MR Lovedays Little Outing

Mr Loveday's Little Outing
By Evelyn Waugh
(/ˈiːvlɪn ˈwɔː/)
The author
● Evelyn Waugh, in full Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh, (born
October 28, 1903, London, England—died April 10, 1966,
Combe Florey, near Taunton, Somerset).
● English writer regarded by many as the most brilliant satirical
novelist of his day.
● During World War II, he served in the Royal Marines and the
Royal Horse Guards.
● After the war, he led a retired life in the west of England.
● A prolific English novelist and short-story writer, he is admired
for his elegant style, brilliant wit, satire and humour.
Satire /ˈsætaɪə /
A way of criticizing something such as a group of
people or a system, in which you deliberately make
them seem funny so that people will see their faults.
Waugh wrote about arrogant, self-centered, wealthy,

young socialites in a very funny and humoristic way.
Mr Loveday's Little Outing
(It was ﬁrst published in 1936).
WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?

● Angela Moping
● Lord Moping
● Lady Moping
● Mr Loveday
ANGELA MOPING
● She is the daughter of Lord and Lady Moping. She is a

friendly and innocent woman, though she is a little naive.
She left the asylum, oppressed by a sense of injustice.
● Angela spends her time, during the story, doing angelic
deeds. Visiting her father, spending the day with Mr.
Loveday, etc.
TO MOPE (DEFINITION)
-To feel sorry for yourself, without making any effort to do anything or be more
happy.
-To be in an abstracted or stupefied state; act without conscious thought.
- To remain in a listless, apathetic condition, without making any effort to rouse

oneself.
“He moved with a jogging gait and shook hands with his wife. ‘This is Angela. You
remember Angela, don’t you?’ ‘No, I can’t say that I do. What does she want?’ ‘We just
came to see you.’ ‘Well, you have come at an exceedingly inconvenient time. I am very
busy.”
“Outside the door a high peevish voice, which Angela recognized as her father’s, said:
‘I haven’t the time, I tell you. Let them come back later.”
LORD MOPING
Lord Moping belongs to the upper-class society.

He has a desire of complete control. He lives in a
County Home for mental defectives.
LADY MOPING
Lady Moping Lord Moping´s wife, also an upper-class

woman. She is selfish, she doesn't pay attention to how
Angela is feeling about the situation with Mr. Loveday,
because he is a lower-class man.
MR LOVEDAY
He also lives in the County Home for mental defectives. He
is an elderly little man with full white hair and an
expression of great kindness. He is known in the institution
as a friendly and helpful person.
[…] I can’t deny I should welcome a little outing once, before I get too old to
enjoy it. I expect we all have our secret ambitions, and there is one thing I often
wish I could do. You mustn’t ask me what … I wouldn’t take long. But I do feel
that if I had done it just for a day, an afternoon even, then I would die quiet
(26).
CONTEXT: WHERE AND
WHEN DOES THE STORY
TAKE PLACE?
It takes place in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century
● The English weather
(“[…] the caprice of the weather which, remaining clear and brilliant with promise
until the arrival of the first guests, had suddenly blackened into a squall”)
squall: a strong wind
● The five o'clock tea.
(“[...] and returned in time for tea.”)
● Cities: Plymouth- London. /ˈplɪməθ/ - /ˈlʌndən/
(“[…] the general impression was that he would go to London and enjoy himself a
little before visiting his step-sister in Plymouth”)
THE PLOT
The story can be divided in three parts :
● What comes before the little outing;

● The little outing, which is the climax of the story;
● What happens after the little outing (not
mentioned)
THE MAIN THEMES
MAIN THEMES
● MADNESS, INSANITY
● MURDER
● SOCIAL CLASSES/PRIVILEGES/WEALTH
● TRUST: ANGELA TRUSTS IN MR LOVEDAY
● MANIPULATION
● GUILT
SYMBOLS OF THE
UPPER CLASS
SYMBOLS OF THE UPPER CLASS
● Lady Moping's annual garden party : when the party is
ruined, her reputation can also be ruined.
● Mr. Loveday is the secretary of sir Moping
● The gift of sir Moping, the golden cigarette cage.
● Titles: Lord-Lady
● Affording a country estate/asylum
(‘Those are the lower-class lunatics,’ observed Lady Moping. ‘There is a
very nice little flower garden for people like your father”)
He lived in a separate wing of the asylum, specially devoted to the segregation

of wealthier lunatics. They were given every consideration which their foibles
permitted. They might choose their own clothes (many indulged in the liveliest
fancies), smoke the most expensive brands of cigars, and, on the anniversaries
of their certification, entertain any other inmates for whom they had an
attachment to private dinner parties (21).
(“Lord Moping, with a few suitable expressions of regret, presented Mr

Loveday on behalf of the wealthier lunatics with a gold cigarette case […]
many of the non-paying inmates were in tears of the day of the
presentation”)
ANGELA´S RELATIONSHIP WITH HER
FATHER
“It was Angela’s first visit and it was being made at the own
suggestion (after ten years)” (20);
‘Think of being locked up in a looney bin all one’s life.’… ‘I don’t mean
Papa. I mean Mr Loveday.’ (25)
“[…] I hope that you do not anticipate your father’s return here.’ ‘No,
no. Mr Loveday.’
LADY MOPING´S RELATIONSHIP WITH
HER HUSBAND
“her husband had betrayed her basely on the one day in the year when she
looked for loyal support, and was far better off than he deserved.”
“Since then Lady Moping had paid seasonal calls at the asylum and returned in
time for tea, rather reticent of her experience”.
From time to time, with less or more tact, her friends attempted to bring to Lady
Moping’s notice particulars of seaside nursing homes, of ‘qualified practitioners with
large private grounds suitable for the charge of nervous or difficult cases’, but she
accepted them lightly; when her son came of age he might make any changes that he
thought fit; meanwhile she felt no inclination to relax her economical regime
VOCABULARY: MADNESS
COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE: lunatics, cuckoo,looney,bin
MORE FORMAL LANGUAGE: inmate, institution, asylum

(əˈsaɪləm/),mental defectives
● WHO IS TO BLAME FOR MR
LOVEDAY´S CRIME AT THE END OF
THE STORY?
● HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU
WERE ANGELA?
TO SUM UP
● THE CHARACTERS (NAMES)
● THE THEMES
● CONTEXT: WHEN AND WHERE (BEGINNING OF 20TH
CENTURY)
● THE AUTHOR
● VOCABULARY
● THE UPPER CLASS SYMBOLS

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What are the main themes explored in the story?

What are the main themes explored in the story?

Who are the main characters in the story?

Who are the main characters in the story?

Mr Loveday's Little Outing

Waugh wrote about arrogant, self-centered, wealthy,

WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?

● She is the daughter of Lord and Lady Moping. She is a

-To be in an abstracted or stupefied state; act without conscious thought.

- To remain in a listless, apathetic condition, without making any effort to rouse

Lord Moping belongs to the upper-class society.

Lady Moping Lord Moping´s wife, also an upper-class

● The English weather

squall: a strong wind

● The five o'clock tea.

(“[...] and returned in time for tea.”)

● Cities: Plymouth- London. /ˈplɪməθ/ - /ˈlʌndən/

The story can be divided in three parts :

● What comes before the little outing;

He lived in a separate wing of the asylum, specially devoted to the segregation

(“Lord Moping, with a few suitable expressions of regret, presented Mr

MORE FORMAL LANGUAGE: inmate, institution, asylum

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