Guy Mannering: Or the Astrologer Guy Mannering only half-believes in his art, but does believe in the ability of patriarchal power, wealth, and social position to sort out social confusion. However, he has to learn the limits of a nabob's authority in a society that (in the 1780s) is no longer a single hierarchy but has many subsets, each with its own laws - gypsies, smugglers, Edinburgh lawyers, the Border store farmer, the traditional landowner. |
