Jeffrey Archer’s “Old Love” is a unique love story between two brilliant Oxford students of English literature. Archer explores the theme of love from a completely unusual point of view. The performance is fiercely honest as it portrays a chronic sense of envy and rivalry between two sworn archrivals at Oxford University: William Hatchard and Philippa Jameson. Initially, his aggressive competition unsettled his guardian Simon Jakes. In her constant intellectual debates, Philippa pits William’s deep, confident voice against his high-heeled audacity. The mutual hatred was absolute. Their keenly perceptive and analytical mind refused to submit to each other. In fact, this fierce sense of competition allowed them to outshine everyone else in the field. Given the background of the 1930s, she, to him, was “that silly woman” and he was “that arrogant man”. Yet strange is the path of fate that an unusual love story should blossom between the bitterest of academic rivals!
This rivalry assumed an unpleasant intensity when both excelled as first in their final grade exam. Charles Oldham Shakespeare’s essay writing contest fueled this fire of passionate jealousy and it became a matter of life and death for each to defeat the other. However, things took a dramatic turn when William unknowingly discovered the death of Philippa’s father (who was a vicar) of cancer, and also, his secret dream of letting his daughter study at Oxford and he will win Charles Oldham reward. The sight of the silent sobs of his proud and powerful adversary stirred a sudden feeling of empathy in his gut. She overcame her tentative doubts and offered to accompany her to her town for her burial ceremony. They held hands for the first time and discovered the new bond of friendship when they began their journey to her town. They communicated with each other spontaneously while on their way back to Oxford, which brings Philippa back to her normal competitive spirit. Little by little she discovers the growth of her new intense attraction to William. The latter secretly enjoys this interesting conversion into the Vicar’s daughter.
The transformation of hate into love has always been a captivating subject in its own right, and Archer makes the situation entertaining with the use of sparkling wit in his conversation. They pay a visit to Stratford and eat together. But their first date was far from usual: it’s a unique mix of warmth and intellectual antagonism! If this instinctive antagonism triggered a strong feeling of hatred before, now it brought them closer together. In fact, this killer instinct became a delirious source of entertainment for both of them. Archer makes the reader wonder if the intense hatred could be an expression of hidden attraction.
However, the situation takes a peculiar turn upon returning from Stratford. On their way back to Oxford, Phillipa and William had to spend the night in a car because the fuel gauge was empty. The former obviously didn’t miss an opportunity to express her doubt about the brain power of a person who couldn’t even read a gas gauge! The next day, William gave him the reason why he had let the car run out of gas: He said with an odd sense of humor, “My father told me that if you spend the night with a bartender, you just have to ask for an extra pint of beer”. but if I spent the night with the vicar’s daughter, I would have to marry her.” He knelt down and said, “Will you marry me if I win the Charles Oldham?” Philippa replied that “as there is absolutely no fear of that happening. I can safely say yes…” When William declared his love for her, she told him not to show his face in Somerville again if he failed to win. Charles Oldham. Readers wonder if the writer reveals Philippa’s secret wish that she could marry him, even at the cost of losing Charles Oldham! Otherwise, why did tears come to Philippa’s eyes when a girl informed her that she had won? It was a moment of crisis for her because between the contradictory emotion of ambition and love in her heart, the latter had won and for once the proud girl confessed: “I don’t love anything in the world as much as you, do I?” it’s strange ?”
However, when he found out that William was a joint winner, his mischievous spirit returned as he said, “I take you for pity,” to which William replied, “I yield to great persuasion…” They locked themselves in a passionate embrace, and after that, they were never apart for more than a few hours. Strangely, their honeymoon in Athens ended in a heated argument about the relative significance of Doric and Ionic architecture.
Later in life, this constant battle of wits kept their romance from devolving into boredom and banality. Their serious research works and creative pursuits, albeit in different fields, kept them deeply connected. After three years, “with a well-received D. Phils”, they moved, together, into university teaching. But their fierce encounters continued and their sharp wits at each other’s expense would flash across the dinner tables at Oxford. However, those who understood their love were envious of their unique relationship! They had no children, but their life was not bland.
Returning home from the celebratory dinner (being declared Full Professor), their heated discussion of Proust’s monumental work took such an intimidating turn that a policeman, standing nearby, asked Philippa “Is everything okay, Ms?” “No it’s not,” William declared, “this woman has been attacking me for over 30 years and to date the police have done woefully little to protect me.” Beneath this apparent antagonism, however, their bond continued to grow stronger with each passing year. Interestingly, his intense love was inseparable from his jealous intellectual antagonism, lending a peculiar aura to their relationship. When Philippa was made a Lady of the British Empire, William referred to her as an “Old Lady” with whom he now had to live. It is this bittersweet taste of her love that defines their marriage.
Philippa’s most irritating habit to William was her determination each morning to complete The Times crossword puzzle before he reached the breakfast table. One fine June morning, William, studying the clue, filled in the eight boxes that Philippa had left incomplete. Philippa instantly replied that there was no such word. To Philippa’s delight the word “Why wham? could not be found in the shorter Oxford Dictionary. William assured him that the word could be found in OED on his desk, made for scholars like him. William rose from the breakfast table with sharp remarks about Philippa’s limited command of the English language and that he will have to eat humble pie at Somerville’s Gaudy Feast while he reads the complete works of John Skelton…
William left with a sigh, kissing his wife on the cheek, wishing he had lost Charles Oldham. Filipa answered yes because it was very inappropriate in those days to declare a woman as the only winner! Having closed the front door, as she entered the kitchen, Dame Philippa suddenly suffered a single heart attack from her. She called out to William hoarsely but to no avail. News of her death was broadcast, and the story ends on a note of black humor in the suicide note from Sir William (who shot himself with his pistol): “Forgive me, but I had to warn you.” There was the volume of the works of John Skelton open in one of his hands with the word “Why wham? neatly underlined, his fingers stiff and cold around her. Such a bizarre ending, subtly hints at the essence of the special relationship this couple shared to get over the big “TILL DEATH DO US PART” wedding vow. Archer’s love story stands out because death could not part Sir William and Dame Philippa! Even as he followed her wife to her grave, William felt the need to camouflage the inseparable bond they shared and the unbearable loneliness he would feel without her…he does it with a wry sense of humor!
