Abducting two heiresses with a view to forcing them into marriage is not as unbelievable as it may appear. Though the Victorians may be said to have “pioneered the emancipation of women” in substantial ways (Perkin), the status of women’s rights in law per se remained debatable. The […]
The unflappable Clara rebukes her “gentleman” kidnapper, Marsham: ‘You forget,’ she added, ironically, ‘the law against bigamy.’ Her quip anticipates Morticia Addams’, who, bitten by the green-eyed monster, tests a barb on her unwitting husband: ‘Gomez, do you know the penalty for bigamy?’ ‘… Two wives?’ It must […]
Willie will need to prove his mettle. He is well in the running to become Cambridge University’s Senior Wrangler for the year: referring to the highest scoring third year first-class honours student in the Mathematical Tripos. An amazing feat for a farm lad, but Willie is worn out […]
This evening the girls are off to the opera, as Lady Montague announced the other day (Chapter 25). Sir George Meredith won’t be dragged — says he feels sleepy. Men. The sparkle and glitter of a brilliant Friday evening play upon the rippling Thames, as the London bon […]
Smith places the novel in the Regency era, forty to fifty years earlier than when he wrote it. In this chapter the narrator mentions that the prince regent (1762-1830) was sixty years old when he had the imitation Chinese pagoda built in St. James Park. It was built […]
Viscount Allworth is in a lather over the prospect of being uncovered for forging his son Lord Bury’s signature. Fuelling his gambling and extravagant lifestyle, cash moneys obtained from the ‘Chellston affair’ (see Chapters 4, 10, 11 and 17) only served to blow his debts out into further […]
Some pointed remarks in this and recent chapters invite a cursory digression into the world of heraldry. Whether an art or a science as are variously asserted, it is an intriguing and complicated field with roots in the ancient past as well as tendrils — if in some […]
We find a slight mix-up in the text this week, but one that involves a significant issue of plot and theme. It is where the young Lord Bury appears about to take Lady Montague’s side against William, in her confrontation with the two girls. Lady Kate draws up […]
There is an idiosyncratic slide, moving from the omniscient narrator’s opening reflection on the parable of the “wise and foolish builders,” to Theophilus (Theo) Blackmore’s own seemingly spontaneous reflection on “Sand! sand!” in his meeting with Viscountess Allworth. It is almost as though the narrator informs as much as […]
Sometimes the anomalies in a text can provide a starting point to explore possibilities of meaning that aren’t immediately evident. The first such a one in this chapter is striking: Smith’s misquotation from Romeo and Juliet, which ought to read: These violent delights have violent ends, And in […]
