Medmenham Abbey
Former Cistercian abbey on the Thames at Medmenham, later meeting place of the Hell Fire Club. Three Men in a Boat contrasts the rakes with the silent monks who lived there before.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three Men in a Boat | Jerome K. Jerome | backdrop | The ‘Do as you please’ Hell Fire Club monks versus the silent Cistercians of five centuries earlier. |
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
The famous Medmenham monks, or ‘Hell Fire Club’,
- Role: backdrop
- In the book: Passing Medmenham, the narrator recalls the Hell Fire Club, whose motto ‘Do as you please’ still stands over the ruined doorway, and sets it against the Cistercian monks who lived there in silence five hundred years before.
- Why it matters: A short reflective digression on two ways of living; minor as a place in the plot.