ABSTRACT
The opening scenarios of Vera and Palladian are strikingly similar: both begin with the death of a father, leaving an orphaned young heroine isolated and vulnerable as she sets out into adult life. That this adult life will involve marriage is presented as inevitable, and in this sense both novels follow the structure of a traditional romance. Elizabeth von Arnim's eleventh novel, Vera, was a startling experiment in form. Her previous novels, whilst addressing such serious topics as the miserable tyranny of relentless child-rearing and the displacement of people by war had skillfully used the romance structures and witty tone of the romantic comedy. Like Vera, Elizabeth Taylor's Palladian disrupts the gothic romance narrative by being funny. Neither Vera nor Palladian is a simple rehearsal of the Victorian narrative; both have a darker purpose. In neither of these novels, the heroine lives "happily ever after".
