The Borough Treasurer · Theme
Respectability and Hypocrisy
How The Borough Treasurer develops Respectability and Hypocrisy.
Mallalieu and Cotherstone are outwardly prosperous, respected civic leaders (Mayor, Borough Treasurer), yet they are criminals living a lie, demonstrating the gap between public reputation and private corruption.
Where it surfaces
- I: Blackmail
Mallalieu and Cotherstone are outwardly respected figures—Mayor and Borough Treasurer—but hide a past conviction for fraud.
- II: Crime—and Success
The contrast between the men's current respected public roles and their criminal past is a key theme.
- VII: Night Work
Mallalieu, as Mayor, uses his position to direct police and suppress truth, prioritizing reputation and self-interest over morality.
- XII: Parental Anxiety
Cotherstone's primary concern is to protect Lettie's marriage prospects by hiding his past, showing the priority of outward respectability over truth.
- XXX: Cotherstone
Cotherstone, a former treasurer of the town's club, is shunned by his fellow members and townspeople after his arrest, highlighting the fragile nature of social respectability and the hypocrisy of a community quick to judge.