Historical pageantry in fiction
Some other contributors to the blog have pointed out that pageants turn up as a plot device in many examples of twentieth century novels. Most particularly, Mark Freeman has written that it 'was not unusual for readers in mid-century to encounter pageants' and of course, he's quite right about this. Most of the novels previously mentioned were written during the heyday of pageantry before the 1960s. However, examples that are more recent can be found, including one that is bang up to date.
In 'England through the Ages', Augustus with his usual well-meaning but misguided schoolboy logic has taken over the role of Elizabeth I having usurped it from the rightful performer - one Mrs Brewster. The pageant has reached the episode concerning the Spanish Armada: dressed in a red wig, a centurion's cloak and 'brandishing a trident that had been borrowed from Britannia', Augustus as Gloriana then addressed her supporters with the words 'You're doing jolly well you lot... Killin' all these Spaniels and stuff ' but in 'a rather unqueenly way'. The resulting melee wherein 'under the hypnotic spell' of a bewigged Gloriana with 'surprisingly filthy knees' a 'marauding horde of children' storm the pageant stage, is described in the very best tradition of the Just William stories.
Kate Atkinson is a tremendously talented novelist and she clearly knows her pageants as well as her children's fiction. The central storyline of 'A God in Ruins' concerns the aerial bombing of Europe by the Allies. The device of the pageant and Augustus's dismantling of the village's performance of the past is a fantastic allegory on some of the more troubling aspects of World War 2 history.
Following the children's assault, a Vicar in the audience asks, 'Are they the same children... who were the Saxons and the Vikings and the Normans? It's hard to tell now that they're all covered in green paint. What do you suppose that represents? England's green and pleasant land?' To which Augustus's mother replies 'I doubt it'.
If you haven't yet read Kate Atkinson's books, I highly recommend them. They are a terrific read and thought provoking to boot. The inclusion of Augustus’s pageant adventure demonstrates that Atkinson assumed her readers would be familiar with historical pageantry, as well as being able to appreciate her brilliant pastiche of Richmal Compton’s William stories.
Fans of the novelist Kate Atkinson who have read her two most recent novels: 'Life after Life' (2013) and its companion piece published only a few months back, 'A God in Ruins' will be familiar with the character of 'Aunt Izzie' who is a maverick member of the Todd family - the central protagonists within these novels. In these works, Izzie becomes the author of a hugely popular children's fiction series about the adventures of a roguish schoolboy called Augustus Swift. Atkinson has admitted that Augustus is more than loosely based on that well-known fictional boy - William Brown - made famous in the novels of Richmal Compton.
In 'England through the Ages', Augustus with his usual well-meaning but misguided schoolboy logic has taken over the role of Elizabeth I having usurped it from the rightful performer - one Mrs Brewster. The pageant has reached the episode concerning the Spanish Armada: dressed in a red wig, a centurion's cloak and 'brandishing a trident that had been borrowed from Britannia', Augustus as Gloriana then addressed her supporters with the words 'You're doing jolly well you lot... Killin' all these Spaniels and stuff ' but in 'a rather unqueenly way'. The resulting melee wherein 'under the hypnotic spell' of a bewigged Gloriana with 'surprisingly filthy knees' a 'marauding horde of children' storm the pageant stage, is described in the very best tradition of the Just William stories.
Kate Atkinson is a tremendously talented novelist and she clearly knows her pageants as well as her children's fiction. The central storyline of 'A God in Ruins' concerns the aerial bombing of Europe by the Allies. The device of the pageant and Augustus's dismantling of the village's performance of the past is a fantastic allegory on some of the more troubling aspects of World War 2 history.
Following the children's assault, a Vicar in the audience asks, 'Are they the same children... who were the Saxons and the Vikings and the Normans? It's hard to tell now that they're all covered in green paint. What do you suppose that represents? England's green and pleasant land?' To which Augustus's mother replies 'I doubt it'.
If you haven't yet read Kate Atkinson's books, I highly recommend them. They are a terrific read and thought provoking to boot. The inclusion of Augustus’s pageant adventure demonstrates that Atkinson assumed her readers would be familiar with historical pageantry, as well as being able to appreciate her brilliant pastiche of Richmal Compton’s William stories.