by oliver goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith delivers maxims, wit, wisdom, and philosophical insight in this delightful novel written and set in 18th century England.
The Vicar of Wakefield (our 18th century every-man) lives with plenty until he doesn’t. When his money manager loses the Vicar’s fortune the family must adjust to the life of the poor. “We are now poor, my fondlings, and wisdom bids us conform to our humble situation” (Chapter 3).
The Vicar and his family turn this corner onto a new path, that of the poor. As they travel, we journey with them observing the heights and depths of their adventure. And with every step the good Dr. Primrose delivers his pearls upon those who follow.
The family:
It would have helped me to have the following before I read the book. I am indebted to the GradeSaver Study Guide for the help in clarifying the characters.
The Vicar (Dr. Primrose): Pious, kindly, scholarly, wise, and generous to a fault (in thought and action). Of the family, Goldsmith writes, “the had but one character, that of being all equally generous, credulous, simple, and in offensive” (Chapter 1).
The Vicar’s wife (Deborah): Says the Vicar, I “chose my wife as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface but such qualities as would wear well” (Chapter 1).
George: The eldest son, educated and naive.
Olivia: The eldest daughter, vain and concerned with position.
Sophia: The second daughter, falls in love with the (seemingly) penniless Mr. Burchell.
Moses: The second-oldest son, kind and gullible. Trades away the family horse in an ill-fated attempt at “a deal.”
Dick: One of the two youngest sons.
Bill: One of the two youngest sons.
Squire Thornhill: The Primrose family's young, handsome, and roguish landlord, who tricks his way into the family's confidence and then seduces Olivia.
Ephraim Jenkinson: Pay attention to this “scoundrel” as there is a big lesson from his life.
Sir William Thornhill: Sir William Thornhill is uncle to Squire Thornhill. He spends most of the novel disguised as Mr. Burchell.
Arabella Wilmot: A former student of Dr. Primrose and the true love of George’s heart.
The Plot:
The well-to-do family of the esteemed and educated Vicar, Dr. Primrose, learns to adjust to their humble estate. While seemingly losing much, they learn what true wealth is and gain far more than they once possessed. Along this path the Vicar goes from moments of joy to crisis and back again, very much a picture of life.
The Wisdom of the Vicar:
Observing the pride of the women his daughters envied: “My daughters seemed to regard their superior accomplishments with envy; and what appeared amiss was ascribed to tip-top quality breeding. But the condescension of the ladies was still superior to their other accomplishments.”
The fable of the Giant and the Dwarf (Chapter 13): “‘No,’ cries the Dwarf who was by this time grown wiser, ‘no, I declare off; I’ll fight no more;’ for I find in every battle that you get all the honour and rewards, but all the blows fall upon me.”
On silencing the conscious: The Vicar reflecting on silencing his conscious after a breech of hospitality: “The pain which conscious gives the man who has already done wrong, is soon got over. Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent, it seldom has justice enough to accuse” (Chapter 13).
After making an unwise move to engage in the selling of his horse (the first mercantile transaction of his life), Dr. Primrose says, “The opinion a man forms of his own prudence is measured by that of the company he keeps, and as mine was mostly in the family way, I had conceived no unfavorable sentiments of my worldly wisdom” (Chapter 14).
How scandal grows: To satisfy their vanity, the family had a portrait painted that (1) included their landlord, Squire Thornhill and (2) ended up being so large that they had no wall on which to hang it. “Scandalous whispers began to circulate at our expence, and our tranquility was continually disturbed by persons who came as friends to tell us what was said of us by enemies. These reports we always resented with becoming spirit; but scandal ever improves by opposition” (Chapter 16).
When attempting to talk sense into his daughter, infatuated with Squire Thornhill, the Vicar points her to Mr. Williams, a humble suitor. He says, “The character which I have hitherto supported in life demands this from me, and my tenderness as a parent, shall never influence my integrity as a man” (Chapter 17).
On the Bible as our only weapon: After realizing Olivia has run off with the young Thornhill, the Vicar is beside himself and reaches for his pistols. Deborah responds with these words: “My dearest, dearest husband” cries she, “the Bible is the only weapon that is fit for your old hands now. Open that, my love, and read our anguish into patience, for she has vilely deceived us” (Chapter 19).
On pride and ambition: The Vicar goes in search of Olivia and is worn out in the process. As he makes his way back, he muses: “My health and usual tranquillity were almost restored, and I now condemned that pride which had made me refractory to the hand of correction. Man little knows what calamities are beyond his patience to bear till he tries them; as in ascending the heights of ambition, which look bright from below, every step we rise shews us some new and gloomy prospect of hidden disappointment; so in our descent from the summits of pleasure, though the vale of misery below may appear at first dark and gloomy, yet the busy mind, still attentive to its own amusement, finds as we descend something to flatter and to please” (Chapter 18).
Good company: The Vicar sees a troupe of actors journeying to a town and muses: “Good company upon the road, says the proverbs, is the shortest cut.”
Interesting take on “the middle order of mankind,” wherein the arts, wisdom, and virtues of society dwell (Chapter 19). What fascinates me is that the Vicar is thinking this even as he searches for his lost daughter — and that is precisely what many of us do, we contemplate in the midst of the serpentine journey of life.
Hope springs eternal: George on recounting his sad state to his guests: “No person had a better knack at hoping than I. Ther less kind I found fortune at one time, the more I expected from her another, and being now at the bottom of her wheel, every new revolution might lift, but could not depress me” (Chapter 20).
The cruelest mortification: George continues his tale and in doing so says of his book of paradoxes: “Every [other writer] was employed in praising his friends and himself, or condemning his enemies, and unfortunately, as I had neither, I suffered the cruelest mortification, neglect” (Chapter 20). He goes on to describe his own pride: “for excellence in another was my aversion, and writing was my trade.”
A father’s love (and a picture of The Father’s love): On finding Olivia who is ashamed and broken, the Vicar says, “Welcome, any way welcome, my dearest lost one, my treasure, to your poor old father’s bosom. Tho’ the vicious forsake thee, there is yet one in the world that will never forsake thee; tho’ thou hadst ten thousand crimes to answer for, he will forget them all (Chapter 21). See also the beginning of Chapter 22 where he continues in his assurances of his love.
True treasures: As their house burns, but with his youngest children, who were in the flames, now safely in his arms, the Vicar cries: “Now, let the flames burn on, and all my possessions perish. Here they are, I have saved my treasure. Here my dearest, here are our treasures and we shall be happy yet” (Chapter 22).
Contentment: “Oh, my children, if you could, but learn to commune with your own hearts, and know what noble company you can make them, you would little regard the elegance in splendors of the worthless. Almost all men have been taught to call life a passage, and themselves, the travelers. The similitude still may be improved when we observe that the good or joyful and serene, like travelers that are going towards home; the wicked, but by intervals, happy, like travelers that are going into exile” (Chapter 23).
The human soul: “Is there upon earth a gem so precious as the human soul?” (Chapter 27).
Recommendation:
Such an amazing book, as the good Dr. Primrose drops brilliant observation followed by wit followed by timely maxim on the listening ear. This is a very good story; it is an even better observation on life in all its complexities. I highly recommend it.
