Shroud For A Nightingale Quote Analysis

Knowledge is power, but knowledge also has the power to blackmail. In P. D. In James’ novel, Shroud for a Nightingale, Nurse Heather Pearce and Sister Ethel Brumfett understand deep secrets about the faculty and nurses of Nightingale House. They used this knowledge to blackmail others in order to cope with their loneliness and lack of love. Oddly enough, their goal was to befriend their victims. Through rumors, alliances, lies, and secrets, James gives insight into the motives for blackmail. James suggests that loneliness can manifest in various forms and can lead people to seek power, validation, and companionship, ultimately resulting in criminal behavior through blackmailing. Pearce and Brumfett sought power as a means to overcome feelings of loneliness and

“And perhaps the most subtly pleasurable was the blackmail which made no financial demands but enjoyed its secret knowledge under the cloak of generosity, kindness, complicity or moral superiority.But how they must have relished their power” (). When emotionally blackmailing Dakers, Pearce took more pleasure in making the punishment fit the crime and watching her victim’s puppet-like obedience than being interested in financial gain; she found joy in forcing Dakers to read daily verses of the Bible and send money to a society for prisoners. Like Pearce, Brumfett was “plain, ordinary, and inconspicuous”. She became Matron’s best friend via blackmail, as Brumfett was the only person to know her deep past as Irmgard Grobel. Ultimately, Brumfett knew the only way to befriend Matron was by using this information to control her. Dalgelish explained to Matron, “That impulse to confide, the need to have at least one friend who knew all about you, put you in her [Brumfett’s] power.” (). Matron’s status as head of school also made her a prime target for Brumfett’s