Literary Onomastics Studies
Volume 6
Article 18
1979
Mudpies Which Endure: Onomastics as a Tool of
Literary Criticism
Leonard R.N. Ashley
The College at Brockport
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/los
Recommended Citation
Ashley, Leonard R.N. (1979) "Mudpies Which Endure: Onomastics as a Tool of Literary Criticism," Literary Onomastics Studies: Vol.
6, Article 18.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/los/vol6/iss1/18
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,
MUDPIES WHICH ENDURE: ONOM8STICS AS A TOOL OF LITERARY
CRITICISM
Leonard R . N. As h l ey
Brook1 yn Co11 ege
The Ci ty Un i vers i ty of New York
Les s fas h i onabl e i n cri t i c i sm these days than the femi n i s t or
hermen u ti c , as i nterdi s c i pli nary as the p sychol ogi c a l or soci olog­
i ca l , as s o l i d as the genre or a rchetypa l , as s tri c t as the rhe ­
tori cal or s tructura l i s t , as s c i enti fi c as the ph i l o l og i c a l or
l i ngu i s ti c , i s the o noma s t i c approach , bri efl y defi ned a s
A s tudy of the ori gi n and h i s tory of proper names .
From a Greek term mea n i ng 11 names , 11 onoma s t i c s i s
concerned wi th the fol k l ore o f names , the i r cur­
ren t appl i ca t i on , s pe l l i ngs , pronunc i at i ons , and
.
mea n1ngs . . . 1
·
a n d , i n l i terary onomas t i c s , wi th how an exami na t i on o f names a n d
the way i n wh i ch they refl e c t or expand the a u thor 's i nten t i ons c a n
a dd t o o u r unders tand i ng and appre c i a t i on o f a work of l i terature.
Li terary onoma s t i cs hel p s me as l i terary cri t i c
( as
Cl i ve Bel l
wou l d s ay ) 11 to acco u n t for the degree of my aesthet i c emo t i on .. i n
read i ng.
By concern i ng i ts e l f wi th t he a uthor's commu n i cati on i t
s tres s es the u t i l i tari a n func t i on o f l i terature. That i s at l ea s t
as o l d a s Horace , 2teac h i ng del i gh t fu l l y. We seek both t h e .. p o t o f
mes s a ge .. and t h e s k i l l u s e d i n ma k i ng the po i nt cl earl y and s u bt l y ,
the thri l l that comes from the mas tery o f techn i q u e , the poet or
1
LOS 262
As h l ey
2
ma ker performi ng (.a s Ferl i nghetti s a i d) 11 h i gh a bove the heads of the
a u d i ence . ..
\� i th l i terary onoJlla s ti cs we escape t�e da ngers of
regard i ng text a s pretext for Ma rxi st, psych i atri c, or other theo­
ri e s ,3 and cons i der the bas i c counters of l i terary art, the words .
We s ee them re l ea s i ng the i r mag i c .
We see the wri ters ri nqi ng the
changes on the l og i ca l and psychol ogi ca l s i g n i fi cances of words ,
exp l oi ti ng to the fu l l est the l i ttera and control l i nq wi th purpose
and power the i nte l l ectu a l and emoti ona l res onance s s o as to pro ­
duce re i n forci ng l evel s of mea n i ng.
He study how name s , a s we l l a s
other words . are s u i ted to the s tructure i n whi ch they are arranged,
fi rs t to the p urpose, s econd to the nature and ca paci ty of the l i ke ­
l y audi ence .
We s e e how name s hel p create the characters i n a work
of fi cti on and conn ect them wi th the 1 i terary 11Strateqy .. ( i n the
Kenneth B urkean s e n s e) , the readers h i p and i ts experi ence , the
.. cu l tura l context .. and the rest of the rea l frame of reference .
l�e
s ee how names revea l the s ucce s s ( or fai l ure) of the wri ter i n ba l ­
a nci ng freedom and contro l , re s pons i bjl i ty and s eren d i p i ty , propa ­
ganda and art, i ntent and effect, the.de s i re to p l ay ( 11 fool i ng
around wi th words 11) a n d commi tment ( " no foo l i ng11) .
He s ee how
names comment upon and judge mora l and po l i ti ca l 'i s s ue s i n f i cti on
and what I . A. Ri chards ca l l s 11Badne s s 11 i n l i terature .
He see how
names expo s e both the author ' s i nvestment of s e l f i n the work and
the probl ems ari s i ng from the fa ct that 11the poem be l ongs to the
p u b l i c .. ( a s Monroe C . Beards l ey wrote i n The Verba l I con, 19 5 4)
a nd that the "i ntenti ona l fa l l acy .. i s a trap .
We can u s e onomasti c
i nventi o a s one mea s ure of those who 11Want wi t , not words .. and who
'
fa i l to emp l oy a l l the devi ces of d i cti on, not excl udi ng what used
LOS
263
3
As h l ey
to be;c a l l ed, so c h a rmi ngly, fes t i vi tas (word - p l ay) , or we can di s ,
cover.to ou r s a t i sfa c t i on the ve rba l and psychol o9i ca l n u a nces of
the names, the ma ny mea n i ng s -- Dante u s e s polysemou s - - wh i c h u s e
a l l the tech n i q ues from p u n n i ng t o psychol i ngu i s t i c s .
The word poem, as s ome thi n g made, has c rept i n to our di s cuss i on,
and I ,wi s h to a rgue that l i terary onoma s t i c s i s not very d i ffe ren t
from s tandard approa c he s to t h e c ri ti c i sm of poe t ry · .
Eme rson once
rema rked that every word wa s ''once a poem " ; i n names, words ca rry
more than ordi nary words do of enr i c h i ng connota t i ons. the fre i ght
tha t gi ves poe try i ts comp l exi ty and i n ten s e s a t i s fa c t i on s .
Names have.
( a s the Hon. Gwendol y n Fa i rfax tol d John 1-lorth i ng i n Hi l de • s grea t
comedy) "vi bra t i ons , " or a t l ea s t they c reate them or set them up i n
the mi nd of the reade r .
Mi n t u rno s a i d a n epi gram wa s a pa rt i ce l l a de l l •
epi ca poes i a or s crap of ep i c poetry i n i ts e l f- , and i t rea l l y i s
men t wi th a rau ti a, a s harp poi n t, that ma kes i t s t i ck .
a
fraq-
Jons on i n Ti mber
foun d a whol e " poem" i n a s i ngl e l i ne of an epi c:
Aeneas haec de Da n a i s v i c tori bus arma;
and he a rgues coge n t l y that ••a Poeme i s not a1 one a ny worke, or col"'!­
pos i t i on of the Poets i n many, or few verses; b u t one a l one verse
some t i mes makes a perfec t Poeme . " To th i s I add t roce • s q u e ry from
h i s Aes thet i c
(1922): "If
an e p i gram be a rt , why n<>t a s i ngl e word?"
Cons i 'd er names as mi n i a t u re poems .
�Y
poi nt now i s s i mp l y that names i n l i tera t u re freq uen t l y
demand t o b e con s i de red a s i f .t hey were comp l e te l i tt l e poems , wi th
a l l the ri chness that i mp l i es .
We mus t see i n e�ch name a l l of a
LOS
264
As h l ey
4
poem ' s 11Ce rebral p hos p hore s s ences, .. to u s e Wa l l ace Stevens• phrase,
for i n names wri ters of s k i l l pack many connota t i ons and t a k i ng Emi l y
Di c k i n s on's advi ce to poets to 11 te l l a l l the truth / B u t tel l i t s l an t ..
they p rodu ce l i tt l e p u z z l es for the c r i t i c wh o mu s t 11 by i nd i rec ti on
fi n d d i rec tion ou t."'
Onomas t i c s c i ence, then, gi ves u s i n l i terary onoma s t i cs a
val uabl e tool for the cri t i c i sm of the 11poe t ry 1 1 i n names .
It is a
me thod of c ri t i ca l a n a l ys i s t h a t s h ou l d be a dopted by a l l cri t i cs ,
whether they are concerned wi th h i s tori c a l c r i t i c i sm o r the New Cri t i ­
ci sm, Ari s totel i a n or rev i s i on i s t, Ma rx i s t or aesthe t i c, psycho­
a n a l yti ca l or soci ol ogi c a l , forma l i s t or rhetori cal cri t i c i sm, the
h i s toi re des s e n t i me n ts or the h i s toi re des mental i t es . L i te ra ry
onoma s t i cs wo rks eq ua l l y we l l on the mos t d i dact i c mora l i ty p l ay or
the mos t obs c u ran t i s t modern poem, whethe r the names are i nve n ted or
rea l or as ge nera l as Everyman or Mothe r .
I t bri ngs ou t the sys tem i n
a h umou r comedy i n wh i ch J on s on u n de rtakes t o name al l h i s rapac i ous
c harac ters afte r beas ts and bi rds of p rey; i t exp l ai n s how Hardy ' s
11l�e s s e x . . and its var i ous p l a ces fun ct i on enti re l y i n a worl d of fi c­
ti on; i t s i mpl i fi es the poi nts s cored by a wri ter of fa rce an d s hows
how s u c h a man ga i ns i n s ta n t recogn i t i on for h i s 11man of mode .. S i r
Fop l i ng Fl utte r or s e rva n ts cal l ed Foi b l e and Mi n c i ng; i t send u s to
the G reek to fi n d 11pen i s 11 i n the name of P h l ebas the Phoe n i c i an i n
T. S . E l i ot ' s Was te l and and h i n t s a t a whol e sexual read i ng of the poem;
i t wa rns the un i n i t i ated to l ook up the connota t i ons of rue de Ri vol i
a n d Bou rbon Street, the Ba rba ry Coas t, Gri n z i ng, Che l sea, Fl eet Street,
Cannery Row, Bath i n e i gh teenth-century Engl and or Con t i nental Baths
i n l a te twe n t i e th - ce n t u ry New York Ci ty .
I t a l erts u s to the u n ­
rel i a bi l i ty of a Shamwe l l o r a Che a t l ey, l eads us t o expect s tra tagems
from bea ux ca l l ed Ai mwe l l and Arc h e r, i ns ta n t l y types Ma n l y, Freeman,
LOS 265
As h l ey 5
Mark �ddl e or Gnatwel l , and ( not so i ns ta n t l y) Laura i n The Gl a s s
4
Names a s s i s t u s to
Menageri e or t he protagon i s t o f Hedda Ga b l er .
keep track of the army of ch aracters troop i ng throu gh a n ovel by
Di c kens and e p i tomi ze the two-di me ns i ona l mi nor p�rs ons wh os e hand l es
e ven sound ri gh t :
Crumml es , Podsnap , Wardl e , P i c kwi c k , L i l l ywi c k ,
Scrooge , Uri a h Heep , Mrs . Gamp .
Some t i me s the n ames i n a l i terary
work are a s obvi ous a s that of Chri s t i an i n B u nyan ' s P i l gri m ' s Pr�­
gress pr B i l ly P i l gri m i n Vonnegu t ' s S l a ugh terhou§e-Fi ve . Some t i mes
they r�q u i re more work , s uch as that o f the a c tor Mu l l e r-Ros e i n
Ma nn • s . Fe1 i x Kru l l or o f Ray nham Abbey i n Mered .it h • s The Ordea1 o f
5
Ri c h arp Fevere 1 .
Some t i me s names j us t e s ta b l i s h s oc i a l c l a s s :
Au brey Tanq ueray
and S i r George Orreyed , H i ggen a n d Ferret and Pri g and Snap .
they a l l ude t o h i s tory o r ( l i ke Laura) t o earl i er l i terature .
Some t i me s
Some­
t i mes they create a tone of rea l i sm or fa i ry ta l e or the i mpres s i ve or
the a bs urd .
Sometrtmes they ma ke mood mus i c , for every p l ay i s l i ke a
mel odrama or a mov i e i n that words ( ha v i ng s ou n d) are mus i ca l .
What
woul d Marl owe 's "mighty l i ne " ( as J on s on cal l ed i t) or " drummi nq
deca sy l l a bon " ( to use Thomas Na s he ' s more bi ased , env i ous des cri p t i on)
have been wi thout the i mpres s i ve p o l ysy l l a b l es of'Tamburl a i ne , Zenocra te ,
Theri damas , Techel l es , Us umca s ,a ne?
'!'here is ( as Marl owe says i n a s tage­
d i rect1 on but we can remark i n these names themse 1 ves) "Trumpet wi t h i n.''
Some t i mes names underl i ne a l l egory ( as i n Hawthorne -- Young Goodman
6
Brown l os es h i s wi fe , Fa i th) or u n i vers a l i ty ( a s i n I ones co ' s Mr . and
Mrs . S m i th i n The B a l d Soprano) or nati onal i ty or 'rel a t i ons h i p (a s
wi th Gbgo l ' s Bobch i ns k i j and Dobch i rrsk i j ) or s a t i re .
Tran s l a t i ng Al -.
fred Jarry's Ubu Ro i , Margaret Ganz a n d I encountered two c hara cters
whose name s i n E ngl i s h s h ou l d be Heads and Ta i l s , b u t we undertoo k to
he l p carry out S h a ke s peare's i de a a s p arod i ed by Jarry i n th i s earl y
examp l e of The Theatre of the Abs urd :
we c a l l ed them Rosens tern and
LOS
266
As h l ey 6
Guil denc ranz .
26
Man :
Trans l a ting Che khov fo r the s ame vol ume ( Mirro rs for
P l ays o f the Modern Drama) , I co u l d fin d no way to bring
ove r in to Eng l is h the de fl a ting 11 fu n ny sou n d 11 that makes the name o f
the pea s a n t Boris Boris ovich simyonov-Pis hchik amusing t o t h e Rus sia n s.
Some othe r onoma s tic points may be l os t ( a s s ome s ay a l l poe try
is ) in trans l a tion .
That his pea s a n t p a rents had hopes a bove their
s ta tion ( or , more l ike l y , that he c hanged his given name when he l e ft
Sweden for- - h e ciaims - - a j o b as a somme l ie r abroad) is obviou s in an
Eng l is h trans l a tion of Jean in Strindbe rg's Mis s J u l ie ( real l y 11 Counte s s
J u l ie 11 ) .
The preten tious French name for a s e rvant works wel l in Swe­
dis h and Eng l is h .
p l ay .
But it wou l d be l os t in a French version of the
B recht l oses in the Ge rman Dreigros c henoper the significance of
Macheath ( 11 s on of the heath , 11 a highwayman) and Peachum ( 11 ra t on ' em , 1 1
t u rn them into t h e pol ice) but the s e eighteenth-century res onances o f
Gay's Beggar's Opera are l os t on many Engl is h - spea ke rs by now a l s o .
Wha t happens to Maj o r Maj or from Hel l er's Catch - 22 ( a nove l s l a ted to
h ave been cal l ed Catch-1 8 , by the way , u n til that digit was p reemp ted
by a nother nove l p u b l is hed j us t befo re) when that comic maste rpiece is
trans l a ted into l angu ages whe re the mil ita ry ran k does not s ound l ike
Maj or?
S ome of the j o ke remains :
Maj or Maj o r ' s given name is a l so
Maj or .
Criticism , as E l iot put it , cannot be a u tote l ic .
We a l l mu s t
rea l ize that j us t co l l ec ting a n d l is ting names fo r a wo rk o f l iterature
is not enough_
No r is it profita bl e , as Nico l ais en and others h ave
had s o s t rong l y and repea ted l y· to insis t , to te l l u s that Hardy's
11 Cas terbridge 11 is rea l ly s u ch - a n d - s u c h ( s ince it exis ts on l y in the
We s s e x novels) or even a bout 11 Ca iro , a t the bottom of I l l inois , whe re
the Ohio River comes in 11 in Huc k l e berry Fin n .
Us eful to k now it's
LOS 267
As h l ey 7
p ronounced Kay-ro , even to l oo k on a map , but i t ' s not the Ca i ro of
today , not a Cai ro any of us cou l d have v i s i ted .
S i mi l a rl y , i n The
\4h i spe r i n the Gl oom by the poet wh o wri tes detec t i ve fi cti on a s
" N i chol as B l a ke , " the Notti ng H i l l Gate i s n o t t h e Nott i ng H i l l Gate
i n London I know from persona l experi ence .
(or
Al so , the "funny names " wi th wh i c h so many peop l e begi n
even
end ) thei r i n teres t i n onomas t i cs are not as they seem to the s o l i p s i s t
o r the me re modern man .
I bs e n ' s Gra berg
( boo k keeper
to H a kon He rl e i n
I bs en ' s The Wi l d Duck ) s ugge s ts " grab-ba g " on l y to my i mma t u re s tudents ;
Stri ndberg ' s co u rt i e r Uren i n the h i s tori c a l E r i k.X I V does not s ugge s t
" u r i ne " to Swedes .
Even Swe des wh o s pea k excel l en t E ngl i s h , I have
foun d , s ee no s u ch fa l s e connec t i ons , for they know how the names a re
p rono u n ced i n the Scand i na v i an l anguages from wh i c h they come .
verse l y , Pol e s
( for
Con ­
examp l e ) may mi s s t h e po i nt t h a t Wi l l i e Loman i n
Dea th of a S a l esman i s the " l ow ma n on the totem po l e," jus t as Ame r i ­
( even those wh o can connec t S te l l a
"wh i te " ) wi l l proba b l y not know Stanl ey
cans
wi th " s ta r " a n d B l anche wi th
Kowal s k i ' s s u rname mean s "smi th "
i n Pol i s h .
S t i l l the a u thor of A Stree tcar Named De s i re i n contes t a b l y
wa nts u s t o rega rd t h e mean i ngs of t h e names, e v e n note that Be l l e Reve
p l a n ta t i on i s o n l y a " beauti ful d ream . "
Drama, a fo rm of mas s commun i cati on , depends u pon conven t i on , the
"run n i ng together" of the i deas o f d rama t i s t and a u d i ence .
Bu t wh at
a u d i ence?
How many
Mi l ton ' s " fi t audi ence , but few " o r the mas s e s ?
k now the fu l l s i gn i fi cance of the names of Di d i , L u c ky , a nd Godot i n
Beckett ' s p l ay ?
As few as unde rs t an d a l l the refe rences i n a n E l i o t
poem , a l l the obs c u r i t i e s i n a Joyce novel ?
And t i mes change :
when
Lati n was part of a s tandard edu cati on a wri ter cou l d ca l l h i s ma i d
Sci n t i l l a wi thout s pa r k i ng o bs cu ri ty .
\4hen Ga l sworthy p re s e n ts u s
wi th " Fo u r- i n- Hand " Forsyte does he expect us t o th i n k of the
LOS 26 8
As h l ey 8
Angl o-Saxon swi-3 ( " s trong , vio l e n t " ) bec a u s e this ch aracter in t he
saga is named Swithin ?
How can he keep us from the red herring of
" rain " ( S t . Swithin 's Day) ?
The cons cie n tiou s write r must consider
not only wh a t he wis hes a name to convey and what·it can con vey in
his day and age but a l so wh at mis l eadinq connota tions it may have in
his own l a nguage and even those in to whic h h i s work may be trans l a ted .
I n deed , every work that l a s ts is '' tra ns l a ted " over the centurie s
as c u l tu ra l con text changes and t he l a nguage is modified in t he mouths
of the l iving .
A compl ime n t on St . Pa u l ·� ca thed ra l ( '' awfu l and v u l ­
ga r") o f the seventeenth ce ntury now sounds 1ike an ins u l t to a 11 but
the experts .
The onomas tic c ritic mus t be a n expert , a b l e to g rasp both what
the a u t h o r in tended the names to mean and wh at they do mean .
No one
can mis s Cael ia ' s t h ree daughters ( Fide l ia , Speranza , Charis s a) in
The Fae rie Queene but there a re other names in that vas t a l l egory
which ba ffl e s c h o l ars .
( Do you agree t h a t the Sou l dan is Phil ip I I ?)
No one can mis take Eatanswil l in Pic kwic k Pape rs or Arnol d Bennett's
Grand B a by l on Hote l ·o r Sir Nove l ty Fa s hion in The Re l aps e o r Mrs .
Ponsonby de Tomkyns in du Mau rier's Punch s ketches o r the significant
switch from Perceva l le Gal ois to Perce v a l l i Chaitis or from the
Bibl e's Naiomi to the bitter Ma ra o r the irony in Fo rtunato ' s ge tting
bric ked up in a wa l l in a Poe tal e .
Mos t peop l e can see the poin t in
the neatl y-handl ed names in Wa ugh and H u x l ey and ( with Wayne R . Kime ' s
hel p) Washington I rving .
B u t te l eg rap hing onomas tic poin ts in nove l s -­
one thin ks of Lady Ded l oc k in B l ea k Ho use , Strong in Erewhon ( " nowhe re "
bac kwa rds) , Charl otte Magnu s , Magnu s De rric k , Mr . Oirec k , Sir Pe rciv a l
Gl yde , Hes ter Prynne , Mr . Gl owry a n d Mr . Too bad and Lis t l ess , the
Bu s he s on The Prairie , e t c . -- is now s omewh a t out of fas hion .
What
a re we to ma ke of Nezh danoff ( Virgin Soil ) or Sme rdya kov ( The Brothe rs
LOS
269
As h l ey
9
Ka ramazo v) or P u s h kin 1S Abbe Trik � o r Gogo l 1 s Chichikov ; o f Ma rmad u ke
Bonth rop Shel ma rdine , Es q . , in Orl an do o r Thorbjorn S l owcoach in the
saga of Gettir the Strong?
Even those who see the connection of Rose
with the ros e-col ored worms in Ka fka 1 s 11A Cou n try .Doc to r .. or can expl i­
cate the name of lJn ferth in Beowu l f may have trou b l e with these examp l es
I cite a t random .
Dimme s da l e ( The Sca r l e t Le t te r) is easy ( I thin k ) ;
but what of Winterbou rn2 ( Daisy Mil l e r) or Widmerpool ( in the series
Da nce to the Music of Time) ?
De Le vis is obviou s l y a ric h 11Levi .. in
Loya l tie s - - but what of the name Shyl o c k ?
Portnoy?
Finzi- Con tini?
The s hift from Ga tz to Ga ts by is significan t , but what is u n u s u a l about
Hay raddin Mdug rabin ( Quen tin Du rwa rd) ?
of the Wes tern Worl d) a Chris t-y Ma n ,
a rea l 11J . C . 11 ?
Is C h ristopher Mahon ( P l ayboy
o r J oe'Ch ri� tmas ( Liqh t in Au g u s t)
Jonson 1S Mosca ca rries contagion l ike a fl y , but Cou n t
Mosca ( The Cha rte rhou se of Parma) does not .
Jewe l i n Lo rd Jim has a name
that ma kes a point , but Jade in Dragon Seed does not .
Hhat to ma ke o f
Decimus Saxon and Tertius Lydqate ? Probably nothin g . Dirk Stroeve=
11S trove 11 ( The Moon and Sixpence.) s eems unwa rra n ted ; a l s o fidd l ing with
Dirk Peters ( The Narra tive of Arth u r Gordon Pym) .
Cl e a r l y we a re not to
u s e modern Amer,ica n s l ang to make s ome thing of names l ike Dis ko Troop
( Captain Cou rageous) or Fanny Legrand ( in Daudet 1 s Sappho) .
do , a re they 11Wrong1 1 ?
I f readers
The days of Peter Simp l e ( Ma r ryat) and simp l e Mr . Murds ton e ( Dic kens)
and Zea l -of-the-Land Busy ( Jonson) a re by no means ove r , es pecia l l y in
comedy .
B u t p l aywrights on the wh ol e -- exceptions l ike Shaw , the Roya l
Court drama tis ts , the Ga rcia Lorca o f The House of Bernada Al ba , s p ring
to mind -- now es chew easy poin ts l ike Sir Pertinax MacSycop hant ( Man of
the \�o rl d) , Sir Epic ure Mammon ( The Al chemis t) , Corpo ra l Nym ( Henry
V)�
Sir Abe l Ha rdy ( Speed the P l ough) , Mrs . Pyannet Snea kup ( The City Wit) ,
and Mrs . Ma l a prop and Lydia Languis h ( 11 a s heads trong as an a l l ego ry on
LOS 270
As h l ey 10
the banks of the Nil e " in The Riva l s) . When we hear of Joe Sl ater
( Lovecra ft) or Rozi ( Moricz) or Crow ( Ted H u�hes) we mus t be carefu l
-
not to misread .
.
Pinter names a l l the c hara c ters in No Man's Land
after rea l cricketers to defeat criticism .
I ns tant l y I s tart think­
ing of his theme of territoria l ity, de fending the wic ket ( wicked?) . . . .
Modern l iterary onoma s tic s demands inventivenes s and re s traint,
s kil l and tas te, insigh t and indus try, not mere l is ting or trans l a ting .
To dis tinguis h between Gl endower and Gl endoveer, to get the point of
Benvo l io and Ma l vol io we have to have one of the two kinds o f knowl edge
to which Dr . J ohnson referred :
to find it out .
we have to know a thinq or know where
And we have to know ( what is s e l dom taught in graduate
s chool s) when to l eave we l l enough a l one .
To cope with more than 400
names in Wil l e ha l m, Ch arl es Pass age needed l inguis tic s kil l s .
His tory
tel l s us Derric k was a hangman a t Tyburn abo u t 1600, that "Thoma s
At kins " was a fic titiou s name used il l u s trativel y on Britis h Army
enl is tment forms after 1815, how I re l and came to be the Shan Van Voc h t
( " l ittl e o l d woman" i n Gael ic) .
But how wou l d� l o cate Serjeant
Bal l antine ' s expl ana tion of why hac kney coachmen were named Jarvis
or t h a t Engl is h butl ers used to be c a l l ed J ames ( whatever their names
were) but Al gernon ' s butl er in The Importance of Being Earne s t is
cal l ed Lane as a priva te joke ( for Wil de ' s pu bl is her was John Lane) ?
Pis tol and fl!oc l e s and Eus tacia Vye are easy .
But do you know that
s urveys s how that Tony is " s ocia bl e," Adrian "artis tic," Michael
" s trong," Js adore "pa s s ive," Hu bert "a l os er," etc . ?
More important l y,
are you s ure whe ther your au thor s hared these common, current, American
prejudices ?
I n this l imited space I have been a b l e onl y to touch on s ome of the
pl easures and pit fa l l s of onoma s tic criticism and, whil e there are many
oth er as pects of the s u bject of l iterary onoma s tics as a critical tool I
s h ou l d l ike to examine, I s ha l l content mys e l f with onl y a few more and
I
then conc l ude, hoping I s ha l l have whetted your appetite and perha ps
s harpened your perceptions .
LOS 271
As h l ey
11
I c hoose a s my exampl es now ( for a vari ety of rea s ons t h a t \'Ji l l
"
become . appa ren t) pl a ce- names i n l i tera ture , personal names i n l i tera ture , a n d what I mi gh t cal l pl ot names i n l i tera tu re.
My fi rs t ca tegory i s pl ace- names , and I as k : , to what ex ten t i s
i t nec�s s a ry to g i ve the etymol ogy of Greenwi c h Vi l l ag� , \�es t Egg ,
San F ra n c i s co's Barbary Coas t , Bea con H i l l , So ho qnd SoHo , l�a s h i ngton
Square� etc . ?
My answer i s that etymo l ogy i s genera l l y of very l i tt l e
J
u s e i n l i tera ry pl a ce-n ames. L i n g u i s ts cannot d i s coyer the ori gi n of
P i cca d i l ly but yo u r work set i n London i s not concerned wi t h that. '
Ra ther , i t rel i es on wh a t P i ccadi l ly mea ns to the reade r .
If a
chara c ter cal l s i t The Di l ly he or s he i s mos t l i kel y a den i zen ( o r
a s tudent) o f the underworl d , pro ba b l y a pro s t i tute , fema l e or ma l e
( " dol l y boys on The Di l l y" - - a n d "on the game") .
To a Lon doner ,
London may be The Smo ke ( that's where Ma rgery Al l i ngham �ot that t i t l e:
T i ger i n The Smoke , wh i c h a l s o hol ds a s u gges t i on of ens h rou d i ng
mys te ry) , a n d The Eas t End and The vles t End a re synonymou s wi th " s l ums"
a n d "toffs " ( or " theat re " ) .
Stayi ng i n the more fa s h i on a b l e \�es t End
fo r a momen t , we note S h a ftes bury Aven ue , an actual s treet but s ugges t i ng
the eq u i va l en t of a New Yorker's " Broa dway , " Wa rdour S t reet ( a s i n
' ' Wa rdou r S t reet Engl i s h , " on ce synonymous wi th tra s hy anti ques but now
redo l en t o f " t i nsel , " s i nce t he fi l m i ndus t ry has offi ces there) , Soho
( w i th connota t i ons of tawd ry n i ghtl i fe and Bohemi a -- a wo rd the B r i t i s h
i ncorrect l y a s s o c i a ted wi th gyps i es , who came from I nd i a and nei ther
Bo hem i a nor Egypt, any more than the Spanis h fl amecos came from Fl anders) , 8
Chari n g Cross Road ( don 't tel l u s of rna c h�re rei ne - - what we proba bl y
need i s i n fo rma t i on a bo u t i ts a s s oc i a t i on wi th Foy l e's and other boo ks hops
and , more recen tl y , s uppl i ers of mus i ca l i ns trumen ts to roc k 'n ' rol l
ban d s ) - , and s o on.
I n Ameri ca we may need to k now deta i l s of the pl ace where Lo u i e
dwel l s ( i n the song) , Needl e Park ( i n a gri t ty rea l i s t fi l m about New
LOS 272
Ashley ·12
York) , The Ga rden Dis trict and The Ga rden of Al l oh , Gros s e Point o r
T h e Lpop , B e l Air or Hol lywood and Vine - - and what they mea n t at
the �ime the a uthor u s ed these names .
A l oca l e for a s to ry , a s e t ­
tin9 fo r a nove l , a s tree t addre s s fo r a characte r , a l l may carry a
freig h t o f significance , whic h ( in the bes t traditions of o l d - fa s h ­
io ned' his torica l criticism) a critic mus t l ook u p a n d ( in t h e c u rrent tra ditions o f the New Criticism) re l ate to the who l e wo rk o f
a r t . . B u t re fe re nce boo ks a re not a l ways hel pfu l .
with a specia l ty o f Mine , the El iza bethan drama .
Let me il l u s trate
What si9nifica nce
( if a ny) s hou l d one attach to pl ace- names in ( s ay) The B l ind Begga r
o f Bet h n a l Green ?
I s Bethnal Green to be t ra n s l a ted a s , fo r exampl e ,
Ken s a l Green , whic h means " cemetery " in the l ine :
Befo re we qo to Pa radis e by way of Ken s a l Green ?
What about A Chas te Maid i n Cheapside ?
A j o ke , as
�
York in 1 97 8 mig h t s ay " A Virgin at P l a to • s Retrea t " ?
write r in New
"The Maid of
Ken t " was the mother o f a n Enq l is h king , but what about The Fair
Maid of B ris tow ( Bris to l ) or The Fair Maid of I ta ly , The Fair Maid
of London or The Fair Maid of The Exc hanae ?
of The Exchange in 1 602?
What wa s the repu ta tion
Wha t does a Lon doner now thin k when you
men tion Kensington , Che l sea , Ca rna by Street , Paddinqton , Bayswater ,
Jermyn S t reet , Ea rl • s Cou r t , Kil burn , Notting Hil l Gate ? 9 The
a n swer is respectiv e l y s nobs , a rtis ts and pop bou tiques , ( fo rme r)
main s t reet of the peacock gea r o f t h e • sixties youth c u l t , rail way
s t a tion ( with a ttenda n t c heap hotel s ) , tou ris t hote l s , expensive
s hops ( bu t a l so an infamous tu rkis h ba th des cribed in an underground
guide as " o n l y fo r col l ectors of Edwa rdiana! • ) , Au s tra l i an s and sex ,
I ris hmen , and ( on l y recen t l y) riots .
These a re buzz words , harder
to l ocate than Ha rl ey Street ( medical " cons u l tants " }! and 10 flm·min�
Street {prime minis te r • s residen ce) and Cheq uers ( prime minis ter • s
L OS
ZJ3
t
A.shl ey
13
hou s e) , and Grosvenor Square· ( llnited Sta tes embas sy) .10
No referen ce boo k per�i ts you to l ook u p Drydock Cou n try or
Passy pr Hamps tea d . No one can keep entirel y up- � o-date on this
sort ot thi ng , yet if a novel is t tel l s you his ch�rac ter was
11hangi.tjg out in the Chris topher Street bars 11 he i � tel l i ng New
Yorkers , a t l ea s t , a good dea l abou t the chara c ter's s exua l orien ta tion ( see the magazine Chris topher Street , a tit l e s ugges ting a
l ifes t,Yl e , l ike Mayfair , Rive Ga uche , etc . ) . Hentworth and Fl exner's
Dic tionary of American Sl ang ( 1 9 60 , firs t in the fiel d) defines Hel l 's
bel l s but not Hel l 's Kitchen .
We need a boo k that wil l , on his torica l
pri n c i p 1es , define Lower Eas t S i de a n d Eas t Vi11 age a n d Mentone a n d
S ca rborough , too .
Eric Partridge's Dictionary of S l ang and Unconven tiona l
Engl ish ( 1961) defines Seven Shil l inq Bea ch ( Sydney , Aus tra l ia) but o n l y
comes as cl ose as Seven Di a l s ra ker ( harl ot) t o exp l a i nin g Seven Dia l s
in V i ctorian days was an infamous London thi eves ' kitchen .
I n time South Ba n k , which now mea ns museums , con cert ha l l s , the
ugly new Nation a l Theatre , may mean something el s e .
To Sha kes peare's
Londoners it mean t theatres outs i de the contro l of the Puritan
burghers of The C i ty .
I n Vi c torian t i mes i t mea n t 11 the Surrey side , 11
and tra n s p�ntine mel odrama.
men t .
Now it mea ns to uris t .
Onc6'The·Tower mean t death or impri son­
Today Pet t i coat Lane i s a rmme famil iar
I
to London 's visitors to ou tdoor market s , but 125 years ago it wou l d
ha ve mea n t second-hand shoe-ma kers ' l as ts for s a l � . Wha t d i d Berl i n
·mea n to I s herwood , Venice to Man n's As chen ba c k , North Afri ca to
Gide , Sa n Fra n cis co to Ba bel ?
Your referen ce boo ks mav note �otham
b u t can they give you the feel of Cen tra l P � rk We� t ? 1 1 You may not
need hel p with Fl eet S treet ( news papers) or Gru b Street
( ha c k
wri ter-s ) , Wa l l S treet ( finance) o r Easy Street ( s ucces s ) , but The
Bowery is passing from 11 S kid Row 11 to 1 1 p u n k roc k 11
J ust
now .
Some
LOS 274
As h l ey 1 4
day readers may need to know of s u ch t h i ngs, j us t a s they need to
u nders tand names l i ke Araby, Prufroc k, the O l d State House, Dori an,
Hogmanay, the Cra b ( Ca n cer i n Spenser • s Epi tha1ami on) , Uri zen ( "you r
reason " i n W i l l i am B l a ke's Co ckney?) .
Every work of a rt ( s ays Co l e­
ri dge) has a rea s on why i t i s " t h u s and not otherwi s e " i n ea ch par­
t i cu l a r ; every s h o rt s tory ( s ays Poe) has an economy that dema nds
that everythi ng tend tuwa rd t he one p reconce i ved effec t; s o every
t i tl e, every characteronym, every p l a ce- name ( rea l or " fi c t i t i ou s , "
though i n fi c t i on w e repeat t h a t everythi nq i s fi ct i t i ous) i s a l i tt l e
poem �a l l i ng for exp l i cati on o f denotati on and connotat i on s .
We need a Di cti onary of the L i tera ry Onomas t i cs of P l a ce-Names .
To move on to a s pec i a l p ro b l em of pers ona l names i n l i tera tu re,
one not covered by the d i cti ona r i es of fi cti ona l names, I d raw you r
atten t i on to modern trend s t h a t a vo i d fi cti ve names that " s ound
phony " or too c l ea r l y betray t he i n trus i ve a u thor i n th i s age of
Rea l i sm .
\�hat a bou t Tes s and Adam, Tom and Da i sy, Fa ther H o l t and
Mrs . Bennett and " Peachy" Carna han and B ru t u s Jones and Tom Sawyer
and the Grand i s s i mes ?
names ?
vJh at a re we to read i n to " s i mp l e, ord i n a ry "
These p resen t spec i a l p robl ems .
As s tu dents of mi ne poi n t o u t ( c ri t i cs never do) , auth ors have
to c a l l thei r characters s omet h i ng ( o r attemp t u n i vers a l i ty wi th The
Fathe�, The Lover, The Gi rl ) .
We a re taught to l oo k, as i t were, for
bumps on the co rtex wh i c h may i n di ca te s omet h i ng i n the n u c l eu s , s ome
empha s i s i n the fi cti on wh i c h h i nts a t deepe r truth or s i gn i f i cance .
I t ta kes j udgment ( not the rul es s tudents demand) to di s t i ng u i s h be­
tween wh at i s read i ng o u t of a wo rk and what i s readi ng i n, what i s
there a s a res u l t o f the wri ter ' s con s c i ou s i n ten t i on and wh at i s
12
a c c i d�n tal o r i mag i ned by the reade r .
Ms . Luri e i n The War Between
the Tates p res uma b l y chooses t he s u rname to make a catchy t i t l e and
LOS 27 5
Ashley 1 5
does not want i t to make other po i nts i n the nove l .
True, the ca re­
ful wri ter ( an d I bel i eve we mus t g i ve the wri te rs the benefi t of
the doubt even i n th i s t i me pas t Ke ro uac, to whose wri t i ng Truma n
Capote rea cted s tr o ngly :
11That a i n't wri t i ng, t h, a t ' s typi ng ! 1 1) may
be us i ng s i mple names from real l i fe o r be l oa d i ng them i n a roman a
cl ef or have c hosen them be cause they 11ju s t s ounded ri g h t 11 ( for rea sons
wh i ch even h i s psyc h i atri s t mi ght not be a b l e to w i n kle o u t of h i m,
_
reasons he does n't even know) but he s hould know ( though he may not
s top �o th i n k about i t) that i n Bri ta i n Fred and Charli e s u gge s t
11lo s e rs ,11 that i n Ame ri ca Di ck and Peter have sexual ove rtones, that
I rv i ng, Norman, Ne i l , Morton, Morti me r, Seymou r, Stu a rt, even S i dney
a re tho ught of by s ome people a t l eas t as 11Jewi s h 1 1 names .
When
P h i l i p Roth i n Goodbye, Columbus g i ves u s B renda P a t i m k i n and Ne i l
Klu gman he i s ma k i ng a po i n t a bout 1Sec ula r Jews 11 a s s i m i l a t i ng v i a
WAS P g i ven names .
( P res umably the alte ra t i on of s u rnames repre s en ts
a l a ter s tage, as when t he Green baum's d rop the baum . )
When Te nne s s ee
Wi ll i ams i n ( Eccentri c i ti es of a N i gh t i ngale -- new t i t l e o f S umme r
and Smoke) call s h i s h e ro i ne Al ma, there's a lot goi ng on, one hopes
a n d trus ts not more than Wi ll i ams i s awa re o f .
A l ma came to popula ri ty as a femi n i ne name i n t he la s t cen t u ry
after the batt l e of Alma i n the Crimean Wa r ( 1 854) . I t got publi c i ty
on pub s i gns . Spe n s e r h ad an Al ma, the Lady of t he House o f Tempe rance,
i n The Faeri e Queene but the general publ i c does�'t k now t h i ngs l i ke
th a t . Wi ll i ams' A l ma helpfu l l y expl a i ns that 11 i t:'s the Span i s h fo r
's ou(:u but what the name really s h ows i s that Al ma, t h i rty-n i nth i n
popu l ari ty among g i rls' names i n 1 9 00 i n the US, ·enjoy i ng a l i tt l e
'
vogue i n the ' Twen t i e s but out o f the top fi fty by 1 925 , wou l d have.
been ton s i dered a l i tt l e d i ffe ren t ( e ccen tri c ?) i n a sma l l Southern
LOS 276
Ash l ey
town when l� i l l i ams' c h a rac ter was born .
16
I t i s La ti n ( a s i n a l ma
ma ter, " bou nteou s mother," u sed by Romans fo r certa i n goddes s es but
i n Ameri ca carry i ng only the i dea of one ' s c o l l ege o r u n i vers i ty)
bu t i t\ i s as more than a dead wo rd that i t works fo r Tennes see
W i l l i �ms . 13 Al ma i s a s o u l fu l , sens i t i ve, u n u s u a l pers on.
?o fa r as I know, no one has yet s tudi ed how pers ona l n ames
can hel p an a u thor to s ugges t rel i g i on ( Mo i s he, Kev i n, Ca l v i n,
Wes l ey) , race ( Wa s h 1 ngton Jones wou l d " s ound bl a c k " to mos t Amer­
i cans, a s wou l d B l a c k Mu s l i m names; to the B r i t i s h Clyde s ounds Wes t
I nd i a n, des p i te Scot ti s h o ri g i n) , age ( Ma rtha and Vi o l et a re l ong out
of fa s h i on; Norma, Al fred, Herbert a nd Wa rren were p roba b l y born be­
fore 19 30 ; S h i rl ey may date from Charl otte Bronte ' s novel of 1849 or,
mo re l i kel y, from S h i rl ey Temp l e, a fi l m s ta r who l i ke Debb i e Reyno l ds
popu l a r i zed a name fo r a whi l e wh i c h then went q u i te o u t of fas h i on) .
A name may bea r s oc i a l s t i gma ( for the ' Seven t i es Les l i e A . Dun k l i ng
i n F i rs t Names F i rs t l i s ts as B r i ti s h l ower c l a s s Stephen, J a s on,
Ga ry, Kev i n, Lee, Cra i g, Carl , Wayne, Scott, Shane, Barry, Dean -­
many of wh i c h s co re d i fferen t po i n ts i n Ameri ca) .
A name may con vey
s trength ( Mi chael , B rad, Buck, but not Percy, E l mer, or Adri an) , even
sexu a l ambi g u i ty ( Evelyn,
�.
to be a b l e to exp l a i n BrucP.) .
Lee, and for s ome rea s on no one seems
I am not a rqu i ng ( wi th Roger Pri ce, the
c reator of " d rood l es ") that you can s pot a Leonard or a Lo i s or a
My rtl e o r that a l l g i rl s named Li n da a re pus hovers .
B u t i ncontes t�bl y
the publ i c has a s tereo type for Mi c hael and a p red i c ta b l e rea c t i on
to Samantha o r Gi l l i an or Edna ( a l i tera ry i n ven t i on, l i ke Ramona
and Lorna, wh i c h once caugh t on) and i t behooves a wri ter to be
awa re�of tha t . And a c r i t i c too .
·
Reference boo ks hel p u s wi th Dr . l'lei degger and Dr . Jeky l l , Ml l e .
LOS 2JJ
As h 1 ey 17
La Rue and Mde . De l fi ne , N i mbus Desmi t a n d Natty B umpo , Cas pe r
Goodwood a n d Mel an i e Hami l ton , S l i m Gi rl and I kk�motubbe , Es ther
Gay and Fred Grey and Dori a n Gray , La Peri chol e �nd Mde . Sara toff .
We need l i tt l e hel p wi th H a u t boy and Standard i n Me l v i l l e , e ven
that ,S carl e t t woman i n Gone l�i th the Wi n d . B u t w� need mo re hel p
wi th John a n d Mary and Gl adys and Al exande r . Why,Al exander Portnoy ?
Why Cl a r k and Debb i e ? W h a t wou l d a Lamont Crans ton .o r a George
Brent have to be cal l ed today ?
What's an e ffec t i ve name for a
detecti ve i n a whee l c ha i r ? one over 250 pou n ds ? a J ewi s h d i vo rcee.
of 38
who moves to Santa Ba rbara from Long I s l an d ?
wi t h Geo rge
today .
=
�? To hel l
"fanner , " becau s e t h a t • s not at a 1l w:1at �eorge means
Does i t fi t Ma rtha's s cho l a rl y , h i s tori a n h u s ba n d ?
If s o ,
to what extent does i t echo the name of Hedda's h i s tori an h u s b a n d ?
E l me r h a s n o l ex i ca l mea n i ng b u t i t h a s an a u ra about i t .
Wri t i ng
E l mer Gan t ry today , one wou l d have to recogn i ze t h a t E l me r ( once
a s macho as Cl arence) has n't got enou gh force fo r the c h a racter ,
and c ha nge i t . ( See the d i c t i onary fo r gan t ry .
That's easy . )
One can u s e a d i c t i ona ry for Fo i bl e o r Dan dipra t .
Co l l i ns ,
i f you u s e the bes t d i c t i ona ry , you'l l fi n d s uggests " bread-a n d­
butte'r l e tter , " but i t fo l l ows that eg req i ou s Co l l i n s i n P r i de and
P rej u d i ce and does not precede h i m .
Fore i gn di c t i onari e s wi l l
a s s i s t wi th H rothqa r , Gun h i l da , Au tolycus , and expl a i n perhaps
that Ascan i u s was changed by Vi rg i l to J u l u s to compl i me n t h i s
patron ( from the J u l i an gen s ) .
One mu s t be c a re fu l to get the
name �s the creator wrote i t: fo r examp l e , the i nn keeper i n
Fa rquhar's The Beaux' S t ra tagem ( from wh i ch we have a l rea dy noted
two characte rs) has come down to us as Bon i fa ce 14 but was c l earer
i n i ts ori gi na l fo rm: Bonnyface .
One mus t u s e a d i c t i onary of the
correct l anguage , othe rwi s e o ne wi l l neve r know why a nag i s
LOS
278
18
Ashley
Ros i na n te ( the horse that before Don Qu i xote fQund i t was a nag) .
Di c t i ona r i es of s u rnames may pos s i b l y be useful but i t ta kes i ngen ­
u i ty to eq uate Ezra Ma nnon wi th Agamemnon a n d you'll never see why
Hew Makes h i ft i s the proverb i al li g h t fi ngered tramp u n t i l you fi nd
T u s s er ' s Hundreth Good Points of H u s bandri e ( a n obscure book o f
1557).
To unders tand And rew Undershaft you need to know a bi t a bout s team­
tra i n cons tructi o n ( how the wheels a re con nec ted) and then you loo k
up Andrew o n l y to d i s cover t h a t he was cruci fi ed on a c ross shaped
l i ke a n X, i s patron s a i nt of Sco t l a n d, has a name that 11means 11 so­
a n d - s o ( fo rqet i t) and that i n the Mi ddle Ages And rew wa s the common
name for a ma nserva n t (wpe n c e Me r ry A n d r ew ) . Any hel p? Suppose
you r noveli st n o te s t h a t h i s Jeremy d i ddl es.
He may be po i n t i ng you
towa rd J eremy Di ddl er i n Karlliy's fa rce Ra i s i ng the W i nd ( 1803) a n d he
may never have hea rd o f i t.
Certa i n l y a t ran s l a ti on of t he name from
the Hebrew i s not goi ng to be u sefu l , n o r wi l l the commen t o f Dun k l i n g
tha t i t i s 11mo s t u s e d i n t h e mi d-1970 ' s i r. the U. S. A. a n d Canada .. nor
the fac t that in New York ( a l on g w i th J ason and Gl o r i a) i t's 11 Jewi sh. 11
A c h a ra c teronym can be one o f those reden de Namen bel oved o f
Teu ton i c Pro fesso ren i n what i t s uggests a s wel l a s wha t i t s ays.
The
po i nt of Ma rty ' s name i n Pa ddy Chayevs ky ' s tel ev i �i on p l ay ( an d s u b­
sequen t fil m) i s that he i s j u s t an o rd i na ry guy -- and the -�s l i g h t l y
bel i tt l es hi m , s l i gh t l y en dea rs h i m to us.
Ra l ph C ramden i n T h e Honey­
mooners ( seemi n g l y a s i ndes truct i bl e on tel evi s i on a s commerc i a l s) has
a WASP , l ower-c l a s s n ame.
H i s fri en d , who wo rks i n the sewer , i s Ed
No rton , ra ther a n o l d-l i ne E n g l i s h name -- a n d h i s rel a t i o ns h i p to Ra l ph
i s e s ta b l i s hed pa rtl y by t he fac t he c a l l s C ramden by h i s fi rs t name
(Ra l p h) a n d C ramden c a l l s h i rn by h i s s u rname ( No rton) .
ca l l s h i m Ed.
Her n ame i s Al i ce.
C ramden's wi fe
She had to be cal l ed somet h i ng.
Fo r­
get A l i ce i n Wonderl a n d -- maybe , j u s t maybe , you can do somethi ng wi th
LOS 2 79
As h l ey
" Al i ce-Si t-by-t he-Fi re."
19
I doubt i t.
I n Di c k Tracy there i s the i dea o f a detec t i ve trac i ng pers o n s
a n d i n the n a u gh ty fi l m F u n wi th Di c k a n d J a ne a du l t p l ay i n g wi t h
t h e names i n c h i l dren • s pri mers .
T h e J o h n Doe o f o n e c u l ture, how­
ever, may run a fo u l of u n i n tended " vi bra t i ons " i n another, even
J
another c u l ture s pea k i ng t he s ame l an guage ( more or l es s ) . Con s i der
F l a s h Gordon. Gordon i s s tron g, WASP.l5 Fl a s h s�gges t s qu i c k . B u t
i n Au �tra l i a ( a s i n Cockney s l ang, common enough Down Un der) fl a s h
" to expose oneself sexua l l y, " ex h i b i t i on i sm.
a n t i podes i s S peed Gordon.
=
So Fl a s h Gordon i n the
( An d i n the US pornofl i x, Fl es h Gordon.)
T here • s a l ways go i ng to be someone rea d i ng Di c k and J ane a s " pen i s "
a n d " p l a i n Jane, " b u t when a d verse rea c t·lon i s powerfu l a n d pred i c­
ta bl e, one fi xes t h i n gs .
Pres uma b l y my rea c t i o n to the names of
Nei l S i mon•s Odd Coupl e ( O s car and Fel i x, s uggest i ng Oscar Wi l de
a n d catti nes s) may hel p to exp l a i r. tha t the two men l i v i ng together
a re not gay.
Why ca l l t hem O scar Ma di son and Fel i x Unger?
Actor
J a c k Kl ugman i s o bv i o u s l y no WASPy Mad i s on ( nor a s ua ve a dvert i s i ng
man) a n d a c tor Tony Ra n da l l i s not by any s tretch o f the i mag i n a t i on
o f even d i s ta n t l y-German ori g i n .
B u t then the charac ters were
ori g i na l l y c a s t i n the s tage vers i on ....
factors at work.
" Hard n ames "
And so on.
There are ma ny
( Cerberus, Toby P h i lpot, N a s s a uer,
Di c ky Sam, Ma ta l a s, Sam Spade) are rea l l y ea sy: a t t he l ea s t, when
yo u do get the rig h t a n swer, you hear ( a s Yea t s s a;d) the c l i c k o f
a box, a f i na l i ty.
The methods o f d i s covery are s i mi l ar for W i dow
B l ac kacre, John Pi tcher, Azuma-z i , S herl o c k Hol m
' es, Lord Greys toke
a n d the vi l l a ge of Greymarch.
But every Tom, Di c k, and H arry ( a s
i n The Trou�l e wi t h H arry) may presen t the knott i es t sort o f cri t i ca l
pro b l em, that wh i ch i n vo l ves sens i ti v i ty, i n tu i t i on a s muc h a s
i ngen u i ty.
LOS 2 80
Ashley
20
The 11 local colo r .. n ames chosen to fi t i n to the h i s to r i cal per i od
o f the s et t i n g a re fa i rly easy to handle.
B u t we need to know o f
nami ng sys tems a n d n ami n g trad i t i on s a t v a r i o u s per i od s a n d i n v a r i o u s
pla ces.
W e expect 11 Ameri can names . . i n Ameri can novels, d i fferen t
ways o f referri ng to the same person i n Ru s s i a n novels.
We ought to
be awa re o f the s i gn i fi cance of role names: does th i s c haracter call
h i �self Pro fessor or Doc to r, does t h a t call h i s own wi fe Mother? We
s h�uld note a ffec t i o n a te d i m i n u t i ves ( Nev i ll Forbes• Ru s s i a n Gramma r
tells u s Ru s s i an d im i n u t i ves exp ress 1 1a ffec t i on, poli tenes s, and good
h umou r11) and o t her ways of u s i ng names to unders core rela t i on s h i ps.
We mu s t know some ma i ds a nd man serva n t s were addres sed by forenames,·
others by s u rnames, depen d i ng u pon thei r ran k i r. the household ; tha t
the cook was a lways Mrs., even i f n ever ma rri ed ( a po i n t wh i ch con fu sed
Ameri can T V wa tchers o f Ups ta i rs, Down s t a i rs) .
We s hould know Mr. and
Mrs. 8e�net t a re bei ng conven t i onal, not unlo v i ng, in u s i ng t i tles to
a d d res s eac h o ther.
Lord Elgi n.
We s hould know how a Lord Dav i d d i ffers from a
We s hould know !3r i ti sh Army o ffi cers a re not bei ng c h i ld i s h
when they u s e c h i ldhood n i c knames ( Boney,
u s e g i ven names before they a re i n t imates.
�)
and that Amer i cans may
We s hould know t he eti quette
of fam i li es and bu s i nes ses i n va r i o u s coun t r i es.
We s hould know wha t
J udge B ra c k i s u p to wi th "Mrs. Hedda .. ( an d how No rweg i an • s two ways of
s ay i n g� ma kes the po i n t better) , why we get a c horus effec t in T he
Fat her ( Swed i s h serva nts add res s the ma s ter i rl the th i rd person) , why i t
i s'u n u s u al for a headma s ter to call h i s s tuderrt Peter.
r • ve neces s a ri ly bomba rded you w i t h many examples.
Let me expand one.
Ret u rn i ng to t ha t o rd i na ry mys tery novel, T he Wh i sper i n the Gloom, we
f i nd s u s pen se bu i lt a round a v i lla i n wi th fi rearms and an Ameri can accent.
,
( He turns out to be an
ex-11 G11 Man , tho u g h we wouldn•t call h i m tha t i n
LOS 2 80
Ash l ey
20
The 11 1 oc a l col or .. n ames chosen to fi t i n to t he h i s tori c a l period
o f the set t i n g a re fa i rl y ea sy to hand l e.
But we need to know o f
nam i n g sys tems and n ami ng trad i ti on s a t vari ous per i o d s a n d i n vari ous
p l a ces.
We ex pect 11Ameri can names .. in Ameri can novel s , d i fferen t
ways o f referri ng to the s ame person i n Ru s s i an novel s.
We ought to
be aware o f t he s i gn i fi ca n ce of ro l e names: does t h i s c haracter ca l l
h i �sel f P ro fes sor or Doc tor , does t h a t c a l l h i s own wi fe Mother? We
s h ?u l d note a ffec t i ona te d i m i n u t i ves ( Nev i l l Forbes • Ru s s i an Grammar
tel l s u s Ru s s i an d i mi n u tives express •• a ffec t i on , pol i tenes s , and good
humour11 ) a n d other ways of u s i ng names to underscore rel a t i on s h i ps.
We must know some ma i ds a nd man s ervan ts were addres s ed by forenames ,
others by s urnames , depen d i ng u pon thei r ran k i n the househo l d; tha t
the cook wa s a l ways Mrs. , even i f n ever ma rri ed ( a po i n t wh i c h con fu s ed
Ameri can T V wa tchers of Ups ta i rs , Down s ta i rs) . We s ho u l d know Mr. and
Mrs. Be�net t a re bei ng conven t i on a l , not u n l o v i ng , in u s i ng ti t les to
a ddres s eac h other.
Lord El gi n.
We shou l d know how a Lord Dav i d d i ffers from a
We s hou l d know !3ritish Army o ff i cers a re not bei ng c h i l d i s h
when they u s e c h i l dhood n i c knames ( Boney ,
�)
u s e g i ven names before they are i nt i ma tes.
and that Ameri cans may
We s hou l d know the eti quette
of fami l i es a n d bu s i nes ses i n vari ous coun tri es.
We s hou l d know wha t
J u dge Bra c k i s u p to wi th "Mrs. Hedda11 ( an d how Norweg i an • s two ways of
s ay i ng� ma kes the po i n t better) , why we get a c horu s effec t in The
Fat her ( Swed i s h servan t s addres s the ma s ter i rl the t h i rd person) , why i t
i s' u n u s ual far· a headma s ter to ca l l h i s s tuderr t Peter.
r • ve necess ari l y bombarded you w i t h many •exampl es .
Let me expand one.
Return i ng to t h a t ord i nary mys tery novel , The Wh i sper i n the Gl oom. we
f i nd s u s pen s e bu i l t a round a v i l l a i n wi t h fi rearms and a n Ameri can accent.
,
{He turns out to be an
ex-11 G11 Ma n , tho u g h we wou l dn•t ca l l h i m that i n
LOS 2 81
As h l ey
197 7 . ) ,
I
21
He i s known as E l mer S tei q , wh i ch t he au thor corrments upon
as an " America n-s ound i ng name . "
La ter he
i s E l m�r J . Ste i g ( the
mi ddl e. i n i ti a l very u n B r i t i s h) and fi n a l l y i t trar;�s p i res he • s
James on E l mer .
The poi n t ?
I f a Bri t i s h a u thor i �t rodu ces a n Amer­
i can character , a n " Ameri can-s ound i ng name " i s as.essen
t i a l i n t he
I
novel as an Ameri can-sou ndi ng a ccent i n a p l ay orra fi l m . Seei nq
oursel ves t h rou gh forei g n eyes , we may a s k : what� an "Amer i can­
s ou ndi.ng" name?
T . S . E l i ot offers J . Al fred Prufrock , Ameri can
pompous; Eugene 0 • Nei l l , Eben Ca bot , New Enql and o 1 d-1 i ne Ameri can .
Peter De Vri es gi ves u s ma ny h umo rou s Amer i can names , a s c l ea r l y
" Ameri can " as Leopo l d B l oom i s un-I ri s h .
The qenera l p u b l i c i s a t
l ea s t vaguel y awa re of name trad i t i on s : a nyone c a n see that B u���s_
La Tri ne and Her Educated Sheepdogs p a rodi es names i n vaudevi l l e a n d
mus i c ha l l , that Ma rc u s \�el by fi ts a docto r , a n d .t h a t ��s . S c a rl et·
Sc hwa rtz was born a bo u t the t i me of Gone Wi th the Wi n d
to non­
rel i g i ou s Ameri c a n-Jewi s h pa ren ts who had never read Stendha l and
wou l d see no j o k i ng referen ce to The Red and the B l a c k . ( To t hem
S c hwa rtz , qu i te ri g h t l y , does not s u gges t " b l a c k " . ) 16
How good i s your own ea r for names and wha t Rudnyc kyj 17 vaguel y
cal l ed thei r " q ua l i ty " ?
I f , for i n s ta n ce , you haven • t read An t hony
B urges s • Tremor of I n tent , wha t can you tel l us of " Seba s t i a n
Jagger " ?
Read the novel and c heck y o u r g ues s .
a utho�s you rea d a t nami ng?
Burroughs ?
Di c ken s ?
V l a d i mi r Ten drya kov ?
How adept a re t he
Anqus Wi l s o n ?
Tom Wol fe?
Wi l l i am
John Barth?
Pyncheo n ?
T h e name once c hosen , how does i t fun c t i on i n t h e text?
We have
spoken of the d rums and t rumpets i n Ma rl owe and many another poet has
sought " un nom bi en doux , fa i t pou r l a po e s i e . " To see wh a t a name
can a ccomp l i s h , try rea d i nq a poe poem and s u b s t i t u t i ng " the bea u t i fu l ··
Gwend o l y n Gl atz . "
Note how one poet u ses a l l egori cal names , another
LOS 2 82
As h l ey
22
puns , �nother a l l us ions , another manufactured nam� s . Note how nov�
e l i s ts ( Th a c keray o r Fitzgera l d or Di c kens) us e n ames to s ketch in
quic k c h a ra cteriza tions when t h rongs appea r , s ay a t a pa rty.
In the
fi r s t l ine of Co l er i dge ' s grea tes t poem there may be t h ree o rthographic
i naccu,racies , but " I n Xanadu did Kubl a Khan " has powe r -- and cal l ing
the s a c red river� produces effects that Al f ( or Fred) woul d not
achieve .
Someone ough t to s tudy h ow s t rinqs of names are used , in Thoma s
Wo l fe , i n Stephen Vin cen t Ben � t. i n more tal en ted wri ters , such a s
Sha kespeare :
Then s ha l l our names ,
Famil i a r i n his mouth a s hous e h o l d words
Harry the King , Bedfo rd and Exeter ,
Wa rwic k and Ta l bot , Sa l is bury a n d Gl ouces ter . . . .
Cons i de r what va rious poets can do with :
Chimborazo
·Achi toohe l
U ricon the Ci ty
Cynara
Afton
Co rde l ia
Don John of Aus t ria
Gra n ches ter
Lenore
S i r Bee l zebub
Dagobert and Peregrine and I
Apeneck Sweeney
Of S ha kespeare and Prax i t i l es
0 , my Ame r i c a , my New Foun d La n d !
Land Qf Abra ham Lin co l n and Lydia E. P1nkham
What d i d you see in Pa l es tine ?
Ki l l Devil s Hil l a t Kttty Hawk
Ta l king of M i c h e l ange l o
Wes t-runninq Brook
Pa l e Ga l il ean
Onoma s ti cs experts wil l recogn i ze the pa s s ages concerned .
Names ener­
gi z e the ve rs e o f Wh i tma n and Gi n s berg , re verberate in Poun d and E l i ot,
ta ke fi re in S h a kespeare and Yea ts , ma ke Under Mil k Wood tset in the
Wel s h vil l age wh i c h is bugger-a l l s pe l l ed ba ckwa rds -- and bugqe r a l l
without their magi c) a mi ni-ma s te rpiece . 18 And there is a poe t ry of
LOS 283
As h l ey
pros e a s well : Mr . Murds torie s ounds i n the imagin a tion .
De l l ,
_ Martin Chuzzlewit, Edwin Drood .
23
S o d o Dingl ey
The Ca s tl e of Otranto and The
Mys teries of Udo l pho wail and whis pe r and The Moons tone has an ominous
echo .
American authors a re good too : the names in James fa l l main l y
o n the righ t pl anes . 19
We have men tioned De Vries, who s trikes a humorous note wit h puns
in names, but humo r depends on how the pun fun c tions .
We h a ve pun s in
Bibl ic�l names such as I s s a c ( •1aug h te r) , Adam'�earth), Saul (.desire),
Peter ( rock) .
In fact, P rofe s s o r James Brown (PMLA LXX I , 1956,14-26)
l is ts eight types of puns ( an d does not, I think, exhaus t the pos··
sibil ities) .
We mus t un ders tand how the names fun ction, not simp l y
w h a t they 11mean . •.•
I n T h e Odys s ey the hero is a s ked his name by The
CyclOps and ��be l ieving in name maqic as much as did God, who woul d
o n l y revea l Yawe h, 11I AP1,11 not His name) s ays he is Outis , which is
to s ay 11no somebody, 11 no body .
body 11�
La ter The Cyc l ops is atta c ked by 11 no­
Virgil in The Aeneid changes the t raditional E l is s a to Did�,
a 11 giving 11 woman .
Name s , therefo re, can do mo re than c h a ra c te rize tVol pone , �a z a ri l l o,
Sir Gudgeon Credul ous, Leach) or set a tone ( Cl ay Mode l l ing, S ta n l ey
Fea thers tonehaugh U kridge, o r the Ge rman llnknown So l die r, Anonymous
���he) .
To con tinue with some exampl es from c l a s sica l l iterature
whic h may be l es s famil ia r than Britis h, American, and other modern
l itera tures we have been citing, l et us turn briefl y to the g l ory that
wa s Greece and the grandeur that wa s Rome .
F rom the Gree ks, an epic
and a pl ay from each of the t hree qreat tragedia n s ; from the Roman s ,
W e s ha l l a d d the Gree k 11 his torian 11 Hesiod t o suqge s t t h e
importance of names i n myt h and fo l kl o re . 20 I n The Odys s ey the hero ' s
T h e Aeneid .
name sugge s ting 11 I l earn by suffering11 adum brates the pl ot .
Ody s s eus
is coricea l ed on the i s l and of Oqygia, where he is fo rgotten for seven
LOS
284
As h l ey
24
years, by Ca l ypso .
Her name hints a t " hidden. " I n Oedipus Tyra nnus,
:
the ii a�e o f Sophoc l e s ' hero is derived from o1�,tr'• .,, ( " swo l l en ·foo t " )
I
''
'
"
for h i s pa rents, fea ring the prophecy that he woul d murder h i s father
II
La i us and marry his mother Joca s ta, exposed h i m on a hil l side, with
h i s feet bound .
The bonds were bro ken, he ful fi l l ed the prophecy,
•
and he des troyed hims e l f in his s e a rc h for the truth - - a o d the s econd
aoris t
ot S"\
can be trans l a ted as " I know" ( " I have come to know" ) .
I n the Hera c l es Mad ( to tra n s l a te Euri p i des ' t i t l e) the name of the
hero derives from the Gree k fo r " pe rs ecutions of Hera " ( the godde s s ) ,
'
and it i s i n mee t i ng the c h a l l enges s h e offe rs ( we ca l l them " th e l a bors
of Hercul e s " ) that Herac l es e s tabl ished hims e l f as a grea t man .
I n the
Agamemnon of Aes c hy l us we meet Hel en ( who spa r k s so much troubl e) and
her name mean s " de s t ruction . "
I n The Aeneid the voyagers are l ooking
for the wes tern l and ( Hesperia) and cannot fo r a time l ocate I ta l y
because they know not wha t name to c a l l i t by .
F i n a l l y, i n Hesiod, we
encoun ter Pandora on whom have been l avis hed . " a l l g i fts," thouq h her
box when opened brings confus i on .
One hopes tha t l itera teurs can be persuaded that nami n� i s muc h
more than " the simpl e s t form of c haracta eriz a tion," a kind of v i v i fyi ng,
a n l m 1 z 1 ng, i ndividua ting," "a form of characterizing economy . " 2 1 Wa rren
R . Maurer wa s preac h i ng to the conve rted when he wrote in Name s X I ( 1963 )
tha t we mus t consider " we l l -chosen c h a ra c ter names to be an in teqral pa rt
of a work of a rtJ• but we mus t con tinue to s tre s s t ha t, and over the l a s t 15
years t h e l iterary onoma s t i c i a n s , in these i n s titutes , in .i ourna l s , i n
other waYS have s p rea d the qospe l to the wider worl d o f l i tera ture .
We
have �egun to con vince the c rit i c s that Phil i p= " l over of horses " or a
footnote on v i nes a ttac hed to Madame Eq l an tine or " i dentifi cation of the
origina l of C h r i s tmin s ter a s Oxford " or
a
summary s ta teme n t that the names
in a work of l itera ture a re " amusing" or " inven tive " or- "effec tive " or
LOS 285
As h l ey
25
" borrowed from the o l d roman ce s , " e tc . , a re i n suffi c i en t , to s ay the
l ea s t .
T h i s ( a s a c r i t i c once s a i d of the poe try of Wordsworth , wi th
I
fa r l es s j us t i f i ca t i o n ) wi l l not do .
I t i s t i me t9 go beyon d va�ue
commen t that the names i n a work a re " unusua l " o r JTia ny or few and to
pay more a tten t i on to how the names fanctri·o n ' · ,· n th� wo rk of a rt, whe ther
they have "mea n i ngs that ca n be l ooked up" o r not . Th i s i nvol ves a
who l e l i ngui s t i c and cul tura l context and factors s.uc h a s the psyc hol og­
i ca l , � he soc i o l ogi c a l , and h i s to r i c a l , more taxi n9 than s i mpl e taxonomy .
Names requi re seri ous and sens i t i ve h a n d l i nq .
And name s a re necess a ry :
even Dogpa tch ' s unnec e s s a ry moun ta i n had a n am e ( Onnec e s s a ry Moun ta i n) .
I th i n k i t rema r ka b l e that a t th i s l a te da te we shoul d s t i l l have
to a rgue our l i terary col l eagues i n to add i ng l i terary onoma s t i c s to the i r
a rmamen ta r i a of c r i t i c i sm .
I t i s a l s o rema rkabl e that so anc i en t a d i s ­
c i pl i ne' - - and An t i s t henes a s l ong ago a s four centur i es before C h r i s t
wrote that " the be9 i n n i ng of a l l i n s truc t i on i s the s tudy of n·ame s "
- ­
s houl d s t i l l b e of pra c t i c a l modern us e . I n th i s e s s ay I have t r i e d
to a rgue a few po i n ts wh i c h I trus t h a v e not been obs cured by a mul t i ­
pl i c i ty o f exampl es , but I th i n k the s pec i f i c s e n l i ven the a rgumen t ,
and I reca l l wha t Add i son wrote i n The Spectator i n 17 12 : " T here i s
noth i ng i n na ture more i rksome than genera l d i s courses , espec i a l l y when
they turn c h i e f l y upon wo rds . "
I hope to have encouraged be l i evers and
converted doubters , for l i terary onoma s t i c s i s a s h a rp , handy , mul t i ­
purpos e tool of c r i t i c i sm and we a l l need a l l the he l p we can get a s we
a pproach wit h a l l due reverence a n d a l l pos s i bl e s k i l l s the c r i t i ca l
exam i na t i on o f 1 i tera ry art , art" wh i c h Cyri l Conno l l y s o mov i ng l y c a l l ed
( i n The Condemned P l ayground , 19 45 ) "man ' s nobl e s t a ttempt to pre serve
Imagi nati on from T i me , to ma ke un brea ka bl e toy s of the mi nd , mudp i es wh i c h
endure . . . . "
.
Leonard R. N . Ash l ey
� roo k l yn Col l ege
The C i ty Un i vers i ty o f N ew York
LOS 2 86
As h l ey
26
FOOTNOTES
1Harry S haw, Di c t i onary of L i terary Terms ( 19J2) , seems to omi t
l i terary onoma s t i c s un l es s 11 appl i ca t i on 11 i s extended to cover th i s .
2 Aut prodes s e vol un t, aut del ecta re poetae ;
Aut s i mul et j ucunda et i donea d i cere v i tae . -- Ars Poet i ca .
Of cou�s e Ari s to t l e, whom Ben Jonson c a l l ed, 11the fi r s t accura te c r i t i c
a n d true s t j udge,11 i n the Poet i c s s tres s ed d i ano i a ( thought) a n d sa i d
l i tera ture captured and con veyed wi s dom .
3 M . H. Abrams ( The Mi rror and the Lamp) sees c r i t i c i sm a s re l a ted to
one of four th i ngs : the wo rl d ( 11 un i verse11) - m i met i c theo ry ; the work objec t i ve theory ; the a rt i s t a s maker -- expres s i ve theo ry ; the aud i ence pragma t i c theo ry .
4Ten n e s s ee ( Thoma s La n i er) W i l l i ams ' s i s ter wa s Rose and there are
'
i nd i c a t i ons i n th e text s h e may have so a poea red i n d rafts ( 11bl ue ro ses,11
e tc . ) but i n the f i n a l vers i on of the pl ay s h e i s Laura, for s h e i s the
i n spi ra t i on of the poet Tom a s Laura ( d e Noves) was the i n spi ra t i o n of
Petrarc h .
S h e i s connected wi th l aure l s and fame .
Hedda, ma rri ed to
George Tesman as the pl ay opens, shoul d be Hedda Tesman, but s h e i s more
the l a te Genera l Gabl e r ' s daughter than s h e ever wi l l be the academi c
Geo rge Tesman ' s wi fe .
5
11 Luc ky 11 Fel i x d i s covers ba c ks tage that the g l amorous ma t i nee i dol
i s a s i mpl e ba se pea sant ( 11mi l l er11) whose rea l i ty has been d i s to rted by
the fl 'a tter i ng l i gh t s of the s tage 11ros e -co l o red11 gl a s s es a l so be i ng
adopted by the aud i ence who i n wha t Col e r i dge woul d term the i r 11Wi l l i ng
'
sus pen s i on of d i s be l i ef11 pa rt i c i pa te gl a d l y i n the i r own decept i on) . T hus
LOS 2 87
As h l ey
27
Fe l ix l ea rns one mo re impo rtant fa ct a bout being a confidenc e ma n .
I n the Engl is h nove l , Meredith h a s the fami l y reign ove r • em from
Raynham Abbey a n d the town bel ow the great house is Lobourne, fo r
there the l ow-born l ive .
Simil a r l y names s core points of c h a racter
and pl ot in such writers a s Thackeray, F . S cott Fitzge ra l d, Faul kner,
Hel l e r, Anthony Powel l , Anthony Burgess, E . M . Fors ter
( whose
Mr . Bons
is .. good things .. in French and s no b spel l ed bac kwa rds ) , etc .
6Hawthorne a l so cha nged rea l names to a void mis inte rpretation :
the man on whom his prea cher in The Minis ter • s B l a c k Veil wa s based
wa s a Mr . Moody .
7 I n S h a kespeare • s time the Angl o -Saxon for 1 1 ta k e 11 wa s s til l
remembe red .
8c l e a r l y the B ritis h reve rberations from the name Soho we re not
sough t by the rea l - e s tate mana gers who saw commercia l profit in
c rea ting an image , via a name, fo r Soho
of Hous ton S t reet ) .
�le note that a
n ame
( the
New York l o ft a rea South
may have different connota­
tions in diffe rent pl aces, as Soho its e l f has had in diffe rent pe riods .
De riva tion from 11Soo hoo .. is usel e s s .
9 I n The Whisper in the Gl oom
( 195 7,
given currency by a 197 7 reprint )
B l a ke says it • s ca l l ed 11The Hil l .. by l o ca l s .
I n 1 9 7 7 it is not .
! Oro discove r if t h a t • s what Lady Brackne l l is referring to in h e r
mention of poten tia l 11 riots i n Grosvenor Square .. one h a s t o c h e c k t h e
date of t h e emba s sy and of t h e pl ay .
E v e n i f Wil de did not mean i t in
the l as t cen tury, howeve r, today • s audience i n london h a s t h a t e l ement in
thei r res pon se .
To s ay we mus t 11 fo rge t 11 what the author did not or
LOS
288
As h l ey
28
co u l d not mean i s l i ke Tol s to i ' s adv i ce : "When you s tep on cracks
don ' t th i n k o f a wh i te bear . "
11Thomas Love Peacock re fe rs to Gotham i n N i gh tmare Abbey
( h i s use of names i s h i l a r i ous) and D . C . B rown i ng ' s Everyman ' s
Di c t i onary of Quota t i ons and P rove rbs ( 1961, rep r i n ted 1965)
exp 1 a i ns a proverb by no t i ng that " Gotham wa s p reverbi a 1 for fo 1 1 y . "
0 . Henry knew that when he ca l l ed New Yo rk C i ty ( Ba by l o n - on - the­
Huds on) Go tham .
Di d the creators of Superman wa n t the i dea of
" fo l l y " i n i t when they c reated Gotham C i ty?
And " the w i s e men of
Gotham " remi nd u s o f " the wi s e men of Che l m " . . . .
I s ho u l d j u s t l i ke to men t i on i n a footnote that we need mo re
s tudy of the names of th i ngs i n
s l e i gh , to wh a t effect?
l i tera t u re .
l�hy Rosebud fo r that
In Lord J i m , the d i fference between the
name of the s h i p ( Patna) and the i s l a nd ( Pa t u s an) i s only the two
l e tters �· as i n the wo rds of Conrad ' s na rra to r , Marl ow : " one o f
u s , " a maj o r po i nt of t h e boo k .
W a s Roy Rogers q u i ck on t h e Tr igger?
What a bout Gort for a robot ' s name ( why not J ohn Ga l t ?) or C 3 PO and
R2D2?
I s ee Hal from the l e tters j us t be fore 1 8M bu t I wonder i f
I ' m mi s s i ng some th i ng ( s ay) i n Star Wars .
Wo u l d i t fi t i n wi th my
theory that the Gui nness character ' s name h i nts a t canna b i s . . . ?
12 r rea l i z e that there i s a school o f c r i t i cs - who fe rre t out what
they cons i der to be the au thor ' s uncon s c i ou s i nten t i on ( wh i c h i s n ' t at
a l l the s ame t h i ng that bedev i l s the con s c i e n t i o u s a r t i s t , wh i c h i s to
s ay the u n i n tended effects , even those fea red but not fore s ta l l ed) .
T h i s , howeve r , i s no pa rt of the co l l ege s tudent ' s j o b , wh i c h i s ( a s I
take i t) to be no mo re than be i ng recepti ve to what wa s sent .
Of co urse
readers can and wi l l add to the commu n i c a t i on s i gn i fi cances who l l y o r
p a r t l y unexpected , t h e res u l t of the i r pri vate and pers ona l expe ri ence .
LOS 289
A s h l ey
2.9
B u t one mus t g ra s p what the a u thor meant before a ttemp t i ng to e n r i ch
i t wi th personal rea c t i ons .
comes fi rs t .
The text ' s i n te n t i o n
( Poe ' s
Sentences fi rs t, verd i c t a fterwa rds .
" poem pe r s e " )
Ri ppl es, s u re .
B u t wha t i s the nature o f the roc k dropped i n to o u r poo l s , and what
was the n a t u re and the na ture of the act o f the one who d rppped i t ?
We a re " i nt o " l i teratu re, one hopes, not the psychoana l ys i s of the
a bsent " pa t i ent . "
I
1 3 we may u s e W i l l i ams as a conve n i ent examp l e of l i terary
onoma s t i cs, for a l though h i s ca s t i n I Can ' t Imagi ne Tomo rrow
cons i s ts of One an d Two, i n genera l - he u s es names con s c i o u s l y and
we l l .
We th i n k of Chance and Hea ven l y in Sweet B i rd of Youth,
Ros a del l e Ros e i n The Rose Tattoo, J onathan Coffi n
( Nonno )
i n The
N igh t of the Igua na, Dog H amma in O rph e u s Des cendi ng, Sebas t i an i n
A S treetca r Named Des i re
( where
the name of the New Orl e a n s d i s tri c t
fi tted so we l l t h e theme of t h e p l ay -- I recen t l y s a w a b u s i n No r­
fol k, V i rg i n i a, ma rked Cava l i e r Ma nor ) , B r i ck and B i g Daddy i n Cat on
a Hot T i n Roof, and so on .
i fi ca t i on have names
( Lu i s a
On l y two of the chara c ters i n The P u r ­
and E l ena ) : the res t a re The Fa ther, The
Mother, The Son, The J u dge, etc .
( whos e
I n The Gl a s s Menage r i e the au thor
name is Thomas Lan i e r W i l l i ams ) a ppears as Tom .
The s u rname
i s Wi ngfi e l d, ari s tocra t i c, Sou thern , WAS P .
H i s mother i s Ama nda
( " to
( as
be l o ved " ) and h i s s i s ter Rose i s La u ra
we have noted a bove ) .
The Gen t l eman Ca l l e r t u rns o u t to have a l oca l h a bi ta t i on and a
name
( as
S ha kes peare wou l d s ay ) when he ceases to be a concept - -
t h e l ong-expected somet h i ng that o n e l i ves for -- a n d ma teri a l i zes
a s J i m O ' Connor .
the gym of the
I th i n k J i m equa l s fri endl i ne s s , caus u a l n e s s , not
( fo rme r )
h i g h - s chool a th l e te .
O ' Connor means he i s
common I ri s h, wh i ch Aman da equa tes wi th dru n kenness and i rres pons i b i l i ty .
LOS 290
As h l ey 30
( B ut s he tri es to get h i m for L a u ra anyway, for s h e t h i n k s h i m to
be L a u ra ' s l as t chance and s he i s charmed by h i s b l a rney) .
1 4 r n fa c t, the wo rd has e n tered the d i c t i onary a s a noun, a s
h a v e t h e names o f o ther d rama t i c c h a ra cters : Romeo, L o thari o,etc .
15 That ' s a s a s u rname .
Ruth Gordon ( Jones) ( b . 1896) s u i ts i t
perfe c t l y a s an a c t res s . B r uce Go rdon ( b . 19 19) and C . Henry Gordon
( 188 4-19 40) we re both H o l l ywood hea v i es ( bu t what can you expect from
a Bruce a n d C . H e n ry?) and a n umber of B r i ti s h s ta rs born wi th the
name s tayed wi th i t .
B u t as a g i ven name i t ' s bol d ( Go rdon L i ghtfoot
. the s i nger) .
16T h i s
name i s echt B roo k l yn Col l ege to me .
B C s tudent i s Genq h i s Cohen) .
( My j o k e name fo r a .
At B C - - true s tory - - a bl a c k s tudent
named H e rma n S chwa rtz wa s a s ked by a reg i s t ra r : " l�hat k i nd o f a name
i s S c hwa rtz fo r a bl a c k boy ? "
Typ i ca l l y Ame r i can ( I th i n k) i s the
mi x t u re of Engl i s h/ I ta l i a n ( Edwa rd Paol e l l a, not Eduardo) , I r i s h/
German ( Kevi n Kra u s ) ,
L i nda L e v i ne, etc .
Loo k i ng fo r a pseudonym
under wh i ch to publ i s h a French coo k boo k, My ra Sc hwa rtz came up
wi th Col et te B l ac k .
Ame r i cans do not ( un l i ke the French) demand
a l i mi t on accepta b l e gi ven names and do not see ( hooray fo r them ! )
any reason why g i ven s u rnames shou l d deri ve from the s ame country
o r l a nguage .
Th i s proves that Ame r i cans don ' t th i n k of L i nda a s
" S pan i s h fo r ' p re tty ' " b u t a s a name, a name t h a t ( to Ameri can
e a rs o n l y) goes wi l l wi th L i o s c h i tz, Lorenz, L u ana, o r J ones .
17 J . B . R udny c kyj , " Fu n c t i on of Proper Names i n L i tera ry �·Jo rk,"
S t i l und Formpro bl eme i n der L i tera t u r ( He i del berg, 19 59) , 3 7 8- 3 83,
offers a typol ogy of fun c t i ons :
LOS 291
As h l ey
31
� - Re l evance to content :
a) rel evance to the q u a l i ty of l i terary c haracters
( mea n i ngful names) C r�.9�!:Jde _tlam�!J) ;
·
b) re l evance to the p l ace of a ct i on ( co u l e u r l oc a l e) ;
c) re l evance to the t i me o f a ct i on ( cou l eu r h i s tori que) .
II.
Rel evance to fo rm .
E ugene Green of Bos ton : Uni vers i ty i s the a u t h o r of a better , more
extens i ve monograph , 110n the Uses o f Names i n L i tera t u re , 11 wh i ch I
have had the pri v i l ege o f rea d i ng but wh i ch I do not q uote beca u s e
i t has n o t y e t been pu b l .i s hed .
Anyone i n teres ted i n l i terary
onoma s ti cs s hou l d read P rofessor G reen ' � a r t i c l e when i t i s ori nted .
1 8Two o f many works on names i n , poetry a re Max E a s tman ' s Enj oy­
ment of Poe try ( es p ec i a l l y pp . 2 5- 30) and R . W . Chapman ' s Portra i t of
a S c ho l ar ( es pec i a l l y pages 2 3 - 28) .
Those a re 1 0 paqes to i n troduce
a va s t to p i c , we l l wo rth rea d i ng .
1 9More s k i l l i s be i ng s hown i n the names of TV c h a ra c ters ( now
much researched before a dopted , for thetr power to create i maqe i s
recogn i zed) .
I n fi l ms we get ( s ay) Robi n Turner i n Outrageo u s !
A
t ra n s ves t i te ' s name : Robi n i s sexua l l y amb i g uous ( i n the U . S . and
Cana da) and T u rner is fi ne for one wh o turns from one sex to anoth e r .
20 one who l e 11 fa i r f i e l d f u l l o f fo l k 11 ( a s P i ers the P l oughman wou l d
s ay) tha t i s of p a rt i cu l a r i nte res t . to me I cannot undertake to outl i ne
i n so bri e f a s tudy a s th i s , and tha t i s names i n fo l kl ore a n d the fo l k ­
l o re o f names .
The i mporta n ce o f names i n the fol k ba l l a ds has been
s tu d i ed by N i co l a i sen and others .
wel l commence wi th Rumpe l s t i l ts k i n .
The i mportance· i n fa i ry ta l es mi g h t
T he onoma s t i cs o f fol k l o re s t i l l
awa i ts , howe ve r , i ts S t . Thoma s Aq u i nas to p l umb i ts l ev e l s of s i q n i -
LOS 292
As h l ey
32
fi cance , i ts I s i dore H i s pan i �ns i s to gather encycl opaed 1 c materi u l ,
i ts s pe c i a l i s t cri t i cs who wi l l g i ve th i s ri c h and revea l i ng
materi a l the s ame ca refu l s tu dy t h a t h a s been l av i s hed on ( s ay) the
B i bl i ca l names i n Mi l to n ( Sh awcro s s) , the Expl i ca tor a r t i c l es on
va ri ous i nd i v i dua l l i tera ry works, the a rt i c l es i n Names and the
papers of t h i s I ns t i tute .
I f M . H . Abrams i s correct i n h i s
a s s e r t i o n t h a t 11 the p ragma t i c v i ew, b road l y concei ved, has been
the pri nc i pa l aes thet i c a t t i tude o f the Wes tern worl d,11 and i f
cri t i c s tend to ta l k more a bo u t L i fe than A rt ( 11 cri t i c i sm of l i fe 11 ) ,
then i t i s s u rpri s i ng we have s t i l l to unea rth from the deep mi nes
of fol k l i tera t u re and fo l k tradi t i on the very va l ua b l e and very
rewa rd i ng and useful trea s u res p reserved i n names .
21R e n e Wel l e k and A u s t i n Wa rren, T heory o f L i tera t u re ( 19 49) ,
226- 2 2 7 .
The name Fel i c i ty, fo r examp l e, i n Fl a u bert • s s hort mas ter­
p i ece 11A S i mpl e Hea rt, 11 does fa r mo re than v i v i fy, a n i ma te, i nd i v i d ­
ua l i ze, c h a ra c te r i ze .
Recent a r t i c l es have s hown that Poe • s More l l a,
or B rown i ngs • s C l a ra de Mi l l efl eurs, o r Mi l to n • s Manoa, or W r i g h t • s
Dal ton, a re names that demand and deserve more than pa s s i ng i n terest
and rea ch o u ts i de the work .
T here a re 11Joycean echoes 11 i n Wa i t i ng
for Godot, . 11 amb i va l e n t names 11 i n the p l ays of S � a-n o • ca s ey, and
many o th e r onoma s t i c pro b l ems from J ames • 11 k i nd of onoma poe t i c ton i ng 11
I
to the s ec rets . of roma ns a c l e f more s ubt l e than the fi l m The Greek
Tycoon
where i n Toma s i s=Ona s s i s , Cas s i dy= Kennedy , Ma ta l as=Ca l l as , etc .