A Question About Thirteen at Dinner (also published as Lord Edgeware Dies) Spoilers!

AriadneAriadne Texas, United States
in All Poirot novels
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD. Do not read this if you haven't read the book. I don't want to spoil anything for you.                                              









Okay, as for my question, this is what I'm puzzled about. When Carlotta was impersonating Lady Edgeware at the party and she talked about "intellectual things" (I can't remember exactly what it was the book said she talked about, because I listened on audio book and it's difficult to go back and find it) and then later on, Lady Edgeware made the gaffe at a different gathering when she misunderstood what someone said about "The Judgement of Paris".....I've been thinking, wouldn't Carlotta, who, after all, did impersonations of Lady Edgeware on stage, know better than to sound like an intellectual?? Thanks!

Comments

  • mike1410mike1410 Franklin, New Zealand
    Possibly, but maybe she (Carlotta Adams, actress/impersonator & American educated) thought that Lady Edgeware (nee Jane Wilkinson, actress & UK educated) was as well versed on literary themes as she herself was and that since she (Carlotta) understood that Donald Ross (actor, playwright) was talking about the Greek myth of Paris of Troy, Lady Edgeware would have known that too?. The whole Helen/Paris of Troy / Trojan Horse story seems to have been quite frequently re-enacted on the stage/in film over the years. A bit like having dinner table conversations about The Scottish Play and expecting all the theatrical people present to understand the references  :)

    Mind you, if Lady Edgeware had questioned Carlotta Adams more thoroughly about the conversations she had around the dinner table that evening when they met up afterwards, she would not have slipped up later. Given how clever her overall plan was, that omission does seem to be a bit remiss.
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I agree with Mike, I shouldn't think some Soap Stars are as well versed on Shakespeare as thise who have worked at the RSC and would an English Teacher know about Quantum Physics, Carlotta and Lady Edgware might both b n that Business they call show and Performers but it doesn't mean they are as Knowledgable as each other
  • S_SigersonS_Sigerson United States
    It was simply a slip up. She went out of a character for a moment. Happens to the best of actors. And considering the wine, food and overall convivial atmosphere during dinner it is understandable. She merely became herself for a moment. On stage she would've had no such distractions. She could focus on her job i.e. impersonating a famous celebrity or whoever. Of course in this case the blunder was necessary for the plot, but in no way was it forced or unnatural.    
  • DaphneDaphne Canada
    I just finished Lord Edgware, and I feel as if I'd been turned on my head an spun around, yet the solution, in retrospect, seems perfectly obvious.
    I do have one question--SPOILER--why did Bryan Martin make up that story of the man with the golden tooth?

  • ChristieFanForLife ChristieFanForLife
    Daphne said:
    I just finished Lord Edgware, and I feel as if I'd been turned on my head an spun around, yet the solution, in retrospect, seems perfectly obvious.
    I do have one question--SPOILER--why did Bryan Martin make up that story of the man with the golden tooth?

    Can anyone answer whether Bryan Martin's story of the man with the gold tooth occurred before Jane Wilkinson murdered her husband or after?
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