Joan and Peter
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 1918 |
| Founder | H. G. Wells |
Joan and Peter, a novel published in 1918 by H. G. Wells, offers a satirical examination of late-Victorian and Edwardian England. It critiques the English education system just before World War I, explores the war's societal effects, and contemplates the role of education. Wells regarded this work as "one of his most ambitious" novels.
Plot
The narrative opens in 1893 with the birth of Peter Stublands, initially focusing on his parents. Arthur, heir to a prosperous Quaker manufacturing dynasty, is an artistically minded Fabian socialist. Dolly, from an affluent vicar’s family, is intellectually gifted and attended the Royal College of Science. They reside near Limpsfield in a home designed by Arthur. Arthur’s sisters, Aunt Phyllis and Aunt Phoebe, are progressive suffragettes who frequently visit.
Dolly secretly loves her cousin Oswald Sydenham, a naval officer marked by his experience in the bombardment of Alexandria and committed to expanding British influence in Africa. After Arthur’s unfaithfulness, Dolly almost elopes with Oswald but ultimately declines. Their reconciliation ends tragically when both drown near Capri due to Arthur’s reckless behavior.
In their wills, Dolly and Arthur appointed Oswald as Peter’s guardian; however, Arthur later substituted him with Aunts Phoebe and Phyllis along with Lady Charlotte Sydenham, whom he considered respectable. A legal dispute arises over the children’s guardianship and education following Dolly’s death, complicated by ambiguous instructions from the family solicitor.
Lady Charlotte opposes the progressive ideals of Phoebe and Phyllis and schemes to transfer Joan (Dolly’s niece) and Peter from their unconventional "School of St. George and the Venerable Bede" to more traditional schools. She abducts them; Peter is sent to High Cross Preparatory near Windsor Castle, where he suffers bullying and eventually runs away; Joan becomes ill under harsh conditions. After nearly two decades abroad in Africa, Oswald returns to England determined to oversee their education.
Once it is established that Dolly died after Arthur, her will takes precedence. Oswald assumes sole guardianship and seeks appropriate schooling but finds no institution that meets modern educational needs. He enrolls Peter at White Court then Caxton, sends Joan to Highmorton School, and settles at Pelham Ford in Ware, Hertfordshire, with Mrs. Moxton managing their household.
Chapter 11 describes Joan and Peter’s teenage years: raised as siblings, they initially clash over social circles but develop romantic feelings once Joan discovers they are not blood relatives. Both later attend Cambridge.
With the onset of the Great War, all eligible men enlist; Oswald is incapacitated, many of Joan’s suitors perish, and Peter joins the Royal Flying Corps. After sustaining serious injuries in combat, Peter gains profound new perspectives on life. During a leave in England, Joan confesses her love for him; they marry. Peter endures further harm when his observation balloon is shot down but survives and looks ahead to contributing toward a future World State.
Characters
Joan and Peter introduces a variety of characters connected to the main figures, each playing a significant role in the narrative.
Family and Parents
Arranged by relevance:
Dolly Sydenham, Peter's mother.
Arthur Stubland, Peter's father.
William Sydenham, Joan's father, a poet who died in a car accident.
Fanny Dibenham, Joan's mother, who passed away soon after childbirth.
Oswald Sydenham, Dolly’s cousin and the guardian responsible for Joan and Peter.
Aunts Phyllis and Phoebe, Arthur’s sisters who cared for the children for six years; Phoebe is a fervent suffragette and writer whose behavior unsettles Oswald. During the First World War, she sleepwalks and composes an "Open Letter to German Women." Phyllis is more composed and nurturing toward Joan.
Academic Connections
Listed by either death or last mention. Students from High Cross Preparatory School are excluded.
Troop, an American acquaintance who enlists six days before Peter; his ultimate fate is unknown.
Winterbaum, a friend and brief competitor of Peter at St. George’s School and Cambridge. Enthusiastic about cubism, he takes Joan to clubs and dies mysteriously at the Battle of Loos, becoming the first casualty in their group during the Great War.
Wilmington, a devoted friend who falls in love with Joan. He enlists as a gunner, sends detailed letters criticizing military practices, and is killed by a German bomb while preparing gun-pits.
Bunny Cuspard, an eccentric Cambridge friend known for hosting monthly tea gatherings. Initially hesitant about military service, he eventually enlists but is haunted by wartime experiences. Sent to Ireland, he is fatally shot by a Sinn Féin sniper; he dies laughing, envisioning a new dance. He owns a copy of Little Wars, H.G. Wells’ game manual.
Mir Jellaludin, an Indian Muslim friend fascinated by various religions. He corresponds with Joan and serves in the French Air Force after British rejection of Indian pilots. Peter overcomes his initial biases when Jellaludin rescues him in combat.
The Sheldrick circle, an unconventional family from St. George’s School known for costume parties that inspire Joan’s dancing. Pacifists during the Great War, they provide refuge for Huntley, once Joan’s lover who reveals her father’s identity. After Joan encourages him to enlist, he writes pacifist pamphlets and likely develops feelings for Babs, an actress daughter.
Additional Characters
Presented according to their order of introduction.
The unnamed Italian boatman in Capri, formerly a stonemason with poor lung health, accompanies Arthur and Dolly Stubland. His lack of experience combined with provocation from Arthur leads to their drowning.
Mary, nurse to Joan and Peter, quietly leaves the story after Oswald takes over their care.
Mr. Sycamore, lawyer for Aunts Phyllis and Phoebe.
Muir, Oswald’s trusted companion during his African explorations; unable to return, he sends his belongings back to England.
Miss Murgatroyd, founder and educator at St. George’s School and the Venerable Bede, structures her teaching around Pre-Raphaelite and aesthetic ideals, staging plays with the Sheldrick circle. Artists such as John William Waterhouse and Walter Crane are referenced.
Miss Mill, another instructor at the same school, pursues a university diploma in London but struggles with math and literacy.
Unwin, Lady Charlotte’s maid who influences her through hypocritical dialogue; her sister, Mrs. Pybus, cares for Joan when Peter attends High Cross Preparatory School.
Mr. Grimes, legal representative for Lady Charlotte Sydenham.
Probyn, a student at High Cross Preparatory School who initially shows interest in Peter but inadvertently triggers bullying by Newton. He enlists as a bomb-thrower during the Great War; his distinctive appearance and daring nature earn respect from comrades and fear from foes. He is ultimately killed by machine-gun fire alongside two Germans.
Newton, another student who bullies Peter; his fate during the Great War remains unknown.
Ames, also a pupil who enlists and loses part of his leg early in the conflict. During leave, he informs Peter about Probyn’s death as a bomb-thrower.
Mr. Mainwaring, the strict headmaster at High Cross Preparatory School whose harshness makes life difficult for Peter alongside two ineffective teachers. He forces students to write falsely enthusiastic letters home and administers severe punishments. When Peter escapes, Mainwaring stages a fake drowning by releasing a sailing boat with his hat aboard.
Mr. Mackinder, an apologetic schoolmaster Oswald encounters while exploring educational options for the children; he expresses doubts about reforming education to align with modern realities.
Themes
Joan and Peter delves into several prominent themes characteristic of Wells's work.
Human Unity and Its Cosmic Connection
The story concludes with Oswald Sydenham contemplating a unified human will, an idea Wells would further develop in The Outline of History. Despite Oswald’s doubts about this collective will amid turmoil, he senses an elusive force sustaining existence: "There was a light upon his life... a presence in the world... Nameless and Incomprehensible... the Essence beyond Reality; the Heart of All Things." Although Wells was distancing himself from traditional religious beliefs following God the Invisible King, religion here remains one of multiple metaphors illustrating humanity’s link to the universe.
Oswald also endures a nightmare that symbolizes mankind’s challenges: wandering through a shadowy forest representing life’s hardships, he perceives a faint light that transforms into flames, embodying danger.
At the same time, Peter’s convalescence brings a revelation of God portrayed as a "Great Experimenter" who encourages active engagement rather than passive complaint. Motivated by this insight and an encounter with a wise Indian figure, Peter dedicates himself to the proactive restoration of the British Empire.
Education
Joan and Peter offers a critique of England’s educational inertia prior to World War I, directly associating it with the country’s wartime difficulties. Wells includes an "Apology of the Schoolmaster," in which Mr. Mackinder, headmaster at White Court, explains the constraints placed on teachers: "I had to be what was required of me."
The Necessity for England to Break Free from the "Anglican System"
Lady Charlotte Sydenham represents the inflexibility of Anglicanism, which Wells identifies as a significant barrier to Britain’s advancement. He contends that the Old Anglican establishment’s resistance to reform played a crucial role in the nation’s pre-war struggles.
The British Empire as Custodian of a Future World State
Characters Oswald and Peter embody Wells’s vision of the British Empire acting as a guardian for the nascent world government.
Redaction and publication
Joan and Peter was composed in 1917.
Reception
While Wells’s acquaintances received the novel positively, external critical response was mixed. Virginia Woolf considered it too instructive for fiction but recognized its "continuity and vitality" along with Wells’s talent for crafting a "whole world." Thomas Hardy admired the work and read it aloud to his wife.