Lord Rochester's Monkey

by Graham Greene

s/t: Being the Life of John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester
"Lord Rochester's Monkey" was written between 1931 and 1934 and, because of the reputation of its subject, the notorious Restoration libertine and poet, the book failed to find a publisher. Rochester was the most prominent of rakes. He was also a fine lyrical and satirical poet whose work, in Greene's opinion, has been greatly underestimated, being overshadowed by his life of lechery and drunkenness, wild pranks and practical jokes. At court, Charles II suffered but respected Rochester's coruscating satires, joined in his erotic escapades and rewarded him with distinctions. Yet the last thirteen years of his life were "clouded by the fumes of drink" and literary quarrels. On his deathbed in 1680 - he was only 33 - he called for Dr Burnet and repented. His friend Etheridge wrote of him: "I know he is a devil, but had something of the angel yet undefac'd in him".

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, British Literature, 17th Century

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".

Reviews

[Zoeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greene clearly admired - or even adored - Earl of Rochester and his biography, meticulously researched, vividly rendered and also piercingly insightful - makes no secret of it. But what is wondrous is how in the space of a little more than two hundred pages, he is able to plumb the real depths of pathos, despair and self-contradictory ambivalence that lay coiled beneath the notoriety of this Restoration-era wit. Every facet of his life and times, including the major upheavals and the minor scandals and affrays, has been captured and recounted with a candour and wit that only an author of Greene's consummate skill could summon. This is a hugely entertaining, extremely perceptive and eye-opening biography that is never short of surprises and revelations. There is a ton of information in this book and most of it is also suitably bawdy, larger-than-life and cheeky but there is a lot that is emotionally resonant and even spiritually transcendent. Those, who already admire Rochester's poetry even distantly, will find themselves convincingly converted; those who are even generally interested in literature and poetry will discover a new poet in an all-new light. And in the annals of Greene's own numerous literary accomplishments, it deserves a high place too.

[John Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across a quote the other day which seems massively applicable to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester:

“LIFE’S JOURNEY is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting “Holy shit, what a ride!” (Mavis Leyrer, aged 83). Rochester died aged 33, the cause of death sometimes given as ‘old age’. He certainly packed one hell of a lot in!

Poet, wit, fashion setter at Charles II’s court, lover and society bad-boy, he was one of the most colourful characters of his age, perhaps of any age. His much censored literary work is often of a frank nature. A fascinating man who had tried most variations of hedonism throughout his short life. He held a mirror to the hedonistic, cynically ‘merry’ monarch Charles II and found him sadly wanting.

Lavishly illustrated book and fascinating insight into the world of Restoration England.

[Sketchbook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lord Rochester (John Wilmot, 1647-1680) is another unforgettable "character" from British history whose obscene verse and rude satires dismayed moralists for years. He intrigued Graham Greene who spent the early 1930s writing a bio that was rejected and remained unpublished until the 70s. "It is difficult to think back now to the almost Victorian atmosphere of the early 30s," he recalls in the preface. (Lord R was viewed then as a pornographic writer). Greene finds Rochester a major poet and, now, there are other bios. Johnny Depp played the notorious rake in "The Libertine" (2004), which few saw. Women, politics and drink dominated Rochester's life; he died, age 33, of various venereal diseases. What interested Mr Greene? Possibly Lord Rochester's deathbed conversion--.

The characters floating in-out of Wilmot's life -- Lord Goring, Lady Sandwich, Sir Francis Fane, Lady Davenant -- evoke the names of characters in a Wilde comedy. Frankly, you need to be steeped in 17C British history and literature to appreciate the letters, diary extracts and assorted triviatas that Greene uses to show how Wilmot's character relates to his life and poetry. The backdrop is the Court of Charles 2d, which sent the Puritians to "the Colonies," and heralded an age when it was admirable to sin. You were a prig if you didn't. Historians are still examining the unbridled sexuality of the Restoration.

Lord Rochester, at 20, married an heiress and stashed her in the country where she gave birth to four children. He also had a daughter with Elizabeth Barry, an actress he personally trained for the stage. He was disappointed to learn she'd pleasure any man who offered five pounds. He bedded, among others, one of the King's favorites and assorted bawds during a five-year drunken spree. The plague raged, so did the Great Fire. Constant intrigues, political maneuvers and quarrels swirled around him. He seems like a nasty brat and probably was. But playwright George Etherege, a friend, based his cold-hearted cad, Dorimant, in "The Man of Mode" on young Rochester.

His maxims of morality were don't hurt anyone else and regard your own health. Otherwise indulge all appetites. Graham Greene liked his colloquial poetry (musical, like that of a man speaking -- the John Donne influence), which, he felt, had a real Restoration lyric. Rochester, who always amused the King, once penned : "Here lies a great and mighty king whose promise none relies on; he never said a foolish thing nor ever did a wise one." Charles 2d responded: "This is very true, for my words are my own and my actions are my ministers."

I find this a most curious, less than satisfying, volume in the Greene canon. But I won't think about it too long.

[Karen Wellsbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Rochester, his poetry and I love reading about him.
This was written in the 1930's and Green struggled to get it published for almost 40 years. Its an entertaining read, not too long (manly because facts abut Rochester are a little sketchy I think).

The fascination of how a beautiful, gifted, romantic soul became so jaded with life will probably stay with me forever.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

This account of the life of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, is unequivocally the worst biography that I've ever read. I picked up an unreadable book about the Younger brothers in the nineties, but that doesn't count because I didn't finish. I thought this was going to be one of those perfect conjunctions of my enthusiasms. I was a huge Graham Greene fan in my twenties. Since then, I've only read one novel, Travels with My Aunt. At that time, I found his prose every bit as elegant as I had remembered. I'm a history nerd who is keenly interested in early modern Britain and I had really enjoyed The Libertine, a 2004 biopic about Rochester, even though my enthusiasm was not shared by many. I'm a sucker for costume dramas, tales of dissipation and Johnny Depp, whose Rochester was a wise-ass drunk not not unlike his Jack Sparrow, but played straight without the scarves and mascara. So, needless to say, I was pretty excited by the prospect of reading this disappointment.

When Lord Rochester's Monkey was written in 1931, Greene's publisher turned it down. "I can only hope," he coyly humblebrags, "it was the subject and not the treatment that displeased them." Can't speak for them, but it was the treatment that displeased me. This account of the life of the most notorious rakehell of his age is tendentious, undisciplined and boring. If it was too racy in 1931, by 1974, when it was finally issued in a really lovely edition with fine color plates, it was not nearly racy enough. I am astonished that this meandering mess is the work of one of my favorite writers.

"No one," Greene writes in his introduction, "doubts the importance of Rochester's poetry." Um, I kinda do and Greene did nothing to change my mind. "Rochester," he goes on, "inherited from Donne a poetry of passionate colloquialism." I guess, but I couldn't help thinking of something a sous chef liked to say when I was cooking for a living. "There is a fine line," Paul maintained, "between 'rustic' and lazy." Greene includes the entire text* of a pretty good poem about impotence, but most of the rest of the writing that he includes is just nasty gossip and innuendo about the Restoration court and literary scene expressed in forced rhymes and awkward meter. To be fair, I felt this way about "The Dunciad" and, really, everything between Milton and the Romantics that we read in my undergraduate English literature survey course - "the dozens" played in iambs for a hundred years.

Can't recommend. "[T]his biography is not intended primarily for students," says Greene, explaining the lack of footnotes. I can't imagine the general reader that it would suit. Even with my particular constellation of relevant interests, it was definitely not for me.

Also, he doesn't mention the monkey even once.

*Quotations - largely from arch, circumlocutory exchanges of letters between self-conscious, self-congratulatory "wits" - in this book are way, WAY too long and Greene's own turgid prose supplies little in the way of relief.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this sterling example of negative synergy, a minor rake, wit and poet, lavish illustrations and Graham Greene are transmuted into a biography as dull and nearly unreadable as anything by A. N. Wilson. Plus the monkey gets short shrift.

[Susan Mazur Stommen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great biography. Not a dude to model your life after, but he went down kicking.

[Holley Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best eaten in small bites: very rich content & only if you're already familiar with the infamous rake / literate genius.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an odd book to be set in the middle of Greene’s oeuvre. In the preface, Greene notes that it was written in 1931 to 1934 and immediately turned down by his publisher, Heinemann. He attributes it to those Victorian times, when both Ulysses and Lady Chatterley’s Lover were considered pornography. It reminds me, however, of a master’s thesis that is later pub into publication after the author has become famous.
It is clear that Greene put a lot of research work into this piece and proudly remarks that it is probably the best history of the work of Lord Rochester at the time. Nevertheless, I found it very difficult to read. Not only do I know very little about the period after the Restoration, I realize now that I also don’t care very much. BUT, it WAS an odd time. With King Charles II on the throne, “wit” was apparently determined to be a high point of regal acceptance – and Rochester excelled in it.
The book is the most lavishly printed of Greene’s works, replete with a splendid array of portraits of the leading characters and the place of their times.
Since I am reading Sherry’s exhaustive (and exhausting) thee-volume biography of Greene while I am reading all of Greene’s writing (in one year in the pandemic), I find it quite amusing to find that Greene seems not only to have taken Rochester as an important literary subject, but also as somewhat of an emulative character in his personal life. I shouldn’t push this too far (there certainly are some glaring differences – Greene’s Catholicism vs. Rochester’s virulent atheism), but the similarities are nevertheless there. (If anyone ever reads this, I’ll be punished for making this comparison.)
If you have any interesting in the Restoration Period in English history or Restoration poetry, by all means read this book. If not, I encourage you to move on to Greene’s novels. (Incidentally, if anyone can tell me what a monkey has to do with this book, I'd like to know.)

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short book is a pretty good biography of the Restoration poet and rake Lord Rochester. It manages to tell the story of his life and work impressively well. He has come down in history more as the writer of rude - sorry erotic - poems and a drunken, debauched rake. As much a perfect illustration of Charles II's time as Charles II himself.

A writer of biting satire and a man good at making enemies. A man lied about and mocked. A drinker - and dangerously a witty drunk, which just encouraged people to get him drunk. Not, I think that he needed much encouragement.

Married but constantly sleeping with other women of all social classes, including prostitutes and yet fiercely critical of the lax morality of the Court. A man who proved his courage in battle, but was accused of cowardice by the Earl of Murgrave - who is the nearest thing to a villain in this book. A friend and patron of other writers. Even mediocre ones - on Greene's opinion. Yet, he might well have had Dryden beaten up for a poem that Dryden probably didn't write - but Murgrave did.

On his death bed, surrounded by priests, he converts to the Church of England having been a agnostic, rather than an out and out atheist. Yet people won't quite believe it.

It's a fascinating life lived in a fascinating period of history and Green tells the story well. It isn't just finely written it brings a depth of insight to Rochester's character and work that makes it a superb read.

Having read this and The Penguin Book of Metaphysical Poetry recently it makes me even more interested in the 17th century - which has been there since university bubbling under - than I was before.

[Edith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit of an oddity: a nearly forgotten book by a very famous author about a formerly famous, but now nearly forgotten poet.

The poet, John Wilmot, Lord Rochester, was the scion of a Royalist family, poor and on the make. Rochester was a handsome man of great charm; his life had the trajectory of a shooting star, vaulting upwards and plummeting down with great rapidity. (He was only 33 when he died.) Exhibiting conspicuous bravery, force, and direction in his early life, he died with the reputation of a coward and feckless troublemaker.

He rained the arrows of his wit on a broad array of court figures, including his friends. He easily impressed Charles II, who loved wit, and had a fair tolerance for it even when directed at himself. Charles always forgave him (eventually), but many more did not. He treated his wife, for whom he had affection, and his children, whom he loved, rather shabbily, and was in his turn badly treated by his great passion, Elizabeth Barry, an actress of extremely easy virtue. His sexual life was remarkable for its abundance and for the range of his partners' social levels. He claimed once to have been drunk for five years.

In spite of Rochester's terrible, unregulated, even cruel behavior, he also had a streak of sweetness and self-knowledge which makes his self-destruction very pitiable, especially in his final years when he was terribly ill. It is this tenderness which somehow emerges from the wreck, especially in the course of his religious conversion, and which Greene captures very successfully.

This is Greene's only effort at biography, written in the 1930s, but laid aside because of Rochester's reputation for lewdness, until the early 1970s. It is peculiar in tone, because even then Greene felt he could not be very explicit about Rochester's explicitness, and so the casual modern reader cannot judge of what this consisted or what the poetry was like; some of the poems quoted were resonant, others seem to come from a very great distance in the past. (His prose writing was far more present and interesting to me.) Greene's exploration of Rochester's life assumes that the reader is reasonably familiar with the court of Charles II and the world of the Restoration. The net result is that a kind of mist settles over the whole subject from which, however, certain scenes emerge memorably.

A curious biography, but somehow entirely suitable to its subject.

[Timothy Roessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found about about Rochester, or more officially, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, because of a recommendation by Ezra Pound. The film Libertine also piqued my curiosity about the poet and rake. This biography by the novelist Graham Greene covers his life, suggests plausible solutions to the mysteries of Rochester's behavior and further acquainted me with the poet. The illustrations were lavish and helpful in understanding the milieu. A couple of quibbles: Greene seems to assume you know more about Rochester's poetry than you may, and presumes a solid grasp on Cromwell and the Restoration period. The biography reminded me of some French biographers, in that it's more essayistic than your basic American style bio with its straightforward timelines, judicious use of original sources and sober approach. Greene riffs on Rochester's life sometimes insightfully, sometimes less so. For example, Greene seems surprised that someone who'd seen his best friends blown up by cannon a few feet away would later find court life meaningless but would prefer whoring, boozing, pranking, and writing.

[Pamela Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to read because of the subject, John Wilmot’s life but even more so because of the obvious attention to detail and thorough research by the author. The book is a slow read but most definitely worth the effort. I’ve read several biographies of Wilmot and this is the best yet.

[Mike Mutschelknaus · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst book by Graham Greene, ever, which still means it's better than 90% of all other books out there. For Graham Greene afficionados, however, you can skip this one. It's OK. Plus, there's no actual monkey in it. There's a metaphorical monkey, of course.

[Kate]

Mentioned in ‘The Shadow in the Garden: a Biographers tale ‘ by James Atlas

[Ben Bergonzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drunk for years on end, addicted to sex, incapable of monogamy but a yearningly romantic lover, an effortlessly clever writer but mired in his own cynicism - Rochester is the very type of a Greene hero, and that's even before his thoroughly documented deathbed 'confession'. The fascinating thing is that this book was written in the early 1930s, well before his great success as a novelist. It lay unpublished till the 1970s. It would have been a challenge writing a biography (rather than a novel) about a man who, like one of Thomas d'Urfey's Jolly Town Rakes, 'lived an age in a year' and died in his early 30s. The thematic structure was perhaps not the best idea for covering such a short life. You can see the faults of the book, but if it had been a resounding success, perhaps we would not have had Greene the novelist. The book's at its most vivid when it quotes Rochester's own words, self-occupied, charming but proud (he always signs off letters, even to his wife, as 'Rochester'). A fascinating curiosity, and if you can get hold of one of the Book Club Associates' hardback editions from 1974, it's a beautifully illustrated source of historical inspiration. I was left wishing for a novel about Rochester - sadly Greene left us only one historical novel, The Man Within about 18th century smugglers.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit of an anomaly, the kind of book that most people wouldn’t know about despite the fact that it’s written by a celebrated author, a man who’s usually grouped under ‘classics‘ in the bookshop. Lord Rochester’s Monkey is, in fact, a thoroughly interesting read whether you’re interested in history or not.

Loosely speaking, it’s a biography of “Restoration rake and poet” John Wilmot, the Second Earl of Rochester, who was “famed for his lecheries, wild pranks and drunkenness, feared for his biting wit.” Now, I’d never heard of the guy, but despite the fact that it could’ve been a biography of anyone for all I cared, and the fact that I was reading it because of an interest in the author himself and not his subject matter, I actually enjoyed learning about Wilmot and the court of Charles II.

That said, I wouldn’t read it again – it was interesting, sure, but it wasn’t that interesting, and one long session of learning about John Wilmot is enough for me. I wish I knew a little more about why Greene chose Wilmot in the first place – perhaps there was a personal reason for it, or perhaps it’s just because Wilmot was “one of the finest poets of his age”.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being the Life of John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester
"Lord Rochester's Monkey" was written between 1931 and 1934 and, because of the reputation of its subject, the notorious Restoration libertine and poet, the book failed to find a publisher. Rochester was the most prominent of rakes. He was also a fine lyrical and satirical poet whose work, in Greene's opinion, has been greatly underestimated, being overshadowed by his life of lechery and drunkenness, wild pranks and practical jokes. At court, Charles II suffered but respected Rochester's coruscating satires, joined in his erotic escapades and rewarded him with distinctions. Yet the last thirteen years of his life were "clouded by the fumes of drink" and literary quarrels. On his deathbed in 1680 - he was only 33 - he called for Dr Burnet and repented. His friend Etheridge wrote of him: "I know he is a devil, but had something of the angel yet undefac'd in him".

[Sherzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Greene saw much of himself in Lord Rochester, although I believe Greene didn't have Rochester's mean streak. The text jumps around in a way that is hard to follow, especially at the beginning. I often had to re-read to see which "he" was referred to. I second the opinion of another reviewer, who said the reader must know a great deal about the history of the Restoration to appreciate Lord Rochester's life and times. This book doesn't seem particularly salacious by modern standards; perhaps there was too much build-up about that. I also think Greene's interest in Rochester wasn't just in his writings or womanizing, but his faith (which Greene would probably deny). Rochester ignored it, suppressed it, but it pops up wherever Greene finds a hint of it.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester was a noble, rake and poet in the Stuart court. His gift for words was matched only by his taste for dissolution, alcohol and women. As an example, he's the author of the epigram that King Charles II " never said a foolish thing,/ nor ever did a wise one." King Charles is said to have replied: "That is true, for my words are my own, but my actions are those of my ministers." This Greene biography of Rochester rescued the poet--briefly--from obscurity, but he was one of the most talented wits of an era that prized wit. Interesting that Greene decided to write a biography of this man, with whom, latter-day biographies indicate, he shared some vices.

[Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly organized; overwrought, faux-prudish prose wallowing in Lord Rochester's "debauchery" without telling us what exactly he did other than visit prostitutes (sometimes? often? daily?); random plates of purported historical interest whose relevance was often doubtful.

I did learn enough about the reign of Charles II to want to read more of the ribald poetry.

[Amara Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

entertaining snapshots in the life of john wilmot, lord rochester. vaguely chronological, but greene doesn't appear concerned about the boundaries of time. however, it's well written and clearly greene admired the man, which always helps (although isn't strictly necessary) in a biographical account of someone's life.

[will · Rating 2 out of 5]

fairly dry and impenetrable. if it hadn't have been for stage beauty and knowing some of the surrounding circumstances of the period i never would have finished this book. probably a bad first graham greene.

[Jeff Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat of a unique book I think, but a more depressing personality than John Wilmot would be hard to find.

An interesting read.