The Duchess and the Jeweller

By Virginia Woolf

1. In the boxes below, list the characteristics of Oliver as a child and Oliver as an adult.
Young Oliver Adult Oliver

- Live in filthy little alley - Dressed better and better.

- Selling stolen dogs to fashionable
women in Whitechapel.
- Had gone behind a counter.
- Sold cheap watches.
- Had taken a wallet to Amsterdam.
- First had a hansom cab
- Then a car
- Went up to the dress circle, then
down to a stalls.
- Had a villa at Richmon

2. Why did Oliver Bacon compare tears to pearls and heart-blood to rubbies?
 When Oliver refers to the pearls as tears and the rubies as blood, he is alluding to how hard
he had to work to become rich. He is saying that he put his blood and tears into getting those
things
.
3. Becoming the "richest jeweller in England" has brought the jeweller all of the
following except
 peace of mind.

4. The jeweller decides against having the pearls checked before he pays for them
because he
 He wanted to get the chance to meet Diana “for a long weekend”.

5. An expression associated with arrogance is a

 Sneer.

6. What is the duchess's attitude toward having the pearls checked out?
 Reluctant

7. Most of all, the jeweller would like the duchess to

 Become his mother-in-law.

8. At the end of the story, why does Oliver ask for forgiveness?
 Because he let himself be fooled into buying fake pearls wothout testing them.

9. Why does the Duchess invite Oliver to her estate?

 She knows that he likes to be with important people and loves her daughter Diana. She
invites him so that he will buy the pearls at the asking price.

10. Why does the Duchess want to sell the pearls?

 She needed money to pay her gambling debts.

11. What sort of business did Oliver conduct when he was a boy?
  He sold stolen dogs to fashionable women and sold cheap watches.

12. What is Oliver Bacon's social status?

 He was the richest Jeweller in England.

13. What is the main theme of "The Duchess and The Jeweller" by Virginia Woolf?
 The theme is the way in which money corrupts people, making them do things they really
shouldn't do.

14. In The Duchess and the Jeweller, what was Oliver's childhood like? Please explain.

 He was born in a poor family and he needed to do anything to make ends meet regardless of

doing illegal things.

15. What is Oliver's attitude toward his past in "The Duchess and the Jeweler"?

 He is amused when he remembered the enterprises in which he engaged to begin his path

toward prosperity. Thinking about his younger self, a “wily astute boy” who sold stolen dogs,

for example, he “chuckles.” He was aware of the distance he has come from the “filthy little

alley” where he grew up. This ambivalence is summed up in Woolf’s phrase, “he dismantled

himself.” Oliver was proud, even arrogant, when he considered the distance he had traveled;

he frequently paused to admire his attributes and accessories, such as his “shapely” legs,

pants, and boots. However, his poor childhood also made him insecure.

16. What is the relation between the jeweller and the Duchess?

 The relationship is fundamentally one of mutual need. The Duchess needs some ready cash to

pay off the enormous gambling debts she's accrued. For his part, Oliver Bacon needs to gain

an entree into the upper echelons of high society.