Number 6 said the maids come and they go.
First trying to extract certain information from him, while the maid at night
makes him his nightcap of hot cocoa in order to help him sleep. Number 58
brings Number 6 his breakfast one morning, as does Number 54 in the picture
above. In ‘Dance of The Dead’ the night time maid Number 21 makes his nightcap
and tells him that it’s good for him. After ‘Dance of The Dead’ it’s Number 8
in ‘Checkmate’ who makes Number 6 his nightcap of hot chocolate. Mind you
Number 8 is not the only woman to wait on Number 6, another Number 8 {Nadia}
boiled Number 2 two eggs one morning, I wonder where Number 6’s personal maid
was that time? So the maids come and they go, in fact Number 54 is the last
ever personal maid we see to grace Number 6’s cottage. The first flicked a
yellow duster about the place, the last a feather duster. Perhaps having a
personal maid was a privilege, a privilege eventually to be taken away from our
friend Number 6. Then he would have to make his own bed, do his own housework,
wash and clean for himself. Make his own breakfast, when he’d no-one else to do
it for him. And do his own laundry. But somehow I don’t see Number 6 as the
domestic type, do you?
Be seeing you
I wonder why the Prisoner should live in a serviced appartment, in the first place. After all, it's fully furnished and equipped with a kitchen. All the more as No. 6 isn't handicapped in any way. We didn't see or hear him being asked which way he'd be in favour of, did we. So, that leaves just one clue, the Village wants some kind of physical contact. Because you never know what a chamber maid might find. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThat's a very good question about Number 6's serviced accommodation, which reflects the serviced accommodation in Portmeirion, doesn't it? But on the other hand, he does have a fully fitted kitchen of a self-catering cottage! No we didn't see or hear which he would prefer. He must be one of the privilaged prisoners. if nothing else, Number 2 does like to see the inmates of The Village as comfortable as possible.
Yes chamber maids are good at finding things out. Mind you the Prisoner soon saw through Number 66!
I bet the Professor didn't have a personal maid, as he had Madam Professor to cook the meals and do the housework, perhaps because they lived in self-catering accommodation!
Very kind regards
David
BCNU
It occurred to me later that the prospect of imagining someone like the No. 6 character to be standing in front of his oven, cutting onions and carrots in order to prepare a meal, would seem odd, wouldn't it. Apart from the fact that cooking just for oneself is hardly worth the effort. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteYou paint a very pretty picture of Number 6 busy cooking in his kitchen, but I'm not so sure it would have been odd, just part of normal everyday life. But as you say, cooking for one is hardly worth the effort. Perhaps that's why we see Number 6 eating sandwiches!
Best regards
David
BCNU
Hi David and Arno,
ReplyDeletein a way I imagine the maids as a cute kind of warders, or maybe better nurses. They take care of the Prisoners, by hook or by crook.
As for Number 6, somehow I think he would prefer either self-catering or the possibility to purchase ready meals, at least while being in the Village. But I don't know about London.. I could imagine him cooking, or even slicing onions, but he wouldn't want to be watched doing it, would he? Unless he is cooking for friends. But to be honest, in London I could easily imagine him paying a maid.
Best wishes,
Jana
BCNU
Hello Jana,
DeleteThat's a new way of looking at the maids, yes I suppose they do take care of the Prisoner.
Self-catering would be more preferable to a serviced room to the Prisoner I’m sure. During ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ Number 6 puts the black speaker in his well stocked refrigerator. There’s a roasted chicken, a large cheese, two bottles of wine, two bottles of milk, eggs, milk, sausages, a roll of possibly salami, or other such meat, and tinned produce which needs refrigeration. But what’s that other white bottle? Possibly it’s a bottle of a stomach preparation of some kind, like milk of magnesia!
As for living in that large house in London, and it is a house and not a flat as some enthusiasts of ‘the Prisoner’ would have it. He would need a housemaid to look after the house, in the same was as Mrs Butterworth does. Or perhaps in the Prisoner’s case it would be a personal gentleman’s gentleman, in other words a valet.
Best wishes
David
BCNU