"The Duplicity of Hargraves" is a short story by the American writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name: O. Henry. The story was featured in The Junior Munsey, February 1902, and republished in the volume Sixes and Sevens (1911).
Sixty-eight-year-old Major Pendleton Talbot and his practical spinster daughter Lydia move to Washington D.C. The Talbots have fallen from their aristocratic past in the South before the American Civil War and are now quite poor. The pair stay at a boarding house in the nation's capital. There they become acquainted with Henry Hopkins Hargraves, an ambitious actor in vaudeville. Hargraves is seemingly spellbound by the Major's tales of his happier past (of which he is writing a book).
Eventually, the Talbots fall behind on their rent. The Major seeks the help of their congressman in getting his book published, but to little avail. The impractical Major spends their last two dollars on play tickets. Lydia is dismayed, but seeing as the money has been spent, goes to see the play with her father. They are shocked to see Hargraves impersonating her father on stage. When Hargraves comes to see the Major to offer him financial help, the Major informs him that he saw the actor's performance and is highly offended. He refuses to accept any money, even though he and Lydia are almost destitute.
Just when the father and daughter's situation is most bleak, "an old colored man" appears and tells the Talbots that he was once one of Talbot's slaves. He has prospered and wants to repay an old family debt. Major Talbot accepts the payment. Later Lydia received a letter from Hargraves, explaining that he played the ex-slave. She hides the letter from her father.
Film adaptationEdit
"The Duplicity of Hargraves" was adapted to film by Broadway Star Features Co. in 1917 and directed by Thomas R. Mills. The cast was:
duplicity, hargraves, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, april, 2012, learn, when, re. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Duplicity of Hargraves news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Duplicity of Hargraves is a short story by the American writer William Sydney Porter better known by his pen name O Henry The story was featured in The Junior Munsey February 1902 and republished in the volume Sixes and Sevens 1911 The Duplicity of Hargraves Short story by William Sydney PorterOriginal titleThe Duplicity of HargravesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s Satire HumorShort storyPublicationPublisherJunior MunseyPublication date1902Summary EditSixty eight year old Major Pendleton Talbot and his practical spinster daughter Lydia move to Washington D C The Talbots have fallen from their aristocratic past in the South before the American Civil War and are now quite poor The pair stay at a boarding house in the nation s capital There they become acquainted with Henry Hopkins Hargraves an ambitious actor in vaudeville Hargraves is seemingly spellbound by the Major s tales of his happier past of which he is writing a book Eventually the Talbots fall behind on their rent The Major seeks the help of their congressman in getting his book published but to little avail The impractical Major spends their last two dollars on play tickets Lydia is dismayed but seeing as the money has been spent goes to see the play with her father They are shocked to see Hargraves impersonating her father on stage When Hargraves comes to see the Major to offer him financial help the Major informs him that he saw the actor s performance and is highly offended He refuses to accept any money even though he and Lydia are almost destitute Just when the father and daughter s situation is most bleak an old colored man appears and tells the Talbots that he was once one of Talbot s slaves He has prospered and wants to repay an old family debt Major Talbot accepts the payment Later Lydia received a letter from Hargraves explaining that he played the ex slave She hides the letter from her father Film adaptation Edit The Duplicity of Hargraves was adapted to film by Broadway Star Features Co in 1917 and directed by Thomas R Mills The cast was Charles Kent as Major Pendleton J Frank Glendon as Henry Hopkins Hargraves Myrtis Coney as Miss Lydia Mrs Fisher as Mrs Vardeman William Courtney as ScenExternal links EditIncluded in The Best American Humorous Short Stories by H C Bunner et al nbsp The Duplicity Of Hargraves public domain audiobook at LibriVox nbsp This article about a short story or stories published in the 1900s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Duplicity of Hargraves amp oldid 1115163520 Film adaptation, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
