I'm the King of the Castle: Understanding the Text (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note
Exam code: 0475 & 0992
All questions in the International GCSE encourage an informed personal response, which means that it is not enough just to know the text you are being examined on really well; you also need to develop a sound understanding of the themes, main ideas, settings, situations and events in the novel you have studied, as well as an understanding of the significance of a particular moment or chapter in relation to the whole text. You also need to demonstrate an awareness of the text as a narrative piece. All of this will help you to develop a sustained, critical understanding of the text through which you are able to demonstrate individuality and insight.
Each of the sub-topics below will help you to develop a better understanding of the text:
Historical/social context
Literary context
Historical/social context
I’m the King of the Castle is a novel about childhood bullying and parental negligence set in an English manor house:
The book’s author, Susan Hill, was born in 1942 in Scarborough, a coastal town in England’s north-east
When she was 16, her family moved to the industrial city of Coventry in the West Midlands, where her father worked in car and airport factories:
This reflects a population shift towards larger conurbations, where work was more readily available
This continued in the decades after World War Two and is picked up in the book
The book was written in 1969, and published the following year:
This was something of a turning point for the British economy
The 1960s, under a Labour government, helped to establish new-found freedoms in society, enshrined in law in areas such as homosexuality, abortion and the voting age and the 1960s saw massive investment in science and education
For the first time in British history, more money was allocated to education than defence, and the Labour government was determined to improve the prospects of working-class children
In the book, Edmund and Charles are pupils at separate boarding schools but, following the death of his father, Charles is only able to continue at school as a Governor’s Bequest Boy (GBB), which meant he didn’t have to pay fees
There is a sharp contrast in the book between Edmund, from a wealthy family, and Charles, reliant on charity for his schooling
Charles reflects that at school the other pupils had found out he was a GBB boy
In 1970, the Conservative Party under Edward Heath won the General Election and faced difficult economic headwinds including high inflation, labour disputes and an oil crisis
This sense of entering an era of significant transition, hope eroding and more challenging times ahead, against the backdrop of the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, would have been the context in which Susan Hill wrote the book
Despite the emergence in the 1960s of working-class voices in politics and the arts, Britain remained a class-bound society at the end of the decade:
The contrast in the book is between Mr Hooper, who has inherited wealth and property, and Mrs Kingshaw, who drifts between jobs and temporary accommodation
By extension, this class difference is reflected in the relationship between the two boys and, in particular, how Edmund constantly taunts Charles about their differing circumstances
Mrs Kingshaw is very aware of their position in society, saying people are very mean and unthinking and “do not understand how hard it is for people like us to live decently”
It is also clear that Edmund’s future is secure because he will inherit the house on his father’s death, whereas Mrs Kingshaw stresses to Charles how important it is to do well at school:
She says “as long as you make the very best of your chances there, that is all I ask of you”
But class barriers are breaking down, which may explain why Mr Hooper is willing to marry his housekeeper rather than someone from his own social background
How this links to I’m the King of the Castle | |
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Class divide | In Chapter 7, Charles tries to run away but Edmund follows him and they get lost in the woods. For the first time, Edmund shows his vulnerable side, and Charles thinks he will be ashamed, giving him an opportunity to lead. He sees an opportunity in Edmund’s vulnerability, but he underestimates Edmund’s malice and he reverts back to type as soon as he recovers. This is important because it is the point at which Charles could have forged a different future for himself, where he makes the decisions rather than Edmund. However, Edmund weaponises the employment status of Charles’ mother to demand obedience. Edmund’s renewed dominance seals Charles’ fate for the rest of the book, leading him to “dumbly” follow his rival. |
Literary context
Susan Hill has written across a number of fiction genres, most recently finding success with a series of detective/crime novels:
She is best known for her 1983 ghost story The Woman in Black, which has been turned into a play and a film
That book can be described as gothic, a literary genre characterised by fear and horror
I’m the King of the Castle can be said to contain many gothic features
Gothic
The location, a somewhat remote, sprawling house, is a typical gothic setting, perhaps comparable to Mandalay in Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca
Death is usually a common trope (opens in a new tab) in gothic novels:
I’m the King of the Castle features a dead moth collection, a dead, stuffed crow, a dead rabbit and a lamb on its way to slaughter, among other images
Dark, dank nature is another common trope:
For example, “It smelled steamy and damp, like a jungle”
Being trapped in a dark, claustrophobic space may also be seen as a gothic staple:
Charles is locked in the Red Room, where the dead butterfly collection is kept
Later, Edmund locks him in a shed and teases him about being scared in the dark saying “there might be a lot of moths, or a bat hanging upside down from the ceiling”
How this links to I’m the King of the Castle | |
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Gothic setting | Warings is characterised by gloom, decay and a sense of entrapment. Charles feels “trapped” there, hating the “darkness and oldness of it” and the “queer smell”. In addition, the Red Room is filled with death and images of decay, such as the Death’s Head Hawk moth, which disintegrates when touched. |
Pathetic fallacy (opens in a new tab) | The novel uses weather to mirror the psychological terror of the characters. For example, during the confrontation in Hang Wood, a violent thunderstorm breaks, creating a “feeling of tension” and “holding back some kind of violence” that parallels the tension between the boys. |
Childhood cruelty
While books about cruelty are not uncommon, novels focusing on childhood cruelty are relatively rare
The book best-known in this sub-genre is William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, which is about a group of British boys stranded on an island, the power struggle that ensues and their descent into savagery:
Edmund’s relentless baiting of Charles in I’m the King of the Castle is often of a sadistic nature, zeroing in on Charles’ fears and insecurities
Often there is nothing for Edmund to gain from his behaviour towards Charles, which is probably why the author describes him as “evil” in the book’s afterword
How this links to I’m the King of the Castle | |
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Cruelty | In Chapter 2, Charles (Kingshaw) has just met Edmund after arriving with his mother at Warings, where she is to take up the position of housekeeper. Edmund is immediately antagonistic towards him, making it clear that he doesn’t want him there. The boys fight, Charles reflecting afterwards that he had never fought a boy before; he had never faced this sort of hostility. This is the point at the start of the novel when Charles realises that he is totally alone and at the mercy of a pitiless bully. This scene sets the tone of the rest of the book. Charles fears there is worse to come and feels totally alone, with nobody to turn to. |
Relationships across the class divide
The romance between property owner Mr Hooper and propertyless housekeeper Mrs Kingshaw might have raised eyebrows for being unusual even as late as 1970, when the book was published
There are examples of love across class divides in English literature such as the passionate affair between an aristocrat and a gamekeeper in DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, first published in England in a censored version in 1932
What is different in I’m the King of the Castle is that there doesn’t seem to be any hint of love between Mr Hooper and Mrs Kingshaw, even though they are to be married:
Mr Hooper is attracted to Mrs Kingshaw sexually
“Mrs Kingshaw would answer to him, without the niceties and restraints, she would bridge the gap between fantasy and life”
He also sees her as a companion to combat his loneliness:
“You have given me new strength. I no longer feel so much alone”
For her part, Mrs Kingshaw has been somewhat manipulative in securing Mr Hooper as a partner, seeing this an opportunity to secure her future and to move up the social ladder:
“Do not spoil everything for me she wanted to say [to Charles], do not take away my chance”
How this links to I’m the King of the Castle | |
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Relationships across the class divide | The relationship between Mr Hooper and Mrs Kingshaw bridges a clear class divide between employer and employee. The novel portrays it as driven more by mutual need and loneliness than romantic love. In Chapter 16, Mr Hooper overhears Mrs Kingshaw talking on the telephone to a friend, claiming that she had not quite “made up my mind about the future”. This prompts Mr Hooper to act, thinking of her as a woman rather than just a housekeeper. He admits to himself that he is an “intensely sexual man” who has suffered a gap between his public behaviour and his desires, and he realises that a marriage to Mrs Kingshaw would “bridge the gap between fantasy and life.” Ultimately, the marriage is arranged, securing Mrs Kingshaw’s financial future and ending Mr Hooper’s loneliness, despite the tragic consequences this union creates for their sons. |
Source
Hill, S. (1970) I’m the King of the Castle. 1989 edn. Penguin.
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