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Alexey Sklyarenko wrote:
"Gwen de Vere reminds one of Queen Guinevere (Van revises his first
novel on board Queen Guinevere: 2.2)"
Mike M writes:
Harfar, Baron of Shalksbore / Curdy Buff in Pale Fire is certainly
Edward de Vere. But Harfar actually sounds rather like Arthur (cf.
Guinevere) spoken by a cockney rather more than a tipsy version of
Edward.
At the risk of sounding like someone with a "mind-virus", I was
wondering about Curdy Buff. He's first introduced as a cousin whom Disa
loathes, hence the cousin of a Queen, which itself fits Vere; cousin
was used loosely in Shakespeare's day. Why Disa loathed him is never
made clear. That he was responsible for delivering the advice that
Disa's trying to make a "romantic ... attempt to return to Zembla"
would end in "incarceration" is reflected in his own life. In 1574 for
no apparent reason he fled to the Continent; some Oxfordian writers
think this was for romantic reasons. He was persuaded to return to
England where it was feared he would be jailed, but he suffered merely
a reprimand.
Barons come and go in Pale Fire; has anyone studied them? Setting aside
the Mandevils, who are an interesting story in themselves, we first
read that
"One of the lesser Shadows whom we shall call Baron A. had a
father-in-law called Baron B., a harmless old codger long retired from
the civil service and quite incapable of understanding certain
Renaissance aspects of the new regime."
Baron B. smacks of Hamlet's prospective father-in-law, Polonius; the
use of the word 'Renaissance' is the hint that leads to Shakespeare.
Polonius is widely recognized amongst historians, if not by all
literary critics, as a lampoon of the man known as Lord Burghley, Queen
Elizabeth I's chief minister. In 1571, as plain Sir William Cecil, he
was elevated to the position of Baron Burghley -- Baron B. Burghley was
the father-in-law of Vere of Oxford, who thus appears to be Baron A., a
"lesser Shadow". Later, Bretwit says "Baron B. must be a little gaga,"
-- Polonius again.
Kinbote continues: "He [Baron B] had been, or thought he had been
(retrospective distance magnifies things), a close friend of the late
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oswin Bretwit's father, and therefore was
looking forward to the day when he would be able to transmit to "young"
Oswin (who, he understood, was not exactly persona grata with the new
regime) a bundle of precious family papers that the dusty baron had
come across by chance in the files of a governmental office."
Sir Henry Sidney (Philip Sidney's father) had been Queen Elizabeth's
pro-rex, or viceroy, in Ireland and Wales, so as a working hypothesis,
assume he was the "late Minister of Foreign Affairs". That would make
Oswin Bretwit Sir Philip Sidney. Sidney senior and Burghley were at one
time great friends, in fact Sidney jr was intended to marry Burghley's
daughter. Sidney complained bitterly, like Hamlet, that he lacked
"advancement", because of his youth -- hence ""young" Oswin". Philip
Sidney was not persona grata with Elizabeth. First he wrote a forward
and unsolicited letter advising her, in no uncertain terms, not to
marry her latest suitor, for which he was rusticated; later he
complained that Elizabeth invariably saw the worst in him. "Dusty
Baron" describes Burghley precisely -- forever making notes,
long-winded and tedious. The "precious family papers" might allude to
the fact that the lowly origins of both the Cecil and Sidney families
rankled, so both fabricated false genealogies to compensate.
"Here are some precious papers belonging to your family. I cannot do
better than place them in the hands of the son of the great man who was
my fellow student in Heidelberg and my teacher in the diplomatic
service."
Heidelberg was a center of Protestantism. Both Burghley and the Sidneys
promoted that religion.
"The scripta in question were two hundred and thirteen long letters
which had passed some seventy years ago between Zule Bretwit, Oswin's
grand-uncle, Mayor of Odevalla, and a cousin of his, Ferz Bretwit,
Mayor of Aros. This correspondence, a dismal exchange of bureaucratic
platitudes and fustian jokes, was devoid of even such parochial
interest as letters of this sort may possess in the eyes of a local
historian - but of course there is no way of telling what will repel or
attract a sentimental ancestralist - and this was what Oswin Bretwit
had always been known to be by his former staff. I would like to take
time out here to interrupt this dry commentary and pay a brief tribute
to Oswin Bretwit."
The valuable documents turn out to be family trivia, and might
represent the true status of the Bretwit (Sidney) family a few
generations earlier, i.e. minor functionaries rather than great figures
of State. ".. sentimental ancestralist" does describe the Elizabethan
view of genealogy.
CK's lengthy, and seemingly unwarranted encomium to Oswin Bretwit seems
to reflect the vast outpouring of panegyric, in verse and prose, that
followed the death of Philip Sidney, whose career scarcely justified
it.
"The Extremists were right in believing that Baron Bland, the Keeper of
the Treasure, had succeeded in hiding those jewels before he jumped or
fell from the North Tower; but they did not know he had had a helper
and were wrong in thinking the jewels must be looked for in the palace
which the gentle white-haired Bland had never left except to die."
Baron Bland (Baron B.?) seems to be Baron B[urghley]/Polonius. Bland
was "Keeper of the Treasure"; Burghley was Lord Treasurer. Baron
Bland's death seems to have been mysterious: did he jump or was he
pushed? Likewise Polonius; did Hamlet intend to kill him or Claudius?
I assume that Andronnikov and Niagarin mirror Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern.
There are a few interesting complications. In the index, Baron A is
"Oswin Affenpin, last Baron of Aff, a puny traitor," -- so he has the
same first name as Oswin Breitwit. Vere was short in stature; "puny"?
Baron A in the index is not described as son-in-law to Baron B, but the
entry for Baron B is:
"B., Baron, involuntary father-in-law of Baron A. and imaginary old
friend of the Bretwit (q.v.) family".
As a matter of fact, Burghley insisted that it was Vere who made the
running in his courtship of Burghley's daughter; Burghley claimed that
he never wanted it, and was taken by surprise. Burghley was the
"imaginary" friend of the Sidneys because when Sidney père lost some
documents relating to the proposed engagement between Philip Sidney and
Anne Cecil, Burghley used that as an excuse to abort the match; the
real reason was that with the prospect of his daughter marrying an
earl, the Sidneys lacked both money and status.
Final point: in the index, "Shalksbore, Baron Harfar, known as Curdy
Buff, b.1921, man of fashion and Zemblan patriot" -- this we know is
Vere of Oxford. "Mandevil, Baron Radomir, b. 1925, man of fashion and
Zemblan patriot". Identical (aside from a little later elaboration).
Note that Curdy is four years older than Radomir. Vere was four years
older than Sidney. Then there's "Mandevil, Baron Mirador, cousin of
Radomir Mandevil (q.v.), experimentalist, madman and traitor," -- no
birth date given.
Mike Marcus