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Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 - 7 February 1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Three of his best known works are Uncle Silas, "Carmilla" and The House by the Churchyard.Sheridan Le Fanu was born at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family of Huguenot origins. His parents were Thomas Philip Le Fanu and Emma Lucretia Dobbin. Both his grandmother Alicia Sheridan LeFanu and his great-uncle Richard Brinsley Sheridan were playwrights (his niece Rhoda Broughton would become a successful novelist). Within a year of his birth his family moved to the Royal Hibernian Military School in the Phoenix Park, where his father, a Church of Ireland clergyman, was appointed to the chaplaincy of the establishment. The Phoenix Park and the adjacent village and parish church of Chapelizod would appear in Le Fanu's later stories.In 1826 the family moved to Abington, County Limerick, where Le Fanu's father Thomas took up his second rectorship in southern Ireland. Although he had a tutor, Le Fanu also used his father's library to educate himself. His father was a stern Protestant churchman and raised his family in an almost Calvinist tradition.In 1832 the disorders of the Tithe War (1831-1836) affected the region. There were about six thousand Catholics in the parish of Abington, and only a few dozen members of the Church of Ireland. (In bad weather the Dean cancelled Sunday services because so few parishioners would attend.) However, the government compelled all farmers, including Catholics, to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Protestant church. The following year the family moved back temporarily to Dublin, to Williamstown Avenue in a southern suburb, where Thomas was to work on a Government commission.Although Thomas Le Fanu tried to live as though he were well-off, the family was in constant financial difficulty. Thomas took the rectorships in the south of Ireland for the money, as they provided a decent living through tithes. However, from 1830, as the result of agitation against the tithes, this income began to fall and it ceased entirely two years later. In 1838 the government instituted a scheme of paying rectors a fixed sum, but in the interim the Dean had little besides rent on some small properties he had inherited. In 1833 Thomas had to borrow #65533;100 from his cousin Captain Dobbins (who himself ended up in the debtors' prison a few years later) to visit his dying sister in Bath, who was also deeply in debt over her medical bills. At his death Thomas had almost nothing to leave to his sons and the family had to sell his library to pay off some of his debts. His widow went to stay with the younger son William.… (más)
I read the story, 'A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family' (1839) in Ghost Stories and Mysteries [of J. Sheridan LeFanu, (more usually spelled 'Le Fanu')], According to Mr. Bleiler's introduction, this story has been cited as a source for a famous novel. Unlike Mr. Bleiler, I won't name that novel. I think anyone who knows the plot of that classic will too easily guess what's going on in this story. Also according to Mr. Bleiler, Le Fanu reused the basic plot, with changes, in his novel The Wyvern Mystery.
This story comes from The Purcell Papers. The author writes as an unnamed narrator who inherited the papers. This time the late Francis Purcell wrote down what he heard from a lady he met almost 20 years ago. He used the first person as that is the way he wrote the story down. (Names have been changed by the narrator to protect the innocent.)
Our unfortunate heroine, Fanny, was the younger of two daughters, the only children of a rich man of county Tyrone. Her father never forgave her for not being a son, and her mother was very worldly. Her sister was affectionate, but she got married and moved away while the heroine was still a child. This was back when travel took a long time. You could send letters, but there were no phone calls, e-mail, or Skype.
Mrs. Richardson starts looking for a husband for Fanny when the girl was only 16. Much to the mother's pleasure, a Lord Glenfallen wants to marry the girl. The conversation between Fanny and her mother on this subject would have made my jaw drop were I not already a fan of Georgette Heyer Regency romances. Frankly, I don't think Mrs. Richardson deserves to be called a mother.
After the wedding, the couple go to one of the Glenfallen estates, Cahergillagh. It takes three days to get there, but it's a lovely place with a forest and lake. I loved Lord Glenfallen's description of the place as they're arriving.
Fanny sees something mysterious when she's about to enter their rooms. Old Martha the housekeeper is frightened when she hears about it. Old Martha saw it herself when she was a child and something bad happened. Something bad always happens when a Glenfallen or one of their people sees it.
Fanny's husband asks her to promise to not to go to some parts of the mansion. She promises. About a month later, she finds a middle-aged blind woman in her bedroom. They have a most unpleasant conversation. Afterward, Fanny discovers her husband's personality changing for the worse.
A second conversation with the blind woman is even more unpleasant. It seems as if the mysterious vision might be a true omen.
Notes:
a. In this case, 'P.P' probably means 'parish priest'.
b. 'Ipsissima verba' is Latin. When one quotes 'ipsissima verba', the words are quoted exactly as originally written or said.
c. The footnote about Purcell's interest in the supernatural and its effect on his stories makes more sense if you know that The Purcell Papers included several ghost stories.
d. A trull is a prostitute.
e. The woman of Endor is better known as the witch of Endor from the first book of Samuel in the Bible.
f. A 'rake' in this case is short for 'rakehell'. Considering what men called rakes were generally doing (among other things, having plenty of sex outside of marriage), I have to smile at Fanny using the term for herself.
g. Mentions: Bluebeard and the Archangel Gabriel.
After reading this story, I can believe it inspired that classic novel. I feel very sorry for young Fanny. She goes through some experiences which would be hard on even an adult woman today. ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
INTRODUCTION. In the following narrative, I have endeavoured, to give as nearly as possible the 'ipsissima verba' of the valued friend from whom I received it, conscious that any aberration from her mode of retelling the tale of her own life, would at once impair its accuracy and its effect.
Citas
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
My father had never seemed to love, or to take an interest in me. He had desired a son, and I think he never thoroughly forgave me my unfortunate sex. My having come into the world at all as his child, he regarded as a kind of fraudulent intrusion, and, his antipathy to me had its origin in an imperfection of mine, too radical for removal, I never even hoped to stand high in his good graces.
'You must not, my love,' said Lord Glenfallen, 'imagine this place worse than it is. I have no taste for antiquity, at least I should not choose a house to reside in because it is old. Indeed I do not recollect that I was even so romantic as to overcome my aversion to rats and rheumatism, those faithful attendants upon your noble relics of feudalism; and I much prefer a snug, modern, unmysterious bedroom, with well-aired sheets, to the waving tapestry, mildewed cushions, and all the other interesting appliances of romance; however, though I cannot promise you all the discomfort generally pertaining to an old castle, you will find legends and ghostly lore enough to claim your respect; and if old Martha be still to the fore, as I trust she is, you will soon have a supernatural and appropriate anecdote for every closet and corner of the mansion; but here we are -- so, without more ado, welcome to Cahergillagh.'
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Thus ends a brief tale, whose prominent incidents many will recognize as having marked the history of a distinguished family, and though it refers to a somewhat distant date, we shall be found not to have taken, upon that account, any liberties with facts, but in our statement of all the incidents, to have rigorously and faithfully adhered to the truth.
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 - 7 February 1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Three of his best known works are Uncle Silas, "Carmilla" and The House by the Churchyard.Sheridan Le Fanu was born at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family of Huguenot origins. His parents were Thomas Philip Le Fanu and Emma Lucretia Dobbin. Both his grandmother Alicia Sheridan LeFanu and his great-uncle Richard Brinsley Sheridan were playwrights (his niece Rhoda Broughton would become a successful novelist). Within a year of his birth his family moved to the Royal Hibernian Military School in the Phoenix Park, where his father, a Church of Ireland clergyman, was appointed to the chaplaincy of the establishment. The Phoenix Park and the adjacent village and parish church of Chapelizod would appear in Le Fanu's later stories.In 1826 the family moved to Abington, County Limerick, where Le Fanu's father Thomas took up his second rectorship in southern Ireland. Although he had a tutor, Le Fanu also used his father's library to educate himself. His father was a stern Protestant churchman and raised his family in an almost Calvinist tradition.In 1832 the disorders of the Tithe War (1831-1836) affected the region. There were about six thousand Catholics in the parish of Abington, and only a few dozen members of the Church of Ireland. (In bad weather the Dean cancelled Sunday services because so few parishioners would attend.) However, the government compelled all farmers, including Catholics, to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Protestant church. The following year the family moved back temporarily to Dublin, to Williamstown Avenue in a southern suburb, where Thomas was to work on a Government commission.Although Thomas Le Fanu tried to live as though he were well-off, the family was in constant financial difficulty. Thomas took the rectorships in the south of Ireland for the money, as they provided a decent living through tithes. However, from 1830, as the result of agitation against the tithes, this income began to fall and it ceased entirely two years later. In 1838 the government instituted a scheme of paying rectors a fixed sum, but in the interim the Dean had little besides rent on some small properties he had inherited. In 1833 Thomas had to borrow #65533;100 from his cousin Captain Dobbins (who himself ended up in the debtors' prison a few years later) to visit his dying sister in Bath, who was also deeply in debt over her medical bills. At his death Thomas had almost nothing to leave to his sons and the family had to sell his library to pay off some of his debts. His widow went to stay with the younger son William.
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This story comes from The Purcell Papers. The author writes as an unnamed narrator who inherited the papers. This time the late Francis Purcell wrote down what he heard from a lady he met almost 20 years ago. He used the first person as that is the way he wrote the story down. (Names have been changed by the narrator to protect the innocent.)
Our unfortunate heroine, Fanny, was the younger of two daughters, the only children of a rich man of county Tyrone. Her father never forgave her for not being a son, and her mother was very worldly. Her sister was affectionate, but she got married and moved away while the heroine was still a child. This was back when travel took a long time. You could send letters, but there were no phone calls, e-mail, or Skype.
Mrs. Richardson starts looking for a husband for Fanny when the girl was only 16. Much to the mother's pleasure, a Lord Glenfallen wants to marry the girl. The conversation between Fanny and her mother on this subject would have made my jaw drop were I not already a fan of Georgette Heyer Regency romances. Frankly, I don't think Mrs. Richardson deserves to be called a mother.
After the wedding, the couple go to one of the Glenfallen estates, Cahergillagh. It takes three days to get there, but it's a lovely place with a forest and lake. I loved Lord Glenfallen's description of the place as they're arriving.
Fanny sees something mysterious when she's about to enter their rooms. Old Martha the housekeeper is frightened when she hears about it. Old Martha saw it herself when she was a child and something bad happened. Something bad always happens when a Glenfallen or one of their people sees it.
Fanny's husband asks her to promise to not to go to some parts of the mansion. She promises. About a month later, she finds a middle-aged blind woman in her bedroom. They have a most unpleasant conversation. Afterward, Fanny discovers her husband's personality changing for the worse.
A second conversation with the blind woman is even more unpleasant. It seems as if the mysterious vision might be a true omen.
Notes:
a. In this case, 'P.P' probably means 'parish priest'.
b. 'Ipsissima verba' is Latin. When one quotes 'ipsissima verba', the words are quoted exactly as originally written or said.
c. The footnote about Purcell's interest in the supernatural and its effect on his stories makes more sense if you know that The Purcell Papers included several ghost stories.
d. A trull is a prostitute.
e. The woman of Endor is better known as the witch of Endor from the first book of Samuel in the Bible.
f. A 'rake' in this case is short for 'rakehell'. Considering what men called rakes were generally doing (among other things, having plenty of sex outside of marriage), I have to smile at Fanny using the term for herself.
g. Mentions: Bluebeard and the Archangel Gabriel.
After reading this story, I can believe it inspired that classic novel. I feel very sorry for young Fanny. She goes through some experiences which would be hard on even an adult woman today. (