Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Paul Clifford.

London:  Colburn and Bentley, 1830.

 

Synopsis of Paul Clifford

"It was a dark and stormy night." No, seriously, it was, and this is the famous novel that starts out that way. On this night, the novel's hero, three-year-old Paul Clifford, experiences the death of his mother; a character that the reader is led to believe was a prostitute. However, the identity of his father is not revealed. Paul is raised in Thames Court, which, during the time that the novel is set, is an area of ill and even criminal repute. Paul is raised at a public house called the Mug, and most of its patrons are of a low moral and social standing. In spite of this environment, Paul shows some promise of not only transcending the moral depravity of his surroundings, but also of perhaps distinguishing himself as an intellectual. He is raised by the proprietor of the public, Peggy Lobkins, and she takes care that he gets an education. However, the tutor that she chooses for this task is actually a frequent patron of the Mug, and he is, of course, paid mainly in food and booze. Regardless of the fact that his tutor, Peter MacGrawler, is actually the editor of The Asinæum, a literary magazine, the Scotsman MacGrawler turns out to be somewhat incompetent.

Eventually, Paul and Peggy have a falling-out and Paul deserts the confines of the public house. His first step towards independence and a career is to join the one-man writing staff of his tutor's magazine. After showing the adolescent Paul the tricks of the trade of being a critic, Paul surpasses MacGrawler in his critical abilities, prompting MacGrawler to basically plagiarize Paul's work and reap the majority of the financial benefits that Paul rightfully earns. Once Paul discovers the scam, he angrily strikes off on his own. Angry, unprotected, and with no prospects, Paul falls in with the wrong crowd, as he encounters some former patrons of the Mug who befriend him and cause him to live well beyond his means. Steadily falling into severe debt, and during a night out on the town, a beautiful girl catches Paul's eye. The girl is accompanied by an older gentleman. Paul follows the pair with the obvious intent of gaining intelligence or perhaps even gaining a conversation from the lovely lady, but his disreputable companion, Long Ned, follows the two right alongside Paul with the obvious intent of gaining the older gentleman's watch. Ned lifts the watch, the theft is discovered, and Ned runs off with no regard for Paul. Paul, of course, did not steal the watch, but he was observed to be in acquaintance with the man that did, so Paul is apprehended. And just his luck, the man from whom the watch was stolen is William Brandon, one of the most skillful and powerful barristers in the City. So Paul's case is quickly heard before a magistrate. He refuses to rat out his acquaintance, though Ned's mutual allegiance to Paul is to be severely questioned by the reader. Paul is sent to Bridewell prison, and it appears that Paul's resistance to the moral depravity in which he was raised was all but in vain. While in Bridwell, Paul runs into another former patron of the Mug in Augustus Tomlinson, and the two manage to escape from prison. Once free from confinement, Paul still resists joining up with a gang of criminals, leading the reader to believe that there is still hope, but eventually, due to want of money and lack of protection, he is forced to join the gang.

The narrative then fast-forwards a few years, and it is evident that Paul has risen to the status of leader of the band of thieves. They mainly employ themselves as highwaymen, robbing carriages in the dead of night on the roads outside of London. Paul has become a dashing, accomplished, and well-respected man in the criminal world, and is even considered handsome and gentlemanly even to those that are not aware of his character or of his social standing in the criminal world. Paul was destined for greatness, but his greatness, for the time-being, is only achieved in the criminal world.

Soon after the narrative is resumed, Paul and his accomplices, Long Ned and Augustus Tomlinson, actually rob the carriage of the beautiful young lady and her father. Of course, Paul recognizes the lady, and acts the hero by calling off his accomplices and returning the belongings to Lucy Brandon and her father. His normal role as one of the highwaymen is successfully concealed from the Brandons. Paul, as a result of his heroism, forms a relationship with the Brandons, and when they relocate to Bath to visit Mr. Brandon's ailing brother, Paul moves the operation to that city, accordingly, under the pretense that he plans to marry Lucy for her inheritance and split the "winnings" with his accomplices. However, it becomes apparent to the reader that Paul has fallen in love with Lucy and that he will likely not be sufficiently in control of his emotions in order to perform such an affront to Miss Brandon. And to throw another twist into the plot, Lucy's ailing uncle in Bath is William Brandon, the very same esteemed lawyer that falsely accused Paul of theft. Paul realizes this in time to always avoid the lawyer in society, but in spite of that, he eventually wins the heart of Lucy. However, Paul indeed does have a rival, and a noble rival at that. The ambitious William Brandon intends to unite his niece with Lord Mauleverer in order to restore the Brandon family to social esteem and financial prominence. But again, Paul wins the heart of Lucy despite Mauleverer's attempts, but Mauleverer, vindictive as he is and urged on by the plotting lawyer-who still has not seen Paul in person or ascertained his true identity due to Paul's alias of Captain Clifford-manages to expose Paul as being of unproven birth and upbringing, and therefore not worthy of maintaining the place in Bath high society which he successfully managed to maneuver himself into. Though Paul's true identity as a highwayman is not discovered, he indeed cannot produce sufficient evidence to dispel the rumors of his suspect social status, so he decides not to press his luck and flees the area with his accomplices.

Despite Mauleverer's embarrassment of Paul, Paul still manages to not only maintain the heart of Lucy, but he also wins the permission of her father to have her hand in marriage. But unwilling to disgrace the woman he loves with the discovery of his true character, Paul runs off with Ned and Tomlinson with the intent of getting one more big score. With the money from this robbery, Paul intends to join the military, rebuild his reputation through foreign service, and return to Lucy with a clear conscience. Coincidentally, the big score ends up being Mauleverer. Upon return of the highwaymen to their secret hideout, the reader learns that MacGrawler is now a fledgling member of the band, as a result of his newly acquired career of pickpocketing. Due to his old connection with MacGrawler, Paul takes him in, despite MacGrawler's artlessness in literary criticism only being rivaled by his ineptitude at thievery. But MacGrawler turns out to be a traitor. He discovers the hideout to the London police, and only Paul escapes. He still maintains his plans for military rehabilitation, but before leaving the country, he springs his two accomplices from police custody. In the process, Ned and Tomlinson escape, but Paul is shot and apprehended (and shoots his horse in the face).

Paul is tried under his main alias of Captain Lovett, and luckily, no connection to his identity as Captain Clifford or Paul Clifford is made public. The only two that discover this connection are William Brandon and Lord Mauleverer. Lucy is saved from the embarrassment. In another plot twist, the ambitious Brandon has been promoted to the office of judge, and is even appointed as the judge in Paul's case. Brandon is also offered a peerage pending the end of the trial. Paul is assured of the death penalty, as Mauleverer and MacGrawler are chief witnesses against him. The jury brings a verdict of guilty, but just as Brandon is about to pass sentence and condemn Paul to death, one of Paul's old acquaintances from the Mug, Dummie Dunnaker, informs the judge of the identity of his long-lost son that Brandon has been desperately searching for. And buckle up, Star Wars fans, for William Brandon is Paul's father. However, desperate to avoid the ruin of his family name, Brandon still condemns Paul to death (what a prick). After doing so, and on his way to Lord Mauleverer's to receive his peerage, Brandon dies alone in his carriage with the shades drawn. Mauleverer discovers the identity of Brandon's son and uses his sway to reduce Paul's sentence to transportation. Before heading off to Australia, Paul, in a conference with Lucy-whom is now revealed to be his cousin, by the way-reassures her that he will escape from Australia and meet her on a boat to France in a year from that date. Paul is true to his word, and he and Lucy marry, head off to America, raise a family, and live the American dream.

-- Prepared by Cameron Dodworth, University of Nebraska, Spring 2006
© Cameron Dodworth, 2006.