The Deptford Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Deptford Trilogy is a novel
trilogy by Canadian
novel
ist Robertson Davies
.
(1970
), The Manticore
(1972
), and World of Wonders (1975
). The series revolves around a simple act—a young boy throws a snowball at another, but it misses its intended target—and the effect this act has on a number of characters.
The Deptford Trilogy has won praise for its narrative voice and its use of character. Fifth Business, in particular, is considered one of Davies' best novels.
The trilogy takes its name from the fictional small village of Deptford, Ontario
, based on Davies' native Thamesville
. Davies takes a different viewpoint in each of the novels, and approaches each in a different style. The sometimes eerie tone and unconventional literary devices have evoked some to identify the series as a precursor to slipstream fiction.
The main characters of the series have come by twisting paths from their simple village—and each carries a secret that crosses the lives of the others and drives the plot forward. The greatest secret is one that the reader is not even aware of until the close of the last book, but which finally answers questions about the relationships among several major characters.
in Switzerland
. During his therapy, he tries to understand his father and his relationship to him. The novel is a detailed record of his therapy and his coming to understand his own life. It sheds new light on many of the characters introduced in Fifth Business, including Dunstan Ramsay, who happens to be in Switzerland recuperating from a heart attack.
The Manticore won the Governor-General's Literary Award
in the English language fiction category
in 1972.
, a famous magician
. Eisengrim is to portray Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
in a television
movie
. During lulls in the filming, he recounts his life, including the incredible obstacles he has had to overcome, and elaborates on his career as an actor
traveling through Canada
in the early 20th century. Dunstan Ramsay is again in attendance, and more insight is gained into the characters of Fifth Business.
of Davies' Cornish Trilogy
, and in the later novel The Cunning Man
.
He is at times compared with Saint Dunstan and his struggle with Satan.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
trilogy by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist Robertson Davies
Robertson Davies
William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...
.
Overview
The trilogy consists of Fifth BusinessFifth Business
Fifth Business is a 1970 novel by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies. It is the first installment of the Deptford Trilogy and is a story of the life of the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay...
(1970
1970 in literature
The year 1970 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Deliverance by American poet James Dickey published...
), The Manticore
The Manticore
The Manticore is the second novel in Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy.Published in 1972 by Macmillan of Canada, it deals with the aftermath of the mysterious death of Percy Boyd "Boy" Staunton retold during a series of conversations between Staunton's son and a Jungian psychoanalyst.The title...
(1972
1972 in literature
The year 1972 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Fiction:*Richard Adams - Watership Down*Jorge Amado - Teresa Batista Cansada da Guerra *Martin Amis - The Rachel Papers...
), and World of Wonders (1975
1975 in literature
The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* August 12 — with the 20-year time limit stipulated by Thomas Mann at his death having expired, sealed packets containing 32 of the author's notebooks were opened in Zurich, Switzerland.* Writing under the...
). The series revolves around a simple act—a young boy throws a snowball at another, but it misses its intended target—and the effect this act has on a number of characters.
The Deptford Trilogy has won praise for its narrative voice and its use of character. Fifth Business, in particular, is considered one of Davies' best novels.
The trilogy takes its name from the fictional small village of Deptford, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, based on Davies' native Thamesville
Thamesville, Ontario
Thamesville is a community in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the junction of former provincial Highways 2 and 21, between Chatham and London. Its name comes from the Thames River that flows nearby and the suffix -ville....
. Davies takes a different viewpoint in each of the novels, and approaches each in a different style. The sometimes eerie tone and unconventional literary devices have evoked some to identify the series as a precursor to slipstream fiction.
The main characters of the series have come by twisting paths from their simple village—and each carries a secret that crosses the lives of the others and drives the plot forward. The greatest secret is one that the reader is not even aware of until the close of the last book, but which finally answers questions about the relationships among several major characters.
Fifth Business
Fifth Business is narrated by Dunstable (later Dunstan) Ramsay, a schoolteacher who grows up in the fictional Deptford. The novel takes the form of a letter Ramsay writes to the headmaster of the school from which he has just retired, wherein he recalls how, as a boy, he ducked the fateful snowball intended for him. The snowball hit a pregnant woman who happened to be passing by; she gave birth prematurely as a result. This incident has affected Ramsay's life, and the novel tells how he comes to terms with his feelings of guilt. Intertwined with his story is the life of Percy Boyd 'Boy' Staunton, Ramsay's boyhood friend who threw the snowball, and who later became a wealthy businessman.The Manticore
The Manticore is the story of Boy Staunton's only son, David. David Staunton undergoes Jungian psychoanalysisPsychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. During his therapy, he tries to understand his father and his relationship to him. The novel is a detailed record of his therapy and his coming to understand his own life. It sheds new light on many of the characters introduced in Fifth Business, including Dunstan Ramsay, who happens to be in Switzerland recuperating from a heart attack.
The Manticore won the Governor-General's Literary Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
in the English language fiction category
Governor General's Award for English language fiction
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English language fiction.-1930s:*1936: Bertram Brooker, Think of the Earth*1937: Laura Salverson, The Dark Weaver*1938: Gwethalyn Graham, Swiss Sonata...
in 1972.
World of Wonders
World of Wonders is the story of Paul Dempster, the son of the woman hit by the snowball, who has grown up to be Magnus EisengrimMagnus Eisengrim
Magnus Eisengrim is one of the major characters in The Deptford Trilogy, written by Robertson Davies.Magnus is one of the names taken on by Paul Dempster. Like several of the main characters in Davies' novel Paul undergoes a symbolic rebirth which is accompanied by a name change...
, a famous magician
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
. Eisengrim is to portray Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin was a French magician. He is widely considered the father of the modern style of conjuring.-Early life and entrance into conjuring:...
in a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. During lulls in the filming, he recounts his life, including the incredible obstacles he has had to overcome, and elaborates on his career as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
traveling through Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the early 20th century. Dunstan Ramsay is again in attendance, and more insight is gained into the characters of Fifth Business.
Dunstan Ramsay
Dunstan Ramsay is the narrator of both "Fifth Business" and "World of Wonders" (although in "World of Wonders" he is not the main character of the plot). He also appears as a major character in "The Manticore", and appears in several other novels by Davies. Ramsay is a gentle schoolmaster with surprising depths and is probably the stand-in for Davies himself. (Since Davies has said that the main business of a writer is to be an enchanter, a weaver of spells, a magician, it is likely that Dempster/Eisengrim is in some sense a stand-in for Davies as well.) Ramsay counsels his students to write in "the plain style", as Davies does—to highlight the story rather than the writer. Ramsay also appears in the novel What's Bred in the BoneWhat's Bred in the Bone
What's Bred in the Bone is the second novel in the Canadian writer Robertson Davies' Cornish Trilogy. It is the life story of Francis or Frank Cornish, whose death and will were the starting point for the first novel, The Rebel Angels....
of Davies' Cornish Trilogy
The Cornish Trilogy
The Cornish Trilogy is three related novels by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies.The trilogy consists of The Rebel Angels , What's Bred in the Bone , and The Lyre of Orpheus . The series explores the life and influence of Francis Cornish...
, and in the later novel The Cunning Man
The Cunning Man
The Cunning Man, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994, is the last novel written by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies.The Cunning Man is the memoir of the life of a doctor, Dr. Jonathan Hullah, living in Toronto. Hullah is a holistic physician — a cunning diagnostician who can often...
.
He is at times compared with Saint Dunstan and his struggle with Satan.
See also
- The Salterton TrilogyThe Salterton TrilogyThe Salterton Trilogy consists of the first three novels by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies: Tempest-Tost , Leaven of Malice , and A Mixture of Frailties...
- The Cornish TrilogyThe Cornish TrilogyThe Cornish Trilogy is three related novels by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies.The trilogy consists of The Rebel Angels , What's Bred in the Bone , and The Lyre of Orpheus . The series explores the life and influence of Francis Cornish...
- Toronto TrilogyToronto Trilogy"The Toronto Trilogy" refers to two separate series of Canadian novels by Robertson Davies and Austin Clarke.-Robertson Davies' "Toronto Trilogy":Whether it was planned or not, Davies' novels formed trilogies...
- Southern Ontario GothicSouthern Ontario GothicSouthern Ontario Gothic is a sub-genre of the Gothic novel genre and a feature of Canadian literature that comes from Southern Ontario. The term was first used in Graeme Gibson's Eleven Canadian Novelists to recognize an existing tendency to apply aspects of the Gothic novel to writing based in...