| Genre: Satire Main characters: Arabella, Mr. Glanville Time: The novel has been written in 1752; I expect the book to happen around that date too Summary: Arabella is a young woman, daughter of a Marquis, who has lived her whole life in seclusion, having as her company her father, her servant women and a pile of books. She’s a very passionate reader so she’s read a lot of romance books — the only problem is that she takes them for literal truth and as such her view on the world is a bit askew to say the least. Any single thing she sees is interpreted after her own notions: a man approaching is a potential “Ravisher” coming to take her away; a knight can and should defeat single-handedly hundreds of opponents; love must not be declared but suffered in silence for many years and the offence of disregarding this rule can only be pardoned by the death of the offender (unless his lady commands him to live, when he must dutifully obey); nevertheless any vague interest of a man in her person makes Arabella think he’s a slave to her beauty — and so on. |
It might seem strange but Arabella is a very down to Earth person, smart,kind and very well read (very beautiful too). She would be utterly perfect if it weren’t for that fault of hers: believing that life respects what she calls “The Laws of Romance” by the letter. She is very naive in that sense (understandably so for one who had no contact with the real world whatsoever), but her naivete and her confusion only make her more likable to the reader instead of detracting from her charm. Her suitor, Mr. Glanville (as opposite to the romantic heros as can be) is a man filled with common sense, captivated by Arabella’s charms enough to pardon and accept her quirks. He does hate when she’s making a fool of herself (most of the times when she has company) — but who wouldn’t? I totally commiserate with him each and every time (which, as I said, doesn’t stop me from liking Arabella quite a lot).
It is very amusing to notice the parallel the author does between Cervantes’ hero (Don Quixote) and Arabella. His mind has been “turned” after reading many novels of chivalry he took as truth; Arabella’s romance novels have been the source of her illusion. He thinks he’s a hero looking for Adventure and a romantic heroin; she sees herself as the heroin waiting for her adventurous hero (not minding a few adventures of her own along the way). Don Quixote thinks he should praise beauty everywhere he sees it; Arabella is waiting for her beauty to be praised — and more :)
The ending seemed to me a bit rushed, as everything changes and concludes in the last three chapters or so. I think I would have liked it a lot more if the author would have imagined a way for Arabella herself to gradually realize her mistakes, the differences between her world and the real one. It might have taken her a while (and to be honest I have no idea how this might have been brought about), but it would have made the book more authentic and all the more enjoyable (in my opinion of course).
A thing I’ve been amazed at was how actual the story (written about three hundred years ago) still is. Not only the style (other than some variations in spelling) seemed recently written (excepting, of course, the parts when the “language of romance” was used), but also the topic: I’ve been reading only recently about a theory that warned people who love romantic comedies (I being one of them) that they are rather bad for one’s love life, because it makes people expect impossible things from their relationship (the fact that if your partner truly loves you he/she should be able to read your mind, and other such things). The very thing that happened to Arabella (her expectations of life have been really twisted by the stories in her books), only more extreme in her case (because, after all, she’s a character in a book and as such she has to be a bit more special than normal people in order to captivate people’s interest :) )
What I liked most: I have been mightily amused at all the quirks Arabella (and her books) had :) :) Here come the quotes:
First of all, here’s how Arabella usually talked (in this particular instance she thought herself about to be captured by a ravisher, so she fled her castle with only one maid; she fainted and the maid went to get help; when Arabella came to her senses and found herself alone she spoke thus):
Alas! unfortunate Maid that I am! cried she, weeping excessively, questionless I am betrayed by her on whose Fidelity I relied, and who was acquainted with my most secret Thoughts: She is now with my Ravisher, directing his Pursuit, and I have no Means of escaping from his Hands! Cruel and ungrateful Wench, thy unparalleled Treachery grieves me no less than all my other Misfortunes: But why do I say, Her Treachery is unparalleled? Did not the wicked Arianta betray her Mistress into the Power of her insolent Lover? Ah! Arabella, thou art not single in thy Misery, since the divine Mandana was, like thyself, the Dupe of a mercenary Servant.
The way men were supposed to act in books (part of the imagined adventures of a wannabe romance hero, when he found out his beloved was in trouble):
Scarce had he finished these cruel Words, when I, who all the time he had been speaking, beheld him with a dying Eye, sunk down at his Feet in a Swoon; which continued so long, that he began to think me quite dead: However I at last opened my Eyes; but it was only to pour forth a River of Tears, and to utter Complaints, which might have moved the most obdurate Heart.
(this one amuses me the most, I find a man who faints and then cries “a river of tears” quite ridiculous in the circumstances :D )
One of my favorite parts was also when “the unfortunate Bellmour” starts to recount his (completely fabricated in order to impress Arabella) adventures, in the hearing of people who knew him (and his real life) since he was a child:
It shall suffice, therefore, to inform you, that my Father, being a peaceable Man, fond of Retirement and Tranquillity, made no Attempts to recover the Sovereignty from which his Ancestors had been unjustly expelled; but quietly beheld the Kingdom of Kent in the Possession of other Masters, while he contented himself with the Improvement of that small Pittance of Ground, which was all that the unhappy Prince Veridomer, my Grandfather, was able to bequeath to him.Hey-day! cried Sir Charles, Will you new-christen your Grandfather, when he has been in his Grave these Forty Years? I knew honest Sir Edward Bellmour very well, though I was but a Youth when he died; but I believe no Person in Kent ever gave him the Title of Prince Veridomer: Fie! fie! these are idle Brags.
What I liked least: The book is quite long and at times repetitious, making the reader (or at least me) lose his/her patience with Arabella’s foibles now and then. I really really liked Arabella, but seeing her making the same mistakes for the tenth time didn’t really help the matters.
Recommend it? Yes :)
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Thanks for the review! I hope to get to this one this year. :)
Becky
That really drives me buggy when an ending is rushed. Great review!
@Becky: I’ll hope you’ll find it as much fun as I did :)
@J.Kaye: Well, in this case I cannot quite hold it against them, as it sort of was the most probable thing to happen. I just wish the author had been a bit more creative about it :D (since it’s a book and not real life, why choose the most probable instead of letting your fantasy stretch its wings? :) )