Barnaby Rudge Literary Elements

Historical Fiction, Victorian Fiction

London and its suburbs, during the Gordon Riots of 1780

The book has a distinctly third-person point of view despite being named after one of its characters.

The novel is very pessimistic and dark; none of the characters feel secure in their situations and the city is gripped with a mood of dissatisfaction. The mood is threatening.

The protagonists are the rioters. The antagonists are the Papists.

The main cause of the conflict is the Papists Act, which gave the Pope sovereignty over the theological aspect of British life, taking it away from the monarchy who had always been head of the entire church.

The characters all seem to live "happily ever after" after a tumultuous experience in the riots. The identity of the murderer of Reuben Haredale is discovered almost thirty years after the murder.

Barnaby is taken advantage of by the rioters because he is mentally slow, which foreshadows the fact that they are going to put him in danger and get him in trouble with authorities.

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The novel constantly alludes to the real-life Gordon riots and also to some of the major happenings in London at the time.

The imagery is very vivid and describes the rioting so that readers can not only visually picture its effects but also imagine the smell of the wooden buildings burning down.

The gardener was always believed to have been Reuben's murderer because he was the only one left standing after the murder of the steward who was also suspected of the crime. However, the steward was the murderer, having switched clothing with the gardener's body after he had murdered him.

There is a parallel between the forbidden relationships of Dolly and Joe, and Edward Chester and Emma. Both couples finish the novel together.

The village is the way that the individuals who live there are described.

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