Fame

A central and fairly cynical theme in Cakes and Ale is that the English people revere old age and as a result laud authors twenty years after they have ceased to write anything useful. No longer viewing them as potential rivals, younger writers can afford to praise them and, since intelligent people cease to read after age thirty, they prefer the books of their youth and encourage their authors to continuing knocking out inconsequential works. Longevity becomes genius—and Edward (Ted) Driffield lasts a long time. In the 1860s, his talent receives moderate praise; by his seventieth birthday he is seen as an overlooked treasure and there begins a rush for his books. Appreciative essays and studies are penned, and by his seventy-fifth birthday, Ted is proclaimed a genius. At eighty, he is the "Grand Old Man of English Letters," a position he holds until his death...