Azemia
Encyclopedia
Azemia is a satirical
novel
, written by William Thomas Beckford
, that was first published in 1797. The book parodies what Beckford considered sensationalist writing, as well as political issues of the time.
Chapter 2- Captain Wappingshot leaves Muzzled-Abib on Barbary Coast
.
Chapter 3- Charles Arnold, a ship hand, discovers Azemia and instantly falls in love with her and writes a poem. They arrive in England.
Chapter 4- Charles attempts to convey his love to Azemia but she does not understand English so he uses his eyes and she understands. She loves him too because he is the only friendly face she has seen thus far. Mrs. Periwinkle and her daughter Miss Sally agree to take Azemia under their care.
Chapter 5- The narrator (under the pretense that the narrator is a woman) digresses and muses how women can be good writers if the criteria is that they have to understand themselves if men are not even very good at that. The narrator then goes on to promise the reader not to write about slavery so as not to offend the slaves and also to show the proper respect for nobles.
Chapter 6- Mrs. Periwinkle attempts to introduce Azemia to the Duke that employs her. However, the Duke takes sick with the gout
and Azemia is forced to stay with Lady Belinda, one of the Duke’s close friends.
Chapter 7- Wildcodger proposes to hang painting of food to make the hungry feel full and houses so the homeless will feel as though they have shelter.
Chapter 8- Reverend Solomon Sheepend is introduced and Miss Ironside sets out to teach Azemia how to speak English.
Chapter 9-A feud between Reverend Solomon who writes poetry in blank verse
and Iphanissa who writes Italian sonnets is discussed.
Chapter 10- Reverend Solomon has become very fond of Azemia and wishes to marry her. However, he learns that he must convert her to Christianity if this is to be possible. He writes a 3,996 line poem to show his love, it goes relatively unnoticed. Also, Miss Ironside becomes upset with Azemia for allegedly seducing her nephew, Reverend Solomon. Mrs. Blandford takes Azemia because she reminds Mrs. Blandford of her deceased daughter. Mrs. Blandford finishes teaching Azemia English.
Story of Another Blue Beard:
Mr. Grimshaw is the Esquire
of a manor who is very cruel to his subordinates and especially wife. His current wife attempts to escape from his manor by the help of the ghost of deceased wife but her plan is thwarted and she is held captive. Mr. Grimshaw throws Mrs. Grimshaw in the dungeon for over a year sometimes going days with only bread and water. On a second attempt at escape, Mrs. Grimshaw meets an old family friend, Mr. Auberry, who had come to check on her well-being. Mr. Auberry learns of her misfortunes but cannot help her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Grimshaw learns that the ghost is Gertrude Grimshaw and that Mr. Grimshaw had killed her and her brother so they now walk the castle at midnight (the time of their deaths). Finally, Mrs. Grimshaw escapes with the help of the ghosts and Mr. Auberry who she then marries.
Chapter 2-Azemia is in the midst of a get together with Mr. Gallstone, Sir Baptist Bamboozle, Mrs. Albuzzi, and Dr. Prose. Mrs. Albuzzi mentions a servant of Azemia’s but Mrs. Albuzzi neglects to elaborate and it is never brought up again.
Chapter 3-Due to the fact that Azemia is foreign, Mrs. Blandford’s social standing is elevated amongst her cultivated friends. Mrs. Blandford hosts a dinner party.
Chapter 4-Azemia comments on the hypocrisy of the British women by saying that, with very few exceptions, they do “nothing but find fault in each other.”
Chapter 5-Charles Arnold along with his servant, Bat, is travelling back to see Azemia after a year at sea.
Chapter 6-Azemia enters a dark, black mausoleum
. A bell tolls, a form appears and Azemia faints. It turns out to be Lord Scudabout who scared her on purpose.
Chapter 7- Colonel and Lady Arsinoe Brusque host a dinner party where multiple distinguished guests talk about politics and poetry.
Chapter 8-Azemia is put off by the antics and masks at a grand masquerade
. Azemia is followed by a man who she finds very annoying. The man is revealed to be Mr. Perkly, a childhood friend of Charles Arnold.
Chapter 9-Mrs. Blandford, Azemia, and Mr. Perkly are riding back home in Mr. Perkly’s carriages. They are stopped when the driver of Azemia and Mrs. Blandford’s cart is missing a lynchpin. They notice a small cabin and attempt to take rest there but discover that the inhabitants are stricken by extreme poverty and are dying of malnutrition. Mrs. Blandford is horrified by their predicament and hires a nurse and an apothecary
to come to their aide. Mrs. Blandford and Mr. Perkly also have a heated discussion about moral and economic issues dealing with the poor, Mrs. Blandford finds Mr. Perkly’s views to be cold and moronic.
Chapter 10- Mrs. Blandford leaves Azemia alone because she is called upon by an ailing friend in London. Mr. Perkly visits the house while she is away but is sent off by Azemia. Mrs. Blandford sends for Azemia to come to London but Azemia’s coach takes her through a dark forest and eventually back to the Duke’s manor and Miss Sally. It is then apparent that the Duke instructed Mr. Perkly to befriend Azemia and Mrs. Blandford so as to seize Azemia when the opportunity arose.
Chapter 11-After a few weeks with Azemia under his care, the Duke falls madly in love with her. The Duke takes leave of his manor on business and leaves Azemia mostly unattended. She uses this opportunity to walk about the grounds late at night. While on one of her walks, Azemia is captured by three ruffians who are torturing rabbits.
Chapter 12-Azemia is being led to a deserted cabin when they cross a road and a gun fight ensues between the lead ruffian and an oncoming traveler. Two of the captors flee the scene and the leader sustained a gunshot wound. The traveler is Charles Arnold, who has been shot in the arm. He takes Azemia to his uncle’s house and Bat removes the bullet from Charles Arnold’s arm.
Chapter 13-Charles wants to marry Azemia but only has 200 pounds and a lieutenant’s salary to support them with. Both his uncle and Mrs. Blandford give them large sums of money so they can be wed.
Birkabeba-Azemia’s Grandmother. Favors and educates her granddaughter
Hamet-beig-Azemia’s father.
Oglow Mule-Azemia’s Betrothed, a very rich merchant
.
Muzzled-Abib-Govenor of Oglow’s harem, captured with Azemia and dropped off at Barbary Coast.
Captain Wappingshot-Old man, capturer of Azemia.
Charles Arnold-Very handsome lieutenant. Marries Azemia.
Lady Belinda- The Duke’s close friend.
Wildcodger-Very Smart, Azemia stays with him for a small time.
Miss Grisadela Ursala Ironside- Cares for Azemia but gives her away due to jealousy.
Reverend Solomon Sheepend- Miss Ironside’s nephew, a poet, falls in love with Azemia.
Mrs. Blandford-The primary caretaker of Azemia.
Mr. Grimshaw- Very wealthy man, extremely mean.
Mr. & Mrs. Walling- find Mrs. Grinmshaw outside their house. Listen to her story.
Mr. Auberry-Mrs. Grimshaw’s friend and eventual rescuer and husband.
Lord Scudabout-Young Irish nobleman.
Colonel Brusque-Lifelong military man, unpleasant to be around.
Mr. Perkly-Charles Arnold’s alleged childhood friend.
Bat- Charles Arnold’s faithful servant.
Mr. Winyard-Charles Arnold’s uncle.
Critics, however, were not fooled by Azemias pseudonym, Miss Jenks, and in fact many aligned its author with that of “The Right Honorable Lady Harriet Marlow”, which is the pseudonym used by Beckford in writing The Modern Novel. Such a connection was made apparent in Azemia’s dedication to Lady Marlow., The British Critic rightly identified the similarity between these two of Beckford’s works, but went so far as to claim the topic as “exhausted in the first attempt”; the “first attempt” being The Modern Novel, which had been reviewed in the journal’s previous volume. Furthermore, the novel’s author was assumed to be male, thus “false delicacy” was not assumed by the reviewer.
In an attempt to counter the unveiling of Azemia’s author as male, Beckford revised subsequent editions of the work to include an “Address”, which deals directly with the assumption that Modern Novel Writing, and this by association of authorship, Azemia, were written by a male, more specifically Robert Merry. His justification comes in the form of a parable, prefaced by yet another stab at feminine inferiority cloaked as humility, called “Edward and Ellen”. The story, having nothing to do with the novel itself, if merely meant to illustrate through its supposed shared authorship by Miss Jenks, that the author of Azemia is undoubtedly female.
For a time, their situation seems to improve, as both the lovers are employed. However, Edward, who had become “upper groom to a Nobleman”, soon regained a taste for the world of gambling, and became mixed up in a situation that caused both him and Ellen to be fired from their posts. Once again destitute, and now with a newborn son, Edward enters into one last scheme for monetary gain, but this time is caught and thrown into prison. The results of his trial mean that he will be shipped to Botany Bay
in New South Wales, Australia. Ellen, believing that she will accompany him, readies herself to once again loyally follow Edward down the path of ruin. Yet at the last moment, she discovers she cannot join him in Australia. Desperate and downtrodden, unable to care for her son alone and impassioned by the prospect of losing her husband forever, Ellen acts on a piece of cruel advice to commit a crime herself, that she might be sent to Australia as well. She frantically goes out and steals fabric from a store, but as her theft amounts to more than forty shillings’ value, she is sentenced to death. Tragically, her son dies as Ellen awaits her sentence, and Edward is taken away to fulfill his own sentence. He finds out about her fate just before he embarks by boat for Australia, and “it was supposed he found means to go overboard in the night; for on the following day he was missing, and never heard of more.
The tragic circumstances of their downfall are blamed on avarice, of Edward’s father and of society in creating such a harsh punishment for Ellen’s theft. (21). Thus the opening tale ends, as much as a cautionary tale meant to instill a sense of moderation and reflection in the reader, as an example of “the feeble feminine mind, where pity often supersedes justice”
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, written by William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
, that was first published in 1797. The book parodies what Beckford considered sensationalist writing, as well as political issues of the time.
Volume I
Chapter 1- We learn that Azemia is the 45th daughter of Hamet-beig, who is the leader of a harem and does not know his daughter very well. She is very close with her grandmother, Birkabeba, though. We also find out that Azemia’s betrothed, Oglow, has sent for her to join him in Marseilles. She leaves immediately and is accompanied by Muzzled-Abib. On the third day of her journey, Azemia’s ship is attacked and Captain Wappingshot holds her and Muzzled-Abib prisoner.Chapter 2- Captain Wappingshot leaves Muzzled-Abib on Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast
The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...
.
Chapter 3- Charles Arnold, a ship hand, discovers Azemia and instantly falls in love with her and writes a poem. They arrive in England.
Chapter 4- Charles attempts to convey his love to Azemia but she does not understand English so he uses his eyes and she understands. She loves him too because he is the only friendly face she has seen thus far. Mrs. Periwinkle and her daughter Miss Sally agree to take Azemia under their care.
Chapter 5- The narrator (under the pretense that the narrator is a woman) digresses and muses how women can be good writers if the criteria is that they have to understand themselves if men are not even very good at that. The narrator then goes on to promise the reader not to write about slavery so as not to offend the slaves and also to show the proper respect for nobles.
Chapter 6- Mrs. Periwinkle attempts to introduce Azemia to the Duke that employs her. However, the Duke takes sick with the gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
and Azemia is forced to stay with Lady Belinda, one of the Duke’s close friends.
Chapter 7- Wildcodger proposes to hang painting of food to make the hungry feel full and houses so the homeless will feel as though they have shelter.
Chapter 8- Reverend Solomon Sheepend is introduced and Miss Ironside sets out to teach Azemia how to speak English.
Chapter 9-A feud between Reverend Solomon who writes poetry in blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
and Iphanissa who writes Italian sonnets is discussed.
Chapter 10- Reverend Solomon has become very fond of Azemia and wishes to marry her. However, he learns that he must convert her to Christianity if this is to be possible. He writes a 3,996 line poem to show his love, it goes relatively unnoticed. Also, Miss Ironside becomes upset with Azemia for allegedly seducing her nephew, Reverend Solomon. Mrs. Blandford takes Azemia because she reminds Mrs. Blandford of her deceased daughter. Mrs. Blandford finishes teaching Azemia English.
Story of Another Blue Beard:
Mr. Grimshaw is the Esquire
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
of a manor who is very cruel to his subordinates and especially wife. His current wife attempts to escape from his manor by the help of the ghost of deceased wife but her plan is thwarted and she is held captive. Mr. Grimshaw throws Mrs. Grimshaw in the dungeon for over a year sometimes going days with only bread and water. On a second attempt at escape, Mrs. Grimshaw meets an old family friend, Mr. Auberry, who had come to check on her well-being. Mr. Auberry learns of her misfortunes but cannot help her. Meanwhile, Mrs. Grimshaw learns that the ghost is Gertrude Grimshaw and that Mr. Grimshaw had killed her and her brother so they now walk the castle at midnight (the time of their deaths). Finally, Mrs. Grimshaw escapes with the help of the ghosts and Mr. Auberry who she then marries.
Volume II
Chapter 1- The main story line is resumed and the reader finds that Revered Solomon is in deep mourning because he loves Azemia and she is not in his possession.Chapter 2-Azemia is in the midst of a get together with Mr. Gallstone, Sir Baptist Bamboozle, Mrs. Albuzzi, and Dr. Prose. Mrs. Albuzzi mentions a servant of Azemia’s but Mrs. Albuzzi neglects to elaborate and it is never brought up again.
Chapter 3-Due to the fact that Azemia is foreign, Mrs. Blandford’s social standing is elevated amongst her cultivated friends. Mrs. Blandford hosts a dinner party.
Chapter 4-Azemia comments on the hypocrisy of the British women by saying that, with very few exceptions, they do “nothing but find fault in each other.”
Chapter 5-Charles Arnold along with his servant, Bat, is travelling back to see Azemia after a year at sea.
Chapter 6-Azemia enters a dark, black mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
. A bell tolls, a form appears and Azemia faints. It turns out to be Lord Scudabout who scared her on purpose.
Chapter 7- Colonel and Lady Arsinoe Brusque host a dinner party where multiple distinguished guests talk about politics and poetry.
Chapter 8-Azemia is put off by the antics and masks at a grand masquerade
Masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :...
. Azemia is followed by a man who she finds very annoying. The man is revealed to be Mr. Perkly, a childhood friend of Charles Arnold.
Chapter 9-Mrs. Blandford, Azemia, and Mr. Perkly are riding back home in Mr. Perkly’s carriages. They are stopped when the driver of Azemia and Mrs. Blandford’s cart is missing a lynchpin. They notice a small cabin and attempt to take rest there but discover that the inhabitants are stricken by extreme poverty and are dying of malnutrition. Mrs. Blandford is horrified by their predicament and hires a nurse and an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
to come to their aide. Mrs. Blandford and Mr. Perkly also have a heated discussion about moral and economic issues dealing with the poor, Mrs. Blandford finds Mr. Perkly’s views to be cold and moronic.
Chapter 10- Mrs. Blandford leaves Azemia alone because she is called upon by an ailing friend in London. Mr. Perkly visits the house while she is away but is sent off by Azemia. Mrs. Blandford sends for Azemia to come to London but Azemia’s coach takes her through a dark forest and eventually back to the Duke’s manor and Miss Sally. It is then apparent that the Duke instructed Mr. Perkly to befriend Azemia and Mrs. Blandford so as to seize Azemia when the opportunity arose.
Chapter 11-After a few weeks with Azemia under his care, the Duke falls madly in love with her. The Duke takes leave of his manor on business and leaves Azemia mostly unattended. She uses this opportunity to walk about the grounds late at night. While on one of her walks, Azemia is captured by three ruffians who are torturing rabbits.
Chapter 12-Azemia is being led to a deserted cabin when they cross a road and a gun fight ensues between the lead ruffian and an oncoming traveler. Two of the captors flee the scene and the leader sustained a gunshot wound. The traveler is Charles Arnold, who has been shot in the arm. He takes Azemia to his uncle’s house and Bat removes the bullet from Charles Arnold’s arm.
Chapter 13-Charles wants to marry Azemia but only has 200 pounds and a lieutenant’s salary to support them with. Both his uncle and Mrs. Blandford give them large sums of money so they can be wed.
Character List
Azemia-The heroine of the story. Captured from a ship sailing to Marseilles and brought to England.Birkabeba-Azemia’s Grandmother. Favors and educates her granddaughter
Hamet-beig-Azemia’s father.
Oglow Mule-Azemia’s Betrothed, a very rich merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
.
Muzzled-Abib-Govenor of Oglow’s harem, captured with Azemia and dropped off at Barbary Coast.
Captain Wappingshot-Old man, capturer of Azemia.
Charles Arnold-Very handsome lieutenant. Marries Azemia.
Lady Belinda- The Duke’s close friend.
Wildcodger-Very Smart, Azemia stays with him for a small time.
Miss Grisadela Ursala Ironside- Cares for Azemia but gives her away due to jealousy.
Reverend Solomon Sheepend- Miss Ironside’s nephew, a poet, falls in love with Azemia.
Mrs. Blandford-The primary caretaker of Azemia.
Mr. Grimshaw- Very wealthy man, extremely mean.
Mr. & Mrs. Walling- find Mrs. Grinmshaw outside their house. Listen to her story.
Mr. Auberry-Mrs. Grimshaw’s friend and eventual rescuer and husband.
Lord Scudabout-Young Irish nobleman.
Colonel Brusque-Lifelong military man, unpleasant to be around.
Mr. Perkly-Charles Arnold’s alleged childhood friend.
Bat- Charles Arnold’s faithful servant.
Mr. Winyard-Charles Arnold’s uncle.
Authorship
Beckford attempted to solidify the identity of Azemia’s false authoress, Jacquette Agenta Mariana Jenks, by including a rather flowery letter of dedication “To the Right Honourable Lady Harriet Marlow”, which presents the novel as an “inferior production” being given to Lady Marlow by an admiring fan. In this dedication, Beckford subtly weaved the kind of feminine sentimentality that the novel is purported to critique, in admitting the story as an indulgence of “the trepidating tenderness of a too sensible imagination”. The Minvera Press, seen as the target of Beckford’s critique, was a large presence in publishing during Beckford’s time.Critics, however, were not fooled by Azemias pseudonym, Miss Jenks, and in fact many aligned its author with that of “The Right Honorable Lady Harriet Marlow”, which is the pseudonym used by Beckford in writing The Modern Novel. Such a connection was made apparent in Azemia’s dedication to Lady Marlow., The British Critic rightly identified the similarity between these two of Beckford’s works, but went so far as to claim the topic as “exhausted in the first attempt”; the “first attempt” being The Modern Novel, which had been reviewed in the journal’s previous volume. Furthermore, the novel’s author was assumed to be male, thus “false delicacy” was not assumed by the reviewer.
In an attempt to counter the unveiling of Azemia’s author as male, Beckford revised subsequent editions of the work to include an “Address”, which deals directly with the assumption that Modern Novel Writing, and this by association of authorship, Azemia, were written by a male, more specifically Robert Merry. His justification comes in the form of a parable, prefaced by yet another stab at feminine inferiority cloaked as humility, called “Edward and Ellen”. The story, having nothing to do with the novel itself, if merely meant to illustrate through its supposed shared authorship by Miss Jenks, that the author of Azemia is undoubtedly female.
Edward and Ellen
“Edward and Ellen” includes both title characters and the tragedy that precipitates from immoral decisions. Ellen is the fairest daughter of Mayfield, a modest farmer. She fosters attachment to her playmate Edward Willis, who is six years her senior. After six years pass in which she fears he has forgotten her, Edward returns and is so taken with her that he “wishes the dreams of their happy infancy might be realized, and that she whom he had then playfully elected might become his wife”. However, Edward’s miserly father will not allow their union, and Ellen’s father forbids the young lovers to see one another if Edward will not marry his daughter. Edward comes into company with a Mr. Northam, who ultimately introduces him to the immoderate worlds of drinking and gambling, leading to Edward’s degeneration. In his morally weak state, Edward connives to have Ellen run off with him, which she does out of devotion. For a time they are happy together, until Edward begins to neglect her and ultimately admits, “I am an undone wretch- and I have undone thee”, as he has fallen into debt and creditors seize all his belongings. Ellen, being loyal to the man she loves, agrees to stay with him and try to remedy their situation, by working at whatever job she can find.For a time, their situation seems to improve, as both the lovers are employed. However, Edward, who had become “upper groom to a Nobleman”, soon regained a taste for the world of gambling, and became mixed up in a situation that caused both him and Ellen to be fired from their posts. Once again destitute, and now with a newborn son, Edward enters into one last scheme for monetary gain, but this time is caught and thrown into prison. The results of his trial mean that he will be shipped to Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
in New South Wales, Australia. Ellen, believing that she will accompany him, readies herself to once again loyally follow Edward down the path of ruin. Yet at the last moment, she discovers she cannot join him in Australia. Desperate and downtrodden, unable to care for her son alone and impassioned by the prospect of losing her husband forever, Ellen acts on a piece of cruel advice to commit a crime herself, that she might be sent to Australia as well. She frantically goes out and steals fabric from a store, but as her theft amounts to more than forty shillings’ value, she is sentenced to death. Tragically, her son dies as Ellen awaits her sentence, and Edward is taken away to fulfill his own sentence. He finds out about her fate just before he embarks by boat for Australia, and “it was supposed he found means to go overboard in the night; for on the following day he was missing, and never heard of more.
The tragic circumstances of their downfall are blamed on avarice, of Edward’s father and of society in creating such a harsh punishment for Ellen’s theft. (21). Thus the opening tale ends, as much as a cautionary tale meant to instill a sense of moderation and reflection in the reader, as an example of “the feeble feminine mind, where pity often supersedes justice”