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Helena (1950 novel)

 

 
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Helena (1950 novel)
 
 
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Helena, published in 1950
1950 in literature

The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books....
, is the sole historical novel
Historical novel

A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author....
 of Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho...
.

It follows the quest of Helena
Helena of Constantinople

Saint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I....
 to find the relics of the cross on which Christ
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
 was crucified. Helena, a Christian, was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine I
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
.

The book has been described as lacking the characteristic biting satire
Satire

Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic arts and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improv...
 for which Waugh is best known. However, the figure of Constantius Chlorus
Constantius Chlorus

Flavius Valerius Constantius , also Constantius I, was an Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire . He was commonly called Chlorus an epithet given to him by Byzantine Empire historians....
, Constantine's father, was interpreted by friends of the novelist as a caricature of Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery, a man Waugh mocked as a vainglorious social climber.






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Helena, published in 1950
1950 in literature

The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books....
, is the sole historical novel
Historical novel

A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author....
 of Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho...
.

It follows the quest of Helena
Helena of Constantinople

Saint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I....
 to find the relics of the cross on which Christ
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
 was crucified. Helena, a Christian, was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine I
Constantine I

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus , commonly known in English_language as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine , was Roman Emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 until his death in 337....
.

The book has been described as lacking the characteristic biting satire
Satire

Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre; although, in practice, it is also found in the graphic arts and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improv...
 for which Waugh is best known. However, the figure of Constantius Chlorus
Constantius Chlorus

Flavius Valerius Constantius , also Constantius I, was an Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire . He was commonly called Chlorus an epithet given to him by Byzantine Empire historians....
, Constantine's father, was interpreted by friends of the novelist as a caricature of Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery, a man Waugh mocked as a vainglorious social climber. More generally, the corruption and instability of the Roman society Waugh describes is reminiscent of the malaise and pragmatism that prevails over tradition and chivalric ethics at the end of the Sword of Honour
Sword of Honour

The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms , Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender , which loosely parallel his war time experiences....
 trilogy. Helena's saintliness does not allow her to save her son from an imperial destiny she fears and disapproves of (at one point she fantasises about him becoming a provincial colonel); nor is she able to save her innocent grandson Crispus
Crispus

Flavius Julius Crispus, also known as Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus was a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He was the first-born son of Constantine I and Minervina....
 from being murdered on Constantine's orders in a palace struggle.

The novel includes the unlikely tradition from Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was a clergyman and one of the major figures in the English historians in the Middle Ages and the popularity of tales of King Arthur....
 that Helena was a British princess, daughter of King Coel.

Waugh always described Helena as his best work. Since his death it has received little critical attention and is usually regarded even by admirers as a minor work.