Quotation: Sydney on Lessingham: “The words pointed to what it would be courteous to call an Eastern Romance, though it was hard to conceive of the Apostle figuring as the hero of such a theme. It was the old tale retold, that to the life of every man there is a background,-that it is precisely in the unlikeliest cases that the background’s darkest.” (p.132)

Comment: There are multiple connections to be made with past readings in this pair of sentences.  The first sentence reflects Cohen’s thesis of monsters that “the monster dwells at the gates of difference.”  The “people of the Orient” have been looked upon as odd, greedy, cunning, and mannerless throughout the book, making a monster out of them.  Thus, the idea of a respectable white man falling in love with one would have been unfathomable to Victorian England, as Sydney remarks.  The second sentence affirms this belief by having the event considered to make a man’s history dark.  Additionally, it reflects a common theme throughout the novels we’ve read of duality, with some of the most well-loved people having dark sides.  First there was the well-educated Frankenstein with his monster, often interpreted as being two sides of the same coin, with aspects of good and bad shown in both.  These include a sense of humanity and a passion for destruction of the other, respectively.  Then there is the wealthy Rutherford with the madwoman hidden in his attic and the duality of thoughtful Jane Eyre and Bertha’s rage.  Finally, more obvious in showcasing this idea, are Jekyll and Hyde, followed by Dorian Gray. So this motif repeats itself over and over in Gothic literature.

Question: Could Lessingham be based around a particular politician or just the author’s general hatred for politics? And what is Marsh’s experience with Eastern culture; did he ever travel to the Middle East or beyond?