Conundrums for the Long Week-End

by McGregor, Robert Kuhn

• ISBN13: 9780873386654
• ISBN10: 0873386655
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr

Summary

Lord Peter Wimsey -- amateur detective, man of fashion, talented musician, and wealthy intellectual -- is known to legions of readers. His enduring presence and popularity is a tribute to his creator, Dorothy L. Sayers, who brought Lord Peter to life during "the long week-end" between the First and Second World Wars, as British aristocracy began to change, making way for a modern world.

In Conundrums for the Long Week-End, Robert McGregor and Ethan Lewis explore how Sayers used her fictional hero to comment on, and come to terms with, the social upheaval of the time: world wars, the crumbling of the privileged aristocracy, the rise of democracy, and the expanding struggle of women for equality. A reflection of the age, Lord Peter's character changed tremendously, mirroring the developing subtleties of his creator's evolving worldview.

Scholars of the Modern Age, fans of the mystery genre, and admirers of Sayer's fiction are sure to appreciate McGregor and Lewis's incisive examination of the literary, social, and historical context of this prized author's mo

Author Biography

Ethan Lewis teaches in the Department of English at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction: England, Sayers, and Lord Peter	1	(8)
Lord Peter Begins a Career	9	(32)
Lord Peter Discovers the Possibilities	41	(40)
Lord Peter Acquires a Soul	81	(37)
Lord Peter Displays His Range	118	(37)
Lord Peter Achieves a Balance	155	(37)
Lord Peter and the Long Week-End	192	(19)
Appendix A: Coordinated Timeline	211	(6)
Appendix B: On Sayers and the Sonnet	217	(6)
Notes	223	(18)
Bibliography	241	(10)
Index	251