Charles Pooter
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Charles Pooter is a fictional character, the supposed author and leading character of George Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody.
Pooter is a City of London clerk with ideas above his station. Apart from taking himself very seriously indeed, he is also an extreme example of self-importance, with the unhappy result that he is much snubbed by those he considers beneath him.[1]
He has a wife called Carrie and a son called Lupin, the latter unsuitably engaged to the distressingly inferior Daisy Mutlar.[1]
The Pooters live at The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway, London, in a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement, with a front breakfast-parlour, a little front garden, and a flight of ten steps up to the front door. A nice little back garden runs down to the railway, which causes no nuisance, other than the cracking up of the garden wall.[1]
Pooter's intimate friends Cummings and Gowing always let themselves in at the side entrance, thus saving the housemaid the trouble of going to the door.[1] He sometimes drinks Madeira.[2]
The character has spawned the word Pooterism, which means taking yourself grotesquely seriously.[3][4]
[edit] Portrayals
- Arthur Lowe: audio version
- Bryan Pringle: film by Ken Russell (1964)
- Terrence Hardiman: television adaptation (1979)
- Hugh Bonneville: BBC Four version (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Diary of a Nobody, available at Project Gutenberg.
- ^ "Gowing produced a pint sample-bottle of Madeira, which had been given him, which he said would get rid of the blues. I dare say it would have done so if there had been more of it; but as Gowing helped himself to three glasses, it did not leave much for Carrie and me to get rid of the blues with." (Diary of a Nobody)
- ^ Few knew I was in such a bad way - article by Allison Pearson in The Daily Telegraph, 19 September 2003
- ^ It's uncut, leftwing and Pooterish - article by Mark Lawson in The Guardian, London, 23 April 2005
