Light behind her
Light behind her
In Brief
Foretelling the uncertainties of online dating, Bloom
understands that "Martha Clifford" may be no more transparent
a projection of the woman with whom he is corresponding than
"Henry Flower" is of himself. In Lotus Eaters he
stands in the church and imagines meeting Martha in the flesh,
thinking that she could "Turn up with a veil and black bag.
Dusk and the light behind her." The reference is to a one-act
operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan in which a young man woos a
woman so unattractive that she could seem desirable only in
such lighting conditions.
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Trial by Jury, first produced at London's Royalty
Theatre in 1875, was the second of many great collaborations
between Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert. It was a success,
and went on tour throughout the British Isles in subsequent
years. The operetta features a breach-of-promise lawsuit
engendered by a young attorney's ambition to succeed in his
profession. He lacks the money to get ahead, so he falls "in
love" with a successful attorney's daughter:
When I, good friends, was call'd to the bar
I'd an appetite fresh and hearty,
But I was, as many young barristers are,
An impecunious party.
I'd a swallow-tail coat of a beautiful blue,
And a brief which I bought of a booby,
A couple of shirts, and a collar or two,
And a ring that looked like a ruby.
He'd a couple of shirts, and a collar or two,
And a ring that look'd like a ruby.
At Westminister Hall I danc'd a dance
Like a semi-despondent fury,
For I thought I never should hit on a chance
Of addressing a British jury.
But I soon got tired of third-class journeys
And dinners of bread and water,
So I fell in love with a rich attorney's
Elderly, ugly daughter.
So he fell in love with a rich attorney's
Elderly, ugly daughter.
The rich attorney, he jump'd with joy
And replied to my fond professions,
"You shall reap the reward of your pluck, my boy
At the Bailey and Middlesex Sessions.
You'll soon get used to her looks," said he,
"And a very nice girl you will find her.
She may very well pass for forty-three
In the dusk, with a light behind her."
She has often been taken for forty-three
In the dusk, with a light behind her.
The prospective father-in-law is "good as his word." He sends
plenty of business to the young barrister, who becomes rich
and then finds himself less enamored of the elderly, ugly
daughter. The result is the breach-of-promise lawsuit.
Bloom's cautious skepticism about epistolary
self-representations feels prophetic. Probably many thousands
of 21st century amatory hopefuls—male, female, and
otherwise—have thought something like "Dusk and the light
behind her" after meeting their internet correspondents in the
flesh.
