A Bubble Reputation by Bernard Capes
Marmaduke Sweeting, an apparently vacuous and fashionable young man, astonishes the narrator by publishing a brilliantly cynical story in the Argonaut. He soon becomes celebrated for “The Love-Letters of a Nonconformist,” a series whose dense, extravagant style inspires rapturous letters from admirers of every sort. Sweeting relishes the fame, the flattery, and the apparent proof that he has become “somebody,” though the narrator is puzzled by the contrast between the shallow-seeming man and his remarkable writing. At Earl’s Court, the narrator is humiliated by Sweeting’s companions and by Slater, a drunken, disreputable journalist. Sir Francis Voules rescues him and then reveals his suspicion: Slater is the real author of Sweeting’s celebrated work. The narrator rejects the charge, but Voules asks to inspect Sweeting’s fan letters and decides to expose the fraud. Sweeting later brings the narrator an impressive letter supposedly from the Prime Minister, J. A. Burleigh, praising the “Love-Letters” and promising to call. Sweeting, frightened but thrilled, imagines that a great honour may be coming. At his rooms, surrounded by nervous admirers and prepared champagne, he awaits the visitor. Slater unexpectedly arrives with a telegram inviting him to supper, which Sweeting denies sending. The supposed Prime Minister enters and questions Sweeting closely about passages from the “Love-Letters.” Unable to explain his own writing, Sweeting finally appeals to Slater, who supplies an answer. The visitor announces that, if Sweeting had answered properly, His Majesty would have granted him a Civil List pension. Slater then confesses that he wrote the series and also forged the admiring correspondence that had fed Sweeting’s vanity. Sweeting admits paying him for both the writing and the false reputation. The revelation is overturned when the visitor’s card identifies him as Hannibal Withers of the Momus Theatre, a double for the Prime Minister and Voules’s associate. Voules’s scheme has nevertheless exposed the truth: Slater wrote the work, Sweeting submitted it under his own name, and Slater maintained control by manufacturing praise. The Argonaut later attacks the stage and is forced to settle with Voules over libel. Sweeting obtains the notoriety he craved, becoming famous not for genius but for disgrace, until he escapes it on a long sea-voyage.
By Bernard Capes · First published 1892 · Genre: Satirical Fiction, Literary Satire, Social Satire · 7,479 words
First lines
One crowded hour of glorious life / Is worth an age without a name.
Similar titles
- The Splendid Lie by Edgar Saltus
- A Wayside Comedy by Rudyard Kipling
- The Duel That Was Not Fought by Stephen Crane
- A Darling Of The Gods by E. V. Lucas
- The Master Of The New Suburb by E. V. Lucas
- An Old Fashioned Man by Edgar Saltus
Genres
- Satirical Fiction — The story savagely satirizes literary celebrity, vanity, fraudulence, fashionable taste, and the public's readiness to admire pretentious writing.
- Literary Satire — Its central subject is the literary world: ghostwriting, pseudonymous authorship, critics, admiring readers, journal publication, and the manufacture of reputation.
- Social Satire — Capes mocks privileged clubmen, theatrical society, fashionable young men, social hierarchies, and the shallow prestige attached to names and status.
- Comic Short Story — The narrative uses escalating misunderstandings, witty dialogue, caricature, and a climactic practical joke to produce an overtly comic effect.
Tags
literary satire · Edwardian London · fin-de-siècle society · magazine publishing · literary fraud · ghostwriting · plagiarism · false authorship · celebrity culture · social ambition · vanity · reputation
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A Bubble Reputation is listed on Textopian as a short story by Bernard Capes, dated 1892 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Bernard Capes
- Date: 1892 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satirical Fiction, Literary Satire, Social Satire, Comic Short Story, Comedy of Manners
- Length: 7,479 words
- Structure: 1 section, 168 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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