Maidenhead

Thames town in Berkshire, fashionable with Victorian boaters. In Three Men in a Boat the narrator dismisses it as ‘too snobby to be pleasant’ and passes through quickly.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Three Men in a Boat	Jerome K. Jerome	backdrop	’Too snobby to be pleasant’: the haunt of the river swell, steam launches and showy hotels.

Three Men in a Boat — Jerome K. Jerome (1889)

Source: Exploration of Three Men in a Boat · Three Men in a Boat · Original · Readwise highlight

Maidenhead itself is too snobby to be pleasant. It is the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed female companion.

• Role: backdrop
• In the book: The narrator sketches Maidenhead as the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed companion, full of steam-launches and fashionable hotels, and the party passes through without stopping.
• Why it matters: A quick satirical sketch of Thames society; the town’s character is the joke.