The Bride of Lammermoor

Walter Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor" became so famous in its day (the first third of the 19th century) that it even became the source of one of Donizetti's operas, "Lucia di Lammermoor", a work that, today, is probably better known than Scott's novel. However, a comparison between the two reveals that Donizetti, or his libretto-writer, fairly massacred Scott's story, which, in the original, is a good deal more involved than a two-and-a-half-hour opera can do justice to. The book is based, as was often Scott's wont, on a true story which he had heard as a youth. Its tragic outcome is nowhere in doubt, and the magic of the book is certainly not suspense; rather, it lies in Scott's superb historical portrayal of Scottish manners and customs at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century (including some fascinating allusions to Scottish superstitions later to be taken up in his Studies on Demonology and Witchcraft), perhaps also in the book's implicit criticism of arranged marriages and other pseudo-pious customs today known less among non-conformist Christians than among adherents of certain other faiths. At any rate, this is certainly more than a Gothic romance, its only failing being, in my opinion, the lack of real personality evinced by its heroine, Lucy Ashton, although, as editor Fiona Robertson points out, her circumstances deny her any opportunity of expression. Ms. Robertson has provided the Oxford World's Classics edition with a splendid introduction, probably best read after enjoying the novel, a bibliography, a chronology of Walter Scott, an overview of the main political events of the period (often referred to in the course of the story), wreaths of copious notes on details of Scott's text (including some painstaking research into the source of his quotations; I only noticed one Bible quote that Ms. Robertson had failed to recognize, and her indications of where Scott quotes from Shakespeare's dramas were a great help in understanding Scott's frame of reference), and last but not least an extremely helpful glossary with most if not all of the Scots dialect and other of those difficult words in which Scott's text abounds. If you are unfamiliar with Scott's Waverley novels, I suggest you turn to "The Heart of Midlothian", "Old Mortality" or "Guy Mannering" as a starting point. But "The Bride of Lammermoor" is in every respect, and particularly in this edition, a worthy addition to the series of "Waverley" novels.

I read the biography of Anna Cora Mowatt, "Lady of Fashion." As the brightest theatre star of the 1840s-1850s, she starred in a stage version of "The Bride of Lammermoor." In addition to the opera, there were two stage adaptations of Scott's novel. I haven't been able to locate either of the stage versions, but I did check out Scott's book to read the story. This is a tale that keeps your interest throughout. I found the Scottish dialect a bit hard to wade through although I "ken" understand it for the most part. Oddly, the first chapter starts with the tale of Dick Tinto who apparently relates this story to our narrator. Tinto is referred to in one other place in the novel. However, his story appears attached and unrelated to what comes after. The tale of Lord Ravenswood and the demise of his family's fortune is an interesting one. Lucy Ashton's attachment to him happens quickly and seems as if it were enchanted. Alice, the old blind woman who foretells the lovers' fate, is a rich and vibrant character. The servant Caleb is hilarious as he manufactures excuses why the best food and accommodations cannot be given to Ravenswood's guests, even to the point of breaking empty bottles as he enters a room and then using that as an excuse for not having wine to serve. Lady Ashton seems to be more controlling than alert, missing all of the signals of her daughter's mental state nor particularly caring about them. The story's outworking after the wedding with Ravenswood's disappearance into the mist is likewise strange, with both he and his horse forever gone. I enjoyed this book, its gothic castles, the hunt, the commonfolk and the political alliances. The novel written in 1819 holds up remarkably well 188 years later. Scott paces the unfolding of the adventure well, keeping the reader wanting to reach for one more chapter to uncover the next incident. While we never stop rooting for the lovers, we know that love's course never did run smooth! Enjoy!

By the end of this novel, I was leaving late for things because I had trouble putting it down, even though I knew how it ended. I cannot say if it is too predictable or not: being a classic people are always giving away the plot, and even Scott did that in his introduction, Even if he hadn't, it was adapted into an opera, which was discussed on a program I saw recently. If you have managed to get to the story without knowing the plot, you may wish to skip the introduction by Scott and anyone else until the end. I found it not only a good narrative, but an unexpectedly complicated one. Scott seems somewhat ambivalent about many of the issues that he addresses and gives multiple points of view from the aristocrats to the peasantry. Thus, one can see a certain nostalgic glamor to the continuance of an ancient noble house in possession of its estates, the deserving qualities of the rising people who displace them, and also the resentment and poverty of the peasants. It is sometimes humorous and frequently cynical. His ambivalence towards his characters in interesting. This was a historical novel set over 100 years before when it was first written. Scott had as one of his purposes the recording of traditional Scottish customs, and this adds considerably to the interest and charm of the book. There is an appendix in this edition containing a timeline for the novel and Scottish history that I recommend that anyone not familiar with the time and place read first. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, although it has features that I know will put off some readers. Fortunately or unfortunately, the novel includes a small number of notes by Scott, designated in the text by numbers. Some are important for understanding, some just seem to afford the opportunity to whimsically throw in the odd tale or song. The editor has added an enormous number of notes, some of them essential, some a bit of a distraction while reading. There is also an extensive, and in my case necessary, glossary of Scots. One of the things that impressed me about the writing is that even with flipping back to the notes and glossary so frequently, the narrative still gripped my interest. Some readers may find this intolerable, I leave it to each to decide their own tastes. This edition also contains a brief biography and a chronology of Sir Walter Scott. Variations of this novel were published, this is described as the "Magnum Opus" version. A note on the text is included. I have also been told told, by authentic natives of Scotland, that the language and the people are definitely referred to only as Scots and only as Scottish and only as Scotch. Whatever!

Sir Walter Scott was once considered the equal of Shakespeare by some. His influence on 19th century literature was immense. What's more, he still offers good reading. You might not know it from the typical undergraduate British literature survey text, though, where he is likely to be neglected in favor of writers more fashionable today.I had to read Scott on my own -- fired by the enthusiasm of C. S. Lewis, whose essay on Scott in SELECTED LITERARY ESSAYS is warmly recommended. The first one I read, Kenilworth, wasn't all that good. Better were The Antiquary, Redgauntlet, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian, and Waverley. This novel, The Bride of Lammermoor, is a good one to start with -- being not as long as many of his masterpieces. I suggest the first-time reader skip to the second chapter and start there. Be independent! Find out for yourself why your great-great-great grandparents loved this guy. If you like a warm-hearted storyteller, you should look into Sir Walter.

A rather weird novel that does not lack local flavour and even comical characters is the result of Scott's excursion into gothic style of writing. The atmosphere of the novel is perfectly eerie. Falling down residences, a mad old woman, the shadow of death on Lammermoor from the beginning. A feud between to families in which the Ashtons, have taken over all the possessions of the Ravenswoods, forces Edgar, the only offspring of that ill-fated house, to live in the decaying Wolf's Crag. A grim prophecy foretells his end, if he ever should ride to Ravenswood (now inhabited by the Ashton's, among others the gentle Lucy). And, last but not least, he himself senses that he will never by happy. It is no surprise that the dreamer Lucy falls in love with this dark hero after he has saved her and her father from an angry bull. It is clear from the very beginning that this love can only end in despair, madness and death. Which is, in my opinion, not a flaw of the book, but one of the things that make it special. - Even Lucy and Edgar must know that their love will never come to a good end, but yet they follow the path of their destiny; they can not help themselves. It is that sense of doom that makes the instants at the fountain so precious and moving, or the moment where the lightening illuminates the profiles of the lovers in Edgar's derelict castle. The characters try to act, but in one way or the other are manipulated by Lady Ashton. She IS fate, or much more nemesis. Her "victims" don't have a chance. But the book has more to offer than just a tale of stark tragedy. Scott draws vivid pictures of his characters, for example Caleb (Edgar's faithful old servant) - and plays with the his rough humour against the sombre background. Or the strange people of the village and the weird women in the graveyard who must have been characteristic for rural Scotland in Scott's day. All in all it is a capturing book one is not likely to forget so soon.