Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Paul Clifford
Go deeper: the whole of Paul Clifford
About 12 h to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who enjoy Dickens-style London low life, highwaymen and gentleman rogues, sharp satire of courts and politicians, and love stories that cross class lines will find plenty here to enjoy.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Paul Clifford, first published in 1830 by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, follows a foundling who becomes a famous highwayman. It mixes comic London low life, daring robberies and a love story set in fashionable Bath. The author speaks to you directly, mocks lawyers, lords and critics, and makes a serious claim: crime is made by circumstance and cruel punishment as much as by wickedness.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A dying mother and a nameless boyFree
- 2A tavern childhood and a strange tutor
- 3Gambling, quarrels and a break with home
- 4Paul the critic and a ruinous night
- 5Justice Burnflat and the House of Correction
- 6Tomlinson's tale and a foggy escape
- 7The Jolly Angler and its robber club
- 8Lucy, Warlock and the gentleman rescuer
- 9Bath, the schemers and the double life
Punkt 1 von 9
A dying mother and a nameless boy
The story opens on a dark, rainy night in London. A rag dealer named Dummie Dunnaker brings a false Bible to an alehouse called the Mug, where a woman named Judith lies dying with fever.
She makes Dummie swear an oath of secrecy. She begs the landlady, Mrs. Lobkins, to raise her small son, who has no name. Judith dies before morning, and Dummie quietly takes letters from her trunk.
The chapter sets up the central secret and the tone of the book. Grim scenes are seen through a comic, mocking narrator, and everything that follows grows from this one night.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Go deeper: the whole of Paul Clifford
About 12 h to read.Who’s who
- Paul Clifford
- A gifted young highwayman raised by Mrs. Margery Lobkins, Paul falls in love with the respectable Lucy Brandon.
- Lucy Brandon
- A young woman from respectable society, Lucy attracts Paul's love and is the niece of William Brandon.
- William Brandon
- Lucy's uncle is an ambitious lawyer whose legal authority contrasts with Paul's precarious position outside respectable society.
- Augustus Tomlinson
- Paul's criminal companion is a clever highwayman who questions the moral claims of respectable society.
- Mrs. Margery Lobkins
- A London tavern keeper and Paul's guardian, she raises him among people living close to the law's edges.
- Long Ned
- A highwayman in Paul's criminal circle, Long Ned belongs to the company that draws him into robbery.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 183,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 12 h 15 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Paul Clifford
What is Paul Clifford about?
It follows an orphan raised in a London tavern who becomes the highwayman Captain Lovett, while also telling a love story with a young heiress and attacking the law's treatment of the poor.
Who is Paul Clifford based on?
Paul is an invented character, though the novel borrows from the tradition of famous highwaymen like Dick Turpin, whom the young Paul reads about, and the popular fascination with gentleman robbers.
When was Paul Clifford written?
It was published in 1830. The author wrote it as a lively satire of crime, law and politics in the years before the great reforms in Britain.
What is the famous opening line of the book?
The novel begins with the sentence It was a dark, stormy night. It has since become a byword for dramatic scene-setting, and the book opens with a vivid storm over London.
What is the main message of Paul Clifford?
The author argues that society and its harsh laws help make criminals, and that kindness and a fair chance reform people better than prisons and the gallows.
Cite this edition
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Paul Clifford. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/paul-clifford.
Bulwer-Lytton, E. (2026). Paul Clifford. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/paul-clifford (Original work published 1830)
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. Paul Clifford. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/paul-clifford.
@book{bulwerlytton2026paul,
author = {Bulwer-Lytton, Edward},
title = {Paul Clifford},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/paul-clifford},
note = {First published 1830}
}