This image is from P.G. Wodehouse's 1934 novel Thank You, Jeeves. In it, Bertie Wooster has taken up playing the banjolele and Jeeves' aversion to it is so great that he leaves Wooster's employ and goes to work for Bertie's friend Lord "Chuffy" Chuffnell. It so happens that Bertie's former fiancee, American girl Pauline Stoker, has arrived with her wealthy father J. Washburn Stoker on his yacht, because he is considering buying Chuffy's crumbling manor and fixing it up. Chuffy and Pauline fall in love, but Chuffy is unwilling to propose while his finances are so shaky. Bertie thinks that Chuffy and Pauline suit each other admirably and wants to help further their romance. Unfortunately, being as Jeeves terms it "intellectually negligible" Bertie contrives to go about this in the most idiotic way possible: he decides to kiss Pauline in front of Chuffy to make him jealous and spur him into proposing. But it is Pauline's father who witnesses the kiss instead of Chuffy and, after a series of misunderstandings/mishaps, Bertie finds himself locked in a cabin on the yacht with J. Washburn Stoker grimly determined to force Bertie to make an honest woman of his daughter. Naturally, it is Jeeves to the rescue. Related Posts: This image is from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, the 1847 novel by Charlotte Bronte (writing under the pen name of Currer Bell). In the scene pictured, the protagonist- Jane- had been about to marry her employer Mr. Rochester when the ceremony was interrupted by a man on the grounds that Rochester is already married. Rochester admits this is true; years before he was tricked by his father into marrying the man's (Mr. Mason) sister for her inheritance. It turned out that she was even then slipping into the madness which eventually claimed her mind entirely. Unwilling to consign her to an asylum, Mr. Rochester has kept her hidden away in an apartment in the attics of Thornfield, guarded and cared for by a nurse. A danger to herself and others, she has occasionally escaped from the attic, one of those times setting fire to Rochester's bed. Needless to say, when all of this comes to light, the wedding is off. Related Posts: This illustration is from Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe: A Romance. Set in 12th century England, it follows the adventures of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a disinherited knight returned from the Crusades. At this point, the badly wounded Ivanhoe is being nursed back to health by Rebecca, daughter of Isaac, the Jewish money-lender. They- and a few others- are imprisoned in Torquilstone Castle by corrupt Templar knights Maurice de Bracy, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and Reginald Front-de-Boeuf. de Bois-Guilbert has developed an unhealthy obsession with Rebecca and tries- with more force than charm- to seduce her. When she climbs on a castle parapet and threatens to jump rather than become his mistress, even de Bois-Guilbert can see that she's just not that into him and backs off. Meanwhile, Ivanhoe's friends- including Robin of Locksley and the Black Knight- beseige the castle to rescue him and the rest of the captives. During the fighting, the castle is set on fire and a bloodied de Bois-Guilbert, realizing that they are going to be defeated, fights his way through the smoke to the room where Ivanhoe lies injured and grabs Rebecca, carrying her off and escaping from the castle. Ivanhoe is still too weak from his wounds to stop him, and de Bois-Guilbert callously leaves him to burn up. He is rescued by the Black Knight (who turns out to be King Richard) and must later ride to Rebecca's rescue.
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