Warleggan (novel)

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Warleggan
Warleggan (novel) cover art.png
Author Winston Graham
CountryCornwall
LanguageEnglish
Series Poldark
Publisher Ward Lock & Co
Publication date
1953
Preceded by Jeremy Poldark  
Followed by The Black Moon  

Warleggan is the fourth of twelve novels in Poldark , a series of historical novels by Winston Graham. It was published in 1953. [1]

Contents

Warleggan continues the story of the Poldark marriage and family. [2] The previous novel in the series ( Jeremy Poldark ) ends on an upbeat in June 1791 with the birth of Jeremy Poldark and a reconciliation and partnership between Francis and Ross Poldark. Warleggan closes on Christmas of 1793 with Elizabeth married to George Warleggan, Dwight Enys engaged to Caroline Penvenen and the marriage of Ross and Demelza on the mend. [3]

The main developments in the novel are the tragic death of Francis Poldark, a sexual interaction between Ross and Elizabeth that a number of commentators regard as rape, [4] Elizabeth's marriage to George Warleggan, the near-destruction of Ross's marriage to Demelza, and ups-and-downs in the passionate relationship between Dwight Enys and Caroline Penvenen. These take place against the backdrop of the French Revolution and England going to war. [5]

The six big houses

The novel opens with the author describing, for the first time in the Poldark series, that in the "coastal triangle of Cornwall lying between Truro, St. Ann's, and St. Michael" there are exactly six "big houses" or "houses inhabited by gentlefolk". These houses, and their occupants, are:

Synopsis

Book One

Book One covers May through September 1792 in seven chapters. The main incident in Book One is the tragic death of Francis Poldark.

France is at war with Austria and this is of considerable interest to the novel's characters, both because they wonder whether France will eventually be at war with England and also because metal needed for munitions in wars might be good for the price of the tin and copper they mine.

These are the main developments:

"As [Ross] rose, he was conscious that his wife's charm and attraction had not been lessened by three years of trial and near poverty. At times it got itself hidden under the everyday mask of work and the routine of living, but this made its emergence all the more startling. At such moments he recognized with instant attention the quality in her that made her attractive to so many men."

– Book 1, Chapter 3

Book Two

"[Ross's] realization again of the facade of mining expectations he had erected on the chance words of this man, uttered four years ago, shook his confidence in himself and in his own judgment. He bitterly blamed himself for his rash overconfidence, for an enthusiasm which in the light of experience looked wanton and silly. He had thrown away a profitable investment in a mine of his own starting and had poured everything he had, and persuaded Francis to do likewise, into a played-out-mine which had failed his father a quarter of a century ago."

– Book 2, Chapter 12

Book Two covers November 1792 through February 1793 in thirteen chapters. The major events are the elopement of Dwight Enys and Caroline Penvenen, and Dwight's discovery of the identity of the smuggling informant.

Book Three

Book Three takes up where Book Two left off, in February 1793. Ten chapters later, it concludes in May 1793.

"It was not only Elizabeth that she [Demelza] could have killed, but Ross. She could have thrown every piece of crockery at him, and knives and forks too. Indeed she could have attacked him knife in hand. Fundamentally there was nothing meek or mild about her. She was a fighter, and it showed now."

– Book 3, Chapter 6

These are the main developments:

Book Four

Book Four covers June 1793 through Christmas Eve 1793 in seven chapters:

"Since the execution of Marie Antoinette, people had become inured to the bloodstained horrors of Paris. The French had gone mad, that was plain. And England was at war. That was the main thing. What fighting there had been had been disappointing and inconclusive, almost as if the combatants hadn't yet got their hearts in it. But even that was a relief to overburdened feelings. More would follow. England was at war. Eventually the insanity would be purged. It was only a matter of time now."

– Book 4, Chapter 4

Television adaptations

The events chronicled in the novel Warleggan are covered in Episodes 5-10 of Season 2 of the television adaptation that commenced in 2015.

Citations

  1. Ellie Friedman and Joyce Carter (October 2014). "The Poldark Series by Winston Graham". National Library Service for the Blind and Disabled/Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  2. "Works of Winston Graham" (PDF). In Profile: A Winston Graham Reader. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. "Warleggan". Pan McMillan. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. 1 2 Winston Graham and Rape
  5. "Novels and Writing". Winston Graham: Author of Poldark. Retrieved 28 July 2020.

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