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Critical C ompanion TO

George Orwell
Critical C ompanion TO

George Orwell
A Literary Reference to His Life and Work

Edward Quinn
 Critical Companion to George Orwell

Copyright © 2009 by Edward Quinn

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Quinn, Edward, 1932–
Critical companion to George Orwell : a literary reference to his life and work /
Edward Quinn.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8160-7091-6 (hc : alk. paper) 1. Orwell, George, 1903–1950—
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 Contents
Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

Part I: Biography 1

Part II: Works A–Z 37

Part III: Related People, Places, and Topics 323

Part IV: Appendices 399

George Orwell Chronology 401
A Glossary of Newspeak 412
Bibliography of Orwell’s Works 414
Bibliography of Secondary Sources 415

Index 427
 Acknowledgments

I n recent years, anyone who sets out to write about

Orwell must acknowledge a massive debt to Peter
Davison, the editor of the The Complete Works of
a tireless Internet researcher, who put in my grate-
ful arms mounds of Orwell-related material, and
Karl Malkoff, who played a comparable role. I am
George Orwell, a 20 volume editorial masterpiece (a also pleased to mention my key keyboarders, Liam
21st, follow-up volume, The Lost Orwell, was pub- Kirby, Caitlin Quinn, and Adam Kirby, and also
lished in 2006). In the first nine volumes, each of the the support I received from heroic David Quinn
full-length books written by Orwell is reprinted with and Renaissance man Richard Louria during criti-
scrupulous concern for accuracy and the author’s cal computer crises. Bill Herman contributed two
probable intentions. The remaining 11 volumes con- excellent photos of contemporary Paris. I also ben-
tain the letters; essays; poems; BBC war commentar- efited from the advice and comments of Arthur
ies; “As I Please” columns; book, theater, and movie Waldhorn, Leonard Kriegel, Earl Rovit, Paul Dolan,
reviews; journal and diary entries; and selected let- Pat Forrestal, Deirdre Quinn, Joseph Jordan, and
ters written by others, such as Orwell’s wife, Eileen. Bill and Pat Driscoll. I am indebted to Stephen
Furthermore, these pieces, not simply reprinted, are Wright of the Orwell Archive at the University
annotated with clarifying notes identifying people, College London (UCL) for his help in securing
places, and events. Orwell has only a simple stone most of the photographs in the book. Jeff Solo-
above his grave, but now, thanks to Peter Davison, way at Facts On File has consistently and patiently
he has a much more significant monument, advised and usually consented with his usual calm
My thanks to Philip Bader, who first began efficiency. Thanks also to Jeff’s assistant, Miranda
work on this volume but had to leave it because Ganzer, and to the library of the City University of
of other commitments. Specific acknowledgments New York and the grand old Main Reading Room
are indicated by his name following his contribu- of the New York Public. And deepest gratitude
tions. Among the many other people to whom to Barbara Gleason, who with her usual tact and
thanks are due, I wish to single out Larry Fleischer, patience, kept the show going.

vii
 Introduction

T here is no objective evidence to support the

view that when Eric Blair opted for the pen
name George Orwell he was consciously choosing
he was not a novelist at all—but he has survived to
emerge as, not the finest, but the most influential,
English writer of the 20th century and of the open-
a new identity or hoping to erase his past. In fact, ing decade of the 21st.
he never completely repudiated his birth name. As to the nature of that influence, it is noth-
Even on the brink of death, he specified that his ing if not various and complex. Orwell spelled out
gravestone should read “Eric Arthur Blair,” without loud and clear who he thought he was, but his
so much as an allusion to his, at the time, mildly readers, because there have been so many, spread
famous nom de plume. He may have felt that the around the globe and living in radically different
sudden popularity he experienced in the last five societies, have naturally enough picked and chosen
years of his life would soon pass and that calling their own version. Although the one characteriza-
attention to that name would seem pretentious, tion Orwell and most of his readers agree on is that
an ironic example of the fragility and transience he was a political writer, he was not interested in
of fame. His own toughest critic, he would have politics qua politics. It was the ethical implications
found it difficult to believe that well into the next of politics that constituted his real subject. He was
century, the noun Orwell and its adjectival form a moralist writing at a time when the great moral
Orwellian, would, in a substantial part of the world, questions were contained and expressed in political
have acquired a life of its own. terms: the twin evils of fascism and Soviet com-
It was an article of critical faith with him that munism, the lesser evil of capitalism, and the quali-
the final test of a writer’s value was survival. In his fied good of democratic socialism, being four of
wonderful essay “Charles Dickens,” he cites Dick- the major ones. He envisioned the possible rise of
ens’s continued popularity, as much as his criti- superstates that would contain elements of all four,
cal reputation, as evidence of the greatness of his in which individual freedom might be ruthlessly
achievement. Orwell wrote this essay in 1938, 68 suppressed, but that strong possibility did not, as
years after the death of Dickens. It seems appropri- is frequently asserted, result in despair on his part.
ate to note that, 58 years after his own death in Instead, he chose to fight back, employing a literary
1950, Orwell’s presence, among readers and critics, weapon he had absorbed through a lifelong read-
is more vital and pervasive than it was the day he ing and rereading of Gullliver’s Travels—satire. He
died, with no indication of a significant slackening had learned from Jonathan Swift that satire, when
of interest. All of which is not to claim an equiva- keyed to a general tendency in human nature,
lence of the two literary figures. Dickens is one of could maintain its vitality long after its immediate
the masters of English literature. Orwell was not a targets had passed into oblivion. His immediate tar-
great novelist—by his own overly critical account, get both in Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four

ix
 Critical Companion to George Orwell

was the Soviet Union, but he knew that Joseph rably, King Lear, “Speak what we feel, not what we
Stalin would not live forever and even entertained ought to say.”
the remote possibility that a new generation of Rus- It is this sense of authenticity that has created
sians might arise “eager for more freedom.” His a personal presence we do not want to lose. Com-
permanent target, of which, after the defeat of Nazi bine that with a willingness to face “unpleasant
Germany, Stalinism was the current example, was facts,” and you have the hint of an explanation for
the totalitarian impulse. He believed that modern Orwell’s extraordinary influence. Some examples
technology, weaponry (nuclear and otherwise), and of that influence: In Lenin’s Tomb, his compel-
the decay of the Judeo-Christian ethical and reli- ling account of the collapse of the Soviet Union,
gious order had unleashed on a global scale the David Remnick records a conversation with the
chimera of absolute power. He set out to combat Russian philosopher Grigori Pomerants, in which
the lure of that power, using the satirist’s weapons, Pomerants remarks that Russians, reading out-
exposure and ridicule, while tacitly affirming free- lawed copies of Nineteen Eighteen-Four, realized
dom and justice. that Orwell “. . . discovered the soul or soullessness
He was particularly keen to recognize the impor- of our society better that anyone else.” In Finding
tance to the totalitarian mind of the control of lan- George Orwell in Burma, Emma Larkin’s descrip-
guage. In his two great satires, he placed language tion of her recent travels in Burma (Myammar),
center stage. In Animal Farm he employed the sim- she writes of encountering a very old man, living
ple device of adding qualifiers to each of the seven the last decades of his life in the police state that is
commandments in order to advance the interests of present-day Myanmar. When asked if he recognizes
the pigs, while pretending to adhere to the original the name George Orwell, after a few moments, the
text. This gradual accretion eventually leads to the man answers, “Ah! The prophet.” One need hardly
linguistically absurd “more equal” proposition, the add that Orwell’s works are banned in Myanmar,
final corruption of the ideals of “animalism.” Nine- with the single exception of Burmese Days, viewed
teen Eighty-Four makes a quantum leap from here, by the government as an anti-imperialist novel.
with its tongue-in-cheek description of a language Closer to home, we have seen the more than 50
that makes a dissenting thought impossible. Orwell years of Orwell’s roller-coaster reputation in Britain
would doubtless enjoy the irony that some NEW- and America. Like Stephen Sondheim’s ex-Follies
SPEAK words are now entries in standard English star, he’s “been through” the CIA/ MI 6 cold war-
dictionaries. riors, the Angry Young Men of the ’50s, the student
His attention to language grew out of his search radicals of the ’60s, the neo-con “body snatchers,”
for his own authorial voice. At first, he found it in of the ’70s, the pop media celebrity of the year
his essay writing. As early as 1931, he had written 1984, the academic Marxist “de-mythifiers” of the
“A Hanging,” an essay that reads like a modern 80s, the theorists of the 90s—and he’s “still here,”
short story, with its agonizing epiphany, the pris- alternately praised and pilloried but very much a
oner avoiding a puddle as he stumbles toward the presence. The year 2003 marked the centenary
gallows. But the formal excellence of “A Hanging” of Eric Blair’s birth, an occasion celebrated, not
should not blind us to the fact that Orwell had a alone by literary and political people, but by a wide
social, even moral, purpose in writing it. This pur- range of specialists. It seems that a fair number
pose always took first place but never to the neglect of philosophers, theologians, social psychologists,
of the language he chose, always adhering to the economists, technologists, and historians still have
principle of letting the meaning choose the words. Orwell on their radar screens. Among recent social
As a result, Orwell developed a variety of styles, and moral issues in which his authority has been
all of which, however, were marked by a clarity invoked are animal rights (now seen as a major
and vitality that was recognizably his. Although he theme of Animal Farm and of “Some Thoughts on
makes no specific reference to it, he may have been the Spotted Toad,” an essay revealing Orwell as his
guided by a line from a play he wrote about memo- light-hearted best), the conservation of nature (in
 Introduction xi

Coming Up for Air and the essay “A Good Word This may seem to some a far-fetched interpreta-
for the Vicar of Bray”), and the threat to indi- tion, but it stands as an example of Orwell’s ongo-
vidual privacy by technological advances (of which ing engagement, through his interpreters, with the
Nineteen Eighty-Four’s telescreen was an early and life of the mind.
ominous portent).
Perhaps the most compelling appearance of About This Book
Orwell on the current scene relates to the issue This volume aims to serve as a guide to students
of torture. Writing in the 1980s, long before Abu and readers wishing to know more of Orwell, learn-
Ghraib and related tactical innovations in Anglo- ing about the man, being introduced to many of
American foreign policy, the philosopher Richard his lesser known works, or deepening their knowl-
Rorty identified torture as a critical theme in Nine- edge of his best-known ones. Part I provides a
teen Eighty-Four. He argued that the entire third mini-biography, both of his life and his reputation.
section of the novel is not, as one might expect, Part II gives detailed accounts of his nine full-
about being tortured but about torturing, not length books, his major essays, his wartime writ-
about Winston Smith but about O’Brien. Rorty ing for the BBC, and his other journalism. Part
suggests that O’Brien represents the logical fate III provides brief accounts of family members, of
of the humanist intellectual in a totalitarian state, friends, an enemy or two, and fellow writers (those
the kind of figure who in earlier times might have who influenced him as well as those whom he
adopted an “art for the sake of art” posture. In a influenced) and brief sketches of his relation to
totalitarian world, there would seem to be no obvi- schools of thought, the various -isms he contended
ous place for such a person. His/her only viable with in his career. Part IV contains a chronology
function would be to identify, torture, and crush and a bibliography of Orwell’s writings and the
people of a comparable temperament, thereby many books and articles about the man and his
removing potentially dangerous dissidents from the writings. References to other entries are given in
scene. The torturer’s particular satisfaction might small capital letters the first time that they
be described as “torture for the sake of torture.” appear in an entry.
 Part I

Biography
 Biography 

Orwell, George
(Eric Arthur Blair)
(1903–1950)

From Ida Blair’s diary for February 1905:

Sunday, 6 February: Baby not at all well, so I
sent for the doctor, who said he had bronchitis
. . . Saturday, 11 February: Baby much better.
Calling things “beastly”!!
It is rare that a person’s life can be encapsu-
lated as early as 19 months, the age of Eric Blair
at the time of these diary entries. Rarer still that
the evidence should touch upon two of his most
determinate features: his physical frailty and his
distinctive employment of language. The bronchial
condition of baby Eric would plague him through-
out his life, oscillating, like his mother’s entries
(“Saturday, 4 November: Baby worse so sent for
the doctor”), between better and worse until 45
years later, when worse moved to worst as Eric, on
Baptismal photo of Eric Blair with his mother on
the brink of universal fame under his pen name, October 30, 1903 (Orwell Archive, UCL Library Services,
George Orwell, died from a hemorrhaged lung on Special Collections)
January 21, 1950.
Beastly would come to be enshrined as one
of the signature Orwellian words. In Orwell’s The Life
first novel, Burmese Days, a “memsahib-in-the- Eric Arthur Blair was born on June 25, 1903, in
making,” Elizabeth Lackersteen, is seen as one what was then the Bengal Province of northeast-
who divides all experience into two categories, ern British India. His father, Richard Blair, was a
“lovely” and “beastly.” The novelist and critic sub-deputy agent in the Opium Department of the
Margaret Drabble suggests, quite plausibly, that Indian Civil Service. In this period, the opium trade
Orwell learned the word from his mother, her- provided a lucrative source of revenue for the Brit-
self a former memsahib, overhearing her conver- ish government. Richard was the product of a fam-
sations with women friends on a favorite topic: ily whose fortune had steadily declined in the 19th
the beastliness of men. As for his beastly health, century. The son of a clergyman, he had joined
that continuing problem had led, as it did for so the service in 1875 and, by 1903, had enjoyed very
many writers, to a more-than-usual time at home little advancement from his initial rank. In 1896,
reading. In Orwell’s case, the most important of at the age of 39, he married Ida Limouzin, the 21-
the books he read in his childhood was Gulliver’s year-old daughter of a French father and an English
Travels, a book that turns the beast/man contrast mother. Her father, Frank, an émigré from France,
on its head. Thus the beastliness of poor lungs and ran a successful timber business in the Burmese city
of men may have been hidden sources, funneled of Moulmein. The newlyweds set up house in the
through the creative mind of the writer of the fin- Bengal District in India, where Richard was posted.
est beast fable of the 20th century, the Swiftian Their first child, Marjorie, was born in 1898. By the
masterpiece Animal Farm. time of Eric’s birth in 1903, India had been ravaged
 Critical Companion to George Orwell

home leave by Richard the previous year. Either

despite or because of his fragile health, Eric was his
mother’s favorite, dictating his first poem to her,
composed before he could write, at the age of four.
She also gave him his introduction to the British
class system when she told him not to play with
certain children, whose father was a plumber.
Young Eric’s formal education began in a con-
vent school, which was run, according to biogra-
pher Gordon Bowker, not, as previously had been
thought, by Anglican nuns, but by French Catholic
nuns. The nuns, members of the Ursiline Order,
had opened their school as exiles after religious
education in France had been temporarily outlawed
in 1903 (Bowker, 21). Whether this early introduc-
tion played a role in Orwell’s intense but somewhat
ambivalent feelings about Catholicism—fierce
hatred of its politically reactionary, quasi-totali-
tarian orientation, very slightly offset by grudging
admiration for its historical endurance and theo-
logical sophistication—is a moot question.
At the age of eight, Eric was eligible for admis-
Eric as a chubby three-year-old, in standard sailor suit sion to a prep school. The preparatory feature of
(Orwell Archive, UCL Library Services, Special Collections) such schools was paramount in that its goal was
to prepare students to move on at the age of 13 or
14 to a good, and in unusual cases, a great, public
by a plague that would last throughout the first school, such as Eton or Harrow. The preparatory
decade of the 20th century. In 1904 alone, more schools lived or died on their reputations as schol-
than 1 million people died, probably prompting
the decision that Ida and the children would move
back to England. Richard took a sabbatical leave to
accompany them, and they settled in the village of
Henley-on-Thames, in Oxfordshire. Although the
fear of plague may have been the primary reason
for the move, Orwell’s biographers have generally
agreed on another motive. Ida Blair was a lively,
sophisticated, sociable young woman in her twen-
ties, probably bored and unhappy with life in a
remote, hot, isolated Indian village. (Orwell would
provide a painfully graphic description of such a life
in Burmese Days.) Moreover, her husband appeared
to be a rather stuffy, humorless exemplar of the
British colonial civil servant. Ida, on the other
hand, was a supporter of, although not an active
participant in (as were her sisters, Nellie and Nora), Eric and his sister Avril with their mother and father,
the women’s suffrage movement. In 1908, she gave late 1917 (Orwell Archive, UCL Library Services, Special
birth to her third child, Avril, after a three-month Collections)
 Biography 

Left to right: Prosper Buddicom, Guinever Buddicom, Eric Blair (George Orwell), September 1917 (Orwell Archive,
UCL Library Services, Special Collections)

arship factories, that is, by the number of honors of the caning was the sense that his oppressors were
their students would win. To enhance their reputa- right. He did wet the bed, and he had no control
tions, the schools would admit talented prospects at over it. In one part of his mind, he was guilty and
reduced rates. This was the possibility Ida Blair was got what he deserved. Therefore, he saw himself as
hoping for when she visited St Cyprian’s School a victim, but not an innocent one. He would go on
in Eastbourne. Instead of 180 pounds a year—a to have two poems published in a local newspaper
crippling fee for a family living on a civil servant’s (with one of them being read aloud to the entire
pension—tuition for Eric would be 90 pounds. This school), win scholarships to Eton and Westminster,
half-scholarship was not revealed to the boy until and yet come away from St Cyprian’s convinced
he had already been at the school for a few years, that, on some fundamental moral level, he was a
long enough to have endured the humiliation of failure.
seeing himself as one of the poor students at a rich Thirty years later, near the end of his life, George
boys’ school. The revelation of his status by the Orwell would exact revenge for eight-year-old Eric
headmistress and headmaster, Cecily and Lewis Blair in his essay “such, such were the joys,” an
Vaughan Wilkes, (who accused him of ingrati- indictment of his English boarding school as sear-
tude), cemented the hatred he felt for the school ing as the one he was bringing against the totali-
where he, as a child of eight, had been publicly tarian world of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Indeed,
caned on a number of occasions for chronic bed- the two are closely related in time. Orwell took
wetting. And worse than the pain and humiliation time out from writing the novel in order to finish
 Critical Companion to George Orwell

the essay. In the words of Orwell’s friend George

Woodcock, “Just as Orwell earlier saw the resem-
blance between the condition of animals and that
of oppressed people, so now he saw the resemblance
between the child facing the arbitrary rules of an
adult world and the bewildered individual locked
in the equally arbitrary system of a totalitarian soci-
ety (164).” As with almost all of Orwell’s auto-
biographical writings, doubt has been cast on the
literal truth of “Such, Such Were the Joys.” Others
who were at the school at about the same time as
he felt that his descriptions were exaggerated. It
may have been that he altered his account to add
to its polemical impact, but the suggestion of one
critic that the essay is in effect the expression of a
“hidden wound,” which would later find expression
in the deep pessimism of Nineteen Eighty-Four, is an
interesting but sweeping overstatement of the case
(See Anthony West).
Fortunately, the misery and gloom, real or
imagined, of life at St Cyprian’s were alleviated
by holidays at home and with the Buddicoms, a Eric Blair (George Orwell) at Eton (Orwell Archive, UCL
neighboring family with three children, named Library Services, Special Collections)
Jacintha, Prosper, and Guinever. Their relation-
ship with Eric began in the summer of 1914, when
the children, while playing in their garden, noticed prep school and college years. Their relationship is
a boy on the neighboring property, standing on described in detail in Jacintha’s memoir, Eric and
his head. Walking over to him, they asked why Us (1974), in which she describes the happy vaca-
he was doing such a thing. Eric’s reply: “You are tions he spent with the Buddicoms, including long
noticed more if you stand on your head than if you country walks taken by the two of them. Among
are right way up,” an insight he would later put to the other activities Eric relished on vacation was
good use in shaping a prose style that frequently fishing, a sport that he invests with a kind of spiri-
employed attention-getting, memorable opening tual power in his novel Coming Up for Air.
sentences, as in the beginning of “Shooting an Moving on to Eton was liberating, perhaps too
Elephant:” “In Moulmein, in Lower Burma, I was much so. The fierce regimen of intense study for
hated by large numbers of people—the only time the scholarship he had won to the most prestigious
in my life I was important enough for this to hap- public school in England left Eric drained of any
pen to me.” It was a brilliant verbal equivalent of further effort or at least reluctant to participate
standing on your head. in what he was coming to see as a rat race up the
At the time of this first meeting with the Bud- social ladder. He spent his four years there just
dicoms, Eric was 11, Jacintha, 13, the boy Pros- getting by, never really applying himself academi-
per, 10, and Guinever, 7. They were to become cally, though he did a fair share of writing for stu-
close friends for the next eight years. One of Eric’s dent publications. Although he depicted himself
great passions in this period, which he indulged in at Eton as an “odious young snob,” Eric enjoyed
both at school and at home, was reading. He and the friendship and respect of fellow students Cyril
Jacintha Buddicom, another avid reader, traded Connolly, whom he had known at St Cyprian’s,
books and the ideas they generated throughout his Dennis King-Farlow and Steven Runciman. He
 Biography 

also seems to have participated in what appears to It’s best

be a rite of passage in English public schools: having To rest
a romantic crush on a fellow student, as indicated Content in tranquil shade.
in a letter he wrote to Cyril Connolly, asking him
Something had gone wrong. The answer was
not to interfere. Connolly, quoting the letter, in
not forthcoming until 2006, with the publication
another letter, concludes that there is little chance
of Eric’s succeeding since the object of his affec- of a new edition of Jacintha’s memoir, Eric and
tion “hates Blair” (CW, 10, 79–80). He also par- Us, which contains a postscript written by Dione
ticipated in some athletics and generally absorbed Venables, a relative of the Buddicoms. It reveals
one of the qualities that graduation from England’s that Jacintha wrote—but probably did not send—a
greatest public school conferred on a young man: letter to Eric, alluding to his attempted rape of her
“a certain authority and assurance of manner, as while they were walking in the woods. Apparently,
later in the authority and assurance of his prose” he pounced on her, trying to overwhelm her by
(Stansky and Abraham, 143). At one point, he sheer force, finally giving up when faced with her
credited Eton with something deeper: When a continued resistance. The fact that Jacintha was
woman friend complimented him on “his passion a diminutive, tiny woman only adds to the sordid-
for justice, his dislike of prejudiced remarks about ness of the event. Ironically, Eric and Us contains a
anyone, and his sense of fairness in the minutest chapter titled “Sex,” which describes Eric as basi-
dealing,” Eric replied that these qualities “were the cally uninterested not only in the act itself but also
most important part of the education I received at even in talking about it. But adding to the cred-
Eton. That and the capacity to think for myself” ibility of the charge is the description of two near-
(Shelden, 101). rapes of Dorothy Hare by the roué Mr. Warburton
The logical next step for Eric would have been in A Clergyman’s Daughter and Orwell’s reputa-
to move on to Oxford or Cambridge. Of the 16 tion among the women he knew in 1940s London
King’s scholars in his class, he was one of only (sophisticated women, not afraid to kiss and tell) as
three who did not pass on to Oxbridge. But having a “pouncer.” It is not to extenuate his behavior but
compiled a mediocre record, he would not have to put it in historical context that it is probable that
been eligible for a scholarship, and his parents—or, he saw “pouncing” as a kind of seduction, some-
according to Jacintha Buddicom, his father—was thing that you did not persist in if the woman con-
not prepared to pay his tuition. In any case, Eric tinued to resist. It is quite right to suggest that it is
appeared to be deeply ambivalent about continu- a distinction without a difference, but in his day, he
ing his formal education, perhaps sensing the need would not have been alone in sharing that view, as
for new experiences if he was going to pursue his opposed to, say, his friend Arthur Koestler, who
ultimate goal—with him since early childhood—of apparently did rape at least one woman (and pos-
becoming a writer. sibly others) in the course of his life.
In the meantime, his relationship with Jacintha The following Christmas, in 1921, Eric joined
had taken on a romantic tone, at least on his end. the family at their new home in Southwold, a
As early as 1918, he was composing love poems to resort town on the coast of Suffolk. Now 18 years
her (“Our minds are married, but we are too young. old, having decided not to go to university, he
For wedlock by the customs of this age . . .”), but by needed to find suitable work. Not surprisingly, his
the summer of 1921, he was lamenting in the last father recommended colonial service, specifically
line of a poem titled “Friendship and Love” that the Indian Imperial Police, which had the advan-
“My love can’t reach your heedless heart at all.”
tage of comparatively good pay and retirement
Jacintha replied to that poem with one of her own:
after 20 years. Doubtless those practical reasons
By light were less convincing than the appeal of an exotic
Too bright foreign place, radically different from the hothouse
Are dazzled eyes betrayed atmosphere of Eton and the dull and dreary, at
 Critical Companion to George Orwell

least in winter, social life in Southwold. He spent by Gandhi had won concessions in the Govern-
the winter cramming for the eight-day competi- ment of India Act (1921), but at first, no such
tive entrance exam. Having successfully passed the accommodations applied to Burma. (Under British
exams, he chose to serve in Burma, where he still rule, Burma was treated as an administrative prov-
had relatives, including his maternal grandmother, ince of India.) The result was a marked Burmese
Thérèse Limouzin, living in Moulmein, the town increase in activist resistance to the colonial gov-
alluded to in the memorable opening lines of ernment, often led by Buddhist monks. Ambiva-
Kipling’s “The Road to Mandalay” (“From the old lent at first and later fiercely anti-imperialist, Eric
Moulmein pagoda. . . .”) and in Orwell’s “Shooting confessed to an early feeling that the greatest joy
an Elephant.” in the world would be to “drive a bayonet into a
He was not prepared for the hostility that Buddhist priest’s guts.” But doing “the dirty work
greeted him as a member of the Imperial Police. of empire” and expected to restrict his socializing
In the 1920s, the anger he encountered was not to the whites-only club in whatever town he was
personal but the product of a nationalist spirit that stationed in (Burmese Days contains a remorseless
had begun to surface across a broad spectrum of account of such a club), he eventually came to
the Burmese people. The reform movement led see British colonialism as hypocritical—“the white

Police training school in Mandalay, Burma, 1922. Orwell is in the rear row, third from the left. (Orwell Archive, UCL
Library Services, Special Collections)
 Biography 

man’s burden” lie—and mutually corrupting for ing his five years in Burma. Did he, like John Flory,
both colonizers and colonized. the novel’s protagonist, keep a Burmese mistress?
In addition to its role in Burmese Days, Burma Anecdotal evidence suggests the strong probability
is the setting for the memorable Orwell essays “A that, at the least, he frequented Burmese broth-
Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant.” As with els. Witness his poems “The Lesser Evil” and “My
“Such, Such Were the Joys,” some have raised ques- Epitaph by John Flory” from an early draft of the
tions about the truthfulness of these two essays, novel, which includes the couplet “He has spent
wondering whether Orwell actually witnessed an sweat enough to swim in / Making love to stupid
execution or did in fact shoot an elephant; in short, women.” The “stupid women” phrase is an early
do the two essays constitute fact or fiction of some example of the sexism, not to say misogyny, that
mixture of both? Although the preponderance of Orwell exhibited periodically in his writing. If he
evidence testifies to their historical and biographical were looking for examples of miscegenation, he
truth, one school of thought argues for the overrid- could have found precedents in his own family.
ing importance of the two essays, not as journalism His maternal great-uncle William, brother of his
but as literature, a sphere in which the fact/fiction grandfather Frank, had fathered a Eurasian child,
question becomes irrelevant. In both essays (or sto- and Frank’s son, also called Frank, had married a
ries), we are being forced to participate in, not just Burmese woman, who had given birth to his cousin
witness, an event we would prefer not to be caught Kathleen.
up in. In “Shooting an Elephant,” we are uncom- In her highly interesting Finding George Orwell
fortably aware that the killing of the animal is a in Burma, Emma Larkin reports meeting a Eur-
face-saving act. Not to kill would be interpreted by asian man whose father had known Orwell dur-
the large local population as a sign of weakness and ing his tour of duty in Moulmein. He maintained
would undermine British control at a time when that Orwell fraternized widely with members of
that control was coming increasingly into question. the Anglo-Burmese community. Harold Acton,
In “A Hanging,” we see the death penalty, another an Eton colleague, recalls Orwell’s rhapsodizing
form of governmental control, exposed as an act about the physical allure of Burmese women. On
that sullies and paradoxically imprisons its perpetra- the other hand, Roger Beadon, a fellow Imperial
tors as well as its victims. Both are powerful exam- Police officer, observed, “. . . as for female com-
ples of the dirty work of empire and are beautifully pany, I don’t honestly think I ever saw him with a
written truths that transcend facts. woman.” (Coppard and Crick, 62). In any case, the
As for Burmese Days, which is clearly identi- one indisputable autobiographical element in the
fied as fiction, there are, as in all of Orwell’s nov- novel is not sexual passion but John Flory’s passion-
els, direct biographical connections. One example ate denunciations of British imperialism. Whatever
is the incident in which a member of the British grievances the author harbored against Burmese
colony viciously attacks a young native student, college students and Buddhist monks, he never lost
precipitating a Burmese uprising. Apparently, sight of the fact that colonialism was a radically
before boarding a train, Eric was once jostled by a unjust system that victimized both the oppressor
Burmese university student fooling around with his and the oppressed, even when its form was rela-
friends and fell downstairs. “Blair was furious and tively benevolent. The fact that English colonizers
raised the heavy cane which he was carrying to hit were probably the best of a bad lot did not amelio-
the boy on the back on the head, checked himself rate the situation; it only supported the hypocrisy
and struck him on the back instead” (Aung). An that served to justify the system.
angry discussion ensued between Blair and the stu- In 1927, having served five years with the Impe-
dents on the train ride but was resolved without rial Police, Orwell returned to England on home
further incident. leave. A year earlier, England had endured a gen-
Another biographical question that Burmese eral strike, which had paralyzed the nation for a
Days gives rise to concerns Blair’s sexual life dur- week. The strike was symptomatic of the economic
10 Critical Companion to George Orwell

crisis Europe was experiencing in the 1920s, the dicom family, but Jacintha was not there. Dione
prelude to the worldwide depression that would Venables’s postscript to Eric and Us supplies the
be ignited by the stock market crash on Wall surprising reason for her absence. Shortly before
Street in October 1929. Much to the distress of his his return, she gave birth to a child out of wedlock,
mother and the shocked incredulity of his father, which she eventually gave up for adoption. Not
he announced his decision to resign from the Bur- knowing this, Orwell doubtless took her absence as
mese police force in order to pursue a career as a a sign of a continuing rejection.
writer. As if that announcement alone were not In the spring of 1928, he moved to Paris to join
bad enough for a respectable “lower-upper-middle- the small army of young writers and artists who had
class” family (Orwell’s own characterization), it was converged on the city in the aftermath of World
followed by his determination to explore “tramp- War I. That was a late date to qualify as a mem-
ing” in order to experience the lives of those on the ber of the lost generation (Ernest Hemingway how-
bottom rung of society. In late 1927 he spent some ever, was still living there, only a few blocks from
time in “spikes” (sleeping wards where tramps were Orwell’s rooming house in the rue du Pot de Fer).
allowed to stay one night before moving on the Orwell lived there for 18 months, working continu-
next day). While he was home, he visited the Bud- ally, producing one or possibly two novels, which

The Closerie des Lilas café in Paris. The Closerie may have been the model for the Chestnut Tree Café in Nineteen
Eighty-Four. (Photo by William Herman)
 Biography 11

were rejected by publishers and later destroyed by He had never liked his first name, in any case.
the discouraged author. A few short stories met a Apparently, he believed, as he wrote to his friend
similar fate. He did achieve some success publish- Rayner Heppenstall in 1940, that “[p]eople
ing his short articles in French and English journals. always grow up like their names. It took me nearly
His first article in an English publication was “A thirty years to work off the effects of being called
Farthing Newspaper” in G. K.’s Weekly, published Eric” (CEJL, 2, 22.). Orwell is the name of a river
by G. K. Chesterton. When he was not writing, in East Anglia and a small rural parish in Cam-
he explored the city, visiting local cafés such as bridgeshire; George is the name of the patron saint
the Deux Magots, where he thought he saw James of England. Orwell felt certain that his first book
Joyce, and restaurants, like the Closerie des Lilas, a would be a failure, but Down and Out, while not a
favorite haunt of writers and revolutionaries. Lenin commercial success, was seen by critics as a promis-
and Trotsky frequented it at one time, playing chess ing debut. Although most of his reviewers had seri-
at one of the tables. Peter Davison suggests that the ous qualms about the book’s structural weaknesses,
Closerie was the model for the Chestnut Tree Café many of them recognized that a fresh and inter-
in Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the old revolution- esting new voice had arrived, dealing with a sub-
aries Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford sit before ject to which too little attention had been paid. In
a chess board, awaiting their final arrest (Davison, America, which had plunged into the Depression,
Literary, 26). He was also a regular visitor at the the book was reviewed by the novelist James T.
home of his mother’s sister Helene “Nellie” Lim- Farrell as driving home a very clear point: “Poverty
ouzin and her husband, Eugene Adam, one of the is an unnecessary and disgusting waste of human
founders of the Esperanto movement. Adam had life” (Meyers, Critical, 46). In general, the critics
fought on the Bolshevik side during the 1917 Rus- recognized that the name George Orwell was one
sian Revolution but was completely disillusioned that they would be hearing more of, suggesting
with the Soviet system, even under Lenin. At this new possibilities of growth and achievement. The
time Orwell appears to have been somewhat sym- positive critical response may have contributed to
pathetic toward the Soviets, thus prompting some Orwell’s decision to continue to use the pen name.
loud arguments between nephew and uncle. Some have detected in the choice of a pseudonym
In March 1929, Orwell spent two weeks in a the expression of a deeper impulse, hinted at in the
public hospital in Paris recovering from the flu, an comment to Heppenstall, to escape from his past,
experience he recounted later in his essay “How and with it the self-image of a failure, acquired at
the Poor Die.” After his release, he found work as St Cyprian’s. If so, it seems odd that in his private
a dishwasher in a posh Paris hotel, an experience life he never repudiated his real name, even when
he memorably described in Down and Out in it would have been to his advantage to be known
Paris and London. Shortly before Christmas 1929, as George Orwell. Up until the very end, when he
he returned to his parents’ home in Southwold, gave explicit instructions that his tombstone dis-
where he lived off and on while writing three drafts play the name Eric Arthur Blair and no other, he
of Down and Out and submitting them to publish- acknowledged his past.
ers with no success. Finally, through the interces- Critical esteem was one thing, but it didn’t pay
sion of a friend, Mabel Fierz, he acquired an agent, the rent. In April 1932, he took a position teach-
Leonard Moore, who placed the work with the ing at Hawthorns, a boys’ prep school at Hayes,
publisher Victor Gollancz. in Middlesex, where he wrote and directed a play,
Down and Out was published in January 1933 King Charles II. He was also charged with making
under the pseudonym George Orwell. Blair had the costumes, an experience that created “untold
decided not to use his own name partly to save agonies” for him. He was later to describe the expe-
his family any embarrassment they might feel over rience in detail in A Clergyman’s Daughter, in which
some of the personal details of the book and partly the heroine, Dorothy, struggles with the costumes
because of Orwell’s own sense of its unworthiness. for a play called Charles I. It may be worth noting
12 Critical Companion to George Orwell

that King Charles II, set in 1651, takes a distinctly opinion of the book himself, and would later stipu-
pro-royalist stance, treating Cromwell as a cruel late that it and Keep the Aspidistra Flying should
usurper. Meanwhile, working on his first novel, never be reprinted. But, in fact, these two early
Burmese Days, during this period, he was inter- efforts, while far from perfect, mark important steps
ested in two women, Eleanor Jaques, a Southwold in Orwell’s formation as a novelist and thinker. The
neighbor, with whom he had a sexual relationship crisis of the loss of faith that he explores in Clergy-
but who married a friend, Dennis Collings, and man was not so much a part of his personal experi-
Brenda Salkeld, to whom he proposed marriage. ence as it was his view of modern Western society.
Brenda, however, was intent on keeping their rela- Although by no means a conventional Christian,
tionship on a platonic level and apparently suc- he was acutely aware of the value of religion as
ceeded. Orwell always regarded her as the one a center that had kept the social fabric together
who got away. In the fall of 1933, he took another until the 20th century, when the center, in W. B.
teaching position but soon was hospitalized with Yeats’s terms, could no longer hold. It is interesting
pneumonia and had to give up teaching. While to note that, while Orwell was writing the book, he
convalescing, he finished A Clergyman’s Daughter, befriended an Anglican clergyman and posed as a
his second novel. In October 1934, he moved to devout believer in order to absorb the experience
London to take a job as a part-time clerk in the he wanted to describe, much as he did posing as a
Booklovers’ Corner, a bookshop near Hampstead tramp for Down and Out. In this case, though, he
Heath, in North London. had qualms about deceiving others.
In the same month, Harper’s published Burmese Another lesson he derived in writing Clergyman
Days in New York, where it sold modestly well, was that he was not James Joyce. However much he
prompting Gollancz to bring out an English edition admired the author of Ulysses, he learned that his
the following year. Gollancz had originally rejected talents lay not in the mode of symbolic, modernist
the book on the grounds that he might be sued for prose but in the traditional style of realistic story-
libel. Having relented, following the modest suc- telling. His flirtation with the former style is evi-
cess of the American edition, he still insisted on dent in the novel’s Trafalgar Square scene, which
a number of minor changes in the names of some owes much to the Nighttown episode in Ulysses.
characters and locations. The English edition, in Although a failure, this foray into expressionist sur-
Orwell’s view botched because of the changes, was realism reveals a writer willing to test his limits and
published in June 1935 to mixed reviews. Most one willing to take pains to do it well in represent-
reviewers felt that the negative picture of the Raj ing the unnerved, near-delusional state of Dorothy
was overdone. In a later look at the novel, writ- Hare, the novel’s protagonist (Fowler, 109–118).
ten shortly after Orwell’s death in 1950, Malcolm In a more traditional mode in another section of
Muggeridge, his conservative friend, thought he the novel, he successfully brings to life a Dicken-
detected an ambivalence toward rather than a total sian character, Mrs. Creevy, the headmistress from
rejection of British imperialism. Muggeridge went hell. Unfortunately, he fails to breathe life into
on to compare Orwell to Rudyard Kipling, the his main character. Peter Quennell’s review sums
two sharing the same inner conflict, with Kipling up the other reviewers’ reactions: “Dorothy, alas!
coming down on one side and Orwell on the other. remains a cipher. She is a literary abstraction to
Muggeridge’s comment seems less relevant to the whom things happen. . . . We have no feeling that
mature Orwell, who was a consistently commit- her flight from home and her return to the rectory
ted anti-imperialist, even in his presocialist phase, have any valid connection with the young woman
when he described himself as a “Tory radical.” herself.” (Meyers, Critical, 61).
In the same year, 1935, Gollancz published A While working at the bookstore, he used his
Clergyman’s Daughter, which received fewer favor- experiences as the background of a new novel,
able responses than Down and Out and Burmese Keep the Aspidistra Flying. At this time, he was
Days. By this time Orwell had developed a very low struggling financially, though he was developing a
 Biography 13

reputation as much for his reviews and essays as for utter solemnity the degradation of an honest man.
his novels. He renewed his prep-school friendship What is clear, in any case, is the presence of auto-
with Cyril Connolly, editor of the literary magazine biographical elements in the book, suggesting that
Horizon. He spent his mornings writing Aspidistra, Orwell is reflecting an earlier phase of his life, when
some book reviews, such as his important critique he was having no success in finding a publisher.
of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, and even the Perhaps the “happy ending,” so distasteful to read-
occasional poem, such as “St Andrew’s Day,” which ers determined to take the novel at face value, is
appears in Aspidistra as an example of the protago- a reflection of the presence in his life of Eileen, a
nist’s work. He also developed a fairly active social partial model for the character of Rosemary Water-
life with Mabel Fierz, Kay Ekeval (a girlfriend), low, who breathes fresh air into Gordon’s solipsistic
and Richard Rees, editor and publisher of Adelphi, misery. It is Rosemary who, taking matters into
a socialist journal to which he became a frequent her own hands, rescues Gordon from himself. She
contributor. In the spring of 1935, at a party he co- also rescues her creator from the not unreasonable
hosted, he saw “a stranger across a crowded room,” feminist allegation that Orwell was incapable of
Eileen Maud O’Shaughnessy, a graduate student creating a credible, well-rounded female character.
in psychology at University College, London. By A few months before the publication of Aspi-
the end of the evening, he had confided to his distra, at the end of January, Orwell had set forth
cohost and landlady, Rosalind Obermeyer, “That’s on a journey, commissioned by Gollancz to write
the sort of girl I’d like to marry.” This he would do a book on unemployment in the industrial north
in June of the following year. Meanwhile, he moved of England. He spent the next two months trav-
into a three-room flat in Kentish Town, which he eling to the cities of Liverpool, Birmingham, and
shared with two young writers, Rayner Heppenstall Manchester, with his longest stay being in the coal
and Michael Sayers. The arrangement lasted only town of Wigan. In the 1920s, most of the mines in
a short while, ending in a brawl between Orwell Wigan had shut down and, along with them, the
and an inebriated Heppenstall. town’s semi-mythical pier, the one appealing aspect
The next eighteen months proved to be decisive of a place that had become a dreary industrial slum.
ones in Orwell’s life. In January 1936, he completed The often reported statement that Orwell received
the manuscript of Aspidistra and then submitted a 500-pound advance from his publisher has been
himself to a list of changes required to avoid libel effectively refuted (Davison, Literary 67–69). That
suits. The book was published in April to disap- he was on a strict budget (possibly self-imposed) is
pointing reviews. As with his two earlier novels, he clear from his “Wigan Pier Diary,” a collection of
seemed to be having trouble with his main char- his notes and comments that illuminate the back-
acter. Gordon Comstock, a would-be poet, has set ground of the book. He spent two months in the
out on a crusade against the money god who rules North visiting the factories, homes, and, on three
modern life. But what begins as a young writer’s occasions, coal mines.
admirable rebellion—throwing over a well-paid In June, Eileen completed her coursework at
position as an advertising copywriter in order to the university and was ready to take on the formi-
pursue his writing career—soon degenerates into a dable task of becoming George Orwell’s wife. The
whiny, adolescent wallowing in the sense of failure, wedding took place on June 9, 1936. Eileen was a
demonstrating that money assumes much greater warm, attractive, intelligent, and sympathetic per-
significance to one who tries to do without it than son, and she really loved George. The 300-year-old
to the average person. What seems to be the inevi- cottage in Wallington, a village in Hertsfordshire,
table conclusion is that the novel is satirizing its into which they moved after the wedding, doubled
protagonist, a notion supported by its jaunty title. as a sort of local general store. In the latter capac-
However, this interpretation flies in the face of the ity, as a source of additional income, it was a dismal
alternative view that it was written in the somber, failure. The minute profit it yielded derived mostly
realistic mode of George Gissing, depicting with from the penny candy sold to local children. But
14 Critical Companion to George Orwell

what the cottage lacked as an income producer, the exchanges between Gordon and Rosemary in
it more than made up for in satisfying Orwell’s Keep the Aspidistra Flying: “There was a merry war
perverse taste for ascetic living. There was no elec- between them. Even as they disputed arm in arm,
tricity, hot water, or indoor plumbing. The roof they pressed their bodies delightedly together. They
leaked in a dozen places, and the outdoor privy was were very happy. . . . Each was to the other a stand-
located some distance from the house. Orwell was ing joke and an object infinitely precious.”
not the easiest or most thoughtful of husbands in During this period in Wallington, Orwell com-
the best of times, and when he inevitably fell ill, pleted the manuscript of The Road to Wigan Pier,
the burden of keeping the place going, including at which he delivered to Gollancz on December 15.
one point cleaning out the backed-up privy, fell to For his ironically employed title, he drew on the
Eileen. famous Kipling poem “The Road to Mandalay,” in
Until recently, Eileen’s reaction to these less- order to contrast the dreary, mining town of Wigan
than-ideal conditions was unknown, but a newly and its nonexistent pier with the imperial splendor
discovered cache of letters she wrote to a close that Kipling’s poem evoked for the English pub-
friend, Norah Myles (1906–94), sheds a sobering lic: “Mandalay,” yesterday’s myth; “Wigan,” today’s
light on the situation. In a letter dated Novem- reality. The book opens with a celebrated descrip-
ber 1936, Eileen apologizes for not having writ- tion of the boarding house/tripe shop in which he
ten sooner. She offers her friend a sardonic stayed for two weeks. This account received the
explanation: highest praise in a letter from an unlikely reader,
the aristocratic, modernist poet Edith Sitwell: “The
I lost my habit of punctual correspondence dur-
horror of the beginning is unsurpassable. He seems
ing the first few weeks of marriage because we
to be doing for the modern world what Engels did
quarreled so continuously and really bitterly
for the world of 1840–50. But with this difference.
that I thought I’d save time & just write one
That Orwell is a born writer” (Quoted in Meyers,
letter to everyone when the murder or sepa-
137). Equally impressive is the suffocatingly pow-
ration had been accomplished. . . . I forgot to
erful account of his trip through an underground
mention that he had his “bronchitis” for three
coal mine from the lift to the coal face, a distance
weeks in July & that it rained for six weeks dur-
of a mile, from which it took him days to recover.
ing the whole of which the kitchen was flooded
The notion that someone with his medical history
& all the food went mouldy in a few hours.
(and six-foot-two-inch frame) would find himself
(Davison, Lost, 64).
anywhere near a coal mine is part of the mystery of
Adding to this grim situation is the news that the the man, but as a writer, at least he could justify it
newlyweds had a visitor for two months, Orwell’s in the light of the artistic result.
bohemian aunt Nellie fresh from Paris. From this Wigan Pier is divided into two sections, the first
letter alone, it is clear that those admirers who being somewhat like the descriptive documentary
referred to Orwell as a “saint” after his death were that Gollancz had in mind. The second, however,
canonizing the wrong member of the family. turned into a problem that had the publisher tearing
Nevertheless, the two appeared to be happy. out what little hair he had left. What had occurred
Orwell’s friend Geoffrey Gorer visited the cou- between the time Orwell left for the North and
ple—his training as an anthropologist doubtless his return was Gollancz’s inauguration of the Left
stood him in good stead in adjusting to the cot- Book Club, a book-of-the-month club appealing
tage—and later recalled that he had never seen largely to socialist and communist readers. Know-
Orwell happier than he was in the first year of ing that he was jeopardizing his chances of having
his marriage (Bowker, 190). One feature of the the book chosen as a selection, Orwell used the sec-
couple’s relationship, a war of words, triggered by ond half of it to focus on two subjects, the English
an outlandish generalization on Orwell’s part—for class system and a critique of English socialism. On
example, “All tailors are fascists”—is replicated in the first topic, he offers a brief autobiography of his
 Biography 15

own class consciousness, from his early years, when trousers. The previous Christmas, he had left Eng-
he was warned against playing with the plumber’s land, ostensibly to serve as a correspondent for the
children, to his teenage time at Eton as “an odious Independent Labour Party (ILP). On his way to
little snob,” to his last years at the college, when Spain, he stopped off in Paris, paying a visit to
he joined with his classmates in being “both a snob Henry Miller, whose Tropic of Cancer he had so
and a revolutionary.” In effect, everything about much admired. He was startled when Miller told
him, even his sense of good and evil, is the product him he was a fool to join the fight against fascism
of his “lower-upper-middle-class” background. His out of a sense of duty. A few years later, Orwell
own history—the most shocking example of which would consider Miller’s position at considerable
is the imbued view that the lower classes smell— length in his Inside the Whale.
would suggest that class consciousness seems to Arriving in Barcelona, while the city was still
him to be an ineradicable feature of the English basking in its initial victory over Franco’s forces, he
character, not to say of human nature in general. was immediately caught up in the general euphoria.
These comments, however provocative, were At last he was seeing a genuine socialist society in
not what raised the red flag for Gollancz. That action: “It was the first time I had ever been in a
occurred in the final section of the book, when town where the working class was in the saddle. . . .
Orwell confronts the question of why, in the midst I recognized it immediately as a state of affairs worth
of the depression, when capitalism gives every indi- fighting for.” He encountered the English socialist
cation of being in its death throes, socialism has Jennie Lee on his first day and asked her how he
failed to develop a significant following in England. could join. The next day, he enlisted in the POUM
Orwell’s answer to the question is first to exam- (Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista), an
ine the problem not of socialism but of socialists. independent group affiliated with the British ILP.
Typical socialists, largely comfortable, middle-class At this point, Orwell was completely innocent of the
types, are so busy talking to one another that they infighting taking place on the Loyalist side. As the
have never reached out effectively to the work- supply of arms from the Soviet Union increased, so,
ing classes. This is due to the fact that, at heart, too, did the influence of the communists in the con-
they have no intention of giving up their privileges. duct of the war. However, Orwell’s principal concern
Many of them, “cranks” addicted to drinking fruit as he took up his duties on the Aragon front was
juice, wearing sandals, and advocating birth con- that he was missing the real action, which was then
trol, are hopelessly out of touch with “real people.” taking place in the Madrid area. He intended at the
As for socialism itself, it projects an image of a first opportunity to transfer to the International Bri-
soulless, dehumanized, mechanized future of which gades fighting there. In the meantime, Eileen arrived
decent people want no part. Also, it needs to rid in Barcelona to take a secretarial job at the ILP
itself of an association with Russian communism headquarters as an assistant to John McNair. On
if it expects to withstand the growing threat of the verge of leaving England, she wrote to Norah
fascism. With Orwell refusing to accept an abbrevi- Myles, illustrating her ironic wit. She speaks of John
ated text as a Left Book selection, Gollancz finally McNair as being very kind but “having an unfortu-
agreed to publish the book both in a regular trade nate telephone voice and a quite calamitous prose
version and as a selection for the club. He reserved style.” She indicates that George was currently on
the right however, to write a preface to the book the Aragon Front, where the Loyalists “ought to be
club version, expressing his disagreement with attacking,” and hoping “that that is a sufficient safe-
Orwell’s arguments. guard against their doing so” (Davison, Lost, 68). She
But by the time the book was published, in soon won over everyone who came in contact with
March 1937, Gollancz’s uncontrollable author had her, particularly Georges Kopp, a Belgian soldier of
other things on his mind. Stationed on the Ara- fortune who was Orwell’s battalion commander. At
gon front as a Loyalist soldier in the Spanish civil one point, she convinced Kopp to drive her to the
war, he was busy combating the lice invading his front to visit her husband. During the visit, there
16 Critical Companion to George Orwell

Eileen O’Shaughnessy Blair’s visit to the Aragon front, March 1937. Orwell is standing slightly behind and to her left. The
kneeling rifleman wearing a beret is American Harry Milton. (Orwell Archive, UCL Library Services, Special Collections)

was a slight skirmish, which she described in a let- When, after four months on the line, Orwell’s
ter to Orwell’s agent, Leonard Moore: “The Fascists company was granted leave back to Barcelona,
threw in a small bombardment and quite a lot of they found themselves enmeshed in street fighting
machine gun fire . . . so it was quite an interesting with the newly reconstituted national police. As a
visit—indeed I never enjoyed anything more.” At result, Orwell abandoned his attempt to transfer
one point, Eileen’s relationship with Kopp took an to the International Brigades and, not surprisingly,
amorous turn, which she confessed to in another opted to remain with the underdogs: “When I see
letter to Myles, written on New Year’s Day 1938, an actual flesh and blood worker in conflict with
but she makes it clear that her husband is the love his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have
of her life. to ask which side I am on.” The skirmishing in
Eileen’s high spirits following her visit to the the streets of Barcelona in May was represented
front did not last long. When Sir Richard Rees in the European left-wing press as an uprising by
visited her in Barcelona a month later he noticed irresponsible POUMists and others. The truth,
that “she seemed absentminded, preoccupied and later confirmed by documents from Soviet archives,
dazed. . . . When she began talking about the risk, show that the fighting was part of a carefully cal-
for me, of being seen in the street with her . . . culated effort on the part of Moscow to eliminate
I realized afterwards, she was the first person in the POUM and other dissidents. Shortly after his
whom I had witnessed the effects of living under a return to the front, while talking to an American
political terror” (Rees, 139). The Moscow-dictated comrade, Harry Milton, Orwell was shot in the
suppression of the POUM had begun. throat by a sniper, the bullet miraculously passing
 Biography 17

through, perilously close to the carotid artery, with- case of the anonymous TLS critic, misrepresented
out causing permanent damage, although partially it: “Mr. Orwell . . . concludes by recording his hope
paralyzing his vocal chords and his right arm. Even- that all the foreigners will be driven out of Spain”
tually, both the voice and the arm regained their (Meyers, Critical, 119). Orwell was convinced that
near-normal functions. the poor sales and scanty reviews were part of a
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the anti-POUM plot by Gollancz and his communist friends to sup-
activity had intensified. A communist spy, David press its message. If so, the plot was successful:
Crook, a young Englishman, had infiltrated the The book sold only 500 copies. The proper hom-
ILP office, carefully compiling dossiers on McNair, age to Homage would have to wait for the first
Kopp, and “Eric and Eileen Blair,” which were duti- American edition (1952), in which the introduc-
fully transmitted to the KGB archives in Moscow. tory essay by Lionel Trilling not only paid respect
After a brief recuperation in a local sanitorium, to a work now regarded as among Orwell’s fin-
Orwell, having been discharged from the army, est but also established an image of the author as
returned to Barcelona, where Eileen met him in “a virtuous man,” contributing significantly to the
the lobby of her hotel and whispered in his ear, “Orwell Myth” in the years to come (Rodden, Poli-
“Get out.” They were in imminent danger. Earlier tics, 73–82).
that day, the police had invaded her room while One month before the publication of Homage,
she was still in bed and confiscated all their papers Orwell was hospitalized with a tubercular lesion
and personal items. Fortunately, they did not find (later confirmed as an early stage of tuberculosis) in
their passports and checkbooks, which were hid- his lungs and spent the next six months recuperat-
den under the mattress she was lying on. He spent ing in a sanitorium in Kent, his progress monitored
the next few days hiding out while they waited for
travel documents from the British consulate. Mean-
while, Kopp had been arrested, and Bob Smillie,
a particularly admirable young comrade, had died
while in police custody. After a heroic attempt to
aid the imprisoned Kopp, the couple crossed the
border into France. Shortly thereafter, they were
indicted for treason in absentia by the communist-
controlled Spanish authorities.
Once Orwell was back in England, his anger
at the misrepresentation of events in the English
press intensified when his article “Eye-Witness in
Barcelona” was rejected by Kingsley Martin, editor
of the highly regarded left-wing journal New States-
man and Nation, on the grounds that its revela-
tions of communist perfidy would undermine the
antifascist cause. Orwell met the same fate with
Gollancz after proposing a book on the subject. He
was later able to place the book, memorably titled
Homage to Catalonia, with the firm of Secker
& Warburg, who published it in April 1938. Sales
were disappointing. In the words of the publisher,
Fredric Warburg, Homage “caused barely a ripple
on the political pond. It was ignored or hectored
into failure.” There were some positive reviews, but George Orwell’s identity card photo, September 1938
many of the major reviewers ignored, or, as in the (Orwell Archive, UCL Library Services, Special Collections)
18 Critical Companion to George Orwell

by Eileen’s brother, Dr. Laurence O’Shaughnessy. which was soon overwhelmed by the outbreak of
(That Eileen was the sister of a prominent chest war on September 1. Later critics (not to men-
surgeon was another of the many reasons to con- tion Orwell himself) have looked at Coming Up
sider their marriage the best thing that ever hap- for Air as the completion of an important phase of
pened to him.) Convalescing under orders not to Orwell’s career, representing his efforts to produce
work, he nevertheless began outlining a new novel. a first-rate traditional, realist novel. Of the four
While in the hospital, he also joined the ILP, the novels he produced in this period, most critics see
first and only time he joined a political party, adopt- the first and last, Burmese Days and Coming Up, as
ing for a while the party’s position that a war with the most successful, largely because of the relative
Germany would be, like World War I, just another depth or appeal of the main characters, John Flory
“imperialist war.” and George Bowling. Interestingly enough, the two
In September 1938, in the mistaken belief that figures are generic opposites: Flory is tragic, and
the climate would be good for his lungs, he and Bowling, comic. But they share with their author
Eileen sailed to Marrakech in French Morocco, a vision of a rotten society, the one inherently so,
arriving on the eve of the signing of the Munich resting as it does on the profound injustice of colo-
Pact. The trip was financed by an anonymous gift nialism; the other acquiring rottenness, having
of 300 pounds. The donor proved to be the novel- fallen from the Eden that was pre-1914 England.
ist L. H. Myers, an admirer of Orwell’s work who The myth of the Edwardian past invoked in Com-
had visited him in the hospital. In Morocco, he ing Up was to assume a significant role in Orwell’s
kept a wary eye on the movement toward war in attempted synthesis of idyllic past and revolution-
Europe and on the fate of his friends in Spain, ary present.
where the war had drawn to an end with Franco’s These four novels have enjoyed little popular or
forces victorious. He also kept his eye on the local critical success, although many feel that they are
female population. According to the memoir of his better than Orwell thought they were, referring to
friend Tosco Fyvel, “He said that he found him- himself as “not a novelist at all, but a kind of pam-
self increasingly attracted by young Arab girls and phleteer.” It is true that he lacked the storyteller’s
the moment came when he told Eileen he had to gift of one of his favorite authors, W. Somerset
have one of these girls, on just one occasion. Eileen Maugham, or the ability to get inside the skin of an
agreed and he had his Arab girl.” Fyvel adds, “True average man, as James Joyce did in creating Leopold
or false. It does not matter” (Fyvel, 109). Of course, Bloom, or the depth and power of D. H. Lawrence,
there is a possibility that he was merely teasing but his four 1930s novels represent a kind of collec-
Fyvel, an ardent Zionist. tive work in progress. He is clearly learning as he
He began work on his new novel Coming Up for goes, experimenting, as the critic Lynette Hunter
Air, which he had completed by the time of their argues, with narrative techniques that might enable
return to England, in April 1939. Two months him and his readers to expand the limited confines
later, the book was published by Gollancz. Shortly of the naturalist novel (Hunter, Search). The critic
after, his father, Richard Blair, died at the age of and novelist David Lodge puts it another way,
82. Though the two were never close, their rela- maintaining that buried within Coming Up for Air is
tionship had improved as Orwell’s reputation grew. a “mythopoeic, metaphorical level,” hinted at, if not
In a letter to Leonard Moore, Orwell described his fully realized, in the chapter devoted to a mysteri-
end: “. . . his last moment of consciousness was ous, hidden pond. (Lodge, 192).
hearing that [favorable] review in the Sunday Times As for the three nonfiction books of the 1930s,
[of Coming Up for Air] . . . my sister took it in and Down and Out, The Road to Wigan Pier, and Homage
read it to him, and a little later he lost conscious- to Catalonia, they represent a progression in Orwell’s
ness for the last time” (CW, II, 365). political thought. Down and Out is the preparatory
Coming Up for Air had a brief flurry of popu- work, identifying poverty as an injustice that seems
lar as well as critical success, the importance of an inevitable consequence of the capitalist system
 Biography 19

but never zeroing in on a possible political solution. highlighted by the title piece, dealing with the
With The Road to Wigan Pier, socialism is clearly on work of Henry Miller, whom Orwell compared to
his radar screen, but before he can commit to it, he the biblical Jonah. Like Jonah, Miller had chosen
feels duty bound not to shoot it down but to fire a to stay inside the whale—that is, he sealed him-
few warning shots to bring socialists to their senses. self off from active involvement in world affairs.
His case against the “sandal-wearing vegetarians” Given his own social and political commitments,
is that they were essentially middle class with the we might expect Orwell to condemn Miller’s posi-
no real understanding of the working class. But his tion, but in fact he expresses a deep sympathy
doubts about a socialist society dissolved in the first with its honesty and lack of pretense. He recog-
few days in Barcelona, where he saw the working nized that there is a type of writer who can be true
class in the driver’s seat for a brief period. Orwell’s to his work only by remaining inside the whale.
dream had become a reality, only to be destroyed However, in a later (1946) look at Miller’s work
by the force that was to become the major target of after Tropic of Cancer, Orwell criticizes Miller’s
his work for the rest of his life: Soviet Communism. “remaining passive in the face of war, revolution,
Homage to Catalonia, his nonfiction masterpiece, is fascism or anything else” while taking care “to
the eloquent, powerful portrait of that betrayal. stay inside bourgeois democratic society, making
With the world on the brink of war, the Hit- use of its protection while disclaiming any respon-
ler-Stalin Pact in August 1939 caused Orwell to sibility for it.”
abandon his ILP pacifist stance. In what seems like The collection also included his essay on
an overreaction on his part, he became a particu- Charles Dickens, his most extended foray into
larly severe critic of Pacifism, even falling into the literary criticism, and “Boys’ Weeklies,” a path-
Marxist jargon he despised, calling it “objectively breaking essay in what became the field of cultural
fascist.” He tried to enlist in the army but was studies. He also began writing Theater Reviews
rejected on health grounds. Eventually, he became and Film Reviews for Time & Tide magazine,
a sergeant in “Dad’s Army,” the Home Guard, assignments that he essentially “mailed in.”
whose duties he regarded with the utmost serious- February 1941 saw the publication of an attempt
ness, viewing the guard as the possible precursor to define the English national character and tie it
of a People’s Army. In May 1940, he moved into to the future of socialism. Written when the Battle
London, subordinating his preference for coun- of Britain and the Blitz were in full force, The Lion
try life not in spite of but because of the Blitz. and the Unicorn, Socialism and the ­English
As Cyril Connolly put it, “He felt enormously at Genius (1941) is an impressionistic pamphlet
home in the Blitz, among the bombs, the bravery, divided into two sections. The first part, “England
the rubble, the shortages, the homeless, the signs Your England,” celebrates the distinctive features
of rising revolutionary temper” (283). Here, once of English life. Orwell’s opening line (“As I write
again, Eileen matched, if not outdid, him. At their highly civilized human beings are flying overhead,
first London address, they rented a flat on the top, trying to kill me”) typified the wry humor mixed
the most dangerous, floor. Her friend Lydia Jack- with fear with which Londoners responded to the
son recalled that when the sirens went off, “Eileen bombings. His central proposition—the war could
would put out the lights . . . open the windows and not be won unless a socialist government came to
watch the happenings in the street. I don’t think power—he would later acknowledge to be mis-
she ever used the air raid shelter herself.” However, taken, while applauding the wartime leadership of
Eileen’s high spirits were permanently shattered by Winston Churchill. This faulty prediction may
the news that her brilliant, much-beloved brother have been the reason Orwell later included The
Laurence had been killed on the beach at Dunkirk Lion and the Unicorn among those of his works that
while attending the wounded. he did not want reprinted. One of Eileen’s recently
The year 1940 saw the publication of Inside discovered letters contains an ironic summary of
the Whale, Orwell’s first collection of essays, the pamphlet’s message: “Explaining how to be
20 Critical Companion to George Orwell

socialist though Tory” (Davison, Lost, 80). As Cyril hands much longer. This is a very serious
Connolly would put in a 1945 review of Animal piece of news, and even more serious for Asia
Farm, “Mr. Orwell is a revolutionary in love with than for the West. One American expert has
1910.” already estimated that the loss of Singapore will
In March, he published the first of fifteen “Letters lengthen the war by about a year.
from London” in Partisan Review, the respected . . . This is not an encouraging picture, and
literary and political journal, published by the group we have deliberately put it at its worst, in
that came to be known as the New York Intellectu- order to get a realistic and unvarnished view
als. The letters brought him to the attention of a of the situation. . . . With the loss of Singa-
new audience that would serve him well in the years pore, India becomes for the time being the
ahead. Among the Partisan Review circle were three centre of the war, one might say, the centre of
people who would play crucial roles in the recep- the world.
tion of Orwell’s work in America: Irving Howe,
Dwight MacDonald and Lionel Trilling. The second is from November 28, 1942, shortly
A few months later, he began working in the after the Soviet army had successfully surrounded
Indian Section of the BBC’s Eastern Service. Over the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad, thereby all
the next two years he would do an astonishing but guaranteeing a Soviet victory and marking a
amount of work, writing, producing, and often read- turning point in the war:
ing reports and commentaries on the war for audi-
Well, now that almost certainly the Germans
ences in India and other areas of Southeast Asia.
will be forced to retreat from Stalingrad even
He also produced a number of cultural programs,
that claim can’t be made any longer. The Ger-
drawing on the talents of figures such as T. S. Eliot,
man propagandists, therefore, will be in the
and writing the first chapter of a story for the radio
unenviable position of having to admit that
completed by four other authors. Although the
commentaries and reports were subject to wartime their military commanders have poured out
censorship and designed to present the Allies in lives and material on an enormous scale for
the best light they were a version of propaganda an objective which finally wasn’t achieved. The
that Orwell accepted with relative good grace. (See effects even on German morale must be bad,
BBC writings.) This writing was his contribution and on Germany’s so called allies they may
to a war effort in which his innate patriotism blos- be disastrous. The war has already lost most
somed. Orwell had always been an Anglo-centric of its meaning from the Italian point of view,
writer, but in the war years he became a patriot. and it will not make the Italians any happier to
The sheer volume of work he produced for the know that tens of thousands of their sons are
BBC is impressive but even more so is the quality being frozen in Russia for absolutely nothing,
of most of that work, which included commission- at the same time as their African empire is slip-
ing, editing, revising, and maneuvering through the ping away from them and their cities are being
thickets of wartime censorship a battalion of fight- bombed to pieces.
ers in the propaganda war against the Nazi and Jap-
He confined his griping to his private diary: “But
anese misinformation machines. Never descending
even when one manages to get something fairly
to their levels of lying, he would put the case in
good on the air, one is weighed down by the knowl-
clear windowpane prose, whether the news was bad
edge that hardly anybody is listening.” Neverthe-
or good. Here for example are excerpts from two of
less, he took pleasure in the literary programs he
his commentaries—the first for February 14, 1942,
developed, particularly “Voice,” in which a group
on the imminent fall of Singapore:
of poets would each read a poem, followed by a
. . . We must face the fact that it is unlikely panel discussion of one of the poems. The series
that Singapore can be kept out of Japanese ran for six episodes, each one with its own theme.
 Biography 21

Eliot participated in one of the episodes, the two identified Koestler’s basic position as “revolutions
men enjoying an amiable but guarded (at least on always go wrong,” a point he had illustrated in his
Eliot’s part) relationship. Despite the political and not-yet-published Animal Farm.
social chasm between them, they respected each In this period, his roving eye had fixed on Sally
other. Orwell was an admirer of Eliot’s earlier work, McEwen, his secretary at Tribune. Eileen became
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and The Waste aware of their affair and was extremely upset. Prior
Land, but less enthusiastic about the later religious to that time, he had assumed that they had an open
work, such as The Four Quartets. Even Eliot’s famous marriage as far as sexual affairs were concerned.
rejection of Animal Farm was qualified by his descrip- In any case, in May 1944, perhaps in an effort to
tion of it as “a distinguished piece of writing.” strengthen a marriage that was threatened, he and
In March of 1943, Orwell’s mother, Ida, died of Eileen adopted a newborn child, christened Rich-
a heart attack, but the death certificate also listed ard Horatio Blair. The following month, while they
two secondary causes, suggesting a hereditary ele- were absent, their apartment was flattened by a
ment in Orwell’s condition—acute bronchitis and “buzz bomb.” Prematurely, as it turned out, he had
emphysema. (Shelden, 362). In November, Orwell published a poem in Tribune earlier that year, titled
left the BBC to become literary editor and regular “Memories of the Blitz.” The couple and their new
columnist at Tribune, an independent leftist jour- baby settled down in a flat in Canonbury Square in
nal edited by Aneurin Bevan, the future minister London’s Islington district, Eileen leaving her job
of health in the first postwar Labour government. at the food ministry to take care of Richard full-
Orwell’s weekly column was titled “As I Please,” time. The baby brought her back from the prolonged
short, informal essays on any subject that caught depression she had suffered with her brother’s death.
his fancy. Unerringly, he would bring an original In the same month, October, Orwell published
point of view to his topic, couched in a relaxed, “Raffles and Miss Blandish” in Horizon. The essay
informal style. More often than not, the point of contrasted two works of popular crime fiction, the
view he adopted would be provocative, inviting earlier presenting a turn-of-the-century sophisti-
a large number of indignant replies from readers. cated burglar and the later, an American-influenced
Here is a sample from his column for February 11, best seller that featured violence and sadistic behav-
1944: “There are two journalistic activities that will ior. This essay, along with two earlier Horizon essays,
always bring you a come-back. One is to attack the “The Art of Donald Mcgill” and “Boys Week-
Catholics and the other is to defend the Jews” (CW, lies,” represented Orwell’s incursion into—some
16, 91). In addition to his Tribune duties and his let- say “discovery of”—the field of popular culture,
ters to Partisan Review, he also signed on as a regular a combined sociological/literary analysis of various
book reviewer for the Manchester Evening News. forms of popular entertainment. Unlike later studies
As if this were not enough, between November in this field, however, his analyses tended to dispar-
1943 and February 1944 he also completed a little age contemporary versions in favor of his “golden
“fairy story” he called Animal Farm. In composing age” of popular culture, the years of his childhood.
it, he abandoned his lone-wolf approach to writ- For example, “Raffles and Miss Blandish” looks at
ing and began sharing the work in progress with the gratuitous violence in the 1940s shocker No
Eileen. At the end of each day, he would read a Orchids for Miss Blandish as a disturbing develop-
portion of it to her for her reaction, often taking ment in English popular culture. In addition to this
her responses as clues to revising or expanding the work, as Peter Davison points out, in the thirteen
work. Having completed the manuscript, he was months from November 1943 to December 1944
to spend the better part of a year trying to find a Orwell reviewed 86 books (CW 16, xvi).
publisher on either side of the Atlantic. At the Early in 1945, with the war in Europe moving
same time, he produced an essay on an important toward its end, he was able to go abroad as a war
contemporary, Arthur Koestler, in which he correspondent for the Manchester Evening News
22 Critical Companion to George Orwell

and The Observer. While he was there, he received these very symptoms made having sex very dif-
notice of Eileen’s death on March 29, 1945. She ficult, Orwell had several affairs during the last
was to undergo surgery (a hysterectomy) but had years of the war. The paperweight that Win-
suffered heart failure when the anesthesia was ston treasures . . . in which a small piece of pink
applied. Characteristically, she had held off telling crimpled coral is embedded, may well memorial-
him about the operation until a few days before- ize Orwell’s feelings about this disaster. . . . The
hand. Her last letters reveal her lovely, self-sacrific- prefix of O’Brien’s name as a vehicle of guilt
ing character: links it with Orwell’s wife O’Shaughnessy . . .”
(Porter, 70).
I rather wish I’d talked it over with you before
you went. I knew I had a “growth.” But I wanted Porter overstates the case in asserting that
you to go away peacefully anyway, and I did Orwell “ignored” his wife’s symptoms. If anything,
not want to see Harvey Evers [her physician] the evidence indicates that she concealed her
before the adoption was through in case it was condition from him. As for the paperweight and
cancer. I thought it just possible that the judge O’Brien’s name, Porter’s conjectures join a long
might make some enquiry about our health as line of ingenious interpretations of those two fea-
we’re old for parenthood and anyway it would tures of the novel.
have been an uneasy sort of thing to be produc- Orwell traveled through France, Germany, and
ing oneself as an ideal parent a fortnight after Austria until after the German surrender. What
being told that one couldn’t live more than six he saw, particularly the postwar divisions of Berlin
months or something (CW XVII, 97). and Vienna into four “watertight” zones, left him
with the conviction that a cold war was inevitable.
And her unfailing high spirits:
(It is not certain that he was the first to use the
Dearest I’m just going to have the operation, phrase, but he was certainly among the first.) Back
already enema’d, injected (with morphia in in England, he was astonished, as he confessed in a
the right arm which is a nuisance), cleaned & Partisan Review letter (Summer 1945) to find that
packed up like a precious image in cotton wool “we could have gone through nearly six years of
& bandages. When it’s over I’ll add a note to war without arriving at either socialism or fascism
this & it can get off quickly. Judging by my fel- and with our civil liberties almost intact.” (This
low patients it will be a short note. They’ve all was written a few weeks before the 1945 election of
had their operations. Annoying-I shall never the Labour Party government.)
have a chance to feel superior (CW 17, 112). Two days after the Japanese surrender on
August 15, Secker & Warburg published Animal
He came home for the funeral, returning to
Farm. The book had been rejected by five English
Europe two weeks later, in an effort to shake off
publishers, notably T. S. Eliot’s firm, Faber and
the depression that had set in. No doubt a part
Faber, and some 15 in the USA. (The most memo-
of that depression was a sense of guilt. Like many
rable refusal came from Dial in America, assert-
people who are hard on themselves, he was hard
ing that “it was impossible to sell animal stories
on those close to him as well. He loved Eileen, but
in the USA.”) The initial run was 4,500 copies,
he had not been the best husband. One expres-
soon to be dwarfed by the Book of the Month
sion of that guilt, according to the psychoanalytic
Club selection’s 540,000. Within five years, the
critic Laurence Porter, may be Winston’s “guilt
book would be translated into 18 languages, the
and exaggerated sense of responsibility” in Nineteen
most significant of which from Orwell’s point of
Eighty-Four:
view was Ukrainian, in an edition intended to be
“He ignored his wife’s symptoms of uterine can- smuggled into that Soviet province. As a result,
cer . . . and seems to have opposed her having a he wrote a special introduction to that edition.
hysterectomy. Adding insult to injury, because (See Animal Farm: Prefaces.) Earlier in the year,
 Biography 23

Orwell had met Ernest Hemingway in Paris and “written in a prose so plain and spare, so admira-
asked to borrow a pistol for protection against bly proportioned to its purpose, that Animal Farm
Soviet agents, for whom he suspected he was a seems very creditable if we compare it to Voltaire
target (Meyers, 234). It is not at all certain that he and Swift” (205); even T. S. Eliot, in his famous
was still a Soviet target, but had they known about rejection of the manuscript, allowed “. . . that it
Animal Farm, they doubtless would have had him is a distinguished piece of writing, that the fable
in their sights. A work that did incalculable dam- is very skillfully handled and that the narrative
age to the Soviet image worldwide, Animal Farm keeps one’s interest on its own plane—and that is
was soon enlisted as a powerful weapon in the cold something very few authors have achieved since
war. One striking example: In 1955, the CIA pro- Gulliver” (Crick, 315). (It is stunning to realize
vided the financial backing for an animated film that Eliot could write such a sentence in a letter of
production of the book, with the ending altered rejection.) Another distinguished critic, his BBC
to include a successful counterrevolution against colleague William Empson described its “beauti-
Napoleon’s regime (Shaw, 159). For Orwell, the fully limpid prose style,” but he also issued a warn-
success was dimmed by the fact that while the ing that “you must expect to be ‘misunderstood’ on
critics applauded it, nobody said that the writing a large scale about this book” (Bowker, 335–336).
was beautiful. Actually that was not true. Cyril Empson seems to be referring to the interpretation
Connolly called it “deliciously written, with some- of the book not merely as anti-Stalinist but anti-
thing of the feeling, the penetration and the verbal revolutionary in general. As Jeffrey Meyers puts
economy of Orwell’s master, Swift” (Meyers, Crti- it, “Once in power, the revolutionary becomes as
cal, 201); Edmund Wilson described it as being tyrannical as his oppressor” (Meyers, Guide, 145).

Barnhill, Orwell’s home on the island of Jura in the Hebrides, located off the coast of northern Scotland (Orwell
Archive, UCL Library Services, Special Collections)
24 Critical Companion to George Orwell

Animal Farm would turn out to be the pur- tricity, or telephone. For three months of summer,
est example of his ultimate goal as a writer, as he it was bearable, but after that, the wind, rain, and
expressed it in “Why I Write,”: “to make political cold made it the last place someone with Orwell’s
writing into an art.” In 1946, he published “Why I lungs should be living. In her fierce, mean-spirited,
Write,” in which he outlines his writing efforts from but perceptive analysis of Orwell, Mary McCarthy
the age of four, citing as the most significant event cast a cold eye on his asceticism, suggesting some
the Spanish civil war. “Every line of serious work life-denying pathology at its core. One answer to
I have written since 1936 has been written against McCarthy’s charge lies in the fact that he was not
totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I a hermit. He encouraged visitors. The hardships of
understand it.” travel (and of living there, once you had arrived)
The end of 1945 saw him writing one of his did not prevent a goodly number of people from
most influential essays, “Politics and the English making the trip. And it suited him perfectly. He
Language,” published in Horizon (April 1946), in was joined there by his sister Avril, who became
which he lays down a fundamental principle: “If housekeeper and guardian of Richard after success-
thought corrupts language, language can also cor- fully routing Susan Watson, who had played that
rupt thought.” As for 1946, the title of volume role in London. After three months on the island,
18 in Peter Davison’s Complete Works tells it all: the family—Orwell, Avril, and Richard—returned
“Smothered by Journalism.” In the course of the to London.
year he produced a number of major essays, in Ever since Eileen’s death, he had had to come
addition to “Why I Write” and “Politics and the to grips with a dual problem—his own mortality
English Language;” his study of his master, Jona- and the welfare of his son. He figured he would be
than Swift; “The Decline of the English Murder,” lucky to have 10 more years, given the state of his
another foray into popular culture; the pamphlet lungs, his addiction to the particularly foul tobacco
James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution, a in his roll-your-own cigarettes, and his affinity for
detailed critique of a fashionable postwar theory damp, cold, leaky places in which to live. He began
(see Burnham, James); two delightful short pieces, looking for a young, preferably attractive, intelli-
“A Nice Cup of Tea” and “The Moon under gent woman who might serve as a suitable com-
Water”; two BBC radio plays, “The Voyage of panion for him and as a stepmother for Richard. To
the Beagle” and a version of “Red Riding Hood,” that end, he proposed to several different women.
the latter for a children’s program; and a Partisan One was Celia Kirwan, a beautiful, accomplished
Review “letter” that required extensive subsequent woman whose twin sister was married to Arthur
correspondence. By the summer of that year, he Koestler. Koestler revered Orwell and begged his
had had enough of journalism. sister-in-law to accept the proposal, but she was not
Delighted by the sales of Animal Farm but in love with or even physically attracted to Orwell.
appalled by the fact that he was becoming a celeb- Another prospect was his downstairs neighbor at
rity, he looked for a retreat where he could con- Canonbury Square, Anne Popham, to whom he
tinue work on a new book he had in mind and wrote an extraordinary proposal letter: “What I am
provide Richard a taste of country life. To that really asking you is whether you would like to be
end, he moved to the remote island of Jura, in the a widow of a literary man. If things remain more
Hebrides, off the coast of northern Scotland. If the or less as they are there is a certain amount of fun
island was remote, Orwell’s home, Barnhill, was in this, as you would probably get royalties coming
even more so. Once having arrived on Jura, no in and you might find it interesting to edit unpub-
small feat in itself, a visitor would have to hire a car lished stuff. . . .” (CW, 18, 248–249).
and drive to the village of Ardlussa. The final seven The years 1947 and 1948 were devoted to the
miles of the trip would be on foot, carrying what- composition of a book tentatively titled “The Last
ever luggage he or she had, on a broken path. The Man in Europe,” which would eventually evolve
house itself was large, but it had no hot water, elec- into Nineteen Eighty-Four. Unfortunately, a good
 Biography 25

deal of this period would find Orwell in an ongoing, Were the Joys.” Orwell had begun a version of this
steadily losing battle against ill health. After spend- essay, probably as early as 1938, the year of the
ing winter 1946 in London, he returned to Barnhill publication of Cyril Connolly’s Enemies of Promise,
the following April. The winter had been one of which contained a bittersweet memoir of St Cypri-
the worst in years, resulting in a serious shortage an’s, too sweet for Orwell’s taste. However, he real-
of coal. The lack of heat took an additional toll on ized that his account of the school could never be
his lungs. Once at Barnhill, he settled into work on printed as long as the principal figures, Lewis and
the new book, finishing the first draft by the end Cecily Vaughan Wilkes, were alive. The essay was
of 1947. The summer had been sunny and dry. He not published until 1952; even then it appeared
had a number of visitors, including at one point in the American Partisan Review, presumably still
his nephew, Henry Dakin and two nieces, Jane too hot to handle for a British publisher, given the
and Lucy, the children of his sister Marjorie. Along prevailing libel laws.
with Avril and Richard, they sailed in Orwell’s boat In July, he returned to Barnhill, where he
around the northern tip of the island. On their began working again, revising the first draft of his
return, Orwell misread the tide schedule and, as a novel. It was November by the time the revision
consequence, their boat was caught up in currents was completed but by then the manuscript had
from one of the whirlpools in the area. They man- to be completely retyped. Having no success in
aged to get ashore onto a little island, “just rocks securing a typist who would come to Barnhill, he
covered with sea birds,” from which they were res- set about retyping it himself, a task that left him
cued a few hours later by a fishing boat. He, his exhausted. His publisher, Warburg, later confessed,
son, two nieces, and a nephew had come very close “This failure on my part still haunts me.” Well,
to being drowned. In a letter to Brenda Salkeld, it might, considering the stakes. Warburg should
Orwell concludes his description of the adventure have made a greater effort to send a typist to Barn-
with a typically stiff-upper-lip, Etonian understate- hill. In December, having completed the typing,
ment: “Our boat luckily wasn’t damaged, apart Orwell suffered a relapse, again spitting up blood.
from the loss of the engine, but I’m trying to get This time he was removed to a sanatorium in the
hold of a bigger one as these trips are really a bit too Cotswolds, where doctors experimented with new
unsafe in a little rowing boat” (CW, 19, 196). drugs, including streptomycin, but without positive
Happily ensconced on Jura, Orwell intended results. Strict bed rest was ordered; anything that
to stay through the winter, but in November, he resembled work, proscribed.
began spitting up blood, requiring his removal to June saw the publication of the new novel, Orwell
the Scottish mainland, at Hairmyres Hospital, near having agreed upon Nineteen Eighty-Four as the title.
Glasgow. There he was diagnosed for the first time The book was published in the United States by
with a disease, long hinted at in his case, tuber- Harcourt, Brace, but for a special edition of their
culosis. One promising possibility was a new drug own, the Book of the Month Club wanted permis-
from the United States, streptomycin. The prob- sion to delete two sections: Emmanuel Goldstein’s
lem was that the drug had yet to be approved by “Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectiv-
British authorities. At this point Orwell’s friend ism” and the appendix on Newspeak. Orwell held
David Astor stepped in to help, using his wealth his ground, refusing to agree to the cuts. Eventually
to pay for the expensive new drug and his influ- the club gave in, resulting in the sale of more than
ence to bring the case to the attention of the new 190,000 copies of the book club edition in the first
Labor Minister of Health, Aneurin Bevan, who had year alone. As usual his own worst critic, he wrote
been Orwell’s boss at Tribune. The drug seemed to to Julian Symons, “My new book is a Utopia in the
work, its powerful side effects nothwithstanding, form of a novel. I ballsed it up rather, partly owing to
including hair loss and skin rashes, but his lungs being so ill when I was writing it. . . .” The review-
improved. While still in the hospital, he completed ers did not agree. The praise came from critics of
the passionate autobiographical essay “Such, Such the most discriminating literary temperament: V. S.
26 Critical Companion to George Orwell

Pritchett in the New Statesman and Nation, who them, invite interpretations beyond the author’s
ranked the author with Swift; Lionel Trilling in the intention. But the academic world was only a small,
New Yorker, who characterized it as a “momentous if important, part of the book’s phenomenally wide
book,” dealing with the “mystique of power.” readership. The point was that Orwell had probably
One feature of the novel that raised—and made the mistake of assuming that he was address-
continues to raise—a serious question about the ing an inside-the-family group, such as the read-
author’s intention relates to his identification of ers of his Tribune column. These socialist readers
the ruling party in Oceania as Ingsoc. When Fred- would understand that as V. S. Pritchett’s obituary
ric Warburg first read the novel, he wrote a detailed put it, “. . . in politics [Orwell] was more likely to
internal memorandum to this staff. He included chasten his own side than the enemy.” But in fact
among his observations the opinion that the choice he did see the threat of totalitarianism, latent as
of Ingsoc constituted “an attack on socialism and much in a socialist government as in a fascist one.
socialists generally . . .” and that the book is “worth How could he not, looking at the example of the
a cool million votes for the Conservative party.” Soviet Union? As it turned out, of course, it was
Thus Orwell’s publisher was the first of many read- the countries behind the iron curtain that came
ers to see political possibilities inherent in the novel closest to the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four, all of
that deviated widely from his intention. As soon as which ultimately added to the novel’s appeal to
Orwell heard of this reading, he issued a disclaimer, partisans on the right. That being said, on Orwell’s
and then did so more than once. In a letter to a part, the Ingsoc name was, as Bernard Crick put it,
United Auto Workers official, he made his inten- “at best incautious, at worst, foolish” (397).
tion clear: Meanwhile, as his health worsened, a letter
arrived that momentarily revived his spirits. It
My recent novel is NOT intended as an attack
came from Jacintha Buddicom, breaking a nearly
on Socialism or on the British Labour Party (of
30-year silence. Orwell responded with two let-
which I am a supporter) but a show up of the
ters, expressing the hope of renewing their friend-
perversions to which a centralized economy is
ship. Jacintha never responded, possibly because
liable and which have already been partly real-
she may have feared his asking her to become the
ized in Communism and Fascism (Crick, 398).
mother of Richard. At one point, after describing
But as it happened, in 1946, two New Critics, the boy, he asks, “Are you fond of children? I think
William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley, had intro- you must be.”
duced the idea of the “intentional fallacy,” in which While he was at the sanatorium, he had a
an author’s conscious intention was relegated to steady stream of visitors. One of these was Celia
second place behind the text itself as the most reli- Kirwan, whose earlier rejection of his marriage
able guide to its meaning. It was one of those pro- proposal had not interfered with their friendship.
nouncements that gained immediate attention and During one of her visits, she wondered whether
prestige in academic circles, at least in the United he would be interested in writing something for
States. Of course, those who insisted on reading the agency where she was working, the Informa-
Orwell’s novel as an attack on English socialism tion Research Department of the British Foreign
might well have been guilty of the obverse of the Office. He replied that he was too ill to tackle any
“intentional fallacy,” what the same authors dubbed new writing assignments, but he offered to suggest
the “affective fallacy,” determining the meaning of names of some anticommunist writers. A short
a text from “its results in the minds of its audience.” while later he wrote to her saying that he had
Thus a New Critic might pronounce a pox on both a list of names of people he considered “crypto-
approaches in favor of a formalist reading. William communists, fellow travelers or inclined that way
Empson had warned Orwell of this possibility in & should not be trusted as propagandists.” The
connection with Animal Farm, when he suggested list, which he subsequently submitted, had been
that certain literary forms, the fable being one of compiled with Sir Richard Rees as a kind of game
 Biography 27

in which they tried to guess which public figures

would turn out to be traitors or collaborators. (See
Part III: Orwell’s List.)
Meanwhile another candidate for a marriage
proposal appeared on the scene, Sonia Brownell,
Cyril Connolly’s assistant at Horizon. In addition to
being extremely attractive, she was a very efficient
if somewhat imperious editor. Raised in an exclu-
sive convent school, she lost no time throwing over
the traces upon graduating.
Early in her career, she moved in the circle sur-
rounding the Euston School of Art, living with the
artist William Coldstream. Orwell and she met at
Connolly’s home in 1940, but it was not until 1946
that they renewed their acquaintance, eventually
having an affair, in which Orwell acted like the
not-so “young man carbuncular” in Eliot’s The
Waste Land, “making a welcome of indifference” on
her part. He proposed to her at that time but was
rejected. Shortly after, Sonia left for Paris, where
she encountered the “love of her life,” the French
existentialist philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
The two had an intense, extended affair that ended
when Merleau- Ponty made it clear he would never
leave his wife and children. Orwell did not meet
Sonia again until 1949, when she began to visit Sonia Brownell, Orwell’s second wife and controversial
him in the sanatorium, bringing life into a room keeper of his flame (Orwell Archive, UCL Library
where death was pervasive. When Evelyn Waugh Services, Special Collections)
visited Orwell there, he saw the emaciated figure
lying in bed as “very near to God.” Sonia’s visits would be raised by his sister Avril, an arrangement
raised the possibility that the inevitable end might that Eileen would not have been happy with. In
be postponed if he had something to live for. When any case, by the fall of 1949, Orwell, now removed
proposed to again, she consulted her friend and his to University College Hospital, in London, where
publisher Fredric Warburg. Perhaps operating out Sonia could visit him every day, decided to go
of mixed motives—genuine feeling that the mar- ahead with the marriage. With Sonia by his side,
riage would give Orwell added incentive to live and he planned to move to a Swiss sanatorium in a
to keep producing books for Warburg—he urged last-ditch effort at recuperation. The wedding took
her to accept. As for Orwell himself, he too felt place at the hospital on October 13, 1949. Three
that marriage to a young and vibrant woman would months later, on January 21, 1950, shortly before
help to keep him alive. Insofar as he was looking he was to fly to Switzerland, he passed away.
for a future widow who would be protective of his Two days earlier, he had made an addition to
work—Sonia was an experienced operator in the his will, indicating his desire “to be buried (not
publishing world—he made the right choice, but cremated) according to the rights of the Church
as a potential mother of his son or as a companion of England . . . ,” an acknowledgement of his pro-
at Barnhill, he could not have chosen worse. Sonia foundly rooted identity as an Englishman and his
was a woman at home in the smart social circles respect for the liturgy of the Anglican church. Per-
of London and Paris. It was agreed that Richard haps he was motivated by the feeling he attributed
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
che circonda la pupilla. » Quatr èui. Quattrocchi : scherz. gli occhiali.
» Sarè j'èui o Sarè l'eui. V. in Sarè. » Sarè j'èui su lo eh' s sia.
Chiudere gli occhi a checche! sia. Far le viste di non vederlo, non ci
badare. » Sarè legerment l'eui. Velar l'occhio. Addormentarsi legl
germente. » Saveisse gavè le busche dant j'eui. fig. Saper levarsi
mosche o i moscherini dal naso o d'intorno al naso. Ne si lasciar fare
ingiuria. » Sbalucament d'èui. Occhibagliolo. Abbagliamento d'occh
abbarbagliamento, barbaglio, bagliore. » Sbaie le parpeile dj'èùi.
Battere gli occhi, le palpebri lappoleggiare (Tommas., Sinon). Quello
spesso percui; tere delle palpebre, che si fa in serrare e aprire gli
occhj » Schissè l'eui. V. Fé segn con l'eui. » Sit espost a j'èui del sol.
Luogo esposto all'occhio di sole. Si dicono i luoghi posti a solatìo. »
Slarghè ben j'èui. Aguzzar gli occhi. Sforzarsi per veder » Sol ètti.
avv. Sott'occhio, sottecco o sottecchi. Di nascosi; alla sfuggiasca o di
sfuggiasco. » Spende un èui. Spendere un occhio, cioè moltissimo. »
Sporse j'èui. Porgere gli occhi. Fissamente guardare. » Ste con j'èui
duvert. fig. Stare coll'occhio teso, stare occhi, stare in attenzione,
por mente, star vigilanti stare a canna badata, stare in guardia,
guardarsi. » Ste con j'èui sarà o Ste tranquil. Stare a chius'occl
Vivere senza usare la dovuta attenzione e i convenier riguardi; ed
anche vivere sicuro e quieto. ♦ Tanpè d'poer ant j'èui. Buttare, dare
o gettare la polve
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fertravedere, ingannare. Hi. Tanpèftoàj'Zui. 1 'l'ose, dicono: gli occhi
gli schizzai! di testa. . TmpijWadóss. Squadernare duo occhiacci
addosso ad alcuno, l'issare gli ocelli addosso. . Tanpt-fnii stt
ckeicosa. Porre, -citare gli occhi su o addosso a checchessia.
Guardare alcuna cosa con compiacenza, con ansietà, con desiderio,
attenzione od altro simile alletto, i Tire fora una branca d'éHi.
Sbarrare gli occhi. , Tiresse ii cavej ant fèlli, fig., Mandar giù la buffa.
Operare senza riguardo né soggezione. » Tra d'evi a /41 Minia brasò.
Olio da ardwe, da lumi. Olio comune. dgomo Dicesi per ischerzo di
lavoro che richii a faticoso e continuo movimento di braccia: e per lo
po', fregare gagliardamente. Stropicciamento. 7-d'linosa. Olio ili lino
o di |m seme_ — d'tlOS. Olio di noce. -r-d'ravisstin. Olio di
rapaccione o di navone salvatico o silvestre. Olio cavato dal seme di
rapaccione — il' ricino. Olio di ricino. — d'rohtin. Dicesi per ischerzo
per bastonate -d'sass. Olio di sasso, nafta, petrolio; ed "anche olio di
pietra o petronio. — d'seconda pista. Olio di mezz'uliva. Oglio di
seconda pressione. v — d'terssa pista. Olio di sansa, olio di terza
pressione. — d'uliva. Olio d'uliva (comune, fino, sopraffino). — fort.
Olio sappiente, cioè che ha preso del rinforzato che ha troppo acuto
odore. -sant Olio santo. L'estrema unzione. Quel sagramelo della
Chiesa che si somministra ai moribondi: onde De Veuli sant.
Amministrare il sagramento dell'estrema unzione. — verd. Olio
onfacino o onfagino. Olio tratto da ulive non ìnvajate ed immature. -
ver gin Olio vergine. Quell'olio che si trae da ulive non riscaldate. »
Amolin dl'èuli. V. in Amolin. » Aspetè a Vedi sant a fé le cose.
Indugiare, ridursi, ecc all'olio santo, fig. Ridursi a fare alcuna cosa da
ultimo quando^ non v'è se non pochissimo tempo. » Butè d'etili ant
la lucerna. Rifornire la lucerna Rimettervi dell'olio. » Butè a Veuli.
Mettere sott'olio, conciare in olio. Dicesi del tonno e d'altri pesci che
si stivano ne' barili e si cuoprono d'olio. » Ch'a conten d'èlli. Oleoso,
olioso. Che ha in sé olio » Col ch'a veni Veli al detaj. Oliandolo,
ogliaro. Bottegaio che rivende l'olio al minuto. » Col ch'a travaja ant
el mulin, pista o torce dl'èulì. Fattojano. Colui^che lavora nel fattoio
per fare olio. »> Condiment d'euli e sai. Pinzimonio (dizione toscana
sebbene_non registrata ne'dizionarj italiani): onde Articioch a l euh
e. ala sai. Carciofi al pinzimonio. »> De man al doi dVèldi. fig. Andar
colle buone, trattar con buona maniera, con cortesia, e per lo più
stretto dalla paura o altro; che direbbesi anche mutar registro, cioè
mutar maniera o modo di fare in checchessia, ed anche mutar tuono
o sonata. » Esse a Velili sant. Essere all'olio santo. Dicesi dell'infermo
destituito da' medici. V. A fultìm, nel Diz. » Essie pi nen d'euli
antellum. fig. Essere al lumicino, essere alla candela, essere la
candela al verde. Essere prossimo a spirare. » Fé Velili, fig. Essere o
stare a galla ; esser superiore, essere al di sopra; averne il meglio. »
Fé pie el doi di' etti. fig. Far tener l'olio ad alcuno, farlo filare. Fare
star cheto alcuno per bella paura, tenerlo a segno. »Fin_ch'afè d'èUli
ant el lum. fig. Finché c'è fiato o vita » L euh a ven senpre dsor
dl'aqua. fig. La neve si strugge e lo stronzolo si scopre. La verità sta
sempre a galla * » Muhn o Pista da euli. Macinalo. Nome generico
del mulino dove s. macinano le ulive, che più propriam chiamasi
fattojo. Varj Diz. ammettono confusamente
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stanza dove si faì'olio, che contiene la macchina o lo slromento detto
infrantojo con cui s'infrangono le ulive per estrarne l'olio. Eùli. Nen
buleje ne sai né euli. Non vi metter su né sai né olio. Si dice quando
uno fa un servizio o alcun'altra cosa liberamente, presto e senza
pensarvi; ed anche operare o parlare con libertà. » Onze con d'adi.
Inoliare. » Pie el doi dl'éldi. V. sopra De man al doi dl'euli.^ i,
Porfesse Velili sant apress. V. in seg. Ste con l'èùli, ecc. » Score com
Velili. Correre o scorrer bene. Dicesi di carrucole, pulegge e simili,
quando vanno su e giù senza difficoltà : e per estens. di altre cose
che scorrano bene; fìg. vale, correre a verso, cioè andare a seconda,
senza ostacoli. » Sèuìi com Velili. Liscio come avorio. »Stc chiet com
Velili. Star cheto come olio; cioè quietissimo, tacitissimo, non far pur
uno zitto: onde Chiet com Velili, zitto come olio. Prov. derivato dal
poco rumore che si sente nel versar l'olio. » Stè con l'euli sant an
sacacia, fig. Stare colla tremarella addosso, stare come l'uccello sulla
frasca. Premunirsi contro tutti i pericoli. » Ste dsor com l'etili. Stare
come olio, cioè a galla. » Voleje esse Velili, fig. Volere stare a galla,
cioè soprastare, essere a vantaggio od essere dappiù. Eunuch.
Eunuco o che manca de' membri virili (voce greca, quasi custode del
letto : essendoché nell'Oriente gli eunuchi servono di guardia alle
donne). In generale tutti quelli che non hanno la facoltà di generare
; ma più particolarmente di quelli che sono stati castrati, od hanno
perduto le parti necessarie alla generazione. Colui che trovasi in tale
condizione dicesi Menno. Evo. Evo. Età, secolo. Dicesi propr. coll'agg.
di medio, di quel tempo in cui cominciarono a decadere le scienze e
le belle arti , dall' invasione de' Barbari , cioè dalla distruzione
dell'impero romano, fino al secolo xv. Evochc. Evocare (v. lat.).
Chiamar fuori, far venire, chiamare a sé. Dicesi propr. delle anime,
degli spiriti, ecc. Nell'uso è T. leg. e vale, chiamar a sé la
giurisdizione sopra una causa. Evolussion. Evoluzione. Dicesi degli
esercizj militari e navali. Eurisma. V. Aneurisma. Efit. Otto. Nome
numer., che segue immediat. dopo il sette. Euv. Uovo e ovo. Parto
imperfetto di diversi animali, come di volatili, pesci, serpenti, ecc.
Secondo l'uso bambinesco, cocco e cucco. » Uovo. Detto in senso
assolut. s'intende parto di gallina. Scberz. diconsi le uova pillole di
gallina, ed il vino sciroppo di cantina. — a la greuja. Uova lessate (v.
dell'uso); malamente dette da alcuni uova affogate. Vedi Eùv bon a
beivse, ed anche Euv tonhà. — al fojot. Uova cotte nel tegame, cioè
con burro, strutto o simili. — al cerighin. Uova affrittellate. Uova
cotte nella padella, a foggia di frittelle. ~ ant el fiat. Uova nel piatto,
cioè cotte nello stesso modo clfe quelle al fojot, ma in un piatto o
tondino. — a pena na. Uovo recentissimo. — bon a beivse. Uova da
bere : vale cotte tanto sol che si possan bere. dsi EUV Euv di' a
ciòca. Uovo barlacchio o barlaccio. Quello che sco| guazza
fortemente, e rotto puzza. — con doi ross. Uovo gèmino. — covis.
Uovo gallato, che si pone sotto la chioccia per esjr covato. — dii poj.
V. Lendne. — dia lima. L'uova nate nella lunazione d'agosto, le qua
vogliono serbatoje per l'invernata successiva. — die mosche.
Cacchioni. Diconsi quelle uova che le mosie depongono e generano
nella carne e nel pesce, che! vengono poi vermicciuoli. — d'pess sala
e essicà. Bottarica e huttarga, ed anche bottap o buttagra. Uova di
pesce salate e seccate al sole I fumo. — gala. Uovo gallato, cioè
fecondato dal gallo. Dicesi pnr. dell'uovo di gallina calcata dal gallo.
V. in Gala. — nen bon da cove. Uova vane o infeconde o subventaii,
cioè non buone a covarsi. — nial. Guardanidio, se uovo naturale;
endice se fatti Uovo che si lascia per segno nel nido delle galline, ql
per dimostrar loro dove hanno ad andare a deponi loro uova. I — pi
nen fresch,. Uovo stantìo, scemo. Dicesi quando l'il è nato da più
giorni, onde è facile che si alteri e si ttrefaccia. „ pócfr cheiiit. pi.
Uova bazzotte. Uova cotte in modo clic I sodo tutto l'albume,
rimanga tuttora semifluido iltucl — sbatù ant Vaqua. V- Lait d'pola.
sem. Uovo scemo. V. sopra Eùv nen bon da cove. I r—senssa greuja.
Uovo sperduto o abortivo, che in FirJ chiamasi uovo col panno. Uovo
nato senza guscio e I sola pellicola. Se si toglie dal ventre della
gallinai mazzata, dicesi uovo nonnato. Dicesi talvolta in ni per
istronzolo. - stenti. V. sopra Eùv pi nen fresch. -tonbà o an camisa.
Uova affogate. Uova sgusciate, li sommerse e cotte nell'acqua
bollente, e poi reg con salse diverse. » A j'è nen èTiv dia ciòca nen.
E' non c'è uovo che guazzi. Prov. che vale, e' non si trova niuno
senaai o mancamento. » A l'è mej un éuv anchéui ch'una galina
doman. V. li guito Esse mei. _ __ » A l'è nen una poh o un éuv
fresch na d'ancheui e < E' non è come l'uovo freseo né d'oggi né
d'jeri,:| che si dice di chi è uomo d'età. » Ande a fé VéTiv. Dicesi in
ro. b. e scherz. per and:! fare i suoi agi. » Ande su j'èliv. fig. Andare
in bilico. Camminando apS toccar la terra. » Animai d'natura da fé
Veuv. Oviparo. Animale che I cepisce in sé l'uovo , e che in appresso
lo dà alla^ per poi covarlo. » Arangessej'élwantelcavagn. Acconciare
o assettarci I nel panieruzzolo. fig. Accomodar bene i faUi prj » Aveje
ancora la gréltja atacà al cui. V. in Greuja» Beivse o Ciucè un éuv.
Bere o ^succiare un uovo. » Beivse una cosa com ciucè un euv
fresch. Bersi una 1 come un uovo fresco ; vale farla speditamente ;
ed ai essere cosa agevolissima a farsi o a riuscire. » Blanch d'Vélw.
Chiara, albume. Bianco dell'uovo. »> Buie j'mv m cov o la cioss a
cove. Porre 1 uova chioccia : vale metter l'uova sotto la gallina accie"
essa le covi.
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EUV u\ Camini suf~r. V. qui avanti Alidi suj'èTtv. * Cititi-

j'ciir. Abbandonar l'uova, fig. Abbandonare i suoi (tolta la metal", dai
polli o colombi, quando non Seguitano di Botare le uova, finché
nascano i pulcini o piccioni). i Cela djcTiv. Uovajo o uovaja (uso
tose). Il rivenditore o la rivenditrice delle uova, o Cotmn dj'èlic.
Incubazione. Il covare o la covatura degli «Belli. om bare un èliv. V.
qui avanti Beivse una cosa coni , ecc. nei un etw anchcTii ch'unti
galìna domati . Essere medio un uovo oggi che una gallina~domani.
Meglio e un tien tieni, che cento piglia piglia; meglio è fringuello in
man che tordo in frasca ; è meglio un'asino oggi che do barbero a s.
Giovanni, l'rov. significanti, assai più valere una cosa piccola che sì
possegga, di quel che Jglia una grande che non si abbia", e che solo
si speri. tFivnìj'cliv dar. Assodarle uova. dura dl'euv. Occhi dell'uovo,
e dottrinalo!, cicatricula. Vescichetta bianchiccia che vedesi nella
membrana che investe il tuorlo dell'uovo, e nella quale scorgonsi le
prime tracce della formazione del pulcino ; detta in alcuni luoghi
segno del gallo. Gmija dl'èìw. Guscio dell'uovo. J'èlw a veno dal
beeh. La gallina è bella e buona, di pel becco la fa le uova (Lastri,
Firenze, Corso d'agricoltura).Le galline fanno l'uova pel becco. Modo
proverb. che c'insegna essere necessario dar ben da beccare alla
gallina, chi la vuole feconda d'uova. Il quale proverb. preso in senso
più Iato pare possa anche fig. assimilarsi a quest'altro, la bocca ne
porta le gambe. L'euval'è gala. L'uovo è gallato. Si dice iti ischerzo
parlando di giovane donna, essere incinta. Odor d'euv mars. V. in
Odor. Pien com un ~w. V. in Pieri, add. Pi nen fé d'euv. Averlo
ristretto. Espressione contadinesca quando si vuol dire che le galline
non fanno più uova. Plèj'euv. Mondar l'uova. Pietà bianca interna
cantra la greiij'a dl'euv. Panno o pannume. Pellicina bianca e sottile,
della quale é ricopertala parte interna del guscio dell'uovo. Porta
etw. V. Cóchetiera. Quandje cose a comenso andè mal, fin le gitine a
van fé l'euvfóra d'ea. Proverbio che ci dimostra che" quando uno
comincia ad avere sfortuna, non è cosa che gli riesca a bene. tyè
j'èuv. Sperare le uova. Opporre le uova al lume per EX 943 vedere se
siéiia tra parenti (che direbbon i : seme), B quelle che noi sono, che
dirnusi piene e soni) recenti. Elìv. Rompe j'euv. Scocciar le uova.
Romperne il gfisclo, la coccia. » Roniic j'dic ani ci curi ign. Ilninpere o
gUi tare le nuva nel paniere', che Èliche dicesi Wnipere b guastare
l'uovo in bocca; si ilice provcrhi/ihn. del gna. lare i è altrui presso alla
conclusione. » Serchè o Goardè el peil uni VèUv. Cercare o gnaulare
il pelo nell'uovo, l'mverliialin. méttersi a considerare qualunque
minutissima cosa, o cercar cose ila non potersi trovare od ottenere, e
più propr. gofiStle&re, guardare pel sottile, perdersi in minutissime
osservazioni. » Sperine per fé l'eùv. Ponzare. Far forza per mandarlo
fuori. » Vede o Conosse el peil ani l'éuv. Vedere o conoscere il pel
nell'uovo. Dicesi di chi è d'acutissimo ingegno, che scorge ogni
minuzia, prevede tutto e quasi vede l'invisibile. » Vèìiid dl'elw.
Follicolo dell'aria. Quel vano che Vedesi nell'estremità più otttisa
dell'uovo. Eùvra (v. contad.). I pali che si pongono a sostegno delle
viti. Ex. Voce lat. frequentemente adoperata nell'uso'per, già, una
volta, per lo addietro, ecc., come ex ministro, già ministro, o per lo
addietro ministro. Ex abrupto. avv. (v. lat.). Ex abrupto, esarrulto. In
un tratto, improvvisamente. Exeat (v. lat.). Exeat. Permesso in
iscritto, che un vescovo accorda ad un suo diocesano per portarsi in
altra diocesi ad esercitare le funzioni del suo ministèro. Exequatnr (v.
lat.). Exequatur. Ordine attergato o su'battergato di un giudice, in
forza del quale sf procede all'esecuzione di una sentenza o di un
decreto. » Exequatur. Dicesi pure l'autorizzazione che viene
accordata dal principe ad un console straniero di esercitare nello
Stato le proprie funzioni. Ex equo et bono. Ex aequo et bono. Questa
frase latina, che é d'uso frequentissimo anche nel linguaggio italiano,
denota doversi attenere e regolare, non secondo lo stretto diritto,
ma giusta le regole dell'equità o secondo Ciò che pare più
ragionevole. Ex professo, avv. (v. lat.). Ex professo ed anche
esprofesso. Per professione, pienamente; e talvolta con perfezione.
Ex proposito, avv. (v. lat.). Ex proposito. Di o con proposito,
determinatamente, a posta, scientemente. Ex tempore, avv. (v. lat.).
Ex tempore. All'improvviso, senza pensarvi avanti. Ex voto. avv. Ex
voto. Espressione latina, che significa le offerte promesse per Uri
voto. F >csta lettera dell'alfabeto e quarta delle consonanti, che
pronunciasi effe. r. di mus.). Fa, fefaut. Quarto suono della scala
diatonica e naturale ; e nome pure del modo o tuono che parte da
essa. 'iav d'fa. Chiave di basso. n m. avv.). Voce ohe si accoppia a'
nomi di tempo per accennare il passato: per es. Un an fa. Or é
l'anno o or è un anno, un anno fa, da un anno indietro. Fa. Un pess
fa. Un pezzo fa, già tempo, tempo fa. Fabioeh. Balordo, babbione,
badalone, pècoraccio, bescio, gocciolone, pacchiarono, sciocco,
scimunito. V. anche' Babeo e Patalok. Fabrian. Dicesi in m.b. per
ischer., il culo, tafanario, culiseo.
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FAC 544 Fabriano l'è da bagianvoreje ciapè le mosche conel

fabrian E' non si può pigliar pesci senza immollarsi; e non si può aver
il miele senza le mosche. Prov . che c'insegnano, che chi vuole
acquistare, bisogna che si affatichi. Fabrica. Fabbrica, costruzione. ,,
Fabbrica. La cosa fabbricata, edilìzio „ —Luogo dove si fabbrica o
lavora checchessia. Opificio, officina. — da carta. V. Bator. . -d'arme.
Fabbrica d'arme. Edifizio, nel quale si fabbrica Farmi da fuoco o da
taglio, per servizio dell esercito. — del fer Ferriera. Fucina dove si
raffina il ferro. -d'garsa o d'creVo. Fabbrica della tocca, del velo. —
dii veder. Vetraja. — dia pover. V. Povrera. — d'savon. Saponeria.
*'««*■ , Fé una fabrica. Innalzare, ergere o erigere una fabbrica. »
Gran fabrica. Fabbricone. P'cita fabrica. Fabbrichetta, fabbncuccia.
FAC Fabrica. Fabbricato, edificato; costrutto Fabricant. Fabbricante,
fabbricatore, che fabbrica — d'aauce, d'bira, ecc. V. induce, bira, ecc.
Fabricassion. Fabbricazione, fabbricamento. 11 fabbricare e la cosa
fabbricata. Fabricato. sost. Fabbricato. Casamento, fabbrica, edilizio.
Dicesi d'ordinario di un edifizio assai ampio Fabricè sost. Fabbriciere.
Colui che soprantende alla fabbrica, redditi ed arredi di una gran
chiesa. Fabrichè Fabbricare. Lavorare intorno alle case per ridurle
rdU .. " L.....j,u„nn™r0. p Tim nronr. dicesi Facenda. Esse an
facende. Essere affaccendato. » Fé facende. Far faccende, aver che
fare. V. Facende ver. Dicesi anche de' mercanti e degli artisti, ì quali
spacciano molte o poche delle loro mercanzie o dei loro lavori ; onde
far molle o poche faccende, vale spacciar molta o poca roba. » Fé le
facende d'ca. Far la masserizia della casa. Far le faccende
domestiche, come spazzare, rifar i letti, ecc. » Om da facende o da
afe. Uomo, persona da faccende, cioè atto a far faccende, valente.
Facendà. Affaccendato, infaccendato, pieno di faccende, che ha
molte faccende: contr. di sfaccendato, ozioso. Facende. ver.
Affaccendarsi, far faccende, operare assai, impiegarsi, adoperarsi,
lavorare, affaticarsi. Facendo, sost.. Faccendiere. Che fa faccende.
Dicesi talora in senso avvil. V. Facendeire o Facendon. » Faccendiere.
Chiamasi parimenti contai nome chi attende agli affari economici de'
religiosi, specialm. de mendicanti. . . Facendera (Comare). Mona
casoffiola. Dicesi a donna facC6ndicr2i Facendola. Faccenduola,
faccendetta, faccenduzza. Piccola faccenda, picciolo affare,
affaruccio. Facendon. Faccendone, impacciatore, impigliato^
ceccosuda ser faccenda, ser mesta, mestatore, imbroglione
appaitene, affannone. Dicesi di persona inquieta, che è ili continuo in
moto, e che s'intriga in ogni cosa. Facessia. Facezia. Detto o motto
arguto e piacevole, barzelletta. Talvolta vale, baja, burla, celia,
scherzo. ^Fabbricare. Lavorare intorno aUe cose per riparie WU. >a
™ » ^fr» *** patella, frasca a1|,forma*esSedebb«a,ere;ep1 d,e«s,
fc«.C ...__,. J alla lumia vu 0001/ »w~~ . i . _• delle muraglie e delle
navi. Edificare, costruire. _ e litiqhè, a l'è vorejsse ruinè. V. in LitigU.
— e piante na vigna, lo ch'a costa nissan landvma. Casa fatta e
vigna posta nessun sa quant'ella costa. -un Beine d'intende,
Cojonelo, Trocionelo, ecc.. Parandosi di contratti, giuochi o Bina.,
barare, manolare, truffare, trappolare, ingannar alcuno. » Chi fabrica
d'invern, a fabrica an etern. Chi mura a inverno, mura in eterno o
mura di ferro. Dettato che sembra in contraddizione col pensare e
coli agire dei più, ma che in realtà è verissimo, perchè la calce più
spesso i n • Cn m^llop nroca A rp.nnfì Olii uUTi*i n fi 6tt6 , Butèan
facessia per nen avejne el dsota. Far la fanferina o mettere in
fanferina. Si dice di chi per suo interesse mette ogni cosa in baja e in
canzone. _ » Nen esse 'una facessia, ma una cosa essenssial. Non
essi una buccia o foglia di porro, essere cosa da farne Ir. »
peCr°nfÌmsm.avv.Facetamente,daburla,daoperisck male. ma che in
realtà è verissimo perchè la calce più spesso ma *• ,. facez-
barzeUettare, piacevo bagnata dalle piogge, fa miglior presa e rende
pm du- f MM^;^rJiòheggiare , burlare, celiare, far e* rabili le
muraglie. » Tome a fabrichè. Rifabbricare, riedificare. Fabrichesse
cheicosa ant la testa. Fabbricarsi checchessia, immaginare,
inventare. Face ver Mortificare, offendere, adontare ; pugnere. »
Facesse. Offendersi, recarsi a offesa, aversi a o per male, rimaner
punto, adontarsi, stizzirsi. _ _ Facenda. Faccenda. Cosa da farsi o da
compirsi, affare, negozio, fatto, bisogna, mena, briga. „ Faccenda,
per fattura, operazione. ( ^^ ;„ „ , ( , , „ — per cosa assolutam.
ro/.h,ni«« Far chinaccio : pera, di facchino. -ieslustosa e di/M.
Pateracchio. Affaraccio, faccenda di- F ^^^\^m^ affachinare, sfacc
"sgustosa e difficile a sbrigare.^ Far faticheda facchin0, lavorare a
mazza e stan, » Ande per soe facende, per n so afe. Andare alle sue
dJ faliche> cende. Partirsi per applicare a' proprj , interessi . 7,^"^
parte Seriore dell'uomo, dalla somm. ire, un ucuo lawM", "- leggiare,
frascheggiare, burlare, celiare, far p Cf* Vi P P7 ri T* P » Senssa
face'ssie, Da bon. avv. Senza burla, lo scherzi parte, sul serio, da
senno. Faceto. Faceto, gioviale, burbero, bajoso, festevole, pw vole,
lepido, sollazzevole ; leggiadro, grazioso. Fachin. Facchino; porta,
portatore, bajulo, bastag.o, e tal zanainolo. Colui che prezzolato
porta pesi. _ » Dicesi talvolta ad alcuno per dispregio, e vale inew
screanzato, zotico. Fachinada. Facchineria. Fatica da facchino. [veie
moiooen u uucnuo. r»..«&...- ..-più che fare che a un pajo di nozze,
aver più faccende | che un mercato, averne moltissime , Butè an
facende. Metter in faccende, dar faccende. Dar | da fare, da
lavorare, impiegare. .Costa a l'è una facenda Unga. Questa è una
lunga mena. . r accia, l,* pane emve..».- ----> , della fronte
all'estremità del mento, viso, volto, e sene muso, mostaccio, ceffo,
grifo, %™%™-?ff*2, Figura e Mostass: voci più in uso nel dial. pieni.
Facia. V. anche Fassa. , Faccia, aspetto. Stato di checchessia. » —
per Arditezza, sfacciataggine.
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AC l'Ai) 545 iria. Faccia, fig. Sembianza; vista, apparenza. -

brusca. Viso brusco, viso dell'arme, viso arcigno, viso torto o bieco,
aspro; acerbo; malviso, malvolto. -dn merita». Viso di Blocco. Dicesi
per beffa a viso magro e ristecchito; segrenua. - d' n nbrì ne h. Viso
d'ubbriaco ; viso bitorzoluto, come sogliono averlo i briaroni. In
pittura direbbesi viso focoso, cioè rosso per troppo sangue mostro
correre al viso. -d'foini. Impiccatello, faccia di boja, gognolino, ceffo
o viso d'appiccato, furfante; scampaforca, - d'inanimiti. Viso di culo o
di marmotta. Maniere d'improperio usate dalla plebe. ~f primavera.
Visuccio lutto sangue e buie, musin di minio; e voli;', in Tose., t'aeeia
ili pasqua d'uovo. - a" toh o fodrà d'tòla. Viso da pallottola, fronte
invetriata 0 incallita, uomo sfrontato. - d' tuli ii dì.... Espressione che
suole usarsi per ischerzo, ed anche talvolta per dimostrare il piacere
che si risente alla vista d'alcuno, ed allora è quasi come dire, viso
che io bramerei di veder pur ogni di. - franca. Faccia franca, viso
aperto, viso asciutto, cioè franco, ardito, buona faccia; epegg., senza
faccia (s'intende uomo), cioè senza vergogna. -franca, ma ci eliciti-
ai manca. Faccia di leone e cuor di sgricciolo. Dicesi proverbiali!), di
chi si mostra bravo ed animoso ed è codardo. ■ macilcnt . Viso
macilente, cioè smunto, magro, stenuato. univa. Viso non più visto.
■ proib'ta. Viso da fariseo, viso di Longino o di cagnazzo, ceffautte,
faccia da scomunicato. • rident. Viso ridente, ilare, sereno ;
giocondo. ■ rupìa. Viso a saltero (velo di monache), cioè grinzoso. -
stravolta. Viso turbato, viso scontrafl'atto, viso spiritaticelo. • .4 fucia
a facia. V. questa frase nel Diz. > .4 l'a una facia da deje subit la
drita. fìg. Ha un viso truce, torvo, cupo, che incute timore, che fa
sospettar male. ) Ande o Portesse su la facia del leu, o serapl. sul
leu. Andare o recarsi sul luogo o sul luogo del luogo. i An facia dia
Cesa. In faccia della Chiesa o di santa Chiesa, vale nella Chiesa, e
secondo i riti e cerimonie della Chiesa. » Aveje facia o Mostass. V. in
Mostass. • D'doe face. Agg. di persona, di due facce, doppio,
fognalo, tecomeco, tamburino, infinto, simulato, mascherato, più
doppio d'una cipolla. > Dì su la facia. Dire in faccia, a viso aperto.
Parlare liberamente e risolutamente alla presenza di colui, di cui si
tratta. i Facia franca, busta pronta e ganba lesta. Prov. denotante
che al mondo non ha buona sorte chi non ha pronte le bugìe, pronte
le gambe e fronte invetriata. » Goardè an facia. Affissare. Guardar
fiso o fisso. » Goardè gnun an facia. Menar la mazza tonda, gettar il
giacchio tondo, tirar o mandar giù la buffa. Parlare od agire
liberamente e senza soggezione; non aver riguardo ad alcuno
trattando tutti a un modo o alla pari. ■ Mejurè ii pugn su la facia.
Andar colle mani in sul viso ad uno. > Tanpè su la facia. fig. Gettare
in faccia, rinfacciare. > Volte facia. Voltar bandiera, voltar casacca.
Dicesi fig. per cangiar sentimento, mutar opinione; e talvolta anche
rinegare. Gran Dizion. Piem.-Ital. Voi l'aria, add, (dal ver. Face),
Offeso, adontato, punto; indispettito, sdegnato. Furiati:) o Fassada.
Facciata, prospetto, frontiera, frontispizio. L'appetto primo, o per cosi
dire la fronte o faccia di qualsivoglia fabbrica, tempio, palazzo, od
altro; e dove per lo più è l'entrala. » Iffucititla. avv, Di faccia,
dirimpetto; alla rincontra, a fronte, a petto. Faciarìa. Faccenda,
all'are, occupazione nojosa o scabrosa ; altri briga, molestia,
impiccio, fastidio, intrigo, impiglio, noja. Faciala. Facciata, faccia,
pagina, cartata. Ciascuna banda del foglio. » Prima faciala d'un liber
dova fé el titol. V. Frontispissi . Faci!. Facile, agevole: contr. di
difficile. » Facile, probabile, verosimile. » — Agg. d'uomo,
pieghevole, arrendevole, condiscendente, trattabile, cortese. — a
fesse. Facitojo. Agevole a farsi. — da anparè. Apprendevate. Atto ad
apprendersi. » A l'è neti tan facil. Non è loppa. Non è impresa facile.
Facilità, sost. Facilità, agevolezza, contr. di difficoltà, fig. Indulgenza,
condiscendenza, bontà, cortesìa, benignità. » Facilità. Nelle arti, vale
speditezza, prontezza nell'operare: il suo opposto dicesi stento. » Ne'
contratti, vale diminuzione o ribasso sul prezzo, vantaggio nella
compra che il venditore fa al compratore. Facilità, add. Facilitato,
agevolato, reso facile, agevole. Facilitassiou. Facilitazione,
agevolamento, appianamento. Facilitò. Facilitare, agevolare, render
facile, far agevole, appianare, levar intoppi; dar modo di poter fare;
ed anche favorire, ajutare. « Col eli a facilita su hit. Ser agevole.
Dicesi in ischerzo di chi fa o suppone tutto facile, anche ciò che non
lo è. Facilment. Facilmente, agevolmente, senza difficoltà, di leggieri,
di bello, con poca o nessuna fatica. » Facilmente, per probabilmente.
Facin. Visuccio, visetto, visino, faccetta, faccettina, mostaccino,
mostacciuzzo. — d'or. Musin d'oro, musin di gemme. Facinoros.
Facinoroso, scellerato, di mal affare, malvivente. Facion. Faccione,
gran faccia, mostaccione. Facoltà. Facoltà, facoltà. Potere o
attitudine di operare. » Facoltà, balìa. Autorità, diritto o privilegio di
poter fare o dire alcuna cosa. » — Ricchezze, beni di fortuna. » —
Nome che si dà alle divisioni delle scienze, che s'insegnano nelle
università. Facoltativ. Facoltativo, facultativo. Che ha facoltà o
concede l'arbitrio di alcuna cosa. Facoltos. Facoltoso, facultoso.
Agiato di beni di fortuna, di grandi entrate, benestante, opulento,
ricco. Facondia. Facondia: propriam. abbondanza di parole, e più
comun., copia di eloquenza. » Ch'a l'a d' facondia. Facondo,
facondioso, che ha facondia, eloquente. » Con facondia, avv. Con
facondia, facondamente, facondiosamente, eloquentemente. Facièùr.
V. Portaletere. Factotom. Factodo (v. spago.). Quello che fa o vuol far
tutto o intrigarsi di tutto. Pigliasi talora per Facendon. V. » Fé el
factotom. fig. Soffiar il naso alle galline. Dicesi di chi comanda e fa
tutte le faccende. Fad. add. V. Fat. 1. 69
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546 FAI FAL Fanoche^Narratore di fanfaluche, carotajo ;

arcifanfano, mil- Fai. Fall o V Fate lantatore frivolo e sciocco Fagol.
Fagotto, involto, viluppo, fardello. — tf'bosc/i. Fastello di legne. _
d'iinqiarta sporca. Un fastellaccio. Dicesi per disprezzo di donna
malvestita, affagottata, sciamannata e senza , ; ed anche scherz.
fastello mal legato, mollume, n nrfìiiffi6 - Vortà da stermà sot al
mantel. Soffoggiata. Fardello o cosa simile che s'abbia sotto il braccio
coperta dal mantello, e quasi nascosamente si porti via. » A bei
fagot. avv. A balle, in quantità. , Fé faqot Far fagotto o fardello,
affardellare, fig. Partirei, andarsene; e talora andarsene dal mondo,
morire. » Pose el fagot. Per similitudine ed in ischerzo, sgravarsi,
FagotPaFagotto. Sorta d'istrumento musicale da fiato, detto antic.
dolcino o dolciano o dolzaina. Faqotà, Fagotè. V. Anfagotà, Anfagotè
Fagotto. Fagottino. Piccolo involto, fardelletto. Faj. V. Afaj. Fait. sost.
V. Fat. Fait. add. Fatto, eseguito, adempito. » Fatto, atto, acconcio,
appropriato : come A le propifait per lo. Egli rz^z^**&tei\^»*~ ai. r
auu. y . i-un*. . . » Fallo Al giuoco della palla, esprime un termine
prefisso: onde dicesi andare, dare, mandare la palla in fallo, cio&
contravvenire alle regole del giuoco. » Bidè el pe an fai. Mettere il
piede in fallo, inciampare. >, Senssa fai. avv. Senza fallo, senza
dubbio, immancabilmente, infallibilmente. Fala. Fallo, errore, sbaglio.
» Malafatta, scacchino, trapassetto. Errore di tessitura. Si An fala.
avv. In fallo, per isbaglio, inavvertentemente. ,, Fé una fala.
Prendere errore, sbagliare. Falabracli. Omaccione, fastellone. Uomo
grande, ma disadatto. Dicesi talvolta ad uomo già adulto, che fa
ancora delle fanciullaggini, bacchinone. Faìanssa. Carestia.
Mancamento delle cose necessarie al vitto; penuria, scarsità, difetto,
scarsezza, inopia. Falchet. V. Farchet. , Falcon (Ornit.). Falcone.
Uccello di rapina assai noto (fato eommunish.). » Ande a la cassa
con el falcon. Falconare. Andar a cacci; o cacciar col falcone, o a far
volare il falcone. Falcone Falconiere. Quegli che governa i falconi; e
queg altresì che li tiene sul braccio andando a falcone, ciò alla caccia
col falcone nato fatto, cioè attissimo, adattassimo a quella tal cosa. »
-Compiuto, maturo : onde Om fait, Dona fatta Uomo fatto donna
fatta. Dicesi di chi abbia passato 1 adolescenza, e non sia ancora
giunto alla vecchiezza; ed anche parlando delle frutte, quando sono
giunte al loro compimento e maturità. , -Perfezionalo. Cavai fait.
Cavallo fatto, cioè perfezio nato, disciplinato, ecc. . »_ Avvezzo,
assuefatto. Per es. Fatto Rota la fatiga. Fatto, cioè avvezzo,
assuefatto alla fatica. — a erodi, a ranpin. Adunco, uncinato. —
adasi. Parlando di persona, vale lento, tardo, pigro _ a dent.
Dentellato, tagliato o fatto a foggia di denti _ a fiesche. Spicchiuto.
Che ha spicchi o formato a spicchi — aitine. Lunatico, capriccioso,
bisbetico, fantastico _ a man. Fattizio. Fatto a mano o con arte,
artifiziale — a rei. Fatto a rete, reticolato, graticolato. — a scaje.
Fatto a scaglie, squamato. — a serp. Tortuoso, serpeggiante. — a so
dóss. Fatto al proprio dosso, cioè assettato alla persona. —
macassìa. Fatto colle gomita. Fatto alla peggio. _ Varei o cossi. Sì
fatto o cosìfatto, cioè di tal fatta o maniera. r,A l'è bel e fait. Ella è
finita, ella è spacciata, ella e risoluta. » Ben fait. Ben fatto, ben
conformato. » Buie al fait. Informare, render consapevole, istruire.
Kagguaffliare alcuno intorno a checchessia. » Obeno mal fait. 0 fatta
o guasta: vale bene o male sia per riuscire. TT » Un fatrass d'
giargiatole tant fait, o d sta posta. Un cumulo di carabattole tanto
fatto. Notisi che quest ultime parole si dovranno proferire col gesto
allargando le braccia o le mani per denotarne la grandezza. Faita.
Compito. Opera o lavoro assegnato altrui determinatamente. Faità.
Conciato. V. Afailà. faldistorio. Sedia usata da'prela nelle chiese, nei
pontificali. Fall (In forza di sost.). Fallito. Dicesi di mercante che ha
fallii Falì add. Fallito, errato, mancato. Fall. ver. Fallire, fallare.
Commetter fallo, errore; errar, sgarare; ed antic. faltare. » Fallire.
Propriam. per lo mancare di danari de mere danti, far fallimento. „ —
Mancare, venir meno. _ »_ Dicesi altresì delle cose che non
corrispondono a nostra aspettazione. ■ ,, — Parlandosi di cose
agrarie, vale mancare, non frutl o fruttar poco ; far mala prova. -el
colp. att. Fallire il colpo. Si dice di quello a cui IsJ " il colpo indiritto a
qualche cosa. — el colp. fig. Fallir il colpo. Condurre un'impresa a
vuc, " cioè senza effetto, fare un buco nell'acqua, tornarsi colle pive
o trombe nel sacco; ed in m. b. del voo fior., fare una frittata. Non
riuscire per imprudemo dappocaggine in qualche impresa. _ d'ora.
Scambiar l'ora, fallar l'ora, smarrir 1 ora. -la motera. Non cogliere nel
segno, nel brocco fallirà mira. Dicesi anche fig. ed equivale a Fall el
colp. V. sopra. . . *"| — la stra. Sviare, fuorviare. Uscire, andar fuori
di M lir la via, smarrirla. _ Vuss. Scambiar l'uscio. _ 1] -mai a so
dan... Non errar ma. a proprio danno. Ser vantaggiarsi sul
compagno, largheggiar sempre ne m a suo prò. A forssa
d'falìasanpara. Guastando o errando srnif Chi fa fala. Proverbiata, chi
ne ferra ne inchioda, e falla e chi non fa sfarfalla, ovvero chi non fa
non m cioè siamo tutti soggetti a mancare. . Don d'esssse falì, Mi a
san lo eh' a bsognava fé Del s di poi ne son ripiene le fosse. Dicesi
proverbiato.. •' tutti sanno vedere quello che era a fare, dopo di .e
fallato.
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F \ M FAM Pali. Fatila ii Manchela. Tornar colle piveo tromba

nel sacco; ed anche trovarsi e rimanere eoi culo in mano: cioè
rimanere se, ululo 0 defraudato delle sue speran/o. » / sotna luti topi
a fai). Tulli siamo fallibili. » Falisse. Fallirsi, fallarsi, ingannarsi,
prender errore, sbagliare ; and. ir turalo. » — (Cora. V. Fall l'ora. » —
ti' si rà. V. /'"/' /« x/zv/ . » As falisso fina li preive a d) messa. Erra il
prete all'altare, inciampa un cavallo che ha quattro gambe. Dicesi
proverhialin. per iscusare qualche errore 0 sbaglio. Falilu'l. Fallibile,
ed anche fallatole. Soggetto a fallare, ad errare: conlr. d'infallibile.
Falimriii. Fallimento. Mancanza di danaro, per cui uno non può
pagare a- debiti tempi ; e propriam. lo stato di un commerciante che
sospende i proprj pagamenti: alquanto meno dì bancarotta. V.
quest'ultima parola. » Esst pia ani un faliment. Restare al fallimento,
cioè con un credito da non riscuoter mai. Falò. V. Farò. latta».
Faloppa. Si dà questo nome in Toscana al bozzolo imperfetto, cioè
incominciato e non finito dal filugello. Questi bozzoli messi a marcire,
si stracciano e scardassano, e se ne fa filaticcio di prima sorte, detto
volgami. di palla. V. Fioret. • Errore, sbaglio, mancamento,
trasgressione; ed alquanto meno, sciocchezza, imprudenza,
marrone; onde, Fé una ftrtòpa 0 una sapa. Fare 0 commettere uno
sbaglio, un errore, un'imprudenza, ecc. Talvolta dicesi per panzana,
fola, favola, baggianata, carota. V. Patanflana. 1 Dicesi in m. b. ed in
ischerzo per Abòrì. Sconciatura, aborto. Falos. Manchevole, da non
fidarsene, solito prendere abbaglio, equivoco; ed alquanto più,
fallace, ingannevole. Vafosanent. Fallacemente, con fallacia.
FalssaroeM. V. Faossament. Falsari. Falsario, falsatore. Che fa falsità,
che adultera, falsa 0 falsifica, corrompe la sincerità di checchessia.
Parlando di monete, dicesi chi fabbrica monete false od altera le
vere. V. in Monetari. Falsset. Falsetto (Mus.). Voce acuta più di testa
che di petto : e propriam. voce falsa. » Cantò el falsset. Falseggiare.
Cantare il falsetto. Dicesi Wì falseggiarne chi '1 canta. Falssifichè. V.
Faossifichè. Fam. Fame. Voglia e bisogno di mangiare. Dicesi anche
appetito, però questo esprime piuttosto il desiderio e il piacere di
soddisfarlo, che non il bisogno. — cagnina. Fame canina. Dicesi
dottrinami, bolimia, cioè infermità, per cui sì ha sempre fame. - del
sacherdisna. Fame sagratina 0 sacratina, cioè grande, eccessiva. »
Aveje una fam da sonador 0 da luv. Aver la picchierella 0 il mal della
lupa, aver l'arme di Siena (essendo Tarme di Siena una lupa, ed il
mal della lupa un'infermità, che fa stare il paziente in continua fame)
; essere scannato dalla fame, morir di fame, allupare, essere
grandemente affamato. » Aveje un tantin fam. Aver famuccia, essere
affamatuzzo 0 affamaticelo 0 pizzicato dalla fame. » Esse a tarditi
con la fam. Aver aguzzato il mulino. » Fé pati h fam. Far piatire il
pane. » Gavesse 0 levesse la fam. Torsi la fame, sfamarsi. » La fam
a fa fé dyran cose, La fame caccia il lupo dal 1,11 "'• i| W " '."in., la
trottar la fracchi*, 1 M offri» la I'boibo ingegnoso, ed anche la
vergogne e la fam non istaniio insieme. Dieesi in provj i significa, che
1.1 fame ""llllT ''' 10 a supremi g ;, rare delle eose che per uà natura
non farebbe* Fani. La fam a l'r lanl granfa rhl'amor ai sia ila banda.
Dellaln, eh© denota che la l'anice più polonio doll'amore. » Ltt fam,
l'amar r la loss a san tre 60S6 rh'as fan «0071088. V. in Amor. »
Lonjfh eom la fam. V. in Longh. » Mori d'fam. Morto di farne,
allupato. Talora vale, povero in canna, miserabile; e fig. tritone. »
Muri d'fam. fig. Allampanare, aver gran fame, arrabbiare ardere dalla
lame. » Pien d'fam. Famelico. Grandemente affamato. » Quandaj'è la
bona fam, hit a smia bon. A buona fame non v'é cattivo pane, a
tempo di carestia pan veccioso, in tempo di guerra ogni cavallo è
buono. Prov. significanti che la necessità fa parer buono quello che"
non parrebbe nell'abbondanza: e si dice per avvertire, che l'uomo
dee accomodarsi nelle necessità a quel ch'egli può. » Sol l'aqua fam,
e sot la fiòca pan. V. in Fiòca. » Vede la fam. Veder la fame o veder
la fame in aria. Maniera espressiva di dimostrare gran fame. V. sopra
Aveje una fam da sonador. Fama. Fama. Divoramento così di bene
come di male: ma detto assolut. senza agg. di bene o di male, si
piglia in buon significato e vale, rinomanza, buon nome, grido di
gloria, d'onore, ecc. V. Riputassion. tVmanfama. Venir in fama,
procacciarsi, acquistarsi nome. Fama. Camerista (v. dell'uso),
cameriera di Corte. Donna che __serve la regina e le principesse ne'
loro appartamenti. Famija. Famiglia. Figliuoli che vivono e stanno
sotto la podestà e cura paterna ; comprendendosi anche moglie,
sorelle, e nipoti del padre, se gli tiene in casa. » Famiglia. Dicesi
eziandio di più persone che vivono sotto la podestà di un loro capo,
ad esso soggette, non per legge naturale, ma positiva. » — Persone
di servigio de' grandi. » —Schiatta, stirpe, casa, casato, legnaggio. »
— per convento. « — Birri, sbirraglia. Serventi della eorte di
giustizia; e per ischerzo la compagnia de' famigli o la famiglia di
palazzo. » Arma a" famija. Stemma. » Chersse la famija. Crescere in
famiglia, infamigliarsi ; far famiglia. » Famija morta. Famiglia estinta
; ed è quella che non è più; ed anche famiglia abbacinata, cioè
privata, per morte, de' suoi più illustri soggetti. » La sacra famija. La
sagra famiglia (T. de' pit.). Cosi appellasi un quadro che rappresenta
N. S. G. C, la SS. Vergine, s. Giuseppe, e qualehe volta s. Giovanni.
Si dice anche fig. e scherz. allorché veggonsi di brigata padre, madre
e tutti i figli. Familiar. sost. Famigliare e familiare. Amico, intrinseco,
confidente. » Famigliare, per famiglio, servidore. Familiar. add.
Famigliare, familiare. Della famiglia o appartenente alla famiglia o
casa. » Famigliare, per domestico, intrinseco. » Dejcors o Parie
familiar. Parlare o discorso familiare cioè piano, privato, usuale. .
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548 FAN FAN Familiarisè. Addomesticare, render famigliare.

Familiarisesse e Familiarisè. n. ass. Familiarizzarsi, prendere
dimestichezza, dimesticarsi, addimesticarsi, usare iamigliaraente,
divenir famigliare, trattare con famigliarità. _ con ii despiasì o
Abiluessie. Assuefarsi, avvezzarsi abituarsi ai disgusti, ai dispiaceri;
addurarsi, far callo. — tròp o Avansse&se tróp. Addimesticarsi
troppo, volerne troppo, farsi di casa più che la scopa. Affratellarsi.
Familiarità. Famigliarità, familiarità, intrinsichezza, dimeSlÌcll6ZZ3 »
La trova familiarità a nnija. La troppa famigliarità fa dispregiamento,
o genera disprezzo. Prov. di chiaro si°"nif Familiaraent.
Famigliarmente, e familiarmente, alla famigliare, domesticamente,
intrinsecamente, conddentemente. Famuia. Carestia, fame, penuria
di viveri. Famiola (Bot.). Barella. Specie di agarico o picciol fungo
noto • detto dal Lastri {Corso d'agricoltura) nel numero del più,
ceppatelli, e dal Targioni Tozzetti, famigliole Famos. Famoso. Di gran
fama o nome, celebre, rinomato, insigne, famigerato. » Famoso,
noto, pubblico. ,, — Agg. a libello o sim., vale infamatorio, » —
Disonesto, infame. Fàmula (v. lat.). Serva, fante, fantesca. Faual.
Fanale. Quella lanterna, nella quale s, ^ tiene il lume la notte in su i
navigli, e in sulle torri de porti. Dices. anche fanale la torre stessa
del porto, sopra la quale è posta la lanterna. ,, Fanale. Dicesi ancora
quella lanterna che si mette ale cantonate delle strade, de' cortili,
sulle scale, ecc. Quelli delle carrozze diconsi lampioni. _ _ da
prucìssion. Fanale sull'asta. Così chiamansi quelli che si portano a
processione dalle compagnie. Fanatica. Fanatico; furioso, smanioso.
Fanatism. Fanatismo. Azione di fanatico o furioso; e più
propriamente, entusiasmo eccessivo per una cosa qualunque; e per
lo più quello superstizioso di religione. Fanatisè. Render fanatico.
Fanatisesse. Dare nel fanatico. Fanciot Fancello, fanciullo, fantino;
rabacchio. Fanciotin. Fanciullino, fanciulletto, fantolino, Tabacchino.
Fandonia. Fandonia. Chiacchierata vana, favola, fanfaluca, fiaba;
bugìa. Fandonie. V. Babolè. Fancan. V. Fenean. Fanfaluca. V.
Fandonia. Fanet (Ornit.). V. Fanin. . Fanfara Voce finta per esprimere
il suono d. trombe o simili in segno di giubilo. Trombata,
strombettata, clangore. » Sonè d' fanfare. Così diconsi le arie che
suonansi nel partire del cervo. Dar fiato ai corni da caccia. Fanfaron.
Fànfano, arcifanfano, burbanzoso, parabolano, millantatore,
ostentatore, vanaglorioso, spaccone, smargiasso. , . , Fanfaronada.
Millanterìa, vanto, iattanza, burbanza, vantamento. Fanferluca. V.
Fandonia. Fanfcrluchet. V. Ferluchet. Fanòa. Fango, loto", e poet.
limo. Melma o memma, mota e ' radicchio : fango leggero, meno
grasso e meno fondo. — Brago: la mota in cui s'avvoltola il porco. —
fanghiglia, poltiglia: fango liquido per le vie. — Belletta, limaccio: la
memma che lascia l'acqua fiumatica. —Loja: j l'acqua torba e
fangosa. — Pacciame e pacchiarla: la, mota di stalle e simili luoghi.
Dicesi poi loto e luto, la terra molle di cui si servono gli scultori e 1
chimici per turar vasi. ., Fangh (Pie ii). Fare le lotazioni, i bagni a
loto, applicare il loto di alcune acque termali, alla parte inferma.
Fanflos. Fangoso. Pieno di fango; limaccioso, melmoso, poi tiglioso,
lotoso. «Fangoso. Imbrattato di fango, inzuccherato, impillac
cherato. » — Della natura e qualità del fango o facile a far fango. »
Un pò fangos. Fangosello, alquanto fangoso. Fanin o Fanet o Barbisa
(Ornit.). Ortolano de'boschi. Uccel letto dell'ordine de' passeri, quasi
simile all' ortolan comune (Emberiza eia di Lin.). _ Fant. Fante. Nel
giuoco delle carte, la minor figura di eia scun seme. . . Fantarìa.
Infanterìa, fanteria. 1 fanti, i fantaccini; soldatesc a piedi. Fantasìa.
Fantasìa (v. gr.). Immaginazione. Potenza immagi nativa dell'anima.
» Fantasìa, opinione, parere, pensiero. »_Cosa fantastica, invenzione
strana; capriccio, ghiri bizzo ; arzigogolo, bizzarrìa. «—Pezzo di
musica strumentale eseguito nel momen stesso che si compone. —
damai. Matta fantasìa, fisima, fantasticaggine. Fantas,, fìsicosa e
fantastica. ,, Aveje ant la fantasìa. Aver fantasìa, pensare, desiderare
invogliarsi. ( . , J ,, Aveje tfaotrvej la fantasìa. Aver altra fantasia,
cioealj pensieri. » Travaj d' fantasìa. Lavoro fatto di fantasia o di
capricci Dicesi da' pittori, scultori, ecc., quando senza modeo sim.
vanno operando di prepria invenzione ; ed opinesi al ricavare o fare
rial naturale. Fantasma. Fantasma e fantasima (masc. e fem.).
Immag!? o apparenza di cosa conceputa dalla fantasìa. » Fantasma,
per segno di false immagini o spaventevoli, «; appariscono talora
altrui nella fantasìa: onde Smiei fantasma, parere un fantasma, uno
spettro, una mor. Dicesi di chi per soverchia magrezza pare quasi
omlf e non corpo. V. anche Carcaveja. Fantasie. V. Fantastiche. . ]
Fantasmagorìa. Fantasmagorìa. Curioso spettacolo, in cui fanno
vedere in oscura sala, le immagini di corpi unii che sembrano vivi.
Fantassin. Fantaccino, fante. Soldato d'infanteria. Fantastich.
Fantastico. Finto, immaginario, non vero. » Fantastico. Spettante alla
fantasia. ,, — Agg. di opera, impresa o sim. fatta con poco
tomfmento. . . ,. ,, - Agg di persona, falotico, fisicoso, capriccioso,
bizzar, stravagante, lunatico, umorista, inquieto, fastidio, bisbetico. Si
dice pure d'ogni altra cosa che sia str a e fuori del consueto.
Fantastiche. Fantasticare, fantasiare, fisicare, ghiribizz I arzigogolare,
girandolare, mulinare. Andar vagando I l'immaginazione per ritrovare
o inventare ; ed ancne j disegni in aria. U Fantin Fantino. Dicesi fra
noi soltanto di ragazzo che cav. reggendo i barberi (cavalli corridori),
quando corronfl pallio.
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-.^— — ^». l'Ai) l'anima, e cnmun. Fantine (T. de" tomiaj).

V, Bromsin$, Faiiiocr. Fantoccio, bamboccio. Figurina per lo più di
legno o di cencio. * Fantoccio. fig. Uomo sciocco o semplice. froda.
Voce mutati, per Colin. V. - Falda. Quella parte della sopravveste o
del farsetto, che pende dalla cintura al ginocchio ; si dice anche del
lembo di qualsiasi veste. V. Fuodimi. • — fiateria distesa o dilatata, in
figura piana, che agevolmente ad altra si soprappone. . A Uh faode.
avv. A falda a falda, a parto a parte; ed anche addiettiv. faldato, cioè
l'atto a falde; ed è proprio di molle pietre, le quali pajono composte
di sottilissime lasliv sopì apposte. Dicesi anche d'altre cose
sovrapposte ad arte le une alle altre. » Divis an faode. Sfaldato. i An
[inula. V. questa locuz. alla sua sede. Kantlà. V. Faodaìà. Faodal.
Grembiale, grembiule. Pezzo di pannolino o d'altra materia, che
tengono dinanzi cinto le donne (dagli Aretini detto Pannuccia, dai
Perugini, Pancetta, e dai Ro «Bagnoli, Zinnale). Quest'ultimo ne' Diz.,
vale grembiale che copre sempl. il seno. La parte di alcuni grembiali
che cuopre il petto, dicesi pettino o pettina. — da caless.
Grembialino da calesse. Ribalta che si alza e si abbassa per coprire le
gambe di chi è in calesse. Faodalà. Grembiata, grembialata. Un
grembiale pieno di checchessia. Faodalet. Sparalembo. Grembiale
che usano gli artisti per non lordarsi gli abiti, e di materia più grossa
e durevole, come cuojo, ecc. Faodalin. Grembialino. Piccolo
grembiale. Faodina. Falda. Quella parte del vestito, che dalla cintura
in giù cinge senza strignere. Le falde del vestito chiamansi anche
quarti. Liola. V. Fàvola. feoss. sost. Falso. Uomo bugiardo, finto.
Soppiattone. » Falso. Detto o asserto non conforme alla cosa
significata. » — Cosa che mostra essere quello che non è. » Butè un
pe sul faoss. Mettere un piede in fallo; vale metterlo dove non posi,
e non vi si regga. » Esse o Posesse sul faoss. Posare o essere in
falso. Dicesi de membri d'architettura, che stanno fuori del
perpendicolo, e delle parti destinate a reggerli. Faoss. add. Falso.
Non vero; corrotto, contraffatto. » Falso, detto di persona, vale che
fa falsità o opera falsamente, doppio, simulato. — hordon. V. questa
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