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London In Fiction
Many notable works of fiction are set in London, the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. The following is a selection; there are too many such fictional works for it to be possible to compile a complete list. Folklore *Dick Whittington and His Cat (c. 1354–1423) Early fiction * Geoffrey Chaucer — '' The Canterbury Tales'' (late 14th century) * Daniel Defoe — '' A Journal of the Plague Year'' (1722), '' Moll Flanders'' (1722) 19th century fiction *Many of Charles Dickens' most famous novels are at least partially set in London; including: '' Oliver Twist'' (1838), ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1840), '' A Christmas Carol'' (1843), ''David Copperfield'' (1850), ''Bleak House'' (1853), ''Little Dorrit'' (1857), ''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1859), '' Great Expectations'' (1861), '' Our Mutual Friend'' (1865), and ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' (1870) *William Makepeace Thackeray — '' Vanity Fair'' (1847) *Henry James — '' The Princess Casamassima'' (1886), '' A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blake London
Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presumably in the belief it is a Welsh patronymic in origin, for which there is no evidence, was that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake". Blake was the name of one of the 14 Tribes of Galway in Ireland. These Blakes were descendants of Richard Caddell, alias Blake, who was involved in the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. As such a long present foreign name, it became known as de Bláca in Irish. The origins of the name Blake are also considered to be Old Norse, first appearing in Yorkshire, England, possibly derived from the word Blaker, referring to a village and a former municipality of Akershus county, Norway (east of Oslo). Blake often refers to the British poet, painter and printmaker William Blake (1757–1827). No ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of ''Bleak House'' is a long-running legal case in the Court of Chancery, ''Jarndyce and Jarndyce'', which comes about because a testator has written several conflicting wills. In a preface to the 1853 first edition, Dickens claimed there were many actual precedents for his fictional case. One such was probably the ''Thellusson v Woodford'' case in which a will read in 1797 was contested and not determined until 1859. Though many in the legal profession criticised Dickens's satire as exaggerated, this novel helped support a judicial reform movement which culminated in the enactment of legal reform in the 1870s. There is some debate among scholars as to when ''Bleak House'' is set. The Englis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'', and the circumstances of his criminal conviction for gross indecency for consensual homosexual acts in "one of the first celebrity trials", imprisonment, and early death from meningitis at age 46. Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. A young Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, Wilde read Literae Humaniores#Greats, Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional Classics, classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Cage
''In the Cage'' is a novella by Henry James, first published as a book in 1898. This long story centers on an unnamed London telegraphist. She deciphers clues to her clients' personal lives from the often cryptic telegrams they submit to her as she sits in the "cage" at the post office. Sensitive and intelligent, the telegraphist eventually finds out more than she may want to know. Plot summary An unnamed telegraphist works in the branch post office at Cocker's, a grocer in a fashionable London neighborhood. Her fiancé, a decent if unpolished man named Mr. Mudge, wants her to move to a less expensive neighborhood to save money and to be near him at all times. She refuses because she likes the glimpses of society life she gets from the telegrams at her current location. Through those telegrams, she gets "involved" with a pair of lovers named Captain Everard and Lady Bradeen. By remembering certain code numbers in the telegrams, she manages to reassure Everard at a particu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Maisi E Knew
What or WHAT may refer to: * What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb * "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism Film and television * ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava * '' What?'' (film), a 1972 film directed by Roman Polanski * "What", the name of the second baseman in Abbott and Costello's comedy routine "Who's on First?" * "What?", the catchphrase of professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin Music * ''what.'', a comedy/music album by Bo Burnham, 2013 * What Records, a UK record label * What? Records, a US record label Songs * "What" (song), by Melinda Marx, 1965 * "What?" (Rob Zombie song), 2009 * "What?" (SB19 song), 2021 * "What?", by 666 from ''The Soft Boys'' * "What", by Bassnectar from ''Vava Voom'' * "What?", by Corrosion of Conformity from ''Eye for an Eye'' * "What?", by the Move from ''Looking On'' * "What?", by A Tribe Called Quest from ''The Low-End Theory'' Science and technology * Web H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A London Life
''A London Life'' is a novella by Henry James, first published in ''Scribner's Magazine'' in 1888. The plot revolves around a crumbling marriage and its impact on many other people, especially Laura Wing, the sister of the soon-to-be-divorced wife. Laura is a classic Jamesian "central consciousness," whose reflections and emotions color the presentation of the storyline and the other characters. The tale is notable for its straightforward, even hard-edged approach to sexuality and divorce. This might reflect the influence of French naturalism on James during the 1880s. Plot summary Laura Wing, an impoverished American girl, is visiting her sister Selina Berrington in London. Selina's husband Lionel, boorish and often drunk, is preparing to divorce his wife for her adultery with Charlie Crispin. Laura challenges Selina about her affair and doubts Selina's protestations of innocence. Lady Davenant, an elderly friend of the family, counsels Laura not to take her sister's marital t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Princess Casamassima
''The Princess Casamassima'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1885 and 1886 and then as a book in 1886. It is the story of an intelligent but confused young London bookbinder, Hyacinth Robinson, who becomes involved in radical politics and a terrorist assassination plot. The book is unusual in the Jamesian canon for dealing with such a violent political subject. But it is often paired with another novel published by James in the same year, ''The Bostonians'', which is also concerned with political issues, though in a much less tragic manner. Plot Amanda Pynsent, an impoverished seamstress, has adopted Hyacinth Robinson, the illegitimate son of her old friend Florentine Vivier, a French woman of less than sterling repute, and an English lord. Florentine had stabbed her lover to death several years ago, and Pinnie (as Miss Pynsent is nicknamed) takes Hyacinth to see her as she lies dying at Millbank prison. Hyacinth eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James. He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between ''émigré ''Americans, English people, and continental Europeans. Examples of such novels include '' The Portrait of a Lady'', ''The Ambassadors'', and ''The Wings of the Dove''. His later works were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanity Fair (novel)
Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in ''The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the title of several magazines including: ** ''Vanity Fair'' (British magazine), 1868–1914 ** ''Vanity Fair'' (American magazine 1913–1936) ** ''Vanity Fair'' (magazine), 1983–present Film * ''Vanity Fair'' (1911 film), directed by Charles Kent * ''Vanity Fair'' (1915 film), a silent film directed by Charles Brabin and made by the Edison Company * ''Vanity Fair'' (1922 film), a silent British film directed by Walter Courtney Rowden * ''Vanity Fair'' (1923 film), a lost silent feature film directed by Hugo Ballin and produced by Samuel Goldwyn, with Prizmacolor sequence * ''Vanity Fair'' (1932 film), directed by Chester M. Franklin and starring Myrna Loy, with the story updated to make Becky Sharp a social-climbing governess * ''V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'', which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Biography Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, British India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864), was the second daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher, who was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. His father was a grandson of Thomas Thackeray (1693–1760), headmaster of Harrow School."THACKE ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mystery Of Edwin Drood
''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870. Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium addict, who lusts after his pupil, Rosa Bud. Miss Bud, Edwin Drood's fiancée, has also caught the eye of the high-spirited and hot-tempered Neville Landless. Landless and Edwin Drood take an instant dislike to each other. Later Drood disappears under mysterious circumstances. The story is set in Cloisterham, a lightly disguised Rochester. Upon the death of Dickens on 9 June 1870, the novel was left unfinished in his writing desk, only six of a planned twelve instalments having been written. He left no detailed plan for the remaining instalments or solution to the novel's mystery, and many later adaptations and continuations by other writers have attempted to complete the story. Summary The novel begins as John Jasper leaves a London opiu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Mutual Friend
''Our Mutual Friend'', written in 1864–1865, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quoting the book's character Bella Wilfer, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life". Most reviewers in the 1860s continued to praise Dickens's skill as a writer in general, but did not review this novel in detail. Some found the plot both too complex and not well laid out. ''The Times'' of London found the first few chapters did not draw the reader into the characters. In the 20th century, however, reviewers began to find much to approve in the later novels of Dickens, including ''Our Mutual Friend''. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some reviewers suggested that Dickens was, in fact, experimenting with structure, and that the characters considered somewhat flat and not recognized by the contemporary reviewers were mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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