G. K. Chesterton: Difference between revisions

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Chesterton's writing is characterized by a vivid style, with much use of word-play and paradox, and by an often polemical though nearly always hugely good-natured tone. (Typically, he would mock his own large girth and [[Drunken Master|heavy drinking]].) Common themes in "GKC's" writing include the romance of everyday life, the superiority of traditional to modern ideals, and the dignity of the common man and ordinary pleasures such as smoking and drinking, especially as contrasted with the puritanical ''élites'' of either capitalist conservatives or socialist progressives (whose opposition to each other he considered largely a sham). His swashbuckling attitude toward life was exemplified as well in his personal appearance by the brigandly [[Awesome Anachronistic Apparel|broad hat, cape, and sword-stick]] devised for him by his [[Heroes Want Redheads|adored wife, Frances]].

Chesterton had a great influence on many writers, especially in the early twentieth century. He was for many years president of The Detection Club, an organization for writers of [[Mystery Fiction]] (the oath of which, devised by GKC, demanded that members write only [[Fair Play Whodunnit|Fair Play Whodunnits]]); such writers as [[Agatha Christie]], Fr. Ronald Knox, and [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] were co-members. Chesterton's fellow Roman Catholics Hilaire Belloc ([[Heterosexual Life Partners|Chesterton and Belloc]] were collectively nicknamed the [[Portmanteau Couple Name|Chesterbelloc]] by Chesterton's "friendly enemy" [[George Bernard Shaw]]) and [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]] were admirers, and GKC's apologetic writings (especially ''Orthodoxy'' and ''The Everlasting Man'') helped inspire [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] to (re-)convert to Christianity. Golden Age mystery author John Dickson Carr was such a strong admirer that he modeled his most famous character, Dr. Gideon Fell, on Chesterton's appearance. More recently, [[Neil Gaiman]] modeled a character in ''[[The Sandman]]'' after him, got his inspiration for [[Neverwhere|London Below]] from ''The Napoleon of Notting Hill'' (as he relates [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/6915542/Neil-Gaiman-introduces-Neverwhere.html here]), and Gaiman and [[Terry Pratchett]] dedicated ''[[Good Omens]]'' "To G.K. Chesterton: A Man Who Knew What Was Going On."

Chesterton had a great influence on many writers, especially in the early twentieth century. He was for many years president of The Detection Club, an organization for writers of [[File talk:Mystery Fiction]] (the oath of which, devised by GKC, demanded that members write only [[Fair Play Whodunnit|Fair Play Whodunnits]]); such writers as [[Agatha Christie]], Fr. Ronald Knox, and [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] were co-members. Chesterton's fellow Roman Catholics Hilaire Belloc ([[Heterosexual Life Partners|Chesterton and Belloc]] were collectively nicknamed the [[Portmanteau Couple Name|Chesterbelloc]] by Chesterton's "friendly enemy" [[George Bernard Shaw]]) and [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]] were admirers, and GKC's apologetic writings (especially ''Orthodoxy'' and ''The Everlasting Man'') helped inspire [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] to (re-)convert to Christianity. Golden Age mystery author John Dickson Carr was such a strong admirer that he modeled his most famous character, Dr. Gideon Fell, on Chesterton's appearance. More recently, [[Neil Gaiman]] modeled a character in ''[[The Sandman]]'' after him, got his inspiration for [[Neverwhere|London Below]] from ''The Napoleon of Notting Hill'' (as he relates [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/6915542/Neil-Gaiman-introduces-Neverwhere.html here]), and Gaiman and [[Terry Pratchett]] dedicated ''[[Good Omens]]'' "To G.K. Chesterton: A Man Who Knew What Was Going On."

{{examples|Works by G. K. Chesterton with their own trope pages include:}}

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* [[Bored with Insanity]]: Andrew Home in "The Conversion of an Anarchist".

** As well as Gabriel Syme in ''The Man Who Was Thursday''.

* [[~~Colour~~-Coded for Your Convenience]]: A character with '''{{color|maroon|red}}''' hair is ''almost'' always [[Redheaded Hero|Good]] in Chesterton. Less frequently, [[Blond Guys Are Evil]] -- especially if the blondness looks somehow artificial ("'''{{color|yellow|gilded}}'''").

* [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience]]: A character with '''{{color|maroon|red}}''' hair is ''almost'' always [[Redheaded Hero|Good]] in Chesterton. Less frequently, [[Blond Guys Are Evil]] -- especially if the blondness looks somehow artificial ("'''{{color|yellow|gilded}}'''").

** Which may have something to do with the fact that [[Author Appeal|Chesterton's beloved wife was a redhead]].

** Although [[Alliterative Name|Gabriel Gale,]] the protagonist of ''The Poet and the Lunatics'', is blond.

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* [[Happy Ending]]: In keeping with his basic theme of the essential goodness of life, Chesterton nearly always ends his works happily.

* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: ''The Club of Queer Trades''

* [[He Also Did]]: Depending on where you're standing, G.K. Chesterton, the famous detective story author, was also a Catholic apologist, or the great Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton, also wrote [[Mystery Fiction]]. Oh, and he was also a literary critic, a poet, a journalist, and a bit of a cartoonist, as well.

* [[He Also Did]]: Depending on where you're standing, G.K. Chesterton, the famous detective story author, was also a Catholic apologist, or the great Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton, also wrote [[File talk:Mystery Fiction]]. Oh, and he was also a literary critic, a poet, a journalist, and a bit of a cartoonist, as well.

* [[Heel Realization]]: He came to realize how sinful racism is and apparently repented.

* [[Historical Domain Character]]: In ''The Ballad of the White Horse,'' [[Alfred the Great]] and Gunthrum; in his play, ''The Judgement of Dr. Johnson'', Dr. [[Samuel Johnson]], John Boswell, Edmund Burke, ''etc.''

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* [[Mad Mathematician]]: In "The Moderate Murderer" in ''Four Faultless Felons'', Tom Traill's tutor, Hume, affects bizarre behaviour as a means to focus the underdeveloped boy's attention.

* [[Magicians Are Wizards]]: ''Magic''

* [[Make Up Is Evil]]: In ''The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond'', one character comments on how this trope is decreasing.

* [[Make-up Is Evil]]: In ''The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond'', one character comments on how this trope is decreasing.

* [[Meaningful Rename]]: In ''The Return of Don Quixote''.

* [[New Era Speech]]: Three contrasting ones ''by the same character'' in ''The Ball and the Cross''.

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* [[Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat]]: In ''Magic'' Patricia Carleon imagines conjurors must be able to provide meals for themselves inexpensively by pulling rabbits out of their hats.

* [[Real Dreams Are Weirder]]: Analyzed in the essay "[http://inamidst.com/stuff/gkc/dreams Dreams]" as the reason many literary dream sequences don't ring true.

* [[The Reveal]]: One of the bases of [[Mystery Fiction]], of course, but common throughout GKC's work, even his non-fiction, as one of his fundamental themes. It comes clearly to the fore, for instance, in his posthumously published play, ''The Surprise''.

* [[The Reveal]]: One of the bases of [[File talk:Mystery Fiction]], of course, but common throughout GKC's work, even his non-fiction, as one of his fundamental themes. It comes clearly to the fore, for instance, in his posthumously published play, ''The Surprise''.

* [[Revealing Coverup]]: The conspiracy of "The Word" in "The Loyal Traitor" in ''Four Faultless Felons. ''

* [[Rightful King Returns]]: The republic in ''The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond'' is in danger of this.

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[[Category:Mystery Story Creator Index]]

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[[Category:~~G. K. Chesterton~~]]

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