Seminar in Literary Interpretation
Robertson Davies at Queen's: The Salterton Trilogy
An amateur theatrical group in the bustling eastern-Ontario city of Salterton—which bears a striking resemblance to Kingston—is staging a production of The Tempest, but it has to contend with the competing egos of the romantic Solomon (“Solly”) Bridgetower, the lothario Roger Tasset, and the earnest Hector Mackilwraith. All of them are desperately in love with the beautiful Griselda Webster, but she has absolutely no interest whatsoever in three tedious men from the provinces!
Meanwhile, vain Professor Walter Vambrace of Waverley University—a familiar-looking and prestigious limestone institution perched proudly on the banks of Lake Ontario—is downright apoplectic to learn one October morning that a false notice has been placed in the local paper announcing the engagement of his daughter Pearl to Solly Bridgetower, whom he loathes. The professor vows to avenge the besmirchment of his beloved daughter’s good name, even if it drives his entire family apart.
To make matters worse, Solly’s elderly mother has suddenly died, and she hasn’t left her considerable fortune to Solly. Much to his consternation, she has put her million dollars into a fund entrusted to develop in Europe the musical career of one lucky Saltertonian. Naïve, working-class Monica Gall wins the scholarship, and is immediately swept off to jolly old England to embark upon her new vocation. But how will her mild Ontario manners play in the London metropolis, with menace looming behind every corner, threatening to steal both her fortune and her virtue?
Born in Thamesville, Ontario and educated at Queen’s University, Robertson Davies (1913-1995) is one of Canada’s foremost writers, journalists, thinkers, and critics. He authored a dozen novels and scores of short stories, plays, works of criticism, and other genres. Inspired by his time as a young man living in Kingston and attending Queen’s, he wrote The Salterton Trilogy, comprising the novels Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954), and A Mixture of Frailties (1958).
Travel back to mid-twentieth-century eastern Ontario to see what Kingston and Queen’s was really like back in the day. Who peopled Kingston’s cobblestone streets? Who dwelled in those grand old houses down by the Lake, and what did they get up to when the window shades were drawn? What kind of students went to Queen’s way back then, and what were their professors like—in public and in private? This course will engage in a rollicking, in-depth study of all three novels of The Salterton Trilogy, Davies’ heartfelt love-letter to Kingston, to Queen’s, and to the way things used to be.
Seminar Hours
Mondays, 1.00 p.m. ET - 2.30 p.m. ET
Wednesdays, 11.30 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. ET
Seminar Location
Room C508, Mackintosh-Corry Hall
Course Syllabus
Download the printer-friendly version of the Course Syllabus in .pdf by clicking on the thumbnail below. Be sure to download the correct Course Syllabus. This Course Syllabus is for the Winter 2024 on-campus version of ENGL 290.
PowerPoint Presentations