Misers

[poliphilo]

Whatever happened to the misers?

Back in the 18th and 19th centuries people loved their misers. There was a whole literature about them. They were mean, they stank, they hid guineas in dung-heaps, they made pies out of long dead sheep. Mr Boffin in Our Mutual Friend is an avid collector and consumer of miser-porn. Daniel Dancer, John Elwes, Vulture Hopkins- these guys were famous.

There were famous fictional misers too- Scrooge, Silas Marner, Uncle Ebenezer Balfour.

But then along came the 20th century and misers- both real and fictional- dropped out of sight.

So why don't we have them any more?

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I like Marley's ghost. Especially the bit where his face appears in the door-knocker. Deliciously scary.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Nothing like Marley's ghost.

Is he the first chain-rattler?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's a chain-rattling ghost in a "true" ghost story told by one of the ancient Roman writers (Pliny, I think.)