The plot revolves around a retired army officer who goes through a serious argument with his friend. He was declared a thief. The main themes of the play are greed, responsibility, and theft.
In this article, I will provide information on the Play ‘’Loyalties by John Galsworthy. These topics will be discussed:
- Author
- Characters
- Summary
- Themes
- Review
- Pros & Cons
- Conclusion
Author
This play was written by John Galsworthy back in 1922. It had been performed on stage as well. John Galsworthy is a prominent author in literature. I had shared reviews of his other books as well on-site. Some common books are:
Characters
In short, this play has the following characters:
Captain Ronald Dancy Or Ronny
He is the main character of the book. He had served in the army. He seems an intelligent and active person.
Mabel Dancy
She is Ronny’s wife in the book.
Ferdinard De Levis
A friend of Ronny who had a heated argument with him.
Charles Winsor & Mrs.Winsor
They were another of Ronny’s friends who invited him to party at their house.
Loyalties By John Galsworthy Summary
Here, I will just share a short overview for readers. The setting of the story is during the 1920s. The main character is Ronny. He had served in the Army. After retirement, he invested in horses but wasn’t able to afford a stall for them. He also enjoyed lavishness.
He sold one of his favorite mares ‘’Rosemary’’ to his friend Ferdinard De Levis. He was a jew. He sold Rosemary to another man for a thousand pounds.
The author shared many other ideas in the book. All the characters were invited by the Winsor family to a party. Roony showed his jealousy after learning about Rosemary. He was a bit jealous because his friend earned a handsome amount of money after selling the mare. They played bets together.
There is a twist in the story when De Levis announces that his thousand dollars had been stolen by someone. He accused Roony. He even called the Police. They reached out and started an investigation during the party. Roony appeared in court. He filed a case against De Levis for defaming him.
Jacob Twisden was Roony’s lawyer. This was the first time he was fighting for creed and race, not for justice. Roony had cursed De Levis. Roony wanted to leave the city but his wife insisted that they should not leave the city if they had not done anything wrong. Both Roony & De Levis took their cases back.
”This paragraph may container ending”. The story ends when Roony discloses why he had stolen money. The reason was his past affair with an Italian girl. His father pressured Roony to give her daughter monthly income otherwise he would disclose his secret affair. The play closed with the death of Roony when the Police reached him.
Analysis
John Galsworthy emphasized a serious issue in this play. The main point is that bad actions lead to bad outcomes. If you have read physics, you must know about it. Every action brings an opposite reaction. The same goes for this book. Roony had a secret affair in the past.
He had not informed his wife about it. Further, he stole money from his friend. He showed his greed in the book. All these bad habits ruined his life and made his life worse.
Themes
This book has the following 3 themes:
Jealousy
It’s a common trait of Roony’s personality. He became jealous when he learned about the profit earned by De Lavis.
Greed
Roony developed greed after hearing of a thousand pounds from De Lavis.
Theft
Roony stole money from his friend. This ruined his image in everyone’s eyes.
Outcome
Bad habits mostly bring bad results. The same goes for Roony.
Review
- This play shared the importance of communication with loved ones. Further, one should stay away from bad habits. If Roony had revealed his secret to his wife earlier, things would not have happened to them.
- There is another point that I loved about Galsworthy’s work is the worth of human connections. His work focused on developing links with loved ones. If you read this play, you will surely get such vibes.
Pros
Some things that I like about this book are:
- Taught about karma.
- One should reveal his secrets to loved ones
- Jealousy and greed can ruin life
Cons
- The writing style was difficult. It may be because it’s from the 20th century.
Conclusion: Loyalties By John Galsworthy
Loyalties By John Galsworthy highlights an event where a man Roony appeared in court. He was accused of thief as he had stolen money from his Jewish friend. He hired a strong lawyer but soon disclosed the reason behind the theft. The common themes of the play are greed and karma.
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