An Englishman's home by Evelyn Waugh An Englishman's

Setting Takes place in the Edwardian era. In the countryside in a village called Much Malcock, somewhere in southern England.

synopsis Mr. Beverly Metcalfe is a middle-aged man who aspires to be gentry. He purchases parcel of land in a charming village, but leaves a piece in the centre, surrounded by his and other gentry folk’s land. The other “Old Money” residents only grudgingly welcome newcomer. A pair of businessmen, Mr. Hargood-Hood and his lawyer/brother buy the remainder of the land, where they say they will build a factory. The upper-class neighbours are very unhappy and blame Mr. Metcalfe and they all avoid spending their money to solve the problem. In the end Lady P and Mr. Metcalfe buy back the land, making sure to get their namee on projects in the community for their civic efforts as “the upper crust”.

Un-beknownst to them, the brothers bought the land to scare the rich neighbours to re-buy it at a higher price. In the end Mr. Metcalf has spent much more for the land than it would have cost originally.

Narration 3rd Person Objective

Beverly Metcalfe Main character: protagonist “new money”, rising middle class, pretensious Merchandiser who made his money in India Wanted to become a true country gentleman “He had made a study and noted the points of true countrymen.” Believes in the adage: An Englishman’s Home is His Castle Convinces himself that, though he cannot afford to buy more land that he really only wanted a small property anyhow

characters Colonel Hodge Lady Peabury “old money” Most respected lady in Much Malcock NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) mentality “old money” NIMBY mentality (Not In My Back Yard)

Characters Hornbeam Brothers “new money” businessmen Clever! Scam artists: they find villages filled with old money, conservative people and use their NIMBY attitude against them to make money.

Characters Gentry Old money Blame others whenever there are complications They try to get involved as little as possible NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)

Character vs. Character conflict Character vs. Character Mr. Beverley vs. Lady Peabury Mr. Beverly vs. the Hargood-Hood brothers Person vs. Society Mr. Beverley vs. the gentry class H-H brothers vs. gentry class

themes Social-climbing and class system Tradition and Conservatism Snobbery and Pretentiousness Old money vs. new money

genre Slice of Life – a look at the life of village English gentry folk and their foibles of snobbery (NIMBY) and the social climbing of the middle class Humour

Language Elegant at times “In pursuance of our conversation of three days ago, I beg to inform you that I have been in communication with Mr Hargood-Hood…” (taken from the letter written by Beverley Metcalfe to Lady Peabury)

Story Structure Linear