Mr.

Loveday Little outing

Author:

Evelyn Waugh: Born in October, 1903
In the 1930s Evelyn travelled a lot. He served in the British armed
forces during Second World War. He had a mental breakdown. All
these experiences were used in Evelyn's fiction.
Before Second World War, his worked was based on the upper-class;
he was against the upper-class being treated like better persons in
society.
Title explanation
Mr. Loveday really is a lovely man. He looks after all the madmen and the
deranged and he's ever so good. Why shouldn't he be allowed a little outing
after all these years?
Well, miss, it sounds ungrateful, but I cant deny I should welcome a
little outing, once, before I get too old to enjoy it. I except we all have
our secret ambitions, and there is one thing I often wish I could do. You
mustnt ask me what it wouldnt take long.
I could settle down again easier, and devote myself to the poor crazed
people here with a better heart. Yes, I do feel that.

Plot:
The story is about a young lady, Angela Moping, who visits her
mentally ill father in an asylum. Visiting her father, who has been in an
asylum for many years for the attempt to commit a suicide, Angela
meets Mr Loveday, her fathers caretaker.
Mr Loveday, who produces the impression of an absolutely sane
person, is also an inmate (patient) of the asylum ['salm] because
of committing a murder. Angela thinks that the thirty-five years Mr
Loveday has spent in the asylum cured him, so she arranges his
release.
Once released, Mr Loveday goes on his outing and commits another
murder.

Elements of Plot:
Exposition





Rising:




Climax:





Falling Action:


Resolution:

Setting:
Place: It takes place in Britain in an Asylum /mental
institution/hospital (County Home for mental defectives)

Time: beginning of the 20
th
century
Theme:
Madness, because Mr. Loveday is a complete mad men
Conflict in class structure: the writer is against the upper-class
which becomes clear in the story.
Megalomania Lord Moping's megalomania, his unnatural great
desire for power and control.
Trust, the trust Angela has in Mr. Loveday.
Manipulation, the way Mr. Loveday manipulates Angela.

Symbolism
Lady Moping, Angela and the doctors represent upper- and lower-
class.
Lady Moping's annual garden party is also a symbol of the upper-class.
When the party is ruined, her reputation can also be ruined.

Other symbols of upper- and lower-class are:
Mr. Loveday is the secretary of sir Moping
The gift of sir Moping, the golden cigarette cage.
The last name of Lady and Sir Moping means whining, which refers to
sir Moping.

Style: black humorous, ironic, and satirical. The story shows a quite
cynical humour from the author. One of the wittiest, and ultimately
saddest short stories about the "lost generation" of the early 20th
century. Waugh writes about arrogant, self-centered, wealthy, vapid,
young socialites in a very funny and humoristic way.
Tone/Mood/Atmosphere: gloomy, dark, changeable atmosphere
Point of View: 3
rd
person
Characters:
Lord Moping is a man of the upper-class society. Has a desire of
complete control. He lives in a County Home for mental
defectives.

Lady Moping is the wife of Lord Moping, also an upper-class
woman. She is ignorant and selfish and doesn't pay attention to
how Angela is feeling about the situation with Mr. Loveday,
because he is a lower-class man.

Angela is the daughter of Lord and Lady Moping. She is a
friendly and innocent woman, though she is a little naive. She left
the asylum, oppressed by a sense of injustice.

Mr. Loveday, who is the main character, also lives in the County
Home for mental defectives. He is an elderly little man with full
white hair and an expression of great kindness. He is known in
the institution as a friendly and helpful person.

Unexpected ending:
Once released, Mr Loveday goes on his outing and does the one thing I
often wish I could do. You mustnt ask what It wouldnt take long. He
repeats the brutal murder for which he was originally locked up
twenty years before.
What does it mean to be insane?
1- In my experience, insanity is generally a result of a biological cause. For example, a brain
tumor may cause a person to become violent for no apparent reason. Another example would
be a person who is so profoundly mentally retarded they cannot understand right from wrong.
Occasionally, insanity may result from another source such as medicine. An example of this
could be a doctor placing a person on a new type of medication with the medication causing a
person to temporarily lose the ability to know right from wrong.
2- Insanity does not have to be permanent, it can be temporary. Many conditions can be
regulated to a greater or lesser degree by medication, sometimes surgeries can be performed
to return a person to "normal".
3- Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results".
4- Insanity refers to a mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish
fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to
uncontrollable impulsive behavior.
5- Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal
mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including
becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity
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