magical-jealousy

Mr Norrell's anxiety and suspicion during the portrait sitting reveal his possessiveness over his magical knowledge and fear of it being stolen.

1 chapter across 1 book

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)Susanna Clarke

1814. It seems that, in spite of many provocations, Strange was still struggling to bear patiently with the older magician

This chapter depicts the tense dynamic between Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell during a portrait sitting, highlighting Norrell's suspicious and restless behavior driven by his fear that the artist, Mr Lawrence, is copying spells from his books. It also includes a scholarly debate about the true identity of Francis Pevensey, a sixteenth-century magician, and whether a woman could have been a practitioner of magic, reflecting differing attitudes toward gender and magical tradition between Norrell and Strange.