La Ninetta by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne), October 1849. Steel-engraving. 9.7 cm high by 15.2 cm wide (3 ¾ by 6 inches), framed, full-page dark plate for Roland Cashel, Chapter LXVIII, "La Ninetta," facing p. 590. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Reintroducing Cashel's Columbian Love Interest, Transformed
There was the very scenery of that far-off land; the music was the national air of Mexico; the dance was the haughty manolo; and, oh! was it that his brain was wandering, — had reason, shaken by many a rude shock, given way at last? The dancer — she on whose witching graces every glance was bent — was Maritaña! There she stood, more beautiful than he had ever seen her before; her dark hair encircled with brilliants, her black eyes flashing in all the animation of triumph, and her fairly rounded limbs the perfection of symmetry.
Oh, no! this was some mind-drawn picture; this was the shadowy image that failing intellect creates ere all is lost in chaos and confusion! Such was the conflict in his brain as, with staring eyeballs, he tracked her as she moved, and followed each graceful bend, each proud commanding attitude. Nor was it till the loud thunder-roll of applause had drawn her to the front of the stage, to acknowledge the favour by a deep reverence, that he became assured beyond all question. Then, when he saw the long dark lashes fall upon the rounded cheek, when he beheld the crossed arm upon her bosom, and marked the taper fingers he had so often held within his own, in a transport of feeling where pride and joy and shame and sorrow had each their share. He cried aloud, —
“Oh, Maritaña! Maritaña! Shame! shame!” Scarcely had the wild cry re-echoed through the house than, with a scream, whose terror pierced every heart, the girl started from her studied attitude, and rushed forward towards the footlights, her frighted looks and pale cheeks seeming ghastly with emotion.
“Where? — where?” cried she. “Speak again — I know the voice!” But already a scene of uproar and confusion had arisen in the parterre around Cashel, whose interruption of the piece called down universal reprobation; and cries of “Out with him!” “Away with him!” rose on every side.
Struggling madly and fiercely against his assailants, Cashel for a brief space seemed likely to find his way to the stage; but overcome by numbers, he was subdued at last, and consigned to the hands of the guard. His last look, still turned to the “scene,” showed him Maritaña, as she was carried away senseless and fainting. [Chapter LXVIII, "La Ninetta," pp. 590-591
Commentary: Cashel Encounters His Former Fiancée as a Ballarina in Venice
Over the three years since the Dublin jury, unimpressed with the circumstantial evidence against him, had pronounced Cashel “not guilty” of the charge of having murdered Kennyfeck on the road to Tubbermore, the protagonist has been searching western Europe for some trace of Mat Corrigan and his granddaughter. His mission is to restore King George the Third's pardon, which in effect restores Tubbermore and its estates to the Corrigans (formerly, the O'Reagans). He has also been on the lookout for the perfidious Linton, who escaped Dublin on the very morning that his dupe was acquitted, and his associate Dan Keane, who had supposedly found the murder weapon at the side of the road.
In Naples, Cashel falls in with a young group of Englishmen one evening at a cafe. When they express an interest in attending a performance of the celebrated Italian ballarina [sic] “La Ninetta,” he agrees to accompany them to Venice. However, when he attends her performance in the theatre, he immediately recognizes her as Maritaña, his Columbian fiancée. In Phiz’s illustration of the dancer, musicians, and stage set he recalls the earlier “Columbian” scenes in which the fiery Latina had danced with Cashel, but he adds castanets. Across the stage already the bouquets of admirers have begun to appear, and the supporting characters look decidedly Mexican, as does the pseudo-marketplace in which she dances the “haughty Manolo.”
Other Plates involving Spanish Dancing and Maritaña.
- 1. Frontispiece: Maritaña. Facing title page (November 1849 double number) from Parts 19/20.
- 2. Engraved title & Vignette. Facing frontispiece (November 1849) From Parts 19/20.
- 3. The Game at Monte. Facing page 4 in Chapter I, "Don Pedro's Guests." (May 1848)
- 4. The Manolo. Facing page 44. Chapter VI, "A Fracas at the Betting Ring." (May 1848)
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. With 39 illustrations and engraved title-vignette by Phiz. London: Chapman & Hall, 1850.
Lever, Charles. Roland Cashel. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vols. I and II. In two volumes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1907. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 19 August 2010.
Steig, Michael. Chapter Seven: "Phiz the Illustrator: An Overview and a Summing Up." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 298-316.
Created 25 January 2023