The Ides of March
An old friend of a brilliant Victorian gentleman narrates their adventures. Haven't we done this? Like, twice already? But the men in this story aren't the eccentric detectives solving the crime. This week we look at the genesis of a similar trope, but from the other side; the suave and brilliant gentleman thief.
The Facts Text: The Ides of March Author: E.W Hornung
Genre: Crime fiction, Victorian, Heist story Year: 1898
Available: The Amateur Cracksman (anthology)
Public Domain (Free!)
Content Warning: Suicide attempt, Suicidal ideation, use of the F slur (although not against queer people, its used in a different historical context, but it is there so I'm mentioning it for anyone who wants to watch out for any use of that word). Neither of these are discussed in my post below but are present if you choose to read the original story.
The Fiction
As anyone who has read even one other post on this blog could tell you I love a good villain. It should come as no surprise then that one of my favourite character tropes is the loveable rouge, the jerk with a heart of gold; the gentleman thief. The gentleman thief has endured and remained beloved in our pop culture much like its brother from the Victorian period the eccentric detective. Or its the brother-in-law of the eccentric detective trope. This week I look at The Ides of March; the first of many stories featuring amateur "cracksman" (thief) AJ Raffles and his assistant/narrator "Bunny" Manders. These stories were written by E.W Hornung the brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes, so see what I did up there? This trope is the brother-in-law of the detective trope? Because Hornung was--You get it).
Raffles and Bunny definitely have a lot in common with Holmes and Watson, something which Hornung doesn't try to hide, as the first anthology published of the thieves includes the dedication "To ACD this flattery". AJ Raffles and Bunny have the brilliant and talented amateur and loyal friend/narrator dynamic so beloved in Holmes and Watson. The main difference being of course that they commit crimes instead of solving them.
In The Ides of March Hornung tells the story of how Bunny, destitute and facing financial and social ruin goes to his old university friend, the cricket star AJ Raffles. He is teetering on the edge of suicide when Raffles talks him down and agrees to help him. Raffles tells Bunny that he himself is in a difficult financial situation. Bunny is shocked that his famous cricket playing friend is in trouble as well considering his lifestyle. He promises Raffles he will do whatever he asks if Raffles can get them some money. He thinks at first they are going to ask a friend of Raffles' for a loan, but soon realizes his old friend has brought him along on a heist, and is in fact a burglar. The second part of the story details the heist of a nearby jeweler, and Bunny's feelings, or lack of feelings, namely guilt, about their adventure.
The Feeling
So this is a heist story, and within it Bunny himself tries to answer the question: should I be enjoying this? In this week's post I'll try and touch on why we enjoy the gentleman thief so much, and I'll look a bit at the relationship between Raffles and Bunny.
While I can't find for certain whether Raffles is the first ever example of the gentleman thief in pop culture (there are definitely some mythical figures like Prometheus, and Odysseus, or folkloric figures like Robin Hood that contribute to the trope as well) he is definitely one of the figures who popularized and helped create the foundations of the trope in modern fiction. Whether it be heist movies like Oceans 11, tv shows about thieves and grifters like White Collar or Leverage, or stories like this one there is a corner of crime fiction where we not only follow the journeys of criminals, but activity root for them as heroes or anti-heroes. Most of the time these criminals we're allowed to root for are thieves. These thieves will often have traits that make them not only sympathetic but likeable. Specifically a typical trait of a gentleman thief is an aversion to violence. In this story Raffles makes a point to mention that he never caries a loaded gun, and has never felt the desire to kill anyone, so we can see that this trait has existed for a long time.
Another aspect of the gentleman thief that makes them fun to root for is the trait of competence. Put simply we enjoy watching or reading about people who are really good at what they do. We like a display of skill. We also really like puzzles. In detective stories the puzzle Holmes and his counterparts solve is how a crime was committed after the fact. In heist stories the puzzle is similar, with Raffles and his counterparts focusing on that puzzle of how to commit (and often get away with) said crime in the first place. The logic and skill of the detective and thief are similar in these stories, just on opposite sides of the law.
There is also something that is just exciting about heists. Unlike detectives, who work perhaps begrudgingly but still with the police, there is that added level of suspense and danger to a heist story. If a thief fails they don't just go home with a cold case on their record, they go to jail. The increased stakes of not being caught add a spike of adrenaline to these stories. A big part of the heist in this story focuses on how quiet Raffles and Bunny have to be, and on Bunny's role as the lookout because there are so many instances where they could be caught all of which add excitement to the story.
A final reason we enjoy the gentleman thief is that instead of conning other desperate and poor people he often steals from the rich, from other other criminals, or some combination of both that the audience either feels can afford it without being hurt, or deserves it. As Raffles says in this story of his hobby ,"Of course it's very wrong, but we can't all be moralists, and the distribution of wealth is very wrong to begin with."
Because Raffles and Bunny are Holmes and Watson spin off's there is also the added dynamic of their friendship to the enjoyment of the story. Bunny describes Raffles as incredibly charismatic, with an almost supernatural ability to get people to do what he likes. While the story is clear that sometimes this can come off as calculated manipulation, Raffles is redeemable because of his genuine admiration and care for Bunny. While he occasionally tricks or manipulates Bunny into doing what he likes, even Bunny has to admit it is never in a malicious or cruel way, and part of the brilliance of Raffles' game is Bunny's genuine desire to follow him even without the manipulation.
As a side note, when reading this story I wondered if Hornung was queer based on the depiction of this friendship. Raffles and Bunny just seemed very fond of each other. Apparently Hornung was not queer, but the real life university friend he partially based Raffles on was (although its unclear of Hornung knew this). Still whether deliberate or not many people have read the friendship between Raffles and Bunny as, at the very least, homoerotic. (Which to be fair they've done for Holmes and Watson too). There's just something about brilliant Victorian gentleman going on adventures with their best friends! Whether you read it as platonic, romantic or in some space between the dynamic of Raffles and Bunny is the heart of the story.
Heist stories have become a genre in their own right in our pop culture. Within this genre has formed the trope of the gentleman thief. The Ides of March serves as the introduction of one of the originals of this trope, while also imitating the famous duo of Holmes and Watson. While the heist itself isn't particularly noteworthy (it is the 1800's there aren't lasers to weave through or cameras to trick yet) the character dynamics keep the story appealing to modern readers. As Bunny himself admits, he knows he shouldn't enjoy the heist, but with the excitement, the adventure, and the company of his friend...well he can't bring himself to feel guilty. And neither should readers and fans of the gentleman thief!
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