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Jonathan Wild discovers Darrell in the Loft
George Cruikshank
January 1839
Etching
10.8 x 9.2 cm
"Epoch the First, 1703. Jonathan Wild," Chapter 4, "The Roof and the Window," in William Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard. A Romance (January 1839), facing page 72.
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He had now reached the adjoining house, and, scaling the roof, approached another building, which seemed to be, at least, one story loftier than its neighbours. Apparently, Jonathan [Wild] was well acquainted with the premises; for, feeling about in the dark, he speedily discovered a ladder, up the steps of which he hurried. Drawing a pistol, and unclosing his lantern with the quickness of thought, he then burst through an open trap-door into a small loft.
The light fell upon the fugitive, who stood before him in an attitude of defence, with the child in his arms.
"Aha!" exclaimed Jonathan, acting upon the information he had obtained from Wood; "I have found you at last. Your servant, Mr. Darrell."
"Who are you!" demanded the fugitive, sternly.
"A friend," replied Jonathan, uncocking the pistol, and placing it in his pocket.
"How do I know you are a friend?" asked Darrell.
"What should I do here alone if I were an enemy? But, come, don't let us waste time in bandying words, when we might employ it so much more profitably. Your life, and that of your child, are in my power. What will you give me to save you from your pursuers?"
"Canyou do so?" asked the other, doubtfully.
"I can, and will. Now, the reward?"
"I have but an ill-furnished purse. But if I escape, my gratitude —"
"Pshaw!" interrupted Jonathan, scornfully. "Your gratitude will vanish with your danger. Pay fools with promises. I must have something in hand."
"You shall have all I have about me," replied Darrell.
"Well — well," grumbled Jonathan, "I suppose I must be content. An ill-lined purse is a poor recompense for the risk I have run. However, come along. I needn't tell you to tread carefully. You know the danger of this breakneck road as well as I do. The light would betray us." So saying, he closed the lantern. — Vol. 1, "Epoch the First, 1703," Chapter Four, "The Roof and the Window," p. 71-73.
Although the beams of the loft are competently realised, the mysterious atmosphere does not compensate for a lack of drama. Compare, as Ainsworth's original readers are likely to have done, the situation and physical setting here with George Cruikshank's parallel illustration for Oliver Twist, The Evidence Destroyed (Part 17, August 1838): the drama lies in the postures and expressions of the three figures (Monks and the Bumbles), and the emphatic, downward gesture of the melodramatic villain. Here, as the fugitive Darrell, running from Sir Rowland Trenchard's agents, negotiates for his life with the cunning Jonathan Wild, the viewer's eye is drawn to neither of the antagonists (neither of whom is shown in any detail), but to the technical expertise with which Cruikshank has rendered the radiating beams of the loft and the cross-beams, partially illuminated by the carefully rendered light from Wild's lantern, just as Cruikshank has created in a suitable atmosphere and dramatic tension in The Evidence Destroyed. Nevertheless, Cruikshank handles the implicit narrative effectively by avoiding telegraphing the outcome of the confrontation between Jonathan Wild and the senior Darrell, whose true name and identity constitute a plot secret throughout the rest of the novel, a secret sought by both Thames Darrell and his cousin, Jack Sheppard, as well as their evil uncle, Sir Rowland Trenchard, and strategically kept by Jonathan Wild. Thus, the illustration establishes the importance of both characters throughout the narrative, the aristocratic fugitive "Darrell" (an alias), father of the heroic Thames Darrell, and the sociopathic thief-taker and master criminal, the notorious Jonathan Wild, who continually attempts to eliminate the young men raised by carpenter Owen Wood.
The novel (in addition to being an historical novel and developing into a "Rogue" or "Newgate Novel," begins as a species of Bildungsroman by introducing the eponymous character and his good twin, Thames Darrell, in the opening chapters and continuing their stories right up to early adulthood. Enjoying the same advantages as the apprentices of the kindly carpenter, Owen Wood, in Wych Street, London, the two boys (who it turns out are cousins) develop very differently; the "lazy" apprentice dies on the Tyburn tree, whereas the virtuous apprentice marries his former employer's daughter.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. A Romance. With 28 illustrations by George Cruikshank. In three volumes. London: Richard Bentley, 1839.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Jack Sheppard. Edited by Edward Jacobs and Manuela Mourao. With 31 illustrations. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2007.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.
Meisel, Martin. Chapter 13, "Novels in Epitome." Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Pp. 247-282.
Vann, J. Don. "Jack Sheppard in Bentley's Miscellany, January 1839 — February 1840." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. Page 19.
Last modified 22 December 2016