The Robber Bridegroom

American author Eudora Welty’s novella, The Robber Bridegroom (1942), is loosely based on the Grimm fairytale of the same name. A southern folktale set in Mississippi, it incorporates elements from American mythology and historical figures of the American South into the tale of gentleman robber Jamie Lockhart. Lockhart, a thief and brawler, visits the home of Clement Musgrove on the Natchez Trace, where Musgrove lives with his wife and his daughter, Rosamund. Lockhart kidnaps Rosamund, and the two have many adventures as they quickly fall in love. Inspired by the myth of Cupid and Psyche, as well as the original fairytale, The Robber Bridegroom explores themes of infatuation, crime, and the power of love to redeem a person. One of Welty’s more popular shorter works, it was adapted into a 1976 Broadway musical by Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman.

The Robber Bridegroom begins as wealthy planter Clement Musgrove arrives in town to do business, only to encounter robbers and ruffians every way he turns. Arriving at a hotel seeking rest, he happens to have arrived at the same hotel where the Harp gang, a ruthless band of bandits, is waiting. Their leader, Little Harp, is not a competent robber but makes up for it in his instability and penchant for violence — he frequently talks to “Big Harp,” his brother, whose head he keeps in his back. Little Harp plots with his “brother” to kill Clement in his sleep and take his money. However, they’re not the only bandits in the hotel. The gentleman thief Jamie Lockhart overhears this and saves Musgrove by fooling Little Harp into thinking he’s already been killed. Grateful, Musgrove invites Lockhart to his home for dinner and to meet his daughter, Rosamund. At Musgrove’s home lives his second wife, Salome. Salome is a bitter woman who resents the fanciful Rosamund and is constantly berating her. Musgrove returns home with a new feather duster for his wife and a beautiful dress sewn with gold for his daughter. This increases Salome’s resentment, and she plots to eliminate her stepdaughter. She hires a boy named Goat to kill Rosamund and bring back a scrap of her new dress.

Rosamund, wearing her new dress, goes to the woods to look for herbs on her stepmother’s orders. Goat follows her, but before he can get to her, Rosamund meets a mysterious figure known as the Bandit of the Woods. He demands her dress and tells her to go home naked. Salome later orders Rosamund to work around the house, hoping she’ll look a mess when Lockhart arrives. Rosamund doesn’t care, being infatuated with this mysterious bandit she encountered. When Jamie arrives, Salome has dressed up and tries to seduce him, but he’s not interested. Musgrove continues to try to set Jamie and Rosamund up for marriage, despite Rosamund’s erratic behavior. Jamie agrees to think it over, but instead, he follows Rosamund into the woods as she goes to the Bandit’s home. He follows her as she finds her dress in the Bandit’s home, puts it on, and fixes the place up; he ambushes her and knocks her out. They end up in bed together.



When they wake up together, Rosamund tells Jamie she wants to see his face, but he tells her it’s better this way. He lies, telling her that he’s engaged to an heiress and this is merely for pleasure. Meanwhile, Salome continues to conspire with Goat, telling him to follow Rosamund — who Musgrove believes has been kidnapped by the bandit. Goat runs into Little Harp, who is desperate for a woman. He tries to get Goat to give Rosamund to him when she’s found. Salome goes looking for Rosamund and finds her in the cabin. She tries to convince Rosamund to come back with her and tells her to go out and wait for her.

While Salome is getting ready to go, Little Harp comes in and mistakes Salome for Rosamund. He kills her just as Rosamund comes back in. As Little Harp turns on her, Jamie walks in, revealing to everyone that he and the Bandit are one and the same. He kills Little Harp, and Rosamund is overjoyed to find that her two loves are one and the same. She wants to get married, but Jamie is angered that his ruse is over. He storms out, only to change his mind a few minutes later. He returns but is unable to find Rosamund. Months later, Rosamund runs into Goat and asks him if he’s seen Jamie. He says Jamie is a ghost and died nine months ago. Rosamund reveals that she’s pregnant, saying that sounds about right. Soon after, she has twins, a boy and a girl. Eventually, she finds Jamie and introduces him to their children. They get married, find Clement, and their family is reunited at last.

Eudora Welty was an American author of novels and short stories. A lifelong resident of Mississippi, she was mostly known for her works exploring the culture of the American South. The author of six novels and dozens of short stories, which were collected in ten collections, as well as two scholarly essays, she received many honors during her lifetime. Chief among these was her 1973 Pulitzer Prize for the novel The Optimist’s Daughter. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well as the Order of the South, and became the first living author to have her works published in the Library of America. She is a four-time honoree of the O. Henry award. Today, her house in Jackson has been designated a National Historic Landmark and serves as a public museum.