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– The antagonist of the story, Mr. Poldero is a greedy showman who owns “Poldero’s Wizard Wonderworld.” A cruel, arrogant, and foolhardy man, he buys the phoenix at an auction, thinking that its exoticism will draw crowds. But when the bird isn’t bringing in enough ticket sales, Mr. Poldero decides to torture the phoenix in order to prematurely age it, since its death—in which it will burst into flames—is likely to be a popular spectacle. When he finally succeeds at getting the phoenix to age, Poldero sells many tickets (plus the film rights) to the bird’s fiery death. However, he gets his comeuppance when the flames of the phoenix kill him. His greed and arrogance result in his own death, serving as a warning to readers to not follow this path.
Mr. Tancred Poldero Quotes in The Phoenix
The The Phoenix quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Tancred Poldero or refer to Mr. Tancred Poldero. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Phoenix
Quotes
“PANSY. Phoenix phoenixissima formossisima arabiana. This rare and fabulous bird is UNIQUE. The World’s Old Bachelor. Has no mate and doesn’t want one. When old, sets fire to itself and emerges miraculously reborn. Specially imported from the East.”
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“Suppose,” continued Mr. Poldero, “we could somehow get him alight? We’d advertise it beforehand, of course, work up interest. Then we’d have a new bird, and a bird with some romance about it, a bird with a life story. We could sell a bird like that.”
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It was not easy to age the phoenix. Its allowance of food was halved, and halved again, but though it grew thinner its eyes were undimmed and its plumage glossy as ever.
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“The phoenix,” the loud-speaker continued, “is as capricious as Cleopatra, as luxurious as la du Barry, as heady as a strain of wild gypsy music. All the fantastic pomp and passion of the ancient East, its languorous magic, its subtle cruelties...”
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The cameras clicked, the lights blazed full on the cage. Rushing to the loud-speaker Mr. Poldero exclaimed:
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the thrilling moment the world has breathlessly awaited. The legend of centuries is materializing before our modern eyes. The phoenix...”
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“Well, if it doesn’t evaluate more than this, mark instructional.”
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The flames streamed upwards, leaped out on every side. In a minute or two everything was burned to ashes, and some thousand people, including Mr. Poldero, perished in the blaze.
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Get the entire The Phoenix LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mr. Tancred Poldero Character Timeline in The Phoenix
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Tancred Poldero appears in The Phoenix. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Phoenix
...contribute funds. But the London Zoo loses its bid; the phoenix is sold instead to Mr. Tancred Poldero , owner of “Poldero’s Wizard Wonderworld.”
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The phoenix adjusts well to its new environment, and Mr. Poldero is pleased at first—the bird is easygoing, and while it doesn’t know any tricks, he...
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While complaining about the cost of bird feed one day, Mr. Poldero realizes that the phoenix is no longer earning its keep—it’s been weeks since anyone paid...
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To age the phoenix, Mr. Poldero cuts its food back severely, turns off the heat, and puts mean birds into the...
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By spring, the phoenix’s health has deteriorated enough for Mr. Poldero to begin an advertising campaign for its death. Once the phoenix starts nesting with straw—a...
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...all directions. Very quickly, everything is burned to the ground. “Some thousand people” have died—including Mr. Poldero .
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