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{{Short description|1970 novel by Robertson Davies}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2010}}
{{Infobox book
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|preceded_by=
|followed_by=[[The Manticore]]}}
'''''Fifth Business''''' (
First published by [[Macmillan of Canada]] in 1970, it is the first installment of Davies' best-known work, the ''[[The Deptford Trilogy|Deptford Trilogy]]'' ==Plot summary==
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Dunstan Ramsay, an aging history teacher at Colborne College, becomes enraged by the patronizing tone of a newspaper article announcing his recent retirement, which appears to portray him as an unremarkable old man with no notable accomplishments to his name. Hoping to prove that he has lived a worthwhile and fulfilling life, Ramsay pens an indignant letter to the school's headmaster relating the story of his life, beginning with a childhood memory of an incident that occurred in his hometown of Deptford, [[Ontario]] in December 1908.
During a quarrel with a ten-year-old Ramsay (then known as "Dunstable Ramsay"), Ramsay’s wealthy friend Percy Boyd Staunton angrily hurls a snowball
When Ramsay's gravely injured brother Willie apparently makes a miraculous recovery after Mrs. Dempster prays at his bedside, Ramsay comes to suspect that Mrs. Dempster is capable of performing miracles, which is seemingly confirmed after Ramsay himself has a vision of her shortly before miraculously surviving an artillery blast at the [[Battle of Passchendaele|Battle of Ypres]] in [[World War I]], losing his left leg in the process. Upon
After becoming a schoolteacher, Ramsay earns a reputation as an eccentric due to his interest in [[hagiology]] (the study of saints)
Following the birth of her son David, Leola becomes increasingly unhappy with her marriage to Boy, finding herself unable to adjust to high-society life due to her provincial upbringing. The Stauntons' marital difficulties culminate in Leola unsuccessfully attempting suicide on Christmas Eve in 1936 after a fight with Boy. When Leola dies of pneumonia a few years later, Ramsay suspects that she intentionally brought about her death by leaving her window open.
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While in [[Mexico City]] on a six-month [[sabbatical]] from Colborne College, Ramsay attends a magic show put on by the mysterious illusionist Magnus Eisengrim, who is revealed to be an adult Paul Dempster. Intrigued by Eisengrim's spectacular illusions, Ramsay joins his entourage as he tours the world with his magic act, and gradually becomes close to Eisengrim's wealthy patroness Liesl, an eccentric woman with a bizarre androgynous appearance. Liesl, who becomes Ramsay's lover, senses that he has never been truly happy, having spent most of his life being overshadowed by other people whose lives have intersected with his own. To help him make sense of his role in the world, Liesl suggests that Ramsay is fated to play the part of "fifth business," a term for a supporting player in a stage show whose role can’t be easily classified, but nonetheless plays a vital role in resolving the plot.
Ramsay's recollections ultimately reach their climax in 1968 after Ramsay and Eisengrim both cross paths with Boy following a show in [[Toronto]]. In a tense conversation, Eisengrim reveals his true identity to Boy, and Ramsay tells Eisengrim about the events in December 1908 that led to his premature birth.
Hours later, Boy is found dead in his car after apparently driving into a river, leaving the police unsure whether his death was [[murder]] or [[suicide]]. Curiously, a stone is found placed in his mouth, which Ramsay
With that, Ramsay concludes the story of his life, saying only, "And that, headmaster, is all I have to tell you."
==Themes==
{{original research|section|date=October 2016}}
Davies discusses several themes in the novel, perhaps the most important being the difference between [[materialism]] and [[spirituality]]. Davies asserts religion is not necessarily integral to the idea—demonstrated by the corrupt Reverend Leadbeater who reduces the Bible to mere economic terms.
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==Title==
{{quote|text=Those roles which, being neither those of hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were none the less essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement were called the Fifth Business in drama and Opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.|sign=purportedly [[Thomas Overskou|Tho. Overskou]]|source=''Den Danske Skueplads''}}
Pressured by his publisher to define "Fifth Business," Davies added this opening quotation.
==Principal characters==
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