"Mrs. Gruffahuff," fifth illustration by W. M. Thackeray for "The Ring and The Book" (1855)

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> W. M. Thackeray —> Next]

Mrs. Gruffahuff

W. M. Thackeray

1855

Wood engraving, probably by William Linton

10.6 cm high by 4.9 cm wide (4 by 2 ¼ inches), vignetted

Fifth illustration for Thackeray’s The Rose and The Ring.

Thackeray continues to apply the style of pantomime to his "fairy-tale" illustrations by suggesting that the haughty female antagonist, "a person of the highest birth" (298), is in fact a man got up as an elderly woman (a "dame part") for humorous effect on stage. Headline: "Gruffahuff, and What Her Station" (299).

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.]

Commentary (Continued from above)

After Thackeray has introduced the delightful King and Queen in his pantomime cast, he injects a strongly satirical element into his pseudo-fairytale with the cross-dressing governess Mrs. Gruffahuff, whose onomatopoeic name suggests her ranting, haughty disposition and demeanour.

Passage Illustrated: Governess Gruffahuff Described

In a word, [Princess Angelica] was a most accomplished young creature; and her governess and lady-in-waiting was the severe Countess Gruffanuff.

Would you not fancy, from this picture, that Gruffanuff must have been a person of highest birth? She looks so haughty that I should have thought her a princess at the very least, with a pedigree reaching as far back as the Deluge. But this lady was no better born than many other ladies who give themselves airs; and all sensible people laughed at her absurd pretensions. The fact is, she had been maid-servant to the Queen when Her Majesty was only Princess, and her husband had been head footman; but after his death or disappearance, of which you shall hear presently, this Mrs. Gruffanuff, by flattering, toadying, and wheedling her royal mistress, became a favourite with the Queen (who was rather a weak woman), and Her Majesty gave her a title, and made her nursery governess to the Princess. [II, "How King Valoroso got the Crown, and Prince Giglio went without," pp. 298-299]

Bibliography

Furniss, Harry. The Rose and The Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and the Prince Bulbo. William Makepeace Thackeray's Christmas Books. With illustrations by the author and Harry Furniss. The Harry Furniss Centenary Edition. London: Macmillan and Co., 1911. Pp. 287-428.

Titmarsh, M.A. [W.M. Thackeray].The Rose and The Ring London: Smith, Elder, 1855.

Created 14 July 2022