Sunday, February 23, 2014

Family matters in the 18th century

I'll recap a few things about the Stanhope family, since I'm probably confusing many of you. With a few added bits, just because.

Allan is Stephen's uncle, older by 6 years. Allan's father was the previous Earl and his older brother (Stephen's father) is the current Earl.

Good so far? Allan usually refers to his mother as "my mother," because they are close. He calls his brother "Hugh" because they are not close and it irks Hugh, ie, the Earl Stanhope, who desires more respect.

Allan's mother is Stephen's grandmother, but Stephen is a bit overawed by most adults and refers to her by her title, the Dowager Countess.

See, an earl's wife is not an Earl-ess. England has no Counts, but for whatever reason, the Earl's wife is known as a Countess. The widow of an Earl or other titled man adds Dowager to her title, until/unless she remarries. Her daughter-in-law is the Countess, so it keeps people from being confused.

It isn't typical for a title and a surname to be the same (ie, he's the Earl Stanhope and his last name is also Stanhope) but it is correct in this case. It's a null title now, although the surname is still around.

Also, here is what Wikipedia has to say about the unreliable narrator.

Think about who's doing most of the talking and if that term applies.

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