This week’s image is taken from The Nursery “Alice,” – an adapted version (for younger readers) of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The work contains a number of rich colour images by the British illustrator and cartoonist Sir John Tenniel. This famous illustration captures the moments after Alice’s journey down the rabbit hole. Anxious to find her way through a tiny…
Month: May 2016
Insult of the Week: may your constituency reject you
In chapter XI of Richard Marsh’s 1897 work of weird horror, The Beetle, narrator Sydney Atherton has discovered that his beloved childhood friend Marjorie intends to marry the politician Paul Lessingham – who is much older than Sydney (“and a wretched Radical!”). Not to put too fine a point upon it, Sydney is unimpressed. [T]o…
Visual tropes collection of the week: Fainting and Swooning
You know, if my extensive education in feminism and gender issues has taught me anything, it’s that women of all walks of life have one thing in common: fainting at the slightest provocation. Amirite, ladies? Of course, it’s not unheard of for a gentleman to indulge in a swoon, too – and who’s to judge? …
Image of the Week: Portrait of a frustrated artist
This week’s image is taken from Chapter 17 of Katherine Cecil Thurston’s beautifully illustrated novel Max (1910). It is one of eight illustrations by the British painter and illustrator Frank Craig (1874-1918). The image effectively captures Max’s growing frustration at the quality of his/her latest work and captures the moments leading up to a heated exchange between the…
When is Elizabeth Bennet’s Birthday?
In Breihan and Caplan’s excellent 1990 article Jane Austen and the Militia, which throws a considerable amount of light on the historical underpinnings of Pride and Prejudice, the authors argue persuasively that the book is set in the years 1794 and 1795, by picking up on the many small military-historical hints that Jane Austen dropped…
Happy birthday, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!
Birthday congratulations are in order to the creator of Sherlock Holmes, on his 157th birthday! In honour of the occasion, why not follow Watson’s example and while away some free time (while waiting to be called into action) with a good mystery? (Take your boots off before you sit on the couch, though…)
Image of the Week: Summer bathing and sea air
In Chapter 12 of Austen’s Emma, Mr. Woodhouse questions his daughter Isabella’s decision to spend the autumn with her children at South End and adds sea air and swimming to his list of dangerous activities. “It was an awkward business, my dear, your spending the autumn at South End instead of coming here. I never had…
Insult of the Week: this inquisitive hag – damn her gooseberry wig
In chapter 61 of Waverley, our misfortunate hero finds himself sharing a conveyance – “the northern diligence”, described as “a huge old-fashioned tub” – with a companion he would really rather avoid, if at all possible. Mrs. Nosebag is … the lady of Lieutenant Nosebag, adjutant and riding-master of the — dragoons, a jolly woman…
The Six Most Impertinent Things Ever Said By Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth is one of the truly great heroines of English literature. She has fine eyes; she’ll walk three miles of muddy countryside without fear of censure or ruined hemlines; she has tremendous chemistry with Colin Firth, and these days she’ll even put down a zombie uprising for you. But there’s one thing that really keeps…
“A charming amusement for young people”
In Chapter 6 of Pride and Prejudice, Sir William Lucas and Mr Darcy exchange some thoughts on the merits of dancing… Sir Lucas proffers “What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society.” A less than impressed…
Insult of the week: avaunt, Mephistopheles!
This week’s insult is dedicated not to a person, but to the demon drink: specifically, a bowl of rum punch. Captain Devereaux, in The House by the Church-Yard, is enjoying a convivial evening in his Chapelizod lodgings with renowned local gossip Dr. Tom Toole: And the china bowl, with its silver ladle, and fine…
Image of the Week: “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two”
This week’s image is taken from Thomas Hood’s “Hood’s Own: or, Laughter from Year to Year” (1855) and aptly depicts the shenanigans of Fagin’s gang in Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838). In a humorous vignette in Chapter 10, The Artful Dodger and Charley Bates show off their pickpocketing prowess to an amused but naive Oliver… “When the breakfast was…
The Sea of Books 