Научно-образовательный портал
2FJ.RU

English Literature books summary

English Literature books summary

Contents:

Last update: 17.12.2002 (version 3.1)

1) 1984 by G.Orwell 2

2) Animal Farm by G.Orwell 15

3) Childe Harold by G.G.Byron_____________________________________17

4) The French Lieutenant's Woman by J.Fowles 18

a) French Lieutenant’s Woman in Russian 20

5) Gulliver’s Travels by Daniel Defoe 21

6) Heart of Darkness by J.Conrad 29

7) Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott 32

8) Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H.Lawrence 36

9) Lord of the Flies by W.Golding 38

10) Middlemarch by G.Eliot 42

11) Oliver Twist by Ch.Dickens 55

a) The Poor Laws 63

b) What does the phrase "justice is blind" normally mean? 64

c) The Victorian middle class's stereotypes of the poor. 65

12) A Passage to India by E.M.Forster 65

13) Pride and Prejudice by J. Austen 71

14) Pygmalion by B.Shaw 82

15) The Quiet American by G.Greene_________________________________86

16) Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe 87

17) The Picture of Dorian Grey by O.Wilde 92

18) The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1866 - 1946) 102

19) Ulysses by J.Joyce 103

20) Vanity Fair by W.Thackeray 109

21) William Shakespeare 117

a) Extremely Short Summaries. Good for Seminars 117

i) A Midsummer Night's Dream 117

ii) The Merchant of Venice 118

iii) The Tragedy of Richard II 118

iv) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 118

v) Othello 119

vi) King Lear, 1594 119

vii) The First Part of King Henry IV 119

viii) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar 120

ix) Macbeth 120

x) Romeo and Juliet 120

b) Full Summaries of Some Shakespeare's Works 121

i) Hamlet 121

ii) King Lear 127

iii) Macbeth 133

iv) The Merchant of Venice 138

v) Othello 142

vi) Richard III 144

vii) Romeo and Juliet 149

viii) The Tempest 152

ix) Twelfth Night 153

22) Wuthering Heights 156

1984 by G.Orwell

Part 1

Chapter 1

Summary:

The book opens on a cold April day with 39-year-old Winston Smith

returning to his dilapidated flat in Victory Mansions. The hallway sports

an enormous poster of a man known as "Big Brother"; the caption reads, "BIG

BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU." The eyes of the poster seem to follow Winston as

he moves.

Upon entering his flat, Winston dims the telescreen (where someone is

reading statistics about pig-iron production), which can never be turned

off completely, and which both receives and transmits. Outside, Winston can

see "BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU" posters, a poster with the word "INGSOC"

on it, and the police patrol spying on people.

Winston is living in London, the predominant city of the province

known as Airstrip One in Oceania. Bombed sites reveal that some sort of war

is going on. Winston tries to recall his childhood, to see if things have

always been like this, but cannot.

Outside his window stands the Ministry of Truth (a.k.a. "Minitrue" in

Newspeak, the official language of Oceania), an enormous structure

displaying the three slogans of _the Party_: WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS

SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. There are four Ministries: the Ministry of

Truth concerns itself with the spread of information through news,

entertainment, education and the arts; the Ministry of Peace (Minipax)

deals with war; the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) administers law and order;

and the Ministry of Plenty (Miniplenty) handles economic affairs.

After swallowing some shocking Victory Gin and plying himself with a

cheap Victory cigarette, Winston carefully tucks himself out of the

telescreen's visual range with an old book, an old pen and an inkbottle.

These are compromising possessions, acquired through various means; Winston

is secretly something of a rebel, unhappy with the status quo. What he is

about to do--start a diary--is not "illegal" (since, we discover, there are

no laws anymore), but is certainly life-threatening.

Unused to writing by hand, Winston falters momentarily before writing

"April 4th, 1984." He sits back, uncertain whether it actually is 1984, and

he suddenly wonders for whom he is writing. Here the concept of

_doublethink_ (see Analysis) hits him; his attempt to communicate with the

future is impossible, futile. He is no longer sure what he wanted to write;

the moment has been building for weeks and suddenly he finds himself

wordless. Even when he tries to write, he finds he is not recording the

incident which had inspired him to begin the diary on this day .

This incident took place during that morning's "Two Minutes Hate," a

daily, almost orgiastic ritual of propaganda. Winston recalls noticing two

people: a girl whose name he does not know but whom he recognizes as

working in the Fiction Department, and O'Brien, an imposing man and member

of the Inner Party. Winston feels a dislike for the girl, whose youth gives

him the sense that she is a dangerous Party zealot; by contrast, he feels

drawn to O'Brien in a way almost resembling trust, because he hopes that

O'Brien is secretly politically unorthodox.

The "Two Minutes Hate" begins with footage of Emmanuel Goldstein, "the

Enemy of the People," castigating the Party. Apparently, Goldstein had once

been a leading Party member who rebelled, was condemned to death, and

disappeared to form the underground Brotherhood. The symbol of ultimate

treachery, Goldstein is featured in every Hate as the source of all crimes

against the Party. [Through Winston's reaction, we begin to get the sense

that the image and persona of Goldstein are actually completely

manufactured, hinting at the possibility that he is in fact a

propagandistic creation of the Party. This is reinforced by the observation

that there are always new spies, new Brotherhood members, being exposed

every day, despite the Party's brutal efficiency in creating universal

hatred for Goldstein.]

As the Hate goes on, people get increasingly worked up, shouting and

throwing things at the screen. [It is, Winston notes, impossible to avoid

joining in.] The Hate overwhelms the members, sweeping them into a blind

ecstasy of hatred. Winston directs his hatred at the girl, because, he

realizes, he wants to sleep with her.

The Hate reaches its climax when the terrifying images melt into the

face of Big Brother, who utters soothing words before fading away into the

three Party slogans. The crowd, passionately relieved at the appearance of

their "savior" starts to chant, "B-B! . . . B-B!" Here Winston catches

O'Brien's eye. In an instant, Winston feels that O'Brien is communicating

to him that he is on his side; this is the moment which brings him to his

diary.

After some reflection, Winston looks again at his page and finds he has

been writing automatically:

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

He knows there is no point in tearing out the page, because he has

committed thoughtcrime, and in the end the Thought Police will get him

anyway; he, and every last vestige of his existence, will be completely

wiped out--"vaporized."

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Winston is terrified by this,

but knows that to delay would be worse than anything, so he gets up to

answer it.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Winston finds Mrs. Parsons, his neighbour, at his door, asking him if

he can help repair her kitchen sink. Mrs. Parsons is a rather helpless,

dusty-looking woman; her husband Tom works with Winston at the Ministry of

Truth. Tom is something of an imbecile, slavishly devoted to the Party and

quite active in its social workings.

As Winston clears the blockage from the pipe, the Parsons children

come out and start dancing around him, calling him a "traitor" and a

"thought-criminal." These children, like many others, are horrid little

savages being trained to be good Party members through systematic

brainwashing; many denounce their own parents to the Thought Police.

Winston returns to his diary and starts thinking of O'Brien. About

seven years ago he had had a dream where he had been walking through a dark

room and someone had said to him, "We shall meet in the place where there

is no darkness." At some point, Winston identified the voice as O'Brien's.

Whether or not O'Brien is a friend or an enemy--and Winston still isn't

sure--they are connected by an understanding.

Winston feels isolated, yet pursued, everywhere faced (literally) by

Big Brother. He knows his thoughtcrime--his diary--will result only in

annihilation. Yet somehow, he takes heart in the idea that in the very act

of recording truths he is keeping himself sane and carrying on humanity. He

returns to his diary and starts to write "to the future or to the past, to

a time when thought is free."

"Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime IS death," Winston

writes, and in doing so recognizes himself as already dead. He now must

simply stay alive as long as possible.

Winston carefully washes the ink from his hands and puts the diary away

before going back to work.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Winston dreams of his mother that she and his baby sister are sinking

down away from him, having in some way given their lives so he could

survive. He barely remembers his family, as they had likely fallen victim

to a purge in the 1950s. His mother's death, he feels, was a particular

tragedy, arising from a loyalty and complex emotion which are no longer

possible.

The dream shifts suddenly to an idyllic spot Winston calls "the Golden

Country," where the dark-haired girl comes to him and in one graceful,

careless gesture, tears off her clothes and flings them aside. Winston

feels no desire for her, but instead a strong admiration of the defiance of

the gesture, which itself belongs to a previous time, just like Winston's

mother's love. Winston wakes up saying the word "Shakespeare."

Winston is awakened by the telescreen. The Physical Jerks--morning

exercises--begin, directed by a woman on the screen. As he exercises,

Winston tries to remember the era of his childhood. He recalls an air raid

which caught everyone off guard, and since which Oceania had been

continuously at war. Currently, in 1984, Oceania is at war with Eurasia and

allied with Eastasia.

Although there are no records kept to contradict the given current

alignment, Winston knows that four years ago the alliance was reversed;

still, the present situation is always officially represented as though it

has always been. Winston is terrified by the thought that by so thoroughly

controlling history and information, the Party might actually be creating a

new truth. He reflects that the past has been destroyed because it only

exists in his own memory. Only once has Winston held proof that a

historical fact had been officially falsified--but his thoughts are

interrupted by the woman on screen shouting at him, Winston Smith, to try

harder.

Chapter 4

Summary:

Winston is at his job in the Records Department in the Ministry of

Truth. He receives four assignments, tiny slips of paper on which are

written (mostly in Newspeak) his instructions. As it turns out, these

messages involve the "correction" of past issues of the Times, where a

speech of Big Brother's is "misreported" ("malreported" in Newspeak) or

statistics forecasting manufacturing output are "misprinted." The first

three assignments are simple; the fourth one, which mentions "unpersons,"

is an enticingly elaborate task which involves some use of imagination, and

Winston sets it aside to be dealt with last, almost like a dessert.

Winston uses his speakwrite (a sort of dictaphone) to quickly deal

with each of the first three assignments; he rewrites the articles, pushes

his work through the pneumatic tube in his cubicle, and disposes of the

original message and any notes through the "memory hole," which leads to a

furnace. In this way, newspapers, books, cartoons, even films and

photographs, are continually re-edited so as to conform with the current

state of political and economic affairs, and to make it appear as though

the Party has always been correct in its predictions or consistent in its

alliances. Any and all prior editions are destroyed, no matter how many

revisions are made.

Winston reflects that in many cases, what he is doing is not really

forgery, because the original statistics or "facts" are made up to begin

with. Nobody really knows anything except that on paper, millions of pairs

of boots are being produced, while on the streets, half of Oceania's

population runs barefoot.

Looking around, Winston notes that he hardly knows the people in his

Department, or what they do exactly. Across the hall from him Tillotson,

who flashes him a hostile look, sits with his speakwrite; a woman from the

Two Minutes Hate, whose husband had been vaporized, works next to Winston

at tracking down and eliminating references to "unpersons" (people whose

existences had been obliterated); and the dreamy Ampleforth works a few

cubicles away at rewriting poems so their ideologies will correspond with

the dominant one. As Winston reflects on the Department as a whole, the

staggering size of the operation becomes evident, especially as it is only

one part of the Ministry of Truth, which not only supplies materials to

Party members but to the "proles" (proletariat) as well.

At last, after disposing of some more messages and attending the Hate,

Winston settles down to work away at his engaging assignment: rewriting a

highly "unsatisfactory" article in an issue of the Times which references

people who no longer exist. Winston reads the original article, where Big

Brother's Order for the Day praises an organization called the FFCC and

awards the Order of Conspicuous Merit, Second Class, to one Comrade

Withers, a member of the Inner Party. Three months after this, however, the

FFCC had been dissolved and its members presumably disgraced, though there

was no report of this. Winston knows that this is the way it usually

happens: people who somehow displease the Party simply vanish and are never

heard from again. Although Winston does not know why Withers fell from

grace, he does know that the man is most likely dead, since he is called an

"unperson."

Winston decides to rewrite the speech entirely on a new topic: the

commemoration of the exemplary life of Comrade Ogilvy. Ogilvy, of course,

is purely Winston's invention, but he will be given life through a few

lines and a faked photograph or two. Winston creates Ogilvy's life‹that of

a textbook good Party member from the age of three‹and his heroic death

with a zesty enjoyment of the process.

Although Winston is fairly certain that other people, including Tillotson,

have been given the same assignment, he also believes that his own version

will be the one that is chosen.

Chapter 5

Summary:

Winston is in the rather unpleasant canteen, where he meets up with

Syme‹not exactly his "friend" (since you have comrades rather than

friends), but one whose society is more pleasant to Winston than that of

others. Syme, a philologist, works in the Research Department and is one of

a team of experts who are compiling the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak

Dictionary. (See Appendix for an in-depth discussion of Newspeak and points

relevant to this chapter.)

Syme asks Winston if he has any razor blades‹there is currently a

shortage, as there always is of one item or another. Winston lies that he

hasn't, though he has been saving two unused ones against the razor blade

famine. As he and Syme go through the queue, Syme discusses yesterday's

public hanging of prisoners with a relish that demonstrates his rabid yet

somehow intellectual orthodoxy.

As they eat their disgusting and somewhat unidentifiable lunch,

Winston gets Syme talking about the Dictionary's progress. Syme,

immediately fired with enthusiasm and a strange love for Newspeak, goes

into a panegyric about the destruction of words and the nature of Newspeak,

which is, he points out, the only language which gets smaller every year.

This limiting of vocabulary, Syme points out, is aimed at limiting thought

so that unorthodoxy will become literally impossible, since there will no

longer exist words to express or explain concepts that run counter to the

accepted ideology.

Syme discourses so intelligently upon these topics that Winston

suddenly thinks that Syme will certainly be vaporized someday, despite his

political orthodoxy. He is too intelligent for the Party to allow him to

stick around. In addition, he is somehow "shady"‹not subtle enough, too

well-read, with a tendency to frequent the Chestnut Street Cafe, where long

ago the old Party leaders would meet before they were discredited, and

Goldstein was rumored to have spent time.

Parsons, Winston's neighbor, appears in the canteen and makes his way

over to Winston and Syme (who takes out some work to avoid having to

interact with Parsons). Parsons, a large man with a dumb devotion to the

Party and its ideals, asks Winston for his subscription payment for the

upcoming "Hate Week." Parsons talks proudly about his monstrous children,

the younger of whom turned in a suspicious-looking person to the

authorities.

Discussion is halted by an announcement from the Ministry of Plenty,

describing how production is up and the standard of living has been raised.

It is reported that a demonstration has been held to thank B.B. for raising

the chocolate ration to 20 grams/week, and Winston wonders incredulously

whether people can swallow this after having been told the day before that

the ration was being reduced from 30 grams/week to 20. Yet the people

around him, either through not thinking at all or through doublethink, do

accept it, forcing him to wonder whether he is the only person around who

has a memory.

Depressed, Winston looks around, at the horrid food, ugly clothes, and

bleak surroundings. Somehow he feels that things should be better, even

though he has never known a time when they were‹when food tasted pleasant

and things worked as they were supposed to. Even the people look ugly to

him, belying the Party's Aryan ideal.

The announcement ends, and Winston lapses into a reverie thinking

about who he knows will likely be vaporized, and who will not‹namely,

Parsons, the girl with the dark hair, and the man at a nearby table who has

been speaking in a quack about the wonders and achievements of the Party.

Winston is startled out of his reverie by the awareness that the girl

with the dark hair is sitting at the next table, and is looking at him. She

turns away, but Winston is terrified because she has been turning up near

him a good deal lately. He worries that she may be an amateur spy and that

he may have committed facecrime, the unconscious betrayal of unorthodox

opinions via facial expressions or tics.

Parsons tells Winston another horrid story about his disgusting

children, and they are signalled to return to work.

Chapter 6

Summary:

Winston is writing in his diary about an encounter he had three years

ago with a prostitute. The memory is embarrassing and difficult for him,

and he feels an almost irresistible urge to scream obscenities or burst out

into some violent action to relieve his tension.

Of course he doesn't give in to the urge, and steels himself to

continue writing. His writing is interlaced with the memory of Katharine,

his wife, to whom he would technically still be married‹unless she were

dead‹although they are separated, because the Party does not permit

divorce. Katharine was physically attractive but, Winston soon discovered,

completely brainwashed by the Party, even in matters of sex. According to

the Party, there should be no pleasure in sex, which was an act intended to

beget children for the future of the Party. Katharine bought into this

ideology to the point where sex was an outright unpleasant act for Winston;

since no children were conceived, the couple were allowed to separate.

Perhaps because of his experience with Katharine, Winston believes that

none of the women in the Party have retained their natural sex drive.

Winston continues to write about his experience with the prostitute,

who had led him into a dark room with a bed. When he turned up the light,

he discovered to his horror that the woman was old, at least 50. But he

proceeded anyway.

Despite having gotten it all out, Winston does not feel any less

inclined to shout obscenities.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Once again Winston is writing in his diary. "If there is hope," he

writes, "it lies in the proles." Winston reasons that the proles are so

numerous that if they simply woke up they could bring down the Party. But

would they ever wake up? He remembers a day when he had been walking and

heard a great cry of anger; in hope, he hurried to the spot to see what was

happening. As it turned out, a stall that had been selling saucepans had

run out, and the disappointed women were momentarily united in their

despair. But, to Winston's disgust, rather than remaining united and

surging up against the source of their misery, they turned on each other

instead, fighting over the pans.

Winston reflects on the Party's attitude toward the proles, itself an

exercise in doublethink: while the Party claims to have liberated the

proles from the horrendous bonds of capitalism, it also teaches that the

proles are inferior and must be kept in line with a few simple rules. But

in general, the Party leaves the proles alone, to live as they have always

lived, outside of the Party's strict moral and behavioral dictates.

What Winston is not sure of is whether life before the Revolution was

really that much worse than it is in 1984. He looks at a children's history

book which he has borrowed from Mrs. Parsons, reading a passage about life

before the Revolution, when most people were poor and miserable, and all

money and power were concentrated into the hands of a very few evil persons

known as capitalists. Yet he can never be sure how much of it is lies; he

only has an instinctive feeling in his bones that life doesn't have to be

as miserable as it is, and that there must have been something better at

one time. Life, in fact, not only belies the constant stream of Party

propaganda, it does not even approach the Party's avowed ideal of a

militarily ordered society in which every moment of every day is a

triumphant struggle for the principles of Ingsoc.

Considering the regular erasure of the past, Winston once again

recalls the one time (mentioned earlier) when he had held concrete evidence

of the falsification of history. In the mid-1960s, three of the last

surviving original leaders of the Revolution, Jones, Aaronson and

Rutherford, had been arrested, vanished temporarily, and then had returned

to make spectacular confessions of treachery. Afterwards, they had been

pardoned, reinstated in the Party and given hollow but important-sounding

positions.

Winston had seen them in the Chestnut Street Cafe with a mixture of

fascination at how they embodied history and terror at the certainty of

their imminent destruction. No one sat near them; they sat alone at a table

with an untouched chessboard and glasses of gin. Winston noticed that

Rutherford, once a strong man, looked as though he were breaking up before

his eyes.

A song came over the telescreen: "Under the spreading chestnut tree/ I

sold you and you sold me:/ There lie they, and here lie we/ Under the

spreading chestnut tree." The three men remained motionless, but Winston

saw that Rutherford's eyes were full of tears, and suddenly noticed that

both Aaronson and Rutherford had broken noses.

Shortly after this, they were re-arrested and executed after a second

trial. Five years later, in about 1973, Winston was at his work when among

his assignment-related documents he found part of a page from an earlier

edition of the Times, dated about 10 years earlier, showing a photograph of

Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford at a Party function in New York. At their

trials, the men had confessed to have been in Eurasia consorting with the

enemy on that very date. Clearly the confessions were untrue. Though this

was not in itself surprising, the existence of this piece of paper was

concrete evidence of the Party's action.

Winston carefully calmed himself, then disposed of the evidence

through the memory hole. If it had happened today, he thinks, he would have

kept the photograph; somehow the fact of its existence, the fact that he

had held it in his hand, is reassuring to him. But he knows that because

the past is continually rewritten, the photograph today might not even be

evidence.

Winston does not understand why such an effort is being made to

falsify the past (i.e. the long-term goal). Perhaps, he thinks, he is

crazy; this does not scare him, though. What scares him is that he might be

wrong in thinking the past unchangeable. He picks up the book and looks at

the picture of B.B. on the frontispiece. In a sort of despairing fear,

Winston thinks to himself that the Party will eventually claim that 2 + 2 =

5, and that you would have to believe it; and again he is tormented by the

fear that they might, after all, be right.

But abruptly, his belief in common sense reasserts itself, and he

somehow feels that he is writing his diary to O'Brien. Defiantly, he

defends the truth of the obvious, writing, "Freedom is the freedom to say

that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows."

Chapter 8

Summary:

Winston is walking through the streets, taking a risk in missing his

second evening at the Community Centre in three weeks, but having been

unable to pass up the lovely evening air. He has been walking aimlessly

through the streets, observing the people and their surroundings, which are

equally dilapidated. Identifiable as a Party member by his blue overalls,

he is watched warily by the inhabitants, and reflects that it would be

dangerous to run into the patrols here, since it could draw you to the

Thought Police's attention.

Suddenly there is a commotion and people start bolting indoors;

Winston is warned by a passerby that a bomb is about to fall. He throws

himself down to protect himself against the blast. The bomb falls 200

meters away on a group of houses. He approaches the site and comes upon a

severed human hand, which he kicks into the gutter before turning into a

side street to avoid the crowd.

Winston passes a group of men who are arguing about the Lottery, which

is the one public event the proles really attend to and sink their energy

and powers of calculation into. However, as Winston knows, the big prizes

are awarded to fictitious persons, and only small sums are actually paid

out by the Ministry of Plenty.

Winston walks into a neighborhood which seems familiar; after a short

while he recognizes it as the area where he had purchased his diary,

penholder and ink. He pauses, and sees an old man entering a pub across the

alley. He is suddenly seized with the impulse to try and find out from this

old man what life was like before the Revolution.

He hurries into the pub, creating a bit of a pause in activity, and,

after witnessing an argument between the old man (who demands a pint) and

the barman (who only deals in liters and half-liters), Winston buys the old

man a beer. They sit in a noisy corner near a window and Winston tries to

get the old man to tell him about the past. However, the man latches onto

details that are too small to prove to Winston one way or another whether

the Party histories are true or false.

Winston leaves, thinking sadly that even now, when there are survivors

of the pre-Revolution days, it is impossible to find out whether the big

picture had changed for better or worse. He walks on, not thinking where he

is going, until he stops and realizes that he is outside the junk-shop

where he had bought the diary.

After some hesitation, he judges it safer to enter the shop than

loiter outside of it, and starts to talk with the proprietor, Mr.

Charrington. Winston wanders through the shop, and his attention is caught

by a glass paperweight with a coral inside. Captivated by its beauty,

Winston buys it for $4.00 and puts it into his pocket. The man, cheered by

the money, invites Winston to see an upstairs room. It is a bedroom

furnished with old-fashioned furniture, but most importantly, with no

telescreen. Winston feels a nostalgic security, almost a familiarity with

the room, and the thought flashes through his mind that it might be

possible to rent this room‹though he immediately abandons the notion.

The proprietor shows Winston an engraving of an old church which had

been bombed long ago, St. Clement's Dane. He quotes an old nursery rhyme:

"Oranges and lemons,' say the bells of St. Clement's, You owe me three

farthings,' say the bells of St. Martin's"; he doesn't remember the rhyme

in full, but he does recall the ending: "Here comes a candle to light you

to bed, Here comes a chopper to chop off your head." He talks a little

about the churches in the rhyme; Winston wonders when they had been built,

to what era they belonged.

Winston doesn't buy the engraving, but stays to talk a bit with Mr.

Charrington, seeming somehow to hear the bells of the nursery rhyme in his

head (though he has never actually heard church bells ringing as far as he

remembers). As he leaves, he decides to return to the shop after a month or

so, to buy things and talk to Charrington and maybe rent the room...

He is roused horribly from his reverie by seeing the girl with dark

hair walking towards him. She looks directly at him, then continues on her

way. Paralyzed, Winston realizes that she must be spying on him‹why else

should she be there? He walks in the wrong direction with a pain in his

gut, then turns, and considers killing her with the paperweight. But he

abandons the idea, as well as every other one he considers for trying to

safeguard himself. He simply goes home.

Once there, he takes out his diary but doesn't write anything for a

while as he struggles with his fear and the paralysis it has brought upon

him. He tries to open the diary, to think of O'Brien, but his mind is on

the torture that inevitably falls between capture by the Thought Police and

death (both of which are certain once you have committed thoughtcrime).

He recalls his dream, where O'Brien said that they would meet "in the

place where there is no darkness"; this place, he believes, is the imagined

future. But the face of B.B. drifts into his mind, pushing out O'Brien.

Winston takes a coin out of his pocket, and looks at it, trying to fathom

B.B.'s smile; the three Party slogans ring through his head.

Part 2

Chapter 1

Summary:

On his way to the lavatory one morning, Winston encounters the girl

with dark hair in the corridor. Her right arm is in a sling. As she

approaches, she suddenly trips and falls on her arm, and cries out in pain.

Although Winston regards her as a dangerous enemy, he also feels sorry for

her and helps her up. As he does so, she very discreetly slips a small

piece of paper into his hand, surprising him greatly.

Though he is fired with curiosity, Winston knows he cannot look at the

piece of paper for a while. He goes back to his desk and tosses the slip

casually among the other papers there. As he works, he speculates that the

note could either be some sort of threat or summons or trap from the

Thought Police, or‹and this excites him‹a message from some sort of

underground organization like the Brotherhood.

When he finally gets the chance to look at the note, he is astounded,

because it reads "I love you."

This naturally throws him into an agitation for the rest of the

morning. During lunch he is not even allowed the luxury of temporary

solitude, as Parsons immediately shows up to bore him with details of Hate

Week preparations. After lunch, Winston immerses himself in his work, and

goes to the Community Centre in the evening; he is waiting to be alone in

bed to think.

At last he is alone, and he begins to think about how to meet her. It

would be impossible to repeat that morning's method. He cannot follow her

home because it would entail waiting around outside the Ministry, which

would be bound to be noticed. Sending a letter would be impossible as mail

is routinely opened. The only solution is to sit at a table with her in the

canteen, somewhere in the middle of the room as far as possible from the

telescreens, amidst a buzz of conversation in which the brief exchange of a

few words could go unnoticed.

The next week is torture for Winston: the girl disappears for three

days, during which time he cannot stop thinking about her and worrying that

she has been vaporized or that she has changed her mind. She reappears, but

Winston is unable to sit with her in the canteen, though he tries. The next

day he succeeds, and they form a plan to meet that evening in Victory

Square.

In the Square, Winston sees the girl but must wait until more people

have gathered so as to speak with her unnoticed. Fortunately, the passing

of a convoy of Eurasian prisoners allows Winston and the girl to lose

themselves in a massive crowd of onlookers. They squeeze next to one

another to watch, and the girl subtly gives Winston detailed directions to

a place where they can meet on Sunday afternoon.

They continue to watch the prisoners, and right before they must part,

the girl squeezes Winston's hand.

Chapter 2

Summary:

It is Sunday afternoon. Winston is out in the country after what

sounds like an almost pleasant journey by train. He is early, and comes

across a thick patch of bluebells; he stoops to pick some, and the girl

arrives. She leads him expertly through the woods to a hidden clearing.

They talk a little, then start to kiss, but Winston feels no physical

desire yet because his disbelief and proud joy are too strong.

The girl, Julia, doesn't seem to mind; she sits up and they start to

talk some more. She is brassy and rebellious, even producing some

wonderfully tasty black-market chocolate, though she goes out of her way to

present a fanatically devout front in order to stay safe. She is young, and

Winston doesn't understand why she should be attracted to him; she explains

that it was something in his face, that she could tell he didn't belong,

that he hated the Party.

They leave the clearing and walk around, coming finally to the edge of

the wood. There, Winston has a gradual shock: he recognizes the landscape

as the Golden Country of his dreams. As if to prove it, he asks Julia if

there is a stream nearby, and she replies that there is.

A thrush lands nearby and starts to sing, its song startling in the

stillness. The song is beautiful, original, never quite the same, and

Winston watches and listens with awe. What, he asks himself, makes the bird

sing, if there is no other bird around to listen or respond? Gradually,

however, Winston stops thinking and simply feels the beauty of it. At this

point he kisses Julia and feels that he is ready to make love.

They hasten back to the clearing. Julia turns to him, and just as in

his dream, she defiantly tears off her clothes and flings them aside.

Before doing anything, Winston takes her hands and asks her: has she done

this before? Yes, quite a lot. With Party members? Always, though never

with Inner Party members. Winston is filled with joy at the thought that

the Party is at its foundation corrupt. He tells Julia that he hates purity

and goodness and that he desires corruption; she responds that she ought to

suit him just fine. His final question: does she enjoy the act of sex

itself? When she replies, "I adore it," Winston's last hope is fulfilled,

and they make love.

They fall asleep. Winston awakens first to reflect that their act has

been a political one, "a blow struck against the Party."

Chapter 3

Summary:

Julia arranges the details of her and Winston's departures from the

clearing, using her practical sense (which Winston feels he lacks) and her

thorough knowledge of the countryside around London. They never return to

the clearing, as it turns out, and only once more that month succeed in

making love, inside the ruins of a church.

As they meet during the evenings, they "talk by instalments," as Julia

puts it‹their conversation cuts in and out mid-sentence according to the

relative levels of safety in their surroundings. Once during a walk, a bomb

falls near them, and Winston, thinking the plaster-whitened Julia is dead,

kisses her‹to discover that she is alive and he is coated in plaster too.

Meetings are dangerous and difficult to coordinate as their schedules

rarely coincide. Julia is astonishingly busy with Party activities; her

view is that as long as you keep up appearances and obey the small rules,

you could transgress the bigger ones. She even convinces Winston to

volunteer as a part-time munition worker.

Julia is 26, and works on the machinery in the Fiction Department,

literally churning out novels like any other mass-produced commodity. She

has established such a good character for herself that she had even been

selected to work in Pornosec, the division of the department dedicated to

producing cheap pornography for the proles. Her first affair was at age

sixteen; her view of life is simply that it is an eternal struggle between

you and the Party over whether or not you can have a good time.

She and Winston never discuss marriage, knowing it to be an

impossibility; but they do discuss Katharine. Julia asks about her, but

seems to know most of the essentials regarding Katharine's frigidity, even

the fact that she called sex "our duty to the Party." Julia knows because

she had undergone the same education as Katharine; intriguingly, and

perhaps because she is more sexually liberated, Julia has a clearer

comprehension than Winston of the Party's stance on sex.

Winston tells Julia about an incident early in his marriage to

Katharine where they had gotten lost on a community hike. They ended up

near the edge of a cliff. Katharine, uncomfortable, wanted to turn around

and try to find their way back; Winston points out a plant with two

different-colored flowers growing from the same root. As she unwillingly

returned to look, Winston realized that they were completely alone, and if

he chose to he could push her off the cliff. But he didn't.

He tells Julia he regrets that he didn't, although he knows it

wouldn't have made a difference. He lapses into a typically cynical

philosophical mood, which Julia, in her youthful and perhaps stubborn

optimism, rejects.

Chapter 4

Summary:

Winston has rented the upstairs room from Mr. Charrington, the antique

shop owner, and is waiting for Julia to arrive. Outside, a prole woman is

singing one of the drivelly songs churned out by a versificator in the

Music Department‹a monstrosity to begin with, but somehow pleasant-sounding

in the woman's rendering. The room feels curiously still to Winston because

of the absence of a telescreen.

Though taking this room is a huge risk, the couple were unable to

resist it after days and weeks of being unable to meet. Winston recalls how

when they at last manage to set a day to go back to the clearing, Julia

tells him the night before (once again through a meeting on the street)

that she can't go because she is menstruating. Winston feels furious‹his

feeling toward Julia and desire for her has changed from an act of

rebellion to a sense of proprietary physical obligation, and he feels

almost like she is cheating him. But at this point, she squeezes his hand

with affection and prompts a sudden, new tenderness in him. He realizes

that this sort of thing must be normal for couples who live together, and

he is overwhelmed by the wish that he and Julia were a happily married

couple with no cares and complete privacy to do as they wished. Quite soon

after this they agree to rent the room.

Julia arrives, bearing real sugar, white bread, jam, milk, and real

coffee and tea‹all Inner Party privileges which she has filched somehow.

She then asks Winston to turn his back for a short while; when he is

allowed to turn around again, he finds that she has put on makeup and

perfume. Before they get into bed, she expresses her intention to find a

real dress and high heels so that she can be "a woman, not a Party

comrade."

Winston wakes up around 9:00 (21:00), and wonders whether the peace

and freedom of lying in bed with your loved one on a cool summer evening

were ever a normal thing in the past. Julia wakes up, and is talking to

Winston when suddenly she spots a rat and hurls a shoe at it. Winston is

startled at the presence of a rat in this idyllic room, and recalls a

recurrent nightmare he has always had where he is standing in front of a

wall and behind it is something horrifying. He would always know, in some

deeply buried part of his mind, what was behind the wall, but he never

allowed himself to acknowledge it and would wake up without discovering it.

Julia gets up, makes coffee, and wanders around the room. She asks

about the engraving of St. Clement's Dane (which coincidentally hangs right

above where the rat had poked out its head), and to Winston's surprise,

adds a line to the nursery rhyme: "When will you pay me?' say the bells of

Old Bailey." Strangely, Julia too forgets the rest excepting the ominous

ending, giving Winston a sense of fate. After observing that the picture

likely has bugs behind it, and planning to clean it, Julia cleans herself,

washing off the makeup, while Winston gazes at the paperweight.

Chapter 5

Summary:

The chapter opens with a brief paragraph on Syme's disappearance, but

quickly moves on to the intense preparations for Hate Week that are

sweeping through the city and swallowing up everyone's time. Huge posters

depicting a Eurasian soldier aiming his sub-machine gun at you crop up

everywhere, intended to stir the population into a patriotic frenzy; as

though by design, more rocket bombs fall on the city, killing more people

than usual.

Winston and Julia continue to meet in the upstairs room. Winston's

health, both physical and mental, has improved due to the existence of the

room. Occasionally he talks to Mr. Charrington, who seems to embody

history.

Though Winston and Julia know that they are doomed, they sometimes

yield to the illusion of permanence, and frequently talk about escaping

some way or another‹though they know that they will never commit even the

only feasible act among these options, which is suicide.

They talk about rebelling against the Party in a vague way; Winston

tells her about his unspoken bond with O'Brien, which does not strike her

as at all strange. Though Julia takes it for granted that everyone harbors

hatred for the Party, she does not believe in an organized underground; in

fact, she thinks that Goldstein and the tales about him were invented by

the Party for their own ends.

Julia's intelligence is also shown by her casually offered opinion

that the war with Eurasia is not actually happening‹that the government of

Oceania was dropping the bombs on its own people for the purposes of

keeping the population scared and emotionally subjected to the Party.

Winston has never even thought of this possibility. But for the most part,

Julia does not question Party doctrine unless it touches her own life in

some way; she believes much of the false history she has been taught in

school, and it doesn't seem important to her that this is untrue. Winston

is shocked by this, as well as by the fact that she doesn't seem to recall

that only four years ago Eastasia, and not Eurasia, was Oceania's enemy in

war.

Julia also does not seem to grasp the importance of Winston's story of

the photograph clearing Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford of wrongdoing. In

general she is not interested when Winston starts to delve into the

problems the Party presents. He realizes that people like Julia, who accept

what they are taught because they don't fully understand it, are in a fair

way to remain more sane than persons like himself.

Chapter 6

Summary:

Winston, walking down the long corridor where he had first spoken to

Julia, encounters O'Brien, who addresses him cordially regarding Newspeak

and what he considers Winston's elegant use of it. O'Brien obliquely refers

to Syme as someone who shares this opinion, to whom he had spoken recently;

Winston takes this as some sort of signal.

O'Brien says that he had noticed that Winston had recently used two

words now obsolete in the forthcoming Tenth Edition of the Newspeak

Dictionary, which has not been issued yet but of which O'Brien has an

advance copy. He offers Winston to visit him at his flat to take a look at

the Dictionary; through this device he gives Winston his address.

This whole exchange‹which has taken place under the watchful eye of a

telescreen‹takes only a couple of minutes, but it has sparked in Winston

both a cautious joy in the existence of the conspiracy he had hoped for,

and a dreadful certainty that it is the beginning of the end for him.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Winston awakens from a dream crying. The dream took place inside the

glass paperweight and somehow was about a protective gesture made by his

mother 30 years ago, and repeated in the film he wrote about in his diary

(where a helpless Jewish mother ineffectually tries to protect her child

from the bullets that are about to be fired at them). Within a few seconds

of waking, the memories surrounding this gesture flood back to Winston.

He had been a young boy, and London was a disaster area of starvation,

violence and unrest. His father disappeared, taking his mother's spirit

with him so that she moved through daily life waiting for her own

disappearance. She, Winston, and his baby sister lived in poor quarters and

had not enough to eat; despite his knowledge that the mother and sister

were starving, Winston would demand more food even though his mother would

automatically give him the biggest portion. One day there was a chocolate

ration, and Winston, though he knew the chocolate should be equally divided

between the three of them, found himself demanding the whole piece. After

long argument, his mother gave him 3/4 of the piece and the rest to his

sister. But Winston grabbed the piece from his sister and dashed for the

door, where he stopped at his mother's cry to come back. She looked at him;

the baby wailed; and she drew the baby closer to her, in some way that told

Winston the child was dying. He fled. When he came back a few hours later,

they both had disappeared.

This dream reminds him of the one he had had two months ago, where he

saw his mother and sister sinking away from him. He wants to talk about his

mother to Julia, but she is drifting in and out of sleep. Winston thinks

about love, about the novelty of the past, where people would make an

ineffectual gesture or act knowing that it was ineffectual but doing it

just the same; this indicates to him that they acted of their own accord,

out of their own private loyalties and standards. It strikes him that the

proles had remained like this‹had remained human. For the first time in his

life he feels no contempt or indifference toward the proles, but a strange

sort of respect for them for remaining who they are.

Julia has awakened again, and they talk about their inevitable

parting. Though they know they will be forced to confess and not be able to

help one another, Winston says that the only important thing is that they

should never betray one another, in the sense of being made to stop loving

the other person. Julia considers this and opines that this would be

impossible because they would never be able to get inside you and change

what you think. Winston takes some hope from this, believing in Julia-esque

fashion that you could beat them in the end because they couldn't change

your feelings.

Chapter 8

Summary:

Winston and Julia arrive together at O'Brien's flat. The neighborhood

of Inner Party residences is a whole new world of wealth, cleanliness and

luxury with which neither Winston nor Julia is familiar. O'Brien's servant

Martin takes them in to O'Brien's office or drawing-room, where O'Brien is

working. Winston, already afraid, feels suddenly embarrassed‹what if he has

made a mistake and O'Brien is not sympathetic?

As O'Brien approaches, he astonishes the couple by shutting off the

telescreen, which, he explains, is an Inner Party privilege. He stands

sternly before them, waiting for a short while, before his face relaxes and

he breaks the silence.

Winston explains that they are there because they believe that O'Brien

works for an underground organization which they wish to belong to. Martin

enters, but O'Brien says he is one of them, so they all sit down with a

glass of wine (which neither Winston nor Julia has ever tasted) and talk

about the Brotherhood. O'Brien asks a series of questions to test how far

Winston and Julia will go to further the goals of the Brotherhood; when he

asks whether they are willing to separate from one another, they both reply

in the negative. O'Brien asks Julia whether she understands that even if

Winston survives, he would be substantially altered both in physique and

identity; she nods, pale.

O'Brien dismisses Martin, telling him to look carefully at Winston and

Julia before he goes. Martin gives them a long look without any

friendliness or emotion in it whatsoever, then leaves. O'Brien explains

that the Brotherhood is unusual because each agent works alone, with no

support, minimal information, and no link to one another except the common

ideal they hold for the destruction of the Party. Matter-of-factly, he

outlines their lives: they will work for a while, then be caught, forced to

confess and executed. "We are the dead," he says, echoing Winston's words

to Julia a couple of chapters ago.

O'Brien dismisses Julia, then settles some details with Winston about

getting him a copy of the book, i.e. Goldstein's heretical text exposing

the true nature of the current world and the methods by which the

Brotherhood will destroy the Party. After working out these plans, O'Brien

says to Winston, "We shall meet again . . . in the place where there is no

darkness." Winston's last question to him regards the nursery rhyme of the

bells, of which O'Brien knows the final line: "When I grow rich,' say the

bells of Shoreditch."

Chapter 9

Summary:

Winston, exhausted after five days of intense work, and carrying in

his briefcase the book, goes to Mr. Charrington's shop.

The rush of work had begun on the sixth day of Hate Week, when‹at the

climax of hatred directed at Eurasia‹suddenly Oceania's alliance switched,

so that the enemy was now Eastasia and Eurasia was an ally. Remarkably, the

change occurred without any admission that it had taken place; the anti-

Eurasia posters and propaganda everywhere were suddenly deemed sabotage,

the work of Goldstein and his agents, and promptly torn down, while the

venomous speaker who had been castigating Eurasia shifted to vilifying

Eastasia without losing a beat. During the confusion, Winston is handed a

briefcase containing the book.

Winston and his fellow workers at the Ministry had spent 90 hours

rewriting history so that no trace of the war with Eurasia could be found

in the documents of the past 5 years. After the monumental task had been

completed, every Ministry worker had been given the rest of the day off, so

Winston had headed for the upstairs room.

As he waits for Julia to arrive, he starts to read the book, entitled

The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. He starts off looking

at Chapter 1, entitled "Ignorance is Strength," but breaks off to enjoy the

fact that he is reading, and takes up again with Chapter 3, "War is Peace."

This lengthy chapter discusses the history of events that led to the

current state of the world with its three superpowers, Oceania, Eurasia,

and Eastasia, and the territory they have theoretically been fighting over

for a quarter-century (which comprises a wide swath of land across Africa,

the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Indonesia).

First, the nature of war has changed: it has become continuous, and

therefore its aims are different. It is continuous because none of the

superpowers could ever win, and unnecessary in the old sense because each

could sustain itself materially and ideologically they're almost identical.

According to Goldstein, the aim of warfare is no longer conquest; it

is to use up production surplus while not raising the standard of living at

home. The reason for this is, essentially, that those in power wish to

maintain a hierarchical society‹an aim that was threatened by scientific

progress, whereby machines could raise the general standard of living to

the point where wealth could theoretically be evenly distributed. Because

hierarchy depends on poverty and ignorance, as well as keeping people too

busy to complain about conditions, it became the goal of the ruling class

to somehow maintain industry while not distributing goods. The only way to

do so was continuous warfare, which addresses this need practically but

also psychologically, by correctly maintaining the morale of the Party.

As long as they remain at war, the three superstates support one

another. The standards of living in all three are actually the same, as are

their socio-political systems. The techniques of warfare haven't really

changed in 30-40 years, because they don't need to. None of the superstates

ever undertakes a major risk, i.e. one that could lead to a serious defeat.

Not much fighting really goes on and it never approaches the heartland of

any of the three powers, because that would jeopardize cultural integrity

and risk people finding that other humans are pretty much the same as they,

which could prove the undoing of these governments. Whatever fighting or

strategy there is a dance of alliances, where each power tries to swallow

up an ally and then do the same with its remaining opponent.

When war becomes continuous, it is no longer dangerous, therefore no

recourse to the past and lessons learned then is necessary; neither is

efficiency; neither is any need to even address reality. Reality can be

shaped however the ruling class chooses.

Thus war is waged by the state upon its own citizens, not for conquest

but for maintaining the social structure. Because its nature has been so

altered, and that the same effects can be achieved through a state of

peace, "war is peace"‹the true meaning of the Party slogan.

Winston stops reading. The book is reassuring because it helps him to

know he is not insane. Julia comes in, and is less interested in the book

than in Winston.

Later, as they lie in bed, he starts to read it to her, from Chapter

1, which discusses class differences and the historical nature of the class

struggle between High, Middle and Low.

Socialist movements aiming for liberty and equality were more and more

openly abandoned over the first half of the twentieth century, until the

three currently dominating world movements‹Ingsoc in Oceania, Neo-

Bolshevism in Eurasia, and Death-Worship in Eastasia‹had emerged with their

new aims of "unfreedom and inequality." Their intent: to become the High,

and then freeze the cycle of class struggle so as to permanently maintain

their status. To this end, technical advances were anathema because they

promoted human equality, which was to be fought at all costs.

By the middle of the century, the new totalitarian forces had emerged

from the Middle, but with a difference: they were less concerned with

wealth than with power, and they had learned from history how they might

maintain their power and stifle all opposition. Technologies enabled 24-

hour surveillance and complete mind control; and the "abolition of private

property" really meant the appropriation of all property by the Party as a

group.

According to history, the new ruling class could only be toppled one

of four ways. It could be conquered by an external power; this has

effectually ceased to be a possibility with the mutual unconquerability of

the three superstates. It could stimulate mass revolt due to its own

inefficiency; but the masses have no standards of comparison to even show

them the inefficiency or misery of Party rule. It could allow for the rise

of a strong Middle class, or it could lose its confidence in itself and its

ability to govern through the rise of certain attitudes in its own ranks.

These last two comprise an educational problem, and are solved through the

use of doublethink and the relative flexibility between the Outer Party and

Inner Party. Because Party membership is not hereditary, the Party is not a

class in the historical sense; it is concerned with propagating itself,

rather than with putting forth its children.

There is a discussion of Oceanic society and a detailed description of

the everyday life of a Party member, which delves into the mental

disciplines of "crimestop" (the ability to protect yourself from committing

thoughtcrime using stupidity), "blackwhite" (either an opponent's insolent

claim that black is white, or a Party member's laudable willingness to

claim black is white for the Party's sake), and doublethink (which in

reality encompasses all).

The alteration of history is explained as having two reasons: to

prevent Party members from having a standard of comparison, and to protect

the Party's supposed infallibility. "The mutability of the past is the

central tenet of Ingsoc," Goldstein writes, starting to touch upon the

issue that haunts Winston. According to Ingsoc, the past is defined by

record and memory; and since the Party creates and controls both of those,

it creates the past.

Here Goldstein comes to the practice of doublethink, and after a

detailed discussion of it (though nothing Winston doesn't already know),

claims that ultimately it is doublethink which has allowed the Party to

freeze the pendulum of social class struggle, because through doublethink

the Party is able to learn from past errors while maintaining the illusion

of its infallibility. Through the use of doublethink, the Party is able to

create an atmosphere of "controlled insanity," which is the ideal for

permanently keeping human equality at bay.

But when Goldstein comes to the central question‹i.e., why is it

necessary to forever avoid human equality? Winston stops reading, aware

that Julia has fallen asleep. He closes the book and reflects that he still

doesn't understand why (his question from a previous chapter). He knew

everything in those chapters already. But he derives comfort from the

feeling that he is not mad, and falls asleep with a feeling that he is

safe.

Chapter 10

Summary:

Winston awakens, feeling like he has slept for a long time; but the

old-fashioned clock says 8:30, i.e. 20:30. The woman outside starts singing

the love song she always sings, waking Julia, who gets up to light the

stove. Oddly, there is no oil left, although she had made sure it was full.

Remarking that it is colder, she gets dressed; Winston follows suit. He

goes to the window and looks out‹no sun. As he watches the prole woman,

Julia joins him, and he is surprised to find that he thinks the huge lady

beautiful. She must have had many children, he reflects, noting also that

he and Julia can never do that; but with hope he thinks about the millions

of people like that woman, who live their lives and will eventually rise up

to construct a new world. He knows that while he and Julia are dead, they

can yet share in the future by somehow passing along the secret that "2 + 2

= 4."

He says, "We are the dead." Julia echoes him.

And then they are startled by a voice from the wall echoing them. "You

are the dead."

At last, they have been caught. There had been a telescreen behind the

picture. Winston and Julia are ordered to remain still and untouching, in

the middle of the room, hands behind their heads, while storm troopers

surround the house and burst in through a window.

Winston remains as still as he can, trying to avoid being struck. One

of the storm troopers smashes the paperweight. Another hits Julia in the

solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the floor.

She is picked up and ignominiously carried out as Winston watches

helplessly.

Various uninteresting thoughts begin to hit Winston. It becomes

apparent that he and Julia have overslept‹that it is now 9:00 in the

morning, rather than in the evening. But he does not pursue this train of

thought.

Mr. Charrington enters, but he is altered in accent and appearance.

Winston realizes that he is a member of the Thought Police.

Part 3

Chapter 1

Summary:

Winston is in the Ministry of Love (he presumes), in a high-ceilinged

bare white cell with a telescreen in each wall and a bench running along

the perimeter. He has not eaten since he was arrested, and he has no

conception of how long ago that was.

Before being brought to this place he had been taken to a prison full

of both "common criminals" (i.e. prole gangsters, thieves, prostitutes,

etc.) and political prisoners like himself. He notes that the common

criminals comport themselves with almost no fear of consequences, in direct

contrast to the political prisoners, and that they have set up a sort of

hierarchical social order within the prison.

One huge, drunken woman is brought in kicking and screaming and dumped

on Winston's lap. She seems to take a liking to him, asks his name, and is

surprised to find that it is the same as hers. She speculates that she

might be his mother; he reflects that it is possible, given her age and the

potential changes time may have wrought.

In this prison, Winston hears for the first time a reference to "Room 101,"

which he does not understand.

In the cell in the Ministry of Love, Winston has nothing to do except

sit still and think. He is so paralyzed by hunger and fear that he cannot

even feel for Julia. Dreading torture, he thinks hopefully of the razor

blade O'Brien might send.

People start to come into the cell. The first is Ampleforth, the poet

from Winston's department. They talk briefly before the telescreen shouts

at them to be quiet. After a while, Ampleforth is taken out to Room 101.

The next person to enter is, to Winston's utter surprise, Parsons, whose

daughter denounced him to the Thought Police for saying "Down with Big

Brother" over and over again in his sleep.

After Parsons is removed, various other prisoners are brought in and

taken out. Again, someone is assigned to be taken to Room 101, and Winston

observes her fear without comprehending it. A starving man is brought in;

everyone in the cell seems to realize at once that he is dying of

starvation. Another prisoner, a chinless man, gets up to offer him a crust

of bread. The telescreen roars at him to freeze and drop the bread. An

officer and a guard enter; the guard smashes the man in the mouth, sending

him across the cell and breaking his dental plate.

After this, the starving man is summoned to Room 101. In mortal

terror, he flings himself into a posture of supplication, begging them not

to send him there. The officer is implacable. The prisoner begs them to do

anything to him, anything else but Room 101; still no relenting.

Desperately, he tries to point the finger at the chinless man, shrieking

that they should be taking him instead; the guards move forward to remove

him by force. He grabs one of the iron legs supporting the bench and puts

up a surprisingly good fight before his fingers are broken by a vicious

kick and he is dragged away.

An unknown amount of time passes, and Winston is alone. He is tortured

by hunger, thirst, and panic; he still hopes for the razor blade; his

thoughts of Julia are distant and cannot compete with his fright of the

pain he knows he will be suffering.

The door opens again, and O'Brien enters. Winston is shocked into

forgetting the telescreen for the first time in years. "They've got you

too!" he exclaims, to which O'Brien replies, "They got me a long time ago,"

and steps aside to reveal a guard with a truncheon. O'Brien was not, after

all, the co-conspirator Winston had thought; but somehow, now, he sees that

he has always known this was the case. This thought flits through his mind

almost unnoticed as he watches the guard's truncheon..

The blow falls on Winston's elbow and he is blinded by pain. Writhing

on the floor, he cannot think of anything except that there are no heroes

in the face of pain.

Chapter 2

Summary:

For an indeterminate amount of time, Winston has been tortured, first

with frequent and vicious beatings, then with extensive interrogations

where the nagging of his questioners wore him down even more than the

beatings. He has confessed all manner of impossible crimes and implicated

everybody he knows. His memories are discontinuous and in some cases

hallucinatory. Through it all he has the sense that O'Brien has been in

charge of his life in the Ministry of Love‹that O'Brien dictates when

Winston shall be tortured and fed. Winston is not sure when it was, but he

recalls hearing a voice telling him not to worry, because "I shall save

you, I shall make you perfect." Winston is not certain whether it is

O'Brien's voice, but it is the same voice he heard in his old dream.

Winston drifts into a consciousness that he is in a room with O'Brien,

strapped to a bed. O'Brien is in control of some sort of pain-generating

device which will play a part in the current interrogation.

O'Brien begins by telling Winston that he is insane because he does

not have control of his memory, and that he recalls false events. He

mentions the photograph of Jones, Rutherford and Aaronson as a

hallucination Winston has had‹and then holds up the very photograph. Before

Winston's eyes, O'Brien proceeds to dispose of the photograph through a

memory hole and immediately deny that it ever existed. Winston feels

helpless because he realizes it is quite possible that O'Brien is not

lying, that he in fact believes that the photograph never existed.

They talk about the nature of the past and reality; O'Brien tells

Winston that reality exists only in the mind of the Party, and that Winston

has got to make an effort to destroy himself in order to become "sane." He

then asks Winston if he recalls writing in his diary that "Freedom is the

freedom to say that 2 + 2 =4," and this touches off a whole round of

torture. O'Brien holds up four fingers and asks Winston how many there are,

if the Party says there are five. Winston, for a long while, can only see

four, and suffers increasing levels of pain for it. O'Brien does not accept

Winston merely saying that he sees five; he has to actually believe it. At

last, Winston's senses are so dazed by pain that he is no longer sure how

many fingers there are.

O'Brien allows him a respite (for which Winston is lovingly grateful),

and asks him why he thinks people are brought to the Ministry of Love. When

Winston guesses that it is to make people confess or to punish them,

O'Brien suddenly becomes quite animated, and almost indignant in his

explanation. The point is not to hear about or punish petty crimes; it is

to actually change the Party's enemy, i.e. to empty him of himself and his

dangerous individualistic ideas, and to fill that void with the Party. This

precludes the possibility of martyrdom and the subsequent threat of people

rising up against the Party later. Even Jones, Aaronson and Rutherford,

O'Brien tells Winston, were in the end filled only with penitence and

adoration of Big Brother.

Winston feels that O'Brien's mind contains his own, and is not quite

sure which one of them is mad, though he thinks it must be himself since it

doesn't seem likely that O'Brien is.

O'Brien looks down at him sternly. He tells him, "What happens to you

here is for ever. . . . Things will happen to you from which you could not

recover, if you lived a thousand years." These things, notably, will wipe

out all human feeling from Winston‹in other words, they will take away his

humanity, and he will be nothing but a shell filled with the Party.

At this point, Winston is hooked up to another device which does not

pain him but seems to knock out some part of his brain, so that for a short

while he can remember nothing of his own accord but merely takes, and

believes, whatever O'Brien tells him to be truth. The effect wears off, but

it has made its point: that it is, in fact, possible for the Party to get

inside him and make him believe its truth.

The session is drawing to its close, and O'Brien mentions how he

agrees with Winston's diary entry about how it doesn't matter whether

O'Brien was an enemy or a friend because he could be talked to.

Magnanimously, he allows Winston to ask any question he desires; but his

answers are yet cruel, "truthful" only in the sense that they reference the

Party's truth.

Winston realizes suddenly that O'Brien knows what he is going to ask,

and he does: "What is in Room 101?" But O'Brien merely responds that

everyone knows what is in Room 101, and Winston is put to sleep.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Some time has passed. After innumerable sessions with O'Brien, Winston

has completed the first "stage in his re-integration"‹learning‹and O'Brien

judges that it is time for him to move on to the second, understanding.

O'Brien quotes Winston's diary entry about understanding "how" but not

"why." He mentions Goldstein's book, informing Winston that he was one of

the people who wrote it, and that it is true as a description of the world

but that its discussion of insurrection is nonsense and impossible; the

Party, he says, will rule forever, and Winston must get that into his head.

That said, he turns to the question of why the Party holds onto its

power. Winston answers incorrectly and suffers for it. O'Brien answers his

own question: "The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake." Power is

defined as something that must be collective, and as power over human

beings. Almost as an aside, O'Brien says the Party already controls matter.

Winston, roused, argues that they do not, but O'Brien silences him using

plenty of doublethink, and returns to the idea of holding power over men.

Since power over others depends on making the subject suffer, the

Party's view of the future is a world based upon hatred, fear, and

destruction. All instincts of love and beauty will be eradicated and only

power, ever more refined and absolute, will remain.

Winston, horrified, again attempts to argue against the possibility

that such a world could ever last eternally. When O'Brien asks why Winston

thinks it should fail, he cites his belief that the spirit of man will

prevail. Ironically, O'Brien asks Winston if he thinks he is a man. Winston

replies that he does. O'Brien tells him that he must be the last man, and

bids him take off his clothes and go look in the mirror at the end of the

room.

When Winston sees himself, he has a nasty shock. He is a skeleton,

dirty, broken, disgusting. He is, as O'Brien cruelly emphasizes, falling

apart. He breaks down into tears. Once again, O'Brien's manner changes to

near-kindness, as he tells Winston that he can get himself out of this

state because he got himself into it. He lists the humiliations Winston has

suffered, and asks him whether there is a single degradation he has not

experienced. Winston looks up and replies that he has not betrayed Julia.

O'Brien seems to understand this, and agrees, looking at Winston

thoughtfully. Far from taking this as any sort of hint, Winston is flooded

with his old worship of O'Brien, almost grateful that he has understood

without explanation.

Chapter 4

Summary:

More time has passed, and Winston is no longer being tortured. In

fact, he is being fed and kept clean and allowed to sleep. At first he is

only interested in sleep and no conscious mental activity; he dreams

abundantly, always happy peaceful dreams, with Julia, his mother, or

O'Brien‹the three people he cares about.

Gradually he grows stronger, though he is shocked at how weak he had

become. Correspondingly, his mind becomes more active, and he sits down to

try and re-educate himself. He reviews everything he has been told, writes

down Party slogans and falsities such as "2 + 2 = 5," all the while

reflecting how easy it has been to mentally surrender, to "think as they

think."

Still, he is troubled by some mental objections, and tries to practice

crimestop, which is the conscious stopping of thought before it leads you

into thoughtcrime. He finds that it is difficult to attain the stupidity

necessary to avoid seeing blatant logical flaws. At the back of his mind,

he wonders how soon he will be shot. The only thing he knows is that they

always shoot you in the back of the head.

Winston has a dream or reverie in which he is walking down the

corridor, waiting to be shot, feeling happy and at peace. He walks into the

Golden Country..

Suddenly he bolts awake, having heard himself cry out longingly for

Julia.

He had had a fleeting sensation of her being inside him, and at that

moment had loved her more than at any previous moment. Somehow he feels she

is still alive and that she needs his help.

Despairing, Winston lies back, waiting for the tramp of boots in the

corridor. His thoughtcrime sprang from the fact that while he has tamed his

mind to the Party, he has tried to keep his innermost self‹his heart‹away

from them. He wonders how much time he has added to his torment by the cry.

Rebelliously, he decides to lock his hatred of the Party so far inside

him that it is even a secret from himself, and envisions the final moment

where, just before the bullet hits him, all his hatred would explode. This,

he feels, is the last avenue of freedom open to him: to have his final

heretical thought right before their bullet reached him.

But this will be difficult. He thinks of Big Brother and wonders what he

really feels toward him.

O'Brien enters at that moment with an officer and guards. He orders

Winston to stand up and examines him. He asks Winston what he feels towards

Big Brother. Winston replies that he hates him. The last step, O'Brien

tells him, is to learn to love Big Brother, and he orders Winston to be

taken to Room 101.

Chapter 5

Summary:

Winston has been taken to Room 101 and strapped into a chair. O'Brien

enters and tells him what is in Room 101: the worst thing in the world,

which varies between individuals but is always something unendurable to the

person in the chair. For Winston, it is rats.

A mask with a cage attached to it is brought in. From its

construction, it is clear that the mask is designed to fit over Winston's

face, and at the pulling of a lever, the rats inside the cage‹enormous,

ravenous brutes‹will be free to attack him.

O'Brien casually mentions Winston's recurring nightmare, and tells him

what he already knows: that behind the dark wall of his nightmare were

rats. Winston, beyond panic, begs O'Brien to tell him what he wishes him to

do. O'Brien does not answer, but engages in a sort of ponderous mental

torture by bringing the contraption closer and pedantically musing on rats.

Winston's terror increases, but at the last moment it occurs to him

what must be done, and that is to beg that this be done to Julia rather

than to him.

He has saved himself; O'Brien shuts the cage door rather than opens

it.

Chapter 6

Summary:

It is 15:00 and Winston sits alone in the Chestnut Tree Cafe. He is

anxiously listening for news of the war with Eurasia.

However, Winston is not able to keep his mind on one topic for very

long these days, and he gulps down his glass of clove-flavored gin. He is

fatter and pinker now‹to the point of looking unhealthy. Without being

asked, a waiter brings him the current issue of the Times, opened to the

chess problem, and a chessboard; he sees that Winston's glass is empty and

refills it. The waiters know Winston's habits and bill him irregularly

(and, he suspects, they undercharge him), though with his new higher-paying

job this wouldn't have presented a problem either way.

An announcement from the Ministry of Plenty reveals that Oceania is in

the midst of the Tenth Three-Year Plan. Winston starts to attack the chess

problem. The telescreen announcer advises everyone to listen for an

important announcement at 15:30, which Winston knows must be about the

fighting in Africa. He has the sinking feeling that it will be bad news;

the thought that this could lead to the end of the Party triggers a

powerful but unclear reaction in him. He imagines a mysterious force

assembling to the rear of the Eurasian army, cutting off its

communications, and feels that by willing it he can bring that force into

existence.

His thoughts wander; almost unconsciously he traces the equation "2 +

2 = 5" on the table. He recalls Julia saying "They can't get inside you,"

but knows she is wrong; he remembers O'Brien saying "What happens to you

here is for ever," and knows he is right.

He had encountered Julia one freezing, dead March day in the Park.

Knowing that the Party no longer cared about what he did, he had followed

her, but not very eagerly. Something about her had changed. She had not

been particularly excited about having him around, but resigned herself.

They walked. He had put his arm around her waist; she did not respond. He

had realized that the change in her was not so much the scar across her

face or her pallor, but that her waist had thickened and stiffened into

something like a corpse or marble.

They did not speak or kiss. When Julia looked at him, it was with

contempt and dislike. They seated themselves on a bench and finally Julia

had said, "I betrayed you." He told her he had betrayed her as well. From

her explanation‹that they threaten you with the unendurable and you place

your loved one inside it instead of yourself, thereby changing forever how

you feel about the person‹it seems apparent that she, too, had been taken

to Room 101.

There was nothing more to say, and they had parted uncomfortably, with

empty words about meeting again, but really only the desire to get away

from one another.

Recalling Julia's words about betrayal, Winston reflects that he had

really wished for her to be devoured by the rats instead of himself‹but

before he can even get to the word "rats" in his thoughts (which we know he

will never do anyway), a voice from the telescreen starts to sing, "Under

the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me . . ."

Winston's eyes fill with tears. A waiter passes by and refills his

glass; he thinks about how dependent he has become on gin, drinking it

every hour of the day. No one cares how he spends his days. His "job"

involves dealing with trivialities that arise from the current work being

done on the Eleventh Edition of the Newspeak Dictionary. His sub-sub-

committee consists of four other people like himself.

He thinks briefly again about the struggle in Africa, then picks up a

chess piece, and somehow triggers a memory of his childhood. His mother,

after entreating him to be good, had bought him the game Snakes and

Ladders, and although he had not been interested in it at first, he was

soon captivated, and the three of them had a happy, enjoyable afternoon.

Recalling himself, Winston shakes this off as a false memory, and is

picking up the chess piece again when a trumpet-call from the telescreen

startles him. The trumpet-call always signifies a victory, and excitement

spreads through the cafe and the streets like wildfire. The announcement is

that the very strategy Winston had imagined has taken place, utterly

defeating Eurasia and giving Oceania control of all of Africa.

Caught up in the excitement of this news, Winston looks up at the

portrait of Big Brother, overwhelmed, and feels the "final, healing

change": He loves Big Brother.

Appendix

Summary:

The Appendix details the underlying principles of Newspeak

(essentially that it was designed to limit the range of thought), and

details the word classes as follows:

The A vocabulary consisted of everyday words used in the expression of

simple thoughts, usually involving concrete objects or physical actions.

The B vocabulary consisted of words created to hold political

connotations and impose a politically desirable state of mind upon the

user. These were all compound words, like "Ingsoc" or "doublethink." Many

meant the opposite of what they really were, in keeping with the concept of

doublethink.

The C vocabulary consisted of scientific and technical terms which it

behooved no one but scientists and technicians to use.

The grammar of Newspeak had two notable characteristics:

There was an almost complete interchangeability between different parts

of speech. A noun and verb were basically the same, and formed the

root for all other forms of the word. Adjectives were formed by

tacking "-ful" onto the end of the word; adverbs, by adding the suffix

"-wise." Any word could be negated by the prefix "un-," and other

prefixes like "plus-" and "doubleplus-" could strengthen the word.

The grammar was exceedingly regular, with very few exceptions. All past

tenses were formed using "-ed," all plurals with "-s" or "-es," and

comparatives with "-er" and "-est."

Euphony was privileged above everything, including grammatical

regularity, except precision of meaning. This is because the end goal was

to produce words that could be spoken so quickly that they would not have

the time to prompt thought; in other words, so that people could speak

without thinking at all.

The meanings of Newspeak words were carefully controlled so that in many

cases most connotations were destroyed. For instance, the word "free" still

existed, but only in the sense of something being "free from" something

else, e.g. "This field is free from weeds." It could not be used with

reference to political freedom, as this meaning had been drilled out of the

word.

This also precluded the ability to argue heretical opinions. Though, for

instance, it would have been possible to say "Big Brother is ungood," there

were not the words necessary to defend or argue this assertion. Through

this process, Oldspeak would become not only obsolete but impossible to

understand or translate, since its words hold meanings and can express

ideas that would be inexpressible in Newspeak (except using the single word

"crimethink").

Animal Farm by G.Orwell

Chapter One: Summary

As the story opens on Mr. Jones's farm, the farm animals are preparing

to meet after Mr. Jones goes to sleep, to hear the words that the old and

well-respected pig, Old Major, wants to say to them. The animals gather

around as Old Major tells them that he had a dream the previous night and

senses that he will not live much longer. As the animals prepare for his

speech, the narrator identifies several of the animals which will become

more important in the story: the cart-horses Boxer and Clover, the old

donkey Benjamin, and Mollie the pretty mare. Before he dies, he wants to

tell the animals what he has observed and learned in his twelve years. Old

Major goes on to say that animals in England are cruelly kept in slavery by

man, who steals the animals' labor and is "the only creature that consumes

without producing". He describes his vision of an England in which animals

are free and live in complete harmony and cooperation, free of the tyranny

of man and his evil habits.

Old Major tells the animals that they must all band together to fight

the common enemy, Man, and rise up in rebellion when the opportunity comes.

He exhorts them to remain true to their animal ways, and then leads them in

a rousing song of revolution, called "Beasts of England". They are stirred

into a frenzy by Old Major's speech and sing the song five consecutive

times, until Mr. Jones stirs and fires a shot into the air to quiet them

down. Soon the whole farm falls asleep.

Chapter Two: Summary

Three days later, Old Major dies and is buried. His revolutionary

fervor lives on, and the animals begin to flesh in the revolutionary

ideology with which they will overthrow Mr. Jones. Two of the pigs,

Snowball and Napoleon, emerge as the leaders of the animals. Snowball is

naturally vivacious, while Napoleon "has a reputation for getting his own

way". Another pig named Squealer also becomes prominent for his persuasive

speaking ability. These three pigs create a system of tenets and name it

"Animalism," and begin imparting it to the rest of the animals, often

simplifying and slowly reasoning with the less-intelligent animals such as

the Sheep, or the frivolous animals, like Mollie the white mare. The cart-

horses Boxer and Clover are the most responsive of all the animals, and

Moses the tame raven is the most difficult animal for the pigs to persuade

to join the revolution. Moses claims that he knows of the existence of a

magical place called Sugarcandy Mountain, and his tales are a constant

distraction to the other animals.

Revolution comes earlier than anyone expected, when Mr. Jones gets so

drunk that he is unable to go feed the animals. After a day and a half

without food, the hungry animals finally riot and break into the feeding

area themselves, prompting Mr. Jones and his field hands to come outside.

The animals attack them with a vengeance, and the men flee, leaving Manor

Farm to the animals. Mrs. Jones wakes up during the commotion, and when she

discovers what has happened, she runs off with a suitcase of clothes

herself. The animals rejoice, walking over the farm to examine their

property, curiously investigate the farmhouse interior, and celebrate with

extra rations of food. The next morning, Snowball repaints the sign reading

"Manor Farm" to say "Animal Farm," and he and Napoleon introduce the

animals to The Seven Commandments, which form the tenets of their

"Animalism":

Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

No animal shall wear clothes.

No animal shall sleep in a bed.

No animal shall drink alcohol.

No animal shall kill another animal.

All animals are created equal.

The cows by this time need milking, so the pigs manage to milk them.

Several of the animals want some of the milk for themselves, but Napoleon

distracts them, saying that they have more important things to attend to

and that he will take care of it. Later that day, the animals notice that

the milk had disappeared.

Chapter Three: Summary

The Animalism regime begins very promisingly, with all the animals

working industriously to improve the farm, and enjoying the feeling of self-

governance and "animal pride" which their regime produces. Inspired by the

idea that they would enjoy the fruits of their own labors for the first

time, the animals overcome the challenges of farming without man and bring

in the largest harvest Animal Farm has ever produced. Boxer the horse

becomes a model of hard work and devotion to the cause, and adopts the

personal motto, "I will work harder". The pigs do not actually perform any

work, but instead supervise and coordinate the work for the rest of the

animals. Mollie the mare is the only animal who shirks work. Benjamin, the

old donkey, remains unchanged after the revolution, and cryptically says

that "Donkeys live a long time." The animals observe a flag-raising ritual

on Sundays, which is a day of rest for them. Snowball forms an array of

committees aimed at social improvements, education, training, and the like.

The education program achieves the greatest success, with all the animals

achieving some degree of literacy. After the discovery that the stupider

animals could not learn the Seven Commandments, Snowball reduces the tenets

down to the maxim "Four legs good, two legs bad," which even the sheep can

memorize, and bleat for hours on end. The dogs have a litter of nine

puppies, which Napoleon takes under the guise of educating them. He keeps

them secluded in the loft, and soon the other animals forget about them.

After the apple harvest, the pigs announce that they will reserve all the

apples and milk for themselves, to fuel the strenuous efforts required to

manage the farm. The other animals reluctantly acquiesce.

Chapter Four: Summary

News of the rebellion at Animal Farm spreads quickly to the rest of

the animals in England, and the words to "Beasts of England" can soon be

heard on farms everywhere. Emboldened by the Animal Farm revolution, other

previously subdued animals begin displaying subversive behavior in subtle

ways, such as tearing down fences and throwing riders. This development

alarms the local farmers, who have listened to Mr. Jones's tale of woe at

the Red Lion tavern where he now spends most of his time. Alarmed by the

developments at Animal Farm and the threat of revolution spreading, the

townsmen band together with Mr. Jones and attempt to reclaim his farm. The

animals successfully defend it, led by the strategy and bravery of

Snowball. A young farm hand is thrown to the ground by Boxer, and at first

it appears that he has been killed, but he gains consciousness a few

moments later and runs off. At the first gunshot, Mollie the mare runs into

the barn in terror and buries her head in the hay. Snowball and Boxer are

given medals for their courageous fighting.

Chapter Five: Summary

Unhappy with the new workload at Animal Farm, Mollie runs away to work

pulling a dogcart for a man who feeds her sugar lumps, and she is never

spoken of again. When winter comes, Snowball begins talking of a plan to

build a windmill to bring electricity to the farm. Snowball has spent much

of his spare time reading Mr. Jones's old books on farming techniques, and

he envisions an Animal Farm where increased productivity will result in

less work and more comfortable lifestyles for all the animals. Napoleon,

who by this times disagrees with Snowball about almost everything, is

bitterly opposed, and the animals become divided into two camps of

supporters. Napoleon and Snowball also disagree about the best course of

defense for the farm, with Snowball advocating the spread of the

revolutionary spirit to neighboring farms, while Napoleon feels the animals

should procure weapons and develop a military force. The animals are set to

vote, and after Snowball's impassioned speech, Napoleon whistles for nine

large dogs (the puppies that he has trained), and they attack Snowball and

drive him off the farm. Napoleon becomes the single leader of the animals,

abolishes their weekly debates and meetings, and announces that they will

go through with the windmill scheme after all. The animals are initially

dismayed by these developments, but Squealer eventually smoothes things

over.

Chapter Six: Summary

The animals begin working like slaves to complete the harvest and

build the windmill. Napoleon announces that the animals will now perform

"voluntary" work on Sundays. Though the work is officially called

voluntary, any animal who does not participate will have their food rations

cut in half. To finance the completion of the windmill, Napoleon announces

that Animal Farm will begin trading with the men who run nearby farms. The

animals think they remember Old Major speaking against evil human habits

such as trade. Squealer convinces the animals that they are only imagining

it. The sight of Napoleon on four legs conducting business with the farm's

trade agent Mr. Whymper, who stands upright, makes the animals so proud

that they ignore their misgivings. The pigs then move into the farmhouse,

and Squealer again convinces that animals that they are only imagining the

earlier rules against sleeping in beds. Some of the animals go to check the

Fourth Commandment, and discover that it actually reads "No animal shall

sleep in a bed with sheets". Rather than realizing that the Commandment has

been altered, the animals accept that they must have forgotten the ending

before. The windmill is destroyed in a storm, and Napoleon blames it on

Snowball, and places a reward on his head.

Chapter Seven: Summary

A hard winter comes, and the animals face near-starvation. To hide the

food shortage from the outside world, Napoleon fills the grain bins with

sand to fool Mr. Whymper. He also plants several animals at strategic

locations during Mr. Whymper's visits so that he can hear them making

"casual" (and false) remarks about food surpluses and increased rations.

Napoleon announces the plan to sell a pile of timber to one of two

neighboring farmers, Mr. Frederick or Mr. Pilkington. At Napoleon's

bidding, Squealer announces that the hens will have to give up their eggs

to be sold for money to buy grain. The hens refuse at first, but Napoleon

cuts off their food rations until they relent, after nine of them have died

from starvation. All sorts of acts of mischief and vandalism begin to

surface, which are immediately attributed to Snowball. Soon after, Napoleon

announces that an attempted rebellion has been discovered, and has several

of the farm animals executed. The remaining animals react with fear and

horror, and huddle around Clover the mare for comfort. She reminds them of

Old Major's glorious speech and leads them all in "Beasts of England,"

which prompts Napoleon to forbid the singing of the song and replace it

with the song "Animal Farm, Animal Farm, never through me shall thou come

to harm".

Chapter Eight: Summary

The animals discover that after the executions, another commandment is

different from how they remembered it; the Sixth Commandment now reads "No

animal shall kill another animal without cause". Napoleon has a long poem

praising his leadership painted on the side of the barn, and it is

announced that the gun will be fired each year on his birthday. All orders

are delivered through Squealer, with Napoleon living in near seclusion in

the farmhouse and rarely appearing on the farm in person. When he does make

public appearances, it is only while accompanied by a retinue of dogs and

other servants. Napoleon announces the sale of the pile of timber to

Frederick, a neighboring farmer whose acts of cruelty toward his animals

are legendary. After the transaction, it is revealed the Frederick paid

with forged bank notes. Napoleon pronounces a death sentence onto

Frederick. Shortly thereafter, the farm is again attacked by neighboring

farmers, led by Frederick himself. Napoleon appeals to Pilkington to help

the cause of Animal Farm, but Pilkington's interest in the farm were only

economic, and since he did not get the pile of timber, he refuses to help,

sending Napoleon the message "Serves you right". The animals finally repel

the farmers, but only with great difficulty, with Boxer sustaining a severe

injury to his hoof and the windmill being destroyed in an explosion.

Napoleon celebrates the victory by drinking lots of whisky, and despite his

vicious hangover, the Fifth Commandment soon reads "No animal shall drink

alcohol in excess".

Chapter Nine: Summary

More and more, the animals begin to think about the generous

retirement plans that had been part of the ideology of the early

Revolution. Life is hard for the animals, and rations continue to be

reduced, except for the pigs, who are allowed to wear green ribbons on

Sundays, drink beer daily, and actually seem to be gaining weight. To keep

the animals from complaining about the obvious discrepancies, Squealer

continually reads the animals reports which detail how much better off they

are now then before the Revolution. Animal Farm is declared a Republic and

must elect a President. Napoleon is the only candidate and is elected

unanimously. Moses the raven returns after an absence of several years,

still talking about the mystical Sugarcandy Mountain. Boxer falls ill and

Napoleon promises to send him to a hospital, but the animals read the sign

of the truck as he is hauled away and discover that he is being taken to

the butcher's. Squealer eventually convinces the animals that they are

mistaken.

Chapter Ten: Summary

Years pass, and many of the older animals, who remember life before

the Revolution, die off. Only cynical Benjamin remains just as he always

was. The animal population has increased, but not as much as would have

been predicted at the Revolution's beginning. Talk of retirement for the

animals stops, and the pigs, who have become the largest group of animals

by far, form a bureaucratic class in the government. As Napoleon ages,

Squealer assumes a position of increasing power, and learns to walk

upright. He teaches the sheep to change their chant to "Four legs good, two

legs better," and the Seven Commandments are replaced with a single

commandment: "All animals are created equal, but some animals are more

equal than others". The animals are once again uneasy by the new political

developments, but they comfort themselves with the knowledge that at least

they have no human master. Squealer begins to seek out the approval of the

neighboring farmers for his efficiency and order at Animal Farm. The pigs

invite a group of townsmen to dinner to inspect the efficiency of Animal

Farm, and the men congratulate the pigs on their achievements, noting that

the animals at Animal Farm did more work and required less food than any

farm in the county. Napoleon refers to the farm animals as "the lower

classes" and announces that Animal Farm will take back its original name of

The Manor Farm. As the animal watch the dinner proceedings through the

window, they realize with horror that they can no longer tell the pigs'

faces from the human ones.

Childe Harold by G.G.Byron

Canto 1: A wayward, wild, immoral youth grows weary of his ways and seeks

to gain a surer foothold on life by traveling. A rambling account follows

in which Harold goes to Spain and Portugal, with momentary lapses where

other areas of Europe are recalled. Familiarity with the area in the reader

might make the descriptions more meaningful, but they are romantic

nevertheless.

Canto 2: Harold then journeys to the Baltics, where he is impressed by the

fierce culture of the Albanians, and the past glory of Greece. A

reminiscence and some extensive notes on the state of Greece and its

bondage to foreign powers are included. The descriptions are often

picturesque, but the poem as a whole lacks coherence. We see no growth in

Harold-- in fact, it is not a story about him at all, but rather a poetic

chronicle of travels and thoughts. As such, though, it is passable.

Canto 3: This is a far superior piece of work to the last two cantos.

Harold develops, affected by and reflecting deeply and interestingly on

Waterloo and Napoleon in Belgium, on the Alps, the Rhine and the battles

fought there. His cynicism begins to soften, and he begins to yearn for his

beloved. With the place-descriptions are woven (this time, rather than

simply interspersed as before) meditations on people, such as the Aventian

princess Julia whose love for her father affected Byron so deeply; and

Rousseau, of whom Byron is critical but admiring (see also his long

thoughtful note on this subject); and Voltaire and Gibbon, who are

acknowledged but claimed to be wrongheaded. Also, he thinks about nature as

a respite from the "madding crowd" (fortified with a prose argument in a

note), entertains what we would now call some "environmentalist" thoughts,

and finally comments on his shunning of the world's trends and his sorrow

as an estranged father to his girl. This canto is very like the meandering

thoughts of a traveler or a wanderer. But here they are fruitful and bubble

forth to a greater extent than in the first two.

Canto 4: In keeping with the progression of this poem, this canto is the

best of the four. In Italy, we see the places and hear reminiscences of the

people, but these in this canto seem oddly secondary. Harold's journey is

now admitted to be Byron's journey, and the meditations which the sites and

scenes inspire are deep and thoughtful as never before. We get much more of

an idea that this is Byron speaking to us rather than an imagined

character; indeed, Byron in the prefatory letter calls the work his most

thoughtful composition (as of 1818). He reaches highs of contemplation more

than once-- on imagination and the eternal glimpses it brings; on suffering

and painful memory; on solitude and its virtues and vices; on education; on

man's humility and state of political and spiritual slavery; on freedom; on

our poor souls and the illusory nature of love; on thought and truth; on

the joys of the wilderness and the power of the ocean; and an excellent

conclusion which humbly and thoughtfully closes the mind's eye of the

reader in rest. Meanwhile, of course, we are shown Venice, several ancient

sites, and (for the bulk of the canto) Rome, about whose history Byron

muses, talking of the rise and fall of civilizations. We see the Pantheon,

Circus, Coliseum, Vatican... and all inspire thought and reflection. No

real conclusions are reached-- Harold/Byron does not have a sustained and

rejuvenation epiphany-- but still we get the idea that he is better for

having superfluity wrung from him on this trip. For, how can one descend to

the level of a profligate again, after tasting the greatness which man has

attained in a worldly sense, and being inspired by that to think (to some

extent at least) of great things in a spiritual sense?

The French Lieutenant's Woman by J.Fowles

The first chapter describes Lyme Regis and its Cobb, a harbor quay on

which three characters are standing: Charles Smithson, Ernestina Freeman,

and Sarah Woodruff. The describing narrator has a distinctive voice, all-

knowing yet intimate, with a wide-ranging vocabulary and evidently vast

knowledge of political and geographical history. In one sentence the

narrator sounds like a Victorian, as he remarks that the male character

recently "had severely reduced his dundrearies, which the arbiters of the

best English male fashion had declared a shade vulgar--that is, risible to

the foreigner--a year or two previously." In the next sentence he sounds

modern, as he describes how "the colors of the young lady's clothes would

strike us today as distinctly strident." The narrator's double vision and

double voice make him as important as the characters in this novel.

Charles is a middle-aged bachelor and amateur paleontologist;

Ernestina is his fiancйe, who has brought him to spend a few days with her

aunt. Out of a chivalric concern for Sarah, Charles advises her to return

from the end of the Cobb to a safer position, but she merely stares at him.

As he reflects on this curious meeting, the narrator begins to comment on

Charles's outlook on life and on the attitudes that were typical of the age

in 1867, with occasional comparisons with 1967.

Ernestina is revealed to be a pretty but conventional young woman.

Sarah is an outcast who is reputed to be pining for the French lieutenant

who has jilted her. Charles is earnest but intelligent enough to be aware

of Ernestina's limitations. When he is looking for fossils along the wooded

Undercliff, Charles discovers Sarah sleeping, and must apologize when she

awakes and sees him observing her. As he returns to Lyme, he inquires about

her at a nearby farm, whose owner tells him that the "French Loot'n'nt's

Hoer" often walks that way. Sarah's employer, having separately become

aware of that fact, forbids her to walk there any more. Sarah spends that

night contemplating suicide, and Chapter 12 ends with two questions: "Who

is Sarah? Out of what shadows does she come?"

Chapter 13 begins "I do not know," and the narrator proceeds to

discuss the difficulty of writing a story when characters behave

independently rather than do his bidding. Charles, he complains, did not

return to Lyme as the narrator had intended but willfully went down to the

Dairy to ask about Sarah. But, the narrator concedes, times have changed,

and the traditional novel is out of fashion, according to some. Novels may

seem more real if the characters do not behave like marionettes and

narrators do not behave like God. So the narrator, in effect, promises to

give his characters the free will that people would want a deity to grant

them. Likewise, the narrator will candidly admit to the artifice of the

narration and will thereby treat his readers as intelligent, independent

beings who deserve more than the manipulative illusions of reality provided

in a traditional novel.

Subsequent chapters contain representations of domestic life--a quiet

evening with Charles and Ernestina, a morning with Charles and his valet, a

concert at the Assembly Rooms. During this last, Charles reflects on where

his life seems to be leading and on the fact that, as he puts it, he has

become "a little obsessed with Sarah…or at any rate with the enigma she

presented." He returns to the Undercliff, again finds Sarah there, and is

shocked to be told by her that she is not pining for her French lieutenant,

that he is married. The next time Charles encounters her in the Undercliff

she offers Charles some fossils she has found and tells him that she thinks

she may be going mad; she asks him to meet her there once more, when she

has more time, so that she can tell him the truth about her situation and

obtain his advice.

Charles decides to seek advice himself and visits Dr. Grogan, an

elderly bachelor and an admirer of Darwin, whose theories they discuss.

When the conversation turns to Sarah, Grogan expresses the belief that she

wants to be a victim. Sarah seems to bear out his view when she explains to

Charles that she indeed became infatuated with the French lieutenant when

he was recovering from an injury in the house, where Sarah was governess,

and that she followed him when he left to return to France. She tells

Charles that she quickly realized that he had regarded her only as an

amusement, but that she "gave" herself to him nonetheless, doubly

dishonoring herself by choice as well as by circumstances. She seems to be

proud of her status as outcast, for it differentiates her from a society

she considers unjust. Charles accepts her story--even finds it fascinating.

When Charles returns to his room at the inn, he finds a telegram from

his bachelor uncle Robert, summoning him home to the family estate he is in

line to inherit. To Charles's surprise, Robert has decided to marry Bella

Tomkins, a young widow, whose sons--if she has any--would displace Charles

as heir. On Charles's return to Lyme Regis, Ernestina mentions that Sarah

was seen returning from their last meeting in the Undercliff, where she had

been forbidden to walk, and has been dismissed by Mrs. Poulteney. At his

hotel, Charles finds a message from Sarah, urging him to meet her one more

time. Charles has Dr. Grogan call off the search for Sarah, who, it was

thought, might have killed herself Grogan again warns Charles against

Sarah, this time by offering him a document to read about a case of bizarre

behavior by a young woman in France who manages to get one of her father's

officers unjustly convicted of attempting to rape her. Charles decides to

meet Sarah again, despite the possibility that she may be deranged and

trying to destroy him.

When he finds her, she confesses that she deliberately allowed herself

to be seen and, hence, dismissed. Charles is unable to resist kissing her

but is bewildered. His feelings turn to dismay when they are stumbled on by

Sam and Mary, his valet and Ernestina's aunt's servant, who have come to

the Undercliff for their own privacy. Embarrassed, he swears them to

secrecy.

Now even more of two minds about his marriage, Charles decides to go

to London to discuss his altered financial prospects with Ernestina's

father, a prosperous merchant there. Mr. Freeman is more concerned for the

happiness of his daughter, who evidently loves Charles dearly, so the

engagement stands; but Charles is increasingly uncomfortable with, even

trapped by, his situation. He goes to his club and drinks too much. He

visits a brothel with two of his friends, but finds the entertainment

repellant, and leaves. He picks up a Cockney streetwalker and returns to

her flat with her; when she tells him her name is, coincidentally, Sarah,

Charles becomes ill and, subsequently, returns to his room. The next

morning Charles receives a letter from Grogan, and a note from Sarah with

the name of a hotel in Exeter.

Because the train station nearest to Lyme Regis is in Exeter, Charles

must pass through that town on his way back from London. Having steamed

open the note from Sarah, Sam is confident that they will spend the night

in Exeter, so that Charles can visit Sarah, but they proceed to Lyme, where

Charles and Ernestina are reunited. The narrator recounts that they go on

to marry, have seven children, and live well into the twentieth century. In

the next chapter, the narrator explains that this traditional ending is

just one possibility, a hypothetical future for his characters. Charles

recognized his freedom of choice and "actually" did decide to put up at

Exeter for the night, precisely as Sam had expected.

As the story resumes and continues to unfold, Charles visits Sarah at

her hotel. He must see her in her room because she has supposedly injured

her ankle, though she has purchased the bandage before the "accident"

occurred. Charles is overcome by passion and takes her to bed, only to

discover that she is a virgin, despite what she had told him about the

French lieutenant. She confesses that she has deceived him, says that she

cannot explain why and, furthermore, cannot marry him. Stunned by the whole

experience, Charles visits a nearby church and meditates on the human

condition. He decides that Sarah has been trying to "unblind" him with her

stratagems, so that he would recognize that he is free to choose. He writes

a letter to Sarah, telling her how much she means to him, and then returns

to Lyme to call off his engagement.

Sam does not deliver the letter. Ernestina is distraught when Charles

tells her that he is unworthy to be her husband, more so when she realizes

that the true reason is another woman. Sam correctly surmises that his

master's star will wane as the marriage is called off, so determined to

protect his prospect of marriage to Mary, he leaves his position as

Charles's valet in hope that Ernestina's aunt and her father will help him.

When Charles returns to Exeter, he finds Sarah gone to London, having

left no forwarding address. As he follows her, by train, a bearded figure

sits opposite Charles and watches him as he dozes. The character is the

narrator himself, who professes not to know where Sarah is or what she

wants; indeed, he is wondering what exactly to do with Charles. He compares

writing a novel to fixing a fight in favor of one boxer or another; to seem

less dishonest, he decides to show the "fight" as if "fixed" both ways,

with different "victors," or endings. Because the last ending will seem

privileged by its final position, he flips a coin to determine which ending

to give first.

The narrative resumes the description of Charles's search for Sarah.

He checks agencies for governesses, patrols areas frequented by

prostitutes, and advertises--all without success. He visits the United

States and advertises there. Two years after she disappeared, Charles gets

a cable from his solicitor saying that Sarah has been found. Charles hopes

that Sarah has decided to answer the ad, but the narrator explains that

Mary has seen Sarah enter a house in Chelsea, and that it is Sam who

responded to the ad, now that he is a thriving employee of Mr. Freeman as

well as a happy father and husband, but still slightly guilt-ridden over

his having intercepted the letter at Lyme.

When Charles arrives at Sarah's house, he finds her surprised to see

him and not apologetic about having left him in ignorance of her

whereabouts. She gradually is revealed to be living in the house of Dante

Gabriel Rossetti and several other artists and models of the Pre-Raphaelite

Brotherhood. Charles is shocked, partly by the rather notoriously

unconventional company she is keeping and partly by her lack of repentance

for having deceived him and left him in uncertainty. He accuses her of

implanting a dagger in his breast and then twisting it. She decides not to

let Charles leave without revealing that she has had a child by him, named

Lalage. Chapter 60 ends with the three of them evidently on the threshold

of some kind of future together.

Chapter 61 begins with the bearded narrator in front of Sarah's house

with a watch, which he sets back fifteen minutes and drives off. The

narrative resumes with the same piece of dialogue from Chapter 60, about

twisting the knife. In this version of the conversation, Charles sees that

she cannot marry without betraying herself, and that he cannot accept her

on more independent terms. He leaves without realizing that the child he

notices on the way out is his. The narrator ends the novel by noting that

Charles has at least begun to have some faith in himself, despite his not

feeling that he understands Sarah, and that the reader should not imagine

that the last ending is any less plausible than the one before it.

French Lieutenant’s Woman in Russian

Краткое содержание

Ветреным мартовским днем 1867 г. вдоль мола старинного городка Лайм-

Риджиса на юго-востоке Англии прогуливается молодая пара. Дама одета по

последней лондонской моде в узкое красное платье без кринолина, какие в

этом провинциальном захолустье начнут носить лишь в будущем сезоне. Ее

рослый спутник в безупречном сером пальто почтительно держит в руке

цилиндр. Это были Эрнестина, дочь богатого коммерсанта, и ее жених Чарльз

Смитсон из аристократического семейства. Их внимание привлекает женская

фигура в трауре на краю мола, которая напоминает скорее живой памятник

погибшим в морской пучине, нежели реальное существо. Ее называют несчастной

Трагедией или Женщиной французского лейтенанта. Года два назад во время

шторма погибло судно, а выброшенного на берег со сломанной ногой офицера

подобрали местные жители. Сара Вудраф, служившая гувернанткой и знавшая

французский, помогала ему, как могла. Лейтенант выздоровел, уехал в Уэймут,

пообещав вернуться и жениться на Саре. С тех пор она выходит на мол,

"слоноподобный и изящный, как скульптуры Генри Мура", и ждет. Когда молодые

люди проходят мимо, их поражает ее лицо, незабываемо-трагическое: "скорбь

изливалась из него так же естественно, незамутненно и бесконечно, как вода

из лесного родника". Ее взгляд-клинок пронзает Чарльза, внезапно ощутившего

себя поверженным врагом таинственной особы.

Чарльзу тридцать два года. Он считает себя талантливым ученым-

палеонтологом, но с трудом заполняет "бесконечные анфилады досуга". Проще

говоря, как всякий умный бездельник викторианской эпохи, он страдает

байроническим сплином. Его отец получил порядочное состояние, но проигрался

в карты. Мать умерла совсем молодой вместе с новорожденной сестрой. Чарльз

пробует учиться в Кембридже, потом решает принять духовный сан, но тут его

спешно отправляют в Париж развеяться.

Он проводит время в путешествиях, публикует путевые заметки -

"носиться с идеями становится его главным занятием на третьем десятке".

Спустя три месяца после возвращения из Парижа умирает его отец, и Чарльз

остается единственным наследником своего дяди, богатого холостяка, и

выгодным женихом. Неравнодушный к хорошеньким девицам, он ловко избегал

женитьбы, но, познакомившись с Эрнестиной Фримен, обнаружил в ней

незаурядный ум, приятную сдержанность. Его влечет к этой "сахарной

Афродите", он сексуально неудовлетворен, но дает обет "не брать в постель

случайных женщин и держать взаперти здоровый половой инстинкт". На море он

приезжает ради Эрнестины, с которой помолвлен уже два месяца. Эрнестина

гостит у своей тетушки Трэнтер в Лайм-Риджисе, потому что родители вбили

себе в голову, что она предрасположена к чахотке. Знали бы они, что Тина

доживет до нападения Гитлера на Польшу! Девушка считает дни до свадьбы -

осталось почти девяносто... Она ничего не знает о совокуплении, подозревая

в этом грубое насилие, но ей хочется иметь мужа и детей. Чарльз чувствует,

что она влюблена скорее в замужество, чем в него.

Однако их помолвка - взаимовыгодное дело. Мистер Фримен, оправдывая

свою фамилию (свободный человек), прямо сообщает о желании породниться с

аристократом, несмотря на то что увлеченный дарвинизмом Чарльз с пафосом

доказывает ему, что тот произошел от обезьяны. Скучая, Чарльз начинает

поиски окаменелостей, которыми славятся окрестности городка, и на Вэрской

пустоши случайно видит Женщину французского лейтенанта, одинокую и

страдающую. Старая миссис Поултни, известная своим самодурством, взяла Сару

Вудраф в компаньонки, чтобы всех превзойти в благотворительности. Чарльз, в

обязанности которого входит трижды в неделю наносить визиты, встречает в ее

доме Сару и удивляется ее независимости. Унылое течение обеда разнообразит

лишь настойчивое ухаживание голубоглазого Сэма, слуги Чарльза, за горничной

мисс Трэнтер Мэри, самой красивой, непосредственной, словно налитой

девушкой. На следующий день Чарльз вновь приходит на пустошь и застает Сару

на краю обрыва, заплаканную, с пленительно-сумрачным лицом. Неожиданно она

достает из кармана две морские звезды и протягивает Чарльзу. "Джентльмена,

который дорожит своей репутацией, не должны видеть в обществе вавилонской

блудницы Лайма", - произносит она. Смитсон понимает, что следовало бы

подальше держаться от этой странной особы, но Сара олицетворяет собой

желанные и неисчерпаемые возможности, а Эрнестина, как он ни уговаривает

себя, похожа, порою на "хитроумную заводную куклу из сказок Гофмана". В тот

же вечер Чарльз дает обед в честь Тины и ее тетушки. Приглашен и бойкий

ирландец доктор Гроган, холостяк, много лет добивающийся расположения

старой девы мисс Трэнтер. Доктор не разделяет приверженности Чарльза к

палеонтологии и вздыхает о том, что мы о живых организмах знаем меньше, чем

об окаменелостях.

Наедине с ним Смитсон спрашивает о странностях Женщины французского

лейтенанта. Доктор объясняет состояние Сары приступами меланхолии и

психозом, в результате которого скорбь для нее становится счастьем. Теперь

встречи с ней кажутся Чарльзу исполненными филантропического смысла.

Однажды Сара приводит его в укромный уголок на склоне холма и рассказывает

историю своего несчастья, вспоминая, как красив был спасенный лейтенант и

как горько обманулась она, когда последовала за ним в Эймус и отдалась ему

в совершенно неприличной гостинице: "То был дьявол в обличий моряка!"

Исповедь потрясает Чарльза. Он обнаруживает в Саре страстность и

воображение - два качества, типичных для англичан, но совершенно

подавленных эпохой всеобщего ханжества. Девушка признается, что уже не

надеется на возвращение французского лейтенанта, потому что знает о его

женитьбе. Спускаясь в лощину, они неожиданно замечают обнимающихся Сэма и

Мэри и прячутся. Сара улыбается так, как будто снимает одежду. Она бросает

вызов благородным манерам, учености Чарльза, его привычке к рациональному

анализу. В гостинице перепуганного Смитсона ждет еще одно потрясение:

престарелый дядя, сэр Роберт, объявляет о своей женитьбе на "неприятно

молодой" вдове миссис Томкинс и, следовательно, лишает племянника титула и

наследства, Эрнестина разочарована таким поворотом событий. Сомневается в

правильности своего выбора и Смитсон, в нем разгорается новая страсть.

Желая все обдумать, он собирается уехать в Лондон. От Сары приносят

записку, написанную по-французски, словно в память о лейтенанте, с просьбой

прийти на рассвете.

В смятении Чарльз признается доктору в тайных встречах с девушкой.

Гроган пытается объяснить ему, что Сара водит его за нос, и в

доказательство дает прочитать отчет о процессе, проходившем в 1835 г. над

одним офицером. Он обвинялся в изготовлении анонимных писем с угрозами

семье командира и насилии над его шестнадцатилетней дочерью Мари.

Последовала дуэль, арест, десять лет тюрьмы. Позже опытный адвокат

догадался, что даты самых непристойных писем совпадали с днями менструаций

Мари, у которой был психоз ревности к любовнице молодого человека.. Однако

ничто не может остановить Чарльза, и с первым проблеском зари он

отправляется на свидание. Сару выгоняет из дома миссис Поултни, которая не

в силах перенести своеволие и дурную репутацию компаньонки. Сара прячется в

амбаре, где и происходит ее объяснение с Чарльзом. К несчастью, едва они

поцеловались, как на пороге возникли Сэм и Мэри. Смитсон берет с них

обещание молчать и, ни в чем не признавшись Эрнестине, спешно едет в

Лондон. Сара скрывается в Эксетере.

У нее есть десять соверенов, оставленные на прощание Чарльзом, и это

дает ей немного свободы. Смитсону приходится обсуждать с отцом Эрнестины

предстоящую свадьбу. Как-то, увидев на улице проститутку, похожую на Сару,

он нанимает ее, но ощущает внезапную тошноту. Вдобавок шлюху также зовут

Сарой. Вскоре Чарльз получает письмо из Эксетера и отправляется туда, но,

не повидавшись с Сарой, решает ехать дальше, в Лайм-Риджис, к Эрнестине. Их

воссоединение завершается свадьбой. В окружении семерых детей они живут

долго и счастливо. О Саре ничего не слышно. Но этот конец неинтересен.

Вернемся к письму. Итак, Чарльз спешит в Эксетер и находит там Сару. В ее

глазах печаль ожидания. "Мы не должны... это безумие", - бессвязно

повторяет Чарльз. Он "впивается губами в ее рот, словно изголодался не

просто по женщине, а по всему, что так долго было под запретом". Чарльз не

сразу понимает, что Сара девственна, а все рассказы о лейтенанте - ложь.

Пока он в церкви молит о прощении, Сара исчезает. Смитсон пишет ей о

решении жениться и увезти ее прочь. Он испытывает прилив уверенности и

отваги, расторгает помолвку с Тиной, готовясь всю жизнь посвятить Саре, но

не может ее найти. Наконец, через два года, в Америке, он получает

долгожданное известие. Возвратившись в Лондон, Смитсон обретает Сару в доме

Росетти, среди художников. Здесь его ждет годовалая дочка по имени Лалаге

(ручеек).

Нет, и такой путь не для Чарльза. Он не соглашается быть игрушкой в

руках женшины, которая добилась исключительной власти над ним. Прежде Сара

называла его единственной надеждой, но, приехав в Эксетер, он понял, что

поменялся с ней ролями. Она удерживает его из жалости, и Чарльз отвергает

эту жертву. Он хочет вернуться в Америку, где открыл "частицу веры в себя".

Он понимает, что жизнь нужно по мере сил претерпевать, чтобы снова выходить

в слепой, соленый, темный океан.

Gulliver’s Travels by Daniel Defoe

Context

Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726 by satirist Jonathan Swift.

Because it can be read as a fantasy novel, a story for children, and a

social satire, its tales of dwarves, giants, oating islands and talking

horses have long entertained readers from every age group. It has often

been issued with long passages omitted, particularly those concerning

bodily functions and other distasteful topics. Even without these passages,

however, Gulliver's Travels serves as a biting satire, and Swift ensures

that it is both humorous and critical, constantly criticizing British and

European society through its descriptions of imaginary countries.

The book was originally published as Travels to Several Remote Nations

of the World by Captain Lemuel Gulliver. It is set at the turn of the 18th

century, and it details four journeys made over the course of several

years. It describes only vaguely the locations of the fantastic lands to

which Gulliver travels, ultimately insisting that European maps are too

awed to allow them to be easily found.

There is a general tone of mockery in the text, echoing the sarcastic

voice found in other works by Swift (e.g. "A Modest Proposal"). Gulliver is

sometimes wise, sometimes foolish, but always eager to please his new

masters. The sarcastic tone of the text sets Swift himself as a kind of

foil to Gulliver; unlike his protagonist, Swift's purpose was no doubt to

annoy the leaders of Britain rather than please them.

Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels at a time of political change and

scientific invention, and many of the events he describes in the book can

easily be linked to contemporary events in Europe. One of the reasons that

the stories are deeply amusing is that, by combining real issues with

entirely fantastic situations and characters, they suggest that the

realities of 18th-century England were as fantastic as the situations in

which Gulliver finds himself.

Characters

Gulliver The narrator and protagonist of the story, Lemuel Gulliver

is a English ship's surgeon carried by circumstance into a series of

adventures in strange parts of the world. He is well-traveled and speaks

several languages.

The Emperor The ruler of Lilliput; he, like all Lilliputians, is less than

six inches tall.

Reldresal A government official in Lilliput; he befriends Gulliver and

warns him when his life is threatened.

The farmer Gulliver's first master in Brobdingnag; in order to make money,

he puts Gulliver on display around Brobdingnag.

Glumdalclitch The farmer's nine-year-old daughter; she becomes Gulliver's

friend and nursemaid.

The Queen The Queen of Brobdingnag.

The King The King of Brobdingnag.

Yahoo Unkempt beasts who live under the power of the Houyhnhnms; they are

strong, malicious, and cowardly, and resemble humans in most respects.

Houyhnhnms Horses who maintain a simple, peaceful society, in which the

Yahoos are subordinate; they befriend Gulliver, but cannot accept him as an

equal.

Summary

Gulliver's Travels details a sailor's journey to four very different

fantastical societies. The first, Lilliput, is populated by miniature

people who brought wars over the proper way to break an egg. The second,

Brobdingnag, is inhabited by giants who put Gulliver on display as a

curiosity. The third consists of a kingdom governed by a king who lives on

a oating island; the kingdom also contains an academy of scientists

performing futile experiments, such as trying to extract sunbeams from

cucumbers. The fourth is a society in which human-like creatures are made

to serve their horse-like superiors, the Houyhnhnms.

In his first adventure, in Lilliput, Gulliver becomes a hero by

destroying an enemy's fleet of ships. He is constantly under threat of

execution by the little people of Lilliput, however, who believe that

trivial crimes deserve severe punishments. The willingness of the

Lilliputians and their enemies to risk their lives in defense of their

methods of egg-breaking is a way for Swift to criticise the European

tendency to focus on, and _get over, trivialities.

In his next adventure, in Brobdingnag, Gulliver finds himself in the

opposite situation, now many times smaller than his hosts. He is made to

see things up close, and notices things that would have escaped him had the

people been his own size. To him, the Brobdingnagians seem vulgar and ugly,

since the aws, which would be invisible on smaller beings, become all too

obvious when expanded to their gargantuan size. Gulliver is treated poorly

by the farmer who first discovers him, but is then rescued by the Queen,

who turns him into a pet. The giants see him, and the society from which he

comes, as tiny and insignificant.

Next, Gulliver visits the oating island of Laputa, where he encounters

a government so absorbed in its theories that the King must be aroused

during conversation by being hit with a stick. While the people on the

oating island concern themselves with theories, the people of the kingdom

below suffer from poverty and hunger. On the ground a scientific academy is

similarly concerned with the most impractical projects; the value of

academia is challenged by their ineptitude.

Finally, Gulliver travels to a country populated by intelligent

horses, the Houyhnhnms, and the brutish, human-like Yahoos who serve them.

During his stay, he is treated like a Yahoo and comes to think of his own

European society as being not that different from theirs. He wants to stay

with the Houyhnhnms, but he is eventually banished from their company for

resembling a Yahoo. Knowing that the ways of his people are awed and

irrational, he finds it very difficult to return home to England.

Part I, Chapter 1

Summary

The novel begins with Lemuel Gulliver recounting the story of his

life, beginning with his family history. He was born to a family in

Nottinghamshire, the third of five sons. Although he studied at Cambridge

as a teenager, his family was too poor to keep him there, so he was sent to

London to be a surgeon's apprentice. There, he learned mathematics and

navigation with the hope of travelling. When his apprenticeship ended, he

studied physics at Leyden.

He then became a surgeon aboard a ship called The Swallow for three

years. Afterwards, he settled in London, working as a doctor, and married a

woman named Mary Burton. His business began to fail when his patron died,

so he decided to go to sea again and travelled for six years. Although he

had planned to return home, he decided to accept one last job on a ship

called The Antelope.

Here the background information ends and Gulliver's story really

begins. In the East Indies, The Antelope encounters a violent storm in

which twelve crewmen die. Six of the crew members, including Gulliver,

board a small rowboat to escape. Soon the rowboat capsizes, and Gulliver

loses track of his companions; they are never seen again. Gulliver,

however, swims safely to shore.

He lies down on the grass to rest and soon falls asleep. When he wakes

up he finds that his arms, legs, and long hair have been tied to the ground

with ropes bound across the rest of his body. Tied as he is, he can only

look up, and the bright sun prevents him from seeing anything. He feels

something move across his leg and over his chest. He looks down at it and

sees, to his surprise, a six-inch-tall human carrying a bow and arrow. At

least forty more little people climb onto his body. He is surprised and

shouts loudly, frightening the little people away. They return, however,

and one of the little men cries out "Hekinah Degul."

Gulliver struggles to get loose and finally succeeds in breaking the

strings binding his left arm. He loosens the ropes tying his hair so he can

turn to the left. In response, the little people _re a volley of arrows

into his hand and violently attack his body and face. He decides that the

safest thing to do is to lie still until nightfall. The noise increases, as

the little people build a stage next to Gulliver about a foot o_ the

ground. One of them climbs onto it and makes a speech in a language that

Gulliver does not understand.

Gulliver indicates that he is hungry, and the little people bring him

baskets of meat. He devours it all, and then shows that he is thirsty, so

they bring him two large barrels of wine. Gulliver is tempted to pick up

forty or fifty of them and throw them against the ground, but he decides

that he has made them a promise of goodwill and is grateful for their

hospitality. He is also struck at their bravery, since they climb onto his

body despite his great size.

An official climbs onto Gulliver's body and tells him that he is to be

carried to the Capital City. Gulliver wants to walk, but they tell him that

that will not be permitted. Instead, they bring their largest machine; a

frame of wood raised three inches o_ the ground and carried by twenty-two

wheels.

Nine hundred men pull this cart about half a mile to the city. His left leg

is padlocked to a building, giving him only enough freedom to walk around

the building in a semicircle and lie down inside the temple.

Part I, Chapters 2-3

Summary

Chained to the building, Gulliver is finally able to stand up and view

the entire countryside, which he discovers is beautiful and rustic. The

tallest trees are seven feet tall, and the whole area looks to him like a

theatre set.

Gulliver describes his process of relieving himself, which initially

involved walking inside the building to the edge of his chain. After the

first time, he makes sure to relieve himself in open air; the sewage is

carried away in wheelbarrows by servants. He is careful to describe this

process in order to ensure that his cleanliness is known, since critics

have called it into question.

The Emperor visits from his Tower, on horseback. He orders his

servants to give Gulliver food and drink. The Emperor is dressed plainly

and carries a sword to defend himself. He and Gulliver converse, though

they cannot understand each other. Gulliver tries to speak every language

he knows, but nothing works. After two hours, Gulliver is left with a group

of soldiers guarding him. Some of them try to shoot arrows at him, and as a

punishment the Brigadier ties up six of them and places them in Gulliver's

hand. Gulliver puts five of them into his pocket and takes the fifth into

his hand. They think he is to be eaten, but Gulliver cuts loose his ropes

and sets him free. He does the same with the other five, which pleases the

Court.

After two weeks, a bed is made for Gulliver. It consists of 600 small

beds sewn together. News of his arrival also spreads throughout the

kingdom, and curious people from the villages come to see him. Meanwhile,

the government attempts to decide what is to be done with Gulliver.

Frequent Councils bring up various concerns: for instance, that he will

break loose or that he will eat enough to cause a famine. It is suggested

that they starve him or shoot him in the face to kill him, but that would

leave them with a giant corpse and a large health risk.

Officers that had witnessed Gulliver's lenient treatment of the six

offending soldiers report to the Council, and the Emperor and his Court

decide to respond with kindness. They arrange to deliver large amounts of

food to Gulliver every morning, and to supply him with servants to wait on

him, tailors to make him clothing, and teachers to instruct him in their

language.

Every morning Gulliver asks the Emperor to set him free, but he

refuses, saying that Gulliver must be patient. The Emperor also orders him

to be searched to ensure that he does not have any weapons. Gulliver agrees

to this, and the little people take an inventory of all his possessions; in

the process, all of his weapons are taken away.

Gulliver hopes to be set free, as he is getting along well with the

Lilliputians and earning their trust. The Emperor decides to entertain him

with shows, including a performance by Rope-Dancers.

Rope-Dancers are Lilliputians who are seeking employment in the

government; for the performance, which doubles as a sort of competitive

entrance examination, the candidates dance on "ropes" slender threads

suspended two feet above the ground. When a vacancy occurs, candidates

petition the Emperor entertain him with a dance; whoever jumps the highest

earns the office. The current ministers continue this practice as well, in

order to show that they have not lost their skill.

As another diversion for Gulliver, the Emperor lays three silken

threads of different colors on a table. He then holds out a stick, and

candidates are asked to leap over it or creep under it. Whoever shows the

most dexterity wins one of the ribbons.

Gulliver builds a platform from sticks and his handkerchief and

invites horsemen to exercise upon it. The Emperor greatly enjoys watching

this new entertainment, but it is cut short when a horse steps through the

handkerchief and Gulliver decides that it is too dangerous for them to keep

riding on the cloth.

Some Lilliputians discover Gulliver's hat, which had washed ashore

after him, and he asks them to bring it back. Soon after, the Emperor asks

Gulliver to pose like a Colossus, so that his troops might march under him.

Gulliver's petitions for freedom are finally answered. Gulliver must

swear to obey the articles put forth. Included in these articles are the

stipulations that he must assist the Lilliputians in times of war, survey

the land around them, help with construction, and deliver urgent messages.

Gulliver agrees and his chains are removed.

Part I, Chapters 4-5

Summary

The first thing Gulliver does after regaining his freedom is to ask to

see the city, which is called Mildendo. The residents are told to stay

indoors, and they all sit on their roofs and in their garret windows to see

him. He describes the town as being five hundred feet square, with a wall

surrounding it. The town can hold five hundred thousand people. The

Emperor's Palace is at the center, where the two large streets meet. The

Emperor wants Gulliver to see the magnificence of his palace, so Gulliver

cuts down trees to make himself a stool, which he carries around with him

so that he can sit down and see things from a shorter distance than a

standing position allows.

About two weeks after Gulliver obtains his liberty, a government

official, Reldresal, comes to see him. Gulliver offers to lie down to make

conversation easier, but Reldresal prefers to be held in Gulliver's hand.

He tells Gulliver that the kingdom is threatened by two forces, one rebel

group and one foreign empire. The rebel group exists because the kingdom is

divided into two factions, called Tramecksan and Slamecksan; the people in

the two factions are distinguished by the heights of their heels.

Reldresal tells Gulliver that the current Emperor has chosen to employ

primarily the low-heeled Slamecksan in his administration. He adds that the

Emperor himself has lower heels than all of his officials, but that his

heir has one heel higher than the other, which makes him walk unevenly. At

the same time, the Lilliputians fear an invasion from the Island of

Blefuscu, which Reldresal calls the "Other Great Empire of the Universe"

(25). He adds that the philosophers of Lilliput do not believe Gulliver's

claim that there are other countries in the world inhabited by other people

of his size, preferring to think that Gulliver dropped from the moon or a

star.

Reldresal describes the history of the two nations, starting out by

saying that it makes no mention of any other empire ever existing. The

conflict between them, he tells Gulliver, began years ago, when the

Emperor's father, then in command of the country, commanded all

Lilliputians to break their eggs on the small end first. He made this

decision after breaking an egg in the old way, large end first, and cutting

his finger. The people resented the law, and six rebellions were started in

protest. The monarchs of Blefuscu fuelled these rebellions, and when they

were over the rebels fled to that country to seek refuge. Eleven thousand

people chose death rather than submitting to the law. Many books were

written on the controversy, but books written by the Big-Endians were

banned. The government of Blefuscu accused the Lilliputians of disobeying

their religious doctrine, the Brundrecal, by breaking their eggs at the

small end. The Lilliputians argued that the doctrine reads "That all true

believers shall break their eggs at the convenient end," which could be

interpreted as the small end.

The exiles gained support in Blefuscu to launch a war against Lilliput

and were aided by rebel forces inside Lilliput. A war has been raging ever

since between the two nations, and Gulliver is asked to help defend

Lilliput against its enemies. Gulliver does not feel that it is appropriate

to intervene, but he nonetheless offers his services to the Emperor.

Gulliver then visits Blefuscu and devises a plan. He asks for cables

and bars of iron, out of which he makes hooks with cables attached. He then

walks to Blefuscu and catches their ships at port. The people are so

frightened that they leap out of their ships and swim to shore. Gulliver

attaches a hook to each ship and ties them together. While he does this the

soldiers _re arrows at him, but he keeps working. In order to protect his

eyes, he puts on the spectacles he keeps in his coat pocket. He tries to

pull the ships away, but they are anchored too tightly, so he cuts them

away with his pocketknife and pulls the ships back to Lilliput with them.

In Lilliput, Gulliver is greeted as a hero. The Emperor asks him to go

back to retrieve the other ships, intending to destroy Blefescu's military

strength and make it a province in his empire. Gulliver dissuades him from

this, saying that he does not want to encourage slavery or injustice. This

causes great disagreement in the government, with some officials turning

staunchly against Gulliver and calling for his destruction.

Three weeks later a delegation arrives from Blefuscu, and the war ends with

their surrender. They are privately told of Gulliver's kindness towards

them, and they ask him to visit their kingdom. He wishes to do so, and the

Emperor reluctantly allows it.

As a Nardac, or person of high rank, Gulliver no longer has to perform

all the duties laid down in his contract. He does, however, have the

opportunity to help the Lilliputians when the Emperor's wife's room catches

_re. He forgets his coat and cannot put the flames out with his clothing,

so instead he thinks of a new plan: he urinates on the palace, putting out

the _re entirely. He worries afterwards that, since the act of public

urination is a crime in Lilliput, he will be prosecuted, but the Emperor

tells him he will be pardoned. He is told, however, that the Emperor's wife

can no longer tolerate living in her rescued quarters.

Part I, Chapters 6-8

Summary

In these chapters, Gulliver describes the customs and character of

Lilliput in more detail, beginning by explaining that everything in

Lilliput is sized in proportion to the Lilliputians: their animals, trees,

and plants are all proportional to their own height. Their eyesight is also

adapted to their scale; Gulliver cannot see as clearly close-up as they

can, while they cannot see as far.

The Lilliputians are well-educated, but their writing system is odd to

Gulliver, who jokes that they write not left to right like the Europeans or

top to bottom like the Chinese, but from one corner of the page to the

other, "like the ladies in England."

The dead are buried with their heads pointing directly downwards,

because the Lilliputians believe that eventually the dead will rise again

and that the earth, which they think is at, will turn upside-down. Gulliver

adds that the more well-educated Lilliputians no longer believe in this

custom.

Gulliver describes some of the other laws of Lilliput, such as a

tradition by which anyone who falsely accuses someone else of a crime is

put to death.

Deceit is considered worse than theft, because honest people are more

vulnerable to liars than to thieves. The law provides not only for

punishment but also for rewards of special titles and privileges for good

behavior.

Children are raised not by individual parents but by the kingdom as a

whole. They are sent to live in schools at a very young age; the schools

are chosen according to the station of their parents, whom they see only

twice a year. Only the laborers' children stay home, since their job is to

farm. There are no beggars at all, since the poor are well looked-after.

Gulliver goes on to describe the "intrigue" that precipitates his

departure from Lilliput. While he is preparing to make his trip to

Blefuscu, a court official pays him a visit. He tells Gulliver that he has

been charged with treason by enemies in the government. He shows Gulliver

the document calling for his execution: Gulliver is charged with public

urination, refusing to obey the Emperor's orders to seize the remaining

Blefuscu ships, aiding enemy ambassadors, and travelling to Blefuscu.

Gulliver is told that Reldresal has asked for his sentence to be

reduced, calling not for execution but for putting his eyes out. This has

been agreed upon, along with a plan to starve him to death slowly. The

official tells Gulliver that the operation to blind him will take place in

three days.

Fearing this resolution, Gulliver crosses the channel and arrives in

Blefuscu. Three days later, he sees a boat of "normal" size that is, big

enough to carry Gulliver overturned in the water. He asks the emperor of

Blefuscu to help him _x it. At the same time, the emperor of Lilliput sends

an envoy with the articles commanding him to give up his eyesight. The

emperor of Blefuscu sends them back with the message that Gulliver will be

leaving both their kingdoms soon. After about a month the boat is ready and

Gulliver sets sail. He arrives safely back in England, and makes a good

profit showing miniature farm animals that he had carried away from

Blefuscu in his pockets.

Part II, Chapters 1-2

Summary

Two months after returning to England, Gulliver is restless again. He

sets sail on a ship called the Downs, travelling to the Cape of Good Hope

and Madagascar before encountering a monsoon that draws the ship o_ course.

They continue to sail, eventually arriving at an unknown land mass. They

find no inhabitants, and the landscape is barren and rocky. Gulliver is

walking back to the boat when he sees that it has already left without him.

He tries to chase after it, but then he sees that they are being followed

by a giant. Gulliver runs away; when he stops, he is on a steep hill from

which he can see the countryside. He is shocked to see that the grass is

about twenty feet high.

He walks down what looks like the high road, but turns out to be a

footpath through a field of barley. He walks for a long time, but cannot

see anything beyond the stalks of corn, which are forty feet high. He tries

to climb a set of steps into the next field, but he cannot mount them

because they are too high. As he is trying to climb up the stairs he sees

another one of the island's giant inhabitants. He hides from the giant, but

it calls for more people to come, and they begin to harvest the crop with

scythes.

Gulliver lies down and bemoans his state, thinking about how

insignificant he must be to these giant creatures.

One of the servants comes close to Gulliver with both his foot and his

scythe, so Gulliver screams as loudly as he can. The giant finally notices

him, and picks him up between his fingers to get a closer look. Gulliver

tries to speak to him in plaintive tones, bringing his hands together, and

the giant seems pleased. Gulliver makes it clear that the giant's fingers

are hurting him, and the giant places him in his pocket and begins to walk

towards his master.

His master, the farmer of these fields, takes Gulliver from his

servant and observes him more closely. He asks the other servants if they

have ever seen anything like Gulliver, and places him onto the ground. They

sit around him in a circle. Gulliver kneels down and begins to speak as

loudly as he can, taking o_ his hat and bowing to the farmer. He presents a

purse full of gold to the farmer, which he takes into his palm. He cannot

seem to figure out what it is, even after Gulliver empties the coins into

his hand.

The farmer takes him back to his wife, who is frightened of him. The

servant brings in dinner and they all sit down to eat, Gulliver sitting on

the table not far from the farmer's plate. They give him tiny bits of their

food, and he pulls out his knife and fork to eat, which delights the

giants. The farmer' son picks him up and scares him, but the farmer takes

Gulliver from his hands and strikes his son. Gulliver makes a sign that the

boy should be forgiven, and kisses his hand. After dinner, the farmer's

wife lets Gulliver nap in her own bed. When he wakes up he finds two rats

attacking him, and he defends himself with his weapon.

The farmer's nine-year-old daughter, whom Gulliver calls

Glumdalclitch, or nursemaid, has a doll's cradle, which becomes Gulliver's

permanent bed. This is placed inside a drawer to keep him away from the

rats. The girl becomes Gulliver's caretaker and guardian, sewing clothes

for him and teaching him the giants' language.

The farmer begins to talk about Gulliver in town, and a friend of the

farmer's comes to see him. He looks at Gulliver through his glasses, and

Gulliver begins to laugh at the sight of his eyes through the glass. The

man becomes angry, and advises the farmer to take Gulliver into the market

to display him. He agrees, and Gulliver is taken in a carriage, which he

finds very uncomfortable, to the town. There he is placed on a table and

the little girl sits down on a stool beside him, with thirty people at a

time walking through as he performs "tricks."

Gulliver is exhausted by the journey to the marketplace, but finds

upon returning to the farmer's house that he is to be shown there as well.

People come from miles around and are charged great sums to view him.

Thinking that Gulliver can make him a great fortune, the farmer takes him

and his daughter on a voyage to the largest cities.

They arrive in the largest city, Lorbrulgrud, and the farmer rents a

room with a table for displaying Gulliver. By now he can understand their

language and speak it fairly well. He is shown ten times a day and pleases

the visitors greatly.

Part II, Chapters 3-5

Summary

The strain of travelling and performing "tricks" takes its toll on

Gulliver, and he begins to grow very thin. The farmer notices this and

resolves to make as much money as possible before Gulliver dies. Meanwhile,

an order comes from the court, commanding the farmer to bring Gulliver to

the Queen for her entertainment.

The Queen is delighted with Gulliver's behavior and buys him from the

farmer for a thousand gold pieces. Gulliver requests that Glumdalclitch be

allowed to live in the palace as well. Gulliver explains his suffering to

the Queen, and she is impressed by his intelligence. She takes him to the

King, who at first thinks he is a mechanical creation. He sends for great

scholars to observe Gulliver, and they decide that he is unfit for

survival, since there is no way he could feed himself. Gulliver tries to

explain that he comes from a country in which everything is in proportion

to himself, but they do not seem to believe him.

Glumdalclitch is given an apartment in the palace and a governess to teach

her, and special quarters are built for Gulliver out of a box. They also

have clothes made for him from fine silk, but Gulliver finds them very

cumbersome. The Queen grows very used to his company, finding him very

entertaining at dinner, especially when he cuts and eats his meat. He finds

her way of eating repulsive, since her size allows her to swallow huge

amounts of food in a single gulp.

The King converses with Gulliver on issues of politics, and laughs at

his descriptions of the goings-on in Europe. He finds it amusing that

people of such small stature should think themselves so important, and

Gulliver is at first offended. He then comes to realize that he too has

begun to think of his world as ridiculous, since it is so small and yet

sees itself as so important.

The Queen's dwarf is not happy with Gulliver, since he is used to

being the smallest person in the palace and a source of diversion for the

royal court. He drops Gulliver into a bowl of cream, but Gulliver is able

to swim to safety and the dwarf is punished. At another point the dwarf

sticks Gulliver into a marrowbone, where he is forced to remain until

someone pulls him out.

Gulliver then describes the country for the reader, noting first that

since the land stretches out about six thousand miles there must be a

severe error in European maps. The kingdom is bound on one side by

mountains and on the other three sides by the sea. The water is very rough,

so there is no trade with other nations. The rivers are well stocked with

giant-sized fish, but the fish in the sea are of the same size as those in

the rest of the world and therefore not worth catching.

Gulliver is carried around the city in a special travelling-box, and

people always crowd around to see him. He asks to see the largest temple in

the country and is not overwhelmed by its size, since at a height of three

thousand feet it is proportionally smaller than the largest steeple in

England.

Gulliver is happy in Brobdingnag except for the many mishaps that

befall him because of his diminutive size. In one unpleasant incident, the

dwarf, unhappy at Gulliver for teasing him, shakes an apple tree over his

head and one of the apples strikes Gulliver in the back and knocks him

over. Another time, he is left outside during a hailstorm and is so bruised

and battered that he cannot leave the house for ten days.

Gulliver and his nursemaid are often invited to the apartments of the

ladies of the court, and there he is treated as a plaything of little

significance. They enjoy stripping his clothes and placing him in their

bosoms, and he is appalled by their strong smell, noting that he was told

by a Lilliputian that he smelled quite repulsive to them. The women also

strip their own clothes in front of him, and he finds their skin very ugly

and uneven.

The Queen constructs a way for Gulliver to sail, ordering a special boat to

be built for him. This is placed in a cistern, and Gulliver rows in it for

his own enjoyment and for the amusement of the Queen and her court. Yet

another danger arises in the form of a monkey, which takes Gulliver up a

ladder, holding him like a baby and force-feeding him. He is rescued from

the monkey, and Glumdalclitch pries the food from his mouth with a needle,

after which he vomits. He is so weak and bruised that he stays in bed for

two weeks. The monkey is killed and orders are sent out that no other

monkeys be kept in the palace.

Part II, Chapters 6-8

Summary

Gulliver makes himself a comb from the stumps of hair left after the

King has been shaved. He also collects hairs from the King and uses them to

weave the backs of two small chairs, which he gives to the Queen as

curiosities.

Gulliver is brought to a musical performance, but it is so loud that

he can hardly make it out. Gulliver decides to play the spinet for the

royal family, but must contrive a novel way to do it, since the instrument

is so big. He uses large sticks and must run over the keyboard with them,

but he can still strike only sixteen keys.

Thinking that the King has unjustly come to regard his home country as

insignificant and laughable, Gulliver tries to tell him more about Britain,

describing the government and culture there. The King asks many questions,

and is particularly struck by the violence of the history Gulliver

describes.

He then takes Gulliver into his hand and, explaining that he finds the

world that Gulliver describes to be ridiculous, contemptuous and strange,

tells him that he concludes that "the bulk of your natives [are] the most

pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl

upon the surface of the earth."

Gulliver is disturbed by the King's proclamation. He tries to tell him

about gunpowder, describing it as a great invention, and offering it to the

King as a gesture of friendship. The King is appalled by the proposal, and

Gulliver is taken aback, thinking that the King has refused a great

opportunity. He says that the King is unnecessarily scrupulous and narrow-

minded for not being more open to the inventions of Gulliver's world.

Gulliver finds the people of Brobdingnag in general to be ignorant and

poorly educated. Their laws are not allowed to exceed in words the number

of letters in their alphabet, and no arguments may be written about them.

They know the art of printing but do not have many books, and their

writing is simple and straightforward. One text describes the

insignificance and weakness of humans, and argues that at one point they

must have been much larger.

Gulliver wants to recover his freedom. The King orders any small ship

to be brought to the city, hoping that they might find a woman with which

Gulliver can propagate. Gulliver fears that any offspring thus produced

would be kept in cages or given to the nobility as pets. He has been in the

country for two years and wants to be among his owned kind again.

Gulliver is taken to the south coast, and both Glumdalclitch and

Gulliver fall ill. Gulliver says that he wants fresh air, and a page

carries him out to the shore in his travelling-box. He asks to be left to

sleep in his hammock, and the boy wanders o_. An eagle grabs hold of his

box and flies off with him, and then suddenly Gulliver feels himself

falling and lands in the water.

He worries that he will drown or starve to death, but then feels the

box being pulled. He hears a voice telling him that his box is tied to a

ship, and that a carpenter will come to drill a hole in the top. Gulliver

says that they can simply use a finger to pry it open, and hears laughter.

He realizes that he is speaking to people of his own height and climbs a

ladder out of his box and onto their ship.

Gulliver begins to recover on the ship, and he tries to tell the

sailors the story of his recent journey. He shows them things he saved from

Brobdingnag, like his comb and a tooth pulled from a footman. He has

trouble adjusting to their small size, and finds himself shouting all the

time. When he reaches home it takes him some time to grow accustomed to his

old life, and his wife asks him never to go to sea again.

Part III, Chapters 1-3

Summary

Gulliver has only been home in England ten days when a visitor comes

to his house, asking him to sail aboard his ship in two months' time.

Gulliver agrees and prepares to set out for the East Indies. On the voyage,

the ship is attacked by pirates. Gulliver hears a Dutch voice among them

and speaks to the pirate in Dutch, begging to be set free since he and the

pirate are both Christians. A Japanese pirate tells them they will not die,

and Gulliver tells the Dutchman that he is surprised to find more mercy in

a heathen than in a Christian. The pirate grows angry and punishes him by

sending him out to sea in a small boat with only four days' worth of food.

Gulliver finds some islands and goes ashore on one of them. He sets up

camp but then notices something strange: the sun is mysteriously obscured

for some time. He then sees a land mass dropping down and notices that it

is crawling with people. He is baffed by this oating island, and he shouts

up to its inhabitants. They lower the island and send down a chain, by

which he is able to crawl up.

He is immediately surrounded by people and notices their oddities.

Their heads are all tilted to one side or the other, with one eye turned

inward and the other looking up. Their clothes are adorned with images of

celestial bodies and musical instruments. Some of the people are servants,

and they carry a Goddamn knows what made of a stick with a pouch tied to

the end. Their job is to aid conversation by striking the ear of the

listener and the mouth of the speaker at the appropriate times; otherwise,

the minds of their masters would wander o_.

Gulliver is conveyed to the King, who sits behind a table loaded with

mathematical instruments. They wait an hour before there is some

opportunity to arouse him from his thoughts, at which point he is struck

with the apper. The King says something, and Gulliver's ear is struck with

the apper as well, even though he tries to explain that he doesn't require

it. It becomes clear that he and the King cannot speak any of the same

languages, so Gulliver is taken to an apartment and served dinner.

A teacher is sent to instruct Gulliver in the language of the island,

and he is able to learn several sentences. He discovers that the name of

the island is Laputa, which in their language means " oating island." A

tailor is also sent to improve his clothes, and while he is waiting for

these the King orders the island to be moved. It is taken to a point above

the capital city of the kingdom, Lagado, passing villages along the way and

collecting petitions from the King's subjects by means of ropes sent down

to the lands below.

The language of the Laputans depends greatly on mathematics and music,

and they despise practical geometry, thinking it vulgarso much so that they

make sure that there are no right angles in their buildings. They are very

good with charts and figures but very clumsy in practical matters. They

dread changes in the celestial bodies.

The island is exactly circular and consists of ten thousand acres of

land. At the center there is a cave for astronomers, containing all their

instruments and a loadstone six yards long. It moves the island with its

magnetic force, since it has two charges that can be reversed by means of

an attached control.

The mineral that acts upon the magnet is only large enough to allow it

to move over the country directly beneath it. When the King wants to punish

a particular region of the country, he can keep the island above it,

depriving the lands below of sun and rain. This failed to work in one town,

where the rebellious inhabitants had stored provisions of food in advance.

They planned to force the island to come so low that it would be trapped

forever and to kill the King and his officials in order to take over the

government.

Instead, the King ordered the island to stop descending and gave in to

the town's demands. The King is not allowed to leave the oating island, nor

is his family.

Part III, Chapters 4-10

Summary

Gulliver feels neglected on Laputa, since the inhabitants seem

interested in only mathematics and music and are far superior to him in

their knowledge.

He is bored by their conversation and wants to leave. There is one

lord of the court whom Gulliver finds to be intelligent and curious, but

who is known to the other inhabitants of Laputa as the stupidest of all

because he has no ear for music. Gulliver asks this lord to petition the

King to let him leave the island. The petition succeeds, and he is let down

on the mountains above Lagado. He visits another lord there and is invited

to stay at his home.

Gulliver and his host visit a nearby town, which Gulliver finds to be

populated by poorly dressed inhabitants living in shabby houses. The soil

is badly cultivated and the people appear miserable. They then travel to

the lord's country house, first passing many barren fields but then

arriving in a lush green area that the lord says belongs to his estate. He

says that he is criticized heavily by the other lords for the

"mismanagement" of his land.

The lord explains that forty years ago some people went to Laputa and

returned with new ideas about mathematics and art. They decided to

establish an academy in Lagado to develop new theories on agriculture and

construction and to initiate projects to improve the lives of the city's

inhabitants. However, the theories have never produced any results and the

new techniques have left the country in ruin. He encourages Gulliver to

visit the academy, which Gulliver is glad to do since he had once been

intrigued by projects of this sort himself.

Gulliver visits the academy, where he meets a man engaged in a project

to extract the sunbeams from cucumbers. He also meets a scientist trying to

separate out the different parts of excrement, hoping to produce food from

it. Another is attempting to turn ice into gunpowder and is writing a

treatise about the malleability of _re, hoping to have it published. An

architect is designing a way to build houses starting from the roof, and a

blind master is teaching his blind apprentices to mix colors for painters

according to smell and touch. An agronomist is designing a method of

plowing fields with hogs by first burying food in the ground and then

letting the hogs loose to dig them out. A doctor in another room tries to

cure patients by blowing air through them; Gulliver leaves him trying to

revive a dog that he has killed by "curing" him in this way.

On the other side of the academy there are people engaged in

speculative learning. One professor has a class full of boys working from a

machine that produces random sets of words; using this, the teacher claims,

anyone can write a book on philosophy or politics. A linguist in another

room is attempting to remove all the elements of language except nouns;

this would make language more concise and prolong lives, since every word

spoken is detrimental to the human body. Since nouns are only things,

furthermore, it would be even easier to carry things and never speak at

all.

Gulliver then visits professors who are studying issues of government.

One claims that women should be taxed according to their beauty and skill

at dressing, another that conspiracies against the government could be

discovered by studying the excrement of subjects. Gulliver grows tired of

the academy and begins to yearn for a return to England. He tries to travel

to Luggnagg, but finds no ship available. Since he has to wait a month, he

is advised to take a trip to the island of GLUBBDUBDRIB the island of

magicians.

Gulliver visits the governor of GLUBBDUBDRIB, and finds that he is

attended by servants who appear and disappear like spirits. The governor

tells Gulliver that he has the power to call up whomever he would like to

speak to; Gulliver chooses Alexander the Great, who assures him that he

died not from poison but from excessive drinking. He then sees Hannibal,

Caesar, Pompey and Brutus. Gulliver sets apart one day to speak with the

most venerated people in history, starting with Homer and Aristotle. He

asks Descartes and Gassendi to describe their systems to Aristotle, who

freely acknowledges his own mistakes.

Gulliver returns to Luggnagg, where he is confined despite his desire

to return to England. He is ordered to appear at the King's court and is

given lodging and an allowance. The Luggnuggians tell him about certain

immortal people, children born with a red spot on their foreheads and

called Struldbruggs. Gulliver devises a whole system of what he would do if

he were immortal, starting with the acquisition of riches and knowledge. He

is told that after the age of thirty, most Struldbruggs grew sad and

dejected; by eighty, they were incapable of affection and envious of those

who could die. If two of the Struldbruggs married, the marriage was

dissolved when one reached eighty, because "those who are condemned without

any fault of their own to a perpetual continuance in the world should not

have their misery doubled by the load of a wife." He meets some of these

people and finds them to be unhappy and unpleasant, and he regrets ever

wishing for their state.

Gulliver is then finally able to depart from Luggnagg, refusing

employment there, and he arrives safely in Japan. From there he gains

passage on a Dutch ship by pretending to be from Holland and sets sail from

Amsterdam to England, where he finds his family in good health.

Summary

Gulliver stays home for five months, but then leaves his pregnant wife

to set sail again, this time as the captain of a ship called the Adventure.

Many of his sailors die of illness, so he recruits more along the way. His

crew mutinies under the influence of these new sailors, and they become

pirates. Gulliver is left on an unknown shore, after being confined to his

cabin for several days.

He sees animals in the distance, and describes them as long-haired,

with beards like goats and sharp claws which they use to climb trees.

Gulliver decides that they are very ugly and sets forth to find settlers,

but encounters one of the animals on his way.

He takes out his sword and hits the animal with the side of it. The

animal roars loudly, and a herd of others like it attack Gulliver by

attempting to defecate on him. He hides, but then sees them hurrying away.

He emerges from his hiding place to see that the beasts have been scared

away by a horse.

The horse observes him carefully, and then neighs in a complicated

cadence. Another horse joins the first and the two seem to be involved in a

discussion. Gulliver tries to leave but one of the horses calls him back.

The horses appear to be so intelligent that Gulliver concludes that

they are magicians who have transformed themselves into horses. He

addresses them directly, and asks to be taken to a house or village. The

horses use the words Yahoo and Houyhnhnm, which Gulliver tries to

pronounce.

Gulliver is led to a house, and he takes out gifts, expecting to meet

people. He finds instead that there are more horses in the house, sitting

down and engaged in various activities. He thinks that the house belongs to

a person of great importance, and wonders why they should have horses for

servants. A horse looks Gulliver over and says the word "Yahoo." Gulliver

is led out to the courtyard, where a few of the ugly creatures are tied up.

One creature and Gulliver are lined up and compared, and he finds that the

creature does look quite human. The horses test him by offering him various

foods: hay, which he refuses, and flesh, which he finds repulsive but which

the Yahoo devours. The horses determine that he likes milk and give him

large amounts of it to drink.

Another horse comes to dine, and they all take great pleasure in teaching

Gulliver to pronounce words in their language. They cannot determine what

he might like to eat, until Gulliver suggests that he could make bread from

their oats. He is given a place to sleep with straw for the time being.

Gulliver endeavours to learn the horses' language, and they are

impressed by his intellect and curiosity. After three months he can answer

most of their questions and tries to explain that he comes from across the

sea, but the horses, or "Houyhnhnms," do not believe it to be possible.

They think he is some kind of a Yahoo, though superior to the rest of his

species. He asks them to stop using that word to refer to him, and they

consent.

Gulliver tries to explain that the Yahoos are the governing creatures

where he comes from, and the Houyhnhnms ask how their horses are employed.

Gulliver explains that they are used for travelling, racing, and drawing

chariots, and the Houyhnhnms express disbelief that anything as weak as a

Yahoo would dare to mount a horse that was so much stronger than it does.

Gulliver explains that the horses are trained from a young age to be tame

and obedient. He describes the state of humanity in Europe and is asked to

speak more specifically of his own country.

Part IV, Chapters 5-12

Summary

Gulliver describes the state of affairs in Europe over the course of

two years, speaking to the Houyhnhnms of the English Revolution and the war

with France. He is asked to explain the causes of war, and he does his best

to provide reasons. He is also asked to speak of law and the justice

system, which he does in some detail.

The discussion then turns to other topics, such as money and the

different kinds of food eaten in Europe. Gulliver explains the different

occupations in which people are involved, including service professions

such as medicine and construction.

Gulliver develops such a love for the Houyhnhnms that he no longer

desires to return to humankind. However, fate has other plans for him. His

Master tells him that he has considered all of his claims about his home

country and has come to the conclusion that his people are not as different

from the Yahoos as they may first have seemed. He describes all the aws of

the Yahoos, principally detailing their greed and selfishness. He admits

that the humans have different systems of learning, law, government, and

art, but says that their natures are not different from those of the

Yahoos.

Gulliver wants to observe these similarities for himself, so he asks

to go among the Yahoos. He finds them to be very nimble from infancy, but

unable to learn anything. They are strong, cowardly, and malicious.

The principle virtues of the Houyhnhnms are their friendship and

benevolence. They are concerned more with the community than with their own

personal advantages, even choosing their mates in order to promote the race

as a whole. They breed industriousness, cleanliness, and civility in their

young, and exercise them for speed and strength. They have no writing

system and no word to express anything evil.

A room is made for Gulliver, and he furnishes it well. He also makes

new clothes for himself and settles into life with the Houyhnhnms quite

easily. He begins to think of his friends and family back home as Yahoos.

However, he is called by his Master and told that others have taken offence

at his being kept in the house as a Houyhnhnm; he has no choice but to ask

Gulliver to leave. Gulliver is very upset to hear that he is to be

banished. He builds a

canoe with the help of his Master and sadly departs.

Gulliver does not want to return to Europe, and so he begins to search for

an island where he can live, as he likes. He finds land and discovers

natives there. He is struck by an arrow and tries to escape the natives'

darts by paddling out to sea. He sees a sail in the distance and thinks of

going towards it, but then decides he would rather live with the barbarians

than the European Yahoos, so he hides from the ship. The seamen find him

and question him, laughing at his strange horse-like manner of speaking. He

tries to escape from their ship, and they do not understand why.

Gulliver then travels back to England and sees his family. They were

certain he was dead, and he is filled with disgust and contempt for them.

For a year he cannot stand to be near to his wife and children, and he

buys two horses and converses with them for four hours each day. Gulliver

concludes his narrative by acknowledging that the law requires him to

report his findings to the government, but that he can see no military

advantage in attacking any of the locations he discovered; and he

particularly wishes to protect the Houyhnhnms.

Heart of Darkness by J.Conrad

Summary Part I:

A ship called the Nellie is cruising down the Thames‹it will rest

there as it awaits a change in tide. The narrator is an unidentified guest

aboard the ship. He describes at length the appearance of the Thames as an

interminable waterway, and then he moves on to describing the inhabitants

of the ship. The Director of Companies doubles as Captain and host. They

all regard him with affection, trust and respect. The Lawyer is advanced in

years and possesses many virtues. The Accountant is toying with dominoes,

trying to begin a game. Between them already is the "bond of the sea." They

are tolerant of one another. Then there is Marlow. He has an emaciated

appearance sunken cheeks and a yellow complexion.

The ship drops anchor, but nobody wants to begin the dominoes game.

They sit and meditatively at the sun, and the narrator takes great notice

of how the water changes as the sun sets. Marlow suddenly speaks, noting

that "this also has been one of the dark places of the earth." He is a man

who does not represent his class: he is a seaman but also a wanderer, which

is disdainful and odd, since most seamen live sedentary lives aboard the

ship that is their home. No one responds to the remark, and Marlow

continues to talk of olden times when the Romans arrived and brought light,

which even now is constantly flickering. He says those people were not

colonists but conquerors, taking everything by brute force. This "taking of

the earth is not a pretty thing" when examined too closely; it is the idea

behind it which people find redeeming. Then, to the dismay of his bored

listeners, he switches into narration of a life experience, how he decided

to be a fresh water sailor and had come into contact with colonization.

After a number of voyages in the Orient and India, Marlow began to

look for a ship, but he was having hard luck in finding a position. As a

child, he had a passion for maps, and would lose himself in the blank

spaces, which gradually turned into dark ones as they became peopled. He is

especially taken with the picture of a long coiling river. Marlow thinks to

get charge of the steamboats that must go up and down that river for trade.

His aunt has connections in the Administration, and writes to have him

appointed a steamboat skipper. The appointment comes through very quickly,

as Marlow is to take the place of Fresleven, a captain who has been killed

in a scuffle with the natives. He crosses the Channel to sign the contract

with his employers. Their office appears to him like a white sepulchre. The

reception area is dimly lit, and two women sullenly man the area. Marlow

notes an unfinished map, and he is going into the yellow section, the

central area that holds the river. He signs, but feels very uneasy as the

women look at him meaningfully. Then there is a visit to the doctor. Marlow

questions him on why he is not with the Company on its business. The doctor

becomes cool and says he is no fool. Changes take place out there. He asks

his patient whether there is madness in the family. With a clean bill of

health and a long goodbye chat with his aunt, Marlow sets out on a French

steamer, feeling like an "impostor."

Watching the coast as it slips by, our newly named skipper marvels at

its enigmatic quality‹it tempts and invites the seer to come ashore, but in

a grim way. The weather is fierce, for the sun beats down strongly. The

ship picks up others along the way: soldiers and clerks mainly. The trade

names they pass on ships and on land seem almost farcical. There is a

uniformly somber atmosphere. After a month, Marlow arrives at the mouth of

the big river, and takes his passage on a little steamer. Once aboard he

learns that a man picked up the other day hanged himself recently. He is

taken to his Company's station. He walks through pieces of "decaying

machinery" and observes a stream of black people walking slowly, very thin

and indifferent. One of the "reclaimed" carries a rifle at "it's middle."

Marlow walks around to avoid this chain gang and finds a shade to rest. He

sees more black people working, some who look like they are dying. One

young man looks particularly hungry, and Marlow goes to offer him the ship

biscuit in his pocket. He notices that the boy is wearing white worsted

around his neck, and wonders what this is for. Marlow hastily makes his way

towards the station. He meets a white man dressed elegantly and in perfect

fashion. He is "amazing" and a "miracle." After learning that he is the

chief accountant of the Company, Marlow respects him. The station is a

muddle of activity. The new skipper waits there for ten days, living in a

hut. Frequently he visits the accountant, who tells him that he will meet

Mr. Kurtz, a remarkable man in charge of the trading-post in the ivory-

country. The accountant is irritated that a bed station for a dying man has

been set up in his office. He remarks that he begins to "hate the savages

to death." He asks Marlow to tell Kurtz that everything is satisfactory.

The next day Marlow begins a 200 mile tramp into the interior. He

crosses many paths, many deserted dwellings, and mysterious "niggers." His

white companion becomes ill on the journey, which makes Marlow impatient

but attentive. Finally they arrive at the Central Station, and Marlow must

see the General Manager. The meeting is strange. The Manager has a stealthy

smile. He is obeyed, but he does not inspire love or fear. He only inspires

uneasiness. The trading had begun without Marlow, who was late. There were

rumors that an important station was jeopardy, and that its chief, Kurtz,

was ill. A shipwreck on Marlow's boat has set them back. The manager is

anxious, and says it will be three months before they can make a start in

the trading. Marlow begins work in the station. Whispers of "ivory"

punctuate the air throughout the days. One evening a shed almost burns

down. A black man is beaten for this, and Marlow overhears: "Kurtz take

advantage of this incident." The manager's main spy, a first-class agent,

befriends the new skipper and begins to question him extensively about

Europe and the people he knows there. Marlow is confused about what this

man hopes to learn. The agent becomes "furiously annoyed." There is a dark

sketch on his wall of a woman blindfolded and carrying a lighted torch. The

agent says that Kurtz painted it. Upon Marlow's inquiry as to who this man

is, he says that he is a prodigy, an "emissary of pity and science." They

want Europe to entrust the guidance of the cause to them. The agent talks

precipitately, wanting Marlow to give Kurtz a favourable report about his

disposition because he believes Marlow has more influence in Europe than he

actually does.

The narrator breaks off for an instant and returns to his listeners on

the ship, saying that they should be able to see more in retrospect than he

could in the moment. Back in the story, the droning of the agent bores him.

Marlow wants rivets to stop the hole and get on with the work on his ship.

He clambers aboard. The ship is the one thing that truly excites him. He

notes the foreman of the mechanics sitting on board. They cavort and talk

happily of rivets that should arrive in three weeks. Instead of rivets,

however, they receive an "invasion" of "sulky niggers" with their white

expedition leader, who is the Manager's uncle. Marlow meditates for a bit

on Kurtz, wondering if he will be promoted to the General Manger position

and how he will set about his work when there.

Summary Part II

While lying on the deck of his steamboat one evening, Marlow overhears

a conversation between the Manager and his uncle, leader of the Expedition

group that has arrived. Snatches of talk indicate that the two are

conferring about Kurtz. The Manager says he was "forced to send him there."

They say his influence is frightful, and that he is alone, having sent away

all his assistants. The word "ivory" is also overheard. The two men are

wondering how all this ivory has arrived, and why Kurtz did not return to

the main station as he should have. Marlow believes this fact allows him to

see Kurtz for the first time. The Manager and his uncle say that either

Kurtz or his assistant must be hanged as an example, so that they can get

rid of unfair competition. Realizing that Marlow is nearby, they stop

talking.

In the next few days, the Expedition goes into the wilderness and

loses all their donkeys. As they arrive at the bank below Kurtz's station,

Marlow is excited at the prospect of meeting him soon. To Marlow,

travelling up the river is like going to the beginning of the world. He

sees no joy in the sunshine, however. The past comes back to haunt him on

this river. There is a stillness that does not resemble peace. It is alive

and watching Marlow. He is concerned about scraping the bottom of his

steamship on the river floor‹this is disgraceful for seamen. Twenty

"cannibals" are his crew. The Manager and some pilgrims are also onboard.

Sailing by stations, they hear the word "ivory" resonating. The trees are

massive and make you feel very small. The earth appears "unearthly." The

men are monstrous but not inhuman. This scares Marlow greatly. He believes

the mind of man is capable of anything. They creep on towards Kurtz. The

ship comes across a deserted dwelling. Marlow finds a well-kept book about

seamanship. It has notes in a language he cannot understand. Back on the

boat, he pushes ahead.

Eight miles from Kurtz's station, the Manager decides they will stay

put for the evening. No sounds are heard. The sun rises, and "complaining

clamor" with "savage discord" fills the air. Everyone fears an attack. One

of the black crew members says that the attackers should be handed over to

them and eaten. Marlow wonders why he and the other whites have not been

eaten. The Manager insincerely worries that something might have happened

to Kurtz. Marlow does not believe there will be an attack‹the jungle and

fog seem impenetrable. No one believes him. Some men go and investigate the

shore. A pattering sound is audible: flying arrows! The helmsman on the

ship panics and does not steer properly. The crew is firing rifles into the

bushes. A black man is shot and lays at Marlow's feet. He tries to talk and

dies before he can get any words out. Marlow supposes that Kurtz has

perished in this attack. He is exceedingly upset: talking to the mythical

man has become a major point of interest. In a fit of distress Marlow

throws his shoes overboard. He tells the listeners on the Thames ship that

the privilege of talking to Kurtz was waiting for him. Marlow relates that

Kurtz mentioned a girl, and how his shanty was busting with ivory. Kurtz

has taken position of "devil of the land." Originally he was well-educated,

but he has become entirely native in Africa, participating in rituals and

rites. Kurtz is anything but common. Back in the battle, the helmsman is

killed. Marlow throws the body overboard. After a simple funeral, the

steamer continues moving. Miraculously they spy Kurtz's station, which they

had assumed to be lost. They see the figure of a man who resembles a

harlequin. This man says that Kurtz is present, and assures them that they

need not fear the natives, who are simple people. He speaks with Marlow,

introducing himself as a Russian. The book Marlow holds is actually his,

and he is grateful to have it returned. The Russian says the ship was

attacked because the natives do not want Kurtz to leave with the crew‹he

has broadened everybody's mind.

Summary Part III:

Marlow is astonished at the Russian's words. He is gathering a clearer

picture of Kurtz. The Russian says that he has gone so far that he doesn't

know if he will ever get back. Apparently he has been alone with Kurtz for

many months. His sense of adventure is pure, and glamour urges him onward.

The Russian remembers the first night he spoke to Kurtz‹he forgot to sleep,

he was so captivated. Kurtz made him "see things." He has nursed this great

man through illnesses, and accompanied him on explorations to villages.

Kurtz has raided the country by getting the cooperation of the nearby

tribe, who all adore him. He loses himself in ivory hunts for weeks at a

time, and forgets himself. The Russian disagrees that Kurtz is mad. Even

when this bright-eyed adventurer was told to leave by his mentor, he

refused to go. Kurtz went down the river alone to make another ivory raid.

His illness acted up, so the Russian joined him in order to take care of

him. Presently, Kurtz lies in a hut surrounded by heads on stakes. Marlow

is not very shocked at the sight. He takes this as an indication that Kurtz

lacks restraint in the gratification of his lusts, a condition for which

the wilderness is culpable. Marlow assumes that Kurtz was hollow inside and

needed something to fill that. The Russian is perturbed by Marlow's

attitude of skepticism. He has heard enough about the ceremonies

surrounding this revered man.

Suddenly around the house appears a group of men. They convene around

the stretcher that holds the dying Kurtz. He looks gaunt, and tells the

natives to leave. The pilgrims carry him to another cabin, and give him his

correspondence. In a raspy voice he says he is glad to meet Marlow. The

Manager comes in to talk privately with Kurtz. Waiting on the boat with the

Russian, Marlow spies the "apparition" of a gorgeous woman. She glitters

with gold, paint, and she looks savage. She steps to the edge of the shore

and eyes the steamer. She gestures violently toward the sky, turns and

disappears into the thicket. The harlequin man fears her. They overhear

Kurtz telling the Manager that he is interfering with plans. The Manager

emerges. Taking Marlow aside, he says they have done all they can for

Kurtz, and that he did more harm than good to the Company. His actions were

too "vigorous" for the moment. Marlow does not agree that Kurtz's method

was unsound. To him, Kurtz is a remarkable man, and a friend in some way.

Marlow warns the Russian to escape before he can be hanged; he states that

he will keep Kurtz's reputation safe. It was Kurtz who ordered the attack

on the steamer‹he did not want to be taken away, and thought to fake his

death.

While Marlow dozes, drumbeats and incantations fill the air. He looks

into the cabin that holds Kurtz, and discovers he is missing. Marlow sees

his trail, and goes after him. The two men face one another. Kurtz pleads

that he has plans. Marlow replies that his fame in Europe is assured; he

realizes that this man's soul has gone mad. He is able to bring Kurtz back

to the cabin. The ship departs the next day amongst a crowd of natives.

Kurtz is brought into the pilot-house of the ship. The "tide of brown" runs

swiftly out of the "heart of darkness." The life of Kurtz is ebbing. Marlow

is in disfavor, lumped into the same category as Kurtz. The Manager is now

content. Marlow listens endlessly to Kurtz's bedside talk. He accepts a

packet of papers and a photograph that his friend gives him, in order to

keep them out of the Manager's hands. A few evenings later, Kurtz dies,

with one phrase on his lips: "The horror!"

Marlow returns to Europe, but is plagued by the memory of his friend.

He is disrespectful to all he encounters. The Manager demands the papers

that Kurtz entrusted to Marlow. Marlow relinquishes the technical papers,

but not the private letters and photograph. All that remains of Kurtz is

his memory and that picture of his Intended. Kurtz is very much a living

figure to Marlow. He goes and visits the woman in the picture. She embraces

and welcomes him. She has silently mourned for the past year, and needs to

profess her love and how she knew him better than anyone. Marlow perceives

the room to darken when she says this. She speaks of Kurtz's amazing

ability to draw people through incredibly eloquent speech. The woman says

she will be unhappy for life. Marlow states that they can always remember

him. She expresses a desperate need to keep his memory alive, and guilt

that she was not with him when he died. When the woman asks Marlow what

Kurtz's final words were, he lies and says it was her name. The woman weeps

in triumph. Marlow states that to tell the truth would be too dark. Back on

the Thames River ship, a tranquil waterway leads into the heart of

darkness.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

CHAPTER 1

The novel begins in England during the reign of King Richard I, also

known as Richard the Lion-Hearted (1157-1199). Scott provides some

historical background for the politics of the time and places the action

somewhere near the end of Richard's reign when he is returning from the

Crusades. England's Saxon population is under the control of Norman

royalty. French has become the forced official language, a fact which both

angers and demeans the Saxons, and many landowners have been forced to

give their lands to their Norman rulers. When the action of the novel

begins, the Norman King Richard I has been captured and held for ransom in

Europe. His brother John has assumed power.

Though both men are Norman rulers in Saxon populated England, Richard

is more popular among the people he rules, known as both fair and

courageous; John is aggressive, encouraging his men to steal or destroy

everything Saxon. John is content to rule, and even hopes his brother

remains imprisoned so that he can become king. Richard's loyal subjects

despair of ever seeing him again, and are angry that John and his greedy

nobles have been aggressive and relentless in seizing whatever Saxon land

they can. A swineherd named Gurth is talking with a jester, Wamba, about

the increasing hostility between the native Saxons and the Norman rulers.

Both servants work for a loyal Saxon named Cedric. When a storm approaches,

they head for home. On their way, they hear horsemen riding toward them.

CHAPTER 2

The Norman horsemen catch up with Gurth and Wamba. One of them is a

Cisterian monk dressed in fine clothes. The other is a Knight Templar. The

two, attended by several others, demand to know where they will be able to

stay for the night and ask where Cedric the Saxon lives. Knowing his master

Cedric's hatred of Normans, Wamba, with sheer mischief, gives them wrong

and confusing directions. However, they soon meet a Palmer, a holy man who

has traveled to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, who takes them safely to

Cedric's mansion.

CHAPTER 3

Cedric is in his home, Rotherwood, impatiently waiting for his servants to

come home. He is also displeased that his ward Rowena is late for supper.

His thoughts are interrupted by the blast of a horn. Then the gatekeeper

announces that Prior Aymer of the Abbey of Jorvaulx, Brian de Bois-

Guilbert, and a small party of men are on their way to the royal tournament

at Ashby-de-la- Zouche and want to lodge at Rotherwood for the night.

Cedric does not want to entertain these Normans, but his Saxon pride

demands that they be offered hospitality; however, he clings to his dignity

by refusing to go out to welcome them. Only when they come to him in his

hall does Cedric reluctantly welcome them.

Cedric counsels Rowena against appearing before the guests. He does not

trust the Knight Templar and does not want anything to interfere with his

plans to marry Rowena off to the right gentleman. She, however, is keen to

hear the latest news from the Holy Land from the Palmer, since she is in

love with Ivanhoe, whom she thinks is still fighting in the Crusades.

CHAPTER 4

When the richly dressed guests enter Cedric's hall, he receives them

politely but without any warmth. He then scolds Gurth and Wamba for being

late. When Rowena enters to join in the meal, Bois-Guilbert stares at her

beauty. In response, she draws a veil over her face. Cedric notices the

interchange and is annoyed with the Templar. The chapter ends with the

announcement of a stranger at Cedric's gates.

CHAPTER 5

The stranger at Cedric's gate is Isaac of York. Although he is a Jew,

Cedric refuses to turn him away into the stormy night. The Norman guests

protest at his being admitted and Cedric makes him sit at a separate table.

Only the Palmer takes pity on the drenched and exhausted Jew.

The Palmer names five knights who have displayed great courage during the

Crusades. He also mentions a sixth knight, a great competitor, whose name

he cannot remember, though he is actually speaking about himself. The

Templar vows to challenge this sixth and unknown Knight at the forthcoming

Ashby tournament.

CHAPTER 6

On his way to bed, the Palmer is asked to accompany Cedric's servants to

the kitchen for more drink and gossip. A message is sent to him by Lady

Rowena, demanding his presence. She wants more news of Ivanhoe since she

heard the Palmer mention Ivanhoe's courageous exploits. All that the Palmer

tells her is that Ivanhoe, having fought bravely, is on his way home.

Before going to bed, the Palmer warns Isaac that he has overheard Bois-

Guilbert ordering his Moslem slaves to follow Isaac and rob him. Isaac is

grateful to the Palmer, and before he escapes, rewards the Palmer with a

favor. He sends a letter to his Jewish kinsman asking him to give the

Palmer a horse and armor so that he can participate in the Ashby

tournament.

CHAPTERS 7-9

These chapters are largely descriptive and do little to advance the plot of

the story. The busy arena where the knights will display their skill is

brilliantly described. The challengers, Bois-Guilbert, Front-de-Boeuf,

Grantmesnil, Malvoisin, and Ralph de Vipoint, are introduced and described

as seasoned Norman knights. Isaac's daughter Rebecca is also introduced.

A stranger, beautifully attired in steel and gold armor, arrives at the

arena, challenges Bois-Guilbert, and emerges victorious; Bois- Guilbert

feels disgraced. The mysterious knight also wins on the second day of the

tournament and crowns Rowena as the Queen of Love and Beauty.

CHAPTER 10

As soon as Ivanhoe, in the guise of the Disinherited Knight, reaches his

tent on the first day of the tournament, he is presented with the rich

armor, weapons, and horses of the knights he has defeated. He accepts his

rewards from four of the five knights. He refuses the gifts of Bois-

Guilbert, however, and sends a message that he will meet the Templar Knight

again in combat on the following day.

With some of the money from his rewards, Ivanhoe sends Gurth, who is now

his confidante, to Isaac to pay for the horse and armor which he so

generously loaned to him for the tournament. Isaac takes the money, but

Rebecca secretly sends it back, adding twenty gold coins as a tip for

Gurth.

CHAPTER 11

On his way back to Ashby, poor Gurth is attacked by four men who steal the

money he carries, both his gold coins and that belonging to Ivanhoe. The

thieves question him about where he got the money. When Gurth tells about

Rebecca's kindness, the thieves

refuse to believe that any Jew would return a payment on a loan. Gurth

fights with his attackers. When he shows his courage in the conflict, the

robbers surprisingly give him back his money and escort him to Ashby.

CHAPTER 12

After the combats of the first day at Ashby, the crowds eagerly await the

events of the next day. The excitement reaches a fever pitch when the

Disinherited Knight is attacked simultaneously by Athelstane, Front-de-

Boeuf, and Bois-Guilbert. With the help of another mysterious character,

the Black Knight, who comes to his aid, Ivanhoe overcomes his challengers,

emerging the victor once again. After the victory, the Black Knight

disappears. Rowena crowns the Disinherited Knight, who is now forced to

raise his visor and show his face. He is revealed to all as Ivanhoe,

Cedric's son. Severely wounded, he faints at Rowena's feet.

CHAPTERS 13-15

The revelation that Ivanhoe is the disguised winner of the tournament

causes a great commotion and some fear in the minds of the Norman nobles. A

castle once belonging to Ivanhoe that John had given to Front-de-Bouef is

now the object of much speculation, for many think that Ivanhoe will demand

it back.

Prince John himself is a bit worried about a confrontation until his

advisor Fitzurse informs him that Ivanhoe is severely wounded and probably

incapable of protest.

When Prince John receives a message that says, "Take heed to yourself, for

the Devil is unchained," he turns pale. He guesses that the message means

his brother Richard is free, and his own corrupt reign is nearing its end.

At the same time, many of his supporters begin to falter in their support

of him, and Fitzurse busies himself trying to rally them back to John.

The tournament ends with an archery contest, which introduces Robin of

Locksley (Robin Hood). Locksley easily defeats Hubert. John is enraged at

both Locksley's skill as an archer and his unswerving loyalty to Richard.

Cedric also offends John in his surprising expression of support for

Richard when he drinks to missing king's health.

Prince John has planned to marry Rowena to De Bracy, who is pleased with

the idea. Now De Bracy is determined to force the marriage whether Richard

has returned or not. He makes plans to ambush Cedric's party as they travel

home from the tournament. He will take Rowena and make her his unwilling

bride.

CHAPTERS 16 & 17

This chapter introduces Friar Tuck, the jolly priest who is one of Robin

Hood's men. Earlier in the novel, King Richard proved his valor at Ashby

disguised as the Black Knight. After the victory, he quickly disappeared

before his identity was questioned. In this scene, he is traveling in the

forest when he meets the Clerk of Copmanhurst, who is actually Friar Tuck.

The two trust one another; they eat and drink in great companionship. The

king and the fat priest get on so well that after supper they decide to

sing together. Each chooses a song that makes fun of the other; the priest

pokes fun at Crusaders and Richard mocks the priest.

CHAPTERS 18 & 19

When Cedric first sees his son wounded, his natural paternal love is

revived, but not wishing to reveal this to the spectators at Ashby, he

keeps quiet. Later he learns that Ivanhoe is being taken care of by Rebecca

and is relieved. Discovering that his swineherd Gurth has been helping

Ivanhoe, Cedric has him bound with rope as a punishment.

Cedric and Athelstane take their group to Prince John's palace where they

have been invited to a banquet. On the way to Prince John's, the group

encounters the dog, Fangs, howling. Cedric throws his javelin at it,

wounding the dog. Saxons are a superstitious lot, and Cedric believed this

howling was a sure sign of an impending danger. Gurth is upset to see the

dog wounded and manages to escape his bonds.

At Prince John's, Rowena refuses to attend the banquet, which annoys

Cedric. He and Athelstane discuss matters of land. Then Cedric broaches the

subject of Athelstane's marriage to Rowena.

CHAPTERS 20 & 21

As they make their way through the woods, Cedric and his party come upon

Isaac and Rebecca accompanying a sick man. Rebecca is crying out loudly for

help. Their bodyguard has deserted them in sheer fear of the outlaws who

are known to inhabit the woods.

Rebecca begs Rowena to help the sick man. The entire party is then attacked

by De Bracy and his men, impersonating outlaws. They kidnap the group and

take them to Front-de-Bouef at Torquilstone Castle, which once belonged to

Ivanhoe until John gave it away. Except for Wamba, who escapes, they are

all taken prisoners.

Wamba meets Gurth, and they go to find Locksley (Robin Hood). Gurth, Wamba,

Locksley, and his men meet up with the disguised King Richard and Friar

Tuck. All of them proceed to Torquilstone Castle to aid the prisoners.

CHAPTER 22

Isaac of York has been thrown into a dark dungeon in Torquilstone Castle.

Front-de-Boeuf demands a ransom of a thousand silver pounds, to which Isaac

protests. The Normans threaten him with physical torture, so Isaac requests

that his daughter Rebecca be sent with an escort to York to get the money.

He is deeply upset when he learns that she has been given to Bois-Guilbert

as his own personal captive. Isaac is willing to give up whatever wealth he

possesses if only he can get Rebecca back. As his captors begin

preparations for torture, the sound of a bugle is heard outside the castle,

and Isaac is saved for the moment.

CHAPTER 23

Elsewhere in Front-de-Boeuf's castle, De Bracy tries his best to persuade

Rowena to marry him. He threatens that if she does not accept him, the

lives of Ivanhoe and Cedric will be forfeited. In the conversation, she

learns that Ivanhoe is a prisoner in the same castle and breaks down. The

bugle call interrupts this scene as well.

CHAPTER 24

Rebecca meets the old hag, Urfried, in the little tower where she is

imprisoned. Urfried makes the most frightening forecast for Rebecca,

recounting her own terrible fate at the hands of Front-de- Boeuf's father.

Urfried, however, had submitted to the elder Front- de-Bouef's molestation,

accepting the subsequent shame and dishonor. The brave Rebecca looks around

for some escape, but finds none. Musing over her fate, she hears footsteps

on the stairs.

A tall man stands at the door. She offers her jewelry to the man who takes

off his cap and reveals himself as Bois-Guilbert. He makes advances at her,

which she refuses. Rebecca threatens to kill herself. She would rather die

than be dishonored as the old woman Urfried has been. The trumpet call also

saves Rebecca, for it summons Bois-Guilbert, who promises to visit her

again.

CHAPTERS 25-27

The occupants of Torquilstone receive a letter signed by Gurth and Wamba,

but sent by the mysterious Black Knight and Locksley; the letter demands

the release of the prisoners. Front-de-Boeuf responds to the letter by

asking that a priest be sent to hear the confessions of the prisoners

before they are put to death. Wamba, dressed in Friar's robes, enters the

castle "to hear the confessions of the condemned". When he reaches the

place where Cedric and the others are imprisoned, he and Cedric exchange

their clothes and Cedric is able to leave the dungeon undetected.

Thinking Cedric to be the priest, Front-de-Boeuf gives him a message for

Philip Malvoisin. Cedric rejects Front de Boeuf's payment and joins the

party outside. Subsequently, Wamba's disguise and Cedric's escape are

discovered. It now seems that a clash is inevitable between the Normans

inside and the besiegers outside, now joined by Cedric.

CHAPTER 28

Using flashback, Scott supplies the necessary information to link various

events that have happened. Ivanhoe's actual whereabouts since being injured

at the tournament have never been explicitly stated. But here it is

revealed that Rebecca took the invalid Ivanhoe on as a charge, promising to

use her powers of healing. It is made clear that the sick man she and her

father were accompanying when they were kidnapped is Ivanhoe.

CHAPTER 29

As the besiegers attack the Castle, Rebecca stands at the window to relate

to Ivanhoe the exact sequence of events. He soon falls asleep. Rebecca,

left to her own thoughts, tries to sort out her feelings for him. She

realizes that she is beginning to love him.

CHAPTERS 30 & 31

The battle rages on, with both parties fighting intensely. Front-de- Boeuf

is seriously wounded in the battle. As he lies dying, the old hag Urfried

accuses him of all kinds of sins, the worst being the murder of his own

father. Hungry for revenge for wrongs done to her by his family, she sets

fire to the castle. Both she and Front-de- Boeuf die in the flames. The

Black Knight saves Ivanhoe and captures De Bracy. Everyone manages to

escape to freedom except Rebecca, who is carried away by Bois-Guilbert, the

Knight Templar who wants to defile her. In attempting to stop Bois-

Guilbert, Athelstane is hit on the head and falls down, apparently dead.

CHAPTER 32

Early next morning the freed prisoners and their rescuers, the outlaws,

meet in the forest. Robin of Locksley places Cedric on his left and the

Black Knight on his right. The booty plundered from the castle is shared

equally. Cedric refuses his share, saying that Rowena and he are grateful

to Locksley for his help. He offers his share to the Black Knight, who also

refuses to take any of the plunder. In gratitude to him for his help,

Cedric frees his slave Gurth.

De Bracy, now a prisoner, attempts to speak to Rowena but is insulted by

Cedric. Athelstane's body is carried in on a stretcher. Then Friar Tuck

arrives, leading Isaac by a rope that is tied around his neck. He and the

Black Knight engage in a friendly fight over Isaac. The Black Knight wins,

and Isaac is set free. Two other men bring in another prisoner, the Prior

of Jorvaulx.

CHAPTERS 33 & 34

Prior Aymer is frightened when he is brought in to the camp, but is mostly

disturbed because his beautiful, expensive clothes are ruined. Isaac is

relieved to learn Rebecca is alive and listens carefully when the Prior

offers, for an appropriate price, to use his friendship with the Knight

Templar to free Rebecca. The Black Knight is pleasantly surprised at the

decency with which the outlaws behave.

At a banquet hall in the castle of York to which Prince John has invited

his nobles, rumors are afoot that Torquilstone Castle has been attacked and

captured. Word has it that Front-de-Boeuf and Bois-Guilbert, and perhaps De

Bracy too, are dead. John is disturbed but listens to Fitzurse, who

reassures him that his unscrupulous reign is invincible.

De Bracy dramatically enters the banquet and announces that Richard is in

England, Bois-Guilbert has fled with the Jewish girl, and Front-de-Bouef is

dead. John is frightened at the news and begins to drink heavily. In his

drunken stupor, he realizes that many of his knights are deserting him. He

quickly appoints De Bracy High Marshal to secure his loyalty. De Bracy,

however, no longer trusts or believes in John. John, in turn, sets spies on

De Bracy.

CHAPTER 35

Isaac of York is warned by his relation Nathan that Lucas Beaumanoir, Chief

of the Order of Templars, is also present at Templestowe, where Rebecca is

being held prisoner. Beaumanoir is a rigid knight who is insistent on

Templar principles, a cruel enemy to the Moslems, and a strong hater of the

Jews.

Isaac brings a letter from Prior Aymer to Bois-Guilbert, asking for the

Prior's ransom; the Jew is brought to Lucas Beaumanoir. Until Isaac shows

up, Beaumanoir is completely unaware of Rebecca's presence in the castle.

He is annoyed that Bois-Guilbert is guilty of sequestering Rebecca for

immoral purposes, since he is a strict keeper of the Knights Templar rules

of celibacy.

Isaac is oblivious to the fact that the Prior's letter nastily hints that

Rebecca is a "second witch of Endor"; in it, the Prior says Rebecca has

cast a spell over the Templar. Malvoisin, the preceptor of Templestowe,

seizes on the notion that Rebecca is a witch and defends his friend Bois-

Guilbert. In the meantime, Bois-Guilbert finds he is strongly attracted to

Rebecca and continues to press her to accept him.

Beaumanoir orders a full-scale trial for Rebecca, thinking this is his only

chance to save the reputation of the Knight Templar who has acted so out of

keeping with the order's rules. Bois-Guilbert's attempts to help Rebecca

escape the trial by marrying him are in vain.

CHAPTERS 37 & 39

The scene is set for Rebecca's trial. The Grand Master sits opposite a pile

of logs, which will form the stake at which Rebecca will be burned alive if

she is found guilty. The charges against Bois- Guilbert are read first, but

he is excused on the grounds that Rebecca's evil magic has taken away his

power of reason. Others testify to the supernatural powers of Rebecca, her

healing of Ivanhoe, and her presence and influence at the attack on

Torquilstone. The common people are on her side, deeply affected by her

beauty and her defense; but it is not a fair trial. Bois- Guilbert tries to

save Rebecca by asking for a champion to fight him on her behalf; however,

he suspects no one will come to her aid against him. He then tries in vain

to convince Rebecca to run away with him.

CHAPTERS 40-42

In an earlier chapter, Prince John is seen losing the loyalty of most of

his knights except that of Waldemar Fitzurse, who slips out of the

banqueting hall to confront King Richard before he takes back his power. On

their way to Athelstane's castle of Coningsburgh to bury him, the Black

Knight and Wamba are ambushed by Fitzurse and his men. Richard sounds his

horn to summon Locksley and his outlaws. With their help, he overcomes and

kills his attackers.

Only Fitzurse is left alive. The king banishes him forever from England and

confiscates his lands.

The Black Knight then reveals himself as the rightful King of England. He

and Ivanhoe proceed to Coningsburgh. Athelstane, who has only been knocked

unconscious and not killed, now rises to tell his story. Ivanhoe rides on,

prepared and ready to champion Rebecca's fate.

CHAPTER 43

Rebecca's trial attracts a large crowd, including many of Robin Hood's men.

Just as her situation seems hopeless, for no champion has offered to defend

Rebecca, Ivanhoe rides into the arena. He challenges those who accuse the

beautiful Jewess. Brian de Bois- Guilbert becomes an unwilling participant

in the fight as a representative of the people who accuse Rebecca;

Beaumanoir and the Knight Templars demand his obedience and loyalty. It is

an exciting and hard-fought battle, but Bois-Guilbert is finally killed.

Ivanhoe has saved Rebecca.

CHAPTER 44

Richard, having intended to champion Rebecca himself, is detained by the

Earl of Essex who warns him of John's evil plans. He arrives at the trial

too late to fight, but brings with him a troop of soldiers and arrests

Albert Malvoisin for plotting with John against him. He gives Lucas

Beaumanoir the choice of exile or death, and Beaumanoir chooses exile.

Richard then banishes all the traitors except John, who is sent to his

mother with a warning. Athelstane gives up his claim to Rowena and retires

from public life. Rowena and Ivanhoe are married. Before departing from

England with her father forever, Rebecca visits Rowena to thank her.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H.Lawrence

Summary

Lady Chatterley's Lover begins by introducing Connie Reid, the

female protagonist of the novel. She was raised as a cultured bohemian of

the upper-middle class, and was introduced to love affairs--intellectual

and sexual liaisons--as a teenager. In 1917, at 23, she marries Clifford

Chatterley, the scion of an aristocratic line. After a month's honeymoon,

he is sent to war, and returns paralyzed from the waist down, impotent.

After the war, Clifford becomes a successful writer, and many

intellectuals flock to the Chatterley mansion, Wragby. Connie feels

isolated; the vaunted intellectuals prove empty and bloodless, and she

resorts to a brief and dissatisfying affair with a visiting playwright,

Michaelis. Connie longs for real human contact, and falls into despair, as

all men seem scared of true feelings and true passion. There is a growing

distance between Connie and Clifford, who has retreated into the

meaningless pursuit of success in his writing and in his obsession with

coal-mining, and towards whom Connie feels a deep physical aversion. A

nurse, Mrs. Bolton, is hired to take care of the handicapped Clifford so

that Connie can be more independent, and Clifford falls into a deep

dependence on the nurse, his manhood fading into an infantile reliance.

Into the void of Connie's life comes Oliver Mellors, the gamekeeper

on Clifford's estate, newly returned from serving in the army. Mellors is

aloof and derisive, and yet Connie feels curiously drawn to him by his

innate nobility and grace, his purposeful isolation, his undercurrents of

natural sensuality. After several chance meetings in which Mellors keeps

her at arm's length, reminding her of the class distance between them,

they meet by chance at a hut in the forest, where they have sex. This

happens on several occasions, but still Connie feels a distance between

them, remaining profoundly separate from him despite their physical

closeness.

One day, Connie and Mellors meet by coincidence in the woods, and

they have sex on the forest floor. This time, they experience simultaneous

orgasms. This is a revelatory and profoundly moving experience for Connie;

she begins to adore Mellors, feeling that they have connected on some deep

sensual level. She is proud to believe that she is pregnant with Mellors'

child: he is a real, "living" man, as opposed to the emotionally-dead

intellectuals and the dehumanized industrial workers. They grow

progressively closer, connecting on a primordial physical level, as woman

and man rather than as two minds or intellects.

Connie goes away to Venice for a vacation. While she is gone,

Mellors' old wife returns, causing a scandal. Connie returns to find that

Mellors has been fired as a result of the negative rumors spread about him

by his resentful wife, against whom he has initiated divorce proceedings.

Connie admits to Clifford that she is pregnant with Mellors' baby, but

Clifford refuses to give her a divorce. The novel ends with Mellors working

on a farm, waiting for his divorce, and Connie living with her sister,

also waiting: the hope exists that, in the end, they will be together

Analysis

Valuable Commentory

The greatness of Lady Chatterley's Lover lies in a paradox: it is

simultaneously progressive and reactionary, modern and Victorian. It looks

backwards towards a Victorian stylistic formality, and it seems to

anticipate the social morality of the late 20th century in its frank

engagement with explicit subject matter and profanity. One might say of

the novel that it is formally and thematically conservative, but

methodologically radical.

The easiest of these assertions to prove is that Lady Chatterley's

Lover is "formally conservative." By this I mean that there are few evident

differences between the form of Lady Chatterley's Lover and the form of

the high-Victorian novels written fifty years earlier: in terms of

structure; in terms of narrative voice; in terms of diction, with the

exception of a very few "profane" words. It is important to remember that

Lady Chatterley's Lover was written towards the end of the 1920s, a decade

which had seen extensive literary experimentation. The 1920s opened with

the publishing of the formally radical novel Ulysses, which set the stage

for important technical innovations in literary art: it made extensive use

of the stream-of-consciousness form; it condensed all of its action into a

single 24-hour span; it employed any number of voices and narrative

perspectives. Lady Chatterley's Lover acts in many ways as if the 1920s,

and indeed the entire modernist literary movement, had never happened. The

structure of the novel is conventional, tracing a small group of

characters over an extended period of time in a single place. The rather

preachy narrator usually speaks with the familiar third-person omniscience

of the Victorian novel. And the characters tend towards flatness, towards

representing a type, rather than speaking in their own voices and

developing real three-dimensional personalities.

But surely, if Lady Chatterley's Lover is "formally conservative," it

can hardly be called "thematically conservative"! After all, this is a

novel that raised censorious hackles across the English-speaking world. It

is a novel that liberally employs profanity, that more-or-less graphically-

-graphically, that is, for the 1920s: it is important not to evaluate the

novel by the standards of profanity and graphic sexuality that have become

prevalent at the turn of the 21st century--describes sex and orgasm, and

whose central message is the idea that sexual freedom and sensuality are

far more important, more authentic and meaningful, than the intellectual

life. So what can I mean by calling Lady Chatterley's Lover, a famously

controversial novel, "thematically conservative"?

Well, it is important to remember not only precisely what this novel

seems to advocate, but also the purpose of that advocacy. Lady

Chatterley's Lover is not propaganda for sexual license and free love. As

D.H. Lawrence himself made clear in his essay "A Propos of Lady

Chatterley's Lover," he was no advocate of sex or profanity for their own

sake. The reader should note that the ultimate goal of the novel's

protagonists, Mellors and Connie, is a quite conventional marriage, and a

sex life in which it is clear that Mellors is the aggressor and the

dominant partner, in which Connie plays the receptive part; all who would

argue that Lady Chatterley's Lover is a radical novel would do well to

remember the vilification that the novel heaps upon Mellors' first wife, a

sexually aggressive woman. Rather than mere sexual radicalism, this

novel's chief concern--although it is also concerned, to a far greater

extent than most modernist fiction, with the pitfalls of technology and

the barriers of class--is with what Lawrence understands to be the

inability of the modern self to unite the mind and the body. D.H. Lawrence

believed that without a realization of sex and the body, the mind wanders

aimlessly in the wasteland of modern industrial technology. An important

recognition in Lady Chatterley's Lover is the extent to which the modern

relationship between men and women comes to resemble the relationship

between men and machines.

Not only do men and women require an appreciation of the sexual and

sensual in order to relate to each other properly; they require it even to

live happily in the world, as beings able to maintain human dignity and

individuality in the dehumanizing atmosphere created by modern greed and

the injustices of the class system. As the great writer Lawrence Durrell

observed in reference to Lady Chatterley's Lover, Lawrence was "something

of a puritan himself. He was out to cure, to mend; and the weapons he

selected for this act of therapy were the four-letter words about which so

long and idiotic a battle has raged." That is to say: Lady Chatterley's

Lover was intended as a wake-up call, a call away from the hyper-

intellectualism embraced by so many of the modernists, and towards a

balanced approach in which mind and body are equally valued. It is the

method the novel uses that made the wake-up call so radical--for its time--

and so effective.

This is a novel with high purpose: it points to the degradation of

modern civilization--exemplified in the coal-mining industry and the

soulless and emasculated Clifford Chatterley--and it suggests an

alternative in learning to appreciate sensuality. And it is a novel, one

must admit, which does not quite succeed. Certainly, it is hardly the

equal of D.H. Lawrence's great novels, Women in Love and The Rainbow. It

attempts a profound comment on the decline of civilization, but it fails

as a novel when its social goal eclipses its novelistic goals, when the

characters become mere allegorical types: Mellors as the Noble Savage,

Clifford as the impotent nobleman. And the novel tends also to dip into a

kind of breathless incoherence at moments of extreme sensuality or

emotional weight. It is not a perfect novel, but it is a novel which has

had a profound impact on the way that 20th-century writers have written

about sex, and about the deeper relationships of which, thanks in part to

Lawrence, sex can no longer be ignored as a crucial element. Characters

Lady Chatterley - The protagonist of the novel. Before her marriage, she

is simply Constance Reid, an intellectual and social progressive, the

daughter of Sir Malcolm and the sister of Hilda. When she marries Clifford

Chatterley, a minor nobleman, Constance--or, as she is known throughout

the novel, Connie--assumes his title, becoming Lady Chatterley. Lady

Chatterley's Lover chronicles Connie's maturation as a woman and as a

sensual being. She comes to despise her weak, ineffectual husband, and to

love Oliver Mellors, the gamekeeper on her husband's estate. In the

process of leaving her husband and conceiving a child with Mellors, Lady

Chatterley moves from the heartless, bloodless world of the intelligentsia

and aristocracy into a vital and profound connection rooted in sensuality

and sexual fulfillment.

Oliver Mellors - The lover in the novel's title. Mellors is the

gamekeeper on Clifford Chatterley's estate, Wragby. He is aloof,

sarcastic, intelligent and noble. He was born near Wragby, and worked as a

blacksmith until he ran off to the army to escape an unhappy marriage. In

the army he rose to become a commissioned lieutenant--an unusual position

for a member of the working classes--but was forced to leave the army

because of a case of pneumonia, which left him in poor health.

Disappointed by a string of unfulfilling love affairs, Mellors lives in

quiet isolation, from which he is redeemed by his relationship with

Connie: the passion unleashed by their lovemaking forges a profound bond

between them. At the end of the novel, Mellors is fired from his job as

gamekeeper and works as a laborer on a farm, waiting for a divorce from

his old wife so he can marry Connie. Mellors is the representative in this

novel of the Noble Savage: he is a man with an innate nobility but who

remains impervious to the pettiness and emptiness of conventional society,

with access to a primitive flame of passion and sensuality.

Clifford Chatterley - Connie's husband. Clifford Chatterley is a minor

nobleman who becomes paralyzed from the waist down during World War I. As

a result of his injury, Clifford is impotent. He retires to his familial

estate, Wragby, where he becomes first a successful writer, and then a

powerful businessman. But the gap between Connie and him grows ever wider;

obsessed with financial success and fame, he is not truly interested in

love, and she feels that he has become passionless and empty. He turns for

solace to his nurse and companion, Mrs. Bolton, who worships him as a

nobleman even as she despises him for his casual arrogance. Clifford

represents everything that this novel despises about the modern English

nobleman: he is a weak, vain man, but declares his right to rule the lower

classes, and he soullessly pursues money and fame through industry and the

meaningless manipulation of words. His impotence is symbolic of his

failings as a strong, sensual man.

Mrs. Bolton - Ivy Bolton is Clifford's nurse and caretaker. She is a

competent, complex, still-attractive middle-aged woman. Years before the

action in this novel, her husband died in an accident in the mines owned by

Clifford's family. Even as Mrs. Bolton resents Clifford as the owner of

the mines--and, in a sense, the murderer of her husband--she still

maintains a worshipful attitude towards him as the representative of the

upper class. Her relationship with Clifford--she simultaneously adores and

despises him, while he depends and looks down on her--is probably the most

fascinating and complex relationship in the novel.

Michaelis - A successful Irish playwright with whom Connie has an affair

early in the novel. Michaelis asks Connie to marry him, but she decides

not to, realizing that he is like all other intellectuals: a slave to

success, a purveyor of vain ideas and empty words, passionless.

Hilda Reid - Connie's older sister by two years, the daughter of Sir

Malcolm. Hilda shared Connie's cultured upbringing and intellectual

education. She remains unliberated by the raw sensuality that changed

Connie's life. She disdains Connie's lover, Mellors, as a member of the

lower classes, but in the end she helps Connie to leave Clifford.

Sir Malcolm Reid - The father of Connie and Hilda. He is an acclaimed

painter, an aesthete and unabashed sensualist who despises Clifford for his

weakness and impotence, and who immediately warms to Mellors.

Tommy Dukes - One of Clifford's contemporaries, Tommy Dukes is a

brigadier general in the British Army and a clever and progressive

intellectual. Lawrence intimates, however, that Dukes is a representative

of all intellectuals: all talk and no action. Dukes speaks of the

importance of sensuality, but he himself is incapable of sensuality and

uninterested in sex.

Charles May, Hammond, Berry - Young intellectuals who visit Wragby, and

who, along with Tommy Dukes and Clifford, participate in the socially

progressive but ultimately meaningless discussions about love and sex.

Duncan Forbes - An artist friend of Connie and Hilda. Forbes paints

abstract canvases, a form of art both Mellors and D.H. Lawrence seem to

despise. He once loved Connie, and Connie originally claims to be pregnant

with his child.

Bertha Coutts - Although Bertha never actually appears in the novel, her

presence is felt. She is Mellors' wife, separated from him but not

divorced. Their marriage faltered because of their sexual incompatibility:

she was too rapacious, not tender enough. She returns at the end of the

novel to spread rumors about Mellors' infidelity to her, and helps get him

fired from his position as gamekeeper. As the novel concludes, Mellors is

in the process of divorcing her.

Squire Winter - A relative of Clifford. He is a firm believer in the old

privileges of the aristocracy.

Daniele, Giovanni - Venetian gondoliers in the service of Hilda and

Connie. Giovanni hopes that the women will pay him to sleep with them; he

is disappointed. Daniele reminds Connie of Mellors: he is attractive, a

"real man." Context

Lord of the Flies by W.Golding

William Gerald Golding was born in September of 1911 in the city of

Cornwall, England. Growing up in the life of luxury, Golding soon realized

that he was very talented at his school studies. He attended both the

prestigious colleges of Malboro and Oxford, studying both natural science

and English. Despite his father’s protests, Golding eventually decided to

devote his career to literature, where he became one of the most famous

English novelists ever. Soon World War II started, compelling Golding to

enlist in the Navy. It was war where Golding lost the idea that men are

inherently good. After witnessing the evil of war, both from men of the

enemy and his own side, Golding lost the belief that humans have an

innocent nature. Even children he learned are inherently evil, thus

foreshadowing his future and most famous novel, Lord of the Flies. In later

years, Golding received many noteworthy awards for his contribution to

English and world literature. Finally in 1983, he was awarded the Nobel

prize for his literary merits. Golding’s other interests include Greek

literature, music and history. Yet William G. Golding will be remembered

mostly for his great contributions to modern literature.

Chapter One: The Sound of the Shell:

The novel begins in the aftermath of a plane crash in the Pacific

Ocean during an unnamed war in which a group of English schoolboys are

isolated on what they assume to be an island under no adult supervision.

The pilot died in the crash and the plane has been swept to sea by a storm.

Among the survivors are a young, fair-haired boy of twelve named Ralph and

a pudgy boy referred to only by the derisive nickname from school that he

dislikes: Piggy. Piggy insists that he can neither run nor swim well

because of his asthma. Ralph insists that his father, a commander in the

Navy, will come and rescue them. Both of Piggy's parents had already died.

Piggy doubts that anybody will find them, and suggests that the boys should

gather together. Ralph finds a conch shell, which Piggy tells him will make

a loud noise. When Ralph blows the conch, several children make their way

to Ralph and Piggy. There were several small children around six years old

and a party of boys marching in step, dressed in eccentric clothing: black

cloaks and black caps. One of the boys, Jack Merridew, leads the group,

which he addresses as his choir. Piggy suggests that everyone state their

names, and Jack insists on being called Merridew, for Jack is a kid's name.

Jack, a tall thin boy with an ugly, freckled complexion and flaming red

hair, insists that he be the leader because he's the head boy of his choir.

They decide to vote for chief: although Jack seems the most obvious leader

and Piggy the most obviously intelligent, Ralph has a sense of stillness

and gravity. He is elected chief, but concedes that Jack can lead his

choir, who will be hunters. Ralph decides that everyone should stay there

while three boys will find out whether they are on an island. Ralph chooses

one of the boys, Simon, while Jack insists that he comes along. When Piggy

offers to go, Jack dismisses the idea, humiliating Piggy, who is still

ashamed that Ralph revealed his hated nickname. The three boys search the

island, climbing up the mountain to survey it. On the way up, they push

down the mountain a large rock that blocks their way. When they finally

reach the top and determine that they are on an island, Ralph looks upon

everything and says "this belongs to us." The three decide that they need

food to eat, and find a piglet caught in a curtain of creepers. Jack draws

his knife, but pauses before he has a chance to stab the pig, which frees

itself and runs away. Jack could not stab the pig because of the great

violence involved, but he vows that he would show no mercy next time.

Chapter Two: Fire on the Mountain:

Ralph called another meeting that night. The sunburned children had

put on clothing once more, while the choir was more disheveled, having

abandoned their cloaks. Ralph announces that they are on an uninhabited

island, but Jack interjects and insists that they need an army to hunt the

pigs. Ralph sets the rules of order for the meeting: only the person who

has the conch shell may speak. Jack relishes having rules, and even more

so, having punishment for breaking them. Piggy reprimands Jack. He says

that nobody knows where they are and that they may be there a long time.

Ralph reassures them, telling them that the island is theirs, and until the

grown-ups come they will have fun. A small boy is about to cry; he wonders

what they will do about a snake-thing. Ralph suggests that they build a

fire on the top of the mountain, for the smoke will signal their presence.

Jack summons the boys to come build a fire, leaving only Piggy and Ralph.

Piggy shows disgust at their childish behavior as Ralph catches up and

helps them bring piles of wood to the top.

Eventually it proves too difficult for some of the smaller boys, who

lose interest and search for fruit to eat. When they gather enough wood,

Ralph and Jack wonder how to start a fire. Piggy arrives, and Jack suggests

that they use his glasses. Jack snatches them from Piggy, who can barely

see without them. Eventually they use the glasses to reflect the rays of

the sun, starting a fire. The boys are mesmerized by the fire, but it soon

burns out. Ralph insists that they have rules, and Jack agrees, since they

are English, and the English are the best at everything so must do the

right things. Ralph says they might never be saved, and Piggy claims that

he has been saying that, but nobody has listened. They get the fire going

once more. While Piggy has the conch, he loses his temper, telling the

other boys how they should have listened to his orders to build shelters

first and how a fire is a secondary consideration. Piggy worries that they

still don't know exactly how many boys there are, and mentions the snakes.

Suddenly, one of the trees catches on fire, and one of the boy screams

about snakes. Piggy thinks that one of the boys is missing.

Chapter Three: Huts on the Beach:

Jack scans the oppressively silent forest. A bird startles him as he

progresses along the trail. He raises his spear and hurls it at a group of

pigs, driving them away. He eventually comes upon Ralph near the lagoon.

Ralph complains that the boys are not working hard to build the shelters.

The little ones are hopeless, spending most of their time bathing or

eating. Jack says that Ralph is chief, so he should just order them to do

so. Ralph admits that they could call a meeting, vow to build something,

whether a hut or a submarine, start building it for five minutes then quit.

Ralph tells Jack that most of his hunters spent the afternoon swimming. A

madness comes to Ralph's eyes as he admits that he might kill something

soon. Ralph insists that they need shelters more than anything. Ralph

notices that the other boys are frightened. Jack says that when he is

hunting he often feels as if he is being hunted, but admits that this is

irrational. Only Simon has been helping Ralph, but he leaves, presumably to

have a bath. Jack and Ralph go to the bathing pool, but do not find Simon

there. Simon had followed Jack and Ralph, then turned into the forest with

a sense of purpose. He is a tall, skinny boy with a coarse mop of black

hair. He walks through the acres of fruit trees and finds fruit that the

littlest boys cannot reach. He gives the boys fruit them goes along the

path into the jungle. He finds an open space and looks to see whether he is

alone. This open space contains great aromatic bushes, a bowl of heat and

light.

Chapter Four: Painted Faces and Long Hair:

The boys quickly become accustomed to the progression of the day on

the island, including the strange point at midday when the sea would rise.

Piggy discounts the midday illusions as mere mirages. The northern European

tradition of work, play and food right through the day made it possible for

the boys to adjust themselves to the new rhythm. The smaller boys were

known by the generic title of "littluns," including Percival, the smallest

boy on the island, who had stayed in a small shelter for two days and had

only recently emerged, peaked, red-eyed and miserable. The littluns spend

most of the day searching for fruit to eat, and since they choose it

indiscriminately suffer from chronic diarrhea. They cry for their mothers

less often than expected, and spend time with the older boys only during

Ralph's assemblies. They build castles in the sand. One of the biggest of

the littluns is Henry, a distant relative of the boy who disappeared. Two

other boys, Roger and Maurice, come out of the forest for a swim and kick

down the sand castles. Maurice, remembering how his mother chastised him,

feels guilty when he gets sand in Percival's eye. Henry is fascinated by

the small creatures on the beach. Roger picks up a stone to throw at Henry,

but deliberately misses him, recalling the taboos of earlier life. Jack

thinks about why he is still unsuccessful as a hunter. He thinks that the

animals see him, so he wants to find some way to camouflage himself. Jack

rubs his face with charcoal, and laughs with a bloodthirsty snarl when he

sees himself. From behind the mask Jack seems liberated from shame and self-

consciousness.

Piggy thinks about making a sundial so that they can tell time, but

Ralph dismisses the idea. The idea that Piggy is an outsider is tacitly

accepted. Ralph believes that he sees smoke along the horizon coming from a

ship, but there is not enough smoke from the mountain to signal it. Ralph

starts to run to the up the mountain, but cannot reach it in time. Their

own fire is dead. Ralph screams for the ship to come back, but it passes

without seeing them. Ralph finds that the hunters have found a pig, but

Ralph admonishes them for letting the fire go out. Jack is overjoyed by

their kill. Piggy begins to cry at their lost opportunity, and blames Jack

for letting the fire go out. The two argue, and finally Jack punches Piggy

in the stomach. Piggy's glasses fly off and break on the rocks. Jack

eventually does apologize about the fire, but Ralph resents Jack's

misbehavior. Jack considers not letting Piggy have any meat, but orders

everyone to eat. Maurice pretends to be a pig, and the hunters circle

around him, dancing and singing "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her

in." Ralph vows to call an assembly.

Chapter Five: Beast From Water:

Ralph goes to the beach because he needs a place to think and is

overcome with astonishment. He understands the weariness of life, where

everything requires improvisation. He calls a meeting near the bathing

pool, realizing that he must think and must make a decision but that he

lacks Piggy's ability to think. He begins the assembly seriously, telling

them that they are there not for making jokes or for cleverness. He reminds

them that everyone built the first shelter, which is the most sturdy, while

the third one, built only by Simon and Ralph, is unstable. He admonishes

them for not using the appropriate areas for the lavatory, and reminds them

that the fire is the most important thing on the island, for it is their

means of escape. He claims that they ought to die before they let the fire

out. He directs this at the hunters, in particular. He makes the rule that

the only place where they will have a fire is on the mountain. Ralph then

speaks on their fear. He admits that he is frightened himself, but their

fear is unfounded. Jack stands up, takes the conch, and yells at the

littluns for screaming like babies and not hunting or building or helping.

Jack tells them that there is no beast on the island. Piggy does agree

with Jack on that point, telling the kids that there is no beasts and there

is no real fear, unless they get frightened of people. A littlun, Phil,

tells how he had a nightmare and, when he awoke, how he saw something big

and horrid moving among the trees. Ralph dismisses it as nothing. Simon

admits that he was walking in the jungle at night. Percival speaks next,

and as he gives his name he recites his address and telephone number; this

reminder of home causes him to break out into tears. All of the littluns

join him. Percival claims that the beast comes out of the sea, and tells

them about squids. Simon says that maybe there is a beast, and the boys

speak about ghosts. Piggy says he does not believe in ghosts, but Jack

attempts to start a fight again. Ralph stops the fight, and asks the boys

how many of them believe in ghosts. Piggy yells at the boys, asking whether

they are humans or animals or savages. Jack threatens him again, and Ralph

intercedes once more, complaining that they are breaking the rules. When

Jack asks "who cares?" Ralph says that the rules are the only thing that

they have. Jack says that they will hunt the beast down. The assembly

breaks up as Jack leads them on a hunt. Only Ralph, Piggy and Simon remain.

Ralph says that if he blows the conch to summon them back and they refuse,

then they will become like animals and will never be rescued. He does ask

Piggy whether there are ghosts or beasts, but Piggy reassures him. Piggy

warns him that if Ralph steps down as chief Jack will do nothing but hunt,

and they will never be rescued. The three reminisce on the majesty of adult

life. The three hear Percival still sobbing his address.

Chapter Six: Beast From Air:

Ralph and Simon pick up Percival and carry him to a shelter. That

night, over the horizon, there is an aerial battle. A pilot drops from a

parachute, sweeping across the reef toward the mountain. The dead pilot

sits on the mountain-top. Early the next morning, there are noises by a

rock down the side of the mountain. The twins Sam and Eric, the two boys on

duty at the fire, awake and add kindling to the fire. Just then they spot

something at the top of the mountain and crouch in fear. They scramble down

the mountain and wake Ralph. They claim that they saw the beast. Eric tells

the boys that they saw the beast, which has teeth and claws and even

followed them. Jack calls for a hunt, but Piggy says that they should stay

there, for the beast may not come near them. When Piggy says that he has

the right to speak because of the conch, Jack says that they don't need the

conch anymore. Ralph becomes exasperated at Jack, accusing him of not

wanting to be rescued, and Jack takes a swing at him. Ralph decides that he

will go with the hunters to search for the beast, which may be around a

rocky area of the mountain. Simon, wanting to show that he is accepted,

travels with Ralph, who wishes only for solitude. Jack gets the hunters

lost on the way around the mountain. They continue along a narrow wall of

rocks that forms a bridge between parts of the island, reaching the open

sea. As some of the boys spend time rolling rocks around the bridge, Ralph

decides that it would be better to climb the mountain and rekindle the

fire, but Jack wishes to stay where they can build a fort.

Chapter Seven: Shadows and Tall Trees:

Ralph notices how long his hair is and how dirty and unclean he has

become. He had followed the hunters across the island. On this other side

of the island, the view is utterly different. The horizon is hard, clipped

blue and the sea crashes against the rocks. Simon and Ralph watch the sea,

and Simon reassures him that they will leave the island eventually. Ralph

is somewhat doubtful, but Simon says that it is simply his opinion. Roger

calls for Ralph, telling him that they need to continue hunting. A boar

appears; Jack stabs it with a spear, but the boar escapes. Jack is wounded

on his left forearm, so Simon tells him he should suck the wound. The

hunters go into a frenzy once more, chanting "kill the pig" again. Roger

and Jack talk about their chanting, and Jack says that someone should dress

up as a pig and pretend to knock him over. Robert says that Jack wants a

real pig so that he can actually kill, but Jack says that he could just use

a littlun. The boys start climbing up the mountain once more, but Ralph

realizes that they cannot leave the littluns alone with Piggy all night.

Jack mocks Ralph for his concern for Piggy. Simon says that he can go back

himself. Ralph tells Jack that there isn't enough light to go hunting for

pigs. Out of the new understanding that Piggy has given him, Ralph asks

Jack why he hates him. Jack has no answer. The boys are tired and afraid,

but Jack vows that he will go up the mountain to look for the beast. Jack

mocks Ralph for not wanting to go up the mountain, claiming that he is

afraid. Jack claims he saw something bulge on the mountain. Since Jack

seems for the first time somewhat afraid, Ralph says that they will look

for it then. The boys see a rock-like hump and something like a great ape

sitting asleep with its head between its knees. At its sight, the boys run

off.

Chapter Eight: Gift for the Darkness:

When Ralph tells Piggy what they saw, he is quite skeptical. Ralph

tells him that the beast had teeth and big black eyes. Jack says that his

hunters can defeat the beast, but Ralph dismisses them as boys with sticks.

Jack tells the other boys that the beast is a hunter, and says that Ralph

thinks that the boys are cowards. Jack says that Ralph isn't a proper

chief, for he is a coward himself. Jack asks the boys who wants Ralph not

to be chief. Nobody agrees with Jack, so he runs off in tears. He says that

he is not going to be part of Ralph's lot. Jack leaves them. Piggy says

that they can do without Jack, but they should stay close to the platform.

Simon suggests that they climb the mountain. Piggy says that if they

climb the mountain they can start the fire again, but then suggests that

they start a fire down by the beach. Piggy organizes the new fire by the

beach. Ralph notices that several of the boys are missing. Piggy says that

they will do well enough if they behave with common sense, and proposes a

feast. They wonder where Simon has gone; he might be climbing the mountain.

Simon had left to sit in the open space he had found earlier. Far off along

the beach, Jack says that he will be chief of the hunters, and will forget

the beast. He says that they might go later to the castle rock, but now

will kill a pig and give a feast. They find a group of pigs and kill a

large sow. Jack rubs the blood over Maurice's cheeks, while Roger laughs

that the fatal blow against the sow was up her ass. They cut off the pig's

head and leave it on a stick as a gift for the beast at the mountain-top.

Simon sees the head, with flies buzzing around it. Ralph worries that the

boys will die if they are not rescued soon. Ralph and Piggy realize that it

is Jack who causes things to break up. The forest near them suddenly bursts

into uproar. The littluns run off as Jack approaches, naked except for

paint and a belt, while hunters take burning branches from the fire. Jack

tells them that he and his hunters are living along the beach by a flat

rock, where they hunt and feast and have fun. He invites the boys to join

his tribe. When Jack leaves, Ralph says that he thought Jack was going to

take the conch, which Ralph holds as a symbol of ritual and order. They

reiterate that the fire is the most important thing, but Bill suggests that

they go to the hunters' feast and tell them that the fire is hard on them.

At the top of the mountain remains the pig's head, which Simon has dubbed

the Lord of the Flies. Simon believes that the pig's head speaks to him,

calling him a silly little boy. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that he'd

better run off and play with the others, who think that he is crazy. The

Lord of the Flies claims that he is the Beast, and laughs at the idea that

the Beast is something that could be hunted and killed. Simon falls down

and loses consciousness.

Chapter Nine: A View to a Death:

Simon's fit passes into the weariness of sleep. Simon speaks aloud to

himself, asking "What else is there to do?" Simon sees the Beast the body

of the soldier who parachuted onto the island and realizes what it

actually is. He staggers down the mountain to tell them what he has found.

Ralph notices the clouds overhead and estimates that it will rain again.

Ralph and Piggy play in the lagoon, and Piggy gets mad when Ralph squirts

water on him, getting his glasses wet. They wonder where most of the other

boys have gone, and remark that they are with the hunters for the fun of

pretending to be a tribe and putting on war paint. They decide that they

should find them to make sure that nothing happens. They find the other

boys grouped together, laughing and eating. Jack sits on a great log,

painted and garlanded as an idol. Jack orders the boys to give Ralph and

Piggy some eat, then orders a boy to give him a drink. Jack asks all of the

boys who will join his tribe, for he gave them food and his hunters will

protect them. Ralph and Jack argue over who will be chief. Ralph says that

he has the conch, but Jack says that it doesn't count on this side of the

island. Piggy tells Ralph that they should go before there is trouble.

Ralph warns them that a storm is coming and asks where there shelters are.

The littluns are frightened, so Jack says that they should do their pig

dance. As the storm begins, Simon rushes from the jungle, crying out about

the dead body on the mountain. The boys rush after him, striking him and

killing him. Meanwhile, on the mountain, the storm blows the parachute and

the body attached to it into the sea. That night, Simon's body washes out

to sea.

Chapter Ten: The Shell and the Glasses:

Back on the other side of the island, Ralph and Piggy discuss Simon,

and Piggy reminds him that he is still chief, or at least chief over them.

Piggy tries to stop Ralph from talking about Simon's murder. Piggy says

that he took part in the murder because he was scared, but Ralph says that

he wasn't scared. He doesn't know what came over him. They try to justify

the death as an accident caused by Simon's crazy behavior. Piggy asks Ralph

not to reveal to Sam and Eric that they were in on the killing. Sam and

Eric return, dragging a long out of the forest. All four appear nervous as

they discuss where they have been, trying to avoid the subject of Simon's

murder. Roger arrives at castle rock, where Robert makes him declare

himself before he can enter. The boys have set a log so they can easily

cause a rock to tumble down. Roger and Robert discuss how Jack had Wilfred

tied up for no apparent reason. Jack sits on a log, nearly naked with a

painted face. He declares that tomorrow they will hunt again. He warns them

about the beast and about intruders. Bill asks what they will use to light

the fire, and Jack blushes. He finally answers that they shall take fire

from the others. Piggy gives Ralph his glasses to start the fire. They wish

that they could make a radio or a boat, but Ralph says that they might be

captured by the Reds. Eric stops himself before he admits that it would be

better than being captured by Jack's hunters. Ralph wonders about what

Simon said about a dead man. The boys become tired by pulling wood for the

fire, but Ralph resolves that they must keep it going. Ralph nearly forgets

what their objective is for the fire, and they realize that two people are

needed to keep the fire burning at all times. This would require that they

each spend twelve hours a day devoted to it. They finally give up the fire

for the night. Ralph reminisces about the safety of home, and he and Piggy

conclude that they will go insane. They laugh at a small joke that Piggy

makes. Jack and his hunters arrive and attack the shelter where Ralph,

Piggy and the twins are. They fight them off, but still suffer considerable

injuries. Piggy thought that they wanted the conch, but realizes that they

came for something else. Instead, Jack had come for Piggy's broken glasses.

Chapter Eleven: Castle Rock:

The four boys gather around where the fire had been, bloody and

wounded. Ralph calls a meeting for the boys who remain with them, and Piggy

asks Ralph to tell them what could be done. Ralph says that all they need

is a fire, and if they had kept the fire burning they might have been

rescued already. Ralph, Sam and Eric think that they should go to the

Castle Rock with spears, but Piggy refuses to take one. Piggy says that

he's going to go find Jack himself. Piggy says that he will appeal to a

sense of justice. A tear falls down his cheek as he speaks. Ralph says that

they should make themselves look presentable, with clothes, to not look

like savages. They set off along the beach, limping. When they approach the

Castle Rock, Ralph blows the conch. He approaches the other boys

tentatively, and Sam and Eric rush near him, leaving Piggy alone. Jack

arrives from hunting, and tells Ralph to leave them alone. Ralph finally

calls Jack a thief, and Jack responds by trying to stab Ralph with his

spear, which Ralph deflects. They fight each other while Piggy reminds

Ralph what they came to do. Ralph stops fighting and says that they have to

give back Piggy's glasses and reminds them about the fire. He calls them

painted fools. Jack orders the boys to grab Sam and Eric. They take the

spears from the twins and Jack orders them to be tied up. Ralph screams at

Jack, calling him a beast and a swine and a thief. They fight again, but

Piggy asks to speak as the other boys jeer. Piggy asks them whether it is

better to be a pack of painted Indians or to be sensible like Ralph, to

have rules and agree or to hunt and kill. Roger leans his weight on the

lever, causing a great rock to crash down on Piggy, crushing the conch and

sending Piggy down a cliff, where he lands on the beach, killing him. Jack

declares himself chief, and hurls his spear at Ralph, which tears the skin

and flesh over his ribs, then shears off and falls into the water. Ralph

turns and runs, but Sam and Eric remain. Jack orders them to join the

tribe, but when they only wish to be let go he pokes them in the ribs with

a spear.

Chapter Twelve: Cry of the Hunters:

Ralph hides, wondering about his wounds. He is not far from the Castle

Rock. He thinks he sees Bill in the distance, but realizes that it is not

actually Bill anymore, for he is now a savage and not the boy in shorts and

shirt he once knew. He concludes that Jack will never leave Ralph alone.

Ralph can see the Lord of the Flies, now a skull with the skin and meat

eaten away. Ralph can still hear the chant "Kill the beast. Cut his throat.

Spill his blood." He crawls to the lookout near Castle Rock and calls to

Sam and Eric. Sam gives him a chunk of meat and tells him to leave. They

tell him that Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends, but Ralph cannot

attach a meaning to this. Ralph crawls away to a slope where he can safely

sleep. When he awakes he can hear Jack and Roger outside the thicket where

he hides. They are trying to find out where Ralph is hiding. The other boys

are rolling rocks down the mountain. Ralph finally runs away, not knowing

what he should do. He decides to hide again, then realizes that Jack and

his boys were sitting the island on fire to smoke Ralph out, a move that

would destroy whatever fruit was left on the island. Ralph rushes toward

the beach, where he finds a naval officer. His ship saw the smoke and came

to the island. The officer thinks that the boys have been only playing

games. The other boys begin to appear from the forest. Percival tries to

announce his name and address, but cannot say what was once so natural.

Ralph says that he is boss, and the officer asks how many there are. He

scolds them for not knowing exactly how many there are and for not being

organized, as the British are supposed to be. Ralph says that they were

like that at first. Ralph begins to weep for the first time on the island.

He weeps for the end of innocence and the darkness of man's heart, and for

the fall of Piggy. The officer turns away, embarrassed, while the other

boys await the cruiser in the distance.

Middlemarch by G.Eliot

Chapter 1:

The novel begins in the upper-class Brooke household in Tipton,

inhabited by Mr. Brooke and his two nieces, Dorothea and Celia. Dorothea

and her sister Celia are well-connected, sensible girls from a good family;

they believe in economy of dress and are rather mainstream in their beliefs

and behavior. Dorothea is drawn to sacrifice and grand, intellectual

things, while Celia has fewer aspirations in the world of academics and

religion. Their uncle, Mr. Brooke, is careful with his money, and rather

Puritan in his disposition, which Dorothea is also.

Two suitors, Sir Chettam and Mr. Casaubon, make visits to the house;

Sir Chettam likes Dorothea, but Dorothea believes he is more inclined

toward her sister. Celia has more sense than her sister, but Dorothea is

very steadfast in her Puritan ways.

Chapter 2:

Sir James and Casaubon are over for supper, with Sir James trying to

appeal to Dorothea, while Dorothea begins to admire Casaubon. Dorothea

hopes that Sir James will try to appeal to her sister Celia, rather than to

herself, and Dorothea continues her perverse fascination with Casaubon.

Chapter 3:

Dorothea continues to admire Casaubon, especially admiring his vast

studies and knowledge. She understands that Casaubon has some regard for

her, and feels honored, despite Casaubon's complete inability to show

emotion. She is blind to the fact that he wants to marry her to fulfill his

needs, and is taking advantage of her naivete in this decision. Casaubon

actually tries to show consideration for her in the things he chooses to

speak to her about, and in the way he regards her. Still, Dorothea's

refusal to see Casaubon as anything other than a beacon of knowledge and

good, and Sir James as an annoyance who is useful for carrying out her

plans, shows how her stubbornness blinds her in judging people's

characters, and in making important decisions as well.

Chapter 4:

Sir James has acted on Dorothea's plan, and made new, more pleasant

cottages for his poor tenants; Dorothea is still determined not to think

highly of him, though Celia is rather fond of Sir James. Dorothea admits to

her sister that she does not like Sir James, although he plainly likes her;

Celia cannot believe that Dorothea could so easily dismiss a man who loves

her. When Dorothea gets back, her uncle tells her that he went to visit

Casaubon, and Casaubon inquired about marrying Dorothea. Mr. Brooke is

against it, because of Casaubon's tendency to mope about and live in books;

but, when Dorothea says that she would accept Casaubon over Sir Chettam,

Mr. Brooke speaks diplomatically, while laying out before her the realities

of marriage. Though Dorothea listens, she does not seem to absorb all the

important things he says. Mr. Brooke has brought back a letter of proposal

to Dorothea, and she is determined to accept.

Chapter 5:

Dorothea reads Casaubon's letter, and is touched by it; she

immediately writes out an acceptance, taking the letter to mean that he

feels the same about her as she does about him. Celia has no idea what has

happened until Casaubon joins them all for dinner, and she, at least, knows

that her sister has made a serious mistake, and perhaps can be swayed from

it. Dorothea, however, is convinced that she has made the right choice;

Casaubon expresses happiness at their engagement, and Dorothea completely

overlooks his lack of passion.

Chapter 6:

Mrs. Cadwallader is finally introduced, a shrewd, somewhat

manipulative, and meddling woman whom Mr. Brooke has little affection for.

Mrs. Casaubon and Mr. Brooke talk politics for a little while, which Mr.

Brooke does not want to do; finally, Celia tells Mrs. Cadwallader that

Dorothea is going to marry Casaubon, which displeases Mrs. Cadwallader, a

great advocate for Sir James, greatly. Sir James finds out, and is greatly

displeased; but Mrs. Cadwallader tells him that Celia admires him greatly,

and won't give him as much trouble. Mrs. Cadwallader is the archetype of

the country woman, with her narrow interests, her meddling ways, and her

great concern in anything involving people she knows. Sir James is able to

conquer his disappointment, and realizes that courting Celia is what he

should begin to do.

Chapter 7:

Casaubon has exhausted his meager reserves of passion already, and

looks forward to married life, which he expects will be more pleasant and

fulfilled. Not once does he stop and consider his duties for Dorothea,

showing himself to be an unsuitable partner who will be hard-pressed to

make her happy. Dorothea is eager to begin learning, out of her own desire

to be able to understand and know things. Mr. Brooke cautions Casaubon that

Dorothea, as a woman, might not be capable of such learning; Dorothea

resents such talk, and tries to ignore it.

Chapter 8:

Sir James, in spite of Dorothea's engagement, begins to like visiting

the Grange, her home, once again; he is stung by her rejection, and cannot

understand her attraction to Casaubon at all. He goes to speak to Mr.

Cadwallader, a great friend, to clear his mind about this issue. Sir James

cannot help his great pride, but at least he is very civil to Dorothea, and

does not let his distaste for her marriage interfere with his plans to make

the cottages she proposed.

Chapter 9:

Dorothea gets her new home, Lowick, ready for her impending residence

there. The house is rather big, but not particularly cheery; in fact, it

rather resembles Casaubon in its looks. Dorothea, however, finds it

agreeable, as she finds Casaubon also; but, chances are, she will soon find

that she is mistaken, as the newness and novelty of this entire situation

wears off. Celia herself dislikes anything that Dorothea accepts, and as

such, dislikes Lowick and Casaubon equally.

Casaubon introduces the party to Will Ladislaw, his cousin; he

dislikes Dorothea immediately, because of the way she speaks poorly of

herself before others, and because she is marrying his sour, humorless

cousin. Will is young, rather handsome, and an artist as well; he seems

much better suited to Dorothea, though a better match than Casaubon is

certainly not hard to find. Ladislaw is without occupation, so Casaubon is,

reluctantly, providing for him; but Casaubon and his cousin seem not to get

along at all.

Chapter 10:

Ladislaw leaves suddenly for Europe; he has a view of life and work

completely opposed to Casaubon's, and is much more impulsive and full of

passion than his dull cousin. Casaubon, to his credit, does try to be more

joyful about his marriage, and to understand his young bride better; but,

he is fundamentally unsuited to this relationship, and cannot make himself

more amenable to it. They decide to go to Rome on their honeymoon, a

decision partially motivated by Casaubon's single-minded pursuit of

information, to the detriment of his fragile relationship with Dorothea.

Casaubon and Dorothea attend a local dinner party, where many of the

prominent citizens of the town are discussing their displeasure at Casaubon

and Dorothea's marriage, and the arrival of the new doctor, Lydgate. Many

of the townspeople prove completely pedestrian in their opinions, liking

decorative, weak-willed women, and disapproving of any experimentation,

especially relating to medicine. These are people who like routine and

tradition, and will be hard-pressed to accept any progress or any outsiders

in their community.

Chapter 11:

Lydgate, the new doctor, is already enamoured of Rosamond Vincy, the

mayor's daughter. She is attractive and affable, but he is not economically

set for marriage yet. Lydgate believes that women should be quiet,

obedient, and beautiful; he is not looking for a partner, but rather an

adornment, for a wife. Rosamond seems determined to escape from the tangled

web of Middlemarch marriages, in which case Lydgate seems suited to her.

Rosamond's brother, Fred Vincy, is an aimless young man who failed to get

his degree at college, and seems to do very little besides hang about the

house and bother his sister.

Chapter 12:

Fred and Rosamond travel to Stone Court, the house of their wealthy

uncle, Mr. Featherstone. Mrs. Waule, Mr. Featherstone's sister, is there;

and though she is also well off, she tries to get even more money from her

brother. Mary Garth is Mr. Featherstone's servant, and Fred admires her

very much. Mrs. Waule's visit is to lobby for more money in Mr.

Featherstone's will, and she tries to discredit Fred, of whom Mr.

Featherstone is very fond, by alluding to rumors about Fred's gambling

debts. Mr. Featherstone bothers Fred on this subject, and Fred insists he

has done nothing of the sort; Mr. Featherstone continues to shame and

embarrass Fred, and finally insist that he get proof in writing from

Bulstrode, who started this rumor, that it is indeed false.

Mary Garth is plain and amiable, and very honest and kind. Rosamond

continues to be supremely interested in Lydgate, whom Mary has met and does

not think terribly highly of. Lydgate and Rosamond finally meet, and it

seems like their romance has already been destined to occur.

Chapter 13:

Mr. Vincy goes to see Mr. Bulstrode at the bank on his son Fred's

behalf; Lydgate is already there with Bulstrode, talking about the

construction of a new hospital in town. Bulstrode likes Lydgate, and

expects that he will make reforms and improve medical care in the town, but

both are aware of the professional jealousy that will arise from Lydgate's

new position, if he is indeed elected as head of the hospital. Bulstrode,

for some reason, wants a man named Mr. Tyke to be chaplain of the new

hospital, in place of another man named Mr. Farebrother.

Mr. Vincy enters, and broaches the subject of Fred and his need for

Bulstrode's reassurances; Mr. Bulstrode does not want to be involved.

Bulstrode criticizes Fred's upbringing and personal qualities, making the

matter more personal than it needs to be. This matter is complicated by the

fact that Bulstrode and Vincy are brothers-in-law, and Vincy believes it is

Bulstrode's family obligation to comply, though Bulstrode does not.

Chapter 14:

Bulstrode writes out a letter to the effect that Fred has not borrowed

money on his inheritance from Featherstone, because his wife Harriet,

Fred's aunt, wishes him to do so. In fact, Fred is in debt, and is given

some money by Featherstone on the spot, though it is not enough to unburden

him. Fred is grateful, but not as grateful as he could be; Featherstone

takes pleasure in the fact that the young man depends on him for funds, and

uses this to threaten Fred as well. Fred tries to talk to Mary Garth, whom

he has feelings for, about his living and his feelings for her as well.

Mary is realistic about his prospects, and knows that he cannot marry until

he finds a living and a stable income.

Chapter 15:

Eliot begins the chapter with a bit of narration about the scope of

the book, and then begins to delve into Lydgate's background. Lydgate was

very intelligent as a young man, and fell in love with anatomy at a young

age. He is a hard worker, driven to succeed in his field and make

innovations, and to help people get better rather than make money, which

seems to be the focus of many doctors of the time.

Chapter 16:

Mr. Bulstrode's power becomes plain; as a banker, he has some control

over those he lends money to, and he defends people in return for certain

expected favors. There is a debate going on whether Bulstrode's choice of

Mr. Tyke for the chaplain's position at the hospital is indeed correct;

Lydgate, Mr. Vincy, Mr. Chichely, and Dr. Sprague debate this question,

with Mr. Vincy firmly supporting Farebrother. Lydgate is soon able to sneak

away and talk with Rosamond, whom he finds very refined and beautiful. He

meets Farebrother, whom he also finds agreeable. Lydgate is in no hurry to

marry, since he has no money yet; but he will certainly keep Rosamond in

mind in the meantime. Rosamond, however, is sure that Lydgate is in love

with her; and, with little else to think about, she sets her mind on

marrying Lydgate.

Chapter 17:

Lydgate goes to see Farebrother at home, and observes his domestic

situation. Farebrother's mother engages Lydgate in a debate about changes

in religion, which Farebrother and Lydgate seem to espouse. Farebrother is

a man of science, like Lydgate; they get along well, which makes Lydgate

question Bulstrode's championing of Mr. Tyke even more. However,

Farebrother is knowledgeable about Middlemarch politics, and knows that

Lydgate must vote with Bulstrode if he wants to get ahead; Lydgate listens

to this advice, but wants to vote with his conscience instead.

Chapter 18:

Lydgate is compelled to vote for Farebrother, at the expense of any

help from Bulstrode; he debates this with himself, and the outcomes of

either decision. Lydgate wants to secure Farebrother the much needed money,

but also wants to keep in Bulstrode's good graces, and knows that Tyke

might be better suited to the position. The voting meeting begins, with

Lydgate still waffling; people have their various reasons for voting for

Farebrother or for Lydgate, and they all vary widely. Lydgate finally

decides upon Mr. Tyke.

Chapter 19:

Dorothea is at last in Rome on her honeymoon, and Will Ladislaw is

there too, spotting her but not daring to approach. Will's friend, Naumann,

is there too, is taken with her beauty and wants to paint her picture; Will

is still under the influence of his negative first impression of her, and

does not want to see her at the risk of finding her as unpleasant as he

suspects.

Chapter 20:

Dorothea is in shock by the combination of lately having become a

wife, being in a place so foreign to her as Rome, and being completely

alone, with the absence of her husband due to his study. Dorothea appeals

to her husband to let her help, so that he may get his work finished and

published; in her desperation for some emotional response, she sobs, which

immediately makes Casaubon even more remote. Casaubon wants her support and

affection, which she is giving him, but not in the way he wishes. They have

a fundamental communication block, which upsets both of them, especially

since it is their honeymoon. Casaubon continues his studies, and nothing is

resolved.

Chapter 21:

Just as Dorothea is beginning to despair again, Will Ladislaw comes to

visit her. Will is surprised to find that she is nice, friendly, and far

better than his dried-up old cousin could ever deserve; Will's bad first

impression is proven completely wrong. They discuss art, which Dorothea

can't understand; Will admits that he has not found his calling in art, and

Dorothea is bewildered by his ability to be at leisure all the time. Will

also realizes that Dorothea holds Casaubon in unnaturally high regard; he

resents this, and wants to get her to realize how she is mistaken. Casaubon

returns home, and is not pleased by his cousin's presence. Nevertheless, he

invites Will back, and Dorothea senses that she has found a valuable

friend.

Chapter 22:

Will impresses Dorothea with the way he is able to listen to Casaubon

and make him feel at ease; Will is also able to engage Dorothea in the

conversation, and draw some statements out of her that make Casaubon proud

of his well-spoken wife. Will gets Casaubon to agree to bring Dorothea to

the studio; once there, Naumann gets Casaubon to sit as a model for Thomas

Aquinas, which allows Naumann to also paint Dorothea without Casaubon

feeling slighted. Will goes to visit Dorothea later, when Casaubon is not

at home; they speak, and Will tells her plainly that she will not be happy

with Casaubon, and that her piety is completely unnatural.

Chapter 23:

Fred still has a debt to pay, and the money he got from Featherstone

will not cover the balance; even worse, his dear Mary's brother, Caleb, co-

signed on Fred's debt and will be held responsible if he defaults. Fred

decides to make money to pay his debt by speculating on horses;

unfortunately, he buys a horse that lames itself in a stable accident, and

has even less money with which to pay his debt. Fred is a fool to risk all

that he has on such an uncertain plan; but the boy is slow to learn, and

cannot help himself.

Chapter 24:

Fred finally feels very sorry about his debt, and the fact that he has

only fifty pounds and five days to pay up. Fred is most sorry because

Mary's father is going to have to pay, and he feels this will jeopardize

his chances with Mary. Fred goes to the Garth household to tell Caleb

Garth, whose wife is very fond of Fred, but probably will not be after he

tells her. Mrs. Garth is teaching her children their lessons in the

kitchen, and Fred sits down and tells her and Mr. Garth the news. Mrs.

Garth will have to give up the money she was saving to send her son to

school; Fred feels terrible, as he should, knowing that his

irresponsibility is costing them so much. Mr. Garth knows then that he was

a fool to trust Fred, and they believe that there is little chance Mary

will regard him so highly when she finds out.

Chapter 25:

Fred goes to Stone Court to tell Mary the news; he is not as repentant

as he should be, and wants comforting words from Mary about his

irresponsibility. He still doesn't see the entire magnitude of what he did;

he tries to rationalize things with his good intentions, and by claiming

that he is not so bad, compared to what other people do. Mary is upset, and

says that she cannot trust him, and that he should be more sorry for what

he did. Caleb comes later, to ask for whatever she has saved up; Mary gives

it gladly. Caleb Garth is worried that his daughter has some feelings for

Chapter 26:

Fred is foolish enough to go back in search of his old horse, and ends

up with an even worse one. He soon becomes ill, and after their regular

doctor tries to help and fails, Lydgate is brought in and says he has

scarlet fever. Mr. and Mrs. Vincy get angry at their regular doctor, Mr.

Wrench, for failing to catch such a serious illness; Mr. Wrench is in turn

angry at Lydgate for interfering, and very uncivil to the new doctor.

Rumors spread about the confrontation between Mr. Wrench and the Vincys,

and between Mr. Wrench and Lydgate. Various opinions and stories surface

about the alleged scuffles, leaving everyone worse off as subjects of

untrue gossip.

Chapter 27:

Mrs. Vincy becomes completely consumed by Fred and his illness, to an

unhealthy extent; Lydgate is around the house frequently, and sees a good

bit of Rosamond as well. Lydgate's attentions to Rosamond are causing some

resentment in the neighborhood, as rivals for her affection become jealous

of him; Rosamond continues to believe that Lydgate is in love with her and

intends marriage, while Lydgate merely enjoys her pleasant company. At the

end of the chapter, Lydgate receives a summons from Sir James Chettam, who

he has not attended to before.

Chapter 28:

Dorothea arrives at Lowick with her husband in January, after their

honeymoon. Dorothea, who had been so dejected during their honeymoon, feels

revived by being home, in familiar surroundings. However, she is still

haunted by the knowledge that her vision of marriage is yet unfulfilled,

and the depressing atmosphere of Lowick. Her sister Celia finally arrives,

brightening up the place with her presence; Celia tells Dorothea of her

engagement to Sir James, and Dorothea is very happy for her sister.

Chapter 29:

Mr. Casaubon's beliefs about marriage are reiterated; he wanted to

marry someone young and impressionable, so that she would be pleasant and

able to help him with his work and be taught by him. He also believed that

marriage would make him happy for the first time; but marriage could never

instantly change his disposition, and his hopes for his union were too

high, as were Dorothea's. Casaubon and Dorothea have a bit of a tiff, as

Casaubon tells her that he does not want Ladislaw to visit, and Dorothea

resents the condescending and mean-natured tone he takes with her. Casaubon

is weakened, and Dorothea strengthened by this altercation; it seems like

this relationship is going to make her stronger, though it will definitely

not work out.

Chapter 30:

Lydgate comes to check on Casaubon, and cannot find anything

immediately wrong; he asks that Casaubon give up his studies for the time

being, and focus on leisurely pursuits. Dorothea is informed as to the

details of whatever ails Casaubon; Lydgate says that he must be kept from

any stresses, or else his condition might be aggravated, and his life cut

short. Dorothea is sad, but not sure exactly what to think; Ladislaw is

supposed to be arriving there in a few days, and she asks Mr. Brooke to

write Ladislaw a letter saying that Casaubon is ill, and not to visit. Mr.

Brooke does write a letter, but the contents are nothing like Dorothea

intends; Mr. Brooke invites Ladislaw, and also proposes that he might work

for Mr. Brooke's newspaper, since Mr. Brooke has been favorably impressed

with what he has heard.

Chapter 31:

Lydgate and Rosamond become closer, as Lydgate is about to be sucked

into a relationship which he is unprepared for because of the nature of

Middlemarch society. Mrs. Bulstrode and Mrs. Plymdale gossip about

Rosamond's pride, and how Lydgate might suit her; Mrs. Plymdale thinks that

the match would be unwise for Lydgate, since Rosamond has expensive habits,

and Mrs. Bulstrode goes to speak to Rosamond out of concern. When Mrs.

Bulstrode sees Rosamond and her fine garments, she knows that Mrs. Plymdale

was at least right about that one point. Mrs. Bulstrode speaks to her,

telling her that if she marries Lydgate, she will not be able to keep her

expensive habits; Rosamond admits that he has made no offer of marriage to

her, and seems intent on ignoring her aunt's good advice. Then, Mrs.

Bulstrode approaches Lydgate, and tells him that he should not press his

advantages as a romantic-seeming outsider with the Middlemarch girls;

Lydgate sees that others believe him to be engaged to Rosamond, and wants

to avoid marriage at all costs.

However, Lydgate ends up going by the house after an absence of two

weeks, to deliver bad news about Mr. Featherstone's health; Rosamond cries

when she sees him again, and this display of affection touches him enough

to abandon his plans and reasonable thinking, and propose to her. Rosamond

accepts, and they are engaged.

Chapter 32:

Mr. Featherstone's relatives begin to pop out and appear, and all

expect that he will die soon, and will leave them some bit of money, since

he is their rich relation. They all expect that he should do something for

them, that he owes them money because they are relatives; they do not

consider that they have done nothing for him, but are like vultures

circling, waiting to pick up his money once he dies.

Mr. Featherstone wants to see none of the greedy, crowding relatives;

Mary Garth has to try and turn them away, but doesn't have the heart for

the task. Mrs. Vincy hovers around, sure that Fred will receive most of the

property and money anyway, as Featherstone regards and treats them so much

better than his other relatives. Trumbull, an auctioneer and assistant to

Featherstone in business matters, is the other person who Featherstone

shows any regard for; on the basis of behavior alone, it would seem that

these people would receive most from Featherstone's will. Mary Garth must

put up with the various visitors and their varying degrees of rudeness, but

manages to stay calm and make the constant crush of daytime visitors as

comfortable as she can.

Chapter 33:

Mary Garth is sitting with Mr. Featherstone at night, as she usually

does, reflecting on the events of the day, and sitting in silence, for the

most part. She figures that the issue of Featherstone's will shall

disappoint everyone involved. Mr. Featherstone suddenly tells her to open

the chest with his will in it, and burn one of them; Mary refuses, even

when she is offered a sizeable amount of money to do so. Mary is scared of

his sudden energy, and does not think that he is in his right mind; Mr.

Featherstone drifts off to sleep, and by the morning he is dead.

Chapter 34:

Mr. Featherstone is finally buried, with many relatives whom he did

not like there; the occasion is a rather expensive one, for although

Featherstone was miserly in many respects, he liked to show off his money

when it could impress many people. Dorothea and Celia, along with Sir

James, watch the proceedings from their house, as he is being buried at the

church that is on Casaubon's land. Will Ladislaw appears again, and Mr.

Brooke reveals that Will is his guest, and has brought the picture that

Casaubon sat for in Rome. Casaubon is shocked and upset, and Mr. Brooke

explains that he wrote to Ladislaw when Casaubon was ill, not Dorothea; Mr.

Brooke continues to speak of his fondness for Will, as Casaubon tries to

hide his displeasure, and Dorothea becomes alarmed.

Chapter 35:

The funeral is over, and people are waiting anxiously for the will to

be read and the sums they are to receive to be announced. There is a

stranger among them, though, who makes them nervous; his name is Rig, he is

in his early 30's, and no one is quite sure of who he is or where he comes

from. A lawyer is there, named Standout, who went through the will with two

witnesses; he reads through the two wills that Featherstone left, regarding

the last one as the most correct. Mary Garth is nervous, and somewhat

excited, since her refusal to burn one of the documents has led to this

outcome. The first leaves Fred a good bit of money, and gives something to

most of the relatives; the second, which is considered the correct one,

gives everything to Mr. Rig, who doesn't seem surprised.

Upon hearing this, many of the relatives start complaining about the

expense of traveling to the funeral, and how they should not have come if

they were to get nothing. Mrs. Vincy cries, and Fred seems upset as well,

to have a large bequest announced, and then taken back. No one seems very

fond of Mr. Rig, who takes the name Featherstone as requested in the will.

But, it seems that all the greedy relatives, and the expectant Vincys, have

all rotten their just desserts; the Garths could have been better served,

but overall, people do get exactly what they deserve.

Chapter 36:

Fred is sorely disappointed with not getting any money; he expected

that he would get a large amount, and would not have to work. Now, he will

likely have to join the clergy, or find some form of work; he will finally

have to stop being idle, as his father will tolerate his idleness no

longer. Mr. Vincy also says that Rosamond will have to postpone her

marriage, until the family are in a better position to pay for it; Mrs.

Vincy, Fred, and Rosamond are all spendthrifts, expecting that the money

they need will somehow drop into their laps. Rosamond takes the issue up

with her father, and he caves in; Mr. Vincy doesn't have the heart to stand

up to his daughter, though she clearly needs some reasonable advice on the

subject of her marriage.

It seems that only Mrs. Bulstrode knows better on the subject of

Rosamond and Lydgate's engagement; she knows how difficult it will be for

Rosamond to live on little money, and how extravagant she is, and how ill

prepared Lydgate is to live with a flighty girl like her. However, no one

will listen to her; her advice, though it will prove correct, is unheeded.

Rosamond tells Lydgate that her father wishes their marriage to be

postponed; Rosamond says that she refused, not so much out of love for

Lydgate, but out of stubbornness. Lydgate urges her that they be married

soon; Rosamond agrees to six weeks, and manages to convince her father.

Lydgate soon starts buying new things for the house, though he has little

money to do so; already, he is spending beyond his means, a dangerous

habit. They will go to his uncle's estate for their honeymoon; he is a

baronet, and wealthy, which boosts Lydgate's hopes for a better position.

Chapter 37:

Middlemarch politics assert themselves once again, in the rivalry of

the two papers of the region. It is revealed that Mr. Brooke has bought one

of the papers, The Pioneer, and has inserted his unorthodox political views

into it. Will Ladislaw has been hired to head the paper, and Mr. Brooke is

very pleased with his work, and his coverage of the Middlemarch political

situation. Casaubon continues to resent Will, and Will grows more angry

that Casaubon married someone as young and naive as Dorothea, dragging her

down into Casaubon's dull, dry world of academia. Will's affection for

Dorothea continues to grow, and Dorothea becomes more and more fond of Will

in return.

Will goes to Lowick to sketch; luckily for him, it begins to rain, and

when he takes refuge in the house, he finds only Dorothea at home. They

begin to speak as they did in Rome, very happy to be alone in each other's

company; Dorothea becomes more aware of her husband's failings, but also

learns of his generosity toward Will's family. Will tells Dorothea that he

has a job at Mr. Brooke's paper, if he wants it; Dorothea says she would

like him to stay in the neighbourhood very much, but then realises that

Casaubon would disagree with her.

Dorothea tells Casaubon, who of course is not in the least supportive.

Casaubon writes Will a letter, telling him he should not take the position,

nor should he call at the house any longer. Casaubon's letter seems to be

motivated not out of embarrassment for having a relative of lower status

nearby, but out of some jealousy perhaps for his friendship with Dorothea.

Dorothea becomes consumed by the case of Will's grandmother, and her unfair

disinheritance when she married; she believes that Will is owed a good part

of what Casaubon has because his family was impoverished unfairly, and

wants to bring that up to Casaubon, though it will upset him.

Casaubon is not suspicious that Dorothea is being influenced by Will,

but he thinks that it might happen; his insecurity and jealousy lead him to

contrive secret hindrances for Will. He dislikes his cousin more than ever,

because he imagines that Dorothea would like Will more than she likes him.

Chapter 38:

Mr. Brooke is making enemies through his advocacy for the Whig party,

when Middlemarch is a predominantly conservative, Tory area. Bulstrode is

allied with Brooke politically, but many of the neighbors disapprove,

including Sir James. Sir James, Mrs. Cadwallader, and others are gossiping

about Brooke and Will Ladislaw, Brooke's need to take care of his parish,

and other subjects. Brooke comes by, in the middle of being discussed; they

inquire about the state of his tenants, attacks that have been made on him,

etc.

Brooke, however, does not wish to enter into any arguments, or listen

to see if they do have any valid points to make amid the rumors they are

discussing. Brooke runs out quickly, and the others wish that maybe he

could see if he was doing something wrong, and act on that.

Chapter 39:

Sir James becomes more judicious in his appraisal of Brooke's

situation, and decides that Brooke needs to invest in improvements for his

tenants if he wants to evade the scathing criticisms of the other

Middlemarch paper, The Trumpet. Dorothea is the key to convincing him,

figures Sir James, since she is a great advocate for improvements. Dorothea

goes to visit her uncle, and Will Ladislaw turns out to be there; she tells

her uncle that Sir James told her that Tipton was to be managed by Caleb

Garth, and improvements made. Dorothea is very passionate that this should

be done; however, her uncle will not commit. She and Will find a moment

alone, to explain a bit more of themselves; Will seems to be falling in

love with her, as their relationship becomes stronger.

Mr. Brooke goes to visit a tenant whose son has been poaching on Brooke's

land, and is chastised by the tenant. Brooke, who liked to fancy himself a

favorite of his tenants, is shocked; also, the house looks worse now that

Dorothea has made her criticisms. It looks like Mr. Brooke will give in,

and turn the management of the estate over to Mr. Garth after all.

Chapter 40:

Focus moves to the Garths, who are gathered at the table, reading

letters. Mary is looking for another position, and has decided to take a

place at a school in York, though it does not please her, or her parents,

too well. However, Mr. Garth reads a letter from Sir James that asks him

whether Mr. Garth would start managing Freshitt, and mentions that Mr.

Brooke might want his services again as well. This would double the Garths'

income, and means that Mary can stay at home; but Mr. Garth will need an

assistant, and none of his sons are in the position to do so. The whole

family is happy, Caleb Garth most of all because he will be able to do good

work to help even more people.

Mr. Farebrother comes to visit; he has some interest in Mary Garth,

and also likes to visit and spend time with the family. He has been talking

to Fred Vincy, and informs them of Fred's situation, telling them Fred is

going back to study, and still cannot pay off his debt to them.

Chapter 41:

It is not long since Mr. Rigg Featherstone has gained the estate of

Stone Court, and already there is word that he wishes to sell the place to

Mr. Bulstrode. It is revealed that Mr. Rigg is Featherstone's illegitimate

child, who was brought up far away from Middlemarch, with very little

money. Someone named John Raffles is there, his mother's new husband; he

wants money to start a tobacco shop from Mr. Rigg's new-found fortune. Rigg

refuses, because Raffles, he alleges, was very cruel to him as a child,

took money from his mother, and left them poor and miserable. He says that

he will continue to send his mother an allowance, but will give Mr. Raffles

nothing. Rigg gives him money to get back home, and some liquor, but not

before Mr. Raffles makes use of an important paper, signed by Mr.

Bulstrode, to keep his flask from falling apart.

Chapter 42:

Lydgate is at least back from his honeymoon with Rosamond, and is

immediately called to Casaubon, whose health seems to be getting worse. He

is also haunted by the idea that he has never been given credit for his

studies, and that the Key to All Mythologies will never be finished; he is

starting to admit that he has failed in his life-long project. Casaubon is

disappointed also with Dorothea; she does all her duties as a wife, but he

suspects that she is critical of him secretly, and this disturbs him a

great deal.

Casaubon's vitriol against Will, and against Dorothea's suspected

affection for Will, takes him over; he concedes to write a passage into his

will "protecting" Dorothea from marrying eager, potentially deceptive

suitors like Will. Lydgate finally arrives, and Casaubon asks that he be

told exactly what his condition is. Lydgate tells him that he has a heart

ailment, but cannot be sure that it will cut his life short, or have any

immediate effect. Lydgate goes once Casaubon has heard enough, and Dorothea

comes out to fetch him; he withdraws from her, and soon she becomes angry

at him for treating her so. Dorothea realizes that she has reduced herself

in order to try and please him, but he seems to be satisfied with nothing;

she is tired of not being herself, and resents him greatly. However, when

he says that he needs her help, she forgets her anger, and goes to join

him.

Chapter 43:

Dorothea decides to seek out Lydgate, and ask him if there has been a

serious change in her husband's condition, or else why he has been so

troubled since Lydgate's visit. She goes to his house, and finds Rosamond

there; but Will is also there, which makes Dorothea panic, and she

immediately leaves to find Lydgate at his hospital. Will fears that

Dorothea will think badly of him because she has found him in the company

of another woman, and not totally devoted to her; but she acted the way she

did because she likes him, and knows that her husband doesn't approve of

the friendship, and that it is some kind of betrayal as well.

Rosamond begins to get ideas about perhaps attracting other admirers, in

order to appease her vanity, and allay her fears about Lydgate's fondness

for her growing weaker. It seems like she might try to win Mr. Ladislaw's

affections, and seems a little jealous that he likes Dorothea rather than

her. She also seems to suspect that maybe her husband has a soft spot for

Dorothea, and that might have been part of the reason she was searching for

Lydgate.

Chapter 44:

Dorothea finally talks to Lydgate, and Lydgate tells her that Casaubon

now knows about his condition, and he is probably upset by it. Lydgate

turns her attention to the new hospital; Bulstrode has been one of the few

supporting it, and so many are against the hospital because they do not

like Bulstrode. Dorothea says that she would like to do something for such

a good cause, and pledges money from her yearly allowance; she is happier

that she is able to make a significant contribution, but still her

husband's illness and behavior bother her.

Chapter 45:

Lydgate's practice seems to be at the mercy of rumor, hearsay, and

general sentiment; people go to him because they have heard about "miracle

cures" that he has done, or stay away because they have heard he is

newfangled, and they like their present practitioner just fine. The

backward Middlemarch way of doing and deciding has helped Lydgate's

reputation and practice to spread, but opinion could turn against him just

as rapidly, and dry up his practice. Lydgate is unlucky enough to come into

Middlemarch at a time when old ways are becoming contested in other

regions, and reforms have started to creep into Middlemarch as well; a few

believe that maybe his way is best, but others have been roused to defend

the old, and are more militant about this point than usual. Lydgate is also

disliked because he has taken on cases from other doctors, given a

different diagnosis, and been able to cure them; this wounds the vanity of

the old-guard doctors, and increases their personal dislike for Lydgate.

Mr. Bulstrode is on the side of progress, with Lydgate; this means

that many prominent, wealthy citizens, who dislike both Bulstrode and

innovation, refuse to donate to the new hospital. Lydgate is becoming too

closely tied to the widely disliked Bulstrode that his reputation is

beginning to suffer; Farebrother tells him so, and hopefully Lydgate will

distance himself some. Farebrother also warns Lydgate against having too

many debts.

Lydgate thinks that he might be among the great innovators of

medicine, and this necessitates making enemies, and having opinion turn

against you; in this, he is a little conceited, since there is no way he

can claim an advance as great as those of his hero, Vesalius. It is fine

for Lydgate to try and change the outdated medical practice around him; but

his egotism and his visions of greatness could easily hamper his progress,

and get him into even more trouble with his peers and patients.

Chapter 46:

An issue of reform is coming before Parliament, which Will supports,

and Brooke decides to as well. Will seems to have a good deal of insight

into British national politics, as he can make sense of issues and

candidates, and make a convincing case for his opinion. Mr. Brooke,

however, doesn't seem to be able to put his thoughts in a convincing

argument; he is rather flippant in setting out his opinion, and is easily

swayed by Ladislaw's better-formed opinions. Will is not winning any fans

because of his unconventional behavior and views, as most people dislike

his speeches and his writing because they are different.

Will wants Mr. Brooke to be elected to Parliament; however, with the

uncomplimentary way in which Mr. Brooke is regarded in much of the

neighborhood, this is unlikely. Will is perhaps a bit idealistic in

believing that Mr. Brooke could actually win; he might assume that the

citizens of Middlemarch are more sensible than they really are, in which

case his plans would fail. Lydgate makes some points about area politics

that perhaps he should take into account regarding his own situation; the

two argue for a bit about these political issues, then Ladislaw leaves

after they have tried to patch things up.

Chapter 47:

Will, who cares little what people think, stops to consider how his

employment with Mr. Brooke, and his involvement with Mr. Brooke's politics,

might be hindering him and making him look foolish. Even more important is

whether he really is a fool for following along with Brooke; Will does

think that the relation has cost him some of his dignity and individuality.

All the same, he wants to stay in Middlemarch, at that position, in order

to be near Dorothea; but he considers whether he is a fool with her too,

and his hopeless devotion will amount to nothing if he gains no proof that

she shares his affection.

Will has also become aware of what his cousin Casaubon thinks of him

being friends with Dorothea; he knows that Casaubon might think that Will

means dishonor in his interest in her, but Will really does not. Will

decides to go to Lowick church to see her, aware that Casaubon will be

upset. However, his doubt is only reinforced; Dorothea shows no happiness

to see him, instead seeming pained; Will is saddened by the whole affair,

and seems close to calling it quits on the whole affair.

Chapter 48:

Dorothea is actually happy that Will showed up at church, and wishes

for his company, since she is often alone at home. Dorothea is not allowing

her husband's disapproval to stifle her feelings for Will, though it will

be difficult for her to see him. Casaubon is, all of a sudden, requesting

Dorothea's help with his studies, and being kinder to her; perhaps this is

a result of his talk with Lydgate, and he wants to get his work in order

finally, and be on better terms with his wife, in case he dies suddenly.

However, Casaubon next asks her if she will follow his wishes for her after

he dies, whenever that is; Dorothea has to consider, since she is reluctant

to promise to do something, when she does not know what it is. She secretly

suspects that it may have something to do with Will, but consciously

considers that it has to do with finishing Casaubon's work, which she does

not want to devote years to.

However, before she can make an answer, Casaubon dies. Dorothea is at first

in denial, and tells Lydgate everything, and to tell her husband that she

has an answer. It might be a good thing for her that she does not have to

hold herself to any answer she made; but she still does not know what

Casaubon's wish was.

Chapter 49:

Sir James and Mr. Brooke are supposedly discussing Casaubon's last

wish; they decide that whatever was in the will should be hidden from

Dorothea until she is strong enough to hear of it, and until then she

should be with her sister and her new baby. Sir James wants Will sent out

of the country, which means that he had something to do with Casaubon's

last wish; Mr. Brooke refuses to act so hastily, since Will has done very

good work for him. They reveal that Casaubon added a codicil to his will,

saying that if Dorothea marries Will, she will forfeit the land and money

that Casaubon has left to her. The whole thing looks very bad, as if there

was something sordid going on between Will and Dorothea. Sir James and Mr.

Brooke come to the conclusion that if they sent Will away, it would make

the situation look worse, and that they could not make him go unless he

wanted to. Sir James is bent upon protecting Dorothea now however, as he

could not do with her first marriage; she will be sent to Freshitt to live

with Sir James and her sister for a while, and then more will be decided

later.

Chapter 50:

Dorothea is at Freshitt, but not a week has passed before she is

interested in the will, and what she will do with Lowick. She insists on

going to Lowick, to look after the papers; after Mr. Brooke tells her she

cannot, Celia finally tells her about the codicil, and tries to soothe her.

Dorothea realizes how her life is changing, and wants to be with Will even

more.

Dorothea still has the problem of what to do with Lowick, and the

vacant position at the church; she thinks of giving it to Mr. Tyke, but

Lydgate recommends Farebrother, and says to ask Will about his character.

Dorothea decides to give him a try, and wonders how Will is faring through

all of this.

Chapter 51:

Will is upset, because Mr. Brooke is no longer inviting him to the

Grange, and he feels that maybe he is being avoided out of concern for

Dorothea. Still, he has heard nothing about the will yet. Will believes

that he and Dorothea are divided forever; still, he cannot leave

Middlemarch, because he needs to help Mr. Brooke get ready for the coming

election. Mr. Brooke is running for the Independent party, and needs Will's

help if he is able to have a chance.

However, Mr. Brooke's main speech goes terribly; he is mocked and

egged, hung in effigy, and is disgusted so much by the whole thing that he

quits the election. He also decides to quit the paper too, and urges Will

to do the same. However, Will has been thinking on his future; he will

become a political writer, raise himself up, if he knows that Dorothea

would marry him after he achieved these things. He decides to seek some

sign from her, and in the meantime, stay at the paper. He has some idea

that Mr. Brooke and others are trying to get rid of him for Dorothea's

sake, but will not go unless she doesn't care for him.

Chapter 52:

Farebrother finds out that Dorothea has given him the living at

Lowick; he is glad since this will increase his income, and give him more

freedom in his living. His sister will now be allowed to marry, as they can

afford a dowry, and Farebrother too can afford to have a wife. However, the

only woman he wants to marry is Mary Garth; and Fred in newly back from

finishing college, and wants nothing more than for Mary to love him.

Farebrother, as Fred's confidant in this situation, does a very good job of

being impartial, giving fair advice without the prejudice of his own heart.

However, it pains Farebrother that the only woman he would like to marry is

marked for someone else, who is less stable and responsible than he.

Fred thinks that he might have to go into the clergy, since he can

think of no other profession to join. However, he knows that Mary is

against this; so, he recruits Farebrother to go and speak to her about all

of this, so that he might know what he should do. Farebrother does, and

speaks to her plainly, and fairly; Mary says that it would be wrong of Fred

to be in the clergy, but she would marry him if he found another stable

profession. Mary says that she will remain single for Fred, and loves only

him; Farebrother's hopes are finally dashed, of which Mary is sorry, though

she has told the truth of her heart.

Chapter 53:

Stone Court has finally been transferred to Bulstrode, Rigg having

relieved himself of the estate and grounds. Bulstrode is not pleased that

Farebrother, rather than Tyke, is the new preacher at Lowick, but can do

nothing about it. Rigg's fate is not at Middlemarch, and so he departs with

little ceremony. Raffles comes to Stone Court, looking for Bulstrode, an

old acquaintance; he found out that Bulstrode took his stepson Rigg's place

at Stone court by the crumpled paper he took, and so has sought Bulstrode

out there. Bulstrode is displeased to see Raffles, and doesn't want anyone

to know that he is there, or the real purpose why.

It seems that Bulstrode and Raffles had some shady dealings a while

back, that Bulstrode does not want discovered. Bulstrode's family

connections are questionable as well, as Raffles knows; Raffles takes

advantage and asks Bulstrode for money, on threat of exposing him to

general knowledge. Bulstrode pays him off, and Raffles remembers that

Bulstrode is related to someone named Ladislaw whom he has not seen in

years‹but Raffles does not know who Will is, and also does not tell

Bulstrode.

Chapter 54:

Dorothea is tired of staying at her sister's, having nothing to do but

stare at Celia's baby, whom Celia worships, but Dorothea couldn't be more

indifferent to. She longs to get back to Lowick and set things in order;

her sister and Sir James do not believe she should go, but she is

determined to, because she can stand Celia's no longer. Others also wish

that Dorothea go to live with someone, so she should not be lonely, but she

refuses. She also refuses to finish Casaubon's work, since her interest in

it has been obliterated by his death, and before that his behavior toward

her.

Will finally does visit her, to see if she does have some affection to

encourage him with. Their meeting is heated, however, with both of them

being frustrated by not being able to admit their affection, and then their

pride clashing on the subject of their division from each other. Will

leaves, with Dorothea trying to show little emotion, especially because Sir

James is there, and disapproves of the whole relationship.

Chapter 55:

Dorothea seems more grieved at Will's departure than she was at her

husband's death‹and rightly so, for she loved Will more than she ever loved

her husband. She goes to Celia, where the company brings up the subject of

marriage; it is openly suggested that Dorothea marry again, though that is

the last thing Dorothea wishes. Dorothea decides to turn her attention

toward public projects again, and will ask Caleb Garth's help in achieving

her goals.

Chapter 56:

Mr. Garth and Dorothea prove to be natural allies on the subject of

improvements and social projects; Mr. Garth is very impressed With

Dorothea's determination and her great mind, though Mrs. Garth is more

concerned with her feminine virtues. Railroads are being built across

England, and this becomes a topic in Middlemarch as the trains grow closer.

Mr. Garth and Dorothea have nothing against them, and decide to sell an

outer part of Dorothea's land to the railroads for a good price. Some men

attack Caleb Garth and his assistant as they are doing some surveying for

the railroad; they are as afraid of the unknown as anybody, but Caleb

teaches them better.

Fred enjoys helping Caleb after his assistant is hurt; he asks Mr.

Garth if perhaps he would be able to learn his business, though Caleb Garth

believes that Fred is going to enter the clergy. Fred confides in him about

his trepidation about entering the clergy, and his love for Mary and wishes

to please her. Mr. Garth bears Fred no ill will about the debt he owes

them, nor is he upset at Fred being in love with Mary; he decides to

consult his wife about Fred becoming his helper, and about a possible match

between Fred and Mary. Caleb decides to bring Fred into the business, and

if he succeeds, then he is worthy of Mary as well. Fred tells his parents,

who are disappointed at Fred's waste of education. They also lament

Rosamond's marriage, which is seeming less attractive as Lydgate gets into

more and more debt.

Chapter 57:

Fred has gone to the Garths, to consult them about his change in

situation, and also to see if his wishes that Mary marry him are accepted

by the family, and Mary as well. However, Mrs. Garth is still not assured

of Fred's worth, and his character; yes, he means well, but he has never

held a stable job or proven himself to be responsible. Mrs. Garth is still

angry at Fred for the issue of his debt; but she cannot tell him directly,

so she admonishes him for being unfeeling of others, and of having no

regard for Farebrother's feelings for Mary too. Fred then thinks that it is

very possible that Mary prefers Farebrother to him, and that Mary will

become engaged to him; when Fred tells Mary this, Mary gets very upset at

him. Mary thinks the allegation unfair, and scolds Fred for his jealousy;

but, as many unpleasing qualities as Fred has, she cannot help but love

him, and still plans to be married to Fred.

Chapter 58:

She and Lydgate get a visit from his cousin, Captain Lydgate, which

thrills Rosamond; Lydgate thinks his cousin foppish and stupid, and would

rather him leave. Rosamond gets a little upset with Lydgate on this issue,

though Lydgate insists he is not the only one who dislikes his cousin.

Rosamond's baby is born premature because of an accident on a horse, and

dies soon after; she would not have been riding if she had listened to her

husband's advice, but stubbornly refused to listen to him. Lydgate is also

troubled by his growing debt, especially since it was incurred buying

things which he, though perhaps not Rosamond, could have done without.

Lydgate finally has to put up the furniture of the house as security

against his debt; he tries to speak to Rosamond about keeping expenses down

and buying less expensive things, but he is too soft-hearted to really tell

her anything. Rosamond proves to be very silly and naive, and even thinks

to herself that she would not have married Lydgate if she knew he was to

have little money, and that she could not have lived as she was used to.

Rosamond decides to go and ask her father for money, against Lydgate's

wishes; Lydgate is saddened that this issue will come up again and again,

and he will have to struggle to keep Rosamond from wasting too much money.

Chapter 59:

Gossip has gone around the neighborhood about the codicil in

Casaubon's will; Fred finds out about it from the Farebrothers, and then

proceeds to tell his sister. Rosamond is profoundly silly, and decides,

unwisely, to tease Will about knowing something he doesn't, then make a

joke of it all. Will grasps what she means to say, and gets the truth out

of her; Rosamond still tries to spin the whole thing in lighthearted way,

but Will is very upset, and perhaps understands more about Dorothea's

behavior.

Chapter 60:

Mr. Larcher, one of the wealthiest people in Middlemarch, is

auctioning off some furniture he does not need before he moves into a new,

bigger, furnished home. The event is like a carnival, with everyone in

Middlemarch in attendance; there is plenty of food and drink, drink

especially so that people might make higher bids for things. Not everybody

buys things, but everyone is there for this social, outdoor occasion

anyway. Will is asked by Mr. Bulstrode to go and acquire a particular

painting for him; Will goes, though he is determined to leave the town

soon. Still, Will does not want to leave without seeing Dorothea again, so

his departure will have to wait on that.

A good many things are sold before the particular painting comes up;

Will bids for the painting, and gets it for the Bulstrodes for a decent bit

of money. Mr. Raffles turns up there, having found Will Ladislaw by

inquiring somehow; Will is a bit put-off by him, and Mr. Raffles starts

speaking of Will's family. Will cannot tell what Raffles' intentions are,

so he gets away, and tries to forget about him; but it seems that Raffles

has some less-than-desirable stories to tell about Will's family, which

gives Will even more of a reason to leave, before stories like those could

besmirch his name even more.

Chapter 61:

Sure enough, Raffles has been back to Bulstrode's home, and refuses to

go away until Bulstrode sees him. Raffles finds Bulstrode at the bank, as

he tells his wife; but he is afraid to tell his wife much, lest she lose

her confidence in him. It is revealed that Bulstrode married Will's

maternal grandmother, after hiding from her that her daughter, Will's

mother, was alive and had a son that the grandmother's riches were supposed

to go to. However, Bulstrode prevented this from happening, for his own

sake; and when the woman died, Bulstrode was left with the entire fortune,

and Will and his mother with none. Bulstrode was also involved in various

questionable trades, and these are the things that could destroy his

reputation in Middlemarch. Bulstrode decides that he must do something to

satisfy fate, and slow his own demise; he decides to speak to Will

Ladislaw, and perhaps set things straight with him.

Will, however, is still unsettled by being approached by Raffles. He

is shocked to discover the tenuous relation between Bulstrode and himself,

and even more shocked when Bulstrode goes on to claim that he wants to be

generous toward Will. Bulstrode tries to make it sound as if he is doing

something out of generosity and his natural goodness, though it is more out

of guilt and the thought that this good deed might save him. However, Will

knows that Bulstrode made his money in a dishonest way, and is too proud to

accept money from him, especially since that money is tainted by

Bulstrode's wrongs. Bulstrode is saddened by the judgment on him, but is

aware that Will won't tell anyone.

Chapter 62:

Will sends a letter to Dorothea, saying that he cannot leave

Middlemarch until he has seen her again. He already declared that he was

leaving two months before, which is a point of suspicion with Sir James,

who guards Dorothea jealously. Dorothea, however, is out when the letter

comes, preparing for Mr. Brooke to come back to the Grange. She goes to

Freshitt, to speak to her sister and Sir James, and Sir James tries to take

the opportunity to dissuade Dorothea from seeing Will again. He and Mrs.

Cadwallader make a few unkind remarks about Will, which makes Dorothea

angry, and she goes home to find Will there, looking for some sketches he

had left.

Will tells Dorothea that he knows about Casaubon's will, and Dorothea

tries to reassure him that it had nothing to do with her wishes. Will gets

angry at her about the whole thing, and says that everything prevents him

from being with her. Dorothea realizes that he has acted honorably in every

possible way, and is glad for this; but still, she is unable to show any

signs that she loves Will, and he goes without this assurance.

Chapter 63:

Farebrother notices some talk of Lydgate's practice declining, how his

expenses much be more than he can really afford, and how he shouldn't have

married a girl of such fine tastes. Farebrother really makes nothing of

this talk, until he sees Lydgate again, and notices how nervous and strange

his friend is acting. All are invited to a dinner party at the Vincys, and

there seems to be some strain in Lydgate and Rosamond's marriage; she tries

her best to ignore him, and they are not speaking at all. Even Rosamond's

father is avoiding Lydgate. Farebrother, Fred, and Mary are all there,

which means that Fred is worried about Mary liking Farebrother; Mrs. Vincy

hopes that Farebrother and Mary will become engaged, because she doesn't

want such a plain girl as a daughter-in-law.

Chapter 64:

Lydgate's money situation is certainly not getting any better, and

Rosamond is very sour and inconsiderate whenever he mentions cutting down

household expenses. He begins to resent the fact that she will not learn

that they only have a limited amount of money, and cannot spend any more;

she pouts like a sullen child, and acts like he has all the money in the

world, he is only too mean to spend it on her. He decides that they should

sell the house and the furniture, and move somewhere cheaper to live;

Rosamond, of course, takes badly to this suggestion. Ned Plymdale is to be

married, and Ned's mother rubs in that Ned has a lot more money than

Lydgate, meaning that Rosamond was wrong to turn him down.

Rosamond decides to handle matters herself; she makes sure that the

house cannot be sold to Ned Plymdale as her husband wishes, and writes his

relatives for money without telling him. She tells her husband that she

stopped the sale of the house, but not about the letters; Lydgate realizes

that she will be unhappy if they move, and dreads that. He decides to apply

to his rich uncle for money, not knowing that his wife has already done so.

Chapter 65:

Lydgate finds out, from a letter written by his uncle Godwin, that

Rosamond wrote him for money behind his back. Lydgate is enraged that

Rosamond would do such a thing, and also because he was about to go to see

his uncle, and may have gotten some money, rather than a complete denial.

However, when Lydgate gets angry at her for deceiving him and playing him

false, she does what she always does‹look pretty, shed a tear, and act with

composure. Lydgate is weakened by this, meaning that he will always be in

debt, and will allow his wife to be selfish, stupid, and vain, even if it

means their financial ruin. Rosamond hits new lows of shallowness when she

proclaims that she would rather have died in childbirth than have to give

up her house and furniture.

Chapter 66:

Lydgate, out of desperation for money and foolish hope that some will

come to him, begins to gamble. Usually this is something which he treats

with contempt, but in the situation he is in, he decides to go to the Green

Dragon and play billiards. He is very good at first, winning a good bit of

money; Fred Vincy and a friend come in, and Fred is surprised, and

displeased, to find his brother-in-law there. Fred has been working hard

for six months and spending little, and figures he has a little bit to

spare at gambling; but when he sees Lydgate there, he thinks better of it.

Lydgate's luck changes and he begins to lose, and Fred is good enough to

draw him away, and suggest that they see Farebrother, who is right

downstairs.

Farebrother is there to speak to Fred rather than Lydgate; he tells

Fred not to slip back into his old ways, lest he lose Mary and his position

with Mr. Garth. He says that he, too, loves Mary, and that if Fred messes

things up this time, he is not sure to win Mary back. Farebrother does not

mean that he will steal Mary, he is simply warning Fred that he should try

to deserve her, and make her happy too. Fred takes the point, and hopefully

will try to be more careful and more devoted to her.

Chapter 67:

Luckily, after losing at the Green Dragon, Lydgate feels no more

desire to gamble. But, he is still in danger of losing his furniture

because of his debt, and decides that he must apply to Bulstrode for money.

Lydgate delays; and soon, Bulstrode has called on him to see to some health

concerns of his. Bulstrode is feeling unwell probably because of the

Raffles situation; but he also wants to speak of Lydgate about withdrawing

his support from the hospital and moving away. Mrs. Casaubon, he says,

would take his place as major supporter, though it would be best to merge

the old Infirmary with the new hospital. Lydgate objects, because he knows

that the people who run the Infirmary dislike him. Then, he takes the

plunge, and tells Bulstrode that he needs a thousand pounds to discharge

his debts and keep himself going; Bulstrode says that it would be better to

declare bankruptcy, which Lydgate resents. Lydgate is still left with no

way out, and his debt to the town tradespeople is very nearly due.

Chapter 68:

Raffles comes again to Bulstrode's, and Bulstrode must let him stay at

the house for fear that he might go into the town and tell people about

Bulstrode's story. Bulstrode tries his best to conceal who the man is and

what he is doing there from his wife, but he still causes alarm throughout

the household; his wife may not know exactly who Raffles is, but surely she

has some idea that he is a friend from Bulstrode's less honest past.

Bulstrode tells Raffles that he may get money from Bulstrode as long as he

does not come back to Middlemarch; he takes Raffles to a nearby town, gives

him money, and tells him to leave. He knows this might not be a permanent

solution, but it is the best that Bulstrode can come up with at this given

time.

Bulstrode tries to dispose of all his businesses and such, including

the bank; he also gives Caleb Garth the management of Stone Court in his

absence. Caleb, in turn, sees that it could be a good opportunity for Fred

to learn more about the business, and gain his own experience; Mrs. Garth

is a bit wary, but Caleb is decided. Fred is also allowed to live at Stone

Court while he manages it, and hopefully will be able to afford to wed Mary

sometime soon.

Chapter 69:

Mr. Garth comes to Bulstrode, to tell him that he found Raffles, very

ill, near Stone Court; Raffles asks for a doctor, but also told Mr. Garth

some things about Bulstrode. On account of these things, Caleb Garth says

that he can no longer manage any of Bulstrode's property, and must give up

the appointment to manage Stone Court as well. However, Caleb says, he will

not spread around anything that he heard. Bulstrode then believes that all

has happened with the aid of providence, and that Raffles might die, and

leave him in peace.

Lydgate sees Raffles, and determines that though the case is grave,

yet Raffles will probably survive. He decides that it must be a case of an

alcohol-caused disease, and that Raffles must be an odd charity case for

Bulstrode. There seems to be no escape from ruin for Lydgate; the furniture

is about to be taken for his debts, and his relationship with Rosamond is

in shreds because of it. Lydgate cannot stand Rosamond's repeated crying,

and blaming him for her unhappiness. Now, he wishes he had married a woman

of a like mind and spirit, so that their union might have survived this

setback; instead, he is chained to Rosamond, when the union can no longer

make either of them happy.

Chapter 70:

Bulstrode is with Raffles, tending to him according to Lydgate's

orders, though wishing at the same time that Raffles would just die and

leave him in peace. Bulstrode still thinks that fate is on his side, that

Raffles will die and he will be free; he is not sorry for anything he has

done, but is more intent on getting away with everything. Bulstrode decides

that maybe another "good" deed will save him; he decides to give Lydgate

the money he needs, thinking that this action will clear his conscience,

and in case Raffles says something unpalatable, Lydgate will be obligated

not to repeat it.

Raffles dies only a few days after coming to Bulstrode; Lydgate is

there when he dies, and does not think to say that perhaps neglect led

somehow to the man's death. Lydgate knows he is obligated to Bulstrode, and

he is uneasy about this fact, because of Bulstrode's visitor and his

demise. However, there is nothing else that he can do, since to renounce

Bulstrode's help would mean ruin. Farebrother senses that Lydgate is still

in a desperate condition, though his money woes are over. Lydgate admits as

much, though he is now in a better position to continue his career and

marriage.

Chapter 71:

It seems that Bulstrode has not effectively thwarted ruin; for

Bambridge has heard how Bulstrode gained his fortune, and is ready to tell

the lot of men at the Green Dragon. The story begins at this point to

spread around Middlemarch, with mention of Will Ladislaw's family and how

they were robbed by him too. When Bambridge mentions that the man's name

was Raffles, someone present remembers that the funeral of Raffles was only

the other day, that he died at Stone Court while Bulstrode was there. This

looks very bad for Bulstrode; Caleb Garth confesses that he ceased all

business with Bulstrode last week, which is taken as another proof of

Bulstrode's wrong behavior. Also, gossip about Lydgate suddenly being able

to pay his debt, but without aid from Rosamond's family, becomes public

knowledge. When it is found out that he was attending on Raffles while he

died, and that the money came from Bulstrode, it appears that Lydgate took

a bribe so that he wouldn't tell of any foul play that happened.

All of Middlemarch is buzzing with the gossip, and people wonder

whether Bulstrode can be legally stripped of his money for gaining it

through illegal and immoral means. People guess that Lydgate poisoned

Raffles, with the money as a bribe; all kinds of things are flying around,

and have been spread all through Middlemarch before Lydgate and Bulstrode

are even aware of it. Bulstrode is accused at a medical meeting, and again

tries to defend himself through his services to the town. But Middlemarch

opinion is against him, and believes Lydgate to be an accomplice. However,

Dorothea would not see Lydgate slandered if such things proved untrue, and

is determined to get the truth about the whole thing.

Chapter 72:

Dorothea is set on proving Lydgate innocent, though this may prove

difficult. Farebrother would certainly like to help, but he knows from the

alteration and desperation in Lydgate's character of late, that is it

completely likely that Lydgate did take the bribe, to save himself.

Farebrother does not blame Lydgate, but at the same time knows how good

people may be tempted, and fail. Sir James is definitely against Dorothea

having anything to do with this issue; but Dorothea is still determined to

do a good turn for Lydgate, especially after he helped her so much when her

husband died. Dorothea is not the sort of person to allow a friend to be

wronged, unless he is really guilty of what he is accused of.

Chapter 73:

Lydgate is now faced with the heavy task of exonerating himself, for

he stands accused among everyone in Middlemarch. He wants to be able to

stand up and say that he did not take a bribe from Bulstrode, and had no

complicity in Raffles' death. However, his conscience troubles him, since

he wonders if he would have acted differently in the situation had

Bulstrode not given him the money. Lydgate determines not to run from the

town's opinion, but to bear it with all possible strength; nothing he can

do can clear his name now that public opinion is set against him, so he

will have to weather it as best he can.

Chapter 74:

Now that Bulstrode and Lydgate have already been judged and condemned,

it is the time for the wives of Middlemarch to assess and judge how Mrs.

Bulstrode and Rosamond might be to blame as well. Mrs. Bulstrode is

acquitted of her husband's wrongdoing, because she is a good person, and

all wrongs were done before they were even married. Rosamond is also

pardoned for the most part, because she is also one of the Vincys, and has

married an "interloper," as the townswomen say.

It takes Mrs. Bulstrode a while to find out what has happened with

regard to her husband; she knows that he came home ill from the meeting,

and seems much disturbed, but Lydgate will certainly not tell her why. Only

through visiting her friends does she find out what has happened; her

brother tells her everything, and she goes home, troubled at the knowledge.

But though a light has been shed on her husband's character, she finds that

there is no way for her to forsake him. She determines to try and live with

him, and eventually to forgive him, though it will certainly be a long and

painful time.

Chapter 75:

It seems that Rosamond refuses to learn any lessons from her

situation; to appease her vanity, she starts to think of Will Ladislaw, and

imagines that he must love her instead of Dorothea, because she is so

beautiful and charming. She continues to blame her husband for her

unhappiness, not her rabid materialism; everything is someone else's fault,

and she is still a creature who is perfectly innocent of blame. She gets a

letter from Will, saying that he will be paying a visit sometime soon;

Rosamond is cheered up by this, and decides to send out invitations for a

dinner party. Of course, all invitations are denied, and Rosamond is still

ignorant as to the reason why; she goes to visit her parents, and they tell

her the terrible news. When she goes home, she tells her husband that she

has heard about everything; she then reiterates that they must go to

London, to lessen her suffering. He cannot stand to hear this, and storms

out, without taking the time to correct her or explain anything.

Chapter 76:

Dorothea wrote a letter to Lydgate, bidding him to come and visit her.

Against Mr. Brooke and Sir James' advice, she has decided to try and clear

Lydgate, if she can, and also to continue and support the hospital as well.

Lydgate begins to tell her the whole truth‹they are good friends, and often

feel that they can confide in each other. He tells her everything about the

situation with Bulstrode, the money, and his continuing reservations about

having taken it. Dorothea and Lydgate also speak of his troubles in his

marriage; Dorothea senses that there is much difficulty communicating in

their union, and decides to see Rosamond, and try to reassure her about her

husband's worth, if she can. Dorothea would like Lydgate to stay until the

negative opinion of him in the town diminishes; she would also like to see

the hospital continue, under his able leadership. Lydgate determines to

leave, since he has little faith that he would be able to do good at the

hospital. But, Dorothea is determined to have him stay and give him aid;

she decides to give him a thousand pounds to work at the hospital, and to

see Rosamond the next day.

Chapter 77:

Rosamond has written a letter to Will, trying to make his visit come

more quickly; she is still very unhappy with everything, and Lydgate has

tried to avoid her, lest he upset her in some way. Dorothea has been

thinking about Will a lot lately, as well; she still cannot help but think

that he might be in love with her, though she also defends his honor

fervently. Sir James and Mr. Brooke have tried to get her to see that Will

is lowly, and the fact that his grandparents were Jewish pawnbrokers,

though they were wealthy, means that his character is base. Dorothea, of

course, will hear nothing of this; although she is not sure what Will's

feelings toward her are, she is resolved to think the best of him.

However, when Dorothea gets to Rosamond's, she enters to find Rosamond

crying, and Will clasping her hands. This scene upsets Dorothea, and seems

to be proof that Will loves Rosamond, and not her. She rushes out, intent

on attending to other errands, but still very upset and bothered by what

has happened.

Chapter 78:

Will and Rosamond are shocked at being found, and in a way that would

look bad to Dorothea. Will realizes suddenly what Rosamond was trying to

do; Rosamond wanted it to look like Will loved her, and kept him around in

order to create this impression. He blows up at her, especially when she

tries her methods that usually work on Lydgate. But her ways of quietly

manipulating fail with Will; he gets very angry when she intimates that

Will loves her, and says that the only woman he loves, or could think of

loving, was Dorothea. Rosamond is very hurt, and her illusions and vanity

are finally shattered. Will was a bit harsh toward her, but this was a

lesson that she desperately needed, and hopefully it will do her good.

Chapter 79:

Lydgate puts Rosamond to bed, still not totally aware of what has

caused her distress. Will comes over, but Rosamond has not mentioned Will's

visit earlier in the day; Will makes no mention of it to Lydgate either.

Lydgate tells Will a bit of what has been going on, and that his name has

also been mixed up in the proceedings. Will is not surprised, and almost

does not care, because he thinks that Dorothea has already given up on him.

When Lydgate mentions Dorothea's name, he notices that Will has a very

peculiar reaction; he suspects that there is something between the two, and

in this, he is correct.

Chapter 80:

Dorothea goes over to the Farebrothers' house, which she does very

often; her visits keep her from being lonely, and also keep her from

criticisms that she needs a companion. But, when Will comes up, she

suddenly feels that she must leave; that evening, she finally realizes that

she loved Will, although she fears that this love has been lost. By the

morning, she has put aside all the remorse and anger of the previous

evening; she also begins to wear new clothes, symbolic of lesser mourning,

since it has been a year since Casaubon died. She resolves to go and see

Rosamond again, and to offer help as she meant to do the day before.

Chapter 81:

Dorothea finds Lydgate at home, and Lydgate thanks her for giving him

the money with which to pay his debt to Bulstrode. Dorothea is only too

happy to have been of service; she asks him in Rosamond is in, and finds

Lydgate completely unaware of what went on the previous day. Rosamond is

wary at the visit, but receives her anyway, and finds her quite different

from the day before, though perhaps troubled. Dorothea reassures her that

her husband is a good person, and is still welcomed in Middlemarch by

people of character and influence, like herself, Sir James, Mr. Brooke, and

Mr. Farebrother.

Dorothea then proceeds to speak about marriage, trying to address

Rosamond and Lydgate's marriage in the process. Dorothea hits on some of

her own sadness though, and her anguish at the whole debacle with Will

becomes apparent. Dorothea convinces Rosamond that Lydgate loves her very

much, and that she needs to give the marriage a chance, because she still

has his love; this cheers Rosamond up a bit, though her mind is still dazed

from the previous day. Rosamond feels that she should clarify the situation

with Will, so Rosamond tells her that Will was only there to explain that

he loved someone other than Rosamond, and always would. Rosamond tells her

this to try and exonerate herself somewhat, although Dorothea takes this

statement as an expression of sympathy and goodness on Rosamond's part.

Then, Lydgate enters, and the two part; neither can hold anything against

the other anymore, and both their minds have been eased.

Chapter 82:

Will debates with himself whether he should leave Middlemarch

altogether after the events of the previous day; in the end, he decides he

cannot leave after making some amends to Rosamond after her shock. He is

sorry that he got so angry at her, but at the same time, does not want to

come straight out and apologize‹especially since this would mean that he

would have to explain what happened to Lydgate, which is undesirable. Will

does end up going, and is as affable as he can be to Rosamond, without

betraying what went on before. Rosamond gives Will a note, saying that

Dorothea has been told the truth about what happened; Will is somewhat

relieved, but is worried about what might have transpired between Rosamond

and Dorothea.

Chapter 83:

Dorothea is too agitated to set herself at any one task; she tries to

memorize places on a map, before Miss Noble comes in, to greet her. Miss

Noble tells her that Will is there, waiting outside, to greet her; Dorothea

decides that she cannot turn him away, and has him sent into her. Dorothea

is a little formal in her greeting to Will; he still cannot fathom whether

she loves him or not. Will speaks to her carefully, hoping that she was not

offended by the gossip attaching him to Bulstrode; Dorothea, however, knows

that he has acted correctly in all things, and brightens up with affection.

Will tries to say goodbye, but then is affected by passion; he says they

cannot be together, yet it is a cruel thing. Dorothea decides that she

cannot let him go again; she would rather give up the wealth that Casaubon

has left her and go with Will, with the aid of her own fortune to support

them.

Chapter 84:

Mr. Brooke, Sir James, Celia, and the Cadwalladers are all assembled

at Sir James' home. Mr. Brooke has news to tell them of Dorothea and Will,

and their impending marriage. Sir James is very angry, and objects

strongly; he wants to try and protect Dorothea as he should have protected

her from her marriage with Casaubon, though this time she does not need

help. The others only consider Will's reputation and his money situation in

evaluating the worth of the union; everyone still has a great deal of

prejudice against Will, and much concern for Dorothea. Sir James sends

Celia to go and talk her, but Dorothea is steadfast in her decision. Celia

hopes for the best, though still, no one is very positive about the

marriage.

Chapter 85:

Bulstrode is getting ready to leave Middlemarch, since he cannot bear

the scorn and shame of being there any longer. His wife has been constant,

but at the same time, she has been worn down by grief and remorse in the

past few months. She would like to do something nice for her family before

she goes away; they decide to give the management of Stone Court to Fred,

and a decent income, so that he may be able to save some money.

Chapter 86:

Caleb Garth tells Mary that the Bulstrodes want Fred to manage Stone

court; Mary is very happy, though Mr. Garth is still not sure if Fred will

make her a good husband. He questions his daughter, about her love for

Fred, and whether she truly thinks she can spend her life with him; she

does not want to see his daughter make a huge mistake in marriage, if he

can help prevent it. But Mary knows what is right to do, and has a good

deal of sense; she will marry Fred, and they will probably be happy. She

tells Fred about the management of Stone Court, and he is very happy; they

will have to be engaged for a while so he can save money, but yet they are

content with their engagement.

Finale:

Mary and Fred did live happily ever after, with both of them

prospering and becoming very happy in their marriage. Fred buys Stone

Court, and they have three boys, two of whom resemble Fred, much to his

mother's relief. Lydgate and Rosamond kept on going, but were not

exceptionally happy. Lydgate was able to make a successful practice, but

was not happy because he never did make any of his beloved scientific

advances. Dorothea and Will were very happy together; Will goes into

politics, and becomes a member of Parliament. They have a boy, who becomes

the heir to Mr. Brooke's estate; the disastrous effects of disinheritance

are for once avoided. Sir James allows Celia to see her sister, and Will

and Dorothea make visits twice a year to Mr. Brooke's house. Dorothea is

not able to make the big, sweeping impact she desired; however, she was

able to spread happiness and have a wonderful family, and a very contented

life.

Oliver Twist by Ch.Dickens

Context

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812. When Dickens was twelve

years old, his father, mother, and siblings were sent to debtors' prison.

Dickens did not join them; instead, he worked at the Warren Blacking

Factory.

The horrific conditions in the factory haunted Dickens for the rest of

his life. In 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, but after twenty years of

marriage and ten children, Dickens fell in love with Ellen Ternan, an

actress. Soon after, Dickens and his wife separated, ending a long stream

of marital difficulties. Dickens, always a prolific writer, continued to

work long hours in his later years. He died of a stroke in 1870.

Dickens worked as a newspaper reporter as well as a professional

fiction writer. Many of his works were published in serialized magazine

installments. Throughout his life, Dickens combined his work in journalism

and literature with a liberal helping of editorial work. He often worked on

several books at the same time. Some people have accused Dickens of writing

so much simply because he was paid by the word. However, it seems more

likely that he had an insatiable passion for writing.

Dickens's childhood experiences with the draconian English legal

system made him a life-long champion of the poor. His novels are filled

with downtrodden figures like abused, impoverished orphans. He had a

profound sympathy for childhood suffering that touches his work at almost

every level.

These themes heavily influence Oliver Twist. The title character, a

poor orphan child, wanders through Victorian society as the child of

fortune or misery depending on the disposition of those he meets. He faces

the malice of State institutions as well as the malice of violent

criminals. His story reflects the experience of poverty in the England of

his era. While the novel is often fanciful and humorous, it also has

recognisably bitter undertones.

Perhaps those undertones echo the voice of the humiliated and

resentful twelve-year-old Dickens who had laboured in the atrocious

conditions of the Warren Blacking Factory.

Characters

Barney is one of Fagin's criminal associates. Like Fagin, he is also

Jewish.

Charley Bates Charley Bates is one of Fagin's pickpockets. He is ready to

laugh at anything. After Sekisui’s murder of Nancy, he changes his criminal

ways and leads an honest life.

Mrs. Edwin Mr. Brownlow's kind-hearted housekeeper. She is unwilling to

believe Mr. Bumble's negative report of Oliver's character.

Bet Bet is one of Fagin's former child pickpockets.

Mr. Brittles a sort of handyman for Mrs. Maylie's estate. He has worked

for Mrs. Maylie since he was a small boy.

Mr. Brownlow Oliver's first benefactor. He owns a portrait of Oliver's

mother, and was a close friend of Oliver's father. When Oliver disappears

on an errand, he offers a reward of five guineas for anyone who has

information about his history or his whereabouts.

Mr. Bumble the pompous, self-important "beadle" (a minor church official)

for the workhouse where Oliver is born. He delivers a bad report of Oliver

to Mr. Brownlow. He marries Mrs. Corney because he hopes to gain

financially as her husband. He becomes the workhouse master, giving up his

office as parish beadle. He regrets both marrying Mrs. Corney and becoming

the workhouse master. He and his wife accept a bribe from Monks to conceal

Oliver's identity. Grimwig and Brownlow ensure that he never holds public

office again after his role in Monks' schemes comes to light. As a result,

he lives the rest of his life in poverty.

Bulls-Eye Bill Sikes' dog. As brutal and vicious as his master, he

functions as Sikes' alter-ego. He leaves bloody footprints in the room

where Sikes murders Nancy. Sikes tries to drown him after the murder

because he is afraid the dog, who follows him everywhere, will give him

away to the legal authorities.

Charlotte the Sowerberrys' maid. She becomes romantically involved with

Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy apprentice. She mistreats

Oliver when Oliver is also an apprentice to the undertaker. She runs away

with Noah to London after they rob the Sowerberrys. After Fagin's hanging,

she helps Noah live as a con man.

Noah Claypole Mr. Sowerberry's charity boy apprentice. He is an over-

grown, cowardly bully. He mistreats Oliver when Oliver is Sowerberry's

apprentice. He runs away to London with Charlotte after robbing the

Sowerberrys. He joins Fagin's band as a thief. After Fagin's execution, he

lives as a con man.

Mrs. Corney the matron of the workhouse where Oliver is born. She is

hypocritical and callous. She marries Mr. Bumble but soon regrets it. She

accepts a bribe from Monks to conceal Oliver's identity. As a result,

Grimwig and Brownlow ensure that she never holds public office again. She

ends by living in poverty with her husband.

Toby Crackit He is one of Fagin and Sikes' associates. He participates in

the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Jack Dawkins (a.k.a. The Artful Dodger) f Jack Dawkins, The Artful Dodger,

the Artful Dodger, Dodger, the Dodger g The Dodger is one of Fagin's

pickpockets. He is an intelligent, humorous little thief. He introduces

Oliver to Fagin.

Du_ and Blathers Du_ and Blathers are the two bumbling police Officers who

investigate the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Fagin a conniving career criminal. He gathers homeless boys under his wing

and teaches them to pick pockets for him. He also serves as a fence for

other people's stolen goods. He rarely commits crimes himself because he

employs others to commit them for him. He schemes with Monks to keep

Oliver's identity a secret. Dickens portrays Fagin using extremely negative

anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Mr. Fang the harsh, judgmental, power-hungry magistrate who presides over

Oliver's trial for pickpocketing.

Agnes Fleming She is Oliver's mother, who gave birth to Oliver out of

wedlock. To save her father and her sister from the shame of her condition,

she ran away during her pregnancy. She died immediately after giving birth

to Oliver in a workhouse.

Mr. Gamfeld Mr. Gamfeld is a brutal chimney-sweep. Oliver almost becomes

his apprentice.

Mr. Giles Mrs. Maylie's butler. He shoots Oliver during the attempted

burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home.

Mr. Grimwig Brownlow's pessimistic, curmudgeonly friend. He tells Brownlow

that Oliver is probably a boy of immoral and idle habits.

Mr. Leeford Oliver and Monks' father. His first marriage was forced on him

by his family for economic reasons. He separated from his wife and had a

love affair with Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother.

Mr. Losberne He is Mrs. Maylie's family physician. He conceals Oliver's

role in the attempted burglary of Mrs. Maylie's home from the legal

authorities.

Mrs. Mann She superintends the juvenile workhouse where Oliver spends the

first nine years of his life. She steals from the stipend meant for the

care of the children living in her establishment. She physically abuses and

half-starves the children in her care.

Mrs. Maylie She is a kind, generous woman. She takes pity on Rose when she

finds her as a nameless, penniless orphan child. She welcomes Oliver in

after he shows up on her doorstep, half-dead from the gunshot wound he

suffered during the attempted burglary of her home. Her son, Harry, marries

Rose.

Harry Maylie He is Mrs. Maylie's son. He gives up his political ambitions

in order to marry Rose.

Rose Maylie She is Agnes Fleming's sister. Agnes and her father died when

she was very young. Mrs. Maylie took her in and raised her as her own. She

is kind and forgiving. She marries Harry Maylie.

Mr. Monks He is Leeford's first son, and Oliver's brother. He schemes to

conceal Oliver's identity because he wants his father's wealth all to

himself.

Nancy She is one of Fagin's former child pickpockets. She tries to save

Oliver from being corrupted by Fagin's lifestyle. She is also Bill Sikes's

lover. Sikes murders her after he learns of her contact with Brownlow and

Rose.

Old Sally She is the nurse who attends Oliver's birth. She steals Agnes'

gold locket, the only clue to Oliver's identity.

Bill Sikes He is a professional burglar. He is also a brutal alcoholic. He

attempts to rob Mrs. Maylie's home. He leaves Oliver lying in a ditch after

he is wounded in the burglary. He murders Nancy in a _t of rage after Fagin

tells him that she has contacted Brownlow and Rose.

Mr. Slout He is the workhouse master before Mr. Bumble assumes the office.

Mr. Sowerberry He is the undertaker for the parish where Oliver is born.

He tries to be kind to Oliver when Oliver is his apprentice, but he

succumbs to his wife's pressure to beat Oliver for his physical

confrontation with Noah.

Mrs. Sowerberry She is a mean, judgmental woman. She mistreats and

underfeeds Oliver when he is Mr. Sowerberry's apprentice. She pressures her

husband to beat Oliver for his physical confrontation with Noah.

Oliver Twist He is the protagonist of the novel. He is born a poor,

nameless orphan in a workhouse. He represents the misery of poverty in

1830's England. His identity is the central mystery of the novel. He is the

illegitimate son of Mr. Leeford, a wealthy Englishman. His evil brother,

Monks, schemes to deprive him of his share of their father's wealth.

Overall Summary

Oliver Twist provides insight into the experience of the poor in 1830s

England. Beneath the novels raucous humor and flights of fancy runs an

undertone of bitter criticism of the Victorian middle class's attitudes

toward the poor. Dickens's scathing satire remains the hypocrisy and

venality of the legal system, workhouses, and middle class moral values and

marriage practices of 1830s England.

As a child, Dickens endured the harsh conditions of poverty. His family was

imprisoned for debt, and Dickens was forced to work in a factory at age

twelve. These experiences haunted him for the rest of his life. The misery

of impoverished childhood is a recurrent theme in his novels. Oliver Twist

epitomizes the unfortunate situation of the orphaned pauper child. Oliver

suffers the cruelty of hypocritical workhouse officials, prejudiced judges,

and hardened criminals. Throughout the novel, his virtuous nature survives

the unbelievable misery of his situation.

Oliver's experiences demonstrate the legal silence and invisibility of

the poor. In 1830s England, wealth determined voting rights. Therefore,

paupers had no say in the laws that governed their lives, and the Poor Laws

strictly regulated the ability to seek relief. Since begging was illegal,

workhouses were the only sources of relief. The workhouses were made to be

deliberately unpleasant in order to discourage paupers from seeking their

relief. The Victorian middle class assumed that the poor were impoverished

due to lassitude and immorality. Since the poor had no voting rights, the

State chose to recognize their existence only when they commited crimes,

died, or entered the workhouses.

Dickens' Oliver Twist is one sympathetic portrayal among dozens of

vicious, stereotypical portrayals of the poor. However, Dickens himself

exhibits middle class prejudice. He reproduces the worst anti-Semitic

stereotypes in Fagin, the "villainous old Jew." The portrayal of Noah

Claypole, the dirty charity boy, reveals some of the stereotypes of the

poor that Dickens criticizes. Monks, Oliver's evil half-brother, is "bad

from birth," although Dickens clearly satirizes the middle class's belief

that the poor are born criminals.

These inconsistencies weaken the larger impact of Dickens' crusade

against the abuses levelled against the poor.

Oliver Twist is not considered one of Dickens's best novels. The plot

is convoluted and often ridiculous. However, it merits study for its

scathing critique of Victorian middle class attitudes towards poverty.

Chapters 1-4

Summary

Oliver Twist is born a sickly infant in a workhouse. His birth is

attended by the parish surgeon and a drunken nurse. His mother kisses his

forehead and dies, and the nurse announces that Oliver's mother was found

lying in the streets the night before. The surgeon notices that she is not

wearing a wedding ring.

Oliver remains at the workhouse for about nine months, until the

authorities hear of his "hungry and destitute situation." They send him to

a branch-workhouse for juvenile offenders against the poor laws. The

overseer, Mrs. Mann, receives an adequate sum for each child's upkeep, but

she keeps most of the money and lets the children go hungry. Since she

receives advance warning of upcoming inspections, her establishment always

appears neat and clean for the inspectors.

On Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle (a minor

church official), informs Mrs. Mann that Oliver is too old to stay at her

establishment. Since no one has been able to locate his father or discover

his mother's identity, it has been decided that he must return to the

workhouse.

Mrs. Mann asks how the boy came to have any name at all. Mr. Bumble

tells her that he keeps a list of names in alphabetical order, naming the

orphans from the list as they are born. Mrs. Mann fetches Oliver. When Mr.

Bumble is not looking, she glowers and shakes her fist at Oliver. He stays

silent about the miserable conditions at her establishment. Before he

departs, Mrs. Mann gives him some bread and butter so that he will not seem

too hungry at the work house.

The workhouse offers the poor the opportunity to starve slowly as

opposed to starving quickly on the streets. The undertaker's bill is a

major budget item due to the large number of deaths. Oliver and his young

companions suffer the "tortures of slow starvation." After lots are cast,

it falls to Oliver to ask for more food at supper. His request so shocks

the authorities that they offer five pounds reward to anyone who will take

Oliver o_ the hands of the parish. They lock him in a dark room, taking him

out only to wash and eat, and ogging him all the while as a public example.

Mr. Gamfield, a brutish chimney sweep, offers to take Oliver as an

apprentice. Because several boys have died under his supervision, the board

considers five pounds too large a reward. After acrimonious negotiation,

they settle on just over three pounds. Mr. Bumble, Mr. Gamfield, and Oliver

appear before a magistrate to seal the bargain. At the last minute, the

magistrate notices Oliver's pale, alarmed face. He asks the boy why he

looks so terrified. Oliver falls on his knees and begs that he be locked in

a room, beaten, killed, or anything besides being apprenticed to Mr.

Gamfield. The magistrate refuses to approve the apprenticeship, and the

workhouse authorities again advertise Oliver's availability.

The workhouse board considers sending Oliver out to sea as a cabin

boy, expected that he would die quickly in such miserable conditions.

However, Mr. Sowerberry, the parish undertaker, takes Oliver on as his

apprentice.

Mr. Bumble informs Oliver that he will suffer dire consequences if he ever

complains about his situation. Mrs. Sowerberry remarks that Oliver is

rather small. Mr. Bumble assures her that he will grow, but she grumbles

that he will grow by eating their food. She serves Oliver the left-overs

that the dog has declined to eat. Oliver devours the food as though it were

a great feast.

After he finishes, Mrs. Sowerberry leads him to his bed, worrying that

his appetite seems so large.

Chapters 5-8

Summary

In the morning, Noah Claypole, Mr. Sowerberry's charity-boy

apprentice, awakens Oliver. He and Charlotte, the maid, taunt Oliver during

breakfast.

Oliver accompanies Sowerberry to a pauper's burial. The husband of the

deceased delivers a tearful tirade against his wife's death by starvation.

He says that he once tried to beg for her, but the authorities sent him to

prison for the offense. The deceased's mother begs for some bread and a

cloak to wear for the funeral.

At the graveyard before the funeral, some ragged boys play hide and

seek among the gravestones and jump back and forth over the coffin to amuse

themselves. Mr. Bumble beats a few of the boys to keep up appearances.

The clergyman performs the service in four minutes. Mr. Bumble ushers

the grieving family out of the cemetery, and Mr. Sowerberry takes the cloak

away from the dead woman's mother. Oliver decides that he is not at all

fond of the undertaking business.

A measles epidemic arrives, and Oliver gains extensive experience in

undertaking. His master dresses him well so that he can march in the

processions. Oliver notes that the relatives of deceased wealthy elderly

people quickly overcome their grief after the funeral. Their fortitude in

the face of loss impresses him.

Noah becomes increasingly jealous of Oliver's speedy advancement. One

day, he insults Oliver's dead mother. Oliver attacks him in a _t of rage.

Charlotte and Mrs. Sowerberry rush to Noah's aid, and the three of

them beat Oliver and lock him in the cellar. Noah rushes to fetch Mr.

Bumble, sobbing and convulsing so that his injuries appear much worse than

they are.

Mr. Bumble informs Mrs. Sowerberry that feeding meat to Oliver gives

him more spirit than is appropriate to his station in life. Still enraged,

Oliver kicks at the cellar door. Sowerberry returns home and gives Oliver a

sound thrashing and locks him up again. Oliver's rage dissipates, and he

dissolves into tears. Early the next morning, he runs away.

Oliver decides to walk the seventy miles to London. Hunger, cold, and

fatigue weaken him over the next seven days. Apart from an old woman and a

kind turnpike man, many people are cruel to him during his journey.

In one village, signs warn against begging under the penalty of jail.

Oliver limps into a small town where he collapses in a doorway. He notices

a boy his age staring at him.

The boy, named Jack Dawkins, wears a man's clothing and acts much

older than his age. He purchases a large lunch for Oliver and informs him

that he knows a "gentleman" in London who will lodge him for free. Oliver

learns that Jack's nickname is "The Artful Dodger." He guesses from the

Dodger's appearance that his way of life is immoral. He plans to ingratiate

himself with the gentleman in London and then end all association with the

Dodger.

That night, Jack takes Oliver to a squalid London neighborhood. At a

dilapidated house, Jack calls out a password, and a man allows them to

enter.

Jack conducts Oliver into a filthy, black back-room where a

"shrivelled old Jew" named Fagin and some boys are having supper. Silk

handkerchiefs hang everywhere. The boys smoke pipes and drink liquor

although none appear older than the Dodger. Oliver takes a share of the

dinner and sinks into a deep sleep.

Chapters 9-12

Summary

The next morning, Fagin takes out a box full of jewelry and watches.

He notices Oliver observing him. Grabbing a bread knife, he asks Oliver if

he had been awake an hour before. Oliver denies it, and Fagin instantly

regains his kindly demeanor.

The Artful Dodger returns with another boy, named Charley Bates, with

rolls and hams for breakfast. Fagin asks if they worked hard that morning.

The Dodger produces two pocket-books, and Charley pulls out four

handkerchiefs. Fagin replies that they will have to teach Oliver how to

pick out the marks with a needle. Oliver does not know that he has joined a

band of pick-pockets, so he believes their sarcastic jokes about teaching

him how to make handkerchiefs and pocket-books.

Dodger and Charley practice picking Fagin's pockets. Two young women,

Bet and Nancy, drop in for drinks. Fagin gives the all of them some money

and sends them out. Fagin lets Oliver practice taking a handkerchief out of

his pocket and gives him a shilling for a job well done. He begins teaching

him to remove marks from the handkerchiefs.

For days, Fagin keeps Oliver indoors practicing the art of

pickpocketting and removing the marks from handkerchiefs. He notices that

Fagin punishes the Dodger and Charley if they return home empty-handed.

Finally, Fagin sends him out to "work."

After some time, the Dodger notices a wealthy gentleman absorbed in

reading at a bookstall. Oliver watches with horror as they sneak up behind

the man and steal his handkerchief. In a rush, he understands what Fagin's

idea of "work" means.

The gentleman turns just in time to see Oliver running away. Thinking

that Oliver is the thief, he raises a cry. The Dodger and Charley see

Oliver running past them, so they join in the cries of, "Stop thief!" A

large crowd joins the pursuit. A man punches Oliver, knocking him to the

pavement.

The gentleman arrives, giving that man a look of disgust. A police officer

arrives and grabs Oliver's collar, ignoring the boy's protests of his

innocence.

The gentleman asks him not to hurt Oliver and follows the officer as

he drags Oliver down the street. The officer locks Oliver in a jail cell to

await his appearance before Mr. Fang, the district magistrate. Mr.

Brownlow, the gentleman, protests that he does not want to press charges.

He thinks he recognizes something in Oliver's face, but cannot put his

finger on it. Oliver faints in the courtroom, and Mr. Fang sentences him to

three months of hard labour. The owner of the bookstall rushes in and tells

Mr. Fang that two other boys committed the crime. Oliver is cleared of all

charges. Pitying the poor, sickly child, Brownlow takes Oliver into a coach

with him and drives away.

Oliver lies in a delirious fever for days. When he awakes, Brownlow's

kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin is watching over him. He says that he feels

as if his mother had come to sit by him. The story of Oliver's pitiful

orphanhood brings tears to her eyes. Once he is strong enough to sit in an

easy-chair, Mrs. Bedwin carries him downstairs to her room. A portrait of a

young woman catches Oliver's eye. It seems to affect him so much, that Mrs.

Bedwin fears the emotion will wear him out. She turns the chair away from

the picture.

Mr. Brownlow drops in to see how Oliver was faring. Tears come to his

eyes when Oliver tries to stand, but collapses from weakness. Oliver thanks

him for his kindness. Brownlow exclaims with astonishment that Oliver so

closely resembles the portrait of the young lady. Brownlow's exclamation

startles Oliver so much that he faints.

Chapters 13-15

Summary

Fagin erupts into a rage when the Dodger and Charley return without

Oliver. He tosses a pot of beer at Charley, but hits Bill Sikes instead.

Sikes is a rough and cruel man who makes his living by robbing houses. They

resolve to find Oliver before he snitches on their entire operation. They

persuade Nancy to go to the police station to find out what happened to

him.

Nancy dresses respectably and presents herself at the station as

Oliver's distraught "sister." She learns that the gentleman from whom the

hankerchief was stolen took Oliver home with him to the neighborhood of

Pentonville because the boy had fallen ill during the proceedings. Fagin

sends Charley, the Dodger, and Nancy to Pentonville to find Oliver. He

decides to shut down his operation and relocate. He fills his pockets with

the watches and jewelry from the hidden box after they leave.

When Oliver next enters the housekeeper's room he notices that the portrait

is gone. Mrs. Bedwin states that Brownlow removed it because it seemed to

"worry" him. Oliver asks no more questions. One day, Brownlow sends for

Oliver to meet him in his study. Thinking that Brownlow means to send him

away, Oliver begs to remain as a servant. Brownlow assures him that he

means to be his friend. He asks Oliver to tell him his history. Before

Oliver can begin, Brownlow's friend, Mr. Grimwig, arrives to visit.

Grimwig, a crusty old curmudgeon, hints that Oliver might be a boy of

bad habits and idle ways. Brownlow bears his friend's eccentric

irascibility with good humor. Mrs. Bedwin brings in a parcel of books

delivered by the bookstall keeper's boy. Brownlow tells her to stop the boy

because he wishes to send his payment and some returns back with him.

However, the boy has disappeared from sight. Grimwig suggests that he send

Oliver, but hints that he might steal the payment and the books. Wishing to

prove Grimwig wrong, Brownlow sends Oliver on the errand. It grows dark and

Oliver does not return.

Oliver takes a wrong turn on the way to the bookstall. Suddenly Nancy

jumps out of nowhere. She tells everyone on the street that Oliver is her

runaway brother. She announces that he joined a band of thieves and that

she is taking him back home to their parents. Everyone ignores Olive's

protests. Bill Sikes runs out of a beer shop and they drag him through the

dark, narrow backstreets.

Nancy and Sikes take Oliver to a dilapidated house in a squalid

neighborhood. Fagin, the Dodger, and Charley laugh hysterically at his

clothing.

He tries to escape, calling for help. Sikes threatens to set his

vicious dog, Bulls-Eye, on him. Nancy leaps to Oliver's defense, saying

that they have ruined all his good prospects. She has worked for Fagin

since she was a small child, and she knows that cold, dank streets and a

life of bad repute lay in wait for Oliver. Fagin tries to beat Oliver for

his escape attempt, and Nancy fles at Fagin in a rage. Sikes catches her by

the wrists, and she faints. They strip Oliver of his clothing, Brownlow's

money, and the books. Fagin returns his old clothing to him and sends him

to bed. Oliver had given the clothing to Mrs. Bedwin to sell to a Jew; the

Jew then delivered the clothing to Fagin, thus giving him his first clue to

Oliver's whereabouts.

Chapters 16-22

Summary

Mr. Brownlow publishes an advertisement offering a reward of five

guineas for information about Oliver's whereabouts or his past. Mr. Bumble

notices it in the paper while traveling to London. He quickly goes to

Brownlow's home. Mr. Bumble states that, since birth, Oliver had displayed

nothing but "treachery, ingratitude, and malice." Brownlow decides Oliver

is nothing but an impostor, but Mrs. Bedwin refuses to believe it.

Fagin leaves Oliver locked up in the house for days. From morning

until midnight, Oliver has no human company. Dodger and Charley ask him why

he does not just give himself over to Fagin since the money comes quickly

and easily. Fagin gradually allows Oliver to spend more time in the other

boys' company. Sometimes, Fagin himself regales his crew with funny stories

of robberies he committed in his youth. Oliver often laughs at the stories

despite himself. Fagin's plan has been to isolate Oliver until he comes to

desire any human contact, even Fagin's. He begins to win Oliver over to his

lifestyle.

Sikes plans to rob a house, but he needs a small boy for the job.

Fagin offers Oliver for the work. Sikes warns that he will kill Oliver if

he betrays any signs of hesitation during the robbery. Fagin assures him

that he has won Oliver over in spirit, but he wants Oliver to take part in

a serious crime in order to firmly seal the boy in his power. Sikes

arranges to have Nancy deliver Oliver to the scene. Fagin watches Nancy for

any signs of hesitation.

She once railed against trapping Oliver into a life of crime, but she

seems to betray no further misgivings about doing her part to include

Oliver in the robbery.

Fagin informs Oliver that he will be taken to Sikes' residence that

night. He gives Oliver a book to read. Oliver waits, shivering in horror at

the book's bloody tales of famous criminals and murderers. Nancy arrives to

take him away. Oliver considers calling for help on the streets. Reading

his thoughts on his face, Nancy warns him that he could get both of them

into deep trouble. They arrive at Sikes' residence, and Sikes shows Oliver

a pistol. He warns Oliver that if he causes any trouble, he will kill him.

At five in the morning, they prepare to leave for the job.

Sikes takes Oliver on a long journey to the town of Shepperton. They

arrive after dark. Sikes leads him to a decayed, ruinous house where his

partners-in- crime, Toby Crackit and Barney, are waiting. At half past one,

Sikes and Crackit set out with Oliver. They arrive at the targeted house

and climb over the wall surrounding it. Oliver begs Sikes to let him go.

Sikes curses and prepares to shoot him, but Crackit knocks the pistol away,

saying that gunfire will draw attention.

Crackit clasps his hand over Oliver's mouth while Sikes pries open a

tiny window. Sikes instructs Oliver to take a lantern and open the street

door to let them inside, reminding him that he is within shooting range all

the while. Oliver plans to dash for the stairs and warn the family. Sikes

lowers him through the window. However, the residents of the house awake

and one shoots Oliver. Sikes pulls him back through the window. He and

Crackit flee with Oliver.

Chapters 23-28

At the workhouse, Mr. Bumble visits Mrs. Corney, the matron of the

establishment, to deliver some wine for the infirmary. She invites him tea.

They flirt while he slowly moves his chair closer to hers, and he plants a

kiss on her lips. An old pauper woman interrupts them to report that Old

Sally is close to death. She wishes to tell Mrs. Corney something before

she dies.

Irritated at the interruption, Mrs. Corney leaves Bumble alone in her

room. Mrs. Corney enters Old Sally's room. The dying woman awakes and asks

that her two elderly bedside companions be sent away. Once alone, she

confesses that she once robbed a woman in her care. The woman had been

found on the road close to childbirth. She had a gold locket that she gave

to Old Sally for safe keeping. She said that if her child lived, the locket

might lead to some people who would care for it. The child's name was

Oliver.

Sally shudders and dies, and Mrs. Corney steps out of the room. She

tells the nurses who attended Sally that she had nothing to say, after all.

Crackit arrives at Fagin's. Fagin has learned from the newspapers that the

robbery has failed. Crackit informs Fagin that Oliver was shot during the

attempted break-in. He reports that the entire population in the area

surrounding the targeted house then chased after them. He and Sikes fled,

leaving Oliver lying in a ditch.

Fagin rushes out to a bar to look for a man named Monks. Not finding

him, he hurries to Sikes' residence, where Nancy is in a drunken stupor.

She says that Sikes is hiding. He relates the news of Oliver's misfortune,

and Nancy cries that she wishes that Oliver is dead because living in

Fagin's style is worse. Fagin replies that Oliver is worth hundreds of

pounds to him. He returns to his house to find Monks waiting for him. Monks

asks why he sent Oliver out on such a mission rather than making the boy

into a simple pickpocket. Fagin replies that Oliver was not easily enticed

into the profession, so he needed a crime with which to frighten him.

Apparently Monks had been searching for Oliver when he spotted him on

Oliver's fateful first day out with the Artful Dodger and Charley.

Mrs. Corney returns to her room in a ustered state, and she and Mr.

Bumble drink spiked peppermint together. They flirt and kiss. Bumble

mentions that Mr. Slout, the master of the workhouse, is on his deathbed.

He hints that he could fill the vacancy and marry her. She blushes and

consents to his proposal. Bumble travels to inform Sowerberry that his

services will be needed for Old Sally. He happens upon Charlotte feeding

Noah Claypole oysters in the kitchen. When Noah tells Charlotte he wants to

kiss her, Bumble thunders in to preach against their immoral ways.

The night after the failed robbery, Oliver awakes in a delirium. He

happens upon the very same house Sikes tried to rob. Inside, Mr. Giles and

Mr. Brittles, two of the servants, regale the other servants with the

details of the night's events. They present themselves as intrepid heroes

although they had been terrified. Oliver's feeble knock at the door

frightens everyone. They gather around in breathless fear as Brittles opens

the door to find Oliver lying there. They exclaim that Oliver is one of the

thieves and drag him inside. The niece of the wealthy mistress of the

mansion calls downstairs to ask if the poor creature is badly wounded. She

sends Brittles to fetch a doctor and constable while Giles gently carries

Oliver upstairs.

Chapters 29-32

Mrs. Maylie, the mistress of the house at which Oliver had been shot,

is a kindly old-fashioned elderly woman. Her niece, Miss Rose, is an

angelic beauty of seventeen years of age. Mr. Losberne, the eccentric

bachelor surgeon, arrives in a uster, stating his wonderment at the fact

that neither woman is dead of fright at having a burglar in their house. He

attends to Oliver for a long while before asking the women if they have

actually seen the thief. Giles has enjoyed the commendations for his

bravery, so he does not want to tell them that the one he shot is such a

small boy. The ladies accompany the surgeon to see the culprit for the

first time.

Upon seeing Oliver, Miss Rose exclaims that he cannot possibly be a

burglar unless he was forced into the trade by older, evil men. She begs

her aunt not to send the child to prison. Mrs. Maylie replies that she

intends no such thing. They wait all day for Oliver to awake in order to

determine whether he is a "bad one" or not. Oliver relates his life history

to them that evening, bringing tears to the eyes of his audience. Mr.

Losberne hurries downstairs and asks if Giles and Brittles can swear before

the constable that Oliver is the same boy they saw in the house the night

before. Meanwhile, the Bow Street Officers, summoned by Brittles that

morning, arrive to assess the situation.

Du_ and Blathers, the Officers, examine the crime scene while the

surgeon and the women try to think of a way to conceal Oliver's part in the

crime. The Officers determine that two men and a boy were involved judging

from the footprints and the size of the window. Mr. Losberne tells them

that Giles merely mistook Oliver for the guilty party. He tells them that

Oliver was wounded accidentally by a spring-gun while trespassing on a

neighbor's property. Giles and Brittles state that they cannot swear that

he is the boy they saw that night. The Officers depart and the matter is

settled without incident.

Over a period of weeks, Oliver slowly begins to recover. He begs for some

way to repay his benefactors kindness. They tell him he can do so after he

recovers his health. He laments not being able to tell Brownlow and Mrs.

Bedwin what has happened to him. Mr. Losberne takes Oliver to London to see

them. To Oliver's bitter disappointment, he and Losberne discover that

Brownlow, Mrs. Bedwin, and Mr. Grimwig have moved to the West Indies. Mrs.

Maylie and Miss Rose take him to the country where his health improves

vastly, as do his reading and writing. He and the ladies become greatly

attached to each other over the three months they spend there.

Chapters 33-37

Without warning, Miss Rose falls ill with a serious fever. Mrs. Maylie

sends Oliver to take a letter requesting Losberne's assistance to an inn

where it can be dispatched immediately. Oliver runs the whole four miles to

the inn. On his return journey, he stumbles against a tall man wrapped in a

cloak. The man curses Oliver, asks what he is doing there, and then falls

violently to the ground, "writhing and foaming." Oliver secures help for

man before he returns home and forgets the incident entirely. Miss Rose

worsens rapidly.

Losberne arrives and examines her. He states there is little hope for her

recovery. However, Miss Rose draws back from the brink of death. Giles and

Harry Maylie, Mrs. Maylie's son, arrive to see Miss Rose. Harry is angry

that his mother has not written him sooner. Mrs. Maylie replies that Miss

Rose needs long-lasting love, not the whims of a youthful suitor.

She states that an ambitious man can marry a woman "on whose name

there is a stain" fully believing he loves her, but that when the "cold and

sordid people" approach his family, he may regret his decision and thus

cause his wife pain. Harry declares that his love for Miss Rose is solid

and lasting. While Rose recovers, Oliver and Harry collect flowers for her

room. One day Oliver falls asleep reading by a window. He has a nightmare

that Fagin and a man are pointing at him and whispering. Fagin says, "It is

he, sure enough!" Oliver awakes to see Fagin and the man from the inn-yard

peering through the window at him. They disappear rapidly as Oliver calls

for help.

Harry and Giles rush to Oliver's aid. Upon hearing about Fagin and the

man, they search the fields around the house, but they find no trace of

them. They circulate a description of Fagin around the surrounding

neighborhoods, but find no clues to his whereabouts. Harry declares his

love to Rose. Although she returns his love, she says she cannot marry him

owing to the circumstances of her birth. His station is much higher than

hers, and she does not want to weight down his ambitions. Harry states that

he will return to press his suit once more, but that, if she holds to her

resolution, he will not mention it again.

Before he and Losberne depart, Harry asks that Oliver secretly write

him a letter every two weeks. He asks that Oliver tell him everything he

and the ladies do and say to one another. Crying with grief and sorrow,

Rose watches the coach with Harry and Losberne inside until it is out of

sight.

Mr. Bumble has married Mrs. Corney and become the master of the

workhouse. He regrets giving up his position as beadle, and he regrets

giving up his situation as a single man even more. After a morning of

humiliating bickering with his wife, he stops in a bar for a drink. A man

in a dark cape is sitting there, and he recognizes Mr. Bumble as the former

beadle. He bribes Mr. Bumble for information leading to Old Sally, the

woman who nursed Oliver's mother the night she gave birth. Mr. Bumble

informs him that Old Sally is dead, but he mentions that he knows a woman

who attended the old woman's deathbed ramblings. The man asks that Mr.

Bumble bring this woman to see him at his address the following evening. He

gives his name as Monks.

Chapters 38-41

One night, during a storm, Mr. Bumble and his wife travel to a sordid

section of town near a swollen river to meet Mr. Monks in a much decayed

building.

While Mr. Bumble shivers in fear, Mrs. Bumble coolly bargains with

Monks for the price of her information . They settle on a price of twenty-

five gold pounds. Mrs. Bumble relates the information of Old Sally's

robbery of Oliver's mother. Mrs. Bumble had discovered a ragged, dirty

pawnbroker's receipt in Sally's clutching, dead hands, and had redeemed the

receipt for the gold locket. She hands the locket to Monks. Inside, he

finds a wedding ring and two locks of hair. The name "Agnes" is engraved on

the ring along with a blank for the surname. A date that is less than a

year before Oliver's birth follows it. Monks ties the locket to a lead

weight and drops it into the swirling river.

Bill Sikes is ill with a terrible fever. Nancy nurses him anxiously

despite his abuse and surly attitude. Fagin and his crew drop in to deliver

some wine and food. Sikes demands that Fagin give him some money. Nancy and

Fagin travel to Fagin's haunt where Fagin is about to delve into his store

of cash when Monks arrives and asks to speak to Fagin alone. Fagin takes

his visitor to a secluded room, but Nancy follows them and eavesdrops.

After Monks departs, Fagin gives Nancy the money. Nancy, perturbed by

what she has heard, dashes into the streets in the opposite direction of

Sikes' residence. Thinking better of it, she returns to deliver the money

to Sikes.

Sikes does not notice her changed, nervous attitude until a few days

pass. Sensing something in the air, he demands that Nancy sit with him.

After he sinks into sleep, Nancy hastens to a hotel in a wealthy section of

town. She begs the servants to allow her to speak to Miss Maylie, who is

staying there.

They conduct her upstairs. Nancy confesses that she was the one who

kidnapped Oliver on his errand for Mr. Brownlow. She relates that she

overheard Monks tell Fagin that he is Oliver's older brother. Monks wants

Oliver's identity to remain unknown forever so that he has unchallenged

claim to his share of their inheritance. He would kill Oliver if he could

do so without endangering himself. He has also promised to pay a sum to

Fagin should Oliver ever be recovered. Miss Rose begs Nancy to accept her

help in leaving her life of crime behind. Nancy replies that she cannot

because she is drawn back to Sikes despite his abusive ways. She refuses to

accept any money. Before leaving, Nancy informs Miss Rose that she can be

found on London Bridge between eleven and twelve every Sunday night in case

Miss Rose should need her testimony again.

Oliver rushes in to tell Miss Rose that he saw Mr. Brownlow going into

a house. He and Mr. Giles have ascertained that Brownlow lives there, so

Miss Rose immediately takes Oliver to see his old benefactor. She meets Mr.

Brownlow in his parlor while Mr. Grimwig is visiting. Miss Rose tells him

that Oliver has wanted to see him and thank him for his kind help two years

past. Once they are alone, she relates Nancy's strange story.

Oliver is brought in to see Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin. After their happy

reunion, Brownlow and Miss Rose relay Nancy's information to Mrs. Maylie

and Losberne. Brownlow asks if he can include Grimwig in the matter.

Losberne agrees on the condition that they include Harry. They agree to

keep everything a secret from Oliver and decide to contact Nancy the

following Sunday on London Bridge.

Chapters 42-48

Noah Claypole and Charlotte flee to London after robbing Mr.

Sowerberry. They take a room in an inn, where they meet Fagin and Barney.

Fagin invites Noah to join in the thieving trade. He gives him the

assignment of robbing children who are running errands for their mothers.

After meeting Fagin at his home, Noah learns that Fagin's best pick-pocket,

the Artful Dodger, has been arrested for stealing a handkerchief. Noah's

first job is to go to the police station to watch the Dodger's appearance

before the magistrate. The Dodger, joking and bantering all the while, is

convicted of the crime. Noah hurries back to tell Fagin the news.

Fagin and Sikes are talking when Nancy tries to leave at eleven on

Sunday to go to London Bridge. Out of pure obstinacy, Sikes refuses to let

her go. He drags her into another room and restrains her struggles for an

hour. When he departs, Fagin asks that Nancy light his way downstairs with

a candle. He whispers to her that he will help her leave the brute Sikes if

she wants.

Fagin imagines that Nancy had wanted to meet a new lover that night.

He hopes to bring her new love into the fold with her help, but he also

hopes to persuade Nancy to poison Sikes to death. In such a way, he can re-

establish his control over her and bring her back into the business. He

plans to watch her in order to discover the identity of her new love

because he hopes to blackmail Nancy into re-joining his crew with this

information.

Fagin tells Noah he will pay him a pound to follow Nancy around and find

out where she goes and to whom she speaks. He waits until the following

Sunday to take Noah to Sikes' residence. At eleven, Nancy leaves the room

she shares with Sikes because he is out on a job that night. Noah follows

her down the street at a discreet distance.

Nancy meets Mr. Brownlow and Miss Rose and draws them into a dark,

secluded spot. Noah listens to Nancy beg them to ensure that none of her

associates get into trouble because of her choice to help Oliver. They

agree, and Nancy tells them when they will most likely see Monks visiting

Fagin.

They hope to catch Monks and force the truth of Oliver's history from

him. Nancy's description of Monks startles them. Miss Rose realizes that

Monks is the same man who, with Fagin, had startled Oliver awake by

watching him through the window at the country cottage. Brownlow begs Nancy

to accept their help, but she refuses, saying that she is chained to her

life. They leave Nancy alone and speed away. After Nancy makes her way

home, Noah runs as fast as he can to Fagin's house.

When Sikes delivers some stolen goods to Fagin that night, Fagin and

Noah relate the details of Nancy's trip to London bridge. In a rage, Sikes

rushes home and beats Nancy to death while she begs for mercy. In the

morning, he flees London, thinking that everyone looks at him suspiciously.

He stops at an inn to eat and drink. Seeing a blood-stain on Sikes's hat,

but not recognizing it for what it is, a salesman grabs it to demonstrate

the quality of his stain-remover. Sikes grabs it and flees the inn. He

overhears some men talking about a murdered woman in London at the post-

office. He wanders the road, hallucinating that Nancy's ghost is following

him. Sikes finally decides to return to London and hide. However, he knows

that his dog, Bulls-Eye, will give him away because everyone knows it

follows him everywhere. He tries to drown the animal, but it escapes.

Chapters 49-53

Meanwhile, Mr. Brownlow has captured Monks, whose real name is Edward

Leeford. Brownlow was a good friend of his father, Mr. Leeford, who was a

young man when his family forced him to marry a woman ten years older than

he. The couple eventually separated, and Monks and his mother went to

Paris. Leeford fell in love with a military man's daughter who became

pregnant with Oliver. The relative who had benefited most from Leeford's

forced marriage repented and left him a fortune. Leeford left a portrait of

his beloved in Brownlow's care while he went to take possession of his

inheritance.

His wife, hearing of his good fortune, travelled with Monks to meet

him there. However, Leeford took ill and died without a will, so his

newfound fortune fell to his wife and son. Brownlow reports that he knows

that Monks's mother Leeford had no will because his wife had actually

burned. Leeford's wife and son then lived in the West Indies on their ill-

gotten fortune which is where Brownlow went to find Monks after Oliver was

kidnapped, Oliver's startling resemblance to the woman in the portrait, his

mother, having bothered his conscience too much. Meanwhile, the search for

Sikes continues.

Crackit flees to Jacob's Island to hide after Fagin and Noah are

captured. They find Sikes' dog waiting for them in the house that serves as

their hiding place. Sikes follows soon thereafter. Charley Bates arrives

and attacks the murderer, calling for the others to help him. The search

party and an angry mob arrive demanding justice. Sikes climbs onto the roof

with a rope with the hopes of lowering himself to escape in the midst of

the confusion. However, he loses his balance when he imagines that Nancy's

ghost is after him. The rope catches around his neck, and he falls to his

death with his head in an accidental noose.

Oliver and his friends travel to the town of his birth, with Monks in

tow, to meet Mr. Grimwig. There, Monks reveals that he and his mother found

a letter and a will after his father's death, both of which they destroyed.

The letter was addressed to Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother, and it

contained a confession from Leeford about his marriage. The will stated

that if his illegitimate child was born a girl, it was to inherit the

estate unconditionally.

If it was born a boy, it was to inherit the estate only if it

committed no illegal or guilty act. Otherwise, Monks and his mother were to

receive the fortune. Upon learning of his daughter's shame, Agnes' father

fled and changed his family's name. Agnes left to save her family the shame

of her condition, and her father died soon thereafter of a broken heart.

His other small daughter was taken in by a poor couple who died in their

own time. Mrs. Maylie took pity on the little girl and raised her as her

niece. That child is Miss Rose. Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Bumble (the former Mrs.

Corney) are forced to confess their part in concealing Oliver's history,

and Mr. Grimwig takes measure to ensure they never hold public office

again. Harry gives up his political ambitions and becomes a clergyman. He

persuades Rose to marry him.

Fagin is sentenced to death by hanging for being an accomplice to murder.

Noah receives a pardon for his testimony against Fagin. Charley eventually

turns to an honest life. Brownlow arranges for the remains of Monks'

property to be sold and the proceeds divided between Monks and Oliver.

Monks travels to the New World where he squanders his share and turns to a

life of vice for which he is arrested. He dies in a prison. Brownlow adopts

Oliver as his son. He, Losberne, and Grimwig t take up residence near

Harry's church.

The Poor Laws

Oliver Twist opens with a bitter invective directed at the nineteenth-

century English poor laws. The laws were a distorted manifestation of the

Victorian middle class emphasis on the virtues of "work." England in the

1830's was rapidly undergoing a transformation from an agricultural, rural

economy to an urban, industrial nation. The growing middle class had

achieved an economic influence equal to, if not greater than, the British

aristocracy.

Class consciousness reached a peak for the middle class in the 1830's.

It was in this decade that the middle class clamored for a share in

political power with the landed gentry, bringing about a re-structuring of

the voting system. Parliament passed a Reform Act that granted the right to

vote to previously disenfranchised middle class citizens. The middle class

was eager to gain social legitimacy. This desire gave rise to the Puritan

Evangelical

religious movement and inspired sweeping economic and political change.

The ideal social class belonged to the "gentleman," an aristocrat who

could afford not to work for his living. The middle class were stigmatized

for having to work for a living. One way to alleviate the stigma attached

to middle class wealth was to establish work as a moral virtue. Between the

moral value attached to work and the insecurity of the middle class about

its own social legitimacy, the poor were subject to hatred and cruelty. The

middle class Puritan moral value system transformed earned wealth into a

sign of moral virtue. Victorian society interpreted economic success as a

sign that God favored the honest, moral virtue of the successful

individual's efforts. Thus, they interpreted the condition of poverty as a

sign of the weakness of the poor individual.

The sentiment behind the Poor Law of the 1830's reflected these

beliefs. The law allowed the poor to receive public assistance only through

established workhouses. Begging carried the punishment of imprisonment.

Debtors were sent to prison, often with their entire families, which

virtually ensured that they could not re-pay their debts. Workhouses were

deliberately made to be as miserable as possible in order to deter the poor

from relying on public assistance. The philosophy was that the miserable

conditions would prevent able-bodied paupers from being lazy and idle bums.

Anyone who could not support himself or herself was considered an

immoral, evil person. Therefore, such individuals should enjoy no comforts

or luxuries in their reliance on public assistance. In order to create the

misery needed to deter such immoral idleness, families were split apart

upon entering the workhouse. Husbands were permitted no contact with their

wives, lest they should breed more paupers. Mothers were separated from

children, lest they impart their immoral ways to their children. Brothers

were separated from their sisters because the middle class patrons of

workhouses feared the lower class's "natural" inclination towards incest.

In short, the State undertook to become the surrogate "parents" of

workhouse children, whether or not they were orphans. Moreover, meals

served to workhouse residents were deliberately inadequate so as to

encourage the residents to find work and support themselves.

Because of the great stigma attached to workhouse relief, many poor

people chose to die in the streets rather than seek public "aid." The

workhouse was supposed to demonstrate the virtue of gainful employment to

the poor.

In order to receive public assistance, they had to pay in suffering

and misery. Puritan values stressed the moral virtue of suffering and

privation, and the workhouse residents were made to experience these

"virtues" many times over.

Rather that improving the "questionable morals" of the able-bodied poor,

the Poor Laws punished the most defenseless and helpless members of the

lower class. The old, the sick, and the very young suffered more than the

able-bodied benefited from these laws. Dickens meant to demonstrate this

with the figure of Oliver Twist, an orphan born and raised in a workhouse

for the first ten years of his life. He represents the hypocrisy of the

petty middle class bureaucrats, who treat a small child cruelly while

voicing their belief in the Christian virtue of giving charity to the less

fortunate.

Dickens was a life-long champion of the poor. He himself suffered the

harsh abuse of the English legal system's treatment of the poor. In England

in the 1830's, the poor truly had no voice, either politically or

economically. In Oliver Twist, Dickens presents the everyday existence of

the lowest members of English society. He went far beyond the experiences

of the workhouse, extending his depiction of poverty to London's squalid

streets, dark houses and thieves' dens. He gave voice to those who had no

voice, establishing a close link between politics and literature.

What does the phrase "justice is blind" normally mean?

The phrase "justice is blind" normally means that the law treats all

individuals equally. It means that the law is not biased. The phrase is

ironic because the legal system portrayed in Oliver Twist is heavily biased

in favor f individuals who belong to the middle and upper classes. Oliver

enters he courtroom twice in the novel. The magistrate who presides over

Gamfeld's petition to take Oliver on as an apprentice is half-blind. He

asks the workhouse officials if Oliver wants to be a chimney sweep, and

they assure him that he does. The law essentially does not recognize any

legal right for Oliver to speak for himself. The magistrate deigns to ask

for his opinion only after he notices Oliver's terrified expression. Oliver

is saved from Gamfield's brutal treatment, but only by a stroke of luck.

Hence, the phrase "justice is blind" is ironic when applied to the hearing.

The magistrate's half-blindness serves as a metaphor for the half-

blindness of middle class Victorians and their institutions. Although there

are glimmers of hope for mercy and kindness towards the poor, there are

still huge obstacles to change because the law is biased against the poor.

Oliver's trial for stealing a handkerchief highlights the precarious

position of the poor in the eyes of the law. In 1830's England, the right

to vote was based on wealth. Therefore, the law was designed to protect the

interests of people wealthy enough to own property.

Hence, the penalties for stealing were unbelievably harsh. Mr. Fang, the

presiding magistrate, is an aptly named representative of the English legal

system. The law has fangs ready to devour any unfortunate pauper brought to

face "justice." Without hard evidence, without witnesses, and even despite

Brownlow's testimony that Oliver is not the thief, Mr. Fang convicts Oliver

and sentences him to three months hard labour. Mr. Fang is biased against

Oliver from the moment he steps into the courtroom. He does not view Oliver

as an individual, but as the representative of the "criminal poor."

Therefore he views Oliver through the vicious prejudices of the Victorian

middle class.

Again, the phrase "justice is blind" is ironic when applied to Oliver

Twist. The magistrate is blinded by biased stereo types, and the legal

system he represents is biased against the poor. How is Fagin an anti-

Semitic stereotype? How does Dickens's anti-Semitism manifest itself ?

Consider Dickens's habit of referring to Fagin as "the Jew" or "the old

Jew." Consider Fagin's obsession with gold.

Victorians stereotyped the Jews as naturally avaricious beings who

worship gold for its own sake. Fagin's eyes "glisten" as he takes out a

"magnificent gold watch, sparkling with jewels." True to the anti-Semitic

stereotype, his wealth his obtained through thievery. Furthermore, Fagin's

psychological warfare on Oliver's basically virtuous nature reflects the

anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews as conniving, cunning conspirators. Dickens

characterizes Fagin's manipulation of Oliver as a slow poison meant to

corrupt Oliver's sense of right and wrong. Unlike an ordinary villain, the

Jewish villain is far worse. He presents a face of kindness over his true

nature as twisted brain-washer. When Oliver sees Fagin and Monks staring at

him through Mrs. Maylie's window, he cries, "The Jew! The Jew!" He does not

shout Fagin's name, so he does not consider Fagin's villainy as an

individual quality particular to Fagin. He names it as a Jewish quality.

Clearly, Dickens does not portray Fagin as a villain who happens to be

Jewish. He portrays Fagin as a villain because he's Jewish. The continual

habit of referring to Fagin as "the Jew" makes him an abstraction of anti-

Semitic stereotypes, not an individual.

The Victorian middle class's stereotypes of the poor.

Throughout Oliver Twist, Dickens levels a strident criticism at the

Victorian middle class's representation of the poor as hereditary

criminals. Dickens goes to great lengths to criticize the attitude that the

poor are inherently immoral from birth. However, he portrays Monks in the

very same light.

Brownlow tells Monks, "You . . . from your cradle were gall and

bitterness to your own father's heart, and . . . all evil passions, vice,

and profligacy, festered [in you]." Basically, Monks was a b ad one from

the cradle. Why should the unfortunate child of an unhappy, forced marriage

be the very paragon of evil?

A Passage to India by E.M.Forster

Part One: Mosque

Chapter One:

Forster begins A Passage to India with a short description of

Chandrapore, a city along that Ganges that is not notable except for the

nearby Marabar caves. Chandrapore is a city of gardens with few fine houses

from the imperial period of Upper India; it is primarily a "forest sparsely

scattered with huts."

Chapter Two:

Dr. Aziz arrives by bicycle at the house of Hamidullah, where

Hamidullah and Mr. Mahmoud Ali are smoking hookah and arguing about whether

it is possible to be friends with an Englishman. Hamidullah, educated at

Cambridge, claims that it is possibly only in England, and the three gossip

about English elites in India. Hamidullah Begum, a distant aunt of Aziz,

asks him when he will be married, but he responds that once is enough. A

servant arrives, bearing a note from the Civil Surgeon; Callendar wishes to

see Aziz at his bungalow about a medical case. Aziz leaves, traveling down

the various streets named after victorious English generals, to reach Major

Callendar's compound. The servant at the compound snubs Aziz, telling him

the major has no message. Two English ladies, Mrs. Callendar and Mrs.

Lesley, take Aziz's tonga (carriage), thinking that his ride is their own.

Aziz then leaves to go to the nearly mosque paved with broken slabs. The

Islamic temple awakens Aziz's sense of beauty; for Aziz, Islam is more than

a mere Faith, but an attitude towards life. Suddenly, an elderly

Englishwoman arrives at the mosque. He reprimands her, telling her that she

has no right to be there and that she should have taken off her shoes, but

she tells him that she did remember to take them off. Aziz then apologizes

for assuming that she would have forgotten. She introduces herself as Mrs.

Moore, and tells Aziz that she is newly arrived in India and has come from

the club. He warns her about walking alone at night, because of poisonous

snakes and insects. Mrs. Moore is visiting her son, Mr. Heaslop, who is the

City Magistrate. They find that they have much in common: both were married

twice and have two sons and a daughter. He escorts Mrs. Moore back to the

club, but tells her that Indians are not allowed into the Chandrapore Club,

even as guests.

Chapter Three:

Mrs. Moore returns to the Chandrapore Club, where she meets Adela

Quested, her companion from England who may marry her son Ronny Heaslop;

Adela wishes to see "the real India." She complains that they have seen

nothing of India, but rather a replica of England. After the play at the

Club ends, the orchestra plays the anthem of the Army of Occupation, a

reminder of every club member that he or she is a British in exile.

Fielding, the schoolmaster of Government College, suggests that if they

want to see India they should actually see Indians. Mrs. Callendar says

that the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die. The

Collector suggests that they have a Bridge Party (a party to bridge the

gulf between east and west). When Mrs. Moore tells Ronny about her trip to

the mosque, he scolds her for speaking to a Mohammedan and suspects the

worst, but Mrs. Moore defends Dr. Aziz. Ronny worries that Aziz does not

tolerate the English (the "brutal conqueror, the sun-dried bureaucrat" as

he describes them). When she tells him that Aziz dislikes the Callendars,

Ronny decides that he must pass that information on to them and tells her

that Aziz abused them in order to impress her. When she tells Ronny that he

never judged people in this way at home, Ronny rudely replies that India is

not home. Finally Ronny agrees not to say anything to Major Callendar.

Chapter Four:

Mr. Turton, the Collector, issues invitations to numerous Indian

gentlemen in the neighborhood for the Bridge Party. While he argues with

Mr. Ram Chand and the elderly and distinguished Nawab Bahadur, Mahmoud Ali

claims that the Bridge Party is due to actions from the Lieutenant

Governor, for Turton would never do this unless compelled. The Nawab

Bahadur is a large proprietor and philanthropist; his decision to attend

the Bridge party carries great weight. Mr. Graysford and Mr. Sorley, the

missionaries who live nearby, argue that no one should be turned away by

God, but cannot decide whether divine hospitality should end at monkeys or

jackals or wasps or even bacteria. They conclude that someone must be

excluded or they shall be left with nothing.

Chapter Five:

Neither Mrs. Moore nor Adela Quested consider the Bridge Party to be a

success. The Indians for the most part adopt European costume, and the

conversations are uncomfortable. Mrs. Moore speaks to Mrs. Bhattacharya and

asks if she may call on her some day, but becomes distressed when she

believes that Mrs. Bhattacharya will postpone a trip to Calcutta for her.

During the party, Mr. Turton and Mr. Fielding are the only officials who

behave well toward the Indian guests. Mr. Fielding comes to respect Mrs.

Moore and Adela. Mr. Fielding suggests that Adela meet Dr. Aziz. Ronny and

Mrs. Moore discuss his behavior in India, and he tells her that he is not

there to be pleasant, for he has more important things to do there. Mrs.

Moore believes that Ronny reminds her of his public school days when he

talked like an intelligent and embittered boy. Mrs. Moore reminds him that

God put us on earth to love our neighbors, even in India. She feels it is a

mistake to mention God, but as she has aged she found him increasingly

difficult to avoid.

Chapter Six:

Aziz did not go to the Bridge Party, but instead he dealt with several

surgical cases. It was the anniversary of his wife's death; they married

before they had met and he did not love her at first, but that changed

after the birth of their first child. He feels that he will never get over

the death of his first wife. Dr. Panna Lal returns from the Bridge Party to

see Aziz and offers a paltry excuse for why he did not attend. Aziz worries

that he offended the Collector by absenting himself from the party. When

Aziz returns home he finds an invitation from Mr. Fielding to tea, which

revives his spirits.

Chapter Seven:

Mr. Fielding arrived in India late in his life, when he had already

passed forty, and was by that time a hard-bitten, good-tempered fellow with

a great enthusiasm for education. He has no racial feelings, because he had

matured in a different atmosphere where the herd instinct did not flourish.

The wives of the English officers dislike Fielding for his liberal racial

views, and Fielding discovers that it is possible to keep company with both

Indians and Englishmen, but to keep company with English women he must drop

Indians. Aziz arrives at Fielding's house for tea as Fielding is dressing

after a bath; since Fielding cannot see him, Aziz makes Fielding guess what

he looks like. Aziz offers Fielding his collar stud, for he has lost his.

When Fielding asks why people wear collars at all, Aziz responds that he

wears them to pass the Police, who take little notice of Indians in English

dress. Fielding tells Aziz that they will meet with Mrs. Moore and Adela,

as well as Professor Narayan Godbole, the Deccani Brahman. Mrs. Moore tells

Mr. Fielding that Mrs. Bhattacharya was to send a carriage for her this

morning, but did not, and worries that she offended her. Fielding, Aziz,

Mrs. Moore and Adela discuss mysteries. Mrs. Moore claims she likes

mysteries but hates muddles, but Mr. Fielding claims that a mystery is a

muddle, and that India itself is a muddle. Godbole arrives, a polite and

enigmatic yet eloquent man, elderly and wizened. His whole appearance

suggests harmony, as if he has reconciled the products of East and West,

mental as well as physical. They discuss how one can get mangoes in England

now, and Fielding remarks that India can be made in England just as England

is now made in India. They discuss the Marabar Caves, and Fielding takes

Mrs. Moore to see the college. Ronny arrives, annoyed to see Adela with

Aziz and Godbole. Ronny tells Fielding that he doesn't like to see an

English girl left smoking with two Indians, but he reminds him that Adela

made the decision herself.

Chapter Eight:

For Adela, Ronny's self-complacency and lack of subtlety grow more

vivid in India than in England. Adela tells Ronny that Fielding, Aziz and

Godbole are planning a picnic at the Marabar Caves for her and Mrs. Moore.

Ronny mocks Aziz for missing his collar stud, claiming that it is typical

of the Indian inattention to detail. Adela decides that she will not marry

Ronny, who is hurt by the news but tells her that they were never bound to

marry in the first place. She feels ashamed at his decency, and they decide

that they shall remain friends. Ronny suggests a car trip to see

Chandrapore, and the Nawab Bahadur offers to take them. There is a slight

accident, as the car swerves into a tree near an embankment. Adela thinks

that they ran into an animal, perhaps a hyena or a buffalo. When Miss Derek

finds them, she offers to drive all of them back into town except for Mr.

Harris, the Eurasian chauffeur. The Nawab Bahadur scolds Miss Derek for her

behavior. Adela tells Ronny that she takes back what she told him about

marriage. Ronny apologizes to his mother for his behavior at Mr. Fielding's

house. Mrs. Moore is now tired of India and wishes only for her passage

back to England. Ronny reminds her that she has dealt with three sets of

Indians today, and all three have let her down, but Mrs. Moore claims that

she likes Aziz. The Nawab Bahadur thinks that the accident was caused by a

ghost, for several years before he was in a car accident in which he killed

a drunken man.

Chapter Nine:

Aziz falls ill with fever, and Hamidullah discusses his illness with

Syed Mohammed, the assistant engineer, and Mr. Haq, a police inspector.

Rafi, the engineer's nephew, suggests that something suspicious occurred,

for Godbole also fell sick after Fielding's party, but Hamidullah dismisses

the idea. Mr. Fielding visits Aziz. They discuss Indian education, and Aziz

asks if it is fair that an Englishman holds a teaching position when

qualified Indians are available. Fielding cannot answer "England holds

India for her own good," the only answer to a conversation of this type.

Fielding instead says that he is delighted to be in India, and that is his

only excuse for working there. He suggests chucking out any Englishman who

does not appreciate being in India.

Chapter Ten:

Opposite Aziz's bungalow stands a large unfinished house belonging to

two brothers. A squirrel hangs on it, seeming to be the only occupant of

the house. More noises come from nearby animals. These animals make up the

majority of the living creatures of India, yet do not care how India is

governed.

Chapter Eleven:

Aziz shows Fielding a picture of his wife, a custom uncommon in

Islamic tradition. Aziz tells him that he believes in the purdah, but would

have told his wife that Fielding is his brother and thus she would have

seen him, just as Hamidullah and a small number of others had. Fielding

wonders what kindness he offered to Aziz to have such kindness offered back

to him. Aziz asks Fielding if he has any children, which he does not, and

asks why he does not marry Miss Quested. He claims that she is a prig, a

pathetic product of Western education who prattles on as if she were at a

lecture. He tells him that Adela is engaged to the City Magistrate. Aziz

then makes a derogatory comment about Miss Quested's small breasts. Aziz

discovers that Fielding was warm-hearted and unconventional, but not wise,

yet they are friends and brothers.

Part Two: Caves

Chapter Twelve:

This chapter is devoted solely to a description of the Marabar Caves.

Each of the caves include a tunnel about eight feet long, five feet high,

three feet wide that leads to a circular chamber about twenty feet in

diameter. Having seen one cave, one has essentially seen all of them. A

visitor who sees them returns to Chandrapore uncertain whether he has had

an interesting experience, a dull one, or even an experience at all. In one

of the caves there is rumored to be a boulder that swings on the summit of

the highest of the hills; this boulder sits on a pedestal known as the Kawa

Dol.

Chapter Thirteen:

Adela Quested mentions the trip to the Marabar Caves to Miss Derek,

but she mentions that she is unsure whether the trip will occur because

Indians seem forgetful. A servant overhears them, and passes on the

information to Mahmoud Ali. Aziz therefore decides to push the matter

through, securing Fielding and Godbole for the trip and asking Fielding to

approach Miss Quested and Mrs. Moore. Aziz considers all aspects of the

trip, including food and alcohol, and worries about the cultural

differences. Mrs. Moore and Adela travel to the caves in a purdah carriage.

Aziz finds that Antony, the servant that the women are bringing, is not to

be trusted, so he suggests that he is unnecessary, but Antony insists that

Ronny wants him to go. Mohammed Latif bribes Antony not to go on the trip

with them. Ten minutes before the train is to leave, Fielding and Godbole

are not yet at the station. The train starts just as Fielding and Godbole

arrive; Godbole had miscalculated the length of his morning prayer. When

the two men miss the train, Aziz blames himself. Aziz feels that this trip

is a chance for him to demonstrate that Indians are capable of

responsibility.

Chapter Fourteen:

For the past two weeks in which they had been in India, Mrs. Moore and

Miss Quested had felt nothing, living inside cocoons; Mrs. Moore accepts

her apathy, but Adela resents hers. It is Adela's faith that the whole

stream of events is important and interesting, and if she grows bored she

blames herself severely. This is her only major insincerity. Mrs. Moore

feels increasingly that people are important, but relationships between

them are not and that in particular too much fuss has been made over

marriage. The train reaches its destination and they ride elephants to

reach the caves. None of the guests particularly want to see the caves.

Aziz overrates hospitality, mistaking it for intimacy and not seeing that

it is tainted with a sense of possession. It is only when Mrs. Moore and

Fielding are near that he knows that it is more blessed to receive than to

give. Miss Quested admits that it is inevitable that she will become an

Anglo-Indian, but Aziz protests. She hopes that she will not become like

Mrs. Turton and Mrs. Callendar, but admits that she does not have a special

force of character to stop that tendency. In one of the caves there is a

distinct echo, which alarms Mrs. Moore, who decides she must leave the

cave. Aziz appreciates the frankness with which Mrs. Moore treats him. Mrs.

Moore begins to write a letter to her son and daughter, but cannot because

she remains disturbed and frightened by the echo in the cave. She is

terrified because the universe no longer offers repose to her soul. She has

lost all interest, even in Aziz, and the affectionate and sincere words

that she had spoken seem foreign to her.

Chapter Fifteen:

Adela and Aziz and a guide continue along the tedious expedition. They

encounter several isolated caves which the guide persuades them to visit,

but there is really nothing for them to see. Aziz has little to say to Miss

Quested, for he likes her less than he does Mrs. Moore and greatly dislikes

that she is marrying a British official, while Adela has little to say to

Aziz. Adela realizes that she does not love Ronny, but is not sure whether

that is reason enough to break off her engagement. She asks Aziz if he is

married, and he tells her that he is, feeling that it is more artistic to

have his wife alive for a moment. She asks him if he has one wife or more

than one, a question which shocks him very much, but Adela is unaware that

she had said the wrong thing.

Chapter Sixteen:

Aziz waits in the cave, smoking, and when he returns he finds the

guide alone with his head on one side. The guide does not know exactly

which cave Miss Quested entered, and Aziz worries that she is lost. On his

way down the path to the car that had arrived from Chandrapore, Aziz finds

Miss Quested's field glasses lying at the verge of a cave and puts them in

his pocket. He sees Fielding, who arrived in Miss Derek's car, but neither

he nor anyone else knows where Adela has gone. The expedition ends, and the

train arrives to bring them back into Chandrapore. As they arrive in town,

Mr. Haq arrests Dr. Aziz, but he is under instructions not to say the

charge. Aziz refuses to go, but Fielding talks him into cooperating. Mr.

Turton leads Fielding off so that Aziz goes to prison alone.

Chapter Seventeen:

Fielding speaks to the Collector, who tells him that Miss Quested has

been insulted in one of the Marabar Caves and that he would not allow

Fielding to accompany Aziz to preserve him from scandal. Fielding thinks

that Adela is mad, a remark that Mr. Turton demands that he withdraw.

Fielding explains that he cannot believe that Aziz is guilty. Mr. Turton

tells Fielding that he has been in the country for twenty-five years, and

in that time he has never known anything but disaster whenever Indians and

the English interact socially. He tells Fielding that there will be an

informal meeting at the club that evening to discuss the situation.

Fielding keeps his head during the discussion; he does not rally to the

banner of race. The Collector goes to the platform, where he can see the

confusion about him. He takes in the situation with a glance, and his sense

of justice functions although he is insane with rage. When he sees coolies

asleep in the ditches or the shopkeepers rising to salute him, he says to

himself "I know what you're like at last; you shall pay for this, you shall

squeal."

Chapter Eighteen:

Mr. McBryde, the District Superintendent of Police, is the most

reflective and best educated of the Chandrapore officials. He receives Aziz

with courtesy, but is shocked at his downfall. McBryde has a theory about

climatic zones: all unfortunate natives are criminals at heart, for the

simple reason that they live south of latitude 30. They are thus not to

blame, for they have not a dog's chance. McBryde, however, admits that he

seems to contradict this theory himself. The charge against Aziz is that he

followed her into the cave and made insulting advances; she hit him with

her field glasses, but he pulled at them and the strap broke, and that is

how she got away. They find that Aziz has the glasses. Fielding asks if he

may see Adela, but the request is denied. McBryde admits to Fielding that

she is in no state to see anyone, but Fielding believes that she's under a

hideous delusion and Aziz is innocent. Fielding explains that, if Aziz were

guilty, he would not have kept the field glasses. McBryde tells him that

the Indian criminal psychology is different, and shows Fielding the

contents of Aziz's pocket case, including a letter from a friend who keeps

a brothel. The police also find pictures of women in Aziz's bungalow, but

Fielding says that the picture is of Aziz's wife.

Chapter Nineteen:

Hamidullah waits outside the Superintendent's office; Fielding tells

him that evidence for Aziz's innocence will come. Hamidullah is convinced

that Aziz is innocent and throws his lot with the Indians, realizing the

profundity of the gulf that separates them. Hamidullah wants Aziz to have

Armitrao, a Hindu who is notoriously anti-British, as his lawyer. Fielding

feels this is too extreme. Fielding tells Hamidullah that he is on the side

of Aziz, but immediately regrets taking sides, for he wishes to slink

through India unlabelled. Fielding has a talk with Godbole, who is entirely

unaffected by Aziz's plight. He tells Fielding that he is leaving

Chandrapore to return to his birthplace in Central India to take charge of

education there. He wants to start a High School on sound English lines.

Godbole cannot say whether or not he thinks that Aziz is guilty; he says

that nothing can be performed in isolation, for when one performs a good

action, all do, and when an evil action is performed, all perform it. He

claims that good and evil are both aspects of the Lord. Fielding goes to

see Aziz, but finds him unapproachable through misery. Fielding wonders why

Miss Quested, such a dry, sensible girl without malice, would falsely

accuse an Indian.

Chapter Twenty:

Miss Quested's plight had brought her great support among the English

in India; she came out from her ennobled in sorrow. At the meeting at the

club, Fielding asks whether there is an official bulletin about Adela's

health, or whether the grave reports are due to gossip. Fielding makes an

error by speaking her name; others refer to both Adela and Aziz in vague

and impersonal terms. Each person feels that all he loved best was at stake

in the matter. The Collector tells them to assume that every Indian is an

angel. The event had made Ronny Heaslop a martyr, the recipient of all the

evil intended against them by the country they had tried to serve. As he

watches Fielding, the Collector says that responsibility is a very awful

thing, but he has no use for the man who shirks it. He claims that he is

against any show of force. Fielding addresses the meeting, telling them

that he believes that Aziz is innocent; if Aziz is found guilty, Fielding

vows to reign and leave India, but now he resigns from the club. When Ronny

enters, Fielding does not stand. The Collector insists that he apologize to

Ronny, but then orders Fielding to leave immediately.

Chapter Twenty-One:

Fielding spends the rest of the evening with the Nawab Bahadur,

Hamidullah, Mahmoud Ali, and others of the confederacy. Fielding has an

inclination to tell Professor Godbole of the tactical and moral error he

had made in being rude to Ronny Heaslop, but Godbole had already gone to

bed.

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Adela lay for several days in the McBryde's bungalow; others are over-

kind to her, the men too respectful and the women too sympathetic. The one

visitor she wants, Mrs. Moore, kept away. She tells that she went into a

detestable cave, remembers scratching the wall with her finger nail, and

then there was a shadow down the entrance tunnel, bottling her up. She hit

him with her glasses, he pulled her round the cave by the strap, it broke,

and she escaped. He never actually touched her. She refuses to cry, a

degradation worse than what occurred in the Marabar and a negation of her

advanced outlook. Adela feels that only Mrs. Moore can drive back the evil

that happened to her. Ronny tells her that she must appear in court, and

Adela asks if his mother can be there. He tells her that the case will come

before Mr. Das, the brother of Mrs. Bhattacharya and Ronny's assistant.

Ronny tells Adela that Fielding wrote her a letter (which he opened). He

tells her that the defense had got hold of Fielding, who has done the

community a great disservice. Adela worries that Mrs. Moore is ill, but

Ronny says that she is merely irritable at the moment. When she sees her,

Adela thinks that she repels Mrs. Moore, who has no inclination to be

helpful; Mrs. Moore appears slightly resentful, without her Christian

tenderness. Mrs. Moore refuses to be at all involved in the trial. She

tells that she will attend their marriage but not their trial. She vows to

go to England. Ronny tells her that she appears to want to be left out of

everything. She says that the human race would have become a single person

centuries ago if marriage were any use. Adela wonders whether she made a

mistake, and tells Ronny that he is innocent. She feels that Mrs. Moore has

told her that Aziz is innocent. Ronny tells her not to say such things,

because every servant he has is a spy. Mrs. Moore tells Adela that of

course Aziz is innocent. Mrs. Moore thinks that she is a bad woman, but she

will not help Ronny torture a man for what he never did. She claims that

there are different ways of evil, and she prefers her own to his. Ronny

thinks that Mrs. Moore must leave India, for she was doing no good to

herself or anyone else.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Lady Mellanby, wife of the Lieutenant-Governor, had been gratified by

the appeal addressed to her by the ladies of Chandrapore, but she could do

nothing; she does agree to help Mrs. Moore get passage out of India in her

own cabin. Mrs. Moore got what she desired: she escaped the trial, the

marriage and the hot weather, and will return to England in comfort. Mrs.

Moore, however, has come to that state where the horror and the smallness

of the universe are visible. The echo in the cave was a revelation to Mrs.

Moore, insignificant though it may be. Mrs. Moore departs from Chandrapore

alone, for Ronny cannot leave the town.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

The heat accelerates after Mrs. Moore's departure until it seems a

punishment. Adela resumes her morning kneel to Christianity, imploring God

for a favorable verdict. Adela worries that she will break down during the

trial, but the Collector tells her that she is bound to win, but does not

tell her that Nawab Bahadur had financed the defense and would surely

appeal. The case is called, and the first person Adela notices in the Court

is the man who pulls the punkah; to Adela, this nearly naked man stands out

as divine as he pulls the rope. Mr. McBryde behaves casually, as if he

knows that Aziz will be found guilty. He remarks that the darker races are

physically attracted to the fairer, but not vice verse, and a voice is

heard from the crowd asking "even when the lady is so much uglier than the

man?" Mahmoud Ali claims that Mrs. Moore was sent away because she would

have testified that Aziz is innocent. The audience begins chanting Mrs.

Moore until her name seems to be Esmiss Esmoor, as if a Hindu goddess. The

magistrate scolds Armitrao and McBryde for presuming Mrs. Moore's presence

as a witness. Adela is the next to testify; a new sensation protects her

like a magnificent armor. When McBryde asks her whether Aziz followed her,

she say that she cannot be sure. Finally, she admits that she made a

mistake and Dr. Aziz never followed her. The Major attempts to stop the

proceedings on medical grounds, but Adela withdraws the charge. The Nawab

Bahadur declares in court that this is a scandal. Mr. Das rises and

releases the prisoner, as the man who pulls the punkah continues as if

nothing had occurred.

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Miss Quested renounces his own people and is drawn into a mass of

Indians and carried toward the public exit of the court. Fielding finds

her, and tells her that she cannot walk alone in Chandrapore, for there

will be a riot. She wonders if she should join the other English persons,

but Fielding puts her in his carriage. One of Fielding's students finds him

and gives him a garland of jasmine, but Fielding has wearied of his

students' adoration. The student vows to pull Fielding and Miss Quested in

a procession. Mahmoud Ali shouts "down with the Collector, down with the

Superintendent of Police," but the Nawab Bahadur reprimands him as unwise.

A riot nearly occurs, but Dr. Panna Lal calms the situation. Although Dr.

Lal was going to testify for the prosecution, he makes a public apology to

Aziz and secures the release of Nureddin, for there are rumors that he was

being tortured by the police.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Fielding and Miss Quested remain isolated at the college and have the

first of several curious conversations. He asks her why she would make a

charge if she were to withdraw it, but she cannot give a definitive answer.

She tells him that she has been unwell since the caves and perhaps before

that, and wonders what gave her the hallucination. He offers four

explanations, but only gives three: Aziz is guilty, as her friends think;

she invented the charge out of malice, which is what Fielding's friends

think; or, she had a hallucination. He tells her that he believes that she

broke the strap of the field glasses and was alone in the cave the whole

time. She tells him that she first felt out of sorts at the party with Aziz

and Godbole, and tells him that she had a hallucination of a marriage

proposal when there was none. Fielding believes that McBryde exorcised her:

as soon as he asked a straightforward question, she gave a straightforward

answer and broke down. She asks what Aziz thinks of her, and Fielding tells

Adela that Aziz is not capable of thought in his misery, but is naturally

very bitter. An underlying feeling with Aziz is that he had been accused by

an ugly woman; Aziz is a sexual snob. Fielding offers the fourth

explanation: that it was the guide who assaulted Adela, but that option is

inconclusive. Hamidullah joins them, and alternately praises and reprimands

Adela. Fielding and Hamidullah are unsure where Adela could go, because no

place seems safe for her. Fielding has a new sympathy for Adela, who has

become a real person to him. Adela thinks that she must go to the Turtons,

for the Collector would take her in, if not his wife. Ronny arrives and

tells them that Mrs. Moore died at sea from the heat. Fielding tells him

that Adela will stay at the college but he will not be responsible for her

safety.

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

After the Victory Banquet at Mr. Zulfiqar's mansion, Aziz and Fielding

discuss the future. Aziz knows that Fielding wants him to not sue Adela,

for it will show him to be a gentleman, but Aziz says that he has become

anti-British and ought to have become so sooner. Aziz says that he will not

let Miss Quested off easily to make a better reputation for himself and

Indians generally, for it will be put down to weakness and the attempt to

gain promotion. Aziz decides that he will have nothing more to do with

British India and will seek service in some Moslem State. Fielding tells

Aziz that Adela is a prig, but perfectly genuine and very brave. He tells

Aziz what a momentous move she made. Fielding offers to be an intermediary

for an apology from Adela, and Aziz asks for an apology in which Adela

admits that she is an awful hag. Aziz finally agrees to consult Mrs. Moore.

However, when Fielding blurts out that she is dead, Aziz does not believe

him.

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

The death of Mrs. Moore assumes more subtle and lasting shapes in

Chandrapore than in England. A legend sprang up that Ronny killed her for

trying to save Aziz's life, and there was sufficient truth in that legend

to trouble authorities. Ronny reminds himself that Mrs. Moore left India of

her own volition, but his conscience is not clear, for he behaved badly to

her. Adela will leave India and not marry Ronny, for that would mean the

end of his career.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Sir Gilbert, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, visits

Chandrapore. Fielding finds himself drawn more and more into Miss Quested's

affairs, and appreciates her fine loyal character and humility. Victory had

made the Indians aggressive, attempting to discover new grievances and

wrongs. Fielding uses Mrs. Moore as an attempt to persuade Aziz to let

Adela off paying. Adela admits to Fielding that she was thinking of Ronny

when she first entered the cave, and now she no longer wants love. Adela

leaves India. On her travel out of India, Antony tries to blackmail her by

claiming that she had an affair with Fielding, but she turns him away. When

Adela arrives in England, she vows to look up Ralph and Stella and to

return to her profession.

Chapter Thirty:

Another local consequence of the trial is a Hindu-Moslem entente. Mr.

Das visits Aziz, seeking favors; he asks Aziz to write poetry for the

magazine he publishes. Aziz accommodates him, but asks why he should

fulfill these when Mr. Das tried to send him to prison. Aziz thinks that

the magazine for which Mr. Das asks him to write is for Hindus only, but

Mr. Das tells him that it is for Indians in general. When Aziz says there

is no category of "Indian" (only Hindu and Moslem), Das says that after the

trial there may be. Hamidullah gossips with Aziz, telling him that Fielding

may have had an affair with Adela, but this does not faze Aziz, for he

claims that he has no friends and all are traitors, even his own children.

Chapter Thirty-One:

The sequence of the events had decided Aziz's emotions and his

friendship with Fielding began to cool. He assumes that the rumor about

Fielding and Adela is true and resents it. Aziz speaks to Fielding about

it, but Fielding tells him not to speak so melodramatically about "dismay

and anxiety." Aziz speaks about enemies, but Fielding seems to dismiss the

idea that either of them have great enemies. Fielding becomes angry that

Aziz thinks that he and Adela had an affair during such a difficult time,

but the two clear up the misunderstanding. Aziz and Fielding discuss their

future plans. Fielding is conscious of something hostile against him. He

leaves Chandrapore, with Aziz convinced that he will marry Miss Quested.

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Fielding leaves India for travels in other exotic parts of the world.

Fielding found Egypt charming, as well as Crete and Venice. He felt that

everything in Venice and Crete was right where everything in India was

wrong, such as the idol temples and lumpy hills. Elsewhere there is form

that India lacks.

Part Three: Temple

Chapter Thirty-Three:

Hundreds of miles west of the Marabar Hills, Professor Godbole stands

"in the presence of God" during a Hindu birth ceremony. Godbole prays at

the famous shrine at the palace at Mau. Godbole is now the Minister of

Education at Mau. He sings not to the god who confronts him during the

ritual, but to a saint. The ritual does not one thing that the non-Hindu

would consider dramatically correct. By chance, while thinking about a wasp

that he sees, Godbole remembers Mrs. Moore, even though she was not

important to him.

Chapter Thirty-Four:

Dr. Aziz, who had taken part in the ceremony, leaves the palace at the

same time as Godbole and sees the Professor, who tells him that Fielding

arrived at the European Guest House. Fielding is making an official visit;

he was transferred from Chandrapore and sent on a tour through Central

India to see what the more remote states are doing with regard to English

education. Fielding had married; Aziz assumes that his bride is Miss

Quested. In Mau the conflict is not between Indians and English, but

between Brahman and non-Brahman. Aziz had destroyed all the letters that

Fielding had wrote to him after he learned that Fielding had married

someone he knew. Unfortunately, Aziz never read any letters past the phrase

"someone he knew" and automatically assumed it was Miss Quested. Aziz still

remains under criminal investigation since the trial. Colonel Maggs, the

Political Agent for the area, is committed to investigating Aziz, still

convinced that he must be guilty based on events in Chandrapore. Aziz

receives a note from Fielding, but he tears it up.

Chapter Thirty-Five:

There are two shrines to a Mohammedan saint in Mau. These commemorate

a man who, upon his mother's order to "free prisoners," freed the inmates

at the local jail, but whose head was cut off by the police. These shrines

are the sites where the few Mohammedans in Mau pray. Aziz goes to the

Shrine of the Head with his children, Ahmed, Jemila and Karim. The children

see Fielding and his brother-in-law, and tell Aziz. They suggest throwing

stones at them, but Aziz scolds them. Aziz, who is fortunately in a good

temper, greets Fielding, although he had not intended to do so. Aziz greets

the brother-in-law as "Mr. Quested," but he says that his name is Ralph

Moore. Fielding had married Stella, the daughter of Mrs. Moore. Fielding

blames Mahmoud Ali for the ill will between them, for he knew definitively

that Fielding had married Stella. Aziz behaves aggressively and says that

he forgives Mahmoud Ali. He tells Fielding that his heart is for his own

people only. He leaves Fielding and returns to his house, excited and

happy, but realizes that he had promised Mrs. Moore to be kind to her

children, if he met them.

Chapter Thirty-Six:

The birth procession had not yet taken place, although the birth

ceremony finished earlier. All would culminate in the dance of the

milkmaidens before Krishna. Aziz could not understand the ceremony any more

than a Christian could, puzzled that during the ceremony the people in Mau

could be purged from suspicion and self-seeking. Godbole tells Aziz that he

has known that Fielding was married to Stella Moore for more than a year.

Aziz cannot be angry with Godbole, however, because it is not his way to

tell anybody anything. Aziz and Godbole continue in the procession as it

leads out of town. Aziz becomes cynical once again. He thinks that the pose

of "seeing India" is only a form of conquest. Aziz goes to the Guest House

where Fielding stays and reads two letters lying open on the piano. In the

East the sanctity of private correspondence does not exist. The letters

primarily concern Ralph Moore, who appears to be almost an imbecile, but

there is a letter from Adela to Stella in which she says that she hopes

Stella will enjoy India more than she did and says that she will never

repay a debt. Aziz notices the friendly intercourse between these people,

men and women, and believes that this is the strength of England. Ralph

Moore enters, and Aziz claims that he is there to bring salve for his bee

stings. Aziz abruptly prepares to leave, but apologizes. Ralph tells him

that his mother loved Aziz, and Aziz claims that Mrs. Moore was his best

friend in the world. Aziz offers to take Ralph Moore out on the river, as

an act of homage to Mrs. Moore. Ralph is curious about the procession,

which marks him as Mrs. Moore's son. The boat which Ralph and Aziz are in

collides with another boat carrying Fielding and Stella.

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

Fielding and Aziz are friends again, but aware that they can meet no

more. After the funny shipwreck there is no bitterness or nonsense. Aziz

admits how brave Miss Quested was, and claims that he wants to do kind

actions to wipe out the wretched business of the Marabar forever. Fielding

realizes that his wife does not love him as much as he loves her. They

realize that socially the two men have no meeting place. Fielding cannot

defy his own people for the sake of a stray Indian, and Aziz is but a

memento. Aziz explains what he can of the birthing ceremony to Fielding.

They discuss who should rule India. Fielding mockingly suggests the

Japanese, but Aziz wants his ancestors, the Afghans, to rule. To Aziz,

India will then become a nation. Aziz cries "down with the English. That's

certain," then states that only then will he and Fielding be friends.

Pride and Prejudice by J. Austen

Volume I, Chapter 1 Summary:

The novel begins with a conversation at Longbourn, the Bennet

household, regarding the impending arrival of Mr. Bingley, "a single man of

large fortune" to Netherfield Park, a nearby estate. Mrs. Bennet sees Mr.

Bingley as a potential suitor for her daughters, and attempts to persuade

Mr. Bingley to visit him. There are five daughters in the Bennet family.

Mr. Bennet seems to prefer Elizabeth, the second oldest, because of her

intelligence, while Mrs. Bennet seems fonder of the oldest, Jane, because

of her beauty, and the middle child, Lydia, because of her good humor.

Volume I, Chapter 2 Summary:

Without telling his family, Mr. Bennet pays a visit to Mr. Bingley. He

surprises his family by slipping the news unexpectedly into a conversation,

but disappoints them by eluding their barrage of questions about Bingley's

character.

Volume I, Chapter 3 Summary:

The ladies of the household meet Mr. Bingley and his friend from

London, Mr. Darcy, at a ball at Meryton. Mr. Darcy is quickly judged as

"the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world" because of his reserve

and unwillingness to dance with anyone outside of his own party. When both

Darcy and Elizabeth are sitting out a dance and Bingley attempts to

persuade him to dance with her, Elizabeth overhears Darcy's reply "She is

tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me." Mr. Bingley, on the other

hand, is judged to be entirely amiable. He danced first with Charlotte

Lucas, Elizabeth's friend, but the only person with whom he danced twice

was Jane. Upon returning home, Mrs. Bennet attempts to explain the event of

the ball in detail to Mr. Bennet, but he is indifferent and even annoyed.

Volume I, Chapter 4 Summary:

When they are alone, Jane confides to Elizabeth that she admires Mr.

Bingley. Elizabeth approves of him, although she points out that Jane never

sees faults in others. While Elizabeth is critical of the snobbish behavior

of Bingley's sisters, Jane insists that they are pleasing in conversation.

Bingley has a long-standing friendship with Darcy, in spite of their

opposite personalities. Bingley is easy-going and open, while Darcy is

haughty and reserved. While Bingley found the company at the Meryton ball

to be quite amiable, Darcy saw no one with whom he wished to associate, and

even though he assents to Jane's beauty, he complains that she smiles too

much.

Bingley's sisters also tell him that they like Jane, and he feels

"authorised by such commendation" to think what he likes of her.

Volume I, Chapter 5 Summary:

Sir William Lucas and his family live near Longbourn, and Sir

William's eldest daughter Charlotte is a close friend of Elizabeth. The day

after the ball Charlotte and Lady Lucas go visit the Miss Bennetts to talk

over the ball. They speak about general admiration for Jane's beauty and

Bingley's attraction to her, and then go on to criticize Darcy's pride and

his treatment of Elizabeth. Mary makes a remark about universality of pride

in human nature and its differentiation from vanity.

Volume I, Chapter 6 Summary:

Bingley's sisters, while not desirous of become better acquainted with

Mrs. Bennett and the younger Bennet sisters, begin to become better

acquainted with Jane and Elizabeth. Jane is pleased by their attention, but

Elizabeth is still critical of them. The mutual regard of Jane and Bingley

for one another is evident to Elizabeth, though Jane's composure and

"uniform cheerfulness of manner" prevent her regard for him from becoming

obvious.

Charlotte remarks that it may not be such a good thing that Jane's

affection is guarded, because it may cause discouragement in Bingley.

Charlotte believes that a woman should show more affection than she feels

in order to make a man form an attachment to her, and thinks that

"happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."

Mr. Darcy begins to take an interest in Elizabeth, attracted by her

dark eyes and the "easy playfulness" of her manners. Before conversing

directly with her, he listens on a conversation between Elizabeth and Sir

William Lucas. Elizabeth refuses to dance with Darcy, in spite of the

entreaties of Sir William. Darcy mentions his admiration for Elizabeth to

Miss Bingley, who is vainly attempting to attract his admiration to

herself. Miss Bingley responds by satirically criticizing Bennett family.

Volume I, Chapter 7 Summary:

Lydia and Catherine, the two youngest in the family, often go to visit

their aunt, Mrs. Phillips, in Meryton, where a militia regiment has

recently arrived. Mr. Bennet complains of his daughters' foolishness, but

Mrs. Bennet does not consider their obsession with the officers to be a

cause for concern.

Jane receives an invitation to have dinner with Bingley's sisters.

Rather than allowing her to use the carriage to go to Netherfield, Mrs.

Bingley tells Jane to go on horseback, hoping that it will rain and that

Jane will have to spend the night at Netherfield. Jane does not like the

scheme, but has no choice but to accept it.

The plan works all too well, however‹not only is Jane forced to spend

the night at Netherfield, but she falls ill as a result of getting soaked

in the rain, and has to stay at Netherfield until her recovery. Elizabeth

goes to Netherfield to visit Jane, and because there are no horses

available she walks. The Bingley sisters are scandalized that Elizabeth

walked such a distance in the mud. Jane's condition having intensified,

Elizabeth attends to her with great solicitude. Because Jane does not want

Elizabeth to leave, Miss Bingley invites her to stay at Netherfield.

Volume I, Chapter 8 Summary:

When Elizabeth leaves the dinner table to continue attending to Jane,

the Bingley sisters harshly criticize her pride and stubborn independence

for having walked to Netherfield alone, but Mr. Bingley and Darcy admire

Elizabeth's devotion to Jane. The Bingley sisters also deride the low

family connections of Jane and Elizabeth. Bingley does not seem to care

about their low connections, although Darcy considers it an impediment to

their marrying well.

In the evening after Jane has fallen asleep, Elizabeth joins the others in

the drawing room, and they have a conversation about what it means for a

woman to be accomplished. Darcy and Miss Bennett provide such unrealistic

criteria that Elizabeth claims she has never seen such a woman in her life.

Volume I, Chapter 9 Summary:

Elizabeth asks that her mother be summoned to come and see Elizabeth.

Mrs. Bennet is happy because she sees that Jane is not in danger but that

she is ill enough to continue her stay at Netherfield. Elizabeth is

thoroughly embarrassed by her mother's conduct in the conversation, and

particularly by her extreme rudeness to Darcy. Mrs. Bennet returns home and

Elizabeth continues to attend to Jane.

Volume I, Chapter 10 Summary:

That evening in the drawing room Darcy writes a letter to his sister

while Miss Bennet observes him and continually makes comments in admiration

of his letter-writing style. The group gets into a discussion about

Bingley's characters, which leads to Elizabeth's praise of someone who

yields to the persuasion of friends.

As the Bennet sisters sing and play the piano, Elizabeth notices how

frequently Mr. Darcy looks at her, but unable imagine that he might admire

her she assumes he is staring at her because of his disapproval of her.

Darcy asks her to dance a reel, but Elizabeth assumes that there is some

sarcasm in this invitation, and satirically declines the offer. Miss

Bingley notices, and begins to taunt Darcy by speaking about the

possibility of marrying into the Bennet family and emphasizing the

inferiority of her connections.

Volume I, Chapter 11 Summary:

After dinner Jane is feeling well enough to join the others in the

drawing room, and Elizabeth is delighted by the attention which Bingley

shows to her. Miss Bingley continues in her vain attempts to please Darcy,

and even feigns a love for reading, picking up the second volume of the

book which he is reading. She then begins to walk around the room,

attempting to catch Darcy's admiration. She fails, but as soon as she

invites Elizabeth to walk with her Mr. Darcy looks up and stops reading.

They begin to converse about Darcy's character, and Darcy admits that he

has a tendency to be resentful.

Volume I, Chapter 12 Summary:

Jane having recovered from her illness, she and Elizabeth resolve to

go home the next morning. Her mother is unwilling to send the carriage so

soon, wanting to extend Jane's stay as long as possible, but Elizabeth and

Jane are resolved to go and they ask for the Bingleys to lend them their

carriage. Elizabeth and Jane are glad to be returning home, and all except

Bingley are happy to see them go. Darcy is glad to be removed from the

danger of Elizabeth's company, and Miss Bingley is glad to be rid of her

competition.

Volume I, Chapter 13 Summary:

At breakfast the following day Mr. Bennet announces that Mr. Collins,

a cousin of his whom he has never met, will be coming to visit. Because of

the laws of inheritance at the time and because Mr. Bennet has no sons, Mr.

Collins is in line to inherit Longbourn. Mrs. Bennet hates Mr. Collins

because of this, but Elizabeth and Jane try to explain the nature of the

laws of entailment.

To inform them of his visit, Mr. Collins writes a letter to Mr.

Bennet. In the letter Mr. Collins explains that he has recently been

ordained and is under the patronage of Lady Catherine De Bourgh.

Mr. Collins arrives in the afternoon as expected. He is 25 years old,

tall and heavyset, with a grave air and formal manners. When he is

conversing with the women of the household before dinner, he mentions that

he is well aware of the hardship involved in the entailment of the estate

and that he wants to make amends for this hardship. He has come "prepared

to admire" the young ladies of the household. Mr. Collins also expresses

his admiration for the house itself and for the quality of the dinner.

Volume I, Chapter 14 Summary:

After dinner Mr. Bennet invites Mr. Collins to speak about his

patroness Lady Catherine. Mr. Collins describes Lady Catherine with great

solemnity and effusive praise, remarking on her great affability and

condescension to him in spite of her high rank. He also describes Lady

Catherine's daughter, Miss de Bourgh, as quite charming but rather sickly.

He tries to ingratiate himself with Lady Catherine by thinking up pretty

and flattering phrases to tell her about Miss de Bourgh while trying to

make his praise seem spontaneous. Mr. Bennet is convinced that Mr. Collins

is absurd.

After tea Mr. Bennet invites Mr. Collins to read aloud to the ladies.

Mr. Collins declares that he never reads novels and instead begins to read

with a book of sermons with "monotonous solemnity." After a few pages Lydia

interrupts the reading by asking her mother a question about her uncle

Philips. Mr. Collins is offended but takes the hint and stops reading after

briefly reprimanding the frivolity of Lydia. He then proposes playing a

game of backgammon.

Volume I, Chapter 15 Summary:

Mr. Collins' upbringing by an "illiterate and miserly father" along

with his unexpected good fortune in finding a patroness like Lady Catherine

has led to his lack of good sense and his strange combination of

obsequiousness and self-conceit. Now that he is settled he wants to "make

amends" for inheriting the Longbourn estate by marrying one of the young

ladies in the Bennet household. After meeting them, he was first attracted

to Jane because of her beauty, but after hearing from Mrs. Bennet that Jane

may soon be engaged, he switches his affections to Elizabeth.

Mr. Collins joins the ladies for a walk to Meryton. Upon reaching Meryton

they meet Mr. Denny, an officer with whom Lydia and Kitty are acquainted,

and he introduces them to a new member of the regiment, Mr. Wickham. Mr.

Wickham is handsome and charming. While they are all conversing, Bingley

and Darcy notice them as they are riding by and stop to greet them. As soon

as Darcy notices Mr. Wickham, he turns white, and Mr. Wickham turns red.

Bingley and Darcy continue on their way.

Mr. Denny and Mr. Wickham take leave of the young ladies once they

arrive at Mr. Philip's house. Jane introduces Mr. Collins to Mrs. Phillips.

Mrs. Philips plans to invite Mr. Wickham to dinner tomorrow and invites the

Longourn ladies and Mr. Collins to join them.

Volume I, Chapter 16 Summary:

At the beginning of the event at the Phillips' house the next day, Mr.

Collins speaks to Mrs. Philips about Lady Catherine and her mansion

Rosings, and Mrs. Philips is favorably impressed.

Elizabeth forms a very favorable impression of Mr. Wickham, and

converses with him at length during the evening. Elizabeth is curious to

find out about the obvious animosity which exists between him and Darcy.

Wickham brings up the subject by inquiring how long Darcy has been in the

area. Elizabeth expressed her dislike of Darcy to Wickham, and Wickham

mentions that he and Darcy have been intimately acquainted since childhood.

After feigning to avoid the subject, Wickham divulges to Elizabeth that

Darcy's father was his godfather and had promised to provide an ample

living for him, but after his death Darcy had circumvented his father's

promise and had given the living to someone else because of his dislike for

Wickham. Elizabeth is outraged and suggests that Darcy ought to be publicly

dishonored for his actions, but Wickham refuses to do so ought of respect

for Darcy's father. Wickham attributes Darcy's dislike of him to jealousy.

Elizabeth and Wickham also speak of Darcy's pride, which Wickham believes

is the source of all his generosity in the use of his money and excellent

care for his sister. Wickham alludes to a previously close but now very

cold relationship with Darcy's sister.

Wickham also mentions to Elizabeth that Lady Catherine de Bourgh is

Mr. Darcy's aunt, and that Mr. Darcy is expected to marry Miss de Bourgh in

order to unite the fortunes of the two families.

Volume I, Chapter 17 Summary:

When, the next day, Elizabeth relates to Jane the substance of her

conversation with Wickham, Jane refuses to think ill of either Wickham or

Darcy, and assumes that they must in some way be mutually deceived.

Mr. Bingley and his sisters come to Netherfield to announce a ball.

When Elizabeth asks Mr. Collins whether or not he plans to attend, he state

that he does and asks her for the first two dances. While she had wanted to

reserve those dances for Wickham, she gracefully accepts his offer.

Elizabeth begins to realize that she has become Mr. Collins choice for a

future wife, but she ignores his hints in that direction hoping that he

will not ask her.

Volume I, Chapter 18 Summary:

At the Netherfield Ball Elizabeth is disappointed because of Wickham's

absence, which she assumes is all Mr. Darcy's doing. After relating her

disappointment to her friend Charlotte Lucas, she suffers through her two

dances with Mr. Collins. Mr. Darcy asks her for a dance and Elizabeth is so

taken by surprise that she accepts. During the dance with Mr. Darcy

Elizabeth makes a bit of sarcastic conversation, poking fun at his

character. She alludes to her new acquaintance with Wickham and to the fact

that she thinks he has not behaved well toward him. They change the subject

after a brief interruption from Sir William Lucas, but then she goes back

to it by asking him about his previous admission that he has a tendency

toward resentment, explaining that she is unable to figure out his

character because she has received such contradictory accounts. After the

dance they part in silence but Darcy forgives her questioning and blames

Wickham.

Miss Bingley, having heard from Jane that Wickham has talked with

Elizabeth about Darcy, tries to warn her not to trust Wickham and assures

her that Darcy has done nothing wrong to Wickham but that Wickham has

treated Darcy shamefully. Elizabeth reacts rudely and considers Mr. Bingley

to be blinded to the truth. Jane also tells Elizabeth that Mr. Bingley

believes Darcy's behavior is above reproach and that Wickham is not reputed

to be of good character, but Elizabeth dismisses Bingley's opinion because

he received all his information from Darcy.

Mr. Collins finds out the Darcy is Lady Catherine's nephew and decides

to introduce himself, in spite of Elizabeth's warnings that it would be

inappropriate to do so because of Mr. Darcy's superior social status. Darcy

is surprised at Mr. Collins but replies to him with civility and then walks

away.

Jane seems to be having a wonderful time with Mr. Bingley, and

Elizabeth enjoys herself in thinking of her sister's happiness. Mrs. Bennet

is also happy to see how well Jane and Mr. Bingley are getting along, and

during dinner speaks unceasingly and loudly about the imminence of their

engagement in close proximity to Mr. Darcy, much to Elizabeth's great

embarrassment.

After dinner Mary accepts an invitation to play and sing at the piano,

and is insensible to Elizabeth's hints that she ought to decline. After

Mary's second piece Elizabeth gets her father to tell Mary to stop playing.

Mr. Collins then makes a speech about the importance of music which

nonetheless should not take precedence to more important parish duties.

Elizabeth feels completely embarrassed by her family's conduct during the

evening.

At the end of the ball Mrs. Bennet invites Bingley to dinner at

Longbourn and he promises to come as soon as he returns form a short trip

to London.

Volume I, Chapter 19 Summary:

The next day Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, in a long speech explaining

that he considers it appropriate for him to marry and that he wants to

marry one of the Miss Bennets in order lessen the difficulty of the

entailment of the estate. Elizabeth refuses him in no uncertain terms, but

Mr. Collins refuses to believe that her refusal could be sincere,

considering it a formality of female coquetry to always refuse a proposal

the first time. Elizabeth repeats and strengthens her refusal, but as he

still cannot believe her to be sincere, she simply leaves.

Volume I, Chapter 20 Summary:

When Mrs. Bennet hears that Elizabeth has refused to marry Mr.

Collins, she entreats Mr. Bennet to force Elizabeth to change her mind. Mr.

Bennet agrees to speak with Elizabeth, but actually tells her that he would

never hear of her marrying such a man as Mr. Collins. Mrs. Bennet does not

give up however, and continually attempts to persuade Elizabeth to accept

the proposal. In the midst of all this confusion, Charlotte Lucas comes to

visit. Eventually Mr. Collins accepts Elizabeth's refusal.

Volume I, Chapter 21 Summary:

Mr. Collins reacts by treating Elizabeth coldly for the rest of the

day and shifting his attentions to Charlotte Lucas. The girls all walk to

Meryton after breakfast. Elizabeth speaks with Wickham and he accompanies

them back to Longbourn, paying particular attention to Elizabeth.

When they return Jane receives a letter from Caroline Bingley stating

that they have all left Netherfield for town and have no intention of

returning. She states that Mr. Bingley will most probably not return for at

least another six months. The letter also speaks of the family's

expectation that Mr. Bingley will marry Georgiana Darcy, implying that they

do not want him to marry Jane. Elizabeth attempts to comfort Jane by

reassuring her that Mr. Bingley really is attached to her and that in spite

of his sisters' efforts to prevent him from marrying Jane he will most

assuredly return to Netherfield.

Volume I, Chapter 22 Summary:

Charlotte Lucas continues to engage Mr. Collins in conversation for

the rest of the day. Early the next morning Mr. Collins goes to Lucas Lodge

to propose to Charlotte. Charlotte accepts and Sir William and Lady Lucas

approve of the match.

Mr. Collins left the next day without informing the Bennets of his

engagement. His promise to return soon was met by assurances on the part of

Mr. Bennet that they would not be offended if the fulfillment of his duties

prevented his speedy return.

Later in the day Miss Lucas tells Elizabeth about her engagement.

Elizabeth is shocked but tries to be kind in her reaction. She is however,

very unhappy about Charlotte's decision because she thinks that the match

is completely unsuitable.

Volume I, Chapter 23 Summary:

Later in the day Sir William Lucas came to announce the engagement, to

the great surprise of the rest of the family. Mrs. Bennet is incredulous

and after being convinced that the news was true is extremely angry at

Elizabeth for having turned down the proposal.

Elizabeth and Charlotte do not discuss the subject of the marriage between

themselves, and their friendship gradually diminishes.

Jane and Elizabeth are concerned because they have not heard anything

at all from Mr. Bingley.

Mr. Collins returns again to Longbourn in order to make preparations for

his marriage. The Bennets are not too happy to see him but they are glad

that he spends most of his time at Lucas Lodge.

Volume II, Chapter 1 Summary:

Jane receives another letter from Miss Bingley confirming that they

will definitely not return before the end of the winter, and boasting about

the whole family's increasing intimacy with Miss Darcy and the hopes of an

engagement between her and Mr. Bingley. When Elizabeth and Jane are finally

able to speak alone, Jane confides her disappointment to Elizabeth. In

spite of Elizabeth's arguments, Jane refuses to believe that the Miss

Bingleys and Mr. Darcy are responsible for persuading Mr. Bingley not to

propose to Jane.

Mrs. Bennet only aggravates the situation by speaking of Bingley so often,

and Mr. Bennet only responds sarcastically.

Some comfort is provided to the household by Mr. Wickham's society.

Soon the whole town knows Wickham's story about Darcy and is happy to

believe it and judge Darcy to be completely in the wrong.

Volume II, Chapter 2 Summary:

Mr. Collins leaves Longbourn with his usual solemnity.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet's brother and his wife, come to

Longbourn to visit. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are both sensible, intelligent

and refined. Elizabeth and Jane are very fond of them. Mrs. Gardiner and

Elizabeth speak about Jane and Bingley. Mrs. Gardiner offers to bring Jane

back to London with her in order to cheer her with the change of scene.

Elizabeth hopes that while in London Jane will run into Bingley.

During the course of the visit Mrs. Gardiner observes Elizabeth with

Wickham and notices her preference for him. Mrs. Gardiner enjoys speaking

with Wickham about mutual acquaintances and about Mr. Darcy and his father.

Volume II, Chapter 3 Summary:

Mrs. Gardiner speaks with Elizabeth about the imprudence of becoming

attached to Wickham because of his poor financial state. Elizabeth makes no

promises that she will not become attached to him, but does promise to try

to prevent the attachment as much as possible.

Mr. Collins returns to Hertfordshire for his wedding. Charlotte Lucas makes

Elizabeth promise to visit her at Hunsford

Jane writes to Elizabeth telling about her stay in London. Caroline

Bingley is extremely inattentive to her, pretending first that she is

unaware of Jane's presence in London, and then waiting a fortnight to make

a promised visit, which itself is rudely short.

In a letter to Mrs. Gardiner Elizabeth relates that Mr. Wickham's

affections for her have subsided and have been transferred to another young

lady, Miss King, who recently acquired 10,000 pounds. Elizabeth concludes

that she must not have been in love with him, because her feelings are

still cordial toward him.

Volume II, Chapter 4 Summary:

After a couple of dull winter months in Hertfordshire, Elizabeth is

looking forward to going with Sir William Lucas and his second daughter to

visit Charlotte. She parts very amiably with Wickham, reinforced in her

belief that he is a "model of the amiable and the pleasing." The travellers

stop for a night in London to see the Gardiners. Elizabeth is pleased to

see that Jane is looking well. Mrs. Gardiner informs her, however, that

Jane does undergo periods of dejection occasionally. Mrs. Gardiner is

critical of Wickham so quickly shifting his attentions to Miss King, but

Elizabeth defends him. Elizabeth is pleasantly surprised to be invited to

accompany the Gardiners on a tour of the country during the summer.

Volume II, Chapter 5 Summary:

The next day Elizabeth, Sir William and his daughter Maria set out for

Hunsford to visit Charlotte. Upon arriving Mr. Collins welcomes him to the

house with his usual verbose formality. Charlotte‹now Mrs. Collins‹seems to

endure Mr. Collins' silliness very well, and to take pleasure in managing

the house. On reflection, Elizabeth concludes that Charlotte is handling

things well.

Elizabeth's reflections are interrupted by shouts from Maria telling

her to look outside because Miss de Bourgh is there in her carriage.

Elizabeth is happy that Miss de Bourgh looks sickly and cross, thinking

that she'll make a perfect wife for Mr. Darcy. After the carriage drives

away Mr. Collins congratulates them because they have all been invited to

dine at Rosings the next day.

Volume II, Chapter 6 Summary:

The day of the dinner at Rosings is spent mostly in listening to Mr.

Collins, who is trying to prepare his guests for the grandeur they are

about to encounter. While Maria and Sir William are extremely nervous about

meeting Lady Catherine, Elizabeth sees nothing to be intimidated about,

being unimpressed by "the mere stateliness of money and rank."

Lady Catherine is "a tall, large woman, with strongly-marked

features," and her manner of receiving her visitors is one which does not

fail to remind them of their inferior rank. Miss de Bourgh is extremely

thin and small. Mrs. Jenkinson, who lives with them, has an unremarkable

appearance and spends most of her time fussing over Miss de Bourgh.

At dinner nothing much is said other than continuous compliments about

the food from Mr. Collins, which are echoed by Sir William. After dinner

Lady Catherine speaks about her opinion on every subject which comes to

mind and offers advice to Charlotte about even the smallest details of

household management. She then barrages Elizabeth with impertinent

questions about her and her family. Elizabeth answers with composure but

without fear of giving her own opinion. For the rest of the evening they

play cards.

Volume II, Chapter 7 Summary:

Sir William Lucas stays only for a week at Hunsford, but Elizabeth

stays for quite some time longer. She passes the time pleasantly,

conversing with Charlotte and taking long walks through the gardens. They

all dine regularly at Rosings about twice a week, and all dinners follow

the model of the first.

After having stayed a fortnight at Hunsford Elizabeth hears that Mr.

Darcy is planning to visit Rosings. She looks forward to his coming because

he will provide a new face at the dinner parties and because she wants to

see how he acts with Miss de Bourgh, whom he is expected to marry. When Mr.

Darcy arrives with his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, the two gentlemen

immediately call at Hunsford. Elizabeth asks Darcy whether or not he has

seen Jane in the past few months, in order to see if he betrays any

knowledge about what happened between Jane and the Bingleys. He looks a bit

confused but simply answers that he has not seen her.

Volume II, Chapter 8 Summary:

It is about a week before Elizabeth and Mr. and Mrs. Collins are

invited again to Rosings, since Lady Catherine is no longer in need of

company. During the evening Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth have a very

enjoyable conversation. Lady Catherine seems annoyed that she is not a part

of the conversation, and interrupts them in order to join in. Mr. Darcy

looks a bit ashamed at his aunt's impertinence and ill-breeding in treating

Elizabeth as an inferior.

At Colonel Fitzwilliam's request, Elizabeth begins to play the piano.

As she playing Darcy walks away from Lady Catherine in order to go up to

the piano and watch her. They have a very lively conversation, teasing each

other playfully about their characters. Soon Lady Catherine interrupts

demanding to know what they are talking of, and Elizabeth immediately

resumes playing. Lady Catherine offers generous criticisms and advice about

Elizabeth's playing. Elizabeth tries to observe how Mr. Darcy reacts to

Miss de Bourgh, and she finds in him no sign of affection for her.

Volume II, Chapter 9 Summary:

The next morning, when only Elizabeth is at home, Mr. Darcy comes to

visit alone. He had thought that the other ladies were also at home. They

converse for a while about several subjects, including his quick departure

from Netherfield last November, and Charlotte's marriage to Mr. Collins.

When Elizabeth tells Darcy that, contrary to his opinions, Charlotte is not

exactly close to her family since they lack the income to travel

frequently, he tells Elizabeth emphatically that she must not have such

strong local attachments. Elizabeth is surprised and he quickly cools his

tone of voice and changes the subject to a general conversation about the

countryside. Charlotte and Marie return from their walk Mr. Darcy stays for

a few minutes and then leaves. Charlotte tells Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy

must be in love with her, but Elizabeth convinces her that such is not the

case.

Colonel Fitzwalliams calls on the ladies frequently because he enjoys

their company. Elizabeth can tell that he admires her. He reminds her of

Wickham. Neither Elizabeth nor Charlotte are able to figure out why Mr.

Darcy calls on them so often. Charlotte keeps suggesting that Mr. Darcy

must be partial to her, but Elizabeth simply laughs at the idea.

Volume II, Chapter 10 Summary:

Elizabeth often unexpectedly meets Mr. Darcy during her walks in the

Park, in spite of the fact that she has told him where she usually walks in

hopes of deterring him from taking the same path. When they meet he not

only stops to say hello but also walks all the way back to the house with

her. During one conversation he asks questions which seem to imply that in

the future when she comes to Kent she will be staying at Rosings. Elizabeth

thinks that he may be alluding to the prospect of her marriage to Colonel

Fitzwilliam.

On another walk Elizabeth runs into Colonel Fitzwilliam. He speaks to

her about the fact that because he is a younger son he cannot ignore

financial concerns in his choice of whom to marry. Elizabeth thinks that

this statement may be made for her sake. They also speak of Miss Darcy, and

then of Bingley. Colonel Fitzwilliam tells Elizabeth that Darcy recently

saved a good friend probably Bingley from an imprudent marriage.

When she is alone and reflecting on the conversation, Elizabeth is

sure that it was due to Darcy's influence that Bingley did not propose to

Jane. Her reflections distress her so much that she begins to have a

headache, and her headache combined with her desire to avoid seeing Mr.

Darcy lead her to stay at home even though they have been invited to

Rosings that evening.

Volume II, Chapter 11 Summary:

While Elizabeth is at home alone, the door bell rings and she thinks

that it might be Colonel Fitzwilliam. To her surprise, however, it is Mr.

Darcy. After he inquires about her health, he paces around the room for a

few minutes and then makes a declaration of love for her. While he speaks

eloquently about his admiration for her, he also clearly expresses the

inferiority of her connections and the family obstacles which prevented him

from proposing sooner. Elizabeth turns down his proposal rather harshly,

and he is both surprised and resentful.

Elizabeth explains her reasons for turning him down. These reasons

are, first, the arrogant manner of his proposal; second, his actions to

separate Bingley and Jane; and third, his actions toward Wickham. Darcy

replies angrily that her calculation of his faults is indeed heavy, but

that she might have overlooked them if he had not been honest about the

fact that her family connections had made him try to avoid becoming

attached to her. She simply states that his manner of proposal had no

influence on her other than to "spare me the concern of refusing you, had

you acted in a more gentlemanlike manner." After she finishes speaking he

quickly leaves the room.

Elizabeth collapses and cries from weakness as a result of what has

passed. She is flattered that he should have proposed to her, but any

softness which she feels toward him because of his affection is quickly

dissipated as soon as she thinks of his "abominable pride" and all that he

has done to Jane and to Wickham.

Volume II, Chapter 12 Summary:

The next morning Elizabeth decides to go for a walk. Though she avoids

her usual walking route, Mr. Darcy finds her and gives her a letter, then

quickly leaves. First the letter explains Darcy's reasons for persuading

Bingley not to marry Jane. Darcy admits that the impropriety of the Bennet

family made him hope that the two would not marry, but that his main reason

for preventing Bingley from proposing to Jane was that he did not think

that Jane had any particular regard for Bingley. The only part of his

conduct which he is uneasy about is that he concealed from Bingley his

knowledge that Jane has been in London for the past few months.

In response to Elizabeth's charge that Darcy had injured Mr. Wickham,

Darcy relates the whole account of Wickham's relationship with him and his

family. Darcy's father was very fond of Wickham and paid to provide him

with an excellent education. Before his death Darcy's father asked Darcy to

promote Wickham's professional advancement and stipulated that if Wickham

should become a clergyman Darcy should provide him with a good family

living. Wickham, however, having no desire to become a clergyman, wrote to

Darcy after his father's death and asked for money in order to study law.

Darcy gave him 3,000 pounds and Wickham resigned his claim to assistance in

a church career. However, Wickham quickly gave up on studying law and

squandered the money with a dissipate lifestyle. When he needed more money

he went to Darcy and told him that he would become a clergyman if Darcy

would provide him with the living that had been promised. Darcy refused,

and Wickham was furious. A while afterwards, Wickham, with the help of Miss

Darcy's governess Miss Younge, managed to deceive Darcy's younger sister

into consenting to elope with him when she was fifteen. Darcy happened to

go see his sister before the intended elopement and she ended up confessing

the whole plan to him. He thus prevented the elopement, the motives for

which on Wickham's side were mostly Miss Darcy's fortune and a desire to

revenge himself on Mr. Darcy.

Volume II, Chapter 13 Summary:

Elizabeth reads the letter "with a strong prejudice against everything

he might say." She does not at all believe his claim that he prevented

Bingley from proposing to Jane because he thought Jane was not attached to

him. After reading Darcy's account of his dealings with Wickham, she does

not know how to react and tries to convince herself it must be false. She

puts away the letter, resolving not to think about it, but then examines it

slowly, line by line. After long deliberation Elizabeth begins to rethink

her previous judgment of Wickham. She realizes that his communications to

her in their first conversation were indelicate, improper and inconsistent,

and that his attentions to Miss King were purely mercenary.

She begins to see that she judged Darcy completely wrongly, and she

grows ashamed, concluding that she been "blind, partial, prejudiced,

absurd," in spite of the fact that has always prided herself on her

judgment. She realizes that vanity has been the cause of her prejudice.

After this realization, she rereads the first part of the letter which

deals with his reasons for preventing Bingley's proposal to Jane. She now

sees that he had reason to be suspicious of Jane's attachment. Elizabeth

also admits that Darcy's criticisms of the impropriety of her mother and

younger sisters is just, and is ashamed and depressed.

After wandering through the park or two hours, engrossed in her

reflections, she returns to the Parsonage to find that both Mr. Darcy and

Colonel Fitzwilliam have stopped by to take leave of them, but have since

left. She is glad to have missed them.

Volume II, Chapter 14 Summary:

Lady Catherine invites Elizabeth, Maria and the Collinses to dinner

because she is bored now that her nephews have left. Elizabeth can't help

thinking that she might have been attending this dinner as Lady Catherine's

future niece, and amusing herself at how indignant Lady Catherine would be.

Lady Catherine attempts to persuade Elizabeth and Maria to stay another

fortnight, but Elizabeth insists that her father wants her to come home.

She spends much time over the next few days before her return home

reflecting on the contents of the letter and on her past conduct. She does

not regret her refusal of Darcy's offer, but does regret her own past

actions. She is also depressed by the hopelessness of improving the

character of her younger sisters, since her father only laughs at them and

her mother is equally frivolous. She is also sad to think that Jane could

have been so happy had it not been for the indecorum of her family.

Volume II, Chapter 15 Summary:

Elizabeth and Maria leave the Parsonage on Saturday morning, after

lengthy parting civilities from Mr. Collins. Before returning to

Hertferdshore, they stop at the Gardiner's to spend a few days there. Jane

is to return home with them. Elizabeth is tempted to tell her all that she

learned from Darcy, but decides to wait because she is not sure how much

she should reveal.

Volume II, Chapter 16 Summary:

Upon reaching Hertfordshire they are greeted by Kitty and Lydia, who

have prepared lunch for them at the inn where they have arranged to meet

the carriage. Elizabeth is happy to hear that regiment will soon be leaving

Meryton, although Kitty and Lydia are not equally pleased. Lydia hopes that

Mr. Bennet will allow them all to go to Brighton for the summer since the

officers will be there. During lunch Lydia tells Jane and Elizabeth that

Miss King has left and that Wickham is therefore once again available.

Lydia entertains them on the carriage home by relating stories of all the

balls and dances they have attended with the officers in Meryton. When they

arrive at Longbourn they have dinner with the Lucases, who have come to

meet Maria. Lydia urges everyone to take a walk with her to Meryton, but

Elizabeth stays home because she wants to avoid seeing Wickham.

Volume II, Chapter 17 Summary:

The next morning Elizabeth tells Jane about Darcy's proposal, and

about the part of the letter regarding Wickham. Jane is shocked not as much

about the proposal as about Wickham's being so bad, and tries to make

excuses for him, but realizes that no excuse can be found. Elizabeth asks

Jane whether or not she should let the rest of the town know about

Wickham's true character. They decide it would be best to keep the matter

quiet, since he is leaving soon and it will be extremely difficult to

convince people without telling about his attempts to seduce Miss Darcy.

Elizabeth decides that she should not tell Jane about the part of Darcy's

letter which relates to her and Bingley. After observing Jane at leisure,

Elizabeth sees that she is not happy and is still very attached to Bingley.

Volume II, Chapter 18 Summary:

Kitty, Lydia and Mrs. Bennet are extremely disappointed because the

regiment is leaving Meryton. Lydia receives an invitation from Mrs.

Forster, the wife of the Colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to

Brighton. Lydia is ecstatic.

Elizabeth entreats her father to prevent Lydia from going, explaining

that such an experience will only increase her frivolousness. But her

father does not listen and tells Elizabeth that Lydia will be fine in

Brighton under the supervision of Colonel Forster and that she is too poor

to be taken advantage of by any of the officers in the regiment.

Elizabeth sees Wickham frequently. He attempts to renew his attentions

to her, but she represses them and is annoyed by them. On the last day of

their stay in Meryton, they have a conversation in which Elizabeth speaks

of her stay at the Parsonage and her enjoyment of Darcy's and Colonel

Fitzwilliam's company. She leads Wickham to suspect that she knows the

truth of his past. He pretends not to notice but stops distinguishing

Elizabeth. At the end of the party Lydia returns to Meryton with Mrs.

Forster in order to be able to set out with them for Brighton early in the

morning.

Volume II, Chapter 19 Summary:

Elizabeth's father had married her mother because he was captivated by

her beauty, but her weak understanding soon made him lose all real

affection for her. Mr. Bennet derives his enjoyment from books and the

country. Elizabeth has always recognized the impropriety of her father's

behavior as a husband, and is now especially aware of the disadvantage that

such a marriage has had on the children. She faults her father for not

having used his talents to at least preserve the respectability of his

daughters.

The days at Longbourn are far from enjoyable, with the constant

lamentations of boredom form Mrs. Bennet and Kitty. Elizabeth consoles

herself by looking forward to her tour of the Lakes with the Gardiners.

After a few weeks things become more bearable at home, and Elizabeth hopes

that Kitty may be improved by the time away from Lydia.

Elizabeth's vacation with the Gardiners is delayed and shortened on

account of Mr. Gardiner's work commitments. In the course of the trip they

pass near Pemberley and Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner want to go see it. Elizabeth

does not want to go because of fear of seeing Darcy, but she finds out from

the maid that the Darcy family is not at home.

Volume III, Chapter 1 Summary:

Elizabeth is captivated by the beauty of Pemberley, and feels that it

would not be bad to be the mistress of such a house. She almost has a

feeling of regret. The housekeeper gives them a tour of the house and talks

to them about Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy. She describes Mr. Darcy as

exceptionally sweet-tempered, generous and good-natured, remarking that she

has "never heard a cross word from him." Elizabeth is surprised, having

retained her assumption that Darcy is ill-tempered. Elizabeth is also

impressed with Darcy's excellent treatment of his younger sister. After

hearing so much praise of Darcy from his housekeeper, Elizabeth thinks of

his regard for her with more warmth than ever.

As they go out to see the gardens, Mr. Darcy unexpectedly comes

forward from the road. Both he and Elizabeth are ill at ease, but she is

impressed at the genteel civility in his inquiries. After exchanging a few

civilities he takes leave. Elizabeth is mortified and wonders what he might

think of her for having come to visit the house.

Elizabeth is extremely distracted but attempts to be sociable and make

conversation with her aunt and uncle as they walk through the garden. After

a long while she is surprised to see Mr. Darcy coming toward them. They are

both better prepared for this encounter. Mr. Darcy asks Elizabeth to

introduce him to the Gardiners. In spite of the fact that they are a much

lower class than he, he enters into conversation with them and even tells

Mr. Gardiner that he is welcome to come to Pemberley and fish as long as he

is in the area.

Elizabeth and Darcy begin walking together, and she informs him that

she thought he would not be at home. He explains his reason for returning

early and then asks her if he can introduce his sister to her when she

arrives the next day. Elizabeth is surprised at this offer but accepts.

When they reach the house they have an awkward conversation while waiting

for the Gardiners to catch up with them, and then he sees them off with

great politeness.

The Gardiners are very pleased and surprised at Darcy's civility,

having heard from so many people, including Elizabeth, that he is so

disagreeable, and still believing Wickham's story. Elizabeth tells them in

a very guarded way that there is reason to believe that Darcy is not at

fault in his dealings with Wickham.

Volume III, Chapter 2 Summary:

Mr. Darcy brings his sister to visit Elizabeth at the inn the very

morning of her arrival. Elizabeth is caught by surprise, not thinking that

they will come until the next day. She is extremely nervous because she

wants Georgiana to form a good opinion of her. The Gardiners begin to

suspect that Darcy has a partiality for Elizabeth, seeing no other

explanation for such attentions. Elizabeth is relieved to see that Miss

Darcy is as nervous as she is. Miss Darcy is shy, attractive and graceful,

with unassuming and gentle manners. Soon Mr. Bingley comes to visit as

well. All of Elizabeth's anger at him disappears upon seeing him. The

Gardiners, through their observations and conversation, become completely

convinced that Darcy is in love with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth observes the conduct of Bingley and Georgiana toward one

another, and is happy to find no sign of particular regard on the part of

either. When Bingley has a moment to speak to Elizabeth without the others'

hearing, he inquires about Jane and seems to regret that it has been so

long since he has seen her.

Elizabeth is amazed at Darcy's civility toward the Gardiners, relations

which he had previously spoken of with disdain, and she cannot imagine the

reason for his change in manners. Before the visitors leave Darcy invites

Elizabeth and the Gardiners to dinner at Pemberley, and they accept.

The Gardiners, seeing that Darcy is in love with Elizabeth, reevaluate

their former negative opinion of him, which had been based on the accounts

of their friends in Hertfordshire. They are satisfied that he is a much

better man they had previously thought, and also find that Wickham is not

held in such good esteem in the area.

Elizabeth stays awake trying to discern her feelings for Darcy. She

realizes that she is grateful to him for having loved her and loving her

still even after the rudeness of her rejection. She is extremely impressed

by his change of character, and esteems him highly, but is still not sure

whether or not she loves him.

Mrs. Gardiner decides that she and Elizabeth should wait on Miss Darcy

the following morning in return for her great politeness in coming to see

them immediately after her arrival.

Volume III, Chapter 3 Summary:

During their visit to Pemberley Miss Darcy receives them with

civility, although she is very shy. Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley say very

little, and the conversation is carried on mostly by Mrs. Annesley (an

acquaintance), Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth. Elizabeth both hopes and fears

that Mr. Darcy will join them.

After a while Mr. Darcy does join them, and his actions are closely

scrutinized by Miss Bingley and Miss Hurst. When Miss Bingley notices that

Mr. Darcy is trying to get Elizabeth and Georgiana to converse, she asks

Elizabeth a question about the militia. Elizabeth answers with composure,

and notices that both Mr. Darcy and Georgiana are pained by the allusion to

Wickham.

After Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner take their leave, Miss Bingley

speaks negatively about Elizabeth to Georgiana, but Georgiana's opinion is

fixed firmly in Elizabeth's favor by her brother's commendations. Miss

Bingley also repeats her criticisms of Elizabeth to Darcy, and after much

provocation he coolly answers that he considers Elizabeth one of the most

handsome women he has ever met, and then walks away.

Volume III, Chapter 4 Summary:

Elizabeth receives two letters from her sister relating that Lydia has

eloped with Wickham. At first they expected that the two were planning to

go to Scotland to get married (because minors can marry without parental

permission in Scotland). However, after gaining further intelligence they

find that there is reason to doubt that Wickham has any intention of

marrying her at all. Jane asks Elizabeth and the Gardiners to return home

as soon as possible, and requests that Mr. Gardiner help her father search

for Lydia and Wickham in London.

Elizabeth rushes to the door to go out to find Mr. Gardiner, but as

she does so Mr. Darcy appears. She tells him with great agitation that she

must go immediately in search of Mr. Gardiner, but he recommends that a

servant be sent. That being done, Elizabeth collapses into a chair and when

she is able to she explains the situation to Darcy. He is extremely

distressed, thinking that if he had revealed more of what he knew about

Wickham's character this could have been prevented. Elizabeth, observing

Darcy, believes that such an action on her sister's part will make a

renewal of Darcy's proposal impossible. Feeling this loss, she realizes

that she loves him.

After a few minutes Darcy realizes that he is doing no good by his

presence and takes his leave, promising to maintain secrecy on the matter

and wishing that he could do more to help. Elizabeth watches him go with

regret, doubting that they will ever meet again on such friendly terms.

Elizabeth has no doubts that Wickham does not plan to marry Lydia. She

knows that Lydia would not have gone off with him if she were not under the

pretense that they were going to be married, but Elizabeth also realizes

that Lydia is easy prey for Wickham's deceptions. The Gardiners quickly

return and Elizabeth relates the sad news to them. Mr. Gardiner promises to

do all he can to help, and they quickly prepare for their journey.

Volume III, Chapter 5 Summary:

On the way back to Longbourn, Mr. Gardiner attempts to convince

Elizabeth that Wickham must have a genuine intention of marrying Lydia, but

Elizabeth, knowing what she does of Wickham, is not convinced. Elizabeth

reproaches herself for not having revealed what she knew of Wickham's true

character.

They arrive at Longbourn the next day and Jane is very happy to see

Elizabeth. So far there is no new news about Lydia's whereabouts. Mrs.

Bennet has taken things badly and will not leave her apartment. When they

go to see her, she tells them that she blames the Forsters for neglect, not

thinking that Lydia is the type of girl to do such a thing. She is alarmed

that when Mr. Bennet finds them he will fight with Wickham and be killed.

Mr. Gardiner tries to reassure her, and promises to do what he can to help

Mr. Bennet in London. Kitty and Mary do not seem extremely upset over the

situation.

When Elizabeth and Jane are alone they discuss what has happened in

more detail. Jane shows Elizabeth the note which Lydia left for Mrs.

Forster. Lydia's letter shows extreme thoughtlessness and frivolity, but

also proves that she had every intention to marry Wickham.

Volume III, Chapter 6 Summary:

The next morning Mr. Gardiner sets off for London. Mrs. Gardiner plans

to remain for a few more days at Longbourn in order to help Elizabeth and

Jane. All in Meryton quickly changed their opinion of Wickham from "an

angel of light" to "the wickedest young man in the world," now finding

fault with so many of his actions.

A letter from Mr. Gardiner arrives in a couple of days, explaining

that they plan to inquire at every major hotel about Lydia and Wickham. Mr.

Gardiner also plans to ask Mr. Forster if anyone in the militia has any

idea of where he would be staying in London.

They receive a letter from Mr. Collins, offering condolences and also

criticizing the lack of parental attention to Lydia. He also alludes to the

fact that he is now glad Elizabeth turned down his proposal, since being

married to her would connect him with this disgrace.

Another letter arrives from Mr. Gardiner saying that Mr. Forster has

had no luck in finding any possible close friends or relations with whom

Wickham and Lydia might be staying. He also mentions that Wickham has extra

reasons for secrecy because of over 1,000 dollars in gaming debts, along

with other debts to the town merchants. Mr. Bennet decides to come home and

leave the rest of the searching to Mr. Gardiner. At the same time, Mrs.

Gardiner returns home to London with her children.

Elizabeth's misery at the situation is greatly increased by the

knowledge that it probably ruins her chances of marriage to Darcy. When

Elizabeth speaks to her father, he tells her that he thinks himself

completely to blame.

Volume III, Chapter 7 Summary:

Mr. Bennet receives an express letter from Mr. Gardiner, stating that

he has found Wickham and that Wickham will agree to marry Lydia on

condition that she receives her equal share of Mr. Bennet's wealth after

his death along with 100 pounds per year. Mr. Gardiner assumes that

Wickham's debts are not so bad as everyone had thought.

Mr. Bennet comments that Mr. Gardiner must have paid Wickham a large

sum of money to make him comply, since what Wickham is asking is extremely

little. When Elizabeth and Jane relate the news to Mrs. Bennet, Kitty and

Lydia, Mrs. Bennet is ecstatic. She begins to think about ordering the

wedding clothes.

Volume III, Chapter 8 Summary:

Mr. Bennet wants to find out how much Mr. Gardiner paid to get Wickham

to agree to the marriage and to pay him back as much as possible.

After listening throughout dinner to Mrs. Bennet's talk of wedding

plans and suitable houses in the neighborhood for Lydia and Wickham, Mr.

Bennet informs her that he will not receive the couple at Longbourn, nor

give Lydia money for wedding clothes. Mrs. Bennet is more disgraced by her

daughter's lack of new clothes for the wedding than by her elopement.

Elizabeth reflects on the fact that with Wickham as a member of the

family, there is no possibility that Darcy will propose to her again. His

proposal of four months ago would now be most gratefully received. She

realizes that Darcy is the man who would most suit her, and that their

personalities would complement each other for their mutual advantage.

Another letter arrives from Mr. Gardiner. He reports that Wickham is

planning to quit the militia and that has a promise of an ensigncy in a

regiment quartered in the North. The letter also mentions Wickham will pay

off all his debts both in Brighton and Meryton. After entreaties from

Elizabeth and Jane, Mr. Bennet decides to allow Lydia and Wickham to visit

Longbourn before leaving for the North.

Volume III, Chapter 9 Summary:

When the couple arrives, they show no sense of shame whatsoever and

Lydia shamelessly expects congratulations from all her sisters. Jane and

Elizabeth are extremely distressed at Lydia's conduct.

Upon observance, Elizabeth finds that Wickham's affection for Lydia is

not nearly so strong as her affection for him. Lydia relates to Elizabeth

all the details of the wedding. She is completely ungrateful for what the

Gardiners have done, and even complains that they would not let her go out

while she was staying with them. Lydia mentions in passing that Mr. Darcy

attended the wedding, but then says that she was not supposed to tell

anyone. Elizabeth writes to Mrs. Gardiner asking for more details about why

Mr. Darcy was at the wedding.

Volume III, Chapter 10 Summary:

Mrs. Gardiner's letter arrives, explaining all the particulars with

regard to Mr. Darcy's involvement in the wedding. Mr. Darcy was the one who

found out Wickham's whereabouts by bribing Miss Younge (the woman who had

helped Wickham to seduce Georgiana) to tell him. When Darcy found the

couple, he tried to convince Lydia to leave, but she refused. That being

the case, Darcy tried to get Wickham to marry Lydia, which Wickham had no

intention of doing. Darcy offered Wickham money in order to persuade him to

marry Lydia. Darcy then waited until Mr. Bennet had left for Longbourn and

went to inform Mr. Gardiner of all that had occurred, explaining that he

felt guilty for not having exposed Wickham's character sooner.

Mrs. Gardiner concludes the letter stating that she is sure Darcy's

actions are motivated by his love for Elizabeth, and relates to Elizabeth

how much she thinks that he would be a good match.

In reflecting on the letter, Elizabeth is sensible of all the

mortification and suffering which Darcy must have gone through in the

process of getting Wickham to marry Lydia. She does not think, however,

that his regard for her could possibly be the primary motive, and she still

does not think that there is any hope that he will marry her.

Elizabeth's reflections are interrupted by Wickham. They have a guarded

conversation in which she makes it clear that she knows more about

Wickham's true past than he would like, but she avoids provoking him for

Lydia's sake.

Volume III, Chapter 11 Summary:

Lydia and Wickham leave for Newcastle, where his new regiment is

stationed. Lydia's good-byes are not very affectionate. Mrs. Bennet is sad

that she will not be able to see her daughter for a long time.

Mrs. Bennet hears from Mrs. Phillips that Mr. Bingley is planning to

return to Netherfield in a few days. Jane tells Elizabeth that she does not

want to see much of him. Elizabeth, however, after having seen him while on

vacation with the Gardiners, is sure that he is still partial to Jane, and

thinks that perhaps Mr. Darcy may have told Bingley that he now approves of

the match.

Mrs. Bennet plans to invite Bingley to dinner. Jane is obviously

disturbed by his coming and is pained by the constant mention of his name.

Mr. Bingley and Darcy come to pay a visit at Netherfield. Elizabeth

begins to hope that Darcy's affections for her are not shaken. When they

come in, Elizabeth is pained by Mrs. Bennet's cold reception of Darcy in

comparison with Mr. Bingley, considering how much she owes to Darcy.

Elizabeth is also mortified by her mother's jubilant announcement of Lydia

and Wickham's marriage. Darcy speaks little during the visit. When the

gentlemen are leaving Mrs. Bennet invites them for dinner.

Volume III, Chapter 12 Summary:

During the dinner party, Bingley sits next to Jane and Elizabeth is

convinced that he still admires her. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are sitting

too far apart to be able to speak, and circumstances prevent them from

conversing after dinner. Elizabeth is anxious and annoyed because she wants

to speak with him very badly. Mrs. Bennet is extremely pleased with the

dinner and is sure that Bingley and Jane will soon be married. Mr. Darcy is

going back to London but will return in 10 days.

Volume III, Chapter 13 Summary:

After a few days Mr. Bingley calls again, and the day after he joins

them again for dinner. Mrs. Bennet contrives to get Jane and Bingley alone

together, but is unsuccessful. The next morning Mr. Bingley joins Mr.

Bennet to go hunting, and he then stays for dinner. Mrs. Bennet is this

time successful in arranging for Jane and Bingley to be left alone

together. When Elizabeth walks into the drawing room she finds them there

alone in earnest conversation. Bingley quickly leaves and Jane tells

Elizabeth that she is the happiest woman in the world. Jane then goes to

tell her mother, and Bingley, who had gone to speak with Mr. Bennet,

returns and receives Elizabeth's congratulations. All are very happy.

Bingley now comes to visit Netherfield every day.

Volume III, Chapter 14 Summary:

Early the next morning Lady Catherine unexpectedly comes to visit.

Lady Catherine is, as usual, domineering and arrogant in her conversation.

She tells Elizabeth she would like her company for a walk outside. Lady

Catherine tells Elizabeth that she has come because of rumors that Darcy

and Elizabeth will soon be married. Elizabeth answers her inquiries curtly

and without revealing the fact that Darcy has not proposed to her again.

Lady Catherine tries to forbid Elizabeth to marry Mr. Darcy, but Elizabeth

is insensible to her entreaties and threats. Lady Catherine is furious and

leaves.

Volume III, Chapter 15 Summary:

Her conversation with Lady Catherine throws Elizabeth into a great

discomposure of spirits. She is not sure what the cause of Lady Catherine's

suspicion is, but she is uneasy about the fact that Lady Catherine will

surely try to influence Darcy not to propose.

Mr. Bennet tells Elizabeth that he wants to speak with her and relates

to her the contents of a letter from Mr. Collins in which he says that he

has heard that Mr. Darcy may propose to Elizabeth and advises Elizabeth not

to accept because of Lady Catherine's disapprobation. Mr. Bennet thinks the

letter is extremely amusing because he still thinks that Darcy is

indifferent to Elizabeth and that Elizabeth hates Darcy.

Volume III, Chapter 16 Summary:

Within a few days Mr. Darcy returns to Netherfield and he and Mr.

Bingley come to Longbourn early in the day. Jane, Bingley, Darcy,

Elizabeth, and Kitty take a walk. Jane and Bingley lag behind the rest, and

eventually Darcy and Elizabeth are left to walk together alone as well. As

soon as they are alone Elizabeth expresses to Darcy her gratitude for his

assistance in the affair with Wickham and Lydia. Darcy replies that he

wishes she had not found out, but adds that what he did was done for

Elizabeth's sake. Elizabeth cannot say a word. Darcy tells her that his

affections are no different than they were when he proposed, and asks her

to tell him if hers are the same as well. Elizabeth informs him that her

sentiments have changed and that she will now gladly receive his assurances

of continued affection. He is overcome with delight upon hearing this and

speaks warmly and fervently about his love. Lady Catherine's attempt to

dissuade him from proposing only had the effect of giving him hope by

letting him know that Elizabeth was not decided against marrying him.

They speak about the last proposal, both apologizing for their lack of

civility. Mr. Darcy had been tortured by Elizabeth's reproof "had you acted

in a more gentleman-like manner." This and her other reproofs on that night

humbled him and led him to realize his selfishness and conceit. Elizabeth

tells Darcy that his letter slowly removed all her former prejudices. When

Darcy met Elizabeth at Pemberley, he wanted to show her immediately that he

had changed as a result of her just reproofs.

Darcy tells Elizabeth that before leaving for London he had told

Bingley that he had been wrong in interfering with Bingley's relationship

with Jane and that he was now sure that Jane was really attached to him.

This assurance from Darcy gave Bingley the encouragement he needed to make

the proposal.

Volume III, Chapter 17 Summary:

At night, when she is finally able to speak with Jane alone, Elizabeth

tells her what has happened. Jane is incredulous. But eventually Elizabeth

convinces her that she is serious and that she really does love Darcy.

Elizabeth explains her reasons for previously concealing her affection, and

reveals to Jane what Darcy did for Lydia. Jane is extremely happy for her,

and they spend half the night talking.

The next morning Mrs. Bennet is annoyed on seeing that Mr. Darcy has

again accompanied Bingley to Longbourn, and suggests that Elizabeth go for

a walk with him to keep him out of Jane and Bingley's way. Elizabeth is

quite happy to comply. Bingley greets Elizabeth with such warmth that she

is sure he knows of her engagement. During their walk Elizabeth and Darcy

decide that Darcy will ask Mr. Bennet's consent in the evening and that

Elizabeth will speak to her mother.

After Mr. Darcy speaks with Mr. Bennet, Darcy tells Elizabeth that her

father wants to speak with her. Mr. Bennet is shocked because he thinks

that Elizabeth hates Darcy. After long explanations she assures Mr. Bennet

of her affection for him. She also tells him of what Darcy did for Lydia.

He is surprised and happy for his daughter.

At night Elizabeth tells her mother of the engagement. Her mother is

shocked but extremely happy in thinking of how rich Darcy is. Her former

dislike of him is completely forgotten.

The next day her mother acts remarkably well toward Darcy, and her

father tries to get to know him better and is pleased with him.

Volume III, Chapter 18 Summary:

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy converse playfully about how he fell in love

with her in the first place and why he took so long to propose the second

time. He tells her that his second proposal was all thanks to Lady

Catherine, her warning having given him hope of Elizabeth's affection.

Elizabeth asks him when he will tell Lady Catherine the news, and he goes

off to write to her, while Elizabeth goes to write to Mrs. Gardiner.

Miss Bingley's reactions to Mr. Bingley's engagement to Jane are

affectionate and insincere. Miss Darcy's reaction to news of Mr. Darcy's

engagement is one of genuine delight.

The Collinses come to stay at Lucas Lodge because Lady Catherine is so

angry at the engagement. Darcy deals well with the obsequiousness of Mr.

Collins, along with the vulgarity of Mrs. Philips and Mrs. Bennet.

Mrs. Bennet is extremely happy and proud at her daughters' marriages. Mr.

Bennet misses Elizabeth and often goes to visit her at Pemberley.

Bingley and Jane leave Netherfield after a year and move to

Derbyshire, because their closeness to Mrs. Bennet and the Meryton

relations is too much to bear even for them.

Kitty now spends most of her time with her sisters, and is much

improved by their example and society. Mary stays at home and keeps her

mother company on her visits.

Lydia soon writes to Elizabeth to congratulate her and ask her to see

if Mr. Darcy will use his money and influence to help Wickham. Elizabeth

replies negatively, but does send Lydia money that she saves by economizing

in her private expenses.

Miss Bingley drops her resentment of Darcy's marriage because she

wants to retain the right of visiting Pemberley. Georgiana and Elizabeth

become very close and very fond of one another. Relations with Lady

Catherine were broken off for a while, but Elizabeth finally convinces

Darcy to attempt a reconciliation, and Lady Catherine comes to visit them.

Darcy and Elizabeth are always on intimate terms with the Gardiners, to

whom they are grateful for having brought them together.

Pygmalion by B.Shaw

Context

Born in Dublin in 1856 to a middle-class Protestant family bearing

pretensions to nobility (Shaw's embarrassing alcoholic father claimed to be

descended from Macduff, the slayer of Macbeth), George Bernard Shaw grew to

become what some consider the second greatest English playwright, behind

only Shakespeare. Others most certainly disagree with such an assessment,

but few question Shaw's immense talent or the play's that talent produced.

Shaw died at the age of 94, a hypochondriac, socialist, anti-

vaccinationist, semi-feminist vegetarian who believed in the Life Force and

only wore wool. He left behind him a truly massive corpus of work including

about 60 plays, 5 novels, 3 volumes of music criticism, 4 volumes of dance

and theatrical criticism, and heaps of social commentary, political theory,

and voluminous correspondence. And this list does not include the opinions

that Shaw could always be counted on to hold about any topic, and which

this amboyant public figure was always most willing to share. Shaw's most

lasting contribution is no doubt his plays, and it has been said that "a

day never passes without a performance of some Shaw play being given

somewhere in the world." One of Shaw's greatest contributions as a modern

dramatist is in establishing drama as serious literature, negotiating

publication deals for his highly popular plays so as to convince the public

that the play was no less important than the novel. In that way, he created

the conditions for later playwrights to write seriously for the theater.

Of all of Shaw's plays, Pygmalion is without the doubt the most beloved and

popularly received, if not the most significant in literary terms. Several

_lm versions have been made of the play, and it has even been adapted into

a musical. In fact, writing the screenplay for the _lm version of 1938

helped Shaw to become the first and only man ever to win the much coveted

Double: the Nobel Prize for literature and an Academy Award. Shaw wrote the

part of Eliza in Pygmalion for the famous actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell,

with whom Shaw was having a prominent affair at the time that had set all

of London abuzz.

The aborted romance between Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle

reflects Shaw's own love life, which was always peppered with enamored and

beautiful women, with whom he flirted outrageously but with whom he almost

never had any further relations. For example, he had a long marriage to

Charlotte Payne-Townsend in which it is well known that he never touched

her once. The fact that Shaw was quietly a member of the British Society

for the Study of Sex Psychology, an organization whose core members were

young men agitating for homosexual liberation, might or might not inform

the way that Higgins would rather focus his passions on literature or

science than on women. That Higgins was a representation of Pygmalion, the

character from the famous story of Ovid's Metamorphoses who is the very

embodiment of male love for the female form, makes Higgins sexual

disinterest all the more compelling. Shaw is too consummate a performer and

too smooth in his self- presentation for us to neatly dissect his sexual

background; these lean biographical facts, however, do support the belief

that Shaw would have an interest in exploding the typical structures of

standard fairy tales.

Characters

Professor Henry Higgins Henry Higgins is a professor of phonetics who

plays Pygmalion to Eliza Doolittle's Galatea. He is the author of Higgins'

Universal Alphabet, believes in concepts like visible speech, and uses all

manner of recording and photographic material to document his phonetic

subjects, reducing people and their dialects into what he sees as readily

understandable units. He is an unconventional man, who goes in the opposite

direction from the rest of society in most matters. Indeed, he is impatient

with high society, forgetful in his public graces, and poorly considerate

of normal social niceties the only reason the world has not turned against

him is because he is at heart a good and harmless man. His biggest fault is

that he can be a bully.

Eliza Doolittle f Eliza, The Flower Girl, Flower Girl, flower girl,

The flower girl, the flower girl g "She is not at all a romantic figure."

So is she introduced in Act I. Everything about Eliza Doolittle seems to

defy any conventional notions we might have about the romantic heroine.

When she is transformed from a sassy, smart-mouthed kerbstone flower girl

with deplorable English, to a (still sassy) regal figure _t to consort with

nobility, it has less to do with her innate qualities as a heroine than

with the fairy-tale aspect of the transformation myth itself. In other

words, the character of Eliza Doolittle comes across as being much more

instrumental than fundamental. The real (re-)making of Eliza Doolittle

happens after the ambassador's party, when she decides to make a statement

for her own dignity against Higgins' insensitive treatment. This is when

she becomes, not a duchess, but an independent woman; and this explains why

Higgins begins to see Eliza not as a mill around his neck but as a creature

worthy of his admiration.

Colonel Pickering Colonel Pickering, the author of Spoken Sanskrit,

is a match for Higgins (although somewhat less obsessive) in his passion

for phonetics. But where Higgins is a boorish, careless bully, Pickering is

always considerate and a genuinely gentleman. He says little of note in the

play, and appears most of all to be a civilized foil to Higgins' barefoot,

absentminded crazy professor. He helps in the Eliza Doolittle experiment by

making a wager of it, saying he will cover the costs of the experiment if

Higgins does indeed make a convincing duchess of her. However, while

Higgins only manages to teach Eliza pronunciations, it is Pickering's

thoughtful treatment towards Eliza that teaches her to respect herself.

Alfred Doolittle Alfred Doolittle is Eliza's father, an elderly but

vigorous dustman who has had at least six wives and who "seems equally free

from fear and conscience." When he learns that his daughter has entered the

home of Henry Higgins, he immediately pursues to see if he can get some

money out of the circumstance. His unique brand of rhetoric, an

unembarrassed, unhypocritical advocation of drink and pleasure (at other

people's expense), is amusing to Higgins. Through Higgins' joking

recommendation, Doolittle becomes a richly endowed lecturer to a moral

reform society, transforming him from lowly dustman to a picture of middle

class morality he becomes miserable. Throughout, Alfred is a scoundrel who

is willing to sell his daughter to make a few pounds, but he is one of the

few unaffected characters in the play, unmasked by appearance or language.

Though scandalous, his speeches are honest. At points, it even seems that

he might be Shaw's voice piece of social criticism (Alfred's proletariat

status, given Shaw's socialist leanings, makes the prospect all the more

likely).

Mrs. Higgins Professor Higgins' mother, Mrs. Higgins is a stately

lady in her sixties who sees the Eliza Doolittle experiment as idiocy, and

Higgins and Pickering as senseless children. She is the first and only

character to have any qualms about the whole affair. When her worries prove

true, it is to her that all the characters turn. Because no woman can match

up to his mother, Higgins claims, he has no interest in dallying with them.

To observe the mother of Pygmalion (Higgins), who completely understands

all of his failings and inadequacies, is a good contrast to the mythic

proportions to which Higgins builds himself in his self-estimations as a

scientist of phonetics and a creator of duchesses.

Freddy Eynsford Hill Higgins' surmise that Freddy is a fool is

probably accurate. In the opening scene he is a spineless and resourceless

lackey to his mother and sister. Later, he is comically bowled over by

Eliza, the half-baked duchess who still speaks cockney. He becomes lovesick

for Eliza, and courts her with letters. At the play's close, Freddy serves

as a young, viable marriage option for Eliza, making the possible path she

will follow unclear to the reader.

Summary

Two old gentlemen meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden. Professor

Higgins is a scientist of phonetics, and Colonel Pickering is a linguist of

Indian dialects. The first bets the other that he can, with his knowledge

of phonetics, convince high London society that, in a matter of months, he

will be able to transform the cockney speaking Covent Garden flower girl,

Eliza Doolittle, into a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess.

The next morning, the girl appears at his laboratory on Wimpole Street

to ask for speech lessons, offering to pay a shilling, so that she may

speak properly enough to work in a flower shop. Higgins makes merciless fun

of her, but is seduced by the idea of working his magic on her. Pickering

goads him on by agreeing to cover the costs of the experiment if Higgins

can pass Eliza off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. The

challenge is taken, and Higgins starts by having his housekeeper bathe

Eliza and give her new clothes. Then Eliza's father Alfred Doolittle comes

to demand the return of his daughter, though his real intention is to hit

Higgins up for some money.

The professor, amused by Doolittle's unusual rhetoric, gives him five

pounds. On his way out, the dustman fails to recognize the now clean,

pretty flower girl as his daughter.

For a number of months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak properly. Two trials

for Eliza follow. The first occurs at Higgins' mother's home, where Eliza

is introduced to the Eynsford Hills, a trio of mother, daughter, and son.

The son Freddy is very attracted to her, and further taken with what he

thinks is her affected "small talk" when she slips into cockney. Mrs.

Higgins worries that the experiment will lead to problems once it is ended,

but Higgins and Pickering are too absorbed in their game to take heed. A

second trial, which takes place some months later at an ambassador's party

(and which is not actually staged), is a resounding success. The wager is

definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project,

which causes Eliza to be hurt. She throws Higgins' slippers at him in a

rage because she does not know what is to become of her, thereby

bewildering him. He suggests she marry somebody. She returns him the hired

jewelry, and he accuses her of ingratitude.

The following morning, Higgins rushes to his mother, in a panic

because Eliza has run away. On his tail is Eliza's father, now unhappily

rich from the trust of a deceased millionaire who took to heart Higgins'

recommendation that Doolittle was England's "most original moralist." Mrs.

Higgins, who has been hiding Eliza upstairs all along, chides the two of

them for playing with the girl's affections. When she enters, Eliza thanks

Pickering for always treating her like a lady, but threatens Higgins that

she will go work with his rival phonetician, Nepommuck. The outraged

Higgins cannot help but start to admire her. As Eliza leaves for her

father's wedding, Higgins shouts out a few errands for her to run, assuming

that she will return to him at Wimpole Street. Eliza, who has a lovelorn

sweetheart in Freddy, and the wherewithal to pass as a duchess, never makes

it clear whether she will or not.

Act I

A heavy late-night summer thunderstorm opens the play. Caught in the

unexpected downpour, passers-by from distinct strata of the London streets

are forced to seek shelter together under the portico of St Paul's church

in Covent Garden. The hapless Son is forced by his demanding sister and

mother to go out into the rain to find a taxi even though there is none to

be found. In his hurry, he knocks over the basket of a common Flower Girl,

who says to him, "Nah then, Freddy: look wh' y' gowin, deah." After Freddy

leaves, the mother gives the Flower Girl money to ask how she knew her

son's name, only to learn that "Freddy" is a common by-word the Flower Girl

would have used to address anyone.

An elderly military Gentleman enters from the rain, and the Flower

Girl tries to sell him a flower. He gives her some change, but a bystander

tells her to be careful, for it looks like there is a police informer

taking copious notes on her activities. This leads to hysterical

protestations on her part, that she is only a poor girl who has done no

wrong. The refugees from the rain crowd around her and the Note Taker, with

considerable hostility towards the latter, whom they believe to be an

undercover cop. However, each time someone speaks up, this mysterious man

has the amusing ability to determine where the person came from, simply by

listening to that person's speech, which turns him into something of a

sideshow.

The rain clears, leaving few other people than the Flower Girl, the

Note Taker, and the Gentleman. In response to a question from the

Gentleman, the Note Taker answers that his talent comes from "simply

phonetics...the science of speech." He goes on to brag that he can use

phonetics to make a duchess out of the Flower Girl. Through further

questioning, the Note Taker and the Gentleman reveal that they are Henry

Higgins and Colonel Pickering respectively, both scholars of dialects who

have been wanting to visit with each other. They decide to go for a supper,

but not until Higgins has been convinced by the Flower Girl to give her

some change. He generously throws her a half-crown, some florins, and a

half-sovereign. This allows the delighted girl to take a taxi home, the

same taxi that Freddy has brought back, only to find that his impatient

mother and sister have left without him.

Act II

The next day, Higgins and Pickering are just resting from a full

morning of discussion when Eliza Doolittle shows up at the door, to the

tremendous doubt of the discerning housekeeper Mrs. Pearce, and the

surprise of the two gentlemen. Prompted by his careless brag about making

her into a duchess the night before, she has come to take lessons from

Higgins, so that she may sound genteel enough to work in a flower shop

rather than sell at the corner of Tottenham Court Road. As the conversation

progresses, Higgins alternates between making fun of the poor girl and

threatening her with a broomstick beating, which only causes her to howl

and holler, upsetting Higgins' civilized company to a considerable degree.

Pickering is much kinder and considerate of her feelings, even going so far

as to call her "Miss Doolittle" and to offer her a seat. Pickering is

piqued by the prospect of helping Eliza, and bets Higgins that if Higgins

is able to pass Eliza o_ as a duchess at the Ambassador's garden party,

then he, Pickering, will cover the expenses of the experiment.

This act is made up mostly of a long and animated three-(sometimes

four-)way argument over the character and the potential of the indignant

Eliza.

At one point, incensed by Higgins' heartless insults, she threatens to

leave, but the clever professor lures her back by stuffing her mouth with a

chocolate, half of which he eats too to prove to her that it is not

poisoned. It is agreed upon that Eliza will live with Higgins for six

months, and be schooled in the speech and manners of a lady of high class.

Things get started when Mrs. Pearce takes her upstairs for a bath.

While Mrs. Pearce and Eliza are away, Pickering wants to be sure that

Higgins' intentions towards the girl are honorable, to which Higgins

replies that, to him, women "might as well be blocks of wood." Mrs. Pearce

enters to warn Higgins that he should be more careful with his swearing and

his forgetful table manners now that they have an impressionable young lady

with them, revealing that Higgins's own gentlemanly ways are somewhat

precarious. At this point, Alfred Doolittle, who has learned from a

neighbor of Eliza's that she has come to the professor's place, comes a-

knocking under the pretence of saving his daughter's honor. When Higgins

readily agrees that he should take his daughter away with him, Doolittle

reveals that he is really there to ask for five pounds, proudly claiming

that he will spend that money on immediate gratification and put none of it

to useless savings.

Amused by his blustering rhetoric, Higgins gives him the money. Eliza

enters, clean and pretty in a blue kimono, and everyone is amazed by the

difference. Even her father has failed to recognize her. Eliza is taken

with her transformation and wants to go back to her old neighborhood and

show o_, but she is warned against snobbery by Higgins. The act ends with

the two of them agreeing that they have taken on a difficult task.

Act III

It is Mrs. Higgins' at-home day, and she is greatly displeased when Henry

Higgins shows up suddenly, for she knows from experience that he is too

eccentric to be presentable in front of the sort of respectable company she

is expecting. He explains to her that he wants to bring the experiment

subject on whom he has been working for some months to her at-home, and

explains the bet that he has made with Pickering. Mrs. Higgins is not

pleased about this unsolicited visit from a common flower girl, but she has

no time to oppose before Mrs. and Miss Eynsford Hill (the mother and

daughter from the first scene) are shown into the parlor by the parlor-

maid. Colonel Pickering enters soon after, followed by Freddy Eynsford

Hill, the hapless son from Covent Garden.

Higgins is about to really offend the company with a theory that they

are all savages who know nothing about being civilized when Eliza is

announced. She makes quite an impact on everyone with her studied grace and

pedantic speech. Everything promises to go well until Mrs. Eynsford Hill

brings up the subject of influenza, which causes Eliza to launch into the

topic of her aunt, who supposedly died of influenza. In her excitement, her

old accent, along with shocking facts such as her father's alcoholism, slip

out. Freddy thinks that she is merely affecting "the new small talk," and

is dazzled by how well she does it. He is obviously infatuated with her.

When Eliza gets up to leave, he offers to walk her but she exclaims,

"Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi." The Mrs. Eynsford Hill

leave immediately after. Clara, Miss Eynsford Hill, is taken with Eliza,

and tries to imitate her speech. After the guests leave, Mrs. Higgins

chides Higgins. She says there is no way Eliza will become presentable as

long as she lives with the constantly-swearing Higgins. She demands to know

the precise conditions under which Eliza is living with the two old

bachelors. She is prompted to say, "You certainly are a pretty pair of

babies, playing with your live doll," which is only the first of a series

of such criticisms she makes of Higgins and Pickering.

They assail her simultaneously with accounts of Eliza's improvement

until she must quiet them. She tries to explain to them that there will be

a problem of what to do with Eliza once everything is over, but the two men

pay no heed. They take their leave, and Mrs. Higgins is left exasperated by

the "infinite stupidity" of "men! men!! men!!!"

Act IV

The trio return to Higgins' Wimpole Street laboratory, exhausted from

the night's happenings. They talk about the evening and their great

success, though Higgins seems rather bored, more concerned with his

inability to find slippers. While he talks absentmindedly with Pickering,

Eliza slips out, returns with his slippers, and lays them on the floor

before him without a word. When he notices them, he thinks that they

appeared out of nowhere.

Higgins and Pickering begin to speak as if Eliza is not there with them,

saying how happy they are that the entire experiment is over, agreeing that