Reeve and Landor Writers Who

Reeve and Landor

Writers who place their tales in exotic locations may have visited those locations or they may be imagining them on the basis of an image they have of the site. They may also derive what they believe about distant locales from what another writer has put in print. Egypt is the subject of a story by Clara Reeve, "The History of Charoba, Queen of Egypt," and a long poem by Walter Savage Landor, Gebir. Landor derived much of what he included about Egypt (and about his story of Egypt) from the work by Reeves, while Reeve invented most of her view of Egypt by imagining the place and its people. Reeves published her story in 1785, and Landor published his novel in 1798. Landor retells the story of Charoba in a different form. He does not credit Reeve with the original, which might matter to Reeve but which has no real effect on the literary value of Gebir.

For that matter, Reeve herself derived the story from an earlier work, though she did give credit to that work in he introduction, citing an Arabic work by the Reverend Doctor Murtadi. The work had been published in both French and English, and it is uncertain if she used only one or both. Reeve's version of the story differed from both, however, in that she brought to the material a certain feminist tilt and emphasized the conflict between Charoba and King Gebirus. Reeve appended the material on Charoba to her book the Progress of Romance, and in doing so she implied that she was only describing an Arabian tale. In a sense, this made the story more open than it might have been had she simply said she wrote it, implying that if another writer, such as Landor, used the story, they were only using something she had found elsewhere herself. Indeed, she did find the basics elsewhere, but she altered them and gave the story her own particular style.

This approach was not surprising for either Reeve or Landor and would have been for anyone else. Indeed, this sort of literary borrowing and changes made to improve an earlier story or to change it into a different form. Most of the plays of Shakespeare were derived fro earlier writings, usually without attribution, and with varying degrees of emendation in the process. The Reeves version is essentially a romance with an exotic setting and interesting characterizations, while the Landor work is far more political, making use of the story to develop a moral stance in opposition to the invasion of other countries, in part in response to the conquests being made by Napoleon.

The poet begins the poem with the sort of paean to the leader that Napoleon might like to hear: "I sing the fates of Gebir" (1). He notes the power of the ruler and the way he commands armies:

By meditating on primeval wrongs,

He blew his battle-horn, at which uprose

Whole nations; here, ten thousand of most might

He called aloud, and soon Charoba saw

His dark helm hover o'er the land of Nile (6-10).

Many critics treat Clara Reeve as a forgotten writer who did a good turn by writing about Charoba in a book that made its way into Landor's hands. They see her as the impetus for the much greater poetic work by Landor, while her own version is given little attention.. Of course, hers is a different genre and has very different intentions, though the work should hardly be simply ignored. Much of what she wrote about Egypt made its way into Landor's version, for he knew no more about Egypt than did she. The work as a whole, Progress of Romance, brings in ideas from many writers, editors, and critics. The section on Charoba becomes an example of a romance of a certain type, citing the use of chivalry in a form of fable about heroes and knights. Reeve's telling of the Egyptian story was part of an orientalizing trend at the time, with Arabian stories in vogue and seen as both exotic and moralistic in the romantic vein at one and the same time.

Charoba was a character representing the exotic world of Arabia and also depicting a strong woman besieged by an invading army under King Gebirus.

In the Landor version of the tale, some of the same elements may have served to appeal to his readers and to suggest a more romantic structure than the poem actually has. The poetry is seen by many critics as relatively severe, though they also see it as a masterpiece. Landor explained his approach in a postscript when he wrote, have avoided high-sounding words. I have attempted to throw back the gross materials, and to bring the figures forward. I knew that people would cry out "your burden was so light, we could hardly hear you breathe, pray where is your merit." for, there are few who seem thoroughly acquainted with this plain and simple truth, that it is easier to elevate the empty than to support the full.

Landor was only twenty when he wrote Gebir,

The character or Gebir was king of Gibraltar, and he invades Egypt under Queen Charoba. She is convinced by one of her followers, nurse Dalica, to play up to the king, and while she is afraid at first, she changes when she falls in love with Gebir. She fails to tell her nurse of her change of heart, however, so Dalica poisons the king at the wedding ceremony. In the hands of Reeve, this basic story is a romance with a tragic ending. For Landor, it is that but also a political story about the folly and injustice associated with an invasion, with the tragedy following directly from the fact that Gebir has invaded Egypt and generated such anger and opposition that he is killed. As Landor writes,

Woe to the wiser few, who dare to cry

People! these men are not your enemies:

Enquire their errand; and resist when wrong'd."