Zusammenfassung von Ein Einfaltspinsel

Für wen es gedacht ist

Readers who enjoy Victorian fiction with a lively narrator will love this novel, as will those fascinated by medicine. It also appeals to lovers of romance shaped by money troubles, sharp comedy and sea adventure.

Worum es in diesem Buch geht

What happens when a gifted young doctor tells the girl he loves that her bleeding comes from tight corsets? In A Simpleton, Rosa Lusignan sends him away, calls him a tyrant, and then, to her own surprise, begins to follow his advice. That small quarrel sets off a story that crosses London, the open sea and the dry plains of South Africa.

Charles Reade tells us in a preface that he borrowed facts, never plots. The medicine and the African scenes come from his reading and experience. You get a love story that does not stop at the wedding, a comic tour of auction rooms and a failing practice, and a voyage that takes the hero far from home.

Questions about Ein Einfaltspinsel

What is A Simpleton by Charles Reade about?

It follows a young doctor, Christopher Staines, and Rosa Lusignan, the beautiful girl he marries. Their struggles with money, fashion and friends lead him to a sea voyage and later to Africa, in a Victorian story of love, folly and loyalty.

Who is the simpleton in the title?

The word is first used by Rosa's father as an insult to her. Uncle Philip later gives it a kinder meaning, and the book invites readers to decide which characters deserve it.

Is A Simpleton based on a true story?

No. Reade says in his preface that the plot and characters are invented, though he drew facts for the medical, nautical and South African scenes from his own experience, handbooks, journals and travel letters.

Why does Rosa's corset matter in the book?

Her tight stays are the cause of her illness, as Dr. Staines explains with anatomy. The argument over them opens the book, ends their first engagement and returns later when she wears them in secret.

Is A Simpleton worth reading today?

It offers lively dialogue, comic set pieces such as the auction rooms, a spirited heroine, a sea adventure and African scenes. Its mix of humour, medicine and romance makes each section distinct and easy to follow.