GREAT LITERARY LADY: Lorna Doone
As the protagonist of the eponymous Victorian romance, Lorna Doone is the quintessential vision of idealised feminine beauty and virtue. With her long black hair, black eyes and calm earnestness, she is a striking figure with a noble character, living the quiet life of a maiden among birds, flowers and books.
Set in the 17th century bucolic bliss of the Exmoor countryside, Lorna’s idyll is violently disturbed by the stirrings of the English Civil War. We follow the course of her adventures through the eyes of John Ridd, a young yeoman who is out to win Lorna’s heart and avenge the murder of his father at the hands of the notorious Doone clan. In their first encounter, love blossoms: as she tends to him after an accident, John remarks that he has never ‘seen anything so beautiful as the large dark eyes intent upon me’.
After John saves Lorna from forced marriage to the cutthroat Carver Doone, her true identity is revealed: she is the heiress to Lady Dugal’s estate. A necklace provides the vital clue to her birthright – she was snatched from her mother during a robbery by the thieving Doones.
Years pass, the feud between the families rages on, and the lovers are kept apart. When John and Lorna finally get the chance to marry, Carver breaks into the ceremony and shoots her. But Lorna’s inner vitality pulls her back from the brink of death. She lives on – in the story and in readers’ imaginations – a true romantic heroine.
Set in the 17th century bucolic bliss of the Exmoor countryside, Lorna’s idyll is violently disturbed by the stirrings of the English Civil War. We follow the course of her adventures through the eyes of John Ridd, a young yeoman who is out to win Lorna’s heart and avenge the murder of his father at the hands of the notorious Doone clan. In their first encounter, love blossoms: as she tends to him after an accident, John remarks that he has never ‘seen anything so beautiful as the large dark eyes intent upon me’.
After John saves Lorna from forced marriage to the cutthroat Carver Doone, her true identity is revealed: she is the heiress to Lady Dugal’s estate. A necklace provides the vital clue to her birthright – she was snatched from her mother during a robbery by the thieving Doones.
Years pass, the feud between the families rages on, and the lovers are kept apart. When John and Lorna finally get the chance to marry, Carver breaks into the ceremony and shoots her. But Lorna’s inner vitality pulls her back from the brink of death. She lives on – in the story and in readers’ imaginations – a true romantic heroine.