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Query re: Laughter in the Dark (fwd)
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From: Corinne Laura Scheiner <clschein@midway.uchicago.edu>
In *Laughter in the Dark*, Rex reflects on Albinus's sufferings and
comments:
"The stage manager of this performance was neither God nor the devil. The
former was far too gray, and venerable, and old-fashioned; and the latter,
surfeited with other people's sins, was a bore to himself and to others,
as dull as rain . . . in fact, rain at dawn in the prison-court, where
some poor imbecile, yawning nervously, is being quietly put to death for
the murder of his grandmother."
I can't think of any grandmother-murdering imbeciles at the moment, but my
guess is the second part of the quote (after the ellipses) is a reference
to or a parody of a particular novel. Does anyone have any idea what
text might be lurking in the background?
Thanks in advance for your help. You can reply to me on the list or
directly (clschein@midway.uchicago.edu).
Yours,
Corinne Scheiner
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Corinne Scheiner
Department of Comparative Literature
The University of Chicago
1050 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
tel: 773/702-8486
email: clschein@midway.uchicago.edu
In *Laughter in the Dark*, Rex reflects on Albinus's sufferings and
comments:
"The stage manager of this performance was neither God nor the devil. The
former was far too gray, and venerable, and old-fashioned; and the latter,
surfeited with other people's sins, was a bore to himself and to others,
as dull as rain . . . in fact, rain at dawn in the prison-court, where
some poor imbecile, yawning nervously, is being quietly put to death for
the murder of his grandmother."
I can't think of any grandmother-murdering imbeciles at the moment, but my
guess is the second part of the quote (after the ellipses) is a reference
to or a parody of a particular novel. Does anyone have any idea what
text might be lurking in the background?
Thanks in advance for your help. You can reply to me on the list or
directly (clschein@midway.uchicago.edu).
Yours,
Corinne Scheiner
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Corinne Scheiner
Department of Comparative Literature
The University of Chicago
1050 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
tel: 773/702-8486
email: clschein@midway.uchicago.edu