Uncle Silas

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

Uncle Silas, a novel by J. S. Le Fanu, published 1864.

Silas uthyn is suspected of the murder of a wealthy gambler who has been found dead at Bartram-Haugh, Silas's Derbyshire home. Believing in Silas's innocence, his brother Austin at his death leaves a will designed to demonstrate his confidence in his brother: Silas is made guardian to Austin's daughter, Maud, and her entire fortune is to go to him if she dies under age. Uncle Silas, who is heavily in debt, summons Maud to Bartram-Haugh, where he attempts to marry her to his boorish son Dudley (who is already secretly married). When she refuses, he pretends to send her to school in France; but when, after two days' travel, she wakes up believing she is in Dover, she finds herself a prisoner back at Bartram-Haugh, where Silas and Dudley, aided by a sinister French governess, Mme de la Rougierre, attempt to murder her. The plot miscarries and the governess is horribly murdered by Dudley in mistake for Maud, who escapes.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Uncle Silas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Uncle Silas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-UncleSilas.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Uncle Silas." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-UncleSilas.html

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