Conrad uses visual imagery, personification, and idiom in this passage to describe the sultry, tense atmosphere of London. Although the city is opulent and its colors are bright and rich, there is still an underlying sense of unease:
Carriages went bowling by, mostly two-horse broughams, with here and there a victoria with the skin of some wild beast inside and a woman’s face and hat emerging above the folded hood. And a peculiarly London sun – against which nothing could be said except that it looked bloodshot – glorified all this by its stare. It hung at a moderate elevation above Hyde Park Corner with an air of punctual and benign vigilance.
The sun casts a red glow over the scene, seeming so present that it behaves like a character with agency. The narrator personifies it, described as having a "bloodshot" look like a strained eyeball and a "benign vigilance.” It's as if the sun itself is a weary observer of the city's activities, hanging lazily and unmovingly a “moderate” distance away from the scene. The sun's "moderate elevation" and "punctual" nature further emphasize its involvement in the specific locale Conrad describes. It’s a “peculiarly London sun,” as if it’s only present in that place, and only watching the people living there.
The depiction of the carriages, especially the "victoria" with "the skin of some wild beast inside," creates a picture of luxury and opulence. This scene is alive with visual descriptions of movement, the vehicles "bowling by" suggesting the rapid pace of the surroundings. The mention of "victoria" here is idiomatic: it’s both a type of carriage and a reference to the young women within them. A “Victoria” is a type of carriage, usually doorless and drawn by one or two horses. However, as the story is set in late 1800s London, the term could also allude to young women of affluence. People often named their children after monarchs and—especially as Queen Victoria was popular with much of the population—many children were named in her honor. A “victoria” in this context could refer to any young girl. This play on words adds a layer of period-specific local color to the passage.
In Mr. Vladimir's early dialogue with Verloc, Conrad weaves together personification and situational irony. As he harangues Verloc about the need to “shake things up,” Mr. Vladimir expounds:
“England lags. This country is absurd with its sentimental regard for individual liberty. [...] England must be brought into line. [...] I suppose you agree that the middle classes are stupid?’
Mr. Verloc agreed hoarsely.
‘They are.’
‘They have no imagination. They are blinded by an idiotic vanity. What they want just now is a jolly good scare.”
As Mr. Vladimir outlines his ambitions for terrorist action, he personifies England as a living being faltering under the weight of its own sentiments. In this instance, personification transforms England into a sentient character—capable of emotions, of lagging, and of holding "sentimental regard" for ideals. Vladimir perceives “England's” cherishing of individual liberties as a form of stagnation. He sees this idea of too many “individual liberties” and its concurrent self-satisfaction and feelings of safety as being inherently bad. He wishes to disrupt it by any means necessary.
The situational irony here lies in two places. The first is the fact that Vladimir, a diplomat representing a foreign power, actually has no idea what is going on in the United Kingdom. Indeed, in the passage which directly follows this one, he gives an account of what he believes is happening that is so misinformed and inaccurate that it fills Verloc with “silent consternation.” Even though he has no real experience with the “middle classes,” and doesn’t understand English politics, Vladimir presumes to understand and critique them as “stupid” and “blinded by an idiotic vanity.”
Furthermore, his desire for Verloc to "shake up" the middle class seems to omit the fact that Verloc himself is a member of that class. When Vladimir asks him if he agrees that the “middle classes are stupid,” he’s also implying that Verloc is himself “stupid.” Verloc, listening to him rail ignorantly against English society, is forced to agree “hoarsely” that this is the case.
