Summary
Summary of Simon the Jester
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Simon makes kindness his last adventure
Simon de Gex is rich, witty and successful in politics when doctors tell him he has six months to live. He retreats to miserable Murglebed-on-Sea to think about what remains. There, reading Marcus Aurelius, he decides that good actions might give him a good fate.
He calls this eumoiriety. His reasoning has a comic twist: people fear doing good because they fear the consequences, but he expects to be gone before those consequences arrive. Kindness becomes his chance to play archangel.
Key idea 2
Generosity brings consequences of its own
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Key idea 3
Lola unsettles Simon's easy judgments
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Key idea 4
A tidy plan meets untidy feelings
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Key idea 5
The search carries Simon into uncertainty
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Key idea 6
The husband threatens Simon's hopeful scheme
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Key idea 7
Love breaks through Simon's protective humor
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Key idea 8
Kindness matters more than playing Providence
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who love a witty narrator, a warm romance and an Edwardian world of clubs, charity and eccentric characters, and who enjoy comedy that carries real feeling underneath.
What this book is
What would you do if a doctor gave you six months to live? Simon de Gex, a witty politician, decides to spend them doing good, since he will not be around for the consequences. William John Locke's novel Simon the Jester follows his comic, tender and increasingly tangled campaign of kindness. It gives you a clever narrator, a circus tamer, a dwarf with a cat act, and a story that keeps turning. First, meet Simon in the mud of Murglebed-on-Sea.
In this summary
- 1A condemned man seeks the most miserable place in EnglandFree
- 2Secrets, farewells and a very generous bank account
- 3A mother's request and a surprising meeting
- 4The plan to send Lola back to her husband
- 5A hunt for the missing captain across the sea
- 6A gambling den and a husband tracked down
- 7What Simon learns about his own heart
- 8The limits of playing archangel
- 9What the story is really about, and how it is told
Key point 1 of 9
A condemned man seeks the most miserable place in England
Simon de Gex is a rich, thirty-seven-year-old politician, famous for his jokes. Doctors tell him a rare illness will kill him within six months, and that an operation would kill him at once. He sets out to find the most miserable place in England to think, and a club friend named Renniker sends him to Murglebed-on-Sea.
There, among mud, spitting fishermen and a landlord who drinks at the Red Cow, Simon has an idea. He has been reading Marcus Aurelius, who says a happy man is one who gives himself a good fate through good desires and actions. Simon invents a word for it, eumoiriety, and decides to earn it.
His reasoning is neat. Good deeds usually frighten people because of the consequences. A man who will soon be dead need not fear them, so he can play archangel for fun.
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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Check yourself
Why does Simon initially think he can do good without fearing the consequences?
Right. “A man who will soon be dead need not fear them, so he can play archangel for fun.”Not quite. “A man who will soon be dead need not fear them, so he can play archangel for fun.”
What does Simon hope to achieve by reuniting Lola with her husband?
Right. “If he can reunite Lola with her husband, Dale will be cured of his passion and many people will be happy.”Not quite. “If he can reunite Lola with her husband, Dale will be cured of his passion and many people will be happy.”
What central belief does Simon's experience undermine?
Right. “The book plays with one big idea: that good intentions and clever planning cannot control life.”Not quite. “The book plays with one big idea: that good intentions and clever planning cannot control life.”
Questions about Simon the Jester
What is Simon the Jester about?
His plans for others lead to comic mishaps, love and scandal.
What does eumoiriety mean in Simon the Jester?
It is a word Simon invents from his reading of Marcus Aurelius, meaning a happy fate earned by good desires and good actions. Simon hopes to achieve it by doing kind deeds before he dies.
Who is Lola Brandt?
She is a former animal tamer, daughter of a lion tamer, who lives in London and longs for respectability. She is warm, direct and generous, and she becomes central to Simon's life.
Is Simon the Jester a funny book?
Yes, its narrator is full of jokes, quotations and comic scenes, with a dwarf cat trainer and a gambling den. The humor sits beside real feeling, so the story is lively and easy to follow.
What is the main message of Simon the Jester?
The novel suggests that clever plans and jokes cannot replace honest feeling and useful work. Real happiness comes from love, courage and helping other people directly.
