A Clergyman's Daughter

infobox Book |
name = A Clergyman's Daughter
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First US edition cover
author = George Orwell
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Victor Gollancz
release_date = 1935
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"A Clergyman’s Daughter" is a 1935 novel by English author George Orwell. It tells the story of Dorothy Hare, the clergyman's daughter of the title, whose life is turned upside-down when she suffers an attack of amnesia. It is Orwell's most formally experimental novel, featuring a chapter written entirely in dramatic form, but he was never satisfied with it and he left instructions that after his death it was not to be reprinted. [Harvnb|Orwell|1998g|p= 228]

Plot summary

This book depicts the ways in which scandal can affect prominent community members. Dorothy goes "missing" after she kisses the village's most disreputable character, Mr. Warburton. It is rumoured that she has eloped with Warburton, when in fact she has only experienced a "loss of memory". During her time as a "missing person" she is forced to steal and beg and pick hops for a meager wage.

Dorothy is eventually set up with a job as a schoolteacher by her father's mysterious wealthy cousin, in a small private "academy". From here, she is "rescued" back to her old life in a twist of events that is triggered by Mrs. Semprill (who leaked the rumoured scandal to the papers) being charged with libel as a result of another rumour spread. With Mrs. Sempril dishonoured, Mr. Warburton finds Dorothy and brings her back to Knype Hill, the small town where her father is a Rector.

In the process of bringing her home, Warburton proposes to Dorothy and is rejected, despite his efforts to convince her that with her religious faith lost, her existence as a hard-working clergyman's daughter will be rendered meaningless and that marriage, while she is still young, is the only escape from a life of hardship, loneliness and poverty.

The most important thing to note about Dorothy's experiences as a Rector's daughter, a tramp, a hoppicker, a beggar at Trafalgar Square, and a school teacher, is that they all describe an extreme helplessness. Orwell has portrayed Dorothy in all cases as being dependent; dependent upon her father for money, upon a fellow transient (Nobby) for means of survival and direction while an identityless vagrant, upon the meagre wage as a picker and fellow pickers for food, upon other beggars to show her the way of that lifestyle and upon the evil Mrs. Creevy who forces her to work hard and futile hours for a scarce amounts of food and low wages, and finally upon Warburton to bring her home. This theme of helplessness and dependency is one that Orwell has developed thoroughly, leaving the reader sympathizing greatly for our protagonist and wondering at every turn how she bears it. This is especially the case with Mrs. Creevy who has no respect for Dorothy and treats her almost as sub-human.

Major themes

The theme of slavery is one that mirrors that of dependency. Dorothy is economically pressed to work extremely hard. Her meager earnings, in all cases, restrict her escape and function to perpetuate her dependent state. Orwell draws a picture of systematic forces that preserve the bound servitude in each scenario. He brilliantly uses Dorothy's fictitious endeavors strongly to critique certain institutions. In the case of the hop harvest Orwell critiques the fashion in which wages are systematically lowered as the season progressed and why the wages are so low to begin with. He describes the life a manual labourer with striking accuracy, right down to the constant state of exhaustion that somehow eliminates any potential for a questioning of the circumstances in which one has found herself. Orwell even captures the strange feeling of euphoric happiness that is achieved from a long, monotonous day of labouring. He perfectly describes the attitude of the seasonal worker who vows not to return the following year, but somehow forgets about the hardship and remembers only the positive side during the off season, and doubtlessly returns.

In the case of the private school system in England of Orwell's era, he manages to fit in a two page critique (irrelevant to the plotline) of how capitalistic interests have rendered the school system useless and absurd. The description of how class and economic perceptions are perpetuated in the school system mirrors his own experience as a poor student in relatively well-to-do schools. He hammers this point home with the overt attention Mrs. Creevy pays to the "good payers'" children, while completely disrespecting and marginalizing the "bad payers'" children. Mrs. Creevy is even seen to manage a better cut of meat for the children of wealthier families, while saving the fattier pieces for the "medium payers" and damning the "bad payers" children to eat brown bag lunches in the school room, apart from the rest of the students.

Literary significance & criticism

The book is largely experimental, with Orwell attempting to echo passages of James Joyce's 'nighttown' from "Ulysses" in it. Orwell himself disowned it as 'tripe' and prevented its reprinting during his lifetime. However, it certainly helped develop his reputation as an up and coming novelist in the 1930s.

Translations

The book was translated into Thai as 'Lok Khong Khru Sao' (โลกของครูสาว) by Sunantha Laojan (สุนันทา เหล่าจัน) and first published in 1975 by Kledthai Publishers.

It was first translated into Russian by Kenneth MacInnes and Vera Domiteeva (1994) and released by Azbooka Publishers (2004).

Notes

References

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External links

* [http://www.george-orwell.org/A_Clergyman%27s_Daughter/index.html A Clergyman's Daughter] - Searchable, indexed etext.
* [http://www.litfix.com/orwell/clergymansdaughter/index.html HTML online text]
* [http://orwell.ru/library/novels/A_Clergymans_Daughter/ Online text]