Editor's Choice
Why is the Jeweller dissatisfied with his life in "The Duchess and the Jeweller"?
Quick answer:
The jeweller is dissatisfied with his his life in "The Duchess and the Jeweller" because no matter how much he has, he always wants more. This is rooted in his shame over his poor, obscure childhood, to him a stain he can never wash away.
Oliver Bacon, the jeweller, has everything and nothing—his life is a paradox. He has wealth, possessions, jewels, and the respect and envy of others.
Yet, his life is empty, because he has no one to share it with. Diana, the daughter of the Duchess, is the object of his desire. She also becomes his Achilles heel: once the Duchess invites him to her estate for the weekend, Oliver ultimately pays for the pearls without having their authenticity checked. He hopes to see Diana, so he writes the check for twenty thousand, despite a suspicious feeling that gnaws at him, since the Duchess has lied to him before. Oliver is so lonely and so in love with Diana that he takes the chance, “For … it is to be a long week-end.”
Also, Oliver seems to show an insecurity, as if he were that poor little boy he used to...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
be; he often thinks of his mother, imagining her reprimanding him for selling stolen dogs. He remembers his mother chiding him for having no sense. Although he has everything now, he “dismantled himself often” by feelings of being that little boy who had nothing. Feelings of insecurity follow him as he thinks back to the disgrace of poverty. No matter how wealthy he becomes, inside he is still the same.
Additionally, no matter how much Oliver has, he always wants more. He is not satisfied with having turned misfortune into fortune. Woolf compares him to a hog seeking truffles:
after unearthing this truffle and that, still it smells a bigger, a blacker truffle under the ground further off. So Oliver snuffed always in the rich earth of Mayfair another truffle, a blacker, a bigger further off.
Oliver thinks about his life and recognizes that he is dissatisfied and sad. The wealth and prestige of being England’s wealthiest jeweler will never be enough.
In the short story “The Duchess and the Jeweller” by Virginia Woolf, the Jeweller is a dissatisfied with a life that includes the finest material things, servants, and a burgeoning jewelry business. But why? Oliver Bacon’s story includes flashbacks to his life as a poor, small boy when his mother constantly berated him to use common sense and to make something of himself. He becomes the richest, most respected jeweler in London who has admirers in the business all over Europe. What he does not have is someone to love, someone to share the fruits of his labor with. He is in love with the daughter of the Duchess of Lambourne and he sells his soul to be with her by giving the Duchess money to pay her gambling debts by buying fake pearls from her. Again, he has a flashback to his mother as he stands before her portrait. He justifies his actions by telling himself he will get to spend a weekend with Diana, the daughter of the Duchess, and other aristocrats that will be in attendance.