Resumen
Resumen de El joven duque
Para quién es
Readers who love Regency society, sparkling dialogue and satire of the rich, and anyone drawn to a story of reckless youth, first love and a young man learning who he is.
De qué trata este libro
The Young Duke is a novel by Benjamin Disraeli, published in 1831, when he was a young man and long before he became prime minister. It follows George Augustus Frederick, Duke of St. James, who comes of age as one of the richest men in Europe. He owns palaces and castles, an Irish province, a whole district of London, and half a million pounds in government stock.
Disraeli uses this fortune to ask a simple question. What happens to a boy who is raised to believe the world exists for his pleasure? He gives us balls and race meetings, an opera singer, a duel, a gambling den and a country house full of Catholic neighbours. A witty narrator stands beside the reader and cannot stop commenting on everything, from dinners to debates.
The book is a comedy of manners, a love story and a warning, all at once. In this summary you will meet the scheming uncle, the patient guardian, the loving cousin, the charming rake Sir Lucius Grafton and the brilliant girl who says no to a Duke. You will see how the money goes and what the Duke learns as it goes. Let us begin with the boy and the people who spoiled him.
En este resumen
- 1A boy raised by flatterersFree
- 2Palaces, pleasures and a pale beauty
- 3Doncaster and the girl he did not know
- 4Castle Dacre and a first refusal
- 5The Bird of Paradise and a quarrel at dawn
- 6A wounded man, a faded passion, a second no
- 7Satiety, gambling and a vanished fortune
- 8Back to Dacre, and a long ride to London
- 9How the book is told, and what it is about
Idea clave 1 de 9
A boy raised by flatterers
The story opens on the day the Duke of St. James turns twenty-one. Twenty years of minority have made his family fortune enormous, and the whole of aristocratic England takes notice. His late father named a Catholic gentleman, Mr. Dacre of Castle Dacre, as guardian. The boy's uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of Fitz-pompey, were not chosen, and they never forgive it.
From the Duke's childhood the Fitz-pompeys work to win him. They shower the boy with pineapples, ponies and praise, and they make his school headmaster their friend. Mr. Dacre is trusting and kind, and he believes he is leaving his ward in good hands. When his wife falls ill and the family must go abroad to Italy, the way is wide open for the uncle.
Lord Fitz-pompey paints the absent guardian as a cold tyrant. He pays for the boy's boat, his bills and his pleasures, and he lets the boy think every favour comes from his uncle alone. His daughter Caroline is taught to call the little Duke her husband in play. Her parents hope the game will one day become a marriage.
As a young man the Duke grows fond of one study only, which is himself. He snubs his tutor, who then leaves. At Oxford he is bored, and he helps to burn a pile of caps and gowns, so he leaves before he is thrown out. He tours Paris, Vienna and Italy, learns fine manners, and avoids writing back to the man who made his fortune safe.
Back in London he stays in a hotel with a household of servants from many countries. He greets Lady Caroline with a kiss, then dines at Fitz-pompey House, where the Countess presents him to the highest ranks of fashion. One guest matters most. Charles Annesley is a cool, witty dandy who rules by his calm and his sneer, and he approves of the young man. The Duke is now stamped as fashion's newest gold coin.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about El joven duque
What is The Young Duke about?
It follows George, Duke of St. James, a very rich young man who enters Regency London society, spends his fortune on pleasure and races, and learns through loss, love and friendship what a life of pleasure alone cannot give.
Who is May Dacre in The Young Duke?
May Dacre is the clever, high-spirited daughter of the Duke's guardian, Mr. Dacre. She is a Catholic, and she sees the Duke's faults at once, which makes her the one woman he truly wants to win.
When was The Young Duke written and published?
Benjamin Disraeli published it in 1831, when he was a young man. It is a novel, not a true story, though it draws on the manners, clubs and fashions of London society in his own day.
Is The Young Duke easy to read?
It has a lively, joking narrator, short chapters and many scenes of dialogue, so the story moves quickly from ballrooms to race meetings to a duel. The narrator's asides add humor and make the book good company.
What is the main message of The Young Duke?
Disraeli shows that wealth and fame cannot make a person happy and that a life spent only on pleasure leaves a person empty. The book suggests that real worth comes from serving others and learning to care about them.