# Jonathan Strange: Okay, where DID the magic go? SPOILER WARNING **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673 "2006-08-22T00:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/1 "2006-08-22T00:30:10Z")
At the very beginning of the novel \*Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell \* by Susanna Clarke, Mr. Segundus royally miffs a number of members of the Learned Society of York Magicians by asking why magic is no longer practiced in England. As far as I can tell, by the end of the book, we NEVER learn the answer to this question. I’ve re-read the novel a number of times, and cleared up a number of points to my satisfaction in doing so, but I have never found the answer to Mr. Segundus’ original question: Why did the practice of magic die out in England in the first place? Is answer in the novel? If you agree with me that the answer is NOT in the novel, feel free to speculate about an answer of your own, but please clearly note that it is your own speculation and not an answer found in the text. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/2 "2006-08-22T01:49:13Z")
From what I remember, they never really address the question. If I remember correctly, there was a prophecy regarding the two magicians. Did the prophecy say anything about them being the only ones? If so, then maybe the magic HAD to go away to fulfill the prophecy. Of course, that just shifts the question of why the prophecy was made in the first place, but it’s a start. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/3 "2006-08-22T02:01:29Z")
I think it had something to do with the withdrawal from English affairs of John Uskglass, the Raven King, and fairies in general – but **why** they all retreated to Fairie is never explained. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/4 "2006-08-22T02:58:11Z")
Well, I have nothing to contibute dirctly to the discussion, as it has been a while since I read the book last, but inspired by this discussion, I dug up Clarke’s website, [JonathanStrange.com](http://www.jonathanstrange.com) (poor Norrell–even in cyberspace, his pupil outshines him) and found the following tidbit: > [@](#): > > The next book will be set in the same world and will probably start a few years after Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell finishes. I feel very much at home in the early nineteenth century and am not inclined to leave it. I doubt that the new book will be a sequel in the strictest sense. There are new characters to be introduced, though probably some old friends will appear too. I’d like to move down the social scale a bit. Strange and Norrell were both rich, with pots of money and big estates. Some of the characters in the second book have to struggle a bit harder to keep body and soul together. I expect there’ll be more about John Uskglass, the Raven King, and about how magic develops in England. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/5 "2006-08-22T03:16:58Z")
Thanks for the responses. So far, what you all say is in keeping with my impressions – no real explanation whatsoever, except for the apparent implication that it had to do with John Uskglass removing himself from affairs in some fashion. But, once again, we are not told WHY, as far as I could tell. (I asked the question because I found the book a little vague on some points, which I only came to really understand on re-reading. The rationale behind Strange taking the “mouse tincture,” for example, had me stumped for my first several read throughs. With that in mind, I thought that perhaps I was missing something. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-strange-okay-where-did-the-magic-go-spoiler-warning/369673/6 "2006-08-22T03:19:04Z")
Maybe all the [mana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Goes_Away) got used up.