The Shadow Passes

"The Shadow Passes"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Drones Club
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher Herbert Jenkins
Media type Print
Publication date 21 July 1950

"The Shadow Passes" is a short story by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It is considered part of the main Drones Club canon. The story first appeared in the short story collection Nothing Serious, published on 21 July 1950 in the UK by Herbert Jenkins and 24 May 1951 in the US by Doubleday & Co.[1]

The story stars the recurring character Bingo Little, a member of the Drones Club. In the story, Bingo's wife Rosie hires Bingo's old nanny, Sarah Byles, to take care of their infant son Algy, but Bingo must find a way to get rid of Nannie Byles after she starts telling embarrassing stories about Bingo. Bingo also hopes to win money in the annual Drones Club darts sweepstakes.

Plot

"Until a few days ago a dark shadow brooded over his life, threatening the stability of the home. This has now passed away, and he is consequently a bit above himself. The shadow to which I allude was his baby's Nannie."
"Is that young man a father?"
"Oh, rather."
"Good heavens."

— The Crumpet tells his relative about Bingo[2]

A Crumpet and his elderly relative are having lunch at the Drones Club when someone throws a roll at them. It was meant as a civil greeting to the Crumpet, though it startled his relative. It came from one of two young men at a table; one of them is the club's darts champion, Horace Pendlebury-Davenport, who would not have missed, so it must have been the other, Bingo Little. The Crumpet says that they must make allowances for Bingo, who has recently overcome an ordeal. The Crumpet tells the following story.

Bingo's wife Rosie thinks it would be sweet if the nanny who helped raise Bingo, Sarah Byles, also cares for their son Algernon "Algy" Aubrey Little. Rose hires her, but Bingo wants to get rid of Nannie Byles after she starts telling embarrassing stories about him. Meanwhile, Bingo is in financial trouble after losing money on a horse race. Oofy Prosser, the club millionaire, has drawn Horace Davenport in the club darts sweepstakes, meaning Oofy will likey win the prize money of thirty-three pounds ten shillings.

Oofy sells Bingo the Horace ticket for five pounds, which Bingo obtains by secretly pawning his diamond cuff links. Nannie Byles tells Rosie the cuff links were stolen. Later, Horace tells Bingo, as he previously told Oofy, that he is too upset to participate in the darts contest. He is heartbroken since Valerie Twistleton broke their engagement. Horace thinks she loves someone else. Bingo persuades Horace to compete anyway, despite his bad mood.

Bingo wants to talk to Valerie over dinner, but this may seem suspicious since Rosie is out of town, so he tells Byles he is unwell and going to bed. In fact he goes to see Valerie, and finds out that she thought Horace had fallen in love with someone else. Bingo explains that Horace thought the same thing about her. Before he can persuade her to talk to Horace, Nannie Byles shows up looking for Bingo, and Bingo flees. The next day, fellow Drones Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps and Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright tell Bingo that Horace won the contest. Horace and Valerie had talked and reconciled. Bingo buys back his cuff links. Nannie Byles told Rosie that she saw Bingo go out, but Bingo convinces Rosie that Byles is delusional about that, as well as about the cuff links being stolen, which prompts Rosie to fire Byles.

Allusions

As with other works by Wodehouse, this story contains many literary and cultural references. One example of this occurs when Bingo feels his former nanny is depicting his younger voracious self as "a sort of infant Vitellius",[3] referencing the gluttony of the Roman Emperor Vitellius, and another example can be seen when Horace Davenport is described as "the Drones Club's leading Othello",[4] referencing Shakespeare's Othello, a character known for his jealousy.[5]

Publication history

"The Shadow Passes" was the first story featured in the short story collection Nothing Serious.[1] It was also included in the 1982 collection Tales from the Drones Club.[6] Out of the 21 short stories in the main Drones Club canon, this story is one of only two not originally published in a magazine, the other being "Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust".[7]

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 McIlvaine (1990), pp. 84-85, A70.
  2. ↑ Wodehouse (1988) [1950], chapter 1, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Wodehouse (1988) [1950], chapter 1, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Wodehouse (1988) [1950], chapter 1, p. 13.
  5. ↑ Hodson, Mark (24 May 2002). "Nothing Serious by P. G. Wodehouse: Literary and Cultural References". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  6. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 126.
  7. ↑ Midkiff, Neil (7 December 2017). "The Wodehouse short stories". Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
Bibliography
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1988) [1950]. Nothing Serious (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books Limited. ISBN 0140025685.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.