Lorna Doone
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 Jan Ridd learns to fire a gun | |
| Original Title: | Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor |
|---|---|
| Written by: | R. D. Blackmore |
| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | |
| Genre(s): | Historical romance |
| First published: | 1869 |
| More Information | |
| Source: | Read Lorna Doone here |
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Tropes used in Lorna Doone include:
- Charles II:[context?] The book is set during the later years of his reign (1672-1685), and the brief reign of his brother James II (1685-1688); the rebellion of Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth against James, in which Tom Faggus gets caught up, is an important plot point, and John is knighted by King James. The legendary bawdiness of the Restoration period is rather subverted in the book (which, being written in the Victorian Era, would have soft-pedaled it anyway); the main setting is among the quiet, church-going farmers of the Exmoor area.
- Earn Your Happy Ending[context?]
- First Girl Wins[context?]
- Gentleman Thief: Tom Faggus, a cousin of the Ridds' who eventually falls in love with and marries John's sister Annie.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: numerous jokes are made throughout the book about John's huge size, including several gently teasing remarks by Lorna herself.
- Moral Event Horizon: The Doones go clear over this point when they attack a local farm, kidnapping the farmer's wife and murdering their young son. This finally pushes the local folk over the edge, and with John who has by then been knighted by King James II at their head, they launch an all-out attack on the Doones' stronghold. Previously, the Doones had been held in check - more or less - by the influence of Sir Ensor Doone, the canny head of the clan; however, when he dies, command passes to the brutish Carver, who has no sense of restraint whatever.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Not (usually) deliberate on John's part (though sometimes he may protest too much), but many people who interact with him take him to be a very simple and dull fellow, interested only in wrestling and farming.
- One True Pairing: John and Lorna.
- Only Sane Man: John comes off as this when he comments on the complicated political and legal maneuvering both in London and concerning the Doones.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: The 'glass' necklace, which is in fact a very valuable diamond necklace which had originally belonged to Lorna's mother.
- Secondary Character Title
- Shipper on Deck: John's mother, regarding him and Sally until he tells her the truth about his love for Lorna. His uncle regarding John and Ruth Huckaback. His sister, regarding John and Lorna.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Both John and Lorna, though John admits that, if he'd never known Lorna, he could have married Ruth Huckaback.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: The Doones. One of the chief reasons they're able to maintain their reign of terror over Exmoor for so long is their connections with (and influence over) the local aristocracy, judiciary and government officials.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: For at least two thirds of the book.
- Take That: the book is absolutely crammed with cracks and slighting references about lawyers and the legal profession. Hilarious in Hindsight, and also qualifies as Self-Deprecation, because the author, R.D. Blackmore, was himself a lawyer.
- The Highwayman: Tom Faggus
- The West Country:[context?] Nearly the entire book, except for a segment in London about two-thirds of the way through, takes place in the counties of Somerset and Devon.
- Uptown Girl: When we first meet her, Lorna is introduced as a relation of the aristocratic, if criminal, Doone clan. It turns out that she's the daughter of a young Scottish nobleman who was set upon and killed, along with his wife, by the Doones, who kidnapped the infant Lorna and raised her as one of their own. After she escapes the Doones with John's help, she's located by a rich relative, who brings her to London. John visits her there and foils an attempted robbery on said relative, which results in his knighting by King James II.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: If John had, Carver wouldn't have shot and very nearly killed Lorna at her wedding to John.
- You Killed My Father: The incident that sets the whole plot of the book in motion. John's father is murdered while resisting a robbery led by Carver Doone, and while John is on his way back to the family homestead from public school after learning of the tragedy, he sees Lorna (as a child) for the first time.