Nick Jenkins is talking to Scorpio Murlock: "'If you're interested in archaelogical sites, we've a minor one just over the hill from here. You probably know about it. The Devil's Fingers - The Fingers, as Mr Gauntlett calls it.'... "'Why the name?' "'One Midsummer night, long ago, a girl and her lover were lying naked on the grass. The sight of the girl's body tempted the Devil. He put out his hand towards her. Owing to the night also being the Vigil of St John, the couple invoked the Saint and just managed to escape. When the Devil tried to withdraw his hand, two of his fingers got caught in the outcrop of rock you find in these quarrying areas. There they remain in a petrified condition.'" Hearing Secret Harmonies, 25-6. Synopsis Character List A Letter from John Potter (2002) Essays: 2001-2 Changes -- Will Story Can You keep a Secret? -- Doug Presley Searching for Self: The Tragedy of Widmerpool -- Luke Spears Dancing Along... -- Madeleine Fawcett Widmerpool in the Circle of Life -- Gauri Kirloskar 2007-8 Widmerpool: the Constant Target -- Kym Louie Anthony Powell's Time -- Dana Feeny Scorp and Pam -- Becca Zinsmeister Bithel: Then and Now -- James Seman Widmerpool's Clarity -- Nick Anschuetz My Fellow Partner in the Dance, Stringham -- John Bukawyn Matilda's Story: A Play -- William Koven A Tribute to Kenneth: Widmerpool Throughout A Dance to the Music of Time -- Michael Donelan Nick Jenkins and Bob Duport, and Me -- Erica Bakies Widmerpool: A Complete Circle -- Nicole Lee Until the Next Dance: Why I'll Be Back -- Corey Simpson A Melancholic Anatomy of A Dance -- Cassidy Carpenter |
Hearing Secret Harmonies begins at Jenkin's house in the country in 1968. Jenkins and Isobel take Scorpio Murtlock, Barnabas Henderson, Fiona Cutts, and Rusty - who are camping on their land in a horse-drawn caravan - fishing for crayfish. Returning, they meet Mr. Gauntlett, who is looking for his bitch, Daisy. Murtlock tells him where to find her, then instructs his followers in what rites to follow with the crayfish. They leave the next morning.
Jenkins muses about Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and the Valley of Lost Things. He and Isobel watch a St. John Clarke special on TV, later a news report of Widmerpool being attacked by the Quiggins twins, who throw paint over him. The Donners-Brebner Prize Committee - Jenkins, Members, Dr. Brightman, advised by Delavaquerie - agree to award the prize to Russell Gwinnett for his biography of X. Trapnel, discussing Wimerpool's possible objections. Jenkins meet Farebrother coming from Jimmy Stripling's funeral The literary crowd assembles for the Prize dinner. Gwinnet appears, looking like Trapnel's death-head swordstick with his bald scalp. Widmerpool arrives with the Quiggin twins, much disconcerting their parents. He gives a radical speech, embracing the counter-culture, and the twins set off firecrackers and a stink bomb. Widmerpool arranges to meet with Gwinnett, who is unaffected by the disturbances. Jenkins attends a Royal Academy dinner, meeting Canon Fenneau, who knew Dr. Trelawney and who has known Murtlock since he was a child. Widmerpool approaches, asking Fenneau to introduce him to Murtlock. Fenneau warns him against this idea. Afterwards, the canon reveals that Murtlock wants to meet Widmerpool Jenkins learns that Widmerpool has joined forces with Murlock. Delavaquerie, involved with Polly Duport, tells him that Col. Flores, Jean Templer Duport's most recent husband, has been assassinated, mentioning also that Gwinnett is investigating the Murtlock/Widmerpool cult. A group of local preservationists meet by Devil's Fingers, a stone-age monument in Jenkins's neighborhood. Mr. Gauntlett tells of a neighbor's report of strange doings at the Fingers the night before. Jenkins discovers Gwinnett walking nearby, having been up all night at these rites, which were violent. Later Delavaquerie tells Jenkins that he has broken off things with Polly. He has provided Murtlock with Gwinnett's address in exchange for Fiona Cutts's release from the cult. She now lives at his flat. At Stourwater, the Jenkinses attend the marriage of Fiona's brother Sebastian Cutts to Clare Akworth, grand-daughter of Sir Bertram. Fiona and Gwinnett, who have married the day before, now turn up at the reception. The Harmony crowd - Widmerpool, Henderson, Bithel, and others - appear. Chuck, Henderson's old boyfriend, is at the wedding, and convinces Henderson to leave the cult to come with him. Widmerpool, now visibly unstable, abases himself before Sir Bertram, because years ago he got Sir Bertram kicked out of school for having written a love note to Peter Templer. Flavia Wisebite is enraged at Widmerpool's presence and collapses on him. Bithel gets drunk. Murtlock, showing up, allows Henderson to leave the cult, refuses to allow Widmerpool to leave also, and takes Bithel home. While burning trash, Jenkins flashes back to a visit to Henderson's art gallery to see the Deacon Centennial exhibit, where Bob Duport, Jean, and Polly are present. Polly says she is marrying Delavaquerie. After they leave, as Jenkins discusses the Murtlock cult with Henderson, Bithel arrives in a dreadful state, with the Modigliani drawing. Widmerpool has died, running half naked through the woods. Back at his trash-burning, Jenkins meditates on a passage by Burton and the Dance comes to an end. |
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These are the major characters in this volume, organized by chapter. Chapter 1 Isobel - Jenkins's wife Fiona Cutts - Isobel's niece Scorpio Murtlock - "Harmony" cult leader Barnabas Henderson - cult follower Rusty - female cult follower Mr. Gauntlett - a farmer, neighbor of Jenkins Chapter 2 J.G. Quiggin - publisher Ada Leintwardine - novelist, married to J.G. Quiggin Amanda, Belinda - their twin daughters Mark Members - literary figure, member of Donners Prize Committee Dr. Emily Brightman - scholar, member of Donners Prize Committee L. O. Salvidge - critic "Ken" Widmerpool - Life Peer, now chancellor of a university Matilda Donners - widow of Sir Magnus Gibson Delavaquerie - p.r. man for Donners-Brebner Sunny Farebrother - old acquaintance of Jenkins Chapter 3 Russell Gwinnett - an American scholar, biographer of X. Trapnel Chapter 4 Rev. Canon Paul Fenneau - a cleric, first met as undergrad in QU Chapter 5 Polly Duport - an actress, involved with Delavaquerie Chapter 6 Roddy and Susan Cutts - Fiona's parents Sir Bertram Akworth - grandfather of Clare, the bride Chuck - former boyfriend of Barnabas Bithel - old army colleague of Jenkins Flavia Wisebite - Stringham's sister and Widmerpool's mother-in-law (Pamela Flitton having been her daughter), Chapter 7 Jean Templer Duport Flores - Polly's mother, Jenkin's old heart-throb Bob Duport - Jean's former husband |
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Will Story The Dance takes place over a span of about seventy years. Over these years the world changes drastically. There are many technological advancements, and social changes. Nick never really puts a lot of emphasis on these changes, but as the reader goes through the book they become reference points for the time period Nick is in at the moment. In The Kindly Ones Nick has a flashback to his childhood. It is in the 1910's. The Conyers come to visit Nick's parents. Nick excitedly waits for the Conyers to arrive. Nick describes their approach as a, "slow ascent, which was jerky ... but ... the steep incline was negotiated without undue difficulty," (50, TKO). Nick is able to tell that it is General Conyers, because, "by that period, of course, motorists no longer wore the peaked cap and goggles of their pioneering days," (50, TKO). With these descriptions the reader understands that the time period is not as far back as when automobiles first came out, but it isn't late in the 1900s when automobiles ran more smoothly. (When Uncle Giles arrives with news of the assassination at Sarajevo, the year is revealed as 1914.) In the last few books of The Dance automobiles are much more advanced. They are no longer a novelty item. The old ones reappear, though, and they are still novelties; General Conyers's car might be one of Jimmy Stripling's vintage models in Temporary Kings. In The Dance there are castles, estates, and mansions that are thought to be extremely special. They are all privately owned and serve the function of a private residence. Nick visits Stourwater in A Buyer's Market, then owned by Sir Magus Donners. Stourwater is decorated with all sorts of antiques and paintings. During the war we learn it is occupied by the military. In Hearing Secret Harmonies Nick revisits Stourwater after many years. It is no longer a private residence. It has become a girls' school. All of the fancy artwork is longer there. Nick says, "the Stourwater passages had by now acquired the smell common to all schools: furniture polish: disinfectant: fumes of unambitious cooking, (206, HSH). This image of Stourwater is completely different from when Donners owned it. Most of the large private residencies change to something more practical before the end of The Dance. This shows the fall of the upper class in England as the 20th century went on. No longer could people afford to have such impractical residences. The Dance shows a not only the lives of people such as Widmerpool, but it also shows the way England changed through the 20th century. Radios are no longer as important. TVs with programs hosted by Bagshaw take over before the conclusion of The Dance. Powell writes about much more than just the lives of the characters in The Dance and one of these things is the changes that took place in England during his life. |
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Doug Presley Some things are better off unsaid. Throughout the book Hearing Secret Harmonies, Powell repeatedly emphasizes the benefits of not saying anything at all. Even the title of the book calls attention to "secret harmonies," audible only to those who have "achieved the eighth sphere to which Trismegistus refers" (246, TK). With help from Dr. Brightman, Widmerpool, and a few others, Nick demonstrates how secrets are sometimes best kept as secrets -- perhaps a justification for his own reserved manner in describing much of his own life. In criticizing one of the winners of the Magnus Donners prize, Emily Brightman voices her opinion that "because things are generally known, they are not necessarily the better for being written down, or publicly announced. Some are, some aren't" (65). Later on, through her refusal to be phased by Gwinnett's oddities, she once again demonstrates that "certain matters, even if known to be true, are not necessarily the better for being said aloud" (98). Dr. Brightman's actions in both situations demonstrate her opinion that it is often best to be reserved and careful in what you share with others, even when it may seem a well known fact. Delavacquerie also follows a similar path of action as Dr. Brightman, choosing not to discuss his relations with Polly Duport. Even though it seems that everyone knows about the relationship between the two, "Delavacquerie himself never brought up the matter" (141). At the end of their conversation when Nick asks about Polly, Delavacquerie "laughed, but gave no details" (186). Even after he seems to open up to Nick about his personal life, he still chooses to simply not discuss in any depth the topic of Polly. Widmerpool serves as a repeated example of the benefits of silence. For quite some time, Widmerpool's speeches have caused only trouble. His speech at the Old Boys Dinner so many years prior was, while completely factual, was "certainly uncalled for" (191, TAW), and indirectly caused Le Bas to suffer a stroke. More recently, his speech at the Magnus Donners dinner where he confesses to having been cheated on by Pamela, was used by the Quiggin twins to cause trouble with their stink bomb. Once again, unnecessary discussion would have been better avoided. When Nick meets with Widmerpool again during the wedding ceremonies at Stourwater, Widmerpool only hints at the penances that Murtlock has forced upon him. "Whatever Murtlock had had made him do as penance for relieving Bithel of his commission was too horrific to be spoken aloud by Widmerpool himself.... I was decidedly glad not to be told" (218). Widmerpool's silence is repeated when later on he "tail[s] off, unable to bring himself to mention whatever Murtlock had made him act out" (224). In this case, Nick agrees with Widmerpool that the punishments inflicted by Murtlock are best left unsaid, better kept as secrets. The benefits of leaving information unsaid are portrayed throughout the book. As a final book in the series, it is appropriate that Nick finally seems to offer some explanation of his reluctance to share so much of his life with us, most specifically his relation with Isobel. Nick seems to be telling us however, that the parts of his life that we never hear about are probably best kept silent. As the series comes to a close, "even the formal measure of the Seasons seemed suspended in the wintry silence" (272). The final statement of the book is one of silence. We have heard all that we need to of the Music of Time. Nick's "secret harmonies" are best left unheard. |
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Luke Spears Throughout A Dance to the Music of Time, there is one character who appears in every book and seems to be in some way connected to every subplot. Correct, it's Nick's "oldest friend," the one and only Kenneth Widmerpool. We see more of Widmerpool's life and personality than of any other character in the series. How much we like what we see, however, is another question entirely. Widmerpool is, at least until the introduction of Pamela Flitton, the most unlikable character of the Dance. Yet by the end of the novel, after seeing him disgraced by one thing after another, is Widmerpool still a truly despicable character? Or does the reader feel a pang of sympathy upon seeing his downfall and subsequent death? Do we wonder why Powell chose to make Widmerpool the central figure of the Dance? In order to answer the above questions, perhaps we should examine what exactly makes Widmerpool so dislikable, not only to the reader, but to virtually every character he meets in the Dance. At Eton, Widmerpool was a subject of ridicule. But he certainly didn't consider himself an appropriate choice for such a subject. On the contrary, even then he took himself too seriously, and was probably unaware of what exactly his peers thought of him. The defining, and most important characteristic of Widmerpool is his egotism. His self-importance fuels his other annoying qualities - hard-heartedness, tactlessness, snobbery - and also his seemingly insatiable ambition. While the above attributes are hardly flattering, they are certainly not inexcusable. We do not see Widmerpool being intentionally cruel to anyone, something that cannot be said for his wife. Bad qualities like Widmerpool's are not uncommon in the Dance: certainly there are snobbish, egotistical, and tactless characters to whom the reader is sympathetic. What makes Widmerpool dislikable are not only his faults, but also his apparent lack of any redeeming qualities. The only thing about him that might count as a redeeming quality is his impressive competence, and power "of the will." We have no sympathy for him because no matter how unhappy or miserable he might be, he still behaves as if he is perfect, and as if sympathy is the last thing he needs. Also, it doesn't help him that he never shows sympathy for other characters. If we were to disregard Widmerpool's façade of self-importance and success, however, and examine him objectively, I believe he would rank along with Maclintick and Sayce as one of the characters of the Dance who achieves the least amount happiness. I cannot think of any time when he appears genuinely content or satisfied with himself. On the contrary, he is always striving to achieve something more, whether a spot on a house team at Eton, a promotion in the military, or a seat in the House of Commons. But by the end of the series, after being discovered as a Communist spy, cheated on and humiliated a thousand times by Pamela, and reduced to a near-slave by Scorpio Murtlock, he has lost even his characteristic ambition and drive. Throughout the Dance, Widmerpool is a conflicted individual. His personal system of morals, on which he bases so many of his decisions, changes sporadically-from being centered on traditional British values (as Donners-Brebner businessman) to being liberal and reform-oriented (as Labour MP) to being at the extreme left and anti-establishment (communist spy, Scorpio Murtlock cultist). Widmerpool has no sense of who he is or what he wants. As he moves through the Dance, he manages to achieve only short-lived (material) successes and victories, and remains impoverished when it comes to meaningful human relationships. After enduring several years of marriage to Pamela, Widmerpool is more emotionally drained than ever, as evidenced by his neglect for his own mother (including his failure to attend her funeral) and subsequent decline into the British hipster movement. But he manages to hide his inner turmoil from the reader and, even more so, from the other characters of the Dance, by erecting an emotional shield composed of his egotism and his achievements "of the will." It was not until the very end of Widmerpool's time in the Dance, when he dies running frenziedly through the woods, that I found sympathy for and understanding of his character. Despite all the positions of power he gained, the honors won, at the very end of his life, Widmerpool is back where he started at Eton-trying desperately to prove himself to someone |
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Madeleine Fawcett The final pages of A Dance to the Music of Time have coincided with the "final pages" of my Andover career. It has been very interesting to follow the lives of Nick, Stringham, Templer, Widmerpool and many other fascinating characters on their journey through life, while simultaneously traveling along with my fellow classmates on a journey of our own. In "the longest novel ever written," which unfolds over several decades, Anthony Powell addresses death, reconnection, childhood, the arts, marriage, the "supernatural," adolescence, infidelity, childbearing, alcoholism, and other trials and tribulations life presents to people as they grow old. Over the past four years at Andover, I have had to deal with a number of these issues, perhaps on a smaller scale, which are comparable to situations from Dance. One of the main themes Anthony Powell ties into his twelve volume sequence is the reconnection with friends of the past. He sets up characters to enter each other's lives, lose touch for some reason or another, and then reencounter one another somewhere further down the road. This raised a few very interesting questions for me. I wondered if I would continue to, by chance, bump into cronies from PA for the rest of my life, just as Nicholas did? Would I be married to my high school sweetheart in 10 years? Would I be working for someone who, at one time during my Andover career, I considered to be inferior to me? While I have absolutely no way of predicting this, A Dance to the Music of Time brilliantly highlights the reconnection and reconciliation of friendships along many decades, and suggests that, perhaps, I too may continue to bump into faces of my past. In addition to adding to my thirst for the next stage in life, Dance also inspired me to compare and contrast certain characters from the novel to people who have walked in, and possibly out, of my own life. As I completed each volume, I was careful to note any characters with whom I shared a particular connection, or who I could compare to persons I have encountered along my own "dance to the music of time." This activity became especially entertaining for me at times. (For instance, if my roommate was being bothersome, I would tell her she was acting too much like Lady Widmerpool for me to handle. Boy, if she ever knew!) After completing the novel, I decided that there was not one character who I identified most with, but rather I found that I possessed certain aspects of many different characters. I found that this was also true when trying to compare friends to characters from the novel. Powell created his characters in A Dance to the Music of Time by incorporating several different personality traits from real life people he knew, but did not model any character on solely one person. Certain events from A Dance to the Music of Time are reminiscent of events which have occurred over the past four years at Andover. I am very pleased that I have had the privilege of taking this course all year. I have enjoyed drawing parallels between my life and the lives of various characters from the books and I have had a fun time making comparisons between characters and my own friends. I am glad that A Dance to the Music of Time's ending has come, simultaneously with the end of my Andover career. I hope that, in the future, I am blessed with reconnections, similar to the ones Nick makes with people he knows throughout his life. My dance continues... |
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Gauri Kirloskar Widmerpool is the only character in The Dance to the Music of Time that we have seen in each and every book. We first see him as an awkward young man at Eton, the determined type who never succeeds, and then we go on to witness his rise in economic and social power which is only due to his hard work. He has one failed marriage with Mildred Blaides, who refuses to marry him because of his sexual inadequacy, and then he marries Pamela Flitton who is a sex fiend. He moves up in every sphere of his life up until book ten - Books Do Furnish a Room where he is at his peak as a "Lord" and Pamela has returned to him after running off with X. In Temporary Kings, Widmerpool starts to lose his grasp of power. We are informed of his political and sexual spying. Bagshaw: "Pretend he's an enemy, when he's really a close friend" (TK, 188) and Pamela: "He thought I didn't spot he was watching through the curtain" (TK, 261). Then, Pamela dies at a hotel in the weirdest of circumstances. The combination of her death and his spying apparently make him a little crazy, as is seen in the last pages of Temporary Kings. Ten years later, in Hearing Secret Harmonies, it seems at first that Widmerpool has recovered. "Whether by luck, or astute manipulations, no one seemed to know, he had been offered an appointment of some kind at the Institute of Advanced Study of an Ivy League University" (42). Widmerpool is now chancellor; however, at one of the university's ceremonies, he has paint thrown all over him. It seems he just has no luck in school settings; this reminds us of the banana in his face at Eton. Again, he is not angry but his status has somewhat decreased. "Now the origin of his condition was revealed he looked like a clown, a clown upon whom divine afflatus had suddenly descended" (46). We next see him at the Magnus Donners prize ceremony where he makes an uninvited speech, just as he did at the Old Boys' dinner. He starts to criticize a system in which he himself had held power: "To express at a gathering like ours, the wrongness of the way we live, the wrongness of marriage, the wrongness of money , the wrongness of education, the wrongness of government, the wrongness" (111). Soon after, he searches out Scorp Murtlock, joins his cult, and participates in sexual stag dances, and naked four-in-the-a.m. runs. Has he lost his mind? It seems he has had so much power that he needs someplace else to go, something else to experience. It is during one of these naked runs, that Widmerpool dies. Widmerpool seems to have gone in a full circle. He is hated and ridiculed by Stringham, Templer and other school boys during his Eton days, and in the last book, we again hear derogatory remarks made toward him by his mother-in law Flavia, Matilda and Duport ("that château-bottled shit Widmerpool" (254)). He was made fun of for having the "wrong" kind of overcoat at Eton, and now he has reverted back to dressing shabbily and in unwashed clothes. Also, at Jenkins' niece's wedding, "Widmerpool [goes] down on all fours in utter self-abasement" (230). This reminds us of the "slavish expression" that came over his face when Bud threw a banana at him. Widmerpool is once more the odd one out by being in Scorp's weird cult. One of our first memories of him is him running with determination everyday, in his attempt at being a better athlete and it is this same determination that kills him on his last run. Widmerpool has truly completed the circle of life. |
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John, I thought I'd write once more to say a big thank you to yourself and to all the students who have just finished the Dance course. It has been a real pleasure to keep up with their work and I must admit that the level was so high that I wondered when I first visited the website last year if they were not already university students. Congratulations to Doug Presley for doing so well in the Dance quiz. I've just read the 'Hearing Secret Harmonies' papers and I was particularly impressed with Madeleine Fawcett's 'Dancing Along'. It is especially interesting to read the thoughts of a young American woman and to learn that she was able to identify with certain aspects of many characters, and also to compare events with parallel experiences in her own life. This universality is one reason why Dance is so good and I'm sure that all Dance devotees are continually comparing their own lives with scenes and characters from the books. I know I do. I hope that Madeleine's own dance continues successfully....and that her roommate didn't behave like Pamela Widmerpool too often. Once again many thanks to all of you. John Potter |