Name/Title
Last Days of Pompeii AND HaroldEntry/Object ID
2022.165.8Description
Last Days of Pompeii uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt. Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favourably but not uncritically. The Witch of Vesuvius, though she has no supernatural powers, shows Bulwer-Lytton's interest in the occult—a theme which would emerge in his later writing, particularly The Coming Race. -Wikipedia
Based on the career of Harold, the last Saxon king of England 'who was killed at Hastings in 1066, the novel relates the tragic romance of Harold's love for Edith 'the fair'. A bit hard to read, with the old English and French mixed into it but you get use to it. Of course being written in 1848, it is a book of its time. quite descriptive and very detailed. -GoodreadsCreate Date
June 8, 2022
