Other editions of book Basil

Basil (1852) is the second novel written by British author Wilkie Collins, after Antonina.Basil, son of a father who values the family pedigree and who would not let him marry below his station, falls in love at first sight with a girl he sees on a bus. He follows her and discovers she is Margaret Sherwin, only daughter of a linen draper. He persuades her father to let him marry her secretly. He agrees on the condition, that, as his daughter is only seventeen, they live apart for the first year. At first the secret works, but then the mysterious Mannion, whose emotions cannot be read in his face, returns from abroad. On the last night of the year Basil follows Margaret and Mannion and discovers them in flagrante delicto. Basil attacks Mannion in the street and tries to murder him, but succeeds only in mutilating his face by pushing it into the fresh tarmacadam in the road. Mannion survives, recovers and swears revenge, and it is revealed that Basil's father indirectly caused Mannion's father to be hanged for forgery.Basil repudiates Margaret, but Sherwin threatens him with exposure unless he holds to his marriage. Basil confesses to his father, who disowns him, but his sister Clara stands by him. Basil's brother Ralph undertakes to buy Sherwin off, but meanwhile Margaret flees to Mannion, thereby acknowledging her guilt. Visiting Mannion in hospital, she catches typhus and dies. Basil, having been put on her track by Ralph, visits her on her deathbed.Basil flees from Mannion to Cornwall. The dénouement is worthy of Conan Doyle, set among whirlpools and cliffs near Lands End.

Basil (1852) is the second novel written by British author Wilkie Collins, after Antonina.Basil, son of a father who values the family pedigree and who would not let him marry below his station, falls in love at first sight with a girl he sees on a bus. He follows her and discovers she is Margaret Sherwin, only daughter of a linen draper. He persuades her father to let him marry her secretly. He agrees on the condition, that, as his daughter is only seventeen, they live apart for the first year. At first the secret works, but then the mysterious Mannion, whose emotions cannot be read in his face, returns from abroad. On the last night of the year Basil follows Margaret and Mannion and discovers them in flagrante delicto. Basil attacks Mannion in the street and tries to murder him, but succeeds only in mutilating his face by pushing it into the fresh tarmacadam in the road. Mannion survives, recovers and swears revenge, and it is revealed that Basil's father indirectly caused Mannion's father to be hanged for forgery.Basil repudiates Margaret, but Sherwin threatens him with exposure unless he holds to his marriage. Basil confesses to his father, who disowns him, but his sister Clara stands by him. Basil's brother Ralph undertakes to buy Sherwin off, but meanwhile Margaret flees to Mannion, thereby acknowledging her guilt. Visiting Mannion in hospital, she catches typhus and dies. Basil, having been put on her track by Ralph, visits her on her deathbed.Basil flees from Mannion to Cornwall. The dénouement is worthy of Conan Doyle, set among whirlpools and cliffs near Lands End.

In Basil's secret and unconsummated marriage to Margaret Sherwin, and the consequent horrors of betrayal, insanity, and death, Collins reveals the bustling, commercial London of the first half of the nineteenth century. Collins' treatment of adultery shocked contemporary reviewers, and even today the passionate and lurid atmosphere he created has the power to disturb the modern reader.About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

When a young aristocrat negotiates a secret marriage to a seventeen-year-old girl, he assents to her father’s condition that they not live together for the first year. However, the consequences are tragic for all involved when, the year almost up, Basil catches his bride in a compromising position.A story of love at first sight, Basil was the second novel from Victorian author Wilkie Collins, best-known for The Woman in White. A 1998 film adaptation starred Academy Award-winner Jared Leto as Basil and Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black) as his young wife.HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian Era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and which eventually led to paranoid delusions and the deterioration of his health. Basil was Collins' second novel, published in 1852, and touches on themes frequently found in Collins' work: marriage between differing social classes, betrayal, revenge and insanity. "Basil", a man of high station, falls in love with Margaret Sherwin, the daughter of a linen draper, and the year following their secret marriage is fraught with dramatic conflict. This psychologically penetrating story of love and loss is recognized today as one of, if not the, first sensation novels of the nineteenth century.

Directing my characters and my story; then; towards the light of Reality wherever I could find it; I have not hesitated to violate some of the conventionalities of sentimental fiction. For instance; the first love-meeting of two of the personages in this book; occurs (where the real love-meeting from which it is drawn; occurred) in the very last place and under the very last circumstances which the artifices of sentimental writing would sanction. Will my lovers excite ridicule instead of interest; because I have truly represented them as seeing each other where hundreds of other lovers have first seen each other; as hundreds of people will readily admit when they read the passage to which I refer? I am sanguine enough to think not.

This carefully crafted ebook: "Basil: A Story of Modern Life" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Basil, son of a father who values the family pedigree and who would not let him marry below his station, falls in love at first sight with a girl he sees on a bus. He follows her and discovers she is Margaret Sherwin, only daughter of a linen draper. He persuades her father to let him marry her secretly. He agrees on the condition, that, as his daughter is only seventeen, they live apart for the first year. At first the secret works, but then the mysterious Mannion, whose emotions cannot be read in his face, returns from abroad…. Wilkie Collins (1824–1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. His best-known works are The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone.