Cathedrals in literature; Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870. Mystery of Edwin Drood; Murder in literature
Beneath Edwin and Rosa is, first, an allegorical female figure, looking
at a placard, headed “LOST,” on a door. Under that, again, is a girl in
a garden-chair; a young man, whiskerless, with wavy hair, kneels and
kisses her hand. She looks rather unimpassioned. I conceive the man to
be Landless, taking leave of Rosa after urging his hopeless suit, for
which Helena, we learn, “seems to compassionate him.” He has avowed his
passion, early in the story, to Crisparkle. Below, the opium hag is
smoking. On the other side, under the figures of Jasper and the Choir,
the young man who kneels to the girl is seen bounding up a spiral
staircase. His left hand is on the iron railing; he stoops over it,
looking down at others who follow him. His right hand, the index finger
protruded, points upward, and, by chance or design, points straight at
Jasper in the vignette above. Beneath this man (clearly Landless)
follows a tall man in a “bowler” hat, a “cut-away” coat, and trousers
which show an inch of white stocking above the low shoes. His profile is
hid by the wall of the spiral staircase: he might be Grewgious of the
shoes, white stockings, and short trousers, but he may be Tartar: he
takes two steps at a stride. Beneath him a youngish man, in a low, soft,
clerical hat and a black pea-coat, ascends, looking downwards and
backwards. This is clearly Crisparkle. A Chinaman is smoking opium
beneath.
In the central lowest space, a dark and whiskered man enters a dark
chamber; his left hand is on the lock of the door; in his right he holds
up a lantern. The light of the lantern reveals a young man in a soft hat
of Tyrolese shape. His features are purely classical, his nose is
Grecian, his locks are long (at least, according to the taste of to-day);
he wears a light paletot, buttoned to the throat; his right arm hangs by
his side; his left hand is thrust into the breast of his coat. He calmly
regards the dark man with the lantern. That man, of course, is Jasper.
The young man is EDWIN DROOD, of the Grecian nose, hyacinthine locks, and
classic features, as in Sir L. Fildes’s third illustration.
Mr. Proctor correctly understood the unmistakable meaning of this last
design, Jasper entering the vault—
“_To-day the dead are living_,
_The lost is found to-day_.”
Mr. Cuming Walters tells us that he did not examine these designs by Mr.
Collins till he had formed his theory, and finished his book. “On the
conclusion of the whole work the pictures were referred to for the first
time, and were then found to support in the most striking manner the
opinions arrived at,” namely, that Drood was killed, and that Helena is
Datchery. Thus does theory blind us to facts!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account