| Gaudy Night | |
 US paperback edition cover |
|
| Author | Dorothy Leigh Sayers |
|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Lord Peter Wimsey |
| Genre(s) | Detective, Mystery, Novel |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Publication date | 1935 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | The Nine Tailors |
| Followed by | Busman's Honeymoon |
Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L. Sayers. Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/ although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L Busman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her eleventh (and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/ although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this It is the third of the Wimsey novels to feature Harriet Vane. Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L
Contents |
Plot outline
Having been acquitted of one murder in Strong Poison, and been instrumental in the solving of another in Have His Carcase, mystery writer Harriet Vane arrives for the reunion (or gaudy) at her alma mater, the fictitious all-female Shrewsbury College, set at Oxford University. Strong Poison is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Here she encounters a tangle of poison pen notes, obscene graffiti, and dangerous pranks that she unravels with the help of Lord Peter Wimsey. A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant abusive or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party Graffiti (singular graffito; the plural is used as a Mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched scrawled painted or marked in any manner on property The intellectual and emotional difficulties that have blighted their relationship are finally unravelled, and Harriet accepts Wimsey's proposal of marriage.
Explanation of the novel's title
"Gaudy" derives from the Latin gaudium and Old French gaudie, meaning "merry-making" or "enjoyment". A college gaudy is a dinner; in this case an annual reunion one. The phrase "gaudy night" is taken from Shakespeare's Antony & Cleopatra:
Let's have one other gaudy night: call to me / All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more / Let's mock the midnight bell.
—Antony and Cleopatra, Act III scene 11 line 182
Plot summary
Harriet Vane returns reluctantly to Oxford for one night to attend the Gaudy dinner. Expecting hostility because of her notoriety, she is surprised to be welcomed warmly by the dons, and rediscovers her old love of the academic life.
Some time later the college Warden writes to ask for help. There has been an outbreak of anonymous letters, vandalism and threats, apparently from someone within the college, and a scandal is feared. Harriet, herself a victim of poison-pen letters ever since her trial, agrees reluctantly to help, and spends much of the next few months resident at the college, ostensibly to do research and assist a senior scholar with her book.
As she wrestles with the case, trying to narrow down the list of suspects and avert a major scandal, Harriet is forced to examine her ambivalent feelings about love and marriage, along with her attraction to academia as an intellectual (and emotional) refuge. Her personal dilemma becomes entangled with darkly hinted suspicions and prejudices raised by the crimes at the college, which appear to have been committed by a frustrated woman academic. She is forced to reexamine her relationship with Wimsey, who eventually arrives in Oxford to help her, in the light of what she has discovered about herself; and also gains a new perspective on him from those who know him, including his nephew, a current Oxford undergraduate.
The attacks build to a crisis, and the college community of students, dons and servants is almost torn apart by suspicion and fear. There is an attempt to drive a vulnerable individual to suicide, and a physical attack that almost kills Harriet. The perpetrator is finally unmasked by Wimsey as one of the servants, revealed to be the widow of a former academic. One of the dons previously exposed her husband's academic fraud, breaking his career and driving him to suicide, and the campaign has been her revenge against intellectual women who move outside their "proper" domestic sphere.
In an extraordinarily touching scene at the end of the book, Harriet Vane finally accepts Wimsey's proposal of marriage. (Their engagement, marriage and honeymoon (interrupted by yet another murder mystery) are depicted in Busman's Honeymoon. Busman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her eleventh (and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. )
Characters in "Gaudy Night"
- Lord Peter Wimsey – protagonist, an aristocratic amateur detective
- Harriet Vane – protagonist, a mystery writer
Literary significance and criticism
Although no murder occurs in Gaudy Night, it is not without suspense and psychological thrills. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L The narrative is interwoven with a love story and an examination of women's struggles to enlarge their roles and achieve some independence within the social climate of 1930s England, and the novel has been described as "the first feminist mystery novel. "[1]
"Gaudy Night is a remarkable achievement. Harriet Vane and the grown-up nephew of Lord Peter help give variety, and the college scene justifies good intellectual talk. The motive is magnificently orated on by the culprit, a scene that in itself is a unique bit of work. And though the don-esses are sometimes hard to keep apart, the architecture is very good. Note a reference to C. P. Snow's The Search, and sound views on counterpoint versus harmony. Charles Percy Snow Baron Snow CBE ( 15 October 1905 &ndash 1 July 1980) was an English Physicist and Novelist "[2]
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
It was adapted for television in 1987 as part of a series starring Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Edward Petherbridge (born on 3 August 1936 in Bradford) is a British Actor. Harriet Mary Walter, CBE, (born September 24, 1950) is a British Actress.
In 2005 an adaptation of the novel was released on CD by the BBC Radio Collection to finally complete the run of Wimsey adaptations begun with Whose Body? in 1973; the role of Harriet was played by Joanna David, and Wimsey, as ever, by Ian Carmichael. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Ian Carmichael OBE (born 18 June 1920) is an English Film, stage, Television and Radio Actor
The plot of Gaudy Night was adapted to become the two-part Out of the Past episode (#155 & #156) of the American television mystery series Diagnosis Murder starring Dick van Dyke as Dr. Diagnosis Murder is a mystery / medical / Crime drama Television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr Richard Wayne “Dick” Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American Actor, Presenter and Entertainer, with a Mark Sloan. The episode first aired on 11 May 2000, with John Schneider as the villain. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. John Richard Schneider (born April 8, 1954) is an American Actor and Singer.
Famous quotes
- "How fleeting are all human passions compared to the massive continuity of ducks. "
- "She went to bed thinking more about another person that about herself. This goes to prove that even minor poetry may have its practical uses. "
- "It may, perhaps, be embarrassing for a solitary man to walk across a wide quadrangle under a fire of glances from a collection of collegiate females; but it is child's play compared, for example, with the long trek from the pavilion at Lord's to the far end of the pitch, with five wickets down and ninety needed to save the follow-on. Thousands of people then alive might have recognized that easy and unhurried stride and confident carriage of the head. "
- "However loudly we may assert our own unworthiness, few of us are really offended by hearing the assertion contradicted by a disinterested party. "
External links
References
- ^ Randi Sørsdal (2006). From Mystery to Manners: A Study of Five Detective Novels by Dorothy L. Sayers (Masters thesis). University of Bergen, 45. [1]
- ^ Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic