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Ancestral Vices
- 193 statements
- 37 feature instances
- 1 referencing feature instances
| Ancestral Vices | type |
TVTItem | |
| Ancestral Vices | label |
Ancestral Vices | |
| Ancestral Vices | page |
AncestralVices | |
| Ancestral Vices | comment |
Ancestral Vices is a 1980 satirical novel by Tom Sharpe, that focuses on the foibles of the English upper-class.The story focuses on the Petrefacts, an elite but eccentric and obscure family. Lord Ronald Petrefact, a successful aristocrat with a distinct contempt for his family, hires academic Walden Yapp to compile a history of his family as an act of spite. Yapp heads down to the Petrefact family town of Buscott to start his research, and finds himself up against the Petrefact family, led by Ronald’s younger sister Emmelia, who seeks to put a stop to Yapp’s investigations. Meanwhile, Ronald’s estranged son Frederick has established himself as a successful businessman in Buscott, but is hiding a dark secret that is threatened by Yapp’s arrival.Yapp himself finds himself thrown for a loop when he stays at a bed-and-breakfast run by Rosie Coppett, a large beautiful woman and her dwarf husband Willy. Yapp finds himself attracted to Rosie, which arouses jealousy in Willy. But things come to a head when Willy is found dead and Yapp is arrested. How did the crime happen? What will happen to Yapp and the Petrefacts? | |
| Ancestral Vices | fetched |
2024-02-14T17:15:10Z | |
| Ancestral Vices | parsed |
2024-02-14T17:15:11Z | |
| Ancestral Vices | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1235f055 | type |
Dirty Coward | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1235f055 | comment |
Dirty Coward: Emmelia discovers that at their core, her Petrefact relatives are this. Without their status and secrecy, they are no better than anyone else and in fact are less than that with their sordid eccentricities. The only ones with any sort of courage are Emmelia herself and her brother Ronald (and Frederick), but even they are limited by how much they can do and by blood must yield to their family loyalty. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1235f055 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1235f055 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_1235f055 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_13dc1beb | type |
Serial Killings, Specific Target | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_13dc1beb | comment |
Serial Killings, Specific Target: Inverted. Emmelia, the only one convinced that Walden Yapp didn't murder the diminutive Willy Coppett, sets out on a spree of attempting to kidnap other Persons of Restricted growth to make it appear that the culprit is still at large. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_13dc1beb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_13dc1beb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_13dc1beb | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: At one point in the story Emmelia goes to sleep thinking of a line about “ancestral vices prophesying war�. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_18d15922 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_18d15922 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_18d15922 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1c445e86 | type |
Poor Communication Kills | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1c445e86 | comment |
Poor Communication Kills: An Italian chef who asked for a “big fucking pig� to cook for dinner ends up getting a boar built for breeding. Later on the chef mistakenly gives the impression that the said pig was meant for sexual intercourse. A female bureaucrat from a Marriage agency visits Rosie and, not knowing she’s married to a dwarf or that the marriage is a content one, advises Rosie that if she’s being denied sexual rights she should engage in extramarital affairs. This is what leads her to make an advance on Yapp. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1c445e86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_1c445e86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_1c445e86 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2af6bbeb | type |
Break the Haughty | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2af6bbeb | comment |
Break the Haughty: This happens to both Emmelia and Yapp. Emmelia is subject to abuse from her own family for allowing Frederick to run a sex toy factory, causing her suffer massive disillusionment. Yapp gets framed and thrown in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, causing all his academic beliefs to smash. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2af6bbeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2af6bbeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_2af6bbeb | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2d7ef923 | type |
Mistaken for Cheating | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2d7ef923 | comment |
Mistaken for Cheating: Everyone assumes that Yapp and Rosie Coppett are having an affair, including Rosie's husband Willy and the Petrefacts. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2d7ef923 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_2d7ef923 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_2d7ef923 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_319e4a2f | type |
Even Evil Has Standards | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_319e4a2f | comment |
Even Evil Has Standards: The Petrefacts, an unsavory bunch, are shocked at Frederick Petrefact having started up a sex toy factory. It’s less about how depraved it is than how shocked people will be on learning about it. The prisoners Yapp meets in prison assume Yapp is a child-killer, because of his incarceration for murdering a little person. Somewhat subverted by him being framed for it. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_319e4a2f | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_319e4a2f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_319e4a2f | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_35a858b3 | type |
Cluster F-Bomb | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_35a858b3 | comment |
Cluster F-Bomb: | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_35a858b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_35a858b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_35a858b3 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_3b113b7 | type |
Character Development | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_3b113b7 | comment |
Character Development: Emmelia Petrefact and Walden Yapp go through this, both learning that the world is a chaotic place that doesn’t let reason reign, and allows bad people to triumph and good people to suffer. Each reacts to this in a different way: Emmelia tries to rebel against this, but eventually accepts it in order to keep some power and control in her life. Yapp on the other hand finds comfort in thinking only of himself above any intellectual ideas that are ultimately insignificant. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_3b113b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_3b113b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_3b113b7 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: Lord Petrefact dies, and Yapp is freed from prison while Rosie gets a job as a maid in Emmelia’s house. But the Petrefact family gets off scot free for their deeds, and show no sign of repentance or even regret over them. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_40cc0c7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_40cc0c7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_40cc0c7e | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_4de1544 | type |
Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_4de1544 | comment |
Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: Yapp, who was framed and sent to prison, ends up feigning madness to get respect there. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_4de1544 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_4de1544 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_4de1544 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_59907e4f | type |
Police Are Useless | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_59907e4f | comment |
Police Are Useless: The police do their best to get to the bottom of the mess the Petrefacts cause, but stuck for clues and faced with political pressure from the Petrefact family, they have to give up. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_59907e4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_59907e4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_59907e4f | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_5d3e7c6 | type |
Kangaroo Court | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_5d3e7c6 | comment |
Kangaroo Court: The Petrefacts set this up for Yapp. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_5d3e7c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_5d3e7c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_5d3e7c6 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: The ill-fated 'Willy Coppett'. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_6bda9a30 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6e23669f | type |
Antagonistic Offspring | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6e23669f | comment |
Antagonistic Offspring: Frederick Petrefact to his father. A minor version, since both are too distant for any major confrontations or drama. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6e23669f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_6e23669f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_6e23669f | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_758c3034 | type |
Prison Rape | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_758c3034 | comment |
Prison Rape: It's strongly implied that this was done to Yapp during his time in prison. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_758c3034 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_758c3034 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_758c3034 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7ac5c1de | type |
Unishment | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7ac5c1de | comment |
Unishment: Yapp is transferred to an open prison, where he settles in and is reluctant to be paroled. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7ac5c1de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7ac5c1de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_7ac5c1de | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7fbb2a3 | type |
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7fbb2a3 | comment |
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Emmelia gave her nephew Frederick a free hand to make himself a successful Petrefact. He achieves this by building a sex toy factory right under her nose. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7fbb2a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_7fbb2a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_7fbb2a3 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_87bb6874 | type |
Villain with Good Publicity | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_87bb6874 | comment |
Villain with Good Publicity: The Petrefacts rely on their vices being covered with status and influence. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_87bb6874 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_87bb6874 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_87bb6874 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_93ed8515 | type |
Set Right What Once Went Wrong | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_93ed8515 | comment |
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Emmelia tries to get Yapp free by herself by embarking on a campaign of serial attacks on dwarves to enable people to think there is a dwarf killer about. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_93ed8515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_93ed8515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_93ed8515 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_96144372 | type |
Aristocrats Are Evil | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_96144372 | comment |
Aristocrats Are Evil: Lord Petrefact is the villain of the story, but the Petrefacts overall are a selfish, egocentric bunch. The novel itself is a satire on the English upper-class of the 1970s and their abuse of power. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_96144372 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_96144372 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_96144372 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9df812ad | type |
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9df812ad | comment |
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: An extreme case with the dwarf Willy Coppett and his gigantic wife Rosie. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9df812ad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9df812ad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_9df812ad | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9e1e14ea | type |
Ambition Is Evil | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9e1e14ea | comment |
Ambition Is Evil: Lord Petrefact’s ambition and attaining a title ostracized him from his relations. Though they aren’t any much different from him, and cling to their obscurity only as a shield. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9e1e14ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_9e1e14ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_9e1e14ea | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a305d1c5 | type |
A Fool for a Client | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a305d1c5 | comment |
A Fool for a Client: Yapp tries to represent himself in court. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a305d1c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a305d1c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_a305d1c5 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a55ab01e | type |
Jerkass Realization | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a55ab01e | comment |
Jerkass Realization: Emmelia realizes that as a Petrefact, she is just as nasty and ruthless as her brother Ronald. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a55ab01e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a55ab01e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_a55ab01e | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: Mr Jipson, an ordinary citizen who accidentally runs over Willy Coppett with his tractor, drops the body in Yapp’s car to hide what he did, and when Yapp is arrested for Willy’s murder, he keeps his head down and his mouth shut. All that he really suffers by this are some mild panic attacks, where he repeatedly cleans his tractor. At the end of the story Rosie hears gossip about him putting the tractor on sale. The Petrefacts end up as untouchable and elite as ever. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a70223 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_a70223 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_a70223 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b02f996a | type |
Town with a Dark Secret | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b02f996a | comment |
Town with a Dark Secret: Buscott, the Petrefact ancestral town. though the secret – a sex toy factory is being run in secret - is more embarrassing than deadly, it’s still the kind of secret that can do major damage. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b02f996a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b02f996a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_b02f996a | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b42b7e7b | type |
Moral Myopia | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b42b7e7b | comment |
Moral Myopia: The Petrefacts are less considered with how horrific their actions are, than how embarrassing their exposure will be. Judge Petrefact justifies this somewhat by explaining that without their upper-class status to give them respectability and obscurity, their influence is non-existent. Frederick Petrefact muses on how the English morality considers masturbation worse than murder. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b42b7e7b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_b42b7e7b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_b42b7e7b | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_bec0417c | type |
Happily Married | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_bec0417c | comment |
Happily Married: To everyone’s surprise and slight disbelief, Willy and Rosie Coppett. Despite their physical proportions giving Willy grief when it comes to sex, they’re comfortable with each other. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_bec0417c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_bec0417c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_bec0417c | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c0afd51a | type |
Evil Cripple | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c0afd51a | comment |
Evil Cripple: Lord Petrefact is confined to a wheelchair. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c0afd51a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c0afd51a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_c0afd51a | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c9a71d47 | type |
Innocence Lost | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c9a71d47 | comment |
Innocence Lost: Emmelia Petrefact goes through this throughout the novel. After witnessing her family's selfishness and cowardice, she tries to act for good on her own through arranging a criminal campaign that should get her arrested and Yapp freed, but ultimately is pressured/bribed by her family into keeping silent, with their influence being able to keep her out of prison despite her campaign. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c9a71d47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_c9a71d47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_c9a71d47 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eaf5a1ac | type |
Groin Attack | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eaf5a1ac | comment |
Groin Attack: A distinctly sordid example: a female dwarf when targeted for rape, bites off her attacker’s penis. Good thing it was an artificial one. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eaf5a1ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eaf5a1ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_eaf5a1ac | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eb9afb9d | type |
Evil Old Folks | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eb9afb9d | comment |
Evil Old Folks: Lord Petrefact is about eighty years old. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eb9afb9d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_eb9afb9d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_eb9afb9d | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_ef20dac5 | type |
Servile Snarker | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_ef20dac5 | comment |
Servile Snarker: Lord Petrefact’s valet Croxley holds a thinly-veiled antagonistic relationship with his master, and the two engage in a duel of wills and snark at every opportunity. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_ef20dac5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_ef20dac5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_ef20dac5 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_f23ad6de | type |
Food Porn | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_f23ad6de | comment |
Food Porn: Lord Petrefact invokes this by ordering an eight-course meal for Yapp to indulge his ideas about how rich people have luxurious banquets. This includes sucking pig, turtle soup involving a genuine turtle shell, and dessert wine for the whole course. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_f23ad6de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_f23ad6de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_f23ad6de | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_fd497706 | type |
Accidental Murder | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_fd497706 | comment |
Accidental Murder: Mr Jipson ends up running over Willy Coppett, who was blind drunk and never saw the tractor coming. | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_fd497706 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_fd497706 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_fd497706 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_name | comment |
||
| Ancestral Vices / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Ancestral Vices / int_name | |
| Ancestral Vices / int_name | itemName |
Ancestral Vices |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Ancestral Vices | hasFeature |
Serial Killings, Specific Target / int_da0875de |
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