Macavity: The Mystery Cat
by T.S. Eliot
Rapid Learn 2-Minute Revision
Perfect for last-minute revision
2-Minute Revision Video
Video coming soon
A highly entertaining, mock-heroic poem describing Macavity, an elusive master-criminal cat who mocks the laws of both humans and nature. Known as the 'Hidden Paw' and a 'fiend in feline shape', he baffles Scotland Yard and the Flying Squad, whenever a crime is discovered, 'Macavity's not there!' He even defies the law of gravity with powers of 'levitation' that would make a fakir stare. Eliot gives a comic physical description: a tall, thin ginger cat with sunken eyes, a deeply lined brow, a domed head, dusty coat and uncombed whiskers, who sways his head like a snake and is always wide awake. Outwardly respectable and never caught red-handed, he is the mastermind behind a catalogue of crimes, robbing the larder, stealing milk, strangling Pekes, wrecking greenhouses, and stealing state treaties and naval plans, yet is always 'a mile away' licking his thumbs or doing long-division sums when the loss is found. He is the 'Napoleon of Crime', controlling lesser villainous cats like Mungojerrie and Griddlebone.
Detailed Summary
Detailed Summary Video
Video coming soon
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) was one of the greatest modernist poets and critics of the 20th century, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Taken from his celebrated collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, this poem is an entertaining, mock-heroic description of Macavity, an elusive master-criminal cat.
The Hidden Paw and the bafflement of Scotland Yard
Eliot introduces Macavity as 'The Mystery Cat', also known as the 'Hidden Paw'. He is the ultimate master-mind of crime, a 'fiend in feline shape' who can defy and break every human law, and the constant source of bafflement, despair and frustration for Scotland Yard (the London Police headquarters) and the Flying Squad. Whenever a major crime is committed and the police rush to the scene, 'Macavity's not there!'
Defying the law of gravity
Macavity's criminal genius goes beyond human limits; he breaks the very 'law of gravity'. His extraordinary 'powers of levitation' (floating in the air without support) are so bizarre they would make a fakir (a spiritual ascetic) stare in disbelief. He can vanish from a basement or an attic in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace behind.
Physical appearance of the ginger cat
The poet gives a comical physical description of the villain: he is a tall, thin 'ginger cat' with deeply sunken eyes that give him a sinister look. His brow is 'deeply lined with thoughts', reflecting his constant plotting, and his head is highly 'domed'. His coat is dusty and dirty from neglect, and his whiskers are uncombed. He moves his head from side to side with slow, sweeping movements 'like a snake', and when people think he is half-asleep he is, in reality, 'always wide awake'.
The catalogue of crimes and the Napoleon of Crime
Macavity is outwardly respectable, a master of deception who has never been caught red-handed, and his footprints are never found in any Scotland Yard file. Yet he is the mastermind behind a huge catalogue of crimes: he loots the kitchen larder and steals the milk, strangles the small Pekinese dog ('Peke'), and breaks the greenhouse glass and ruins the trellis past repair. When the Foreign Office finds an important state treaty gone astray, or the Admiralty loses crucial naval plans, the secret service whispers 'It must have been Macavity!', but by the time the loss is disclosed, he is a mile away, lazily licking his thumbs or doing complex long-division sums.
The poem concludes by calling Macavity the 'Napoleon of Crime'. Other notorious cats mentioned in POSSUM lore, like Mungojerrie and Griddlebone, are nothing but cheap, minor agents, completely controlled and directed by this singular, quiet mastermind of London's feline underworld.