Published in 1935, Wigs on the Green is a satirical novel by Nancy Mitford. It mocks Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascist via the character of Captain Jack and his Union Jackshirts - most notably, the absurd Eugenia Malmains. While some of the humor is a bit disturbing Post-WWII, a number of the gags hold up. The lunatic asylum for peers is especially amusing.
Tropes found in this work include:
- Bedlam House: Averted by Peersmont, a special lunatic asylum for insane peers. Instead of being dreary or dangerous, like most fictional madhouses, it's a live-sized replica of the House of Lords built in a forest. The residents seem quite content. They're also free to do as they please (one even builds a nest for himself in a tree).
- Con Man: Jasper Aspect. He's not exactly fond of real, proper work... and often has to be bailed out of trouble by sympathetic relatives.
- Escalating Brawl: The Costumed Pageant eventually dissolves into an all-out fight between Fascists and Pacifists.
- Gold Digger: Noel Foster and Jasper Aspect, two young men looking to marry rich heiresses, are male examples.
- Runaway Bride: Lady Marjorie leaves her duke at the altar and runs away. While in hiding, she ends up staying in the very same inn as Noel and Jasper.
- Those Wacky Nazis: The ridiculous, foolish Eugenia Malmains certainly counts. She's technically a British Fascist, though she praises Hitler's sexist policies and often shouts "heil Hitler".
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Write Who You Know: Eugenia is quite obviously a parody of Nancy Mitford's Nazi sister, Unity Mitford... and Captain Jack's clearly supposed to be her sister Diana's lover (and, eventually, second husband), Oswald Mosley. The character of Jasper also loosely resembles the caddish Peter Rodd ("Prodd"), who Nancy married and later divorced.
