Lorna Doone

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

Lorna Doone, a novel by R. D. Blackmore, published 1869.

This celebrated story is set in the later 17th cent. on Exmoor, where an outlawed family, the Doones, and their retainers terrorize the surrounding countryside. They murder a farmer, father of the novel's hero, John Ridd. He secretly discovers the child Lorna, who has been kidnapped by the Doones, and they grow up to love each other. John Ridd, by now a giant in height and strength, is involved in adventures with the highwayman Tom Faggus, and in a rivalry with the villainous Carver Doone, from whom he rescues Lorna during a superbly described blizzard. The Doones are eventually destroyed, Lorna turns out not to be a Doone but an heiress of noble family, and she and John are married; but Carver Doone shoots her at the altar. John avenges her, she recovers, and the story ends happily. The infamous Judge Jeffreys plays a part in the action, and John Ridd and Tom Faggus are also based on historical characters.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lorna Doone." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lorna Doone." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-LornaDoone.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Lorna Doone." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-LornaDoone.html

Learn more about citation styles