Resumen
Resumen de Thelma
Para quién es
Readers who enjoy old-fashioned love stories with wild northern scenery, mysterious caves, devoted friends and a sharp, funny look at London society. Anyone drawn to Norse legend, family loyalty and a heroine of great faith will find plenty here.
De qué trata este libro
Thelma is a Victorian romance by Marie Corelli, who died in 1924. It moves from the fjords of northern Norway to the drawing rooms of London. It follows Sir Philip Bruce-Errington, a rich and bored English baronet who sails north in his yacht and meets a golden-haired girl at midnight, under a sun that never sets. You get a love story, a mystery in a shell-lined cave and a clear picture of two ways of life.
Corelli sets two worlds against each other. On one side stands a farmhouse buried in roses, a proud old father who still honours the gods of the Vikings, and a daughter taught that truth matters more than beauty and that a wife owes her husband trust. On the other side stand fashionable hostesses, servants who read their mistresses' letters, newspapers that trade in scandal, and people who rarely say what they mean. The book asks which of these worlds is the more honest, and it answers with humour as well as with feeling.
The summary that follows walks through the tale in nine steps. It covers the first meeting, the friendships and quarrels of Norway, the engagement, the move to England and the first signs of trouble. It stops before the final turns, so the book keeps its surprises. The first step takes you to a quiet shore at midnight, where a song comes from nowhere.
En este resumen
- 1A song at midnight draws a strangerFree
- 2Gossip builds a wall around her
- 3A farmer covers his knife with his foot
- 4Rumour, a dinner and a foundling
- 5A proposal, a curse and a thrown stone
- 6A kiss in a crystal cave
- 7A bride in London's dull gold
- 8A reception that crowns the fisherwoman
- 9What the story is about and how it is told
Idea clave 1 de 9
A song at midnight draws a stranger
The book opens on the Altenfjord in June, where the sun still stands in the sky at midnight. Sir Philip Bruce-Errington lies on a fur rug on the shore, waiting for his yacht, the Eulalie, to bring back three friends from the island of Seiland. He is rich and handsome, and a little tired of everything. Corelli spends a full page on the colours of the sky, and that sense of wonder runs through the early chapters.
Then a woman's voice rings out in an old mountain song, though nobody is in sight. A boat slides out of a cave, and a tall girl of about nineteen springs from it, her hair the colour of the midnight light. She laughs at his clumsy sign language, asks him to help launch her boat, and guesses that he is a gentleman who does no work. When he answers that he lives, and that it is hard work, she looks at him with real pity.
They watch the sky change together, and Philip sees that her honest gaze has none of the training of a London drawing room. He asks her name, and she refuses, saying the maidens of Norway do not give names to strangers. She rows away, and he follows the little boat with his field glass until it vanishes behind the rocks. For the first time in years a woman has turned him down, and he is stung and curious.
He walks into the cave she left. A small iron lamp stands on a ledge, and twenty steps lead down to a heavy door carved with one word, Thelma. Beyond it a winding hall is covered in shells set in patterns of stars, roses and suns, with no cross anywhere. At the end lies a small chamber with a rock altar, a crucifix and a red lamp, and on the floor a granite coffin bearing the same name beneath a wreath of poppies.
Before he can think what this means, a dwarf with a pine torch rushes in, shrieking about the dead and a thief in the golden midnight. He gives his name as Sigurd, speaks fluent English and raves about a rose of the northern forest. Philip answers him kindly, and the little man runs off sobbing. Back on the yacht, Philip tells the whole story to his old friend George Lorimer, who blames the green Chartreuse.
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 Thelma
What is Thelma by Marie Corelli about?
It follows a wealthy English baronet who meets a Norwegian farmer's daughter under the midnight sun. They marry and move to London, where her honesty meets the gossip, spite and false friendships of fashionable society.
Who is Sigurd in Thelma?
Sigurd is a deformed foundling whom Thelma's parents rescued as a baby and raised beside her. His mind is clouded, he loves her like a servant and more, and he fears the stranger who may take her.
Why does Olaf Güldmar cover his knife with his foot?
It is an old Norse gesture of peace. By putting his foot on the knife, Olaf shows that he trusts the two young men because they told him the truth about why they came.
Is Thelma a true story and when was it written?
No, it is a work of fiction by Marie Corelli, published in the nineteenth century. It borrows real places such as the Altenfjord and London and real Norse legends, but its people are invented.
Is Thelma easy to read today?
It has a warm, direct narrator, vivid scenery and a clear love story, with comic scenes among Philip's friends and below stairs in London. Lively dialogue keeps the pages turning.