Small World, part one

2. Persse is first introduced to the reader with his simple quote: "April is the cruellest month" (3). Here, readers get a quick glimpse at his recognition of literary eloquence. Despite his constantly lyrical inner monologue (that often quotes the works of his favorite authors, such as the beginning quote), he is clearly quite reserved and cautious in conservative speech. The author's and Persse's observations seem to mesh, since the narrator mirrors the main character's careful articulation. The most important point in Persse's first appearance is perhaps the fact that he barely speaks at all (and this strangely beckons Dempsey to a rambled confession). He only talks when he finds a topic of interest to him, such as when he challenges Dempsey to complete a rhyme: "But, you know, they very seldom get further than the first line. There aren't many rhymes to 'Limerick'" (7). Though Dempsey thinks himself triumphant, Persse corrects him, proving his intelligence without an outward show (unlike nearly all of the other male characters): "The metre's all wrong...'Limerick' is a dactyl" (7). Persse's blushing in response to Dempsey's crude rhyme is also telling: he obviously is uncomfortable with any communications about sex, and quite a prude. Persse is the opposite of practically every other man attending the conference (including his ability to be respectful towards others). Despite his regular logical posture, though, it takes only the entrance of a beautiful woman for him to lose his cool altogether. Persse is definitely not the typical masculine figure: he is immature and naive, and is most notably a hopeless romantic (three qualities that tend to correspond with each other).

3. Rummidge is described, overall, as a pretty disgusting and disappointing place. The first paragraphs of the story describe in-depth the utter failure of the setup of the conference. The attendees are clearly in "dismay" (3); their accommodations include "stained and broken furniture...dusty interiors of cupboards [without] coat-hangers...and narrow beds, whose springs sagged dejectedly in the middle, deprived of all resilience by the battering of a decade's horseplay and copulation" (3). The rooms, food, service, and lectures are all dissatisfactory, leaving the attendees glum. Nature itself seems in opposition to the conference: "Persse gazed...at the unseasonable snow crusting the lawns and flowerbeds of the Rummidge campus" (3). This is perhaps a parallel of the Waste Forest; both settings are the decayed origins of the quest and rite of passage of the naive main character. Lodge attempts to show that the main character will be moving above and beyond the restrictions of their first setting; and thus growing as a person.

4. Angelica is presented as breathtaking (literally for Persse) in her first appearance: a crowd appears to part at her entrance to the room, making a direct path between the two. Before any qualities are described (in true Chretien style) Persse internally proclaims that she is "the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life" (8). The narrator then goes on to describe her as "tall and graceful, with a full, womanly figure, and a dark, creamy complexion". Probably purposefully, Lodge goes out of his way to avoid medieval beauty standards- in fact with completely opposite qualities. While Blancheflor's pale skin, rosy cheeks, and "golden" hair are completely fulfilling of the medieval beauty aesthetics, (as well as presumably a small and diminutive figure in comparison to a man), Angelica is tall and voluptuous with dark features. Angelica is powerful and a challenge to any man, most notably in her extensive literary knowledge. She is also extremely mysterious: by the end of the first chapter, it is revealed that Angelica did not even belong at the conference and had been tricking several men all at once. I still find her untrustworthy: manipulating a sweetheart such as Persse just seems too wrong.