Oxford is also a town that seems vaguely mysterious because of the gothic nature of the buildings. and Harriet references the poet Matthew Arnold when she mentions it spires Arnold wrote of Oxford's "dreaming spires" in his poem Thyrsis. Oxford is an old city, steeped in tradition. Harriet Vane, describing her feelings about Oxford.
It might be an old and an old-fashioned city, with inconvenient buildings and narrow streets where the passersby squabbed foolishly about the right of way but her foundations were set upon the holy hills and her spires touched Heaven. In the glamour of one Gaudy night, one could realize that one was a citizen of no mean city. Lord Peter Wimsey sets great store by wit, and sharpness of mind, and so is rather scathing about anyone who over-uses quotations without ever coming up with an original thought or observation of their own. The frequent use of quotations does need some level of understanding, to make sure that it is relevant to the situation into which it is being interjected, but it also requires no original thought whatsoever, and so requires only that the "quotationer" has a good memory, rather than a quick wit. By continually quoting from the brilliance of others, one is able to sound insightful and erudite whilst simulatenously being neither. Perhaps one should take this admonishment as a warning not to set too much store by a quote after all, Wimsey is right, in many ways. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Ī facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. But which of the apparently rational, respectable dons could be committing such crazed acts? When a desperate undergraduate, at her wits' end after receiving a series of particularly savage letters, attempts to drown herself, Harriet decides that it is time to ask Lord Peter Wimsey for help.These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the 'Gaudy', the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obscenities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters - including one that says, 'Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup.' Some of the notes threaten murder and one of them involves a long Latin quotation, which makes Harriet suspect that the perpetrator is probably a member of the Senior Common Room. Categories Adult Fiction, Crime, Thriller and Mysteries, Cosy Crime
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