Merely Mary Ann
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In his time, Israel Zangwill was one of the most popular writers in Britain. He wrote essays, novels and short stories. His writing is quintessentially Victorian. Merely Mary Ann is one of his most popular romances. Israel Zangwill's Victorian romance between a priggish musician and his chambermaid was one of the most widely adapted books of the early 20th century. Lancelot is a down on his luck musician with a noble lineage. His romantic entanglement with Mary Ann highlights both the Victorian class system and the societal anxiety of a civilization on the brink of radical change. Lancelot stood at the hall door looking for a moment after his friend - the friend he had tried to cast out of his heart as a recreant. The mist had cleared - the stars glittered countless in the frosty heaven; a golden crescent-moon hung low; the lights and shadows lay almost poetically upon the little street. A rush of tender thoughts whelmed the musician's soul. He saw again the dear old garret, up the ninty stairs, in the Hotel Cologne, where he had lived with his dreams; he heard the pianos and violins going in every room in happy incongruity, publishing to all the prowess of the players; dirty, picturesque old Leipsic rose before himl he was walking again in the Hainstrasse,in the shadowof the quaint, tall houses. Yes,life was sweet after all; he was a coward to lose heart so soon; fame would yet be his; fame and love - the love of a noble woman that fame earns; some gracious creature, breathing sweet refinements, cradled in an ancient home, such as he had left for ever. |
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