‘Placetne Magistra?’ -- Latin in Dorothy L. Sayers’ Gaudy Night

Abstract

Abstract Gaudy Night is unique among Dorothy L. Sayers’ detective novels in its prolific use of Latin quotations. While scholars have considered the two Latin quotations which are integral to the novel’s plot, this article will explore Sayers’ incidental Latin phrases and quotations as well, in order to fully illuminate the significant role the language plays within the novel. Sayers uses Latin to express the tense and ambiguous relationship between women and Oxford University, with her Latin quotations both acknowledging how universities had traditionally excluded women, and simultaneously evoking a new equality of the sexes based upon an equality of academic capacity and achievement. Furthermore, Latin is key to negotiating a successful romantic relationship between Harriet and Peter. More than any other language, Latin represents intellect and scholarship to the English-speaking mind, and the intellectual equality between Harriet and Peter is key to their relationship. Yet, Sayers does not only use Latin to represent abstract, asexual intellect, but also layers the learned with the erotic as part of the novel’s ongoing negotiation between the demands of brain and heart.