Godfrey's Reveal and Peter Cagger Obituary

In Harper’s Weekly, the penultimate instalment of The Moonstone is preceded by portrait of a politician and immediately followed by their obituary, spatially centering The Moonstone between visual and textual representations of the ‘heroic’ character.

The obituary describes Cagger as “possessed of a temper never known to have been ruffled” “genial, refined, and delightful” and known for “fidelity to friends” and “benevolence to the poor, the widow, and the orphan” (“Obituary” 487). Likewise, Godfrey is initially described as “the sweetest-tempered person” and “the simplest and pleasantest . . . he loved everybody” and “female benevolence [and] destitution could do nothing without him” (Collins 54-55). Both are even-tempered, amiable, loyal, and charitable, but the revelation of Godfrey’s treachery and his death (444) complicates the pattern, as it immediately precedes Cagger’s obituary in Harper’s Weekly.

However, Korte suggests that “the need to distinguish between true and false heroes . . . is a hallmark of heroic discourse in mid-Victorian popular periodicals” (185). Given the position within the narrative that this installment concludes with, and how it is spatially positioned between Cagger’s portrait and obituary, Harper’s bookends the “false hero” with “true [heroes]” (185). Specifically, Godfrey’s reveal as a “false hero” follows Cuff and Gooseberry’s heroism in solving part of the mystery, and the ‘false’ hero’s death (Godfrey) precedes the obituary of a ‘true’ [hero]. Harper’s “[makes clear] that only certain kinds of heroes and heroics [are] commendable . . . guiding readers’ opinion” (Korte 185) and constructing an image of heroism.

Works Cited

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. Edited by John Sutherland, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Harper’s Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, 1 Aug. 1868. p. 487.

Korte, Barbara. “On Heroes and Hero Worship: Regimes of Emotional Investment in Mid-Victorian Popular Magazines.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 49, no. 2, 2016, pp. 181-201. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/vpr.2016.0012.