how did the narrator viewed the present with contact with the past?

Jerome’s use of concise, accessible historical accounts is another reason why Three Men in a Boat was so popular. In the Victorian period, history texts tended to use formal language, presenting information in a stiff, politically correct manner. Jerome’s lighthearted, gossipy account of Henry VIII’s courtship of Anne Boleyn – and his jokes about Queen Elizabeth’s drinking habits – would have been unusual at this time. The account of the monks who lived under the motto 'Do as you please' provides a nice symbol through which to understand his educational approach - he both acknowledges the reverence of history while remaining willing to treat the figures like actual humans, with failures and desires. By taking a comedic tone as he describes local history, Jerome adds an educational layer to Three Men in a Boat without undermining its entertainment value.