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literaryrevisited's review
5.0
E. F. Benson is a master of humour combined with extravagance, intellect and bizarreness. The Freaks of Mayfair is not a novel - it is a portrait of the so-called "Freaks" of Society. The strange creatures, the rich creatures, the in-betweeners, the bizarre, the spiritual, the snobby; but what do they all have in common? They are endlessly fascinating.
Benson perfectly illustrates how some freaks might just be your average neighbour (literally, if you live in the neighbourhood of Mayfair), how they might be an old man, a young woman, a no-nothing, a smart person. And he also proves right, that though "freak" is often used derogatory way, there is also a higher meaning and understand behind calling someone freak. We, as humans, are often wildly fascinated by the freaks, the outsiders, the strange characters we meet in Society. Which of us have never seen a person so different in appearance, manners, or views than ourselves and really wondered deep down "What do they think about? What is going on in their minds?".
I, for one, have.
And this is exactly what E. F. Benson succeeds in presenting: not just one (for it is not a novel), not two, but several characters of interest, and a total of 12 chapters. In addition to this, being as nosy a person as me, it fulfills a considerable amount of wishes from me, as a reader.
It presents an endless gallery of portraits, every chapter is filled to the brim with eccentric and extravagant creatures, who each plays their role in this great play of Mayfair, and though all may seem different they have but one in common: the freakiness of nature.
Whether, it be the hunt for religion, for class, for money, pleasure, or comfort, each character sees their goal and want to fulfill it.
This is a study of character, of human nature and as icing on the cake - it is filled with humour.
The novel (though it should rather be called a collection of stories, or portraits, thereby a gallery) consists of 12 chapters, the eighth and ninth being to sides of the same coins, names VIII. Climbers: 1. The Horizontal and IX. Climbers: 2. The Perpendicular.
Presentation of the chapters
1. The Compleat Snobs
The first chapter is a great start to the study of character - a chapter about snobs, snobs who are so snobby, that they are, in fact, completely so. Sir Louis Marigold, Bart, M.P., and Lady Mary Marigold, a very happy couple. But also a very snobbish one. This story is a terrific example of how money and class can obsess human beings and how when in truth "happy" we are still waiting for something even better.
2. Aunt Georgie
Aunt Georgie presents one of the most eccentric characters of the novel - especially considering the collection was published in 1916. It concerns character George, who has always been like quite a little girl, though his name wasn't Georgiana, and enjoyed embroidering, fine things, and all such which can be called "womanly". Even when sent to boarding school to become a "real boy", who merely forms an attatchment with another boy, but as he grows older, he desperately tries to hide his identity, always in his mind, hoping someone would call him Aunt Georgie instead of Uncle Georgie.
3. Quack-Quack
Mrs Weston loves everything spiritual and has tried nearly everything which can be tried. Even though her ways might be quite bizarre, she is indeed a very happy woman and whatever she tries, she finds that it benefits her body and mind exceedingly well. Yet, it is not always that her husband is as enthusiastic as herself.
4. The Poison of Asps
Ever met the sort of person who, in the lack of a better group of acquaintances, slander about everything and everyone who either might have more money, more friends, more popularity, or in general more happiness than themselves? The Poison of Asps tells of these people. The people who could in fact have better friends and greater happiness, if they would just stop speaking ill of others and be more welcoming to the world.
5. The Sea-Green Incorruptible
Snobbishness if often present in the mind of the snob - how else should they be a snob? However, in the case of Constance Lady Whittlemere, she knows she has everything: money, class, and comfort. Therefore she wishes for nothing else. But her life is an endless loop of routines - nothing new happens: She must do the duty to the House of Whittlemere and nothing new might ever happen.
6. The Eternally Uncompromised
Some people can never get slandered about - no matter how hard or amiable they try. They are simply to kind, so who on earth would think they could do something of ill-will? Winifred Ames has always been a dreamer, a romantic dreamer. And when she marries a baronet her heart is fulfilled, but not for long: new, exciting dreams begin. Having affairs with one, or several, getting talked about, being unhappily in love - but can she truly manage to be the talk of the town?
7. The Grizzly Kittens
Babs and Charlie are grizzly kittens - older people who feel young and always try to stay young - but how will they remain eternally young without the actual youngsters frowning on them?
8. Climbers 1. The Horizontal
Climbers in Society are compared with those of a tree, and like the tree consists of two sort of branches, so do the climbers. Some are lucky, some are unlucky. The first story tells of the unsuccessful climber...
9. Climbers 2. The Perpendicular
...The second of the successful.
10. The Spiritual Pastor
This portrait happily reminds me of all Jane Austen's priest characters: Mr Collins, Mr Elton etc., and what makes this pastor even greater is that he (unlike many of Austen's) isn't a tad eccentric - he's merely a happy pastor (however, nowadays being happy might be seen as a curiosity)
11. 'Sing For Your Dinner'
In this story, another simile is presented: that of a bird and a young man. The young man who runs from palace to palace, plate to plate, seeking only comfort on the expense of others, but tragically not realising that he is, like every other human being, growing older as time passes, just like the grizzly kittens, who seek to stay young forevermore.
12. The Praisers of Past Time
The last chapter in the book concerns the ever-lasting complaint of elderly adults "it was better in the old days" and "young people are preposterous nowadays".
Unlike the first eleven chapters, which begin with an introduction and then introduces a distinct character, this last chapter is more of a general one, than one concerning a certain freak. Its style is more loose than the previous, more "the old who does this", "the old who does that", therefore, it is personally my least favourite of the portraits - because it isn't really a portrait. The previous being filled with extravagance, this is more of a loose, quiet ending, and does not give as much insight as the others. Social climbers, young woman with romantic dreams, spiritualists, bizarre similes - all of these extravagant portraits in E. F. Benson have been presented, yet the last story is lacking the enchantment and magic of the rest. It is a truth universally known that the previous generation will always (without exception) criticise the younger - even Aristotle did it. Nothing particular is wrong with this chapter - it is not bad, but it is not good either. It has just lost the magic spell, which has so enchanted the others.
Benson perfectly illustrates how some freaks might just be your average neighbour (literally, if you live in the neighbourhood of Mayfair), how they might be an old man, a young woman, a no-nothing, a smart person. And he also proves right, that though "freak" is often used derogatory way, there is also a higher meaning and understand behind calling someone freak. We, as humans, are often wildly fascinated by the freaks, the outsiders, the strange characters we meet in Society. Which of us have never seen a person so different in appearance, manners, or views than ourselves and really wondered deep down "What do they think about? What is going on in their minds?".
I, for one, have.
And this is exactly what E. F. Benson succeeds in presenting: not just one (for it is not a novel), not two, but several characters of interest, and a total of 12 chapters. In addition to this, being as nosy a person as me, it fulfills a considerable amount of wishes from me, as a reader.
It presents an endless gallery of portraits, every chapter is filled to the brim with eccentric and extravagant creatures, who each plays their role in this great play of Mayfair, and though all may seem different they have but one in common: the freakiness of nature.
Whether, it be the hunt for religion, for class, for money, pleasure, or comfort, each character sees their goal and want to fulfill it.
This is a study of character, of human nature and as icing on the cake - it is filled with humour.
The novel (though it should rather be called a collection of stories, or portraits, thereby a gallery) consists of 12 chapters, the eighth and ninth being to sides of the same coins, names VIII. Climbers: 1. The Horizontal and IX. Climbers: 2. The Perpendicular.
Presentation of the chapters
1. The Compleat Snobs
The first chapter is a great start to the study of character - a chapter about snobs, snobs who are so snobby, that they are, in fact, completely so. Sir Louis Marigold, Bart, M.P., and Lady Mary Marigold, a very happy couple. But also a very snobbish one. This story is a terrific example of how money and class can obsess human beings and how when in truth "happy" we are still waiting for something even better.
2. Aunt Georgie
Aunt Georgie presents one of the most eccentric characters of the novel - especially considering the collection was published in 1916. It concerns character George, who has always been like quite a little girl, though his name wasn't Georgiana, and enjoyed embroidering, fine things, and all such which can be called "womanly". Even when sent to boarding school to become a "real boy", who merely forms an attatchment with another boy, but as he grows older, he desperately tries to hide his identity, always in his mind, hoping someone would call him Aunt Georgie instead of Uncle Georgie.
3. Quack-Quack
Mrs Weston loves everything spiritual and has tried nearly everything which can be tried. Even though her ways might be quite bizarre, she is indeed a very happy woman and whatever she tries, she finds that it benefits her body and mind exceedingly well. Yet, it is not always that her husband is as enthusiastic as herself.
4. The Poison of Asps
Ever met the sort of person who, in the lack of a better group of acquaintances, slander about everything and everyone who either might have more money, more friends, more popularity, or in general more happiness than themselves? The Poison of Asps tells of these people. The people who could in fact have better friends and greater happiness, if they would just stop speaking ill of others and be more welcoming to the world.
5. The Sea-Green Incorruptible
Snobbishness if often present in the mind of the snob - how else should they be a snob? However, in the case of Constance Lady Whittlemere, she knows she has everything: money, class, and comfort. Therefore she wishes for nothing else. But her life is an endless loop of routines - nothing new happens: She must do the duty to the House of Whittlemere and nothing new might ever happen.
6. The Eternally Uncompromised
Some people can never get slandered about - no matter how hard or amiable they try. They are simply to kind, so who on earth would think they could do something of ill-will? Winifred Ames has always been a dreamer, a romantic dreamer. And when she marries a baronet her heart is fulfilled, but not for long: new, exciting dreams begin. Having affairs with one, or several, getting talked about, being unhappily in love - but can she truly manage to be the talk of the town?
7. The Grizzly Kittens
Babs and Charlie are grizzly kittens - older people who feel young and always try to stay young - but how will they remain eternally young without the actual youngsters frowning on them?
8. Climbers 1. The Horizontal
Climbers in Society are compared with those of a tree, and like the tree consists of two sort of branches, so do the climbers. Some are lucky, some are unlucky. The first story tells of the unsuccessful climber...
9. Climbers 2. The Perpendicular
...The second of the successful.
10. The Spiritual Pastor
This portrait happily reminds me of all Jane Austen's priest characters: Mr Collins, Mr Elton etc., and what makes this pastor even greater is that he (unlike many of Austen's) isn't a tad eccentric - he's merely a happy pastor (however, nowadays being happy might be seen as a curiosity)
11. 'Sing For Your Dinner'
In this story, another simile is presented: that of a bird and a young man. The young man who runs from palace to palace, plate to plate, seeking only comfort on the expense of others, but tragically not realising that he is, like every other human being, growing older as time passes, just like the grizzly kittens, who seek to stay young forevermore.
12. The Praisers of Past Time
The last chapter in the book concerns the ever-lasting complaint of elderly adults "it was better in the old days" and "young people are preposterous nowadays".
Unlike the first eleven chapters, which begin with an introduction and then introduces a distinct character, this last chapter is more of a general one, than one concerning a certain freak. Its style is more loose than the previous, more "the old who does this", "the old who does that", therefore, it is personally my least favourite of the portraits - because it isn't really a portrait. The previous being filled with extravagance, this is more of a loose, quiet ending, and does not give as much insight as the others. Social climbers, young woman with romantic dreams, spiritualists, bizarre similes - all of these extravagant portraits in E. F. Benson have been presented, yet the last story is lacking the enchantment and magic of the rest. It is a truth universally known that the previous generation will always (without exception) criticise the younger - even Aristotle did it. Nothing particular is wrong with this chapter - it is not bad, but it is not good either. It has just lost the magic spell, which has so enchanted the others.
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