Duchess And Jeweler Notes 1

The Duchess and the Jeweller
Summary
The Duchess and the Jeweller
Virginia Woolf
Setting: England, early 1900s
Oliver Bacon = wealthy man.
Richest jeweler in England; proud of his success.
Often recalls his childhood when he was very poor.
Remembers selling stolen dogs to rich ladies in an alley.
Once arrested- his mom was ashamed.
Yet, he is still searching for something- he’s “dissatisfied.”
Duchess of Lambourne
Wants to sell pearls to pay off her gambling debts.
Bacon makes Duchess wait ten minutes before he will see her.
When she enters, Bacon wonders whether the pearls are fake.
The Duchess has lied to Bacon in the past, but he has also lied to her.
Bacon knows pearls should be tested
Bacon is in love with Duchess’s daughter Diana.
So he pays the price for the pearls without testing them.
After Duchess leaves, Bacon looks closely at the pearls.
Reader is left to decide whether the pearls are fake or real, and what will happen between Bacon and Diana.
Ghost from Bacon’s past: his mom, the lady in the picture on the wall.