Armadale (novel)
Encyclopedia
Armadale is a mystery novel by Wilkie Collins
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— the ship turning out to be the same on which the murder took place (the murderer locked his victim in a cabin as the boat filled with water). On the boat, Allan has a mysterious dream involving three characters. This dream fills Ozias with foreboding, its three scenes becoming fulfilled in the course of the novel.
Allan inherits estates at Thorpe Ambrose in Norfolk
after the mysterious death of three of the family. He is unused to wealth, and falls in love with the sixteen-year-old daughter of Major Milroy, to whom he has rented a cottage. This love affair is for a period thwarted by the machinations of Miss Milroy's governess, Lydia Gwilt.
Lydia, who is thirty-five but looks twenty-something, is the villain of the novel and her colourful portrayal takes up much of the rest of the story. Originally Allan’s mother's maid, and a contributor to the conflict between Allan's and Ozias's fathers, she is a fortune-hunter and, it turns out, a murderess. Unable to alienate Allan's affections from Miss Milroy, she settles for marrying Midwinter, having discovered his name is the same. She plots to murder Allan — or to have him killed by her ex-husband, a Spanish desperado — and, since she is now "Mrs. Armadale," to impersonate his widow. Allan escapes the desperado's attempt on his life — he is supposed to have drowned in a shipwreck — and returns to England. Lydia's plans are thus foiled. Her last shot is to murder Allan herself — the weapon being poison gas, the scene being a sanatorium run by a quack called Doctor Downward — but she is thwarted by her own conscience. Midwinter and Allan have switched rooms, and she can't bring herself to murder her true husband, for whom she does have genuine feelings of love. After rescuing Midwinter and writing him a farewell note, she goes into the air-poisoned room and kills herself. Allan marries Miss Milroy; Midwinter, still his best friend, becomes a writer.
Some linking chapters consist of letters between the various characters, but the great majority of the text narrates the events as the characters perceive them. The novel is enlivened by many minor characters including Mr Bashwood, an old failure of a clerk who is infatuated with the beautiful Lydia; his son, James Bashwood, a private detective; Mrs Oldershaw, an unscrupulous associate of Lydia’s; the Pedgifts (father and son), Allan's sometime lawyers; and the Rev Decimus Brock, a shrewd (but not quite shrewd enough) clergymen who brings Allan up but who is kept out of the way for much of the book.
Is the dream to be interpreted rationally or superstitiously, as Midwinter does? The question is never resolved.
“The distortions of the plot, the violent and irrational reactions of the characters, reflect and dramatize the ways in which his readers’ perceptions were distorted by the assumptions and hypocrisies of the society in which they lived," writes Catherine Peters.
In the end, the novel is a story of redemption that teaches that the sins of the fathers are not necessarily visited on the children, and the son of a murderer can turn out good. Collins was to take this up again later in The Legacy of Cain.
based on the novel premiered on 23 April 2008 at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater
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BBC Radio 4
broadcast a three-part adaptation by Robin Brooks of the novel between Sunday 7 and Sunday 21 June 2009. The cast was Lydia, Lucy Robinson; Allan, Alex Robertson; Midwinter, Ray Fearon; Neelie, Perdita Avery; Bashwood, Richard Durden; Downward, Geoffrey Whitehead; Jemmy, Grant Gillespie
; Vincent, Robin Brooks.
In this adaptation, Lydia Gwilt is the narrator, and her character is emphasised rather than Midwinter's forebodings.
in 20 monthly installments. The first installment appeared in the November 1864 issue and the last in the June 1866 issue. It also appeared in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in America in serial form between December 1864 and July 1866. It first appeared in book form as a two volume literary edition in May 1866.
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
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Plot summary
The novel has a convoluted plot about two distant cousins both named Allan Armadale. The father of one had murdered the father of the other (the two fathers are also named Allan Armadale). The story starts with a deathbed confession by the murderer in the form of a letter to be given to his baby son when he grows up. Many years pass. The son, mistreated at home, runs away from his mother and stepfather, and takes up a wandering life under the assumed name of Ozias Midwinter. He becomes a companion to the other Allan Armadale, who throughout the novel never discovers the relationship. But Ozias is constantly haunted by feeling that he might harm Allan, first after he reads the letter left for him, and then again after they spend the night on a shipwreck off the Isle of ManIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
— the ship turning out to be the same on which the murder took place (the murderer locked his victim in a cabin as the boat filled with water). On the boat, Allan has a mysterious dream involving three characters. This dream fills Ozias with foreboding, its three scenes becoming fulfilled in the course of the novel.
Allan inherits estates at Thorpe Ambrose in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
after the mysterious death of three of the family. He is unused to wealth, and falls in love with the sixteen-year-old daughter of Major Milroy, to whom he has rented a cottage. This love affair is for a period thwarted by the machinations of Miss Milroy's governess, Lydia Gwilt.
Lydia, who is thirty-five but looks twenty-something, is the villain of the novel and her colourful portrayal takes up much of the rest of the story. Originally Allan’s mother's maid, and a contributor to the conflict between Allan's and Ozias's fathers, she is a fortune-hunter and, it turns out, a murderess. Unable to alienate Allan's affections from Miss Milroy, she settles for marrying Midwinter, having discovered his name is the same. She plots to murder Allan — or to have him killed by her ex-husband, a Spanish desperado — and, since she is now "Mrs. Armadale," to impersonate his widow. Allan escapes the desperado's attempt on his life — he is supposed to have drowned in a shipwreck — and returns to England. Lydia's plans are thus foiled. Her last shot is to murder Allan herself — the weapon being poison gas, the scene being a sanatorium run by a quack called Doctor Downward — but she is thwarted by her own conscience. Midwinter and Allan have switched rooms, and she can't bring herself to murder her true husband, for whom she does have genuine feelings of love. After rescuing Midwinter and writing him a farewell note, she goes into the air-poisoned room and kills herself. Allan marries Miss Milroy; Midwinter, still his best friend, becomes a writer.
Some linking chapters consist of letters between the various characters, but the great majority of the text narrates the events as the characters perceive them. The novel is enlivened by many minor characters including Mr Bashwood, an old failure of a clerk who is infatuated with the beautiful Lydia; his son, James Bashwood, a private detective; Mrs Oldershaw, an unscrupulous associate of Lydia’s; the Pedgifts (father and son), Allan's sometime lawyers; and the Rev Decimus Brock, a shrewd (but not quite shrewd enough) clergymen who brings Allan up but who is kept out of the way for much of the book.
Is the dream to be interpreted rationally or superstitiously, as Midwinter does? The question is never resolved.
“The distortions of the plot, the violent and irrational reactions of the characters, reflect and dramatize the ways in which his readers’ perceptions were distorted by the assumptions and hypocrisies of the society in which they lived," writes Catherine Peters.
In the end, the novel is a story of redemption that teaches that the sins of the fathers are not necessarily visited on the children, and the son of a murderer can turn out good. Collins was to take this up again later in The Legacy of Cain.
Adaptations
A play by Jeffrey HatcherJeffrey Hatcher
Jeffrey Hatcher is a playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the stage play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just Stage Beauty...
based on the novel premiered on 23 April 2008 at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Repertory Theater, founded by Mary Widrig John in 1954, as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, is now located on the east bank of the Milwaukee River in the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex at 108 E Wells St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to an eleven member Resident Acting Company...
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BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast a three-part adaptation by Robin Brooks of the novel between Sunday 7 and Sunday 21 June 2009. The cast was Lydia, Lucy Robinson; Allan, Alex Robertson; Midwinter, Ray Fearon; Neelie, Perdita Avery; Bashwood, Richard Durden; Downward, Geoffrey Whitehead; Jemmy, Grant Gillespie
Grant Gillespie (writer/actor)
Grant Gillespie is an English novelist and actor who lives in London. His debut novel The Cuckoo Boy was published by London publishing house To Hell with Publishing in May 2010. The novel tells the story of an unusual boy adopted into a middle-class British family anxious to conform, with...
; Vincent, Robin Brooks.
In this adaptation, Lydia Gwilt is the narrator, and her character is emphasised rather than Midwinter's forebodings.
Major Characters in Armadale
- Allan Armadale – hero of the novel
- Ozias Midwinter – His friend
- Lydia Gwilt – Forger and laudanum addict, the anti-heroine of the novel
Minor characters in Armadale
There are many minor characters who, besides advancing the plot, add complexity or comic relief to the novel. They include:- Decimus Brock – A priest and friend of Alan Armadale and Ozias Midwinter. He is a correspondent of Ozias Midwinter and privy to his secret
- Mrs Maria Oldershaw – Lydia Gwilt's partner in crime
- Allan Armadale (1st) – Father of Allan Armadale (2nd)
- Allan Armadale (2nd) – Son of Allan Armadale (1st) and father of the main character Allan Armadale
- Allan Armadale (3rd) – Father of Ozias Midwinter and murderer of Allan Armadale (2nd)
- Mr. Neil – Stepfather to Ozias Midwinter
- Mr. Bashwood; Lydia Gwilt's admirer and Allan Armadale's steward
- Miss Milroy; resident of Thorpe Ambrose and neighbor to Allan Armadale, later to be Armadale's fiance
Publication history
Armadale was first published in serial form in Cornhill MagazineCornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
in 20 monthly installments. The first installment appeared in the November 1864 issue and the last in the June 1866 issue. It also appeared in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in America in serial form between December 1864 and July 1866. It first appeared in book form as a two volume literary edition in May 1866.