Fifth Business
First edition
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| Author | Robertson Davies |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Deptford Trilogy |
| Genre | Speculative fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan Canada |
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Publication date
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1970 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 273 |
| OCLC | 36190121 |
| Followed by | The Manticore |
Fifth Business (1970) is a novel by Canadian writer Robertson Davies, who is also a playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. It is the first installment of the Deptford Trilogy and explores the life of the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay. It is Davies' best-known novel and has been ranked as his finest.
First published by Macmillan of Canada in 1970, Fifth Business was ranked as 40th on the American Modern Library's "reader's list" of the 100 best novels of the 20th century.
The protagonist Dunstan Ramsay has a passion for hagiology. In addition, he has a guilty connection to Mary Dempster, resulting from a childhood accident for which he feels responsible. These two elements provide most of the impetus and background for this novel. Ramsay struggles with his belief that Mary may be a fool-saint (she is held for years in an insane asylum) and guilt from childhood.
The epistolary novel is conveyed Ramsay's post-retirement letter to the headmaster of Colborne College.
1. The story of Dunstan (then called Dunstable) Ramsay begins in 1908 when the boy is ten years old and living in Deptford. He and his best friend (and worst enemy) Percy Boyd Staunton have been sledding and have quarreled. On the way back to town Percy throws a snowball at Dunstan, who jumps aside. The snowball strikes passerby Mary Dempster, the pregnant wife of the town's Baptist minister. The shock of the snowball hitting her head causes her to go into labour and deliver prematurely: the baby boy is Paul Dempster.
2. Ramsay steps back from his narrative to explain why he is telling his life story. He says the year is 1969, and he is writing to the headmaster of the boys' school where he had taught for decades. He is protesting the desultory send-off he was given upon his retirement. Ramsay is offended by his portrayal in an article in the College Chronicle and the dismissal of his subject of 'mythic history,' as well as the disregard of the ten books he has published. He writes to prove to the headmaster that he has led a rich and full life, in his own way. He describes being 'cast by Fate and my own character for the vital though never glorious role of Fifth Business!" (9).
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