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What if the father who dismisses your school troubles has to endure them himself?
Paul Bultitude has little patience with his son Dick’s complaints about boarding school. A prosperous Victorian businessman, he sees school as a pleasant escape from adult responsibilities. Then a magical stone turns Paul into a boy, while Dick takes on his father’s adult appearance.
In F. Anstey’s Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers, authority suddenly changes hands. Paul faces lessons, punishments, and Dr Grimstone, who hears his protests as a pupil’s excuses. Dick enjoys the promise of adult freedom, but his father’s place comes with obligations he does not understand.
What you’ll discover
- A father under orders Watch Paul confront the school rules he finds so easy to praise from a distance.
- Freedom with a catch Follow Dick into adult privileges, where independence brings duties as well as pleasure.
- Protests nobody believes Feel the comic frustration as Paul’s insistence on the truth only makes matters worse.
- Magic meets everyday power Discover how a strange stone exposes ordinary habits of giving orders and ignoring complaints.
- Laughter with a point Enjoy a sharp challenge to grown-ups who mistake a child’s obedience for happiness.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love farce with a heart, schoolboy humour, wish-gone-wrong stories and narrators who wink at the audience. Anyone who enjoys gentle satire of parents and teachers will laugh here.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Paul mistakes distance for wisdom
- A careless wish becomes real
- Dick claims his father's freedom
- School exposes Paul's comfortable assumptions
- Past decisions block the escape
- Dick returns with borrowed authority
- Each role reveals its hidden costs
- The storyteller makes misfortune comic
- Paul is trapped by himself
Who’s who
- Paul BultitudeA pompous colonial produce merchant of Mincing Lane who wishes he were a boy again and finds himself sent to school, longing only to get home.
- Dick BultitudeHis red-haired schoolboy son, who hates Dr. Grimstone's school and cleverly uses the magic stone to take his father's place.
- Dr. GrimstoneThe stern, bearded headmaster of Crichton House, who loves long speeches and sharp discipline and will not hear what his new pupil is trying to say.
- Dulcie GrimstoneThe headmaster's small, proud daughter, who treats Dick as her sweetheart and cannot understand why he has turned so cold.
- ChawnerA sly older boy who likes to hold secrets over his schoolfellows and informs on them when it suits him.
- TippingThe tall, red-haired head boy who is jealous of Dulcie's favour and takes a strong dislike to Paul.
- JollandDick's giggling, loyal friend, who helps Paul with his lessons and cannot see why his old friend has changed.
- Uncle Marmaduke ParadinePaul's charming, shifty brother-in-law, who brought the stone from India and sees a chance to profit from the trouble it causes.
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Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers
by F. Anstey · 1882
A pompous merchant who longs to be a boy again gets his wish, and Dr. Grimstone's school is waiting for him.
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“at this very moment I only wish I could be a boy again, like you.”
In short
What would happen if a stern father got exactly what he said he wanted, and became a schoolboy again? F. Anstey asks that question in Vice Versa, and answers it with one of the funniest first weeks of term in English fiction.
Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 55 min fast, 7 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 88,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1882by F. Anstey
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A father who cannot understand his own son
The story opens in the dining room at Westbourne Terrace, where Paul Bultitude sits with claret and a good fire. He should be content. Instead he starts at every footstep, because his son Dick is about to say farewell before returning to school.
Paul is portly, bald and sure of his own importance. His certainty comes less from a strong will than from never having been opposed. He does not dread the parting out of love. He dislikes having a boy in the house, with the noise and the questions.
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Details
- First published
- 1882
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Anstey, F. Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/vice-versa-or-a-lesson-to-fathers.
Anstey, F. (2026). Vice versa; or, a lesson to fathers. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/vice-versa-or-a-lesson-to-fathers (Original work published 1882)
Anstey, F. Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/vice-versa-or-a-lesson-to-fathers.
@book{anstey2026vice,
author = {Anstey, F.},
title = {Vice Versa; Or, a Lesson to Fathers},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/vice-versa-or-a-lesson-to-fathers},
note = {First published 1882}
}
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What is Vice Versa about?
A merchant, Paul Bultitude, wishes aloud that he were a boy again while holding a magic stone. His son Dick uses the stone to swap their bodies, and Paul is sent to the boy's boarding school in his place.
Who wrote Vice Versa and when?
F. Anstey, the pen name of Thomas Anstey Guthrie, wrote it. It was published in 1882 and was his first success. The story is set in January 1881 and follows one week at a boys' school.
What is the Garuda Stone?
It is a small grey-green stone with faint marks, brought from India by Uncle Marmaduke. It is a talisman that carries out a wish made while holding it, and each wish is taken exactly at its word.
The author
F. Anstey
1856–1934 · English humorist and novelist
F. Anstey was the pen name of Thomas Anstey Guthrie, an English novelist and journalist. He was born in London in 1856 and died there in 1934. He published Vice Versa in 1882 and The Brass Bottle in 1900. He also wrote for the magazine Punch.
“at this very moment I only wish I could be a boy again, like you.”
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