The Vicar of Wakefield n/e (Oxford World's Classics)

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The sermons represent the Vicar’s dedication to his faith and his role as a moral guide for his family and community. The novel was slow to find an audience, though it passed through five authorized London editions by 1774. It was only in the decades following Goldsmith's death, when authors like Sir Walter Scott, Byron, and Goethe lauded his work, that it became a sensation. William Hazlitt commented in 1851 that if Goldsmith had never written anything else but the first two or three chapters of Vicar, then "they would have stamped him a genius." In the 19th century, two English editions were published each year, and French and German translations almost equaled them in number. The novel has never passed out of print, and, interestingly enough, bits of the text are used to illustrate hundreds of words in the Oxford English Dictionary; examples include "blarney", "monogamist", "palpitate", and "overcivility". After walking about seventy miles from home, the vicar falls into a fever from stress and despair. He is forced to stop at an inn, where he stays for three weeks while recovering. Left to his thoughts, the vicar develops a shame in his pride since it had caused him trouble.

The novel contrasts the lives of the wealthy and the poor, exploring themes of social inequality and injustice.Eventually, the squire asked George to fight a duel on his behalf, in a matter concerning a lady’s honour. Though he felt terribly about, he performed well. Imagery: The vivid and detailed imagery in the novel creates a rich and immersive reading experience, bringing the setting and characters to life. In their new neighbourhood, the vicar works as a curate and farmer. The family sends George, who had been educated at Oxford, to London in hopes that he cane earn a living there to supplement the family’s income. The new area is comfortable and pastoral, but the women, in particular, find it difficult to acclimate to a lower level of fashion than they are accustomed to.

there as decently as possible, for who knows what may happen?’‘Your precautions,’ replied I, ‘are highly commendable. A Sophia's features were not so striking at first; but often did more certain execution; for they were soft, modest, and alluring. The one vanquished by a single blow, the other by efforts successfully repeated...Olivia wished for many lovers, Sophia to secure one. Olivia was often affected from too great a desire to please. Sophia even represt (repressed) excellence from her fears to offend." The Vicar’s early financial misfortunes foreshadow the series of adversities that he and his family will face throughout the novel. The family holds a party for their landlord and his friends, the chaplain and the feeder. It is a great success. At dinner, the vicar toasts the church, and the chaplain commends him on it. Moses and Squire Thornhill attempt to debate religion, but the squire’s arguments are too convoluted and silly for Moses to understand. Throughout the evening, the vicar continues to note how Olivia is taken by the squire. What their “foolish” inclusion of the squire here – as well as all the other examples listed above – reveal is that the family is not only growing prideful but is also growing blind to their actual identities. They are losing sight of who they are, instead of focusing only on unfounded desires. As the reader becomes more and more confident that Squire Thornhill’s intentions are impure, the family only grows further seduced by the potential of securing a profitable match for Olivia. She has become a commodity through which they might earn a social rise. Were they not so blinded, these many misfortunes might alert them to the truth of their situation; however, each misfortune only forces them to redouble the extent of their delusions.Farmer Williams visits the family one day when the squire is there. The farmer’s clear passion for Olivia seems to bother Squire Thornhill, and Olivia suggests to her father that the squire must have a reason for delaying in his proposal. The vicar and Deborah then decide to set a date by which Squire Thornhill must act, after which they will give Olivia’s hand to Farmer Williams. Slyly, they let the squire know about this date. But a contract that is false between two men, is equally so between an hundred, or an hundred thousand; for a

They travel together to jail. The ladies take up residence in a nearby inn, while the sons stay with him in his cell. In prison, the vicar makes a friend named Ephraim Jenkinson, who turns out to be the man who swindled the vicar and Moses of their horses. He has since repented for his sinful life, and the vicar forgives him. In prison, the vicar sets out to reform the other prisoners, eventually winning them over with sermons and kindnesses. He tells Jenkinson what has happened to him, and the man resolves to help however he can. They send a letter to Sir William explaining how the man’s nephew had wronged the family.As the novel proceeds, the reader is confronted by the limitations of narrative itself, the way that great work does not fit into easy categories. Despite the possibility of interpreting the novel in a straightforward manner (as is done above), it also defies categorization. Critic Richard Passon wrote that Goldsmith’s works are “easy to read and enjoy, but they have been difficult to analyze, interpret, and evaluate.” Dr Primrose tries to be straightforward, but his story is inconsistent, illogical, and sometimes hypocritical. It is difficult for readers to believe this man’s tale when it is such a pastiche of genres and literary forms. While this could be read as a failure on Goldsmith’s part, the confidence of the writing and the strict structure of his other work actually suggest that he was attempting to explore a larger question, about how humans cannot be easily defined, and are in fact more often defined by their contradictions than by their simplicity.

Sophia describes the man who kidnapped her, and Jenkinson realizes who the scoundrel is. With Sir William's blessing, the jailer gives Jenkinson two men with which to apprehend this criminal. Meanwhile, Sir William realizes who George is, and lectures him about fighting. He comes to understand the behavior, if not condone it, when he learns what George believed about his nephew. Deborah whispers her approval to the vicar, noting that Sophia has potentially made a “conquest” as Olivia had with the squire (40). The chaplain tells them that that the squire intends to throw a ball for the girls on the following night, and then asks Sophia if she will grant him her first dance. However, she refuses, saying that she should grant her first dance to Mr Burchell. To the vicar’s surprise, the young man politely refuses to attend. Analysis of The Vicar of Wakefield The title “The Vicar of Wakefield” is somewhat ironic, as it suggests a pastoral tale but the story is filled with twists, turns, and unexpected events.

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Especially in the first half of the novel, the vicar is defined by his sense of prudence. For him, prudence (or wisdom) involves living a life of moral righteousness, trusting in mankind’s implicit goodness. However, the second half of the novel reveals the limits of such prudence. Through the vicar’s many mishaps – several of which he could have prevented had he employed a more cynical view of people – Goldsmith suggests that man needs more than prudence to navigate the world’s evils. Instead, the man also needs fortitude and a willingness to doubt and question the motives of others. Certainly, the novel does not condone immoral behaviour, but it does suggest that a delusional assumption of wisdom can often cause serious problems. They travel together to the jail. The ladies take up residence in a nearby inn, while the sons stay with him in his cell. In prison, the vicar makes a friend named Ephraim Jenkinson, who turns out to the be the man who swindled the vicar and Moses of their horses. He has since repented for his sinful life, and the vicar forgives him. In prison, the vicar sets out to reform the other prisoners, eventually winning them over with sermons and kindnesses. He tells Jenkinson what has happened to him, and the man resolves to help however he can. They send a letter to Sir William explaining how the man's nephew had wronged the family.