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** Though any ongoing fame he continues to enjoy in the wider world is largely through this book, Tom Faggus is actually heavily based on a legendary highwayman who is said to have operated in Exmoor around the time that the novel is set and is something of a local myth ''al la'' Robin Hood. [[spoiler: He enjoys a happier ending than the mythic figure, who according to legend was betrayed and hung; here, he eventually settles down into married life with Annie.]]

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** Though any ongoing fame he continues to enjoy in the wider world is largely through this book, Tom Faggus is actually heavily based on a legendary highwayman who is said to have operated in Exmoor around the time that the novel is set and is something of a local myth ''al ''a la'' Robin Hood. [[spoiler: He enjoys a happier ending than the mythic figure, who according to legend was betrayed and hung; here, he eventually settles down into married life with Annie.]]
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* TheWestern: Not a straight example, of course, but the book was published at a time when the "dime novel" western was beginning to become popular and can essentially be read as a kind of proto-Western set in 17th century England rather than 19th century America. It's set in the west of the country during a lawless and wild period where the established authority in the back east has power in name only (and not too long after a civil war either), where outlaws run wild raiding helpless and isolated farming communities and the local authorities are either too weak, too corrupt or too cowardly to intervene, and a strong-but-silent type hero must stand up to a vicious gang of outlaws to save the woman he loves, right a historic wrong against his family and bring justice to the area. It even touches on at least three of TheSevenWesternPlots (ranch, revenge and outlaws).
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* PragmaticVillainy: The Doones have a certain amount of this, under Sir Ensor's leadership at least. They're wild and inclined to take whatever they want from the locals, but they do realise that there are ''some'' limits to what they can get away with, because ultimately for all their pretensions to their former aristocracy they're essentially just glorified bandits with no real legal standing. If they push things too fair their allies in the local aristocracy and administration will abandon them, the locals -- who outnumber them -- will rise up against them in outrage or summon the King's armies who would pose a real threat to them. Ergo, while they're justly feared by the locals they do try to keep the needless atrocities to a minimum and are willing to offer some recompense, or at least not push things too far. The Counsellor, Carver's father and Ensor's son, in particular tries to present the appearance of being a reasonable and just person. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for them, once Sir Ensor dies the Doone inheritance passes to the more reckless and wild Carver, who gradually escalates matters until a raid on a farm leads to a toddler being needlessly killed in an especially cruel and wanton fashion. This causes sufficient outrage among the locals to lead to a raid which destroys the Doone clan almost entirely.]]

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* PragmaticVillainy: The Doones have a certain amount of this, under Sir Ensor's leadership at least. They're wild and inclined to take whatever they want from the locals, but they do realise that there are ''some'' limits to what they can get away with, because ultimately for all their pretensions to their former aristocracy they're essentially just glorified bandits with no real legal standing. If they push things too fair far their allies in the local aristocracy and administration will abandon them, them and the locals -- who outnumber them -- will rise up against them in outrage or summon the King's armies armies, who would pose a real threat to them. Ergo, while they're justly feared by the locals they do try to keep the needless atrocities to a minimum and are willing to offer some recompense, or at least not push things too far. The Counsellor, Carver's father and Ensor's son, in particular tries to present the appearance of being a reasonable and just person. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for them, once Sir Ensor dies the Doone inheritance passes to the more reckless and wild Carver, who gradually escalates matters until a raid on a farm leads to a toddler being needlessly killed in an especially cruel and wanton fashion. This causes sufficient outrage among the locals to lead to a raid which destroys the Doone clan almost entirely.]]
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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and war. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his life is complicated when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner of the Doones. The two begin a secret romance -- but Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones -- who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...

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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in during the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and war. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his His life is complicated complicated, however, when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner of the Doones. The two begin Doones, leading to a secret romance -- but beginning between them. But Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones -- who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...
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* UsefulNotes/CharlesII: The book is set during the later years of his reign (1672-1685), and the brief reign of his brother James II (1685-1688); the rebellion of Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth against James, in which Tom Faggus gets caught up, is an important plot point, and John is knighted by King James. The legendary bawdiness of the Restoration period is rather subverted in the book (which, being written in the [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victorian era]], would have soft-pedaled it anyway); the main setting is among the quiet, church-going farmers of the Exmoor area.

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* UsefulNotes/CharlesII: The book is set during the later years of his reign (1672-1685), and the brief reign of his brother James II (1685-1688); the rebellion of Charles' illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth against James, in which Tom Faggus gets caught up, is an important plot point, and John is knighted by King James. The legendary bawdiness of the Restoration period is rather subverted in the book (which, being written in the [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victorian era]], would have soft-pedaled it anyway); the main setting is among the quiet, church-going farmers of the Exmoor area.area, who generally disapproved of said bawdiness and found it one of the reasons they were somewhat inclined towards mutiny against Charles in the first place.



* ObfuscatingStupidity: Not (usually) deliberate on John's part (though sometimes he may protest too much), but many people who interact with him take him to be a very simple and dull fellow, interested only in wrestling and farming. He is smart enough to be aware when those around him are being condescending towards him, however, and does not especially appreciate it (though his general humility generally leads him to refrain from commenting).

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* ObfuscatingStupidity: Not (usually) deliberate on John's part (though sometimes he may protest too much), but many people who interact with him take him to be a very simple and dull fellow, interested only in wrestling and farming. He But while he's not exactly an intellectual, he is sharper than he's given credit for; he's just too humble to make a big deal about it. He's particularly smart enough to be aware when those around him are being condescending towards him, however, and does not especially appreciate it (though his general humility generally leads him to refrain from commenting).
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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and conflict. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his life is complicated when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner of the Doones. The two begin a secret romance -- but Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones -- who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...

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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and conflict.war. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his life is complicated when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner of the Doones. The two begin a secret romance -- but Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones -- who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...
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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and violence. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his life is complicated when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner. The two begin a secret romance -- but Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones, who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...

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It tells the tale of John Ridd, a freeholder in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry in the dying days of the reign of Charles II, and his struggles in love and violence.conflict. His father is murdered by the Doones, a clan of disgraced aristocrats turned bandits who rampage across Exmoor, terrorising who they may with near-impunity. For numerous reasons (including the complicated religious politics between the King and the aristocracy at the time) the authorities are either unwilling or unable to intervene, and incensed by the injustice Ridd naturally swears vengeance. But his life is complicated when he falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Lorna Doone, the beautiful and kind-hearted "princess" of the clan, who lives as a sheltered prisoner. prisoner of the Doones. The two begin a secret romance -- but Lorna is the key to the future fortunes of her family, and their love quickly becomes complicated by her mysterious past, the bitter history between the two families, the political intrigues and upheavals of the time, and most especially by Carver Doone, the violent and uncontrollable heir of the Doones, Doones -- who considers Lorna betrothed to him [[EntitledToHaveYou whether she wants to be or not]]...



** John Ridd and Carver Doone. Both are large, powerfully-built men not unfamiliar with violence, but while John channels his violence into wrestling and outside of this maintains a modest and humble life, Carver is a ruthless and violent sociopath.

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** John Ridd and Carver Doone. Both are large, powerfully-built men not unfamiliar with violence, but while John channels his violence more aggressive impulses into wrestling and outside of this maintains a modest and humble life, Carver is a ruthless and violent sociopath.sociopath willing to inflict pain and cruelty on others to get what he wants.

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