Double Harness cover

Double Harness

Rating 3.0
Word count
669K words
Chapters
67

Tags

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Double Harness by Anthony HopeAuthor: Hope, Anthony, 1863-1933,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 27, 2013

Editor's review

Double Harness is one of Anthony Hope's more representative social novels, centered on trust, responsibility, and compromise in marriage. Hope is known for his light, ironic portrayal of upper-middle-class English manners, and this book continues that style: through characters wavering between emotion and moral duty, it presents marriage as a "double harness" in all its complexity. As a free eBook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to read on electronic devices anytime and serves as an accessible introduction to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century British popular fiction. Readers may wish to note how the author handles dialogue and psychological description, and how he embeds a gentle critique of marriage as an institution within a popular plot. Those studying Hope or British social fiction may read it alongside The Prisoner of Zenda to see how his craft shifts from adventure romance to domestic ethics.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers interested in British social fiction of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras
  • Literature enthusiasts and scholars studying the arc of Anthony Hope's work
  • Readers who enjoy marriage-ethics themes and careful psychological portraiture
  • Readers seeking free public-domain English classics in eBook form

Not a good fit for

  • Readers who prefer fast-paced adventure plots and have little patience for domestic ethics
  • Readers with limited English reading ability who are unaccustomed to late nineteenth-century prose
  • Readers expecting the author's signature adventure-romance style

Reading tips

  1. Read the opening chapters first to grasp the main character relationships and the origin of the marital conflict, then move into the details.
  2. Watch for irony and implication in the dialogue; Hope's wit often lies in what characters leave unsaid.
  3. Consult Hope's life and the historical background to understand the novel's attitude toward marriage as an institution.
  4. After finishing, compare it with The Prisoner of Zenda to appreciate the differences in subject matter and technique.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67

FAQ

Is this book in the original English? What English level is needed?
This is the original English text, released free by Project Gutenberg. The prose belongs to late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century British fiction, with sentence structures somewhat more complex than today's; a reading level of CET-4 or above is recommended, or reading with a dictionary and notes.
What does the title Double Harness mean?
"Double harness" originally refers to a harness for two horses pulling together, and is often used as a metaphor for the shared relationship of marriage. The title suggests that marriage is both cooperation and constraint; its specific meaning should be understood through the characters' choices between emotion and duty.
Is this book stylistically similar to the author's The Prisoner of Zenda?
Not entirely. The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure romance with a tight plot; Double Harness turns to domestic ethics and social manners, with a slower pace and greater emphasis on psychology and witty dialogue. Reading the two together reveals how Hope handles different genres.

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About the author

Anthony Hope (1863–1933) was an English novelist best known for his adventure romances. The library holds 36 of his works, including his代表作 The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau, as well as The King's Mirror, Mr. Witt's Widow, Half a Hero, Frivolous Cupid, and The Heart of Princess Osra. His fiction is typically set in the courts of invented Central European states, blending mistaken identity, political intrigue, and romantic entanglement in tightly paced, entertaining plots that combine legend with popular appeal. The Prisoner of Zenda established the classic "substitute king" motif and has exerted a lasting influence on later adventure narratives, frequently adapted for stage and screen. Public information about his life is limited, but these works clearly show his gift for weaving suspense and romance within imaginary historical settings.

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