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The Landlady
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Landlady, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Appearances and Deception
Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady” tells the dark story of Billy Weaver, a seventeen-year-old boy who travels from London to Bath on business. When Billy spots a charming looking Bed and Breakfast near the train station, he abandons his plans to find a hotel and decides instead to take a chance on the cozy lodgings—but things aren’t as they seem. Billy meets his fate when his hostess, the titular landlady, deceives and poisons him…
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Anonymity vs. Community
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the city was conceptualized as a negative place. Home to immorality and corruption, the urban landscape symbolized a loss of tradition and the degradation of community values. Roald Dahl addresses this moral panic in “The Landlady” by exploring the moral repercussions of the anonymity provided by modern city life. Dahl depicts the dangerous consequences of seclusion and isolation, revealing that the moral fabric of society relies upon…
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Adulthood vs. Innocence
In much of Roald Dahl’s children’s literature, childhood is portrayed as antagonistic to adulthood. Many stories feature cruel adults who inflict their evil ways upon innocent children. Similarly, in “The Landlady,” a wicked lady manipulates Billy Weaver, who is just seventeen years old. Through this generational conflict, Dahl depicts the cruelty of the adult world, highlighting the tragic inevitability of growing up, and the loss of innocence that this transition requires.
Billy—a young man…
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