Page:Satire in the Victorian novel (IA satireinvictoria00russrich).pdf/142



"'And what shall I do next?' said Lucy, still speaking in a tone that was half tragic and half jeering.

"'Do?' said Mrs. Robarts.

"'Yes, something must be done. If I were a man I could go to Switzerland, of course; or, as the case is a bad one, perhaps as far as Hungary. What is it that girls do? they don't die now-a-days, I believe. * * * I have got a piece of sack-*cloth, and I mean to wear that, when I have made it up.'"

We are relieved to hear later that no such drastic action was necessary, as she became Lady Lufton and was able to be happy without overworking her sense of humor.

These instances may serve to indicate the general method and effect of so-called realism applied to satiric intent, so long as allowance is made for the unreal and distorted nature of all incomplete and isolated cases, butchered to make an analytic holiday.