She refrains from any further attempts to do so. She decides that to kill Clegg would lower her to his level.
After a failed attempt to do so, Miranda enters a period of self-loathing. As Clegg repeatedly refuses to release her, she begins to fantasize about killing him. The only result is that he becomes confused and angry. She also tries to seduce him to convince him to let her go. Miranda tries to escape several times, but Clegg stops her. Clegg tells Miranda that his first name is Ferdinand (eventual winner of Miranda's affections in The Tempest). She begins to pity her captor, comparing him to Caliban in Shakespeare's play The Tempest because of his hopeless obsession with her. ultimately fell in love with her and consequently severed all contact with her.Īt first, Miranda thinks that Clegg has sexual motives for abducting her but, as his true character begins to be revealed, she realises that this is not true. Miranda reminisces over her previous life throughout this section of the novel and many of her diary entries are written either to her sister or to a man named G.P., whom she respected and admired as an artist. The second part of the novel is narrated by Miranda in the form of fragments from a diary that she keeps during her captivity. He promises to show her "every respect", pledging not to sexually molest her and to shower her with gifts and the comforts of home, on one condition: she can't leave the cellar. Clegg is embarrassed and promises to let her go after a month. However, when she wakes up, she confronts him with his actions. He is convinced that Miranda will start to love him after some time. Unable to make any normal contact, Clegg decides to add her to his "collection" of pretty, preserved objects, in the hope that if he keeps her captive long enough, she will grow to love him.Īfter careful preparations, he kidnaps Miranda by drugging her with chloroform and locks her up in the cellar of his house. He feels lonely, however, and wants to be with Miranda. He quits his job and buys an isolated house in the countryside. One day, he wins a large prize in the football pools.
He admires her from a distance but is unable to make any contact with her because he is socially underdeveloped.
The first part of the novel tells the story from his point of view.Ĭlegg is obsessed with Miranda Grey, a middle-class art student at the Slade School of Fine Art. The novel is about a lonely young man, Frederick Clegg, who works as a clerk in a city hall and collects butterflies in his spare time.
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