46 pages • 1 hour read
George Grossmith, Weedon GrossmithDiary of a Nobody
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1892A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Absurdity of Social Aspirations
Charles Pooter’s actions and attitudes show the absurdity of social aspirations. Pooter operates in a rigid social hierarchy made up of landowning, aristocratic elites who scorn the aspirations of middle-class people like Pooter; middle-class members who simultaneously aspire to rise above their local locations and look down on those in the working class; and working-class members who consider themselves equals or betters to those in the middle class.
As a middle-level clerk in an unnamed financial institution, Pooter is specifically a member of the lower middle class. The novel’s humor derives from the interplay between Pooter and his attempt to secure his way into society while simultaneously placing himself above the working-class people with whom he must interact day to day. Time and again, Pooter’s efforts are thwarted, and he fails to achieve either of these goals.
In the novel’s early chapters, he offends the butterman, butcher, and grocer’s boy in quick succession. Each encounter serves to put Pooter on the same social level as the tradesmen, and each results in a social snub for Pooter. The butterman openly says Pooter is not a gentleman; the butcher tells him he could buy up “things” like Pooter “by the dozen” (12), and the grocer’s boy uses the sacred front door reserved for important guests, a symbol of middle-class pretensions of refined gentility.
The authors would have understood some working-class people—such as the butcher and the ironmonger, Farmerson—likely earned as much or more than Pooter. They stress the absurdity of the class structure when Farmerson, invited to the same mayoral gala as Pooter, asks why they should not both attend.
Pooter’s attempts to rub shoulders with the upper class inevitably end in disaster. This occurs when he slips and falls at the mayor’s ball, when his hat flies into the mud as he tries to speak to the “grand” Mrs. Fernlosse, and when the dog at the home of the wealthy Finsworths licks the blacking off his boots. At every turn, he tries to rise above his class and is punished.
The novel does not imply that one should remain in one’s class, as Pooter’s hard work and honesty—traditional middle-class Victorian values—are rewarded financially at the novel’s end. Rather, it satirizes pretentious notions about class that lead to false distinctions among equals. Pooter is, in fact, happiest when he is not thinking about social aspirations, as seen in his pleasant Christmas with Carrie and her “country” family.
The Discrepancy Between Self-Perception and the Perception of Others
Multiple characters and satirical techniques highlight the discrepancy between self-perception and the perception of others. This theme is particularly suited to serialized fiction from the Victorian era, as characters frequently “put on airs,” or behave as if they are better than others, to impress others. Parody, exaggeration, caricature, and irony are some of the techniques used in serialized Victorian satire, and all appear in The Diary of a Nobody.
The Grossmiths parody comic acting through Lupin and his friends at the amateur comedy club, The Holloway Comedians. The club members constantly praise each other’s performances but are rarely actually funny. Instead, they are grotesque, as when Frank Mutlar plays a tune on his cheek with a knife, or boring and rude, as when Mr. Burwin-Fosselton insists on imitating the actor Henry Irving night after night. Mr. Burwin-Fosselton’s deluded beliefs in his acting ability are exaggerated considerably, especially in his letter exchange with Pooter. In his letters, he makes absurdly grandiose statements such as “I have registered a vow to mount the steps of fame” (105).
While the Grossmiths give Pooter some endearing qualities that save him from being a flat character, his characterization notably serves as a caricature of an insecure member of the lower middle class who believes he belongs in a higher social class but cannot perceive that his aspirations only cause him problems. To stress the character’s lack of perspective, the authors make him physically and verbally clumsy, prone to physical and interpersonal blunders that constantly undermine his dignity. If he isn’t physically falling, he is putting his foot in his mouth with the wrong pronouncement, as when he makes disparaging comments about the portraits of a friend’s dead relatives.
Irony pervades the novel, and many chapters end with situational irony or a “twist” that shows the discrepancy between a character’s self-perception and the perception of others. Chapter 3, for instance, ends after Pooter haughtily tells Carrie that his headache certainly is not caused by all the painting he has been doing, whereupon the paint in the bathtub dissolves in hot water and turns him red. At the end of Chapter 15, Lupin, another character prone to self-delusion, vows that his fiancée will “wait 20 years” for him (142), although she quickly marries a wealthier character. Like parody and caricature, irony provides the Grossmiths with a useful vehicle for portraying the self-serving, false, or deceptive attitudes and motives of many of The Diary of a Nobody’s characters.
Taking Oneself Too Seriously
In addition to satirizing notions of class hierarchies and aspirations, the novel satirizes people who take themselves much too seriously. This can take the form of demanding respect from others or insisting one knows more than others about a subject. Either form is a type of social transgression in the novel.
Pooter claims superiority and demands respect in every aspect of his life, especially his workplace and his domestic life. A. James Hammerton, a scholar of British gender and family history, calls the character’s determination to take himself seriously “Pooterism.” (Hammerton, A. James. “Pooterism or Partnership? Marriage and Masculine Identity in the Lower Middle Class, 1870-1920.” Journal of British Studies, vol. 38, no. 3, 1999, pp. 291-321). Pooter’s attempts to show himself as the master of his office or home inevitably end up diminishing his masculinity rather than augmenting it.
Pooter’s pride in his work is justified, as he is often praised by his employer, Mr. Perkupp. He overextends his influence at the office, however, by trying to chastise the younger clerks. The authors give him his comeuppance, especially from the young clerk Pitt, as a result. When he demands respect from Pitt, for example, his answer is, “Go on demanding” (14).
At home, he declares himself the master of the house to both Lupin and Mrs. James, but his mishaps contradict this fact. In contrast to Daisy Mutlar’s father—whose declaration that he is master of his own home results in Lupin’s banishment—Pooter’s similar pronouncements have little effect. When he tells this to Mrs. James, she mutters something that he can’t quite hear, likely something meant to contradict him in an offensive manner. In addition, his family greets the diary that he treats so seriously with laughter and contempt.
Pooter is not the only character who takes himself too seriously. Others who do so include his son, Lupin. Lupin thinks he knows more than his father when he blindly trusts his employer, Mr. Cleanands, who bankrupts the company and then disappears. He also believes he knows the fidelity of his fiancée, Daisy, better than anyone else, even when another man’s interest in Daisy is evident. In both these instances, Lupin gets a rude awakening. Minor characters also show this trait, including Mr. Burwin-Fosselton and Mr. Huttle, although the authors reserve the most significant consequences for the Pooter men.
The authors do not extend this trait of “Pooterism” to any of the novel’s female characters. Carrie, Mrs. James, the servant, Sarah, and even Daisy Mutlar and Lillie Posh have self-respect but do not try to assert their superiority over others. The Grossmiths thus suggest that “Pooterism” is solely a masculine trait.
