  been  Auriti's 
backer  in  the  election.  In  addition  to 
being  a  source  of  trouble  to  her  husband, 
Nicoletta  was  a  source  of  vexation  to 
Salvo,  her  husband's  patron. 

After  the  election  most  of  the  prin 
cipals  returned  to  Rome,  where  further 


THE  OLD  AND  THE  YOUNG  by  Luigi  Pirandello.     Translated  by  C.  K.  Scott-Moncrieff.     Bv 
of  the  publishers*  E.  P.  Duttoa  &  Co.,  lac.    Copyright,  1928,  by  E.  P,  Duttr*  &  O-,  Inc. 


677 


intrigues,  political  and  amorous,  began 
to  develop.  During  the  election  Auriti's 
mother,  who  had  not  seen  her  brother, 
Prince  Ippolito  Laurentano,  for  over 
forty  years,  had  gone  to  him  and  asked 
jiirn  to  support  her  son.  The  prince 
had  refused  because  of  the  marriage 
pending  between  himself  and  Salvo's  sis 
ter.  In  Rome  it  developed  that  there 
was  in  existence  an  incriminating  letter 
which  would  make  Auriti  responsible  for 
forty  thousand  lira  misappropriated  by 
Corrado  Selrni,  who  was  about  to  be 
impeached  by  his  fellow  deputies  for 
bribery  and  misuse  of  government  funds. 
Giulio,  Roberto  Auriti's  brother,  ap 
pealed  to  Capolino  and  then  to  his  cous 
in,  Gerlando  Laurentano,  for  aid.  Both 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
affair,  despite  the  protestations  of  old 
Mauro  Mortara,  Mortara  was  an  aged 
Garibaldist,  a  comrade  of  Gerlando  Lau- 
rentano's  grandfather  and  Roberto  Au 
riti's  father,  when  all  three  had  followed 
Garibaldi  in  '48  and  '60.  The  old  vet 
eran  could  not  realize  that  the  descend 
ants  of  his  old  revolutionary  comrades 
were  so  divided  in  their  politics  that  they 
would  not  aid  each  other  when  they 
were  in  need, 

Selmi  committed  suicide  and  left  a 
note  admitting  his  guilt  in  the  matter 
of  the  forty  thousand  lira.  But  Auriti 
had  already  been  imprisoned.  When  his 
mother  learned  of  die  dishonor  to  the 
Auriti  family,  she  died  of  grief. 

Meanwhile  the  Socialists  planned  a 
coup  in  Sicily.  When  a  strike  had  been 
called  in  the  district  of  Girgenti,  Salvo 
had  closed  his  mines  in  an  attempt  to 
starve  out  the  workers.  His  superintend 
ent,  Aurelio  Costa,  had  been  summoned 
to  Rome  to  receive  orders.  Gosta  had  been 
befriended  by  Salvo  after  he  had  saved 
the  capitalist  from  drowning.  Dianella 
Salvo,  his  daughter,  was  in  love  with 
Costa,  but  Salvo  refused  to  permit  their 
marriage  because  Costa  had  no  money. 
In  an  effort  to  be  rid  of  the  superin 
tendent,  Salvo  sent  Costa  back  to  Sicily 


to  face  the  angry  strikers.  Planning  to 
leave  Salvo's  employ,  Costa  returned  to 
Sicily  with  the  wife  of  Deputy  Capolino. 
On  their  return  they  were  murdered 
before  Costa  could  explain  to  the  mob 
that  he  wanted  to  join  forces  with  the 
strikers. 

When  word  of  the  double  murder 
reached  Rome,  Capolino  rushed  to  Salvo's 
home  and  told  Dianella  Salvo  what  her 
father  had  done  by  forcing  Costa  to  re 
turn.  Dianella  went  mad  and  had  to 
be  locked  up.  The  only  person  who 
could  calm  her  was  old  Mauro  Mortara, 
who  had  become  friendly  with  the  wom 
an  during  the  election  campaign. 

Gerlando  Lauren  tano  had  become 
more  deeply  embroiled  in  Socialist  activi 
ties  in  Italy  and  Sicily.  When  word 
came  of  the  strike  at  Girgenti,  he  went 
with  members  of  a  committee  of  his 
party  to  investigate  the  trouble  in  Sicily 
and  to  learn  how  the  Socialists  might 
benefit  from  the  strike.  He  was  horrified 
at  the  hunger  and  poverty  among  the 
strikers. 

In  spite  of  Socialist  attempts  to  aid 
the  peasants,  the  people  did  not  want  a 
Socialist  government.  At  mass  meetings 
the  workmen  carried  pictures  of  the 
king  and  queen  and  images  of  the  cross. 
The  government,  on  the  other  hand,  took 
advantage  of  the  rioting  to  send  troops 
and  police  to  quell  all  disturbances. 

Gerlando  Laurentano  was  finally  forced 
to  flee  from  Sicily  at  night  because  the 
authorities  had  discovered  that  he  was 
a  Socialist  organizer.  During  his  flight 
he  encountered  Mauro  Mortara.  The 
old  veteran  was  ashamed  that  the  grand 
son  of  a  Garibaldist  leader  would  be  in 
volved  in  Socialist  troubles.  Shot  when 
troops  opened  fire  on  a  crowd,  the  dying 
Mortara  wondered  what  was  wrong  in 
Italy,  since  even  in  his  old  age  the  peace 
and  freedom  for  which  he  and  his  genera 
tion  had  fought  were  not  secure.  The 
young  people  seemed  to  have  made  just 
as  great  a  turmoil  in  his  native  land  as 
had  his  own  revolutionary  generation. 


678 


THE  OLD  MAID 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edith  Wharton  (1862-1937) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  The  1850's 

Locale:  New  York 

First  published:   1924 

Principal  characters: 

DELIA  RAJLSTON,  a  New  York  matron 
JAMES  RALSTON,  her  husband 
CHARLOTTE  LOVELL,  Delia's  cousin 
JOE  RALSTON,  James'  cousin 
TINA  LOVELL,  Delia's  ward 

Critique: 

Edith  Wharton  was  justly  famous  for 
her  ability  to  portray  characters  and 
scenes  simply  and  accurately.  In  the 
brief  space  of  The  Old  Maid  she  pre 
sented  a  woman  whose  life  was  extremely 
conventional,  but  who  longed  to  live 
more  fully  and  more  emotionally  than 
circumstances  permitted.  At  the  same 
time  Mrs.  Wharton  told  the  story  of 
a  woman  who  had  lived  emotionally  and 
for  that  reason  was  forced  to  live  her 
middle  and  old  years  in  the  most  con 
ventional  manner  possible,  to  atone  for 
her  sinful  youth.  Both  characters  were 
carefully  and  interestingly  depicted,  and 
their  life  together  has  given  us  a  novel 
which  not  only  interests  us,  but  also 
gives  us  a  view  of  American  society  in 
the  genteel  decades. 


The  Story: 

Among  the  leading  families  in  New 
York  in  the  1850*5,  none  was  more  cor 
rect  or  more  highly  regarded  than  the 
Ralstons.  Their  ancestors  had  come  to 
America  not  for  religious  freedom  but 
for  wealth.  By  the  time  Delia  Lovell 
married  James  Ralston,  the  Ralstons  con 
sidered  themselves  the  ruling  class,  with 
all  their  thoughts  and  actions  dictated 
by  convention.  They  shunned  new  ideas 
as  they  did  strange  people,  and  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  numerous  branches 
of  the  family  married  only  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  similar  good  families. 


Delia  was  conventional  and  correct 
by  birth  as  well  as  by  marriage.  Before 
her  marriage  she  had  been  in  love  with 
Clement  Spender,  a  penniless  young 
painter.  But  since  he  would  not  give 
up  his  proposed  trip  to  Rome  and  settle 
down  to  a  disciplined  life  in  New  York, 
it  was  impossible  for  a  Lovell  to  marry 
him. 

Delia  often,  against  her  will,  imagined 
herself  married  to  Clement.  But  the 
image  was  only  momentary,  for  Delia 
had  no  place  in  her  life  for  strong 
emotions  or  great  passions.  Her  life 
with  James  and  their  two  children  was 
perfect.  She  was  glad,  too,  that  her 
cousin,  Charlotte  Lovell,  was  going  to 
marry  James'  cousin,  Joe  Ralston,  for 
at  one  time  she  had  feared  that  Charlotte 
might  never  have  a  suitable  proposal. 

Charlotte  was  a  strange  girl  who  had 
become  quite  prudish  in  the  years  since 
she  made  her  debut.  At  that  time  she 
had  been  gay  and  beautiful.  Then  a 
sudden  illness  had  caused  her  to  go  to 
Georgia  for  her  health.  Since  her  return, 
she  had  been  colorless  and  drab,  spend 
ing  all  of  her  time  with  the  children 
of  the  poor.  She  had  set  up  a  little 
nursery  where  she  cared  for  the  children, 
and  to  this  nursery  had  come  a  baby 
who  had  been  abandoned  by  a  veiled 
woman  whom  no  one  could  identify. 
Charlotte  seemed  especially  fond  of  the 
orphan  child  and  favored  her  with  better 


THE  OLD  MAID  by  Edith  Whartoa.     By  permission  of  the  publisher*,  Appleton-Century-Crofts,  Inc.     Copy 
right,   1924,  by  0.  Appieton  &  Co. 


679 


coys  and  clothes  than  those  given  the 
other  children. 

One  day  Charlotte  came  to  Delia  and 
told  her  that  she  was  not  going  to  marry 
Joe  Ralston.  She  told  Delia  that  the 
orphaned  baby  in  the  nursery  was  her 
own,  that  she  had  gone  to  Georgia  to 
give  birth  to  the  child.  It  was  true  that 
Charlotte  was  ill;  she  had  a  racking 
cough  that  often  caused  a  hemorrhage, 
but  it  was  not  the  cough  that  caused 
Charlotte  to  worry.  Joe  insisted  upon 
her  giving  up  her  work  with  the  children 
after  they  were  married.  Since  her  baby 
had  no  known  parents,  it  would  be  placed 
in  an  orphanage.  Charlotte  could  not 
think  of  her  child  in  a  charity  home. 

Joe,  being  a  Ralston,  would  never 
marry  Charlotte  and  accept  her  child  if 
he  knew  the  truth.  Delia  did  not  know 
what  action  to  suggest  until  she  learned 
that  the  baby's  father  was  Clement 
Spender,  Charlotte  had  always  loved 
Clement,  who,  when  he  returned  from 
Rome  and  found  Delia  married,  had 
turned  to  Charlotte.  When  he  went  back 
to  Rome,  Charlotte  had  not  told  him  of 
the  baby,  for  she  knew  that  he  still  loved 
Delia. 

Although  Delia  thought  she  cared 
nothing  for  Clement  now,  she  too  could 
not  bring  herself  to  let  his  child  be  placed 
in  an  orphanage.  She  persuaded  her  hus 
band  to  provide  a  home  for  Charlotte 
and  the  baby,  telling  him  and  the  rest 
of  the  family  that  Charlotte  and  Joe 
should  not  marry  because  of  Charlotte's 
cough.  Joe,  who  wanted  healthy  chil 
dren,  was  not  hard  to  convince. 

After  Charlotte  and  the  baby,  Tina, 
had  been  established  in  a  little  house, 
Charlotte's  health  improved.  In  fact, 
she  became  quite  robust,  and  each  day 
grew  more  and  more  into  an  old  maid. 
After  James  Ralston  was  killed  by  a  fall 
from  a  horse,  Delia  took  Charlotte  and 
the  little  girl  into  her  home.  Tina  grew 
up  with  the  Ralston  children  and  copied 
them  in  railing  Delia  "Mother"  and 
Charlotte  "Aunt" 

Delia's    children   made   proper    mar 


riages,  and  at  last  she  and  Charlotte  and 
Tina  were  left  alone  in  the  house.  Char 
lotte  often  seemed  to  resent  Delia's  inter 
est  in  Tina  and  the  fact  that  the  young 
girl  went  to  Delia's  room  for  private 
talks,  but  she  dared  not  give  any  hint 
that  Tina  owed  her  love  or  affection. 

When  Delia  learned  that  the  sons 
of  the  good  families  would  not  marry 
Tina  because  she  had  no  family  back 
ground,  she  asked  Charlotte  to  let  her 
adopt  the  girl  and  give  her  the  Ralston 
name.  Both  women  feared  that  Tina 
might  make  the  same  mistake  Charlotte 
had  made  if  she  continued  to  see  young 
men  who  loved  her  but  would  not 
marry  her.  Soon  afterward,  Delia  made 
Tina  her  legal  daughter  and  the  g;r] 
became  engaged  to  a  correct  young 
man,  for  the  Ralston  tie  was  one  that 
all  families  wanted. 

Tina  was  delighted  with  her  new 
status  as  the  daughter  of  Delia,  for  she 
had  long  thought  of  her  as  a  mother. 
The  two  made  endless  plans  for  Tina's 
wedding.  On  the  night  before  the  wed 
ding,  Delia  wanted  to  go  up  to  Tina's 
room  to  tell  the  girl  all  the  things  a 
mother  usually  tells  her  daughter  on  the 
eve  of  her  wedding.  But  Charlotte  flew 
into  a  rage.  She  accused  Delia  of  hav 
ing  helped  her  and  Tina  only  because 
she  wanted  revenge  for  Charlotte's  affair 
with  Clement.  She  told  Delia  that  she 
knew  Delia  still  loved  Clement,  that 
she  had  turned  to  Delia  in  her  need  years 
ago  because  she  knew  that  Delia  would 
help  her  for  Clement's  sake.  Charlotte 
had  been  carrying  her  hatred  for  Delia 
in  her  heart  for  many  years,  thinking  al 
ways  that  Delia  was  trying  to  take  Tina 
from  her  real  mother.  Charlotte  declared 
fiercely  that  on  her  wedding  eve  Tina 
should  talk  with  her  real  mother,  and 
she  started  up  to  the  girl's  room. 

When  Charlotte  had  gone,  Delia  real 
ized  that  there  was  some  truth  in  what 
Charlotte  had  said.  She  had  chosen 
James  and  the  Ralston  life  willingly  and 
knowingly,  but  she  had  often  uncon 
sciously  wished  for  a  life  that  was  filled 


680 


with  love  and  unpredictable  passions. 
And  she  knew,  too,  that  she  had  made 
Tina  her  own  child,  thus  leaving  Char 
lotte  nothing  for  herself. 

Delia  started  up  to  her  room.  She 
wanted  to  see  Tina,  hut  she  thought 
that  Charlotte  deserved  this  one  night 
with  her  daughter.  Delia  met  Charlotte 
coming  downstairs.  Charlotte  had  not 
been  with  Tina,  for  she  knew  that  the 
girl  would  prefer  her  adopted  mother. 


There  was  nothing  an  old  maid  aunt 
could  say  to  a  bride  unless  she  were  to 
tell  her  the  truth,  and  that  Charlotte 
could  never  do.  And  so  Delia  had  her 
talk  with  Tina.  She  did  not  stay  long, 
for  she  knew  that  Charlotte  was  alone 
and  unhappy.  As  she  kissed  Tina  good 
night,  she  asked  one  favor.  On  the  mor 
row,  for  Delia's  sake,  Tina  was  to  give 
her  last  goodbye  kiss  to  her  Aunt  Char 
lotte. 


OLD  MORTALITY 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1679 

Locale:  Scotland 

First  published:  1816 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  MORTON,  the  heir  of  Milnwood 

LADY  MARGARET  BELLENDEN,  of  Tillietudlem 

EDITH,  her  granddaughter 

COLONEL  GRAHAME  OF  CLAVERHOUSE,  later  Viscount  of  Dundee 

LORD  EVANDALE,  a  royalist 

JOHN  BALFOUR  OF  BURLEY,  a  Covenanter 

BASIL  OLTFANT,  a  renegade  Covenanter 

Critique: 

The  man  who  gives  his  name  to  this 
novel  appears  only  briefly  in  the  story. 
Ostensibly  a  device  to  get  the  story  under 
way,  he  was  a  native  of  Dumfries  who 
traveled  about  Scotland  caring  for  the 
tombstones  of  the  Covenanters  who  fell 
in  the  rebellion  of  1679.  The  assumed 
narrator  of  the  story  pretends  to  have 
gathered  some  of  his  facts  from  the  old 
man.  First  published  in  the  series  called 
Tales  of  My  Landlord,  Old  Mortality  is 
one  of  Scott's  better  novels,  the  plot 
being  dramatized  with  considerable  skill 
and  the  characters  ably  drawn  and  pre 
sented. 


The  Story: 

Henry  Morton  had  the  misfortune  of 
being  a  moderate  man,  a  man  who  could 
see  both  sides  of  a  question.  During  the 
rebellion  of  the  Covenanters  against  the 
crown  in  1679,  his  position  became  an 
exceedingly  precarious  one.  His  uncle 


and  guardian  was  the  Squire  of  Miln 
wood,  by  faith  a  Covenanter  and  by 
nature  a  miser,  and  Henry's  dead  father 
had  commanded  a  troop  of  horse  when 
he  fought  for  the  Covenanters  at  Mars- 
ton  Moor.  The  story  of  his  family  was 
frequently  cause  for  comment  among  the 
cavalier  gentry  of  the  district,  especially 
at  the  tower  of  Tillietudlem,  the  home 
of  Lady  Margaret  BeUenden  and  Edith, 
her  granddaughter. 

Henry  and  Lord  Evandale  contested 
as  marksmen  at  a  wappenschaw,  and 
Edith  Bellenden  was  among  the  spec 
tators  when  Henry  defeated  his  oppo 
nent.  Declared  the  victor  at  this  festival 
of  the  popinjay,  Henry  bowed  his  re 
spects  to  Edith  Bellenden,  who  responded 
with  embarrassed  courtesy  under  the 
watchful  eyes  of  her  grandmother. 

After  the  shooting  Henry  went  with 
friends  to  a  tavern  where  some  dragoons 
of  Claverhouse's  troop,  under  Sergeant 


681 


Francis  Bothwell,  were  also  carousing. 
Bothwell,  a  descendant  of  the  Stuart 
kings  through  the  bar  sinister  line,  was 
a  man  of  domineering  disposition.  After 
Henry  and  his  friends  had  drunk  a 
health  to  the  king,  Both  well,  intending 
to  humiliate  the  Covenanters,  resolved 
that  they  should  drink  also  to  the  Arch 
bishop  of  St.  Andrew's.  A  stranger  in 
the  company  proposed  the  toast  to  the 
archbishop,  ending  with  the  hope  that 
each  prelate  in  Scotland  would  soon  be 
in  the  same  position  as  his  grace. 

Henry  and  the  stranger  left  the  inn 
soon  afterward,  before  word  came  that  the 
archbishop  had  been  assassinated.  Real 
izing  then  that  the  stranger  must  have 
been  one  of  the  plotters  in  the  deed, 
Bothwell  ordered  a  pursuit. 

Meanwhile  Henry  had  learned  that 
his  companion  was  John  Balfour  of 
Burley,  a  Covenanter  leader  who  had 
saved  the  life  of  Henry's  father  at  Mars- 
ton  Moor.  That  night  Henry  gave  Bal 
four  lodging  at  Milnwood  without  his 
uncle's  knowledge  and  next  morning 
showed  the  fugitive  a  safe  path  into  the 
hills.  Bothwell  and  his  troops  arrived 
shortly  afterward.  Henry  was  arrested 
and  taken  away. 

In  company  with  Henry  in  his  arrest 
were  Mause  Headrigg,  a  staunch  Cove 
nanter,  and  her  son  Cuddie.  The  pris 
oners  were  taken  to  Tillietudlem  Castle, 
where  Claverhouse  sentenced  Henry  to 
execution.  He  was  saved,  however,  by 
the  intercession  of  Edith  and  Lord  Evan- 
dale. 

Lord  Evandale  brought  information 
that  a  group  of  Covenanters  was  gather 
ing  in  the  hills,  and  Claverhouse  gave 
orders  to  have  his  troops  advance  against 
them.  At  a  council  of  war  Lord  Evan- 
dale,  among  others,  suggested  a  parley 
in  which  both  sides  could  air  their  griev 
ances.  Claverhouse  sent  his  nephew, 
Comet  Grahame,  to  carry  a  flag  of  truce 
to  the  Covenanters.  Balfour  and  a  small 
group  met  Cornet  Grahame,  but  the 
Covenanters  refused  to  meet  Claver- 
house's  demands.  After  an  interchange 


of  words,  Balfour,  to  the  surprise  and 
suppressed  indignation  of  all,  shot  Comet 
Grahame  in  cold  blood. 

The  killing  of  the  young  officer  was 
the  signal  for  a  general  fight.  Bothwell 
and  Balfour  met  beard  to  beard,  and  Bal 
four  killed  Bothwell  with  his  sword  as 
the  dragoon  stood  defenseless,  his  sword 
arm  broken  by  a  kick  of  a  horse.  In  the 
fray  Henry  saved  the  life  of  Lord  Evan- 
dale  after  the  young  nobleman's  horse 
had  been  shot  from  under  him. 

Victorious,  Balfour's  rebels  next  laid 
plans  to  capture  Castle  Tillietudlem. 
Claverhouse  left  a  few  of  his  men  to 
defend  the  place  under  the  command 
of  Major  Bellenden,  brother-in-law  of 
Lady  Margaret. 

Balfour,  who  had  taken  Henry  Mor 
ton  from  the  troops  of  Claverhouse  on 
the  battlefield,  wanted  Henry  to  join 
with  the  rebels  but  Henry  still  held 
back.  Trying  to  convince  Henry  of  the 
righteousness  of  his  cause,  Balfoux  took 
bim  to  a  council  of  war,  where  Henrv 
was  elected  one  of  a  council  of  six 
through  Balfour's  insistence. 

Major  Bellenden  refused  to  surrender 
the  casde  to  the  insurgents,  who  then 
decided  to  starve  out  the  small  garrison. 
Balfour,  realizing  that  Henry  wished  to 
remain  in  the  vicinity  of  the  casde  be 
cause  he  was  concerned  for  Edith's 
safety,  sent  the  young  man  to  Glasgow, 
the  objective  of  the  main  Covenanter 
army.  Claverhouse,  who  had  retreated 
to  Glasgow,  laid  careful  plans  for  the 
defense  of  the  city.  Henry  returned  to 
Milnwood  with  Cuddie  in  order  to  learn 
what  was  happening  at  Tillietudlem. 
Hearing  that  Lord  Evandale  had  been 
captured  during  a  sortie  from  the  castle, 
Henry  once  again  saved  Lord  Evandale's 
life  from  Balfour's  rough  justice.  Then 
Henry  drew  up  a  document  stating  the 
grievances  of  and  the  conditions  oFered 
by  the  Covenanters  and  sent  Lord  Evan- 
dale  with  the  paper  to  the  casde.  Edith 
and  Lady  Margaret  escaped  from  the 
castle,  and  Henry  raised  the  flag  of  the 
Covenanters  to  the  castle  tower. 


682 


The  Covenanters  were  finally  defeated 
at  the  battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge.  In  the 
retreat  from  the  field  Henry  was  taken 
prisoner  by  a  party  of  Covenanter  fanat 
ics,  who  believed  him  to  have  deserted 
their  cause.  He  was  sentenced  to  death. 
Cuddie  Headrigg  caught  a  horse  and  es 
caped.  He  rode  to  Claverhouse  and  ex 
plained  Henry's  predicament.  Since 
Henry's  death  was  decreed  on  a  Sabbath 
day,  his  captors  decided  he  could  not  be 
executed  until  after  midnight  This  de 
cision  gave  Claverhouse  and  his  men 
time  to  rescue  Henry.  With  the  Cove 
nanters'  revolt  now  broken,  Claverhouse 
agreed  to  put  Henry  on  a  parole  of 
honor.  Henry  accepted  exile  from  Scot 
land,  promising  to  remain  in  banishment 
until  the  king's  pleasure  allowed  his  re 
turn.  Henry  went  to  Holland. 

There  he  lived  in  exile  for  several 
years,  until  William  and  Mary  came  to 
the  throne.  When  he  returned  to  Scot 
land,  he  called  upon  Cuddie,  who  had 
married  Jenny  Dennison,  Edith's  maid. 
From  Cuddie' he  learned  of  all  that  had 
occurred  during  his  absence.  He  was  in 
formed  that  a  man  named  Basil  Olifant, 
a  turncoat  kinsman  of  Lady  Margaret, 
had  seized  Tillietudlem  and  that  Lady 
Margaret  and  Edith  were  forced  to  de 
pend  upon  the  charity  of  friends.  Henry 
also  learned  that  Balfour  was  still  alive 
and  that  Lord  Evandale  was  soon  to 
marry  Edith  Bellenden.  Henry  set  out 
to  find  Balfour  and  get  from  him  a  docu 
ment  which  would  place  once  more  in 
Edith's  possession  the  Ballenden  estates. 
But  Balfour  burned  the  document  and 
then  threatened  to  fight  Henry  to  the 
death.  Henry  refused,  however,  to  fight 
with  the  man  who  had  saved  his  father's 
life,  and  he  made  his  escape  from  Bal- 
four's  fury  by  leaping  across  a  ravine. 
Meanwhile  Edith  had  definitely  re 


fused  marriage  to  Lord  Evandale  because 
she  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  Henry  Mor 
ton  as  he  passed  her  window.  Later,  at 
an  inn,  Henry  overheard  a  plot  to  murder 
Lord  Evandale,  the  murderers  hoping 
to  obtain  a  substantial  sum  from  Basil 
Olifant  for  so  doing.  Henry  scribbled  a 
note  of  warning  to  Lord  Evandale  and 
sent  his  message  by  Cuddie.  Then  he 
went  to  Glasgow,  intending  to  find  Wit- 
tenbold,  a  Dutch  commander  of  dra- 

?x>ns,  and  get  help  from  him  to  protect 
ord  Evandale.  Cuddie,  however,  tarried 
too  long  at  an  ale-house  and  forgot  that 
the  letter  was  to  be  delivered  to  Lord 
Evandale.  Instead,  he  asked  for  Lady 
Margaret,  and  then,  refused  admittance, 
he  stumbled  away  bearing  the  letter  with 
him.  Thus  Lord  Evandale  was  not 
warned  of  his  danger. 

A  party  of  horsemen,  led  by  Basil  Oli 
fant,  came  to  kill  Lord  E\Tandale.  Cuddie, 
knowing  the  danger,  warned  him  too 
late.  Shots  were  exchanged  and  Lord 
Evandale  fell.  Olifant  ordered  Lord 
Evandale  murdered  in  cold  blood  just 
before  Henry  arrived  with  a  magistrate 
and  a  detachment  of  dragoons. 

The  troopers  quickly  dispersed  the 
attackers  and  Olifant  fell  during  the 
charge.  Balfour,  attempting  to  escape, 
was  swept  to  his  death  in  a  flooded 
stream.  Henry  hurried  to  the  side  of 
Lord  Evandale,  who  recognized  him  and 
made  signs  that  he  wished  to  be  carried 
into  Lady  Margaret's  house.  There  he 
died,  surrounded  by  his  weeping  friends. 
His  last  act  was  to  place  Edith's  hand 
in  that  o£  Henry  Morton.  Several  months 
later,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  countryside, 
Henry  married  the  young  heiress  of  Til 
lietudlem.  In  the  meantime,  Basil  Oli 
fant  having  died  without  a  will,  Lady 
Margaret  had  recovered  her  castle  and 
her  estates, 


683 


THE  OLD  WIVES*  TALE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Arnold  Bennett  (1867-1931) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:   Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England  and  Paris 

First  published:   1908 

Principal  characters: 

CONSTANCE  RAINES  POVET,  and 

SOPHIA  BAUSTES  SCALES,  sisters 

JOHN  BATNES,  their  father 

MRS.  BAINES,  their  mother 

SAMUEL  POVEY,  Constance's  husband 

GERALD  SCALES,  Sophia's  husband 

CYRIL  POVEY,  son  of  Constance  and  Samuel 

Critique: 

The  Old  Wives'  Tale  is  a  highly  satis 
fying  novel  because  of  its  excellent 
craftsmanship  and  its  characterization  of 
two  strikingly  different  women.  Although 
the  book  is  long,  the  continuity  of  the 
narrative  is  sustained  by  the  common 
family  background  of  Constance  and 
Sophia  Baines  and  by  the  changes  that 
time  brings  to  their  very  different  lives. 
The  book  contains  many  colorful  details 
of  the  period  between  the  age  of  crino 
lines  and  the  industrial  era,  but  its  em 
phasis  is  not  historical.  Events  such  as 
the  siege  of  Paris  are  used  primarily  as 
background  for  the  development  of  char 
acter.  The  theme  of  the  novel  is  time  and 
the  effects  of  its  passing  upon  human 
life. 


The  Story: 

Constance  Baines  at  sixteen  was  a 
plump,  pleasant  girl  with  a  snub  nose. 
Sophia,  aged  fifteen,  was  a  handsome 
girl  with  imagination  and  daring.  The 
first  symptoms  of  her  rebelliousness,  of 
her  strong  individuality,  came  wnen  she 
announced  her  desire  to  be  a  teacher. 
That  was  in  1864. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Baines  owned  a  drap 
er's  shop,  and  their  income  was  adequate. 
They  were  most  respectable,  and  were 
therefore  horrified  at  their  daughter's  un 
conventional  plan,  for  it  had  been  taken 


for  granted  tnat  she,  as  well  as  Con 
stance,  would  assist  in  the  shop.  When 
Sophia  was  four  years  old,  John  Baines, 
the  father,  had  suffered  a  stroke  of  paral 
ysis  which  had  left  him  a  hopeless  in 
valid  whose  faculties  were  greatly  im 
paired.  Prodded  by  his  capable  wife, 
he  joined  in  forbidding  Sophia  to  think 
of  school  teaching,  but  his  opposition 
only  strengthened  Sophia's  purpose. 

One  day,  when  Sophia  had  been  left 
alone  to  care  for  her  father,  she  saw  a 
handsome  young  man,  representative  of 
a  wholesale  firm,  enter  the  store.  She 
instantly  invented  an  errand  to  take  her 
into  the  shop.  His  name,  she  learned, 
was  Gerald  Scales.  When  Sophia  re 
turned  to  her  father's  room  he  had  slipped 
off  the  bed,  had  been  powerless  to  move 
himself,  and  had  died  of  asphyxia.  Mr. 
Baines'  old  friend,  Mr.  Critchlow,  was 
called  immediately,  and  he,  having  seen 
Sophia  in  the  shop  with  Gerald,  in- 
standy  accused  her  of  kilh'ng  her  father. 
Presumably  as  a  gesture  of  repentance 
but  actually  because  she  hoped  for  an 
opportunity  to  see  Gerald  again,  Sophia 
offered  to  give  up  her  plans  to  teach. 

Sophia  worked  in  millinery  while  Con 
stance  assisted  Samuel  Povey,  the  clerk, 
a  small  quiet  man  without  dignity  and 
without  imagination.  He  and  Constance 
gradually  fell  in  love. 


THE  OLD  WIVES'  TALE  by  Arnold  Bennett.  By  permission  of  A.  P.  Watt  &  Scm,  London,  and  the  pub 
lishers,  Doubieday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright,  1911,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Renewed,  1938,  by  Marie  Mar- 
jaret  Bennett. 


684 


After  two  years  Gerald  returned.  By 
artful  contriving,  Sophia  managed  to 
meet  him  alone  and  to  initiate  a  cor 
respondence.  Mrs.  Baines,  recognizing 
Sophia's  infatuation  sent  her  off  to  visit 
her  Aunt  Harriet.  Several  weeks  later 
Sophia  ran  off  with  Gerald  Scales. 
She  wrote  her  mother  that  they  were 
married  and  planning  to  live  abroad.  A 
short  time  later  Constance  and  Samuel 
Povey  were  married.  Mrs.  Baines  turned 
over  to  them  the  house  and  shop,  and 
went  to  live  with  her  sister. 

The  married  life  of  Constance  held 
few  surprises,  and  the  couple  soon  set 
tled  to  a  routine  tradesman's  existence. 
Nothing  further  was  heard  of  Sophia 
except  for  an  occasional  Christmas  card 
giving  no  address.  After  six  years  of 
marriage  a  son,  Cyril,  was  born.  Con 
stance  centered  her  life  about  the  baby, 
more  so  since  her  mother  died  shortly 
after  his  birth.  Povey  also  devoted  much 
attention  to  the  child,  but  he  made  his 
wife  miserable  by  his  insistence  on  disci 
pline.  When,  after  twenty  years  of  mar 
riage,  Povey  caught  pneumonia  and  left 
Constance  a  widow,  she  devoted  herself 
entirely  to  Cyril.  He  was  a  charming, 
intelligent  boy,  but  he  seemed  indifferent 
to  his  mother's  efforts  to  please  him. 
When  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  he  won 
a  scholarship  in  art  and  was  sent  to  Lon 
don.  His  mother  was  left  alone. 

Life  had  not  dealt  so  quietly  with 
Sophia.  In  a  London  hotel  room,  after 
her  elopement,  she  had  suffered  her  first 
disillusionment  when  Gerald  began  to 
make  excuses  for  delaying  their  mar 
riage.  But  after  Sophia  refused  to  go  to 
Pans  with  him  except  as  his  wife,  he 
reluctantly  agreed  to  the  ceremony. 
Gerald  had  inherited  twelve  thousand 
pounds.  In  Paris  he  and  Sophia  lived 
lavishly.  Gerald's  weakness,  his  irre 
sponsibility,  and  lack  of  any  morals  or 
common  sense  soon  became  apparent. 
Realizing  that  Gerald  had  little  regard 
for  her  welfare,  Sophia  took  two  hundred 
pounds  in  bank  notes  from  his  pocket 
and  hid  them  against  an  emergency.  As 


Gerald  lost  more  at  gambling,  they  lived 
in  shabbier  hotels,  wore  mended  clothes, 
and  ate  sparingly.  When  their  funds 
were  nearly  exhausted,  Gerald  suggested 
that  Sophia  should  write  to  her  family 
for  help.  When  Sophia  refused,  Gerald 
abandoned  her. 

The  next  day  she  awoke  ill  and  was 
visited  by  Gerald's  friend,  Chirac,  who 
had  come  to  collect  money  Gerald  had 
borrowed  from  him.  Chirac  had  risked 
his  own  reputation  by  taking  money 
from  the  cash  box  or  the  newspaper 
where  he  was  employed.  Sophia  un 
hesitatingly  used  some  of  the  notes  she 
had  taken  from  Gerald  to  repay  Chirac. 
When  she  again  became  ill,  Chirac  left 
her  in  the  care  of  a  middle-aged  courte 
san,  Madame  Faucault,  who  treated 
Sophia  kindly  during  her  long  illness. 

Madame  Faucault  was  deeply  in  debt. 
Sophia  rented  Madame  Faucault's  flat 
and  took  in  roomers  and  boarders.  At 
that  time  France  was  at  war  with  Ger 
many,  and  soon  the  siege  of  Paris 
began.  Food  was  scarce.  Only  by  hard 
work  and  the  most  careful  management 
was  Sophia  able  to  feed  her  boarders. 
She  grew  hard  and  businesslike.  When 
the  siege  was  lifted  and  Paris  returned  to 
normal,  Sophia  bought  the  pension  Fren- 
sham  at  her  own  price.  This  pension 
was  well-known  for  its  exceDence  and 
respectability,  and  under  Sophia's  man 
agement  it  prospered.  She  dad  not  hear 
from  her  husband  again.  By  the  Exhibi 
tion  year  she  had  built  up  a  modest 
fortune  from  the  two  hundred  pounds 
she  had  stolen  from  Gerald. 

One  day  a  young  Englishman  who  was 
Cyril  Povey's  friend  came  to  stay  at  the 
pension  Frensham.  Sophia's  beauty  and 
dignity  intrigued  him,  and  he  learned 
enough  about  her  to  recognize  her  as 
his  friend's  aunt.  On  his  return  to  Eng 
land  he  hastily  informed  both  Cyril 
and  Constance  of  Sophia's  situation. 

Constance  immediately  wrote  Sophia 
a  warm,  affectionate  letter  begging  hei 
to  come  to  England  for  a  visit.  Mean 
while,  in  Paris,  Sophia  had  suffered  8 


685 


slight  stroke;  when  she  was  offered  a 
large  sum  for  the  pension  Frensham  she 
reluctantly  let  it  go.  Soon  afterward,  she 
visited  England. 

Although  Sophia  had  intended  to  make 
only  a  short  visit,  the  sisters  lived  to 
gether  for  nine  years.  On  the  surface  they 
got  along  well  together,  but  Sophia  had 
never  forgiven  her  sister  for  her  refusal 
to  move  from  the  ugly,  inconvenient  old 
house.  Constance,  on  her  part,  silently 
resented  Sophia's  domineering  ways. 

Their  tranquil  existence  was  inter 
rupted  by  a  telegram  to  Sophia,  inform 
ing  her  that  Gerald  Scales  was  very  ill 
in  a  neighboring  town.  She  went  to  him 
at  once,  but  on  her  arrival  she  learned 
that  he  was  already  dead.  He  was  shabby 
and  thin  and  old.  Seeing  Gerald  was 


a  great  shock  to  Sophia,  and  part  of  hei 
shock  was  the  fact  that  she  no  longer 
had  any  feeling  for  the  man  who  had 
both  made  and  ruined  her  life.  On  the 
drive  home  she  suffered  another  stroke 
and  lived  but  a  few  hours.  Cyril  was 
left  all  of  Sophia's  money.  He  had  con 
tinued  to  live  in  London  on  an  allow 
ance,  completely  absorbed  in  his  art,  still 
secretive  and  indifferent  in  his  attitude 
toward  his  mother.  When  Constance 
died  several  years  later,  he  was  abroad 
and  did  not  return  in  time  for  the  funeral. 
When  the  servants  went  off  for  Con 
stance's  burial,  only  Sophia's  old  poodle 
was  left  in  the  house.  She  waddled  into 
the  kitchen  to  see  if  any  food  had  been 
left  in  her  dish. 


OLIVER  TWIST 

Type  of  work  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  C1812-1870) 

Type  of  plot;  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  English  provinces  and  London 

first  published:  1837-1839 

Principal  characters: 

OLIVER  TWIST,  a  workhouse  waif 

Ms.  BROWSTLOW,  Oliver's  benefactor 

MBS.  MAYLTE,  who  also  befriended  Oliver 

ROSE  IMAYLTE,  her  adopted  daughter 

FAGES,  a  thief -trainer 

BELL  SEKES,  his  confederate 

NANCY,  in  love  with  Sikes 

MONKS  CE^WABD  LEEFORD),  Oliver's  half-brother 

BUMBLE,  a  workhouse  official 


Critique: 

The  plot  of  this  novel,  written  when 
Dickens  was  in  his  twenties,  forecasts 
the  extremely  complicated  plots  he  in 
vented  later.  The  action  moves  forward 
in  a  natural  way,  achieved  by  an  artistic 
change  of  pace.  Because  the  story  was 
first  published  serially,  there  are  switches 
of  scene  at  moments  of  tension.  Senti 
mentality  abounds,  perhaps  unavoidably, 
because  of  the  nature  of  the  theme  and 
because  of  Dickens'  deep  concern  for  the 
conditions  of  the  underprivileged  masses 
in  the  Great  Britain  of  T"s  day. 


The  Story: 

Oliver  Twist  was  bom  in  the  lying-in 
room  of  a  parochial  workhouse  about 
seventy-five  miles  north  of  London.  His 
mother's  name  was  not  known.  She  had 
been  found  unconscious  by  the  roadside, 
exhausted  by  a  long  journey  on  foot,  and 
she  died  leaving  as  the  only  tokens  of 
her  child's  identity  a  locket  and  a  ring. 
These  were  stolen  by  old  Sally,  a  pauper 
present  at  her  death. 

Oliver  owed  his  name  to  Bumble,  the 
parish  beadle  and  a  bullying  official  of 
the  workhouse,  who  always  named  his 


686 


unknown  waifs  in  the  order  of  an  al 
phabetical  system  he  had  devised.  Twist 
was  the  name  between  Swubble  and 
Unwin  on  Bumble's  list.  Oliver  Twist 
he  was  named. 

An  offered  reward  of  ten  pounds  fail 
ing  to  discover  his  parentage,  he  was  sent 
to  a  nearby  poor  farm,  where  he  passed 
his  early  childhood  in  neglect  and  near 
starvation.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was 
moved  back  to  the  workhouse.  Always 
hungry,  he  asked  one  day  for  a  second 
serving  of  porridge.  The  scandalized 
authorities  put  him  in  solitary  confine 
ment  and  posted  a  bill  offering  five 
pounds  to  some  master  who  would  take 
him  off  the  parish. 

Oliver  was  apprenticed  to  one  Sower- 
berry,  a  casket  maker,  to  learn  a  trade. 
Sowerberry  employed  little  Oliver, 
dressed  in  miniature  mourning  clothing, 
as  attendant  at  children's  funerals.  An 
other  Sowerberry  employee,  Noah  Clay- 
pole,  teased  Oliver  about  his  parentage. 
Oliver,  goaded  beyond  endurance, 
fiercely  attacked  Claypole  and  was  sub 
sequently  locked  in  the  cellar  by  Mrs. 
Sowerberry.  Sowerberry  released  Oliver, 
who,  that  night,  bundled  up  his  meager 
belongings  and  started  out  for  London. 

In  a  London  suburb  Oliver,  worn  out 
from  walking  and  weak  from  hunger, 
met  Jack  Dawkins,  sharp-witted  slum 
gamin.  Dawkins,  known  as  the  Artful 
Dodger,  offered  Oliver  lodgings  in  the 
city,  and  Oliver  soon  found  himself  in 
the  midst  of  a  gang  of  young  thieves,  led 
by  a  miserly  old  Jew,  Fagin.  Oliver  was 
trained  as  a  pickpocket.  On  his  first 
mission  he  was  caught  and  taken  to  the 
police  station.  There  he  was  rescued  by 
kindly  Mr.  Brownlow,  the  man  whose 
pocket  Oliver  was  accused  of  having 
picked.  Mr.  Brownlow,  his  gruff  friend 
Grim  wig,  and  the  old  housekeeper,  Mrs. 
Bedwin,  cared  for  the  sickly  Oliver. 
They  marveled  at  the  resemblance  of  the 
boy  to  a  portrait  of  a  young  lady  in  Mr. 
Brownlow 's  possession.  Recuperated, 
Oliver  was  one  day  given  some  books 
and  money  to  take  to  a  bookseller.  Grim- 


wig  wagered  that  Oliver  would  not  re 
turn.  Meanwhile  Fagin  and  his  gang 
had  been  on  constant  lookout  for  the 
boy's  appearance,  and  he  was  intercepted 
by  Nancy,  a  young  street  girl  associated 
with  the  gang. 

Bumble,  in  London  on  parochial  busi 
ness,  saw  Mr.  Brownlow's  advertisement 
for  word  leading  to  Oliver's  recovery. 
Hoping  to  profit,  he  hastened  to  Mr. 
Brownlow  and  reported  that  Oliver  was 
incorrigible.  After  receiving  this  infor 
mation,  Mr.  Brownlow  refused  to  have 
Oliver's  name  mentioned  in  his  presence. 

Once  more  Oliver  was  in  the  hands 
of  Fagin.  During  his  absence  the  gang 
had  been  studying  a  house  in  Chertsey, 
west  of  London,  preparatory  to  breaking 
into  it  at  night.  The  rime  came  for  the 
adventure,  and  Oliver,  much  to  his 
horror,  was  chosen  to  participate.  He 
and  Bill  Sikes,  brutal  young  co-leader  of 
the  gang,  met  Toby  Crackit,  another 
housebreaker,  and  the  trio,  in  the  dark  of 
early  morning,  pried  open  a  small  win 
dow  of  the  house.  Oliver  entered,  de 
termined  to  warn  the  occupants.  The 
robbers  were  discovered,  and  the  trio 
fled,  Oliver  wounded  by  gunshot. 

In  fleeing,  Sikes  threw  the  wounded 
Oliver  into  a  ditch  and  covered  him  with 
a  cape.  Toby  Crackit,  the  other  house 
breaker,  returned  and  reported  to  Fagin. 
The  old  thief-trainer  was  more  than  ever 
interested  in  Oliver  after  an  important 
conversation  with  one  Monks.  This  dis 
cussion,  overheard  by  Nancy,  concerned 
Oliver's  parentage  and  Monks'  wish  to 
have  the  boy  made  a  youthful  felon. 

Oliver  crawled  feebly  to  the  house 
into  which  he  had  gone  the  night  before. 
He  was  taken  in  by  the  owner,  Mrs. 
Maylie,  and  Rose,  her  adopted  daughter. 
Oliver's  story  aroused  their  sympathy  and 
he  was  saved  from  police  investigation  by 
Dr.  Losbeme,  friend  of  the  Maylies. 
Upon  his  recovery  the  boy  went  with 
the  doctor  to  seek  out  Mr.  Brownlow, 
but  it  was  learned  that  the  old  gentle 
man,  his  friend  Grimwig,  and  Mrs.  Bed- 
win  had  gone  to  the  West  Indies, 


687 


Meanwhile  Bumble  courted  the 
widow  Comey.  During  one  of  their  con 
versations,  Mrs.  Corney  was  called  out 
to  attend  the  death  of  old  Sally,  who  had 
stood  by  at  the  death  of  Oliver's  mother. 
After  old  Sally  died,  Mrs.  Corney  re 
moved  a  pawn  ticket  from  her  hand.  In 
Mrs.  Corney's  absence,  Bumble  ap 
praised  her  property  to  his  satisfaction. 
He  proposed  marriage. 

The  Maylies  moved  to  the  country, 
where  Oliver  studied  gardening,  read, 
and  took  long  walks.  During  this  holi 
day  Rose  Maylie  fell  sick  and  nearly 
died.  After  her  recovery,  Harry  Maylie, 
wastrel  son  of  Mrs.  Maylie,  joined  the 
group.  Harry,  in  love  with  Rose,  asked 
for  her  hand  in  marriage.  Rose  refused 
on  two  grounds;  she  could  not  marry 
him  before  she  discovered  who  she  was, 
and  she  could  not  marry  him  unless  he 
mended  his  ways.  One  night  Oliver  was 
frightened  when  he  saw  Fagin  and 
Monks  peering  through  the  study  win 
dow. 

Bumble  had  discovered  that  married 
life  with  the  former  Mrs.  Comey  was 
not  all  happiness,  for  she  dominated  him 
completely.  When  Monks  went  to  the 
workhouse  seeking  information  about 
Oliver,  he  met  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bum 
ble  and  learned  that  Mrs.  Bumble  had 
redeemed  a  locket  and  a  wedding  ring 
with  the  pawn  ticket  she  had  recovered 
from  old  Sally.  Monks  bought  the  trin 
kets  from  Mrs,  Bumble  and  threw  them 
in  the  river. 

Monks  told  Fagin  that  he  had  dis 
posed  of  the  tokens  of  Oliver's  parentage. 
Again  Nancy  overheard  the  two  villains. 
After  drugging  Bill  Sikes,  whom  she  had 
been  nursing  to  recovery  from  gunshot 
wounds  received  in  the  ill-fated  venture 
at  Chertsey,  she  went  to  see  Rose  May- 
lie,  whose  name  and  address  she  had 
overheard  in  the  conversation  between 
Fagin  and  Monks.  Nancy  told  Rose 
everything  she  had  heard  concerning 
Oliver.  Rose  was  unable  to  understand 
fully  the  various  connections  of  the  plot 
nor  could  she  see  Monks*  connection 


with  Oliver.  She  offered  the  miserable 
girl  the  protection  of  her  own  home,  but 
Nancy  refused,  knowing  that  she  could 
never  leave  Bill  Sikes.  The  two  young 
women  agreed  on  a  time  and  place  for 
later  meetings.  Rose  and  Oliver  went 
to  call  on  Mr.  Brownlow,  whom  Oliver 
had  glimpsed  in  the  street.  The  reunion 
of  the  boy,  Mr.  Brownlow,  and  Mrs. 
Bedwin  was  a  joyous  one.  Even  old 
Grimwig  gruffly  expressed  his  pleasure 
at  seeing  Oliver  again.  Rose  told  Mr. 
Brownlow  Nancy's  story. 

Noah  Claypole  and  Charlotte,  maid 
servant  of  the  Sowerberrys,  had  in  the 
meantime,  run  away  from  the  casket 
maker  and  arrived  in  London,  where 
they  went  to  the  public  house  which  was 
the  haunt  of  Fagin  and  his  gang.  Fagin 
flattered  Noah  into  his  employ,  Noah's 
job  being  to  steal  small  coins  from  chil 
dren  on  household  errands. 

At  the  time  agreed  upon  for  her  ap 
pointment  with  Rose  Maylie,  Nancy  was 
unable  to  leave  the  demanding  Bill  Sikes. 
Noticing  Nancy's  impatience,  Fagin  de 
cided  that  she  had  tired  of  Sikes  and 
that  she  had  another  lover.  Fagin  hated 
Sikes  because  of  the  younger  man's 
power  over  the  gang,  and  he  saw  this 
situation  as  an  opportunity  to  rid  himself 
of  Sikes.  Fagin  set  Noah  on  Nancy's 
trail. 

The  following  week  Nancy  got  free 
with  the  aid  of  Fagin.  She  went  to  Rose 
and  Mr.  Brownlow  and  revealed  to  them 
the  haunts  of  all  the  gang  except  Sikes. 
Noah,  having  overheard  all  this,  secretly 
told  Fagin,  who  in  turn  told  Sikes.  In 
his  rage  Sikes  brutally  murdered  Nancy, 
never  knowing  that  the  girl  had  been 
faithful  to  him.  He  fied,  pursued  by 
the  vision  of  murdered  Nancy's  staring 
eyes.  Frantic  from  fear,  he  attempted  to 
kill  his  dog,  whose  presence  might  be 
tray  him.  The  dog  ran  away. 

Apprehended,  Monks  confessed  to  Mr. 
Brownlow  the  plot  against  Oliver.  Oli 
ver's  father,  Edward  Leeford,  had  mar 
ried  a  woman  older  than  himself.  Their 
son,  Edward  Leeford,  was  the 


688 


known  as  Monks.  After  several  years  of 
unhappiness,  the  couple  separated, 
Monks  and  his  mother  staying  on  the 
continent  and  Mr.  Leeford  returning  to 
England.  Later  Leeford  met  a  retired 
naval  officer  and  fell  in  love  with  his 
seventeen-year-old  daughter.  There  was 
another  daughter  aged  three.  Leeford 
contracted  to  marry  the  girl,  but  before 
the  marriage  could  be  performed  he  was 
called  to  Rome,  where  an  old  friend  had 
died.  On  the  way  to  Rome  he  stopped  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Brownlow,  his  best 
friend,  and  left  a  portrait  of  his  be 
trothed.  He  himself  fell  sick  in  Rome 
and  died.  His  former  wife  seized  his 
papers.  When  Leeford's  young  wife-to- 
be,  who  was  pregnant,  heard  of  Leeford's 
death,  she  ran  away  to  hide  her  condi 
tion.  Her  father  died  soon  afterward  and 
the  younger  sister  was  eventually  adopted 
by  Mrs.  Maylie.  She  was  Rose  Maylie, 
Olivers  aunt.  Monks  lived  a  prodigal 
life.  When  his  mother  died,  he  went  to 
the  West  Indies,  where  Mr.  Brownlow 
had  gone  in  search  of  him.  But  Monks 
had  already  returned  to  track  down 
Oliver,  whose  part  of  his  father's  settle 
ment  he  wished  to  keep  from  his  young 
half-brother.  It  was  Monks  who  had 
offered  the  reward  at  the  workhouse  for 
information  about  Oliver's  parentage,  and 


it  was  Monks  who  had  paid  Fagin  to 
see  that  the  boy  remained  with  the  gang 
as  a  common  thief. 

After  Fagin  and  the  Artful  Dodger 
had  been  seized,  Bill  Sikes  and  the  re 
mainder  of  the  gang  met  on  Jacob's 
Island  in  the  TTiames  River.  They  in 
tended  to  stay  there  in  a  deserted  house 
until  the  hunt  had  died  down.  But 
Sikes'  dog  led  their  pursuers  to  the  hide 
out.  Bill  Sikes  hanged  himself  acci 
dentally  with  the  rope  he  was  using  as 
a  means  of  escape.  The  other  robbers 
were  captured.  Fagin  was  hanged  pub 
licly  at  Newgate  after  he  had  revealed 
to  Oliver  the  location  of  papers  concern 
ing  the  boy's  heritage.  Monks  had  en 
trusted  these  papers  to  the  Jew  foi 
safekeeping. 

Harry  Maylie,  who  had  become  a  min 
ister,  married  Rose  Maylie.  Mr.  Brown- 
low  adopted  Oliver  and  took  up  resi 
dence  near  the  church  of  the  Reverend 
Harry  Maylie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bumble 
lost  their  parochial  positions  and  soon 
became  inmates  of  the  workhouse  which 
once  had  been  their  domain.  Monks, 
allowed  to  retain  his  share  of  his  father's 
property,  went  to  America  and  even 
tually  died  in  prison.  Oliver's  years  of 
hardship  and  unhappiness  were  at  an 
end. 


OMOO 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Herman  Melville  0819-1891) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  1840Js 

Locale:  Tahiti  and  the  South  Seas 

First  published:  1847 

Principal  characters: 

HERMAN  MELVILLE,  an  American  sailor 

DOCTOR  LONG  GHOST,  his  companion  in  his  adventures 

CAPTAIN  BOB,  a  jovial  Tahitian  jailer 

Critique: 

The  title  of  this  book,  a  sequel  to  Mel-  wanders,  like  the  narrator  of  the  booi , 

ville's  earlier  Typee,  was  borrowed  from  from  one  island  to   another.    Melville's 

the    native    dialect    of    the    Marquesas  object  in  writing  Qmoo  was  twofold.  He 

Islands.  The  word  signifies  a  person  who  wished  to  relate  his  own  adventures  in 


689 


the  Society  Islands  and  to  make  people 
realize  the  effects  promiscuous  social  in 
tercourse  with  white  men,  generally,  and 
missionaries,  particularly,  had  had  upon 
the  Polynesians.  The  natives  were 
better  off,  Melville  felt,  as  unsophisti 
cated  hut  sincere  pagans  than  as  the 
hypocritical  pseudcMChristians  of  the 
missionary  schools. 

The  Story: 

Rescued  from  the  cannibal  island  of 
Typee  by  the  crew  of  a  British  whaler, 
Herman 'Melville  agreed  to  stay  on  the 
ship  as  a  deckhand  until  it  reached  the 
next  port,  where  he  was  to  be  placed 
ashore.  But  the  Julia  was  not  a  well- 
managed  vessel,  and  soon  after  Melville 
Joined  it  several  of  the  men  made  an 
attempt  to  desert.  These  unfortunates 
were  recovered  quickly,  however,  by  the 
timely  aid  of  the  islanders  and  the  crew 
of  a  French  man-of-war. 

In  the  weeks  of  cruising  that  followed 
this  adventure,  Melville,  relieved  from 
duty  because  of  a  lameness  in  his  leg, 
spent  his  time  reading  the  books  of  the 
ship's  doctor  and  playing  chess  with  their 
owner.  Those  were  not  weeks  of  pleas 
ure.  In  that  time  two  of  the  men  in  the 
forecastle  died  and  the  entire  crew  lived 
under  the  most  abominable  conditions, 
in  the  rat-infested,  rotten  old  ship  which 
should  have  been  condemned  years  be 
fore.  Finally,  when  the  captain  himself 
fell  ill,  the  ship  changed  its  course  to 
Tahiti,  the  nearest  island. 

Having  convinced  themselves  that 
when  the  captain  left  the  ship  they 
would  no  longer  be  bound  by  the  agree 
ments  they  had  signed,  the  crew  in 
tended  to  leave  the  ship  when  she  ar 
rived  in  the  harbor  at  Papeetee.  The 
captain  attempted  to  prevent  their  deser 
tion  by  keeping  the  ship  under  way  just 
Dutside  the  harbor  while  he  went  ashore 
in  a  small  boat.  Only  Doctor  Long 
Ghost's  influence  prevented  the  men 
from  disregarding  orders  and  taking  the 
Vessel  into  the  harbor  to  anchor  her*  The 
crew  did,  however,  protest  their  treat 


ment  in  a  letter  sent  to  the  British  con 
sul  ashore  by  means  of  the  Negro  cook. 
Unfortunately,  the  acting  consul  in  Pa 
peetee  and  the  captain  of  the  Julia  were 
old  acquaintances,  and  the  official's  only 
action  was  to  inform  the  men  they  would 
have  to  stay  with  the  ship  and  cruise 
for  three  months  under  the  command  of 
the  first  mate.  The  captain  himself 
would  remain  in  Tahiti.  But  after  a 
Mauri  harpooner  attempted  to  wreck  the 
ship,  the  drunken  mate  decided  to  take 
the  whaler  into  the  harbor,  regardless  of 
consequences. 

In  Papeetee  the  acting  consul  had  the 
men,  including  Melville  and  Doctor 
Long  Ghost,  imprisoned  on  a  French 
frigate.  After  five  days  aboard  the  French 
ship,  they  were  removed  and  were  once 
more  given  an  opportunity  to  return  to 
their  ship.  When  they  refused,  the  mu 
tineers  were  taken  in  custody  by  a  Ta- 
hitian  native  called  Captain  Bob,  who 
took  them  to  an  oval-shaped  thatched 
house  which  was  to  be  their  jail. 

There  they  were  confined  in  stocks, 
two  timbers  about  twenty  feet  long  serv 
ing  to  secure  all  the  prisoners.  Each 
morning  the  jailer  came  to  free  the  men 
and  supervise  their  baths  in  a  neighbor 
ing  stream.  The  natives,  in  return  for 
hard  ship's  biscuit  from  the  Julia,  fed  the 
men  baked  breadfruit  and  Indian  turnips. 
Sometimes  the  kindly  jailer  led  the  men 
to  his  orange  grove,  where  they  gathered 
fruit  for  their  meals.  This  fruit  diet  was 
precisely  what  they  needed  to  regain  the 
health  they  had  lost  while  eating  sea 
rations  of  salt  pork  and  biscuit. 

The  prisoners  in  the  thatched  hut 
were  in  sight  of  Broom  Road,  the  island's 
chief  thoroughfare.  Since  they  were 
easily  accessible,  the  idle,  inquisitive  Ta- 
hitians  were  constantly  visiting,  and  they 
did  not  lack  for  company. 

Within  a  few  days,  their  jailer  freed 
the  sailors  from  the  stocks  during  the 
daytime,  except  when  white  men  were 
in  the  vicinity.  Once  this  leniency  was 
granted,  the  men  roamed  the  neighbor 
hood  to  take  advantage  of  the  natives' 


690 


hospitality.  Doctor  Long  Ghost  always 
carried  salt  with  him,  in  case  he  found 
some  food  to  flavor. 

When  the  consul  sent  a  doctor  to  look 
at  the  prisoners,  all  the  sailors  pretended 
to  be  sick.  Shortly  after  the  doctor  had 
made  his  examinations  and  departed,  a 
native  boy  appeared  with  a  basket  of 
medicines.  The  sailors  discarded  the 
powders  and  pills,  but  eagerly  drank  the 
contents  of  all  the  bottles  which  smelled 
the  least  bit  alcoholic. 

British  missionaries  on  the  island  took 
no  notice  of  the  sailors  from  the  Julia 
other  than  sending  them  a  handful  of 
tracts.  Three  French  priests,  however, 
came  to  see  the  men.  The  natives,  it 
seemed,  looked  upon  the  priests  as  ma 
gicians,  and  so  they  had  been  able  to 
make  only  a  few  converts  among  the 
islanders.  The  priests  were  popular  with 
the  sailors  because  they  gave  freshly 
baked  wheat  bread  and  liquor  to  the 
prisoners. 

Three  weeks  after  arriving  in  the  port 
of  Papeetee,  the  captain  of  the  Julia 
sailed  away  with  a  new  crew  recruited 
from  beachcombers  idling  about  the 
island.  After  his  departure  the  mutineers 
were  no  longer  confined  to  their  jail,  but 
continued  to  live  there  because  the  build 
ing  was  as  convenient  as  any  other 
thatched  dwelling  in  the  neighborhood. 
They  existed  by  foraging  the  surround 
ing  country  and  smuggling  provisions 
from  visiting  ships  with  the  aid  of  the 
sailors  aboard. 

Melville  found  this  life  not  unpleasant 
at  first,  but  after  a  time  he  grew  bored. 
He  even  went  to  a  native  church  to  hear 
the  missionary  preach.  The  theme  of 
the  sermon  was  that  all  white  men  ex 
cept  the  British  were  bad  and  so  were 
the  natives,  unless  they  began  to  con 
tribute  more  baskets  of  food  to  the  mis 
sionary's  larder.  Melville  did  not  go  to 
the  missionary  church  again. 

Several  weeks  after  the  Julia  had 
sailed,  Melville  met  two  white  men  who 
informed  him  that  a  plantation  on  a 
neighboring  island  was  in  need  of  labor 


ers.  Melville  and  Doctor  Long  Ghost, 
introduced  to  the  planters  as  Peter  and 
Paul,  wrere  immediately  hired.  One 
moonlight  night  the  pair  boarded  the 
boat  belonging  to  their  employers.  They 
left  their  former  shipmates  without  cere 
mony,  lest  the  authorities  prevent  their 
departure. 

The  planters  lived  by  themselves  in  an 
inland  valley  on  the  mosquito-infested 
island  of  Lmeeo.  The  prospect  of  plying 
a  hoe  in  the  heat  of  the  day  amid  swarms 
of  insects  did  not  appeal  to  the  two 
sailors,  and  so  at  noon  of  the  first  day  in 
the  fields  Doctor  Long  Ghost  pretended 
illness.  He  and  Melville  agreed  to  do  as 
little  work  as  possible.  After  a  few  days 
they  gave  up  farming  for  good  and  went 
afoot  to  Tarnai,  an  inland  village  un 
spoiled  by  missionaries  or  other  white 
men.  There  they  saw  a  dance  by  native 
girls,  a  rite  which  had  been  banned  as 
pagan  by  the  missionaries  on  the  island. 
A  day  or  two  later,  while  the  two  wThite 
men  were  considering  settling  perma 
nently  at  Tamai,  the  natives  forced  them 
to  flee,  for  a  reason  they  were  never  able 
to  discover. 

The  next  adventure  they  contemplated 
was  an  audience  with  the  queen  of  Ta 
hiti.  Traveling  by  easy  stages  from  one 
village  to  the  next,  afoot  or  by  canoe, 
they  made  their  way  to  Partoowye,  where 
the  island  queen  had  her  residence.  They 
met  a  runaway  ship's  carpenter  who  had 
settled  there  and  who  kept  busy  building 
boxes  and  cabinets  for  the  natives.  From 
him  they  learned  that  a  whaler  was  in 
the  local  harbor.  But  when  they  talked 
to  the  crew  of  the  vessel,  they  were  told 
that  it  was  not  a  good  ship  on  which  to 
sail,  and  they  gave  up  all  thought  of 
shipping  away  from  the  islands  aboard 
the  whaler. 

After  five  weeks  in  the  village,  Doctor 
Long  Ghost  and  Melville  finally  obtained 
admittance  to  the  queen  through  the 
good  offices  of  a  Marquesan  attendant 
at  her  court.  When  they  came  into  the 
queen's  presence,  she  was  eating,  and 
she  waved  them  out  of  her  palace  in 


691 


high-handed  fashion,  at  the  same  time 
reprimanding  their  guide.  Disappointed 
by  their  reception  at  court,  the  two  trav 
elers  again  decided  to  go  to  sea.  They 
made  friends  with  the  third  mate  of  the 
whaler,  which  was  still  in  the  harbor. 
The  mate  reassured  them  concerning  con 
ditions  aboard  the  ship.  The  other  sailors, 
knowing  the  ship  could  not  sail  away 
from  the  pleasant  islands  without  more 
men  in  the  crew,  had  deliberately  lied. 


Having  confidence  in  the  mate,  Doc 
tor  Long  Ghost  and  Melville  then  ap 
proached  the  captain  and  asked  to  sign 
on  as  members  of  the  crew.  The  captain, 
however,  would  not  accept  Doctor  Long 
Ghost  as  a  deckhand  or  as  the  ship's 
doctor.  Reluctandy  Melville  shipped 
alone  on  the  voyage  which  would  take 
him  to  the  coast  of  Japan  and,  he  hoped, 
eventually  home. 


THE  ORDEAL  OF  RICHARD  FEVEREL 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Meredith  (1828-1909) 

Type  of  plot:  Tragi-comedy 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1859 

Principal  characters: 

RICHARD  FEVEREL,  the  young  heir  to  Raynham  Abbey 

SIR  AUSTIN  FEVEKEL,  his  father 

ADRIAN  HAHLEY,  Sir  Austin's  nephew 

RTPTON  THOMPSON,  Richard's  playmate  and  friend 

BLAIZE,  a  neighboring  farmer 

LUCY  DESBOROUGH,  Blaize's  niece 

CLARE,  Richard's  cousin,  in  love  with  hrm 

Critique: 

The  Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel  tells 
what  happened  when  a  disillusioned, 
woman-hating  father  tried  to  rear  his  son 
according  to  a  scientific  system  of  educa 
tion  in  which  women  were  to  play  a 
very  minor  part.  Readers  of  the  book 
will  of  course  learn,  as  Sir  Austin  him 
self  did,  the  futility  of  such  attempts  to 
control  nature's  processes.  Some  modern 
readers  find  an  artificiality  in  the  dia 
logue  and  a  certain  pseudo-intellectual- 
ism  in  the  characterization.  However, 
any  artificial  qualities  of  the  book  are 
more  than  redeemed  by  the  idyllic  ro 
mance  of  Lucy  and  Richard.  Their  story 
has  undeniable  appeal;  if  Meredith 
strained  for  his  effect  in  other  aspects  of 
the  novel,  his  treatment  of  young  love 
was  simple  and  sincere, 


The  Story: 

Richard  Feverel  was  the  only  son  of 
Sir  Austin  Feverel,  of  Raynham  Abbey. 


After  Sir  Austin's  wife  left  him,  the 
baronet  became  a  woman-hater  who  wras 
determined  to  rear  his  son  according  to 
a  System,  which,  among  other  things, 
virtually  excluded  females  from  the  boy's 
life  until  he  was  twenty-five.  Then, 
Sir  Austin  thought,  his  son  might  marry, 
providing  a  girl  good  enough  for  the 
youth  could  be  found. 

Because  of  the  System,  Richard's  early 
life  was  carefully  controlled.  The  boy 
was  kept  from  lakes  and  rivers  so  that 
he  would  not  drown;  from  firecrackers 
so  that  he  would  not  be  burned;  from 
cricket  fields  so  that  he  would  not  be 
bruised.  Adrian  Harley,  Sir  Austin's 
nephew,  was  entrusted  with  Richard's 
education. 

When  he  was  fourteen,  the  Hope  of 
Raynham,  as  Adrian  called  his  charge, 
became  restless.  It  was  decided  that  he 
needed  a  companion  —  masculine,  of 
course  —  near  his  own  age.  The  candi- 


692 


date  for  this  position  was  young  Ripton 
Thompson,  the  none-too-brilliant  son  of 
Sir  Austin's  kwyer.  In  their  escapades 
around  Raynham  Abbey  together,  Rich 
ard  led  and  Ripton  followed. 

In  spite  of  Ripton's  subordinate  posi 
tion,  he  apparently  had  much  to  do  with 
corrupting  his  companion  and  weaken 
ing  Sir  Austin's  System.  Soon  after  Rip- 
ton  arrived  at  Raynham,  the  two  boys 
decided  to  go  shooting.  A  quarrel  arose 
between  them  when  Ripton,  not  a  sports 
man  by  nature,  cried  out  as  Richard  was 
aiming  his  piece  at  a  bird.  Richard 
called  his  companion  a  fool,  and  a  fight 
ensued.  Richard  won  because  he  was 
a  scientific  boxer.  The  two  boys  soon 
made  up  their  differences  but  their  state 
of  harmony  was  short-lived.  The  same 
afternoon  they  trespassed  on  the  farm 
of  a  neighbor  named  Blaize,  who  came 
upon  them  after  they  had  shot  a  pheasant 
on  his  property. 

Blaize  ordered  the  boys  off  his  land, 
and  when  they  refused  to  go  he  horse 
whipped  them.  Richard  and  Ripton 
were  compelled  to  retreat.  Ripton  sug 
gested  that  he  stone  the  farmer,  but 
Richard  refused  to  let  his  companion  use 
such  ungentlemanly  tactics.  The  two 
boys  did,  however,  speculate  on  ways  to 
get  even  with  farmer  Blaize. 

Richard  was  in  disgrace  when  he  re 
turned  to  Raynham  because  his  father 
knew  of  his  fight  with  Ripton.  Sir 
Austin  ordered  his  son  to  go  to  bed  im 
mediately  after  supper;  but  he  later  dis 
covered  that  Richard  had  gone,  not  to 
bed,  but  to  meet  Ripton,  and  the  boys 
were  overheard  talking  mysteriously 
about  setting  something  on  fire.  Shortly 
afterward,  when  Sir  Austin  discovered 
that  farmer  Blaize's  hayricks  were  on  fire, 
he  suspected  Richard.  Sir  Austin  was 
chagrined,  but  he  did  not  try  to  make 
his  son  confess.  Adrian  Harley  suspected 
both  Richard  and  Ripton,  who  was  soon 
sent  home  to  his  father. 

The  next  day  a  laborer  named  Tom 
Bakewell  was  arrested  on  suspicion  of 


committing  arson.  Tom  really  had  set 
fire  to  Blaize's  property,  Richard  having 
bribed  him  to  do  so,  but  he  refused  to 
implicate  Richard.  Conscience-stricken 
and  aware  of  the  fact  that  a  commoner 
was  shielding  him,  Richard  was  per 
suaded  to  go  to  Blaize  and  confess  that 
he  was  responsible  for  Tom's  action. 

Blaize  was  not  surprised  by  Richard's 
visit,  for  Sir  Austin  had  already  called 
and  paid  damages.  Richard  was  humili 
ated  by  the  necessity  of  apologizing  to  a 
farmer.  He  told  Blaize  that  he  had  set 
fire  to  the  farmer's  grain  stacks;  and 
Blaize  implied  that  Richard  was  a  liar 
because  the  farmer  had  a  witness,  a  dull- 
witted  fellow,  who  said  that  Tom  Bake- 
well  had  done  the  deed.  Richard  insisted 
that  he  himself  was  responsible,  and  he 
succeeded  in  confusing  Blaize's  star  wit 
ness.  Richard,  however,  left  the  farmer's 
place  in  a  most  irritated  frame  of  mind, 
not  even  noticing  the  farmer's  pretty 
little  thirteen-year-old  niece,  Lucy  Des- 
borough,  who  had  let  the  young  man  in 
and  out  of  Blaize's  house. 

At  Tom's  trial,  Blaize's  witness  wai 
so  uncertain  about  the  identity  of  the 
arsonist  that  the  accused  was  released. 
Thereafter  Tom  became  Richard's  de 
voted  servant. 

When  Richard  reached  the  age  of 
eighteen,  Sir  Austin  set  about  finding 
a  prospective  wife  for  the  Hope  of  Rayn 
ham,  a  girl  who  could  be  trained  for 
seven  years  to  be  a  fit  mate  for  Sir  Aus 
tin's  perfect  son.  Richard,  however,  could 
not  wait  seven  years  before  he  at  least 
showed  an  interest  in  women,  partly  be 
cause  they  had  no  place  in  the  System, 
He  was  attracted  first  to  his  cousin  Clare, 
who  adored  him  and  dreamed  of  marry 
ing  the  handsome  young  man,  but  in  a 
single  afternoon  Richard  completely  for 
got  Clare.  Boating  on  the  weir,  he  came 
upon  a  young  lady  in  distress  and  saved 
her  boat  from  capsizing.  In  that  instani 
the  System  collapsed  completely.  She 
introduced  herself  as  farmer  Blaize's 
niece,  Lucy  Desborough.  Richard  was 


693 


immediately  smitten  with  her,  and  she 
with  him.  Every  day  they  met  in  the 
meadow  by  the  weir. 

Sir  Austin,  meanwhile,  thought  that 
he  had  found  in  London  the  perfect  mate 
for  his  son,  a  young  girl  named  Carola 
Grandison.  Informed  by  Adrian  and  his 
butler  that  Richard  was  secretly  meeting 
Lucy,  Sir  Austin  ordered  his  son  to  come 
to  London  immediately  in  order  to  meet 
Carola.  Richard  at  first  refused  to  obey 
his  father,  but  Adrian  tricked  Richard 
into  going  to  London  by  saying  that  Sir 
Austin  had  apoplexy. 

Richard  found  his  father  physically 
well,  but  mentally  disturbed  by  the 
young  man's  interest  in  Lucy.  He  told 
Richard  that  women  were  the  ordeal  of 
all  men,  and  though  he  hoped  for  a  con 
fession  of  Richard's  affair  with  Lucy,  he 
got  none.  Sir  Austin,  however,  refused 
to  let  the  young  man  return  to  Raynham 
as  soon  as  Richard  would  have  liked. 
Richard  met  the  Grandisons,  listened  to 
his  father's  lectures  on  the  folly  of  young 
men  who  imagined  themselves  in  love, 
and  moped  when,  after  two  weeks,  Lucy 
mysteriously  stopped  writing. 

When  Sir  Austin  and  his  son  finally 
returned  to  the  abbey,  Richard  found 
that  Lucy  had  been  sent  away  to  school 
against  her  will  by  her  uncle  so  that  she 
would  not  interfere  with  Sir  Austin's 
System.  Although  the  farmer  did  not 
object  to  Richard,  he  refused  to  have  his 
niece  brought  back  because  of  his  prom 
ise  to  Sir  Austin. 

After  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  have 
his  sweetheart  returned  to  him,  Richard 
decided  upon  drastic  measures.  Sir  Aus 
tin  unwittingly  aided  his  son's  designs, 
when  he  sent  Richard  to  London  to  see 
the  Grandisons.  Tom  Blaize,  destined 
by  Sir  Austin  and  her  uncle  to  be  Lucy's 
husband,  went  to  London  by  the  same 
train.  Richard  got  in  touch  with  his  old 
friend,  Rip  ton  Thompson,  and  asked  him 
to  get  lodgings  for  a  lady.  While  in 
London,  Richard  came  upon  Adrian 
Harley,  Clare's  mother,  and  Glare,  who 
had  picked  up  a  wedding  ring  which 


Richard  had  dropped.  Tom  Blaize  was 
tricked  into  going  to  the  wrong  station 
to  find  Lucy,  and  Richard  met  her  in 
stead.  He  installed  her  with  Mrs.  Berry 
in  lodgings  in  Kensington  and  married 
her  soon  afterward,  good-hearted  Mrs. 
Berry  giving  them  her  own  wedding  ring 
to  replace  the  one  Richard  had  lost. 

When  Adrian  learned  of  Richard's 
marriage,  he  admitted  that  the  System 
had  failed.  Ripton  himself  broke  the 
news  to  Sir  Austin,  who  remarked  bit 
terly  that  he  was  mistaken  to  believe 
that  any  System  could  be  based  on  a 
human  being.  Actually  Sir  Austin  ob 
jected  not  so  much  to  the  marriage  of  his 
son  as  to  the  deception  involved. 

Efforts  were  made  to  reconcile  Rich 
ard  and  his  father,  but  to  no  avail.  Rich 
ard  was  uneasy  because  he  had  not  heard 
from  his  father,  and  Sir  Austin  was  too 
proud  to  take  the  first  step.  While  Rich 
ard  and  Lucy  were  honeymooning  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  he  was  introduced  to  a 
fast  yachting  crowd,  including  Lord 
Mountfalcon,  a  man  of  doubtful  repu 
tation,  whom  Richard  naively  asked  to 
watch  over  Lucy  while  Richard  himself 
went  to  London  to  see  his  father  and  ask 
his  forgiveness. 

In  London  he  met  a  woman  Lord 
Mountfalcon  had  bribed  to  bring  about 
Richard's  downfall,  for  his  plan  was  to 
win  Lucy  for  himself  by  convincing  her 
of  Richard's  infidelity.  Richard  did  not 
know  that  Mrs.  Mount,  as  she  was 
called,  was  being  bribed  to  detain  him 
and  that  while  she  kept  him  in  London 
Lord  Mountfalcon  was  attempting  to 
seduce  Lucy. 

Because  he  could  not  bear  separation 
from  his  son  any  longer,  Sir  Austin  con 
sented  to  see  Richard.  Relations  between 
Richard  and  his  father  were  still  strained, 
however,  for  Sir  Austin  had  not  yet 
accepted  Lucy.  Since  she  could  not  have 
Richard,  Clare,  meanwhile,  had  married 
a  man  much  older  than  she.  Shortly  after 
her  marriage,  she  died  and  was  buried 
with  her  own  wedding  ring  and  Richard's 
lost  one  on  her  fingei. 


694 


The  death  of  Clare  and  the  realiza 
tion  that  she  had  loved  him  deeply 
shocked  Richard.  Moreover,  his  past  in 
discretions  with  Mrs.  Mount  made  him 
ashamed  of  himself;  unworthy,  he 
thought  to  touch  Lucy's  hand.  He  did 
not  Snow  that  Mrs.  Berry  had  gone  to 
the  Isle  of  Wight  and  had  brought  Lucy 
back  to  live  with  her  in  Kensington. 
Richard  himself  had  gone  to  the  conti 
nent,  where  he  traveled  aimlessly,  un 
aware  that  Lucy  had  borne  "him  a  son. 
Then  an  uncle  who  disbelieved  in  all 
systems  returned  to  London.  Learning 
of  Lucy  and  her  child,  he  bundled  them 
off  to  Raynham  Abbey,  and  prevailed  on 
Sir  Austin  to  receive  them.  Then  he  went 
to  the  continent,  found  Richard,  and 
broke  the  news  that  he  was  a  father. 
Richard  rushed  back  to  Raynham  to  be 
with  Lucy  and  to  become  completely 


reconciled  with  his  father. 

The  reunion  between  Lucy  and  Rich 
ard  was  brief.  Richard  saw  his  son  and 
received  from  his  wife  complete  forgive 
ness  for  his  past  misdeeds.  A  letter  from 
Mrs.  Mount  to  Richard  had  revealed 
how  Lord  Mountfalcon  had  schemed  so 
that  his  lordship  could  see  Lucy  and 
separate  her  from  Richard.  Knowing 
Lucy's  innocence  and  Mountfalcon's  vil 
lainy,  Richard  went  immediately  to 
France,  where  he  was  slightly  wounded 
in  a  duel  with  Lord  Mountfalcon.  The 
news  of  the  duel  was,  however,  fatal  for 
Lucy.  She  became  ill  of  brain  fever  and 
died  of  shock,  crying  for  her  husband. 
Richard  was  heartbroken.  Sir  Austin  was 
grieved  too,  but  his  closest  friend  often 
wondered  whether  he  had  ever  perceived 
any  flaws  in  his  System. 


THE  OREGON  TRAIL 

Type  of  work:  Record  of  travel 
Author:  Francis  Parkman  (1823-1893) 
Type  of  plot:  Travel  and  adventure  sketches 
Time  of  plot:  1846 
Locale:  The  Oregon  Trail 
First  published:  1849 

Principal  characters: 

FRANCIS  PARKMAN,  a  young  man  just  out  of  college 

QUINCY  SHAW,  his  friend 

HENRY  CHATILLON,  their  guide 

DESIAURIEIIS,  their  muleteer 

Critiqiie: 

This  book  is  one  of  the  great  docu 
ments  of  the  West.  Very  few  travelers 
wrote  much  about  the  country  beyond 
the  Mississippi  as  early  as  the  1 840's,  and 
those  who  did  write  seldom  approached 
their  subject  with  the  objective  and  un 
biased  point  of  view  from  which  Francis 
Parkman  wrote  in  his  account  of  a  region 
he  had  known  and  enjoyed.  His  motive 
was  to  set  down  for  posterity  what  he  had 
observed  on  his  trip  to  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.  He  realized  only  too  well  that  the 
Indian,  the  trading  post,  the  mountain 
man,  and  the  great  buffalo  herds  were 
passing  figures  in  history.  He  wanted  to 


leave  a  record  of  them,  for  he  saw  in  them 
something  of  glamour  and  interest  which, 
once  gone,  could  never  return. 

T}ie  Story: 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  Francis  Parkman 
and  his  friend,  Quincy  Shaw,  traveled  by 
railroad  from  the  East  to  St.  Louis.  From 
St.  Louis  they  went  by  river  steamer  up 
the  Missouri  River  to  Kansas,  then  called 
Kanzas,  about  five  hundred  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  Their  object  was 
a  trip  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  very  un 
usual  excursion  in  the  1840's. 

Disembarking,    the    two    young   men 


695 


went  by  wagon  to  Westport  to  get  horses 
and  guides  for  their  journey.  At  West- 
port  they  met  three  acquaintances  with 
whom  they  agreed  to  travel;  two  British 
army  officers  and  another  gentleman, 
who  were  planning  a  hunting  expedition 
on  the  American  prairies.  Pleased  to 
have  companions  on  their  dangerous 
journey,  the  two  Easterners  were  also 
glad  they  did  not  need  to  travel  with  a 
train  of  emigrants,  for  whom  Parkman 
expressed  the  utmost  contempt 

The  journey  began  inauspiciously  for 
the  five  travelers.  The  Britishers  decided 
to  start  by  a  trail  other  than  the  one 
which  had  been  previously  decided  upon. 
The  result  was  that  the  party  discovered, 
after  several  days  of  travel,  that  they  had 
gone  far  out  of  their  way.  The  party 
then  rode  northward  to  the  Oregon  Trail, 
which  they  decided  to  follow  to  Fort 
Laramie,  seven  hundred  miles  away. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  May  the  party 
arrived  on  the  Oregon  Trail,  where  they 
saw  the  first  human  being  they  had  met 
in  eight  days  of  travel.  He  was  a  strag 
gler  from  a  caravan  of  emigrants.  At 
the  end  of  three  weeks  Park  man  and 
his  companions,  the  Englishmen  and  a 
small  group  of  emigrants  who  had  joined 
them,  reached  the  Platte  River.  They 
were  still  four  hundred  miles  from  Fort 
Laramie.  The  journey  to  the  Platte 
River  had  been  a  muddy  one,  for  each 
night  the  party  was  drenched  by  a  ter 
rific  thunderstorm.  During  the  d'ay  they 
also  ran  into  numerous  showers  as  they 
made  their  way  westward  across  the  un 
interesting  country  east  of  the  Platte,  a 
country  almost  devoid  of  any  game  ex 
cept  for  a  few  birds. 

At  the  Platte  the  party  entered  the 
buffalo  country.  Park  man  and  Shaw 
were  fascinated  by  those  animals,  and 
they  slaughtered  hundreds,  mostly  bulls, 
before  their  journey  ended.  When  they 
entered  the  buffalo  country  they  also 
entered  the  first  territory  where  they 
were  likely  to  encounter  hostile  Indians. 
A  few  days  after  crossing  the  Platte, 
Parkman,  Shaw,  and  their  guide  went 


on  a  sortie  after  buffalo.  Parkman  be 
came  separated  from  his  companions  and 
spent  several  anxious  hours  before  he 
found  his  solitary  way  back  to  the  camp. 
Shortly  after  that  adventure  the  party 
met  the  chief  of  the  trading  station  at 
Fort  Laiamie,  who  was  on  his  way  down 
stream  on  the  Platte  with  a  shipment  of 
skins.  He  warned  them  to  watch  out 
for  Pawnees,  in  whose  country  the  party 
was  then  traveling. 

While  traveling  up  the  river,  the  Eng 
lishmen  made  themselves  obnoxious  to 
Parkman  and  his  friend  by  encouraging 
emigrants  to  join  the  party  and  by  camp 
ing  at  any  time  of  the  day  they  pleased 
without  consulting  the  Americans.  Since 
Parkman  and  Shaw  had  a  definite  sched 
ule  which  they  wished  to  keep,  they  left 
the  Englishmen  and  pushed  on  ahead 
with  Henry  Chatillon,  their  guide,  and 
a  muleteer  named  Deslauriers.  Not  many 
days  afterward  Parkman  and  his  group 
reached  Fort  Laramie,  at  that  time  a 
trading  outpost  and  not  a  military  fort. 

At  Fort  Laramie  the  travelers  intro 
duced  themselves  and  gave  the  factor  in 
charge  a  letter  they  had  brought  from 
his  superiors  in  St.  Louis.  They  were  en 
tertained  and  housed  in  the  best  fashion 
possible  at  the  fort.  Parkman  and  his 
friend  spent  the  next  few  days  visiting 
the  Indian  villages  outside  the  fort,  talk 
ing  with  the  trappers,  and  occasionally 
looking  in  on  emigrant  trains  which  were 
on  their  way  to  the  Oregon  country. 
Using  a  small  chest  of  medical  supplies 
he  carried  with  him,  Shaw  gained  some 
little  reputation  as  a  medicine  man  by 
doctoring  a  few  of  the  more  important 
Indians. 

The  most  decisive  news  which  came 
to  Parkman  and  Shaw  at  the  fort  was 
that  the  Dakota  Indians  were  preparing 
to  make  war  upon  their  traditional  ene 
mies  of  the  Snake  tribe.  Parkman  and 
his  friend  decided  that  they  would  ac 
company  the  Dakotas  on  the  raid,  since 
their  guide,  Henry  Chatillon,  was  mar 
ried  to  a  Dakota  squaw  and  could, 
through  her,  promise  the  protection  of 


696 


the  Dakota  tribe.  The  travelers  felt  that 
it  would  be  an  unusual  opportunity  to 
study  Indians  and  their  customs. 

On  June  twentieth  Parkman's  party, 
now  augmented  by  two  traders  of  Indian 
and  French  descent,  left  Fort  Lararnie  to 
join  the  village  of  a  Dakota  chief  named 
The  Whirlwind.  A  few  days  later,  reach 
ing  a  point  on  Lararnie  Creek  where  the 
Indians  would  pass,  they  decided  to  camp 
and  await  the  arrival  of  The  Whirlwind 
and  his  village.  While  they  waited,  two 
misfortunes  broke  upon  them.  Parkman 
fell  seriously  ill  with  dysentery  and  word 
came  that  Chatillon's  Indian  wife,  who 
was  a  member  of  The  Whirlwind's  vil 
lage,  was  dying.  Chatillon  went  ahead 
to  meet  the  Indians  and  see  his  wife  be 
fore  she  died.  When  the  Indians  failed 
to  arrive,  Parkman,  recovered  from  his 
illness,  went  back  to  Fort  Lararnie.  There 
he  discovered  that  the  Dakota  war-spirit 
had  lessened,  so  that  there  was  some 
doubt  as  to  whether  the  tribe  would  take 
the  war-trail. 

Parkman  and  Shaw  decided  to  follow 
The  Whirlwind's  village  of  Dakotas.  A 
day  or  two  after  they  started,  however, 
they  received  word  that  a  trader  was 
going  to  the  Indian  rendezvous  and 
wished  Parkman  and  Shaw  to  accom 
pany  him.  Thev  never  did  find  the 
trader,  but  pushed  on  by  themselves  to 
the  place  where  they  expected  to  find 
the  Indians  camped  before  they  went 
on  the  warpath. 

Arriving  at  the  rendezvous,  Parkman 
and  Shaw  found  no  Indians.  Since  Shaw 
was  not  particularly  interested  in  study 
ing  the  Indians,  Parkman  took  one  man, 
who  was  married  to  an  Indian,  and  set 
off  by  himself  to  find  The  Whirlwind's 
village.  It  was  a  dangerous  undertaking, 
for  there  was  some  risk  of  bad  treatment 
from  all  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  both 
friendly  and  hostile. 

After  many  days  of  lonely  travel,  Park 
man  and  his  companion  came  upon  a 
Dakota  village  hunting  in  the  foothills 
of  the  Rockies.  They  learned  that  The 
Whirlwind  had  left  this  village  with  a 


few  families.  A  Frenchman  named  Rey- 
nal  lived  in  the  village,  however,  and 
Parkman  gained  the  protection  of  Rey- 
nal  and  his  squaw's  relatives.  Without 
ceremony  Parkman  and  his  man  Ray 
mond  went  to  live  in  the  lodge  of  Chief 
Big  Crow,  who  was  honored  that  the 
white  men  would  come  to  live  with  him. 

Until  the  first  of  August  Parkman 
lived  with  Big  Crow  and  shared  the 
tribal  life  of  the  village.  With  his  host 
or  with  other  Indians  he  went  on  hunt 
ing  expeditions  after  buffalo,  antelope, 
and  other  game.  It  was  a  dangerous  life, 
but  Parkman  enjoyed  it  in  spite  of  the 
many  risks. 

That  summer  was  a  perilous  time  for 
the  Indians.  In  search  of  a  large  herd 
of  buffalo  needed  to  get  skins  for  the 
repair  of  their  worn  tepees,  they  had 
deeply  penetrated  the  hunting  grounds 
of  their  enemies.  At  last,  after  a  suc 
cessful  hunt,  the  village  turned  eastward 
toward  Fort  Laramie,  to  rejoin  the  other 
Indians  who  had  not  dared  to  accompany 
them.  Parkman  and  his  man  traveled 
part  of  the  way  with  the  tribe.  But  in 
order  to  reach  Fort  Lararnie  by  the  date 
he  had  set,  Parkman  found  that  he  had 
to  push  ahead  by  himself,  for  the  Indian 
village  traveled  too  slowly.  Women, 
children,  and  dogs  reduced  their  rate  of 
travel  considerably. 

Back  at  Fort  Laramie,  where  he  re 
joined  Shaw,  Parkman  prepared  for  the 
return  journey  to  St.  Louis.  They  left 
the  fort  on  the  fourth  of  August,  ac 
companied  by  several  traders  who  had 
promised  to  go  with  them  for  part  of  the 
journey.  These  men  left  the  party,  how 
ever,  before  it  reached  the  Platte.  Park 
man  and  Shaw  made  most  of  the  return 
journey  with  only  their  two  hired  men. 
At  Bent's  Fort,  a  small  trading  post,  they 
were  joined  by  a  volunteer  who  had  left 
the  army  because  of  sickness.  This  man 
gave  them  the  first  news  of  the  Mexican 
War  that  Parkman  and  Shaw  had  re 
ceived,  for  the  war  had  begun  after  they 
had  left  civilization  behind  them.  From 
that  time  on,  the  travelers  met  many 


697 


wagon  trains  and  columns  of  troops  on 
their  way  westward  to  fight  the  Mexi 
cans.  Because  of  the  many  troop  units 
in  the  territory,  the  small  party  had  no 
difficulty  with  any  of  the  Indian  bands 
they  encountered. 

Early  in  September  the  four  men  rode 
into  Westport,  where  they  sold  their 
horses  and  camping  equipment.  Park- 
man  and  Shaw  traveled  by  boat  down 
stream  to  St.  Louis.  There  they  discarded 
the  buckskins  they  had  been  wearing  for 
many  weeks. 

It  had  been  an  amazing  vacation.  For 
five  months  they  had  traveled  through 
the  heart  of  the  Indian  country,  far 


from  the  protection  of  the  government 
and  the  army.  They  had  seen  many 
Indians,  but  without  loss  of  valuables  or 
life.  The  only  casualty  had  been  an  old 
mule  that  died  as  a  result  of  a  snake  bite. 
The  good  fortune  of  Parkman  and  his 
friends  was  pointed  up  by  the  hostilities 
which  began  shortly  after  they  left  the 
frontier  region.  Three  weeks  after  their 
return  to  civilization,  Comanches  and 
Pawnees  began  raiding  the  trail  over 
which  they  had  traveled.  The  raids  were 
so  methodical  that  not  a  single  party 
passed  over  the  Oregon  Trail  in  the  next 
six  months. 


ORLANDO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Virginia  Woolf  ( 1882-1941) 

Type  of  plot:    Biographical  fantasy 

Time  of  plot:   1588-1928 

Locale:   England 

First  published:    1928 

Principal  characters: 

ORLANDO,  first  a  man,  then  a  woman 

SASHA,  a  Russian  princess  loved  by  Orlando 

NICHOLAS  GREENE,  a  poet  pensioned  by  Orlando 

ARCHDUCHESS  HARRIET  OF  ROUMANIA/ an  admirer  of  Orlando 

BONTHROP   SHEXMERBINE,  ESQUTRE,   Orlando's  husband 

The  Story: 

One  day  in  1588  young  Orlando  was 
slashing  at  the  head  of  a  Moor  tied  to 
the  rafters  in  his  ancestral  castle.  His 
forefathers  had  been  of  noble  rank  for 
centuries  and  had  lived  out  their  lives 
in  action,  but  Orlando  was  inclined  to 
ward  writing.  Bored  by  his  play  in  the 
attic,  he  went  to  his  room  and  wrote  for 
a  while  on  his  poetic  drama,  "Aethel- 
bert:  A  Tragedy  in  Five  Acts."  Tiring 
of  poetry  before  long,  he  ran  out  of 
doors  and  up  a  nearby  hill,  where  he 
threw  himself  down  under  his  favorite 
oak  tree  and  gave  himself  over  to  con 
templation. 

He  was  still  lying  there  when  he 
heard  trumpet  calls  announcing  the  ar- 


Critique: 

Orlando  is  a  fantasy  which  traces  in 
straightforward  biographical  manner  the 
life  of  a  hero-heroine,  a  boy  who  was 
sixteen  years  old  in  1588  and  a  woman 
of  thirty-six  in  1928.  The  novel  is  really 
three  centuries  of  English  history  pre 
sented  symbolically  through  the  family 
heritage  of  Victoria  Sackville-West,  Eng 
lish  poet  and  novelist  Mrs.  Woolfs 
method  gives  the  impression  of  time 
passing  and  the  present  merging  with 
the  past,  a  fantasy  that  is  a  free  release 
of  the  creative  imagination,  unhampered 
by  calendar  time  and  compelling  that 
"willing  suspension  of  disbelief"  which 
we  make  also  in  stories  of  the  super 
natural. 


T-       • 
•928,  by   virjmia  Wooif. 


B7  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harcourt,    Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright, 


698 


rival  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  hurried  to 
the  castle  to  dress  in  his  finest  clothes 
to  serve  Her  Majesty.  On  the  way  to 
his  room  he  noticed  a  shabbily-dressed 
man  in  the  servants'  quarters,  a  man  who 
looked  like  a  poet,  but  he  had  no  time 
to  stop  for  inquiry.  The  man's  image 
was  to  haunt  him  the  rest  of  his  life. 
Having  dressed,  he  dashed  down  to  the 
banquet  hall  and,  kneeling  before  the 
queen,  offered  a  bowl  of  rose  water  for 
her  to  wash  her  hands  after  her  journey. 
Elizabeth  was  so  taken  with  the  boy 
that  she  deeded  to  his  father  a  great 
house.  Two  years  later  she  summoned 
Orlando  to  court,  where  in  time  he  was 
made  her  treasurer  and  steward.  One 
day,  however,  she  saw  Orlando  kissing 
a  girl  of  the  court  and  became  so  angry 
that  Orlando  lost  her  royal  favor. 

Orlando  had  many  adventures  with 
women.  He  had  decid'ed  finally,  to  marry 
at  the  time  of  the  Great  Frost  in  1604. 
That  year  the  Thames  was  frozen  so 
deeply  that  King  James  had  the  court 
hold  carnival  on  the  ice.  There  Orlando 
met  and  fell  in  love  with  Sasha,  a  Rus 
sian  princess,  with  whom  he  skated  far 
down  the  river.  They  went  aboard  a 
Russian  ship  to  get  something  for  Sasha, 
who  remained  below  so  long  that  Orlando 
went  to  investigate.  He  found  her  sit 
ting  on  the  knee  of  a  common  seaman. 
Sasha  was  able  to  reconcile  Orlando,  how 
ever,  and  the  two  planned  an  elopement. 
While  waiting  for  her  that  night,  Or 
lando  began  to  feel  raindrops;  the  thaw 
had  set  in.  After  waiting  two  hours,  he 
dashed  down  to  the  river  bank,  where 
he  saw  great  pieces  of  ice  crashing  down 
the  flooded  waters.  Far  out  to  sea  he 
saw  the  Russian  ship  sailing  for  home. 
Sasha  had  betrayed  birn. 

For  six  months  Orlando  lived  in  grief. 
One  morning  in  June  he  failed  to  get 
out  of  bed  as  usual.  He  slept  for  seven 
days.  When  he  awoke  at  last,  he  seemed 
to  have  forgotten  much  of  the  past  He 
began  to  think  a  good  deal  about  the 
subject  of  death,  and  enjoyed  reading 
from  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  Urn  Burial. 


He  read,  thought,  and  wrote  a  great  deal 
He  summoned  Mr.  Nicholas  Greene, 
a  poet,  to  visit  him.  Greene  talked  to  him 
almost  incessantly  about  tlie  poets,  about 
life,  about  literature.  Orlando  was  so 
grateful  to  Greene  that  he  settled  a 
generous  pension  on  the  poet.  Greene, 
however,  could  not  endure  the  quiet 
country,  and  one  morning  he  went  back 
to  his  beloved  London. 

Still  wondering  what  life  was  all  about, 
Orlando  decided  to  try  filling  his  life 
with  material  achievement.  First  he  set 
about  refurbishing  his  great  house.  He 
spent  a  great  part  of  his  fortune  and 
traveled  into  distant  countries  in  his 
search  for  precious  ornaments.  The  time 
was  that  of  the  Restoration,  when  Charles 
II  was  king. 

One  day,  while  Orlando  was  working 
on  a  long  poem,  'The  Oak  Tree/'  he 
was  interrupted  by  a  large,  ugly  woman, 
the  Archduchess  Harriet  of  Roumania. 
She  had  heard  of  Orlando  and  wanted  to 
meet  him.  She  stayed  so  long  in  his 
vicinity  that  Orlando  asked  King  Charles 
to  send  him  to  Constantinople  as  Am 
bassador  Extraordinary. 

His  duties  in  the  Turkish  capital  were 
so  formal  and  arid  that  he  became  ex 
tremely  bored  and  began  to  wander 
about  the  city  in  disguise.  While  he 
was  abroad,  the  King  of  England  made 
him  a  member  of  the  Order  of  the  Bath 
and  granted  him  a  dukedom  by  proxy. 

The  next  morning  Orlando  could  not 
be  awakened,  and  for  seven  days  he  slept 
soundly.  When  at  last  he  did  rouse 
himself,  he  was  no  longer  a  man.  He 
had  become  a  beautiful  woman.  In  con 
fusion  Orlando  left  Constantinople  and 
joined  a  gipsy  tribe.  Although  Orlando 
spent  many  happy  days  in  the  gipsy 
camp,  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  set 
tle  down  among  them.  Selling  some  of 
the  pearls  she  had  brought  with  her  from 
Constantinople,  she  set  sail  for  England. 
She  noticed  a  difference  in  attitudes 
while  on  the  ship.  She  who  had  been 
a  man  now  received  courteous  attention 
from  the  captain,  and  she  saw  that  he? 


699 


new  role  would  require  new  responsibili 
ties  and  bring  new  privileges.  Back  in 
England,  she  learned  that  all  her  estates 
were  in  chancery,  for  she  was  considered 
legally  dead.  At  her  country  house  she 
was  received  courteously  by  her  servants. 
Again  she  was  haunted  by  the  Arch 
duchess  Harriet,  who  now,  however,  had 
become  a  man,  the  Archduke  Harry,  but 
at  last  she  managed  to  rid  herself  of  his 
attentions. 

Orlando  went  to  London  to  get  a 
taste  of  society.  The  reign  of  Queen 
Anne  was  a  brilliant  one.  Conversation 
flowed  freely,  and  dinners  and  recep 
tions  were  entertaining  affairs.  Addison, 
Dryden,  and  Pope  were  the  great  names 
of  the  age.  After  a  time,  however,  inter 
course  with  the  great  wits  began  to  pall, 
and  Orlando  went  looking  for  adventure. 
She  began  to  associate  with  women  of 
the  streets  and  pubs  and  found  their 
earthiness  a  welcome  change  from  the 
formalities  of  the  drawing-room.  But  the 
company  of  women  without  men  soon 
grew  dull  and  repetitive. 

At  last  came  the  darkness  and  doubt 
of  the  Victorian  era.  Orlando  saw  that 
marriage,  under  Victoria's  influence,  was 
the  career  toward  which  most  women 


were  striving.  Orlando  married  a  man 
named  Marmaduke  Bonthrop  Shelmer- 
dine,  Esquire,  who  took  off  immediately 
on  a  sea  voyage.  A  wedding  ring  on  her 
left  hand,  however,  was  Orlando's  em 
blem  of  belonging  to  accepted  society. 
Orlando's  lawsuits  had  been  settled  in 
her  favor,  but  they  had  been  so  expensive 
that  she  was  no  longer  a  rich  woman. 

She  went  into  London,  where  she  saw 
her  old  friend  Greene,  now  a  prominent 
literary  critic.  He  offered  to  find  a 
publisher  for  her  poem,  "The  Oak  Tree." 
London  itself  had  become  a  roaring 
metropolis.  It  was  October  11,  1928. 
Orlando  began  to  muse  over  her  long 
heritage.  She  recalled  Sasha,  the  arch 
duchess,  Constantinople,  the  archduke, 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  nine 
teenth.  She  saw  herself  now  as  the  cul 
mination  of  many  influences. 

She  drove  back  to  her  country  house 
and  walked  out  to  the  great  oak  tree 
where,  more  than  three  hundred  years 
before,  she  had  watched  the  arrival  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  The  stable  clock  began 
to  strike  twelve.  She  heard  a  roar  in  the 
heavens.  Shelmerdine,  now  a  sea  cap 
tain  of  renown,  was  arriving  home  by 
plane. 


ORPHEUS  AND  EURYDICE 


Type  of  work:  Classical  myth 

Source:  Folk  tradition 

Type  of  'plot:  Allegory  of  grief 

Time  of  plot:  The  Golden  Age 

Locale:  Thrace  and  the  Underworld 

First  transcribed:  Unknown 

Principal  characters: 
ORPHEUS,  a  musician 
EUBYDICE,  his  wife 


Although  there  exists  a  large  body  of 
terature  called  Orphic  poems  because  of 
the  claim  that  Orpheus  composed  them, 
it  is  now  believed  that  these  composi 
tions  date  from  the  worship  of  Orpheus 
in  Thrace.  The  story  of  Orpheus  and 
Eurydice  is  concerned  with  beauty  in 


music,  as  well  as  an  assurance  o£  immor 
tality.  As  in  many  myths,  a  love  of  beauty 
and  a  recognition  of  the  deeply  spiritual 
exist  side  by  side  with  cruelty  and  bar 
barism,  and  it  is  \vell  to  remember  that 
this  story  partakes  of  both  civilized  virtues 
and  savage  vices. 


700 


The  Story: 

Orpheus,  son  of  Apollo  and  the  muse 
Calliope,  grew  up  in  Thrace,  a  land  long 
noted  for  the  purity  and  richness  of  its 
divine  gift  of  song.  His  father  presented 
him  with  a  lyre  and  taught  him  to  play 
it.  So  lovely  were  the  songs  of  Orpheus 
that  the  wild  beasts  followed  him  when 
he  played,  and  even  the  trees,  the  rocks 
and  the  hills  gathered  near  him.  It  was 
said  his  music  softened  the  composition 
of  stones. 

Orpheus  charmed  Eurydice  with  his 
music,  but  to  their  wedding  Hymen 
brought  no  happy  omens.  His  torch 
smoked  so  that  tears  came  to  their  eyes. 
Passionately  in  love  with  his  wife,  Or 
pheus  became  mad  with  grief  when  Eu 
rydice  died.  Fleeing  from  a  shepherd 
who  desired  her,  she  had  stepped  upon 
a  snake  and  died  from  its  bite. 

Heartbroken,  Orpheus  wandered  over 
the  hills  composing  and  singing  melan 
choly  songs  of  memory  for  the  lost  Eu 
rydice.  Finally  he  descended  into  the 
Underworld  and  made  his  way  past  the 
sentries  by  means  of  his  music.  Ap 
proaching  the  throne  of  Proserpine  and 
Hades,  he  sang  a  lovely  song  in  xvhich 
he  said  love  had  brought  him  to  the 
Underworld.  He  complained  that  Eu- 
rydice  had  been  taken  from  him  before 
her  time  and  if  they  would  not  release 
her,  he  himself  would  not  leave  Hades. 
Proserpine  and  Hades  could  not  resist 
his  pleas.  They  agreed  to  set  Eurydice 
free  if  Orpheus  would  promise  not  to 
look  upon  her  until  they  should  safely 
reach  the  Upperworld. 

The  music  of  Orpheus  was  so  tender 
that  even  the  ghosts  shed  tears.  Tantalus 
forgot  his  search  for  water;  Ixion's  wheel 
stopped;  the  vulture  stopped  feeding  on 


the  giant's  liver;  the  daughters  of  Danaus 
stopped  drawing  water,  and  Sisyphus 
himself  stopped  to  listen.  Tears  streamed 
from  the  eyes  of  the  Furies.  Eurydice 
then  appeared,  limping.  The  two  walked 
the  long  and  dismal  passageway  to  the 
Upperworld  and  Orpheus  did  not  look 
back  toward  Eurydice.  At  last,  forgetting 
his  vow,  he  turned,  but  as  they  reached 
out  their  arms  to  embrace  Eurydice  dis 
appeared. 

Orpheus  tried  to  follow  her,  but  the 
stern  ferryman  refused  him  passage  across 
the  River  Styx.  Declining  food  and 
drink,  he  sat  by  the  River  Stryinon  and 
sang  his  twice-felt  grief. 

As  he  sang  his  melancholy  songs,  se 
sad  that  oaks  moved  and  tigers  grieved, 
a  group  of  Thracian  maidens  attempted 
to  console  him,  but  he  repulsed  them. 
One  day,  while  they  were  observing  the 
sacred  rites  of  Bacchus,  they  began  to 
stone  him.  At  first  the  stones  fell  with 
out  harm  when  they  came  within  the 
sound  of  the  lyre.  However,  as  the 
frenzy  of  the  maidens  increased,  theii 
shouting  drowned  out  the  notes  of  the 
lyre  so  that  it  no  longer  protected  Or 
pheus.  Soon  he  was  covered  with  blood. 

Then  the  savage  women  tore  his  limbs 
from  his  body  and  hurled  his  head  and 
his  lyre  into  the  river.  Both  continued 
singing  sad  songs  as  they  floated  down 
stream.  The  fragments  of  Orpheus'  body 
were  buried  at  Libethra,  and  it  is  said 
that  nightingales  sang  more  sweetly  over 
his  grave  than  in  any  other  part  of 
Greece.  Jupiter  made  his  lyre  a  constel 
lation  o£  stars  in  the  heavens.  Orpheus 
himself  joined  Eurydice  in  the  Under 
world,  and  there,  happy  at  last,  they 
wandered  through  the  fields  together. 


OTHELLO 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Early  sixteenth  century 

Locale:  Venice  and  Cyprus 

First  -presented:  1604 


701 


Principal  characiers: 

OTHEIXO,  the  Moor  of  Venice 
DESDEMONA,  his  wife 
IAGO,  a  villain 
CASSIO,  Othello's  lieutenant 
EMILIA,  lago's  wife 


Critique: 

The  Tragedy  of  Othello,  The  Moor 
of  Venice  is  one  of  the  four  great  trage 
dies  written  in  what  literary  historians 
call  Shakespeare's  period  o£  despair,  a 
time  when  the  bard  seemed  to  he  pre 
eminently  concerned  with  the  struggle 
of  evil  and  good  in  the  human  soul. 
Alone  of  the  four  tragedies  —  Othello, 
Hamlet,  King  Lear,  and  Macbeth  — 
Othello  might  be  said  to  be  ill-motivated, 
lago,  the  villain  of  the  piece,  is  perhaps 
the  most  sadistic  and  consummately  evil 
character  in  any  literature.  In  Othello, 
love  triumphs  over  evil  and  hate,  and 
the  love  of  one  woman  for  another  is 
instrumental  in  bringing  the  villain  to 
poetic  justice. 

The  Story: 

lago,  an  ensign  serving  under  Othello, 
Moorish  commander  of  the  armed  forces 
of  Venice,  was  passed  over  in  promotion, 
Othello  having  chosen  Cassio  to  be  his 
chief  of  staff.  In  revenge,  lago  and  his 
follower,  Roderigo,  aroused  from  his  sleep 
Brabantio,  senator  of  Venice,  to  tell  him 
that  his  daughter  Desdemona  had  stolen 
away  and  married  Othello.  Brabantio, 
incensed  that  his  daughter  would  marry 
a  Moor,  led  his  serving-men  to  Othello's 
quarters. 

Meanwhile,  the  Duke  of  Venice  had 
learned  that  armed  Turkish  galleys  were 
preparing  to  attack  the  island  of  Cyprus 
and  in  this  emergency  he  had  summoned 
Othello  to  the  senate  chambers.  Bra 
bantio  and  Othello  met  in  the  streets, 
but  postponed  any  violence  in  the  na 
tional  interest,  Othello,  upon  arriving  at 
the  senate,  was  commanded  by  the  duke 
to  lead  the  Venetian  forces  to  Cyprus. 
Then  Brabantio  told  the  duke'  that 
Othello  had  beguiled  his  daughter  into 
marriage  without  her  father's  consent. 


When  Brabantio  asked  the  duke  for 
redress,  Othello  vigorously  defended  his 
honor  and  reputation,  and  he  was  sec 
onded  by  Desdemona,  who  appeared 
during  the  proceedings.  Othello,  clear 
of  all  suspicion,  prepared  to  sail  for  Cy 
prus  immediately.  For  the  moment,  he 
placed  Desdemona  in  the  care  of  lago, 
with  lago's  wife,  Emilia,  to  be  attendant 
upon  her  during  the  voyage  to  Cyprus. 

A  great  storm  destroyed  the  Turkish 
fleet  and  scattered  the  Venetians.  One 
by  one  the  ships  under  Othello's  com 
mand  put  into  Cyprus  until  all  were 
safely  ashore  and  Othello  and  Desde 
mona  were  once  again  united.  Still  vow 
ing  revenge,  lago  told  Roderigo  that 
Desdemona  was  in  love  with  Cassio. 
Roderigo,  himself  in  love  with  Desde 
mona,  was  promised  all  of  his  desires  by 
lago  if  he  would  engage  Cassio,  who  did 
not  know  him,  in  a  personal  brawl  while 
Cassio  was  officer  of  the  guard. 

Othello  declared  the  night  dedicated 
to  celebrating  the  destruction  of  the 
enemy,  but  he  cautioned  Cassio  to  keep 
a  careful  watch  on  Venetian  troops  in 
the  city.  lago  talked  Cassio  into  drink 
ing  too  much,  so  that  when  the  lieuten 
ant  was  provoked  later  by  Roderigo,  Cas 
sio  lost  control  of  himself  and  engaged 
Roderigo.  Cries  of  riot  and  mutiny  spread 
through  the  streets.  Othello,  aroused  by 
the  commotion,  demoted  Cassio  for  per 
mitting  a  fight  to  start.  Cassio,  his  repu 
tation  all  but  ruined,  welcomed  lago's 
promise  to  secure  Desdemona's  good-will 
and  through  her  have  Othello  restore 
Cassio's  rank. 

Cassio  impatiently  importuned  lago 
to  arrange  a  meeting  between  him  and 
Desdemona.  While  Cassio  and  Desde 
mona  were  talking,  lago  brought  Othello 
into  view  of  the  pair,  and  spoke  vague 


702 


innuendoes  to  his  commander.  After 
ward  lago  would,  from,  time  to  time,  ask 
questions  of  Othello  in  such  manner 
that  he  led  Othello  to  believe  that  there 
may  have  been  some  intimacy  between 
Cassio  and  Desdemona  before  Desde- 
mona  had  married  him.  These  seeds  of 
jealousy  having  been  sown,  Othello  be 
gan  to  doubt  the  honesty  of  his  wife. 

When  Othello  complained  to  Desde 
mona  of  a  headache,  she  offered  to  bind 
his  head  with  the  handkerchief  which 
had  been  Othello's  first  gift  to  her.  She 
dropped  the  handkerchief,  inadvertently, 
and  Emilia  picked  it  up.  lago,  seeing  an 
opportunity  to  further  his  scheme,  took 
the  handkerchief  from  his  wife  and  hid 
it  later  in  Cassio's  room.  When  Othello 
asked  lago  for  proof  that  Desdemona  was 
untrue  to  him,  threatening  his  life  if  he 
could  not  produce  any  evidence,  lago 
said  that  he  had  slept  in  Cassio's  room 
and  had  heard  Cassio  speak  sweet  words 
in  his  sleep  to  Desdemona.  He  reminded 
Othello  of  the  handkerchief  and  said 
that  he  had  seen  Cassio  wipe  his  beard 
that  day  with  the  very  handkerchief. 
Othello,  completely  overcome  by  passion, 
vowed  revenge.  He  ordered  lago  to  kill 
Cassio,  and  he  appointed  the  ensign  his 
new  lieutenant. 

Othello  asked  Desdemona  to  account 
for  the  loss  of  the  handkerchief,  but  she 
was  unable  to  explain  its  disappearance. 
She  was  mystified  by  Othello's  shortness 
of  speech,  and  his  dark  moods. 

lago  continued  to  work  his  treachery 
on  Othello  to  the  extent  that  the  Moor 
fell  into  fits  resembling  epilepsy.  He 
goaded  Othello  by  every  possible  means 
into  mad  rages  of  jealousy.  In  the  pres 
ence  of  an  envoy  from  Venice,  Othello 
struck  Desdemona,  to  the  consternation 
of  all  except  lago.  Emilia  swore  to  the 
honesty  of  her  mistress,  but  Othello,  in 
his  madness,  could  no  longer  believe  any 
thing  good  of  Desdemona,  and  he  reviled 
and  insulted  her  with  harsh  words. 
One  night  Othello  ordered  Desde 


mona  to  dismiss  her  attendant  and  to  go 
to  bed  immediately.  That  same  night 
lago  persuaded  Roderigo  to  waylay  Cas 
sio.  When  Roderigo  was  wounded  by 
Cassio,  lago,  who  had  been  standing 
nearby,  stabbed  Cassio.  In  the  scuffle 
lago  stabbed  Roderigo  to  death  as  well, 
so  as  to  be  rid  of  his  dupe.  Then  a 
strumpet  friend  of  Cassio  came  upon  the 
scene  of  the  killing  and  revealed  to  the 
assembled  crowd  her  relationship  with 
Cassio.  Although  Cassio  was  net  dead, 
lago  hoped  to  use  this  woman  to  defame 
Cassio  beyond  all  hope  of  regaining  his 
former  reputation.  Pretending  friend 
ship,  he  assisted  the  wounded  Cassio  ta 
return  to  Othello's  house.  They  were 
accompanied  by  Venetian  noblemen  who 
had  gathered  after  the  fight. 

Othello,  meanwhile,  entered  his  wife** 
bedchamber  and  smothered  her,  after 
telling  her,  mistakenly,  that  Cassio  had 
confessed  his  love  for  her  and  had  been 
killed.  Then  Emilia  entered  the  bed 
chamber  and  reported  that  Roderigo  had 
been  killed,  but  not  Cassio.  This  infor 
mation  made  doubly  bitter  for  Othello 
his  murder  of  his  wife.  Othello  told 
Emilia  that  he  had  learned  of  Desde- 
mona's  guilt  from  lago.  Emilia  could 
not  believe  that  lago  had  made  such 
charges. 

When  lago  and  other  Venetians  ar 
rived  at  Othello's  house,  Emilia  asked 
lago  to  refute  Othello's  statement.  Then 
the  great  wickedness  of  lago  came  to 
light  and  Othello  learned  how  the  hand 
kerchief  had  come  into  Cassio's  posses 
sion.  When  Emilia  gave  further  proof 
of  her  husband's  villainy,  lago  stabbed 
her.  Othello  lunged  at  lago  and  managed 
to  wound  him  before  the  Venetian 
gentlemen  could  seize  the  Moor.  Emilia 
died,  still  protesting  the  innocence  of 
Desdemona.  Mad  with  grief,  Othello 
plunged  a  dagger  into  his  own  heart. 
The  Venetian  envoy  promised  that  lago 
would  be  tortured  to  death  at  the  hands 
of  the  governor-general  of  Cvpr»** 


703 


OUR  TOWN 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Thornton  Wilder  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Domestic  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1901-1913 

Locale:  New  Hampshire 

First   presented:    1938 

Principal  characters: 

DR.  GIBBS,  a  physician 

MRS.  GIBBS,  his  wife 

GEORGE,  and 

REBECCA,  their  children 

MR.  WEBB,  a  newspaper  editor 

MRS.  WEBB,  his  wife 

EMILY,  and 

WALLY,  their  children 

SIMON  STIMSON,  director  of  the  choir 

Critique: 

This  play  won  the  Pulitzer  Prize  in 
1938.  Portraying  typical  American  small 
town  life,  the  play  employs  a  minimum 
of  scenery.  A  stage  manager  remains 
informally  on  the  stage  throughout  the 
play  and  helps  to  explain  much  of  the 
action*  The  tender  and  simple  love 
story  of  George  Gibbs  and  Emily  Webh 
is  the  thread  upon  which  the  plot  is 
strung.  OUT  Tcnvm  is  an  exceptionally 
fresh  retelling  of  a  timeless,  nostalgic 
story. 


The  Story: 

Early  one  morning  in  1901  Dr.  Gibhs 
returned  to  his  home  in  Grower's  Corners, 
New  Hampshire.  He  had  just  been 
across  the  tracks  to  Polish  Town  to  de 
liver  Mrs.  Goruslowski's  twins.  On  the 
street  he  met  Joe  Crowell,  the  morning 
paper  boy,  and  Howie  Newsome,  the 
milkman.  The  day's  work  was  begin 
ning  in  Grover's  Corners. 

Mrs.  Gibbs  had  breakfast  ready  when 
her  husband  arrived,  and  she  called  the 
children,  George  and  Rebecca,  to  the 
table.  After  breakfast  the  children  left 
for  school  in  the  company  of  the  Webb 
children,  Wally  and  Emily,  who  lived 
across  the  way. 

After   the   children   had    gone,    Mrs. 


' 
by  Coward-MoCann,  Inc. 


Gibbs  stepped  out  to  feed  her  chickens. 
Seeing  Mrs.  Webb  stringing  beans  in 
her  back  yard,  she  crossed  over  to  talk 
with  her.  '  Mrs.  Gibbs  had  been  offered 
three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  some 
antique  furniture;  she  would  sell  the 
furniture,  she  had  decided,  if  she  could 
get  Dr.  Gibbs  to  take  a  vacation  with 
her.  But  Dr.  Gibbs  had  no  wish  to  take 
a  vacation;  if  he  could  visit  the  Civil 
War  battlegrounds  every  other  year,  he 
was  satisfied. 

The  warm  day  passed,  and  the 
children  began  to  come  home  from 
school.  Emily  Webb  walked  home  alone 
pretending  she  was  a  great  lady.  Georae 
Gibbs,  on  his  way  to  play  baseball, 
stopped  to  talk  to  Emily  and  told  her  how 
much  he  admired  her  success  at  school. 
He  could  not,  he  insisted,  imagine  how 
anyone  could  spend  so  much  time  over 
homework  as  she  did.  Flattered,  Emily 
promised  to  help  George  with  his  algebra. 
He  said  that  he  did  not  really  need 
school  work,  because  he  was  going  to 
be  a  fanner  as  soon  as  he  graduated  from 
high  school. 

Wben  George  had  gone,  Emily  ran 
to  her  mother  and  asked  if  she  were 
pretty  enough  to  make  boys  notice  her. 
Grudgingly,  her  mother  admitted  that 

the  author  and  the  publishers,   Coward-McCann.  Inc. 


704 


she  was,  but  Mrs.  Webb  tried  to  turn 
Emily's  mind  to  other  subjects. 

That  evening,  while  Mrs.  Webb  and 
Mrs.  Gibbs  were  at  choir  practice,  George 
and  Emily  sat  upstairs  studying.  Their 
windows  faced  each  other,  and  George 
called  to  Emily  for  some  advice  on 
his  algebra.  Emily  helped  him,  but  she 
was  more  interested  in  the  moonlight. 
When  she  called  George's  attention  to 
the  beautiful  night,  he  seemed  only 
mildly  interested. 

The  ladies  coming  home  from  choir 
practice  gossiped  about  their  leader, 
Simon  Stimson.  He  drank  most  of  the 
time,  and  for  some  reason  he  could  not 
adjust  himself  to  small-town  life.  The 
ladies  wondered  how  it  would  all  end. 
Mr.  Webb  also  wondered.  He  was  the 
editor  of  the  local  paper;  and,  as  he 
came  home,  he  met  Simon  roaming  the 
deserted  streets.  When  Mr.  Webb  reached 
his  home,  he  found  Emily  still  gazing 
out  of  her  window  at  the  moon — and 
dreaming. 

At  the  end  of  his  junior  year  in  high 
school  George  was  elected  president  of 
his  class,  and  Emily  was  elected  secretary- 
treasurer.  When  George  walked  home 
with  Emily  after  the  election,  she  seemed 
so  cold  and  indifferent  that  George  asked 
for  an  explanation.  She  told  him  that 
all  the  girls  thought  him  conceited  and 
stuck-up  because  he  cared  more  for  base 
ball  than  he  did  for  his  friends.  She  ex 
pected  men  to  be  perfect,  like  her  father 
and  his. 

George  said  that  men  could  not  be 
perfect,  but  that  women  could — like 
Emily.  Then  Emily  began  to  cry,  in 
sisting  that  she  was  far  from  perfect. 
George  offered  to  buy  her  a  soda.  As 
they  drank  their  sodas,  they  found  that 
they  really  had  liked  each  other  for  a 
long  time.  George  said  he  thought  he 
would  not  go  away  to  agricultural  school, 
after  all.  When  he  graduated  from  high 
school,  he  would  start  right  in  working 
on  the  farm. 

After  a  time  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs 
learned  that  George  wanted  to  marry 


Emily  as  soon  as  he  left  high  school 
At  first  it  was  a  shock  to  them,  for  they 
could  not  imagine  that  George  was  any 
thing  but  a  child.  They  wondered  how 
he  could  provide  for  a  wife;  whether 
Emily  could  take  care  of  a  house.  Then 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gibbs  remembered  their 
own  first  years  of  married  life.  They 
had  had  troubles,  but  now  they  felt  thai 
the  troubles  had  been  overshadowed  by 
their  joys.  They  decided  that  George 
could  marry  Emily  if  he  wished. 

On  the  morning  of  his  wedding  day 
George  dropped  in  on  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Webb,  and  Mrs.  Webb  left  the  men 
alone  so  that  her  husband  could  advise 
George.  But  all  that  Mr.  Webb  had  to 
say  was  that  no  one  could  advise  anyone 
else  on  matters  as  personal  as  marriage. 

When  George  had  gone,  Emily  came 
down  to  her  last  breakfast  in  her  parents' 
home.  Both  she  and  Mrs.  Webb  cried. 
Mrs.  Webb  had  meant  to  give  her  daugh 
ter  some  advice  on  marriage,  but  she 
was  unable  to  bring  herself  to  it. 

At  the  church,  just  before  the  cere 
mony,  both  Emily  and  George  felt  as  if 
they  were  making  a  mistake;  they  did 
not  want  to  get  married.  By  the  time 
the  music  started,  however,  both  of  them 
were  calrru  The  wedding  ceremony  was 
soon  over.  And  Grover's  Comers  lost 
one  of  its  best  baseball  players. 

Nine  years  passed;  it  was  the  summer 
of  1913.  Up  in  the  graveyard  above  the 
town  the  dead  lay,  resting  from  the 
cares  of  their  lives  on  earth.  Now  there 
was  a  new  grave;  Emily  had  died  in 
childbirth  and  George  was  left  alone  with 
his  four-year-old  son. 

It  was  raining  as  the  funeral  proces 
sion  wound  its  way  up  the  hill  to  the 
new  grave.  Then  Emily  appeared  shyly 
before  the  other  dead.  Solemnly  they 
welcomed  her  to  her  rest.  But  she  did 
not  want  to  rest;  she  wanted  to  live  ovei 
again  the  joys  of  her  life.  It  was  possible 
to  do  so,  but  the  others  warned  hei 
against  trying  to  relive  a  day  in  hex 
mortal  life. 

Emily  chose  to  live  over  her  twelfth 


705 


birthday.  At  first  it  was  exciting  to  be 
young  again,  but  tlie  excitement  wore 
off  quickly.  The  day  held  no  joy,  now 
that  Emily  knew  what  was  in  store  for 
the  future.  It  was  unbearably  painful 
to  realize  how  unaware  she  had  been 
of  the  meaning  and  wonder  of  life  while 
she  was  alive.  Simon  Stimson,  a  suicide, 
told  her  that  life  was  like  that,  a  time 
of  ignorance  and  blindness  and  folly.  He 


was  still  bitter  in  death. 

Emily  returned  to  her  resting  place. 
When  night  had  fallen,  George  ap 
proached  full  of  grief  and  threw  himself 
on  Emily's  grave.  She  felt  pity  for 
fri-m  and  for  all  the  rest  of  the  living. 
For  now  she  knew  how  little  they  really 
understood  of  the  wonderful  gift  that  is 
life  itself. 


THE  OX-BOW  INCIDENT 


Type  of  -work:   Novel 

Author:  Walter  Van  Tilburg  Clark  (1909-         ] 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1885 

Locale:  Nevada 

First  published:    1940 

Principal  characters: 

Gn,  CARTEH,  a  ranch  hand 
CROFT,  his  friend 
CANBY,  a  saloon  keeper 
TETUEY,  a  rancher 
GERALD,  his  son 
DAVIES,  an  old  storekeeper 
MARTIN,  a  young  rancher 

Critique: 

The  Cbc-Boiv  I-nddent  begins  as  a 
Western  horse-opera  with  all  the  stage 
settings  and  characters  of  a  cowboy 
thriller,  but  it  ends  as  a  saga  of  human 
misery.  The  novel  bas  the  action  and 
the  pace  of  a  classic  drama.  The  mob 
assumes  the  nature  of  a  Greek  cborus, 
noiv  on  one  side,  now  on  tbe  other. 
The  story  rises  toward  an  inevitable 
climax  and  as  it  does  so  it  states  a  barsh 
truth  forcibly — the  law  of  survival  is 
linked  to  an  incredible  curse  of  relentless 
cruelty.  Clark  has  made  the  Western 
thriller  a  novel  of  art 

The  Story: 

Gil  Carter,  a  cow  puncher,  and  bis 
friend  Croft  rode  into  the  little  frontier 
town  of  Bridgets  Wells.  At  Canby's 
saloon  they  reined  in  their  horses.  Can- 
by  was  alone  at  the  bar,  and  be  served 
Gil  and  Croft  with  silent  glumness. 


Canby  told  them  that  Rose  Mapen,  the 
girl  Gil  sought,  had  gone  to  Frisco.  He 
also  told  the  two  cowboys  that  all  the 
local  cowhands  and  their  employers  were 
on  the  lookout  for  rustlers  who  were 
raiding  the  ranches  in  the  valley.  More 
than  six  hundred  head  of  cattle  had 
been  stolen  and  the  ranchers  were  even 
regarding  one  another  with  suspicion.  Gil 
and  Croft  felt  suspicion  leveled  at  them 
when  a  group  of  riders  and  town  men 
came  into  the  bar. 

Gil  began  to  play  poker  and  won  hand 
after  hand.  The  stakes  and  the  bad 
feeling  grew  higher  until  finally  Gil  and 
a  man  named.  Farnley  closed  in  a  rough 
row.  Gil  downed  his  opponent  but  was 
himself  knocked  unconscious  when  Can- 
by  hit  him  over  the  head  with  a  bottle. 

A  rider  rode  up  to  the  saloon  with  the 
word  that  rustlers  had  killed  Kinkaid, 
Farnley's  friend.  Farnley  did  not  want 


THE  OX-BOW  INCIDENT  by  Walter  Van  Tllburg  dark.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publisher*, 
Random  House,  lac.     Copyright,    1940,   by  Walter  Van  Tilburg  dark. 


706 


to  wait  for  a  posse  to  be  formed,  but 
cooler  heads  prevailed,  among  them  old 
Davies,  a  storekeeper,  and  Osgood,  the 
Baptist  minister.  Everyone  there  joined 
in  the  argument,  some  for,  some  opposed 
to,  immediate  action. 

Davies  sent  Croft  and  a  young  cowboy 
named  Joyce  to  ask  Judge  Tyler  to  swear 
in  a  posse  before  a  lawless  man  hunt 
began.  The  judge  was  not  eager  to 
swear  in  a  posse  in  the  absence  of  Ris- 
ley,  the  sheriff,  but  Mapes,  a  loud, 
swaggering,  newly  appointed  deputy,  de 
manded  that  he  be  allowed  to  lead  the 
posse. 

Meanwhile  the  tempers  of  the  crowd 
began  to  grow  sullen.  Ma  Grier,  who 
kept  a  boarding-house,  joined  the 
mob.  Then  Judge  Tyler  arrived  and 
his  long-winded  oration  against  a  posse 
stirred  the  men  up  more  than  any 
thing  else  could  have  done.  Davies  took 
over  again  and  almost  convinced  the 
men  they  should  disband.  But  at  that 
moment  Tetley,  a  former  Confederate 
officer  and  an  important  rancher,  rode 
up  with  word  that  his  Mexican  herder 
had  seen  the  rustlers. 

Mob  spirit  flared  up  once  more.  Mapes 
deputized  the  men  in  spite  of  Judge 
Tyler's  assertion  that  a  deputy  could  not 
deputize  others.  The  mob  rode  o&  in 
the  direction  of  Drew's  ranch,  where 
Kinkaid  had  been  killed. 

There  the  riders  found  the  first  trace 
of  their  quarry.  Tracks  showed  that 
three  riders  were  driving  forty  head  of 
cattle  toward  a  pass  through  the  range. 
Along  the  way  Croft  talked  to  Tetley 's 
sullen  son,  Gerald.  Gerald  was  not  cut 
out  to  be  a  rancher,  a  fact  ignored  by 
his  stern,  domineering  father.  Croft 
thought  the  boy  appeared  emotional  and 
unmanly. 

The  stagecoach  suddenly  appeared 
over  a  rise.  In  the  darkness  and  con 
fusion,  the  driver  thought  that  the  riders 
were  attempting  a  holdup.  He  fixed,  hit 
ting  Croft  high  in  the  chest.  When  he 
learned  his  mistake,  he  pulled  up  his 
horses  and  stopped.  One  of  the  pas 


sengers  was  Rose  Mapen,  the  girl  Gil 
had  hoped  to  find  in  Bridger's  Wells. 
She  introduced  the  man  with  her  as 
her  husband.  Gil  was  furious. 

Croft  had  his  wound  doctored  and 
continued  on  with  the  posse.  On  a  tip 
from  the  passengers,  the  posse  headed 
for  the  Ox-Bow,  a  small  valley  high  up 
in  the  range. 

Snow  was  falling  by  the  time  the  riders 
came  to  the  Ox-Bow.  Through  the  dark 
ness  they  saw  the  flicker  of  a  campfire 
and  heard  the  sound  of  cattle.  Surround 
ing  the  campfire,  they  surprised  the 
three  men  sleeping  there,  an  old  man, 
a  young,  dark-looking  man,  and  a  Mex 
ican.  The  prisoners  were  seized  and 
tied. 

The  dark-looking  young  man  insisted 
there  was  some  mistake.  He  said  that  he 
was  Donald  Martin  and  that  he  had 
moved  into  Pike's  Hole  three  days  be 
fore.  But  one  of  the  members  of  the 
posse,  a  man  from  Pike's  Hole,  claimed 
he  did  not  know  Martin  or  anything 
about  him.  Martin  began  to  grow  des 
perate.  He  demanded  to  be  taken  to 
Pike's  Hole,  where  his  wife  and  two 
children  were.  The  members  of  the 
posse  were  contemptuous. 

Only  Davies  tried  to  defend  Martin, 
but  Mapes  soon  silenced  the  old  store 
keeper.  The  cattle  were  proof  enough. 
Besides,  Martin  had  no  bill  of  sale.  He 
claimed  that  Drew,  who  had  sold  him 
the  cattle,  had  promised  to  mail  a  bill 
of  sale  kter. 

The  posse  was  for  an  immediate  hang 
ing.  Tetley  wanted  to  force  a  confes 
sion,  but  most  of  the  riders  said  it  was 
no  kindness  to  make  the  three  wait  to 
die.  Martin  told  them  that  the  Mexican 
was  only  his  rider,  that  he  did  not  know 
much  about  him  because  the  man  spoke 
no  English.  The  old  man  was  a  simple- 
minded  fellow  who  had  agreed  to  work 
for  Martin  for  very  little  pay. 

Martin  was  permitted  to  write  a  let 
ter  to  his  wife.  Shortly  afterward  it 
was  discovered  that  the  Mexican  pos 
sessed  Kinkaid's  gun.  He  began  to  speak 


707 


English.  He  claimed  that  he  had  found 
Kinkaid's  gun. 

Tedey  appointed  three  of  the  posse 
to  lead  the  horses  out  away  from  the 
men,  whose  necks  would  then  be  caught 
in  the  nooses  of  the  ropes  tied  to  the 
overhanging  limb  of  a  tree.  He  insisted 
that  his  milksop  son  was  to  be  one  of 
the  three.  Farnley  was  another.  Ma 
Gxrier  was  the  third. 

Martin  became  bitter  and  unforgiving. 
He  made  Davies  promise  to  look  after 
his  wife  and  he  gave  Davies  the  letter 
and  a  ring.  A  fine  snow  continued  to 
fell. 

The  three  were  executed.  The  Mex 
ican  and  the  old  man  died  cleanly.  Mar 
tin,  whose  horse  had  been  slowly  started 
by  Gerald,  had  to  be  shot  by  Farnley. 
Tedey  felled  his  son  with  the  butt  of 
his  pistol  for  bungling  the  hanging. 
Then  the  posse  rode  away. 

As  they  rode  out  of  the  Ox-Bow  they 
met  Sheriff  Risley,  Judge  Tyler,  Drew, 
and  Kinkaid,  who  was  not  dead  after 
all.  The  judge  shouted  that  every  mem 


ber  of  the  posse  would  be  tried  for 
murder.  The  sheriff,  however,  said  that 
he  could  not  arrest  a  single  man  present 
for  the  murders  because  identity  was  un 
certain  in  the  swirling  snow.  He  asked 
for  ten  volunteers  to  continue  the  search 
for  the  real  rustlers. 

Only  old  Davies  seemed  moved  by  the 
affair,  more  so  after  he  learned  "that 
Martin's  story  was  true  and  that  the 
cattle  had  been  bought  from  Drew  with 
out  a  bill  of  sale.  Nearly  maddened,  he 
gave  the  ring  and  letter  to  Drew,  who 
promised  to  look  after  Martin's  widow. 

After  Croft  and  Gil  had  returned  to 
Canby's  saloon,  Davies  began  to  moan 
to  Croft.  Davies  now  had  the  idea  that 
he  himself  had  caused  the  hanging  of 
the  three  men.  Gil  got  drunk.  That  day 
Gerald  Tedey  hanged  himself.  A  few 
hours  later  Gerald's  father  also  committed 
suicide.  The  cowhands  took  up  a  col 
lection  for  Martin's  widow.  In  their  room 
at  Canby's,  Gil  and  Croft  could  hear 
Rose  laughing  and  talking  in  the  bar. 
They  decided  to  leave  town. 


PAMELA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Samuel  Richardson  (1689-1761) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  ylot:  Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1740-1741 

Principal  characters: 

PAMELA  ANDREWS,  a  servant  girl 

MR.  B — ,  her  master 

MRS.  JESVIS,  Mr.  B — *s  housekeeper 

MRS.  JEWKES,  caretaker  o£  Mr.  B — *s  country  home 

LADY  DAVERS,  Mr.  B — *s  sister 

Critique: 

Pamela,  or,  Virtue  Rewarded  is  a  ro 
mantic  tale  that  created,  in  effect,  the 
epistolary  form  of  the  novel.  Richard 
son's  obvious  absorption  in  preaching  a 
moral  does  not  hold  our  attention  today, 
but  the  work  is  valuable  for  the  picture 
it  presents  of  life  in  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  and  of  the  code  of  morals  to  which 
people  then  held.  The  device  of  letter 
writing  to  tell  a  story  does  not  always 


stand  up  under  the  test  of  reality,  but  its 
failure  is  more  a  matter  for  amusement 
than  for  condemnation.  Richardson  was 
a  pioneer  of  the  English  novel,  and  he 
wrote  with  a  moral  earnestness  and  in 
nocence  of  technique  impossible  for  the 
modern  writer. 

The  Story: 

Pamela  Andrews  had  been  employed 


708 


from  a  very  young  age  as  the  servant  girl 
of  Lady  B — ,  at  her  estate  in  Bedford 
shire.  Because  she  had  grown  very  fond 
of  her  mistress,  the  letter  to  her  parents 
telling  of  her  ladyship's  death  expressed 
her  deep  sorrow.  Her  own  plans  were 
uncertain.  But  it  soon  hecame  clear  that 
Lady  B — 's  son  wanted  her  to  remain  in 
his  household.  Taking  her  hand  before 
all  the  other  servants,  he  had  said  that 
he  would  be  a  good  master  to  Pamela  for 
his  dear  mother's  sake  if  she  continued 
faithful  and  diligent.  Mrs.  Jervis,  the 
housekeeper,  put  in  a  friendly  word  as 
well,  and  Pamela,  not  wishing  to  be  a 
burden  upon  her  poor  parents,  decided 
to  remain  in  the  service  of  Mr.  B — . 
Shortly,  however,  she  began  to  doubt 
that  his  intentions  toward  her  were  hon 
orable.  And  when,  one  day,  he  kissed 
her  while  she  sat  sewing  in  a  summer- 
house,  she  found  herself  in  a  quandary 
as  to  what  to  do. 

Once  again  she  discussed  the  situation 
with  the  good  Mrs.  Jervis,  and  decided 
to  stay  if  she  could  share  the  house 
keeper's  bed.  Mr.  B —  was  extremely 
annoyed  at  this  turn  of  affairs.  He  tried 
to  persuade  Mrs.  Jervis  that  Pamela  was 
in  reality  a  very  designing  creature  who 
should  be  carefully  watched.  When  he 
learned  that  she  was  writing  long  letters 
to  her  parents,  telling  them  in  great  de 
tail  of  his  false  proposals  and  repeating 
her  determination  to  keep  her  virtue,  he 
had  as  many  of  her  letters  intercepted  as 
possible. 

In  a  frightening  interview  between 
Mr.  B — ,  Pamela,  and  Mrs.  Jervis,  he 
intimidated  the  housekeeper  by  his  terri 
fying  manner  and  told  Pamela  to  return 
to  her  former  poverty.  After  talking  the 
matter  over  with  her  friend,  however, 
Pamela  decided  that  Mr.  B —  had  given 
up  his  plan  to  ruin  her  and  that  there 
was  no  longer  any  reason  for  her  to  leave. 
But  another  intervie\v  with  Mr.  B — 
convinced  her  that  she  should  return  to 
her  parents  upon  the  completion  of  some 
household  duties  entrusted  to  her.  When 
Mr.  B —  discovered  that  she  was  indeed 


planning  to  leave,  a  furious  scene  fol 
lowed,  in  which  he  accused  her  of  pride 
beyond  her  station.  That  night  he  con 
cealed  himself  in  the  closet  of  her  room. 
When  she  discovered  him,  she  threw 
herself  on  the  bed  and  fell  into  a  fit. 
Both  Pamela  and  Mrs.  Jervis  served 
notice.  In  spite  of  Mr.  B — *s  threats  on 
the  one  hand  and  his  cajolings  on  the 
other,  Pamela  remained  firm  in  her  de 
cision  to  return  home.  The  housekeeper 
was  reinstated  in  her  position,  but  Pam 
ela  set  out  by  herself  hi  the  coach  Mr. 
B —  had  ordered  to  return  her  to  her 
parents. 

What  she  had  thought  Mr.  B — 's 
kindness  was  but  designing  trickery.  In 
stead  of  arriving  at  her  parents'  humble 
home,  Pamela  now  found  herself  a  pris 
oner  at  Mr.  B — 's  country  estate,  to 
which  the  coachman  had  driven  her. 
Mrs.  Jewkes,  the  caretaker,  had  none 
of  Mrs.  Jervis'  kindness  of  heart,  and 
Pamela  found  herself  cruelly  confined. 
It  was  only  by  clever  scheming  that  she 
could  continue  to  send  letters  to  her 
parents.  She  was  aided  by  Mr.  Williams, 
the  village  minister,  who  smuggled  her 
mail  out  of  the  house.  The  young  man 
soon  confessed  his  love  for  Pamela  and 
his  desire  to  marry  her.  Pamela  refused 
his  offer,  but  devised  with  his  help  a 
plan  to  escape.  Unfortunately,  Mrs. 
Jewkes  was  too  wily  a  jailer.  When  she 
suspected  that  the  two  were  secretly  plan 
ning  for  Pamela's  escape,  she  wrote  to 
Mr.  B — ,  who  was  still  in  London. 
Pamela's  persecutor,  aided  by  his  agents, 
contrived  to  have  Mr.  Williams  thrown 
into  jail  on  a  trumped-up  charge. 

Although  her  plot  had  been  dis 
covered,  Pamela  did  not  allow  herself  to 
be  discouraged.  That  night  she  dropped 
from  her  window  into  the  garden.  But 
when  she  tried  to  escape  from  the  garden, 
she  found  the  gate  padlocked.  Mrs. 
Jewkes  discovered  her  cringing  in  the 
woodshed.  From  that  time  on  her  ward 
er's  vigilance  and  cruelty  increased. 

Mr.  B —  at  length  arrived,  and  fright 
ened  Pamela  still  furtber  with  his  threats* 


709 


With  the  help  of  Mrs.  Jewkes,  he  at 
tempted  to  force  himself  upon  her,  but 
opportunely  Pamela  was  seized  by  fits. 
Mr.  B —  expressed  his  remorse  and  prom 
ised  never  to  attempt  to  molest  her  again. 
And  now  Pamela  began  to  suspect  that 
her  virtue  would  soon  be  rewarded,  for 
kfam  3 —  proposed  marriage  to  her.  But 
as  she  was  enjoying  the  thought  of  being 
jVfos.  J3 — 9  an  anonymous  warning  ar 
rived,  suggesting  that  she  beware  of  a 
sham  marriage.  Pamela  was  greatly  up 
set.  At  her  request,  a  coach  was  called 
and  she  set  out  to  visit  her  parents.  On 
the  way,  however,  letters  arrived  from 
Mr.  B—  entreating  her  to  return  to  him, 
and  offering  an  honorable  proposal  of 
marriage. 

Pamela  returned  immediately  to  Mr. 
B — *s  hall,  for  in  spite  of  all  that  had 
passed  she  found  that  she  was  in  love 
with  Mr.  B — ,  He,  in  turn,  was  de 
lighted  with  her  beauty  and  goodness. 
She  and  Mr.  B —  were  married  by  Mr. 
Williams  before  a  few  witnesses.  Mr. 
Andrews,  Pamela's  father,  was  present 
and  great  was  the  rejoicing  in  the  An 
drews  household  when  he  returned  and 
told  of  his  daughter's  virtue,  and  of  the 
happiness  it  had  brought  her. 

Pamela  readily  adapted  herself  to  her 
new  role  as  the  wife  of  a  gentleman. 
With  typical  virtue,  she  quickly  forgave 
Mrs.  Jewkes  for  her  former  ill-treatment. 
The  only  flaw  in  her  married  state  was 
the  fact  that  Lady  Davers,  Mr.  B — 's 
sister,  was  angry  with  her  brother  be 
cause  of  his  marriage  to  a  servant  girl. 
Pamela  was  alone  when  Lady  Davers 
arrived.  She  so  insulted  Pamela  that  the 
poor  girl  fled  to  her  husband  for  conso 
lation.  A  terrible  scene  took  place  be 
tween  Mr.  B —  and  Lady  Davers,  but 
Pamela  soon  won  the  love  and  respect 
of  that  good  woman  when  she  showed 
her  the  letters  she  had  written  about  her 
earlier  sufferings. 

One  day  Mr.  B —  told  Pamela  of  a 
previous  love  affair  with  Miss  Sally  God 
frey  and  took  her  to  see  his  daughter, 
who  had  been  placed  in  a  boarding-school 


in  the  neighborhood.  Pamela  liked  the 
little  girl  and  asked  to  have  the  pretty 
child  under  her  care  at  some  later  date. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrews  were  pleased 
with  Pamela's  accounts  of  her  happiness 
and  of  Mr.  B — 's  goodness  to  her.  He 
gave  the  old  people  a  substantial  gift  of 
money  and  thus  enabled  them  to  set 
themselves  up  in  a  small  but  comfortable 
business. 

Lady  Davers'  correspondence  with 
Pamela  continued  at  a  great  length,  and 
more  and  more  she  expressed  her  ap 
proval  of  Pamela's  virtue  and  her  disgust 
with  her  brother's  attempts  to  dishonor 
her.  During  a  visit  she  paid  the  young 
couple,  Mr.  B —  expressed  his  regret  for 
his  earlier  unmannerly  conduct  toward 
the  one  who  had  become  his  dearly  be 
loved  wife. 

Mr.  B — 's  uncle,  Sir  Jacob  Swynford, 
paid  his  nephew  a  visit,  prepared  to  de 
test  the  inferior  creature  Mr.  B —  had 
married.  But  Pamela's  charm,  beauty, 
and  virtue  won  his  heart  completely,  and 
the  grumpy  old  man  left  full  of  praises 
for  his  lovely  niece. 

At  last  Mr.  B —  and  Pamela  decided 
to  leave  the  country  and  return  to  Lon 
don.  Although  her  husband  was  still  as 
attentive  and  thoughtful  as  ever,  Pamela 
began  to  suspect  that  he  might  be  carry 
ing  on  an  intrigue  with  another  woman. 
She  was  particularly  distressed  that  she 
could  not  accompany  him  to  the  theater 
and  other  places  of  amusement  as  she 
was  about  to  bear  a  child.  The  scene  of 
the  christening  of  their  son  was  very 
gay,  for  besides  the  family,  tenants  from 
the  estate  arrived  to  express  their  joy 
that  Mr.  B —  now  had  a  son  and  heir. 

But  Pamela's  suspicions  after  all  had 
been  justified.  An  anonymous  note  in 
formed  her  that  the  business  trip  which 
Mr.  B —  had  taken  was  in  reality  a 
journey  to  a  neighboring  city  with  a 
countess  with  whom  he  was  having  an 
affair.  Pamela  controlled  her  passions, 
and  when  Lord  B —  returned  he  was  so 
overcome  by  this  further  evidence  of  her 
kindness  and  understanding  that  he 


710 


begged  her  forgiveness  and  promised  to 
remain  faithful  to  her  from  that  day  on. 
Pamela  made  good  use  of  the  letters  she 
had  written  to  Lady  Davers  during  this 
trying  period  by  sending  them  to  the 
countess  that  she  might  learn  from  them 
and  turn  away  from  the  path  of  license. 


True  to  her  earlier  wish,  Pamela  de 
cided  to  take  in  Sally  Godfrey's  child 
and  bring  her  up  as  a  sister  for  her  own 
son,  Billy.  Mr.  B —  was  faithful  to  his 
resolve  to  devote  himself  only  to  his  wife, 
and  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days 
admiring  and  praising  her  virtue. 


PARADISE  LOST 


Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  John  Milton  (1608-1674) 

Type  of  plot:  Epic 

Time  of  'plot:  The  Beginning 

Locale:  Heaven,  Hell,  and  Earth 

First  published:  1667 

Principal  characters: 
GOD  THE  FATHER 
CHRIST  THE  SON 
LUCIFER,  called  Satan 
ADAM 
EVE 

Critique: 

John  Milton  prepared  himself  for 
many  years  for  the  creation  of  an  epic 
poem  in  English  that  would  rank  with 
the  epics  of  Homer  and  Virgil.  He  had 
planned  to  write  it  on  the  Arthurian 
Cycle,  but  after  his  identity  with  the 
Puritans  and  with  individual  liberty  dur 
ing  the  struggle  between  King  and  Parlia 
ment,  he  chose  the  fall  of  man  as  his 
subject.  Paradise  Lost  is  the  epic  of 
mankind,  the  story  of  Paradise  lost  and 
sought  for  in  the  life  of  every  man. 

The  Story: 

In  Heaven  Lucifer,  unable  to  abide 
the  supremacy  of  God,  led  a  revolt  against 
divine  authority.  Defeated,  he  and  his 
followers  were  cast  into  Hell,  where  they 
lay  nine  days  on  a  burning  lake.  Lucifer, 
now  called  Satan,  arose  from  the  flaming 
pitch  and  vowed  that  all  was  not  lost, 
that  he  would  have  revenge  for  his  down 
fall.  Arousing  his  legions,  he  reviewed 
them  under  the  canopy  of  Hell  and  de 
cided  his  purposes  could  be  achieved  by 
guile  rather  than  by  force. 

Under  the  direction  of  Mulciber,  the 
forces  of  evil  built  an  elaborate  palace  in 


which  Satan  convened  a  congress  to  de 
cide  on  immediate  action.  At  the  meet 
ing,  Satan  reasserted  the  unity  of  those 
fallen,  and  opened  the  floor  to  a  debate 
on  what  measures  to  take.  Moloch  ad 
vised  war.  Belial  recommended  a  sloth 
ful  existence  in  Hell.  Mammon  pro 
posed  peacefully  improving  Hell  so  that 
it  might  rival  Heaven  in  splendor.  His 
motion  was  received  with  great  favor 
until  Beelzebub,  second  in  command, 
arose  and  informed  the  conclave  that 
God  had  created  Earth,  which  he  had 
peopled  with  good  creatures  called  hu 
mans.  It  was  Beelzebub's  proposal  to 
investigate  this  new  creation,  seize  it,  and 
seduce  its  inhabitants  to  the  cause  of  the 
fallen  angels. 

Announcing  that  he  would  journey  to 
the  Earth  to  learn  for  himself  how  mat 
ters  were  there,  Satan  flew  to  the  gate 
of  Hell.  There  he  encountered  his 
daughter,  Sin,  and  his  son,  Death.  They 
opened  the  gate  and  Satan  winged  his 
way  toward  Earth. 

God,  in  His  omniscience,  beheld  the 
meeting  in  Hell,  knew  the  intents  of  the 
evil  angels,  and  saw  Satan  approaching 


711 


the  Earth.  Disguised  as  various  beasts, 
Satan  acquainted  himself  with  Adam  and 
Eve  and  with  the  Tree  o£  Knowledge, 
which  God  had  forbidden  to  Man. 

Uriel,  learning  that  an  evil  angel  had 
broken  through  to  Eden,  warned  Gabriel, 
who  appointed  two  angels  to  hover  about 
the  bower  of  Adam  and  Eve.  The  guard 
ian  angels  arrived  too  late  to  prevent 
Satan,  in  the  form  of  a  toad,  from  be 
ginning  his  evil  work.  He  had  influenced 
Eve's  dreams. 

Upon  awaking,  Eve  told  Adam  that 
in  her  strange  dream  she  had  been 
tempted  to  taste  of  the  fruit  of  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge.  God,  seeing  danger  to 
Adam  and  Eve  was  imminent,  sent  the 
angel  Raphael  to  the  garden  to  warn 
them.  At  Adam's  insistence,  Raphael 
related  in  detail  the  story  of  the  great 
war  between  the  good  and  the  bad  angels 
and  of  the  fall  of  the  bad  angels  to 
eternal  misery  in  Hell.  At  Adam's  fur 
ther  inquiries,  Raphael  told  of  the  crea 
tion  of  the  world  and  of  how  the  Earth 
was  created  in  six  days,  an  angelic  choir 
singing  the  praises  of  God  on  the  sev 
enth  day.  He  cautioned  Adam  not  to 
be  too  curious,  that  there  were  many 
things  done  by  God  which  were  not  for 
Man  to  understand  or  to  attempt  to 
understand.  Adam  then  told  how  he  had 
been  warned  against  the  Tree  of  Knowl 
edge  of  Good  and  Evil,  how  he  had 
asked  God  for  fellowship  in  his  loneli 
ness,  and  how  Eve  was  created  from  his 
rib. 

After  the  departure  of  Raphael,  Satan 
returned  as  a  mist  to  the  garden  and  en 
tered  the  body  of  a  sleeping  serpent. 
In  the  morning,  as  Adam  and  Eve  pro 
ceeded  to  their  day's  occupation,  Eve 
proposed  that  they  work  apart.  Adam, 
remembering  the  warning  of  Raphael, 
opposed  her  wishes,  but  Eve  prevailed, 
and  the  couple  parted.  Alone,  Eve  was 
accosted  by  the  serpent,  which  flattered 
her  into  tasting  the  fruit  of  the  Tree  of 
Knowledge.  Eve,  liking  what  she  tasted, 
took  a  fruit  to  Adam,  who  was  horrified 
when  he  saw  what  Eve  had  done.  But 


in  his  love  for  Eve,  he  also  ate  the  fruit. 

Having  eaten,  the  couple  knew  lust 
for  the  first  time,  and  after  their  dal 
liance  they  knew  sickening  shame.  The 
guardian  angels  now  deserted  the  trans 
gressors  and  returned  to  God,  who  ap 
proved  them,  saying  they  could  not  have 
prevented  Satan  from  succeeding  in  his 
mission. 

Christ  descended  to  Earth  to  pass  judg 
ment.  Before  Adam  and  Eve,  who  had 
been  reluctant,  in  their  shame,  to  come 
out  of  their  bower  to  face  him,  Christ 
sentenced  the  serpent  to  be  forever  a 
hated  enemy  of  mankind.  He  told  Eve 
that  her  sorrow  would  be  multiplied  by 
the  bearing  of  children  and  that  she 
would  be  the  servant  of  Adam  to  the  end 
of  time.  Adam,  said  Christ,  would  eat 
in  sorrow;  his  ground  would  be  cursed 
and  he  would  eat  bread  only  by  toiling 
and  sweating. 

Meanwhile,  Death  and  Sin,  having 
divined  Satan's  success,  left  the  gates  of 
Hell  to  join  their  father  on  Earth. 
Within  sight  of  Earth,  they  met  Satan, 
who  delegated  Sin  and  Death  as  his 
ambassadors  on  Earth.  Back  in  Hell, 
Satan  proudly  reported  his  accomplish 
ments  to  his  followers.  But  he  was  ac 
claimed  by  hisses  as  his  cohorts  became 
serpents,  and  Satan  himself  was  trans 
formed  into  a  serpent  before  their  reptil 
ian  eyes.  Trees  similar  to  the  Tree  of 
Knowledge  appeared  in  Hell,  but  when 
the  evil  angels  tasted  the  fruit,  they 
found  their  mouths  full  of  ashes. 

God,  angered  at  the  disaffection  of 
Adam  and  Eve,  brought  about  great 
changes  on  Earth*  He  created  the  sea 
sons  to  replace  eternal  spring,  and  the 
violence  and  misery  of  storms,  winds, 
hail,  ice,  floods,  and  earthquakes.  He 
caused  all  Earth's  creatures  to  prey  upon 
one  another. 

Adam  and  Eve  argued  bitterly  until 
they  realized  they  must  face  their  com 
mon  plight  together.  Repenting  their 
sins,  they  prayed  to  God  for  relief.  Al 
though  Christ  interceded  for  them,  God 
sentenced  them  to  expulsion  from  Eden 


712 


and  sent  the  angel  Michael  to  Earth  to 
carry  out  the  sentence.  Adam  and  Eve, 
lamenting  their  misfortune,  contem 
plated  suicide,  but  Michael  gave  them 
new  hope  when  he  brought  to  Adam  a 
vision  of  life  and  death;  of  the  rise  and 
fall  of  kingdoms  and  empires;  of  the  ac 
tivities  of  Adam's  and  Eve's  progeny 
through  their  evil  days  to  the  flood,  when 
God  destroyed  all  life  except  that  pre 


served  by  Noah  in  the  ark;  and  o£  the 
subsequent  return  to  evil  days  and 
Christ's  incarnation,  death,  resurrection, 
and  ascension  as  mankind's  redeemer. 
Despite  the  violence  and  evil  and 
bloodshed  in  the  vision,  Adam  and  Eve 
were  pacified  when  they  saw  that  man 
kind  would  be  saved.  They  walked 
hand  in  hand  from  the  heights  of  Para 
dise  to  the  barren  plains  below. 


A  PASSAGE  TO  INDIA 

Type   of  work:   Novel 

Author:  E.  M.  Forster  (1879-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  ^plot:  About  1920 

Locale:  India 

First  published:  1924 

Principal  characters: 

DR.  Aziz,  a  young  Indian  surgeon 

MRS.  MOORE,  a  visiting  Englishwoman,  Dr.  Aziz's  friend 

RONALD  HEASLOP,  the  City  Magistrate,  Mrs.  Moore's  son 

ADELA  QUESTED,  Ronald's  fiancee,  visiting  India  with  Mis.  Moore 

CECTL  FIELDING,  Principal  of  the  Government  College,  Dr.  Aziz's  friend 

Critiqiie: 

A  Passage  to  India  has  two  aspects, 
political  and  mystic.  Politically  it  deals 
with  the  tension  between  the  natives  and 
the  British  (now  solved  by  the  with 
drawal  of  the  British),  and  also  with 
the  tension  between  Hindus  and  Mos 
lems  (now  solved  by  the  creation  o£  the 
two  Dominions  of  India  and  Pakistan). 
Mystically  it  is  concerned  with  the  search 
after  the  infinite  and  the  eternal,  so 
characteristic  of  Oriental  religion,  and 
with  the  illogical  and  inexplicable  ele 
ment  in  human  life.  The  visit  to  the 
Marabar  Caves  illustrates  the  malignant 
side  of  mysticism,  the  Temple-Festival 
at  the  close  illustrates  its  benignity.  The 
three  sections  into  which  the  book  is 
divided  correspond  to  the  three  seasons 
of  the  Indian  year — the  Cold  Weather, 
the  Hot  Weather,  the  Rains. 


The  Story: 

Dr.   Aziz  had  been  doubly  snubbed 
chat  evening.    He  had  been  summoned 


to  the  civil  surgeon's  house  while  he 
was  at  supper,  but  when  he  arrived  he 
found  that  his  superior  had  departed 
for  his  club  without  bothering  to  leave 
any  message.  In  addition,  two  English 
women  emerged  from  the  house  and  took 
their  departure  in  his  hired  tonga  with 
out  even  thanking  him. 

The  doctor  started  back  toward  the 
city  of  Chandrapore  afoot.  Tired,  he 
stopped  at  a  mosque  to  rest  and  was 
furiously  angry  when  he  saw  a  third 
Englishwoman  emerge  from  behind  its 
pillars  with,  as  he  thought,  her  shoes  on. 
Mrs.  Moore,  however,  had  gone  barefoot 
to  the  mosque,  and  in  a  surge  of  friendly 
feeling  Dr.  Aziz  engaged  her  in  conver 
sation. 

Mrs.  Moore  had  newly  arrived  from 
England  to  visit  her  son,  Ronald  Hea- 
slop,  the  City  Magistrate.  Dr.  Azb 
found  they  had  common  ground  when 
he  learned  that  she  did  not  care  for 
the  civil  surgeon's  wife.  Her  disclosure 


A  PASSAGE  TO   INDIA    by  E.   M-    Forsier.     By   permission   of  the   author    and   the   publishers,   Harcourt 
Brace  &  Co..  Inc.     Copyright,   1924,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 


713 


prompted  him  to  tell  of  the  usurpation 
of  his  carriage.  The  doctor  walked  back 
to  the  club  with  her,  although  as  an 
Indian,  he  himself  could  not  be  admitted. 

At  the  club,  Adela  Quested,  Heaslop's 
prospective  fiancee,  declared  she  wanted 
to  see  the  real  India,  not  the  India  which 
came  to  her  through  the  rarified  atmos 
phere  of  the  British  colony.  To  please 
the  ladies  one  of  the  members  offered 
to  hold  what  he  whimsically  termed  a 
bridge  party  and  to  invite  some  native 
guests. 

The  bridge  party  was  a  miserable  af 
fair.  The  Indians  retreated  to  one  side 
of  a  lawn  and  although  the  conspicuously 
reluctant  group  of  Anglo-Indian  ladies 
went  over  to  visit  the  natives,  an  awk 
ward  tension  prevailed. 

There  was,  however,  one  promising 
result  of  the  party.  The  principal  of  the 
Government  College,  Mr.  Fielding,  a 
man  who  apparently  felt  neither  rancor 
nor  arrogance  toward  the  Indians,  invited 
Mrs.  Moore  and  Adela  to  a  tea  at  his 
house.  Upon  Adela 's  request,  Mr.  Field 
ing  also  invited  Professor  Godbole,  a 
teacher  at  his  school,  and  Dr.  Aziz. 

At  the  tea  Dr.  Aziz  charmed  Fielding 
and  the  guests  with  the  elegance  and 
fine  intensity  of  his  manner.  But  the 
gathering  broke  up  on  a  discordant  note 
when  the  priggish  and  suspicious  Heaslop 
arrived  to  claim  the  ladies.  Fielding  had 
taken  Mrs.  Moore  on  a  tour  of  his 
school,  and  Heaslop  was  furious  at  him 
for  having  left  Dr.  Aziz  alone  with  his 
prospective  fiancee. 

Adela,  irritated  by  Heaslop's  callous 
priggishness  during  her  visit,  informed 
him  she  did  not  wish  to  become  his  wife, 
but  before  the  evening  was  over  she 
changed  her  mind.  In  the  course  of  a 
drive  into  the  Indian  countryside,  a 
mysterious  figure,  perhaps  an  animal., 
loomed  out  of  the  darkness  and  nearly 
upset  the  car  in  which  they  were  riding. 
Their  mutual  loneliness  and  a  sense  of 
the  unknown  drew  them  together  and 
Adela  asked  Heaslop  to  disregard  her 
earlier  rejection. 


The  one  extraordinary  thing  about  the 
city  of  Chandrapore  was  a  phenomenon 
of  nature  known  as  the  Marabar  Caves, 
located  several  miles  outside  the  citv. 
Mrs.  Moore  and  Adela  accepted  the 
offer  of  Dr.  Aziz  to  escort  them  to  the 
caves;  but  the  visit  proved  catastrophic 
for  all.  Entering  one  of  the  caves,  Mrs. 
Moore  realized  that  no  matter  what  was 
said  the  walls  returned  only  a  prolonged 
booming,  hollow  echo.  Pondering  that 
echo  while  she  rested,  and  pondering  the 
distance  that  separated  her  from  Dr. 
Aziz,  from  Adela  and  from  her  own 
children,  Mrs.  Moore  saw  that  all  her 
Christianity,  all  her  ideas  of  moral  good 
and  bad,  in  short,  all  her  ideas  of  life, 
amounted  only  to  what  was  made  of  them 
by  the  hollow,  booming  echo  of  the 
Marabar  Caves. 

Adela  entered  one  of  the  caves  alone. 
A  few  minutes  later  she  rushed  out,  ter 
rified,  claiming  she  had  been  nearly 
attacked  in  the  gloom,  and  that  Dr.  Aziz 
was  the  attacker.  The  doctor  was  ar 
rested. 

There  had  always  been  a  clear  divi 
sion  between  the  natives  and  the  Anglo- 
Indian  community,  but  as  the  trial  of 
Dr.  Aziz  drew  nearer,  the  temper  of  each 
group  demanded  strict  loyalty.  When 
Mrs.  Moore  casually  intimated  to  her 
son  that  she  was  perfectly  certain  Dr. 
Aziz  was  not  capable  or  the  alleged 
crime,  he  had  her  shipped  off  to  a  coastal 
port  of  embarkation  at  once.  And  when 
Fielding  expressed  an  identical  opinion 
at  the  club,  he  was  promptly  ostracized. 

The  tension  which  marked  the  open 
ing  of  the  trial  had  a  strange  resolution. 
The  first  sensational  incident  occurred 
when  one  of  Dr.  Aziz's  friends  pushed 
into  the  courtroom  and  shouted  that 
Heaslop  had  smuggled  his  mother  out 
of  the  country  because  she  would  have 
testified  to  the  doctor's  innocence.  When 
the  restless  body  of  Indian  spectators 
heard  the  name  of  Mrs.  Moore,  they 
worked  it  into  a  kind  of  chant  as  though 
she  had  become  a  deity.  The  English 
colony  was  not  to  learn  until  later  that 


714 


Mrs.  Moore  had  already  died  aboard 
ship. 

The  second  incident  concluded  the 
trial.  It  was  Adela's  testimony.  The 
effects  of  the  tense  atmosphere  of  the 
courtroom,  the  reiteration  of  Mrs.  Moore's 
name,  and  the  continued  presence  of  a 
buzzing  sound  in  her  ears  which  had 
persisted  since  the  time  she  left  the  caves, 
combined  to  produce  a  trance-like  effect 
upon  Adela.  She  virtually  relived  the 
whole  of  the  crucial  day  as,  under  the 
interrogation  of  the  prosecuting  attorney, 
she  recollected  its  events.  When  she 
reached  the  moment  of  her  lingering  in 
the  cave,  she  faltered,  dramatically 
changed  her  mind,  and  withdrew  all 
charges. 

Chandrapore  was  at  once  and  for  sev 
eral  hours  thereafter  a  great  bedlam. 
Anglo-India  sulked  while  India  exulted. 
As  for  Adela,  so  far  as  Anglo-India  was 
concerned  she  had  crossed  the  line. 
Heaslop  carefully  explained  that  he  could 
no  longer  be  associated  with  her.  After 
accepting  Fielding's  hospitality  for  a  few 
weeks,  she  returned  home.  In  spite  of 
Dr.  Aziz's  increased  Anglophobia,  Field 
ing  persuaded  him  not  to  press  Adela  for 
legal  damages. 

Two   years    later    the    Mohammedan 


Dr.  Aziz  was  court  physician  to  an  aged 
Hindu  potentate  who  died  on  the  night 
of  the  Krishna  Festival.  The  feast  was 
a  frantic  celebration  and  the  whole  town 
was  under  its  spell  when  Fielding  ar 
rived  on  an  official  visit.  During  the 
two  years  he  had  married  again,  and  Dr. 
Aziz,  assuming  he  had  married  Adela 
Quested,  tried  to  avoid  his  old  friend. 
When  he  ran  into  him  accidentally,  how 
ever,  he  found  out  it  was  Mrs.  Moore's 
daughter,  Stella,  whom  Fielding  had 
married.  The  doctor's  shame  at  his  mis 
take  only  caused  him  to  become  more 
distant. 

Before  they  parted  for  the  last  time, 
Dr.  Aziz  and  Fielding  went  riding 
through  the  jungles.  The  misunderstand 
ing  between  them  had  now  been  cleared 
up,  but  they  had  no  social  ground  on 
which  to  meet  Fielding  had  cast  his  lot 
with  his  countrymen  by  marrying  an 
Englishwoman.  The  rocks  which  sud 
denly  reared  up  before  them,  forcing  theii 
horses  to  pass  in  single  file  on  either  side, 
were  symbolic  of  the  different  paths  they 
would  travel  from  that  time  on.  The 
affection  of  two  men,  however  sincere, 
was  not  sufficient  to  bridge  the  vast  gap 
between  their  races. 


THE  PATHFINDER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimoie  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1756 

Locale:  Lake  Ontario  and  surrounding  territory 

First  published:  1840 

Principal  characters: 

SERGEANT  DURHAM,  of  the  Oswego  garrisoD 

MABEL  DUNHAM,  his  daughter 

CHARLES  CAP,  Mabel's  uncle 

NATTY  BUMPPO,  called  Pathfinder,  a  frontier  scout 

JASPER  WESTEBN,  Pathfinder's  friend 

LIEUTENANT  DAVY  Mum,  garrison  quartermaster 

Critique: 

The  Pathfinder  portrays  Natty  Bump-  quishes  his  claim  in  deference  to  the  man 

po,  wilderness  scout,  at  the  height  of  his  his   beloved    really    loves.     This   novel, 

powers.  Here,  too,  Natty  falls  in  love  for  written  in  the  tradition  of  the  romantic 

the  first  and  only   time,   but  he  relin-  novel,  is  the  third  in  the  series  of  the 


715 


Leatherstocking  Tales.  The  account  of 
the  fort  at  Oswego,  one  of  the  western 
most  British  frontier  posts,  is  historical. 
The  action,  however,  is  completely  fic 
tional. 

The  Story: 

Mabel  Dunham  and  Charles  Cap,  her 
seaman  uncle,  were  on  their  way  to  the 
home  of  her  father,  Sergeant  Dunham. 
They  were  accompanied  by  Arrowhead,  a 
Tuscarora  Indian,  and  his  wife,  Dew-of- 
June.  When  they  reached  the  Oswego 
River,  they  were  met  by  Jasper  Western 
and  Natty  Bumppo,  the  wilderness  scout 
known  as  Pathfinder  among  the  Eng 
lish  and  as  Hawkeye  among  the  Mohican 
Indians.  Pathfinder  led  the  party  down 
the  Oswego  on  the  first  step  of  the 
journey  under  his  guidance.  Chingach- 
gook,  Pathfinder's  Mohican  friend, 
warned  the  party  of  the  presence  of 
hostile  Indians  in  the  neighborhood. 
They  hid  from  the  Indians  and  had  a 
narrow  escape  when  they  were  dis 
covered.  Arrowhead  and  Dew-of-June 
disappeared;  it  was  feared  they  had  been 
taken  captives.  Chingachgook  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Iroquois  but  escaped.  On 
the  lookout  for  more  hostile  war  parties, 
they  continued  their  journey  to  the  fort, 
where  Mabel  was  joyfully  greeted  by  her 
father  after  her  dangerous  trip  through 
the  wilderness. 

The  sergeant  tried  to  promote  a  feel 
ing  of  love  between  Mabel  and  Path 
finder —  his  real  purpose  in  bringing 
Mabel  to  the  frontier.  When  Major 
Duncan,  commander  of  the  post,  pro 
posed  Lieutenant  Davy  Muir  as  a  pos 
sible  mate  for  Mabel,  the  sergeant  in 
formed  the  major  that  Mabel  was  already 
betrothed  to  Pathfinder.  Muir  came  to 
the  major  and  learned  that  he  had  been 
refused,  imt  he  did  not  give  up  hope. 
Actually  Mabel  and  Jasper  were  in  love 
with  each  other. 

A  passage  of  arms  was  proposed  to  test 
the  shooting  ability  of  the  men  at  the 
post  Jasper  scored  a  bull's-eye.  Muir 
shot  from  a  strange  position  and  it  was 


believed  by  all  that  he  had  missed,  but 
he  said  he  had  hit  Jasper's  bullet.  Path 
finder  used  Jasper's  rifle  and  also  struck 
the  bullet  in  the  bull's-eye.  The  next  test 
of  marksmanship  was  to  drive  a  nail  into 
a  tree  with  a  bullet.  Jasper  almost  drove 
the  nail  into  the  tree;  Pathfinder  did. 
The  next  test  was  shooting  at  a  potato 
tossed  into  the  air.  Muir  failed,  but 
Jasper  hit  the  potato  in  the  center.  A 
silken  calash  was  the  prize,  and  Jasper 
wanted  it  greatly  as  a  present  for  Mabel. 
When  he  mentioned  the  desire  to  Path 
finder,  the  scout  was  able  only  to  cut 
the  skin  of  the  potato.  After  he  had  lost 
the  match,  Pathfinder  could  not  resist 
killing  two  gulls  with  one  bullet.  Then 
Mabel  knew  how  Jasper  had  won  the 
calash.  In  appreciation  she  gave  Path 
finder  a  silver  brooch. 

An  expedition  was  sent  to  one  of  the 
Thousand  Islands  to  relieve  the  garrison 
there.  The  party  was  to  leave  in  the 
Scud,  a  boat  captured  by  Jasper.  Before 
departing,  however,  Major  Duncan  had 
received  a  letter  which  caused  him  to 
suspect  that  Jasper  was  a  French  spy. 
Pathfinder  refused  to  believe  the  charge 
against  his  friend,  but  when  the  Scud 
sailed  under  the  command  of  Jasper  he 
was  kept  under  strict  surveillance  by 
Sergeant  Dunham  and  Charles  Cap.  On 
the  way,  the  Scud  overtook  Arrowhead 
and  his  wife  and  they  were  taken  aboard. 
When  Pathfinder  began  to  question  the 
Tuscarora,  Arrowhead  escaped  in  a  canoe 
the  Scud  was  towing  astern.  Becoming 
suspicious,  Sergeant  Dunham  removed 
Jasper  from  his  command  and  sent  him 
below,  and  Charles  Cap  took  over  the 
management  of  the  boat.  But  Cap,  being 
a  salt-water  sailor,  was  unfamiliar  with 
fresh-water  navigation.  When  a  storm 
came  up,  it  was  necessary  to  call  upon 
Jasper  to  save  the  ship.  The  Scud  es 
caped  from  Le  Montcatm,  a  French  ship, 
and  Jasper  brought  the  Scud  safely  to 
port. 

Pathfinder  had  really  fallen  in  love 
with  Mabel,  but  when  he  proposed  to 
her  she  refused  him,  Muir  had  not  given 


716 


up  his  own  suit.  He  admitted  to  Mabel 
that  he  had  had  three  previous  wives. 

Sergeant  Dunham  decided  to  take 
some  of  his  men  and  harass  a  French 
supply  boat.  Starting  out  with  his  de 
tachment,  he  left  six  men  at  the  post, 
Muir  among  them,  with  orders  to  look 
after  the  women.  Soon  after  her  father's 
departure,  Mabel  went  for  a  walk  and 
met  Dew-of-June,  who  warned  her  of 
danger  from  Indians  led  by  white  men. 
Muir  was  unmoved  by  this  intelligence 
when  Mabel  informed  him.  Mabel  then 
went  to  MacNab,  a  corporal,  and  told  her 
story,  but  he  treated  Dew-of -June's  warn 
ing  lightly.  While  they  talked,  a  rifle 
cracked  in  the  nearby  forest  and  MacNab 
fell  dead  at  her  feet.  Mabel  ran  to  the 
blockhouse.  The  attacking  party  was 
composed  of  twenty  Indians  led  by  the 
Tuscarora  renegade,  Arrowhead.  Those 
who  escaped  the  ambush  were  Mabel, 
Cap,  and  Muir,  all  of  whom  survived 
through  the  help  of  Dew-of-June.  Cap 
and  Muir  were  captured  a  little  later. 
Mabel  discovered  Chingachgook,  who 
had  been  spying  about  the  fort.  She 
acquainted  hirn  with  all  the  details  of  the 
situation. 

Pathfinder  arrived  secretly  at  the  block 
house.  He  had  not  been  fooled  by  dead 
bodies  of  the  massacred  people  that  had 
been  placed  in  lifelike  manner  along  the 


river  bank  by  the  Indians.  Then  the 
relief  party  of  soldiers  tinder  Sergeant 
Dunham  was  ambushed,  but  the  ser 
geant,  seriously  wounded,  managed  to 
reach  the  blockhouse.  Cap  escaped  from 
the  Indians  and  also  gained  the  protec 
tion  of  the  blockhouse.  The  small  group 
then  fought  off  the  Indians  during  the 
night  Jasper  arrived  with  men  in  time 
to  relieve  the  situation.  But  Muir  ordered 
Jasper  bound,  basing  his  action  on  the 
suspicion  that  Jasper  was  a  spy.  Arrow 
head  stabbed  Muir  and  disappeared  into 
the  bushes,  body  pursued  by  Chingach 
gook,  who  later  killed  him.  Muir  died 
and  Captain  Sanglier,  the  white  leader 
of  the  Indians,  admitted  that  Muir  had 
been  the  French  spy,  not  Jasper.  On  his 
deathbed  Sergeant  Dunham,  thinking 
Jasper  to  be  Pathfinder,  took  Jasper 's 
hand,  placed  it  in  that  of  Mabel,  and  gave 
the  two  his  blessing.  He  died  before  the 
surprised  witnesses  could  correct  his  error. 
Deciding  that  Mabel  really  loved  Jasper, 
Pathfinder  relinquished  his  claim  on  her. 
Pathfinder  disappeared  into  the  wilder 
ness  with  his  Indian  friend  Chingach 
gook,  and  was  seen  no  more  by  Jasper 
and  Mabel.  From  time  to  time  Indian 
messengers  came  to  the  settlement  with 
gifts  of  furs  for  Mrs.  Jasper  Western,  but 
no  name  ever  accompanied  these  gifts. 


PAUL  BUNYAN 

Type  of  work:   Short  stories 

Author:  James  Stevens  (1892-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Folklore 

Time  of  plot:  From  the  Winter  of  the  Blue  Snow  to  the  Spring  That  the  Rain  Came  Up 

From  China 
Locale:  North  America 
First  published:   1925 

Principal  characters: 

PAUL  BUNYAN,  a  mighty  hero 

BABE,  the  Blue  Ox 

HELS  HELSEN,  Paul's  friend 

JCHNNY  INKSLTNGEB,   the  surveyor 

SOUHBOUGH  SAM,  a  cook 

HOT  BISCUIT  SLIM,  another  cook,  Sourdough  Sam's  son 

KING  BOURBON,  King  of  Kansas 

SHANTY  BOY,  a  storyteller 


717 


Critique: 

In  this  collection  of  stories  about  the 
fabulous  Paul  Bunyan,  Stevens  has  tried 
to  catch  the  flavor  of  the  north  woods. 
Bunyan  and  his  Blue  Ox,  Babe,  whose 
korns  were  forty-two  ax  handles  and  a 
plug  of  chewing  tobacco  apart,  have 
become  a  part  of  American  folklore.  The 
Paul  Bunyan  tales,  which  originated 
along  the  Canadian  border  about  1837, 
have  the  hearty  tall  story  exaggeration 
of  the  wide  West  and  the  virile  North 
west.  They  will  be  popular  with  read 
ers  of  all  ages  for  years  to  come. 

The  Stories: 

That  winter  the  blue  snow  fell.  It 
frightened  the  moose  so  that  they  fled 
from  the  section  of  Canada  where  Paul 
Bunyan  lived  to  the  far  North.  The  herds 
made  so  much  noise  that  all  the  bears 
woke  up  from  their  hibernation  and  fled 
too.  Some  of  the  bears  went  so  far 
North  that  they  turned  white  and  be 
came  polar  bears.  Some  only  went  far 
enough  to  turn  gray,  and  some  were 
merely  so  frightened  that  they  stayed 
small.  When  Paul  Bunyan  discovered 
the  blue  snow  on  the  ground,  he  was 
surprised,  but  not  as  surprised  as  he 
was  to  find  that  his  moose  hound,  Niag 
ara,  had  followed  the  herds,  and  was 
no  longer  there  to  bring  his  food  for 
him.  Walking  around,  he  saw  a  blue 
calf  of  an  amazing  size.  Because  it 
seemed  ill,  he  took  it  home  to  his  cave 
and  fed  it.  Shortly  afterward  he  dreamed 
that  he  and  the  calf  were  to  invent  and 
practice  the  art  of  logging. 

So  with  the  help  of  Babe,  who  had 
grown  up  to  be  a  huge  Blue  Ox,  Paul 
Bunyan  set  up  a  lumber  camp.  When 
Paul  had  to  do  the  paper  work  for  the 
camp,  he  invented  the  multiplication 
table,  the  cube  root,  and  algebra.  As  boss 
of  the  logging,  Paul  was  lucky  to  meet  a 
man,  almost  as  big  as  he  was,  named  Hels 
Helsen.  Hels  was  a  wonderful  worker 
and  Paul's  friend,  but  they  fought  after 


Paul  decided  to  cut  the  trees  on  the 
Mountain  That  Stood  On  Its  Head. 
When  Paul  found  that  his  men  could 
not  hang  upside  down  from  the  sides 
of  the  mountain  and  cut  the  down-grow 
ing  trees  with  ease,  he  loaded  his  gun 
with  plates  of  iron  and  shot  it  at  the 
overhanging  sides.  The  discharge  cut  off 
the  trees  so  that  they  fell  down  and 
buried  their  tops  in  the  plain  below. 
Hels  got  angry  at  Paul  for  being  so 
smart,  and  the  two  of  them  had  a  terrible 
fight  on  the  top,  which  was  really  the 
bottom,  of  the  mountain.  Paul  won,  and 
from  then  on  there  was  never  any  trouble 
between  them. 

Then  the  camp  moved  to  a  place  where 
Paul  found  trees  planted  in  perfect  rows, 
and  all  of  the  same  size.  Paul's  men  cut 
down  the  trees.  Soon  afterward  Paul 
met  Johnny  Inkslinger,  the  great  sur 
veyor,  and  learned  that  Johnny  had 
planted  the  trees  for  surveying  stakes, 
In  recompense,  Paul  made  Johnny,  whc 
also  was  almost  as  big  as  Paul,  his  book 
keeper. 

Feeding  the  huge  lumber  camp  was  £ 
great  problem.  At  first  Paul  had  a  cool 
who  would  serve  only  pea  soup.  One 
day  he  threw  the  peas  in  a  lake  anc 
boiled  the  lake  water  to  make  the  soup 
Then  Paul  got  a  new  cook  namec 
Sourdough  Sam.  Sam  served  only  sour 
dough,  and  he  was  convinced  that  it  wa 
good  for  everything.  He  advised  it  a 
a  shoe  polish,  an  emetic,  liniment,  anc 
toothache  medicine.  Once  he  put  som 
sourdough  in  Johnny  Inkslinger's  ink,  ii 
hopes  that  it  would  treble  the  amount 
Unfortunately  the  ink  blew  up,  an< 
Sourdough  Sam  lost  an  arm  and  le£ 
Sam's  son,  Hot  Biscuit  Slim,  then  too 
over  the  cookhouse,  and  after  demandini 
and  getting  a  tremendous  amount  c 
equipment  from  Paul,  he  made  mealtime 
the  happiest  hours  of  the  loggers'  day. 

Paul's  loggers  amused  themselves  2 
night  by  listening  to  songs  and  storie 


PAUL  BUNYAN  by  James  Stevens.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,   In 
Copyright,  1925,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 

718 


Shanty  Boy,  of  Bunkhouse  1,  was  the 
best  storyteller  in  the  camp.  Once,  when 
the  men  were  feeling  sad,  Shanty  Boy 
ran  out  of  stories  to  cheer  them  up,  and 
he  told  them  some  lies.  The  men  believed 
all  Shanty  Boy's  lies  until  he  told  the 
story  of  Jonah  and  the  whale.  Then  Paul 
had  to  be  called  in  to  keep  the  men 
from  beating  up  Shanty  Boy  for  telling 
what  they  thought  was  a  whopper.  Paul 
told  them  that  the  story  was  true.  They 
believed  Paul,  but  from  that  time  on 
no  logger  ever  told  another  lie. 

Paul  took  his  camp  to  Utah  to  cut 
down  the  stonewood  trees  there.  The 
men  grew  so  tired,  and  their  axes  got 
so  dull,  that  they  almost  gave  up.  In 
disgust,  Paul  himself  started  cutting 
down  the  trees.  He  worked  so  hard 
that  he  sweated  tremendous  drops  of 
water,  which  later  became  Salt  Lake. 

His  men,  frightened  by  the  flood  Paul's 
sweat  caused,  ran  away  to  Kansas.  There 
everything  was  perfect.  All  anyone  did 
was  gamble  and  drink.  One  day  a  duke 
planned  a  revolution  against  King  Bour 
bon  of  Kansas.  He  had  all  the  bars 
serve  very  strong  drinks,  and  everyone 
but  the  duke  and  his  friends  fell  down 
in  a  stupor.  The  duke,  who  wanted  to 
get  rid  of  drink  and  gambling  forever, 
told  all  the  men,  including  Paul's  log 
gers,  that  they  had  sinned  mightily.  Paul 
finally  turned  up  and  forgave  his  men 
for  running  away.  He  also  hitched  Babe 
to  Kansas  and  turned  it  over.  He  left 
Kansas  flat,  and  hid  forever  the  wonderful 
cigarette  grass,  beervines,  and  whiskey 
trees. 

One  day  Babe  became  ill.  Johnny 
Inkslinger  tried  several  cures.  He  took 
the  camp  to  the  West  Coast,  where  they 
captured  whales  and  fed  Babe  whale's 
milk,  but  the  treatment  did  little  good. 
Finally  Johnny  whispered  over  and  over 


in  Babe's  ear  that  Babe  was  really  well. 
Johnny  drank  whiskey  to  keep  his  voice 
clear.  After  a  few  days,  he  fell  in  a 
faint.  Babe  drank  some  of  the  liquor 
and  began  to  get  well.  Whiskey,  not 
whale's  milk,  was  the  medicine  for  the 
Blue  Ox. 

Next  the  camp  went  to  New  Iowa, 
where  Paul  left  diem.  The  scenery  was 
so  beautiful  that  the  men  did  nothing 
but  write  poetry.  Paid  had  to  come  back 
and  take  them  to  the  He-Man  country 
to  get  them  out  of  the  habit.  In  the 
He-Man  country  it  was  so  cold  in  the 
wintertime  that  words  froze  in  the  air, 
and  you  could  not  hear  them  until  they 
thawed  out  in  the  spring.  The  men 
grew  so  virile  after  a  winter  of  that  hard 
life  that  all  they  did  was  fight  one 
another.  One  day  they  stopped  fighting 
because  they  seemed  to  be  knee-deep  in 
blood.  After  a  while  Paul  discovered 
that  it  was  not  blood  but  red  rain  which 
had  fallen  up  through  the  earth  from 
China. 

After  the  rain  from  China,  the  gang 
moved  into  the  Nowaday  Valley.  There 
Paul  discovered  that  the  men  were  sing 
ing  about  women,  a  subject  he  could 
dimly  remember  having  heard  men 
tioned  before.  Paul  also  had  trouble 
with  one  of  his  workers,  who  discovered 
machines  which  could  do  what  only 
Paul  and  the  Blue  Ox  had  been  able 
to  perform  before.  Paul  was  afraid  that 
his  days  were  over.  At  last  women  ap 
peared  near  the  camp,  and  Paul's  men 
disappeared.  Paul  went  to  look  for  them 
and  met  a  woman.  He  picked  her  up  in 
his  hand  and  looked  at  her.  Completely 
unconcerned,  she  powdered  her  nose. 
Paul  was  dumbfounded.  Late  that  night 
he  started  out  across  the  hills  with  his 
Blue  Ox.  He  was  never  heard  from 
again. 


719 


THE  PEASANTS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ladislas  Reymont  (1868-1925) 

Type  of  plot:    Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  century 

'Locale:   Poland 

First  published:    1902-1909 

Principal  characters: 

MATTHIAS  BORYNA,  a  well-to-do  peasant 

AJSTTEK,  Matthias*  son 

DOMTNTKOVA,  a  widow 

YAGNA,  her  daughter 
Antek's  wife 


Critique: 

The  Peasants  is  epic  in  the  sweep  and 
significance  of  its  story.  The  problem  of 
Europe  is  contained  in  this  novel — the 
problem  of  overpopulation,  of  poor  and 
overworked  soil,  of  ignorance,  of  im 
perialism.  The  novel  is  at  once  a  text 
on  the  subject  of  mass  sociology  and  a 
human,  heart-warming  narrative.  In 
keeping  with  the  seasonal  movement  of 
its  story,  Reymont's  masterpiece  is  di 
vided  into  four  sections:  Autumn,  Win 
ter,  Spring,  and  Summer. 

The  Story: 

It  was  autumn  and  the  peasants  of 
Lipka  village  were  hurrying  to  finish  the 
harvest  before  winter.  In  Boryna's  barn 
yard  the  villagers  gathered  to  see  a  cow 
that  had  been  chased  from  manor  lands 
and  was  now  dying  of  colic.  Hanka,  Mat 
thias  Boryna's  daughter-in-law,  took  the 
loss  most  to  heart  when  old  Kuba,  the 
lame  stableman,  said  that  he  could  do 
nothing  for  the  stricken  cow. 

That  night  Matthias,  charged  with 
having  fathered  a  servant  girl's  child, 
went  to  visit  the  voyt,  the  headman  of 
the  village,  to  ask  about  his  trial.  The 
voyt,  after  assuring  him  that  he  would 
get  off  easily  in  court,  flattered  Mat 
thias  and  told  him  he  should  marry 
again,  now  that  his  second  wife  was 
dead.  Matthias  pretended  he  was  too 
old,  but  he  knew  all  the  time  he  was 
hopeful  of  marrying  Yagna,  the  daughter 


of  Dominikova.  Yagna  would  some  day 
inherit  three  acres  of  land. 

The  next  morning  the  case  against 
Matthias  was  dismissed.  After  the  trial 
Matthias  met  Dominikova  and  tried  to 
sound  her  out  on  her  plans  for  her 
daughter. 

On  the  day  of  the  autumn  sale  Mat 
thias  went  off  to  sell  some  hogs  and 
Hanka  her  geese.  Old  Matthias,  pleased 
when  Yagna  accepted  some  bright  rib 
bons,  asked  her  hand  in  marriage.  He 
did  not  know  that  his  son  Antek,  husband 
of  Hanka,  was  secretly  in  love  with 
Yagna.  When  Matthias  settled  six  acres 
upon  Yagna  in  return  for  the  three  she 
brought  with  her  marriage  portion,  Antek 
and  his  father  fought  and  Matthias  or 
dered  his  son  off  the  farm.  Antek  and 
Hanka  moved  with  their  children  into 
the  miserable  cabin  of  Hanka's  father. 

The  wedding  of  Matthias  and  Yagna 
was  a  hilarious  affair.  In  the  midst  of 
the  merriment  Kuba,  poaching  on  manor 
lands,  was  shot  in  the  leg  by  a  game 
keeper.  Fearing  the  hospital,  he  cut  off 
his  own  leg  and  died  from  loss  of  blood. 

Winter  came  swiftly,  and  wolves 
lurked  near  the  peasant's  stock  barns. 
That  winter  Hanka  and  Antek  had  to 
sell  their  cow  to  keep  themselves  in  food. 
At  last  Antek  took  work  with  men  build 
ing  a  new  sawmill.  Matthew,  the  fore 
man,  was  his  enemy,  for  Matthew  also 
loved  Yagna.  One  day  Antek  overheard 


THE  PEASANTS  by  Ladislas  Reymont.     Translated  by  Michael  H.  Dziewicki.     By  permission  of   the  pub 
lisher*,  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc,    Copyright,   1924,  1925,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


720 


Matthew's  brag  that  he  had  been  with 
Yagna  in  her  bedroom.  Antek,  in  a 
great  fury,  struck  Matthew  so  hard  that 
the  carpenter  broke  several  ribs  when  he 
fell  over  the  railing  and  into  the  river. 

At  Christmas  there  was  great  rejoicing 
in  Matthias'  house,  for  Yagna  was  with 
child.  At  the  midnight  mass  on  Christ- 
mas  Eve,  Yagna  and  Antek  saw  each 
other  for  a  moment,  Antek  asked  her 
to  meet  him  behind  the  haystack. 

That  winter  the  peasants  of  the  vil 
lage  came  to  Matthias  to  report  that  a 
part  of  the  forest  which  the  peasants 
used  for  gathering  wood  had  been  sold 
by  the  manor  people.  Unhappily,  Mat 
thias  allowed  himself  to  be  dragged  into 
the  dispute.  While  Matthias  was  away, 
Antek  went  to  his  father's  farm  to  see 
Yagna.  Returning,  Matthias  nearly  caught 
them  together. 

One  night  at  the  inn  Antek,  drunk, 
ignored  his  wife  and  asked  Yagna  to 
dance  with  him.  Matthias  arrived,  seized 
Yagna,  and  took  her  away.  Later,  on 
his  way  home,  Antek  found  his  wife 
almost  dead  in  the  snow.  From  that  time 
on  Matthias  treated  Yagna  like  a  servant 
girl. 

Antek  lost  his  job  and  Hanka  was 
forced  to  go  with  the  paupers  seeking 
firewood  in  the  forest.  Walking  home 
through  the  storm,  Hanka  was  given  a 
ride  by  old  Matthias.  He  insisted  that 
Hanka  come  back  to  his  farm  the  next 
day. 

That  night  Antek  took  Yagna  into  the 
orchard.  Coming  upon  them,  old  Mat 
thias  lit  up  a  straw  stack  in  order  to  see 
them.  Antek  and  the  old  man  fought. 
Then  Antek  fled  and  the  fire  spread, 
threatening  the  whole  village.  Yagna 
fled  to  her  family.  Everyone  avoided  An 
tek  and  refused  to  speak  to  him. 

At  last  old  Matthias  took  Yagna  back, 
but  only  as  a  hired  girl,  Hanka  was 
with  him,  much  of  the  time.  When 
Yagna  began  to  see  Antek  again,  the  old 
man  took  no  notice. 

Word  came  that  the  squire  was  cutting 
timber  on  land  the  peasants  claimed. 


The  next  morning  a  fight  took  place  iii 
the  forest  as  the  villagers  tried  to  pro 
tect  their  trees.  Antek  thought  he  might 
kill  his  own  father  in  the  confusion,  but 
when  he  saw  Matthias  struck  down,  he 
killed  the  woodcutter  who  had  wounded 
his  father.  Antek  walked  alongside  as 
Matthias  was  carried  home. 

Spring  came.  Many  of  the  villagers, 
Antek  among  them,  were  in  jail  after 
the  fight  in  the  forest.  Fields  went  un- 
plowed.  Old  Matthias  lay  insensible 
Yagna  had  now  begun  to  consort  with 
the  voyt.  It  seemed  as  if  the  devil  him- 
self  had  possessed  the  village. 

Easter  was  a  sad  season  because  the 
men  were  still  in  prison.  Word  went 
around  that  the  squire,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  stop  the  sale  of  his  land,  was 
in  desperate  straits  for  money  and  vowing 
revenge  upon  the  peasants.  Shortly  after 
Easter  Hanka  gave  birth  to  a  male  child 
who  was  named  Roch.  Gifts  were  given 
out  but  in  Antek's  absence  the  christening 
did  not  seem  complete. 

At  last  the  peasants  were  set  free. 
Their  homecoming  was  a  happy  occa 
sion  in  every  cabin  but  that  of  Matthias, 
for  Antek  had  not  been  released.  Yagna 
was  also  unhappy.  Even  Matthew,  the 
carpenter  who  had  once  loved  her,  now 
ignored  her  for  younger  Teresa. 

One  night  old  Matthias  arose  from 
his  stupor.  For  hours  he  wandered  about 
the  fields  as  if  about  to  sow  his  land. 
In  the  morning  he  fell  over  and  died. 

Summer  brought  additional  woes  to 
the  peasants.  There  were  quarrels  over 
Matthias*  land.  Some  Germans  came  to 
occupy  the  squire's  land,  but  the  peasants 
threatened  them  and  they  went  away. 
Then  the  squire  made  arrangements  to 
parcel  out  the  land  to  the  peasants  and 
some  of  them  bought  new  land  for 
homesteading. 

Old  Dominikova  and  Simon,  one  of 
her  sons,  had  quarreled,  and  Simon 
bought  his  own  land  from  the  squire. 
Simon  and  his  wife  Nastka  received 
many  gifts  from  the  villagers  who  wanted 
to  spite  old  Dominikova,  When  the 


721 


voyt's  accounts  were  found  to  be  short, 
the  villagers  blamed  Yagna. 

Released  from  prison,  Antek  returned 
to  work  on  the  farm.  He  was  still  at 
tracted  to  Yagna,  but  the  duties  of  his 
farm  and  the  possibility  that  he  still 
might  be  sent  to  Siberia  pressed  even 
harder  upon  him.  That  summer  the 
organist's  son,  Yanek,  came  home  from 
school.  In  a  short  time  he  and  Yagna 
were  seen  together.  At  last  the  peasants 


put  Yagna  on  a  manure  cart  and  told  her 
never  to  return  to  the  village. 

The  summer  was  dry  and  the  harvest 
scanty.  One  day  a  wandering  beggar 
stopped  at  Nastka's  house.  He  gave  her 
some  balm  for  Yagna,  who  had  taken 
refuge  there.  As  the  sound  of  the  An- 

felus  rose  up  through  the  evening  air, 
e   strode  away.    For  the  food  Nastka 
had   given  him  he  called  down   God's 
blessing  on  her  peasant  home. 


PEER  GYNT 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Henrik  Ibsen  C 1828-1 906) 

Tyipe  of  plot:  Satiric  fantasy 

Time  of  pZat:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

First  presen  ted:  1867 

Princi-pal  characters: 

PEER  GYNT,  a  Norwegian  farm  lad 

ASE,  his  mother 

SOLVEIG,  a  Norwegian  girl  whose  love  for  Peer  remains  constant 

THE  GBJEAT  BOTG,  a  troll  monster 

THE  BUTTON  MOULDER,  who  threatens  to  melt  Peer  in  his  ladle 

Critique: 

A  satire  on  Man,  that  contradictory 
creature  with  an  upright  body  and  grovel 
ing  soul,  Peer  Gynt  is  an  example  of 
Ibsen's  symbolic  treatment  of  the  theme 
of  individualism.  This  drama  is  a  long 
episodic  fantasy,  with  a  picaresque, 
jaunty,  boastful,  yet  lovable  hero.  Into 
the  fabric  of  the  drama  Ibsen  weaves 
folklore  and  satire  combined  with  sym 
bolism  that  imparts  a  dramatic  effect  rich 
in  emotional  impact.  The  unorthodox 
and  untheatrical  design,  however,  make 
stage  presentation  difficult.  The  play 
deals  with  the  degeneration  of  the  human 
soul,  yet  the  triumphant  note  at  the  end, 
the  redeeming  power  of  love,  keeps  it 
from  being  tragic  in  dramatic  effect. 


mother,  Ase,  for  his  willingness  to  waste 
his  time,  he  answered  that  she  was  per 
fectly  right.  She  ridiculed  him  further 
by  pointing  out  that  had  he  been  an 
honest  farmer,  Hegstad's  daughter  would 
have  had  him,  and  he  would  have  been  a 
happy  bridegroom.  He  told  her  that  he 
intended  to  break  the  marriage  of  Heg- 
stad's  daughter,  a  wedding  planned  for 
that  night.  When  his  mother  protested, 
he  seized  her  in  his  arms  and  set  her  on 
the  roof  of  their  house,  from  where  her 
unheeded  cries  followed  him  up  the  road 
to  Hegstad's  home. 

At  the  wedding  he  was  scorned  by 
everyone  present  except  Solveig,  a  girl 
unknown  to  him.  But  even  she  avoided 
him  as  soon  as  she  heard  of  his  base 
reputation.  Peer  became  drunk  and  be 
gan  to  tell  fantastic  tales  of  adventure, 
stories  that  bridged  an  embarrassing  gap 
in  the  marriage  ceremony  when  the  bride 
locked  herself  in  the  storeroom  and  re- 
urn-  ^Ti^i  He?"£  ^^  from.™E  COLLECTED  WORKS  OF  HENRIK  IBSEN.  Translated  by 
William  and  Charitt  Archer.  By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Charle*  Scribner'*  Sons. 


The  Story: 

Peer  Gynt,  a  young  Norwegian  farm 
er  with  a  penchant  for  laziness  and 
bragging,  idled  away  his  hours  in  brawl 
ing  and  dreaming.  Upbraided  by  his 


722 


fused  to  come  out.  In  desperation,  the 
bridegroom  appealed  to  Peer  for  help. 
As  Peer  left  for  the  storeroom,  his  mother, 
who  had  been  released  from  the  roof, 
arrived.  Suddenly  the  bridegroom  cried 
out  and  pointed  toward  the  hillside. 
Rushing  to  the  door,  the  guests  saw 
Peer  scrambling  up  the  mountain  with 
die  bride  over  his  shoulder. 

Peer  quickly  abandoned  the  bride  and 
penetrated  more  deeply  into  the  wilder 
ness.  Eluding  the  pursuit  of  Hegstad 
and  his  neighbors,  he  married  and  de 
serted  the  daughter  of  the  elf -king  of  the 
mountains.  He  encountered  the  Great 
Boyg,  who  represented  the  riddle  of  exist 
ence  in  the  figure  of  a  shapeless,  grim, 
unconquerable  monster.  Time  and  again, 
Peer  tried  to  force  his  way  up  the  moun 
tain,  but  the  Boyg  blocked  his  way. 
When  Peer  challenged  the  Boyg  to  a 
battle,  the  creature  replied  that  though 
he  conquered  everyone  he  did  not  fight. 

Exhausted,  Peer  sank  to  the  ground. 
The  sky  was  dark  with  carnivorous  birds 
that  were  about  to  swoop  down  upon 
him.  Suddenly  he  heard  the  sound  of 
church  bells  and  women's  voices  in  the 
distance.  The  Boyg  withdrew,  admitting 
defeat  because  Peer  had  the  support  of 
women  in  his  fight. 

An  outlaw  for  having  carried  off  Heg- 
stad's  daughter,  Peer  built  himself  a  hut 
in  the  forest,  to  which  Solveig  came  to 
keep  him  company.  Their  happiness  was 
brief,  however,  for  one  day  Peer  met 
the  elf-king's  daughter,  whom  he  had 
deserted.  With  her  was  an  ugly  troll, 
Peer's  son;  unable  to  drive  them  off,  he 
himself  went  away  after  telling  Solveig 
that  she  must  wait  for  him  a  little  while. 

Before  leaving  the  country,  he  paid 
a  farewell  visit  to  his  dying  mother. 
With  his  arms  around  her,  Peer  lulled 
her  into  her  last  sleep.  Over  her  dead 
body  he  uttered  thanks  for  all  his  days, 
all  his  lullabies,  all  his  beatings. 

He  went  adventuring  over  the  world. 
In  America  he  sold  slaves;  in  China, 
sacred  idols.  He  did  a  thriving  business 
in  rum  and  Bibles.  After  being  robbed 


of  his  earthly  goods,  he  went  to  the 
African  desert  and  became  a  prophet. 
Prosperous  once  more,  he  set  himself  up 
in  Oriental  luxury.  One  day  he  rode  into 
the  desert  with  Anitra,  a  dance  girl, 
Stopping  to  rest,  he  could  not  resist  the 
urge  to  show  off  by  proving  to  Anitra 
that  he  was  still  young  in  spirit  and  body. 
While  he  was  performing,  she  stole  his 
moneybag  and  horse  and  galloped  away. 
Solveig  had  grown  middle-aged  while 
she  waited  for  Peer  Gynt's  return.  Peer 
Gynt,  on  the  other  hand,  still  struggled 
on  with  his  planless  life,  still  drifted 
around  the  all-consuming  Boyg  of  life 
without  any  apparent  purpose  in  mind. 

On  his  way  back  to  Norway  at  last, 
his  ship  was  wrecked.  Peer  clung  to  a 
spar  which  could  hold  only  one  man. 
When  the  ship's  cook  attempted  to  grasp 
the  spar  also,  Peer  thrust  him  into  the 
ocean.  He  had  saved  his  own  life,  but 
he  doubted  whether  he  had  been  success 
ful  in  saving  himself  from  his  aimless 
existence. 

On  his  return  to  Norway,  he  decided, 
however,  that  he  was  through  with  wan 
dering,  and  he  was  willing  to  settle  down 
to  the  staid  life  of  a  retired  old  man. 
One  day  on  the  heath  he  met  a  Button 
Moulder,  who  refused  to  let  the  aged 
Peer  realize  his  dream  of  peace  and  con 
tentment  Informed  that  he  was  to  go 
into  the  Button  Moulder's  ladle  to  be 
melted,  Peer  became  frantic.  To  lose  his 
soul,  his  identity,  was  an  end  he  had  not 
divined  for  himself  despite  his  aimless 
and  self-centered  life.  He  pleaded  with 
the  Button  Moulder  to  relent.  He  was 
at  worst  a  bungler,  he  cried,  never  an 
exceptional  sinner.  The  Button  Moulder 
ansxvered  that  Peer,  not  bad  enough  for 
hell  nor  good  enough  for  heaven,  was  fit 
only  for  the  ladle.  Peer  protested,  but 
the  Button  Moulder  remained  adamant. 
Peer  was  to  be  melted  into  the  ladle  of 
nonentity  unless  he  could  prove  himself 
a  sinner  worthy  of  hell.  Hell  being  a 
more  lenient  punishment  than  mere  noth 
ingness,  Peer  desperately  enlarged  upon 
his  sins.  He  had  trafficked  in  slaves. 


723 


cheated  people  <ind  deceived  them,  and 
had  saved  his  life  at  the  expense  of  an 
other.  The  Button  Moulder  ironically 
maintained  that  these  iniquities  were 
mere  trifles. 

While  they  argued,  the  Button  Mould 
er  and  Peer  came  to  a  house  where 
Solveig  stood  in  the  doorway  ready  for 
church,  a  psalm  book  under  her  arm. 
Peer  filing  himself  at  her  feet,  begging 
her  to  cry  out  his  sins  and  trespasses,  but 
she  answered  that  he  was  with  her  again, 


and  that  was  all  that  mattered.  She  was 
shocked  when  Peer  asked  her  to  cry  out 
his  crime  to  her;  she  said  that  it  was  he 
who  had  made  life  beautiful  for  her. 
Hearing  her  words,  the  Button  Moulder 
disappeared,  prophesying  that  he  and 
Peer  would  meet  again. 

Peer  Gynt  buried  his  face  in  Solveig  s 
lap,  safe  and  secure  with  her  arms  to 
hold  him  and  her  heart  to  warm  him. 
Solveig's  own  face  was  bathed  in  sun 
light. 


PEG  WOFFINGTON 


Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Charles  Reade  (1814-1884) 
Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 
Locale:  England 

1853 


Principal  characters: 

PEG  WOFFINGTON,  a  famous  actress 

HARRY  VANE,  her  admirer 

MABEL  VANE,  Harry's  wife 

SIR  CHARLES  POMANDER,  another  admirer  of  Mrs.  Woffington 

COLLEY  GIBBER,  actor  and  critic 

TRIPLET,  a  painter  and  playwright 


Critique: 

This  touching  story  reveals  a  keen 
insight  into  human  nature.  Much  too 
sentimental  to  be  credible  to  modem 
readers,  the  story  of  Mrs.  Woffington  is 
nevertheless  a  witty  revelation  of  life 
behind  the  scenes  in  the  theater.  The 
dialogue  between  the  critics  and  the 
artists  is  delightful,  and  the  attack  on 
critics  follows  a  long  tradition  in  our 
literature.  The  principal  character  of  the 
story  was  a  celebrated  Irish  actress, 

The  Story: 

Mr.  Harry  Vane  had  come  from  Shrop 
shire  to  London  on  business  affairs.  Hav 
ing  completed  his  business,  he  ventured 
to  remain  in  London  for  pleasure,  for  he 
had  seen  Mrs.  Woffington  on  the  stage 
and  had  fallen  in  love  with  her.  From 
his  box  seat  at  the  theater,  where  he  sat 
night  after  night,  he  sent  her  anonymous 
notes  and  flowers  and  waited  for  some 
sign  that  his  attentions  had  awakened 


her  interest.  One  night  he  sent  a  corsage 
with  a  note  asking  her  to  wear  the  flowers 
in  her  hair  if  the  gentleman's  notes  had 
interested  her.  In  the  final  act  of  the 
evening's  performance,  she  appeared 
with  the  flowers  in  her  hair.  Vane  was 
more  determined  than  ever  to  meet  the 
actress  personally. 

From  the  audience  Sir  Charles  Po 
mander,  whom  Vane  knew  slighdy,  had 
seen  Vane  in  his  box  for  many  evenings. 
Curiosity  being  one  of  Sir  Charles*  great 
est  weaknesses,  he  watched  to  detect 
signs  in  Mrs.  Woffington  or  in  Vane  to 
learn  whether  the  gendeman's  suit  was 
being  successful.  That  night,  observing 
Vane's  conduct,  Sir  Charles  joined  that 
gentleman  in  his  box  and  invited  Vane 
to  accompany  him  to  a  gathering  of 
people  in  the  green  room  backstage. 

One  of  the  group  backstage  was  Mr. 
Colley  Gibber,  known  in  his  more  youth 
ful  days  as  a  great  actor  and  playwright. 


724 


When  Vane  questioned  tlie  famed  actor 
concerning  Mrs.  Woffington's  ability  as 
an  actress,  Gibber  scoffed  and  claimed 
that  acting  is  the  art  of  copying  nature. 
He  added  that  in  his  day  there  was  a 
much  finer  actress,  Mrs.  Bracegirdle. 
Mrs.  Woffington  overheard  his  slighting 
remarks.  In  order  to  disprove  Gibber's 
pompous  claims,  she  disguised  herself  as 
the  elderly  Mrs.  Bracegirdle  and  appeared 
among  the  backstage  visitors  as  that 
famous  old  lady  of  the  stage.  So  well 
did  she  fool  everyone  that  Gibber  was 
forced  to  admit  his  own  deception  by 
Mrs.  Woffington's  play-acting. 

Sir  Charles  was  still  watching  Vane 
for  signs  of  the  degree  to  which  his  suit 
of  Mrs.  Woffington  had  advanced.  But 
the  actress  wore  her  feelings  behind  a 
mask.  Vane  himself  was  too  astounded 
by  his  first  visit  backstage  to  reveal  any 
thing  to  Sir  Charles,  who  was  also  pur 
suing  Mrs.  Woffington.  Unfortunately, 
Sir  Charles  had  to  leave  London  for  a 
few  weeks.  The  next  time  Vane  saw 
Mrs.  Woffington,  she  openly  expressed 
her  admiration  for  him.  Soon  Mrs. 
Woffington  revealed  to  Vane  that  he  was 
her  ideal  of  goodness  and  perfection. 
Vane  himself  was  deeply  in  love. 

Triplet,  the  playwright,  scene  painter, 
and  poet,  could  find  no  market  for  his 
talents,  and  his  wife  and  children  were 
almost  starving.  One  day  when  he  was 
at  the  theater  trying  to  get  Mr.  Rich,  the 
manager,  to  read  his  latest  tragedies,  Mrs. 
Woffington  recognized  him  as  a  man 
who  had  been  kind  to  her  when  she  was 
a  poor  little  Irish  girl  selling  oranges  on 
the  streets.  When  she  learned  of  his 
plight,  she  promised  to  sit  for  a  portrait 
and  to  persuade  Mr.  Rich  to  read  his 
plays. 

When  Sir  Charles  returned  from  his 
trip,  he  immediately  continued  his  suit 
of  Mrs.  Woffington,  who  haughtily  re 
fused  him.  Jealous  of  his  rival's  success, 
he  set  about  to  ruin  Vane's  romance  and 
bribed  Mrs.  Woffington's  servant  to  re 
port  to  him  whatever  Mrs.  Woffington 
did.  One  afternoon,  suspecting  that  she 


had  gone  to  spend  the  day  with  a  lover, 
Sir  Charles  persuaded  Vane  to  accom 
pany  him  in  a  search  for  her.  Trailing 
her  to  a  strange  apartment,  they  dis 
covered  her  with  Triplet's  family,  whom 
she  had  rescued  from  starvation  when 
she  had  gone  to  sit  for  her  portrait.  Vane 
was  dismayed  at  his  own  lack  of  trust  in 
Mrs.  Woffington,  but  she  readily  for 
gave  him. 

While  he  was  journeying  through  the 
countryside,  Sir  Charles  had  seen  a 
beautiful  woman  in  a  carriage.  Arrested 
by  her  beauty,  he  had  sent  a  servant  to 
inquire  about  her  identity.  Soon  after 
the  incident  in  Triplet's  apartment,  Sir 
Charles  learned  that  the  beautiful  woman 
was  Vane's  wife,  Mabel,  who  was  on  her 
way  to  join  her  husband  in  London. 
When  Mabel  Vane  arrived  at  her  hus 
band's  house,  there  was  a  gay  party  in 
session.  Although  Mabel  was  a  simple 
country  girl,  she  discerned  the  meaning 
of  Mrs.  Woffington's  presence,  especially 
after  Sir  Charles  had  described  her  hus 
band's  conduct  at  the  theater.  True  to 
his  crude  character,  Sir  Charles  offered 
to  comfort  Mabel  by  making  love  to  her, 
but  she  coldly  sent  him  away.  Sitting 
alone  in  the  parlor,  Mabel  had  to  endure 
the  unhappy  circumstance  of  overhearing 
her  husband  pleading  with  Mrs.  Woffing 
ton  to  forgive  him.  Thus  the  devoted 
and  beautiful  Mabel  learned  that  her 
husband  no  longer  loved  her. 

Learning  Mabel's  identity,  the  actress 
fled  from  Vane's  house.  Seeking  comfort 
and  diversion,  she  went  to  Triplet's  stu 
dio  and  told  him  that  she  had  come  to 
sit  for  her  portrait.  While  she  was  sit 
ting,  Triplet  received  word  that  some  of 
his  theatrical  friends  were  coming  to  his 
studio  to  view  the  portrait.  Knowing 
that  the  critics  Snarl  and  Soaper  were 
vicious  and  that  Colley  Gibber  would 
sneer  at  Triplet's  work,  Mrs.  Woffington 
contrived  a  plan  to  fool  the  arrogant 
men.  She  cut  a  hole  in  the  portrait  just 
large  enough  to  fit  round  her  head.  When 
the  critics  saw  the  picture,  they  believed 
it  to  be  a  painting,  while  in  reality  it  was 


725 


merely  a  setting  around  tiie  real  head  of 
Mrs.  Woffington.  True  to  their  usual 
form,  the  critics  sneered  at  the  artist's 
lack  of  success  in  his  endeavor  to  repro 
duce  the  head  of  Peg  Woffington.  Laugh 
ing  at  her  own  deception,  Mrs.  Woffing 
ton  stepped  forward  and  revealed  the 
trick  to  the  critics.  Only  Colley  Cihber 
was  able  to  take  the  joke  with  good 
nature.  The  others  left  in  chagrin. 

Mrs.  Woffington  told  Triplet  of  Harry 
Vane's  \vife,  and  he  warned  her  that  two 
rival  women  were  a  dangerous  combina 
tion.  \\Tnle  they  were  talking,  Mabel 
Vane  entered  the  apartment.  She  had 
come  to  see  Mrs.  Woffington.  The  ac 


tress'  vanity  and  pride  had  been  cut  to 
the  quick,  but  Mabel's  sweet  and  gener 
ous  nature  softened  her  heart.  She 
promised  Mabel  that  she  would  not  only 
return  Vane  to  his  wife  but  also  prove 
to  her  that  the  heart  of  her  husband  had 
never  really  deserted  his  wife.  Mabel  was 
so  grateful  to  her  that  she  swore  to  call 
Mrs.  Woffington  her  sister,  and  the  two 
women  embraced. 

The  Vanes  were  reunited,  for  Harry 
truly  loved  his  wife.  Mabel  Vane  and  Peg 
Woffington  remained  steadfast  friends, 
seeing  each  other  often  in  London  and 
writing  numerous  letters. 


PENDENNIS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1848-1850 

Principal  characters: 

ARTHUR  PENDENNIS  (PEN),  a  snob 
HELEN  PENDENNIS,  his  mother 
JVlAjoR  ARTHUR  PENDENNIS,  his  uncle 
LAURA  BELL,  Mrs,  Pendennis'  ward 
EMILY  COSTIGAN,  an  actress 
BLANCHE  AMORY,  an  heiress 
HENRY  FOKER,  Pen's  friend 

Critique: 

The  History  of  Pendennis  is  a  long, 
loosely  organized  novel,  in  which  the 
author,  between  events,  stops  to  chat  and 
philosophize  with  the  reader.  There  is 
present  a  strong  emphasis  on  morality, 
on  goodness  and  truth,  as  opposed  to  a 
selfish,  scheming,  attitude  which  stresses 
material  wealth  and  social  advancement. 
The  most  consistent  theme,  brought  out 
with  piercing  irony,  is  the  self-conscious, 
rigid  snobbery  between  cksses  in  Eng 
land,  and  the  unceasing  efforts  of  the 
middle  class  to  become  gentlemen  and 
aristocrats.  This  theme  is  epitomized  in 
the  character  of  Major  Pendennis,  but  it 
is  also  illustrated  in  the  experiences  of 
young  Arthur  Pendennis,  who  is  torn 
between  his  uncle's  efforts  to  help 


to  rise  socially  and  his  mother's  efforts 
to  keep  him  natural  and  unspoiled. 

The  Story: 

Major  Arthur  Pendennis,  a  retired 
army  officer,  impeccably  dressed,  digni 
fied,  yet  affable,  sat  in  his  London  club 
looking  over  his  mail  and  considering 
which  of  several  invitations  would  be 
most  advantageous  to  accept.  He  left  un 
til  kst  a  letter  from  his  sister-in-law,  beg 
ging  him  to  come  to  Fairoaks  because  her 
son  Arthur,  who  was  known  to  the  family 
as  Pen,  had  become  infatuated  with  an 
actress  twelve  years  older  than  himself, 
and  insisted  on  marrying  the  woman. 
Helen  Pendennis  implored  the  major3 
who  was  young  Pen's  guardian,  to  use 


726 


his  influence  with  the  sixteen-year-old 
boy. 

John  Pendennis,  Pen's  father,  though 
of  an  old  family,  had  been  forced  to 
earn  his  living  as  an  apothecary  and  sur 
geon.  He  prospered  financially,  and  at 
the  age  of  forty-three  married  Helen 
Thistle  wood,  a  distant  relative  of  one  of 
his  aristocratic  patrons.  His  own  life's 
aim  was  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  by  for 
tunate  transactions  he  was  able  to  buy 
the  small  estate  of  Fairoaks.  He  acquired 
family  portraits,  and  was  henceforth 
known  as  Squire  Pendennis.  He  referred 
proudly  to  his  brother  the  major,  who 
associated  with  well-known  aristocrats. 
John  Pendennis  had  died  while  his  son 
was  still  a  schoolboy.  After  that  melan 
choly  event,  Pen  took  first  place  in  the 
family.  His  mother  was  especially  solici 
tous  for  his  welfare  and  happiness.  She 
had  already  planned  that  he  should  marry 
Laura  Bell,  his  adopted  sister  and  the 
orphan  of  the  Reverend  Francis  Bell, 
whom  Helen  had  loved  years  before. 

Helen  Pendennis  was  horrified  at 
Pen's  infatuation  with  an  actress,  but 
Pen,  blind  with  youthful  romance,  saw 
Emily  Costigan  as  the  ideal  of  all  woman 
hood.  She  was  beautiful,  and  her  reputa 
tion  was  unquestioned,  yet  she  was  crude 
and  unintelligent.  Pen  was  introduced  to 
her  father,  Captain  Costigan,  by  Henry 
Foker,  a  dashing,  wealthy  young  school 
mate.  The  captain  was  a  shabby,  rakish 
Irishman  who  was  constantly  finding  his 
daughter's  income  insufficient  for  the 
drinks  he  required.  He  assumed  that  Pen 
was  a  wealthy  young  aristocrat  and  urged 
Emily  to  accept  his  proposal  of  marriage. 
On  die  other  hand,  Emily  regarded  Pen 
as  a  child,  but  at  the  same  time  she  was 
flattered  by  the  serious  attentions  of  a 
landed  young  gentleman. 

When  the  major  arrived  at  Fairoaks, 
Pen  had  almost  won  his  indulgent 
mother's  consent.  The  major  handled  the 
situation  adroitly.  Using  many  refer 
ences  to  his  aristocratic  friends,  he  hinted 
that  Pen,  too,  could  be  received  in  their 
homes  if  only  he  made  a  brilliant  mar 


riage.  Then  he  called  on  Captain  Costi 
gan  and  informed  him  that  Pen  was  de 
pendent  on  his  mother  and  that  his  pros 
pects  were  only  five  hundred  pounds  a 
year.  The  captain  wept  over  the  deceit- 
fulness  of  man  and  gave  up  Pen's  letters 
and  verses  in  return  for  a  small  loan. 
Emily  wrote  Pen  a  short  note  that  Pen 
thought  would  drive  him  to  distraction. 
But  it  did  not.  Meanwhile  the  major  ar 
ranged  through  his  aristocratic  and  in 
fluential  friends  to  give  Emily  an  op 
portunity  to  play  an  engagement  in  Lon 
don.  Pen,  suffering  over  his  broken  love 
affair,  was  so  restless  and  moody  it  seemed 
wise  for  him  to  join  his  friend,  Henry 
Foker,  and  attend  the  University  of  Ox 
bridge. 

He  entered  the  university  posing  as  a 
moneyed  aristocrat.  His  mother  by  hex 
own  rigid  economies  gave  him  an  ade 
quate  allowance,  and  Pen  entered  enthu 
siastically  into  all  sorts  of  activities.  His 
refined  and  diversified  tastes  led  him  into 
expenditures  far  beyond  his  means.  As 
a  result,  he  ended  his  third  year  deeply 
in  debt.  He  was  made  still  more  miser 
able  when  he  failed  an  important  exami 
nation.  Overcome  by  remorse  at  his  reck 
less  spending  and  his  thoughtlessness  of 
his  devoted  mother,  he  went  to  London. 
There  Major  Pendennis  did  not  hesitate 
to  show  cold  disapproval,  and  ignored  his 
nephew.  But  his  mother  welcomed  him 
home  with  affection  and  forgiveness. 
Laura  Bell  offered  a  solution  by  suggest 
ing  that  the  money  left  her  by  her  father 
be  turned  over  to  Pen  to  clear  his  debts. 
It  was  Laura,  too,  who  induced  him  to 
return  to  the  university.  When  he  re 
ceived  his  degree,  he  came  back  to  Fair- 
oaks,  still  restless  and  depressed,  until 
an  event  of  local  interest  aroused  him. 

Clavering  Park,  the  mansion  owned  by 
Sir  Francis  Clavering,  was  reopened.  Sir 
Francis  was  a  worthless  spendthrift  whose 
tide  was  his  only  claim  to  respect.  After 
living  many  years  abroad,  he  had  made 
an  advantageous  marriage  to  Jemima 
Amory,  a  widow  recently  returned  from 
India.  She  had  been  left  a  large  fortune, 


72/ 


and,  though  uneducated,  she  was  well 
liked  because  of  her  generous  and  good 
nature.  In  addition  to  the  Claverings' 
young  son,  the  heir  to  the  now  great 
Clavering  fortune,  Lady  Clavering  had 
by  a  previous  marriage  a  daughter  named 
Blanche.  Although  extremely  pretty, 
Blanche  was  a  superficial,  self-centered 
girl  whose  demure  appearance  disguised 
a  hard  and  cruel  disposition.  Pen  and 
Laura  soon  became  friendly  with  their 
new  neighbors,  and  Pen  imagined  him 
self  in  love  with  Blanche.  In  the  mean 
time,  Helen  confided  to  Pen  her  dearest 
wish  that  he  should  marry  Laura.  Pen, 
conscious  of  the  sacrifices  his  mother  had 
made  for  him  and  of  Laura's  generosity, 
made  a  grudging  offer  of  marriage,  which 
Laura  spiritedly  refused. 

His  dignity  hurt,  he  decided  he  would 
make  a  place  for  himself  in  the  world 
and  so  he  went  to  London  to  read  for  the 
law.  But  in  spite  of  his  good  resolutions 
he  was  unable  to  settle  down  to  serious 
study.  He  became  a  young  man  about 
town,  and  he  took  pride  in  the  variety 
of  his  acquaintances.  He  shared  rooms 
with  George  Warrington,  a  philosophic 
man  whom  Pen  came  to  respect  and  love. 
At  last,  through  Warrington's  influence, 
Pen  began  to  earn  his  own  living  by 
writing.  Eventually  he  published  a  suc 
cessful  novel.  So  Pen  read  law,  wrote 
for  a  living,  and  spent  his  evenings  at 
dinners  and  balls. 

His  disordered  life  finally  resulted  in 
a  serious  illness,  and  his  mother  and 
Laura  went  to  London  to  nurse  him. 
Later,  accompanied  by  George  Warring- 
ton,  they  went  abroad.  There  Helen 
Pendennis,  worn  out  with  worry  over 
Pen,  became  ill  and  died,  and  the  party 
returned  to  Fairoaks  for  her  burial.  Then 
the  estate  was  rented.  Pen,  now  heir  to 
the  small  fortune  his  mother  had  left, 
returned  to  London.  During  his  resi 
dence  in  London,  his  uncle  had  again 
become  actively  interested  in  him.  Feel 
ing  that  Pen  should  improve  his  station 
in  life,  the  shrewd  major  had  decided 
the  Claverings  could  be  useful  to  Pen 


and  he  had  encouraged  his  nephew  to 
cultivate  the  family  once  more. 

One  night  Pen  and  the  major  were 
invited  to  a  dinner  given  by  the  Claver 
ings.  While  the  men  were  sitting  over 
cigars  and  wine,  Colonel  Altamont  ap 
peared.  He  was  drunk.  It  was  known 
that  for  some  mysterious  reason  Sir 
Francis  Clavering  had  given  this  man 
large  sums  of  money.  Major  Pendennis, 
who  during  his  career  in  the  army  had 
been  stationed  in  India,  immediately 
recognized  Altamont  as  Mr.  Amory,  the 
first  husband  of  Lady  Clavering.  The 
major  did  not  divulge  his  knowledge  to 
anyone  but  Sir  Francis,  to  whom  he 
issued  the  ultimatum  that  Sir  Francis 
must  go  to  live  abroad  and  that  he  must 
give  his  place  in  Parliament  to  Pen.  If  he 
refused,  the  major  threatened  to  expose 
the  fact  that  Amory  was  still  alive  and 
that  the  marriage  of  Sir  Francis  and  Lady 
Clavering  was  illegal.  Another  point  the 
major  made  was  that  Clavering  Park 
should  be  left  to  Blanche  Amory.  Sir 
Francis  had  no  choice  but  to  agree. 

Major  Pendennis  continued  his  in 
trigue  by  urging  Pen  to  marry  Blanche. 
Pen,  with  some  uneasiness,  fell  in  with 
his  uncle's  plans.  He  did  not  know  how 
his  place  in  Parliament  had  been  secured, 
but  he  did  know  that  he  was  not  in  love 
with  Blanche.  He  became  engaged  to 
her,  however,  and  began  to  campaign 
for  his  seat  in  Parliament.  Laura,  who 
had  been  abroad  as  companion  to  Lady 
Rockminster,  returned  to  the  vicinity. 
When  Pen  saw  her  again,  he  began  to 
regret  his  plan  to  marry  Blanche. 

In  the  meantime  the  major's  valet, 
Morgan,  had  learned  of  the  Claverings' 
complicated  marriage  situation  and 
planned  blackmail  on  his  own  account. 
After  a  violent  quarrel  with  the  major, 
Morgan  told  Pen  how  Major  Pendennis 
had  forced  Sir  Francis  to  give  up  his  seat 
in  Parliament  in  favor  of  Pen.  Pen  was 
shocked  by  this  news  and  by  his  uncle's 
unethical  methods.  He  and  Laura  agreed 
that  he  should  give  up  his  candidacy  for 
the  district,  but  that  he  must,  even 


728 


though  he  loved  Laura,  go  on  with  his 
plans  to  marry  Blanche,  after  his  propo 
sal  to  her.  However,  this  sacrifice  to 
honor  proved  unnecessary,  for  Pen  dis 
covered  that  Blanche  had  forsaken  him 
for  his  old  friend,  Henry  Foker,  who  had 
just  inherited  a  large  fortune.  Their  mar 
riage  left  Pen  free  to  marry  Laura.  Be 
cause  Lady  Rockminster  held  Laura  in 
great  affection,  the  marriage  was  ap 
proved  even  hy  the  class-conscious  major. 
So  the  simple  wedding  of  Pen  and 
Laura  replaced  the  fashionable  one  which 
had  been  planned  for  Clavering  Church. 
Blanche  did  not  marry  Foker.  When 
Foker  learned  by  chance  that  her  father 
was  still  alive  and  that  Blanche  had  kept 
the  knowledge  from  him,  he  dropped  his 


plans  to  marry  her.  Blanche  became  the 
wife  of  a  French  count.  Lady  Clavering, 
who  had  truly  believed  her  husband  dead, 
was  horrified  to  leam  that  Amory  was 
still  alive,  but  the  legality  of  her  marriage 
to  Sir  Francis  was  established  when  it 
was  learned  that  Arnory  had  contracted 
several  marriages  before  the  one  with 
her. 

Meanwhile  Pen  and  Laura  lived  hap 
pily.  Laura  had  expectations  from  her 
friend  and  patroness,  Lady  Rockminster, 
and  Fairoaks  had  increased  in  value  be 
cause  the  new  railroad  bought  rights 
through  it.  Later,  when  Sir  Francis  died, 
Pen  was  elected  to  Parliament.  He  had 
almost  forgotten  how  to  be  a  snob. 


PENGUIN  ISLAND 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Anatole  France  (Jacques  Anatole  Thibault,    1844-1924) 

Type  of  ylot:  Fantasy 

Time  oj  'plot:  Ancient  times  to  the  present 

Locale:   Mythical  Alca 

First  published:  1908 

Principal  characters: 

MAEL,  a  missionary  monk 

KRAKEN,  an  opportunist  penguin 

OBEROSIA,   Kraken's   mistress 

TRINCO,  a  conqueror 

PYROT,   a   scapegoat 

M.  CERES,  a  cabinet  minister 

EVELINE,  his  wife 

M.  VisrsE,  Prime  Minister  of  Penguinia 


Critique: 

Penguin  Island  is  a  satiric  and  ironic 
burlesque  of  history.  Although  the  nar 
rative  is  doubly  enjoyable  to  those  who 
know  the  history  of  France,  the  story 
can  be  appreciated  by  everyone.  In  an 
amusing  way,  the  author  seriously  criti 
cizes  politics,  the  Church,  and  other  social 
institutions. 

The  Story: 

In  ancient  times  Mael,  a  Breton  monk, 
was  diligent  in  gathering  converts  to  the 
Church.  One  day  the  devil  caused  Mael 


to  be  transported  in  a  boat  to  the  North. 
Pole,  where  the  priest  landed  on  an 
island  inhabited  by  penguins.  Being 
somewhat  snow-blind,  he  mistook  the 
birds  for  men,  preached  to  them,  and, 
taking  their  silence  as  a  sign  of  willing 
ness,  baptized  them  into  the  Christian 
faith. 

This  error  of  the  pious  Mael  caused 
great  consternation  in  Paradise.  God 
called  all  the  saints  together,  and  they 
argued  whether  the  baptisms  were  valid. 
At  last  they  decided  that  the  only  way 


PENGUIN  ISLAND  by  Anatole  France.     Translated  by  A.  W.  Evans.     By  permission  of  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co., 
Inc.    Copyright,  1909,  by  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  lac.    Renewed,   1937,  by  A.  W.  Evans. 


729 


out  of  die  dilemma  was  to  change  the 
penguins  Into  men.  After  this  transfor 
mation  had  taken  place,  Mael  towed  the 
island  back  to  the  Breton  coast  so  that 
he  could  keep  an  eye  on  his  converts. 

Thus  began  the  history  of  Penguinia 
on  the  island  of  Alca.  At  first  the  pen 
guins  were  without  clothes,  but  before 
long  the  holy  Mael  put  clothes  on  the 
females.  Because  this  covering  excited 
the  males,  sexual  promiscuity  was  enor 
mously  increased.  The  penguins  began 
to  establish  the  rights  of  property — by 
knocking  each  other  over  the  head. 
Greatank,  the  largest  and  strongest  pen 
guin,  became  the  founder  of  power  and 
wealth.  A  taxation  system  was  set  up 
by  which  all  penguins  were  taxed  equally. 
This  system  was  favored  by  the  rich,  who 
kept  their  money  to  benefit  the  poor. 

Kraken,  a  clever  penguin,  withdrew 
to  a  lonely  part  of  the  island  and  lived 
alone  in  a  cave.  Finally  he  took  as  his 
mistress  Oberosia,  the  most  beautiful  of 
penguin  women.  Kraken  gained  great 
wealth  by  dressing  up  as  a  dragon  and 
carrying  off  the  wealth  of  the  peaceful 
penguins.  When  the  citizens  banded 
together  to  protect  their  property,  Kraken 
became  frightened.  It  was  predicted  by 
Mael  that  a  virgin  would  come  to  con 
quer  the  dragon,  Kraken  and  Oberosia 
fashioned  an  imitation  monster.  Oberosia 
appeared  to  Mael  and  announced  herself 
as  the  destined  virgin.  At  an  appointed 
time  she  revealed  the  imitation  monster. 
Kraken  sprang  from  a  hiding  place  and 
pretended  to  kill  it.  The  people  rejoiced 
and  thenceforth  paid  annual  tribute  to 
Kraken.  His  son,  Draco,  founded  the 
first  royal  family  of  Penguinia. 

Thus  began  the  Middle  Ages  on  the 
island  of  Alca.  Draco  the  Great,  a  de 
scendant  of  the  original  Draco,  had  a 
monastery  established  in  the  cave  of 
Kraken  in  honor  of  Oberosia,  who  was 
now  a  saint  There  were  great  wars  be 
tween  the  penguins  and  the  porpoises  at 
that  time,  but  the  Christian  faith  was 
preserved  by  the  simple  expedient  of 
burning  all  heretics  at  the  stake. 


The  history  of  the  penguins  in  that 
far  time  was  chronicled  by  a  learned 
monk  named  Johannes  Talpa.  Even 
though  the  battles  raged  about  his  very 
ears,  he  was  able  to  continue  writing  in 
his  dry  and  simple  style.  Little  record 
was  left  of  the  primitive  paintings  on  the 
isle  of  Alca,  but  later  historians  believed 
that  the  painters  were  careful  to  represent 
nature  as  unlike  herself  as  possible. 

Marbodius,  a  literary  monk,  left  a 
record  of  a  descent  into  hell  similar  to 
the  experience  of  Dante.  Marbodius  in 
terviewed  Virgil  and  was  told  by  the 
great  poet  that  Dante  had  misrepresented 
him.  Virgil  was  perfectly  happy  with 
his  own  mythology  and  wanted  nothing 
to  do  with  the  God  of  the  Christians. 

The  next  recorded  part  of  Penguinian 
history  treated  of  modern  times,  when 
rationalistic  philosophers  began  to  ap 
pear.  In  the  succeeding  generation  their 
teachings  took  root;  the  king  was  put  to 
death,  nobility  was  abolished,  and  a  re 
public  was  founded.  The  shrine  of  St. 
Oberosia  was  destroyed.  However,  the 
republic  did  not  last  long.  Trinco,  a 
great  soldier,  took  command  of  the  coun 
try;  with  his  armies  he  conquered  and 
lost  all  the  known  world.  The  penguins 
were  left  at  last  with  nothing  but  their 
glory. 

Then  a  new  republic  was  established 
It  pretended  to  be  ruled  by  the  people, 
but  the  real  rulers  were  the  wealthy 
financiers.  Another  republic  of  a  similar 
nature,  new  Atlantis,  had  grown  up 
across  the  sea  at  the  same  time.  It  was 
even  more  advanced  in  the  worship  of 
wealth. 

Father  Agaric  and  Prince  des  Boscenos, 
as  members  of  the  clergy  and  nobility, 
were  interested  in  restoring  the  kings  of 
Alca  to  the  throne.  They  decided  to 
destroy  the  republic  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  weakness  of  Chatillon,  the  admiral 
of  the  navy.  Chatillon  was  seduced  by 
the  charms  of  the  clever  Viscountess 
Olive,  who  was  able  to  control  his  actions 
for  the  benefit  of  the  royalists.  An  im 
mense  popular  anti-republican  movement 


730 


was  begun  with  Chatillon  as  its  hero;  the 
royalists  hoped  to  reinstate  the  king  in 
the  midst  of  the  uproar.  But  the  revolu 
tion  was  stopped  in  its  infancy,  and 
Chatillon  fled  the  country. 

Eveline,  the  beautiful  daughter  of 
Madame  Clarence,  rejected  the  love  of 
Viscount  Ciena,  after  she  had  learned 
that  he  had  no  fortune.  She  then  ac 
cepted  the  attentions  of  M.  Ceres,  a  ris 
ing  politician.  After  a  short  time  they 
were  married.  M.  Ceres  received  a  port 
folio  in  the  cabinet  of  M.  Visire,  and 
Eveline  became  a  favorite  in  the  social 
gatherings  of  the  politicians.  M.  Visire 
was  attracted  by  her,  and  she  became 
his  mistress.  M.  Ceres  learned  of  the 
affair,  but  he  was  afraid  to  say  anything 
to  M.  Visire,  the  Prime  Minister.  In 
stead,  he  did  his  best  to  ruin  M.  Visire 
politically,  but  with  little  success  at  first 
Finally  M.  Visire  was  put  out  of  office 
on  the  eve  of  a  war  with  a  neighboring 
empire.  Eveline  lived  to  a  respectable 
old  age  and  at  her  death  left  all  her 


property  to  the  Charity  of  St.  Oberosia. 

As  Penguinia  developed  into  an  in 
dustrial  civilization  ruled  by  the  wealthy 
class,  the  one  purpose  of  life  became  the 
gathering  of  riches;  art  and  all  other 
non-profit  activities  ceased  to  be.  Finally 
the  downtrodden  workmen  revolted,  and 
a  wave  of  anarchy  swept  over  the  nation. 
All  the  great  industries  were  demolished. 
Order  was  established  at  last,  and  the 
government  reformed  many  of  the  social 
institutions,  but  the  country  continued 
to  decline.  Where  before  there  had  been 
great  cities,  wild  animals  now  lived. 

Then  came  hunters  seeking  the  wild 
animals.  Later  shepherds  appeared  and 
after  a  time  farming  became  the  chief 
occupation.  Great  lords  built  castles. 
The  people  made  roads;  villages  ap 
peared.  The  villages  combined  into  large 
cities.  The  cities  grew  rich.  An  industrial 
civilization  developed,  ruled  by  the 
wealthy  class.  History  was  beginning  to 
repeat  itself. 


PEREGRINE  PICKLE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Tobias  Smollett  (172M77D 
Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Early  eighteenth  century 
Locale:   England   and   the   continent 
First  published.:    1751 

Principal  characters: 

PEREGRINE  PICKLE,  a  reckless  young  man 

GAMALIEL  PICKLE,  his  father 

GRIZZLE  PICKLE,  his  aunt,  later  Mrs.  Trunnion 

COMMODORE  HAWSER  TRUNNION,  an  old  sea  dog,  Peregrine's  godfather 

LIEUTENANT  HATCHWAY,  the  commodore's  companion 

TOM  PIPES,  a  companion  and  servant 

EMTTJA  GAUNTLET,  Peregrine's  sweetheart 

Critique: 

Traditional  criticism  claims  that  the 
character  of  Peregrine  Pickle  undergoes 
no  change  in  the  course  of  this  novel, 
that  at  the  conclusion  of  his  adventures 
with  folly  he  is  still  unconvinced  about 
the  wisdom  of  a  sober  and  useful  life. 
This  tradition  does  not  take  into  con 
sideration  the  nature  of  eighteenth-cen 
tury  manners  or  the  temper  of  Smollett's 


mind.  It  must  be  noted  that  Smollett 
was  anxious  to  reveal  the  chicaneries  of 
his  time  and  to  satirize  the  manners  and 
morals  of  society  in  general.  Viewed  in 
this  light,  the  character  of  the  writer's 
unheroic  hero  is  in  keeping  with  the 
theme  and  purpose  of  the  novel.  In  ad 
dition,  the  inclusion  of  the  disputed 
memoirs  of  the  lady  of  quality  comple- 


731 


meats  the  story  of  Peregrine's  picaresque 
career. 

The  Story: 

Mr.  Gamaliel  Pickle  was  the  son  of 
a  prosperous  London  merchant  who  at 
his  death  bequeathed  his  son  a  fortune 
of  no  small  degree.  Later,  having  lost 
a  part  of  his  inheritance  in  several  un 
successful  ventures  of  his  own,  Mr. 
Pickle  prudently  decided  to  retire  from 
husiness  and  to  live  on  the  interest  of 
his  fortune  rather  than  risk  his  principal 
in  the  uncertainties  of  trade.  With  his 
sister  Grizzle,  who  had  kept  his  house 
for  him  since  his  father's  death,  he  went 
to  live  in  a  mansion  in  the  country. 

In  the  region  to  which  he  retired, 
Mr.  Pickle's  nearest  neighbor  was  Com 
modore  Hawser  Trunnion,  an  old  sea 
dog  who  kept  his  house  like  a  seagoing 
ship  and  who  possessed  an  endless  List  of 
quarterdeck  oaths  he  used  on  any  oc 
casion  against  anyone  who  offended  him. 
Other  members  of  his  household  were 
Lieutenant  Hatchway,  a  one-legged  vet 
eran,  and  a  seaman  named  Tom  Pipes. 

Shortly  after  he  had  settled  in  his 
new  home  Mr.  Pickle  met  Miss  Sally 
Appleby,  daughter  of  a  gentleman  in  a 
nearby  parish,  and  after  a  brief  court 
ship  the  two  were  married.  Before  long 
Air.  Pickle  discovered  that  his  wife  was 
determined  to  dominate  him  completely. 
Peregrine  was  the  oldest  son  of  that 
ill-starred  union.  During  her  pregnancy 
Airs.  Pickle  took  such  a  dislike  to  Griz 
zle  that  she  tried  in  every  way  possible 
to  embarrass  and  humiliate  her  sister- 
in-law.  Realizing  that  she  was  no  longer 
wanted  in  her  brother's  household,  Griz 
zle  began  a  campaign  to  win  the  heart 
of  old  Commodore  Trunnion. 

Ignoring  his  distrust  of  women  in 
general,  she  won  out  at  last  over  his 
obstinacy.  The  wedding  was  not  with 
out  humor,  for  on  his  way  to  the  church 
the  commodore's  horse  ran  away  with 
him  and  carried  him  eleven  miles  with 
a  hunting  party.  Upset  by  his  experience, 
lie  insisted  that  the  postponed  ceremony 


be  performed  in  his  own  house.  The 
wedding  night  was  also  not  without  ex 
citement  when  the  ship's  hammocks  in 
which  the  bride  and  groom  were  to  sleep 
collapsed  and  catapulted  them  to  the 
floor.  The  next  morning,  wholly  indif 
ferent  to  her  husband's  displeasure,  Mrs. 
Trunnion  proceeded  to  refurnish  and 
reorganize  the  commodore's  house  ac 
cording  to  her  own  notions. 

In  order  to  silence  his  protests,  Mrs. 
Trunnion  conceived  the  idea  of  pretend 
ing  to  be  pregnant.  But  the  commodore's 
hopes  for  an  heir  were  short-lived;  his 
wife  employed  her  ruse  only  to  make 
herself  absolute  mistress  of  the  Trunnion 
household.  Lacking  an  heir  of  his  own, 
the  gruff  but  kindly  old  seaman  turned 
his  attention  to  young  Peregrine  Pickle, 
his  nephew  and  godson.  Peregrine  was 
an  unfortunate  child.  While  he  was  still 
very  young,  his  mother  had  taken  an 
unnatural  and  profound  dislike  to  him, 
and  the  boy  was  often  wretched  from  the 
harsh  treatment  he  received.  Weak-willed 
Mr.  Pickle,  under  the  influence  of  his 
wife,  did  little  to  improve  that  unhappy 
situation.  As  a  result,  Peregrine  grew 
into  a  headstrong,  rebellious  boy  who 
showed  his  high  spirits  in  all  kinds  of 
pranks  that  mortified  and  irritated  his 
parents.  Sent  away  to  school,  he  rebelled 
against  his  foolish  and  hypocritical  teach 
ers,  and  at  last  he  wrote  to  the  com 
modore  asking  that  he  be  removed  from 
the  school.  Feeling  pity  for  the  boy  and 
admiring  his  spirit  o£  independence,  the 
commodore  took  him  out  of  school  and 
adopted  him  as  his  son  and  heir. 

When  Peregrine's  pranks  and  esca 
pades  became  more  than  his  indulgent 
uncle  could  stand,  the  boy  was  sent  to 
Winchester  School,  with  Pipes  accom 
panying  him  as  his  servant.  Aware  of 
his  uncle's  kindness,  Peregrine  studied 
and  made  steady  progress  until  he  met 
Miss  Emilia  Gauntlet  and  fell  in  love 
with  her.  Emilia  was  visiting  in  Win 
chester;  her  own  home  was  in  a  village 
about  a  day's  journey  away.  So  great 
was  Peregrine's  infatuation  that  soon 


732 


after  she  had  returned  home  he  ran  away 
from  school  and  took  lodgings  in  the 
village  in  order  to  be  near  her.  His 
absence  having  been  reported  by  the 
school  authorities,  Hatchway  was  sent  to 
look  for  him.  The  boy  was  summoned 
to  attend  his  uncle,  who  was  alarmed  by 
his  heir's  interest  in  a  penniless  girl. 
Peregrine's  mother  grew  even  more  spite 
ful  and  his  father  disowned  him  for  his 
youthful  folly.  Indignant  at  the  parents* 
harsh  treatment  of  their  son,  the  com 
modore  sent  Peregrine  to  Oxford  to  con 
tinue  his  studies.  There  he  encountered 
Emilia  again  and  renewed  his  courtship. 
Because  he  hoped  to  make  a  good  match 
for  his  nephew,  the  commodore  attempted 
to  end  the  affair  by  sending  Peregrine  on 
a  tour  of  the  continent.  Aware  of  his 
uncle's  purpose  in  sending  him  abroad, 
Peregrine  visited  Emilia  before  his  de 
parture  and  vowed  eternal  devotion. 

Shortly  thereafter,  warned  by  the  com 
modore  that  his  reckless  behavior  would 
lead  only  to  disaster,  Peregrine  set  out 
for  France.  Faithful  Pipes  went  with 
him  as  his  servant  and  he  was  also  ac 
companied  by  a  mentor  who  was  sup 
posed  to  keep  a  check  on  Peregrine's  be 
havior.  All  efforts  in  that  direction  were 
fmidess.  Peregrine  had  barely  set  foot 
on  French  soil  before  he  made  gallant 
advances  to  Mrs.  Hombeck,  the  wife  of 
a  traveling  Englishman.  In  Paris  he 
encountered  the  lady  again  and  eloped 
with  her,  an  escapade  that  ended  when 
the  British  ambassador  intervened  to  send 
the  kdy  back  to  her  husband.  On  one 
occasion  Peregrine  was  imprisoned  by 
the  city  guard.  At  another  time  he  fought 
a  duel  with  a  musketeer  as  the  result  of 
an  amorous  adventure.  He  quarreled 
with  a  nobleman  at  a  masked  ball  and 
was  sent  to  the  Bastille  in  company  with 
an  artist  friend.  After  Pipes  had  dis 
covered  his  whereabouts  and  had  se 
cured  his  release,  Peregrine  was  ordered 
to  leave  France  within  three  days. 

On  his  way  back  to  England,  Pere 
grine  became  embroiled  with  a  knight  of 
Malta,  quarreled  with  Pipes,  and  was 


captivated  by  a  lady  he  met  in  a  carriage. 
Shortly  afterward  he  lost  his  carriage 
companion  and  resumed  his  earlier  affair 
with  Mrs.  Hornbeck.  Her  husband  in 
terposed  and  once  more  Peregrine  was 
thrown  into  prison.  After  his  release  the 
travelers  proceeded  to  Antwerp  and  from 
there  to  England.  His  uncle,  who  still 
retained  his  affection  for  his  wayward 
nephew,  received  him  with  great  joy. 

On  his  return  Peregrine  called  on 
Emilia,  whom  he  found  indifferent  to 
his  attentions.  He  wasted  no  time  in 
pining  over  a  lost  love  but  continued  to 
disport  himself  in  London  and  Bath,  until 
he  was  called  home  by  the  final  illness 
of  his  uncle.  The  old  commodore  was 
buried  according  to  his  own  directions 
and  he  was  remembered  with  great  affec 
tion  and  respect  by  his  nephew.  To 
Peregrine  his  uncle  willed  a  fortune  of 
thirty  thousand  pounds  and  his  house. 
After  a  vain  attempt  to  reach  a  friendly 
understanding  with  his  parents,  Pere 
grine  left  the  house  to  the  tenancy  of 
Hatchway  and  returned  to  London. 

As  a  handsome,  wealthy  young  bach 
elor,  he  indulged  in  extravagance  and 
dissipation  of  aU  kinds.  After  exaggerated 
reports  of  his  wealth  had  been  circulated, 
he  was  pursued  by  matchmaking  mothers 
whose  efforts  merely  amused  him  but 
whose  designs  gave  him  entrance  into 
the  houses  of  the  fashionable  and  the 
great. 

Meeting  Emilia  again,  he  began  the 
same  campaign  to  "win  her  that  had  been 
successful  with  his  other  light  and  casual 
loves.  Disappointed  in  his  attempts  to 
seduce  her,  he  took  advantage  of  the 
confusion  attending  a  masquerade  ball 
to  try  to  overcome  her  by  force.  He  was 
vigorously  repulsed,  and  her  uncle  denied 
him  the  privilege  of  seeing  Emilia  again. 

He  became  the  friend  of  a  notorious 
lady  of  quality  who  gave  him  a  copy  of 
her  memoirs.  The  woman  was  Lady 
Vane,  whose  affairs  with  many  lovers 
had  created  a  great  scandal  in  London. 

Peregrine  had  a  friend  named  CadwaL 
lader  who  assumed  the  character  of  a 


733 


fortune-teller  and  magician.  In  that  way 
Peregrine  was  able  to  learn  the  secrets 
of  the  women  who  came  to  consult 
Cadwallader.  Having  acquired  a  reputa 
tion  as  a  clever  man  and  a  wit,  Peregrine 
used  his  knowledge  to  advance  his  own 
position. 

Grizzle  Trunnion  died  and  Peregrine 
attended  her  funeral .  On  the  road  he 
met  a  vulgar  young  female  beggar  whom 
he  dressed  in  fashionable  clothes  and 
taught  a  set  of  polite  phrases.  It  amused 
him  to  introduce  the  girl  into  his  own 
fashionable  world.  When  his  contemptu 
ous  joke  was  at  last  exposed,  he  lost  many 
of  his  fine  friends. 

Peregrine  now  decided  to  retrench. 
He  cut  down  his  foolish  expenses  and 
made  loans  at  a  good  rate  of  interest. 
He  was  persuaded  to  stand  for  Parlia 
ment  This  decision  was  taken  after  he 
had  met  Emilia  at  her  sister's  wedding 
and  he  had  begged  the  sister  to  inter 
cede  for  him.  But  his  political  venture 
cost  more  money  than  he  had  expected. 
Having  lost  the  election,  he  was  for  the 
first  rime  in  his  life  faced  with  the  need 
for  mature  reflection  on  himself  and  his 
world. 

His  affairs  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
A  mortgage  that  he  held  proved  worth 
less.  A  friend  for  whom  he  had  en 
dorsed  a  note  defaulted.  Reduced  at  last 
to  complete  ruin,  he  tried  to  earn  money 
by  writing  translations  and  satires.  He 
was  again  thrown  into  jail  after  the  pub 


lication  of  a  satire  directed  against  an 
influential  politician. 

His  old  friends,  Hatchway  and  Pipes, 
remained  loyal  to  him  in  his  adversity. 
Each  brought  his  savings  to  the  Fleet 
prison  and  offered  them  to  Peregrine, 
but  he  refused  to  accept  their  aid.  It  was 
his  intention  to  earn  money  for  his  re 
lease  by  his  writing  or  else  starve  in  the 
attempt. 

About  that  time  Emilia's  brother,  Cap 
tain  Gaundet,  learned  that  he  had  been 
promoted  to  his  rank  largely  through 
Peregrine's  sendees  in  the  days  of  his 
prosperity.  Discovering  Peregrine's  plight, 
he  set  about  to  relieve  his  benefactor. 
Peregrine  had  an  unexpected  bit  of  luck 
when  one  of  his  debtors  returned  a  loan 
of  seven  hundred  pounds.  Emilia,  hav 
ing  inherited  ten  thousand  pounds,  of 
fered  the  money  and  her  hand  to  Pere 
grine.  Touched  by  her  generosity  and 
forgiveness,  he  reluctantly  refused  to 
burden  her  with  his  debts  and  degrada 
tion. 

Peregrine  was  saved  at  last  by  the 
death  of  his  father,  who  died  intestate. 
Legal  heir  to  his  father's  fortune,  he 
was  able  to  leave  Fleet  prison  and  take 
immediate  possession  of  his  estate.  Hav 
ing  settled  an  allowance  upon  his  mother, 
who  had  gone  to  live  in  another  part 
of  the  country,  Peregrine  hastened  to 
ask  for  Emilias  hand  in  marriage.  With 
his  bride  he  settled  down  to  lead  the  life 
of  a  country  squire. 


PERSUASION 

Type  of  work-  Novel 

Author:  Jane  Austen  Cl/75-1817) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

"lime,  of  'plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Somersetshire  and  Bath,  England 

First  published:  1818 

Principal  characters: 

Sra.  WALTER  ELLIOT,  owner  of  Kellynch  Hall 
ELIZABETH  ELLIOT,  his  oldest  daughter 
ANNE  ELLIOT,  his  second  daughter 
JMARY  MUSGROVE,  his  youngest  daughter 
CHARLES  MUSGROVE,  her  husband 
HENRIETTA,  and 


734 


LOUISA,  Charles  Musgrove's  sisters 

CAPTAIN  FREDERICK  WENTWORTH,  a  naval  officer 

MRS.  CLAY,  Elizabeth.  Elliot's  friend 

WILLIAM  ELLIOT,  Sir  Walter's  cousin;  heir  to  Kellynch  Hall 


Persuasion  may  be  called  an  autumnal 
novel.  It  is  Jane  Austen's  last  work,  and 
the  tone  is  mellow.  Even  the  satire  is 
gender  than  in  her  other  works.  Anne 
Elliot  is  Jane  Austen's  sweetest  heroine. 
The  book  has  a  certain  melancholy 
throughout,  even  though  the  final  out 
come  is  a  happy  one. 

The  Story: 

Sir  Walter  Elliot,  a  conceited  man, 
vain  of  both  his  good  looks  and  his  tide, 
lived  at  his  countryseat,  Kellynch  Hall, 
with  two  of  his  daughters,  Elizabeth  and 
Anne.  Elizabeth,  handsome  and  much 
like  her  father,  was  the  oldest  and  her 
father's  favorite.  Anne,  sweet,  self-ef 
facing,  and  quiedy  intelligent,  was  ig 
nored,  neglected,  and  underrated  by 
both.  Mary,  the  youngest  daughter,  was 
married  to  an  agreeable  young  man 
named  Charles  Musgrove,  and  lived  in 
an  untidy  house  at  Uppercross,  three 
miles  from  Kellynch  Hall. 

Living  beyond  his  means  had  brought 
financial  disaster  upon  Sir  Walter,  and 
on  the  advice  of  his  solicitor  and  of  a 
family  friend,  Lady  Russell,  he  was  per 
suaded  to  rent  Kellynch  Hall  and  take  a 
smaller  house  in  Bath.  Anne  would  have 
preferred  to  take  a  modest  house  near 
home,  but  as  usual  her  father  and  sister 
had  their  way  in  the  matter. 

Reluctandy,  Sir  Walter  let  his  be 
loved  countryseat  to  Admiral  and  Mrs. 
Croft.  Mrs.  Croft  was  the  sister  of  a 
former  suitor  of  Anne,  Captain  Frederick 
Wentworth  of  the  navy.  Anne  and  Cap 
tain  Wentworth  had  fallen  in  love  when 
they  were  both  very  young,  but  the 
match  had  been  discouraged.  Anne's 
father  felt  that  the  young  man's  family 
was  not  good  enough  for  his  own  and 
Lady  Russell  considered  the  engagement 
unwise  because  Captain  Wentworth  had 
no  financial  means  beyond  his  navy  pay. 


Also,  she  did  not  like  or  understand  Cap 
tain  Wentworth.  Anne  had  followed 
their  advice  and  broken  the  engagement. 
But  it  had  been  poor  advice,  for  Went 
worth  had  advanced  and  had  become 
rich  in  the  navy,  just  as  he  had  said  he 
would.  Anne,  at  twenty-seven,  had  not 
forgotten  her  love  at  nineteen.  No  one 
else  had  taken  Captain  Wentworth's 
place  in  her  affection. 

With  all  arrangements  completed  for 
the  renting  of  Kellynch  Hall,  Sir  Walter, 
Elizabeth,  and  her  friend,  Mrs.  Clay, 
were  off  to  Bath.  Before  they  departed, 
Anne  warned  Elizabeth  that  Mrs.  Clay's 
was  not  a  disinterested  friendship,  and 
that  she  was  scheming  to  marry  Sir 
Walter  if  she  could.  Elizabeth  would 
not  believe  such  an  idea,  nor  would  she 
agree  to  dismiss  Mrs.  Clay. 

Anne  was  to  divide  her  time  between 
her  married  sister,  Mary  Musgrove,  and 
Lady  Russell  until  Christmas.  Mary  and 
her  family  lived  also  near  her  husband's 
father  and  mother  and  their  two  daugh 
ters,  Henrietta  and  Louisa.  During  her 
visit  to  the  Musgroves,  Anne  met  Cap 
tain  Wentworth  again,  while  he  was 
staying  with  his  sister  at  Kellynch  Hall. 
She  found  him  litde  changed  by  eight 
years. 

The  Musgroves  at  once  took  the  Crofts 
and  Captain  Wentworth  into  their  circle, 
and  the  captain  and  Anne  met  frequendy. 
He  was  coldly  polite  to  Anne,  but  his 
attentions  to  the  Musgrove  sisters  were 
such  as  to  start  Mary  matchmaking.  She, 
could  not  decide,  however,  whether  he 
preferred  Henrietta  or  Louisa.  When 
Louisa  encouraged  Henrietta  to  resume  a 
former  romance  with  a  cousin,  Charles 
Hayter,  it  seemed  plain  that  Louisa  was 
destined  for  Captain  Wentworth. 

The  likelihood  of  such  a  match  was 
increased  when,  during  a  visit  to  friends 
of  Captain  Wentworth  at  Lyme  Regis, 


735 


Louisa  suffered  an  injury  while  the  cap 
tain  was  assisting  her  to  jump  down  a 
steep  flight  of  steps.  The  accident  was 
not  his  fault,  for  he  had  cautioned  Louisa 
against  jumping,  but  he  blamed  himself 
for  not  refusing  her  firmly.  Louisa  was 
taken  to  the  home  of  Captain  Went- 
worth's  friends,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Har- 
ville,  and  Captain  Benwick.  Anne,  quiet, 
practical,  and  capable  during  the  emer 
gency,  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that 
Captain  Wentworth  relied  on  her  strength 
and  good  judgment,  but  she  felt  certain 
of  a  match  between  him  and  the  slowly 
recovering  Louisa. 

Anne  reluctantly  joined  her  family 
and  the  designing  Mrs,  Clay  at  Bath.  She 
was  surprised  to  find  that  they  were  gkd 
to  see  her.  After  showing  her  the  house, 
they  told  her  the  news  —  mainly  about 
how  much  in  demand  they  were,  and 
about  a  cousin,  Mr.  William  Elliot,  who 
had  suddenly  appeared  to  make  his  peace 
with  the  family.  Mr.  William  Elliot 
was  the  heir  to  Sir  Walter's  title  and 
estate,  but  he  had  fallen  out  with  the 
family  years  before  because  he  did  not 
marry  Elizabeth  as  Sir  Walter  and  Eliza 
beth  felt  he  should  have.  Also,  he  had 
affronted  Sir  Walter's  pride  by  speaking 
disrespectfully  of  his  Kellynch  connec 
tions. 

Now,  however,  these  matters  were  ex 
plained  away,  and  both  Sir  Walter  and 
Elizabeth  were  charmed  with  him..  Anne, 
who  had  seen  Mr.  Elliot  at  Lyme  Regis, 
wondered  why  he  chose  to  renew  a 
relationship  so  long  neglected.  She 
thought  it  might  be  that  he  was  think 
ing  of  marrying  Elizabeth,  now  that  his 
first  wife  was  dead;  Lady  Russell  thought 
Anne  was  the  attraction. 

About  that  time  news  came  of  Louisa 


Musgrove's  engagement  to  Captain  ben- 
wick.  Joy,  surprise,  and  a  hope  that  Cap 
tain  Wentworth  had  lost  his  partiality  for 
Louisa  were  mingled  in  Anne's  first  re 
action.  Shortly  after  she  had  heard  the 
news,  Captain  Wentworth  arrived  in 
Bath.  After  a  few  meetings  Anne  knew 
that  he  had  not  forgotten  her.  She  also 
had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  he  was 
jealous  of  Mr.  Elliot.  His  jealousy  was 
groundless. 

Even  if  Anne  had  felt  any  inclina 
tion  to  become  Lady  Elliot,  the  ambition 
would  have  been  short-lived,  for  Mr. 
Elliot's  true  character  now  came  to  light. 
Anne  learned  from  a  former  schoolmate, 
who  had  been  friendly  with  Mr.  Elliot 
before  he  basely  ruined  her  husband,  that 
his  first  design  in  renewing  acquaintance 
with  Sir  Walter's  family  was  to  prevent 
Sir  Walter  from  marrying  Mrs.  Clay  and 
thus  having  a  son  who  would  inherit  the 
title  and  estate.  Later,  when  he  met 
Anne,  he  had  been  genuinely  attracted 
to  her.  This  information  was  not  news 
to  Anne,  since  Mr.  Elliot  had  proposed 
to  her  at  a  concert  the  night  before.  She, 
of  course,  gave  him  no  encouragement. 

Her  patience  in  waiting  for  Captain 
Wentworth  was  soon  to  be  rewarded. 
Convinced  that  Anne  still  loved  him  as 
he  did  her,  he  poured  out  his  heart  to 
her  in  a  letter,  and  all  was  settled  happily 
between  them.  Both  Musgrove  girls  were 
also  married  shortly  afterward.  Neither 
of  their  husbands  was  as  rich  as  Anne's, 
much  to  Mary's  satisfaction.  Mrs.  Clay, 
sacrificing  ambition  for  love,  left  Bath 
with  Mr.  William  Elliot,  and  went  to 
live  under  his  protection  in  London.  Per 
haps  she  hoped  some  day  to  be  Ladj 
Elliot,  though  as  the  wife  of  a  different 
baronet. 


PETER  IBBETSON 


Type  of  i&ork;  No^el 

Author:  George  du  Maurier  (1834-1896) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  France  and  England 

First  published:  1891 


736 


Principal  characters: 

PETER  IBBETSON,  a  confessed  murderer 

COLONEL  IBBETSON,  his  guardian 

A.IIMSY  SERASKTER,  his  dearest  friend;  later  the  Duchess  of  Towers 

MR.  LJNTOT,  his  employer 

MBS.  DEANE,  a  widow 


Critique: 

Peter  Ibbetson  has  become  a  minor 
classic  in  its  particular  field.  It  is  a  story 
composed  of  the  elements  of  love,  friend 
ship,  and  kindness,  but  they  are  so  mixed 
that  we  have  a  completely  new  plot.  It 
is  difficult  to  be  sure  of  the  author's 
purpose  in  writing  this  story.  Certainly 
it  was  not  to  question  the  creation  or 
eternity.  Perhaps  it  was  merely  to  show 
what  might  be  possible  if  the  world 
would  "  dream  true."  The  story  has  been 
dramatized  both  for  the  stage  and  motion 
pictures,  and  it  is  also  the  subject  of  a 
popular  opera. 

The  Story: 

(After  his  death  in  a  criminal  lunatic 
asylum,  Peter  Ibbetson's  autobiography 
was  given  to  his  cousin,  Madge  Plunket, 
who  arranged  for  the  publication  of  the 
manuscript.  Through  her  efforts  the 
strange  and  beautiful  story  was  pre 
served.) 

Peter  Pasquier  moved  from  England  to 
Paris  when  he  was  five  years  old.  His 
father  was  a  dreamy-eyed  inventor,  his 
mother  a  soft-spoken  woman  devoted  to 
her  family.  During  his  childhood  Peter 
had  many  friends,  but  the  dearest  were 
Mimsy  Seraskier  and  her  beautiful 
mother,  who  lived  nearby.  Mimsy  was  a 
delicate,  shy  child,  as  plain  as  her  mother 
was  beautiful.  She  and  Peter  were  in 
separable  friends,  making  up  their  own 
code  language  so  that  no  one  could  in 
trude  on  their  secret  talks. 

When  Peter  was  twelve  years  old,  his 
father  was  killed  in  an  explosion,  and  his 
mother  died  giving  birth  to  a  stillborn 
child  less  than  a  week  kter.  His  mother's 
cousin,  Colonel  Ibbetson,  came  from 
England  to  take  Peter  home  with  him. 
Peter  wept  when  he  took  leave  of  his 
friends,  and  Mimsy  was  so  ill  from  her 


grief  that  she  could  not  even  tell  hiro 
goodbye. 

Colonel  Ibbetson  gave  Peter  his  name, 
and  he  became  Peter  Ibbetson.  The  colo 
nel  sent  him  to  school,  where  he  spent 
six  years.  Events  at  the  school  touched 
him  very  little,  as  he  spent  most  of  his 
time  dreaming  of  his  old  life  in  Paris. 

When  he  left  school,  Peter  spent  some 
time  with  Colonel  Ibbetson.  The  colonel's 
only  request  was  that  Peter  become  a 
gentleman,  but  Peter  began  to  doubt  that 
the  colonel  himself  fitted  the  description. 
He  learned  that  Colonel  Ibbetson  had  a 
very  poor  reputation  among  his  acquaint 
ances,  due  largely  to  his  vanity  and  gal 
lantry.  His  latest  victim  was  Mrs.  Deane, 
a  woman  he  had  mined  with  malicious 
lies.  The  colonel  seemed  also  to  derive 
great  pleasure  from  telling  scandalous 
tales  about  everyone  he  knew,  and  Peter 
grew  to  hate  him  for  this  habit.  After  a 
time  he  ran  away  to  London  and  joined 
the  cavalry  for  a  year.  Following  his  term 
in  the  army,  he  was  apprenticed  to  Mr. 
Lintot,  an  architect  whom  he  had  met 
through  Colonel  Ibbetson.  He  took 
rooms  in  Pentonville  and  there  began  a 
new  chapter  in  his  life. 

He  worked  industriously  for  Mr.  Lin- 
tot  and  achieved  some  success,  but  his 
outer  life  was  lonely  and  dull.  The  only 
real  joy  he  found  was  in  the  arts,  and  of 
these  only  music  inspired  him  deeply.  He 
saved  carefully  that  he  might  occasionally 
attend  a  concert.  His  nightly  dreams  were 
still  of  his  childhood  in  Paris  and  of 
Mimsy,  but  his  dreams  were  becoming 
blurred. 

Viewing  with  skepticism  the  belief  in 
a  creator  and  a  life  after  death,  Peter  be 
lieved  man  would  have  to  work  back  to 
the  very  beginning  of  time  before  he 
could  understand  anything  about  a  deity. 


737 


He  believed  it  was  possible  to  go  back, 
if  only  he  knew  the  way.  His  ideas  on 
gin  were  unorthodox,  for  to  Peter  the 
only  real  sin  was  cruelty  to  the  mind  or 
body  of  any  living  thing. 

During  this  period  of  his  life  his  only 
acquaintances  were  the  friends  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lintot,  for  Peter  was  a  shy 
young  man,  too  much  concerned  with  his 
speculations  and  dreams  for  social  gaiety. 
At  one  party,  however,  he  saw  a  great 
lady  who  was  to  be  his  guiding  star  for 
the  rest  of  his  life.  He  was  told  she  was 
the  Duchess  of  Towers,  and  although  he 
was  not  presented  to  her,  he  saw  her  look 
ing  at  HTP  in  a  strange  manner,  almost 
as  if  she  found  his  a  familiar  face. 

Some  time  after  his  first  sight  of  the 
Duchess  of  Towers,  Peter  revisited  Paris, 
where  he  found  his  old  home  and  those 
of  his  friends  replaced  with  modern  bun 
galows.  The  only  news  he  had  of  his 
old  friends  was  that  Madame  Seraskier 
had  died  and  Mimsy  and  her  father  had 
left  Paris  many  years  ago.  He  returned 
to  his  hotel  that  night,  exhausted  emo 
tionally  from  the  disappointments  of  the 
day. 

But  that  night  his  real  and  true  inner 
life  began,  for  he  learned  how  to  dream 
true.  When  he  fell  asleep,  the  events 
of  the  day  passed  before  him  in  distorted 
fashion.  He  found  himself  surrounded 
by  demon  dwarfs.  As  he  tried  to  escape 
them,  he  looked  up  and  saw  standing  be 
fore  him  the  Duchess  of  Towers.  She  took 
his  hand  and  told  him  he  was  not  dream 
ing  true,  and  then  a  strange  thing  hap 
pened. 

He  was  transported  back  to  the  happy 
days  of  his  childhood,  and  he  saw  him 
self  as  he  was  then.  But  at  the  same 
time  he  retained  his  present  identity.  He 
was  two  people  at  the  same  time,  his 
adult  self  looking  at  his  child  self.  The 
duchess  told  liim  he  could  always  trans 
port  himself  into  any  scene  he  had  ex 
perienced  if  he  would  only  dream  true. 
To  do  this  he  must  lie  on  his  back  with 
his  arms  over  his  head,  and  as  he  went 
to  sleep  he  must  never  cease  thinking  of 


the  place  he  wanted  to  be  in  his  dreams. 
Also,  he  must  never  forget  in  his  dream 
who  and  where  he  was  when  awake;  in 
this  way  his  dream  would  be  tied  to 
reality.  She  had  learned  the  trick  from 
her  father  and  could  revisit  any  place  she 
chose. 

When  he  awoke,  he  knew  that  at  last 
one  of  his  greatest  desires  had  come  true; 
he  had  looked  into  the  mind  of  the 
duchess.  But  the  matter  puzzled  him,  for 
he  had  always  thought  such  a  fusion 
would  be  possible  only  between  two 
people  who  knew  and  loved  each  other. 
The  duchess  was  a  stranger  to  him. 

He  returned  to  Pentonville  and  out 
wardly  resumed  his  normal  life.  But  his 
inner  self  was  his  real  life,  and  he  mas 
tered  the  art  of  dreaming  true  and  re 
living  any  experience  he  wished.  He 
visited  with  his  mother  and  Mimsy  fre 
quently  in  his  dreams,  and  his  life  was 
no  longer  bleak  and  lonely. 

One  day  he  again  met  the  Duchess  of 
Towers  in  his  outer  life.  Then  he  dis 
covered  why  she  had  been  in  his  true 
dream.  She  was  Mimsy,  grown  and  mar 
ried  to  a  famous  duke.  She  had  had  the 
same  dream  as  he  when  she  had  rescued 
him  from  the  dwarfs,  and  she  too  had 
been  unable  to  understand  why  a 
stranger  had  invaded  her  dreams. 

Although  he  did  not  again  meet  the 
grown  Mimsy  in  his  dreams,  Peter  saw 
the  child  Mimsy  almost  every  night  So 
his  life  went  along  without  interruption 
until  he  met  Mrs.  Gregory,  formerly  Mrs. 
Deane,  whom  Colonel  Ibbetson  had  tried 
to  ruin  with  slander.  She  told  him  that 
Colonel  Ibbetson  had  told  her  and  many 
others  that  he  was  Peter's  real  father. 
The  recorded  marriage  and  birth  dates 
proved  he  was  lying;  the  story  was 
another  product  of  the  colonel's  cruel 
mind.  Peter  was  so  enraged  he  went  to 
the  colonel's  house  to  force  an  apology. 
The  two  men  fought,  and  Peter  in  his 
fury  struck  blindly  at  Colonel  Ibbetson 
and  killed  him. 

Peter  was  tried  and  sentenced  to  be 
hanged  for  the  murder  of  his  uncle. 


738 


While  he  was  in  prison,  the  grown 
Mimsy  came  into  his  dream  again  and 
told  him  his  sentence  had  been  changed 
to  life  imprisonment  because  of  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  the  murder  had 
been  committed.  She  promised  Peter  she 
would  continue  to  come  to  him  in  his 
dreams  and  thus  they  would  spend  the 
rest  of  their  lives  together. 

Peter  in  his  prison  cell  was  the  hap 
piest  man  in  England.  Attendants  were 
land  to  him  during  the  day,  and  at  night 
he  \vas  with  Mimsy.  At  last  they  learned 
they  were  distant  cousins,  and  then  they 
discovered  that  they  could  project  them 
selves  into  the  past  through  the  character 
of  any  of  their  direct  ancestors.  Either  of 
them,  not  both  at  once,  could  become  any 
ancestor  he  chose,  and  thus  they  relived 
scenes  in  history  which  had  occurred 


hundreds  of  years  before.  They  went  back 
to  the  days  when  monsters  roamed  the 
earth  and  might  have  gone  back  to  the 
beginning  of  time,  but  Mimsy  died. 

She  came  back  to  Peter  seven  times 
after  she  had  died,  urging  him  to  con 
tinue  his  search  for  the  beginning  of  time. 
She  could  come  to  him  now  only  because 
he  was  the  other  half  of  her  soul.  She 
asked  him  to  write  down  his  method  and 
to  urge  others  to  follow  him,  and  she  gave 
him  some  books  in  their  secret  code,  tell 
ing  him  of  things  she  had  learned. 

But  before  he  could  begin  to  write 
the  secrets  she  told  him,  he  died  in  his 
cell,  and  his  cousin,  Madge  Plunket,  felt 
that  she  would  remember  until  her  own 
death  the  look  of  happiness  and  peace 
upon  his  face. 


PETER  WHIFFLE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Carl  Van  Vechten  (1880-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Simulated  biography 

time  of  plot:  1907-1919 

Locale:   New  York,  Paris,  Italy 

First  published:  1922 

Principal  characters: 

PETER  WHIFFLE,  a  would-be  writer 
CARL  VAN  VECHTKN",  his  friend 
EDITH  DALE,  friend  of  Peter  and  Carl 
MAHALAH  WIGGINS,  Peter's  friend 


Critique: 

A  first  reading  of  Peter  Whiffle  may 
leave  the  impression  that  here  is  an 
ordinary  biographical  novel  of  a  pseudo- 
sophisticated  young  man  who  did  not 
know  what  he  wanted  from  life.  But 
there  is  more  to  the  story  than  that. 
Peter  Whiffle  learned,  before  he  died, 
that  not  everyone  is  meant  to  accomplish 
great  things,  that  some  are  meant  to  en 
joy  and  appreciate  the  work  of  others. 
To  tell  his  readers  this  fact  was  ap 
parently  Van  Vechten's  motive  for  writ 
ing  the  story. 


The  Story: 

Carl  Van  Vechten  saw  Peter  Whiffle 
for  the  first  time  in  Paris,  in  the  spring. 
They  were  both  young.  Carl  was  naive 
and  unworldly;  Peter  was  sophisticated 
and  knowing.  Theirs  was  a  strange 
friendship.  Often  they  did  not  see  one 
another  for  several  years.  But  Carl  knew 
that  he  was  one  of  the  few  people  whom 
Peter  called  his  friend.  They  had  spent 
many  enjoyable  hours  in  Paris  that 
spring  and  together  had  seen  all  the 
famous  places  of  which  they  had  read. 
Peter  wanted  to  write,  and  at  that  point 


PETER  WHIFFLE  by  Carl  Van  Vechtea.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Alfred  A.  Knopf, 
Inc.     Copyright,   1922,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


739 


in  his  life  he  thought  that  subject  was 
unimportant,  that  style  and  form  were 
the  only  important  things.  In  fact,  it 
was  his  plan  to  write  a  hook  containing 
nothing  but  lists  of  Things.  When  he 
wrote,  he  used  colored  papers  to  express 
his  moods. 

After  that  spring  in  Paris,  six  years 
passed  before  Carl  saw  Peter  again.  Carl 
was  back  in  New  York  at  the  time,  and 
while  walking  in  the  Bowery  one  night 
he  met  Peter.  He  hardly  recognized  his 
friend  when  he  saw  Peter  in  rags,  un 
shaven  and  unkempt.  Carl  learned  that 
the  rags  were  only  another  phase  of 
Peter's  life,  for  Peter  was  a  rich  man. 
After  he  had  learned  Peter's  history,  Carl 
began  to  understand  him  better. 

Peter  Whiffle,  the  son  of  a  banker,  was 
bom  and  raised  in  Toledo,  Ohio.  From 
infancy,  Peter  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  make  decisions.  Whether  to  do  this  or 
that  was  a  problem  that  he  could  seldom 
solve,  and  so,  preferring  inactivity  to  de 
cision,  he  usually  did  nothing.  But  there 
was  one  thing  about  which  he  knew  his 
own  mind.  He  hated  work  in  any  form. 
When  Peter  could  no  longer  stand  his 
work  in  his  father's  bank,  he  left  home 
and  went  to  New  York.  There  he  often 
slept  in  the  park  and  went  for  days  with 
out  food.  He  took  a  few  odd  jobs  in 
order  not  to  starve.  He  lived  in  this 
fashion  until  his  mother's  brother  died 
and  left  him  a  fortune.  On  the  night  he 
learned  of  his  inheritance  he  decided  to 
become  a  writer.  A  few  days  later  he 
left  for  Paris. 

When  they  met  in  New  York, 
Carl  learned  from  Peter  that  al 
though  he  was  still  a  wealthy  man  he 
had  joined  a  group  of  Socialists  and  with 
them  was  plotting  an  American  revolu 
tion  against  capitalism.  He  was  full  of 
plans  to  barricade  the  rich  in  their  homes 
and  starve  them  to  death,  or  bomb  them, 
or  hang  them.  Carl  was  not  much  dis 
turbed,  for  he  recognized  this  idea  as 
another  stage  in  Peter's  life.  When  Carl 
asked  Peter  about  his  book,  he  learned 
that  Peter  now  believed  subject,  rather 


than  style  or  form,  was  all-important 
He  was  planning  to  write  about  the 
revolution,  to  have  as  his  heroine  a  girl 
with  a  clubfoot,  a  harelip,  and  a  hunched 
back.  The  book  would  be  bloody  and 
dirty,  for  that  was  the  way  life  was. 

When  Carl  took  Peter  to  see  Edith 
Dale,  a  woman  of  wealth,  Peter  and 
Edith  became  friends.  At  Edith's  house 
Peter  met  Mahalah  Wiggins,  a  young 
girl  whom  he  found  interesting.  But  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  whether  he 
wanted  to  marry  her,  and  so  he  did 
nothing.  He  did  change  his  living  habits, 
however,  and  the  next  time  Carl  saw 
him  Peter  was  clean  and  neat  in  appear 
ance.  He  still  talked  of  the  revolution, 
but  half-heartedly,  and  Carl  knew  an 
other  phase  of  Peter's  life  was  almost 
over. 

Deciding  at  last  to  marry  Mahalah, 
Peter  asked  Carl  to  be  his  attendant. 
But  on  the  wedding  day  Peter  sent  Carl 
a  note  saying  that  he  could  not  go 
through  with  the  wedding;  it  was  too  big 
a  decision  for  him  to  make.  Instead,  Peter 
went  to  Africa. 

Four  months  later  Carl  was  in  Italy, 
visiting  Edith  Dale  at  her  villa  in  Flor 
ence.  One  night,  while  they  were  din 
ing  in  the  city,  they  saw  Peter  again. 
His  father  had  died  and  his  mother  was 
traveling  with  him.  Peter  told  them  that 
he  had  almost  died  in  Africa,  that  while 
he  lay  at  the  point  of  death  he  had  had 
a  vision.  An  angel  from  hell  and  an 
angel  from  heaven  had  waited  for  him 
to  make  up  his  mind  about  the  place  to 
which  he  wanted  to  go  when  he  died. 
It  had  been  a  terrible  moment,  until  he 
remembered  that  he  did  not  have  to 
make  a  decision;  he  could  stay  right 
where  he  was.  Then  he  recovered. 

He  had  again  changed  his  mind  about 
the  book  he  planned  to  write.  He  claimed 
that  everything  about  the  characters  must 
be  put  down,  but  he  admitted  that  it 
would  be  quite  a  task  to  record  all  emo 
tions,  impressions,  actions,  and  speech. 
Having  sent  his  mother  home,  Peter 
went  to  stay  with  Carl  and  Edith,  The 


740 


days  at  the  villa  were  peaceful  and  happy 
ones,  so  happy,  in  fact,  that  one  day 
Peter  told  Carl  that  he  was  going  to 
leave  the  villa  at  once,  without  telling 
Edith  goodbye.  He  wanted  to  leave  in 
the  midst  of  his  happiness  so  that  his 
memory  would  not  have  one  blot  on  it. 
He  could  not  tell  Carl  where  he  was 
going  because  he  had  not  yet  made  up 
his  mind. 

A  few  months  later  Carl  found  Peter 
sitting  on  a  park  bench  in  New  York. 
Peter  did  not  want  Edith  to  learn  that 
he  was  there,  for  he  was  in  the  middle 
of  a  new  experiment  and  Edith  might 
distract  him.  Interested  in  black  magic, 
Peter  was  trying  to  discover  the  mystery 
of  life  and  death.  He  took  Carl  to  his 
apartment  and  showed  him  his  labora 
tory.  He  also  persuaded  Carl  to  join  him 
in  an  experiment  The  magic  brew 
exploded  and  they  woke  up  in  the  hos 
pital. 

Carl  sustained  only  minor  injuries  and 
left  the  hospital  before  Peter,  who  was 
dangerously  hurt.  But  Peter  recovered 


and  returned  to  Toledo  with  his  mother. 
Carl  did  not  see  him  again  until  after 
the  war,  in  1919.  By  that  time  Peter 
was  very  ill  from  some  incurable  disease. 
He  never  mentioned  his  illness,  but  Carl 
knew  that  his  friend's  time  was  not  long. 
One  afternoon  in  December,  while  the 
two  friends  were  in  Peter's  apartment, 
Carl  learned  that  Peter  had  at  last  found 
himself.  He  told  Carl  that  his  book  had 
never  become  a  reality  because  he  had 
attempted  to  do  something  that  he  was 
never  intended  to  do.  He  was  not  meant 
to  be  a  writer  or  a  worker — he  was  meant 
only  to  appreciate  and  love  the  work  of 
others,  the  art,  the  literature,  the  ability. 
He  would  make  art  greater  and  people 
better  by  bestowing  upon  them  his 
appreciation  and  his  affection.  He 
would  never  have  to  make  a  decision; 
he  would  be  himself.  He  told  Carl 
that  now  he  was  happy  and  that  he  was 
a  success.  Then  he  closed  his  eyes.  When 
Carl  spoke  to  him  again,  Peter  WhifEh 
did  not  answer. 


PHAEDRA 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Jean  Baptiste  Racine  (1639-1699) 

Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 

Locale:  Troezen,  in  Ancient  Greece 

First  presented:  1677 

Principal  characters: 

THESEUS,  King  of  Athens 
PHAEDRA,  his  wife 
HTPPOLYTDS,  Theseus'  son 
ABICIA,  an  Athenian  princess 

Critiqtie: 

Phaedra  represents  the  classic  tradition 
of  the  French  stage.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  France,  then  at  her  apex,  de 
manded  great  things  of  her  artists  to 


plots  and  themes.  In  whole  or  in  part, 
ancient  plays  and  myths  were  constructed 
into  plays  which  adhered  as  closely  as 
possible  to  the  classic  tradition.  Racine 

support  the  glory  of  the  armies  and  the      stands  foremost  among  the  neo-classicists 

royal  house,  and  the  writers  of  the  period      of  his  century. 

assaulted  the  past  in  an  effort  to  arouse 

the  minds  of  their  contemporaries  to  past 

glories  and  to  stimulate  them  to  greater 

efforts.    The  vast   storehouse   of   classic 


legends  became  the  source  of  countless 


The  Story: 

After  the  death  of  his  Amazon  queen, 
Theseus,  slayer  of  the  Minotaur,  married 
Phaedra,  the  young  daughter  of  the  King 


741 


of  Crete.  Phaedra,  seeing  in  her  stepson, 
Hippolytus,  all  the  bravery  and  virtue  of 
Ms  heroic  father,  but  in  more  youthful 
guise,  fell  in  love  with  him.  In  an  at 
tempt  to  conceal  her  passion  for  the  son 
of  Theseus,  she  treated  him  in  an  aloof 
and  spiteful  manner  until  at  last  Hippoly 
tus  decided  to  leave  Troezen  and  go  in 
search  of  his  father,  absent  from  the  king 
dom.  To  his  tutor,  Theramenes,  he  con 
fided  his  desire  to  avoid  both  his  step 
mother  and  Aricia,  an  Athenian  princess 
who  was  the  daughter  of  a  family  which 
had  opposed  Theseus. 

Phaedra  confessed  to  Oenone,  her 
nurse,  her  guilty  passion  for  Hippolytus, 
saying  that  she  merely  pretended  un- 
kindness  to  him  in  order  to  hide  her  real 
feelings. 

Word  came  to  Troezen  that  Theseus 
was  dead.  Oenone  talked  to  Phaedra  in 
an  attempt  to  convince  the  queen  that  her 
own  son,  not  Hippolytus,  should  be 
chosen  as  the  new  king  of  Athens.  Aricia 
hoped  that  she  would  be  chosen  to  rule. 

Hippolytus,  a  fair-minded  young  man, 
told  Aricia  that  he  would  support  her  for 
the  rule  of  Athens.  He  felt  that  Phaedra's 
son  should  inherit  Crete  and  that  he  him 
self  should  remain  master  of  Troezen. 
He  also  admitted  his  love  for  Aricia,  but 
said  that  he  feared  the  gods  would  never 
allow  it  to  be  brought  to  completion. 
When  he  tried  to  explain  his  intentions 
to  his  stepmother,  she  in  turn  dropped 
her  pretense  of  hatred  and  distrust  and 
ended  by  betraying  her  love  for  Hippoly 
tus.  Shocked,  he  repulsed  her,  and  she 
threatened  to  take  her  own  life. 

The  people  of  Athens,  however,  chose 
Phaedra's  son  to  rule  over  them,  to  the 
disappointment  of  Aricia.  There  were 
also  rumors  that  Theseus  still  lived.  Hip 
polytus  gave  orders  that  a  search  be  made 
for  his  rather. 

Phaedra,  embarrassed  by  all  she  had 
told  Hippolytus,  brooded  over  the  injury 
she  now  felt,  and  wished  that  she  had 
never  revealed  her  love.  Phaedra  was 
proud,  and  now  her  pride  was  hurt  be 
yond  recovery.  Unable  to  overcome  her 
passer  ^owever,  she  decided  to  offer 


the  kingdom  to  Hippolytus  so  that  she 
might  keep  him  near  her.  Then  news 
came  that  Theseus  was  returning  to  his 
home.  Oenone  warned  Phaedra  that  now 
she  must  hide  her  true  feeling  for  Hip 
polytus.  She  even  suggested  to  the  queen 
that  Theseus  be  made  to  believe  that 
Hippolytus  had  tempted  Phaedra  to 
adultery. 

When  Theseus  returned,  Pha&dra 
greeted  fnm  with  reluctance,  saying  that 
she  was  no  longer  fit  to  be  his  wife.  Hip 
polytus  made  the  situation  no  better  by 
requesting  permission  to  leave  Troezen 
at  once.  Theseus  was  gready  chagrined 
at  his  homecoming. 

When  scheming  Oenone  told  the  long 
that  Hippolytus  had  attempted  to  dis 
honor  his  stepmother,  Theseus  flew  into 
a  terrific  rage.  Hippolytus,  knowing  noth 
ing  of  the  plot,  was  at  first  astonished  by 
his  father's  anger  and  threats.  When  ac 
cused,  he  denied  the  charges,  but  The 
seus  refused  to  listen  to  him  and  banished 
his  son  from  the  kingdom  forever.  When 
Hippolytus  claimed  he  was  really  in  love 
with  Aricia,  Theseus,  more  incensed  than 
ever,  invoked  the  vengeance  of  Neptune 
upon  his  son. 

Aricia  tried  to  convince  Hippolytus 
that  he  must  prove  his  innocence,  but 
Hippolytus  refused  because  he  knew  that 
the  revelation  of  Phaedra's  passion  would 
be  too  painful  for  his  father  to  bear. 
The  two  agreed  to  escape  together.  Before 
Aricia  could  leave  the  palace,  however, 
Theseus  questioned  her.  Becoming  sus 
picious,  he  sent  for  Oenone  to  demand 
the  truth.  Fearing  that  her  plot  had  been 
uncovered,  Oenone  committed  suicide. 

Meanwhile,  as  Hippolytus  drove  his 
chariot  near  the  seashore,  Neptune  sent 
a  horrible  monster,  part  bull  and  part 
dragon,  which  destroyed  the  son  of  The 
seus. 

When  news  of  his  death  reached  the 
palace,  Phaedra  confessed  her  guilt  and 
drank  poison.  Theseus,  glad  to  see  his 
guilty  queen  die,  wished  that  memory  of 
her  life  might  perish  with  her.  Sorrow 
fully  he  sought  the  grief-stricken  Aricia 
to  comfort  her. 


742 


PICKWICK  PAPERS 

rype  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  plot:  Comic  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1836-1837 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  PICKWICK,  founder  of  the  Pickwick  Club 

MR.  WINKLE, 

MR.  SNODGRASS,  and 

MR.  TUPMAN,  members  of  the  club 

MR,  WARBLE,  owner  of  Manor  Farm 

RAPHAEL  WARBLE,  his  sister 

EMILY  WARBLE,  his  daughter 

MRS.  BARBELL,  Mr.  Pickwick's  housekeeper 

MR.  PERKER,  a  lawyer 

SAM  WELLER,  Mr.  Pickwick's  servant 

ARABELLA  ALLEN,  in  love  with  Mr.  Winkle 

MR.  ALFREB  JINGLE,  a  rascal 

Critiqiie: 

Mr.  Pickwick,  the  lovable,  generous 
old  gentleman  of  Dickens'  novel,  is  one 
of  the  best-known  characters  of  fiction. 
Mr.  Pickwick  benignly  reigns  over  all 
activities  of  the  Pickwick  Club,  satisfied, 
under  every  circumstance,  that  he  has 
helped  his  fellow  creatures  by  his  well- 
meaning  efforts.  The  height  of  this  Dick- 
ensian  comedy,  however,  lies  in  Sam 
Weller  and  his  father.  Sam's  imperturb 
able  presence  of  mind  and  his  ready  wit 
are  indispensable  to  the  Pickwickians. 
The  novel  has  importance  beyond  humor 
ous  incident  and  characterization.  It  is 
the  first  novel  of  a  literary  movement  to 
present  the  life  and  manners  of  lower  and 
middle-class  life. 


The  Story: 

Samuel  Pickwick,  Esquire,  was  the 
founder  and  perpetual  president  of  the 
justly  famous  Pickwick  Club.  To  extend 
his  own  researches  into  the  quaint  and 
curious  phenomena  of  life,  he  suggested 
that  he  and  three  other  Pickwickians 
should  make  journeys  to  places  remote 
from  London  and  report  on  their  findings 
to  the  stay-at-home  members  of  the  club. 
The  first  destination  decided  upon  was 
Rochester.  As  Mr.  Pickwick,  Mr.  Tracy 
Tuprnan,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Winkle,  and 


Mr.  Augustus  Snodgrass  went  to  their 
coach,  they  were  waylaid  by  a  rough 
gang  of  cab  drivers.  Fortunately  the  men 
were  rescued  by  a  stranger  who  was 
poorly  dressed  but  of  a  magnificently 
friendly  nature.  The  stranger,  who  intro 
duced  himself  as  Alfred  Jingle,  appeared 
to  be  going  to  Rochester  also,  and  the 
party  mounted  the  coach  together. 

After  they  had  arrived  at  their  destina 
tion,  Mr.  Tupman's  curiosity  was  aroused 
when  Mr.  Jingle  told  him  that  there  was 
to  be  a  ball  at  the  inn  that  very  evening 
and  that  many  lovely  young  ladies  would 
be  present.  Because  his  luggage  had  gone 
astray,  said  Mr.  Jingle,  he  had  no  eve 
ning  clothes  and  so  it  would  be  impossi 
ble  for  him  to  attend  the  affair.  This  was 
a  regrettable  circumstance  because  he  had 
hoped  to  introduce  Mr.  Tupman  to  the 
many  young  ladies  of  wealth  and  fashion 
who  would  be  present.  Eager  to  meet 
these  young  ladies,  Mr.  Tupman  bor 
rowed  Mr.  Winkle's  suit  for  the  stranger. 
At  the  ball  Mr.  Jingle  observed  a  doctor 
in  faithful  attendance  upon  a  middle- 
aged  lady.  Attracting  her  attention,  he 
danced  with  her,  much  to  the  anger  of 
the  doctor.  Introducing  himself  as  Dr. 
Slammer,  the  angry  gentleman  challenged 
Mr.  Jingle  to  a  duel. 


743 


The  next  morning  a  servant,  identify 
ing  Mr.  Winkle  from  the  description 
given  of  the  suit  the  stranger  had  worn, 
told  Mr.  Winkle  that  an  insolent  drunken 
man  had  insulted  Dr.  Slammer  the  pre 
vious  evening  and  that  the  doctor  was 
awaiting  his  appearance  to  fight  a  duel. 
Mr.  Winkle  had  been  drunk  the  night 
before,  and  he  decided  he  was  being 
called  out  because  he  had  conducted  him 
self  in  an  unseemly  manner  which  he 
could  no  longer  remember.  With  Mr. 
Snodgrass  as  his  second,  Mr.  Winkle 
tremblingly  approached  the  battlefield. 
Much  to  his  relief,  Dr.  Slammer  roared 
that  he  was  the  wrong  man.  After  much 
misunderstanding,  the  situation  was  satis 
factorily  explained  and  no  blood  was  shed. 

During  the  afternoon  the  travelers 
attended  a  parade,  where  they  met  Mr. 
Wardle  in  a  coach  with  his  two  daughters 
and  his  sister,  Miss  Rachael  Wardle,  a 
plump  old  maid.  Mr.  Tupman,  being 
quite  taken  with  the  elder  Miss  Wardle, 
accepted  for  his  friends  Mr.  Wardle's  in 
vitation  to  visit  his  estate,  Manor  Farm. 
The  next  day  the  four  Pickwickians  de 
parted  for  the  farm,  which  was  a  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  from  the  inn  where 
they  were  staying.  Having  difficulties 
with  their  horses,  they  arrived  at  Manor 
Farm  in  a  disheveled  state,  but  they  were 
soon  washed  and  mended  under  the  kind 
assistance  of  Mr.  Wardle's  daughters.  In 
the  evening  they  played  a  hearty  game 
of  whist,  and  Mr.  Tupman  squeezed  Miss 
Wardle's  hand  under  the  table. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Wardle  took  his 
guests  rook  hunting.  Mr.  Winkle,  who 
would  not  admit  himself  unable  to  cope 
with  any  situation,  was  given  the  gun  to 
try  his  skill.  He  proved  it  by  accidentally 
shooting  Mr.  Tupman  in  the  arm.  Miss 
Wardle  offered  her  aid  to  the  stricken 
man.  Observing  that  their  friend  was  in 
good  hands,  the  others  went  off  to  a 
aeighboring  town  to  watch  the  cricket 
matches.  There  Mr.  Pickwick  unexpect 
edly  encountered  Mr.  Jingle,  and  Mr. 
Wardle  invited  the  fellow  to  return  to 
Manor  Farm  with  his  party. 


Convinced  that  Miss  Wardle  had  a 
great  deal  of  money,  Mr.  Jingle  misrepre 
sented  Mr.  Tupman's  intentions  to  Miss 
Wardle  and  persuaded  the  spinster  to 
elope  with  him.  Mr.  Wardle  and  Mr. 
Pickwick  pursued  the  couple  to  London. 
There,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr. 
Wardle's  lawyer,  Mr.  Perker,  they  went 
from  one  inn  to  another  in  an  attempt 
to  find  the  elopers.  Finally,  through  a 
sharp-featured  young  man  cleaning  boots 
in  the  yard  of  the  White  Hart  Inn,  they 
were  able  to  identify  Mr.  Jingle.  They 
indignantly  confronted  him  as  he  was 
displaying  a  marriage  license.  After  a 
heated  argument,  Mr.  Jingle  resigned  his 
matrimonial  designs  for  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  Miss 
Wardle  went  tearfully  back  to  Manor 
Farm.  The  Pickwickians  returned  to 
London,  where  Mr.  Pickwick  engaged  as 
his  servant  Sam  Weller,  the  sharp,  shrewd 
young  bootblack  of  the  White  Hart  Inn. 

Mr.  Pickwick  was  destined  to  meet  the 
villainous  Mr.  Jingle  soon  again.  A  Mrs. 
Leo  Hunter  invited  the  learned  man  and 
his  friends  to  a  party.  There  Mr.  Pick 
wick  spied  Mr.  Jingle,  who,  upon  seeing 
his  former  acquaintance,  disappeared  into 
the  crowd.  Mrs.  Hunter  told  Mr.  Pick 
wick  that  Mr.  Jingle  lived  at  Bury  St. 
Edmonds.  Mr.  Pickwick  set  out  in  pur 
suit  in  company  with  his  servant,  Sam 
Weller,  for  the  old  gentleman  was  deter 
mined  to  deter  the  scoundrel  from  any 
fresh  deceptions  he  might  be  planning. 
At  the  inn  where  Mr.  Jingle  was  re 
ported  to  be  staying,  Mr.  Pickwick 
learned  that  the  rascal  was  planning  to 
elope  with  a  rich  young  lady  who  stayed 
at  a  boarding-school  nearby.  Mr.  Pick 
wick  fell  in  with  the  suggestion  that  in 
order  to  rescue  the  young  lady  he  should 
hide  in  the  garden  from  which  Mr.  Jingle 
was  planning  to  steal  her.  When  Mr. 
Pickwick  sneaked  into  the  garden,  he 
found  nothing  of  a  suspicious  nature;  in 
short,  he  had  been  deceived,  and  the 
blackguard  had  escaped. 

Mr.  Pickwick  had  for  housekeeper 
Mrs.  Bardell,  a  widow.  When  he  was 


744 


about  to  hire  Sam  Weller,  Mr.  Pickwick 
had  spoken  to  her  In  such  a  manner  that 
she  had  mistaken  his  words  for  a  pro 
posal  of  marriage.  One  day  Mr.  Pick 
wick  was  resting  in  his  rooms  when  he 
received  notice  from  the  legal  firm  of 
Dodgson  and  Fogg  that  Mrs.  Bardell  was 
suing  him  for  breach  of  promise.  The 
summons  was  distressing,  but  first  Mr. 
Pickwick  had  more  important  business 
to  occupy  his  time.  After  securing  the 
services  of  Mr.  Perker  to  defend  him,  he 
went  to  Ipswich  upon  learning  that  Mr. 
Jingle  had  been  seen  in  that  vicinity. 
The  trip  to  Ipswich  was  successful.  The 
Pickwickians  were  able  to  catch  Mr. 
Jingle  in  his  latest  scheme  of  deception 
and  to  expose  him  before  he  had  carried 
out  his  plot. 

At  the  trial  for  the  breach  of  promise 
suit  brought  by  Mrs.  Bardell,  lawyers 
Dodgson  and  Fogg  argued  so  eloquently 
against  Mr.  Pickwick  that  the  jury  fined 
him  seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 
When  the  trial  was  over,  Mr.  Pickwick 
told  Dodgson  and  Fogg  that  even  if  they 
put  him  in  prison  he  would  never  pay 
one  cent  of  the  damages,  since  he  knew 
as  well  as  they  that  there  had  been  no 
true  grounds  for  suit. 

The  Pickwickians  shortly  afterward 
went  to  Bath,  where  fresh  adventures 
awaited  Mr.  Pickwick  and  his  friends. 
On  that  occasion  Mr.  Winkle's  weakness 
for  the  fair  sex  involved  them  in  difficul 
ties.  In  Bath  the  Pickwickians  met  two 
young  medical  students,  Mr.  Allen  and 
Mr.  Bob  Sawyer.  Mr.  Allen  hoped  to 
marry  his  sister,  Arabella,  to  his  friend, 
Mr.  Sawyer,  but  Miss  Allen  professed  ex 
treme  dislike  for  her  brother's  choice. 
When  Mr.  Winkle  learned  that  Ara 
bella  had  refused  Mr.  Sawyer  because 
another  had  won  her  heart,  he  felt  that 
he  must  be  the  fortunate  man  because 
she  had  displayed  an  interest  in  him 
when  they  had  met  earlier  at  Manor  Farm. 
Kindly  Mr.  Pickwick  arranged  to  have 
Mr.  Winkle  meet  Arabella  in  a  garden, 
where  the  distraught  lover  could  plead 
his  suit. 


Mr.  Pickwick's  plans  to  further  his 
friend's  romance  were  interrupted,  how 
ever,  by  a  subpoena  delivered  because  he 
had  refused  to  pay  money  to  Mrs.  BardelL 
Still  stubbornly  refusing  to  pay  the  dam 
ages,  Mr.  Pickwick  found  himself  re 
turned  to  London  and  lodged  in  Fleet 
Street  prison.  With  the  help  of  Sam 
Weller,  Mr.  Pickwick  arranged  his  prison 
quarters  as  comfortably  as  possible  and 
remained  deaf  to  the  entreaties  of  Sam 
Weller  or  Mr.  Perker,  who  thought  that 
he  should  pay  his  debt  and  regain  his 
freedom.  Dodgson  and  Fogg  proved  to 
be  of  lower  caliber  than  even  Mr.  Pick 
wick  had  suspected.  They  had  taken 
Mrs.  BaidelTs  case  without  fee,  gambling 
on  Mr.  Pickwick's  payment  to  cover  the 
costs  of  the  case.  When  they  saw  no 
payment  forthcoming,  they  had  Mrs. 
Bardell  arrested  also  and  sent  to  the  Fleet 
Street  prison. 

While  Mr.  Pickwick  was  trying  to 
decide  what  to  do,  Mr.  Winkle  with  his 
new  wife,  Arabella,  came  to  the  prison 
and  asked  Mr.  Pickwick  to  pay  his  debts 
so  that  he  could  visit  Mr.  Allen  with  the 
news  of  Mr.  Winkle's  marriage  to  Ara 
bella.  Arabella  herself  felt  that  Mr. 
Pickwick  was  the  only  person  who  could 
arrange  a  proper  reconcilliation  between 
her  brother  and  her  new  husband.  Kind 
ness  prevailed;  Mr.  Pickwick  paid  the 
damages  to  Mrs.  Bardell  so  that  he  would 
be  free  to  help  his  friends  in  distress. 

Winning  Mr.  Allen's  approval  of  the 
match  was  not  difficult  for  Mr.  Pickwick, 
but  when  he  approached  the  elder  Mr. 
Winkle,  the  bridegroom's  father  objected 
to  the  marriage  and  threatened  to  cut  off 
his  son  without  a  cent.  To  add  to  Mr. 
Pickwick's  problems,  Mr.  Wardle  came 
to  London  to  tell  him  that  his  daughter 
Emily  was  in  love  with  Mr.  Snodgrass 
and  to  ask  Mr.  Pickwick's  advice.  Mr. 
Wardle  had  brought  Emily  to  London 
with  him. 

The  entire  party  came  together  in  Ara 
bella's  apartment.  All  misunderstandings 
happily  ended  for  the  two  lovers,  and  a 
jolly  party  followed.  The  elder  Mr. 


745 


Winkle  paid  a  call  on  his  new  daughter- 
in-law.  Upon  seeing  what  a  charming 
and  lovely  girl  she  was,  he  relented  his 
decision  to  disinherit  his  son,  and  the 
family  was  reconciled. 

After  Mr,  Snodgrass  had  married  Emily 
Wardle,  Mr.  Pickwick  dissolved  the  Pick 


wick  Club  and  retired  to  a  home  in  the 
country,  with  his  faithful  servant,  Sam 
Weller.  Several  times  Mr.  Pickwick  was 
called  upon  to  be  a  godfather  to  little 
Winkles  and  Snodgrasses,  but  for  the 
most  part  he  led  a  quiet  life,  respected  by 
his  neighbors  and  loved  by  all  his  friends. 


THE  PICTURE  OF  DORIAN  GRAY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Oscar  Wilde  (1856-1900) 

Type  of  plot:  Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1891 

Principal  characters: 

DORIAN  GRAY,  a  Faustian  young  man 

LORD  HENRY  WOTTON,  ids  tempter 

BASEL  HAJLLWARD,  an  artist 

SIBYL  VANE,  an  actress 

JAMES  VANE,  her  brother 

Critique: 

The  Picture  of  Dorian  Gray  is  defi 
nitely  a  period  piece,  but  the  central  idea 
of  the  story  is  so  typical  of  its  author 
and  the  elements  of  the  plot  are  so  care 
fully  worked  out  that  the  novel  is  sure 
to  attract  readers  for  many  years  to  come. 
Wilde  has  written  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  moral  or  unmoral  book,  that  a 
book  can  be  judged  only  as  it  is  well 
written  or  badly  written.  The  Picture 
of  Dorian  Gray  should  be  judged  with 
this  statement  in  mind. 


The  Story: 

One  day,  in  his  London  studio,  Basil 
Hall  ward  was  putting  a  few  last  finishing 
touches  on  a  portrait  of  his  handsome 
young  friend,  Dorian  Gray.  Lord  Henry 
Wotton,  a  caller,  indolently  watched  the 
painter  at  work.  In  reply  to  his  friend's 
admiration  for  the  painting,  the  artist 
explained  that  Dorian  was  his  ideal  of 
youth.  For  this  reason  he  asked  Lord 
Henry  never  to  meet  Dorian  because  the 
older  man's  influence  on  the  boy  would 
be  absolute  and  eviL 

While  they  were  talking,  Dorian  him 


self  came  to  the  studio,  and  he  and  Lord 
Henry  met,  much  against  Hallward's 
wishes.  Half  seriously,  half  jokingly,  Sir 
Henry  began  to  exert  his  influence  on 
Dorian.  Hallward  signed  the  portrait  and 
announced  it  was  finished.  When  Lord 
Henry  offered  to  buy  the  picture,  the 
painter  said  it  was  not  his  property,  that 
it  belonged  to  Dorian,  to  whom  he  was 
presenting  it.  Looking  at  his  portrait, 
after  listening  to  Lord  Henry's  witty  con 
versation,  Dorian  grew  sad.  He  would 
become  old  and  wrinkled,  he  said,  while 
the  picture  would  remain  the  same.  He 
wished,  instead,  that  the  portrait  might 
grow  old  while  he  remained  forever 
young.  He  said  he  would  give  his  soul 
to  keep  his  youth. 

Dorian  and  Lord  Henry  became  close 
friends.  One  of  the  gifts  Lord  Henry 
gave  the  boy  was  a  book  about  a  young 
man  who  attempted  to  realize  in  his  brief 
lifetime  all  the  passions  of  man's  history. 
Dorian  made  the  book  a  pattern  for  his 
own  life,  and  the  first  lesson  from  its 
pages  was  the  lesson  of  love.  In  a  third- 
rate  theater  he  saw  Sibyl  Vane,  a  young 


THE  PICTURE  OF  DORIAN  GRAY  by  Oscar  Wilde.    Published  by  The  Viking  Frew.  lac. 


746 


actress  who  played  the  role  of  Juliet  with 
such  sincerity  and  charm  that  he  fell  in 
love  with  her  on  the  spot.  After  he  had 
met  her,  Dorian  dreamed  of  taking  her 
away  from  the  cheap  theatrical  troupe 
and  making  her  a  great  actress  who  would 
thrill  the  world.  One  night  he  took  Lord 
Henry  to  watch  her  performance.  That 
night  Sibyl  was  listless  and  wooden,  so 
uninspired  in  her  acting  that  the  audi 
ence  hissed  her.  When  Dorian  went  to 
her  dressing-room  after  the  final  curtain, 
she  explained  that  before  meeting  him  she 
had  thought  acting  her  only  reality.  Now, 
she  said,  Dorian's  love  had  taught  her 
what  reality  actually  was,  and  she  could 
no  longer  act.  Dorian  coldly  and  cruelly 
told  her  she  had  killed  his  love  and  he 
never  intended  to  see  her  again. 

In  the  meantime,  HaUward  had  de 
livered  the  painting  to  Dorian.  When  the 
voung  mart  returned  to  his  home  after 
the  theater  that  night  he  saw  that  the 
appearance  of  his  portrait  had  changed. 
There  was  a  new,  faint  line  of  cruelty 
about  the  mouth.  Looking  at  his  own 
features  in  a  mirror,  he  found  no  such 
line  on  his  own  lips.  His  wish  had  evi 
dently  been  granted.  He  would  remain 
young  and  untouched  —  the  portrait 
would  take  on  an  appearance  of  experi 
ence  and  age. 

Disturbed,  he  resolved  to  reform,  to 
see  no  more  of  Lord  Henry,  to  ask  Sibyl 
Vane's  forgiveness  and  marry  her.  Ac 
cordingly,  he  wrote  her  a  passionate 
letter  declaring  his  love.  Before  he  could 
post  the  letter,  however,  Lord  Henry 
visited  him  the  next  morning,  bringing 
the  news  that  Sibyl  had  killed  herself  in 
her  dressing-room  the  night  before. 

After  his  friend  had  gone,  forgetting 
all  his  good  resolutions  Dorian  decided 
on  a  life  of  sensation  and  pleasure.  The 
portrait  only  was  to  bear  the  burden  of 
his  shame.  That  night  he  attended  the 
opera  with  Lord  Henry.  The  next  day, 
when  Basil  HaUward  attempted  to  reason 
with  him  over  scandalous  reports  begin 
ning  to  circulate,  Dorian  refused  to  show 
any  emotion  over  Sibyl's  suicide.  His 


part  in  her  tragic  story  would  never  be 
revealed,  for  she  had  known  him  only  as 
Prince  Charming.  Before  he  left,  Hall- 
ward  asked  to  see  his  painting.  Dorian 
refused  to  show  it.  In  sudden  rage,  he 
shouted  that  he  never  wished  to  see  Hall- 
ward  again.  Later  he  hung  the  portrait 
in  an  old  schoolroom  upstairs,  locked  the 
door,  and  put  the  key  where  only  he 
could  find  it 

London  continued  to  gossip  about  the 
friendship  of  Lord  Henry  and  Dorian 
Gray.  The  young  man  was  suspected  of 
strange  vices,  and  gentlemen  walked  out 
of  their  club  rooms  when  he  entered 
them.  He  was  invited  to  fewer  balls  and 
parties  at  country  houses.  Many  of  his 
former  friends  refused  to  recognize  him 
when  they  met.  It  was  reported  he  had 
been  seen  in  low  dives  with  drunken 
sailors  and  thieves.  Meanwhile  Dorian's 
features  did  not  change;  only  the  portrait 
reflected  his  life  of  crime  and  debauchery. 
For  Dorian's  life,  like  that  of  the  hero  in 
the  book  Lord  Henry  had  given  him,  be 
came  a  frenzied  quest  for  fresh  experi 
ences  and  new  sensations.  In  turn,  he 
became  interested  in  religious  rituals, 
perfumes,  music,  jewels.  He  frequented 
opium  dens.  He  had  sordid  affairs  with 
women.  His  features  in  the  portrait  be 
came  the  terrible  record  of  his  life. 

On  the  eve  of  Dorian's  thirty-eighth 
birthday,  Basil  HaUward  visited  him 
again.  Though  the  two  had  been 
estranged  for  years,  HaUward  came  in  a 
last  attempt  to  persuade  Dorian  to  change 
his  dissolute  ways.  He  was  still  unable 
to  believe  many  of  the  stories  he  had 
heard  about  Dorian.  With  a  bitter  laugh, 
Dorian  said  that  HaUward  should  see 
what  he  had  truly  become.  He  took  Hall- 
ward  to  the  schoolroom  and  unveiled  the 
portrait.  The  artist  was  horrified,  for  only 
by  signature  could  he  identify  his  own 
handiwork.  In  anger  that  he  had  be 
trayed  his  true  self  to  his  former  friend, 
Dorian  seized  a  knife  which  lay  nearby 
and  stabbed  Hallward  in  the  neck  and 
back. 

Dorian  relocked  the  door  and  went 


747 


down  to  the  drawing-room.  Because  Hall- 
ward  had  intended  to  leave  for  Paris  that 
night,  Dorian  knew  the  painter  would 
not  be  missed  for  some  time.  Removal  of 
the  hody,  he  decided,  was  not  enough. 
He  wanted  it  completely  destroyed.  Sud 
denly  he  thought  of  Alan  Campbell,  a 
young  chemist  who  had  once  been  his 
intimate.  By  threatening  the  young  sci 
entist  with  exposure  for  some  secret  crime, 
Dorian  forced  Campbell  to  destroy  the 
body  with  fire  and  chemicals.  After  that 
night,  the  hands  of  the  portrait  were 
smeared  with  blood. 

Late  one  night,  commonly  dressed, 
Dorian  visited  an  opium  den.  As  he  was 
leaving  the  place,  a  drunken  woman  ad 
dressed  him  as  Prince  Charming.  A  sailor 
followed  him  out.  The  sailor  was  James 
Vane,  Sibyl's  brother,  who  had  sworn 
revenge  on  his  sister's  betrayer.  The 
sailor  would  have  killed  Dorian  but  for 
the  fact  that  he  looked  so  young.  Sibyl 
had  committed  suicide  eighteen  years  be 
fore,  grid  Dorian  seemed  no  more  than 
twenty  years  old.  When  Vane,  convinced 
that  Dorian  could  not  have  known  his 
sister,  returned  to  the  den,  the  woman 
told  him  that  Dorian  Gray  had  mined 


her  many  years  before,  and  that  he  had 
not  changed  in  appearance  since  then. 

Some  time  later,  at  his  country  home, 
Dorian  saw  James  Vane  watching  him 
outside  a  window.  During  a  hunt  on  the 
estate  Vane  was  accidentally  shot  and 
killed.  In  the  meantime,  Alan  Campbell 
had  committed  suicide  under  strange  cir 
cumstances,  and  Basil  Hallward's  disap 
pearance  was  being  investigated. 

Back  in  London,  Dorian,  having  de 
cided  to  destroy  the  picture  which  stood 
as  an  awful  record  of  his  guilt,  went  to 
the  old  schoolroom.  The  portrait  now 
had  an  appearance  of  cunning  and  tri 
umph.  Using  the  knife  with  which  he 
had  murdered  Basil  Hallward,  Dorian 
stabbed  the  frightful  portrait.  The  serv 
ants  in  the  house  heard  a  horrible  cry  of 
agony.  When  they  forced  open  the  locked 
door  of  the  room,  they  found,  hanging  on 
the  wall,  a  fine  portrait  of  their  master 
as  he  had  always  looked.  On  the  floor 
was  a  dead  body,  withered,  wrinkled,  in 
evening  dress,  with  a  knife  in  its  breast. 
Only  by  his  jewelry  did  they  recognize 
Dorian  Gray,  who,  in  his  desperate  at 
tempt  to  kill  his  conscience,  had  killed 
himself. 


THE  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  John  Bunyan  (1628-1688) 

Type  of  plot:  Religious  allegory 

Time  'of  plot:  Any  time  since  Christ 

Locale:  Anywhere 

First  published:  1678 

Principal  characters: 

CHRISTIAN 

FAITHFUL 

HOPEFUL 

MR.  WORLDLY  WISEMAN 

EVANGELIST 

DESPAIR 

IGNORANCE 

APOLLYON,  a  giant  devil 

Critique: 

This  famous  story  of  man's  progress 
through  life  to  heaven  or  hell  has  often 
been  rated  next  to  the  Bible  in  importance 


remains  one  of  the  most  pleasing  alle 
gories  of  the  Christian  way  ever  written. 
Bunyan,  an  early  Puritan,  wished  to  write 


as  a  Christian  document.  In  any  case,  it      a  book  which  would  be  popular  with  the 


748 


common  people  as  well  as  with  intellec 
tuals.  His  characters  are  more  than  simple 
symbols;  they  are  real  people.  The  story 
can  be  read  as  a  symbolic  narrative,  a 
picaresque  romance,  and  a  realistic  novel. 

The  Story: 

One  day,  according  to  Bunyan,  he  lay 
down  in  a  den  to  sleep,  and  in  his  sleep 
dreamed  that  he  saw  a  man  standing  in 
a  field  and  crying  out  in  pain  and  sor 
row  because  he  and  his  whole  family  as 
well  as  the  town  in  which  they  lived  were 
to  be  destroyed.  Christian,  for  that  was 
his  name,  knew  of  this  catastrophe  be 
cause  he  had  read  about  it  in  the  book  he 
held  in  his  hands,  the  Bible.  Evangelist, 
the  preacher  of  Christianity,  soon  came 
up  to  Christian  and  presented  him  with 
a  roll  of  paper  on  which  it  was  written 
that  he  should  flee  from  the  wrath  of  God 
and  make  his  way  from  the  City  of  De 
struction  to  the  City  of  Zion.  Running 
home  with  this  hope  of  salvation,  Chris 
tian  tried  to  get  his  neighbors  and  family 
to  go  away  with  him,  but  they  would  not 
listen  and  thought  he  was  either  sick 
or  mad.  Finally,  shutting  his  ears  to  his 
family's  entreaties  to  stay  with  them,  he 
ran  off  toward  the  light  in  the  distance. 
Under  the  light  he  knew  he  would  find 
the  wicket  gate  which  opened  into  Heav 
en. 

On  his  way  he  met  Pliant  and  Obsti 
nate,  who  so  distracted  Christian  that  he 
fell  in  a  bog  called  the  Slough  of 
Despond.  He  could  not  get  out  because 
of  the  bundle  of  sins  on  his  back.  Finally 
Help  came  along  and  aided  Christian  out 
of  the  sticky  mire.  Going  on  his  way, 
he  soon  fell  in  with  Mr.  Worldly  Wise 
man,  who  tried  to  convince  Christian  he 
would  lead  a  happier  life  if  he  gave  up 
his  trip  toward  the  light  and  settled  down 
to  the  comforts  of  a  burdenless  town  life. 
Fearing  that  Christian  was  about  to  be 
led  astray,  Evangelist  came  up  to  the 
two  men  and  quickly  showed  the  errors 
in  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman's  arguments. 

Soon  Christian  arrived  at  a  closed  gate 
where  he  met  Good-Will,  who  told  him 


that  if  he  knocked  the  gate  would  be 
opened  to  him.  Christian  did  so.  In 
vited  into  the  gatekeeper's  house  by  the 
Interpreter,  he  learned  from  him  the 
meaning  of  many  of  the  Christian  mys 
teries.  He  was  shown  pictures  of  Christ 
and  Passion  and  Patience;  Despair  in 
a  cage  of  iron  bars;  and  finally  a  vision 
of  the  Day  of  Judgment,  when  evil  men 
will  be  sent  to  the  bottomless  pit  and 
good  men  will  be  carried  up  to  Heaven. 
Having  seen  these  things,  Christian  was 
filled  with  both  hope  and  fear.  Contin 
uing  on  his  journey,  he  came  to  the  Holy 
Cross  and  the  Sepulchre  of  Christ.  There 
his  burden  of  sins  fell  off,  and  he  was 
able  to  take  to  the  road  with  renewed 
vigor. 

Soon  he  met  Sloth,  Simple,  Presump 
tion,  Formalism,  and  Hypocrisy,  but  he 
kept  to  his  way  and  they  kept  to  theirs. 
Later  Christian  lay  down  to  sleep  for  a 
while.  When  he  went  on  again,  he  for 
got  to  pick  up  the  roll  of  paper  Evan 
gelist  had  given  him.  Remembering  it 
later,  he  ran  back  to  find  it.  Running 
to  make  up  the  time  lost,  he  suddenly 
found  himself  confronted  by  two  lions. 
He  was  afraid  to  pass  by  them  until  the 
porter  of  the  house  by  the  side  of  the 
road  told  him  that  the  lions  were  chained, 
and  that  he  had  nothing  to  fear.  The 
porter  then  asked  Christian  to  come  into 
the  house.  There  he  was  well-treated 
and  shown  some  of  the  relics  of  Biblical 
antiquity  by  four  virgins,  Discretion, 
Prudence,  Piety,  and  Charity.  They  gave 
him  good  advice  and  sent  him  on  his 
journey  armed  with  the  sword  and  shield 
of  Christian  faith. 

In  the  Valley  of  Humiliation,  Christian 
was  forced  to  fight  the  giant  devil,  Apol- 
lyon,  whose  body  was  covered  with  the 
shiny  scales  of  pride.  In  this  battle  Chris 
tian  was  wounded,  but  after  he  had 
chased  away  the  devil,  he  healed  his 
wounds  with  leaves  from  the  Tree  of 
Life  which  grew  nearby.  After  the  Valley 
of  Humiliation  came  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  of  Death  in  which  Christian  had 
to  pass  one  of  the  gates  to  Hell.  In  order 


749 


to  save  himself  from  die  devils  who  issued 
out  of  that  terrible  hole,  he  recited  some 
of  the  verses  from  the  Psalms. 

Having  passed  through  this  danger,  he 
had  to  go  by  the  caves  of  the  old  giants, 
Pope  and  Pagan,  and  when  he  had  done 
so  he  caught  up  with  a  fellow  traveler, 
Faithful.  As  the  two  companions  went 
along,  they  met  Evangelist,  who  warned 
them  of  the  dangers  in  the  town  of  Vanity 
Fair. 

Vanity  Fair  was  a  town  of  ancient 
foundation  which  since  the  beginning  of 
time  had  tried  to  lure  men  away  from  the 
path  to  Heaven.  Here  all  the  vanities  of 
the  world  were  sold,  and  the  people  who 
dwelt  there  were  cruel  and  stupid  and 
had  no  love  for  travelers  such  as  Christian 
and  Faithful.  Having  learned  these 
things,  the  two  companions  promised  to 
be  careful  and  went  on  down  into  the 
town.  There  they  were  arrested  and  tried 
because  they  would  buy  none  of  the 
town's  goods.  Faithful  was  sentenced  to 
be  burned  alive  and  Christian  was  put 
in  prison.  When  Faithful  died  in  the 
fire,  a  chariot  came  down  from  Heaven 
and  took  him  up  to  God.  Christian  es 
caped  from  the  prison.  Accompanied  by 
a  young  man  named  Hopeful,  who  had 
been  impressed  by  Faithful's  reward,  he 
set  off  once  more. 

They  passed  through  the  Valley  of 
Ease,  where  they  were  tempted  to  dig  in 
a  silver  mine  free  to  all.  As  they  left 
the  valley,  they  saw  the  pillar  of  salt 


which  had  once  been  Lot's  wife.  Becom 
ing  lost,  they  were  captured  by  a  giant, 
Despair,  who  lived  in  Doubting  Castle, 
and  were  locked  in  the  vaults  beneath 
the  castle  walls.  There  they  lay  until 
Christian  remembered  he  had  a  key  called 
Promise  in  his  pocket,  and  with  this  they 
escaped  from  the  prison. 

They  met  the  four  sheperds,  Knowl 
edge,  Experience,  Watchful,  and  Sincere, 
who  showed  them  the  Celestial  Gate  and 
warned  them  of  the  paths  to  Hell.  Then 
the  two  pilgrims  passed  by  the  Valley  of 
Conceit,  where  they  were  met  by  Ignor 
ance  and  other  men  who  had  not  kept  to 
the  straight  and  narrow  path.  They 
passed  on  to  the  country  of  Beulah.  Far 
off  they  saw  the  gates  of  the  city  of 
Heaven  glistening  with  pearls  and  pre 
cious  stones.  Thinking  that  all  their 
troubles  were  behind  them,  they  lay 
down  to  rest. 

When  they  went  on  toward  the  city, 
they  came  to  the  River  of  Death.  They 
entered  the  river  and  began  to  wade 
through  the  water.  Soon  Christian  be 
came  afraid,  and  the  more  afraid  he 
became  the  deeper  the  waters  rolled. 
Hopeful  shouted  to  him  to  have  hope  and 
faith.  Cheered  by  these  words,  Christian 
became  less  afraid,  the  water  became  less 
deep,  and  finally  they  both  got  across 
safely.  They  ran  up  the  hill  toward 
Heaven.  Shining  angels  led  them  through 
the  gates. 


THE  PILOT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Revolutionary  Wax 

Locale:  Northeastern  coast  of  England 

First  published:  1823 

Principal  characters: 

LT.  RICHARD  BARNSTABLE,  commander  of  the  Ariel 

MR.  EDWARD  GRIFFITH,  an  officer  aboard  an  American  frigate 

LONG  TOM  COFFIN,  coxswain  of  the  Ariel 

MR.  MERRY,  a  midshipman 

MR.  GRAY,  the  pilot,  in  reality  John  Paul  Jones 

COLONEL  HOWARD,  a  Tory 

KATHERTNE  PLOWDEN,  his  niece 


750 


CECILIA  HOWARD,  another  niece  of  Colonel  Howard 
CAPTAIN  MANUAL,  an  officer  of  the  Marine  Corps 
CAPTAIN  BORROUGHCLIFFE,  a  British  officer 
CHRISTOPHER  DILLON,  kinsman  of  Colonel  Howard 
ALICE  DUNSCOMBE,  friend  of  Katherine  and  Cecilia 


Critique: 

While  a  number  of  earlier  poems  and 
stories  had  presented  fragmentary  pic 
tures  of  seafaring  life  and  some  details 
of  the  handling  of  ships,  it  was  not  until 
1823,  when  Cooper's  sea  romance  ap 
peared,  that  the  first  genuine  sea  novel 
was  published.  For  the  technical  ma 
terial  of  his  story  Cooper  drew  upon  his 
six  years  of  service  in  the  United  States 
Navy.  Since  the  time  of  its  publication 
the  novel  has  been  popular  with  readers 
of  many  lands  and  all  ages.  While  Cooper 
never  names  the  pilot  whose  activities 
give  the  novel  its  tide,  it  is  generally 
understood  that  the  unknown  seaman 
was  John  Paul  Jones. 

The  Story: 

Toward  the  close  of  a  bleak  wintry 
day  during  the  American  Revolution,  a 
small  schooner  and  a  frigate  sailed  through 
shoal  waters  off  the  northeastern  coast  of 
England  and  anchored  in  a  small  bay  be 
neath  some  towering  cliffs.  As  darkness 
settled,  a  whaleboat  was  put  ashore  from 
the  schooner  Ariel.  The  boat  was  in 
charge  of  the  Ariel's  commander,  Lieu 
tenant  Richard  Barnstable,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  make  a  landing  near  the  cliffs 
and  bring  off  a  pilot  known  only  as  Mr. 
Gray. 

With  the  aid  of  a  weather-beaten  old 
Nantucket  whaler,  Long  Tom  Coffin, 
Barnstable  climbed  the  cliff  and  there 
met  his  mysterious  passenger,  a  man  of 
middle  height  and  sparing  speech.  Be 
fore  he  had  completed  his  mission,  how 
ever,  he  also  encountered  Katherine  Plow- 
den,  his  fiancee,  who  gave  him  a  letter 
and  a  signal  book.  The  girl  was  staying 
temporarily  at  the  St.  Ruth's  Abbey 
manor  house,  the  home  of  her  uncle, 
Colonel  Howard,  a  wealthy  South  Caro 
lina  Tory  who  had  fled  from  America  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war^  From  her  Bam- 


stable  learned  that  another  niece,  Cecilia 
Howard,  and  her  friend,  Alice  Duns- 
combe,  were  also  guests  at  the  abbey, 
Cecilia  was  in  love  with  Lieutenant  Ed 
ward  Griffith,  first  officer  aboard  the 
frigate.  Alice  Dunscombe  was  reported 
to  be  in  love  with  the  mysterious  pilot, 
but  she  refused  to  many  him  because  she 
was  completely  Loyalist  in  her  sympa 
thies. 

Darkness  had  fallen  by  the  time  the 
pilot  had  been  put  aboard  the  deck  of 
the  frigate,  and  a  storm  was  rising.  Cap 
tain  Munson  of  the  frigate  alone  knew 
the  pilot's  identity,  a  secret  concealed 
from  everyone  else  aboard  the  ship  and 
its  escort,  the  Ariel.  Captain  Munson, 
seeing  the  pilot  by  the  light  of  the  battle- 
lanterns  on  deck,  thought  him  greatly 
changed  in  appearance  since  their  last 
meeting. 

As  the  storm  rose,  the  pilot  guided  the 
frigate  safely  through  dangerous,  wind- 
lashed  shoal  waters  and  cut  to  open  sea. 
At  sunrise  the  frigate  signaled  the  Ariel 
and  ordered  Barnstable  to  go  aboard  the 
larger  ship  for  a  council  of  war.  There 
plans  were  made  to  harass  the  English 
by  sending  landing  parties  ashore  to  raid 
the  mansions  and  estates  of  the  gentry  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Barnstable  wanted  these  expeditions  to 
serve  another  purpose,  for  he  hoped  to 
rescue  Katherine  Plowden  and  Cecilia 
Howard  from  the  abbey,  where  they  lived 
unhappily  with  Colonel  Howard,  their 
uncle  and  guardian. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  abbey,  Colonel 
Howard  was  holding  a  conference  with 
Christopher  Dillon,  a  kinsman,  and  Cap 
tain  Borroughcliffe,  a  British  officer  in 
charge  of  a  small  detachment  of  troops 
stationed  at  the  abbey.  Dillon,  an  im 
poverished  gentleman,  hoped  to  marry, 
with  the  colonel's  approval,  one  of  his 


751 


wealthy  cousins.  The  three  men  dis 
cussed  the  progress  of  the  American  Revo 
lution,  other  political  questions,  and  the 
piracies  of  John  Paul  Jones.  They  agreed 
that  extra  precautions  should  be  taken, 
for  there  were  rumors  that  Jones  himself 
had  been  seen  in  the  neighborhood. 

That  night  Griffith  and  the  pilot,  ac 
companied  by  a  Marine  Corps  captain 
named  Manual,  went  ashore  on  a  scout 
ing  expedition.  Because  of  Griffith's  im 
prudent  conduct,  they  were  seen  and 
seized.  When  a  sentry  reported  the  ar 
rest  of  strange  seamen  lurking  in  the 
neighborhood,  Captain  Borroughcliffe 
ordered  them  brought  to  the  abbey  for 
examination. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  abbey  the  pris 
oners  would  say  only  that  they  were 
seamen  out  of  employment,  a  suspicious 
circumstance  in  itself.  When  the  seamen 
offered  no  further  information  of  any 
consequence,  they  were  imprisoned  to 
await  Borroughcliffe's  pleasure.  Kather- 
ine  and  Cecilia  bribed  the  sentry  on  duty 
and  obtained  permission  to  visit  the  pris 
oners.  They  recognized  Griffith  in  dis 
guise.  Alice  Dunscombe  also  went  to 
visit  the  pilot,  whom  she  recognized. 
After  drinking  too  much  wine  at  dinner, 
Borroughcliffe  began  to  interview  the 
men  and  in  his  intoxicated  condition  un 
wittingly  helped  them  to  escape. 

Believing  that  the  men  had  come  from 
a  ship  lying  offshore,  Dillon  mounted  a 
horse  and  rode  to  a  neighboring  bay, 
where  the  war  cutter  Alacrity  lay  at  an 
chor.  Alarmed  at  the  possible  presence 
*jf  an  American  ship  in  the  neighborhood, 
*he  cutter  put  out  to  sea,  with  Dillon 
*\mong  its  volunteer  crew.  Barnstable  and 
Long  Tom  Coffin,  waiting  in  the  Ariel's 
whaleboat,  engaged  the  cutter  in  a  furi 
ous  battle  that  ended  when  Coffin  pinned 
the  captain  of  the  cutter  to  the  mast  with 
his  whaler's  harpoon.  Dillon  was  among 
the  prisoners  taken.  Frightened,  he 
offered  to  return  to  the  abbey  and,  in 
ceturn  for  his  own  freedom,  secure  the 
release  of  the  Americans  held  there. 
After  their  escape,  the  pilot  left  Grif 


fith  and  Manual,  who  rejoined  a  party  of 
marines  that  had  remained  in  hiding 
while  their  captain  went  with  Griffith 
and  the  pilot  to  reconnoiter  the  abbey. 
Attacked  by  Borroughcliffe  and  his  troops, 
the  marines  were  surrounded.  Griffith 
was  recaptured  and  Manual  was  forced 
to  surrender. 

Trusting  Dillon's  word  of  honor,  Barn- 
stable  had  sent  Long  Tom  Coffin  with 
Dillon  to  the  abbey  to  arrange  for  the 
transfer  of  prisoners.  But  Dillon,  dis 
honoring  his  parole,  had  Coffin  held  pris 
oner  while  he  and  Borroughcliffe  planned 
to  trap  Barnstable  and  his  men.  When 
Borroughcliffe  boasted  of  his  intentions, 
Coffin  made  a  surprise  attack  upon  him 
and  seized  and  bound  the  British  officer. 
He  then  followed  Dillon  to  the  apart 
ments  of  Katherine  and  Cecilia  and  there 
took  Dillon  prisoner.  He  succeeded  in 

fitting  Dillon  aboard  the  Ariel  as  a 
ritish  battery  on  the  shore  opened  fire 
on  the  schooner.  A  lucky  shot  wrecked 
her  mainmast  as  the  schooner  put  out 
to  sea,  where  a  heavy  storm  completed 
the  Ariel's  destruction. 

Before  the  schooner  sank,  Barnstable,  a 
true  captain,  decided  to  go  down  with 
his  ship,  and  he  ordered  Mr.  Merry,  a 
midshipman,  to  take  charge  of  the  crew 
and  lower  the  boats.  Coffin  threw  Barn- 
stable  overboard  and  in  this  manner  saved 
his  commander's  life.  The  ship  went 
down  with  Coffin  and  Dillon  aboard. 
When  Dillon's  body  was  later  washed  up 
by  the  sea,  Barnstable  ordered  his  burial. 
Shortly  afterward  Mr.  Merry  appeared 
at  the  abbey  in  the  disguise  of  a  peddler. 
Barnstable  himself  signaled  by  means  of 
flags  to  Katherine,  using  signals  from 
the  code  book  which  she  had  given  him. 
Later  they  met  secretly  and  laid  plans 
for  surprising  the  abbey  and  the  soldiers 
who  guarded  it.  Borroughcliffe  had  wind 
of  the  plot,  however,  and  Barnstable 
walked  into  Borroughcliffe's  ambush.  But 
at  this  juncture  the  pilot  arrived  with  a 
party  of  marines  from  the  frigate  and 
made  prisoners  of  the  Tories  and  the 
British. 

752 


Later  Griffith  released  Borroughcliffe 
and  his  soldiers  because  Borroughciiffe 
had  behaved  in  an  honorable  manner 
toward  his  prisoners.  There  was  a  final 
interview  between  Alice  Dunscornbe  and 
the  pilot.  During  their  talk  she  addressed 
him  as  John  and  said  that  if  she  should 
speak  his  real  name  the  whole  country 
side  would  ring  with  it.  The  pilot  insisted 
that  he  would  continue  his  activities  for 
the  cause  of  patriotism,  regardless  of  the 
unsavory  reputation  it  might  gain  for  him 
in  England.  Colonel  Howard  and  his 
two  nieces  were  taken  aboard  the  frigate 
for  the  return  voyage  to  America. 

But  the  American  ship  was  not  yet  out 
of  danger.  The  next  morning  a  man-of- 
war  broke  through  the  morning  mists,  her 
decks  cleared  for  action.  There  was  tre 
mendous  activity  aboard  the  frigate  in 
preparation  for  the  battle,  and  the  women 
were  taken  below  for  safety  as  the  Eng 
lish  ship  of  the  line  blazed  a  three-tiered 
broadside  at  the  American  vessel.  One 
shot  struck  Captain  Munson  and  cut  him 


down.  Griffith,  who  now  knew  the  pilot's 
identity  begged  for  permission  to  reveal 
it  to  the  crew,  to  encourage  them  in  the 
fight,  but  the  pilot  refused.  Meanwhile 
the  British  ship  had  been  reinforced  by 
two  others,  but  the  Americans  were  lucky 
enough  to  disable  the  smallest  of  their 
attackers.  Then,  as  the  other  ships  closed 
in  upon  the  battered  American  ship,  the 
pilot  took  the  wheel  and  daringly  guided 
her  through  the  shoal  waters  that  only  he 
knew  well.  Out-maneuvered,  the  pursu 
ing  British  ships  dropped  behind. 

Colonel  Howard,  wounded  during  the 
engagement,  lived  long  enough  to  see 
his  nieces  married  by  the  ship's  chaplain 
to  their  lovers.  He  died  insisting  that  he 
was  too  old  to  change  his  politics  and 
blessing  the  king. 

The  frigate  sailed  to  Holland,  where 
the  pilot  was  put  ashore.  To  all  but 
Griffith,  among  those  who  watched  his 
small  boat  dwindling  to  a  speck  against 
the  horizon,  his  identity  remained  a  mys 
tery. 


THE  PIONEERS 

Type,  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1793 

Locale:  New  York  State 

First  published:  1823 

Principal  characters: 

JUDGE  TEMPLE,  a  frontier  landowner 

ELIZABETH  TEMPLE,  his  daughter 

NATTY  BUMPPO,  an  old  hunter,  sometimes  called  Leatherstocking 

OLIVER  EDWARDS,  in  reality  Edward  Oliver  Effingham,  Natty *s  young  friend 

LSTDIAN  JOHN,  Natty 's  Indian  companion 

HTBAM  DOOLTTTLE,  a  local  magistrate 

Critique: 

The  Pioneers,  or  The  Sources  of  the 
Susquehanna  was  the  first  of  the  Leather- 
stocking  Tales  written  by  Cooper.  A 
romantic  story  of  life  in  upstate  New 
York  ten  years  after  the  Revolutionary 
War,  it  has  historical  importance  as  the 
first  true  romance  of  die  frontier  in 
American  literature.  The  novel  is  filled 
with  scenes  of  hunting  and  trapping  life, 
the  description  of  Templeton  being 


drawn  from  Cooper's  memories  of  his 
own  boyhood  in  Cooperstown.  Although 
romantic  in  effect,  the  novel  presents 
with  considerable  realism  the  character 
of  Natty  Bumppo,  the  old  hunter  and 
frontiersman.  His  fate  and  the  death  of 
Indian  John  point  to  the  tragedy  of  the 
Indian  and  the  wilderness  scout;  neither 
had  a  place  in  the  life  of  a  developed 
frontier. 


753 


Hie  Story: 

On  a  cold  December  day  in  1793, 
Judge  Temple  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth 
vpere  traveling  by  sleigh  through  a  snow- 
covered  tract  of  wilderness  near  the  set- 
dement  of  Templeton.  Elizabeth,  who 
had  been  away  from  her  home  attending 
a  female  seminary,  was  now  returning  to 
preside  over  her  father's  household  in  the 
community  in  which  he  had  been  a  pio 
neer  settler  after  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Hearing  the  baying  of  hounds,  the  judge 
decided  that  Leatherstocking,  an  old 
hunter,  had  started  game  in  the  hills,  and 
he  ordered  his  coachman  to  stop  the  sleigh 
so  he  could  have  a  shot  at  the  deer  if 
it  came  in  his  direction.  A  few  minutes 
later,  as  a  great  buck  leaped  into  the 
road,  the  judge  fired  both  barrels  of  his 
fowling  piece  at  the  animal,  but  appar 
ently  without  effect.  Then  a  third  report 
and  a  fourth  were  heard,  and  the  buck 
dropped  dead  in  a  snowbank. 

At  the  same  time  Natty  Bumppo,  the 
old  hunter,  and  a  young  companion  ap 
peared  from  the  woodland.  The  judge 
insisted  that  he  had  shot  the  buck,  but 
Leatherstocking,  by  accounting  for  all  the 
shots  fired,  proved  the  judge  could  not 
have  killed  the  animal.  The  argument 
ended  when  the  young  stranger  revealed 
that  he  had  been  wounded  by  one  of  the 
shots  fired  by  the  judge.  Elizabeth  and 
her  father  then  insisted  that  he  accom 
pany  them  into  the  village  in  their  sleigh, 
so  he  could  have  his  wound  dressed  as 
soon  as  possible. 

The  young  man  got  into  the  sleigh 
with  obvious  reluctance  and  said  little 
during  the  drive.  In  a  short  time  the 
party  arrived  at  the  Temple  mansion, 
where  his  wound  was  treated.  In  answer 
to  the  judge's  questions,  he  gave  his  name 
as  Oliver  Edwards.  His  manner  remained 
distant  and  reserved.  After  he  had  de 
parted,  a  servant  in  the  Temple  home  re 
ported  that  Edwards  had  appeared  three 
weeks  before  in  the  company  of  old 
Leatherstocking  and  that  he  lived  in  a 
nearby  cabin  with  the  hunter  and  an 
Indian  known  as  Indian  John. 


Judge  Temple,  wishing  to  make 
amends  for  having  accidentally  wounded 
Edwards,  offered  him  a  position  as  his 
secretary.  When  Elizabeth  added  her 
own  entreaties  to  those  of  her  father, 
Edwards  finally  accepted  the  judge's  offer, 
with  the  understanding  that  he  would  be 
free  to  terminate  his  employment  at  any 
time.  For  a  while  he  attended  faithfully 
and  earnestly  to  his  duties  in  Judge 
Temple's  mansion  during  the  day,  but 
his  nights  he  spent  in  Leatherstocking's 
cabin.  So  much  secrecy  surrounded  his 
comings  and  goings,  and  the  reserve  of 
Leatherstocking  and  his  Indian  friend, 
that  Richard  Jones,  the  sheriff  and  a 
kinsman  of  the  judge,  became  suspicious. 
Among  other  things,  he  wondered  why 
Natty  always  kept  his  cabin  closed  and 
never  allowed  anyone  except  the  Indian 
and  Edwards  to  enter  it.  Jones  and  some 
others  decided  that  Natty  had  discovered 
a  mine  and  was  working  it.  Jones  also 
suspected  that  Edwards  was  an  Indian 
half-breed,  his  father  a  Delaware  chief. 

Hiram  Doolittle,  the  local  magistrate, 
prowled  around  the  shack  and  set  free  the 
dogs  guarding  it.  In  the  meantime  Eliza 
beth  and  Louisa  Grant,  the  minister's 
daughter,  went  walking  in  the  woods. 
There  they  were  attacked  by  a  savage 
panther  and  were  saved  only  by  the 
timely  arrival  of  Leatherstocking,  who 
shot  the  animal.  But  Natty  had  also  shot 
a  deer,  in  defiance  of  Judge  Temple's 
strict  game  laws.  With  the  charge  that 
the  old  hunter  had  killed  a  deer  out  of 
season  as  his  pretext,  Doolittle  persuaded 
Judge  Temple  to  sign  a  warrant  so  that 
the  magistrate  could  gain  entrance  to  the 
cabin  and  search  it.  Jones  was  more  con 
vinced  than  ever  that  Leatherstocking 
was  secretly  smelting  ore  he  had  mined. 

But  when  Doolittle  went  to  the  cabin, 
Leatherstocking,  rifle  in  hand,  refused 
him  entrance.  Then  the  magistrate  at 
tempted  to  force  his  way  over  the  thresh 
old,  but  the  old  hunter  seized  him  and 
threw  him  twenty  feet  down  an  embank 
ment.  As  the  result  of  his  treatment  of 


754 


an  officer,  Leatherstocking  was  arrested. 
Found  guilty,  he  was  given  a  month's 
jail  sentence,  a  fine,  and  placed  in  the 
stocks  for  a  few  hours.  When  Elizabeth 
went  to  see  what  assistance  she  could 
give  the  humiliated  old  woodsman,  she 
learned  he  was  planning  to  escape.  Ed 
wards,  who  had  given  up  his  position 
with  the  judge,  was  planning  to  flee  with 
his  aged  friend;  he  had  provided  a  cart 
in  which  to  carry  the  old  hunter  to  safety. 
Elizabeth  promised  to  meet  Leatherstock 
ing  the  following  day  on  the  top  of  a 
nearby  mountain  and  to  bring  with  her 
a  can  of  gunpowder  he  needed. 

The  next  day  Elizabeth  and  her  friend 
Louisa  started  out  on  their  expedition  to 
meet  Leatherstocking.  On  the  way  Louisa 
changed  her  mind  and  turned  back,  de 
claring  that  she  dared  not  walk  unpro 
tected  through  the  woods  where  they 
had  lately  been  menaced  by  a  panther. 
Elizabeth  went  on  alone  until  she  came 
to  a  clearing  in  which  she  found  old 
Indian  John,  now  dressed  in  the  war 
costume  and  feathers  of  a  great  Mohican 
chief.  When  she  stopped  to  speak  to  the 
Indian,  she  suddenly  became  aware  of 
dense  clouds  of  smoke  drifting  across  the 
clearing  and  discovered  that  the  whole 
mountainside  was  ablaze.  At  that  mo 
ment  Edwards  appeared,  followed  by 
Leatherstocking,  who  led  them  to  a  cave 
in  the  side  of  the  mountain.  There  the 
old  Indian  died  of  exhaustion,  and  Eliza 
beth  learned  that  he  had  been  in  earlier 
days  Chingachgook,  a  great  and  noble 
warrior  of  the  Mohican  tribe. 

When  danger  of  the  fire  had  passed, 
Edwards  conducted  Elizabeth  down  the 
mountainside  until  she  was  within  hear 
ing  of  a  party  of  men  who  were  looking 
for  her.  Before  they  parted,  Edwards 
promised  he  would  soon  reveal  his  true 
identity. 

The  next  day  the  sheriff  led  a  posse 
up  the  mountain  in  search  of  Leather- 
stocking  and  those  who  had  aided  him  in 
his  escape  from  jail.  Leatherstocking  was 
again  prepared  to  defend  with  his  rifle  the 
cave  to  which  he  had  taken  Elizabeth 


the  day  before,  but  Edwards  declared 
that  the  time  had  now  come  to  let  the 
truth  be  known.  He  and  Natty  brought 
from  the  depths  of  the  cave  an  old  man 
seated  in  a  chair.  The  stranger's  face  was 
grave  and  dignified,  but  his  vacant  eyes 
showed  that  his  mind  was  gone.  Edwards 
announced  that  the  old  man  was  really 
the  owner  of  the  property  on  which  they 
stood.  Judge  Temple  interrupted  with 
a  shout  of  surprise  and  greeted  the  old 
man  as  Major  Effingham. 

The  young  man  told  his  story.  His 
name,  he  said,  was  Edward  Oliver  Effing- 
ham,  and  he  was  the  grandson  of  the  old 
man  who  sat  before  them.  His  own  father 
had  been,  before  the  Revolutionary  War, 
a  close  friend  of  Judge  Temple.  They 
had  gone  into  business  together,  but  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  found  them  on  oppo 
site  sides  during  the  struggle.  Judge 
Temple  had  some  money  entrusted  to 
him  by  his  friend,  money  which  actually 
belonged  to  his  friend's  father,  but  when 
he  received  no  reply  to  letters  he  wrote 
to  the  Effinghams  he  at  last  decided  that 
all  the  family  had  been  lost  in  a  ship 
wreck  off  Nova  Scotia.  The  money  he 
had  invested  in  his  own  enterprises. 

The  judge  had  never  met  Major  Effing- 
ham;  he  would  not  have  recognized  him 
if  he  had  seen  the  helpless  old  man  who 
had  for  years  been  hidden  in  the  cabin 
on  the  outskirts  of  Templeton.  During 
those  years  he  was  nursed  faithfully  by 
Leatherstocking  and  his  Indian  friend; 
by  Leatherstocking  because  he  had  served 
with  the  major  on  the  frontier  years 
before,  by  Indian  John  because  the  major 
was  an  adopted  member  of  the  Mohican 
tribe. 

Judge  Temple  ordered  that  the  old 
man  be  carried  to  the  Temple  mansion 
at  once,  where  he  would  receive  the  best 
of  care.  Old  Major  Effingham  thought 
himself  back  home  once  more,  and  his 
eyes  gleamed  with  joy.  He  died,  happy 
and  well  cared  for,  soon  afterward. 

Edward  Effingham  also  explained  his 
belief  that  Judge  Temple  had  stolen  his 
father's  property  and  the  money  left  in 


755 


trust  years  before.  In  his  resentment  he 
iad  come  to  Ternpleton  to  assist  his 
grandfather  and  regain  in  some  manner 
the  property  which  he  believed  Judge 
Temple  had  unrightfully  possessed.  Now 
the  judge  xvas  happy  to  return  that  part 
of  the  property  which  belonged  to  the 
Effinghams,  and  there  was  a  reconcilia 
tion  between  the  t\vo  men.  As  it  turned 
out,  however,  the  property  stayed  in  the 
family,  for  Elizabeth  and  Edward  Effing- 
ham  were  married  within  a  short  time. 

Elizabeth  and  Edward  Ernngham 
wanted  to  build  a  new  cabin  for  Leather- 
atocking,  but  the  old  hunter  refused  their 


offer.  He  intended  to  go  off  into  the 
woods  to  hunt  and  trap  in  the  free  wil 
derness  until  he  died.  Settlements  and 
towns  were  not  for  him.  He  would  not 
listen  to  their  pleas  but  set  out  soon  after 
ward  on  his  long  journey,  pausing  only 
long  enough  to  view  the  stone  tablet  on 
Indian  John's  grave,  a  monument  Edward 
Ernngham  had  erected.  Then  he  trudged 
off  toward  the  woods,  his  long  rifle  over 
his  shoulder.  Elizabeth  and  her  husband 
watched  him  go.  Tears  were  in  their 
eyes  as  they  waved  a  last  farewell  to  the 
old  hunter  just  before  he  disappeared 
into  the  forest. 


THE  PIT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Frank  Morris   (1870-1902) 

Type  of  ?lot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:   1890's 

Locale:  Chicago 

First  published:   1903 

Principal  characters: 

CURTIS  JADWTN,  a  speculator  in  wheat 

LAURA  DEARBORN,  later  his  wife 

SHELDON  CORTHEJLL,  an  artist  in  love  with  Laura 

MR.  AND  MRS.  CRESS LER,  friends  of  the  Jadwins 

GRETRY,  Jadwin's  broker 

Critique; 

The  Pit,  A  Story  of  Chicago,  is  an 
exciting  story  about  the  Board  of  Trade 
in  Chicago  and  a  man  who  for  a  time 
cornered  the  wheat  market  of  the  world. 
Norris,  who  intended  to  write  a  trilogy 
about  wheat,  completed  the  first  two 
books.  The  second  novel  of  the  planned 
trilogy,  The  Pit  tells  how  wheat  is  bought 
and  sold  on  the  Board  of  Trade.  Along 
with  the  interest  in  the  financial  ex 
plorations  of  the  novel,  there  is  presented 
a  moving  love  story  of  two  strong  but 
very  human  characters. 


The  Story: 

From  the  first  evening  that  Laura 
Dearborn  met  Curtis  Jadwin  she  knew 
that  she  interested  him.  She  had  attended 
the  opera  with  her  sister  Page  and  her 


Aunt  Wess,  as  the  guests  of  some  very- 
old  friends,  the  Cresslers.  Jadwin  had 
also  been  a  guest  that  evening,  and  she 
found  the  marked  attention  which  he 
paid  her  so  flattering  that  she  listened 
only  absently  to  avowals  of  love  from 
her  old  and  devoted  suitor,  Sheldon  Cor- 
thell.  Corthell  was  an  artist.  The  life  of 
the  capitalist  who  made  and  broke  for 
tunes  and  human  lives  from  the  floor  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  seemed  to  Laura 
more  romantic  than  painting. 

The  next  day  Mrs.  Cressler  told  Laura 
part  of  Jadwin's  story.  He  had  been  bom 
into  a  poor  family,  had  worked  to  educate 
himself.  When,  in  default  of  a  loan,  he 
gained  possession  of  some  land  in  Chi 
cago,  he  sold  it,  bought  more  real  estate, 
and  by  shrewd  dealings  now  owned  a 


THE  PIT  by  Frank  Norris.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,   Doubleday  &  Co.,   Inc.     Copyright,    1903,   by 
Doubleday  &  Co.,   Inc.     Renewed,   1930,   by  Jeaanette  Preston. 


756 


portion  of  one  of  the  wealthiest  sections 
of  real  estate  in  Chicago.  He  was  also 
speculating  in  the  wheat  market,  and 
he  was  a  familiar  figure  on  the  floor  of 
the  Board  of  Trade. 

Jadwin,  stopping  by  the  Board  of 
Trade  one  morning  in  answer  to  the 
summons  of  his  broker,  Gretry,  paused 
in  the  Pit — the  huge  room  downstairs 
in  which  all  the  bidding  took  place — to 
watch  the  frenzied  excitement  of  bidders 
and  sellers.  Gretry  had  advance  informa 
tion  that  in  a  few  days  the  French  gov 
ernment  would  introduce  a  bill  placing 
heavy  import  duties  on  all  foreign  goods. 
When  this  news  became  widespread,  the 
price  of  wheat  would  drop  considerably. 
Gretry  urged  Jadwin  to  sell  his  shares 
at  once  and  Jadwin  agreed. 

The  deal  was  a  tremendous  success. 
Jadwin  pocketed  a  large  profit.  The 
Cresslers  tried  to  persuade  Jadwin  to  stop 
his  speculating.  Mr.  Cressler  had  almost 
ruined  himself  at  one  time  through  his 
gambling  with  wheat,  and  he  feared 
that  the  same  thing  might  eventually 
happen  to  his  friend. 

But  Jadwin  was  too  much  interested 
in  Laura  to  pay  attention  to  the  warning 
or  even  to  hear  the  words  of  his  friends. 
One  evening  at  the  Cresslers  he  asked 
Laura  to  marry  him.  Laura,  in  a  capri 
cious  mood,  said  that  although  she  loved 
no  one  as  yet  she  might  some  day  come 
to  love  him.  She  had  given  Sheldon 
Corthell  the  same  encouragement.  That 
night,  ashamed  of  her  coquetry,  she  wrote 
to  both  men  telling  them  that  she  did  not 
love  either,  and  that  if  they  were  to  con 
tinue  friends  they  must  never  speak  of 
love  to  her  again.  Corthell  accepted  her 
refusal  and  left  for  Europe.  Jadwin  came 
to  call  on  Laura  while  she  was  out  and 
refused  to  leave  until  he  had  spoken  to 
her.  He  was  successful  in  his  suit  and 
they  were  married  in  July. 

The  early  years  of  their  marriage  were 
completely  happy.  Their  home  was  a 
mansion,  exquisitely  furnished  and  with 
beautiful  grounds.  At  first  Laura  found 
it  difficult  to  adjust  herself  to  her  lux 


urious  surroundings,  but  as  time  passed 
she  found  great  pleasure  in  satisfying  her 
interest  in  art,  decorating  her  home,  and 
entertaining  her  friends. 

Jadwin,  caught  up  once  more  in  the 
excitement  of  the  Pit,  invested  all  his 
money  in  successful  speculative  enter 
prises.  For  some  time  he  had  aligned 
himself  with  the  bears  in  the  wheat 
market.  But  now,  as  he  saw  that  the 
country  was  becoming  more  prosperous 
and  the  wheat  crops  were  increasing,  he 
decided  to  change  to  the  side  of  the 
bulls.  He  resolved  to  buy  as  much  wheat 
as  he  could  and,  if  possible,  to  corner  the 
market.  Luck  was  with  him.  One  year, 
when  European  crops  were  very  poor, 
Jadwin  bought  a  tremendous  amount  of 
wheat  at  a  low  price  and  determined  to 
hold  it  until  he  could  ask  his  own  price. 

Laura  was  worried  by  his  constant  at 
tendance  at  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  he 
promised  to  give  up  speculating  as  soon 
as  he  concluded  an  important  deal. 

One  evening  Laura  had  dinner  with 
Sheldon  Corthell,  who  had  returned  from 
Europe.  Late  that  night  Jadwin  came 
home  with  the  announcement  that  the 
deal  had  been  concluded  and  that  he  had 
cleared  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
He  kept  his  promise  to  give  up  speculat 
ing  in  the  Pit,  but  within  a  short  time 
he  grew  resdess.  He  began  again  to  try 
his  luck  in  the  wheat  market. 

Because  he  kept  his  activities  hidden 
from  the  public,  he  was  spoken  of  as 
the  unknown  bull.  After  he  had  pur 
chased  as  much  wheat  as  he  could,  it 
suddenly  became  evident  that  he  was  in 
a  position  to  corner  the  world's  wheat 
and  name  his  own  price.  Cressler,  mean 
time,  had  been  drawn  into  speculation 
by  the  group  of  bears  who  were  certain 
that  they  could  break  the  unknown  bulL 
He  had  no  idea  that  the  bull  was  his  own 
friend,  Jadwin. 

Weeks  went  by  while  Laura  saw  hei 
husband  only  at  breakfast.  He  spent 
his  days  and  many  of  his  nights  at  the 
board.  Laura,  lonely  and  unhappy,  be 
gan  to  see  more  and  more  of  CorthelL 


757 


Corthell,  still  in  love  with  Laura,  finally 
declared  his  feelings  to  her.  Laura  was 
kind  in  hex  dismissal,  but  she  still  loved 
her  husband. 

In  cornering  the  market,  Jadwin  had 
risen  upon  a  wave  of  power  and  pros 
perity.  But  he  began  to  have  strange, 
irritating  headaches  which  he  attempted 
to  ignore,  just  as  he  disregarded  his 
moods  of  loneliness  and  depression. 

Mrs.  Cressler  confided  that  her  own 
husband  was  not  well.  She  invited  Laura 
to  call  on  her  one  afternoon.  When 
Laura  arrived,  Mrs.  Cressler  was  not  yet 
home.  She  wandered  into  the  library 
and  saw  Mr.  Cressler  sitting  there.  He 
had  shot  himself  through  the  temple. 

Jadwin  was  horrified  when  he  real 
ized  that  Cressler  had  lost  all  his  money 
in  speculation  with  the  bears,  and  he 
felt  that  he  was  responsible  for  his 
friend's  death.  But  Jadwin  himself  was 
in  a  tight  spot.  Having  forced  the  price 
of  wheat  to  a  new  high,  he  was  now 


faced  by  the  necessity  of  cornering  a 
bumper  crop  in  addition  to  the  millions 
of  bushels  he  already  owned.  His  enemies 
were  waiting  for  the  time  when  the  un 
known  bull  could  buy  no  more  wheat 
At  that  moment  the  price  would  drop 
considerably.  Jadwin  put  every  penny 
he  owned  into  his  attempt  to  keep  wheat 
cornered,  but  he  wras  defeated  by  the 
wheat  itself.  The  grain  flowed  in,  mil 
lions  of  bushels  at  a  time.  Almost  out 
of  his  mind,  he  bought  and  bought,  and 
still  the  wheat  harvest  continued.  He  no 
longer  controlled  the  market.  He  was 
ruined. 

He  walked  into  his  home  one  night 
a  broken  man.  Laura  nursed  him  through 
days  and  nights  of  illness.  When  he  was 
well  enough,  the  two  set  out  for  the 
West  to  begin  life  again.  Although  they 
had  lost  their  money,  the  Jadwins  were 
much  happier  than  they  had  been  for 
many  years. 


THE  PLAYBOY  OF  THE  WESTERN  WORLD 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  John  Millmgton  Synge  (1871-1909) 

Ty^e  of  'plot:  Realistic  comedy 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  County  Alayo,  Ireland 

First  presented:    1907 

PmicifjaZ  characters: 

CHRISTOPHER  MAHON,  a  braggart 

OLD  MAHON,  his  father 

MARGARET  FT.AHP.RTY  (PEGEEN  MIKE),  his  sweetheart 

WIDOW  QUEST,  a  vilkger 

SHAWN  KEOGH,  a  young  farmer  in  love  with  Pegeen 

Critique: 

This  play  is  the  most  outstanding  of 
John  MlHngton  Synge's  Irish  dramas, 
and  in  it  Synge  has  used  the  beautiful 
lyrical  Irish  language  to  the  finest  effect. 
The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World  is 
tender,  ironical,  and  humorous  drama. 


The  Story: 

One  evening  a  young  -man  arrived  at 
a  small  inn  on  the  •wild  Mayo  coast  of 


Ireland  and  announced  that  he  had  run 
away  from  home.  He  said  his  name  was 
Christopher  Mahon  and  that  he  was 
running  away  because  he  had  killed  his 
father  during  a  fight.  The  farmers  who 
were  passing  the  time  in  the  inn  were 
very  much  pleased  by  his  exhibition  of 
courage.  Christopher  was  especially  ad 
mired  by  Pegeen,  the  pretty  young 
daughter  of  Michael  Flaherty,  the  inn- 


THE  PLAYBOY   OF   THE  WESTERN    WORLD    by  John   MJHington    Synge.      By   permission    of    Random 
House.  Inc.   Published  by  The  Modem  Library,  Inc.   Copyright,  1935,  by  The  Modern  Library,  lac. 


758 


keeper.  She,  along  with  the  others, 
pressed  the  young  man  to  tell  his  story 
over  and  over  again. 

At  home  Christopher  had  been  a  meek 
and  obedient  son,  domineered  by  his 
father.  He  accepted  the  insults  of  his 
parent  until  the  latter  tried  to  force  him 
into  marrying  a  rich  old  woman.  At 
last,  in  desperation,  he  hit  his  father 
over  the  head  with  a  loy.  Seeing  the  old 
man  fall,  Christopher  presumed  that  he 
was  dead. 

The  experience  at  the  inn  was  some 
thing  new  for  Christopher,  who  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life  was  looked  upon 
as  a  hero.  When  the  news  of  his  story 
spread  among  the  villagers,  they  flocked 
to  look  at  this  paragon  of  bravery.  The 
young  women  were  particularly  interested 
in  him — and  the  not  so  young  as  well. 
Dame  Quin,  a  middle-aged  widow,  was 
much  taken  with  the  young  taproom 
hero. 

But  Christopher  was  attracted  to  pretty 
Pegeen.  He  was  flattered  by  her  ad 
miration,  and  in  an  attempt  to  live  up 
to  her  opinion  of  him  he  began  to  adopt 
an  attitude  of  bravado.  Before  long  he 
himself  believed  that  he  had  done  a 
courageous  deed. 

Each  year  the  village  held  a  festival 
in  which  the  men  competed  with  each 
other  in  various  sports.  Christopher  was 
naturally  expected  to  take  part.  His  early 
timidity  having  long  since  disappeared, 
he  made  every  effort  to  appear  a  hero 
in  the  eyes  of  Pegeen,  to  whom  he  was 
now  openly  betrothed.  She  had  broken 
her  engagement  with  a  young  farmer, 
Shawn  Keogh,  soon  after  Christopher 
arrived  on  the  scene. 

While  her  Playboy,  as  Pegeen  called 
him,  was  taking  part  in  the  sports,  an 
old  man  came  to  the  inn.  He  was  look 
ing  for  a  young  man  whose  description 
fitted  Christopher's  appearance.  Dame 
Quin,  who  still  had  designs  on  the  boy, 
deliberately  misdirected  the  stranger.  But 
when  the  man  returned  from  his  wild 
goose  chase,  he  arrived  in  time  to  see 


Christopher  hailed  as  a  hero  because  he 
had  just  won  the  mule  race.  Old  Mahon, 
not  dead  from  Christopher's  blow,  recog 
nized  his  son  and  flew  into  a  rage.  He 
insisted  that  Christopher  go  home  with 
him,  and  by  his  angry  tirade  he  humil 
iated  his  son  in  front  of  the  spectators. 

But  the  Playboy  had  enjoyed  too  long 
the  thrill  of  being  a  hero.  He  did  not 
give  in  timidly  as  he  would  have  done 
at  an  earlier  time.  Much  to  his  father's 
astonishment,  he  struck  the  old  man  over 
the  head.  Once  again  it  appeared  that 
old  Mahon  was  dead.  But  the  reaction 
of  the  people  was  not  at  all  what  Christo 
pher  might  have  expected.  Killing  one's 
father  some  miles  away  was  one  thing. 
Killing  him  in  front  of  a  number  of 
spectators  who  might  be  involved  in  the 
affair  was  another.  The  people  muttered 
angrily  among  themselves,  and  even  Peg 
een  joined  with  them  in  denouncing  the 
murderer. 

Deciding  at  last  that  the  only  thing 
to  do  was  to  hang  Christopher  for  his 
crime,  they  tied  up  the  struggling  young 
man  and  prepared  to  lead  him  away.  But 
Old  Mahon  had  proved  himself  a  tough 
fellow  once  before,  and  he  did  so  again. 
The  first  blow  that  Christopher  had  given 
him  had  only  stunned  him,  so  that  soon 
after  the  boy  ran  away  his  father  was 
able  to  follow  him  to  the  village.  Now 
the  second  blow  had  merely  knocked  him 
unconscious  for  a  short  time.  As  Chris 
topher  struggled  and  the  noose  was 
slipped  over  his  head,  Mahon  crawled 
through  the  door  on  his  hands  and  knees. 

While  the  villagers  stood  around 
dumbfounded,  he  walked  over  to  his 
son  and  quickly  untied  him.  Far  from 
being  angry  with  Christopher  for  hitting 
him,  he  was  pleased  to  discover  that  his 
son  was  not  the  timid  weakling  he  had 
thought  him  to  be.  The  two  left  the 
inn,  arm  in  arm,  deaf  to  the  pleas  of 
Pegeen,  both  of  them  jeering  at  the 
foolishness  of  the  people  on  the  Mayo 
coast 


759 


POINT  COUNTER  POINT 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Aldous  Huxley  (1894-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1920's 

Locale:  England 

First   published:    1928 

Principal  characters: 

PHILIP  QUARUES,  a  novelist 

ELINOR,  Philip's  wife 

SIDNEY  QUARLES,  Philip's  father 

RACHEL,  Philip's  mother 

JOHN  BIDLAKE,  Elinor's  father 

MRS.  BIDLAKE,  her  mother 

LITTLE  PHILIP,  Philip's  and  Elinor's  sor 

BUBLAP,  editor  of  Literary  World 

BEATRICE  GILRAY,  his  mistress 

SPANPRELL,  a  cynic 

EVERARD  WEBLEY,  a  disciple  of  force 

WALTER  BIDLAKE,   Elinor's  brother 

MARJORIE   CARUNG,  Walter's  mistress 

LUCY  TANTAMOUNT,  Walter's  infatuation 


Critique: 

Point  Counter  Point  contains  a  novel 
within  a  novel.  Within  the  framework 
of  the  outer  novel,  Huxley  places  a  novel 
ist  who  observes  the  activities  of  his  own 
world  of  fictional  characters  and  then 
plots  a  novel  that  is  constructed  exactly 
as  Huxley  has  written  Point  Counter 
Point.  From  one  set  of  individuals  to 
another  the  focus  of  the  novel  moves, 
balancing  each  life  against  its  counter 
point.  The  lives  of  these  people  repeat 
the  same  patterns  in  different  forms, 
while  Philip  Quarles  plots  a  novel  based 
on  their  lives.  It  is  apparent  that  Quarles 
is  Huxley  himself  plotting  Point  Counter 
Point.  Huxley  would  have  us  believe 
that  the  theme  of  this  novel  is  one  of 
variations  on  a  single  theme,  the  struggle 
of  natural  sexual  desire  and  escapism 
against  the  bond  of  marriage. 

The  Story: 

John  Bidlake  was  an  artist  with  an 
artist's  temperament.  He  had  been  mar 
ried  three  times.  The  first  marriage  had 
ended  in  bitter  resentment*  The  second 
marriage  had  been  idyllic  for  him,  but 


Isabelle  had  died  two  years  later,  leaving 
her  husband  with  a  void  that  he  had 
tried  to  erase  by  pretending  that  he  had 
never  known  a  woman  named  Isabelle. 
His  third  marriage  had  lasted,  although 
John  had  not  lived  with  his  wife  for 
many  years.  He  merely  maintained  a 
home  where  he  went  whenever  he  be 
came  ill  enough  to  need  his  wife's  nurs 
ing  skill. 

The  children  of  his  third  marriage, 
Walter  and  Elinor,  had  not  been  too 
successful  in  their  own  experiments  with 
marriage  as  a  social  institution.  Walter 
had  been  living  with  a  married  woman 
named  Marprie  Carling  for  a  year  and 
a  half,  and  he  was  growing  tired  of  her. 
Worse  than  his  moral  ties  to  Marjorie 
was  the  fact  that  she  tenaciously  tried 
to  possess  him,  rejecting  his  proposal  that 
they  live  together  as  close  friends,  each 
going  his  own  free  direction  with  whom 
ever  he  pleased.  Now  Marjorie  was  go 
ing  to  have  a  baby,  and  her  whining 
jealousy  toward  his  latest  infatuation, 
Lucy  Tantamount,  was  pricking  Walter's 
conscience.  It  annoyed  him  immensely 


POINT  COUNTER  POINT  by  Aldous  Huxley.     By  permission  of  the   author   and  the  publishers,  Harper  & 
Brothers.     Copyright,   1928,  by  Doubleday,  Doran  &  Co.,  lac. 

760 


that  he  was  making  Marjorie  unhappy  by 
going  to  a  party  at  Tantamount  House 
without  her. 

Elinor  and  Philip  Quarles  were  travel 
ing  abroad,  having  left  little  Philip  be 
hind  under  the  care  of  a  governess  and 
his  grandmother,  Mrs.  Bidlake,  Philip 
was  a  novelist.  As  he  traveled  through 
life,  he  jotted  down  in  his  notebook  in 
cidents  and  thoughts  that  might  make 
rich  material  for  his  next  novel.  His 
mind  was  turned  inward,  introspective, 
and  his  self-centered  interests  gave  him 
little  time  for  emotional  experience. 
Elinor,  wishing  that  he  could  love  her 
as  much  as  she  loved  him,  resigned  her 
self  to  the  unhappy  dilemma  of  being 
loved  as  much  as  Philip  could  possibly 
love  any  woman. 

Denis  Burlap,  editor  of  the  Literary 
World,  flattered  himself  with  the  just 
conceit  that  although  his  magazine  was 
not  a  financial  success,  it  as  least  con 
tributed  to  the  intellectual  life  of  his 
time.  When  Walter,  who  was  one  of 
his  chief  contributors,  asked  for  more 
pay,  Burlap  hedged  until  Walter  felt 
ashamed  of  his  demands.  Burlap  was  at 
tracted  to  Beatrice  Giliay,  a  pathetic  fig 
ure  who  had  feared  the  very  touch  of 
a  man  ever  since  she  had  been  attacked 
by  her  uncle  while  riding  in  a  taxicab. 
Burlap  hoped  eventually  to  seduce  Bea 
trice.  Meanwhile  they  were  living  to 
gether. 

Another  significant  member  of  this  set 
was  Spandrell,  an  indolent  son  of  a 
doting  mother  who  supported  him.  There 
was  also  Everard  Webley,  a  friend  of 
Elinor  and  an  active  political  figure. 

Philip's  parents  still  lived  together. 
Sidney  Quarles  pretended  that  he  was 
writing  a  long  history,  but  he  had  not 
progressed  far  beyond  the  purchase  of 
office  equipment,  Rachel  Quarles,  as 
suming  the  burden  of  managing  their 
affairs,  endured  with  patience  Sidney's 
whims  and  mild  flirtations.  Now  it  was 
someone  in  London,  for  Sidney  made 
frequent  trips  to  the  British  Museum  to 
gather  material  for  his  history.  The  girl 


in  London  with  whom  Sidney  had  been 
having  an  affair  appeared  one  day  at 
his  country  house  and  in  loud  and  furious 
language  informed  her  paramour  that  she 
was  going  to  have  a  baby*  When  Mrs. 
Quarles  appeared,  Sidney  quietly  left  the 
room.  The  girl  threatened  Rachel  and 
then  returned  to  London.  Later  the  affair 
was  settled  quietly. 

Marjorie  appealed  to  Walter's  pity 
enough  to  cause  him  some  degree  of 
anguish  because  of  his  association  with 
Lucy  Tantamount.  Lucy  herself  was 
not  much  interested  in  Walter.  Becom 
ing  tired  of  London,  she  went  to  Paris. 

Elinor  and  Philip  returned  from  abroad 
to  find  little  Philip  faring  well  under  the 
care  of  his  governess  and  his  grand 
mother.  John  Bidlake,  having  learned 
that  he  was  dying  of  cancer,  had  re 
turned  to  his  wife's  home.  He  had  be 
come  a  cantankerous  patient  and  treated 
little  Philip  with  alternate  kindness  and 
harshness. 

With  Lucy  in  Paris,  Philip  had  per 
suaded  Walter  to  take  Marjorie  to  the 
Quarles  home  in  the  country,  in  the  hope 
that  some  sort  of  reconciliation  would 
come  about  from  this  association.  Rachel 
Quarles  began  to  like  Marjorie,  and  the 
pregnant  woman  found  herself  gaining 
cheer  under  this  new  affection.  Shortly 
after  she  and  Walter  had  come  to  the 
Quarles  estate,  Walter  received  a  letter 
from  Lucy  in  Paris,  telling  him  that  she 
had  found  a  new  lover  who  had  seduced 
her  in  a  shabby  Parisian  studio.  With 
her  newly-acquired  content,  Marjorie 
felt  sympathetic  toward  Walter,  who 
was  crestfallen  at  the  cruel  rejection  he 
had  received  from  Lucy. 

Everard  Webley  had  long  been  in 
love  with  Elinor.  Sometimes  she  won 
dered  whether  Philip  would  care  if  she 
went  to  another  man,  and  she  decided 
that  it  would  be  Philip's  own  fault  if 
she  turned  to  Everard.  She  felt  that  a 
breach  was  forming  between  herself  and 
Philip,  but  she  could  not  seem  to  gain 
enough  attention  or  concern  from  him 
to  make  him  realize  what  was  happening. 


761 


She  arranged  a  rendezvous  with  Ever- 
aroL 

Behind  the  scenes  of  love-making  and 
unfaithfulness  lurked  the  political  enmity 
of  Spandiell  and  Everard.  Perhaps  it 
was  the  lack  of  a  useful  purpose  in  his 
life  that  allowed  SpanchrelTs  plan  to 
grow  in  his  mind,  Elinor  Quarles  was 
home  alone  awaiting  Everard's  call  when 
Spandrell  and  a  telegram  arrived  simul 
taneously.  The  telegram  urged  Elinor 
to  come  to  her  father's  home,  for  litde 
Philip  was  ill.  Elinor  asked  Spandrell  to 
wait  and  tell  Everard  that  she  could  not 
keep  her  appointment  with  him.  Span 
drell  agreed.  When  Everard  arrived  at 
Elinor's  home,  Spandrell  attacked  him 
and  killed  him.  Spandrell  lugged  the 
dead  body  into  an  automobile  and  drove 
it  away.  Later  that  evening  he  met 
Philip  and  told  him  his  son  was  ill 

Philip  arrived  at  the  Bidlake  estate 
the  next  day  in  time  to  hear  the  doctor 
say  that  young  Philip  had  meningitis. 


For  days  Elinor  stayed  by  the  child's 
side,  waiting  for  the  crisis  to  pass.  One 
night  the  sick  boy  opened  his  eyes  and 
told  his  parents  that  he  was  hungry. 
They  were  overjoyed  at  his  apparent  re 
covery,  but  later  that  night  he  died  sud 
denly.  As  they  had  done  in  the  past, 
Elinor  and  Philip  escaped  their  unpleas 
ant  world  by  going  abroad. 

For  a  long  while  the  Webley  murder 
baffled  the  police.  Spandrell,  haunted 
by  his  own  conscience,  sent  the  police 
a  note  which  stated  that  Everard's  mur 
derer  would  be  found  at  a  certain  ad 
dress  at  a  certain  hour.  On  their  arrival, 
the  police  found  Spandrell  dead  with  a 
letter  of  confession  in  his  hands. 

Burlap  was  the  only  happy  man  among 
these  sensualists  and  intellectuals.  One 
night  he  and  Beatrice  pretended  they 
were  children  and  splashed  merrily  tak 
ing  their  bath  together.  Happiness  was 
like  misery  in  the  modern  world,  it 
seemed — lustful,  dull,  selfish. 


POOR  WHITE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  SKerwood  Anderson  (1876-1941) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  1880-1900 

Locale:   Missouri  and   Ohio 

First   published:    1920 

Principal  characters: 

HUGH  McVEY,  an  inventor  and  manufacturer 

SARAH  SHEPAKD,  his  foster  mother 

STEVE  HUNTER,  Hs  partner 

TOM  BUTTERWORTH,  his  father-in-law 

CLARA  BOTTERWORTH,  his  wife 


Critique: 

Poor  White  is  a  significant  novel,  an 
early  study  of  pioneer  rural  America  in 
vaded  by  industrialism.  It  is  also  the 
story  of  one  man's  rise  from  decadent, 
poor  white  folk  to  a  life  of  creation  and 
self-realization.  Anderson  graphically  de 
scribed,  not  only  the  growth  of  America, 
but  also  the  conflicts  and  frustrations  be 
tween  man  and  the  machine,  a  conflict 
that  is  today  one  of  the  major  problems 
in  our  culture. 


The  Story: 

As  a  young  boy  in  Missouri,  Hugh 
McVey  was  incredibly  lazy.  Hour  after 
hour  he  would  lie  on  the  grass  by  the 
river  doing  absolutely  nothing.  Not 
having  gone  to  school,  he  was  ignorant 
and  his  manners  were  rude. 

When  the  railroad  came  to  town,  Hugh 
got  work  sweeping  the  platform  and  do 
ing  odd  jobs.  His  boss,  Henry  Shepard, 
took  an  interest  in  him,  and  bought  him 
clothes.  Soon  Hugh  went  to  live  with 


POOR  WHITE  by  Sherwood  Anderson.     By  permission   of  Mrs.  Sherwood  Anderson   and  her  agent  Harold 
Ober.     Copyright,    1920,  by  B.  W.  Huebsch  Inc.     Renewed,   1948,  by  Eleanor  C.  Anderson. 

762 


Henry  and  his  wife  Sarah.  Sarah,  who 
was  from  New  England,  always  preserved 
her  memory  of  quiet  Eastern  villages  and 
large  industrial  cities.  Determined  to 
educate  Hugh,  she  lavished  on  him  the 
discipline  and  affection  she  would  have 
given  her  own  child. 

The  situation  was  difficult,  at  first, 
for  both  of  them.  But  Sarah  Shepard  was 
a  determined  woman.  She  taught  Hugh 
to  read,  to  write,  to  wonder  about  the 
world  beyond  the  little  town.  She  in 
stilled  within  him  the  belief  that  his 
family  had  been  of  no  account,  so  that 
he  grew  to  have  a  repulsion  toward  the 
poor  white  farmers  and  workers.  Always 
she  held  out  before  him  the  promise  of 
the  East,  the  progress  and  growth  of 
that  region.  Gradually,  Hugh  began  to 
win  his  fight  against  natural  indolence 
and  to  adjust  himself  to  his  new7  way  of 
life.  When  the  Shepards  left  town,  Hugh 
was  appointed  station  agent  for  the 
railroad. 

He  kept  the  job  for  a  year.  During 
that  time  the  dream  of  Eastern  cities 
grew  more  and  more  vivid  for  Hugh. 
He  gave  up  his  job  and  traveled  east, 
working  wherever  he  could.  Always 
lonely,  always  apart  from  people,  he  felt 
an  impenetrable  wall  between  him  and 
the  rest  of  the  world.  He  kept  on, 
through  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio. 

Hugh  was  twenty-three  when  he  set 
tled  down  in  Ohio.  By  accident,  he  got 
the  job  of  a  telegraph  operator,  just  a 
mile  from  the  town  of  Bidwell.  There 
he  lived  alone,  a  familiar  and  puzzling 
figure  to  the  people  of  the  town.  The 
rumor  began  to  spread  that  he  was  an 
inventor  working  on  a  new  device.  Others 
suggested  that  he  was  looking  over  the 
town  for  a  possible  factory  site.  But 
Hugh  was  doing  neither  as  yet  Then 
during  his  walks  around  the  farmlands, 
he  became  fascinated  by  the  motions  of 
the  farmers  planting  their  seeds  and  their 
crops.  Slowly  there  grew  in  his  mind 
an  idea  for  a  crop-setting  machine  that 
would  save  the  labor  of  the  farmers  and 
their  families. 


Steve  Hunter,  who  had  just  come 
back  from  school  in  Buffalo,  was  another 
dreamer.  He  dreamed  of  being  a  man 
ufacturer,  the  wealthiest  in  Bidwell.  He 
succeeded  in  convincing  the  town's  im 
portant  people  that  Hugh  was  his  man, 
and  that  he  was  working  on  an  inven 
tion  that  would  make  them  both  rich. 
He  persuaded  them  to  invest  in  a  new 
company  which  would  build  a  factory 
and  promote  Hugh's  invention.  Steve 
went  to  see  Hugh,  who  had  progressed 
so  that  the  blueprint  for  a  plant-setting 
machine  was  complete.  The  two  young 
men  came  to  an  agreement. 

The  town  idiot,  who  had  skill  in 
woodworking,  made  models  of  the  ma 
chine,  and  the  machine  itself  was  finally 
constructed  in  an  old  building  carefully 
guarded  from  the  curious.  When  the 
machine  was  not  successful,  Hugh  in 
vented  another,  his  mind  more  and  more 
preoccupied  with  the  planning  of  devices 
and  machines.  A  factory  was  then  built 
and  many  workers  were  hired.  With 
the  factory,  BidwelTs  industrialization 
began. 

What  was  happening  in  Bidwell  was 
the  same  growth  of  industrialism  that 
was  changing  the  entire  structure  of  the 
nation.  It  was  a  period  of  transition. 
Bidwell,  being  a  small  town,  felt  the 
effects  of  the  new  development  keenly. 
Workers  became  part  of  the  community, 
in  which  there  had  been  only  fanners 
and  merchants. 

Joe  WTainsworth,  the  harness-maker, 
had  invested  his  life-savings  in  Hugh's 
invention,  and  he  had  lost  them.  An 
independent  man,  a  craftsman,  he  carne 
to  resent  the  factory,  the  very  idea  of 
the  machine.  People  carne  into  his  shop 
less  often.  They  were  buying  machine- 
made  harness.  Joe  became  a  broken  man. 
His  employee,  Jim  Gibson,  a  spiritual 
bully,  really  ran  the  business,  and  Joe 
submitted  meekly. 

Meanwhile,  Clara  Butterworth  came 
back  to  Bidwell  after  three  years  at  the 
university  in  Columbus.  She  too  was 
lonely,  unhappy.  When  she  returned, 


763 


she  saw  that  the  old  Bidwell  was  gone, 
that  her  father,  Tom  Butterworth,  was 
wealthier  than  before,  that  the  growth 
of  the  town  was  due  primarily  to  one 
person,  Hugh  McVey.  A  week  after  she 
met  Hugh,  he  walked  up  to  the  farm 
and  asked  her  to  marry  him.  They  eloped 
and  were  married  that  night. 

For  four  years  they  lived  together  in 
a  strange,  strained  relationship.  During 
those  four  years  Joe  Wainsworth's  fury 
against  Steve  Hunter,  against  the  new 
age  of  industry  which  had  taken  his 
savings,  increased.  One  day  he  heard 
Jim  Gibson  brag  about  his  hold  over 
his  employer.  That  night  Joe  Wains- 
worth  killed  Jim  Gibson.  As  he  fled 
from  the  scene,  he  met  Steve  Hunter 
and  shot  him. 

Clara,  Hugh,  and  Tom  Butterworth 
were  retiirning  from  a  drive  in  the  fam 
ily's  first  automobile  when  they  learned 
what  had  happened.  Two  men  had  cap 
tured  Joe,  and  when  they  tried  to  put 
into  the  automobile  to  take 


back  to  town,  Joe  jumped  toward  Hugh 
and  sank  his  fingers  into  his  neck.  It 
was  Clara  who  broke  his  grip  upon  her 
husband.  Somehow  the  incident  brought 
Hugh  and  Clara  closer  together. 

Hugh's  career  as  an  inventor  no 
longer  satisfied  him.  Joe  Wainsworth's 
attack  had  unnerved  him,  made  him 
doubt  the  worth  of  his  work.  It  did  not 
matter  so  much  if  someone  in  Iowa  had 
invented  a  machine  exactly  like  his,  and 
he  did  not  intend  to  dispute  the  rights 
of  the  lowan.  Clara  was  bearing  his 
child,  an  individual  who  would  struggle 
just  as  he  had.  Clara  told  him  of  the 
child  one  night  as  they  stood  listening 
to  the  noises  of  the  farm  and  the  snor 
ing  of  the  hired  hand.  As  they  wTalked 
into  the  house  side  by  side,  the  factory 
whistles  blew  in  the  night.  Hugh  hardly 
heard  them.  The  dark  Midwestern 
nights,  men  and  women,  the  land  itself 
— the  full,  deep  life  current  would  go 
on  in  spite  of  factories  and  machines. 


PORGY 


Typ e  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  DuBose   Heyward   (1885-1940) 
Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 
Time  of  'plot:  Early  twentieth  century 
Locale:  Charleston,  South  Carolina 
First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

PORGY,  a  crippled  Negro 
CROWN,  a  stevedore 
BESS,  his  woman 
Critique: 

Porgy  tells  of  Negroes  living  in  a 
society  dominated  by  whites,  and  the 
Negroes  are  presented  as  being  elemental, 
emotional,  amoral,  and  occasionally  vio 
lent*  Heyward  develops  in  the  reader  a 
sympathy  not  only  for  the  crippled  Por 
gy,  whose  goatcart  excites  so  much  amuse 
ment  among  the  whites,  but  also  for 
Bess,  who  comes  to  live  with  him.  Bess 
honestly  tries  to  be  true  to  Porgy,  but 
she  knows  the  weakness  of  her  will  and 


beggar 


fiesh  when  the  brutal  Crown  touches  her 
or  when  she  has  had  liquor  or  dope.  The 
story  was  dramatized  in  1927  by  Heyward 
and  his  wife  Dorothy.  The  novel  was  also 
the  basis  for  the  opera  Porgy  and  Bess 
(1935),  for  which  Heyward  wrote  the 
book  and,  with  Ira  Gershwin,  the  lyrics. 

The  Story: 

Porgy,  a  crippled  Negro  beggar,  lived 
in  a  brick  tenement  called  Catfish  Row, 


PORGY  by  DuBose  Heyward      By  permission  of  Mrs.  DuBose  Heyward,  the  Trustee  of  the  estate  of  DuBo*e 
Heyward,  and  uw  publishers,  Doublcday  &  Co.,  lac.     Copyright,   1925,  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.          1^UJ>OW 

764 


once  a  fine  old  Southern  mansion  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Different 
from  the  eager,  voluble  beggars  of  his 
race,  Porgy  sat  silent  day  by  day,  acknowl 
edging  only  by  lifting  his  eyes  the 
coins  dropped  in  his  cup.  No  one  knew 
how  old  he  was,  and  his  large,  powerful 
hands  were  in  strange  contrast  to  his 
frail  body.  His  single  vice  was  gambling. 

T  '     T.1-  •  -  - 

In  a  gambling  session  one  evening  in 
April  he  witnessed  the  brutal  murder  of 
Robbins  by  Crown,  a  stevedore  who 
thought  he  had  been  cheated. 

In  May  Porgy  made  his  first  trip  by 
homemade  goatcart  through  the  city 
streets,  to  the  mocking  amusement  of  the 
white  folks.  The  goatcart  gave  Porgy  a 
new  freedom.  He  no  longer  had  to  stay 
at  one  stand  all  day;  but  he  could  roam 
at  will  and  take  in  more  money  than 
before. 

In  June  Crown's  woman,  Bess,  came 
to  live  with  Porgy,  and  the  cripple  be 
came  a  new  man.  He  seemed  less  an  im 
passive  observer  of  life  and  he  developed 
a  tender  affection  for  children.  Bess  left 
off  her  evil  ways  and  became  in  truth 
Porgy's  woman. 

On  the  day  of  the  grand  parade  and 
picnic  of  "The  Sons  and  Daughters  of 
Repent  Ye  Saith  the  Lord,"  Crown  came 
upon  Bess  cutting  palmetto  leaves  for 
the  picnic  on  Kittiwar  Island.  He  took 
her  to  his  hut.  At  the  end  of  the  day 
he  let  her  return  to  Porgy  with  the 
promise  that  in  the  fall,  when  cotton  ship 
ments  would  pro-vide  stevedoring  work 
in  Savannah,  she  would  again  be  Crown's 
Bess. 

In  September,  while  the  <fMosquito 
Fleet"  was  at  the  fishing  banks,  the  hur 
ricane  flag  was  up  over  the  custom 
house.  Jake's  wife,  Clara,  shuddered  with 
fear  for  her  husband  whom  she  had 
warned  not  to  go  out  that  day  in  his 
boat,  the  Seagull.  After  an  ominous  calm 
the  hurricane  struck  the  city.  The  water 
of  the  bay,  driven  by  the  shrieking 
wind,  rose  above  the  sea  wall,  crossed 
the  street,  and  invaded  the  ground 
fioor  of  Catfish  Row.  Forty  frightened 


Negroes  huddled  in  the  great  second- 
story  ballroom  of  the  old  mansion.  Dur 
ing  a  lull  in  the  storm  Clara  saw  the 
wreck  of  her  husband's  boat  near  the 
wharf.  Leaving  her  baby  with  Bess, 
Clara  went  out  into  the  flood.  A  few 
minutes  later  she  was  overwhelmed  dur 
ing  a  sudden  return  of  the  storm's  great 
fury.  Bess  and  Porgy  kept  Clara's  baby. 

In  October  drays  loaded  with  heavy 
bales  of  cotton  came  rumbling  down  the 
street.  In  Catfish  Row  there  was  excite 
ment  and  happiness,  for  stevedoring  jobs 
and  money  would  be  plentiful  again. 
But  the  coming  of  the  cotton  seemed 
to  Porgy  to  portend  disaster.  He  asked 
Bess  whether  she  was  his  woman  01 
Crown's.  His,  she  answered,  unless 
Crown  put  his  hot  hands  on  her  again 
as  he  did  that  day  of  the  picnic.  She 
could  not  answer  for  herself  if  that  hap 
pened  again.  Porgy  assured  her  he  would 
not  let  Crown  take  her  away  from  him. 
When  Crown  broke  into  their  room  one 
midnight  not  long  afterward,  Porgy 
stabbed  him.  Next  day  the  body  was 
found  in  the  river  nearby.  The  police  got 
nowhere  in  their  questioning  of  the 
occupants  of  Catfish  Row,  and  there  was 
a  kind  of  communal  sigh  of  relief  when 
the  officers  left  without  having  made 
any  arrests.  But  when  one  of  the  buz 
zards  that  had  fed  upon  Crown's  body 
lighted  on  the  parapet  above  Porgy's 
room,  the  frightened  little  cripple  felt 
that  doom  was  in  store  for  him.  The  nexf 
day  Porgy,  having  been  asked  to  identify 
Crown's  body  at  the  morgue,  fled  in 
terror  in  his  goatcart,  body  pursued  by 
a  patrol  wagon  full  of  officers.  Passersby 
laughed  uproariously  at  the  ridiculously 
one-sided  race.  Porgy  was  caught  at  the 
edge  of  town,  but  by  the  time  he  had 
been  brought  downtown  he  was  no 
longer  needed  since  another  Negro  had 
identified  the  body.  Crown  was  declared 
to  have  come  to  his  death  at  the  hands 
of  a  person  or  persons  unknown.  Porgy 
was  jailed  for  five  days  for  contempt  of 
court. 

When  he  returned  from  jail  and  found 


765 


Serena  Robbins  holding  Jake's  and 
Clara's  orphan  baby,  Porgy  suspected  the 
worst.  From  a  neighbor  ne  learned  that 
some  stevedores  had  gotten  Bess  drunk 


had  adopted  the  baby.  Porgy  nad  £01 
one  brief  siimmer  known  the  joys  that 
come  to  other  people.  Now  he  was  just 
a  pitiful  old  man  sitting  sadly  in  a  goat- 


and  taken  her  off  to  Savannah.    Porgy      cart  with  the  morning  sunlight  shining 
knew  she  would  never  return.    Serena      upon  him. 

THE  PORTRAIT  OF  A  LADY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 
Author:  Henry  James  (1843-1916) 
Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 
Time  of  plot:  About  1875 
Locale:  England,  France,  Italy 
First -published:  1881 

Principal  characters: 

ISABEL  ARCHER,  an  American  heiress 

GILBEKT  OSMOND,  her  husband 

RALPH  TOUCHETT,  her  cousin 

MADAME  MERLE,  her  friend  and  Osmond's  former  mistress 

PANSY  OSMOND,  Osmond's  daughter 

LORD  WARBURTON,  Isabel's  English  suitor 

CASPAR  GOODWOOD,  Isabel's  American  suitor 

HENRIETTA  STACKPOLE,  American  newspaper  correspondent,  Isabel's  friend 


Critique: 

With  the  exception  of  the  English 
Lord  Warburton,  The  Portrait  of  a  Lady 
contains  a  gallery  of  Americans  who  work 
out  their  destinies  against  a  European 
background.  The  influence  of  European 
culture  is  seen  most  closely  as  it  affects 
the  heroine,  high-minded  Isabel  Archer. 
By  means  of  careful  penetration  into  her 
mental  processes,  the  steps  which  lead 
to  her  marriage  with  the  dilettante,  Gil 
bert  Osmond,  are  delineated,  as  well  as 
the  consequent  problems  which  arise 
from  this  marriage.  The  novel  is  an  ex 
cellent  example  of  the  Jamesian  method 
of  refracting  life  through  an  individual 
temperament. 

The  Story: 

Isabel  Archer,  upon  the  death  of  her 
father,  had  been  visited  by  her  aunt,  Mrs. 
TouchetL  She  proved  so  attractive  to 
the  older  woman  that  Mrs.  Touched:  de 
cided  to  give  her  the  advantage  of  more 
cosmopolitan  experience,  and  Isabel  was 
quickly  carried  off  to  Europe  so  she  might 
see  something  of  the  world  of  culture  and 
fashion. 

On  the  day  the  women  arrived  at  the 


Touchert  home  in  England,  Isabel's  sickly 
young  cousin,  Ralph  Touchett,  and  his 
father  were  taking  tea  in  the  garden  with 
their  friend,  Lord  Warburton.  When 
Isabel  appeared,  Warburton  had  been 
confessing  to  the  two  men  his  boredom 
and  his  distaste  for  his  routine  existence. 
The  young  nobleman  was  much  taken 
with  the  American  girl's  grace  and  lively 
manner. 

Isabel  had  barely  settled  at  Garden- 
court,  her  aunt's  home,  before  she  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  an  American  friend, 
Henrietta  Stackpole,  a  newspaper  woman 
who  was  writing  a  series  of  articles  on 
the  sights  of  Europe.  At  Ralph's  invita 
tion,  Henrietta  went  to  Gardencourt  to 
spend  some  time  with  Isabel  and  to  ob 
tain  material  for  her  writing. 

Soon  after  Henrietta's  arrival,  Isabel 
heard  from  another  American  friend. 
Caspar  Goodwood,  a  would-be  suitor,  had 
followed  her  abroad.  Learning  her  where 
abouts  from  Henrietta,  he  wrote  to  ask  if 
he  might  see  her.  Isabel  was  much  irked 
by  his  aggressiveness,  and  she  decided 
not  to  answer  his  letter. 

On  the  day  she  received  the  letter  from 


766 


Goodwood,  Lord  Warburton  proposed  to 
her.  Not  wishing  to  seem  indifferent  to 
the  honor  of  his  proposal,  she  asked  for 
time  to  consider  it.  At  last  she  decided 
she  could  not  marry  the  young  English 
man,  for  she  wished  to  see  considerably 
more  of  the  world  before  she  married.  She 
was  afraid  that  marriage  to  Warburton, 
although  he  was  a  model  of  kindness  and 
thoughtfulness,  would  prove  Stirling. 

Because  Isabel  had  not  seen  London 
on  her  journey  with  Mrs.  Touchett  and 
since  it  was  on  Henrietta  Stackpole's 
itinerary,  the  two  young  women,  ac 
companied  by  Ralph  Touchett,  went  to 
the  capital.  Henrietta  quickly  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  Mr.  Bantling,  who 
undertook  to  squire  her  around.  When 
Caspar  Goodwood  visited  Isabel  at  her 
hotel,  she  again  refused  him,  though  his 
persistence  made  her  agree  that  if  he  still 
wished  to  ask  for  her  hand  he  might  visit 
her  again  after  two  years  had  passed. 

While  the  party  was  in  London  a 
telegram  came  from  Gardencourt.  Old 
Mr.  Touchett  was  seriously  ill  of  the 
gout,  and  his  wife  was  much  alarmed. 
Isabel  and  Ralph  left  on  the  afternoon 
train.  Henrietta  remained  under  the  es 
cort  of  her  new  friend. 

During  the  time  Mr.  Touchett  lay  dy 
ing  and  his  family  was  preoccupied,  Isabel 
was  forced  to  amuse  herself  with  a  new 
companion.  Madame  Merle,  an  old  friend 
of  Mrs.  Touchett,  had  come  to  Garden- 
court  to  spend  a  few  days.  She  and  Isabel, 
thrown  together  a  great  deal,  exchanged 
many  confidences.  Isabel  admired  the 
older  woman  for  her  ability  to  amuse 
herself,  for  her  skill  at  needlework,  at 
painting,  at  the  piano,  and  for  her  ability 
to  accommodate  herself  to  any  social 
situation.  On  the  other  hand,  Madame 
Merle  spoke  enviously  of  Isabel's  youth 
and  intelligence,  lamenting  the  life  which 
had  left  her,  at  middle  age,  a  widow  with 
no  children  and  no  visible  success  in  life. 

When  her  uncle  died,  he  left  Isabel, 
at  her  cousin's  instigation,  one-half  of  his 
fortune.  Ralph,  greatly  impressed  with 
his  young  kinswoman's  brilliance,  had 


persuaded  his  father  that  she  should  be 
given  an  opportunity  to  fly  as  far  and  as 
high  as  she  might.  For  himself,  he  knew 
he  could  not  live  long  because  of  his 
pulmonary  illness,  and  his  legacy  was 
enough  to  let  him  live  in  comfort. 

As  quickly  as  she  could,  Mrs.  Touchett 
sold  her  London  house  and  took  Isabel  to 
Paris  with  her.  Ralph  went  south  for  the 
winter  to  preserve  what  was  left  of  his 
health.  In  Paris  the  new  heiress  was  in 
troduced  to  many  of  her  aunt's  friends 
among  American  expatriates,  but  she  was 
not  impressed.  She  thought  their  indolent 
lives  worthy  only  of  contempt.  Mean 
while  Henrietta  and  Mr.  Bantling  had 
arrived  in  Paris,  and  Isabel  spent  much 
time  with  them  and  Edward  Rosier.  She 
had  known  Rosier  when  both  were  chil 
dren  and  she  was  traveling  abroad  with 
her  father.  Rosier  was  another  dilettante, 
living  on  the  income  from  his  inheritance. 
He  explained  to  Isabel  that  he  could  not 
return  to  his  own  country  because  there 
was  no  occupation  there  worthy  of  a 
gentleman. 

In  February  Mrs.  Touchett  and  her 
niece  went  to  the  Palazzo  Crescentini,  the 
Touchett  house  in  Florence.  They 
stopped  on  the  way  to  see  Ralph,  who 
was  staying  in  San  Remo.  In  Florence 
they  were  joined  once  more  by  Madame 
Merle. 

Unknown  to  Isabel  or  her  aunt, 
Madame  Merle  also  visited  her  friend, 
Gilbert  Osmond,  another  American  who 
lived  in  voluntary  exile  outside  Florence 
with  his  art  collection  and  his  young, 
convent-bred  daughter,  Pansy.  Madame 
Merle  told  Osmond  of  Isabel's  arrival  in 
Florence  saying  that  as  the  heir  to  a 
fortune,  Isabel  would  be  a  valuable  addi 
tion  to  Osmond's  collection. 

The  heiress  who  had  rejected  two 
worthy  suitors  did  not  refuse  the  third. 
She  was  quickly  captivated  by  the  charm 
of  the  sheltered  life  Gilbert  Osmond  had 
created  for  himself.  Her  friends  were 
against  the  match.  Henrietta  Stackpole, 
who  was  inclined  to  favor  Caspar  Good 
wood,  was  convinced  that  Osmond  was 


767 


interested  only  in  Isabel's  money,  as  was 
Isabel's  aunt.  Mrs.  Touchett  had  re 
quested  Madame  Merle,  the  good  friend 
o£  both  parties,  to  discover  the  state  of 
their  affections;  she  was  convinced  that 
Madame  Merle  could  have  prevented  the 
match.  Ralph  Touchett  was  disappointed 
that  his  cousin  should  have  fallen  to  the 
ground  from  her  flight  so  quickly.  Cas 
par  Goodwood,  learning  of  Isabel's  in 
tended  marriage  when  he  revisited  her 
after  the  passage  of  the  two  years  agreed 
upon,  could  not  persuade  her  to  recon 
sider  her  step.  Isabel  was  indignant  when 
&e  commented  on  the  fact  that  she  did 
not  even  know  her  intended  husband's 
antecedents. 

After  her  marriage  to  Gilbert  Osmond, 
Isabel  and  her  husband  established  their 
home  hi  Rome,  in  a  setting  completely 
expressive  of  Osmond's  tastes.  Before 
three  years  had  passed,  Isabel  began  to 
realize  that  her  friends  had  not  been  com 
pletely  wrong  in  their  objections  to  her 
marriage,  Osmond's  exquisite  taste  had 
made  their  home  one  of  the  most  popular 
in  Rome,  but  his  ceaseless  effort  to  press 
his  wife  into  a  mold,  to  make  her  a  re 
flection  of  his  own  ideas,  had  not  made 
their  marriage  one  of  the  happiest. 

He  had  succeeded  in  destroying  a 
romance  between  Pansy  and  fidward 
Rosier,  who  had  visited  the  girl's  step 
mother  and  found  the  daughter  attractive. 
He  had  not  succeeded,  however,  in  con 
tracting  the  match  he  desired  between 
Pansy  and  Lord  Warburton.  Warburton 
had  found  Pansy  as  pleasing  as  Isabel  had 
once  been,  but  he  had  dropped  his  suit 
when  he  saw  that  the  girl's  affections  lay 
with  Rosier. 

Ralph  Touchett,  his  health  growing 
steadily  worse,  gave  up  his  wanderings 
on  the  continent  and  returned  to  Garden- 
court  to  die.  When  Isabel  received  a  tele 
gram  from  his  mother  telling  her  that 
Ralph  would  like  to  see  her  before  his 
death,  she  felt  it  her  duty  to  go  to 
Gardencourt  at  once.  Osmond  reacted  to 


her  wish  as  if  it  were  a  personal  insult. 
He  expected  that,  as  his  wife,  Isabel 
would  want  to  remain  at  his  side,  and 
that  she  would  not  disobey  any  wish  of 
his.  He  also  made  it  plain  that  he  dis 
liked  Ralph. 

In  a  state  of  turmoil  after  her  con 
versation  with  her  husband,  Isabel  met 
the  Countess  Gemini,  Osmond's  sister. 
The  countess,  visiting  the  Osmonds,  had 
seen  how  matters  lay  between  her  brother 
and  Isabel.  An  honest  soul,  she  had  felt 
more  sympathy  for  her  sister-in-law  than 
for  her  brother.  To  comfort  Isabel,  she 
told  her  the  story  of  Gilbert's  past.  After 
his  first  wife  had  died,  he  and  Madame 
Merle  had  an  affair  that  lasted  six  or 
seven  years.  During  that  time  Madame 
Merle,  a  widow,  had  borne  him  a  child, 
Pansy.  Changing  his  residence,  Osmond 
had  been  able  to  pretend  to  his  new  circle 
of  friends  that  the  original  Mrs.  Osmond 
had  died  in  giving  birth  to  the  child. 

With  this  news  fresh  in  her  mind,  and 
still  determined  to  go  to  England,  Isabel 
stopped  to  say  goodbye  to  Pansy,  who 
was  staying  in  a  convent  where  her  father 
had  sent  her  to  recuperate  from  her  affair 
with  Rosier.  There,  too,  she  met  Madame 
Merle.  Madame  Merle,  with  her  keen 
perception,  had  no  difficulty  realizing  that 
Isabel  knew  her  secret.  When  she  re 
marked  that  Isabel  would  never  need  to 
see  her  again,  that  she  would  go  to 
America,  Isabel  was  certain  Madame 
Merle  would  also  find  in  America  much 
to  her  own  advantage. 

Isabel  was  in  time  to  see  her  cousin 
before  his  death.  She  stayed  on  briefly 
at  Gardencourt  after  the  funeral,  long 
enough  to  bid  goodbye  to  Lord  Warbur 
ton,  who  had  come  to  offer  condolences  to 
her  aunt,  and  to  reject  a  third  offer  from 
Caspar  Goodwood,  who  knew  of  her  hus 
band's  treatment.  When  she  left  to  start 
her  journey  back  to  Italy,  Isabel  knew 
what  she  must  do.  Her  first  duty  was  not 
to  herself,  but  to  put  her  house  in  order. 


768 


A  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  ARTIST  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Joyce  (1882-1941) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:    1882-1903 

Locale:  Ireland 

First  published:  1916 

Principal  characters: 

STEPHEN  DEDALUS,  an  Irish  student 

SIMON  DEDALUS,  his  father 

EMMA,  his  friend 
Critiq^ue: 

In  telling  the  story  of  his  own  youth 
under  a  thin  disguise  of  fiction,  Joyce 
has  written  one  of  the  most  compelling 
and  forceful  of  recent  autobiographies. 
He  tried  to  show  the  beginnings  of  his 
artistic  compulsion,  and  the  events  that 
led  him  to  think  and  to  act  as  he  did. 
Highly  descriptive,  the  book  moves  from 
incident  to  incident  in  an  unhurried 
way,  sketching  in  all  the  important 
moments  and  thoughts  of  Joyce's  youth 
as  he  remembered  them.  This  novel  is  a 
forerunner  of  Joyce's  more  significant  and 
experimental  Ulysses. 


The  Story: 

When  Stephen  Dedalus  went  to  school 
for  the  first  time,  his  last  name  soon  got 
him  into  trouble.  It  sounded  too  Latin, 
and  the  boys  teased  him  about  it.  Seeing 
that  he  was  sensitive  and  shy,  the  other 
boys  began  to  bully  him.  School  was 
filled  with  unfortunate  incidents  for 
Stephen.  He  was  happy  when  he  be 
came  sick  and  was  put  in  the  infirmary 
away  from  the  other  boys.  Once,  when 
he  was  there  just  before  the  Christinas 
holidays,  he  worried  about  dying  and 
death..  As  he  lay  on  the  bed  thinking, 
he  heard  the  news  of  PamelTs  death. 
The  death  of  the  great  Irish  leader  was 
the  first  date  he  remembered — October 
6,  1891. 

At  home  during  the  vacation  he 
learned  more  of  Pamell.  His  father, 
Simon  Dedalus,  worshiped  the  dead 
man's  memory  and  defended  him  on 
every  count.  Stephen's  aunt,  Dante  Rior- 


dan,  despised  Parnell  as  a  heretic  and 
a  rabble-rouser.  The  fierce  arguments 
that  they  got  into  every  day  burned 
themselves  into  Stephen's  memory.  He 
worshiped  his  father,  and  his  father 
said  that  Parnell  had  tried  to  free  Ire 
land,  to  rid  it  of  the  priests  who  were 
ruining  the  country.  Dante  insisted  that 
just  the  opposite  wras  true.  A  violent 
defender  of  the  priests,  she  leveled  every 
kind  of  abuse  against  Simon  and  his 
ideas.  The  disagreement  between  them 
became  a  problem  which,  in  due  time, 
Stephen  would  have  to  solve  for  him- 

Retuming  to  school  after  the  holidays, 
Stephen  got  in  trouble  with  Father  Dolan, 
one  of  the  administrators  of  the  church 
school  he  attended.  Because  he  had 
broken  his  glasses,  Stephen  could  not 
study  until  a  new  pair  arrived.  Father 
Dolan  saw  that  Stephen  was  not  working, 
and  thinking  that  his  excuse  about  the 
glasses  was  false  he  gave  the  boy  a  beat 
ing.  The  rest  of  the  boys  for  once  were 
on  Stephen's  side,  and  they  urged  him 
to  complain  to  the  head  of  the  school. 
With  fear  and  trembling,  Stephen  went 
to  the  head  and  presented  his  case.  The 
head  understood,  and  promised  to  speak 
to  Father  Dolan  about  the  matter.  When 
Stephen  told  the  boys  about  his  con 
versation,  they  hoisted  him  in  their  arms 
like  a  victorious  fighter,  and  called  "b™ 
a  hero. 

Afterward  life  was  much  easier  for 
Stephen.  Only  one  unfortunate  incident 
marked  the  term.  In  a  spirit  of  £un, 


A  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  ARTIST  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN  by  James  Joyce,     By  permission  of  the  publisher*, 
The  Viking  Prest,  Inc.    Copyright,  1916,  by  B.  W.  Huebsch.     Renewed,  1944,  by  Nora  Joyce. 


769 


one  of  his  professors  announced  in  class 
that  Stephen  had  expressed  heresy  in 
one  o£  his  essays.  Stephen  quickly 
changed  the  offending  phrase  and  hoped 
that  the  mistake  would  he  forgotten. 
After  class,  however,  several  of  the  boys 
accused  him  not  only  of  being  a  heretic 
but  also  of  liking  Byron,  whom  they 
considered  an  immoral  man  and  there 
fore  no  good  as  a  poet.  In  replying  to 
their  charges,  Stephen  had  his  first  real 
encounter  with  the  problems  of  art  and 
morality.  They  were  to  follow  him 
throughout  his  life. 

On  a  trip  to  Cork  with  his  father, 
Stephen  was  forced  to  listen  to  the  often- 
told  tales  of  his  father's  youth.  They 
visited  the  places  his  father  had  loved 
as  a  boy.  Each  night  Stephen  was  forced 
to  cover  up  his  father's  drunkenness  and 
sentimental  outbursts.  The  trip  was  an 
education  in  everything  Stephen  disliked. 

At  the  end  of  the  school  year  Stephen 
won  several  prizes.  He  bought  presents 
for  everyone,  started  to  do  over  his  room, 
and  began  an  ill-fated  loan  service.  As 
long  as  the  money  lasted,  life  was  won 
derful.  Then  one  night,  when  his  money 
was  almost  gone,  he  was  enticed  into  a 
house  by  a  woman  wearing  a  long  pink 
gown.  At  sixteen  he  learned  what  love 
was. 

Not  until  the  school  held  a  retreat  in 
honor  of  Saint  Francis  Xavier  did  Ste 
phen  realize  how  deeply  conscious  he 
was  of  the  sins  he  had  committed  with 
women.  The  sermons  of  the  priests 
about  heaven  and  hell,  especially  about 
hell,  ate  into  his  mini  At  night  his 
dreams  were  of  nothing  but  the  eternal 
torture  which  he  felt  he  must  endure 
after  death.  He  could  not  bear  to  make 
confession  in  school.  At  last  he  went  into 
the  city,  to  a  church  where  he  was  un 
known.  There  he  opened  his  unhappy 
mind  and  heart  to  an  understanding  and 
wise  old  priest,  who  advised  him  and 
comforted  his  soul.  After  the  confes 
sion  Stephen  promised  to  sin  no  more, 
and  he  felt  sure  that  he  would  keep  his 
promise. 


For  a  time  Stephen's  life  followed  a 
model  course.  He  studied  Aquinas  and 
Aristotle  and  won  acclaim  from  his  teach 
ers.  One  day  the  director  of  the  school 
called  Stephen  into  his  office  and,  after 
a  long  conversation,  asked  him  if  he  had 
ever  thought  of  joining  the  order  of  the 
Jesuits.  Stephen  was  deeply  flattered. 
Priesthood  became  his  life's  goal. 

When  Stephen  entered  the  university, 
however,  a  change  came  over  his  think 
ing.  He  began  to  doubt,  and  the  longer 
he  studied,  die  more  confused  and  doubt 
ful  he  became. 

His  problems  drew  him  closer  to  two 
of  his  fellow  students,  Davin  and  Lynch 
and  farther  away  from  Emma,  a  girl  for 
whom  he  had  felt  affection  since  child 
hood.  With  Davin  and  Lynch  he  dis 
cussed  his  ideas  about  beauty  and  the 
working  of  tiie  mind.  Because  he  would 
not  sign  a  petition  for  world  peace, 
Stephen  won  the  enmity  of  many  of  the 
fellows.  They  called  him  anti-social  and 
egotistic.  Finally  neither  the  peace  move 
ment,  the  Irish  Revival,  nor  the  Church 
itself  could  claim  his  support. 

Davin  was  the  first  to  question  Stephen 
about  his  ideas.  When  he  suggested 
to  Stephen  that  in  everything  Ireland 
should  come  first,  Stephen  answered  that 
to  him  Ireland  was  an  old  sow  that  ate 
her  own  children. 

One  day  Stephen  met  Emma  at  a 
carnival,  and  she  asked  him  why  he  had 
stopped  coming  to  see  her.  He  answered 
that  he  had  been  born  to  be  a  monk. 
When  Emma  said  that  she  thought  him 
a  heretic  instead  of  a  monk,  his  last  link 
with  Ireland  seemed  to  be  broken.  At 
least  he  was  not  afraid  to  be  alone.  If 
he  wanted  to  find  beauty,  and  to  under 
stand  beauty,  he  had  to  leave  Ireland- 
where  there  was  nothing  in  which  he 
believed.  The  prayers  of  his  friends  ask 
ing  that  he  return  to  the  faith  went  un 
answered.  Stephen  got  together  his 
things,  packed,  and  left  Ireland,  intend 
ing  never  to  return.  He  did  intend,  some 
day,  to  write  a  book  that  would  make 
clear  his  views  on  Ireland  and  the  Irish. 


"770 


THE  POSSESSED 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Fyodor  Mikhailovich  Dostoevski   (1821-1881) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1867 

Principal  characters: 

STEFAN  VERHOVENSKY,  a  provincial  patriot  and  mild  progressive 

PYOTR,  his  nihilist  son 

VARVARA  STAVROGIN,  a  provincial  ]ady  and  employer  of  Stepan 

NIKOLAY,  her  son,  a  victim  of  materialism 

MARY  A,  his  idiot  wife 

SHATOV,  the  independent  son  of  one  of  Varvara 's  serfs 

Critique: 

The  Possessed  is  Dostoevski's  answer 
to  Turgenev's  treatment  of  Russian  nihil 
ism  in  Fathers  and  Sons.  By  means  of  a 
large  number  of  characters  representing 
all  classes  of  Russian  society,  Dostoev 
ski  shows  how  an  idle  interest  in  nihilism 
brought  on  robbery,  arson,  and  murder 
in  one  Russian  community.  The  plot  is 
exceedingly  complex,  but  this  very  com 
plexity  tends  to  emphasize  a  similar  qual 
ity  in  nineteenth-century  Russian  life, 
which  convulsed  violently  when  it  con 
cerned  itself  with  denial  of  an  ordering 
principle  in  the  universe. 


The  Story: 

Stepan  Verhovensky,  a  self-styled 
progressive  patriot  and  erstwhile  univer 
sity  lecturer,  was  footloose  in  a  provincial 
Russian  town  until  Varvara  Stavrogin 
hired  him  to  tutor  her  only  son,  Nikolay. 
Although  Stepan's  radicalism,  which  was 
largely  a  pose,  shocked  Varvara,  the  two 
became  friends.  When  Varvara's  hus 
band  died,  Stepan  even  looked  forward 
to  marrying  the  widow.  They  went  to 
gether  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  they 
moved  daringly  in  radical  circles.  After 
attempting  without  success  to  start  a 
literary  journal,  they  left  St.  Petersburg, 
Varvara  returning  to  the  province  and 
Stepan,  in  an  attempt  to  assert  his  inde 
pendence,  going  to  Berlin.  After  four 
months  in  Germany,  Stepan,  realizing 
that  he  was  Varvara's  thrall  emotionally 


and  financially,  returned  to  the  proving 
in  order  to  be  near  her. 

Stepan  became  the  leader  of  a  smsjl 
group  that  met  to  discuss  progressive 
ideas.  Among  the  group  were  Shatov,  the 
independent  son  of  one  of  Varvara's  serfs, 
a  liberal  named  Virginsky,  and  Liputin,  a 
man  who  made  everyone's  business  his 
business. 

Nikolay  Stavrogin,  whom  Stepan  bad 
introduced  to  progressivisnij  went  on  to 
school  in  St.  Petersburg  and  from  there 
into  the  army  as  an  officer.  He  resigned 
his  commission,  however,  returned  to  St. 
Petersburg,  and  went  to  live  in  the 
slums.  When  he  returned  home,  at  Var 
vara's  request,  be  proceeded  to  insult 
the  members  of  Stepan's  group.  He  bit 
the  ear  of  the  provincial  governor  during 
an  interview  with  that  dignitary.  Obvi 
ously  mentally  unbalanced,  Nikolay  was 
committed  to  bed.  Three  months  later, 
apparently  recovered,  he  apologized  foi 
his  actions  and  again  left  the  province. 

Months  later  Varvara  was  invited  to 
visit  a  childhood  friend  in  Switzerland, 
wnere  Nikolay  was  paying  court  to  her 
friend's  daughter,  Lrzaveta.  Before  the 
party  returned  to  Russia,  however,  Liza- 
veta  and  Nikolay  broke  their  engagement 
because  of  Nikolay 's  interest  in  Dasha, 
Varvara's  servant  woman.  In  Switzerland, 
Nikolay  and  Stepan's  son,  Pyotr,  met 
and  found  themselves  in  sympathy  on 
political  matters. 


THE  POSSESSED  by  Fyodor  Mikiallovich  Dostoevski.     Published  by  The  Modem  Library,  Inc. 


771 


In  the  province,  meanwhile,  there  was 
a  new  governor,  one  von  Lembke.  Stepan, 
lost  without  Varvara,  visibly  deteriorated 
during  her  absence.  Varvara  arranged 
with  Dasha,  who  was  twenty,  to  marry 
Stepan,  who  was  fifty-three.  Dasha,  who 
was  the  sister  of  Shatov,  submitted  quietly 
to  her  mistress'  wishes.  Stepan  reluc 
tantly  consented  to  the  marriage,  but  he 
balked  when  he  discovered  from  a  mem 
ber  of  his  group  that  he  was  being  used 
to  cover  up  Nikolay's  relations  with  the 
girl. 

New  arrivals  in  the  province  were  Cap 
tain  Lebyadkin  and  his  idiot,  crippled 
sister,  Marya.  One  day  Marya  attracted 
the  attention  of  Varvara  in  front  of  the 
cathedral,  and  Varvara  took  the  cripple 
home  with  her.  Nikolay,  she  learned,  had 
known  the  Lebyadkins  in  St.  Petersburg. 
Pyotr  assured  Varvara,  who  was  suspi 
cious,  that  Nikolay  and  Marya  Lebyadkin 
were  not  married. 

By  his  personal  charm  and  a  repre 
sentation  of  himself  as  a  mysterious  rev 
olutionary  agent  returned  from  exile, 
Pyotx  began  to  dominate  Stepan's  liberal 
friends  and  became,  for  his  own  schem 
ing  purposes,  the  protege"  of  Yulia,  the 
governors  wife.  Nikolay  at  first  followed 
Pyotr  in  his  political  activities,  but  he 
turned  against  the  revolutionary  move 
ment  and  warned  Shatov  that  Pyotr's 
group  was  plotting  to  kill  Shatov  because 
of  information  he  possessed.  Nikolay  con 
fessed  to  Shatov  that  on  a  bet  he  had 
married  Marya  Lebyadkin  in  St.  Peters 
burg. 

As  a  result  of  a  duel  between  Nikolay 
and  a  local  aristocrat  who  hated  him,  a 
duel  in  which  Nikolay  emerged  victorious 
without  killing  his  opponent,  Nikolay 
became  a  local  hero.  He  continued  inti 
mate  with  Dasha,  Lizaveta  having  an 
nounced  her  engagement  to  another  man. 
Pyotr,  meanwhile,  sowed  seeds  of  dis 
sension  among  all  classes  in  the  town;  he 
disclosed  von  Lembke's  possession  of  a 
collection  of  radical  manifestoes;  he 
caused  a  break  between  his  father  and 
Varvara,  and  he  secretly  incited  the 


working   people   to  rebel   against   their 
masters. 

Yulia  led  the  leaders  of  the  town  in 
preparations  for  a  grand  fete.  Pyotr  saw 
in  the  f£te  the  opportunity  to  bring  chaos 
into  an  otherwise  orderly  community.  He 
brought  about  friction  between  von 
Lembke,  who  was  an  inept  governor,  and 
Yulia,  who  actually  governed  the  province 
through  her  salon. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  revolutionary 
group,  despair  and  confusion  prevailed 
until  Pyotr  welded  it  together  with  mys 
terious  talk  of  orders  from  higher  revolu 
tionary  leaders.  He  talked  of  many  other 
such  groups  engaged  in  like  activities. 
Shatov,  who  attended  the  meeting,  de 
nounced  Pyotr  as  a  spy  and  a  scoundrel 
and  walked  out.  Pyotr  disclosed  to  Nik 
olay  his  nihilistic  beliefs  and  proposed 
that  Nikolay  be  brought  forward  as  the 
Pretender  when  the  revolution  had  been 
accomplished. 

Blum,  von  Lernbke's  secretary,  raided 
Stepan's  quarters  and  confiscated  all  of 
Stepan's  private  papers,  among  them  some 
political  manifestoes.  Stepan  went  to 
the  governor  to  demand  his  rights  under 
the  law  and  witnessed  in  front  of  the 
governor's  mansion  the  lashing  of  dissi 
dent  workers  who  had  been  quietly  dem 
onstrating  for  redress  of  their  grievances. 
Von  Lembke  appeased  Stepan  by  saying 
that  the  raid  on  his  room  was  a  mistake. 
The  fete  was  doomed  beforehand. 
Many  agitators  without  tickets  were  ad 
mitted.  Liputin  read  a  comic  and  sedi 
tious  poem.  Karmazinov,  a  great  novelist, 
made  a  fool  of  himself  by  recalling  the 
follies  of  his  youth.  Stepan  insulted  the 
agitators  by  championing  the  higher  cul 
ture.  When  an  unidentified  agitator  arose 
to  speak,  the  afternoon  session  of  the  fete 
became  a  bedlam,  so  that  it  was  doubtful 
whether  the  ball  would  take  place  that 
night.  Abetted  by  Pyotr,  Nikolay  and 
Lizaveta  eloped  in  the  afternoon  to  the 
country  house  of  Varvara. 

The  ball  was  not  canceled,  but  few  of 
the  landowners  of  the  town  or  country 
side  appeared.  Drunkenness  and  brawling 

772 


soon  reduced  the  ball  to  a  rout  which 
came  to  a  sorry  end  when  fire  was  dis 
covered  raging  through  some  houses  along 
the  river.  Captain  Lebyadkin,  Marya, 
and  their  servant  were  discovered  mur 
dered  in  their  house,  which  remained  un- 
burned  in  the  path  of  the  fire.  When 
Pyotr  informed  Nikolay  of  the  murders, 
Nikolay  confessed  that  he  had  known  of 
the  possibility  that  violence  would  take 
place,  but  that  he  had  done  nothing  to 
prevent  it.  Horrified,  Lizaveta  went  to 
see  the  murdered  pair;  she  was  beaten  to 
death  by  the  enraged  townspeople  be 
cause  of  her  connections  with  Nikolay. 
Nikolay  left  town  quickly  and  quietly. 

When  the  revolutionary  group  met 
again,  all  mistrusted  one  another.  Pyotr 
explained  to  them  that  Fedka,  an  ex- 
convict,  had  murdered  the  Lebyadkins  for 
robbery,  but  he  failed  to  mention  that 
Nikolay  had  all  but  paid  Fedka  to  com 
mit  the  crime.  He  warned  the  group 
against  Shatov  and  said  that  a  fanatic 
named  Kirillov  had  agreed  to  cover  up 
the  proposed  murder  of  Shatov.  After 
Fedka  denounced  Pyotr  as  an  atheistic 
scoundrel,  Fedka  was  found  dead  on  a 
road  outside  the  town. 

At  the  same  time,  Marie,  Shatov's  wife, 
returned  to  the  town.  The  couple  had 
been  separated  for  three  years;  Marie  was 
ill  and  pregnant  When  she  began  her 
labor,  Shatov  procured  Virginsky's  wife 
as  midwife.  The  couple  wrere  reconciled 
after  Marie  gave  birth  to  a  baby  boy,  for 
the  child  served  to  regenerate  Shatov  and 
make  hi™  happy  once  more. 


Shatov  left  his  wife  and  baby  alone 
in  order  to  keep  an  appointment  with  the 
revolutionary  group,  an  appointment 
made  for  the  purpose  of  separating  him 
self  from  the  plotters.  Attacked  and  shot 
by  Pyotr,  his  body  was  weighted  with 
stones  and  thrown  into  a  pond.  After 
the  murder  Pyotr  went  to  Kirillov  to  get 
Kirillov's  promised  confession  for  the 
murder  of  Shatov.  Kirillov,  who  was 
Shatov  Js  neighbor  and  who  had  seen 
Shatov's  happiness  at  the  return  of  his 
wife,  at  first  refused  to  sign,  but  Pyotr 
finally  prevailed  upon  him  to  put  his 
name  to  the  false  confession.  Kirillov, 
morally  bound  to  end  his  life,  shot  him 
self.  Pyotr  left  the  province. 

Stepan,  meanwhile,  left  the  town  to 
seek  a  new  life.  He  wandered  for  a  time 
among  peasants  and  at  last  became  dan 
gerously  ill.  Varvara  went  to  him,  and 
the  two  friends  were  reconciled  before 
the  old  scholar  died.  Varvara  disoxvned 
her  son.  Marie  and  the  baby  died  of 
exposure  and  neglect  when  Shatov  failed 
to  return  home.  One  of  the  radical  group 
broke  down  and  confessed  to  the  violence 
that  had  been  committed  in  the  town  at 
the  instigation  of  the  completely  unmora1 
Pyotr.  Liputin  escaped  to  St.  Petersburg, 
where  he  was  apprehended  in  a  drunken 
stupor  in  a  brothel. 

Nikolay  wrote  to  Dasha,  the  servant, 
suggesting  that  the  two  of  them  go  to 
Switzerland  and  begin  a  new  life.  Before 
Dasha  could  pack  her  things,  however, 
Nikolay  returned  home  secretly  and 
hanged  himself  in  his  room. 


POWER 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Lion  Feuchtwanger  (1SS4-1958) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  ^lid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:   Germany 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

JOSEF  Siiss  OPPENHEIMER,  a  court  favorite 

RABBI  GABRIEL,  his  uncle 

NAKMT,  his  daughter 


773 


AUESLANKER,  the  Duke 
E  ATTGUSTE,  tie  Duchess 

WEISSENSEE,  a  politician 

MAGDALEN  SIBYLLE,  his  daughter 


Critique: 

What  is  a  Jew"?  What  causes  a  Jew, 
in  the  midst  of  disdain,  antipathy,  and 
persecution,  to  remain  a  Jew?  Feucht- 
wanger  deals  with  this  problem  through 
his  fictional  minister,  Josef  Suss  Oppen- 
heimer,  the  half -Christian  Jew  who  chose 
to  remain  a  Jew  until  his  death.  Subtly, 
Feuchtwanger  shows  us  the  metamor 
phosis  of  a  rank  materialist.  At  first  Suss 
chose  to  remain  a  Jew  because  he  wanted 
to  be  the  greatest  Jew  in  Germany.  As 
a  Christian  he  could  never  be  at  tlie 
top.  At  the  end,  he  chose  Judaism  be 
cause  he  found  inspiration  in  its  teach 
ings.  The  outer  Suss  was  no  more  than 
a  moneymonger,  but  the  inner  man  was 
sensitive  and  human. 

The  Story: 

All  of  Prussia  rejoiced,  and  European 
courts  lost  their  best  topic  of  scandal 
when  Duke  Eberhard  Ludwig  broke 
with  the  countess  who  had  been  his  mis 
tress  and  returned  to  his  wife  to  beget 
another  heir  to  the  throne.  The  countess 
had  been  his  mistress  for  thirty  years, 
bleeding  the  country  with  her  extrava 
gant  demands  for  wealth  and  jewels. 
Ludwig  was  too  vain,  however,  to  remain 
her  lover  when  she  grew  fat  and  middle- 
aged. 

The  countess  sent  for  Isaac  Landauer, 
the  wealthy  international  banker  who 
was  her  financial  agent.  Unable  to  ad 
vise  her  as  to  the  means  by  which  she 
could  keep  her  hold  on  the  duke,  he 
offered  to  liquidate  her  possessions  and 
send  them  to  another  province.  But  the 
countess,  who  had  a  strong  belief  in 
black  magic,  insisted  that  Landauer  must 
bring  to  her  the  Wandering  Jew  to  help 
cast  a  spell  on  Ludwig. 

Landauer  went  to  his  young  friend, 
Joseph  Suss  Oppenheimer,  and  offered 


half  of  what  his  dealings  with  the  count- 
^ss  would  bring  him,  if  the  young  man 
would  aid  Landauer  in  the  countess1 
scheme.  The  so-called  Wandering  Jew 
was  an  uncle  of  Suss,  Rabbi  Gabriel, 
whose  melancholy  demeanor  and  mystic 
ways  had  caused  people  to  think  that 
he  was  the  legendary  Wandering  Jew. 
Suss  considered  the  offer.  It  was  tempt 
ing,  but  for  some  unknown  reason  the 
young  man  was  half  afraid  of  his  uncle, 
whose  presence  always  instilled  in  his 
nephew  a  feeling  of  inferiority.  Further 
more,  Rabbi  Gabriel  was  rearing  mother 
less,  fourteen-year-old  Naemi,  the  daugh 
ter  whom  Suss  wished  to  conceal  from 
the  rest  of  the  world.  But  at  last  he 
sent  for  Rabbi  Gabriel. 

Penniless  Prince  Karl  Alexander  carne 
to  Wildbad  in  hopes  of  gaining  the  grant 
of  a  substantial  income  from  the  duke. 
Suss,  discovering  the  poverty  of  the 
prince,  made  himself  the  financial  ad 
viser  of  that  destitute  nobleman.  Al 
though  Landauer  warned  him  that  Karl 
Alexander  was  a  poor  risk,  Suss  continued 
his  association  with  the  prince  merely 
because  he  hoped  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  the  nobility.  Half  in  gratitude, 
half  in  jest,  the  prince  granted  Suss  ad 
mission  to  his  levees. 

On  bis  arrival  in  Wildbad,  Rabbi 
Gabriel  told  Suss  that  he  intended  to 
bring  Naemi  to  his  nephew.  But  Landauer 
no  longer  needed  Gabriel  to  help  carry 
out  the  countess'  scheme,  and  the  rabbi 
returned  to  his  home.  The  countess  had 
been  banished  from  the  duchy,  taking 
with  her  the  money  procured  by  Lan 
dauer. 

Suss  became  the  favorite  of  Prince 
Karl  Alexander.  To  Wildbad  also  came 
Prince  Anself  Franz  of  Thurn  and  Taxis 
and  his  daughter,  Princess  Marie 


POWER  by  Lion  Fenchtwanger.    Translated  by  Wiila  and  Edwin  Muir.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The 
Viking  Press,  Inc.     Copyright,   1926,  by  The  Viking  Press,  Inc. 


774 


Auguste.  Their  mission  was  to  urge 
Prince  Karl  Alexander  to  marry  the 
princess  and  turn  Catholic*  Angry  be 
cause  the  duke  had  refused  to  give  him 
a  pension,  the  prince  consented. 

Dulce  Eberhard  Ludwig  died  suddenly, 
and  Karl  Alexander,  now  a  Catholic, 
inherited  the  duchy.  Suss  became  a  court 
favorite,  appointed  by  the  new  duchess 
to  be  keeper  of  her  privy  purse.  Although 
Jews  were  forbidden  to  live  in  the  duchy, 
the  people  had  to  acknowledge  that  the 
duke  should  be  allowed  his  private  court 
Jew. 

Rabbi  Gabriel  had  bought  a  little 
white  house  where  he  lived  with  Naemi 
and  a  servant.  For  three  days,  while 
the  uncle  was  away,  Suss  went  to  Hirsau 
to  visit  his  daughter.  Then  he  returned 
to  his  duke.  Since  Karl  Alexander's  suc 
cession  Suss  had  slyly  directed  him  in 
measures  which  were  resulting  in  a  com 
plete  control  of  Swabia  by  the  duke 
himself.  The  Constitution  and  the 
Parliament  were  powerless.  Great  noble 
men  had  been  ruined.  Although  his 
income  was  enormous,  Suss  himself  re 
frained  from  holding  any  office.  Suss 
had  picked  one  former  cabinet  member, 
Weissensee,  as  President  of  the  Ecclesi 
astical  Council.  One  night  he  gave  a 
party  to  which  Weissensee  brought  his 
daughter,  Magdalen  Sibylle.  Suss,  not 
ing  the  duke's  attentiveness  toward  the 
girl,  enticed  her  into  his  bedroom,  where 
the  duke  followed.  After  that  evening, 
the  duke  sent  gifts  to  Magdalen  Sibylle, 
his  declared  mistress,  and  Weissensee 
was  promoted  to  a  high  office.  Hating 
Suss,  Weissensee  secredy  hoped  to  bring 
the  favorite  into  disfavor  at  court.  Learn 
ing  that  Suss  had  a  daughter,  he  planned 
to  place  the  Jew  in  the  same  position  that 
Suss  had  placed  him  on  the  night  Karl 
Alexander  had  taken  Magdalen  Sibylle. 

The  murder  of  a  child  revived  the  old 
legend  that  Jews  sacrificed  a  Christian 
child  at  the  Passover  feast,  and  a  Jew, 
Reb  Jeckeskel  Seligmann,  was  arrested 
for  the  crime.  Pressure  was  put  on  Suss 
to  use  his  power  to  save  the  innocent 


man,  but  he  refused  because  of  the 
danger  to  his  position  at  court.  Then 
Rabbi  Gabriel  sent  word  to  Suss  that 
Naemi  had  heard  rumors  of  his  wicked 
ness.  At  last  Suss  decided  that  he  would 
help  the  arrested  man.  In  rescuing  Selig- 
mann,  he  felt  anew  his  power  as  the 
court  Jew.  Soon  afterward,  at  the  request 
of  Rabbi  Gabriel,  he  went  to  visit  his 
mother.  From  her  he  learned  that  his 
real  father  had  been  a  great  Christian 
marshal  in  the  German  army.  Confused, 
Suss  finally  decided  that  he  was  a  Jew 
and  would  remain  so. 

Convinced  at  last  that  Suss  was  a 
swindler,  the  duke  threatened  to  dis 
miss  and  dishonor  him.  But  when  Suss 
offered  his  own  fortune  in  exchange  for 
proof  of  any  financial  trickery,  the  duke 
changed  his  mind  and  roared  his  anger 
at  the  enemies  of  Suss.  Realizing  that 
the  favorite  now  had  more  power  than 
ever,  Weissensee  continued  to  plot  his 
revenge.  Arranging  for  the  duke  to 
spend  some  time  at  his  home  in  Hirsau 
while  Rabbi  Gabriel  was  not  at  home, 
Weissensee  took  the  duke  to  Suss'  daugh 
ter.  With  visions  of  a  heavenly  rescue, 
the  quiet,  lonely  child  climbed  to  the 
roof  of  the  house  to  escape  from  her 
attacker.  She  fell  from  the  roof  to  her 
death. 

Outwardly  Suss  professed  forgiveness 
toward  the  duke,  but  he  pocketed  more 
and  more  funds  from  the  ducal  treasury. 
His  personality  altered.  Instead  of  in 
gratiating  himself  at  court,  he  criticized 
and  ridiculed  his  acquaintances.  Filling 
the  duke's  head  with  dreams  of  con 
quest,  Suss  inveigled  him  into  leading 
a  new  military  coup.  At  the  same  time 
he  planned  the  duke's  destruction.  While 
Karl  Alexander  lay  dying  at  the  scene 
of  his  defeat,  Suss  rained  over  his  head 
a  torrent  of  pent-up  abuse.  His  enemies 
ordered  his  arrest. 

For  many  months  the  case  against 
Suss  dragged  on.  Finally  he  was  put  into 
a  stinking,  rat-infested  hole,  where  every 
day  the  authorities  plied  him  for  a  con 
fession,  but  he  remained  stubbornly  alive 


775 


and  sane.  Sentenced  to  hang,  lie  assailed 
the  court  with  icy,  cutting  words.    He 
could  have  freed  himself  by  declaring 
his  Christian  birth.  He  kept  silent. 
On  the  day  of  the  hanging  Suss  died 


with  the  name  "Adonai,"  the  Hebrew 
name  for  God,  on  his  lips,  and  the  word 
was  echoed  by  all  the  Jews  who  had 
gathered  to  watch  him  die. 


THE  PRAIRIE 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1804 

Locale:  Western  Plains  of  the  United  States 

First  published:  1827 

Principal  characters: 

NATTY  BUMPPO,  an  old  frontiersman 

ISHMAEL  BUSH,  a  desperado 

ESTHER  BUSH,  his  wife 

ETXEN  WADE,  Esther's  niece 

ABULAJM  WHITE,  Esther's  brother 

DR.  BATTIUS,  a  naturalist 

PAUL  HOVER,  Ellen's  lover 

CAPTAIN  MIDDLETON,  of  the  United  States  Army 

IKEZ,  Middleton's  wife 

HAKD-HEART,  a  Pawnee  chief 

Critique: 

This  novel,  the  fifth  and  last  volume 
o£  Cooper's  familiar  Leatherstocking 
series,  closes  the  career  of  his  famous 
frontiersman  and  scout,  Natty  Bumppo. 
The  plot  is  full  of  incident,  but  it  de 
pends  too  much  on  coincidence  to  seem 
realistic  to  many  modern  readers.  The 
character  portrayal  is  not  vivid;  the 
women,  especially,  seem  dull  and  un 
real.  Much  of  the  action  is  slowed  down 
by  the  stilted  dialogue.  Yet,  in  spite  of 
triese  defects,  The  Prairie  catches  much 
of  the  spirit  of  the  old  West. 


The  Story: 

Shortly  after  the  time  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  the  family  of  Ishmael  Bush 
traveled  westward  from  the  Mississippi 
River.  Ishmael  was  accompanied  hy  his 
wife,  Esther,  and  their  sons  and  daugh 
ters.  Also  in  the  caravan  were  Ellen 
Wade,  a  niece  of  Esther;  Ahiiam  White, 
Esther's  brother;  and  Dr.  Battius,  a  phy 
sician  and  naturalist.  As  this  company 
searched  for  a  camping  place  one  evening, 
they  met  an  aged  trapper,  Natty  Bumppo, 


and  his  dog.  The  trapper  directed  theto 
to  a  nearby  stream. 

After  night  had  fallen,  Bumppo  dis 
covered  Ellen  in  a  secret  meeting  with 
her  lover,  Paul  Hover,  a  wandering  bee 
hunter.  The  three  were  captured  by  a 
band  of  Sioux.  While  the  Indian  raiders 
stole  all  the  horses  and  cattle  from  Ish- 
mael's  party,  the  captives  made  their  es 
cape.  Unable  to  proceed  across  the  prairie, 
the  emigrant  family  occupied  a  naturally 
fortified  hilltop  shown  to  them  by 
Bumppo. 

A  week  later,  Paul,  Bumpoo,  and  Dr. 
Battius  were  gathered  at  Bumppo's  camp 
ing  ground.  They  were  soon  joined  by 
a  stranger,  who  introduced  himself  as 
Captain  Middleton  of  the  United  States 
Army.  Bumppo  was  delighted  to  find  that 
Middleton  was  the  grandson  of  an  old 
friend  whom  he  had  known  in  the  days 
of  the  French  and  Indian  wars.  The 
young  officer  had  come  to  find  his  wife, 
Inez,  who  had  been  kidnaped  by  Abiram 
White  shortly  after  her  marriage.  She 
was  now  a  captive  in  Ishmael's  camp. 


776 


Paul,  Buinppo,  and  Dr.  Batthis  agreed  to 
help  Middleton  rescue  her. 

On  the  same  day  Ishmael  and  his  sons 
left  their  camp  to  hunt  buffalo.  That 
evening  they  returned  with  meat,  but 
Asa,  the  oldest  son,  did  not  return  with 
the  rest  of  the  hunters.  In  the  morning 
the  entire  family  set  out  to  search  for 
him.  At  last  his  dead  body  was  found 
in  a  thicket;  he  had  been  shot  in  the 
back  with  one  of  Bumppo's  bullets.  His 
family  buried  him  and  returned  to  camp. 
There  they  found  that  both  Ellen  and 
Inez  were  gone. 

The  girls,  who  had  been  rescued  by 
Middleton  and  his  friends,  were  rapidly 
making  their  escape  across  the  prairie, 
when  their  progress  was  interrupted  by 
a  meeting  with  a  Pawnee  warrier,  Hard- 
Heart.  After  the  Indian  had  galloped 
away  on  his  horse,  the  travelers  found 
themselves  in  the  path  of  a  stampeding 
herd  of  buffalo.  The  group  was  saved 
from  being  trampled  to  death  at  the  last 
moment  by  the  braying  of  Dr.  Battius' 
donkey,  for  at  the  strange  sound  the  buf 
falo  turned  aside.  However,  Middleton's 
party  was  soon  captured  by  a  band  of 
Sioux  pursuing  the  buffalo  herd.  They 
were  the  same  Indians  who  had  captured 
Bumppo,  Paul,  and  Ellen  once  before. 
At  the  same  time  Ishmael  and  his  sons 
approached  on  foot  in  search  of  the  two 
girls.  The  Indians  remounted  and  gave 
horses  to  their  captives  so  that  all  could 
ride  to  Ishmael's  camp  while  he  and  nis 
sons  were  away.  During  the  Indian  raid 
on  the  camp,  Bumppo  helped  his  friends 
escape  on  horseback. 

They  rode  as  far  as  possible  before 
making  camp  for  the  night  But  in  the 
morning  they  found  that  the  Sioux  had 
followed  them  and  had  set  fire  to  the 
prairie  in  order  to  drive  them  into  the 
open.  Bumppo  rescued  the  party  by 
burning  off  the  nearby  prairie  before  the 
larger  fire  reached  it.  As  they  started  off, 
they  met  the  lone  Hard-Heart  again. 
From  him  they  learned  that  the  Sioux 
and  Ishmael's  family  had  joined  forces  in 
order  to  search  for  them.  Since  Hard- 


Heart  and  the  little  band  had  a  common 
enemy  in  the  Sioux,  he  agreed  to  take 
them  to  his  Pawnee  village  for  protection, 

In  order  to  evade  their  pursuers,  the 
fugitives  crossed  a  nearby  river.  As  they 
reached  the  far  bank  the  Sioux  appeared 
on  the  opposite  shore.  That  night  the 
fugitives  remained  free,  but  snow  fell  and 
made  it  impossible  for  them  to  escape 
without  being  tracked.  They  were  cap 
tured  and  taken  to  the  Sioux  village. 

Hard-Heart,  Paul,  and  Middleton  were 
bound  by  their  savage  captors.  Out  of 
respect  for  his  age,  Bumppo  was  allowed 
to  roam  freely,  but  he  declined  to  leave 
his  friends.  The  women  were  placed  in 
the  lodge  of  the  Sioux  chief. 

Using  Bumppo  as  an  interpreter,  the 
Sioux  chief  asked  Inez  to  be  his  wife. 
At  the  same  time  Ishmael  asked  the  chief 
to  hand  over  to  him.  Inez,  Ellen,  and 
Bumppo,  as  had  been  previously  agreed. 
When  the  chief  refused,  Ishmael  de 
parted  angrily. 

The  Indians  then  gathered  in  council 
to  decide  the  fate  of  Hard-Heart,  and 
many  wished  to  torture  him  to  death. 
But  an  old  warrier  stepped  forward  and 
declared  that  he  wished  to  make  the 
Pawnee  his  adopted  son.  Hard-Heart, 
however,  refused  to  become  a  member  of 
the  Sioux  tribe.  The  Sioux  began  their 
torture,  but  in  the  midst  of  it  Hard-Heart 
escaped  and  joined  a  war  party  of  his 
own  Pawnees,  who  arrived  on  the  scene 
at  that  moment. 

Leaving  their  women  to  guard  the 
prisoners,  the  Sioux  prepared  to  fight. 
The  braves  of  the  two  tribes  gathered  on 
the  opposite  banks  of  a  river,  neither  side 
daring  to  make  the  first  move.  Then 
Hard-Heart  challenged  the  Sioux  chief 
to  single  combat. 

Meanwhile,  Bumppo  helped  the  rest 
of  the  captives  to  escape.  Shortly  after 
ward  they  fell  once  more  into  the  Lands 
of  Ishmael. 

Hard-Heart  was  victorious  in  the 
single-handed  combat,  and  his  warriors 
put  the  Sioux  to  flight  in  the  "battle 
which  followed. 


The  next  morning  Ishmael  held  a 
court  of  justice  in  order  to  deal  with  his 
captives.  He  realized  his  mistake  in  carry 
ing  Inez  away  from  her  husband  and 
allowed  the  couple  their  freedom.  He 

give  Ellen  her  choice  of  remaining  with 
s  family  or  going  with  Paul.  She  chose 
to  go  with  her  lover.  Ishmael  allowed  Dr. 
Battius  his  freedom  because  he  did  not 
think  the  scientist  worth  bothering  about. 
Then  Bumppo  came  up  for  judgment. 

Ishmael  still  believed  that  Bumppo  had 
shot  his  son,  Asa.  Bumppo,  however,  re 
vealed  that  it  was  really  Abiram  who  had 
done  the  cowardly  deed.  Abiram  con 
fessed  his  crime  and  then  fainted.  Ish 
mael  was  reluctant  to  pronounce  judg 
ment  on  his  brother-in-law,  but  he  felt 
it  his  duty  to  do  so.  That  evening  he 
gave  Abiram  the  choice  of  starving  to 
death  or  hanging  himself.  Late  that  night 
Ishmael  and  Esther  returned  to  find  that 
Abiram  had  hanged  himself.  They  buried 


him  and  continued  on  their  way  back 
to  the  frontier  settlements. 

Middleton,  Paul,  and  the  girls  invited 
Bumppo  to  return  to  the  settlements  with 
them,  where  they  would  make  comfort 
able  his  last  days.  He  refused,  giving  as 
his  reason  his  desire  to  die  away  from 
civilization.  He  chose  to  remain  in  the 
Pawnee  village  with  Hard-Heart 

A  year  later,  when  Middleton's  duties 
as  an  army  officer  brought  him  near  the 
Pawnee  village,  he  determined  to  pay 
Bumppo  a  visit.  Arriving  at  the  camp, 
Middleton  found  the  old  trapper  near 
death.  It  was  late  afternoon.  Bumppo 
revived  enough  to  greet  his  old  friend. 
At  sundown,  however,  he  seemed  to  be 
breathing  his  last.  As  the  sun  sank  be 
neath  the  horizon,  he  made  one  last 
tremendous  effort.  He  rose  to  his  feet 
and,  as  if  answering  a  roll  call,  he  uttered 
a  loud  and  firm  "Here"  —  then  fell  back 
dead  into  the  arms  of  his  friends. 


PRECIOUS  BANE 


Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Mary  Webb  (1881-1927) 

Type  of  plot;  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published;   1924 


Principal  characters: 

PRUDENCE  SARN,  a  harelipped  girl 
GIDEON,  her  brother 
WIZARD  BEGUELDY,  an  evil  neighbor 
JANCIS  BEGUILDY,  his  daughter 
KESTER  WOODSEAVES,  the  weaver 


Critique: 

Just  as  Prudence  Sarn  seemed  to  view 
the  past  events  of  her  life  through  a 
veil,  so  she  tells  her  story.  The  story 
is  not  autobiographical,  but  into  it  Mrs. 
Webb  put  many  experiences  of  her  own 
youth.  In  this  novel  man  seems  to  be 
controlled  by  forces  of  nature.  The  Bane, 
the  poison  that  was  in  Gideon  Sarn, 
moved  him  even  to  murder,  for  powers 
outside  him  drove  bim  beyond  his  will. 
But  when  nature  was  satisfied,  the  Bane 

PRECIOUS  BANE  by  Mary  Webb.     By  permission  of 
,  by  E.  P.  Duttoc  &  Co.,  Inc. 


was  exorcised;  and  peace  came  to  the 
Sams. 

The  Story: 

The  country  people  said  there  had 
been  something  queer  about  the  Sarn 
family  ever  since  old  Timothy  Sam  was 
struck  by  forked  lightning.  The  light 
ning  seemed  to  have  gone  into  Timothy 
and  into  all  the  Sarns.  In  Prue's  father 
the  lightning  took  the  form  of  a  raving 

tile  publishers,  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright, 


778 


temper,  and  in  Prue's  brother  Gideon 
the  lightning  was  the  more  frightening 
because  it  was  quiet  but  deadly.  Dogs 
and  horses  turned  away  from  Gideon's 
gray  eyes.  Prue  understood  her  brother 
better  than  most,  but  even  she  was 
frightened  when  Gideon  offered  to  be 
the  sin-eater  at  their  father's  funeral. 
For  a  sin-eater  took  the  sins  of  the  dead 
person  and  sold  his  soul  for  a  price. 
Gideon's  price  was  the  farm  which  would 
have  been  his  mother's.  Mrs.  Sarn  feared 
to  accept  the  terms,  for  a  sin-eater's 
destiny  was  dreadful;  but  she  feared  more 
to  let  her  husband  go  to  his  grave  with 
all  his  sins,  and  so  she  gave  Gideon  the 
farm. 

On  the  night  after  the  funeral,  Gideon 
told  Prue  his  plans.  They  were  going 
to  become  rich,  own  a  house  in  town, 
and  have  fine  clothes  and  beautiful  fur 
niture.  Gideon  promised  Prue  that  for 
her  belp  he  would  give  Her  fifty  pounds 
to  get  her  harelip  cured.  He  warned 
her,  however,  that  he  would  work  her 
as  he  would  an  animal.  Because  Prue 
had  hated  her  harelip  for  many  years, 
she  consented  to  his  terms.  They  signed 
an  agreement  and  took  an  oath  on  the 
Bible  that  Gideon  would  be  the  master 
and  Prue  his  servant. 

Prue  was  also  to  learn  to  read  and 
write  and  do  sums  so  that  she  could  keep 
the  farm  accounts.  Her  teacher  would 
be  Wizard  Beguildy,  a  neighbor  who 
was  preached  against  in  church  because 
he  earned  his  living  by  working  spells 
and  charms.  Wizard  was  the  father  of 
Jancis  Beguildy,  a  childhood  friend  of 
Prue  and  Gideon. 

During  the  next  four  years  Prue  and 
Gideon  Saved  long  hours  in  the  field. 
Prue  grew  thinner  and  thinner  and  their 
mother  became  quite  feeble.  She  was 
compelled  to  watch  the  pigs,  for  Gideon 
would  let  no  one  be  idle.  The  farm 
prospered. 

One  part  of  Gideon's  plan  did  not 
work  out,  however,  as  he  had  arranged. 
In  love  with  Jancis  Beguildy,  he  de 
cided  that  he  would  make  his  fortune 


and  then  marry  her.  Jancis  did  not  want 
to  wait  that  long,  but  Gideon  wTould  not 
change  his  mind. 

Gideon  and  Jancis  were  handfasted 
and  Jancis  had  a  love-spinning,  even 
though  her  father  swore  that  she  could 
never  marry  Gideon.  At  the  love-spin 
ning  Prue  first  saw  Kester  Woodseaves, 
the  weaver.  When  Kester  came  into  the 
room,  it  seemed  to  Prue  that  a  beautiful 
mist  surrounded  her.  Then  she  turned 
sadly  away.  Gideon  had  told  her  often 
enough  that  no  man  would  love  a  girl 
with  a  harelip. 

A  few  days  after  the  spinning  Jancis 
went  to  teU  Gideon  that  her  father 
threatened  either  to  sell  her  to  a  rich 
squire  for  his  pleasure  or  to  hire  her 
out  for  three  years  as  a  dairymaid.  Her 
only  salvation  was  immediate  marriage 
to  Gideon.  But  Gideon  told  her  that 
he  had  not  made  enough  money,  that 
she  must  be  bound  over  for  three  years. 
Even  Jancis'  tears  would  not  move  him. 
Jancis  was  sent  to  work  for  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Grimble. 

After  several  months  Jancis  ran  away 
from  the  Grirnble  farm.  Because  Gideon 
had  a  good  crop  of  grain  coming  up, 
he  promised  to  marry  her  after  the  har 
vest.  Wizard  Beguildy  still  swore  that 
there  would  be  no  wedding,  and  Prue 
was  afraid. 

One  day,  as  Prue  was  walking  through 
the  fields,  Kester  met  her.  When  she 
tried  to  hide  her  face,  Kester  took  her 
by  the  shoulders  and  looked  straight  into 
her  eyes.  He  did  not  laugh,  but  talked 
to  Prue  as  a  man  talks  to  a  woman  who 
is  beautiful  and  attractive.  His  words 
were  almost  more  than  Prue  could  bear, 

Never  had  there  been  such  a  harvest. 
Gideon's  crop  was  piled  in  high  ricks, 
and  all  the  neighbor  folks  who  had 
helped  with  the  harvest  came  to  the 
house  to  dance  and  feast.  As  soon  as 
the  grain  buyer  came  to  buy  the  crop, 
Jancis  and  Gideon  would  be  married. 
But  Gideon,  unable  to  wait  until  theii 
wedding,  went  to  Jancis'  home  to  be 
with  her.  Mrs.  Beguildy  tricked  he* 


779 


husband  into  leaving  so  that  the  lovers 
could  be  together.  Wizard  Beguildy,  ar 
riving  home  early,  found  Jancis  and 
Gideon  in  bed  together,  and  the  two  men 
quarreled,  Prue  was  more  frightened 
than  ever. 

Prue  had  reason  for  her  premonition  of 
danger,  for  that  night  Wizard  set  the 
ricks  on  fire  and  everything  burned  ex 
cept  the  house  and  the  barn,  Gideon  was 
like  a  madman.  When  Jancis  tried  to 
comfort  him,  he  said  she  was  cursed  by 
her  father's  blood,  and  he  drove  her  away. 
He  tried  to  get  to  Wizard  to  kill  him, 
but  Prue  prevented  this  deed  by  having 
Wizard  arrested.  Gideon  cursed  the 
Beguildy  family,  even  Jancis.  Jancis 
swooned  and  lay  for  days  in  a  trance. 
She  and  her  mother  were  put  off  their 
farm,  for  no  landowner  would  have  the 
family  of  an  arsonist  on  his  land. 

Gideon,  began  to  rebuild  his  dream, 
but  Jancis  was  no  longer  a  part  of  it. 
He  worked  himself  and  Prue  and  their 
mother  almost  to  death.  When  the 
mother  became  too  weak  to  work,  Gideon 
put  poison  into  her  tea,  for  he  would  feed 
no  one  who  could  not  earn  her  way. 
Prue  knew  that  her  brother's  mind  was 
deranged  after  the  fire,  but  she  had 


not  known  that  he  would  kill  for  money. 

Jancis  returned  with  Gideon's  baby. 
When  Gideon  drove  her  out  of  the 
house,  Jancis  took  her  baby  to  the  pond 
and  drowned  herself  and  her  child.  Gid 
eon  began  to  see  visions.  He  told  Prue 
often  that  he  had  seen  Jancis  or  his 
mother,  and  sometimes  he  heard  Jancis 
singing.  He  talked  queerly  about  the 
past,  about  his  love  for  Jancis.  He  no 
longer  wanted  the  money  that  had  been 
his  whole  life.  One  day  he  rowed  out 
on  the  pond  and  threw  himself  into  the 
water  and  drowned.  Prue  was  left  alone. 

Her  vow  to  Gideon  ended,  Prue  de 
cided  to  leave  the  farm.  When  she 
rounded  up  the  livestock  and  went  into 
the  village  to  sell  them,  the  people  called 
her  a  witch  and  blamed  all  the  trouble 
on  her  harelip.  They  said  that  the 
forked  lightning  was  in  her  worse  than 
in  all  the  other  Sarns,  and  they  put 
her  in  the  ducking  chair  and  ducked 
her  in  the  pond  until  she  was  senseless. 
When  she  awakened,  Kester  was  beside 
her,  to  lift  her  upon  his  horse  and  take 
her  away  to  be  his  wife.  Prue  knew  then 
that  the  forked  lightning  was  not  in 
her;  the  curse  of  the  Sarns  had  been 
lifted. 


PRIDE  AND  PREJUDICE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Jane  Austen  (1775-1817) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Rural  England 

First  published:  1813 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  BENNET,  father  of  five  daughters 

MRS.  BENNET,  his  wife 

ELIZABETH  BENNET,  her  father's  favorite 

JANE  BENNET,  the  family  beauty 

MARY, 

CATHERTNE  (KITTY),  and 

LYDIA  BENNET,  younger  sisters 

MR.  BINGLEY,  an  eligible  bachelor 

CAROLINE  BINGLEY,  his  sister 

MR.  DARCY,  a  proud  gentleman,  Bingley's  friend 

MR.  COLUNS,  a  conceited  bore 

LADY  CATHERINE  DE  BOLTRGH,  Collins*  arrogant  patroness 


780 


Elizabeth  Bennet,  one  of  the  most  de 
lightful  heroines  of  all  time,  would  be 
enough  to  make  Pride  and  Prejudice  out 
standing  among  English  novels.  In  addi 
tion,  the  book  has  a  beautifully  symmetri 
cal  plot  in  which  the  action  rises  and  falls 
as  inevitably  as  does  an  ocean  wave. 
Many  of  the  other  characters  besides 
Elizabeth  are  superbly  .drawn.  Jane 
Austen's  delicate  but  telling  satire  of  the 
English  country  gentlefolk  of  her  day — 
and  indeed  of  her  neighborhood — re 
mains  a  delightful  commentary  upon  the 
little  foibles  of  human  nature. 

The  Story: 

The  chief  business  of  Mrs.  Bennet's 
life  was  to  find  suitable  husbands  for  her 
five  daughters.  Consequently  she  heard 
with  elation  that  Netherfield  Park,  one 
of  the  great  houses  of  the  neighborhood, 
had  been  let  to  a  London  gentleman 
named  Mr.  Bingley.  Gossip  such  as  Mrs. 
Bennet  loved  reported  him  a  rich  and 
altogether  eligible  young  bachelor.  Mr. 
Bennet  heard  the  news  with  his  usual 
dry  calmness,  suggesting  in  his  mild  way 
that  perhaps  Bingley  was  not  moving  into 
the  county  for  the  single  purpose  of  mar 
rying  one  of  the  Bennet  daughters. 

Mr.  Bingley }s  first  public  appearance 
in  the  neighborhood  was  at  a  ball.  With 
him  were  his  two  sisters,  the  husband  of 
the  older,  and  Mr.  Darcy,  Bingley  *s 
friend.  Bingley  was  an  immediate  suc 
cess  in  local  society,  and  he  and  Jane, 
the  oldest  Bennet  daughter,  a  pretty  girl 
of  sweet  and  gentle  disposition,  were  at 
tracted  to  each  other  at  once.  His  friend, 
Darcy,  however,  created  a  bad  impression, 
seeming  cold  and  extremely  proud.  In 
particular,  he  insulted  Elizabeth  Bennet, 
a  girl  of  spirit  and  intelligence  and  her 
father's  favorite.  He  refused  to  dance 
with  her  when  she  was  sitting  down  for 
lack  of  a  partner,  and  he  said  in  her 
hearing  that  he  was  in  no  mood  to  prefer 
young  ladies  slighted  by  other  men.  On 
future  occasions,  however,  he  began  to 
admire  Elizabeth  in  spite  of  himself.  At 


a  later  ball  she  had  the  satisfaction  of  re 
fusing  him  a  dance. 

Jane's  romance  with  Bingley  flourished 
quietly,  aided  by  family  calls,  dinners, 
and  balls.  His  sisters  pretended  great 
fondness  for  Jane,  who  believed  them 
completely  sincere.  The  more  critical  and 
discerning  Elizabeth  suspected  them  of 
hypocrisy,  and  quite  rightly,  for  they 
made  great  fun  of  Jane's  relations,  espe 
cially  her  vulgar,  garrulous  mother  and 
her  two  ill-bred  officer-mad  younger  sis 
ters.  Miss  Caroline  Bingley,  who  was 
eager  to  marry  Darcy  and  shrewdly  aware 
of  his  growing  admiration  for  Elizabeth, 
was  especially  loud  in  her  ridicule  of  the 
Bennet  family.  Elizabeth  herself  became 
Caroline's  particular  target  when  she 
walked  three  muddy  miles  to  visit  Jane, 
who  was  sick  with  a  cold  at  Netherfield 
Park  after  a  ride  through  the  rain  to  ac 
cept  an  invitation  from  the  Bingley  sisters. 
Until  Jane  was  able  to  be  moved  home, 
Elizabeth  stayed  to  nurse  her.  During 
her  visit  Elizabeth  received  enough  at 
tention  from  Darcy  to  make  Caroline 
Bingley  long  sincerely  for  Jane's  recovery. 
Nor  were  her  fears  ill-founded.  Darcy 
admitted  to  himself  that  he  would  be  in 
some  danger  from  the  charm  of  Elizabeth, 
if  it  were  not  for  her  inferior  family 
connections. 

Elizabeth  now  acquired  a  new  admirer 
in  the  person  of  Mr.  Collins,  a  ridicu 
lously  pompous  clergyman  and  a  distant 
cousin  of  the  Bennets,  who  would  some 
day  inherit  Mr.  Bennet's  property  be 
cause  that  gendeman  had  no  male  heir. 
Mr.  Collins'  patroness,  Lady  Catherine 
de  Bourgh,  had  urged  him  to  marry,  and 
he,  always  obsequiously  obedient  to  her 
wishes,  hastened  to  comply.  Thinking  to 
alleviate  the  hardship  caused  the  Bennet 
sisters  by  the  entail  which  gave  their 
father's  property  to  him,  Mr.  Collins  first 
proposed  to  Elizabeth.  Much  to  hex 
mother's  displeasure  and  her  father's  joy> 
she  firmly  and  prompdy  rejected  him. 
He  almost  immediately  transferred  his 
affections  to  Elizabeth's  best  friend,  Char- 


781 


ictte  Lucas,  who,  twenty-seven  and  some 
what  homely,  accepted  at  once  his  offer 
of  marriage. 

During  Mr.  Collins'  visit,  the  younger 
Bennet  sisters,  Kitty  and  Lydia,  on  one  of 
their  many  walks  to  Meryton,  met  a  fas 
cinating  new  officer,  Mr.  Wickham,  sta 
tioned  with  the  regiment  there.  Out 
wardly  charming,  he  became  a  favorite 
among  the  ladies,  even  with  Elizabeth. 
She  was  willing  to  believe  the  story  that 
he  had  been  cheated  out  of  an  inheritance 
left  him  by  his  godfather,  Darcy 's  father. 
Her  suspicions  of  Darcy's  arrogant  and 
grasping  nature  deepened  when  Wick- 
ham  did  not  come  to  a  ball  given  by  the 
Bingleys,  a  dance  at  which  Darcy  was 
present. 

Soon  after  the  ball,  the  entire  Bingley 
party  suddenly  left  Netherfield  Park. 
They  departed  with  no  intention  of  re 
turning,  as  Caroline  wrote  Jane  in  a  short 
farewell  note  which  hinted  that  Bingley 
might  soon  become  engaged  to  Darcy 's 
sister.  Jane  accepted  this  news  at  face 
value  and  believed  that  her  friend  Caro 
line  was  telling  her  gently  that  her 
brother  loved  elsewhere,  and  that  she 
must  cease  to  hope.  Elizabeth,  however, 
was  sure  of  a  plot  by  Darcy  and  Bingley  *s 
sisters  to  separate  Him  and  Jane.  She  per 
suaded  Jane  that  Bingley  did  love  her  and 
that  he  would  return  to  Hertfordshire 
before  the  winter  was  over.  Jane  almost 
believed  her  until  she  received  a  letter 
from  Caroline  assuring  her  that  they  were 
all  settled  in  London  for  the  winter.  Even 
after  Jane  told  her  this  news,  Elizabeth 
remained  convinced  of  Bingley 's  affection 
for  her  sister,  and  deplored  the  lack  of 
resolution  which  made  him  putty  in  the 
hands  of  his  designing  friend. 

About  that  time  Mrs.  Bennet's  sister, 
Mrs.  Gardiner,  an  amiable  and  intelli 
gent  woman  with  a  great  deal  of  affection 
for  her  two  oldest  nieces,  arrived  for  a 
Christmas  visit  She  suggested  to  the 
Bennets  that  Jane  return  to  London  with 
her  for  a  rest  and  change  of  scene  and  — 
so  it  was  understood  between  Mrs.  Gar- 
iiner  and  Elizabeth' — to  renew  her  ac 


quaintance  with  Bingley.  Elizabeth,  not 
too  hopeful  for  the  success  of  the  plan, 
pointed  out  that  proud  Darcy  would 
never  let  his  friend  call  on  Jane  in  the 
unfashionable  London  street  on  which 
the  Gardiners  lived.  Jane  accepted  the 
invitation,  however,  and  she  and  Mrs. 
Gardiner  set  out  for  London. 

The  time  drew  near  for  the  wedding 
of  Elizabeth's  friend,  Charlotte  Lucas,  to 
the  obnoxious  Mr.  Collins.  Charlotte 
asked  Elizabeth  to  visit  her  in  Kent.  In 
spite  of  her  feeling  that  there  could  be 
little  pleasure  in  such  a  visit,  Elizabeth 
promised  to  do  so.  She  felt  that  in  taking 
such  a  husband  Charlotte  was  marrying 
simply  for  the  sake  of  an  establishment, 
as  was  indeed  the  case.  Since  she  herself 
could  not  sympathize  with  her  friend's 
action,  Elizabeth  thought  their  days  of 
real  intimacy  were  over.  As  March  ap 
proached,  however,  she  found  herself 
eager  to  see  her  friend,  and  she  set  out 
with  pleasure  on  the  journey  with  Char 
lotte's  father  and  sister.  On  their  way, 
the  party  stopped  in  London  to  see  the 
Gardiners  and  Jane.  Elizabeth  found  her 
sister  well  and  outwardly  happy,  though 
she  had  not  seen  Bingley  and  his  sisters 
had  paid  only  one  call.  Elizabeth  was 
sure  Bingley  had  not  been  told  of  Jane's 

Presence  in  London  and  blamed  Darcy 
Dr  keeping  it  from  him. 

Soon  after  arriving  at  the  Collins* 
home,  the  whole  party  was  honored,  as 
Mr.  Collins  repeatedly  assured  them,  by  a 
dinner  invitation  from  Lady  Catherine  de 
Bourgh,  Darcy's  aunt  and  Mr.  Collins' 
patroness.  Elizabeth  found  Lady  Cath 
erine  a  haughty,  ill-mannered  woman 
and  her  daughter  thin,  sickly,  and  shy. 
Lady  Catherine  was  extremely  fond  of 
inquiring  into  the  affairs  of  others  and 
giving  them  unasked  advice.  Elizabeth 
turned  off  the  meddling  old  woman's 
questions  with  cool  indirectness,  and  saw 
from  the  effect  that  she  was  probably  the 
first  who  had  dared  to  do  so. 

Soon  after  Elizabeth's  arrival,  Darcy 
came  to  visit  his  aunt  and  cousin.  He 
called  frequently  at  the  parsonage,  and 


782 


he  and  Elizabeth  resumed  their  conver 
sational    fencing    matches.     His    rather 
stilted  attentions  were  suddenly  climaxed 
hv    a    proposal    of    marriage,    but    one 
couched  in  such  proud  and  condescend 
ing  terms  that  Elizabeth  indignantly  re 
fused  him.   When  he  requested  her  rea 
son  for  such  an  emphatic  rejection,  she 
mentioned  his  part  in  separating  Binglev 
and  Jane,  and  also  his  mistreatment  of 
Wickham.   Angry,  he  left  abruptly,  but 
the  next  day  brought  a  letter  answering 
her  charges.'  He  did  not  deny  his  part  in 
separating  Jane  and  Bingley,  but  he  gave 
as  his  reasons  the  improprieties  of  Mrs. 
Rennet  and  her  younger  daughters,  and 
also  his  sincere  belief  that  Jane  did  not 
love  Bingley.    As  for  his  alleged  mis 
treatment  of  Wickham,  he  proved  that  he 
had    in    reality    acted   most    generously 
toward  the  unprincipled  Wickham,  who 
had  repaid  his  kindness  by  attempting  to 
elope  with  Darcy's  young  sister.    Eliza 
beth,  at  first  incensed  at  the  proud  tones 
in  which  he  wrote,  was  at  length  forced 
to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  all  he  said, 
and  her  prejudice  against  him  began  to 
weaken.  Without  seeing  him  again,  she 
returned  home. 

She  found  her  younger  sisters  clamor 
ing  to  go  to  Brighton,  where  the  regiment 
formerly  stationed  at  Meryton  had  been 
ordered.    When  an  invitation   came   to 
Lvdia  from  a  young  officer's  wife,  Lydia 
was  allowed  to  accept  it  over  Elizabeths 
protests.    Elizabeth  herself  was  asked  by 
the  Gardiners  to  go  with  them  on  a  tour 
which  would  take  them  into  Derbyshire, 
Darcy's  home  county.  She  accepted,  rea 
soning  that  she  was  not  very  likely  to 
meet   Darcy  merely  by  going  into  the 
same  county  with  him.  While  they  were 
there,  however,  Mrs.   Gardiner  decided 
tbev  should  visit  Pemberly,  Darcy's  home. 
Elizabeth  made  several  excuses,  but  her 
aunt  was  insistent.   Then,  learning  that 
the  Darcy  family  was  not  at  home,  Eliza 
beth  consented  to  go. 

At  Pemberly,  an  unexpected  and  most 
embarrassing  Meeting  took  place  between 
Elizabeth  and  Darcy.  He  was  more  polite 


than  Elizabeth  had  ever  known  him  to 
be,  and  asked  permission  for  his  sister  to 
call  upon  her.  The  call  was  duly  paid 
and  returned,  but  the  pleasant  intercourse 
between  the  Darcys  and  Elizabeth's  party 
was  suddenly  cut  short  when  a  letter 
came  from  Jane  telling  Elizabeth  that 
Lydia  had  run  away  with  Wickham. 
Elizabeth  told  Darcy  what  had  happened, 
and  she  and  the  Gardiners  left  for  home 
at  once.  After  several  days  the  runaway 
couple  was  located  and  a  marriage  ar 
ranged  between  them.  When  Lydia  came 
home  as  heedless  as  ever,  she  told  Eliza 
beth  that  Darcv  had  attended  her  wed 
ding.  Elizabetn,  suspecting  the  truth, 
learned  from  Mrs.  Gardiner  that  it  was 
indeed  Darcy  who  brought  about  the 
marriage  by  giving  Wickham  money. 

Soon  after  Lydia  and  Wickham  left, 
Bingley  came  back  to  Netherfield  Park, 
and  with  him  came  Darcy.    Elizabeth, 
nowT  more  favorably  inclined  to  him  than 
ever  before,  hoped  "his  coming  meant  that 
he  still  loved  her,  but  he  gave  no  sign. 
Bingley  and  Jane,   on  the  other  hand, 
were  still  obviously  in  love  with  each 
other,  and  became 'engaged,  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  Mrs.  Bennet.    Soon  after 
ward  Lady  Catherine  paid  the  Bennets  an 
unexpected  call.    She  had  heard  it  ru 
mored  that  Darcy  was  engaged  to  Eliz 
abeth.  Hoping  to'  marry  her  own  daugh 
ter  to  Darcy,  she  had  charged  down  with 
characteristic  bad  manners  to  order  Eliz 
abeth  not  to  accept  his  proposal.    The 
spirited  girl  was  not  to  be  intimidated  by 
the  bullying  Lady  Catherine  and  coolly 
refused  to  promise  not  to  marry  Darcy. 
She  was  far  from  certain  she  would  have 
another  chance,  but  she  had  not  long  to 
wonder.    Lady  Catherine,  unluckily  for 
her  own  purpose,  repeated  to  Darcy  the 
substance  of  her  conversation  with  Eliza 
beth,  and  he  knew  Elizabeth  well  enough 
to  surmise  that  her  feelings  toward  him 
had    greatly   changed.     He   returned   to 
Netherfield  Park,  and  he  and  Elizabeth 
became  engaged.  Pride  had  been  humbled 
and  prejudice  dissolved. 


783 


THE  PRISONER  OF  ZENDA 


Type,  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Anthony  Hope  (Sir  Anthony  Hope  Hawkins,  1863-1933) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1880's 

Locale:  "Ruritania" 

First  published:  1894 

Principal  characters: 

RUDOLF  RASSENDYIX,  an  English  gentleman 

LAJ>Y  ROSE  BUEJ-ESDON,  his  sister-in-law 

RtrixoLF,  King  o£  Ruritania 

MICHAEL,  DUKE  OF  STRELSAU,  King  Rudolf's  half-brother 

ANTOINETTE  DE  MAUBAN,  in  love  with  Michael 

PRINCESS  FLAVTA,  hetrothed  to  King  Rudolf 

FRITZ  VON  TARLENHEIM,  a  loyal  subject  of  the  king 

COLONEL  SAPT,  another  loyal' subject 

Critique: 

Many  novels  have  been  written  about 
the  intrigues  and  plots  of  royalty,  but 
few  hold  the  reader's  attention  as  does 
The  Prisoner  of  Zenda.  In  its  pages 
we  meet  kings  and  would-be  kings,  beau 
tiful  ladies,  loyal  subjects,  and  those  who 
would  sell  out  their  leader  for  the  prom 
ise  of  gold  or  power.  There  are  thrills 
and  excitement  enough  for  all:  murder, 
duels  at  midnight,  trysts,  daring  rescues. 
If  Anthony  Hope's  desire  was  to  give 
his  readers  a  few  hours  of  pure  enjoy 
ment,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  his  sole 
purpose  in  writing  this  novel,  he  was 
successful.  His  success  is  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that  the  story  is  almost  as 
popular  today  as  it  was  when  first  pub- 

!•    T_       J  •*• 

iisned. 


The  Story: 

To  his  sister-in-law,  Lady  Rose  Burles- 
don,  Rudolf  Rassendyll  was  a  great 
disappointment.  In  the  first  place,  he 
was  twenty-nine  years  old  and  had  no 
useful  occupation.  Secondly,  he  bore 
such  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  Elph- 
bergs,  ruling  house  of  Ruritania,  that 
Rose  thought  him  a  constant  reminder 
of  an  old  scandal  in  which  her  husband's 
family  had  been  involved.  More  than 
a  hundred  years  before,  a  prince  of  the 
country  of  Ruritania  had  visited  Eng- 

THE  PRISONER  OF  ZENDA  by  Anthony  Hope.    By 
Copyright,   1898,  by  Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc.     Renewed, 


land  and  had  become  involved  with  thft 
wife  of  one  of  the  Rassendyll  men.  There 
was  a  child,  who  had  the  red  hair  and 
the  large  straight  nose  of  the  Elphbergs. 
Since  that  unfortunate  event,  five  or  six 
descendants  of  the  English  lady  and  the 
Ruritanian  prince  had  had  the  character 
istic  nose  and  red  hair  of  their  royal 
ancestor.  Rose  thought  Rudolph's  red 
hair  and  large  nose  a  disgrace  for  that 
reason. 

Rassendyll  himself,  however,  had  no 
concern  over  his  resemblance  to  the 
Ruritanian  royal  family.  A  new  king  was 
to  be  crowned  in  that  country  within  a 
few  weeks,  and  he  decided  to  travel  to 
Ruritania  for  the  coronation,  in  order 
to  get  a  close  view  of  his  unclaimed 
relatives.  Knowing  that  his  brother  and 
sister-in-law  would  try  to  prevent  his 
journey,  he  told  them  that  he  was  going 
to  take  a  tour  of  the  Tyrol.  After  he 
left  England,  his  first  stop  was  Paris, 
where  he  learned  something  more  about 
affairs  in  the  country  he  was  to  visit. 
The  new  king,  also  called  Rudolf,  had 
a  half-brother,  Michael,  Duke  of  Strel- 
sau.  Michael  would  have  liked  to  be 
come  king,  and  it  was  hinted  that  he 
would  try  to  prevent  the  coronation  of 
Rudolf.  Rassendyll  also  learned  that 
there  was  a  beautiful  lady,  Antoinette 

ission.of  the  publishers,   Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  Inc. 
1,  by  A.  H.  Hawkins. 


784 


de  Mauban,  who  loved  Michael  and 
had  his  favor.  She,  too,  was  traveling 
to  Ruritania  for  the  coronation. 

When  he  reached  Ruritania  and  found 
the  capital  city  crowded,  Rassendyll  took 
lodging  in  Zenda,  a  small  town  some 
fifty  miles  from  the  capital,  and  pre 
pared  to  go  by  train  for  the  coronation. 
Zenda  was  part  of  Michael's  domain, 
his  hunting  lodge  being  only  a  few  miles 
from  the  inn  where  Rassendyll  stopped. 
Rassendyll  learned  also  that  King  Rudolf 
was  a  guest  at  his  half-brother's  hunting 
lodge  while  waiting  for  the  coronation. 
There  were  more  rumors  of  a  plot  against 
the  king  and  talk  that  Black  Michael,  as 
he  was  called,  planned  to  seize  the 
throne. 

Rassendyll  walked  every  day  through 
the  woods  near  the  hunting  lodge.  One 
day  he  heard  two  men  discussing  how 
much  he  resembled  the  king.  The  men 
introduced  themselves  as  Fritz  von 
Tarlenheim  and  Colonel  Sapt,  faithful 
friends  of  King  Rudolf.  While  they  talked, 
the  king  himself  appeared.  The  king 
had  shaved  his  beard,  but  otherwise  he 
and  Rassendyll  were  identical.  Pleased 
to  meet  his  distant  cousin,  the  king  in 
vited  Rassendyll  to  the  lodge.  There  the 
king  drank  so  much  that  Fritz  and  Sapt 
could  not  wake  him  the  next  morning. 

This  was  the  day  of  the  coronation, 
and  as  the  king  slept  in  his  stupor  Fritz 
and  Sapt  proposed  a  daring  plan  to 
Rassendyll.  They  knew  that  if  the  king 
did  not  appear  for  the  coronation  Black 
Michael  would  seize  the  throne.  Their 
plan  was  to  shave  Rassendyll's  beard  and 
dress  him  in  the  king's  clothes  and  have 
him  crowned  in  the  king's  place.  By 
the  time  the  ceremonies  were  over,  the 
king  would  have  recovered,  would  take 
his  rightful  place,  and  no  one  would  be 
the  wiser.  It  was  a  dangerous  gamble, 
for  exposure  would  mean  death,  but 
Rassendyll  agreed  to  the  plot. 

Fritz  and  Sapt  locked  the  king  in  the 
wine  cellar  and  left  a  servant  to  tell  him 
of  the  plan  when  he  awoke.  Rassendyll, 
with  Fritz  and  Sapt,  proceeded  to  the 


palace.  With  the  two  men  to  help  him, 
he  carried  off  the  deception,  even  con 
vincing  the  Princess  Flavia  that  he  was 
the  real  king.  His  role  with  Flavia  was 
the  most  difficult  for  Rassendyll,  for 
he  must  be  gracious  and  yet  not  commit 
the  king  too  far. 

The  success  of  the  conspirators  was 
not  to  last.  When  they  returned  that 
night  to  the  lodge,  they  found  the  serv 
ant  murdered  and  the  real  king  gone. 
Black  Michael's  men  had  worked  well. 
Black  Michael  knew  that  the  supposed 
king  was  an  impostor,  and  Rassendyll, 
Fritz,  and  Sapt  knew  that  Black  Michael 
had  the  real  king.  But  neither  group 
dared  call  the  other's  hand.  Rassendyll's 
only  chance  was  to  rescue  the  rightful 
king.  Black  Michael's  hope  was  to  kill 
both  Rassendyll  and  the  king  and  thus 
seize  the  throne  and  Princess  Flavia  for 
himself.  Rassendyll  was  attacked  and 
almost  killed  many  times.  Once  he  was 
saved  by  a  warning  from  Antoinette  de 
Mauban,  for  although  she  loved  Michael 
she  would  not  be  a  party  to  murder. 
Also,  she  did  not  want  Michael  to  be 
successful,  for  his  coup  would  mean  his 
marriage  to  Flavia.  Michael  learned  of 
her  aid  to  Rassendyll  and  held  her  a 
semi-prisoner  in  the  hunting  lodge  where 
he  had  hidden  the  king. 

Playing  the  part  of  the  king,  Ras 
sendyll  was  forced  to  spend  much  time 
with  Flavia.  He  wanted  to  tell  her  his 
real  identity,  but  Fritz  and  Sapt  appealed 
to  his  honor  and  persuaded  him  that  all 
would  be  ruined  if  Flavia  learned  that 
he  was  not  the  true  king. 

When  they  learned  that  King  Rudolf 
was  dying,  Rassendyll,  Fritz,  and  Sapt 
knew  that  they  must  take  a  daring  chance 
to  rescue  him.  They  and  part  of  the 
king's  army  attacked  the  lodge.  Those 
not  aware  of  the  deception  were  told 
that  Black  Michael  had  imprisoned  a 
friend  of  the  king.  There  was  a  bloody 
battle  both  outside  and  inside  the  lodge. 
Black  Michael  was  killed  and  King 
Rudolf  wounded  before  the  rescue  was 
completed.  When  he  knew  that  the 


785 


king  would  live,  Rassendyll  realized 
that  his  part  in  the  deception  was  over. 
The  king  sent  for  him  and  thanked  him 
for  his  brave  work  in  saving  the  throne. 
Princess  Flavia  also  sent  for  him.  She 
had  heen  told  the  whole  story,  but  her 
only  concern  was  to  learn  whether  Ras 
sendyll  had  spoken  for  himself  or  the 
king  when  he  had  given  her  his  love. 
He  told  her  that  he  would  always  love 
only  her  and  begged  her  to  go  away  with 
him.  But  she  was  too  honorable  to  leave 
her  people  and  her  king,  and  she  re 
mained  in  Ruritania,  later  to  marry  the 


king  and  rule  with  him. 

Rassendyll  left  Ruritania  and  spent 
a  few  weeks  in  the  Tyrol  before  return 
ing  to  England.  His  sister-in-law,  still 
trying  to  get  him  to  lead  a  more  useful 
life,  arranged  through  a  friend  to  get 
him  a  diplomatic  post.  When  he  learned 
the  post  would  be  in  Ruritania,  he  de 
clined  it.  Rassendyll  resumed  his  former 
idle  life,  with  one  break  in  his  monoton 
ous  routine.  Each  year  Fritz  and  Ras 
sendyll  met  in  Dresden,  and  Fritz  al 
ways  brought  with  him  a  box  containing 
a  rose,  a  token  from  Flavia. 


PROMETHEUS  BOUND 

Type  of  work:  Drama 
Author:  Aeschylus  (525-456  B.C.) 
Type  of  plot:  Classical  tragedy 
Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 
Locale:  A  barren  cliff  in  Scythia 
First  presented:  470  B.C. 

Principal  characters: 

PROMETHEUS,  a  Titan 

HEPHAESTUS,  his  kinsman  and  the  god  of  fire 

KRATOS,  Might 

BIA,  Force 

OCEANUS,  god  of  the  sea 

lo,  daughter  of  Inachus,  a  river  god 

HERMES,  the  winged  messenger  of  the  gods 


Critique: 

Displaying  perfectly  the  Aeschylean 
pattern,  Prometheus  Bound  is  a  dramatic 
treatment  of  the  legend  of  Prometheus, 
the  Fire-Bearer.  The  spectacle  of  a  demi 
god  in  conflict  with  his  destiny,  defiant  in 
the  face  of  severe  punishment,  makes  for 
compelling  drama.  The  mood  is  one  of 
btarp  irony  and  deep  reflection,  for  the 
suffering  of  Prometheus  is  a  symbol  of 
man's  inhumanity  to  man. 

The  Story: 

Condemned  by  Zeus  for  giving  fire  to 
mere  mortals,  the  Titan  Prometheus  was 
brought  to  a  barren  cliff  in  Scythia  by 
Hephaestus,  the  god  of  fire,  and  two 
guards,  Kratos  and  Bia.  There  he  was  to 
be  bound  to  the  jagged  cliffs  with  bonds 
as  strong  as  adamant.  Kratos  and  Bia 


obeyed  willingly  the  commands  of  Zeus, 
but  Hephaestus  experienced  pangs  of 
sorrow  and  was  reluctant  to  bind  his 
kinsman  to  the  storm-beaten  cliff  in  that 
waste  region  where  no  man  came,  where 
Prometheus  would  never  hear  the  voice 
or  see  the  form  of  a  human  being.  He 
grieved  that  the  Titan  was  doomed  for 
ever  to  be  guardian  of  the  desolate  cliff. 
But  he  was  powerless  against  the  com 
mands  of  Zeus,  and  so  at  last  he  chained 
Prometheus  to  the  cliff  by  riveting  his 
arms  beyond  release,  thrusting  a  biting 
wedge  of  adamant  straight  through  his 
heart,  and  putting  iron  girths  on  both  his 
sides  with  shackles  around  his  legs.  After 
Hephaestus  and  Bia  departed,  Kratos  re 
mained  to  hurl  one  last  taunt  at  Prome 
theus,  asking  him  what  possible  aid  man- 


786 


kind  might  now  offer  their  benefactor. 
The  gods  who  gave  Prometheus  his  name, 
Forethinker,  were  foolish,  Kratos  pointed 
out,   for  Prometheus  required   a  higher 
intelligence  to  do  his  thinking  for  him. 
Alone  and  chained,  Prometheus  called 
upon  the  winds,  the  waters,  mother  earth, 
and  the  sun,   to  look  on  him  and  see 
how  the  gods  tortured  a  god.   Admitting 
that  he  must  bear  his  lot  as  best  he  could 
because  the  power  of  fate  was  invincible, 
he  was  still  defiant.    He  had  committed 
no   crime,   he   insisted;    he   had  merely 
loved  mankind.  He  remembered  how  the 
gods  first  conceived  the  plan   to  revolt 
against  the  rule  of  Kronos  and  seat  Zeus 
on  the  throne.    At  first  Prometheus  did 
his  best  to  bring  about  a  reasonable  peace 
between  the  ancient  Titans  and  the  gods. 
Failing,  and  to  avoid  further  violence,  he 
had  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  Zeus, 
who  through  the  counsel  of  Prometheus 
overthrew  Kronos.    Once  on  the  throne, 
Zeus  parceled  out  to  the  lesser  gods  their 
share  of  power,  but  ignored  mortal  man 
with  the  ultimate  plan  in  mind  of  de 
stroying  him  completely  and  creating  in 
stead  another  race  which  would  cringe 
and    be    servile    to    Zeus'    every    word. 
Among  all  the  gods,  only  Prometheus  ob 
jected  to  this  heartless  proposal,  and  it 
was  Prometheus'  courage,  his  act  alone, 
which   saved   man    from  burial   in    the 
deepest  black  of  Hades.   It  was  he  who 
taught  blind  hopes  to  spring  within  man's 
heart,    and   gave   him   the   gift  of   fire. 
Understanding  the  significance  of  these 
deeds,  he  had  sinned  willingly. 

Oceanus,  brother  of  Prometheus,  came 
to  offer  aid  out  of  love  and  kinship,  but 
he  first  offered  Prometheus  advice  and 
preached  humility  in  the  face  of  Zeus' 
wrath.  Prometheus  remained  proud,  de 
fiant,  and  refused  his  offer  of  help  on  the 
grounds  that  Oceanus  himself  would  be 
punished  were  it  discovered  that  he  sym 
pathized  with  a  rebel.  Convinced  by 


Prometheus'  argument,  Oceanus  took  sot 
rowful  leave  of  his  brother. 

Once  more  Prometheus  recalled  that 
man  was  a  creature  without  language,  ig 
norant  of  everything  before  Prometheus 
came  and  told  him  of  the  rising  and  set 
ting  of  stars,  of  numbers,  of  letters,  of  the 
function  of  beasts  of  burden,  of  the  utility 
of  ships,  of  curing  diseases,  of  happiness 
and  lurking  evil,  of  methods  to  bring 
wealth  in  iron,  silver,  copper,  and  gold 
out  of  the  earth.  In  spite  of  his  torment, 
he  rejoiced  that  he  had  taught  all  arts 
to  humankind. 

lo,  a  young  girl  changed  into  a  heifer 
and  tormented  by  a  stinging  gadfly,  came 
to  the  place  where  Prometheus  was 
chained.  Daughter  of  Inachus,  a  river 
god,  she  was  beloved  by  Zeus.  His 
wife,  Hera,  out  of  jealousy,  had  turned 
lo  into  a  cow  and  set  Argus,  the  hundred- 
eyed  monster,  to  watch  her.  When  Zeuj1 
had  Argus  put  to  death,  Hera  sent  a  gad 
fly  to  sting  lo  and  drive  her  all  over  the 
earth.  Prometheus  prophesied  her  future 
wanderings  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  pre 
dicting  that  the  day  would  come  when 
Zeus  would  restore  her  to  human  form 
and  together  they  would  conceive  a  son 
named  Epaphus.  Before  lo  left,  Prome 
theus  also  named  his  own  rescuer,  Her 
cules,  who  with  his  bow  and  arrow  would 
kill  the  eagle  devouring  his  vital  parts. 

Hermes,  messenger  of  Zeus,  came  to 
see  Prometheus  and  threatened  him  with 
more  awful  terrors  at  the  hands  of  angry 
Zeus.  Prometheus,  still  defiant,  belittled 
Hermes'  position  among  the  gods  and 
called  him  a  mere  menial.  Suddenly  there 
was  a  turbulent  rumbling  of  the  earth, 
accompanied  by  lightning,  thunder,  and 
blasts  of  wind,  as  angry  Zeus  shattered 
the  rock  with  a  thunderbolt  and  hurled 
Prometheus  into  an  abysmal  dungeon 
within  the  earth.  Such  was  the  terrible 
fate  of  the  Fire-Bearer  who  defied  th*1 
gods. 


787 


PROMETHEUS  UNBOUND 

Type  of  work;  Poem 

Author:  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley  (1792-1822) 

Type  of  'plot:  Lyric  drama 

Time  of  plot:  Remote  antiquity 

Locale:  Asia 

First -published;  1820 

Principal  characters; 

PROMETHEUS,  a  Titan 

EARTH,  his  mother 

ASIA,  his  wif  e 

JUPITER,  king  of  the  gods 

DEMOGORGON,  supreme  power,  ruling  the  gods 

MERCURY,  messenger  of  the  gods 

HERCULES,  hero  of  virtue  and  strength 

PANTHEA,  and 

IONE,  the  Oceanides 

Critique: 

This  poem,  called  a  lyric  drama  by  the 
author,  is  more  lyric  than  dramatic.  The 
poem  owes  its  form  to  Shelley's  study  of 
Greek  drama,  however,  and  the  char 
acters  are  drawn  from  Greek  mythology. 
Through  the  combined  mediums  of 
drama  and  poetry  Shelley  expounds  his 
idea  that  universal  love  is  the  one  solu 
tion  to  mankind's  ills.  Prometheus  Un 
bound  is  valuable  as  a  key  to  Shelley's 
philosophy;  it  is  also  enjoyable  as  a  work 
of  art. 


The  Story: 

Prometheus,  the  benefactor  of  man 
kind,  was  bound  to  a  rocky  cliff  by  order 
of  Jupiter,  who  was  jealous  of  the  Titan's 
power.  Three  thousand  years  of  torture 
Prometheus  suffered  there,  while  heat  and 
cold  and  many  torments  afflicted  him.  An 
eagle  continually  ate  at  his  heart.  But 
Prometheus  still  defied  the  power  of 
Jupiter. 

At  last  Prometheus  asked  Panthea  and 
lone,  the  two  Oceanides,  to  repeat  to  him 
the  curse  he  had  pronounced  upon  Jupiter 
when  Jupiter  had  first  begun  to  torture 
him.  But  neither  Earth,  his  mother,  nor 
the  Oceanides  would  answer  him.  At 
kst  the  Phantasm  of  Jupiter  appeared 
and  repeated  the  curse.  When  Prome 
theus  heard  the  words,  he  repudiated 
them.  Now  that  he  had  suffered  tor 
tures  and  found  that  his  spirit  remained 


unconquered,  he  wished  pain  to  no  living 
thing.  Earth  and  the  Oceanides  mourned 
that  the  curse  had  been  withdrawn,  for 
they  thought  Jupiter  had  at  last  con 
quered  Prometheus*  spirit. 

Then  Mercury  approached  with  the 
Furies.  Mercury  told  the  captive  that  he 
would  suffer  even  greater  tortures  if  he 
did  not  reveal  the  secret  which  Prome 
theus  alone  knew  —  the  future  fate  of 
Jupiter.  Jupiter,  afraid,  wished  to  avert 
catastrophe  by  learning  the  secret,  and 
Mercury  promised  that  Prometheus 
would  be  released  if  he  revealed  it.  But 
Prometheus  refused.  He  admitted  only 
that  he  knew  Jupiter's  reign  would  come 
to  an  end,  that  he  would  not  be  king  of 
the  gods  for  all  eternity.  Prometheus  said 
that  he  was  willing  to  suffer  torture  until 
Jupiter's  reign  ended.  Although  the 
Furies  tried  to  frighten  him  by  describing 
the  pains  they  could  inflict,  they  knew 
they  had  no  power  over  his  soul. 

The  Furies  mocked  Prometheus  and 
mankind.  They  showed  him  visions  of 
blood  and  despair  on  earth;  they  showed 
the  Passion  of  Christ  and  men's  disregard 
for  His  message  of  love.  Fear  and  hypoc 
risy  ruled;  tyrants  took  the  thrones  of  the 
world. 

A  group  of  spirits  appeared  and  pro 
phesied  that  Love  would  cure  the  ills  of 
mankind.  They  prophesied  also  that 
Prometheus  would  be  able  to  bring  Love 


788 


to  earth  and  halt  the  reign  of  evil  and 
grief. 

When  the  spirits  had  gone,  Prome 
theus  acknowledged  the  power  of  Love, 
for  his  love  for  Asia,  his  wife,  had  en 
abled  him  to  suffer  pain  without  sur 
rendering. 

While  Asia  mourned  alone  in  a  lovely 
valley  for  her  lost  husband,  Panthea  ap 
peared  to  tell  of  two  dreams  she  had  had. 
In  one,  she  saw  Prometheus  released  from 
bondage  and  all  the  world  filled  with 
sweetness.  In  the  other  dream  she  had 
received  only  a  command  to  follow.  Just 
then  the  echoes  in  the  valley  broke  their 
silence.  They  called  Asia  and  Panthea 
to  follow  them.  The  listeners  obeyed. 

Asia  and  Panthea  followed  the  echoes 
to  the  realm  of  Demogorgon,  the  su 
preme  power  ruling  the  gods.  They 
stopped  on  a  pinnacle  of  rock,  but  spirits 
beckoned  them  down  into  Demogorgon's 
cave.  There  he  told  them  that  he  would 
answer  any  question  they  put  to  him. 
When  they  asked  who  had  made  the 
living  world,  he  replied  that  God  had 
created  it.  Then  they  asked  who  had 
made  pain  and  evil.  Prometheus  had 
given  knowledge  to  mankind,  but  man 
kind  had  not  eradicated  evil  with  all  the 
gifts  of  science.  They  asked  whether 
Jupiter  was  the  source  of  these  ills,  the 
evil  master  over  man. 

Demogorgon  answered  that  nothing 
which  served  evil  could  be  master,  for 
only  eternal  Love  ruled  all.  Asia  asked 
when  Prometheus  would  gain  his  free 
dom  and  bring  Love  into  the  world  to 
conquer  Jupiter.  Demogorgon  then 
showed  his  guests  the  passage  of  the 
Hours.  A  dreadful  Hour  passed,  marking 
Jupiter's  fall;  the  next  hour  was  beautiful, 
marking  Prometheus'  release.  Asia  and 
Panthea  accompanied  this  spirit  of  the 


Hour  in  her  chariot  and  passed  by  Age, 
Manhood,  Youth,  Infancy,  and  Death 
into  a  new  paradise. 

Meanwhile,  Jupiter,  who  had  just  mar 
ried  Thetis,  celebrated  his  omnipotence 
over  all  but  the  soul  of  man.  Then  De 
mogorgon  appeared  and  pronounced  judg 
ment  on  Jupiter.  Jupiter  cried  for  mercy., 
but  his  power  was  gone.  He  sank  down 
ward  through  darkness  and  ruin. 

At  the  same  time  Hercules  approached 
Prometheus.  In  the  presence  of  Asia. 
Panthea,  the  Spirit  of  the  Hour,  and 
Earth,  the  captive  was  set  free.  Joy 
fully,  Prometheus  told  Asia  how  they 
would  spend  the  rest  of  their  days  to 
gether  with  Love.  Then  he  sent  the 
Spirit  of  the  Hour  to  announce  his  re 
lease  to  all  mankind.  He  kissed  Earth, 
and  Love  infused  all  of  her  animal,  vege 
table,  and  mineral  parts. 

The  Spirit  of  Earth  came  to  the  cave 
where  Asia  and  Prometheus  lived  and 
told  them  of  the  transformation  that  had 
come  over  mankind.  Anger,  pride,  insin 
cerity,  and  all  the  other  ills  of  man  had 
passed  away.  The  Spirit  of  the  Hour 
reported  other  wonders  that  took  place. 
Thrones  were  empty,  and  each  man  was 
king  over  himself,  free  from  guilt  or  pain. 
But  he  was  still  subject  to  chance,  death, 
and  mutability,  without  which  he  would 
oversoar  his  destined  place  in  the  world. 

Later  in  a  vision  Panthea  and  lone 
saw  how  all  the  evil  things  of  the  world 
lay  dead  and  decayed.  Earth's  happiness 
was  boundless,  and  even  the  moon  felt 
the  beams  of  Love  from  Earth  as  snow 
melted  on  its  bleak  lunar  mountains. 
Earth  rejoiced  that  hate,  fear,  and  pain 
had  left  mankind  forever.  Man  was  now 
master  of  his  fate  and  of  all  the  secrets 
of  Earth. 


PROSERPINE  AND  CERES 


Type  of  work:  Classical  myth 

Source:  Folk  tradition 

Type  of  'plot:  Allegory  of  fertility  and  death 

Time  of  'plot:  Remote  antiquity 

Locale:  Mediterranean  region 

First  transcribed:  Unknown 


789 


Prind-pal  characters: 

CEKES,  goddess  of  fertility 

PROSERPINE,  her  daughter 

HADES,  king  of  the  underworld 

VENUS,  goddess  of  love 

CUPID,  her  son 

TRJPTOLEMUS,  builder  of  a  temple  to  Ceres 

ARETSUSA,  a  fountain  nymph 

ALPHEUS,  a  river  god 

DIANA,  goddess  of  the  hunt 

JUPITER,  king  of  the  gods 

MERCTJB.Y,  messenger  of  the  gods 


Critique: 

Prominent  in  popularity  among  the 
legends  created  by  the  Greeks  and  the 
Romans  is  the  story  of  Proserpine  and 
Ceres.  As  a  fable  which  identifies  itself 
with  the  simplest  explanation  of  the  sea 
sons,  it  has  lived  by  being  transferred  in 
oral  legend,  in  poetry,  and  in  prose  from 
generation  to  generation.  Although  the 
story  has  changed  in  certain  details,  its 
basic  structure  remains.  Its  hold  upon 
the  imagination  of  the  Western  world 
lies  in  its  appeal  as  a  record  of  man's 
search  for  a  beautiful  interpretation  of 
grief. 

The  Story: 

One  of  the  Titans,  Typhoeus,  long 
imprisoned  for  his  part  in  the  rebellion 
against  Jupiter,  lay  in  agony  beneath 
Mount  Aetna  on  the  island  of  Sicily  in 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  When  Typhoeus 
groaned  and  stirred,  he  shook  the  sea  and 
the  island  of  Sicily  so  much  that  the  god 
of  the  underworld,  Hades,  became  fright 
ened  lest  his  kingdom  be  revealed  to  the 
light  of  day. 

Rising  to  the  upper  world  to  make  en 
trance  to  his  kingdom,  Hades  was  dis 
covered  by  Venus,  who  ordered  her 
son  Cupid  to  aim  one  of  his  love  darts 
into  the  breast  of  Hades  and  so  cause  him 
to  fall  in  love  with  Proserpine,  daughter 
of  Ceres,  goddess  of  fertility. 

Proserpine  had  gone  with  her  com 
panions  to  gather  flowers  by  the  banks  of 
a  stream  in  the  beautiful  vale  of  Enna. 
There  Hades,  stricken  by  Cupid's  dart, 
saw  Proserpine,  seized  her,  and  lashed  his 
fiery  horses  to  greater  speed  as  he  carried 


her  away.  In  her  fright  the  girl  dropped 
her  apron,  full  of  flowers  she  had  gath 
ered.  At  the  River  Cyane,  Hades  struck 
the  earth  with  his  scepter,  causing  a 
passageway  to  appear  through  which  he 
drove  his  chariot  and  took  his  captive  to 
the  underworld. 

Ceres  sought  her  daughter  everywhere. 
At  last,  sad  and  tired,  she  sat  down  to  rest. 
A  peasant  and  his  daughter  found  her  in 
her  disguise  as  an  old  woman,  took  pity 
on  her,  and  urged  her  to  go  with  them 
to  their  rude  home.  When  they  arrived 
at  the  house  they  found  that  their  only 
son,  Triptolemus,  was  dying.  Ceres  first 
gathered  some  poppies.  Then,  kissing 
the  child,  she  restored  it  to  health.  The 
happy  family  bade  her  join  them  in  their 
simple  meal  of  honey,  cream,  apples,  and 
curds.  Ceres  put  some  of  the  poppy  juice 
in  the  boy's  milk  and  that  night  when  he 
was  sleeping  she  placed  the  child  in  the 
fire.  The  mother,  awakening,  seized  her 
child  from  the  flames.  Ceres  assumed  her 
proper  form  and  told  the  parents  that  it 
had  been  her  plan  to  make  the  boy  im 
mortal.  Since  the  mother  had  hindered 
that  plan,  she  would  teach  him  the  use 
of  the  plow. 

Then  the  goddess  mother  continued 
her  search  for  Proserpine  until  she  re 
turned  to  Sicily.  There,  at  the  very  spot 
Hades  had  entered  the  underworld,  she 
asked  the  river  nymph  if  she  had  seen 
anything  of  her  daughter.  Fearful  of  be 
ing  punished,  the  river  nymph  refused 
to  tell  what  she  had  seen  but  gave  to 
Ceres  the  belt  of  Proserpine,  which  the 
girl  had  lost  in  her  struggles. 


790 


Ceres  decided  to  take  revenge  upon  the 
land,  to  deny  it  further  gift  of  her  favors 
so  that  herbage  and  grain  would  not 
grow.  In  an  effort  to  save  the  land  which 
Ceres  was  intent  upon  cursing,  the  foun 
tain  Arethusa  told  the  following  story 
to  Ceres.  Arethusa  had  been  hunting  in 
the  forest,  where  she  was  formerly  a 
woodland  nymph.  Finding  a  stream,  she 
decided  to  bathe.  As  she  sported  in  the 
water,  the  river  god  Alpheus  began  to 
call  her.  Frightened,  the  nymph  ran,  the 
god  pursuing. 

The  goddess  Diana,  seeing  her  plight, 
changed  Arethusa  into  a  fountain  which 
ran  through  the  underworld  and  emerged 
in  Sicily.  While  passing  through  the 
underworld,  Arethusa  saw  Proserpine, 
now  queen  of  the  dead,  sad  at  the  separa 
tion  from  her  mother  but  at  the  same 
time  bearing  the  dignity  and  power  of 
the  bride  of  Hades. 

Ceres  immediately  demanded  help 
from  Jupiter,  ruler  of  the  gods.  The  king 
of  the  gods  said  that  Proserpine  should 
be  allowed  to  return  to  the  valley  of 


Enna  from  which  she  had  been  abducted 
only  if  in  the  underworld  she  had  taken 
no  food. 

Mercury  was  sent  to  demand  Proser 
pine  for  her  mother.  But  Proserpine  had 
eaten  of  a  pomegranate.  Because  she  had 
eaten  only  part  of  the  fruit,  a  compromise 
was  made.  Half  of  the  time  she  was  to 
pass  with  her  mother  and  the  rest  with 
Hades.  Ceres,  happy  over  the  return  of 
Proserpine  during  one  half  of  each  year, 
caused  the  earth  to  be  fertile  again  during 
the  time  Proserpine  lived  with  her. 

Ceres  remembered  her  promise  to  the 
peasant  boy,  Triptolemus.  She  taught 
him  to  plow  and  to  plant  seed,  and  he 
gathered  with  her  all  the  valuable  seeds 
of  the  earth.  In  gratitude  the  peasant's 
son  built  a  temple  to  Ceres  in  Eleusis 
where  priests  administered  rites  called  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries.  Those  rites  sur 
passed  all  other  Greek  religious  celebra 
tions  because  in  the  mysteries  of  nature, 
men  saw  symbolized  the  death  of  man 
and  the  promise  of  his  revival  in  future 
life. 


THE  PURPLE  LAND 

Type  Of  work:  Novel 

Author:  W.  H.  Hudson  (1841-1922) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Uruguay  and  Argentina 

First  published:  1885 

Principal  characters: 

RICHARD  LAMB,  an  English  adventurer 

PAQUITA,  his  wife 

DONA  ISIDORA,  her  aunt 

LUCERO,  a  horse  tamer 

MARCOS  MARCO,  General  Coloma 

MARGARITA,  his  daughter 

DON  PERALTA,  a  mad  landowner 

DEMETRIA  PERAJLTA,  his  daughter 


Critique: 

The  Purple  Land  is  a  story  of  romantic 
adventure,  perhaps  not  quite  so  entertain 
ing  as  Green  Mansions,  but  with  merits 
of  its  own.  The  reader  gets  an  insight 
into  the  lives  and  environment  of  the 
people  of  an  unhappy  far-off  purple  land 


in  revolutionary  South  America.  Hudson 
is  one  of  the  great  masters  of  sensuous 
prose.  Perhaps  the  reason  for  this  stylistic 
skill  is  the  fact  that  he  was  a  botanist 
and  the  keenness  of  observation  required 
in  scientific  writing  is  reflected  in  hif 
choice  of  adjectives  and  verbs. 


THE  PURPLE  LAND  by  W.  H.  Hudson.     Published  by  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  Inc. 


791 


The  Story: 

Richard  Lamb  married  Paquita  with 
out  her  father's  consent  and  eloped  with 
her  to  Montevideo.  There  they  went  to 
see  Dona  Isidora,  a  relative  of  Paquita, 
and  stayed  with  her  for  some  time.  Dona 
Isadora  gave  Lamb  a  letter  to  the  overseer 
of  the  Estancia  de  la  Virgen  de  los 
Desamparados,  a  ranch  called  in  English 
Vagabond's  Rest. 

Lamb  departed  with  the  letter,  and  in 
the  Florida  department  he  began  to  learn 
the  history  of  the  unhappy  land  of  Uru 
guay.  The  Argentines  and  Brazilians  in 
terfered  in  the  country's  politics,  and,  as 
if  the  foreign  influences  were  not  enough 
to  cause  trouble,  there  was  constant  fric 
tion  between  the  country  and  the  town 
districts.  At  a  pulperia,  or  tavern,  he  met 
Lucero,  a  horse  tamer,  and  went  to  stay  at 
his  house;  but  he  soon  left  Lucero  and 
continued  his  journey  to  the  estancia. 

Lamb  took  advantage  of  rustic  hospital 
ity  throughout  his  journey.  One  night 
he  stayed  at  a  house  in  which  lived  a 
family  with  many  children.  The  children 
were  all  named  after  particular  Christian 
concepts,  such  as  Conception  and  Ascen 
sion.  However,  there  were  far  too  many 
insects  infesting  the  house  for  his  com 
fort,  and  he  departed  early  the  next  day. 
Lamb  continued  his  journey  through 
Lucuarembd  department  and  then  en 
tered  the  county  of  his  destination.  There 
he  discovered  that  Dona  Isidora's  letter 
meant  nothing;  there  was  no  employment 
for  him. 

During  his  stay  at  the  estancia  he  had 
a  fight  with  a  man  called  Barbudo  and 
gained  a  reputation  for  being  a  great 
fighter.  When  he  discovered  that  his 
reputation  as  a  fighter  would  only  lead 
to  more  and  bloodier  fights,  he  decided 
to  return  to  Montevideo. 

At  Toloso,  Lamb  met  a  group  of  Eng 
lish  expatriates  in  a  pulperia,  and  he  re 
mained  with  his  fellow  countrymen  for 
a  time.  Finally  he  found  them  to  be 
quite  worthless  and  quarreled  with  them. 
Then  he  headed  once  more  for  Monte 
video.  In  the  Florida  department  he  met 


a  lovely  girl  named  Margarita  and  helped 
her  get  her  doves  from  a  branch  in  a  tree. 
Margarita  was  so  different  from  the  rest 
of  her  family  that  Lamb  could  not  help 
wondering  how  she  came  to  be  bom  into 
such  a  rough,  coarse  family.  There  he 
met  Anselmo,  who  was  an  indefatigable 
talker  and  teller  of  pointless  tales.  There, 
too,  he  met  Marcos  Marco. 

Lamb  and  Marcos  started  out  to  go  to 
Montevideo  together,  but  on  the  way 
they  were  captured  by  an  army  detail  and 
taken  prisoners  because  Lamb  had  neg 
lected  to  get  a  passport.  They  were  taken 
before  a  justice  of  the  peace  at  Las 
Cuevas.  Through  the  machinations  of 
the  justice's  fat  wife,  Lamb  was  free  to 
move  about  until  his  trial.  Marcos,  how 
ever,  was  imprisoned.  Lamb  talked  the 
fat  wife  into  giving  him  the  key  to  the 
fetters  which  bound  his  friend  Marcos. 
Lamb  freed  his  friend  so  that  Marcos 
would  be  able  to  sleep  comfortably  in  his 
captivity,  but  Marcos  took  advantage  of 
his  opportunity  and  escaped  during  the 
night.  Lamb,  being  a  lover  of  nature, 
captured  a  small  snake  and  used  it  as  a 
means  to  ward  off  the  attentions  of  the 
justice's  wife.  He  was  finally  released. 

Later,  at  the  estate  of  Alday,  he  first 
heard  of  General  Santa  Coloma,  who  in 
reality  was  Marcos  Marco.  He  told  Anita, 
an  orphan  living  with  the  Aldays,  the 
story  of  Alma,  who  wanted  a  playmate, 
and  Little  Niebla.  Anita  wanted  a  play 
mate  too  and  the  next  morning  she  ran 
off  to  find  one.  Monica,  the  daughter  of 
the  household,  searched  for  and  found 
Anita.  Monica  then  asked  Lamb  to  tell 
her  a  story  out  of  the  great  store  of  anec 
dotes  he  knew. 

Lamb  was  taken  to  see  General  Colo- 
ma,  whom  he  recognized  as  his  friend 
Marcos.  He  joined  the  general  and 
fought  in  the  battle  of  San  Paulo.  The 
general  explained  to  Lamb  the  mystery 
of  Margarita;  she  was  Coloma's  daughter. 

When  the  battle  of  San  Paulo  ended 
badly  for  the  general's  army,  Lamb  es 
caped.  At  a  pulperia  he  met  Gandara, 


792 


who  wanted  to  take  him  prisoner  because 
he  had  been  a  member  of  General  Colo- 
ma's  army.  Lamb  shot  Gandara  and 
escaped.  He  stayed  for  a  time  at  the 
home  of  an  expatriate  Scotsman  named 
John  Carrickfergus,  but  soon  he  contin 
ued  his  journey  to  Montevideo. 

His  next  important  stop  was  at  the 
home  of  Don  Peralta,  who  was  demented. 
Don  Peralta  had  lost  a  son,  Calixto,  who 
had  been  killed  in  battle  several  years  be 
fore.  Demetria  Peralta,  the  daughter,  was 
the  heir  to  the  estate,  but  she  and  every 
one  else  were  under  the  thumb  of  Don 
Hilario,  the  supervisor  of  the  estate. 
When  Lamb  rode  away,  he  left  with 


Santos,  a  servant,  who  told  him  the  his 
tory  of  the  Peralta  family.  Demetria 
wished  to  marry  Lamb  and  thus  be  able 
to  take  over  and  administer  the  property 
which  was  really  hers.  Lamb  could  not 
marry  her,  but  he  arranged  to  abduct  her 
and  take  her  to  Montevideo,  where  she 
would  be  safe  from  Hilario.  When  they 
arrived  safely  in  Montevideo,  Paquita 
looked  after  Demetria  as  if  she  were  her 
own  sister.  From  Montevideo  they  went 
to  Buenos  Aires,  where  the  unsanctioned 
marriage  of  Lamb  and  Paquita  promised 
to  give  still  more  trouble  for  the  young 
couple. 


QUALITY  STREET 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  James  M.  Barrie  (1860-1937) 

Type  of  'plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  plot:   Napoleonic  wars 

Locale:  English  provincial  village 

First  presented:   1902 

Principal  characters: 

Miss  PHOEBE  THROSSEL,  a  spinster 
Miss  SUSAN  THROSSEL,  her  sister 
VALENTINE  BROWN,  loved  by  Phoebe 

Critique: 

This  play  contains  acute  if  not  very 
penetrating  observations  on  the  problem 
of  a  wartime  love  affair  in  which  the 
lovers  are  apart  for  ten  years,  during 
which  time  both  change  superficially. 
Most  of  the  action  is  based  on  the  hero 
ine's  successful  attempt  to  bring  her 
lover  to  his  senses.  Barrie  employs  dra 
matic  irony  quite  effectively  throughout 
and  the  minimum  of  privacy  in  the  lives 
of  people  in  a  small  village  is  brought 
out  with  good  comic  effect. 


The  Story: 

In  the  days  of  the  Napoleonic  wars, 
two  sisters,  Phoebe  and  Susan  Throssel, 
lived  in  a  little  house  in  Quality  Street, 
the  main  thoroughfare  of  a  provincial 
English  village.  Both  were  single,  both 


were  pretty.  One  day  they  entertained  a 
needlework  party  in  their  charming  blue 
and  white  parlor.  One  of  the  ladies  pres 
ent  repeated  a  rumor  that  a  gentleman 
of  the  village  had  enlisted  to  go  to  the 
wars.  All  wondered  who  the  gentleman 
could  be. 

Phoebe  told  her  sister  that  Valentine 
Brown,  a  dashing  doctor  who  had  come 
to  the  village  two  years  before,  had 
walked  with  her  in  the  street,  and  had 
said  that  he  wanted  to  tell  her  something 
important.  The  retiring  Phoebe  had  asked 
Brown  to  come  to  the  house  to  tell  her. 
Both  sisters  assumed  that  Brown  was 
coming  to  propose  marriage  to  Phoebe,  a 
likely  conclusion  since  a  venture  in  which 
Brown  had  invested  their  savings  had 
failed  and  he  would  naturally  feel  re' 


QUALITY  STREET  by  James  M.  Barrie,  from  THE  PLAYS  OF  JAMES  M.  BARRIE.  By  permission  o/ 
the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner'a  Sons.  Copyright,  1914,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Son»,  1918,  1928,  by  J.  M 
Same. 


793 


sponslble  for  their  welfare.  In  anticipa 
tion  of  his  proposal,  Susan  gave  Phoebe 
a  wedding  dress  which  she  had  made 
for  her  own  marriage,  a  wedding  which 
had.  never  materialized. 

But  to  Phoebe's  disappointment  and 
humiliation,  Brown  said  nothing  of  mar 
riage.  Instead,  he  told  them  that  he 
vvas  the  man  who  had  enlisted.  He  de 
clared  his  friendship  for  both  sisters 
and  his  liking  for  the  little  blue  and 
white  parlor,  but  he  gave  no  indication 
of  love  for  Phoebe,  who  had  given  her 
heart  to  him.  Ironically,  Phoebe  revealed 
her  disappointment  by  telling  Brown 
that  she  had  thought  he  was  going  to 
announce  his  marriage  and  that  they 
were  curious  to  know  the  name  of  the 
fortunate  young  lady.  The  sisters,  out 
of  pride,  did  not  mention  that  the  loss 
of  their  investment  left  them  all  but 
destitute.  They  planned  to  set  up  a 
school  in  their  house. 

Ten  years  later  Susan  and  Phoebe 
were  still  conducting  their  school,  which 
had  prospered  in  spite  of  their  many 
shortcomings  as  teachers.  They  were 
loved,  but  hardly  respected  by  the  older 
children.  Dancing  and  the  more  gende 
acquirements  they  taught  with  pleasure, 
but  they  detested  Latin,  and  would  teach 
algebra  only  at  the  request  of  their  pupils* 
parents.  They  could  not  bring  them 
selves  to  whip  the  older  boys,  most  of 
whom  they  feared. 

The  wars  were  over  at  last,  and  every 
where  people  were  celebrating  the  vic 
tory  at  Waterloo.  On  Quality  Street  all 
but  Susan  and  Phoebe  were  preparing 
for  a  village  ball  that  night.  While 
Phoebe  was  out  of  the  house,  Captain 
Valentine  Brown,  who  had  lost  his  left 
hand  during  a  battle  on  the  continent, 
came  to  call  on  his  dear  old  friends.  Dis 
appointed  at  the  disappearance  of  the  de 
lightful  blue  and  white  parlor,  he  paid  his 
respects  to  Miss  Susan  and  asked  to  see 
Phoebe  of  the  ringlets  and  the  dancing 
eyes.  When  Phoebe  returned,  Captain 
Brown  could  not  hide  his  dismay  at  the 
way  she  had  changed  into  a  drab,  mouse 


like  spinster.  Phoebe  was  hurt  by  his 
unconcealed  feelings.  She  was  further 
hurt  later  in  the  day  when  a  former 
pupil,  now  Ensign  Blades  and  a  veteran, 
asked  her,  under  duress,  to  attend  the 
ball  with  him.  Miserable,  Phoebe  de 
clined.  But  Phoebe  was  only  thirty 
and  tired  of  teaching.  Inspired  by  Susan 
and  by  Patty,  the  maid,  she  transformed 
herself  into  the  Phoebe  of  ten  years 
before.  When  Brown  came  again,  he 
failed  to  recognize  Phoebe,  and  he  was 
told  that  she  was  the  sisters'  niece.  Com 
pletely  taken  in  and  charmed  by  "Miss 
Liwy,"  he  asked  her  to  accompany  him 
to  the  ball.  "Liwy"  teased  him,  to  his 
discomfort,  about  his  gray  hairs. 

At  later  balls  and  parties  of  the  vic 
tory  celebration,  "Livvy"  continued  to 
capture  the  fancy  of  all  the  young  men 
of  the  village.  Difficulties  posed  by  the 
dual  existence  of  Phoebe-"Liwy"  were 
met  by  the  explanation  that  Phoebe  or 
"Livvy"  was  either  out  or  indisposed. 

At  one  ball  the  swains  hovered  about 
"Liwy"  constantly,  but  Captain  Brown 
stoudy  held  his  place  as  her  escort.  The 
sisters'  gossipy  spinster  neighbors,  who 
lived  across  the  street  and  observed  their 
comings  and  goings,  began  to  suspect 
that  something  was  not  quite  right.  They 
were  almost  in  a  position  to  expose 
Phoebe  at  the  ball,  but  Susan  saved  the 
day  by  lending  another  young  lady 
"Liwy's"  coat.  Captain  Brown,  alone 
with  "Liwy,"  told  her  of  his  love  for 
Phoebe,  explaining  that  he  had  fallen  in 
love  with  Phoebe  during  the  balls  be 
cause  of  "Liwy's"  resemblance  to  the 
Phoebe  of  days  gone  by.  "Livvy,"  the 
flirt,  had  made  Captain  Brown  realize 
that  he  was  no  longer  twenty-five  and 
that  he  preferred,  after  all,  the  retiring, 
modest,  quiet  Phoebe. 

School  over,  the  parlor  was  redecorated 
with  its  blue  and  white  frills  for  the 
summer  holiday.  Phoebe,  tiring  of  her 
dual  role,  announced  that  "Liwy"  had 
been  taken  sick,  and  became  the  tired 
schoolteacher  again.  The  gossips  who 
came  to  call  were  more  suspicious  than 


794 


ever  because  no  doctor  had  visited 
"Livvy."  They  almost  discovered  that 
there  was  no  one  in  the  sick  room,  but 
they  prudently  did  not  go  beyond  the 
partly  opened  door. 

That  day  Captain  Brown  came  to  pro 
pose  to  Phoebe.  When  the  sisters  left 
the  parlor  for  a  moment,  he  entered  the 
sick  room  and  found  it  empty.  Then  he 
heard  the  entire  story  from  Patty,  the 
maid.  Captain  Brown  was  amused,  but 
carried  on  the  masquerade  when  "Liwy" 
came  out  of  the  sick  room  and  announced 
her  recovery.  The  sisters  were  stupefied 


when  he  offered  to  take  "Liwy"  to  hex 
home  twenty  miles  away.  They  stepped 
out  of  the  parlor  to  have  a  hurried  con 
sultation,  but  they  knew  that  Captain 
Brown  had  found  them  out  when  they 
heard  him  talking  to  a  "Livvy"  he  de 
vised  with  pillows  and  a  shawl  and  which 
he  carried  out  to  a  waiting  coach,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  gossips  who  were 
watching  from  their  windows. 

Miss  Susan  Throssel  announced  the 
forthcoming  marriage  of  her  sister  Phoebe 
to  Captain  Valentine  Brown.  The  re 
opening  of  school  was  quite  forgotten. 


QUENTIN  DURWARD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1468 

Locale:  France  and  Flanders 

First  published:  1823 

Principal  characters: 

QUENTIN  DURWARD,  a  Scottish  cadet 

LUDOVTC  LESLEY  (LE  BALAFRE),  his  maternal  uncle 

ISABELLE,  Countess  of  Croye,  disguised  as  Jacqueline,  a  servant 

LADY  HAMELINE,  her  aunt 

KING  Louis  XI 

COUNT  PHILIP  DE  CREVECOEUR,  of  Burgundy 

CHARLES,  Duke  of  Burgundy 

WILLIAM  DE  LA  MARCK,  a  Flemish  oudaw 

HAYRADDEsr  MAUGRABIN,  a  Bohemian 

Critique: 

Quentin  Durward  was  one  of  the  many 

Scotsmen    who     sought    their    fortunes 

abroad  in  the  service  of  foreign  kings, 


of  a  small  river  near  the  casde  of  Plessis- 
les-Tours,  in  France,  he  found  the  river 
in  flood.  Two  people  watched  him  from 


O  O    '  1  i 

and  the  story  of  his  adventures  is  the  first      the  opposite  bank.  They  were  King  Louis 


of  Scott's  novels  with  a  foreign  setting. 
There  is  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  that  Scott  liked  this  Scotsman  very 
much  because  the  character  of  the  hero 
is  the  idealized  younger  son  who  goes 
out  to  seek  fortune  with  nothing  but  his 
own  wit  and  bravery.  Quentin  Durward 
is  among  the  best  of  Scott's  novels,  its 
authenticity  little  marred  by  some  slight 
reorganization  of  actual  events  to  imple 
ment  the  plot. 

The  Story: 

When    Quentin    Durward,    a    young 
Scottish  gentleman,  approached  the  ford 


XI  in  his  common  disguise  of  Maitre 
Pierre,  a  merchant,  and  Tristan  1'Her- 
mite,  marshal  of  France.  Quentin  entered 
the  flood  and  nearly  drowned.  Arriving 
on  the  other  side  and  mistaking  the  king 
and  his  companion  for  a  respectable 
burgher  and  a  butcher,  he  threatened  the 
two  with  a  drubbing  because  they  had 
not  warned  him  of  the  deep  ford.  Amused 
by  the  lad's  spirit  and  daring,  Maitre 
Pierre  took  him  to  breakfast  at  a  nearby 
inn  to  make  amends.  At  the  inn  Quentin 
met  a  beautiful  young  peasant  girl,  Jac 
queline.  Actually,  Jacqueline  was  Isa- 
belle,  Countess  of  Croye.  Quentin  tried 


795 


to  learn  why  the  merchant,  Maitre  Pierre, 
acted  so  much  like  a  noble.  He  saw  many 
other  things  which  aroused  his  curiosity 
but  for  which  he  found  no  explanation. 
Shortly  afterward  Quentin  met  Ludo- 
vic  Lesley,  known  as  Le  Balafre,  his 
maternal  uncle,  who  was  a  member  of 
King  Louis'  Scottish  Archers.  Le  Balafre 
was  exceedingly  surprised  to  leam  that 
Quentin  could  read  and  write,  something 
which  neither  a  Durward  nor  a  Lesley 
had  heretofore  been  able  to  do. 

Quentin  discovered  the  body  of  a  man 
hanging  from  a  tree.  When  he  cut  the 
man  down,  he  was  seized  by  two  officers 
of  Tristan  1'Heimite.  They  were  about 
to  hang  Quentin  for  his  deed  when  he 
asked  if  there  were  a  good  Christian  in 
the  crowd  who  would  inform  Le  Balafre* 
of  what  was  taking  place.  A  Scottish 
archer  heard  him  and  cut  his  bonds. 
While  the  two  were  defending  them 
selves  from  the  mob,  Le  Balafre  rode  up 
with  some  of  his  men  and  took  command 
of  the  situation,  haughtily  insisting  that 
Quentin  was  a  member  of  the  Scottish 
Archers  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the  mar- 
shaFs  men.  Quentin  had  not  joined  the 
guards  as  yet,  but  the  lie  saved  his  life. 
Le  Balafr6  took  Quentin  to  see  Lord 
Crawford,  the  commander  of  the  guards, 
to  enroll  him.  When  the  Scottish  Archers 
were  summoned  to  the  royal  presence, 
Quentin  was  amazed  to  see  that  Maitre 
Pierre  was  King  Louis. 

Count  Philip  de  Crevecoeur  arrived  at 
the  castle  and  asked  audience  with  the 
king  in  the  name  of  his  master,  the  Duke 
rf  Burgundy.  When  the  king  admitted 
Je  Crevecoeur,  the  messenger  presented 
a  list  of  wrongs  and  oppressions,  com 
mitted  on  the  frontier,  for  which  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  demanded  redress. 
The  duke  also  requested  that  Louis  cease 
his  secret  and  underhand  dealings  in  the 
towns  of  Ghent,  Liege  and  Malines,  and, 
further,  that  the  king  send  back  to  Bur 
gundy,  under  safeguard,  the  person  of 
Isabelle,  Countess  of  Croye,  the  duke's 
ward,  whom  he  accused  the  king  of  har 
boring  in  secret.  Dissatisfied  with  the 


king's  replies  to  these  demands,  de  Creve 
coeur  threw  his  gauntlet  to  the  HOOT 
of  the  hall.  Several  of  the  king's  attend 
ants  rushed  to  pick  it  up  and  to  accept 
the  challenge,  but  the  king  ordered  the 
Bishop  of  Auxerre  to  lift  the  gauntlet  and 
to  remonstrate  with  de  Crevecoeur  for 
thus  declaring  war  between  Burgundy 
and  France.  The  king  and  his  courtiers 
then  left  to  hunt  wild  boars. 

During  the  chase  Quentin  Durward 
saved  the  king's  life  by  spearing  a  wild 
boar  when  Louis  slipped  and  fell  before 
the  infuriated  beast.  The  king  decided 
to  reward  Quentin  with  a  special  mission. 
He  was  ordered  to  stand  guard  in  the 
room  where  the  king  entertained  de 
Crevecoeur  and  others,  and  at  a  sign  from 
the  king  Quentin  was  to  shoot  the  Bur- 
gundian.  But  the  king  changed  his  mind; 
the  signal  was  not  given.  Then  the  king 
made  Quentin  the  personal  bodyguard 
of  Isabelle  and  her  aunt,  Lady  Hameline, 
on  their  way  to  seek  the  protection  of  the 
Bishop  of  Liege. 

Quentin  set  out  with  the  ladies  to 
conduct  them  to  Liege.  In  the  party  was 
Hayraddin  Maugrabin,  a  Bohemian, 
whose  brother  it  was  whom  Quentin  had 
cut  down  earlier.  On  the  road  they  were 
assaulted  by  the  Count  de  Dunois  and 
the  Duke  of  Orleans.  Quentin  defended 
himself  with  great  courage  and  received 
timely  help  from  his  uncle,  who  arrived 
with  a  body  of  Scottish  Archers.  Le 
Balafre  took  de  Dunois  prisoner.  Noth 
ing  untoward  occurred  until  the  small 
party  reached  Flanders.  There  Quentin 
discovered,  by  following  Hayraddin,  that 
a  plot  had  been  hatched  to  attack  his 
party  and  carry  off  the  women  to  William 
de  la  Marck,  the  Wild  Boar  of  Ardennes. 
Quentin  frustrated  these  plans  by  going 
up  the  left  bank  of  the  Maes  instead  of 
the  right.  He  proceeded  safely  to  Liege, 
where  he  gave  over  the  women  into  the 
protection  of  the  bishop  at  his  castle  of 
Schonwaldt.  Four  days  later  William  de 
la  Marck  attacked  the  castle  and  captured 
it  during  the  night.  Lady  Hameline  es 
caped.  In  the  bishop's  throne  room  in  the 

796 


castle  William  de  la  Marck  murdered  the 
churchman  in  front  of  his  own  episcopal 
throne.  Quentin,  aroused  by  the  brutality 
of  William,  stepped  to  the  side  of  Carl 
Eberson,  William's  son,  and  placed  his 
dirk  at  the  boy's  throat,  threatening  to 
kill  the  lad  if  William  did  not  cease  his 
butchery.  In  the  confusion  Quentin 
found  Isabelle  and  took  her  safely  from 
the  castle  in  the  disguise  of  the  daughter 
of  the  syndic  of  Liege.  They  were  pur 
sued  by  William's  men,  but  were  rescued 
by  a  party  under  Count  de  Cr<Nvecoeur, 
who  conducted  them  safely  to  the  court 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  at  Peroune. 

The  king  came  to  the  castle  of  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  asserting  the  royal 
prerogative  of  visiting  any  of  his  vassals. 
Disregarding  the  laws  of  hospitality,  the 
duke  imprisoned  Louis  and  then  held  a 
council  to  debate  the  difficulties  between 
France  and  Burgundy.  Hayraddin  ap 
peared  as  a  herald  from  William  de  la 
Marck,  who  had  married  the  Lady  Ham- 
eline.  But  Toison  d'Or,  the  duke's  herald, 
unmasked  Hayraddin  because  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  science  of  heraldry.  The 
duke  released  Hayraddin  and  set  his 
fierce  boar  hounds  upon  him,  but  ordered 
the  dogs  called  off  before  they  tore  Hay 
raddin  to  shreds.  Then  he  ordered  that 
Hayraddin  be  hanged  with  the  proper 
ceremony. 

The  king  and  the  duke  also  debated 
the  disposal  of  Isabelle's  hand  and  for 
tune.  But  Isabelle  had  fallen  in  love 
with  Quentin  and  announced  that  she 


preferred  the  cloisrer  to  any  other  alliance. 
The  duke  solved  the  problem,  at  least  to 
his  satisfaction,  by  declaring  that  Isa 
belle's  hand  would  be  given  to  the  man 
who  brought  him  the  head  of  William  de 
la  Marck. 

The  king  and  the  duke  joined  forces 
to  assault  Liege.  Their  combined  forces 
gallantly  besieged  the  city  but  were  forced 
to  go  into  bivouac  at  nightfall.  That  night 
William  made  a  foray  but  was  driven 
back  into  the  city.  Next  day  the  forces 
of  the  king  and  the  duke  attacked  once 
more,  made  breaches  in  the  wall,  and 
poured  into  the  city.  Quentin  came  face 
to  face  with  William  de  la  Marck,  who 
rushed  at  him  with  all  the  fury  of  the 
wild  boar  for  which  he  was  named.  Le 
Balafre'  stood  by  and  roared  out  for  fair 
play,  indicating  that  this  should  be  a 
duel  of  champions.  At  that  moment 
Quentin  saw  a  woman  being  forcibly 
dragged  along  by  a  French  soldier.  When 
he  turned  to  rescue  her,  Le  Balafre"  at 
tacked  de  la  Marck  and  killed  him. 

Le  Balafr£  was  announced  as  the  man 
who  had  killed  de  la  Marck,  but  he  gave 
most  of  the  credit  to  Quentin's  valiant 
behavior  and  deferred  to  his  nephew. 
While  it  was  agreed  that  Quentin  was 
responsible  for  de  la  Marck's  death,  there 
was  still  the  question  of  his  lineage, 
which  the  duke  questioned.  Indignant, 
Le  Balafre*  recited  the  pedigree  of 
Quentin  and  thereby  proved  his  gentility. 
Without  more  ado,  Quentin  and  the 
Countess  Isabelle  were  betio<tfoed. 


QUO  VADIS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Henryk  Sienkiewicz  (1846-1916) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  novel 

Time  of  plot:  c.  A.  D.  64 

Locale:  Rome 

First  published:   1895 

Principal  characters: 

VINICIUS,  a  young  Roman  patrician 

LYGIA,  a  foreign  princess  whom  Vinicius  loves 

PETRONIUS,  Vinicius'  uncle,   intimate  friend   of  Nero 

NERO,  the  Roman  emperor 

CHILD,  a  Greek  sycophant 

PETER,  leader  of  the  Christians 

TIGELUNUS,  Petronius'  enemy,  Nero's  friend 

797 


Critique: 

Quo  Vadis  is  a  tremendous  achieve 
ment,  both  as  a  historical  re-creation  and 
as  a  vivid  and  dramatic  work  of  fiction. 
'Those  who  enjoy  learning  history  by 
reading  novels  will  find  it  extremely 
satisfactory.  Others  who  are  willing  to 
settle  for  a  good  story  will  be  moved 
by  its  sharply  depicted  characters,  its 
tremendous  tensions  and  energy.  No 
one  has  succeeded  better  than  Sienkie- 
wicz  in  portraying  the  broad  panorama 
of  Roman  civilization  in  the  last,  de 
generate  days  of  the  Empire,  and  no 
one  else  has  so  credibly  presented  the 
early  Christians  as  real,  live  people. 

The  Story: 

When  Vinicius  returned  to  Rome, 
after  duty  in  the  colonies,  he  called  on 
his  uncle,  Petronius,  who  was  one  of 
the  most  influential  men  in  Rome.  A 
friend  of  the  Emperor  Nero,  Petronius 
owned  a  beautiful  home,  choice  slaves, 
and  numerous  objects  of  art.  Petronius 
had  no  delusions  about  the  emperor. 
He  knew  quite  well  that  Nero  was 
coarse,  conceited,  brutal,  thoroughly  evil. 

Petronius  was  happy  to  see  his  hand 
some  young  nephew.  Vinicius  had  fal 
len  in  love  with  Lygia,  daughter  of  a 
foreign  king,  now  Hving  with  Aulus 
Plautius  and  Pomponia.  He  asked  his 
uncle  to  help  him  get  Lygia  as  his  con 
cubine.  Petronius  spoke  to  Nero,  and 
Lygia  was  ordered  brought  to  the  palace. 
The  giant  Ursus  was  sent  as  Lygia's  de 
voted  servant  by  her  foster  parents. 

At  a  wild  orgy  in  the  palace,  Vinicius 
attempted  to  make  love  to  Lygia. 
Through  the  watchfulness  of  Acte,  who 
was  a  Christian  and  a  former  concubine 
of  Nero,  he  did  not  succeed.  Lygia 
herself  was  a  Christian  and  she  feared 
both  the  lust  of  Vinicius  and  that  of 
the  emperor  himself.  Then  Acte  re 
ceived  information  that  Lygia  would  be 
handed  over  to  Vinicius.  At  the  same 
time,  the  daughter  of  the  Empress  Au 


gusta  died.  The  empress  and  her  circle 
believed  that  Lygia  had  bewitched  the 
child.  Alarmed  at  the  dangers  threaten 
ing  the  girl,  Acte  and  Ursus  planned 
Lygia's  escape. 

That  night  the  servants  of  Vinicius 
came  and  led  Lygia  away  from  the  pal 
ace.  Meanwhile  Vinicius  waited  at  his 
house,  where  a  great  feast  was  to  take 
place  in  honor  of  his  success  in  securing 
Lygia.  But  Lygia  never  arrived,  for 
on  the  way  to  his  house  a  group  of 
Christians  had  suddenly  attacked  the 
servants  of  Vinicius  and  rescued  the 
girl.  Her  rescuers  took  Lygia  outside 
the  city  walls  to  live  in  a  Christian 
colony. 

Vinicius  was  furious.  Petronius  sent 
some  of  his  own  men  to  watch  the 
gates  of  the  city.  Day  after  day  Vinicius 
grew  more  and  more  upset.  Finally, 
Chilo,  a  Greek  who  passed  as  a  philoso 
pher,  offered  for  a  sufficient  reward 
to  find  Lygia.  By  pretending  to  be  a 
convert,  he  learned  where  the  Chris 
tians  met  in  secret.  He  and  Vinicius, 
together  with  a  giant  named  Croton, 
went  there,  and  then  followed  Lygia  to 
the  house  where  she  was  staying.  When 
they  attempted  to  seize  the  girl,  Ursus 
killed  Croton.  Vinicius  was  injured  in 
the  scuffle.  For  a  few  days  he  stayed 
with  the  Christians  who  took  care  of 
him.  Lygia  herself  nursed  him  until 
she  became  aware  of  her  love  for  the 
pagan  patrician.  Afterward,  rather  than 
succumb  to  temptation,  she  left  him  to 
the  attentions  of  others. 

Vinicius  had  heard  the  Christians 
speaking  at  their  meeting.  While  re 
cuperating,  he  was  amazed  at  their  good 
ness,  at  their  forgiveness,  at  their  whole 
religious  philosophy.  He  heard  their 
leader,  Peter,  talk  of  Christ  and  of 
Christ's  miracles,  and  his  mind  became 
filled  with  odd  and  disturbing  thoughts. 
He  realized  that  he  must  either  hate 
the  God  who  kept  Lygia  from  him,  01 


QUO  VADIS  by  Henryk  Sienkiewicz.  Translated  by  Jeremiah  Curtin.  By  permission  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Cardell 
and  the  publishers,  Little,  Brown  &  Co.  Copyright,  1896,  1897,  1900,  by  Jeremiah  Curtin.  Renewed,  1924, 
1925,  1927,  by  Alma  Mary  Curtin, 


798 


love  Him.  Strangely  enough,  he  became 
convinced  that  he  no  longer  had  the 
desire  to  take  Lygia  by  force.  He  main 
tained  his  contacts  with  the  Christians. 
At  last,  after  he  had  accepted  their  faith, 
Lygia  agreed  to  marry  him. 

In  the  meantime  Nero  had  gone  to 
Antium.  There  the  noble  Tigellinus 
planted  in  his  mind  the  idea  that  he 
should  burn  Rome  in  order  to  write  and 
sing  a  poem  about  the  tremendous  catas 
trophe.  Accordingly,  Nero  fired  Rome, 
and  almost  all  of  the  city  was  destroyed. 
Vinicius  rushed  from  Antium  to  save 
Lygia.  Luckily,  she  had  left  the  city 
before  the  fire  gained  headway.  The 
populace  was  angry  and  violent  about 
the  fire.  Rebellion  was  in  the  air.  The 
empress  and  the  Jews  at  court  persuaded 
Nero  to  blame  the  Christians  for  the  fire. 
Chilo,  who  had  been  befriended  by  the 
Christians  and  whose  abominable  crimes 
had  been  wiped  away  by  Christian  for 
giveness,  turned  traitor.  He  gave  the 
emperor  all  the  information  he  had 
about  the  Christians  and  led  the  guards 
to  the  hiding  places  of  the  sect.  Cruel 
persecutions  began. 

Petronius  tried  desperately  to  stop 
Nero  and  save  Vinicius.  Failing  in  his 
attempt,  he  knew  that  his  own  days  were 
numbered.  The  Christians  were  crammed 
first  into  prisons  and  then  brought 
into  the  arena  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  populace.  Virgins  were  raped  by  the 
gladiators  and  then  fed  to  starving  lions. 
Christians  were  crucified,  burned  alive. 
After  Lygia  had  been  seized  and  im 
prisoned,  Vinicius  failed  in  an  attempt 
to  rescue  her. 

At  last  her  turn  came  to  be  led  into 
the  arena  to  amuse  the  brutal  populace. 
Stripped,  she  was  tied  to  the  back  of 
a  raging  bull.  When  the  bull  was  sent 
running  into  the  arena,  Ursus  rushed 
forward  and  locked  his  strong  arms 
around  the  animal.  To  the  astonish 
ment  of  all,  the  bull  yielded  and  died. 
Then  the  people  demanded  that  Lygia 
and  Ursus  be  set  free,  and  the  emperor 
had  to  obey  the  public  clamor.  Petronius 
advised  Vinicius  that  they  should  all 


leave  the  city,  for  Nero  had  subtle  ways 
of  removing  people  who  had  offended 
him. 

The  persecutions  continued,  the  spec 
tacles  in  the  arena  growing  more  and 
more  ghastly.  At  last  the  people  sick 
ened  of  the  bestial  tortures.  One  of  the 
dying  Christians  looked  straight  at  Nero 
and  accused  him  of  all  his  infamous 
crimes.  While  Glaucus,  a  martyr,  was 
being  burned  alive,  he  looked  at  Chilo, 
the  Greek  who  had  betrayed  them. 
Glaucus,  who  had  been  left  for  dead 
by  Chilo,  forgave  the  Greek  who  had 
caused  the  Christian's  wife  and  children 
to  be  sold  into  slavery.  Moved  by  the 
dying  man's  mercy,  Chilo  cried  out  in 
a  loud  voice  that  the  Christians  were 
innocent  of  the  burning  of  Rome,  that 
the  guilty  man  was  Nero.  Despairing 
of  his  own  fate,  Chilo  was  on  the  point 
of  complete  collapse.  But  Paul  of  Tarsus 
took  him  aside  and  assured  him  that 
Christ  was  merciful  to  even  the  worst 
of  sinners.  Then  he  baptized  the  Greek. 
When  Chilo  went  back  home,  he  was 
seized  by  the  emperor's  guards  and  led 
away  to  his  death  in  the  arena. 

Vinicius  and  Lygia  escaped  to  Sicily. 
When  Petronius  heard  that  the  emperor 
had  ordered  his  own  death,  he  invited 
some  of  the  patricians  to  his  house  at 
Cumae,  where  he  had  gone  with  Nero 
and  the  court.  There  at  a  great  feast  he 
read  an  attack  against  Nero  and  astound 
ed  everyone  by  his  foolhardiness.  Then 
he  and  Eunice,  a  slave  who  loved  him, 
stretched  out  their  arms  to  a  physician. 
While  the  parry  continued  and  the 
astonished  guests  looked  on,  Petronius 
and  Eunice  bled  to  death  in  each  other's 
arms. 

Nero  returned  to  Rome.  His  subjects 
hated  him  more  than  ever.  A  rebellion 
broke  out  at  last,  and  he  was  informed 
that  his  death  had  been  decreed.  He 
fled.  With  some  of  his  slaves  around 
him,  he  attempted  to  plunge  a  knife 
into  his  throat.  But  he  was  too  timid  to 
complete  the  deed.  As  some  soldiers  ap 
proached  to  arrest  him,  a  slave  thrust 
the  fatal  knife  into  his  emperor's  throat 


799 


THE  RAINBOW 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   D.  H.  Lawrence  (1885-1930) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:    England 

First  published:    1915 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  BRANGWEN,  a  farmer 

LYDIA  LENSKY,  his  wife 

ANNA  LENSKY,  Lydia's  child  by  her  first  hushand 

WILL  BRANGWEN,  Anna's  husband 

URSULA  BRANGWEN,  Anna's  and  Will's  daughter 

ANTON  SKREBENSKY,  Ursula's  lover 

Critique: 

The  Rainbow  has  been  the  center  of 
much  controversy.  The  author  used  it 
as  a  lever  to  bring  intelligent  considera 
tion  of  basic  human  relations  into  the 
open,  where  those  relationships  could  be 
reviewed  in  a  clear-eyed,  objective  man 
ner,  and  in  doing  so  he  made  use  of 
the  sexual  aspects  of  marriage  and  love. 
The  book  is  essentially  a  comparison  of 
the  matings  of  three  successive  genera 
tions.  The  book  was  not  well  received 
when  it  appeared.  The  author  was 
ostracized  and  the  novel  was  suppressed 
for  a  time  by  the  police.  That  such  a 
tempest  was  occasioned  by  The  Rainbow 
is  hard  for  the  reader  to  understand  to 
day,  for  by  present  standards  the  book 
can  be  read  and  appreciated  for  what  it 
is,  an  excellent  psychological  study. 


The  Story: 

Tom  Brangwen  was  descended  from 
a  long  line  of  small  landholders  who  had 
owned  Marsh  Farm  in  Nottinghamshire 
for  many  generations.  Tom  was  a  man 
of  the  soil,  living  alone  on  his  farm  with 
only  an  old  woman  for  his  company  and 
housekeeper.  Then  a  Polish  widow, 
Lydia  Lensky,  became  the  housekeeper 
of  the  vicar  of  the  local  church.  She 
brought  her  small  daughter,  Anna,  with 
her.  Within  a  few  months  Tom  Bran 
gwen  found  enough  courage  to  present 
the  widow  with  a  bouquet  of  daffodils 


one  evening  in  the  vicar's  kitchen  and 
to  ask  the  woman  to  be  his  wife. 

Their  marriage  was  a  satisfactory  one, 
judged  by  the  standards  of  the  world. 
Tom  was  kind  to  his  stepdaughter.  Later 
he  had  two  sons  by  his  wife.  But  know 
ing  his  stepdaughter  was  easier  for  him 
than  knowing  Lydia.  The  fact  that  they 
were  of  different  nationalities,  cultures, 
and  even  languages  kept  the  couple  from 
ever  becoming  intellectually  intimate 
with  one  another.  There  were  times 
when  either  one  or  both  felt  that  the 
marriage  was  not  what  it  should  be  for 
them,  that  they  were  not  fulfilling  the 
obligations  which  their  mating  had 
pressed  upon  them.  On  one  occasion 
Lydia  even  suggested  to  her  husband 
that  he  needed  another  woman. 

Little  Anna  was  a  haughty  young  girl 
who  spent  many  hours  imagining  her 
self  a  great  lady  or  even  a  queen.  In 
her  eighteenth  year  a  nephew  of  Tom 
Brangwen  came  to  work  in  the  lace 
factory  in  the  nearby  village  of  Ilkeston. 
He  was  only  twenty  years  old;  the  Bran- 
gwens  at  Marsh  Farm  looked  after  him 
and  made  him  welcome  in  their  home. 

Anna  Lensky  and  young  Will  Bran 
gwen  fell  in  love,  with  a  naive,  touching 
affection  for  each  other.  They  soon  an- 
nounced  to  Tom  and  Lydia  that  they 
wished  to  be  married.  Tom  leased  a 
home  in  the  village  for  the  young  couple 


THE  RAINBOW  by  D.  H.  Lawrence.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,   The  Viking  Press,  Inc.     Copyright, 
1915,  by  D.  H.  Lawrence.     Renewed,   1943,  by  Frieda  Lawrence. 


800 


and  gave  them  a  present  of  twenty-five 
hundred  pounds  so  they  would  not  want 
because  of  Will's  small  salary. 

The  wedding  was  celebrated  with 
rural  pomp  and  hilarity.  After  the  cere 
mony  the  newly-married  couple  spent 
two  weeks  alone  in  their  cottage,  ignor 
ing  the  world  and  existing  only  for 
themselves.  Anna  was  the  first  to  come 
back  to  the  world  of  reality.  Her  de 
cision  to  give  a  tea  party  both  bewildered 
and  angered  her  husband,  who  had  not 
yet  realized  that  they  could  not  continue 
to  live  only  for  and  by  themselves.  It 
took  him  almost  a  lifetime  to  come  to 
that  realization. 

Shortly  after  the  marriage  Anna  be 
came  pregnant,  and  the  arrival  of  the 
child  brought  to  Will  the  added  shock 
that  his  wife  was  more  a  mother  than 
she  was  a  married  lover.  Each  year  a 
new  baby  came  between  Will  and  Anna. 
The  oldest  was  Ursula,  who  was  always 
her  father's  favorite.  The  love  which 
Will  wished  to  give  his  wife  was  given 
to  Ursula,  for  Anna  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  him  when  she  was 
expecting  another  child,  and  she  was 
not  satisfied  unless  she  was  pregnant. 

In  the  second  year  of  his  marriage 
Will  Brangwen  tried  to  rebel.  He  met 
a  girl  at  the  theater  and  afterward  took 
her  out  for  supper  and  a  walk.  After 
that  incident  the  intimate  life  of  Will 
and  Anna  began  to  gain  in  passion,  in 
tense  enough  to  carry  Will  through  the 
daytime  when  he  was  not  necessary  to 
the  house  until  the  nighttime  when  he 
could  rule  his  wife.  Gradually  he  be 
came  free  in  his  own  mind  from  Anna's 
domination. 

Since  Ursula  was  her  father's  favorite 
child,  she  was  sent  to  high  school.  That 
privilege  was  a  rare  thing  for  a  girl  of 
her  circumstances  in  the  last  decade  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  She  drank  up 
knowledge  in  her  study  of  Latin,  French, 
and  algebra.  But  before  she  had  finished, 
her  interest  in  her  studies  was  shared 
by  her  interest  in  a  young  man.  The 
son  of  a  Polish  friend  of  her  grand 


mother's  was  introduced  into  the  house, 
young,  blond  Anton  Skrebensky,  a  lieu 
tenant  in  the  British  Army.  During  a 
month's  leave  he  fell  in  love  with  Ursula, 
who  was  already  in  love  with  him.  On 
his  next  leave,  however,  she  drove  him 
away  with  the  love  she  offered,  to  him. 
He  became  afraid  of  her  because  of  that 
love;  it  was  too  possessive. 

After  finishing  high  school,  Ursula 
took  an  examination  to  enter  the  uni 
versity.  Having  passed  the  examination, 
she  decided  to  teach  school  for  a  time,  for 
she  wanted  to  accumulate  money  to  carry 
her  through  her  education  without  being 
a  burden  to  her  parents.  Anna  and  Will 
were  furious  when  she  broached  the 
subject  of  leaving  home.  They  corn- 
promised  with  her,  however,  by  securing 
for  her  a  position  in  a  school  in  Ilkeston. 
Ursula  spent  two  friendless,  ill-paid,  and 
thankless  years  teaching  at  the  village 
elementary  school.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  she  was  more  than  ready  to  con 
tinue  her  education.  She  decided  to  be 
come  a  botanist,  for  in  botany  she  felt  she 
was  doing  and  learning  for  herself  things 
which  had  an  absolute  truth. 

Then  one  day,  after  the  Boer  War 
ended,  Ursula  received  a  letter  which 
upset  her  completely.  Anton  Skrebensky 
had  written  that  he  wished  to  see  her 
again  while  he  was  in  England  on  leave. 
Within  a  week  he  arrived  in  Nottingham 
to  visit  her  at  school.  Their  love  re 
turned  for  each  of  them  with  greater 
intensity  than  they  had  known  six  years 
before.  During  the  Easter  holidays  they 
went  away  for  a  weekend  at  a  hotel, 
where  they  passed  as  husband  and  wife. 
They  went  to  the  continent  as  soon  as 
Ursula  had  finished  classes  for  the  sum 
mer.  Even  then,  however,  Ursula  did 
not  want  to  marry  Skrebensky;  she 
wanted  to  return  to  college  to  take  her 
degree.  But  Skrebensky  continued  to 
press  increasingly  for  marriage.  He  want 
ed  Ursula  to  leave  England  with  him 
when  he  returned  to  service  in  India. 

Meanwhile  Ursula  had  so  neglected 
her  studies  that  she  failed  her  final 


801 


examinations  for  her  degree  and  had 
to  study  to  take  them  over  again  before 
the  summer  was  finished.  When  Ursula 
failed  her  examinations  a  second  time, 
Skrebensky  urged  her  to  marry  him  im 
mediately.  In  India,  he  insisted,  her 
degree  would  mean  nothing  anyway.  In 
the  meantime  they  went  to  a  house  party, 
where  they  realized  that  there  was  some 
thing  wrong  in  their  mating,  that  they 
could  not  agree  enough  to  make  a  suc 
cessful  marriage.  They  left  the  party 
separately  and  a  few  weeks  later  Skreben 
sky  was  on  his  way  to  India  as  the  hus 


band    of    his    regimental    commander's 
daughter. 

After  he  had  gone,  Ursula  learned 
that  she  was  pregnant.  Not  knowing 
that  he  was  already  married,  she  wrote 
to  Skrebensky  and  promised  to  be  a 

food  wife  if  he  still  wished  to  marry 
er.  Before  his  answer  came  from  India, 
Ursula  contracted  pneumonia  and  lost 
the  child.  One  day,  as  she  was  con 
valescing,  she  observed  a  rainbow  in  the 
sky.  She  hoped  that  it  was  the  promise 
of  better  times  to  come. 


THE  RAPE  OF  THE  LOCK 


Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Alexander  Pope  (1688-1744) 

Type  of  'plot:  Mock-heroic  epic 

Time  of  ylot:  Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  London. 

First  -published:  1712 

Principal  characters: 

BELINDA,  Miss  Arabella  Fermor 
LORD  PETRE,  Belinda's  suitor 
THALESTRIS,  Belinda's  friend 
ARIEL,  a  sprite 
UMBBTF.T.,  a  gnome 

Critique: 

The  Rape  of  the  Lock,  generally  con 
sidered  the  most  popular  of  Pope's  writ 
ings  as  well  as  the  finest  satirical  poem 
in  the  English  language,  was  written  at 
the  suggestion  of  John  Caryll,  Pope's 
friend,  ostensibly  to  heal  a  family  row 
which  resulted  when  an  acquaintance  of 
Pope,  Lord  Petre,  playfully  clipped  a  lock 
of  hair  from  the  head  of  Miss  Arabella 
Fermor.  Pope's  larger  purpose  in  writing 
the  poem,  however,  was  to  ridicule  the 
social  vanity  of  his  day  and  the  impor 
tance  that  was  attached  to  affected  man 


ners. 

The  Story: 

At  noon,  when  the  sun  was  accustomed 
to  awaken  both  lap  dogs  and  lovers, 
Belinda  was  still  asleep.  She  dreamed 
that  Ariel  appeared  to  whisper  praises 
of  her  beauty  in  her  ear.  He  said  that 
he  had  been  sent  to  protect  her  because 


something  dreadful  — what,  he  did  not 
know  —  was  about  to  befall  her.  He  also 
warned  her  to  beware  of  jealousy,  pride, 
and,  above  all,  men. 

After  Ariel  had  vanished,  Shock,  Be 
linda's  lap  dog,  thought  that  his  mistress 
had  slept  long  enough,  and  he  awakened 
her  by  lappings  of  his  tongue.  Rousing 
herself,  Belinda  spied  a  letter  on  her  bed. 
After  she  had  read  it,  she  promptly  for 
got  everything  that  Ariel  had  told  her, 
including  the  warning  to  beware  of  men. 

Belinda,  aided  by  her  maid,  Betty,  be 
gan  to  make  her  toilet.  Preening  before 
her  mirror,  she  was  guilty  of  the  pride 
against  which  Ariel  had  cautioned  her. 

The  sun,  journeying  across  the  sky, 
witnessed  its  brilliant  rival,  Belinda,  boat 
ing  on  the  Thames  with  her  friends  and 
suitors.  All  eyes  were  upon  her,  and  like 
the  true  coquette  she  smiled  at  her  swains 
but  favored  no  one  more  than  another. 


802 


Lord  Petre,  one  of  Belinda's  suitors, 
admired  a  lock  of  her  hair  and  vowed 
that  he  would  have  it  by  fair  means  or 
foul.  So  set  was  he  on  getting  the  lock 
that  before  the  sun  rose  that  morning  he 
had  built  an  altar  to  Love  and  had  thrown 
on  it  all  the  trophies  received  from  for 
mer  sweethearts,  meanwhile  asking  Love 
to  give  him  soon  the  prize  he  wanted 
and  to  let  him  keep  it  for  a  long  time. 
But  Love  granted  him  only  half  his 
prayer. 

Everyone  except  Ariel  seemed  happy 
during  the  cruise  on  the  Thames.  That 
sprite  summoned  his  aides,  and  reminded 
them  that  their  duty  was  to  watch  over 
the  fair  Belinda,  one  sylph  to  guard  her 
fan,  another  her  watch,  a  third  her  favor 
ite  lock.  Ariel  himself  was  to  guard 
Belinda's  lap  dog,  Shock.  Fifty  sylphs 
were  dispatched  to  watch  over  the  maid 
en's  petticoat,  in  order  to  protect  her 
chastity.  Any  negligent  sylphs,  warned 
Ariel,  would  be  punished  severely. 

After  her  cruise  on  the  Thames,  Be 
linda,  accompanied  by  Lord  Petre  and 
the  rest  of  the  party,  visited  one  of  the 
palaces  near  London.  There  Belinda 
decided  to  play  ombre,  a  Spanish  card 
game,  with  two  of  her  suitors,  including 
Lord  Petre.  As  she  played,  invisible 
sylphs  sat  on  her  important  cards  to  pro 
tect  them. 

Coffee  was  served  after  the  game. 
Sylphs  guarded  Belinda's  dress  to  keep 
it  from  being  spotted.  The  fumes  from 
the  coffee  sharpened  Lord  Petre's  wits  to 
the  point  where  he  thought  of  new  strata 
gems  for  stealing  Belinda's  lock.  One  of 
his  cronies  handed  him  a  pair  of  scissors. 
The  sylphs,  aware  of  Belinda's  danger, 
attempted  to  warn  her  before  Lord  Petre 
could  act,  but  as  the  maid  bent  her  head 
over  her  coffee  cup  he  clipped  the  lock. 
Even  Ariel  was  unable  to  warn  Belinda 
in  time. 

At  the  rape  of  her  lock,  Belinda 
shrieked  in  horror.  Lord  Petre  cried  out 
in  triumph.  He  praised  the  steel  used  in 
the  scissors,  comparing  it  with  the  metal 
of  Greek  swords  that  overcame  the  Tro 


jans.  Belinda's  fury  was  as  tempestuous 
as  the  rage  of  scornful  virgins  who  have 
lost  their  charms.  Ariel  wept  bitterly  and 
flew  away. 

Umbriel,  a  melancholy  gnome,  took 
advantage  of  the  human  confusion  and 
despair  to  fly  down  to  the  center  of  the 
earth  to  find  the  gloomy  cave  of  Spleen, 
the  queen  of  all  bad  tempers  and  the 
source  of  every  detestable  quality  in  hu 
man  beings,  including  ill-nature  and 
affectation.  Umbriel  asked  the  queen  to 
touch  Belinda  with  chagrin,  for  he  knew 
that,  if  she  were  gloomy,  melancholy  and 
bad  temper  would  spread  to  half  the 
world.  Spleen  granted  Umbriel's  request 
and  collected  in  a  bag  horrible  noises  such 
as  those  uttered  by  female  lungs  and 
tongues.  In  a  vial  she  put  tears,  sorrows, 
and  griefs.  She  gave  both  containers  to 
Umbriel. 

When  the  gnome  returned  to  Belinda's 
world,  he  found  the  girl  disheveled  and 
dejected.  Pouring  the  contents  of  the 
magic  bag  over  her,  Umbriel  caused 
Belinda's  wrath  to  be  magnified  many 
times.  One  of  her  friends,  Thalestris, 
fanned  the  flames  of  the  maiden's  anger 
by  telling  her  that  her  honor  was  at 
stake  and  that  behind  her  back  her  friends 
were  talking  about  the  rape  of  her  lock. 
Thalestris  then  went  to  her  brother,  Sir 
Plume,  and  demanded  that  he  confront 
Lord  Petre  and  secure  the  return  of  the 
precious  lock.  Sir  Plume  considered  the 
whole  episode  much  magnified  from  little, 
but  he  went  to  demand  Belinda's  lock. 
Lord  Petre  refused  to  give  up  his  prize. 

Next  Umbriel  broke  the  vial  contain 
ing  human  sorrows,  and  Belinda  was  al 
most  drowned  in  tears.  She  regretted  the 
day  that  she  ever  entered  society  and  also 
the  day  she  learned  to  play  ornbre.  She 
longed  for  simple  country  life.  Suddenly 
she  remembered,  too  late,  that  Ariel  had 
warned  her  of  impending  evil. 

In  spite  of  Thalestris'  pleas,  Lord  Petre 
was  still  adamant.  Clarissa,  another  of 
Belinda's  circle,  wondered  at  the  vanity 
of  women  and  at  the  foolishness  of  men 
who  fawn  before  them.  Clarissa  felt  that 


803 


both  men  and  women  need  good  sense, 
but  in  making  her  feelings  known  she  ex 
posed  the  tricks  and  deceits  of  women 
and  caused  Belinda  to  frown.  Calling 
Clarissa  a  prude,  Thalestris  gathered  her 
forces  to  battle  with  Belinda's  enemies, 
including  Clarissa  and  Lord  Petre.  Um- 
briel  was  delighted  by  this  Homeric 
struggle  of  the  teacups.  Belinda  pounced 


upon  Lord  Petre,  who  was  subdued  when 
a  pinch  of  snuff  caused  him  to  sneeze 
violently.  She  demanded  the  lock,  but 
it  could  not  be  found.  Some  thought 
that  it  had  gone  to  the  moon,  where  also 
go  love  letters  and  other  tokens  of  tender 
passions.  But  the  muse  of  poetry  saw  it 
ascend  to  heaven  and  become  a  star. 


RASSELAS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Samuel  Johnson  (1709-1794) 

Type  of  plot:  Philosophical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Abyssinia  and  Cairo 

First  published:  1759 

Principal  characters: 

RASSELAS,  Prince  of  Abyssinia 

NEKAYAH,  his  sister 

PEKUAH,  her  maid 

IMLAC,  a  poet 

Critique: 

The  History  of  Rasselas,  Prince  of 
Abyssinia,  one  of  the  most  popular  works 
o£  Samuel  Johnson  during  his  own  life 
time,  is  still  widely  read.  However,  it  is 
a  weighty  novel,  ponderous  in  style  and 
slow  moving.  There  is  almost  no  narra 
tive,  for  the  plot  deals  with  the  efforts 
of  four  people  to  find  a  working  philoso 
phy  by  which  they  can  guide  their  lives. 
The  age  in  which  Johnson  lived  was 
characterized  by  superficial  optimism, 
and  this  novel  is  an  attack  on  that  opti 
mism.  There  is  a  popular  theory  that 
Johnson  wrote  Rasselas  in  one  week,  in 
order  to  pay  his  mother's  funeral  ex 
penses,  but  many  scholars  refute  this 
theory.  The  novel  shows  that  Johnson 
hated  pretense  of  any  kind,  and  he  used 
his  pen  to  fight  it  at  every  opportunity. 


The  Story: 

It  was  the  custom  in  Abyssinia  for  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  emperor  to  be 
confined  in  a  remote  place  until  the  order 
of  succession  to  the  throne  was  estab 
lished.  The  spot  in  which  Rasselas  and 
his  brothers  and  sisters  were  confined  was 
a  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  situated  be 


tween  high  mountains.  In  the  valley  was 
everything  needed  for  a  luxurious  life. 
Entertainers  were  brought  in  from  the 
outside  world  to  help  the  royal  children 
pass  the  time  pleasantly.  These  enter 
tainers  were  never  allowed  to  leave,  for 
the  outside  world  was  not  to  know  how 
the  royal  children  lived  before  they  were 
called  on  to  rule. 

It  was  this  perfection  which  caused 
Rasselas  in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his 
life  to  become  melancholy  and  discon 
tented.  He  was  unhappy  because  he  had 
everything  to  make  him  happy;  he  wanted 
more  than  anything  else  to  desire  some 
thing  which  could  not  be  made  available 
to  him.  When  he  talked  of  his  longing 
with  an  old  philosopher,  he  was  told  that 
he  was  foolish.  The  old  man  told  him 
of  the  misery  and  suffering  of  the  people 
outside  the  valley  and  cautioned  him  to 
be  glad  of  his  present  station.  But  Ras 
selas  knew  that  he  could  not  be  content 
until  he  had  seen  the  suffering  of  the 
world. 

For  many  months  Rasselas  pondered 
on  his  desire  to  escape  from  the  valley. 
He  took  no  action,  however,  for  the  val- 


804 


ley  was  carefully  guarded  and  there  was 
no  chance  for  anyone  to  leave.  Once  he 
met  an  inventor  who  promised  to  make 
some  wings  for  him  so  that  he  could  fly 
over  the  mountains,  but  the  experiment 
was  a  failure.  In  his  search  for  a  way  to 
escape,  his  labor  was  more  mental  than 
physical. 

In  the  palace  there  was  a  poet,  Imlac, 
whose  lines  pleased  Rasselas  by  their 
intelligence.  Imlac  was  also  tired  of  the 
perfect  life  in  the  valley,  for  in  the  past 
he  had  traveled  over  much  of  the  world. 
He  had  observed  the  evil  ways  of  man 
kind  and  had  learned  that  most  wicked 
ness  stemmed  from  envy  and  jealousy. 
He  had  noticed  that  people  envy  others 
with  more  worldly  goods  and  oppress 
those  who  are  weak.  As  he  talked,  Ras 
selas  longed  more  than  ever  to  see  the 
world  and  its  misery.  Imlac  tried  to 
discourage  him,  for  he  believed  that 
Rasselas  would  long  for  his  present  state 
should  he  ever  see  the  violence  and 
treachery  which  abounded  in  the  lands 
beyond  the  mountains. 

But  when  Imlac  realized  he  could  not 
deter  the  prince,  he  agreed  to  join  him 
in  his  attempt  to  leave  the  perfect  state. 
Together  the  two  men  contrived  to  hew 
a  path  through  the  side  of  a  mountain. 
When  they  were  almost  ready  to  leave, 
Rasselas  saw  his  sister  Nekayah  watch 
ing  them.  She  begged  to  accompany  the 
travelers  for  she  too  was  bored  with  the 
valley  and  longed  to  see  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Because  she  was  the  favorite  sister 
of  Rasselas,  he  gladly  allowed  her  and 
her  maid,  Pekuah,  to  join  them.  The 
four  made  their  way  safely  through  the 
path  in  the  mountainside.  They  took 
with  them  enough  jewels  to  supply  them 
with  money  when  they  reached  a  city  of 
trade.  They  were  simply  dressed  and  no 
one  recognized  them  as  royalty. 

In  Cairo  they  sold  some  of  their  jewels 
and  rented  a  magnificent  dwelling.  They 
entertained  great  men  and  began  to  learn 
the  customs  of  people  different  from 
themselves.  It  was  their  object  to  observe 
all  possible  manners  and  customs  so  that 


they  could  make  their  own  choices  about 
the  kind  of  life  each  wanted  to  pursue. 
But  they  found  many  drawbacks  to  every 
form  of  living. 

Rasselas  and  Nekayah  believed  that  it 
was  only  necessary  to  find  the  right  pur 
suit  to  know  perfect  happiness  and  con 
tentment.  Imlac  knew  that  few  men  lived 
by  choice  but  rather  by  chance  and  the 
whims  of  fortune.  But  Rasselas  and  Ne 
kayah  believed  that  their  chance  birth 
had  at  least  given  them  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  study  all  forms  of  living 
and  thus  to  choose  the  one  most  suit 
able  for  them  to  pursue.  So  it  was  that 
the  royal  pair  visited  with  men  of  every 
station.  They  went  into  the  courts  and 
into  the  fields.  They  visited  sages  of 
great  fame  and  hermits  who  had  isolated 
themselves  to  meditate.  Nowhere  did  they 
find  a  man  completely  happy  and  satis 
fied,  for  each  desired  what  the  other  had 
and  thought  his  neighbor  more  fortunate 
than  he. 

Only  once  did  Rasselas  find  a  happy 
man.  This  man  was  a  philosopher  who 
preached  the  doctrine  of  reason.  He 
stated  that  by  reason  man  can  conquer 
his  passions  and  disappointments  and 
thus  find  true  happiness.  But  when  Ras 
selas  called  on  the  sage  the  following  day, 
he  found  the  old  man  in  a  fit  of  despair. 
His  daughter  had  died  in  the  night,  and 
the  reason  which  he  had  urged  others 
to  use  failed  completely  in  his  own  life. 

Imlac  and  Nekayah  spent  long  hours 
discussing  the  advantages  of  one  kind  of 
life  over  another.  They  questioned  the 
state  of  marriage  as  compared  with  celi 
bacy  and  life  at  court  as  compared  with 
pastoral  pleasures,  but  at  no  time  could 
they  find  satisfactory  solutions  for  their 
questions.  Nowhere  could  they  find 
people  living  in  happiness.  Imlac  sug 
gested  a  visit  to  the  pyramids  so  that  they 
might  learn  of  people  of  the  past.  While 
they  were  in  a  tomb,  Pekuah  was  stolen 
by  Arabs,  and  it  was  many  months  before 
she  was  returned  to  Nekayah.  Pekuah 
told  her  mistress  that  she  had  spent  some 
time  in  a  monastery  while  she  waited  for 


805 


her  ransom,  and  she  believed  that  the 
nuns  had  found  the  one  truly  happy  way 
o£  life. 

Their  search  continued  for  a  long  peri 
od.  Often  they  thought  they  had  found 
a  happy  man,  hut  always  they  would  find 
much  sorrow  in  the  life  they  thought  so 
serene.  Nekayah  at  one  time  decided 
that  she  would  cease  looking  for  happi 
ness  on  earth  and  live  so  that  she  might 
find  happiness  in  eternity.  A  visit  to 
the  catacombs  and  a  discourse  on  the  soul 
prompted  her  decision. 

When  the  Nile  flooded  the  valley,  con 
fining  them  to  their  home  for  a  time,  the 
Four  friends  discussed  the  ways  of  life 


which  promised  each  the  greatest  happi 
ness.  Pekuah  wished  to  retire  to  a  con 
vent.  Nekayah  more  than  anything  de 
sired  knowledge  and  wanted  to  found  a 
woman's  college,  where  she  could  both 
teach  and  learn.  Rasselas  thought  he 
wanted  a  small  kingdom  where  he  could 
rule  justly  and  wisely.  Lmlac  said  he 
would  be  content  to  drift  through  life, 
with  no  particular  goal.  Because  all  knew 
their  desires  would  never  be  fulfilled,  they 
began  to  look  forward  to  their  return  to 
the  Abyssinian  valley  where  everyone 
seemed  happy  and  there  was  nothing  to 
desire. 


REBECCA 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:   Daphne  du  Maurier  O907-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1930's 

Locale:    England 

first  published:  1938 

Principal  characters: 

MAXIM  DE  WINTER,  owner  of  Manderley 
MRS.  DE  WINTER,  Maxim's  wife  and  the  narrator 
MRS.  DANVERS,  the  housekeeper  at  Manderley 
FRANK  CRAWTLEY,  estate  manager  of  Manderley 
JACK  FAVELL,  Rebecca's  cousin 
COLONEL  JULYAN,  a  magistrate 
Critiqite: 

Rebecca  is  an  excellent  example  of 
the  suspense  novel.  From  the  time  the 
drab  little  companion  marries  Maxim  de 
Winter,  the  reader  is  aware  that  there 
is  something  wrong  with  the  situation 
at  Manderley,  the  fine  house  where  Re 
becca  was  formerly  the  mistress.  All 
through  the  novel  there  are  hints  that 
some  startling  disclosure  about  Rebecca 
is  to  come,  a  revelation  which  will  ex 
plain  many  strange  events.  In  develop 
ment  of  situation  and  in  character  por 
trayal  there  is  ample  evidence  of  the 
author's  technical  skill. 


The  Story: 

Manderley  was  gone.    Since  the  fire 
which  had  destroyed  their  home,  Mr.  and 


Mrs.  de  Winter  had  lived  in  a  secluded 
hotel  away  from  England.  Occasionally 
Mrs.  de  Winter  recalled  the  circum 
stances  which  had  brought  Manderley 
and  Maxim  de  Winter  into  her  life. 

A  shy,  sensitive  orphan,  she  had  been 
traveling  about  the  continent  as  com 
panion  to  an  overbearing  American  social 
climber,  Mrs.  Van  Hopper.  At  Monte 
Carlo  Mrs.  Van  Hopper  forced  herself 
upon  Maxim  de  Winter,  owner  of  Man 
derley,  one  of  the  most  famous  estates 
in  England.  Before  approaching  him, 
Mrs.  Van  Hopper  had  informed  her  com 
panion  that  Mr.  de  Winter  was  recover 
ing  from  the  shock  of  the  tragic  death 
of  his  wife,  Rebecca,  a  few  months  pre 
viously. 


??B|1?OVvb7v1Dfphnfr  iu  ^M"8*'     B7  permission  of  the  author  and  her  agent,   Curtis  Brown,  Ltd.     Pub 
lished  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright,   1938,  by  Daphne  du  Maurier  Browning. 

806 


During  the  following  days  the  young 
girl  and  Mr.  de  Winter  became  well 
acquainted;  when  Mrs.  Van  Hopper  de 
cided  to  return  to  America,  Maxirn  de 
Winter  unexpectedly  proposed  to  her 
companion.  Already  deeply  in  love  with 
him,  the  girl  accepted  and  they  were 
married  shortly  afterward. 

After  a  long  honeymoon  in  Italy  and 
southern  France,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  de  Win 
ter  returned  to  Manderley.  Mrs.  de  Win 
ter  was  extremely  nervous,  fearing  that 
she  would  not  fit  into  the  life  of  a  great 
estate  like  Manderley.  The  entire  staff 
had  gathered  to  meet  the  new  mistress. 
Mrs.  Danvers,  the  housekeeper,  had  been 
devoted  to  her  former  mistress  and  im 
mediately  began  to  show  her  resentment 
toward  the  new  Mrs.  de  Winter. 

Gradually  Mrs.  de  Winter  pieced  to 
gether  the  picture  of  Rebecca.  She 
learned  that  Rebecca  had  been  a  beauti 
ful,  vivacious  woman,  a  charming  host 
ess.  As  she  became  acquainted  with 
the  relatives  and  friends  of  her  husband, 
she  became  convinced  that  they  found 
her  lacking  in  those  qualities  which  had 
made  Rebecca  so  attractive  and  gracious. 
One  day  she  went  secretly  to  the  closed 
rooms  Rebecca  had  occupied.  Everything 
was  as  Rebecca  had  left  it  before  her 
fatal  sail  in  her  boat.  Mrs.  Danvers 
suddenly  appeared  and  forced  her  to 
view  Rebecca's  lovely  clothes  and  other 
personal  possessions. 

When  the  bishop's  wife  suggested  that 
the  traditional  Manderley  fancy  dress 
ball  be  revived,  Mr.  de  Winter  gave  his 
consent.  Mrs.  de  Winter  announced  her 
intention  of  surprising  them  all  with  her 
costume.  At  Mrs.  Danvers'  suggestion, 
she  planned  to  dress  as  an  ancestress 
whose  portrait  hung  in  the  hall  at  Man 
derley.  But  as  Mrs.  de  Winter  descended 
the  stairs  that  night  a  silence  fell  over 
the  guests,  and  her  husband  turned 
angrily  away  without  speaking.  Realiz 
ing  that  something  was  wrong,  Mrs. 
de  Winter  returned  to  her  room.  Beatrice, 
Mr.  de  Winter's  sister,  went  to  her  im 
mediately  and  explained  that  Rebecca 


had  worn  the  identical  costume  to  her 
last  fancy  dress  ball.  Again  Mrs.  Danvers 
had  humiliated  her  new  mistress.  Al 
though  Mrs.  de  Winter  reappeared  at  the 
ball  in  a  simple  dress,  her  husband  did 
not  speak  to  her  all  evening;  and  her 
belief  that  he  had  never  ceased  to-  love 
Rebecca  became  firmly  established  in  her 
mind. 

The  next  day  a  steamer  ran  aground 
in  the  bay  near  Manderley.  A  diver  sent 
down  to  inspect  the  damaged  steamer  dis 
covered  Rebecca's  boat  and  in  its  cabin 
the  remains  of  a  human  body.  Mr.  de 
Winter  had  previously  identified  the 
body  of  a  woman  found  in  the  river  as 
that  of  Rebecca. 

Unable  to  keep  silent  any  longer,  Mr. 
de  Winter  told  his  wife  the  whole  story 
of  Rebecca  and  her  death.  The  world 
had  believed  their  marriage  a  happy  one, 
but  Rebecca  had  been  an  immoral 
woman,  incapable  of  love.  To  avoid  the 
scandal  of  a  divorce,  they  made  a  bar 
gain;  Rebecca  was  to  be  outwardly  the 
fitting  mistress  of  Manderley,  but  she 
would  be  allowed  to  go  to  London 
periodically  to  visit  her  dissolute  friends. 
All  went  well  until  she  began  to  be 
careless,  inviting  her  friends  to  Mander 
ley  and  receiving  them  in  the  boathouse. 
Then  she  began  to  plague  Frank  Craw- 
ley,  the  estate  manager  of  Manderley, 
and  Giles,  Mr.  de  Winter's  brother-in- 
law.  There  had  been  gossip  after  Frank 
and  others  had  seen  Rebecca's  cousin, 
Jack  Favell,  at  the  boathouse  with  her. 
One  evening  Mr.  de  Winter  had  followed 
her  to  the  boathouse  to  tell  her  that 
their  marriage  was  at  an  end.  Rebecca 
taunted  him,  suggesting  how  difficult  it 
would  be  to  prove  his  case  against  her, 
asserting  that  should  she  have  a  child  it 
would  bear  his  name  and  inherit  Man 
derley.  She  assured  him  with  a  smile 
that  she  would  be  the  perfect  mother 
as  she  had  been  the  perfect  wife. 

She  was  still  smiling  when  he  shot  her. 
Then  he  put  her  in  the  boat  and  sailed 
out  on  the  river.  There  he  opened  the 
seacocks,  drilled  holes  with  a  pike,  and, 


807 


leaving  the  boat  to  sink,  rowed  back 
in  the  dinghy. 

Mrs.  de  Winter  was  horrified,  but  at 
the  same  time  she  felt  a  happiness  she 
had  not  known  before.  Her  husband 
loved  her;  he  had  never  loved  Rebecca. 
With  that  discovery,  her  personality 
changed.  She  assured  her  husband  that 
yhe  would  guard  his  secret. 

A  coroner's  inquest  was  held,  for  the 
body  in  the  boat  was  that  of  Rebecca, 
At  the  inquest  it  was  established  that  a 
storm  could  not  have  sunk  the  boat; 
evidence  of  a  bolted  door,  the  holes,  and 
the  open  seacocks  pointed  to  the  verdict 
of  suicide  which,  the  coroner's  jury  re 
turned. 

Tnat  night  Jack  Favell,  drunk,  ap 
peared  at  Manderley,  Wildly  expressing 
his  love  for  Rebecca  and  revealing  their 
intimate  life,  he  tried  to  blackmail  Mr. 
de  Winter  by  threatening  to  prove  that 
de  Winter  had  killed  his  wife.  Mr. 
de  Winter  called  the  magistrate,  Colonel 
Julyan,  to  hear  his  case.  FavelTs  theory 
was  that  Rebecca  had  asked  her  husband 
to  free  her  so  that  she  could  marry 
Jack,  and  that  de  Winter,  infuriated, 
had  killed  her. 

From  Rebecca's  engagement  book  it 
was  learned  that  she  had  visited  a  Doc 
tor  Baker  in  London  on  the  last  day  of 
her  life.  Colonel  Julyan  and  Mr.  and 


Mrs.  de  Winter,  with  Jack  Favell  follow 
ing  in  his  car,  drove  to  London  to  see 
Doctor  Baker.  On  checking  his  records, 
the  doctor  found  that  he  had  examined  a 
Mrs.  Danvers  on  the  day  in  question. 
They  realized  that  Rebecca  had  assumed 
the  housekeeper's  name.  Doctor  Baker 
explained  that  he  had  diagnosed  Rebec 
ca's  ailment  as  cancer  in  an  advanced 
stage.  The  motive  for  suicide  established, 
Colonel  Julyan  suggested  that  the  matter 
be  closed. 

Driving  back  to  Manderley  after  leav 
ing  Colonel  Julyan  at  his  sister's  home, 
Mr.  de  Winter  told  his  wife  that  he  be 
lieved  that  Colonel  Julyan  had  guessed 
the  truth.  He  also  realized  that  Re 
becca  had  intimated  that  she  was  preg 
nant  because  she  had  been  sure  that  her 
husband  would  kill  her;  her  last  evil 
deed  would  be  to  ruin  him  and  Mander 
ley.  Mr.  de  Winter  telephoned  Frank 
from  the  inn  where  they  stopped  for 
dinner,  and  the  estate  manager  reported 
that  Mrs.  Danvers  had  disappeared.  His 
news  seemed  to  upset  Mr.  de  Winter. 
At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  they  ap 
proached  Manderley.  Mrs.  de  Winter 
had  been  sleeping.  Awaking,  she  thought 
by  the  blaze  of  light  that  it  was  dawn. 
A  moment  later  she  realized  that  she  was 
looking  at  Manderley,  going  up  in  flames. 


THE  RED  AND  THE  BLACK 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Stendhal  (Marie-Henri  Beyle,  1783-1842) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1830 

Principal  characters: 

JULEEN  SOREL,  an  opportunist 

M.  DE  RENAL,  mayor  of  Verrieres 

MADAME  DE  RENAL,  his  wife 

MATHIUDE  DE  LA  MOLE,  Julien's  mistress 

FotiQtiE,  Julien's  friend 
Critique: 

This  novel  is  unusual  in  that  its  chief      villain,  however,  for  Stendhal  analv7*~ 
character  is  a  villain.  He  is  an  interesting      the   psychological   undercurrents   of   his 

T71E  RED  AND  THE  BLACK  by  Stendhal.     Published  by  Liveright  Publishing  Corp. 


808 


nature  in  an  attempt  to  show  clearly  how 
struggle  and  temptation  shaped  his  ener 
getic  but  morbidly  introspective  character. 
The  author  analyzes  the  actions  of  Jul- 
ien's  loves  in  the  same  way.  This  method 
of  writing  slows  down  the  action  of  the 
plot  considerably,  but  on  the  other  hand 
it  makes  the  characters  real  and  under 
standable  and  shows  much  of  the  sordid 
conditions  of  French  society  at  the  end 
of  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

The  Story: 

Julien  Sorel  was  the  son  of  a  carpenter 
in  the  little  town  of  Verrieres,  France, 
Napoleon  had  fallen,  but  he  still  had 
many  admirers,  and  Julien  was  one  of 
these.  Julien  pretended  to  be  deeply  re 
ligious.  Now  that  Napoleon  had  been 
defeated,  he  believed  that  the  church 
rather  than  the  army  was  the  way  to 
power.  Because  of  his  assumed  piety  and 
his  intelligence,  Julien  was  appointed  as 
tutor  to  the  children  of  M.  de  R£nal,  the 
mayor  of  the  village. 

Madame  de  Renal  had  done  her  duty 
all  her  life;  she  was  a  good  wife  and  a 
good  mother.  But  she  had  never  been  in 
love  with  her  husband,  a  coarse  man  who 
would  hardly  inspire  love  in  any  woman. 
Madame  de  Renal  was  attracted  to  the 
pale  young  tutor  and  fell  completely  in 
love  with  him.  Julien,  thinking  it  his 
duty  to  himself,  made  love  to  her  in  order 
to  gain  power  over  her.  He  discovered 
after  a  time  that  he  had  really  fallen  in 
love  with  Madame  de  Renal. 

When  Julien  went  on  a  holiday  to 
visit  Fouque",  a  poor  friend,  Fouque'  tried 
to  persuade  Julien  to  go  into  the  lumber 
business  with  him.  Julien  declined;  he 
enjoyed  too  much  the  power  he  held  over 
his  mistress. 

The  love  affair  was  revealed  to  M.  de 
R&nal  by  an  anonymous  letter  written  by 
M.  Valenod,  the  local  official  in  charge 
of  the  poorhouse.  He  had  become  rich 
on  graft  and  he  was  jealous  because  M. 
de  Renal  had  hired  Julien  as  a  tutor. 
He  had  also  made  unsuccessful  advances 
to  Madame  de  R£nal  at  one  time. 


The  lovers  were  able  to  smooth 
the  situation  to  some  extent.  M.  de  R£nal 
agreed  to  send  Julien  to  the  seminary  at 
Besangon,  principally  to  keep  him  from 
becoming  tutor  at  M.  Valenod's  house. 
After  Julien  had  departed,  Madame  de 
Renal  was  filled  with  remorse.  Her  con 
science  suffered  because  of  her  adultery 
and  she  became  extremely  religious. 

Julien  did  not  get  on  well  at  the 
seminary,  for  he  found  it  full  of  hypo 
crites.  The  students  did  not  like  him  and 
feared  his  sharp  intelligence.  His  only 
friend  was  the  Abbe"  Pirard,  a  highly 
moral  man. 

One  day  Julien  went  to  help  decorate 
the  cathedral  and  by  chance  found  Mad 
ame  de  Renal  there.  She  fainted,  but 
he  could  not  help  her  because  his  duties 
called  him  elsewhere.  The  experience 
left  him  weak  and  shaken. 

The  Abb6  Pirard  lost  his  position  at 
the  seminary  because  of  his  opposition 
to  the  local  bishop;  he  had  supported  the 
Marquis  de  La  Mole,  who  was  engaged 
in  lawsuits  against  the  bishop.  When 
the  Abb6  Pirard  left  the  seminary,  the 
marquis  obtained  a  living  for  him  in 
Paris.  He  also  hired  Julien  as  his  secre 
tary, 

Julien  was  thankful  for  his  chance 
to  leave  the  seminary.  On  his  way  to 
Paris  he  called  secretly  upon  Madame 
de  R£nal.  At  first  she  repulsed  his  ad 
vances,  conscious  of  her  great  sin.  But 
at  last  she  yielded  once  again  to  his 
pleadings.  M.  de  Renal  became  suspi 
cious  and  decided  to  search  his  wife's 
room.  To  escape  discovery,  Julien  jumped 
out  the  window,  barely  escaping  with  his 
life. 

Finding  Julien  a  good  worker,  the 
marquis  entrusted  him  with  many  of  the 
details  of  his  business.  Julien  was  also 
allowed  to  dine  with  the  family  and  to 
mingle  with  the  guests  afterward.  He 
found  the  Marquise  de  La  Mole  to  be 
extremely  proud  of  her  nobility.  Her 
daughter,  Mathilde,  seemed  to  be  of  the 
same  type,  a  reserved  girl  with  beautiful 
eyes.  Her  son,  the  Comte  de  La  Mole, 


809 


was  an  extremely  polite  and  pleasant 
young  man.  However,  Julien  found  Pari 
sian  high  society  boring.  No  one  was 
allowed  to  discuss  ideas. 

Julien  enjoyed  stealing  volumes  of  Vol 
taire  from  the  marquis*  library  and  read 
ing  them  in  his  room.  He  was  astonished 
when  he  discovered  that  Mathilde  was 
doing  the  same  thing.  Before  long  they 
began  to  spend  much  of  their  time  to 
gether,  although  Julien  was  always  con 
scious  of  his  position  as  servant  and  was 
quick  to  be  insulted  by  Mathilde's  pride. 
The  girl  fell  in  love  with  him  because  he 
was  so  different  from  the  dull  young 
men  of  her  own  class. 

After  Julien  had  spent  two  nights  with 
her,  Mathilde  decided  that  it  was  degrad 
ing  to  be  in  love  with  a  secretary.  Her 
pride  was  an  insult  to  Julien.  Smarting, 
he  planned  to  gain  power  over  her  and, 
consequently,  over  the  household. 

Meanwhile  the  marquis  had  entrusted 
Julien  with  a  diplomatic  mission  on  be 
half  of  the  nobility  and  clergy  who 
wanted  the  monarchy  reestablished.  On 
this  mission  Julien  met  an  old  friend 
who  advised  him  how  to  win  Mathilde 
again.  Upon  his  return  he  put  his  friend's 
plan  into  effect 

He  began  to  pay  court  to  a  virtuous 
lady  who  was  often  a  visitor  in  the  de 
La  Mole  home.  He  began  a  correspond 
ence  with  her,  at  the  same  time  neglecting 
Mathilde.  Then  Mathilde,  thinking  that 
Julien  was  lost  to  her,  discovered  how 
much  she  loved  him.  She  threw  herself 
at  his  feet.  Julien  had  won.  But  this 
time  he  would  not  let  her  gain  the  upper 
hand.  He  continued  to  treat  Mathilde 
coldly  as  her  passion  increased.  In  this 
way  he  maintained  his  power. 

Mathilde  became  pregnant.  She  was 
joyful,  for  now,  she  thought,  Julien 
would  know  how  much  she  cared  for 
him.  She  had  made  the  supreme  sacrifice; 
she  would  now  have  to  marry  Julien  and 
give  up  her  place  in  society.  But  Julien 
was  not  so  happy  as  Mathilde  over  her 
condition,  for  he  feared  the  results  when 
Mathilde  told  her  father. 


At  first  the  marquis  was  furious.  Even 
tually,  he  saw  only  one  way  out  of  the 
difficulty;  he  would  make  Julien  rich  and 
respectable.  He  gave  Julien  a  fortune, 
a  title,  and  a  commission  in  the  army. 
Overwhelmed  with  his  new  wealth  and 
power,  Julien  scarcely  gave  a  thought 
to  Mathilde. 

Then  the  Marquis  received  a  letter 
from  Madame  de  Re'nal,  whom  Julien 
had  suggested  to  the  marquis  for  a  char 
acter  recommendation.  Madame  de  Re'nal 
was  again  filled  with  religious  fervor; 
she  revealed  to  the  marquis  the  whole 
story  of  Julien's  villainy.  The  marquis 
immediately  refused  to  let  Julien  marry 
his  daughter. 

Julien's  plans  for  glory  and  power  were 
ruined.  In  a  fit  of  rage  he  rode  to  Ver- 
rieres,  where  he  found  Madame  de  Re'nal 
at  church.  He  fired  two  shots  at  her  be 
fore  he  was  arrested  and  taken  off  to 
prison.  There  he  prompdy  admitted  his 
guilt,  for  he  was  ready  to  die.  He  had 
his  revenge. 

Mathilde,  still  madly  in  love  with  Jul 
ien,  arrived  in  Verrieres  and  tried  to  bribe 
the  jury  for  the  trial  Fouque  arrived  and 
begged  Julien  to  try  to  escape.  But  Julien 
paid  no  attention  to  the  efforts  his 
friends  made  to  help  him. 

Tried,  he  was  found  guilty  and  given 
the  death  sentence,  even  though  his  bul 
lets  had  not  killed  Madame  de  Renal. 
In  fact,  his  action  had  only  rekindled  her 
passion  for  him.  She  visited  him  and 
begged  him  to  appeal  his  sentence.  The 
two  were  as  much  in  love  as  they  had 
been  before.  When  M.  de  R£nal  ordered 
his  wife  to  come  home,  Julien  was  left 
again  to  his  dreams.  He  had  lost  his 
one  great  love  —  Madame  de  Renal.  The 
colorless  Mathilde  only  bored  and  angered 
him  by  her  continued  solicitude. 

Julien  went  calmly  to  his  death  on  the 
appointed  day.  The  faithful  Fouqu£  ob 
tained  the  body  in  order  to  bury  it  in  a 
cave  in  the  mountains,  where  Julien  had 
once  been  fond  of  going  to  indulge  in 
his  daydreams  of  power. 

A  woman  had  loved  a  famous  ancestor 


810 


of  Mathilde  with  an  extreme  passion. 
When  the  ancestor  was  executed,  the 
woman  had  taken  his  severed  head  and 
buried  it.  Mathilde,  who  had  always  ad- 


her  own  hands.   Later,  she  had  the  cave 
decorated  with  Italian  marble. 

Madame  de  Renal  did  not  go  to  the 
funeral.    But   three   days   after  Julien's 


mired  this  family  legend,  did  the  same      death  she  died  in  the  act  of  embracing 
for  Julien.    After  the  funeral  ceremony      her  children, 
at  the  cave,  she  buried  Julien's  head  with 

THE  RED  BADGE  OF  COURAGE 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:    Stephen  Crane  (1871-1900) 

Type  of  plot:    Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  plot:    Civil  War 

Locale:   A  Civil  War  battlefield 

first  published:    1895 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  FLEMING,  a  young  recruit 

JIM  CONKLIN,  a  veteran 

WILSON,  another  veteran 

Critique: 

Most  war  stories  are  epic  histories  of 
generals  and  victories  or  defeats.  In  The 
Red  Badge  of  Courage  we  follow  only  the 
personal  reactions  of  a  soldier;  we  do  not 
even  know  what  battle  is  being  fought 
or  who  the  leaders  are.  We  know  only 
that  Henry  Fleming  was  motivated,  not 
by  the  unselfish  heroism  of  more  con 
ventional  and  romantic  stories,  but  first 
by  cowardice,  then  by  fear,  and  finally 
by  egoism.  The  style  of  narrative  of  the 
novel  belongs  to  a  late  period  in  English 
prose  fiction.  The  stream  of  Henry's 
thought  tells  a  story,  and  the  reader 
must  perceive  the  hero's  environment 
through  the  subjective  consciousness  of 
the  young  man.  This  novel  set  the  pat 
tern  for  the  treatment  of  war  in  modern 
fiction. 


The  Story: 

The  tall  soldier,  Jim  Conklin,  and  the 
loud  soldier,  Wilson,  argued  bitterly  over 
the  rumor  that  the  troops  were  about 
to  move.  Henry  Fleming  was  impatient 
to  experience  his  first  battle,  and  as  he 
listened  to  the  quarreling  of  the  seasoned 
soldiers  he  wondered  if  he  would  be 
come  frightened  and  run  away  under 


gunfire.  He  questioned  Wilson  and 
Conklin,  and  each  man  stated  that  he 
would  stand  and  fight  no  matter  what 
happened. 

Henry  had  come  from  a  farm,  where 
he  had  dreamed  of  battles  and  longed 
for  army  life.  His  mother  had  held  him 
back  at  first.  When  she  saw  that  her 
son  was  bored  with  the  farm,  she  packed 
his  woolen  clothing  and  with  a  warning 
that  he  must  not  associate  with  the  wicked 
kind  of  men  who  were  in  the  military 
camps  sent  him  of!  to  join  the  Yankee 
troops. 

One  gray  morning  Henry  awoke  tc 
find  that  the  regiment  was  about  to 
move.  With  a  hazy  feeling  that  death 
would  be  a  relief  from  dull  and  mean 
ingless  marching,  Henry  was  again  dis 
appointed.  The  troops  made  only  an 
other  march.  He  began  to  suspect  that 
the  generals  were  stupid  fools,  but  the 
other  men  in  his  raw  regiment  scoffed 
at  his  idea  and  told  him  to  shut  up. 

When  the  fighting  suddenly  began, 
there  was  very  little  action  in  it  foi 
Henry.  He  lay  on  the  ground  with  the 
other  men  and  watched  for  signs  of  the 
enemy.  Some  of  the  men  around  him 


THE  RED  BADGE  OF  COURAGE  by  Stephen  Crane.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Appleton-Century- 
Crofti,  Inc.     Copyright,   1895,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     Renewed,    1923,  by  William  H.  Crane. 

811 


were  wounded.  He  could  not  see  what 
was  going  on  or  what  the  battle  was 
about  Then  an  attack  came.  Im 
mediately  Henry  forgot  all  his  former 
confused  thoughts,  and  he  could  only 
fire  his  rifle  over  and  over;  around  him 
men  behaved  in  their  strange  individual 
manner  as  they  were  wounded.  Henry 
felt  a  close  comradeship  with  the  men 
at  his  side  who  were  firing  at  the  enemy 
with  him. 

Suddenly  the  attack  ended.  To  Henry, 
it  seemed  strange  that  the  sky  above 
should  still  be  blue  after  the  guns  had 
stopped  firing.  While  the  men  were  re 
covering  from  the  attack,  binding 
wounds,  and  gathering  equipment,  an 
other  surprise  attack  was  launched  from 
the  enemy  line.  Unprepared  and  tired 
from  the  first  fighting,  the  men  retreated 
in  panic.  Henry,  sharing  their  sudden 
terror,  ran,  too. 

When  the  fearful  retreat  had  ended, 

the  fleeing  men  learned  that  the  enemy 

had  lost  the  battle.    Now  Henry  felt  a 

surge  of  guilt.    Dreading   to  rejoin  his 

companions,    he    fled    into    the    forest 

There  he  saw  a  squirrel  run  away  from 

Mm  in  fright.  The  fleeing  animal  seemed 

to  vindicate  in  Henry's  mind  his  own 

cowardly  flight;  he  had  acted  according 

to  nature  whose  own  creatures  ran  from 

danger.   Then,  seeing  a  dead  man  lying 

in  a  clearing,  Henry  hurried  back  into 

the  retreating  column  of  wounded  men. 

Most  were  staggering  along  in  helpless 

?jewilderment    and    some    were    being 

carried    on    stretchers.     Henry    realized 

that  he  had  no  wound  and  that  he  did 

not  belong  in  that  group  of  staggering 

men.  There  was  one  pitiful-looking  man, 

covered  with  dirt  and  blood,  wandering 

about  dazed  and  alone.    Everyone  was 

staring  at  him  and  avoiding  him.  When 

Henry  approached  him,  the  young  boy 

saw  that  the  soldier  was  Jim  Conklin, 

He  was  horrified  at  the  sight  of  the  tall 

soldier.    He  tried  to  help  Jim,  but  with 

a  wild  morion  of  despair  Jim  fell  to  the 

ground  dead.    Once  more  Henry  fled. 

His  conscience  was  paining  him.    He 


wanted  to  return  to  his  regiment  to 
finish  the  fight,  but  he  thought  that  his 
fellow  soldiers  would  point  to  him  as  a 
deserter.  He  envied  the  dead  men  who 
were  lying  all  about  him.  They  were 
already  heroes;  he  was  a  coward.  Ahead 
he  could  hear  the  rumbling  of  artillery. 
As  he  neared  the  lines  of  his  regiment, 
a  retreating  line  of  men  broke  from  the 
trees  ahead  of  him.  The  men  ran  fiercely, 
ignoring  him  or  waving  frantically  at  him 
as  they  shouted  something  he  could  not 
comprehend.  He  stood  among  the  flying 
men,  not  knowing  what  to  do.  One  man 
hit  him  on  the  head  with  the  butt  of  a 
rifle. 

Henry  went  on  carefully,  the  wound 
in  his  head  paining  him  a  great  deal. 
He  walked  for  a  long  while  until  he  met 
another  soldier,  who  led  Henry  back  to 
his  regiment.  The  first  familiar  man 
Henry  met  was  Wilson.  Wilson,  who 
had  been  a  terrible  braggart  before  the 
first  battle,  had  given  Henry  a  packet  of 
letters  to  keep  for  him  in  case  he  were 
killed.  Now  Henry  felt  superior  to  Wil 
son.  If  the  man  asked  him  where  he 
had  been,  Henry  would  remind  him  of 
the  letters.  Lost  was  Henry's  feeling  of 
guilt;  he  felt  superior  now,  his  deeds  of 
cowardice  almost  forgotten.  No  one 
knew  that  he  had  run  off  in  terror. 
Wilson  had  changed.  He  no  longer  was 
the  swaggering,  boastful  man  who  had 
annoyed  Henry  in  the  beginning.  The 
men  in  the  regiment  washed  Henry's 
head  wound  and  told  him  to  get  some 
sleep 


next  morning  Wilson  casually 
asked  Henry  for  the  letters.  Half  sorry 
that  he  had  to  yield  them  with  no 
taunting  remark,  Henry  returned  the 
letters  to  his  comrade.  He  felt  sorry 
for  Wilson's  embarrassment.  He  felt 
himself  a  virtuous  and  heroic  man. 

Another  battle  started.  This  time 
Henry  held  his  position  doggedly  and 
kept  firing  his  rifle  without  thinking. 
Once  he  fell  down,  and  for  a  panicky 
moment  he  thought  that  he  had  been 
shot,  but  he  continued  to  fire  his  rifle 


812 


blindly,  loading  and  firing  without  even 
seeing  the  enemy.  Finally  someone 
shouted  to  him  that  he  must  stop  shoot 
ing,  that  the  battle  was  over.  Then 
Henry  looked  up  for  the  first  time  and 
saw  that  there  were  no  enemy  troops 
before  him.  Now  he  was  a  hero.  Every 
one  stared  at  him  when  the  lieutenant 
of  the  regiment  complimented  his  fierce 
fighting.  Henry  realized  that  he  had  be 
haved  like  a  demon. 

Wilson  and  Henry,  off  in  the  woods 
looking  for  water,  overheard  two  officers 
discussing  the  coming  battle.  They  said 
that  Henry's  regiment  fought  like  mule 
drivers,  but  that  they  would  have  to  be 
used  anyway.  Then  one  officer  said  that 
probably  not  many  of  the  regiment 
would  live  through  the  day's  fighting. 


Soon  after  the  attack  started,  the 
bearer  was  killed  and  Henry  took  up  the 
flag,  with  Wilson  at  his  side.  Although 
the  regiment  fought  bravely,  one  of  the 
commanding  officers  of  the  army  said 
that  the  men  had  not  gained  the  ground 
that  they  were  expected  to  take.  The 
same  officer  had  complimented  Henry 
for  his  courageous  fighting.  He  began  to 
feel  that  he  knew  the  measure  of  his 
own  courage  and  endurance. 

His  outfit  fought  one  more  engage 
ment  with  the  enemy.  Henry  was  by 
that  time  a  veteran,  and  the  fighting 
held  less  meaning  for  him  than  had  the 
earlier  battles.  When  it  was  over,  he  and 
Wilson  marched  away  with  their  vic 
torious  regiment. 


THE  RED  ROVER 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Newport,  Rhode  Island  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 

First  published:  1827 

Principal  characters: 

HARRY  WILDER,  formerly  Henry  Ark,  actually  Henry  de  Lacy 

THE  RED  ROVER,  captain  of  the  Dolphin 

DICK  FID,  and 

SCIPIO  AFRICA,  seamen,  Harry  Wilder's  friends 

GERTRUDE  GRAYSON,  General  Grayson's  daughter 

MRS.  WYLLYS,  her  governess 

Critique: 

Cooper,  who  knew  the  sea  quite  well, 
wrote  this  novel  to  repeat  the  success  of 
The  Pilot.  His  characters,  as  is  customary 
with  him,  are  types,  and  there  is  little 
character  development.  The  plot  is  simple 
and  plausible  until  the  end  of  the  story, 
when  Cooper  unravels  the  mystery  sur 
rounding  Henry  Ark  and  the  Red  Rover 
by  proving  improbable  relationships 
among  the  characters.  However,  few 
novels  of  the  sea  contain  a  better  record 
of  life  and  work  aboard  a  sailing  ship. 


The  Story: 

While  in  the  town  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  Harry  Wilder  saw  in  the  outer 


harbor  a  ship,  the  Dolphin,  which  inter 
ested  him  greatly.  He  decided  to  try  to 
secure  a  berth  on  her  for  himself  and  his 
two  friends,  Dick  Fid  and  Scipio  Africa, 
a  Negro  sailor.  His  determination  was 
strengthened  after  meeting  a  stranger 
who  in  effect  dared  him  to  try  to  obtain 
a  berth  there.  That  night  the  three  men 
rowed  out  to  the  ship  lying  at  anchor, 
in  order  to  give  the  vessel  a  closer  in 
spection.  Hailed  by  the  watch  on  deck, 
Wilder  went  aboard  her.  There  he 
learned  that  he  had  been  expected  and 
that  if  he  were  interested  in  sailing  with 
her,  he  might  go  to  see  the  captain.  The 
captain  was  the  mysterious,  mocking 


813 


stranger  whom  Wilder  had  met  that  after 
noon  in  the  town.  But  before  Wilder 
signed  on  as  a  member  of  the  ship's 
crew,  the  captain  revealed  the  true  na 
ture  of  the  ship  and  admitted  that  he 
himself  was  the  Red  Rover,  the  scourge 
of  the  sea.  Wilder,  who  had  formerly 
been  an  officer  in  the  British  Navy,  was 
given  the  post  of  second  in  command. 
He  persuaded  the  captain  to  sign  on 
Dick  and  Scipio  as  well.  He  then  re 
turned  to  shore  to  settle  his  affairs  in 
the  town.  The  other  two  men  remained 
aboard  the  Dolphin. 

At  the  same  time  the  Royal  Caroline, 
a  merchantman  trading  along  the  coast 
and  between  the  colonies  and  England, 
lay  in  the  inner  harbor  ready  to  embark 
on  the  following  day.  Two  ladies,  Ger 
trude  Grayson  and  her  governess,  Mrs. 
Wyllys,  were  to  take  passage  on  her  to 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Gertrude's 
home.  Wilder  met  the  ladies  as  if  by 
chance  and  tried  to  dissuade  them  from 
sailing  aboard  the  Royal  Caroline.  He 
hinted  that  the  Royal  Caroline  was  un 
safe,  but  his  words  were  discredited  by 
an  old  seaman  who  insisted  that  there 
was  nothing  wrong  with  the  ship.  The 
ladies  decided  to  sail  in  spite  of  Wilder's 
warnings.  Then  the  master  of  the  Royal 
Caroline  fell  from  a  cask  and  broke  his 
leg,  and  a  new  captain  had  to  be  found 
immediately.  The  Red  Rover  sent  a  mes 
sage  ordering  Wilder  to  apply  for  the 
vacant  position.  He  did,  and  was  imme 
diately  hired. 

The  voyage  of  the  Royal  Caroline  be 
gan  with  difficulties  which  continued  as 
time  went  on.  They  were  not  long  out 
of  port  when  a  ship  was  sighted  on  the 
horizon.  It  continued  to  keep  its  distance 
in  approximately  the  same  position,  so 
that  all  aboard  the  Royal  Caroline  sus 
pected  that  it  was  following  them.  In 
trying  to  outdistance  the  other  ship, 
Wilder  put  on  all  sail  possible,  in  spite 
of  the  threatening  weather.  A  storm 
struck  the  ship  and  left  her  foundering 
in  heavy  seas.  When  Wilder  commanded 
the  crew  to  roan  the  pumps,  they  refused 


and  deserted  the  sinking  ship  in  one  of 
the  boats.  Only  Wilder  and  the  two 
women  were  left  aboard  the  helpless 
Royal  Caroline.  Hoping  to  make  land, 
they  embarked  in  a  longboat,  but  the 
wind  blew  them  out  to  sea.  They  were 
sighted  and  picked  up  by  the  Dolphin. 

Gertrude  and  Mrs.  Wyllys  were  not 
long  aboard  the  Dolphin  before  the  true 
state  of  affairs  became  apparent  to  the 
women  in  spite  of  the  kindly  treatment 
afforded  them.  Mrs.  Wyllys  realized  also 
that  Roderick,  the  cabin  boy,  was  in  re 
ality  a  woman.  But  this  mystery  was 
nothing  when  compared  with  that  of 
Harry  Wilder. 

Dick  Fid  told  the  story  of  Harry  Wil 
der's  past  history  to  the  two  ladies  and 
the  Red  Rover,  thus  explaining  the  affec 
tion  Wilder,  Dick,  and  Scipio  held  for 
each  other.  Some  twenty-four  years  earli 
er,  Dick  and  Scipio  had  found  a  child 
and  a  dying  woman,  apparently  a  nurse, 
aboard  an  abandoned  ship.  After  the 
woman  died,  the  two  seamen  took  care 
of  the  boy.  They  had  only  one  clue  to 
follow  in  their  efforts  to  locate  the  child's 
relatives.  This  was  the  name  Ark  of 
Lynnhaven  which  had  been  painted  on  a 
ship's  bucket  and  which  Scipio  had  tat 
tooed  on  Dick's  arm.  But  there  was  no 
ship  of  that  name  in  any  port  registry, 
and  so  the  search  for  the  child's  relatives 
was  abandoned. 

As  Dick  finished  his  story,  another  ship 
was  sighted.  It  was  the  Dart,  a  British 
naval  vessel  on  which  Wilder,  Dick,  and 
Scipio  had  previously  sailed.  Wilder 
wanted  the  Red  Rover  to  flee,  but  the 
captain  had  another  plan  for  dealing  with 
the  Dart.  After  showing  British  colors, 
the  Red  Rover  was  invited  by  Captain 
Bignall  of  the  Dart  to  come  aboard  his 
ship.  There  the  pirate  captain  learned 
that  Henry  Ark,  alias  Harry  Wilder,  was 
absent  from  the  Dart  on  a  dangerous 
secret  mission.  The  Red  Rover  realized 
that  he  had  betrayed  himself  to  his 
enemy.  He  went  back  to  the  Dolphin  and 
then  sent  Wilder,  Dick,  Scipio,  and  the 
two  women  to  the  Dart. 


814 


Wilder  had  informed  the  Red  Rover 
that  once  aboard  his  own  ship,  the  Dart, 
he  would  be  duty  bound  to  reveal  the 
true  nature  of  the  Dolphin.  But  in  tell 
ing  Captain  Bignall  his  story,  Wilder 
begged  for  mercy  for  both  the  master  and 
the  crew  of  the  pirate  ship.  Bignall  agreed 
and  sent  Wilder  back  to  the  Dolphin 
with  lenient  terms  of  surrender.  The 
Red  Rover  refused  them  and  told  Wilder 
that  if  there  were  to  be  a  fight  Captain 
Bignall  would  have  to  start  it.  As  the 
Dart  attacked  the  pirate  ship,,  a  sudden 
storm  gave  the  Dolphin  an  unexpected 
advantage.  Its  crew  boarded  the  Dart, 
killed  Captain  Bignall,  and  captured  the 
ship.  The  crew  of  the  Dolphin  demanded 
the  lives  of  Wilder,  Dick,  and  Scipio  as 
traitors,  and  the  Red  Rover  handed  them 
over  to  the  crew.  When  the  chaplain 
who  was  aboard  the  Dart  came  forward 
to  plead  for  their  lives,  he  saw  the  tattoo 
on  Dick's  arm.  He  told  the  story  of  the 
Ark  of  Lynnhaven  and  revealed  that 
Harry  Wilder  must  be  the  son  of  Paul  de 
Lacy  and  Mrs.  Wyllys,  who  had  kept  the 
marriage  a  secret  because  of  parental  dis 
approval  and  later  because  of  Paul's  death. 
Mrs.  Wyllys  then  begged  for  the  life  of 


her  son,  whom  she  had  thought  dead  dl 
these  years.  The  Red  Rover  dismissed  his 
crew  until  the  next  morning,  when  he 
would  announce  his  decision  concerning 
the  fate  of  the  prisoners. 

The  next  morning,  the  Red  Rover  put 
his  crew  and  all  the  gold  aboard  the  Dol 
phin  into  a  coaster  and  sent  them  ashore. 
The  crew  of  the  Dart,  Wilder,  Dick, 
Scipio,  and  the  women  were  put  aboard 
the  Dart  and  told  to  sail  off.  When  they 
were  some  distance  away,  they  saw  the 
Dolphin  catch  fire  and  burn.  None  had 
been  left  aboard  her  but  the  Red  Rover 
and  Roderick.  Some  aboard  the  Dart 
thought  they  saw  a  small  boat  putting 
off  from  the  burning  ship,  but  none  could 
be  sure  because  of  the  billowing  smoke. 

Twenty  years  later,  after  the  colonies 
had  won  their  independence  from  Eng 
land,  the  Red  Rover,  a  veteran  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  reappeared  in  New 
port  and  made  his  way  to  the  home  of 
Captain  Henry  de  Lacy,  who  had  previ 
ously  called  himself  Henry  Wilder.  Ad 
mitted,  he  identified  himself  as  the  long- 
lost  brother  of  Mrs.  Wyllys.  Shortly 
thereafter  the  Red  Rover,  pirate  and 
patriot,  died. 


REMEMBRANCE  OF  THINGS  PAST 

Type  of  work:    Novel 
Author:    Marcel  Proust  (1871-1922) 
Type  of  plot:  Psychological  realism 
Time  of  plot:   Late  nineteenth,  early  twentieth  centuries 
Locale:    France 
First  published:    1913-1927 
Principal  characters: 

MARCEL,  the  narrator 

MARCEL'S  GRANDMOTHER,  a  kind  and  wise  old  woman 

M.  SWANN,  a  wealthy  broker  and  esthete 

MME.  SWANN,  formerly  a  cocotte,  Odette  de  Crecy 

GILBERTS,  their  daughter,  later  Mme.  de  Saint-Loup 

MME,  DE  VILLEPARISIS,  a  friend  of  Marcel's  grandmother 

ROBERT  DE  SAINT-LOUP,  her  nephew,  MarcePs  friend 

BARON  DE  CHARLUS,  another  nephew,  a  Gomorrite 

MME.  VEDURTN,  a  vulgar  social  climber 

THE  PRINCE  and  PRINCESS  DE  GUERMANTES,  and 

THE  DUKE  and  DUCHESS  DE  GUERMANTES,  members  of  the  old  aristocracy 


REMEMBRANCE  OF  THINGS  PAST  by  Marcel  Proust.  Translated  by  C.  K.  Scott-Moncneff  and  Fred 
erick  A.  Blossom.  By  permission  of  Brandt  &  Brandt  and  the  publishers,  Random  House,  Inc.  Copyright, 
1924,  1925,  by  Thomas  Seltzer,  1927,  1929,  1930,  1932,  by  Random  House,  Inc.,  1934.  by  The  Modern 
Library,  Inc. 


815 


Remembrance  of  Things  Past  is  not  a 
novel  of  traditional  form.  Symphonic  in 
design,  it  unfolds  without  plot  or  crisis 
as  the  writer  reveals  in  retrospect  the 
motifs  of  his  experience,  holds  them  for 
thematic  effect,  and  drops  them,  only  to 
return  to  them  once  more  in  the  pro 
cesses  of  recurrence  and  change.  This 

.1  r  .  -.^ . 

varied  pattern  or  experience  brings  to 
gether  a  series  of  involved  relationships 
through  the  imagination  and  observation 
of  a  narrator  engaged  in  tracing  with 
painstaking  detail  his  perceptions  of 
people  and  places  as  he  himself  grows 
from  childhood  to  disillusioned  middle 
age.  From  the  waking  reverie  in  which 
he  recalls  the  themes  and  characters  of 
his  novel  to  that  closing  paragraph  with 
its  slow,  repeated  echoes  of  the  word 
Time,  Proust's  novel  is  great  art  distilled 
from  memory  itself,  the  structure  deter 
mined  entirely  by  moods  and  sensations 
evoked  by  the  illusion  of  time  passing,  or 
seeming  to  pass,  recurring,  or  seeming 
to  recur.  The  title  shows  Proust's  two 
fold  concern  as  a  novelist:  time  lost  and 
time  recalled.  To  the  discerning  reader 
it  is  plain  that  for  Proust  the  true  realities 
of  human  experience  were  not  con 
tained  in  a  reconstruction  of  remembered 
scenes  and  events  but  in  the  capture  of 
physical  sensations  and  moods  re-created 
in  memory.  The  seven  novels  which 
make  up  Remembrance  of  Things  Past 
are  Swanns  Way,  Within  a  Budding 
Grove,  The  Guermantes  Way,  Cities  of 
the  Plain,  The  Captive}  The  Sweet 
Cheat  Gone}  and  The  Past  Recaptured. 

The  Story: 

All  his  life  Marcel  found  it  difficult 
to  go  to  sleep  at  night.  After  he  had 
blown  out  the  light,  he  would  lie  quietly 
in  the  darkness  and  think  of  the  book 
he  had  been  reading,  of  an  event  in  his 
tory,  of  some  memory  from  the  past. 
Sometimes  he  would  think  of  all  the 
places  in  which  he  had  slept — as  a  child 
in  his  great-aunt's  house  in  the  pro 
vincial  town  of  Combray,  in  Balbec  on 


a  holiday  with  his  grandmother,  in  the 
military  town  where  his  friend,  Robert 
de  Saint-Loup,  had  been  stationed,  in 
Paris,  in  Venice  during  a  visit  there  with 
his  mother. 

He  remembered  always  a  night  at 
Combray  when  he  was  a  child.  M. 
Swann,  a  family  friend,  had  come  to 
dinner.  Marcel  had  been  sent  to  bed 
early,  where  he  lay  for  hours  nervous 
and  unhappy  until  at  last  he  heard  M. 
Swann  leave.  Then  his  mother  had 
come  upstairs  to  comfort  him. 

For  a  long  time  the  memory  of  that 
night  was  his  chief  recollection  of  Com 
bray,  where  his  family  took  him  to  spend 
a  part  of  every  summer  with  his  grand 
parents  and  aunts.  Years  later,  while 
drinking  tea  with  his  mother,  the  taste 
of  a  small  sweet  cake  suddenly  brought 
back  all  the  impressions  of  his  old  days 
at  Combray. 

He  remembered  the  two  roads.  One 
was  Swann's  way,  a  path  that  ran  be 
side  M.  Swann's  park  where  the  lilacs 
and  hawthorns  bloomed.  The  other  was 
the  Guermantes  way,  along  the  river  and 
past  the  chateau  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  de  Guermantes,  the  great  family 
of  Combray.  He  remembered  the  people 
he  saw  on  his  walks.  There  were  familiar 
figures  like  the  doctor  and  the  priest. 
There  was  M.  Vinteuil,  an  old  com 
poser  who  died  broken-hearted  and 
shamed  because  of  his  daughter's  friend 
ship  with  a  woman  of  bad  reputation. 
There  were  the  neighbors  and  friends 
of  his  grandparents.  But  best  of  all  he 
remembered  M.  Swann,  whose  story  he 
pieced  together  slowly  from  family  con 
versations  and  village  gossip. 

M.  Swann  was  a  wealthy  Jew  accepted 
in  rich  and  fashionable  society.  His  wife 
was  not  received,  however,  for  she  was 
his  former  mistress,  Odette  de  Crecy,  a 
cocotte  with  the  fair,  haunting  beauty 
of  a  Botticelli  painting.  It  was  Odette 
who  had  first  introduced  Swann  to  the 
Vedurins,  a  vulgar  family  that  pretended 
to  despise  the  polite  world  of  the  Guer- 


816 


mantes.  At  an  evening  party  given  by 
Mme.  Vedurin,  Swann  heard  played  a 
movement  of  Vinteuirs  sonata  and  identi 
fied  his  hopeless  passion  for  Odette  with 
that  lovely  music.  Swann's  love  was  an 
unhappy  affair.  Tortured  by  jealousy, 
aware  of  the  vulgarity  and  pettiness  of 
the  Vedurins,  determined  to  forget  his 
unfaithful  mistress,  he  went  to  Mme. 
de  Sainte-Euvert's  reception.  There  he 
heard  Vinteuil's  music  again.  Under  its 
influence  he  decided,  at  whatever  price, 
to  marry  Odette. 

After  their  marriage  Swann  drifted 
more  and  more  into  the  bourgeois  circle 
of  the  Vedurins.  When  he  went  to  see 
his  old  friends  in  Combray  and  in  the 
fashionable  Faubourg  Saint-Germain,  he 
went  alone.  Many  people  thought  him 
both  ridiculous  and  tragic. 

On  his  walks  Marcel  sometimes  saw 
Mme.  Swann  and  her  daughter,  Gilberte, 
in  the  park  at  Combray.  Later,  in  Paris, 
he  met  the  little  girl  and  became  her 
playmate.  That  friendship,  as  they  grew 
older,  became  an  innocent  love  affair. 
Filled  also  with  a  schoolboyish  passion 
for  Mme.  Swann,  Marcel  went  to 
Swann's  house  as  much  to  be  in  her 
company  as  in  Gilberte's.  But  after  a 
time  his  pampered  habits  and  brooding, 
neurasthenic  nature  began  to  bore  Gil 
berte.  His  pride  hurt,  he  refused  to  see 
her  for  many  years. 

Marcel's  family  began  to  treat  him  as 
an  invalid.  With  his  grandmother,  he 
went  to  Balbec,  a  seaside  resort.  There 
he  met  Albertine,  a  girl  to  whom  he  was 
immediately  attracted.  He  met  also 
Mme.  de  Villeparisis,  an  old  friend  of 
his  grandmother  and  a  connection  of 
the  Guermantes  family.  Mme.  de  Vil 
leparisis  introduced  him  to  her  two 
nephews,  Robert  de  Saint-Loup  and 
Baron  de  Charlus.  Saint-Loup  and  Mar 
cel  became  close  friends.  While  visiting 
Saint-Loup  in  a  nearby  garrison  town, 
Marcel  met  his  friend's  mistress,  a  young 
Jewish  actress  named  Rachel.  Marcel 
was  both  fascinated  and  repelled  by 
Baron  de  Charlus;  he  was  not  to  under 


stand  until  later  the  baron's  corrupt  and 
depraved  nature. 

Through  his  friendship  with  Mme.  de 
Villeparisis  and  Saint-Loup,  Marcel  was 
introduced  into  the  smart  world  of  the 
Guermantes  when  he  returned  to  Paris. 

One  day,  while  he  was  walking  with 
his  grandmother,  she  suffered  a  stroke. 
The  illness  and  death  of  that  good  and 
unselfish  old  woman  made  him  realize 
for  the  first  time  the  empty  worldliness 
of  his  smart  and  wealthy  friends.  For 
comfort  he  turned  to  Albertine,  who 
came  to  stay  with  him  in  Paris  while  his 
family  was  away.  But  his  desire  to  be 
humored  and  indulged  in  all  his  whims, 
his  suspicions  of  Albertine,  and  his  petty 
jealousy,  finally  forced  her  to  leave  him 
and  go  back  to  Balbec.  With  her,  he 
had  been  unhappy;  without  her,  he  was 
wretched.  Then  he  learned  that  she  had 
been  accidentally  killed  in  a  fall  from 
her  horse.  Later  he  received  a  letter, 
written  before  her  death,  in  which  she 
promised  to  return  to  him. 

More  miserable  than  ever,  Marcel 
tried  to  find  diversion  among  his  old 
friends.  They  were  changing  with  the 
times.  Swann  was  ill  and  soon  to  die. 
Gilberte  had  married  Robert  de  Saint- 
Loup.  Mme.  Vedurin,  who  had  inherited 
a  fortune,  now  entertained  the  old 
nobility.  At  one  of  her  parties  Marcel 
heard  a  Vinteuil  composition  played  by 
a  musician  named  Morel,  the  nephew 
of  a  former  servant  and  now  a  protege* 
of  the  notorious  Baron  de  Charlus. 

His  health  breaking  down  at  last, 
Marcel  spent  the  war  years  in  a  sani 
tarium.  When  he  returned  to  Paris,  he 
found  still  greater  changes.  Robert  de 
Saint-Loup  had  been  killed  in  the  war. 
Rachel,  Saint-Loup's  mistress,  had  be 
come  a  famous  actress.  Swann  was  also 
dead,  and  his  widow,  remarried,  was  a 
fashionable  hostess  who  received  the 
Duchess  de  Guermantes.  Prince  de 
Guermantes,  his  fortune  lost  and  his 
first  wife  dead,  had  married  Mme.  Ve 
durin  for  her  money.  Baron  de  Charlus 
had  grown  senile. 


817 


Marcel  went  to  one  last  reception  at 
the  Princess  de  Guermantes*  lavish  house. 
Meeting  there  the  daughter  of  Gilberte 
de  Saint-Loup,  he  realized  how  time  had 
passed,  how  old  he  had  grown.  In  the 
Guermantes  library,  he  happened  to  take 
down  the  novel  by  George  Sand  which 
his  mother  had  read  to  him  that  re 
membered  night  in  Combray,  years  be 
fore.  Suddenly,  in  memory,  he  heard 


again  the  ringing  of  the  bell  that  an 
nounced  M.  Swann's  departure  and  knew 
that  it  would  echo  in  his  mind  forever. 
He  saw  then  that  everything  in  his  own 
futile,  wasted  life  dated  from  that  far 
night  in  his  childhood,  and  in  that 
moment  of  self-revelation  he  saw  also 
the  ravages  of  time  among  all  the  people 
he  had  ever  known. 


THE  RETURN  OF  THE  NATIVE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  -plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Egdon  Heath,  in  southern  England 

First  published;  1878 

Principal  characters: 

DIGGORY  VENN,  a  reddleman 

DAMON  WILDEVE,  proprietor  of  the  Quiet  Woman  Inn 

THOMASIN  YEOBRIGHT,  betrothed  to  Wildeve 

MRS.  YEOBRIGHT,  Thomasin's  guardian 

CLYM  YEOBRIGHT,  Mrs.  Yeobright's  son 

EUSTACIA  VYE,  a  designing  woman 

Critique: 

In  this  novel  Thomas  Hardy  created 
two  strong  and  opposing  forces:  Egdon 
Heath,  a  somber  tract  of  wasteland  sym 
bolic  of  an  impersonal  fate,  and  Eustacia 
Vye,  a  beautiful  young  woman  repre 
senting  the  opposing  human  element. 
Throughout  the  book  Eustacia  struggles 
against  the  Heath,  but  in  vain.  Of 
course,  her  failure  to  overcome  her  en 
vironment  would  seem  to  prove  Hardy's 
view  that  man  is  not  the  master  of  his 
fate.  But  in  attempting  to  minimize  the 
importance  of  the  individual  in  this  life, 
Hardy  has  created  in  the  character  of 
Eustacia  Vye  a  person  of  great  strength 
and  marked  individuality.  Indeed,  the 
reader,  contemplating  her,  feels  that  Eu 
stacia  herself,  not  fate  alone,  is  respon 
sible  for  her  tragic  end. 


The  Story: 

Egdon  Heath  was  a  gloomy  wasteland 
m  southern  England.  Against  this  majes 
tic  but  solemn,  brooding  background  a 
small  group  of  people  were  to  work  out 


their  tragic  drama  in  the  impersonal  pres 
ence  of  nature. 

Fifth  of  November  bonfires  were  glow 
ing  in  the  twilight  as  Diggory  Venn,  the 
reddleman,  drove  his  van  across  the 
Heath.  Tired  and  ill,  Thomasin  Yeo- 
bright  lay  in  the  rear  of  his  van.  She 
was  a  young  girl  whom  Diggory  loved, 
but  she  had  rejected  his  proposal  in  order 
to  marry  Damon  Wildeve,  proprietor  of 
the  Quiet  Woman  Inn.  Now  Diggory 
was  carrying  the  girl  to  her  home  at 
Blooms-End.  The  girl  had  gone  to  marry 
Wildeve  in  a  nearby  town,  but  the  cere 
mony  had  not  taken  place  because  of  an 
irregularity  in  the  license.  Shocked  and 
shamed,  Thomasin  had  asked  her  old 
sweetheart,  Diggory,  to  take  her  home. 

Mrs.  Yeobright,  Thomasin's  aunt  and 
guardian,  heard  the  story  from  the  reddle 
man.  Concerned  for  the  girl's  welfare, 
she  decided  that  the  wedding  should  take 
place  as  soon  as  possible.  Mrs.  Yeobright 
had  good  cause  to  worry,  for  Wildeve's 
intentions  were  not  wholly  honorable. 


818 


Later  in  the  evening,  after  Wildeve  had 
assured  the  Yeobrights,  rather  casually, 
that  he  intended  to  go  through  with  his 
promise,  his  attention  was  turned  to  a 
bonfire  blazing  on  Mistover  Knap.  There 
old  Cap'n  Vye  lived  with  his  beautiful 
granddaughter,  Eustacia.  At  dusk  the 
girl  had  started  a  fire  on  the  Heath  as  a 
signal  to  her  lover,  Wildeve,  to  come  to 
her.  Though  he  had  intended  to  break 
with  Eustacia,  he  decided  to  obey  her 
summons. 

Eustacia,  meanwhile,  was  waiting  for 
Wildeve  in  the  company  of  young  Johnny 
Nunsuch.  When  Wildeve  threw  a 
pebble  in  the  pond  to  announce  his 
arrival,  Eustacia  told  Johnny  to  go  home. 
The  meeting  between  Wildeve  and  Eu 
stacia  was  unsatisfactory  for  both.  He 
complained  that  she  gave  him  no  peace. 
She,  in  turn,  resented  his  desertion. 
Meanwhile  Johnny  Nunsuch,  frightened 
by  strange  lights  he  saw  on  the  Heath, 
went  back  to  Mistover  Knap  to  ask  Eu 
stacia  to  let  her  servant  accompany  him 
home,  but  he  kept  silent  when  he  came 
upon  Eustacia  and  Wildeve.  Retracing 
his  steps,  he  stumbled  into  a  sand  pit 
where  stood  the  reddleman's  van.  From 
the  boy,  Diggory  learned  of  the  meeting 
between  Eustacia  and  Wildeve.  Later, 
he  overheard  Eustacia  declare  her  hatred 
of  the  Heath  to  Wildeve,  who  asked  her 
to  run  away  with  him  to  America.  Her 
reply  was  vague,  but  the  reddleman  de 
cided  to  see  Eustacia  without  delay  to 
beg  her  to  let  Thomasin  have  Wildeve. 

Diggory 's  visit  to  Eustacia  was  fruitless. 
He  then  approached  Mrs.  Yeobright,  de 
clared  again  his  love  for  her  niece,  and 
offered  to  marry  Thomasin.  Mrs.  Yeo 
bright  refused  the  reddleman's  offer  be 
cause  she  felt  that  the  girl  should  marry 
Wildeve.  She  confronted  the  innkeeper 
with  vague  references  to  another  suitor, 
with  the  result  that  Wildeve's  interest  in 
Thomasin  awakened  once  more. 

Shortly  afterward  Mrs.  Yeobright's 
son,  Clym,  returned  from  Paris,  and  a 
welcome-home  party  gave  Eustacia  the 
chance  to  view  this  stranger  about  whom 


she  had  heard  so  much.  Uninvited,  she 
went  to  the  party  disguised  as  one  of  the 
mummers.  Clym  was  fascinated  by  this 
interesting  and  mysterious  young  woman 
disguised  as  a  man.  Eustacia  dreamed  of 
marrying  Clym  and  going  with  him  to 
Paris.  She  even  broke  off  with  Wildeve, 
who,  stung  by  her  rejection,  promptly 
married  Thomasin  to  spite  Eustacia. 

Clym  Yeobright  decided  not  to  go 
back  to  France.  Instead  he  planned  to 
open  a  school.  Mrs.  Yeobright  strongly 
opposed  her  son's  decision.  When  Clym 
learned  that  Eustacia  had  been  stabbed 
in  church  by  a  woman  who  thought  thai 
Eustacia  was  bewitching  her  children, 
his  decision  to  educate  these  ignorant 
people  was  strengthened.  Much  against 
his  mothers  wishes,  Clym  visited  Eu- 
stacia's  home  to  ask  her  to  teach  in  his 
school.  Eustacia  refused  because  she 
hated  the  Heath  and  the  country  peas 
ants,  but  as  the  result  of  his  visit  Clym 
fell  completely  in  love  with  the  beautiful 
but  heartless  Eustacia. 

Mrs.  Yeobright  blamed  Eustacia  for 
Clym's  wish  to  stay  on  the  Heath.  When 
bitter  feeling  grew  between  mother  and 
son,  he  decided  to  leave  home.  His  mar 
riage  to  Eustacia  made  the  break  com 
plete.  Later  Mrs.  Yeobright  relented 
somewhat  and  gave  a  neighbor,  Christian 
Cantle,  a  sum  of  money  to  be  delivered 
in  equal  portions  to  Clym  and  Thomasin. 
Christian  foolishly  lost  the  money  to 
Wildeve  in  a  game  of  dice.  Fortunately, 
Diggory  won  the  money  from  Wildeve, 
but,  thinking  that  all  of  it  belonged  to 
Thomasin,  he  gave  it  to  her.  Mrs.  Yeo 
bright  knew  that  Wildeve  had  duped 
Christian.  She  did  not  know  that  the 
reddleman  had  won  the  money  away  from 
the  innkeeper,  and  she  mistakenly  sup 
posed  that  Wildeve  had  given  the  money 
to  Eustacia.  Meeting  Eustacia,  she  asked 
the  girl  if  she  had  received  any  money 
from  Wildeve.  Eustacia  was  enraged  by 
the  question  and  in  the  course  of  her 
reply  to  Mrs.  Yeobright' s  charge  she  said 
that  she  would  never  have  condescended 
to  marry  Clym  had  she  known  that  she 


819 


would  Lave  to  remain  on  the  Heath.  The 
two  women  patted  angrily. 

Eustacia's  unhappiness  was  increased 
by  Clym's  near-blindness,  a  condition 
brought  on  by  too  much  reading,  for  she 
feared  that  this  meant  she  would  never 
get  to  Paris.  When  Clym  became  a  wood 
cutter,  Eustacia's  feeling  of  degradation 
was  complete.  Bored  with  her  life,  she 
went  by  herself  one  evening  to  a  gipsy- 
ing.  There  she  accidentally  met  Wildeve 
and  again  felt  an  attachment  for  him. 
Seeing  Eustacia  and  Wildeve  together, 
the  reddleman  told  Mrs.  Yeobright  of  the 
meeting  and  begged  her  to  make  peace 
with  Eustacia  for  Clym's  sake.  She 
agreed  to  try. 

But  Mrs.  Yeobright's  walk  at  noon 
across  the  hot,  dry  Heath  to  see  her  son 
and  daughter-in-law  proved  fatal.  When 
she  arrived  in  sight  of  Clym's  house,  she 
saw  her  son  from  a  distance  as  he  en 
tered  the  front  door.  Then,  while  she 
rested  on  a  knoll  near  the  house,  she 
saw  another  man  entering,  but  she  was 
too  far  away  to  recognize  Wildeve.  After 
resting  for  twenty  minutes,  Mrs.  Yeo 
bright  went  on  to  Clym's  cottage  and 
knocked.  No  one  came  to  the  door. 
Heartbroken  by  what  she  considered  a 
rebuff  by  her  own  son,  Mrs.  Yeobright 
started  home  across  the  Heath.  Over 
come  by  exhaustion  and  grief,  she  sat 
down  to  rest  and  a  poisonous  adder  bit 
her.  She  died  without  knowing  that  in 
side  her  son's  house  Clym  had  been 
asleep,  worn  out  by  his  morning's  work. 
Eustacia  did  not  go  to  the  door  because, 
as  she  later  explained  to  her  husband, 
she  had  thought  he  would  answer  the 
knock.  The  real  reason  for  Eustacia's 
failure  to  go  to  the  door  was  fear  of  the 
consequences,  should  Mrs.  Yeobright  find 
Eustacia  and  Wildeve  together. 


Clym  awoke  with  the  decision  to  visit 
his  mother.  Starting  out  across  die  Heath 
toward  her  house,  he  stumbled  over  her 
body.  His  grief  was  tempered  by  be 
wilderment  over  the  reason  for  her  being 
on  the  Heath  at  that  time.  When  Clym 
discovered  that  Eustacia  had  failed  to  let 
his  mother  in  and  that  Wildeve  had  been 
in  the  cottage,  he  ordered  Eustacia  out 
of  his  house.  She  went  quietly  because 
she  felt  in  part  responsible  for  Mrs.  Yeo 
bright's  death. 

Eustacia  took  refuge  in  her  grand 
father's  house,  where  a  faithful  servant 
thwarted  her  in  an  attempt  to  commit 
suicide.  In  utter  despair  over  her  own 
wretched  life  and  over  the  misery  she 
had  caused  others,  Eustacia  turned  to 
Wildeve,  who  had  unexpectedly  inher 
ited  eleven  thousand  pounds  and  who  still 
wanted  her  to  run  away  with  him.  One 
night  she  left  her  grandfather's  house  in 
order  to  keep  a  prearranged  meeting  with 
the  innkeeper,  but  in  her  departure  she 
failed  to  receive  a  letter  of  reconciliation 
which  Thomasin  had  persuaded  Clym  to 
send  to  her.  On  her  way  to  keep  her 
rendezvous  with  Wildeve  she  lost  hex 
way  in  the  inky  blackness  of  the  Heath, 
and  either  fell  accidentally  or  jumped 
into  a  small  lake,  and  was  drowned.  Wild- 
eve,  who  happened  to  be  near  the  lake 
when  she  fell  in,  jumped  in  to  save  her 
and  was  drowned  also. 

(Originally  The  Return  of  the  Native 
ended  with  the  death  of  Eustacia  and  of 
Wildeve;  but  in  order  to  satisfy  his  ro 
mantic  readers,  in  a  later  edition  Hardy 
made  additions  to  the  story.  The  faithful 
Diggory  married  Thomasin.  Clym,  un 
able  to  abolish  ignorance  and  superstition 
on  the  Heath  by  teaching,  became  in  the 
end  an  itinerant  preacher.) 


820 


THE  REVOLT  OF  THE  ANGELS 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:    Anatole  France  (Jacques  Anatole  Thibault,   1844-1924) 

Type  of  'plot:   Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:   Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:    France 

First  'published:    1914 

Principal  characters: 

MAURICE  D'ESPARVIEU,  a  lazy  young  man 
ARCADE,  his  guardian  angel 
MONSIEUR  JULIEN  SARJETTE,  a  librarian 
MADAME  GILBERTS  DBS  AUBELS,  Maurice's  mistress 

Critique: 

Anatole  France  was  a  revolutionary. 
Opposed  to  the  Church  and  the  state, 
he  wrote  many  bitter  novels  ridiculing 
those  institutions.  The  Revolt  of  the 
Angels  is  one  of  the  most  abusive  satires 
of  this  century.  It  is  a  fantasy,  telling 
the  story  of  an  angel  who  read  so  widely 
in  the  field  of  science  that  he  lost  his 
faith  in  God.  He  aroused  thousands  of 
angels,  and  they  planned  to  take  over 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  for  Satan.  In 
this  satire  France  attacked  almost  every 
established  institution  in  the  world,  but 
in  his  desire  to  ridicule  he  often  sacrificed 
sincerity  and  thus  effectiveness.  His 
greatest  personal  conviction,  as  reflected 
in  this  satire,  was  his  love  for  and  his 
faith  in  the  little  people  of  the  world. 
This  factor  is  the  greatest  positive  quality 
of  the  novel. 

The  Story: 

Because  their  fabulous  library  was  so 
large  and  valuable,  the  d'Esparvieu  fam 
ily  employed  Monsieur  Julien  Sariette 
to  look  after  the  three  hundred  thousand 
volumes.  The  books  were  the  most 
precious  charge  that  Sariette  had  ever 
had,  and  he  guarded  them  as  if  they 
were  jewels.  There  were  rare  first  edi 
tions,  some  with  notations  in  the  hand 
writing  of  famous  men  of  history.  There 
were  several  unpublished  manuscripts 
written  on  sheepskins  and  sycamore  tab 
lets.  It  was  no  more  difficult  to  steal  an 
emerald  than  to  borrow  one  of  those 


precious  books  or  manuscripts  from 
Sariette. 

One  morning  he  entered  the  library 
to  find  many  of  the  books  in  complete 
disorder.  Some  of  the  finest  specimens 
were  among  the  desecrated  books,  and 
for  a  time  the  old  librarian  could  not 
comprehend  what  his  eyes  saw.  But  he 
was  even  more  disturbed  when  he  real 
ized  that  some  of  the  books  were  gone. 
When  he  reported  the  theft  to  his  master, 
he  was  told  that  he  had  probably  left 
them  lying  carelessly  around.  Sariette 
was  completely  upset. 

For  more  than  two  months  the  thefts 
continued.  Locks  were  changed,  and  a 
detective  was  employed,  but  all  precau 
tions  failed.  Sariette  hid  himself  in  the 
library  one  night,  and  what  he  saw 
there  frightened  him  more  than  ever. 
He  had  fallen  asleep.  When  he  awoke, 
he  saw  that  the  room  was  filled  with  a 
queer,  phosphorescent  light.  A  book  he 
held  in  his  hand  opened,  and  he  could 
not  close  it.  When  he  tried  to  force  it 
shut,  the  book  leaped  up  and  struck 
him  over  the  head,  knocking  him  un 
conscious. 

From  that  time  on  Sariette  could 
neither  sleep  nor  eat.  He  was  at  the 
point  of  insanity  when  young  Maurice 
d'Esparvieu,  who  lived  in  the  garden 
pavilion  and  who  had  not  heard  of  the 
losses,  asked  him  why  so  many  of  the 
books  from  the  library  were  piled  in  his 
rooms.  Sariette  rushed  to  the  pavilion. 

THE  REVOLT  OF  THE  ANGELS  by  Anatole  France.  Translated  by  Mr*.  Wilfrid  Jackson.  By  Pfmissbn 
of  the  publishers,  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright,  1914,  by  Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  Inc.  Renewed,  1942,  by 
Mrs.  Wilfrid  Jackson, 

821 


There  lay  his  precious  books,  scattered 
around  "but  all  complete*  He  carefully 
carried  them  back  into  the  house  and 
put  them  on  the  shelves  again. 

The  books  continued  to  disappear  each 
night  and  appear  in  the  pavilion  the  next 
morning.  Sariette  knew  no  more  than  he 
did  before.  One  day  a  fine  talcum  scat 
tered  on  the  floor  revealed  a  strange 
footprint.  Some  thought  it  the  print  of 
a  fairy,  others  that  of  a  small,  dainty 
woman. 

While  these  events  were  disrupting  the 
peace  of  the  d'Esparvieu  household,  Mau 
rice  was  having  a  love  affair  with  Madame 
Gilberte  des  Aubels.  While  she  was 
visiting  him  in  his  pavilion  one  evening, 
they  were  startled  by  the  sight  of  a 
nude  man  who  suddenly  appeared.  Gil 
berte,  thinking  him  a  burglar,  offered 
him  her  money  and  jewels,  but  the 
stranger  announced  in  a  calm  voice  that 
he  was  Arcade,  Maurice's  guardian  angel. 
He  explained  his  appearance  by  telling 
them  that  angels  could  take  human  form 
when  they  pleased.  He  had  come  to  the 
earth  at  Maurice's  birth,  but  had  re 
mained  invisible,  as  all  good  guardian 
angels  do.  Because  Maurice  was  a  lazy 
voung  man,  Arcade  had  found  time 
neavy  on  his  hands,  and  he  had  gone 
into  the  d'Esparvieu  library  to  find  some 
thing  to  read.  He  had  studied  the  great 
books  on  philosophy,  theology,  and 
science,  and  the  scientific  approach  to 
the  creation  of  the  universe  had  im 
pressed  him  so  much  that  he  had  decided 
to  assume  human  form  asid  lead  the 
angels  into  revolt  against  God. 

In  his  explanation  to  Gilberte  and 
Maurice  he  acknowledged  that  God  ex 
isted,  but  he  denied  that  He  was  the 
creator  of  the  universe.  Arcade  now 
considered  God,  or  laldabaoth,  as  He  was 
called  in  Heaven,  as  only  one  of  the 
strong  men  of  that  kingdom.  laldabaoth 
and  Satan  had  battled  for  the  supremacy 
of  that  beautiful  and  rich  land,  and 
laldabaoth  had  won.  Now  there  were 
many  other  angels  on  earth  who  had  also 
assumed  human  form,  thus  disobeying 


laldabaoth,  and  they  too  were  ready  to 
revolt.  Arcade  was  determined  to  join 
the  rebel  angels  and  lead  them  to  victory 
against  laldabaoth. 

Gilberte  and  Maurice  were  shocked 
They  begged  Arcade  to  renounce  his 
wicked  \vays  and  return  to  God,  but  he 
was  firm  in  his  decision.  Not  wishing  t& 
leave  his  angel  in  a  nude  state,  Maurice 
secured  some  clothes  for  him  before 
Arcade  left  the  pavilion. 

Arcade  found  many  revolutionary 
angels  to  plan  with  him  for  the  final 
battle.  There  was  Prince  Istar,  the  chem 
ist,  who  spent  his  time  manufacturing 
bombs.  Zita  was  a  female  angel,  as  will 
ing  to  go  to  war  as  any  of  the  males. 
Theophile  was  not  a  revolutionary  and 
did  not  want  to  go  to  war  against 
laldabaoth.  Theophile  was  a  fallen  angel 
who  had  succumbed  to  the  lust  he  felt 
for  a  mortal  woman,  but  he  still  believed 
in  God  and  would  not  join  in  plans  for 
the  revolt.  While  they  were  gathering 
recruits,  most  of  the  angels  enjoyed 
the  pursuits  of  mortal  men.  Many  of 
them  took  lovers;  Arcade  seduced  Gil 
berte  in  Maurice's  pavilion,  after  Mau 
rice  had  brought  the  angel  home  with 
him.  Arcade  tried  to  enlist  the  help  of 
Sophar,  an  angel  who  had  become  a 
Jewish  banker  named  Max  Everdingen, 
but  Sophar  would  not  give  them  money 
for  the  revolution.  He  offered  to  sell 
them  munitions,  however,  and  to  finance 
the  purchases  at  his  bank. 

While  the  angels  were  preparing  for 
the  final  attack,  Gilberte  and  Maurice 
continued  their  affair,  for  Maurice  had 
forgiven  Arcade  and  Gilberte.  Sariette, 
among  his  books,  was  happy  because 
Arcade,  busy  with  the  revolution,  no 
longer  stole  the  precious  volumes.  But 
through  a  mishap,  Lucretius,  one  of  the 
most  precious  of  the  rare  editions,  was 
taken  from  the  library  and  lost.  This 
final  blow  drove  Sariette  to  madness. 

At  last  all  was  in  readiness  for  the 
revolt.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  rebel 
angels  joined  Arcade  and  presented  them 
selves  to  Satan,  asking  him  to  lead  them 


822 


into  the  battle  against  laldabaoth.  Satan 
asked  them  to  wait  until  the  next  day 
for  his  answer.  That  night  he  had  a 
dream.  He  dreamed  that  he  led  the 
rebels  against  laldabaoth,  and  that  they 
were  victorious.  Satan  was  crowned 
king,  and  he  banished  laldabaoth  as  He 
had  banished  Satan  millions  of  years 
ago.  But  Satan  dreamed  that  as  he  re 
ceived  the  praises  of  mankind  and  the 
angels,  he  became  like  the  other  God, 
laldabaoth,  and  lost  his  sympathy  for 
humanity. 

Satan  awoke  from  his  dream,  and 
called  the  leaders  of  the  angels  around 
him.  He  told  them  that  they  would  not 


conquer  Heaven,  that  one  war  always 
brings  on  another  because  the  vanquished 
seek  constantly  to  regain  what  they  have 
lost.  He  told  them  that  he  did  not  want 
to  be  God,  that  he  loved  the  earth  and 
wanted  to  stay  on  earth  and  help  his 
fellow  men.  And  he  told  the  angels  that 
they  had  done  much  already  to  destroy 
God  on  earth,  for  they  had  been  slowly 
destroying  ignorance  and  superstitions 
concerning  the  false  religion  taught  by 
God.  Satan  told  the  angels  to  stay  on 
earth  to  spread  the  doctrine  of  love  and 
kindness;  in  this  way  they  would 
triumph  over  God  and  bring  peace  to 
heaven  and  earth, 


RICEYMAN  STEPS 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Arnold  Bennett  (1867-1931) 

Type  of  plot:    Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    1919 

Locale:    Riceyman  Steps,  a  suburb  of  London 

First  published:    1923 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  EAELFORWARD,  a  bookseller 
MRS.  VIOLET  ARE,  owner  of  a  nearby  shop 
ELSIE,  maid  for  both  Earlforward  and  Mrs.  Arb 
JOE,  Elsie's  friend 

Critique: 

Riceyman  Steps  is  a  novel  both  amus 
ing  and  tragic.  Bennett's  gifts  for  satire, 
for  ironic  comment  and  incident,  and 
for  character  development,  combine  in 
this  novel  to  create  an  excellent  comedy 
of  manners.  But,  as  in  all  of  Bennett's 
work,  the  note  of  tragedy  is,  in  the  last 
analysis,  the  important  one  and  it  is  not 
absent  in  Riceyman  Steps.  Henry  Earl- 
forward  and  his  wife,  as  well  as  Elsie  and 
Joe,  are  the  victims  of  selfishness  and 
greed. 


The  Story: 

Henry  Earlforward  owned  a  bookstore 
left  to  him  by  his  uncle,  T.  T.  Ricey 
man.  It  was  cluttered,  dusty,  badly- 
lighted.  Earlforward  lived  in  a  back 


room  of  the  shop,  the  upstairs  of  the 
building  being  filled  with  old  books. 

One  night  Elsie,  his  cleaning  girl, 
came  into  the  shop.  She  told  Henry 
that  she  also  worked  for  Mrs.  Arb,  who 
owned  the  confectioner's  shop  next  door, 
and  that  Mrs.  Arb  had  sent  her  for  a 
cookbook.  Henry  found  one  containing 
recipes  for  making  substantial  meals  out 
of  practically  no  food  at  all.  A  little 
later  Elsie  returned  and  said  that  Mrs. 
Arb  thanked  him,  but  the  book  was 
too  expensive. 

His  curiosity  aroused,  he  himself  went 
to  Mrs.  Arb's  shop.  Even  though  he 
marked  down  the  price  of  the  book, 
Mrs.  Arb  still  refused  to  buy  it.  Henry 
became  more  interested,  for  it  was  clear 


RICEYMAN  STEPS  by  Arnold  Bennett.     By  permission  of  A.  P.  Watt  &  Son,  London,  and  tie  publisheri, 
Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright,  1923.  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc. 


823 


that  Mrs.  Arb  was  no  spendthrift.  The 
following  Sunday  they  went  for  a  walk, 
and  from  then  on  they  became  close 
friends. 

At  last  Violet  Arb  sold  her  shop  and 
agreed  to  marry  Henry.  When  Violet 
asked  him  about  a  wedding  ring,  he 
seemed  surprised,  for  he  had  supposed 
the  one  she  already  owned  would  do. 
He  got  a  file,  sawed  off  the  ring,  sold 
it,  and  bought  another,  all  without 
really  spending  a  penny.  They  were 
married  one  morning  and  for  a  honey 
moon  spent  the  day  in  London. 

They  visited  Madame  Tussaud's  Wax 
works  and  the  Chamber  of  Horrors. 
Henry,  who  had  thought  the  wedding 
breakfast  expensive  enough,  was  dis 
tressed  at  being  forced  to  spend  more 
money.  He  wondered  if  he  had  been  de 
ceived,  if  Violet  were  not  a  spendthrift 
after  all.  He  began  to  complain  about  his 
lame  foot.  Violet  was  dismayed;  she  had 
wanted  to  see  a  motion  picture.  But 
Henry  could  not  be  persuaded  to  change 
his  mind.  He  did  not,  he  said,  want  a 
painful  leg  on  his  wedding  day. 

When  they  passed  by  the  shop  that 
night,  Henry  thought  the  place  was  on 
fire.  It  was  glowing  with  light,  and  men 
were  working  inside.  Violet  explained 
that  the  men  had  been  engaged  to  clean 
the  dirty,  cluttered  shop.  She  had 
planned  the  work  as  her  wedding  gift 
to  him,  but  he  had  spoiled  the  surprise 
by  coming  home  before  the  men  had 
finished  their  task.  Henry  showed  Violet 
a  safe  that  he  had  bought  to  safeguard 
her  valuables  and  her  money. 

Violet  soon  discovered  that  miserly 
Henry  would  not  light  a  fire,  would  have 
no  electric  light,  would  eat  practically 
nothing.  On  their  first  morning  together 
she  cooked  an  egg  for  him  but  he  re 
fused  to  eat  it.  Later  Elsie  ate  it  in 
secret.  At  another  time  Violet  had  Elsie 
cook  steaks,  but  Henry  would  not  touch 
them.  There  was  an  argument  in  which 
Violet  called  him  a  miser  who  was 
starving  her  to  death.  He  left  the  room 
and  his  steak.  That  night  Elsie  ate  it. 


When  Violet  discovered  that  Elsie  had 
eaten  the  steak,  there  was  another  row. 
But  Elsie  began  to  eat  more  and  more 
when  nobody  was  there  to  observe  her. 
The  girl  was  half -starved  in  the  miserly 
household.  To  stop  Elsie's  thefts  of  food, 
Henry  went  to  bed,  called  Elsie  to  his 
room,  announced  he  was  seriously  ill, 
and  asked  if  she  thought  it  right  to  steal 
food  while  he  lay  dying.  Elsie  was  glum 
and  frightened. 

A  short  time  later  Henry  actually  be 
came  ill.  Elsie,  in  defiance  of  the  Earl- 
forwards,  managed  to  get  Dr.  Raste  to 
examine  Henry.  The  doctor  said  that 
the  sick  man  would  have  to  go  to  the 
hospital.  Then  the  doctor  discovered  that 
Violet  was  also  ill.  At  first  Henry  re 
fused  to  go  to  the  hospital,  but  Violet 
finally  persuaded  him  to  go.  When  the 
doctor  called  the  next  morning,  it  was 
Violet,  however,  who  went  to  the  hospi 
tal.  Henry  stayed  at  home  in  the  care  of 
Elsie. 

In  the  meantime  Elsie  had  been  hoping 
for  the  return  of  Joe,  her  sweetheart.  He 
had  been  employed  by  Dr.  Raste, 
had  been  ill,  and  had  wandered  off.  Elsie 
was  sure  he  would  return  some  day. 

One  night  Elsie  wanted  to  send  a  boy 
to  the  hospital  to  inquire  about  Violet. 
When  she  asked  Henry  for  sixpence  for 
the  messenger,  he  said  she  could  go  her 
self.  Not  wanting  to  leave  him,  she 
picked  up  his  keys,  went  downstairs,  and 
opened  the  safe.  Amazed  to  find  so 
much  money  there,  she  borrowed  six 
pence  and  put  an  I.  O.  U.  in  its  place. 
Then  she  dashed  out  to  find  a  boy  to 
carry  her  note.  When  she  came  back, 
she  found  Joe  waiting  for  her.  He  was 
shabbily  dressed  and  sick. 

Elsie  quietly  carried  Joe  up  to  her 
room  and  took  care  of  him,  taking  pains 
so  that  Henry  would  not  suspect  his 
presence  in  the  house.  When  Joe  began 
to  improve,  he  told  her  he  had  been  in 
jail.  Elsie  did  not  care.  She  continued 
to  take  care  of  Henry,  promising  him 
that  she  would  never  desert  him.  The 
hospital  informed  them  that  Violet  was 


824 


to  have  an  operation.  That  night  Elsie 
went  next  door  to  the  confectioner's 
jhop.  Mrs.  Belrose,  the  wife  of  the  new 
proprietor,  telephoned  the  hospital  and 
was  told  that  Violet  had  died  because 
her  strength  had  been  sapped  through 
malnutrition. 

Henry  seemed  to  take  the  news  calmly 
enough,  but  he  grew  steadily  worse.  Dr. 
Raste  came  again  and  said  that  he  must 
go  to  a  hospital,  but  Henry  refused. 
Without  Elsie's  knowledge,  he  got  up  and 
went  downstairs,  where  he  discovered 
with  dismay  Elsie's  appropriation  of  the 


sixpence.  He  sat  down  at  his  desk  and 
began  to  read  his  correspondence. 

Elsie  was  in  her  room  taking  care  of 
Joe.  To  the  neighbors  the  house  seemed 
quite  dark.  Accordingly,  Mrs.  Belrose 
insisted  that  her  husband  go  over  to 
inquire  about  the  sick  man.  He  dis 
covered  Henry's  body  lying  in  the  shop. 

A  relative  came  from  London  and  sold 
the  shop  to  Mr.  Belrose.  Joe  recovered 
and  went  back  to  work  for  Dr.  Raste. 
Because  Elsie  intended  to  marry  Joe,  she 
also  went  to  work  for  Dr.  Raste. 


THE  RIME  OF  THE  ANCIENT  MARINER 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  (1772-1834) 

Type  of  plot:  Ballad  fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Late  medieval  period 

Locale:  A  voyage  around  the  Horn  into  the  Pacific  and  thence  home 

First  published:  1798 

Principal  characters: 

THE  ANCIENT  MARINER 

A  HERMIT 

A  WEDDING  GUEST 


Critique: 

According  to  Coleridge,  his  aim  in 
writing  The  Ancient  Mariner  was  to  make 
the  supernatural  seem  real.  For  the  poem 
he  chose  as  his  verse  form  the  old  four- 
line  ballad  stanza  and  an  archaic  style. 
Especially  noteworthy  is  the  division  of 
the  poem  into  parts,  each  part  ending 
with  a  striking  sentence  which  serves  as 
a  high  point  in  the  story. 

The  Story: 

Three  young  gallants  on  their  way  to 
a  wedding  were  stopped  by  an  old  gray- 
headed  sailor  who  detained  one  of  them. 
The  Ancient  Mariner  held  with  his  glit 
tering  eye  a  young  man  whose  next  of 
kin  was  being  married  in  the  church 
nearby  and  forced  him  to  listen,  against 
his  will,  to  the  old  seaman's  tale.  The 
Ancient  Mariner  told  how  the  ship  left 
the  home  port  and  sailed  southward  to  the 
equator.  In  a  storm  the  vessel  was  blown 
to  polar  regions  of  snow  and  ice. 


When  an  albatross  flew  out  of  the 
frozen  silence,  the  crew  hailed  it  as  a 
good  omen.  The  sailors  made  a  pet  of 
the  albatross  and  regarded  it  as  a  fellow 
creature.  One  day  the  Ancient  Mariner 
killed  the  bird  with  his  crossbow.  The 
superstitious  sailors  believed  bad  luck 
would  follow. 

Fair  winds  blew  the  ship  northward 
until  it  reached  the  equator,  where  it 
was  suddenly  becalmed  and  lay  for  days 
without  moving.  The  thirsty  seamen 
blamed  the  Ancient  Mariner  and  hung 
the  dead  albatross  about  his  neck  as  a 
sign  of  his  guilt. 

In  the  distance  a  ship  appeared,  a  skel 
eton  ship  which  moved  on  the  still  sea 
where  no  wind  blew.  On  its  deck  Death 
and  Life-in-Death  were  casting  dice  for 
the  crew  and  the  Ancient  Mariner.  As  a 
result  of  the  cast,  Death  won  the  two 
hundred  crew  members,  who  dropped 
dead  one  by  one.  As  the  soul  of  each  dead 


825 


sailor  rushed  by,  the  Ancient  Mariner 
was  reminded  of  the  whiz  of  his  cross 
bow  when  he  shot  the  albatross.  Life-in- 
Death  had  won  the  Ancient  Mariner, 
who  must  now  live  on  to  expiate  his  sins. 
Furthermore,  the  curse  lived  on  in  the 
eyes  of  the  men  who  died  accusing  him. 
One  night  the  Ancient  Mariner,  observ 
ing  the  beauty  of  the  water  snakes  around 
the  ship,  blessed  these  creatures  in  his 
heart.  The  spell  was  broken.  The  alba 
tross  fell  from  his  neck  into  the  sea. 

At  last  the  Ancient  Mariner  was  able 
to  sleep.  Rain  fell  to  quench  his  thirst. 
The  warped  vessel  began  to  move,  and 
the  bodies  of  the  dead  crew  rose  to  re 
sume  their  regular  duties  as  the  ship 
sailed  quietly  on,  moved  by  a  spirit 
toward  the  South  Pole. 

The  Ancient  Mariner  fell  into  a 
trance.  He  awoke  to  behold  his  own 


country,  the  very  port  from  which  he 
had  set  sail.  Then  die  angelic  spirits  left 
the  dead  bodies  of  the  crew  and  appeared 
in  their  own  forms  of  light.  Meanwhile, 
the  pilot  on  the  beach  had  seen  the  lights 
and  he  rowed  out  with  his  son  and  a  holy 
Hermit  to  bring  the  ship  in  to  harbor. 

Suddenly  the  ship  sank,  but  the  pilot 
pulled  the  Ancient  Mariner  into  his  boat. 
Once  ashore,  the  old  man  asked  the  Her 
mit  to  hear  his  confession  and  give  him 
penance.  The  Ancient  Mariner  told  the 
Wedding  Guest  that  at  uncertain  rimes 
since  that  moment,  the  agony  of  his 
guilt  returned  and  he  must  tell  the  story 
of  his  voyage  to  one  who  must  be  taught 
love  ana  reverence  for  all  things  God 
has  made  and  loved. 

The  merry  din  of  the  wedding  had 
ceased,  and  the  Wedding  Guest  returned 
home  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man. 


THE  RING  AND  THE  BOOK 

Type  of  work.  Poem 

Author:  Robert  Browning  (1812-1889) 

Type  of  plot:  Dramatic  monologues 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  Italy 

First  published:  1868-1869 

Principal  cli&racters: 

PIETRO  COMPARTNT,  an  aged  Roman 
VIOLANTE,  Pietio's  wife 
POMPILIA,  the  Comparini's  adopted  daughter 
GUIDO  FRANCESCHTNI,  Pompilia's  husband 
GIUSEPPE  CAPONSACCHI,  a  priest 

Critique: 

This  poem  reveals  Browning's  deep 
perceptive  and  poetic  poxvers  at  their 
greatest  heights.  Based  upon  a  murder 
trial  in  the  city  of  Florence  in  1698,  the 
poem  attempts  to  probe  the  inner  motiva 
tions  of  the  people  involved  in  that  old, 
sordid  tale  of  passion  and  crime.  A 
series  of  dramatic  characterizations  and 
episodes  carries  the  reader  to  the  magnifi 
cent  conclusion*  Pompilia  and  Capon- 
sacchi  are  among  Browning's  most  notable 
creations.  Too  long  to  be  one  of  the 
widely  read  poems  of  Browning,  yet  too 
penetrating  to  be  disregarded  by  any  of 
his  admirers,  The  Ring  and  the  Book  is 


written  with  tremendous  power  of  lan 
guage. 

The  Story: 

Count  Guido  Franceschini,  descended 
from  an  ancient  house  of  Aretine,  had 
married  Pompilia  Comparing  a  young 
and  beautiful  Roman  girl.  Unhappy  with 
her  husband,  the  young  wife  fled  back 
to  Rome  in  the  company  of  a  young 
priest,  Giuseppe  Caponsacchi.  Guido  and 
four  accomplices  followed  her,  and  on 
Christmas  night  he  found  his  wife  at 
the  home  of  her  parents,  Pietro  and  Vio- 
lante.  He  murdered  the  seventy-year-old 


826 


man  and  woman  and  fatally  wounded 
seventeen-year-old  Pompilia. 

The  aged  parents  were  laid  in  the 
church  where  the  people  of  Rome  came 
to  stare  and  to  speculate.  The  Comparini 
had  been  childless  until  somehow  Vio- 
lante  had  tricked  Pietro  into  thinking  that 
she  had  given  birth  to  the  child  she  had 
secretly  bought.  It  was  Violante's  mis 
chief  which  had  led  to  evil,  asserted  the 
Roman  people.  She  had  spied  Guido,  of 
a  noble  family,  and  had  persuaded  him 
to  take  Pompilia  for  his  wife.  Then  all 
three,  parents  and  daughter,  had  moved 
to  his  estate  in  Arezzo  and  there  learned 
of  Guido's  poverty.  Leaving  Pompilia 
behind,  the  Comparini  returned  to  Rome. 
Back  in  Rome,  Violante  confessed  to 
Pietro  that  she  had  bought  the  child  from 
a  prostitute,  and  by  disowning  her  par 
entage  the  aged  couple  denied  Guido  his 
dowry  rights.  Pompilia,  meanwhile,  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  archbishop  in  Rome,  tell 
ing  him  that  since  her  parents'  departure 
life  in  Arezzo  had  become  unbearable. 
In  Arezzo,  Pompilia  had  begun  a  flirta 
tion  with  Caponsacchi,  the  Roman  gos- 
sipers  related,  and  at  last  had  run  away 
with  him.  As  the  guilty  pair  neared 
Rome,  Guido  overtook  them  and  brought 
them  to  Rome  and  to  the  Pope.  The 
couple  declared  themselves  innocent  and 
disavowed  love  letters  which  Guido 
claimed  had  passed  between  them.  When 
the  court  treated  the  case  as  a  slight 
marriage  quarrel,  Guido  returned  to 
Arezzo  and  the  taunts  of  his  townsmen. 
Soon  afterward  news  reached  him  that 
Pompilia,  who  had  returned  to  the  Com 
parini,  had  given  birth  to  a  son.  Then 
Guido  took  four  men,  went  to  Rome, 
killed  the  parents,  and  left  Pompilia 
dying.  The  Romans  excitedly  awaited 
the  trial,  for  Caponsacchi  would  be  one 
of  the  witnesses. 

Another  group  of  spectators  in  Rome 
took  a  different  view  of  the  murderer 
and  his  wife,  Pompilia  had  been  a  bless 
ing  to  her  foster  parents,  no  matter  how 
she  came  to  them.  They  had  considered 
it  a  blessing  when  Guido  married  their 


daughter,  only  to  reach  horrible  disillu 
sionment  when  they  went  to  Arezzo  and 
saw  his  cruelty  and  poverty.  She  was 
Guido's  victim,  these  gossips  said. 

The  tribunal  tried  to  determine  the 
truth  in  the  case.  Pietro  and  Violante 
had  been  poor,  struggling  creatures. 
When  the  mother  of  Pompilia  was  with 
child,  Violante  had  bargained  with  her 
for  the  baby  and  deceived  her  husband 
by  pretending  that  it  was  she  who  was 
pregnant.  Her  act  was  judged  criminal. 
When  Guido  came  to  Rome  to  find  a 
wife  to  bear  him  sons,  and  a  dowry  to  pay 
his  debts,  Pietro  and  Violante  gave  him 
their  daughter  so  that  she  could  rise  in 
name  and  fortune.  When  they  learned 
that  Guido  was  penniless,  they  cried  that 
they  had  been  cheated.  Meanwhile  it 
was  Pompilia  who  suffered  between  the 
rival  factions  of  parents  and  husband. 
She  was  tricked  by  Guido  to  trace  letters 
to  Caponsacchi,  which  were  offered  at 
the  trial.  But  Guido's  friends  claimed 
that  he  could  not  have  so  mistreated  his 
young  wife,  that  she  must  have  written 
the  letters  herself. 

Guido  told  his  own  story.  His  family 
had  once  been  wealthy  and  great,  but 
in  his  lifetime  they  had  known  only 
poverty.  His  brothers  were  priests;  he 
alone  remained  to  carry  on  the  Frances- 
chini  name.  His  brother  Paul,  a  priest 
in  Rome,  had  advised  him  that  Pompilia 
would  make  a  suitable  wife.  He  was  to 
give  the  girl  his  name  and  state  in  return 
for  her  dowry  and  her  sorx.  But  Pom 
pilia  shirked  her  wifely  duties  from  the 
first.  One  day  she  caught  the  eye  of 
Caponsacchi  at  the  opera.  Afterward 
Caponsacchi's  way  to  church  led  him  past 
Guido's  house,  past  Pompilia's  window. 
Then  one  night  Pompilia  drugged  Guido 
and  all  the  servants  and  fled  with  her 
priest  to  the  inn  where  Guido  located 
them.  He  found  some  letters  Capon 
sacchi  had  exchanged  with  her,  letters 
which  she  claimed  had  been  forged.  He 
brought  them  to  court  to  have  his  mar 
riage  annulled,  but  the  court  upheld  the 
marriage  and  sent  Caponsacchi  away  £o? 


827 


a  short  confinement.  Pompilia  returned 
to  Pietro  and  Violante  and  there  she  had 
a  child  which  Guido  telieved  Capon- 
sacchi's.  He  had  no  other  course,  he 
said,  but  to  go  to  Rome  and  cleanse  his 
family  name,  and  he  threw  himself  upon 
the  justice  of  the  court, 

Caponsacchi  took  the  stand  to  describe 
his  first  sight  of  Pompilia  at  the  opera. 
Not  long  after  he  received  a  letter,  signed 
by  Pompilia,  confessing  love  and  asking 
him  to  come  to  her  window.  Suspecting 
the  letter  to  be  a  forgery,  he  answered 
it  with  a  refusal.  He  received  more  let 
ters.  At  last  he  became  curious  and  went 
to  stand  outside  Guide's  house.  Pompilia, 
seeing  him,  rebuked  him  for  his  unseemly 
letters  to  her,  a  married  woman.  They 
decided  that  they  were  victims  of  Guide's 
plot  Pompilia  begged  Caponsacchi  to 
take  her  to  her  parents  in  Rome.  His 
heart  softening  at  her  plight,  he  arranged 
for  her  to  go  away  with  him. 

Pompilia,  Caponsacchi  said,  had  been 
victimized  by  her  cruel  husband.  The 
testimony  of  dying  Pompilia  upheld  what 
Caponsacchi  had  said.  At  the  time  of 
her  marriage  she  had  been  only  thirteen 


years  old.  She  had  been  brought  to 
Arezzo,  to  an  impoverished  home  where 
Guido's  brother  had  tried  to  seduce 
her.  For  three  years  she  lived  in  misery. 
Then  she  received  letters  from  Capon 
sacchi.  She  tried  to  understand  the 
mystery,  knowing  that  somehow  she 
was  being  tricked,  but  finally  she  sent 
for  the  priest  because  she  had  decided  to 
seek  help  from  the  outside  world. 

The  testimony  of  others  followed,  some 
in  defense  of  Guido,  others  exposing  his 
carefully  laid  plot  to  rid  himself  of  Pom 
pilia.  Testimony  of  PompihVs  innocence 
was  also  presented.  The  Pope,  condemn 
ing  Guido  for  the  crime,  pronounced 
Pompilia  innocent  of  guilt  and  told  the 
court  of  the  tremendous  burden  of  justice 
that  a  Pope  must  carry  on  his  shoulders. 
Guido  and  his  four  accomplices  were 
sentenced  to  be  hanged. 

Humbled  and  fearful  of  death,  Guido 
made  one  last  plea  for  his  life.  Pride 
and  self-love  colored  his  statements  as  he 
confessed  his  crime  but  rationalized  his 
motive.  He  was  to  be  pitied;  he  wanted 
to  live.  He  pleaded  for  mercy  which  was 
not  granted. 


THE  RISE  OF  SILAS  LAPHAM 

Type  of  work  Novel 

Author:  William  Dean  Howells  (1837-1920) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  New  England 

First  published:  1885 

Principal  characters: 

SILAS  LAPHAM,  a  self-made  manufacturer 

MRS.  LAPHAM,  his  wife 

PENELOPE,  and 

IRENE,  his  daughters 

TOM  COBEY,  die  Laphams'  friend 

MR.  ROGERS,  Mr.  Lapham's  former  partner 

Critique: 

According  to  many  critics,  The  Rise  of 
Silas  Lapham  is  the  most  important  book 
William  Dean  Howells  ever  wrote.  How- 
ells,  a  prolific  though  never  a  brilliant 
writer,  attempted  to  deal  conscientiously 
with  the  everyday  experiences  of  rather 
ordinary  people.  By  presenting  character 


and  situation  in  a  straightforward  man 
ner,  he  wrote  novels  characterized  chiefly 
by  their  moral  atmosphere  and  authentic 
domestic  realism. 

The  Story: 

Silas  Lapham  was  being  interviewed 


828 


for  a  Boston  paper.  The  journalist  was 
secretly  mocking  Lapham's  way  of  life, 
but  Lapham,  content  with  his  success, 
paid  little  attention  to  his  interviewer  as 
he  proudly  exhibited  a  photograph  of  his 
two  daughters  and  his  wife.  He  told 
how  he  had  been  brought  up  in  a  large 
family,  how  he  had  gone  West  with  his 
brothers,  how  he  had  returned,  bought 
a  stage  route,  married  the  village  school 
teacher  and  finally  hit  upon  making  paint 
from  a  mineral  his  father  had  discovered 
on  his  farm. 

The  story  of  his  success  was  a  story 
of  determination  and  hard  work.  During 
the  Civil  War  his  wife  had  kept  the  paint 
works  going  and  after  the  war  he  had 
taken  a  man  named  Rogers  as  a  partner 
for  a  short  time. 

After  the  interview  Lapham  and  his 
wife  drove  out  to  see  the  site  of  a  house 
they  were  building  in  a  more  fashionable 
part  of  Boston.  Although  both  looked 
with  pride  upon  the  place  soon  to  be  their 
residence,  they  pretended  not  really  to 
want  the  house  at  all.  They  merely  sug 
gested  the  new  home  would  be  a  greater 
advantage  for  Penelope  and  Irene  when 
their  friends  came  to  call. 

But  neither  Penelope  nor  Irene  antici 
pated  with  any  great  joy  their  coming 
change  of  living.  They  said  they  felt  the 
present  house  was  more  convenient  to 
the  horsecars.  Secretly,  both  realized  that 
their  parents  were  awkward  in  social  life. 
At  the  same  time  they  themselves  had 
never  been  brought  up  to  feel  comfortable 
in  the  presence  of  people  whose  families 
had  been  accustomed  to  wealth  for  gen 
erations. 

One  day,  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lapham 
were  dismounting  from  their  carriage, 
LaphanVs  former  partner  appeared  un 
expectedly.  Rogers  had  furnished  money 
to  help  Lapham  get  started,  but  later  Lap- 
ham  had  crowded  Rogers  out.  Lapham 
insisted  that  what  he  had  done  had 
merely  been  good  business.  But  Mrs. 
Lapham  maintained  that  she  never  felt 
quite  right  about  what  had  happened  to 
Rogers,  and  seeing  him  again  took  all  the 


happiness  out  of  her  plans  for  the  new 
house. 

The  next  time  the  family  ventured 
out  to  visit  the  partly-completed  house, 
Irene  was  surprised  by  the  arrival  of 
Tom  Corey,  a  young  man  who  had  shown 
some  interest  in  her.  Immediately  Mr. 
Lapham  took  over  the  occasion,  and  by 
his  bragging  greatly  embarrassed  his 
daughters. 

That  evening  young  Corey  talked  to 
his  father  about  the  Laphams.  Bromfield 
Corey  did  not  agree  with  his  son's  easy 
acceptance  of  the  Laphams,  but  he  did 
not  object  when  his  son  announced  his 
intention  to  apply  for  a  position  in  Lap- 
ham's  firm. 

Young  Corey  visited  Lapham  in  his 
office  in  order  to  ask  for  a  job.  Lapham 
was  so  pleased  that  he  invited  Corey  to 
go  with  him  to  Nantasket  where  Mrs, 
Lapham  and  the  girls  were  expecting  Lap- 
ham  for  the  weekend.  At  the  Nantasket 
cottage  the  girls  and  their  mother  could 
not  understand  what  had  brought  young 
Corey  for  the  weekend  visit.  They  had 
thought  Lapham's  bragging  would  have 
kept  him  away  forever. 

That  evening  Lapham  discussed  Corey 
with  his  wife.  Mrs.  Lapham  contended 
that  Corey  was  interested  not  in  the  paint 
but  in  Irene.  Her  husband  commented 
that  unless  the  young  man  were  inter 
ested  in  the  paint  he  would  never  get 
a  chance  to  be  interested  in  Irene.  When 
Lapham  said  he  intended  to  give  the 
young  man  a  chance,  Mrs.  Lapham 
warned  him  that  he  was  playing  with  a 
situation  which  was  bound  to  bring 
trouble. 

Tom  Corey's  mother  was  concerned 
when  she  heard  what  her  son  had  done. 
She  admitted  she  would  not  object  if 
he  made  a  fortune  from  the  paint  busi 
ness,  but  she  did  not  want  him  to  fall 
in  love  with  either  of  the  Lapham  girls, 

After  Corey  entered  Lapham's  employ, 
he  was  invited  frequently  to  the  Lap- 
ham  home,  for  Irene  was  beginning  to 
fall  in  love  with  him.  Bromfield  Corey 
grew  more  and  more  curious  about  the 


829 


Laphams.  He  decided  that  he  would  en 
courage  his  wife  to  give  a  dinner  for 
them  in  the  autumn. 

The  cost  of  the  new  house  worried 
Mrs.  Lapham,  and  she  asked  her  hushand 
to  stop  his  lavish  spending.  She  learned 
he  had  given  a  substantial  loan  to  Rogers, 
his  former  partner, 

When  Mrs.  Corey  returned  from  Bar 
Harbor,  she  debated  a  long  time  about 
giving  a  dinner  party  for  the  Lapharns. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Laphams  were 
newcomers.  On  the  other  hand,  she 
wanted  to  give  public  recognition  of  the 
new  connection  between  her  son  and  the 
Lapham  family.  She  finally  decided  to 
give  a  formal  dinner  early  in  the  season, 
before  her  more  prominent  friends  re 
turned  to  the  city. 

On  the  night  of  the  dinner  the  Lap- 
hams  tried  to  appear  at  ease.  Penelope 
had  refused  to  attend,  thus  causing  her 
mother  considerable  embarrassment.  Lap- 
ham  watched  the  other  men  carefully, 
feeling  sure  he  had  not  made  too  many 
social  "blunders.  The  next  day,  however, 
he  was  not  so  sure,  for  he  had  taken 
too  much  wine  at  dinner. 

At  the  office  Lapham  sought  out  Corey 
and  mentioned  with  embarrassment  his 
behavior  of  the  night  before.  He  offered 
Corey  his  liberty  to  seek  another  job,  a 
position  among  gentlemen,  but  Corey 
refused  to  go,  saying  that  Lapham's  tipsy 
falk  had  been  only  an  unfortunate  acci 
dent.  When  they  parted,  Corey  insisted 
that  Lapham's  conduct  had  been  proper 
and  entertaining. 

That  night,  feeling  that  he  had  actu 
ally  patronized  Lapharn,  Corey  resolved 
to  go  to  his  employer  and  apologize.  Lap- 
ham  was  out,  but  Penelope  received 
Corey.  At  the  end  of  a  long  talk  he 
stammeringly  confessed  his  love  for  her. 
In  great  confusion  he  left  without  waiting 
to  speak  to  Lapham. 

The  next  day  Mrs.  Lapham  informed 
her  husband  that  Corey  had  been  coming 
to  see  Penelope  all  the  time.  She  could 
only  imagine  what  the  shock  would  do 
to  Irene.  They  felt,  however,  that  Penel 


ope  would  never  permit  Corey  to  become 
her  suitor,  for  Penelope  was  convinced 
he  belonged  to  Irene. 

Irene  was  informed  of  the  situation 
by  her  mother  that  evening.  Immedi 
ately  she  carried  to  her  sister's  room  every 
memento  of  Corey's  attentions  she  pos 
sessed.  After  a  few  days  Lapham  took 
her  to  his  boyhood  village  in  Vermont. 

Corey  called  on  the  Laphams  to  present 
his  explanation,  saying  that  he  had  cared 
more  for  Penelope  all  the  time.  Penelope 
refused  to  give  him  any  satisfaction.  She 
said  she  owed  more  to  her  sister's  hurt 
feelings. 

At  the  same  time  Lapham's  finances 
were  troubling  him  greatly.  People  who 
owed  him  money  were  unable  to  pay; 
his  own  creditors  were  pressing  him.  Lap- 
ham  determined  to  take  a  trip  west  tc 
inspect  some  mills  held  as  security  for 
his  loan  to  Rogers.  When  he  returned 
he  was  even  more  concerned.  Rogers  had 
drawn  him  into  a  trap  with  his  securities, 
for  a  railroad  controlled  the  value  of  the 
property.  Lapham  decided  it  would  be 
necessary  to  sell  the  new  house  unfin 
ished.  Learning  of  Lapham's  difficulties, 
Corey  offered  to  lend  his  employer  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  but  Lapham  rejected 
the  offer. 

Lapham's  affairs  took  a  turn  for  the 
worse.  An  added  blow  was  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  unfinished  Back  Bay  house. 
Wandering  through  the  house  one  night, 
he  decided  to  test  one  of  the  chimneys 
and  made  a  fire  from  blocks  and  shavings 
the  workmen  had  left  scattered  about. 
He  thought  the  fire  had  burned  out  be 
fore  he  left.  That  night  the  house  burned 
to  the  ground.  The  insurance  policy  had 
expired  a  week  before. 

Determined  to  raise  money  by  selling 
everything  he  could,  Lapham  visited  his 
competitors  who  were  working  on  a  new 
mineral  paint.  They  were  willing  to 
merge  with  him  if  he  could  raise  money 
to  help  develop  their  plant.  While  he 
was  trying  to  secure  a  loan,  he  learned 
from  Rogers  that  some  English  gentlemen 
were  interested  in  buying  the  property 


830 


which  Rogers  had  put  up  as  security  and 
which  Lapham  had  thought  valueless. 
Lapham  refused  to  sell  the  mills  how 
ever,  because  he  believed  a  sale  would 
be  unethical  as  long  as  the  railroad  con 
trolled  their  value. 

He  asked  for  time  to  think  over  the 
proposition.  Shortly  afterward  the  rail 
road  forced  him  to  sell  the  mills  at  a 
ruinous  figure.  Lapham  felt  that  his  hon 
esty,  which  had  kept  him  from  selling  the 
property  to  the  Englishmen,  had  been 
unjustly  abused.  Rogers  claimed  Lapham 
had  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  recover 
his  losses.  Lapham  was  now  ruined,  for 


he  could  not  raise  capital  to  merge  with 
the  rival  paint  firm. 

Tom  Corey  was  determined  to  marry 
Penelope  in  spite  of  her  father's  impend 
ing  ruin.  He  did  marry  her  after  Lapham 
went  into  bankruptcy,  and  his  family 
accepted  her  for  their  own  sake  as  well 
as  for  his.  Irene,  who  had  returned  as 
soon  as  she  heard  of  her  father's  troubles, 
was  pleased  with  her  sister's  happiness. 

Lapham  managed  to  save  a  part  of  his 
fortune,  but  more  important  to  him  was 
the  belief  that  he  had  acted  honestly  in 
all  his  business  dealings. 


THE  RIVALS 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan  (1751-1816) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  'plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Bath,  an  English  watering  place 

First  presented:  1775 

Principal  characters: 

CAPTAIN  JACK  ABSOLUTE  (ENSIGN  BEVERLEY),  a  young  officer  in  love  with  Lydia 
Languish 

SIR  ANTHONY  ABSOLUTE,  his  father 

FAULKLANB,  his  friend,  in  love  with  Julia 

BOB  ACRES,  a  country  squire 

SIR  Lucius  O'TRIGGER,  a  fiery  Irishman 

LYDIA  LANGUISH,  an  heiress 

MRS.  MALAPROP,  her  aunt 

JULIA  MELVILLE,  her  cousin 


Critique: 

One  of  the  most  popular  of  the  Eng 
lish  comedies  of  manners,  The  Rivals  is 
most  successful  in  character  portrayal.  All 
the  great  characters  are  here  —  Mrs. 
Malaprop,  whose  misuse  of  words  gave 
the  word  malapropism  to  the  language; 
Bob  Acres,  the  bumptious  but  lovable 
country  squire  trying  to  behave  like  a 
gentleman;  romantic  Lydia  Languish  with 
her  head  stuffed  with  nonsense  from  cur 
rent  novels.  The  play  is  Sheridan's  satire 
on  the  pretentiousness  and  sentimentality 
of  his  age,  satire  which  in  many  respects 
is  applicable  to  our  own  day. 


The  Story: 

To  beautiful  and  wealthy  young  Lydia 
Languish,  who  had  been  brought  up  on 
romantic  novels,  the  only  lover  worth 
considering  was  one  whose  position  in 
life  was  in  complete  contrast  to  her  own. 
To  this  end  she  had  fallen  in  love  with 
a  penniless  young  ensign  named  Beverley. 
But  to  this  same  Beverley,  her  aunt,  Mrs, 
Malaprop,  raised  serious  objections.  Hex 
antipathy  to  young  Mr.  Beverley  was 
partly  aroused  by  letters  which  the  ensign 
had  written  to  Lydia,  letters  which  made 
uncomplimentary  references  to  her  aunt's 
age  and  appearance.  Mrs.  Malaprop  had 


THE  RIVALS  by  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.     Published  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 


831 


some  moments  of  extreme  discomfiture, 
when  she  wondered  whether  she  did  re 
semble  the  she-dragon  to  which  Beverley 
had  compared  her. 

Mrs.  Malaprop  herself  had  fallen  hope 
lessly  in  love  with  a  quixotic  Irishman 
named  Sir  Lucius  OTrigger,  who  pre 
sumably  returned  her  affection.  Sir 
Lucius,  who  had  never  seen  Mrs.  Mala 
prop,  had  been  hoodwinked  by  a  maid 
servant  into  believing  that  the  romantic 
creature  with  whom  he  was  exchanging 
love  letters  was  Lydia  herself. 

The  situation  was  further  complicated 
by  the  fact  that  Beverley  was  in  reality 
foung  Captain  Jack  Absolute,  the  son  of 
Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  and  as  wealthy 
and  aristocratic  as  Lydia  herself.  Jack 
very  early  sensed  that  he  would  get  no 
where  if  he  wooed  the  romantic  Lydia 
in  his  own  person,  and  so  he  assumed  a 
character  more  nearly  resembling  the 
heroes  of  the  novels  with  which  Lydia's 
pretty  but  silly  head  was  stuffed. 

Nor  did  Jack's  friend,  Faulkland,  fare 
any  better  in  his  own  romantic  pursuit  of 
Lydia's  cousin,  Julia  Melville.  In  fact, 
it  might  be  thought  that  he  fared  worse, 
for  unlike  Jack,  he  was  forever  placing 
imaginary  obstacles  between  himself  and 
his  beloved.  Whenever  they  were  sepa 
rated,  Faulkland  imagined  all  kinds  of 
horrible  catastrophes  which  might  have 
befallen  her,  and  when  he  found  that  she 
was  alive  and  well  he  tormented  himself 
with  the  thought  that  she  could  not  be 
in  love  and  remain  so  happy.  At  last 
Jack  Absolute  lost  patience  with  his 
friend's  ridiculous  behavior,  and  even 
Julia  became  a  little  tired  of  her  lover's 
unfounded  jealousy.  This  curious  love 
tangle  reached  a  crisis  when  Sir  Anthony 
Absolute  informed  his  son  that  he  had 
selected  the  woman  for  him  to  marry, 
threatening,  if  he  refused,  to  cut  him 
off  without  a  penny.  Not  having  the 
faintest  idea  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
woman  his  father  had  picked  out  for 
him,  and  conjuring  up  pictures  of  some 
homely  heiress  his  father  intended  to 
force  on  him  against  his  will,  Jack  re 


belled.  He  declared  that,  whatever  the 
consequences,  he  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  his  father's  choice. 

Having  been  quite  a  connoisseur  of 
pretty  women  in  his  youth,  and  being  not 
exactly  immune  to  their  charms  in  his 
old  age,  Sir  Anthony  Absolute  was  not 
the  man  to  saddle  his  son  with  an  un 
attractive  wife.  He  had  made  an  agree 
ment  with  Mrs.  Malaprop  for  the  be 
stowal  of  her  niece's  hand  upon  his  son. 
Mrs.  Malaprop,  in  turn,  was  only  too 
glad  to  save  Lydia  from  a  foolish  mar 
riage  to  Beverley.  But  when  Jack  re 
fused  to  marry  anyone  not  of  his  own 
choosing,  Sir  Anthony  flew  into  a  rage 
and  insisted  that  the  marriage  take  place 
regardless  of  what  the  lady  might  be  like. 

By  chance,  however,  Jack  discovered 
that  the  girl  Sir  Anthony  had  selected 
as  his  bride  was  Lydia  Languish,  the 
identical  girl  he  himself  had  been  wooing 
as  Ensign  Beverley.  He  immediately  as 
sured  his  father  that  he  would  be  willing 
to  marry  anyone  of  his  choosing.  Sir  An 
thony,  not  used  to  such  tractabiliry  on 
Jack's  part,  became  suspicious  and  a  little 
worried.  Nevertheless,  he  made  arrange 
ments  for  his  son  to  meet  his  bride-to- 
be,  thus  placing  Jack  in  a  neat  dilemma. 

Jack  realized  that  Lydia  would  have 
none  of  him  as  Sir  Anthony  Absolute's 
son.  Finally  the  supposed  Ensign  Bever 
ley  pretended  to  Lydia  that  in  order  to 
gain  access  to  her  aunt's  house,  he  would 
be  forced  to  pose  as  Jack  Absolute. 

Lydia  had  another  suitor  in  the  person 
of  Bob  Acres,  a  wealthy  country  squire 
and  a  neighbor  of  Sir  Anthony,  who  had 
ambitions  to  become  a  man  about  town. 
Before  Sir  Anthony  proposed  his  son  as 
a  husband  for  her  niece,  Mrs.  Malaprop 
had  favored  Bob  Acres  as  a  likely  candi 
date  for  Lydia's  hand.  When  Acres  dis 
covered  he  had  a  rival  in  Ensign  Bever 
ley,  he  was  disheartened.  Encouraged  by 
his  friend,  Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger,  he  chal 
lenged  Beverley  to  a  duel.  Never  having 
seen  young  Beverley,  he  was  forced  to 
give  the  challenge  to  the  ensign's  friend, 
Jack  Absolute,  to  deliver. 


832 


The  great  crisis  in  Jack's  love  affairs 
came  when  he  was  forced  to  face  Lydia 
in  the  company  of  his  father.  With  his 
true  identity  revealed,  Lydia's  dreams  of 
a  romantic  elopement  with  a  penniless 
ensign  vanished.  She  dismissed  Jack  from 
her  life  forever.  Chagrined  by  his  abrupt 
dismissal,  Jack  accepted  with  positive 
gusto  another  challenge  to  a  duel  from 
Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger.  Sir  Lucius  named 
the  place  as  King's  Mead  Fields  at  six 
o'clock  that  very  evening,  when  he  had 
an  appointment  to  act  as  a  second  to  his 
friend,  Acres,  in  a  duel  with  a  certain 
Ensign  Beverley. 

When  Lydia  learned  that  Jack  had  in 
volved  himself  in  a  duel  on  her  account, 
he  became  a  different  person  in  her  eyes, 
and  she  hurried  with  her  aunt  to  King's 
Mead  Fields  in  an  effort  to  halt  the  duel. 
Meanwhile  Sir  Lucius  OTrigger  had 


alarmed  Acres  with  his  bloodthirsty- 
stories  of  dueling,  so  that  when  Acres 
recognized  his  opponent  as  his  old  friend, 
Jack  Absolute,  he  heaved  a  distinct  sigh 
of  relief. 

With  the  arrival  of  Lydia  and  Mrs. 
Malaprop,  the  whole  situation  was 
quickly  explained.  Sir  Lucius,  much  to 
his  chagrin,  was  forced  to  realize  that  the 
writer  of  tender  love  letters  to  whom  he 
addressed  his  own  impassioned  corre 
spondence  was  not  Lydia  but  Mrs.  Mala 
prop.  Faulkland  was  content  to  accept 
Julia's  love  for  the  whole-hearted  thing 
it  was.  Lydia  at  last  saw  Ensign  Beverley 
and  Jack  Absolute  as  the  same  person 
with  whom  she  was  in  love.  And  Bob 
Acres,  happy  because  he  would  not  be 
forced  to  fight  a  duel  with  anyone, 
ordered  fiddles  and  entertainment  for  all 
in  the  fashionable  parlors  of  Bath. 


RIVER  OF  EARTH 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    James  Still  (1906-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:    Regional  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    Early  twentieth  century 

Locale;   Kentucky 

First  published:    1940 

Principal  characters; 

BRACK  BALDRIDGE,  a  Kentucky  mountaineer 
ALPHA  BALDRIDGE,  his  wife 
BRACK'S  OLDEST  BOY,  the  narrator 
EULY,  the  narrator's  sister 
GRANDMOTHER  MIDDLETON,  Alpha's  mother 
UNCLE  JOLLY,  Alpha's  brother 

Critique: 

It  is  obvious  that  James  Still  is  a  poet 
as  well  as  a  novelist,  for  his  words  almost 
sing  as  he  describes  the  Kentucky  hills 
and  the  people  who  inhabit  them.  He 
tells  the  story  of  the  River  of  Earth 
through  the  words  of  a  very  young  boy, 
and  through  the  eyes  of  that  boy  shows 
us  the  tiny,  barren  farms;  the  smoky, 
sooty  mining  towns;  the  bat-filled  school- 
houses;  the  local  jails  where  a  prisoner 
could  have  company  for  as  many  days 
as  he  wished.  Although  the  boy  did  not 


understand  all  that  he  saw  and  heard,  he 
makes  us  understand  what  the  author  is 
trying  to  say — that  life  flows  as  a  river 
flows  and  that  the  cycle  of  life  is  never 
finished  but  goes  on  and  on. 

The  Story: 

When  the  mines  closed  in  March, 
there  was  very  little  food  left  in  die 
house.  It  was  still  a  long  time  before 
the  garden  crops  would  be  ready,  and 
Alpha  wanted  Brack  to  tell  his  two 


RIVER  OF  EARTH  by  James  Still.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  The  Viking  Press,  Inc 
Copyright,  1940,  by  James  Still. 


833 


cousins,  Had  and  Tibb  Logan,  to  leave 
the  house  and  find  food  for  themselves. 
But  the  father  said  that  as  long  as  he 
had  food  in  his  house,  he  would  never 
turn  his  blood  kin  away.  Then  Uncle 
Samp  came  to  live  with  them,  and  the 
mother  saw  her  four  children  getting 
hungrier  and  leaner.  Knowing  that  the 
kin  would  leave  if  there  were  no  place 
for  them  to  sleep,  she  calmly  set  fire  to 
ihe  house,  first  moving  the  children  and 
die  skimpy  furniture  to  the  smokehouse. 

All  spring,  while  the  family  lived  in 
die  smokehouse,  they  ate  less  and  less 
and  waited  for  the  first  vegetables.  When 
the  beans  were  almost  ready  and  the 
whole  family  dreamed  of  having  their 
stomachs  full,  three  men  came  from  the 
mining  town  to  beg  food  for  their  fam 
ilies.  Unable  to  turn  down  starving  peo 
ple,  Brack  sent  the  men  into  his  garden. 
When  they  came  out,  the  boy  saw  that 
they  had  taken  every  bean  from  the 
patch.  He  turned  away,  wanting  to  cry. 

In  May,  Brack  took  the  boy  with  him 
when  he  went  to  help  a  neighbor  de 
liver  a  colt.  The  boy  expected  to  get  the 
colt  for  his  own,  as  his  father's  fee,  but 
the  neighbor's  son  told  him  that  no  Bald- 
ridge  was  going  to  get  the  colt,  that 
the  Baldridges  were  cowards,  and  that 
after  their  Grandpa  Middleton  had  been 
killed  by  Aus  Coggins  no  Baldridge  had 
done  anything  about  it.  The  boy  fought 
with  the  neighbor's  son.  Wnen  the  fight 
was  over,  they  found  that  the  colt  was 
dead. 

One  day  Uncle  Jolly  arrived  and 
brought  them  a  pair  of  guineas  from 
Grandmother  Middleton.  Uncle  Jolly 
spent  as  much  time  in  jail  as  out.  It 
was  said  that  he  was  avenging  Grandpa's 
death  by  tormenting  Aus  Coggins — cut 
ting  his  fences,  breaking  his  dam,  and 
doing  other  mischief. 

Soon  after  Uncle  Jolly  left,  Brack 
wanted  to  move  the  family  down  to 
Blackjack,  for  the  mines  were  going  to 
open  again.  The  mother  did  not  want 
to  go  because  the  smoky  valley  would  be 
a  bad  place  for  her  sickly  baby.  But 


she   resigned   herself   to  her   husband's 
wishes. 

In  the  middle  of  August  the  boy  and 
his  sister  Euly  started  to  school.  They 
were  anxious  to  learn  to  read  and  write, 
the  boy  especially,  for  he  did  not  want 
to  be  a  miner.  He  hoped  that  some  day 
he  could  be  an  animal  doctor,  as  his 
father  had  always  wanted  to  be.  But 
it  seemed  to  the  boy  and  Euly  that  the 
most  important  thing  they  learned  in 
school  was  how  to  smoke  bats  out  of  the 
building?. 

o 

In  late  September  the  boy  was  sent  to 
stay  with  his  Grandmother  Middleton 
while  Uncle  Jolly  served  a  term  in  jail. 
He  was  to  stay  with  her  only  until  Uncle 
Luce  came,  but  the  corn  was  husked  and 
the  other  grain  harvested  before  Uncle 
Luce  arrived.  The  boy  was  astonished 
at  his  grandmother's  ability  to  do  heavy 
work,  for  she  was  very  old.  When  she 
learned  that  Uncle  Jolly  had  been  sen 
tenced  to  two  years  in  the  state  peniten 
tiary,  she  asked  the  boy  to  stay  with  her 
during  the  winter.  As  soon  as  the  crops 
were  in  she  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  in 
bed.  She  spent  hours  telling  him  about 
her  children  and  her  husband.  It  was 
easy  to  see  that  Jolly  was  her  favorite. 

In  January  Uncle  Jolly  came  home. 
There  had  been  a  fire  at  the  penitentiary, 
and  Jolly  had  been  so  brave  in  helping 
to  fight  the  fire  that  the  governor  had 
pardoned  him.  Grandmother  Middleton 
said  nothing  when  Uncle  Jolly  told  her 
that  he  had  started  the  fire. 

Uncle  Jolly  also  brought  the  news  that 
the  boy's  family  had  moved  at  last  to 
Blackjack,  but  there  was  no  other  word 
of  his  family.  Visitors  were  scarce  in  the 
hills. 

Spring  and  summer  passed  pleasantly 
for  the  boy.  In  October  Uncle  Jolly  was 
in  jail  again,  this  time  for  fighting.  Uncle 
Toll  came  to  bring  Grandmother  Middle- 
ton  the  news  and  he  took  the  boy  back 
to  Hardin  Town  with  him.  They  found 
Jolly  content  to  be  in  jail  except  that 
he  was  lonesome.  Uncle  Toll  begged 
him  not  to  breai  out  for  one  more  jail- 


834 


break  would  send  him  to  the  penitentiary 
for  a  long  time.  Toll  left  the  boy  at  the 
jail  so  that  Uncle  Jolly  would  not  break 
out  for  lack  of  companionship.  The  boy 
slept  in  the  hall  outside  his  uncle's  cell. 
When  Uncle  Jolly  thought  he  would 
have  to  break  out  of  jail  or  die,  he  stole 
the  keys  from  the  deputy  and  told  the 
boy  to  take  the  key  of  Jolly's  cell  to  his 
mother  and  ask  her  to  keep  it  until  the 
remaining  days  of  the  sentence  were 
served.  In  that  way  the  boy  went  back 
to  his  family. 

In  March  the  family  moved  from 
Blackjack  again,  this  time  to  a  little 
rented  farm  on  a  hillside.  There  the 
baby  died  of  croup.  Another  garden  was 
planted,  and  in  the  summer  they  had  a 
funeral  for  the  baby.  The  boy  saw  more 
relatives  than  he  had  known  he  had.  At 
the  end  of  summer  Brack  decided  to  go 
back  to  the  mines  and  moved  his  family 
to  Blackjack  and  into  a  house  with 
windows. 

Uncle  Samp  and  Harl  and  Tibb  Logan 
came  back  to  live  with  the  family.  Harl 
and  Tibb  worked  in  the  mine,  but  Uncle 
Samp  had  never  worked  and  did  not  in 
tend  to  start  now.  Soon  the  mines  began 
to  close  down,  and  men  everywhere  were 


laid  off  again.  Brack  was  kept  on,  with 
only  one  or  two  days  of  work  each  week. 

Harl  and  Tibb,  angry  because  they 
were  laid  off,  dynamited  one  of  the  veins. 
At  first  it  was  thought  that  they  were 
trapped  in  the  mine  and  had  died,  but 
Uncle  Samp  and  Brack  rescued  them. 
They  left  the  Baldridge  house  after  Harl 
and  Tibb  were  kicked  out  by  the  mine 
boss  and  Uncle  Samp  married  a  fortune 
teller. 

Food  was  scarce  again,  and  the  mothei 
sickly  most  of  the  time,  her  stomach 
swollen  terribly.  In  March  Uncle  Jolly 
brought  Grandmother  Middleton's  body 
to  the  house.  The  old  lady  had  died  at 
last,  and  Jolly  was  taking  her  to  hei 
old  home  to  be  buried.  While  they  were 
sitting  with  the  body  in  the  front  room 
of  the  house,  the  boy  noticed  his  father 
looking  constantly  at  the  closed  dooi 
behind  which  the  mother  had  been  taken 
by  a  neighbor  woman.  In  the  morning 
the  boy  knew  what  his  father  had  been 
waiting  for  and  why  his  mother  had  been 
so  swollen.  As  he  stood  looking  at  the 
tracks  the  wagon  had  made  as  it  carried 
his  grandmother's  body  away  for  the  last 
time,  he  heard  a  baby  begin  to  cry. 


ROAN  STALLION 


Type  of  work:    Poem 

Author:    Robinson  Jeffers  (1887-         ) 

Type  of  plot:   Symbolic  melodrama 

Time  of  'plot:    1920's 

Locale:   Carmel  Coast,  California 

First  published:    1925 

Principal  characters: 

CALIFORNIA,  a  farm  wife 
JOHNTSTY,  her  husband 
CHRISTINE,  their  daughter 

Critique: 

Roan  Stallion  is  a  powerful  and  highly 
symbolic  narrative  poem.  Jeffers  is  a  de- 
centralist  who  believes  that  the  only 
salvation  for  man  lies  in  his  escaping 
from  himself  and  his  fellow  men  to  a 


communion  with  nature.  In  this  poem  he 
employs  the  roan  stallion  as  a  symbol  of 
the  rejection  of  man  and  the  embracing 
of  the  natural  life.  It  is  a  brutal  story, 
but  its  difficult  theme  is  handled  with 
delicacy  and  power. 


ROAN  STALLION  by  Robinson  Jeffers.     By  permission  of  the  author  and   Random  Ho-use,   Inc.  ^    Published 
by  The  Modern  Library,  Inc.     Copyright,  1925,  by  Booni  &  Liveright,  Inc.,   1935,  by  The  Modern  Library,  Inc. 


835 


The  Story: 

California  was  the  daughter  of  a 
Scottish  father  and  a  Spanish  and  Indian 
mother.  From  her  mother  she  had  in 
herited  a  dark  beauty  and  a  passionate 
nature.  When  she  was  still  very  young 
she  married  a  fanner,  Johnny,  and  at 
twenty-one  her  features  were  already  be 
ginning  to  show  the  marks  of  hard  work. 

Johnny  spent  much  of  his  time  away 
from  the  farm  drinking  and  gambling. 
One  evening  he  brought  home  a  splendid 
roan  stallion  he  had  won.  It  was  shortly 
before  Christmas,  and  California,  pleased 
with  his  good  fortune,  decided  to  go  into 
town  to  buy  some  Christmas  presents  for 
her  young  daughter,  Christine.  Johnny 
delayed  her  departure  in  the  morning  so 
that  it  was  quite  late  before  she  could 
hitch  their  old  mare  to  the  buggy  and 
set  out  for  Monterey.  By  nightfall,  when 
she  was  ready  to  return  home,  a  heavy 
rainstorm  had  started.  The  water  was 
high  when  she  reached  the  ford.  Before 
trying  to  cross  in  the  darkness,  she  lashed 
the  presents  around  her  body  and  hoped 
that  they  would  keep  dry.  Refusing  to 
cross  the  swollen  stream,  the  mare 
floundered  back  to  shore.  California 
soothed  the  mare  and  tried  once  more  to 
guide  her  across  the  ford,  but  the  animal 
was  still  frightened.  Desperate,  California 
prayed  for  light.  Suddenly  the  heavens 
tit  up  brilliantly  and  she  saw  in  them  the 
face  of  a  child  over  whom  hovered  angels. 
The  mare,  startled  by  the  light,  scrambled 
back  to  shore.  Sobbing,  California 
climbed  out  of  the  buggy,  fastened  the 
presents  securely  to  her  back,  and 
mounted  the  horse.  By  the  light  of  the 
heavens  she  was  able  to  guide  the  mare 
across  the  stream  and  reach  home  safely. 

California  thought  she  hated  the  roan 
stallion,  but  she  could  not  forget  the 
magnificent  beast.  When  she  told  young 
Christine  of  the  miraculous  light  at  the 
ford  and  described  the  birth  of  Christ, 
she  could  hardly  restrain  herself  from 
identifying  God  and  the  stallion.  She 


knew  that  outside  Johnny  was  mating 
the  stallion  with  a  neighbor's  mare. 

That  evening  Johnny  went  down  the 
valley  to  the  home  of  a  neighbor.  After 
Christine  was  asleep,  California  stole  out 
to  the  stable.  She  leaned  against  the 
fence,  listening  to  the  far-off  cries  of  the 
coyotes  and  watching  the  moon  rise  over 
the  hill.  Once  before  she  had  seen  God. 
If  she  were  to  ride  to  the  top  of  the  hill, 
perhaps  she  might  see  Him  again.  She 
hurried  down  to  the  corral.  The  stallion 
heard  her  as  she  approached.  She  ca 
ressed  his  flanks,  wishing  that  nature 
had  not  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
possess  her.  Then  she  sprang  upon  his 
back  and  reveled  in  the  feel  of  his 
muscles  as  he  galloped  up  the  hillside. 
At  the  top  they  halted,  and  she  tethered 
him  lightly  to  a  tree.  Overwhelmed  by 
his  majesty  and  her  desire,  she  threw 
herself  at  his  feet. 

The  following  night  California  could 
not  bear  the  thought  of  being  with 
Johnny.  He  had  brought  home  some  wine 
and,  half  drunk,  lie  ordered  her  to  drink 
some.  Revolted  at  the  thought  of  the 
night  ahead,  California  stole  to  the  door, 
opened  it,  and  fled.  Excited  by  the  pros 
pect  of  a  chase,  Johnny  called  to  his  dog 
to  help  him.  When  California  heard 
them  approaching,  she  crawled  under 
the  fence  into  the  corral,  the  dog  close 
behind  her.  The  stallion  plunged, 
frightened  by  the  snarling,  snapping  dog. 
Johnny  climbed  into  the  corral,  where 
the  fierce  stallion  trampled  him  to  death. 

In  the  meantime  Christine  had  awak 
ened.  Frightened  by  the  lonely  house, 
she  made  her  way  to  the  corral.  When 
she  saw  her  father's  body  she  ran  back 
to  the  house  for  the  rifle.  California  took 
the  gun  and  shot  the  dog.  While  she 
watched,  the  stallion  struck  again  at 
Johnny's  body.  Then,  prompted  by  a 
remnant  of  fidelity  to  the  human  race, 
she  raised  the  rifle  and  shot  the  stallion. 
It  was  as  though  she  had  killed  God. 


836 


ROB  ROY 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1715 

Locale:  Northumberland  and  Glasgow 

First  published:  1818 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  WILLIAM  OSBALDISTONE,  of  the  firm  of  Oshaldistone  &  Tresham 

FRANK  OSBALDISTONE,  his  son 

SIR  HILDEBRAND  OSBALDISTONE,  Frank's  uncle 

RASHLEIGH  OSBALDISTONE,  his  son 

SIR  FREDERICK  VERNON,  a  Jacohite 

DIANA  VERNON,  his  daughter 

ROB  ROY  MACGREGOR  CAMPBELL,  a  Scottish  outlaw 

Critique: 

Rob  Roy  MacGregor  Campbell  is  not 
the  hero  of  this  novel;  he  is  the  man 
behind  the  scenes.  The  novel  itself  con 
cerns  the  fortunes  of  Frank  Osbaldistone 
and  his  adventures  with  Rob  Roy,  the 
Scottish  Robin  Hood.  Scott,  as  he  usually 
does,  manipulates  Scottish  history  to  suit 
his  purpose.  The  story  is  told  by  Frank 
Osbaldistone,  writing  to  his  friend,  Tre 
sham.  Always  a  popular  Waverley  novel, 
it  has  been  dramatized  several  times  and 
was  the  subject  of  an  opera  by  Flotow. 


The  Story: 

Frank  Osbaldistone  was  recalled  from 
France  where  he  had  been  sent  to  learn 
his  father's  mercantile  business.  Disap 
pointed  in  his  son's  progress,  the  angry 
parent  ordered  the  young  man  to  Osbaldi 
stone  Hall,  home  of  his  uncle,  Sir  Hilde- 
brand  Osbaldistone,  in  northern  England. 
His  father  gave  him  fifty  guineas  for  ex 
penses  and  instructions  to  learn  who 
among  Sir  Hildebrand's  sons  would  ac 
cept  a  position  in  the  trading  house  of 
Osbaldistone  and  Tresharn. 

On  the  road  Frank  fell  in  with  a 
traveler  named  Morris,  who  was  carrying 
a  large  sum  of  money  in  a  portmanteau 
strapped  to  his  saddle.  That  evening 
they  stopped  at  the  Black  Bear  Inn,  in 
the  town  of  Darlington,  where  they  were 
joined  at  dinner  by  Mr.  Campbell,  a 
Scotsman.  Campbell  was  Rob  Roy,  the 
Scottish  outlaw.  The  next  morning 


Campbell  and  Morris  left  together,  and  ai 
a  secluded  spot  along  the  road  the  men 
were  halted  and  a  highwayman  robbed 
Moms  of  his  saddlebag.  Frank,  mean 
while,  rode  toward  Osbaldistone  Hall.  As 
he  neared  the  rambling  old  mansion,  he 
saw  a  fox  hunt  and  met  Diana  Vernon, 
Sir  Hildebrand's  niece.  Outspoken  Diana 
told  Frank  that  his  cousins  were  a  mix 
ture  of  sot,  gamekeeper,  bully,  horse- 
jockey,  and  fool,  these  characteristics  be 
ing  mixed  in  varying  proportions  in  each 
man.  Rashleigh,  she  said,  was  the  most 
dangerous  of  the  lot,  for  he  maintained  a 
private  tyranny  over  everyone  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact. 

It  was  Rashleigh,  however,  who  was 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  Frank's  vacant 
position.  The  cousins  disliked  each  other. 
One  night,  while  drinking  with  the  fam 
ily,  Frank  became  enraged  at  Rashleigh's 
speech  and  actions  and  struck  him.  Rash 
leigh  never  forgot  the  blow,  although  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  he  and  Frank 
declared  themselves  friends  after  their 
anger  had  cooled. 

Shortly  after  Frank's  arrival  he  was 
accused  of  highway  robbery  and  he  went 
at  once  to  Squire  Inglewood's  court  to 
defend  himself  and  to  confront  his  ac 
cuser,  who  turned  out  to  be  Morris.  Rob 
Roy,  however,  appeared  at  the  squire's 
court  of  justice  and  forced  Morris  to 
confess  that  Frank  had  not  robbed  him. 

When  Rashleigh  departed  to  go  into 


837 


business  with  Frank's  father,  Frank  be 
came  Diana's  tutor.  Their  association 
developed  into  deep  affection  on  both 
sides,  a  mutual  attraction  marred  only  by 
the  fact  that  Diana  was  by  faith  a  Catho 
lic  and  Frank  a  Presbyterian. 

One  day  Frank  received  a  letter  from 
his  father's  partner,  Mr.  Tresham.  The 
letter  informed  him  that  his  father,  leav 
ing  Rashleigh  in  charge,  had  gone  to  the 
continent  on  business,  and  that  Rashleigh 
had  gone  to  Scotland,  where  he  was  re 
ported  involved  in  a  scheme  to  embezzle 
funds  of  Osbaldistone  and  Tresham. 

Frank,  accompanied  by  Andrew  Fair- 
service,  Sir  Hildebrand's  gardener,  set 
off  for  Glasgow  in  an  attempt  to  frustrate 
Rashleigh's  plans.  Arriving  in  the  city 
on  Sunday,  they  went  to  church.  As 
Frank  stood  listening  to  the  preacher,  a 
voice  behind  him  whispered  that  he  was 
in  danger  and  that  he  should  not  look 
hack  at  his  informant.  The  mysterious 
messenger  asked  Frank  to  meet  him  on 
the  bridge  at  midnight.  Frank  kept  the 
tryst  and  followed  the  man  to  the  Tol- 
booth  prison.  There  he  found  his  father's 
chief  clerk,  Mr.  Owen,  who  had  been 
arrested  and  thrown  into  prison  at  the  in 
stigation  of  MacVirtie  and  MacFin,  Glas 
gow  traders  who  did  business  with  his 
rather.  Frank  learned  that  Campbell  had 
been  his  mysterious  informant  and  guide, 
and  for  the  £rst  time  he  realized  that 
Campbell  and  Rob  Roy  were  one  and  the 
same. 

Shortly  thereafter  Frank  saw  Morris, 
MacVittie,  and  Rashleigh  talking  to 
gether.  He  followed  them  and  when 
Morris  and  MacVittie  departed,  leaving 
Rashleigh  alone,  Frank  confronted  his 
cousin  and  demanded  an  explanation  of 
his  behavior.  As  their  argument  grew 
more  heated,  swords  were  drawn,  but  the 
duel  was  broken  up  by  Rob  Roy,  who 
cried  shame  at  them  because  they  were 
men  of  the  same  blood.  Rob  Roy  con 
sidered  both  men  his  friends.  Frank 
learned  also  that  his  father's  funds  were 
mixed  up  with  a  Jacobite  uprising,  in 
which  Sir  Hildebrand  was  one  of  the 


plotters.  He  suspected  that  Rashleigh 
had  robbed  Morris  on  information  sup 
plied  by  Rob  Roy. 

Frank  and  Andrew  were  arrested  by  an 
officer  on  their  way  to  meet  Rob  Roy, 
and  the  officer  who  searched  Frank  dis 
covered  a  note  which  Rob  Roy  had  writ 
ten  to  him.  On  the  road  the  company 
was  attacked  by  Scotsmen  under  the 
direction  of  Helen,  Rob  Roy's  wife,  who 
captured  or  killed  all  the  soldiers.  Helen, 
a  bloodthirsty  creature,  ordered  the  death 
of  Morris,  who  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Highlanders.  In  the  meantime, 
Rob  Roy  had  also  been  captured  but  had 
made  his  escape  when  one  of  his  captors 
rode  close  to  Rob  Roy  and  surreptitiously 
cut  his  bonds.  Rob  Roy  threw  himself 
from  his  horse  into  the  river  and  swam 
to  safety  before  his  guards  could  over 
take  him. 

With  a  Highland  uprising  threaten 
ing,  Frank  thought  he  had  seen  Diana 
for  the  last  time.  But  he  met  her  soon 
afterward  riding  through  a  wood  in  the 
company  of  her  father,  Sir  Frederick 
Vemon,  a  political  exile.  She  gave  hin> 
a  packet  of  papers  which  Rashleigh  had 
been  forced  to  give  up;  they  were  notes 
to  the  credit  of  Osbaldistone  and  Tre 
sham.  The  fortune  of  Frank's  father  was 
safe. 

In  the  Jacobite  revolt  of  1715,  Rash 
leigh  became  a  turncoat  and  joined  the 
forces  of  King  George.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  revolt  Sir  Hildebrand  had  made 
his  will,  listing  the  order  in  which  his 
sons  would  fall  heir  to  his  lands.  Be 
cause  Rashleigh  had  betrayed  the  Stuart 
cause,  he  substituted  Frank's  name  for 
that  of  Rashleigh  in  the  will.  Sir  Hilde 
brand  was  captured  by  the  royal  forces 
and  imprisoned  at  Newgate,  where  he 
died.  His  four  sons  died  in  various  ways 
and  Frank  inherited  all  the  lands  and 
properties  belonging  to  Sir  Hildebrand. 
When  Frank  went  to  Osbaldistone 
manor  to  take  over,  Rashleigh  showed 
up  with  a  warrant  for  Diana  and  her 
father.  But  he  obtained  no  end  that  he 
desired,  for  he  was  killed  in  a  fight  with 


838 


Rob  Roy.  Frank  became  the  lord  o£ 
Osbaldistone  Hall.  At  first  Frank's  father 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  having  his  son 


marry  a  Papist,  but  at  last  he  relented 
and  Frank  and  Diana  were  married. 


ROBINSON  CRUSOE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Daniel  Defoe  (166P-1731) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1651-1705 

Locale:  An  island  off  the  coast  of  South  America,  and  the  Several  Seas 

First  'published:  1719 

Principal  characters: 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE,  a  castaway 

FRIDAY,  his  faithful  servant 

Critique: 

The  Life  and  Strange  Surprising  Ad 
ventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe  as  Defoe 
called  his  novel,  is  read  as  eagerly  today 
as  when  it  was  first  published.  At  times 
the  narrative  seems  too  detailed,  since  the 
routine  of  Crusoe's  life  on  the  island  was 
much  the  same.  But  Defoe  knew  the 
theatrical  device  of  timing,  for  no  sooner 
do  we  begin  to  tire  of  reading  the  daily 
account  of  his  hero's  life  than  a  new  situ 
ation  breaks  the  monotony  of  Crusoe's 
life  and  of  our  reading.  The  book  has 
attained  a  high  place  in  the  literature  of 
the  world,  and  justly  so. 


The  Story: 

Robinson  Crusoe  was  the  son  of  a 
middle-class  English  family.  Although 
his  father  desired  that  Robinson  go  into 
some  business  and  live  a  quiet  life,  Robin 
son  had  such  longing  for  the  sea  that  he 
found  it  impossible  to  remain  at  home. 
Without  his  parents*  knowledge  he  took 
his  first  voyage.  The  ship  was  caught  in 
a  great  storm,  and  Robinson  was  so  vio 
lently  ill  and  so  greatly  afraid  that  he 
vowed  never  to  leave  the  land  again 
should  he  be  so  fortunate  as  to  escape 
death. 

But  when  he  landed  safely,  he  found 
his  old  longing  still  unsatisfied,  and  he 
engaged  as  a  trader,  shipping  first  for 
the  coast  of  Africa.  The  ship  on  which 
he  sailed  was  captured  by  a  Turkish  pirate 
vessel,  and  he  was  carried  a  prisoner  into 
Sallee,  a  Moorish  port.  There  he  be 


came  a  slave,  and  his  life  was  so  unbear 
able  that  at  the  first  opportunity  he  es 
caped  in  a  small  boat.  He  was  rescued 
by  a  Portuguese  freighter  and  carried 
safely  to  Brazil.  There  he  bought  a  small 
plantation  and  began  the  life  of  a 
planter. 

When  another  English  planter  sug 
gested  they  make  a  voyage  to  Africa  for 
a  cargo  of  slaves,  Robinson  once  more 
gave  way  to  his  longing  and  sailed  again. 
This  voyage  was  destined  to  be  the  most 
fateful  of  all,  for  it  brought  him  his 
greatest  adventure. 

The  ship  broke  apart  on  a  reef  near 
an  island  off  the  coast  of  South  America, 
and  of  the  crew  and  passengers  only 
Robinson  was  saved.  The  waves  washed 
him  ashore,  where  he  took  stock  of  his 
unhappy  plight.  The  island  seemed  to 
be  completely  uninhabited,  and  there 
was  no  sign  of  wild  beasts.  In  an  attempt 
to  make  his  castaway  life  as  comfortable 
as  possible,  he  constructed  a  raft  and 
brought  away  food,  ammunition,  water, 
wine,  clothing,  tools,  sailcloth,  and  lum 
ber  from  the  broken  ship. 

He  first  set  up  a  sailcloth  tent  on  the 
side  of  a  small  hill.  He  encircled  his  ref 
uge  with  tall,  sharp  stakes  and  entered 
his  shelter  by  means  of  a  ladder  which 
he  drew  up  after  him.  Into  this  area 
he  carried  all  of  the  goods  he  had  sal 
vaged,  being  particularly  careful  of  the 
gunpowder.  His  next  concern  was  his 
food  supply.  Finding  that  there  was 


839 


little  which  had  not  been  mined  hy  rats 
or  by  water,  he  ate  sparingly  during  his 
first  days  on  the  island. 

Before  long,  having  found  some  ink 
and  a  quill  among  the  things  he  had 
brought  from  the  ship,  he  began  to  keep 
a  journal.  He  also  added  the  good  and 
evil  of  his  situation  and  found  that  he 
had  much  for  which  to  thank  God.  He 
began  to  make  his  shelter  permanent. 
Behind  his  tent  he  found  a  small  cave 
which  he  enlarged  and  braced.  With 
crude  tools  he  made  a  table  and  a  chair, 
some  shelves,  and  a  rack  for  his  guns. 
He  spent  many  months  on  the  work,  all 
the  time  able  to  find  wild  fowl  or  other 
small  game  which  kept  him  well  supplied 
with  food.  He  also  found  several  springs 
and  so  was  never  in  want  for  water. 

His  life  for  the  next  twenty-four  years 
was  spent  in  much  the  same  way  as  his 
first  days  upon  the  island.  He  explored 
the  island  and  built  what  he  was  pleased 
to  call  his  summer  home  on  the  other 
side  of  it.  He  was  able  to  grow  corn, 
barley,  and  rice.  He  carefully  saved  the 
new  kernels  each  year  until  he  had 
enough  to  plant  a  small  field.  With  these 
grains  he  learned  to  grind  meal  and  bake 
coarse  bread.  He  caught  and  tamed  wild 
goats  to  supply  his  larder  and  parrots  for 
companionship,  He  made  better  fur 
niture  and  improved  his  cave,  making 
it  even  safer  from  intruders,  whom  he  stifl 
feared,  even  though  he  had  seen  no  sign 
of  any  living  thing  except  small  game  and 
fowl  and  goats.  From  the  ship  he  had 
brought  also  three  Bibles,  and  he  had 
time  to  read  them  carefully.  At  a  devo 
tional  period  each  morning  and  night, 
he  never  failed  to  thank  God  for  deliver 
ing  him  from  the  sea. 

In  the  middle  of  Robinson's  twenty- 
fourth  year  on  the  island,  an  incident 
occurred  which  altered  his  way  of  living. 
About  a  year  and  a  half  previously  he 
had  observed  some  savages  who  had  ap 
parently  paddled  over  from  another 
island.  They  had  come  in  the  night  and 
gorged  themselves  on  some  other  savages, 
obviously  prisoners.  Robinson  had  found 


the  bones  and  the  torn  flesh  the  next 
morning  and  had  since  been  terrified  that 
the  cannibals  might  return  and  find  him. 
Finally  a  band  of  savages  did  return. 
While  they  prepared  for  their  gruesome 
feast,  Robinson  shot  some  of  them  and 
frightened  the  others  away.  Able  to  res 
cue  one  of  the  prisoners,  he  at  last  had 
human  companionship.  He  named  the 
man  Friday  after  the  day  of  his  rescue, 
and  Friday  became  his  faithful  servant 
and  friend. 

After  a  time  Robinson  was  able  to 
teach  Friday  some  English.  Friday  told 
him  that  seventeen  white  men  were 
prisoners  on  the  island  from  which  he 
came.  Although  Friday  reported  the  men 
well-treated,  Robinson  had  a  great  desire 
to  go  to  them,  thinking  that  together  they 
might  find  some  way  to  return  to  the 
civilized  world.  He  and  Friday  built  a 
canoe  and  prepared  to  sail  to  the  other 
island,  but  before  they  were  ready  for 
their  trip  another  group  of  savages  came 
to  their  island  with  more  prisoners.  Dis 
covering  that  one  of  the  prisoners  was  a 
white  man,  Robinson  managed  to  save 
him  and  another  savage,  whom  Friday 
found  to  be  his  own  father.  There 
was  great  joy  at  the  reunion  of  father 
and  son.  Robinson  cared  for  the  old  man 
and  the  white  man,  who  was  a  Spaniard, 
one  of  the  seventeen  of  whom  Friday  had 
spoken.  A  hostile  tribe  had  captured 
Friday's  island,  and  thus  it  was  that  the 
white  men  were  no  longer  safe. 

Robinson  dispatched  the  Spaniard  and 
Friday's  father  to  the  neighboring  island 
to  try  to  rescue  the  white  men.  While 
waiting  for  their  return,  Robinson  saw  an 
English  ship  one  day  at  anchor  near 
shore.  Soon  he  found  the  captain  of 
the  ship  and  two  others,  who  had  been  set 
ashore  by  a  mutinous  crew.  Robinson 
and  Friday  and  the  three  seamen  were 
able  to  retake  the  ship,  and  thus  Robin 
son  was  at  last  delivered  from  the  island. 
He  disliked  leaving  before  the  Spaniard 
and  Friday's  father  returned,  and  he 
determined  to  go  back  to  the  island  some 
day  and  see  how  they  had  fared.  Five  of 


840 


the  mutinous  crew  chose  to  remain  rather 
than  be  returned  to  England  to  hang. 
And  so  Robinson  and  Friday  went  to  Eng 
land,  Robinson  returning  to  his  homeland 
after  an  absence  of  thirty-five  years.  He 
arrived  there,  a  stranger  and  unknown, 
in  June  of  1687. 

But  he  was  not  through  with  adven 
ture.  When  he  visited  his  old  home,  he 
found  that  his  parents  had  died,  as  had 
all  of  his  family  but  two  sisters  and  the 
two  children  of  one  of  his  brothers. 
Having  nothing  to  keep  him  in  England, 
he  went  to  Lisbon  to  inquire  about  his 
plantation.  There  he  learned  that  friends 
had  saved  the  income  of  his  estate  for 
him  and  that  he  was  now  worth  about 
five  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Satisfied 
with  the  accounting,  Robinson  and  Fri 
day  returned  to  England,  where  Robin 
son  married  and  had  three  children. 

After  his  wife  died,  Robinson  sailed 
again  in  1695  as  a  private  trader  on  a 
ship  captained  by  his  nephew  and  bound 
for  the  East  Indies  and  China.  The  ship 
put  in  at  his  castaway  island,  where  he 
found  that  the  Spaniards  and  the  English 


mutineers  had  taken  native  wives  ^  om 
an  adjoining  island,  so  that  the  popula 
tion  was  greatly  increased.  Robinson  was 
pleased  with  his  little  group  and  gave  a 
feast  for  them.  He  also  presented  them 
with  gifts  from  the  ship. 

After  he  had  satisfied  himself  that  the 
colony  was  well  cared  for,  Robinson  and 
Friday  sailed  away.  On  their  way  to 
Brazil  some  savages  attacked  the  ship  and 
Friday  was  killed.  From  Brazil  Robinson 
went  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and 
on  to  the  coast  of  China.  At  one  port, 
after  the  sailors  had  taken  part  in  a  mas 
sacre,  Robinson  lectured  them  so  severely 
that  the  crew  forced  their  captain,  Rob 
inson's  nephew,  to  set  him  ashore  in 
China,  as  they  would  have  no  more  of 
his  preaching.  There  Robinson  joined  a 
caravan  which  took  him  into  Siberia.  At 
last  he  reached  England.  Having  spent 
the  greater  part  of  fifty-four  years  away 
from  his  homeland,  he  was  glad  to  live 
out  his  life  in  peace  and  in  preparation 
for  that  longer  journey  from  which  he 
would  never  return. 


RODERICK  RANDOM 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author.  Tobias  Smollett  (1721-1771) 

Type  of  plot:  Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1748 

Principal  characters: 

RODERICK  RANDOM,  an  adventurer 
TOM  BOWLING,  his  uncle 
STRAP,  Tom's  friend  and  companion 
Miss  WILLIAMS,  an  adventuress 
NAB.CISSA,  Roderick's  sweetheart 

Critique: 

The  Adventures  of  Roderick  Random 
is  unique  in  being  the  first  English  novel 
to  describe  with  any  detail  life  on  a 
British  warship.  For  this  material  Smol 
lett  drew  upon  his  own  experience  as  a 
ship  surgeon.  There  is  little  structure  to 
the  book.  The  success  of  the  novel  lies 
in  Smollett's  ability  to  narrate  and  de 
scribe  incident  after  incident  and  to  keep 


his  readers  interested  and,  usually* 
amused.  The  central  character  of  Roder 
ick  Random  is  used,  as  in  a  picaresque 
novel,  to  unite  the  incidents  into  a  story 
and  to  provide  a  reason  for  the  develop 
ment  of  the  climax.  Roderick's  adven 
tures  provide  an  opportunity  for  satire 
on  the  follies  and  affectations  of  the  age 


841 


The  Story: 

Although  Roderick  Random  came 
from  a  wealthy  landowning  family  of 
Scotland,  his  early  life  was  one  of  vicissi 
tudes.  Roderick's  father  had  married  a 
servant  in  the  Random  household,  and 
for  that  reason  he  had  been  disowned 
without  a  penny.  Soon  after  Roderick's 
birth  his  mother  died.  When  his  father 
disappeared,  heartbroken,  the  grand 
father  was  prevailed  upon  to  send  the 
lad  to  school  for  the  sake  of  the  family's 
reputation. 

At  school  Roderick  was  the  butt  of  the 
masters,  although  a  great  favorite  with 
the  boys  his  own  age.  His  whippings 
were  numerous,  for  he  could  be  used  as 
a  whipping  boy  when  something  had 
gone  wrong  and  the  real  culprit  could  not 
be  determined.  In  Roderick's  fourteenth 
year,  however,  there  was  a  change  in  his 
fortunes.  His  mother's  brother,  Tom 
Bowling,  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  came 
to  visit  his  young  nephew. 

Lieutenant  Bowling  remonstrated  with 
his  nephew's  grandfather  over  his  treat 
ment  of  Roderick,  but  the  old  man  was 
firm  in  his  refusal  to  do  anything  beyond 
what  necessity  dictated  for  the  offspring 
of  the  son  whom  he  had  disinherited. 
When  the  grandfather  died,  he  left  Rod 
erick  nothing.  Tom  Bowling  sent  the  lad 
to  the  university,  where  Roderick  made 
great  progress,  Then  Tom  Bowling  be 
came  involved  in  a  duel  and  was  forced 
to  leave  his  ship.  This  misfortune  cut  off 
the  source  of  Roderick's  funds  and  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  leave  the  uni 
versity. 

Casting  about  for  a  means  of  making 

a  livelihood,  Roderick  became  a  surgeon's 

apprentice.   He  proved  to  be  so  capable 

that  before  long  his  master  sent  him  to 

London   with   a   recommendation    to   a 

local  member  of  Parliament,  who  was  to 

;et  Roderick  a  place  as  surgeon's  mate  in 

'  .e  navy. 

Securing  a  place  on  a  man-of-war  was 
a  difficult  task.  To  keep  himself  in 
funds,  Roderick  worked  for  a  French 
chemist  in  London.  In  the  shop  he  met 


Miss  Williams,  with  whom  he  fell  in 
love,  but  much  to  his  chagrin  he  dis 
covered  one  day  that  she  was  a  prostitute 
trying  to  better  her  fortune.  Soon  after 
ward  Roderick  was  accused  of  stealing 
and  was  dismissed  by  his  employer. 
While  he  was  leading  a  precarious  ex 
istence,  waiting  for  his  navy  warrant,  he 
learned  that  Miss  Williams  lived  in  the 
same  lodging-house.  He  won  the  ever 
lasting  gratitude  of  the  young  woman  by 
acting  as  her  doctor  while  she  was  ill. 

One  day,  while  walking  near  the 
Thames,  Roderick  was  seized  by  a  press- 
gang  and  shanghaied  aboard  the  man-of- 
war  Thunder,  about  to  sail  for  Jamaica. 
Roderick,  who  had  found  friends  on  the 
ship,  was  made  a  surgeon's  mate. 

The  voyage  to  Jamaica  was  a  terrible 
one  as  the  commanding  officer,  Captain 
Oakhum,  was  a  tyrant  who  came  very 
close  to  hanging  Roderick  and  another 
surgeon's  mate  because  one  of  the  ship's 
officers  claimed  he  had  heard  them  speak 
ing  ill  of  both  the  surgeon  and  the  cap 
tain.  Thinking  that  Roderick's  Greek 
notebook  was  a  military  code,  the  captain 
threatened  again  to  hang  him  as  a  spy. 

After  seeing  action  against  the  Spanish 
at  Cartagena,  Roderick  secured  a  billet 
as  surgeon's  mate  aboard  the  Lizard,  a 
ship  returning  to  England  with  dis 
patches.  On  the  way  the  captain  died 
and  Lieutenant  Crampley,  an  officer  who 
greatly  disliked  Roderick,  took  command 
of  the  ship.  Crampley,  being  a  poor  of 
ficer,  ran  the  ship  aground  off  the  Sussex 
coast.  The  crew  robbed  and  tried  to  kill 
Roderick  when  they  reached  the  shore, 
but  an  old  woman  befriended  him,  cured 
him  of  his  wounds,  and  found  him  a 
place  as  footman  with  a  spinster  gentle 
woman  who  lived  nearby. 

Roderick  spent  several  months  in  her 
service.  He  found  his  way  into  his  em 
ployer's  good-will  by  his  attention  to  his 
duties  and  by  showing  a  knowledge  of 
literature,  even  to  the  extent  of  explain 
ing  passages  from  Tasso's  Italian  poetry 
to  her.  The  spinster  had  a  niece  and  a 


842 


nephew  living  with  her.  Narcissa,  the 
niece,  was  a  beautiful  girl  of  marriage 
able  age  to  whom  Roderick  was  immedi 
ately  attracted.  Her  brother,  a  drunken, 
fox-hunting  young  squire,  was  deter 
mined  that  she  should  marry  a  wealthy 
knight  in  the  neighborhood. 

One  day  Roderick  prevented  the  girl's 
brutal  suitor  from  forcing  his  attentions  on 
her  and  beat  the  man  severely  with  a 
cudgel.  While  he  was  deliberating  on  his 
next  move,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a 
band  of  smugglers  who  for  their  own 
safety  carried  him  to  Boulogne  in  France. 
There  Roderick  found  his  uncle,  Tom 
Bowling,  and  assured  him  that  he  would 
be  safe  if  he  returned  to  England,  for  the 
man  Bowling  believed  he  had  killed  in 
a  duel  was  very  much  alive, 

Roderick  set  out  for  Paris  in  company 
with  a  friar  who  robbed  him  one  night 
and  left  him  penniless.  Meeting  a  band 
of  soldiers,  Roderick  enlisted  in  the  army 
of  King  Louis  XIV  and  saw  service  at  the 
battle  of  Dettingen.  After  the  battle  his 
regiment  went  into  garrison  and  Roder 
ick  unexpectedly  met  a  boyhood  com 
panion,  Strap,  who  was  passing  as  Mon 
sieur  D'Estrapes  and  who  was  friendly 
with  a  French  nobleman.  Strap  be 
friended  Roderick  and  secured  his  release 
from  onerous  service  as  a  private  in  the 
French  army. 

Strap  and  Roderick  schemed  for  a  way 
to  make  their  fortunes  and  finally  hit 
upon  the  idea  of  setting  up  Roderick  as 
a  wealthy  gentleman.  They  hoped  that 
he  would  marry,  within  a  short  time, 
some  wealthy  heiress. 

The  two  men  went  to  Paris,  where 
Roderick  bought  new  clothes  and  became 
acquainted  with  the  ways  of  a  man  about 
town.  Then  they  went  to  London. 
There  Roderick  quickly  became  ac 
quainted  with  a  group  of  young  men 
who  were  on  the  fringe  of  fashionable 
society. 

Roderick's  first  attempt  to  become  inti 
mate  with  a  rich  woman  was  a  dismal 
failure,  for  she  turned  out  to  be  a 
woman  of  the  streets.  On  the  second 


attempt  he  met  Melinda,  a  young  woman 
of  fortune,  who  won  many  pounds  from 
him  at  cards  and  then  refused  to  marry 
him  because  he  did  not  have  an  inde 
pendent  fortune  of  his  own.  Finally  one 
of  Roderick's  friends  told  him  of  a  cousin, 
Miss  Snapper,  who  was  a  wealthy 
heiress.  The  friend  promised  that  he 
would  help  Roderick  in  his  suit  in  return 
for  Roderick's  note  for  five  hundred 
pounds,  due  six  months  after  the 
marriage. 

Falling  in  with  this  suggestion,  Roder 
ick  immediately  started  out  for  Bath  in 
company  with  the  young  woman  and  her 
mother.  On  the  way  he  saved  them  from 
being  robbed  by  a  highwayman,  a  deed 
which  established  him  in  the  good  graces 
of  both  mother  and  daughter.  At  Bath, 
Roderick  squired  the  young  woman  about 
day  and  night.  Although  she  was  crip 
pled  and  not  good-looking,  the  thought 
of  her  fortune  was  greater  in  his  mind 
than  her  appearance.  Besides,  she  was 
an  intelligent  and  witty  young  woman. 

All  went  well  with  the  plan  until 
Roderick  caught  sight  of  Narcissa,  the 
young  girl  he  had  known  while  he  was 
employed  as  a  footman  by  her  aunt. 
Realizing  that  he  was  in  love  with  her, 
he  promptly  deserted  Miss  Snapper. 

Narcissa  soon  revealed  to  Roderick 
that  she  returned  his  love.  The  young 
squire,  her  brother,  had  no  objections  to 
Roderick  because  he  thought  that  Ran 
dom  was  a  wealthy  man.  Unfortunately 
Roderick's  former  love,  Melinda,  arrived 
in  Bath  and  caught  the  attention  of  Nar- 
cissa's  brother.  At  a  ball  she  spread  evil 
reports  about  Roderick  because  he  had 
left  her.  The  result  was  that  Roderick 
first  fought  a  duel  with  Lord  Quiverwit, 
one  of  Narcissa's  admirers,  and  then  saw 
his  Narcissa  spirited  away  Ly  her  brother. 
The  only  thing  that  kept  Roderick's  hope 
alive  was  the  fact  that  he  knew  Narcissa 
loved  him  and  that  her  maid,  the  Miss 
Williams  whom  Roderick  had  long  be 
fore  befriended,  was  eternally  grateful  to 
him  and  would  help  him  in  any  way 
which  lay  in  her  power. 


843 


Returning  to  London,  Roderick  again 
met  his  uncle,  Tom  Bowling,  who  had 
been  appointed  to  take  a  merchant  ship 
on  a  mysterious  trip.  He  proposed  to 
take  Roderick  with  him  as  ship  surgeon, 
and  he  gave  Roderick  a  thousand  pounds 
with  which  to  buy  goods  to  sell  on  the 
voyage.  He  also  made  out  a  will  leaving 
all  his  property  to  Roderick  in  case  he 
should  die. 

The  mysterious  trip  proved  to  be  a 
voyage  to  the  Guinea  Coast  to  pick  up 
Negro  slaves  for  the  Spanish  American 
trade.  The  slaves  and  the  cargo,  includ 
ing  the  goods  shipped  by  Roderick,  were 
sold  at  a  handsome  profit.  While  their 
ship  was  being  prepared  for  the  return 
voyage,  Roderick  and  his  uncle  spent 
several  weeks  ashore,  where  they  were 
entertained  by  people  they  met  and  with 
whom  they  did  business.  One  of  their 


acquaintances  was  a  rich  Englishman 
known  as  Don  Rodrigo,  who  invited 
them  to  visit  him  on  his  estate.  During 
their  stay  it  was  discovered  that  the  man 
was  Roderick's  father,  who  had  gone  to 
America  to  make  his  fortune  after  having 
been  disinherited  because  of  his  marriage 
to  Roderick's  mother. 

The  voyage  back  to  England  was  a 
happy  one.  Roderick  was  full  of  confi 
dence,  for  he  had  made  a  small  fortune 
out  of  the  voyage  and  had  expectations 
of  quite  a  large  fortune  from  the  estates 
of  his  father  and  his  uncle.  He  immedi 
ately  paid  his  addresses  to  Narcissa,  who 
accepted  his  offer  of  marriage  in  spite  of 
her  brother's  opposition.  They  were 
married  shortly  afterward  and  went  to 
live  in  Scotland  on  the  Random  estate, 
which  Roderick's  father  had  bought  from 
his  bankrupt  elder  brother. 


ROGUE  HERRIES 


Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:    Hugh  Walpole  (1884-1941) 

Type  of  'plot:   Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  ylot:    1730-1774 

Locale:    England 

First    Mished:    1930 


Principal  characters: 

FRANCIS  HERRTES,  the  Rogue 
MARGARET  HERRIES,  his  first  wife 
MTRABELL  STARR,  his  second  wife 
DAVTD  HERRIES,  ids  son 
DEBORAH  HERRIES,  his  daughter 
ALICE  PRESS,  his  mistress 
SARAH  DENBURN,  David's  wife 


Critique: 

Rogue  Herries  is  the  first  novel  of  a 
tetrology  which  traces  in  detail  the  story 
of  an  English  family  over  a  period  of  two 
hundred  years.  The  story  of  the  Herries 
becomes  also  the  story  of  England  through 
the  Georgian,  Victorian,  and  modem 
periods,  largely  upon  the  domestic  level 
of  morals  and  manners.  There  is  a  grow 
ing  complexity  to  the  novel  as  new  gen 
erations  appear  and  succeed  one  another, 
but  Hugh  Walpole  keeps  the  narrative 


within  bounds  by  relating  the  action  to 
the  descendants  of  the  notorious  Rogue 
Herries.  Throughout  there  is  a  fairly 
successful  capturing  of  the  flavor  of  the 
period. 

The  Story; 

In  the  year  1730  Francis  Herries 
brought  his  family  from  the  roistering 
life  of  Doncaster  to  live  in  a  long-de 
serted  family  house — called  Herries — at 


ROGUE  HERRIES  by  Hugh  Walpole      By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  Sir  Hugh  Walpole,  and  the 
publishers,  Messrs.  MacMillan  &  Co.,  London.     Copyright,   1930,  by  Doubleday,  Doran  &  Co.,  Lac. 


844 


Rosthwaite  not  far  from  Keswick  in 
Cumberland.  In  addition  to  his  wife  and 
three  children,  he  brought  along  the 
most  recent  of  his  many  mistresses,  Alice 
Press,  who,  under  pretense  of  being  the 
children's  governess,  had  actually  been 
unkind  and  overbearing  with  them  and 
insolent  to  their  mother.  The  family 
rested  for  a  period  at  the  Keswick  inn, 
and  met  Francis'  oldest  brother  and  his 
wife.  After  an  uncomfortable  journey  on 
horseback  over  a  scarcely  discernible  road, 
the  party  reached  Herries. 

Francis  Herries  had  led  a  life  of  dis 
sipation.  His  respectable  relatives,  of 
whom  there  were  a  great  many,  looked 
on  him  as  the  black  sheep  of  the  family 
and  avoided  him.  His  wife  Margaret 
he  had  married  more  for  pity  than  for 
love.  But  she  had  brought  him  some 
money.  The  one  person  whom  Francis 
really  loved  was  his  son  David.  And 
David  returned  his  love. 

One  day  Francis,  now  tired  of  Alice 
Press,  came  upon  her  berating  his  wife. 
Although  he  did  not  love  Margaret,  he 
loved  Alice  less.  He  tried  from  that  day 
to  make  Alice  leave  the  house,  but  she 
refused.  When  he  took  David  to  Keswick 
to  a  fair,  they  saw  Alice  Press.  Furious, 
Francis  told  Alice  that  she  must  not  re 
turn  to  Herries.  At  last  he  began  to 
shout,  announcing  that  Alice  was  for 
sale.  People  were  shocked  and  astounded. 
Then  a  man  threw  down  a  handful  of 
silver.  Francis  picked  up  a  token  piece 
and  walked  away.  David  felt  that  his 
father  was  possessed  of  a  devil. 

Francis  became  notorious  throughout 
the  district  for  his  escapades  and  before 
long  acquired  the  epithet  of  Rogue  Her 
ries.  One  Christmas  night,  at  a  feast  in  a 
friend's  house,  he  was  challenged  to  a 
duel  by  young  Osbaldistone.  Francis  had 
won  money  from  him  gambling  in  Kes 
wick  and  had  also  paid  some  attention  to 
a  young  woman  that  Osbaldistone 
fancied.  In  the  course  of  the  duel,  Fran 
cis  had  the  advantage.  Then,  when  Fran 
cis'  guard  was  down,  Osbaldistone  slashed 
him  from  temple  to  chin.  The  resulting 


scar  marked  Rogue  Herries  for  the  rest 
of  his  life. 

One  evening  in  the  spring  following, 
Francis  came  in  from  working  on  his 
land  and  found  Margaret  ailing.  They 
had  never  had  any  warmth  of  feeling 
between  them,  but  even  in  the  moment 
of  her  death  she  felt  that  he  would  be 
at  a  loss  without  her.  After  making 
David  promise  never  to  leave  his  father, 
she  called  for  Francis  and  died  in  his 
arms. 

In  1745  Francis  had  a  strange  ad 
venture.  After  a  long  walk  through  the 
hills  near  his  home,  he  lay  down  to  rest 
and  fell  sound  asleep.  When  he  awoke 
he  was  bound  hand  and  foot.  His 
mysterious  captor  untied  his  bonds  aftei 
questioning  him  as  to  his  identity  and  led 
him  to  a  cave  where  he  saw  several  des 
perate-looking  men  and  a  lovely  young 
girl.  One  of  the  men  gave  him  a  cross 
and  chain  which  the  girl's  mother  had 
left  for  him  at  her  death.  Years  before, 
he  had  seen  her  shuddering  with  cold 
by  the  roadside  and  had  given  her 
his  cloak.  Fascinated  now  by  the  girl,  he 
talked  kindly  to  her  and  learned  that 
her  name  was  Mirabell  Starr.  The  men 
with  whom  she  lived  were  thieves  and 
smugglers. 

In  November  Francis  took  David  to 
Carlisle.  The  Young  Pretender  had 
landed  in  Scotland  and  was  marching  to 
ward  London.  At  an  inn  in  Carlisle, 
Francis  saw  Mirabell  with  a  young  man 
of  her  own  age.  He  was  jealous,  for  he 
knew  that  he  loved  Mirabell  despite  the 
great  difference  in  their  ages.  He  also 
saw  that  an  ugly  man  of  considerable 
age  was  jealous  of  Mirabell's  lover.  Dur 
ing  the  siege  of  the  city  all  able  men 
were  pressed  into  service.  When  Carlisle 
fell  to  the  Pretender's  forces,  the  city 
became  quiet  once  more.  On  a  dark 
night  Francis,  out  for  a  walk,  saw  Mira 
bell  and  the  young  man  walking  ahead 
of  him.  He  also  saw  the  ugly  man  of 
the  inn  approach  the  pair.  He  yelled  a 
warning  too  late.  The  boy  Harry  dropped 
dead.  Mirabell  escaped  in  the  darkness. 


845 


In  the  summer  of  1756  David  and  his 
sister  Deborah  attended  a  ball  in  Kes- 
wick.  At  the  dance  Deborah  fell  in  love 
with  a  young  clergyman.  When  they 
arrived  home  next  day,  they  were  met 
by  their  father,  who  explained  to  them 
that  Mirabell  had  arrived  and  had 
promised  to  marry  him.  After  her  hard 
life  on  the  roads  Mirabell  had  come  to 
offer  herself  to  Francis  in  return  for  food 
and  protection. 

In  1758  David  was  thirty-eight.  On 
a  business  trip  he  met  and  fell  in  love 
with  a  girl  named  Sarah  Denburn,  a 
frank,  friendly  girl  of  more  than  average 
beauty.  Her  uncle-guardian  intended  her 
for  another  man,  but  David  carried  her 
off  one  night  after  killing  his  rival. 

For  about  two  years  David  and  Sarah 
lived  at  Herries.  Mirabell  hated  Sarah. 
At  last  David  bought  a  house  not  far 
off  and  moved  with  his  wife  to  it.  Deb 
orah  went  to  Cockermouth  to  wed  her 
clergyman.  Alone  with  his  young  wife, 
Francis  unsuccessfully  tried  to  teach  her 
to  read  and  write  and  to  love  him.  Mira 
bell  had  something  of  the  gipsy  in  her. 
One  day  she  ran  away.  From  then  on 
most  of  Francis'  life  was  devoted  to 
traveling  over  England  looking  for  Mira 
bell. 

Meanwhile  David  and  Sarah,  settled 
at  Uldale,  had  three  children  and  be 
came  well  established  in  the  community. 
•Sarah  loved  the  society  of  the  people  of 


Uldale  and  David  prospered. 

After  many  years  of  wandering,  Fran 
cis  at  last  saw  Mirabell  again  among  a 
troupe  of  players  in  Penrith.  She 
promised  to  meet  him  after  the  play, 
but  did  not.  Francis  searched  the  town 
in  vain.  As  he  returned  to  his  inn,  he 
fell  ill  of  an  old  ailment,  a  fever,  and 
was  forced  to  stay  there  for  six  months. 
When  at  last  he  returned  home,  he  found 
Mirabell  waiting  for  him.  She  explained 
that  she  could  not  desert  the  acting  com 
pany  on  that  fateful  night  because  the 
leader,  her  lover,  had  threatened  to  kill 
himself  if  she  deserted  him,  and  his  death 
would  have  left  his  children  friendless 
orphans.  But  at  last  he  had  run  away 
with  a  younger  woman,  and  Mirabell 
had  come  back  to  Francis  once  more  for 
protection.  She  tried  to  make  him  under 
stand  that  the  only  man  she  had  ever 
truly  loved  was  the  boy  killed  in  Car 
lisle. 

In  1774  an  old  woman  from  a  nearby 
village  came  in  to  cook  for  Francis  and 
Mirabell,  for  at  last  Mirabell  was  going 
to  have  a  baby.  Francis,  stricken  again 
by  his  fever,  was  in  bed  in  the  next  room 
as  Mirabell  gave  birth  to  a  daughter  and 
died.  Francis,  in  a  final  spasm  of  vigor, 
rose  from  his  bed  and  then  fell  back,  he 
thought,  into  MirabelTs  arms.  He  too 
was  dead.  Only  the  new-born  child  and 
the  old  woman  were  alive  in  the  house 
on  that  stormy  winter  night. 


THE  ROMANTIC  COMEDIANS 

Type,  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Ellen  Glasgow  (1874-1945) 

Type,  of  plot:   Humorous  satire 

Time  of  plot:    1920's 

Locale:    Richmond,  Virginia 

First  published:    1926 

Principal  characters: 

JUDGE  GAMALIEL  BLAND  HONEYWELL,  a  widower  of  sixty-five 

ANNABEL,  his  second  wife,  a  girl  of  twenty-three 

MRS.  UPCHURCH,  Annabel's  mother 

EDMONIA  BREDALBANE,  the  judge's  sister 

AMANDA  LIGHTFOOT,  the  judge's  childhood  sweetheart 

THE  ROMANTIC -COMEDIANS i  by  Ellen  Glasgow.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co, 
Inc.     Copyright,  1926,  1933.  by  Ellen  Glasgow. 


846 


Critiqtie: 

The  Romantic  Comedians  presents  the 
age-old  problem  of  the  old  man  who 
marries  a  young  girl.  But  symbolized  in 
these  two  people  is  the  struggle  between 
two  diverse  eras  in  American  culture. 
The  man  represents  the  faded  Victorian- 
ism  of  the  American  South  in  the  last 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
girl  represents  the  generation  of  Southern 
Americans  in  the  decade  after  the  first 
World  War.  Since  Ellen  Glasgow's  pur 
pose  was  to  present  the  new  South,  the 
novel  succeeds  because  it  reflects  the 
forces  which  pervade  that  section  of  our 
country  today. 

The  Story: 

As  Judge  Honeywell  walked  home 
from  church  on  the  first  Easter  morning 
after  his  wife's  death,  he  was  surprised 
by  his  own  reactions  to  the  Virginia 
springtime.  He  felt  quite  young,  for 
sixty-five,  and  life  with  his  wife,  now 
dead,  seemed  so  remote  as  never  to  have 
happened.  In  fact,  he  felt  relieved,  for 
his  first  wife  had  seldom  let  him  lead  an 
existence  of  his  own. 

The  judge  looked  after  Mrs.  Upchurch 
and  her  daughter  Annabel  in  a  friendly 
way  because  they  were  kinswomen  of  his 
late  wife.  But  shortly  after  that  memor 
able  Easter  morning  he  began  to  think 
of  twenty- three-year  old  Annabel  in  quite 
another  way.  His  changed  attitude  be 
gan  because  he  was  secretly  sorry  for  her. 
She  had  been  engaged  to  a  young  man 
who  had  left  her  almost  at  the  altar.  It 
had  hurt  her  bitterly,  as  the  judge  and 
her  mother  knew. 

As  time  passed  the  judge  found  him 
self  thinking  more  and  more  of  Annabel 
Upchurch  and  of  Amanda  Lightfoot,  his 
childhood  sweetheart.  Unfortunately,  the 
judge's  sister,  Mrs.  Bredalbane,  tried  to 
convince  him  that  falling  in  love  with 
Amanda  would  be  the  sensible  thing  for 
him  to  do.  The  judge,  like  most  men, 
promptly  closed  his  mind  to  Amanda  and 
began  thinking  more  of  Annabel,  who 
had  asked  the  judge  if  he  would  help 


her  to  open  a  flower  shop. 

Soon  the  judge  had  purchased  a  house 
with  a  large  garden  for  Mrs.  Upchurch 
and  her  daughter,  so  that  Annabel  might 
practice  landscape  gardening.  When  he 
told  the  girl,  he  added  that  he  only  ex 
pected  the  reward  of  seeing  her  happy. 
But  when  she  left,  he  kissed  her. 

By  the  time  that  Mrs.  Upchurch  and 
Annabel  were  settled  in  their  new  home, 
the  judge  knew  he  was  in  love  with  the 
girl,  who  was  more  than  forty  years 
younger  than  he.  He  bought  new  clothes 
and  had  his  hair  and  beard  trimmed  to 
lessen  the  amount  of  gray  which  had 
appeared.  He  felt  that  he  could  give 
Annabel  everything  she  needed — love, 
tenderness,  security,  and  wealth. 

The  number  and  quality  of  the  judge's 
gifts  soon  made  apparent  to  Annabel  and 
her  mother  what  was  in  the  old  man's 
mind.  Annabel  thought  at  first  that  it 
would  be  more  suitable  for  him  to  marry 
her  mother.  But,  as  she  informed  her 
mother,  marrying  an  older  man  was  cer 
tainly  better  than  living  in  an  atmosphere 
of  shabby  gentility.  Annabel  decided  to 
visit  Amanda  Lightfoot.  Knowing  that 
Amanda  had  never  married  because  she 
had  been  in  love  with  the  judge,  An 
nabel  wished  to  find  out  if  the  older 
woman  still  loved  him.  If  she  did  not, 
Annabel  decided,  she  herself  would 
marry  him.  But  the  older  woman  almost 
refused  to  say  anything  at  all.  Annabel 
was  disappointed  but  secretly  relieved. 
When  she  arrived  home,  Judge  Honey 
well  was  waiting  with  a  present  for  her, 
a  sapphire  bracelet.  Before  he  left  the 
house  he  told  her  he  loved  her,  and  she 
accepted  him. 

After  the  marriage  the  judge  and 
Annabel  traveled  in  Europe  and  in  Eng 
land.  The  judge  felt  that  he  was  as  fine 
a  man  as  he  had  been  at  thirty-five, 
although  his  nerves  were  jarred  a  little 
when  some  one  occasionally  referred  to 
Annabel  as  his  daughter.  That  she  often 
danced  with  young  men  did  not  bother 
him.  He  felt  no  envy  of  their  youth? 


847 


after  all,  she  was  his  wife. 

The  judge  was  glad  to  be  back  in  his 
home  in  Virginia  after  the  honeymoon. 
His  dyspepsia  soon  disappeared  after  he 
began  to  eat  familiar  cooking  once  more, 
and  he  felt  at  peace  to  be  living  in  the 
familiar  old  house  which  had  not  been 
refurnished  in  over  thirty  years. 

The  couple  dined  out  frequently  and 
went  to  many  dances.  The  judge,  after 
noting  how  silly  his  contemporaries  ap 
peared  on  the  dance  floor,  abstained  from 
any  dancing,  but  he  encouraged  Annabel 
to  enjoy  herself.  He  always  went  with 
her,  not  from  jealousy  but  because  he 
felt  that  he  had  to  keep  up  with  her 
life.  It  cost  him  a  great  deal  of  effort, 
for  on  those  evenings  he  sometimes 
thought  that  he  had  never  before  known 
what  fatigue  was  really  like. 

At  home,  Annabel  had  brought 
changes  into  the  house.  While  he  did 
not  approve,  the  judge  said  nothing  until 
she  tried  to  change  the  furniture  in  his 
own  room.  She  learned  then,  although 
it  cost  him  a  ring  she  had  admired,  that 
he  would  not  let  her  meddle  with  his 
own  privacy. 

When  the  judge  came  down  with 
bronchitis,  Annabel  proved  an  able  and 
attentive  nurse.  During  his  convales 
cence,  however,  she  found  it  difficult  to 
remain  at  home  reading  night  after  night. 
He,  noticing  her  restlessness,  told  her  to 
begin  going  out  again,  even  though  he 
could  not  go  with  her.  When  Annabel 
went  out,  her  mother  or  the  judge's  sis 
ter  would  corne  to  have  dinner  and  stay 
with  him  during  the  evening. 

The  passing  weeks  brought  in  An 
nabel  a  change  which  many  people 
noticed.  Noted  for  her  boisterous  spirits 
and  lack  of  reticence,  she  surprised  them 
by  becoming  more  vague  about  her 
comings  and  goings.  At  the  same  time 


they  complimented  the  judge  on  how 
happy  she  seemed.  The  compliments 
made  the  old  gentleman  content,  for,  as 
he  said,  Annabel's  happiness  was  what 
he  wanted  most. 

Slowly  the  judge  began  to  feel  that 
all  was  not  right  in  his  home.  Annabel 
was  distant  in  her  manner.  When  he 
talked  with  his  sister  and  Annabel's 
mother,  both  reassured  him  of  the  girl's 
devotion.  Still,  he  knew  something  was 
not  right.  He  received  proof  one  day 
when  he  found  Annabel  kissing  a  young 
man.  Dabney  Birdsong  belonged  to  an 
old  family  in  the  community.  Annabel 
had  resolved  to  have  him,  cost  what  it 
might.  To  the  judge,  his  greatest  sorrow 
was  that  it  might  be  only  an  infatuation 
which  would  not  make  Annabel  happy. 
The  girl,  on  the  other  hand,  thought  if 
she  did  not  have  Dabney  she  would  die. 

Annabel  and  her  lover  ran  away  and 
went  to  New  York.  The  judge  followed 
them  to  the  city.  Unable  to  understand 
his  young  wife,  he  felt  sorry  for  her  be 
cause  she  defied  convention,  and  he 
thought  that  he  himself  was  to  blame  for 
what  had  happened.  After  a  talk  with 
Annabel  he  left  New  York,  defeated,  to 
return  to  Virginia. 

The  rain  and  the  draughty  train  gave 
the  judge  a  cold  which  turned  into  in 
fluenza,  and  he  was  in  bed  for  several 
weeks  in  a  serious  condition.  During  his 
convalescence  he  discovered  that  spring 
had  once  more  arrived.  With  the  stir 
ring  in  nature,  he  felt  a  resurgence  of  life 
in  his  weary  body.  Like  many  an  old 
man  before  him,  the  season  of  freshness 
and  greenery  gave  him  the  feeling  of 
youth  that  he  had  had  on  the  previous 
Easter  Sunday  morning.  He  found  him 
self  beginning  to  look  with  new,  eager 
interest  at  the  young  nurse  who  was  at 
tending  him  during  his  illness. 


848 


THE  ROMANY  RYE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Henry  Borrow  (1803-1881) 

Type  of  'plot:  Simulated  autobiography 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1857 

Principal  characters: 

LAVENGRO,  a  scholar  gipsy 

ISOPEL  BERJNERS  (BELLE  J,  his  companion 

JASPER  PETULENGRO,  a  gipsy 

JACK  DALE,  a  horse-trader 

MURTAGH,  an  Irishman  and  Lavengro's  childhood  friend 

THE  COACHMAN 


Critique: 

The  Romany  Rye  continues  without  a 
break  the  story  of  Lavengro.  The  novel 
is  a  collection  of  stories  about  the  people 
Lavengro  met,  together  with  his  many 
side  remarks  and  observations  on  gipsy 
customs,  English  fairs,  religion,  and  liter 
ature.  The  Romany  Rye  is  unevenly 
written,  but  its  pictures  of  English  life 
in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
are  at  all  times  vivid  and  dramatic. 

The  Story: 

In  those  days,  Lavengro  and  Isopel 
Berners  traveled  the  English  highroads 
together.  Lavengro  was  a  scholar  who 
had  become  a  gipsy  tinker,  and  Isopel, 
whom  he  called  Belle,  was  a  strapping 
woman  of  the  roads  and  dingles.  One 
night  they  rescued  a  coachman  whose 
carriage  had  overturned  in  a  swollen 
stream,  and,  while  they  waited  for  day 
light,  he  entertained  them  with  the  story 
of  his  life.  In  the  morning  Lavengro 
forged  a  new  linch-pin  for  the  broken 
wheel,  and  the  coachman  continued  on 
his  way.  The  Man  in  Black,  a  Catholic 
priest  whom  Lavengro  had  met  before, 
visited  Lavengro  again  that  evening,  and 
the  two  of  them  discussed  and  argued 
the  merits  of  Catholicism  and  Protes 
tantism,  with  an  occasional  remark  from 
Belle. 

The  next  morning  Lavengro  informed 
Belle  that  Jasper  Petulengro  and  his  band 
of  gipsies  had  camped  nearby  during  the 
night  and  that  he  was  going  to  invite 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Petulengro  for  breakfast, 
Lavengro's  gipsy  friend  refused  his  invi 
tation,  however,  saying  that  he  and  his 
wife  would  pay  a  visit  later  in  the  day 
when  they  were  better  settled.  On  the 
next  Sunday  they  all  went  to  church  to 
gether.  Following  the  service,  Jasper  and 
Lavengro  began  a  lengthy  discussion  on 
morals. 

Belle  had  indicated  to  Lavengro  that 
she  thought  it  about  time  their  paths 
separated.  When  she  informed  him  she 
was  going  on  a  journey,  he  feared  she 
was  leaving  for  good,  but  she  told  him 
she  would  come  back  before  too  long. 
One  evening  while  she  was  gone  Laven 
gro  had  a  long  talk  with  Ursula,  Mrs, 
Petulengro's  sister,  and  thus  he  learned 
her  story.  She  had  been  married  some 
years  previously.  Her  husband,  escaping 
from  a  constable,  had  met  with  an  un 
fortunate  accident  and  had  drowned 
She  had  been  a  widow  until  just  two 
days  before,  when  she  had  married  Syl 
vester,  another  member  of  the  gipsy  band 
and  a  widower  with  two  children.  Lav 
engro  and  Ursula  discussed  many  sub 
jects,  including  morals,  virtue,  marriage 
customs,  and  words.  It  was  about  th/s 
meanings  of  some  of  the  gipsy  words  thai 
Lavengro  wanted  most  to  talk  with 
Ursula. 

Belle  returned  that  night  and  the  next 
day  Lavengro,  who  had  thought  the  mat 
ter  over  in  her  absence,  asked  Belle  to 
marry  him  and  to  migrate  with  him  tc 


849 


America,  When  she  told  him  that  she 
could  not  give  him  her  answer  immedi 
ately,  he  planned  to  attend  a  fair  in  a 
nearby  village  the  next  day.  Belle  agreed 
to  consider  his  proposal  during  his  ab 
sence  and  to  give  him  her  reply  when  he 
returned.  At  the  fair  Lavengro  saw  a 
horse  which  he  desired,  but  he  did  not 
have  the  money  to  buy  the  animal  and 
he  refused  to  borrow  the  money  from 
Jasper,  who  was  willing  to  lend  it  to  him. 

When  Lavengro  returned  to  the 
dingle,  Belle  had  disappeared.  At  first 
he  thought  she  had  gone  only  on  a  short 
journey,  but  when  two  days  went  by 
and  she  did  not  appear,  he  began  to  fear 
she  would  not  return.  A  few  days  later 
he  received  a  letter  from  her,  telling  him 
that  on  her  previous  short  journey  she 
had  made  arrangements  to  dispose  of  all 
her  goods  and  to  go  to  America.  When 
he  proposed  to  her,  she  had  been  tempted 
to  accept  his  offer,  but  after  thinking  it 
over  carefully  she  had  decided  that  her 
first  plan  would  be  the  best  after  all. 
Lavengro  never  saw  her  again. 

That  night,  at  a  nearby  public  house, 
Lavengro  again  saw  the  horse  he  had  ad 
mired  at  the  fair  and  learned  the  animal 
could  be  bought  for  fifty  pounds.  Jasper 
insisted  on  giving  Lavengro  the  money 
with  which  to  buy  the  horse,  and  Laven 
gro  reluctantly  agreed.  He  and  Jasper 
planned  to  meet  about  ten  weeks  later. 
Lavengro  departed  the  following  morn 
ing.  On  his  way  he  met  an  old  man  who 
had  just  had  his  mule  taken  away  from 
him  by  force.  Lavengro  rode  after  the 
offender  and  returned  the  mule. 

One  afternoon,  as  Lavengro  and  his 
horse  were  resting  at  the  door  of  an  inn, 
he  met  his  old  friend,  the  coachman,  and 
through  him  obtained  a  job  in  the  hos 
telry  as  a  keeper  of  accounts  in  exchange 
for  room  and  board  for  himself  and  his 
horse. 

After  a  short  while  at  the  inn,  Laven 
gro  decided  it  was  time  for  him  to  be  on 
his  way  again.  He  had  decided  to  go  to 
Horncastle,  a  town  at  a  distance  of  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles.  There 


he  hoped  to  sell  his  horse  at  a  good  profit. 
He  journeyed  at  a  leisurely  pace  foi 
several  days  and  was  nearing  Horncastle 
late  one  evening  when  his  horse,  fright 
ened  by  a  light  on  a  gig,  threw  him  and 
knocked  him  unconscious.  When  he 
recovered  consciousness,  he  found  him 
self  in  the  home  of  the  man  who  owned 
the  gig.  The  man  informed  him  that  his 
horse  was  safe  and  uninjured  in  the  barn. 
A  surgeon  came  soon  after  to  examine 
Lavengro  and  to  bandage  his  injured  arm. 
While  recuperating,  Lavengro  learned  his 
host's  story,  how  at  the  shattering  of  ail 
his  hopes  for  happiness  with  the  death  of 
his  beloved,  he  had  turned  to  the  study 
of  Chinese  as  a  way  to  occupy  his  mind. 
Through  this  man,  Lavengro  learned 
much  of  the  character  of  Chinese  lan 
guage  and  writing. 

The  surgeon  finally  declared  Lavengro 
well  enough  to  continue  to  the  fair  and 
gave  him  a  letter  to  an  innkeeper  in 
Horncastle,  so  that  he  might  find  room 
and  board  for  both  himself  and  his  horse. 
He  proceeded  to  Horncastle,  and  the  next 
morning,  after  displaying  his  horse's  abil 
ities  to  the  best  advantage,  he  sold  him  to 
Jack  Dale,  a  horse-trader,  who  was  acting 
as  a  representative  for  a  Hungarian.  Later 
that  evening  Lavengro  and  the  Hun 
garian  began  a  discourse  in  German,  and 
Lavengro  learned  much  of  the  history  of 
Hungary.  He  also  heard  Jack  Dale's  life 
story.  Jack,  the  son  of  a  forger,  had  ex 
perienced  a  difficult  and  unhappy  child 
hood.  His  life  had  been  made  even  harder 
because  of  his  physical  ugliness.  After 
his  father  was  convicted  and  sent  away 
to  serve  a  prison  sentence,  Jack  decided 
to  live  an  upright  life,  as  he  had  promised 
his  father  he  would  do.  After  much  strug 
gling,  he  had  finally  achieved  a  respect 
able  place  in  the  community. 

While  walking  through  the  town  the 
next  morning,  Lavengro  saw  a  thimble- 
rigger  chased  off  by  Jack  Dale.  Laven 
gro  recognized  the  thimblerigger  as  a 
boyhood  friend,  Murtagh,  and  followed 
him.  After  much  recollection  of  old 
times  he  gave  Murtagh  five  pounds  to 


850 


return  to  Ireland  and  become  a  priest,  a 
profession  for  which  Murtagh  had 
studied  as  a  young  man,  but  in  which 
he  had  never  been  ordained  because  of 
difficulties  over  card  playing. 

Lavengro  left  Horncastle  and  walked 
eastward.  He  continued  his  journey  for 
two  days  until  he  came  to  a  large  town. 
There,  on  the  outskirts,  he  was  accosted 
by  a  recruiting  sergeant  who  tried  to  get 


him  to  join  the  Honorable  East  India 
Company  and  to  go  to  India  to  fight. 
Lavengro  was  struck  by  the  similarity  of 
words  the  sergeant  used  and  those  of  the 
gipsies.  But  when  the  sergeant  noticed 
that  Lavengro's  hair  was  beginning  to 
turn  gray,  he  withdrew  his  offer.  All  of 
his  life  Lavengro  was  to  wonder  what 
new  adventures  he  might  have  encount 
ered  if  he  had  gone  to  India. 


ROME  HAUL 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  Walter  D.  Edmonds  (1903-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:   Regional  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    1850 

Locale:    Erie  Canal 

First  published:    1929 

Principal  characters: 

DAN  HARROW,  a  newcomer  on  the  canal 
MOLLY  LARKTNS,  his  cook 
FORTUNE  FEJENDLY,  a  canal  character 
GENTLEMAN  JOE  CALASH,  a  canal  highwayman 
JOTHAM  KLORE,  a  canal  bully 

Critique: 

There  is  a  native  tang  and  sharpness  to 
this  novel,  which  reclaims  a  segment  of 
the  American  past  in  its  picture  of  life 
along  the  Erie  Canal.  The  book  is  vivid 
in  its  painstaking  detail.  The  description 
of  a  flock  of  geese  becomes  more  than 
description  for  pictorial  effect;  it  becomes 
a  symbol  of  the  passing  of  a  season  and 
a  passing  of  a  way  of  life.  There  is 
poignancy  and  passion  in  the  lives  of 
people  like  Dan  and  Molly,  Mrs.  Gurget 
and  Sol,  and  even  Gentleman  Joe  Calash, 
who  lived  on  the  big  ditch  before  the 
railroads  destroyed  its  free,  picturesque 
life.  Rome  Haul  is  authentic  Americana. 


The  Story: 

It  was  early  summer.  A  young  man 
carrying  a  carpetbag  was  walking  to 
Boonville,  New  York,  when  a  peddler 
named  Jacob  Turnesa  picked  him  up. 
The  young  man  said  his  name  was  Dan 
Harrow,  lately  a  farmhand  and  now  look 
ing  for  work  on  the  Erie  Canal,  A  farm 


woman  stopped  them  for  news  and  gave 
them  some  root  beer.  She  and  Turnesa 
talked  about  Gentleman  Joe  Calash,  a 
highwayman  on  the  canal. 

While  Dan  was  looking  for  lodgings 
in  one  of  the  taverns,  he  saw  Gentleman 
Joe  Calash  quarreling  with  Jotham  Klore, 
canal  bully.  The  highwayman  struck 
Klore  with  his  revolver  and  rode  off 
in  the  darkness.  Dan  made  no  effort  to 
give  the  alarm,  not  even  for  the  two 
thousand  dollars  reward.  Inwardly  he 
felt  sympathy  for  the  robber,  who  was, 
like  himself,  alone  and  without  friends. 

Looking  for  work,  Dan  went  to  the 
Ella-Romeyn,  the  canal  boat  of  Hector 
Berry.  He  found  Berry  playing  cards 
with  Sol  Tinkle  and  Mrs.  Gurget,  Sol's 
cook.  Mrs.  Gurget  was  enormously  fat 
and  addicted  to  rum  noggins  with  lots 
of  lemon  in  them.  Mrs.  Berry  was 
away,  and  so  Hector,  who  could  make  no 
decisions  without  his  wife,  could  only 
offer  Dan  a  job  for  the  short  haul  to 


ROME  HAUL  by  Walter  D.   Edmonds.    By  permission  of  the  author,   of  Harold   Ober,    and   the   publishers, 
Uttle,  Brown  &  Co.   Copyright,  1929,  by  Walter  D.  Edmonds. 


851 


Rome.  Later  that  day  Mrs.  Berry  came 
aboard.  She  was  suspicious  of  Dan  be 
cause  lie  was  a  stranger.  Dan  left  the 
boat  on  reaching  Rome. 

At  Rome  he  went  to  Hennessy's  Sa 
loon  to  see  Julius  Wilson  about  a  job. 
While  he  waited  he  overheard  more  talk 
of  Gentleman  Joe  Calash  and  of  the 
reward  for  capturing  him.  Then  Molly 
Larkins,  a  pretty  canal  cook,  joined 
him.  Molly  cooked  for  Jotham  Klore. 
When  Klore  came  in,  he  accused  Dan 
of  getting  too  familiar  with  Molly. 
Angry,  Dan  hit  Klore.  Gentleman  Joe 
suddenly  appeared,  knocked  out  Klore, 
and  held  Molly  and  Dan  with  his  weap 
on.  When  they  promised  not  to  give 
the  alarm,  he  made  his  escape. 

A  little  later  Wilson  hired  Dan  for 
the  haul  to  Albany  on  his  boat,  the 
Xerxes.  Ben  Rae  was  the  captain  and 
William  Wampy,  the  cook  and  fiddler. 
Near  Utica  they  saw  a  tall  thin  man 
running  from  a  crowd  that  chased  him 
into  a  haymow.  They  learned  that  the 
man  was  a  traveling  preacher  who  had 
been  paid  for  six  sermons  but  had  tried 
to  sneak  out  without  giving  the  last  one. 
Cornered,  the  minister  preached  a  fire- 
and-brimstone  sermon  from  the  mow. 
After  he  had  finished,  Ben  Rae  took  the 
minister  aboard.  He  explained  that 
though  he  had  been  trained  for  the 
ministry  he  was  not  really  a  preacher. 
His  name  was  Fortune  Friendly. 

At  the  next  stop  Dan  went  ashore  and 
encountered  Molly  Larkin  again.  She 
had  given  up  her  job  with  Klore  and 
was  going  to  Lucy  Cashdollar's  place  to 
get  a  new  position.  Later  that  night 
Dan  got  into  another  fight  with  Klore 
and  was  knocked  out.  When  he  came 
to,  he  found  that  someone  had  carried 
him  to  the  boat.  He  caught  a  glimpse 
of  Gentleman  Joe. 

At  Albany  Samson  Weaver,  captain  of 
the  Sarsy  Sal,  hired  him  to  drive  his 
team.  On  the  first  day  of  their  haul  they 
saw  a  burning  canal  boat  condemned  be 
cause  of  cholera.  Samson  claimed  he 
was  not  afraid  of  cholera,  but  he  began 


to  drink  hard.  Ill,  he  asked  Dan  to  use 
his  money  for  a  doctor,  but  before  Dan 
could  get  a  doctor  Samson  died.  While 
looking  for  an  undertaker,  Dan  found  a 
funeral  director  who  offered  him  ten  dol 
lars  for  Samson's  corpse.  He  took  the 
money  because  he  could  not  afford  to 
pay  for  Samson's  funeral. 

Deciding  to  carry  on  alone,  he  headed 
for  Lucy  Cashdollar's  agency,  Lucy  sup 
plied  girls  as  cooks  for  lonely  canal  men. 
Whether  they  married  the  canal  men 
was  no  concern  of  hers,  but  usually  she 
was  glad  if  they  did.  By  nightfall  Molly 
was  installed  as  the  cook  aboard  the 
Sarsy  Sal. 

Mr.  Butterfield,  the  agent  for  whom 
Samson  had  worked,  offered  to  keep  Dan 
hauling  for  him  at  the  rates  he  had 
paid  Samson.  Together  they  planned  to 
reclaim  Samson's  body  from  the  surgeon 
to  whom  the  undertaker  had  sold  it,  and 
give  it  decent  burial. 

On  the  wharf  Dan  saw  old  Fortune 
Friendly  again  and  hired  him  as  a  driver. 
Molly  and  Friendly  talked  about  Jotham 
Klore  and  agreed  that  sooner  or  later 
there  would  have  to  be  a  show-down 
fight  between  Klore  and  Dan.  Molly 
and  Dan  found  Samson's  money  hidden 
aboard  the  Sarsy  Sal,  over  eight  hundred 
dollars.  Dan  thought  it  was  enough  to 
start  a  small  farm. 

When  Dan  decided  to  buy  a  pair  of 
horses  at  the  Utica  fair,  Molly,  Sol 
Tinkle,  Mrs.  Gurget,  Hector  Berry,  and 
Mrs.  Berry  went  with  him.  While  Molly 
and  Dan  shopped  for  a  suit  for  Dan,  the 
clerk  treated  them  as  man  and  wife. 
Dan  almost  asked  Molly  to  marry  him, 
but  he  lost  his  chance  when  Hector 
hurried  them  along  so  that  his  wife  could 
witness  the  hanging  of  a  woman  who 
had  browbeaten  her  husband  and  finally 
killed  him.  Hector  hoped  the  hanging 
would  be  a  lesson  to  his  nagging  wife. 
At  the  fair  Dan  purchased  two  well- 
matched  horses. 

Autumn  was  in  the  air,  and  soon  the 
canal  would  be  closed  for  the  season. 
Jotham  Klore  had  not  appeared.  His 


852 


fight  with  Dan  would  be  postponed 
until  spring.  Dan  and  Molly  saw  Gentle 
man  Joe  again,  and  the  highwayman 
gave  them  a  jeweled  pin  as  a  memento. 
Dan  had  always  linked  himself  with 
Gentleman  Joe,  feeling  that  neither  he 
nor  the  highwayman  was  really  part  of 
the  canal. 

That  winter  Dan  and  Molly  realized 
that  the  initial  warmth  of  their  feeling 
for  each  other  was  over.  Molly  confided 
to  her  friends  that  she  intended  to  stay 
on  the  canal  and  that  if  Dan  decided 
to  go  back  to  the  land  she  would  leave 
him.  When  spring  came,  Dan  received 
an  offer  to  work  on  a  farm,  but  the 
offer  was  good  only  if  he  were  not  mar 
ried.  Not  knowing  what  to  do  and  un 
willing  to  desert  Molly,  Dan  headed  the 
Sarsy  Sal  west  on  the  canal.  At  the  Lan 
sing  Kill  they  met  Jotham  Klore's  boat 
coming  toward  the  lock.  Dan  and  Klore 


fought  on  a  square  of  grass  that  the 
excited,  shouting  boaters  marked  off 
beside  the  locks.  It  was  a  battle  that 
men  talked  about  on  the  Erie  for  years 
afterward,  Dan  and  Klore  pummeling 
each  other  under  the  hot  sunshine  while 
Molly  Larkin  stood  by  to  see  what  the 
outcome  would  be.  Dan  won,  and  he 
and  Molly  started  west  once  more.  But 
the  feeling  between  them  was  no  longer 
the  same.  Dan  felt  that  she  was  pitying 
Klore,  the  beaten  bully  of  the  canal. 

Then  Gentleman  Joe  was  caught  and 
killed,  and  for  the  first  time  Dan  saw 
the  highwayman's  cruel,  mean  face. 
Somehow,  he  felt  that  the  highwayman's 
death  freed  him  from  life  on  the  canal. 
One  day  Molly  left  him  to  go  back  to 
Klore.  Dan  took  the  farm  job  that  had 
been  offered  him.  He  knew  that  he  be 
longed  in  the  farm  country  from  which 
he  had  come. 


ROMEO  AND  JULIET 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  Verona,  Italy 

First  presented:  c.  1595 

Principal  characters: 

ROMEO,  son  of  the  house  of  Montague 
JULIET,  daughter  of  the  house  of  Capulet 
FRIAR  LAWRENCE,  a  Franciscan 
MERCUTIO,  Romeo's  friend 
TYBALT,  Lady  Capulet's  nephew 

Critique: 

This  story  of  two  star-crossed  lovers  is 
one  of  Shakespeare's  tenderest  dramas. 
Shakespeare  was  evidently  quite  sympa 
thetic  toward  Romeo  and  Juliet,  and  in 
attributing  their  tragedy  to  fate,  rather 
than  to  a  flaw  in  their  characters,  he 
raised  them  to  heights  near  perfection. 
They  are  both  sincere,  kind,  brave,  loyal, 
virtuous,  and  desperately  in  love,  and 
their  tragedy  is  greater  because  of  their 
innocence.  The  feud  between  the  lovers' 
families  represents  the  fate  which  Romeo 
and  Juliet  are  powerless  to  overcome. 
The  lines  capture  in  poetry  the  youthful 


and  simple  passion  which  characterizes 
the  play. 

The  Story: 

Long  ago  in  Verona,  Italy,  there  lived 
two  famous  families,  the  Montagues  and 
the  Capulets.  These  two  houses  were 
deadly  enemies,  and  their  enmity  did  not 
stop  at  harsh  words,  but  extended  to 
bloody  duels  and  sometimes  death. 

Romeo,  son  of  old  Montague,  thought 
himself  in  love  with  haughty  Rosaline,  a 
beautiful  girl  who  did  not  return  his 
affection.  Hearing  that  Rosaline  was  to 


853 


attend  a  great  feast  at  the  house  of  Capu- 
let,  Romeo  and  his  trusted  friend,  Mer- 
cutio,  donned  masks  and  entered  the 
great  hall  as  invited  guests.  But  Romeo 
was  no  sooner  in  the  ballroom  than  he 
noticed  the  exquisite  Juliet,  Capulet's 
daughter,  and  instantly  forgot  his  dis 
dainful  Rosaline.  Romeo  had  never  seen 
Juliet  "before,  and  in  asking  her  name  he 
aroused  the  suspicion  of  Tybalt,  a  fiery 
member  of  the  Capulet  clan.  Tybalt 
drew  his  sword  and  faced  Romeo.  But 
old  Capulet,  coming  upon  the  two  men, 
parted  them,  and  with  the  gentility  that 
comes  with  age  requested  that  they  have 
no  bloodshed  at  the  feast.  Tybalt,  how 
ever,  was  angered  that  a  Montague 
should  take  part  in  Capulet  festivities, 
and  afterward  nursed  a  grudge  against 
Romeo. 

Romeo  spoke  in  urgent  courtliness  to 
Juliet  and  asked  if  he  might  kiss  her  hand. 
She  gave  her  permission,  much  impressed 
by  this  unknown  gentleman  whose  affec 
tion  for  her  was  so  evident.  Romeo  then 
begged  to  kiss  her  lips,  and  when  she 
had  no  breath  to  object,  he  pressed  her 
to  him.  They  were  interrupted  by 
Juliet's  nurse,  who  sent  the  young  girl 
off  to  her  mother.  When  she  had  gone, 
Romeo  learned  from  the  nurse  that  Juliet 
was  a  Capulet.  He  was  stunned,  for  he 
was  certain  that  this  fact  would  mean  his 
death.  He  could  never  give  her  up. 
Juliet,  who  had  fallen  instantly  in  love 
with  Romeo,  discovered  that  he  was  a 
Montague,  the  son  of  a  hated  house. 

That  night  Romeo,  too  much  in  love 
to  go  home  to  sleep,  stole  to  Juliet's 
house  and  stood  in  the  orchard  beneath 
a  balcony  that  led  to  her  room.  To  his 
surprise,  he  saw  Juliet  leaning  over  the 
railing  above  him.  Thinking  herself 
alone,  she  began  to  talk  of  Romeo  and 
wished  aloud  that  he  were  not  a  Mon 
tague.  Hearing  her  words,  Romeo  could 
contain  himself  no  longer,  but  spoke  to 
her.  She  was  frightened  at  first,  and 
when  she  saw  who  it  was  she  was  con 
fused  and  ashamed  that  he  had  overheard 
her  confession.  But  it  was  too  late  to 


pretend  reluctance,  as  was  the  fashion 
for  sweethearts  in  those  days.  Juliet 
freely  admitted  her  passion,  and  the  two 
exchanged  vows  of  love.  Juliet  told 
Romeo  that  she  would  marry  him  and 
would  send  him  word  by  nine  o'clock 
the  next  morning  to  arrange  for  their 
wedding. 

Romeo  then  went  off  to  the  monastery 
cell  of  Friar  Lawrence  to  enlist  his  help 
in  the  ceremony.  The  good  friar  was 
much  impressed  with  Romeo's  devotion. 
Thinking  that  the  union  of  a  Montague 
and  a  Capulet  would  dissolve  the  enmity 
between  the  two  houses,  he  promised  to 
marry  Romeo  and  Juliet. 

Early  the  next  morning,  while  he  was 
in  company  with  his  two  friends,  Ben- 
volio  and  Mercutio,  Romeo  received 
Juliet's  message,  brought  by  her  nurse. 
He  told  the  old  woman  of  his  arrange 
ment  with  Friar  Lawrence  and  bade  her 
carry  the  word  back  to  Juliet.  The  nurse 
kept  the  secret  and  gave  her  mistress  the 
message.  When  Juliet  appeared  at  the 
friar's  cell  at  the  appointed  time,  she  and 
Romeo  were  married.  But  the  time  was 
short  and  Juliet  had  to  hurry  home.  Be 
fore  she  left,  Romeo  promised  that  he 
would  meet  her  in  the  orchard  under 
neath  the  balcony  after  dark  that  night. 

That  same  day,  Romeo's  friends,  Mer 
cutio  and  Benvolio,  were  loitering  in  the 
streets  when  Tybalt  came  by  with  some 
other  members  of  the  Capulet  house. 
Tybalt,  still  holding  his  grudge  against 
Romeo,  accused  Mercutio  of  keeping 
company  with  the  hateful  and  villainous 
young  Montague.  Mercutio,  proud  of  his 
friendship  with  Romeo,  could  not  take 
insult  lightly,  for  he  was  as  hot-tempered 
when  provoked  as  Tybalt  himself.  The 
two  were  beginning  their  heated  quarrel 
when  Romeo,  who  had  just  returned 
from  his  wedding,  appeared.  He  was 
appalled  at  the  situation  because  he  knew 
that  Juliet  was  fond  of  Tybalt,  and  he 
wished  no  injury  to  his  wife's  people. 
He  tried  in  vain  to  settle  the  argument 
peaceably.  Mercutio  was  infuriated  by 
Romeo's  soft  words,  and  when  Tybalt 


854 


called  Romeo  a  villain,  Mercutio  drew 
his  sword  and  rushed  to  his  friend's  de 
fense.  But  Tybalt,  the  better  swordsman, 
gave  Mercutio  a  mortal  wound.  Romeo 
could  ignore  the  fight  no  longer.  Enraged 
at  the  death  of  his  friend,  he  rushed  at 
Tybalt  with  drawn  sword  and  killed  him 
quickly.  The  fight  soon  brought  crowds 
of  people  to  the  spot.  For  his  part  in  the 
fray,  Romeo  was  banished  from  Verona. 

Hiding  out  from  the  police,  he  went, 
grief-stricken,  to  Friar  Lawrence's  cell. 
The  friar  advised  him  to  go  to  his  wife 
that  night,  and  then  at  dawn  to  flee  to 
Mantua  until  the  friar  saw  fit  to  publish 
the  news  of  the  wedding.  Romeo  con 
sented  to  follow  this  good  advice.  As 
darkness  fell,  he  went  to  meet  Juliet. 
When  dawn  appeared,  heartsick  Romeo 
left  for  Mantua. 

Meanwhile,  Juliet's  father  decided 
that  it  was  time  for  his  daughter  to 
marry.  Having  not  the  slightest  idea  of 
her  love  for  Romeo,  the  old  man  de 
manded  that  she  accept  her  handsome 
and  wealthy  suitor,  Paris.  Juliet  was 
horrified  at  her  father's  proposal  but 
dared  not  tell  him  of  her  marriage  be 
cause  of  Romeo's  part  in  Tybalt's  death. 
She  feared  that  her  husband  would  be 
instantly  sought  out  and  killed  if  her 
family  learned  of  the  marriage. 

At  first  she  tried  to  put  off  her  father 
with  excuses.  Failing  to  persuade  him, 
she  went  in  dread  to  Friar  Lawrence  to 
ask  the  good  monk  what  she  could  do. 
Telling  her  to  be  brave,  the  friar  gave 
her  a  small  flask  of  liquid  which  he  told 
her  to  swallow  the  night  before  her  wed 
ding  to  Paris.  This  liquid  would  make 
her  appear  to  be  dead  for  a  certain  length 
of  time;  her  seemingly  lifeless  body 
would  then  be  placed  in  an  open  tomb 
for  a  day  or  two,  and  during  that  time 
the  friar  would  send  for  Romeo,  who 
should  rescue  his  bride  when  she  awoke 
from  the  powerful  effects  of  the  draught. 
Then,  together,  the  two  would  be  able 
to  flee  Verona.  Juliet  almost  lost  courage 
over  this  desperate  venture,  but  she 
promised  to  obey  the  friar.  On  the  way 


home  she  met  Paris  and  modestly  prom 
ised  to  be  his  bride. 

The  great  house  of  the  Capulets  had 
no  sooner  prepared  for  a  lavish  wedding 
than  it  became  the  scene  of  a  mournful 
funeral.  For  Juliet  swallowed  the  strong 
liquid  and  seemed  as  lifeless  as  death 
itself.  Her  anguished  family  sadly  placed 
her  body  in  the  tomb. 

Meanwhile  Friar  Lawrence  wrote  to 
Romeo  in  Mantua,  telling  him  of  the 
plan  by  which  the  lovers  could  make 
their  escape  together.  But  these  letters 
failed  to  reach  Romeo  before  word  of 
Juliet's  death  arrived.  He  determined  to 
go  to  Verona  and  take  his  last  farewell 
of  her  as  she  lay  in  her  tomb,  and  there, 
with  the  help  of  poison  procured  from 
an  apothecary,  to  die  by  her  side. 

Reaching  the  tomb  at  night,  Romeo 
was  surprised  to  find  a  young  man  there. 
It  was  Paris,  who  had  come  to  weep  over 
his  lost  bride.  Thinking  Romeo  a  grave 
robber,  he  drew  his  sword.  Romeo,  mis 
taking  Paris  for  a  hated  Capulet,  warned 
him  that  he  was  desperate  and  armed. 
Paris,  in  loyalty  to  Juliet,  fell  upon 
Romeo,  but  Romeo  with  all  the  fury  of 
his  desperation  killed  him.  By  the  light 
of  a  lantern,  Romeo  recognized  Paris 
and,  taking  pity  on  one  who  had  also 
loved  Juliet,  drew  him  into  the  tomb  so 
that  Paris  too  could  be  near  her.  Then 
Romeo  went  to  the  bier  of  his  beautiful 
bride.  Taking  leave  of  her  with  a  kiss,  he 
drank  the  poison  he  had  brought  with 
him  and  soon  died  by  her  side. 

It  was  near  the  time  for  Juliet  to 
awaken  from  her  deathlike  sleep.  The 
friar,  hearing  that  Romeo  had  never  re 
ceived  his  letters,  went  himself  to  deliver 
Juliet  from  the  tomb.  When  he  arrived, 
he  found  Romeo  dead.  Juliet,  waking, 
asked  for  her  husband.  Then,  seeing  him 
lying  near  her  with  an  empty  cup  in  his 
hands,  she  guessed  what  he  had  done. 
She  tried  to  kiss  some  of  the  poison  from 
his  lips  that  she  too  might  die,  but  fail 
ing  in  this,  she  unsheathed  his  dagger 
and  without  hesitation  plunged  it  into 
her  breast. 


855 


By  this  time  a  guard  had  come  up. 
Seeing  the  dead  lovers  and  the  body  of 
Paris,  he  rushed  off  in  horror  to  spread 
the  news.  When  the  Capulets  and  Mon 
tagues  arrived  at  the  tomb,  the  friar  told 
them  of  the  unhappy  fate  which  had 


befallen  Romeo  and  Juliet,  whose  only 
sin  had  been  to  love.  His  account  of 
their  tender  and  beautiful  romance 
shamed  the  two  families,  and  over  the 
bodies  of  their  dead  children  they  swore 
to  end  the  feud  of  many  years. 


ROMOLA 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Eliot  (Mary  Ann  Evans,  1819-1880) 

Type  of  ylot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  yZot:  1492-1498 

Locale:  Italy 

First  published:  1863 

Principal  characters: 

BARDO,  a  Florentine  scholar 

ROMOLA,  his  daughter 

TITO  MELEMA,  an  adventurer 

TESSA,  a  peasant  girl 

BAT.DASABJUS  CALVO,  Tito's  benefactor 

Critique: 

Romola  is  the  story  of  a  thoroughly 
good  woman  and  a  thoroughly  wicked 
man.  It  is  not  an  easy  novel  to  read,  for 
the  author  has  attempted  a  work  involv 
ing  more  than  literary  craftsmanship.  She 
has  dipped  into  the  history  of  an  age  of 
political  intrigue  and  mystical  religious 
personalities,  and  often  the  plot  of  the 
story  becomes  lost  in  the  maze  of  its  own 
environment.  But  if  the  plot  of  this 
novel  fails  to  stand  out  clearly  from  its 
background,  the  characters  themselves 
can  carry  the  burden  of  brilliant  develop 


ment. 

The  Story: 

Tito  Melema  arrived  in  Florence  pen 
niless  and  unknown,  but  the  sale  of  some 
rare  jewels  in  his  possession  soon  brought 
him  into  the  circle  of  the  wealthy,  learned 
men  of  the  city,  among  them  the  blind 
antiquarian,  Bardo.  Bardo  was  a  great 
scholar  who  continued  his  annotations  of 
Greek  and  Roman  books  through  the  eyes 
of  his  beautiful  daughter,  Romola. 
Bardo's  only  interest  in  life  was  his  library 
and  museum,  and  he  had  brought  up  his 
daughter  in  innocence  of  the  outside 
world.  Bardo  accepted  Tito  eagerly,  for 
he  was  always  eager  to  meet  a  scholar  and 


a  man  who  had  traveled  much.  He  also 
told  Tito  of  a  son  whom  he  had  lost. 

Tito's  fortune  had  at  last  come  to  him 
with  the  sale  of  all  his  jewels  except  a 
single  ring.  He  recalled  that  the  money 
properly  belonged  to  Baldasarre  Calvo, 
the  man  who  had  been  almost  a  father 
to  him,  the  man  who  might  now  be  a 
slave  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  If 
Baldasarre  were  really  alive,  Tito  told 
himself,  he  would  spend  the  money  for 
the  old  man's  ransom.  But  he  was  not 
sure  his  foster  father  still  lived. 

Quickly  Tito  entrenched  himself  in 
the  learned  society  of  Florence.  At  the 
yearly  festival  of  San  Giovanni,  patron 
saint  of  Florence,  Tito,  while  sitting  at 
a  window  with  a  friend,  fancied  that  he 
saw  in  the  crowd  below  a  monk  who 
gazed  upon  him  with  a  malicious  glance. 
Also  glancing  up  at  Tito  from  below  was 
the  beautiful  Tessa,  daughter  of  a  milk 
vendor,  whom  Tito  had  met  on  the  day 
of  his  arrival  in  Florence. 

Later  as  he  walked  through  the 
crowded  streets,  he  rescued  Tessa  from 
some  jostling  revelers.  When  he  had  left 
her,  he  met  the  strange  monk  who  had 
gazed  at  him  from  the  crowd  earlier  in 
the  afternoon.  The  monk,  Fra  Luca, 


856 


gave  him  a  note  that  had  been  brought 
from  a  pilgrim  in  the  Near  East.  The 
note  was  from  Baldassare,  who  pleaded 
that  Tito  should  rescue  him  from  slavery. 
Tito  wondered  what  was  so  familiar 
about  the  Fra's  face. 

Attracted  by  the  lovely,  grave  Romola, 
Tito  spent  many  hours  reading  and  writ 
ing  manuscripts  with  her  blind  father. 
One  day,  when  Tito  had  the  opportunity 
to  be  alone  with  Romola  for  a  brief  mo 
ment,  he  declared  his  love  to  her,  and 
Romola  shyly  confessed  her  love  for  him. 
That  same  day  Monna  Brigida  paid  a 
call  on  her  cousin  Bardo.  When  she  acci 
dentally  mentioned  the  name  of  a 
Dominican  monk,  Dino,  Tito  discovered 
that  the  lost  son  of  Bardo  was  not  dead, 
but  banished  from  his  father's  house.  Re 
alizing  that  Fra  Luca  was  Dino,  Tito 
feared  exposure  of  his  benefactor's  slav 
ery.  He  felt  the  time  ripe  for  asking  the 
old  man  for  permission  to  marry  Romola. 
Bardo  readily  consented. 

Tito  learned  that  Fra  Luca  was  dan 
gerously  ill  at  Fiesole.  One  evening 
Romola  told  him  that  her  dying  brother 
had  sent  for  her.  Tito  feared  that  Fra 
Luca  would  tell  her  the  story  which  Tito 
had  hoped  would  die  with  him.  In  de 
spair,  he  wandered  through  the  city  and 
accidentally  met  Tessa.  In  a  ribald  cere 
mony  which  amused  the  gaping  crowd, 
Tito  allowed  Tessa  to  believe  that  he 
had  really  married  her.  Unwilling  to  un 
deceive  her,  he  made  her  promise  to  keep 
the  marriage  a  secret.  Meanwhile  Dino 
died  without  revealing  to  Romola  the 
story  of  Baldasarre  and  the  ungrateful 
Tito.  Tito  and  Romola  were  married. 

Bardo  died,  leaving  Romola  to  carry 
on  his  scholarly  work.  Meanwhile  polit 
ical  events  in  Florence  helped  to  ad 
vance  Tito's  fortunes;  he  became  an  inter 
preter  in  negotiations  with  the  French.  On 
the  day  the  French  king  arrived  in  the 
city,  the  soldiers  led  through  the  streets 
a  group  of  prisoners  who  begged  their 
ransoms  from  the  Florentines.  The  mock 
ing  mob  cut  an  old  man  loose  from  his 
fetters  and  allowed  him  to  escape  into 


the  crowd.  The  prisoner  ran  blindly  into 
Tito>  who  stood  with  a  group  of  digni 
taries  on  the  steps  of  San  Marco.  Tito 
turned  and  found  himself  looking  into 
the  face  of  Baldasarre  Calvo,  who  then 
disappeared  into  the  crowd. 

Fearing  Baldasarre's  revenge,  Tito 
bought  a  coat  of  mail  to  wear  under  his 
clothes  as  a  defense  against  the  thrust 
of  a  knife  or  a  spear.  Tito  begged  Romola 
to  sell  her  father's  library  and  leave 
Florence  with  him.  When  Romola  re 
fused,  he  secretly  sold  the  library  and 
the  antiquities  it  contained. 

In  his  search  for  a  place  to  stay,  Balda 
sarre  came  by  chance  to  the  house  where 
Tessa  and  her  children  by  Tito  lived 
with  a  deaf  old  peasant  woman.  The 
woman  gave  the  old  man  permission  to 
sleep  in  the  loft.  Tessa  eagerly  confided 
in  Baldasarre.  Tito  had  not  abandoned 
her  after  their  mock-marriage.  At  first 
he  had  been  too  flattered  by  her  innocent 
admiration  to  tell  her  they  were  not  man 
and  wife.  Instead,  he  had  sent  her  to 
live  with  the  old  peasant  woman,  whom 
he  paid  well  for  the  care  she  gave  Tessa 
and  his  children,  and  he  had  sworn  the 
two  women  to  secrecy,  While  Baldasarre 
lay  in  the  hayloft,  Tito  came  to  see  Tessa. 
Suspecting  from  her  description  the  iden 
tity  of  the  old  man,  Tito  went  to  his  foster 
father  to  ask  his  forgiveness.  He  had  de 
cided  that  Baldasarre  should  come  to  live 
with  him  and  share  his  comfort.  But 
the  old  man  did  not  forgive.  He  threat 
ened  to  expose  Tito  and  ruin  him. 

At  a  dinner  in  Florence,  Baldasarre 
appeared  to  denounce  Tito  before  his 
political  friends.  The  trembling  old  man 
was  pronounced  mad  and  sent  to  prison. 
During  a  plague  the  jails  were  emptied 
to  make  room  for  the  sick,  and  Baldasarre 
was  released.  He  spied  upon  Tito  until 
he  learned  that  the  youth  had  two  wives, 
one  noble  and  brave,  the  other  timid  and 
stupid.  He  approached  Romola  to  expose 
Tito.  When  he  told  Romola  of  Tito's 
betrayal,  she  was  able  to  piece  together 
all  the  suspicions  she  had  felt  toward  her 
husband,  his  long  absences  from  home, 


857 


his  strange  moods,  and  his  secret  fears. 
One  day  she  found  little  Lillo,  Tessa's 
son,  wandering  lost  in  the  streets.  She 
took  the  child  to  his  home,  and  there 
she  realized  that  she  had  discovered 
Tito's  Tessa. 

The  final  blow  came  to  Romola  when 
her  godfather,  Bernardo  Del  Nero,  the 
only  person  in  the  world  she  still  loved, 
was  arrested.  The  Medici  had  been  plot 
ting  to  return  to  Florence,  and  Bernardo 
was  a  member  of  the  committee  which 
plotted  their  return.  Romola  knew  Tito 
had  been  a  spy  for  both  political  fac 
tions;  he  had  gained  his  own  safety  by 
betraying  others.  Romola  revealed  to  Tito 
her  knowledge  of  Baldasarre's  story  and 
the  truth  of  the  old  man's  accusation 
against  him.  Then,  disillusioned  and  sor 
rowful  at  the  execution  of  Bernardo,  she 
fled  from  Florence. 

Tito  also  planned  to  flee  from  Florence, 


for  his  double  dealings  had  been  dis 
covered.  A  mob  followed  him  out  of  the 
city.  To  escape  his  pursuers,  he  threw 
away  his  money  belt,  and  while  the 
crowd  scrambled  for  it,  he  jumped  into 
the  river.  Weakly  he  pulled  himself 
ashore  on  the  opposite  side.  There  Bal- 
dasarre,  now  a  starving  beggar,  found 
him.  In  a  final  effort  the  old  man  threw 
himself  upon  his  exhausted  enemy  and 
strangled  him. 

After  passing  many  months  in  another 
city,  Romola  returned  to  Florence  to 
learn  of  her  husband's  murder  at  the 
hands  of  an  old  man  who  had  long  been 
his  enemy.  Romola  understood  the  jus 
tice  of  Tito's  violent  end.  She  found 
Tessa  and  the  children  and  brought  them 
to  live  with  her.  Hers  was  the  one  good 
deed  that  resulted  from  Tito's  false  and 
guilty  life. 


ROUGHING  IT 

Type  of  work:  Record  of  travel 

Author:  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L.  Clemens,  1835-1910) 

Type  of  plot:  Travel  sketches  and  autobiography 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  West 

First  published:  1872 

Principal  characters: 

MARK  TWAIN,  a  tenderfoot 

BRIGHAM  YOUNG,  the  Mormon  leader 

SLADE  THE  TERRIBLE,  a  Western  desperado 

HAJNK  ERICESON,  a  correspondent  of  Horace  Greeley 

Critique: 

Mark  Twain's  recollections  are  inter 
esting  because  they  present  a  picture  of 
the  still  expanding  Western  frontier.  Al 
though  the  book  is  badly  organized,  it  is 
excellent  for  its  eye-witness  accounts  of 
Virginia  City  and  the  Nevada  mining 
camps,  Mormonism,  early  San  Francisco, 
and  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Always,  of 
course,  the  book  is  enlivened  by  Mark 
Twain's  boisterous,  native  humor. 


The  Story: 

When  Mark  Twain  traveled  West 
with  his  brother,  he  had  no  idea  that  he 
would  stay  out  there  for  any  long  period 


of  time.  His  brother  had  been  appointed 
Secretary  of  the  Nevada  Territory,  and 
Twain  went  along  as  his  secretary,  with 
no  salary.  Instead  of  the  three  months 
he  intended  to  stay,  however,  he  was  six 
years  away  from  home. 

The  trip  itself  was  exciting.  There 
were  many  inconveniences,  naturally,  as 
well  as  danger  from  the  Indians  and  at 
tacks  by  highwaymen.  But  Twain  saw 
the  country  and  enjoyed  the  adventure, 
nonetheless.  On  the  way  he  came  face 
to  face  with  Slade  the  Terrible.  Slade 
was  foreman  of  the  stagecoach  workers, 
a  man  who  would  kill  anyone  if  crossed, 


858 


a  man  whose  repute  went  far  and  wide. 
To  Twain  he  seemed  very  polite,  a 
gentleman,  and  quite  harmless.  But 
Slade's  days  were  numbered.  The  vigi 
lantes  were  after  him.  Although  he  was 
warned,  he  was  drunk  at  the  time,  and 
so  was  unable  to  avoid  capture.  Brought 
to  trial  by  a  vigilante  court,  he  was  found 
guilty  and  ordered  hanged.  He  died 
without  having  seen  his  wife,  probably 
a  fortunate  circumstance  for  the  vigi 
lantes.  At  an  earlier  time,  with  blazing 
six-shooters  flaming  from  under  her  petti 
coats,  she  had  rescued  Slade  from  a  simi 
lar  situation. 

Twain  also  met  Brigham  Young,  the 
Mormon  leader,  who  bemoaned  the  fact 
that  he  had  so  many  wives,  wives  who 
were  jealous  and  argumentative.  Out  of 
curiosity  Twain  also  read  the  Mormon 
Bible. 

Twain  and  some  companions  set  out  to 
prospect  for  gold  in  the  Nevada  moun 
tains.  Once  they  were  caught  in  a  snow 
storm  and  seemingly  doomed  to  die.  Each 
of  them  renounced  a  particular  vice. 
Twain  threw  away  his  pipe,  another  his 
cigarettes,  and  the  third  his  bottle  of 
whiskey.  But  they  did  not  die.  At  dawn 
they  discovered  that  they  had  been  but 
a  few  yards  away  from  an  inn.  Then 
Twain  was  sorry  he  had  thrown  away  his 
pipe.  He  found  it  in  the  snow  and 
sneaked  behind  the  barn  for  a  smoke. 
There  he  came  upon  one  of  his  comrades 
drinking  from  the  whiskey  bottle  and 
the  other  rolling  a  cigarette. 

At  first  they  had  no  luck  in  their  search 
for  gold.  True,  they  found  places  where 
there  was  gold,  but  the  operations  needed 
to  extract  it  were  too  complicated  and  ex 
pensive.  Finally  they  had  real  luck. 
When  they  found  rock  that  would  yield 
millions  of  dollars  for  them,  they  claimed 
it  and  dreamed  of  spending  their  lives 
in  luxury.  The  law  specified  that  some 
work  must  be  done  on  each  new  claim 
within  ten  days;  otherwise  the  claimants 
lost  their  right  to  the  claim  and  anyone 
else  could  get  control  of  it.  Twain  left, 
having  confidence  that  his  partners  would 


work  the  new  claim.  But  each  thought 
the  other  would  do  the  work,  and  so 
none  was  done.  At  the  end  of  ten  days 
the  mine  was  claimed  by  others.  Twain 
and  his  partners  were  relegated  to  a 
common,  working  existence. 

He  wandered  from  place  to  place, 
working  for  newspapers,  being  fired  from 
them,  and  moving  on.  Eventually  he 
landed  in  San  Francisco  and  went  from 
there  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  where  he 
visited  the  spot  on  which  Captain  Cook 
had  been  killed  by  natives.  At  first  the 
natives  had  treated  the  British  explorer 
kindly.  Cook,  in  turn,  had  made  them 
believe  that  he  was  a  god,  and  he  had 
treated  them  brutally.  One  day.  injured, 
he  showed  his  pain.  Convinced  by  his 
hurt  that  he  was  not  divine,  but  a  man 
like  themselves,  the  natives  killed  him  — 
rightly,  according  to  Twain,  for  he  bad 
returned  their  kindness  with  cruelty. 

Then  there  was  Hank  Erickson,  the 
crazy  stranger.  Erickson  had  once  written 
a  letter  to  Horace  Greeley.  A  widow  had 
a  son  who  liked  turnips.  She  wanted  to 
find  out  if  turnips  sometimes  grew  into 
vines.  This  was  the  question  Erickson 
asked  in  the  letter  he  wrote  to  Greeley. 
Greeley  replied,  but  the  handwriting  was 
so  illegible  that  nothing  could  be  made  of 
it.  In  fact,  every  time  Erickson  read  the 
letter  it  seemed  different,  but  always 
meaningless.  Finally  he  deciphered  it 
and  became  convinced  that  Greeley  had 
insulted  him.  Erickson  wrote  to  Greeley 
again.  The  publisher  had  a  clerk  copy 
the  letter,  which  turned  out  to  be  infor 
mative  and  not  at  all  insulting.  Twain 
slyly  maintained  that  he  never  found  out 
why  Erickson  was  crazy. 

Twain  decided  to  try  his  luck  at  lec 
turing.  At  his  first  appearance  he  was 
afraid  that  nobody  would  laugh  at  his 
jokes.  He  gave  free  tickets  to  various 
people>  and  told  them  to  laugh  at  the 
right  moments.  When  he  got  to  the  audi 
torium  the  seats  were  empty.  He  sat  in 
the  wings  and  felt  sad.  However,  ht 
soon  heard  the  noise  of  voices  and  came 
out  of  his  dream  to  find  that  the  hall 


859 


was  crowded.  His  lecture  was  a  great 
success;  people  even  laughed  when  his 
talk  was  not  funny. 

When  lie  returned  to  San  Francisco 
from  Hawaii,  Twain  planned  a  trip  to 


Japan.  Later  he  abandoned  the  idea  to 
go  back  home.  He  traveled  to  New  York 
by  way  of  Panama.  So  ended  his  Wild 
West  and  Hawaiian  adventures. 


SALAMMBO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Gustave  Flaubert  (1821-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Third  century  B.C. 

Locale:  Carthage 

First  published:  1862 

Principal  characters: 

HAMLLCAR,  Suffete  of  Carthage 
SAHAMMBO,  his  daughter 
MATHO,  a  Libyan  chief 
SPENDIUS,  a  Greek  slave 
NARR'  HAVAS,  a  Numidian  chief 

Critique: 

Salamrnbd  is  a  monumental  descrip 
tion  of  Carthage  while  that  city-republic 
was  still  a  great  power.  Into  this  novel 
Flaubert  put  five  years  of  reading,  years 
when  he  read  every  scrap  of  information 
he  could  find  about  Carthage  during  the 
Punic  Wars.  The  result  is  a  vast,  erudite 
reconstruction  for  which  there  are  few 
parallels.  Flaubert  was  a  careful,  slow 
worker,  and  this  novel  demonstrates  his 
exact  style.  Character  analysis  is  scant 
and  the  plot  little  more  than  animated 
history,  but  critical  opinion  accords  it  a 
distinguished  place  because  of  its  faithful 
picture  of  the  people  and  the  times. 


The  Story: 

Inside  the  walls  of  Carthage  a  vast 
army  of  mercenaries  gathered  in  the 
gardens  of  Hamilcar.  There  were  Liguri- 
ans,  Lusitanians,  nomadic  barbarians 
from  North  Africa,  Romans,  Greeks, 
Gauls,  and  Egyptians.  A  feast  for  these 
thousands  of  hired  warriors  was  in  prepa 
ration.  Odors  of  cooking  food  came  from 
Hamilcar's  kitchens,  and  the  Council  of 
Elders  had  provided  many  oxen  to  roast 
over  the  open  fires  in  the  gardens.  The 
men,  tired  from  their  defeat  at  the  hands 
of  the  Romans  and  weary  from  the  sea 


journey  over  the  Mediterranean,  waited 
with  ill-concealed  impatience  for  the 
feasting  to  begin. 

More  than  that,  they  were  in  an  ugly 
mood  because  they  had  not  been  paid. 
Hamilcar,  their  beloved  leader  even  in 
defeat,  had  promised  them  their  pay 
many  times.  The  elders,  however,  par 
simonious  and  afraid  of  this  huge  as 
sembly  of  fierce  foreigners,  withheld  their 
pay.  Offers  of  token  payment  had  been 
angrily  refused. 

While  the  revelry  was  at  its  height, 
many  men  were  emboldened  by  drink 
and  began  to  pillage  the  palace  of  Hamil 
car.  In  a  private  lake,  surrounded  by  a 
heavy  hedge,  they  found  fish  with  jewels 
in  their  gill  flaps.  With  joy  they  ruth 
lessly  tore  off  the  gems  and  boiled  the 
sacred  fish  for  their  feast.  The  slaves 
brought  new  foods  and  fresh  casks  of 
wine  for  the  drunken  revelers.  Then 
above  them  on  a  high  balcony  appeared 
Salammb6,  the  priestess  of  the  moon  god 
dess  and  daughter  of  Hamilcar.  Her  great 
beauty  stilled  the  wild  barbarians.  She 
called  down  a  malediction  on  their  heads 
and  in  a  wailing  refrain  lamented  the  sad 
state  of  Carthage. 

Among  those  who  watched  the  young 


860 


girl,  none  was  more  attracted  than  Narr' 
Havas,  a  Numidian  chief  who  had  been 
sent  by  his  father  to  Carthage  to  serve 
with  Hamilcar.  Although  he  had  been 
in  Carthage  six  months,  this  was  his  first 
sight  of  Salammbo.  Also  watching  her 
keenly  was  Matho,  a  gigantic  Libyan. 
He  had  heard  of  Salammbo,  and  already 
loved  her.  With  Matho  was  Spendius,  a 
former  Greek  slave  who,  tricky  and 
shrewd,  played  the  jackal  to  brave  Math6. 
Spendius  had  been  long  in  service  to 
Carthage,  and  he  whispered  the  delights 
of  Salammb6  to  his  master. 

The  elders  gave  each  soldier  a  piece 
of  gold  if  he  promised  to  go  to  Sicca  and 
wait  for  the  rest  of  his  money  to  be  sent 
to  him.  The  gold  and  the  solemn  prom 
ises  enticed  many,  and  finally  all  the  mer 
cenaries  and  barbarians  joined  the  march 
to  Sicca.  Many  of  their  leaders  distrusted 
the  words  of  the  elders,  but  they  were 
sure  of  better  treatment  when  Hamilcar 
returned  to  Carthage. 

Math6  lay  in  his  tent  all  day  long  at 
Sicca.  He  was  in  love,  and  since  he  had 
no  prospect  of  ever  seeing  Salammbft 
again,  he  despaired.  Finally  the  wily 
Spendius  profited  greatly  by  Math6Js  in 
action  and  ingratiated  himself  with  the 
Libyan. 

At  Sicca  the  enormous  Hanno  ap 
peared  in  his  costly  litter.  Hanno,  one  of 
the  Council  of  Elders,  was  tremendously 
fat;  the  fat  on  his  legs  even  covered  his 
toenails  and  his  body  was  covered  with 
weeping  sores.  Pompously  he  addressed 
the  crowd,  telling  them  of  Carthage's  in 
tent  to  pay  later  and  urging  them  all  to 
return  to  their  homes.  But  the  Gauls  and 
the  Campanians  and  the  rest  understood 
not  a  word  of  Punic.  Spendius  leaped  up 
beside  Hanno  and  offered  to  translate. 
Falsely  he  told  the  soldiers  that  Hanno 
was  exalting  his  own  gods  and  reviling 
theirs.  The  mob  became  unruly  and 
Hanno  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 

Soon  the  inflamed  barbarians  were  on 
the  march  again,  this  time  to  besiege 
Carthage.  At  their  head  rode  Math6, 
Narr*  Havas,  and  Spendius,  now  a  leader. 


The  mob  camped  at  the  gates  of  Car 
thage.  The  city  sent  Cisco,  a  famous 
warrior,  to  treat  with  them.  In  fear  the 
Carthaginians  raised  a  little  money  and 
began  to  pay  the  soldiers.  They  felt  pow 
erless  without  Hamilcar.  But  the  pay* 
ment  was  slow.  Cisco  had  insufficient 
funds,  and  many  barbarians  claimed 
more  pay  than  they  merited. 

As  the  unrest  grew,  Spendius  went  to 
Matho  with  a  project  of  his  own.  He  was 
sure  he  had  found  a  way  into  the  city, 
and  if  Matho  would  follow  his  lead  and 
help  him  in  his  own  private  errand,  he 
would  take  Math6  to  Salammb6. 

Outside  the  walls  Spendius  had  found 
a  loose  stone  in  the  pavement  over  the 
aqueduct  that  supplied  the  city  with 
water.  Math6  with  his  giant  strength 
lifted  the  stone,  and  the  two  swam  with 
the  current  in  the  darkness  until  they 
came  to  a  reservoir  inside  the  city  itself. 
Then  Spendius  revealed  his  project.  He 
and  Matho  were  to  steal  the  zaimph,  the 
mysterious  veil  of  Tanit,  goddess  o£  the 
moon.  Since  the  Carthaginians  put  their 
trust  in  Tanit,  and  Tanit's  strength  lay 
in  the  veil,  Spendius  hoped  to  cripple 
the  morale  of  the  city.  Matho  was  fearful 
of  committing  sacrilege,  but  he  was  forced 
to  consent  in  order  to  see  Salammb6. 

While  the  female  guards  slept,  the 
two  stole  into  Tank's  sanctuary  and 
Math6  seized  the  veil.  Then  quietly 
Spendius  led  the  trembling  Math6,  who 
wore  the  sacred  robe,  into  Salamrnbd's 
sleeping  chamber. 

As  Matho  advanced  with  words  of  love 
to  Salamrnb6's  bed,  the  terrified  girl 
awoke  and  shouted  an  alarm.  Instantly 
servants  came  running.  Math6  had  to 
flee,  but  while  he  wore  the  sacred  veil 
no  one  dared  to  lay  a  hand  on  him.  So 
Matho  left  the  city  and  returned  to  the 
barbarians  with  his  prize. 

Hamilcar  returned  to  Carthage  in  time 
to  organize  the  defense  of  the  city,  and 
the  siege  melted  away.  Because  the  bar 
barians  were  short  of  food,  they  marched 
to  Utica  to  demand  supplies.  Only  loosely 
bound  to  Carthage,  Utica  was  glad  to 


861 


harass  Carthage  by  aiding  its  enemies. 

Newly  supplied  with  arms  and  food, 
the  barbarians  were  a  more  formidable 
Jiost.  Hamilcar,  however,  had  brought 
nis  army  out  of  Carthage  and  joined  the 
battle  on  the  plain.  Although  the  Car 
thaginians  were  few  in  number,  they 
were  disciplined  and  well  led.  They 
engaged  the  barbarians  several  times,  al 
ways  indecisively.  Finally,  by  a  stroke  of 
luck,  the  army  of  Hamilcar  was  trapped, 
and  the  barbarian's  surrounded  the  city's 
defenders. 

Meanwhile  Salammbo  was  goaded  by 
the  high  priest  into  retrieving  the  sacred 
veil.  Disguised  and  with  a  guide,  she 
made  her  way  into  the  barbarian  camp, 
under  priestly  injunction  to  do  whatever 
might  be  necessary  to  reclaim  the  robe. 
Finding  Matho's  tent,  she  went  in  and 
asked  for  the  veil  which  hung  among  his 
trophies  of  war.  Matho  was  thunder 
struck  and  stammered  eager  protestations 
of  love.  Remembering  the  commands  of 
the  priest,  Salammb6  submitted  to  Matho. 
While  the  Libyan  slept,  she  took  the  veil 
and  went  unmolested  into  her  father's 
camp. 

Hamilcar  noticed  immediately  that  the 
thin  golden  chain  linking  her  ankles  was 
broken,  and  in  his  shame  he  promised 
her  to  Narr'  Havas,  who  had  long  since 
deserted  the  barbarians  and  returned  to 
help  Hamilcar.  But  the  marriage  was 


delayed  until  after  the  final  defeat  of 
Hamilcar's  enemies. 

Hamilcar,  wary  of  the  stalemate  in  the 
battle,  led  his  followers  back  to  Carthage 
and  the  barbarians  again  laid  siege  to 
the  city.  Spendius  sought  to  end  the 
siege  by  breaking  the  aqueduct.  Thirst 
and  famine  threatened  the  city  from  with 
in.  When  pestilence  broke  out,  the  chil 
dren  of  Carthage  were  burned  in  sacrifice 
to  Moloch.  Moloch  was  appeased,  and 
torrential  rains  saved  the  city. 

With  help  from  his  allies,  Hamilcar 
began  to  reduce  the  forces  of  the  enemy. 
A  large  part  of  the  army  was  trapped  in 
a  defile  in  the  mountains  and  left  to 
starve.  Matho  was  taken  prisoner. 

On  the  wedding  day  of  Narr'  Havas 
and  Salammbo,  Matho  was  led  through 
the  city  and  tortured  by  the  mob.  Still 
alive  but  with  most  of  his  flesh  torn  away, 
he  staggered  up  to  the  nuptial  dais  of 
Salarnmb6.  There  he  fell  dead.  Salam 
mbo  recalled  how  he  had  knelt  before 
her,  speaking  gentle  words.  When  the 
drunken  Narr'  Havas  embraced  her  in 
token  of  possession  and  drank  to  the 
greatness  of  Carthage,  she  lifted  a  cup 
and  drank  also.  A  moment  later  she  fell 
back  on  the  wedding  dais,  dead.  So  died 
the  warrior  and  the  priestess  who  by 
their  touch  had  profaned  the  sacred  robe 
of  Tanit. 


SANCTUARY 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  William  Faultier  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  melodrama 

Time  of  plot:    1929 

Locale:   Mississippi  and  Memphis,  Tennessee 

First  published:    1931 

Principal  characters: 

POPEYE,  a  racketeer 

HORACE  BENBOW,  a  lawyer 

TEMPLE  DRAKE,  a  girl  attacked  and  held  by  Popeye 

TOMMY,  a  moonshiner  killed  by  Popeye 

LEE  GOODWIN,  a  moonshiner  accused  of  Tommy's  murdov 

RUBY  LAMAR,  Goodwin's  woman 

REBA  RIVERS,  madam  of  a  Memphis  bawdy  house 

GOWAN  STEVENS,  a  college  student 


862 


Critique: 

Sanctuary  is  a  harsh  and  brutal  book 
which  on  one  level  reads  like  a  sensa 
tional  and  motiveless  recital  of  horrors 
enacted  by  a  sinister  cast  of  grotesques 
and  perverts.  Beneath  its  surface  vio 
lence,  however,  the  novel  has  a  deeper 
meaning  for  which  an  interesting  allegor 
ical  interpretation  has  been  suggested: 
The  social  order  of  the  old  South  has 
been  corrupted  and  defiled  by  progressive 
modernism  and  materialistic  exploitation, 
represented  by  Popeye  and  his  boot 
legging  activities,  so  that  historic  tradi 
tion,  symbolized  by  Horace  Benbow,  is 
powerless  to  act  because  it  is  opposed 
by  middle-class  apathy  and  inbred  vio 
lence  which  victimizes  both  the  Negro 
and  poor  white  trash.  Viewed  in  this 
light,  Sanctuary  is  a  social  document 
which  has  its  proper  place  in  William 
Faulkner's  tragic  legend  of  the  South. 

The  Story: 

Horace  Benbow,  on  his  way  to  Jef 
ferson  one  afternoon,  stopped  to  drink 
from  a  spring  on  the  Old  Frenchman 
place.  When  he  rose  he  saw  an  under 
sized  man  in  a  black  suit  watching  him, 
the  man's  hand  in  a  pocket  which  held 
his  gun.  Satisfied  at  last  that  the  lawyer 
was  not  a  revenue  officer,  Popeye  led 
Benbow  to  the  gaunt,  gutted  ruins  of 
a  plantation  house.  That  night  the  law 
yer  ate  with  Popeye,  several  moonshiners, 
and  a  blind  and  deaf  old  man,  the  father 
of  Lee  Goodwin,  one  of  the  moonshiners. 
They  were  fed  by  Ruby,  Goodwin's 
woman.  Later  Benbow  was  given  a  lift 
into  Jefferson  on  a  truck  loaded  with 
whiskey  on  its  way  to  Memphis. 

The  next  afternoon,  at  his  widowed 
sister's  home,  Benbow  watched  her  walk 
ing  in  the  garden  with  young  Gowan 
Stevens.  Stevens  left  that  evening  after 
supper  because  he  had  a  date  with  a 
girl  at  the  State  University  the  following 
night.  The  girl  was  Temple  Drake. 

After  a  dance  Stevens  got  drunk.   He 


awoke  the  next  morning  in  front  of  the 
railroad  station.  A  special  train  taking 
university  students  to  a  baseball  game  had 
already  left.  Driving  rapidly,  Stevens 
caught  up  with  the  train  in  the  next 
town.  Temple  jumped  from  the  train 
and  climbed  into  his  car.  Disgusted  with 
his  disheveled  appearance,  she  ordered 
him  to  drive  her  back  to  the  university. 
Stevens  insisted  that  he  had  promised 
to  drive  her  to  the  game.  On  the  way 
he  decided  to  stop  at  Goodwin's  place  to 
buy  more  whiskey. 

Stevens  wrecked  his  car  when  he  struck 
a  barrier  across  the  lane  leading  to  the 
house.  Popeye  took  Temple  and  Stevens 
to  the  house.  Temple  went  into  the 
kitchen,  where  Ruby  sat  smoking  and 
watching  the  door. 

When  she  saw  Stevens  again,  he  was 
drunk.  Then  Popeye  refused  to  drive 
them  back  to  town.  Temple  was  fright 
ened.  Ruby  told  Temple  to  go  into 
the  dining-room  to  eat  with  the  men. 

One  of  the  men  tried  to  seize  her  and 
Temple  ran  from  the  room.  Tommy, 
one  of  the  moonshiners,  followed  her 
with  a  plate  of  food.  The  men  began 
to  quarrel  and  Stevens  was  knocked  un 
conscious  and  carried  into  the  house. 
Goodwin  and  a  moonshiner  named  Van 
tussled  until  Popeye  stopped  them.  When 
Van  found  Temple  in  one  of  the  bed 
rooms,  Goodwin  knocked  him  down. 

Then  began  a  series  of  comings  and 
goings  in  the  bedroom.  Ruby  came  to 
stand  quietly  in  the  darkness.  Later 
Popeye  appeared  and  stood  silently  over 
the  girl.  After  he  had  gone,  Goodwin 
entered  to  claim  a  raincoat  in  which 
Temple  had  wrapped  herself.  Popeye  re 
turned  once  more,  followed  noiselessly 
by  Tommy,  who  squatted  in  the  dark 
beside  Ruby.  When  the  men  finally  left 
the  house  to  load  the  truck  for  its  run 
to  Memphis,  Ruby  took  Temple  out  to 
the  barn  and  stayed  with  her  until  day 
light. 


SANCTUARY  by  William  Faulkner.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,   Random  House,   Inc. 
Copyright,  1931,  by  William  Faulkner. 


863 


Stevens  awoke  early  and  started  out  ki 
the  nearest  house  to  hire  a  car.  Feeling 
that  he  could  not  face  Temple  again 
after  his  drunken  night,  he  paid  a  farmer 
to  drive  to  the  house  for  Temple,  while 
he  thumbed  a  ride  into  town. 

Learning  that  Stevens  had  already 
gone,  Temple  went  into  the  kitchen  with 
Ruby.  When  she  left  the  house  again, 
she  saw  the  shadowy  outline  of  a  man 
who  was  squatting  in  the  bushes  and 
watching  her.  She  returned  to  the  house. 
Seeing  Goodwin  coming  toward  the 
house,  she  ran  to  the  barn  and  hid  in  the 
comcrib. 

Watching,  Popeye  saw  Goodwin  look 
ing  from  the  house  toward  the  barn.  In 
the  barn  Popeye  found  Tommy  at  the 
door  of  the  corncrib.  Wliile  Tommy 
stood  watching  Goodwin,  Popeye  shot 
him.  A  short  time  later  Goodwin  told 
Ruby  that  Tommy  had  been  shot.  He 
sent  her  to  the  nearest  house  to  phone 
for  the  sheriff. 

Benbow  stayed  with  his  sister  for  two 
days.  When  Goodwin  was  brought  in, 
charged  with  Tommy's  murder,  Benbow 
agreed  to  defend  the  prisoner.  Goodwin, 
afraid  of  Popeye,  claimed  only  that  he 
had  not  shot  Tommy.  It  was  Ruby  who 
told  Benbow  that  Popeye  had  taken 
Temple  away  in  his  car. 

Benbow  attempted  to  trace  the  girl's 
whereabouts.  State  Senator  Snopes  told 
him  that  Judge  Drake's  daughter  was 
supposed  to  be  visiting  an  aunt  in  Mich 
igan  after  an  attempted  runaway  mar 
riage. 

A  week  before  the  opening  of  the 
court  session  Benbow  met  Senator 
Snopes  again.  For  a  price  the  politician 
was  willing  to  reveal  that  Temple  was 
in  Reba  Rivers'  bawdy  house  in  Mem 
phis.  Benbow  went  at  once  to  see  the 
girl.  Temple,  although  reluctant  to  talk, 
confirmed  many  details  of  Ruby's  story. 
The  lawyer  realized  that  without  the 

e'rl's  testimony  he  could  not  prove  that 
oodwin  was  innocent  of  Popeye's  crime. 
One   morning  Temple  bribed   Reba's 
colored  servant  to  let  her  out  of  the  house 
to  make  a  phone  call.  That  evening  she 


managed  to  sneak  out  again,  just  as  a 
car  with  Popeye  in  it  pulled  up  at  the 
curb.  When  she  refused  to  go  back  to 
her  room,  he  took  her  to  the  Grotto, 
where  Temple  had  arranged  to  meet  a 
young  man  called  Red,  whom  Popeye 
had  taken  to  her  room. 

At  the  Grotto  she  danced  with  Red 
while  Popeye  played  at  the  crap  table. 
She  begged  Red  to  take  her  away  with 
him.  Later  in  the  evening  two  of  Pop- 
eye's  henchmen  forced  Temple  into  a 
car  waiting  outside.  As  they  drove  away, 
Temple  saw  Popeye  sitting  in  a  parked 
car. 

Red's  funeral  was  held  in  the  Grotto, 
For  the  occasion  the  tables  had  been 
draped  in  black  and  a  downtown  orches 
tra  had  been  hired  to  play  hymns.  Drinks 
were  on  the  house. 

The  night  before  the  trial  Benbow 
learned  from  Reba  Rivers  that  Popeye 
and  Temple  had  left  her  house.  Ruby 
took  the  witness  stand  the  next  day  and 
she  told  the  story  of  Tommy's  murder* 
She  and  Benbow  spent  that  night  in 
the  jail  cell  with  Goodwin,  who  was 
afraid  that  Popeye  might  shoot  him  from 
one  of  the  buildings  across  the  street. 

Temple,  located  through  the  efforts 
of  Senator  Snopes,  was  called  to  testify 
the  next  morning.  She  indicated  that 
Goodwin  was  the  man  who  had  first 
attacked  her  on  the  day  of  Tommy's  mur 
der.  Goodwin  was  convicted.  That  night 
a  mob  dragged  the  prisoner  from  the 
jail  and  burned  him. 

Popeye,  on  his  way  to  Pensacola,  was 
arrested  for  the  murder  of  a  policeman 
in  Birmingham.  The  murder  had  oc 
curred  the  same  night  Red  was  shot 
outside  the  Grotto.  Popeye  made  no  de 
fense,  and  his  only  claim  was  that  he 
knew  nothing  about  the  Birmingham 
shooting.  Convicted,  he  was  executed 
for  a  crime  he  had  not  committed. 

Judge  Drake  took  his  daughter  to 
Europe.  In  the  Luxembourg  Gardens 
with  her  father,  listening  in  boredom  to 
the  band,  Temple  sat  in  quiet,  sullen  dis 
content. 


864 


SAPPHO 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Alphonse  Daudet  (1840-1897) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  'plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Paris 

First  published:  1884 

Principal  characters: 

JEAN  GAUSSIN,  a  student 
FANNY  LEGRAND,  his  mistress 
IRENE,  his  fiancee 

BOUCHEREAU,  a  famous  physiologist 
DECHELETTE,  a  wealthy  engineer 
LAGOURNERIE,  a  poet 
DE  POTTER,  a  composer 
ROSA,  de  Potter's  mistress 
FLAMANT,  convict  engraver 
CESAXRE,  Jean's  uncle 

Critique: 

To  many  people  Daudet's  name  is  a 
synonym  for  naturalism,  and  in  some 
respects  Daudet  is  the  outstanding  repre 
sentative  of  his  school.  His  writing  is 
carefully  documented;  his  style  releases 
a  sustained  emotion.  Above  all  Daudet 
is  an  intuitive  psychologist.  Sappho, 
concerned  with  the  half- world  of  prosti 
tutes  and  crime,  is  generally  considered 
a  surprisingly  delicate  and  sure  study  of 
a  distasteful  milieu. 


The  Story: 

D^chelette,  a  vigorous  though  aging 
engineer,  spent  all  but  two  months  of  the 
year  on  construction  projects  far  from 
Paris.  Each  summer,  however,  he  re 
turned  to  the  gay  city  to  compress  into 
two  months  enough  pleasure  to  make  up 
for  his  enforced  absences.  To  one  of  his 
masquerade  parties  came  Jean  Gaussin, 
a  young  student  from  the  south  of  France. 
Jean  was  bewildered  at  the  extravagant 
ball.  Unhappy  and  lost,  he  wandered 
into  a  gallery  and  found  there  a  woman 
dressed  as  an  Egyptian. 

When  he  was  ready  to  leave,  the 
woman  stopped  him  and  asked  him  to 
take  her  to  his  room.  In  this  way  he  be 
came  her  lover.  Her  name,  she  told  him, 
was  Fanny  Legrand. 

She  continued  to  come  to  his  room 
f  requently.  When  he  finally  visited  her 


apartment,  he  was  astonished  at  the  hu- 
ury  of  the  place.  In  the  morning  before 
he  was  up,  the  servant  announced  a  visi 
tor.  Fanny  went  into  another  room  to 
see  the  early  caller,  and  Jean  was  horrified 
to  overhear  a  violent  quarrel.  Fanny  was 
shouting  insults  and  curses  at  the  man 
in  the  language  of  the  gutter.  Finally 
the  man  began  to  sob  and  pressed  money 
on  Fanny.  He  begged  her  not  to  dis 
miss  him,  whatever  else  she  did.  Jean 
went  back  to  his  classes  much  disturbed. 

Unable  to  end  the  affair,  he  rented  an 
apartment  and  set  up  housekeeping  with 
Fanny.  She  proved  to  be  a  capable  house 
wife  and  a  demanding  mistress.  Jean 
felt  settled  and  at  ease.  He  made  good 
progress  in  his  consular  studies. 

The  following  summer  he  met  D6che- 
lette  and  Caoudal,  a  sculptor,  at  a  cafe 
and  learned  the  past  history  of  his  mis 
tress.  Thirty  years  before,  she  had  lived 
with  Caoudal  and  had  been  the  model 
for  his  well-known  figure  of  Sappho.  She 
had  lived  with  Dechelette  at  various 
times  and  LaGournerie,  the  poet,  had 
kept  her  for  some  years.  Jean  felt  nause 
ated  when  he  came  to  understand  that 
she  owed  her  imaginative  diction  to  La 
Gournerie,  her  graceful  gestures  to  Caou 
dal,  her  ample  spending  money  to  D6che- 
lette.  One  of  her  latest  lovers  had  been 
Flamant.  The  poor  man,  an  engraver, 


865 


had  counterfeited  some  bank  notes  and 
had  been  sentenced  to  prison.  Jean 
learned  that  Fanny  was  nearly  fifty,  al 
most  thirty  years  older  than  he. 

When  he  taxed  Fanny  with  his 
knowledge,  she  readily  admitted  her  past. 
When  she  protested  her  love  for  him 
alone,  Jean  asked  for  her  box  of  keep 
sakes.  In  her  letters  he  traced  her  history 
of  loose  love  for  nearly  thirty  years.  The 
farewell  letter  from  Flamant  asked  Fanny 
to  look  after  his  young  son.  Jean  sus 
pected  that  the  child  was  Fanny's  also. 
But  in  spite  of  this  knowledge,  Jean  could 
not  leave  his  mistress  after  Fanny  meekly 
submitted  to  his  reproaches.  They  con 
tinued  to  live  together. 

Cesaire,  Jean's  uncle,  came  to  Paris 
with  news  that  Jean's  family  had  been 
ruined  by  failure  of  the  grape  crop  and 
that  he  had  been  sent  to  Paris  to  collect 
an  old  debt  of  eight  thousand  francs. 
With  Fanny's  help,  Cesaire  collected  the 
money  but  soon  lost  it  gambling.  Fanny 
volunteered  to  get  more  money  from 
Dechelette.  Jean  and  Cesaire  awaited  her 
return  anxiously.  Jean  tortured  himself 
by  imagining  how  she  would  get  it.  After 
some  hours  Fanny  returned  with  the 
money.  C6saire  left  for  home,  loudly  as 
serting  the  goodness  of  Fanny  and  prom 
ising  to  keep  silent  about  Jean's  loose 
life. 

With  the  decline  in  the  Gaussin  for 
tunes,  Jean  and  Fanny  decided  to  sepa 
rate.  Fanny  went  to  work  managing  an 
apartment  for  Rosa,  mistress  of  the 
wealthy  composer,  de  Potter.  She  and 
Jean  were  together  each  Sunday  on  her 
day  off.  After  reckoning  his  decreased 
allowance,  Jean  found  that  they  could 
take  a  small  hut  in  the  country.  He  was 
sure  they  could  exist  there  for  another 
year,  and  then  he  would  be  through  with 
his  course  of  study.  But  Jean  hated  their 
life  in  the  country.  The  grumbling  old 
servant  Fanny  hired  had  been  revealed  as 


Fanny's  mother.  Her  father,  a  dissolute 
cab  driver,  came  to  visit  them,  Flamant's 
child,  a  savage  boy  of  six,  lived  with 
them.  Jean  counted  on  an  appointment 
to  a  consular  office  to  break  away  from 
Fanny. 

On  his  trips  into  town,  he  became  ac 
quainted  with  Bouchereau,  the  eminent 
physiologist.  Then  he  met  and  fell  in 
love  with  Bouchereau's  niece,  Irene.  Jean 
hoped  that  he  would  receive  an  appoint 
ment  in  South  America  and  that  Irene 
would  go  with  him  as  his  wife. 

As  he  was  gradually  permitted  to  see 
Irene  more  often,  Jean  became  troubled. 
Her  innocent  enjoyment  of  simple  things 
was  disturbing,  for  he  had  become  so 
satiated  with  his  experienced  courtesan 
that  other  women  had  little  attraction  for 
him.  When  he  told  Fanny  of  his  ap 
proaching  marriage,  a  furious  quarrel 
broke  out. 

Shortly  afterward  Jean  met  de  Potter, 
who  congratulated  him  on  his  approach 
ing  marriage.  De  Potter's  story  was  a  hor 
rible  warning  to  Jean;  the  composer  had 
never  been  able  to  get  away  from  his 
mistress,  and  the  attraction  of  her  flesh 
had  held  him  fast  for  many  years.  De 
Potter's  wife  rarely  saw  him;  his  children 
were  almost  strangers.  De  Potter  was 
bitter  about  his  wasted  life,  but  he  could 
not  leave  the  aging  Rosa,  whom  he  sup 
ported  in  luxury. 

Despite  de  Potter's  example,  despite 
his  engagement  to  Ir&ne,  Jean  resolved 
to  keep  Fanny.  On  the  eve  of  his  de 
parture  for  his  post  in  South  America,  he 
broke  his  engagement  to  Irene  and  wrote 
to  Fanny  to  join  him  in  Marseilles.  Wait 
ing  with  tense  expectancy  in  a  hotel  room 
in  the  Mediterranean  port,  Jean  received 
a  letter  from  Fanny.  She  had  gone  back 
with  Flamant  on  his  release  from  prison. 
Fanny  was  too  old  to  go  traveling  about. 
She  could  not  leave  her  beloved  Paris. 


866 


THE  SCARLET  LETTER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  (1804-1864) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  days  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony 

Locale:  Boston 

First  published:  1850 

Principal  characters: 

HESTER  PRYNNE,  a  woman  convicted  of  adultery 
ARTHUR  DIMMESDALE,  a  minister  of  the  community 
ROGER  CHILLINGWORTH,  a  physician,  and  Hester's  husband 
PEARL,  Hester's  daughter 

Critique: 

Critics  have  called  The  Scarlet  Letter 
the  greatest  book  ever  written  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere.  The  theme  of  the 
novel  is  the  universal  subject  of  sin. 
Specifically,  Hawthorne  traces  the  effect 
of  one  particular  sin  on  the  lives  of  four 
people.  In  the  pages  of  The  Scarlet  Letter 
we  watch  the  almost  beneficial  effect  of 
her  sin  upon  Hester  Prynne,  who  wears 
her  shame  openly  for  all  the  world  to  see; 
upon  the  Reverend  Arthur  Dimmesdale, 
who  is  killed  by  the  distressing  secret 
which  he  keeps  hidden  in  his  own  breast; 
upon  Roger  Chillingworth,  who  becomes 
a  devil  incarnate;  and  upon  little  Pearl, 
who  develops  into  a  capricious,  wayward 
child,  but  still  sympathetic  and  lovable. 


The  Story: 

On  a  summer  morning  in  Boston,  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Massachusetts  Col 
ony,  a  throng  of  curious  people  had  gath 
ered  outside  the  jail  in  Prison  Lane.  They 
were  there  to  watch  for  Hester  Prynne, 
who  had  been  found  guilty  of  adultery 
by  a  court  of  stern  Puritan  judges.  Con 
demned  to  wear  on  the  breast  of  her 
gown  the  scarlet  letter,  the  A  which  stood 
for  adulteress,  she  was  to  stand  on  the 
stocks  before  the  meeting  house,  so  that 
her  shame  might  be  a  warning  and  a  re 
proach  to  all  who  saw  her.  The  crowd 
waited  to  see  her  ascend  the  scaffold  with 
her  child  in  her  arms,  and  there  for  three 
hours  bear  her  shame  alone. 

At  last,  escorted  by  the  town  beadle, 


the  woman  appeared.  She  moved  serenely 
to  the  steps  of  the  scaffold  and  stood 
quietly  under  the  staring  eyes  that 
watched  her  public  disgrace.  It  was 
whispered  in  the  gathering  that  she  had 
been  spared  the  penalty  of  death  or 
branding  only  through  the  intercession  of 
the  Reverend  Arthur  Dimmesdale,  into 
whose  church  she  had  brought  her  scan 
dalous  sin. 

While  Hester  stood  on  the  scaffold, 
an  elderly,  almost  deformed  man  ap 
peared  from  the  edge  of  the  forest.  When 
her  agitation  made  it  plain  that  she  had 
recognized  him,  he  put  his  finger  to  his 
lips  as  a  sign  of  silence. 

Hester's  story  was  well-known  in  the 
community.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
an  ancient  house  of  decayed  fortune,  and 
when  she  was  young  her  family  had  mar 
ried  her  to  a  husband  who  had  great 
repute  as  a  scholar.  For  some  years  they 
had  lived  in  Antwerp.  Two  years  before, 
the  husband  had  sent  his  wife  alone 
across  the  ocean  to  the  Massachusetts 
Colony,  intending  to  follow  her  as  soon 
as  he  could  put  his  affairs  in  order.  There 
had  been  news  of  his  departure,  but  his 
ship  had  never  been  heard  of  again. 
Hester,  a  young,  attractive  widow,  had 
lived  quietly  in  Boston  until  the  time  of 
her  disgrace. 

The  scaffold  of  the  pillory  on  which 
Hester  stood  was  situated  next  to  the  bal 
cony  of  the  church  where  all  the  digni 
taries  of  the  colony  sat  to  watch  her  hu- 


THE  SCARLET  LETTER  by  Nathaniel  Hawthorne.     Published  by  Houghton  Mifflin 


867 


miliation.  The  ministers  of  the  town 
called  on  her  to  name  the  man  who  with 
herself  was  equally  guilty,  and  the  most 
eloquent  of  those  who  exhorted  her  was 
the  Reverend  Arthur  Dimmesdale,  her 
pastor.  Still  Hester  refused  to  name  the 
father  of  her  child,  and  she  was  led  back 
to  the  prison  after  her  period  of  public 
shame  had  ended. 

On  her  return  to  prison  Hester  was 
found  to  be  in  a  state  of  great  nervous 
excitement.  When  at  last  medical  aid 
was  called,  a  man  was  found  who  pro 
fessed  knowledge  of  medicine.  His  name 
was  Roger  CKillingworth,  he  told  the 
jailer,  recently  arrived  in  town  after  a 
year  of  residence  among  the  Indians. 
Chillingworth  was  the  stranger  who 
had  appeared  so  suddenly  from  the  forest 
while  Hester  stood  on  the  scaffold  that 
afternoon,  and  she  knew  him  as  her 
husband,  the  scholar  Prynne.  His  ship 
had  been  wrecked  on  the  coast  and  he 
had  been  captive  among  the  Indians  for 
many  months. 

He  also  asked  Hester  to  name  the 
father  of  her  child.  When  she  refused, 
he  stated  that  Lie  would  remain  in  Boston 
to  practice  medicine,  swearing  at  the  same 
time  that  he  would  devote  the  rest  of 
his  life  to  discovering  the  identity  of  the 
man  who  had  dishonored  him.  He  com 
manded  Hester  not  to  betray  the  relation 
ship  between  them,  and  she  swore  she 
would  keep  his  secret. 

When  Hester's  term  of  imprisonment 
was  over,  she  found  a  small  house  on  the 
outskirts  of  town,  far  removed  from  other 
habitation.  There  with  her  child,  whom 
she  had  named  Pearl,  she  settled  down 
to  earn  a  living  from  needlework,  an  out 
cast  from  society  and  still  wearing  the 
scarlet  emblem  on  her  breast. 

Hester  Prynne  dressed  her  child  in 
bright  highly-ornamented  costumes,  in 
contrast  to  her  own  sober  dress.  As  she 
grew  up,  Pearl  proved  to  be  a  capricious, 
wayward  child,  hard  to  discipline.  One 
day  Hester  called  on  Governor  Belli  ng- 
ham  to  deliver  a  pair  of  embroidered 
gloves.  She  also  wanted  to  see  Ibim  about 


the  custody  of  Pearl,  for  there  was  a 
movement  afoot  among  the  strict  church 
members  to  take  the  child  away  from  her. 
In  the  garden  of  the  governor's  mansion, 
Hester  found  the  governor,  Dimmesdale, 
and  old  Roger  Chillingworth.  Because 
the  perverse  Pearl  would  not  repeat  the 
catechism,  the  governor  was  about  to 
separate  the  child  from  her  mother.  Dim 
mesdale  saved  the  situation,  however,  by 
a  persuasive  speech  which  resulted  in  the 
decision  to  let  Hester  keep  Pearl,  who 
seemed  to  be  strangely  attracted  to  the 
minister. 

Roger  Chillingworth  had  become  in 
timately  acquainted  with  Arthur  Dim 
mesdale  both  as  his  parishioner  and  his 
doctor,  for  the  minister  had  been  in  ill 
health  ever  since  the  physician  had  come 
to  town.  As  the  two  men  lodged  in  the 
same  house,  the  physician  came  to  know 
Dimmesdale's  inmost  thoughts  and  feel 
ings.  The  minister  was  much  perturbed 
by  thoughts  of  conscience  and  guilt,  but 
when  he  expressed  these  ideas  in  general 
ities  to  his  congregation,  the  people 
thought  him  only  the  more  righteous. 
Slowly  in  Chillingworth  the  conviction 
grew  that  Dimmesdale  was  Pearl's  father, 
and  he  conjured  up  for  the  sick  man 
visions  of  agony,  terror,  and  remorse. 

One  night,  unable  to  sleep,  Dimmes 
dale  walked  to  the  pillory  where  Hester 
Pyrnne  had  stood  in  ignominy.  He  went 
up  the  steps  and  stood  for  a  long  time  in 
the  same  place.  A  little  later  Hester,  who 
had  been  watching  at  a  deathbed,  came 
by  with  little  Pearl.  The  minister  called 
them  to  the  scaffold,  saying  that  they  had 
been  there  before  when  he  lacked  courage 
to  stand  beside  them.  Thus  the  three 
stood  together,  Dimmesdale  acknowledg 
ing  himself  as  Pearl's  father  and  Hester's 
partner  in  sin.  This  striking  tableau  was 
not  unobserved.  Roger  Chillingworth 
watched  them  from  the  shadows. 

Hester  Prynne  was  so  shocked  by  Dim- 
mesdale's  feeble  and  unhealthy  condi 
tion  that  she  determined  to  see  her  former 
husband  and  plead  with  him  to  free  the 
sick  minister  from  his  evil  influence. 


868 


One  day  she  met  the  old  physician 
gathering  herbs  in  the  forest  and  begged 
him  to  be  merciful  to  his  victim.  But 
Chillingworth  was  inexorable;  he  would 
not  forego  his  revenge  on  the  man  who 
had  wronged  him.  Hester  then  advised 
him  that  she  would  tell  Arthur  Dimmes- 
dale  their  secret  and  warn  him  against 
his  physician.  A  short  time  later,  Hester 
and  Pearl  intercepted  Dimmesdale  in  the 
forest  as  he  was  returning  from  a  mission 
ary  journey  to  the  Indians.  Hester  con 
fessed  her  true  relation  with  Chilling- 
worth  and  warned  the  minister  against 
the  physician's  evil  influence.  She  and 
the  clergyman  decided  to  leave  the  colony 
together  in  secret,  to  take  passage  in  a 
ship  then  in  the  harbor  and  return  to 
the  Old  World.  They  were  to  leave  four 
days  later,  after  Dimmesdale  had  preached 
the  Election  Sermon. 

Election  Day,  on  which  the  new  gov 
ernor  was  to  be  installed,  was  a  holiday 
in  Boston,  and  the  port  was  lively  with 
the  unaccustomed  presence  of  sailors 
from  the  ship  in  the  harbor.  In  the  crowd 
was  the  captain  of  the  vessel,  with  whom 
Hester  had  made  arrangements  for  her 
own  and  Dimmesdale's  passage.  During 
the  morning  the  captain  informed  Hester 
that  Roger  Chillingworth  had  also  ar 
ranged  for  passage  on  the  ship.  Filled 
with  despair,  Hester  turned  away  and 
went  with  Pearl  to  listen  to  Dimmes 
dale's  sermon. 

Unable  to  find  room  within  the 
church,  she  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  scaf 


fold  where  at  least  she  could  hear  the 
sound  of  his  voice.  As  the  procession  left 
the  church,  everyone  had  only  words  of 
praise  for  the  minister's  inspired  address. 
Dimmesdale  walked  like  a  man  in  a 
dream  and  once  he  tottered  and  almost 
fell.  When  he  saw  Hester  and  Pearl  at 
the  foot  of  the  scaffold,  he  stepped  out 
of  the  procession  and  called  them  to  him. 
Then,  taking  them  by  the  hand,  he 
climbed  the  steps  of  the  pillory.  Almost 
fainting,  but  with  a  voice  terrible  and 
majestic,  the  minister  admitted  his  guilt 
to  the  watching  people.  With  a  sudden 
motion  he  tore  the  ministerial  band  frorc 
across  his  breast  and  sank  dying  to  the 
platform.  When  he  thus  exposed  his 
breast,  witnesses  said  that  the  stigma  of 
the  scarlet  letter  A  was  seen  imprinted  on 
the  flesh  above  his  heart. 

Chillingworth,  no  longer  able  to  wreak 
his  vengeance  on  Dimmesdale,  died  with 
in  the  year,  bequeathing  his  considerable 
property  to  Pearl.  For  a  time  Hester  dis 
appeared  from  the  colony,  but  years  later 
she  returned  alone  to  live  in  her  humble 
thatched  cottage  and  to  wear  as  before 
the  scarlet  emblem  on  her  breast.  But 
the  scarlet  letter,  once  her  badge  of 
shame,  became  an  emblem  of  her  tender 
mercy  and  kindness  —  an  object  of  ven 
eration  and  reverence  to  those  whose  sor 
rows  she  alleviated  by  her  deeds  of 
kindness  and  mercy.  At  her  death  she 
directed  that  the  only  inscription  on  her 
tombstone  should  be  the  letter  A. 


THE  SCHOOL  FOR  SCANDAL 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Richard  Brmsley  Sheridan  (1751-1816) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  or  manners 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  presented:  1777 

Principal  characters: 

SIR  PETER  TEAZLE,  an  elderly  nobleman 

LADY  TEAZLE,  his  young  wife 

MARIA,  Sir  Peter's  ward 

SIR  OLIVER  SURFACE,  Sir  Peter's  friend 


869 


JOSEPH  SURFACE,  and 
CHARLES  SURFACE,  Sir  Oliver's  nephews 
LADY  SPTEERWELL,  Lady  Teazle's  triend 
ROWLEY,  Sir  Peter's  servant 


Critique: 

The  School  for  Scandal  contains  ele 
ments  of  Restoration  comedy  as  well  as 
the  usual  sentimentalism  of  the  comedy 
of  sensibility.  There  are  two  plots:  Lady 
SneerwelTs  love  for  Charles  and  her  scan 
dalous  tales  about  Lady  Teazle  and  the 
latter's  relations  with  Joseph,  and  Sir 
Oliver  Surface's  tests  to  discover  the  wor 
thier  of  his  two  nephews.  Sheridan  bril 
liantly  brings  the  two  plots  together  in 
the  famous  screen  scene,  which  demon 
strates  his  adeptness  as  a  writer  of  com 
edy.  The  School  for  Scandal,  revived 
from  time  to  time  as  a  costume  play,  con 
tinues  to  hold  the  interest  of  audiences 
everywhere. 

The  Story: 

Lady  Sneerwell,  who  in  her  youth  was 
the  target  of  slander,  had  set  her  life 
upon  a  course  to  reduce  the  reputations 
of  other  women  to  the  level  of  her  own. 
Aided  by  her  intimate,  Snake,  she  was 
intriguing  to  involve  the  Teazles  in  scan 
dal,  to  bring  Joseph  Surface's  true  char 
acter  to  light,  to  wreck  the  love  of  Charles 
and  Maria,  and  to  gain  Charles  for  herself 
along  with  Sir  Oliver's  fortune.  To  her 
the  world  was  nothing  but  scandal  and 
scandalous  intrigues,  and  she  did  her  best 
to  make  her  vision  a  reality.  But  when 
she  abused  Charles  Surface,  Maria,  Sir 
Peter  Teazle's  ward,  refused  to  listen  to 
her.  Instead,  Maria  trustingly  confided 
in  Lady  Candour,  whose  defense  of  a 
reputation  insured  its  complete  annihila 
tion. 

Sometimes  Sir  Peter  Teazle  pondered 
the  wisdom  of  his  marriage  to  Lady 
Teazle,  doubting  the  judgment  of  an 
old  bachelor  in  marrying  a  young  wife. 
Lady  Teazle  was  a  country-bred  girl  who 
was  extravagantly  enjoying  London  life 
to  the  full.  Sir  Oliver  Surface  was  con 


cerned  about  his  two  nephews,  his  prob 
lem  being  the  disposal  of  his  great 
fortune.  Sir  Oliver,  having  been  abroad 
for  the  past  fifteen  years,  felt  that  he  did 
not  know  their  real  natures,  and  he  hoped 
by  some  stratagem  to  catch  them  un 
awares  and  test  their  characters. 

One  day  Sir  Peter  and  Lady  Teazle 
quarreled  because  Sir  Peter  objected  vio 
lently  to  her  attendance  at  the  home  of 
Lady  Sneerwell.  Lady  Teazle  accused 
Sir  Peter  of  wishing  to  deprive  her  of  all 
freedom  and  reminded  him  that  he  had 
promised  to  go  to  Lady  Sneerwell's  with 
her.  He  retorted  that  he  would  do  so 
for  only  one  reason,  to  look  after  his  own 
character.  When  he  arrived,  Lady  Sneer- 
well's  rooms  were  full  of  people  uttering 
libelous  remarks  about  their  enemies  and 
saying  even  worse  things  about  theii 
friends.  Sir  Peter  escaped  as  soon  as 
possible. 

When  the  rest  of  Lady  Sneerwell's 
guests  retired  to  the  card  room,  leaving 
Maria  and  Joseph  alone,  Joseph  once 
more  pressed  his  suit  for  Maria's  hand. 
He  insinuated  that  she  was  in  love  with 
Charles  and  was  thus  running  counter  to 
Sir  Peter's  wishes.  Lady  Teazle  inter 
rupted  as  Joseph  was  on  his  knees  avow 
ing  his  honest  love.  Surprised,  Lady 
Teazle  told  Maria  she  was  wanted  in  the 
next  room.  She  then  asked  Joseph  for  an 
explanation.  Joseph  informed  her  that 
he  was  pleading  with  Maria  not  to  tell 
Sir  Peter  of  his  tender  concern  for  Lady 
Teazle. 

Sir  Oliver  consulted  Rowley,  Sir 
Peter's  shrewd  and  observing  servant,  in 
an  attempt  to  learn  more  of  his  nephews' 
characters.  Rowley  himself  believed  that 
Joseph  had  less  good  character  than  his 
reputation  seemed  to  indicate  and  that 
Charles  had  more.  Sir  Peter  was  also 


THE  SCHOOL  FOR  SCANDAL  b7  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.     Published  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 


870 


consulted.  He  declared  that  he  was  ready 
to  stake  his  life  on  Joseph's  honor.  He 
was  much  put  out,  therefore,  when  Maria 
once  more  refused  to  marry  Joseph. 

Sir  Peter,  Sir  Oliver,  and  Rowley 
planned  to  test  the  worthiness  of  the 
nephews.  Charles,  as  usual,  was  in  dire 
need  of  money.  Since  Moses,  a  Jew,  was 
going  to  see  Charles,  Sir  Oliver  was  to 
accompany  him  as  Mr.  Premium,  a  man 
who  could  supply  the  money  Charles 
needed. 

When  they  anived  at  Charles'  lodging, 
a  drinking  party  was  in  progress.  Some 
of  the  guests  were  at  games  of  dice.  Sir 
Oliver  was  not  at  all  impressed  with  Trip, 
Charles'  footman,  who  gave  himself  the 
airs  of  a  fashionable  man  about  town. 
Upon  investigation,  Sir  Oliver  discovered 
that  Charles  had  turned  his  inherited  pos 
sessions  into  cash  with  the  exception  of 
the  portraits  of  his  ancestors.  Convinced 
that  Charles  was  a  scamp,  Sir  Oliver, 
still  calling  himself  Premium,  agreed  to 
buy  the  paintings,  and  he  purchased  each 
picture  as  presented  except  his  own, 
which  Charles  would  not  sell  for  any 
amount  of  money.  Sir  Oliver  was  pleased 
by  this  fact  and  discounted  Charles' 
reputation  for  extravagance.  Charles  re 
ceived  a  draft  for  eight  hundred  pounds 
for  the  portraits  and  immediately  sent  one 
hundred  pounds  to  Mr.  Stanley,  a  poor 
relation  in  even  more  straitened  circum 
stances. 

During  an  assignation  between  Joseph 
Surface  and  Lady  Teazle  in  Joseph's 
library,  he  advised  her  to  give  her  hus 
band  grounds  for  jealousy  rather  than 
suffer  his  jealousy  without  cause.  He 
argued  that  to  save  her  reputation  she 
must  ruin  it  and  that  he  was  the  man 
best  able  to  help  her.  Lady  Teazle  said 
that  such  a  doctrine  was  very  odd. 

While  they  were  talking,  Sir  Peter 
arrived  unexpectedly,  and  Lady  Teazle 
hid  behind  the  screen  which  Joseph 
ordered  placed  against  the  window. 
Joseph  pretended  to  be  reading  when 
Sir  Peter  walked  in.  The  purpose  of  Sir 
Peter's  call  was  to  inform  Joseph  of  his 


suspicions  that  Lady  Teazle  was  having 
an  affair  with  Charles,  and  he  showed 
Joseph  two  deeds  he  had  brought  with 
him.  One  deed  settled  eight  hundred 
pounds  a  year  upon  Lady  Teazle  for  her 
independent  use,  the  other  gave  her  the 
bulk  of  his  fortune  at  his  death.  Joseph's 
dissimulation  before  Sir  Peter  and  Sir 
Peter's  generosity  to  her  were  not  lost 
on  Lady  Teazle.  Then  Sir  Peter  began 
to  discuss  Joseph's  desire  to  wed  Maria. 
Hidden,  Lady  Teazle  realized  that  Joseph 
had  been  deceiving  her. 

Below  stairs,  Charles  inopportunely 
demanded  entrance  to  the  house  to  see 
his  brother.  Not  wishing  to  see  Charles, 
Sir  Peter  asked  where  he  could  hide. 
Sir  Peter  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  petticoat 
behind  the  screen,  but  Joseph  assured 
him  that  the  woman  was  only  a  French 
milliner  who  plagued  him.  Sir  Peter  hid 
in  a  closet;  Lady  Teazle  remained  behind 
the  screen. 

When  Charles  carne  in,  he  and  Joseph 
discussed  Lady  Teazle  and  Sir  Peter's 
suspicion  that  Charles  was  her  lover. 
Charles  mentioned  that  he  believed 
Joseph  to  be  her  favorite  and  recounted 
all  the  little  incidents  which  led  him  to 
think  so.  Embarrassed  by  this  turn  in  the 
conversation,  Joseph  interrupted  to  say 
that  Sir  Peter  was  within  hearing.  Placed 
in  a  difficult  position,  Charles  explained 
to  Sir  Peter  that  he  was  merely  playing 
a  joke  on  Joseph.  Sir  Peter  knew  a  good 
joke  on  Joseph,  too,  he  said;  Joseph  was 
having  an  affair  with  a  milliner.  Charles 
decided  that  he  would  have  a  look  at  the 
milliner  and  threw  down  the  screen. 
Joseph  was  undone  because  Lady  Teazle 
refused  to  agree  with  any  excuses  he 
made.  She  angrily  informed  her  husband 
of  the  whole  nature  of  Joseph's  intentions 
and  departed.  Sir  Peter  followed  her, 
leaving  Joseph  to  his  own  conscience. 

Sir  Oliver,  masquerading  as  Mr.  Stan 
ley  and  badly  in  need  of  assistance, 
gained  admittance  to  Joseph's  apartment, 
Joseph  refused  to  help  Mr.  Stanley,  say 
ing  that  he  received  very  little  money 
from  Sir  Oliver  and  claiming  that  he 


871 


had  advanced  all  his  funds  to  Charles, 
After  Sir  Oliver  left,  Rowley,  who  was 
a  party  to  the  whole  scheme,  came  to 
tell  Joseph  that  Sir  Oliver  had  arrived 
in  town. 

Sir  Oliver  went  again  to  see  Joseph. 
Still  believing  that  his  uncle  was  Mr. 
Stanley,  Joseph  was  showing  him  out 
just  as  Charles  entered,  Charles,  sur 
prised  to  see  Mr.  Premium  in  his 
brother's  apartment,  also  insisted  that  he 
leave.  But  at  that  moment  Sir  Peter 
Teazle  arrived  and  addressed  Sir  Oliver 


by  his  right  name.  Both  Sir  Oliver  and 
Sir  Peter  were  now  aware  of  Joseph's 
real  character.  Charles,  promising  to  try 
to  reform,  got  Maria  and  his  uncle's  in 
heritance  as  well.  Then  Lady  Sneerwell 
was  exposed  by  Snake,  who  was  paid 
double  to  speak  the  truth,  and  Lady 
Teazle  returned  her  diploma  to  the 
School  for  Scandal  of  which  Lady  Sneer- 
well  was  president.  Everyone  was  happy 
except  Lady  Sneerwell  and  Joseph  Sur 
face. 


THE  SEA  OF  GRASS 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Conrad   Richtei   (1890-         ) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1885-1910 

Locale:    The  Southwest 

First  published:     1936 

Principal  characters: 

-   COLONEL  JIM  BREWTON,  a  pioneer  rancher 
LUTIE,,  his  wife 
HAL,  his  nephew 
BRICE  CHAMBERLAIN,  a  lawyer 

Critique: 

The  Sea  of  Grass  conveys  within  its 
brief  framework  the  whole  atmosphere 
of  space  and  freedom  of  the  West,  the 
sweeping  drama  of  the  cow  country 
at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  when 
cattlemen  fought  to  hold  their  free  range 
against  the  homesteader's  fence  and  plow. 
For  a  few  years  an  empire  was  available. 
Whether  the  ranchers  had  a  greater  right 
to  it  than  the  n esters  is  open  to  dispute, 
but  the  battle  they  fought  was  frontier 
history  in  brief  passage.  In  this  novel 
Conrad  Richter  has  reclaimed  a  dramatic 
segment  of  the  American  past. 


The  Story: 

Hal  Brewton  never  forgot  the  day  he 
stood  on  the  railroad  platform  at  Salt 
Fork,  where  he  waited  to  meet  Lutie 
Cameron,  who  was  arriving  from  St. 
Louis  to  marry  his  uncle,  Colonel  Jim 


Brewton,  owner  of  the  vast  Cross  B 
Ranch.  At  present  Colonel  Brewton  was 
involved  in  a  range  war  with  nesters 
coming  to  rip  the  sod  off  the  grazing 
lands  in  order  to  raise  wheat. 

On  the  day  of  Lutie's  arrival  two  of 
the  colonel's  cowhands  were  being  tried 
for  shooting  at  a  homesteader  on  the 
Brewton  range.  Although  the  colonel's 
lawyer,  Henry  McCurtin,  won  the  case, 
the  opposition  lawyer,  young  Brice 
Chamberlain,  protested  indignantly  that 
the  victory  would  not  be  permanent. 
Colonel  Brewton  was  contemptuous  of 
the  lawyer's  warnings. 

Lutie  Cameron  was  a  lovely  woman, 
too  lovely  for  that  still-wild  territory. 
When  men  saw  her,  she  won  them  com 
pletely.  Only  Hal  refused  to  be  moved 
by  her  charm.  All  that  winter  in  an 
academy  at  Lexington,  Missouri,  he 


872 


thought  of  her  as  part  o£  the  destruc 
tion  coming  from  the  East  to  destroy  the 
sea  of  grass  he  loved. 

The  following  summer  he  returned  to 
a  changed  ranch  house.  Lutie  had  filled 
it  with  furniture  and  flowers  and  had 
planted  a  row  of  cottonwoods  and  tam 
arisks  about  it.  Guests  from  the  whole 
territory  came  and  went.  Officers  from 
the  Army  posts,  officials  of  the  railroad 
companies,  neighboring  ranch  men — all 
found  ample  welcome  at  the  home  of 
Colonel  and  Mrs.  Brewton. 

The  old-timers  who  had  known  the 
colonel  before  he  had  married  Lutie 
hoped  she  would  settle  down  after  her 
babies  came.  The  babies  were  born,  two 
boys  and  a  girl;  however,  Lutie  did  not 
settle  down.  The  third  baby  was  scarcely 
in  its  cradle  before  she  was  dancing  with 
Brice  Chamberlain  as  her  favored  part 
ner.  Colonel  Brewton  ignored  the  gossip 
which  was  whispered  about  Lutie. 

Local  politics  shifted  with  the  admin 
istration  in  Washington,  for  the  territory 
depended  upon  appointments  to  its 
judicial  staffs.  For  a  while  Brice  Cham 
berlain  had  influential  support  from 
Washington.  Then,  during  another  ad 
ministration,  the  forces  which  backed 
Colonel  Brewton  were  in  power,  and 
the  incoming  tide  of  settlers  seemed  to  be 
checked.  Hal  read  of  the  change  with 
great  pleasure,  but  when  he  returned  to 
Salt  Fork  he  discovered  that  Chamberlain 
was  still  in  his  law  office  on  the  Salt 
Fork  plaza.  He  learned  that  hundreds 
of  settlers  were  waiting  nearby  for  a 
change  in  government  which  would  per 
mit  them  to  stake  claims  upon  the  miles 
of  land  held  by  men  like  Colonel  Brew- 
ton. 

Then  Lutie  calmly  announced  that  she 
was  leaving  her  husband  and  children. 
She  explained  that  she  had  had  enough 
of  the  flat  grass  country  and  the  fighting 
between  ranchers  and  homesteaders.  She 
claimed  she  would  be  able  to  get  pos 
session  o£  her  three  children,  Jimmy, 
Brock,  and  Sarah  Beth  later,  by  court 
action. 


The  town  was  informed  that  Mrs. 
Brewton  was  leaving  for  a  visit  in  St. 
Louis.  Most  of  the  people  knew  better. 
Their  feelings  were  confirmed  when  they 
saw  Brice  Chamberlain  with  a  bag 
packed,  ready  to  head  east  on  the  same 
train.  But  the  colonel  paced  the  station 
platform,  a  gun  belt  buckled  under  his 
broadcloth  coat.  Chamberlain  did  not 
board  the  train. 

A  few  days  later  the  colonel  sent  Hal 
to  Denver,  to  give  Lutie  a  thousand  dol 
lars.  He  knew  that  his  wife's  cowardly 
lover  had  no  intention  of  following  her. 
But  Hal  could  find  no  trace  of  Lutie 
in  Denver.  At  the  same  time  a  new 
administration  appointed  Chamberlain  a 
judge  of  the  district  court.  Back  in  Salt 
Fork,  Hal  saw  the  white-covered  wagons 
of  the  emigrant  trains  moving  westward 
into  the  range  country. 

When  Colonel  Brewton  planned  tc 
run  the  homesteaders  off  his  land,  a 
troop  of  cavalry  from  Fort  Ewing  was 
sent  to  guard  him  until  all  chances  of 
his  stopping  the  land-grabbers  were  gone. 

Studying  for  his  medical  degree,  Hal 
spent  three  more  years  away  from  Salt 
Fork.  When  he  returned,  he  discovered 
that  his  sea  of  grass  had  been  hopelessly 
despoiled.  His  uncle  seemed  much  older. 
The  Brewton  children  were  growing  up 
wild,  for  their  mother  had  never  sent 
for  them. 

One  day  Hal  saw  Jimmy  and  Brock 
fighting  in  the  dusty  Salt  Fork  street. 
Then  a  nester  among  the  onlookers  called 
out  that  he  was  betting  on  the  Chamber 
lain  brat.  So  Hal  heard  for  the  first  time 
the  rumor  that  Brock  was  not  his  uncle'i. 
son.  Hal  fired  at  the  nester  but  missed. 
When  Colonel  Brewton  appeared,  the 
crowd,  even  the  jeering  nesters,  grew 
quiet. 

As  young  Brock  grew  older,  he  became 
the  image  of  Brice  Chamberlain.  It  was 
obvious  that  he  realized  the  truth  and 
resented  it,  He  took  to  gambling,  drink 
ing,  and  barroom  brawling.  At  last  he 
was  caught  cheating  in  a  card  game. 
For  that  disgrace  Colonel  Brewton  could 


873 


not  forgive  him,  but  tie  continued  to 
indulge  the  boy  and  pay  his  debts. 

By  that  time  Hal  was  practicing 
medicine  in  Salt  Fork.  He  was  glad 
when  Sarah  Beth,  who  had  been  away 
at  school,  returned  and  began  to  look 
after  her  father. 

One  day  Brock  shot  and  killed  Dutch 
Charley,  who  had  accused  Brock  of  using 
a  woman  to  help  him  cheat  at  cards. 
Brock  was  locked  up,  but  Brice  Chamber 
lain  soon  got  him  out  of  jail.  When 
Brock  returned  home,  he  defied  Colonel 
Brewton  and  said  he  was  leaving  the 
Brewton  ranch  to  go  to  work  for  Brice 
Chamberlain's  interests.  This  last  blow 
to  the  colonel's  pride  permanently 
wrecked  his  health. 

Brock  now  took  the  name  of  Cham 
berlain,  an  act  which  cut  the  old  colonel 
still  more.  Brock  began  to  ride  wild, 
shooting  up  towns  and  staging  reckless 
holdups.  He  became  the  talk  of  the 
Southwest  for  his  daring  lawlessness. 
At  last  he  was  trapped  by  a  posse  of 
homesteaders  and  held  at  bay  in  a  cabin 
by  twenty  or  thirty  vigilantes. 

That  same  day  Lutie  Brewton  un 
expectedly  returned.  She  was  fifteen 


years  older,  but  she  still  carried  herself 
with  quiet  self-possession.  Lutie  im 
mediately  assumed  her  place  in  her 
household  as  though  she  had  been  away 
fifteen  days,  not  fifteen  years. 

Meanwhile  the  colonel  rode  out  to 
the  cabin  where  Brock  was  holding  off 
the  sheriff  and  the  armed  and  angry 
nesters.  With  Hal,  who  had  been  sum 
moned  to  attend  a  wounded  deputy,  he 
broke  through  to  Brock,  who  lay  dying 
from  a  bullet  wound  in  his  lung.  They 
brought  his  body  back  across  desolate 
country  scorching  in  raw  sunlight,  with 
nesters'  families  huddled  about  sagging 
shacks  and  plows  rusting  in  fields  where 
wheat  would  not  grow  in  hot,  rainless 
summers.  Sand  was  beginning  to  drift 
among  dugouts  and  rotting  fence  posts. 

Brock  was  buried  on  the  Brewton 
ranch.  The  stone  inscribed  with  the 
name  "Brock  Brewton"  was  the  old 
colonel's  challenge  to  all  gossip  and  spec 
ulation  around  Salt  Fork.  He  and  Lutie 
took  up  their  life  where  she  had  broken 
it  off  years  before,  and  no  one  ever  dared 
ask  either  the  colonel  or  his  wife  where 
she  had  been.  It  seemed  to  Hal  that  the 
colonel  had  found  peace  at  last. 


THE  SEA  WOLF 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Jack  London  (1876-1916) 

Type  of  plot:   Adventure  romance 

Time  of  -plot:    1904 

Locale:    Pacific  Ocean,  Bering  Sea 

First  published:     1904 

Principal  characters: 

HUMPHREY  VAN  WEYDEN  (HUMP),  an  unwilling  sailor  aboard  the  Ghost 

WOLF  LARSEN,  captain  of  the  Ghost 

MUGRIDGE,  ship's  cook 

MAUD  BREWSTER,  a  survivor  picked  up  at  sea 


Critiqite: 

Jack  London  began  his  career  as  a 
sailor,  and  on  shipboard  he  observed  the 
sea  life  that  he  later  described.  A  teller 
of  two-fisted  yarns,  he  wrote  brilliant 
description  to  go  with  tailor-made  plots. 
Enormously  popular  with  American 

THE  SEA  WOLF  by  Jack  London.     By  permission  of 
Co.    Copyright,   1903,  by  The  Century  Co.    Renewed, 


readers,  many  of  his  books  have  been 
filmed  and  many  of  them  republished 
year  after  year.  In  The  Sea  Wolf  London 
told  an  impossible  story  with  such  gusto 
and  fervor  that  he  created  reality  all  his 
own  within  his  limited,  specialized  world 
of  violent  action  and  masculine  interests. 

Mrs.  Charmian  London.     Published  by  The  Macmillan 
1931,  by  Charmian  K.  London. 


874 


The  Story: 

When  the  ship  in  which  he  was  a 
passenger  sank  in  a  collision  off  the  coast 
of  California,  Humphrey  Van  Weyden 
was  picked  up  by  the  crew  of  Wolf 
Larsen's  ship,  the  Ghost,  a  sailing  vessel 
headed  for  seal  hunting  ranges  in  the 
Bering  Sea.  Wolf  Larsen  was  a  brute. 
Van  Weyden  witnessed  the  inhuman 
treatment  of  a  sick  mate  who  died  shortly 
afterward.  He  saw  a  cabin  boy  badly 
beaten.  In  his  own  interview  with  the 
captain,  he  fared  little  better.  Instead 
of  promising  to  help  him  return  to  San 
Francisco,  Wolf  demanded  that  Van 
Weyden  sign  as  cabin  boy  and  stay  with 
his  ship. 

The  crew  set  to  work  taking  in  the  top 
sails  and  jibs.  From  that  moment  Hump, 
as  the  crew  called  Van  Weyden,  learned 
life  the  hard  way.  He  had  to  get  his  sea 
legs  and  he  had  to  learn  the  stoical  in 
difference  to  pain  and  suffering  which 
the  sailors  seemed  to  have  mastered  al 
ready.  As  cabin  boy,  he  peeled  potatoes 
and  washed  greasy  pots  and  pans.  Mug- 
ridge,  the  cook,  abused  him  and  robbed 
him  of  his  money. 

Only  one  man,  Louis,  seemed  to  share 
Hump's  feelings  about  the  captain  and 
his  ship.  Louis  predicted  many  deaths 
would  result  from  this  voyage.  He  said 
that  Wolf  Larsen  was  a  violent,  danger 
ous  man,  that  the  crew  and  seal  hunters 
were  vicious  outcasts.  Wolf  did  seem 
mad.  He  varied  from  moods  of  wild 
exultation  to  spells  of  extreme  depres 
sion.  In  his  cabin  were  classic  books  of 
literature,  and  when  he  spoke  he  chose 
either  to  use  excellent  English  or  the 
lingo  of  the  sailors.  Sometimes  he  amused 
himself  by  arguing  with  Hump.  He 
claimed  that  life  was  without  meaning. 

During  a  southeaster  Hump  badly 
dislocated  his  knee,  and  Wolf  unex 
pectedly  allowed  Hump  to  rest  for  three 
days  while  he  talked  to  him  about  phi 
losophy  and  literature.  When  Hump 
returned  to  the  galley,  the  cook  was 
whetting  his  knife.  In  return,  Hump 
obtained  a  knife  and  began  whetting 


it  also.  His  actions  so  frightened  the 
cowardly  cook  that  Hump  was  no  longei 
the  victim  of  his  abuse. 

Louis  talked  of  the  coming  season  with 
the  seals.  Moreover,  he  hinted  that 
trouble  would  come  if  the  Macedonia, 
a  sealing  steamer,  came  near.  Captained 
by  Death  Larsen,  the  brother  and  enemy 
of  Wolf,  the  Macedonia  was  a  certain 
menace.  As  a  prelude  to  things  to  come, 
an  outbreak  of  fury  took  place  aboard 
the  Ghost.  First,  Wolf  Larsen  and  the 
mate  beat  a  seaman  named  Johnson  to 
a  pulp  because  he  complained  of  ill 
treatment;  then  Leach,  the  former  cabin 
boy,  beat  the  cook.  Later  two  hunters 
exchanged  shots,  severely  wounding  each 
other,  and  Wolf  beat  them  because  they 
had  crippled  themselves  before  the  hunt 
ing  season  began.  Afterward  Wolf  suf 
fered  from  one  of  his  periodic  head 
aches.  To  Hump,  life  on  shipboard  was 
a  tremendous  experience  in  human 
cruelty  and  viciousness. 

A  few  days  later  the  men  tried  to 
mutiny.  In  the  row  which  followed, 
Johansen,  .the  mate,  was  drowned  and 
Wolf  was  nearly  killed.  While  Hump 
dressed  Wolfs  wounds,  Wolf  promoted 
him  to  mate  in  Johansen's  place.  Both 
Leach  and  Johnson  would  have  killed 
Wolf  in  a  second,  but  he  remained  too 
wary  for  them. 

At  the  seal  hunting  grounds  a  terrific 
storm  cost  them  the  lives  of  four  men. 
The  ship  itself  was  beaten,  its  sails  torn 
to  shreds  and  portions  of  the  deck  swept 
into  the  sea. 

When  Leach  and  Johnson  deserted  in 
a  small  skiff,  Wolf  started  out  in  pur 
suit.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
an  open  boat  was  sighted.  The  boat 
contained  a  young  woman  and  four 
men,  survivors  from  a  sinking  steamer. 
Wolf  took  them  aboard,  planning  to 
make  sailors  of  the  men  as  he  had  of 
Hump.  Shortly  afterward  the  Ghost 
overtook  Johnson  and  Leach.  Refusing 
to  pick  them  up,  Wolf  let  them  struggle 
to  get  aboard  until  their  small  craft 


875 


capsized.  He  watched  them  drown  with 
out  comment  and  then  ordered  the  ship's 
course  set  for  a  return  to  the  seal  hunt 
ing  grounds. 

The  woman  survivor  was  Maud  Brew 
ster,  a  rich  woman  and  a  poet,  as  weak 
physically  for  a  woman  as  Hump  had 
been  for  a  man.  Wolf  resented  the  in 
timacy  which  sprang  up  at  once  between 
Maud  Brewster  and  Hump,  but  he  took 
out  his  resentment  by  deciding  to  give 
the  cook  the  first  bath  the  cook  had 
ever  been  known  to  take. 

At  his  orders  Mugridge  was  thrown 
into  the  water  with  a  tow  rope  slung 
about  his  middle.  First,  however,  the 
cook  fled  madly  about  the  ship,  causing 
one  man  to  break  a  leg  and  another  to 
be  injured  in  a  fall.  Before  Wolf  was 
ready  to  bring  Mugridge  back  aboard 
ship,  a  shark  bit  off  the  cook's  right  foot 
at  the  ankle.  Dragged  aboard,  Mugridge 
in  his  fury  tried  to  bite  Wolfs  leg,  and 
the  captain  almost  strangled  him.  Then 
Hump  bandaged  the  wounded  man's  leg. 
Maud  Brewster  looked  on,  nearly  faint 
ing. 


he  Macedonia  appeared  one  day  and 
robbed  Wolfs  hunters  of  their  day's 
catch  of  seals  by  cutting  off  the  line  of 
approach  to  the  Ghost.  In  revenge,  Wolf 
set  his  men  to  work  capturing  hunters 
from  the  Macedonia,  When  the  Mace 
donia  gave  chase,  Wolf  sailed  his  ship 
into  a  fog  bank. 

That  night  Wolf  tried  to  seize  Maud, 
but  Hump,  awakening,  ran  his  knife 
into  Wolfs  shoulder.  At  the  same  time, 
Wolf  was  overcome  by  one  of  his  head 
aches,  this  seizure  accompanied  by  blind 
ness.  Hump  helped  him  to  his  bunk 
and  under  cover  of  darkness  he  and 


Maud  made  their  escape  in  an  open 
boat.  After  days  of  tossing  they  came 
to  a  small  island.  Using  supplies  they 
had  taken  from  the  Ghost,  they  set  about 
making  themselves  houses  and  gathering 
food  for  the  coming  winter. 

One  morning  Hump  saw  the  wreck 
of  the  Ghost  lying  offshore.  Going 
aboard,  he  discovered  Wolf  alone,  his 
crew  having  deserted  him  to  go  aboard 
Death  Larsen's  ship.  Wolf  seemed  nearly 
insane,  and  had  only  a  sick  man's  desire 
to  sleep.  Hump  stole  some  pistols  and 
food  which  he  took  to  the  island. 

Hump,  planning  to  repair  the  masts 
of  the  Ghost,  began  work  on  the  crippled 
ship.  That  night  Wolf  undid  all  Hump's 
work,  and  cast  the  masts  off  the  vessel. 

Hump  and  Maud  began  anew  to  refit 
the  ship.  One  day  Wolf  attempted  to 
murder  Hump,  but  during  the  struggle 
he  had  one  of  his  spasms  and  fainted. 
While  he  was  still  unconscious,  they 
handcuffed  him  and  shut  him  in  the 
hold. 

Then  they  moved  aboard  the  Ghost 
and  the  work  of  refitting  the  vessel  went 
forward.  Wolf  became  more  than  a 
prisoner.  He  had  a  stroke  which  par 
alyzed  the  right  side  of  his  body. 

Hump  continued  to  repair  the  vessel. 
At  last  it  was  able  to  sail.  Wolf  Larsen 
finally  lost  the  use  of  his  muscles  and 
lay  in  a  coma.  When  he  died,  Hump 
and  Maud  buried  him  at  sea.  By  that 
time  they  were  deeply  in  love.  When  a 
United  States  revenue  cutter  discovered 
them  one  day,  they  felt  that  their 
dangerous  odyssey  was  at  an  end.  But 
they  were  about  to  begin  another,  less 
perilous  journey,  together. 


A  SENTIMENTAL  EDUCATION 


Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Gustave  Flaubert  (1821-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:   Nineteenth  century 

Locale:   France 

First  published:    1869 


876 


Principal  characters: 

FREDERIC  MOREAU,  a  young  student 
M.  ARNOUX,  a  businessman 
MME.  ARNOUX,  his  wife 
M.  DAMBREUSE,  a  banker 
MME.  DAMBREUSE,  his  wife 
ROSANETTE,  mistress  of  many 
DESLAURJERS,  Frederic's  friend 
LOUISE  ROQUE,  Frederic's  neighbor 


Critique: 

This  novel  by  Flaubert  illustrates  well 
his  style.  Flaubert's  writing  is  always 
exact,  concise,  and  detailed.  His  fame 
rests  on  a  rather  small  number  of  works, 
of  which  the  best  known  are  Madame 
Eovary  and  Salammbo,  all  of  them  ex 
hibiting  the  careful,  labored  work  of 
a  superb  craftsman.  A  Sentimental 
Education,  like  the  others,  is  a  careful 
piece  of  work.  Although  the  plot  interest 
is  slight,  there  are  many  impressive 
analyses  of  French  character. 

The  Story: 

In  1840  the  boat  down  the  Seine  to 
Nogent  had  among  its  passengers  Fred 
eric  Moreau,  who  was  returning  home 
after  finishing  his  course  at  the  College 
de  Sens.  Frederic,  with  the  prospect 
of  a  long  vacation  before  beginning  his 
law  studies,  saw  on  the  boat  an  older 
man  whose  conversation  was  eagerly 
followed  by  a  group  of  admirers. 

Frederic  drew  closer  to  hear  what  was 
being  said.  M.  Arnoux  was  holding 
forth  on  the  subject  of  women;  his  re 
marks  were  worldly  in  the  extreme. 
Noticing  Frederic  in  the  circle,  he  made 
the  young  man's  acquaintance  and  the 
two  promenaded  for  some  time.  Amoux 
invited  Frederic  to  call  when  he  arrived 
in  Paris.  Frederic  went  up  to  the  first- 
class  deck  to  sit  and  reflect  on  his  home 
coming.  There  he  saw  a  woman  knit 
ting.  Frederic  thought  her  the  most 
beautiful  woman  he  had  ever  seen.  She 
was  a  little  older  than  he  and  demure 
of  manner;  she  never  once  looked  directly 
at  him. 

They  were  alone  on  the  deck.  Fred 
eric  moved  several  times  to  see  her  from 


different  angles.  Finally  she  dropped 
her  ball  of  yarn.  When  Frederic  re 
trieved  it,  her  murmur  of  thanks  was 
pleasant  to  hear.  A  few  minutes  later 
a  little  girl  came  up,  and  he  knew  the 
child  was  her  daughter.  Then  Arnoux 
appeared  on  deck,  and  Frederic  learned 
that  the  woman  was  his  wife.  When  the 
boat  docked,  he  watched  them  drive 
away. 

Mme.  Moreau,  a  widow,  was  glad  to 
see  her  son,  for  all  her  hopes  were  in 
his  future  career  in  diplomacy.  As  soon 
as  he  decently  could,  Frederic  went  out 
to  meet  his  friend  Deslauriers,  an  older 
boy  also  planning  a  legal  career.  The  two 
friends  discussed  at  great  length  their 
plans  for  Paris  in  the  fall. 

A  neighbor  of  the  Moreaus,  M,  Roque, 
gave  Frederic  a  letter  for  M.  Dambreuse, 
a  rich  banker  in  Paris.  Mme.  Moreau 
advised  her  son  to  call  on  Dambreuse  as 
soon  as  he  could;  the  banker  could  be 
of  great  help  to  a  young  lawyer.  Bid 
ding  goodbye  to  his  relatives  and  Louise 
Roque,  a  girl  who  had  become  his  special 
friend  during  the  summer,  Frederic  left 
for  Paris  and  his  studies  at  the  univer 
sity. 

Deslauriers  and  Frederic  took  an  apart 
ment  together  and  began  to  attend  lec 
tures  in  law.  Frederic,  however,  found 
great  difficulty  in  keeping  his  mind  on 
his  studies,  for  he  thought  most  of  the 
time  of  Mme.  Arnoux.  He  finally  re 
ceived  an  invitation  to  the  Arnoux  store, 
a  big  establishment  dealing  in  paintings 
and  other  works  of  art.  He  was  patient 
enough  to  become  intimate  with  Amoux, 
and  he  lived  in  hopes  of  meeting  his 
wife. 


877 


One  night  Arnoux  invited  Frederic 
co  a  ball.  At  the  masquerade  Arnoux 
introduced  him  to  Rosanette,  an  attrac 
tive  woman  called  la  Marechale  by  her 
friends.  Frederic  was  sure  that  Rosanette 
was  Arnoux's  mistress.  He  was  glad 
to  learn  about  the  liaison;  he  had  more 
hopes  of  becoming  friendly  with  Mine. 
Arnoux. 

When  Frederic  was  finally  invited  to 
dine  at  the  Arnoux  home,  he  was  happy 
to  learn  that  Mme.  Arnoux  remembered 
him  perfectly.  She  was  a  friendly  wom 
an,  but  as  time  went  on  Frederic  saw 
little  chance  of  ever  becoming  more 
intimate  with  her.  Even  when  he  was 
regularly  included  in  gatherings  at  their 
country  house,  he  made  no  progress.  At 
last  Frederic  had  to  conclude  that  his 
friends  were  right;  Mme.  Arnoux  was 
an  honest  woman. 

So  great  was  his  preoccupation  with 
the  pursuit  of  Mme.  Amoux  that  Frederic 
failed  his  examinations  that  spring.  Be 
fore  he  left  for  home  he  called  at  the 
Dambreuse  home,  where  he  was  well 
received.  He  vowed  to  study  hard,  to 
forget  about  Mme.  Arnoux,  and  to  try 
his  luclc  in  public  life  under  the  sponsor 
ship  of  M.  Darnbreuse.  For  a  time  Fred 
eric  studied  diligently,  cultivated  the 
Dambreuse  family,  and  went  only  oc 
casionally  to  see  Mme.  Arnoux.  Having 
passed  his  examinations,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar. 

Before  leaving  Paris,  he  was  included 
in  a  picnic  in  honor  of  Mme.  Amoux's 
birthday.  During  the  party  she  seemed 
put  out  with  her  husband.  Arnoux 
shrugged  off  his  wife's  pique  and  sent 
her  back  to  the  city  with  Frederic.  As 
they  left,  Arnoux  gave  his  wife  a  bou 
quet  which  she  surreptitiously  threw 
away.  Thinking  she  had  dropped  it, 
Frederic  picked  it  up  and  gave  it  to  her 
in  the  carriage.  As  soon  as  they  had 
started  the  trip,  she  begged  him  to  throw 
the  flowers  out  the  window.  Frederic 
had  never  felt  so  close  to  her. 

At  Nogent  Frederic  had  bad  news. 
His  mother's  income  had  dwindled  con 


siderably  because  of  the  troubled  politics 
of  monarchial  France,  and  she  had  been 
forced  to  sell  some  of  her  lands.  Hence 
forth  she  would  have  only  enough  for 
a  frugal  living.  A  worse  blow  fell  when 
Frederic's  rich  uncle  in  Le  Havre  an 
nounced  that  he  would  not  leave  his 
wealth  to  Frederic.  Feeling  that  he 
was  ruined,  with  no  income  and  no 
expectations,  Frederic  resigned  himself 
to  a  dull  life  in  Nogent  and  spent  three 
years  in  almost  complete  idleness.  His 
only  friend  was  Louise  Roque,  who  had 
grown  into  an  attractive  woman. 

At  last  a  telegram  came.  The  uncle 
in  Le  Havre  had  died  intestate  and 
Frederic  was  his  only  heir.  Hastily 
Frederic  prepared  to  return  to  Paris,  in 
spite  of  his  mother's  remonstrances.  He 
declared  his  love  for  Louise  before  he 
left,  but  all  the  while  he  was  thinking 
of  Mme.  Arnoux. 

In  Paris,  Frederic  took  a  fashionable 
apartment  and  settled  down  to  a  life 
of  ease.  He  became  an  intimate  of  the 
Amoux  household  and  renewed  his 
friendship  with  Deslauriers.  He  agreed 
to  furnish  the  money  to  found  a  journal 
of  political  opinion,  his  intention  being 
to  give  employment  to  Deslauriers  and 
at  the  same  time  control  a  paper  that 
would  support  his  own  future  career  in 
politics.  But  when  he  learned  that 
Arnoux  was  pressed  financially,  he  lent 
money  to  him  on  Arnoux's  promise  of 
repayment  in  a  few  days.  But  Arnoux 
never  repaid  the  money,  and  in  disap 
pointment  Deslauriers  broke  off  their 
friendship.  Frederic  consoled  himself  by 
his  increasing  intimacy  with  Mme.  Ar 
noux. 

Little  by  little  Arnoux  lost  most  of 
his  money,  and  an  oil  company  he  had 
founded  went  bankrupt.  He  began  to 
spend  less  time  at  home  and  more  with 
various  mistresses.  His  wife,  becoming 
aware  of  his  many  affairs,  turned  to 
Frederic  for  sympathy.  At  last  she  agreed 
to  meet  him  and  spend  the  afternoon 
in  his  company. 

With  high  hopes   Frederic  rented  a 


878 


room  for  their  rendezvous  and  filled  it  to  Frederic.   When  she  finally  met  him, 

with    expensive    trinkets.     He    was    to  she  understood   that  he  no  longer  was 

meet  Mme.   Arnoux   between   two   and  interested  in  her. 

four,  and  on  the  appointed  day  he  went          In  spite  of  his  affair  with  Rosanette, 

to  the  meeting  place  at  one-thirty.    He  Frederic    took    another    mistress,    Mme. 

waited  until  six-thirty,  but  she  did  not  Dambreuse.     When    the    banker    died, 

appear.     In    despair    he    went    to    see  Frederic   decided    to   marry    his   widow, 

Rosanette,  for  to  him  it  seemed  a  just  But  in  his  will,  canny  Dambreuse  had 

retaliation    to    make    Arnoux's    mistress  left  his  money  to  his  niece.   Frederic  gave 

his  own.  up    all    thought    of    the    proposed    mar- 

Mme.   Arnoux  had  not  kept  the  ap-  riage. 

pointment  because  her  son  was  ill.  Tak-          Although    Frederic   had   many   loves, 

ing  his  illness  as  a  sign  from  heaven,  none    was    permanent.     When    he    was 

she  was  much  ashamed  of  her  interest  nearly  fifty,  Mme.  Arnoux  went  to  see 

in  Frederic.  him.    They  agreed  that  they  had  been 

During  the  riots  which  attended  the  right  not   to  love  carnally.    Deslauriers 

overthrow    of    the    monarchy    and    the  had  been  for  twenty-five  years  a  lawyer 

establishment   of   the  republic,   Frederic  in  Nogent.  He  came  to  visit  Frederic,  and 

spent  the  time  agreeably  enough  in  the  they    talked   over   the  past.    Deslauriers 

country  with  Rosanette.    He  returned  to  had  married  Louise  Roque,  but  she  had 

Paris  only  after  he  received  word  that  run    away   with    a   singer.    To   the    old 

one  of  his  friends  had  been  wounded.  friends   it  seemed  that  love  was  fickle, 

Louise  Roque  went  to  Paris  with   her  selfish,  unhappy  —  like  life  itself, 
father,  chiefly  to  see  what  had  happened 

A  SENTIMENTAL  JOURNEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Laurence  Sterne  (1713-1768) 

Type  of  'plot:  Novelized  autobiography 

Time  of  plot:  1760's 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1768 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  YORICK,  a  sentimental  traveler 

MADAME  DE  L — ,  a  fellow  traveler 

MADAME  DE  R — ,  Madame  de  L — 's  friend 

COUNT  DE  B — ,  an  admirer  of  Englishmen 

LA  FLEUR,  a  servant 

MARIA,  a  country  girl 

Critique: 

Steme  called  his  book  A  Sentimental  ful  accounts  and  observations  of  whatevei 

Journey  Through  France  and  Italy,  but  came  into  the  author's  mind.    Like  Tris- 

the  tide  of  this  unconventional  mixture  tram  Shandy,   the  book   broadened   the 

of  autobiography,  travel  impressions,  and  scope  of  prose  fiction  for  later  writers  by 

fiction  is  misleading.    Sterne  told  of  his  demonstrating  that  form  and  unified  plot 

travels  through  France,  but  he  died  of  are  not  necessary  for  a  successful  novel, 
tuberculosis   before  he  had  written   the 

Italian   section  of  his   narrative.    Senti-  *he  Story: 

mental,  as  the  title  implies,  outrageous  With  all  the  different  kinds  of  travei- 

and  eccentric  in  its  humorous  effects,  the  ers,   the  Idle   Travelers,   the  Inquisitive 

novel  entertains  the  reader  with  delight-  Travelers,  the  Travelers  of  Necessity,  the 

879 


Simple  Travelers,  and  the  rest,  Mr. 
Yorick  felt  no  kinship.  He  was  a  Senti 
mental  Traveler.  As  such,  he  collected 
sentimental  adventures  as  other  tourists 
collected  postcards  of  the  points  of  in 
terest  they  visited.  Mr.  Yorick  had  started 
his  journey  because  a  man  had  asked 
him,  with  a  sneer,  if  he  had  ever  been 
in  France.  Yorick  had  just  made  some 
statement  on  the  French  and  did  not  like 
being  answered  so  tardy  merely  because 
he  did  not  have  first-hand  experience. 
The  same  evening  he  packed  some  clothes 
and  left  by  boat  for  Calais. 

While  he  was  having  supper  at  an  inn 
in  Calais,  a  poor  monk  approached  him 
and  begged  alms  for  his  monastery. 
Yorick  rebuffed  him  with  caustic  and 
witty  remarks.  A  little  later  Yorick  saw 
the  monk  talking  with  an  attractive 
woman  who  was  also  staying  at  the  inn. 
Afraid  the  monk  might  tell  her  how 
rudely  he  had  behaved,  Yorick  ap 
proached  the  couple,  apologized  to  the 
monk,  and  offered  his  shell  snuffbox  to 
him  as  a  peace  offering.  Having  made 
friends  with  the  monk  and  the  lady, 
Yorick  planned  to  ask  the  lady  to  travel 
with  him  to  Paris.  Her  name,  he  learned, 
was  Madame  de  L — . 

Proposing  to  make  the  trip  to  Paris  in 
a  private  carriage,  Yorick  invited  the  lady 
to  go  with  him  to  look  over  some  of  the 
vehicles  for  sale  in  a  nearby  courtyard. 
Their  admi ration  of  each  other  grew  with 
unusual  rapidity.  Before  Yorick  had  a 
chance  to  ask  her  to  travel  with  him, 
however,  she  was  called  away  by  a  mes 
sage  that  her  brother,  Count  L — ,  had 
arrived.  He  had  come  to  take  her  back 
to  Belgium  with  him.  Yorick  was  broken 
hearted. 

In  parting,  Madame  de  L —  asked 
Yorick  to  visit  her  in  Belgium  if  he  passed 
through  that  country.  She  also  gave  him 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  good  friend 
in  Paris,  Madame  de  R — . 

The  next  day  Yorick  set  off  in  a  small 
carriage  for  Paris.  His  baggage  fell  out 
of  the  chaise  several  times,  and  he  had 
a  most  uncomfortable  trip  to  Montriul. 


There  an  innkeeper  suggested  he  needed 
a  servant,  and  Yorick  saw  that  the  man 
was  quite  right.  He  hired  a  young  boy 
named  La  Fleur,  whose  greatest  accom 
plishments  were  playing  the  flute  and 
making  love  to  the  girls.  La  Fleur  was 
delighted  at  the  prospect  of  traveling 
around  Europe  with  a  generous  and  un 
predictable  English  milord;  his  only  sad 
ness  on  leaving  home  was  the  necessity 
to  say  goodbye  to  all  his  village  sweet 
hearts.  Yorick  was  pleased  with  the  lad's 
quickness  and  wit,  as  he  was  sure  that  the 
young  Frenchman  would  be  equal  to  any 
emergency  arising  along  the  way. 

The  first  problem  the  travelers  met  on 
their  journey  was  a  dead  ass  lying  in  the 
middle  of  the  road.  The  horses  refused 
to  pass  the  carcass,  and  La  Fleur's  horse 
threw  him  and  ran  away.  Proceeding  to 
the  next  town,  they  met  and  talked  with 
the  owner  of  the  poor  dead  beast.  He 
had  taken  the  ass  with  him  from  Ger 
many  to  Italy,  and  was  very  unhappy  at 
its  death,  not  so  much  because  the  beast 
had  been  a  help  to  him,  but  because  he 
felt  sure  that  the  ass  had  loved  him 
dearly  and  had  been  a  good  friend  to 
him  for  many  years. 

In  Paris,  Yorick  went  to  the  opera. 
A  quotation  from  Shakespeare  popping 
into  his  mind,  he  suddenly  decided  to  go 
and  buy  the  works  of  that  writer.  He 
went  into  a  bookstore  and  found  a  set 
on  the  counter.  Unfortunately  they  were 
not  for  sale,  but  had  been  sent  to  be  re 
bound  for  Count  de  B — ,  a  great  lover 
of  English  authors  and  Englishmen.  In 
the  shop  Yorick  saw  a  most  attractive 
young  girl  who,  he  decided,  must  be  a 
chambermaid.  When  she  left  the  shop, 
he  followed  her  and  began  a  conversation 
about  the  book  she  had  bought.  Yorick 
was  surprised  and  pleased  to  discover  that 
the  young  girl  belonged  to  the  household 
of  Madame  de  R — .  He  told  her  to 
inform  her  mistress  that  he  would  call 
the  next  day. 

On  returning  to  his  rooms,  Yorick 
learned  from  La  Fleur  that  the  police 
wanted  to  see  him.  In  his  rush  out  of 


880 


England  he  had  forgotten  to  get  a  pass 
port,  and  he  had  overlooked  completely 
the  fact  that  England  and  France  were 
at  war.  Since  he  did  not  wish  to  be  put 
in  jail,  he  decided  that  he  would  have  to 
get  a  passport.  But  he  did  not  know  how 
these  matters  were  arranged  in  France. 
Madame  de  R —  was  the  only  person  in 
Paris  to  whom  he  carried  a  letter  of  intro 
duction,  and  he  did  not  want  to  bother 
the  lady  about  the  matter.  The  only 
other  chance  of  help  was  from  Count  de 
B — ,  who  at  least  liked  Englishmen. 

It  took  Yorick  some  time  to  get  in  to 
see  the  count,  but  when  he  did  the  count 
was  most  polite.  As  an  amusing  way  to 
introduce  himself,  Yorick  opened  one  of 
the  volumes  of  Shakespeare,  which  had 
just  been  sent  from  the  bookseller's. 
Turning  to  The  Tragedy  of  Hamlet  and 
pointing  to  the  passage  about  the  jester 
Yorick,  he  said  that  was  his  name.  The 
count  was  overcome  with  pleasure  at 
meeting  so  famous  a  person,  and  Yorick 
could  say  nothing  that  would  change  the 
count's  mind.  The  count  left  the  room 
and  did  not  return  for  a  long  while. 
When  he  did,  he  presented  Mr.  Yorick 
with  a  passport  which  called  him  the 
King's  Jester.  Realizing  that  he  could 
not  correct  the  mistake  without  losing 
his  passport,  Yorick  thanked  the  count 
and  returned  to  his  rooms. 

The  next  day  Madame  de  R — 's 
chambermaid  called  to  see  why  Mr. 
Yorick  had  not  visited  her  mistress  as 
he  had  promised.  Yorick  explained  about 
the  passport  and  asked  her  to  present  his 
apology.  Some  hours  later,  after  the  girl 
had  gone,  the  manager  of  the  hotel  came 
in  and  objected  to  Yorick's  having  young 
ladies  in  his  room.  In  order  to  keep  from 
being  evicted  from  the  hotel,  Yorick  had 
to  buy  some  lace  from  a  young  woman. 
He  suspected  that  the  manager  pocketed 
most  of  the  profits  from  such  sales. 

On  Sunday  La  Fleur  appeared  in  a 
fine  suit  of  clothes  which  he  had  bought 
second-hand.  He  asked  if  he  might  be 
allowed  to  have  the  day  off,  as  he  had 
been  able  to  make  friends  with  a  young 


woman  he  would  like  to  see  again  tha* 
day.  Yorick  asked  him  to  bring  some  food 
before  he  left  for  the  day.  Wrapped 
about  the  butter,  which  La  Fleur  brought 
with  Yorick's  dinner,  was  a  piece  of 
paper  which  bore  on  it  some  old  printing. 
Yorick  became  interested  in  the  story  it 
told  and  spent  the  whole  day  translating 
the  faded  characters  to  read  the  story  of 
a  luckless  notary.  But  he  was  never  to 
know  the  ending  of  the  tale,  for  La  Fleur 
had  used  the  rest  of  the  paper  to  wrap  up 
a  bouquet  for  his  new  ladylove. 

Yorick  had  a  fine  time  at  parties  to 
which  he  was  invited  by  Count  de  B — • 
and  the  count's  friends.  He  agreed  with 
everyone  to  whom  he  talked,  and  made 
no  remarks  of  his  own,  and  so  he  was 
thought  the  finest  wit  in  Paris.  After 
several  minor  sentimental  adventures, 
Yorick  and  La  Fleur  set  out  to  travel 
through  southern  France.  At  Moulines, 
Yorick  stopped  to  see  Maria,  a  poor  un 
happy  girl  who  wandered  about  the  coun 
try  grieving  for  her  dead  father.  He  had 
heard  of  the  girl  from  his  old  friend, 
Mr.  Toby  Shandy,  who  had  met  her  sev 
eral  years  before.  Yorick  sat  down  on  a 
rock  with  Maria  and,  moved  by  her  puri 
ty  and  sadness,  shed  a  few  tears  with  her. 

Before  ascending  Mount  Taurira, 
Yorick  stopped  and  had  dinner  with  a 
pleasant  peasant  family.  That  night  he 
was  forced  to  stay  in  a  roadside  inn. 
There  was  only  one  room  in  the  inn,  and 
Yorick  had  to  share  it  with  a  French  lady 
and  her  maid.  In  the  room  there  were 
two  large  beds  standing  beside  each  other 
and,  in  a  closet  connected  to  the  room,  a 
cot.  After  much  deliberation,  the  lady 
and  Yorick  took  the  big  beds  and  sent  the 
maid  into  the  closet.  Yorick  had  to  prom 
ise  to  stay  in  his  bed  all  night,  and  not 
to  say  a  word.  Unable  to  sleep,  both 
Yorick  and  the  lady  began  talking.  Afraid 
that  something  untoward  might  occur, 
the  maid  come  out  of  the  closet  and, 
unseen,  stood  between  the  two  beds. 
Yorick  stretched  out  his  hand.  With  this 
sentimental  gesture  Sterne  ended  abrupt 
ly  the  story  of  his  sentimental  journey. 


881 


SEVENTEEN 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Booth  Tarkington   (1869-1946) 

Type  of  plot:    Humorous  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:  Small  Midwestern  town 

First  published:    1916 

Principal  characters: 

WILLIAM  SYLVANUS  BAXTER,  aged  seventeen 

MRS.  BAXTER,  his  mother 

JANE  BAXTER,  his  sister 

Miss  PRATT,  a  summer  visitor 

Critique: 

Seventeen  is  the  hilarious  story  of 
William  Sylvanus  Baxter,  just  seventeen, 
who  is  in  love  with  Miss  Pratt,  a  summer 
visitor  in  the  neighborhood.  There  is 
nothing  weighty  in  this  hook  to  arrest 
the  reader's  thought,  nothing  sublime, 
but  everything  ridiculous.  The  adoles 
cent  antics  of  a  small-town  Lothario  are 
beguiling  and  utterly  harmless,  and  the 
completely  normal  but  demoniacal  ac 
tions  of  Jane,  William's  pesky  younger 
sister,  are  foolish  and  delightful.  The 
only  really  sane  person  in  the  tale  is 
Mrs.  Baxter,  who  sadly  tries  to  keep 
up  with  her  children's  whims  and  moods. 


The  Story: 

William  Sylvanus  Baxter  had  at  last 
reached  the  impressive  age  of  seventeen, 
and  as  he  emerged  from  the  corner  drug 
store  after  indulging  in  two  chocolate 
and  strawberry  sodas,  he  tried  to  impress 
the  town  with  his  lofty  air  of  self-im 
portance.  But  no  one  noticed  him  except 
his  friend,  Johnny  Watson,  who  de 
stroyed  William's  hauteur  in  one  breath 
by  calling  him  "Silly  Bill."  At  that  mo 
ment  William  saw  a  feminine  vision  in 
pink  and  white.  A  stranger  in  town,  she 
carried  her  parasol  and  her  little  white  dog 
with  easy  grace.  William,  not  daring  to 
speak,  managed  only  an  insincere  yawn. 
The  vision,  taking  no  apparent  notice 
of  William,  spoke  in  charming  lisps  to 
her  little  dog  Flopit,  and  disappeared 
around  the  corner. 


William  went  home  in  a  daze,  hardly 
bothering  to  speak  to  his  outrageous 
little  sister,  Jane,  who  greeted  him  be 
tween  mouthfuls  of  applesauce  and 
bread.  Scorning  her,  he  went  up  to  his 
room,  his  heart  full  of  the  mystery  of 
love,  and  composed  a  poem  to  his  new 
and  unknown  lady.  He  was  interrupted 
by  his  mother,  who  asked  William  to  go 
with  Genesis,  the  Negro  handyman,  to 
pick  up  some  laundry  tubs  from  the 
second-hand  store.  The  errand,  to  Wil 
liam,  was  worse  than  being  seen  in 
public  with  a  leper,  for  he  looked  on 
Genesis  as  a  ragged,  bedraggled,  down- 
at-the-heels  pariah,  whose  presence  was 
an  unwholesome  reproach  to  the  whole 
neighborhood. 

Genesis  was  in  reality  a  wise  old  phi 
losopher,  despite  his  semi-nudity  and  the 
ubiquitous  presence  of  his  mongrel  dog, 
Clematis.  But  William  was  in  no  mood 
to  be  tolerant.  His  worst  fears  were 
realized  when,  on  the  way  home,  he 
heard  behind  him  the  silvery  voice  of  the 
fair  stranger  referring  to  Clematis  as  a 
nasty  old  dog.  William  was  hidden  by 
the  laundry  tub  he  carried  over  his 
head,  but  his  invisibility  in  no  way 
diminished  his  growing  horror  at  being 
taken  for  a  companion  of  Genesis  and 
the  owner  of  the  dreadful  Clematis. 
Clematis,  meanwhile,  was  fascinated  by 
Flopit,  and  when  William  heard  the  yips 
and  barks  of  the  two  dogs,  he  ran  away, 
still  hidden  under  his  protecting  tub. 


SEVENTEEN    by    Booth    Tarkington.      By   permission    of    Brandt    &    Brandt    and    the    publishers.    Harper    & 
Bnwherj.     Copyright,  19 17,  by  Stuart  Walker.     Renewed,   1945,  by  Arthur  Walker. 

882 


The  young  vision  m  pink  and  white 
was  the  summer  visitor  of  May  Parcher. 
Her  name,  William  learned,  was  Miss 
Pratt.  Soon  the  boys  in  the  neighborhood 
collected  OP  the  Parcher  porch  and 
swarmed  around  the  adorable  girl  every 
evening  afte^  supper,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  Mr.  Parch  ~t,  who  lay  awake  for  hours 
in  his  room  over  the  porch  and  listened 
reluctantly  to  the  drivel  of  conversation 
below.  William  had  an  advantage  over 
the  other  suitors,  for  he  borrowed  his 
father's  dress  suit  without  his  parents' 
knowledge  and  arrived  each  night  in 
splendid  attire. 

During  the  day  William  could  not 
escape  his  sister  Jane,  who  insisted  on 
appearing  in  dirty  summer  sunsuits,  her 
face  smeared  with  her  favorite  repast 
of  applesauce  and  bread,  just  at  the 
moment  when  William  would  be  walk 
ing  by  the  house  with  Miss  Pratt.  His 
angry  demands  that  his  sister  present  a 
more  ladylike  appearance  irritated  Jane 
to  a  calm,  smouldering  intent  to  get 
even  with  William.  She  knew  that  Wil 
liam  wore  his  father's  dress  suit  every 
evening  when  he  visited  Miss  Pratt. 
She  also  knew  that  Mr.  Parcher  was 
nearly  crazy  over  the  nightly  sessions 
on  his  front  porch.  Putting  these  facts 
together,  she  coldly  repeated  to  her 
mother  some  of  Mr.  Parcher's  comments. 
Mrs.  Baxter  was  horrified  that  William 
had  worn  out  his  welcome  at  the  Parch 
er's,  and  when  she  discovered  Mr.  Bax 
ter's  dress  suit  under  William's  window 
seat  she  took  it  to  a  tailor  and  had  it 
altered  to  fit  only  Mr.  Baxter.  William 
could  not  go  to  see  Miss  Pratt  without 
the  dress  suit.  He  was  not  among  Miss 
Pratt's  evening  admirers  thereafter. 

As  a  reward  to  Jane,  who  had  im 
mediately  told  him  of  her  part  in  de 
creasing  by  one  the  population  of  his 
front  porch,  Mr.  Parcher  sent  her  a 
five-pound  box  of  candy,  much  to  the 
amazement  of  the  whole  Baxter  house 
hold.  No  one  suspected  Jane's  perfidy. 

Feeling  herself  to  blame  for  William's 
gloomy  moods,  Mrs.  Baxter  decided  to 


have  a  tea  for  her  son's  friends,  with 
Miss  Pratt  as  guest  of  honor.  The  great 
day  arrived,  swelteringly  hot.  Upstairs, 
William  had  no  sooner  broken  his  only 
collar  button  on  his  fifth  and  last  white 
shirt  than  he  had  the  misfortune  to  tear 
his  white  trousers.  Another  suit  was 
splattered  by  Jane's  paints.  By  the 
time  he  found  a  heavy  winter  suit  in 
a  trunk  in  the  attic,  the  guests  had 
gone.  Angry  and  miserable,  William  sat 
down  on  Jane's  open,  wet  paint  box. 

The  time  came  for  Miss  Pratt  to  return 
home.  As  a  farewell  party,  the  relieved 
Parchers  scheduled  a  picnic  in  their 
guest's  honor.  To  impress  Miss  Pratt, 
William  bought  a  package  of  Cuban 
cigarettes.  But  coy  Miss  Pratt  gave  all 
her  attention  to  George,  a  braggart  who- 
stuffed  himself  with  food  to  impress  the 
beauty  with  his  gustatory  prowess.  Lunch 
over,  William  offered  George  his  ciga 
rettes.  Before  long  he  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  seeing  George  disappear  behind 
a  woodpile.  William  was  blissful  once 
more. 

When  Miss  Pratt  unexpectedly  granted 
the  weary  Parchers  the  privilege  of  her 
company  for  another  week,  they  gave 
a  final  farewell  dance  in  her  honor. 
Mrs.  Baxter  had  her  husband's  dress 
suit  again  altered  to  fit  William.  Re 
splendent,  but  late  as  usual,  William 
arrived  at  the  dance  to  find  all  Miss 
Pratt's  dances  taken,  and  he  was  forced 
to  spend  the  evening  with  a  lonely  wall 
flower.  His  dignity  suffered  another 
blow  when  Genesis,  serving  sandwiches, 
not  only  greeted  William  with  familiarity 
but  also  chided  him  about  the  dress 
suit.  His  evening  was  a  dismal  failure. 

The  next  day  William  went  down  to 
the  train  to  see  Miss  Pratt  off.  Laden 
with  candy  and  lush  poetry,  he  found 
her  surrounded  by  her  many  admirers. 
He  had  the  uncomfortable  sensation  that 
they  were  all  laughing  at  him,  for  they 
were  pointing  derisively  in  his  direction. 
Turning,  he  saw  Jane,  who  had  de 
liberately  come  to  torment  him  in  com 
pany  with  an  equally  disreputable  female 


883 


companion.  The  two  pranksters  were 
walking  with  a  vulgar  strut  that  William 
abhorred.  So  flustered  was  he  that  he 
merely  waved  to  Miss  Pratt  and  went 
sadty  home,  forgetting  that  he  still 


carried  under  his  arm  the  box  of  candy 
and  the  poem  intended  for  the  pink 
and  white  beauty  who  was  going  out  of 
his  life  forever. 


SHADOWS  ON  THE  ROCK 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Willa   Gather   (1876-1947) 

Type  of  plot:    Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    Late  seventeenth  century 

Locale:  Quebec,  Canada 

First  published:     1931 

Principal  characters: 

EUCLIDE  AUCLAIR,  the  apothecary  in  Quebec 

CECILE  AUCLAIR,  his  daughter 

COUNT  FRONTENAC,  governor  of  New  France  and  Auclair  *s  patron 

PIERRE  CHARRON,  a  Canadian  woodsman 

Critique: 

Shadows  on  the  Rock  is  a  very  human 
story  about  a  little-known  segment  of 
North  American  history,  the  early  colo 
nies  in  Canada.  Unlike  many  fictional 
French  people  in  the  literature  of  Britain 
and  America,  Willa  Gather's  characters 
maintain  personalities  and  enlist  the 
sympathies  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  reader. 
The  author  has  divested  them  of  any 
alien  spirit,  so  that  they  become  members 
of  the  human  family  rather  than  mem 
bers  of  a  different  national  stock.  The 
book  is  also  a  mine  of  information  on 
life  in  Quebec  at  the  end  of  the  seven 
teenth  century.  The  author  noted  in 
great  detail  the  customs,  habits,  and  daily 
routine  of  the  people  whom  she  de 
scribed,  even  to  the  food  they  ate  and 
the  homes  in  which  they  lived. 


The  Story: 

Late  in  October  of  1697  the  last  ship 
left  Quebec  to  return  to  France,  and  the 
colony  of  New  France  was  isolated  from 
the  world  until  the  arrival  of  the  fleet 
in  June  or  July  of  the  following  year. 
One  of  the  persons  who  watched  as  the 
last  vessel  passed  out  of  sight  down  the 
St.  Lawrence  Rivei  was  Euclide  Auclair, 
the  apothecary  in  Quebec. 

WiUa 


Auclair  lived  on  the  street  which 
wound  up  the  slope  and  connected  the 
Upper  Town  on  the  cliff  with  the  Lower 
Town  that  clustered  along  the  shore  of 
the  river  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 
In  his  home  behind  his  shop,  Auclair 
and  his  daughter  Ce~cile  did  their 
best  to  re-create  the  atmosphere  they  had 
known  in  France.  So  successful  were 
they  that  many  people  came  to  the  shop 
merely  to  visit  and  snatch  a  breath  of 
the  France  they  had  left  behind. 

Cecile  was  only  thirteen  years  old 
and  her  mother  had  been  dead  for  sev 
eral  years.  Although  she  was  content 
to  remain  in  Canada,  her  father  seemed 
to  live  only  for  the  time  when  he  could 
return  to  France  with  his  patron,  the 
governor  of  the  colony,  Count  Fronte- 
nac.  Auclair,  who  had  served  the  count 
for  many  years,  was  a  trusted  friend  of 
the  governor  as  well  as  his  apothecary. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  last  ship  had 
departed,  Cecile  went  to  see  the  count 
to  ask  his  aid  in  obtaining  some  shoes 
for  a  little  orphan  boy.  The  governor 
was  glad  to  see  her,  for  too  many  of 
the  people  who  came  to  him  were 
anxious  only  to  help  themselves.  He  said 
that  when  he  made  his  will  he  would 


permission  of  the 


A- 


884 


leave  the  girl  a  bowl  of  glass  fruit  she 
had  always  admired. 

The  first  days  of  December  brought 
a  heavy  fall  of  snow  which  ushered  in 
the  deepest  reality  of  life  in  Canada,  the 
long,  dark  winter.  The  snow  also  re 
minded  Cecile  of  the  boxes  of  Christmas 
presents  which  had  been  sent  to  her 
by  aunts  in  France  the  previous  sum 
mer.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  December 
the  Auclairs  brought  the  boxes  out  of 
their  storage  place.  In  one  was  a  creche 
to  be  set  up  in  their  living  room.  The 
creche  was  the  crowning  point  of  Christ 
mas  for  many  of  their  friends,  for  the 
French  colonists  were,  as  a  rule,  very 
devout. 

One  day  in  March  Father  Hector 
Saint-Cyr  put  in  his  appearance.  The 
priest  spent  several  evenings  recounting 
to  the  Auclairs  stories  of  the  mission 
aries,  the  Indians,  and  the  hardships  of 
backwoods  life.  When  he  left,  Euclide 
Auclair  wondered  if,  after  all,  the  gifts 
of  an  educated  man  like  Father  Saint- 
Cyr  might  not  be  going  to  waste  in  mis 
placed  heroisms  among  the  Canadian 
missions  to  the  Indians. 

About  the  middle  of  March  the 
weather  changed.  There  was  a  con 
tinuous  downpour  of  rain  which  the 
snow  soaked  up  as  if  it  were  a  gigantic 
sponge.  Even  the  ice  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
broke  up  and  floated  downstream  in  huge 
gray  blocks.  It  was  a  season  of  sickness, 
and  the  apothecary  was  busy  from  morn 
ing  until  night  acting  as  doctor  to  many 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town.  Cecile 
herself  caught  a  cold  and  was  in  bed 
for  several  days. 

One  evening  while  C6cile  was  ill, 
Auclair  had  a  strange  visit  with  a  mis 
shapen  hunchback  who  secured  water 
and  wood  for  the  Auclairs  in  return  for 
a  bowl  of  soup  and  a  small  glass  of 
brandy  each  evening.  Blinker,  as  the 
hunchback  was  called,  told  Auclair  that 
as  a  boy  he  had  been  an  apprentice  to 
the  king's  torturer  at  Rouen.  While  an 
apprentice,  Blinker  had  tortured  an  old 
woman  into  admitting  that  she  had 


murdered  her  son.  Some  months  after 
her  execution  the  son  had  returned.  The 
shock  of  what  he  had  done  was  too  great 
for  the  apprentice.  He  ran  away,  took 
ship,  and  went  to  Quebec  to  begin  a 
new  life.  But  visions  of  the  old  woman 
haunted  him  so  that  he  could  not  sleep. 
Filled  with  sympathy,  the  apothecary 
gave  Blinker  some  laudanum  so  that  he 
might  have  a  little  untroubled  rest. 

One  day,  while  Cecile  was  regaining 
her  strength,  her  father  wrapped  her  in 
a  blanket  and  carried  her  to  the  door. 
There,  outside  the  door,  Cecile  saw  the 
first  swallow  hunting  for  its  old  nest 
in  the  wall  of  the  cliff  that  rose  sharply 
to  the  chateau  above.  As  soon  as  she 
was  well,  Cecile  hurried  to  inform  old 
Bishop  Laval  of  the  bird's  appearance. 
The  old  man  had  kept  a  record  of  the 
changing  seasons  for  thirty-eight  years 
and  he  had  always  included  the  date 
of  the  first  swallow's  arrival. 

On  the  first  day  of  June  the  leaves 
began  to  bud  and  the  hunters  arrived 
from  the  woods  with  their  loads  of  pelts. 
Among  the  first  hunters  to  reach  Quebec 
was  Pierre  Charron,  an  old  friend  of  the 
apothecary  and  his  daughter.  Pierre,  the 
son  of  a  rich  family  in  Montreal,  had 
been  disappointed  in  love.  His  sweet 
heart  had  decided  to  build  a  chapel  with 
her  dowry  and  enter  the  Church  as  a 
recluse.  After  she  had  taken  her  vows, 
Pierre  had  become  a  hunter  traveling 
through  the  wilderness  as  far  as  Michili- 
mackinac  and  Lake  Superior  in  his  quest 
for  furs  and  forgetfulness.  During  the 
spring  Pierre  Charron  took  Cecile  with 
him  to  visit  some  friends  on  the  Isle 
d'Orleans,  in  the  St.  Lawrence  some 
miles  below  Quebec.  The  squalid  and 
primitive  life  there  disgusted  Cecile. 

Early  in  July  the  ships  from  France 
arrived.  The  count  had  requested  the 
king  to  recall  him  from  Canada,  and  he 
had  promised  that  he  would  take  the 
Auclairs  back  to  France  with  him.  As 
each  ship  arrived  through  the  summer, 
the  Auclairs  looked  for  the  governor's 
recall.  Toward  the  end  of  summer  the 


885 


count  called  Euclide  Auclair  to  the 
chateau  to  warn  him  that  the  king's 
request  would  never  come.  When  the 
count  offered  to  send  the  Auclairs  back 
to  France,  Euclide  refused,  assuring  the 
count  that  he  could  not  leave  while  his 
patron  was  forced  to  remain  in  Quebec. 
The  last  ship  left  Quebec  in  October. 
Shortly  afterward  Count  Frontenac  be 
came  ill.  Euclide  Auclair  knew  that 
his  patient  could  not  live  through  the 
winter.  When  the  count  died,  Euclide 
carried  out  his  patron's  last  wish.  He 
sealed  the  count's  heart  in  a  lead  box 
and  sent  it  with  a  missionary  priest  to 
the  English  colonies  in  the  south.  From 


there    it    was    returned    to    France    for 
burial. 

The  death  of  the  count  was  a  great 
blow  to  the  Auclairs,  for  security  seemed 
to  have  gone  from  their  lives.  Thinking 
to  return  to  France  that  year,  they  had 
not  even  laid  in  a  proper  supply  of  food 
to  last  through  the  winter.  Fortunately 
for  them,  Pierre  Charron  arrived  in  Que 
bec  with  an  offer  of  help.  Later  he 
married  Ce'cile.  Charron  had  not  the 
authority  of  documents  and  seals  which 
the  count  had  had  to  protect  them,  but 
he  had  his  knowledge  of  the  woods  and 
the  people,  which  was  as  good  or  better 
in  the  wilds  of  Canada.  The  future  was 
safe. 


SHE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   H.  Rider  Haggard  O856-1925) 

Type  of  plot:    Adventure  romance 

Time  of  'plot:   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale-.    Africa 

First  published:   1887 

Principal  characters: 

LUDWIG  HORACE  HOLLY,  a  teacher 

LEO  VINCEY,  his  ward 

SHE,  a  beautiful  ageless  woman,  in  love  with  Leo 

JOB,  Holly's  servant 

USTANE,  a  woman  also  in  love  with  Leo 

BILLALI,  an  old  man  of  the  AmaKagger  tribe 

Critique: 

She  contains  such  deft  allusions  to 
real  events  and  places  that  the  reader 
frequently  finds  himself  wondering  if 
the  whole  invention  could  not  be  true. 
This  story  of  a  land  presided  over  by  an 
ageless  white  queen  and  of  the  fire  which 
enabled  her  to  live  for  thousands  of 
years  is  in  the  tradition  of  adventure 
romance  and  fantasy. 


The  Story: 

Late  one  night  in  his  rooms  at  Cam 
bridge,  Ludwig  Holly  received  an  urgent 
visit  from  a  fellow  student  named  Vin- 
cey.  The  man  was  dying  of  a  lung  con 
dition,  and  because  he  had  no  living 
relatives  he  asked  Holly  to  undertake 
the  guardianship  of  his  young  son  after 


his  death.  Vincey  explained  that  the 
boy  would  be  the  last  representative  of 
one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  world. 
He  could  trace  his  ancestry  back  to  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  to  a  priest  of  Isis 
named  Kalh'krates,  who  had  broken  his 
vows  and  fled  the  country  with  an 
Egyptian  princess.  Kallikrates  had  been 
murdered  by  the  queen  of  a  savage 
tribe,  but  his  wife  had  escaped  and  had 
borne  a  son,  from  whom  the  boy  was 
descended. 

Holly  agreed  to  rear  the  boy.  It  was 
understood  that  he  was  to  be  tutored  at 
home,  where  he  would  be  taught  Greek, 
mathematics,  and  Arabic.  On  his  twenty- 
fifth  birthday  he  was  to  receive  an  iron 
box  which  Vincey  would  leave  with 


886 


Holly;  at  that  time  he  could  decide 
whether  he  wanted  to  act  upon  its  con 
tents. 

The  following  morning  Vincey  was 
found  dead  in  his  rooms.  Shortly  after 
ward  five-year-old  Leo  Vincey  went  to 
live  with  his  guardian. 

Twenty  years  passed  happily  for  Leo 
and  for  the  man  whom  he  called  his 
uncle.  Then,  on  the  morning  of  the 
youth's  twenty-fifth  birthday,  the  iron 
chest  was  opened.  Inside  was  an  ebony 
box  which,  in  turn,  contained  a  silver 
chest.  Within  the  silver  chest  was  a 
potsherd  inscribed  by  the  wife  of  the  ill- 
fated  Kallikrates.  A  message  to  her  son, 
it  declared  that  the  queen  who  had 
murdered  Kallikrates  had  shown  them 
both  the  Pillar  of  Life.  The  message 
ended  by  begging  that  he,  or  some  brave 
descendant,  should  try  to  find  the  Pillar 
of  Life  and  slay  the  evil  queen. 

There  was  also  a  letter  to  Leo  from 
his  father  in  the  inmost  chest.  He 
wrote  that  he  had  journeyed  to  Africa 
to  find  the  land  which  his  ancestors  had 
visited,  but  had  gone  only  as  far  as  the 
coast.  There,  suffering  a  shortage  of 
provisions,  he  had  been  forced  to  turn 
back.  Before  he  could  plan  another  trip, 
he  had  been  taken  with  his  fatal  illness. 

Leo  determined  at  once  that  he  would 
carry  on  from  the  point  where  his  father 
had  been  forced  to  give  up  his  quest. 
Three  months  later,  he,  Holly,  and  their 
servant,  Job,  were  on  their  way  to  Africa. 

Their  destination  was  a  rock  shaped 
like  a  Negro's  head,  which  reared  as  a 
landmark  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Central 
Africa,  As  they  drew  near  shore  the 
little  party  readied  the  whaleboat  which 
they  planned  to  use  for  travel  inland. 
The  boat  was  tied  onto  the  large  dhow 
that  carried  them  down  the  coast.  Sud 
denly  a  squall  came  up,  and  huge  waves 
wrecked  the  dhow.  The  three  white  men 
and  an  Arab  named  Mahomed  managed 
to  launch  the  small  boat  and  reach  the 
shore. 

The  men  found  themselves  at  the 
mouth  of  a  river  whose  teeming  marshy 


banks  were  crowded  with  crocodiles. 
After  refreshing  themselves,  the  little 
party  started  inland  in  the  whaleboat. 
Holly  and  his  companions  traveled  with 
out  much  difficulty  for  five  days,  but  at 
the  end  of  that  time  the  river  grew  too 
shallow  to  continue  farther  and  they  were 
forced  to  branch  off  into  another  stream, 
which  proved  to  be  an  ancient  canal. 

During  the  next  four  days  the  trip 
became  increasingly  more  difficult.  Be 
cause  the  canal  was  full  of  weeds,  the 
boat  had  to  be  towed.  While  the  ex 
hausted  men  were  resting,  on  the  fourth 
evening,  they  were  suddenly  attacked 
by  a  party  of  about  fifty  tall,  light-colored 
men  who  spoke  Arabic.  They  would  have 
been  slain  on  the  spot,  had  not  the  old 
man  who  was  the  leader  of  the  natives 
ordered  that  their  lives  be  spared.  He 
explained  that  word  had  come  from  some 
one  whom  he  called  "She-who-must-be- 
obeyed"  that  any  white  men  who  wan 
dered  into  the  country  were  to  be  brought 
to  her.  The  man,  whose  name  the 
adventurers  later  learned  was  Billali,  de 
creed  that  Mahomed's  life  should  also 
be  spared.  In  litters  the  prisoners  were 
carried  to  a  cave  village  of  the  Amahag- 
ger  tribe.  There  Billali  left  them  with 
his  people  while  he  went  on  to  report  to 
She-who-must-be-obeyed. 

The  next  four  days  passed  peacefully. 
The  men  were  well-treated,  and  Ustane, 
one  of  the  Amahagger  women,  took  Leo 
for  her  husband  by  the  simple  ceremony 
of  throwing  her  arms  around  him  and 
kissing  him. 

On  the  fourth  night  the  three  white 
men  and  Mahomed  were  invited  to  a 
party.  The  only  refreshment  served  was 
a  fermented  drink.  After  the  brew  had 
been  passed  around  several  times,  a 
terrible  thing  occurred.  Suddenly  a  wom 
an  slipped  a  rope  around  Mahomed's 
body.  At  the  same  time  some  of  the 
men  reached  into  the  fire  around  which 
they  were  sitting,  dragged  out  a  red-hot 
pot,  and  tried  to  slip  it  on  the  Arab's 
head.  Holly,  realizing  that  the  natives 
were  preparing  to  kill  and  eat  Mahomed, 


887 


drew  his  gun  and  snot  the  woman.  The 
bullet  passed  through  her  body  and  killed 
the  Arab  as  well.  In  the  furious  struggle 
that  followed  Leo  was  seriously  wounded 
in  the  side.  The  situation  was  growing 
desperate  when  Billali  appeared  to  restore 
order. 

Three  days  later,  when  Leo's  wound 
had  barely  healed,  the  three  white  men, 
accompanied  by  Billali  and  Ustane,  were 
taken  to  meet  She  in  her  hidden  city  of 
Kor.  The  way  led  through  deep  swamps 
which  at  last  gave  way  to  spreading 
plains.  The  next  day  the  travelers  reached 
a  tunneled  mountain.  Their  guides  led 
Holly  and  his  friends,  blindfolded, 
through  the  tunnel  to  a  great  plain  that 
had  once  been  a  lake.  There  the  blind 
folds  were  removed,  and  the  men  were 
taken  to  some  apartments  cut  into  the 
solid  rock. 

After  he  had  refreshed  himself,  Holly 
was  taken  to  the  apartments  of  the 
heavily-veiled  queen.  She,  asking  about 
the  ancient  Greeks  and  Egyptians,  ex 
plained  that  she  had  been  living  in  the 
mountain  for  the  past  two  thousand 
years.  Holly  wondered  at  the  strange 
power  which  had  enabled  her  to  live 
untouched,  apparently,  by  time  or  death. 
She  declared  that  she  stayed  with  the 
Amahagger  only  to  await  the  return  of 
the  man  she  had  once  loved,  for  he 
was  destined  to  be  born  again,  Ayesha, 
as  she  asked  Holly  to  call  her,  removed 
her  veil.  She  was  exceedingly  beautiful. 

That  night  Holly  could  not  sleep 
from  excitement.  Wandering  in  the  pas 
sages  which  led  off  from  his  room,  he 
saw  Ayesha  uttering  curses  over  a  fire. 
They  were,  ne  discovered,  directed 
against  an  Egyptian  woman.  Near  the 
fire,  on  a  stone  shelf,  lay  a  corpse  with 
a  shroud  over  it.  HoDy,  fearful  for  his 
own  life  if  he  were  discovered,  crept 
back  to  his  room. 

The  next  day  the  savages  who  had 
plotted  Mahomed's  death  were  brought 
before  Ayesha  and  condemned  to  death 
by  torture.  In  the  evening  Ayesha  went 
to  visit  Leo,  who  was  ill  with  a  fever 


and  near  death.  When  she  saw  his  face, 
the  queen  staggered  back  with  a  scream. 
Leo  had  the  face  of  the  dead  Kallikrates. 
It  was  he  whose  arrival  Ayesha  awaited. 

She  quickly  forced  some  life-giving 
fluid  down  the  young  man's  throat.  In 
her  jealousy  she  would  have  killed 
Ustane,  had  not  Holly  reminded  her  of 
the  suffering  she  had  had  to  bear  for 
killing  Kallikrates  so  long  ago.  Ustane 
was  sentenced  to  leave  the  mountain. 

On  the  following  evening  the  three 
white  men  were  invited  to  attend  a 
dance  performed  by  natives  dressed  in 
animal  skins.  The  caves  were  honey 
combed  by  preserved  human  bodies,  and 
these  were  used  to  illuminate  the  pro 
ceedings,  for  when  a  torch  was  applied 
to  them  they  burned  brightly. 

Ustane,  who  had  not  been  able  to 
bear  the  parting  from  Leo,  was  one  of 
the  dancers.  She  revealed  herself  to  Leo 
when  he  strolled  to  a  dark  corner  of  the 
room,  but  she  was  discovered  by  Ayesha 
before  she  could  flee  with  him.  When 
Ustane  refused  to  leave  Leo's  side,  Aye 
sha  killed  her  with  a  fierce  look. 

Ayesha  led  Leo  and  Holly  to  the  place 
where  Holly  had  seen  her  uttering  her 
incantations.  Drawing  back  the  shroud 
which  covered  the  corpse,  she  disclosed 
the  body  of  Kallikrates.  Then  over  it 
she  poured  some  acid  that  destroyed  it 
quickly.  With  Leo  present  in  the  flesh, 
she  explained,  she  had  no  more  need 
for  the  body  of  the  dead  man. 

Leo  quickly  fell  under  Ayesha's  spell 
and  forgot  Ustane.  That  night  the  queen 
and  the  three  white  men  started  their 
journey  to  the  place  where  Leo  was  to 
bathe  in  the  fire  of  the  Pillar  of  Life  and 
so  be  assured  of  thousands  of  years  of 
existence. 

Traveling  across  the  plain,  through 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  of  Kor, 
the  party  reached  a  steep  mountain.  At 
its  foot  they  left  the  litter  bearers  in  the 
charge  of  Billali,  who  had  accompanied 
them,  and  began  the  ascent.  When,  by 
difficult  stages,  they  reached  the  top, 
they  were  forced  to  walk  a  plank  across 


888 


a  deep  chasm  to  reach  the  cave  which 
held  the  pillar  of  fire,  the  Pillar  of  Life. 
When  Leo  hesitated  to  immerse  him 
self  in  that  spiraling  flame,  Ayesha,  to 
show  that  there  was  nothing  to  fear, 
walked  into  it.  As  she  stood  in  its  rising 
flame,  a  sudden  change  came  over  Aye 
sha.  Her  face  and  limbs  began  to 
shrivel  until  finally,  before  the  horrified 
onlookers,  she  shrank  into  a  little  old 
monkey-like  creature  and  died.  Whether 
her  death  was  caused  by  some  fatal  qual 
ity  which  had  crept  into  the  flame,  or 
whether  her  earlier  immersion  in  it  had 
been  neutralized,  the  men  did  not  know. 
Shaken  to  their  depths,  Holly  and  Leo 
started  back  to  Billali.  They  left  Job,  who 
had  died  of  shock,  in  the  cave  with  the 
remains  of  Ayesha. 


Informed  of  Ayesha's  fate,  Billali  hur 
ried  to  lead  the  white  men  back  through 
the  swamps  toward  the  coast,  before  the 
Amahagger  tribe  learned  they  no  longer 
had  to  fear  their  dread  queen.  Much 
the  worse  for  wear,  Holly  and  Leo  man 
aged  to  make  their  way  to  Delagoa  Bay 
after  leaving  the  old  native  at  the  edge 
of  the  swamp  country.  Though  they 
had  only  spent  three  weeks  in  the  in 
terior,  Leo's  hair  had  turned  white. 

The  two  men  eventually  arrived  in 
England  and  resumed  their  old  existence. 
However,  as  he  sat  alone  at  night,  Holly 
frequently  wondered  what  the  next  step 
in  the  drama  he  had  witnessed  would  be, 
and  what,  some  day,  would  be  the  role 
of  the  Egyptian  princess  whom  Kalli- 
krates  had  loved. 


SHE  STOOPS  TO  CONQUER 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Oliver  Goldsmith  (1728-1774) 

Type,  of  plot:  Comedy  of  situation 

Time  of  plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  presented:  1773 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  HARDCASTLE,  an  English  gentleman 

MRS.  HARDCASTLE,  his  wife 

TONY  LUMPKTN,  Mrs.  Hardcastle's  son 

ELATE  HARDCASTLE,  Mr.  Hardcastle's  daughter 

CONSTANCE  NEVILLE,  Tony's  cousin 

MARLOW,  Kate's  reluctant  suitor 

HASTINGS,  in  love  with  Constance 

SIR  CHARLES,  Marlow's  father 

Critiqiie: 

This  charming  play  has  entertained 
audiences  for  more  than  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  years.  Conditions  of  society 
on  which  the  comedy  is  based  have  long 
since  ceased  to  exist,  but  the  gaiety  of 
the  plot  and  the  racy  dialogue  are  still 
amusing.  Designed  to  satirize  the  senti 
mental  comedy  of  Goldsmith's  day,  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer  far  outshines  the  ex 
aggerated  sentimentality  of  the  author's 
contemporary  stage. 


The  Story: 

Mrs.  Hardcastle,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Hard- 


castle  by  a  second  marriage,  had  by  hei 
first  husband  a  son,  Tony  Lumpldn. 
Tony  was  a  lazy,  spoiled  boy,  but  his 
mother  excused  his  actions  by  imagining 
him  to  be  sickly.  Mr.  Hardcastle  vowed 
that  his  stepson  looked  the  picture  of 
good  health. 

Kate  Hardcastle,  Mr,  Hardcastle's 
daughter,  was  headstrong.  To  overcome 
his  daughter's  wish  to  be  a  lady  of  im 
portance,  Mr.  Hardcastle  had  struck  a 
bargain  with  her  whereby  she  wore  ordi 
nary  clothes  and  played  a  country  gir] 
during  part  of  the  day;  at  other  times  she 


889 


was  allowed  to  appear  in  fine  clothes. 
Knowing  it  was  time  for  his  daughter  to 
many,  Mr.  Hardcastle  sent  for  Mr.  Mar- 
low,  the  son  of  his  closest  friend,  to  meet 
Kate.  Kate  was  pleased  by  her  father's 
description  of  the  young  man  in  all  fea 
tures  except  one.  She  did  not  like  the 
fact  that  he  was  considered  shy  and  re 
tiring. 

Mrs.  Hardcastle  hoped  to  arrange  a 
match  between  Tony  and  Constance 
Neville,  her  ward  and  Kate's  best  friend. 
The  two  young  people  mutually  hated 
each  other  but  pretended  otherwise  for 
Mrs.  Hardcastle's  sake.  On  the  day  of 
Mr.  Marlow's  expected  arrival,  Constance 
identified  the  prospective  bridegroom  as 
the  friend  of  Hastings,  the  man  whom 
Constance  really  loved.  Constance  de 
scribed  Marlow  as  being  very  shy  with 
fashionable  young  ladies  but  quite  a 
different  character  with  girls  of  lower 
station. 

En  route  to  the  Hardcastle  home,  Has 
tings  and  Marlow  lost  their  way  and  ar 
rived  at  an  ale-house  where  Tony  was 
carousing  with  friends.  Recognizing  the 
two  men,  Tony  decided  to  play  a  trick 
on  his  stepfather.  When  Hastings  and 
Marlow  asked  the  way  to  the  Hardcastle 
home,  Tony  told  them  that  they  were 
lost  and  would  be  wise  to  stop  at  an  inn 
a  short  distance  up  the  road.  Marlow  and 
Hastings  arrived  at  their  destination  but 
thought  it  the  inn  Tony  had  described. 
Hardcastle,  knowing  nothing  of  their  mis 
conception,  treated  them  as  guests,  while 
Hastings  and  Marlow  treated  him  as  an 
innkeeper,  each  party  thinking  the  other 
extremely  rude.  Hardcastle  decided  that 
Marlow's  apparent  character  was  in  con 
tradiction  to  the  modest  personage  who 
had  been  described  to  him. 

When  Hastings  met  Constance,  she 
quickly  recognized  Tony's  hand  in  the 
mischief,  but  Hastings  and  Constance 
kept  the  secret  to  themselves.  Hastings 
explained  to  Marlow  that  the  two  young 
ladies  had  arrived  at  the  inn  after  a  long 
journey  through  the  country.  When 
Tony  came  home,  Hastings  took  him 


aside  and  explained  his  desire  to  marry 
Constance,  an  arrangement  quite  satis 
factory  to  the  rascal.  He  promised  to  help 
the  lovers  and  even  to  try  to  secure  Con 
stance's  jewelry,  which  was  in  Mrs. 
Hardcastle's  keeping.  The  bargain  hav 
ing  been  made,  Tony  went  to  his  mother's 
room  and  stole  the  gems.  He  gave  them 
to  Hastings.  When  Constance  asked  for 
the  jewels,  Tony  whispered  to  his  mother 
that  she  should  tell  Constance  they  had 
been  lost.  Thinking  it  a  capital  plan, 
Mrs.  Hardcastle  complied  with  Tony's 
suggestion,  only  to  discover  later  that 
the  gems  actually  were  gone.  Meanwhile, 
Kate,  according  to  her  agreement  with 
her  father,  had  put  on  a  pleasant,  simple 
dress. 

Learning  of  Marlow's  mistaken  idea 
that  he  was  at  an  inn,  Kate  decided  to 
keep  him  in  error.  Marlow,  seeing  Kate 
in  her  simple  dress,  thought  she  was  a 
serving-girl,  and  revealed  himself  as  a 
flirtatious  dandy.  As  he  was  trying  to 
kiss  her,  Mr.  Hardcastle  entered  the 
room,  and  Marlow  fled.  Mr.  Hardcasde 
remarked  to  Kate  that  obviously  she  now 
had  proof  that  Marlow  was  no  modest 
young  man.  Kate  vowed  she  would  con 
vince  her  father  Marlow  had  the  kind  of 
personality  pleasing  to  them  both.  How 
ever,  Marlow's  continued  impudence 
aroused  Hardcastle  to  such  an  uncontrol 
lable  state  that  he  ordered  him  to  leave 
his  house.  Kate,  thinking  the  time  had 
come  to  enlighten  her  deceived  suitor, 
told  Marlow  about  the  trick  Tony  had 
played.  Marlow,  still  unaware  of  Kate's 
real  identity,  found  himself  more  and 
more  attracted  to  her,  while  Kate  was 
discovering  him  to  be  a  fine  and  honest 
person. 

Hastings  had  given  Marlow  the  jewels 
which  Tony  had  stolen  from  Mrs.  Hard 
castle.  To  protect  the  valuables,  Marlow 
had  sent  them  to  Mrs.  Hardcasde,  sup 
posing  her  to  be  the  innkeeper's  wife. 
The  servants,  under  Tony's  instructions, 
then  explained  to  the  distraught  lady  that 
the  jewels  had  been  mislaid  because  of 
some  confusion  in  the  household. 


890 


Mrs.  Hardcastle  discovered  that  Has 
tings  planned  to  elope  with  Constance. 
Enraged,  she  decided  to  punish  Con 
stance  by  sending  her  to  visit  her  Aunt 
Pedigree.  To  add  to  the  confusion,  news 
came  that  Sir  Charles,  Marlow's  father, 
was  on  his  way  to  the  Hardcastle  home. 

Tony  offered  to  drive  the  coach  for 
Mrs.  Hardcastle,  but  instead  of  taking 
the  ladies  to  the  house  of  Aunt  Pedigree, 
he  drove  them  around  in  a  circle  for 
three  hours  until  Mrs.  Hardcastle  be 
lieved  they  were  lost.  After  hiding  his 
terrified  mother  in  the  bushes,  Tony  took 
Constance  back  to  Hastings.  But  Con 
stance  was  determined  not  to  leave  with 
out  her  jewels.  When  Mrs.  Hardcastle 
at  last  discovered  Tony's  trick,  she  was 
furious. 

Sir  Charles,  on  his  arrival,  was  greatly 
amused  by  Hardcastle's  account  of  Mar- 
low's  mistake.  Hardcastle  assured  Sir 
Charles  that  Marlow  loved  Kate,  but 
Marlow  insisted  he  was  not  interested  in 
Miss  Hardcastle.  Kate  promised  the  two 
fathers  she  would  prove  that  Marlow 
loved  her,  and  she  told  them  to  hide 


while  she  talked  with  Marlow.  Still 
under  the  impression  that  Kate  was  a 
serving-girl,  the  wretched  young  man  told 
her  he  loved  her  and  wanted  to  marry 
her.  Sir  Charles  and  Hardcastle  emerged 
from  their  hiding  place  satisfied  that  the 
marriage  would  be  arranged.  Marlow  was 
upset  to  leam  that  the  serving-girl  with 
whom  he  had  behaved  so  freely  was 
really  Miss  Hardcastle. 

Mrs.  Hardcastle  reminded  her  husband 
that  she  had  full  control  of  Constance's 
fortune  until  Tony  married  her  when  he 
became  of  age.  But  if  he  should  refuse 
her,  Constance  would  be  given  control 
of  her  inheritance.  It  was  then  announced 
that  Tony's  real  age  had  been  hidden  in 
the  hope  that  the  lad  would  improve  his 
character.  Informed  that  he  was  already 
of  age,  Tony  refused  to  marry  Constance. 
Sir  Charles  assured  Mrs.  Hardcastle  that 
Hastings  was  a  fine  young  man,  and  Con 
stance  obtained  her  jewels  from  her 
guardian. 

So  Kate  married  Marlow,  and  Con 
stance  married  Hastings.  And  Tony 
gained  his  freedom  from  his  mother. 


THE  SHELTERED  LIFE 

Type  of  "work:    Novel 

Author:    Ellen  Glasgow  (1874-1945) 

Type  of  plot:    Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    Twentieth  century 

Locale:    Virginia 

First  published:   1932 

Principal  characters: 

GENERAL  ARCHBALD,  a  Southern  gentleman 
JENNY  BLAIR  ARCHBALD,   his  granddaughter 
GEORGE  BIRDSONG,  his  neighbor 
EVA  BIRDSONG,  George's  wife 

Critique: 

Ellen  Glasgow,  at  a  time  when  many 
writers  of  her  generation  and  section  of 
the  United  States  saw  fit  to  write  in 
experimental  patterns,  kept  to  established 
traditions  of  writing.  The  result  was  a 
lucid,  realistic  approach  to  the  problem 
of  Southern  society  in  the  early  twentieth 
century.  A  tragedy  that  is  the  necessary 


outcome  of  folly  is  presented  clearly  and 
with  distinction  in  The  Sheltered  Life. 
There  can  be  no  criticism  of  Miss  Glas 
gow's  logic.  The  novel  is  a  revealing 
picture  of  manners  and  morals, 

The  Story: 

The    Archbalds    and    the    Birdsongs 


THE  SHELTERED  LIFE  by  Ellen  Glasgow.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,   Harcourt,   Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 
Copyright,   1932,  by  Ellen  Glasgow. 


891 


were  the  last  of  the  old  families  left  on 
once-fashionable  Washington  Street,  and 
they  clung  to  it  along  with  their  pas 
sion  for  the  gentility  of  the  past  decades 
in  an  effort  to  keep  things  as  they  had 
always  known  them.  They  not  only 
disliked  change;  they  also  forbade  it  on 
their  premises. 

Jenny  Blair  Archbald  was  five  when 
her  father  died.  A  short  time  later  her 
mother  had  gone  to  live  with  her  hus 
band's  father  and  his  two  unmarried 
daughters,  Etta  and  Isabella. 

At  the  end  of  the  block  lived  Eva  and 
George  Birdsong.  Eva,  after  twelve  years 
of  marriage,  was  still  the  acknowledged 
beauty  among  her  wide  circle  of  friends. 
They  had  no  doubt  that  had  she  so 
chosen  she  might  have  been  a  famous 
prima  donna  or  a  great  actress.  Her 
husband,  however,  was  not  successful; 
he  lost  his  inheritance,  he  drank,  and 
he  was  unfaithful  to  her. 

Jenny  Blair  Archbald  wanted  new 
roller-skates.  Her  grandfather,  General 
Archbald,  promised  to  give  her  a  penny 
a  page  for  reading  Little  Women,  but 
Jenny  Blair  found  the  book  dull  read 
ing.  She  would  rather  have  been  in 
vestigating  Canal  Street  against  her 
mother's  wishes. 

Aunt  Etta  was  having  one  of  her 
spells.  Doomed  to  a  single  life  by  her 
unpopularity  with  men,  Etta  suffered 
all  sorts  of  nervous  disorders.  Isabella, 
having  just  broken  off  an  engagement, 
was  currently  allowing  herself  to  talk 
frequently  with  Joseph  Crocker,  a  car 
penter. 

Jenny  Blair  finally  took  her  old  roller- 
skates  and  skated  in  the  direction  of 
Canal  Street.  There  she  stumbled  and 
was  taken  in  by  Memoria,  the  Birdsong's 
mulatto  laundress.  While  she  was  re 
covering  she  saw  George  Birdsong,  who 
took  her  home  but  made  sure  that  she 
promised  to  tell  no  one  where  she  had 
met  him. 

The  Peytons  were  giving  a  ball  which 
Jenny  Blair  was  to  attend,  although  she 
and  young  Bena  Peyton  were  to  keep 


out  of  sight  and  out  of  the  way.  Her 
aunts  were  preparing  to  go.  Eva  Bird- 
song  was  making  over  an  old  gown  for 
the  affair  and  was  planning  to  dance  only 
two  dances,  the  first  and  the  last,  both 
with  her  husband. 

At  the  dance  Eva  saw  George  walking 
in  the  garden  with  Delia  Barron.  She 
promptly  fainted,  recovered  in  the  chil 
dren's  nursery,  and  had  to  be  carried 
home  by  her  husband. 

Seven  years  passed.  Old  General 
Archbald,  now  eighty-three,  mused  over 
his  life  and  that  of  his  relatives.  He 
had  always  surrendered  the  things  he 
wanted  most  for  the  things  he  had  felt 
were  his  duty.  Now  he  wondered  what 
he  had  done  with  his  life.  Isabella  had 
broken  two  engagements  to  marry  Joseph 
Crocker,  a  man  socially  beneath  her. 
Jenny  Blair's  mother  had  loved  his  son 
and  his  son  had  died  while  fox  hunting. 
Eva  Birdsong  had  given  up  everything 
for  a  husband  who  was  indifferent  to 
her  beauty  and  her  wit.  And  now  Eva, 
whom  he  admired  greatly,  was  being 
operated  on. 

Eva  was  past  the  age  when  she  was 
likely  to  have  children,  but  she  had  hid 
den  the  nature  of  her  illness  as  long  as 
possible  until  now  her  life  was  in  danger. 
For  many  long  hours  the  old  general 
relived  in  his  memories  the  fleeting  events 
of  his  life. 

The  general  visited  Eva  in  the  hos 
pital.  Eva  seemed  despondent.  She 
made  him  promise  to  look  after  George 
and  retold  many  amusing  old  tales  about 
her  life  with  her  husband.  As  he  left 
the  sick  woman's  room,  the  old  man 
wondered  how  he  could  help  her  or  if 
there  were  any  help  on  earth  for  her. 

Now  old  enough  to  make  her  appear 
ance  in  the  formal  society  of  the  dignified 
old  city,  Jenny  Blair  rebelled  against  her 
mother's  formal  plans.  Instead,  she  and 
Bena  Peyton  hoped  to  go  to  New  York. 
Jenny  Blair  thought  that  she  wanted  to 
be  an  actress. 

One  day  George  Birdsong  waited  for 
Jenny  Blair  outside  the  hospital,  where 


892 


they  talked  as  the  sun  was  setting.  Sud 
denly,  before  she  knew  what  had  hap 
pened,  George  seized  her  and  kissed  her. 
Jenny  Blair  was  unsure  of  her  emotions, 
although  George  pretended  it  was  the 
kind  of  a  kiss  he  had  always  given  her 
— a  sort  of  little  girl's  kiss.  But  this 
kiss,  she  was  positive,  was  different. 

When  she  accompanied  her  grand 
father  home,  she  told  him  that  she 
thought  she  would  give  up  going  on  the 
stage  or  even  going  to  New  York. 

The  old  man  was  puzzled  and  tired. 
Cora,  Jenny  Blair's  mother,  mixed  a  mint 
julep  for  him  in  an  effort  to  revive  him, 
but  he  felt  that  the  drink  had  little  effect, 
As  he  went  upstairs  to  dress  for  dinner 
he  saw  his  sick  daughter  Etta  reading 
in  bed  one  of  her  endless  French  love 
stories.  He  wished  in  vain  she  might 
have  had  some  of  Isabella's  charm  so 
that  she  might  have  married. 

At  the  hospital  the  next  day  Jenny 
Blair  left  a  kimono  for  Eva  to  wear. 
Old  General  Archbald  listened  with  dis 
gust  to  George  Birdsong's  exhibition  of 
grief  for  his  wife's  suffering.  Then,  just 
as  the  operation  was  about  over,  the  old 
man  had  a  heart  attack  which  he  kept 
secret. 

Jenny  Blair  had  become  infatuated 
with  George  Birdsong,  or  thought  she 
was,  and  to  her  that  was  the  same  thing. 
She  pretended  to  be  angry  with  him, 
but  when  he  took  his  wife  away  for  a 
rest  after  her  illness  Jenny  Blair  counted 
the  days  until  he  should  return.  She 
wondered  why  she  had  ever  wanted  to  go 
to  New  York,  and  she  decided  that  she 


hated  Eva's  cousin,  John  Welch,  a  doc 
tor,  because  he  seemed  to  understand  her 
strange  moods  better  than  she  herself 
understood  them. 

When  George  Birdsong  returned 
alone,  Jenny  Blair  sought  him  out  and 
admitted  she  loved  him.  George,  some 
what  surprised,  tried  to  put  her  off. 
Finally  he  kissed  her  as  she  desired  him 
to  do,  but  he  tried  to  make  her  see  that 
she  was  being  very  foolish. 

When  autumn  came  and  the  Arch- 
balds  returned  from  their  summer  vaca 
tion,  Jenny  Blair  was  glad  because  she 
could  see  George  Birdsong  again.  At 
the  same  time  she  visited  Eva,  who 
seemed  to  get  no  better. 

George  had  shot  some  ducks  and  tied 
cards  to  their  necks  with  bits  of  Eva's 
green  ribbon,  for  he  intended  to  give 
them  away  to  his  friends.  That  evening 
Jenny  Blair  and  George  stood  together 
in  the  garden  of  the  Birdsong  home.  As 
George  bent  to  embrace  her,  they  heard 
Eva,  who  had  arisen  from  her  bed. 
George  went  into  the  house  at  his  wife's 
insistence.  A  few  minutes  later  there 
was  a  shot.  When  John  Welch  called 
Jenny  Blair  into  the  house,  she  saw 
George  dead  from  a  gunshot  wound  and 
Eva  with  a  strangely  vacant  look  on  her 
face.  The  dead  ducks  and  George's  gun 
were  lying  in  the  hall.  John  insisted  that 
the  shooting  had  been  an  accident.  Old 
General  Archbald,  when  he  arrived,  as 
serted  also  that  it  had  been  an  accident. 
Jenny  Blair,  in  terror  and  shame,  found 
refuge  in  hysteria. 


SILAS  MARKER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  George  Eliot  (Mary  Ann  Evans,  1819-1880) 

Type  of  plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1861 

Principal  characters: 

SILAS  MAKNTER,  a  weaver 

EPPIE,  his  adopted  daughter 

AAEON  WrNnmop,  whom  Eppie  married 


893 


GODFREY  CASS,  Eppie's  father 
DUNSTAN  CASS,  his  wastrel  brother 
NANCY  LAMMETER,  whom  Godfrey  married 


Critique: 

George  Eliot's  intent  in  writing  Silas 
Marner:  the  Weaver  of  Raveloe  was  to 
show  that  good  things  come  to  pure, 
natural  people.  In  contrast  to  the  deadly 
serious  nature  of  the  hero  are  the  simple 
and  humorous  village  characters.  Silas 
does  not  belong  to  the  realm  of  important 
literary  characters.  He  is  merely  a  symbol 
of  patience,  pathos,  and  goodness;  the 
victim  of  an  injustice  which  he  does 
nothing  to  rectify.  He  waits  for  sixteen 
years  until  justice,  the  abstraction,  con 
quers,  and  Silas,  the  man,  reaps  his  de 
served  harvest. 

The  Story: 

In  the  small  community  of  Raveloe 
lived  the  linen-weaver,  Silas  Marner. 
Long  years  at  his  spinning-wheel  had  left 
Silas  extremely  near-sighted  so  that  his 
vision  was  limited  to  only  those  objects 
which  were  very  bright  or  very  close  to 
him.  Because  of  an  unjust  accusation  of 
theft,  Silas  had  left  his  former  home  at 
Lantern  Yard  and  had  become  a  recluse. 
For  fifteen  years  the  lonely,  shriveled 
man  had  lived  for  no  purpose  but  to 
hoard  the  money  he  received  in  pay 
ment  for  his  weaving.  Night  after  night 
he  took  his  golden  hoard  from  its  hiding 
place  in  the  floor  of  his  cottage  and  let 
the  shining  pieces  run  through  his 
fingers. 

The  leading  man  in  Raveloe  was 
Squire  Cass,  who  had  one  fine  son,  God 
frey,  and  one  wastrel  son,  Dunstan.  It 
was  said  that  Godfrey  would  marry 
Nancy  Lammeter.  But  Godfrey  had  be 
come  involved  in  Duns  tan's  gambling 
debts.  He  had  lent  his  spendthrift  brother 
some  of  the  squire's  rent  money,  which 
Dunstan  had  lost  in  gambling.  Since 
neither  brother  could  raise  the  money, 
they  decided  that  Dunstan  must  sell 
Godfrey's  favorite  horse,  Wildfire,  at  a 
nearby  fair.  Godfrey's  one  fear  was  that 
this  affair  would  harm  his  reputation  in 


the  neighborhood  and  his  chance  with 
Nancy.  Another  thing  that  weighed  on 
Godfrey's  conscience  and  prevented  his 
declaration  to  Nancy  was  the  fact  that 
he  was  already  married.  Once  he  had 
been  drunk  in  a  tavern  in  a  distant  ham 
let,  and  in  that  condition  he  had  married 
a  low-bred,  common  woman.  Sober,  he 
had  fled  back  to  Raveloe  and  kept  his 
marriage  a  secret. 

Dunstan  rode  Wildfire  across  the  fog- 
dimmed  fields  and  crippled  the  animal 
on  a  high  jump.  With  no  means  of  rais 
ing  the  money,  half-drunk  and  fear- 
driven,  Dunstan  came  to  Silas  Marner Js 
cottage.  He  knew  the  neighborhood  gos 
sip  that  the  weaver  had  a  hoard  of  gold 
hidden  away.  The  cottage  was  empty, 
and  instinct  soon  led  the  drunken  boy 
to  the  hiding  place  of  the  gold.  Stealing 
out  of  the  cabin  with  his  prize  and  stum 
bling  through  the  night,  Dunstan  fell 
into  an  abandoned  quarry  pit  and  was 

1*111 

killed. 

The  robbery  of  Silas'  cottage  furnished 
gossip  for  the  entire  community.  Another 
mystery  was  the  disappearance  of  Dun 
stan  Cass.  Godfrey  was  forced  now  to 
tell  his  father  about  the  rent  money  he 
had  given  Dunstan  and  about  the  loss  of 
the  valuable  horse,  which  had  been  found 
dead.  Silas  began  to  receive  visitors  from 
the  neighborhood.  One  of  his  most  fre 
quent  callers  was  Dolly  Winthrop  and 
her  son  Aaron,  a  charming  little  boy. 
Yet  Silas  could  not  be  persuaded  to  come 
out  of  his  hermitage;  he  secretly  mourned 
the  loss  of  his  gold. 

On  New  Year's  Eve  a  destitute  woman 
died  in  the  snow  near  Silas'  cottage.  She 
had  with  her  a  little  yellow-haired  girl 
who  made  her  way  toward  the  light  shin 
ing  through  the  cottage  window  and  en 
tered  the  house.  Returning  from  an 
errand,  Silas  saw  a  golden  gleam  in  front 
of  his  fireplace,  a  gleam  which  he  mistook 
for  his  lost  gold.  On  closer  examination, 


894 


he  discovered  a  sleeping  baby.  Follow 
ing  the  child's  tracks  through  the  snow, 
he  came  upon  the  body  of  the  dead 
woman. 

Godfrey  was  dancing  happily  with 
Nancy  when  Silas  appeared  to  say  that  he 
had  found  a  body.  Godfrey  went  with 
the  others  to  the  scene  and  saw  to  his 
horror  that  the  dead  woman  was  his 
estranged  wife.  He  told  no  one  of  her 
identity,  and  had  not  the  courage  to 
claim  the  baby  for  his  own.  Silas,  with 
a  confused  association  between  the 
golden-haired  child  and  his  lost  hoard, 
tenaciously  clung  to  the  child.  After 
Dolly  Winthrop  spoke  up  in  favor  of  his 
proper  attitude  toward  children,  the  vil 
lagers  decided  to  leave  the  baby  with  the 
old  weaver. 

Years  passed.  Under  the  spell  of  the 
child  who  in  her  baby  language  called 
herself  Eppie  instead  of  the  Biblical 
Hephzibah  that  Silas  had  bestowed  upon 
her,  the  cottage  of  the  weaver  of  Raveloe 
took  on  a  new  appearance.  Lacy  curtains 
decorated  the  once  drab  windows,  and 
Silas  himself  outgrew  his  shell  of  reti 
cence.  Dolly  brought  her  son  to  play 
with  Eppie,  Silas  was  happy.  After  many 
years  he  even  returned  to  Lantern  Yard, 
taking  Eppie.  He  searched  his  old  neigh 


borhood  hopefully  but  could  find  no  one 
who  could  clear  his  blighted  past. 

Godfrey  Cass  married  Nancy,  but  it 
was  a  childless  union.  For  sixteen  years 
Godfrey  secretly  carried  with  him  the 
thought  of  his  child  growing  up  under 
the  care  of  Silas.  At  last  the  old  stone 
quarry  was  drained  and  workmen  found 
a  skeleton  identified  by  Dunstan's  watch 
and  seals.  Beside  the  skeleton  was  Silas* 
lost  bag  of  gold,  stolen  on  the  night  of 
Dunstan's  disappearance.  With  this  dis 
covery,  Godfrey's  past  reopened  its  sealed 
doors.  He  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
to  tell  Nancy  the  truth.  When  he  con 
fessed  the  story  of  Eppie's  birth,  Nanc) 
agreed  with  him  that  they  should  go  tc 
Silas  and  Eppie  with  their  tale.  Hearing 
this  strange  story  of  Eppie's  parentage* 
the  unselfish  weaver  opened  the  way  foi 
Eppie  to  take  advantage  of  her  wealthy 
heritage;  but  Eppie  fled  to  the  arms  of 
the  man  who  had  been  a  father  and  a 
mother  to  her  when  no  one  else  would 
claim  her. 

There  was  one  thing  remaining  to  com 
plete  the  weaver's  happiness.  Eppie  mar 
ried  Aaron  Winthrop,  her  childhood 
playmate,  while  Silas  beamed  happily  on 
the  scene  of  her  wedding. 


SISTER  CARRIE 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:    Theodore  Dreiser  (1871-1945) 

Type  of  plot:    Naturalism 

Time  of  plot:    1889 

Locale:   Chicago  and  New  York 

First  published:    1900 

Principal  characters: 

CARRIE  MEEBER,  a  small-town  girl 

CHARLES  DROUET,  her  first  lover 

G.  W.  HURSTWOOD,  Drouet's  friend  and  Carrie's  second  lover 


Critique: 

Dreiser's  first  novel  is,  in  some  ways, 
somewhat  superior  to  much  of  his  later 
work.  As  usual,  his  characters  are  vivid 
and  lifelike,  sympathetically  portrayed. 


Carrie  is  well-unified,  the  style  more 
fluent  and  natural.  A  companion  piece 
to  Stephen  Crane's  Maggie — and  a  com 
parison  between  the  two  books  is  always 


Unlike  some  of  the  later  novels,  Sister      interesting  and  revealing — it  is  also  his- 

SISTER   CARRIE   by  Theodore  Dreiser.     By  permission   of  Mrs.   Theodore  Dreiser    and  the  publishers,   The 
World  Publishing  Co.     Copyright,  1900,  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.     Renewed,   1927,  by  Theodore  Dreiser. 

895 


torically  significant  as  a  pioneer  work 
of  the  naturalistic  movement  in  American 
literature. 

The  Story: 

When  Carrie  Meeber  left  her  home 
town  in  Wisconsin,  she  had  nothing  but 
a  few  dollars  and  a  certain  unspoiled 
beauty  and  charm.  Young,  inexperienced, 
she  was  going  to  Chicago  to  live  with 
her  sister  and  to  find  work.  While  on 
the  train,  she  met  Charles  Drouet,  a 
genial,  flashy  traveling  salesman.  Before 
the  train  pulled  into  the  station,  they 
had  exchanged  addresses,  and  Drouet 
promised  to  call  on  Carrie  at  her  sister's 
house. 

When  she  arrived  at  her  sister's  home, 
Carrie  discovered  that  her  life  there 
would  be  far  from  the  happy,  carefree 
existence  o£  which  she  had  dreamed.  The 
Hansons  were  hard-working  people,  grim 
and  penny-pinching,  allowing  them 
selves  no  pleasures,  and  living  a  dull, 
conventional  life.  It  was  clear  to  Carrie 
that  Drouet  could  not  possibly  call  there, 
not  only  because  of  the  unattractive  at 
mosphere,  but  also  because  the  Hansons 
were  sure  to  object  to  him.  She  wrote 
and  told  him  that  he  was  not  to  call, 
that  she  would  get  in  touch  with  him 
later. 

Meanwhile  Carrie  went  job-hunting 
and  finally  found  work  in  a  small  shoe 
factory.  Of  her  first  wages,  all  but  fifty 
cents  went  to  her  sister  and  brother-in- 
law.  Then  she  fell  ill  and  lost  her  job. 
Once  again  she  had  to  look  for  work.  Day 
after  day  she  trudged  the  streets,  without 
success.  It  seemed  as  if  she  would  have 
to  go  back  to  Wisconsin,  and  the  Han 
sons  encouraged  her  to  do  so.  If  she 
could  not  bring  in  money,  they  did  not 
want  her. 

One  day,  while  Carrie  was  looking  for 
work,  she  met  Drouet  and  told  him  her 
troubles.  He  offered  her  money  which, 
with  reluctance,  she  finally  accepted. 
The  money  was  for  clothes  she  needed, 
but  she  did  not  know  how  to  explain 
the  source  of  the  money  to  her  sister. 


Drouet  solved  the  problem  by  suggesting 
that  he  rent  a  room  for  her,  where  she 
could  keep  her  clothing.  A  few  days  later 
Carrie  went  to  live  with  Drouet,  who 
had  promised  to  marry  her  as  soon  as  he 
had  completed  a  business  deal. 

In  the  meantime  Drouet  introduced 
her  to  a  friend,  G.  W.  Hurstwood. 
Hurstwood  had  a  good  job  as  the  man 
ager  of  a  saloon,  a  comfortable  home,  a 
wife,  and  two  grown  children.  More 
than  twice  Carrie's  age,  he  nevertheless 
accepted  Drouet's  suggestion  that  he  look 
in  on  her  while  the  salesman  was  out 
of  town  on  one  of  his  trips.  Before 
long  Hurstwood  was  passionately  in  love 
with  her.  When  Drouet  came  back,  he 
discovered  from  a  chambermaid  that 
Came  and  Hurstwood  had  been  going 
out  together  frequently.  A  scene  fol 
lowed.  Carrie  was  furious  when  Drouet 
told  her  that  Hurstwood  was  already 
married.  She  blamed  Drouet  for  her 
folly,  saying  that  he  should  have  told 
her  that  Hurstwood  was  a  married  man. 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Hurstwood  had  be 
come  suspicious  of  her  husband.  Drouet 
had  secured  for  Carrie  a  part  in  a  theatri 
cal  entertainment  which  a  local  lodge 
was  presenting.  Hurstwood,  hearing  that 
Carrie  was  to  appear,  persuaded  many  of 
his  friends  to  go  with  him  to  the  show. 
Mrs.  Hurstwood  learned  of  the  affair  and 
heard,  too,  that  her  husband  had  been 
seen  riding  with  an  unknown  woman. 
She  confronted  Hurstwood  and  told  him 
that  she  intended  to  sue  for  divorce. 
Faced  with  social  and  financial  ruin, 
Hurstwood  was  in  despair.  One  night 
he  discovered  that  his  employer's  safe 
was  open.  He  robbed  it  of  several  thou 
sand  dollars  and  went  to  Carrie's  apart 
ment.  Drouet  had  just  deserted  her. 
Pretending  that  Drouet  had  been  hurt, 
Hurstwood  succeeded  in  getting  Carrie 
on  a  train  bound  for  Montreal.  In  Mont 
real  Hurstwood  was  approached  by  an 
agent  of  his  former  employer,  who  urged 
him  to  return  the  money  and  to  settle 
the  issue  quietly.  Hurstwood  returnee? 
all  but  a  relatively  small  sum. 


896 


Under  the  name  of  Wheeler,  he  and 
Carrie  were  married,  Carrie  being  all  the 
while  under  the  impression  that  the 
ceremony  was  legal.  Then  they  left  for 
New  York.  There  Hurstwood  looked 
for  work,  but  with  no  success.  Finally  he 
bought  a  partnership  in  a  small  tavern. 
After  a  time  the  partnership  was  dis 
solved  and  he  lost  all  his  money.  Every 
day  he  went  looking  for  work.  Gradually 
he  grew  less  eager  for  a  job,  and  began 
staying  at  home  all  day.  When  bills 
piled  up,  he  and  Carrie  moved  to  a  new 
apartment  to  escape  their  creditors. 

Carrie  set  out  to  find  work  and  was 
lucky  enough  to  get  a  job  as  a  chorus 
girl.  With  a  friend,  she  took  an  apart 
ment  and  left  Hurstwood  to  himself. 
Soon  Carrie  became  a  well-known  ac 
tress,  and  a  local  hotel  invited  her  to 
become  a  guest  there,  at  a  nominal  ex 
pense.  Carrie  had  many  friends  and 
admirers.  She  had  money  and  all  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  which  appealed  to 
a  small-town  girl. 

Hurstwood  had  not  fared  so  well.  He 


could  find  no  work.    Once  he  worked 

as  a  scab,  during  some  labor  troubles, 
but  he  left  that  job  because  it  was  too 
hazardous.  He  became  a  bum,  living  in 
Bowery  flophouses  and  begging  on  the 
streets.  One  day  he  went  to  see  Carrie. 
She  gave  him  some  money,  largely  be 
cause  she  had  seen  Drouet  and  had 
learned  for  the  first  time  of  Hurstwood's 
theft  in  Chicago.  She  believed  that 
Hurstwood  had  kept  his  disgrace  a  secret 
in  order  to  spare  her  feelings. 

Although  Carrie  was  a  toast  of  the 
town,  she  was  not  happy  in  spite  of  her 
success.  She  was  invited  to  give  per 
formances  abroad.  In  the  meantime 
Hurstwood  died  and,  unknown  to  Car 
rie,  was  buried  in  the  potter's  field.  As 
Carrie  was  sailing  for  London,  Hurst- 
wood's  ex-wife,  daughter,  and  prospec 
tive  son-in-law  were  coining  into  the  city, 
eager  for  pleasure  and  social  success,  a 
success  made  possible  by  the  daughter's 
coming  marriage  and  by  Hurstwood's 
divorce  settlement,  which  had  given  the 
family  all  of  his  property. 


SMOKE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Ivan  Turgenev   (1818-1883) 

Type  of  'plot:   Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  1862-1865 

Locale:    Germany   and  Russia 

First  published:    1867 

Principal  characters: 

GRIGORY  LrrvrNOFF,  a  serious  Russian 
TANYA  SHESTOFF,  his  fiancee 
KAPITOLINA  SHESTOFF,  Tanya's  aunt 
IRTNA,  a  fashionable  lady 
GENERAL  RATMIROFF,  her  husband 
POTUGIN,  a  retired  clerk 

Critique: 

Smoke  has  for  background  the  nihil 
istic  movement  in  Russian  politics  just 
after  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs.  In 
background  of  period  and  place  it  is 
comparable  to  fathers  and  Sons.  But 
Smoke  is  different  from  its  predecessor 
in  time  in  that  it  is  a  pleasant,  unen 
cumbered  love  story,  a  novel  of  deftly 
drawn  characters.  The  political  theme 


of  Smoke  is  not  intrusive;  few  modem 
readers  will  even  be  aware  of  the  political 
tensions  involved.  The  character  of 
Irina  was  modeled  from  a  mistress  of 
Alexander  II. 

The  Story: 

At  Baden  Grig6ry  Litvlnoff  decided  to 
enjoy  a  few  days  of  vacation.  The  fash- 


897 


ionable  German  watering  place  was  full 
of  Russians,  and  there,  in  a  week  or  so, 
Litvinoff  was  to  meet  Tanya  Shestoff,  his 
fiancee,  who  was  coming  to  Baden  with 
her  Aunt  Kapitolina. 

Litvinoff  was  poor,  comparatively 
speaking.  His  father  owned  a  large  farm 
with  forests,  meadows,  and  a  lake,  but 
Russian  fanning  was  so  unproductive 
that  he  could  barely  make  ends  meet. 
After  his  university  days,  Litvinoff  had 
decided  to  learn  progressive  farming,  but 
because  Russia  was  so  far  behind  in 
agriculture  he  had  to  go  abroad  to  study. 
He  had  been  in  the  Crimea,  in  France, 
Switzerland,  and  England.  Everywhere 
his  keen  mind  had  absorbed  the  latest 
agricultural  methods,  and  he  was  par 
ticularly  impressed  by  the  superiority  of 
the  few  pieces  of  American  machinery 
he  had  seen.  Full  of  ideas,  his  life  was 
planned;  he  would  make  a  model  farm. 
But  first,  he  would  marry  Tanya. 

Quite  by  chance  he  ran  into  Bambaeff, 
a  former  acquaintance.  Bambdeff  was 
an  ebullient  person,  filled  with  windy 
politics  and  intimate  with  the  most  ad 
vanced  thinkers  in  Baden.  When  Bam- 
bdeff  took  Litvinoff  to  meet  Gubaryoff, 
the  idol  of  the  liberals,  Litvinoff  was  re 
pelled  by  the  company  he  met  in  Gu- 
baryorFs  room.  They  all  talked  long 
and  loud  in  their  assertions  that  Russia 
produced  nothing  good,  that  all  virtue 
resided  in  Europe  proper,  that  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  serfs  was  a  foolish  step. 
He  met  Bindasoff,  a  choleric  boor  who 
borrowed  a  hundred  roubles  from  him; 
he  never  repaid  the  debt,  although  Lit- 
vinoff  later  watched  him  win  four  hun 
dred  roubles  with  the  money.  Only  one 
man  in  the  gathering  was  quiet;  he 
sat  unnoticed  in  a  comer. 

The  next  morning  the  quiet  man  came 
to  Litvinoff's  room  and  presented  him 
self;  he  was  Potugin,  a  former  clerk  in 
Moscow.  They  talked  agreeably  for  a 
long  time.  Both  men  disliked  very  much 
their  compatriots  who  were  so  sure  that 
nothing  good  came  out  of  Russia,  and 
they  both  agreed  that  by  hard  work 


Russia  could  advance.  At  last,  as  Potugin 
rose  to  go,  he  excused  himself  by  saying 
that  he  had  a  girl  with  him.  Seeing 
LitvfnofFs  look  of  polite  blankness,  he 
explained  that  he  was  looking  after  a 
little  child  who  had  no  parents. 

After  a  short  walk  Litvinoff  returned 
to  his  hotel.  He  had  a  letter  from 
Tanya  to  read,  and  as  he  read  he  was 
bothered  by  a  heavy  sweet  smell.  Look 
ing  around,  he  saw  a  bunch  of  fresh 
heliotrope  in  a  glass.  Here  was  a  mystery. 
The  servant  said  that  a  lady  had  given 
him  two  gulden  to  get  into  the  room. 
She  must  have  left  the  flowers.  Suddenly 
he  remembered  Irina. 

Ten  years  before  Litvinoff  had  been 
a  student  in  Moscow.  He  was  poor,  and 
he  visited  frequently  another  poor  fam 
ily,  the  Osinins.  The  family  was  of  the 
real  nobility,  but  for  generations  the 
Osinins  had  declined,  until  they  existed 
only  on  a  small  pension  the  father  re 
ceived  from  some  obscure  sinecures.  Lit 
vinoff  was  attracted  gready  to  Irina,  the 
seventeen-year-old  daughter  of  the  house 
hold,  but  for  a  long  time  Irina  paid  little 
heed  to  the  poor  student.  One  day  her 
haughtiness  suddenly  changed.  Pliant 
and  cheerful,  she  talked  eagerly  with 
Litvinoff  of  his  ambitions.  When  he 
declared  his  love,  Irina  was  pleased  and 
grateful.  Without  any  formal  under 
standing,  Litvinoff  became  her  accepted 
suitor. 

By  a  trick  of  fate,  Prince  Osinin,  her 
father,  received  an  invitation  to  the 
court  ball.  Now  that  Irina  was  grown, 
he  decided  to  accept,  to  show  his  daugh 
ter  in  fine  society.  Litvinoff  urged 
Irina  to  go  to  the  ball.  She  repeated 
many  times  that  she  was  going  only  at 
LitvinorFs  insistence. 

On  the  night  of  the  ball,  Litvinoff 
brought  her  a  bunch  of  heliotrope  to 
wear.  She  took  the  flowers  and  kissed 
him  passionately.  The  next  day  Irina 
had  a  headache  and  refused  to  see  him. 
Two  days  after  the  ball  Irina  had  gone 
to  St.  Peterburg  with  Count  Reisenbach, 
a  distant  cousin  of  her  mother. 


898 


The  explanation  was  brief  and  tragic. 
The  count  needed  an  ornament  in  his 
household.  Grasping  and  ambitious  as 
she  was,  Irina  had  accepted  and  had  gone 
to  stay  with  her  debauched  cousin.  Lit- 
vinoff  put  her  out  of  his  mind;  he  had 
almost  forgotten  the  incident  until  the 
heliotrope  appeared  mysteriously  in  his 
room. 

Litvinoff  wrestled  with  his  conscience 
and  decided  not  to  see  Irina  again.  He 
held  to  his  resolve  until  Potugin  came  to 
him  with  a  pressing  invitation  to  visit  the 
home  of  General  Ratmiroff.  At  the  parry 
he  met  Irina  again,  now  the  wife  of 
General  RatmirorT,  a  vain,  cruel  aristo 
crat.  Litvinoff  was  as  much  repelled  by 
the  empty  smart  set  as  he  had  been  by 
the  empty  liberals  he  had  met  in  Baden. 

Irina  would  not  let  him  ignore  her. 
She  begged  her  former  suitor  to  love  her 
again,  and  when  she  came  to  his  rooms 
he  admitted  his  love  had  never  died. 

Tanya  and  her  Aunt  Kapitolina  ap 
peared.  Even  naive  T£nya  saw  at  once 
that  something  had  happened  to  her 
fiance;  she  was  not  wholly  unprepared 
when  he  confessed  his  affair  with  Irina. 

Potugin  tried  his  best  to  get  Litvinoff 
to  abandon  Irina.  He  had  good  reason  to 
do  so.  For  love  of  Irina,  he  had  agreed 
to  marry  a  friend  of  hers  who  was  soon 
to  bear  an  illegitimate  child.  Although 
the  girl  fell  ill  and  the  marriage  never 
took  place,  Potugin  was  burdened  with 
the  care  of  the  little  girl.  He  had  acted 
because  of  his  hopeless  infatuation  for 
Irina,  and  he  warned  Litvinoff  that  only 
evil  could  come  of  leaving  Tanya  for 
the  shallow  aristocrat. 

In  his  despair  Litvinoff  made  a  com 


pact.  He  would  not  become  Irina's 
secret  lover;  she  must  go  away  with 
him  and  be  his  alone.  He  named  the 
train  on  which  he  would  leave.  Irina 
was  not  at  the  station  and  Litvinoff  sadly 
took  his  seat.  Just  then  he  saw  Irina, 
dressed  in  her  maid's  costume,  rush  to 
the  platform.  He  motioned  her  to  come 
aboard;  she  understood,  but  she  refused 
by  gesture  and  motioned  him  to  dis 
mount.  She  stood  in  a  hopeless  attitude 
on  the  platform  as  the  train  pulled  out. 

Litvinoff  recovered  almost  wholly  from 
his  hurt.  He  was  too  quiet  for  his 
years,  but  he  was  fairly  happy.  He  found 
his  father  s  farm  in  bad  shape,  with  not 
even  enough  income  to  keep  up  the 
house.  His  father,  pathetically  glad  to 
see  him,  abandoned  the  control  of  the 
estate  to  his  son.  That  end  accomplished, 
he  died  content.  For  a  long  time  there 
was  no  opportunity  to  introduce  new 
methods;  Litvinoff  had  all  he  could  do  to 
remain  solvent. 

After  three  years  he  learned  that 
Tanya  was  living  on  a  farm  a  day's 
journey  away.  Resolved  to  mend  his 
life,  he  decided  to  go  to  her  and  ask  her 
forgiveness.  He  found  Tanya  ready  to 
forget  as  well  as  forgive,  and  she  was 
even  embarrassed  by  his  penitence.  They 
were  soon  married. 

Irina  continued  to  attract  admirers  in 
St.  Petersburg,  for,  in  spite  of  her  thirty 
years,  she  retained  the  freshness  of 
youth.  Although  many  gallants  were  in 
attendance  upon  her,  she  never  singled 
out  a  special  admirer.  The  society  ladies 
all  agreed  that  Irina  was  not  generally 
liked;  she  had  such  an  ironical  turn  of 
mind. 


SNOW-BOUND 

Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  John  Greenleaf  Whittier  (1807-1892) 

Type  of  'plot:  Pastoral  idyl 

Time  of  'plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Haverhill,  Massachusetts 

First  published:  1866 

Principal  characters: 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  WHITTIEK  FAMILY 

THE  SCHOOLMASTER 

A  GUEST 

899 


Critique: 

Snow-Bound,  Whittier's  popular  idyl, 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pastorals  in 
American  literature.  The  harshness  of 
winter  life  on  a  New  England  farm  is 
scarcely  suggested,  for  the  glow  of  the 
aging  poet's  memory  gives  the  impression 
that  in  his  youth  life  was  serene,  secure, 
and  joyful.  The  title  suggests  a  nature 
poem,  but  the  poet's  chief  interest  is  not 
in  the  external  world.  He  dwells  upon 
the  people  who  were  dear  to  him,  pic 
turing  a  family  circle  which  represents 
an  idealization  of  the  American  home. 

The  Story: 

One  December  day  a  wind  from  the 
east  and  a  leaden  sky  forecast  snow.  As 
night  came  on,  the  members  of  the 
Whittier  family  brought  in  firewood,  lit 
tered  the  cattle  stalls  with  fresh  straw, 
and  fed  the  stock.  All  night  the  storm 
raged,  and  in  the  morning  the  Whittiers 
looked  upon  a  world  of  fleecy  snow.  The 
elder  Whittier,  a  man  of  action,  ordered 
a  path  dug  to  the  barn,  and  his  sons 
merrily  turned  to  the  work,  making  a 
crystal-walled  tunnel  through  the  deepest 
drift.  Though  the  snow  no  longer  fell, 
all  day  a  north  wind  drove  bits  of  sleet 
against  the  windows  of  the  house.  Again, 
as  night  fell,  wood  was  brought  in  for  the 
great  fireplace  around  which  the  family 
gathered.  While  the  moon  shone  on  the 
snow  outside  and  the  north  wind  still 
battered  the  house,  the  family  stayed 
snug  and  warm  inside. 

As  the  poet  recalled  this  happy  scene 
of  long  ago,  he  paused  a  moment  to  think 
of  the  many  changes  which  had  later 
taken  place.  Only  he  and  his  brother 
now  remained;  death  had  taken  all  the 
others.  Again  his  memory  went  back  to 
the  old  fireside,  the  stories  told  there, 
the  puzzles  and  riddles  solved,  the  poems 
recited.  The  elder  Whittier  told  of  ad 
ventures  he  had  had  with  the  Indians, 
of  fishing  trips,  and  of  the  witches  re 
puted  to  have  inhabited  the  land  in  olden 
days.  The  mother  told  of  Indian  raids 
and  of  the  happy  times  she  had  had  as 


a  girL  To  these  stories  from  her  own 
life  she  added  some  which  she  had  read 
in  books  by  famous  and  revered  Quakers. 
Next  the  poet  called  to  mind  the  tales 
of  the  world  of  nature  told  by  his  uncle, 
a  man  unschooled  in  a  formal  way  but 
seemingly  filled  with  a  boundless  knowl 
edge  of  moons  and  tides,  of  weather  signs, 
of  birds  and  beasts.  The  memory  of  the 
poet's  maiden  aunt  brought  her  also 
vividly  before  him.  He  remembered  how 
she  lived  for  others  instead  of  bewailing 
her  lonely  maidenhood.  He  saw  again  his 
elder  sister  whose  rich,  full  nature  had 
prompted  many  deeds  of  self-sacrifice. 
Tenderly  he  recalled  his  dearly  loved 
younger  sister,  who  had  been  with  him 
until  a  year  ago,  but  whose  body  now  lay 
with  the  others  in  the  earth. 

From  the  members  of  his  family,  the 
poet  turned  to  the  young  schoolmaster,  a 
boarder  in  the  Whittier  home.  The  son 
of  a  poor  man,  the  schoolmaster  had  as  a 
boy  learned  independence.  As  a  student 
he  had  helped  to  pay  his  way  through 
Dartmouth  College  by  taking  varied  jobs. 
Later  as  a  teacher  he  had,  when  school 
was  out,  joined  in  schoolboy  sports.  In 
the  schoolroom  he  was  the  earnest  shaper 
of  youthful  minds.  The  poet  prayed  that 
Freedom  might  have  many  young  apostles 
like  him. 

Another  guest  of  the  Whittier  house 
hold  on  that  night  of  long  ago  came  to 
the  poet's  mind.  A  strange  woman,  half- 
feared,  half-welcome,  she  was  as  well- 
known  for  her  violent  temper  as  she  was 
for  her  eccentric  devotion  to  religion. 
Leaving  her  home,  she  later  went  to 
Europe  and  the  Near  East,  prophesying 
everywhere  the  imminent  second  coming 
of  Christ.  The  poet  asked  His  mercy 
upon  the  poor  woman  whose  mind  had 
seemed  so  odd  to  her  neighbors. 

As  the  hour  grew  late  the  group  about 
the  fire  retired  for  the  night.  The  next 
morning  teamsters  came  to  clear  the 
snow-filled  roads.  The  young  folks  played 
in  the  snowbanks.  Later,  along  the 
cleared  road  came  the  neighborhood  doc 


900 


tor  on  his  rounds.  A  week  passed  before  of  memory  upon  these  happy  scenes  of 

the  mailman   finally  delivered  a  news-  the  past,  and  he  put  the  book  away  with 

paper  to  tell  of  happenings  beyond  the  the  hope  that  readers  in  the  future  might 

Whittiers*  snow-bound  world.  pause  with  him  to  view  for  a  little  while 

The  poet  shut  the  covers  of  his  book  these  Flemish  pictures  of  old  days. 

SO  RED  THE  ROSE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Stark  Young  (1881-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:    Historical  romance 

Time  of  -plot:    1860-1865 

Locale:    Mississippi 

First  published:   1934 

Principal  characters: 

MALCOLM  BEDFORD,  owner  of  Portobello 

MRS.  SARAH  TAIT  BEDFORD,  his  wife 

DUNCAN, 

MARY  HARTWELL,  and 

FRANCES,  their  children 

VALETTE,  an  adopted  daughter 

MIDDLETON,  an  orphaned  nephew 

HUGH  McGEHEE,  owner  of  Montrose 

AGNES  McGEHEE,  his  wife,  Malcolm  Bedford's  sister 

EDWARD,  and 

LUCINDA  (Lucy),  their  children 

SHELTON  TALIAFERRO,  a  distant  relative  of  the  McGehees 

CHARLES,  his  son 

ZACH  McGEHEE,  Hugh's  nephew 

AMELTE  BALFOUR,  Zach's  fiancee 

Critique: 

Stark  Young  takes  rather  long  to  set  three  children,  an  adopted  daughter, 
the  stage  for  the  action  in  this  novel.  Valette,  and  an  orphaned  nephew,  Mid- 
The  gradual  unfolding  of  character  and  dleton.  Malcolm's  sister  Agnes  had 
scene  is  necessary,  however,  because  the  married  Hugh  McGehee,  and  they  and 
book  is  not  so  much  a  story  of  the  politi-  their  two  children  occupied  a  neighbor- 
cal  and  military  aspects  of  the  Civil  War  ing  plantation,  Montrose.  Plantation  life 
as  it  is  a  study  of  the  effects  of  the  war  in  Mississippi  flowed  easily  in  those  days 
upon  those  who  stayed  at  home.  The  just  preceding  the  Civil  War,  witb 
book  presents  an  excellent  picture  of  frequent  parties  and  visits  between  fam- 
the  background  of  plantation  life  prior  ilies  to  provide  hospitality  and  entertain- 
to  the  Civil  War,  tells  of  people's  ment.  But  other  happenings,  less  pleas- 
thoughts  at  the  time,  and  shows  what  ant,  gradually  intruded  upon  the  serenity 
happened  to  the  civilian  population  dur-  of  plantation  life.  Talk  of  secession, 
ing  the  war  years.  states'  rights,  slavery,  emancipation,  Lin 
coln,  and  war  began  to  be  more  seriously 
The  Story:  discussed  and  argued  whenever  a  group 

Malcolm  Bedford  was  the  owner  of  of  people  assembled.  Hugh  McGehea 

Portobello  plantation,  where  he  lived  and  his  son  Edward  discussed  these 

with  his  second  wife,  Sarah,  and  their  problems  and  Edward's  possible  enlist- 
so  RED  THE  ROSE  by  Stark  Young.  By  permission  of  the  author  and  th«  publishers,  Charles  Scribncr'» 
Sons.  Copyright,  1934,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

901 


ment  when  the  latter  returned  home  for 
a  short  visit  from  the  Louisiana  Seminary 
o£  Learning  and  Military  Academy. 

Duncan  Bedford  was  also  in  school, 
at  Washington  College  in  Virginia.  In 
love  with  Valette,  he  accused  her  of 
leading  other  young  men  on.  When  he 
went  back  to  college,  they  were  no 
longer  on  friendly  terms. 

Shelton  Taliaferro,  a  distant  relative 
of  the  McGehees,  and  his  son  Charles 
came  to  visit  Montrose.  Edward  was 
home  for  a  visit  at  the  time,  and  the  two 
young  men  became  friends.  They  spent 
a  short  time  together  at  the  seminary 
until  Charles  resigned.  It  was  this  young 
man,  to  whom  life  seemed  to  flow  gen 
erously,  who  attached  himself  to  Ed 
ward.  A  year  after  his  first  visit  to 
Montrose  he  and  Edward  enlisted  under 
General  Beauregard.  Shelton  Taliafer 
ro,  his  father,  and  Edward  McGehee 
were  the  only  two  people  for  whom 
Charles  cared,  to  the  disappointment  of 
Lucy,  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him. 
Duncan  also  enlisted,  but  without  first 
coming  home.  He  wrote  a  letter  to 
Valette  to  tell  her  of  his  enlistment  and 
to  assure  her  that  he  still  loved  her. 

About  a  year  later,  at  the  time  of  the 
battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  Agnes  re 
ceived  a  letter  from  her  son.  It  was 
dated  three  days  earlier  and  according 
to  his  letter  the  battle  would  be  taking 
place  at  that  moment  she  was  reading 
the  letter.  Feeling  instinctively  that 
Edward  was  dead,  she  ordered  William 
Veal,  the  butler,  to  hitch  up  the  wagon 
so  that  they  might  set  out  for  the  battle 
field  and  bring  home  the  body  of  her 
dead  son.  When  she  returned,  she 
brought  with  her  Edward's  body  and 
those  of  two  other  boys  of  the  neighbor 
hood.  She  also  brought  word  that 
the  body  of  Charles  Taliaferro  had  not 
been  found,  although  it  was  almost  cer 
tain  that  he  was  dead  since  he  was  not 
with  the  survivors  of  the  desperate  fight 
ing.  Lucy  was  heartbroken. 

After  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
on  January  2,  1863,  many  of  the  slaves 


deserted  their  former  owners  to  flee  to 
the  Union  lines.  A  short  time  later 
Malcolm  Bedford,  who  had  been  helping 
to  strengthen  the  defenses  at  Vicksburg, 
carne  home  with  a  very  bad  case  of 
dysentery  from  which  he  never  re 
covered.  He  died,  on  the  day  Vicksburg 
fell,  claiming  that  with  the  fall  of  Vicks 
burg  the  doom  of  the  South  was  sealed. 

Life  went  on  at  both  plantations  under 
much  altered  circumstances.  Natchez,  the 
nearest  town,  had  been  bombarded  and 
occupied.  Federal  soldiers  swarmed  over 
the  countryside,  burning,  looting,  and 
carrying  off  horses,  food,  and  clothing. 
More  slaves  ran  away  to  the  protection 
of  Federal  troops  in  Natchez,  and  many 
joined  the  Federal  army  to  help  fight 
against  their  former  masters.  But  when 
disease  broke  out  in  the  Natchez  stock 
ades,  where  the  Negroes  were  confined, 
some  of  the  former  slaves,  especially  the 
older  ones,  began  to  return  to  the 
plantations,  the  only  place  they  had 
ever  known  security. 

Sherman,  on  a  visit  to  Natchez,  rode 
out  to  see  the  McGehees  because  he 
had  known  their  son  Edward  when  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  seminary 
Edward  had  attended.  He  was  very  much 
of  an  enigma  to  the  McGehees,  as  he  was 
to  many.  His  kindness  and  personal 
interest  could  not  be  reconciled  with  his 
toleration  of  plunder  and  destruction  by 
his  troops.  Shortly  after  his  visit  Mont 
rose  was  destroyed  by  a  mob  of  former 
slaves  under  the  direction  of  a  few 
white  officers.  They  burned  the  place  to 
the  ground,  after  permitting  the  family 
to  save  only  what  could  be  rescued  in 
twenty  minutes.  After  the  fire  the  family 
moved  into  a  five-room  cottage  on  the 
plantation. 

The  Bedfords  at  Portobello  were  hav 
ing  their  own  difficulties.  One  night  a 
group  of  Confederate  soldiers  hanged 
three  Federals  on  the  trees  not  far  from 
the  house.  A  fourth  soldier  escaped,  in 
jured,  and  he  was  taken  into  the  house 
and  cared  for  until  a  way  could  be  found 
to  smuggle  him  out.  The  three  Union 


902 


soldiers  were  quickly  buried  to  avoid  re 
prisals. 

There  had  been  no  word  of  Duncan 
for  many  months,  and  the  Bedfords  at 
Portobello  believed  that  he  must  be  dead. 
Now  that  the  war  was  over,  they  thought 
that  they  should  at  least  have  a  letter 
from  him  if  he  were  still  alive.  Then 
one  day  Duncan,  without  any  previous 
warning,  walked  in.  He  had  been  taken 
prisoner  but  had  been  booked  for  ex 
change  soon  afterward.  A  Union  officer 
had  spoken  insultingly  of  General  Lee, 
however,  and  Duncan  had  struck  him. 
His  order  for  exchange  was  immediately 
revoked  and  he  was  placed  in  irons, 
charged  with  having  struck  an  officer 
of  the  United  States  Army.  When  peace 
was  declared  and  all  prisoners  were  re 
leased,  Duncan's  charge  still  stood.  But 
at  his  trial  the  judge,  who  felt  that  a 
great  injustice  had  been  done  Duncan, 
dismissed  the  case. 

The  South  was  beginning  to  feel  the 
vengeance  of  the  North.  Many  of  the 
plantations  had  been  burned  and  many 


of  the  men  had  been  killed.  The  slave 
labor  gone,  there  was  no  one  to  work 
the  plantations.  Heavy  taxes  were  im 
posed  to  make  the  South  pay  for  its 
military  government.  Negroes  were  in 
solent  and  destructive  and  carpetbaggers 
were  beginning  to  buy  up  mortgages  on 
the  plantations,  thus  gaining  control  of 
huge  amounts  of  property.  Mrs.  Bedford 
and  Duncan  decided  that  they  would  not 
mortgage  their  property  but  would  try 
to  make  the  land  productive  once  more. 
During  those  grim  years  Duncan  found 
Valette  kinder  and  more  understanding 
than  she  had  been  in  the  proud  old  days 
at  Portobello. 

Amelie  Balfour  and  Zach  McGehee, 
nephew  of  Hugh,  were  to  be  married. 
Amelie  convinced  Valette  that  they 
should  make  it  a  double  wedding.  Their 
plans  were  all  made  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  and  the  next  evening  at  Home- 
wood,  the  home  of  Amelie's  aunt,  Dun 
can  and  Valette  were  married.  They  were 
to  have  a  honeymoon  in  New  Orleans 
and  then  return  to  Portobello  to  live. 


THE  SONG  OF  BERNADETTE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Franz  Werfel  (1890-1945) 

Type  of  'plot:    Religious  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    1858-1875 

Locale:   Lourdes,  France 

First  published:     1941 

Principal  characters: 

BERNADETTE  SOUBIROUS,  a  religious  mystic 

LOUISE  SOUBEROUS,  her  mother 

FRANCOIS  SOUBIROUS,  her  father 

DEAN  PEYRAMALE,  the  parish  priest 

SISTER  MARIE  THERESE,  Bernadette's  teacher  and  superior 

Critique: 

Franz  Werfel  wrote  this  book  as  a 
fulfillment  of  a  vow  he  made  while  hid 
ing  from  the  Nazis  at  the  beginning  of 
World  War  II.  Every  fact  he  records 
is  absolutely  true,  but  from  the  records 
of  the  actual  apparition  at  Lourdes  he 
has  produced  a  novel  of  great  interest 


and  emotional  power.  Franz  Werfel  did 
not  write  a  purely  religious  story;  his 
book  is  a  story  of  people  who  have  the 
same  emotions,  the  same  hopes  and  fears, 
that  all  men  and  women  share.  For  that 
reason  The  Song  of  Bernadette  is  a 
masterful  work,  haunted  by  shadows  of 


THE  SONG  OF  BERNADETTE  by  Franz  Werfel.     Translated  by  Ludwig  Lewisohn.     By  permission  of  the 
publishers,  The  Viking  Press,  Inc.     Copyright,   1942,  by  The  Viking  Press,   Inc. 


903 


the  unknown,  filled  with  delicate  beauty 
and  a  strong  affirmation  of  man's  essential 
goodness* 

The  Story: 

In  Lourdes  the  Soubirous  family  had 
fallen  into  pitiful  poverty.  Frangois  Sou 
birous.,  having  lost  the  mill  whose  pro 
ducts  provided  a  livelihood  for  his  fam 
ily,  was  reduced  to  taking  odd  jobs  that 
he  could  beg  from  the  prosperous  citizens 
of  the  little  French  village.  His  wife 
Louise  helped  out  by  taking  in  wash 
ing.  But  their  combined  earning,  scant 
and  irregular,  were  insufficient  for  the 
care  of  the  children.  The  family  lived 
in  the  Cachot,  a  dank,  musty  building 
that  had  been  abandoned  as  a  jail  because 
it  was  unhealthy. 

The  oldest  Soubirous  child,  Berna- 
dette,  was  weak  and  suffered  from 
asthma.  At  school  she  was  considered, 
both  by  her  schoolmates  and  her  teacher, 
Sister  Marie  Therese,  to  be  the  most 
ignorant  and  stupid  of  all  the  children. 
Her  ignorance  extended  even  to  religion. 
Although  fourteen  years  old  and  the 
daughter  of  Catholic  parents,  she  did 
not  understand  the  meaning  of  the  Holy 
Trinity.  It  was  clear  that  little  could 
oe  expected  from  the  daughter  of  the 
poor  and  uneducated  Soubirous  family. 

One  day  the  children  were  sent  out 
to  gather  firewood  near  the  grotto  of 
Massabielle.  Close  to  the  grotto  ran  a 
small  stream  into  which  the  offal  of 
the  town  was  emptied.  Carcasses  of  dead 
beasts  were  swept  along  by  the  current, 
and  earlier  that  day  Francois  Soubirous 
had  dumped  there  a  cartload  of  ampu 
tated  limbs  and  filthy  bandages  from  the 
contagion  ward  of  the  local  hospital.  It 
was  rumored  that  the  spot  had  once 
been  the  scene  of  pagan  religious  cere 
monies. 

Slower  than  the  rest,  Bernadette  be 
came  separated  from  the  other  children 
and  went  to  the  cave  alone.  Suddenly, 
to  her  great  astonishment,  a  strange  light 
shone  at  the  mouth  of  the  grotto.  She 
was  unable  to  believe  her  eyes  when  a 


beautiful  lady  appeared  before  her. 
Dressed  in  blue,  her  face  shining  with 
brilliant  light,  her  bare  feet  twined  with 
roses,  the  lady  smiled  at  the  frightened 
child.  Bernadette  threw  herself  on  her 
knees  and  prayed. 

When  the  other  children  came  upon 
her  they  found  her  kneeling  on  the 
ground.  After  making  the  others  promise 
to  keep  her  secret,  Bernadette  told  of  her 
vision.  But  the  children  told  and  soon  the 
whole  town  was  laughing  at  stupid  Ber 
nadette.  The  next  day  she  returned  to 
the  grotto  and  saw  the  lady  once  more. 
The  vision  told  her  to  return  each  day 
for  fifteen  days. 

When  she  returned  again  and  again  to 
the  grotto,  the  townspeople  were  aroused. 
To  the  local  intellectuals  and  the  atheists, 
Bernadette's  vision  was  an  example  of 
ignorant  superstition.  To  government 
officials,  it  was  a  plot  of  the  Church 
against  the  state.  To  the  Church,  it 
was  a  dangerous  event  that  could  lead 
to  disaster  for  Catholics.  No  one  in 
authority  believed  Bernadette,  but  the 
common  people  became  more  and  more 
interested.  Soon  many  went  with  her 
when  she  made  her  daily  visits.  At  last 
the  authorities  tried  every  method  to 
make  the  girl  confess  that  her  vision 
was  a  hoax,  but  without  success. 

One  day  the  lady  told  Bernadette  to 
ask  Dean  Peyramale  to  build  a  chapel 
on  the  site  of  the  grotto.  When  Berna 
dette  told  the  dean  of  the  request,  he 
angrily  asked  who  the  lady  was.  If  she 
were  truly  a  heaven-sent  vision,  per 
sisted  the  dean,  let  her  give  some  sign 
that  would  prove  it.  Let  her  make  the 
rose  bush  in  the  cave  bloom  with  roses 
in  February. 

The  lady  smiled  when  she  heard  the 
dean's  message.  She  beckoned  to  Ber 
nadette,  wanting  her  to  come  forward. 
The  girl  moved  toward  the  lady,  bent 
down,  and  kissed  the  rose  bush,  scratch 
ing  her  face  on  the  thorns.  Then  the 
lady  told  her  to  go  to  the  spring  and 
drink  from  it.  When  Bernadette  started 
for  the  stream,  the  lady  shook  her  head 


904 


and  toid  the  girl  to  dig  with  her  hands. 
In  a  short  while,  Bernadette  reached 
moist  soil.  Scooping  it  up  with  her 
hands,  she  tried  to  drink  the  little  water 
in  it.  The  earth  that  she  swallowed 
made  her  ill,  however,  and  she  vomited. 

The  crowd  that  had  followed  her  was 
disgusted.  To  the  people  her  actions  had 
seemed  those  of  a  lunatic  because  they 
had  seen  no  lady  there,  only  the  gray 
stone  walls  of  the  cave  and  its  opening. 
They  scoffed  when  Bernadette  was  taken 
away. 

A  few  days  later  one  of  the  towns 
people  went  to  the  grotto.  There,  where 
Bernadette  had  dug,  water  had  hegun 
to  flow.  He  scooped  up  some  of  the 
moist  soil  and  applied  it  to  his  blind 
eye.  After  a  while  he  could  see;  his 
blindness  was  gone.  Local  experts  swore 
that  there  could  be  no  spring  there,  that 
no  water  could  flow  from  solid  rock. 
By  that  time  both  the  Church  and  the 
government  were  thoroughly  aroused. 
Bernadette  was  forbidden  to  visit  the 
grotto,  and  the  place  was  barred  to  the 
public. 

Reluctantly  the  dean  began  to  wonder 
whether  a  miracle  had  occurred.  After 
he  discovered  that  roses  were  indeed 
blooming  in  the  cave,  he  persuaded  the 
Church  authorities  to  set  up  a  commis 
sion  to  investigate  the  whole  affair.  The 
dean  was  at  last  convinced  that  Berna 
dette  had  seen  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The 
commission  agreed  with  his  views.  Finally 
the  emperor  ordered  that  the  public  be 


allowed  to  visit  the  grotto. 

Throughout  all  the  excitement  Berna 
dette  remained  calm  and  humble.  After 
the  Church  had  given  its  sanction  to 
her  vision,  she  agreed  to  enter  a  con 
vent.  There  her  immediate  superior  was 
her  former  teacher,  Sister  Marie  Therese. 
The  nun,  proud,  arrogant,  skeptical,  re 
fused  to  believe  in  Bernadette^  vision. 

As  a  nun  Bernadette  won  the  hearts 
of  everyone  by  her  humility,  her  friend 
liness,  her  genuine  goodness.  The  pros 
perity  of  Lourdes,  where  pilgrims  came 
from  all  over  the  world  to  be  healed 
by  the  miraculous  water,  did  not  matter 
to  her.  When  her  family  came  to  visit 
her,  she  was  glad  to  see  diem,  especially 
her  father;  but  she  was  relieved  when 
they  left.  For  more  than  seventeen  year? 
she  lived  in  the  convent. 

At  last  a  tumor  of  the  leg  afflicted 
her  with  a  long  and  agonizing  illness. 
As  she  lay  dying,  Sister  Marie  Therese 
admitted  her  error  and  confessed  belief 
in  the  miracle.  In  Lourdes,  the  town 
atheist  was  converted.  Dean  Peyramale, 
disappointed  and  sad  because  the  Church 
authorities  had  ignored  him  in  the 
establishment  of  a  shrine  built  at  the 
grotto,  went  to  visit  Bernadette  during 
her  last  moments.  Her  death  was  peace 
ful  and  serene. 

After  her  death  the  fame  of  Lourdes 
became  world-wide.  Bernadette  has  been 
canonized  and  is  now  a  saint  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 


THE  SONG  OF  HIAWATHA 

Type  of  work:   Poem 

Author:  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  (1807-1882) 

Type  of  plot:  Legendary  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Aboriginal  period 

Locale:    Indian  territory  around  Lake  Superior 

First  published.:    1855 

Principal  characters-. 

HTAWATHA,  an  Indian  hero 

MrNNEHAHA,  whom  he  married 

NOKOMIS,  his  grandmother 

MUDJEKEEWIS,  the  West  Wind,  Hiawatha's  father 


905 


Critique: 

Longfellow  based  his  story  on  tradi 
tional  legend  among  North  American 
Indians  of  a  warrior  hero  sent  to  clear 
the  rivers,  forests,  and  lakes,  and  to  unite 
the  tribes  in  peace.  With  this  legend  the 
poet  combined  other  Indian  traditions. 
Of  particular  interest  are  the  folklore 
stories  of  the  way  the  woodpecker  got  a 
red  streak  on  his  tuft  of  feathers,  the 
introduction  of  picture  writing,  the  gift 
of  corn  to  man,  and  the  origin  of  the 
peace  pipe. 

The  Story: 

Weary  of  the  constant  fighting  of  his 
people,  the  Great  Spirit  called  together  all 
Indian  tribes  to  reprimand  them  for  their 
foolish  ways.  He  had  given  them  fertile 
lands,  abundant  streams,  and  forests, 
but  they  had  continued  to  hunt  each 
other.  He  promised  to  send  a  prophet 
who  would  guide  and  teach  them.  Should 
they  fail  to  follow  his  counsel,  they 
would  perish.  Breaking  off  a  piece  of 
a  red-stone  precipice,  he  molded  a  pipe 
as  a  symbol  of  peace  among  them.  He 
told  the  warriors  to  plunge  themselves 
into  the  stream  and  wash  the  war  paint 
from  their  faces,  the  bloodstains  from 
their  hands. 

One  evening  in  twilight  the  beautiful 
Nokomis  fell  to  earth  from  the  full  moon. 
There  among  the  ferns  and  mosses  she 
bore  a  daughter,  Wenonah.  As  Wenonah 
grew  tall  and  lovely,  Nokornis  feared  for 
her  daughter  and  warned  her  to  beware 
of  Mudjekeewis,  the  West  Wind.  When 
Wenonah  failed  to  heed  the  warning  and 
succumbed  to  his  wooing,  she  bore  a  son, 
Hiawatha.  Deserted  by  the  false  and 
faithless  Mudjekeewis,  Wenonah  died 
grieving  for  his  love. 

Hiawatha  grew  up  in  the  wigwam  of 
Nokomis.  From  boyhood  he  was  skilled 
in  the  craft  of  hunters,  in  sports  and 
manly  arts  and  labors.  He  was  a  master 
of  speed  and  accuracy  with  a  bow  and 
arrow.  He  had  magic  deerskin  mittens 
which  gave  him  great  physical  power. 
Upon  his  feet  he  wore  magic  moccasins 


which  allowed  him  to  stride  a  mile  vtritb 
each  step. 

Aroused  by  the  story  of  his  father's 
treachery,  he  vowed  to  visit  Mudjekee 
wis  and  seek  revenge.  In  the  land  of 
the  West  Wind  the  two  fought  for  three 
days.  At  last  Mudjekeewis  told  Hiawatha 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
kill  his  immortal  father.  Pleased  with 
the  boy's  courage,  however,  Mudjekeewis 
sent  him  back  to  his  people  as  the 
prophet  who  had  been  promised.  On  his 
long  journey  home  Hiawatha  stopped  in 
the  land  of  the  Dacotahs  to  purchase  ar 
rowheads  from  an  old  man.  There  he 
saw  Minnehaha,  the  arrow-maker's  lovely 
daughter. 

When  Hiawatha  returned  to  his  peo 
ple,  he  built  a  wigwam  in  the  forest  and 
went  there  to  fast.  On  the  fourth  day  of 
his  fast,  as  he  lay  exhausted  on  his  couch, 
Hiawatha  saw  a  youth  dressed  in  green 
and  yellow  garments  with  green  plumes 
over  his  forehead.  The  stranger  informed 
Hiawatha  that  his  prayers  had  been 
heard  and  that  they  would  be  answered 
should  Hiawatha  overcome  him.  In 
spite  of  his  weakness,  Hiawatha  struggled 
bravely  until  the  young  stranger  yielded 
himself.  He  ordered  Hiawatha  to  strip 
his  green  and  yellow  garments  and  bury 
him,  and  then  to  guard  his  grave  until 
he  leaped  again  into  the  sunshine. 
Hiawatha  faithfully  guarded  the  grave 
until  a  green  shoot  appeared,  then  the 
yellow  silk,  and  finally  the  matured  ear 
of  corn  which  was  to  feed  his  people. 

Hiawatha  next  shaped  a  canoe  from 
the  birch  tree.  Then  he  set  out  with  his 
strong  friend,  Kwasind,  and  cleared  the 
rivers  of  roots,  sandbars,  and  dead  trees, 
to  make  the  streams  safe  for  the  people, 
At  another  time  he  rid  the  lake  of  its 
greatest  menace,  the  sturgeon. 

Nokomis  then  bade  Hiawatha  to  un 
dertake  the  destruction  of  Pearl-Feather, 
the  magician,  who  was  responsible  for 
fever,  pestilence,  and  disease.  Hiawatha 
prepared  to  battle  the  dozen  serpents 
that  guarded  the  entrance  to  the  wizard's 


906 


domain.  As  he  approached,  he  killed 
them  with  his  arrows.  A  woodpecker 
helped  Hiawatha  to  overcome  the  magi 
cian  hy  telling  him  to  aim  his  arrows  at 
the  roots  of  the  wizard's  hair.  Hiawatha 
rewarded  the  woodpecker  by  dabbing  his 
tuft  of  feathers  with  the  magician's 
blood,  which  the  woodpecker  wears  to 
this  day. 

When  Hiawatha  told  Nokomis  that 
he  intended  to  make  Minnehaha  his 
wife,  Nokomis  urged  him  to  marry  a 
woman  of  his  own  tribe.  Hiawatha  re 
fused  to  listen  to  her  arguments,  how 
ever,  and  assured  her  that  the  marriage 
would  unite  the  two  tribes.  On  his  re 
turn  with  Minnehaha,  they  were  honored 
at  a  huge  banquet  at  which  Hiawatha's 
beloved  friend,  Chibiabos,  sang  his  fa 
mous  love  songs,  and  lagoo  related  his 
fanciful  tales. 

Hiawatha's  people  prospered  in  peace 
and  raised  abundant  crops  of  corn.  In 
order  to  keep  a  record  of  their  tribal 
history,  Hiawatha  invented  picture  writ 
ing  to  tell  their  story. 

One  winter  famine  struck  Hiawatha's 
people.  Snow  covered  the  forests  and 


lakes  so  deeply  that  it  was  impossible 
for  hunters  to  seek  food.  Hiawatha's 
people  were  starving  and  dying  of  fever, 
When  Minnehaha  died,  Hiawatha 
mourned  her  death  for  seven  days. 

At  last  came  the  warmth  and  fertility 
of  spring,  and  life  began  to  return  to 
the  earth.  There  were  rumors  of  the 
approach  of  white  men  in  large  canoes 
with  sails.  Hiawatha  confirmed  the 
rumors,  for  he  had  seen  the  white  men 
in  a  vision.  He  urged  his  people  to  wel 
come  the  strangers  and  be  friendly,  add 
ing  that  if  they  ignored  his  counsel  the 
tribes  would  only  destroy  themselves. 

As  Hiawatha  stood  by  the  wigwam  of 
Nokomis  one  evening,  three  white  men 
approached,  one  of  them  a  priest.  Hia 
watha  welcomed  them  and  invited  his 
people  to  hear  the  stories  the  priest  told 
of  the  Saviour.  That  night,  as  the  white 
men  lay  sleeping,  Hiawatha  told  Noko 
mis  that  the  time  for  him  to  leave  had 
arrived.  Having  fulfilled  his  promises, 
he  left  to  travel  through  the  portals  of 
the  Sunset,  to  the  Land  of  the  Here 
after. 


THE  SONG  OF  ROLAND 

Type  of  work:  Tale 
Author:  Unknown 
Type  of  'plot:  Chivalric  romance 
Time  of  'plot:  About  800 
Locale:  Western  Europe 
First  transcribed:  Medieval  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

ROLAND,  prince  in  Charlemagne's  court 

OLIVER,  his  friend 

CHARLEMAGNE,  the  Holy  Roman  Emperor 

OGIER  THE  DANE,  Roland's  friend 

GANELON,  a  wicked  courtier 

BERTHA,  Roland's  mother 

Critique: 

The  Song  of  Roland  is  the  latest  of 
great  hero  tales.  As  a  result  it  incorpo 
rates  all  of  those  which  go  before.  In  its 
narrative  framework  are  legends  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  Germans,  and  a  fusing 
of  historical  accounts  from  the  dark  ages 


of  Europe  with  folklore  from  the  Fax 
East.  Poetic  legends  of  the  troubadours, 
the  tales  of  Virgil,  Dante,  and  Hebrew 
testament  all  blend  together  in  this  vast 
fabrication  of  chivalric  ideals  and  ro 
mantic  lore. 


907 


The  Story: 

The  boy  Roland  grew  up  far  from  his 
home  country  and  lived  with  his  penni 
less  mother  in  a  cave  formerly  occupied 
by  a  lonely  monk.  Nevertheless,  his 
mother  had  taught  him  that  some  day  he 
should  be  a  brave  hero  like  his  father, 
Milon,  and  serve  with  the  great  army  of 
Charlemagne.  When  he  asked  his  mother 
to  tell  him  the  story  of  his  birth,  he 
learned  that  through  his  father  he  was 
descended  from  great  heroes  of  old,  Tro 
jan  Hector  on  one  side  and  Wotan,  king 
of  the  Norse  gods,  on  the  other.  His 
father,  Milon,  having  incurred  the  wrath 
of  Charlemagne  for  taking  the  king's 
sister,  the  Princess  Bertha,  as  his  wife, 
had  come  to  Italy  and  there  had  died 
fighting  pagans  in  single-handed  combat. 

One  summer,  when  he  was  still  only 
a  lad,  his  friend  Oliver,  the  son  of  a  local 
prince,  met  him  and  the  two  watched  the 
coming  of  the  great  Charlemagne  into 
Italy,  where  the  king  was  to  receive  the 
blessing  of  the  Pope  at  Rome. 

Roland  was  impressed  by  the  royal 
pageant  but  not  overawed.  That  night 
he  walked  into  Charlemagne's  banquet 
hall  and  demanded  his  rights  for  himself 
and  his  mother.  Amused  by  the  boy's 
daring,  Charlemagne  ordered  that  Bertha 
be  brought  to  him.  When  the  emperor 
recognized  his  long-lost  sister,  he  rejoiced 
and  gave  her  and  her  son  a  place  of 
honor  in  his  court. 

Roland's  boyhood  years  passed  quickly 
and  with  increasing  honors.  At  first  he 
was  merely  a  page  in  the  court,  his  duties 
being  to  attend  the  ladies,  to  carry  mes 
sages,  and  to  learn  court  etiquette.  He 
was  permitted  to  accompany  the  king's 
knights  during  war  with  the  Saxons,  and 
he  was  present  when  the  swan  knight, 
of  the  race  of  Lohengrin,  appeared  at  the 
court  of  Charlemagne. 

When  Roland  was  fourteen  years  old, 
he  became  a  squire  and  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  Ogier  the  Dane,  a  hostage 
prince  at  Charlemagne's  court.  The  two 
boys  became  great  friends.  Then,  urged 
by  a  new  queen,  Ogier's  father,  Duke 


Godfrey,  planned  a  revolt  against  Charle 
magne.  In  retaliation  Charlemagne 
threatened  to  kill  Ogier.  Roland  inter 
vened  and  saved  his  friend's  life. 

In  the  meantime  barbarians  attacked 
Rome.  In  an  effort  to  save  the  Pope, 
Charlemagne  ignored  the  rebellion  of  the 
Danes  and  set  off  to  the  south,  taking 
Ogier  with  him  as  a  prisoner.  The  great 
army  was  assisted  on  its  passage  across 
the  Alps  when  a  magnificent  white  stag 
appeared  to  lead  the  army  through  the 
mountain  passes. 

In  the  battles  which  followed,  Charle 
magne's  army  was  divided.  One  force, 
led  by  the  cowardly  son  of  Charlemagne 
and  the  false  knight  Alory,  attempted  to 
retreat  and  placed  the  emperor's  life  in 
jeopardy.  Roland  and  Ogier,  aided  by 
other  squires,  donned  the  garments  of  the 
cowards  and  saved  the  day.  Charlemagne 
knighted  them  upon  the  battlefield. 

One  of  the  pagan  knights  proposed  a 
personal  combat.  In  this  encounter  Char- 
lot,  a  son  of  Charlemagne,  and  Ogier  met 
two  barbarians,  Prince  Sadone  and  Kara- 
heut.  The  pagans  trapped  Ogier  and 
threatened  to  put  him  to  death,  but 
Chariot  escaped.  Karaheut,  who  was  to 
have  fought  Ogier,  rebelled  against  the 
unchivalrous  action  of  his  pagan  prince 
and  gave  himself  up  to  Charlemagne,  to 
be  treated  exactly  as  Ogier  would  be 
treated.  Reinforcements  came  to  the 
pagans,  among  them  the  giant  king  of 
Maiolgre.  In  a  dispute  over  the  marriage 
of  Glorianda,  a  Danish  prisoner,  Ogier 
fought  for  Glorianda  and  put  his  enemy 
to  rout.  Charlemagne  attacked  at  the 
same  time.  Ogier  and  Roland  were  re 
united.  The  Pope  was  restored  to  his 
throne. 

Roland  was  invested  with  royal  arms. 
His  sword  was  the  famous  Durandal;  his 
battle  horn  was  the  horn  of  his  grand 
father,  Charles  the  Hammer.  None  but 
Roland  could  blow  that  horn.  His  armor 
was  the  best  in  the  kingdom. 

A  new  war  began  when  Count  Gerard 
refused  homage  to  the  emperor.  Oliver, 


908 


grandson  of  the  count,  was  among  the 
knights  opposed  to  Charlemagne.  After 
the  French  had  hesieged  the  fortress  of 
Viana  for  seven  months,  it  was  decided 
to  settle  the  war  by  encounter  between  a 
champion  from  each  army.  Roland  was 
chosen  to  fight  for  Charlemagne.  Un 
known  to  him,  his  adversary  was  to  be 
Oliver,  his  boyhood  friend.  When  the 
two  discovered  each  other's  identity,  they 
embraced. 

A  few  weeks  later  Charlemagne  on  a 
boar  hunt  near  Viana  was  captured  by 
Count  Gerard.  The  two  leaders  declared 
a  truce  and  Count  Gerard  agreed  to  be 
a  faithful  liegeman  of  the  emperor  there 
after.  Roland  met  Oliver's  sister,  Alda, 
and  became  betrothed  to  her. 

At  Christmas  time  the  Princess  of 
Cathay  arrived  with  her  brothers  at 
Charlemagne's  court.  She  proposed  a 
contest  between  a  Christian  knight  and 
her  brother  Argalia.  If  one  of  Charle 
magne's  knights  were  the  victor,  he  should 
have  her  hand  in  marriage.  If  the  knight 
were  defeated,  he  should  become  a  hos 
tage.  Malagis,  the  wizard,  discovered  that 
the  princess  and  her  brothers  really 
sought  by  sorcery  to  destroy  Charle 
magne.  He  visited  the  apartment  of  the 
foreigners  but  was  discovered  by  them. 
They  complained  and  Charlemagne,  not 
understanding  the  wizard's  desire  to  help 
him,  sentenced  Malagis  to  be  imprisoned 
in  a  hollow  rock  beneath  the  sea  forever. 

The  jousts  began.  After  Argalia  had 
defeated  the  first  knight,  Ferrau,  the 
fierce  Moor,  began  combat.  Unhorsed, 
the  Moor  fought  Argalia  on  foot  and 
overpowered  him.  Then  the  princess  be 
came  invisible,  and  Argalia  rode  away, 
the  Moor  in  pursuit. 

In  the  forest  of  Ardennes  the  Moor 
discovered  Argalia  sleeping,  killed  him 
without  honor,  and  seized  his  wonderful 
helmet.  Roland,  having  followed  them, 
discovered  the  murder  of  Argalia,  and 
sought  the  Moor  to  punish  him  for  his 
unknightly  deed. 

Remold  of  Montalban  found  the  Prin 
cess  of  Cathay  in  the  forest  after  he  had 


drunk  from  the  waters  of  the  fountain 
of  Merlin,  and  the  effect  of  this  water 
was  to  make  him  see  the  princess  as  an 
ugly  crone.  She  thought  him  handsome, 
but  he  felt  disgust  and  hurried  away. 
Roland  discovered  the  Moor  and  chal 
lenged  him  to  combat,  but  the  Moor  sud 
denly  remembered  that  his  liege  lord  in 
Spain  was  in  need  of  his  help  and  did 
not  remain  to  fight  with  Roland. 

When  the  Princess  of  Cathay  saw  the 
Moor  wearing  her  brother's  helmet,  she 
knew  a  tragedy  had  occurred  and  she 
transported  herself  by  magic  to  her 
father's  kingdom. 

Roland  went  on  a  quest  to  the  Far 
East  in  search  of  the  complete  armor  of 
Trojan  Hector.  Whether  by  chance  or 
by  evil  design  he  came  to  a  fountain  and 
there  drank  the  water  of  forgetfulness. 
He  was  rescued  by  the  Princess  of  Cathay 
and  fought  many  a  battle  for  her  sake, 
even  though  she  was  a  pagan  princess. 

At  last  he  came  to  the  castle  of  the 
fairy  queen,  Morgan  the  Fay,  where  the 
armor  of  Trojan  Hector  was  said  to  be 
hidden.  Overcome  for  the  first  time,  he 
failed  to  gain  the  armor  and  was  ordered 
to  return  to  the  court  of  Charlemagne. 

He  arrived  home  in  time  to  help  the 
Danes  resist  an  invasion  of  their  country. 
When  Ogier's  father,  Duke  Godfrey, 
summoned  help,  Ogier  and  Roland  set 
out  for  Denmark.  The  invaders  fled.  At 
the  same  time  Ogier's  father  died,  but 
Ogier,  on  the  advice  of  Morgan  the  Fay, 
renounced  his  rights  to  his  father's  hold 
ings  in  favor  of  his  younger  brother. 

On  his  way  back  to  France,  Roland 
heard  of  a  fierce  ore  said  to  be  the  prop 
erty  of  Proteus.  The  ore  devoured  one 
beautiful  maiden  each  day  until  Roland 
overcame  it  and  was  rewarded  by  Oberto, 
the  king  of  Ireland,  whose  daughter  he 
had  saved. 

In  the  meantime  Charlemagne's  forces 
were  being  attacked  by  Saracens,  and 
Roland  set  out  to  help  Charlemagne's 
knights.  On  the  way  he  was  trapped  in 
a  wizard's  castle.  From  this  captivity  he 
was  saved  by  Bradamant,  a  warrior 


909 


maiden.  She,  having  won  a  magic  ring 
from  the  Princess  of  Cathay,  overcame 
the  wizard  and  released  all  of  the  knights 
and  ladies  held  prisoner  in  the  wizard's 
castle. 

Ferrau,  the  Moorish  knight,  lost  the 
helmet  he  had  stolen  from  Argalia  and 
vowed  he  would  never  again  wear  a  hel 
met  until  he  should  wear  that  of  Roland. 
By  trickery  he  managed  to  get  Roland's 
helmet. 

Roland  was  set  upon  by  Mandricardo, 
the  fierce  knight  to  whom  fortune  had 
awarded  the  arms  of  Trojan  Hector.  They 
fought  for  the  possession  of  Durandal, 
Roland's  sword,  the  only  part  of  Trojan 
Hector's  equipment  which  Mandricardo 
did  not  possess.  At  last  Mandricardo  was 
forced  to  flee  for  his  life. 

Roland  visited  the  forest  where  the 
Princess  of  Cathay  and  Medoro,  a  Moor 
ish  prince,  had  fallen  in  love.  Some  de 
clared  it  was  jealousy  for  the  princess  hut 
others  declared  it  was  sheer  exhaustion 
which  caused  Roland  now  to  lose  his 
mind.  He  cast  his  armor  away  from  him 
and  went  wandering  helplessly  through 
the  forest.  Mandricardo  seized  Duran 
dal  and  made  Roland  his  prisoner. 

Astolpho  and  Oliver  set  out  from  the 
court  of  Charlemagne  to  save  Roland. 


Astolpho  journeyed  on  the  back  of  a 
flying  horse  to  the  fabulous  land  of 
Prester  John.  Having  freed  Prester  John 
from  a  flock  of  harpies,  Astolpho  jour 
neyed  to  the  rim  of  the  moon  and  there 
saw  stored  up  all  the  things  lost  on  earth. 
There  he  found  Roland's  common  sense, 
which  he  brought  back  with  him  and 
returned  to  Roland  so  that  the  knight 
became  his  former  self. 

In  a  battle  against  the  Saracens  the 
wicked  Ganelon  betrayed  the  knights  of 
Charlemagne  and  they,  greatly  outnum 
bered,  fell  one  By  one  to  their  enemies. 

Roland,  unwilling  to  call  for  help,  re 
fused  to  use  his  famous  horn  to  summon 
aid,  and  he  died  last  of  all.  Charlemagne, 
discovering  the  dead  hero,  declared  a 
great  day  of  mourning.  Alda,  the  be 
trothed  of  Roland,  fell  dead  and  was 
buried  with  many  honors.  Then  Charle 
magne  died  and  was  buried  with  great 
pomp.  Only  Ogier  the  Dane,  remained, 
and  it  is  said  that  Morgan  the  Fay  carried 
him  to  Avalon  where  he  lives  in  com 
pany  with  Arthur  of  the  Round  Table. 

It  is  said  also  that  Charlemagne  dwells 
inside  a  vast  mountain  cave  with  all  his 
heroes  gathered  around  him.  There  they 
wait  for  the  day  when  they  shall  march 
out  to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  the  world. 


THE  SONG  OF  SONGS 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  Hermann  Sudermann  (1857-1928) 

Type  of  plot:   Naturalism 

Time  of  fat:   Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:    Germany 

First  published:    1909 

Principal  characters: 

LILLY  CZEPANEK,  daughter  of  a  music  master 

FRITZ  REDLICH,  a  student 

COLONEL  VON  MERTZBACH,  Lilly's  elderly  first  husband 

WALTER  VON  PRELL,  Lilly's  first  lover 

RICHARD  DEHNICKE,  Lilly's  lover  and  later  her  husband 

KONRAD  RENISTSCHMTDT,  Lilly's  great  love 

Critique: 

The   Song   of  Songs  belongs  to  the      literature.    In    its    detailed    study   of   a 
naturalistic     movement     in     European      woman's  fall  from  virtue,  the  novel  re- 

THE  SONG  OF  SONGS  by  Hermann  Sudermann.  Translated  by  Thomas  Seltzer.  By  permission  of  the 
publishers,  The  Viking  Press,  Inc.  Copyright,  1909,  by  j.  G.  Cotta'sche  Buchhandlung  Nachfolger.  Re 
newed,  1937,  by  Thomas  Seltzer. 


910 


sembles  in  many  ways  the  novels  o£ 
Balzac  and  Zola.  There  is  no  mistaking 
the  critical  purpose  and  the  symbolism 
behind  Sudermann's  frank  study  of 
social  hypocrisy  and  vice. 

The  Story: 

Lilly  Czepanek  was  fourteen  years 
old  when  her  temperamental  father,  a 
music  master,  disappeared  from  home. 
The  girl  and  her  mother  became  desti 
tute,  but  they  looked  forward  every 
day  to  Czepanek's  return  since  he  had 
left  behind  his  cherished  musical  com 
position,  The  Song  of  Songs,  around 
which  the  entire  family  had  built  its 
hopes  for  success. 

Lilly  grew  into  an  attractive  young 
woman.  She  attended  school  in  prepara 
tion  for  a  career  as  a  governess.  Mean 
while  Mrs.  Czepanek,  beginning  to  lose 
her  mind,  projected  mad  schemes  to  re 
gain  her  social  position.  One  day,  in  a 
fit  of  rage,  she  attacked  Lilly  with  a 
bread  knife  and  was  subsequently  com 
mitted  to  an  asylum.  Lilly,  now  alone, 
took  work  as  a  clerk  in  the  circulating 
library  of  Mrs.  Asmussen;  she  assuaged 
her  loneliness  by  reading  voraciously. 
She  admired  a  high-minded  young  stu 
dent,  Fritz  Redlich,  who  spumed  her 
because  he  misunderstood  her  overtures 
of  friendship. 

Mrs.  Asmussen's  two  worldly  daugh 
ters,  home  after  having  failed  to  find 
their  fortunes  elsewhere,  coached  Lilly 
in  the  ways  of  catching  a  man.  Lieuten 
ant  von  Prell,  attached  to  the  local 
regiment,  came  to  the  library,  saw  Lilly, 
and  was  overwhelmed  by  her  simple 
charm.  His  visit  was  followed  by  the 
visits  of  many  young  officers  and  men  of 
fashion  of  the  town.  The  sisters,  Lona 
and  Mi,  jealous  of  Lilly,  hated  her  for 
her  ability  to  attract  men  without  even 
venturing  out  of  the  Asmussen  house. 

When  Colonel  von  Mertzbach,  the 
commander  of  the  regiment,  offered  Lilly 
a  job  as  his  secretary  and  reader  in  order 
to  save  her  from  such  sordid  surround 
ings,  she  declined  because  she  was  sus 


picious  of  his  intentions.  She  received 
'dozens  of  fine  Christmas  gifts  from  the 
colonel,  but  she  returned  them  all.  At 
the  colonel's  request,  Lilly  went  to  his 
quarters,  where  he  proposed  after  re 
vealing  his  passion  for  her.  Seeing  a 
chance  for  freedom  and  luxury,  Lilly  ac 
cepted  and  became  his  wife.  Soon  she 
discovered,  however,  that  the  colonel  had 
only  a  physical  attraction  for  her  and  that 
she  was  little  more  than  his  chattel.  Their 
wedding  trip  to  Italy  was  interrupted 
when  the  colonel,  who  was  extremely 
jealous,  saw  Lilly  take  a  passive  interest 
in  a  young  man  who  shared  their  com 
partment. 

The  couple  went  to  East  Prussia  to 
the  colonel's  castle.  The  colonel,  retired 
from  military  service,  devoted  his  time 
to  molding  Lilly  into  an  aristocratic 
Junker  lady,  and  in  this  task  he  was 
assisted  by  the  housekeeper,  Miss  von 
Schwertfeger. 

Von  Prell,  who  had  resigned  his  corn- 
mission,  was  now  employed  on  the  estate 
of  his  former  commanding  officer.  He 
taught  Lilly  to  ride,  and  on  one  of  their 
jaunts  together  into  the  countryside  she 
surrendered  herself  to  him.  Having  access 
to  the  castle,  he  made  his  way  to  her 
room  secretly  at  night.  One  night  the 
colonel  returned  home  unexpectedly  from 
one  of  his  frequent  trips  to  the  nearby 
town  and  almost  surprised  the  two  to 
gether.  Miss  von  Schwertfeger  covered 
up  Lilly's  infidelity,  however,  and  later 
told  her  mistress  that  she  hated  von 
Mertzbach  because  he  had  forced  her  for 
years  to  be  a  party  to  mad  orgies  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  castle.  But  she 
forbade  any  further  relations  between 
Lilly  and  von  Prell. 

Later  Lilly,  hearing  that  von  Prell 
was  philandering  in  the  town,  went  to 
his  lodge.  The  colonel  discovered  them 
together,  and  ordered  Lilly  off  the  estate. 
She  went  to  Berlin;  von  Prell  went  to» 
the  United  States. 

Lilly,  now  divorced,  assisted  a  maker 
of  lampshades  until,  being  herself  pro 
ficient,  she  opened  her  own  shop.  When 


911 


her  business  venture  proved  unsuccess 
ful,  she  went  to  Dehnicker  a  friend  of 
von  Prell,  who  was  a  bronze  statuary 
manufacturer  and  who,  von  Prell  had 
assured  her,  would  help  any  friend  of 
his.  To  escape  Dehnicke's  attentions, 
Lilly  left  him  and  went  to  Kellermann, 
a  glass  painter,  whom  Dehnicke  recom 
mended  to  her.  Kellermann  made  ad 
vances,  hut  Lilly  immediately  made  him 
understand  that  she  was  there  only  to 
learn  glass  painting.  As  she  produced 
transparencies,  Dehnicke  took  them  and 
acted  as  her  agent  in  selling  them.  One 
day  Dehnicke  gave  Lilly  a  large  check 
drawn  on  an  American  bank  and  sent  to 
her,  he  said,  by  von  Prell.  With  her  new 
wealth,  Lilly  was  able  to  establish  her 
studio  in  a  fine  apartment  in  a  decent 
part  of  the  city.  But  soon  she  lost  in 
terest  in  her  transparencies  and  began 
to  live  as  Dehnicke's  creature.  She  toured 
the  bronze  factory,  but  was  barred  from 
entering  one  small  storeroom. 

Lilly,  now  virtually  a  prisoner  in  the 
luxurious  surroundings  provided  by  Deh 
nicke,  grew  morose  and  melancholy.  She 
and  Dehnicke  attended  an  elaborate  car 
nival  at  Kellermann's  studio.  There  she 
learned  that  not  one  of  her  transparencies 
had  sold,  that  the  forbidden  storeroom 
in  the  factory  was  their  repository. 

One  day  Dehnicke,  a  bachelor  and 
very  much  under  the  influence  of  his 
mother,  announced  to  Lilly  that  at  his 
mother's  insistence  he  intended  to  marry 
an  heiress.  Lilly,  confused  and  helpless, 
yielded  herself  to  Kellermann.  But  Deh- 
oicke  gave  up  the  heiress  and  returned 
to  Lilly;  their  old  way  of  life  was  re 
sumed.  Still  Lilly  grew  more  lonely  and 
waited  for  the  one  man  in  her  life  to 
appear. 

After  several  years  in  Berlin,  Lilly 
again  met  Fritz  Redlich.  Seeing  that  the 
former  student  was  a  failure  and  in  ex 


treme  poverty,  she  prepared  to  dedicate 
her  life  to  regenerating  him.  She  fed 
and  clothed  him,  made  him  a  frequent 
guest  at  her  table,  and  finally  secured 
for  him  a  position  as  tutor  in  another 
part  of  Germany.  Still  misunderstanding 
her  interest  in  him,  he  refused  to  have 
dinner  with  her  the  night  before  he  was 
to  leave  for  his  new  job. 

Lilly  next  met  Konrad  Rennschmidt, 
a  young  student  of  art  history.  There 
was  an  immediate  sympathy  between 
the  two,  and  Lilly  knew  what  she 
thought  was  real  happiness  at  last.  Be 
cause  Konrad  did  not  know  all  the  true 
facts  of  Lilly's  past,  she  told  him  many 
lies  in  her  frantic  desire  to  keep  his 
friendship.  At  last  she  surrendered  her 
self  to  Konrad  and  drifted  away  from 
Dehnicke,  whose  mother  still  had  hopes 
that  her  son  would  marry  well. 

Konrad  had  a  rich  uncle  who  came 
to  Berlin  to  meet  Lilly  when  he  heard 
that  his  nephew  planned  to  marry  her. 
The  old  uncle,  an  adventurer  of  sorts, 
tricked  Lilly  into  disclosing  her  true 
tortured  and  fallen  soul  to  him.  Sure 
that  Lilly  would  do  Konrad  no  good  and 
that  his  family  and  friends  would  not 
accept  her,  he  persuaded  Lilly  never  to 
see  Konrad  again. 

Having  never  been  essentially  evil, 
and  seeing  little  hope  of  happiness  in 
her  life,  Lilly  attempted  to  throw  herself 
in  the  River  Spree  after  her  last  great 
disappointment.  But  she  failed  even  in 
that  attempt.  She  did,  however,  throw 
The  Song  of  Songs  into  the  river.  For 
years  she  had  guarded  the  musical  com 
position  as  a  symbol  of  all  that  was  fine 
and  good  in  life.  At  last,  when  his 
mother  had  resigned  herself  to  the  in 
evitable,  Dehnicke  again  asked  Lilly  to 
marry  him.  She  accepted.  It  seemed  to 
her  by  this  time  that  Dehnicke  was  her 
fate. 


912 


SONS  AND  LOVERS 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  D.  H.  Lawrence  (1885-1930) 

Type  of  plot:   Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   England 

First  'published:    1913 

Principal  characters: 

GERTRUDE  MOREL,  a  devoted  mother 

WALTER  MOREL,  her  husband,  a  collier 

WILLIAM,    her    oldest    son 

ANNIE,   her  daughter 

PAUL,  her  favorite  son 

ARTHUR,  another  son 

MIRIAM  LEIVERS,  Paul's  sweetheart 

CLARA  DAWES,  Paul's  mistress 

BAXTER  DAWES,   Clara's  husband 

Critique: 

Sons  and  Lovers  is  a  realistic  novel  de 
veloping  two  significant  psychological 
themes.  The  first  is  the  story  of  Paul 
Morel's  beautiful  but  terrible  relation 
ship  with  his  mother,  who  gives  to  him 
all  her  warmth  of  feeling  because  her 
husband  has  denied  her  the  love  she 
craves.  The  second  is  a  study  of  at 
traction  and  repulsion  in  love,  presented 
through  Paul's  relations  with  two  quite 
different  women,  Clara  and  Miriam.  It 
is,  on  the  whole,  a  tragic  story  of  work, 
love,  and  despair.  Lawrence's  psycho 
logical  insight  and  the  poetry  of  his  style 
make  this  novel  one  of  the  great  land 
marks  in  modern  autobiographical  fiction. 


The  Story: 

Walter  Morel,  a  collier,  had  been  a 
handsome,  dashing  young  man  when 
Gertrude  had  married  him.  But  after  a 
few  years  of  marriage  he  proved  to  be  an 
irresponsible  breadwinner  and  a  drunk 
ard,  and  his  wife  hated  him  for  what 
he  had  once  meant  to  her  and  for  what 
he  now  was.  Her  only  solace  lay  in  her 
children,  William,  Annie,  Paul,  and 
Arthur,  for  she  leaned  heavily  upon  them 
for  companionship,  lived  in  their  hap 
piness.  She  was  a  good  parent;  her  chil 
dren  loved  her.  The  oldest  son,  William, 
was  successful  in  his  work  but  he  longed 


to  go  to  London,  where  he  had  promise 
of  a  better  job.  After  he  had  gone,  Mrs. 
Morel  turned  to  Paul  for  the  companion 
ship  and  love  she  had  found  in  William. 

Paul  liked  to  paint.  More  sensitive 
than  his  brothers  and  sister,  he  was  closer 
to  Mrs.  Morel  than  any  of  the  others. 
William  brought  a  girl  named  Lily  home 
to  visit,  but  it  was  apparent  that  she 
was  not  the  right  kind  of  girl  for  him; 
she  was  too  shallow  and  self-centered. 
Before  long,  William  himself  became 
aware  of  that  fact,  but  he  resigned  him 
self  to  keeping  the  promise  he  had  made 
to  his  fiance'e. 

When  William  became  ill,  Mrs.  Morel 
went  to  London  to  nurse  her  son  and 
was  with  him  there  when  he  died.  Home 
once  more  after  she  had  buried  her  first 
son,  Mrs.  Morel  could  not  bring  her 
self  out  of  her  sorrow.  Not  until  Paul 
became  sick  did  she  realize  that  her  duty 
lay  with  the  living  rather  than  with  the 
dead.  After  that  she  centered  all  her 
attention  upon  Paul.  The  two  other 
children  were  capable  of  carrying  on 
their  affairs  without  the  constant  at 
tention  that  Paul  demanded. 

At  sixteen  Paul  went  to  visit  some 
friends  of  Mrs.  Morel.  The  Leivers  were 
a  warm-hearted  family,  and  Paul  easily 
gained  the  friendship  of  the  Leivers 


SONS  AND  LOVERS  by  D.  H.  Lawrence.  By  permission  of  the   publishers,   The  Viking  Press,   Inc.   Copy 
right,  1913,  by  Mitchell  Kennerley. 


913 


tidldreii.  Fifteen-year-old  Miriam  Leivers 
tvas  a  strange  girl,  but  her  inner  charm 
attracted  Paul.  Mrs.  Morel,  like  many 
others,  did  not  care  for  Miriam.  Paul 
went  to  work  at  a  stocking  mill,  where 
he  was  successful  in  his  social  relation 
ships  and  in  his  work.  He  continued 
to  draw.  Miriam  watched  over  his  work 
and  with  quiet  understanding  offered 
judgment  concerning  his  success  or 
failure.  Mrs.  Morel  sensed  that  some 
day  her  son  would  become  famous  for 
his  art. 

By  the  time  Miriam  and  Paul  had 
grown  into  their  twenties,  Paul  realized 
that  Miriam  loved  him  deeply  and  that 
he  loved  her.  But  for  some  reason  he 
could  not  bring  himself  to  touch  her. 
Then  through  Miriam  he  met  Clara 
Dawes.  For  a  long  while  Mrs.  Morel 
had  been  urging  him  to  give  up  Miriam, 
and  now  Paul  tried  to  tell  Miriam  that 
it  was  all  over  between  them.  He  did 
not  want  to  marry  her,  but  he  felt  that 
he  did  belong  to  her.  He  could  not  make 
up  his  own  mind. 

Clara  Dawes  was  separated  from  her 
husband,  Baxter  Dawes.  She  was  five 
years  Paul's  senior,  but  a  beautiful 
woman  whose  loveliness  charmed  him. 
Although  Clara  became  his  mistress,  she 
refused  to  divorce  her  husband  and  marry 
Paul.  Sometimes  Paul  wondered  whether 
he  could  bring  himself  to  marry  Clara 
if  she  were  free.  She  was  not  what  he 
wanted.  His  mother  was  the  only  woman 
to  whom  he  could  turn  for  complete  un 
derstanding  and  love,  for  Miriam  had 
tried  to  possess  him  and  Clara  maintained 
a  barrier  against  him.  Paul  continued  to 
devote  much  of  his  time  and  attention 
to  making  his  mother  happy.  Annie  had 
married  and  gone  to  live  with  her  hus 
band  near  the  Morel  home,  and  Arthur 
had  married  a  childhood  friend  who  bore 
him  a  son  six  months  after  the  wedding. 
Baxter  Dawes  resented  Paul's  relation 
ship  with  his  wife.  Once  he  accosted 
Paul  in  a  tavern  and  threatened  him. 
Paul  knew  that  he  could  not  fight  with 
Baxter,  but  lie  continued  to  see  Clara. 


Paul  had  entered  pictures  in  local 
exhibits  and  had  won  four  prizes.  With 
encouragement  from  Mrs.  Morel,  he  con 
tinued  to  paint.  He  wanted  to  go  abroad, 
but  he  could  not  leave  his  mother.  He 
began  to  see  Miriam  again.  When  she 
yielded  herself  to  him,  his  passion  was 
ruthless  and  savage.  But  their  relation 
ship  was  still  unsatisfactory.  He  turned 
again  to  Clara. 

Miriam  knew  about  his  love  affair 
with  Clara,  but  the  girl  felt  that  Paul 
would  tire  of  his  mistress  and  come  back 
to  her.  Paul  stayed  with  Clara,  how 
ever,  because  he  found  in  her  an  outlet 
for  his  unknown  desires.  His  life  was 
a  great  conflict.  Meanwhile  Paul  was 
earning  enough  money  to  give  his  mother 
the  things  her  husband  had  failed  to 
provide.  Mr.  Morel  stayed  on  with  his 
wife  and  son,  but  he  was  no  longer 
accepted  as  a  father  or  a  husband. 

One  day  it  was  revealed  that  Mrs. 
Morel  had  cancer  and  was  beyond  any 
help  except  that  of  morphine  and  then 
death.  During  the  following  months 
Mrs.  Morel  declined  rapidly.  Paul  was 
tortured  by  his  mother's  pain.  Annie  and 
Paul  marveled  at  her  resistance  to  death, 
wishing  that  it  would  come  to  end  her 
suffering.  Paul  dreaded  such  a  catas 
trophe  in  his  life,  although  he  knew  it 
must  come  eventually.  He  turned  to 
Clara  for  comfort,  but  she  failed  to  make 
him  forget  his  misery.  Then,  visiting 
his  mother  at  the  hospital,  Paul  found 
Baxter  Dawes  recovering  from  an  attack 
of  typhoid  fever.  For  a  long  time  Paul 
had  sensed  that  Clara  wanted  to  return 
to  Dawes,  and  now,  out  of  pity  for 
Dawes,  he  brought  about  a  reconcilia 
tion  between  the  husband  and  wife. 

When  Mrs.  Morel's  suffering  had 
mounted  to  a  torturing  degree,  Annie 
and  Paul  decided  that  anything  would 
be  better  than  to  let  her  live  in  agony. 
One  night  Paul  gave  her  an  overdose  of 
morphine,  and  Mrs.  Morel  died  the  next 
day. 

Left  alone,  Paul  was  lost.  He  felt 
that  his  own  life  had  ended  with  the 


914 


death,  of  his  mother.  Clara,  to  whom  he 
had  turned  before,  was  now  back  with 
Dawes.  Because  they  could  not  bear  to 
stay  in  the  house  without  Mrs.  Morel, 
Paul  and  his  father  parted,  each  taking 
different  lodgings. 

For  a  while  Paul  wandered  helplessly 
trying  to  find  some  purpose  in  his  life. 
Then  he  thought  of  Miriam,  to  whom  he 
had  once  belonged.  He  returned  to  her, 
but  with  the  renewed  association  he 
realized  more  than  ever  that  she  was 
not  what  he  wanted.  Once  he  had 
thought  of  going  abroad.  Now  he  wanted 


to  join  his  mother  in  death.  Leaving 
Miriam  for  the  last  time,  he  felt  trapped 
and  lost  in  his  own  indecision.  But  he 
also  felt  that  he  was  free  from  Miriam 
after  many  years  of  passion  and  regret. 
His  mother's  death  was  too  great  a 
sorrow  for  Paul  to  cast  off  immediately. 
Finally,  after  a  lengthy  inner  struggle, 
he  was  able  to  see  that  she  would  always 
be  with  him  and  that  he  did  not  need  to 
die  to  join  her.  With  his  new  found 
courage  he  set  out  to  make  his  own  life 


THE  SORROWS  OF  YOUNG  WERTHER 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe  (1749-1832) 

Type  of  plot:    Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Mid-eighteenth  century 

Locale:    Germany 

Zirst  published:    1774 

Principal  characters: 

WERTHER,  a  sentimental  young  man 
CHARLOTTE  (Loirs),  his  beloved 
ALBERT,  betrothed  to  Charlotte 

Critique: 

Many  teachers  of  literature  consider 
The  Sorrows  of  Young  Werther  the 
starting  point  of  a  certain  phase  of  the 
romantic  movement  which  in  England 
reached  its  peak  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century  and  which  at  a  later  date  left 
its  mark  upon  the  novels  of  Charles 
Dickens  and  others.  The  interest  in  land 
scape,  in  excessive  emotion,  and  in  de 
spairing  passion  developed  more  freely 
and  earlier  on  the  continent,  but  when 
such  books  reached  England  they  found 
immediately  a  sympathetic  audience  of 
readers  and  many  imitators  among  the 
writers  of  the  period.  Today,  however, 
the  novel  belongs  almost  exclusively  to 
poets,  scholars,  and  special  readers  of 
one  kind  or  another.  Perhaps  it  will 
always  appeal  to  the  very  young  in 
spirit. 


The  Story: 

Young  Werther,  having  left  his  former 
home,  wrote  to  his  friend  Wilhelm  to 


describe  the  secluded  region  where  he 
had  gone  to  forget  the  unhappiness  of  his 
earlier  years.  He  had  discovered  a  pleas 
ant  cottage  surrounded  by  a  lovely  gar 
den,  and  he  felt  that  in  his  peaceful 
retreat  he  could  live  in  happy  solitude 
forever. 

A  few  days  later  he  reported  that  his 
soul  had  recovered  in  his  rustic  surround 
ings.  He  did  not  want  books  or  the 
companionship  of  his  old  friends,  for  he 
had  been  transported  into  a  new  world 
of  kinship  with  nature.  He  mentioned 
a  nearby  hamlet  called  Walheim  and  the 
village  inn  where  he  could  drink  good 
coffee,  sit  in  solitude,  and  read  his 
Homer.  Several  letters  to  Wilhelm  told 
the  same  story  of  Werther* s  simple  life 
among  scenes  of  natural  beauty. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  break  in  his 
letters.  Then  he  wrote  to  tell  his  frienc) 
that  he  had  met  an  angel.  At  a  ball  he 
had  been  introduced  to  Charlotte  S.,  the 
daughter  of  a  judge  who  had  retired  t<? 


915 


a  hunting  lodge  not  far  fxom  Walheim. 
Charlotte  was  a  beautiful  and  charming 
girl,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  she  was 
betrothed  to  another,  Werther  had  fallen 
deeply  in  love  with  her  at  first  sight. 

Perhaps  his  passion  ran  all  the  more 
deeply  because  he  had  been  warned  not 
to  fall  in  love  with  her,  since  she  was 
betrothed  to  a  young  man  not  present 
at  the  ball.  The  warning  went  unheeded. 
At  the  dance  Werther  had  demanded 
much  of  her  attention.  He  had  begun 
to  ask  her  some  questions  about  the 
Albert  to  whom  she  was  betrothed  when 
a  storm  suddenly  interrupted  the  dance. 
The  hostess  led  the  guests  into  a  room 
protected  by  curtains  and  shutters.  There 
they  played  a  game  called  counting. 
Once  Werther  kissed  Charlotte's  hands. 
When  the  party  broke  up  at  sunrise, 
he  took  her  to  her  home  through  a 
dazzling  world  of  raindrops  and  morning 
sun. 

From  that  time  on  he  called  every 
day  on  Lotte,  as  he  referred  to  her  in  his 
letters.  He  grieved  over  their  separation 
when  she  went  to  attend  a  sick  woman 
whom  she  knew.  One  day  he  went  with 
her  to  visit  an  old  pastor;  he  noted  that 
her  youthful  presence  seemed  to  bring 
new  life  to  the  old  man  as  well. 

Because  he  could  not  bear  to  have  her 
out  of  his  sight,  Werther  began  to  object 
to  the  time  Lotte  gave  to  sick  friends  and 
to  other  acquaintances.  A  glimpse  of  her 
as  she  rode  away  on  some  errand  was 
enough  to  set  his  head  spinning  and  his 
heart  beating  wildly.  If  her  finger  ac 
cidentally  touched  his,  the  blood  pounded 
through  his  veins.  To  his  friend  he  con 
fessed  that  he  had  done  little  of  the 
painting  he  had  intended;  all  of  his  time 
was  taken  up  with  his  love  for  Charlotte. 

After  his  friend  Wilhelm  had  written, 
advising  him  either  to  press  his  suit  for 
Lotte  or  else  to  give  up  his  hopeless  pas 
sion,  Werther  decided  to  see  the  girl 
less  frequendy.  His  decision  was  further 
strengthened  when  Albert  returned  to 
Walheim.  Jealous  of  Albert,  Werther 
wrote  nevertheless  that  he  admired  his 


rival's  fine  character.  In  answer  to  further 
urging  from  his  friend,  Werther  replied 
that  he  could  neither  give  up  Lotte  nor 
hope  to  win  her  from  Albert. 

Werther  grew  more  and  more  melan 
choly.  Because  he  could  hope  to  possess 
Lotte  only  in  his  dreams,  he  was  plunged 
into  gloom  and  despair.  At  last,  de 
ciding  that  he  must  leave  Walheim,  he 
asked  Wilhelm  to  secure  a  government 
post  for  him.  When  Wilhelm  suggested 
a  post  with  an  ambassador,  Werther  post 
poned  his  acceptance  or  refusal  of  the 
position.  But  Wilhelm  obtained  the  ap 
pointment  without  waiting  to  hear  from 
his  friend,  and  so  Werther's  course  was 
decided  for  him.  During  the  two  last 
hours  he  spent  with  Lotte  and  Albert, 
he  pretended  all  the  time  that  he  was 
not  going  away.  He  felt  that  their  fare 
wells  would  be  more  than  he  could 
bear. 

At  first  the  official  duties  of  his  new 
position  kept  Werther  from  brooding 
over  his  sorrows.  But  as  time  passed  he 
began  to  dislike  the  ambassador  under 
whom  he  worked.  No  longer  interested 
in  government  affairs,  he  reproached  Wil 
helm  for  securing  his  appointment.  He 
chafed  constantly  at  the  responsibilities 
he  was  forced  to  assume. 

At  last  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Lotte.  Al 
bert  wrote  to  him  in  reply  and  informed 
him  that  the  two  had  been  married  some 
time  before. 

Meanwhile  Werther  had  resigned  his 
position  at  court.  Failing  in  his  attempt 
to  enter  the  army,  he  accepted  the  offer 
of  a  young  prince  to  spend  the  summer 
on  his  estate.  When  he  failed  to  find 
in  the  nobleman's  household  the  peace 
and  calm  for  which  he  had  hoped,  he 
decided  at  last  to  return  to  Walheim  in 
order  to  be  near  Lotte. 

His  first  .encounter  with  Albert  and 
Lotte  threw  him  into  such  a  state  that 
his  letter  to  Wilhelm  was  almost  in 
coherent.  He  could  not  understand  why 
Albert  did  not  look  more  distractedly 
happy.  Lotte  pitied  Werther  and  Albert 
sympathized  with  him,  hut  they  were 


916 


unable  to  help  him.  At  the  same  time 
Werther  was  concerned  with  the  fate 
of  a  peasant  who  had  been  convicted  of 
murder.  Failing  to  save  the  man  from 
his  fate,  Werther  was  more  wretched  than 
ever.  At  last,  following  her  husband's 
suggestion,  Lotte  suggested  that  Werther 
visit  her  house  less  frequently.  In  de 
spair,  he  wrote  that  when  he  could  bear 
his  sorrows  no  longer  he  intended  to 
end  his  life. 

The  rest  of  his  story  was  told  by 
others.  One  night,  while  Albert  was 
away  from  home,  Werther  went  to  Lotte's 
house.  Frightened  by  his  speech  and 
appearance,  she  asked  him  to  read  aloud 
some  passages  from  Ossian.  After  he  had 
seized  her  in  a  wild  embrace,  she  fled 


and  locked  herself  in  her  room.  He 
stood  outside  the  door  and  begged  her 
to  speak  so  that  he  could  hear  her  voice 
for  the  last  time. 

The  next  day  he  sent  a  servant  to 
Albert  and  asked  for  the  loan  of  a  brace 
of  pistols  to  take  with  him  on  an  unex 
pected  journey.  He  shot  himself  that 
night,  but  he  was  not  quite  dead  when 
his  servant  found  him  the  next  morning. 
He  died  at  noon  without  regaining  con 
sciousness.  Charlotte,  hearing  of  his 
death,  fell  into  a  swoon  so  deep  that  her 
life  was  despaired  of.  Workmen  of  the 
village  carried  Werther' s  body  to  its  rest 
ing  place  under  the  lime  trees  at  Wai 
heim. 


THE  SOUND  AND  THE  FURY 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  William  Faulkner  (1897-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:  Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:    1910-1928 

Locale:    Mississippi 

First  published:   1929 

Principal  characters: 

MRS.  COMPSON,  the  mother 

BENJAMIN,  her  idiot  son 

QUENTIN,  another  son 

CANDACE,  her  daughter 

JASON,  another  son 

SYDNEY  HERBERT  HEAD,  Candace's  husband 

QUENTTN,  Candace's  daughter 

DILSEY,  a  Negro  servant 

Critique: 

Beneath  its  involved  and  difficult  tech 
nique,  The  Sound  and  the  Fury  is  a 
compelling  study  of  the  dissolution  of  an 
old  southern  family  gone  to  seed.  The 
members  of  the  Compson  family  are 
victims  of  lust,  incest,  suicide.  The  story 
is  told  through  the  minds  of  the  various 
characters,  and  the  scene  jumps  from 
1928  to  1910  without  so  much  as  a 
change  of  sentence.  The  lack  of  punctua 
tion  is  effective,  but  confusing,  for  it 
is  difficult  to  tell  where  reality  ends  and 
memory  begins.  The  book  is  divided  into 


four  parts,  but  only  in  the  last  two  parts 
does  the  story  fall  into  a  clear  pattern. 
Then  the  pieces  of  the  puzzle  begin  to 
fit  into  place  and  the  reader  finds  that 
he  is  experiencing  stark  tragedy  and 
horrible  reality.  The  novel  is  not  e; 
to  read,  but  it  is  powerful  work  that  wi 
haunt  the  reader  for  many  days  after 
the  last  page  has  been  turned. 

The  Story: 

The  Compson  family  had  once  been 
a  good  one,  but  the  present  generation 


THE  SOUND   AND  THE  FURY   by   William    Faulkner.      By  permission   of   the  author   and  the  publishers, 
Raadom  House,  Inc.     Copyright,   1929,  by  William  Faulkner. 


917 


had  done  everything  possible  to  ruin 
the  name  of  Compson  for  all  time.  In 
the  little  Mississippi  town  in  which  they 
lived  everyone  laughed  and  made  slight 
ing  remarks  when  the  name  Compson 
was  mentioned. 

Mrs.  Compson  had  come  from  what 
she  considered  good  stock,  but  she 
thought  she  must  have  sinned  terribly  in 
marrying  a  Compson  and  now  she  was 
paying  for  her  sins.  For  eighteen  years 
she  had  been  saying  that  she  did  not 
bave  long  to  live  and  would  no  longer 
be  a  burden  to  her  family.  Benjamin 
was  her  greatest  cross.  He  was  an  idiot 
who  moaned  and  cried  and  slobbered  all 
day  long.  The  only  person  who  could 
quiet  Benjamin  was  Candace,  his  sister. 
When  they  were  small,  Candace  loved 
Benjamin  very  much  and  made  herself 
his  protector.  She  saw  to  it  that  the 
other  children  of  the  family  and  the 
Negro  servants  did  not  tease  him.  As 
Candace  grew  up,  she  continued  to  love 
Benjamin,  but  she  also  loved  every  man 
she  met,  giving  herself  freely  to  any  man 
who  would  have  her.  Mrs.  Compson 
thought  Candace  was  another  cross  she 
had  to  bear  and  did  very  little  to  force 
her  daughter  to  have  better  morals. 

Quentin,  another  son,  was  a  moody, 
morose  boy  whose  only  passion  was  his 
sister  Candace.  He  loved  her  not  as  a 
sister,  but  as  a  woman,  and  she  returned 
his  love.  Quentin  was  sent  to  school  at 
Harvard.  But  although  she  loved  Quen 
tin  in  the  spirit,  Candace  could  not  keep 
away  from  other  men.  Sydney  Herbert 
Head  was  the  one  serious  lover  she  had. 
He  wanted  to  marry  her.  Head,  a  banker, 
promised  to  give  her  brother  Jason  a  job 
in  his  bank  after  they  were  married. 
When  Quentin  learned  that  Candace 
was  in  a  condition  which  made  her  mar 
riage  necessary,  he  was  wild.  He  lied 
to  his  father  and  told  him  that  he  had 
had  incestuous  relations  with  Candace 
and  that  she  must  not  be  allowed  to 
marry.  His  father  did  not  believe  him, 
and  the  family  went  along  with  their 
plans  for  the  wedding.  At  last  Quentin 


could  stand  no  more.  On  the  day  of  his 
sister's  wedding  he  drowned  himself  in 
the  Charles  River  in  Cambridge,  Massa 
chusetts.  Mrs.  Compson  resigned  her 
self  to  one  more  cross. 

When  Candace  had  a  baby  too  soon, 
Head  threw  her  out  of  his  house  with 
her  child.  Her  mother  and  father  and 
her  brother  Jason  would  not  let  her  come 
home,  but  they  adopted  the  baby  girl, 
Quentin.  Jason  believed  that  Quentin 
was  the  child  of  his  brother  Quentin  and 
Candace,  but  the  rest  of  the  family  re 
fused  to  face  such  a  fact  and  accept  it. 
They  preferred  to  believe,  and  rightly, 
that  Quentin  was  the  child  of  some  other 
lover  who  had  deserted  Candace.  Can- 
dace  stayed  away  from  the  little  town 
for  many  years. 

Quentin  was  as  wild  as  her  mother  as 
she  grew  up.  She,  too,  gave  herself  to 
any  man  in  town  and  was  talked  about 
as  her  mother  had  been.  Every  month 
Candace  sent  money  to  Mrs.  Compson 
for  Quentin's  care.  At  first  Mrs.  Comp 
son  burned  the  checks,  for  she  would 
have  none  of  Candace's  ill-gotten  money. 
When  Mr.  Compson  died,  Jason  became 
the  head  of  the  family.  He  blamed 
Quentin  for  his  not  getting  the  job  in 
the  bank,  for  if  the  child  had  not  been 
born  too  soon  Head  would  not  have  left 
Candace  and  would  have  given  Jason  the 
job.  Hating  his  sister,  he  wrote  checks 
on  another  bank  and  gave  those  to  his 
mother  in  place  of  the  checks  Candace 
had  sent.  The  old  lady  was  almost 
blind  and  could  not  see  what  she  burned. 
Jason  then  forged  her  signature  on  the 
real  checks  and  cashed  them,  using  the 
money  to  gamble  on  the  cotton  market. 

Quentin  hated  her  Uncle  Jason  as 
much  as  he  hated  her,  and  the  two  were 
always  quarreling.  He  tried  to  make  her 
go  to  school  and  keep  away  from  the 
men,  but  Mrs.  Compson  thought  he 
was  too  cruel  to  Quentin  and  took  the 
girl's  part. 

A  show  troupe  came  to  town  and 
Quentin  took  up  with  one  of  the  per 
formers.  Jason  locked  her  in  her  room 


918 


each  night,  but  she  climbed  out  the  win 
dow  to  meet  her  lover.  One  morning  she 
did  not  answer  when  old  Dilsey,  the 
colored  mammy  who  had  cared  for  the 
family  for  years,  called  her  to  breakfast. 
Jason  went  to  her  room  and  found  that 
all  her  clothes  were  gone.  He  also 
found  that  the  three  thousand  dollars 
he  had  hidden  in  his  room  had  been 
stolen.  He  tried  to  get  the  sheriff  to 
follow  the  girl  and  the  showman,  but 
the  sheriff  wanted  no  part  of  the  Comp- 
son  family  affairs.  Jason  set  out  to  find 
the  fugitives,  but  he  had  to  give  up  his 
search  when  a  severe  headache  forced 
him  to  return  home  for  medicine. 

Jason  felt  more  than  cheated.  His 
money  was  gone  and  he  could  not  find 
Quentin  so  that  he  could  punish  her  for 
stealing  it.  He  forgot  that  the  money 
really  belonged  to  Quentin,  for  it  was 
part  of  the  amount  he  had  saved  from 
the  money  Candace  had  sent  for  the 
girl's  care.  There  was  nothing  left  for 
Jason  but  blind  rage  and  hatred  for  every 
one.  He  believed  that  everyone  laughed 


at  him  because  of  his  horrible  family — 
because  Benjamin  was  an  idiot,  Candace 
a  lost  woman,  Quentin  a  suicide,  and 
the  girl  Quentin  a  village  harlot  and  a 
thief.  He  forgot  that  he,  too,  was  a  thief 
and  that  he  had  a  mistress.  He  felt 
cursed  by  his  family  as  his  mother  was 
cursed. 

When  he  saw  Benjamin  riding  through 
town  in  a  carriage  driven  by  one  of  the 
colored  boys,  he  knocked  the  colored 
boy  down  and  struck  Benjamin  with  all 
his  force,  for  there  was  no  other  way  for 
him  to  show  his  rage.  Benjamin  let  out 
a  loud  moan,  then  settled  back  in  the 
carriage.  He  petted  a  wilted  flower  and 
his  face  assumed  a  calm,  quiet,  blankness, 
as  if  all  the  strife  in  the  world  were 
over  and  things  were  once  more  serene. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  understood  what  old 
Dilsey  meant  when  she  said  she  had 
seen  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  life. 
Benjamin  had  seen  it  all,  too,  in  the 
pictures  he  could  never  understand  but 
which  flowed  endlessly  through  his  dis 
ordered  mind. 


THE  SPOILERS 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Rex  Beach  (1877-1949) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  'plot:   The  Alaska  gold  rush 

Locale:   The  Yukon 

First  published:     1906 

Principal  characters: 

ROY  GLENISTER,  the  owner  of  the  Midas  gold  mine 

BILL  DEXTRY,  Glenister's  partner 

MR.  McNAMARA,  a  politician 

HELEN  CHESTER,  the  girl  with  whom  Glenister  is  in  love 

JUDGE  STILLMAN,  her  uncle 

CHERRY  MALOTTE,  a  notorious  woman  in  love  with  Glenister 

MR.  STBUVE,  a  dishonest  lawyer 

Critique: 

The  Spoilers  is  a  lusty  book  about  a 
raw  new  land  filled  with  adventurers  and 
gamblers  of  all  kinds.  Blood  and  thunder 
leap  forth  from  every  page.  The  real 
fault  of  the  novel  is  the  number  of 


coincidences.  In  his  scenes  of  action  the 
author  is  at  his  best.  His  descriptions 
and  dramatic  incidents,  like  the  battle  at 
the  mines  or  the  epic  bare-handed  duel 
between  the  hero  and  the  villain,  are 


THE  SPOILERS  by  Rex  Beach.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.     Copy- 
right,  1905,  by  Rex  Beach.    Renewed,  1932,  by  Rex  Beach. 


919 


his  best  work.  The  merit  of  the  book 
lies  in  such,  not  in  the  loosely-planned 
plot  or  the  love  story. 

The  Story: 

Trouble  began  for  Glenister  and  Dex- 
try,  the  owners  of  the  Midas  mine,  the 
moment  they  started  from  Seattle  back 
to  the  frozen  North.  First  of  all  a 
young  woman,  Helen  Chester,  enlisted 
their  aid  in  stowing  away  aboard  their 
ship.  Then  Roy  Glenister  fell  in  love 
with  her.  After  they  were  aboard  Dex- 
try  told  Glenister  that  the  government 
was  sending  a  court  to  institute  law  and 
order  in  the  gold  country  and  warned 
hirp  that  they  would  have  to  be  careful 
lest  they  lose  their  claim  to  the  Midas 
mine. 

In  Nome  Helen  delivered  a  packet  of 
documents  to  the  law  firm  of  Struve  and 
Dunham  and  then  went  with  the  two 
partners  up  to  the  Midas  mine.  There 
was  no  place  else  for  her  to  go  for  the 
time  being. 

Two  weeks  later  her  uncle,  Judge 
Stillman,  arrived  in  Nome  with  a  poli 
tician  named  McNamara.  Stillman  had 
been  appointed  the  first  Federal  judge  in 
Nome,  Alaska.  Trouble  soon  brewed  for 
the  owners  of  the  mines  on  Anvil  Creek, 
including  Glenister  and  Dextry.  Their 
claims  were  relocated  and  possession  of 
the  mines  was  given  to  McNamara  as  a 
receiver  appointed  by  the  court  until  the 
claims  could  legally  be  cleared.  Con 
vinced  that  the  receivership  was  dis 
honest,  Glenister  and  Dextry  robbed  their 
mine  of  ten  thousand  dollars  in  gold  with 
which  to  send  their  attorney  to  San 
Francisco.  By  the  time  the  attorney  had 
made  the  trip  and  returned,  all  the  mine 
owners  on  Anvil  Creek  realized  that 
there  was  collusion  between  Judge  Still 
man  and  McNamara.  When  the  attorney 
tried  to  serve  an  injunction  which  would 
force  the  judge  to  return  the  mines  to 
the  owners,  Stilhnan  refused  to  recognize 
the  writ  from  the  San  Francisco  court. 
Glenister  and  Dextry  immediately  smug 
gled  their  attorney  aboard  a  ship  bound 


for  San  Francisco,  with  a  request  that 
United  States  marshals  be  sent  to  Nome 
to  serve  the  writ  and  arrest  Stillman  for 
contempt  of  court. 

Meanwhile  Glenister  and  Dextry  spied 
on  McNamara  and  discovered  the  part 
Helen  Chester  had  played  in  bringing 
in  the  documents  which  had  made  pos 
sible  the  theft  of  the  mines  by  Mc 
Namara.  Cherry  Malotte  also  told  Glen 
ister  that  Helen  had  informed  McNamara 
of  the  money  Glenister  and  Dextry  had 
at  their  camp.  The  last  straw  for  Glen 
ister  was  the  announcement  that  Mc 
Namara  and  Helen  were  to  be  married. 

Deciding  to  repossess  their  mines  by 
violence,  the  owners  on  Anvil  Creek 
formed  a  vigilante  committee  with  the 
intention  of  lynching  McNamara  and 
tarring  and  feathering  the  judge. 

After  spreading  the  word  that  troops 
were  going  to  guard  the  mines,  Mc 
Namara  laid  a  trap  for  the  vigilantes  at 
his  office  in  Nome.  He  thought  that  the 
mine  owners,  not  daring  to  attack  the 
troops,  would  attack  his  own  office.  To 
his  surprise,  the  owners  attacked  the 
mines  and  seized  them  after  a  short, 
sharp  battle.  They  discovered  that  the 
defending  force  had  been  only  a  few 
guards  posted  by  McNamara. 

In  the  meantime  Helen  Chester  had 
gone  to  Struve  to  discover  what  she  could 
about  the  dealings  of  her  uncle  and  Mc 
Namara.  At  a  deserted  hotel  outside 
Nome  he  tried  to  bargain  with  the  girl 
for  the  documents  he  had,  papers  which 
would  incriminate  himself,  the  judge, 
and  McNamara  of  collusion  to  rob  the 
mines.  After  Helen  had  read  the  papers, 
he  tried  to  attack  her.  As  he  was  about 
to  overpower  her,  a  gambler — Helen's 
long-lost  brother — appeared  on  the  scene 
and  shot  Struve.  Helen  and  her  rescuer 
set  out  through  a  terrific  storm  to  return 
to  Nome  and  turn  over  the  incriminating 
documents  to  Glenister  and  other  mine 
owners. 

A  few  hours  after  they  had  left,  Glen 
ister  himself  came  to  the  hotel  and  dis 
covered  the  wounded  man.  Struve  told 


920 


Glenister  that  Helen  had  left  the  hotel 
with  a  cheap  gambler.  Furious,  Glen 
ister  rode  back  to  Nome.  He  resolved  to 
hunt  down  McNamara  and  the  gambler 
and  to  kill  them  both. 

When  Glenister  arrived  in  Nome  early 
the  following  morning,  he  found  Mc 
Namara  alone  in  his  office.  Glenister 
laid  aside  his  coat  and  gun  to  fight  the 
man  hand-to-hand.  In  their  struggle  they 
demolished  the  office.  A  crowd  gathered 
to  watch  them.  Feeling  himself  slipping, 
McNamara  tried  to  reach  for  a  pistol. 
As  he  did  so,  Glenister  seized  him  in  a 
hammerlock  and  slowly  broke  his  arm. 
At  that  moment  Judge  Stillman  arrived 
at  the  office  with  several  soldiers  and  put 
Glenister  under  arrest. 

As  he  was  being  led  away  to  jail,  a 
ship  sailed  into  the  harbor.  Shortly  after 
ward  Glenister's  attorney  came  ashore 
with  several  United  States  marshals  and 
the  court  orders  from  San  Francisco. 
With  Stillman's  power  broken,  Glenister 
was  quickly  released.  When  he  returned 
to  his  cabin  to  rest,  Dextry  told  him  that 
his  fight  with  McNamara  was  the  talk 
of  the  town,  for  no  one  had  ever  seen 
a  combat  like  it  in  all  the  rugged  North 
country.  Glenister,  too  tired  to  care, 
stumbled  into  his  bunk  and  fell  asleep. 

He  was  finally  awakened  when  Helen 
and  her  gambler  brother  entered  his 
cabin.  Helen  told  Glenister  of  the 
gambler's  real  identity  and  tried  to  prove 
to  him  that  she  had  not  willingly  been 


a  partner  in  the  plot  to  rob  the  mine 
owners  of  Anvil  Creek.  What  she  told 
him  convinced  Glenister  that  she  was 
telling  the  truth.  She  also  told  him  that 
she  had  seen  his  fight  with  McNamara, 
that  she  could  never  marry  a  man  who 
was  more  of  a  brute  animal  than  a 
civilized  human  being. 

The  next  day  all  was  again  peaceful 
in  Nome.  Glenister  planned  to  return 
to  his  mine  and  resume  operations  there. 
While  he  was  preparing  to  leave,  Dextry 
walked  into  his  cabin.  Dextry  told  him 
that  he  was  going  to  sell  his  share  of  the 
Midas  mine  and  leave  Nome.  His  ex 
cuse  was  that  law  and  order  had  finally 
come  to  Alaska,  so  that  the  country  was 
growing  too  civilized  for  an  old  frontiers 
man  like  himself. 

After  Dextry  left,  Glenister  wandered 
down  toward  the  beach,  too  downhearted 
to  finish  his  preparations  for  going  to  the 
mine.  Helen  Chester  saw  him  on  the 
beach.  Calling  him  to  her,  she  told  him 
that  she  finally  understood  why  he  could 
be  as  brutal  as  he  was,  for  her  own  battle 
with  Struve  had  shown  her  how  thin  the 
veneer  of  civilization  was  in  the  far 
North,  where  life  had  to  be  fought  for 
against  both  men  and  the  elements. 
Glenister  pretended  not  to  understand 
what  she  meant,  and  asked  her  when 
she  was  leaving.  Her  reply  to  him  was 
that  she  did  not  intend  to  leave,  unless 
he  sent  her  away. 


THE  SPY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  James  Fenimore  Cooper  (1789-1851) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1780;  1812 

Locale:  New  York  State 

First  published:  1821 

Principal  characters: 

HARVEY  BIRCH,  a  peddler 

MR.  HARPER,  General  George  Washington 

MR,  WHARTON,  a  Loyalist  sympathizer 

FRANCES,  his  daughter 

SARAH,  another  daughter 

HENRY,  his  son 


921 


MAJOR  PEYTON  DUNWOODEB,  an  American  officer 
CAPTAIN  LAWTON,  another  American  officer 
COLONEL  WEULMERE,  a  British  officer 


Critique: 

Judged  by  modern  standards,  The  Spy: 
A  Tale  of  the  Neutral  Ground  is  still  a 
satisfactory  historical  novel.  As  Cooper 
remarked  in  the  introduction  to  his  novel, 
however,  his  purpose  in  The  Spy  is 
frankly  patriotic.  If  the  reader  bears  this 
fact  in  mind,  he  can  understand  that 
Peyton  Dunwoodie  is  supposed  to  repre 
sent  the  ideal  American  soldier  and 
officer;  Frances  Wharton,  the  ideal  of 
American  womanhood;  and  Washington, 
of  course,  the  ideal  father  of  his  country, 
combining  Roman  strength  and  vigor 
with  American  humanity  and  humility. 
This  understanding  will  help  the  reader 
to  appreciate  Cooper's  point  of  view.  The 
great  historical  novelist  of  the  early  nine 
teenth  century  was  an  intensely  nation 
alistic  individual  who,  conscious  of  the 

;t  achievements  and  potentialities  of 
country,  looked  forward  eagerly  to 
the  development  of  a  great  nation. 

The  Story: 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  Harvey  Birch,  a  peddler,  became 
a  spy  against  the  British.  Because  of  the 
extremely  secret  nature  of  Birch's  work, 
few  Americans  were  aware  of  his  true 
mission.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  sus 
pected  that  he  was  a  British  spy,  and  they 
denounced  him  as  a  bold  and  shameless 
Tory. 

At  the  time,  Westchester  County  in 
New  York  was  considered  common 
ground  for  both  the  rebels  and  the  Loyal 
ists,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  county 
affected  a  neutrality  they  did  not  feel. 
This  was  the  case  of  Mr.  Wharton,  a 
British  sympathizer,  who  at  the  outbreak 
of  hostilities  had  retired  to  his  country 
estate  with  his  two  daughters,  Sarah  and 
Frances,  and  their  aunt,  Miss  Jeanette 
Peyton* 

One  evening  as  a  storm  was  approach 
ing  a  horseman  rode  up  to  the  Whanon 


house,  The  Locusts.  He  was  a  tall  man 
of  powerful  frame,  military  in  his  bearing 
but  plain  and  sober  in  his  dress.  After 
being  let  into  the  house  by  the  Whartons* 
Negro  servant,  Caesar  Thompson,  the 
traveler  introduced  himself  as  Mr.  Harper 
and  asked  for  shelter  from  the  storm.  Mr. 
Wharton  courteously  granted  the  travel 
er's  request,  and  the  two  men  were  soon 
engaged  in  conversation  concerning  the 
progress  of  the  war.  Mr.  Wharton  ex 
pressed  his  views  cautiously  in  order  to 
determine  Mr.  Harper's  sentiments,  but 
the  stranger  remained  tight-lipped  and 
uncommunicative  in  his  replies. 

The  conversation  between  the  two 
men  was  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of 
Henry  Wharton,  Mr.  Wharton's  son  and 
a  captain  in  the  British  army.  The  young 
man  wore  a  disguise  because  he  had  been 
compelled  to  cross  the  American  lines  in 
order  to  visit  his  home.  He  was  discon 
certed  when  Mr.  Harper  recognized  him, 
despite  the  disguise. 

Later  Harvey  Birch,  the  peddler  be 
lieved  by  all  in  the  neighborhood  to  be  a 
royalist  spy,  came  to  the  Wharton  home, 
bringing  with  him  laces  for  the  ladies, 
tobacco  for  Mr.  Wharton,  and  news  of 
the  war  —  news  which  included  a  report 
of  the  hanging  of  Major  Andre*.  During 
Birch's  visit,  Caesar,  the  colored  servant, 
remarked  to  his  master  that  he  had  heard 
voices  in  Mr.  Harper's  room.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  reason  why  the  traveler 
and  the  peddler  should  have  matters  to 
talk  over  in  private. 

With  the  return  of  fair  weather,  Mr. 
Harper  said  goodbye  to  his  host.  Before 
he  departed  he  promised  to  help  Henry 
Wharton,  if  the  latter  ever  needed  help, 
in  return  for  Mr.  Wharton's  hospitality. 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Harper  left,  the  Whar 
ton  home  was  surrounded  by  a  troop  of 
Virginia  cavalry  looking  for  a  man  an 
swering  Mr.  Harper's  description.  When 


922 


the  American  soldiers  entered  Mr.  Whar- 
ton's  house,  they  discovered  Henry, 
whose  disguise  was  so  hastily  assumed 
that  Captain  Lawton,  in  command  of  the 
troop,  was  able  to  discover  the  deception. 
The  captain  was  certain  that  Henry  was 
a  spy  because  he  knew  that  Birch,  whom 
he  believed  a  British  spy,  had  recently 
been  visiting  the  Whartons. 

Not  certain  what  course  he  should  fol 
low  with  Henry,  Captain  Lawton  con 
sulted  his  superior,  Major  Peyton  Dun- 
woodie,  who  was  interested  not  only  in 
Henry  Wharton  but  also  in  Henry's  sis 
ter,  Frances.  She  pleaded  with  her  lover 
for  Henry's  release,  but  when  Henry  was 
found  to  have  a  pass  signed  by  General 
Washington,  Major  Dunwoodie  thought 
that  the  case  warranted  Henry's  arrest. 

Further  investigation  by  Major  Dun 
woodie  into  the  matter  was  halted  by  a 
report  that  British  troops  were  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  major  rushed  to  his 
command,  leaving  Henry  guarded  by  two 
soldiers. 

In  the  confusion  Henry  escaped.  He 
reported  to  his  superior,  Colonel  Well- 
mere,  leader  of  the  advancing  British 
troops,  who  professed  to  be  in  love  with 
Sarah  Wharton.  When  Henry  advised 
the  colonel  to  be  wary  of  Major  Dun 
woodie  and  his  Americans,  Wellmere 
scorned  the  advice  and  determined  to 
force  a  fight  with  the  rebels.  In  the  brief 
engagement  which  followed  the  British 
were  routed  and  Captain  Lawton  suc 
ceeded  in  recapturing  Henry,  who  was 
returned  under  guard  to  his  father's 
home.  Colonel  Wellmere,  also  taken  pris 
oner,  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  action. 
Chagrined  by  his  defeat  and  capture,  he 
gave  the  impression  that  his  injuries  were 
mortal,  much  to  the  distress  of  Sarah 
Wharton. 

Birch  was  watching  Major  Dun- 
woodie's  success  from  a  distant  hill  when 
he  was  sighted  by  Captain  Lawton,  who 
determined  to  capture  the  spying  peddler 
dead  or  alive.  In  the  pursuit,  Captain 
Lawton  overtook  Birch,  but  he  fell  from 
his  horse  and  found  himself  at  the  ped 


dler's  mercy.  Birch,  however,  spared  Cap 
tain  Lawton's  life,  and  for  that  act  oi 
magnanimity  the  captain  would  not  allow 
his  men  to  overtake  the  peddler. 

A  price  was  put  on  Birch's  head.  One 
night  his  house  was  ransacked  and  burned 
by  a  band  of  lawless  men  called  Skinners, 
who  surprised  the  peddler  and  his  dying 
father.  They  then  delivered  Birch  to 
Captain  Lawton  and  claimed  their  re 
ward.  Major  Dunwoodie,  who  was  also 
present  when  the  peddler  was  brought  in, 
accused  him  of  treason.  Although  Birch 
possessed  a  paper  which  would  have 
cleared  him  of  the  charge,  he  swallowed 
it  rather  than  betray  the  confidence  of 
his  secret  employer.  Captain  Lawton  paid 
the  Skinners  in  gold  for  their  captive,  but 
he  also  ordered  them  whipped  for  burn 
ing,  robbing,  and  murdering. 

Birch  was  put  in  jail,  but  that  night  he 
escaped  in  the  guise  of  a  washerwoman 
who  visited  his  cell.  The  next  morning, 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  American  camp,  he 
confronted  Major  Dunwoodie  again, 
With  a  gun  pointed  at  the  officer,  to 
prevent  recapture,  the  peddler  warned 
him  to  be  on  guard  against  danger 
to  the  Whartons.  Major  Dunwoodie  was 
alarmed  by  the  thought  of  danger  threat 
ening  Frances  Wharton.  He  was  also 
much  disturbed  because  he  felt  that  he 
could  never  win  Frances  if  her  brother 
were  executed  as  a  spy.  Major  Dun- 
woodie's  troubles  were  magnified  when, 
after  assuring  Frances  that  he  would  try 
to  get  General  Washington's  help  for  her 
brother,  she  turned  from  him  coldly  be 
cause  she  believed  that  he  was  in  love 
with  Isabella  Singleton,  the  sister  of  an 
American  officer  who  was  recuperating  at 
The  Locusts  from  injuries  sustained  in 
the  battle. 

Meanwhile  Sarah  Wharton  had  ac 
cepted  Colonel  Wellmere's  proposal  of 
marriage,  and  a  date  for  the  wedding  had 
been  set,  the  night  when  there  was  to 
be  an  exchange  of  prisoners  at  the  WTiar- 
ton  house.  Major  Dunwoodie  and  Cap 
tain  Lawton  were  among  the  guests  dur 
ing  the  truce  arranged  for  the  exchange 


923 


and  the  wedding.  The  ceremony  was  sud 
denly  interrupted,  however,  by  the  ap 
pearance  of  Birch,  who  told  the  colonel 
that  the  Englishman's  wife  had  crossed 
the  ocean  to  meet  him.  Sarah  fainted. 
Captain  Lawton  challenged  Colonel 
Wellrnere  to  a  duel.  The  Englishman 
missed  his  mark,  but  Captain  Lawton 
was  prevented  from  killing  his  adversary 
when  the  Skinners  leaped  upon  him  and 
overpowered  him.  Colonel  Wellrnere 
fled  the  scene,  and  Captain  Lawton  was 
able  to  escape  his  enemies  only  after  a 
fierce  struggle. 

The  Skinners  then  proceeded  to  burn 
Mr.  Wharton's  house.  Captain  Lawton 
returned  to  the  scene  with  troops  he  had 
met  on  the  road,  and  after  routing  the 
Skinners  he  rescued  Frances  from  the 
blazing  house.  Birch  rescued  Sarah  and 
again  Captain  Lawton  permitted  the  ped 
dler  to  escape.  A  bullet  fired  at  Captain 
Lawton  from  the  darkness,  apparently  by 
the  Skinners,  struck  Isabella  Singleton 
and  wounded  her  mortally.  On  her  death 
bed  she  confessed  to  Frances  her  love  for 
Major  Dunwoodie  but  said  that  he 
thought  of  her  only  as  a  friend. 

At  his  trial  Henry  Wharton  admitted 
that  he  had  used  a  disguise  in  order  to 
pass  through  the  American  lines,  but  he 
insisted  that  his  reason  for  doing  so  had 
been  for  the  one  purpose  of  visiting  his 
family,  especially  his  aged  father.  Major 
Dunwoodie  himself  vouched  for  Henry's 
character.  Frances,  however,  ruined  her 
brother's  chances  for  acquittal  when  she 
confessed  that  Henry  had  had  dealings 
with  Birch,  who,  she  told  the  court,  had 
given  her  brother  his  disguise.  Henry's 
fate  seemed  certain.  He  was  found  guilty 
and  sentenced  to  be  hanged  on  the  fol 
lowing  day. 

Major  Dunwoodie  declared  that  he 
would  go  to  General  Washington  to  make 
an  appeal  for  the  life  of  his  friend.  His 
attempt  was  unsuccessful,  however,  for 
the  commander-in-chief  was  not  at  his 
headquarters. 

Soon  afterward  a  tall,  gaunt  man  in 
clerical  dress  appeared  and  announced 


himself  as  a  minister  from  a  nearby  vil 
lage,  come  to  offer  spiritual  comfort  to 
the  condemned  man.  Admitted  to 
Henry's  cell,  he  revealed  himself  as  Har 
vey  Birch.  He  helped  Henry  to  disguise 
himself  as  Caesar  Thompson,  the  faithful 
black  servant  of  the  Whartons,  and  led 
the  young  officer  past  the  unsuspecting 
sentinel  with  the  remark  that  the  black 
servant  was  being  sent  on  an  errand  for 
his  master. 

Frances,  hearing  of  the  escape,  thought 
that  her  brother  and  the  peddler  would 
probably  hide  in  a  cabin  not  far  away. 
Stealing  away  from  the  American  lines, 
she  set  out  to  join  them.  But  to  her 
surprise,  she  found  the  cabin  occupied 
by  Mr.  Harper,  who  was  poring  over  an 
outspread  map.  Recalling  his  promise  to 
help  her  brother,  she  told  him  the  whole 
story.  He  reassured  her  that  all  would 
be  well  and  told  her  to  return  to  head 
quarters  to  await  Major  Dunwoodie. 

Orders  from  General  Washington  ar 
rived  in  time  to  relieve  Major  Dun 
woodie  of  the  necessity  of  tracking  down 
Henry,  who  was  thus  allowed  to  escape. 
Several  days  later  Birch  saw  him  safely 
aboard  a  British  man-of-war  in  New  York 
harbor. 

Frances  and  Major  Dunwoodie  decided 
to  be  married  immediately.  Within  a 
short  time,  however,  their  bliss  was  tem 
pered  by  the  news  that  Captain  Lawton 
had  fallen  in  battle  with  the  British. 

Some  time  later  Birch  appeared  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  American  army  in 
a  New  Jersey  town.  There  he  had  a  long 
interview  with  a  grave  and  noble  man 
whom  the  Whartons  would  have  recog 
nized  as  Mr.  Harper.  The  peddler  called 
him  General  Washington.  During  their 
talk  the  general  attempted  to  reward  his 
faithful  spy  by  giving  him  money.  The 
peddler  refused  to  accept  payment  for 
his  services  to  his  country,  but  he  did 
welcome  a  letter  of  approbation  from  his 
commander-in-chief.  It  was  agreed  that 
the  peddler's  real  mission  as  an  American 
spy  should  remain  a  secret  which  only 
they  would  share. 


924 


Thirty-two  years  later,  in  the  War  of 
1812,  a  gaunt  old  peddler  appeared  on 
the  Canadian  border  and  carried  word 
of  British  troop  movements  to  the  Ameri 
can  lines.  There  he  met  Captain  Whar- 
ton  Dunwoodie,  the  son  of  Major  Peyton 
Dunwoodie  and  his  wife  Frances.  To 
him  the  peddler  acknowledged  his  earlier 
acquaintanceship  with  the  young  officer's 
parents. 


A  few  days  later,  during  a  battle,  the 
old  peddler  threw  away  his  pack  and  with 
a  musket  seized  from  a  fallen  soldier 
rushed  into  the  fight.  After  the  battle 
Captain  Dunwoodie  found  the  old  man's 
body  and  on  his  person  a  letter,  signed 
by  George  Washington,  which  revealed 
Harvey  Birch,  not  as  a  despicable  spy  but 
as  a  loyal,  heroic,  and  long-suffering 
patriot. 


STATE  FAIR 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Phil  Stong  (1899-1957) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Early  1930's 

Locale:   Iowa 

First  published:    1932 

Principal  characters: 

ABEL  FRAKE,  a  prosperous  fanner 

MELISSA  FRAKE,  his  wife 

WAYNE,  his  son 

MARGY,  his  daughter 

ELEANOR,  Wayne's  friend 

HARRY  WARE,  Margy's  friend 

EMILY,  a  girl  Wayne  met  at  the  fair 

PAT  GILBERT,  a  newspaperman 

THE  STOREKEEPER,  a  local  philosopher 

BLUE  BOY,  a  prize  boar 

Critique: 

In  State  Fair  Phil  Stong  has  accurately 
and  sympathetically  shown  us  the  re 
actions  of  a  typical  Midwestern  family  to 
that  most  important  event  of  the  year, 
the  state  fair.  The  members  of  the  Frake 
family  might  be  any  of  our  neighbors, 
and  the  storekeeper  the  cracker-barrel 
sage  at  whom  all  small  towns  smile  in 
dulgently.  State  Fair  has  no  lesson  to 
teach  or  moral  to  point  up.  It  is  interest 
ing  in  characterization  and  entertaining 
in  story  and  therefore  achieves  the  pur 
pose  for  which  it  was  written. 


The  Story: 

Abel  Frake  knew  that  this  year  Blue 
Boy  would  be  judged  the  finest  boar  at 
the  state  fair.  As  he  discussed  his  hog 
with  the  men  loafing  in  the  store  one 


Saturday  night,  he  found  the  store 
keeper  as  pessimistic  as  usual. 

The  storekeeper  believed  that  some 
thing  intangible  was  always  working  to 
see  that  things  did  not  go  too  well  for 
most  people.  What  it  was  he  could  not 
exactly  say,  but  he  was  willing  to  bet 
Abel  five  dollars  that  it  would  either 
keep  him  from  winning  the  blue  ribbon 
or  let  him  win  because  some  other  catas 
trophe  would  occur  later.  Abel,  ac 
customed  to  the  storekeeper's  gloom,  went 
home  with  his  confidence  in  Blue  Boy 
unshaken. 

As  Abel  and  his  wife  Melissa  made 
plans  for  the  next  day's  start  for  the 
fair,  their  son  and  daughter  were  not  so 
carefree.  Wayne  was  with  Eleanor,  home 
from  her  first  year  in  college.  But  she 


STATE  FAIR  by  Phil  Stong.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  his  agent  Harold  Matson.    Copyright,   1932, 
by  Phil  Stong 


925 


was  changed.  Before  she  went  away  she 
had  always  been  his  girl;  now  she  did 
not  want  to  he  committed  to  any  promises 
for  the  future.  Wayne  drove  home  in 
gloomy  silence.  When  he  pulled  into 
die  farmyard,  he  found  his  sister  Margy 
and  Harry  Ware  sitting  in  his  con 
vertible.  Harry  was  begging  Margy  to 
marry  him  as  soon  as  she  came  home 
from  the  fair.  But  Margy,  like  Eleanor, 
did  not  know  whether  it  was  Harry  she 
wanted. 

Sunday  was  spent  in  making  last- 
minute  preparations  for  their  departure. 
Melissa  checked  the  jars  of  pickles  she 
intended  to  exhibit  at  the  fair.  Abel  could 
do  nothing  except  groom  Blue  Boy. 

That  evening  they  started  out  in  the 
farm  truck.  The  pickles  and  Blue  Boy 
were  given  most  consideration  in  the 
packing,  for  they  were  to  win  honors 
for  the  family.  Abel  drove  all  night  and 
reached  the  fairgrounds  in  Des  Moines 
on  Monday  morning.  Blue  Boy  was 
taken  at  once  to  the  stock  pavilion,  and 
the  family  set  up  their  tent  in  an  area 
reserved  for  fair  visitors. 

As  soon  as  Wayne  could  get  away,  he 
went  to  the  fairgrounds  to  look  tor  a 
barker  who  had  cheated  him  the  year  be 
fore.  During  the  past  year  Wayne  had 
practiced  throwing  hoops,  and  he  almost 
cleaned  out  the  barker  before  he  stopped 
throwing.  When  the  barker  threatened 
to  call  the  police,  a  girl  who  had  been 
watching  called  his  bluff  and  walked 
away  with  Wayne.  Her  name  was  Emily; 
she  was  the  daughter  of  a  stock-show 
manager.  She  and  Wayne  visited  other 
booths  together.  In  the  afternoon  they 
went  to  the  horse  races  and  Emily  won 
some  money  for  them  to  spend. 

While  Wayne  was  busy  with  Emily, 
Margy  strolled  around  the  fairgrounds 
and  looked  at  the  exhibits.  That  night 
she  and  Wayne  planned  to  visit  the  mid 
way,  but  they  became  separated  and 
Margy  went  on  alone.  On  the  roller 
coaster  she  met  Pat  Gilbert,  a  reporter 
for  a  Des  Moines  paper.  Margy  found 
that  she  could  talk  easily  with  Pat. 


On  Wednesday  Melissa's  pickles  won 
three  blue  ribbons.  A  photographer  who 
was  with  Pat  took  pictures  of  Melissa 
and  Margy.  Neither  Wayne  nor  Margy 
had  told  their  family  about  their  new 
friends,  and  Margy  had  to  pretend  that 
she  did  not  see  Pat  at  the  exhibit.  As 
soon  as  she  could  get  away,  she  and 
Pat  went  again  to  the  roller  coaster.  As 
they  walked  back  to  the  tent  grounds  that 
night,  they  stopped  in  a  grassy  spot  that 
was  hidden  from  the  walks  and  paths. 
Pat  took  Margy  in  his  arms  and  kissed 
her,  and  she  gave  herself  to  him  willingly. 

On  Thursday  the  most  important  event 
was  the  judging  of  the  hogs.  Although 
Abel  was  nervous  and  at  times  had  doubts 
of  his  victory,  he  was  not  really  much 
surprised  when  Blue  Boy  had  the  blue 
ribbon  pinned  on  his  stall.  The  judges 
declared  him  the  finest  boar  they  had 
ever  seen,  and  from  then  on  the  fair 
was  over  for  Abel.  In  fact,  the  judging 
over,  he  and  Melissa  had  little  interest 
in  the  remainder  of  die  week. 

That  evening  Wayne  and  Emily  went 
to  a  stage  show  in  the  city,  and  Wayne 
thought  it  the  most  wonderful  show  he 
had  ever  seen.  Afterward  Emily  took 
Wayne  to  her  hotel  room  and  gave  him 
a  drink  of  whiskey.  He  had  never  tasted 
liquor  before;  it  gave  him  a  wonderful, 
warm  feeling  inside.  Emily  went  into 
another  room  to  change  from  her  eve 
ning  gown.  Wayne  was  not  surprised 
when  she  returned  wearing  only  a  thin 
kimona.  He  had  known  what  to  expect 
when  he  had  gone  to  the  hotel  with  her. 

On  Friday  evening  Pat  asked  Margy  to 
marry  him  right  away.  He  loved  her  and 
wanted  to  keep  her  with  him.  But 
she  knew  that  a  marriage  between  them 
would  never  work  out.  Pat  was  resdess 
and  wanted  to  see  the  world.  He  thought 
now  that  he  would  gladly  setde  down  in 
Des  Moines  for  the  rest  of  his  life  if  he 
could  have  Margy  with  him,  but  she 
knew  that  he  would  grow  resdess  again 
and  be  unhappy  with  her.  When  she 
told  him  goodbye,  she  knew  she  would 
not  see  him  again. 


926 


That  same  night  Wayne  told  Emily 
that  he  loved  her  and  asked  her  to  marry 
him  and  go  back  to  the  farm  with  him. 
Emily  also  refused.  She,  like  Pat,  could 
never  stand  quiet  life  on  the  farm.  She 
was  not  a  wild  girl,  but  she  still  wanted 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  youth. 

The  next  morning  the  family  packed 
their  truck  and  went  back  home.  On 
Sunday  Eleanor  and  Harry  came  to 


dinner  as  though  nothing  had  happened 
that  made  this  Sunday  different  from  any 
other.  The  storekeeper  drove  out  and 
paid  his  five  dollars  to  Abel,  conceding 
that  nothing  would  happen  in  the  next 
two  months  to  make  him  win  the  bet. 
But  as  he  looked  at  Wayne  and  Margy, 
he  smiled,  as  if  he  saw  that  something 
had  already  happened. 


THE  STORY  OF  A  BAD  BOY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  (1836-1907) 

Type  of  'plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  New  Hampshire 

First  published:  1869 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  BAILEY  ALDRICH,  the  narrator 

CAPTAIN  NUTTER,  his  grandfather 

Miss  ABIGAIL,  the  captain's  sister 

KITTY  COLLINS,  the  Nutter  maid 

BILL  CONWAY,  and 

SETH  RODCERS,  Tom's  enemies 

SAILOR  BEN,  Tom's  friend;  Kitty's  missing  Husband 

PHIL  ADAMS, 

PEPPER  WHITCOMB,  and 

BINNY  WALLACE,  Tom's  friends 


Critique: 

The  Story  of  a  Bad  Boy  is  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  and  amusing  accounts 
of  the  life  of  an  American  boy  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Acknowledged  by  the  author  to  be  largely 
autobiographical,  it  is  an  adult  recapture 
of  childhood  experience.  The  fictional 
Rivermouth  is  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp 
shire,  the  author's  childhood  home. 

The  Story: 

Tom,  the  son  of  a  banker,  was  born  at 
Rivermouth  in  New  England.  When  he 
was  eighteen  months  old,  however,  his 
family  moved  to  New  Orleans,  and  there 
he  lived  until  he  was  ten,  growing  up  in 
almost  complete  ignorance  of  everything 
that  was  not  Southern.  In  his  tenth  year, 
he  was  sent  North  to  live  with  his  Grand 
father  Nutter.  Tom  soon  learned  to  ad 


mire  his  hale,  cheery  grandfather  and  to 
respect  his  great-aunt,  Miss  Abigail.  The 
fourth  member  of  the  household  was  Kitty 
Collins,  the  maid,  an  Irish  girl  happily 
married  to  a  sailor  until  he  sailed  away 
one  day  and  failed  to  return. 

Tom's  grandfather  sent  him  to  school 
immediately  —  to  keep  him  out  of  mis 
chief.  At  the  Temple  Grammar  School 
he  made  friends  with  many  boys  and  in 
curred  the  enmity  of  two,  Bill  Conway 
and  Seth  Rodgers.  Tom's  friends  de 
cided  to  put  on  a  play,  William  Tellf  in 
Tom's  barn.  Pepper  Whitcomb,  as  Wai' 
ter  Tell,  balanced  an  apple  on  his  head, 
while  Tom  played  the  part  of  William, 
Tom's  arrow  missed  the  apple  and  struck 
Pepper  in  the  mouth.  The  theatricals 
ceased  abruptly. 

Bill   Conway 's   tyranny   finally   drove 

THE  STORY   OF   A   BAD    BOY   by  Thomas    Bailey   Aldrich.     By   permission    of    the   publishers,    Houghtoa 
Mifflin  Co.    Copyright,  1869,  1897,  by  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  1911,  by  Mary  Elizabeth  Aldrich. 


927 


Tom  to  make  preparations  to  fight  Kis 
tormentor,  and  Phil  Adams  tutored  Tom 
in  the  manly  art  of  self-defense.  The 
fight  did  not  occur,  however,  until  after 
Tom  had  experienced  several  more  ad 
ventures. 

As  the  Fourth  of  July  approached,  the 
boys  in  the  Temple  Grammar  School 
could  not  concentrate  on  their  studies. 
One  of  the  boys  placed  a  torpedo  under 
the  cloth  on  the  desk,  at  the  exact  spot 
where  Mr.  Grimshaw  usually  struck  with 
his  heavy  ruler.  The  resultant  explosion 
created  quite  a  commotion  and  nearly 
caused  the  strangulation  of  Charley  Mar- 
den,  who  was  at  the  water  pail  getting  a 
drink. 

On  the  night  before  the  Fourth,  Tom 
slipped  out  of  bed  and  used  Kitty's 
clothesline  to  escape  from  his  bedroom. 
He  did  not  tie  knots  in  the  rope  and,  as 
a  result,  burned  his  hands  in  his  descent. 
He  went  to  the  square,  where  a  big  bon 
fire  was  to  be  lit.  When  the  fire  burned 
down  after  a  while,  Tom  and  his  friends 
took  an  old  stagecoach  from  Ezra  Win- 
gate's  bam  and  used  the  vehicle  as  fuel. 
The  boys  were  caught  and  put  in  jail, 
but  they  escaped.  The  next  day  Ezra 
collected  three  dollars  from  the  family  of 
each  boy  who  had  aided  in  the  theft.  Ezra 
made  a  good  profit,  for  he  had  previously 
offered  the  coach  to  anyone  who  would 
pay  seventy-five  cents  for  it.  During  the 
celebration  of  the  Fourth,  Tom  acciden 
tally  stepped  on  a  mine  and  was  blown 
into  the  air  and  knocked  unconscious. 
As  a  result,  he  was  a  hero  among  his 
friends  for  about  two  weeks. 

Shortly  after  this  experience,  Tom 
was  initiated  into  the  mysterious  order  of 
the  Centipedes,  an  organization  notorious 
for  the  pranks  of  its  members.  One  of 
these  pranks  was  the  stealing  of  the  drug 
gist's  gilt  mortar  and  pestle,  which  the 
Centipedes  placed  over  the  Widow  Con- 
way's  front  door.  On  the  drug  store 
window  shutters  they  tacked  a  sign  ad 
vertising  for  a  seamstress.  The  town 
laughed,  because  everyone  except  Mr. 
Meeks  himself  knew  that  Widow  Con- 


way  had  set  her  cap  for  the  mild-man 
nered  druggist. 

One  day  after  school,  Tom  found  Bill 
Conway  tormenting  Binny  Wallace. 
Tom  lowered  his  head  and  swung  right 
and  left  as  he  prepared  to  give  Conway 
a  thrashing.  Tom  pummeled  the  school 
pump  for  twenty  seconds  before  he  dis 
covered  that  Conway  had  already  retired. 

Miss  Abigail  could  not  stand  the  odor 
of  tobacco.  When  she  took  over  as  house 
keeper  for  her  brother,  she  restricted  his 
smoking  to  the  barn.  One  morning  dur 
ing  a  very  cold  winter  Grandfather  Nut 
ter  descended  the  stepi  with  a  clay  pipe 
in  his  mouth.  Abigail  objected  strenu 
ously  but  the  captain  merely  removed  the 
pipe  from  his  lips  and  blew  a  cloud  into 
the  hall,  where  the  temperature  was  two 
degrees  below  zero.  Miss  Abigail  fainted 
dead  away.  When  she  was  revived, 
Grandfather  Nutter  told  her  that  there 
had  been  no  tobacco  in  the  pipe  and  that 
she  had  seen  only  his  congealed  breath 
in  the  frosty  hallway. 

At  Slatter's  Hill,  the  North-End  boys 
and  the  South-End  boys  met  for  a  snow 
ball  fight  at  specified  times  during  the 
week.  But  the  fights  became  too  dan 
gerous  because  frozen  snowballs  were 
used,  and  parents  and  police  put  an  end 
to  the  snow  battles. 

One  summer  Tom  bought  a  boat  called 
the  Dolphin,  and  he  and  three  of  his 
friends  planned  a  day's  trip  to  Sandpeep 
Island.  When  the  boys  landed  on  the 
island,  they  found  that  they  had  left  the 
lemons  in  the  boat.  Binny  Wallace  vol 
unteered  to  get  them.  The  boat,  after 
he  stepped  into  it,  broke  loose  from  its 
mooring-place  and  floated  away.  Binny 
drifted  farther  and  farther  out  to  sea.  A 
rising  squall  developed  into  a  full-sized 
storm,  and  the  boys  waited  through  it, 
hoping  that  Binny  would  be  rescued. 
However,  such  was  not  to  be.  He  was 
drowned. 

One  day  Tom  saw  Sailor  Ben,  whom 
he  had  met  during  his  voyage  north  from 
New  Orleans.  The  old  sailor  failed  tc 
recognize  Tom  because  he  had  grown  so 


928 


tall.  When  Tom  took  Sailor  Ben  home 
with  him,  Kitty  at  once  recognized  the 
sailor  as  her  long-lost  husband  and  the 
two  were  reunited.  Grandfather  Nutter 
broke  out  a  fresh  decanter  of  Madeira 
and  they  all  celebrated  the  happy  occa 
sion.  Deciding  to  quit  the  sea,  Sailor 
Ben  bought  a  small  cottage  near  the 
wharf.  Kitty  remained  as  the  Nutter 
maid,  but  spent  her  free  time  with  her 
husband. 

Silas  Trefethen  bought  all  the  cannon 
available  in  Rivermouth  because  he 
thought  that  war  with  England  was  im 
minent.  When  he  died,  still  thinking  so, 
the  cannon  rusted  and  became  unfit  for 
any  use  except  as  monuments.  Tom  and 
his  gang  decided  to  have  some  fun  with 
the  cannon  after  they  found  several  pieces 
near  the  wharf  and  cleaned  them.  Every 
thing  went  well  with  their  plan  to  set 
them  off,  except  that  Tom  and  his  con 
spirators  could  not  make  the  proper  fuse. 
Sailor  Ben,  learning  of  their  plan,  told 
them  how  to  prepare  the  fuse.  When 
everything  was  in  readiness,  the  Centi 
pedes  drew  lots  to  determine  who  would 


fire  the  cannon.  The  chance  fell  to  Tom. 
That  night  he  slipped  out  of  bed,  lit  the 
fuse,  and  returned  to  his  room  before  the 
first  cannon  went  off.  The  operation  suc 
ceeded  as  planned.  Everyone  was  aroused 
from  bed  by  the  explosions.  The  only 
casualty  was  Sailor  Ben's  chimney.  No 
one  was  ever  able  to  solve  the  mystery 
of  the  explosions. 

With  Primrose  Hall,  a  girls'  school, 
close  by,  it  was  not  surprising  that  Torn 
should  fall  in  love,  but  he  was  unsuccess 
ful  with  the  girls  attending  the  seminary. 
Tom  finally  fell  in  love  with  Nelly  Glent- 
worth,  who  came  to  visit  his  grandfather, 
but  she  scorned  him,  and  so  for  some 
time  Tom  rather  enjoyed  the  pangs  of 
unrequited  love. 

In  New  Orleans  the  yellow  fever  broke 
out,  causing  the  death  of  Tom's  father. 
His  mother  came  north  and  settled  in 
New  York,  where  Tom  was  offered  a 
position  with  an  uncle  in  his  counting- 
house.  Ready  at  last  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world,  Tom  left  Rivermouth 
regretfully.  He  felt  that  the  happiest 
days  of  his  life  were  over. 


THE  STORY  OF  A  COUNTRY  TOWN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Edgar  Watson  Howe  (1853-1937) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  Middle  West 

First  published:  1883 

Principal  characters: 

NED  WESTLOCK,  a  boy  on  the  Middle  Border 

REV.  JOHN  WESTLOCK,  his  father 

JOE  ERRING,  his  uncle 

MATEEL  SHEPHEKD,  Joe  Erring's  sweetheart 

CLTNTON  BRAGG,  Joe  Erring's  rival  for  Mateel 

Critique: 

This  novel  is  the  earliest  of  a  numher 
of  books  that  sounded  a  revolt  against  the 
popular  conception  that  the  American 
small  town  was  an  idyllic  place  in  which 
to  live.  In  it  Howe  drew  a  deadly  pic 
ture  of  village  life  —  the  shallowness  of 
thought,  the  materialism,  the  ever-present 
sense  of  failure  and  the  underlying 
spirit  of  petty  and  mischievous  enmity. 


Through  all  of  the  book  rings  a  note  of 
sincerity  which  makes  Howe's  iconoclas 
tic  efforts  valid,  giving  his  novel  depth 
and  lasting  value  as  a  social  document. 

The  Story: 

The  Westlocks  had  gone  west  to  grow 
up  with  the  country.  They  lived  first 
on  a  farm  near  a  church  where  the  father 


929 


acted  as  the  volunteer  preacher.  It  was 
a  life  of  toil  and  privation  on  the  bleak 
prairie.  Days  began  early  and  ended  soon 
after  supper,  when  fatigue  drove  the 
Westlocks  to  bed.  There  were  four  of 
them,  John  Westlock  and  his  wife,  their 
son  Ned,  and  Mrs.  Westlock's  younger 
brother,  Joe  Erring.  The  only  real  amuse 
ment  Ned  had  was  visiting  a  nearby 
miller  with  his  young  uncle.  The  miller, 
Mr.  Barker,  had  been  a  sailor  in  early 
life  and  he  regaled  the  boys  with  stories 
of  his  travels. 

When  Ned  was  eleven  years  old  a 
minister  was  sent  from  the  East  to  take 
charge  of  the  country  church  where  Mr. 
Westlock  had  been  acting  as  preacher. 
Erring   immediately    fell   in   love   with 
Mateel  Shepherd,  the  daughter  of  the 
new  preacher,  but  he  found  no  favor  in 
her  eyes  because  he  was  uneducated  and 
crude.   With  the  miller's  help  he  began 
to  improve  himself.   The  miller  became 
so  fond  of  Erring  that  he  took  him  on  as 
an  apprentice  who  would  some  day  take 
over  the  mill.   This  was  a  great  oppor 
tunity   for   the   seventeen-year-old   boy. 
The  only  flaw  in  his  happiness  then  was 
that  Mateel  Shepherd  was  being  courted 
by  a  young  lawyer  named  Clinton  Bragg. 
Shortly    after    Erring    left   the    farm, 
Mr.  Westlock  sold  his  farm  and  bought 
the  almost  defunct  paper  in  the  town  of 
Twin   Mounds.    When   the   Wesdocks 
moved  into  town,  Ned  went  to  the  office 
every  day  to  learn  the  printing  trade  and 
to  help  his  father  in  the  newspaper  office. 
Twin  Mounds  was  an  unprepossessing 
village  with  a  post-office,  several  stores,  a 
jail,  and  about  six  hundred  people.  The 
only    pleasures    in    which    the    people 
seemed  to  indulge,  so  far  as  Ned  could 
see,  were  drinking,  gossiping,  and  fight 
ing.   Although  the  Westlocks  lived  in  a 
large  stone  house,  the  father  had  Ned 
stay  at  the  newspaper  office  in  the  com 
pany  of  one  of  the  printers,  under  whom 
he  was  learning  the  trade. 

Erring,  apprenticed  to  the  miller,  made 
such  excellent  progress  that  after  a  year 
or  so  the  community  subscribed  to  a  fund 


so  that  he  could  build  a  mill  of  his  own, 
the  growing  population  justifying  a  sec 
ond  mill  in  the  district.  He  was  also 
successful  in  his  suit  with  Mateel  Shep 
herd,  who  had  promised  to  marry  him 
when  his  mill  was  completed  and  in  op 
eration. 

One  day  the  quiet  life  of  the  Westlock 
family  was  rudely  shattered.  Mr.  West- 
lock  left  the  deeds  to  all  his  property  in 
the  custody  of  Ned  and  his  mother  and 
ran  away  with  another  woman.  Ned  took 
over  the  newspaper,  which  became  more 
profitable  under  his  management  than  it 
had  been  under  his  father,  for  the  people 
in  the  community  had  not  liked  Mr. 
Westlock.  He  had  been  too  solitary  and 
strange  to  suit  their  natures. 

The  family  gradually  began  to  grow 
out  of  the  feeling  of  disgrace  which  had 
fastened  itself  upon  them  when  the  father 
disappeared.  Their  friends  did  what  they 
could  for  them  and  rallied  in  support  of 
Mrs.  Westlock  and  her  son.  At  times  it 
seemed  as  if  the  disappearance  of  Mr. 
Westlock  were  of  more  benefit  than 
harm.  Ned  was  left  with  some  valuable 
property  and  a  chance  to  make  a  name 
for  himself  at  a  very  early  age. 

The  following  Christmas  Eve  Erring 
married  Mateel  Shepherd.  Just  before 
the  marriage  he  and  Ned  had  a  long  talk, 
in  which  he  told  Ned  that  in  some  way 
he  was  not  as  anxious  for  the  marriage 
as  he  had  been  when  he  first  met  Mateel. 
What  Erring  did  not  realize  was  that  he 
had  been  so  zealous  in  getting  an  edu 
cation  that  he  had  not  only  reached 
Mateel's  level  but  he  had  already  passed 
her.  It  was  not  a  happy  wedding.  Only 
a  handful  of  guests  came  to  the  wedding 
supper,  and  those  who  stayed  away  did 
not  bother  to  send  their  regrets.  Th<? 
Shepherds  were  not  popular  in  the  con> 
munity. 

After  the  marriage  of  Mateel  and  Er 
ring,  life  in  the  community  of  Twin 
Mounds  settled  into  a  quiet  routine  for 
everyone.  Ned  was  more  disappointed 
than  ever  in  the  town.  Its  people  seldom 
thought  out  anything  for  themselves,  and 


930 


every  opinion  they  had  was  made  for 
them,  often  by  Ned's  own  editorials. 
Their  shallowness  and  smugness  irked 
him. 

One  cold  winter  night  Erring  appeared 
at  the  door  of  the  Westlock  home.  Nerv 
ous  and  disheveled,  he  had  come  because 
he  felt  the  need  to  talk  to  someone  whom 
he  could  trust.  He  had  found  a  letter 
which  his  wife  had  written  to  his  rival 
before  her  marriage,  a  letter  disclosing 
Mateel's  belief  that  she  could  never  love 
any  man  but  Bragg.  This  idea  rankled  in 
Erring's  mind.  He  had  been  thoughtful 
and  tender  with  his  wife,  but  she  had 
always  been  distant  and  cool  to  him,  in 
keeping  with  the  vow  she  had  made  in 
her  letter  to  Bragg. 

Ned  listened  to  his  uncle's  story  and 
then  took  him  back  to  the  mill  and 
Mateel.  After  Erring  had  confronted  his 
wife  with  what  he  had  discovered,  he  and 
Ned  sat  up  all  night,  unable  to  sleep. 
Clinton  Bragg  disappeared  from  Twin 
Mounds  within  a  few  days,  apparently 
afraid  of  Mateel's  husband. 

That  same  winter  Ned's  father  re 
turned  to  Twin  Mounds  and  accidentally 
met  his  son  on  the  street  at  a  late  hour. 
He  told  Ned  that  he  had  been  faced 
with  misfortune  ever  since  he  had  left 
his  wife  and  son.  The  woman  with 
whom  he  had  run  away  had  not  really 
loved  him  and  had  deserted  him  soon 
after  she  learned  that  he  had  left  his 
money  and  property  in  Ned's  hands.  John 
Westlock  was  a  pathetic  and  broken  fig 
ure,  unwilling  to  face  the  wife  he  had 
deserted.  Ned  gave  him  the  little  money 
he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket,  and 
the  older  man  then  turned  away  into  the 
snowy  night  and  was  soon  lost  to  sight. 
Ned  knew  that  he  had  seen  his  father 
for  the  last  time. 

Meanwhile  matters  between  Erring 
and  his  wife  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse. 
He  had  taken  a  vow  never  to  speak  to  his 
wife  or  touch  her  again,  and  Mateel 
began  to  fade  quickly  under  his  harsh 


treatment.  At  last  she  asked  Erring  to  let 
her  return  to  her  father's  home.  He 
agreed.  A  day  later  Bragg  drove  up  in  a 
buggy  to  take  the  girl  back  to  her  father 
and  mother.  It  was  a  bitter  experience 
for  Erring  to  see  another  man  carry  his 
wife  away  from  his  house.  Ned  was  with 
his  uncle  and  left  only  when  the  older 
man  had  fallen  asleep,  exhausted. 

When  Ned  arrived  home  he  discovered 
that  his  mother  had  died  in  his  absence. 
Always  quiet  and  subdued,  she  had  died 
as  she  had  lived,  asking  nothing  from 
anyone. 

In  the  spring  Ned  braved  a  heavy  rain 
storm  to  visit  his  uncle.  He  arrived  to 
find  the  mill  deserted.  Suddenly  the 
door  opened  and  Erring  walked  in,  carry 
ing  Mateel,  who  was  unconscious.  In  a 
calm  voice  he  told  Ned  how  he  had  lain 
in  wait  along  the  road  until  Bragg  and 
Mateel  had  come  along  in  a  buggy.  He 
had  dragged  his  rival  from  the  vehicle 
and  killed  him  with  his  bare  hands  while 
Mateel  looked  on.  Then  he  had  carried 
Mateel  back  to  the  mill.  Unable  to  face 
the  fact  that  Mateel  had  divorced  him  and 
married  Bragg,  he  felt  it  was  better  to 
murder  and  then  to  die  himself  than  to 
live  with  Mateel  married  to  another. 

Erring  surrendered  quietly  to  the  au 
thorities  and  was  taken  to  jail.  He  was 
never  tried,  however,  because  one  night 
he  took  poison.  The  jailer  discovered  him 
with  a  letter  for  Ned  clutched  in  his 
hand. 

After  Erring's  burial,  Ned  stopped  at 
the  Shepherd  home  to  ask  about  Mateel. 
The  poor  girl  was  demented.  While  he 
was  in  the  house  she  came  into  the  room 
and  mistook  Ned  for  Erring.  She  drew 
a  dagger  from  her  dress  and  told  Ned  she 
had  gone  by  the  mill  that  day  to  have  one 
last  look  at  the  place  where  she  had  been 
happy.  Now  she  intended  to  kill  herself. 
Her  mother  led  her  away.  That  same 
night  she  died,  shortly  after  telling  her 
father  and  mother  she  hoped  to  see  Joe 
Erring  soon. 


931 


THE  STORY  OF  AN  AFRICAN  FARM 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Olive  Schreiner  (1855-1920) 

Type  of  'plot:   Social  criticism 

Time  of  'plot:    1880's 

Locale:    South.  Africa 

First  published:    1883 

Principal  characters: 

TAJST*  SANNIE,  a  Boer  farm  woman 

LYNDALL,  her  stepdaughter 

EM,  LyndalTs  cousin 

WALDO,  son  of  a  German  overseer 

BONAPARTE  BLENKTNS,  a  hypocrite 

GREGORY  ROSE,  a  young  Englishman 

Critique: 

The  Story  of  an  African  Farm  was  an 
early  attempt  to  present  realistically  the 
problem  of  a  woman's  place  in  the  world. 
The  struggle  of  Lyndall  to  find  power 
and  freedom  in  a  world  of  strict  moral 
conventions  and  restricted  social  op 
portunities  foreshadows  woman  suffrage 
struggles  still  to  come.  The  novel  is  also 
noteworthy  for  its  finely  wrought  pas 
sages  concerning  religious  doubts  and 
moral  independence. 


Tke  Story: 

Just  before  the  Englishman  had  died 
he  had  married  Tant'  Sannie,  so  that 
there  would  be  someone  to  take  care  of 
his  farm  and  his  motherless  daughter, 
Lyndall.  Tant*  Sannie,  a  heavy,  slow 
simple  Boer  woman,  took  over  the  farm 
and  the  care  of  Lyndall  and  her  cousin, 
Em.  Most  of  the  hard  work  was  done 
by  an  old  German,  who  lived  with  his 
young  son  in  a  small  house  nearby.  The 
boy,  Waldo,  watched  over  the  sheep  and 
helped  his  father  take  charge  of  the 
black  natives  who  did  the  heaviest  work. 

The  farm  lay  in  a  dreary  flat  plain  of 
red  sand  that  was  sparsely  dotted  with 
pale  bushes.  The  sun  always  glittered 
in  a  blinding  way  on  the  zinc  roofs  of  the 
buildings  and  on  the  stone  walls  of  the 
enclosures  for  the  animals.  Life  was 
monotonous  and  deadly.  Tant'  Sannie 
sat  in  the  farmhouse  drinking  coffee;  the 
children  played  in  a  half-hearted  way; 
young  Waldo  did  his  chores,  and  the 


German  went  about  seeing  that  things 
were  as  they  should  be. 

Tant'  Sannie  had  been  asked  by  the 
Englishman  to  see  that  the  two  girls  were 
educated,  but  she,  believing  only  in  the 
Bible,  paid  no  attention  to  their  demands 
for  books.  The  two  girls  and  Waldo 
found  some  old  histories,  and  studied 
them  when  they  could.  Lyndall  learned 
rapidly,  for  she  was  a  quick,  serious  girl, 
fascinated  especially  by  the  story  of  Na 
poleon.  Em  was  more  quiet  and  reserved. 

Waldo  was  the  strangest  of  the  three. 
His  father  was  deeply  devout,  with  an 
innocent  faith  in  the  goodness  of  man  and 
the  mercy  of  God.  He  had  filled  the 
boy's  head  with  ideas  which  were  fright 
ening  and  overpowering. 

One  day  a  visitor  came  to  the  farm 
and  asked  for  a  night's  lodging.  He  in 
troduced  himself  as  Bonaparte  Blenkins, 
but  because  he  was  English-speaking 
Tant'  Sannie  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  him.  The  old  German  interceded 
for  the  visitor,  however,  and  finally  won 
Tant*  Sannie's  grudging  permission  for 
him  to  spend  the  night.  The  German 
could  not  bear  to  pass  up  an  opportunity 
to  practice  Christian  charity. 

Blenkins  soon  won  the  German  over 
completely  with  his  fantastic  tales  of  ad 
venture  and  travel,  and  he  even  con 
quered  Tant'  Sannie  by  the  wonderful 
way  he  read  and  preached  the  service 
on  Sunday.  But  the  children  were  not 
fooled.  Lyndall  knew  that  the  man  was 


932 


lying  when  he  talked,  and  that  his 
religion  was  all  hypocrisy.  But  Blenkins 
was  soon  installed  on  the  farm  as  tutor 
to  the  children.  After  a  few  days,  Lyn- 
dall  walked  out  of  class  and  refused  to 
return. 

Slowly  Blenkins  gained  Tant'  Sannie's 
esteem,  until  he  felt  that  it  was  safe  to 
try  to  get  rid  of  the  German  and  take 
over  his  job.  With  a  trumped-up  charge, 
he  accused  the  overseer  to  his  mistress, 
and  stood  by  happily  as  the  old  German 
was  ordered  off  the  farm.  Shocked  the 
more  deeply  because  of  the  support  he 
had  given  Blenkins,  the  German  went  to 
his  house  to  pack  up  and  leave.  It  was 
not  in  his  nature  to  argue  or  fight  for 
his  rights;  what  God  sent  must  be  ac 
cepted.  In  his  grief  he  died  that  night. 

Bonaparte  Blenkins  took  over  the  farm. 
Like  his  namesake,  he  loved  power  and 
took  advantage  of  his  new  position.  He 
ordered  Waldo  about,  beat  him,  and  de 
stroyed  the  model  for  a  sheep-shearing 
machine  the  boy  had  made.  None  of 
these  matters  made  any  impression  on 
Tant*  Sannie.  She  thought  that  Blenkins 
had  a  wonderful  sense  of  humor,  and 
daily  he  grew  more  and  more  valuable  to 
her.  She  hoped  some  day  to  be  his  wife. 

A  visit  by  one  of  Tant'  Sannie's  nieces 
disillusioned  her.  The  niece  was  young, 
only  a  little  overweight,  and  wealthy. 
One  day  Tant'  Sannie  climbed  up  to  the 
loft  to  see  if  everything  there  was  neat 
and  let  her  maid  take  the  ladder  away. 
While  she  was  there,  Blenkins  came  into 
the  room  below  with  the  niece  and  began 
to  make  love  to  her.  Furious  at  Blen 
kins'  deception,  Tant'  Sannie  dropped  a 
barrel  of  salt  meat  on  his  head,  almost 
knocking  him  out,  and  drenching  him 
with  pickle-water.  His  stay  on  the  farm 
was  over. 

When  the  children  grew  up,  Lyndall 
had  her  way  about  going  to  the  city  to 
work  and  study.  Waldo  began  to  doubt 
the  God  he  had  so  terribly  feared  in  his 
childhood,  and  Em  grew  to  attractive,  if 
not  beautiful,  womanhood.  Tant'  Sannie 
rented  part  of  the  farm  to  a  young  Eng 


lishman  named  Gregory  Rose,  who  soon 
fell  in  love  with  Em.  It  was  the  first  time 
anyone  had  paid  much  attention  to  the 
girl,  and  she  was  enraptured  at  the  pros 
pect  of  marriage.  Tant'  Sannie  thought 
she  herself  might  as  well  many  again, 
and  she  sent  out  word  to  the  surrounding 
farms  that  she  was  looking  for  a  hus 
band. 

Waldo  eagerly  awaited  Lyndall's  re 
turn  from  the  city.  He  wanted  to  know 
what  she  had  found  out  about  the  world 
and  to  tell  her  of  his  own  problems.  He 
had  learned  wood  carving.  One  day, 
while  he  was  watching  the  sheep,  a 
stranger  had  come  up  and  talked  with 
him.  After  looking  at  one  of  Waldo's 
carvings,  the  traveler  told  the  boy  a  story 
of  a  man  who  searched  for  Truth  but 
found  merely  a  creed  until,  just  before 
his  death,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  his 
goal.  The  meeting  was  short  but  un 
forgettable.  Waldo  wanted  to  go  out 
into  the  world,  to  find  the  man  again,  to 
learn  more  about  the  search  for  Truth. 

When  Lyndall  returned,  she  was  a 
different  person.  Waldo  found  that  he 
could  not  talk  with  her  as  he  had  before. 
She  had  learned  the  problems  a  woman 
faces  in  the  world,  and  she  refused  to 
be  held  down  by  the  laws  and  re 
strictions  which  bound  her.  Neither  Em 
nor  Gregory  Rose,  her  fiance,  could 
understand  Lyndall.  Gregory  disliked 
her  at  first,  but  as  time  passed  he  became 
more  attracted  to  her.  At  Tant'  Sannie's 
wedding  feast,  for  she  had  found  a 
widower  who  wanted  to  marry  again, 
Em  discovered  that  she  did  not  really 
love  Gregory,  and  she  asked  him  to  forget 
the  plans  they  had  made. 

When  Lyndall  asked  him  to  marry 
her — just  to  give  her  his  name — Gregory 
consented.  It  was  a  long  time  before  he 
discovered  the  reason.  Lyndall  had  made 
a  friend  in  the  city,  a  man  who  wanted 
her  to  marry  him,  but  she  could  not  stand 
the  idea  of  being  tied  down  by  legal 
marriage.  She  wanted  freedom,  not  bond 
age.  She  felt  that  if  she  could  threaten 
her  lover  with  marriage  to  another  man, 


933 


she  could  get  what  she  wanted  from  him. 
Her  plan  worked.  When  he  received  a 
letter  telling  of  her  plans,  he  set  out  at 
once  to  see  her.  Lyndall  met  her  friend 
secretly  at  the  farm  and  went  away  to 
live  with  him,  but  not  as  his  wife. 

Since  Waldo,  too,  had  gone  off  to  seek 
his  way  in  the  world,  the  farm  was  quiet 
for  a  time.  Gregory  did  not  know  what 
to  do  about  LyndalTs  disappearance.  The 
longer  she  was  away,  the  more  he  felt 
he  loved  her.  At  last  he  started  out  to 
learn  what  had  become  of  her. 

As  Gregory  tracked  Lyndall  from  town 
to  town,  he  learned  the  story  of  a  slowly 
fading  love  between  the  two  people  he 
was  following.  In  time  he  found  Lyndall, 
lying  sick  in  a  hotel  room,  deserted  by 
her  lover.  She  had  had  a  child,  but  it 
had  died  shortly  after  birth.  Seeing  her 
so  weak  and  sick,  Gregory  wanted  to  be 
near  her,  to  care  for  her.  Dressed  as  a 
woman,  he  was  hired  as  LyndalTs  nurse. 
When  she  died,  he  took  her  body  back 
to  the  farm  for  burial. 

One  night  Em  was  startled  by  a  knock 
on  the  door.  Waldo  had  returned.  He 


had  traveled  much,  but  had  learned  little. 
Once  he  had  seen  the  stranger  who  had 
talked  to  him  so  wonderfully  about 
Truth,  but  the  man,  not  recognizing  him, 
had  turned  away.  The  first  thing  Waldo 
did  was  to  sit  down  and  begin  a  letter 
to  Lyndall.  When  Em  learned  what  he 
was  doing,  she  told  him  that  Lyndall 
was  dead. 

Gregory  still  thought  of  Lyndall  and 
kept  as  his  greatest  treasure  the  one  letter 
he  had  received  from  her,  a  letter  which 
advised  him  to  marry  Em.  In  time  he 
asked  Em  again  to  be  his  wife,  and  she 
accepted.  Waldo  knew  that  Em  felt  she 
would  have  only  half  a  husband,  but  he 
also  knew  that  she  had  never  learned  to 
hope  for  much,  as  he  had,  as  Lyndall 
had.  Waldo  kept  one  of  Lyndall's  dancing 
shoes  in  his  blouse.  He  spent  much  of 
his  time  wandering  about  the  farm 
watching  the  insects,  looking  at  the 
flowers.  He  wanted  to  be  like  them,  to 
die,  to  sleep  in  the  same  earth  with  Lyn 
dall.  One  day,  lying  in  the  warm  sun 
shine,  he  died. 


THE  STORY  OF  GOSTA  BERUNG 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Selma  Lagerlof  (1858-1940) 

Type  of  plot:    Picaresque  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   Sweden 

First  'published:    1894 

Principal  characters: 

GOSTA  BERLTNG,  formerly  a  minister 

THE  COUNTESS  ELIZABETH,  Gosta's  wife 

MARGARETA  SAMZEUUS,  the  major's  wife 

MARIANNE  SINCLAIR,  in  love  with  Gosta 

CHRISTIAN  BERGH,  Gosta's  crony 

Critique: 

The  Story  of  Gosta  Berling  has  re-  tone  of  Swedish  country  life.  The  use 

mained    since    its    publication    a    great  of  the  almost  supernatural,  which  can 

favonte,  and  the  esteem  in  which  it  is  be  explained  reasonably,  is  unique.  The 

held  is  due  to  several  noteworthy  qualities  moral  theme  of  Gosta's  redemption  is  a 

of   the   novel.    Selma   Lagerlof   has  re-  powerful  one.  In  addition,  the  tale  is  told 

created  much   of  the  warm,   emotional  with  a  light,  sure  touch  that  adds  to  the 

S^onS<^f  °FKi??STAnBESLfNG  b^  Sel?a  L^16*-    Translated   by  Pauline   Bancroft  Flach.    By  per- 
1925,  by PaufinSBanoSt  Hack  Copyright,    1898,   by  Pauline  Bancroft  Flach.     Renewed, 


delight  of  the  reader.  The  novelist  takes 
the  point  of  view  of  an  old  resident  who 
recalls  with  difficulty  the  tales  of  long 
ago,  a  process  which  gives  an  air  of 
realism. 

The  Story: 

Gosta  Berling  stood  in  the  pulpit  on 
what  was  a  critical  Sunday  for  him,  for 
the  bishop  was  present  to  make  a  strict 
investigation  of  his  ministry.  Gosta  drank 
far  too  much  and  too  often.  With  his 
crony,  Christian  Bergh,  he  spent  more 
and  more  time  in  tavern  taprooms,  and 
brandy  had  become  for  him  a  necessity. 
The  congregation  had  complained  of  his 
conduct  to  the  bishop,  and  now  Gosta 
felt  himself  on  trial. 

That  morning  he  preached  his  sermon 
as  if  inspired  by  God  Himself.  At  the 
end  of  the  service,  the  bishop  stood  up 
and  asked  for  complaints  against  the 
minister,  but  no  one  would  say  a  word. 
In  his  heart  Gosta  felt  love  for  his  flock. 

As  he  sat  up  that  night,  thinking  of 
the  wonder  that  had  happened,  Bergh 
came  to  his  window  to  assure  him  that 
the  bishop  would  never  trouble  him 
again.  Thinking  to  help  his  drinking 
crony,  Bergh  had  driven  the  bishop  and 
his  attendant  priests  in  his  carriage.  He 
took  them  on  a  wild  ride,  up  and  down 
hill  and  over  plowed  fields  at  top  speed. 
Then,  as  he  drew  up  at  the  inn  which 
was  their  destination,  he  warned  the 
bishop  not  to  bother  Gosta  thereafter. 
The  bishop  did  not  come  to  see  Gosta 
any  more  on  any  errand,  nor  did  any 
other  bishop,  for  Gosta  was  dismissed 
from  the  church. 

He  became  a  beggar.  In  the  winter  he 
had  only  rags  on  his  feet.  He  met  the 
twelve-year-old  daughter  of  the  wicked 
clergyman  of  Bro.  Neglected  by  her 
father,  she  was  hauling  a  heavy  sled  with 
a  sack  of  meal  for  her  own  food.  Gosta 
took  hold  of  the  rope  with  her.  When 
she  left  him  in  charge  of  the  sled,  he 
promptly  bartered  both  sled  and  meal  for 
brandy. 

Awaking  from  a  drunken  sleep,  Gosta 


saw  Margareta  Samzelius,  the  major's 
wife,  looking  at  him;  out  of  compassion 
she  intended  to  help  Gosta.  Margareta, 
strong  and  rough,  ruled  Ekeby  and  six 
estates.  She  had  been  betrothed  to  a 
young  man  named  Altinger,  but  her 
parents  made  her  take  the  major  while 
she  was  waiting  the  five  years  for  Altinger 
to  make  his  fortune.  Then  Altinger  came 
back  rich  and  famous  and  Margareta 
became  his  mistress.  At  his  death  he  left 
his  lands  ostensibly  to  the  major,  but  in 
reality  to  Margareta. 

After  great  urging,  Gosta  became  a 
pensioner,  one  of  the  group  of  merry 
wastrels  who  existed  handsomely  on  the 
bounty  of  Margareta.  On  Christmas  Eve 
the  pensioners  had  a  great  party,  with 
much  to  drink.  Then  Sintram,  who  was 
so  evil  that  he  thought  himself  the  chosen 
of  Satan,  came  in  dressed  as  the  deviL 
He  said  he  was  going  to  renew  his  pact 
with  Margareta.  The  half-drunk  pen 
sioners  thought  uneasily  of  Margareta's 
great  wealth  and  power.  Surely  some 
thing  supernatural  had  helped  her.  It 
was  said  that  she  held  her  power  by 
sacrificing  the  soul  of  one  pensioner  to 
the  devil  each  year. 

In  a  frightening  bit  of  nonsense  the 
pensioners  made  a  pact  with  the  devil; 
no  one  of  their  number  was  to  die  that 
year.  Once  in  charge  of  Ekeby  and  the 
six  estates,  the  pensioners  agreed  to  con 
duct  themselves  as  masters  in  a  manner 
pleasing  to  Satan  himself. 

The  next  day  when  the  grouse  was 
passed  at  the  Christmas  feast,  Bergh 
called  the  birds  crows  and  threw  them 
one  by  one  against  the  wall.  Margareta 
ordered  him  out  of  the  house.  In  his 
wrath,  Bergh  accused  her  of  having  been 
Altinger's  mistress  with  the  compliance 
of  her  husband.  Margareta  proudly  con 
fessed  the  truth  of  what  he  said.  Then, 
to  save  his  honor,  the  major  disowned  his 
wife.  All  the  pensioners,  who  owed  her 
so  much,  turned  their  faces  when  she 
asked  for  help.  Margareta  left  her  home 
to  become  a  beggar. 

That    year    the    pensioners    were   in 


935 


charge  at  Ekeby.  The  major,  indifferent 
to  the  estates,  returned  to  his  own  farm. 
Gosta  learned  that  Anna  Stjarnhok,  the 
rich  and  beautiful  belle  of  the  district, 
had  broken  her  engagement  to  a  timid 
man  named  Ferdinand  to  become  en 
gaged  to  a  rich  old  man  with  a  bald  head. 

Determined  to  bring  Anna  back  to 
Ferdinand,  Gosta  harried  her  so  much 
at  a  ball  that  she  slapped  his  face.  But 
that  slap  revealed  the  truth;  Anna  really 
loved  Gosta.  Forgetting  his  duty  to  Fer 
dinand,  Gosta  set  out  with  Anna  for 
Ekeby.  But  on  the  way  their  sleigh  was 
followed  by  wolves  and  they  were  forced 
to  stop  at  Ferdinand's  home  for  pro 
tection.  So  Gosta  involuntarily  brought 
Anna  back  to  Ferdinand,  and  so  he  was 
saved  from  committing  a  sin. 

Ferdinand,  however,  soon  died,  and 
Anna  went  through  a  marriage  ceremony 
with  his  corpse.  Ever  after  she  con 
cealed  her  love  for  Gosta. 

At  a  ball  at  Ekeby,  Gosta  and  Mari 
anne  Sinclair  took  part  in  a  tableau  pre 
senting  them  as  lovers.  Marianne,  suc 
cumbing  to  the  charm  of  Gosta,  kissed 
him  after  the  tableau.  Later,  at  the  gam 
ing  table,  Gosta  won  all  the  money 
Marianne's  father  had,  and  then,  in  jest, 
won  his  consent  to  a  betrothal  with 
Marianne.  When  the  father  discovered 
that  Gosta,  a  drunkard  and  an  unfrocked 
minister,  was  in  earnest,  he  was  furious 
with  his  daughter. 

After  the  ball  the  pensioners  found 
Marianne  locked  out  by  her  father  and 
half-frozen.  Supposedly  asleep  in  the 
guest  room  at  Ekeby  that  night,  the  girl 
heard  Margareta,  who  had  returned  full 
of  wrath  against  her  pensioners,  plan  a 
riot  to  drive  the  wastrels  out.  Marianne 


ran  to  a  bear  hunter  and  enlisted  his  a^d, 
and  succeeded  in  breaking  up  the  riot. 

But  Marianne  contracted  smallpox  on 
her  errand,  and  the  scars  gready  marred 
her  beauty.  Not  wishing  Gosta  to  see 
her,  she  returned  to  her  father,  and  Gosta 
thought  she  had  discontinued  their 
romance.  Too  proud  to  go  after  her,  he 
soon  forgot  her. 

Countess  Elizabeth  Dohna,  at  twenty, 
was  a  gay,  sympathetic  girl  married  to  a 
stupid  husband.  At  a  dance  Gosta  asked 
her  for  a  polka.  She  refused  because  she 
had  heard  that  Gosta  had  caused  the 
death  of  Ebba,  her  husband's  sister,  who 
had  died  in  sorrow  after  hearing  the 
story  of  Gosta's  life.  Angry  at  her  re 
fusal,  Gosta  and  his  friends  abducted  the 
countess  and  took  her  home.  There 
the  stupid  husband  sided  with  Gosta. 
The  poor  girl  led  a  miserable  life.  Finally 
she  ran  away  to  live  as  a  peasant,  and 
the  count  had  the  marriage  annulled. 
After  she  was  legally  a  single  woman 
again,  she  bore  a  child.  Not  wishing  to 
have  an  unnamed  baby,  she  asked  Gosta 
to  marry  her.  Gosta  accepted,  awed  and 
grateful,  for  he  loved  the  countess. 

Gosta,  helped  by  his  wife,  turned  over 
a  new  leaf,  and  all  the  pensioners  fol 
lowed  his  lead.  Ekeby  rang  with  the 
smith's  hammer;  walls  and  docks  were 
repaired.  When  Margareta  came  back 
after  the  death  of  the  major,  she  re- 
entered  Ekeby  as  mistress  of  a  prosperous 
estate. 

Gosta  and  his  wife  retired  to  a  modest 
cottage  where  Gosta  could  earn  his  living 
as  a  carpenter  and  help  all  who  were  in 
trouble,  and  the  countess  could  serve 
the  sick.  So  Gosta  became,  after  many 
years,  a  good  man. 


STRIFE 


Type  of  work:    Drama 

Author:  John  Galsworthy  (1867-1933) 

Type  of  ^plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:   Industrial  town  near  London 

First  presented:    1909 


936 


Principal  characters: 

JOHN  ANTHONY,  chairman  of  the  Trenartlia  Tin  Plate  Works 

EDGAR  ANTHONY,  his  son 

FRANCIS  UNDERWOOD,  manager  of  the  plant 

ENID  UNDERWOOD,  his  wife,  and  John  Anthony's  daughter 

SIMON  HARNESS,  a  Trades  Union  official 

DAVID  ROBERTS,  leader  of  the  strike 


ANNIE  ROBERTS,  David's  wife 
Critique: 

Galsworthy  wrote  this  play  at  a  time 
when  the  rights  of  laborers  were  only 
beginning  to  be  asserted.  Strife  presents 
a  picture  of  both  sides  of  the  strike 
question,  for  Galsworthy  was  always  an 
impartial  realist.  Aside  from  its  social 
implications,  the  play  is  also  notable  for 
several  very  real  and  forceful  characters, 
Roberts  and  old  Anthony  among  them. 

The  Story: 

The  strike  at  the  Trenartha  Tin  Plate 
Works  had  lasted  so  long  without  any 
sign  of  a  settlement  that  the  directors 
had  begun  to  fear  for  their  dividends. 
They  had  all  gathered  at  the  Underwood 
home  at  the  request  of  the  workers,  and 
at  first  there  was  some  talk  of  com 
promise.  Facing  them,  however,  was 
the  stern  figure  of  the  chairman  of 
the  board,  seventy-five-year-old  John 
Anthony,  who  refused  to  consider  any 
plan  for  compromise. 

Anthony  belonged  to  the  old  school 
of  businessmen  who  refused  to  move 
with  the  times.  For  him  there  could  be 
only  one  master  at  the  plant,  and  that 
was  John  Anthony  himself.  He  had 
defeated  four  strikes  in  his  thirty- two 
years  as  chairman  of  the  board,  and  he 
was  certain  that  a  little  more  perseverance 
would  defeat  the  strikers  once  more. 

The  other  directors  were  a  little  uneasy 
under  his  stern  refusal  In  his  report 
Underwood,  the  plant  manager,  had 
made  no  attempt  to  disguise  the  terrible 
suffering  of  the  striking  workers  and 
their  families.  The  directors  were  also 
aware  that  if  the  strike  lasted  much 
longer  their  stockholders  would  begin  to 
protest  strongly* 


Although  the  union  had  withdrawn 
support  from  the  strikers  because  two 
of  their  conditions  exceeded  the  pre 
vailing  standards,  Simon  Harness,  a 
Trades  Union  official,  had  been  sent 
to  attempt  mediation  between  the  board 
and  the  workers.  His  interview  with 
the  directors  accomplished  nothing  be 
cause  of  Anthony's  obstinacy.  The  meet 
ing  between  the  representatives  of  the 
workers  and  the  directors  was  equally 
unhappy.  Roberts,  the  leader  of  the 
striking  workmen,  was  just  as  unyielding 
on  his  side  as  Anthony  was  on  his.  Both 
sides  faced  a  deadlock. 

Conditions  among  the  workers  were 
so  terrible  that  many  of  them  were  ready 
to  give  in,  but  Roberts  remained  ada 
mant.  Mrs.  Roberts  was  dying;  her  weak 
heart  could  not  stand  the  cold  and 
hunger  which  the  strike  imposed  upon 
them  all.  At  one  time  she  had  been 
the  maid  in  Underwood's  home,  and 
one  afternoon  Enid  Underwood  went 
to  visit  her.  Mrs.  Underwood  had  tried 
to  send  food  to  Mrs.  Roberts,  but  the 
strike  leader  was  too  proud  and  too 
stubborn  to  accept  help  from  the  daugh 
ter  of  John  Anthony.  Mrs.  Underwood 
tried  to  plead  with  Roberts,  asking  him, 
for  his  wife's  sake,  to  give  in  and  end 
the  strike.  But  he  was  fanatic  in  his 
certainly  that  in  the  end  the  workmen 
could  bring  their  employers  to  terms. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  men  and  Harness, 
the  Trades  Union  official,  it  became 
evident  that  most  of  the  strikers  were 
willing  to  compromise,  to  accept  the 
union  suggestions.  A  few  were  willing 
to  give  in  completely.  When  Roberts 
appeared  at  the  meeting,  the  men  did 


STRIFE  by  John  Galsworthy,   from  PLAYS  by  John   Galsworthy.     By  permission   of   the   publishers,   Charlef 


STRIFE  by  John  Galsworthy,   rrom  .PLAYb   by  jonn   ijaiswormy.     j>y  permission   01    me   puun 
Scribner's  Sons.     Copyright,   1909,   1910,  by  John  Galsworthy,  1928,  by  Charle&  Scribner's  Son*. 

937 


not  wish  to  hear  him  speak.  But  Roberts 
was  a  powerful  orator,  and  as  he  talked 
to  them  again  about  the  eventual  victory 
which  they  could  win  if  they  refused 
to  give  in  now,  they  were  once  more 
moved  and  convinced  by  his  oratory. 
As  he  was  speaking,  a  young  woman 
approached  the  platform  and  told  him 
that  his  wife  had  died.  With  this  tragedy 
as  an  example  of  what  they  must  expect 
if  they  continued  to  resist,  the  men  de 
cided  to  accept  the  terms  of  the  union 
compromise. 

The  news  of  Mrs.  Roberts'  death  was 
a  blow  to  the  directors.  Edgar  Anthony, 
in  spite  of  the  respect  which  he  had  for 
his  father,  now  faced  his  colleagues  and 
accused  them  of  responsibility  for  the 
woman's  condition  and  death.  They  felt 
uncomfortably  that  what  he  said  was 
very  close  to  the  truth.  Old  Anthony, 
weak  and  unwell  as  he  was,  still  in 
sisted  that  the  company  should  not 
yield.  But  the  directors  had  decided  to 
act  in  spite  of  him,  although  they  knew 


that  should  they  decide  to  accept  the 
union  terms,  Anthony  would  resign. 

That  evening  the  meeting  between 
the  workers,  Harness,  and  the  directors 
was  painful  in  the  extreme,  Anthony 
found  himself  outvoted  by  his  colleagues. 
Wearily,  with  an  acknowledgement  of 
his  defeat,  he  resigned.  Roberts,  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  action  which  his 
men  had  decided  to  take  after  he  had 
left  the  meeting,  arrived  at  the  Under 
wood  home  in  time  to  watch  Harness 
complete  the  settlement.  The  terms 
agreed  upon  were  those  which  the  union 
had  suggested  to  both  sides  before  the 
strike  began,  but  it  had  needed  months 
of  suffering  to  bring  agreement  in  the 
dispute.  The  two  leaders  stared  at  each 
other,  both  deserted  by  their  supporters, 
both  defeated  by  the  compromise.  As 
they  recognized  the  courageous  battle 
which  each  had  put  up,  their  expression 
of  hate  turned  to  one  of  grudging  ad 
miration  and  mutual  respect. 


A  STUDY  IN  SCARLET 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Arthur  Conan  Doyle  (1859-1930) 

Type  of  'plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  published:    1887 

Principal  characters: 

SHERLOCK   HOLMES,  the  detective 
DR.  JOHN  WATSON,  his  friend 
JEFFERSON  HOPE,  an  American  cab  driver 
TOBIAS  GREGSON,  of  Scodand  Yard 
LESTRADE,  of  Scotland  Yard 

Critique: 

A  Study  in  Scarlet  was  the  first  of  the 
many  adventures  of  Sherlock  Holmes, 
the  most  delightful  as  well  as  the  most 
durable  of  fictional  detectives.  No 
ordinary  criticism  can  apply  to  the  canon 
of  Sherlock  Holmes.  From  1887  until 
Doyle's  death  in  1930  the  amazing 
Holmes  appeared  in  a  total  of  sixty  novels 
and  short  stories.  Many  of  the  plots 
are  incredible;  many  of  the  deductions 
sre  improbable;  all  of  Doyle's  Americans 


are  people  from  another  planet.  Dr. 
Watson's  bullet  wound  was  sometimes 
in  his  shoulder,  sometimes  in  his  leg, 
and  he  was  married  and  widowed  at 
Doyle's  convenience.  These  matters  are 
irrelevant.  Let  us  have  a  puzzle,  let  us 
have  Holmes  to  solve  it,  let  us  have  Wat 
son  foi  a  foil,  and  we  are  all  content. 

The  Story: 

To  many   the  Afghan  wars  brought 


938 


fame  and  promotion,  but  to  John  H. 
Watson,  M.D.,  they  brought  only  mis 
fortune.  He  was  wounded  by  a  Jezail 
bullet,  and  during  his  convalescence  was 
struck  down  with  enteric.  After  months 
of  suffering  he  was  invalided  home  on 
eleven  shillings  and  sixpence  a  day. 

At  first  Watson  lived  in  a  hotel,  but 
his  pension  scarcely  covered  his  bills. 
By  chance  he  met  Stamford,  an  old 
friend,  and  confided  his  difficulties. 
Through  him  he  learned  of  an  amateur 
scientist,  Sherlock  Holmes,  who  had  rooms 
at  22 IB  Baker  Street  and  was  looking 
for  some  one  to  share  them.  On  the 
spot  Watson  arranged  to  have  Stamford 
bring  them  together.  Stamford  warned 
that  Sherlock  Holmes  pursued  no 
orthodox  studies;  one  day  Stamford  had 
found  him  beating  a  cadaver  to  see  if 
bruises  could  be  produced  after  death. 
Holmes  had  a  queer  habit  of  making 
deductions  from  trifling,  often  personal 
things.  Watson  grew  curious  about  Sher 
lock  Holmes.  Soon  after  their  first  meet 
ing  Watson  went  to  share  Holmes'  rooms 
in  Baker  Street. 

Watson  never  went  out;  consequently 
he  spent  much  time  studying  his  new 
friend.  He  found  Holmes  an  amazingly 
contradictory  man  who  knew  nothing  at 
all  of  literature,  philosophy,  or  astronomy, 
but  who  had  a  profound  knowledge  of 
chemistry,  anatomy,  and  sensational 
crime  stories.  He  also  played  the  violin. 
From  time  to  time  Holmes  had  visitors, 
but  Watson  never  knew  why  they  came. 

One  day  at  breakfast  Watson  learned 
a  good  deal  more  about  his  friend. 
Holmes  showed  Watson  a  letter  from 
Tobias  Gregson,  a  Scotland  Yard  in 
vestigator,  who  asked  help  in  a  case  of 
murder.  A  gentleman  identified  by  his 
visiting  cards  as  Enoch  J.  Drebber,  Cleve 
land,  Ohio,  U.  S.  A.,  had  been  found 
murdered  in  a  deserted  house  in  Lauris- 
ton  Gardens.  Holmes  then  explained 
his  profession;  he  was  a  consulting  de 
tective.  Whenever  an  unusual  case,  out 
side  police  jurisdiction  or  too  difficult 
for  Scotland  Yard,  came  up,  Holmes  was 


asked   to   step   in   and   help   solve    che 
mystery. 

Holmes  and  Watson  took  a  cab  to 
Lauriston  Gardens  to  look  into  the 
affair.  Holmes  spent  a  long  time  out 
side  in  the  road  and  in  the  yard.  Wat 
son  was  impatient  at  the  delay,  but 
Holmes  examined  everything  carefully. 
Inside  the  house  Gregson  and  Lestrade, 
another  detective  from  Scotland  Yard, 
greeted  them  and  pointed  out  the  body 
of  Drebber,  surrounded  by  spatters  of 
blood.  Holmes  went  over  the  body  pains- 

As  the  orderlies  were  carrying  out  the 
corpse,  a  woman's  wedding  ring  fell  to 
the  floor.  The  Scotland  Yard  men  were 
sure  a  woman  was  involved,  and  Le 
strade  was  triumphant  when  he  found 
the  word  Roche  printed  in  letters  of 
blood  on  the  wall.  As  Sherlock  Holmes 
left  the  room,  he  announced  his  findings 
to  the  detectives.  The  murderer  was 
over  six  feet  in  height  and  florid;  he 
wore  square-toed  boots;  and  he  smoked 
a  Trichinopoly  cigar.  He  had  long 
nails  on  his  right  hand.  He  had  driven 
up  to  the  house  in  a  four-wheeler  drawn 
by  a  horse  with  a  new  shoe  on  his  off 
forefoot.  The  murder  was  done  by 
poison,  and  Rache  was  not  short  for 
Rachel  but  was  rather  the  German  word 
for  revenge. 

The  cigar  ashes,  the  tracks,  the  height 
of  the  writing,  and  the  scratches  during 
the  writing  on  the  wall  had  told  theii 
story  to  Holmes.  The  blood  on  the  floor 
came  from  a  nosebleed,  indicating  the 
ruddy  coloring  of  the  murderer.  But 
after  uncovering  these  initial  clues 
Holmes  was  balked  for  a  time.  He  ad 
vertised  the  wedding  ring  as  lost,  and 
an  old  woman  came  to  claim  it.  When 
the  old  woman  eluded  him,  he  knew 
that  he  was  searching  for  a  clever  op 
ponent. 

The  trail  of  Drebber  led  to  his  sec 
retary,  Stangerson.  Gregson  was  sure 
that  if  Stangerson  could  be  found,  he 
would  have  the  murderer.  But  a  short 
time  later  Stangerson  was  found  dead, 


939 


stabbed  through  the  heart,  in  his  hotel 
room.  The  case  seemed  impenetrable,  at 
least  to  Scotland  Yard. 

Gregson  and  Lestrade  came  to  Holmes 
one  night,  and  the  three  detectives  and 
Watson  went  over  their  difficulties. 
Holmes  was  tying  up  a  trunk  preparatory 
to  sending  it  away.  He  called  a  cab  to 
deliver  it,  and  when  the  bell  rang  he 
asked  the  cabbie  up  to  help  with  the 
ropes.  As  the  man  bent  down,  Holmes 
quickly  slipped  handcuffs  over  the  cab 
bie's  wrists.  The  cabbie  was  a  large, 
vigorous  man  who  fought  as  if  possessed, 
but  finally  the  four  men  subdued  him. 
With  a  theatrical  flourish,  Holmes  pre 
sented  him — Jefferson  Hope,  the  mur 
derer  of  Drebber  and  Stangerson! 

Hope  calmed  down.  He  told  the 
men  he  had  nothing  to  fear  and  he  asked 
Watson  to  feel  his  pulse.  Watson  de 
tected  an  aneurism  immediately.  He 
agreed  that  Hope  had  not  long  to  live. 
Indeed,  Hope  never  came  to  trial,  for 
he  died  in  less  than  a  week;  but  from 
him  the  English  officers  learned  his 
strange  story. 

On  the  great  alkali  plain  in  Utah, 
John  Ferrier  and  little  Lucy  were  the 
only  survivors  of  a  wagon  train.  But 
the  two  were  providentially  picked  up 
by  Mormons,  who  under  the  leadership 
or  Brigham  Young  were  on  their  way 
to  a  new  settlement  in  the  wilderness. 
Ferrier  had  to  agree  to  adopt  the  Mor 
mon  faith,  and  in  return  he  and  Lucy 
were  taken  along. 

Ferrier  prospered  as  a  Mormon  and 
soon  became  a  rich  man;  Lucy  grew  up 
to  be  a  beautiful  woman.  But  Ferrier, 
although  a  Mormon,  refused  to  take 
wives,  and  he  made  a  vow  that  Lucy 
should  never  marry  a  Mormon.  When  a 
traveler  named  Jefferson  Hope  stopped 
at  their  house  on  his  way  to  the  silver 
mines,  an  attraction  soon  developed  be 
tween  him  and  Lucy.  After  Hope  left, 
the  blow  fell.  The  Mormon  elders  de 
creed  that  before  thirty  days  should 
elapse,  Lucy  must  choose  a  husband.  She 
could  marry  either  Drebber  or  Stanger 


son,  who  already  had  several  wives,  but 
she  must  marry. 

In  his  dilemma,  Ferrier  sent  word  to 
Hope,  who  returned  on  the  last  day  of 
grace.  At  night  Hope,  Ferrier,  and  Lucy 
stole  out  of  the  Mormon  village  and  rode 
furiously  toward  the  mountains. 

When  he  judged  that  they  were  safely 
away,  Hope  left  Ferrier  and  Lucy  in 
camp  while  he  went  hunting.  On  his 
return,  he  saw  his  error.  Ferrier  had 
been  murdered,  and  Lucy  was  gone. 
Hope  hid  near  the  Mormon  village  in 
the  hope  of  rescuing  Lucy,  but  he  was 
balked  by  the  strong,  watchful  Latter- 
day  Saints.  Lucy  was  given  in  marriage 
to  Drebber.  She  survived  only  a  month. 
While  the  women  watched  at  night 
over  her  coffin,  Hope  stormed  in,  kissed 
his  dead  love,  and  took  the  wedding  ring 
from  her  finger.  Then  he  vanished. 

Shortly  afterward  both  Drebber  and 
Stangerson  renounced  Mormonism  and 
moved  to  Cleveland.  When  Hope  took 
up  the  trail  again,  he  became  a  nemesis. 
Drebber  and  Stangerson  were  wealthy 
and  afraid,  for  they  knew  Hope  was 
after  them.  They  fled  to  Russia  and 
Germany,  and  finally  ended  up  in  Lon 
don.  Hope  followed  them  from  place  to 
place. 

To  exist,  Hope  took  a  job  as  cab 
driver,  and  as  such  he  could  follow  his 
prey  conveniently.  Drebber  engaged  him 
one  night  when  he  was  drunk,  and  Hope 
drove  him  to  the  deserted  house.  There 
he  showed  Drebber  the  wedding  ring. 
Taking  from  his  pocket  a  small  box  con 
taining  two  pills,  one  harmless  and  one 
deadly,  he  forced  Drebber  to  choose  one 
and  swallow  it.  Hope  put  the  other  in 
his  own  mouth.  Hope  felt  that  Lucy's 
spirit  guided  the  choice;  it  was  Drebber 
who  died.  On  impulse,  Hope  had  scrib 
bled  Roche  on  the  wall  with  the  blood 
which  had  gushed  from  his  nose  in  his 
excitement.  Later,  finding  Stangerson 
in  his  hotel  room,  Hope  offered  him  the 
fatal  choice.  When  Stangerson  had  at 
tacked  him,  Hope  had  killed  him  with 
a  knife.  He  refused  to  give  the  name  of 


940 


the  old   woman  who  had  appeared  to 
claim  the  ring. 

On  the  day  he  was  to  appear  in  court 


Hope  died  from  the  bursting  of  the 
aneurism  in  his  heart.  His  work  was 
done;  Lucy  was  avenged. 


THE  SUN  ALSO  RISES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ernest  Hemingway  (1899-1961) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    1920's 

Locale:    Paris  and  Pamplona,  Spain 

First  published:    1926 

Principal  characters: 

JAKE  BARNES,  an  American  newspaper  man 

LADY  BRETT  ASHLEY,  one  of  the  lost  generation 

ROBERT  COHN,  a  young  writer 

MICHAEL  CAMPBELL  (MIKE),  Brett's  fianc<§ 

BILL  GORTON,  Jake's  friend 

PEDRO  ROMERO,  a  Spanish  bullfighter 

Critique: 

This  early  Hemingway  novel  reflects 
the  period  following  the  first  World 
War,  a  period  of  maladjustment  and 
despair  on  the  part  of  a  war-weary  gen 
eration  for  whom  life  had  lost  its  signifi 
cance.  The  opening  quotation  from 
Gertrude  Stein  and  the  quotation  from 
Ecclesiastes,  from  which  the  tide  of  the 
novel  is  taken,  clearly  point  to  this 
theme.  Such  reference  is  not  necessary, 
however,  once  the  reader  has  started 
the  book.  The  Sun  Also  Rises  describes 
realistically  life  among  American  ex 
patriates  on  the  Left  Bank  in  Paris  and 
the  color  and  excitement  of  a  Spanish 
fiesta.  Above  all,  the  skillful  character 
analysis,  sketched  in  so  rapidly  by  Hem 
ingway,  will  make  the  reader  feel  that 
he  has  really  lived  with  the  disillusioned 
people  who  appear  in  the  novel. 


The   Story: 

Jake  Barnes  knew  Robert  Cohn  in 
Paris  shortly  after  the  first  World  War. 
Somehow  Jake  always  thought  that  Cohn 
was  typical  of  the  place  and  the  time. 
Cohn,  the  son  of  wealthy  Jewish  par 
ents,  had  once  been  the  middleweight 
boxing  champion  of  Princeton.  He  never 
wanted  anyone  to  forget  that  fact.  After 


leaving  college,  he  had  married  and  had 
lived  incompatibly  with  his  wife  until 
she  ran  off  with  another  man.  Then  in 
California  he  met  some  writers  and 
decided  to  start  a  little,  arty  review  of 
his  own.  He  also  met  Frances  Clyne, 
who  became  his  mistress,  and  when  Jake 
knew  Cohn  the  two  were  living  un 
happily  in  Paris,  where  Cohn  was  writ 
ing  his  first  novel.  Cohn  wrote  and 
boxed  and  played  tennis,  and  he  was 
always  careful  not  to  mix  his  friendships. 
A  man  named  Braddocks  was  his  literary 
friend.  Jake  Barnes  was  his  tennis  friend. 

Jake  Barnes  was  an  American  news 
paperman  who  had  fought  with  the 
Italians  during  the  war.  His  own  private 
tragedy  was  a  war  wound  which  had 
emasculated  him  so  that  he  could  never 
marry  Lady  Bred:  Ashley,  a  young  Eng 
lish  war-widow  with  whom  he  was  in 
love.  In  order  not  to  think  too  much 
about  himself,  Jake  spent  a  lot  of  time 
listening  to  the  troubles  of  his  friends 
and  drinking  heavily.  When  he  grew 
tired  of  Paris,  he  went  on  fishing  trips 
to  the  Basque  country  or  to  Spain  for 
the  bullfights. 

One  night,  feeling  lonely,  Jake  asked 
Georgette,  a  girl  of  the  streets,  to  join 


THE  SUN  ALSO  RISES  by  Ernest  Hemingway.     By  permission  of  the  author   and  the   publishers,   Charlei 
Scribner's  Sons.     Copyright,   1926,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 


94) 


him  in  a  drink  at  the  Cafe  Napolitain. 
They  dined  on  the  Left  Bank,  where 
Jake  met  a  party  of  his  friends,  including 
Robert  Cohn  and  Frances  Clyne.  Later 
Brett  Ashley  came  in  with  a  group  of 
young  men.  It  was  evident  that  Cohn 
was  attracted  to  her,  and  Frances  was 
jealous.  Brett  refused  to  dance  with 
Cohn,  however,  saying  that  she  had  a 
date  with  Jake  in  Montmartre.  Leaving 
a  fifty-franc  note  with  the  cafe  proprietor 
for  Georgette,  Jake  left  in  a  taxi  with 
Brett  for  a  ride  to  the  Pare  Montsouris. 
They  talked  for  a  time  about  themselves 
without  mentioning  what  was  in  both 
their  minds,  Jake's  injury.  At  last  Brett 
asked  Jake  to  drive  her  back  to  the  Cafe 
Select. 

The  next  day  Cohn  cornered  Jake 
and  asked  him  questions  about  Brett. 
Later,  after  drinking  with  Harvey  Stone, 
another  expatriate,  on  the  terrace  of  the 
Cafe  Select,  Jake  met  Cohn  and  Frances, 
who  announced  that  her  lover  was  dis 
missing  her  by  sending  her  off  to  Lon 
don.  She  abused  Cohn  scornfully  and 
taunted  him  with  his  inferiority  complex 
while  he  sat  quietly  without  replying. 
Jake  was  embarrassed.  The  same  day 
Jake  received  a  telegram  from  his  old 
friend,  Bill  Gorton,  announcing  his  ar 
rival  on  the  France.  Brett  went  on  a 
trip  to  San  Sebastian  with  Robert  Cohn. 
She  thought  the  excursion  would  be 
good  for  him. 

Jake  and  Bill  Gorton  had  planned  to 
go  to  Spain  for  the  trout  fishing  and  the 
bullfights  at  Pamplona.  Michael  Camp 
bell,  an  Englishman  whom  Brett  was 
to  marry,  had  also  arrived  in  Paris.  He 
and  Brett  arranged  to  join  Jake  and  Bill 
at  Pamplona  later.  Because  Cohn  had 
gone  to  San  Sebastian  with  Brett  and 
because  she  was  staying  now  with  Mike 
Campbell,  everyone  felt  that  it  would  be 
awkward  if  Cohn  accompanied  Jake  and 
Bill  on  their  trip.  Nevertheless,  he  de 
cided  to  join  them  at  Bayonne.  The 
agreement  was  that  Jake  and  Bill  would 
first  go  trout  fishing  at  Burguete  in  the 
mountains.  Later  the  whole  party  would 


meet  at  the  Montoya  Hotel  in  Pamplo 
na  for  the  fiesta. 

When  Jake  and  Bill  arrived  in  Ba 
yonne,  they  found  Cohn  awaiting  them. 
Hiring  a  car,  they  drove  on  to  Pamplona. 
Montoya,  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel, 
was  an  old  friend  of  Jake's  because  he 
recognized  Jake  as  a  true  aficionado — one 
who  is  passionate  about  the  bullfight. 
The  next  morning  Bill  and  Jake  left  by 
bus  for  Burguete,  both  riding  atop  the 
ancient  vehicle  with  several  bottles  of 
wine  and  an  assortment  of  Basque  pas 
sengers.  At  Burguete  they  enjoyed  good 
fishing  in  the  company  of  an  Englishman 
named  Wilson-Harris. 

Once  back  in  Pamplona,  the  whole 
party  had  gathered  for  the  festival  of 
San  Fermin.  The  first  night  they  went 
to  see  the  bulls  come  in,  to  watch  the 
men  let  the  savage  bulls  out  of  the  cages 
one  at  a  time.  Much  wine  made  Mike 
Campbell  loquacious  and  freed  his  tongue 
so  that  he  harped  constantly  on  the  fact 
that  Cohn  had  joined  the  group,  al 
though  he  knew  he  was  not  wanted.  At 
noon  on  Sunday  the  fiesta  exploded. 
The  carnival  continued  for  seven  days. 
Dances,  parades,  religious  processions, 
the  bullfights — these  and  much  wine 
furnished  the  excitement  of  that  hectic 
week.  Also  staying  at  the  Montoya  Hotel 
was  Pedro  Romero,  a  bullfighter  about 
twenty  years  old,  who  was  extremely 
handsome.  At  the  fights  Romero  acquit 
ted  himself  well,  and  Brett  fell  in  love 
with  him,  a  fact  she  admitted  with  em 
barrassment  to  Jake.  Brett  and  the  young 
man  met  at  the  hotelj  Romero  soon 
became  interested  in  her. 

Besides  the  bullfights,  the  main  di 
version  of  the  group  was  drunken  prog 
ress  from  one  drinking  spot  to  another. 
While  they  were  in  the  Caf6  Suizo, 
Jake  told  Cohn  that  Brett  had  gone  off 
with  the  bullfighter  to  his  room.  Cohn 
swung  at  both  Mike  and  Jake  and 
knocked  them  down.  After  the  fight 
Cohn  apologized,  crying  all  the  while. 
He  could  not  understand  how  Brett 
could  go  off  with  him  to  San  Sebastian 


942 


one  week  and  then  treat  him  like  a 
stranger  when  they  met  again.  He 
planned  to  leave  Pamplona  the  next 
morning. 

The  next  morning  Jake  learned  that 
after  the  fight  Cohn  had  gone  to  Pedro 
Romero's  room,  where  he  found  Brett 
and  the  bullfighter  together.  Cohn  had 
beaten  Romero  badly.  But  that  day,  in 
spite  of  his  swollen  face  and  battered 
body,  Romero  performed  beautifully  in 
the  ring,  dispatching  a  bull  which  had 
recently  killed  another  torero.  That  night, 
after  the  fights,  Brett  left  Pamplona  with 
Romero.  Jake  got  very  drunk. 

The  fiesta  over,  the  party  dispersed. 
Bill  Gorton  went  back  to  Paris,  Mike 
Campbell  to  Saint  Jean  de  Luz.  Jake  was 
in  San  Sebastian  when  he  received  a 


wire  from  Brett  asking  him  to  come  to 
the  Hotel  Montana  in  Madrid.  Taking 
the  express,  Jake  met  her  the  next  day. 
Brett  was  alone.  She  had  sent  Pedro 
Romero  away,  she  said,  because  she 
thought  she  was  not  good  for  him.  Then, 
without  funds,  she  had  sent  for  Jake. 
She  had  decided  to  go  back  to  Mike, 
she  told  Jake,  because  the  Englishman 
was  her  own  sort. 

After  dinner  Jake  and  Brett  rode 
around  in  a  taxi,  seeing  the  sights  of 
Madrid.  This,  Jake  reflected  wryly,  was 
one  of  the  few  ways  they  could  ever  be 
alone  together — in  bars  and  cafe's  and 
taxis.  Both  knew  the  ride  was  as  pur 
poseless  as  the  war- wrecked  world  in 
which  they  lived,  as  aimless  as  the  drift 
ing  generation  to  which  they  belonged. 


THE  SWISS  FAMILY  ROBINSON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Johann  Rudolf  Wyss  (1781-1830) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  An  island  near  New  Guinea 

First 'published:  1813 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  ROBINSON,  a  shipwrecked  Swiss  gentleman 

MRS.  ROBINSON,  his  wife 

FRITZ, 

ERNEST, 

JACK,  and 

FRANCIS,  their  sons 

EMILY  MONTROSE,  an  English  girl,  also  shipwrecked 

Critique: 

The  adventures  of  the  Robinson  family 
are  familiar  to  most  school  children,  for 
the  account  of  their  life  on  an  uninhab 
ited  island  has  long  been  a  favorite.  For 
adults  the  story  moves  rather  slowly;  the 
events  are  related  in  such  detail  that  they 
become  tiring  at  times.  All  ages,  how 
ever,  can  admire  the  perfect  harmony  in 
which  the  Robinsons  lived.  Obedience  to 
parental  wishes  and  love  for  one's  family 
are  points  the  author  apparently  wished 
to  stress  in  the  story. 


The  Story: 

Of  all  the  passengers  and  crew  on 


board  the  ship,  only  the  Robinson  family 
was  saved  when  the  vessel  broke  apart  on 
a  reef  and  the  crew  and  other  passengers 
jumped  into  lifeboats  without  waiting 
for  the  little  family  to  join  them.  As  the 
ship  tossed  about,  the  father  prayed  that 
God  would  spare  them.  There  was  plenty 
of  food  on  board,  and  after  they  had  eaten 
the  boys  went  to  sleep,  leaving  the  father 
and  the  mother  to  guard  them. 

In  the  morning  their  first  concern  was 
to  get  to  the  island  they  could  see  beyond 
the  reef.  With  much  effort,  they  con 
structed  a  vessel  out  of  tubs.  After  they 
had  filled  the  tubs  with  food  and  ammu- 


943 


nition  and  all  other  articles  of  value  they 
could  safely  cany,  they  rowed  toward  the 
island.  Two  dogs  from  the  ship  swam 
beside  them,  and  the  boys  were  glad  they 
would  have  pets  when  they  reached  their 
new  home* 

Their  first  task  on  reaching  the  island 
was  to  erect  a  tent  of  sailcloth  they  had 
brought  from  the  ship.  They  gathered 
moss  and  dried  it,  so  that  they  would 
have  some  protection  from  the  ground 
when  they  slept.  They  were  able  to 
find  a  lobster  and  to  shoot  some  game, 
and  thus  to  add  fresh  food  to  their 
supplies.  Since  they  had  no  utensils  for 
eating,  they  used  shells  for  spoons,  all 
dipping  out  of  the  iron  kettle  which  they 
had  brought  from  the  ship.  They  had  re 
leased  some  geese  and  pigeons  while  they 
were  still  on  the  ship  and  had  brought 
two  hens  and  two  cocks  with  them.  The 
father  knew  that  they  must  prepare  for 
a  long  time  on  the  island,  and  his 
thoughts  were  as  much  on  provisions  for 
the  future  as  for  their  immediate  wants. 

The  father  and  Fritz,  the  oldest  son, 
spent  the  next  day  exploring  the  island. 
They  found  gourds  from  which  they 
would  make  dishes  and  spoons,  and  many 
edible  fruits  and  roots.  Coconuts,  grow 
ing  in  abundance,  provided  a  treat  for 
the  mother  and  the  younger  boys.  Fritz 
captured  a  small  monkey  which  he  took 
back  for  a  pet.  The  younger  boys  were 
enchanted  with  the  mischievous  little 
animal. 

The  Robinsons  spent  the  next  few  days 
securing  themselves  against  hunger  and 
danger  from  wild  animals.  The  father 
and  Fritz  made  several  trips  to  the  ship 
in  their  efforts  to  bring  ashore  everything 
that  they  could  possibly  use.  The  do 
mesticated  animals  on  the  ship  were 
towed  back  to  the  island.  There  was 
also  a  great  store  of  firearms  and  ammu 
nition,  hammocks  for  sleeping,  carpenter's 
tools,  lumber,  cooking  utensils,  silver 
ware,  and  dishes. 

While  the  father  and  Fritz  were  sal 
vaging  these  supplies,  the  mother  and  the 
younger  boys  were  working  on  the  shore, 


sowing  seeds,  examining  the  contents  of 
the  kegs  which  floated  to  shore,  and  in 
every  way  possible  making  the  tent  home 
more  livable.  The  mother  and  boys  also 
explored  the  island  to  find  a  spot  for  a 
more  permanent  home.  When  the  father 
and  Fritz  could  join  them,  the  whole 
family  helped  to  construct  a  tree  house 
which  would  give  them  protection  from 
wild  animals  which  they  feared  might 
dwell  on  the  island. 

Through  the  following  weeks  each 
day  brought  a  new  adventure  of  some 
kind.  There  were  encounters  with  wild 
birds  and  terrifying  animals.  Emest,  the 
second  son,  had  studied  nature  with  great 
interest  before  their  ill-fated  voyage,  and 
it  was  he  who  identified  many  of  the 
animals  and  birds.  They  found  some 
food  which  they  considered  luxuries, 
sugarcane,  honey,  potatoes,  and  spices. 
They  fenced  in  a  secluded  area  for  their 
cattle,  so  that  they  might  have  a  constant 
supply  of  milk  and  fresh  meat.  Several 
new  dwellings  were  constructed  to  pro 
vide  homes  on  all  sides  of  the  island. 
The  father  found  a  tree  which  contained 
long  threads,  and  after  he  had  constructed 
a  loom  the  mother  was  able  to  weave  cloth 
for  new  clothing.  Jack  and  Francis,  the 
younger  boys,  contributed  to  the  welfare 
of  the  family  by  helping  their  mother  to 
care  for  the  animals  and  thresh  the  grain 
grown  from  seeds  brought  from  the  ship. 

Many  times  the  little  band  found  their 
labor  destroyed  by  forces  they  could  not 
control.  Goats  ate  the  bark  off  young 
fruit  trees  they  had  planted.  Monkeys 
robbed  their  food  stores  frequently,  and 
jackals  and  serpents  killed  some  of  their 
pets.  But  the  family  would  not  be  too 
discouraged,  for  they  knew  that  they  had 
been  very  fortunate  to  be  saved  on  an 
island  which  provided  food  and  shelter 
in  such  abundance. 

About  a  year  later  they  discovered  a 
cave  which  became  a  home  and  a  storage 
place  for  their  supplies.  In  it  they  were 
protected  from  the  rains  and  their  sup 
plies  were  safe  from  intruders.  They 
spent  many  enjoyable  evenings  reading 


944 


books  they  salvaged  from  the  ship.  The 
father  and  mother  had  found  a  way  to 
make  candles  from  the  sap  of  a  native 
tree.  Altogether,  their  lives  were  agree 
able  and  happy,  and  each  morning  and 
evening  they  thanked  God  for  His  good 


ness. 


Ten  years  passed.  The  boys  had  be 
come  young  men,  and  Fritz  often  sailed 
long  distances  in  the  canoe  he  had  con 
structed.  One  day  he  captured  a  wounded 
albatross  and  found  attached  to  it  a  note, 
written  in  English,  asking  someone  to 
help  an  English  girl  who  was  in  a  cave 
near  a  volcano.  The  father  and  Fritz 
decided  that  Fritz  must  try  to  find  her 
without  telling  the  rest  of  the  family  of 
the  note  or  the  proposed  search.  Fritz, 
successful  in  his  search,  found  a  young 
girl,  Emily  Montrose,  who  had  also  been 
shipwrecked  as  she  was  sailing  from  India 
to  her  home  in  England.  The  members 
of  the  Robinson  family  accepted  Emily 
as  a  daughter  and  a  sister  who  was  able 
to  help  the  mother  in  her  duties  and  give 
the  boys  much  joy  with  her  stories  of  life 
in  India.  Her  own  mother  was  dead. 
Emily  had  lived  in  India  with  her  father, 
an  army  officer,  who  had  sailed  back  to 
England  on  a  different  ship.  She  knew 
he  would  be  worried  about  her,  but  there 
was  no  way  for  her  to  communicate  with 
him. 

One  morning,  a  few  months  later,  the 
castaways  were  astonished  to  hear  the 
sound  of  three  cannon  shots.  Not  know 
ing  whether  the  sound  came  from  a 
friendly  ship  or  from  a  pirate  vessel,  they 


loaded  their  small  boat  with  firearms  and 
sailed  out  to  investigate  the  noise.  There 
they  found  an  English  ship  which  had 
been  driven  off  her  course  by  a  storm. 
It  was  impossible  for  this  ship  to  take 
Emily  back  to  England,  but  the  captain 
promised  to  notify  her  father  and  to 
send  a  ship  back  for  her.  A  captain,  his 
wife  and  two  children,  who  were  on 
board,  were  so  enchanted  with  the  island 
that  they  asked  to  be  allowed  to  stay. 
It  seemed  as  if  a  little  colony  would  grow 
there. 

Six  months  later  the  ship  sent  by 
Emily's  father  arrived.  Fritz  and  Jack 
had  a  great  longing  to  see  their  homeland 
again,  and  since  they  were  now  mature 
young  men,  their  mother  and  father  al 
lowed  them  to  return  with  Emily.  Before 
he  left  Fritz  told  his  father  that  he  loved 
Emily  and  intended  to  ask  her  father's 
permission  to  propose  marriage  to  her. 
The  Robinsons,  who  loved  Emily  dearly, 
gave  their  blessing  to  their  son. 

The  father,  who  had  prepared  a  manu 
script  relating  their  adventures,  gave  it 
to  Fritz  before  the  boy  sailed,  in  the 
hope  that  their  story  might  be  of  interest 
to  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  father  and 
mother  wanted  to  spend  their  remaining 
days  on  the  island.  Now  that  their  island 
was  known,  commerce  would  begin  and 
a  colony  could  grow  there.  The  father 
prayed  that  the  little  colony  would  in 
crease  in  prosperity  and  piety,  and  con 
tinue  to  deserve  and  receive  the  blessings 
of  the  merciful  God  who  had  cared  for 
them  all  so  tenderly  in  the  past. 


A  TALE  OF  TWO  CITIES 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Dickens  (1812-1870) 

Type  of  flat:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  flat:  French  Revolution 

Locale:  France  and  England 

First  published:  1859 

Principal  characters 

DR.  MANETTE,  a  former  prisoner  in  the  Bastille 
Lucre  MANETTE,  his  daughter 
MR.  LORRY,  an  agent  of  Tellson  &  Co. 
CHARLES  DARNAY,  Marquis  St.  Evre"monde 


945 


SYDNEY  CARTON,  a  lawyer's  clerk 

Miss  PROSS,  a  servant 

MADAME  DEFARGE,  a  French  revolutionary 

M.  DEFARGE,  her  husband 


Critique: 

Dickens  is  a  remarkable  story-teller. 
Although  one  may  complain  of  the  many 
characters  in  his  stories,  each  character  is 
necessary  to  complete  the  pattern  of  the 
Dickens  plot.  In  this  novel  of  the  French 
Revolution,  Dickens'  treatment  of  his 
complicated  plot,  every  event  of  which 
draws  toward  one  great  climax  against 
the  greater  drama  of  history,  is  both  de 
lightful  and  fascinating  to  experience. 

The  Story: 

The  eaily  rumbling  of  the  French 
Revolution  was  echoing  across  the  Eng 
lish  Channel.  In  Paris  a  lonely  old  man 
waited  in  an  attic  for  his  first  meeting 
with  a  daughter  whom  he  had  not  seen 
since  she  was  a  baby.  With  the  aid  of 
Mr.  Jarvis  Lorry,  an  agent  for  the  Franco- 
British  banking  house  of  Tellson  &  Co., 
the  lovely  Lucie  Manette  had  been 
brought  to  Paris  to  find  her  father,  im 
prisoned  for  eighteen  years  in  the  Bas 
tille.  Above  the  wine  shop  of  Madame 
and  M.  Defarge,  Dr.  Manette  was  kept 
secretly  until  his  rescuers  could  take  him 
safely  back  to  England.  Day  after  day 
Madame  Defarge  sat  outside  her  wine 
shop,  knitting  into  a  long  scarf  strange 
symbols  which  would  later  spell  out  a 
death  list  of  hated  aristocrats. 

Five  years  later  Lucie  Manette  sat  be 
side  her  father  in  the  courtroom  of  the 
Old  Bailey,  where  Charles  Darnay,  a 
teacher  of  languages,  was  on  trial  for 
treasonable  activities  which  involved  his 
passing  between  France  and  England  on 
secret  business.  A  man  named  John  Bar- 
sad  had  brought  charges  against  him. 
Lucie  and  her  father  had  testified  they 
had  met  Damay  on  the  boat  when  they 
had  traveled  from  France  five  years 
earlier.  But  an  unusual  circumstance 
saved  the  prisoner.  Mr.  Stryver,  the 
prisoner's  counsel,  pointed  across  the 
courtroom  to  another  man  who  so  re 


sembled  the  prisoner  that  legal  identifica 
tion  of  Darnay  was  shaken.  The  other 
man  was  Sydney  Carton,  and  because  of 
the  likeness  between  the  two  Mr.  Stryver 
secured  an  acquittal  for  the  prisoner. 
Carton's  relationship  to  Stryver  was  that 
of  the  jackal  to  the  lion,  for  the  alcoholic, 
aimless  Carton  wrote  the  cases  which 
Stryver  pleaded  in  court. 

Lucie  and  her  father  lived  in  a  small 
tenement  under  the  care  of  their  maid, 
Miss  Press,  and  their  kindly  friend,  Mr. 
Lorry.  Jerry  Cruncher,  porter  at  Tellson 
&  Co.,  and  a  secret  resurrectionist,  was 
often  helpful.  Darnay  and  Carton  be 
came  frequent  callers  in  the  Manette 
household,  after  the  trial  which  had 
brought  them  together. 

In  France  the  fury  of  the  people  grew. 
Monseigneur  the  Marquis  St.  Evremonde, 
was  driving  in  his  carriage  through  the 
countryside  when  he  carelessly  killed  a 
child  of  a  peasant  named  Gaspard.  The 
nobleman  returned  to  his  castle  to  meet 
his  nephew,  who  was  visiting  from  Eng 
land,  Charles  Darnay 's  views  differed 
from  those  of  his  uncle.  Darnay  knew 
that  his  family  had  committed  grave  in 
justices,  for  which  he  begged  his  uncle 
to  make  amends.  Monseigneur  the  mar 
quis  haughtily  refused.  That  night  the 
marquis  was  murdered  in  his  bed. 

Darnay  returned  to  England  to  seek 
Dr.  Manette's  permission  to  court  Lucie. 
In  order  to  construct  a  bond  of  complete 
honesty,  Damay  attempted  to  tell  the 
doctor  his  true  French  name,  but  Manette 
fearfully  asked  him  to  wait  until  the 
morning  of  his  marriage  before  revealing 
it.  Carton  also  approached  Lucie  with  a 
proposal  of  marriage.  When  Lucie  re 
fused,  Carton  asked  her  always  to  re 
member  that  there  was  a  man  who  would 
give  his  own  life  to  keep  a  life  she  loved 
beside  her. 

Meanwhile   in   France  Madame  De> 


946 


farge  knitted  into  her  scarf  the  story  of 
the  hated  St.  Evremondes.  Gaspard  had 
been  hanged  for  the  assassination  of  the 
marquis;  monseigneur's  house  must  he 
destroyed.  John  Barsad,  the  spy,  brought 
news  that  Lucie  Manette  would  marry 
Charles  Darnay,  nephew  of  the  marquis. 
This  news  disturbed  Defarge,  for  Dr. 
Manette,  a  former  prisoner  of  the  Bas 
tille,  held  a  special  honor  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Revolutionists. 

Lucie  and  Darnay  were  married.  Syd 
ney  Carton  became  a  loyal  friend  of  the 
family.  Time  passed,  and  tiny  Lucie 
arrived.  When  the  child  was  six  years 
old,  in  the  year  1789,  the  French  people 
stormed  the  Bastille.  At  the  Bastille  De- 
farge  went  to  the  cell  where  Dr.  Manette 
had  been  a  prisoner  and  extracted  some 
papers  hidden  behind  a  stone  in  the  wall. 

One  day,  while  Darnay  was  talking  to 
Mr.  Lorry  at  Tellson  &  Co.,  a  letter  ad 
dressed  to  the  Marquis  St.  Evremonde 
was  placed  on  Mr.  Lorry's  desk.  Darnay 
offered  to  deliver  it  to  the  proper  person. 
When  he  was  alone,  he  read  the  letter. 
It  was  from  an  old  family  servant  who 
had  been  imprisoned  by  the  Revolution 
ists.  He  begged  the  Marquis  St.  Evre*- 
monde  to  save  his  life.  Damay  realized 
that  he  must  go  to  Paris.  Only  Dr.  Ma 
nette  knew  of  Darnay's  family  name,  and 
the  doctor  had  been  sworn  to  secrecy. 

Damay  and  Mr.  Lorry  went  to  Paris, 
the  latter  to  look  after  the  French  branch 
of  Tellson  &  Co.  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
Darnay  was  seized  as  an  undesirable  im 
migrant  after  Defarge  had  ordered  his 
arrest.  Mr.  Lorry  was  considerably  upset 
when  Lucie  and  Dr.  Manette  suddenly 
arrived  in  Paris.  Some  of  the  doctor's 
friends  had  informed  him  of  Darnay 's 
arrest.  The  old  man  felt  that  his  own 
imprisonment  in  the  Bastille  would  win 
the  sympathy  of  the  Revolutionists  and 
enable  him  to  save  his  son-in-law. 

After  fifteen  months  of  waiting,  Dar 
nay  was  brought  to  trial.  Able  to  prove 
his  innocence  of  harming  the  French 
people,  he  was  freed,  but  forbidden  to 
leave  France.  A  short  time  later  he  was 


again  arrested,  denounced  by  Defarge 
and  one  other  person  whose  name  thff 
officer  refused  to  disclose. 

While  shopping  one  day  in  the  Paris 
market,  Miss  Pross  and  Jerry  Cruncher, 
who  were  in  Paris  with  Lucie  and  Mr. 
Lorry,  met  a  man  who  caused  Miss  Pross 
to  scream  in  amazement  and  Jerry  to 
stare  in  silent  astonishment.  The  man 
was  Solomon,  Miss  Pross'  lost  brother. 
Jerry  remembered  him  as  John  Barsad, 
the  man  who  had  been  a  spy-witness  at  the 
Old  Bailey.  Carton  arrived  on  the  scene 
at  that  moment,  and  he  was  able  to  force 
Barsad  to  come  with  him  to  the  office  of 
Tellson  &  Co.  for  a  private  conference 
Barsad  feared  detection  of  his  duplicity 
for  he  was  now  an  employee  of  the  Re 
publican  French  Government.  Carton 
and  Jerry  threatened  to  expose  him  as  a 
former  spy  for  the  English  government, 
the  enemy  of  France.  Carton  made  a  deal 
with  Barsad. 

When  Darnay  was  once  more  brought 
before  the  tribunal,  Defarge  testified 
against  him  and  named  Dr.  Manette  as 
the  other  accuser.  Defarge  produced  the 
papers  which  he  had  found  in  Dr.  Ma- 
nette's  cell  in  the  Bastille.  Therein  the 
doctor  had  written  the  story  of  his  arrest 
and  imprisonment  because  he  had  learned 
of  a  secret  crime  committed  by  a  St. 
Evr6rnonde  against  a  woman  of  humble 
birth  and  her  young  brother.  His  ac 
count  was  enough  to  convict  Darnay. 
Sentenced  for  the  crimes  of  his  ancestors, 
Darnay,  the  young  St.  Evre'monde,  was 
condemned  by  the  tribunal  to  the  guillo 
tine. 

Now  Sydney  Carton  began  to  act.  He 
visited  the  Defarge  wine  shop,  where  he 
learned  that  Madame  Defarge  was  the 
sister  of  the  woman  ruined  by  St.  Evre' 
monde  years  before.  Then  with  the  help 
of  the  false  Barsad,  he  gained  admit 
tance  to  the  prison  where  Darnay  had 
been  taken.  There  he  drugged  the  pris 
oner  and,  still  aided  by  the  cowed  Barsad, 
had  him  carried  from  the  cell.  Carton 
remained.  The  resemblance  between  the 
two  would  allow  him  to  pass  as  Darnay 


947 


and  prevent  discovery  of  the  aristocrat's 
escape. 

Madame  Defarge  went  to  tie  lodgings 
of  Lucie  and  Dr.  Manette  to  denounce 
them.  Only  Miss  Pross  was  there;  the 
others,  including  Darnay,  were  already 
on  their  way  to  safety.  To  keep  Madame 
Defarge  from  learning  of  their  escape, 
Miss  Pross  struggled  with  the  furious 


woman  demanding  admittance  to  Lucie's 
apartment.  Madame  Defarge  was  killed 
when  her  pistol  went  off.  Miss  Pross  was 
deaf  for  the  rest  of  her  life. 

Lucy  and  Darnay  returned  safely  to 
England.  Sydney  Carton  died  at  the 
guillotine,  giving  his  own  life  for  the 
happiness  of  his  dear  friends. 


TAMAR 

Type  of  work:   Poem 

Author:    Robinson  Jeffers   (1887-         ) 

Type  of  plot:    Psychological  melodrama 

Time  of  plot:   World  War  I 

Locale:    Caimel  Coast  Range,  California 

First  published:    1924 

Principal  characters: 

TAMAR  CAULDWELL,  a  neurotic  girl 
LEE  CAULDWELL,  her  brother 
DAVID  CAULDWEIX,  her  father 
JINNY  CAIILDWELL,  David's  idiot  sister 
STELLA  MORELAND,  sister  of  David's  dead  wife 
WILL  ANDREWS,  Tamar's  suitor 

Critique: 

Tamar  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  Jeffers' 
long  narrative  poems.  In  powerful  and 
rugged  language  he  outlines  the  turbu 
lent  lives  of  the  Cauldwell  family  and 
their  terrible  but  inevitable  destruction. 
The  symbol  which  he  employs  to  in 
dicate  humanity's  absorption  in  itself  is 
incest  and  its  resulting  miseries.  Tamar 
is  a  violent  and  powerful  story  told 
against  the  harshly  magnificent  back 
ground  of  the  Carmel  coastline  range. 
It  is  at  once  thrilling  and  moving. 


The  Story: 

Injured  when  his  horse  stumbled  and 
fell  over  a  sea  cliff,  young  Lee  Cauldwell 
was  nursed  back  to  health  by  his  sister 
Tamar.  Lee,  who  had  lived  a  wild  and 
dissolute  life,  vowed  to  give  up  his 
drinking  and  debauchery.  He  and  Tarnar 
became  devoted  to  each  other  during  his 
convalescence,  so  much  so  that  Lee 
jealously  warned  a  former  suitor  of  his 
sister  to  stay  away  from  her.  Old  David 


Cauldwell  feared  what  might  result  from 
the  isolation  of  his  family.  His  fears  were 
confirmed  when  the  brother  and  sister, 
after  swimming  in  the  river,  were  drawn 
to  each  other  against  their  wills. 

The  Cauldwell  family  was  a  peculiar 
group.  Besides  the  father  and  the  two 
children,  it  contained  two  old  women. 
Aunt  Jinny,  an  idiot  sister  of  David 
Cauldwell,  was  cared  for  by  Aunt  Stella, 
the  sister  of  David's  dead  wife.  Through 
the  confused  mumblings  of  Jinny,  Tamar 
realized  that  an  incestuous  relationship 
had  occurred  between  David  and  his  own 
sister  Helen. 

A  short  time  later,  Tamar  discovered 
that  she  was  pregnant.  Rather  than 
admit  that  Lee  was  the  father  of  her 
child,  she  deliberately  sought  out  and 
seduced  her  former  suitor,  Will  Andrews. 
Disgust  and  revulsion  grew  in  her  until 
she  hated  her  two  lovers  and,  most  of  all, 
herself.  She  felt  that  she  would  lose 
her  mind  unless  she  talked  to  someone. 


**d   Random 


Inc.     Published    by  The 


948 


Aunt  Stella  was  a  medium  through 
whom  the  voices  of  the  dead  sometimes 
spoke.  In  desperation,  Tamar  appealed 
to  her  to  let  her  speak  to  Helen.  That 
evening  she  and  Stella,  with  the  im 
becile  Jinny  between  them,  stole  down 
to  the  seashore,  so  that  they  would  not 
be  discovered  by  the  men.  Stella  grad 
ually  fell  into  a  trance,  and  through 
her  lips  Tamar  heard  the  voice  of  a 
man  who  told  her  that  the  coastline 
country  had  been  the  land  of  the  Indians, 
where  their  gods  used  to  come  to  them. 
He  ordered  Tamar  to  strip  and  dance  so 
that  the  gods  would  come  again.  Against 
her  will,  Tamar  danced  to  strange  gut 
tural  chants  from  the  lips  of  the  tranced 
woman.  After  a  while  the  chanting 
ceased  and  Tamar  returned  slowly  to 
her  senses.  Then  through  the  lips  of 
Stella  she  heard  the  voice  of  Helen 
taunting  her  for  the  shameful  orgy.  The 
voice,  after  warning  Tamar  that  she 
would  lose  her  child,  told  her  that  a 
fire  Tamar  had  earlier  set  in  the  cabin 
would  be  quenched  before  it  fulfilled  its 
purpose  of  destroying  the  corruption  of 
the  Cauldwell  family.  Then  in  a  mourn 
ful  voice  Helen  told  Tamar  of  the  horror 
of  death,  of  her  longing  for  life,  and  of 
her  need  to  haunt  Tamar  as  long  as 
she  lived,  because  she  possessed  life.  On 
the  shore,  unassisted  by  anyone  and  in 
great  agony,  Tamar  lost  her  baby. 

Back  in  the  cabin  once  more,  Tamar 
could  scarcely  restrain  the  hatred  she 
felt  for  her  family.  All  pity  had  left 
her,  and  all  love.  In  order  to  revenge 
herself  on  Helen,  she  tempted  her  old 
father  with  her  beauty.  Through  the 
medium  of  Stella,  Helen  cursed  Tamar 
and  pleaded  with  her  not  to  commit  that 
ultimate  folly. 

Lee,  who  had  returned  to  his  drinking, 
enlisted  in  the  army,  but  Tamar  was 
determined  not  to  let  him  go.  She  told 


him  that  the  child  had  not  been  his  but 
the  child  of  Will  Andrews,  who  had 
visited  her  late  at  night  after  she  had  set 
a  lighted  lamp  in  her  window  as  a  signal. 
Tamar  taunted  Lee  until  he  lashed  her 
with  a  whip. 

When  Will  Andrews  came  to  the 
cabin  that  night,  Tamar  told  him  that 
Lee  would  leave  the  following  day  for 
the  army  and  would  like  to  say  goodbye 
to  him.  The  meeting  between  the  two 
men  was  cool  but  amiable.  But  while  Lee 
was  out  of  the  room,  Tamar  showed  Will 
her  whip-lash  wounds  and  told  him  that 
she  had  lost  his  child  through  outrages 
which  both  her  father  and  Lee  had  per 
petrated  upon  her.  When  Lee  returned 
with  his  father,  Will  accused  him  of 
those  atrocities,  In  turn,  Lee  accused 
Will  of  having  attempted  to  set  fire  to 
their  home.  Tamar,  who  herself  had 
been  responsible,  said  nothing  but  goaded 
on  the  fight  with  her  smiles  and  wordless 
encouragement  to  Will.  Lee  stabbed 
Will  horribly  and  fatally. 

Helen,  through  the  person  of  Stella, 
tried  to  save  old  David  Cauldwell  from 
the  destroying  forces  of  hate  and  evil, 
but  he  refused  to  heed  her  warnings. 
Downstairs  the  idiot  Jinny,  alone  and 
disturbed,  was  attracted  by  the  light  of 
a  candle.  She  carried  it  to  the  window, 
where  the  flame  set  fire  to  the  blowing 
curtains.  Her  dying  shrieks  attracted 
the  attention  of  those  upstairs. 

Lee  tried  to  run  to  her,  but  Tamar 
clung  to  him  and  would  not  let  him 
go.  Will,  dying,  dragged  himself  as  far 
as  the  window.  Stella  rushed  out  into 
the  flaming  hall  and  perished.  The  old 
man  prayed  brokenly,  groveling  on  the 
floor.  Lee  made  one  last  effort  to  escape, 
but  Tamar,  glorying  in  the  destruction 
of  her  three  lovers,  embraced  him  until 
the  flames  consumed  them  all. 


949 


TAMBURLAINE  THE  GREAT 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Christopher  Marlowe  (1564-1593) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  plot:  Fourteenth  century 

Locale:  Asia 

First  presented'  ^  1587 

Principal  characters: 

TAMBURLATNE,  the  Scythian  conqueror 

ZENOCRATE,  his  wife 

BAJAZETH,  Emperor  o£  the  Turks 

CALLAPESTE,  his  son 

MYCETES,  King  of  Persia 

COSROE,  his  brother 

THERIDAMAS, 

TECHELLES,  and 

USUMCASANE,  followers  of  Tamburlaine 

ORCANES,  King  of  Natolia 
Critique: 

A  study  of  driving  ambition,  Tambur 
laine  the  Great  is  also  notable  for  the 
dignity  and  beauty  of  Marlowe's  lines. 
The  poetry  of  the  play  is  all  the  more 
remarkable  in  view  of  die  fact  that  it 
was  among  the  first  written  in  English 
blank  verse.  Marlowe  wrote  so  well,  with 
so  much  original  invention,  that  for  a 
time  many  scholars  believed  him  the  au 
thor  of  some  plays  now  attributed  to 
Shakespeare.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  Mar 
lowe  is  the  best  of  pre-Shakespearean 
playwrights. 


The  Story: 

When  Mycetes  became  king  of  Persia, 
bis  brother,  Cosroe,  blatantly  told  the 
new  king  that  he  was  not  fit  for  the 
office.  Among  Mycetes'  greatest  concerns 
were  the  raids  of  Tamburlaine,  the  Scy 
thian  bandit,  upon  the  Persian  people. 
Because  it  was  rumored  that  this  robber 
chief  aspired  to  rule  the  East,  Mycetes 
sent  Theridarnas  with  a  thousand  troops 
to  capture  Tamburlaine,  and  ordered 
another  lord  named  Menaphon  to  follow 
Theridarnas.  Cosroe  sarcastically  pointed 
out  to  the  king  that  Menaphon  was 
needed  in  Babylon,  where  the  province 
was  about  to  revolt  against  such  an  in 
ferior  sovereign  as  Mycetes.  At  this  in 
sult  Mycetes  vowed  to  revenge  himself 
against  his  brother. 


Menaphon  asked  Cosroe  if  he  were  not 
afraid  of  the  king's  threat,  but  Cosroe 
assured  the  Persian  lord  that  there  was  a 
plot  afoot  to  make  Cosroe  emperor  of 
Asia,  explaining  that  it  hurt  him  to  wit 
ness  the  scorn  now  being  directed  toward 
the  Persian  monarchy,  which  had  for 
merly  awed  the  entire  world.  Shortly 
afterward  there  was  a  revolt,  and  the 
rebellious  lords  offered  Cosroe  the  crown. 
Cosroe  set  out  to  annex  the  thousand 
troops  of  Theridarnas  in  order  to  conquer 
his  brother  Mycetes. 

Meanwhile,  on  a  Scythian  hill,  Tam 
burlaine  held  Zenocrate,  the  daughter  of 
the  sultan  of  Egypt.  To  her  the  former 
shepherd  spoke  grandly  of  kingdoms  he 
would  conquer.  Techelles  and  Usumca- 
sane  echoed  his  boasts,  vowing  to  follow 
Tamburlaine  to  the  death.  To  Zeno 
crate  the  ambitious  leader  promised  all 
the  wealth  and  power  in  his  kingdom;  he 
was  in  love.  Suddenly  the  thousand  horse 
troops  of  Mycetes  attacked  the  five  hun 
dred  foot  soldiers  of  Tamburlaine.  When 
Theridarnas  accosted  the  Scythian,  he 
was  so  impressed  by  the  appearance  of 
the  former  shepherd  that  Tamburlaine 
was  able  to  persuade  Theridarnas  to  be 
come  an  ally.  Visions  of  mighty  king 
doms  and  power  had  persuaded  Theri 
darnas. 

Cosroe,    smugly    discussing    Tambur- 


950 


laine's  personality  and  latest  conquest, 
was  preparing  to  send  troops  to  join 
Tamburlaine  and  Theridamas  by  the 
river  Araris,  there  to  engage  the  forces  of 
Mycetes,  who  was  fuming  with  rage  at 
the  revolt.  Meander,  a  follower  of  My 
cetes,  conceived  the  idea  that  he  who 
could  conquer  Tamburlaine  would  be 
offered  the  province  of  Albania,  and  who 
ever  took  Theridamas  could  have  Media, 
but  Mycetes  asked  that  Cosroe  be  cap 
tured  alive.  Mycetes  was  convinced  that 
the  followers  of  the  bandit  Tamburlaine 
could  be  bribed  to  desert  their  leader, 
who  had  purchased  them  by  bribes  in 
the  first  place. 

When  Cosroe  met  Tamburlaine,  the 
Scythian  boasted  of  his  great  future; 
Theridamas  indicated  to  Cosroe  that  he 
believed  in  Tamburlaine's  ability.  Cer 
tain  of  victory,  Cosroe  promised  Techelles 
and  Usumcasane  rewards  for  their  deeds. 

Mycetes  was  defeated.  After  the  vic 
tory,  Tamburlaine  bribed  Theridamas, 
Techelles,  and  Usumcasane  with  a  prom 
ise  of  kingdoms  of  their  own  if  they 
would  attack  Cosroe.  Marveling  at  Tam- 
burlaine's  arrogant  daring,  Cosroe  pre 
pared  for  battle.  Cosroe  was  wounded 
in  battle,  and  Tamburlaine,  gloating  over 
his  easy  conquest,  proclaimed  himself 
king  of  Persia. 

At  the  court  in  Algiers,  the  kings  of 
Fez,  Morocco,  and  Algiers  fumed  at  the 
bandit  who  had  taken  Persia  and  who 
now  was  forcing  them  to  raise  their  siege 
of  Greek  Constantinople.  Bajazeth,  king 
of  the  Turks,  dispatched  a  message  to 
Tamburlaine  and  offered  threats  if  the 
Scythian  conqueror  dared  set  foot  in 
Africa.  Meanwhile  the  kings  planned  to 
take  Greece  by  siege. 

Zenocrate  had  grown  slowly  to  admire 
Tamburlaine,  who  was  now  plotting  the 
conquest  of  the  Turkish  kings.  Zabina, 
wife  of  Bajazeth,  sneered  at  Zenocrate 
and  called  her  a  concubine.  When  he 
had  subdued  Bajazeth,  Tamburlaine 
made  Zabina  Zenocrate's  attendant  slave. 

The  next  victim  of  the  Scythian's  lust 
for  power  was  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  Zeno- 


crate's  father.  To  show  his  might,  Tam 
burlaine  had  put  Bajazeth  in  a  cage  and 
subjected  him  to  base  ridicule  by  using 
his  prisoner  as  a  footstool.  Still  Bajazeth 
and  Zabina  courageously  insulted  their 
master  by  hurling  disdainful  remarks  and 
threats  at  him. 

As  Tamburlaine's  armies  prepared  to 
take  Damascus,  Zenocrate  gently  asked 
her  paramour  to  deal  kindly  with  the 
city  of  her  father,  but  he  refused.  Zeno 
crate  grieved  until  Tamburlaine  promised 
not  to  harm  her  father  when  Damascus 
fell.  By  now  the  Scythian  conqueror 
loved  Zenocrate  dearly,  and  while  he 
ordered  three  emissaries  from  Damascus 
to  be  killed,  he  thought  of  his  beloved's 
beauty  and  tenderness.  Zenocrate  herself 
was  torn  between  her  conscience,  which 
revolted  against  her  lord's  cruelty,  and 
her  love  for  him. 

When  Tamburlaine  brought  the  sul 
tan  alive  to  Zenocrate,  the  conqueror 
promised  to  give  the  sultan's  kingdom 
back  to  him  if  Zenocrate  would  accept 
the  title  of  Queen  of  Egypt.  She  readily 
accepted  this  condition  and  Tamburlaine 
planned  his  wedding  with  Zenocrate. 

Bajazeth  and  Zabina  had  killed  them 
selves  by  dashing  their  heads  against  the 
bars  of  the  cage  in  which  Tamburlaine 
had  imprisoned  the  Turkish  monarch. 

Orcanes,  king  of  Natolia,  preparing  for 
a  battle  with  Sigismund,  king  of  Hun 
gary,  learned  that  Tamburlaine  was  mus 
tering  for  an  attack.  He  sent  for  all  the 
Christian  rulers  of  Europe  to  form  an 
alliance  against  an  invasion  by  the  Scy 
thian.  The  former  enemies,  Sigismund 
and  Orcanes  the  Mohammedan,  entered 
into  a  pact  of  friendship  with  the  rulers 
of  Buda  and  Bohemia. 

Callapine,  son  of  Bajazeth  and  a  pris 
oner  of  Tamburlaine,  was  guarded  by  Al- 
meda,  whom  the  young  prince  bribed 
with  offers  of  wealth  and  power  if  he 
would  help  Callapine  to  escape.  Tam 
burlaine  by  now  had  three  sons,  Caly- 
phas,  Amyras,  and  Celebinus.  Calyphas 
expressed  a  desire  to  lead  a  peac 
with  his  mother  Zenocxate. 


951 


The  treaty  of  the  monarchs  against 
Tamburlaine  did  not  hold.  When  the 
Mohammedan  Orcanes  withdrew  his 
troops  from  his  campaign  against  the 
Christians,  Sigismund  was  urged  by  his 
allies  to  attack  Orcanes.  Orcanes  was 
trapped,  for  he  was  at  the  same  time 
preparing  to  attack  Tamburlaine.  The 
betrayed  monarch,  crying  for  his  enemies' 
Christ  to  help  him  defeat  the  traitors, 
prepared  to  defend  himself.  Sigismund 
was  killed  in  the  fighting,  and  Orcanes 
was  the  victor  in  the  battle. 

Zenocrate  had  become  ill,  and  when 
she  died,  Tamburlaine  was  overcome 
with  such  grief  that  he  would  not  have 
her  buried  until  after  his  own  death. 

Escaping  with  the  aid  of  Almeda,  Cal- 
lapine  returned  to  his  father's  kingdom 
and  marshaled  the  allies  to  defeat  Tam 
burlaine  and  revenge  Bajazeth's  death. 
Inconsolable  in  his  grief  for  Zenocrate, 
Tamburlaine  prepared  to  fight  the  forces 
of  Callapine.  The  Scythian's  sons,  Amy- 
ras  and  Celebinus,  were  eager  for  battle, 


but  Calyphas,  disliking  his  father's  career 
of  bloodshed,  refused  to  join  the  fighting. 

After  he  had  vanquished  his  Turkish 
enemies,  Tamburlaine  returned  to  his 
camp  and  wrathfully  stabbed  Calyphas, 
who  had  remained  in  his  tent  all  the 
while.  The  Turkish  monarchs  were 
bridled  like  horses,  and  under  Tambur- 
laine's  whip,  forced  to  pull  his  carriage. 
The  conqueror  then  planned  to  take 
Babylon.  After  this  city  was  taken,  ter 
rible  plunder,  rape,  and  murder  followed, 
Tamburlaine  was  now  mad  with  lust  and 
power.  Only  Callapine  was  still  free  to 
oppose  him. 

Tamburlaine  fell  ill  with  some  mysteri 
ous  malady,  and  his  physician  declared 
that  he  was  dying.  After  the  dying  con 
queror  had  crowned  his  son  Amyras 
monarch  of  his  empires,  he  sent  for 
Zenocrate's  hearse.  Bidding  his  son  to 
reign  with  power,  Tamburlaine,  the 
scourge  of  God,  died  leaning  over  his 
beloved  Zenocrate Js  coffin. 


TAPS  FOR  PRIVATE  TUSSIE 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:   Jesse  Stuart  (1907-         ) 

Type  of  plot:   Regional  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:   Kentucky 

First  published:    1943 

Principal  characters: 

GRANDPA  TUSSIE,  head  of  the  Tussie  clan 
GRANDMA  TUSSIE,  ids  wife 
GEORGE  TUSSIE,  his  brother 
UNCLE  MOTT  TUSSIE,  his  son 
UNCLE  KIM  TirssrE,  his  deceased  son 
AUNT  VITTIE  TUSSIE,  Kim's  wife 
Sn>  SEAGKAVES  TUSSIE,  a  grandson 

Critique: 

Jesse  Stuart,  who  came  into  sudden 
fame  with  his  book  of  Kentucky  poems, 
Man  With  a  Rull-Tongue  Plow,  has  con 
tinued  to  use  this  familiar  background 
in  the  series  of  novels  and  short  stories 
which  have  followed.  Stuart  displays  a 


great  understanding  for  the  people  about 
whom  he  writes  in  Taps  for  Private  Tus 
sie.  In  this  novel  of  the  Kentucky  moun 
tain  people  the  plot  is  unimportant;  the 
characters  are  the  story.  Stuart's  treat 
ment  of  this  region  grows  out  of  his 


authot 


E-  p- 


952 


deep  familiarity  with  the  place  and  its 
people.  He  himself  has  lived  the  life 
about  which  he  writes. 

The  Story: 

There  was  trouble  at  Grandpa  Tussie's. 
In  the  coal  shed  behind  the  schoolhouse 
where  the  Tussies  lived,  Uncle  Kim's 
body  was  beginning  to  smell.  Kim  Tus- 
sie  had  been  killed  in  the  war.  The 
government  had  sent  his  body  home,  and 
now  the  Tussie  clan  had  gathered  for 
the  funeral.  Kim's  folks,  Grandpa  and 
Grandma  Tussie,  comforted  Aunt  Vittie, 
Kim's  wife,  who  was  screaming  and  wail 
ing.  Uncle  Mott,  Kim's  brother,  was 
telling  how  he  had  identified  the  body. 
Sid,  Kim's  young  nephew,  was  just 
excited.  There  had  not  been  so  much 
going  on  since  he  could  remember.  The 
noise  the  Tussie  kin  made  as  they  carried 
the  coffin  up  the  mountainside  could 
not  soon  be  forgotten  by  a  young  boy. 

Uncle  Kim  had  left  Aunt  Vittie  ten 
thousand  dollars  in  government  insur 
ance,  and  the  day  after  the  funeral  she 
rented  the  Rayburn  mansion  and  filled 
it  with  new  furniture,  all  ready  for 
Grandpa  and  Grandma,  Uncle  Mott,  and 
Sid  to  move  in.  It  was  the  biggest  and 
best  house  any  of  the  Tussies  had  ever 
seen.  Uncle  Mott  flicked  the  electric 
lights  off  and  on  all  day.  Sid  used  the 
bathroom  over  and  over.  Aunt  Vittie 
bought  them  all  new  clothes  to  go  with 
the  house.  To  Sid  it  was  all  wonderful, 
but  his  happiness  was  spoiled  a  little 
when  he  realized  Uncle  Kim  had  to  die 
in  order  for  the  rest  of  them  to  have  that 
splendor. 

The  next  few  weeks  were  really  a 
miracle  in  the  lives  of  the  Tussies, 
Grandpa  continued  to  get  his  relief  gro 
ceries  and  Aunt  Vittie  bought  more  gro 
ceries  at  the  store.  Grandpa  began  to 
look  for  more  of  the  Tussies  to  come 
when  they  heard  about  the  money. 
Grandpa  thought  his  brother  George 
would  be  the  first.  Brother  George  had 
been  married  five  times.  He  could  play 
a  fiddle  till  it  made  a  man  cry. 


Grandpa  was  right.  When  George 
heard  about  the  money,  he  decided  to 
come  home  to  die.  Uncle  Mott  hoped 
that  that  time  would  come  soon,  but 
Aunt  Vittie  looked  at  George  and  smiled. 
George  played  his  fiddle  far  into  the 
night,  playing  tunes  Aunt  Vittie  asked 
for,  and  Grandpa  knew  George  had  come 
to  stay.  Aunt  Vittie  bought  George  new 
clothes,  too,  and  Uncle  Mott  began  to 
look  mean. 

Then  more  Tussies  came,  first  Unclfl 
Ben,  then  Dee,  then  Young  Uncle  Ben, 
then  Starkie,  then  Watt,  then  Sabie,  then 
Abe,  all  with  their  wives  and  young 
ones.  The  mansion  was  ready  to  burst. 
Only  Grandpa  knew  them  all.  Wher» 
Grandma  counted  forty-six  of  them,  she 
would  stand  for  no  more. 

The  money  began  to  go  fast.  Sid  knew 
now  why  Grandpa  and  Grandma  had 
not  cried  at  Kim's  funeral.  They  had 
known  Aunt  Vittie  would  get  the  money 
and  all  the  Tussies  would  live  high. 
Brother  George's  fiddle  playing  had  Aunt 
Vittie  looking  as  she  had  never  looked 
before.  Uncle  Mott  was  losing  out  and 
he  looked  dangerous. 

Grandpa  knew  things  were  bound  to 
change.  He  was  right.  First  the  govern 
ment  man  came  and  stopped  their  relief. 
It  hurt  Grandpa  to  lose  his  relief.  He 
had  had  it  for  years  and  had  expected  it 
to  go  on  forever.  Then  George  Rayburn 
came  to  inspect  his  house.  When  he  saw 
the  floor  full  of  nail  holes,  the  broken 
windowpanes,  the  charcoal  and  pencil 
marks  on  the  walls,  he  threatened  to 
bring  suit  if  the  Tussies  did  not  leave  at 
once.  But  the  uncles  and  the  brothers 
and  the  cousins  twice  removed  refused 
to  leave.  It  was  not  until  Sheriff  White- 
apple  came  with  the  law  papers  that 
they  knew  they  were  whipped.  That 
night  there  was  the  grandest  dance  of 
all.  Aunt  Vittie  kissed  Brother  George 
and  then  she  kissed  Uncle  Mott,  but 
not  very  hard.  It  looked  as  if  George 
were  winning. 

The  next  day  the  Tussies  began  to 
leave.  Grandpa  and  Grandma,  Aunt  Vit- 


953 


rfe,  Brother  George,  Uncle  Mott,  and 
Sid  were  the  last  to  go.  Aunt  Vittie  had 
bought  fifty  acres  of  land  and  an  old 
shack  with  the  last  of  her  money,  and 
she  put  the  farm  in  Grandpa's  name. 
They  had  no  furniture,  no  sheets,  no 
dishes,  since  Rayburn  had  attached 
everything  to  pay  for  damages  to  his 
house.  There  was  only  Grandpa's  old- 
age  pension  check  to  look  forward  to. 
But  Uncle  Mott  and  Brother  George 
made  a  tahle  and  sapling  beds  and  Sid 
found  their  old  dishes  in  the  gully  by 
the  old  schoolhouse,  and  the  Tussies 
began  living  as  they  had  always  lived. 

Then  came  the  worst  blow  of  all. 
Someone  had  reported  that  Grandpa  now 
owned  land,  and  his  old-age  pension 
was  stopped.  Sometimes  there  was  not 
enough  to  eat.  Uncle  Mott  and  George 
began  to  look  dangerous.  Sid  knew  bad 
trouble  was  coming.  After  Brother 
George  and  Vittie  were  married,  Uncle 
Mott  stayed  in  town  most  of  the  time, 
drinking  bootleg  and  getting  mean  drunk. 

Grandpa  knew  his  time  on  earth  was 
about  up,  but  he  felt  something  was 
going  to  happen  that  he  did  not  want 
to  miss.  And  he  was  right  again.  Uncle 
Mott  came  home  from  town  one  day 
and  told  them  that  he  had  found  Young 
Uncle  Ben  and  Dee  and  had  shot  them 
for  reporting  Grandpa  to  the  relief 
agency.  As  Uncle  Mott  talked,  Brother 


George  began  to  stroke  his  fiddle,  and 
he  played  a  note  of  death.  Uncle  Mott, 
cursing  the  fiddle  for  being  the  cause 
of  all  his  trouble,  shot  the  fiddle  from 
George's  hands.  George  drew  his  gun 
and  shot  Uncle  Mott  through  the  head. 

Aunt  Vittie  had  been  to  town,  too, 
begging  food  for  Grandpa  and  the  rest, 
and  now  they  saw  her  coming,  walking 
close  beside  a  strange  man.  That  is,  he 
was  a  stranger  until  he  came  nearer,  and 
then  they  saw  that  it  was  Uncle  Kim, 
who  was  supposed  to  be  buried  on  the 
mountainside.  When  George  saw  the 
ghost,  he  went  through  the  windowpane. 
But  it  was  simple  for  Sheriff  Whiteapple, 
when  he  came  a  little  later,  to  follow  his 
footprints  in  the  snow. 

After  Kim  had  explained  that  he  had 
not  been  killed  after  all,  they  began 
to  understand  what  had  happened.  Uncle 
Mott  had  always  wanted  Aunt  Vittie, 
and  it  had  been  easy  for  him  to  identify 
a  body  as  Kim's.  And  Kim  told  more. 
He  told  Sid  that  he  was  Aunt  Vittie's 
son,  that  she  had  been  wronged  by  a 
rich  man  who  paid  Kim  to  marry  her, 
and  that  now  Sid  would  be  their  son. 

That  night  it  was  as  if  nothing  had 
happened,  except  for  Uncle  Mott's  body 
in  the  shack.  To  Sid  it  was  like  a 
dream,  but  a  dream  with  life  in  it.  For 
the  first  time  he  began  to  feel  really 
good.  Peace  had  come  to  the  Tussies. 


TARAS  BULBA 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Nikolai  V.  Gogol  (1809-1852) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1835 

Principal  characters: 

TARAS  BULBA,  a  Cossack  warrior 

OSTAP,  Taras'  older  son 

ANDRH,  Taras'  younger  son 

YANEEL,  a  Jewish  merchant 

DAUGHTER  OF  THE  POLISH  WATWODE,  Andrii's  sweetheart 

Critique: 

Taras  Bulba  is  a  prose  poem  in  praise 
of  the  Cossack  warrior,  celebrating,  as  it 
does,  the  brave  deeds  of  those  hardy 


fighters.  Presenting  the  life  of  the  Cos 
sack  band  on  the  march  and  in  battle, 
Gogol  uses  a  theme  which  is  truly  epic 


954 


Certainly  Gogol  intended  this  heroic  tale 
as  a  romantic  commentary  of  the  dullness 
of  life  in  his  own  day.  Its  application 
for  our  own  time  is  just  as  apt. 

The  Story: 

When  the  two  sons  of  Taras  Bulba  re 
turned  home  after  finishing  their  studies 
at  the  Royal  Seminary  in  Kiev,  their 
father  ridiculed  their  monastic  garb. 
Ostap,  the  older  of  the  two,  insisted  that 
any  insult  must  he  avenged,  and  father 
and  son  began  to  exchange  blows.  Taras, 
learning  in  this  manner  that  Ostap  was 
a  stout  contender,  embraced  him  heartily. 
The  father  would  have  liked  also  f  to  try 
the  mettle  of  his  younger  son,  Andrii,  but 
his  wife  intervened,  preventing  any  more 
fisticuffs. 

In  honor  of  his  sons'  arrival  Taras 
entertained  all  the  local  officers  of  the 
Zaporozhian  Cossacks.  Under  the  stimu 
lus  of  corn  brandy,  Taras  resolved  to  take 
his  sons  the  next  day  to  the  Setch,  the 
permanent  camp  of  the  fighting  Cossacks. 
The  mother  was  heartbroken  to  hear  that 
she  must  part  with  her  sons,  but  Taras 
was  firm.  Before  the  party  left  for  the 
encampment,  all  sat  down,  even  the 
servants,  while  the  mother  blessed  her 
sons  and  gave  them  holy  pictures  to  wear 
around  their  necks. 

Taras  Bulba  and  his  sons  rode  off  to 
gether  across  the  steppes,  each  concerned 
with  his  own  thoughts.  Taras  was  a  Cos 
sack  leader  imbued  with  the  old-fashioned 
ideas  that  the  only  good  life  was  that  of 
the  soldier.  Ostap,  when  first  enrolled 
at  the  seminary,  had  found  life  there  un 
bearable;  but  he  gradually  grew  accus 
tomed  to  scholastic  life  and  became  a 
good  student.  Though  not  a  leader  at  the 
seminary,  he  was  willing  to  follow  other 
boys  whose  main  interests,  like  his  own, 
were  war  and  revelry.  Andrii  was  of  a 
different  sort.  He  was  a  willing  student, 
a  better  leader,  but  was  also  passionately 
fond  of  women,  who  came  in  his  dreams 
to  trouble  his  sleep.  He  remembered  a 
beautiful  girl  who  one  day  had  laughed 
from  her  window.  Learning  that  she  was 


the  daughter^  of  the  Polish  Waiwode  oi 
Koven,  Andrii  daringly  visited  the  girl 
in  her  bedroom  the  following  night.  To 
his  regret  she  left  the  city  with  her 
father  soon  afterward. 

Three  days  later  Taras  and  his  sons 
reached  the  suburb  of  the  Setch,  where 
the  workmen  and  merchants  for  the 
great  encampment  were  located.  Finally 
they  came  to  the  Setch  itself,  and  the 
Cossacks  uproariously  greeted  Taras,  their 
old  comrade-in-arms.  The  only  require 
ments  for  admission  to  the  Setch  were 
belief  in  Christ,  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 
the  Church.  If  the  members  lacked 
money,  they  simply  plundered  the  mer 
chants  in  the  suburb.  Andrii  and  Ostap 
fitted  well  into  this  wild  life  and  soon 
they  gained  recognition  among  the  Cos 
sacks  for  their  bravery  and  daring. 

Not  wanting  his  sons  to  be  idle,  Taras 
consulted  the  Cossack  leader  about  the 
possibility  of  stirring  up  some  bold  enter 
prise.  Taras  suggested  attacking  the 
Turks,  but  he  was  told  that  a  treaty 
of  peace  had  been  signed  with  the  sultan, 
Sly  Taras  then  arranged  for  a  meeting  of 
the  whole  encampment,  at  which  Kird- 
yaga,  a  close  friend,  was  chosen  as  the 
new  leader.  The  next  day  Kirdyaga  called 
the  group  together  and  harangued  them 
into  voting  for  a  raid  on  the  coasts  of 
Anatolia. 

Immediately  the  Setch  became  active 
with  preparations  for  the  march.  Before 
arrangements  were  completed,  however, 
a  group  of  Cossacks  appeared  in  a  barge 
and  reported  persecution  and  defeat  at 
the  hands  of  the  Poles.  The  Jews  were 
also  accused,  and  so  the  enraged  Cossacks 
threw  the  Jewish  merchants  into  the 
Dnieper  River.  Only  one  escaped,  a 
trader  named  Yankel,  who  was  saved  by 
the  intercession  of  Taras  Bulba. 

The  Zaporozhti  began  their  trek  of 
pillage  and  plunder  throughout  southeast 
Poland.  Arriving  at  the  city  of  Dubno, 
they  found  it  heavily  garrisoned  and 
walled.  The  Zaporozhti  then  surrounded 
Dubno,  cutting  off  all  food  supplies  from 
the  surrounding  district,  and  gave  them- 


955 


selves  up  to  pillage  and  drunken  revelry. 

Both  of  Taras*  sons  were  bored  with 
this  inactivity.  One  night  Andrii  was 
awakened  by  a  Tatar  serving-woman. 
She  told  him  that  her  mistress  was  the 
beautiful  daughter  of  the  waiwode,  the 
girl  whom  he  had  encountered  at  Kiev. 
Having  seen  him  from  the  walls,  the  girl 
had  sent  her  servant  through  a  secret 
gate  to  ask  Andrii  to  visit  her  in  the  city 
and  to  bring  food  for  her  starving  family. 
Andrii  stole  a  sack  of  bread  and  accom 
panied  the  Tatar  into  Dubno.  When  he 
met  the  waiwode's  daughter,  she  seemed 
more  beautiful  to  his  sight  than  ever;  in 
her  embrace  he  forgot  home,  honor,  coun 
try,  loyalty,  and  Church. 

A  short  time  later  Taras  learned  of  his 
son's  treachery  from  Yankel,  who  had 
been  inside  the  city  walls.  The  old  Cos 
sack  was  furious  at  Andrii,  but  proud  of 
Ostap,  who  had  been  raised  in  rank  and 
put  in  command  of  a  large  unit.  Then 
news  came  that  the  Setch  had  been  in 
vaded  by  the  Tatars.  Half  of  the  Cos 
sacks  departed  to  pursue  the  Tatars,  while 
the  others  remained  at  the  siege  of  Dub- 
no,  Taras  and  Ostap  among  them.  Taras, 
to  bolster  the  courage  of  his  warriors, 

gave  the  Cossacks  a  large  supply  of  wine 
e  had  brought  along  for  just  such  a 
purpose. 

One  day  there  was  a  great  battle,  a 
fight  in  which  most  of  the  Cossacks  were 
killed  or  captured.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
fray  Andrii  appeared,  richly  attired,  to 
fight  against  his  own  people.  Taras,  who 
saw  him  come  into  the  battle,  maneu 


vered  his  men  so  that  he  ^and  His  son 
met  alone.  Taras  shot  Andrii,  who  died 
with  the  name  of  the  waiwode's  daughter 
on  his  lips.  The  victorious  Poles  captured 
Ostap,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
in  the  battle.  After  receiving  a  serious 
wound,  Taras  was  rescued  by  a  faithful 
servant.  He  regained  consciousness  on 
the  way  back  to  the  Setch,  where  he 
learned  that  not  another  man  who  had 
been  on  the  expedition  had  returned. 

Unable  to  forget  Ostap,  now  a  prisoner 
of  the  Poles,  Taras  set  out  for  the  city 
of  Ouman.  There  he  found  Yankel,  who 
for  a  large  sum  was  persuaded  to  conduct 
Taras  to  the  hostile  city  of  Warsaw  in 
search  of  Ostap.  Hidden  under  a  load 
of  bricks,  Taras  entered  the  city,  but  he 
was  unable  to  see  Ostap  before  the  day 
the  Cossack  prisoners  were  led  out  for 
torture  and  death.  When  Ostap  called 
out  for  his  father,  Taras  was  unable  to 
endure  the  sight  of  his  son's  torture  in 
silence.  Taras  answered  him  so  that 
Ostap  knew  his  father  was  close  by  at 
his  death. 

Thus  discovered,  Taras  was  pursued 
but  escaped  to  the  Ukraine,  where  he 
became  the  leader  of  a  Cossack  band. 
When  the  Zaporozhian  chiefs  made  peace 
with  the  Poles,  Taras  broke  away  with 
a  band  of  his  followers  and  raided  towns 
and  cities  through  all  Poland.  Finally, 
pursued  by  five  regiments,  he  was  taken 
prisoner.  Crucified  to  a  burning  tree, 
Taras  Bulba  died  calling  to  his  comrades 
to  carry  on  their  fight  for  freedom. 


TARTARIN  OF  TARASCON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Alphonse  Daudet  (1840-1897) 

Type  of  -plot:  Satiric  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  France  and  North  Africa 

First  published:  1872 

Principal  characters: 

TARTAKJN,  a  huntsman 

BAM,  a  Moorish  beauty 

PRINCE  GREGORY  OF  MONTENEGRO 

BABBASSOU,  captain  of  the  Zouave 


956 


Critique: 

The  saying  is  that  words  fly  so  quickly 
in  southern  France  "because  the  air  is  so 
light  and  buoyant.  Indeed  the  Midi  is 
renowned  for  its  braggarts.  Tartarin  was 
a  real  braggart,  but  in  this  story  he  made 
good  his  boasts  —  to  a  certain  extent. 
Tartarin  of  Tarascon  was  written  with 
the  sure  touch  of  a  humorist  combined 
with  the  fantastic  imagination  of  the 
Provencal  poet.  In  his  understanding  of 
people  and  in  his  method  of  character 
portrayal,  Daudet  is  often  compared  with 
Dickens. 

The  Story: 

In  the  little  town  of  Tarascon  in  the 
Midi,  Tartarin  enjoyed  an  enviable  repu 
tation  which  was  based  first  of  all  on  his 
farden.  But  Tartarin  grew  no  plants  of 
ranee.  He  had  banana  trees,  palm  trees, 
cacti,  and  all  the  most  exotic  plants  he 
could  find. 

To  understand  the  second  reason  for 
Tartarin's  fame  one  must  know  the  town 
of  Tarascon.  The  Tarasconese  were 
mighty  hunters  and  all  the  men  had 
ample  arsenals.  Tartarin's  study  con 
tained  a  complete  collection  of  deadly 
weapons.  He  had  rifles,  carbines,  blun 
derbusses,  Malayan  krishes,  and  Indian 
tomahawks.  It  was  too  bad  that  there 
was  no  game  at  all  for  many  leagues 
around  the  town,  for  in  order  to  indulge 
their  passion  for  the  chase,  the  Tarasco 
nese  had  to  hunt  their  own  caps.  A  man 
would  throw  his  cap  in  the  air  and  fire 
while  it  was  still  in  flight.  Tartarin  had 
the  distinction  of  ruining  more  caps  than 
all  his  rivals  put  together. 

The  third  reason  for  his  fame  came 
from  the  custom  of  each  Tarasconese  to 
sing  his  OVJTI  particular  song  at  all  social 
events.  Tartarin  had  no  particular  song, 
for  he  could  sing  them  all.  It  was  a  brave 
thing  to  hear  Tartarin  sing  "NO,  NO, 
NO"  in  a  duet  with  Mme.  Bezuquet. 
True,  all  Tartarin  could  sing  was  "No," 
but  this  he  sang  with  enviable  gusto, 

Fourth,  Tartarin  had  once  been  offered 
a  job  as  clerk  in  the  Shanghai  office  of 


a  French  importing  firm.  Although  he 
had  not  taken  the  job,  it  was  almost  the 
same  to  him  in  later  years,  when  he 
talked  in  a  knowing  way  of  the  mys 
terious  customs  of  the  Far  East.  Even 
if  he  had  never  stayed  overnight  outside 
of  Tarascon,  he  was  a  true  cosmopolite. 

Often  he  would  roam  the  poorer  streets 
of  Tarascon  looking  for  those  stealthy 
people  who  carry  on  international  in 
trigue  and  thuggery.  He  would  arm 
himself  with  knuckle  dusters,  his  bowie 
knife,  his  trusty  forty-five,  and  then  fear 
lessly  seek  adventure.  Every  one  he  met, 
unfortunately,  was  a  harmless  citizen  who 
greeted  him  by  name.  However,  one 
never  knew  when  something  unusual 
might  happen. 

One  night  a  member  of  the  club  came 
running  to  announce  that  a  carnival  had 
brought  a  lion  to  Tarascon.  Tartarin 
bravely  affixed  a  bayonet  to  his  elephant 
gun  and  went  to  the  carnival.  It  was  an 
inspiring  sight  to  see  Tartarin  swagger  in 
front  of  the  lion's  cage,  and  he  never 
flinched  no  matter  how  the  lion  roared. 

This  experience,  coupled  with  his  own 
ability  at  telling  tales,  soon  gave  Tartarin 
a  reputation  as  a  great  lion  hunter,  and 
in  some  way  the  impression  grew  that 
Tartarin  was  actually  going  to  Africa  to 
hunt  lions.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
Tartarin  enjoyed  the  story  and  actually 
talked  about  his  coming  trip.  But  as  the 
months  went  by  he  showed  no  signs  of 
leaving.  He  could  not  bring  himself  to 
give  up  his  regular  hot  chocolate. 

Finally  even  the  Tarasconese  could  no 
longer  stand  the  suspense.  When  Com 
mander  Bravida  told  Tartarin  that  he 
must  go,  Tartarin,  with  uneasy  heart, 
put  on  his  costume  of  full  white  linen 
trousers,  a  cummerbund  two  feet  wide, 
and  a  gigantic  red  fez.  On  each  shoulder 
he  carried  a  heavy  gun,  in  his  belt  a  hunt 
ing  knife,  and  on  his  hip  a  revolver.  In 
his  two  copper-lined  chests  were  his  re 
serve  weapons.  Other  boxes  contained 
drugs,  pemmican  for  emergency  rations, 
and  a  shelter  tent.  Thus  attired  and  sup- 


957 


plied,  he  put  on  his  spectacles  and  left, 
amid  the  hurrahs  of  the  town. 

On  the  trip  across  the  sea  the  good 
ship  Zouave  was  unsteady,  and  Tartarin's 
great  fez  was  often  inclined  over  the  rail. 
But  in  Algeria  he  still  had  strength  to  go 
on  deck,  where  to  his  horror,  he  saw  the 
ship  invaded  by  hordes  of  natives  he 
mistook  for  Algerian  pirates.  Taking  out 
his  sheath  knife,  he  courageously  rushed 
upon  the  invaders.  Luckily  Captain  Bar- 
bassou  caught  him  around  the  middle 
before  he  could  harm  the  startled  porters. 

The  first  morning  in  Algiers  Tartarin 
arose  at  daybreak  and  prepared  to  hunt 
lions.  Dashing  out  into  the  road,  he 
met  hunters  with  game  bags  filled  with 
rabbits.  Tartarin  pushed  on  over  the 
desert  country.  By  nightfall  he  was  in 
a  thicket.  Uttering  cries  to  imitate  a 
stray  kid,  he  settled  down  to  wait.  Before 
long  he  saw  a  lion  bearing  down  upon 
him.  Up  went  his  trusty  gun.  Two  shots 
rang  out,  and  the  wounded  lion  thrashed 
away.  Not  daring  to  move  for  fear  the 
female  would  come  to  the  aid  of  her  mate, 
Tartarin  sat  uneasily  until  dawn. 

Then  to  his  dismay  he  found  himself 
sitting  in  a  garden  among  rows  of  beets. 
He  had  killed  no  lion,  but  there  in  a  ditch 
lay  a  donkey  with  two  bullet  holes  in 
him. 

Tartarin  decided  to  go  back  to  Algiers, 
get  his  equipment,  and  head  south.  On 
the  bus  he  was  stricken  by  the  bold 
glance  of  a  Moorish  lady.  Losing  his 
head,  he  started  on  a  conquest  of  love. 

After  weeks  of  fruitless  searching, 
Prince  Gregory  of  Montenegro,  whom 
he  had  met  aboard  the  Zouave,  helped 
Tartarin  find  the  beautiful  Moor.  She 
was  Baia,  a  widow  of  twenty  and  sister 
of  a  pipe  seller  in  the  bazaar.  Prince 
Gregory  kindly  offered  to  placate  the 
brother  by  buying  his  pipes.  The  smitten 
Tartarin  gave  his  friend  enough  money 
over  several  weeks  to  buy  gross  after  gross 
of  pipes  before  the  matter  was  arranged 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all. 

Tartarin  took  a  house  in  the  native 
quarter  with  his  Baia.  At  first  glance 


Baia  seemed  much  fatter  than  the  lady  in 
the  bus,  but  Tartarin  put  down  such  base 
suspicions.  Now  he  was  known  as  Sidi 
Tart'ri  ben  Tart'rL  All  day  he  puffed  his 
narghile  and  ate  sweetmeats  flavored  with 
musk.  Baia  entertained  her  lord  by  sing 
ing  monotonous  airs  through  her  nose  or 
dancing  the  stomach  dance.  The  only 
flaw  in  the  household  was  that  Bai'a  spoke 
no  French  and  Tartarin  no  Arabic. 

One  day  Tartarin  met  Barbassou  by 
chance.  The  cynical  captain  warned 
Tartarin  against  all  Montenegrin  princes 
and  expressed  doubt  that  Baia  knew  no 
French.  Although  Tartarin  disdained  the 
suspicions  of  Barbassou,  the  sight  of  a 
fellow  Tarasconese  again  recalled  lion 
hunting  to  his  mind.  He  stoutly  resolved 
to  leave  his  bliss  and  go  south  to  hunt 
the  terrible  lion. 

After  two  days  of  rough  jolting  in  an 
obsolete  coach,  Tartarin  entered  the  city 
of  Milianah,  where  on  a  street  corner 
he  saw  a  degrading  sight.  A  lion  had  been 
trained  to  hold  a  bowl  in  his  mouth  and 
beg  for  alms.  Incensed  at  this  debase 
ment  of  the  most  noble  of  beasts,  Tartarin 
seized  the  bowl  from  the  lion's  jaws  and 
dashed  it  on  the  ground.  Thinking  him 
a  robber,  the  two  Negro  attendants  set 
on  him  with  clubs.  A  riot  was  averted 
by  the  arrival  of  suave  Prince  Gregory, 
who  had  hurried  south  after  his  friend. 

Now  with  a  proper  caravan  made  up 
of  the  prince,  Tartarin,  and  one  camel, 
Tartarin  wandered  for  nearly  a  month. 
Each  time  they  entered  a  town,  the  prince 
would  visit  the  military  post,  the  com 
mander  would  extend  full  hospitality  to 
Tartarin,  and  Tartarin  would  pay  the 
bill.  But  he  found  no  lions  anywhere. 

Finally,  on  a  notable  night,  Tartarin 
was  hiding  in  a  copse  of  oleanders  when 
he  heard  a  lion  cough.  Giving  his  purse 
to  the  prince  to  hold,  he  lay  in  wait.  No 
lion  appeared.  The  prince  vanished. 
Without  lion  or  money,  Tartarin  sat  in 
despair  on  the  steps  of  a  saint's  tomb. 
To  his  great  astonishment,  a  noble  lion 
advanced  down  the  path.  Tartarin  fired 
twice,  and  bagged  his  lion  at  last. 


958 


But  the  lion  was  a  holy,  blind  lion 
belonging  to  a  Mohammedan  convent, 
and  Tartarin  had  to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty- 
five  hundred  francs.  He  was  forced  to 
sell  all  his  fine  weapons  to  pay  the  sum, 
but  he  skinned  the  lion  and  sent  the 
skin  to  Tarascon. 

In  disgust  Tartarin  walked  back  to 
Algeria,  followed  by  his  faithful  camel, 


which  had  formed  a  liking  tor  him.  Tar 
tarin  could  not  shake  off  the  beast.  The 
camel  swam  the  Mediterranean  behind 
the  Zouave  and  trotted  behind  the  train 
from  Marseille  to  Tarascon. 

So  the  great  hero  of  Tarascon  came 
home.  The  story  of  how  he  killed  twenty 
lions  was  told  over  and  over  again. 


TARTUFFE 

Type  of  -work:  Drama 

Author:  Moliere  (Jean  Baptiste  Poquelin,   1622-1673) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  Paris 

First  presented:  1664 

Principal  characters: 

ORGON,  a  wealthy  ex-officer  of  the  King's  Guard 

MADAME  PERNELLE,  his  mother 

ELMERE,  his  wife 

DAMIS,  his  son 

MARIANE,  his  daughter 

VALERE,  Mariane's  lover 

DORTNE,  Mariane's  maid 

CLEANTE,  Orgon's  brother-in-law 

TARTUFFE,  a  hypocrite 
Critique: 

It  is  almost  impossible  for  a  modern 
reader  to  realize  the  disturbance  Tartuffe, 
or  tlie  Hypocrite  caused  when  it  was  orig 
inally  produced.  Moliere  was  attacked 
for  undermining  the  very  basis  of  religion 
in  his  portrait  of  the  hypocrite.  For 
moderns,  the  comedy  is  valuable  mainly 
as  the  ancestor  of  similar  satiric  portraits, 
ranging  from  Dickens'  Mr.  Pecksniff  to 


Sinclair  Lewis'  Elmer  Gantry.  Moli&re's 
Tartuffe  is  hardly  convincing  to  us,  how 
ever,  because  we  do  not  know  why  or 
how  he  became  what  he  was. 

The  Story: 

Orgon's  home  was  a  happy  one.  He 
himself  was  married  to  Elmire,  a  woman 
much  younger  than  he,  who  adored  him. 
His  two  children  by  a  former  marriage 
were  fond  of  their  stepmother,  and  she 
of  them.  Mariane,  the  daughter,  was 
engaged  to  be  married  to  Valere,  a  very 
eligible  young  man,  and  Darnis,  the  son, 
was  in  love  with  Valere's  sister. 


Then  Tartuffe  came  to  live  in  the 
household.  Tartuffe  was  a  penniless 
scoundrel  whom  the  trusting  Orgon  had 
found  praying  in  church.  Taken  in  by 
his  cant  and  his  pose  of  fervent  religious 
ness,  Orgon  had  invited  the  hypocrite 
into  his  home.  As  a  consequence,  the 
family  was  soon  demoralized.  Once 
established,  Tartuffe  proceeded  to  change 
their  normal,  happy  mode  of  life  to  a 
strictly  moral  one.  He  set  up  a  rigid 
puritan  regimen  for  the  family,  and  per 
suaded  Orgon  to  force  his  daughter  to 
break  her  engagement  to  Valere  in  order 
to  marry  Tartuffe.  He  said  she  needed 
a  pious  man  to  lead  her  in  a  righteous 
life. 

Valere  was  determined  that  Mariane 
would  marry  no  one  but  himself,  but 
unfortunately  Mariane  was  too  spineless 
to  resist  Tartuffe  and  her  father.  Con 
fronted  by  her  father's  orders,  she  re 
mained  silent  and  remonstrated  only 
weakly.  As  a  result,  Tartuffe  was  cor- 


959 


dially  hated  by  every  member  of  the 
family,  including  Dorine,  the  saucy,  out 
spoken  servant,  who  did  everything  in 
her  power  to  break  the  hold  that  the 
hypocrite  had  secured  over  her  master. 
Dorine  hated  not  only  Tartuffe  but  also 
his  valet,  Laurent,  for  the  servant  imi 
tated  the  master  in  everything.  In  fact, 
the  only  person  besides  Orgon  who  liked 
and  approved  of  Tartuffe  was  Orgon's 
mother,  Madame  Pernelle,  who  was  the 
type  of  puritan  who  wished  to  withhold 
from  others  pleasures  she  herself  could 
not  enjoy.  Madame  Pernelle  highly  dis 
approved  of  Elmire,  maintaining  that  in 
her  love  for  clothes  and  amusements  she 
was  setting  her  family  a  bad  example 
which  Tartuffe  was  trying  to  correct. 
Actually,  Elmire  was  merely  full  of  the 
joy  of  living,  a  fact  that  her  mother-in- 
law  was  unable  to  perceive.  Orgon  him 
self  was  little  better.  When  Elmire  fell 
ill,  and  he  was  informed  of  this  fact, 
his  sole  concern  was  for  the  health  of 
Tartuffe.  Tartuffe,  however,  was  in  fine 
fettle,  stout  and  ruddy-cheeked.  For  his 
evening  meal,  he  consumed  two  par 
tridges,  half  a  leg  of  mutton,  and  four 
flasks  of  wine.  He  then  retired  to  his 
warm  and  comfortable  bed  and  slept 
soundly  until  morning. 

Tartuffe  Js  designs  were  not  really  for 
the  daughter,  Mariane,  but  for  Elmire 
herself.  One  day,  after  Orgon's  wife  had 
recovered  from  her  illness,  Tartuffe  ap 
peared  before  her.  He  complimented  El 
mire  on  her  beauty,  and  even  went  so 
far  as  to  lay  his  fat  hand  on  her  knee. 
Damis,  Orgon's  son,  observed  all  that 
went  on  from  the  cabinet  where  he  was 
hidden.  Furious,  he  determined  to  reveal 
to  his  father  all  that  he  had  seen.  Orgon 
refused  to  believe  him.  Wily  Tartuffe 
had  so  completely  captivated  Orgon  that 
he  ordered  Damis  to  apologize  to  Tar 
tuffe.  When  his  son  refused,  Orgon, 
violently  angry,  drove  him  from  the 
house  and  disowned  him.  Then  to  show 
his  confidence  in  Tartuffe's  honesty  and 
piety,  Orgon  signed  a  deed  of  trust  turn 
ing  his  estate  over  to  TartufTe's  manage 


ment,  and  announced  his  daughter's  be 
trothal  to  Tartuffe. 

Elmire,  embittered  by  the  behavior  of 
this  impostor  in  her  house,  resolved  to 
unmask  him.  She  persuaded  Orgon  to 
hide  under  a  cloth-covered  table  and  see 
and  hear  for  himself  the  real  Tartuffe. 
Then  she  enticed  Tartuffe  to  make  love 
to  her,  disarming  him  with  the  assurance 
that  her  foolish  husband  would  suspect 
nothing.  Emboldened,  Tartuffe  poured 
out  his  heart  to  her,  leaving  no  doubt  as 
to  his  intention  of  making  her  his  mis 
tress.  Disillusioned  and  outraged  when 
Tartuffe  asserted  that  Orgon  was  a  com 
plete  dupe,  the  husband  emerged  from 
his  hiding  place,  denounced  the  hypo 
crite,  and  ordered  him  from  the  house. 
Tartuffe  defied  him,  reminding  him  that 
the  house  was  now  his  according  to 
Orgon 's  deed  of  trust. 

Another  matter  made  Orgon  even  more 
uneasy  than  the  possible  loss  of  his 
property.  This  was  a  casket  given  him 
by  a  friend,  Argas,  a  political  criminal 
now  in  exile.  It  contained  important 
state  secrets,  the  revelation  of  which 
would  mean  a  charge  of  treason  against 
Orgon  and  certain  death  for  his  friend. 
Orgon  had  foolishly  entrusted  the  casket 
to  Tartuffe,  and  he  feared  the  use  that 
villain  might  make  of  it.  He  informed 
his  brother-in-law,  Cleante,  that  he  would 
have  nothing  further  to  do  with  pious 
men;  that  in  the  future  he  would  shun 
them  like  the  plague.  But  Cleante  pointed 
out  that  such  rushing  to  extremes  was 
the  sign  of  an  unbalanced  mind.  Be 
cause  a  treacherous  vagabond  was  mas 
querading  as  a  religious  man  was  no 
good  reason  to  suspect  religion. 

The  next  day  Tartuffe  made  good  this 
threat,  using  his  legal  right  to  force 
Orgon  and  his  family  from  their  house. 
Madame  Pernelle  could  not  believe  Tar 
tuffe  guilty  of  such  villainy,  and  she 
reminded  her  son  that  in  this  world  vir 
tue  is  often  misjudged  and  persecuted. 
But  when  the  sheriff's  officer  arrived 
with  the  notice  for  evacuation,  even  she 
believed  that  Tartuffe  was  a  villain. 


960 


The  crowning  indignity  came  when 
Tartuffe  took  to  the  king  the  casket  con 
taining  the  state  secrets.  Orders  were 

issued  for  Orgon's  immediate  arrest.   But       0  _ —  r 

fortunately  the  king  recognized  Tartuffe      unopened, 
as  an  impostor  who  had  committed  crimes 


in  another  city.  Therefore,  because  of 
Orgon's  loyal  service  in  the  army,  the  king 
annulled  the  deed  Orgon  had  made  cov 
ering  his  property  and  returned  the  casket 


THE  TEMPEST 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  'plot:  Romantic  fantasy 

Time  of  plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  An  island  in  the  sea 

First  presented:  1611 

Principal  characters: 

PROSPERO,  the  rightful  Duke  of  Milan 

MIRANDA,  his  daughter 

FERDINAND,  son  of  the  King  of  Naples 

ARIEL,  a  spirit,  Prosperous  servant 

CALIBAN,  Prosperous  slave 

ALONSO,  King  of  Naples 

SEBASTIAN,  Alonso's  brother 

ANTONIO,  Duke  of  Milan,  Prosperous  brother 

GONZALO,  a  philosopher  who  saved  the  lives  of  Prospero  and  Miranda 

Critique: 

The  Tempest,  written  toward  the  close 
of  Shakespeare's  career,  is  a  work  of  fan 
tasy  and  courtly  romance*  The  story  of  a 
wise  old  magician,  his  beautiful,  un 
worldly  daughter,  a  gallant  young  prince, 
and  a  cruel,  scheming  brother,  it  contains 
all  the  elements  of  a  fairy  tale  in  which 
ancient  wrongs  are  righted  and  true  lovers 
live  happily  ever  after.  The  play  is  also 
one  of  poetic  atmosphere  and  allegory.  Be 
ginning  with  a  storm  and  peril  at  sea,  it 
ends  on  a  note  of  serenity  and  joy.  No 
other  of  Shakespeare's  dramas  holds  so 
much  of  the  author's  mature  reflection  on 
life  itself. 


The  Story: 

When  Alonso,  King  of  Naples,  was  re 
turning  from  the  wedding  of  his  daughter 
*o  a  foreign  prince,  his  ship  was  overtaken 
by  a  terrible  storm.  In  his  company  were 
Duke  Antonio  of  Milan  and  other  gentle 
men  of  the  court.  As  the  gale  rose  in 
fury,  and  it  seemed  certain  the  vessel 
would  split  and  sink,  the  noble  travelers 
were  forced  to  abandon  ship  and  trust  to 


fortune  in  the  open  sea. 

The  tempest  was  no  chance  disturbance 
of  wind  and  wave.  It  had  been  raised  by  a 
wise  magician,  Prospero,  as  the  ship  sailed 
close  to  an  enchanted  island  on  which  he 
and  his  lovely  daughter  Miranda  were  the 
only  human  inhabitants.  Theirs  had  been 
a  sad  and  curious  history.  Prospero  was 
rightful  Duke  of  Milan.  Being  devoted 
more  to  the  study  of  philosophy  and  magic 
than  to  affairs  of  state,  he  had  given  much 
power  to  ambitious  Antonio,  his  brother, 
who  twelve  years  before  had  seized  the 
dukedom  with  the  aid  of  the  crafty 
Neapolitan  king.  The  conspirators  set 
Prospero  and  his  small  daughter  adrift  in 
a  boat,  and  they  would  have  perished 
miserably  had  not  Gonzalo,  an  honest 
counsellor,  secretly  stocked  the  frail 
craft  with  food,  clothing,  and  the  books 
Prospero  valued  most. 

The  helpless  exiles  drifted  at  last  to  an 
island  which  had  been  the  refuge  of 
Sycorax,  an  evil  sorceress.  There  Prospero 
found  Caliban,  her  son,  a  strange,  mis 
shapen  creature  of  brute  intelligence,  able 


961 


anly  to  hew  wood  and  draw  water.  Also 
obedient  to  Prosperous  will  were  many 
good  spirits  of  air  and  water,  whom  he 
had  freed  from  torments  to  which  the 
sorceress  Sycorax  had  condemned  them 
earlier.  Ariel,  a  lively  sprite,  was  chief  of 
these. 

Prospero,  having  used  his  magic  arts  to 
draw  the  ship  bearing  King  Alonso  and 
Duke  Antonio  close  to  his  enchanted  is 
land,  ordered  Ariel  to  bring  the  whole 
party  safely  ashore,  singly  or  in  scattered 
groups.  Ferdinand,  King  Alonso's  son,  was 
moved  by  Ariel's  singing  to  follow  the 
sprite  to  Prosperous  rocky  cell.  Miranda, 
who  remembered  seeing  no  human  face 
but  her  father's  bearded  one,  at  first  sight 
fell  deeply  in  love  with  the  handsome 
young  prince,  and  he  with  her,  Prospero 
was  pleased  to  see  the  young  people  so  at 
tracted  to  each  other,  but  he  concealed  his 
pleasure,  spoke  harshly  to  them,  and  to 
test  Ferdinand's  mettle  commanded  him 
to  perform  menial  tasks. 

Meanwhile  Alonso,  Sebastian,  Antonio, 
and  Gonzalo  wandered  sadly  along  the 
beach,  the  king  in  despair  because  he  be 
lieved  his  son  drowned.  Ariel,  invisible  in 
air,  played  solemn  music,  lulling  to  sleep 
all  except  Sebastian  and  Antonio.  Draw 
ing  apart,  they  planned  to  kill  the  king 
and  his  counsellor  and  make  Sebastian 
tyrant  of  Naples.  Watchful  Ariel  awak 
ened  the  sleepers  before  the  plotters  could 
act. 

On  another  part  of  the  island  Caliban, 
carrying  a  load  of  wood,  met  Trinculo,  the 
king's  jester,  and  Stephano,  the  royal  but 
ler,  both  drunk.  In  rude  sport  they  offered 
drink  to  Caliban.  Tipsy,  the  loutish  mon 
ster  declared  he  would  be  their  slave  for 
ever. 

Like  master,  like  servant.  Just  as  Se 
bastian  and  Antonio  had  plotted  to  murder 
Alonso,  so  Caliban,  Trinculo,  and  Steph 
ano  schemed  to  kill  Prospero  and  become 
rulers  of  the  island.  Stephano  was  to  be 
king,  Miranda  his  consort;  Trinculo  and 
Caliban  would  be  viceroys.  Unseen,  Ariel 
listened  to  their  evil  designs  and  reported 
the  plan  to  Prospero. 


Meanwhile  Miranda  had  disobeyed  her 
father  to  interrupt  Ferdinand's  task  of 
rolling  logs  and,  the  hidden  magician's 
commands  forgotten,  the  two  exchanged 
lovers'  vows.  Satisfied  by  the  prince's 
declarations  of  devotion  and  constancy, 
Prospero  left  them  to  their  own  happy 
company.  He,  with  Ariel,  went  to  mock 
Alonso  and  his  followers  by  showing  them 
a  banquet  which  vanished  before  the 
hungry  castaways  could  taste  the  rich 
dishes.  Then  Ariel,  disguised  as  a  harpy, 
reproached  them  for  their  conspiracy 
against  Prospero.  Convinced  that  Ferdi 
nand's  death  was  punishment  for  his  own 
crime,  Alonso  was  moved  to  repentance 
for  his  cruel  deed. 

Returning  to  his  cave,  Prospero  released 
Ferdinand  from  his  hard  toil.  While  spirits 
dressed  as  Ceres,  Iris,  Juno,  nymphs,  and 
reapers  entertained  Miranda  and  the 
prince  with  a  pastoral  masque,  Prospero 
suddenly  remembered  the  schemes  which 
had  been  devised  by  Caliban  and  the 
drunken  servants.  Told  to  punish  the 
plotters,  Ariel  first  tempted  them  with  a 
display  of  kingly  garments;  then,  urging 
on  his  fellow  spirits  in  the  shapes  of  fierce 
hunting  dogs,  he  drove  them  howling 
with  pain  and  rage  through  bogs  and  brier 
patches. 

Convinced  at  last  that  the  King  of 
Naples  and  his  false  brother  Antonio  had 
repented  the  evil  deed  they  had  done  him 
years  before,  Prospero  commanded  Ariel 
to  bring  them  into  the  enchanted  circle 
before  the  magician's  cell.  Ariel  soon  re 
turned,  luring  by  strange,  beautiful  music 
the  king,  Antonio,  Sebastian,  and  Gon 
zalo.  At  first  they  were  astonished  to  see 
Prospero  in  the  appearance  and  dress  of 
the  wronged  Duke  of  Milan.  Prospero 
confirmed  his  identity,  ordered  Antonio  to 
restore  his  dukedom,  and  severely  warned 
Sebastian  not  to  plot  further  against  the 
king.  Finally  he  took  the  repentant  Alonso 
into  the  cave,  where  Ferdinand  and 
Miranda  sat  playing  chess.  There  was 
a  joyful  reunion  between  father  and  son 
at  this  unexpected  meeting,  and  the  king 
was  completely  captivated  by  the  beauty 


962 


and  grace  of  Miranda.  During  this 
scene  of  reconciliation  and  rejoicing, 
Ariel  appeared  with  the  master  and  boat 
swain  of  the  wrecked  ship;  they  reported 
the  vessel  safe  and  ready  to  continue  the 
voyage*  The  three  grotesque  conspirators 
were  driven  in  by  Ariel,  and  Prospero 
released  them  from  their  spell.  Caliban 
was  ordered  to  prepare  food  and  set  it 
before  the  guests.  Prospero  invited  his 
brother  and  the  King  of  Naples  and  his 


train  to  spend  the  night  in  his  cave. 

Before  he  left  the  island,  Prospero 
dismissed  Ariel  from  his  service,  leaving 
that  sprite  free  to  wander  as  he  wished. 
Ariel  promised  calm  seas  and  auspicious 
winds  for  the  voyage  back  to  Naples 
and  Milan,  where  Prospero  would  jour 
ney  to  take  possession  of  his  lost  duke 
dom  and  to  witness  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  and  Prince  Ferdinand. 


THE  TENANT  OF  WILDFELL  HALL 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Anne  Bronte  (1820-1849) 

Type  of  plot:    Domestic  romance 

Time  of  'plot:   Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   England 

First  published:     1848 

Principal  churacters: 

HELEN  GRAHAM,  in  reality  Helen  Huntingdon,  the  tenant 
FREDERICK  LAWRENCE,  her  landlord 
ARTHUR  HUNTINGDON,  her  first  husband 
GILBERT  MABKHAM,  Ler  second  husband 

Critique: 

The  story  of  The  Tenant  of  Wildfell 
Hall  is  told  in  a  series  of  letters  written 
by  Gilbert  Markham  to  his  brother-in 
law,  Mr.  Halford.  This  epistolary  device, 
so  common  to  fiction  writers  of  the  eight 
eenth  and  nineteenth  centuries,  gives  a 
certain  psychological  value  to  Anne 
Bronte's  study  of  marital  difficulties. 
There  is  keen  irony  here,  as  well,  for 
Arthur  Huntingdon's  male  superiority 
and  brutal  dominance  is  offset  in  large 
measure  by  the  inherent  priggishness  and 
short-sightedness  of  the  woman  whom 
he  should  never  have  married.  Hunting 
don,  the  attractive  but  drunken  profligate, 
is  generally  identified  with  Bramwell 
Bronte,  brother  of  the  writer. 


The  Story: 

Gilbert  Markham,  a  young  man  of 
good  family,  was  mildly  interested  when 
the  strange  tenant  came  to  Wildfell  Hall. 
Mrs.  Graham,  as  her  neighbors  knew 
her,  was  young  and  beautiful,  and  her 
demand  for  seclusion  stimulated  the  in 
terest  of  the  gentry  of  the  neighborhood. 


She  was  particularly  criticized  for 
the  way  in  which  she  was  caring  for  her 
small  son,  Arthur,  whom  she  would  not 
allow  out  of  her  sight.  Gilbert's  mother 
declared  the  child  would  become  the 
worst  of  milksops. 

On  his  first  visit  to  Wildfell  Hall,  Gil 
bert  learned  that  Mrs.  Graham  was  a 
landscape  painter  of  considerable  ability 
and  that  she  was  concealing  her  where 
abouts  from  her  former  friends.  Her  air 
of  secrecy  aroused  both  his  curiosity  and 
sympathy. 

Hoping  to  avoid  the  attentions  of  a 
local  girl  for  whom  he  had  at  one  time 
shown  a  preference,  Gilbert  spent  much 
of  his  time  in  the  company  of  the 
young  widow.  He  accompanied  her  and 
young  Arthur  on  long  walks  to  find 
scenes  for  Mrs.  Graham  to  paint.  His 
friends,  however,  attempted  to  dis 
courage  his  attentions  to  the  tenant  of 
Wildfell  Hall.  Rumor  spread  that  she 
was  having  an  affair  with  Frederick  Law 
rence,  her  landlord,  and  Lawrence  as 
sured  Gilbert  that  he  would  fail  in  his 


963 


attentions  to  Mrs.  Graham.  When  he 
tried  to  tell  her  of  his  growing  affection, 
Mrs.  Graham  herself  insisted  that  Gilbert 
regard  her  simply  as  a  friend. 

After  the  vicar  of  the  parish  had 
accused  the  widow  of  improper  conduct, 
Gilbert  overheard  Mrs.  Graham  deep  in 
a  mysterious  discussion  with  her  land 
lord.  Suspecting  that  the  rumors  about 
them  were  true,  Gilbert  resolved  to  have 
no  more  to  do  with  her.  On  his  next 
encounter  with  Lawrence,  Gilbert  struck 
his  rival  and  wounded  him  severely. 

A  short  time  later  Gilbert  met  Mrs. 
Graham  and  she  gave  him  a  copy  of  her 
journal  to  read.  The  journal,  beginning 
in  1821,  told  the  story  of  Helen  Gra 
ham's  life  for  the  past  six  years.  It 
opened  with  an  account  of  her  meeting 
with  Arthur  Huntingdon,  whom  she 
loved  in  spite  of  her  aunt's  claim  that 
the  young  man  was  wild  and  wayward. 
Her  aunt,  with  whom  she  made  her 
home,  had  taken  her  away  so  that  she 
might  see  no  more  of  the  objectionable 
Huntingdon.  But  by  a  miscalculation 
her  unwelcome  suitor  was  invited  to  their 
summer  home  for  partridge  hunting. 
That  autumn  the  two  were  married,  and 
shortly  afterward  the  young  wife  dis 
covered  that  her  husband's  true  character 
was  exactly  that  which  her  aunt  had 
described.  He  was  a  drunkard,  a  man 
incapable  of  high  principle  or  moral  re 
sponsibility.  She  began  to  be  contemp 
tuous  of  him,  and  he  responded  by 
growing  indifferent  to  her.  More  and 
more  frequently  he  began  to  absent  him 
self  from  his  home,  and  during  his 
absences  she  had  no  way  of  knowing 
where  he  was. 

Several  years  passed.  When  Helen 
bore  a  child,  a  boy,  she  hoped  that  her 
husband's  conduct  would  improve.  But 
Huntingdon  absented  himself  again  and 
again.  Each  time  she  welcomed  him 
back  because  she  still  loved  him. 

When  Helen's  father  died,  she  was 
greatly  disturbed  by  her  husband's  cal 
lous  attitude  toward  her  grief.  Then  a 
reconciliation  took  place,  and  for  a  time 


Huntingdon  seemed  to  reform.  One  day, 
however,  she  discovered  her  husband 
making  love  to  Lady  Lowborough,  a 
visitor  in  their  house.  When  she  de 
manded  a  separation  for  herself  and  her 
child,  Huntingdon  refused.  To  keep 
the  affair  from  becoming  known  to 
others,  Helen  decided  at  last  to  stay  on 
with  her  husband. 

Lord  Lowborough  also  learned  of  the 
affair  Helen's  husband  was  having  with 
Lady  Lowborough.  Indifferent  to  public 
scandal,  Huntingdon  kept  up  his  wild 
hunting  parties  and  filled  his  house  with 
drunken,  riotous  men.  Helen  began  to 
make  her  plans  for  escape.  All  that 
time  she  had  to  fight  off  a  would-be  lover 
of  her  own,  a  Mr.  Hargrave,  who  was 
determined  to  win  her.  She  hoped  to 
find  refuge  in  a  place  where  her  husband 
could  not  find  her  and  legally  take  her 
child  from  her.  Her  pride  kept  her  from 
appealing  to  her  brother  or  her  uncle 
and  aunt. 

Helen's  husband  learned  of  her  plan 
when  he  read  her  journal.  From  that 
time  on  he  had  her  closely  watched.  He 
refused  to  let  her  have  any  money  in 
her  possession. 

Her  position  became  unendurable, 
however,  when  Huntingdon  brought 
his  mistress  into  the  house  on  the  pretext 
of  providing  a  governess  for  young 
Arthur.  Helen  determined  to  make  her 
escape  without  money  or  resources.  The 
diary  ended  with  the  arrival  of  Helen 
at  Wildfell  Hall. 

Reading  the  journal,  Gilbert  realized 
that  Frederick  Lawrence  was  the  brother 
mentioned  several  times  in  the  diary. 
He  at  once  sought  out  Helen  to  renew 
his  suit,  but  in  spite  of  his  entreaties  she 
insisted  that  they  should  not  see  each 
other  again.  Gilbert  then  went  to  see 
her  brother,  whom  he  had  treated  so 
roughly  at  their  last  meeting.  The  re 
conciliation  between  the  two  men  was 
prompt  and  sincere. 

A  short  time  later  the  whole  com 
munity  learned  the  secret  of  the  tenant 
of  Wildfell  Hall.  Huntingdon  had  a 


964 


fall  from  his  horse  and  his  wife,  learning 
of  his  serious  condition,  went  to  his 
house  at  Grassdale  to  look  after  him. 
Frederick  Lawrence  told  Gilbert  that 
Huntingdon  had  received  her  un 
graciously,  but  that  she  was  determined 
to  stay  with  him  out  of  a  sense  of  duty. 
In  spite  of  her  care,  however,  Hunt 
ingdon  secured  a  bottle  of  wine  and 
drank  it  in  defiance  of  his  doctor's  orders. 
His  indiscretion  brought  on  a  relapse 


which  ended  in  his  death. 

Several  months  later  Gilbert  heard 
that  Helen's  uncle  had  died  and  that  she 
had  gone  to  live  with  her  aunt  at  Stan- 
ingley.  More  than  a  year  passed  before 
he  dared  to  go  to  her.  He  found  her 
at  Staningley,  and  the  welcome  of  young 
Arthur  was  as  joyous  as  Helen's  was 
warm  and  gracious.  She  and  Gilbert 
were  married  a  short  time  later. 


TESS  OF  THE  D'URBERVILLES 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-1928) 

Type  of  'plot:  Philosophical  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1891 

Principal  characters: 

JACK  DURBEYFEELD,  a  poor  worker 

TESS,  his  daughter 

ALEC  D'URBERVILLE,  her  betrayer 

ANGEL  CLARE,  her  husband 

Critique: 

Thomas  Hardy's  Tess  of  the  d'Ur'ber- 
villes  has  become  a  modern  classic.  In  it 
Hardy  concerned  himself  with  the  ques 
tion  of  fate  and  its  influence  upon  the 
lives  of  most  people.  If  Tess's  father  had 
not  learned  that  he  was  a  d'Urberville, 
if  Angel  had  found  the  letter  Tess 
slipped  under  the  door,  her  life  would 
have  been  much  different  But  fate  ruled 
that  these  things  were  to  happen,  and 
so  determined  the  course  of  Tess's  life. 
Hardy  called  Tess  a  pure  girl,  and  so 
she  was.  He  believed  that  she  was  not 
responsible  for  her  actions,  and  he  forces 
us  to  agree  with  him. 


The  Story: 

It  was  a  proud  day  when  Jack  Durbey- 
field  learned  that  he  was  descended  from 
the  famous  d'Urberville  family.  Durbey- 
field  had  never  done  more  work  than  was 
necessary  to  keep  his  family  supplied 
with  meager  food  and  himself  with  beer, 
but  from  that  day  on  he  ceased  doing 
even  that  small  amount  of  work.  His 


wife  joined  him  in  thinking  that  such  a 

2h  family  should  live  better  with  less 
>rt,  and  she  persuaded  their  oldest 
daughter,  Tess,  to  visit  the  Stoke-d'Urber- 
villes,  a  wealthy  family  who  had  assumed 
the  d'Urberville  name  because  no  one 
else  claimed  it.  It  was  her  mother's  hope 
that  Tess  would  make  a  good  impression 
on  the  rich  d'Urbervilles  and  perhaps 
a  good  marriage  with  one  of  the  sons. 

When  Tess  met  her  supposed  relatives, 
however,  she  found  only  a  blind  mother 
and  a  dapper  son  who  made  Tess  un 
comfortable  by  his  improper  remarks  to 
her.  The  son,  Alec,  tricked  the  innocent 
young  Tess  into  working  as  a  poultry 
maid,  not  letting  her  know  that  his 
mother  was  unaware  of  Tess's  identity. 
After  a  short  time  Tess  decided  to  look 
for  work  elsewhere  to  support  her  parents 
and  her  numerous  brothers  and  sisters. 
She  was  innocent,  but  she  knew  that 
Alec  meant  her  no  good.  Alec,  more 
clever  than  she,  at  last  managed  to  get 
her  alone  and  then  possessed  her. 


965 


When  Tess  returned  to  her  home  and 
told  her  mother  of  her  terrible  experience, 
her  mother's  only  worry  was  that  Alec 
was  not  going  to  marry  Tess.  The  poor 
girl  worked  in  the  fields,  facing  the  slan 
der  of  her  associates  bravely.  Her  trouble 
was  made  worse  by  the  fact  that  Alec 
followed  her  from  place  to  place,  trying 
to  possess  her  again.  By  going  about  to 
different  farms  during  the  harvest  season, 
Tess  managed  to  elude  Alec  long  enough 
to  give  birth  to  her  baby  without  his 
knowledge.  The  baby  did  not  live  long, 
however,  and  a  few  months  after  its 
death,  Tess  went  to  a  dairy  farm  far  to 
the  south  to  be  dairymaid. 

At  the  dairy  farm  Tess  was  liked  and 
well  treated.  Also  at  the  farm  was  Angel 
Clare,  a  pastor's  son  who  had  rejected 
the  ministry  to  study  fanning.  It  was 
his  wish  to  own  a  farm  some  day,  and 
he  was  working  on  different  kinds  of 
farms,  so  that  he  could  learn  something  of 
the  many  kinds  of  work  required  of  a 
general  farmer.  Although  all  the  dairy 
maids  were  attracted  to  Angel,  Tess  in 
terested  him  the  most.  He  thought  her  a 
beautiful  and  innocent  young  maiden,  as 
she  was,  for  it  was  her  innocence  which 
had  caused  her  trouble  with  Alec. 

Tess  felt  that  she  was  wicked,  how 
ever,  and  rejected  the  attentions  Angel 
paid  to  her.  She  urged  him  to  turn  to 
one  of  the  other  girls  for  companionship. 
It  was  unthinkable  that  the  son  of  a 
minister  would  marry  a  dairymaid,  but 
Angel  did  not  care  much  about  family 
tradition.  In  spite  of  her  pleas,  he  con 
tinued  to  pay  court  to  Tess.  At  last, 
against  the  wishes  of  his  parents,  Angel 
asked  Tess  to  be  his  wife.  Not  only  did 
he  love  her,  but  also  he  realized  that  a 
farm  girl  would  be  a  help  to  him  on  his 
own  land.  Although  Tess  was  in  love 
With  Angel  by  this  time,  the  memory  of 
her  night  with  Alec  caused  her  to  refuse 
Angel  again  and  again.  At  last  his  in 
sistence,  coupled  with  the  written  pleas 
of  her  parents  to  marry  someone  who 
could  help  the  family  financially,  won 
her  over,  and  she  agreed  to  marry  him. 


On  the  night  before  the  wedding, 
which  Tess  had  postponed  many  times 
because  she  felt  unworthy,  she  wrote 
Angel  a  letter,  telling  everything  about 
herself  and  Alec.  She  slipped  the  letter 
under  his  door,  sure  that  when  he  read 
it  he  would  renounce  her  forever.  But 
in  the  morning  Angel  acted  as  tenderly 
as  before  and  Tess  loved  him  more  than 
ever  for  his  forgiving  nature.  When  she 
realized  that  Angel  had  not  found  the 
letter,  she  attempted  to  tell  him  about 
her  past.  Angel  only  teased  her  about 
wanting  to  confess,  thinking  that  such 
a  pure  girl  could  have  no  black  sins  in  her 
history.  They  were  married  without 
Angers  learning  about  Alec  and  her  dead 
baby. 

On  their  wedding  night  Angel  told 
Tess  about  an  evening  of  debauchery  in 
his  own  past.  Tess  forgave  him  and  then 
told  about  her  affair  with  Alec,  thinking 
that  he  would  forgive  her  as  she  had  him. 
But  such  was  not  the  case.  Angel  was 
at  first  stunned,  and  then  so  hurt  that 
he  could  not  even  speak  to  Tess.  Finally 
he  told  her  that  she  was  not  the  woman 
he  loved,  the  one  he  had  married,  but  a 
stranger  with  whom  he  could  not  live, 
at  least  for  the  present.  He  took  her  to 
her  home  and  left  her  there.  Then  he 
went  to  his  home  and  on  to  Brazil,  where 
he  planned  to  buy  a  farm.  At  first  neither 
Tess  nor  Angel  told  their  parents  the 
reason  for  their  separation.  When  Tess 
finally  told  her  mother,  that  ignorant 
woman  blamed  Tess  for  losing  her  hus 
band  by  confessing  something  he  need 
never  have  known. 

Angel  had  left  Tess  some  money  and 
some  jewels  which  had  been  given  to 
him  by  his  godmother.  The  jewels  Tess 
put  in  a  bank;  the  money  she  spent  on 
her  parents.  When  it  was  gone,  her 
family  went  hungry  once  more,  for  her 
father  still  thought  himself  too  high-born 
to  work  for  a  living.  Tess  again  went 
from  farm  to  farm,  doing  hard  labor  in 
the  fields  in  order  to  get  enough  food  tc 
keep  herself  and  her  family  alive, 
While  she  was  working  in  the  fields, 


966 


she  met  Alec  again.  He  had  met  Angel's 
minister  father  and,  repenting  his  evil 
ways,  had  become  an  itinerant  preacher. 
The  sight  of  Tess,  for  whom  he  had  al 
ways  lusted,  caused  a  lapse  in  his  new 
religious  fervor,  and  he  began  to  pursue 
her  once  more.  Frightened,  Tess  wrote 
to  Angel,  sending  the  letter  to  his  parents 
to  forward  to  him.  She  told  Angel  that 
she  loved  him  and  needed  him,  that  an 
enemy  was  pursuing  her.  She  begged 
him  to  forgive  her  and  to  return  to  her. 

The  letter  took  several  months  to  reach 
Angel.  Meanwhile  Alec  was  so  kind  to 
Tess  and  so  generous  to  her  family  that 
she  began  to  relent  in  her  feelings  toward 
him.  At  last,  when  she  did  not  receive 
an  answer  from  Angel,  she  wrote  him  a 
note  saying  that  he  was  cruel  not  to 
forgive  her  and  that  now  she  would  not 
forgive  his  treatment  of  her.  Then  she 
went  to  Alec  again,  living  with  him  as 
his  wife. 

It  was  thus  that  Angel  found  her.  He 
had  come  to  tell  her  that  he  had  for 
given  her  and  that  he  still  loved  her.  But 
when  he  found  her  with  Alec,  he  turned 
away,  more  hurt  than  before. 


Tess,  too,  was  bitterly  unhappy.  She 
now  hated  Alec  because  once  again  he 
had  been  the  cause  of  her  husband's  re 
pudiation  of  her.  Feeling  that  she  could 
find  happiness  only  if  Alec  were  dead, 
she  stabbed  him  as  he  slept.  Then  she 
ran  out  of  the  house  and  followed  Angel, 
who  was  aimlessly  walking  down  a  road 
leading  out  of  the  town.  When  they  met 
and  Tess  told  him  what  she  had  done, 
Angel  forgave  her  everything,  even  the 
murder  of  Alec,  and  they  went  on  to 
gether.  They  were  happy  with  one 
another  for  a  few  days,  even  though 
Angel  knew  that  the  authorities  would 
soon  find  Tess. 

When  the  officers  finally  found  them, 
Tess  was  asleep.  Angel  asked  the  officers 
to  wait  until  she  awoke.  As  soon  as  she 
opened  her  eyes,  Tess  saw  the  strangers 
and  knew  that  they  had  come  for  her  and 
that  she  would  be  hanged,  but  she  was 
not  unhappy.  She  had  had  a  few  days 
with  the  husband  she  truly  loved,  and 
now  she  was  ready  for  her  punishment. 
She  stood  up  bravely  and  faced  her  cap 
tors.  She  was  not  afraid. 


THADDEUS  OF  WARSAW 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Jane  Porter  C 1776-1 850) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  -plot:  Late  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Poland  and  England 

First  published:  1803 

Principal  characters: 

THADDEUS  SOBIESKI,  a  patriotic  young  Pole 

COUNT  SOBIESKT,  his  grandfather 

GENERAL  KOSCIUSKO,  a  Polish  leader 

PEMBROKE  SOMERSET,  Thaddeus*  English  friend 

GENERAL  BUTZOU,  another  Polish  patriot 

MARY  BEAUFORT,  Somerset's  Cousin,  whom  Thaddeus  married 

Critique: 

This  novel  combines  factual  history 
with  considerable  imaginative  invention. 
The  Englishman  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  was  already  familiar  with  the 
spectacle  of  the  political  refugee.  Pity 
for  the  plight  of  the  exile  who  must  adapt 
himself  to  a  diEerent  land  and  strange 


customs  is  one  of  the  chief  themes  oJ 
Miss  Porter's  novel. 

The  Story: 

Thaddeus  Sobieski  was  educated  ii\ 
the  palace  of  Count  Sobieski,  his  grand 
father,  an  enlightened  nobleman  of  Wai  • 


967 


saw.  On  the  evening  of  Thaddeus'  eight 
eenth  birthday,  his  mother  gave  him  a 
letter  in  which  she  revealed  that  his 
father,  an  Englishman,  had  deserted  his 
mother  in  Italy  before  Thaddeus  was 
born.  The  man's  name  was  Sackville. 
Thaddeus'  mother  had  returned  to  Po 
land  and  her  father  maintained  the  fiction 
that  she  had  married  and  had  been 
widowed  within  two  months.  None  knew 
of  the  deception  save  the  king.  At  the 
end  of  the  letter  Thaddeus'  mother 
begged  him  to  be  honorable  always  for 
the  sake  of  his  grandfather  and  the  illus 
trious  Sobieski  name. 

In  1792  the  Poles  began  a  war  of  in 
dependence  against  Russia.  Before  Thad 
deus  and  his  grandfather  set  off  to  the  war, 
Thaddeus  heard  the  story  of  how  Count 
Sobieski  and  General  Butzou  had  long 
ago  saved  the  life  of  King  Stanislaus  of 
Poland,  Both  the  knowledge  of  his  own 
past  and  the  story  of  his  grandfather's 
bravery  helped  to  shape  Thaddeus'  char 
acter  into  heroic  mold. 

Later,  Thaddeus  met  General  Koscius- 
ko  and  was  filled  with  hope  for  Poland. 
In  one  of  the  skirmishes  with  the  enemy 
Thaddeus  displayed  both  bravery  and  in 
telligence.  With  dismay  he  learned  that 
the  Poles  were  immediately  to  retreat,  for 
they  were  outnumbered  by  the  Russians. 
His  grandfather  was  injured  during  the 
retreat  but  refused  to  let  Thaddeus  attend 
him.  He  ordered  him  to  stay  with  the 
troops. 

Thaddeus  took  a  prisoner,  an  English 
man  named  Pembroke  Somerset,  who 
had  joined  the  Russian  army  for  the 
sake  of  adventure.  Somerset  and  Thad 
deus  became  close  friends.  Thaddeus 
gained  Somerset's  freedom,  and  when 
Thaddeus  returned  to  his  mother's  home 
Somerset  accompanied  him. 

The  tremendous  patriotism  and  the 
sense  of  honor  existing  in  Thaddeus  now 
transferred  themselves  to  Somerset,  who 
in  his  letters  home  wrote  of  his  great  ad 
miration  of  the  Poles.  Somerset  soon 
returned  home  to  England,  at  the  insist 
ence  of  his  family. 


Count  Sobieski  had  greater  cares,  for 
Poland  was  falling  under  the  Russian 
attack.  When  the  Germans  broke  their 
treaties  of  assistance,  the  king  decided 
that  organized  resistance  was  useless.  He 
surrendered  for  his  people.  In  Warsaw 
the  sons  of  the  nobles  vowed  eternal  re 
sistance  to  the  enemy,  and  Thaddeus 
was  among  those  taking  the  sacred  oath. 

Poland  in  November,  1793,  was  shorn 
of  her  best  lands  and  her  nobles  were 
humbled.  In  the  meantime  Thaddeus 
led  troops  into  the  south,  where  resist 
ance  continued.  He  managed  to  join  with 
General  Kosciusko  and  so  brought  a 
measure  of  hope  to  the  Poles. 

Thaddeus  managed  to  free  his  grand 
father  from  a  Russian  prison.  Later 
Thaddeus  led  the  other  nobles  in  the 
surrender  of  all  his  personal  property 
for  the  continuation  of  the  war.  In  a 
battle  fought  soon  afterward,  Thaddeus' 
grandfather  was  killed.  With  his  last 
breath  he  made  Thaddeus  promise  never 
to  take  any  name  other  than  Sobieski. 

Devastation  spread  over  Poland  as  the 
fighting  continued.  In  one  of  the  last 
campaigns  of  the  war  Thaddeus  found  a 
moment  to  talk  to  his  mother,  who  said 
she  would  not  survive  the  destruction 
of  Poland.  She  made  him  promise  to  go 
to  England  if  Poland  should  fall.  The 
Sobieski  palace  was  burned  to  the  ground. 
Thaddeus,  along  with  General  Butzou, 
watched  as  the  towers  of  Villanow  crum 
bled.  Inside  lay  the  dead  body  of  his 
mother,  who  had  died  during  the  battle. 
Taking  his  farewell  of  the  defeated  king, 
Thaddeus  left  Poland  forever. 

True  to  his  promise,  he  went  to  Eng 
land.  In  London  he  took  lodgings  under 
the  name  of  Mr.  Constantme  and  then 
became  ill  with  a  slow  and  disastrous 
fever  which  threatened  his  life.  His  land 
lady,  Mrs.  Robson,  had  become  quite  at 
tached  to  him  because  of  his  gentle 
manners  and  deep  courtesy  and  she 
watched  over  him  during  his  illness. 
When  he  recovered  he  sold  his  jewelry  in 
order  to  pay  his  bills.  He  tried  also  to 
sell  some  original  drawings  but  was  in- 


968 


suited  by  the  merchant  to  whom  he 
showed  them,  and  he  refused  to  do  busi 
ness  with  the  man. 

Mrs.  Robson's  sick  grandson  died  in 
spite  of  the  care  that  Thaddeus  gave  the 
child.  Dr.  Vincent,  suspecting  that  Thad 
deus  had  a  large  fortune,  sent  a  huge  bill 
for  his  services.  Thaddeus  promised  to 
raise  the  money  for  the  medicine  and  for 
the  burial,  but  he  had  not  a  shilling  in 
his  pocket.  He  was  forced  to  sell  more 
of  his  possessions. 

Thaddeus  tried  to  contact  Somerset, 
but  without  success.  About  the  same  time 
he  found  General  Butzou  in  the  greatest 
distress  of  poverty  and  took  him  to  his 
lodgings  with  Mrs.  Robson.  Thaddeus 
now  began  to  earn  enough  for  the  ex 
penses  of  himself  and  the  penniless  gen 
eral  by  means  of  his  drawings.  Once  he 
saw  Pembroke  Somerset  on  the  street, 
but  Somerset  passed  without  noticing 
him. 

One  day  Thaddeus  saved  a  woman, 
Lady  Tinemouth,  from  ruffians  in  Hyde 
Park.  Out  of  gratitude,  Lady  Tinemouth 
took  Thaddeus  in  hand  and  found  em 
ployment  for  him  as  a  tutor  in  German. 
At  the  same  time  her  friend,  Lady  Sara 
Ross,  attempted  to  involve  him  in  a  love 
affair,  but  she  found  him  indifferent. 

The  old  general  was  going  mad.  The 
doctor  whom  Thaddeus  called  in  was  Dr. 
Cavendish,  a  good  man  who  would  not 
take  the  payment  when  he  heard  the 
cause  of  the  old  general's  illness. 

Thaddeus  went  to  the  home  of  Lady 
Dundas,  where  he  was  to  serve  as  a 
tutor.  Lady  Dundas  proved  to  be  a  bore 
and  her  daughters  ill-favored  and  ill- 
mannered.  Attracted  by  Thaddeus*  noble 
appearance,  the  two  girls,  Diana  and  Eu- 
phemia,  determined  to  study  hard,  Eu- 
phemia  Dundas  and  Lady  Sara  Ross 
pursued  him. 

A  visitor  in  the  Dundas  household  was 
Miss  Mary  Beaufort,  a  gentle  girl  who 
saw  at  once  the  noble  nature  of  Thaddeus 
and  tried  to  ease  the  slights  and  rebuffs 
he  received  from  the  rich  and  vulgar 
Lady  Dundas  on  the  one  hand  and  the 


embarrassing  attentions  of  Euphemia 
Dundas  on  the  other.  In  the  meantime 
Mary  Beaufort  occupied  herself  with  try 
ing  to  discover  the  true  name  of  Mr. 
Constantine. 

One  day  some  of  Lady  Tinemouth's 
friends  were  discussing  the  tutor.  One 
laughed  at  Euphemia  for  her  interest  in 
a  man  no  better  than  a  mere  school 
master.  But  Mary  Beaufort  defended 
him.  Lady  Tinemouth  remained  silent, 
for  to  her  alone  Thaddeus  had  confessed 
his  true  identity.  Shortly  afterward  gos 
sip  caused  Lady  Tinemouth  to  receive 
unpleasant  notice  from  her  relatives  that 
her  attentions  to  Mr.  Constantine  were 
intolerable.  Lady  Tinemouth  planned  to 
leave  London.  In  her  letter  announcing 
her  departure  she  told  Thaddeus  that 
Mary  Beaufort  was  deeply  interested  in 
him. 

When  old  General  Butzou  died,  Thad 
deus  realized  that  one  of  Poland's  bravest 
sons  was  dead.  In  order  to  meet  the 
death  expenses,  Thaddeus,  who  still  had 
not  received  any  payment  from  Lady 
Dundas,  was  forced  to  sell  his  last  tokens. 
The  same  pawnbroker  took  them,  but 
the  amount  gained  was  not  enough  to 
pay  his  debts  and  Thaddeus  was  put  in 
Newgate  prison. 

Hearing  of  his  misfortune,  Mary  Beau 
fort  searched  out  his  apartment  and 
learned  from  Mrs.  Robson  the  story  of 
his  imprisonment.  Mary's  plan  to  aid 
Thaddeus  was  interrupted  by  the  arrival 
of  Pembroke  Somerset,  her  cousin,  and 
by  the  betrayal  of  Euphemia.  Euphemia 
declared  that  Thaddeus  had  made  pas 
sionate  love  to  her.  Euphemia's  mother 
screamed  for  revenge  and  announced  her 
intention  of  sending  her  daughter  to 
Scotland. 

Somerset,  not  knowing  that  Mr.  Con 
stantine  was  really  his  old  friend  Thad 
deus,  paid  the  debt  of  the  tutor  at  Mary's 
request,  but  he  did  not  so  much  as  look 
at  Thaddeus. 

When  Thaddeus  returned  to  his  room, 
he  discovered  a  note  in  which  Lady  Dun 
das  called  him  a  rogue.  Before  he  could 


969 


demand  an  explanation  for  the  note,  the 
whole  group  had  left  London.  He  then 
took  a  stage  to  the  place  where  Lady 
Tinemouth  had  found  refuge. 

At  Lady  Tinemouth's  home  Thaddeus 
and  Somerset  met  again  and  Somerset 
revealed  that  he  actually  had  not  seen 
Thaddeus  on  the  occasion  of  their  meet 
ing  on  a  London  street. 

This  meeting  also  brought  about  a 
reunion  between  Thaddeus  and  Mary 


Beaufort.  A  more  surprising  revelation 
was  the  discovery  that  Somerset's  father 
was  the  same  Sackville  who  was  the 
father  of  Thaddeus.  To  right  the  old 
wrong,  Thaddeus  was  given  a  large  in 
heritance  from  the  Somerset  estate.  With 
this  fortune  he  married  Mary  Beaufort 
and  spent  the  rest  of  his  days  happily 
with  his  wife  and  the  half-brother  whom 
he  had  found  after  many  strange  ad 
ventures. 


THE  THIN  MAN 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author;   DasHell  Hammett  (1894-         ) 

Type  of  plot;    Mystery  romance 

Time  of  plot:    1930's 

Locale:    New  York 

First  published:    1934 

Principal  characters: 

MIMI  JORGENSEN,  Clyde  Wynant's  ex-wife 

DOROTHY  WYNANT,  her  daughter 

GILBERT  WYNANT,  her  son 

CHRISTIAN  JORGENSEN,  her  present  husband,  Wynant's  former  associate 

NICK  CHARLES,  a  detective 

NORA  CHARLES,  his  wife 

HERBERT  MACAULAY,  Wynant's  attorney 

MORELLI,  a  gangster 

ARTHUR  NUNHEIM,  an  ex-convict 
Critique: 

As  detective  fiction,  this  novel  pre 
sents  a  picture  of  sophisticated  New  York 
life  at  the  end  of  the  prohibition  era. 
The  plot  itself  follows  the  pattern  set 
by  Poe  in  The  Murders  of  the  Rue 
Morgue  in  1841  and  by  Arthur  Conan 
Doyle  in  his  Sherlock  Holmes  stories. 
Here  are  the  astute  detective,  the  some 
what  obtuse  and  distrustful  police,  the 
questioning  companion,  the  dropping  of 
clues  to  give  the  reader  a  chance  to 
solve  the  mystery,  and  the  final  explana 
tion  by  the  detective. 


The  Story: 

Nick  Charles,  one-time  detective  and 
now  a  California  lumberman,  arrived  in 
New  York  with  his  wife  Nora  for  the 
Christmas  holidays.  He  was  drawn  into 
investigation  of  a  murder  case  because 


the  dead  woman,  Julia  Wolf,  was  the 
secretary  of  Nick's  old  client,  a  lunatic- 
fringe  inventor  whose  wife  had  divorced 
him  in  order  to  marry  a  man  named 
Christian  Jorgensen.  Clyde  Wynant,  the 
inventor,  was  reported  to  be  out  of 
town,  working  on  some  new  project. 
Herbert  Macaulay,  attorney  for  Wynant, 
had  told  police  that  he  had  not  seen 
Wynant  since  October,  when  Wynant 
had  given  the  lawyer  power  of  attorney. 
Suspicion  fell  on  Mimi  Jorgensen,  just 
returned  from  Europe,  for  she  had  gone 
to  see  Julia  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
murder,  had  arrived,  in  fact,  in  time  for 
Julia  to  die  in  her  arms.  She  had 
wanted,  she  said,  to  get  her  husband's 
address,  for  she  needed  more  money  to 
support  his  two  children,  twenty-year- 
old  Dorothy  and  eighteen-year-old  Gil- 


970 


bert,  since  Jorgensen  had  run  through 
the  large  settlement  Wynant  had  made 
on  Mimi  at  the  time  of  their  divorce. 

Suspicion  fell  on  Jorgensen,  who 
turned  out  to  be  a  man  formerly  known 
as  Kelterman,  with  whom  Wynant  had 
worked  several  years  before.  He  thought 
that  Wynant  had  not  treated  him  fairly. 
Then  it  was  discovered  that  Jorgensen 
had  a  wife  living  in  Boston  and  that 
he  had  married  Mimi  only  to  get 
Wynant's  money. 

Suspicion  fell  on  Morelli,  a  gangster 
who  had  been  fond  of  Julia.  When  he 
learned  that  Nick  was  on  the  case, 
Morelli  went  to  Nick's  apartment  and,  as 
the  police  arrived,  shot  Nick  in  the 
chest,  a  glancing  shot  that  did  not  pro 
duce  a  serious  wound.  Nick  told  the 
police  he  would  not  press  charges,  for 
the  man  was  apparently  in  enough 
trouble.  Although  the  police  beat  up 
Morelli,  they  could  find  no  reason  for 
holding  him.  He  was  released  the  same 
day. 

Suspicion  fell  on  Gil  Wynant,  for  the 
members  of  the  Wynant  family  did  not 
have  much  love  for  one  another.  Gil 
was  an  odd  young  man  who  asked  Nick 
about  bizarre  subjects  such  as  incest  and 
cannibalism.  He  was  frequently  found 
at  keyholes  listening  to  private  conver 
sations. 

Suspicion  fell  on  Arthur  Nunheim, 
who  identified  Julia  Wolfs  body.  When 
Nick  went  with  Guild,  a  detective,  to 
see  Nunheim,  they  found  him  living  in 
an  extremely  untidy  apartment  with  a 
big,  frowzy  blonde.  In  the  presence  of 
their  callers,  Nunheim  and  the  blonde 
insulted  each  other  until  the  woman 
left  him.  Nunheim  escaped  from  Nick 
through  a  back  window.  He  was  re 
ported  murdered  a  little  while  later. 

Suspicion  fell  on  Wynant  himself, 
for  Macaulay  reported  that  Wynant  had 
made  an  appointment  with  him  on  the 
day  the  murder  was  committed,  but  had 
failed  to  appear.  During  the  course  of 
the  investigation  several  people  received 
from  Wynant  communications  which 


seemed  to  throw  suspicion  on  Mimi  and 
Jorgensen.  One  day  Wynant  was  re 
ported  to  have  tried  to  commit  suicide 
in  Allentown,  Pennsylvania.  The  report 
was  false,  however,  for  the  man  was 
not  Wynant. 

On  First  Avenue  Wynant  had  main 
tained  a  shop  which  the  police  had  given 
a  cursory  examination.  Nick  insisted 
that  they  return  and  tear  it  apart  if 
necessary,  for  he  felt  sure  that  some 
clue  was  to  be  found  there.  The  police 
discovered  a  section  of  the  cement  floor 
newer  than  the  rest.  When  they  tore  it 
up,  they  found  the  bones  of  a  dead  man, 
with  a  cane,  some  clothes  apparently  for 
a  larger  man  than  Wynant  and  a  key 
chain  bearing  the  initials  D.W.Q. 

At  last  Nick  accused  Macaulay  of 
murdering  Wynant,  Julia,  and  Nun 
heim.  He  believed  that  Macaulay  and 
Julia  had  joined  forces  to  get  Wynant's 
money,  that  Wynant  had  gone  to  Macau- 
lay's  house  in  Scarsdale  to  accuse 
Macaulay  of  the  plot,  and  that  Macaulay 
had  killed  his  client  there.  Then,  Nick 
reasoned,  Macaulay  had  dismembered  the 
body  and  brought  it  back  to  the  work 
shop,  where  he  discharged  the  two  me 
chanics  and  buried  the  body  under  new 
cement.  The  cane,  the  large-size  clothes, 
and  the  key  chain  were  intended  to  pre 
vent  identification  of  the  body. 

Macaulay,  according  to  Nick,  had  re 
newed  the  lease  on  the  shop  and  kept 
it  vacant  while  with  a  forged  power  of 
attorney  and  Julia's  help  he  began  to 
transfer  Wynant's  fortune  to  his  own 
accounts.  Then  Mimi  had  come  back 
from  Europe  with  her  children  and  had 
asked  for  Wynant.  When  Nick  had  ar 
rived  for  his  Christmas  holiday  and  had 
agreed  to  help  Mimi  find  the  missing 
inventor,  Macaulay  felt  he  would  be  safer 
with  Julia  dead.  Later  he  sent  letters 
to  members  of  Wynant's  family,  and  even 
to  himself,  supposedly  from  Wynant. 
Nick  thought  Macaulay  had  killed  Nun 
heim  because  the  ex-convict  had  been 
near  Julia's  apartment  and  had  probably 
heard  the  shots  that  killed  her.  When 


37) 


Nunheim  had  demanded  hush  money 
from  Macaulay,  the  lawyer  had  murdered 
him  also  to  keep  him  permanently  quiet. 

So  Nick  outlined  his  case.  But  on 
the  day  he  made  the  accusation,  Gilbert 
Wynant  received  a  letter,  supposedly 
from  his  father,  telling  him  to  use  the 
enclosed  key,  go  to  Julia's  apartment, 
and  look  for  an  important  paper  between 
ihe  pages  of  a  certain  book.  Following 
the  instruction  in  the  letter,  Gilbert  en 
tered  the  apartment,  where  a  plain- 
clothesman  struck  him,  fettered  him, 
and  took  him  to  police  headquarters. 
The  boy  showed  the  officials  and  Nick 
the  letter  that  he  had  received.  The 
book  and  paper  had  been  invented. 
When  Nick  took  Gilbert  home,  he 
learned  from  Mimi  that  Wynant  had 
just  been  there  to  leave  with  Mimi  ten 
thousand  dollars  in  bonds. 

As  it  turned  out,  Macaulay,  knowing 
that  the  police  would  be  in  Julia's  apart 
ment,  had  sent  the  letter  to  Gilbert  in 


an  attempt  to  shift  the  suspicion  back 
to  Wynant  once  more.  Also,  Macaulay 
himself  had  brought  Wynant's  bonds  to 
Mimi,  making  her  promise  to  say  that 
Wynant  had  brought  them  and  thus 
give  credence  to  his  own  story  that 
Wynant  was  in  town.  Nick  forced  Mimi 
to  admit  the  truth  by  explaining  that 
Macaulay  now  had  possession  o£ 
Wynant's  fortune  and  that  if  she  played 
his  game  she  would  have  to  be  satisfied 
with  comparatively  small  sums  occasion 
ally,  whereas  if  she  were  to  stop  shield 
ing  Macaulay  —  however  innocent  of 
Wynant's  death — she  would,  through  hei 
children,  have  control  of  her  ex-husband's 
entire  fortune.  Jorgensen,  meanwhile, 
had  gone  back  to  his  legal  wife  in  Boston. 
After  Nick  had  explained  the  whole 
case  to  Nora,  she  could  not  help  feeling 
that  the  business  of  a  detective,  based 
as  it  is  on  so  much  probability,  is  at 
best  unsatisfactory. 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  STEPS 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:   John  Buchan  (1875-1940) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  ?1ot:    1914 

Locale:    England  and  Scotland 

First  published:    1915 

Principal  characters: 

RICHAHD  HATCNAY,  a  retired  mining  engineer 
FRANKLIN  SCUDDER,  a  private  investigator 
SIR  WALTER,  a  government  official 
THE  BLACK  STONE,  espionage  agents 


Critique: 

Well-told  spy  stories  are  always  excit 
ing,  and  The  Thirty-Nine  Steps  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  Both  as  fiction 
and  in  motion  picture  versions,  the  novel 
has  survived  with  remarkable  popularity 
the  time  for  which  it  was  written. 
Buchan's  style  was  always  crisp  and 
lively,  a  fact  which  helps  to  explain  the 
widespread  appeal  of  his  novels  during 
the  first  three  decades  of  this  century. 


The  Story: 

Richard  Hannay  was  a  mining  engi 
neer  who  had  made  a  modest  fortune  in 
South  Africa  and  returned  to  England 
to  retire.  Before  long  he  found  himself 
bored  beyond  belief  with  the  conversa 
tions  and  actions  of  the  Englishmen  he 
met.  He  had  just  about  decided  to  re 
turn  to  South  Africa  when  a  strange 
series  of  events  provided  him  with  ample 
excitement. 


THE  THIRTY-NINE  STEPS  by  John  Buchan.  By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  John  Buchan,  of 
MCA  Management  Ltd.,  and  the  publishers,  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.  Copyright,  1915,  by  George  H.  Doran  Co 
Xeaewed,  1943,  by  Lady  Susan  Tweedsmuir. 


972 


As  he  was  unlocking  the  door  of  his 
flat,  he  was  startled  by  the  sudden  ap 
pearance  of  Franklin  Scudder,  another 
tenant  in  the  building.  Scudder,  ob 
viously  a  badly  frightened  man,  begged 
Hannay  to  give  him  refuge  in  his  flat. 
After  the  two  men  were  setded  com 
fortably,  Scudder  told  Hannay  a  fantas 
tic  tale.  He  said  that  a  plot  to  start  a 
war  between  England  and  Germany  was 
being  hatched.  A  Greek  diplomat,  Ka- 
rolides,  the  only  really  strong  man  in 
Europe,  was  to  visit  London  on  June 
fifteenth.  At  that  time  his  assassination 
would  create  an  excuse  for  a  declaration 
of  war. 

Scudder  told  Hannay  that  a  group 
called  The  Black  Stone  were  the  agents 
arranging  for  the  assassination.  This 
group  of  men  knew  that  Scudder  had 
learned  of  their  plot,  and  they  had  tried 
several  times  to  kill  him.  He  had  now 
planted  a  body  in  his  flat,  hoping  that 
the  murderers  would  think  the  body  his. 
He  asked  Hannay  to  let  him  stay  with 
him  until  plans  could  be  made  to  prevent 
the  assassination. 

Impressed  by  the  sincerity  of  Scudder's 
story,  Hannay  gave  him  sanctuary.  One 
day  he  returned  to  his  flat  to  find  Scud 
der  with  a  knife  through  his  heart. 
Hannay  knew  then  that  The  Black 
Stone  had  found  Scudder  and  that  his 
own  life  was  in  danger.  The  police,  too, 
would  want  Hannay  for  questioning. 

When  he  saw  two  men  strolling  in 
front  of  his  flat,  he  decided  that  they 
were  part  of  the  enemy  group.  By  a 
ruse  he  exchanged  clothes  with  the 
milkman  and  left  his  flat,  taking  with 
him  a  little  black  book  in  which  he  had 
seen  Scudder  making  notes.  He  was 
afraid  to  go  to  any  government  office 
with  his  fantastic  story.  His  plan  was  to 
disappear  for  the  three  weeks  remaining 
before  June  fifteenth,  and  at  the  last 
minute  to  try  to  get  to  someone  in 
authority  to  listen  to  him. 

He  went  to  Scotland,  thinking  that  he 
could  hide  more  easily  there.  But  the 
London  papers  carried  the  story  of  the 


murder  of  Scudder  and  Hannay's  descrip 
tion.  He  had  several  narrow  escapes 
from  local  Scottish  police.  The  Black 
Stone  had  also  traced  him.  When  an  air 
plane  flew  low  over  his  refuge,  obviously 
on  the  lookout  for  him,  he  took  shelter 
in  an  inn  until  The  Black  Stone  found 
him  there  and  he  was  forced  to  flee 
again.  In  every  spare  moment  he  studied 
Scudder's  little  black  book.  Deciphering 
the  code,  he  learned  that  Scudder  had 
told  him  only  part  of  the  truth.  The 
murder  of  Karolides  was  only  a  small 
part  of  the  plot.  The  main  threat  of  the 
plan  was  an  invasion  of  England  without 
warning.  Airfields  were  already  laid  out 
and  mines  had  been  placed  to  line  the 
shores  at  a  given  signal.  The  time  for 
invasion  was  to  be  determined  after 
The  Black  Stone  intercepted  a  French 
envoy  who  was  coming  to  London  to 
secure  the  plans  which  showed  the  ar 
rangement  of  the  British  fleet.  When  the 
enemy  learned  where  the  ships  were, 
they  could  lay  mines  in  strategic  positions 
and  destroy  a  great  portion  of  the  fleet. 
The  only  clue  Hannay  could  find  about 
the  time  and  place  of  the  enemy  opera 
tion  was  a  reference  to  thirty-nine  steps 
and  a  high  tide  at  10:17  P.  M. 

By  luck,  Hannay  met  a  man  who  had 
an  uncle  in  an  influential  position  in  the 
government.  This  man  believed  the  story 
and  promised  to  write  his  uncle  and  ask 
him  to  talk  to  Hannay  and  to  help  in 
thwarting  the  plot.  Hannay  traveled  care 
fully,  for  the  police  and  The  Black  Stone 
were  still  after  him.  Once  he  was  cap 
tured  by  a  member  of  The  Black  Stone, 
but  he  blew  up  the  building  in  which  he 
was  held  and  escaped.  At  last  he  reached 
Sir  Walter,  the  uncle  of  his  friend,  and 
Sir  Walter  listened  carefully  to  Hannay 's 
report.  At  first  he  dismissed  Scudder's 
story  as  that  of  a  loyal  but  overly  anxious 
young  man.  But  when  he  received  a 
call  informing  him  that  Karolides  had 
been  killed,  he  knew  that  Scudder's 
information  had  been  right,  and  he 
promised  to  take  Hannay's  information 
to  the  proper  authorities. 


973 


Although  Hannay  was  not  to  be  al 
lowed,  to  attend  the  secret  conference  of 
government  officials,  he  had  the  uneasy 
reeling  that  his  presence  there  was  of 
utmost  importance,  that  only  he  could 
find  out  how  the  highly  confidential 
information  about  the  French  envoy's 
visit  had  leaked  out  to  the  enemy. 
Against  Sir  Walter's  orders,  he  went  to 
the  house  where  the  officials  were  meet 
ing.  As  he  sat  in  the  hall  waiting  to  be 
admitted,  one  of  the  officials  came  out 
of  the  meeting  room.  Realizing  that  the 
man  had  recognized  him  and  that  he 
had  seen  the  official  elsewhere,  he  burst 
into  the  room  and  told  the  astonished 
officials  that  the  man  who  had  just  left 
was  an  impostor. 

They  thought  him  mad,  for  the  man 
was  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  and 
they  knew  him  well.  But  at  Hannay 's 
insistence  they  called  the  official's  home 
and  learned  that  he  was  there.  Then 
they  remembered  that  the  impostor  had 
scanned  the  drawings  and  figures  care 
fully  and  could  have  memorized  them. 
If  he  left  the  country,  the  whole  plan 
of  defense  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  The  only  hope  was  to  capture 
him.  But  there  were  hundreds  of  small 
ports  where  a  little  boat  could  leave 
English  shores;  not  all  could  be  watched. 


By  checking  isolated  spots  along  the 
coast,  Hannay  finally  found  a  small  cove 
where  the  tide  was  high  at  10:17  P.  M. 
and  nearby  a  house  with  thirty-nine 
steps  leading  down  to  the  cove.  Ac 
companied  by  police,  he  went  to  the 
house.  There  he  found  three  English 
men  on  a  vacation.  Their  actions  were 
so  natural  that  he  doubted  that  they 
could  be  spies.  Only  the  presence  of  a 
fast  yacht  in  the  water  close  to  the 
cove  supported  his  suspicions.  But  an 
unconscious  finger  tapping  by  one  of 
the  vacationers  identified  him  as  the 
enemy  agent  who  had  once  captured 
Hannay.  Hannay  and  the  police  were 
able  to  capture  two  of  the  men.  The 
third  escaped  to  the  ship,  but  as  it  had 
already  been  boarded  by  English  police, 
he  too  was  taken. 

The  murder  charge  against  Hannay 
had  been  dropped,  and  he  was  safe  for 
the  first  time  in  many  weeks.  Three 
weeks  later  war  was  declared  between 
England  and  Germany.  But  the  war 
was  not  fought  on  English  soil  and  there 
was  no  surprise  invasion.  Hannay  en 
listed  in  the  army,  but  he  knew  that  he 
had  done  his  greatest  service  for  his 
country  before  he  put  on  a  uniform. 
The  Black  Stone  was  no  more  and 
Scudder's  murder  was  avenged. 


THIS  ABOVE  ALL 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  Eric  Knight  (1897-1943) 

Type  of  -plot:    Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Summer,  1940 

Locale:   England 

First  'published:   1941 

Principal  characters: 

CLIVE  BRTGGS,  a  soldier 

PEUE  CATHAWAY,  in  love  with  Clive 

MONTY,  dive's  friend 

DR.  CATHAWAY,  Prue's  father 

Critique: 

This  Above   All  is  a   story   of  great  cricket,   and  afternoon  tea,  and  a   .nan 

emotional  conflict  between   a  girl   who  who  knew  and  hated   the  England   of 

knew  and  loved  the  England  of  hunting,  slums,  mines,  starvation,  and  disease.  The 

J^JS^ ABOVE  ALL  by  Eric  Kaight.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.     Copyright     1 94 1 
by  iij 


974 


author  attempted  to  show  what  war  can 
mean  to  a  civilian  as  well  as  to  a  front 
line  soldier. 

The  Story: 

Home  on  rest  leave,  after  the  disaster 
of  Dunkirk,  Clive  Briggs  went  first  to 
Leaford  and  then  to  Gosley,  both  resort 
towns  on  the  coast  of  England.  At  a 
band  concert  in  Gosley  he  met  Prudence 
Cathaway,  who  was  stationed  nearby 
with  the  women's  army  corps.  Prue  was 
of  an  upper  middle-class  family  and 
Clive  was  from  the  slums,  but  they  were 
attracted  to  each  other  and  became  lovers 
the  second  time  they  were  together. 

Prue  told  him  of  her  family.  Her 
grandfather  had  been  a  general  in  the 
last  war  and  felt  unwanted  and  useless 
in  this  one;  her  father  was  a  doctor,  a 
famous  brain  specialist.  She  told  him 
of  her  Aunt  Iris,  who  wanted  only  to 
get  to  America  and  who  pretended  that 
she  wanted  her  children  to  be  safe  when 
it  was  really  for  herself  she  feared.  Iris* 
brother  was  in  America,  buying  steel 
for  the  British  government.  Prue  also 
told  Clive  that  she  had  broken  her  en 
gagement  to  a  conscientious  objector, 
and  because  she  was  ashamed  for  him 
she  had  joined  the  W.  A.  A.  F. 

Clive  seemed  reluctant  to  talk  about 
himself,  other  than  to  say  he  had  been 
born  in  the  slums.  In  fact,  it  was  many 
days  before  Prue  knew  he  was  in  the 
army  and  had  been  in  the  rear-guard 
action  at  Dunkirk. 

When  they  found  that  Prue  could  get 
a  leave  which  would  give  them  ten  days 
together,  they  went  to  Leaford.  Most 
of  the  time  they  were  quite  happy  but 
each  time  Prue  mentioned  the  War  Clive 
became  angry  and  sullen  and  seemed  to 
get  pleasure  from  taunting  her  about  her 
family.  Sometimes  they  quarreled  with 
out  knowing  the  reason  and  were  recon 
ciled  only  because  of  their  desire  for  each 
other. 

During  the  last  five  days  of  their  stay, 
Clive's  friend  Monty  joined  them.  Monty 
was  also  slum-born.  It  was  Monty  who 


told  Prue  of  Clive's  heroism  at  Dunkirk., 
Monty's  story  puzzled  Prue  more  than 
ever.  She  could  understand  even  less 
why  Clive  was  so  bitter. 

While  they  were  at  Leaford,  air  raids 
became  frequent.  One  night  during  a 
heavy  raid  Clive  told  Prue  why  he  would 
not  go  back  to  the  army,  why  he  intended 
to  desert.  He  told  her  of  his  childhood, 
of  his  illegitimate  birth  and  of  his  sordid 
remembrances  of  childhood  in  the  slums. 
He  asked  her  if  a  country  that  ignored 
its  poor  were  worth  fighting  for.  England 
was  still  fighting  a  gentleman's  war,  he 
said,  and  the  leaders  were  asking  the 
slum  boys  to  win  the  war  and  then  go 
back  to  the  mines  and  the  factories  and 
the  mills  from  which  they  had  come. 
He  was  through.  Prue  tried  to  tell  him 
that  he  must  go  back  to  save  himself. 
She  said  it  was  his  pride  that  had  brought 
him  up  from  the  filth,  and  his  pride  and 
that  of  the  others  like  him  would  change 
all  the  conditions  of  which  he  had  told 
her.  He  would  not  listen  to  her. 

At  the  end  of  the  leave  Prue  re 
turned  to  her  camp.  Clive,  true  to  his 
word,  did  not  go  back  to  the  army  at 
the  end  of  his  furlough.  He  wandered 
along  the  coast  while  trying  to  decide 
what  he  really  wanted  to  do.  Once  he 
went  into  a  church  and  talked  with  the 
pastor,  but  he  scoffed  when  the  minister 
told  him  that  we  fight  because  we  have 
faith  in  our  ability  to  build  a  better  life 
than  we  have  had.  He  accused  the  min 
ister  and  all  the  churches  of  betraying 
Christ  and  His  teachings  because  the 
rich  who  support  the  church  must  not 
be  told  of  their  sin  in  neglecting  their 
fellow  men.  Before  he  left  the  church 
the  minister  told  him  that  realism  and 
reasoning  like  his  had  brought  war  and 
hunger  and  cruelty,  and  that  only  faith 
could  restore  human  dignity  and  freedom 
throughout  the  world. 

At  last  Clive  tired  of  running  away; 
there  was  no  place  for  him  to  go.  Finally 
he  decided  to  give  himself  up,  to  let  the 
army  decide  for  him  whether  he  was 
wrong,  for  he  was  too  exhausted  to  de- 


975 


cide  his  problem  for  himself.  Perhaps 
Pnie  and  the  minister  had  been  right; 
perhaps  faith  in.  himself  meant  faith  in 
his  country  and  the  willingness  to  die 
for  it. 

On  the  train  to  London,  Clive  sud 
denly  remembered  something  Prue  had 
said,  a  remark  which  had  no  meaning 
at  the  time.  Now  he  knew  she  was 
going  to  have  a  baby.  He  felt  that  he 
could  not  give  himself  up  before  he  saw 
Prue  and  asked  her  to  marry  him.  He 
managed  to  evade  the  military  police 
in  London  and  call  Prue.  They  arranged 
to  meet  at  the  station  in  London  and 
to  marry  as  soon  as  possible.  Clive 
knew  at  last  that  he  loved  Prue,  and 
he  was  determined  that  his  child  would 
never  know  the  hurt  an  illegitimate  child 
must  always  feel. 

While  he  was  waiting  for  Prue's 
train,  a  bomb  fell  on  a  nearby  building. 
As  he  tried  to  help  rescue  a  woman 
trapped  in  the  basement  of  the  building, 
the  wall  collapsed  on  him.  He  regained 


consciousness  with  Prue  sitting  beside 
him  in  a  hospital  room.  Monty  and  her 
father  had  helped  her  find  him.  Prue's 
father  was  honest  with  her.  He  had 
tried  to  save  Olive's  life  with  an  emer 
gency  operation,  but  part  of  the  brain 
tissue  was  gone  and  there  was  no  hope 
that  Clive  would  live.  During  one  of 
his  periods  of  consciousness  Clive  told 
Prue  that  he  had  risked  his  life  to  save 
a  strange  woman,  because  he  knew  at 
last  that  he  did  have  faith  in  himself 
and  his  country. 

Clive  died  in  the  night  during  a  heavy 
bombing  raid.  Afterward  Prue  walked 
along  the  streets  of  London  and  saw  the 
volunteer  firemen  and  the  Cockney 
policemen  performing  their  duties  among 
the  wreckage,  and  she  knew  why  Clive 
had  died.  Feeling  the  child  stir  within 
her,  she  hoped  that  by  sacrifices  like 
dive's  his  child  and  all  children  might 
have  the  chance  to  live  in  a  good  and 
free  world. 


THE  THREE  BLACK  PENNYS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Joseph  Hergesheimer  (1880-1954) 

Type  of  plot:  Period  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:  c.  1750-1910 

Locale:  Pennsylvania 

First  published:  1917 

Principal  characters: 

HOWAT  PENNY,  son  of  the  owner  of  Myrtle  Forge 

LUDOWIKA  WINSCOMBE,  in  love  with  Howat  Penny 

JASPER  PENNY,  Howat  Penny's  great-grandson 

SUSAN  BRUNDON,  Jasper's  sweetheart 

HOWAT  PENNY,  Jasper's  and  Susan's  grandson 

MARIANA  JANNAN,  Howat's  cousin 

JAMES  POLDER,  Mariana's  lover 

Critique: 

The  Three  Black  Pennys  is,  in  an  un-  ties    of    a    Victorian    generation    which 

usual  way,  the  history  of  American  cul-  passed  away  without  ever  understanding 

ture,  the  first  of  the  Pennys  representing  the  modern  society  supplanting  it.    The 

the  beginning  of  a  culture,  the  second  author  aptly  named  the  three  sections 

representing  the  essential   crudeness  of  of  his  book  The  Furnace,  The  Forge, 

the   early  nineteenth   century,   and   the  and  The  Metal,  in  keeping  with  a  story 

last  Penny  representing  the  effete  quali-  dealing  with   a   family  engaged   in   the 

TSEJTPIS'E  ?L£CK  PENNYS  by  Joseph  Hergesheimer.    By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers, 
Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Copyright,  1917,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.    Renewed  1944,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc. 


976 


steel  industry  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
symbolism  is  obvious.  The  characteriza 
tion  is  excellent,  as  is  the  description. 
Two  of  the  highlights  of  the  book  are 
the  descriptions  of  an  all-night  raccoon 
hunt  in  the  eighteenth  century  and  the 
tapping  of  an  open-hearth  converter  in 
a  twentieth-century  steel  mill. 

The  Story: 

The  Penny  family  was  English,  except 
for  a  Welsh  ancestor  whose  blood 
cropped  out  from  time  to  time  among  his 
descendants.  Those  who  showed  the 
Welsh  strain  were  called  black  Pennys 
by  their  relatives  in  an  attempt  to  de 
scribe  the  mental  make-up  of  individuals 
to  whom  it  was  applied.  Howat  was 
the  first  black  Penny  in  over  a  hundred 
years;  the  last  one  had  been  burned  to 
death  as  a  heretic  by  Queen  Elizabeth, 
long  before  the  family  had  emigrated 
to  the  Colonies. 

Living  at  Myrtle  Forge,  on  the  edge 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Wilderness,  Howat 
Penny  was  far  more  interested  in  the 
deep  woods  than  he  was  in  becoming 
an  ironmaster.  Nor  did  the  appearance 
of  Ludowika  Winscombe  make  him  any 
more  satisfied  or  contented  with  his  life. 

Ludowika  Winscombe,  the  young 
Polish  wife  of  an  elderly  British  envoy, 
had  been  left  at  the  Penny  home  while 
her  husband  traveled  through  the  Col 
onies  on  the  king's  business.  Before 
long  Howat  Penny  fell  in  love  with 
her.  Ludowika  warned  him,  however, 
that  she  was  a  practical  person  who  felt 
it  was  best  for  her  to  remain  married  to 
her  husband  rather  than  to  run  away 
with  a  young  frontiersman.  Howat  stub 
bornly  told  her  that  she  would  have  to 
marry  him,  for  he  would  permit  nothing 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  their  happiness. 

Winscombe  returned  ill  to  Myrtle 
Forge  and  Howat  Penny  found  himself 
acting  as  Winscombe's  nurse.  It  was  an 
ironic  situation  filled  with  tension.  Howat 
Penny  waited  for  the  old  man  to  die. 
Ludowika  was  torn  between  two  desires. 
She  wanted  Howat  Penny,  but  she  hated 


to  face  a  life  with  him  in  the  wilderness. 
The  climax  came  late  one  night  while 
Howat  and  Ludowika  sat  by  the  sick 
man's  bed  while  Winscombe  made  a 
gallant  effort  to  remain  alive.  Howat 
and  Ludowika  dared  not  even  look  at 
each  other  foi  fear  of  what  they  might 
see  behind  each  other's  eyes.  Early  in 
the  morning  the  old  man  died.  As  they 
faced  each  other  in  the  gray  dawn 
Howat  and  Ludowika  realized  that  she 
was  destined  to  remain  with  him  in 
Pennsylvania  and  never  to  see  London 
again. 

Three  generations  later  the  Welsh 
Penny  blood  again  appeared  in  the  per 
son  of  Howat's  great-grandson,  Jasper. 
By  that  time  the  forge,  which  had  been 
the  beginning  of  the  Penny  fortune,  had 
been  replaced  by  a  great  foundry  with 
many  furnaces.  Jasper  Penny  was  a  rich 
man,  steadily  growing  richer  by  supply 
ing  the  tremendous  amounts  of  iron 
needed  for  the  new  railroads  in  the 
United  States. 

Jasper  Penny  had  never  married.  Like 
his  great-grandfather  Howat,  he  was  a 
man  of  great  passions  whose  energies 
were  spent  in  building  up  his  foundry 
and  fortune.  He  was  still  painfully  re 
minded,  however,  of  his  earlier  indiscre 
tions  with  a  woman  who  had  borne  him 
an  illegitimate  daughter.  The  woman 
hounded  Jasper  for  money  and  he  found 
it  easier  to  give  her  money  than  it  was 
to  refuse  her  demands. 

He  saw  very  little  of  Eunice,  his 
daughter,  for  he  assumed  that  she  would 
be  cared  for  by  her  mother  as  long  as  he 
paid  all  expenses.  One  day  in  Philadel 
phia  Jasper  decided,  on  impulse,  to  visit 
Eunice.  He  discovered  her,  ill-clothed 
and  underfed,  in  the  home  of  a  poor 
family,  and,  horrified,  he  took  her  away 
with  him.  Not  knowing  what  to  do  with 
her,  he  finally  placed  her  in  a  school  in 
New  York. 

In  Philadelphia  Jasper  had  also  met 
Susan  Brundon,  mistress  of  a  girls'  school 
and  friend  of  a  distant  branch  of  Jas 
per's  family.  Jasper  fell  in  love  with 


977 


her  and  in  his  abrupt  fashion  proposed 
marriage.  Being  honest,  he  told  her  that 
he  had  an  illegitimate  child.  Susan  re 
fused  to  marry  Jasper  because  she  felt 
that  his  first  duty  was  to  Eunice's  mother. 

Shortly  after  his  proposal  Jasper  was 
involved  in  a  murder.  Eunice's  mother 
had  killed  another  lover  and  suspicion 
fell  on  Jasper  Penny.  He  hated  to  involve 
Susan  Brundon  in  the  sordid  affair,  but 
he  found  that  the  only  way  he  could 
clear  himself  was  through  her  testimony 
that  he  had  been  with  her  when  the 
crime  was  committed. 

After  the  trial  Susan  told  Jasper  that 
she  could  not  marry  him  until  Eunice's 
mother  was  dead,  that  she  could  not  have 
the  past  intruding  itself  upon  her  love 
for  him  after  they  were  married.  Almost 
a  decade  passed  before  they  were  finally 
able  to  marry. 

The  last  of  the  black  Pennys  was  also 
the  last  of  the  family  name,  for  the 
family  died  out  with  the  second  Howat 
Penny,  the  grandson  of  Jasper  Penny 
and  Susan  Brundon.  Howat  was  a  bach 
elor  who  lived  alone  in  the  country  near 
the  site  of  the  original  Penny  forge. 
-Interested  in  music  and  art,  he  had  never 
married,  and  the  management  of  the 
Penny  foundries  had  gone  out  of  his 
hands.  Possessed  of  a  comfortable  for 
tune,  he  had  in  the  closing  years  of  his 
life  the  companionship  of  Mariana  Jan- 
nan,  a  cousin.  She  was  a  young  woman 
in  her  twenties  and  little  understood  by 
old-fashioned  Howat. 

He  did  not  understand  Mariana  be 
cause  he  could  not  understand  her  gen 
eration.  Because  Jasper's  son  and  grand 
son  had  never  had  anything  to  do  with 
that  branch  of  the  family  descended  from 
Jasper's  illegitimate  daughter,  Howat  was 


horrified  when  Mariana  told  him  that 
she  was  in  love  with  James  Polder,  a 
distant  cousin. 

Howat  thought  Mariana  mad  to  fall 
in  love  with  James  Polder,  who  had  be 
gun  working  in  the  Penny  foundries  as 
a  boy.  The  fact  that  he  had  worked  his 
way  up  to  a  position  of  importance  failed 
to  redeem  him  in  old  Howat's  eyes. 

Polder  finally  ran  away  with  an  ac 
tress.  Three  years  after  his  marriage, 
Mariana  and  Howat  Penny  called  on  him 
and  his  wife.  Polder,  unhappy  with  his 
slatternly  wife,  had  begun  drinking 
heavily.  Howat,  at  Marianna's  insistence, 
invited  Polder  to  visit  his  home  in  the 
country.  Polder  accepted.  Shortly  after 
ward  he  learned  that  his  wife  had  de 
serted  him  and  returned  to  the  stage. 
He  no  longer  cared;  in  love  once  more, 
he  and  Mariana  realized  they  should 
never  have  permitted  family  differences 
to  come  between  them. 

Mariana's  relatives,  shocked  by  the 
affair,  protested  to  Howat.  Howat  him 
self  said  nothing,  for  he  now  felt  that 
he  was  too  old  and  understood  too  little 
of  modern  life  to  intrude  in  the  affairs 
of  Mariana  and  Polder.  Although  he 
was  as  much  Mariana's  friend  as  ever,  he 
could  not  understand  how  she  was  able 
to  live  with  Polder  as  his  mistress  while 
they  waited  for  his  wife  to  divorce  him. 
Howat  believed  until  the  end  of  his 
life  that  women  should  be  protected  from 
reality.  Even  when  he  knew  he  was 
dying,  he  said  nothing  to  Mariana,  who 
sat  reading  by  his  side.  The  delicacy  of 
his  sensibilities  prevented  him  from 
shocking  her  with  the  fact  of  his  ap 
proaching  death  and  kept  him  from  say 
ing  goodbye  to  her  when  he  died,  the 
last  of  the  three  black  Pennys. 


THE  THREE-CORNERED  HAT 


Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:    Pedro  Antonio  de  Alarc6n  (1833-1891) 

Type  of  plot:    Comedy  of  intrigue 

Time  of  plot:    Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    Spain 

First  published:    1874 


978 


Principal  characters: 
LUCAS,  a  miller 
FRASQUITA,  his  wife 
DON  EUGENIC,  the  corregidor 
DONA  MERCEDES,  the  corregidor's  wife 


Critique: 

This  novel  is  based  on  a  famous  folk 
tale  that  could  belong  to  every  age  and 
almost  every  people.  The  plot  is  simple 
yet  satisfying;  the  characters  lack  com 
plexity  but  are  delightful  and  real.  Al 
though  the  story  is  set  in  a  particular 
place  and  time,  it  is  basically  universal, 
for  the  cuckold  is  an  invariable  subject 
for  humor  in  all  nations.  This  story  is 
among  the  most  delightful  on  the  sub 
ject  ever  written. 

The  Story: 

The  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  were  calm  ones  for  Spain.  Life 
there  still  followed  the  old  pattern,  and 
an  almost  medieval  attitude  toward  gov 
ernment  existed.  The  Church  was  a 
great  power,  and  government  officers 
treated  their  commands  like  petty  king 
doms.  Corregidor  Don  Eugenio  was  a 
fine  example.  He  ruled  one  of  the 
Andalusian  cities  like  a  little  Caesar. 

Near  the  city  was  a  famous  old  flour 
mill.  Lucas  was  its  owner.  There  the 
military  and  the  gentry  visited  every  day 
to  eat  the  miller's  good  food  and  to  talk 
with  the  miller's  beautiful  wife,  Fras- 
quita. 

These  daily  visits  the  miller  shrewdly 
put  to  good  use.  He  did  not  give  his 
food  without  recompense,  although  he 
was  never  so  blunt  as  to  demand  anything 
for  his  hospitality.  If  he  needed  some 
wood,  a  word  to  the  bishop  would  secure 
him  the  right  to  cut  some  on  the  bishop's 
grounds,  or  if  he  needed  to  have  his 
taxes  lowered,  a  word  to  Don  Eugenio, 
the  corregidor,  would  suffice.  Life  for 
him  was  pleasant  and  fruitful.  His 
wife  Frasquita  was  a  beautiful  woman 
who  loved  him  deeply  and  sincerely  de 
spite  the  miller's  ugly  face  and  the  slight 
hump  on  his  back.  They  joked  together, 
and  tried  to  outdo  one  another  in  kind 


ness,     Only    children    were    lacking    to 
make   their   love   complete. 

To  those  who  met  every  day  under 
the  shady  grape  arbor  outside  the  mill, 
it  became  obvious  that  Don  Eugenio  had 
fallen  in  love  with  Frasquita.  There  was 
nothing  unusual  in  this,  for  everyone 
who  knew  her  was  in  love  with  her. 
Fortunately,  the  miller  was  not  jealous 
of  his  wife;  she  had  never  given  him 
any  reason  to  be  so.  Yet  where  so  im 
portant  a  person  as  Don  Eugenio  was 
concerned,  suspicion  was  certain  to  arise. 
Don  Eugenio  was  a  sight  to  see.  He 
wore  a  huge  black  three-cornered  hat,  a 
scarlet  cape,  white  stockings,  and  black 
shoes  with  gold  buckles.  His  face  was 
deeply  wrinkled,  for  he  had  no  teeth. 
On  his  back  was  a  hump  much  larger 
than  the  miller's,  and  in  his  breast  a 
heart  much  smaller.  But  he  was  the 
corregidor,  and  everyone  bowed  to  him 
when  he  passed,  with  his  bailiff,  Weasel, 
following  always  at  his  heels. 

One  day  Don  Eugenio  came  to  the 
mill  much  earlier  than  usual,  and  the 
miller,  spying  him  at  a  distance,  plotted 
to  surprise  him.  Knowing  that  Don 
Eugenio  would  try  to  make  love  to 
Frasquita,  the  miller  hid  in  the  grape 
arbor  above  the  spot  where  the  cor 
regidor  would  sit.  He  told  his  wife  to 
act  as  if  she  knew  nothing  of  his  presence 
there. 

Don  Eugenio  began  to  talk  of  love, 
but  when  he  tried  to  take  one  of  Fras- 
quita's  hands  in  his  own  she  knocked 
over  his  chair  in  pretended  confusion. 
At  that  moment  the  miller  fell  from  the 
arbor.  Don  Eugenio  was  furious.  The 
couple  pretended  that  the  miller,  asleep 
in  the  arbor,  had  not  overheard  the  silly 
love  scene.  Although  the  affair  seemed 
to  pass  off  easily,  Don  Eugenio  planned 
revenge. 


979 


That  night,  as  the  miller  and  his  wife 
were  preparing  for  bed,  they  heard  a 
knock  at  the  door.  It  was  a  messenger 
from  the  mayor,  demanding  that  the 
miller  go  at  once  to  testify  in  an  im 
portant  case.  The  miller,  guessing  cor 
rectly  that  this  request  was  part  of  Don 
Eugenio's  plot,  told  Frasquita  to  bolt 
the  door  and  not  to  let  anyone  in  after 
he  had  gone. 

When  the  miller  arrived  at  the  mayor's 
home,  he  found  that  his  testimony  was 
not  needed.  The  mayor  insisted,  how 
ever,  that  he  go  up  to  the  loft  and  spend 
the  night,  to  be  on  hand  for  the  trial 
the  next  morning.  The  miller  pretended 
to  go  to  bed,  but  shortly  afterward  he 
let  himself  down  from  the  window,  got 
his  mule,  and  started  back  to  the  mill. 
On  his  way  he  passed  another  rider 
whose  mule  neighed  at  his  and  received 
an  answer.  Alarmed,  the  miller  turned 
aside  from  the  road.  When  he  arrived 
at  the  mill,  he  found  the  doors  all  open. 
Furious,  he  got  a  gun  and  crept  up  to 
the  bedroom.  Peeking  through  the  key 
hole,  he  saw  Don  Eugenio  in  his  bed. 
The  miller  did  not  know  what  to  do. 
He  wanted  to  kill  his  wife  and  Don 
Eugenio,  but  he  knew  he  would  be 
hanged  for  the  crime.  He  went  down 
stairs,  where  Don  Eugenie's  clothes  were 
scattered  about  on  chairs  in  front  of  the 
fire.  An  idea  came  to  the  miller.  Turn 
about  is  fair  play.  He  dressed  in  Don 
Eugenio's  clothes  and  set  out  for  town. 

What  had  actually  happened  was  dif 
ferent  from  what  the  miller  suspected. 
Don  Eugenio  had  come  to  the  house, 
but  Frasquita  had  let  him  in  only  after 
he  had  fallen  into  the  millpond.  When 
he  had  tried  to  make  love  to  her,  she 
threatened  him  with  a  gun.  Then  she 
had  called  the  bailiff,  who  was  waiting 
outside,  and  told  him  to  put  his  master 
to  bed.  Saying  that  she  was  going  for 
a  doctor,  she  had  started  out  to  get  her 
husband.  It  had  been  her  mule  that 
had  alarmed  the  miller  on  his  way  to 
the  house.  Don  Eugenio  had  sent  the 


bailiff  away  at  the  moment  the  miller 
arrived  home  and  judged  the  circum 
stances  so  falsely. 

Arriving  at  the  mayor's  house,  Fras- 

Tiita  learned  that  her  husband  had  fled, 
ogether  she  and  the  mayor  set  out  for 
the  mill.  They  arrived  in  time  to  meet 
Don  Eugenio  leaving  in  the  miller's 
clothes.  The  bailiff  had  returned,  noticed 
that  his  master's  clothes  were  gone,  and 
guessed  that  the  miller  had  taken  them. 
The  whole  group,  for  different  reasons, 
started  out  for  Don  Eugenio's  house. 

On  their  arrival  the  maid,  insisting 
that  Don  Eugenio  had  returned  home 
some  time  before,  refused  to  admit  them. 
Don  Eugenio  angrily  demanded  entrance, 
and  at  last  his  wife  told  the  maid  to 
admit  the  party.  They  all  went  upstairs. 

Dona  Mercedes  refused  to  recognize 
Don  Eugenio  until  she  had  learned  what 
he  had  been  doing.  Frasquita  would  not 
speak  to  the  miller.  Dona  Mercedes 
ordered  her  husband  to  leave  the  room. 
Then  she  told  Frasquita  that  she  had 
found  the  miller  hiding  under  her  bed. 
At  first  she  had  been  furious,  but  after 
she  heard  his  story  she  had  become  angry 
at  her  husband.  Frasquita,  reconciled 
with  the  miller,  proved  her  own  inno 
cence  by  telling  him  about  the  neighing 
mules,  and  he  apologized  for  doubting 
her  honor. 

When  Don  Eugenio  returned  to  the 
room,  Dona  Mercedes  refused  to  tell 
him  anything  about  what  had  happened 
that  night  and  ordered  him  never  to 
come  to  her  room  again.  There  was  noth 
ing  his  guilty  conscience  would  allow 
him  to  say.  The  miller  and  his  wife 
went  home. 

The  next  day  the  bishop  and  the  other 
officials  came  to  the  mill  as  usual,  for 
they  did  not  want  anyone  to  feel  that 
the  night's  happenings  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  miller's  reputation.  But  Don 
Eugenio  never  came  to  the  mill  again. 
The  miller  and  his  wife  both  lived  to 
a  happy  and  prosperous  old  age. 


980 


THE  THREE  MUSKETEERS 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author:  Alexandra  Dumas,  father  (1802-1870) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1626 

Locale:  France 

First  published:  1844 

Principal  characters: 

D'ARTAGNAN,  a  Gascon  adventurer 

ATHOS, 

PORTHOS,  and 

ARAMIS,  the  three  musketeers 

CONSTANCE  BONACIEUX,  the  queen's  seamstress 

LADY  DE  WINTER,  Cardinal  Richelieu's  agent 

CARDINAL  RICHELIEU,  minister  of  state 

Critique: 

Of  all  the  stories  by  Dumas,  this  is 
probably  the  best.  It  is  true  that  today 
we  may  find  it  too  melodramatic,  but 
once  we  accept  the  fact  that  the  novel 
is  a  romance,  we  can  read  it  as  such  and 
enjoy  it.  For  it  is  a  highly  interesting 
story,  full  of  adventure  and  intrigue,  con 
sidered  a  classic  of  its  type  by  all  who 
admire  historical  romances  of  love  and 


intrigue. 

The  Story; 

In  the  spring  of  1625  a  young  Gascon 
named  D'Artagnan,  on  his  way  to  Paris 
to  join  the  musketeers,  proudly  rode  up 
to  an  inn  in  Meung.  He  was  mounted 
on  an  old  Beam  pony  given  him  by  his 
father,  along  with  some  good  advise  and 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  captain 
of  the  musketeers.  In  Meung  he  showed 
his  fighting  spirit  by  fiercely  challenging 
to  a  duel  a  stranger  who  seemed  to  be 
laughing  at  his  orange  horse.  Before 
continuing  his  journey  to  Paris  he  had 
another  encounter  with  the  stranger, 
identified  by  a  scar  on  his  face,  and  the 
stranger's  companion,  a  young  and  beau 
tiful  woman. 

Athos,  Porthos,  and  Aramis  were  the 
three  best  blades  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Musketeers  of  the  Guard,  in  the  service 
of  Louis  XIII.  D'Artagnan  became  a 
fourth  member  of  the  group  within  three 
months  of  his  arrival  in  Paris.  He  had 
made  himself  loved  and  respected  by  the 


others  when  he  challenged  each  in  turn 
to  a  duel  and  then  helped  them  drive 
off  Cardinal  Richelieu's  guards,  who 
wished  to  arrest  them  for  brawling. 

D'Artagnan  was  not  made  a  rnusketeei 
at  once;  he  had  to  serve  an  apprentice 
ship  as  a  cadet  in  a  lesser  company  of 
guards  before  being  admitted  to  the 
musketeer  ranks.  Athos,  Porthos,  and 
Aramis  looked  forward  to  the  day  he 
would  become  their  true  comrade  in 
arms  and  each  took  turns  accompanying 
him  when  he  was  on  guard  duty.  D'Ar 
tagnan  was  curious  about  his  friends, 
but  could  learn  nothing  about  them. 
Athos  looked  like  a  nobleman.  He  was 
reserved,  never  mentioned  women,  and 
it  was  said  that  a  great  treachery  had 
poisoned  his  life.  Porthos  was  a  squire 
of  dames,  bragging  incessantly  of  his 
loves.  Aramis,  who  always  dressed  in 
black,  insisted  that  he  was  a  musketeer 
only  temporarily,  that  he  was  a  church 
man  at  heart  and  soon  would  enter  a 
monastery  and  exchange  his  plumed  hat 
for  a  monk's  cowl. 

The  three  musketeers  had  been  re 
warded  in  gold  by  the  timid  king  for 
their  bravery  against  the  cardinal's 
guards,  but  had  since  spent  all  their 
money.  They  were  trying  to  figure  a 
way  out  of  their  difficulties  when  Bona- 
cieux,  D'Artagnan's  landlord,  came  to 
D'Artagnan  because  he  had  heard  that 
his  tenant  was  a  brave  man.  He  said 


981 


that  his  wife  Constance,  who  was  a 
seamstress  to  the  queen  and  whose  devo 
tion  to  the  queen  was  well-known,  had 
been  abducted,  He  suggested  that 
D'Artagnan  find  and  rescue  Constance  in 
payment  for  long-overdue  rent  and  for 
financial  compensation. 

When  Bonacieux  described  the  ab 
ductor,  D'Artagnan  recognized  him  as 
the  man  he  had  challenged  at  Meung. 
On  these  two  scores,  the  Gascon  was 
willing  to  help  the  stricken  husband.  But 
he  was  even  more  eager  when  he  dis 
covered  that  the  purpose  of  the  abduc 
tion  was  to  force  Constance  to  tell  what 
she  knew  of  a  rumored  romance  between 
the  queen  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham, 

Constance  escaped  her  abductors  and 
returned  to  her  home,  where  the  car 
dinal's  men  again  tried  to  seize  her,  only 
to  be  attacked  and  scattered  by  D'Artag 
nan  who  had  overheard  the  struggle. 
Later  that  evening  D'Artagnan  met  Con 
stance  who  was  hurrying  along  alone 
on  the  streets  at  a  late  hour.  He  ques 
tioned  her,  but  she  would  not  say  where 
she  was  going.  He  told  her  that  he  loved 
her,  but  she  gave  him  no  encouragement. 
Still  later  that  evening  he  encountered 
her  again  as  she  was  leading  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  in  disguise,  to  the  queen. 

The  queen  had  sent  for  Buckingham 
to  beg  him  to  leave  the  city  where  his 
life  was  in  danger.  As  they  talked  she 
confessed  her  love  for  him,  and  gave  him 
as  a  memento  a  rosewood  casket  con 
taining  twelve  diamond  studs  that  the 
king  had  given  her. 

Richelieu,  through  his  spies,  learned 
of  the  gift  and  suggested  to  the  king  that 
he  should  give  a  fete  and  ask  the  queen 
to  wear  her  diamond  studs.  The  cardinal 
then  ordered  Lady  de  Winter  who  was 
in  London,  to  snip  off  two  of  the  studs 
from  Buckingham's  clothing.  This  deed 
gave  him  a  chance  to  strike  at  the  king, 
the  queen,  and  also  Buckingham.  Learn 
ing  of  this  scheme,  Constance  went  to 
D'Artagnan.  Because  he  loved  Constance 
and  because  he  wanted  to  serve  his 
queen,  he  undertook  to  recover  the 


jewels.  With  his  three  comrades  he 
started  out  for  London.  Only  D'Artag 
nan  arrived  there,  tor  when  the  car 
dinal's  agents  ambushed  the  comrades  the 
three  musketeers  were  wounded  and  left 
behind.  D'Artagnan  reached  the  duke 
in  time  to  recover  the  studs  and  return 
to  Paris  with  them.  Richelieu's  plot  was 
foiled. 

After  D'Artagnan  had  received  the 
thanks  of  the  queen  he  was  to  meet 
Constance  that  evening,  but  Constance 
was  again  seized  and  imprisoned  by  the 
cardinal's  spies,  one  of  whom  was  identi 
fied  as  the  man  from  Meung.  D'Artag 
nan  decided  he  needed  the  help  of  his 
three  friends  and,  accompanied  by  his 
servant  Planchet,  he  went  to  find  them. 
First  he  called  at  the  inn  where  he  had 
left  Porthos  and  found  him  still  there, 
recovering  from  his  wounds.  Later  he 
found  Aramis  talking  with  some  doctors 
of  theology  and  about  to  renounce  the 
world.  Athos  had  barricaded  himself  in 
a  wine-cellar.  Drunk,  he  related  a  story 
about  a  friend  of  his,  a  count,  who,  when 
he  was  young,  had  married  a  beautiful 
girl  and  had  made  her  the  first  lady  in 
his  province.  However,  he  had  later 
discovered  that  she  was  branded  on  the 
shoulder  with  the  fleur-de-lis,  the  brand 
for  a  convicted  criminal,  and  he  had 
hanged  her  on  a  tree,  leaving  her  for 
dead. 

Once  again  the  four  friends  were  to 
gether.  Then  D'Artagnan,  who  had  fol 
lowed  Porthos  into  a  church,  saw  a 
beautiful  woman  whom  he  recognized 
as  the  companion  of  the  man  he  had 
met  at  Meung.  He  followed  her  out  of 
church  and  saw  her  get  into  her  coach. 
Later  he  and  his  friends  took  the  same 
road  her  coach  had  taken  and  encountered 
the  coach  by  the  side  of  the  road.  The 
lady  was  talking  to  a  young  man  who, 
D'Artagnan  discovered,  was  her  brother- 
in-law,  Lord  de  Winter.  D'Artagnan  be 
came  a  friend  of  Lord  de  Winter  after 
sparing  his  life  in  a  duel;  the  lord  in 
troduced  him  to  his  sister-in-law.  D'Ar 
tagnan  fell  in  love  with  Lady  de  Winter. 


982 


But  she  loved  another,  a  M.  de  Wardes, 
who,  unknown  to  her,  had  been  killed. 

D'Artagnan  deceived  her  one  night 
into  believing  she  had  an  assignation 
with  de  Wardes.  D'Artagnan  presented 
himself  to  her  as  de  Wardes  that  night 
and  she  gave  him  a  magnificent  sap 
phire  ring.  When  D'Artagnan  showed 
the  ring  to  Athos,  he  recognized  it  as 
the  one  which  had  belonged  to  his 
mother  and  which  he  had  given  to  his 
wife.  Athos  began  to  suspect  that  his 
wife  was  not  dead,  but  was  Lady  de 
Winter. 

D'Artagnan  overheard  Lady  de  Winter 
make  slurring  remarks  about  him  because 
he  had  spared  the  life  of  her  brother-in- 
law.  She  was  Lord  de  Winter's  heir, 
D'Artagnan  also  realized  that  Lady  de 
Winter  was  the  cardinal's  spy.  At  his 
next  meeting  with  her,  D'Artagnan,  as 
himself,  confessed  his  duplicity  to  her 
and  she  angrily  struck  a  blow  which 
caused  him  to  step  on  her  dress.  The 
dress  pulled  from  her  shoulder,  exposing 
the  brand  of  the  fleur-de-lis.  As  D'Ar 
tagnan  realized  the  truth,  Lady  de  Winter 
attacked  him  with  a  knife  and  screamed 
that  she  would  get  revenge.  D'Artagnan 
fled  to  Athos. 

The  war  between  England  and  France 
was  reaching  a  climax,  and  the  siege  of 
La  Rochelle  was  of  particular  political 
importance.  The  four  friends  prepared 
to  go  to  La  Rochelle.  Before  they  left, 
D'Artagnan  was  called  for  an  interview 
with  the  cardinal.  Richelieu  tried  to 
bribe  D'Artagnan  to  enter  his  own 
guards,  but  D'Artagnan  refused  and  left 
with  the  knowledge  that  his  refusal  might 
mean  his  death.  In  La  Rochelle  two 
young  soldiers  tried  to  kill  D'Artagnan. 
From  them  he  learned  that  they  had 
been  hired  by  Lady  de  Winter  to  kill 
him,  and  he  also  learned  that  she  was 
responsible  for  the  imprisonment  of  Con 
stance. 

The  musketeers  did  not  have  much  to 
do  with  the  siege  and  led  a  carefree  life. 
One  evening  they  encountered  two  horse 
men  on  a  lonely  road.  One  was  the 


cardinal  on  his  way  to  a  nearby  inn.  The 
cardinal  ordered  the  musketeers  to  go 
with  him.  Lady  de  Winter  was  at  the 
inn  and  the  musketeers  overheard  the 
cardinal  instruct  her  to  go  to  London, 
where  she  was  to  tell  Buckingham  that 
unless  he  ended  the  war  his  affair  with 
the  queen  would  be  exposed.  If  he  re 
fused,  Lady  de  Winter  was  to  poison  him. 
As  her  reward  Lady  de  Winter  asked  to 
have  two  of  her  enemies  killed.  These 
two  were  Constance,  who  had  been  con 
veyed  to  a  convent  by  an  order  the  queen 
had  obtained  from  the  king,  and  D'Artag 
nan.  Richelieu  then  wrote  out  a  safe- 
conduct  for  Lady  de  Winter. 

A  few  minutes  later,  Athos,  who  had 
recognized  her  voice,  was  in  Lady  de 
Winter's  room.  There  he  revealed  him 
self  as  the  Count  de  la  Fere,  her  husband. 
She  was  terrified,  for  she  had  thought  him 
dead  as  well.  Athos  took  from  her  the 
cardinal's  letter  of  safe-conduct  and 
ordered  her  to  leave  France  at  once  under 
threats  of  exposure. 

The  four  friends  returned  to  the  siege 
of  La  Rochelle,  where  they  conducted 
themselves  with  such  bravery  that  they 
again  drew  notice  from  the  cardinal. 
When  the  cardinal  spoke  of  them  to 
him,  their  captain  said  that  D'Artagnan 
was  not  in  the  service  of  the  musketeers. 
The  cardinal  then  gave  orders  that  D'Ar 
tagnan  was  to  be  made  a  musketeer,  and 
this  news,  when  relayed  to  D'Artagnan, 
made  him  very  happy.  The  friends  now 
wrote  out  a  message  to  warn  Lord  de 
Winter  against  his  sister-in-law  and  sent 
Planchet  to  deliver  it.  They  also  sent 
a  message  to  a  cousin  of  Aramis,  and 
learned  from  her  the  name  of  the  con 
vent  in  which  Constance  had  been  con 
fined. 

When  Lady  de  Winter  arrived  in 
England,  she  was  held  a  prisoner  by 
Lord  de  Winter.  But  her  pretense  of  re 
ligious  fervor  and  her  beauty  convinced 
her  young  Puritan  jailer  of  her  inno 
cence.  After  she  had  told  him  a  fan 
tastic  tale  to  the  effect  that  her  downfall 
had  been  caused  by  Buckingham,  he 


983 


helped  her  to  escape.  To  avenge  her  he 
then  went  to  Buckingham  and  stabbed 
him.  De  Winter,  who  discovered  her 
escape  also  hurried  to  Buckingham,  but 
arrived  too  late  to  save  his  life.  Before 
he  died,  a  messenger  from  Paris  brought 
Buckingham  word  from  the  queen  of  her 
faithful  love. 

Lady  de  Winter  escaped  to  France,  to 
the  convent  where  Constance  was  stay 
ing.  There  she  managed  to  poison  Con 
stance  and  flee  again  before  the  four 
companions  arrived  to  rescue  the  queen's 
faithful  servant.  Lord  de  Winter,  also 
in  pursuit  of  Lady  de  Winter,  arrived 
a  few  minutes  after  they  had  discovered 
Constance.  Continuing  their  pursuit  of 
Lady  de  Winter,  they  overtook  her  and 
held  a  trial.  They  condemned  her  to 
die.  She  was  executed  by  the  public 
executioner  of  Lille,  who  had  branded 
her  for  her  crimes,  many  years  before. 

On  his  return  to  La  Rochelle,  D'Ar- 
tagnan  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the 
cardinal.  The  man  who  took  him  pris 
oner  was  the  stranger  D'Artagnan  had 
met  at  Meung,  identified  now  as  the 


Chevalier  de  Rochefort.  The  cardinal 
charged  D'Artagnan  with  treason,  but 
D'Artagnan  interrupted  and  named  the 
long  list  of  crimes  of  the  woman  who 
had  charged  him.  Then  he  informed  the 
cardinal  of  her  death  and  produced  the 
safe-conduct  pass,  signed  by  the  car 
dinal,  which  Athos  had  taken  from  the 
woman.  D'Artagnan  told  Richelieu  that 
as  bearer  of  the  pass  he  should  be  al 
lowed  to  go  free.  The  cardinal  was  so 
pleased  by  the  Gascon's  cleverness  that 
he  could  not  be  angry.  Instead,  he  offered 
D'Artagnan  a  commission  in  the  musket 
eers.  D'Artagnan  offered  it  to  his  friends, 
but  each  refused  it,  insisting  that  he  de 
served  the  rank,  an  honor  great  nobles 
often  sought  in  vain. 

La  Rochelle  surrendered  to  the  French 
and  the  faithful  four  disbanded.  Athos 
returned  to  his  estate,  Porthos  married 
a  rich  widow,  and  Aramis  became  a 
monk.  D'Artagnan  became  a  famous 
soldier.  He  and  de  Rochefort,  his  old 
enemy  at  Meung,  fought  three  times,  but 
finally  became  good  friends. 


THREE  SOLDIERS 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:   John  Dos  Passes  (1896-         ) 

Type  of  plot:    Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    1917-1919 

Locale:    France 

First  published:    1921 

Principal   characters: 

DAN  FUSELLI,  an  American  soldier  from  San  Francisco 
CHRISFIEUD,  an  American  soldier  from  Indiana 
JOHN  ANDREWS  (ANDY),  an  American  soldier  from  Virginia 
GENEVTEVE  ROD,  Andrews'  friend 

Critique: 

This  novel  attempts  to  do  for  World 
War  I  what  Stephen  Crane's  The  Red 
Badge  of  Courage  did  for  the  Civil  War; 
that  is,  to  destroy  the  myth  of  glamour 
and  glory  and  to  expose  the  brutal  reality 
of  war.  Unlike  the  hero  of  The  Red 
Badge  of  Courage,  who  deserts  in  fright 
and  returns  proudly  to  battle,  John 


Andrews  of  Three  Soldiers  can  only  tak& 
a  self-respecting  step  by  deserting  after 
months  of  ignominious  conformity.  The 
novel  succeeds  best  in  its  presentation  of 
the  tedium,  de-humanizing  regimenta 
tion,  and  the  physical  horrors  of  war. 
As  such,  it  is  a  vividly  realized  social 
document. 


984 


The  Story: 

Private  Dan  Fuselli  was  anxious  to 
become  Corporal  Dan  Fuselli.  He  had 
seen  movies  of  Huns  spitting  Belgian 
babies  on  their  bayonets  and  then  being 
chased  like  rabbits  by  heroic  Yankee 
soldiers  who  were  later  rewarded  with 
embraces  by  the  pretty  and  picturesque 
Belgian  milkmaids.  He  looked  forward 
to  the  time  when  his  girl,  Mabe,  writing 
from  San  Francisco,  his  home  town, 
would  address  her  letters  to  Corporal  Dan 
Fuselli. 

Private  First  Class  Fuselli  of  the  Med 
ical  Corps  hated  the  Army  and  every 
thing  about  it,  but  he  knew  that  to  be 
come  a  corporal  he  must  keep  clean,  keep 
his  mouth  shut,  obey  the  brass,  and  con 
tinually  cajole  the  sergeant.  He  was 
infuriated  one  night  when  he  went  to 
town  to  see  Yvonne  and  learned  that  the 
sergeant  had  taken  her  over.  Then, 
when  he  returned  to  camp,  he  heard  that 
the  consumptive  corporal  was  back,  the 
one  in  whose  absence  Fuselli  had  been 
made  acting  corporal.  But  Private  Fuselli 
kept  his  mouth  shut.  Someday  he  would 
be  a  corporal,  perhaps  even  a  sergeant; 
but  now  he  kept  his  mouth  shut. 

Finally,  after  a  setback  doing  endless 
K.  P.  and  following  his  recovery  from  a 
venereal  disease,  after  the  Armistice,  he 
did  become  Corporal  Dan  Fuselli.  But 
by  that  time  his  girl  had  married  a  naval 
officer. 

Matters  worked  out  differently  for 
Chrisfield.  The  Army  was  not  as  easy 
going  as  life  in  the  Indiana  farm  country 
had  been.  The  officers  shouted  at  you, 
made  you  do  things  you  hated.  You 
had  to  take  it.  One  night  Chrisfield  was 
so  furious  he  pulled  a  knife  on  a  sergeant 
named  Anderson,  but  his  friends  held 
him  back  and  nothing  happened.  In 
Europe,  things  were  not  much  better. 
Occasionally  he  had  a  talk  about  the 
stars  and  the  fields  with  his  educated 
buddy,  John  Andrews.  Mostly,  however, 
the  war  was  awful. 

The  marches  were  endless,  and  his 
shoulders  ached  from  his  heavy  pack. 


When  bombardments  came,  the  marchers 
scattered  face  down  in  a  field.  Once 
Chrisfield  asked  Andrews  to  speak 
French  for  him  to  a  French  girl  at  an 
inn,  but  nothing  came  of  it. 

One  day,  walking  alone  through  a 
wood  near  the  front,  Chrisfield  found 
a  dead  German  lying  prone.  When  he 
kicked  the  body  over,  he  saw  that  it  had 
no  face,  only  a  multicolored,  pulpy  mass 
with  green  flies  hovering  around  it.  In 
the  man's  hand  was  a  revolver — he  was 
a  suicide.  Chrisfield  ran  off  panting, 

Chrisfield  was  high-strung.  When  he 
was  sitting  thinking,  a  soldier  prodded 
him  and  asked  him  what  he  was  dream 
ing  about.  Chrisfield  punched  the  fel 
low  in  the  nose.  He  and  Andy  hated 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  men  who  were  always 
telling  the  men  at  the  front  what  brutes 
the  Huns  were  and  urging  them  in  the 
name  of  Old  Glory  to  kill  Germans. 
Chrisfield  was  court-martialed  when  he 
announced  that  he  intended  to  kill  Ser 
geant  Anderson  after  the  war  was  over. 

One  day  he  went  wandering  and  made 
his  way  silently  into  the  kitchen  of  a 
house  near  the  front.  Looking  into  the 
next  room,  he  saw  a  man  in  a  German 
uniform.  He  reached  into  his  pocket, 
pressed  the  spring  on  the  grenade  he 
had,  withdrew  it,  and  tossed  it  into  the 
room.  Not  long  afterward  he  came 
across  Anderson,  now  a  lieutenant,  seated 
wounded  in  a  deserted  section  of  the 
wood.  Chrisfield  had  two  more  grenades 
in  his  pocket,  and  he  threw  them  at  the 
man  he  hated. 

After  the  Armistice,  the  rumor  that 
he  had  killed  Anderson  somehow  leaked 
out.  Afraid,  Chrisfield  went  A.  W.  O.  L. 
and  became  a  refugee  in  France,  eter 
nally  on  the  move. 

John  Andrews  was  a  Harvard  graduate 
and  a  would-be  composer.  The  Queen 
of  Sheba  section  of  Flaubert's  Tempta 
tion  of  Saint  Anthony  kept  recurring  to 
his  mind  as  he  washed/  the  barracks 
windows,  and  he  thought  how  fine  the 
subject  would  be  for  §  musical  composi- 


985 


tion.  He  cursed  the  Army  for  slowly 
stamping  him  into  its  iron  mold.  Over 
seas,  he  saw  action  and  was  more  con 
vinced  than  ever  that  war  was  needless 
butchery.  He  felt  happiest  away  from 
the  regiment.  One  day  he  walked  away 
from  his  company  in  order  to  be  alone. 
He  was  looking  at  little  frogs  in  a  pool 
when  a  shell  burst  near  him.  He  awoke 
on  a  stretcher. 

For  a  while  the  hospital  was  a  relief 
from  the  endless  orders  and  general 
mechanization  of  Army  routine.  Lying 
in  his  bed,  he  began  to  realize  that  he 
had  respect  for  himself  only  when  he 
thought  of  rebelling  against  the  system, 
of  going  A.  W.  O.  L.  Soon  the  tedium 
of  the  hospital  began  to  gall  him.  After 
his  leg  healed,  he  rejoined  his  company 
reluctantly  and  full  of  rebellion.  The 
Armistice  had  been  signed.  When  he 
heard  that  he  could  go  to  a  French  Uni 
versity  through  a  school  detachment 
being  set  up,  he  lied,  secured  some  recom 
mendations,  and  found  himself  in  Paris. 

In  Paris  he  met  Genevieve  Rod,  a 
young  Frenchwoman  who  admired  his 
piano  playing  and  his  artistic  tastes.  She 
thought  of  artists  as  men  who,  because 
of  their  special  sensitivity,  should  be 
exempt  from  the  horrors  of  war.  Andrews 
disagreed;  one  worker  was  like  another; 
it  was  the  whole  of  humanity  that  should 
be  exempt.  One  day  he  left  Paris  with 
out  official  leave  for  a  country  trip  with 
Genevieve.  An  MP  picked  him  up  and 
took  him  to  a  local  office  where  he  was 
beaten  by  several  MP's.  He  was  sent 
to  a  labor  battalion  loading  concrete  for 
a  stadium  being  presented  by  the  Ameri 


cans  to  the  French.  It  was  crushing 
work.  Convinced  that  Army  life  was  a 
menace  to  human  freedom,  Andrews  de 
cided  to  desert,  for  one  man  less  in  the 
system  made  it  weaker  by  that  much. 
One  night  he  leaped  from  a  plank  and 
swam  out  to  a  barge  in  the  Seine. 

The  barge  family  cared  for  him  for 
a  few  days.  They  sank  his  uniform  in  the 
river,  bought  him  new  clothes,  and  as 
anarchists  proclaimed  their  solidarity  with 
him.  He  went  back  to  Paris  to  find 
Genevieve,  and  stayed  for  a  while  with 
Chrisfield  and  a  group  of  other  concealed 
deserters.  Then,  hearing  that  Genevieve 
was  at  her  country  place,  he  joined  her 
there. 

At  first  he  did  not  tell  her  of  his  de 
sertion.  He  lived  in  an  inn  nearby  and 
began  composing,  not  about  the  Queen 
of  Sheba,  but  about  John  Brown,  lib 
erator  of  slaves.  When  he  finally  con 
fessed  his  plight  to  Genevieve,  a  notice 
able  reserve  crept  into  her  attitude  toward 
him.  Perhaps,  she  suggested,  he  should 
give  himself  up.  She  could  not  compre 
hend  the  social  motive  in  his  rebellion. 

One  day  he  heard  an  American  officer's 
voice  at  the  door  of  the  inn  below  his 
window.  He  thought  of  the  prison  sen 
tence  he  must  face.  Too  late  he  dis 
covered  that  the  landlady,  experienced  in 
the  ways  of  impecunious  Americans  who 
were  possible  deserters,  had  stolen  his 
revolver.  As  the  MP's  took  him  away, 
the  wind  blew  in  through  the  window 
of  his  room  and  the  music  papers  on 
which  he  had  been  working  fluttered  one 
by  one  to  the  floor. 


THE  TIME  MACHINE 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:    H.  G.  Wells  (1866-1946) 

Type  of  plot:    Fantasy 

rime  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:   England 

First  published:    1895 

Principal  characters: 

THE  TIME  TRAVELER 

WEENA,  a  woman  the  Time  Traveler  meets  in  the  future 


986 


Critique: 

The  Time  Traveler's  description  of 
the  people  of  the  future,  the  weak 
Eloi  and  the  predatory  Morlocks,  has  its 
roots  in  some  interesting  scientific  hy 
potheses.  This  speculative  chronicle  of  a 
space-time  concept  and  a  picture  of  life 
in  the  world  of  the  future  is  so  exciting, 
however,  that  it  may  be  read  merely  as 
an  adventure  story.  The  hook  is  a  mix 
ture  of  fantasy  and  pseudo-scientific 
romance. 

The  Story: 

After  dinner,  one  evening,  the  Time 
Traveler  led  the  discussion  to  the  subject 
of  the  relationship  of  time  and  space. 
It  was  his  theory  that  time  was  a  fourth 
dimension,  and  that  his  concept  could 
be  proved.  To  the  astonishment  of  his 
guests,  he  exhibited  a  model  of  his  Time 
Machine,  which,  he  declared,  could  travel 
backward  or  forward  in  time.  One  of 
the  guests  was  invited  to  touch  a  lever. 
To  the  amazement  of  all,  the  machine 
disappeared.  The  Time  Traveler  ex 
plained  that  the  instrument  was  no  longer 
visible  because  it  was  traveling  into  the 
past  at  such  great  speed  that  it  was 
below  the  threshold  of  visibility. 

The  following  week  the  Time  Traveler 
was  not  at  home  to  greet  his  dinner  guests 
when  they  arrived,  but  he  had  left  word 
that  they  were  to  proceed  without  him. 
Everyone  was  at  the  table  when  their 
host  came  in,  dirty  from  head  to  toe, 
limping,  and  with  a  cut  on  his  chin. 
After  he  had  changed  his  clothes  and 
dined,  he  told  his  friends  the  story  of  the 
day's  adventures. 

That  morning  he  had  taken  off  on  his 
Time  Machine.  As  he  reeled  through 
space,  the  days  shot  past  him  like  min 
utes,  the  rapid  alternation  of  light  and 
darkness  hurting  the  Time  Traveler's 
eyes.  Landing  and  falling  from  his  ma 
chine  when  he  braked  too  suddenly,  he 
found  himself  on  the  side  of  a  hill.  In 


the  misty  light  he  could  see  the  figure 
of  a  winged  sphinx  on  a  bronze  pedestal. 
As  the  sun  came  out,  the  Time  Traveler 
saw  enormous  buildings  on  the  slope. 
Some  figures  were  coming  toward  him. 
One  was  a  little  man  about  four  feet  tall. 
Regaining  his  confidence,  the  Time 
Traveler  waited  to  meet  this  citizen  of 
the  future. 

Soon  a  group  of  these  creatures  gath 
ered  around  the  voyager.  Without  a 
common  language,  he  and  his  new  ac 
quaintances  had  to  communicate  with 
signs.  After  they  had  examined  the  Time 
Machine,  from  which  he  had  the  presence 
of  mind  to  remove  the  levers,  one  of  them 
asked  him  if  he  had  come  from  the  sun. 

The  Time  Traveler  was  led  to  one  of 
the  large  buildings,  where  he  was  seated 
upon  a  cushion  and  given  fruit  to  eat. 

r  .-IT 

Everyone  was  a  vegetanan,  animals  hav 
ing  become  extinct.  When  he  had  eaten, 
he  tried  to  learn  his  new  friends'  lan 
guage,  but  without  much  success.  These 
people,  who  called  themselves  the  Eloi, 
were  not  able  to  concentrate  and  tired 
quickly. 

Free  to  wander  about,  the  Time 
Traveler  climbed  a  hill  and  from  the 
crest  saw  the  ruins  of  an  enormous  gran 
ite  structure.  Looking  at  some  of  the 
creatures  who  were  following  him,  he 
realized  that  all  wore  similar  garb  and 
had  the  same  soft,  rounded  figures.  Chil 
dren  could  be  distinguished  only  by  their 
size.  j, 

The  Time  Traveler  realized  that  he 
was  seeing  the  sunset  of  humanity.  In 
the  society  of  the  future  there  was  no 
need  for  strength.  The  world  was  at 
peace  and  secure.  The  strong  of  body 
or  mind  would  only  have  felt  frustrated. 

As  he  looked  about  to  find  a  place  to 
sleep,  he  saw  that  his  Time  Machine  had 
disappeared.  He  tried  to  wake  the  people 
in  the  building  in  which  he  had  dined, 
but  he  succeeded  only  in  frightening 


THE  TIME  MACHINE  hy  H.  G.   Wells.    By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  H.   G.   Wells,   and  thr 

Sublishers,    Henry    Holt    a    Co.,    Inc.,    Copyright,    189S,    by    Henry    Holt    &    Co.,    lac,     Renewed    1923,    by 
.  G,  Wellt. 


987 


them.  At  last  he  went  back  to  the  lawn 
and  there,  greatly  worried  over  his 
plight,  fell  asleep. 

The  next  morning  he  managed  to  trace 
the  path  the  Time  Machine  made  to  the 
base  of  the  sphinx,  but  the  bronze  doors 
in  the  pedestal  were  closed.  The  Tirr.e 
Traveler  tried  to  intimate  to  some  of  the 
Eloi  that  he  wished  to  open  the  doors, 
but  they  answered  him  with  looks  of  in 
sult  and  reproach.  He  attempted  to  ham 
mer  in  the  doors  with  a  stone,  but  he 
soon  stopped  from  weariness. 

Weena,  a  young  girl  he  rescued  from 
drowning,  became  the  Time  Traveler's 
friend  and  guide.  On  the  fourth  morn 
ing,  while  he  explored  one  of  the  ruins, 
he  saw  eyes  staring  at  him  from  the 
dark.  Curious,  he  followed  a  small,  ape 
like  figure  to  a  well-like  opening,  down 
which  it  retreated.  He  was  convinced 
that  this  creature  was  also  a  descendant 
of  man,  a  subterranean  species  that 
worked  below  ground  to  support  the 
dwellers  in  the  upper  world. 

Convinced  that  the  Morlocks,  as  the 
subterranean  dwellers  were  called,  were 
responsible  for  the  disappearance  of  his 
Time  Machine  and  hoping  to  learn  more 
about  them,  he  climbed  down  into  one 
of  the  wells.  At  its  bottom  he  discovered 
a  tunnel  which  led  into  a  cavern  in  which 
he  saw  a  table  set  with  a  joint  of  meat. 
The  Morlocks  were  carnivorous.  He  was 
able  to  distinguish,  too,  some  enormous 
machinery. 

The  next  day  the  Time  Traveler  and 
Weena  visited  a  green  porcelain  museum 
containing  animal  skeletons,  books,  and 
machinery.  Since  they  had  walked  a 
long  distance,  he  planned  to  sleep  in  the 
woods  that  night  with  Weena  and  to 
build  a  fire  to  keep  the  dark-loving  Mor 
locks  away.  When  he  saw  three  crouch 
ing  figures  in  the  brush,  however,  he 
changed  his  mind  and  decided  he  and 
Weena  would  be  safer  on  a  hill  beyond 


the  forest.  He  started  a  fire  to  keep  theii 
enemies  at  a  distance. 

When  he  awoke  the  fire  had  gone  out, 
his  matches  were  missing,  and  Weena 
had  vanished.  A  fire  he  had  started 
earlier  was  still  burning,  and  while  he 
slept  it  had  set  the  forest  on  fire.  Between 
thirty  and  forty  Morlocks  perished  in  the 
blaze  while  the  Time  Traveler  watched. 

When  daylight  returned,  the  Time 
Traveler  retraced  his  steps  to  the  sphinx. 
He  slept  all  day  and  in  the  evening 
prepared  to  ram  open  the  doors  in  the 
pedestal  with  the  lever  he  had  found  in 
the  porcelain  palace.  He  found  the 
doors  open,  his  machine  in  plain  view. 
As  a  group  of  Morlocks  sprang  at  him, 
he  took  off  through  space. 

The  Time  Traveler  had  his  encounter 
with  the  Morlocks  and  the  Eloi  in  the 
year  802,701.  On  his  next  journey  he 
moved  through  millions  of  years,  toward 
that  time  when  the  earth  will  cease  ro 
tating.  He  landed  on  a  deserted  beach, 
empty  except  for  a  flying  animal,  which 
looked  like  a  huge  white  butterfly,  and 
some  crab-like  monsters.  On  he  traveled, 
finally  halting  thirty  million  years  after 
the  time  he  had  left  his  laboratory.  In 
that  distant  age  the  sun  was  setting. 
It  was  bitter  cold  and  it  began  to  snow. 
All  around  was  deathly  stillness.  Horri 
fied,  the  Time  Traveler  started  back 
toward  his  present. 

That  evening,  as  he  told  his  story,  his 

f  jests  grew  skeptical.  In  fact,  the  Time 
raveler  himself  had  to  visit  his  labora 
tory  to  make  sure  his  machine  existed. 
The  next  day,  however,  all  doubts 
ceased,  for  one  of  his  friends  watched 
him  depart  on  his  vehicle.  It  was  this 
friend  who  wrote  the  story  of  the  Time 
Traveler's  experiences  three  years  later. 
The  Time  Traveler  had  not  reappeared 
during  that  time,  and  his  friends  specu 
lated  on  the  mishap  which  had  made 
him  a  lost  wanderer  in  space  and  time. 


988 


THE  TIME  OF  MAN 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author;    Elizabeth  Madox  Roberts   (1886-1941) 

Type  of  plot:    Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:    Kentucky 

First  published:    1926 

Principal  characters: 

ELLEN  CHE s SEE,  a  farm  girl 

NELLIE,  her  mother 

HENRY,   her  father 

JASPER  KENT,  her  husband 

JONAS,  her  fianc^ 

Critique: 

The  Time  of  Man  is  a  farm  story 
that  strikes  a  nice  balance  between  the 
sordid  and  the  romantic.  Here  we  have 
the  life  of  the  migrant  Kentucky  farmer 
as  it  is,  unvarnished  and  plain.  But 
deeper,  we  see  the  springs  from  which 
these  people  draw  their  strength.  They 
lived  in  poverty,  with  little  hope  of 
security.  But  in  their  love  for  the  soil 
and  in  their  fierce  independence  they 
find  meaning  for  their  lives.  To  call 
this  novel  a  story  of  local  color  would 
be  true  but  inadequate.  The  regionalism 
of  The  Time  of  Man  is  but  a  convenient 
frame  for  the  depiction  of  human  and 
enduring  values. 


The  Story: 

Henry  and  Nellie  Chesser  had  been 
on  the  road  a  long  time.  People  some 
times  called  the  Chessers  and  their 
friends  gipsies,  and  they  did  tell  fortunes 
and  swap  horses  and  mules.  But  Henry 
liked  the  earth,  and  he  worked  as  a 
tenant  for  different  farmers  from  time 
to  time.  Only  his  restless  spirit  kept  him 
from  settling  somewhere  permanently. 

One  day  Henry's  wagon  broke  down. 
The  others  could  not  wait  for  the  Ches 
sers,  and  Henry  haunted  the  smithy, 
hoping  to  speed  repairs.  But  when  Hep 
Bodine  offered  him  twenty  dollars  a 
month,  a  tenant  house,  and  a  garden 
spot,  he  accepted.  The  house  had  only 


one  room  and  a  loft,  but  it  was  better 
than  sleeping  outside. 

Henry's  daughter,  Ellen,  was  greatly 
disappointed.  She  hated  to  leave  Tes- 
sie,  her  great  friend,  the  fortune-teller. 
Ellen  knew  no  one  on  the  Bodine  farm, 
nor  did  she  make  friends  easily.  Mrs. 
Bodine  even  ordered  her  out  of  the 
berry  patch.  Only  Joe  Trent,  home 
from  college,  noticed  her. 

Joe  was  elegant,  always  wearing  shoes 
and  clothes  of  different  kinds  of  cloth. 
He  would  joke  with  Ellen  as  she  got  in 
the  firewood.  She  was  growing  up,  and 
Joe  awakened  some  spark  of  longing  in 
her  thin  body.  Then  one  day  Joe  drove 
past  her  with  Emphira  Bodine.  He  pre 
tended  not  to  see  Ellen  in  her  skimpy 
skirt  above  her  bare  feet  and  legs.  After 
that,  Joe  would  stand  behind  a  big  bush 
where  the  men  from  the  house  could 
not  see  him  and  call  to  Ellen.  Ellen  was 
ashamed.  She  was  glad  when  her  father 
decided  to  move  over  to  the  Wakefield 
farm. 

Their  new  house  was  better;  even  the 
loft  had  once  been  papered.  Miss  Tod 
Wakefield  let  Ellen  look  after  the 
turkeys  for  money  wages.  So  with  set 
ting  out  tobacco  plants,  getting  in  the 
firewood,  and  going  regularly  to  the  big 
barnyard,  she  settled  into  a  pleasant 
routine.  By  fall  Nellie  was  able  to  get 
Ellen  a  store  dress  and  new  shoes. 


THE  TIME  OF  MAN  by  Elizabeth  Madox  Roberts.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The  Viking  Frew,  Inc 
Copyright,    1926,   by  The  Viking  Press,   Inc. 


989 


In  an  old  abandoned  bam  where  she 
went  to  look  for  turkey  eggs  she  often 
noticed  Amanda  Cain  waiting  in  the 
hay  loft  for  Scott  MacMurtrie,  who  was 
married  to  Miss  Cassie.  All  the  field 
workers  knew  of  the  affair,  and  they 
discussed  eagerly  how  Miss  Cassie  would 
lay  into  Scott  when  she  learned  he  was 
carrying  on  with  her  cousin  Amanda, 
for  Miss  Cassie  was  strong  and  inde 
pendent.  One  day  Scott  and  Amanda 
disappeared.  That  night  Ellen  was 
awakened  by  the  tolling  bell  on  the 
MacMurtrie  place.  She  hurried  over, 
outdistancing  her  father,  who  thought 
the  barn  must  be  on  fire.  Ellen  found 
the  old  Negress  pulling  the  bell  rope  in 
a  frenzy.  Miss  Cassie  had  hanged  her 
self. 

Dorine  moved  into  one  of  the  tenant 
houses.  She  was  merry  and  gay  and  at 
tracted  others  to  her.  She  and  Ellen 
became  friends.  At  her  house  Ellen 
went  to  her  first  party.  Shy,  she  hoped 
desperately  that  no  one  would  notice 
her.  But  in  her  agony  of  timidity  she 
sang  a  ballad  her  father  had  taught  her, 
and  she  was  accepted  as  one  of  the 
group.  At  their  dances  and  games  and 
on  their  Sunday  walks  she  went  some 
times  with  Jonas  Prather  but  more  often 
with  Sebe  Townley.  Sebe  was  kind  and 
gentle,  but  she  liked  Jonas  better. 

Jonas  took  little  part  in  their  gay 
dances.  He  would  call  the  figures  and 
then  retire  with  the  old  folks.  He  seemed 
to  withdraw  from  contact  with  girls; 
some  even  said  he  had  got  religion. 

One  night  Jonas  told  Ellen  he  wanted 
her  to  marry  him.  When  he  went  away 
to  work  for  wages,  he  promised  to  come 
back  during  the  summer  to  get  married. 
Ellen  had  a  letter  from  him  and  she 
wrote  him  a  letter  in  return.  But  the 
summer  wore  on  and  Jonas  did  not  come. 
At  last  she  heard  that  Jonas  had  mar 
ried  Sallie  Lou. 

When  Henry  rented  a  patch  of 
twenty-five  acres  called  the  Orkeys  place, 
Ellen  felt  a  sense  of  escaping  from  her 
troubles.  Their  new  home  had  once 


been  a  toll  house.  It  contained  three 
rooms  on  one  floor,  and  Ellen's  bedroom 
was  weather- tight. 

The  nearest  neighbors  were  on  the 
Wingate  place.  Old  Mrs,  Wingate, 
half  mad,  sat  suspiciously  in  her  house 
all  day  long  and  Jasper  Kent  worked  her 
farm  on  half  shares.  Albert  Wingate, 
the  son,  seldom  came  to  the  farm,  and 
when  he  did  appear  he  would  often  be 
roaring  drunk.  He  would  beg  or  steal 
money  from  his  mother  and  sometimes 
he  would  turn  the  house  upside  down 
looking  for  more.  When  he  began  driv 
ing  off  cattle  in  which  Jasper  had  a  half 
interest,  Jasper  felt  his  anger  mount. 

Although  Jasper  prudently  kept  his 
own  pigs  in  a  corral  far  from  the  house, 
Albert  discovered  them.  One  morning 
Jasper  found  the  corral  empty;  Albert 
had  sold  the  pigs  to  a  passing  trader. 
That  night  Albert  and  Jasper  fought  in 
the  barn.  Jasper  was  stronger  than  his 
opponent.  Then  Albert  drew  a  gun. 
Jasper  wrested  it  away  and  threw  it  in 
the  brush.  But  in  the  fighting  Jasper 
forgot  his  lantern  on  the  barn  floor. 
When  the  building  went  up  in  flames, 
Jasper  fled.  He  had  been  in  jail  before, 
and  he  was  afraid. 

He  found  work  on  the  Phillips  farm. 
Joe  Phillips  offered  a  house  to  Jasper. 
So  Jasper  and  Ellen  were  married  and 
set  up  housekeeping  in  their  own  place. 
Their  house  was  tight,  and  Joe  promised 
to  add  a  room.  Ellen  was  carrying  her 
first  child  and  was  very  content  with 
her  marriage. 

The  letter  they  had  been  dreading 
came,  an  indictment  for  arson  drawn  up 
against  Jasper  for  the  burning  of  the 
Wingate  barn.  Henry  was  Jasper's  wit 
ness  and  Jasper  was  freed.  At  last  Ellen 
and  Jasper  seemed  to  he  free  of  all  care; 
they  had  only  to  work  the  land  and 
raise  their  family.  Each  year  they  had 
another  child. 

Following  the  custom  of  the  migrant 
people,  they  left  the  Phillips  farm.  It 
became  a  matter  of  indifference  to  Ellen 
where  she  lived;  a  year  on  the  Goodrich 


990 


place,  a  year  on  the  McKnight  farm — 
it  was  all  the  same.  Then  they  moved 
back  to  the  Phillips  farm.  Joe  Phillips, 
greatly  attracted  to  Ellen,  spoke  sweet 
words  to  her.  When  Jasper  began  to  go 
off  for  all-night  carouses,  Ellen  accepted 
Joe's  attentions.  She  did  not  tell  Jasper 
right  away  about  the  new  baby  she  was 
carrying.  When  she  did,  Jasper  was 
bitter  and  swore  it  was  Joe's.  But  when 
the  sickly  child  was  born,  Jasper  was 
very  fond  of  it.  The  baby  died  in  its 
third  year. 

When  a  nearby  barn  burned,  suspicion 


unjustly  fell  on  Jasper.  One  night  masked 
raiders  came  to  their  home,  seized  Jaspei 
while  he  slept,  and  bound  him  with 
ropes,  They  beat  him  savagely.  Ellen 
brought  him  in  and  washed  his  bleeding 
welts.  Jasper  was  greatly  shamed. 

The  family  loaded  all  their  goods  on 
the  wagon  and  set  out.  They  scarcely 
knew  where  they  were  ..going,  but  it 
would  be  far  away.  As  they  went  they 
dreamed  of  a  homeplace  of  land  they 
could  call  their  own.  Perhaps  they  could 
even  set  out  trees  for  an  orchard,  some 
where,  someday. 


THE  TITAN 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Theodore  Dreiser  (1871-1945) 

Type  of  plot:  Naturalism  (  , 

Time  of  plot:    1890's 

Locale:    Chicago 

First  published:    1914 

Principal   characters: 

FRANK  ALGERNON  COWPERWOOD,  a  multimillionaire  and  financial  genius 

AILEEN  COWPERWOOD,  his  mistress  and  then  his  wife 

PETER  LAUGHLIN,  his  business  partner 

STEPHANIE  PLATOW,  Cowperwood's  mistress 

BERENICE  FLEMING,  Cowperwood's  prot^ge'e  and  mistress 


Crfoique: 

Dreiser's  full-length  portrait  of  a  great 
financial  wizard  is  one  of  the  triumphs  of 
the  naturalistic  school  of  writers.  Be 
tween  1890  and  the  publication  of  this 
book  scores  of  novels  dealing  with  the 
American  financier  were  published,  but 
none  approached  the  thoroughness  and 
the  psychological  insight  of  The  Titan, 
which  continues  the  psychological  and 
sociological  study  of  Cowperwood  begun 
by  Dreiser  in  The  Financier.  While  the 
man  Dreiser  portrays  is  wholly  without 
a  conventional  moral  code,  he  is  never 
theless  a  strong  man  with  a  purpose. 
The  author  makes  no  effort  to  judge 
his  character,  and  the  reader  feels  that  it 
is  best  if  he,  too,  refrains  from  passing 
judgment. 


The  Story: 

Released  from  a  Pennsylvania  prison 
in  the  1870's,  Frank  Algernon  Cowper 
wood,  still  young  and  a  millionaire,  went 
to  Chicago  to  begin  a  new  life  with 
Aileen  Butler,  his  mistress.  Within  a 
short  time  Cowperwood  made  friends 
among  influential  businessmen  there. 

Divorced  by  his  first  wife,  Cowper 
wood  finally  married  Aileen.  He  pre 
pared  to  increase  his  fortune,  to  become 
a  power  in  the  city,  and  to  conquer  its 
society.  To  this  end,  he  sought  an  enter 
prise  which  would  quickly  yield  him 
heavy  returns  on  his  investment.  His 
first  battle  among  the  financial  barons  of 
Chicago  was  to  gain  control  of  the  gas 
companies. 

At  the  same  time  the  Cowperwoods 


THE  TITAN  by  Theodore  Dreiser.    By  permission  of  Mrs.  Theodore  Dreiser  and   the  publisher*,  The  World 
Publishing  Co.     Copyright,    1914,  by  John  Lane  Co. 


991 


made  their  first  attack  on  Chicago  society, 
but  with  little  success.  Aileen  Cowper- 
wood  was  too  high-spirited  and  lacking 
in  the  poise  which  would  win  her  social 
success.  Then  Cowperwood  became  in 
volved  in  several  lawsuits  and  his  earlier 
political-economic  disgrace  in  Philadel 
phia  was  exposed  in  the  Chicago  news 
papers.  But  after  a  long  battle  Cowper 
wood  was  able  to  force  the  rival  gas 
companies  to  buy  out  his  franchises  at  a 
profit  to  himself. 

Unfortunately,  the  deal  brought  social 
defeat,  at  least  temporarily,  to  the  Cow- 
perwoods,  for  his  rivals  in  finance  were 
the  social  powers  of  Chicago  at  that 
time.  Cowperwood  turned  once  again 
to  a  mistress,  but  the  affair  ended  when 
Aileen  attempted  to  kill  her  rival. 

For  several  years  a  cable-car  system 
of  street  railways  claimed  most  of  Cow- 
perwood's  time.  He  bought  control  of 
the  horsecar  company  which  served  the 
north  side  of  Chicago.  Then  the  naturally 
promiscuous  temperament  of  Cowper 
wood  intruded  itself  when  he  met  dark, 
lush  Stephanie  Platow.  Ten  years 
younger  than  his  wife  and  interested  in 
art,  literature,  and  music,  she  was  able  to 
occupy  a  place  in  his  life  Aileen  could 
never  fill. 

While  involved  in  that  affair,  Cow 
perwood  coerced  the  west  side  street 
railway  company  into  giving  its  franchise 
to  him.  But  the  sweetness  of  his  victory 
was  partially  lost  by  the  exposure  of 
Stephanie  as  another  man's  lover.  Mean 
while  financial  forces  were  at  work 
against  Cowperwood.  Through  two  city 
bosses,  these  forces  hoped  to  play  the 
city  politicians  against  Cowperwood,  for 
without  the  support  of  the  city  council 
to  aid  him  with  franchises  and  grants 
the  financier  would  find  himself  helpless 
to  merge  all  the  street  railways  of  the 
city  under  his  control. 

The  first  battle  was  fought  in  an 
election  to  gain  possession  of  the  Chi 
cago  city  council.  It  was  far  more  pain 
ful  for  Cowperwood  to  learn  at  this  time 
that  his  wife  had  been  unfaithful  to  him 


than  to  discover  that  he  had  arrayed  the 
whole  financial  and  social  element  of  the 
city  against  himself.  The  loss  of  the 
election  proved  no  permanent  setback  to 
Cowperwood,  however,  nor  did  his  wife's 
infidelity.  From  the  latter  he  recovered, 
and  the  first  was  soon  undone  by  his 
opponents  because  they  did  not  pave 
the  way  with  favors  and  money  when 
they  tried  to  push  bills  through  the  new 
reform  council.  Even  the  new  mayor 
was  soon  an  ally  of  Cowperwood. 

Soon  afterward  Cowperwood  met  Bere 
nice  Fleming,  daughter  of  a  procuress, 
who  was  being  prepared  in  a  fashionable 
boarding-school  for  a  career  in  society. 
Taking  her  and  her  family  under  his 
wing,  Cowperwood  became  her  lover 
with  some  misgivings,  for  the  girl  was 
but  seventeen  and  he  was  fifty-two  at 
the  time.  By  this  time  his  enemies  were 
trying  to  gain  franchises  for  elevated 
lines  powered  by  electricity. 

This  new  effort  by  his  financial  rivals 
meant  that  his  own  street  railways  had 
to  be  converted  to  electricity,  and  he 
had  to  compete  for  at  least  a  share  of 
the  elevated  lines  to  prevent  his  ruin. 
The  south  side  "L"  was  already  a  tre 
mendous  success  because  of  the  World's 
Fair  of  1893,  and  the  whole  city  was 
now  clamoring  for  better  transportation 
service.  Cowperwood's  opponents  held 
control  over  the  city  banks,  which  pre 
vented  those  institutions  from  lending 
him  funds  needed  to  begin  his  opera 
tions.  When  he  attempted  to  secure  funds 
in  the  East,  Cowperwood  discovered  that 
his  assets  were  in  question.  But  by  one 
master  stroke  the  financier  wiped  out 
any  question  of  his  ability  and  his  credit; 
he  donated  three  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars  to  the  local  university  for  a  telescope 
and  observatory. 

Even  with  unlimited  credit,  the  prob 
lem  of  gaining  franchises  was  not  easy. 
He  was  determined  to  keep  control  of 
the  Chicago  transportation  system,  but 
he  began  to  realize  that  neither  he  nor 
his  wife  could  ever  become  socially  ac 
ceptable  there.  He  decided  to  build  a 


992 


mansion  in  New  York  to  hold  his  collec 
tion  of  art  and  be  his  card  of  entry  into 
society. 

Meanwhile,  having  obtained  his  fran 
chises,  he  began  work  on  Chicago  ele 
vated  lines.  Cowperwood's  enemies 
planned  to  let  him  overreach  himself,  so 
that  they  could  force  him  out  of  Chi 
cago  financially  as  well  as  socially.  Then 
the  collapse  of  the  American  Match 
Corporation,  par  daily  engineered  by  Cow- 
perwood,  began  a  series  of  runs  on  the 
Chicago  banks  controlled  by  his  enemies. 
When  their  attempts  to  recall  the  enor 
mous  loans  made  to  Cowperwood  failed, 
he  emerged  from  the  affair  stronger  than 
ever. 

The  final  battle,  the  climax  of  Cow 
perwood's  financial  career  in  Chicago, 
was  die  one  he  waged  to  secure  fifty- 
year  franchises  for  his  growing  transporta 
tion  system.  This  project  was  made 
doubly  difficult  because  of  Cowperwood's 
latest  property,  the  Union  Loop,  by 
which  he  controlled  the  elevated  lines. 
This  loop  of  elevated  track,  encircling 
the  downtown  business  district,  had  to 
be  used  by  all  the  lines  in  the  city.  The 
moneyed  interests  opposed  Cowperwood 
because  he  was  not  with  them;  the 
newspapers,  because  they  wanted  to  see 
better  and  cheaper  facilities.  In  the  face 
of  the  opposition,  even  the  most  reck 
less  of  the  city's  aldermen  feared  to 
grant  the  franchises  Cowperwood  wanted, 
regardless  of  the  money  and  power  he 
was  prepared  to  give  to  them.  Then  his 
lawyers  informed  Cowperwood  that  the 


state  constitution  prevented  the  city  from 
granting  such  long-term  franchises,  even 
if  the  city  council  could  be  coerced  intc 
approving  them. 

Cowperwood's  next  idea  was  to  have 
a  transportation  commission  set  up  by 
bribery  in  the  state  legislature.  In  the 
bill  which  set  up  the  commission  was  a 
clause  extending  existing  franchises  for 
a  period  of  fifty  years.  The  bill,  passed 
by  the  legislature,  was  vetoed  by  the 
governor. 

Meanwhile  the  New  York  mansion 
had  been  completed,  and  Aileen  Cowper 
wood  moved  in.  She  met  with  no  social 
success,  except  among  the  Bohemian 
set.  Berenice  Fleming  was  settled  at  the 
same  time  with  her  family  in  a  mansion 
on  Park  Avenue.  The  next  step  in 
Cowperwood's  personal  affairs  was  to 
be  his  second  divorce.  Then  Aileen  heard 
of  his  affair  with  Berenice  Fleming,  When 
he  asked  her  for  the  divorce,  she  tried 
to  commit  suicide  but  failed. 

Cowperwood  again  tried  to  force  his 
bill  through  the  Illinois  Legislature,  but 
the  legislators  returned  it  to  the  city 
council.  There,  as  before,  Cowperwood 
lost.  The  people  and  the  newspapers 
frightened  the  aldermen  so  that  they 
dared  not  grant  what  the  financier 
wished,  despite  his  fantastic  bribes. 

With  his  hope  of  controlling  the  Chi 
cago  transportation  system  gone,  Cow 
perwood  sold  his  interests.  Admitting 
defeat,  he  and  Berenice  went  to  Europe. 
The  Titan's  empire  had  fallen. 


TO  THE  LIGHTHOUSE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  Virginia  Woolf  (1882-1941) 

Type  of  'plot:    Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:   c.  1910-1920 

Locale;   The  Isle  of  Skye  in  die  Hebrides 

First  published:    1927 

Principal   characters: 

MR.  RAMSAY,  a  professor  of  philosophy 

MRS.  RAMSAY,  his  wife 

JAMES,  their  son 

CAMILLA,  their  daughter 


993 


MR.  TANSLEY,  Mr.  Ramsay's  guest  and  friend 
LILY  BRISCOE,  an  artist 
MR.  CARMICHAEL,  a  poet 


Critique: 

Set  in  the  out-of-the-way  Hebrides 
Islands,  this  book  has  an  other-world 
quality.  There  is  an  air  of  unreality 
about  it,  achieved,  perhaps,  by  the  odd 
structure  of  the  book.  Virginia  Woolf 
learned  a  great  deal  from  James  Joyce 
about  the  psychological  novel.  Although 
her  stream  of  consciousness  does  not  get 
out  of  hand  or  lead  the  story  into  hidden 
depths,  it  does  dominate  the  entire  novel 
and  make  good  its  effect.  The  past  has, 
throughout  the  novel,  an  effect  upon 
the  present  action,  and  this  mingling  of 
past  and  present  is  the  secret  of  the 
book's  unity. 

The  Story: 

Mrs.  Ramsay  promised  James,  her 
seven-year-old  son,  that  if  the  next  day 
were  fair  he  would  be  taken  on  a  visit 
to  the  lighthouse  they  could  see  from 
the  window  of  their  summer  home  on 
the  Isle  of  Skye.  James,  the  youngest 
of  Mrs.  Ramsay's  eight  children,  was  his 
mother's  favorite.  The  father  of  the  fam 
ily  was  a  professor  of  philosophy  whose 
students  often  thought  that  he  was  in 
spiring  and  one  of  the  foremost  meta 
physicians  of  the  early  twentieth  century; 
but  his  own  children,  particularly  the 
youngest,  did  not  like  him  because  he 
made  sarcastic  remarks. 

Several  guests  were  visiting  the  Ram 
says  at  the  time.  There  was  young  Mr. 
Tansley,  Ramsay's  student,  who  was  also 
unpopular  with  the  children  because  he 
seemed  to  delight  in  their  discomfiture. 
Tansley  was  mildly  in  love  with  his 
hostess,  despite  her  fifty-five  years  and 
her  eight  children.  There  was  Lily 
Briscoe,  who  was  painting  a  picture  of 
the  cottage  with  Mrs.  Ramsay  and  little 
James  seated  in  front  of  it.  There  was 
old  Mr.  Carmichael,  a  ne'er-do-well  who 


amused  the  Ramsay  youngsters  because 
he  had  a  white  beard  and  a  mustache 
tinged  with  yellow.  There  was  also 
Mr.  Bankes,  a  young  man  in  love  with 
Prue,  the  prettiest  of  the  Ramsay  daugh 
ters. 

The  afternoon  went  by  slowly.  Mrs. 
Ramsay  went  to  the  village  to  call  on  a 
sick  woman.  She  spent  several  hours 
knitting  stockings  for  the  lighthouse 
keeper's  child,  whom  they  were  planning 
to  visit.  Many  people  wondered  how 
the  Ramsays,  particularly  the  wife,  man 
aged  to  be  as  hospitable  and  as  charitable 
as  they  were,  for  they  were  not  rich; 
Mr.  Ramsay  could  not  possibly  make  a 
fortune  by  expounding  Locke,  Berkeley, 
and  Hume  to  students  or  by  publishing 
books  on  metaphysics. 

Mr.  Carmichael,  pretending  to  read, 
had  actually  fallen  asleep  early  after 
lunch.  The  children,  except  for  James, 
who  was  busy  cutting  pictures  out  of 
a  catalogue,  had  busied  themselves  in  a 
game  of  cricket.  Mr.  Ramsay  and  Mr. 
Tansley  had  passed  the  time  in  a  point 
less  conversation.  Miss  Briscoe  had  only 
made  a  daub  or  two  of  paint  on  her  can 
vas.  For  some  reason  the  lines  of  the  scene 
refused  to  come  clear  in  her  painting. 
Prue  and  Mr.  Bankes  had  gone  walking 
along  the  shore. 

Even  the  dinner  went  by  slowly.  The 
only  occasion  of  interest  to  the  children, 
which  was  one  of  tension  to  their  mother, 
came  when  Mr.  Carmichael  asked  the 
maid  for  a  second  bowl  of  soup,  thereby 
angering  his  host,  who  liked  to  have 
meals  dispatched  promptly.  As  soon  as 
the  children  had  finished,  their  mother 
sent  the  younger  ones  to  bed.  Mrs.  Ram 
say  hoped  that  Prue  would  not  fall  in 
love  with  Mr.  Bankes,  and  that  Lily 
Briscoe,  who  always  became  seasick, 

TO  THE  LIGHTHOUSE  by  Virginia  Woolf.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 
Copyright,  1927,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc. 


994 


would  not  want  to  accompany  them  in 
the  small  sailboat  if  they  should  go  to 
the  lighthouse  the  following  day.  She 
thought  also  about  the  fifty  pounds 
needed  to  make  some  necessary  repairs 
on  the  house. 

After  dinner  Mrs.  Ramsay  went  up 
stairs  to  the  nursery.  James  had  a  boar's 
skull  which  his  sister  detested.  When 
ever  Camilla  tried  to  remove  it  from  the 
wall  and  her  sight,  he  burst  into  a  frenzy 
of  screaming.  Mrs.  Ramsay  wrapped 
the  skull  in  a  handkerchief.  Afterward 
she  went  downstairs  and  joined  her  hus 
band  in  the  library,  where  they  sat 
throughout  the  evening,  she  knitting 
and  Mr.  Ramsay  reading.  Before  they 
went  to  bed  it  was  agreed  that  the  trip 
for  the  next  day  would  have  to  be  can 
celed.  The  night  had  turned  stormy. 

Night  followed  night.  The  trip  to 
the  lighthouse  was  never  made  that  sum 
mer,  nor  did  the  Ramsays  return  to  their 
summer  home  for  some  years.  In  the 
meantime  Mrs.  Ramsay  died  quietly  in 
her  sleep.  Prue  was  married,  although 
not  to  Mr.  Bankes,  and  died  in  child 
birth.  The  first  World  War  began. 
Andrew  Ramsay  enlisted  and  was  sent 
to  France,  where  he  was  killed  by  an 
exploding  shell. 

Time  passed.  The  wallpaper  in  the 
house  came  loose  from  the  walls.  Books 
mildewed.  In  the  kitchen  a  cup  was 
occasionally  knocked  down  and  broken 
by  old  Mrs.  McNab,  who  .came  to  look 
after  the  house  from  time  to  time.  In 
the  garden  the  roses  and  the  annual 
flowers  grew  wild  or  died. 

Mr.  Carmichael  brought  out  a  volume 
of  poems  during  the  war.  About  the 
time  his  book  appeared,  daffodils  and 
violets  bloomed  on  the  Isle  of  Skye. 
Mrs.  McNab  looked  longingly  at  a  warm 
cloak  left  in  a  closet.  She  wished  the 
cloak  belonged  to  her. 

At  last  the  war  ended.  Mrs.  McNab 
received  a  telegram  requesting  that  the 
house  be  put  in  order.  For  several  days 
the  housekeeper  worked,  aided  by  two 
cleaning  women,  and  when  the  Ramsays 


arrived  the  cottage  was  in  order  once 
more.  Several  visitors  came  again  to 
share  a  summer  at  the  cottage.  Lily 
Briscoe  returned  for  a  quiet  vacation. 
Mr.  Carmichael,  the  successful  poet,  also 
arrived. 

One  morning  Lily  Briscoe  came  down 
to  breakfast  and  wondered  at  the  quiet 
which  greeted  her.  No  one  had  been 
down  ahead  of  her,  although  she  had 
expected  that  Mr.  Ramsay  and  the  two 
youngest  children,  James  and  Camilla, 
would  have  eaten  early  and  departed 
for  the  long-postponed  sail  to  the  light 
house,  to  which  the  youngsters  had  been 
looking  forward  with  joyful  anticipation. 
Within  a  few  minutes  the  three  straggled 
down,  all  having  slept  past  the  time 
they  had  intended  to  arise.  After  a  swift 
breakfast  they  disappeared  toward  the 
shore,  their  going  watched  by  Lily 
Briscoe,  who  had  set  up  her  canvas  with 
the  intention  of  once  again  trying  to 
paint  her  picture  of  the  cottage. 

The  journey  to  the  island  where  the 
lighthouse  stood  was  not  as  pleasant  as 
the  children  had  expected.  They  had 
never  really  liked  their  father;  he  had 
taken  too  little  time  to  understand  them. 
He  was  short  and  sharp  when  they  did 
things  which  seemed  foolish  to  him, 
though  those  actions  were  perfectly  com 
prehensible  to  his  son  and  daughter. 
James,  especially,  expected  to  be  blamed 
caustically  and  pointlessly  if  the  crossing 
were  slow  or  not  satisfactory  in  some 
other  way,  for  he  had  been  delegated 
to  handle  the  sheets  and  the  tiller  of  the 
boat. 

Mr.  Ramsay  strode  down  to  the  beach 
with  his  offspring,  each  carrying  a  paper 
parcel  to  take  to  the  keepers  of  the  light 
house.  They  soon  set  sail  and  pointed 
the  prow  of  the  sailboat  toward  the  black 
and  white  striped  pillar  of  the  light 
house  in  the  hazy  distance.  Mr.  Ramsay 
sat  in  the  middle  of  the  boat,  along  with 
an  old  fisherman  and  his  son.  They 
were  to  take  over  the  boat  in  case  of  an 
emergency,  for  Mr.  Ramsay  had  little 
trust  in  James  as  a  reliable  seaman.  In 


995 


ihe  stern  sat  James  himself,  nerves  ting-  little  party  reached  the  lighthouse,  and, 
ling  lest  his  Father  look  up  from  his  book  wonderful  to  relate,  Mr.  Ramsay  sprang 
and  indulge  in  unnecessary  and  hateful  ashore  like  a  youngster,^  smiled  back  at 
criticism.  But  his  nervous  tension  was 
needless,  for  within  a  few  hours  the 


his  children,  and  praised  his  son  for  his 
seamanship. 


TOBACCO  ROAD 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:   Erskine  Caldwell  (1903-         ) 

Type  of  plot;    Social  melodrama 

Time  of  ^lot:    1920's 

Locale:    Georgia 

First  published:  1932 

Principal  characters: 

JEETER  LESTER,  a  poor  white 

ADA,  his  wife 

DUDE,  his  son 

ELLIE  MAY,  his  daughter 

PEARL,  another  daughter 

Lov  BENSEY,  Pearl's  husband 

BESSIE,  a  backwoods  evangelist 

Critique: 

The  uproarious,  Rabelaisian  episodes 
of  Tobacco  Road  make  the  novel  appear 
to  be  a  burlesque  on  rural  life  of  the 
southern  United  States.  Granted  the 
exaggeration  for  effect,  the  book  deals 
truthfully,  in  the  main,  with  a  human 
element  which  is  in  evidence  in  the 
eastern  piedmont  from  Virginia  to  Geor 
gia.  The  character  of  Jeeter  Lester,  al 
though  repulsive  in  many  respects,  is 
nevertheless  a  curiously  moving  one.  In 
creating  Jeeter,  Caldwell  gave  the  world 
another  minor  hero,  a  man  whose  futile 
hopefulness  attracts  the  sympathy  of  the 
sentimental  and  the  social-minded. 


The  Story: 

Lov  Bensey,  husband  of  Pearl,  fifteen- 
year-old  daughter  of  Jeeter  Lester,  felt 
low  in  his  mind  when  he  stopped  by  the 
Lester  house  on  his  way  home  with  a  bag 
of  turnips.  Pearl,  he  complained,  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  him;  she 
would  neither  sleep  with  him  nor  talk 
to  him. 

The  Lesters  lived  in  a  one-room  shack 
which  was  falling  apart.  They  had  noth 


ing  to  eat  but  pork-rind  soup.  Jeeter  was 
trying  to  patch  an  inner  tube  so  that 
the  Lester  car,  a  nondescript  wreck  which 
had  been  refused  even  by  the  junk 
dealer,  could  be  used  to  carry  firewood  to 
Augusta.  Jeeter 's  harelipped  daughter 
Ellie  May  charmed  Lov  away  from  his 
bag  of  turnips.  While  she  and  Lov 
were  dallying  in  the  yard  in  front  of 
the  shack,  the  other  Lesters  pounced 
upon  the  bag  of  turnips.  Jeeter  grabbed 
it  and  ran  into  the  scrub  woods,  fol 
lowed  by  his  worthless  son  Dude.  Jeeter 
ate  his  fill  of  turnips.  He  gave  Dude 
several  and  even  saved  a  handful  for  the 
rest  of  the  family.  They  returned  from 
the  woods  to  find  Lov  gone.  Sister 
Bessie,  a  woman  preacher,  had  come  for 
a  visit.  Bessie,  middle-aged,  and  Dude, 
sixteen,  were  attracted  to  each  other. 
Bessie,  upon  leaving,  promised  to  return 
to  take  Dude  away  to  be  her  husband. 

The  Lesters  were  starving.  Jeeter  had 
long  since  been  unable  to  get  credit  at 
the  local  stores  in  order  to  buy  seed, 
fertilizer,  and  food.  His  land  was  ex 
hausted  and  there  was  no  chance  of  re- 


TOBACCO   ROAD   by   Erskine  Caldwell.     By    permission   of  the   author    and    the   publishers,    Duell,    Sloan   & 
PCA/TC.  lac.     Copyright,   1932,  by  Erskine  Caldwell. 


996 


claiming  it  because  of  Jeeter's  utter 
laziness.  Jeeter  and  his  wife  Ada  had  had 
seventeen  children.  Twelve  of  them 
survived,  but  all  except  Ellie  May  and 
Dude  had  left  home. 

Bessie  returned  and  announced  that 
God  had  given  her  permission  to  marry 
Dude,  but  Dude  refused  to  listen  until 
Bessie  said  that  she  was  planning  to 
buy  a  new  car  with  some  money  that 
her  late  husband  had  left  her.  She  and 
Dude  went  to  town  and  bought  a  new 
Ford,  the  loud  horn  of  which  Dude 
highly  approved.  At  the  county  court 
house,  over  the  mild  protestations  of  the 
clerk  because  of  Dude's  youth,  Bessie 
got  a  marriage  license.  Back  at  the 
Lester  shack,  Bessie,  using  her  authority 
as  preacher,  married  herself  to  Dude. 

The  newlyweds  went  for  a  ride  in 
their  new  car;  they  returned  to  the  tobacco 
road  at  sundown  with  one  fender  of  the 
car  completely  ruined.  They  had  run 
into  a  farm  wagon  on  the  highway  and 
had  killed  a  Negro  whom  they  left  lying 
by  the  roadside. 

Jeeter,  anxious  to  get  food  and  snuff, 
persuaded  Bessie  and  Dude  to  take  him 
to  Augusta  with  a  load  of  firewood. 
Their  arrival  in  Augusta  was  delayed, 
however,  by  the  breakdown  of  the  car. 
A  gallon  and  a  half  of  oil  poured  into 
the  crank  case  enabled  them  to  get  to 
the  city,  where  Jeeter  failed  to  sell  one 
stick  of  wood.  The  trio  sold  the  car's 


spare  tire,  for  which  they  could  see  no 
use,  and  bought  food.  They  mistook  a 
house  of  ill-repute  for  a  hotel;  Bessie 
was  absent  from  Jeeter  and  her  young 
husband  most  of  the  night. 

During  the  return  trip  to  the  tobacco 
road,  Jeeter  unloaded  the  wood  beside  the 
highway  and  set  fire  to  it.  He  was  about 
to  suggest  another  trip  in  the  car,  but 
Bessie  and  Dude  rode  away  before  he 
could  stop  them. 

As  the  car  rapidly  fell  apart,  the 
warmth  between  Bessie  and  her  young 
husband  cooled.  In  a  fight  between  Bes 
sie  and  the  Lesters  over  Jeeter's  right 
to  ride  in  the  car  again,  Dude  sided  with 
his  wife.  After  all,  the  car  still  ran  a 
little. 

Meanwhile  Pearl  ran  away  from  Lov; 
she  had  managed  to  escape  after  he  had 
tied  her  to  their  bed.  Jeeter  advised 
Lov  not  to  look  for  Pearl,  but  to  take 
Ellie  May  in  her  place.  He  asked  Ellie 
May  to  bring  back  victuals  and  clothes 
from  Lov's  house.  The  grandmother,  who 
had  been  run  over  by  Bessie's  Ford,  died 
in  the  yard. 

Jeeter  anticipated  seeding  time  by 
burning  the  broomsedge  off  his  land. 
A  wind  blew  the  fire  to  the  house  while 
Jeeter  and  Ada  were  asleep.  The  destitute 
sharecroppers  were  burned  to  death  on 
the  land  that  Jeeter's  family  had  once 
owned  as  prosperous  fanners. 


TOM  CRINGLE'S  LOG 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Michael  Scott  (1789-1835) 

Type  of  'plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  West  Indies 

First  published:  1833 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  CRINGLE,  a  young  midshipman 
MARY  PALMA,  his  cousin  and  wife 
OBADIAH,  a  smuggler  and  pirate 
CAPTAIN  TKANSOM,  of  the  Firebrand 

Critique: 

There    is    almost    no    plot    in    Tom 
Cringle's  Log  and  even  little  connection 


between    episodes.     Great    numbers    of 
people  appear  briefly  in  disconnected  in- 


997 


cidents  and  then  disappear,  for  the  novel 
is,  as  the  name  implies,  a  recital  of  one 
man's  experience  as  an  officer  on  various 
British  warships  during  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  Although  the  book  gives  the  reader 
some  first-hand  accurate  accounts  of 
minor  actions  in  the  war  with  Napoleon 
and  many  sidelights  on  the  War  of  1812 
with  America,  Scott  emphasizes  merry 
bibulous  exploits  ashore  rather  than  the 
business  of  fighting. 

The  Story: 

Tom  Cringle,  aged  thirteen  and  four 
feet  four  inches  tall,  looked  upon  himself 
as  a  successor  to  Nelson.  In  pursuing 
his  aim,  he  pestered  his  relative,  Sir 
Barnaby  Blueblazes,  to  such  lengths  that 
at  last  Tom  was  appointed  midshipman 
aboard  the  frigate  Breeze  and  ordered  to 
report  for  foreign  duty  in  four  days. 

Poor  Tom  had  envisioned  a  period  of 
months  ashore  after  his  appointment, 
time  to  strut  his  uniform  before  all  his 
friends.  His  time  being  so  short,  he  hard 
ly  knew  whether  he  wanted  to  go  to  sea 
after  all,  and  his  widowed  mother  wept 
and  begged  him  not  to  leave.  But  on  the 
appointed  day  Tom  went  aboard  his  ship, 
bound  for  action. 

He  had  a  trip  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  on 
the  Breeze,  and  a  tour  of  duty  on  the 
Kraaken.  Then,  an  old  hand,  Tom 
boarded  the  Torch,  an  eighteen-gun  sloop 
bound  for  the  North  Sea. 

Near  Cuxhaven  the  ship's  boat  was 
lowered  and  Tom  w?s  put  second  in  com 
mand  of  a  party  to  enter  the  harbor.  The 
captain  was  sure  no  French  were  near; 
consequently  the  party  shoved  off  with 
light  hearts.  To  their  astonishment  they 
were  challenged  by  French  sentries.  In 
trying  to  regain  the  ship,  Tom's  boat 
was  hit  by  a  shell  from  a  shore  battery, 
and  subsequently  he  was  taken  prisoner. 

A  resident  of  Hamburg  went  surety 
for  Tom  and  took  him  to  his  own  country 
house.  The  next  day  the  Russians  ad 
vanced  and  drove  out  the  French.  In 
the  confusion  Tom  and  the  Hamburg 
family  escaped  and  safely  boarded  the 
Torch. 


The  Torch  stood  off  Cork,  where  Tom 
played  the  part  of  a  spy.  By  a  clever 
tale  he  induced  a  group  of  British  sea 
men  to  rendezvous  in  a  small  tavern. 
There  they  were  captured  and  pressed 
into  service.  Then  with  her  full  com 
plement  the  Torch  left  for  Caribbean 
waters,  where  Tom  was  to  spend  many 
years.  In  the  West  Indies  the  French, 
Spaniards,  English,  and  Americans  were 
all  privateering,  and  there  was  much 
work  for  a  British  man-of-war,  in  escort 
ing  merchantmen,  keeping  a  lookout  for 
American  marauders,  and  trying  to  keep 
slavery  and  smuggling  within  bounds. 

Tom  had  an  early  introduction  to  the 
horrors  of  piracy  the  day  a  London  mer 
chantman  was  sighted  behaving  errati 
cally.  With  great  difficulty  a  boarding 
party  captured  the  ship  after  subduing  a 
pirate  crew.  In  the  main  cabin  of  the 
merchantman  the  British  found  a  terri 
fying  situation.  The  captain  had  been 
tied  on  the  table,  his  throat  so  savagely- 
slashed  that  he  was  almost  decapitated. 
Tied  in  a  chair  was  a  prosperous  gentle 
man  very  nearly  hysterical.  On  the  sofa 
was  the  man's  wife,  violated  by  the 
pirates.  The  poor  lady  was  mad  with 
shame  and  fright  and  spent  her  last  days 
in  an  asylum.  The  leader  of  the  pirates, 
who  subsequently  escaped,  was  a  tall, 
handsome  Spaniard.  Tom  learned  much 
later  that  his  name  was  Francesco  Can- 
grejo. 

During  a  violent  hurricane  the  Torch 
went  down,  and  Tom,  believing  himself 
the  only  survivor,  spent  three  terrible 
days  in  an  open  boat.  At  last  thirst  and 
privation  overcame  him.  When  he  re 
gained  consciousness  he  was  on  shore, 
tended  by  Lieutenant  Splinter,  the  only 
other  crew  member  to  escape.  Captain 
Deadeye,  of  the  Torch,,  was  stretched  out 
under  a  canvas  on  the  beach.  Scarcely 
had  Tom  recovered  his  senses  when  they 
were  taken  prisoners  by  a  Spanish  pla 
toon.  When  Tom  and  splinter  had  satis 
factorily  established  their  identity,  they 
were  freed,  but  they  were  stranded  in  the 
tiny  port  of  Cartagena,  far  from  the 
British  forces. 


998 


On  the  beach  Tom  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  a  black  pilot,  Peter  Musgrave, 
who  was  wanted  by  the  Admiralty  for 
running  a  British  ship  aground.  Tom 
agreed  to  act  as  Peter's  friend  at  court, 
and  in  turn  Peter  would  procure  passage 
to  Jamaica. 

Peter  went  aboard  a  suspiciously  de 
crepit  small  craft  in  the  harbor  and  re 
turned  with  the  American  mate  of  the 
vessel  Obadiah,  the  mate,  took  them 
aboard,  and  the  black  captain  consented 
to  take  the  Englishmen  to  Jamaica  for  a 
reasonable  fee.  As  soon  as  they  were 
at  sea,  however,  some  astonishing  changes 
took  place.  Obadiah  assumed  the  cap 
taincy,  and  under  his  directions  the  vil 
lainous  but  alert  crew  re-rigged  the  worn 
sails  and  mounted  guns  on  deck.  Then 
the  truth  dawned  on  Tom;  he  was  aboard 
a  pirate  ship. 

Two  British  men-of-war  bore  down  on 
the  ship,  but  Captain  Obadiah,  refusing 
to  heave  to,  held  his  course  in  the  face 
of  almost  certain  suicide.  By  clever  sea 
manship  the  pirate  craft  outran  its  pur 
suers,  although  many  of  the  crew  were 
killed  or  wounded.  Making  a  landfall 
in  Cuba,  the  pirates  put  in  to  a  small 
river,  and  after  a  narrow  passage  came 
to  anchor  in  a  secluded  lagoon  a  mile 
in  diameter.  The  lagoon  was  filled  with 
armed  craft  of  many  types.  Tom  was  in 
the  secret  den  of  the  West  Indian  pirates. 

When  the  Firebrand,  an  English  war 
ship,  engaged  a  pirate  felucca  near  the 
river's  mouth,  Tom  escaped  with  the 
help  of  Peter.  Going  aboard  the  Fire 
brand,  to  which  he  had  been  assigned 
by  dispatch,  Tom  took  part  in  the  cap 
ture  of  the  whole  pirate  band.  Obadiah, 
who  was  a  renegade  Englishman,  as  Tom 
learned  later,  was  shot  as  he  tried  to  swim 
away.  For  his  bravery  in  the  engagement 
Tom  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant. 

Captain  Transom  of  the  Firebrand 
proved  to  be  a  genial  commander  with 
many  friends  in  the  islands.  Tom  spent 
much  time  ashore  indulging  in  high 
jinks.  One  trip  ashore,  however,  was  a 


somber  one.  Tom  served  iis  interprets 
at  the  trial  of  the  pirates,  who  were  all 
condemned  to  death.  One  of  the  pris 
oners,  Tom  found,  was  Francesco  Can- 
grejo,  who  cut  a  brave  figure  in  the  dock 
in  spite  of  his  confessed  career  of  villainy. 
At  the  pirate's  request,  Torn  took  his 
miniature  and  crucifix  to  deliver  to  the 
pirate's  betrothed. 

In  Kingston,  where  Tom  called  on  his 
relatives,  the  Palmas,  he  was  most  cor 
dially  received.  There  he  met  and  fell 
in  love  with  Mary  Palrna,  his  cousin. 
When  he  was  called  away  on  duty,  it 
was  with  the  understanding  that  the) 
would  be  married  after  his  next  pro 
motion. 

At  Santiago  Tom  went  ashore  to  visit 
Ricardo  Campana,  a  rich  merchant. 
There  a  priest  who  met  him  and  Ricardo 
on  the  street  seemed  much  upset.  Tom 
could  hear  the  name  Cangrejo  men 
tioned  and  learned  that  Maria,  Fran 
cesco's  sweetheart,  was  dying.  The  party 
hastened  to  the  Cangrejo  house  in  time 
for  Tom  to  have  a  few  words  with  Maria 
before  she  died.  Tom  was  saddened  when 
he  heard  of  Francesco's  early  promise  and 
reflected  on  the  Spaniard's  later  death  for 
piracy. 

On  a  trip  out  from  Santiago,  Tom  was 
ordered  to  take  command  of  the  small 
schooner  Wave.  At  twenty-three,  Tom 
Cringle,  lieutenant,  became  master  of  his 
own  ship.  Sent  to  patrol  for  suspicious 
vessels,  Tom  sighted  a  large  schooner 
that  failed  to  heed  his  signals.  After  a 
two  days'  chase  the  Wave  closed  with 
the  heavily-armed,  larger  ship.  Display 
ing  great  courage  at  close  quarters,  the 
gallant  crew  of  the  Wave  boarded  the 
schooner,  which  proved  to  be  a  slaver. 
Unable  to  land  the  ship  with  a  prize 
crew,  Tom  had  the  slaver  shelled  until 
it  caught  fire  and  sank.  Tom  rescued  as 
many  slaves  as  the  Wave  could  carry  and 
put  them  ashore. 

Tom  was  afterward  trusted  with  many 
missions,  including  one  to  Panama.  Since 
he  was  always  diligent  in  doing  his  duty 
and  since  he  had  always  displayed  great 


999 


courage  in  "battle,  he  received  his  second 
epaulet.  Tom  Cringle,  one  time  mid 
shipman,  became  Commander  Cringle. 
At  dinner  in  Kingston,  wearing  his 
two  epaulets,  Tom  was  surprised  that 
none  of  the  Palmas  remarked  on  his 
promotion.  Mary  herself  was  quite  agi 


tated  and  left  the  table.  In  his  embar 
rassment  Tom  had  the  misfortune  to 
drink  a  glass  of  catsup.  But  in  spite  of 
all  his  awkwardness,  Tom  managed  to 
see  Mary  alone  and  win  her  consent  to 
an  immediate  marriage. 


TOM  JONES 

Type  of  work\  Novel 

Author:  Henry  Fielding  (1707-1754) 

Type  of  -plot:  Comic  epic 

Time  of  plot:  Early  eighteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1749 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  JONES,  a  foundling 
SQUIRE  ALLWORTHY,  his  foster  father 
BRIDGET,  Allworthy's  sister 
MASTER  BLIFIL,  Bridget's  son 
MR.  PARTRIDGE,  the  schoolmaster 
MR.  WESTERN,  an  English  squire 
SOPHIA  WESTERN,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether 
greater  pleasure  is  derived  from  the  nar 
rative  parts  of  The  History  of  Tom  Jones, 
a  Foundling,  as  Fielding  titled  his  novel, 
or  from  the  essays  written  at  the  begin 
ning  of  each  book.  The  story  itself  is  a 
long,  involved  plot  in  which  Tom  finally 
wins  the  confidence  of  those  he  loves. 
Most  of  the  humor  in  this  novel  lies  in 
Fielding's  exaggerated  dramatic  emphasis 
and  in  his  lengthy,  delicate  dissections 
of  the  motives  of  his  characters.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  Fielding  had  few 
examples  of  the  novel  form  from  which 
to  learn,  but  his  novels  are  so  far  ad 
vanced  in  development  over  their  prede 
cessors  that  Fielding  must  be  recog 
nized  as  a  literary  innovator.  The  author 
knew  the  follies  of  human  nature,  and 
he  attempted  to  laugh  mankind  out  of  its 
own  weaknesses. 


The  Story: 

Squire  Allworthy  lived  in  retirement 
in  the  country  with  his  sister  Bridget. 
Returning  from  a  visit  to  London,  he 
was  considerably  surprised  upon  entering 


his  room  to  find  an  infant  lying  on  his 
bed.  His  discovery  caused  much  astonish 
ment  and  consternation  in  the  household, 
for  the  squire  himself  was  a  childless 
widower.  The  next  day  Miss  Bridget 
and  the  squire  inquired  in  the  com 
munity  to  discover  the  baby's  mother,  and 
their  suspicions  were  shortly  fixed  upon 
Jenny  Jones,  who  had  spent  many  hours 
in  the  squire's  home  while  nursing  Miss 
Bridget  through  a  long  illness.  The 
worthy  squire  sent  for  the  girl  and  in  his 
gentle  manner  reprimanded  her  for  her 
wicked  behavior,  assuring  her,  however, 
that  the  baby  would  remain  in  his  home 
under  the  best  of  care.  Fearing  malicious 
gossip  of  the  neighborhood,  Squire  All- 
worthy  sent  Jenny  away. 

Jenny  Jones  had  been  a  servant  in  the 
house  of  a  schoolmaster  named  Mr.  Par 
tridge,  who  had  educated  the  young 
woman  during  her  four  years  in  his 
house.  Mrs.  Partridge,  because  of  Jenny's 
comely  face,  was  jealous  of  her.  Neigh 
borhood  gossip  soon  convinced  Mrs.  Par 
tridge  that  her  husband  was  the  father  of 
Jenny's  son,  whereupon  Squire  Allworthy 


1000 


called  the  schoolmaster  before  him  and 
talked  to  him  at  great  length  concerning 
morality.  Mr.  Partridge,  deprived  of  his 
school,  his  income,  and  his  wife,  also  left 
the  country. 

Not  long  afterward  Captain  Blifil  won 
the  heart  of  Bridget  Allworthy.  Eight 
months  after  their  nuptials  Bridget  bore 
a  son.  The  squire  thought  it  would  be 
well  to  rear  the  foundling  and  his  sister's 
child  together.  The  foundling  had  been 
named  Jones,  after  his  mother. 

Squire  Allworthy  became  exceedingly 
fond  of  the  foundling.  Captain  Blifil  died 
during  his  son's  infancy,  and  Master  Bli 
fil  grew  up  as  Squire  Allworthy's  acknowl 
edged  heir.  Otherwise,  he  remained  on 
even  terms  with  the  foundling  so  far  as 
opportunities  for  advancement  were  con 
cerned.  But  Tom  was  such  a  mischievous 
lad  that  he  had  but  one  friend  among 
the  servants,  the  gamekeeper,  Black 
George,  an  indolent  man  with  a  large 
family.  Hired  to  instruct  the  lads  were 
Mr.  Thwackum  and  Mr.  Square,  who 
considered  Tom  a  wicked  soul,  Tom's 
many  deceptions  were  always  discovered 
through  the  combined  efforts  of  Mr. 
Thwackum,  Mr.  Square,  and  Master 
Blifil,  who  as  he  grew  older  disliked  Tom 
more  and  more.  It  had  been  assumed  by 
all  that  Mrs.  Blifil  would  dislike  Tom, 
but  at  times  she  seemed  to  show  greater 
affection  for  him  than  for  her  own  son.  In 
turn,  the  compassionate  squire  took  Mas 
ter  Blifil  to  his  heart  and  became  cen 
sorious  of  Tom. 

Mr.  Western,  who  lived  on  a  neigh 
boring  estate,  had  a  daughter  whom  he 
loved  more  than  anyone  else  in  the 
world.  Sophia  had  a  tender  fondness  for 
Tom  because  of  a  deed  of  kindness  he 
had  performed  for  her  when  they  were 
still  children.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  Mas 
ter  Blifil  had  become  a  favorite  with  the 
young  ladies,  while  Tom  was  considered 
a  ruffian  by  all  but  Mr.  Western,  who 
admired  his  ability  to  hunt.  Tom  spent 
many  evenings  at  the  Western  home, 
with  every  opportunity  to  see  Sophia,  for 
whom  his  affections  were  increasing 


daily.  One  afternoon  Tom  had  the  good 
fortune  to  be  nearby  when  Sophia's  horse 
ran  away.  Tom,  in  rescuing  her,  broke 
his  arm.  He  was  removed  to  Mr.  West 
ern's  house,  where  he  received  medical 
care  and  remained  to  recover  from  his 
hurt.  One  day  he  and  Sophia  had  occa 
sion  to  be  alone  in  the  garden,  where  they 
exchanged  confessions  of  love. 

Squire  Allworthy  became  mortally  ill. 
Assuming  that  he  was  dying,  the  doctor 
sent  for  the  squire's  relatives.  With  his 
servants  and  family  gathered  around  him, 
the  squire  announced  the  disposal  of  his 
wealth,  giving  generously  to  Tom.  Tom 
was  the  only  one  satisfied  with  his  por 
tion;  his  only  concern  was  the  impending 
death  of  his  foster  father  and  benefactor. 
On  the  way  home  from  London  to  see 
the  squire,  Mrs.  Blifil  died  suddenly. 
When  the  squire  was  pronounced  out  of 
danger,  Tom's  joy  was  so  great  that  he 
became  drunk  through  toasting  the 
squire's  health,  and  quarreled  with  young 
Blifil. 

Sophia's  aunt,  Mrs.  Western,  perceived 
the  interest  her  niece  showed  in  Blifil, 
for  Sophia,  wishing  to  conceal  her  affec 
tion  for  Tom,  gave  Blifil  the  greater  part 
of  her  attention  when  she  was  with  the 
two  young  men.  Informed  by  his  sister 
of  Sophia's  conduct,  Mr.  Western  sug 
gested  to  Squire  Allworthy  that  a  match 
be  arranged  between  Blifil  and  Sophia, 
When  Mrs.  Western  told  the  young  girl 
of  the  proposed  match,  Sophia  thought 
that  she  meant  Tom,  and  she  immedi 
ately  disclosed  her  passion  for  the  found 
ling.  But  it  was  unthinkable  that  Mr. 
Western,  much  as  he  liked  Tom,  would 
ever  allow  his  daughter  to  marry  a  man 
without  a  family  and  a  fortune,  and  Mrs. 
Western  forced  Sophia  to  receive  Blifil 
under  the  threat  of  exposing  the  girl's 
real  affection  for  Tom.  Sophia  met  Tom 
secretly  in  the  garden  and  the  two  lovers 
vowed  constancy.  Discovering  them,  Mr. 
Western  went  immediately  to  Squire 
Allworthy  with  his  knowledge. 

Blifil,  aware  of  his  advantage,  told  the 
squire  that  on  the  day  he  lay  near  death 


1001 


Tom  was  out  drinking  and  singing.  The 
squire  felt  that  he  had  forgiven  Tom  any 
wrongs,  but  his  show  of  unconcern  for 
the  squire's  health  infuriated  the  good 
man.  He  sent  for  Tom,  reproached  him, 
and  banished  him  from  his  house. 

With  the  help  of  Black  George,  the 
gamekeeper,  and  Mrs.  Honour,  Sophia's 
maid,  Tom  and  Sophia  were  able  to  ex 
change  love  letters.  When  Sophia  was 
confined  to  her  room  because  she  re 
fused  to  many  Blifil,  she  bribed  her  maid 
to  flee  with  her  from  her  father's  house. 
Tom,  setting  out  to  seek  his  fortune, 
went  to  an  inn  with  a  small  company  of 
soldiers.  A  fight  followed  in  which  he 
was  severely  injured,  and  a  barber  was 
summoned  to  treat  his  wound.  When 
Tom  had  told  the  barber  his  story,  the 
man  surprisingly  revealed  himself  to  be 
Partridge,  the  schoolmaster,  banished 
years  before  because  he  was  suspected 
of  being  Tom's  father.  When  Tom  was 
well  enough  to  travel,  the  two  men  set 
out  together  on  foot. 

Before  they  had  gone  far  they  heard 
screams  of  a  woman  in  distress  and  came 
upon  a  woman  struggling  with  a  soldier 
who  had  beguiled  her  to  that  lonely  spot. 
Promising  to  take  her  to  a  place  of  safety, 
Tom  accompanied  the  unfortunate  crea 
ture  to  the  nearby  village  of  Upton, 
where  the  landlady  of  the  inn  refused  to 
receive  them  because  of  the  woman's 
torn  and  disheveled  clothing.  But  when 
she  heard  the  true  story  of  the  woman's 
misfortune  and  had  been  assured  that 
the  woman  was  the  lady  of  Captain 
Waters,  a  well-known  officer,  she  re 
lented.  Mrs.  Waters  invited  Tom  to  dine 
with  her  so  that  she  could  thank  him 
properly  for  her  rescue. 

Meanwhile  a  lady  and  her  maid  ar 
rived  at  the  inn  and  proceeded  to  their 
rooms.  They  were  followed,  several 
hours  later,  by  an  angry  gentleman  in 
pursuit  of  his  wife.  Learning  from  the 
chambermaid  that  there  was  a  woman 
resembling  his  wife  in  the  inn,  he  burst 
into  Mrs.  Waters'  chambers,  only  to 
confront  Tom  Jones.  At  his  intrusion, 


Mrs.  Waters  began  to  scream.  The 
gentleman,  abashed,  identified  himself  as 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick  and  retreated  with  apol 
ogies.  Shortly  after  this  disturbance  had 
subsided,  Sophia  and  Mrs.  Honour  ar 
rived  at  the  inn.  When  Partridge  un 
knowingly  revealed  Tom's  relation  with 
Mrs.  Waters  and  the  embarrassing  situ 
ation  which  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  had  disclosed, 
Sophia,  grieved  by  Tom's  fickleness,  de 
cided  to  continue  on  her  way.  Before 
leaving  the  inn,  however,  she  had  Mrs. 
Honour  place  on  Tom's  empty  bed  a  muff 
which  she  knew  he  would  recognize  as 
hers. 

Soon  after  setting  out,  Sophia  overtook 
Mrs.  Fitzpatrick,  who  had  arrived  at  the 
inn  early  the  previous  evening  and  who 
had  fled  during  the  disturbance  caused 
by  her  husband.  Mrs.  Fitzpatrick  was 
Sophia's  cousin,  and  they  decided  to  go 
on  to  London  together.  In  London  Sophia 
proceeded  to  the  home  of  Lady  Bellaston, 
who  was  known  to  her  through  Mrs. 
Western.  Lady  Bellaston  was  sympa 
thetic  with  Sophia's  reasons  for  running 
away. 

Unable  to  overtake  Sophia,  Tom  and 
Partridge  followed  her  to  London,  where 
Tom  took  lodgings  in  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Miller,  whom  Squire  Allworthy  patron 
ized  on  his  visits  to  the  city.  The  land 
lady  had  two  daughters,  Nancy  and 
Betty,  and  a  lodger,  Mr.  Nightingale, 
who  was  obviously  in  love  with  Nancy. 
Tom  found  congenial  residence  with 
Mrs.  Miller,  and  he  became  friends  with 
Mr.  Nightingale.  Partridge  was  still 
with  Tom  in  the  hope  of  future  advance 
ment  for  himself.  Repeated  visits  to  Lady 
Bellaston  and  Mrs.  Fitzpatrick  finally 
gave  Tom  the  opportunity  to  meet  Sophia 
during  an  intermission  at  a  play.  There 
Tom  was  able  to  allay  Sophia's  doubts  as 
to  his  love  for  her.  During  his  stay  with 
the  Millers,  Tom  learned  that  Mr.  Night 
ingale's  father  objected  to  his  marrying 
Nancy.  Through  the  kindness  of  his 
heart  Tom  persuaded  the  elder  Nightin 
gale  to  permit  the  marriage,  to  Mrs. 
Miller's  great  delight. 


1002 


Having  learned  Sophia's  whereabouts 
from  Mrs.  Fitzpatrick,  Mr.  Western  came 
to  London  and  took  Sophia  from  Lady 
Bellaston's  house  to  his  own  lodgings. 
When  Mrs.  Honour  brought  the  news 
to  Tom,  he  was  in  despair.  Penniless, 
he  could  not  hope  to  marry  Sophia,  and 
now  his  beloved  was  in  the  hands  of  her 
father  once  more.  Then  Partridge  brought 
news  that  Squire  Allworthy  was  coming 
to  London,  bringing  with  him  Master 
Blifil  to  marry  Sophia.  In  his  distress 
Tom  went  to  see  Mrs.  Fitzpatrick,  but 
encountered  her  jealous  husband  on  her 
doorstep.  In  the  duel  which  followed, 
Tom  wounded  Fitzpatrick  and  was  car 
ried  off  to  jail. 

There  he  was  visited  by  Partridge,  the 
friends  he  had  made  in  London,  and  Mrs. 
Waters,  who  had  been  traveling  with 
Mr.  Fitzpatrick  ever  since  their  meeting 
in  Upton.  When  Partridge  and  Mrs. 
Waters  met  in  Tom's  cell,  Partridge 
recognized  her  as  Jennv  Jones,  Tom's 
reputed  moiher.  Horrified,  he  revealed 
his  knowledge  to  everyone,  including 
Squire  Allworthy,  who  by  that  time  had 
arrived  in  London  with  Blifil. 

In  Mrs.  Miller's  lodgings  so  many 
people  had  praised  Tom's  goodness  and 
kindness  that  Squire  Allworthy  had  al 
most  made  *ir%  ^  mind  to  relent  in  his 


attitude  toward  the  foundling  when  news 
of  his  conduct  with  Mrs.  Waters  reached 
his  ears.  But  fortunately  the  cloud  was 
soon  dispelled  by  Mrs.  Waters  herself, 
who  assured  the  squire  that  Tom  was  ne 
son  of  hers  but  the  child  of  his  sister 
Bridget  and  a  student  the  squire  had  be 
friended.  Tom's  true  father  having  died 
before  his  son's  birth,  Bridget  had  con 
cealed  her  shame  by  putting  the  baby  on 
her  brother's  bed  upon  his  return  from 
a  long  visit  to  London.  Later  she  had 
paid  Jenny  liberally  to  let  suspicion  fall 
upon  her  former  maid. 

Squire  Allworthy  also  learned  that 
Bridget  had  claimed  Tom  as  her  son  in 
a  letter  written  before  her  death,  a  letter 
Master  Blifil  had  destroyed.  There  was 
further  proof  that  Blifil  had  plotted  to 
have  Tom  hanged  for  murder,  although 
Fitzpatrick  had  not  died.  That  gentle 
man  recovered  sufficiently  to  acknowledge 
himself  the  aggressor  in  the  duel,  and 
Tom  was  released  from  prison. 

Upon  these  disclosures  of  Blifil's  vil 
lainy,  Squire  Allworthy  dismissed  Blifil 
and  made  Tom  his  true  heir.  Tom's 
proper  station  having  been  revealed,  Mr. 
Western  withdrew  all  objections  to  his 
suit.  Reunited,  Tom  and  Sophia  were 
married  and  retired  to  Mr.  Western's 
estate  in  the  country. 


TOM  SAWYER 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L.  Clemens,  1835-1910) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  St.  Petersburg  on  the  Mississippi  River 

First  published:  1876 

Principal  characters: 

TOM  SAWYER 

AUNT  POLLY,  Tom's  aunt 

HUCKLEBERRY  FINN,  and 

JOE  HARPER,  Tom's  friends 

BECKY  THATCHER,  Tom's  girl 

INJUN  JOE,  a  murderer 

MUFF  POTTER,  a  village  ne'er-do-well 
Critique: 

Rich  native  humor  and  shrewd  obser-      Adventures  of  Tom  Sawyer  one  of  the 
vation   of  human   character  make  The      greatest  boys'  books  ever  written.    Aiorc 

TOM  SAWYER  by  Mark  Twain.     Published  by  Harper  &  Brother*. 

inru 


than  a  boot  for  boys,  it  is  an  idyl  of 
America's  golden  age,  of  that  pastoral 
time  and  scene  which  had  already  van 
ished  when  Mark  Twain  re-created  St. 
Petersburg  from  memories  of  his  own  boy 
hood.  Of  a  lesser  greatness  and  different 
in  purpose  from  The  Adventures  of 
Huckleberry  Finn,  the  story  of  Tom 
Sawyer's  adventures  is  true  to  both  the 
fantasies  of  boyhood  and  adult  nostalgia. 
Tom's  pirate  gang,  cures  for  warts,  the 
white-washing  of  the  fence,  Jackson's 
island,  Becky  Thatcher,  Injun  Joe,  and 
Huck  Finn  —  American  literature  would 
be  poorer  without  them. 

The  Story: 

Tom  Sawyer  lived  securely  with  the 
knowledge  that  his  Aunt  Polly  loved 
him  dearly.  When  she  scolded  him  or 
whipped  him,  he  knew  that  inside  her 
breast  lurked  a  hidden  remorse.  Often 
he  deserved  the  punishment  he  received, 
but  there  were  times  when  he  was  the 
victim  of  his  tale-bearing  half-brother, 
Sid.  Tom's  cousin,  Mary,  was  kinder  to 
him.  Her  worst  duty  toward  him  was  to 
see  to  it  that  he  washed  and  put  on  clean 
clothes,  so  that  he  would  look  respectable 
when  Aunt  Polly  took  Tom,  Sid,  and 
Mary  to  church  on  Sunday. 

A  new  family  had  moved  into  the 
neighborhood.  Investigating  Tom  saw  a 
pretty,  blue-eyed  girl  with  lacy  pantalets. 
She  was  Becky  Thatcher.  Instantly  the 
fervent  love  he  had  felt  for  Amy  Law 
rence  fled  from  his  faithless  bosom,  to  be 
replaced  by  devotion  to  the  new  girl  he 
had  just  beheld. 

She  was  in  school  the  next  day,  sitting 
on  the  girls'  side  of  the  room  with  an 
empty  seat  beside  her.  Tom  had  come 
late  to  school  that  morning.  When  the 
schoolmaster  asked  Tom  why  he  had 
been  late,  that  empty  seat  beside  Becky 
Thatcher  caught  Tom's  eye.  Recklessly 
he  confessed  he  had  stopped  to  talk  with 
Huckleberry  Finn,  son  of  the  town 
drunk.  Huck  wore  castoff  clothing,  never 
attended  school,  smoked  and  fished  as 
often  as  he  pleased,  and  slept  wherever 


he  could.  For  associating  with  Huck,  Tom 
was  whipped  by  the  schoolmaster  and 
ordered  to  sit  on  the  girls'  side  of  the 
room.  Amid  the  snickers  of  the  entire 
class,  he  took  the  empty  seat  next  to 
Becky. 

Tom  first  attracted  Becky's  attention 
by  a  series  of  drawings  on  his  slate.  At 
length  he  wrote  the  words,  "I  love  you/' 
and  Becky  blushed.  Tom  urged  her  to 
meet  him  after  school.  Sitting  with  her 
on  a  fence,  he  explained  to  her  the  pos 
sibilities  of  an  engagement  between  them. 
Innocently  she  accepted  his  proposal, 
which  Torn  insisted  must  be  sealed  by  a 
kiss.  In  coy  resistance  she  allowed  Tom 
a  brief  chase  before  she  yielded  to  his 
embrace.  Tom's  happiness  was  unbound 
ed.  But  when  he  mentioned  his  previous 
tie  with  Amy  Lawrence,  the  brief  ro 
mance  ended.  Becky  left  her  affianced 
with  a  haughty  shrug  of  her  pretty 
shoulders. 

That  night  Tom  heard  Huck's  whistle 
below  his  bedroom  window.  Sneaking 
out,  Tom  joined  his  friend,  and  the  two 
went  off  to  the  cemetery,  Huck  dragging 
a  dead  cat  behind  him.  They  were  about 
to  try  a  new  method  for  curing  warts. 
The  gloomy  atmosphere  of  the  burial 
ground  filled  the  boys  with  apprehen 
sion,  and  their  fears  increased  still  more 
when  they  spied  three  figures  stealing 
into  the  graveyard.  They  were  Injun 
Joe,  Muff  Potter,  and  Doctor  Robinson. 
Evidently  they  had  come  to  rob  a  grave. 
When  the  two  robbers  had  exhumed  the 
body,  they  began  to  quarrel  with  the 
doctor  about  money,  and  in  the  quarrel 
Potter  was  knocked  out.  Then  Injun 
Joe  took  Potter's  knife  and  killed  the 
doctor.  When  Potter  recovered  from  his 
blow,  he  thought  he  had  killed  Robin 
son,  and  Injun  Joe  allowed  the  poor  old 
man  to  believe  himself  guilty. 

Terrified,  Tom  and  Huck  slipped  away 
from  the  scene  they  had  just  witnessed, 
afraid  that  if  Injun  Joe  discovered  them 
he  would  kill  them  too. 

Tom  brooded  on  what  he  and  Huck 
had  seen.  Convinced  that  he  was  ill, 


1004 


Aunt  Polly  dosed  him  with  Pain  Killer 
and  kept  him  in  bed,  but  he  did  not  seem 
to  recover.  Becky  Thatcher  had  not  come 
to  school  since  she  had  broken  Tom's 
heart.  Rumor  around  town  said  that  she 
was  also  ill.  Coupled  with  this  sad  news 
was  the  fear  of  Injun  Joe.  When  Becky 
finally  returned  to  school,  she  cut  Tom 
coldly.  Feeling  that  there  was  nothing 
else  for  him  to  do,  he  decided  to  run 
away.  He  met  Joe  Harper  and  Huck 
Finn.  Together  they  went  to  Jackson's 
Island  and  pretended  to  be  pirates. 

For  a  few  days  they  stayed  happily  on 
the  island  and  learned  from  Huck  how 
to  smoke  and  swear.  One  day  they  heard 
a  boat  on  the  river,  firing  cannon  over 
the  water.  Then  the  boys  realized  that 
the  townspeople  were  searching  for  their 
bodies.  This  discovery  put  a  new  aspect 
on  their  adventure;  the  people  at  home 
thought  they  were  dead.  Gleeful,  Tom 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  see  how 
Aunt  Polly  had  reacted  to  his  death.  He 
slipped  back  to  the  mainland  one  night 
and  into  his  aunt's  house,  where  Mrs. 
Harper  and  Aunt  Polly  were  mourning 
the  death  of  their  mischievous  but  good- 
hearted  children.  When  Tom  returned 
to  the  island,  he  found  Joe  and  Huck 
tired  of  their  game  and  ready  to  go  home. 
Tom  revealed  to  them  an  attractive  plan 
which  they  immediately  decided  to  carry 
out. 

With  a  heavy  gloom  overhanging  the 
town,  funeral  services  were  held  for  the 
deceased  Thomas  Sawyer,  Joseph  Harper, 
and  Huckleberry  Finn,  The  minister 
pronounced  a  lengthy  eulogy  about  the 
respective  good  characters  of  the  unfor 
tunate  boys.  When  the  funeral  proces 
sion  was  about  to  start,  Tom,  Joe,  and 
Huck  marched  down  the  aisle  of  the 
church  into  the  arms  of  the  startled 
mourners. 

For  a  while  Tom  was  the  hero  of  all 
the  boys  in  the  town.  They  whispered 
about  him  and  eyed  him  with  awe  in 
the  schoolyard.  But  Becky  ignored  him 
until  the  day  she  accidentally  tore  the 
schoolmaster's  book.  When  the  irate 


teacher  demanded  to  know  who  had  torn 
his  book,  Tom  confessed,  Becky's  grati 
tude  and  forgiveness  were  his  reward. 

After  Muff  Potter  had  been  put  in 
jail  for  the  murder  of  the  doctor  in  the 
graveyard,  Tom  and  Huck  had  sworn  to 
each  other  they  would  never  utter  a 
word  about  what  they  had  seen.  Afraid 
Injun  Joe  would  murder  them  for  re 
venge,  they  furtively  sneaked  behind  the 
prison  and  brought  Muff  food  and  other 
cheer.  But  Tom  could  not  let  an  inno 
cent  man  be  condemned,  At  the  trial  he 
appeared  to  tell  what  he  had  seen  on 
the  night  of  the  murder.  While  Tom 
spoke,  Injun  Joe,  a  witness  at  the  trial, 
sprang  from  the  window  of  the  court 
room  and  escaped.  For  days  Tom  worried, 
convinced  that  Injun  Joe  would  come 
back  to  murder  him.  But  as  time  went 
by  and  nothing  happened,  he  gradually 
lost  his  fears.  With  Becky  looking  upon 
him  as  a  hero,  his  world  was  filled  with 
sunshine. 

Huck  and  Tom  decided  to  hunt  for 
pirates'  treasures,  One  night,  ransacking 
an  old  abandoned  house,  they  watched, 
unseen,  while  Injun  Joe  and  a  compan 
ion  unearthed  a  chest  of  money  buried 
under  the  floorboards  of  the  house.  The 
two  frightened  boys  fled  before  they  were 
discovered.  The  next  day  they  began  a 
steady  watch  for  Injun  Joe  and  his  ac 
complice,  for  Tom  and  Huck  were  bent 
on  rinding  the  lost  treasure. 

When  Judge  Thatcher  gave  a  picnic 
for  all  the  young  people  in  town,  Becky 
and  Tom  were  supposed  to  spend  the 
night  with  Mrs.  Harper.  One  of  the 
biggest  excitements  of  the  merrymaking 
came  when  the  children  went  into  a  cave 
in  the  riverbank.  The  next  day  Mrs. 
Thatcher  and  Aunt  Polly  learned  that 
Tom  and  Becky  were  missing,  for  Mrs. 
Harper  said  they  had  not  come  to  spend 
the  night  with  her.  Then  everyone  re 
membered  that  Tom  and  Becky  had  not 
been  seen  since  the  picnickers  had  left 
the  cave.  Meanwhile  the  two,  having 
lost  their  bearings,  were  wandering  in 
the  cavern.  To  add  to  Tom's  terror,  he 


1005 


discovered  that  Injun  Joe  was  also  in  the 
cave.  Miraculously,  after  spending  five 
days  in  the  dismal  cave,  Tom  found  an 
exit  that  was  five  miles  from  the  place 
where  they  had  entered.  Again  he  was 
a  hero. 

Injun  Joe  starved  to  death  in  the  cave. 
After  searchers  had  located  his  body, 
Tom  and  Huck  went  back  into  the  cavern 
to  look  for  the  chest  which  they  be 
lieved  Injun  Joe  had  hidden  there.  They 


found  it  and  the  twelve  thousand  dollars 
it  contained. 

Adopted  shortly  afterward  by  the 
Widow  Douglas,  Huck  planned  to  re 
tire  with  an  income  of  a  dollar  a  day  for 
the  rest  of  his  life.  He  never  would  have 
stayed  with  the  widow  or  consented  to 
learn  her  prim,  tidy  ways  if  Tom  had 
not  promised  that  he  would  form  a 
pirates'  gang  and  make  Huck  one  of  the 
bold  buccaneers. 


TONO-BUNGAY 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author.    H.  G.  Wells  (1866-1946) 

Type  of  'plot;    Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth   and  early  twentieth  centuries 

Locale:    Enoland,  West  Africa,  Bordeaux 

First  -published:    1908 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  PONDEREVO,  a  young  scientist  and  the  narrate 
THE  HONORABLE  BEATRICE  NORMANDY,  an  aristocrat 
EDWARD  PONDEREVO,  George's  uncle 
SUSAN  PONDEREVO,  George's  aunt 
MARION  RAMBOAT,  George's  wife 


Critique: 

Tono-Bungay  is  a  spirited  novel,  in 
teresting  from  several  points  of  view. 
The  references  to  early  stages  of  avia 
tion  have  a  quaint  charm  for  the  modern 
reader,  and  the  use  of  science  as  a  motive 
of  fiction  throws  light  upon  the  intellec 
tual  development  of  the  period.  The 
manufacture  and  sale  of  patent  medicine 
becomes  a  symbol  of  disintegrating 
society.  Frequently  unconvincing,  the 
novel  is  still  good  reading,  if  only  for 
the  Dickensian  characters  it  presents. 
Wells'  critical  views  are  always  relieved 
by  humor  and  a  shrewd  analysis  of  hu 
man  motives. 

The  Story: 

George  Ponderevo  grew  up  in  the 
shadow  of  Bladesover  House,  where  his 
mother  was  the  housekeeper.  In  that 
Edwardian  atmosphere  the  boy  soon  be 
came  aware  of  the  wide  distinctions 
between  English  social  classes,  each  ac 


cording  to  their  station  and  degree,  for 
the  neighborhood  around  Bladesover  was 
England  in  miniature,  a  small  world  made 
up  of  the  quality,  the  church,  the  vil 
lage,  the  laborers,  and  the  servants.  Al 
though  George  spent  most  of  his  time 
away  at  school,  he  returned  to  Blades- 
over  for  his  vacations.  During  one  of 
his  vacations  he  learned  for  the  first  time 
the  class  he  himself  represented — the 
servants. 

His  lesson  came  as  the  result  of  the 
arrival  at  Bladesover  House  of  the  Hon 
orable  Beatrice  Normandy,  a  child  of, 
eight,  and  her  snobbish  young  half- 
brother,  Archie  Garvell.  Twelve-year-old 
George  Ponderevo  fell  in  love  with  the 
little  aristocrat  that  summer.  Two  years 
later  their  childish  romance  ended 
abruptly  when  George  and  Archie  fought 
each  other.  George  was  disillusioned  be 
cause  the  Honorable  Beatrice  did  not 
come  to  his  aid.  In  fact,  she  betrayed 


TONO-BUNGAY  by  H.  G.  Wells.    By  permission  of  the  Executors,  estate  of  H.  G    Wells,  and  the  publishers, 
Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.,  lac.     Copyright,  1909,  by  H.  G.  Wells.     Renewed,  1936,  by  H.  G.  Wells. 

1006 


him,  abandoned  him,  and  lied  about 
him,  picturing  George  as  an  assailant  of 
his  social  betters. 

When  George  refused  flatly  to  apolo 
gize  to  Archie  Garvell,  he  was  taken  to 
Chatham  and  put  to  work  in  the  bakery 
of  his  mother's  brother,  Nicodemus 
Frapp.  George  found  his  uncle's  family 
dull,  cloddish,  and  over-religious.  One 
night,  in  the  room  he  shared  with  his 
two  cousins,  he  told  them  in  confidence 
that  he  did  not  believe  in  any  form  of 
revealed  religion.  Traitorously,  his 
cousins  reported  George's  blasphemy  to 
their  father.  As  a  result,  George  was 
called  upon  in  a  church  meeting  to 
acknowledge  his  sins.  Humiliated  and 
angry,  he  ran  away  to  his  mother  at 
Bladesover  House. 

Mrs.  Ponderevo  then  took  him  to  live 
with  another  uncle,  his  father's  brother, 
Edward  Ponderevo,  at  Wimblehurst,  in 
Sussex.  There  George  worked  in  his 
uncle's  chemist  shop  out  of  school  hours. 
Edward  Ponderevo  was  a  restless,  dis 
satisfied  man  who  wanted  to  expand,  to 
make  money.  Aunt  Susan  Ponderevo 
was  a  gentle,  patient  woman  who  treated 
George  kindly.  His  mother  died  during 
his  years  at  Wimblehurst. 

But  George's  pleasant  life  at  Wimble 
hurst  was  brought  suddenly  to  an  end. 
By  foolish  investments  Edward  Ponder 
evo  lost  everything  of  his  own,  including 
the  chemist  shop  and  also  the  small  fund 
he  was  holding  in  trust  for  George.  The 
Ponderevos  were  forced  to  leave  Wimble 
hurst,  but  George  remained  behind  as 
m  apprentice  with  Mr.  Mantell,  the  new 
owner  of  the  shop. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  George  went 
up  to  London  to  matriculate  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  London  for  his  Bachelor  of 
Science  degree.  On  the  trip  his  unclr, 
now  living  in  London,  showed  him  the 
city  and  first  whispered  to  him  the  name 
of  Tono-Bungay,  an  invention  on  which 
the  older  Ponderevo  was  working. 

When  George  finally  arrived  in  Lon 
don  to  begin  his  studies  he  was  nearly 
twenty-two,  and  in  the  meantime  he  had 


decided  to  accept  a  scholarship  at  the 
Consolidated  Technical  Schools  at  South 
Kensington  instead  of  the  one  offered  at 
the  university.  One  day  he  met  an  old 
schoolfellow,  Ewart,  an  artist  who  ex 
erted  a  broadening  influence  on  the 
young  man.  He  also  met  Marion  Ram- 
boat,  the  girl  who  was  later  to  become 
his  wife.  Because  of  these  influences, 
George  began  to  neglect  his  studies. 
When  he  saw  a  billboard  which  adver 
tised  Tono-Bungay,  he  remembered  the 
hints  his  uncle  had  thrown  out  several 
years  before.  A  few  days  later  his  uncle 
sent  George  a  telegram  in  which  he 
offered  the  young  man  a  job  at  three 
hundred  pounds  a  year. 

Tono-Bungay  was  a  patent  medicine,  a 
stimulant  most  inexpensive  to  make  and 
only  slightly  injurious  to  the  person  who 
took  it.  After  a  week  of  indecision, 
George  joined  the  firm.  One  factor  that 
helped  to  sway  him  was  the  thought  that 
Marion  Ramboat  might  be  persuaded  to 
marry  him  if  his  income  were  greater. 
Using  new  and  bold  methods  of  advertis 
ing,  George  and  his  exuberant  uncle 
made  Tono-Bungay  a  national  product. 
The  enterprise  was  highly  successful; 
both  George  and  his  uncle  became 
wealthy.  At  last  Marion  consented  to 
marry  George  but  their  marriage  was  un 
successful.  They  were  divorced  when 
Marion  learned  that  her  husband  had 
gone  off  for  the  weekend  with  Effie 
Rink,  one  of  the  secretaries  in  his  office, 
After  his  divorce  George  devoted  himsell 
to  science  and  research.  He  became  in 
terested  in  flying. 

Edward  Ponderevo,  in  the  meantime, 
branched  out  into  many  enterprises,  part 
ly  through  the  influence  of  the  wealthy 
Mr.  Moggs,  with  whom  he  became  as 
sociated.  His  huge  corporation,  Domestic 
Utilities,  became  known  as  Do-Ut,  and 
his  steady  advancement  in  wealth  could 
be  traced  by  the  homes  in  which  he  lived. 
The  first  was  the  elaborate  suite  of  rooms 
at  the  Hardingham  Hotel.  Next  came 
a  gaunt  villa  at  Beckenharn;  next,  an 
elaborate  estate  at  Chiselhurst.  followed 


1007 


by  the  chaste  simplicity  of  a  medieval 
castle,  Lady  Grove,  and  finally  the  am 
bitious  but  uncompleted  splendor  of  the 
great  house  at  Crest  Hill,  on  which  three 
hundred  workmen  were  at  one  time 
employed.  While  his  uncle  was  buying 
houses,  George  was  absorbed  in  his 
experiments  with  gliders  and  balloons, 
working  in  his  special  workshop  with 
Cothope,  his  assistant.  The  Honorable 
Beatrice  Normandy  was  staying  near 
Lady  Grove  with  Lady  Osprey,  her  step 
mother.  She  and  George  became  ac 
quainted  again  and  after  a  glider  accident 
she  nursed  him  back  to  health.  Although 
the  two  fell  in  love,  Beatrice  refused  to 
marry  him. 

Suddenly  all  of  Edward  Ponderevo's 
world  of  top-heavy  speculation  collapsed. 
On  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  he  clutched 
at  anything  to  save  himself  from  financial 
ruin  and  the  loss  of  his  great,  uncom 
pleted  project  at  Crest  Hill. 

George  did  his  part  by  undertaking 
a  voyage  to  Mordet  Island  in  the  brig 
Maude  Mary,  to  secure  by  trickery  a 
cargo  of  quap,  an  ore  containing  two 
new  elements  valuable  to  the  Ponderevos 
largely  because  they  hoped  to  use  can- 


adium — one  of  the  ingredients — tor  mak 
ing  a  new  and  better  lamp  filament.  The 
long,  difficult  voyage  to  West  Africa 
was  unpleasant  and  unsuccessful.  After 
the  quap  had  been  stolen  and  loaded  on 
the  ship,  the  properties  of  the  ore  were 
such  that  the  ship  sank  in  mid-ocean. 
Rescued  by  the  Portland  Castle,  George 
learned  of  his  uncle's  bankruptcy  as  soon 
as  he  came  ashore  at  Plymouth. 

To  avoid  arrest,  George  and  his  uncle 
decided  to  cross  the  channel  at  night  in 
George's  airship,  and  escape  the  law  by 
posing  as  tourists  in  France.  The  strata 
gem  proved  successful,  and  they  landed 
about  fifty  miles  from  Bordeaux.  Then 
Uncle  Ponderevo  became  dangerously  ill 
at  a  small  inn  near  Bayonne,  and  a  few 
days  later  he  died,  before  his  wife  could 
reach  his  side.  Back  in  England,  George 
had  a  twelve-day  love  affair  with  Beatrice 
Normandy,  who  still  refused  to  marry 
him  because  she  said  she  was  spoiled  by 
the  love  of  luxury  and  the  false  pride  of 
her  class. 

George  Ponderevo,  by  that  time  a  se 
vere  critic  of  degeneration  in  England, 
became  a  designer  of  destroyers. 


THE  TOWER  OF  LONDON 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Harrison  Ainsworth  (1805-1882) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1840 

Principal  characters: 

DUKE  OF  NORTHUMBERLAND 

GUILFORD  DUDLEY,  Northumberland's  son 

LADY  JANE  GREY,  Dudley's  wife 

CUTHBERT  CHOLMONDELEY,  Dudley's  squire 

CICELY,  in  love  with  Cuthbert 

LAWRENCE  NIGHTGALL,  the  jailer 

SIMON  RENARD,  Spanish  ambassador 

QUEEN  MARY 

PRINCESS  ELIZABETH,  Mary's  sister 

EDWARD  COURTENAY,  Earl  of  Devonshire 

Critique: 

Fictionalized  history  holds  a  twofold 

interest  for  the  reader.    First  it  tells  a 

romantic  story;  secondly  it  tells  a  pardy 


one  more  factor  to  the  reader,  a  lively 
description  of  one  of  the  most  famous 
structures  in  England.  The  story  proper 


true  story.  The  Tower  of  London  brings      is  concerned  with  Queen  Mary's  troubled 


1008 


reign,   one  of  the  least  understood  by 
students  of  history  and  literature. 

The  Story: 

At  the  death  of  King  Edward  the 
Sixth,  there  were  several  claimants  to 
the  English  throne,  among  them  Mary, 
Elizabeth's  older  sister,  and  Lady  Jane 
Grey,  wife  of  Lord  Guilford  Dudley,  who 
was  supported  by  her  father-in-law,  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland.  According  to 
custom,  Lady  Jane  was  brought  to  the 
Tower  of  London  for  her  coronation. 
There  the  supporters  of  Mary,  while  pre 
tending  to  be  in  accord  with  Northum 
berland,  waited  to  betray  Lady  Jane. 

Among  those  present  was  Cuthbert 
Cholmondeley,  Dudley's  squire,  who  hav 
ing  seen  a  beautiful  young  girl  in  the 
Tower,  had  fallen  in  love  with  her.  From 
inquiries  among  his  servants,  Cuthbert 
learned  that  she  was  the  adopted  daugh 
ter  of  Peter  the  pantler  and  Dame  Po- 
tentia  Trusbut,  the  true  circumstances 
of  Cicely's  birth  being  unknown.  The 
chief  jailer  of  the  Tower,  Lawrence 
Nightgall,  also  loved  Cicely.  When 
Simon  Renard,  the  Spanish  ambassador, 
and  Lord  Pembroke,  Mary's  supporters, 
conspired  to  assassinate  Cuthbert  because 
they  knew  him  to  be  Dudley's  favorite, 
Nightgall  eagerly  agreed  to  help  them. 

Nightgall  told  Cicely  that  her  new 
lover  had  been  taken  from  the  Tower 
and  that  she  would  never  see  him  again. 
Meanwhile,  a  prisoner  in  a  dungeon  be 
low  the  Tower,  Cuthbert  was  accosted 
by  a  strange  woman  who  cried  out  that 
she  wanted  her  child  to  be  returned  to 
her.  When  Nightgall  visited  Cuthbert, 
the  prisoner  asked  his  jailer  about  the 
woman,  but  Nightgall  evaded  the  ques 
tion  by  stating  that  the  woman  was  mad. 

An  old  woman,  Gunnora  Broase,  had 
at  Northumberland's  command  adminis 
tered  a  dose  of  poison  to  the  late  boy- 
king,  Edward  the  Sixth.  She  was  directed 
by  a  strange  man  to  reveal  Northumber 
land's  part  in  the  murder  and  thus  to 
defeat  his  intention  to  place  Lady  Jane 
on  the  throne  of  England. 


Simon  Renard  and  Lord  Pembroke  had 
effected  a  rupture  between  Lady  Jane  and 
Northumberland  by  convincing  Lady 
Jane  that  she  should  not  consent  to  make 
Dudley  a  king.  Northumberland  desired 
this  distinction  for  his  son,  but  Lady  Jane 
believed  that  making  her  husband  a  king 
would  cause  too  much  dissention  in  the 
kingdom.  In  anger  at  this  slight  from  his 
wife,  Dudley  left  the  Tower.  Surrounded 
by  intrigue,  Lady  Jane  was  convinced 
that  Renard  and  Lord  Pembroke  were  her 
friends  and  that  Northumberland  was 
her  enemy.  Lord  Pembroke  next  per 
suaded  Lady  Jane  to  send  Northumber 
land  against  Mary's  forces,  which  were 
reported  advancing  on  London.  With 
Northumberland  separated  from  Lady 
Jane,  Lord  Pembroke  and  Renard  were 
certain  that  they  could  destroy  her  rule. 
Lady  Jane  was  easily  persuaded  because 
she  did  not  suspect  the  treachery  of  her 
two  advisers. 

Cuthbert  Cholmondeley  escaped  from 
his  dungeon.  Dudley  returned  to  his 
wife  and  his  queen  in  time  to  convince 
her  of  the  treachery  of  Lord  Pembroke 
and  Renard,  whom  Lady  Jane  ordered 
imprisoned.  Cicely  came  to  Dudley  and 
Lady  Jane  with  the  tale  of  what  had 
happened  to  Cholmondeley.  Soon  after 
the  imprisonment  of  Lord  Pembroke  and 
Renard,  Nightgall  helped  them  to  escape 
from  the  Tower.  Meanwhile  Lady  Jane 
had  made  Cicely  a  lady-in-waiting. 

Gunnora  Broase  came  to  Lady  Jane  for 
an  audience.  The  old  woman  declared 
that  Northumberland  had  poisoned  Ed 
ward  and  that  his  purpose  in  marrying 
his  son  to  Lady  Jane  was  to  elevate  Dud 
ley  to  the  throne,  after  which  Lady  Jane 
was  to  be  poisoned.  Meanwhile  Cuth 
bert  had  found  his  way  from  the  lower 
dungeons  and  he  and  Cicely  were  re 
united.  He  was  present  when  the  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  Lady  Jane's  father,  urged  hei 
to  save  her  head  by  abdicating.  Dudley, 
however,  persuaded  his  wife  not  to  sur 
render  the  crown.  Mary  was  proclaimed 
queen,  and  Lady  Jane  was  placed  in 
prison  with  Cicelv  and  Cuthbert.  Dud- 


1009 


ley  was  separately  confined.  Gunnora 
Broase  sneaked  into  Lady  Jane's  cell  and 
secreted  her  from  the  prison  with  the 
promise  that  Dudley  would  follow  shortly. 
But  when  Northumberland  disbanded  his 
forces  and  acknowledged  Mary  as  queen, 
Lady  Jane  surrendered  herself  and  re 
turned  to  her  cell  in  the  Tower. 

The  people  acclaimed  Mary  when  she 
entered  London.  The  new  queen's  first 
act  was  to  release  all  Catholic  prisoners 
and  replace  them  with  her  former  ene 
mies.  When  Northumberland  was  ar- 
iested  and  condemned  to  the  scaffold,  he 
pleaded  for  mercy  for  Lady  Jane  because 
he  had  been  the  chief  proponent  of  her 
pretension  to  the  throne.  Although  the 
duke  publicly  embraced  Catholicism  in 
the  mistaken  belief  that  his  life  would 
be  spared,  he  was  executed  by  Mary's 
order. 

Mary  put  pressure  upon  Lady  Jane 
and  Dudley  to  embrace  Catholicism  as 
Northumberland  had  done  in  order  to 
save  their  heads,  but  Lady  Jane  was  de 
termined  to  die  a  Protestant. 

Released  from  custody,  Cuthbert  re 
turned  to  Dame  Trusbut  seeking  Cicely, 
but  she  was  nowhere  to  be  found.  Cuth 
bert  did  find  the  strange  madwoman 
again.  She  was  lying  in  a  cell,  dead. 

Among  the  prisoners  Mary  had  re 
leased  from  the  Tower  was  Edward  Cour- 
tenay,  the  Earl  of  Devonshire.  The  young 
nobleman  was  really  in  love  with  Eliza 
beth,  although,  covetous  of  Mary's  throne, 
he  pretended  to  love  Mary.  Without 
scruple,  he  was  able  to  win  Mary's  prom 
ise  that  she  would  make  him  her  husband. 
Renard,  however,  lurked  menacingly  in 
the  background.  When  Courtenay  went 
to  Elizabeth  with  one  last  appeal  of 
love,  Mary  and  Renard  were  listening  be 
hind  a  curtain  and  overheard  the  con 
versation.  In  anger  Mary  committed 
Courtenay  to  the  Tower  and  confined 
Elizabeth  to  her  room.  Then,  on  Renard's 
advice,  Mary  affianced  herself  to  Philip, 
King  of  Spain.  Later  Mary's  counselors 
persuaded  her  to  release  Elizabeth. 

Moved  by  compassion  for  the  innocent 


Lady  Jane,  Mary  issued  a  pardon  for  the 
pretender  and  her  husband.  The  couple 
retired  to  the  home  of  Lady  Jane's  father, 
where  Dudley  began  to  organize  a  new 
plot  to  place  his  wife  on  the  throne.  See 
ing  that  Dudley  was  fixed  in  his  design, 
Lady  Jane,  faithful  to  her  husband,  con 
sented  to  follow  him  in  whatever  he  did. 
Another  revolt  was  led  by  Sir  Thomas 
Wyat,  a  fervent  anti-Catholic,  supported 
by  those  who  opposed  an  alliance  between 
England  and  Spain.  The  rebellion  was 
quelled,  and  Wyat  and  Dudley  were 
captured.  Lady  Jane  and  Cuthbert  sur 
rendered  themselves  to  Mary,  Lady  Jane 
to  plead  for  the  life  of  her  husband  in 
exchange  for  her  surrender.  The  only 
condition  on  which  Mary  would  grant 
Dudley's  life  was  that  Lady  Jane  should 
embrace  Catholicism.  When  she  refused, 
she  was  sentenced  to  death  along  with 
Dudley.  Elizabeth  was  brought  to  the 
Tower,  Mary  planning  to  do  away  with 
Courtenay  and  her  sister  after  she  had 
completed  the  destruction  of  Lady  Jane 
and  Dudley. 

Nightgall,  still  suffering  from  jealousy 
over  Cicely's  love  for  Cuthbert,  had  held 
the  girl  in  prison  since  the  fall  of  Lady 
Jane.  Meanwhile  Nightgall  had  been 
hired  by  the  French  ambassador  to  assas 
sinate  Renard.  Renard  and  Nightgall 
met  in  Cuthbert's  cell  after  the  squire 
had  been  tortured,  and  in  the  ensuing 
fight  Cuthbert  escaped  and  ran  to  find 
Cicely.  Renard  succeeded  in  killing 
Nightgall,  who  lived  long  enough  to 
prove  Cicely's  noble  birth.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  the  unfortunate  madwoman, 
Lady  Grace  Mountjoy.  Before  her  execu 
tion,  Lady  Jane  requested  that  Cicely  and 
Cuthbert  be  allowed  to  marry.  Mary, 
with  strange  generosity,  pardoned  them 
and  granted  their  freedom. 

At  the  scene  of  her  execution,  even  the 
enemies  of  Lady  Jane  shuddered  at  the 
sight  of  so  good  and  fair  a  woman  about 
to  die.  On  the  block  she  reaffirmed  her 
Christian  faith  as  the  ax  descended  upon 
one  of  the  most  ill-fated  of  English 
monarchs. 


1010 


THE  TRAVELS  OF  MARCO  POLO 

Type  of  'work:  Record  of  travel 

Author:  Marco  Polo  (1254-1324),  as  set  down  by  the  scribe,  Rustigielo 
Type  of  'plot:  Adventure  romance 
Time  of  plot:  1260-1295 
Locale:  Greater  Asia 

First  transcribed:  Fourteenth-century  manuscript 
Principal  characters: 

NICOLO  POLO,  a  Venetian  merchant 

MAFFEO  POLO,  his  brother 

MARCO  POLO,  Nicole's  son 

KUBLAI  KHAN,  Emperor  of  China 

Critique: 

The  story  of  Marco  Polo's  Asiatic  jour 
ney  is  the  most  astounding  of  all  travel 
books  of  Western  civilization.  One  rea 
son  for  its  popularity  is  that  Marco  Polo 
did  not  mind  mixing  some  real  facts  with 
his  fiction.  Another  is  that  he  possessed 
in  high  degree  a  quality  few  travelers 
have  ever  had;  he  was  able  to  see  more 
objectively  than  the  many  who  have  de 
scribed  lands  visited  only  in  terms  of  their 
home  countries.  His  book  is  the  record 
of  a  merchant-gentleman  who  sets  forth 
his  own  observations  and  at  the  same  time 
reveals  the  medieval  viewpoint  —  its  in 
terest  in  alchemy  and  enchantments,  its 
concern  with  mystery,  and  its  sound, 
logical  way  of  thinking  beneath  the  sur 
face  superstition  and  credulity  of  the  age. 


The  Story: 

Marco  Polo's  father  and  uncle  set 
forth  on  their  first  trip  East  in  1260,  with 
a  cargo  of  merchandise  for  Constanti 
nople.  From  there  Nicolo  and  MafFeo 
Polo  ventured  on  into  the  lands  of  the 
Tartar  princes.  Having  at  last  reached 
the  court  of  Kublai  Khan,  they  managed 
to  ingratiate  themselves  into  his  highest 
favor.  During  their  stay  the  khan  ques 
tioned  them  about  the  Catholic  faith  and 
asked  them  to  return  to  Europe  and  to 
request  the  Pope  to  send  missionaries  to 
his  distant  land.  In  the  year  1269,  the 
two  Polos  arrived  in  Venice,  to  learn  that 
Pope  Clement  was  dead  and  that  Nicolo 
Polo's  wife  had  also  died  after  giving 
birth  to  a  son,  Marco  Polo. 


There  was  a  long  delay  in  the  naming 
of  a  new  Pope.  At  last  the  Polos  decided 
to  return  to  Kublai  Khan  and  to  take 
young  Marco  with  them.  Scarcely  had 
they  left  Italy,  however,  when  word  fol 
lowed  them  that  Gregory  the  Tenth  had 
been  elected  in  Rome.  The  Polos  at  once 
asked  the  new  Pope  to  send  missionaries 
to  Kublai  Khan,  and  Gregory  appointed 
two  priests  to  accompany  the  merchants, 
Before  their  arrival  at  the  khan's  court, 
the  priests  turned  back  when  confronted 
by  strange  lands  and  unknown  dangers. 
Young  Marco  Polo  remembered  that  the 
journey  to  the  land  of  Kublai  Khan  took 
three  and  a  half  years. 

Kublai  Khan  received  them  graciously 
and  appointed  Marco  one  of  his  attend 
ants.  In  a  short  time  Marco  Polo  had 
learned  four  different  languages  and  he 
was  sent  by  Kublai  Khan  on  various 
important  missions. 

For  seventeen  years  the  Polos  remained 
at  the  court  of  Kublai  Khan  before  they 
finally  expressed  a  desire  to  return  to  their 
own  country  with  their  wealth.  They 
felt  that  if  the  great  khan  should  die 
they  would  be  surrounded  by  envious 
princes  who  might  harm  them.  The  khan 
was  unwilling  to  part  with  the  Polos,  but 
they  managed  to  get  his  permission  by 
offering  to  transport  some  barons  to  the 
East  Indies.  Fourteen  ships  were  made 
ready  for  the  homeward  voyage.  The  ex 
pedition  arrived  at  Java  after  about  three 
months.  Eighteen  months  more  were  re 
quired  for  the  voyage  to  the  territory 


THE  TRAVELS  OF  MA&CO  POLO  by  Marco  Polo.    Published   by  Doublcday  &  Co.,  Inc. 


1011 


of  King  Argon  in  the  Indian  seas.  During 
the  voyage  six  hundred  of  the  crew  were 
lost  as  well  as  two  of  the  barons.  From 
there  the  Polos  took  an  overland  route 
to  Trebizond.  En  route  they  learned  that 
the  great  Kublai  Khan  was  dead.  The 
three  arrived  home  safely  in  1295,  in 

Eossession  of  their  wealth  and  in  good 
ealth. 

When  the  rime  came  for  him  to  dic 
tate  to  the  scribe,  Rustigielo,  the  story  of 
his  travels,  Marco  Polo  remembered  that 
Armenia  was  divided  into  two  sections, 
the  lesser  and  the  greater.  In  Armenia 
Major  was  the  mountain  said  to  have 
been  Mount  Ararat,  where  Noah's  ark 
came  to  rest.  Near  this  place  was  a  foun 
tain  of  oil  so  great  that  caravans  of 
camels  hauled  away  the  oil,  which  was 
used  for  an  unguent  as  well  as  for  heat 
and  light 

At  the  boundaries  of  the  province  of 
Georgiania,  Alexander  the  Great  had 
caused  a  gate  of  iron  to  be  constructed. 
This  gate,  though  not  all  of  iron,  was 
commonly  said  to  have  enclosed  the  Tar 
tars  between  two  mountains. 

At  Teflis  was  a  fountain  wherein  hun 
dreds  of  fish  made  their  appearance  from 
the  first  day  of  Lent  until  Easter  Eve. 
During  the  remainder  of  the  year  they 
were  not  to  be  seen. 

Baudas,  or  Baghdad,  anciently  known 
as  Babylon,  lay  along  the  river  that 
opened  out  upon  the  Sea  of  India.  The 
city  was  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
world,  and  its  ruler  one  of  the  richest 
men  of  all  time.  He  lost  his  life  through 
his  unwillingness  to  spend  a  penny  of 
his  wealth  for  its  protection.  His  captor 
locked  him  up  in  his  tower  where  he 
starved  to  death  surrounded  by  gold.  In 
that  region  also  a  Christian  cobbler  had 
caused  a  mountain  to  move  and  by  his 
miracle  converted  many  Arabs  to  Chris 
tianity. 

In  Irak  Marco  Polo  visited  a  monas 
tery  in  which  the  monks  wove  woolen 
girdles  said  to  be  good  for  rheumatic 
pains.  He  also  visited  Saba,  from  whence 
were  said  to  have  come  the  three  Magi 


who  adored  Christ  in  Bethlehem.  At 
Kierrnan,  on  the  eastern  confines  of  Per 
sia,  Marco  saw  the  manufacture  of  steel 
and  products  in  which  steel  was  used. 
Much  rich  embroidery  was  also  found 
there  as  well  as  splendid  turquoises.  The 
Karaunas  of  the  region  had  learned  the 
diabolical  art  of  producing  darkness  in 
order  to  obscure  their  approach  to  cara 
vans  they  intended  to  rob. 

At  Ormus  he  encountered  a  land-wind 
so  hot  that  people  exposed  to  it  died.  A 
whole  army  was  once  wiped  out  by  the 
wind  and  the  inhabitants,  seeking  to  bury 
the  invaders,  found  the  bodies  baked  so 
hard  that  they  could  not  be  moved. 
Bitter,  undrinkable  water,  the  tree  of  the 
sun,  and  the  old  man  of  the  mountain 
were  all  of  that  region.  The  old  man 
of  the  mountain  used  to  administer  drugs 
to  young  men  to  make  them  think  they 
were  truly  in  Paradise.  At  his  orders 
they  assassinated  any  one  not  of  the  true 
faith.  His  followers  held  their  own  lives 
of  little  worth,  convinced  that  they  would 
return  to  Paradise  upon  their  deaths. 

On  the  overland  route  to  Cathay, 
Marco  met  Nestorian  Christians  as  well 
as  people  who  were  part  Christian  and 
part  Mohammedan.  There  too  he  found 
a  miraculous  pillar  said  to  remain  up 
right  without  any  visible  means  of  sup 
port.  In  Peyn  he  discovered  chalcedony 
and  jasper  and  also  peculiar  marriage 
customs.  Passing  over  a  desert,  he  heard 
the  strange  sounds  attributed  to  evil 
spirits  but  since  explained  as  the  sounds 
of  shifting  sand  dunes,  At  Kamul  he  dis 
covered  the  primitive  hospitality  of  turn 
ing  over  houses  and  wives  for  the  enter 
tainment  of  strangers.  At  Chinchitalas 
he  discovered  the  use  of  material  which 
would  not  bum;  it  was  asbestos. 

On  the  borders  of  the  Gobi  the  Polos 
gathered  supplies  for  their  trip  through 
the  desert.  They  passed  close  to  the  land 
of  Prester  John  and  heard  the  history  of 
the  war  between  Prester  John  and  Gen 
ghis  Khan.  He  saw  the  land  of  Tenduk, 
governed  by  the  princes  of  the  race  of 
Prester  John. 


1012 


Kublai  Khan  was  a  great  king  who  haa 
rewarded  generously  those  who  had  aided 
him  in  the  conquest  of  other  nations. 
Each  noble  so  favored  received  a  golden 
tablet  inscribed  by  the  khan  for  the 
protection  of  its  wearer.  Kublai  Khan 
had  four  principal  wives,  plus  a  number 
of  women  who  were  given  to  him  each 
year.  He  had  some  fifty  sons,  all  of  whom 
were  appointed  to  high  places  in  the  em 
pire.  In  the  winter  the  khan  lived  in 
Peking,  in  a  magnificent  palace  that  was 
eight  miles  square.  His  personal  body 
guard  consisted  of  twelve  thousand  horse 
men, 

Greatest  in  interest  among  his  people 
were  the  Tibetans,  who  produced  the 
scent  of  musk,  used  salt  for  money,  and 
dressed  in  clothes  of  leather.  Gold  dust 
was  found  in  their  rivers  and  among  their 
inhabitants  were  many  said  to  be  sorcer 
ers.  Karazan  was  known  for  its  huge 
serpents,  or  crocodiles,  which  the  natives 
killed  for  hides  and  gall.  This  gall  was 
a  medicine  for  bites  from  mad  dogs. 

In  Kardandan,  Marco  observed  fathers 
who  took  over  the  nursing  of  babies.  In 
the  city  of  Mien  he  saw  two  towers,  one 
of  silver  and  one  of  gold.  Bengal  he  found 
rich  in  cotton,  spikenard,  galangal,  gin 
ger,  sugar,  and  many  drugs.  The  region 
also  supplied  many  eunuchs. 

For  a  time  Marco  Polo  held  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  city  of  Yan-Gui  upon 
orders  of  the  khan.  Nicolo  and  Maffeo 
Polo  aided  the  khan  in  overcoming  the 
city  of  Sa-Yan-Fu,  the  two  Venetians 
having  designed  a  catapult  capable  of 
hurling  stones  weighing  as  much  as  three 
hundred  pounds. 

Marco  thought  the  city  of  Kin-sai,  or 
Hang-chau,  so  beautiful  that  the  inhab 
itants  might  imagine  themselves  in  Para 
dise.  There  were  twelve  thousand  bridges 
over  the  canals  and  rivers  of  the  city,  and 
the  houses  w<sre  well-built  and  adorned 
with  carved  ornaments.  Tlie  streets  were 
paved  with  stone  and  brick.  The  people 
were  greatly  concerned  with  astrology. 
Moreover,  tie  inhabitants  had  provided 
for  fire  fighters  who  kept  a  constant  guard 


throughout  the  city.  From  it  the  khan  re 
ceived  revenue  of  gold,  salt,  and  sugar. 

In  the  kingdom  of  Kon-cha,  Marco 
found  people  who  ate  human  flesh.  He 
also  found  there  a  kind  of  chicken  cov 
ered  with  black  hair  instead  of  feathers. 
He  observed  with  much  interest  the  man 
ufacture  of  Chinese  porcelain. 

In  his  travels  he  saw  the  merchant 
ships  of  India,  which  were  large  and  built 
in  sections  so  that  if  one  section  sprang 
a  leak,  it  could  be  closed  off  while  repairs 
were  made.  On  the  island  of  Java  he 
obtained  pepper,  nutmegs,  spikenard 
galangal,  cubebs,  cloves,  and  gold.  Idola 
ters  lived  there  as  well  as  cannibals.  Ele 
phants,  rhinoceroses,  monkeys,  and  vul 
tures  were  in  abundance.  He  also  dis 
covered  the  practice  of  the  natives  which 
was  to  pickle  certain  monkeys  so  that  they 
resembled  dead  pygmies.  These  creatures 
were  then  sold  as  souvenirs  to  sailors  and 
merchants. 

In  Lambri  he  saw  what  he  thought 
were  men  with  tails.  He  also  saw  the  sago 
tree  from  which  the  natives  made  flour. 
On  the  island  of  Nocueran  he  visited 
people  living  like  naked  beasts  in  trees. 
They  possessed  the  red  and  white  sandal 
wood,  coconuts,  sapanwood,  and  cloves. 
At  Angarnan  he  saw  more  cannibals.  In 
Ceylon  he  found  rubies,  sapphires,  to 
pazes,  amethysts,  and  garnets.  The  grave 
of  Adam  was  believed  to  be  on  a  high 
mountain  in  Ceylon. 

Marco  thought  India  the  noblest  and 
richest  country  in  the  world.  Pearls  were 
found  in  abundance.  The  kingdom  of 
Murphili  was  rich  in  diamonds.  In  the 
province  of  Lac  he  heard  that  people 
often  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  and  managed  to  preserve 
their  teeth  by  a  certain  vegetable  they 
chewed.  In  Kael  he  found  people  chew 
ing  a  leaf  called  tembul,  sometimes  mixed 
with  camphor  and  other  aromatic  drugs 
as  well  as  quicklime.  At  Cape  Comorin 
he  found  apes  of  such  a  size  as  to  ap 
pear  like  men.  At  Malabar  he  found 
gold  brocades,  silk,  gauzes,  gold,  and 
silver.  At  Guzzerat  he  discovered  pirates 


1013 


of  the  worst  character.  In  Bombay  he 
bought  incense  and  horses. 

Marco  visited  the  island  of  Madagas 
car,  where  the  inhabitants  reported  a 
bird  so  large  it  was  able  to  seize  an  ele 
phant  in  its  talons.  He  thought  the 
women  of  Zanzibar  the  ugliest  in  the 
world.  The  people  did  business  in  ele 
phant  teeth  and  tusks. 

Marco  recalled  how  Kublai  Khan  and 
his  nephew,  Kaidu,  fought  many  battles 
for  the  possession  of  Great  Turkey.  Over 
a  hundred  thousand  horsemen  were 
brought  to  fight  for  each  side.  At  first 
Kaidu  was  victorious.  Kaidu  had  a  man 


nish  daughter,  Aigiarm,  who  battled  with 
any  man  who  wanted  her  for  a  bride.  At 
last  she  seized  the  man  of  her  choice  from 
the  hosts  of  enemies  in  battle. 

Marco  believed  that  Russia  was  a  re 
gion  too  cold  to  be  pleasant.  He  spoke 
of  trade  in  ermine,  arcolini,  sable,  marten, 
fox,  silver,  and  wax  among  the  natives, 
who  were  included  in  the  nation  of  the 
king  of  the  Western  Tartars. 

Marco  Polo  gave  thanks  to  God  that 
the  travelers  were  able  to  see  so  much  and 
return  to  tell  about  the  marvels  of  many 
lands. 


TRAVELS  WITH  A  DO1MKEY 

Type  of  work:  Record  of  travel 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  'plot:  Sketches  and  impressions 

Time  of  plot:  1878 

Locale:  The  CeVennes,  French  Highlands 

First  published:  1879 

Principal  characters: 

ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON,  the  traveler 

MODESTINE,  a  donkey 

FATHER  APOLLINARIS,  a  Trappist  monk 

Critique: 

Stevenson  said  that  every  book  is  a 
circular  letter  to  the  friends  of  him  who 
wrote  it.  Travels  with  a  Donkey  in  the 
Cevennes  takes  much  of  its  merit  from 
the  warm-hearted  spirit  of  Stevenson  him 
self.  Throughout  the  narrative  the  reader 
is  led  by  Stevenson's  voice  as  if  Steven 
son  were  talking  in  the  same  room  for  the 
enjoyment  of  his  reader.  More  vivid  than 
either  his  account  of  the  people  or  his  ac 
count  of  the  history  made  in  the  Ceven 
nes  is  Stevenson's  way  of  describing  the 
countryside  and  its  variations  in  mood. 


The  Story: 

In  twelve  days,  from  September  22, 
1878,  until  October  3,  1878,  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  walked  from  Le  Monas- 
tier  to  St.  Jean  du  Card  in  the  C6vennes. 
His  only  companion  was  Modestine,  a 
donkey.  He  traveled  as  his  fancy  led  him, 
stopping  to  sleep  whenever  occasion  of 
fered.  One  morning  after  a  night's  sleep 


out  of  doors  Stevenson  scattered  coins 
along  the  road  upon  the  turf  in  payment 
for  his  night's  lodging. 

Modestine,  the  donkey,  demanded  that 
her  owner  exercise  all  his  ingenuity.  At 
first  he  loathed  her  for  her  intractable 
differences  of  opinion  displayed  concern 
ing  the  rate  of  travel  to  be  maintained. 
Repeated  blows  seemed  not  to  influence 
her  until  he  learned  to  use  the  magical 
word  "Proot"  to  get  her  moving.  Later 
he  obtained  a  real  goad  from  a  sympa 
thetic  innkeeper  at  Bouchet  St.  Nicolas. 
Modestine  was  dainty  in  her  eating.  She 
seemed  to  prefer  white  bread,  but  she 
learned  to  share  half  of  Stevenson's  brown 
loaves  with  him. 

Modestine  and  her  owner  quarreled 
about  a  short  cut.  She  hacked,  she 
reared;  she  even  brayed  in  a  loud,  ag 
grieved  tone.  However,  he  forced  her 
to  give  in.  A  few  days  later  Stevenson 
began  to  understand  his  strong-willed 


1014 


donkey;  he  came  to  understand  her  stu 
pidity,  and  he  overlooked  her  flights  of 
ill-judged  light-heartedness. 

Stevenson,  like  many  who  buy  at  the 
insistence  of  others  and  sell  at  their  own 
pleasure,  was  eager  to  dismiss  the  matter 
of  Modestine's  cost.  He  had  paid  sixty- 
five  francs  and  a  glass  of  brandy  for  her, 
but  he  sold  her  for  thirty-five  francs. 
Stevenson  commented  that  the  pecuniary 
gain  was  not  obvious,  but  that  he  had 
bought  freedom  into  the  bargain. 

More  absorbing  than  the  pleasure  with 
which  Stevenson  contrasted  his  vagabond 
life  and  that  of  deeply-rooted  monks  and 
peasants  was  his  interest  in  long-remem 
bered,  local  conflicts.  Such  a  conflict  was 
that  struggle  at  Pont  de  Montvert  where 
Camisards,  led  by  Pierre  Seguier,  mur 
dered  the  Archpriest:  of  the  CeVennes. 
Seguier  was  soon  taken  and  his  right 
hand  cut  off.  He  himself  was  then 
burned  alive.  Stevenson  also  identified 
the  characteristic  elements  in  the  land 
scape  as  he  went  along.  He  thought  the 
Ce"vennes  remarkably  beautiful. 

Stevenson's  account  of  the  local  peas 
antry  was  less  appreciative  than  his  ac 
count  of  the  landscape.  He  described 
two  mishaps.  In  the  first  place,  the  peas 
ants  looked  with  suspicion  upon  a  traveler 
wandering  on  their  bleak  high  hills  with 
very  little  money  and  no  obvious  purpose 
other  than  to  stare  at  them.  At  his  ap 
proach  to  one  village  the  people  hid  them 
selves.  They  barricaded  their  doors  and 
gave  him  wrong  directions  from  their 
windows.  Secondly,  two  girls  whom  he 
termed  "impudent  sly  sluts"  bade  him 


follow  the  cows.  For  these  reasons,  Stev 
enson  came  to  feel  sympathy  for  the  in 
famous  beast  of  Gevauden,  who,  accord 
ing  to  tradition,  ate  about  a  hundred 
children  of  the  district. 

During  his  travels  he  visited  Our  Lady 
of  the  Snows  Monastery.  Approaching 
the  monastery,  he  encountered  Father 
Apollinaris,  who,  clad  in  the  white  robe 
of  his  order,  greeted  him  and  led  him 
to  the  entrance  of  the  monastery.  He 
felt  the  atmosphere  of  his  environment 
and  portrayed  it  in  descriptions  of  the 
monks  at  their  duties,  the  feel  of  the 
highland  wind  on  his  face,  the  cheerless, 
four-square  buildings  which  were  bleak 
and  too  new  to  be  seasoned  into  the  place. 
The  belfry  and  the  pair  of  slatted  gables 
seemed  plain  and  barren.  When  he  de 
parted  after  a  day  of  quiet  repose,  the 
lonely  Trappist,  Father  Apollinaris,  ac 
companied  him,  holding  Stevenson's 
hands  in  his  own. 

Stevenson  continued  on  to  St.  Jean  du 
Card.  He  lost  his  way  and  found  it 
again.  Modestine  learned  to  wait  pa 
tiently  when  he  wanted  to  stop  to  talk 
with  someone.  The  procession  of  days 
took  him  through  gullies,  along  river 
beds,  and  over  high  ridges.  At  St.  Jean 
du  Card  he  parted  from  Modestine. 
Then,  seated  by  the  driver  en  route  to 
Alais  through  a  rocky  gully  past  orchards 
of  dwarf  olive  trees,  Stevenson  began  to 
reflect  what  Modestine  had  become  in  his 
life.  She  had  been  patient  and  she  had 
come  to  regard  him  as  a  god.  She  had 
eaten  from  his  hand.  He  felt  that  he  hacf 
parted  from  his  best  friend. 


TREASURE  ISLAND 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  (1850-1894) 

Type  of  plot:  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1740's 

Locale:  England  and  the  Spanish  Main 

Pirst  published:  1883 

Principal  characters: 

JIM  HAWKINS,  cabin  boy  of  the  Hispaniola 
DR.  LIVESEY,  a  physician  and  Jim's  friend 
SQUIRE  TRELAWNEY,  a  wealthy  landowner 


1015 


MR.  SMOLLETT,  captain  of  the  Hispaniola 
LONG  JOHN  SILVER,  leader  of  the  mutineers 
BEN  GUNN,  a  pirate 


Critique: 

'     Since  its  publication,  this  novel  has 

been  a  favonte  of  boys  everywhere.  With 

end  thTT8  ?J  rT  be/nnin§  t0 
end  the  story  1S  told  m  the  first  person 

for  the  most  part  by  the  boy  hero;  the 
rest  «  told  m  the  person  of  Doctor  Live- 
sey.  The  character  of  John  Silver  domi- 
nated  Stevenson  so  completely  that  the 
outcome  :s  not  entirely  acceptable  from  a 
conventionally  moral  point  of  view.  The 
book  accordmg  to  Stevenson,  was  born 


sue  idand 
treasure  island. 

The  Story 


The  one-legged  sailor  never  came  fn 
the  inn,  but  aSther  sealn  naLd  Bkck 

°°?  did  The  *»<>  men  fou§ht  ^  Aeinn 
parlor,  to  the  terror  of  Jim  and  his  mother 
before  Captain  Bones  chased  his  visitor 
up  the  road  and  out  of  sight    He    el 
down  in  a  fit  when  he  camfback  to  S 
inn,  and  Doctor  Livesey    comint  fc  to 
attend  Jim's  father,   cauione™  Captain 
Bones  to  contain  himself  and  drink  C 
Jim's  father  died  soon  aftemard    On 

**  ^  °f  **  funeral  a  ^formed  blSd 

manjnamed  Pe^  ^pped  his  way  up  to 
tte  door  of  ^  Ad^  fim^   P  £ 

man  forced  Jiln  to  lead  him  to  the  cap- 

s 


le§-  He  wa«  alarmed  when  he  saw  Black 


1016 


Dog  again  in  the  inn  operated  by  Silver, 
but  Silver's  smooth  talk  quieted  Jim's 
suspicions. 

After  the  Hispaniola  had  sailed,  Cap 
tain  Smollett,  hired  by  Squire  Trelawney 
to  command  the  ship,  expressed  his  dis 
like  of  the  first  mate  and  the  crew  and 
complained  that  Silver  had  more  real 
authority  with  the  crew  than  he  did. 
One  night  Jim,  in  a  barrel  after  an  apple, 
overheard  Silver  discussing  mutiny  with 
members  of  the  crew.  Before  Jim  had  a 
chance  to  reveal  the  plot  to  his  friends, 
the  island  was  sighted. 

The  prospects  of  treasure  on  the  island 
caused  the  disloyal  members  of  the  crew 
to  pay  little  heed  to  Captain  Smollett's 
orders;  even  the  loyal  ones  were  hard  to 
manage.  Silver  shrewdly  kept  his  party 
under  control.  Wisely,  the  captain  al 
lowed  part  of  the  crew  to  go  ashore;  Jim 
smuggled  himself  along  in  order  to  spy 
on  Silver  and  the  men  on  the  island. 
Ashore,  Silver  killed  two  of  the  crew 
who  refused  to  join  the  mutineers.  Jim, 
alone,  met  Ben  Gunn,  who  was  with 
Captain  Flint  when  the  treasure  was 
buried.  Gunn  told  Jim  that  he  had  been 
marooned  on  the  island  three  years  be 
fore. 

While  Jim  was  ashore,  Dr.  Livesey 
went  to  the  island  and  found  Captain 
Flint's  stockade.  Hearing  the  scream  of 
one  of  the  men  Silver  murdered,  he 
returned  to  the  Hispaniola,  where  it  was 
decided  that  the  honest  men  would  move 
to  the  fort  within  the  stockade,  Several 
dangerous  trips  in  an  overloaded  boat 
completed  the  move.  During  the  last 
trip  the  mutineers  aboard  the  ship  un- 
limbered  the  ship's  gun.  Squire  Tre 
lawney  shot  one  seaman  from  the  boat. 

In  the  meantime  the  gang  ashore  saw 
what  was  afoot  and  made  efforts  to  keep 
Jim's  friends  from  occupying  the  stock 
ade.  The  enemy  repulsed,  Squire  Tre 
lawney  and  his  party  took  their  posts  in 
the  fort.  The  mutineers  on  the  His- 
paniola  fired  round  shot  into  the  stockade, 
but  did  little  damage. 

After  leaving  Ben  Gunn,  the  marooned 


seaman,  Jim  made  his  way  to  the  stock 
ade.  The  Hispaniola  now  flew  the  Jolly 
Roger  skull  and  crossbones.  Carrying  a 
flag  of  truce,  Silver  approached  the 
stockade  and  offered  to  parley.  Admitted 
by  the  defenders,  he  demanded  the  treas 
ure  chart  in  exchange  for  the  safe  return 
of  Squire  Trelawney's  party  to  England. 
Captain  Smollet  would  concede  nothing 
and  Silver  returned  to  his  men  in  a  rage. 
The  stockade  party  prepared  for  the  com 
ing  battle.  A  group  of  the  pirates  at 
tacked  from  two  sides,  swarmed  over  the 
paling  and  engaged  the  defenders  in 
hand-to-hand  combat.  In  the  close  fight 
ing  the  pirates  were  reduced  to  one  man, 
who  fled  back  to  his  gang  in  the  jungle. 
The  loyal  party  was  reduced  to  Squire 
Trelawney,  Dr.  Livesey,  Captain  Smol 
lett,  and  Jim. 

During  the  lull  after  the  battle,  Jim 
sneaked  off  and  borrowed  Ben  Gunn's 
homemade  boat.  In  this  he  rowed  out 
to  the  Hispaniola  under  cover  of  dark 
ness  and  cut  the  schooner  adrift.  In  try 
ing  to  return  to  shore,  he  was  caught 
offshore  by  coastal  currents.  Daylight 
having  come,  Jim  saw  that  the  Hispan- 
iola  was  also  aimlessly  adrift.  When  the 
ship  bore  down  upon  him,  he  jumped 
to  the  bowsprit.  Ben  Gunn's  little  boat 
was  smashed.  Jim  found  himself  on 
board  alone  with  pirate  Israel  Hands, 
wounded  in  a  fight  with  another  pirate. 
Jim  took  command  and  proceeded  to 
beach  the  ship.  Pursued  by  Hands,  he 
climbed  quickly  to  a  crosstree  just  before 
Hands  threw  his  knife  into  the  mast  not 
more  than  a  foot  below  Jim  as  he  climbed, 
Jim  had  time  to  prime  and  reload  his 
pistols,  and  he  shot  the  pirate  after  he 
had  pinned  the  boy  to  the  mast  with 
another  knife  throw. 

Jim  removed  the  knife  from  his  shoul 
der,  made  the  ship  safe  by  removing  the 
sails,  and  returned  to  the  stockade  at 
night,  only  to  find  it  abandoned  by  his 
friends  and  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
pirates.  When  Silver's  parrot,  Captain 
Flint,  drew  attention  to  the  boy's  pres 
ence,  the  pirates  captured  him.  Silver's 


1017 


men,  dissatisfied  with  the  buccaneer's 
methods  of  gaining  the  treasure,  grum 
bled.  One  attempted  to  kill  Jim,  who  had 
bragged  to  them  of  his  exploits  in  behalf 
of  his  friends.  But  Silver,  for  reasons  of 
his  own,  took  the  boy's  side  and  swore 
he  would  take  the  part,  also,  of  Squire 
Trelawney.  Silver's  disaffected  mates 
met  and  gave  Silver  the  Black  Spot,  de 
posing  him  as  their  chief.  The  pirate 
leader  talked  his  way  out  of  his  difficulty 
by  showing  them,  to  Jim's  amazement 
and  to  their  delight,  Captain  Flint's  chart 
of  Treasure  Island. 

Dr.  Livesey  came  under  a  flag  of  truce 
to  the  stockade  to  administer  to  the 
wounded  pirates.  He  learned  from  Jim 
that  Silver  had  saved  the  boy's  life.  And 
Jim  heard,  to  his  mystification,  that  the 
doctor  had  given  Captain  Flint's  chart  to 
Silver. 

Following  the  directions  of  the  chart, 
the  pirates  went  to  find  the  treasure. 
Approaching  the  hiding  place,  they  heard 
a  high  voice  singing  the  pirate  chantey, 
'To  ho  ho,  and  a  bottle  of  mm."  Also, 
the  voice  spoke  the  last  words  of  Captain 


Flint.  The  men  were  terrified  until  Sil 
ver  recognized  Ben  Gunn's  voice.  Then 
the  pirates  found  the  treasure  cache 
opened  and  the  treasure  gone.  When 
they  uncovered  only  a  broken  pick  and 
some  boards,  they  turned  on  Silver  and 
Jim.  At  this  moment  Jim's  friends,  with 
Ben  Gunn,  arrived  to  rescue  the  boy. 

Early  in  his  stay  on  the  island  Ben 
Gunn  had  discovered  the  treasure  and 
carried  it  to  his  cave.  After  Dr.  Livesey 
had  learned  all  this  from  Gunn,  the 
stockade  was  abandoned  and  the  useless 
chart  given  to  Silver.  Squire  Trelawney 's 
party  moved  to  Gunn's  safe  and  well- 
provisioned  quarters. 

The  Hispaniola  having  been  floated 
by  a  tide,  the  group  left  Treasure  Island, 
leaving  on  it  three  escaped  buccaneers. 
They  sailed  to  a  West  Indies  port  where, 
with  the  connivance  of  Ben  Gunn,  John 
Silver  escaped  the  ship  with  a  bag  of 
coins.  A  full  crew  was  taken  on,  and  the 
schooner  voyaged  back  to  Bristol.  There 
the  treasure  was  divided  among  the  sur 
vivors  of  the  adventure.  "Drink  and  the 
devil  had  done  for  the  rest." 


A  TREE  GROWS  IN  BROOKLYN 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:    Betty  Smith   (1904-         ) 

Type  of  'plot:    Domestic  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:   Brooklyn,  New  York 

First  published:    1943 

Principal  characters: 

FRANCIS  NOLAN,  a  Brooklyn  girl 

NEELEY  NOLAN,  her  brother 

KATIE  NOLAN,  her  mother 

JOHNNIE  NOLAN,  her  father 

Critique: 

A  Tree  Grows  In  Brooklyn  is  the  story 
of  a  young  girl  affected  by  the  realities 
and  mysteries  o£  life.  The  setting  of 
Brooklyn  tenement  life  in  the  early 
1900's  makes  full  use  of  local  color. 
Francie's  struggles  to  overcome  poverty 
and  to  obtain  an  education  in  a  world 


A  TREE  GROWS  IN   BROOKLYN  by  Betty  Smith. 
Copyright,    1943,  by  Betty  Smith. 


in  which  only  the  fittest  survive  make 
absorbing  reading. 

The  Story: 

For  their  spending  money  Francie  and 
Neeley  Nolan  relied  on  a  few  pennies 
they  collected  from  the  junkey  every 

By  permission  of  the  publishers.   Harper  &   Brothers. 


1018 


Saturday.  Katie,  their  mother,  worked 
as  a  jani tress  in  a  Brooklyn  tenement,  and 
the  money  she  and  their  father  earned 
— he  from  his  Saturday  night  jobs  as  a 
singing  waiter — was  barely  enough  to 
keep  the  family  alive  and  clothed. 

After  their  Saturday  morning  trips 
with  the  rags,  metal,  and  rubber  they 
had  collected  during  the  week,  Francie 
would  visit  the  library.  She  was  me 
thodically  going  through  its  contents  in 
alphabetical  order  by  reading  a  book  each 
day,  but  on  Saturdays  she  allowed  herself 
the  luxury  of  breaking  the  sequence.  At 
home,  sitting  on  the  fire  escape,  she 
could  look  up  from  her  book  and  watch 
her  neighbors'  preparations  for  Saturday 
night.  A  tree  grew  in  the  yard;  Francie 
watched  it  from  season  to  season  during 
her  long  Saturday  afternoons. 

At  five  o'clock,  when  her  father  came 
home,  Francie  would  iron  his  waiter's 
apron  and  then  go  to  the  dry-goods  store 
to  buy  the  paper  collar  and  muslin 
dickey  which  would  last  him  for  the 
evening.  It  was  her  special  Saturday 
night  privilege  to  sleep  in  the  front 
room,  and  there  she  could  watch  the 
people  in  the  street.  She  got  up  briefly 
at  two  in  the  morning  when  her  father 
came  home,  and  was  given  a  share  of 
the  delicacies  he  had  salvaged  from  the 
wedding  or  party  at  which  he  had  served. 
Then,  while  her  parents  talked  far  into 
the  night,  Francie  would  fix  Saturday's 
happenings  in  her  mind  and  gradually 
drift  off  to  sleep. 

Johnnie  Nolan  and  Katie  Rommely 
had  met  when  he  was  nineteen  and 
she  was  seventeen,  and  they  were  mar 
ried  four  months  later.  In  a  year's  time 
Francie  was  born.  Johnnie,  unable  to 
bear  the  sight  of  Katie  in  labor,  had 
got  drunk,  and  when  the  water  pipes 
burst  at  the  school  in  which  he  was 
janitor,  he  was  discharged.  Neeley  was 
born  soon  after  Francie's  first  birthday. 
By  that  time  Johnnie  was  drinking  so 
heavily  that  Katie  knew  she  could  no 
longer  rely  on  him  for  the  family's  sup 
port.  In  return  for  free  rent,  the  Nolans 


moved  to  a  house  in  which  Katie  could 
be  janitress, 

Francie  was  not  sent  to  school  until 
she  was  seven,  and  Neeley  was  old 
enough  to  go  with  her.  In  that  way  the 
children  were  able  to  protect  each  other 
from  would-be  tormentors.  Seated  two- 
at-a-desk  among  the  other  poverty-stricken 
children  Francie  soon  grew  to  look  for 
ward  to  the  weekly  visits  of  her  art  and 
music  teachers.  They  were  the  sunshine 
of  her  school  days. 

By  pretending  that  Francie  had  gone 
to  live  with  relatives,  Johnnie  was  able 
to  have  her  transferred  to  another  school 
which  Francie  had  seen  on  one  of  her 
walks.  A  long  way  from  home,  it  was, 
nevertheless,  an  improvement  over  the 
old  one.  Most  of  the  children  were  of 
American  parentage  and  were  not  ex 
ploited  by  cruel  teachers,  as  were  those 
from  immigrant  families. 

Francie  noted  time  by  holidays.  Be 
ginning  the  year  with  the  Fourth  of 
July  and  its  firecrackers,  she  looked  for 
ward  next  to  Halloween.  Election  Day, 
with  its  snake  dances  and  bonfires,  came 
soon  after.  Then  followed  Thanksgiving 
Day,  on  which  the  children  disguised 
themselves  with  costumes  and  masks 
and  begged  trifles  from  storekeepers. 
Soon  afterward  came  Christmas.  The 
year  Francie  was  ten  and  Neeley  nine, 
they  stood  together  on  Christmas  Eve 
while  the  biggest  tree  in  the  neighbor 
hood  was  thrown  at  them.  Trees  unsold 
at  that  time  were  thrown  at  anyone  who 
volunteered  to  stand  against  the  impact. 
Bruised  and  scratched,  Francie  and  her 
brother  proudly  dragged  their  tree  home. 

The  week  before  Christmas,  when 
Francie  had  just  become  fourteen,  John 
nie  staggered  home  drunk.  Two  dayn 
later  he  was  found,  huddled  in  a  door 
way,  ill  with  pneumonia.  The  next  day 
he  was  dead.  After  the  funeral,  Neeley 
was  given  his  father's  ring  and  Francie 
his  shaving  mug,  his  only  keepsakes  aside 
from  his  two  waiter's  aprons.  To  his  wife 
Johnnie  left  a  baby,  due  to  be  born  the 
following  spring. 


1019 


In  March,  when  their  funds  were 
running  low,  Katie  cashed  the  children's 
insurance  policies.  The  twenty-five  dol 
lars  she  received  carried  them  through 
until  the  end  of  April.  Then  Mr.  Mc- 
Garrity,  at  whose  saloon  Johnnie  had 
done  most  of  his  drinking,  came  to  their 
rescue.  He  hired  Neeley  to  help  prepare 
free  lunches  after  school  and  Francie  to 
do  housework,  and  the  money  the  chil 
dren  earned  was  enough  to  tide  them 
over  until  after  Katie's  baby  was  born. 

Laurie  was  born  in  May.  In  June, 
after  their  graduation  from  grade  school, 
Francie  and  Neeley  found  their  first  real 
jobs,  Neeley  as  errand  boy  for  a  broker 
age  house  and  Francie  as  a  stemmer  in 
a  flower  factory.  Dismissed  two  weeks 
later,  she  became  a  file  clerk  in  a  clip 
ping  bureau.  She  was  quickly  advanced 
to  the  position  of  reader. 

In  the  fall  there  was  not  money 
enough  to  send  both  her  children  to  high 
school,  and  Katie  decided  that  the  more 
reluctant  Neeley  should  be  chosen. 

With  the  money  Francie  earned  and 
with  Neeley's  after-school  job  at  Mc- 
Garrity's  saloon,  the  Nolans  had  more 
comforts  that  Christmas  than  they  had 
ever  known  before.  The  house  was 
warm;  there  was  enough  food;  and  there 
was  money  for  presents.  Fourteen-year- 
old  Neeley  received  his  first  pair  of 
spats?  and  Francie  almost  froze  in  her 
new  black  lace  lingerie  when  they  went 
to  church  on  Christmas  morning. 

When  the  clipping  bureau  closed  with 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  Francie  got  a 
job  as  teletype  operator.  By  working  at 


night,  she  was  able  to  take  advanced 
college  credits  in  summer  school  that 
year.  With  the  help  of  a  fellow  student, 
Ben  Blake,  she  passed  her  chemistry  and 
English  courses. 

Francie  was  eighteen  when  she  had 
her  first  real  date,  with  a  soldier  named 
Lee  Rhynor.  The  evening  he  was  to 
leave  to  say  goodbye  to  his  parents  be 
fore  going  overseas,  Lee  asked  her  to 
marry  him  when  he  returned.  Francie 
promised  to  write  to  him  every  day. 
Three  days  later  she  received  a  letter 
from  the  girl  he  married  during  his  trip 
home. 

Katie  also  had  a  letter  that  day.  Officer 
McShane  had  long  been  fond  of  Katie. 
Now  retired,  he  asked  her  to  marry 
him.  To  this  proposal  all  the  Nolans 
agreed.  As  the  time  approached  for  the 
wedding,  Francie  resigned  her  job.  With 
Katie  married,  she  intended  to  go  to 
Michigan  to  college,  for  with  Ben  Blake's 
help  she  had  succeeded  in  passing  the 
entrance  exams. 

The  day  before  Katie  was  to  be  wed, 
Francie  put  the  baby  in  the  carriage 
and  walked  down  the  avenue.  For  a 
time  she  watched  the  children  carting 
their  rubbish  into  the  junk  shop.  She 
turned  in  her  books  at  the  library  for 
the  last  time.  She  saw  another  little 
girl,  a  book  in  her  hand,  sitting  on  a 
fire  escape.  In  her  own  yard  the  tree 
had  been  cut  down  because  the  tenants 
had  complained  that  it  was  in  the  way 
of  their  wash.  But  from  its  stump  another 
trunk  was  growing. 


THE  TRIAL 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Franz  Kafka   (1883-1924) 

Type  of  plot:    Fantasy 

Time  of  plot:    Twentieth  century 

Locale:  Germany 

First  published:  1925 

Principal  characters: 

JOSEPH  K.,  a  bank  employee 

THE  ADVOCATE 

TITORELLI,  a  painter 

LENI,  the  Advocate's  servant 


1020 


Critique: 

The  Trial  is  one  of  the  most  effective 
and  most  discussed  works  to  come  out  of 
Central  Europe  between  wars.  To  many, 
perhaps  most,  readers  it  is  a  highly  en 
gaging  comedy  filled  with  buffoonery  and 
fantasy.  More  serious  students  of  lit 
erature  see  in  it,  however,  a  vast  sym 
bolism  and  a  first  rate  psychological  study 
of  a  system  whose  leaders  are  convinced 
of  their  own  righteousness.  To  some  the 
court  is  a  symbol  of  the  Church  as  an 
imperfect  bridge  between  the  individual 
and  God.  To  others  the  symbolism  rep 
resents  rather  the  search  of  a  sensitive 
Jew  for  a  homeland  that  is  always  denied 
him.  At  any  rate  The  Trial  is  a  powerful 
and  provocative  book. 

The  Story: 

Perhaps  some  one  had  been  telling 
lies  about  Joseph  K.,  for  one  morning 
he  was  arrested.  The  landlady's  cook 
always  brought  him  his  breakfast  at 
eight  o'clock,  but  this  morning  she 
failed  to  appear.  Joseph  looked  out  of 
the  window  and  noticed  that  the  old 
lady  across  the  way  was  peering  into  his 
room.  Feeling  uneasy,  he  rang  the  bell. 
At  once  a  man  entered  dressed  like  a 
tourist.  He  advised  Joseph  to  stay  in  his 
room,  but  Joseph  failed  to  obey.  In  the 
next  room  he  saw  another  strange  man 
reading  a  book.  The  missing  breakfast 
was  explained  by  the  empty  dishes  he 
saw.  The  two  strangers  had  eaten  it. 

The  two  strangers  had  come  to  notify 
Joseph  he  was  under  arrest.  They  were 
so  sure  of  themselves  and  yet  so  con 
siderate  that  Joseph  was  at  a  loss  as  to 
the  attitude  he  should  take  toward  them. 
They  tried  to  take  his  underwear,  saying 
it  was  of  too  good  quality,  but  when  he 
objected  they  did  not  press  him.  They 
refused  to  tell  him  the  reason  for  his 
arrest,  saying  only  that  he  would  be 
interrogated.  Finally,  after  Joseph  had 
dressed  according  to  their  choices  of  his 


wardrobe,  they  led  him  to  another  room 
to  be  questioned  by  the  Inspector. 

To  his  dismay  Joseph  saw  that  the 
Inspector  was  occupying  Fraiilein  Biirst- 
ner's  room.  The  Inspector  gave  no 
further  hint  as  to  the  reason  for  the 
arrest,  nor  did  he  inquire  into  Joseph's 
defense.  The  latter  at  one  point  said 
that  the  whole  matter  was  a  mistake;  but 
under  pertinent  if  vague  questioning, 
Joseph  admitted  that  he  knew  little  of 
the  law.  All  he  learned,  really,  was  that 
some  one  in  high  authority  had  ordered 
his  arrest. 

Then  Joseph  was  told  that  he  could 
go  to  work  as  usual.  His  head  fairly 
aching  from  bewilderment,  Joseph  went 
to  the  bank  in  a  taxi.  Arriving  half  an 
hour  late,  he  worked  all  day  long  as 
diligently  as  he  could.  He  was,  however, 
frequently  interrupted  by  congratulatory 
callers,  for  this  day  was  his  thirtieth 
birthday. 

He  went  straight  home  at  nine- thirty 
to  apologize  for  using  Fraiilein  Biirstner  s 
room.  She  was  not  in,  however,  and  he 
settled  down  to  anxious  waiting.  At 
eleven-thirty  she  arrived,  tired  from  an 
evening  at  the  theater.  In  spite  of  her 
uninterested  attitude  he  told  her  the 
whole  story  very  dramatically.  At  last 
Fraiilein  Biirstner  sank  down  exhausted 
on  her  bed.  Joseph  rushed  to  her,  kissed 
her  passionately  many  times,  and  returned 
to  his  room. 

A  few  days  later  Joseph  received  a 
brief  note  ordering  him  to  appear  before 
the  court  for  interrogation  on  the  follow 
ing  Sunday.  Oddly  enough,  although  the 
address  was  given,  no  time  was  set  for 
the  hearing.  By  some  chance  Joseph  de 
cided  to  go  at  nine  o'clock.  The  street 
was  a  rather  mean  one,  and  the  address 
proved  to  be  that  of  a  large  warehouse. 

Joseph  did  not  know  where  to  report, 
but  after  trying  many  doors  he  finally 
reached  the  fifth  floor.  There  a  bright- 


THE  TRIAL   by  Franz   Kafka.     Translated   by   Edwin   and    Willa   Muir.      By   permi«sion   of  the   publisher*, 
Alfred  A.  Knopf,  Inc.     Copyright,    1937,  by  Alfred  A.  Knopf,    Inc. 


1021 


eyed  washerwoman  seemed  to  be  expect 
ing  him  and  motioned  him  through  her 
flat  into  a  meeting  hall.  Joseph  found 
the  room  filled  with  old  men,  most  of 
them  with  long  beards.  They  all  wore 
badges. 

When  the  judge  asked  Joseph  if  he 
were  a  house  painter,  he  snappishly  re 
joined  that  he  was  the  junior  manager 
of  a  bank.  Then  the  judge  said  he  was 
an  hour  and  ten  minutes  late.  To  this 
charge  Joseph  replied  that  he  was  present 
now,  his  appearance  in  court  being  the 
main  thing.  The  crowd  applauded.  En 
couraged,  Joseph  launched  into  a  ha 
rangue  damning  the  court,  its  methods, 
the  warders  who  had  arrested  him,  and 
the  meeting  time  and  place. 

The  judge  seemed  abashed.  Then  an 
interruption  occurred.  At  the  back  of 
the  room  a  man  clasped  the  washer 
woman  in  his  arms  and  screamed,  all 
the  while  looking  at  the  ceiling.  Joseph 
dashed  from  the  room,  loudly  refusing 
to  have  any  more  dealings  with  the  court. 

All  that  week  Joseph  awaited  another 
summons.  When  none  came,  he  decided 
to  revisit  the  meeting  hall.  The  washer 
woman  again  met  him  kindly  and  ex 
pressed  her  disappointment  that  the 
court  was  not  in  session.  She  told  him 
a  little  about  the  court  and  its  methods. 
It  seemed  that  the  court  was  only  a 
lower  body  which  rarely  interfered  with 
the  freedom  of  the  accused  people.  If 
one  were  acquitted  by  the  court,  it  meant 
little,  because  a  higher  court  might  re- 
arrest  the  prisoner  on  the  same  charge. 
She  seemed  to  know  little  of  Joseph's 
particular  case,  although  she  said  she 
knew  as  much  as  the  judge.  As  she  was 
speaking,  a  law  student  seized  the 
washerwoman  and  carried  her  up  the 
stairs. 

The  woman's  husband  kindly  offered 
to  lead  Joseph  up  to  the  law  offices,  the 
inner  sanctum  of  the  court  located  in  the 
attic.  There  Joseph  found  a  number 
of  people  waiting  for  answers  to  petitions. 
Some  of  them  had  been  waiting  for 
years,  and  they  were  becoming  a  little 


anxious  about  their  cases.  The  hot  room 
under  the  roof  made  Joseph  dizzy  and 
he  had  to  sit  down.  The  hostess  tried 
to  soothe  him  and  the  director  of  public 
relations  was  very  pleasant.  Finally  some 
one  suggested  that  Joseph  ought  to  leave 
and  get  some  fresh  air. 

On  his  uncle's  advice,  Joseph  hired 
an  Advocate,  an  old  man  who  stayed  in 
bed  most  of  the  time.  His  servant,  Leni, 
took  a  liking  to  Joseph  and  would  often 
kiss  him  while  he  was  conferring  with 
the  Advocate.  Joseph  liked  best  to  dally 
with  her  in  the  kitchen.  After  some 
months,  all  the  Advocate  had  done  was 
to  think  about  writing  a  petition.  In 
desperation  Joseph  discharged  him  from 
the  case. 

Leni  was  heartbroken.  She  was  in  her 
nightgown  entertaining  another  client. 
This  man,  a  businessman,  Leni  kept 
locked  up  in  a  small  bedroom.  The 
Advocate  warned  Joseph  of  his  high 
handed  behavior  and  pointed  to  the 
businessman  as  an  ideal  client.  Disgusted, 
Joseph  left  the  house. 

Then  Joseph  went  to  see  Titorelli,  the 
court  painter.  Titorelli  told  him  he 
could  hope  for  little.  He  might  get 
definitive  acquittal,  ostensible  acquittal, 
or  indefinite  postponement.  No  one  was 
ever  really  acquitted,  but  sometimes  cases 
could  be  prolonged  indefinitely.  Joseph 
bought  three  identical  paintings  in  re 
turn  for  the  advice. 

Even  the  priest  at  the  cathedral,  who 
said  he  was  court  chaplain,  offered  little 
encouragement  when  consulted.  He  was 
sure  that  Joseph  would  be  convicted  of 
the  crime  charged  against  him.  Joseph 
still  did  not  know  what  that  crime  was, 
nor  did  the  priest. 

At  last  two  men  in  frock  coats  and 
top  hats  came  for  Joseph  at  nine  o'clock 
on  the  evening  before  his  thirty-first 
birthday.  Somehow  they  twined  their 
arms  around  his  and  held  his  hands 
tightly.  They  walked  with  him  to  a 
quarry.  There  one  held  his  throat  and 
the  other  stabbed  him  in  the  heart,  turn 
ing  the  knife  around  twice. 


1022 


TRILBY 


Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    George  du  Maurier  (1834-1896) 

Type  of  'plot:    Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    Nineteenth  century 

Locale:    Paris  and  London 

First  'published:    1894 


Principal   characters: 

TRILBY  O'FERRALL,  an  artist's  model 

SVENGALI,  a  Hungarian  musician 

GECKO,  another  musician 

TAFFY, 

SANDY,  and 

LITTLE  BILLEE,  English  art  students 


Critique: 

This  novel  has  had  an  astonishing 
success  both  in  its  original  form  and  in 
a  dramatic  version  for  stage  presentation. 
Its  chief  merit  lies  in  its  picture  of  stu 
dent  life  in  the  Latin  Quarter  of  Paris. 
Du  Maurier,  who  wrote  the  hook  from 
recollections  of  his  own  youth,  seems  to 
have  set  down  only  the  glamorous  ele 
ments.  The  result  is  delightful  reading 
so  long  as  the  reader  remembers  that 
the  account  of  Bohemian  life  is  idealized 
and  sentimentalized. 

The  Story: 

In  the  large  Latin  Quarter  studio 
which  Taffy,  Sandy,  and  Little  Billee 
shared,  the  three  students  were  hosts 
to  Svengali,  an  unconventional  musician, 
and  Gecko,  a  fiddler.  Suddenly  there 
was  a  knock  on  the  door.  An  artist's 
model  came  in;  she  had  heard  music  and 
decided  to  stop  by.  She  wore  a  mixture 
of  clothing — a  soldier's  coat,  a  pair  of 
men's  shoes,  a  frilled  petticoat — and  she 
carried  her  lunch.  When  she  began  to 
sing,  her  voice  was  so  flat  that  the 
listeners  did  not  know  whether  to  be 
amused  or  embarrassed.  Only  Svengali 
realized  the  quality  of  her  untrained 
voice. 

Svengali  went  one  morning  to  borrow 
money  from  Sandy.  Trilby  was  in  the 
studio  when  he  arrived.  Because  she 
complained  of  a  headache,  Svengali 


hypnotized  her.  Sandy,  thinking  of  the 
control  Svengali  might  have  over  Trilby, 
was  alarmed. 

Trilby  came  more  often  to  the  studio. 
She  cooked  for  the  three  Englishmen, 
darned  their  clothing,  joined  in  their 
meals  and  parties.  In  return  they  taught 
her  how  to  speak  correct  English  and 
treated  her  as  a  highly  respected  sister. 
When  Sandy  fell  ill,  Trilby  refused  to  let 
anyone  else  look  after  him. 

Svengali  had  a  stroke  of  luck  when  he 
was  hired  to  appear  in  concerts.  He  was 
anxious  to  hypnotize  the  model  again, 
but  the  three  Englishmen  would  not 
permit  it. 

Because  Trilby  posed  in  the  nude, 
Little  Billee,  who  had  fallen  in  love 
with  her,  became  angry  and  left  Paris. 
Trilby,  unhappy  at  this  turn  of  events, 
became  a  laundress.  She  began  to  take 
care  of  her  appearance,  so  that  when 
Little  Billee  returned  he  was  completely 
charmed  by  her.  At  Christmas  time 
Trilby  promised  to  marry  Little  Billee. 
But  a  few  days  later  his  mother  and  a 
clergyman  arrived  and  made  Trilby  prom 
ise  that  she  would  not  marry  Little  Billee. 
Trilby  left  Paris.  Little  Billee  became 
ill  and  with  his  mother  and  sister  re 
turned  to  England. 

Five  years  passed.  Little  Billee 
achieved  success  in  London.  Sandy  and 
Taffy  traveled  on  the  continent.  When 


TRILBY  by  George  du  Maurier.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.     Copyright,    1894,  by 
Harper  &  Brothers.    Renewed,    1922,  by  Gerald  du  Maurier  and  May  du  Maurier  Coles. 


1023 


the  three  friends  met  again  at  a  ball  in 
London,  there  was  much  talk  of  old  days 
in  Paris.  Word  went  around  that  Sven- 
gali  had  found  a  great  pupil,  that  he 
had  married  her  and  was  making  a  famous 
singer  of  her.  Little  Billee  painted  more 
pictures  and  fell  in  and  out  of  love  with 
a  girl  named  Alice.  The  other  two  friends 
went  their  ways. 

At  last  the  three  met  in  Paris.  During 
their  stay  they  attended  the  first  per 
formance  of  the  famous  La  Svengali  in 
Paris  and  discovered  that  the  singer  was 
their  Trilby  of  earlier  days.  Under  the 
hand  of  her  master  she  had  gained  a 
great  voice  that  thrilled  her  audience. 
The  three  Englishmen  were  overcome. 

The  next  day,  when  they  saw  Trilby 
and  Svengali  in  the  park,  Little  Billee 
ran  up  to  greet  her.  She  looked  at  her 
old  friends  vaguely,  listened  to  some 
thing  which  Svengali  said  to  her,  and 
then  to  their  surprise  glanced  coldly  at 
them  as  if  she  had  never  seen  them 
before. 

The  next  day  Little  Billee  encountered 
Svengali,  who  spat  on  him.  A  fight  began 
in  which  the  tall  musician  was  more 
than  a  match  for  the  small  artist.  Then 
Taffy  appeared.  With  one  hand  he 
seized  Svengali's  nose  and  with  the 
other  he  slapped  Svengali  on  the  cheek. 
Svengali  was  only  too  glad  to  escape. 
A  few  days  later  the  Englishmen  left 
for  home. 

When  Svengali  brought  his  star  to 
London,  she  was  the  talk  of  the  city. 
Little  Billee  and  his  friends  bought 
tickets  for  Trilby's  first  concert. 

At  the  last  minute  the  concert  was 
canceled.  Svengali  had  scolded  Trilby 
past  the  limit  of  Gecko's  endurance,  and 
Gecko  had  attacked  Svengali  with  a 
knife.  At  that  moment  Trilby  became 
imbecile  in  her  manner.  While  her  hus 
band  remained  ill  she  was  incapable  of 
speech,  and  she  spent  all  her  time  with 
him.  Svengali  would  not  permit  her 
to  leave  him  either  to  practice  or  to  sing 
her  concert  without  him. 

At  last  Svengali  recovered.    Not  well 


enough  to  conduct  the  orchestra,  how 
ever,  he  was  compelled  to  occupy  a  seat 
in  a  box  facing  Trilby  as  she  sang. 
When  Little  Billee  and  his  friends  ar 
rived,  they  saw  Svengali  rise  from  his 
place  with  a  look  of  unalterable  hatred 
on  his  face.  Then  he  slumped  forward. 
Trilby,  led  from  the  wings,  took  her  place 
somewhat  mechanically.  She  seemed  to 
be  looking  for  Svengali.  The  orchestra 
began  her  number.  She  remained  in 
different,  refusing  to  sing.  Again  and 
again  the  orchestra  began  to  play.  At 
last  she  demanded,  in  her  old  gutter 
French,  what  they  wanted  of  her.  When 
they  said  she  was  to  sing,  she  told  the 
orchestra  to  be  quiet;  she  would  sing 
without  an  accompaniment.  Then  she 
began  in  the  same  flat  voice  with  which 
she  had  sung  for  Little  Billee  and  his 
friends  years  before.  At  once  catcalls 
shook  the  house.  Terrified,  Trilby  had 
to  be  led  away.  The  confusion  increased 
when  someone  shouted  that  Svengali 
was  dead  in  his  box. 

The  three  friends  went  to  Trilby's 
dressing-room.  Finding  her  frightened, 
they  took  her  to  Little  Billee's  lodgings, 
where  the  next  day  he  and  his  friends 
called  on  her.  Trilby  knew  nothing  of 
her  career  as  a  singer,  and  she  remem 
bered  Svengali  only  as  the  kindest  man 
in  her  life.  She  was  pale  and  seemed 
vastly  aged. 

She  told  them  that  Svengali  had  of 
fered  to  look  after  her  when  she  left 
Paris.  He  had  not  married  her,  how 
ever,  for  he  already  had  a  wife  and 
three  children.  As  Trilby  talked,  her 
mind  seemed  disturbed  beyond  recovery, 
and  a  doctor  was  called  in.  She  grad 
ually  became  weaker  and  weaker.  There 
seemed  little  that  could  be  done  for 
her. 

Gecko  went  to  prison  for  striking 
Svengali.  Svengali's  money,  which  Tril 
by  had  earned,  went  to  his  wife  and 
children.  Each  afternoon  the  three 
friends  went  to  visit  Trilby.  She  became 
more  and  more  emaciated,  and  could  no 
longer  rise  from  her  chair.  Only  by 


1024 


smiles  and  gestures  could  she  reveal  to 
them  the  gay,  carefree  Trilby  of  other 
days  in  Paris. 

One  day  a  large  life-like  photograph  of 
Svengali  was  shown  her.  She  began  to 
sing  and  charmed  her  listeners  to  tears 
with  the  sadness  of  her  song.  Then 
she  fell  asleep.  A  doctor,  summoned 
immediately,  said  she  had  been  dead 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  more. 

Years  later  Taffy  and  his  wife,  Little 
Billee's  sister,  met  Gecko  in  a  cafe*  in 


Paris  and  he  told  them  of  Svengali's 
influence  over  Trilby.  Svengali  had 
hypnotized  the  girl,  had  made  her  a 
singing  automaton  of  matchless  voice, 
When  the  spell  was  broken,  there  was 
no  Trilby,  Gecko  claimed,  for  Svengali 
had  destroyed  her  soul.  Taffy  and  his 
wife  told  him  how  Little  Billee  had  died 
shortly  after  Trilby's  death.  There  was 
little  any  of  them  could  say.  They  could 
only  wonder  at  the  strangeness  and  sad 
ness  of  Trilby's  story. 


TRISTRAM 

Type    of    work:     Poem 

Author:   Edwin  Arlington  Robinson  (1869-1935) 

Type  of  plot:    Chivalric  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Arthurian  period 

Locale:    England  and  Brittany 

First  published:    1927 

Principal  characters: 

TRISTRAM,  Prince  of  Lyonesse 

MARK,  his  uncle,  King  of  Cornwall 

HOWEL,  King  of  Brittany 

ISOLT  OF  THE  WHITE  HANDS,  Howel's  daughter 

JSOLT,  Princess  of  Ireland 

GOUVERNAIL,  Tristram's  friend 

ANDRED,  Mark's  minion 

QUEEN  MORGAN,  the  wily  queen 

Critique: 

The  old  Breton  lay  of  Tristram  and 
Yseidt  is  here  reworked  with  happy  re 
sults.  In  Robinson's  version  the  romance 
loses  some  of  its  air  of  remoteness  and 
its  rather  stereotyped  romantic  conven 
tion,  and  we  have,  instead,  a  genuine 
love  story  with  little  except  the  names 
to  remind  us  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
characters  talk  and  think  in  a  plausible 


Always  she  looked  to  the  north,  toward 
England,  and  her  father,  King  Howel 
of  Brittany,  loved  his  daughter  too  much 
to  let  her  attitude  go  unquestioned. 

Isolt  told  her  father  she  was  waiting 
for  Tristram,  who  some  time  before  had 
made  a  visit  to  the  Breton  court.  Fond 
of  Isolt  as  a  man  is  fond  of  a  child,  he 
had  given  her  on  his  departure  an  agate 


manner  which  adds  to  the  ease  of  read-      for  a  keepsake  and  had  promised  to  come 


ing.  More  than  the  modernization,  how 
ever,  Robinson  tells  the  story  with  real 
lyric  power.  The  use  of  symbolism,  as 
in  the  quiet  ship  on  a  still  ocean  at  the 
death  of  Tristram,  brings  vividness  and 
appeal  to  the  tale. 

The  Story: 


back.  Now  Isolt  was  a  woman  of  eighteen 
and  she  waited  for  Tristram  as  a  woman 
waitb  for  her  lover.  King  Howel  tried 
to  tell  her  that  Tristram  thought  of  her 
as  a  child,  and  that  he  probably  would 
not  return;  but  Isolt  would  not  be  con 
vinced. 

In  Cornwall  it  was  the  wedding  day  of 


Isolt  of  the  white  hands  was  too  pen-      old,  lecherous  King  Mark  and  the  dark 
sive  and  preoccupied  for  a  young  girl,      and  beautiful  Isolt  of  Ireland,  his  hride. 

TRISTRAM  by   Edwin  Arlington   Robinson.      By   permission   of  the   publishers,   The  Macmillan   Co. 
•ight,   1927,  by  Edwin  Arlington  Robinson. 

1025 


With  the  wedding  feast  in  full  swing, 
the  wine  cup  was  often  passed.  Sick  of 
the  drunken  merriment  and  sicker  with 
inner  torment,  Tristram,  nephew  of  the 
king,  left  the  feast  and  wandered  in  the 
fresh  night  air. 

King  Mark,  displeased  by  his  nephew's 
absence,  sent  Gouvernail,  Tristram's  pre 
ceptor  and  friend,  to  ask  him  to  return. 
Tristram  said  only  that  he  was  sick.  Then 
feline  Queen  Morgan  came  to  talk  to 
Tristram.  She  used  all  her  arts  and 
blandishments  on  the  brooding  knight, 
and  they  were  cunning  indeed,  for 
Queen  Morgan,  much  experienced  in  the 
arts  of  love,  was  more  than  a  little  at 
tracted  to  Tristram.  But  Tristram  re 
peated  stubbornly  that  he  was  sick. 

Then  there  was  a  soft  step  on  the 
stair,  as  Brangwaine  came,  followed  a 
moment  later  by  dark-caped,  violet-eyed 
Isolt  of  Ireland  herself.  She  looked  at 
Tristram  but  said  nothing  as  he  took  her 
in  his  arms.  Memories  hung  about  them 
like  a  cloud. 

King  Mark  was  old  and  unattractive, 
and  he  had  wanted  a  young  wife  in  his 
casde.  Yearning  for  Isolt  of  Ireland,  he 
had  sent  as  emissary  his  gallant  nephew, 
Tristram,  to  plead  his  cause.  Tristram 
had  to  fight  even  to  get  to  the  Irish 
court.  After  he  had  slain  the  mighty 
Morhaus,  Isolt's  uncle,  he  made  a  bar 
gain  of  state  with  the  Irish  king  and  took 
Isolt  back  to  Cornwall  in  his  boat.  One 
night  they  were  alone  with  only  the 
sea  and  the  stars  to  look  upon  them. 
Isolt  waited  in  vain  for  Tristram  to 
speak.  If  he  had,  she  would  have  loved 
him  then,  and  there  would  have  been 
no  marriage  of  convenience  with  King 
Mark.  But  bound  by  knightly  fealty 
Tristram  kept  silent  and  delivered  Isolt 
to  his  uncle.  Now  he  looked  at  her  and 
regretted  bitterly  that  he  had  not  spoken 
on  the  boat. 

Andred  stole  behind  them  to  spy  on 
their  love-making,  He-  was  a  faithful 
servitor  of  King  Mazrk?  but  jealousy  of 
Tristram  and  love  for  Jsolt  motivated 
Kim  as  well.  But  Tristram  saw  Andred 


skulking  in  the  shadow,  seized  him,  and 
threw  him  heavily  on  the  rocks.  When 
King  Mark  himself  came  out  to  inquire 
about  his  absent  guests,  he  stumbled  over 
Andred's  unconscious  body  and  stood 
unseen  long  enough  to  hear  the  pas 
sionate  avowals  of  Tristram  and  Isolt. 

Since  Tristram  was  his  nephew,  King 
Mark  did  not  have  him  killed,  but  he 
banished  Tristram  forever  from  Corn 
wall  on  pain  of  burning  at  the  stake. 

The  sick  Tristram  wandered  in  a  fever. 
When  he  recovered,  he  found  himself  the 
captive  of  Queen  Morgan  in  her  castle. 
Queen  Morgan  eventually  gave  up  her 
siege  of  Tristram's  heart  and  let  him 

go- 
Next     Tristram     went     to     Brittany, 

where  a  griffin,  giant  scourge  of  the 
Breton  land,  was  threatening  King  Howel 
and  his  court.  Knightly  Tristram,  fierce 
in  battle  although  sick  for  love,  slew  the 
griffin  and  put  his  hosts  to  flight.  As 
a  hero,  Tristram  had  a  secure  place  at 
King  Howel's  court,  and  there  he  mar 
ried  Isolt  of  the  white  hands.  He  pitied 
her  and  she  loved  him,  although  she 
knew  of  his  sorrow.  For  two  years  Tris 
tram  was  a  faithful  husband  and  reigning 
prince. 

Then  from  the  north  came  another 
ship  with  Gawaine  aboard  bringing  a 
message  from  King  Arthur.  For  his 
deeds  Tristram  was  to  become  a  Knight 
of  the  Round  Table;  hence  his  summons 
to  Camelot.  Isolt  watched  her  husband 
go  with  quiet  despair,  for  she  feared  he 
would  not  come  back.  She  had  little 
dread  of  King  Mark,  for  Gawaine  had 
told  her  in  secrecy  that  King  Mark  was 
in  prison.  The  Cornish  king  had  forged 
the  Pope's  signature  on  a  paper  ordering 
Tristram  to  go  fight  the  Saracens,  and 
his  forgery  had  been  detected.  But  some 
how  Isolt  knew  that  Tristram's  danger 
lay  in  Cornwall. 

Guinevere,  Arthur's  queen,  and  her 
lover,  Lancelot,  plotted  to  bring  Irish 
Isolt  and  Tristram  together.  Lancelot 
took  Tristram  to  Joyous  Guard,  his  tryst- 
ing  casde,  and  Guinevere  brought  Isolt 


1026 


of  Ireland  secretly  out  of  Cornwall.  So 
the  lovers  were  together  again,  while 
King  Mark  was  in  prison. 

They  had  a  happy  summer  together 
and  as  autumn  drew  near  Tristram  lost 
a  little  of  his  apprehension.  Early  one 
morning  he  went  out  on  the  sea  while 
Isolt  slept.  When  he  returned,  there 
were  strangers  in  Joyous  Guard  and 
Isolt  was  gone.  King  Mark,  released 
from  prison,  had  abducted  his  wife  and 
carried  her  off  to  Cornwall. 

Tristram  moped  in  silence  until  he 
had  a  letter  from  Queen  Morgan.  She 
chided  him  for  his  lovesickness  and  urged 
him  to  see  his  Isolt  once  more.  Goaded 
by  the  wily  queen,  Tristram  rode  to 
Cornwall  prepared  to  fight  and  die  for 
a  last  look  at  Isolt.  But  when  he  ar 
rived  at  his  uncle's  castle,  he  entered 
easily  and  in  surprised  joy  sought  out 
Isolt.  She  told  him  that  she  was  near 
death.  King  Mark,  in  pity  for  her  wast 
ing  figure  and  sick  heart,  had  given  her 
permission  to  receive  her  lover.  Isolt 
and  Tristram,  sad  in  their  love  because 
Isolt  was  to  die,  sat  on  the  shore  and 


gazed  out  at  a  still  ship  on  the  quiet 
ocean.  While  they  sat  thus,  the  jealous 
Andred  crept  up  behind  them  and  stabbed 
Tristram  in  the  back.  So  Tristram  died 
before  Isolt  after  all.  King  Mark  finally 
realized  that  Andred  was  also  in  love 
with  Isolt,  and  he  regretted  that  his 
lecherous  lust  for  a  young  queen  had 
brought  sorrow  and  death  to  many  lives. 

Gouvernail  went  back  to  Brittany  to 
convey  the  grievous  news  of  Tristram's 
death  to  Isolt  of  the  white  hands,  who 
divined  the  truth  when  he  disembarked 
alone.  He  told  her  only  part  of  Tristram's 
sojourn  in  England,  only  that  Tristram 
had  seen  the  dying  Isolt  of  Ireland  a  last- 
time  with  King  Mark's  consent,  and  that 
Andred  had  killed  Tristram  by  treachery. 
Isolt  was  silent  in  her  grief;  no  one  could 
know  what  she  was  thinking,  nor  how 
much  she  divined  of  Tristram  and  the 
other  Isolt. 

Now  Isolt  looked  no  more  for  a  ship 
from  England.  On  the  white  sea  the 
white  birds  and  the  sunlight  were  alive. 
The  white  birds  were  always  flying  and 
the  sunlight  flashed  on  the  sea. 


TRISTRAM  SHANDY 

Type  of  work;  Novel 

Author;  Laurence  Sterne  (1713-1768) 

Type  of  plot:  Humorous  sensibility 

Time  of  plot:  1718-1766 

Locale:  Shandy  Hall  in  England 

First  published:  1760-1767  (published  in  several  books) 
Principal  characters: 

TRISTRAM  SHANDY,  who  tells  the  story 

MR.  WALTER  SHANDY,  his  father 

MR.  TOBY  SHANDY,  his  uncle,  an  old  soldier 

CORPORAL  TRIM,  Uncle  Toby's  servant 

MR.  YORICK,  a  parson 

DR.  SLOP,  a  medical  quack 

WIDOW  W  ADMAN,  a  romantic  widow 

Critique: 

The  Life  and  Opinions  of  Tristram 
Shandy,  Gentleman  is  one  of  the  most 
amusing  books  ever  written.  In  part,  its 
humor  derives  from  Sterne's  delight  in 
oddities  of  material  and  method.  His 
pleasure  in  the  unexpected  creates  sur 
prise  on  almost  every  page.  Memory  and 


an  intense  sensibility  combine  to  create 
the  first  true  psychological  novel  in  Eng 
lish  literature.  The  organization  of  the 
novel  is  based  on  little  more  than  Sterne's 
whims.  Diagrams,  unusual  uses  of  type, 
and  strange  numbering  of  the  pages  are 
amusing  pranks  played  by  the  author. 


1027 


The  Story: 

Tristram  Shandy,  in  telling  the  story 
of  his  earliest  years,  always  believed  that 
most  of  the  problems  of  his  life  were 
brought  about  by  the  fact  that  the  mo 
ment  of  his  conception  was  interrupted 
when  his  mother  asked  his  father  if  he 
had  remembered  to  wind  the  clock.  Tris 
tram  knew  the  exact  date  of  his  con 
ception,  the  night  between  the  first  Sun 
day  and  the  first  Monday  of  March, 
1718.  He  was  certain  of  this  date  be 
cause,  according  to  his  father's  notebook, 
Mr.  Shandy  set  out  immediately  after 
this  date  to  travel  from  Shandy  Hall  up 
to  London.  Before  this  date  Mr.  Shandy 
had  been  seriously  inconvenienced  by  an 
attack  of  sciatica. 

Another  complication  of  Tristram's 
birth  was  the  marriage  settlement  of  his 
parents.  According  to  this  settlement, 
quoted  in  full  by  Tristram,  Mrs.  Shandy 
had  the  privilege  of  going  to  London 
for  her  lying-in.  But,  if  Mrs.  Shandy 
were  to  put  Mr.  Shandy  to  the  expense 
of  a  trip  to  London  on  false  pretenses, 
then  the  next  child  was  to  be  bom  at 
Shandy  Hall.  The  circumstance  of  a 
needless  trip  to  London  having  occurred 
some  time  before,  Mr.  Shandy  stoutly 
insisted  that  Tristram  should  be  born  at 
Shandy  Hall,  the  birth  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  a  country  midwife,  rather  than 
in  those  of  a  London  doctor. 

On  the  night  of  Tristram's  birth,  his 
father  and  his  Uncle  Toby  were  sitting 
in  the  living-room  engaged  in  one  of 
their  interminable  discussions  and  de 
bates.  Informed  by  Susannah,  the  maid, 
that  Mrs.  Shandy  was  about  to  be  deliv 
ered  of  a  child,  they  sent  for  the  mid 
wife.  As  an  extra  measure  of  safety,  they 
sent  also  for  Dr.  Slop,  a  bungling  country 
practitioner  whom  Mr.  Shandy  admired 
because  he  had  written  a  five-shilling 
book  on  the  history  of  midwifery.  While 
the  midwife  attended  Mrs.  Shandy,  the 
doctor  would,  for  a  fee  of  five  guineas, 
drink  a  bottle  of  wine  in  the  back  parlor 
with  Mr.  Shandy  and  his  brother,  Toby. 

Uncle  Toby,  who  had  been  called  the 


highest  compliment  ever  paid  human  na 
ture,  had  been  a  soldier  until  he  was 
wounded  during  the  siege  o£  Namur  in 
1695.  The  wound,  the  exact  position  of 
which  was  to  play  such  a  large  part  in 
Tristram's  story  later  on,  forced  him  to 
retire  to  the  country.  There  at  the  sug 
gestion  of  his  faithful  servant,  Corporal 
Trim,  he  had  built,  on  a  bowling  green 
behind  Shandy  Hall,  a  large  and  compli 
cated  series  of  model  fortifications  and 
military  emplacements.  Uncle  Toby's 
entire  time  was  spent  playing  soldier  and 
thinking  about  this  miniature  battlefield. 
It  was  his  hobbyhorse,  and  he  rode  it 
continually  with  the  greatest  of  pleasure. 
Mr.  Shandy  was  not  at  all  taken  with 
his  brother's  hobby,  and  had  to  keep  him 
from  discussing  it  by  violent  interruptions 
so  that  he  could  himself  continue,  or 
start,  one  of  his  long  and  detailed  digres 
sions  on  obscure  information. 

As  the  two  brothers  sat  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  midwife  and  her  rival,  Dr. 
Slop,  Mr.  Shandy  made  a  rhetorical  ques 
tion  of  the  subject  of  Mrs.  Shandy's  pref 
erence  for  a  midwife  rather  than  a  male 
doctor.  Uncle  Toby  suggested  naively 
that  modesty  might  explain  her  choice. 
This  innocent  answer  led  Mr.  Shandy 
into  a  long  discussion  of  the  nature  of 
women,  and  of  the  fact  that  everything 
in  the  world  has  two  handles.  Uncle 
Toby's  innocence,  however,  always  made 
it  impossible  for  him  to  understand  such 
affairs. 

Dr.  Slop,  with  his  bag  of  tools,  finally 
arrived.  The  midwife  was  already  in 
attendance  when  he  went  up  to  see  about 
the  birth  of  the  child.  Meanwhile,  to 
pass  the  time,  Corporal  Trim  read  a  ser 
mon  aloud.  Dr.  Slop,  in  attending  Mrs. 
Shandy,  unfortunately  mistook  Tristram's 
hip  for  his  head.  In  probing  with  his 
large  forceps,  he  flattened  what  Tristram 
always  referred  to  as  his  nose.  This  mis 
take  Tristram  blamed  essentially  on  the 
affair  of  the  winding  of  the  clock  men 
tioned  earlier.  This,  and  a  later  incident 
concerning  the  falling  of  a  window  sash 


1028 


when  Tristram,  still  a  little  boy,  was 
relieving  himself  through  a  window, 
brought  about  a  problem  in  his  anatomy 
which  he  mentioned  often  in  his  story  of 
his  life. 

Between  Tristram's  birth  and  almost 
immediate  baptism,  Mr.  Shandy  enter 
tained  the  company  with  a  long  story  he 
had  translated  from  the  Latin  of  the  old 
German  writer,  Slawkenbergius,  a  tale 
telling  of  the  adventures  of  a  man  with 
an  especially  long  nose.  By  the  time  Mr. 
Shandy  had  recovered  from  the  bad  news 
of  the  accident  with  the  forceps,  and  had 
asked  about  his  child,  he  learned  that  it 
was  very  sickly  and  weak;  consequently 
he  summoned  Mr.  Yorick,  the  curate,  to 
baptize  the  child  immediately.  While 
rushing  to  get  dressed  to  attend  the  cere 
mony,  Mr.  Shandy  sent  word  to  the  par 
son  by  the  maid,  Susannah,  to  name  the 
child  Trismegistus,  after  an  ancient  phi 
losopher  who  was  a  favorite  of  Mr. 
Shandy,  Susannah  forgot  the  name,  how 
ever,  and  told  Mr.  Yorick  to  name  the 
child  Tristram.  This  name  pleased  the 
old  man  because  it  happened  to  be  his 
own  as  well.  When  Mr.  Shandy,  still 
half  unbuttoned,  reached  the  scene,  the 
evil  had  been  done.  Despite  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Shandy  thought  correct  naming 
most  important,  his  child  was  Tristram, 
a  name  Mr.  Shandy  believed  the  worst 
in  the  world.  He  lamented  that  he  had 
lost  three-fourths  of  his  son  in  his  un- 
Fortunate  gcniture,  nose,  and  name. 
There  remained  only  one  fourth — Tris 
tram's  education. 

Tristram  managed  to  give  a  partial 
account  of  his  topsy-turvy  boyhood  be 
tween  many  sidelights  on  the  characters 
of  his  family.  Uncle  Toby  continued  to 
answer  most  of  his  brother's  arguments 
by  softly  whistling  Lillibullero,  his  fa 
vorite  tune,  and  going  out  to  the  little 
battlefield  to  wage  small  wars  with  his 
servant,  Corporal  Trim.  The  next  im 
portant  event  in  the  family  was  the 
death  of  Master  Bobby,  Tristram's  older 
brother,  who  had  been  away  at  West 
minster  school.  To  this  event  Mr.  Shandy 


reacted  in  his  usual  way  by  calling  up  all 
the  philosophic  ideas  of  the  past  on 
death  and  discoursing  on  them  until 
he  had  adjusted  himself  to  the  new 
situation.  The  tragic  news  was  carried  to 
the  kitchen  staff  and  Susannah,  despite 
a  desire  to  show  grief,  could  think  of 
nothing  but  the  wonderful  wardrobe  of 
dresses  she  would  inherit  when  her  mis 
tress  went  into  mourning.  The  vision  of 
all  Mrs.  Shandy's  dresses  passed  through 
her  mind.  Corporal  Trim  well  demon 
strated  the  transitory  nature  of  life  by 
dropping  his  hat,  as  if  it  had  suddenly 
died,  and  then  making  an  extem 
poraneous  funeral  oration. 

After  many  more  digressions  on  war, 
health,  the  fashions  of  ancient  Roman 
dress,  his  father's  doubts  as  to  whether 
to  get  Tristram  a  tutor,  and  whether 
to  put  him  into  long  trousers,  Tristram 
proceeded  to  tell  the  history  of  his  Uncle 
Toby,  both  in  war  and  in  love.  Near 
Shandy  Hall  lived  the  Widow  Wadman, 
who,  after  laying  siege  to  Uncle  Toby's 
affections  for  a  long  period,  almost  got 
him  to  propose  marriage  to  her.  But  the 
gentle  ex-soldier,  who  literally  would  not 
kill  a  fly,  finally  learned  the  widow's  pur 
pose  when  she  began  to  inquire  so 
pointedly  into  the  extent  and  position 
of  his  wound.  First  he  promised  the 
widow  that  he  would  allow  her  to  put 
her  finger  on  the  very  spot  where  he  was 
wounded,  and  then  he  brought  her  a 
map  of  Namur  to  touch.  Uncle  Toby's 
innocence  balked  her  real  question  until 
Corporal  Trim  finally  told  his  master 
that  it  was  the  spot  on  his  body,  not 
the  spot  on  the  surface  of  the  world 
where  the  accident  took  place,  that  was 
the  point  of  the  Widow  Wadman's  in 
terest.  This  realization  so  embarrassed 
the  old  man  that  the  idea  of  marriage 
disappeared  from  his  mind  forever.  Tris 
tram  concluded  his  story  with  Parson 
Yorick's  statement  that  the  book  had 
been  one  of  the  cock  and  bull  variety, 
the  reader  having  been  led  a  mad,  but 
merry,  chase  through  the  satirical  and 
witty  mind  of  the  author. 


1029 


TROILUS  AND  CRISEYDE 


Type  of  work:  Poem 

Author:  Geoffrey  Chaucer  (1340M400) 

Type  of  'plot:  Chivalxic  romance 

Time  of  flot:  Trojan  War 

Locale:  Troy 

First  transcribed:  c.  1382 


Principal  characters: 

TROILUS,  young  prince  of  Troy 

CRISEYDE,  a  young  widow 

PANDARUS,  Troilus'  friend  and  Criseyde's  uncle 

DTOMEDES,  a  Greek  warrior 


Critique: 

Troilus  and  Criseyde,  the  only  long 
work  completed  by  Chaucer,  is  based  on 
the  legend  of  the  Trojan  War.  The  char 
acters,  however,  behave  in  the  best  tradi 
tion  of  the  medieval  court  of  love.  As 
an  incomparable  teller  of  tales,  and  as  a 
great  poet,  Chaucer  combined  his  two 
talents  to  produce  this  almost  perfectly 
constructed  narrative  poem.  The  effective 
depiction  of  character  and  its  develop 
ment  in  the  poem  forecast  the  shrewd 
observations  of  human  nature  made  by 
Chaucer  in  the  prologue  to  The  Canter 
bury  Tales. 

The  Story: 

Calchas,  a  Trojan  prophet,  divining 
that  Troy  was  doomed  to  defeat,  fled 
to  the  Greeks.  He  left  behind  him  his 
beautiful  daughter,  Criseyde,  a  young 
widow. 

One  day  in  April  the  citizens  of 
Troy  were  observing  the  rites  of  the 
spring  festival.  Among  those  in  the 
temple  was  Troilus,  a  younger  son  of 
King  Priam  of  Troy.  Troilus,  scornful 
of  the  Trojan  swains  and  their  love- 
sickness  at  this  season,  saw  Criseyde  for 
the  first  time  and  fell  deeply  in  love 
with  her.  Sick  with  the  love  malady  he 
had  always  scorned,  Troilus  invoked  the 
god  of  love  to  have  pity  on  him.  Feeling 
that  he  had  no  hope  of  winning  Criseyde, 
he  became  the  scourge  of  the  Greeks  on 
the  battlefield. 

Pandarus,  friend  of  Troilus,  offered 
his  advice  and  help  when  he  learned 
that  Troilus  had  lost  his  heart  to  a  beauti 


ful  Trojan.  When  Troilus  at  length  dis 
closed  that  his  lady  was  the  fair  Criseyde, 
Pandarus  offered  to  become  a  go-between, 
a  service  he  was  well  able  to  perform 
since  he  was  Criseyde's  uncle. 

Pandarus  called  on  his  niece  to  gossip 
with  her.  They  discussed  Priam's  sons 
and  Pandarus  praised  the  bravery  of 
Troilus.  Subtly  he  disclosed  to  Criseyde 
that  young  Troilus  was  dying  for  love 
of  her.  Criseyde,  suspecting  that  the 
intentions  of  neither  Troilus  nor  Pan 
darus  were  honorable,  cried  out  in  dis 
tress  at  this  information,  but  Pandarus 
soon  convinced  her  that  Troilus'  love 
was  pure.  She  felt  herself  drawn  to  the 
prince  when  she  beheld  his  modesty  as 
he  rode  past  her  house  after  a  day  of 
battle  outside  the  walls  of  Troy.  She 
decided,  after  much  inner  turmoil,  that 
it  would  not  be  dishonorable  to  show 
friendship  to  Troilus  in  order  to  save 
the  young  man's  life. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Pandarus,  Troilus 
wrote  a  letter  to  Criseyde.  Impressed, 
she  wrote  a  restrained  letter  in  return. 
When  Troilus,  wishing  to  be  with 
Criseyde,  soon  tired  of  this  correspond 
ence,  Pandarus  arranged  a  meeting  by 
asking  Deiphobus,  brother  of  Troilus,  to 
invite  the  pair  to  his  house  for  dinner. 
After  the  dinner  Criseyde  gave  the 
miserable  prince  permission  to  be  in  her 
service  and  to  adore  her. 

Pandarus,  eager  to  bring  about  a  pri 
vate  meeting  of  the  lovers,  studied  the 
stars  and  decided  on  a  night  which 
would  be  propitious  for  their  tryst.  He 


1030 


invited  Criseyde  to  dine  with  him  on  that 
evening.  Troilus  was  already  hidden  in 
his  house.  As  the  lady  prepared  to  take 
her  leave,  it  began  to  rain  and  Pandarus 
persuaded  her  to  stay.  So  through  Pan- 
dams'  wiles  the  lovers  were  brought  to 
gether.  After  yielding,  Criseyde  gave 
Troilus  a  brooch  as  a  token  of  their  love. 

About  that  time  a  great  battle  was 
fought  between  the  Greeks  and  the 
Trojans  and  several  of  the  Trojan  leaders 
were  captured.  In  an  exchange  of 
prisoners  Calchas  persuaded  the  Greeks 
to  ask  for  Criseyde  in  return  for  Antenor, 
a  Trojan  warrior.  The  Trojan  parlia 
ment,  after  much  debate,  approved  of 
the  transaction.  Fleeter,  another  brother 
of  Troilus,  argued  that  Criseyde  should 
remain  in  Troy,  but  without  success. 
Troilus  was  in  despair,  and  Criseyde  pre 
pared  to  be  separated  from  her  lover, 

Pandarus  brought  the  lovers  together 
secretly  after  plans  for  the  exchange  had 
been  made.  Criseyde,  broken-hearted, 
told  the  prince  that  their  separation 
would  not  be  for  long,  and  that  she 
would  remain  faithful  to  him. 

Troilus    and    his   party   accompanied 


Criseyde  to  the  place  appointed  for  the 
exchange.  There  they  met  Antenor  and 
conducted  him  to  Troy,  while  Diomedes, 
a  young  Greek  warrior,  led  Criseyde  away 
to  the  Greek  camp.  Troilus  returned  to 
Troy  to  await  the  passing  of  ten  days,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  Criseyde  had 
promised  she  would  return.  But 
Diomedes  had  seduced  the  fair  Criseyde 
by  the  tenth  day.  She  gave  him  a  brooch 
she  had  received  from  Troilus  at  their 
parting;  Diomedes  gave  her  a  horse  he 
had  captured  from  Troilus  in  battle. 

After  several  weeks  of  anxious  wait 
ing,  Troilus  wrote  to  Criseyde.  She 
answered  him,  avowing  weakly  her  love 
for  him  and  saying  that  she  would  return 
to  Troy  at  the  earliest  opportunity, 
Troilus,  sensing  that  something  was 
amiss,  grieved.  One  day  he  saw  the 
brooch  which  he  had  given  Criseyde  on  a 
piece  of  armor  taken  from  Diomedes  on 
the  battlefield.  Knowing  that  Criseyde 
had  forsaken  him  for  another,  Troilus 
sought  out  and  fought  Diomedes  inde 
cisively  many  times.  Eventually  the  un 
happy  Troilus  was  killed  by  mighty 
Achilles. 


TWENTY  THOUSAND  LEAGUES  UNDER  THE  SEA 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author.    Jules  Verne  (1828-1905) 

Type  of  plot:    Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:   1866-1867 

Locales    The  Seven  Seas 

First  published,:  1870 

Principal  characters; 

PROFESSOR  PIERRE  ARONNAX,  a  French  scientist 

CONSEIJL,  his  servant 

NED  LAJNT>,  his  friend  and  companion 

CAPTAIN  NEMO,  captain  of  the  Nautilus 

Critique: 

Many  writers  have  had  vivid  and 
penetrating  imaginations  which  permitted 
them  to  speculate  about  things  to  come. 
Jules  Verne  was  one  of  these,  and  his 
book  is  in  the  tradition  that  has  given 
us  Utopian  stories  of  revealed  discoveries 
and  inventions  yet  to  occur.  In  this  in 
stance  Verne  was  really  prophetic.  The 
submarine  and  most  of  the  inventions 


conceived  by  Captain  Nemo  have  be 
come  realities.  Books  of  this  nature  are 
seldom  great,  but  they  are  always  in 
teresting. 

The  Story: 

In  different  parts  of  the  ocean,  a 
number  of  ships  had  sighted  a  mysterious 
monster,  gleaming  with  light,  such  as  no 


1031 


man  had  ever  seen  before.  After  this 
monster  had  attacked  and  sunk  several 
vessels,  people  all  over  the  world  were 
both  amazed  and  alarmed.  Finally  an 
American  frigate,  the  Abraham  Lincoln, 
was  fitted  out  to  track  down  and  destroy 
the  mysterious  sea  creature.  Among  its 
passengers  was  Pierre  Aronnax,  Pro 
fessor  of  Natural  History  in  the  Museum 
of  Paris,  who  had  published  his  opinion 
that  the  monster  was  a  giant  narwhal. 
One  of  the  crew  was  Ned  Land,  an 
expert  harpooner.  For  quite  a  while 
the  ship  sailed  without  sighting  anything 
even  remotely  resembling  the  reported 
terror  of  the  seas. 

The  creature  was  sighted  at  last.  When 
an  opportunity  presented  itself,  Ned 
Land  threw  his  harpoon,  but  the  mon 
ster  was  uninjured  and  Land  realized 
that  it  was  protected  by  a  thick  steel-like 
armor.  During  a  pursuit  in  the  dark 
ness,  a  terrific  explosion  rocked  the  ship. 
Professor  Aronnax,  Ned  Land,  and  Con- 
seil  found  themselves  floundering  in  the 
water.  Aronnax  fainted.  Regaining  con 
sciousness,  he  discovered  that  they  were 
aboard  some  sort  of  underwater  craft. 
Later  two  men  came  to  greet  them.  The 
survivors  from  the  ship  spoke  to  them 
in  various  languages,  but  the  men  ap 
peared  not  to  understand.  Then  the 
captain  of  the  vessel  appeared  and  spoke 
to  them  in  French.  He  revealed  that 
his  name  was  Nemo,  that  the  vessel  was 
a  submarine,  that  they  were,  in  effect, 
prisoners  who  would  have  every  liberty 
aboard,  except  on  occasions  when  they 
would  receive  orders  to  retire  to  their 
cabins. 

The  submarine  Nautilus,  Aronnax 
learned,  had  been  built  in  a  complicated 
manner.  Parts  of  it  had  been  secured 
from  various  places  and  secretly  assem 
bled  on  a  desert  island.  Then  a  fire 
had  been  set  to  destroy  all  traces  of  the 
work  done  there.  The  ship  manufactured 
its  own  electricity,  had  provisions  for 
quantities  of  oxygen  which  allowed  it 
to  remain  submerged,  and  was  as  com 
fortable  as  any  home.  All  food  came 


from  the  ocean.  There  was  fish,  but 
fish  such  as  Aronnax  had  never  before 
tasted.  There  was  clothing  made  from 
some  sort  of  sea  fibres.  There  were 
cigars,  not  of  tobacco  but  of  a  special 
seaweed.  Captain  Nemo  showed  them 
air  guns  which  allowed  him  and  the 
crew  to  go  hunting,  as  well  as  a  device 
that  permitted  the  crew  to  walk  the 
ocean  floor. 

In  the  Pacific,  Captain  Nemo  invited 
the  three  survivors  to  a  hunt  in  the 
marine  forest  of  Crespo,  where  Ned 
Land  saved  Captain  Nemo's  life  by 
killing  a  creature  which  was  about  to 
put  an  end  to  the  captain.  Later,  the 
captain  saved  Land's  life.  In  Ceylon 
they  watched  the  pearl  divers  in  the 
oyster  beds.  There  Nemo  saved  an 
Indian  from  the  jaws  of  a  shark. 

Off  the  coast  of  Borneo  the  three  sur 
vivors  decided  to  go  ashore  in  the  hope 
of  bagging  some  land  game.  While  they 
were  hunting,  they  were  attacked  by 
natives.  Although  they  managed  to  get 
back  to  the  Nautilus,  the  savages  re 
mained  clustered  about  the  ship.  Aron 
nax  was  alarmed,  certain  that  the  natives 
would  board  the  submarine  when  the 
hatches  were  opened  for  oxygen  the 
next  morning.  He  took  his  problem  to 
Captain  Nemo,  who  was  not  at  all 
worried.  Instead  he  told  the  professor 
about  an  eighteenth-century  ship  that 
had  sunk  with  a  full  cargo  of  gold.  The 
next  morning,  when  the  hatches  were 
opened,  the  natives  did  try  to  come 
aboard,  but  the  few  who  touched  the 
rails  let  out  a  shriek  and  retreated  in 
terror.  Ned  Land  touched  the  rail  and 
was  paralyzed  with  shock;  the  rail  was 
electrified. 

The  captain  announced  suddenly  thai 
he  would  enter  the  Mediterranean. 
Aronnax  supposed  that  he  would  have 
to  circle  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  To 
his  astonishment,  he  learned  that  the 
captain  had  discovered  a  passage  under 
the  Isthmus  of  Suez.  The  submarine 
entered  the  Mediterranean  through  the 
underwater  passage. 


1032 


On  one  occasion  the  three  companions 
were  ordered  to  go  to  their  cabins.  Some 
sort  of  encounter  occurred,  and  later 
Aronnax  was  called  upon  to  treat  a  crew 
member  who  had  been  injured.  When 
the  sailor  died,  he  was  buried  in  a  coral 
forest  on  the  ocean  floor.  By  that  time 
the  survivors  had  discovered  that  Cap 
tain  Nemo  had  a  tremendous  fortune 
in  gold  salvaged  from  sunken  vessels. 
Although  the  captain  had  some  mysteri 
ous  hatred  against  society,  he  neverthe 
less  used  the  money  to  benefit  his  un 
fortunate  fellow  men. 

Ned  Land  grew  to  dislike  the  captain 
very  much.  He  told  Aronnax  that  he 
would  escape  as  soon  as  an  opportunity 
presented  itself.  They  thought  such  an 
opportunity  had  come  when  they  rounded 
Spain,  but  their  plan  did  not  materialize. 
When  they  came  close  to  Long  Island, 
they  thought  the  time  for  escape  had 
come.  But  a  sudden  hurricane  blew  the 
ship  off  its  course,  toward  Newfound 
land. 

On     another    occasion     the    captain 


astonished  them  by  heading  toward  the 
South  Pole.  There  the  ship  was  en 
dangered  by  an  iceberg,  and  for  several 
days  passengers  and  crew  were  in  danger 
of  their  lives.  Escaping,  they  headed 
northward.  As  the  Nautilus  approached 
the  coast  of  Norway,  it  was  suddenly 
drawn  into  the  notorious  maelstrom,  the 
deathtrap  for  so  many  ships.  Shortly 
before,  the  submarine  had  encountered 
a  mysterious  ship  which  had  attacked  it, 
The  submarine  succeeded  in  sinking 
the  unknown  vessel.  Aronnax  believed 
that  in  this  incident  there  was  a  clue 
to  Captain  Nemo's  hatred  of  society. 

The  professor  never  knew  what 
actually  happened  after  the  Nautilus  was 
drawn  into  the  maelstrom.  When  he 
awoke,  he  and  his  companions  were  safe 
and  sound  on  a  Norwegian  island.  They 
also  had  no  idea  how  they  had  reached 
the  island.  They  were  the  only  men 
who  now  knew  the  secrets  of  the  ocean 
— if  Captain  Nemo  and  his  crew  had 
perished. 


TWO  YEARS  BEFORE  THE  MAST 


Type  of  work:  Record  of  travel 

Author:  Richard  Henry  Dana,  Jr.  (1815-1882) 

Type  of  plot;  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  plot:  1834-1836 

Locale:  California  and  the  high  seas 

First  published:  1840 

Principal  character: 

RICHARD  HENRY  DANA,  JR. 

Critique: 

The  author  wrote  this  realistic  account 
of  the  life  of  a  common  sailor  to  make 
the  public  aware  of  the  hardships  and 
injustices  to  which  American  sailors  were 
subjected.  In  his  narrative,  chiefly  in  the 
form  of  a  journal,  Dana  explains  life  at 
sea  at  great  length.  The  book  also  re 
veals  much  about  life  in  Spanish  Cali 
fornia  in  the  early  nineteenth  century. 
Dana  was  a  careful  observer,  and  his 
story  has  the  ring  of  authenticity  through 
out. 


The  Story: 

In  August,  1834,  Richard  Henry 
Dana,  Jr.,  shipped  aboard  the  brig 
Pilgrim  out  of  Boston  for  a  voyage  to 
California.  He  went  as  an  ordinary  sea 
man,  hoping  to  relieve  his  eye  trouble 
by  the  journey;  upon  his  return  he 
planned  to  reenter  Harvard  College. 

Since  Dana  was  a  completely  green 
hand,  he  was  forced  to  bunk  in  the 
steerage  instead  of  in  the  forecastle  with 
the  other  sailors.  At  first  his  duties  were 
confusing,  doubly  so  during  the  first 


1033 


two  days,  for  he  was  violently  seasick. 
But  he  soon  found  his  sea  legs  and 
quickly  learned  shipboard  routine.  He 
and  his  companions  were  kept  busy  all 
day  cleaning  and  repairing  the  ship.  At 
night  they  took  turns  standing  watch. 

The  voyage  was  uneventful  until 
October,  when  the  Pilgrim  passed  near 
the  mouth  of  the  River  Plate.  Here 
Dana  encountered  his  first  real  storm  at 
sea.  The  weather  then  began  to  get 
cold,  and  all  the  crew  prepared  to  round 
Cape  Horn. 

The  seas  at  the  Horn  were  high,  and 
they  encountered  snow  and  hail.  Every 
one's  clothing  was  perpetually  wet.  By 
the  middle  of  November  the  ship  rounded 
the  Horn  and  headed  northward. 

The  first  mishap  of  the  voyage  occurred 
soon  afterward,  when  a  young  sailor  was 
swept  overboard.  A  boat  lowered  to 
search  for  him  found  no  trace  of  the  lost 
man.  Following  the  custom  of  the  sea, 
the  captain  auctioned  off  the  dead  man's 
clothing. 

Near  the  end  of  November  the  brig 
made  the  island  of  Juan  Fernandez  and 
dropped  anchor  for  the  first  time  since 
her  departure  from  Boston.  Dana  was 
glad  to  see  land  and  managed  to  get 
on  shore  for  a  short  time.  As  soon  as 
the  ship  had  taken  on  water,  however,  it 
weighed  anchor  and  headed  for  Cali 
fornia. 

Shortly  after  Christmas  Dana  was 
acknowledged  by  the  crew  to  be  ex 
perienced  enough  to  move  into  the  fore 
castle  with  them.  Now  he  was  a  real 
seaman. 

By  the  middle  of  January  the  Pilgrim 
made  her  first  California  port  at  Santa 
Barbara.  There  Dana  learned  that  his 
work  for  the  next  year  would  be  loading 
cattle  hides  into  the  ship.  The  sailors 
carried  the  stiff,  undressed  hides  out 
through  the  surf  on  their  heads  and  de 
posited  them  in  a  boat.  Then  the  crew 
of  the  boat  took  the  hides  to  the  ship  and 
stowed  them  away. 

The  Pilgrim  next  sailed  northward  to 
Monterey  with  some  passengers.  At  that 


port  Mexican  customs  officers  inspected 
the  cargo.  Then  the  company  agent 
aboard  the  ship  set  up  a  store  in  order 
to  trade  with  the  townspeople.  The  crew 
was  kept  busy  on  a  shuttle  service  be 
tween  ship  and  shore.  Because  he  had 
some  knowledge  of  languages,  Dana 
became  the  interpreter  for  the  Pilgrim, 
and  he  was  sent  ashore  on  errands  which 
required  a  knowledge  of  Spanish.  In 
this  way  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
town  and  its  people.  He  found  the 
Spaniards  to  be  pleasant  but  lazy,  with 
most  of  the  trade  carried  on  by  foreigners. 
Everyone  owned  horses;  they  were  so 
numerous  that  the  price  of  a  fine  animal 
was  very  low. 

When  business  began  to  fall  off,  the 
Pilgrim  returned  to  Santa  Barbara.  There 
the  crew  again  began  the  work  of  collect 
ing  catde  hides  from  shore.  At  the  time 
trouble  was  brewing  aboard  the  ship. 
Captain,  mate,  and  crew  were  all  at  odds. 
One  day  the  captain  began  to  flog  a  sailo 
unjustly;  when  one  of  his  shipmates  stood 
up  for  him,  the  captain  flogged  the  second 
sailor  also.  The  sailors  were  angry,  but 
they  had  no  higher  power  to  which  they 
could  appeal,  for  the  captain's  word  was 
law.  Her  hold  filled  with  hides,  the 
Pilgrim  sailed  for  San  Diego. 

In  San  Diego,  Dana  got  his  first 
shore  lenve.  After  drinking  for  a  time 
with  the  rest  of  the  crew,  he  and  a 
friend  hired  horses  and  rode  to  a  nearby 
mission,  where  they  were  able  to  get  a 
good  Mexican  meal,  a  welcome  change 
£rom  the  salt  beef  served  aboard  ship. 

The  undressed  hides  were  unloaded 
from  the  Pilgrim  and  placed  in  a  large 
shed  on  the  beach,  where  they  were  to 
be  dressed  and  stored  until  enough  hides 
had  been  collected  for  the  voyage  home. 
Just  as  the  ship  had  finished  unloading 
and  was  ready  to  set  sail,  a  man  deserted 
ship.  After  an  unsuccessful  search,  the 
brig  put  to  sea  without  him. 

The  Pilgrim  took  on  more  hides  at 
San  Pedro  and  then  continued  on  to 
Santa  Barbara.  It  was  the  Lenten  season, 
and  Dana  saw  the  celebrations  ashore. 


1034 


The  ship  gathered  more  hides  at  several 
places  and  returned  to  San  Diego.  After 
the  hides  had  been  unloaded,  the  captain 
sent  Dana  and  another  man  ashore  to 
assist  with  the  dressing  of  the  hides. 
Then  the  ship  sailed  northward  on  an 
other  coastal  voyage. 

Dana  became  acquainted  with  some 
Sandwich  Islanders  who  lived  on  the 
beach  and  worked  with  him;  he  found 
them  to  be  generous  men  and  true 
friends.  Some  of  his  spare  time  he  spent 
reading  books  and  studying  navigation. 
Each  day  he  had  to  perform  a  certain 
amount  of  work  on  a  certain  number  of 
hides,  which  had  to  be  cleaned,  soaked 
in  brine,  scraped,  dried,  beaten,  and  then 
stored  away. 

When  the  ship  Alert  arrived  at  San 
Diego,  Dana,  anxious  to  be  at  sea  again, 
exchanged  places  with  a  boy  aboard  the 
ship.  The  Alert  belonged  to  the  same 
company  as  the  Pilgrim;  she  was  to  take 
aboard  the  hides  collected  by  the  brig 
and  carry  them  to  Boston.  The  Pilgrim 
was  not  to  sail  for  home  until  later.  The 
two  vessels  had  exchanged  captains,  and 
Dana  was  under  the  same  master  as  be 
fore.  However,  the  first  mate  of  the 
Alert  was  a  good  officer,  and  Dana  found 
conditions  much  more  pleasant  in  his 
new  berth. 

Loading  hides,  the  Alert  moved  up  and 
down  the  coast  for  several  months.  In 


the  middle  of  November,  1835,  she  left 
Santa  Barbara  with  some  passengers 
bound  for  Monterey.  However,  such  a 
gale  came  up  that  the  ship  could  not 
put  in  at  Monterey  but  went  on  up  the 
coast  to  San  Francisco. 

The  ship  then  continued  working  up 
and  down  the  coast  until  there  were 
enough  hides  at  San  Diego  to  make  her 
full  cargo.  In  May  she  headed  south 
ward  for  Cape  Horn. 

Rounding  the  Horn  on  the  return 
journey  was  even  worse  than  on  the  way 
out.  Dana  became  sick  with  a  toothache 
at  the  time  he  was  needed  most  on  deck. 
For  days  everyone  had  to  work  extra  hours 
because  of  the  danger  from  icebergs. 
Finally,  however,  the  Alert  got  clear  of 
the  ice  and  ran  before  a  strong  wind 
around  the  Horn. 

Once  the  ship  entered  the  Atlantic 
tropics,  the  weather  was  fair  except  for 
occasional  violent  storms.  Some  of  the 
men  began  to  come  down  with  the 
scurvy,  but  they  were  soon  cured  after 
the  crew  obtained  fresh  vegetables  from 
a  passing  ship. 

On  September  21,  1836,  the  Alert 
anchored  in  Boston  harbor.  Hurriedly 
the  crew  performed  their  last  duties  in 
bringing  her  to  the  wharf.  Within  five 
minutes  after  the  last  rope  had  been 
made  fast,  not  one  of  the  crew  was  left 
aboard. 


TYPEE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Herman  Melville  (1819-1891) 

Type  of  floti  Adventure  romance 

Time  of  ^lot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Marquesas  Islands 

First  published:  1846 

Principal  characters: 

HERMAN  MELVILLE  (TOM),  an  American  sailor 

TOBY,  his  friend 

MEHEVI,  chief  of  the  Typees 

KORY-KORY,  a  native  servant 

FAYAWAY,  a  native  girl 

MARNOO,  a  native  taboo  man 
Critique; 

Typee    is   a    fictionized   narrative   of      Melville.  Although  most  of  the  narrative 
actual    adventures    of    young    Herman      is  based  upon  the  capture  and  escape  of 

1035 


Tom  and  Toby,  much  of  the  hook  is 
devoted  to  a  description  of  the  life  of 
the  Typee  cannibals.  In  spite  o£  its  some 
what  antiquated  style,  the  book  makes 
fascinating  reading.  Typee  has  historical 
interest  because  it  is  the  first  romance  of 
the  South  Seas. 

The  Story: 

The  whaler  Dolly  had  been  long  at 
sea,  and  the  men  were  discontented 
and  restless  when  the  captain  finally 
gave  orders  to  put  in  at  Nukuheva,  one 
of  the  Marquesas  Islands.  This  was  the 
chance  Tom  and  Toby,  two  young  sailors, 
had  been  waiting  for.  Even  though  the 
natives  of  the  island  were  known  to  be 
cannibals,  Tom  and  Toby  deserted  the 
ship  and  fled  inland,  planning  to  hide 
until  the  Dolly  sailed.  Then  they  hoped 
to  sign  aboard  another  ship  where  they 
would  get  better  treatment. 

Tom  and  Toby  began  their  flight  with 
only  a  few  biscuits  for  food.  On  the 
first  night  away  from  the  ship  Tom 
contracted  some  disease  which  caused  his 
leg  to  swell,  and  he  was  in  much  pain. 
Nevertheless,  he  and  Toby  went  on.  At 
last,  when  their  food  was  all  gone,  they 
realized  that  they  could  stay  alive  only 
by  giving  themselves  up  to  one  of  the 
savage  tribes  that  inhabited  the  island. 

They  discovered  too  late  that  the 
natives  to  whom  they  surrendered  them 
selves  were  the  Typee  tribe,  the  most 
ferocious  cannibals  on  Nukuheva.  Tom 
and  Toby  were  treated  with  respect, 
however,  and  were  given  food  and  com 
fortable  quarters.  All  the  natives  came 
to  see  the  strangers.  Mehevi,  the  king  of 
the  Typees,  appointed  Kory-Kory  as  per 
sonal  servant  to  Tom.  The  captives 
went  to  live  in  the  home  of  Tinor,  Kory- 
Kory 's  mother.  Mehevi  had  a  medicine 
man  examine  Tom's  swollen  leg,  but  the 
native  remedies  had  no  effect  on  the 
disease. 

Tom,  unable  to  walk,  spent  most  of 
his  time  reclining  in  the  house  while 
Kory-Kory  attended  to  his  needs.  A 
beautiful  young  maiden,  Fayaway,  was 


also  his  constant  companion.  She,  among 
all  the  Typees,  seemed  to  understand  the 
painful  situation  of  the  two  captives. 

Toby  convinced  the  Typees  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  return  to  the  main 
harbor  on  the  island  to  seek  medical 
aid  for  Tom.  On  the  trail  he  was  at 
tacked  by  hostile  warriors  from  a  neigh 
boring  tribe,  and  he  returned  to  the 
Typees  with  an  ugly  head  wound. 

A  few  days  later  Toby  discovered  a 
boat  offshore.  He  was  allowed  to  go 
down  by  the  beach,  but  Tom  was  de 
tained  in  his  house.  Toby  promised  to 
bring  medical  aid  to  Tom  within  three 
days.  But  the  three  days  passed  without 
the  return  of  Toby.  Tom  could  learn 
nothing  from  the  natives;  he  realized 
that  now  he  was  the  single  captive  of  the 
Typees.  Somewhat  recovered,  he  was 
allowed  to  roam  almost  at  will  within 
the  country  of  the  Typees.  But  he  was 
always  accompanied  by  Kory-Kory;  there 
was  no  chance  for  escape. 

As  Tom's  leg  improved,  he  began  to 
indulge  in  the  pleasures  allowed  him  and 
to  observe  the  native  life  with  interest. 
The  Typees  seemed  to  exist  in  a  per 
petual  state  of  happiness,  interrupted 
only  by  skirmishes  with  neighboring 
tribes. 

One  of  Tom's  greatest  pleasures  was 
to  paddle  a  canoe  about  a  small  lake  in 
company  with  Fayaway.  For  the  privilege 
of  taking  Fayaway  with  him  he  had  to 
ask  special  permission,  since  entering  a 
canoe  was  ordinarily  taboo  for  a  woman. 
One  day  a  handsome  stranger  ap 
peared  among  the  Typees  bearing  news 
from  other  parts  of  the  island.  He  was 
Marnoo,  a  taboo  man,  who  was  free  to 
go  among  all  the  tribes  without  harm. 
When  Tom  learned  that  Marnoo  knew 
English,  he  asked  the  native  to  help 
him  escape.  This  Marnoo  could  not  do 
for  fear  of  arousing  the  anger  of  the 
Typees. 

The  daily  life  of  the  natives  was  ex 
tremely  regular.  Each  morning  they 
bathed  and  ate  breakfast.  After  the  meal 
they  smoked  their  pipes.  The  rest  of 


1036 


the  morning  they  spent  sleeping,  con 
versing,  or  doing  odd  jobs  about  their 
houses.  The  men  often  spent  the  after 
noon  in  the  large  meeting  house  of 
Mehevi;  there  they  relaxed  and  joked  in 
a  sort  of  bachelors'  club.  Before  the  eve 
ning  meal  they  bathed  again.  After  the 
meal  the  young  girls  entertained  the  rest 
with  dancing.  Everyone  retired  at  an 
early  hour. 

Tom  was  present  at  the  Feast  of  the 
Calabashes.  It  seemed  to  have  some 
religious  significance,  but  most  of  the 
time  was  spent  in  eating  and  drinking. 
During  the  two  days  of  the  festival  Tom 
decided  the  natives  did  not  take  their 
religion  seriously.  They  possessed  many 
idols  not  treated  with  any  high  degree 
of  respect.  The  most  universal  religious 
observance  was  that  of  tattooing;  every 
one  was  tattooed  upon  the  face,  even 
the  women.  The  bodies  of  some  of  the 
men  were  completely  covered  with  intri 
cate  designs. 

Since  the  men  outnumbered  the 
women  in  the  tribe,  the  women  often 
had  two  or  three  husbands.  But  the  men 
never  had  more  than  one  wife.  All  in 
the  tribe  seemed  happy  with  the  various 
aspects  of  their  social  organization.  Pri 
vate  property  was  limited  to  household 
goods,  food  was  common  property.  All 
understood  and  followed  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  tribe;  there  were  never 
disputes  among  the  Typees. 

One  day  a  battle  was  fought  between 
the  Typees  and  a  neighboring  tribe.  After 
ward  the  bodies  of  the  dead  enemies 
were  taken  to  the  ceremonial  feasting 
place.  For  the  next  day  or  two  Tom  was 
not  allowed  to  leave  the  vicinity  of  his 
house.  lie  suspected  that  the  Typees 
were  making  a  meal  of  their  dead 


enemies.  Later  he  discovered  the  re 
mains  of  the  meal  and  found  that  he  was 
correct,  though  the  Typees  denied  they 
were  cannibals. 

A  few  days  later  Marnoo  again  ap 
peared  among  the  Typees.  This  time  he 
told  Tom  to  try  to  escape  by  means  of 
the  same  path  by  which  he  left.  Tom  was 
unable  to  leave  the  village,  however,  for 
Kory-Kory  kept  close  watch  on  him  day 
and  night. 

Not  many  days  after  Marnoo  had  left, 
the  Typees  excitedly  announced  the  ap 
proach  of  a  boat.  Tom  argued  with  the 
natives  and  finally  persuaded  them  to  let 
him  go  to  the  beach.  He  had  some  dif 
ficulty  in  getting  there,  since  his  leg 
had  begun  to  swell  again. 

At  the  beach  Tom  found  a  boat  from 
an  Australian  ship  standing  just  outside 
the  surf.  Marnoo  had  told  the  Australian 
captain  of  Tom's  trouble,  and  he  had 
sent  a  boat  loaded  with  presents  to  obtain 
Tom's  release.  The  Typees,  however, 
had  no  wish  to  release  their  captive.  In 
desperation,  Tom  broke  away  from  the 
guard  which  had  been  placed  around 
him  and  plunged  into  the  surf.  He 
managed  to  reach  the  boat,  and  the 
sailors  pulled  away  from  shore. 

Thus  ended  Tom's  captivity  among 
the  Typees.  His  only  regret  was  in  leav 
ing  the  faithful  Kory-Kory  and  the 
beautiful  Fayaway. 

Many  years  later  Tom  again  met  Toby 
and  learned  from  him  that  he  had  in 
tended  to  return  to  the  aid  of  his  in 
jured  friend,  but  he  had  been  tricked  into 
boarding  a  vessel  which  sailed  from 
Nukuheva  the  following  day.  It  was 
only  long  after  Toby  had  given  Tom 
up  for  lost  that  the  two  friends  learned 
of  each  other's  fate  after  their  separation. 


THE  UGLY  DUCHESS 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author;  Lion  Feuchtwanger  (1884-1958) 

Type  of  ylot:   Historical  clironicle 

Time  of  plot:   Fourteenth  century 

Locale:  Central  Europe 

First  published:    1926 


1037 


Principal  characters: 
DUCHESS 
PRINCE  JOHANN,  her  husband 
CHRETIEN  BE  LAFEKTE,  aide  to  Prince  Johann 
MARGRAVE  KARL  LUDWIG,  Margarete's  second  husband 
PRINCE  MEESTHARD,  Margarete's  son 
KONRAD  VON  FRAUENBERG,  Margarete's  adviser 
AGNES  VON  FLAVON,  Margarete's  rival 
Critique: 

Although  this  historical  novel  relies 
mainly  on  interesting  events  to  keep  the 
story  going,  the  characters  are  well  de 
veloped  and  credible.  To  some  readers, 
however,  the  book  may  seem  confusing, 
because  the  plot  is  complicated  by  the 
rivalries  of  various  monarchs  and  the 
political  situations  of  the  fourteenth  cen 
tury.  In  spite  of  these  difficulties,  the 
character  ol  the  ugly  duchess  gives  the 
novel  a  proper  center  at  all  times. 


The  Story: 

Heinrich,  King  of  Bohemia,  Dulce  of 
Carinthia,  and  Count  of  Tyrol,  was  an 
important  person  to  three  people — King 
John  of  Luxemburg,  Albert  of  Austria, 
and  Ludwig  of  Wittelshach.  Though 
most  of  the  Icing's  hereditary  territory 
had  long  been  taken  by  others,  the 
Tyrol  and  other  lands  he  still  owned  were 
valuable.  The  three  rival  monarchs 
sought,  by  various  means,  to  control 
them  in  order  to  extend  their  respective 
empires. 

John  of  Luxemburg  persuaded  Hein 
rich  to  agree  that  his  daughter,  Princess 
Margarete,  should  marry  John's  son, 
Prince  Johann  of  Luxemburg,  and  that 
Princess  Margarete  should  be  declared 
Heinrich's  heir.  It  was  not  likely  that 
Heinrich  himself  should  have  another 
heir,  despite  the  fact  that  his  wife, 
Princess  Beatrix,  was  still  young. 

Princess  Margarete  and  Prince  Johann 
were  married  in  childhood.  At  the  wed 
ding  feast,  Margarete  took  a  fancy  to 
the  prince's  page,  Chretien  de  Laferte, 
and  insisted  that  he  be  made  a  knight. 
Johann  refused,  but  Margarete  had  her 
way  when  the  prince's  father  agreed. 


Margarete  was  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  ugliest  women  ever  born.  To  com 
pensate  for  her  lack  of  charm,  she  con 
centrated  upon  becoming  a  good  ruler 
and  achieving  power.  Always  she  had  to 
be  vigilant  against  the  encroachments  of 
other  nations,  even  against  her  own 
barons  and  nobles,  who  were  despoiling 
the  land.  When  her  father  died  and 
John  of  Luxemburg  was  killed  in  battle, 
she  and  Johann  were  the  joint  heirs  of 
their  principalities,  but  it  was  Margarete 
who  ruled,  governing  so  cleverly  that 
her  fame  spread  throughout  Europe. 

She  and  Chretien  had  become  close 
friends.  When  Heinrich's  mistress  died, 
she  left  three  daughters.  One  of  these, 
Agnes  von  Flavon,  appealed  to  Mar 
garete  and  Johann  to  be  permitted  to 
retain  the  two  fiefs  which  Heinrich  had 
granted  her  mother.  Johann  was  will 
ing,  but  the  princess  declared  that  one 
of  the  estates  should  go  to  Chretien. 
When  a  group  of  barons,  including  her 
illegitimate  brother,  Albert,  plotted  to 
drive  the  Luxemburgers  from  the  coun 
try,  Margarete  consented  to  the  revolt 
and  urged  that  Chretien  be  made  leader 
of  the  rebels.  Then  Johann  informed 
Margarete  that  Agnes  was  to  marry 
Chretien.  Margarete  sent  anonymous 
letters  telling  of  the  planned  revolt,  and 
the  rebellion  was  put  down.  Chretien's 
head  was  sent  to  her  by  Johann,  who  did 
not  know  that  Margarete  herself  had  re 
vealed  the  conspiracy. 

A  Jew  named  Mendel  Hirsch  came  to 
the  castle  to  ask  for  permission  to  settle 
in  the  Tyrol.  Margarete  granted  his 
petition  and  the  country  prospered  from 
the  industry  and  crafts  which  the  Jews 


THE  UGLY  DUCHESS  by  Lion  Feuchtwanger.     Translated  by  Wills   and   Edwin   Muir.     By   permission  of 
:he  publishers,  The  Viking  Press,  Inc.     Copyright,   1928,  by  The  Viking  Press,  Inc. 


1038 


brought  to  the  area.  Mendel  Hirsch  be 
came  her  confidant.  Meanwhile  another 
rebellion  was  brewing.  Jacob  von 
Schenna,  a  friend  from  her  youth, 
brought  the  news  of  die  plot  to  Marga- 
rete.  She  consented  to  it  listlessly,  for  her 
spirit  had  been  broken  because  of  a 
pogrom  which  resulted  in  the  death  of 
Hirsch  and  the  other  Jews.  When  Prince 
Johann  returned  to  the  castle,  he  found 
it  barred  to  him.  Margarete  had  their 
marriage  annulled. 

Margarete  and  Margrave  Karl,  son  of 
Emperor  Ludwig,  were  married.  As  a 
result,  Luxemburgers  close  to  the  Pope 
influenced  the  pontiff  to  excommunicate 
Margarete  and  Karl  and  to  place  the 
land  under  an  interdict.  John's  son  was 
elected  Holy  Roman  Emperor  in  place 
of  the  excommunicated  Ludwig.  The 
years  that  followed  were  not  happy  ones, 
and  plagues  and  destructive  fires  ravaged 
the  country.  Margarete  was  blamed  be 
cause  the  people  thought  these  visita 
tions  a  punishment  for  her  illegal  mar 
riage.  She  and  Karl  had  a  son,  Prince 
Meinhard,  who  grew  up  easy-going  and 
not  intelligent.  Conditions  of  the  coun 
try  were  so  perilous  that  Margarete,  in 
an  effort  to  secure  money,  entered  into 
an  agreement  with  Albert  of  Austria, 
who  promised  financial  assistance  in  re 
turn  for  a  treaty  by  which  Tyrol  should 
go  to  Austria  if  she  died  without  heirs. 

In  the  meantime  Prince  Johann  wished 
to  remarry.  Accordingly,  he  went  to 
Margarete  and  made  an  agreement  with 
her.  When  a  new  Pope  was  elected,  the 
marriage  of  Margarete  and  Karl  was 
solemnized  and  Prince  Meinhard  was 
declared  their  rightful  heir.  Later  the 
interdict  was  lifted  and  church  bells 
pealed  as  services  were  resumed. 

One  day,  as  the  margrave  was  setting 
out  on  a  trip,  Konrad  von  Frauenberg, 
Margarete's  unscrupulous  adviser,  went 
to  her  to  say  goodbye  and  hinted  that 
his  death  might  occur  at  any  moment 
since  Karl  detested  him.  But  it  was  the 
margrave  who  died,  mysteriously  poi 
soned,  leaving  Margarete  the  undisputed 


ruler  of  the  principality.  Then  Prince 
Meinhard  and  another  young  prince 
formed  the  Arthurian  Order,  which  pil 
laged  the  community.  Later  the  order 
was  put  down,  but  Prince  Meinhard 
stayed  in  Munich,  the  pawn  of  a  rival 
prince.  Agnes  von  Flavon  was  also  in 
Munich  and  plotting  against  Margarete. 

At  the  castle  a  group  led  by  Konrad 
von  Frauenberg  had  organized  a  council 
for  the  control  of  the  state.  Margarete 
wanted  her  son  back,  sure  that  her  posi 
tion  would  be  stronger  if  he  could  be 
married  to  an  Austrian  princess.  Von 
Frauenberg  went  to  Munich  and  after 
some  time  succeeded  in  persuading 
Prince  Meinhard  to  return  home.  But 
as  they  were  crossing  the  mountains,  von 
Frauenberg  pushed  Meinhard  off  a  cliff. 
He  told  the  pursuers  that  the  prince's 
death  had  been  an  accident. 

Agnes  von  Flavon  returned  to  Tyrol, 
where  she  was  promptly  imprisoned  by 
Margarete.  Tried  for  crimes  against  the 
state,  she  was  convicted.  Margarete  in 
sisted  that  Agnes  be  executed,  but  the 
council  refused  to  pass  the  death  sen 
tence.  Balked,  Margarete  was  willing  to 
free  Agnes  if  the  prisoner  would  acknowl 
edge  her  crimes  against  die  state,  promise 
to  plot  no  more,  and  leave  Tyrol  Agnes, 
believing  that  Margarete  would  not  ordei 
her  execution,  refused.  A  few  days  later 
Konrad  von  Frauenberg  slipped  into  her 
cell  and  poisoned  Agnes. 

Her  funeral  took  place  on  the  same 
day  that  Prince  Meinhard  was  buried. 
All  the  nobles  and  barons  went  to  Agnes' 
funeral;  no  one  went  to  that  of  the 
prince.  Even  in  death  Agnes  had  won. 
A  few  days  later  Margarete  was  called 
upon  to  honor  her  agreement  with 
Austria.  Accordingly,  she  signed  a  proc 
lamation  to  the  effect  that  her  territories 
were  now  the  property  of  the  Austrian 
duke.  Then  Margarete  went  into  exile, 
to  spend  the  rest  of  her  days  in  a  peasant's 
hut.  A  greedy,  ugly  old  woman,  she 
sniffed  hungrily  whenever  she  smelled 
fish  cooking  for  dinner. 


1039 


ULYSSES 


Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  James  Joyce  (1882-1941) 

Type  of  fat:   Psychological  realism 

Time  of  fat:  June  16,  1904 

Locale:    Dublin 

First  yuHlisheci:    1922 


Principal  characters: 

STEPHEN  DEDALUS,  a  young  Irish  writer  and  teacher 
BUCK  MULLIGAN,  a  medical  student 
LEOPOLD  BLOOM,  a  Jewish  advertising  salesman 
MARION  TWEEDY  BLOOM  (MOLLY),  his  wife 
BLAZES  BOYLAN,  Mrs.  Bloom's  lover 


Critique: 

Ulysses  is  an  attempt  at  the  complete 
recapture,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  in  fiction, 
ot  the  life  of  a  particular  time  and  place. 
Ine  scene  is  Dublin,  its  streets,  homes, 
shops  newspaper  offices,  pubs,  hospitals, 
brothels,  schools.    The  time  is  a  single 
day  in  1  904.  A  continuation  of  the  story 
ot  btepnen  Dedalus  as  told  in  A  For- 
trait  of  the  Artist  as  a  Young  Man,  the 
novel    is    also    a    series    of    remarkable 
Homeric  parallels,  the  incidents,  charac- 
ters,  and  scenes  of  a  Dublin   day  cor- 
responding    to    those    of   the    Odyssean 
myth.  Leopold  Bloom  is  easily  recogniz- 
able  as  Ulysses;  Molly  Bloom,  his  wife, 
as   Fenelope,    and  Dedalus   himself   as 
Telemachus,  son  of  Ulvsses—  in  Joyce's 
novel  Blooms  spiritual  son.    The  book 
is   written   in   a  variety    of   styles   and 
techniques,    the   most   important   being 
the  stream  of  consciousness  method  by 
which  Joyce  attempts  to  reproduce  not 
only  the  sights,  sounds,  and  smells  of 
Dublin,  but  also  the  memories,  emotions, 
and  desires  of  his  people  in  the  drab 
modern  world  .  Ulysses  is  the  most  widely 
discussed  novel  of  our  time,  the  most 
influential  for  technique  and  style. 

The,  Story: 

tt^V    A/T  n-  i     , 

Buck    Mulligan    mounted    the    stairs 

MnSf         T'          ^T1  t0  Shave 

1904  A°L  that^™§  ?£  J™  |6> 
1904.  A  moment  later  Stephen  Dedalus 
came^the  stairhead  and  stood  looking 


out  over  Dublin  Bay.  When  Mulligan 
spoke  of  the  sea  glinting  in  the  morn 
ing  sunlight,  Stephen  had  a  sudden 
vision  of  his  own  mother,  to  whose 
deathbed  he  had  been  called  back 
from  Paris  a  year  before.  He  re 
membered  how  she  had  begged  him  to 
pray  for  her  soul  and  how  he,  rebelling 
against  the  churchly  discipline  of  his 
boyhood,  had  refused. 

After  breakfast  Stephen  and  Mulligan 
went  off  with  Haines,  a  young  English 
man  who  also  lived  in  the  old  tower. 
In  spite  of  the  Englishman's  attempts  to 
be  friendly,  Stephen  disliked  Haines, 
who  was  given  to  night-long  drunken 
sprees.  Stephen  felt  that  his  own  life 
was  growing  purposeless  and  dissolute 
through  his  association  with  Mulligan 
and  other  medical  students. 

Stephen  was  a  teacher.  Because  it  was 
a  half-holiday  at  school,  the  boys  were 
resdess.  One  of  his  pupils  was  unable 
to  do  his  simple  arithmetic  problems, 
and  in  the  boy  Stephen  saw  for  a  mo 
ment  an  image  of  his  own  awkward 
youth.  He  was  relieved  when  he  could 
dismiss  the  class. 

Later  he  walked  alone  on  the  beach. 
He  thought  of  literature  and  his  student 
days,  of  his  unhappiness  in  Dublin,  his 
lack  of  money,  his  family  sinking  into 
poverty  while  his  shabby-genteel  father 
made  his  daily  round  of  the  Dublin 
pubs.  He  saw  the  carcass  of  a  dead  doe 

o 


<*  the  publish'»>  *«*»  House,   lac.     Copyright,    1914.    1918, 


10*0 


rolling  in  the  surf.  Stephen  remembered 
how  a  dog  had  frightened  him  in  his 
childhood;  he  was,  he  thought  wryly, 
not  one  of  the  Irish  heroes. 

Meanwhile  Leopold  Bloom  had  crawled 
out  of  hed  to  prepare  his  wife's  break 
fast.  He  was  a  Jewish  advertising  sales 
man,  for  sixteen  years  the  patient,  un 
complaining  husband  of  Marion  Tweedy 
Bloom,  a  professional  singer  of  mediocre 
talent.  He  was  vaguely  unhappy  to 
know  that  she  was  carrying  on  an  affair 
with  Blazes  Boylan,  a  sporting  Irish 
man  who  was  managing  the  concert  tour 
she  was  planning. 

Munching  his  own  breakfast,  Bloom 
read  a  letter  from  his  daughter  Milly, 
who  was  working  in  a  photographer's 
shop  in  Mullingar.  Her  letter  reminded 
Bloom  of  his  son  Rudy,  who  had  died 
when  he  was  eleven  days  old.  Bloom 
read  Milly's  letter  again,  wondering 
about  a  young  student  his  daughter 
mentioned.  For  a  moment  he  was  afraid 
that  Milly  might  grow  up  like  her 
mother. 

Bloom  set  out  on  his  morning  walk.  At 
the  post-office  he  stopped  to  pick  up  a 
letter  addressed  to  Henry  Flower,  Esq., 
a  letter  from  a  woman  who  signed  her 
self  Martha.  Bloom,  unhappy  at  home 
and  under  another  name,  was  carrying 
on  a  flirtation  by  mail.  Idly  he  wandered 
into  a  church  and  listened  to  part  of  the 
mass.  Later  he  joined  a  party  of  mourners 
on  their  way  to  the  funeral  of  an  old 
friend,  Paddy  Dignam,  who  had  died 
suddenly  of  a  stroke.  During  the  service 
Bloom  watched  Father  Coffey.  He 
thought  again  of  little  Rudy  and  of  his 
own  father,  a  suicide. 

The  day's  business  for  Bloom  was  a 
call  at  a  newspaper  office  to  arrange  for 
the  printing  of  an  advertisement.  While 
he  was  there,  Stephen  Dedalus  also  came 
to  the  office.  The  two  men  saw  each 
other,  but  they  did  not  speak. 

Leaving  the  newspaper  building, 
Bloom  walked  across  the  O'Connell 
bridge.  He  met  Mrs,  Breen  and  gave  her 
an  account  of  Dignam's  funeral.  She 


told  him  that  Mrs.  Purefoy  was  in  the 
maternity  hospital  in  Holies  Street.  Bloom 
walked  on,  watching  the  sights  of  Dub 
lin  on  a  summer  day.  At  last  he  entered 
Davy  Byrne's  pub  and  ordered  a  cheese 
sandwich.  Later  he  went  to  the  National 
Library  to  look  at  some  newspaper  files. 
There  Stephen,  flushed  with  the  drinks 
he  had  taken  at  lunch,  was  expounding 
to  Buck  Mulligan  and  some  literary 
friends  his  own  ingenious  theory  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  and  the  second-best 
bed  of  Shakespeare's  will.  Again  Bloom 
and  Stephen  saw  one  another  but  did  not 
speak. 

Bloom  went  to  the  Ormond  Hotel  for 
a  late  lunch.  Blazes  Boylan  came  into 
the  bar  before  he  went  off  to  keep  an 
appointment  with  Molly. 

Late  in  that  afternoon  Bloom  got  into 
a  brawl  in  a  pub  where  the  talk  was  all 
about  money  Blazes  Boylan  had  won  in 
a  boxing  match.  Escaping  from  the 
jeering  crowd,  Bloom  walked  along  the 
Sandymount  shore  and  in  the  dimming 
twilight  watched  young  Gertie  Mac- 
Dowell.  The  moon  rose.  Bloom  decided 
to  stop  by  the  hospital  to  ask  about  Mrs. 
Purefoy.  As  he  walked  slowly  along 
the  strand  a  cuckoo-clock  struck  nine 
in  a  priest's  house  he  was  passing.  Bloom 
suddenly  realized  that  he  had  been 
cuckolded  again,  while  he  sat  dreaming 
his  amorous  fantasies  on  the  Dublin 
beach. 

At  the  hospital  he  learned  that  Mrs. 
Purefoy 's  baby  had  not  yet  been  born. 
There  he  saw  Stephen  Dedalus  again, 
drinking  with  Buck  Mulligan  and  a 
group  of  medical  students.  Bloom  was 
disturbed  to  find  the  son  of  his  old 
friend,  Simon  Dedalus,  in  that  ribald, 
dissolute  company. 

Bloom  went  with  the  medical  students 
to  a  nearby  pub,  where  Stephen  and  Buck 
Mulligan  began  a  drunken  argument 
over  the  possession  of  the  key  to  the 
old  tower.  When  the  group  broke  up 
Stephen  and  one  of  the  students  went 
on  to  a  brothel  in  the  Dublin  slums, 
Bloom  following  them  slowly.  All  were 


1041 


drunk  by  that  time.  Bloom  had  a  dis-  his  breakfast  in  the  morning, 
torted,  lurid  vision  of  his  wife  and  Blazes  Molly  Bloom  lay  awake  thinking  oi 
Boylan  together.  Stephen,  befuddled,  Blazes  Boylan.  She  thought  of  the 
thought  that  his  dead  mother  suddenly  mysteries  of  the  human  body,  of  people 
appeared  from  the  grave  to  ask  him  again  she  had  known,  of  her  girlhood  at  a  mili- 
to  pray  for  her  soul.  Running  headlong  tary  post  on  Gibraltar.  She  considered 
into  the  street,  he  was  knocked  down  in  the  possibility  that  Stephen  Dedalus 
a  scuffle  with  two  British  soldiers.  Bloom  might  come  to  live  with  her  and  her  hus- 
took  Stephen  home  with  him.  Stephen,  band.  Stephen  was  a  writer,  young,  re- 
exhausted  by  his  wild  night,  remained  fined,  not  coarse  like  Boylan.  She  heard 
silent  and  glum  while  Bloom  talked  a  far,  shrill  train  whistle.  She  recalled 
about  art  and  science.  Bloom  had  begged  the  lovers  she  had  had,  Bloom's  court- 
him  to  spend  the  night,  to  leave  Mulligan  ship,  their  years  together,  the  rose  she 
and  his  wild  friends  and  come  to  live  with  wore  in  her  hair  the  day  Bloom  had 
the  Blooms,  but  Stephen  refused.  The  asked  her  to  marry  him  as  they  stood 
bells  of  St.  George's  Church  were  ring-  close  under  a  Moorish  arch.  So  wake- 
ing  as  he  walked  ofi  down  the  silent  ful,  earthy  Penelope's  thoughts  flowed 
street.  on,  while  her  tawdry  Ulysses,  Bloom,  the 
Bloom  went  slowly  to  bed.  As  he  far  wanderer  of  a  Dublin  day,  snored  in 
drifted  off  to  sleep  he  told  Molly  firmly  the  darkness  by  her  side, 
that  she  was  to  get  up  and  prepare 

THE  UNBEARABLE  BASSINGTON 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Saki  (Hector  Hugh  Munro,  1870-1915) 

Type  of  plot;   Social  satire 

Time  of  'plot-.  Early  1900's 

Locale:  London 

First  published:    1912 

Principal  characters: 

COMUS  BASSINGTON,  the  "unbearable"  Bassington 

FRANCE  SCA  BASSINGTON,  his  mother 

ELAINE  DE  FRET,  an  heiress 

COURTNEY  YOUGHAL,  a  young  M.  P. 

HENRY  CREECH,  Mrs.  Bassington's  brother 

Critique: 

H.  H.  Munro,  who  wrote  under  the  the  fake  masterpiece  represents  a  typical 

pen  name  of  Saki,  belongs  to  the  tradi-  Saki  touch, 
tion  of  the  social  satirists,  including  Oscar 

Wilde  and  Evelyn  Waugh.  The  Unbear-  The  Story: 

able  Bassington  represents   the  essence  Francesca  Bassington  was  a  successful 

of  the  inimitable  Saki:  his  amusing  di-  member  of  London  society  who  was  able 

alogue,  his  skillful  use  of  poetic  figures,  to  make  a  little  money  go  a  long  way. 

his   sharp   wit.    This   short   novel   is   a  Her   greatest   interest   in    life    was   the 

brilliant  piece  of  satire,  excellent  in  its  drawing-room  in  her  small,  perfect  house 

character  studies  and  pungent  dialogue.  on  Blue  Street.  Foremost  of  her  treasures 

Though  it  has  been  said  that  the  dis-  was  a  famous  Van  der  Meulen  master- 

covery  about  the  painting  at  the  end  of  piece,  which  hung  in  the  paneled  place 

the  volume  is  an  unnecessary  feature,  of  honor  in  that  charming  room.  She  also 


1042 


had  a  son  Comus  who  presented  a 
serious  problem  to  his  mother  because  of 
his  casual  attitude  toward  life.  Francesca 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was 
only  one  solution  for  her  son's  future. 
He  must  marry  a  wealthy  girl.  Her  first 
choice  was  Emmeline  Chetrof,  who 
would  eventually  come  into  a  comfortable 
fortune  and,  most  important  of  all,  would 
upon  her  marriage  inherit  the  house  in 
which  Francesca  lived. 

During  the  time  Comus  was  at  school 
Francesca  wrote  her  son,  asking  him  to 
show  special  kindness  to  Emmeline's 
brother  Lancelot.  That  suggestion  on  the 
part  of  his  mother  caused  Comus  to  treat 
the  child  even  more  cruelly,  and  her 
plans  for  a  match  between  Comus  and 
Emmeline  Chetrof  ended  dismally. 

Two  years  later,  when  Comus  was 
turned  loose  in  his  mother's  fashionable 
world  of  Mayfair  and  Ascot,  she  per 
suaded  her  brother,  Henry  Greech,  to 
secure  a  position  for  the  young  man  as 
a  secretary  to  Sir  John  Jull,  the  governor 
of  an  island  in  the  West  Indies.  Because 
he  did  not  want  to  leave  England,  Comus 
sent  to  a  newspaper  an  article  criticizing 
Sir  John.  This  scurrilous  attack  was 
written  by  Courtney  Youghal,  a  young 
politician  whom  Comus  knew  and  ad 
mired.  Printed  over  Comus'  signature, 
it  had  the  desired,  result.  Comus  lost 
the  position  Sir  John  had  promised. 

At  a  dinner  given  by  Lady  Caroline 
Benaresq,  Francesca  Bassington  first 
learned  that  her  son  was  interested  in 
Elaine  de  Frey,  a  wealthy  girl  who  re 
sembled  a  painting  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 
At  the  same  party  Francesca  learned 
that  Courtney  Youghal  was  also  interested 
in  the  young  heiress. 

One  summer  afternoon  Elaine  de  Frey 
entertained  her  two  suitors,  Comus  and 
Courtney,  at  tea  in  her  garden,  Elaine, 
an  earnest  and  practical  young  lady,  had 
analyzed  her  suitors  carefully,  but  even 
though  she  realized  that  Comus  was 
both  frivolous  and  undependable  she 
found  herself  falling  in  love  with  him 
and  making  excuses  for  his  shortcomings. 


Courtney,  as  a  rising  member  of  Parlia 
ment,  also  interested  her  and  seemed  to 
her  practical  mind  a  better  risk  than 
Comus.  When  the  tea  was  served,  Comus 
snatched  up  a  silver  basket  containing 
the  only  bread  and  butter  sandwiches 
and  dashed  off  to  feed  the  swans.  Re 
turning  with  the  basket,  an  heirloom  of 
the  de  Frey  family,  Comus  asked  per 
mission  to  keep  it  as  a  souvenir  of  a 
delightful  tea  party.  Elaine  did  not  wish 
to  part  with  the  piece  of  silver,  but 
Comus  made  such  a  scene  that  she  finally 
gave  in  to  his  wishes. 

One  fine  June  morning  all  of  London 
society  had  turned  out  to  ride,  walk,  or 
sit  in  the  chairs  along  the  Row.  Court 
ney  Youghal  was  there  discussing  the 
theater  with  Lady  Veula  Croot.  In  a 
secluded  part  of  the  Row,  Elaine  and 
Comus  had  rented  chairs.  The  two  had 
drifted  apart  slightly  because  of  small 
unrepaid  loans  which  Comus  had  re 
quested  and  because  of  the  affair  of  the 
silver  basket.  That  morning  Comus 
again  asked  Elaine  to  lend  him  money 
— five  pounds  to  pay  a  gambling  debt. 
She  promised  to  send  him  two  pounds 
by  messenger  and  curtly  asked  to  be  ex 
cused.  He  had  hurt  her  pride  and 
alarmed  her  practical  sense  of  caution, 
As  she  was  leaving  the  Row  she  me£ 
Courtney.  Over  the  luncheon  table  they 
became  engaged. 

At  an  exhibition  at  the  Rutland  Gal 
leries  Comus  learned  of  Elaine's  engage 
ment.  Elaine  had  intended  to  write 
Comus  a  gracious  but  final  note,  but 
instead  she  went  to  call  on  her  cousin 
Suzette,  to  break  the  news  of  her  en 
gagement.  When  Elaine  returned  home 
after  her  call,  she  found  a  letter  from 
Comus  awaiting  her.  In  the  letter  he 
thanked  her  for  the  loan,  returned  the 
money,  and  promised  to  return  the  silver 
basket  in  lieu  of  a  wedding  gift. 

Francesca  Bassington  learned  of  the 
engagement,  a  blow  to  her  elaborate 
plans,  from  that  inveterate  gossip,  George 
St.  Michael.  She  informed  Comus  that 
he  must  take  a  position  in  West  Africa, 


1043 


for  which  Henry  Greech  had  made 
arrangements.  With  his  eyes  on  the 
Van  der  Meulen  masterpiece,  Comus 
asked  his  mother  if  she  could  not  sell 
something.  Mrs.  Bassington  was  fiercely 
angry  at  such  a  suggestion  and  scolded 
him  severely. 

That  night,  as  lonely  Comus  watched 
the  play  from  the  stalls  of  the  Straw 
Exchange  Theatre,  he  envied  Courtney 
and  Elaine  and  their  circle  of  friends. 
Francesca  learned  from  St.  Michael,  her 
usual  source,  that  Emrneline  Chetrof 
was  to  be  married  but  only  after  a  long 
engagement  Thus  her  beloved  house  on 
Blue  Street  was  safe  for  a  time.  Fran 
cesca  entertained  at  a  dull  dinner  party 
in  honor  of  her  son's  departure — a  party 
to  which  none  of  Comus'  friends  was 
invited. 

In  the  meantime,  Courtney  and  Elaine 
were  taking  their  wedding  trip  on  the 
continent.  During  their  honeymoon  they 
soon  discovered  that  neither  loved  the 


other,  that  the  marriage  was  not  likely 
to  be  highly  successful.  Comus  Bas 
sington,  exiled  to  West  Africa,  was  bored 
and  unhappy.  Shortly  before  Christmas 
Francesca  received  a  cablegram  saying 
that  Comus  was  dangerously  ill.  To  calm 
herself,  she  walked  in  the  park,  for  the 
first  time  realizing  how  selfish  her  love 
for  her  possessions,  especially  the  Van 
der  Meulen,  had  been.  During  the  time 
she  was  walking,  her  brother  brought 
an  eminent  critic  to  inspect  the  master 
piece.  Returning  to  the  house,  she  found 
a  cablegram  announcing  the  death  of 
Comus.  A  few  minutes  later  George 
Greech  arrived  to  inform  her  that  the 
Van  der  Meulen  masterpiece  was  not 
an  original,  but  only  a  good  copy.  While 
his  voice  buzzed  on  and  on,  Francesca 
sat  stricken  among  her  prized  pieces  of 
silver,  bronze,  and  porcelain — all  of  them 
as  beautiful  and  soulless  as  Francesca 
herself. 


UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  (1811-1896) 

Type  of  plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Kentucky  and  Mississippi 

First  published:  1852 

Principal  characters: 

UNCLE  TOM,  a  Negro  slave 

EVA  ST.  CLARE,  daughter  of  a  wealthy  Southerner 

SIMON  LEGREE,  a  planter 

ELIZA,  a  runaway  slave 

TOPSY,  a  black  imp 

Critique: 

A  sentimental  but  powerful  document 
in  the  controversy  over  slavery,  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,  or,  Life  Among  the  Lowly 
is  a  novel  whose  political  and  humani 
tarian  pleading  is  now  outdated.  The 
highly  exaggerated  Legree  and  the 
highly  exaggerated  Eva,  however,  have 
become  properties  of  the  American  imagi 
nation.  The  novel  seems  linked  to  two 
popular  traditions.  It  incorporates  all  the 
sentimental  elements  of  the  novel  of 


feeling,  and  in  its  horror  scenes  it  suggests 
the  Gothic  novels  of  Mrs.  Raddiffe  and 
Horace  Walpole. 


The  Story: 

Because  his  Kentucky  plantation  was 
encumbered  by  debt,  Mr.  Shelby  made 
plans  to  sell  one  of  his  slaves  to  his  chief 
creditor,  a  New  Orleans  slave  dealer 
named  Haley.  The  dealer  shrewdly 
selected  Uncle  Tom  as  part  payment  on 


UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN  by  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.    Published  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 


1044 


Mr.  Shelby's  debt.  While  they  were 
discussing  the  transaction,  Eliza's  child, 
Harry,  came  into  the  room.  Haley 
wanted  to  buy  Harry  too,  but  at  first 
Shelby  was  unwilling  to  part  with  the 
child.  Eliza  listened  to  enough  of  the 
conversation  to  be  frightened.  She  con 
fided  her  fears  to  George  Harris,  her 
husband,  a  slave  on  an  adjoining  planta 
tion.  George,  who  was  already  bitter 
because  his  master  had  put  him  to  work 
in  the  fields  when  he  was  capable  of 
doing  better  work,  promised  that  some 
day  he  would  have  his  revenge  upon 
his  hard  masters.  Eliza  had  been  brought 
up  more  indulgently  by  the  Shelbys  and 
she  begged  him  not  to  try  anything  rash. 

After  supper  in  the  cabin  of  Uncle 
Tom  and  Aunt  Chloe,  his  wife,  the 
Shelby  slaves  gathered  for  a  meeting. 
They  sang  songs,  and  young  George 
Shelby,  who  had  eaten  his  supper  there, 
read  from  the  Bible.  In  the  big  house 
Mr.  Shelby  signed  the  papers  making 
Uncle  Tom  and  little  Harry  the  property 
of  Haley.  Eliza,  learning  her  child's  fate 
from  some  remarks  of  Mr.  Shelby  to  his 
wife,  fled  with  her  child,  hoping  to  reach 
Canada  and  safety.  Uncle  Tom,  hear 
ing  of  the  sale,  resigned  himself  to  the 
wisdom  of  providence. 

The  next  day,  after  Haley  had  dis 
covered  his  loss,  he  set  out  to  capture 
Eliza.  However,  she  had  a  good  start. 
Moreover,  Mrs.  Shelby  purposely  delayed 
the  pursuit  by  serving  a  late  breakfast. 
When  her  pursuers  came  in  sight,  Eliza 
escaped  across  the  Ohio  River  by  jump 
ing  from  one  floating  ice  cake  to  an 
other,  young  Harry  in  her  arms. 

Haley  hired  two  slave-catchers,  Marks 
and  Loker,  to  track  Eliza  through  Ohio. 
For  their  trouble  she  was  to  be  given  to 
them.  They  set  off  that  night 

Eliza  found  shelter  in  the  home  of 
Senator  and  Mrs.  Bird.  The  senator 
took  her  to  the  house  of  a  man  known  to 
aid  fugitive  slaves.  Uncle  Tom,  however, 
was  not  so  lucky.  Haley  made  sure  Tom 
would  not  escape  by  shackling  his  ankles 
before  taking  him  to  the  boat  bound  for 


New  Orleans.  When  young  George 
Shelby  heard  Tom  had  been  sold,  he 
followed  Haley  on  his  horse.  George 
gave  Tom  a  dollar  as  a  token  of  his 
sympathy  and  told  him  that  he  would 
buy  him  back  one  day. 

At  the  same  time  George  Harris  began 
his  escape.  White  enough  to  pass  as  a 
Spaniard,  he  appeared  at  a  tavern  as  a 
gentleman  and  took  a  room  there,  hoping 
to  find  before  long  a  station  on  the 
underground  railway. 

Eliza  was  resting  at  the  home  of 
Rachel  and  Simeon  Halliday  when 
George  Harris  arrived  in  the  same 
Quaker  settlement. 

On  board  the  boat  bound  for  New 
Orleans,  Uncle  Tom  saved  the  life  of 
young  Eva  St.  Clare,  and  in  gratitude 
Eva's  father  purchased  the  slave.  Eva 
told  Tom  he  would  now  have  a  happy 
life,  for  her  father  was  kind  to  every 
one.  Augustine  St.  Clare  was  married  to 
a  woman  who  imagined  herself  sick  and 
therefore  took  no  interest  in  her  daughter 
Eva.  He  had  gone  north  to  bring  back 
his  cousin,  Miss  Ophelia,  to  provide  care 
for  the  neglected  and  delicate  Eva.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  St.  Clare  plantation, 
Torn  was  made  head  coachman. 

Meanwhile  Loker  and  Marks  were  on 
the  trail  of  Eliza  and  George.  They 
caught  up  with  the  fugitives  and  there 
was  a  fight  in  which  George  wounded 
Loker.  Marks  fled,  and  so  the  Quakers 
who  were  protecting  the  runaways  took 
Loker  along  with  them  and  gave  him 
medical  treatment. 

Unused  to  lavish  Southern  customs, 
Miss  Ophelia  tried  to  understand  the 
South.  Shocked  at  the  extravagance  of 
St.  Clare's  household,  she  attempted  to 
bring  order  out  of  the  chaos,  but  she 
received  no  encouragement  because  the 
slaves  had  been  humored  and  petted  too 
long.  Indulgent  in  all  things,  St.  Clare 
was  indifferent  to  the  affairs  of  his  family 
and  his  property.  Uncle  Tom  lived  an 
easy  life  in  the  loft  over  the  stable.  He 
and  little  Eva  became  close  friends  with 
St.  Clare's  approval.  Sometimes  St.  Clare 


1045 


had  doubts  regarding  the  institution  of 
slavery,  and  in  one  of  these  moods  he 
bought  an  odd  pixie-like  child,  Topsy, 
for  his  prim  New  England  cousin  to 
educate. 

Eva  grew  more  frail.  Knowing  that  she 
was  about  to  die,  she  asked  her  father 
to  free  his  slaves,  as  he  had  so  often 
promised.  After  Eva's  death  St.  Clare 
began  to  read  his  Bible  and  to  make 
plans  to  free  all  his  slaves.  He  gave 
Topsy  to  Miss  Ophelia  legally,  so  that 
the  spinster  might  rear  the  child  as  she 
wished.  Then  one  evening  he  tried  to 
separate  two  quarreling  men.  He  received 
a  knife  wound  in  the  side  and  died  shortly 
afterward.  Mrs.  St.  Clare  had  no  inten 
tion  of  freeing  the  slaves,  and  she 
ordered  Tom  sent  to  the  slave  market. 

At  a  public  auction  he  was  sold  to  a 
brutal  plantation  owner  named  Simon 
Legree.  Legree  drank  heavily,  and  his 
plantation  house  had  fallen  to  ruin.  He 
kept  dogs  for  the  purpose  of  tracking 
runaway  slaves.  At  the  slave  quarters 
Tom  was  given  his  sack  of  corn  for  the 
week,  told  to  grind  it  himself  and  bake 
the  meal  into  cakes  for  his  supper.  At 
the  mill  he  aided  two  women.  In  return 
they  baked  his  cakes  for  him.  He  read 
selections  from  the  Bible  to  them. 

For  a  few  weeks  Tom  quietly  tried 
to  please  his  harsh  master.  One  day  he 
helped  a  sick  woman  by  putting  cotton 
into  her  basket.  For  this  act  Legree 
ordered  him  to  flog  the  woman.  When 
Tom  refused,  his  master  had  him  flogged 
until  he  fainted.  A  slave  named  Cassy 
came  to  Tom's  aid.  She  told  Tom  the 
story  of  her  life  with  Legree  and  of  a 
young  daughter  who  had  been  sold  years 
before. 

Then  she  went  to  Legree's  apartment 
and  tormented  him.  She  hated  her  master 
and  she  had  power  over  him.  Legree 
was  superstitious.  When  she  talked, 
letting  her  eyes  flash  over  him,  he  felt 
as  though  she  were  casting  an  evil  spell. 


Haunted  by  the  secrets  of  his  guilty 
past,  he  drank  until  he  fell  asleep.  But 
he  had  forgotten  his  fears  by  the  next 
morning,  and  he  knocked  Tom  to  the 
ground  with  his  fist. 

Meanwhile,  far  to  the  north,  George 
and  Eliza  and  young  Harry  were  making 
their  way  slowly  through  the  stations 
on  the  underground  railway  toward 
Canada. 

Cassy  and  Emmeline,  another  slave, 
determined  to  make  their  escape.  Know 
ing  the  consequences  if  they  should  be 
caught,  they  tricked  Legree  into  think 
ing  they  were  hiding  in  the  swamp. 
When  Legree  sent  dogs  and  men  after 
them,  they  sneaked  back  into  the  house 
and  hid  in  the  garret.  Legree  suspected 
that  Tom  knew  where  the  women  had 
gone  and  decided  to  beat  the  truth  out 
of  his  slave.  He  had  Tom  beaten  until 
the  old  man  could  neither  speak  nor 
stand. 

Two  days  later  George  Shelby  arrived 
to  buy  Tom  back,  but  he  came 
too  late.  Tom  was  dying.  When  George 
threatened  to  have  Legree  tried  for 
murder,  Legree  mocked  him.  George 
struck  Legree  in  the  face  and  knocked 
him  down. 

Still  hiding  in  the  attic,  Cassy  and 
Emmeline  pretended  they  were  ghosts. 
Frightened,  Legree  drank  harder  than 
ever.  George  Shelby  helped  them  to 
escape.  Later,  on  a  river  boat  headed 
north,  the  two  women  discovered  a 
Madame  de  Thoux,  who  said  she  was 
George  Harris'  sister.  With  this  dis 
closure,  Cassy  learned  also  that  Eliza, 
her  daughter,  was  the  Eliza  who  had 
married  George  and  with  him  and  her 
child  had  escaped  safely  to  Canada. 

These  relatives  were  reunited  in 
Canada  after  many  years.  In  Kentucky 
George  Shelby  freed  all  his  slaves  when 
his  father  died.  He  said  he  freed  them 
in  the  name  of  Uncle  Tom. 


1046 


UNDER  FIRE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Henri  Barbusse  (1874-1935) 

Type  of  'plot:    Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    1914-1915 

Locale:    France 

First  published:    1917 

Principal  characters: 

VOLPATTE, 
EUDORJE, 

POTERLOO,  and 

JOSEPH  MESNIL,  French  soldiers 

Critique: 

Barbusse  ranks  in  time  with  die  first 
of  the  writers  who  deglorified  war.  To 
him  war  in  the  trenches  was  a  saga  of 
mud,  lice,  and  death.  When  they  had  to, 
the  poilus  worked  and  fought  with  a  will, 
but  anyone  who  had  a  wound  severe 
enough  for  hospitalization  was  considered 
lucky.  The  characters  have  neither  il 
lusions  nor  glamour,  but  they  do  ap 
preciate  the  necessity  of  stamping  out 
war.  To  most  of  them  the  essence  of 
war  means  killing  Germans,  but  a  few 
look  on  die  enemy  as  people  like  them 
selves.  Under  Fire  has  no  diread  of  plot; 
it  is  a  mere  series  of  incidents  with  only 
the  war  to  connect  diem.  The  merit  of 
the  book  lies  in  the  vivid  pictures  it 
presents. 


The  Story: 

High  up  in  the  mountains,  the  rich 
old  men  had  every  medical  care  at  their 
sanatorium.  When  an  obsequious  servant 
softly  told  them  that  war  had  begun, 
they  took  the  news  in  various  ways.  One 
said  France  must  win;  another  thought 
it  would  be  the  last  war. 

Far  down  on  the  plain  one  could  see 
specks,  like  ants,  hurrying  to  and  fro. 
Those  thirty  million  men,  in  their  com 
mon  misery,  held  great  power  in  their 
hands.  When  they  became  miserable 
enough,  they  would  stop  wars. 

That  morning  they  came  out  of  the 
Jugouts  to  the  sound  of  rifle  fire  and 
cannonading.  They  were  in  fantastic 


dress  against  the  cold,  the  damp,  the 
mud;  and  all  were  incredibly  dirty.  As 
they  stumbled  out  into  the  trenches,  they 
reached  inside  their  clothes  to  scratch 
their  bare  skins.  As  they  walked  along 
the  trench,  the  oozy  mud  released  each 
foot  with  a  sticky  sigh,  Bertrand's  squad, 
holding  a  secondary  trench  in  the  reserve 
line,  was  getting  ready  for  another  day. 
Lamuse,  the  ox-man,  was  puffy  around 
the  eyes;  he  had  been  on  fatigue  duty 
during  the  night. 

Three  breathless  fatigue  men  brought 
up  the  breakfast.  One  of  the  squad  asked 
what  was  in  the  cans;  the  mess  man 
merely  shrugged.  Paradis  looked  in  the 
cans;  there  were  kidney  beans  in  oil, 
bully  beef,  pudding,  and  coffee. 

Cocon  explained  to  his  neighbor  the 
arrangement  of  the  trenches,  for  Cocon 
had  seen  a  military  map  and  had  made 
some  calculations.  There  were  over  six 
thousand  miles  of  trenches  on  the  French 
side  and  as  many  more  on  the  German 
side.  The  French  front  was  only  an 
eighth  part  of  the  total  world  front. 
Just  to  daink  about  it  made  one  more 
insignificant,  and  it  was  terrible  to  im 
agine  so  much  mud.  The  only  possible 
way  to  look  at  the  whole  matter  was  to 
concentrate  on  dislodging  the  Boches  in 
the  opposite  lines. 

Tinoir  had  once  seen  a  captured  Ger 
man  officer,  a  Prussian  colonel,  who  was 
being  led  along  the  communication 
trench  when  Tirloir  kicked  him.  The 


UNDER  FIRE  by  Henri  Barbusse.    Translated   by  Fitxwater  Wray.     By   permission   of   the  publishers    E    P 
Dutton  &  Co.,  Inc.     Copyright,   1917,  by  E.  P.  Button  &  Co.,  Inc.     Renewed.   1947. 

1047 


colonel  nearly  had  a  seizure  when  he 
realized  that  a  mere  private  had  touched 
him.  The  squad  agreed  that  the  German 
officers  were  the  real  evil. 

There  was  a  disturbance  just  ahead; 
some  important  people  were  coming  to 
visit.  One  could  hear  oaths  and  grunts 
when  it  became  known  that  they  were 
civilians.  One  of  the  visitors  was  so  bold 
as  to  ask  if  the  coffee  were  good.  The 
squad  remembered  the  saying  that  win 
ning  a  war  is  certain  if  the  civilians  can 
hold  out. 

When  the  mail  came  around,  rumors 
flew  fast.  Many  were  sure  that  their 
squad  was  soon  to  be  sent  to  the  Riviera 
for  a  long  rest;  another  had  heard  they 
were  going  to  Egypt.  The  troops  stopped 
their  gossip  as  a  company  of  African 
soldiers  moved  by;  they  decided  an  attack 
had  been  planned.  The  Africans  were 
notoriously  ferocious  fighters. 

During  a  sharp  attack,  Volpatte  had 
both  of  his  ears  almost  cut  off.  At  the 
dressing  station  the  doctors  bandaged 
his  head.  Volpatte  was  happy  to  be  going 
to  the  rear,  for  at  last  he  could  rest. 
After  a  long  while  he  came  back  to  the 
trenches  with  his  ears  nicely  sewed. 
When  his  comrades  asked  him  about  the 
hospital  he  was  so  angry  he  could  scarcely 
speak.  Then  it  all  came  out;  the  hospital 
was  swarming  with  malcontents,  malin 
gerers,  and  general  shirkers.  The  worst 
were  those  assigned  to  the  hospital  for 
duty;  they  seemed  to  think  they  ran  the 
whole  war.  The  squad  soothed  Volpatte; 
let  those  who  could,  get  by  easily. 

When  the  squad  retired  for  a  brief 
rest,  they  were  billeted  in  a  village  where 
for  an  outrageous  sum  they  rented  a 
cow  shed  without  walls.  For  a  table  they 
had  a  door  on  some  boxes  and  a  plank  for 
a  bench.  But  it  was  a  wonderful  ex 
perience  to  be  above  ground  once  more. 
The  woman  who  ran  the  house  sold  them 
wine  for  twenty-two  sous,  although  the 
established  price  was  fifteen  sous  a^botde. 
Everywhere  they  went  they  heard  the 
same  story;  the  civilians  had  all  the  hard 
ships. 


Eudore  got  a  fourteen-day  leave.  His 
wife,  a  practical  person,  applied  well  in 
advance  for  a  permit  to  go  to  the  village 
of  her  husband's  people.  She  herself  ran 
a  tiny  inn  with  only  one  room,  where 
she  would  have  no  privacy  to  entertain 
her  man,  and  Eudore's  people  had  a  big 
house.  Eudore  arrived  in  his  village  after 
much  delay  with  only  seven  days  left  of 
his  furlough,  but  his  wife  was  not  there; 
her  permit  had  not  arrived.  Fearing  to 
miss  her,  he  stayed  with  his  parents  and 
waited.  Then  she  wrote  to  say  that  no 
permits  were  allowed  for  civilian  travel. 
Eudore  went  to  the  mayor  and  got  per 
mission  to  go  to  his  wife.  It  was  raining 
very  hard  when  he  got  off  the  train  to 
walk  the  several  additional  miles  to  his 
home.  On  the  way  he  fell  in  with  four 
poilus  returning  from  leave.  They 
tramped  along  together  in  the  rain  until 
they  came  to  the  inn.  But  Eudore  and 
his  wife  could  not  turn  out  the  four 
poilus  in  the  rain,  and  so  all  six  of  them 
spent  the  night  on  chairs  in  the  tiny 
room.  Early  in  the  morning  Eudore  left; 
his  furlough  was  over. 

Fraternization  with  the  Boche  was 
strictly  forbidden.  While  out  looking  for 
bodies,  Poterloo  took  a  chance  and  fell 
in  with  some  German  privates,  jolly  fel 
lows  who  offered  to  go  with  Poterloo  to  a 
nearby  Alsatian  village  so  that  he  could 
see  his  wife.  Poterloo  put  on  some  great 
boots  and  a  Boche  coat  and  followed  his 
friends  behind  the  German  lines.  They 
reached  the  village  safely.  That  night 
Poterloo  walked  twice  past  the  house 
where  his  wife  was  staying  with  rela 
tives.  Through  the  lighted  window  he 
could  see  his  wife  and  her  sister  at  dinner 
with  a  group  of  German  non-coms.  They 
were  laughing  and  eating  well.  Poterloo 
carried  Lack  to  the  trenches  a  disheart 
ening  picture  of  his  wife  laughing  up 
into  the  face  of  a  German  sergeant. 

There  were  six  Mesnil  brothers,  four 
of  them  already  killed  by  1915.  Joseph 
and  Andre"  were  pessimistic  about  their 
own  chances.  On  reconnaissance,  one 
of  Bertrand's  squad  discovered  Andre" 


1048 


propped  upright  in  a  shell  crater.  At 
first  they  were  afraid  to  tell  Joseph,  but 
he  did  not  seem  much  affected  by  the 
news.  Bertrand  was  killed.  Then  Joseph 
was  wounded  in  the  leg  and  taken  to  the 
dismal  dressing  station,  a  large  dugout. 
There  were  many  men  in  the  dugout, 
most  of  them  resigned  to  death,  all  of 
them  given  to  spiritless  discussion.  It 
was  agreed  that  to  stop  war  you  had 


to  kill  the  spirit  of  war.  That  appeared 
to  be  a  difficult  job.  It  came  as  a  new 
thought  to  some  of  them  that  they  were 
the  masses,  and  the  masses  had  die  power 
to  stop  war.  But  it  was  just  too  much  to 
do.  Many  men  thought  only  in  terms  of 
killing  Bodies.  It  hardly  mattered  any 
way.  Nearly  all  of  them  would  be  dead 
soon.  The  war  went  on. 


UNDER  TWO  FLAGS 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:   Ouida  (Marie  Louise  de  la  Ram£e,  1839-1908) 

Type  of  -plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London  and  environs,  the  continent,  Algeria 

First  published:    1867 

Principal   characters: 

THE  HONORABLE  BERTIE  CECIL,  a  young  Guardsman 

BERKELEY,  his  younger  brother 

LORJ>  ROCKINGHAM  (.TuB  SERAPH},  Bertie's  friend 

RAKE,  Bertie's  servant 

CIGARETTE,  a  French  patriot 

COLONEL  CHATEAUROY,  Bertie's  enemy 

PRINCESS  CORONA  D'AMAGTJE,  the  Seraph's  sister 

Critique: 

Under  Two  Flags  is  a  tale  written  by 
a  master  of  her  craft.  As  a  novel  it 
combines  two  popular  traditions  of  Eng 
lish  fiction,  the  adventure  and  the  senti 
mental  romance.  Ouida  was  a  widely 
read  writer  of  her  generation,  and  her 
books  are  still  popular  with  those  who 
have  a  fondness  for  a  story  of  heroic 
adventure  and  characters  of  moral  virtue. 


The  Story: 

The  Honorable  Bertie  Cecil,  of  the 
First  Life  Guards,  although  a  fashionable 
member  of  his  London  set  and  an  ad 
mirable  fellow  iii  every  other  respect, 
was  uncommonly  hard  put  to  it  for 
money.  No  money-lender  in  London 
would  accept  his  note  after  he  had  mort 
gaged  his  whole  inheritance.  In  those 
circumstances  he  depended  upon  win 
ning  a  race  with  his  six-year-old,  Forest 
King,  and  he  had  staked!  everything  on 
the  race.  Nevertheless  with  good-humored 
generosity  he  lent  his  younger  brother, 


Berkeley,  fifty  pounds.  The  following 
day  he  rode  Forest  King  to  victory  over 
a  difficult  course  and  received  the  praise 
of  his  lady,  a  fashionable  peeress  who 
had  worn  his  scarlet  and  white. 

His  father,  Lord  Royallieu,  who  lived 
in  the  same  mortgaged  splendor  that  he 
had  taught  his  sons  to  enjoy,  loved  his 
sons  with  the  exception  of  Bertie,  who 
looked  too  much  like  his  dead  wife's 
lover  and,  to  the  old  viscount's  detesta 
tion,  carried  the  dead  lover's  name.  The 
old  man  took  every  occasion  to  sneer 
at  Bertie's  extravagance,  and  one  day  re 
vealed  his  suspicions  that  Bertie  was 
really  the  son  of  Alan  Bertie, 

Bertie  was  petted  by  the  world.  Sought 
alter  by  half  the  women  in  London,  he 
carried  on  flirtations  with  many.  Lady 
Cuenevere  was  one  of  his  conquests. 
Rake,  his  valet,  was  devoted  to  him. 
Bertie  had  salvaged  Rake  from  a  bad 
affair  and  had  treated  him  as  he  treated 
others,  with  friendly  decency. 


1049 


While  he  was  disturbed  by  his  finan 
cial  affairs,  tis  head  groom  had  promised 
to  dope  Forest  King  for  a  fee.  When  it 
was  learned  that  Forest  King  had  been 
doped  before  a  race,  his  friends,  far  from 
blaming  him,  pretended  to  agree  that  the 
horse  was  merely  ill,  but  Bertie  felt 
himself  disgraced. 

While  Bertie's  best  friend,  Lord  Rock 
ingham,  known  to  his  comrades  of  the 
Guards  as  the  Seraph,  was  attempting 
to  discover  the  mystery  of  Forest  King's 
condition,  he  received  a  report  that  Ber 
tie  Cecil  had  forged  the  Seraph's  name 
to  a  note.  Bertie  could  not  deny  the 
charge,  for  the  note  had  been  pre 
sented  at  a  time  when  he  had  been 
dining  with  Lady  Guenevere.  Wishing 
to  protect  her  name  from  scandal,  Bertie 
allowed  himself  to  be  accused.  Know 
ing  that  his  brother  had  forged  the  note 
and  hoping  to  protect  Berkeley's  name 
as  well,  he  left  London  suddenly  in 
order  to  escape  arrest. 

Bertie,  accompanied  by  Rake,  made 
his  escape  on  Forest  King.  Rake  had 
discovered  that  the  groom  had  doped 
Forest  King,  and  he  had  pummeled  him 
for  it.  He  and  his  master  rode  to  a  place 
of  safety;  then  Bertie  ordered  Rake  to 
take  Forest  King  to  Lord  Rockingham. 
He  waited  in  hiding  for  a  time,  in  the 
hope  Lady  Guenevere  would  save  him  by 
telling  of  his  whereabouts  when  the 
forged  note  was  presented.  She  chose 
to  keep  silent,  however,  holding  her  rep 
utation  at  greater  worth  than  Bertie's 
name. 

At  last,  by  a  throw  of  the  dice,  Bertie 
decided  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  French 
Foreign  Legion.  The  faithful  Rake  ac 
companied  him.  Back  in  England  people 
believed  Bertie  dead  as  well  as  ruined. 
Rockingham  had  Forest  King;  the  old 
viscount  burned  Bertie's  picture. 

As  Louis  Victor,  Bertie  made  his  mark 
with  his  new  companions  in  the  Foreign 
Legion.  They  marveled  at  his  sMIl 
with  the  horses,  at  his  bravery,  at  his 
brilliance  at  dancing  or  cards.  Bertie 
was  a  veteran  Legionnaire  when  he  re 


ceived,  six  months  late,  the  news  that 
his  father  had  died  at  the  age  of  ninety. 
His  older  brother  inherited  the  title. 

Cigarette,  a  woman  of  independent 
spirit,  a  dancer  and  singer  for  the  troops, 
came  to  understand  and  like  Bertie.  She 
warned  him  against  Colonel  Chateauroy, 
who  hated  Bertie  because  of  his  gallant 
record  and  popularity,  and  asked  him 
never  to  disobey  any  of  the  colonel's 
unreasonable  commands.  Partly  because 
he  pitied  her,  Bertie  promised.  Shortly 
afterward  Cigarette  saved  Bertie's  life 
from  some  drunken  Arabs.  She  was  in 
love  with  him,  but  he  was  indifferent 
to  her. 

Bertie  spent  his  spare  time  carving 
chessmen  of  ivory  and  through  this  oc 
cupation  he  met  the  lovely  Princess 
Corona  d' Am  ague,  a  woman  who  had 
been  unhappily  married  to  a  man  in 
jured  while  saving  her  brother's  life. 
Her  husband  had  died  soon  after,  and 
the  princess  had  felt  ever  since  a  feeling 
of  responsibility  for  his  death.  Bertie 
soon  fell  in  love  with  Princess  Corona. 

Colonel  Chateauroy  made  it  clear 
that  he  would  never  permit  Bertie  to  be 
promoted  above  the  rank  of  corporal. 
Bertie  learned  that  Rake  was  purposely 
getting  himself  into  trouble  to  prevent 
his  own  promotion,  for  he  did  not  wish 
to  outrank  his  master. 

One  day,  in  an  old  English  journal, 
Bertie  read  that  his  older  brother  had 
died  suddenly  and  that  Berkeley  had  be 
come  Viscount  Royallieu. 

The  regiment  was  ordered  out.  In 
the  fighting  that  followed,  Cigarette  saved 
the  day  when  she  arrived  at  the  head  of 
a  fresh  squadron  of  cavalry.  She  found 
Bertie,  badly  wounded,  on  the  battle 
field.  In  the  tent  to  which  she  had  him 
carried,  Bertie  began  to  talk  incoherently 
while  Cigarette  sat  beside  him.  All  she 
heard  him  say  made  her  more  jealous 
of  the  princess.  She  also  learned  that 
Bertie  was  English.  No  French  person 
ever  hated  the  English  more  than  she. 
At  her  request  Bertie  was  not  told  who 
had  brought  him  back  from  the  battle- 


1050 


field  and  cared  for  him  during  his  sick 
ravings. 

Three  weeks  later  Bertie  was  startled 
when  the  Seraph  came  as  an  English 
tourist  to  visit  the  Legion  camp.  Not 
wishing  to  encounter  his  former  friend, 
Bertie  asked  for  and  received  permission 
to  carry  dispatches  through  hostile  ter 
ritory  to  another  legion  post,  With 
faithful  Rake,  he  rode  away  on  a  mis 
sion  that  meant  almost  certain  death. 
Rake  was  killed  in  an  Arab  ambush,  but 
Bertie  delivered  his  dispatches  safely. 
On  his  return  trip  he  stopped  at  a  way 
station  and  there  saw  his  brother  Berke 
ley,  who  was  one  of  a  party  of  tourists 
traveling  with  Princess  Corona.  Bertie 
gave  no  sign  of  recognition  but  spurred 
his  horse  and  rode  on. 

Berkeley  followed  Bertie.  When  he 
caught  up  with  his  older  brother,  he  re 
vealed  his  fear  that  Bertie  might  claim 
the  title.  Indifferent  to  all  except  Berke 
ley's  selfishness,  Bertie  asked  his  brother 
to  leave  Algeria  at  once. 

Shortly  afterward  he  discovered  that 
Princess  Corona  was  really  the  younger 
sister  of  the  Seraph.  She  also  became 
aware  of  Bertie's  real  name,  and  insisted 
that  he  make  himself  known  to  her 
brother.  She  begged  him  to  claim  his 
title,  but  he  refused. 

Cigarette  wont  to  Princess  Corona, 
who  requested  her  to  tell  Bertie  that  the 
Seraph  was  looking  for  his  former  friend. 


In  another  interview  with  Bertie,  the 
princess  asked  him  to  tell  his  story  and 
let  the  world  be  the  judge.  As  he  left 
her  tent  Colonel  Chateauroy  intercepted 
him  and  insulted  the  princess.  In  sudden 
rage  Bertie  struck  his  superior  officer. 
Colonel  Chateauroy  arrested  him.  Bertie 
was  sentenced  to  death. 

When  Cigarette  heard  Bertie's  fate, 
she  forced  Berkeley,  whom  she  met  ac 
cidentally,  to  acknowledge  that  Bertie 
was  in  reality  his  brother,  an  exile  for 
Berkeley's  crime,  and  the  true  heir  to 
the  estate  of  Royallieu.  She  carried  her 
story  to  a  marshal  of  France,  demanding 
that  Bertie's  honor  be  saved  even  though 
his  life  were  already  forfeited.  With  a 
stay  of  execution  signed  by  the  marshal 
she  rode  at  full  speed  to  reach  the  Legion 
camp  before  the  hour  set  for  Bertie's 
execution. 

The  Seraph,  not  Cigarette,  reached 
Bertie  first.  But  in  spite  of  the  Seraph's 
entreaties,  Colonel  Chateauroy  refused  to 
delay  the  time  of  execution. 

Cigarette  reached  the  spot  just  as  the 
volley  was  fired.  With  her  own  body 
she  took  the  bullets  intended  for  Bertie. 
She  died,  the  marshal's  order  safely  de 
livered.  A  child  of  the  army  and  a 
soldier  of  France,  she  gave  her  life  to 
save  a  comrade.  It  was  a  sacrifice  that 
Bertie  and  Princess  Corona,  happily  re 
united,  were  never  to  forget. 


U.  S.  A. 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    John  Dos  Passos  (1896-         ) 

Type  of  plot;    Social  chronicle 

Time  of  plot;    1900-1935 

Locale:  The  United  States 

First  published:    1930,  1933,  1936 
Principal   characters: 

FAINY  MCCKHARY  (MAC),  a  labor  organizer 

JANEY  WILLIAMS,  a  private  secretary 

JOE  WILLIAMS,  her  brother 

J.  WAEI)  Moonnnousfi,  a  public  relations  executive 

ELEANOR  STODDABD,  an  interior  decorator 

CHARLEY  ANDERSON,  an  airplane  manufacturer 

RICHARD  ELLSWORTH  SAVAGE,  Moorehouse's  assistant 


1051 


EVELINE  HUTCHINS,  Eleanor  Stoddard's  partner 
ANNE  ELIZABETH  TRENT  (DAUGHTER),  a  relief  worker 
BEN  COMPTON,  a  radical 
MARY  FRENCH,  a  labor  worker 
MARGO  DOWLING,  a  movie  star 


Critique: 

U.  S.  A.  is  a  collective  novel  in  the 
sense  that  it  deals  with  a  great  variety 
of  characters,  each  moving  upon  his  own 
social  level,  but  all  presented  within  the 
limits  of  a  single  novel.  The  result  is 
a  complete  cross-section  of  American  life 
covering  the  political,  social,  and  eco 
nomic  history  of  the  United  States  from 
the  beginning  of  the  century  to  the 
depression-ridden,  war-threatened  thirties. 
In  addition  to  the  life  stories  of  his 
people,  Dos  Passos  employs  three  tech 
nical  devices  to  make  his  survey  more 
complete:  the  Newsreel,  quotations  from 
newspapers,  speeches,  popular  songs; 
the  Camera  Eye,  brief  impressionistic 
sketches  from  the  author's  own  life; 
and  biographies  of  public  figures,  such 
as  radicals,  inventors,  and  statesmen 
typical  of  their  times.  No  other  writer 
has  attempted  a  wider  panoramic  view 
of  our  national  life.  The  separate  titles 
of  Dos  Passos'  trilogy  are  The  42nd 
Parallel,  Nineteen  Nineteen,  and  The 
Big  Money. 

The  Story: 

The  Spanish-American  War  was  over. 
Politicians  with  mustaches  said  that 
America  was  now  ready  to  lead  the 
world. 

Mac  McCreary  was  a  printer  for  a 
fly-by-night  publisher  in  Chicago.  Later 
he  worked  his  way  to  the  West  Coast. 
There  he  got  work  as  a  printer  in  Sacra 
mento  and  married  Maisie  Spencer,  who 
could  never  understand  his  radical  views. 
TTiey  quarreled  and  he  went  to  Mexico 
to  work  in  the  revolutionary  movement 
there. 

Janey  Williams,  growing  up  in  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.,  became  a  stenographer. 
She  was  always  ashamed  when  her  sailor 


brother,  Joe,  showed  up,  and  even  more 
ashamed  of  him  after  she  became  secre 
tary  to  J.  Ward  Moorehouse.  Of  all 
Moorehouse's  female  acquaintances,  she 
was  the  only  one  who  never  became  his 
mistress. 

J.  Ward  Moorehouse^  boyish  manner 
and  blue  eyes  were  the  secret  of  his 
success.  They  attracted  Annabelle 
Srrang,  the  wealthy  nymphomaniac  he 
later  divorced.  Gertrude  Staple,  his  sec 
ond  wife,  helped  to  make  him  a  prom 
inent  public  relations  expert.  His  shrewd 
ness  made  him  an  ideal  man  for  govern 
ment  service  in  France  during  World 
War  I.  After  the  war  he  became  one  of 
the  nation's  leading  advertising  execu 
tives. 

Because  Eleanor  Stoddard  hated  the 
sordid  environment  of  her  childhood 
her  delicate,  arty  tastes  led  her  naturally 
into  partnership  with  Eveline  Hutchins 
in  the  decorating  business,  and  eventually 
to  New  York  and  acquaintanceship  with 
J.  Ward  Moorehouse.  In  Europe  with  the 
Red  Cross  during  the  war,  she  lived 
with  Moorehouse.  Back  in  New  York 
in  the  twenties  she  used  her  connections 
in  shrewd  fashion  and  became  engaged 
to  a  member  of  the  Russian  nobility. 

Charley  Anderson  had  been  an  aviator 
in  the  war.  A  successful  invention  and 
astute  opportunism  made  him  a  wealthy 
airplane  manufacturer.  He  married  a 
wife  who  had  little  sympathy  for  his 
interest  in  mechanics.  In  Florida,  after 
a  plane  crash,  he  met  Margo  Dowling, 
an  actress.  Charley  Anderson's  series 
of  drunks  ended  in  a  grade  crossing  acci 
dent. 

Joe  Williams  was  a  sailor  who  had 
been  on  the  beach  in  Buenos  Aires.  In 
Norfolk  he  met  Delia,  who  urged  him 


U.  S.  A.  by  John  Dos  Passos.     By  permission  of  the  author  and  the  publishers,  Houghton  Mifflin  Co.     Copy 
right,  1930,  1932,  1933,  1934,  193^  1936.   1937,  by  John  Dos  Passos. 


1052 


to  give  up  seafaring  and  settle  down. 
Unable  to  hold  a  job,  he  shipped  out 
again  and  almost  lost  his  life  when  the 
ship  he  was  on  was  sunk  by  a  German 
submarine.  When  Joe  got  his  third 
mate's  license,  he  and  Delia  were  mar 
ried.  He  was  ill  in  the  East  Indies,  ar 
rested  in  New  York  for  not  carrying  a 
draft  card,  and  torpedoed  once  more 
off  Spain.  Delia  was  unfaithful  to  him. 
Treated  coldly  the  few  times  he  looked  up 
his  sister  Janey,  he  shipped  for  Europe 
once  more.  One  night  in  St.  Nazaire 
he  attacked  a  huge  Senegalese  who  was 
dancing  with  a  girl  he  knew.  His  skull 
was  crushed  when  he  was  hit  over  the 
head  with  a  bottle. 

Teachers  encouraged  Dick  Savage  in 
his  literary  talents.  During  his  teens 
he  worked  at  a  summer  hotel  and  there 
he  slept  with  a  minister's  wife  who 
shared  his  taste  in  poetry.  A  government 
official  paid  his  way  through  Harvard, 
where  Dick  cultivated  his  estheticism 
and  mild  snobbery  before  he  joined  the 
Norton-Harjes  ambulance  service  and 
went  to  Europe.  There  some  of  his  let 
ters  about  the  war  came  to  the  attention 
of  censorship  officials  and  he  was  shipped 
back  to  the  United  States.  His  former 
sponsor  got  him  an  officer's  commission 
and  he  returned  to  France.  In  Italy  he 
met  a  relief  worker  named  Anne  Eliza 
beth  Trent,  who  was  his  mistress  for  a 
time.  When  he  returned  to  the  United 
States,  he  became  an  idea  man  for 
Moorehouse's  advertising  agency. 

Eveline  Hutchins,  who  had  a  small 
artistic  talent,  became  Eleanor  Stod- 
dard's  partner  in  a  decorating  establish 
ment  in  New  York.  All  her  life  she 
tried  to  escape  from  boredom  through 
sensation.  Beginning  with  the  Mexican 
artist  who  was  her  first  lover,  she  had 
a  succession  of  affairs.  In  France,  where 
she  was  Eleanor's  assistant  in  the  Red 
Cross,  she  married  a  shy  young  soldier 
named  Paul  Johnson.  Later  she  had  a 
brief  affair  with  Charley  Anderson.  Dis 
satisfied,  she  decided  at  last  that  life 
was  too  dull  for  endurance  and  died 


from  an  overdose  of  sleeping  pills. 

Anne  Elizabeth  Trent,  known  as 
Daughter,  was  the  child  of  moderately 
wealthy  Texans.  In  New  York  she  met 
Webb  Cruthers,  a  young  anarchist. 
One  day,  seeing  a  policeman  kick  a 
woman  picketer  in  the  face,  Daughter 
attacked  him  with  her  fists.  Her  night 
in  jail  disturbed  her  father  so  much  that 
she  returned  to  Texas  and  worked  in 
Red  Cross  canteens.  Later  she  went  over 
seas.  There  she  met  Dick  Savage.  Preg 
nant,  she  learned  he  had  no  intention  of 
marrying  her.  In  Paris  she  went  on  a 
drunken  spree  with  a  French  aviator 
and  died  with  him  in  a  plane  crash. 

Benny  Compton  was  the  son  of  Jewish 
immigrants.  After  six  months  in  jail  for 
making  radical  speeches,  he  worked  his 
way  west  through  Canada.  In  Seattle 
he  and  other  agitators  were  beaten  by 
deputies.  Benny  returned  East.  One  day 
police  broke  up  a  meeting  where  he  was 
speaking.  On  his  twenty-third  birthday 
Benny  went  to  Atlanta  to  serve  a  ten- 
year  sentence.  Released  after  the  war, 
he  lived  for  a  time  with  Mary  French, 
a  fellow  traveler  in  the  party. 

Mary  French  spent  her  childhood  in 
Trinidad,  where  her  father,  a  physician, 
did  charity  work  among  the  native 
miners.  Mary,  planning  to  become  a 
social  worker,  spent  her  summers  at 
Jane  Addams'  Hull  House.  She  went 
to  Washington  as  secretary  to  a  union 
official,  and  later  worked  as  a  union 
organizer  in  New  York  City.  There 
she  took  care  of  Ben  Compton  aftei 
his  release  from  Atlanta.  While  work 
ing  with  the  Sacco-Vanzetti  Committee 
she  fell  in  love  with  Don  Stevens,  a 
fellow  party  member.  Summoned  to 
Moscow  with  a  group  of  party  leaders, 
Stevens  returned  to  New  York  with  a 
wile  assigned  to  him  by  the  party.  Mary 
went  back  to  her  committee  work  for 
laboring  men's  relief. 

Margo  Dowling  grew  up  in  a  rundown 
house  in  Rockaway,  Long  Island,  with 
her  drunken  father  and  Agnes,  her 
father's  mistress.  At  last  Agnes  left  her 


1053 


lover  and  took  Margo  with  her.  In  New 
York  Agnes  became  the  common-law  wife 
of  an  actor  named  Frank  Mandeville. 
One  day,  while  drunk,  Mandeville  raped 
the  girl.  Margo  ran  off  to  Cuba  with 
Tony,  an  effeminate  Cuban  guitar  player, 
whom  she  later  deserted.  She  was  a  cheer 
ful  companion  for  Charley  Anderson, 
who  gave  her  a  check  for  five  thousand 
dollars  on  his  deathbed.  In  Hollywood 


she  met  Sam  Margolies,  a  successful  pro 
ducer,  who  made  a  star  of  her. 

Jobless  and  hungry,  a  young  hitch 
hiker  stood  by  the  roadside.  Overhead 
droned  a  plane  in  which  people  of  the 
big  money  rode  the  skyways.  Below  the 
hitchhiker  with  empty  belly  thumbed 
cars  speeding  by.  The  haves  and  the 
have-nots — that  was  America  in  the  de 
pression  thirties. 


VANESSA 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Hugh  Walpole  (1884-1941) 

Type  of  plot:   Historical  chronicle 

Time  of  plot:    Late  nineteenth  and  early  twentieth  centuries' 

Locale:   England 

First  published:    1933 

Principal  characters: 

VANESSA  PAKJS,  daughter  of  Adam  Paris 

BENJIE.,  her  cousin  and  lover 

TOM,  Benjie's  son 

SALLY,  daughter  of  Vanessa  and  Benjie 

ELLIS,  Vanessa's  husband 


Critique: 

Vanessa,  the  last  novel  in  the  Herries 
chronicle,  brings  the  family  to  the  1930's. 
Like  its  three  predecessors,  Vanessa  is 
concerned  with  many  people  and  many 
years,  and  the  multiplicity  of  characters 
becomes  necessarily  more  marked  and 
confusing.  Although  many  readers  of 
the  novel  are  lost  in  trying  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  so  many  descendants  of  the 
earlier  Herries,  Walpole  does  accomplish 
very  well  what  appears  to  be  a  chief  aim 
— to  show  that  the  strength  of  the  Her 
ries  family  is  a  strength  of  England  and 
that  its  weakness  is  a  national  defect. 

The  Story: 

Vanessa  was  fifteen  when  her  grand 
mother,  Judith  Paris,  died.  At  the  funeral 
Adam,  her  sincere  but  unpolished  father, 
made  a  speech  which  was  admired  only 
by  Vanessa  and  her  mother,  Margaret. 
Adam  loved  his  mother  well  and  spoke 
with  too  much  sincerity.  His  numerous 


relatives  would  rather  have  heard  a 
eulogy  of  the  proud  family  of  Herries. 

At  the  funeral  Vanessa  noticed  every 
one,  and  her  beauty  made  even  the 
most  distant  relatives  notice  her.  She 
had  special  interest,  however,  for  her 
cousin  Benjie.  Already  she  knew  she 
loved  him.  Benjie  was  a  rascal  who  could 
not  fit  in  well  with  his  haughty  family. 
He  was  capable  of  hard  work  and  com 
mon  sense  for  a  while,  but  he  had  spor 
adic  fits  of  wildness.  Some  of  his  rela 
tives  believed  that  no  good  could  come 
from  Benjie's  heritage.  His  uncle  had 
killed  his  father.  One  grandfather  had 
committed  suicide.  The  other  one  was 
living  out  a  mad  dotage. 

Vanessa  also  noticed  hesitant,  stiff  Ellis 
Herries,  her  distant  cousin.  Ellis  man 
aged  to  remark  that  it  was  a  nice  day.  As 
soon  as  Vanessa  agreed,  she  ran  out — 
to  meet  Benjie. 

Adam   did  not  like  to  have  her  go 


VANESSA  'by  Hugh  Walpole     By  permission   of  the  Executors,  estate  of  Sir  Hugh   Walpole,   and  the  pub 
lishers,  Messrs.  MacMillan  &  Co.,  London.     Copyright,   1933,  by  Doubleday,  Doran  &  Co.,  Inc. 

1054 


walking  with  Benjie,  even  though  Benjie 
was  personable.  Benjie  kissed  Vanessa, 
however,  and  she  promised  to  marry  him 
when  she  grew  up.  Vanessa  was  so  good 
and  beautiful  that  Benjie  had  qualms 
about  such  a  promise.  He  told  her  the 
truth  about  his  character  and  his  wild- 
ness,  and  he  attacked  her  faith  in  God. 
But  Vanessa  resolved  to  hold  fast  to  her 
promise. 

In  1880  Vanessa  became  engaged  to 
Benjie.  Still  uneasy  about  his  unworthi- 
ness,  Benjie  agreed  that  no  one  should 
know  of  the  engagement  and  that  they 
should  not  meet  for  two  years.  Then  if 
they  still  wanted  to  do  so,  they  would 
be  married. 

In  the  meantime  Vanessa  went  to 
London  to  stay  with  her  city  cousins. 
Dressed  in  fashionable  clothes,  lovely 
Vanessa  soon  became  an  admired  belle. 
She  had  many  proposals  of  marriage,  the 
most  insistent  from  her  cousin  Ellis. 
Ellis  was  good  and  sober,  already  a  re 
spected  financier.  But  Vanessa  thought 
only  of  Benjie, 

Vanessa  returned  home  to  Fell  House 
to  care  for  her  ailing  father  and  wait 
for  the  two  years  to  end.  Then,  in  1882, 
Fell  House  burned  down  and  Adam 
perished  in  the  blaze.  Too  distraught  to 
think  of  marriage  at  that  time,  Vanessa 
put  Benjie  off.  Several  weeks  later  she 
went  to  The  Fortress  to  stay  with  Eliza 
beth,  Benjie's  mother,  and  to  await  the 
return  of  her  fiance\  When  he  did  come 
back,  Vanessa  knew  that  something  had 
happened. 

She  soon  learned  the  story.  Sometime 
before  Benjie  had  become  acquainted 
with  the  Halliday  family  and  had  been 
attracted  to  their  daughter  Marion.  After 
Adam  Paris  died,  he  went  to  visit  the 
Hallidays.  Following  an  evening  of  gaiety, 
he  went  upstairs  to  bed.  In  his  room 
he  found  Marion,  who  was  waiting  for 
him  at  the  urging  of  her  mother.  Marion 
became  pregnant,  and  she  and  Benjie 
were  married.  Without  bitterness  Va 
nessa  wished  him  a  happy  marriage  and 
went  back  to  London. 


At  the  age  of  twenty-six,  honored  as 
the  reigning  beauty  of  London  society, 
Vanessa  finally  decided  to  give  in  to  Ellis 
and  be  kind  to  him.  So  Ellis  and  Vanessa 
were  married,  and  Vanessa  became  the 
great  lady  of  highly  fashionable  Hill 
House. 

One  day,  quite  by  accident,  she  saw 
Benjie  and  his  son  Tom  at  the  Jubilee 
Celebration.  She  did  not  talk  with  him, 
but  she  did  learn  that  Marion  had  left 
Benjie  for  another  man.  After  struggling 
with  her  inclinations  for  some  time,  she 
met  Benjie  again  and  visited  with  him 
as  an  old  friend. 

Meanwhile  it  was  becoming  more  and 
more  impossible  for  her  to  live  with  Ellis. 
His  mind  was  weakening  rapidly  and  he 
had  delusions  of  persecution.  To  the 
outward  eye,  however,  he  still  was  the 
sober  financier.  One  night  he  locked 
himself  and  Vanessa  in  their  room  and 
announced  that  he  intended  to  cut  her 
throat  and  then  his  own.  She  talked  him 
out  of  the  notion,  but  she  was  afraid  of 
him  from  that  time  on. 

Then  Ellis  brought  in  two  elderly 
cousins  to  take  charge  of  the  house  and 
to  spy  on  Vanessa.  As  his  next  step  he 
engaged  an  obliging  doctor  to  interview 
his  wife.  Before  Vanessa  was  quite  aware 
of  what  was  happening,  she  learned  that 
she  was  to  be  confined  in  an  asylum  for 
the  insane.  In  her  fear  and  helplessness 
she  turned  to  Benjie  for  help.  At  last, 
when  both  were  nearing  forty  and  with 
out  benefit  of  marriage,  Vanessa  and 
Benjie  went  away  to  live  together. 

Tom,  Benjie's  son,  and  Vanessa  be 
came  great  friends,  and  for  a  time  she 
lived  a  happy  life  at  The  Fortress.  Grad 
ually  Benjie's  absences  from  home  be 
came  less  frequent,  and  sometimes  Va 
nessa  would  accompany  him  on  his  week- 
long  rambles.  On  one  occasion  they  were 
caught  in  a  storm.  Much  upset  and  ex 
hausted,  he  and  Vanessa  found  shelter 
in  a  farmhouse,  and  there  among  stran 
gers  their  daughter  Sally  was  born. 

But  the  household  at  The  Fortress  was 
soon  broken  up.  Ellis'  mind  gave  way 


1055 


:ompletely,  and  he  could  amuse  himself 
only  by  playing  with  toys.  He  cried  much 
of  the  time  for  Vanessa,  until  it  seemed 
that  he  could  not  live  long  without  her. 
At  last  Vanessa  took  Sally  to  London 
and  vowed  she  would  stay  with  Ellis 
until  he  died. 

Ironically,  Ellis  became  stronger  and 
better,  and  for  years  Benjie  could  not 
see  Vanessa.  In  fact,  Vanessa  died  before 
Ellis.  At  her  deathbed  Benjie  and  Ellis 
met  without  rancor. 

The  rest  of  the  numerous  Herries  fam 
ily  were  all  stolid,  respectable  people, 
still  pillars  of  Victorian  rectitude.  Only 
Benjie  and  Sally  were  free  and  untram- 
meled.  Sally  expected  to  marry  Arnold 
Young,  and  even  became  his  mistress 
for  a  year.  But  Arnold's  mother  objected 
to  the  marriage.  Benjie's  reputation  was 
bad,  and  Sally  herself  was  illegitimate. 
At  last  Arnold  married  another  woman. 

Benjie  continued  his  irregular  life. 
In  South  Africa  he  had  lost  an  arm 
fighting  the  Boers.  In  World  War  I,  in 
spite  of  being  over  sixty  years  old,  he 


served  with  the  Russians.  At  the  age  of 
seventy  he  was  still  brown  of  skin  and 
spare  of  body.  Sally,  too,  became  re 
spectable  and  redeemed  herself  in  the 
eyes  of  her  relatives.  At  a  social  gather 
ing  she  met  a  blind  French  veteran  who 
was  working  for  the  League  of  Nations 
in  Berlin.  She  married  him  and  went  to 
Berlin  to  aid  the  cause  ot  international 
peace.  From  that  time  on  she  rarely  saw 
her  father  or  any  other  members  of  the 
Herries  family. 

Only  Benjie,  of  all  the  Herries,  was 
still  unconventional.  After  he  was 
seventy,  he  bought  a  caravan  and  with 
one  manservant  lived  a  gipsy  life.  He 
intended  to  spend  his  last  days  going 
to  fairs  and  visiting  farm  folk.  Faith 
fully  he  did  his  setting  up  exercises  and 
took  cold  showers  out  of  doors.  The  other 
Herries  always  said  that  he  was  truly  the 
great-grandson  of  that  Francis  Herries 
who  married  Mirabell  Starr,  the  gipsy — 
lusty  old  Rogue  Herries  of  whom  the 
family  was  now  half  ashamed,  half  proud. 


VANITY  FAIR 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot;  Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  England  and  Europe 

First  published:  1847-1848 

Principal  characters: 

BECKY  SHARP,  an  adventuress 
AMELIA  SEDLEY,  her  friend 
JOSEPH  SEDLEY  (Jos),  Amelia's  brother 
RAWDON  CRAWLEY,  Becky's  husband 
Miss  CRAWLEY,  Rawdon's  wealthy  aunt 
OLD  SIR  PITT  CRAWLEY,  Rawdon's  father 
YOUNG  SIR  PITT  CRAWLEY,  Rawdon's  brother 
GEORGE  OSBOKNE,  Amelia's  husband 
CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  DOBBEST,  Amelia's  friend 

Critique: 

Vanity  Pair,  the  best  known  of 
Thackeray's  works,  has  justly  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  classics,  for  in  it  Thackeray 
has  created  characters  as  great  as  any  in 
English  literature.  Most  of  his  people  are 
not  good  people,  but  then  they  were 


not  intended  to  be.  Thackeray  shows 
that  goodness  often  goes  hand  in  hand 
with  stupidity  and  folly,  that  cleverness 
is  often  knavery.  A  cynical  story,  this 
novel  was  intended  to  expose  social 
hypocrisy  and  sham.  Although  Thack- 


1056 


eray  was  frankly  moralistic,  his  moral 
does  not  in  any  way  overshadow  a  mag 
nificent  novel  or  the  life-like  characters  he 
created. 

The  Story: 

Becky  Sharp  and  Amelia  Sedley  be 
came  good  friends  while  they  were 
students  at  Miss  Pinkerton's  School  for 
girls.  It  was  proof  of  Amelia's  good, 
gentle  nature  that  she  took  as  kincQy  as 
she  did  to  her  friend,  who  was  generally 
disliked  by  all  the  other  girls.  Amelia 
overlooked  as  much  as  she  could  the 
evidences  of  Becky's  selfishness, 

After  the  two  girls  had  finished  their 
education  at  the  school,  Becky  accom 
panied  her  friend  to  her  home  for  a 
short  visit.  There  she  first  met  Joseph 
Sedley,  Amelia's  older  brother  Jos,  who 
was  home  on  leave  from  military  serv 
ice  in  India.  Jos  was  a  shy  man,  unused 
to  women,  and  certainly  to  women  as 
designing  and  flirtatious  as  Becky.  His 
blundering  and  awkward  manners  did 
not  appeal  to  many  women,  but  Becky 
was  happy  to  overlook  these  faults  when 
she  compared  them  with  his  wealth  and 
social  position,  Amelia  innocently  be 
lieved  that  her  friend  had  fallen  in  love 
with  her  brother,  and  she  discreetly  tried 
to  further  the  romance. 

To  this  end  she  arranged  a  party  at 
Vauxhall,  at  which  Becky  and  Jos,  along 
with  Amelia  and  her  admirer,  George 
Osbome,  were  present.  There  was  a 
fifth  member  of  the  group,  Captain 
Dobbin,  a  tall,  lumbering  fellow,  also  in 
service  in  India.  He  had  long  been 
in  love  with  Amelia,  but  he  recognized 
how  much  more  suitable  for  her  was  the 
dashing  George  Osborne.  But  all  the 
maneuvering  of  the  flirtatious  Becky  and 
the  amiable  Amelia  was  not  sufficient 
to  corner  Jos,  who  drank  too  much  punch 
and  believed  that  he  had  made  a  silly 
figure  of  himself  at  the  party.  A  day 
or  soi  later  a  letter  delivered  to  the  Sedley 
household  announced  that  Jos  was  ill 
and  planned  to  return  to  India  as  soon 
as  possible. 


Since  there  was  no  longer  any  reason 
for  Becky  to  remain  with  the  Sedleys, 
she  left  Amelia,  after  many  tears  and 
kisses,  to  take  a  position  as  governess  to 
two  young  girls  at  Queen's  Crawley.  The 
head  of  the  household  was  Sir  Pitt 
Crawley,  a  cantankerous  old  man  re 
nowned  for  his  miserliness.  Lady  Craw- 
ley  was  an  apathetic  soul  who  lived  in 
fear  of  her  husband's  unreasonable  out 
bursts.  Deciding  that  she  would  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  her  timid  mistress, 
Becky  spent  most  of  her  time  ingratiating 
herself  with  Sir  Pitt  and  ignoring  her 
pupils.  Becky  also  showed  great  interest 
in  Miss  Crawley,  a  spinster  aunt  of  the 
family,  who  was  exceedingly  wealthy. 
Miss  Crawley  paid  little  attention  to  Sir 
Pitt  and  his  children,  but  she  was  fond 
of  Rawdon  Crawley,  a  captain  in  the 
army  and  a  son  of  Sir  Pitt  by  a  previous 
marriage.  So  fond  was  she  of  her  dash 
ing  young  nephew  that  she  supported  him 
through  school  and  paid  all  his  gambling 
debts  with  hardly  a  murmur. 

During  Becky's  stay,  Miss  Crawley 
visited  Sir  Pitt  only  once,  at  a  time  when 
Rawdon  was  also  present.  The  handsome 
young  dragoon  soon  fell  prey  to  Becky's 
wiles  and  followed  her  about  devotedly. 
Becky  also  took  care  to  ingratiate  hersell 
with  the  holder  of  the  purse  strings.  Miss 
Crawley  found  Becky  witty  and  charm 
ing,  and  did  not  attempt  to  disguise  her 
opinion  that  the  little  governess  was 
worth  all  the  rest  of  the  Crawley  house 
hold  put  together.  And  so  Becky  found 
herself  in  a  very  enviable  position.  Sir 
Pitt  was  obviously  interested  in  her,  as 
was  his  handsome  son.  Miss  Crawley 
insisted  that  Becky  accompany  her  back 
to  London. 

Becky  had  been  expected  to  return  to 
her  pupils  after  only  a  short  stay  with 
Miss  Crawley.  But  Miss  Crawley  was 
taken  ill  and  she  refused  to  allow  anyone 
but  her  dear  Becky  to  nurse  her.  After 
ward  there  were  numerous  other  excuses 
to  prevent  the  governess  from  returning 
to  her  duties.  Certainly  Becky  was  not 
unhappy.  Rawdon  Crawley  was  a  con- 


1057 


stant  caller,  and  a  devoted  suitor  for 
Becky's  hand.  When  the  news  arrived 
that  Lady  Crawley  had  died,  no  great 
concern  was  felt  by  anyone.  But  a  few 
days  later  Sir  Pitt  himself  appeared,  ask 
ing  to  see  Miss  Sharp.  Much  to  Becky's 
surprise,  the  baronet  threw  himself  at 
her  feet  and  asked  her  to  marry  him. 
Regretfully,  she  refused  his  offer.  She 
was  already  secretly  married  to  Rawdon 
Crawley. 

Following  this  disclosure,  Rawdon  and 
his  bride  left  for  a  honeymoon  at  Brigh 
ton.  Old  Miss  Crawley,  chagrined  and 
angry,  took  to  her  bed,  changed  her 
will,  and  cut  off  her  nephew  without 
a  shilling.  Sir  Pitt  raved  with  anger. 

Amelia's  marriage  had  also  precipitated 
a  family  crisis.  Her  romance  with  George 
had  proceeded  with  good  wishes  on  both 
sides  until  Mr.  Sedley,  through  some 
unfortunate  business  deals,  lost  most  of 
his  money.  Then  George's  snobbish 
father  ordered  his  son  to  break  his  en 
gagement  to  a  penniless  woman.  George, 
whose  affection  for  Amelia  was  never 
stable,  was  inclined  to  accept  this  paren 
tal  command.  But  Captain  Dobbin,  who 
saw  with  distress  that  Amelia  was  break 
ing  her  heart  over  George,  finally  pre 
vailed  upon  the  young  man  to  go  through 
with  the  marriage,  regardless  of  his 
father's  wishes.  When  the  couple  arrived 
in  Brighton  for  their  honeymoon,  they 
found  Rawdon  and  Becky  living  there 
happily  in  penniless  extravagance. 

Captain  Dobbin  also  arrived  in  Brigh 
ton.  He  had  agreed  to  act  as  intercessor 
with  Mr.  Osbome.  But  his  hopes  of 
reconciling  father  and  son  were  shattered 
when  Mr.  Osborne  furiously  dismissed 
Captain  Dobbin  and  took  immediate 
steps  to  disown  George.  Captain  Dobbin 
also  brought  the  news  that  the  army 
had  been  ordered  to  Belgium.  Napoleon 
had  landed  from  Elba.  The  Hundred 
Days  had  begun. 

In  Brussels  the  two  couples  met  again. 
George  Osborne  was  infatuated  with 
Becky.  Jos  Sedley,  now  returned  from 
India,  and  Captain  Dobbin  were  also 


stationed  in  that  city,  Captain  Dobbin 
faithful   attendance   upon    neglected 


in 


Amelia.  Everyone  was  waiting  for  the 
next  move  Napoleon  would  make,  but 
in  the  meantime  the  gaiety  of  the  Duke 
of  Wellington's  forces  was  widespread. 
The  Osbornes  and  Crawleys  attended  the 
numerous  balls.  Becky,  especially,  made 
an  impression  upon  military  society  and 
her  coquetry  extended  with  equal  effect 
from  general  to  private.  The  fifteenth 
of  June,  1815,  was  a  famous  night  in 
Brussels,  for  on  that  evening  the  Duchess 
of  Richmond  gave  a  tremendous  ball. 
Amelia  left  the  party  early,  broken 
hearted  at  the  attentions  her  husband 
was  showing  Becky.  Shortly  after  she 
left,  the  men  were  given  orders  to 
march  to  meet  the  enemy.  Napoleon 
had  entered  Belguim,  and  a  great  battle 
was  impending. 

As  Napoleon's  forces  approached,  fear 
and  confusion  spread  through  Brussels, 
and  many  of  the  civilians  fled  from  the 
city.  Not  so  Amelia  or  Becky.  Becky 
was  not  alarmed,  and  Amelia  refused  to 
leave  while  George  was  in  danger.  She 
remained  in  the  city  some  days  before 
she  heard  that  her  husband  had  been 
killed.  Rawdon  returned  safely  from  the 
battle  of  Waterloo.  He  and  Becky  spent 
a  gay  and  triumphant  season  in  Paris, 
where  Becky's  beauty  and  wit  gained  her 
a  host  of  admirers.  Rawdon  was  very 
proud  of  the  son  she  bore  him. 

Amelia,  too,  had  a  child.  She  had  re 
turned  to  London  almost  out  of  her  mind 
with  grief,  and  only  after  her  son  was 
born  did  she  show  any  signs  of  rallying. 

When  Becky  grew  bored  with  the 
pleasures  of  Paris,  the  Crawleys  returned 
to  London.  There  they  rented  a  large 
home  and  proceeded  to  live  well  on  noth 
ing  a  year.  By  this  time  Becky  was  a 
past  master  at  this  art,  and  so  they  lived 
on  a  grander  scale  than  Rawdon's  small 
winnings  at  cards  would  warrant.  Becky 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  nobility 
of  England,  and  had  made  a  particular 
impression  on  rich  old  Lord  Steyne.  At 
last  all  society  began  to  talk  about  young 


1058 


Mrs.  Crawley  and  her  elderly  admirer. 
Fortunately  Rawdon  heard  nothing  of 
this  ballroom  and  coffee  house  gossip. 

Eventually,  through  the  efforts  of 
Lord  Steyne,  Becky  achieved  her  dearest 
wish,  presentation  at  Court.  Presented 
along  with  her  was  the  wife  of  the  new 
Sir  Pitt  Crawley.  The  old  man  had  died, 
and  young  Sir  Pitt,  his  oldest  son  and 
Rawdon's  brother,  had  inherited  the 
tide.  Since  then  friendly  relations  had 
been  established  between  the  two 
brothers.  If  Rawdon  realized  that  his 
brother  had  also  fallen  in  love  with 
Becky,  he  gave  no  sign,  and  he  accepted 
the  money  his  brother  gave  him  with 
good  grace.  But  more  and  more  he  felt 
himself  shut  out  from  the  gay  life  that 
Becky  enjoyed.  He  spent  much  time 
with  his  son,  for  he  realized  that  the 
child  was  neglected.  Once  or  twice  he 
saw  young  George  Osborne,  Amelia's  son. 

Amelia  struggled  to  keep  her  son  with 
her,  but  her  pitiful  financial  status  made 
it  difficult  to  support  him.  Her  parents 
had  grown  garrulous  and  morose  with 
disappointment  over  their  reduced  cir 
cumstances.  At  length  Amelia  sorrow 
fully  agreed  to  let  Mr,  Osborne  take  the 
child  and  rear  him  as  his  own.  Mr.  Os- 
born  still  refused  to  recognize  the  woman 
his  son  had  married  against  his  wishes, 
however,  and  Amelia  rarely  saw  the  boy. 

Rawdon  was  now  deeply  in  debt. 
When  he  appealed  to  Becky  for  money, 
she  told  him  that  she  had  none  to  spare. 
She  made  no  attempt  to  explain  the  jew 
elry  and  other  trinkets  she  bought.  When 
Rawdon  was  imprisoned  for  a  debt,  he 
wrote  and  asked  Becky  to  take  care  of  the 
matter.  She  answered  that  she  could  not 
get  the  money  until  the  following  clay. 
But  an  appeal  to  Sir  Pitt  brought  about 
Rawdon's  release,  and  he  returned  to  his 
home  to  find  Becky  entertaining  Lord 
Steyne.  Not  long  afterward  Rawdon 
accepted  a  post  abroad,  never  to  return 
to  his  unfaithful,  designing  wife, 

Amelia's  fortunes  had  now  improved. 
When  Jos  Sedley  returned  home,  he 
established  his  sister  and  father  in  a  more 


pleasant  home.  Mrs.  Sedley  having  died, 
Jos  resolved  to  do  as  much  as  he  could  to 
make  his  father's  last  days  happy.  Captain 
Dobbin  had  returned  from  India  and 
confessed  his  love  for  Amelia.  Although 
she  acknowledged  him  as  a  friend,  she 
was  not  yet  ready  to  accept  his  love.  It 
was  Captain  Dobbin  who  went  to  Mr. 
Osborne  and  gradually  succeeded  in 
reconciling  him  to  his  son's  wife.  When 
Mr.  Osborne  died,  he  left  a  good  part  of 
his  fortune  to  his  grandson,  appointing 
Amelia  as  the  boy's  guardian. 

Amelia,  her  son,  Captain  Dobbin,  and 
Jos  Sedley  took  a  short  trip  to  the  con 
tinent.  This  visit  was  perhaps  the  happiest 
time  in  Amelia's  life.  Her  son  was  with 
her  constantly,  and  Captain  Dobbin  was 
a  devoted  attendant.  Eventually  his  de 
votion  was  to  overcome  her  hesitation  and 
they  were  to  be  married. 

At  a  small  German  resort  they  en 
countered  Becky  once  more.  After  Raw 
don  left  her,  Becky  had  been  unable  to 
live  down  the  scandal  of  their  separation. 
Leaving  her  child  with  Sir  Pitt  and  his 
wife,  she  crossed  to  the  continent.  Since 
then  she  had  been  living  with  first  one 
considerate  gentleman  and  then  another. 
When  she  saw  the  prosperous  Jos,  she 
vowed  not  to  let  him  escape  as  he  had 
before.  Amelia  and  Jos  greeted  her  in  a 
friendly  manner,  and  only  Captain  Dob 
bin  seemed  to  regard  her  with  distrust. 
He  tried  to  warn  Jos  about  Becky,  but 
Jos  was  a  willing  victim  of  her  charms. 

Becky  traveled  with  Jos  wherever  he 
went.  Although  she  could  not  get  a 
divorce  from  Rawdon,  Jos  treated  her  as 
his  wife,  and  in  spite  of  Captain  Dobbin's 
protests  he  took  out  a  large  insurance 
policy  in  her  name.  A  few  months  later 
his  family  learned  that  he  had  died  while 
staying  with  Becky  at  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
The  full  circumstances  of  his  death  were 
never  established,  but  Becky  came  into 
a  large  sum  of  money  from  his  insurance. 
She  spent  the  rest  of  her  life  on  the 
continent,  where  she  assumed  the  role 
of  the  virtuous  widow  and  won  a  reputa 
tion  for  benevolence  and  generosity. 


1059 


VENUS  AND  ADONIS 


Type  of  work:   Poem 

Author:   William  Shakespeare  (1564-1616) 

Type  of  'plot:   Mythological  romance 

Time  of  plot:   Remote  antiquity 

Locale:   Ancient  Greece 

First  published:    1593 

Principal  characters: 

VENUS,  goddess  of  love 

AJX>NIS,  a  handsome  youth  loved  by  Venus 

Critique: 

Shakespeare's  Venus  and  Adonis  gains 
most  o£  its  beauty  from  the  magnificent 
imagery  and  figurative  language  with 
which  the  poet  adorned  the  ancient  tale. 
The  sources  for  the  poem,  whether  they 
were  from  Ovid  or  more  recent  writers, 
are  unimportant,  as  the  value  of  Shakes 
peare's  version  lies  in  his  additions  and 
not  in  the  original  story.  The  discussion 
of  hunting,  the  incident  of  the  stallion 
and  the  jennet,  and  the  scenes  of  the  fox 
and  the  hare  are  among  the  beauties 
which  Shakespeare  added. 


The  Story: 

In  all  the  world  there  was  no  more 
beautiful  figure,  no  more  perfectly  made 
creature,  than  young  Adonis.  Although 
his  beauty  was  a  delight  to  the  sun  and 
to  the  winds,  he  had  no  interest  in  love. 
His  only  joy  was  in  hunting,  in  riding 
over  the  hills  and  fields  after  the  deer 
and  the  fox.  When  Venus,  the  goddess 
of  love,  saw  the  beauty  of  young  Adonis, 
she  came  down  to  earth  because  she  was 
filled  with  love  for  him. 

Meeting  him  one  morning  in  the  fields 
as  he  rode  out  to  the  hunt,  she  urged 
him  to  dismount,  tie  his  horse  to  a  tree, 
and  talk  with  her.  Adonis  had  no  desire 
to  talk  to  any  woman,  or  even  to  the 
goddess,  but  she  forced  him  to  do  as  she 
wished.  Reclining  by  his  side,  she  looked 
at  him  with  caressing  glances  and  talked 
passionately  of  the  wonder  and  glory 
of  love.  The  more  she  talked,  the  more 
she  begged  him  for  a  kind  look,  a  kiss, 
the  more  anxious  he  became  to  leave  her 
and  go  on  with  his  hunting.  But  Venus 


was  not  easily  repulsed,  and  although 
Adonis  sought  to  leave  she  urged  him 
to  stay.  She  told  him  how  even  the  god 
of  war  had  been  a  willing  prisoner  of 
her  charms,  and  she  numbered  al* ;  the 
pleasures  she  could  offer  him  if  he  would 
accept  her  love.  Blushing,  Adonis  finally 
broke  from  her  arms  and  went  to  get  his 
horse. 

At  that  moment  his  stallion  heard  the 
call  of  a  jennet  in  a  field  nearby. 
Aroused,  he  broke  the  leather  thong  that 
held  him  and  ran  to  her.  At  first  the 
jennet  pretended  to  be  cold  to  the  stal 
lion's  advances,  but  when  she  perceived 
that  Adonis  was  about  to  overtake  his 
mount,  she  gave  a  neigh  of  affection  and 
the  two  horses  galloped  away  to  another 
field.  Adonis  was  left  behind. 

Dejected,  he  stood  thinking  of  the 
hunt  that  he  was  missing  because  his 
horse  had  run  away.  Venus  came  up  to 
him  again  and  continued  her  pleas  of 
love.  For  a  while  he  listened  to  her,  but 
in  disgust  he  turned  finally  and  gave 
her  such  a  look  of  scorn  that  the  lovesick 
goddess  fainted  and  fell  to  the  ground. 
Thinking  that  with  an  unkind  look  he 
had  killed  her,  Adonis  knelt  beside  her, 
rubbed  her  wrists,  and  kissed  her  in 
hope  of  forgiveness. 

After  a  while  Adonis  rose  to  his  feet. 
Venus,  recovering  from  her  swoon,  asked 
him  for  one  last  kiss.  He  grudgingly  con 
sented  before  he  turned  to  leave.  Venus 
asked  when  she  could  meet  hiin  the 
next  day.  Adonis  replied  that  he  would 
not  see  her,  for  he  was  to  go  boar  hunt 
ing.  Struck  with  a  vision,  the  guddess 


1060 


warned  the  youth  that  he  would  be 
killed  by  a  boar  if  he  hunted  the  next 
day,  and  she  begged  him  to  meet  her 
instead.  When  she  threw  herself  on  the 
boy  and  carried  him  to  the  earth  in  her 
arms  in  a  last  attempt  to  gain  his  love, 
Adonis  admonished  the  goddess  on  the 
difference  between  heavenly  love  and 
earthly  lust.  He  left  her  alone  and 
weeping. 

The  next  morning  found  Venus  wan 
dering  through  the  woods  in  search  of 
Adonis.  In  the  distance  she  could  hear 
the  cries  of  the  dogs  and  the  voices  of 
the  hunters.  Frantic  because  of  her 
vision  of  the  dead  Adonis,  she  rushed 
through  the  forest  trying  to  follow  the 
sounds  of  the  hunt.  When  she  saw  a 


wounded  and  bleeding  dog,  the  fear  she 
felt  for  Adonis  became  almost  overpower 
ing.  Suddenly  she  came  upon  Adonis 
lying  dead,  killed  by  the  fierce  wild 
boar  he  had  hunted. 

The  grief  of  Venus  knew  no  bounds. 
If  this  love  were  taken  from  her,  then 
never  again  should  man  love  happily. 
Where  love  was,  there  also  would  mis 
trust,  fear,  and  grief  be  found. 

The  body  of  Adonis  lay  white  and 
cold  on  the  ground,  his  blood  coloring 
the  earth  and  plants  about  him.  From 
this  soil  there  grew  a  flower,  white  and 
purple  like  the  blood  that  spotted  the 
skin  of  Venus'  dead  love.  With  a  broken 
heart  Venus  left  earth  to  hide  her  sorrow 
in  the  dwelling  place  of  the  gods. 


THE  VICAR  OF  WAKEFIELD 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Oliver  Goldsmith  (1728-1774) 

Type  of  'plot:  Sentimental  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Eighteenth  century 

Locale:  Rural  England 

First 'published:  1766 

Principal  characters: 

DR.  PRIMROSE,  the  vicar  of  Wakefield 

DBBORAH,  his  wife 

GEORGE,  the  oldest  son 

SOPHIA,  the  younger  daughter 

OLIVIA,  the  older  daughter 

MR.  BURCHELL,  in  reality  Sir  William  Thornhill 

SQUIRE  THORNHILL,  Dr.  Primrose's  landlord  and  Olivia's  betrayer 

ARABELLA  WILMOT,  betrothed  to  George 

Critique: 

Buried  in  the  rationalism  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  a  strain  of 
idealism  and  sentimentality  which  is 
clearly  expressed  in  The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field.  In  this  novel  the  interplay  of  the 
ideal  and  the  real  present  a  simple, 
lovable  character  in  his  struggle  to  main 
tain  his  ideals.  Goldsmith's  material  can 
not  be  said  to  be  original,  but  his  wit  and 
gentle  candor  are  his  own.  For  these 
qualities  he  has  been  loved  by  many 
readers. 


The  Story: 
Dr.  Primrose  and  his  wife,  Deborah, 


were  blessed  with  five  fine  children,  of 
whom  the  two  daughters,  Olivia  and 
Sophia,  were  remarkable  for  their  beauty. 
The  Primrose  family  lived  in  a  quiet  rural 
community,  where  they  enjoyed  both 
wealth  and  good  reputation.  The  oldest 
son,  George,  fell  in  love  with  Arabella 
Wilmot,  daughter  of  a  neighbor,  and 
the  two  families  made  mutual  prepara 
tions  for  the  wedding.  Before  the  wed 
ding,  however,  Dr.  Primrose  and  Miss 
Wilmot's  father  quarreled  over  die  ques 
tion  of  a  man's  remarrying  after  the 
death  of  his  wife.  Dr.  Primrose  stoutly 
upheld  the  doctrine  of  monogamy.  Mr. 


1061 


Wilmot,  who  was  about  to  take  his  fourth 
wife,  was  insulted.  The  rift  between  the 
two  families  widened  when  news  came 
that  Dr.  Primrose's  broker  had  run  off 
with  all  his  money.  Mr.  Wilmot  broke 
off  the  wedding  plans,  for  the  vicar  was 
now  a  poor  man. 

George  departed  for  London  to  make 
his  fortune  and  the  rest  of  the  family 
prepared  to  go  to  another  part  of  the 
country,  where  Dr.  Primrose  had  found 
a  more  modest  living.  On  the  way  they 
met  a  man  who  won  the  admiration  of 
Dr.  Primrose  by  a  deed  of  charity  to  a 
fellow  traveler.  The  man,  Mr  Burchell, 
rode  along  with  them.  Suddenly  Sophia 
was  thrown  from  her  horse  into  a  stream, 
from  which  Mr.  Burchell  was  able  to  save 
her.  The  gratitude  of  Deborah  assured 
Mr.  Burchell  of  a  warm  welcome  when 
ever  he  should  choose  to  call  on  them. 

Their  new  home  was  on  the  estate  of 
wealthy  Squire  Thornhill,  a  young  man 
known  for  his  attentions  to  all  the 
young  ladies  in  the  neighborhood. 
Deborah  thought  that  either  of  her 
daughters  would  make  a  good  match  for 
the  young  squire.  Soon  afterward  a  for 
tunate  meeting  drew  the  squire's  at 
tention  toward  Olivia,  and  her  mother's 
scheming  made  Squire  Thornhill  a  steady 
caller  at  the  Primrose  home,  where  Olivia 
blushingly  protested  that  she  thought 
him  both  hold  and  rude.  Mr.  Burchell, 
too,  called  frequently,  but  his  interest 
seemed  to  center  upon  Sophia,  who  did 
not  deny  her  pleasure  at  his  attention. 
Dr.  Primrose,  however,  could  not  ap 
prove  of  Mr.  Burchell,  for  he  had  lost 
all  his  fortune  and  seemed  to  live  in 
comparative  poverty  that  revealed  indif 
ference  to  his  fallen  condition, 

Two  noble  ladies  from  the  city  met 
the  Primrose  family  in  their  rustic  re 
treat,  and  Sophia  and  Olivia  became 
charmed  by  talk  of  city  ways.  When 
the  women  spoke  of  their  need  for  com 
panions  in  their  households,  Deborah 
immediately  suggested  that  Olivia  and 
Sophia  be  selected.  The  two  daughters 
were  pleased  at  the  thought  of  going  to 


the  city,  despite  Mr.  BurchelFs  vigorous 
objections.  All  was  set  for  the  journey, 
however,  when  Deborah  received  a  letter 
stating  that  a  secret  informant  had  so 
slandered  Olivia  and  Sophia  that  the 
city  ladies  would  not  consider  them  as 
fit  companions.  At  first  Deborah  and  her 
husband  could  not  imagine  who  the 
slanderer  could  have  been.  When  they 
learned  that  Mr.  Burchell  had  been  the 
informant,  Dr.  Primrose  ordered  him 
from  the  house.  With  no  signs  of  re 
morse  or  shame  Mr.  Burchell  left. 

Olivia  began  to  insist  that  Squire 
ThornhiU's  repeated  visits  meant  only 
that  he  intended  to  marry  her.  Dr. 
Primrose,  not  believing  that  the  squire 
really  would  marry  Olivia,  suggested  to 
his  daughter  that  she  consider  the  offer 
of  a  neighboring  farmer,  Mr.  Williams. 
When  the  squire  still  failed  to  ask  for  her 
hand,  Olivia  agreed  to  marry  the  young 
farmer  and  the  wedding  date  was  set. 
Four  days  before  her  wedding  Olivia 
ran  away.  Through  the  help  of  Squire 
Thornhill,  Dr.  Primrose  learned  that  it 
was  Mr.  Burchell  who  had  carried  the 
girl  away. 

Saddened  by  his  daughter's  indiscre 
tion,  the  resolute  father  set  out  to  find 
her  and  to  help  her.  On  his  journey  he 
became  ill  and  lay  in  bed  in  an  inn  for 
three  weeks.  On  his  recovery  he  gave 
up  all  hope  of  finding  Olivia  and  started 
home.  On  the  way  there  he  met  Miss 
Arabella  Wilmot,  who  inquired  about 
George.  Dr.  Primrose  assured  her  that 
George  had  not  been  heard  from  since 
he  had  left  his  family  to  go  to  London. 
Squire  Thornhill,  who  was  courting 
Arabella,  asked  about  Olivia,  but  the 
father  could  give  him  no  news.  Fortune 
brought  George,  impoverished  and  in  ill 
luck,  back  to  his  father  at  that  time. 
Pitying  the  bad  fortune  of  the  young  boy, 
Squire  Thornhill  gave  him  a  commis 
sion  in  the  army  and  sent  him  away. 
Arabella  promised  to  wait  for  her  for 
mer  sweetheart  to  make  his  fortune  and 
to  return  to  her. 

Dr.   Primrose  started  for  home  once 


1062 


more.  At  a  roadside  inn  he  found  his 
dear  Olivia,  who  told  him  her  terrible 
story.  The  villain  with  whom  she  had 
run  away  was  not  Mr.  Burchell.  It  had 
been  Squire  Thornhill,  who  had  seduced 
her  after  a  mock  ceremony  by  a  false 
priest.  Growing  tired  of  her,  the  squire 
had  left  her.  Dr.  Primrose  took  the  girl 
home  with  him.  But  bad  luck  had  not 
forsaken  the  vicar.  As  he  approached  his 
house  he  saw  it  catch  fire  and  burn  to 
the  ground.  His  family  escaped,  but 
all  their  belongings  were  destroyed. 

Kindly  neighbors  helped  the  penniless 
Primroses  to  set  up  living  quarters  in  an 
outbuilding  on  the  estate.  News  came 
that  Squire  Thornhill  intended  to  marry 
Arabella  Wilmot.  This  report  angered 
Dr.  Primrose;  then  to  add  to  his  in 
dignation  Squire  Thornhill  came  to  see 
him  and  offered  to  find  a  husband  for 
Olivia  so  that  she  could  stay  near  the 
squire.  Enraged  at  this  offer,  the  doctor 
ordered  him  away.  The  squire  then 
demanded  Dr.  Primrose's  quarterly  rent 
payment  which,  since  the  disaster  of 
losing  his  home,  the  vicar  could  not  pay. 

Squire   Thornhill   had   Dr.    Primrose 


sent  to  debtors'  prison.  Soon  after  being 
lodged  in  prison,  the  vicar  encountered 
his  son,  George,  who,  having  learned  of 
the  squire's  cruelty,  had  attacked  him 
and  had  been  sentenced  to  hang  for 
attempted  murder.  Dr.  Primrose  felt 
that  the  happiness  of  his  life  was  com 
pletely  shattered.  Next  he  learned  that 
Sophia  had  been  kidnaped. 

But  virtue  and  honesty  were  soon  re 
warded.  Sophia  had  been  rescued  by 
Mr.  Burchell,  who  turned  out  to  be  the 
squire's  uncle,  Sir  William  Thornhill. 
With  the  squire's  treachery  exposed,  the 
Primrose  family  was  released  from  its 
misery.  Arabella  and  George  were  re 
united.  Even  Olivia  was  saved  from 
shame,  for  she  learned  that  the  priest 
who  had  married  her  to  the  squire  had 
been  a  genuine  priest.  Sophia  married 
Sir  William,  and  Arabella  married 
George.  Dr.  Primrose  looked  forward  to 
his  old  age  with  happiness  and  joy  in 
the  good  fortune  of  his  children.  Even 
he  was  rewarded  for  his  virtue.  The 
broker  who  had  run  away  with  his  money 
was  apprehended,  and  Dr-  Primrose  was 
once  again  a  wealthy  man. 


THE  VICOMTE  DE  BRAGELONNE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Alexandre  Dumas,  father  (1802-1870) 
Type  of  'plot:    Historical  romance 
Time  of  'plot:    Seventeenth  century 
Locale:    France  and  England 
First  published:    1848-1850 
Principal  characters: 

Louis  XIV,  King  of  Fiance 

LOUISE  DE  LA  VALLTERE,  lady  in  waiting  and  mistress  of  the  kin* 

D'ARTAGNAN,  an  officer  of  the  king's  musketeers 

AXHOS,  the  Comte  de  la  Fere 

PORTHOS,  M.  du  Vallon 

ARAMIS,  M.  D'Herblay  and  Bishop  of  Vannes 

RAOUL,  the  Vicomte  de  Bragelonne,  son  of  Athos 

FOUQTIET,  Minister  of  Finance 

COLBERT,  an  ambitious  politician 

CHARLES  II,  King  of  England 

Critique: 

The  novels  of  the  older  Dumas  have  of  the  D'Artagnan  romances,  is  no  excep- 

an  enduring  popularity  for  many  readers,  tion.    This  novel  has  particular  interest 

and  The  Vicomte  de  Bragelonne,  the  last  because  it  deals  with  the  last  adventures 


1063 


of  that  swashbuckling  hero,  D'Artagnan. 
The  story  itself  is  the  characteristic  Du 
mas  type,  filled  with  vivid  action,  humor 
ous  incident,  and  interesting  characters. 
In  reality  this  romance  contains  four 
different  hut  related  plots — the  restora 
tion  of  Charles  II,  the  story  of  Louis 
XIV's  infatuation  for  Louise  de  la  Val- 
liere,  the  intrigues  and  downfall  of  the 
ambitious  Fouquet,  and  the  perennially 
popular  tale  of  the  mysterious  prisoner 
in  the  iron  mask.  These  stories  have, 
from  time  to  time,  been  taken  from  the 
longer  romance  and  printed  as  novels 
complete  in  themselves.  As  a  result,  some 
confusion  has  arisen  over  the  tides  and 
order  of  the  D'Artagnan  series. 

The  Story: 

Louis  XTV,  the  young  king  of  France, 
en  route  to  Spain  to  ask  for  the  hand  of 
Marie  Theresa,  the  Spanish  Infanta, 
stopped  overnight  at  the  castle  of  Blois 
to  visit  his  uncle,  the  Due  d'Orleans. 
There  he  met  for  the  first  time  Louise  de 
la  Valliere,  the  lovely  stepdaughter  of  the 
duchess'  steward.  Louise  was  betrothed 
to  Raoul,  the  Vicomte  de  Bragelonne, 
son  of  the  Comte  de  la  Fere.  Another 
arrival  at  Blois  during  the  royal  visit 
was  the  Stuart  pretender,  Charles  II, 
who  came  to  ask  for  a  loan  of  a  million 
livres  and  French  aid  in  regaining  the 
English  throne.  When  Cardinal  Mazarin, 
chief  minister  of  King  Louis,  refused  to 
lend  the  money,  Charles  then  turned  for 
assistance  to-  the  Comte  de  la  Fere,  who 
had  been  an  old  friend  of  his  royal  father. 
The  comte  was  a  former  musketeer  who 
had  been  known  as  Athos  many  years 
before,  when  he  had  performed  many 
brave  feats  with  his  three  friends,  Por- 
thos,  Aramis  and  D'Artagnan. 

Disappointed  because  Mazarin  and 
the  king  refused  to  help  Charles,  D'Ar 
tagnan  resigned  his  commission  as  lieu 
tenant  of  the  king's  musketeers  and 
joined  his  old  friend,  Athos,  in  an  at 
tempt  to  place  Charles  upon  the  throne 
of  England.  Planning  to  capture  Gen 
eral  Monk,  leader  of  the  Parliamentary 


army,  D'Artagnan  visited  Planchet,  a 
former  servant  who  had  been  successful 
in  trade.  Using  funds  borrowed  from 
Planchet,  he  recruited  fourteen  resolute 
and  dependable  men  and  sailed  with 
them  for  England,  In  England,  in  the 
meantime,  the  troops  of  Lambert  and 
General  Monk  prepared  to  fight  at  New 
castle.  While  the  armies  waited,  Athos 
arrived  to  see  General  Monk  and  get  his 
aid  in  recovering  a  treasure  left  by  the 
unfortunate  Charles  I  in  a  vault  in  New 
castle.  This  treasure  was  to  be  General 
Monk's  bribe  for  restoring  Charles  II  to 
the  throne.  On  the  general's  return  from 
Newcastle,  D'Artagnan  daringly  captured 
the  Parliamentary  leader  and  took  him, 
concealed  in  a  coffin,  to  France.  Athos, 
who  had  promised  General  Monk  to 
remain  in  England  for  a  time,  was  ar 
rested  by  Monk's  soldiers  and  accused 
of  complicity  in  the  general's  disap 
pearance. 

In  France  D'Artagnan  took  Monk  to 
Charles  and  after  a  satisfactory  interview 
with  the  pretender  Monk  was  released 
and  sent  back  to  England.  There  Monk 
on  his  return  secured  the  release  of 
Athos.  Monk,  won  over  to  the  Stuart 
cause,  planned  for  the  return  of  Charles 
to  England,  while  the  pretender  made 
like  preparations  in  France. 

When  Charles  became  king,  he  made 
General  Monk  Duke  of  Albemarle  and 
commander  of  the  English  armies.  To 
Athos  the  grateful  king  gave  the  Order 
of  the  Golden  Fleece.  For  his  part  in  the 
restoration  D'Artagnan  requested  only 
Monk's  sword.  After  he  had  received 
it,  he  resold  it  to  Charles  for  three  hun 
dred  thousand  livres.  General  Monk 
gave  D'Artagnan  lands  in  England.  After 
paying  off  his  men  D'Artagnan  went  to 
Calais  to  see  Planchet,  whom  he  ap 
proached  with  a  long  face  and  a  sad 
tale  of  failure.  When  Planchet  showed 
his  true  loyalty  to  his  former  master, 
D'Artagnan  had  not  the  heart  to  tease 
the  merchant  any  longer;  he  acknowl 
edged  the  success  of  the  venture  and  paid 
Planchet  one  hundred  thousand  livres 


1064 


in  return  for  the  funds  he  had  advanced. 
Louis  XIV  had  been  completely  dom 
inated  by  Cardinal  Mazarin,  his  minister, 
but  the  death  of  the  latter  eased  the 
king's  unhappy  situation.  After  Mazarin's 
death,  the  ambitious  Fouquet,  as  finance 
minister,  and  Colbert,  as  intendant,  be- 
g^in  a  race  for  power.  Suspicious  of  Fou 
quet,  the  king  sent  for  D'Artagnan,  re- 
commissioned  him  as  captain  of  the 
king's  musketeers,  and  sent  him  to 
Belle-Isle-en-Mer  to  secure  a  report  on 
Fouquet's  mysterious  activities  there. 

At  Belle-Isle  D'Artagnan  found  his 
old  companion  in  arms,  Porthos,  now  M. 
du  Vallon,  busy  with  plans  for  fortify 
ing  the  island.  The  former  musketeer 
was  working  under  the  direction  of 
Aramis,  now  Bishop  of  Vannes  and  also 
known  as  M.  D'Herblay.  D'Artagnan 
hurried  back  to  Paris  to  the  king  to 
give  him  the  details  of  the  situation 
at  Belle-Isle,  but  he  was  beaten  in  the 
race  to  arrive  there  first  by  the  two  con 
spirators,  who  reported  to  Fouquet  the 
discovery  of  the  plot  to  fortify  the  island. 
To  prevent  trouble,  Fouquet  at  once 
rushed  to  the  king  and  presented  to  him 
the  plan  for  the  fortifications  on  Belle- 
Isle.  He  explained  glibly  that  the  fortifi 
cations  might  be  useful  against  the 
Dutch. 

Athos,  the  Comte  de  la  Fere,  asked  the 
king's  consent  to  the  marriage  of  his  son 
Raoul,  the  Vicomte  de  Bragclonne,  to 
Louise  de  la  Vallicre,  now  a  maid  of 
honor  at  the  court.  Louis  refused  on  the 
grounds  that  Louise  was  not  good  enough 
for  Raoul.  In  reality  the  king,  a  pas 
sionate  lover  of  various  ladies  of  the 
court,  had,  in  spite  of  his  recent  mar 
riage  to  Marie  Theresa,  fallen  in  love 
with  Louise.  He  dispatched  Raoul  at 
once  to  England  to  be  rid  of  him  as  a 
rival. 

Aramis  and  Fouquet  were  plotting  to 
replace  the  king  with  a  man  of  their 
choice,  and  to  this  end  they  annually 
paid  a  large  sum  of  money  to  M.  de 
Baisemeaux,  governor  of  the  Bastille. 
These  schemers  also  attached  themselves 


to  Louise  de  la  Valliere  after  they  real 
ized  the  power  she  would  have  with 
the  king. 

Among  the  court  plotters  also  were 
Mademoiselle  de  Montalais,  a  lady  in 
waiting,  and  her  lover,  Malicorne,  a 
courtier.  They  were  interested  in  all 
court  affairs,  particularly  in  the  relation 
ship  between  Mademoiselle  de  la  Val 
liere  and  the  king,  and  they  stole  letters 
with  the  idea  of  blackmail  at  an  oppor 
tune  time. 

D'Artagnan  moved  to  an  estate  close 
to  the  court  to  watch  for  palace  intrigues. 
He  was  particularly  interested  in  the 
plans  of  Aramis,  who  was  trying  to  be 
come  a  cardinal  and  planning  to  betray 
the  king  to  secure  his  ends.  D'Artagnan, 
interested  in  adventure  for  the  sake  of 
adventure,  was  devoted  to  the  king. 

As  the  affair  between  Louise  and  the 
king  continued,  Madame,  the  sister-in- 
law  of  Louis,  also  in  love  with  him,  grew 
jealous  and  determined  to  send  for 
Raoul  and  have  him  marry  Louise  at 
once.  The  queen  mother  and  the  young 
queen  disapproved  thoroughly  of  the 
flirtation  of  Madame  with  the  king  and 
told  her  so.  Madame  then  decided  that 
the  quickest  solution  would  be  to  send 
Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere  away  from 
the  court.  At  the  same  time  the  king 
learned  that  Louise  had  at  one  time 
returned  Raoul  de  Bragelonne's  affec 
tion,  and  in  a  fit  of  envy  and  jealousy  he 
decided  to  forget  her.  Madame  ordered 
Louise  to  leave  at  once. 

Broken-hearted,  the  girl  resolved  to 
enter  a  convent.  In  her  flight,  however, 
she  encountered  D'Artagnan,  who  took 
her  under  his  protection  and  informed 
the  king  of  her  whereabouts.  Louis  went 
to  her  immediately.  Convinced  of  her 
love,  he  returned  with  her  to  the  court. 
Plotters  in  the  king's  pay  had  a  secret 
trapdoor  constructed  from  Louise's  rooms 
to  those  of  Saint-Aignan,  a  gentleman 
of  the  king,  and  Louis  and  Louise  were 
able  to  meet  there  after  Madame  had 
made  other  meetings  between  them  im 
possible.  In  London  Raoul  heard  whal 


1065 


was  happening  and  rushed  to  France. 
He  arrived  at  Louise's  apartments  just 
as  the  king  was  entering  by  the  secret 
door.  Realizing  that  the  rumors  he 
had  heard  were  true,  he  went  away  in 
despair. 

Aramis,  who  had  now  become  General 
of  the  Jesuits,  who  visited  by  an  elderly 
duchess  who  wished  to  sell  him  certain 
letters  from  Mazarin  which  would  ruin 
his  friend  Fouquet.  When  he  refused 
to  buy  them,  she  sold  them  to  Colbert, 
Fouquet's  rival  and  enemy.  Aramis, 
learning  of  the  transaction,  hurried  to 
warn  Fouquet,  who  assured  Aramis  that 
the  supposed  theft  of  state  funds  at 
tributed  to  him  in  the  letters  was  credited 
by  a  receipt  in  his  possession.  The  re 
ceipt,  however,  had  been  stolen.  Further 
more,  Colbert  had  arranged  for  Fouquet 
to  sell  his  position  of  procureur-general. 
Aramis,  with  his  immense  financial  back 
ing,  was  able  to  rescue  Fouquet. 

Raoul  de  Bragelonne,  grieved  and 
angry  at  Louise's  faithlessness,  challenged 
Saint-Aignan  to  a  duel  and  Porthos  prom 
ised  to  act  as  his  foster  son's  second. 
Saint-Aignan,  however,  revealed  the  mat 
ter  to  the  king.  Then  Athos  publicly 
denounced  Louis  over  the  proposed  duel. 
When  the  long  ordered  D'Artagnan  to 
arrest  Athos,  D'Artagnan,  by  his  honest 
fearlessness,  won  a  pardon  for  his  old 
friend. 

Fouquet,  backed  by  Aramis,  grandly 
and  recklessly  humiliated  Colbert  in  the 
king's  presence.  He  announced  a  great 
f6te  at  his  estate  in  honor  of  the  king. 
Colbert,  although  temporarily  eclipsed, 
vowed  revenge.  Fouquet,  as  minister  of 
the  king's  finances,  was  tottering  under 
the  growing  strength  of  his  enemy  Col 
bert,  and  he  hoped  the  f£te  would  se 
cure  his  position. 

Aramis,  through  his  influence  with 
M.  de  Baisemeaux,  the  governor  of  the 
Bastille,  visited  a  prisoner  there  and 
revealed  to  him  that  he  was  actually  the 
twin  brother  of  Louis  XIV.  The  con 
spirators  planned  to  put  him  on  the 
mrone  in  place  of  Louis.  Aramis  then 


busied  himself  to  learn  the  details  of  the 
king's  costume  for  the  f£te,  for  he 
planned  to  substitute  the  twin  brother 
Philippe  for  Louis  during  the  grand  ball. 
Although  both  D'Artagnan  and  Porthos 
were  suspicious  of  Aramis,  they  could 
prove  nothing. 

Aramis  freed  the  young  prince  from 
the  Bastille  and  coached  him  thoroughly 
in  the  details  of  the  role  he  was  to  play. 
By  means  of  trapdoors  in  Fouquet's  house, 
Aramis  overpowered  Louis  XIV  and 
hustled  him  off  to  the  Bastille  to  replace 
the  released  prince.  Philippe,  in  grati 
tude,  was  to  make  Aramis  as  powerful 
in  the  kingdom  as  Richelieu  had  been. 

But  Aramis  made  a  grave  error  in 
revealing  his  deeds  to  Fouquet.  When 
Fouquet  heard  of  the  abduction  of  the 
king,  the  minister,  hoping  to  win  the 
king's  gratitude,  rushed  to  the  Bastille 
and  freed  Louis.  Aramis  and  Porthos 
fled  hastily.  D'Artagnan  was  instructed 
to  capture  Philippe,  cover  his  face  with 
an  iron  mask  to  hide  his  resemblance 
to  the  king,  and  imprison  him  for  life 
in  the  He  Sainte-Marguerite  fortress. 
These  orders  he  executed  faithfully. 

Raoul  de  Bragelonne,  who  had  never 
forgiven  the  king  for  stealing  Louise  de 
la  Valliere,  decided  to  kill  himself  as 
soon  as  possible  and  joined  the  Due  de 
Beaufort  on  a  campaign  to  Africa.  When 
he  went  to  say  goodbye  to  his  father, 
Athos  realized  sadly  that  he  would  never 
see  his  son  again. 

Louis  XIV  insisted  that  D'Artagnan 
arrest  Fouquet,  despite  Fouquet's  efforts 
in  the  king's  behalf.  After  a  mad  chase 
in  which  both  of  their  horses  were  raced 
to  death,  D'Artagnan  captured  Fouquet. 
Colbert  then  rose  completely  to  power, 

D'Artagnan  was  ordered  by  the  king 
to  go  to  Belle-Isle-en-Mer  and  take  the 
fortress  in  which  Aramis  and  Porthos 
were  hiding  and  shoot  the  conspirators. 
D'Artagnan,  too  good  a  friend  of  each 
of  the  plotters  to  take  their  lives,  planned 
to  capture  the  fortress  but  to  allow  the 
two  to  escape.  Louis  had  realized  that 
this  possibility  might  occur  and  had 


1066 


forewarned  his  officers  so  that  D'Artag- 
nan's  scheme  failed  and  he  was  ordered 
to  return  to  France.  A  fierce  battle  en 
sued  at  Belle-Isle  and  Porthos  was  killed 
after  many  deeds  of  great  heroism.  Ara- 
mis  escaped  to  Bayonne. 

D'Artagnan,  out  of  favor  with  the 
king  over  his  disobedience  to  orders,  re 
signed  his  position  as  captain  of  the 
musketeers  and  the  king  accepted,  only 
to  send  for  him  later  and  ask  him  to  take 
back  his  resignation.  D'Artagnan  agreed 
and  won  a  pardon  from  the  king  for 
Aramis,  who  had  settled  in  Spain. 


Athos  died  of  shock  upon  hearing  thai 
his  son  had  been  killed  in  Africa;  they 
were  buried  in  a  double  funeral.  Louise 
de  la  Valliere,  who  had  been  replaced 
as  the  king's  mistress  by  a  younger  favor 
ite,  attended  the  funeral.  There  D'Artag- 
nan  reproached  her  for  causing  the  deaths 
of  both  Athos  and  Raoul  de  Bragelonne. 

D'Artagnan  remained  in  the  service 
of  Louis  XIV  and  died  four  years  later 
while  fighting  against  the  Dutch.  His 
death  came  only  a  few  moments  after 
he  had  received  the  baton  of  a  marshal 
of  France. 


VICTORY 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:  Joseph  Conrad  (Teodor  J6zef  Konrad  Korzeniowski,  1857-1924) 

Type  of  plot:  Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:    East  Indies 

First  published:     1915 

Principal   characters: 

AXFX  HEYST,  an  idealist 

LENA,   whom  he  befriends 

MR.  SCHOMBERG,  a  hotel  owner 

MR.  JONES,  and 

MARTIN   RICARDO,   gamblers 

PEDRO,  their  servant 

DAVIDSON,  a  sea  captain 

WAJSTG,  Heyst's  servant 
Critique: 

Axel  Heyst  was  not  looking  for  material 
gain  in  bis  world.  He  had  escaped  life's 
demands  by  retreating  to  the  East  Indies, 
and  there  he  found  the  one  true  value  in 
his  own  life,  love  of  a  woman.  But  the 
victory  was  not  Heyst's;  it  was  Lena's. 
Every  tense  moment  of  the  drama  enacted 
on  the  island  between  the  three  bandits 
and  the  two  innocent  victims  points  trag 
ically  to  Lena's  final  triumph.  Although 
English  was  not  Joseph  Conrad's  native 
tongue,  he  was  able  to  use  the  English 
language  with  stylistic  force  and  vigor. 
One  startling  feature  of  this  novelist 
is  his  ability  to  encompass  a  mass  of 
ideas  into  the  force  of  one  cryptic  word 
or  phrase.  Victory  is  a  romance  between 


a  man  who  is  sensitive  only  to  truth  and 
honesty  and  a  woman  who  had  never 
known  such  things  from  other  men, 

The  Story: 

After  the  Tropical  Belt  Coal  Com 
pany  had  gone  into  liquidation,  Axel 
Heyst  continued  to  live  at  the  No.  1 
coaling  station  on  Samburan.  Strange 
in  his  manners  and  desires,  he  was  a 
legend  among  the  islanders;  they  called 
him  a  Utopist.  The  coal  company  had 
come  into  existence  after  Heyst  had  met 
Morrison  in  a  Portuguese  seaport  where 
the  Englishman  was  about  to  lose  his 
trading  ship  Capricorn  because  of  an  un 
paid  debt.  Heyst,  always  sympathetic, 


VICTORY  by  Joseph  Conrad.  By  permission  of  J.  M.  Dent  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  agents  for  the  trustees  of  the 
estate  of  Joseph  Conrad.  Published  by  Doubleday  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright,  1915,  1921,  by  Doubleday,  Page 
&  Co.  Renewed,  1942,  by  John  Alexander  Conrad. 


1067 


had  offered  him  a  loan.  Because  Heyst 
was  anxious  to  keep  his  generosity  a 
secret  and  Morrison  eager  to  conceal 
his  shaky  finances,  the  two  men  pledged 
secrecy,  with  the  understanding  that 
Heyst  would  thereafter  have  a  share  of 
the  Capricorn's  shipping  business. 

Schomberg,  the  owner  of  a  hotel  in 
Sourabaya,  heard  of  the  partnership  and 
said  that  Heyst  maintained  some  kind  of 
hold  over  Morrison.  Morrison  instigated 
the  coal  company  and  then  died  in  Eng 
land.  After  that  Schomberg,  who  for 
some  reason  hated  Heyst,  constructed  a 
mysterious  kind  of  villainy  around  Mor 
rison's  partner,  and  he  was  gleeful  when 
the  coal  company  liquidated. 

After  Heyst  had  retired  from  the  hu 
man  society  of  the  islands,  Davidson,  a 
ship's  captain,  came  upon  him  living 
alone  on  Samburan.  Worrying  over 
Heyst's  welfare,  Davidson  adopted  the 
habit  of  sailing  ten  miles  out  of  his  way 
around  the  north  side  of  Samburan  in 
case  Heyst  were  to  need  aid.  Once 
Davidson  brought  the  hermit  around 
to  Sourabaya,  where  he  put  up  at 
Schomberg's  hotel.  Later,  Davidson  heard 
bits  of  a  story  that  Heyst  had  run  off 
with  a  girl  who  was  at  the  hotel  with  a 
troupe  of  entertainers.  He  was  baffled 
that  the  shy,  quiet  Heyst  would  take  a 
girl  back  to  Samburan  with  him.  Mrs. 
Schomberg,  pitying  the  girl,  had  helped 
Heyst  spirit  the  girl  away.  The  affair 
had  caused  quite  a  hubbub  on  the  island 
because  it  concerned  Heyst. 

When  Heyst  had  come  to  the  hotel,  he 
had  been  unaware  of  Schomberg's  hatred. 
The  entertainers  were  not  very  attractive 
to  his  fastidious  mind,  but  one  white- 
muslined  girl  seemed  younger  than  the 
others.  Noticing  her  distress  at  being 
ordered  to  join  a  guest  at  a  table,  Heyst 
was  prompted  by  the  same  instinct  which 
had  led  him  to  help  Morrison.  He  in 
vited  the  girl  to  sit  with  him.  Lena 
told  Heyst  about  herself.  Her  father  in 
England  had  taught  her  to  play  the  vio 
lin.  After  his  death,  she  had  joined  the 
group  of  entertainers  with  whom  she 


now  worked.  Schomberg  had  been  stalk 
ing  her  ever  since  the  troupe  came  to  the 
hotel.  The  contrast  between  Heyst  and 
the  other  men  she  had  met  was  enough 
to  cause  the  girl  to  be  attracted  to  her 
new  friend,  and  she  welcomed  his  prom 
ise  of  help.  After  Heyst  had  taken  her 
away,  Schomberg's  hatred  was  tremen 
dous. 

To  Schomberg's  hotel  came  three 
strangers,  Mr.  Jones,  Martin  Ricardo, 
his  secretary,  and  a  beast-like,  hairy  crea 
ture  whom  they  called  Pedro.  Before 
long  these  men  had  transformed  Schom- 
berg's  hotel  into  a  professional  gambling 
house.  Schomberg's  obsession  for  Lena 
was  increased  by  the  notion  that  with  her 
at  his  side  he  could  rid  his  hotel  of  the 
gamblers.  One  afternoon  Ricardo  told 
Schomberg  that  he  had  been  employed 
on  a  yacht  where  he  was  first  attracted 
by  Jones'  polished  manners.  The  two  had 
stolen  the  captain's  cash  box  and  jumped 
the  ship.  Later  Pedro  became  attached 
to  them.  Schomberg  decided  that  these 
thieves  might  leave  his  hotel  if  he  could 
arouse  their  greed  by  the  prospect  of 
richer  plunder.  He  offhandedly  men 
tioned  Heyst's  alleged  wealth  and  told 
how  Heyst  lived  on  a  lonely  island  with 
a  girl  and  a  hoard  of  money.  Together 
Ricardo  and  Schomberg  began  to  plan 
their  pillage  of  the  island  where  Heyst 
lived. 

On  his  island  Heyst  had  lived  with 
only  his  Chinese  servant,  Wang,  until 
Lena  joined  him.  She  told  him  that  he 
had  saved  her  from  more  than  misery  and 
despair.  Heyst  told  her  the  story  of  his 
own  background.  His  father  had  been 
a  cynical,  domineering  man  whom  he 
disliked.  After  his  death  Heyst  had 
drifted,  searching  for  some  meaning  in 
life,  a  meaning  never  glimpsed  until  he 
met  Lena. 

One  evening  Wang  appeared  to  an 
nounce  that  he  had  seen  a  boat  drifting 
offshore.  Heyst  went  to  investigate.  He 
discovered  Ricardo,  Jones,  and  the  beast- 
like  Pedro  perishing  of  thirst  in  a  boat 
moored  beside  a  small  jetty.  Heyst  helped 


1068 


the  men  to  shore  and  took  them  to  an 
abandoned  bungalow  for  temporary 
quarters.  That  night  Heyst  found  that 
his  gun  was  missing  from  his  desk;  Wang, 
frightened,  had  taken  it.  Meanwhile 
Ricardo  and  Jones  speculated  about  lo 
cating  Heyst's  money. 

Early  in  the  morning  Ricardo  stole 
into  Heyst's  bungalow  and  saw  Lena 
combing  her  hair.  He  jumped  at  her 
hungrily,  but  she  was  able  to  defend  her 
self.  When  the  struggle  was  over  and 
the  repulsed  man  saw  that  she  raised 
no  outcry,  his  admiration  for  her  in 
creased.  She  asked  him  what  the  men 
wanted  on  the  island.  Surprised  that 
they  had  come  for  money  which  she 
knew  Heyst  did  not  possess,  she  deter 
mined  to  protect  Heyst  from  Schom- 
berg's  evil  design.  Loving  Heyst,  she 
could  repay  his  kindness  by  leading  Ri 
cardo  and  his  partners  on  to  their  de 
struction. 

Observing  Ricardo's  attack  on  Lena, 
Wang  had  decided  to  withdraw  from  this 
confusion  of  white  men's  affairs;  he  fled 
to  the  forest.  When  Heyst  reported  the 
loss  of  his  servant  to  Jones  and  Ricardo, 
they  offered  him  the  service  of  Pedro. 
Because  their  manner  made  it  impossible 
for  him  to  refuse,  Lena  and  Heyst  knew 
then  that  they  were  lost.  Davidson  would 
not  sail  past  the  island  for  three  more 
weeks.  Their  only  weapon  having  been 
stolen,  they  were  left  defenseless. 

That  night  Ricardo  came  to  the 
bungalow  for  dinner  with  Heyst  and 
Lena.  When  Heyst  had  regretted  his 


helpless  position  without  any  weapon  of 
defense,  Lena  had  recalled  that  during 
their  scuffle  she  had  glimpsed  the  knife 
Ricardo  wore  under  his  trouser  leg. 
During  the  evening  Ricardo  indicated 
that  Jones  wished  Heyst  to  visit  him. 
Before  he  left,  Heyst  insisted  that  Pedro 
be  sent  out  of  the  way,  and  Ricardo 
ordered  the  brute  to  go  down  to  the 
jetty. 

After  Heyst  had  gone,  Lena  allowed 
Ricardo  to  make  love  to  her  so  that  she 
could  take  possession  of  his  knife.  Heyst 
told  Jones  about  her  presence  in  the 
bungalow.  Jones,  who  suffered  a  path 
ological  hatred  for  women,  had  nof 
known  of  Lena's  existence.  Heyst  con 
vinced  him  that  Schomberg  had  lied  to 
get  rid  of  the  gamblers  and  to  inflict  upon 
Heyst  a  revenge  Schomberg  was  too 
cowardly  to  inflict  himself.  Enraged  by 
what  he  considered  Ricardo's  treachery, 
Jones  suggested  that  they  go  to  Heyst's 
bungalow. 

Meanwhile  Lena  had  taken  Ricardo's 
knife.  As  the  two  men  entered  the  bun 
galow,  Jones  fired  over  Heyst's  shoulder, 
the  bullet  piercing  Lena's  breast.  Ricardo 
sprang  through  the  doorway.  Jones  fol 
lowed  his  partner  outside  and  shot  him 
in  the  darkness.  Heyst  carried  Lena  to 
the  bed,  and  as  she  lay  there,  deathly 
pale  in  the  candlelight,  she  demanded  the 
knife,  her  symbol  of  victory.  She  died  as 
Heyst  took  her  in  his  anus  and  for  the 
first  time  spoke  words  that  came  from  th*1 
depths  of  his  heart. 


VIRGIN  SOIL 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Ivan  Turgcnev  (1818-1883) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of 'plot:  1868 

Locale:  Russia 

First 'published:  1872 

Principal  characters: 

NEZHDANOFP,  a  student 
PAHKLIN,  his  friend 
SIPYAGIN,  a  nobleman 
VALENT! NA,  his  wife 


1069 


MARKELOFF,  Valentina  Js  brother 
MARIANTSTA,  Sipyagin's  niece 
SOLOMIN,  a  factory  superintendent 


Critique: 

Virgin  Soil  is  in  many  respects  typical 
of  Turgenev.  It  is  realistic,  almost  photo 
graphically  so,  reflecting  the  dominant 
pessimism  of  the  author.  Here  we  have 
a  sensitive  and  sympathetic  portrayal  of 
the  beginnings  of  Russian  liberalism  after 
the  emancipation  of  the  serfs.  We  see 
also  the  essential  humanitarianism  of 
the  socialists  and  the  frivolity  of  the 
aristocracy  as  both  sides  struggle  in  the 
developing  industrialization.  But  in  the 
conflict  the  chief  liberal  protagonists 
prove  incapable  and  seal  their  own 
doom. 

The  Story: 

Miss  Masturin  and  Ostrodiimoff,  both 
socialists,  were  waiting  in  NezhddnofFs 
room  in  a  poor  quarter  of  St.  Petersburg. 
A  letter  from  a  high  leader  had  made  a 
conference  necessary,  for  another  vague 
revolutionary  project  was  under  way. 
While  they  waited,  they  were  joined  by 
Pdhklin,  a  sly  hanger-on  of  the  intelli 
gentsia,  who  wanted  to  discuss  a  critical 
matter  with  Nezhdanoff  the  student. 

Nezhddnoff  was  late,  but  when  he 
came  they  plunged  into  a  discussion  of 
their  project.  They  needed  money  for  a 
trip  to  Moscow,  and  they  were  all  poor. 
Nezhddnoff,  however,  was  the  illegiti 
mate  son  of  a  nobleman,  and  in  a  pinch 
he  could  secure  small  sums  of  money 
from  his  father.  He  promised  to  have 
the  required  sum  the  next  day. 

The  conspirators  were  interrupted  by 
the  arrival  of  the  elegant  and  noble  Sip 
yagin,  who  had  sat  next  to  Nezhddnoff 
at  the  theater.  A  dilettante  liberal,  he  had 
been  attracted  by  the  opinions  and  views 
of  the  poor  student,  and  he  came  to  offer 
Nezhdanoff  a  post  as  tutor  to  his  young 
son  at  a  salary  of  a  hundred  roubles  a 
month.  Sipyagin  was  generous,  even 
offering  to  pay  a  month's  salary  in  ad 
vance.  So  with  the  blessing  of  his  social 
ist  comrades,  Nezhdanoff  accepted  the 


offer  and  went  to  live  on  the  country 
estate  of  Sipyagin. 

The  household  of  Sipyagin  was  inter 
esting,  and  after  Nezhdanoff  got  over 
his  shyness  he  made  good  progress  with 
nine-year-old  Kolya,  his  student.  For  a 
time,  Nezhdanoff  was  content  to  live  a 
leisurely  life,  for  his  duties  were  light. 
Although  she  scarcely  spoke  to  him, 
Marianna,  the  penniless  niece,  attracted 
Nezhddnoff  greatly.  She  was  evidently 
unhappy,  and  she  was  abrupt  and  forth 
right  in  her  attitude  toward  her  rich 
relatives. 

Valentina,  Sipydgin's  wife,  was  a  beau 
tiful  woman  without  much  heart.  Al 
though  she  herself  was  coldly  virtuous, 
she  enjoyed  snaring  men  to  see  them 
dance  at  her  bidding.  She  invited  Nezh- 
ddnoff  to  her  boudoir  ostensibly  to  dis 
cuss  her  son's  education,  but  in  reality 
to  captivate  the  young  tutor.  When  he 
failed  to  respond  to  her  attractions,  she 
was  nettled  at  his  indifference.  Then  it 
became  apparent  that  Nezhddnoff  was 
attracted  to  Marianna,  and  Valentina  be 
came  jealous. 

Markeloff,  Valentina's  brother,  came  to 
visit  the  family.  He  was  a  savage,  intense 
man  who  expressed  his  liberal  opinions 
with  great  emphasis  and  alienated  most 
of  the  company  with  his  boorish  ways. 
During  a  walk  Nezhddnoff  surprised 
Marianna  and  MarMoff  in  a  lonely 
wood;  he  heard  Marianna  refuse  some 
thing  vigorously.  Later,  in  an  impulsive 
outburst,  Marianna  confided  that  Mar 
keloff  had  proposed  marriage. 

This  confidence  strengthened  the  bond 
between  Marianna  and  Nezhddnoff.  That 
evening  the  tutor  was  surprised  by  an 
invitation  to  MarkelofFs  room.  There  he 
learned  that  MarMoff  was  a  party  mem 
ber  and  a  vigorous  exponent  of  immedi 
ate  action,  who  had  been  ordered  to 
question  Nezhddnoff  about  party  activi 
ties  on  Sipydgin's  estate  and  in  his  fac- 


1070 


tory.  Nezhddnoff  had  done  nothing  to 
stir  up  discontent  among  the  peasants  or 
workers,  for  he  had  been  apathetic  toward 
socialism  for  some  time.  Under  Markel- 
ofFs  urging  he  resolved  to  spread  propa 
ganda  among  the  workmen. 

Nezhddnoff  confided  his  aims  and 
problems  to  Marianna,  who  became  a 
ready  convert  to  revolutionary  thought, 
her  zeal  surpassing  that  of  Nezhddnoff. 
With  Mark£loff,  Nezhddnoff  visited  some 
of  the  party  members  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  among  them  a  man  named  Solomin. 

Sol6min  was  a  factory  manager  and  a 
good  one,  a  calm,  taciturn  man  of  great 
strength  of  character.  Sipydgin  had  tried 
to  hire  him  to  manage  Sipydgin's  own 
factory,  but  Sol6min  had  refused.  He 
was  content  where  he  was  and  he  could 
scarcely  conceal  his  contempt  for  the 
whole  aristocracy.  Sipydgin  had  taken 
the  refusal  with  bad  grace,  and  now  be 
gan  to  show  suspicion  of  Nezhddnoff. 

From  time  to  time  Marianna  and 
Nezhddnoff  met  in  her  room  at  night  to 
discuss  socialism.  Although  they  were 
in  love,  they  did  not  act  as  lovers.  Valen- 
tlna  spied  on  the  girl  constantly.  She 
made  insinuations  about  her  niece's  char 
acter,  and  the  atmosphere  in  the  house 
hold  became  quite  unpleasant.  At  length 
Sipydgin  discharged  Nezhcldnoff.  Early 
the  next  morning  Nezhddnoffi  returned 
with  a  cart  for  Marianna,  and  the  two 
fled  for  shelter  to  the  factory  where  Sol6- 
min  was  employed.  The  manager  con 
cealed  them  in  his  living  quarters,  and 
Nezhddnoff  and  Marianna  lived  together 
as  brother  and  sister,  waiting  for  the  time 
when  Nezhddnoff  could  be  sure  enough 
of  his  love  to  marry. 

Marianna  put  on  peasant  clothes  and 
tried  to  learn  peasant  ways  so  that  she 
would  be  a  good  worker  for  the  revolu 
tion.  Nezhddnoff,  roughly  clothed,  made 
many  trips  among  the  farmers  and  mill 
hands  to  talk  to  them  of  liberty  and 
freedom.  He  was  unsuccessful  in  his 
attempts,  however,  for  he  was  far  too 
impetuous  and  harangued  peasant  groups 
in  words  they  could  not  understand.  On 


one  occasion  Nezhddnoff  tried  to  drink 
vodka  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
workers,  but  strong  drink  only  made  him 
sick.  More  and  more  he  became  con 
scious  of  failure,  and  felt  that  he  could 
not  marry  Marianna.  She,  in  turn,  be 
came  more  aware  of  NezhddnofFs  weak 
ness  and  Soldmin's  strength. 

When  the  peasants  in  Mark£LofF s  dis 
trict  rebelled  against  paying  their  taxes, 
Mark£loff  rashly  urged  complete  and 
armed  rebellion,  but  his  manner  was  so 
abusive  that  the  peasants  turned  against 
him,  beat  him  severely,  and  delivered 
him  to  the  general  commanding  the  dis 
trict  police.  This  disquieting  news 
reached  So^min's  factory,  and  the  con 
spirators  there  made  plans  to  flee. 

Pdhklin,  misguided  in  his  sympathy, 
decided  to  appeal  to  Sipydgin  to  intercede 
for  his  brother-in-law,  Markeloff.  Fool 
ishly  he  babbled  the  hiding  place  of  Mari 
anna  and  NezhddnofF.  Sipydgin  kept 
Pdhklin  under  close  surveillance  and 
went  to  see  the  general.  So  great  was 
Sipydgin's  influence  that  the  general  con 
sented  to  release  Mark6loff  if  he  would 
confess  his  crime  and  promise  to  stir  up 
no  more  trouble.  But  Mark61off  was 
stubborn.  He  repeated  his  belief  in  the 
revolution  and  refused  to  acknowledge 
any  errors.  The  general  had  no  choice 
but  to  imprison  him.  Then  at  the  instiga 
tion  of  Sipydgin,  the  police  prepared  to 
raid  SoWmin's  factory. 

Sol6min  quietly  made  plans  to  disap 
pear.  Nezhddnoff ,  confronted  by  his  own 
weakness  and  by  his  inability  to  love 
Marianna  enough  to  marry  her,  wrote  a 
last  letter  and  killed  himself  with  a  re 
volver.  In  the  letter  he  asked  that  Mari 
anna  marry  Sol6min.  An  obliging  priest 
performed  the  ceremony  quickly  and 
Sol6min  and  Marianna  departed.  When 
the  police  arrived,  they  discovered  only 
the  suicide  of  Nezhddnoff, 

Mark61off  was  tried  and  sentenced  to 
Siberia.  Sol6min  reappeared,  but  was  re 
leased  because  the  police  had  no  evidence 
against  him.  Fie  rejoined  Marianna,  who 
had  by  that  time  agreed  to  live  with  him 


1071 


as  his  wife.  They  were  busy  with  Sol6- 
min's  new  factory. 

Back  in  St.  Petersburg,  Pahklin  was 
unhappy,  for  the  liberals  now  called  him 
a  spy.  By  chance  he  met  Miss  Mashurin 
in  the  street.  She  was  now  supposedly  an 
Italian  countess.  Somewhere  she  had  se 


cured  an  Italian  passport  and  funds  for 

traveling.  Pahklin  invited  her  to  have  tea 
with  him.  Although  she  despised  him, 
she  accepted,  for  he  had  been  Nezhdan- 
offs  friend.  From  Pahklin  Miss  Ma 
shurin  got  a  photograph  of  Nezhdanoff, 
with  whom  she  had  always  been  in  love. 


THE  VIRGINIAN 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Owen  Wister  (1860-1938) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  cennuy 

Locale:   Wyoming 

First  published:    1902 

Principal  characters: 

THE  VIRGINIAN,  a  cowboy 

JUDGE  HENRY,  the  Virginian's  employer 

TRAMPAS,  a  cowboy,  the  Virginian's  enemy 

STEVE,  a  cowboy  friend  of  the  Virginian 

SHORTY,  a  cowboy  at  Judge  Henrys  ranch 

MOIXY  WOOD,  a  young  schoolteacher  at  Bear  Creek,  Wyoming 

Critique: 

The  Virginian  is  one  of  the  classic 
novels  of  the  American  West.  Owen 
Wister  was  familiar  with  Wyoming  and 
the  cowboys  who  worked  there,  for  he 
himself  had  spent  several  years  in  the 
Western  country.  Wister  saw  that  al 
though  the  mountains  and  the  plains 
would  remain,  the  picturesque  cowboy 
was  rapidly  disappearing,  along  with  the 
antelope,  the  buffalo,  and  the  unfenced 
grazing  lands. 


The  Story: 

The  Virginian  had  been  sent  by  his 
employer  to  meet  an  Eastern  guest  at 
Medicine  Bow  and  escort  him  the  two 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  the  town 
to  Sunk  Creek  Ranch.  While  the  Vir 
ginian  and  the  guest  were  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  Easterner's  trunk  on  the 
following  westbound  train,  the  cowboy 
entered  into  a  poker  game.  One  of  the 
players,  a  cowboy  named  Trampas,  ac 
cused  the  Virginian  of  cheating.  The 
man  backed  down,  however,  before  the 
gun  of  the  cowboy  from  Sunk  Creek. 


It  was  apparent  to  everyone  that  the 
Virginian  had  made  an  implacable 
enemy. 

A  few  months  later,  in  the  fall,  a 
schoolmistress  came  West  from  Vermont 
to  teach  in  the  new  school  at  Bear  Creek, 
Wyoming.  All  the  single  men,  and  there 
were  many  of  them  in  the  territory, 
anxiously  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  new 
teacher,  Molly  Wood.  The  Virginian  was 
fortunate  in  his  first  meeting  with  her. 
A  drunken  stage  driver  tried  to  ford  a 
creek  in  high  water  and  marooned  his 
coach  and  passenger.  The  Virginian, 
passing  by,  rode  to  the  stage,  lifted  out 
the  young  woman,  and  deposited  her 
safely  on  the  bank  of  the  stream.  After 
he  had  ridden  away,  Molly  missed  her 
handkerchief  and  realized  the  young  cow 
boy  had  somehow  contrived  to  take  it. 

The  next  time  the  Virginian  saw 
Molly,  she  was  a  guest  at  a  barbecue. 
The  cowboy  had  ridden  his  horse  for  two 
days  for  an  opportunity  to  see  her,  but 
she  coquettishly  refused  to  notice  him. 
The  Virginian  and  another  cowboy, 


THE  VIRGINIAN  by  Owen  Wister.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  The  Macmillan  Co.     Copyright.    1902. 
1904.   1911,  by  The  Macmillan  Co.    Renewed,    1929,   by  Owen  Wister. 


1072 


piqued  by  her  attitude,  got  drunk  and 
played  a  prank  on  all  the  people  who  had 
brought  their  children  to  the  barbecue. 
They  switched  the  babies  and  their 
clothing,  so  that  when  the  barbecue  was 
over  many  of  the  mothers  carried  off  the 
wrong  babies.  Before  he  left  for  Sunk 
Creek,  the  Virginian  warned  Molly  that 
she  was  going  to  love  him  eventually,  no 
matter  what  she  thought  of  him  then. 

During  the  next  year  the  Virginian 
began  to  read  books  for  the  first  time 
since  he  had  left  school  in  the  sixth 
grade.  He  borrowed  the  books  from 
Molly  in  order  to  ride  to  Bear  Creek  to 
see  her  at  intervals.  In  the  meantime 
he  had  risen  high  in  the  estimation  of 
his  employer.  Judge  Henry  put  him  in 
charge  of  a  party  of  men  who  were 
to  escort  two  trainloads  of  steers  to  the 
Chicago  market. 

On  the  trip  back  to  the  ranch  the 
Virginian's  men  threatened  to  desert 
the  train  to  go  prospecting  for  gold  which 
had  been  discovered  in  the  Black  Hills. 
The  ringleader  of  the  insurgents  was 
Trampas. 

The  Virginian  saw  that  the  best  way 
to  win  over  the  men  was  to  make  a  fool 
of  Trampas.  His  chance  came  when  the 
train  stopped  near  a  bridge  that  was 
being  repaired.  Since  there  was  no  food 
on  die  train,  the  Virginian  went  out 
and  gathered  a  sackful  of  frogs  to  cook. 
Then  he  began  a  story  about  frogs:  a 
tall  story  by  which  Trampas  was  com 
pletely  taken  in.  As  soon  as  the  rest  of 
the  cowboys  saw  how  foolish  Trampas 
appeared,  they  were  willing  to  return  to 
the  ranch,  much  to  the  discomfiture  of 
their  ringleader. 

Back  at  Sunk  Creek,  the  Virginian 
found  a  pleasant  surprise  awaiting  him. 
The  foreman  of  the  ranch  had  been 
forced  to  leave  because  of  an  invalid 
wife,  and  the  judge  had  made  the  Vir 
ginian  his  foreman. 

Trampas  had  expected  to  be  discharged 
from  his  job  as  soon  as  the  Virginian 
became  foreman  at  the  Sunk  Creek 
Ranch.  The  Virginian,  however,  decided 


it  was  better  to  have  his  enemy  in  sight, 
and  so  Trampas  stayed  on,  sullen  and 
defiant  in  his  behavior. 

The  following  spring  the  Virginian 
made  a  trip  to  a  neighboring  ranch.  On 
the  way  back  he  was  attacked  by  Indians 
and  severely  wounded.  He  managed  to 
escape  from  the  Indians  and  make  his 
way  to  a  spring.  There  he  was  found, 
half  dead,  by  Molly  Wood.  The  girl 
stayed  with  him  at  the  risk  of  her  life, 
for  the  Indians  were  still  in  the  vicinity. 
She  then  bound  his  wounds  and  took 
him  back  to  her  cabin  and  called  a 
doctor. 

Molly,  meanwhile,  had  packed  her 
possessions,  for  she  was  preparing  to  leave 
for  her  home  in  the  East.  By  the  time 
the  Virginian  had  recovered  sufficiently 
to  go  back  to  work,  she  had  decided  not 
to  leave  Wyoming.  She  was  sure  by 
then  that  she  was  in  love  with  the  cow 
boy  foreman.  When  the  Virginian  left 
her  cabin  for  Sunk  Creek,  Molly  had 
promised  to  marry  him. 

Upon  returning  to  work,  the  Virginian 
found  that  his  enemy,  Trampas,  had 
disappeared,  taking  another  of  the  cow 
boys,  Shorty,  with  him.  About  the  same 
time  the  ranches  in  that  territory  began 
to  lose  cattle  to  rustlers,  and  a  posse 
was  formed  to  track  down  the  cattle 
thieves.  After  several  weeks  of  searching, 
two  of  the  thieves  were  caught.  Since 
the  rustlers  had  somehow  managed  to 
gain  control  of  the  local  courts  and  had 
already  been  freed  on  one  charge,  the 
posse  hanged  both  of  them.  It  was  a 
terrible  experience  for  the  Virginian, 
because  one  of  the  men,  Steve,  had  been 
a  close  friend.  The  Virginian  hated  to 
think  he  had  hanged  his  friend,  and  the 
hurt  was  made  worse  by  the  fact  that 
the  condemned  man  had  refused  to  say 
a  word  to  his  former  companion, 

On  his  way  back  to  Sunk  Creek,  the 
Virginian  came  across  the  trail  of  the 
other  two  rustlers.  They  were  Trampas 
and  Shorty.  Because  they  had  only  one 
horse  between  them,  Trampas  murdered 
Shorty  in  order  to  escape. 


1073 


When  Molly  Wood  heard  of  the 
lynching  and  the  Virginian's  part  in  it, 
she  refused  to  marry  him.  But  after  a 
conversation  with  Judge  Henry,  she 
realized  that  the  Virginian  had  done  no 
more  than  his  duty.  She  and  the  Vir 
ginian  were  reconciled  and  a  date  was 
.iet  for  their  wedding. 

On  the  day  before  their  wedding, 
Molly  and  the  Virginian  started  to  ride 
to  Medicine  Bow.  On  the  way  they  met 
Irampas,  who  galloped  ahead  of  them 
into  the  town.  Molly  questioned  the  Vir 
ginian  about  the  man  and  discovered  the 
enmity  between  the  two.  When  they 
arrived  in  town,  they  were  warned  that 
Trampas  had  said  he  would  shoot  the 
Virginian  if  he  were  not  out  of  town 


by  sunset.  Molly  told  him  that  she  could 
never  marry  him  if  he  fought  with 
Trampas  and  killed  him.  The  Virginian, 
knowing  that  his  honor  was  at  stake, 
left  her  in  the  hotel  and  went  out  to 
face  his  enemy.  Trampas  fired  first  and 
missed.  Then  the  Virginian  fired  and 
killed  Trampas. 

When  the  Virginian  returned  to  the 
hotel,  Molly  was  too  glad  to  see  him 
alive  to  remember  her  threat.  Hearing 
the  shots,  she  had  been  afraid  that  the 
Virginian  had  been  killed.  They  were 
married  the  following  day,  as  they  had 
planned,  and  spent  two  months  or  theii 
honeymoon  high  in  the  Rocky  Mountains 
where  no  other  humans  ever  went. 


THE  VIRGINIANS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  William  Makepeace  Thackeray  (1811-1863) 
Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 
Time  of  plot:  Late  eighteenth  century 
Locale:  England  and  the  Colony  of  Virginia 
First  published:  1857-1859 
Principal  characters: 

GEORGE,  and 

HARRY  WARRTNGTON,  the  Virginians 

RACHEL  ESMOND  WASHINGTON,  their  mother 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  a  family  friend 

LORD  CASTLEWOOD,  an  English  kinsman 

MARIA  CASTLEWOOD,  Lord  Gastlewood's  sister 

BARONESS  BERNSTEIN,  Rachel  Warrington's  half -sister,  formerly  Beatrix  Esmond 

COLONEL  LAMBERT,  a  friend 

THEO  LAMBERT,  Colonel  Lambert's  daughter  and  George's  wife 

HETTY  LAMEERT,  Colonel  Lambert's  other  daughter 

FANNY  MOUNTAIN  WARRTNGTON,  Harry's  wife 

Critique; 

The  Virginians  might  almost  be 
studied  as  a  group  of  portraits  of  the 
lesser  nobility  of  England  and  the  gentry 
of  Virginia.  The  author  shows  us  many 
pictures:  a  despotic  mother  who  is  the 
head  of  a  great  Colonial  estate;  her  two 
sons,  one  to  become  a  great  soldier  under 
Washington,  the  other  an  English  gentle 
man.  We  see  England  in  the  time  of 
Johnson  and  Richardson  and  David  Gar- 
rick  and  America  in  the  early  days  of  her 
struggle  for  independence.  For  his  ma 


terial  Thackeray  studied  the  letters,  either 
real  or  imagined,  of  two  brothers  who 
lived  on  opposite  sides  of  the  ocean  and 
who  had  opposing  views  on  the  Revolu 
tionary  War.  From  these  letters  he  cre 
ated  his  story  of  romance  and  adventure. 

The  Story: 

Although  Harry  and  George  Warring- 
ton  were  twins,  George  was  declared  the 
heir  to  their  father's  estate  by  virtue  of 
having  been  born  half  an  hour  before 


1074 


his  brother.  Both  were  headstrong  lads, 
greatly  pampered  by  their  widowed 
mother,  Rachel  Esmond  Warrington, 
who  managed  her  Virginia  estate,  Castle- 
wood,  much  as  she  would  have  managed 
the  mansion  in  the  old  country.  She 
never  let  her  sons  forget  their  high  birth, 
and  she  herself  had  dropped  the  name 
of  Warrington  in  favor  of  her  maiden 
name,  Esmond,  in  order  that  everyone 
would  remember  she  was  of  noble  rank. 
Rachel  was  a  dictator  on  her  plantation, 
and  although  she  was  respected  by  many, 
she  was  loved  by  few. 

Harry  and  George  were  trained  accord 
ing  to  the  place  and  the  time.  They 
learned  to  ride  and  shoot  and  gamble 
like  gentlemen,  but  had  little  formal  edu 
cation  other  than  a  small  knowledge  of 
Latin  and  French.  Their  mother  hoped 
they  might  pattern  themselves  after  Colo 
nel  George  Washington,  who  was  their 
neighbor  and  her  close  friend.  Harry 
worshipped  Washington  from  his  youth 
to  his  death,  but  George  and  Colonel 
Washington  were  never  to  be  friends, 

When  General  Braddock  arrived  from 
England  to  command  the  English  troops 
in  the  war  against  the  French,  Washing 
ton  and  George  Warrington  joined  his 
forces.  Although  Harry  was  the  better 
soldier,  George  represented  the  family 
because  of  his  position  as  elder  son.  Brad- 
dock  was  defeated  and  George  was  re 
ported  captured  and  killed  by  the 
French.  George's  mother  blamed  Colonel 
Washington  for  not  guarding  her  son, 
and  Washington  was  no  longer  welcome 
at  Castlewood, 

Upon  George's  death,  Harry  became 
the  heir,  and  his  mother  sent  him  to 
visit  his  relatives  in  England.  There  he 
met  his  mother's  kinsman,  Lord  Castle- 
wood;  her  half-sister,  Baroness  Bernstein; 
and  Will,  Maria,  and  Fanny  Esmond,  his 
cousins.  Of  all  his  relatives,  only  Baron 
ess  Bernstein  was  fond  of  him.  Harry 
and  Will  were  enemies  from  their  first 
meeting,  and  the  rest  of  the  family 
thought  him  a  savage  and  tolerated  him 
only  because  he  would  some  day  inherit 


the  estate  in  Virginia.  Harry  thought 
himself  in  love  with  Maria,  who  was  his 
mother's  age,  and  sent  her  many  gifts 
and  passionate  letters  declaring  himself 
hers  and  asking  for  her  hand  in  marriage. 

Harry  was  the  toast  of  the  country. 
He  spent  money  lavishly  on  fine  clothes 
and  horses  and  at  first  won  thousands  of 
pounds  at  cards.  But  when  his  luck 
turned  and  he  lost  all  his  money,  most  of 
his  former  friends  had  only  unkind  words 
for  him.  Matters  became  so  desperate 
that  he  was  jailed  for  his  debts,  and 
Baroness  Bernstein  was  the  only  one  of 
his  relatives  who  offered  to  help  him.  But 
there  was  a  string  attached  to  her  offer. 
She  was  violently  opposed  to  his  in 
tended  marriage  to  Maria  and  would  pay 
his  debts  only  if  he  promised  to  break  his 
word  to  that  lady.  Harry  was  tired  of 
Maria,  but  he  felt  it  was  beneath  a 
gentleman  of  his  position  to  break  his 
word,  and  he  refused  the  baroness'  help 
under  her  conditions.  He  would  rather 
remain  in  prison. 

There  his  brother  George  found  him. 
For  George  had  escaped  from  the  French 
after  eighteen  months  in  prison  and  had 
returned  to  his  home  in  Virginia,  where 
he  and  his  mother  had  decided  that  he, 
too,  should  visit  England.  He  paid  his 
brother's  debts,  and  the  two  boys  had  a 
joyful  reunion.  Harry  now  had  to  re 
turn  to  his  status  as  younger  brother  and 
George  assumed  his  place  as  heir  to 
Castlewood  in  Virginia. 

Before  Harry's  imprisonment  and 
George's  arrival  in  England,  Harry  had 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Colonel  Lam 
bert  and  his  family.  There  were  two 
daughters,  Theo  and  Hetty,  whom  the 
twin  brothers  found  most  charming.  Theo 
and  George  fell  in  love,  and  after  over 
coming  her  father's  objections,  they  were 
married.  At  first  they  lived  in  poverty,  for 
George  had  spent  all  his  money  to  rescue 
Harry  from  debtor's  prison  and  to  buy 
for  him  a  commission  in  the  army. 
George's  only  income  for  a  time  was  from 
two  tragedies  he  had  written,  one  a 
success  and  the  other  a  failure. 


1075 


Shortly  after  Harry  received  his  com 
mission  he  joined  General  Wolfe  and 
sailed  for  America  to  fight  the  French 
tn  the  Colonies.  Maria  had  released  him 
from  his  promise  to  her,  and  he  gladly 
took  leave  of  his  English  relatives.  About 
this  time  George  inherited  a  tide  and  an 
estate  from  an  unexpected  source.  Sir 
Miles  Warrington,  his  father's  brother, 
died;  and  as  young  Miles  Warrington, 
the  only  male  heir,  had  been  killed  in 
an  accident,  the  tide  and  the  estate  fell 
to  George.  Now  he  and  Theo  lived  in 
comparative  luxury.  They  traveled  ex 
tensively,  and  one  day  they  decided  to 
visit  George's  mother  and.  brother  in 
Virginia. 

When  they  arrived  in  America  they 
found  the  Colonies  to  be  in  a  state  of 
unrest.  The  colonists  were  determined 
not  to  pay  all  the  taxes  which  the 
British  crown  levied  against  them,  and 
there  was  much  talk  of  war.  At  Casde- 
wood  there  was  also  trouble.  Harry  had 
married  Fanny  Mountain,  the  daughter 
of  his  mother's  housekeeper,  and  his 
mother  refused  to  accept  the  girl.  Harry 
had  moved  to  his  own  smaller  estate,  but 
there  was  a  great  tension  between  the 
members  of  the  family.  George  and 
Theo  and  their  mother  were  loyal  to  the 


king.  Harry  became  a  true  Virginian  and 
followed  General  George  Washington 
into  battle.  In  spite  of  their  different 
loyalties  the  brothers  remained  friends. 

Shortly  before  the  end  of  the  war 
George  and  Theo  returned  to  England. 
Although  they  were  grieved  at  the  out 
come  of  the  war,  it  made  little  difference 
in  their  lives.  Harry  visited  them  in 
England  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  but 
their  mother  never  again  left  her  native 
Virginia.  George  and  Theo  tried  to 
persuade  Hetty  to  marry  Harry,  whom 
she  had  once  loved  deeply,  but  she  re 
fused  to  leave  her  widowed  father.  The 
only  departure  from  their  quiet  life 
came  when  Lord  Castlewood  tried  to 
steal  Castlewood  in  Virginia  from  their 
mother  after  her  deed  and  title  were 
burned  during  the  war.  But  George  was 
able  to  prevent  the  fraud  and  save  the 
estate.  Intending  never  to  leave  England 
again,  he  renounced  his  right  to  the 
Virginia  land.  Harry  returned  to  Vir 
ginia,  where  he  was  made  a  general,  to 
live  out  his  life  at  Castlewood  in  the 
company  of  his  mother.  The  brothers 
were  destined  never  to  meet  again,  but 
their  love  for  each  other  went  with  them 
throughout  their  lives. 


VOLPONE 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Ben  Jonson  (1572?-1637) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  Venice 

First  presented:  1605 

Principal  characters: 
VOLPONE,  a  knave 
MOSCA,  his  servant 
CORBACCIO,  an  old  gentleman 
CORVINO,  a  merchant 
VOLTORE,  an  advocate 
LORD  POLITICK  WOULD-BE,  a  knight 
LADY  POLITICK  WOULD-BE,  his  wife 
BONARIO,  Corbaccio's  son 
CELIA,  Corvino's  wife 
PEREGRINE,  a  gentleman  traveler 


1076 


Critique: 

Although  the  extant  copies  of  Volpone, 
or,  The  Fox,  are  revised  versions  of  the 
original  drama,  the  plan  in  its  printed 
form  is  essentially  Jonson's.  The  story 
is  intricately  plotted,  so  much  so  that 
it  is  likely  to  be  confusing.  The  drama 
points  toward  the  seventeenth-century 
theater  with  its  sermonized  ending. 
Jonson  attempted  to  teach  the  social 
lesson  that  mischief  leads  to  its  own  un 
doing. 

The  Story: 

Volpone  and  his  servant,  Mosca,  were 
playing  a  cunning  game  with  all  who  pro 
fessed  to  be  Volpone's  friends,  and  the 
two  conspirators  boasted  to  themselves 
that  Volpone  acquired  his  riches  not  by 
the  common  means  of  trade  but  by  a 
method  which  cheated  no  one  in  a  com 
mercial  sense.  Volpone  had  no  heirs. 
Since  it  was  believed  he  possessed  a 
large  fortune,  many  people  were  court 
ing  his  favor  in  hopes  of  rich  rewards 
after  his  death. 

For  three  years,  while  the  foxy  Vol 
pone  feigned  gout,  catarrh,  palsy,  and 
consumption,  valuable  gifts  had  been 
given  him.  Mosca's  role  in  the  grand 
deception  was  to  assure  each  hopeful 
donor  that  he  was  the  one  whom  Vol 
pone  had  honored  in  an  alleged  will 

To  Voltore,  one  of  the  dupes,  Mosca 
boasted  that  particular  attention  was 
being  paid  to  Voltore's  interests.  When 
Voltore  the  vulture  left,  Corbaccio  the 
crow  followed.  He  brought  a  potion  to 
help  Volpone,  or  so  he  claimed.  But 
Mosca  knew  better  than  to  give  his 
master  medicine  from  those  who  were 
awaiting  the  fox's  death.  Mosca  suggested 
that  to  influence  Volpone,  Corbaccio 
should  go  home,  disinherit  his  own  son, 
and  leave  his  fortune  to  Volpone.  In 
return  for  this  generous  deed,  Volpone, 
soon  to  die,  would  leave  his  fortune  to 
Corbaccio,  whose  son  would  benefit 
eventually. 

Next  came  Corvino,  who  was  as 
sured  by  Mosca  that  Volpone,  now  near 


death,  had  named  him  in  a  will.  Aftei 
the  merchant  had  gone,  Mosca  told 
Volpone  that  Corvino  had  a  beautiful 
wife  whom  he  guarded  at  all  times.  Vol 
pone  resolved  to  go  in  disguise  to  see 
this  woman. 

Sir  Politick  Would-Be  and  his  wife 
were  traveling  in  Venice.  Another 
English  visitor,  Peregrine,  met  Sir  Poli 
tick  on  the  street  and  gave  him  news 
from  home.  While  the  two  Englishmen 
were  trying  to  impress  one  another,  Mosca 
and  a  servant  came  to  the  street  and 
erected  a  stage  for  a  medicine  vendor  to 
display  his  wares.  Volpone,  disguised  as 
a  mountebank,  mounted  the  platform. 
While  he  haggled  with  Sir  Politick  and 
Peregrine  over  the  price  of  his  medicine, 
Celia  appeared  at  her  window  and  tossed 
down  her  handkerchief.  Struck  by  Celia's 
beauty,  Volpone  resolved  to  possess  her. 
Meanwhile  Corvino  brutally  scolded 
Celia  and  told  her  that  henceforth  he 
would  confine  her  to  her  room. 

Mosca  went  to  Corvino  with  news  that 
physicians  had  recommended  a  healthy 
young  girl  to  sleep  by  Volpone's  side 
and  that  other  men  were  striving  to  be  the 
first  to  win  Volpone's  gratitude  in  this 
manner.  Not  to  be  outdone,  Corvine 
promised  that  Celia  would  be  sent  to 
Volpone. 

Mosca  also  told  Bonario,  Corbaccio's 
son,  that  his  father  was  about  to  dis 
inherit  him.  He  promised  to  lead  Bonario 
to  a  place  where  he  could  witness  his 
father's  betrayal. 

When  Lady  Politick  Would-Be  came 
to  visit  Volpone,  she  was  so  talkative 
Volpone  feared  she  would  make  him  sick 
in  actuality.  To  relieve  Volpone's  dis 
tress,  the  servant  told  the  lady  that  Six 
Politick  was  in  a  gondola  with  a  young 
girl.  Lady  Would-Be  hurried  off  in  pur 
suit  of  her  husband.  Volpone  retired  to 
a  private  closet  while  Mosca  led  Bonario 
behind  a  curtain  so  the  young  man  could 
spy  on  Corbaccio.  At  that  moment,  eager 
to  win  favor  with  Volpone,  Corvino  ar 
rived  with  Celia,  and  Mosca  had  to  send 


1077 


Bonario  off  to  another  room  so  lie  would 
not  know  of  her  presence.  Meanwhile 
Corvino  had  told  Celia  what  she  must  do 
to  prove  her  chastity.  To  quiet  her  fears, 
and  to  guarantee  the  inheritance  from 
Volpone,  Corvino  assured  his  distressed 
wife  that  Volpone  was  so  decrepit  he 
could  not  harm  her. 

When  they  were  alone,  Volpone 
leaped  from  his  couch  and  displayed 
himself  as  an  ardent  lover.  As  he  was 
ahout  to  force  himself  upon  Celia,  Bonario 
appeared  from  his  hiding  place  and  saved 
her.  While  Mosca  and  Volpone,  in  terror 
of  exposure,  bewailed  their  ruined  plot, 
Corbaccio  knocked.  Volpone  dashed  back 
to  his  couch.  As  Mosca  was  assuring 
Corbaccio  of  Volp  one's  forthcoming 
death,  Voltore  entered  the  room  and  over 
heard  the  discussion.  Mosca  drew  Voltore 
aside  and  assured  the  lawyer  that  he 
was  attempting  to  get  possession  of  Cor- 
baccio's  money  so  that  Voltore  would 
inherit  more  from  Volpone.  Mosca 
further  explained  that  Bonario  had  mis 
taken  Celia's  visit  and  had  burst  upon 
Volpone  and  threatened  to  kill  him. 
Taken  in  by  Mosca's  lies,  Voltore 
promised  to  keep  Bonario  from  accusing 
Volpone  of  rape  and  Corvino  of  villainy; 
he  ordered  the  young  man  arrested. 

Mosca  proceeded  with  his  case  against 
Celia  and  Bonario.  He  had  assured  Cor 
vino,  Corbaccio,  and  Voltore,  inde 
pendently,  that  each  would  be  the  sole 
heir  of  Volpone.  Now  he  added  Lady 
Would-Be  as  a  witness  against  Celia.  In 
court  Voltore  presented  Celia  and  Bonario 
as  schemers  against  Corvino,  and  he 
further  showed  that  Bonario's  father  had 
disinherited  his  son  and  that  Bonario  had 
dragged  Volpone  out  of  bed  and  had  at 
tacked  him.  Both  Corvino  and  Cor 


baccio  testified  against  Celia  and  Bonario, 
while  Mosca  whispered  to  the  avaricious 
old  gentlemen  that  they  were  helping 
justice.  To  add  to  the  testimony,  Mosca 
presented  Lady  Would-Be,  who  told  the 
court  she  had  seen  Celia  beguiling  Sir 
Politick  in  a  gondola.  Mosca  promised 
Lady  Would-Be  that  as  a  reward  for 
her  testimony  her  name  would  stand  first 
on  Volpone's  list  of  heirs. 

When  the  trial  was  over,  Volpone 
sent  his  servants  to  announce  that  he 
was  dead  and  that  Mosca  was  his  heir. 
While  Volpone  hid  behind  a  curtain, 
Mosca  sat  at  a  desk  taking  an  inventory 
of  the  inheritance  as  the  hopefuls  arrived. 
The  next  step  in  Volpone's  plan  was  to 
escape  from  Venice  with  his  loot.  Mosca 
helped  him  disguise  himself  as  a  com 
modore.  Mosca  also  put  on  a  disguise. 

Having  lost  his  hopes  for  the  in 
heritance,  Voltore  withdrew  his  false 
testimony  at  the  trial,  and  Corbaccio 
and  Corvino  trembled  lest  their  own 
cowardly  acts  be  revealed.  The  court 
ordered  Mosca  to  appear.  Suspecting 
that  Mosca  planned  to  keep  the  fortune 
for  himself,  the  disguised  Volpone  went 
to  the  court.  When  the  dupes,  learning 
that  Volpone  was  still  alive,  began  to 
bargain  for  the  wealth  Mosca  held, 
Volpone  threw  off  his  disguise  and  ex 
posed  to  the  court  the  foolish  behavior  of 
Corbaccio,  Corvino,  and  Voltore,  and  the 
innocence  of  Celia  and  Bonario.  The 
court  then  sentenced  each  conspirator 
according  to  the  severity  of  his  crime. 
Bonario  was  restored  to  his  father's  in 
heritance,  and  Celia  was  allowed  to  re 
turn  to  her  father  because  Corvino  had 
attempted  to  barter  her  honor  for  wealth. 

The  court  announced  that  evil  could 
go  only  so  far  and  then  it  killed  itself. 


1078 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  BEAGLE 

Type  of  work:   Journal 

Author:    Charles  Darwin  (1809-1882) 

Type  of  'plot:   Travel  and  Natural  History 

Time  of  plot:    1831-1836 

Locale:    South  America  and  the  South  Seas 

First  published:    1839 

Principal  character: 

CHARLES  DARWIN,  English  naturalist 
Critique: 

In  this  book  the  reader  finds  Darwin's 
brilliant  mind  already  at  work  upon 
the  problems  which  led  to  his  world- 
shaking  theory  of  evolution.  The  tide 
of  the  work  is  misleading,  for  the  author 
has  little  to  say  about  the  voyage.  What 
interests  him  is  the  natural  history  of 
the  lands  at  which  the  Beagle  stops. 
Nothing  escapes  Darwin's  eye;  his  ob 
servations  are  exact  and  beautifully  writ 
ten. 


The  Story: 

In  December,  1831,  the  brig  Beagle  of 
the  Royal  Navy  set  sail  from  Devonport, 
England,  on  a  voyage  which  would  in 
clude  surveys  of  Patagonia,  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  Chile,  Peru,  and  some  of  the 
islands  of  the  Pacific.  Also,  some  chrono- 
metric  measurements  were  to  be  made 
while  the  ship  circumnavigated  the  earth. 

Charles  Darwin  shipped  aboard  as  a 
naturalist  at  the  wish  of  the  Beagle's 
commander,  Captain  Btz  Roy,  Darwin 
kept  a  record  of  the  journey  in  the  form 
of  a  journal,  besides  making  observations 
in  natural  history  and  geology. 

The  ship  sailed  to  the  coast  of  South 
America  by  way  of  the  Canary  Islands, 
the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  the  island 
of  St.  Paul's  Rocks.  The  first  American 
seaport  that  the  Beagle  touched  was  Rio 
de  Janeiro.  There  Darwin  went  inland 
with  an  Englishman  who  was  going  to 
visit  his  estate.  Upon  his  return  Darwin 
resided  near  Botofogo  Bay,  where  he 
made  natural  history  observations. 

From  Rio  de  Janeiro  the  expedition 
went  southward  to  the  mouth  of  the 
River  Plate.  Darwin  remained  there  for 
several  weeks  collecting  animals,  birds, 
and  reptiles.  On  his  journeys  to  the 


interior  he  met  gauchos  for  the  first  time 
and  witnessed  their  skill  with  the  lasso 
and  the  bolas  in  capturing  horses  and 
cattle. 

The  next  anchorage  was  at  Rio  Negro. 
Between  this  river  and  Buenos  Aires  the 
land  was  mostly  inhabited  by  hostile 
Indians.  At  the  time,  General  Rosas  was 
making  war  on  the  various  native  tribes. 
Darwin  decided  to  go  by  land  from  the 
Rio  Negro  to  Buenos  Aires  under  the 
protection  of  the  Spanish  Army.  On  this 
journey  he  was  able  to  observe  the 
habits  of  the  South  American  ostrich. 

Upon  his  arrival  in  Buenos  Aires,  Dar 
win  was  struck  by  the  large  size  of  the 
city;  it  had  about  sixty  thousand  in 
habitants.  From  there  he  set  out  for 
Santa  Fe  by  means  of  a  slow  bullock 
wagon.  He  returned  by  boat  down  the 
Parana  River  to  the  seacoast  and  sailed 
in  a  small  vessel  to  join  the  Beagle  at 
Montevideo.  On  an  excursion  inland 
from  that  seaport,  Darwin  observed  herds 
of  sheep  that  were  watched  only  by 
dogs.  The  dogs  were  brought  up  with 
the  flocks  from  infancy;  thus  they  ac 
quired  an  uncommon  attachment  for 
the  sheep. 

The  Beagle  sailed  for  the  coast  of 
Patagonia,  a  land  where  Spanish  settle 
ment  had  been  unsuccessful.  There  Dar 
win  observed  the  guanaco,  or  wild  llama. 
These  animals  were  extremely  wary. 
Once  caught,  however,  they  were  easily 
domesticated. 

From  Patagonia  the  Beagle  went  to  the 
Falkland  Islands,  where  Darwin  found 
horses,  cattle,  and  rabbits  thriving  on  the 
seemingly  desolate  land.  Captain  Fitz 
Roy  soon  set  sail  for  Tierra  del  Fuego. 
There  the  natives  were  curious  about 


1079 


their  white  visitors.  The  natives  existed 
«n  an  utterly  savage  state  with  barely 
enough  food  and  clothing  to  maintain 
their  miserable  existence. 

The  Beagle  had  aboard  three  Fuegians 
who  had  been  taken  to  England  to  re 
ceive  education  and  be  taught  the  Chris 
tian  religion.  A  missionary  accompanied 
them.  The  plan  was  to  return  these 
natives  to  their  own  tribes,  and  for 
that  purpose  the  Beagle  anchored  in 
Ponsonby  Sound.  Four  boats  set  out  to 
carry  the  natives  to  their  homeland.  All 
the  natives  on  shore  congregated  about 
the  English  wherever  they  landed  and 
asked  for  gifts.  When  their  wants  were 
not  entirely  satisfied,  they  became  hostile. 
The  missionary  decided  that  it  would  be 
useless  for  him  to  stay  among  them. 

From  Tierra  del  Fuego  the  Beagle 
proceeded  to  Valparaiso,  Chile.  From 
there  Darwin  set  out  to  observe  the 
geological  formations  of  the  base  of  the 
Andes  Mountains.  On  that  journey  he 
saw  copper  and  gold  mines. 

The  Beagle  sailed  from  Valparaiso 
southward  to  the  island  of  Chiloe  and 
the  southern  part  of  Chile.  While  the 
ship  was  anchored  in  a  harbor  of  Chiloe, 
all  those  aboard  were  able  to  observe  the 
eruption  of  a  volcano  on  the  mainland. 

About  a  month  later,  after  the  Beagle 
had  sailed  northward  for  a  distance,  a 
great  earthquake  shook  parts  of  the  coast 
and  the  nearby  islands.  Darwin  saw  the 
damage  caused  by  the  earthquake  in 
the  harbor  city  of  Conception,  where 
almost  every  building  had  been  de 
molished.  Part  of  the  town  had  been 
swept  also  by  a  tremendous  wave  that 
had  rushed  in  from  the  sea. 

After  the  Beagle  returned  to  Val 
paraiso,  Darwin  procured  guides  and 
mules  and  set  out  to  cross  the  Andes  to 
Mendoza.  He  went  eastward  through  the 
Portillo  Pass  and  returned  through  the 
Uspallata  Pass.  He  reported  the  scenery 
beautiful,  and  he  collected  much  in 
teresting  geological  and  natural  history 
data. 

Next,  the  Beagle  sailed  up  the  coast 


of  northern  Chile  and  continued  north 
ward  to  Peru.  At  Iquique,  in  Peru, 
Darwin  visited  a  saltpeter  works.  Lima 
was  the  next  port  of  call  for  the  Beagle. 
Darwin  was  not  impressed  by  the  city. 
It  was  dirty  and  ugly,  having  suffered 
from  many  revolutions,  and  the  people, 
living  in  an  almost  continual  state  of 
anarchy,  were  unable  to  take  time  to 
improve  the  city. 

Lima  was  the  last  point  at  which  the 
Beagle  touched  on  the  western  coast  of 
South  America.  The  ship  proceeded  next 
to  the  Galapagos  archipelago,  where  the 
most  interesting  feature  was  the  prev 
alence  of  great  tortoises.  The  inhabitants 
often  killed  these  reptiles  for  their  meat. 
Most  of  the  birds  on  the  islands  were 
completely  tame;  they  had  not  yet 
learned  to  regard  man  as  their  enemy. 

The  ship  then  sailed  on  the  long  pas 
sage  of  three  thousand  miles  to  Tahiti. 
There  Darwin  was  impressed  by  the 
swimming  ability  of  the  Polynesians.  He 
explored  the  mountains  of  the  island 
with  the  help  of  guides. 

From  Tahiti  the  Beagle  went  south  to 
New  Zealand,  New  South  Wales,  and 
Australia.  There  Darwin  first  saw  the 
social  greeting  of  rubbing  noses  per 
formed  by  the  aborigines.  This  custom 
took  the  place  of  shaking  hands,  as  prac 
ticed  by  Europeans. 

After  leaving  this  group  of  islands  the 
ship  headed  back  to  Brazil  in  order  to 
complete  chronometric  measurements 
that  were  to  be  made.  On  the  way  Dar 
win  visited  the  island  of  St.  Helena. 

Now  that  the  Beagle  was  on  the  last 
part  of  her  journey,  Darwin  recorded 
in  his  journal  his  theories  as  to  the  for 
mation  of  coral  reefs,  many  of  which  he 
had  observed  during  his  stay  in  the 
South  Seas. 

Darwin  was  glad  to  leave  Brazil  for 
the  second  time;  the  practice  of  slavery 
in  that  country  sickened  him.  In  October 
of  1836  the  Beagle  reached  the  shores 
of  England.  At  Falmouth,  Darwin  left 
the  ship.  He  had  spent  nearly  five 
years  on  his  journey. 


1080 


THE  WANDERER 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Alain-Fournier  (Henri  Alain   Fournier,    1886-1914) 

Type  of  plot:    Psychological  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Nineteenth  century 

Locale:   France 

First  published:    1913 

Principal  characters: 

AUGUSTTN  MEAULNES,  the  wanderer 
FRANCOIS  SEUREL,  his  friend 
FKANTZ  DE  CALAIS,  a  young  aristocrat 
YVONNE  DE  CALAIS,  his  sister 
VALENTINE  BLONDE AU,  Frantz's  fiancee 

Critique: 

Half  fantasy  and  half  reality,  this 
dream-like  story  skillfully  mixes  the 
vague  dream  world  with  the  material 
world.  A  dream  of  delightful  wonder 
obsesses  a  young  man  all  his  life.  But 
when  he  finds  the  material  existence  of 
his  dream,  he  is  disillusioned,  for  he 
would  prefer  to  return  to  the  dream. 


The   Story: 

M.  Seurel  was  head  of  the  Middle 
School  and  one  of  the  Higher  Elementary 
classes,  and  Madame  Seurel  taught  the 
infants  at  Sainte-Agathe's  School.  Liv 
ing  in  the  school  with  his  parents  and 
his  sister  Millie,  Frangois  Seurel  attended 
the  classes  along  with  the  other  pupils. 
Young  Seurel,  however,  never  played 
much  with  the  village  boys  because  of 
an  infection  in  his  hip. 

When  Francois  Seurel  was  fifteen, 
Augustin  Meaulnes  entered  the  school. 
His  arrival  marked  a  new  life  for  Seurel, 
for  Meaulnes  soon  banished  his  con 
tentment  with  his  family  and  his  love 
for  his  home.  His  hip  healing,  Seurel 
began  to  spend  more  time  with  Meaul 
nes  in  the  village.  Even  the  school  be 
came  livelier,  for  Meaulnes  always  drew 
a  crowd  of  people  around  him  in  the 
evenings. 

The  adventure  began  one  Christmas 
when  Meaulnes  set  out  for  the  railroad 
station  to  meet  Seurel's  grandparents,  M. 
and  Mme.  Charpentier,  When  the 


grandparents  arrived,  Meaulnes  had  dis 
appeared.  Three  days  later,  he  casually 
took  his  seat  in  the  classroom  where  M. 
Seurel  was  conducting  a  lesson.  No  one 
knew  where  Meaulnes  had  gone  and  he 
claimed  when  questioned  that  he  himself 
did  not  know,  Sometimes  at  night,  in  the 
attic  room  they  shared,  Seurel  would  be 
awakened  to  find  Meaulnes  pacing  the 
floor,  fully  clothed,  eager  to  enter  again 
a  mysterious  world  which  once  he  had 
glimpsed  briefly.  Meaulnes  promised  to 
take  Seurel  along  the  next  time  he  left 
on  a  journey. 

At  last  Meaulnes  told  Seurel  the  story 
of  his  adventure  after  he  had  run  off 
from  the  school.  It  had  been  a  very  cold 
December  day,  and  Meaulnes,  losing  his 
way,  had  found  his  horse  lame  and 
darkness  falling.  He  had  wandered  to  a 
cottage,  where  he  was  fed.  Then  he  had 
stumbled  on  until  he  found  a  barn  in 
which,  cold  and  lost,  he  fell  asleep.  The 
next  day  he  wandered  a  long  distance, 
until  that  night  he  had  come  to  a  manor 
where  small  children  and  old  people 
were  merrily  planning  a  wedding  feast. 
Tired  and  cold,  Meaulnes  had  crawled 
through  a  window  and  climbed  into  a 
bed.  There  he  slept  all  night.  The 
next  day,  thinking  him  one  of  the  guests; 
some  strolling  players  invited  him  to  eat 
with  them.  Then  Meaulnes  discovered 
the  reason  for  the  feast.  Frantz  de  Calais, 
the  son  of  the  man  who  owned  the 


THE    WANDERER   by  Alaia-Fournicr.     Translated    by    Francois    Deli»lc.     By    permission   of    the    publishers. 
Houghton  Mifilm  Co.     Copyright.   1928,  by  Houghton  Miiflin  Co. 


1081 


manor,  had  gone  off  to  fetch  his  fiancee 
for  the  wedding. 

All  the  first  day  Meaulnes  danced  and 
played  with  the  other  guests.  The  next 
day  he  met  a  beautiful  girl  with  whom 
he  immediately  fell  in  love.  Although 
she  sadly  declined  to  see  him  again,  she 
promised  to  wait  for  his  return  to  the 
manor.  Inquiring  about  the  strange 
girl,  Meaulnes  learned  that  she  was 
Yvonne  de  Calais,  the  sister  of  Frantz. 
Frantz  returned  to  the  manor  without 
his  bride  and  dismissed  all  the  guests. 

Meaulnes  joined  the  crowd  of  children 
and  old  people  as  they  dejectedly  walked 
or  rode  away  from  the  manor.  He  fell 
asleep  in  a  cart  and  did  not  awake  until 
he  found  himself  again  near  Sainte- 
Agathe's  School. 

Meaulnes'  story  would  have  seemed 
too  unreal  to  young  Seurel  if  the  arrival 
of  a  strange  boy  at  Sainte-Agathe's  had 
not  brought  the  story  to  reality.  The 
boy,  dressed  as  a  gipsy,  reminded  Meaul 
nes  of  those  Bohemians  he  had  seen  at 
the  manor.  After  the  gipsy  had  stolen 
the  map  which  Meaulnes  had  been  mak 
ing  in  order  to  find  his  way  back  to  the 
manor,  Meaulnes  and  Seurel  learned 
that  the  gipsy  was  young  Frantz  de 
Calais,  who  in  a  fit  of  despair  after 
losing  his  sweetheart  had  run  away  with 
a  band  of  gipsies.  The  boys  swore  to 
Frantz  that  they  would  help  him  if  they 
could.  One  night  Frantz  disappeared. 

Meaulnes  went  at  last  to  Paris  and 
wrote  only  three  letters  to  Seurel  after 
his  arrival  there. 

Months  passed.  Seurel  finished  his 
school  days  and  went  to  a  village  to  visit 
some  relatives.  There  he  heard  that  a 
mysterious  manor  was  not  far  off.  Eagerly 
Seurel  took  up  his  friend's  quest.  His 
cousins,  he  learned,  knew  Yvonne.  The 
manor  had  been  razed  after  the  disap 
pearance  of  Frantz,  but  his  sister  often 
came  to  visit  Seurel's  cousins.  One  night 
while  Seurel  was  there  she  arrived.  He 
told  her  that  Meaulnes  hoped  someday 
to  find  her  again.  Seurel  then  learned 
from  his  aunt  that  Frantz's  fianc6e  had 


feared  to  marry  him  because  she  was 
certain  that  such  great  happiness  could 
not  come  to  her,  die  daughter  of  peas 
ants.  She  was  now  in  Paris  working  as 
a  dressmaker.  Seurel  recalled  his  promise 
to  Frantz  to  help  him  if  ever  he  could. 
But  first  Seurel  intended  to  find  Meaul 
nes  and  bring  him  to  Yvonne  de  Calais. 

When  Seurel  found  Meaulnes,  the 
adventurer  was  packing  his  clothes  to  go 
on  a  journey.  Abandoning  his  plans, 
he  and  Yvonne  married.  But  there  was 
some  mysterious  element  in  their  lives 
which  kept  them  from  being  as  happy  as 
Seurel  had  expected  them  to  be.  One 
night  Frantz  appeared  near  the  village. 
Seurel  met  him  and  listened  to  his  com 
plaint  of  loneliness  and  sorrow.  The 
next  morning  Meaulnes  left  Yvonne  to 
go  on  another  adventure. 

For  months  Seurel,  now  a  teacher 
at  Sainte-Agathe's,  and  Yvonne  awaited 
the  return  of  Meaulnes.  When  her  baby 
was  born,  Yvonne  died,  leaving  Seure] 
with  an  untold  sadness.  Searching 
through  his  friend's  old  papers,  Seurel 
found  a  diary  which  told  him  why 
Meaulnes  had  been  so  troubled  before 
his  disappearance. 

While  Meaulnes  had  lived  in  Paris, 
he  had  met  Valentine  Blondeau,  a  girl 
who  became  his  mistress.  Valentine 
often  spoke  of  her  former  lover,  whom 
she  had  deserted  because  she  feared  to 
marry  him.  When  she  showed  Meaulnes 
her  lover's  letters,  he  realized  that  Val 
entine  was  the  fiancee  tor  whom  Frantz 
de  Calais  had  never  stopped  searching. 
In  anger,  Meaulnes  told  her  he  would 
leave  her,  and  Valentine  cried  that  she 
would  then  return  to  Paris  to  become  a 
street-walker.  After  he  had  returned  to 
his  mother's  home,  where  Seurel  had 
found  him,  Meaulnes  began  to  feel  re 
morse  for  his  treatment  of  Valentine. 

Seurel,  reading  the  diary,  realized  that 
Meaulnes  must  have  been  packing  to 
go  in  search  of  Valentine  when  Seurel 
brought  the  news  that  Yvonne  had  been 
found.  He  decided  that  Meaulnes  had 
deserted  Yvonne  to  go  on  the  same  quest. 


1082 


As  Yvonne's  daughter  grew  into  a 
lovable,  pretty  child,  Seurel  often  went 
to  play  with  her,  but  she  would  not 
allow  him  completely  to  possess  her 
affections.  She  seemed  always  to  be 
waiting  for  someone.  One  afternoon, 
while  playing  with  the  little  girl,  Seurel 
noticed  a  burly  stranger  approaching.  As 
the  man  neared  him,  Seurel  recognized 
Meaulnes.  He  told  Seurel  that  he  had 
brought  Valentine  and  Frantz  together 


at  last.  With  tears  in  his  eyes  at  the 
news  of  his  wife's  death,  Meaulnes  took 
his  daughter  into  his  arms. 

Seurel  watched  the  father  and  daugh 
ter  play  together,  and  the  schoolmaster 
smilingly  imagined  that  he  could  en 
vision  Meaulnes  arising  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  wrapping  his  daughter  in  a 
cloak,  and  silently  slipping  off  with  her 
on  some  new  adventure. 


THE  WANDERING  JEW 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Eugene  Sue  (1804-1857) 

Type  of  plot:    Mystery  melodrama 

Time  of  plot:    1831-1832 

Locale:   France 

First  published:    1844-1845 

Principal   characters; 

RODIN,  an  ambitious  Jesuit 

M.  i/ ABBE  D'AIGRIGNY,  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits 

BLANCHE  SIMON, 

ROSE  SIMON, 

FRANCOIS  HABJDY, 

PRINCE   DJALMA, 

JACQUES  DE  RENNEPONT  (COUCHE-TOUT-NUD), 

GABRIEL  DE  RENNEPONT,  and 

ADRIENNE  DE  CARDOVILLE,  descendants  of  Marius  de  Rennepont 
and  heirs  to  his  legacy 

SAMUEL,  the  Wandering  Jew 

HERODIAS,  who  demanded  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist 


Critique: 

The  Wandering  Jew  is  a  sprawling 
narrative  written  in  a  pedestrian  style 
and  dealing  with  one-dimensional  char 
acters  whose  conversations  and  behavior 
are  unrealistic.  In  spite  of  its  limitations, 
however,  the  novel  has  survived;  and 
more  than  a  hundred  years  after  its  pub 
lication  it  has  become  a  minor  classic  of 
sorts.  Probably  the  reasons  for  its  sur 
vival  are  twofold.  First,  the  legend  of 
the  Wandering  Jew  has  always  com 
manded  interest.  Second,  Sue  has  tech 
nical  skill  in  building  up  effects  of 
mystery  and  terror.  In  addition,  Sue's 
vivid  knowledge  of  social  and  economic 
conditions  of  the  time  lend  added  value 
to  a  romantic  work  which  was  also  a 
novel  of  social  protest. 


The  Story: 

Down  a  bleak  hill  in  Poland  a  solitary 
figure  stalked.  He  was  an  old  man,  his 
face  gentle  and  sad.  His  footsteps  left  in 
the  soil  imprints  of  a  cross  made  by  the 
seven  large  nails  in  his  shoes.  He  was 
hurrying,  for  he  must  be  in  Paris  on 
the  thirteenth  of  February,  1832,  when 
the  surviving  descendants  of  his  sister 
would  gather  in  that  city — the  last  mem 
bers  of  that  family  over  which  he  had 
watched  for  eighteen  centuries.  The 
lonely  traveler  was  the  Wandering  Jew, 
that  artisan  of  Jerusalem  who  mocked 
Christ  on  the  day  of  the  Crucifixion,  the 
sinner  condemned  to  wander  undying 
through  the  centuries  over  all  the  world. 

Far  in  the  wilds  of  America  a  woman 
also  set  her  face  toward  Paris,  driven  by 


1083 


that  same  power  which  guided  the 
Wandering  Jew.  She  was  Herodias,  who 
had  demanded  the  head  of  John  the 
Baptist  on  a  charger,  also  condemned  to 
live  through  centuries  of  sorrow. 

Francois  Baudoin,  called  Dagobert,  a 
faithful  friend  of  Marshal  Simon,  an  old 
Bonapartist  hero,  never  faltered  in  his 
loyalty  toward  the  Simon  family.  Years 
before  he  had  followed  the  marshal's 
Polish  wife  into  Siberia,  where  she  was 
exiled,  and  after  her  death  he  set  out 
with  her  twin  daughters,  Blanche  and 
Rose,  for  Paris  where,  on  a  certain  day 
in  February,  1832,  a  legacy  awaited  the 
two  girls.  This  was  the  legacy  of  Marius 
de  Rennepont,  an  ancestor  who,  despoiled 
by  the  Jesuits,  had  salvaged  out  of  his 
ruined  estate  a  house  and  a  small  sum 
of  money.  The  money  he  had  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  faithful  Jewish  friend 
named  Samuel,  who  had  promised  to 
invest  it  profitably.  A  hundred  and 
fifty  years  later  the  descendants  of  this 
ancestor  were  to  gather  at  a  house  where 
each  was  to  receive  a  share  of  the  legacy. 
Blanche  and  Rose  Simon  were  only  half- 
aware  of  the  fortune  awaiting  them,  for 
they  were  too  young  to  understand  what 
Dagobert  told  them  about  their  inherit 
ance. 

But  if  these  heirs  of  Marius  de  Ren 
nepont  did  not  know  of  the  legacy, 
others  did.  For  many  years  the  Jesuits, 
masters  of  an  intricate  and  diabolical 
conspiracy,  had  plotted  to  prevent  the 
descendants  from  acquiring  the  money. 
They  were  responsible  for  Marshal 
Simon's  exile,  for  his  wife's  banishment 
to  Siberia. 

The  plotters  had  been  so  meticulous, 
so  thorough  in  their  scheming,  that  they 
had  persuaded  young  Gabriel  de  Renne 
pont  to  become  a  priest  and  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Through  Gabriel 
they  hoped  to  acquire  the  tremendous 
fortune;  for  by  preventing  the  other 
heirs  from  reaching  Paris  —  and  the 
society  had  agents  all  over  the  world  who 
would  do  its  bidding  under  any  condi 
tions — Gabriel  would  inherit  the  legacy. 


Then,  since  he  was  forbidden  by  his  vow 
of  poverty  to  possess  money,  the  funds 
would  revert  to  the  society.  With  that 
money  the  Jesuits  would  be  able  to  re 
establish  their  supremacy  over  the  French 
people,  would  be  able  once  more  to 
govern  countries  and  guide  the  destiny 
of  Europe. 

As  soon  as  Dagobert  and  the  two  girls 
arrived  in  Paris,  the  Jesuits  arranged  to 
have  them  spirited  away  to  a  convent. 
Adrienne  de  Cardoville,  another  descend 
ant  of  the  de  Rennepont  family,  was 
declared  insane  and  committed  to  an 
asylum.  Jacques  de  Rennepont,  a  good- 
hearted  sensualist  named  Couche-tout- 
Nud,  was  jailed  for  debt.  Prince  Djalma, 
who  had  left  India  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
of  the  Jesuits,  was  drugged.  Francois 
Hardy,  a  benevolent  manufacturer,  was 
sent  out  of  town  through  the  treachery 
of  a  friend  who  was  a  Jesuit  spy. 

As  a  result  of  that  Jesuit  conspiracy, 
on  that  fateful  day  in  February,  1832, 
only  the  priest,  Gabriel  de  Rennepont, 
went  to  claim  the  legacy  at  the  house  of 
an  old  Jew  known  as  Samuel.  With 
Gabriel  were  M.  1'AbW  d'Aigrigny,  Pro 
vincial  of  the  Jesuits,  and  Rodin,  his 
secretary.  Before  the  reading  of  the  will, 
Gabriel  was  persuaded  to  sign  a  paper 
in  which  he  renounced  all  claims  to  the 
legacy.  When  the  bequest  was  an 
nounced,  the  Jesuits  were  astounded  at 
the  incredible  sum  of  the  inheritance, 
which  had  grown  from  150,000  francs 
to  a  fortune  of  212,175,000  francs.  But 
just  as  the  money  was  being  handed  over 
to  the  priests,  a  strange  woman  appeared 
and  produced  a  codicil  to  the  will,  a 
document  suspending  its  execution  for 
three  months.  The  woman  was  Herodias, 
but  none  then  called  her  by  that  name. 
The  priests  were  enraged,  and  they  feared 
that  their  conspiracy  would  be  exposed. 
Adrienne  de  Cardoville  was  certain  to 
be  released  from  the  asylum.  Genera] 
Simon  was  reported  to  be  on  his  way 
back  to  France  to  claim  his  daughters. 
Couche-tout-Nud  would  borrow  money 
from  his  friends  to  pay  his  debts.  Prince 


1084 


Djalma  would  soon  awaken.  Francois 
Hardy  would  return  to  Paris  from  his 
fruitless  errand. 

Rodin  immediately  produced  a  paper 
which  placed  him  in  complete  charge  of 
the  Jesuit  cabal.  He  proclaimed  that  they 
had  not  lost,  that  they  could  and  would 
win  by  employing  psychological  methods 
instead  of  violence.  He  would  let  each 
heir  destroy  himself  by  his  own  desires, 
passions,  or  vices. 

During  the  three  months  that  fol 
lowed  Rodin  pretended  that  he  had  left 
the  service  of  the  Abb6  d'Aigrigny  and 
passed  himself  off  as  a  friend  of  the  de 
Rennepont  heirs.  He  secured  the  re 
lease  of  the  Simon  girls  and  Adrienne, 
and  by  those  acts  became  known  as  a 
good,  unselfish  man.  One  of  Adrienne's 
servants  confessed,  shortly  before  her 
death,  that  she  had  been  blackmailed 
into  spying  for  the  Jesuits,  and  she  re 
vealed  the  whole  sordid,  brutal,  un 
principled  conspiracy.  But  Rodin  was 
not  yet  willing  to  accept  defeat.  At  his 
direction,  Francois  Hardy's  factory  was 
burned  to  the  ground,  his  best  friend's 
treachery  was  revealed,  and  his  beautiful 
young  mistress  was  spirited  away.  A 
broken  man,  Hardy  was  taken  to  a 
Jesuit  retreat,  where  he  accepted  the 
doctrines  of  the  order  and  died  as  the 
result  of  the  penances  and  fasts  imposed 
upon  him.  Couche-tout-Nud,  separated 
from  his  mistress,  died  a  miserable  death 
after  an  orgy  induced  by  another  Jesuit 
agent.  The  Simon  girls  were  taken  to 
a  hospital  during  a  cholera  epidemic  and 
died  there  of  the  disease.  Prince  Djalma, 
led  to  believe  that  Adrienne  had  become 
the  mistress  of  Agricola  Baudoin,  Dago- 


bert's  son,  attacked  Agricola  and  killed 
a  girl  whom  he  mistook  for  Adrienne.  He 
discovered  his  error  too  late,  for  in  his 
remorse  he  had  already  swallowed  poison. 
Adrienne  chose  to  die  with  him. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  final 
disposition  of  the  de  Rennepont  legacy, 
Gabriel  was  the  only  survivor.  Just  as 
Rodin  was  about  to  claim  the  inheritance 
in  the  name  of  his  churchly  office,  the 
casket  containing  the  money  and  securi 
ties  burst  into  flames  and  the  fortune 
was  lost  forever.  A  moment  later  Rodin 
fell  to  the  floor  and  writhed  in  agony. 
As  he  had  left  a  church,  shortly  before 
claiming  the  legacy,  he  had  taken  holy 
water  from  the  fingers  of  an  Indian  whc 
had  accompanied  Prince  Djalma  from 
India  and  who  had  become  a  lay  mem 
ber  of  the  Jesuits.  Too  late,  Rodin  real 
ized  that  he  had  been  poisoned  in  some 
manner  by  the  Indian.  He  died  a  few 
minutes  later. 

Gabriel  de  Rennepont,  shocked  when 
he  realized  the  crimes  of  greed  and  lust 
for  power  that  the  lost  fortune  had 
caused,  retired  to  live  out  the  rest  of  his 
brief  life  with  his  friends,  the  Beaudoin 
family. 

After  Gabriel's  body  had  been  laid 
in  the  de  Rennepont  tomb,  old  Samuel 
went  to  a  secret  spot  where  a  great  cross 
was  set  upon  a  lonely  hill.  There  Hero- 
dias  found  him.  In  the  dawn's  light  each 
saw  upon  the  face  of  the  other  the  marks 
that  age  had  put  upon  them,  but  they 
had  found  peace  and  happiness  at  last. 
Samuel — for  he  was  the  Wandering  Jew 
— gave  praise  that  their  long  punishment 
was  ended,  and  Herodias  echoed  his 
words. 


WAR  AND  PEACE 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Count  Leo  Tolstoy  (1828-1910) 

Type  of  'plot:  Historical  romance 

Timeofpkt:  1805-1813 

Locale:  Russia 

First  published:  1865-1869 


1085 


Principal  characters: 

PEERED  BE2UHOV,  illegitimate  son  of  a  wealthy  count 

NATASHA  ROSTOV,  beautiful  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  Moscow  family 

NIKOLAY  ROSTOV,  Natasha's  older  brother 

ANPREY  BOLKONSKY,  wealthy  Russian  prince 

ELLEN  KURAGIN  BEZUHOV,  Pierre's  beautiful  and  immoral  wife 

ANATOLE  KUKAGIN,  Ellen's  brother 

PRINCESS  MARYA  BOLKONSKY,  Audrey's  sister 

OLD  PRINCE  BOLKONSKY,  Audrey's  tyrannical  father 

KUTUZOV,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Russian  Army,  appointed  in  August,  1812 

NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE 


Critique: 

Count  Leo  Tolstoy's  War  and  Peace 
is  a  panorama  of  Russian  life  in  that 
active  period  of  history  known  as  the 
Napoleonic  Era.  The  whole  structure  of 
the  novel  indicates  that  Tolstoy  was 
writing  a  new  kind  of  book.  He  was 
not  concerned  with  plot,  setting,  or  even 
people,  as  such.  His  purpose  was  simply 
to  show  that  the  continuity  of  life  in 
history  is  eternal.  Each  human  life  holds 
its  influence  on  history,  and  the  de 
velopments  of  youth  and  age,  war  and 
peace,  are  so  interrelated  that  in  the 
simplest  patterns  of  social  behavior  vast 
implications  are  recognizable.  Tolstoy 
seemed  to  feel  a  moral  responsibility  to 
present  history  as  it  was  influenced  by 
every  conceivable  human  force.  To  do 
this,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  create 
not  a  series  of  simple,  well-linked  inci 
dents  but  a  whole  evolution  of  events 
and  personalities.  Each  character  must 
change,  must  affect  those  around  him; 
these  people  in  turn  must  influence 
others,  until  imperceptibly,  the  whole 
historical  framework  of  the  nation 
changes.  War  and  Peace,  then,  is  a 
moving  record  of  historical  progress,  and 
the  dual  themes  of  this  vast  novel — Age 
and  Youth,  War  and  Peace — are  shown 
as  simultaneous  developments  of  history. 

The  Story: 

In  1805,  it  was  evident  to  most 
well-informed  Russians  that  war  with 
Napoleon  was  inevitable.  Austria  and 
Russia  joined  forces  at  the  battle  of 
Austerlitz,  where  they  were  soundly  de 
feated  by  the  French.  But  in  the  highest 


Russian  society,  life  went  on  quite  as 
though  nothing  of  tremendous  import 
were  impending.  After  all,  it  was  really 
only  by  a  political  formality  that  Russia 
had  joined  with  Austria.  The  fact  that 
one  day  Napoleon  might  threaten  the 
gates  of  Russia  seemed  ridiculous.  And 
so  soirees  and  balls  were  held,  old 
women  gossiped,  young  women  fell  in 
love.  War,  though  inevitable,  was  being 
waged  on  foreign  soil,  and  was,  therefore, 
of  little  importance. 

The  attraction  held  by  the  army  for 
the  young  noblemen  of  Russia  was 
understandable  enough,  for  the  Russian 
army  had  always  offered  excellent  op 
portunities  for  ambitious,  politically  in 
clined  young  men.  It  was  a  wholesome 
release  for  their  energies.  Young  Nikolay 
Rostov,  for  example,  joined  the  hussars 
simply  because  he  felt  drawn  to  that  way 
of  life.  His  family  idolized  him  because 
of  his  loyalty  to  the  tsar,  because  of  his 
courage,  and  because  he  was  so  hand 
some  in  his  uniform.  Natasha,  his  sister, 
wept  over  him,  and  Sonya,  his  cousin, 
promptly  fell  in  love  with  him. 

While  young  Nikolay  was  applauded 
in  St.  Petersburg  society,  Pierre  Bezuhov, 
a  friend  of  the  Rostov  family,  was  looked 
upon  as  somewhat  of  a  boor.  He  had 
just  returned  from  Paris,  where  he  had 
studied  at  the  university,  and  he  had  not 
yet  made  up  his  mind  what  to  do  with 
his  life.  He  would  not  join  the  army 
for  he  saw  no  sense  in  a  military  career. 
His  father  gave  him  a  liberal  allowance, 
and  he  spent  it  frivolously  at  gambling. 
In  truth,  he  seemed  like  a  man  lost.  He 


1086 


would  start  long  arguments,  loudly  shout 
ing  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner  in 
the  quiet  drawing-rooms,  and  then 
suddenly  lapse  into  sullen  silence.  He 
was  barely  tolerated  at  soirees  before 
his  father  died  and  left  him  millions. 
Then,  suddenly,  Pierre  became  popular, 
although  he  attributed  his  rise  to  some 
new  personality  development  of  his  own. 
He  was  no  longer  sullen,  but  loved 
everyone,  and  it  was  quite  clear  that 
everyone  loved  him.  His  most  dogged 
follower  was  Prince  Vassily  Kuragin,  the 
father  of  a  beautiful,  unmarried  daugh 
ter,  Ellen,  who  was  recognized  every 
where  as  a  prospective  leader  of  St. 
Petersburg  society.  Pierre  was  forced  into 
marrying  her  by  the  crafty  prince,  who 
knew  a  good  catch  when  he  saw  one. 
The  marriage  was  never  a  success. 

Pierre  Bezuhov's  closest  friend  was 
Prince  Andrey  Bolkonsky,  an  arrogant, 
somewhat  cynical  man  who  also  despised 
his  wife.  Lise,  the  "Little  Princess/'  as 
she  was  called,  was  pregnant,  but  Prince 
Andrey  could  endure  the  bondage  of 
domesticity  no  longer.  When  he  received 
a  commission  in  the  army,  he  left  his  wife 
at  the  family  estate,  Bleak  Hills,  in  the 
care  of  his  sister  Marya  and  his  tyran 
nical  old  father,  and  went  off  to  war. 
During  his  absence,  Princess  Lise  bore 
him  a  son,  but  died  in  childbirth.  Prince 
Andrey  returned  after  the  battle  of 
Austerlitz  to  find  himself  free  once  more, 
but  he  enjoyed  no  feeling  of  satisfaction 
in  his  freedom.  Seeking  Pierre,  Prince 
Andrey  turned  to  his  friend  for  answer 
to  some  of  the  eternal  questions  of  lone 
liness  and  despair  that  tortured  him. 

Pierre,  meanwhile,  had  joined  the 
brotherhood  of  Freemasons,  and  through 
this  contact  had  arrived  at  a  philosophy  of 
life  which  he  sincerely  believed  to  be 
the  only  true  philosophy.  Had  Pierre 
realized  that  the  order  nad  initiated  him 
solely  because  of  his  wealth,  he  would 
never  have  adopted  their  ideals.  How 
ever,  in  true  faith,  Pierre  restored  some 
of  Prince  Andrey's  lost  courage  by  means 
of  a  wild  if  unreasoning  enthusiasm. 


In  the  belief  that  he  was  now  an  un 
selfish,  free  individual,  Pierre  freed  his 
peasants  and  set  about  improving  his 
estate;  but  having  absolutely  no  sense 
of  business  administration  he  lost  a  great 
deal  of  money.  Finally,  with  his  affairs 
in  almost  hopeless  disorder,  he  left  an 
overseer  in  charge  and  retired  to  Bleak 
Hills  and  Prince  Andrey's  sane  company. 

Meanwhile,  Nikolay  Rostov  was  in  the 
thick  of  the  fighting.  Napoleon,  having 
overcome  the  Prussian  forces  at  Jena, 
had  reached  Berlin  in  October,  The  Rus 
sians  once  more  had  gone  to  the  as 
sistance  of  their  neighbors,  and  the  two 
opposing  armies  met  in  a  terrible  battle 
at  Eylau  in  February,  1807.  In  June, 
Nikolay  had  entered  the  campaign  at 
Friedland,  where  the  Russians  were 
beaten.  In  June  of  that  year  Nikolay 
naively  thought  the  war  was  over,  for 
Napoleon  and  Tsar  Alexander  signed 
the  Peace  of  Tilsit.  What  the  young 
officer  did  not  know  was  that  Napoleon 
possessed  a  remarkable  gift  for  flattery, 
and  had  promised,  with  no  intention  of 
keeping  his  word,  that  Russia  would  be 
given  a  free  hand  with  Turkey  and 
Finland.  For  two  years  Nikolay  enjoyed 
all  the  privileges  of  his  post  in  the  army, 
without  having  to  endure  any  of  the  risks. 
Napoleon  had  gone  to  Spain. 

Prince  Andrey,  having  served  in  minor 
skirmishes  as  an  adjutant  under  General 
Kutuzov,  leader  of  the  Russian  forces, 
returned  to  the  country.  He  had  some 
business  affairs  to  straighten  out  with 
Count  Rostov,  marshal  of  his  district, 
and  so  he  went  to  the  Rostov  estate  at 
Otradnoe.  There  Andrey  fell  almost  im 
mediately  under  die  spell  of  Count 
Rostov's  lovely  young  daughter,  Natasha. 
He  fancied  himself  in  love  as  he  had 
never  loved  before.  Once  again  he  turned 
to  Pierre  for  advice.  Rut  Pierre  had  had 
an  unfortunate  quarrel  with  his  wife, 
Ellen.  They  were  now  separated,  and 
Pierre  had  fought  a  senseless  duel  with 
an  innocent  man  because  he  had  sus 
pected  his  wife  of  being  unfaithful.  But 
at  the  sight  of  Prince  Andrey,  so  hope- 


1087 


lessly  in  love,  Pierre's  great  heart  was 
touched.  He  had  always  teen  fond  of 
Natasha,  whom  he  had  known  since 
childhood,  and  the  match  seemed  to  him 
ideal.  With  love  once  more  flowing 
through  his  heart,  he  took  his  wife 
back,  feeling  very  virtuous  at  his  own 
generosity.  Meanwhile  he  encouraged 
Prince  Andrey  in  his  suit. 

Natasha  had  ignored  previous  offers 
of  marriage.  When  dashing  and  wealthy 
Prince  Andrey  came  upon  the  scene, 
however,  she  lost  her  heart  to  him 
instantly.  He  asked  her  parents  for 
her  hand,  and  they  immediately  con 
sented  to  the  match,  an  excellent  one 
from  their  point  of  view.  But  when 
Prince  Andrey  broke  the  news  to  his 
quarrelsome  and  dictatorial  old  father, 
the  ancient  prince  said  he  would  not  give 
his  blessing  until  a  year  had  elapsed.  He 
felt  that  Natasha  had  little  money  and 
was  much  too  young  to  take  charge  of 
Prince  Andrey's  home  and  his  son. 
Marya,  Prince  Andrey*  sister,  also  dis 
approved  of  the  match.  She  was  jealous 
of  her  brother's  fiancee. 

Natasha,  heartbroken,  agreed  to  wait 
a  year,  and  Prince  Andrey  kept  their 
betrothal  a  secret,  in  order,  as  he  said, 
to  let  her  have  complete  freedom. 
Natasha  went  to  visit  a  family  friend  in 
Moscow.  There  her  freedom  was  too 
complete.  One  night  at  the  opera  with 
Pierre's  wife  Ellen,  who  was  now 
recognized  as  an  important  social  leader, 
she  met  Ellen's  disreputable  brother, 
Anatole.  Unknown  to  Natasha,  Anatole 
had  already  been  forced  to  marry  a 
peasant  girl,  whom  he  had  ruined.  The 
young  rake  now  determined  to  conquer 
Natasha.  Aided  by  his  unscrupulous 
sister,  he  forced  his  suit.  Natasha  be 
came  confused.  She  loved  Prince  Andrey, 
but  he  had  joined  the  army  again  and  she 
never  saw  him;  and  she  loved  Anatole, 
who  was  becoming  more  insistent  every 
day.  At  last  she  agreed  to  run  away  with 
Anatole  and  marry  him.  Anatole  ar 
ranged  with  an  unfrocked  priest  to  have 
a  mock  ceremony  performed. 


On  the  night  set  for  the  elopement 
Natasha's  hostess  discovered  the  plan. 
Natasha  was  confined  to  her  room. 
Unfortunately,  she  had  already  written 
to  Prince  Andrey's  sister  asking  to  be  re 
lieved  of  her  betrothal  vows. 

When  Pierre  heard  the  scandal,  he 
forced  Anatole  to  leave  town.  Then 
he  went  to  see  Natasha.  Strangely,  he 
was  the  only  person  whom  she  trusted 
and  to  whom  she  could  speak  freely.  She 
looked  upon  him  as  if  he  were  an  older 
uncle,  and  was  charmed  with  his  gruff, 
friendly  disposition.  Pierre  realized  that 
he  felt  an  attraction  toward  Natasha  he 
should  not  have  had,  since  he  was  not 
free.  He  managed  to  let  her  know  his 
affection  for  her,  however,  and  she  was 
pleased  over  his  attentions.  She  soon 
began  to  get  well,  although  she  was 
never  again  to  be  the  frivolous  girl 
whom  Prince  Andrey  had  loved. 

Prince  Andrey  had  suffered  a  terrible 
blow  to  his  pride,  but  in  the  army  there 
were  many  engrossing  matters  to  take 
his  attention  away  from  himself.  By 
1810,  the  Franco-Russian  alliance  had 
gradually  dissolved.  When  France 
threatened  to  free  Russia  of  responsibility 
for  Poland,  the  tsar  finally  understood 
that  Napoleon's  promises  meant  little. 
The  dapper  little  French  emperor  had 
forsaken  Russia  in  favor  of  Austria  as 
the  center  of  his  European  domination, 
had  married  Marie  Louise,  and  in  1812, 
with  Ids  eyes  unmistakably  fixed  on 
Moscow,  crossed  the  Nieman  River. 
From  June  to  August  Napoleon  enjoyed 
an  almost  uninterrupted  march  to 
Smolensk. 

In  Smolensk  he  found  burned  and 
wrecked  houses.  The  city  was  deserted. 
By  that  time  Napoleon  began  to  run 
into  fierce  opposition.  Old  General 
Kutuzov,  former  leader  of  the  army  of 
the  East  and  now  in  complete  charge  of 
the  Russian  forces,  was  determined  to 
halt  the  French  advance.  Oddly  enough, 
he  was  doing  the  very  thing  that  kept 
the  Russians  from  a  decisive  victory 
because  of  the  tactics  used  to  stop 


1088 


Napoleon.  If  he  had  not  attempted  to 
halt  the  French,  but  instead  had  drawn 
them  deeper  and  deeper  into  Russia, 
lengthening  their  lines  of  communication 
and  cutting  them  off  in  the  rear,  the 
Russians  might  have  won  their  war 
earlier.  It  was  odd,  too,  that  Napoleon, 
in  attempting  to  complete  his  march, 
also  lessened  his  chances  for  victory.  Both 
sides,  it  seemed,  did  the  very  things  which 
would  automatically  insure  defeat. 

Battle  after  battle  was  fought,  with 
heavy  losses  on  both  sides  before 
Napoleon  finally  led  his  forces  to 
Borodino.  There  the  most  senseless  battle 
in  the  whole  campaign  was  fought.  The 
Russians,  determined  to  hold  Moscow, 
which  was  only  a  short  distance  away, 
lost  nearly  their  whole  army.  The  French 
forces  dwindled  in  proportion.  But  it 
was  clear  that  the  Russians  got  the  worst 
of  the  battle.  General  Kutuzov,  bitter 
and  war-weary,  decided,  against  his  will, 
that  the  army  could  not  hold  Moscow. 
Napoleon,  triumphant,  marched  once 
more  into  a  deserted  city. 

Prince  Andrey  was  gravely  wounded  at 
Borodino.  The  Rostovs  were  already 
abandoning  their  estate  to  move  into  the 
interior,  when  many  wagons  loaded  with 
wounded  soldiers  were  brought  to  the 
house  for  shelter.  Among  these  was 
Prince  Andrey  himself.  Natasha  nursed 
him  and  sent  for  Marya,  his  sister,  and 
his  son,  Nikolushka.  Old  Prince  Bolkon- 
sky,  suffering  from  the  shock  of  having 
French  soldiers  almost  upon  his  doorstep, 
had  died  of  a  stroke.  Nikolay  managed 
to  move  Marya  and  the  boy  to  safer 
quarters.  Although  Prince  Andrey  wel 
comed  his  sister,  it  was  evident  that  he 
no  longer  expected  to  recover.  Natasha 
nursed  him  tenderly,  and  they  once  more 
declared  their  love  for  each  other.  When 
his  wound  festered,  Prince  Andrey  knew 
at  last  that  he  was  dying.  He  died  one 
night  in  his  sleep.  United  in  tragedy, 
Marya  and  Natasha  became  close  friends, 
and  young  Nikolay  found  Prince 
Andrey's  sister  attractive. 

Pierre  Bezuhov,  meanwhile,  had  de 


cided  to  remain  in  Moscow.  Fired  with 
thoughts  of  becoming  a  national  hero, 
he  hit  upon  the  plan  of  assassinating 
Napoleon.  But  in  his  efforts  to  rescue  a 
Russian  woman,  who  was  being  molested 
by  French  soldiers,  Pierre  was  captured  as 
a  prisoner  of  war. 

Napoleon's  army  completely  disin 
tegrated  in  Moscow.  After  waiting  in 
vain  for  peace  terms  from  the  tsar, 
Napoleon  decided  to  abandon  Moscow 
and  head  for  France.  A  ragged,  irrespon 
sible,  pillaging  group  of  men,  who  had 
once  been  the  most  powerful  army  in 
the  world,  gathered  up  their  booty, 
threw  away  their  supplies,  and  took  the 
road  back  to  Smolensk.  Winter  came 
on.  Pierre  Bezuhov,  luckily,  was  robust 
and  healthy.  Traveling  with  the  other 
prisoners,  he  learned  from  experience 
that  happiness  could  consist  of  merely 
being  warm  and  having  enough  to  eat. 
His  privations  aged  and  matured  him. 
He  learned  responsibility  and  gained 
courage.  He  developed  a  sense  of  humor 
at  the  irony  of  his  plight.  His  simplicity 
and  even  temperament  made  him  a  fa 
vorite  with  French  and  Russians  alike. 

On  the  road  to  Smolensk  the  French 
forces  became  completely  demoralized. 
Cossacks  charged  out  of  the  forests, 
cutting  the  lines,  taking  countless  French 
prisoners,  and  rescuing  the  Russian  cap 
tives.  Many  Frenchmen  deserted.  Others 
fell  ill  and  died  on  the  road.  Pierre, 
free  at  last,  returned  to  Orel,  where  he 
fell  ill  with  fever.  Later  he  learned  of  the 
deaths  of  Prince  Andrey  and  his  own 
wife.  Ellen  had  died  in  St.  Petersburg 
after  a  short  illness.  These  shocksr 
coupled  with  the  news  of  the  defeat  of 
the  French,  seemed  to  deprive  him  of  a!J 
feeling.  When  he  finally  recovered,  he 
was  overwhelmed  with  a  joyous  sense  of 
freedom  of  soul,  a  sense  that  he  had  at 
last  found  himself,  that  he  knew  him 
self  for  what  he  really  was.  He  knew 
the  sheer  joy  of  being  alive,  and  he  was 
humble  and  grateful.  He  had  discovered 
a  faith  in  God  that  he  had  never  known 
before. 


1089 


Pierre  returned  to  Moscow  and  re 
newed  ids  friendships  with  Marya 
Bolkonsky  and  the  Rostovs.  Once  more 
Natasha  charmed  him,  and  Pierre 
suddenly  realized  that  she  was  no  longer 
a  child.  He  loved  her  now,  as  always, 
and  so  when  the  opportunity  presented 
itself  he  dutifully  asked  her  parents  for 
Natasha's  hand.  At  the  same  time 
Nikolay  Rostov  entertained  the  thought 
of  marrying  Marya.  Natasha  and  Pierre 
were  married.  They  were  very  happy. 
Natasha  was  an  efficient  wife  who 
dominated  her  husband,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  their  friends,  but  Pierre 
loved  her  and  respected  her  because  she 
knew  how  to  take  charge  of  everything. 
She  managed  his  estates  as  well  as  her 
household. 


Nikolay,  though  not  entirely  sure  thai 
he  loved  Marya,  knew  that  to  marry  hei 
would  be  a  wise  thing.  The  Rostovs  were 
now  poor,  the  old  count  having  left  his 
affairs  in  a  deplorable  state.  At  the 
insistence  of  his  mother,  Nikolay  finally 
proposed  to  Marya  and  the  two  families 
were  joined.  The  union  proved  happier 
than  Nikolay  had  expected.  They 
adopted  Prince  Andrey's  son,  Nikolushka. 

After  eight  years  of  marriage,  Pierre 
and  Natasha  had  four  fine  children,  of 
whom  they  were  very  proud.  It  was 
thought,  in  society,  that  Natasha  carried 
her  devotion  to  her  husband  and  children 
to  an  extreme.  But  Natasha  and  Pierre 
were  happier  than  they  had  ever  been 
before,  and  they  found  their  lives  to 
gether  a  fulfillment  of  all  their  dreams. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  WORLDS 


Tyve  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  H.  G.  Wells  O866-1946) 

Type  of  flat:    Pseudo-scientific  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    London  and  environs 

First  published:    1898 

Principal  characters: 
THE  NARRATOR 
His  WIFE 
THE  ARTILLERYMAN 
THE  CURATE 

Critique: 

This  novel  is  representative  of  Wells' 
pseudo-scientific  romances.  Founded  as 
it  is  on  popular  conceptions  of  Mars, 
it  exploits  interplanetary  travel  and  war 
fare.  In  its  day  it  was  popular,  but  it 
has  very  little  more  than  historical  in 
terest  for  the  modem  reader.  We  have 
advanced  so  far  in  scientific  sophistica 
tion  that  the  wonders  of  the  War  of  the 
Worlds  seem  rather  tame.  The  narrative 
method  and  the  use  of  an  unnamed  I 
lend  probability  to  the  work.  The  novel 
contains  little  character  study,  and  the 
plot  is  a  bare  narrative  of  a  few  days 
of  horror. 


THE  WAR  OF  THE  WORLDS  by  H.  G.  Wells.  By 
and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.  Copyright,  189! 
&  Brothers. 


The  Story: 

I  was  interested  in  Mars,  interested 
enough  to  observe  the  planet  often 
through  a  telescope.  Mars,  I  knew,  was 
smaller  than  the  earth  and  probably 
much  older.  One  night  in  the  observatory 
I  noticed  a  small  pinpoint  of  light  leave 
our  neighboring  planet.  Later  I  saw  three 
more  shooting  off  into  space.  My  as 
tronomer  friends  speculated  on  these 
strange  meteors. 

One  evening  a  meteor  fell  near  our 
suburban  house,  and  I  went  over  with 
other  curious  sightseers  to  look  at  it. 
Only  one  end  of  its  roughly  cylindrical 
shape  was  visible.  In  size  it  had  a 

permission  of  the  Executors,   estate  of  H.   G.   Wells, 
J,  by  Harper  &  Brothers.     Renewed,    1925,   by  Harper 


1090 


diameter  of  about  thirty  yards.  I  looked 
for  a  while  but  went  home  little  im 
pressed.  The  next  day  there  were 
strange  stories  of  the  projectile.  Noises 
could  be  heard  inside,  a  kind  of  pound 
ing.  The  end  was  slowly  turning  around, 
and  it  seemed  to  be  unscrewing.  I  could 
hear  the  pounding  all  night  long. 

In  the  morning  I  went  to  look  again 
at  the  object.  While  I  was  there  the 
cap  came  completely  off.  Then  there 
emerged  a  strange  creature,  brownish  in 
color,  about  the  size  of  a  man's  torso. 
It  had  a  head  with  two  enormous  eyes 
and  a  mouth  without  teeth.  Around  the 
mouth  were  many  pairs  of  tentacles.  The 
creature  hopped  off  the  projectile  and  be 
gan  circling  the  huge  cylinder.  It  moved 
with  much  difficulty.  Probably  the 
greatly  increased  pull  of  gravity  on  our 
ply  net  made  the  creature  comparatively 
heavier.  The  man  from  Mars  began  to 
dig  industriously. 

Then  I  noted  that  many  more  of 
these  creatures  were  crawling  from  the 
cylinder  and  beginning  to  dig.  Soon  it 
became  apparent  that  they  were  trying 
to  make  a  big  pit  around  their  projectile. 

Within  a  day  or  so  the  Martians  had 
their  huge  pit  completed,  and  they 
turned  it  into  a  workshop  where  they 
hammered  night  and  day.  The  London 
papers  paid  little  attention  to  the  Mar 
tians  or  gibed  at  the  fantastic  news. 
We  in  the  neighborhood  saw  that  the 
creatures  could  not  get  out  of  their  pit, 
and  the  few  scientific  men  who  came 
to  observe  asked  us  not  to  harm  them. 

One  evening  my  wife  and  I  heard  a 
loucl  clanking  and  trembling.  Rushing 
to  the  window  we  saw  a  giant  metal 
frame  about  a  hundred  feet  high  and 
shaped  like  a  big  milk  stool.  The  metal 
monster  strode  aisjointedly  over  a  field 
where  it  met  two  others.  The  three 
stood  together,  apparently  looking 
around.  Then  a  great  beam  of  heat  shot 
from  each,  and  a  forest  disappeared, 
seared  as  if  from  a  giant's  breath.  The 
three  monsters  clanked  away. 

Shortly    thereafter   refugees   in   carts 


and  wagons,  on  bicycles  and  on  foot, 
began  to  stream  past  our  door.  They 
were  all  panic-stricken  and  we  learned 
that  they  were  the  few  survivors  of  a 
town  destroyed  by  the  Martian  heat 
rays.  The  war  of  the  worlds  had  begun. 

Before  long  we  heard  the  reassuring 
sounds  of  army  artillery  moving  up.  As 
soon  as  Martians  had  been  spotted,  the 
soldiers  fired  their  field  pieces.  But 
there  was  little  at  which  to  aim  and  the 
Martians  were  little  affected,  Then, 
luckily,  a  heavy  gun  made  a  direct  hit 
on  the  solid  portion  at  the  top  of  one 
of  the  machines  and  it  went  out  of  con 
trol.  From  the  top  fell  one  of  the  brown 
octopuses,  the  man  from  Mars  who  was 
the  guiding  genius  of  the  machine.  The 
metal  tripod  continued  on  in  a  straight 
line  until  it  fell  over.  We  were  horrified 
to  see  another  monster  go  after  it  and 
transfer  a  Martian  warrior  to  the  prostrate 
frame.  In  a  moment  the  tripod  was  up 
and  on  its  path  of  destruction. 

I  hired  a  cart  from  my  landlord  and 
took  my  wife  to  Leatherheacl.  When  I 
returned  late  that  night,  the  roads  were 
jammed  with  panicky  crowds.  My  own 
house  was  somewhat  damaged,  but  I 
spent  the  rest  of  the  night  there. 

In  the  morning  the  countryside  was 
alive  with  metal  monsters.  Our  soldiers 
had  no  defense  against  their  heat  rays, 
The  Martians  quickly  learned  about 
guns.  Before  them  as  they  strode  they 
loosed  heavy  clouds  of  dense  green  smoke 
which  killed  everyone  it  touched.  A 
detachment  of  artillery  had  no  chance 
against  them. 

A  weary  artilleryman  stumbled  into 
my  house  that  evening.  The  rest  of  his 
outfit  had  been  killed  by  the  smoke. 
While  he  was  telling  me  his  story,  a 
monster  came  toward  our  street,  de 
stroying  each  house  as  he  came.  In  my 
fear  I  would  have  fled  immediately,  but 
the  artilleryman  made  us  stop  for  pro 
visions.  Supplied  with  bread  and  mut 
ton,  we  left  the  house  and  escaped  by 
hiding  in  bushes  and  streams.  Behind 
us  clanked  the  monster. 


1091 


1  left  the  artilleryman  along  the  road 
because  I  was  intent  on  getting  hack 
to  my  wife  in  Leatherhead.  I  hid  in 
cellars  to  escape  the  green  smoke.  On 
my  wanderings  I  picked  up  a  hysterical 
curate.  One  night,  while  we  were  sleep 
ing  in  a  deserted  cellar,  a  loud  explosion 
rocked  our  retreat.  In  the  morning  we 
saw  diat  we  were  trapped  by  a  Martian 
projectile  resting  against  our  refuge. 

Forced  to  stay  there,  forced  to  keep 
still  to  avoid  detection,  I  learned  much 
about  the  Martians.  They  were  all 
head.  In  their  evolution  they  had  learned 
to  do  without  stomach,  legs,  and  glands. 
They  had  a  sensitive  area  where  they 


could  hear,  but  they  had  no  noses.  I 
even  learned  how  they  fed;  from  captured 
men  they  drained  the  blood  and  let  it 
flow  directly  into  their  veins  from  a 
pipette.  The  curate  went  raving  mad 
during  our  close  confinement  and  I  had 
to  kill  him.  When  the  Martians  ex 
plored  the  cellar  with  tentacles,  I  es 
caped,  but  they  took  the  curate's  body. 
After  twelve  days  the  Martians  left 
and  I  was  free.  In  London  I  saw  a 
ruined  city.  The  Martian  machines, 
however,  were  standing  idle.  The  men 
from  Mars  had  fallen  victim  to  our 
bacteria  and  the  world  was  saved.  My 
wife  found  me  in  our  London  studio. 


THE  WARDEN 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Anthony  Trollope  (1815-1882) 

Type  of  'plot:  Domestic  realism 

Time  of  plot:  Mid-nineteenth  century 

Locale:  London  and  "Barchester,"  England 

First  published:  1855 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  HARprNG,  warden  of  Hiram's  Hospital 

ELEANOR  HARDING,  his  younger  daughter 

JOHN  BOIJ>,  her  lover 

DR.  GRANTLY,  husband  of  Mr.  Harding's  older  daughter 

TOM  TOWERS,  a  newspaperman 

SIR  ABRAHAM  HAPHAZARD,  Mr.  Harding's  counsel 

Critique: 

The  Warden  is  a  pleasant  story  about 
British  ecclesiastical  life  in  the  time  of 
Queen  Victoria,  and  the  amiable  style 
of  the  novel  fits  the  leisurely  existence  it 
describes.  The  narrative  is  frequently 
interrupted  by  the  author,  who  comments 
on  character,  situation,  or  life  in  general, 
as  his  fancy  strikes  him.  Trollope  does 
not  pretend  to  any  depth,  but  he  has 
produced  here  a  delightful  picture  of 
life  in  a  particular  time  and  place. 


The  Story: 

At  the  age  of  fifty  the  Reverend 
Septimus  Harding  was  appointed  precen 
tor  of  Barchester  Cathedral,  a  position 
which  carried  with  it  the  wardenship  of 
Hiram's  Hospital.  This  institution  had 
for  over  four  hundred  years  provided  a 


home  for  twelve  men  in  their  old  age,  and 
as  the  income  had  grown  to  a  consider 
able  size,  the  warden  and  the  steward 
received  substantial  yearly  salaries.  With 
his  income  of  eight  hundred  pounds  a 
year,  Mr.  Harding  was  able  to  provide 
comfortably  for  his  younger  daughter, 
Eleanor.  His  older  daughter,  Susan,  was 
married  to  Dr.  Grantly,  archdeacon  of 
the  cathedral. 

John  Bold,  a  young  physician  with  a 
small  practice,  turned  his  energies  to  re 
form.  On  investigation  he  discovered  that 
the  will  of  John  Hiram,  donor  of  the 
hospital,  made  no  stipulation  which 
would  result  in  such  a  discrepancy  as 
existed  between  the  warden's  and  the 
steward's  incomes  and  those  of  the  twelve 
inmates,  and  he  felt  that  his  duty  obliged 


1092 


him  to  bring  this  discrepancy  to  light.  He 
engaged  the  interest  of  a  newspaper 
friend,  Tom  Towers,  and  the  services  of  a 
solicitor  named  Finney.  Finney  ex 
plained  the  situation  to  the  inmates  and 
encouraged  them  to  think  in  terms  of  an 
annual  income  of  one  hundred  pounds  a 
year.  Most  of  them  signed  a  petition 
addressed  to  the  bishop,  asking  that 
justice  be  done. 

The  Juyiter,  for  which  Towers  worked, 
published  editorials  about  the  greediness 
of  the  church  and  unscrupulous  clergy 
men.  Mr.  Harding  was  distressed.  It  had 
never  entered  his  head  that  he  was  living 
off  an  income  not  his  by  rights,  and  he 
began  to  talk  of  resigning.  Eleanor  agreed 
that  if  her  father  were  unhappy  at 
Hiram's  Hospital,  they  would  be  better 
off  at  Crabtree  Parva,  a  small  parish 
which  belonged  to  Mr.  Harding  and 
which  paid  an  annual  income  of  fifty 
pounds. 

Dr.  Grantly,  a  worldly  man,  would 
not  hear  of  Mr.  Harding's  resignation. 
He  insisted  that  the  warden  had  an 
obligation  to  the  church  and  to  his 
fellow  members  of  the  clergy  which  re 
quired  a  firm  stand  against  the  laity  and 
the  press.  Besides,  as  he  pointed  out, 
the  living  at  Crabtree  Parva  could  not 
provide  a  suitable  match  for  Eleanor. 

Dr.  Grantly  came  to  the  hospital 
and  addressed  the  inmates.  He  told  them 
John  Hiram  had  intended  simply  to 
provide  comfortable  quarters  for  old  single 
men  who  had  no  other  homes.  But  Dr. 
Grantly's  speech  had  little  effect,  except 
on  John  Bunce  and  his  two  cronies.  John 
Bunce,  who  was  especially  close  to  Mr. 
Harding,  served  as  a  sub-warden  of  the 
old  men.  Tho  others  felt  they  had  a 
right  to  a  hundred  pounds  a  year. 

When  Eleanor  saw  how  unhappy  the 
whole  affair  made  her  father,  she  begged 
him  to  resign.  Finally  she  went  to  John 
Bold  and  begged  him  to  give  up  the  suit. 
After  promising  to  do  anything  he  could 
for  her,  Bold  declared  his  love.  Eleanor, 
who  had  hoped  not  to  let  matters  go  so 
far,  confessed  her  love  in  return. 


Bold  went  to  see  Dr.  Grantly  and  told 
him  that  for  reasons  best  known  to  him 
self  he  was  withdrawing  the  charges  he 
had  made.  Dr.  Grantly  replied  that  he 
did  not  think  the  defendants  wished  to 
have  the  suit  withdrawn.  He  had  been 
advised  that  Mr.  Harding  and  the  steward 
were,  in  effect,  servants,  and  so  were 
not  responsible  and  could  not  be  de 
fendants  in  a  suit. 

Mr.  Harding  decided  to  go  to  London 
for  a  conference  with  Sir  Abraham  Hap 
hazard,  counsel  for  the  defense.  Eleanor 
had  come  home  expecting  to  tell  her 
father  all  that  Bold  had  told  her,  but 
she  could  not  bring  herself  to  discuss 
her  own  affairs  before  those  of  the 
wardenship  had  been  settled.  Mr.  Hard 
ing  had  decided  that  he  had  no  right 
to  the  income  from  Hiram's  Hospital. 

Bold  also  was  going  to  London.  When 
he  arrived  there,  he  went  to  Tom  Towers 
and  asked  him  not  to  print  any  more 
editorials  about  the  Barchester  situation. 
Towers  said  he  could  not  be  responsible 
for  the  attitude  of  the  Jupiter.  Bold  then 
went  to  the  offices  of  his  lawyer  and  told 
him  to  drop  the  suit.  The  lawyer  sent 
word  to  Sir  Abraham. 

Mr.  Harding  arrived  in  London  and 
was  given  an  appointment  with  Sir 
Abraham  the  next  night  at  ten.  Having 
explained  his  intention  in  a  note  to 
Dr.  Grantly,  he  was  afraid  that  Dr. 
Grantly  would  arrive  in  London  before 
he  would  have  a  chance  to  carry  out 
his  plan.  He  left  his  hotel  at  ten  in  the 
morning  and  spent  most  of  the  day  in 
Westminster  Abbey  in  order  to  avoid 
Dr.  Grantly.  That  night  he  told  Sir 
Abraham  that  he  must  in  all  conscience 
resign  his  post  as  warden,  When  he 
returned  to  his  hotel,  he  found  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Grantly  waiting  for  him,  but  their 
arguments  could  not  make  the  warden 
change  his  mind.  Back  in  Barchester, 
he  wrote  a  formal  letter  of  resignation 
to  the  bishop  and  sent  a  copy  to  Dr. 
Grantly. 

The  bishop  offered  him  a  position  as 
chaplain  in  his  household.  Mr.  Harding 


1093 


declined  the  offer.  Then  it  was  suggested 
that  a  trade  be  effected  between  Mr. 
Harding  and  Mr,  Quiverful  of  Pudding- 
dale.  Mr.  Quiverful,  who  had  ten  chil 
dren,  would  be  glad  to  double  his  annual 
income  and  would  be  impervious  to  any 
attacks  from  the  press.  But  this  arrange 
ment,  too,  met  with  opposition,  for 
Puddingdale  was  too  far  from  Barchester 
for  Mr.  Harding  to  attend  to  his  duties 
as  precentor  at  the  cathedral. 

As  the  time  for  Mr.  Harding's  de 
parture  from  Hiram's  Hospital  drew 
near,  he  called  in  all  the  inmates  and 
had  a  last  talk  with  them.  They  were 


disturbed,  even  those  who  had  petitioned 
the  bishop,  for  they  felt  that  they  were 
being  deprived  of  a  friendly  and 
sympathetic  warden. 

Mr.  Harding  took  lodgings  and  was 
given  a  tiny  parish  at  the  entrance  to 
the  cathedral  close.  His  daughter  Eleanor 
married  John  Bold.  So  Mr.  Harding's 
income  continued  to  be  ample  for  his 
needs.  He  dined  frequently  with  the 
bishop  and  kept  his  cello  at  Eleanor's 
house,  where  he  often  went  to  make 
music.  In  short,  Mr.  Harding  was  not 
an  unhappy  man. 


WAVERLEY 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:   Sir  Walter  Scott  (1771-1832) 

Type  of  'plot:   Historical  romance 

Time  of  ^plot:    1745 

Locale:  England  and  Scotland 

First  published:    1814 

Principal  characters: 

EDWARD  WAVERLEY,  a  young  English  officer 

BARON  BRADWARDINE,   a  Scottish  nobleman 

ROSE  BRADWARDESTE,  the  baron's  daughter 

EVAN  DHU  MACCOMBICH,  follower  of  Fergus  Aoac  Ivor 

DONALD  BEAN  LEAN,  a  Highland  bandit 

FERGUS  MAC  IVOR  VICH  IAN  VOHR,  leader  of  the  clan  of  Mac  Ivor 

FLORA  MAC  IVOR,  Fergus'  sister 

PRTNCE  CHARLES  EDWARD  STUART,  the  Young  Pretender 

Critique: 

When  this  novel  was  published  anony 
mously  in  1814,  it  created  great  interest 
among  readers  who  sought  to  learn  the 
identity  of  its  author.  Scott  himself 
claimed,  in  his  preface  to  the  1829  edi 
tion,  that  he  had  published  his  work 
anonymously  to  avoid  political  discus 
sion.  Because  the  book  was  written  only 
sixty  years  after  the  invasion  of  Prince 
Charlie  and  because  the  dark  and  bloody 
days  of  1745  still  rankled  in  the  minds 
of  many  living  men  and  women,  it  is 
conceivable  that  Scott  spoke  the  truth j 
however,  observing  the  nineteenth-cen 
tury  fondness  for  publishing  anonymous 
works,  one  might  add  the  opinion  that 
Sir  Walter  was  also  following  a  custom 
of  the  times.  Waverley  is  a  romantic 


novel  in  which  Scott  paid  tribute  to  a 
group  of  people  who  had  been  considered 
no  more  than  fierce,  ignorant  barbarians. 
In  the  person  of  Fergus  Mac  Ivor  we 
find  not  only  intellect  and  sentiment,  but 
also  formal,  courtly  manners.  Especially 
contributing  to  the  reader's  delight  in 
Waverley  is  a  picturesque  Scottish  High 
land  background. 

The  Story 

The  English  family  of  Waverley  had 
long  been  known  for  its  Jacobite  sym 
pathies.  In  the  year  1745,  Waverley- 
Honour,  the  ancestral  home  of  the  fam 
ily,  was  a  quiet  retreat  for  Sir  Everard 
Waverley,  an  elderly  Jacobite.  His 
brother,  Richard  Waverley,  seeking  po- 


1094 


litical  advantage  in  London,  had  sworn 
loyalty  to  the  king. 

Edward  Waverley,  the  son  of  Whig 
Richard,  divided  his  time  between  his 
father  and  his  Uncle  Everard  at  Waver- 
ley-Honour.  On  that  great  estate  Ed 
ward  was  free  to  come  and  go  as  he 
pleased,  for  his  tutor  Pembroke,  a  devout 
dissenter,  was  often  too  busy  writing 
religious  pamphlets  to  spend  much  time 
in  the  education  of  his  young  charge. 
When  Edward  became  old  enough,  his 
father  obtained  for  him  a  commission 
in  the  army.  Shortly  afterward  he  was 
ordered  to  Scotland  to  join  the  dragoons 
of  Colonel  Gardiner.  Equipped  with  the 
necessary  articles  of  dress,  accompanied 
by  a  retinue  of  men  who  had  been  se 
lected  by  Sir  Everard,  and  weighed  down 
by  the  dissenting  tomes  of  Pembroke, 
Edward  left  Waverley-Honour  in  quix 
otic  fashion  to  conquer  his  world. 

Tie  had  been  instructed  by  Sir  Ever 
ard  to  visit  an  old  friend,  Sir  Cosmo 
Comyne  Bradwardine,  whose  estate  was 
near  the  village  of  Tully-Veolan  in  the 
Scottish  Lowlands.  Edward,  soon  after 
his  arrival  at  the  post  of  Colonel  Gardi 
ner,  obtained  a  leave  in  order  to  go  to 
Tully-Veolan.  There  he  found  Sir 
Everard's  friend  both  cordial  and  happy 
to  see  him.  The  few  days  spent  at  Tully- 
Veolan  convinced  Edward  that  Scotland 
was  a  wilder  and  more  romantic  land 
than  his  native  England.  He  paid  little 
attention  to  Rose  Bradwardine,  the 
baron's  daughter,  his  youthful  imagina 
tion  being  fired  by  the  songs  and  dances 
of  Davie  Gellatley,  the  baron's  servant, 
and  by  talcs  about  the  Scottish  High 
landers  and  their  rude  ways.  At  Tully- 
Veolan  he  was  also  confronted  by  a 
political  issue  that  had  been  but  an  ideal 
istic  quarrel  in  his  former  existence;  these 
Scottish  people  were  Jacobites,  and  Ed 
ward  ostensibly  was  a  Whig  royalist  be 
cause  of  his  father's  politics  and  his  own 
rank  in  the  army  of  Hanoverian  George 
II  of  England. 

During  his  stay  at  Tully-Veolan  an 
event  occurred  which  was  to  change 


Edward's  life.  It  began  with  the  un 
expected  arrival  of  Evan  Dhu  Mac- 
combich,  a  Highlander  in  the  service 
of  the  renowned  clan  chieftain,  Fergus 
Mac  Ivor  Vich  Ian  Vohr,  a  friend  of  the 
baron's.  His  taste  for  romantic  adventure 
having  been  aroused,  Edward  begged 
another  extension  of  his  leave  in  order 
to  accompany  Evan  Dhu  into  the  High 
lands.  In  those  rugged  hills  Edward 
was  led  to  the  cave  that  sheltered  the 
band  of  Donald  Bean  Leaii,  an  outlaw 
who  robbed  and  plundered  the  wealthy 
Lowlanders.  Staying  with  the  bandit 
only  long  enough  to  discover  the  roman 
tic  attachment  between  Donald's  daugh 
ter  Alice  and  Evan  Dhu,  Edward  again 
set  out  into  the  hills  with  his  cheerful 
young  guide.  His  curiosity  had  been 
sufficiently  whetted  by  Evans'  descrip 
tions  of  Fergus  Mac  Ivor  and  his  ancient 
castle  deep  in  the  Highland  hills  at 
Glennaquoich. 

The  welcome  that  Mac  Ivor  extended 
to  Edward  was  open-handed  and  hearty. 
No  less  warm  was  the  quiet  greeting 
which  Flora,  Fergus  Mac  Ivor's  sister, 
had  for  the  English  soldier.  Flora  was 
a  beautiful  woman  of  romantic,  poetic 
nature,  and  Edward  found  himself  be 
fore  long  deeply  in  love  with  the  chief 
tain's  sister,  Mac  Ivor  himself  seemed 
to  sanction  the  idea  of  a  marriage.  That 
union  could  not  be,  however,  for  Flora 
had  vowed  her  life  to  another  cause — 
that  of  placing  Charles,  the  young  Stuart 
prince,  upon  the  throne  of  England. 
At  Edward's  proposal  of  marriage,  Flora 
advised  him  to  seek  a  woman  who  could 
attach  herself  wholeheartedly  to  his  hap 
piness;  Flora  claimed  that  she  could  not 
divide  her  attentions  between  the  Jacobite 
cause  and  marriage  to  one  who  was  not 
an  ardent  supporter  of  Charles  Edward 
Stuart. 

Edward's  stay  at  Glennaquoich  was 
interrupted  by  letters  carried  to  him  by 
Davie  Gellatley  from  Tully-Veolan.  The 
first  was  from  Rose  Bradwardine,  who 
advised  him  that  the  Lowlands  were  in 
a  state  of  revolt.  Her  father  being  ab- 


1095 


sent,  she  warned  Edward  not  to  return 
to  Tully-Veolan.  The  other  letters  in 
formed  him  that  Richard  Waverley  had 
engaged  in  some  unfortunate  political 
maneuvers  which  had  caused  his  political 
downfall.  On  the  heels  of  this  news 
came  orders  from  Colonel  Gardiner, 
who,  having  heard  reports  of  Edward's 
association  with  traitors,  was  relieving  the 
young  officer  of  his  command.  Repulsed 
by  Flora  and  disgraced  in  his  army 
career,  Edward  resolved  to  return  to 
Waverley-Honour.  He  equipped  him 
self  suitably  for  the  dangerous  journey 
and  set  out  toward  the  Lowlands. 

Because  of  armed  revolt  in  Scotland 
and  the  linldng  of  the  Waverley  name 
with  the  Jacobite  cause,  Edward  found 
himself  under  arrest  for  treason  against 
King  George.  The  dissenting  pamphlets 
of  Pembroke  which  he  carried,  his  stay 
in  the  Highlands,  and  the  company  he 
had  kept  there,  were  suspicious  circum 
stances  which  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  prove  his  innocence.  Captured 
by  some  of  the  king's  troopers,  he  was 
turned  over  to  an  armed  guard  with 
orders  to  take  him  to  Stirling  Castle  for 
trial  on  a  charge  of  treason. 

But  the  friend  of  Fergus  Mac  Ivor 
Vich  Ian  Vohr  was  not  to  be  treated 
in  such  a  scurvy  manner.  On  the  road 
a  quick  ambush  rescued  Edward  from 
his  captors,  and  he  found  himself  once 
again  in  the  hands  of  some  Highlanders 
whom  he  was  able  to  recognize  as  a 
party  of  Donald  Bean  Lean's  followers. 
Indeed,  Alice  once  appeared  among  the 
men  to  slip  a  packet  of  letters  to  him, 
but  at  the  time  he  had  no  opportunity 
to  read  the  papers  she  had  given  him  so 
secretively. 

A  few  days'  journey  brought  Edward 
to  the  center  of  Jacobite  activities  at 
Holyrood,  the  temporary  court  of  Charles 
Edward  Stuart,  who  had  secretly  crossed 
the  Channel  from  France.  There  Ed 
ward  Waverley  found  Fergus  Mac  Ivor 
awaiting  him.  When  the  Highlander 
presented  Edward  to  Prince  Charles,  the 
Pretender  welcomed  the  English  youth 


because  of  the  name  he  bore.  The 
prince,  trained  in  French  courts,  was  a 
model  of  refinement  and  courtesy.  His 
heartfelt  trust  gave  Edward  a  feeling 
of  belonging,  after  he  had  lost  his  com 
mission,  his  cause  unheard,  in  the  Eng 
lish  army.  When  Charles  asked  him  to 
join  in  the  Scottish  uprising,  Edward 
assented.  Mac  Ivor  seemed  quite  happy 
about  Edward's  new  allegiance.  When 
the  young  Englishman  asked  about  Flora, 
Mac  Ivor  explained  that  he  had  brought 
her  along  to  the  prince's  court  so  that 
he  could  make  use  of  her  graces  in  gain 
ing  a  political  foothold  when  the  battle 
was  won.  Edward  resented  this  man 
ner  of  using  Flora  as  bait,  but  soon  he 
perceived  that  the  court  of  the  Pre 
tender  functioned  very  much  like  the 
French  court  where  Charles  and  his 
followers  had  learned  statecraft.  Mac 
Ivor  pressed  Edward  to  continue  his 
courtship  of  Flora.  The  sister  of  Mac 
Ivor,  however,  met  his  advances  coldly. 
In  the  company  of  the  Highland  beauty 
was  Rose  Bradwardine,  whose  father 
had  also  joined  the  Stuart  cause. 

Accepted  as  a  cavalier  by  the  women 
who  clustered  around  the  prince  and 
under  the  influence  of  the  Pretender's 
courtly  manners,  Edward  soon  became 
a  favorite,  but  Mac  Ivor's  sister  per 
sisted  in  ignoring  him.  He  began  to 
compare  the  two  women,  Rose  and  Flora, 
the  former  gaining  favor  in  his  eyes  as 
he  watched  them  together. 

The  expedition  of  the  Pretender  and 
his  Highlanders  was  doomed  to  failure. 
As  they  marched  southward  to  England, 
they  began  to  lose  hope.  The  prince 
ordered  a  retreat  to  Scotland.  Many  of 
the  clansmen  were  killed  at  the  disastrous 
battle  of  Culloden.  The  survivors  escaped 
to  the  Highlands,  to  spend  their  days 
in  hiding  from  troops  sent  to  track  them 
down.  A  few  were  fortunate  enough  to 
make  their  way  in  safety  to  France. 

Edward  managed  to  get  away  and  to 
find  a  friend  who  helped  him  to  steal 
back  to  Scotland,  where  he  hoped  to 
find  Rose  Bradwardine.  So  far  Edward 


1096 


had  cleared  himself  of  the  earlier  charges 
of  treachery  and  desertion,  which  had 
been  the  initial  cause  of  his  joining  the 
Pretender.  It  had  been  Donald  Bean 
Lean  who  had  deceived  Colonel  Gardiner 
with  a  false  report  of  Edward's  activities. 
The  letters  Alice  had  slipped  to  him  had 
conveyed  that  information  to  Edward. 
Now  he  hoped  to  escape  to  France  with 
Rose  and  wait  for  a  pardon  from  Eng- 
*and.  Richard  Waverley  had  died  and 
Edward  had  inherited  his  fortune. 


Fergus  Mac  Ivor  and  Evan  Dhu  Mac- 
combich  were  executed  for  their  crimes 
against  the  crown,  and  the  power  of  the 
Highland  clan  was  broken.  Flora  en 
tered  a  Catholic  convent  in  France,  the 
country  in  which  she  had  been  reared. 
Edward  Waverley  and  Rose  were  mar 
ried  after  Edward  was  certain  of  his 
pardon.  They  returned  to  Tully-Veolan, 
where  the  baron's  estate  was  awaiting  its 
heirs. 


THE  WAY  OF  ALL  FLESH 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Samuel  Butler  (1835-1902) 

Type  of  plot:   Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:    Nineteeenth  century 

Locale:    England 

First  published:    1903 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  PONTIFEX,  a  printer 
THEOBALD  PONTIFEX,  George's  son 
ALTHEA  PONTIFEX,  George's  daughter 
CHRISTINA  PONTIFEX,  Theobald's  wife 
ERNEST,  Theobald's  oldest  son 
MR.  OVERTON,  Ernest's  friend 
ELLEN,  Ernest's  wife 

Critique: 

Reared  in  the  family  of  a  strict  clergy 
man,  Samuel  Butler  patterned  Theobald 
Pontifex  after  his  own  father.  Aimed  at 
a  type  of  parent-children  relationship  that 
bred  maladjusted,  introverted  children, 
this  novel  depicts  one  son  who  broke 
the  parental  ties,  thereby  freeing  him 
self  to  make  his  own  way  in  life. 
Pointing  to  the  foibles  of  his  fellow 
man,  probing  the  motive  of  an  indignant 
parent  or  burlesquing  a  controversy  of 
ideas,  Butler's  wit  and  sarcastic  humor 
lighten  at  all  times  the  heavy  tones  of 
his  social  study. 


The  Story: 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pontifex  were  well  up 
in  years  when  their  son  George  was 
born.  When  the  time  came  for  George 
to  learn  a  trade,  they  accepted  the  offer 


of  Mr.  Pontifex's  brother-in-law  to  take 
George  with  him  to  London  as  an  ap 
prentice  in  his  printing  shop.  George 
learned  his  trade  well,  and  when  the 
uncle  died  he  willed  the  shop  to  his 
nephew. 

George  had  married,  and  five  children 
were  born  to  him  and  his  wife;  John, 
Theobald,  Eliza,  Maria,  and  Aldiea,  at 
whose  birth  Mrs.  Pontifex  died.  George 
considered  himself  a  parent  motivated 
only  by  the  desire  to  do  the  right  thing 
by  his  children.  When  Theobald  proved 
himself  not  as  quick  as  John  but  more 
persistent,  George  picked  the  clergy  as 
Theobald's  profession.  Shortly  before 
his  ordination,  Theobald  wrote  to  his 
father  that  he  did  not  wish  to  become 
a  minister.  George,  in  reply,  threatened 
to  disinherit  his  son.  Submitting,  Theo- 


THE  WAY  OF  ALL  FLESH  by  Samuel  Butler.    By  permission  of  the  publishers,  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  Inc, 
Copyright,  1916,  by  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.,  Inc.     Renewed,   1944. 


1097 


bald  was  ordained.  His  next  step  was 
to  wait  for  some  older  member  of  the 
clergy  to  die  so  that  he  could  be  given 
a  living. 

The  Allabys  had  three  daughters,  all 
of  marriageable  age.  After  having  selected 
Theobald  as  a  possible  husband  for  one 
of  the  daughters,  Mr.  Allaby  suggested 
to  his  offspring  that  they  play  a  game 
of  cards  to  decide  who  would  become 
Theobald's  wife.  Christina  won.  Theo 
bald  unwittingly  fell  in  with  Mr.  Allaby 's 
plans  and  obligingly  courted  Christina 
until  he  won  her  promise  to  marry  him. 
George  wrote  to  Theobald  that  he  ob 
jected  to  his  son's  marriage  into  the 
impoverished  Allaby  family,  but  Theo 
bald  was  too  deeply  embroiled  in  his 
engagement  to  untangle  himself.  In 
five  years  he  obtained  a  decent  living  in 
a  community  called  Battersby,  where  he 
and  Christina  settled.  Their  first  child 
was  a  son.  Since  this  child  was  the  first 
new  male  Pontifex,  George  was  pleased, 
and  Theobald  felt  that  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life  he  had  done  something  to 
satisfy  his  father.  After  Ernest  came 
Joseph  and  then  Charlotte.  Theobald 
and  Christina  reared  their  children  with 
strict  adherence  to  principles  which  they 
believed  would  mold  fine  character.  The 
children  were  disciplined  rigorously  and 
beaten  when  their  parents  deemed  it 
appropriate.  When  George  Pontifex 
died,  he  left  seventeen  thousand,  five 
hundred  pounds  to  Theobald  and  twenty- 
five  hundred  pounds  to  Ernest. 

From  an  oppressive  existence  under 
the  almost  obsessed  rule  of  his  parents, 
Ernest  was  sent  to  Roughborough  to  be 
educated  under  Dr.  Skinner,  who  was 
as  strict  a  disciplinarian  as  Theobald. 
Ernest  was  physically  weak  and  mentally 
morose.  He  might  have  succumbed  com 
pletely  to  his  overpowering  environ 
ment  had  not  he  been  rescued  by  an 
understanding  and  loving  relative.  Althea 
Pontifex,  Theobald's  sister,  had  retired 
to  London,  where  she  lived  comfortably 
on  an  inheritance  wisely  invested.  Look 
ing  about  for  someone  to  whom  she  could 


leave  her  money  when  she  died,  Althea 
hit  upon  Ernest.  Not  wishing  to  bestow 
her  fortune  blindly,  she  determined  to 
learn  more  about  the  boy.  She  moved  to 
Roughborough  so  that  she  could  spend  a 
great  deal  of  time  with  Ernest. 

From  the  first,  she  endeared  herself 
to  the  lonely  youngster.  She  encouraged 
him  to  develop  his  own  talents,  and 
when  she  learned  that  he  had  a  passion 
for  music  she  suggested  that  he  learn 
how  to  build  an  organ.  Enthusiastically 
he  set  about  to  learn  wood  construction 
and  harmony.  Theobald  disapproved, 
but  he  did  not  forbid  Ernest's  activities 
because  he  and  Christina  were  eager  to 
have  Ernest  inherit  Althea's  money. 
Ernest's  shrinking  personality  changed 
under  the  benevolent  influence  of  his 
aunt.  When  Althea  died,  she  left  her 
money  in  the  hands  of  her  best  friend, 
Mr.  Overton,  whom  she  had  appointed 
to  administer  the  estate  which  would  go 
to  Ernest  on  his  twenty-eighth  birthday. 

After  Ernest  had  completed  his  course 
at  Roughborough,  Theobald  sent  him  to 
Cambridge  to  study  for  the  ministry. 
At  Cambridge  Ernest  made  a  few  friends 
and  took  part  in  athletics.  He  was 
ordained  soon  after  he  received  his 
degree.  Then  he  went  to  London.  Still 
innocent  and  unworldly,  he  entrusted  to 
a  friend  named  Pryer  the  income  he  had 
inherited  from  his  grandfather.  Pryer 
cheated  him  out  of  his  legacy.  Because 
he  could  not  differentiate  between  good 
and  evil  in  human  character,  Emest  also 
became  entangled  in  a  charge  of  assault 
and  battery  and  was  sentenced  to  a  term 
in  the  workhouse.  Theobald  sent  word 
that  henceforth  Ernest  was  to  consider 
himself  an  orphan. 

Ernest  was  twenty-three  years  old  at 
the  time.  Mr.  Overton,  who  held,  un 
known  to  Ernest,  the  estate  Althea  had 
left  for  her  nephew,  began  to  take  an 
interest  in  Ernest's  affairs.  When  Emest 
was  released  from  prison,  he  went  to 
Mr.  Overton  for  advice  concerning  his 
future,  since  it  was  no  longer  possible 
for  him  to  be  a  clergyman. 


1098 


While  Ernest  was  still  at  Roughbor- 
ough,  Christina  had  hired  as  a  maid 
a  young  girl  named  Ellen.  She  and 
Ernest  had  become  good  friends  simply 
because  Ellen  was  kinder  to  him  than 
anyone  else  at  home.  When  Ellen  be 
came  pregnant  and  Christina  learned  of 
her  condition,  she  sent  Ellen  away. 
Ernest,  fearing  that  the  girl  might  starve, 
followed  her  and  gave  her  all  the  money 
he  had.  Theobald  learned  what  Ernest 
had  done  through  John,  the  coachman, 
who  had  been  present  when  Ernest 
had  given  Ellen  the  money.  Theobald 
became  angry  and  dismissed  the  coach 
man. 

Soon  after  his  release  from  prison, 
Ernest  met  Ellen  in  a  London  street. 
Because  both  were  lonely,  they  married 
and  set  up  a  small  second-hand  clothing 
and  book  shop  with  the  help  of  Mr. 
Overton,  who  deplored  the  idea  of 
Ernest's  marrying  Ellen.  Unknown  to 
Ernest,  Ellen  was  a  habitual  drunkard. 
Before  long  she  had  so  impoverished  him 
with  her  drinking  and  her  foul  ways 
that  he  disliked  her  intensely,  but  he 
could  not  leave  her  because  of  the  two 
children  she  had  borne  him. 


One  day  Ernest  again  met  John,  his 
father's  former  coachman,  who  revealed 
that  he  was  the  father  of  Ellen's  illegiti 
mate  child  and  that  he  had  married 
Ellen  shortly  after  she  had  left  Theo 
bald's  home  in  disgrace.  Acting  on  this 
information,  Mr.  Overton  arranged  mat 
ters  for  Ernest,  Ellen  was  promised  an 
income  of  a  pound  a  week  if  she  would 
leave  Ernest,  a  proposal  she  readily  ac 
cepted.  The  children  were  sent  to  live 
in  a  family  of  happy,  healthy  children, 
for  Ernest  feared  that  his  own  upbring 
ing  would  make  him  as  bad  a  parent  as 
Theobald  had  been. 

When  Ernest  reached  his  twenty- 
eighth  birthday,  he  inherited  Althea's 
trust  fund  of  seventy  thousand  pounds. 
By  that  time  Ernest  had  become  a  writer. 
With  a  part  of  his  inheritance  he  trav 
eled  abroad  for  a  few  years  and  then 
returned  to  England  witn  material  for  a 
book  he  planned  to  write. 

Before  he  died  he  published  many 
successful  books,  but  he  never  told  hit; 
own  story.  Mr.  Overton,  who  had  access 
to  all  the  Pontifex  papers  and  who  knew 
Ernest  so  well,  wrote  the  history  of  the 
Pontifex  family. 


THE  WAY  OF  THE  WORLD 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  William  Congreve  ( 1670-1 729 ) 

Type  of  plot:  Comedy  of  manners 

Time  of  plot:  Seventeenth  century 

Locale:  London 

First  presented:  1700 

Principal  characters; 

LADY  WISHFORT,  an  aged  coquette 

MRS.  FAINALL,  her  daughter 

MRS.  MILLAMANT,  Lady  Wishfort's  niece 

FOIBLE,  a  servant 

SIR  WILFULL  WITWOUD,  Lady  Wishfort's  nephew 

WITWOUD,  his  half-brother 

MIRABELL,  a  gentleman  of  fashion 

WAITWELL,  his  servant 

FAINALL,  married  to  Lady  Wisnfort's  daughter 

MRS.  MARWOOD,  in  love  with  Fainall 


Critique: 

The  Way  of  the  World  is  the  best  of 
the  Restoration  dramas,  a  true  comedy  of 
manners.  Criticism  had  paid  particular 


attention  to  this  play,  for  some  hold  that 
the  famous  scene  between  Mirabell  and 
Millamant  is  one  of  the  most  profound 


1099 


analyses  of  the  marriage  relation  ever 
written.  The  play  as  a  whole  is  a  realistic 
statement  of  a  problem  every  individual 
must  face  in  his  adjustment  to  society. 

The  Story: 

Mrs.  Millamant,  who  was  by  far  the 
most  beautiful  and  wittiest  of  all  the  fine 
ladies  in  London,  was  sought  after  by 
all  the  beaux  in  town,  The  niece  of  the 
rich  Lady  Wishfort,  she  was  also  an 
heiress  in  her  own  right,  and  was  looked 
upon  with  great  favor  by  Witwoud,  a 
kinsman  of  Lady  Wishfort.  But  Mil- 
lamant's  acknowledged  preference  among 
her  suitors  was  for  young  Mirabell,  who 
was  the  only  man  in  London  who  could 
match  that  lady's  devastating  wit. 

Mirabell  himself  was  as  great  a  favor 
ite  among  the  ladies  in  the  town  as  Mil- 
lamant  was  among  the  beaux.  She  was 
the  perfect  coquette;  he  was  the  per 
fect  gallant.  Among  Mirabell's  jealous 
admirers  was  Mrs.  Marwood,  the  mistress 
of  Fainall,  Lady  Wishfort's  son-in-law. 
In  fact,  Mirabell  had  but  one  real  enemy 
among  the  ladies,  and  that  was  Lady 
Wishfort  herself.  On  one  occasion,  in 
order  to  further  his  suit  with  Millamant, 
Mirabell  had  falsely  made  love  to  the  old 
lady.  Discovering  his  subterfuge  later, 
she  had  never  forgiven  him.  She  de 
termined  that  he  would  never  marry  her 
niece  so  long  as  she  controlled  Mil- 
lamant's  fortune.  In  consequence,  Mira 
bell  was  hard  put  to  devise  a  scheme 
•vhereby  he  might  force  Lady  Wishfort 
to  consent  to  the  marriage, 

The  plan  he  devised  was  an  ingenious 
one.  Realizing  that  Lady  Wishfort  would 
respond  to  anything  which  even  re 
sembled  a  man,  he  promptly  invented  an 
imaginary  uncle,  Sir  Rowland,  who,  he 
said,  had  fallen  madly  in  love  with 
Lady  Wishfort  and  wanted  to  marry 
her.  He  forced  his  servant,  Waitwell,  to 
impersonate  this  fictitious  uncle.  To 
placate  Waitwell  and  further  insure  the 
success  of  his  plan,  he  contrived  his  serv 
ant's  marriage  to  Lady  Wishfort's  maid, 

T~"     •!  1 

roible. 


His  scheme  might  have  worked  had 
it  not  been  for  the  counterplans  of  the 
designing  Mrs.  Marwood  and  her  un 
scrupulous  lover,  Fainall.  Although  she 
pretended  to  despise  all  men,  Mrs.  Mar- 
wood  was  secretly  in  love  with  Mirabell, 
and  had  no  intention  of  allowing  him  to 
marry  Millamant.  Fainall,  although  he 
detested  his  wife  heartily,  realized  that 
he  was  dependent  upon  her  and  her 
mother's  fortune  for  his  well-being,  and 
he  resolved  to  stop  at  nothing  to  make 
sure  that  fortune  was  in  his  control. 

While  these  plans  were  proceeding, 
Millamant  gave  little  thought  to  plots  or 
counterplots.  She  had  not  the  slightest 
intention  of  compromising  with  life,  but 
insisted  that  the  world's  way  must  some 
how  be  made  to  conform  to  her  own  de 
sires.  She  had  little  use  for  the  life 
around  her,  seeing  through  its  shallow 
pretenses  and  its  falsity,  and  yet  she 
knew  that  it  was  the  world  in  which 
she  had  to  live.  She  realized  that  any 
attempt  to  escape  from  it  into  some 
idyllic  pastoral  existence,  as  her  aunt 
often  suggested,  would  be  folly. 

Millamant  laid  down  to  Mirabell  the 
conditions  under  which  she  would  marry 
him,  and  they  were  stringent  conditions, 
not  at  all  in  conformity  with  the  average 
wife's  idea  of  her  lot.  She  would  have 
in  her  marriage  no  place  for  the  ridiculous 
codes  and  conventions  which  governed 
the  behavior  of  the  people  around  her. 
She  would  be  entirely  free  of  the  cant 
and  hypocrisy  of  married  life,  which  were 
only  a  cloak  for  the  corruption  or  misery 
hidden  underneath  social  custom.  In 
short,  she  refused  to  be  merely  a  married 
woman  in  her  husband's  or  society's  eyes. 
Mirabell,  likewise,  had  certain  con 
ditions  which  must  be  fulfilled  before 
he  was  turned  from  bachelor  into  hus 
band.  When  his  demands  proved  reason 
able,  both  lovers  realized  that  they  saw 
life  through  much  the  same  eyes.  They 
decided  that  they  were  probably  made 
for  one  another. 

But  the  world  had  not  come  to  the 
same   conclusion.    Lady  Wishfort,    still 


1100 


embittered  against  Mirabell  for  his  gross 
deception,  resolved  that  Millamant  was 
to  marry  a  cousin,  Sir  Wilfull  Witwoud, 
a  country  lout  many  years  her  senior, 
who  had  just  arrived  in  London.  For 
tunately  for  Millamant,  Sir  Wilfull 
turned  out  to  be  a  harmless  booby, 
who,  when  he  was  in  his  cups,  became 
the  most  understanding  of  men. 

There  was  a  greater  obstacle,  how 
ever,  in  the  scheme  which  Mirabell  him 
self  had  planned.  Waitwell,  disguised  as 
Mirabell's  imaginary  uncle,  Sir  Rowland, 
paid  ardent  court  to  Lady  Wishfort, 
and  would  have  been  successful  in  in 
veigling  her  into  marriage  had  it  not 
been  for  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Marwood 
exposing  the  whole  scheme.  Lady  Wish- 
fort's  maid,  Foible,  succeeded  in  in 
tercepting  the  letter,  but  Mrs.  Mar- 
wood  appeared  at  Lady  Wishfort's  in 
person  and  disclosed  the  deception. 

Lady  Wishfort  was  furious,  and  more 
determined  than  ever  to  prevent  any 
marriage  between  her  niece  and  Mirabell. 


She  angrily  discharged  Foible  from  her 
employ.  But  Mrs.  Fainall,  Lady  Wish- 
fort's  daughter,  was  on  the  side  of  the 
two  lovers.  When  Foible  informed  her 
that  she  had  tangible  proof  of  the  re 
lationship  between  Fainall  and  Mrs. 
Marwood,  Mrs.  Fainall  resolved  to 
prosecute  her  husband  to  the  limit. 
Meanwhile  the  wily  Fainall  had  taken 
pains  to  have  all  his  wife's  property 
transferred  to  his  name  by  means  of 
trumped  up  evidence  of  an  affair  between 
his  wife  and  Mirabell. 

In  this  act  Lady  Wishfort  began  to 
see  for  the  first  time  the  scheming  villainy 
of  her  daughter's  husband.  Mirabell, 
with  the  aid  of  Foible  and  Millamant's 
servant,  Mincing,  exposed  the  double- 
dealing  Mrs.  Marwood  and  her  lover, 
and  further  proved  that  while  she  was 
yet  a  widow  Mrs.  Fainall  had  conveyed 
her  whole  estate  in  trust  to  Mirabell. 
Lady  Wishfort  was  so  delighted  that  she 
forgave  Mirabell  all  his  deceptions,  and 
consented  to  his  marriage  to  Millamant. 


THE  WEB  AND  THE  ROCK 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Thomas  Wolfe  (1900-1938) 

Tyye  of  ylot;   Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  'plot:    1900-1928 

Locale:    North  Carolina,  New  York,  Europe 

First  published:     1939 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  WEBBER,  a  young  writer 
ESTHER  JACK,  whom  he  loved 

Critique: 

Critics  have  said  that  T"he  Web  and 
the  Rock  is  at  once  the  best  and  the 
worst  novel  that  Thomas  Wolfe  wrote. 
Certainly  the  first  part  of  the  book,  that 
describing  George  Webber's  childhood 
in  a  Southern  town,  is  an  excellent 
regional  chronicle.  Here  Wolfe's  genius 
with  words  reaches  new  heights.  But  the 
rest  of  the  novel  drags  somewhat  from 
overdone  treatment  of  a  love  story  in 
which  similar  scenes  are  repeated  until 


they  become  monotonous.  From  his  own 
experience,  Wolfe  here  retells  the  story 
of  a  young  man's  search  for  the  meaning 
of  life.  Like  his  other  novels,  it  is  a 
book  of  passion  and  fury  and  wild  rhet 


oric. 


The   Story: 

George  Webber's  childhood  was  one 
of  bleakness  and  misery.  He  was  really 
a  charity  ward,  even  though  he  lived 


THE  WEB  AND  THE  ROCK  by  Thomas  Wolfe.  By  permission  of  Edward  C.  Aswcll,  Admimstrator  EiUtc 
of  Thomas  Wolfe,  and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.  Copyright,  1937,  1938,  1939,  by  Maxwell  Perkin. 
as  Executor. 


1101 


with  his  aunt  and  uncle.  For  George*s 
Father  had  deserted  him  and  his  mother, 
and  had  gone  off  to  live  with  another 
woman.  After  the  death  of  George's 
mother,  her  Joyner  relatives  took  George 
into  their  home,  where  the  boy  was 
never  allowed  to  forget  that  he  had  some 
of  the  blood  of  the  Webbers  mixed  with 
his  Joyner  blood.  Strangely,  all  his  good 
and  beautiful  dreams  were  dreams  of 
his  father,  and  often  he  hotly  and  pas 
sionately  defended  his  father  to  the 
Joyners.  His  love  for  his  father  made 
his  childhood  a  divided  one.  George 
hated  the  people  his  aunt  and  uncle 
called  good;  and  those  they  called  bad, 
he  loved.  A  lonely  child,  George  kept 
his  thoughts  and  dreams  to  himself 
rather  than  expose  them  to  the  ridicule 
of  the  Joyners*  But  the  picture  of  that 
happy,  joyful  world  of  his  father,  and 
others  like  him,  stayed  with  him  during 
those  bleak  years  of  his  childhood. 

When  George  was  sixteen,  his  father 
died,  leaving  the  boy  a  small  inheritance. 
With  that  money,  George  left  the  little 
southern  town  of  Libya  Hill  and  went 
to  college.  There  he  found  knowledge, 
freedom,  life.  Like  many  other  young 
men,  George  wasted  some  of  that  free 
dom  in  sprees  of  riotous  and  loose  living. 
But  he  also  used  his  freedom  to  read 
everything  he  could  get  his  hands  on, 
and  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the 
power  of  great  writers.  George  was  be 
ginning  to  feel  the  need  of  getting  down 
some  of  his  thoughts  and  memories  on 
paper.  He  wanted  to  write  of  the  two 
sides  of  the  world — the  bright,  gay 
world  of  the  people  who  had  everything 
and  the  horrible,  dreary  world  of  the 
derelicts  and  the  poor. 

His  college  years  ended,  George  ful 
filled  the  dream  of  every  country  boy  in 
the  nation;  he  went  to  the  city,  to  the 
beautiful,  wonderful  enfabled  rock,  as  he 
called  New  York. 

The  city  was  as  great  and  as  marvelous 
as  George  had  known  it  would  be.  He 
shared  an  apartment  with  four  other 
boys;  it  was  a  dingy,  cheap  place,  but 


it  was  their  own  apartment,  where  they 
could  do  as  they  pleased.  But  George 
found  the  city  a  lonely  place  in  spite 
of  its  millions  of  people  and  its  bright 
lights.  There  was  no  one  to  whom  he 
was  responsible  nor  to  whom  he  be 
longed.  He  thought  he  would  burst  with 
what  he  knew  about  people  and  about 
life,  and,  since  there  was  no  one  he  could 
talk  to  about  those  things,  he  tried  to 
write  them  down.  He  began  his  first 
novel. 

The  next  year  was  the  loneliest  one 
George  had  ever  known.  He  drove  him 
self  mercilessly.  He  was  wretched,  for 
the  words  torturing  his  mind  would  not 
go  on  the  paper  as  he  wanted  them  to. 
At  the  end  of  a  year  he  took  the  last  of 
his  inheritance  and  went  to  Europe.  He 
hoped  to  find  there  the  peace  of  mind 
he  needed  to  finish  his  book. 

The  cities  of  Europe  did  not  hold 
his  salvation.  He  was  still  lonely  and 
bitter  because  he  could  not  find  the 
answer  to  the  riddle  of  life.  He  went 
back  to  New  York.  But  the  city  was  no 
longer  an  unfriendly  enemy,  for  George 
had  found  Esther. 

They  had  met  on  the  ship  bound  for 
New  York.  Esther  was  Mrs.  Esther 
Jack,  a  well-known  and  successful  stage 
set  designer.  She  was  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  older  than  George,  but  she  was 
also  younger  in  many  ways,  for  Esther 
loved  people  and  believed  in  them. 
Where  George  was  silent  and  distrust 
ful,  Esther  was  open  and  trusting.  George 
sometimes  felt  that  theirs  was  the  great 
est  love  of  all  times,  at  once  brutal  and 
tender,  passionate  and  friendly,  so  deep 
that  it  could  not  last  But  for  the  next 
three  years  he  was  the  king  of  the 
world.  To  Esther,  George  told  all  his 
dreams,  all  his  memories,  all  his  formerly 
wordless  thoughts  about  life  and  people. 

George  failed  to  realize  at  first  that 
Esther  meant  more  than  a  lover  to  him. 
Gradually  he  came  to  know  that  through 
her  he  was  becoming  a  new  person,  a 
man  who  loved  everyone.  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  George  Webber  belonged 


1102 


to  someone.  Since  he  was  no  longer 
lonely,  the  torture  and  the  torment  left 
him.  At  last  his  book  began  to  take 
shape,  to  become  a  reality.  George  Web 
ber  was  happy. 

Slowly  the  magic  of  his  affair  with 
Esther  began  to  disappear.  He  still 
loved  her  more  than  he  believed  pos 
sible,  knew  that  he  would  always  love 
her;  but  they  began  to  quarrel,  to  have 
horrible,  name-calling  scenes  that  left 
them  both  exhausted  and  empty,  even  the 
quarrels  that  ended  with  passionate  love- 
making.  At  first  George  did  not  know 
the  reason  for  those  scenes,  although  he 
always  knew  that  it  was  he  who  started 
them.  Slowly  he  began  to  realize  that 
he  quarreled  with  Esther  because  she 
possessed  him  so  completely.  He  had 
given  her  his  pride,  his  individuality,  his 
dreams,  his  manhood.  Esther  had  also 
unknowingly  been  a  factor  in  his  disil 
lusionment,  for  through  her  he  had  met 
and  known  the  great  people  of  the  world 
— the  artists,  the  writers,  the  actors — 
and  he  had  found  those  people  disgust 
ing  and  cheap.  They  had  destroyed  his 
childhood  illusions  of  fame  and  great 
ness,  and  he  hated  them  for  it. 

When  his  novel  was  finished,  Esther 
sent  the  manuscript  to  several  pub 
lishers  she  knew.  After  months  had 
passed  without  his  hearing  that  it  had 


been  accepted,  George  turned  on  Esthei 
in  one  final  burst  of  savage  abuse  and 
told  her  to  leave  him  and  never  return, 
Then  he  went  to  Europe  again. 

Although  he  had  gone  to  Europe  to 
forget  Esther,  he  did  nothing  without 
thinking  of  her  and  longing  for  her. 
Esther  wrote  to  him  regularly,  and  he 
paced  the  floor  if  the  expected  letter  did 
not  arrive.  But  he  was  still  determined 
to  be  himself,  and  to  accomplish  his 
purpose  he  must  not  see  Esther  again. 

One  night,  in  a  German  beer  hall, 
George  got  into  a  drunken  brawl  and 
was  badly  beaten  up.  While  he  was 
in  the  hospital,  a  feeling  of  peace  came 
over  him  for  the  first  time  in  ten  years. 
He  looked  into  a  mirror  and  saw  his 
body  as  a  thing  apart  from  the  rest  of 
him.  And  he  knew  that  his  body  had 
been  true  to  him,  that  it  had  taken  the 
abuse  he  had  heaped  upon  it  for  almost 
thirty  years.  Often  he  had  been  almost 
mad,  and  he  had  driven  that  body  be 
yond  endurance  in  his  insane  quest — for 
what  he  did  not  know.  Now  he  was 
ready  to  go  home  again.  If  his  first  novel 
should  not  be  published,  he  would  write 
another.  He  still  had  a  lot  to  say.  The 
next  time  he  would  put  it  down  right, 
and  then  he  would  be  at  peace  with  him 
self.  George  Webber  was  beginning  to 
find  himself  at  last 


WESTWARD  HO! 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:  Sixteenth  century 

Locale:  England  and  South  America 

First  published:  1855 

Principal  characters: 

AMYAS  LEIGH,  an  adventurer 

FRANK  LEIGH,  his  brother 

SIR  RICHARD  GRENVILE,  Amyas'  godfather 

EUSTACE  LEIGH,  Amyas'  and  Frank's  cousin 

ROSE  SALTERNE,  loved  by  Amyas  and  Frank 

SALVATION  YEO,  Amyas'  friend 

DON  GUZMAN  DE  SOTO,  a  treacherous  Spaniard 

AYACAJSTORA,  an  Indian  maiden 

MRS.  LEIGH,  Amyas'  and  Frank's  mother 


1103 


Critique: 

In  Westward  Ho!  Charles  Kingsley 
has  taken  us  back  to  the  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  when  such  men  as  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  Sir 
Richard  Grenvile  sailed  the  seas  in  search 
of  adventure  and  treasure  for  their  queen. 
He  has  shown  us  that  were  it  not  for 
such  men,  the  history  of  the  world 
would  have  been  different,  for  these 
men  won  for  England  the  supremacy  of 
the  sea  and  determined  who  would  setde 
North  America.  Westward  Ho!  is  a  story 
of  great  sea  batdes,  duels  of  honor, 
romantic  rescues,  and  deeds  of  horror  in 
the  Spanish  Inquisition.  Kingsley  has 
woven  all  these  into  one  of  the  most 
romantic  adventure  stories  in  our  litera 
ture. 

The  Story: 

Amyas  Leigh  had  always  had  a  secret 
longing  to  go  to  sea,  but  he  had  not 
spoken  of  it  because  he  knew  his  parents 
thought  him  too  young  for  such  a  rough, 
hard  life.  When  he  met  John  Oxenham 
and  Salvation  Yeo,  who  were  recruiting 
a  crew  to  sail  to  the  New  World  after 
Spanish  treasure,  he  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  join  them,  but  his  parents  and  Sir 
Richard  Grenvile,  his  godfather,  per 
suaded  him  to  wait  a  while.  The  next 
year  his  father  died  of  fever  and  his 
brother  Frank  went  to  the  court  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Then  Sir  Richard  Grenvile 
persuaded  Amyas'  mother  to  let  the  boy 
accompany  Drake  on  that  first  English 
voyage  around  the  world.  Now  Drake 
and  his  adventurers  had  returned,  and 
Amyas,  no  longer  a  boy  but  a  blond 
young  giant,  came  back  to  his  home  at 
Bideford,  in  Devon. 

One  face  in  the  village  he  remembered 
better  than  any,  Rose  Salterne,  the 
mayor's  daughter.  All  the  young  men 
loved  and  honored  her,  including  Amyas 
and  his  brother  Frank,  who  had  returned 
from  court.  She  was  also  loved  by  Eustace 
Leigh,  the  cousin  of  Amyas  and  Frank. 
Eustace  was  a  Catholic,  distrusted  by  his 


cousins  because  they  suspected  he  was 
in  league  with  the  Jesuit  priests.  When 
Rose  spurned  his  love  he  vowed  revenge. 
The  other  young  men  who  loved  Rose 
formed  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Rose,  and 
all  swore  to  protect  her  always  and  to 
remain  friends,  no  matter  who  should  win 
her. 

Shortly  after  Amyas  had  returned  from 
his  voyage  with  Drake,  Salvation  Yeo 
came  to  him  and  Sir  Richard  Grenvile 
with  a  strange  and  horrible  tale.  The 
voyage  which  he  had  made  with  John 
Oxenham  had  been  ill-fated,  and  Oxen- 
ham  and  most  of  the  crew  had  been 
captured  by  Spanish  Inquisitors.  Oxen- 
ham  had  had  a  child  by  a  Spanish  lady, 
and  before  they  were  separated  Yeo 
had  vowed  that  he  would  protect  the 
child.  Yeo  had  done  his  best,  but  the 
child  had  been  lost,  and  now  Yeo  begged 
that  he  might  attach  himself  to  Amyas 
and  go  wherever  Amyas  went.  He 
thought  that  he  might  in  his  travels 
someday  find  the  little  maid  again.  Amyas 
and  Sir  Richard  Grenvile  were  touched 
by  the  story,  and  Amyas  promised  to 
keep  Yeo  with  him.  Before  long  the  two 
sailed  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  for  Ire 
land,  there  to  fight  the  Spaniards. 

In  Ireland,  Raleigh  defeated  the 
Spaniards,  and  Amyas  took  as  hostage 
Don  Guzman  de  Soto,  a  Spanish  noble 
man.  Don  Guzman  accompanied  him 
back  to  Bideford,  there  to  wait  for  his 
ransom  from  Spain.  Don  Guzman  was  a 
charming  gentleman,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  he  had  caught  the  eye  of 
Rose  Salterne.  After  his  ransom  had 
been  paid,  he  left  England,  and  then 
it  was  learned  that  Rose  had  also  dis 
appeared  in  the  company  of  Lucy  the 
witch.  Her  father  was  wild  with  grief, 
as  were  Amyas  and  Frank  and  the  other 
young  men  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Rose.  All  vowed  to  sail  to  La  Guayra 
in  Caracas,  where  Don  Guzman  had 
gone  to  be  governor  and  where  they 
ielt  Rose  had  fled  to  join  him. 


1104 


Their  voyage  was  an  eventhil  one. 
When  they  neared  La  Guayra  they  were 
seen  by  the  Spaniards,  and  they  had  to 
fight  many  times  before  they  reached 
shore.  Amyas  and  Frank  went  ashore 
with  a  few  men  to  try  to  rescue  Rose. 
There  they  learned  that  Eustace  had 
known  of  their  voyage  and  had  beaten 
them  to  their  destination  to  warn  Don 
Guzman  of  their  approach.  Frank  and 
Amyas  heard  Rose  tell  Eustace  that  she 
was  happily  married  to  Don  Guzman,  and 
so  they  knew  she  would  never  leave 
with  them.  But  they  also  heard  Eustace 
beg  her  to  run  away  with  him,  threaten 
ing  to  turn  her  over  to  the  Inquisition 
if  she  refused.  At  that  threat,  Frank 
and  Amyas  attacked  Eustace,  but  he 
escaped,  never  to  be  heard  of  again.  Rose 
fled  into  the  fort.  As  they  made  their 
way  back  to  their  ship,  Frank  was 
captured  by  Don  Guzman's  men.  Amyas 
was  knocked  unconscious,  but  his  men 
carried  him  back  to  the  ship. 

When  the  ship  was  damaged  in  a 
later  encounter  with  the  Spaniards,  the 
crew  beached  her  and  began  a  march 
toward  the  fabled  city  of  Manoa.  It  was 
a  long  and  hazardous  journey  over  high 
mountains  and  through  a  land  of  hostile 
Indians.  They  found  no  El  Dorado,  but 
a  young  priestess  of  one  of  the  tribes 
fell  in  love  with  Amyas  and  followed  him 
the  rest  of  the  journey.  She  was  called 
Ayacanora,  and  although  she  was  of  an 
Indian  tribe  she  seemed  to  have  the 
look  of  a  white  woman. 

After  more  than  three  years  the  little 
band  reached  the  shore  of  New  Granada 
and  there,  after  a  furious  fight,  captured 
a  Spanish  galleon.  After  they  had  secured 
her  and  set  sail,  they  went  into  the 
hold  and  released  the  prisoners  the 
Spaniards  had  aboard.  One  of  them 
was  Lucy  the  witch,  who  told  them  of 
the  horrible  fate  of  Rose  and  Frank. 
Before  Eustace  disappeared  from  La 
Guayra,  he  had  reported  to  the  Inquisi 
tion  that  Rose  had  kept  her  Protestant 
faith.  She  and  Lucy  were  taken  before 
that  terrible  tribunal,  where  Frank  also 


had  been  turned  over  to  the  torturers. 
Lucy  confessed  that  she  had  accepted  the 
Catholic  faith,  but  Frank  and  Rose,  re 
fusing  to  yield  to  the  Inquisitors,  had 
been  tortured  for  many  days  before  they 
were  burned  at  the  stake.  When  Amyas 
heard  this  story,  he  was  like  a  madman, 
vowing  never  to  rest  until  he  had  killed 
every  Spaniard  he  saw.  On  the  ship 
were  two  Spanish  dignitaries  who  had 
witnessed  the  burning  of  Frank  and  Rose, 
and  Amyas  had  them  hanged  im 
mediately. 

At  last  the  ship  reached  Devon  and 
Amyas  took  Ayacanora  to  his  home, 
where  his  mother  welcomed  her  and 
treated  her  as  a  daughter.  During  the 
voyage  Yeo  had  discovered  that  she  was 
the  little  maid  he  had  promised  Oxenham 
to  protect,  and  he  became  as  a  father  to 
her.  Amyas  treated  her  as  he  might  a 
sister;  Ayacanora  was  not  happy  at  his 
treatment. 

After  a  time  Amyas  fitted  out  a  ship 
and  prepared  to  go  with  Drake  to  Vir 
ginia,  but  before  they  sailed  the  Spanish 
Armada  arrived  off  English  shores.  Amyas 
with  his  ship  joined  the  rest  of  the  fleet 
in  that  famous  battle.  After  twelve 
terrible  days,  the  Armada  was  defeated 
and  almost  every  Spanish  ship  destroyed. 
But  Amyas  was  not  satisfied.  Don  Guz 
man  was  aboard  one  of  the  Spanish  ships, 
and  though  Amyas  pursued  him  relent 
lessly  he  had  to  sit  by  and  watch  a 
storm  tear  the  Spaniard's  ship  apart. 
And  Arnyas  cursed  that  he  himself  had 
not  been  able  to  kill  Don  Guzman  and 
thus  avenge  his  brother's  death. 

As  Don  Guzman's  ship  broke  apart,  a 
bolt  of  lightning  struck  Amyas'  ship, 
blinding  him  and  killing  Yeo.  At  first 
Amyas  was  full  of  despair.  One  day  he 
had  a  vision.  He  saw  Rose  and  Don 
Guzman  together,  and  knew  that  the 
Spaniard  had  really  loved  her  and 
mourned  her  until  his  death.  Then  he 
saw  himself  with  Don  Guzman,  acknowl 
edging  their  sins  to  each  other,  and 
asking  forgiveness.  After  that  he  felt 
at  peace  with  himself. 


1105 


Amyas  returned  to  his  mother's  home, 
and  there  she  and  Ayacanora  cared  for 
him.  Realizing  how  much  the  girl  loved 
him,  he  was  so  grateful  for  the  tender 
ness  she  showed  him  that  he  gave  her 


his  heart.  In  Bideford  the  Hind  hero 
spent  his  remaining  days  dreaming  of  his 
past  deeds  and  of  the  great  glory  to 
come  for  his  country  and  his  queen. 


WHAT  EVERY  WOMAN  KNOWS 

Type  of  -work:    Drama 

Author:  James  M.  Barrie  (1860-1937) 

Type  of  'plot:    Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:    Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:   Scotland  and  England 

First  presented,:    1908 

Principal  characters: 

MAGGIE  WYUCE,  plain  and  sprnsterish 

ALICE  WYLTE,  her  father 

JAMES  WYUE,  and 

DAVID  WYLTB,  her  brothers 

JOHN  SHAND,  a  young  student 

LADY  SYBIL  TENTEKDEN,  a  young  and  beautiful  aristocrat 

THE  COMTESSE  DE  LA  BRIERE,  her  aunt 

MR.  CHARLES  VENABLES,  a  minister  of  the  Cabinet 

Critique: 

What  Every  Woman  Knows  is  one 
of  the  most  realistic  of  Barriers  plays, 
developing  as  it  does  the  familiar  theme 
that  behind  every  man  there  is  a  wom 
an  who  makes  him  either  a  success  or 
a  failure.  There  are,  however,  flashes 
of  Barrie's  sly  humor  and  dramatic  irony 
throughout.  The  play  has  been  a  pop 
ular  success  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  a  favorite  role  with  many  distin 
guished  actresses. 


The  Story: 

The  Wylies,  like  most  Scotsmen, 
were  a  clannish  lot.  They  had  built  up 
their  business,  a  granite  quarry,  on  the 
spot  where  their  father  once  worked  as 
a  stonemason.  They  called  it  Wylie  and 
Sons,  Alick  Wylie  wanted  it  called 
Wylie  Brothers,  but  David,  his  brother 
James,  and  their  sister  Maggie  all  in 
sisted  that  first  credit  for  the  business 
should  go  to  Alick,  their  father. 

Maggie,  who  kept  house  for  her 
father  and  two  brothers,  was  their  only 
problem,  for  she  had  reached  twenty- 


seven  years,  an  age  when  a  woman  must 
marry  or  be  regarded  as  an  old  maid, 
and  they  were  considerably  downcast 
because  their  latest  prospect,  the  minister 
at  Galashiels,  had  married  another  wom 
an.  There  was  no  question  but  that 
Maggie  was  plain,  a  fact  of  which  she 
herself  was  only  too  conscious,  and  the 
brothers  realized  that  if  their  sister  were 
to  find  a  husband  they  would  have  to  do 
everything  in  their  power  to  help  her. 

The  opportunity  came  while  the 
Wylies  were  at  the  dambrod  board,  their 
favorite  pastime  on  Saturday  evenings. 
Maggie  was  seated  in  a  chair  in  the 
comer  knitting,  and  the  brothers  were 
trying  to  get  her  off  to  bed  so  that  they 
could  be  on  the  lookout  for  a  burglar 
they  thought  they  had  seen  prowling 
about  the  house  the  night  before.  At 
last  the  burglar  appeared,  but  to  their 
astonishment  they  discovered  the  in 
truder  was  young  John  Shand,  a  neigh 
bor,  who  confessed  that  his  purpose  in 
entering  the  house  was  to  read.  He  was 
a  student  preparing  for  the  ministry, 


WHAT  EVERY  WOMAN  KNOWS  by  James  M.  Barrie,  from  THE  PLAYS  OF  JAMES  M.  BARRIE.  By 
permission  of  the  publishers,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  Copyright,  1914,  by  Charles  Scribner'*  Sous,  1918, 
1928,  by  T.  M.  Barrie. 


1106 


but  since  he  was  too  poor  to  buy  books 
he  had  to  choose  that  method  of  study. 
David  was  impressed  at  such  earnestness. 
After  a  brief  conference  with  his  brother 
he  made  the  boy  an  offer.  He  promised 
to  pay  up  to  three  hundred  pounds  for 
John  Shand's  education  if,  at  the  end  of 
five  years,  he  would  marry  Maggie,  pro 
viding  she  were  at  that  time  still  un 
married  and  wanted  him.  After  some 
quibbling  to  decide  whether  the  full 
three  hundred  pounds  would  be  de 
posited  in  his  name  at  the  bank  im 
mediately,  John  Shand  agreed  to  the 
transaction.  Maggie,  wanting  him  to  go 
into  the  deal  with  his  eyes  open,  ad 
mitted  that  she  had  never  had  an  offer 
of  marriage,  and  that  she  was  five  years 
older  than  he.  But  those  matters  meant 
little  to  ambitious  young  John  Shand, 
who  left  the  house  content  that  he  was 
free  to  browse  in  the  Wylie  library  with 
out  being  mistaken  for  a  burglar. 

Six  years  later,  having  in  the  mean 
time  abandoned  his  ambitions  for  the 
ministry,  John  Shand  was  standing  for 
Parliament.  His  great  hour  had  come, 
the  hour  for  which  he  and  Maggie  had 
waited.  She  might  have  forced  him  to 
rnarry  her  one  year  before,  but  they  both 
agreed  to  wait  for  his  triumph.  Maggie 
was  almost  frantic  between  hope  and 
anxiety.  At  one  time,  certain  that  John 
had  lost,  she  promised  herself  that  she 
and  John  would  begin  another  six  years 
of  waiting  that  very  night. 

Her  fears  were  groundless,  however, 
for  John  Shand  won  the  election  by  an 
overwhelming  majority.  Her  real  problem 
lay  in  his  victory.  Immediately  after  his 
election  John  was  taken  up  and  lionized 
by  women  with  whom  plain  little  Mag 
gie  could  not  hope  to  compete.  Among 
these  was  Lady  Sybil  Tenterden.  Mag 
gie,  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  her  own 
inferiority,  offered  to  release  John  from 
his  contract  and  tore  up  the  document 
which  bound  him  to  her*  But  John 
Shand  was  a  man  of  his  word,  and  in 
his  speech  to  the  Cowcaddens  Club  he 
announced  his  forthcoming  marriage  and 


introduced  Maggie  as  the  Mrs.  John 
Shand  soon  to  be. 

Before  long  it  was  apparent  that  Lady 
Sybil's  aunt,  the  Comtesse  de  la  Briere, 
had  been  perfectly  right  when  she 
warned  Maggie  against  allowing  John 
to  see  too  much  of  her  niece.  For  John, 
tiring  of  his  plain  wife,  fell  in  love  with 
Lady  Sybil.  They  spent  most  of  their 
time  together,  and  as  a  consequence 
John's  speeches  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons  grew  more  dull.  Essentially  a 
humorless  man,  John  had  nevertheless 
built  up  a  reputation  for  sudden  flashes 
of  humor  which  were  called  Shandisms, 
and  which  won  him  great  popularity. 
There  was  a  simple  reason  for  his  suc 
cess.  Maggie,  who  typed  his  speeches, 
supplied  the  humor  without  letting  her 
husband  know  it.  The  Comtesse  saw 
through  the  subterfuge,  and  thereby 
named  Maggie  The  Pin,  meaning  that 
she  was  like  the  pin  every  successful  man 
is  supposed  to  pick  up  at  the  beginning 
of  a  successful  career. 

By  that  time  John  was  so  absorbed  in 
Lady  Sybil  that  he  considered  her  his 
sole  inspiration,  and  he  even  went  so 
far  as  to  forget  completely  his  wedding 
anniversary.  Maggie's  brothers  were 
shocked  at  his  neglect,  but  Maggie 
covered  the  situation  perfectly  by  reach 
ing  out  her  hand  to  Lady  Sybil  for  her 
ruby  pendant,  displaying  it  as  her  an 
niversary  present.  She  then  forced  John 
to  admit  that  he  had  given  the  pendant 
to  Lady  Sybil.  John  was  defiant,  declar 
ing  to  Maggie  and  her  brothers  that  Lady 
Sybil  was  the  great  love  of  his  life,  and 
that  he  would  sacrifice  everything  for 
her  sake.  The  brothers  reminded  him 
that  if  he  deserted  Maggie  he  could 
count  on  no  career,  A  short  time  before, 
Mr.  Charles  Venables,  a  cabinet  min 
ister  and  John's  political  mentor,  had 
offered  him  the  opportunity  to  be  third 
speaker  at  Leeds  on  the  same  platform 
with  two  ministers,  an  occasion  which 
would  mean  John's  appointment  to  a 
ministerial  post.  Maggie  suggested  that 
John  go  away  for  a  few  weeks  with  Lady 


1107 


Sybil  and  write  the  speech  under  her 
inspiration.  When  Maggie  promised  to 
keep  silent  concerning  the  marital  diffi 
culties  between  them,  John  agreed  to  the 
arrangement* 

When  John  read  to  Mr.  Venables  the 
speech  he  had  written,  the  minister  was 
greatly  disappointed  and  said  it  lacked 
the  spark  of  Hfe  his  earlier  speeches  had 
contained.  Maggie,  realizing  what  was 
at  stake,  informed  Venables  that  her 
husband  had  written  another  speech 
which  she  had  typed  for  him;  it  was  a 
speech  Maggie  herself  had  written  from 
notes  John  had  left  at  home. 

In  the  meantime,  Lady  Sybil  admitted 


that  she  had  tired  of  John  and  had  no 
intention  of  going  on  with  the  affair. 
Her  decision  was  a  jolt  to  John's  vanity, 
but  the  final  blow  came  when  Venables 
congratulated  him  on  the  speech  which, 
he  realized,  only  Maggie  could  have 
written  for  him.  When  they  were  alone, 
Maggie  told  him  that  every  man  who  is 
high  up  likes  to  think  he  has  climbed 
there  by  himself,  but  every  wife  knows 
better.  It  was,  she  said,  every  woman's 
private  joke.  Whereupon  Maggie 
laughed,  and  for  perhaps  the  first  time 
in  his  life  John  Shand  laughed  at  him 
self.  His  marriage  and  career  were  both 
saved. 


THE  WHITE  COMPANY 

Type  of  work:   Novel 

Author:  Arthur  Oman  Doyle  (1859-1930) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  plot:    Fifteenth  century 

Locale:    England,  France,  Spain 

First  published:    1891 

Principal  characters: 

AJLLEYNE  EDBICSON,  an  English  youth 
SAMXIN  AYLWARD,  a  bowman 
HOMXLE  JOHN,  a  bowman 
SIR  NIGEL  LORTNG,  a  nobleman 
LADY  MAUDE,  his  daughter 

Critique: 

The  White  Company  is  a  story  of 
exciting  adventures  near  the  end  of  the 
age  of  chivalry.  From  its  pages  we  can 
get  accurate  pictures  of  many  types  of 
people  in  feudal  times  as  well  as  some 
insight  into  the  interminable  and  fruit 
less  wars  with  France.  The  charm  of 
the  story,  however,  lies  in  its  romantic 
plot.  The  English  nobles  are  all  valiant 
men,  but  none  so  valiant  as  Sir  Nigel. 
Hordle  John  is  the  strongest  Englishman 
ever  seen,  as  Aylward  is  the  lustiest  bow 
man.  Everything  turns  out  well  for  the 
heroes,  and  the  villains  came  to  grief. 
For  many  years  The  White  Company 
has  been  a  favorite,  especially  with  young 
people. 


The  Story: 

The  Abbot  of  Beaulieu  was  a  stern 


judge,  and  the  charges  against  Hordle 
John,  the  novitiate,  were  severe.  John 
had  drunk  all  the  ale  from  the  firkin 
when  he  had  the  first  turn;  John  had 
held  a  monk's  head  down  over  the  beans 
in  protest  against  poor  fare;  worst  of 
all,  John  had  carried  a  woman  across 
a  stream.  When  she  smiled  at  him,  he 
did  not  keep  his  eyes  on  the  ground. 

At  the  trial,  huge  John  seemed  out 
of  place  in  a  monastery.  He  cheerfully 
admitted  the  charges  and  did  not  even 
have  the  grace  to  be  ashamed.  But  when 
the  monks  advanced  to  punish  him,  he 
picked  up  an  altar  and  threw  it  at  them. 
Then  he  dived  out  of  the  window  and 
was  never  seen  again  in  Beaulieu. 

Much  disturbed,  the  abbot  retired  to 
his  study  to  meditate.  There  he  received 
another  visitor,  Alleyne  Edricson.  It 


1108 


was  Alleyne's  twentieth  birthday,  and 
according  to  his  father's  will  the  boy  was 
to  leave  the  abbey  for  a  year.  When  he 
was  twenty-one,  he  would  choose  either 
a  monastic  or  a  secular  life.  Alleyne 
had  never  known  any  other  life  than 
that  of  the  abbey  and  he  was  hesitant 
about  entering  a  world  of  sin  and  lust. 
The  abbot  solemnly  warned  Alleyne  of 
the  perils  of  the  secular  life;  but  true  to 
his  promise  he  sent  the  youth  forth  with 
his  blessing. 

Alleyne  started  on  foot  for  the  estate 
of  Minstead,  where  his  older  brother 
was  the  socman.  Alleyne  had  never  seen 
his  brother,  but  from  all  reports  he  was 
a  rude  and  sinful  man,  On  this,  his 
first  trip  into  the  world,  Alleyne  was  con 
tinually  alarmed  at  the  sin  his  eyes  be 
held  on  every  hand.  Two  robbers  who 
molested  an  old  woman  were  summarily 
executed  on  the  spot  by  the  king's  bail 
iffs.  Shaken  by  what  he  saw,  Alleyne 
thankfully  turned  into  the  shelter  of 
the  Pied  Merlin  Inn  to  spend  his  first 
night  away  from  the  abbey. 

There  lie  found  a  rough  company 
drinking  and  quarreling.  Hordle  John 
was  there,  making  merry  in  his  cups  but 
kindly  disposed  toward  the  timid  clerk. 
When  a  minstrel  took  up  his  harp  and 
began  to  sing  a  bawdy  song,  Alleyne 
stood  up  and  cried  shame  on  the  com 
pany  for  listening.  The  rough  travelers 
shouted  him  down  and  they  would  have 
done  hurt  to  Alleyne  if  John  had  not 
risen  to  defend  the  clerk. 

At  that  instant  Samkin  Aylward  burst 
in,  bearing  letters  from  France  to  Sir 
Nigel  of  nearby  Christchurch.  The 
White  Company  of  English  bowmen 
wanted  Sir  Nigel  to  lead  them  in  the 
war  against  Spain.  Samkin  was  trying 
to  recruit  other  bowmen,  and  Hordle 
John  agreed  to  go  with  him.  Alleyne 
refused  because  he  was  intent  on  seeing 
his  brother. 

The  next  morning  Alleyne  came  to 
the  park  of  the  Socman  of  Minstead. 
There  he  saw  a  strange  sight.  A  great, 
yellow-bearded  man  held  a  struggling 


girl,  and  appeared  determined  to  drag 
her  into  the  house.  Alleyne  ran  up  to 
the  rescue,  armed  with  his  iron-tipped 
staff.  Only  after  Alleyne  had  threatened 
to  run  his  staff  through  the  yellow-beard 
was  he  informed  that  his  adversary  was 
his  brother.  The  socman,  furious  at 
being  balked  by  clerkly  Alleyne,  ran  to 
the  stables  and  whistled  for  his  hunting 
dogs.  Alleyne  and  the  girl  escaped  into 
the  woods. 

The  girl's  page  soon  found  them,  and 
she  rode  away  with  a  brilliant,  mocking 
smile  of  thanks.  Alleyne  resolved  to  join 
John  and  Aylward  and  take  service  with 
Sir  Nigel.  He  hurried  to  catch  up  with 
them  before  they  arrived  at  Christchurch. 

Alleyne's  first  view  of  Sir  Nigel  was 
disappointing.  The  lord  was  a  slight, 
squinting,  soft-spoken  man,  apparently 
the  least  warlike  of  nobles.  But  Alleyne 
changed  his  mind.  A  giant  bear  broke 
his  chain  and  charged  down  the  road, 
where  he  scattered  all  in  front  of  him. 
Sir  Nigel,  however,  merely  looked  in 
his  near-sighted  way  to  see  the  cause 
of  the  disturbance.  Then,  unarmed  as 
he  was,  he  walked  up  to  the  maddened 
bear  and  flicked  the  animal  across  the 
snout  with  his  silk  handkerchief.  Dis 
comfited,  the  bear  retired  in  confusion 
and  was  soon  rechained  by  the  bearward. 
Then  Alleyne  knew  he  would  serve  a 
true  knight. 

At  the  castle  Sir  Nigel  was  making 
all  in  readiness  for  his  expedition  to 
France.  Alleyne  worked  diligently  in 
the  courtyard  as  he  learned  the  trade  of 
man-at-arms.  His  efforts  soon  made  him 
a  favorite  and  his  good  education  set 
him  above  his  fellows.  Sir  Nigel  asked 
him  to  take  charge  of  his  daughter's 
reading  that  winter,  and  Alleyne  went 
into  the  lord's  quarters  for  the  first 
time.  There  he  found  that  his  pupil 
was  the  girl  he  had  rescued  from  his 
brother.  Lady  Maude  was  a  high-spirited 
girl,  but  charming  and  gracious.  Alleyne 
felt  her  charm  keenly,  but  he  was  only 
a  poor  clerk  and  so  he  kept  silent  as  hi* 
fondness  for  hex  grew. 


1109 


Just  before  the  expedition  departed, 
Sir  Nigel  made  Alleyne  his  squire.  After 
receiving  the  honor,  Alleyne  sought  out 
Lady  Maude  and  stammered  some  words 
of  love.  Lady  Maude  rebuked  him  for 
his  presumption,  hut  she  did  give  him 
her  green  veil  to  wear  to  the  wars.  As 
Squire  Alleyne  rode  away  behind  his 
lord,  he  thought  more  of  Lady  Maude 
than  of  the  fighting  to  come. 

At  Bordeaux  Sir  Nigel  and  his  party 
were  received  with  all  honors  by  Ed 
ward,  their  prince.  Edward  needed  all 
his  knights,  for  the  English  were  em 
barking  upon  a  long,  difficult  campaign 
to  put  Don  Pedro  upon  the  throne  of 
Spain.  Then,  too,  the  White  Company 
was  becoming  a  great  nuisance,  as  it  was 
pillaging  the  country  roundabout  and 
earning  few  friends  for  England. 

One  night,  on  their  way  to  join  the 
White  Company,  Sir  Nigel  and  his  party 
stayed  with  the  notorious  Seneschal  of 
Villefranche.  This  knight,  a  rapacious 
and  cruel  lord,  had  reduced  all  the  peas 
ants  on  his  lands  to  the  status  of  animals. 
That  night,  while  the  party  slept,  the 
peasants  broke  into  the  castle,  murdered 
all  the  men-at-arms,  and  foully  desecrated 
the  bodies  of  the  seneschal  and  his  lady. 
Although  Sir  Nigel  and  his  Englishmen 
were  innocent  of  the  wrongs  committed 
by  the  French  lord,  the  peasants  made 
no  distinction  between  aristocrats.  They 
set  fire  to  the  castle  when  they  were 
afraid  to  face  the  sword  of  Sir  Nigel  and 
the  mace  of  Hordle  John,  and  Sir  Nigel's 
bowmen  retired  to  the  keep. 

The  frenzied  serfs  fired  the  keep  as 
well.  The  English  party  was  rescued 
only  by  the  timely  arrival  of  the  White 


Company,  which  had  been  attracted  by 
the  great  fires.  The  peasants  slunk  away 
in  the  darkness. 

The  White  Company,  under  Sir 
Nigel,  marched  with  Edward's  army 
through  the  Pyrenees.  Selected  for 
scouting  duty,  the  White  Company  har 
ried  the  Spanish  forces  successfully.  One 
day  the  whole  company  was  trapped  on 
a  small  mesa  by  the  main  Spanish  body. 
Despite  great  slaughter  by  the  English 
arrows  and  the  might  of  Sir  Nigel,  the 
Englishmen  were  in  great  danger  of 
being  wiped  out. 

Alleyne  was  chosen  as  a  messenger  to 
summon  reinforcements.  He  carried  out 
his  mission  valiantly  despite  his  wounds, 
but  the  rescuers  found  only  Hordle  John 
and  a  handful  of  survivors  still  uncon- 
quered.  Even  Sir  Nigel  and  Aylward 
had  been  captured. 

Alleyne  returned  to  England  with  a 
heavy  heart.  His  brother  in  the  mean 
time  had  been  killed  while  trying  to 
assault  Sir  Nigel's  castle,  and  now  Al 
leyne,  knighted  by  Prince  Edward,  was 
the  Socman  of  Minstead.  With  his  new 
position  he  could  aspire  to  the  hand  of 
Lady  Maude. 

The  happiness  of  all  returned  when 
Sir  Nigel  and  Aylward  finally  came  back 
from  their  captivity  among  the  Moors, 
Aylward  married  the  mistress  of  the  Pied 
Merlin  and  Hordle  John  became  Al- 
leyne's  squire.  Alleyne  lived  a  long  and 
happy  life  with  Lady  Maude.  He  went 
back  to  France  to  fight  several  times,  and 
on  each  occasion  reaped  great  honors 
there.  Toward  the  end  of  his  life  he 
spent  much  time  at  Windsor  as  adviser 
to  Edward. 


WICKFORD  POINT 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  John  P,  Marquand  (1893-1960) 

Type  of  plot;   Social  satire 

Time  of  plot:  Twentieth  century 

Locale:  New  York  and  Wickford  Point 

First  published:    1939 


1110 


Principal  characters: 
JIM  CALDER,  a  writer 

MRS.  CLOTHILDE  WRIGHTT,  his  cousin,  formerly  Clothilde  BriU 
BELLA  BRILL,  her  daughter 
MARY  BRILL,  another  daughter 
PATRICIA  LEIGHTON,  Jim's  friend 
JOE  STOWE,  Bella's  former  husband 


Critique: 

Next  to  The  Late  George  Apley,  this 
novel  is  perhaps  Marquand's  best.  His 
technique  here  is  marked  by  the  use  of 
flashbacks  to  make  the  present  meaning 
ful  and  to  explain  the  motives  of  his 
characters.  His  touch  is  deft,  his  theme 
well-handled,  his  story  interesting,  his 
irony  amusing.  The  impact  of  the  out 
side  world  upon  the  little,  complacent 
society  of  Wickford  Point  is  admirably 
demonstrated. 

The  Story: 

Jim  Calder  made  his  living  by  writing 
fiction  for  popular  magazines.  For  this 
reason  the  contradiction  between  the 
actual  life  of  his  relatives  at  Wickford 
Point  and  the  fiction  he  was  required 
to  write  was  extremely  obvious.  His  rela 
tives,  the  Brills,  were  a  group  of  New 
Englanders  who  had  little  money,  but 
who  were  disinclined  to  make  a  living. 
Being  himself  close  to  the  Brills,  he  had 
attempted  to  escape  from  them  and  the 
enervating  atmosphere  of  Wickford 
Point,  tie  was  only  a  second  cousin  to 
the  Brill  children,  but  his  continual 
association  with  them  in  his  early  life 
produced  bonds  that  were  exceedingly 
hard  to  break.  No  matter  how  many 
times  he  left  Wickford  Point,  he  always 
returned.  No  matter  how  many  times 
he  returned,  he  always  planned  to  get 
away  as  soon  as  possible. 

Jim  attended  Harvard  and  there  met 
Joe  Stowe.  Harry  Brill  also  attended 
Harvard,  where  he  made  sure  that  he 
knew  the  right  people.  All  through  his 
life  Harry  was  concerned  with  meeting 
the  right  people,  but  he  never  did  make 
the  right  connections,  Jim  and  Joe  were 


fortunate  in  the  fact  that  they  became 
fast  friends  and  were  never  elected  to  the 
right  campus  clubs.  This  polite  ostracism 
served  only  to  strengthen  their  friendship 
and  to  bring  with  it  the  assurance  that 
they  at  least  would  be  more  successful 
than  many  of  their  snobbish  classmates 
in  their  dealings  with  people. 

When  World  War  I  arrived  and 
America  became  involved,  Joe  and  Jim 
were  among  the  first  to  go  into  service, 
and  they  were  shipped  overseas  as  first 
lieutenants  before  they  had  completed 
their  officers'  training.  After  the  war 
they  went  to  China  and  served  with  the 
forces  of  General  Feng.  Some  years 
later  Jim  returned  to  America  to  find  a 
new  way  of  life;  Joe  went  to  Italy.  Both 
decided  upon  writing  as  a  career. 

When  Jim  returned  to  Wickford  Point, 
he  found  the  Brills  just  the  same  and 
as  inconsequential  as  when  he  had  left. 
Cousin  Clothilde  was  still  unable  to 
manage  finances  satisfactorily.  When  she 
received  her  check  on  the  first  of  the 
month,  her  children  all  raced  to  get  their 
share  of  the  cash,  the  first  one  arriving 
getting  the  greater  share.  Cousin  Clo 
thilde  was  always  broke  within  a  few 
hours  after  receiving  her  money. 

Bella  had  grown  into  quite  a  beautiful 
young  woman  during  Jim's  absence  from 
America,  and  at  the  moment  of  his 
return  she  was  involved  in  a  rather  serious 
affair  with  a  nice  young  man  named 
Avery  Gifford.  Jim,  who  had  always  been 
Bella's  confidant,  continued  in  this  role 
when  Bella  sought  advice  from  him. 
Since  she  was  not  sure  that  she  loved 
Avcry,  it  was  decided  that  she  should 
wait  until  her  return  from  Europe  to 


WICKFORD  POINT  by  John  P.  Marcjmmd.    By  permission  of  the  author   and  the  publishers,   Little,   Brown 
&  Co.     Copyright,   1939,  by  John  P.  Marauand. 


1111 


decide  whether  she  would  marry  him. 
She  went  to  Italy  with  her  stepfather, 
Archie  Wright,  and  while  there  she  met 
Joe  Stowe  and  eloped  with  him. 

Their  marriage  was  doomed  to  failure 
from  the  start,  and  after  some  years  it 
ended  in  divorce.  Bella  never  really  knew 
what  she  wanted.  She  seemed  to  want 
everything  but  could  never  be  satisfied 
with  anything  she  had.  She  went  from 
one  affair  to  another  because  she  was 
extremely  attractive  to  men,  but  her 
affairs  always  remained  platonic.  Some 
times  Jim  felt  that  he  was  Bella's  only 
friend,  for  none  of  her  other  friendships 
ever  lasted  and  she  made  new  friends  as 
fast  as  she  lost  old  ones.  She  was  always 
confident  that  whenever  she  got  into 
difficulties  she  could  fly  to  Jim  and  he 
would  straighten  out  the  situation  for 
her. 

Jim  met  Patricia  Heighten,  a  woman 
of  great  executive  ability  who  had  a  pent 
house  in  New  York  City  and  an  income 
of  several  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Jim's 
affair  with  her  was  a  lasting  one,  each 
party  contributing  equally  to  the  rela 
tionship.  At  first  Jim  went  to  Pat  to 
escape  the  inanities  of  his  relatives  at 
Wickford  Point.  Pat  was  a  very  under 
standing  woman  who  realized  clearly 
what  Jim's  problem  really  was,  and  she 
tried  in  an  unobtrusive  manner  to  help 
him  make  the  final  break  with  his  family 
background. 

In  spite  of  their  divorce,  Bella  and  Joe 
thought  often  of  each  other,  even  though 
they  both  realized  that  to  remarry  would 
lead  only  to  another  divorce.  Joe,  since 
his  divorce,  had  become  a  famous  novel 
ist,  well  off  financially.  Bella  expressed 
her  selfishness  to  Jim  in  her  regretful 
admission  that  when  she  divorced  Joe 
she  had  no  idea  that  he  would  ever  be 
so  successful. 


Bella  went  from  one  contemplated 
marriage  to  another,  led  her  admirers  on, 
and  finally  put  herself  into  a  rather 
delicate  situation  with  Avery  Gifford  and 
Howard  Berg.  When  she  called  upon 
Jim  to  rescue  her  once  more,  Jim  decided 
that  this  time  Bella  would  have  to  extri 
cate  herself,  his  refusal  being  motivated 
by  his  memory  of  recent  conversations 
with  Pat.  Into  the  midst  of  these  mis 
understandings  and  resolves  came  Joe 
as  a  result  of  a  telegram  sent  to  him  by 
Bella.  At  first  Bella  and  Joe  seemed 
likely  to  try  marriage  once  more.  But  as 
a  result  of  Jim's  attitude  toward  her,  Bella 
did  the  first  generous  deed  in  her  life; 
she  told  Joe  that  she  would  not  marry 
him  again. 

Jim  took  Bella  back  to  changeless 
Wickford  Point  to  find  the  place,  as 
usual,  thronged  with  visitors.  Pat  Leigh- 
ton,  as  had  previously  been  arranged, 
came  down  to  Wickford  Point  to  visit. 
Allen  Southby,  a  friend  of  Jim's  and  a 
professor  of  English  at  Harvard,  came  to 
stay  with  the  Brills  while  gathering 
material  for  his  novel  about  Wickford 
Point.  Mary  Brill  looked  upon  Allen  as 
her  own  particular  conquest  until  Bella's 
arrival.  All  her  life  Bella  had  been  steal 
ing  Mary's  eligible  young  men. 

With  the  arrival  of  Pat,  she  and  Jim 
faced  once  more  the  problem  of  getting 
Jim  to  break  away  from  Wickford  Point 
and  the  Brills.  Jim  finally  made  the 
decision  to  leave,  after  telling  Pat  that 
a  part  of  him  would  always  remain  at 
Wickford  Point  and  that  he  would  al 
ways  have  to  return  occasionally  for  short 
visits.  Under  the  circumstances  Pat 
agreed.  Seeing  Southby 's  apparent  will 
ingness  to  marry  Bella,  Jim  felt  free  of 
Wickford  Point  and  the  clinging  past. 
He  began  to  pack  his  bag  to  return  with 
Pat  to  New  York. 


THE  WILD  DUCK 

Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Henrik  Ibsen  (1828-1906) 

Type  of  plot:  Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:  Nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Norway 

first  presented:  1884 

Principal  characters: 

WERLE,  a  wealthy  merchant 

GREGERS  WERLE,  his  son 

OLD  EKDAL,  Werle's  former  partner 

HJALMAR  EKDAL,  his  son 

GESTA  EKDAL,  Hjalmar's  wife 

HEDVIG,  their  daughter 

RELLING,  a  doctor 

Critique: 

In  this  play  Ibsen  has  made  us  feel 
as  well  as  think  his  message,  for  in  the 
symbolism  of  the  wild  duck  he  has 
paralleled  perfectly  the  meaning  of  his 
story.  The  wild  duck  wounded  by  old 
Werle  and  retrieved  by  his  dog  is  an 
image  of  the  Ekdal  family,  hurt  by  the 
world,  diving  to  the  depths  of  self-de 
ception  and  finally  rescued  only  to  be 
hurt  the  more.  In  the  character  of 
Gregers  Werle  Ibsen  seems  to  be  turn 
ing  the  knife  upon  his  own  youthful 
idealism. 


The  Story: 

Gregers  Werle,  son  of  a  wealthy  mer 
chant  and  of  a  sensitive  and  high- 
minded  mother,  had  early  in  life  de 
veloped  a  loathing  for  the  unscrupulous 
means  his  father  had  used  to  amass  his 
fortune.  After  his  mother's  death,  young 
Werle  left  his  father's  house  for  a  time, 
but  eventually  returned. 

His  father,  hoping  to  persuade  his 
son  to  accept  a  partnership  in  his  business, 
gave  a  large  dinner  party  to  which 
Gregers  took  the  liberty  of  inviting  a 
thirteenth  guest,  his  old  school  friend, 
Hjalmar  Ekdal.  This  act  displeased  his 
father  very  much;  first,  because  Hjalmar 
did  not  belong  in  the  social  set  of  the 
Werles;  second,  because  he  was  the  son 
of  a  former  business  partner  old  Werle 
had  wronged.  The  older  Ekdal  now 


held  a  menial  position  in  Werle's  employ, 
to  which  he  had  been  reduced  after  a 
term  in  prison  had  broken  his  mind  and 
spirit. 

Gregers  was  aware  that  his  father's 
machinations  had  sent  Ekdal  to  prison 
after  a  scandal  in  which  both  had  been 
involved,  and  he  hated  his  father  for 
this  injury  to  the  father  of  his  friend.  He 
discovered  also  that  the  older  Werle 
had  arranged  a  marriage  between  Hjal 
mar  Ekdal  and  Gina  Hansen,  a  former 
maid  in  the  Werle  household  and, 
Gregers  suspected,  his  father's  mistress. 
Therefore  Gregers  was  not  hospitable 
to  Werle's  offer  of  a  partnership  nor  to 
his  forthcoming  marriage  to  Mrs.  Sorby, 
his  housekeeper.  Gregers  announced  that 
his  future  mission  in  life  was  to  open 
Hjalmar  Ekdal's  eyes  to  the  lie  he  had 
been  living  for  the  past  fifteen  years. 

Outwardly,  the  Ekdal  home  was  a 
shabby  one.  Hjalmar  Ekdal  was  a  pho 
tographer,  a  business  in  which  Werle  had 
set  him  up  after  his  marriage  to  Gina. 
But  Gina  ran  the  business  while  hei 
husband  worked  on  an  invention  in 
tended  to  enable  his  aged  father  to  recoup 
some  of  his  fortune.  Old  Ekdal  him 
self,  now  practically  out  of  his  mind, 
spent  most  of  his  time  in.  a  garret  IP 
which  he  kept  a  curious  assortment  of 
animals  ranging  all  the  way  from  chickem. 
to  rabbits.  Ekdal  was  under  the  illusion 


THE  WILD  DUCK  by  Henrik  Ibsen.    Published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sont. 


1113 


that  this  garret  was  a  forest  like  the 
one  in  which  he  had  hunted  as  a  young 
man.  There  he  would  shoot  an  oc 
casional  xabhit,  and  on  holidays  and  spe 
cial  occasions  he  would  appear  before 
the  family  dressed  in  his  old  military 
uniform. 

Although  it  was  based  almost  entirely 
on  self-deception  and  illusion,  the  Ekdal 
home  was  actually  a  happy  one.  Gina 
took  good  care  of  her  husband  and  his 
aged  father,  and  Hedvig,  the  fourteen- 
year-old  daughter,  loved  Hjalmar  dearly. 
To  Hjalmar,  Hedvig  was  his  whole  life, 
and  he  and  Gina  kept  from  her  the 
fact  that  she  was  rapidly  losing  her  eye 
sight.  Gregers  Werle,  intent  on  his  new 
mission,  was  shocked  at  the  depths  to 
which  his  old  friend  had  sunk.  His 
feelings  found  expression  when  old  Ekdal 
showed  him  Hedvig's  prize  possession,  a 
wild  duck  that  the  older  Werle  had  once 
shot.  The  wounded  duck  had  dived  to 
the  bottom  of  the  water,  but  Werle's  dog 
had  retrieved  it  and  brought  it  to  the 
surface  again.  Gregers  saw  himself  as  the 
clever  dog  destined  to  bring  the  Ekdal 
family,  like  the  wild  duck,  out  of  the 
muck  of  their  straitened  circumstances. 

To  accomplish  his  end,  he  rented  a 
room  from  the  Ekdals,  a  room  Gina  was 
unwilling  to  let  him  have.  Gina  was 
not  the  only  one  to  resent  his  presence 
in  the  house.  Dr.  Relling,  another 
roomer,  knew  Gregers  Werle,  and  was 
aware  of  his  reputation  for  meddling  in 
the  affairs  of  others.  He  agreed  that 
Gregers  was  the  victim  of  a  morbid 
conscience,  probably  derived  from  his 
hysterical  mother.  Hjalmar,  in  his  in 
nocence,  however,  saw  nothing  amiss  in 
his  friend's  behavior  and  allowed  him  to 
stay. 

Gregers  set  about  the  task  of  rehabilita 
ting  his  friend  in  a  systematic  way.  His 
first  discovery  was  that  the  little  family 
was  indirectly  supported  by  the  older 
Werle,  and  not  by  the  photographic 
studio,  as  Hjalmar  supposed.  Also,  and 


more 


important,  Hedvig's  approaching 
blindness  and  his  own  father's  weak  eye 
sight  too  nearly  coincided  to  make  il 
reasonable  that  Hjalmar  was  the  child's 
natural  father.  Gregers  resolved  to  open 
Hjalmar's  eyes  to  his  true  position  in  his 
own  house,  and  during  a  long  walk  he 
laid  bare  all  the  facts  he  had  learned 
except  his  suspicion  of  Hedvig's  il 
legitimacy,  which  was  as  yet  unproved. 

Having  no  real  integrity  or  resources 
within  himself,  Hjalmar  naturally  fell 
back  on  all  the  cliches  in  the  stories  he 
had  read  as  to  how  a  wronged  husband 
should  behave.  He  demanded  from 
Gina  an  accounting  of  all  the  money 
paid  into  the  household  by  Werle,  and 
asserted  that  every  cent  should  be  paid 
back  out  of  the  proceeds  from  his  hypo 
thetical  invention.  His  outburst  did 
nothing  but  disturb  Gina  and  frighten 
Hedvig. 

Hjalmar's  pride  might  have  been 
placated  and  the  whole  matter  straight 
ened  out  had  not  a  letter  arrived  from 
old  Werle,  who  was  giving  Hedvig  a 
small  annuity.  Hjalmar  announced  that 
Hedvig  was  no  child  of  his  and  that 
he  wanted  nothing  more  to  do  with  her. 
Hedvig  was  heartbroken  at  her  father's 
behavior,  and  Gregers  Werle,  beginning 
to  realize  the  unfortunate  condition  his 
meddling  had  caused,  persuaded  the  girl 
that  her  one  hope  of  winning  back  her 
father's  love  was  to  sacrifice  the  thing 
she  loved  most  for  his  sake.  He  urged 
her  to  have  her  grandfather  kill  the 
wild  duck. 

In  the  meantime  Gina  had  succeeded 
in  convincing  Hjalmar  that  he  was  quite 
helpless  without  her.  As  they  were  dis 
cussing  their  plans  for  the  future,  they 
heard  a  shot.  At  first  they  thought  old 
Ekdal  was  firing  at  his  rabbits.  Hedvig, 
in  her  despair,  had  put  a  bullet  through 
her  breast. 

Gregers  Werle  had  righted  no  wrongs 
with  his  meddling.  He  had  merely  made 
his  friend's  tragedy  complete. 


1114 


WILLIAM  TELL 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Johann  Christoph  Friedrich  von  Schiller  (1759-1805) 

Type  of  plot:  Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:  Fifteenth  century 

Locale:  Switzerland 

First  presented:  1804 

Principal  characters: 

WILLIAM  TELL,  a  forester 

WALTEK  TELL,  his  son 

WALTER  FURST,  William  TelTs  father-in-law 

GESSLER,  Governor  of  the  Swiss  Forest  Cantons 

WERNER,  a  nobleman 

ULRICH,  his  nephew 

BERTHA  OF  BRUNECK,  a  rich  heiress 

Critique: 

William  Tell  is  based  on  a  popular 
legend  which  in  time  became  localized 
in  Switzerland.  In  it  Schiller  demon 
strated  his  admiration  for  natural  man  in 
a  setting  of  primitive  beauty.  The  love 
of  liberty  dramatized  by  the  plot  shows 
how  Schiller  agreed  with  and  differed 
from  the  principles  of  the  French  Revo 
lution.  Schiller  was  a  strong  proponent 
of  the  dignity  and  worth  of  the  common 
man,  but  he  would  have  each  man 
acknowledge  and  serve  his  rightful 
master. 


The  Story: 

A  storm  was  rising  on  Lake  Lucerne 
and  the  ferryman  was  making  his  boat 
fast  to  the  snore  as  Baumgarten  rushed 
up,  pursued  by  the  soldiers  of  the  tyrant, 
Gessler.  He  implored  the  ferryman  to 
take  him  across  the  lake  to  safety.  First, 
however,  the  crowd  made  him  tell  the 
reason  for  the  pursuit. 

The  Wolfshot,  a  nobleman  who  had 
been  appointed  seneschal  of  the  castle, 
had  come  into  Baumgarten's  house  and 
had  ordered  the  wife  to  prepare  him  a 
bath.  When  he  had  started  to  take 
liberties  with  the  woman,  she  had  escaped 
and  had  run  to  her  husband  in  the 
forest.  Baumgarten  had  hurried  back  and 
with  his  ax  had  split  the  Wolfshot's 
skull.  Now  he  had  to  leave  the  country. 

Because  the  sympathies  of  the  com 
mon  people  were  with  Baumgarten, 


they  begged  the  ferryman  to  take  him 
across.  But  the  storm  was  almost  upon 
them,  and  the  ferryman  was  afraid.  Then 
William  Tell  came  up,  Tell  the  huntei, 
the  only  man  in  the  crowd  with  courage 
to  steer  the  boat  in  a  tempest.  As  soon 
as  he  heard  Baumgarten's  story,  Tell 
unhesitatingly  embarked  to  take  the  fugi 
tive  to  the  other  shore.  As  they  cast 
off,  the  soldiers  thundered  up.  When 
they  saw  their  prey  escaping,  they  took 
their  revenge  on  the  peasants  by  killing 
their  sheep  and  burning  their  cottages. 

The  free  Switzers  were  greatly  troubled 
because  the  Emperor  of  Austria  had  sent 
Gessler  to  rule  as  viceroy  over  the  Forest 
Cantons.  Gessler,  a  younger  son  of  no 
fortune,  was  envious  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  thrifty  Switzers  and  enraged  by 
their  calm  and  independent  bearing,  for 
the  inhabitants  held  their  lands  directly 
in  fief  to  the  emperor  and  the  rights 
and  duties  of  the  viceroy  were  carefully 
limited.  To  break  the  proud  spirit  of 
the  Switzers,  Gessler  mounted  a  cap  on  a 
pole  in  a  public  place  and  required  that 
each  man  bow  to  the  cap. 

Henry  of  Halden  was  an  upright  man. 
To  his  farm  came  the  emissaries  of 
Gessler,  attempting  to  take  from  him  his 
best  team  of  oxen.  When  Arnold,  his 
son,  sprang  on  the  men  and  struck 
them  with  his  staff,  they  released  the 
oxen  and  left.  Arnold  thought  it  best 
to  go  into  hiding.  While  he  was  away, 


1115 


the  soldiers  came  and  tortured  old  Henry 
and  put  out  his  eyes.  Arnold  joined  the 
malcontents  against  Gessler. 

Fiirst  became  the  leader  of  the 
Switzers.  It  was  agreed  that  ten  men 
from  the  three  Cantons  would  meet  and 
plan  to  overthrow  the  viceroy. 

At  the  mansion  of  Werner,  the  com 
mon  people  and  their  lord  were  gathered 
for  the  morning  cup  of  friendship.  Old 
Werner  gladly  drank  with  his  men,  but 
his  nephew  Ulrich  refused.  He  had 
been  attracted  to  the  Austrian  court  by 
the  fine  dress  and  high  positions  of  the 
rulers,  and  he  felt  no  bond  with  free 
Switzerland.  Werner  upbraided  him  for 
being  a  turncoat  and  finally  accused 
Ulrich  of  turning  to  Austria  because  of 
love  for  the  rich  Bertha. 

In  great  secrecy  the  representatives 
of  the  people  met  at  night  under  the 
leadership  of  Fiirst.  Feeling  their  wrongs 
too  great  to  bear,  they  revived  their 
ancient  Diet.  Some  of  the  more  fiery 
members  were  in  favor  of  an  immediate 
uprising,  but  the  cooler  heads  followed 
Furst  and  voted  to  wait  until  Christmas, 
when  by  tradition  all  the  peasants  would 
be  present  in  the  castle. 

Ulrich  at  last  approached  Bertha  and 
declared  his  love  for  her.  A  true  Switzer 
at  heart,  she  spurned  him  for  his  loyalty 
to  Austria. 

Tell  with  his  sons  came  near  the  hated 
cap.  When  Tell,  more  by  accident  than 
by  design,  paid  no  attention  to  the 
symbol  of  authority,  he  was  arrested  by 
two  guards  who  tried  to  bind  him  and 
lead  him  to  prison.  Although  Fiirst  came 
and  offered  bail  for  his  son-in-law,  law- 
abiding  Tell  submitted  to  his  captors  and 
was  being  led  away  when  Gessler  him 
self  rode  by. 

Gessler  ordered  an  apple  placed  on 
Walter  TelTs  head.  Then  he  commanded 
William  Tell  to  shoot  the  apple  from  his 
son's  head.  Tell  protested  in  vain.  Ulrich 
courageously  defied  Gessler  and  spoke  hot 
words  of  blame  to  the  tyrant,  but  Gessler 
was  unmoved.  In  the  confusion  Tell 
rook  out  two  arrows,  fitted  one  to  his 


crossbow,  and  neatly  pierced  the  apple. 

While  the  crowd  rejoiced,  Gessler 
asked  Tell  why  he  had  taken  two 
arrows,  but  Tell  refused  to  answer  until 
Gessler  promised  not  to  execute  him  no 
matter  what  the  reply  might  be.  Then 
Tell  boldly  declared  that  if  he  had 
missed  the  apple  and  hurt  his  son,  he 
would  have  killed  Gessler  with  the 
second  arrow.  Infuriated,  Gessler  ordered 
Tell  led  away  to  life  imprisonment. 

Chained,  Tell  was  put  on  the  boat 
which  was  to  take  him  to  Gessler's 
castle,  and  Gessler  himself  went  along  to 
gloat  over  his  victim.  Once  again  a 
terrible  storm  arose.  To  save  his  own 
life,  Gessler  had  Tell  unbound  and  made 
him  helmsman.  Watching  his  chance, 
Tell  steered  the  boat  close  to  shore  and 
sprang  to  safety  on  a  rocky  ledge. 

He  came  with  his  crossbow  to  a  pass 
through  which  Gessler  must  travel  if 
he  escaped  the  fury  of  the  storm.  Under 
Tell's  hiding  place  a  poor  woman  and 
her  children  waited  for  Gessler.  Her 
husband  was  in  prison  for  a  minor  of 
fense,  and  she  intended  to  appeal  to 
Gessler  for  clemency. 

At  last  Gessler  approached  with  his 
train.  The  woman  blocked  his  way  and 
appealed  for  mercy  on  behalf  of  her  hus 
band.  Waiting  long  enough  to  hear  her 
plea  denied,  Tell  pierced  the  breast  of 
the  tyrant  with  a  bolt  from  his  crossbow. 
Dropping  down  on  the  road,  Tell  an 
nounced  to  the  gathered  people  that 
he  had  killed  Gessler;  then  he  dis 
appeared  into  the  forest. 

Gessler  lay  in  the  road,  with  no 
friendly  hand  to  pull  the  arrow  from  the 
bleeding  heart.  So  died  Switzerland's 
oppressor. 

The  people  had  hoped  that  Werner 
would  lead  them  in  their  revolt,  but  he 
was  old  and  on  his  deathbed.  He 
hoped  to  remain  alive  until  Ulrich 
would  come  to  receive  from  him  the 
leadership,  but  Ulrich  did  not  arrive  until 
after  his  uncle's  death.  The  assembled 
peasants,  however,  acknowledged  Ulrich 
as  their  leader,  and  they  found  in  him  a 


1116 


hardy  knignt,  all  the  more  anxious  for 
war  because  the  Austrians  had  abducted 
Bertha.  At  last  the  three  Cantoris  rose  up 
against  harsh  Austrian  rule. 

At  the  height  of  the  revolt,  the  news 
came  that  the  emperor  himself  had  been 
assassinated.  Duke  John  of  Austria,  his 
nephew,  had  struck  down  the  emperor 
after  being  robbed  of  his  estates.  The 
Switzers  despised  the  duke  for  the  crime 
because  assassination  for  robbery  seemed 
to  them  unjust.  When  Duke  John 
sought  refuge  with  Tell,  the  forester  was 


indignant.  Tell  was  a  soldier  for  free 
dom,  not  a  murderer.  But  his  natural 
humanity  kept  him  from  exposing  John, 
and  the  duke  left  unharmed  to  seek  a 
safer  sanctuary  in  Italy. 

Tell  put  away  his  crossbow  for  good 
when  the  announcement  came  that  the 
Count  of  Luxembourg  had  been  elected 
emperor.  The  Cantons  settled  down  to 
peaceful  days  once  more.  Bertha  gave 
her  hand  freely  to  Ulrich,  as  one  proud 
Switzer  to  another. 


WINDSOR  CASTLE 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   William  Harrison  Ainsworth  (1805-1882) 

Type  of  'plot:   Historical  romance 

Time  of  'plot:    Sixteenth  century 

Locale:    England 

First  published:    1843 

Principal  characters: 

HENRY  THE  EIGHTH,  King  of  England 
CATHERINE  OF  ARAGON,  Queen  of  England 
ANNE  BOLEYN,  Catherine's  successor 
CARDINAL  WOLSEY,  Lord  High  Chancellor 
THE  EARL  OF  SURREY,  a  member  of  the  court 
THE  DUKE  OF  RICHMOND,  Henry's  natural  son 
LADY  ELIZABETH  FITZGERALD,  the  fair  Geraldine 
MABEL  LYNDWOOD,  granddaughter  of  a  royal  forester 
MORGAN  FENWOLF,  a  gamekeeper 
HERNE  THE  HUNTER,  a  spectral  demon 


Critique: 

This  interesting  novel  of  the  reign  of 
King  Henry  the  Eighth  combines  two 
traditions  of  English  fiction — the  his 
torical  romance  and  the  Gothic  romance 
of  mystery  and  terror.  An  element  of 
the  weird  is  imparted  to  the  novel  by 
the  mysterious  figure  of  Herne  the 
Hunter,  an  apparition  out  of  the  imagina 
tion  of  medieval  England  and  still  a 
creature  of  legend  in  the  history  of 
Windsor  Castle.  In  his  novel  Ainsworth 
gave  Herne  the  function  of  a  somewhat 
disorganized  conscience.  Linked  to 
forces  of  evil  as  well  as  to  those  of  good, 
he  had  a  never  clearly  defined  symbolic 
value,  a  representation  of  the  incon 
sistency  of  man's  nature,  as  illustrated  in 
the  person  and  acts  of  Henry  Tudor. 


The   Story: 

In  April,  1529,  the  young  Earl  of 
Surrey  was  at  Windsor  Castle  preparing 
for  the  arrival  of  King  Henry  the  Eighth. 
One  night,  having  dismissed  his  attend 
ants  with  orders  to  meet  him  at  the  Gar 
ter  Inn  in  the  nearby  village,  he  began  a 
walk  through  the  home  park.  On  the 
way  he  passed  near  an  ancient  tree 
known  as  Herne's  Oak,  where  a  demon 
hunter  was  reported  to  lie  in  wait  for 
wayfarers  through  the  forest  at  night. 
Suddenly  a  Hue  light  surrounded  the 
old  tree.  Beneath  its  branches  stood  the 
figure  of  a  man  wearing  upon  his  head 
the  skull  and  antlers  of  a  stag.  From  the 
left  arm  of  the  specter  hung  a  heavy 
rusted  chain;  on  its  right  wrist  perched 
an  owl  with  red,  staring  eyes. 


1117 


When  Surrey  crossed  himself  in  fear, 
the  figure  vanished.  Hurrying  from  the 
haunted  spot,  he  encountered  another 
traveler  through  the  park.  The  man  was 
Morgan  Fen  wolf,  a  gamekeeper  who  led 
the  earl  to  the  inn  where  the  young 
nobleman  was  to  rejoin  his  companions. 

Surrey  arrived  at  the  Garter  in  time 
to  witness  a  quarrel  between  a  butcher 
and  an  archer  calling  himself  the  Duke 
of  Shoreditch.  Speaking  angry  words 
that  came  close  to  treason,  the  butcher 
declared  himself  opposed  to  royal  Henry's 
desire  to  put  aside  Catherine  of  Aragon. 
When  words  led  to  blows,  Surrey  and 
Fenwolf  stepped  in  to  halt  the  fight.  The 
self-dubbed  Duke  of  Shoreditch  insisted 
that  the  butcher  be  imprisoned  in  the 
castle.  As  he  was  led  away,  the  butcher 
charged  that  Fenwolf  was  a  wizard. 
Surrey,  much  amused,  rode  off  to  Hamp 
ton  Court  to  meet  the  royal  procession. 

Henry  and  his  court  arrived  at  Wind 
sor  Castle  amid  the  shouts  of  the  crowd 
and  volleys  of  cannon  from  the  walls. 
In  his  train  Lady  Anne  Boleyn,  dressed 
in  ermine  and  cloth  of  gold,  rode  in  a 
litter  attended  by  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  the 
poet;  the  youthful  Duke  of  Richmond, 
natural  son  of  the  king,  and  the  Earl  of 
Surrey.  Also  in  the  procession  was 
Cardinal  Wolsey,  the  Lord  High  Chan 
cellor. 

Informed  on  his  arrival  of  the  arrest 
of  the  treasonous  butcher,  Henry  ordered 
his  immediate  execution.  The  body  of 
the  butcher  was  swinging  from  the  battle 
ments  as  Henry  escorted  Anne  Boleyn 
into  the  castle. 

After  Surrey  had  told  Richmond  of 
his  ghostly  encounter  in  the  park,  the 
two  young  men  agreed  to  go  that  night 
to  Herne's  Oak.  There  they  watched  a 
ghostly  chase — the  demon  hunter  pur 
suing  a  deer,  a  great  owl  flying  before 
him  and  black  hounds  running  silently 
beside  his  horse. 

On  their  return  to  the  castle,  their 
haggard  looks  led  to  many  questions 
from  the  ladies  attending  Anne  Boleyn, 
among  them  Lady  Elizabeth  Fitzgerald, 


the  fair  Geraldine,  as  she  was  called,  an 
Irish  beauty  with  whom  both  Surrey  and 
Richmond  were  in  love.  Later  that 
night,  suspecting  that  they  may  have 
been  the  victims  of  a  hoax  arranged  by 
Morgan  Fenwolf,  Surrey  and  the  duke 
returned  to  the  forest  in  search  of  the 
gamekeeper.  There  they  found  the  body 
of  the  hanged  butcher.  Pinned  to  his 
clothing  was  an  inscription  which  in 
dicated  that  a  political  party  opposed  to 
the  king  now  considered  the  butcher  a 
martyr  to  their  cause. 

Bad  blood  was  brewing  between  Sur 
rey  and  the  duke  over  the  fair  Geraldine, 
Finding  the  girl  and  the  young  earl 
meeting  in  a  secret  tryst,  the  duke  chal 
lenged  Surrey  to  a  duel.  Royal  guards 
stopped  the  fight  and  Surrey  was  im 
prisoned  for  drawing  steel  against  the 
king's  son. 

Orders  were  given  for  a  royal  hunt. 
During  the  chase  Anne  Boleyn  was  en 
dangered  by  the  charge  of  a  maddened 
stag,  but  her  life  was  saved  by  a  well- 
aimed  arrow  from  Morgan  Fenwolfs 
bow.  To  avoid  the  charging  stag,  Anne 
threw  herself  into  the  arms  of  Sir  Thomas 
Wyat,  who  was  riding  by  her  side. 
Henry,  seeing  her  action,  was  furious. 

Henry's  jealousy  immediately  gave 
cheer  to  the  supporters  of  Catherine  of 
Aragon,  who  hoped  that  Henry  would 
give  up  his  plan  to  make  Anne  the 
next  Queen  of  England.  Shortly  after 
the  return  of  the  party  to  Windsor,  a  spy 
informed  Henry  that  Wyat  was  in  Anne's 
apartment.  Henry  angrily  went  to  see 
for  himself,  but  before  his  arrival  Sur 
rey,  just  liberated  from  his  cell  to  hear 
the  king's  judgment  on  his  case,  hurried 
to  warn  Wyat  and  Anne.  Wyat  escaped 
through  a  secret  passage.  Surrey  ex 
plained  that  he  had  come  to  ask  Anne's 
aid  in  obtaining  a  royal  pardon  for  his 
rashness  in  quarreling  with  the  Duke  of 
Richmond.  Through  Anne's  favor,  his 
sentence  was  shortened  to  confinement 
for  two  months. 

Heme  the  Hunter  continued  to  haunt 
the  home  park.  One  night  the  Duke  of 


U18 


Richmond  went  alone  to  the  forest  and 
there  saw  the  demon  accompanied  by  a 
band  of  spectral  huntsmen,  one  of  whom 
he  recognized  as  the  butcher.  The 
horsemen  rode  rapidly  through  the  forest 
and  then  plunged  into  a  lake  and  disap 
peared.  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  angry  and 
wretched  at  having  lost  Anne  to  Henry, 
met  the  ghostly  hunter  and  promised 
to  give  his  soul  to  the  powers  of  evil  if 
he  could  only  win  back  Anne.  The 
demon  assured  him  that  he  should  have 
his  wish.  Soon  afterward,  however, 
Henry  decided  to  send  Wyat  on  a  mis 
sion  to  France. 

Cardinal  Wolsey,  thwarted  in  his  at 
tempt  to  make  Wyat  the  agent  of  Anne's 
overthrow,  planned  to  use  Mabel  Lynd- 
wood,  granddaughter  of  a  royal  forester, 
to  attract  Henry. 

One  night  Herne  the  Hunter  appeared 
to  Surrey  in  his  prison  tower  and  showed 
the  fair  Geraldine  to  the  young  man  in 
a  vision.  After  the  demon  had  disap 
peared  Surrey  was  unable  to  find  a  holy 
relic  that  the  girl  had  given  him. 

But  Wyat  had  not  gone  to  France. 
Kidnaped  by  the  demon,  he  was  im 
prisoned  in  a  cave  and  forced  to  drink 
a  strange  brew  which  affected  his  reason 
and  made  him  swear  to  become  one  of 
Herne's  midnight  huntsmen.  Fenwolf, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  band,  promised 
to  betray  the  king  into  Wyat's  hands. 
While  riding  through  the  home  park, 
Henry  and  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  were 
attacked  by  Herne's  followers.  Henry, 
corning  face  to  face  with  Wyat,  was 
about  to  kill  his  rival,  but  Mabel  Lynd- 
wood  suddenly  appeared  and  asked  the 
king  to  spare  Wyat  because  he  had  saved 
Henry's  life  when  the  attack  began. 
Henry  sternly  ordered  Wyat,  once  more 
in  possession  of  his  senses,  to  continue 
on  his  way  to  France.  Fenwolf,  captured 
by  royal  guards  who  had  ridden  out  in 
search  of  the  king,  was  imprisoned  in 
the  castle.  Later  he  escaped  under 
mysterious  circumstances.  Henry,  aftei 
failing  to  track  down  Herne,  ordered  the 
haunted  oak  felled  and  burned. 


In  disguise,  Catherine  of  Aragon  ap 
peared  at  Windsor  Castle  and  sought  an 
audience  with  Henry  in  order  to  con 
vince  him  of  her  love  and  to  warn  him 
against  Anne's  fickle  and  unfaithful 
nature.  When  Anne  interrupted  them, 
Catherine  foretold  Anne's  bloody  doom. 

Shordy  afterward  Herne  appeared  be 
fore  the  king  on  the  castle  terrace  and 
prophesied  Henry's  fearful  end.  A  ter 
rible  storm  broke  at  that  moment  and 
the  demon  disappeared. 

Meanwhile  Mabel  Lyndwood  had 
been  brought  to  the  castle,  where  her 
grandfather  was  being  held  for  question 
ing  following  the  attack  on  Henry.  Find 
ing  her  in  the  kitchen,  Henry  gave  orders, 
that  she  was  to  be  cared  for  until  he 
sent  for  her. 

Questioned  by  the  king,  old  Lynd 
wood  refused  to  talk.  Henry  then  ordered 
the  guards  to  bring  Mabel  to  her  grand 
father's  cell.  There  Henry  threatened 
them  with  death  if  the  old  forester  re 
fused  to  reveal  his  knowledge  of  the 
demon  hunter.  That  night  a  strange 
messenger,  after  presenting  the  king's 
signet  ring  to  the  guards,  led  Mabel  and 
her  grandfather  from  the  castle  and  told 
them  to  go  to  a  secret  cave.  Meanwhile 
the  castle  was  in  an  uproar.  When  the 
guards,  led  by  Henry  himself,  cornered 
the  demon  in  one  of  the  upper  chambers 
of  the  castle,  the  specter  disappeared 
after  pointing  out  to  Henry  a  coffin  con 
taining  the  body  of  the  hanged  butcher. 

Determined  at  last  to  put  Catherine 
aside,  and  knowing  that  Wolsey  would 
block  his  attempts  so  long  as  the  cardinal 
remained  in  power,  Henry  removed  Wol 
sey  from  office  and  disgraced  him  pub 
licly,  Anne  Boleyn  would  be  the  next 
Queen  of  England. 

Surrey,  released  from  imprisonment, 
learned  that  the  fair  Geraldine  had  gone 
back  to  Ireland.  Surrey  and  Richmond, 
riding  near  the  castle,  met  Wyat,  who 
had  returned  secretly  from  France  to 
discover  the  whereabouts  of  Mabel  Lynd 
wood  and  to  rid  the  forest  of  the  demon 
hunter. 


1119 


His  disclosure  of  his  plans  was  over 
heard  by  the  hunter  and  Fenwolf,  who 
were  hiding  in  the  loft  of  a  nearby  cot 
tage.  A  short  time  later  Heme  and 
Fenwolf  quarreled  ovei  Mabel's  favors. 
When  Fenwolf  tried  to  stab  the  demon, 
his  dagger  would  not  pierce  the  demon's 
body.  Heme,  who  claimed  that  he  was 
more  than  a  hundred  years  old,  asked 
Mabel  to  love  him  and  to  pray  for  his 
liberation  from  the  spell  which  caused 
him  to  walk  the  earth  and  do  evil.  Wyat, 
who  had  been  captured  by  the  hunter, 
was  offered  his  freedom  if  Mabel  would 
accept  the  demon's  love.  Herne  also 
promised  her  jewels  and  revealed  that  she 
was  the  unacknowledged  daughter  of  the 
disgraced  Cardinal  Wolsey. 

The  hunter  told  her  finally  that 
whether  she  loved  him  or  not  he  in 
tended  to  marry  her  the  next  night  near 
an  ancient  Druid  ruin.  Fenwolf,  over 
hearing  his  declaration,  promised  to  re 
lease  Mabel  if  she  would  wed  him.  The 
girl  refused;  she  said  that  Fenwolf  was 
almost  as  evil  as  the  demon  himself. 

The  next  day  Mabel  managed  to  free 
Wyat  from  the  cave  where  he  was  con 
fined  and  the  two  made  their  escape. 
Old  Lyndwood  and  Fenwolf  planned  to 
destroy  the  hunter  by  setting  off  a  blast 
of  powder  in  the  cave.  In  their  flight 
Wyat  and  Mabel  were  forced  to  swim 
their  horse  across  a  lake.  Mabel  fainted. 
On  the  opposite  shore  Wyat  encountered 
Surrey,  Richmond,  and  a  party  search 
ing  for  the  demon.  Mabel  was  placed 
upon  a  litter  of  branches.  At  that  moment 
Herne  the  Hunter  rode  up,  seized  the 
girl,  and  raced  with  her  toward  the  cave, 
the  others  in  pursuit  until  their  way  was 
blocked  by  a  forest  fire  that  followed  the 
roar  of  an  explosion  from  the  direction 
of  the  cave.  Fenwolf  was  burned  in  the 
blaze.  The  next  morning  Wyat,  Surrey, 
and  Richmond  found  old  Lyndwood 
kneeling  over  his  granddaughter,  whose 
dead  body  he  had  dragged  from  the  lake. 


The   searchers   found   no    trace   of   the 
demon  hunter. 

Seven  years  passed.  Richmond  had 
married  Lady  Mary  Howard,  the  sister 
of  Surrey.  Surrey  himself  had  been 
forced  to  wed  Lady  Frances  Vere,  for  the 
king  had  refused  permission  to  marry 
the  fair  Geraldine.  Wolsey  and  Cath 
erine  were  dead.  Anne  had  become 
queen,  but  she  was  beginning  to  realize 
that  Henry  was  growing  cool  toward  her 
and  their  little  daughter,  Elizabeth.  Al 
though  she  was  not  faithful  to  the  king, 
she  would  not  allow  another  to  share 
Henry's  affection.  Jealous  of  his  atten 
tions  to  Jane  Seymour,  she  reproached 
and  threatened  her  rival.  Jane  replied 
by  accusing  Anne  of  misconduct  with 
Sir  Henry  Norris, 

While  the  court  was  at  Windsor 
Castle,  Herne  the  Hunter  appeared  once 
more.  Disguised  as  a  monk,  he  led  Anne 
and  Norris  to  an  apartment  where  they 
found  the  king  and  Jane  Seymour  to 
gether.  Anne  knew  then  what  her  end 
was  to  be;  but  when  Norris  asked  her  to 
flee  with  him  she  refused, 

In  May  some  jousts  were  held  at  the 
castle.  Norris,  who  had  formed  a  com 
pact  with  the  demon  hunter,  defeated 
the  king  in  the  tourney  and  as  his  reward 
Anne  gave  him  a  handkerchief  which 
Henry  had  presented  to  her.  Furious, 
Henry  charged  her  with  incontinence 
and  sent  Norris  to  the  tower.  Soon  after 
ward  Anne  was  also  imprisoned.  There 
Herne  visited  her  and  offered  to  carry 
her  and  her  lover  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Rather  than  sacrifice  her  soul,  Anne 
refused.  At  her  trial  she  was  pronounced 
guilty  and  sentenced  to  die. 

Henry  was  in  retirement  at  Windsor 
Castle  on  the  day  of  her  execution.  As 
her  head  rolled  from  the  block,  Herne 
the  Hunter  appeared  before  Henry, 
bowed  mockingly,  and  told  the  king  that 
he  was  free  to  wed  once  more. 


1120 


WINESBURG,  OHIO 

Type  of  work:    Short  stories 

Author:  Sherwood  Anderson  (1876-1941) 

Type  of  'plot:    Psychological  realism 

Time  of  plot:   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:    Winesburg,  Ohio 

First  'published:     1919 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  WILLABB,  a  young  reporter 

ELIZABETH  WILLARD,  his  mother 

DR.  REEFY,  Elizabeth's  confidant 

HELEN  WHITE,  George's  friend 

KATE  SWIFT,  George's  former  teacher 

REV.  CURTIS  HARTMAJST,  Kate's  unknown  admirer 

Wnsrc  BIDDLEBAUM,  a  berry  picker 

Critique: 

Winesburg,  Ohio  has  the  stature  of  a 
modern  classic.  It  is  at  once  beautiful 
and  tragic,  realistic  and  poetic.  Without 
being  a  novel  in  the  usual  sense  of  the 
word,  the  connected  stories  have  the  full 
range  and  emotional  impact  of  a  novel. 
In  simple,  though  highly  skillful  and 
powerful  language,  Sherwood  Anderson 
has  told  the  story  of  a  small  town  and 
the  lonely,  frustrated  people  who  live 
there.  Though  regional  in  its  setting 
and  characters,  the  book  is  also  intensely 
American.  No  one  since  Anderson  has 
succeeded  in  interpreting  the  inner  com 
pulsions  and  loneliness  of  the  national 
psyche  with  the  same  degree  of  ac 
curacy  and  emotional  impact. 


The   Story: 

Young  George  Willard  was  the  only 
child  of  Elizabeth  and  Tom  Willard. 
Mis  father,  a  dull,  conventional,  insensi 
tive  man,  owned  the  local  hotel.  His 
mother  had  once  been  a  popular  young 
belle.  She  had  never  loved  Tom  Wil 
lard,  but  the  young  married  women  of 
the  town  seemed  to  her  so  Happy,  so 
satisfied,  that  she  had  married  him  in 
the  hope  that  marriage  would  somehow 
change  her  own  life  for  the  better.  Be 
fore  long  she  realized  that  she  was 
caught  in  the  dull  life  of  Winesburg, 


her  dreams  turned  to  drab  realities  by 
her  life  with  Tom  Willard. 

The  only  person  who  ever  understood 
her  was  Dr.  Reefy.  Only  in  his  small, 
untidy  office  did  she  feel  free;  only  there 
did  she  achieve  some  measure  of  self- 
expression.  Their  relationship,  doomed 
from  the  start,  was  nevertheless  beautiful, 
a  meeting  of  two  lonely  and  sensitive 
people.  For  Dr.  Reefy,  too,  had  his 
sorrows.  Once,  years  ago,  a  young  girl, 
pregnant  and  unmarried,  had  come  to 
his  office,  and  shortly  afterward  he  had 
married  her.  The  following  spring  she 
had  died,  and  from  then  on  Dr.  Reefy 
went  around  making  little  paper  pills 
and  stuffing  his  pockets  with  them.  On 
the  pieces  of  paper  he  had  scribbled  his 
thoughts  about  the  beauty  and  strange 
ness  of  life. 

Through  her  son  George,  Elizabeth 
Willard  hoped  to  express  herself,  for  she 
saw  in  him  the  fulfillment  of  her  own 
hopes  and  desires.  More  than  anything, 
she  feared  that  George  would  settle  down 
in  Winesburg.  When  she  learned  thai 
he  wanted  to  be  a  writer,  she  was  glad, 
Unknown  to  her  husband,  she  had  put 
away  money  enough  to  give  her  son  a 
start.  But  before  she  could  realize  hei 
ambition,  Elizabeth  Willard  died.  Lying 
on  her  bed,  she  did  not  seem  dead  to 


WINESBURG,  OHIO  by  Sherwood  Anderson.  By  permission  of  Mra.  Sherwood  Anderson,  of  Harold  Ober, 
and  the  publishers,  The  Viking  Press,  Inc.  Copyright,  1919,  by  B.  W.  Huebsch.  Renewed,  1947,  by  Eleanor 
Coponhaver  Anderson. 


1121 


either  George  or  Dr.  Reefy.  To  both  she 
was  extremely  beautiful.  To  George, 
she  did  not  seem  like  his  mother  at  all. 
To  Dr.  Reefy,  she  was  the  woman  he 
had  loved,  now  the  symbol  of  another 
lost  illusion. 

Many  people  of  the  town  sought  out 
George  Willard;  they  told  him  of  their 
lives,  of  their  compulsions,  of  their 
failures.  Old  Wing  Biddlebaum,  the 
berry  picker,  years  before  had  been  a 
schoolteacher.  He  had  loved  the  boys 
in  his  charge,  and  he  had  been,  in  fact, 
one  of  those  few  teachers  who  under 
stand  young  people.  But  one  of  his 
pupils,  having  conceived  a  strong  affec 
tion  for  his  teacher,  had  accused  him 
of  homosexuality.  Wing  Biddlebaum, 
though  innocent,  was  driven  out  of  town. 
In  Winesburg,  he  became  the  best  berry 
picker  in  the  region.  But  always  the 
same  hands  that  earned  his  livelihood 
were  a  source  of  wonder  and  fear  to 
him.  When  George  Willard  encountered 
him  in  the  berry  field.  Wing's  hands 
went  forward  as  if  to  caress  the  youth. 
But  a  wave  of  horror  swept  over  him, 
and  he  hurriedly  thrust  them  into  his 
pockets.  To  George,  also,  Wing's  hands 
seemed  odd,  mysterious. 

Kate  Swift,  once  George's  teacher,  saw 
in  him  a  future  writer.  She  tried  to  tell 
him  what  writing  was,  what  it  meant. 
George  did  not  understand  exactly,  but 
he  understood  that  Kate  was  speaking, 
not  as  his  teacher,  but  as  a  woman.  One 
night,  in  her  house,  she  embraced  him., 
for  George  was  now  a  young  man  with 
whom  she  had  fallen  in  love.  On  another 
night,  when  all  of  Winesburg  seemed 
asleep,  she  went  to  his  room.  But  just 
as  she  was  on  the  point  of  yielding  to 
him,  she  struck  him  and  ran  away,  leav 
ing  George  lonely  and  frustrated. 

Kate  lived  across  the  street  from  the 
Presbyterian  church.  The  pastor,  Rev 
erend  Curtis  Hartman,  accidentally  had 
learned  that  he  could  see  into  Kate's  room 
from  his  study  in  the  bell  tower  of  the 
church.  Night  after  night  he  looked 
through  the  window  at  Kate  in  her  bed. 


He  wanted  at  first  to  prove  his  faith, 
but  his  flesh  was  weak.  One  night,  the 
same  night  Kate  had  fled  from  George 
Willard,  he  saw  her  come  into  her  room. 
He  watched  her.  Naked,  she  threw  her 
self  on  the  bed  and  furiously  pounded 
the  pillows.  Then  she  arose,  knelt,  and 
began  to  pray.  With  a  cry,  the  minister 
got  up  from  his  chair,  swept  the  Bible 
to  the  floor,  smashed  the  glass  in  the 
window,  and  dashed  out  into  the  dark 
ness.  Running  to  the  newspaper  office, 
he  burst  in  upon  George.  Wild-eyed,  his 
fist  dripping  blood,  he  told  the  astonished 
young  man  that  God  had  appeared  to 
him  in  the  person  of  a  naked  woman,  that 
Kate  Swift  was  the  instrument  of  the 
Almighty,  and  that  he  was  saved. 

Besides  Kate  Swift,  there  were  other 
women  in  George's  life.  There  was 
Helen  White,  the  banker's  daughter.  One 
night  George  and  Helen  went  out  to 
gether.  At  first  they  laughed  and  kissed, 
but  then  a  strange  new  maturity  over 
came  them  and  kept  them  apart.  Louise 
Trunnion,  a  farm  girl,  wrote  to  George, 
saying  that  she  was  his  if  he  wanted  her. 
After  dark  he  went  out  to  the  farm  and 
they  went  for  a  walk.  There,  in  a  berry 
field,  George  Willard  enjoyed  the  love 
that  Helen  White  had  refused  him. 

Like  Louise  Trunnion,  Louise  Bent- 
ley  also  wanted  love.  Before  going  to 
live  in  Winesburg,  Louise  had  lived  on 
a  farm,  forgotten  and  unloved  by  a 
greedy,  fanatical  father  who  had  desired 
a  boy  instead  of  a  daughter.  In  Wines 
burg  she  lived  with  the  Hardy  family 
while  she  went  to  school.  She  was  a 
good  student,  praised  by  her  teachers,  but 
she  was  resented  by  the  two  Hardy  girls, 
who  believed  that  Louise  was  always 
showing  off.  More  than  ever,  she  wanted 
someone  to  love.  One  day  she  sent  young 
John  Hardy  a  note,  and  a  few  weeks  later 
she  gave  herself  to  him.  When  it  be 
came  clear  that  she  was  pregnant,  Louise 
and  John  were  married. 

John  reproached  her  for  cruelty  toward 
her  son  David.  She  would  not  nurse  her 
child  and  for  long  periods  of  time  she 


1122 


would  ignore  him.  Since  she  had  never 
really  loved  her  husband,  nor  he  her,  the 
marriage  was  not  a  happy  one.  At  last 
she  and  John  separated,  and  shortly 
afterward  her  father  took  young  David 
to  live  with  him  on  the  farm. 

Old  Jesse  Bentley  was  convinced  that 
God  had  manifested  himself  in  his  grand 
child,  that  the  young  David,  like  the  Bib 
lical  hero,  would  be  a  saviour,  the  con 
queror  of  the  Philistines  who  owned  the 
land  Jesse  Bentley  wanted  for  himself. 
One  day  the  old  man  took  the  boy  into 
the  fields  with  him.  Young  David  had 


brought  along  a  little  lamb,  and  the 
grandfather  prepared  to  offer  the  animal 
as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Almighty.  The  young 
ster,  terrified,  struck  his  grandfather  and 
ran  away,  never  to  return  to  Winesburg. 
The  time  came  when  George  Willard 
had  to  choose  between  staying  in  Wines- 
burg  and  starting  out  on  his  career  as 
a  writer.  Shortly  after  his  mother's  death, 
George  got  up  early  one  morning  and 
walked  to  the  railroad  station.  There, 
with  the  postmistress'  expression  of  good 
luck  in  his  ears,  he  boarded  the  train  and 
left  Winesburg  behind  him. 


WINTERSET 


Type  of  work:  Drama 

Author:  Maxwell  Anderson  (1888-1959) 

Type  of  plot:  Romantic  tragedy 

Time  of  'plot:   Twentieth  century 

Locale:  New  York 

First  presented:    1935 

Principal  characters: 
ESDRAS,  an  old  man 
GARTH,  his  son 
MIRIAMNE,  his  daughter 
TROCK,  a  murderer 
SHADOW,  his  henchman 
JUDGE  GAUNT 
Mio,  Romagna's  son 

Critique: 

The  plot  of  Winterset  is  based  upon 
the  famous  murder  trial  of  Sacco  and 
Vanzetti.  Mio  is  a  classical  tragic  char 
acter  in  the  sense  that  his  weakness  lay 
in  his  desire  to  revenge  his  father's 
death,  yet  his  love  for  Miriamne  would 
not  allow  him  to  consummate  his  desire. 
He  had  lived  all  his  seventeen  years  for 
the  revenge  which  he  could  no  longer 
fulfill  without  injuring  the  girl  he  loved. 
Because  he  still  felt  compelled  to  ex 
onerate  his  father,  there  was  no  solution 
to  his  conflict,  and  he  had  to  die. 

The  Story: 

Trock  and  Shadow  walked  warily  un 
der  the  bridge  by  the  tenement  where 
Garth  lived  with  his  old  father,  Esdras, 


and  his  fifteen-year-old  sister,  Miriamne 
Trock  had  just  been  released  from  jail, 
where  he  had  served  a  sentence  for  his 
part  in  a  murder  for  which  Romagna  had 
been  electrocuted.  Judge  Gaunt,  who 
had  presided  over  the  trial  when  Romagna 
had  been  convicted,  was  said  to  be  mad 
and  to  be  roaming  the  country  telling 
people  that  the  trial  had  been  unfair.  A 
college  professor  had  also  begun  an 
investigation  of  the  old  murder  trial. 
Trock  had  come  to  the  tenement  district 
to  see  Garth,  who  had  witnessed  the 
murder  which  Trock  had  really  com 
mitted.  Garth  had  not  testified  at  the 
trial,  and  Trock  wanted  to  warn  hin? 
never  to  tell  what  he  had  seen. 

Trock  threatened  to  kill  Garth  if  he 


WINTERSET  by  Maxwell  Anderaon.     By  permission  of  the  publishers,  William  Sloaae  A**ociatc8,  Inc.    Copy 
right,   193  S,  by  Anderson  House, 


1123 


talked.  Miriamne  knew  nothing  about 
her  brother's  part  in  this  crime,  but  after 
she  heard  Trock  threaten  her  brother, 
she  questioned  him  and  learned  a  little 
about  the  killing.  Miriamne  loved  Garth, 
but  she  knew  that  his  silence  about  the 
murder  was  wrong.  Old  Esdras  watched 
and  comforted  his  two  children. 

To  the  same  tenement  district  came 
Mio  and  his  friend,  Carr.  Mio  was 
seventeen,  and  he  had  learned  that  some 
where  in  the  tenements  lived  a  man  who 
knew  that  Romagna  was  innocent.  Mio 
and  Miramne  saw  one  another  on  the 
street  and  fell  in  love.  Knowing  that 
he  had  to  speak  to  Miriamne,  Mio  sent 
Carr  away.  When  Miriamne  heard  Mio's 
full  name,  Bartolemeo  Romagna,  she 
told  him  that  he  must  go  away  and  never 
see  her  again,  for  Miriamne  knew  then 
that  Mio  was  the  son  of  the  man  who 
had  died  for  the  murder  Trock  had  com 
mitted.  Mio  told  Miriamne  that  he  had 
been  four  years  old  when  his  father  had 
been  electrocuted  and  that  he  lived  only 
co  prove  his  father's  innocence. 

While  the  lovers  were  talking,  Shadow 
and  Trock  appeared  on  the  street,  and 
Miriamne  hid  Mio  in  the  shadow  so 
that  the  two  men  could  not  see  him. 
The  gangsters  were  looking  for  Judge 
Gaunt  in  order  to  silence  him.  The 
judge  had  also  come  to  the  tenement, 
and  Garth,  meeting  him,  had  made  the 
crazed  man  go  to  Esdras'  apartment  for 
safety.  But  Shadow  wanted  no  part  in 
killing  the  judge.  As  he  left,  Trock 
sent  two  henchmen  after  Shadow  to  kill 
him.  Mio  saw  the  shooting.  Feeling 
that  he  had  come  to  the  right  place  to 
learn  the  truth  of  the  old  killing,  he 
waited. 

In  Esdras'  room  the  judge  awoke,  re 
freshed  and  normal  once  more.  Realiz 
ing  where  he  was  and  what  he  had  done, 
the  judge  asked  Garth  and  Esdras  to  say 
nothing  of  his  mad  claims  that  Romagna's 
trial  had  been  unfair.  The  judge  did  not 
want  the  case  to  be  reopened  any  more 
than  did  Trock.  Esdras  offered  to  guide 
Judge  Gaunt  part  way  back  to  his  home. 


After  the  two  old  men  had  left,  Mij> 
knocked  on  the  door.  He  had  been  di 
rected  to  Garth's  home  by  neighbors.  At 
the  sight  of  Miriamne  he  was  bewildered 
until  she  explained  that  Garth  was  her 
brother.  She  asked  Mio  to  leave,  but 
first  she  wanted  him  to  tell  her  that  he 
loved  her.  Garth  angrily  interrupted  the 
lovers  and  ordered  Mio  to  leave.  As  Mio 
was  preparing  to  go,  Judge  Gaunt  and 
Esdras  returned,  forced  to  turn  back  by 
driving  sleet.  Mio  recognized  the  judge 
and  began  questioning  him  and  Garth 
about  the  trial.  Garth's  story  was  that  he 
had  not  witnessed  the  murder  for  which 
Mio's  father  had  died.  Judge  Gaunt 
insisted  that  Romagna  was  guilty.  Mio 
pointed  out  that  evidence  at  the  trial  was 
biased  because  his  father  had  been  an 
anarchist.  The  judge  said  that  if  he  had 
thought  the  trial  unjust,  he  would  have 
allowed  a  retrial. 

The  steady  denials  of  Garth  and  Judge 
Gaunt  nearly  broke  Mio's  spirit.  Sud 
denly  Trock  entered  the  apartment.  Mio 
grew  more  suspicious.  Then  Shadow 
came  to  the  door.  The  sight  of  the  hench 
man  he  had  thought  dead  terrified  Trock. 
Shadow  had  been  shot,  but  he  lived 
long  enough  to  accuse  Trock  of  his 
murder.  After  Shadow  died,  Judge 
Gaunt  again  became  deranged.  He 
thought  he  was  in  court,  and  Mio  tricked 
him  into  admitting  that  Romagna  had 
been  an  anarchist  and  as  such  should 
have  been  put  to  death.  When  Trock 
threatened  to  kill  them  all,  Mio  knew 
that  he  was  near  the  end  of  his  search. 

In  the  midst  of  Mio's  glory  the  police 
came  looking  for  Judge  Gaunt,  who  had 
been  missing  from  his  home  for  many 
days.  Mio  accused  Trock  of  murdering 
Shadow,  but  when  he  sent  the  police 
into  an  inner  room  where  Garth  had 
dragged  the  body,  the  corpse  was  not 
there.  When  Miriamne  also  denied  his 
charges,  Mio  admitted  that  he  must  have 
been  dreaming,  for  he  had  seen  a  plead 
ing  message  in  Miriamne's  eyes  that 
directed  his  decision. 

As  the  police  took  Judge  Gaunt  away, 


Trock  went  also,  leaving  Garth  to  face 
Mio's  accusations.  But  Mio  was  help 
less  because  he  loved  Miriamne.  Free 
at  last  to  vindicate  his  father's  name,  he 
was  tied  by  Miriamne's  love  for  her 
brother.  In  spite  of  Miriamne's  fears 
that  his  life  was  in  danger,  Mio  left 
Esdras'  home. 

Mio  felt  that  there  was  nothing  left 
for  him  but  to  die,  for  he  could  not  live 
and  remain  silent  about  his  father's 
death.  While  he  hesitated  outside  the 
tenement,  Miriamne  came  to  join  him, 
and  they  saw  Garth  carrying  the  body  of 
Shadow  from  the  alley  where  it  had 
fallen.  Esdras  joined  Mio  outside.  The 
boy's  search  for  justice  and  his  courage 
had  made  the  old  man  see  that  Garth's 
silence  had  been  wrong.  Esdras  told  Mio 
that  he  was  going  to  the  police  to  report 
Shadow's  murder.  Mio  cautioned  Esdras 
that  he  would  not  try  to  save  Garth  by 


remaining  silent  about  the  Romagna  case, 
but  Esdras  said  that  Mio  owed  them 
nothing.  He  went  to  inform  the  police. 

Alone  with  Mio,  Miriamne  tried  to 
find  hope  of  happiness  for  him.  At  last 
she  reminded  him  that  his  father  would 
have  forgiven  his  killers,  and  Mio  real 
ized  that  she  was  right.  Still,  he  was 
determined  to  reveal  the  truth.  Then 
Esdras  returned  and  told  him  that  Trock's 
henchmen  were  guarding  the  streets  and 
that  there  was  no  way  of  escape. 

As  Mio  dashed  down  a  passage  toward 
the  river,  Miriamne  heard  the  sound  of 
shooting.  She  ran  to  her  lover  and  found 
him  dying.  Then  she  ran  toward  the 
same  passage,  into  the  fire  of  Trock's 
machine  gun.  Dying,  she  crawled  back 
to  Mio.  Esdras  and  Garth,  still  alive, 
carried  the  dead  lovers  out  of  the  cold, 
wet  winter  night. 


THE  WOMAN  IN  WHITE 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Wilkie  Collins  (1824-1889) 

Type  of  plot:  Mystery  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1850's 

Locale:  England 

First  published:  1860 

Principal  characters: 

WALTER  HARTKIGHT,  a  young  artist 

FREDERICK  FAIBLIE,  owner  of  Limnxeridge  House 

LAURA  FAIRLIE,  his  niece  and  ward 

MARIAN  HALCOMBE,  her  half-sister 

SIR  PERGIVAL  CLYDE,  Laura  Fairlie's  suitor 

COUNT  Fosco,  a  scheming  nobleman 

ANNH  CATHERIGK,  the  woman  in  white 

Critique: 

The  story  of  The  Woman  in  White  is 
told  by  a  collection  of  papers  by  different 
hands.  This  method  gives  Collins  a 
chance  to  show  the  versatility  of  his  style 
and  to  lend  interest  to  the  narrative.  The 
plot,  brought  together  with  deftness,  in 
volves  considerable  suspense.  The  un 
usual  characteristics  of  the  villains  and 
their  victims  are  easily  adaptable  to 
motion  picture  versions  of  the  story,  and 
they  have  been  successful  in  that  form. 
There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  background 


atmosphere  or  thought  in  the  novel;  its 
appeal  is  almost  entirely  on  the  basis  of 
plot  and  characterization. 

The  Story: 

Through  the  help  of  his  Italian  friend, 
Professor  Pesca,  Walter  Hartright  was 
engaged  as  drawing  master  to  the  nieces 
of  Frederick  Fairlie,  of  Limmeridge 
House,  in  Cumberland,  England.  On 
the  day  before  he  left  to  take  up  his 
new  position,  he  met  a  girl  dressed 


1125 


in  white  wandering  about  the  outskirts 
of  London.  Walter  discovered  that  she 
knew  Limmeridge  and  had  once  gone  to 
school  there  with  Laura  Fairlie.  Sud 
denly  the  strange  girl  left  him.  Shortly 
afterward  a  coach  came  by.  Its  passenger 
leaned  from  the  window  to  ask  a  police 
man  if  he  had  seen  a  girl  in  white. 
The  policeman  had  not,  and  Walter 
hesitated  to  intrude.  As  the  coach  went 
off,  he  heard  the  man  say  the  girl  had 
escaped  from  an  asylum. 

On  arriving  at  Limmeridge,  Walter 
met  the  first  of  his  two  pupils,  Marian 
Halcombe.  Marian  was  homely,  but  in 
telligent  and  charming  in  manner.  Her 
half-sister,  Laura,  was  the  beauty  of  the 
family  and  heiress  of  Limmeridge  House. 
The  two  girls  ivere  living  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Laura's  uncle,  Frederick  Fairlie, 
a  selfish  and  fastidious  hypochondriac. 
Walter  fell  in  love  with  Laura  almost 
at  once.  Hearing  his  story  about  the 
strange  woman  in  white,  Marian  searched 
her  mother's  letters  and  discovered  that 
the  woman  must  have  been  a  girl  named 
Anne  Catherick,  in  whom  Mrs.  Fairlie 
had  taken  great  interest  because  she 
looked  so  much  like  Laura. 

After  several  months,  Marian  realized 
that  Walter  was  deeply  in  love  with 
Laura.  She  advised  him  to  leave,  as 
Laura's  father  had  asked  her  on  his 
deathbed  to  marry  Sir  Percival  Clyde. 
Then  Walter  met  the  girl  in  white 
again.  She  was  in  the  graveyard  cleaning 
the  stone  which  bore  Mrs.  FairhVs  name. 
She  admitted  that  she  hoped  to  thwart 
Laura's  coming  marriage  to  Sir  Percival. 
Told  of  this  incident,  Marian  promised 
she  would  request  a  full  explanation  from 
Sir  Percival. 

Walter  left  Limmeridge.  When  Sir 
Percival  arrived  he  explained  to  Marian 
that  Anne  Catherick  was  the  daughter 
of  a  woman  in  his  family's  service  in  the 
past,  and  that  she  was  in  need  of  hospital 
treatment.  He  said  he  had  kept  her  in  an 
asylum  at  her  mother's  request,  and  he 
proved  the  statement  with  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  Catherick.  His  explanation  was 


accepted,  and  his  marriage  to  Laura  took 
place.  Walter,  heartbroken,  went  to  Cen 
tral  America  as  a  painter  for  an  archaeo 
logical  expedition. 

When  Sir  Percival  and  Laura  came 
home  from  their  wedding  trip,  some 
months  later,  Marian  found  them  much 
changed.  Laura  was  extremely  unhappy, 
and  Sir  Percival  was  not  at  all  pleased 
to  have  Marian  live  with  them  in  his 
house  at  Blackwater  Park.  Count  Fosco, 
a  huge  and  very  self-assured  Italian,  ar 
rived  with  his  wife,  Laura's  aunt,  for  a 
visit.  Marian  soon  learned  that  the  count 
was  involved  in  money  matters  with  Sir 
Percival.  When  Laura  was  asked  to  sign 
a  document  without  looking  at  it,  both 
she  and  Marian  knew  Sir  Percival  and 
Count  Fosco  were  trying  to  get  money 
from  her  by  fraudulent  means.  Over 
Sir  Percival's  loud  protests,  Laura  re 
fused  to  sign  the  paper  unless  he  would 
let  her  read  it.  The  count  interfered  and 
made  Sir  Percival  give  up  the  matter 
for  a  time.  Marian  overheard  a  conver 
sation  between  the  count  and  Sir  Percival 
in  which  they  decided  to  get  loans  and 
wait  three  months  before  trying  again  to 
persuade  Laura  to  sign  away  her  money. 
The  household  became  one  of  suspicion 
and  fear. 

By  chance,  one  day,  Laura  met  die 
woman  in  white  and  learned  that  there 
was  some  secret  in  Sir  Percival's  life,  a 
secret  involving  both  Anne  Catherick  and 
her  mother.  Before  Anne  could  tell  her 
the  secret,  Count  Fosco  appeared  and 
frightened  the  girl  away.  As  soon  as 
Sir  Percival  learned  Anne  was  in  the 
neighborhood,  he  became  alarmed.  He 
tried  to  lock  both  Marian  and  Laura  in 
their  rooms.  Marian  spied  on  the  two 
men  by  climbing  to  the  roof  during  a 
pouring  rain,  where  she  overheard  a  plot 
to  get  Laura's  money  by  killing  her. 
Before  she  could  act,  however,  Marian 
caught  a  fever  from  the  chill  of  her 
rain-soaked  clothing,  and  she  was  put  to 
bed.  Laura,  too,  became  mysteriously 
ill. 

When  Laura  was  better,  she  was  told 


1126 


that  Marian  had  gone  to  London.  She 
could  not  believe  her  sister  had  left  her 
without  saying  goodbye  and  insisted  on 
going  to  London  herself.  Actually, 
Marian  had  been  moved  to  another  room 
in  the  house.  When  Laura  arrived  in 
London,  Count  Fosco  met  her.  She  was 
given  drugs,  falsely  declared  insane, 
dressed  in  Anne  Catherick's  old  clothes, 
and  taken  to  the  asylum  from  which 
Anne  had  escaped.  In  the  meanwhile, 
Sir  Percival  had  found  Anne.  Because 
of  her  resemblance  to  Laura,  he  planned 
to  have  her  die  and  be  buried  under 
Laura's  name.  Anne  was  very  ill  any 
way.  When  she  died  suddenly  in  London 
of  natural  causes,  she  was  buried  under 
the  name  of  Laura,  Lady  Clyde. 

After  Marian  recovered  she  was  told 
that  her  sister  was  dead.  She  did  not 
believe  cither  the  count  or  Sir  Percival. 
She  went  to  find  Anne  and  discovered 
that  the  woman  in  the  asylum  was 
really  Laura.  Arranging  Laura's  escape, 
she  took  her  back  to  Limmeridge.  At 
Limmeridge,  however,  Frederick  Fairlie 
refused  to  recognize  the  sickly  Laura 
as  anyone  but  Anne  Catherick.  Laura's 
memory  had  been  so  impaired  by  die 
experience  that  she  could  not  prove 
who  she  was.  Furious,  Marian  and  Laura 
left,  and  went  to  look  at  the  false  tomb 
bearing  the  name  of  Lady  Clyde.  There 
they  met  Walter  Hartright,  recently  re 
turned  from  Central  America.  He  had 
come  to  pay  his  respects  at  Laura's  grave. 
There  was  no  possibility  of  returning 
Laura  to  her  rightful  estate  as  long  as  her 
mind  was  impaired  by  her  terrible  ex 
perience.  Meanwhile  Walter  Hartright 


attempted  to  learn  Sir  Percival's  secret. 
Finally  he  discovered  that  Sir  Percival'si 
father  and  mother  had  never  been 
legally  married.  Hoping  to  destroy  the 
evidence  of  his  birth,  Sir  Percival  at 
tempted  to  burn  an  old  church  record  that 
Walter  needed.  In  the  fire  he  set,  Sir 
Percival  burned  up  the  church  and  him 
self  as  well.  Mrs.  Catherick,  after  his 
death,  hinted  that  Laura's  father  had 
been  the  father  of  illegitimate  Anne  as 
well.  After  more  searching,  Walter  found 
that  this  must  be  true. 

Walter  returned  to  London,  and  to 
gether  the  three  planned  to  clear  Laura 
by  forcing  the  count  to  confess.  Walter's 
old  friend,  Professor  Pesca,  revealed  that 
Count  Fosco  was  a  traitor  to  the  secret 
society  to  which  both  Pesca  and  the 
count  had  belonged.  Through  Pesca's 
help  Walter  was  able  to  frighten  the 
count  into  giving  him  a  confession  and 
written  proof  in  Sir  Percival's  hand 
writing  that  Laura  was  still  alive  when 
Anne  had  been  buried  under  the  name 
of  Lady  Clyde.  The  count  fled  England, 
to  be  killed  soon  afterward  by  the  secret 
society  he  had  betrayed. 

Walter,  Marian,  and  Laura,  who  was 
now  much  improved,  were  happy  to 
have  proof  of  the  substitution  that  had 
been  made.  Walter  and  Laura  married 
and  went  to  Limmeridge  to  confront 
Frederick  Fairlie  with  the  evidence.  He 
was  forced  to  admit  Laura  was  really 
Laura  and  his  heir.  The  friends  then  left, 
not  to  return  until  after  Fairlie's  death. 
After  his  death  Laura's  and  Walter's  son 
took  over  the  estate.  Marian  lived 
the  happy  family  until  she  died. 


A  WOMAN'S  LIFE 

Type  of  -work:    Novel 

Author:   Guy  de  Maupassant  (1850-1893) 

Type  of  'plot;  Naturalism 

Time  af  plot:   Early  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  Normandy  and  the  island  of  Corsica 

First  ^published:    1883 

Principal  characters: 
JEAKNE  DE  LAMAHE 
JULXEN  DE  LAMABJB,  her  husband 


1127 


PAUL  DE  LAMAKB,  her  son 

BARON  SIMON-JACQUES  LB  PEHTHUIS  DBS  VAUDS,  her  father 

ROSAIJE,  her  foster  sister 


Critique: 

A  Woman's  Life  is  one  of  the  master 
ful  long  fictions  of  that  master  of  the 
short  story,  de  Maupassant.  The  chroni 
cle  of  a  sheltered  woman's  life,  her 
thoughts  and  misfortunes,  it  describes 
more  than  a  quarter  century  of  Jeanne 
de  Lamare's  existence.  Such  is  the  skill 
of  the  author  that,  though  the  book  is 
short,  neither  the  characterizations  nor 
the  narrative  suffer  from  being  briefly 
sketched. 

The  Story: 

In  the  spring  of  1819  Jeanne  Le  Per- 
thuis  des  Yauds  and  her  parents  went  to 
live  in  an  old  chateau,  The  Poplars,  on 
the  Normandy  coast.  Baron  Simon- 
Jacques  Le  Perthuis  des  Vauds  had  been 
left  a  large  inheritance,  but  he  had  so 
reduced  it  by  his  free-handedness  that  he 
was  finally  forced  to  reconcile  himself  to 
a  simple  country  life  for  the  remainder  of 
his  days. 

Jeanne,  wno  had  spent  the  past  five 
years  in  a  convent,  looked  forward  hap 
pily  to  her  new  life  and  dreamed  of  the 
day  when  she  would  find  the  man  who 
loved  her. 

All  of  her  expectations  were  fulfilled. 
She  found  a  beautiful  countryside  to 
wander  over,  the  sea  to  bathe  in  and  to 
sail  on.  She  met  a  neighbor,  the  hand 
some  young  Viscount  Julien  de  Lamare, 
who  came  to  call.  M.  de  Lamare  and 
Jeanne  quickly  became  good  friends. 
When  the  baron  presented  his  daughter 
with  a  boat,  he  invited  the  village  priest 
and  his  acolytes  to  christen  it.  To  Jeanne 
the  ceremony  seemed  like  a  wedding, 
and  under  the  spell  of  her  illusion  she 
accepted  his  proposal  when  Julien  asked 
her  to  marry  him.  The  wedding  took 
place  that  summer,  six  weeks  after  they 
became  engaged. 
At  Jeanne's  wish  the  couple  journeyed 


to  Corsica  on  their  honeymoon.  She  had 
been  romantically  in  love  with  her  hus 
band  before  her  marriage,  but  during 
the  two  months  she  was  away  from  home 
with  him  her  emotion  grew  into  a  pas 
sion.  Thus  she  was  amazed,  when  they 
stopped  in  Paris  on  their  way  home,  to 
find  Julien  not  perfect.  She  had  given 
him  her  filled  purse,  her  mother's  pres 
ent,  to  look  after,  and  when  she  re 
quested  it  back  to  buy  some  gifts  for  her 
family  he  gruffly  refused  to  dole  out  more 
than  a  hundred  francs  to  her.  Jeanne 
was  afraid  to  ask  for  more. 

When  Jeanne  and  Julien  returned  to 
The  Poplars,  Julien  took  over  the  man 
agement  of  the  estate.  During  the  long, 
monotonous  days  of  winter  he  began  to 
wear  old  clothes  and  no  longer  bothered 
to  shave.  He  paid  little  attention  to  his 
wife.  Having  sold  the  carriage  horses  to 
save  the  cost  of  their  feed,  he  used  the 
tenants'  nags  and  became  furious  when 
Jeanne  and  her  parents  laughed  at  the 
ugly  team. 

In  January  Jeanne's  parents  went  to 
Rouen  and  left  the  young  couple  alone. 
It  was  then  that  Jeanne  was  completely 
disillusioned  about  her  husband.  One  day 
the  maid,  her  foster  sister  Rosalie,  bore 
a  child.  Julien  insisted  that  the  mother 
and  her  illegitimate  infant  should  be 
sent  off  immediately,  but  Jeanne,  who 
was  fond  of  Rosalie,  opposed  him.  A  few 
weeks  'later  she  found  the  pair  in  bed 
together. 

The  shock  was  so  great  that  Jeanne 
could  only  think  that  she  must  get  away 
from  her  husband.  She  ran  out  of  the 
house  in  her  night  clothes,  to  the  edge 
of  the  cliffs  which  hung  over  the  sea. 
There  Julien  found  her  and  brought  her 
back  to  the  house  before  she  could  jump. 

For  several  weeks  the  young  wife  was 
ill  as  the  result  of  her  exposure.  When 


A  WOMAN'S  LIFE  by  Guy  de  Maupassant.   Published  by  The  Viking  Preti.  Inc. 


1128 


she  began  to  recover  and  could  convince 
her  parents  of  her  discovery,  Rosalie  con 
fessed  that  Julien  had  seduced  her  on  the 
first  day  he  had  come  to  call  at  the 
house. 

The  maid  and  her  haby  were  sent 
away.  Jeanne  would  have  preferred  sepa 
ration  from  her  husband,  but  the  knowl 
edge  that  she  herself  was  pregnant  and 
the  priest's  intercession  on  Julien's  be 
half  made  her  agree  to  a  reconciliation. 

Jeanne's  baby  was  born  in  July,  nearly 
a  year  after  her  marriage.  On  the  in 
fant,  Paul,  she  lavished  all  the  love  which 
Julien  had  not  accepted. 

After  the  baby's  birth  the  de  Lamares 
became  friendly  with  their  neighbors,  the 
Count  and  Countess  de  Fourville.  The 
count  was  passionately  in  love  with  his 
wife,  but  Gilberte  de  Fourville  rode  alone 
with  Julien  almost  every  day.  One  morn 
ing,  as  Jeanne  was  walking  her  horse 
through  the  woods  in  which  Julien  had 
proposed,  she  found  her  husbands  and 
Gilberte's  horses  tied  together. 

Shortly  afterward  the  baroness  died 
after  an  illness  which  had  kept  her 
partly  crippled  for  many  years.  To  Jeanne, 
who  had  been  deeply  attached  to  her 
mother,  it  came  as  a  great  shock  to  find 
that  she,  too,  had  not  been  above  an 
affair,  documented  in  the  letters  she  had 
saved. 

Jeanne  had  kept  the  secret  of  Julien's 
latest  intrigue  to  herself,  fearful  of  the 
steps  the  count  might  take  if  he  ever 
discovered  his  wife's  unfaithfulness.  The 
old  village  priest,  Abb£  Picot,  also  held 
his  peace.  Unfortunately,  Abb6  Picot 
was  called  elsewhere.  His  successor  was 
not  so  liberal  in  his  views. 

Abb£  Tolbiac,  who  was  conscious  of 
his  parishioners'  morals  and  determined 
to  guard  them,  discovered  by  chance  the 
philandering  of  Julien  and  Gilberte  de 
Fourville,  He  had  no  hesitation  about 
discussing  the  subject  with  Jeanne,  and 
when  she  refused  to  desert  her  husband 
or  to  inform  the  count  he  took  the  story 
to  Gilberte's  husband. 

One  day,  while  the  couple  were  in  a 


shepherd's  hut,  the  count,  a  powerful 
giant,  pushed  the  building  down  an 
incline  and  into  a  ravine.  He  then 
managed  to  dash  home  without  being 
seen.  Under  the  wreckage  of  the  hut 
lay  the  two  mangled  bodies. 

That  night,  after  Julien's  body  had 
been  carried  home,  Jeanne  bore  her  sec 
ond  child,  a  stillborn  girl. 

Although  she  suspected  that  Julien's 
death  had  not  been  an  accident,  she 
remained  silent.  The  memories  of  her 
husband's  infidelities  faded  quickly,  leav 
ing  her  at  peace  with  her  recollections 
of  their  early  life  together,  as  it  had  been 
on  Corsica.  Soon  even  these  began  to 
dim,  and  she  turned  all  her  attention  to 
Paul. 

Paul  de  Lamare  did  not  go  to  school 
until  he  was  fifteen.  At  home  he  was 
petted  and  indulged  by  his  mother,  grand 
father,  and  a  maiden  aunt  who  had  come 
to  live  at  The  Poplars  after  the  death 
of  the  baroness.  When  he  was  finally 
sent  off  to  Le  Havre  to  school,  Jeanne 
visited  him  so  frequently  that  the  prin 
cipal  had  to  beg  her  not  to  come  so  often. 

The  third  year  Paul  was  away  from 
home  he  stopped  spending  his  Sundays 
with  his  mother.  When  a  usurer  called 
on  her  to  collect  money  for  the  youth's 
debts,  Jeanne  visited  his  school  and 
learned  that  he  had  not  been  there  for  a 
month.  While  living  with  a  mistress,  he 
had  signed  his  mother's  name  to  letters 
stating  that  he  was  ill. 

After  his  escapade  Paul  was  taken 
home  and  watched.  He  managed  to  es 
cape  from  The  Poplars,  however,  and  two 
days  later  Jeanne  received  a  letter  from 
him  from  London.  It  was  the  first  of 
many  begging  notes  he  was  to  send  her. 
In  addition  to  asking  for  money,  he  an 
nounced  that  the  woman  he  had  known 
in  Le  Havre  was  living  with  him. 

For  over  a  year  Paul  sent  a  series  of 
requests  for  financial  help  which  were 
never  ignored,  even  though  they  meant 
the  mortgaging  of  The  Poplars  and  the 
two  farms  that  went  with  the  estate. 
Anxiety  over  his  grandson  and  his  prop- 


1129 


erty  caused  the  baion's  death  from  apo 
plexy. 

Soon  after  the  baron's  death,  Jeanne's 
aunt  followed  him  to  the  grave.  Jeanne 
would  have  been  alone  then  if  Rosalie, 
who  had  since  been  married  and  wid 
owed,  had  not  returned  to  look  after  her. 
Her  foster  sister  insisted  on  working 
without  pay  and  on  putting  a  much- 
needed  check  on  Jeanne's  expenditures, 
It  was  necessary  to  sell  The  Poplars, 
however,  and  the  two  women  settled 
down  in  a  small  farmhouse. 

Although  Jeanne  was  forced  to  limit 
the  sums  she  sent  Paul,  she  did  not  curb 
her  affection  for  him.  When  he  had 
been  away  from  home  for  seven  years,  she 
wrote  begging  him  to  come  home.  Paul's 
reply  was  that  before  he  would  return  he 
wanted  her  consent  to  marry  his  mistress, 
who  was  living  with  him  in  Paris. 


Jeanne,  who  was  not  without  a  strain 
of  jealousy,  decided  that  she  would  per 
suade  him  to  come  without  the  woman. 

As  quickly  as  possible  she  set  out  for 
Paris.  Although  she  had  written  to  an 
nounce  her  visit,  Paul  did  not  meet  her. 
In  order  to  avoid  his  creditors,  he  had 
moved  without  leaving  a  forwarding  ad 
dress.  His  disconsolate  mother  returned 
to  Normandy. 

Some  months  later  Jeanne  heard  from 
her  son  once  more.  His  wife,  whom  he 
had  at  last  married  without  his  mother's 
blessing,  was  dying,  and  he  entreated 
Jeanne  to  come  for  their  little  daughter. 
This  time  it  was  Rosalie  who  went  to 
Paris.  When  she  came  back  she  had  the 
infant  with  her,  and  she  brought  the 
news  that  Paul  would  follow  her  the 
next  day. 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  THTBAULTS 

Type  of  -work:  Novel 

Author:  Roger  Martin  du  Gard  (1881-1958) 

Type  of  'plot:  Social  chronicle 

Time  of  'plot:   Early  twentieth  century 

Locale:   France 

First  published:    1922-1940 

Principal  characters: 

M.  TEDOBAULT,  tibe  father 

ANTOINE,  his  older  son 

JACQUES,  his  younger  son 

GrsE,  an  orphan  girl  reared  by  the  Thibaults 

MME.  DE  ?ONTANTN,  a  Protestant  woman 

JEROME  DE  FONTANTN,  her  husband 

DANIEL,  her  son 

JENNY,  her  daughter 

MEYNESTREL,  a  socialist  leader 

Critique: 

The  story  of  the  Thibaults  is  a  re 
markable  depiction  of  French  bourgeois 
family  life.  The  length  of  the  completed 
work  is  of  little  importance  when  one 
considers  that  Martin  du  Gard  has 
achieved  a  closely-knit  plot  and  an  ab 
sorbing  story  of  pre-World  War  I  days, 
making  his  novel  a  history  of  a  place,  a 
people,  and  a  whole  society.  For  man 


aging  his  vast  story  within  unified  bounds 
the  author  of  The  World  of  the  Thi- 
baults  richly  merits  the  honor  and  praise 
he  has  received.  In  the  United  States 
the  novel  has  appeared  in  two  volumes, 
The  Thibaults  and  Summer  1914. 

The  Story: 

M.    Thibault  was   furious  when   he 


THE  WORLD  OF  THE  THIBAULTS  by  Roger  Martin  du   Gard.     Translated   by  Stuart  Gii 
misuon  of  the  publithuers.  Tb*  Viking  Press.  Inc.     Copyright,   1939,  by  The  Viking  Press,  Inc. 


Gilbert.     By  per- 


1130 


learned  that  Jacques  had  lied  to  him  and 
had  run  away  with  young  Daniel  de 
Fontanin.  The  Abb6  Binot,  Jacques' 
teacher,  had  even  more  disquieting  news. 
From  a  copybook  which  had  fallen  into 
the  abbess  hands,  it  was  apparent  that 
Jacques,  not  yet  fourteen,  had  formed 
an  unnatural  friendship  with  Daniel. 
What  was  worse,  the  de  Fontanins  were 
Protestants. 

Antoine  Thibault,  already  a  doctor, 
went  to  see  Mme.  de  Fontanin  to  learn 
what  he  could  about  Daniel  and  his 
friendship  with  Jacques.  Antoine  found 
her  a  very  attractive,  sensible  woman, 
who  rejected  Antoine's  hints  of  improper 
relationship  between  the  boys. 

They  questioned  Jenny,  Daniel's 
younger  sister,  who  had  come  down  with 
a  fever.  To  Antoine's  practiced  eye, 
Jenny  was  suffering  from  meningitis. 
When  neither  Antoine  nor  the  other 
doctors  could  help  Jenny,  Mme.  de  Fon 
tanin  called  in  Pastor  Gregory,  her  min 
ister.  He  effected  a  miraculous  cure  of 
the  girl  by  faith  healing. 

Jacques  and  Daniel  got  as  far  as  Mar 
seilles.  Although  Jacques  was  the 
younger,  he  was  the  moving  spirit  in  the 
escapade.  He  had  revolted  against  the 
smug  respectability  of  his  father  and  the 
dull  Thibault  household.  M.  Thibault 
was  such  an  eminent  social  worker  that 
he  had  no  time  to  understand  his  own 
family.  But  the  suspicions  of  the  Thi 
baults  were  unfounded;  the  friendship 
between  Daniel  and  Jacques  was  only  a 
romanticized  schoolboy  crush. 

When  the  runaways  were  returned  by 
the  police,  Daniel  was  scolded  and  for 
given  by  his  mother.  Jacques,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  put  in  a  reformatory 
founded  by  his  father.  There,  Jacques' 
spirit  was  nearly  broken  by  brutal  guards 
and  solitary  confinement.  Only  by  devi 
ous  means  was  Antoine  able  to  get  his 
brother  away  from  his  father's  stern 
discipline.  He  took  a  separate  flat  and 
had  Jacques  live  with  mm,  assuming 
responsibility  for  his  younger  brother's 
upbringing. 


Jerome  de  Fontanin,  Daniel's  father, 
ran  away  with  No6mie,  a  cousin,  and 
Nicole,  No£mie's  daughter,  came  to  live 
with  the  de  Fontanins.  Nicole  was  very 
attractive  and  Daniel  tried  to  seduce  her. 
But  Nicole  had  before  her  the  unhappy 
example  of  her  mother  and  resisted  him. 

Under  Antoine's  care,  Jacques  slowly 
recovered  his  mental  health.  During  the 
summer  vacation  he  was  greatly  attracted 
to  Jenny  de  Fontanin.  Just  as  Jenny 
was  beginning  to  care  for  him  and  to 
overcome  her  aversion  to  physical  con 
tact,  Jacques  disappeared. 

For  three  years  the  Thibaults  thought 
Jacques  was  dead.  Only  Gise,  an  orphan 
girl  reared  by  the  Thibaults,  had  hoped 
that  he  was  still  alive.  One  day  she 
received  from  England  a  box  of  rose 
buds  like  those  she  had  sprinkled  on 
Jacques  just  before  his  disappearance. 
Sure  that  Jacques  was  alive  in  England, 
Gise  went  to  school  in  England,  where 
she  hoped  to  find  him. 

Antoine  followed  a  different  course. 
He  came  by  chance  on  a  Swiss  magazine 
which  carried  a  story  called  Sarellina  or 
Little  Sister.  Antoine  thought  that  he 
could  see  both  the  Thibault  and  de 
Fontainin  families  thinly  disguised  in  the 
story.  Disquieted,  Antoine  engaged  a 
detective  agency  in  Geneva  to  trace  the 
author. 

Antoine's  own  life  was  not  too  happy. 
On  an  emergency  case  one  night  he  met 
Rachel,  an  adventuress.  They  became 
lovers.  Little  by  little  Rachel  told  him 
the  story  of  her  sordid  past,  a  story  which 
strangely  endeared  her  the  more  to 
Antoine. 

She  had  once  been  the  mistress  of  the 
ferocious  Hirst,  a  man  of  fifty,  who  had 
been  having  incestuous  relations  with 
his  daughter,  Clara.  Rachel's  brother 
had  married  Clara  and  they  had  gone 
to  Italy  on  their  honeymoon.  A  few  days 
later  Clara  had  written  to  her  father, 
asking  him  to  join  them.  After  his  ar 
rival,  the  young  husband  learned  the 
true  relationship  between  father  and 
daughter.  To  avoid  a  scandal,  Hirst  had 


1131 


strangled  Clara   and  her  husband  and 
had  thrown  their  bodies  into  a  lake. 

Rachel  said  she  was  through  with 
Hirst.  But  one  day  she  said  she  had  to 
make  a  trip  to  the  Congo  to  see  about 
some  investments.  When  Antoine  saw 
through  the  ruse,  she  admitted  she  was 
going  back  to  Hirst.  He  had  sent  for 
her.  Antoine  sadly  accompanied  Rachel 
to  Le  Havre  and  helped  her  embark. 

In  Geneva,  Jacques  had  become  an 
international  socialist  and  an  influential 
writer,  according  to  a  report  from  the 
detective  agency.  Then  M.  Thibault  de 
veloped  a  serious  illness.  Fearing  that 
his  father  would  die,  Antoine  went  to 
Geneva  and  asked  Jacques  to  return,  but 
M.  Thibault  died  without  recognizing 
his  errant  son.  At  the  funeral  Gise  saw 
Jacques  again  and  realized  that  she  still 
loved  him.  But  Jacques  had  lost  all  his 
affection  for  her. 

Jenny  was  still  afraid  of  Jacques,  and 
in  her  frigidity  she  had  even  come  to 
hate  him.  Daniel  was  busy  as  a  success 
ful  artist.  Feeling  no  ties  in  Paris, 
Jacques  returned  to  Geneva. 

He  worked  there  during  that  fateful 
summer  of  1914.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Meynestrel,  a  group  of  socialists  were 
busy  uniting  the  workers  of  England, 
France,  and  Germany  in  an  effort  to  stop 
the  impending  war  by  paralyzing  strikes. 
Jacques  was  frequently  sent  on  secret 
missions.  One  such  trip  was  to  Paris 
just  before  general  mobilization  was  de 
creed. 

By  chance  Jacques  saw  Jenny  again. 
The  new  Jacques,  mature  and  valuable 
to  the  pacifist  movement,  soon  converted 
Jenny  to  his  views.  They  finally  fell  in 
love. 

Mme.  de  Fontanin's  husband  had  died 
in  Vienna,  where  he  was  suspected  of 
embezzlement.  Thinking  to  clear  his 


name,  she  went  to  Austria  in  spite  of 
the  imminence  of  war.  While  she  was 
gone,  Jacques  became  a  frequent  visitor 
to  the  de  Fontanin  flat.  When  Mme.  de 
Fontanin  returned  early  one  morning, 
she  was  shocked  to  find  Jacques  and 
Jenny  sleeping  together. 

Jenny  planned  to  leave  for  Geneva 
with  Jacques.  At  the  last  moment,  how 
ever,  she  decided  to  remain  at  home. 
Jacques  was  free  for  his  humanitarian 
mission.  He  and  Meynestrel  had  their 
own  plan  for  ending  the  war. 

Jacques  took  off  from  Switzerland  in 
a  light  plane  piloted  by  Meynestrel.  He 
had  with  him  several  million  pamphlets 
which  called  on  both  Germans  and 
French  to  lay  down  their  arms.  But  the 
plane  went  into  a  dive  over  the  French 
lines  and  Meynestrel  was  burned  to 
death.  Jacques,  severely  wounded,  was 
captured  by  the  French  as  a  spy.  While 
he  was  being  carried  to  headquarters  on 
a  stretcher,  one  of  the  orderlies  shot  him 
in  the  temple. 

Gassed  severely  during  the  war,  An 
toine  realized  that  his  recovery  was  im 
possible.  On  leave,  he  visited  his  old 
country  home  near  Paris,  where  he  found 
Mme.  de  Fontanin  a  competent  hospital 
administrator  and  Nicole  a  good  nurse. 
Jenny  was  happy,  bringing  up  Jean- 
Paul,  her  son  and  Jacques'.  Daniel  had 
come  back  from  the  front  a  changed 
man,  for  a  shell  splinter  had  unsexed 
him.  Now  he  spent  his  time  looking 
after  Jean-Paul  and  helping  the  nurses. 

Back  at  the  hospital  in  southern 
France,  Antoine  received  a  necklace 
from  Rachel,  who  had  died  of  yellow 
fever  in  Africa.  He  tried  to  keep  notes 
on  the  deteriorating  condition  of  his 
lungs.  He  lived  until  November  18, 
1918,  but  he  never  knew  that  the  Armi 
stice  had  been  signed  before  his  death. 


1132 


THE  WORLD'S  ILLUSION 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   Jacob  Wassermann  (1873-1934) 

Type  of  plot:   Social  criticism 

Time  of  plot:   Prior  to  World  War  I 

Locale:    Europe 

First  published:    1919 

Principal  characters: 

CHRISTIAN  WABQSTSCHAFFE,  son  of  a  wealthy  German  capitalist 

BBRNABD  CRAMMON,  Wahnschaffe's  aristocratic  friend 

EVA  SOREI,,  a  dancer 

IVAN  BECKER,  a  Russian  revolutionist 

AMADBUS  Voss,  Wahnschaffe's  boyhood  friend 

KAREN  ENGELSCHALL,  a  prostitute  befriended  by  Wahnschaffe 

Critique: 

The  World's  Illusion  is  a  representa 
tion  by  the  German  novelist,  Jacob  Was 
sermann,  of  the  dual  nature  of  European 
society  prior  to  the  first  World  War. 
The  first  book  of  the  novel  deals  with 
brilliant,  upper-class  life  in  European 
society,  of  which  the  protagonist  of  the 
novel  is  an  example.  The  second  book 
deals  with  the  same  protagonist,  who  left 
the  vanity  and  culture  of  his  world  for 
the  horrors  of  life  among  the  proletariat 
in  the  worst  of  European  slums.  Thus 
the  author  was  able  to  show  the  decay 
of  European  society  on  its  highest  and 
lowest  levels. 


The  Story: 

Christian  Wahnschaffe  was  an  un 
usual  person,  even  as  a  child.  In  boy 
hood  he  was  without  fear.  He  would 
harry  an  entire  pack  of  mastiffs  belonging 
to  his  father,  ride  the  wildest  horses,  and 
take  risks  in  huntings;  but  he  always 
came  away  without  harm,  as  if  his  life 
were  charmed.  As  young  Wahnschaffe 
grew  older  he  lost  none  of  his  daring. 
Because  his  father  was  a  very  rich  man, 
Christian  lived  in  the  best  European 
society.  One  of  his  close  friends  was 
Bernard  Crammon,  a  member  of  the 
Austrian  aristocracy,  who  traveled  with 
him  everywhere. 

During  a  stay  in  Paris,  Crammon  saw 
a  young  dancer,  Eva  Sorel,  in  an  obscure 


theater.  The  dancer  so  impressed  Cram 
mon  that  he  introduced  her  into  his 
circle  of  leisure-class  intellectuals,  where 
she  met  Christian  Wahnschaffe.  Or 
phaned  at  an  early  age,  the  first  things 
that  Eva  could  remember  were  con 
nected  with  her  training  as  a  tight-rope 
walker  with  a  troupe  of  traveling  play 
ers.  One  day  a  crippled  Spaniard  bought 
the  little  girl's  liberty  from  the  gipsies  in 
order  to  train  her  as  a  dancer,  for  he 
recognized  the  possibilities  of  her  beauty 
and  grace.  When  she  was  eighteen  the 
Spaniard  sent  her  to  Paris  with  his  sister 
to  make  her  debut.  Shortly  afterward 
she  had  met  Bernard  Crammon. 

Christian  Wahnschaffe  fell  desperately 
in  love  with  Eva  Sorel,  but  she  refused 
him  as  a  lover.  Although  she  was  charmed 
by  his  appearance  and  his  personality, 
she  remained  aloof,  for  she  saw  in  him 
a  man  who  had  not  yet  learned  to  ap 
preciate  the  aesthetic  and  intellectual  life 
of  his  time. 

Christian  had  a  rival  for  the  love  of 
Eva  Sorel,  a  young  English  nobleman, 
Denis  Lay.  Lay  was  as  handsome  as 
Christian  and  more  talented  in  the  world 
of  the  intellect;  he  was  also  Christian's 
equal  in  the  world  of  physical  accom 
plishments.  Lay  appealed  far  more  to 
Eva  than  did  the  German.  However, 
there  was  something  about  Christian 
that  mysteriously  fascinated  the  girl. 


THE  WORLD'S  ILLUSION  by  Jacob  Wassermann.  Translated  by  Ludwig  Lewisohn.  By  permission,  of  the 
publishers.,  Harcpurt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright,  1920,  by  Harcourt,  Brace  &  Co.,  Inc.  Renewed,  1948, 
by  Ludwig  Lewisohn. 


1133 


Denis  Lay's  rivalry  lasted  but  a  few 
months.  One  night  while  he  entertained 
Eva  Sorel,  Crammon,  Christian,  and  a 
large  company  aboard  his  yacht  in  the 
Thames,  die  passengers  saw  a  crowd  of 
striking  dock  workers  gathered  on  the 
banks  of  the  river.  Lay  dared  Christian 
to  compete  with  him  in  a  swimming  race 
to  the  shore  to  investigate  the  crowd. 
When  the  Englishman  leaped  overboard 
and  started  for  the  shore,  strong  under 
currents  soon  dragged  him  under,  despite 
Christian's  efforts  to  save  him.  The  next 
morning  his  body  was  recovered.  The 
incident  had  a  profound  effect  on  Chris 
tian. 

Some  time  later,  in  Paris,  Christian 
met  a  refugee  Russian  revolutionary,  Ivan 
Becker.  Becker  tried  to  make  Christian 
understand  something  of  the  misery 
everywhere  in  Europe  and  the  exploita 
tion  of  the  poor  by  the  classes  above 
them.  When  Christian  finally  asked 
Becker  what  he  should  do,  the  Russian 
replied  that  everyone  in  the  upper  classes 
asked  the  same  question  when  con 
fronted  by  problems  of  inequality  and 
poverty.  But,  continued  Becker,  it  was 
really  a  question  of  what  the  poor  man 
was  to  do. 

One  night  Becker  took  Christian  to 
see  the  wife  and  four  children  of  a  man 
who  had  attempted  to  assassinate  the 
elder  WahnschafTe.  Disturbed  by  the 
degrading  poverty  of  the  household, 
Christian  gave  them  a  large  sum  of 
money.  Later  he  learned  that  it  was 
almost  the  worst  thing  he  could  have 
done,  for  the  woman  wasted  the  gold 
in  foolish  purchases  and  loans  to  people 
who  had  no  intentions  of  repaying  her. 

Christian  began  to  be  bored  with  the 
life  of  leisure  and  luxury  he  had  led.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  he  should  do  some 
thing  better  with  his  life.  He  lost  interest 
in  his  gem  collection  and  when  he  dis 
covered  that  Eva  Sorel  desired  his  world- 
famous  diamond,  the  Ignifer,  he  sent  it 
to  her. 

Tbe  dancer,  meanwhile,  had  achieved 
great  success.  In  Petrograd  the  Grand 


Duke  Cyril,  a  man  of  great  political  in 
fluence  under  the  tsar,  offered  to  lay 
everything  he  could  command  at  her 
feet.  She  refused  him  and,  still  fasci 
nated  by  the  memory  of  Christian,  re 
turned  to  Western  Europe.  During  a 
holiday  she  sent  for  Christian  and  took 
him  as  her  lover.  The  sweetness  of  the 
affair  was  blunted,  however,  by  Chris 
tian's  new  liberalism.  He  had  become 
friendly  with  Amadeus  Voss,  a  young 
man  who  once  had  studied  for  the 
priesthood,  and  consequently  had  become 
more  than  ever  convinced  of  the  futility 
of  his  life.  One  day  Eva  was  injured 
when  a  large  stone,  thrown  by  a  drunken 
man  at  a  fair,  struck  her  feet.  At  her 
home,  while  Christian  was  bathing  and 
binding  her  swollen  feet,  he  felt  that 
he  was  kneeling  to  her  spiritually  as 
well  as  physically.  His  whole  mind  re 
belled  against  this  discovery,  and  he  left 
the  dancer  precipitately. 

A  few  weeks  later,  with  Crammon, 
Christian  went  to  Hamburg  to  see  a 
friend  off  to  America.  After  the  ship  had 
sailed,  Christian  and  his  friend  wandered 
about  the  waterfront.  Hearing  screams 
in  a  tavern,  they  entered.  There  they 
found  a  man  mistreating  a  woman  whom 
they  rescued  and  took  to  an  inn.  The 
following  morning  Christian  returned 
and  told  her  that  he  would  take  care  of 
her.  When  she  said  that  she  was  Karen 
Engelschall,  a  prostitute,  Christian  as 
sured  her  that  he  only  meant  to  take 
care  of  her  as  a  human  being.  He  had 
already  decided  to  go  to  Berlin  to  study 
medicine  and  she  readily  agreed  to  go 
there  too,  since  her  mother  and  brother 
were  living  in  that  city. 

Christian's  father  and  brother  had 
become  much  richer,  and  both  held  posts 
in  the  German  diplomatic  service.  The 
elder  Wahnschaffe  wished  Christian  to 
take  charge  of  his  business,  but  Christian 
refused.  Deciding  to  become  a  poor 
man  and  to  help  humanity,  he  also  sold 
the  land  he  had  inherited  from  his 
mother's  family.  That  was  the  reason  foi 
his  decision  to  study  medicine.  His 


1134 


friends  and  his  family  thought  him  mad, 
and  his  father  threatened  to  have  him 
placed  in  protective  custody  in  a  sana 
torium.  Even  the  people  Christian  had 
taken  into  his  care,  Amadeus  Voss  and 
Karen  Engelschall,  thought  he  was  mad. 
They  had  previously  had  visions  of  great 
wealth  to  be  gained  through  him. 

Karen  died  within  a  few  months  of 
bone  tuberculosis.  By  that  time  Christian 
had  returned  all  of  his  fortune  to  his 
family  and  was  almost  penniless.  Then 
Karen's  brother  committed  a  murder  and 
tried  to  implicate  Christian.  With  pa 
tience  Christian  played  upon  the  nerves 
of  the  brother  until  he  admitted  having 
committed  the  crime,  exonerating  Chris 


tian.  Shortly  afterward  the  elder  Wahn- 
schaffe  appeared  at  the  Berlin  tenement 
where  his  son  was  living  and  attempted 
to  persuade  him  to  return  to  his  rightful 
place  in  society  before  the  reputation  of 
the  entire  Wahnschaffe  family  was  ut 
terly  ruined.  Christian  refused,  but  he 
agreed  to  disappear  entirely.  Nothing 
more  was  heard  of  him.  Sometimes 
rumors  sifted  back  to  his  former  friends 
and  his  family  that  he  had  been  seen 
among  the  poorest  people  in  London, 
New  York,  or  some  continental  city,  and 
that  he  was  doing  his  best  to  make 
life  easier  for  the  unfortunates  of  this 
world, 


THE  WRECK  OF  THE  GROSVENOR 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:   W.  Clark  Russell  (1844-1911) 

Type  of  plot:   Adventure  romance 

Time  of  ^lot:    Nineteenth  century 

Locale:    The  Atlantic  Ocean 

First  <puUished;    1877 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  ROYLE,  second  mate  of  the  Grosvenor 

MR.  COXON,  the  captain 

MR.  DUCKLING,  the  first  mate 

MARY  ROBERTSON,  a  survivor  from  a  shipwreck 


Critique: 

This  novel,  quite  apart  from  its  love 
story,  is  in  the  true  romantic  tradition. 
The  characterization  is  credible,  and  the 
action  well-motivated.  In  addition,  the 
author  underlines  a  period  in  maritime 
history  with  his  arguments  for  better 
treatment  of  the  sailor. 

The  Story: 

As  the  Grosvenor  was  preparing  to 
leave  its  British  port,  the  wind  died  and 
the  ship  lay  anchored  in  the  Downs. 
The  crew  aboard  grew  more  and  more 
discontented,  until  at  last  the  cook 
stopped  Mr.  Royle,  the  second  mate,  and 
showed  him  a  biscuit  from  the  ship's 
store.  This  biscuit,  as  well  as  the  other 
food  served  to  the  crew,  was  crawling 
with  vermin  and  inedible.  When  Mr. 


Royle  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention 
of  Captain  Coxon,  that  officer  was  in 
dignant;  the  food  was  good  enough  for 
sailors  who,  he  insisted,  had  eaten  much 
worse  food.  Furthermore,  he  did  not 
want  Mr.  Royle  to  fraternize  with  the 
crew.  It  was  apparent,  however,  that 
the  crew  was  likely  to  mutiny  once  the 
ship  was  on  the  high  seas,  and  so  the 
captain  and  Mr.  Duckling,  the  first  mate, 
went  ashore  and  came  back  with  an  en 
tirely  new  crew. 

After  the  ship  had  been  a  few  days 
at  sea,  the  new  crew  approached  Mr. 
Royle  to  complain  of  the  rations.  The 
captain  had  the  food  brought  to  his 
table,  where  he  tasted  it  without  flinch 
ing,  but  he  hinted  that  he  would  put  in 
at  some  convenient  port  and  take  aboard 


1135 


new  stores.  When  he  made  no  attempt 
to  change  the  ship's*  course,  however,  the 
crew  became  even  more  resentful.  Mr. 
Royle  tried  to  remain  neutral.  If  he  so 
much  as  spolce  to  any  of  the  crew,  the 
captain  would  consider  him  mutinous. 
If  he  sided  with  the  captain  and  Mr. 
Duckling,  the  crew,  in  the  event  of  a 
mutiny,  would  probably  kill  him.  But 
his  anger  mounted  and  his  disgust 
reached  a  high  point  when  the  captain 
refused  to  rescue  survivors  from  a  ship 
wrecked  vessel. 

Some  time  later  another  wrecked  ves 
sel  was  sighted,  and  the  crew  insisted  that 
Mr.  Royle  be  permitted  to  bring  the 
survivors  aboard.  The  survivors  were 
Mr.  Robertson,  owner  of  a  shipping  firm, 
his  daughter  Mary,  and  a  man  who  had 
gone  mad  from  the  terrifying  experience 
of  shipwreck  at  sea.  Mr.  Royle  did 
everything  he  could  for  the  Robertsons; 
the  third  survivor  died.  For  his  part  in 
the  rescue  Mr.  Royle  was  confined  to 
his  cabin  and  put  in  irons. 

One  night  the  crew  mutinied.  The 
captain  and  Mr.  Duckling  were  killed, 
and  Mr.  Royle  was  set  free.  He  promised 
to  steer  as  the  crew  wished,  if  they  in 
turn  would  promise  not  to  kill  the  stew 
ard,  whom  they  especially  hated  because 
he  was  in  charge  of  ship  stores. 

It  was  the  plan  of  the  mutineers  to 
anchor  off  the  coast  of  the  United  States, 
and  then,  after  they  had  reached  shore, 
to  pass  themselves  off  as  shipwrecked 
sailors.  But  after  a  while  Mr.  Royle  dis 
covered  that  the  real  intention  was  to 
scuttle  the  ship  and  leave  him  and  the 
Robertsons  aboard  to  die.  With  the  help 
of  the  loyal  boatswain,  he  hoped  to  foil 
the  scuttling  attempt. 

Mr.  Royle,  who  had  become  very 
fond  of  Mary  Robertson,  told  her  frankly 
of  the  situation.  They  decided  to  say 
nothing  to  her  father,  who  was  losing 
his  memory.  Mr.  Royle  planned  to  steer 
the  ship  close  to  Bermuda  instead  of 
the  Florida  coast.  Since  none  of  the  crew 
knew  anything  about  navigation,  he  was 
able  to  set  his  own  course.  The 


swain  planned  to  hide  himself  below 
decks  and  kill  the  man  who  went  below 
to  bore  the  holes  in  the  ship's  bottom. 

One  dark  night  Mr.  Royle  threw  a  box 
of  nails  over  the  rail  and  everyone 
thought  that  the  boatswain  had  fallen 
overboard.  In  reality,  he  had  gone  into 
hiding.  When  the  time  for  the  scuttling 
drew  near,  Stevens,  the  leader  of  the 
mutineers,  went  down  to  do  the  work, 
instead  of  another  member  of  the  crew. 
Mr.  Royle  was  frightened,  for  if  Stevens 
were  killed  the  crew  would  soon  discover 
his  death.  But  the  leader  came  back 
and  ordered  the  lowered  longboat  to  pull 
out.  As  the  crew  rowed  away  from  the 
ship,  the  boatswain  appeared  to  tell  that 
he  had  merely  plugged  in  the  holes  as 
fast  as  Stevens  bored  them.  When  the 
crew  in  the  longboat  saw  what  had  oc 
curred,  they  attempted  to  board  the  ves 
sel.  All,  except  one,  were  unsuccessful. 
That  sailor  was  put  to  work. 

When  a  storm  arose,  those  on  board 
were  unable  to  handle  the  ship.  The 
ship  began  to  leak  and  Mr.  Royle  realized 
that  the  water  could  not  be  pumped  out. 
During  the  storm  Mr.  Robertson  died. 
A  Russian  steamer  passed  by,  and  re 
fused  to  save  them.  The  mutineer  lost 
his  mind  and  died.  Then  the  longboat, 
pushed  toward  them  by  the  storm,  col 
lided  with  the  ship.  Mr.  Royle  decided 
to  abandon  the  Grosvenor.  Before  they 
left  the  sinking  ship  he  and  Mary  Robert 
son  pledged  their  love  to  each  other. 

Mr.  Royle,  Mary,  the  boatswain,  and 
the  steward  pushed  off  in  the  longboat. 
At  last  they  sighted  a  steamer  which 
answered  their  signals.  After  Mr.  Royle 
had  gotten  Mary  Robertson  aboard,  he 
collapsed.  When  he  awoke,  he  found 
himself  in  bed,  attended  by  a  Scottish 
doctor.  Mary  came  in  with  the  boat 
swain.  They  told  him  the  steward  had 
gone  completely  mad. 

Mary  reminded  Mr.  Royle  of  his 
promise  of  marriage,  but  he  said  that  he 
could  not  marry  her  before  he  had  made 
his  fortune.  She  insisted  that  he  would 
not  be  a  poor  man  if  he  were  married  to 


1136 


her.  She  said  that  she  loved  him  for 
himself,  and  she  knew  that  he  loved  her 
for  herself,  not  for  her  money.  Mr.  Royle 
finally  agreed.  They  were  married,  and 


Mary  provided  handsomely  for  both  the 
boatswain  and  the  steward  for  the  re- 
mainder  of  their  lives. 


WITHERING  HEIGHTS 

Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Emily  Bronte  (1818-1848) 

Type  of  ^lot:  Impressionistic  romance 

Time  of 'plot:  1750-1802 

Locale:  The  moors  of  northern  England 

First  published:  1847 

Principal  characters: 

MR.  EARNSHAW,  owner  of  Wuthering  Heights 

CATHERINE,  his  daughter 

HINDLEY,  his  son 

HEATHCLIFF,  a  waif 

MR.  LINTON,  proprietor  of  Thrushcross  Grange 

MRS.  LINTON,  his  wife 

ISABELLA,  their  daughter 

EDGAR,  their  son 

FRANCES  EARNSHAW,  Hindley's  wife 

HARETON  EARNSHAW,  Frances'  and  Hindley's  son 

CATHERINE  LINTON,  Catherine  Earnshaw's  and  Edgar  Linron's  daughter 

LINTON  HEATHCLIFF,  Isabella  Linton's  and  HeathclifFs  son 

ELLEN  DEAN,  housekeeper  at  Thrushcross  Grange 

MR.  LOCKWOOD,  tenant  at  Thrushcross  Grange  and  narrator  of  the  story 


Critique: 

Published  under  the  pseudonym  of 
Ellis  Bell,  Wuthering  Heights  was  con 
sidered  such  a  risk  by  its  publishers  that 
Emily  Bronte  had  to  defray  the  cost 
of  publication  until  a  sufficient  number 
of  copies  had  been  sold.  The  combina 
tion  of  lurid  and  violent  scenes  in  this 
novel  must  have  been  somewhat  shock 
ing  to  mid-nineteenth-century  taste.  De 
spite  its  exaggerated  touches,  Wuthering 
Heights  is  an  intriguing  tale  of  revenge, 
and  the  main  figures  exist  in  a  more  than 
life-size  vitality  of  their  own  consuming 
passions.  For  her  novel  Emily  Bronte 
chose  a  suitable  title.  The  word 
wuthering  is  a  provincial  adjective  used 
to  describe  the  atmospheric  tumult  of 
stormy  weather. 

The  Story: 

In  1801  Mr.  Lockwood  became  a 
tenant  at  Thrushcross  Grange,  an  old 
farm  owned  by  Mr.  Heathcliff  of 


Wuthering  Heights.  In  the  early  days 
of  his  tenancy  he  made  two  calls  on  his 
landlord.  On  his  first  visit  he  met 
Heathcliff,  an  abrupt,  unsocial  man,  sur 
rounded  by  a  pack  of  snarling,  barking 
dogs.  When  he  went  to  Wuthering 
Heights  a  second  time,  he  met  the  other 
members  of  that  strange  household;  a 
rude,  unkempt  but  handsome  young  man 
named  Hareton  Earnshaw  and  a  pretty 
young  woman  who  was  the  widow  of 
HeathclifFs  son. 

During  his  visit  snow  began  to  fall, 
covering  the  moor  paths  and  making 
travel  impossible  for  a  stranger  in  that 
bleak  countryside.  Heathcliff  refused  to 
let  one  of  the  servants  go  with  him  as 
a  guide,  but  said  that  if  he  stayed  the 
night  he  could  share  Hareton's  bed  or 
that  of  Joseph,  a  sour,  canting  old  servant. 
When  Mr.  Lockwood  tried  to  borrow 
Joseph's  lantern  for  the  homeward 
journey,  the  old  fellow  set  the  dogs  on 


1137 


him,  to  the  amusement  of  Hareton  and 
Heathclifi.  The  visitor  was  finally 
rescued  by  Zillah,  the  cook,  who  hid  him 
in  an  unused  chamber  of  the  house. 

That  night  Mr.  Lockwood  had  a 
strange  dream.  Thinking  that  a  branch 
was  rattling  against  the  window,  he 
broke  the  glass  in  his  attempt  to  unhook 
the  casement.  As  he  reached  out  to 
break  off  the  fir  branch  outside,  his 
fingers  closed  on  a  small  ice-cold  hand 
and  a  weeping  voice  begged  to  be  let 
in.  The  unseen  presence,  who  said  that 
her  name  was  Catherine  Linton,  tried  to 
force  a  way  through  the  broken  case 
ment,  and  Mr.  Lockwood  screamed. 

HeathclijQF  appeared  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement  and  savagely  ordered 
Mr.  Lockwood  out  of  the  room.  Then  he 
threw  himself  upon  the  bed  by  the 
shattered  pane  and  begged  the  spirit 
to  come  in  out  of  the  dark  and  the 
storm.  But  the  voice  was  heard  no  more 
— only  the  hiss  of  swirling  snow  and  the 
wailing  of  a  cold  wind  that  blew  out 
the  smoking  candle. 

Ellen  Dean  satisfied  part  of  Mr.  Lock- 
wood's  curiosity  about  the  happenings 
of  that  night  and  the  strange  household 
at  Wuthering  Heights.  She  was  the 
housekeeper  at  Thrushcross  Grange,  but 
she  had  lived  at  Wuthering  Heights  dur 
ing  her  childhood. 

Her  story  of  the  Earnshaws,  Lintons, 
and  Heathcliffs  began  years  before, 
when  old  Mr.  Earnshaw  was  living  at 
Wuthering  Heights  with  his  wife  and 
two  children,  Hindley  and  Catherine. 
Once  on  a  trip  to  Liverpool  Mr.  Eam- 
shaw  had  found  a  starving  and  homeless 
orphan,  a  ragged,  dirty,  urchin,  dark 
as  a  gipsy,  whom  he  brought  back  with 
him  to  Wuthering  Heights  and  christened 
HeathclifF — a  name  which  was  to  serve 
the  fourteen-year-old  boy  as  both  a  given 
and  a  surname.  Gradually  the  orphan 
began  to  usurp  the  affections  of  Mr. 
Earnshaw,  whose  health  was  failing. 
Wuthering  Heights  became  a  bedlam  of 
petty  jealousies;  Hindley  was  jealous  of 
both  HeathclifT  and  Catherine;  old 


Joseph,  the  servant,  augmented  the 
bickering;  and  Catherine  was  much  too 
fond  of  HeathclifT.  At  last  Hindley  was 
sent  away  to  school.  A  short  time  later 
Mr.  Earnshaw  died. 

When  Hindley  Earnshaw  returned 
home  for  his  father's  funeral,  he  brought 
a  wife  with  him.  As  the  new  master 
of  Wuthering  Heights,  he  revenged  him 
self  on  HeathclifT  by  treating  him  as  a 
servant.  Catherine  became  a  wild  and 
undisciplined  hoyden  who  still  continued 
her  affection  for  Heathcliff. 

One  night  Catherine  and  HeathclifT 
tramped  over  the  moors  to  Thrushcross 
Grange,  where  they  spied  on  their  neigh 
bors,  the  Lintons.  Catherine,  attacked 
by  a  watchdog,  was  taken  into  the  house 
and  stayed  there  as  a  guest  for  five  weeks 
until  she  was  able  to  walk  again.  Thus 
she  became  intimate  with  the  pleasant 
family  of  Thrushcross  Grange — Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Linton,  and  their  two  children, 
Edgar  and  Isabella.  Afterward  the  Lin 
tons  visited  frequently  at  Wuthering 
Heights.  The  combination  of  ill-treat 
ment  on  the  part  of  Hindley  and  ar 
rogance  on  the  part  of  Edgar  and  Isabella 
made  HeathclirT  jealous  and  ill-tempered. 
He  vowed  revenge  on  Hindley  Earnshaw, 
whom  he  hated  with  all  the  sullen  fury 
of  his  savage  nature. 

The  next  summer  Hindley's  con 
sumptive  wife,  Frances,  gave  birth  to  a 
son,  Hareton  Earnshaw,  and  a  short 
time  later  she  died.  In  his  grief  Hindley 
became  desperate,  ferocious,  and  de 
generate.  In  the  meantime,  Catherine 
Earnshaw  and  Edgar  Linton  had  become 
sweethearts.  The  girl  confided  to  Ellen 
Dean  that  she  really  loved  Heathcliff, 
but  she  felt  it  would  be  degrading  for 
her  to  marry  the  penniless  orphan.  Heath 
clifT,  who  overheard  this  conversation,  dis 
appeared  the  same  night,  not  to  return 
for  many  years.  Edgar  and  Catherine 
soon  married,  taking  up  their  abode  at 
Thrushcross  Grange  with  Ellen  Dean  as 
their  housekeeper.  There  the  pair  lived 
happily  until  HeathclifFs  return  caused 
trouble  between  them.  When  he  re- 


1138 


turned  to  the  moors,  Heathcliff,  greatly 
improved  in  manners  and  appearance, 
accepted  Hindley's  invitation  to  live  at 
Wuthering  Heights — an  invitation  of 
fered  by  Hindley  because  he  found  in 
Heathcliff  a  boon  companion  at  cards 
and  drink,  and  he  hoped  to  recoup  his 
own  dwindling  fortune  from  HeathclifFs 
pockets. 

Isabella  Linton  began  to  show  a 
sudden,  irresistible  attraction  to  Heath- 
cliff,  much  to  the  dismay  of  Edgar  and 
Catherine.  One  night  Edgar  and  Heath- 
cliff  came  to  blows.  Soon  afterward 
Heathcliff  eloped  with  Isabella,  obviously 
marrying  her  only  to  avenge  himself  and 
provoke  Edgar.  Catherine,  an  expectant 
mother,  underwent  a  serious  attack  of 
fever.  When  Isabella  and  her  husband 
returned  to  Wuthering  Heights,  Edgar 
refused  to  recognize  his  sister  and  forbade 
Heathcliff  to  enter  his  house.  Despite 
this  restriction,  Heathcliff  managed  a 
final  tender  interview  with  Catherine. 
Partly  as  a  result  of  this  meeting,  her 
child,  named  Catherine  Linton,  was  born 
prematurely.  The  mother  died  a  few 
hours  later. 

Isabella,  in  the  meantime,  had  found 
life  with  Heathcliff  unbearable.  Leaving 
him,  she  went  to  London,  where  a  few 
months  later  her  child,  Linton,  was  born. 
With  the  death  of  Hindley,  Heathcliff 
the  guest  became  the  master  of 
Wuthering  Heights,  for  Hindley  had 
mortgaged  everything  to  him.  Hareton, 
the  natural  heir,  was  reduced  to  de 
pendency  on  his  father's  enemy. 

Twelve  years  after  leaving  Heathcliff, 
Isabella  died  and  her  brother  took  the 
sickly  child  to  live  at  Thrushcross  Grange. 
Heathcliff  soon  heard  of  the  child's  ar 
rival  and  demanded  that  Linton  be  sent 
to  Wuthering  Heights  to  live  with  his 
father.  Young  Catherine  once  visited 
Wuthering  Heights  and  met  her  cousin 
Linton.  Her  father  had  tried  to  keep  her 
in  ignorance  about  the  tenants  of  the 
place,  for  Heathcliff  had  been  at  pains 


to  let  it  be  known  that  he  wished  the 
two  children,  Cathy  and  Linton,  to  be 
married.  And  Heathcliff  had  his  way. 
About  the  time  that  Edgar  Linton  be 
came  seriously  ill,  Heathcliff  persuaded 
Cathy  to  visit  her  little  cousin,  who 
was  also  in  extremely  bad  health.  Cathy, 
on  her  arrival,  was  imprisoned  for  five 
days  at  Wuthering  Heights  and  forced 
to  marry  her  sickly  cousin  Linton  before 
she  was  allowed  to  go  home  to  see  her 
father.  Although  she  was  able  to  re 
turn  to  Thrushcross  Grange  before  her 
father's  death,  there  was  not  enough  time 
for  Edgar  Linton  to  alter  his  will.  Thus 
his  land  and  fortune  went  indirectly  to 
Heathcliff.  Weak,  sickly  Linton  Heath- 
cliff  died  soon  after,  leaving  Cathy  a 
widow  and  dependent  on  Heathcliff. 

Mr.  Lockwood  went  back  to  London 
in  the  spring  without  seeing  Wuthering 
Heights  or  its  people  again.  Traveling 
in  the  region  the  next  autumn,  he  had 
a  fancy  to  revisit  Wuthering  Heights. 
He  found  Catherine  and  Hareton  now 
in  possession.  From  Ellen  Dean  he  heard 
die  story  of  HeathclifFs  death  three 
months  before.  He  had  died  after  four 
days  of  deliberate  starvation,  a  broken 
man  disturbed  by  memories  of  the  beauti 
ful  young  Catherine  Earnshaw.  His 
death  freed  Catherine  Heathcliff  and 
Hareton  from  his  tyranny.  Catherine 
was  now  teaching  the  ignorant  boy  to 
read  and  to  improve  his  rude  manners. 

Mr.  Lockwood  went  to  see  Heath- 
cliff's  grave.  It  was  on  the  other  side  of 
Catherine  Earnshaw  from  her  husband, 
They  lay  under  their  three  headstones; 
Catherine's  in  the  middle  weather-dis 
colored  and  half-buried,  Edgar's  partly 
moss-grown,  HeathclifFs  still  bare.  In  the 
surrounding  countryside  there  was  a 
legend  that  these  people  slept  unquietly 
after  their  stormy,  passionate  lives.  Shep 
herds  and  travelers  at  night  claimed  that 
they  had  seen  Catherine  and  Heathcliff 
roaming  the  dark  moors  as  they  had  done 
so  many  years  before. 


1139 


THE  YEARLING 


Type  of  work:  Novel 

Author:  Marjorie  Kinnan  Rawlings  (1896-1953) 

Type  of  plot:  Regional  romance 

Time  of  'plot:   Late  nineteenth  century 

Locale:  The  Florida  scrub  country 

First  published:    1938 

Principal  characters: 
JOBY  BAXTER,  a  young 
PENNY  BAXTER,  his 


rboy 
ather 


ORA  BAXTER,  his  mother 

FODDER-WING  FORRESTER,  Jody's  crippled  friend 

OLIVER  HUTTO,  Penny's  friend 

GRANDMA  HUTTO,  his  mother 

TWINK  WEATHERBY,  Oliver's  sweetheart 


Critique: 

Marjorie  Kinnan  Rawling's  novel,  The 
Yearling,  deals  with  one  year  in  the  life 
of  a  twelve-year-old  boy,  the  year  in 
which  he  passed  from  adolescence  into 
young  manhood.  As  the  author  has 
pointed  out,  the  book  is  a  description 
of  childhood — its  intense  sorrows  and 
transient  joys.  The  boot  also  introduces 
the  reader  to  a  way  of  life  which  is  new 
and  strange.  Because  of  the  author's 
sympathy  and  understanding,  her  pleas 
ant  interest  in  nature  and  wild  life,  her 
deep  knowledge  of  human  nature,  read 
ing  The  Yearling  becomes  a  highly  per 
sonal  experience. 

The   Story: 

The  Baxter  family  consisted  of  Penny 
Baxter,  his  plump  wife  Ora,  and  the 
boy  Jody.  They  lived  in  a  simple  cabin 
in  the  Florida  scrub,  where  patient,  hard 
working  Penny  eked  out  a  meager  living 
by  farming  and  hunting. 

Young  Jody  still  saw  life  through  the 
eyes  of  a  child  and  found  a  boy's  pleasure 
in  building  a  flutter  mill  at  the  spring 
when  he  should  have  been  hoeing  the 
garden  patch. 

One  spring  morning  the  family  dis 
covered  that  Betsy,  their  black  brood 
sow,  had  been  killed  by  a  bear.  Penny 
recognized  the  tracks  as  those  of  Old 
Slewfoot,  a  giant  black  bear  with  one 


toe  missing.  Determined  to  be  rid  of 
this  offender  he  cornered  the  animal  in 
the  scrub,  but  his  old  gun  would  not  fire 
and  the  bear  escaped. 

Unable  to  afford  a  new  gun,  Penny 
traded  a  worthless  feist  to  his  neighbors, 
the  Forresters,  for  a  new  double-barreled 
shotgun  of  fine  make.  The  Forrester 
family  consisted  of  the  old  parents,  six 
gigantic,  lawless  sons,  and  Fodder-wing, 
a  deformed  and  crippled  boy  who  was 
Jody's  best  friend.  Penny  was  reluctant 
to  dupe  his  neighbors  but  his  very  living 
depended  upon  Old  Slewfoot's  destruc 
tion.  He  eased  his  conscience  by  telling 
the  Forrester  boys  truthfully  that  the 
feist  could  not  be  trained  for  hunting. 
His  words  convinced  the  suspicious  For 
resters  that  the  dog  was  even  more  valu 
able  than  they  had  thought  and  it  was 
they  who  insisted  on  the  trade. 

After  the  old  gun  had  been  repaired,  it 
became  Jody's  great  pride.  One  day  while 
hunting  with  his  father,  he  shot  a  buck 
which  Penny  sold  at  the  store  in  Volusia. 
After  selling  the  venison,  Penny  and 
Jody  went  to  see  Grandma  Hutto,  at 
whose  house  they  spent  the  night.  In 
the  morning  everyone  was  made  glad  by 
the  unexpected  arrival  of  Oliver  Hutto, 
Grandma's  son,  just  home  from  sea. 
Later  that  day  Oliver  went  downtown, 
where  he  met  Lem  Forrester.  Both  of 


THE   YEARLING  by  Marjorie  Kinnan   Rawlings.      By    permiss 
Scribner't  Son«.     Copyright,    1938,   by  Marjorie  Kinnan   Rawlin 


By    permission  of  the   author  and  the  publishers,    Charles 
gs. 


1140 


the  men  were  courting  a  yellow-haired 
girl,  Twink  Weatherby.  When  the  two 
started  to  fight,  all  of  Lem's  brothers 
joined  in  against  Oliver  Hutto.  Wiry 
Penny  and  small  Jody  also  entered  the 
fight  with  Oliver,  since  the  odds  against 
him  were  so  heavy.  After  the  fight  Oliver 
was  badly  battered.  Jody  had  been 
knocked  unconscious.  To  keep  people 
from  talking,  Twink  Weatherby  left 
town  on  the  river  boat  the  next  morning. 
A  short  time  later  Penny  discovered 
that  his  hogs  had  disappeared.  He  sus 
pected  the  Forresters  of  having  trapped 
them  in  order  to  get  revenge  for  the 
shotgun  deal,  and  he  and  Jody  started 
to  track  the  hogs.  In  the  swamp  a  rattle 
snake  bit  Penny  on  the  arm.  He  saved 
himself  by  shooting  a  doe  and  applying 
the  liver  to  the  bite  to  draw  out  the 
poison.  Even  in  the  excitement,  Jody  had 
noticed  that  the  doe  had  a  fawn.  While 
Penny  staggered  homeward,  Jody  went 
to  the  Forresters  to  ask  them  to  ride  for 
Doc  Wilson. 

The  Forresters,  with  the  exception  of 
Lem,  evidently  held  no  grudge  over  the 
trading  of  the  dog  and  the  fight  in  town, 
and  they  did  all  they  could  for  the  Bax 
ters.  One  of  the  boys  brought  Doc  Wil 
son  to  the  cabin,  Later  they  rounded  up 
the  hogs  and  returned  them,  and  Buck 
Forrester  stayed  on  at  the  Baxter  cabin 
to  help  with  the  work. 

While  Penny  was  still  desperately  ill, 
Jody  returned  to  the  place  where  his 
father  had  been  bitten,  and  there  he 
found  the  helpless  young  fawn.  lie  was 
so  eager  to  have  it  for  his  own  that  his 
parents  allowed  him  to  bring  it  home  as 
a  pet.  Rations  were  scarcer  than  ever  at 
the  Baxters  during  Penny's  illness,  but 
Jody  was  willing  to  share  his  own  food 
and  milk  with  the  fawn.  Fodder-wing 
gave  the  fawn  its  name.  He  called  it 
Flag. 

In  September  a  great  storm  came,  de 
stroying  most  of  the  Baxter  crops.  About 
a  month  later  Old  Slewfoot  visited  the 
Baxter  land  again  and  killed  a  fat  hog. 
Penny,  who  was  in  bed  with  chills  and 


fever,  was  not  able  to  follow  the  great 
black  bear.  Later  wolves  killed  one  of  the 
calves,  and  with  the  Forresters  the  Bax 
ters  hunted  down  the  whole  pack  which 
had  been  bothering  all  the  neighbor 
hood.  During  the  hunt  they  found  ten 
bear  cubs,  left  motherless  after  hunters 
had  killed  the  mother  bear.  Two  of  the 
Forresters  took  the  cubs  to  Jacksonville 
and  sold  them.  Penny's  share  of  the 
profits  was  used  to  buy  the  necessities 
which  would  tide  the  Baxters  over  the 
coming  winter. 

The  Baxters  had  planned  to  spend 
Christmas  in  Volusia  with  Grandma  Hut- 
to  and  to  attend  the  town's  festivities  on 
Christmas  Eve.  But  a  few  days  before 
Christmas  Old  Slewfoot  again  appeared 
and  killed  a  calf.  Penny  swore  that  he 
would  kill  the  raider,  and  after  several 
days  of  determined  hunting  he  found  and 
shot  the  five-hundred-pound  bear. 

The  Baxters  joined  Grandma  Hutto 
at  the  Christmas  party.  During  the  eve 
ning  Oliver  Hutto  arrived  in  town  with 
his  wife,  Twink.  To  get  revenge,  Lem 
Forrester  and  his  brothers  fired  Grandma 
Hutto's  house  and  burned  it  to  the 
ground.  Without  Oliver's  knowing  that 
the  house  had  been  fired  by  the  For 
resters,  Grandma  Hutto,  Oliver,  and 
Twink  left  town  the  next  morning  on  the 
river  boat.  They  had  decided  to  go  to 
Boston  to  live. 

Back  in  their  cabin,  the  Baxters  settled 
down  to  a  quiet  winter  of  fishing  and 
hunting.  Flag,  the  fawn,  had  grown 
until  he  was  a  yearling.  The  fawn  had 
never  been  a  favorite  of  Ma  Baxter  be 
cause  she  begrudged  him  the  food  and 
milk  Jody  fed  him,  and  because  he  was  a 
nuisance  around  the  cabin. 

In  the  spring,  while  Jody  was  helping 
his  father  plant  corn,  Flag  got  into  the 
tobacco  field  and  destroyed  about  half 
of  the  young  plants.  One  day,  while 
trying  to  pull  a  stump  out  of  the  ground, 
Penny  ruptured  himself  and  afterward 
spent  many  days  in  bed.  Then  Jody  had 
to  do  all  of  the  farm  work.  He  watched 
the  corn  sprouting  through  the  ground 


1141 


One  morning  he  found  that  Flag  had 
eaten  most  of  the  tender  green  shoots. 
Mrs.  Baxter  wanted  to  kill  the  fawn  at 
once,  but  Penny  suggested  that  Jody 
build  a  fence  around  the  corn  to  keep 
Flag  out.  Accordingly,  Jody  spent  many 
days  replanting  the  corn  and  building 
a  high  fence  around  the  field.  When  the 
new  planting  of  corn  came  up,  Flag 
leaped  the  high  fence  with  ease  and 
again  nibbled  off  the  green  shoots. 

Her  patience  exhausted  Mrs.  Baxter 
took  Penny's  gun  and  shot  the  fawn. 
Unhappy  Jody  had  to  shoot  his  pet  again 


because  his  mother's  aim  was  so  poor. 
Jody  felt  that  the  family  had  betrayed 
him.  He  hated  them.  He  left  the  clear 
ing  and  wandered  into  the  scrub.  With 
the  vague  idea  of  running  away  from 
home  to  join  the  Huttos  in  Boston,  he 
headed  for  the  river  and  set  out  in  Nellie 
Ginright's  dugout  canoe.  After  several 
days  without  food,  he  was  picked  up  by 
the  river  mail  boat.  He  returned  home, 
ashamed  and  penitent,  but  a  yearling — 
no  longer  interested  in  the  flutter  mill, 
which  now  he  considered  only  a  play 
thing  for  children. 


YOU  CAN'T  GO  HOME  AGAIN 

Type  of  work:    Novel 

Author:    Thomas  Wolfe   (1900-1938) 

Type  of  ylot:    Impressionistic  realism 

Time  of  flat:    1929-1936 

Locale:   New  York,  England,  Germany 

First  published:    1940 

Principal  characters: 

GEORGE  WEBBER,  a  writer 

ESTHER  JACK,  whom  he  loved 

FOXHALL  EDWARDS,  his  editor  and  best  friend 

LLOYD  McHARG,  a  famous  novelist 

ELSE  VON  KOHLER,  also  loved  by  Webber 

Critique: 

What  heights  Thomas  Wolfe  might 
have  attained  if  his  life  had  not  ended 
so  suddenly,  no  one  can  predict.  Cer 
tainly  he  was  one  of  the  most  forceful 
writers  of  the  present  century.  His 
ability  to  present  real  scenes  and  real 
people  has  seldom  been  equaled  by  the 
most  mature  writers;  yet  he  was  a  young 
man  when  he  gave  us  Of  Time  and  the 
River,  Look  Homeward,  Angel,  The  Web 
and  the  Rock,  and  You  Can't  Go  Home 
Again.  His  youth  showed  itself  clearly 
in  his  novels,  in  his  over-exuberant  de 
sire  to  help  humanity  in  spite  of  itself, 
in  his  lyric  enthusiasm  for  the  American 
dream.  But  these  are  minor  sins,  if  they 
are  sins,  completely  overshadowed  by  his 
great  ability  to  portray  believable  char 
acters  and  even  more  by  his  mastery  of 


the   English   language.    You  Can't  Go 
Home  Again  was  his  last  novel. 

The  Story: 

As  George  Webber  looked  out  of  his 
New  York  apartment  window  that  spring 
day  in  1929,  he  was  filled  with  happi 
ness.  The  bitter  despair  of  the  previous 
year  had  been  lost  somewhere  in  the 
riotous  time  he  had  spent  in  Europe,  and 
now  it  was  good  to  be  back  in  New 
York  with  the  feeling  that  he  knew  where 
he  was  going.  His  book  had  been  ac 
cepted  by  a  great  publishing  firm,  and 
Foxhall  Edwards,  the  best  editor  of  the 
house,  had  been  assigned  to  help  him 
with  the  corrections  and  revisions.  George 
had  also  resumed  his  old  love  affair  with 
Esther  Jack,  who,  married  and  the  mother 


rOU  CAN'T  GO  HOME  AGAIN  by  Thomas  Wolfe.  By  permission  of  Edward  C.  Aswell,  Administrator 
Estate  of  Thomas  Wolfe,  and  the  publishers,  Harper  &  Brothers.  Copyright  1934,  1937,  1938,  1939,  1940  by 
Maxwell  Perkini  aa  Executor, 


1142 


of  a  grown  daughter,  nevertheless  re 
turned  his  love  with  tenderness  and 
passion.  This  love,  however,  was  a  flaw 
in  George's  otherwise  great  content,  for 
he  and  Esther  seemed  to  be  pulling  dif 
ferent  ways.  She  was  a  famous  stage  de 
signer  who  mingled  with  a  sophisticated 
artistic  set.  George  thought  that  he  could 
find  himself  completely  only  if  he  lived 
among  and  understood  the  little  people 
of  the  world. 

Before  George's  book  was  published, 
he  tried  for  the  first  time  to  go  home 
again.  Home  was  Libya  Hill,  a  small 
city  in  the  mountains  of  Old  Catawba. 
When  the  aunt  who  had  reared  George 
died,  he  went  back  to  Libya  Hill  for  her 
funeral.  There  he  learned  that  he  could 
never  really  go  home  again,  for  home  was 
no  longer  the  quiet  town  of  his  boyhood 
but  a  growing  city  of  money-crazy  spec 
ulators  who  were  concerned  only  with 
making  huge  paper  fortunes  out  of  real 
estate. 

George  found  some  satisfaction  in  the 
small  excitement  he  created  because  he 
had  written  a  book  which  was  soon  to 
be  published.  But  even  that  pleasure 
was  not  to  last  long.  For  when  he  re 
turned  to  New  York  and  the  book  was 
published,  almost  every  citizen  in  Libya 
Hill  wrote  him  letters  filled  with  threats 
and  curses.  George  had  written  of  Libya 
I  lill  and  the  people  he  knew  there.  His 
only  motive  had  been  to  tell  the  truth 
as  he  saw  it,  but  his  old  friends  and 
relatives  in  Libya  Hill  seemed  to  think 
that  he  had  spied  on  them  through  his 
boyhood  in  order  to  gossip  about  them 
in  later  years.  Even  the  small  fame  he 
received  in  New  York,  where  his  book 
was  favorably  reviewed  by  the  critics, 
could  not  atone  for  the  abusive  letters 
from  Libya  Hill.  He  felt  he  could  re 
deem  himself  only  by  working  feverishly 
on  his  new  book. 

George  moved  to  Brooklyn,  first  telling 
list  her  goodbye.  This  severance  from 
Esther  was  difficult,  but  George  could  not 
live  a  lie  himself  and  attempt  to  write 
the  truth.  And  in  Brooklyn  he  did 


learn  to  know  and  love  the  little  people 
— the  derelicts,  the  prostitutes,  the  petty 
criminals — and  he  learned  that  they, 
like  the  so-called  good  men  and  women, 
were  all  representative  of  America.  His 
only  real  friend  was  Foxhall  Edwards, 
who  had  become  like  a  father  to  George. 
Edwards  was  a  great  man,  a  genius 
among  editors  and  a  genius  at  under 
standing  and  encouraging  those  who, 
like  George,  found  it  difficult  to  believe 
in  anything  during  the  depression  years. 
Edwards,  too,  knew  that  only  through 
truth  could  America  and  the  world  be 
saved  from  destruction;  but,  unlike 
George,  he  believed  that  the  truth  can 
not  be  thrust  suddenly  upon  people. 
He  calmly  accepted  conditions  as  they 
existed.  George  raged  at  his  friend's 
skepticism. 

After  four  years  in  Brooklyn,  George 
finished  the  first  draft  of  his  new  book. 
Tired  of  New  York,  he  thought  that  he 
might  find  in  Europe  the  atmosphere  he 
needed  to  complete  his  manuscript.  In 
London  he  met  Lloyd  McHarg,  the  em 
bodiment  of  all  that  George  wanted  to 
be.  George  yearned  for  fame  in  that 
period  of  his  life.  Because  his  book  had 
brought  him  temporary  fame,  quickly  ex 
tinguished,  he  envied  McHarg  his  world 
reputation  as  a  novelist.  George  was  dis 
illusioned  when  he  learned  that  McHarg 
thought  fame  an  empty  thing.  He  had 
held  the  world  in  his  hand  for  a  time, 
but  nothing  had  happened.  Now  he  was 
living  feverishly,  looking  for  something 
he  could  not  name. 

When  his  manuscript  was  ready  for 
publication,  George  returned  to  New 
York,  made  the  corrections  Edwards  sug 
gested,  and  then  sailed  again  for  Europe, 
He  went  to  Germany,  a  country  he  had 
not  visited  since  1928.  In  1936,  he  was 
more  saddened  by  the  change  in  the 
German  people  than  he  had  been  by 
anything  else  in  his  life.  He  had  always 
felt  a  kinship  with  the  Germans,  but 
they  were  no  longer  the  people  he  had 
known  before.  Persecution  and  fear 
tinged  every  life  in  that  once  proud 


1143 


country,  and  George,  sickened,  wondered 
if  there  were  any  place  in  the  world 
where  truth  and  freedom  still  lived. 

There  were,  however,  two  bright  hor 
izons  in  his  visit  to  Germany.  The  first 
was  the  fame  which  greeted  him  on  his 
arrival  there.  His  first  book  had  been  well 
received,  and  his  second,  now  published, 
was  a  great  success.  For  a  time  he  basked 
in  that  glory,  but  soon  he,  like  McHarg, 
found  fame  an  elusive  thing  that  brought 
no  real  reward.  His  other  great  experience 
was  his  love  for  Else  von  Kohler.  That 
was  also  an  elusive  joy,  for  her  roots 
were  deep  in  Germany,  and  George  knew 
he  must  return  to  America  to  cry  out  to 
his  own  people  that  they  must  live  the 
truth  and  so  save  America  from  the 
world's  ruin. 

Before  he  left  Germany,  he  saw  more 
examples  of  the  horror  and  tyrannny 
under  which  the  people  existed,  and  he 
left  with  a  heavy  heart.  He  realized  once 
more  that  one  can  never  go  home  again. 

Back  in  New  York,  he  knew  that 
he  must  break  at  last  his  ties  with  Fox- 
hall  Edwards.  He  wrote  to  Edwards, 
telling  him  why  they  could  no  longer 
travel  the  same  path.  First  he  reviewed 


the  story  of  his  own  life,  through  which 
he  wove  the  story  of  his  desire  to  make 
the  American  people  awake  to  the  great 
need  for  truth  so  that  they  might  keep 
their  freedom.  He  told  Edwards,  too, 
that  in  his  youth  he  had  wanted  fame 
and  love  above  all  else.  Having  had 
both,  he  had  learned  that  they  were  not 
enough.  Slowly  he  had  learned  humility, 
and  he  knew  that  he  wanted  to  speak 
the  truth  to  the  downtrodden,  to  all 
humanity.  Because  George  knew  he  had 
to  try  to  awaken  the  slumbering  con 
science  of  America,  he  was  saying  fare 
well  to  his  friend.  For  Edwards  believed 
that  if  the  end  of  freedom  was  to  be 
the  lot  of  man,  fighting  against  that  end 
was  useless. 

Sometimes  George  feared  that  the 
battle  was  lost,  but  he  would  never  stop 
fighting  as  long  as  there  was  hope  that 
America  would  find  herself.  He  knew 
at  last  the  real  enemy  in  America.  It 
was  selfishness  and  greed,  disguised  as 
a  friend  of  mankind.  He  felt  that  if  he 
could  only  get  help  from  the  little  people, 
he  could  defeat  the  enemy.  Through 
George,  America  might  go  home  again. 


1144 


AUTHOR  INDEX 


ADAMS,  HENRY 

Education  of  Henry  Adams,  The,  238 
AESCHYLUS 

House  of  Atreus,  The,  378 

Prometheus  Bound,  786 
AINSWORTH,  WILLIAM  HARRISON 

Tower  of  London,  The,  1008 

Windsor  Castle,  1117 
ALAIN-FOURNIER 

Wanderer,  The,  1081 
ALARC6N,  PEDRO  ANTONIO  DE 

Three-Cornered  Hat,  The,  978 
ALCOTT,  LOUISA  MAY 

Little  Women,  515 
ALDRICH,  THOMAS  BAILEY 

Story  of  a  Bad  Boy,  The,  927 
ALLEN,  HERVEY 

Anthony  Adverse,  34 
ANDERSON,  MAXWELL 

Winterset,  1123 
ANDERSON,   SHERWOOD 

Dark  Laughter,  185 

Poor  White,  762 

Winesburg,  Ohio,  1121 
APULEIUS,  LUCIUS 

Golden  Ass  of  Lucius  Apuleius,  The,  309 
ARISTOPHANES 

Clouds.The,  152 

Frogs,  The,  297 

Knights,  The,  480 
ASCH,  SHOLEM 

Apostle,  The,  38 

Nazarene,  The,  645 
AUSTEN,  JANE 

Emma,  246 

Mansfield  Park,  562 

Persuasion,  734 

Pride  and  Prejudice,  780 

BALZAC,  HONORfe  DB 

Cousin  Bette,  166 

Eug6nie  Grander,  258 

Father  Goriot,  271 
BARBUSSE,  HENRI 

Under  Fire,  1047 
BAROJA,  PiO 

Caesar  or  Nothing,  97 
BARRJE,  JAMES  M. 

Admirable  Crichton,  The,  10 

Dear  Brutus,  196 

Little  Minister,  The,  513 

Quality  Street,  793 

What  Every  Woman  Knows,  1106 

BAUM,  VICKI 

Grand  Hotel,  318 
BEACH,  REX 

Spoilers,  The,  919 
BELLAMANN,  HENRY 

King's  Row,  478 


BELLAMY,  EDWARD 
Looking  Backward,  520 

BEN£T,  STEPHEN  VINCENT 

John  Brown's  Body,  445 
BENNETT,  ARNOLD 

Clayhanger  Trilogy,  The,  148 

Old  Wives'  Tale,  The,  684 

Riceyman  Steps,  823 
BJORNSON,  BJORNSTJERNB 

Arne,  42 
BLACKMORE,  R.  D. 

Lorna  Doone,  524 
BOJER,  JOHAN 

Emigrants,  The,  244 
BORROW,  GEORGE  HENRY 

Lavengro,  501 

Romany  Rye,  The,  849 
BOURGET,   PAUL 

Disciple,  The,  209 
BOYD,  JAMES 

Drums,  228 

Marching  On,  566 
BROMFIELD,  LOUIS 

Green  Bay  Tree,  The,  331 
BRONTE,  ANNE 

Tenant  of  Wildfell  Hall,  The,  965 
BRONTE,  CHARLOTTE 

Jane  Eyre,  432 
BRONTE,  EMILY 

Wuthering  Heights,  1137 

BROWNING,  ROBERT 

Ring  and  the  Book,  The,  826 

BUCHAN,  JOHN 

Thirty-Nine  Steps,  The,  972 

BUCK,  PEARL  S. 
Dragon  Seed,  226 
Good  Earth,  The,  313 

BULLEN,  FRANK  T. 

Cruise  of  the  Cachalot,  The,  178 
BULWER-LYTTON,  EDW.  GEORGE  EARIJB 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  The,  490 

Last  of  the  Barons,  The,  492 

BUNYAN,  JOHN 

Pilgrim's  Progress,  The,  748 

BUTLER,  SAMUEL 

Erewhon,  252 

Way  of  All  Flesh,  The,  1097 

BYRNE,  DONN 

Messer  Marco  Polo,  584 

BYRON,  GEORGE  GORDON 
Don  Juan,  217 


CABELL,  JAMES  BRANCH 
Cream  of  the  Jest,  The,  168 
Jurgen,  464 

CABLE,  GEORGE  W. 
Grandissimes,  The.  320 


AUTHOR   INDEX 


CALDWEIX,  ERSKINE 

Tobacco  Road,  996 
CARROLL,  LEWIS 

Alice  in  Wonderland,  21 
GATHER,  WILLA 

Death  Comes  for  the  Archbishop,  199 

Lost  Lady,  A,  529 

My  Antonia,  630 

O  Pioneers!,  663 

Shadows  on  the  Rock,  884 
CELINE,  LOUIS-FERDINAND 

Journey  to  the  End  of  the  Night,  453 
CERVANTES  SAAVEDRA,  MIGUEL  DE 

Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha,  220 
CHAUCER,  GEOFFREY 

Troilus  and  Criseyde,  1030 
CHURCHILL,  WINSTON 

Crisis,  The,  172 
CLARK,  WALTER  VAN  TILBURG 

Ox-Bow  Incident,  The,  706 
COLERIDGE,  SAMUEL  TAYLOR 

Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  The,  825 

COLLINS,  WILKIE 

Moonstone,  The,  623 

No  Name,  659 

Woman  in  White,  The,  1125 
CONGREVE,  WILLIAM 

Way  of  the  World,  The,  1099 

CONRAD,  JOSEPH 

Lord  Jim,  522 
Victory,  1067 

COOPER,  JAMES  FENIMORE 
Deerslayer,  The,  203 
Last  of  the  Mohicans,  The,  494 
Pathfinder,  The,  715 
Pilot,  The,  750 
Pioneers,  The,  753 
Prairie,  The,  776 
Red  Rover,  The,  813 
Spy,  The,  921 

CORNEILLE,  PIERRE 
Cid,  The,  142 

CRANE,  STEPHEN 

Maggie:  A  Girl  of  the  Streets,  543 
Red  Badge  of  Courage,  The,  811 

CUMMINGS,  E.  E. 

Enormous  Room,  The,  250 


DANA,  RICHARD  HENRY,  JR. 
Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,  1033 

DANTE  ALIGHIERI 

Divine  Comedy,  The,  211 

DARWIN,  CHARLES 

Voyage  of  the  Beagle,  The,  1079 

DAUDET,  ALPHONSE 
Sappho,  865 
Tartarin  of  Tarascon,  956 

DAVIS,  H.  L. 

Honey  in  the  Horn,  37 1 

DAY,  CLARENCE,  JR. 

Life  With  Father,  506 

DEFOE,  DANIEL 
Moll  Flanders,  614 
Robinson  Crusoe,  839 

DE  LA  MARE,  WALTER 
Memoirs  of  a  Midget,  577 

DE  MORGAN,  WILLIAM 
Joseph  Vance,  450 


DICKENS,   CHARLES 
Bleak  House,  77 
Christmas  Carol,  A,  139 
David  Copperfield,  189 
Great  Expectations,  326 
Oliver  Twist,  686 
Pickwick  Papers,  743 
Tale  of  Two  Cities,  A,  945 

DOS  PASSOS,  JOHN 

Manhattan  Transfer,  555 

Three  Soldiers,  984 

U.  S.  A.,  1051 
DOSTOEVSKI,  FYODOR  MIKHAILOVICH 

Brothers  Karamazov,  The,  88 

Crime  and  Punishment,  170 

Idiot,  The,  415 

Possessed,  The,  771 
DOUGLAS,  LLOYD  C. 

Magnificent  Obsession,  The,  547 
DOYLE,  ARTHUR  CONAN 

Micah  Clarke,  585 

Study  in  Scarlet,  A,  938 

White  Company,  The,  1108 
DREISER,  THEODORE 

American  Tragedy,  An,  29 

Financier,  The,  280 

Sister  Carrie,  895 

Titan,  The,  991 
DUMAS,  ALEXANDRA  (FATHER) 

Count  of  Monte-Cristo,  The,  158 

Three  Musketeers,  The,  981 

Vicomte  de  Bragelonne,  The,  1063 
DUMAS,  ALEXANDRE   (SON) 

Camille,  105 
DU  MAURIER,  DAPHNE 

Rebecca,  806 
DU  MAURIER,  GEORGE 

Peter  Ibbetson,  736 

Trilby,  1023 

EDGEWORTH,  MARIA 

Castle  Rackrent,  126 
EDMONDS,  WALTER  D. 

Drums  Along  the  Mohawk,  230 

Rome  Haul,  851 
EGGLESTON,  EDWARD 

Hoosier  Schoolmaster,  The,  373 
ELIOT,  GEORGE 

Adam  Bede,  8 

Middlemarch,  588 

Mill  on  the  Floss,  The,  593 

Romola,  856 

Silas  Marner,  893 
EURIPIDES 

Alcestis,  16 

Electra,  243 

Medea,  573 

FAULKNER,  WILLIAM 

Absalom,  Absalom!,  5 

Light  in  August,  509 

Sanctuary,  862 

Sound  and  the  Fury,  The,  917 
FEUCHTWANGER,  LION 

Power,  773 

Ugly  Duchess,  The,  1037 
FIELDING,  HENRY 

Amelia,  24 

Joseph  Andrews,  448 

Tom  Jones,  1000 
FISHER,  VARDIS 

Children  of  God,  137 


II 


AUTHOR    INDEX 


FITZGERALD,  F.  SCOTT 

Great  Gatsby,  The,  329 
FLAUBERT,   GUSTAVE 
Madame  Bovary,  539 
Salammbo,  860 
Sentimental  Education,  A,  876 

FOLK  TRADITION 

Beowulf,  68 

Cadmus,  96 

Cupid  and  Psyche,  180 

Hercules  and  His  Twelve  Labors,  366 

Jason  and  the  Golden  Fleece,  435 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  700 

Proserpine  and  Ceres,  789 
FORESTER,   C.  S, 

Captain  Horatio  Hornblower,  109 
FORSTER,  E.  M, 

Passage  to  India,  A,  713 
FRANCE,   ANATOLE 

Penguin  Island,  729 

Revolt  of  the  Angels,  The,  821 

GABORIAU,   IiMILE 

File  No.  113,   278 
GALSWORTHY,  JOHN 

Forsyte  Saga,  The,  284 

Justice,  466 

Loyalties,  533 

Modern  Comedy,  A,  612 

Strife,  936 
GARNETT,  DAVID 

Lady  Into  Fox,  486 
GAUTIER,  TH&DPHILE 

Mademoiselle  de  Maupin,  542 
GAY,  JOHN 

Beggar's  Opera,  The,  59 

GIDE,  ANDR£ 

Counterfeiters,  The,  160 
GILBERT,  W.   S. 

H.M.S.  Pinafore,  370 

Mikado,  The,  591 
GISSING,  GEORGE 

New  Grub  Street,  The,  647 
GLASGOW,  ELLEN 

Barren  Ground,  57 

Romantic  Comedians,  The,  846 

Sheltered  Life,  The,  891 
GODWIN.  WILLIAM 

Caleb  Williams,  101 
GOETHE,  JOHANN  WOLFGANG  VON 

Faust,  276 

Sorrows  of  Young  Werther,  The,  915 

GOGOL,  NIKOLAI  V, 

Dead  Souls,  194 

Taras  Bulba,  954 
GOLDSMITH,  OLIVER 

She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  889 

Vicar  of  Wakcfield,  The,  1061 
GORDON,  CAROLINE 

Aleck  Maury,  Sportsman,  17 
GOURMONT,  REMY  DE 

Night  in  the  Luxembourg,  A,  655 
GRAVES,  ROBERT 

Claudius  the  God,  146 

I,  Claudius,  406 
GUTHRIE,  A.  B.,  JR. 

Big  Sky,  The,  76 

HAGGARD,  H.  RIDER 

King  Solomon's  Mines,  475 
She,  886 


HAKLUYT,  RICHARD 

Hakluyt's  Voyages,  346 
HALE,   EDWARD  EVERETT 

Man  Without  a  Country,  The,  553 
HALEVY,  LUDOVIC 

Abbe*  Constamin,  The,  1 
HAMMETT,  DASHIELL 

Glass  Key,  The,  307 

Maltese  Falcon,  The,  551 

Thin  Man,  The,  970 
HAMSUN,  KNTUT 

Growth  of  the  Soil,  338 

Hunger,  400 
HARDY,  THOMAS 

Dynasts,  The,  234 

Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd,  266 

Jude  the  Obscure,  455 

Mayor  of  Casterbridge,  The,  571 

Return  of  the  Native,  The,  818 

Tess  of  the  d'Urbervilles,  965 
HAWTHORNE,  NATHANIEL 

House  of  the  Seven  Gables,  The,  383 

Marble  Faun,  The,  564 

Scarlet  Letter,  The,  867 
HEGGEN,  THOMAS 

Mister  Roberts,  605 
HEMINGWAY,  ERNEST 

Farewell  to  Arms,  A,  269 

For  Whom  the  Bell  Tolls,  282 

Sun  Also  Rises,  The,  941 
HERGESHEIMER,  JOSEPH 

Java  Head,  437 

Three  Black  Pennys,  The,  976 
HERSEY,  JOHN 

Bell  for  Adano,  A,  64 
HEYWARD,  DuBOSE 

Porgy,  764 

HILTON,  JAMES 

Goodbye,  Mr.  Chips,  316 

Lost  Horizon,  527 
HOMER 

Iliad,  The,  423 

Odyssey,  The,  665 
HOPE,  ANTHONY 

Prisoner  of  Zenda,  The,  784 
HOWE,  EDGAR  WATSON 

Story  of  a  Country  Town,  The,  929 
HOWELLS,  WILLIAM  DEAN 

Rise  of  Silas  Lapham,  The,  828 
HUDSON,  W.  H. 

Green  Mansions,  333 

Purple  Land,  The,  791 

HUGO,  VICTOR 

Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,  The,  397 

Misdrables,  Les,  597 
HUTCHINSON,  A.  S.  M. 

If  Winter  Comes,  421 
HUXLEY,  ALDOUS 

Brave  New  World,  79 

Crome  Yellow,  177 

Point  Counter  Point,  760 


IBSEN,  HENRIK 
Doll's  House,  A,  216 
Ghosts,  301 
Hedda  Gabler,  359 
Peer  Gynt,  722 
Wild  Duck,  The,  1113 

JACKSON,  CHARLES 
Lost  Weekend,  The,  531 


AUTHOR   INDEX 


JAMES,  HENRY 

American,  The.  27 

Daisy  Miller,  182 

Portrait  of  a  Lady,  The,  766 
JEFFERS,  ROBINSON 

Cawdor,  130 

Roan  Stallion,  835 

Tamar,  948 
JEWETT,  SARAH  ORJNTE 

Country  of  the  Pointed  Firs,  The,  163 
JOHNSON,  SAMUEL 

Rasselas,  804 
JONSON,  BEN 

Volpone,  1076 
JOYCE,  JAMES 

Portrait  of  the  Artist  as  a  Young  Man,  A,  769 

Ulysses,  1040 

KAFKA,  FRANZ 

Castle,  The,  122 

Trial,  The,  1020 
KEATS,  JOHN 

Eve  of  St.  Agnes,  The,  263 
KENNEDY,  JOHN  P. 

Horseshoe  Robinson,  376 
KINGSLEY,  CHARLES 

Hereward  the  Wake,  367 

Hypatia,  402 

Westward  Ho!,  1103 
KIPLING,  RUDYARD 

Captains  Courageous,  111 

Jungle  Books,  The,  461 

Kim,  473 
KNIGHT,  ERIC 

This  Above  All,  974 
KOESTLER,  ARTHUR 

Darkness  at  Noon,  187 

LAGERLOF,  SELMA 

Story  of  Gosta  Berling,  The,  934 
LAWRENCE,  D.  H. 

Rainbow,  The,  800 

Sons  and  Lovers,  913 
LAXNESS,  HALLDOR 

Independent  People,  425 
LE  SAGE,   ALAIN  EJENE 

Gil  Bias  of  Santillane,  305 
LEVER,  CHARLES 

Charles  O'Malley,  133 
LEWIS,  SINCLAIR 

Arrowsinith,  44 

Babbitt,  50 

Cass  Timberlane,  120 

Main  Street,  549 
LLEWELLYN,  RICHARD 

How  Green  Was  My  Valley,  385 
LONDON,  JACK 

Call  of  the  Wild,  The,  103 

Sea  Wolf,  The,  874 
LONGFELLOW,  HENRY  WADSWORTH 

Courtship  of  Miles  Standish,  The,  165 

Evangeline,  261 

Song  of  Hiawatha,  The,  905 
LONGUS 

Daphnis  and  Chloe,  183 
LOTI,  PIERRE 

Iceland  Fisherman,  An,  410 

McFEE,  WILLIAM 
Casuals  of  the  Sea,  128 


MALORY,  SIR  THOMAS 

Morte  d'  Arthur,  Le,  625 
MALRAUX,  ANDRJ6 

Man's  Fate,  559 
MANN,  THOMAS 

Buddenbrooks,  91 

Magic  Mountain,  The,  545 
MARLOWE,  CHRISTOPHER 

Jew  of  Malta,  The,  444 

Tamburlaine  the  Great,  950 
MARQUAND,  JOHN  P. 

Late  George  Apley,  The,  499 

Wickford  Point,  1110 

MARRYAT,  FREDERICK 

Mr.  Midshipman  Easy,  602 
MARTIN  DU  GARD,  ROGER 

World  of  the  Thibaults,  The,  1130 
MAUGHAM,  W.  SOMERSET 

Cakes  and  Ale,  99 

Moon  and  Sixpence,  The,  621 

Of  Human  Bondage,  670 
MAUPASSANT,  GUY  DE 

Bel-Ami,  62 

Mont-Oriol,  618 

Woman's  Life,  A,  1127 
MELVILLE,  HERMAN 

Moby  Dick,  609 

Omoo,  689 

Typee,  1035 
MEREDITH,   GEORGE 

Diana  of  the  Cross  ways,  206 

Egoist,  The,  241 

Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel,  The,  692 
MEREJKOWSKI,  DMITRI 

Death  of  the  Gods,  The,  201 

M£RIM£E,  PROSPER 

Carmen,  116 
MILTON,  JOHN 

Paradise  Lost,  711 
MITCHELL,  SILAS  WEIR 

Hugh  Wynne,  Free  Quaker,  390 


Misanthrope,  The,  595 

Tartuffe,  959 
MOLNAR,   FERENC 

Liliom,  511 
MOORE,  GEORGE 

Esther  Waters,  254 
MORIER,  JAMES 

Hajji  Baba  of  Ispahan,  343 

NORDHOFF,  CHARLES   and 
HALL,   JAMES  NORMAN 

Mutiny  on  the  Bounty,  628 
NORRIS,  FRANK 

McTeague,  537 
Pit,  The,  756 

OUIDA 

Under  Two  Flags,  1049 

PARKMAN,  FRANCIS 

Oregon  Trail,  The,  695 
PEACOCK,  THOMAS  LOVE 

Nightmare  Abbey,  657 
PIRANDELLO,  LUIGI 

Old  and  the  Young,  The,  676 
POE,  EDGAR  ALLAN 

Narrative  of  Arthur  Gordon  Pym,  The,  640 
POLO,  MARCO 

Travels  of  Marco  Polo,  The,  1011 


IV 


AUTHOR    INDEX 


POPE,  ALEXANDER 

Rape  of  the  Lock,  The,  802 

PORTER,   JANE 

Thaddcns  of  Warsaw,  967 

PREVOST,  ABBE' 

Manon  Lescaut,  557 
PRIESTLEY,  J.  B. 

Good  Companions,  The,  311 
PROUST,  MARCEL 

Remembrance  of  Things  Past,  815 
PUSHKIN,   ALEXANDER 

Captain's  Daughter,  The,  113 


RABELAIS,    FRANCOIS 

Gargantua  and  Pantagruel,  298 
RACINE,  JEAN  BAPTISTE 

Phaedra,  741 
RADCLIFJPE,  MRS.  ANN 

Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  The,  635 
RAWLINGS,  MARJORIE  KINNAN 

Yearling,  The,  1140 
READE,  CHARLES 

Cloister  and  the  Hearth,  The,  150 

Peg  Woifington,  724 
REYMONT,   LADISLAS 

Peasants,  The,  720 
RICHARDSON,  SAMUEL 

Clarissa  Harlowe,  143 

Pamela,  708 
RJCHTER,   CONRAD 

Sea  of  Grass,  The,  872 
ROBERTS,   ELIZABETH  MADOX 

Time  of  Man,  The,  989 
ROBINSON,   EDWIN  ARLINGTON 

Tristram,  1025 
HOLLAND.   ROMAIN 

Jcan-Chnstophe,  439 
ROLVAAG,  O.   JE. 

Giants  in  the  Earth,  303 
RUSSELL,  W.   CLARK 

Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,  The,  1135 

SAKI 

Unbearable  Bassiagton,  The,  1042 

SALTEN,   FELIX 

Barnbi,  52 
SAND,   GEORGE 

Consuclo,  156 
SANTAYANA,  GEORGE 

Last  Puritan,  The,  497 
SAROYAN.  WILLIAM 

Human  Comedy,  The,  392 
SASSOON,   SIEGFRIED 

Memoirs  of  a  Fox -Hunting  Man,  575 

Memoirs  of  an  Infantry  Officer,  579 

SCHILLER,   JOHANN  CHRISTOPH 
FKIKIMUCII  VON 

William  Tell,  1115 
SCimittNKR,  OUVli 

Story  of  an  African  Farm,  The,  932 
SCOTT,  MIUIAKL 

Tom  Cringle's  Log,  997 
SCOTT,  SIR  WALTER 

Heart  of  Midlothian,  The,  355 

Ivanhoc,  430 

Kenilworth,  469 

Old  Mortality,  6$l 

Quentin  Durward,  795 

Rob  Roy,  837 

Wavcrley,  1094 


SHAKESPEARE,   WILLIAM 

As  You  Like  It,  46 

Hamlet,  Prince  of  Denmark,  348 

Henry  the  Fifth,  364 

Macbeth,  534 

Merchant  of  Venice,  The,  581 

Othello,  701 

Romeo  and  Juliet,  853 

Tempest,  The,  961 

Venus  and  Adonis,  1060 
SHELLEY,  MARY  GODWIN 

Frankenstein,  295 
SHELLEY,   PERCY  BYSSHE 

Cenci,  The,  131 

Prometheus  Unbound,  788 
SHERIDAN,  RICHARD  BRINSLEY 

Rivals,  The,  831 

School  for  Scandal,  The,  869 
SHERWOOD,  ROBERT  E. 

Abe  Lincoln  in  Illinois,  3 
SHOLOKHOV,  MIKHAIL 

And  Quiet  Flows  the  Don,  30 
SIENKIEWICZ,  HENRYK 

Quo  Vadis,  797 
SILONE,  IGNAZIO 

Bread  and  Wine,  81 
SINCLAIR,   UPTON 

Jungle,  The,  459 
SINGMASTER,  ELSIE 

I  Speak  for  Thaddeus  Stevens,  408 
SMITH,   BETTY 

Tree  Grows  in  Brooklyn,  A,  1018 
SMOLLETT,  TOBIAS 

Humphry  Clinker,  394 

Peregrine  Pickle,  731 

Roderick  Random,  841 
SOPHOCLES 

Antigone,  37 

Oedipus  Ty^annus,  668 
SPENSER,  EDMUND 

Faerie  Queene,  The,  264 
STEINBECK,  JOHN 

Grapes  of  Wrath,  The,  324 

Of  Mice  and  Men,  672 
STENDHAL 

Charterhouse  of  Parma,  The,  133 

Red  and  the  Black,  The,  808 

STEPHENS,   JAMES 

Crock  of  Gold,  The,  175 
STERNE,   LAURENCE 

Sentimental  Journey,  A,  879 

Tmtram  Shandy,  1027 
STEVENS,  JAMES 

Paul  Bunyan,  717 
STEVENSON,   ROBERT  LOUIS 

Black  Arrow,  The,  72 

Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,  214 

Kidnapped,  471 

Master  of  Ballantrae,  The,  568 

1  ravels  with  a  Donkey,  1014 

Treasure  Island,  1015 

ST:LL,  JAMES 

River  of  Karth,  833 

STONG,    PHIL 

State  Fair,  925 
STOWE,  HARRIET   BEECHER 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  1044 
STUART,   JESSE 

Taps  for  Private  Tussie,  952 
SUDERMANN,  HERMANN 

Song  of  Songs,  The.  910 


V 


AUTHOR    INDEX 


SUE,  EUGENE 

Masteries  of  Paris,  The,  632 

Wandering  Jew,  The,  1083 
SURTEES,  ROBERT  SMITH 

Handley  Cross,  352 

SWIFT,  JONATHAN 

Gulliver's  Travels,  341 
SWINNERTON,  FRANK 

Nocturne,  661 
SYNGE,  JOHN  MILLINGTON 

Playboy  of  the  Western  World,  The,  758 

L'ARKINGTON,  BOOTH 

Alice  Adams,  20 

Kate  Fennigate,  467 

Monsieur  Beaucalre,  616 

Seventeen,  882 
TASSO,  TORQUATO 

Jerusalem  Delivered,  441 
TENNYSON,  ALFRED 

Enoch  Arden,  249 

Idylls  of  the  King,  The,  417 

THACKERAY,  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE 

Henry  Esmond,  361 

Newcomes,  The,  650 

Pendenms,  726 

Vanity  Fair,  1056 

Virginians,  The,  1074 
TOLSTOY,  COUNT  LEO 

Anna  Kare"nina,  32 

Kreutzer  Sonata,  The,  481 

War  and  Peace,  1085 
TROLLOPE,  ANTHONY 

Barchester  Towers,  55 

Framley  Parsonage,  293 

Warden,  The,  1092 
TURGENEV,  IVAN 

Fathers  and  Sons,  273 

Smoke,  897 

Virgin  Soil,  1069 
TWAIN,  MARK 

Connecticut  Yankee  at  King  Arthur's  Court, 
A,  154 

Huckleberry  Finn,  387 

Life  on  the  Mississippi,  504 

Roughing  It,  858 

Tom  Sawyer,  1003 

UNDSET,  SIGRID 

Kristin  Lavransdatter,  483 

UNKNOWN 

Aucassin  and  Nicolette,  48 
Grettir  the  Strong,  335 
Nibelungenlied,  The,  652 
Song  of  Roland,  The,  907 

VAN  VECHTEN,  CARL 

Peter  Whiffle,  739 
VERGILIUS  MARO,  PUBLIUS 

Aeneid,  The,  1 1 
VERNE,  JULES 

Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under  the  Sea, 

1031 
VOLTAIRE,  FRANf  OIS  MARIE  AROUET  DE 

Candida,  107 


WALLACE,  LEWIS    (LEW) 

Ben  Hur;  A  Tale  of  the  Christ,  66 

WALPOLE,  HORACE 

Castle  of  Otranto,  The,  124 


WALPOLE,  HUGH 

Fortitude,  286 

Fortress,  The,  288 

Judith  Paris,  457 

Rogue  Herries,  844 

Vanessa,  1054 
WASSERMANN,  JACOB 

World's  Illusion,  The,  1133 
WAUGH,   EVELYN 

Brideshead  Revisited,  83 

Edmund  Campion,  237 

Handful  of  Dust,  A,  350 

WEBB,  MARY 

Precious  Bane,  778 
WEBSTER,  JOHN 

Duchess  of  Main,  The,  232 
WELLS,  H.  G. 

Invisible  Man,  The,  428 

Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through,  600 

Time  Machine,  The,  986 

Tono-Bungay,  1006 

War  of  the  Worlds,  The,  1090 

WERFEL,  FRANZ 

Forty  Days  of  Musa  Dagh,  The,  291 

Song  of  Bernadette,  The,  903 
WESCOTT,  GLENWAY 

Apple  of  the  Eye,  The,  40 

Grandmothers,  The,  322 

WEST,   REBECCA 

Black  Lamb  and  Grey  Falcon,  75 
WESTCOTT,   EDWARD  NOYES 

David  Harum,  192 
WHARTON,  EDITH 

Age  of  Innocence,  The,  14 

Ethan  Frome,  256 

House  of  Mirth,  The,  380 

Old  Maid,  The,  679 
WHITTIER,  JOHN  GREENLEAF 

Snow-Bound,  899 
WILDE,  OSCAR 

Lady  Windermere's  Fan,  488 

Picture  of  Dorian  Gray,  The,  746 
WILDER,  THORNTON 

Bridge  of  San  Luis  Rey,  Ther  86 

Cabala,  The,  94 

Heaven's  My  Destination,  357 

Ides  of  March,  The,  413 

Our  Town,  704 
WISTER,  OWEN 

Virginian,  The,  1072 
WOLFE,  THOMAS 

Look  Homeward,  Angel,  517 

Of  Time  and  the  River,  674 

Web  and  the  Rock,  The,  1101 

You  Can't  Go  Home  Again,  1 142 
WOOLF.  VIRGINIA 

Mrs.  Dalloway,  607 

Orlando,  698 

To  the  Lighthouse,  993 
WRIGHT,  RICHARD 

Native  Son,  643 
WYSS,  JTOHANN  RUDOLF 

Swiss  Family  Robinson,  The,  943 

YOUNG,  STARK 
So  Red  the  Rose,  901 

ZOLA,  &MILE 

Downfall,  The,  223 
Nana,  638 
ZWEIG,  ARNOLD 

Case  of  Sergeant  Grischa,  The,  118 


VI 


1 04  308