ublishing novels and Bernard by trying to prove that Byron killed Chater in a duel. This ends badly for both of them, with Chater being cuckolded and Bernard's theory being exposed as bogus, with subsequent evidence proving Hannah's criticism of him, that he had gone "from a glint in [his] eye to a sure thing in a hop, skip and a jump" (59).
             That this criticism should come from her is appropriate, since she is the most level-headed of the characters, possessing the "mannerism...of classical reserve" (75). Her statement can be taken as a criticism by the play as a whole on the use, and misuse, of knowledge, and its obscure nature viewed through different perspectives, particularly in the light of history. The structure of the play allows the audience to examine the mistakes of interpretation that the characters of the "present" make about the past, for example, Bernard believing that Chater was killed by Byron. Knowledge is misconstrued and manipulated to suit the purposes of those who believe: Bernard speaks of a "missing link", a letter that "must" have been written to report the death of Chater in a duel, and says of it, "It dropped from sight but we will write it again!" (50). An example of this from the "past" is Lady Croom, who insists that things
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