The Diary · Chapter
September 1661 explained
Pepys deals with household repairs, social merrymaking, and the complexities of naval politics.
What happens
Pepys deals with household repairs, social merrymaking, and the complexities of naval politics. He attends plays, manages family obligations including an aunt's burial, and prepares for a journey to Gravely Court. Concerns about Lord Sandwich's position at sea and the vices of the court are discussed.
Themes in this chapter
Naval Administration and Corruption
Pepys discusses attempts to remove Lord Sandwich from sea command, reflecting factional struggles and envy within the Navy.
Social Ambition and Class
Pepys navigates social circles, dining with nobility and attending plays, while also dealing with lower-status relatives and 'poor rascally people' at a burial.
Theatre and Public Entertainment
Pepys attends multiple plays this month, including 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' and 'King and No King', noting their quality.
Daily Life and Domesticity
Pepys deals with a leaky roof, coal delivery, his wife's pie-making, and a family burial, illustrating domestic routines and challenges.
Characters to notice
- Samuel Pepys
Narrator and central figure; manages household, social engagements, and naval concerns.
- Elizabeth Pepys
Accompanies Pepys to plays and on a ride; buys items for herself and receives a bracelet from Mr. Somerset.
- Sir William Batten
Hosts a merry gathering where a tankard is stolen as a prank; suspected of envying Lord Sandwich.
- Sir William Penn
Participates in the tankard prank; dines with Pepys and attends plays.
- Edward Montagu, Earl of Sandwich
Lord Sandwich is discussed as being loved by the King and Duke of York, but facing envy and attempts to remove him from sea command.
- Sir William Coventry
Mentioned as possibly seeking more absolute power by removing Lord Sandwich from sea.
- Sir George Carteret
Involved in the coal shipment with Pepys and Sir R. Slingsby.
- Mr. Creed
Mentioned in passing as part of the social circle.
Key passages
“But, good God! what an age is this, and what a world is this! that a man cannot live without playing the knave and dissimulation.”
Pepys laments that in his time, a person cannot survive without deceit and hypocrisy.
Reflects Pepys's moral dismay at the necessity of dissimulation in court and society.
“He tells me plainly of the vices of the Court, and how the pox is so common there, and so I hear on all hands that it is as common as eating and swearing.”
Pepys learns from Mr. Pickering that venereal disease is rampant at court, as common as eating or swearing.
Highlights the moral decay and health risks in Restoration court life.
“I was even almost foxed, and my head ached all night; so home and to bed, without prayers, which I never did yet, since I came to the house, of a Sunday night.”
Pepys drank so much wine that he was nearly drunk, had a headache, and skipped his usual Sunday evening prayers for the first time since moving in.
Shows Pepys's struggle with temperance and his religious habits.
