Tried in the Furnace

"Tried in the Furnace"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Drones Club
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher The Strand Magazine
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date September 1935

"Tried in the Furnace" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in September 1935, and in the US in Cosmopolitan in March 1937.[1] It was included in the British edition of the 1936 collection Young Men in Spats.[2]

The story introduces the recurring character Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps and features Pongo Twistleton. In the story, Barmy falls in love with a girl named Angelica Briscoe, a parson's daughter, but comes into conflict with his friend Pongo when he discovers that Pongo has also fallen for her.

Angelica Briscoe would later appear in the Jeeves novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974).[3]

Plot

After the annual smoking-concert at the Drones Club, the members praise the knockabout cross-talk act (a comedic slapstick double act) performed by Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps and Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton-Twistleton. A Crumpet (a nondescript club member) remarks that Barmy and Pongo underwent an ordeal that nearly ended their friendship. The Crumpet, having heard about what happened from Barmy, narrates the following story.

Barmy and Pongo go to the seaside resort Bridmouth-on-Sea to practice their cross-talk act. They see Angelica Briscoe, daughter of the Rev. P. P. Briscoe. She lives in Maiden Eggesford, a nearby town. Both young men become smitten with her. Pongo tells Barmy that he is going to London for a day or two, and Barmy tells him not to hurry, planning to take the opportunity to go see Angelica. The next day, Saturday, Barmy books a room in a pub in Maiden Eggesford, and finds Pongo there. Pongo had lied and also wants to see Angelica. Barmy meets a man a few years older than him called Mr. Briscoe and concludes he is Angelica's brother. Mr. Briscoe introduces Barmy to Angelica, and Barmy agrees to help her run the annual village School Treat on Monday. Pongo learns about this and resents Barmy for coming between him and the girl he loves.

I found it a little difficult (said the Crumpet) to elicit from Barmy exactly what occurred at the annual outing of the Village Mothers of Maiden Eggesford. When telling me the story, he had the air of a man whose old wound is troubling him.

— The Crumpet recounts Barmy's ordeal[4]

Sympathetic to Pongo, Barmy sends a note to Angelica saying Pongo will go in his stead. Pongo is surprised and grateful. However, Angelica asks Barmy to instead accompany the village mothers on their annual outing. Barmy thinks this is proof that she loves him. On Monday, Barmy joins the sixteen mature women in a bus. He is overwhelmed when the women let loose, singing ribald songs and throwing tomatoes at passers-by. They stir up trouble at an amusement park, and Barmy later has to row their sailing boat.

After a long day, Barmy returns to the pub. Pongo blames him for sending him to the School Treat, where he was smeared with chocolate and whacked with newspapers by children. They argue, until the barmaid tells them Angelica Briscoe is already engaged to Mr. Briscoe, who is actually her second cousin. Mr. Briscoe had kept this secret because he wanted to get someone else to chaperone the school fair. Barmy and Pongo decide that a girl who would inflict school fairs or troublemaking mothers on someone is not worth bothering about anyway. They clasp hands, their friendship restored.

Style

Biblical references appear frequently in Wodehouse's works. This story's title "tried in the furnace" is a phrase that comes from the Bible, in which being "tried in the furnace" means being purified or improved by an ordeal, similar to how silver would be "tried" (or refined by heating) in a furnace (a process known as cupellation). With comedic exaggeration, the title refers to Barmy and Pongo emerging as purer and better after undergoing a difficult experience.[5][6]

Publication history

Gilbert Wilkinson illustrated the story for the Strand.[7] The story was illustrated by Mario Cooper in Cosmopolitan.[8] It was published in the periodical Book of the Week Club, a supplement to the Syracuse Herald, on 19 September 1937, along with another Wodehouse story, The Medicine Girl.[9]

"Tried in the Furnace" was included in the collection of Wodehouse stories The Crime Wave at Blandings, published by Doubleday, Doran & Company in the US in 1937.[10] It was featured in the American edition of the 1939 collection The Week-End Wodehouse, and in the 1949 collection The Best of Wodehouse.[11] It was included in The Most of Wodehouse, a collection published by Simon and Schuster on 15 October 1960 to celebrate Wodehouse's seventy-ninth birthday.[12] Another Wodehouse collection, Vintage Wodehouse, published in 1978 by Barrie & Jenkins and edited by Richard Usborne, included the story.[13] The story was included in the 1982 collection Tales from the Drones Club.[14] A collection of clergy-related Wodehouse stories titled The World of Wodehouse Clergy, published in 1984 by Hutchinson, featured the story.[15]

The story was included in the 1942 anthology A Treasury of British Humor, edited by Morris Bishop and published by Coward-McCann.[16]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Midkiff, Neil (7 December 2017). "The Wodehouse short stories". Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 70-71, A55.
  3. ↑ Garrison, Daniel H. (1991) [1989]. Who's Who in Wodehouse (Revised ed.). New York: Constable & Robinson. pp. 35–36. ISBN 1-55882-087-6.
  4. ↑ Wodehouse (2009) [1936], chapter 2, p. 45.
  5. ↑ Hodson, Mark (11 November 2002). "Young Men in Spats: Literary and Cultural References". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  6. ↑ The titular phrase is used at the end of the story, when the Crumpet describes Barmy and Pongo's reconciliation: "They clasped hands. Tried in the furnace, their friendship had emerged strong and true".
  7. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 186, D133.201.
  8. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 149, D17.68.
  9. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 144, D7.1.
  10. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 73, B58a.
  11. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 116-117, B6a, and p. 118, B8a.
  12. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 120-121, B12a.
  13. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 124, B19a.
  14. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 126, B25a.
  15. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 128-129, B31a.
  16. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 194, E17.
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. (2009) [1936]. Young Men in Spats (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books. ISBN 9780099514039.
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