The Adventures of Roderick Random

Examining the Lady’s Library and Works

With his mistress sleeping late after the hunters’ disturbance, the narrator seizes the opportunity to examine her study at leisure. He discovers numerous scraps of her own poetry on varied subjects, begun without completion. Notably, not one of her compositions mentions love. He counts fragments of five tragedies: “The Stern Philosopher,” “The Double,” “The Sacrilegious Traitor,” “The Fall of Lucifer,” and “The Last Day.” Her library contains the best English historians, poets, and philosophers, all French critics and poets, and a few Italian works, primarily poetry including Tasso and Ariosto. She possesses French translations of the classics but no Greek or Latin texts, revealing her ignorance of these languages.

The Lady’s Extravagant Behaviour

The narrator learns from the maid that his mistress is prone to whimsical fancies and strange delusions. She sometimes imagines herself an animal or a piece of furniture. Recently, in the character of a cat, she attacked the maid and scratched her face. On another occasion, she became convinced the general conflagration was imminent and could only be prevented by her own water, which she retained so long that her life was endangered. The household had to kindle a bonfire under her window to persuade her to evacuate, causing her to release what had caused her distemper. The narrator observes her squatting on the floor like a hare listening to hunters, mistaking him for a beagle. These episodes are cured only by music, which Narcissa administers by playing the harpsichord, her sweet voice producing a calming effect on her aunt’s troubled spirits.