[Jan discovers Frederick Massingbird in disguise] by Charles Keene

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[Jan discovers Frederick Massingbird in disguise]

Charles Keene

29 November 1862

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain.

5 x 4 inches

Twelfth illustration for Mrs Henry Wood’s Verner’s Pride in Once a Week 7 (29 November 1862): 631.

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Mrs Henry Wood (homepage)

Scanned image reproduced from DMV1, code VP011. Text by Simon Cooke.

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This is a prime example of a proleptic design that propels the reader/viewer forward in anticipation of what will happen, motivated by the desire to decode the illustration’s significance. It plays a valuable part in building suspense, illustrating the climactic moment on the final page of the instalment (p.630), when Jan discovers the figure is Frederick Massingbird in disguise. Though a crucial scene, Keene emphasises discovery and revelation rather than shock – making the unmasking a complicated physical event rather than a moment of melodramatic staring and ‘starting’ (or freezing into a recoiling attitude), as many Sensational illustrators would have treated the scene.

Last modified 10 May 2014