Edward Bulwer-Lytton

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents – except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness … Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1830

These words, penned by  Edward George Earle  Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, have long been held up as the quintessential  example of overwrought, purple prose. He is even spoofed in a contest bearing his name. Entrants vie to write the worst opening lines they can conceive. In 2024 the winning entry read:

“She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck.”

For such a complicated man and prolific writer, — he turned out thirteen novels, two long poems, four plays, a history of Athens, and numerous essays, as well as editing a magazine in  one twelve-year stretch– I wonder if it is fair to judge him by one line of awful prose.

He wrote with a social consious and his historical works were well researched. Don’t forget, he was writing at a time that celebrated gothic novels. He was a friend of Charles Dickens — another long-winded writer — who is still respected today.

Our protagonist was a politician as well as a writer. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies from June 1858 to June 1859.

His historical fiction, The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) was a sensation in its day and remains one of Bulwer-Lytton’s two major works still being read.  The other, The Coming Race  is an early science fiction tale, written years before H.G.Wells and others popularized the genre. It is Bulwer-Lytton’s misfortune that this seminal work is best known as the inspiration for the name of a popular British beverage, Bovril.

Judging from a list of EBL quotes, he seems possessed of some wisdom. Consider “the pen is mightier than the sword.” A quote still in use today but written in 1839 by Bulwer-Lytton in one of his plays. He also coined the phrase “pursuit of the almighty dollar,” and invented the concept of the “dweller on the threshold,” later the title of a Van Morrison song.

Other quotes include these gems:

  • Genius does what it must, and talent does what it can.
  • The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man’s observation, not overturning it.
  • O be very sure that no man will learn anything at all, unless he first will learn humility.
  • The easiest person to deceive is one’s self.

His personal life included a tempestuous marriage. At one point he had his wife locked in an insane asylum. She was later released and was seen grieving at his funeral. He had a son, who became a diplomat and a well known poet using the name Owen Meredith.

In our day, social media can make a celebrity or destroy a reputation in a matter of seconds. In Bulwer-Lytton’s day, it took a little longer for critics to sway public opinion but Bulwer-Lytton’s detractors, including Makepiece Thackery, succeeded in turning him from one of Britain’s most popular novelists into a parody of florid writing. 

I do enjoy the Bulwer-Lytton contest — terrible writing, done on purpose, is very funny — but I wonder if it isn’t time to give the man a little credit for his other accomplishments. 

 

 

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