53 pages • 1 hour read
Alan BennettThe Uncommon Reader
Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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The Duty of the Monarch
One of the most critical thematic elements of The Uncommon Reader is the way that Bennett explores how a monarch operates according to duty rather than desire. Although this novella focuses specifically on the English monarchy, this idea could apply to political contexts across the globe.
The protagonist of The Uncommon Reader is the Queen of England, whose upbringing has bred her into a person with “no preferences” (6), operating with “pleasure […] always […] second to duty” (30). The Queen is steadfast in her belief that it is only her role to complete her queenly duties: greeting the public, communicating politely with other politicians, and managing the image of the royal family’s interests and goals. The Queen’s commitment to her duties is only threatened by her new interest in reading. Early on, she notes that “if she could feel she had a duty to read then she could set about it with a clear conscience” (30). For the Queen, duty should come second to her pleasure; since reading is not her duty, she doesn’t feel she can truly partake in this private activity with a clear conscience. Yet over time, as the Queen immerses herself in the world of literature, she loses this self-doubt and begins to think of her role in the world differently.
Towards the end of the novel, the Queen’s beliefs about her duty as monarch have changed completely. As she prepares to announce her intention to abdicate the throne, the Queen reveals this shift to the gathered advisors, reflecting on the many years she spent operating according to duty. The Queen describes giving her “white-gloved hand to hands that were steeped in blood and convers[ing] politely with men who have personally slaughtered children” (116). As the Queen opens herself to new perspectives and the possibility of empathizing with other people, she moves away from duty and can criticize her own political context, which she has upheld for many years.
The Power of the Written Word
Much of the plot of The Uncommon Reader centers on the role of books, reading, and writing. Although the Queen could have engaged in several activities that might have opened her mind, Bennett specifically chooses literature as her entry point to personal growth. At first, the Queen’s acceptance of the written word comes from a simpler desire to do something different. She notes that “books did not care who was reading them or whether one read them or not. All readers were equal, herself included” (30). Yet the more she reads, the more the Queen views books as a whole world to be understood, sometimes regretting not having started reading as a younger person. Later in the Queen’s transition, she begins thinking about writing things down, eventually choosing to do so. Only through reading can the Queen become a writer herself.
The Queen and Public Opinion
One of the most challenging tensions for the Queen is how separately she must live from the rest of her country. Initially, she feels regret over having been unable to find “much of interest” (21) in conversations with the well-known authors she has met. Her separation from society leads her to have difficulty understanding what the public’s opinion or values might be. When the Queen reads enough to begin understanding the wider world, she is finally able to grasp that when she dies, she will “exist only in the memories of people. She who had never been subject to anyone would now be on a par with everybody else. Reading could not change that—though writing might” (100). In life she was not able to be part of the social world like “everybody else,” yet the Queen decides that by writing something, she might be able to change the public opinion of her forever after.
