The Diary of Samuel Pepys

The new year opens with Pepys’s sister Pall coming to live in his house, having previously lived with Pepys’s parents. Pepys implies that Pall is troublesome and does not get along with her father. From the start Pepys conveys his somewhat remote attitude to his sister: He declines to let her sit down at table with him, “that she may not expect it hereafter from me” (64). Pepys makes it clear to Pall that she has a subservient status in the house. Later on in the Diary, however, Pepys will regret his tendency to slight people.

On January 3, Pepys goes to the theater and remarks that he saw women act on the stage for the first time. During the Commonwealth, theaters were closed, and drama was banned in accordance with the ideals of Puritanism, so many plays were performed in secret at taverns or private homes. As was the case before the Commonwealth, women were not allowed to act, and female roles were taken by boys. This situation changed in 1660 with the Restoration; the theaters opened again, and female actresses were allowed for the first time. Pepys’s Diary captures the moment when this change occurred. Pepys’s infatuation with actresses, particularly one named Mrs. Knepp, will figure later on in the Diary.

On January 7 and 8, Pepys alludes to the “fanatiques.” Led by the preacher Thomas Venner, this was a millenarian sect (a religious group that believed the end of the world was at hand) that attempted a violent revolt against the restoration of the monarchy. Pepys says the fanatics caused a disturbance during the night and that he got up to see what was going on. Significantly, he specifies that he armed himself and went abroad, “with no good courage at all, but that I might not seem to be afeared” (65). This is an example of Pepys’s honesty in portraying his flaws, in this case cowardice. After the city is shut down for a night, the fanatics are “killed or taken” (65) and the problem is resolved.

The central event of the Second Year is the coronation of the newly returned King Charles II, which takes place on April 23 in Westminster Abbey after a procession through the city the previous day. Pepys is disappointed that the weather turns out to be rainy for this elaborate ceremony, or “show” (82). London is nevertheless crowded with people to see the coronation, and the improvement of the weather shortly before the ceremony is interpreted by many as a sign of divine favor.

After this great public event, Pepys returns to personal affairs; such a succession and mixture of public and private affairs is typical of the Diary. Pepys’s parents are “in a great deal of discontent with one another” because of his mother’s increasingly “pettish” (85) behavior. Pepys talks to his mother about her behavior, showing his willingness to become involved in his family’s troubles.

More sad family news comes on July 6 when Pepys’s uncle Robert dies. Typically, Pepys reacts with a mixture of sadness in his uncle’s death and satisfaction in the inheritance he will receive; he is honest about being “greedy” to see his uncle’s will (88-89). Pepys delves into issues relating to his uncle’s will with his father.

Yet more family trouble comes from Pall and her “high [i.e., haughty] spirit.” Pepys and his father have out with Pall “in great anger” (94) and threaten to turn her out. Pepys convinces his father to take Pall back and see whether her behavior improves.

Pepys’s growing social status is shown in his receiving a “bever” (beaver fur hat) as a gift (87). At the same time, Pepys shows unease with his pursuit of pleasure, which interferes with his work; he vows to curtail his drinking of wine and his attendance at plays. Visiting a gaming house, Pepys is dismayed to see the “miserable,” “poor,” and “unmanly” life of gamblers and is grateful to be warned of the dangers of gambling (99). The contrast and conflict between work and pleasure and the need for frugality will be a recurring theme in the Diary.

Now in its first year, the reign of Charles II is in a “very ill condition,” and the royal court is full of “the vices of drinking, swearing, and loose amours” (95). Forebodingly, “strange and fatal fevers” (96) have arisen, perhaps a foretaste of the plague that will strike London in the Sixth Year. The Navy office lacks money, and there is a general dissatisfaction the government.

On October 1, Pepys agrees to let his wife study music along with him; Elizabeth’s study of music and dancing will create tensions later in the Fourth Year.

As the year ends, London is abuzz with talk of the king’s plans to bring home his new bride Queen Catherine from Portugal. On the personal side, Pepys is pleased to be worth £500 (worth about $36,000 in modern times) and to be in good health. However, his expensive lifestyle continues to trouble him, and he takes a “solemn oath about abstaining from plays and wine” (103), which he will recite every Sunday.

His “chiefest thought” now is to find a wife for his brother Tom. Throughout the book, Pepys will be involved in arranging marriages for various relatives; this process reflects the importance of property and inheritance to marriage during this era.