Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
I would argue that Sayers didn't put it that way, her character did - and this can be an important distinction. The quoted snippet is from a monologue by Lord Peter, and in context the "Jewish nobody" phrase can be see as describing how Freke felt about Levy (rather than Lord Peter or the author felt).
I think the phrases of the Dowager Duchess near the end of chapter 3 were more damning, but again these are the words of a character and seemed to me to be a fairly reasonable portrayal of the times. It would have been entirely unrealistic for such a character to show no prejudice at all. There is also implicit sexism and class prejudice throughout the book - it would be odd if there weren't.
The article linked by astrangerhere does provide an interesting perspective, that there may have been a personal motive for the somewhat mixed presentation of the book, but I'm not sure that is necessary.
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When I first read some of these "Jewish" comments, I did look to see if Sayers is or is not an anti-semite. I found some that that were unsure. I never did find a definitive answer.
Even if it was the character, it was unnecessary as I pointed out. So why be branded an anti-semite if it's not true when you didn't have to have comments like that in your books?
I won't be reading any more of Sayers books because of this. So even if one of her books makes it to the vote and I vote (and it wins), I won't read it.