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

Product Information

The novel was The Vicar of Wakefield, and Johnson had sold it to Francis Newbery, a nephew of John. Newbery "kept it by him for nearly two years unpublished". [1]

Thornhill is later arrested with charges of abducting Sophia. It is later discovered that Thornhill had hired someone to kidnap Sophia so that he could stage-manage saving her and then seduce her. In their new locality, the vicar works as a low-rank cleric and a farmer. The vicar’s family sends George, who had graduated from Oxford, to London, hoping that he earns a living to help the families. The new neighborhood is pleasant and rural, but the women specifically find it hard to adapt to a more miserable life than they are used to. The vicar brings Olivia home, but leaves her at a nearby inn so he can emotionally prepare the family for her return. Unfortunately, he finds his home engulfed in flames, with the two youngest sons trapped inside. He rushes in and saves them, but terribly injures his arm in the process. This proves a terrible blow to the family, and in light of it, they all easily forgive Olivia, who nevertheless remains broken-hearted. Deborah broaches the topic of sending the girls to town with the vicar, and he agrees to ask the fashionable ladies about it directly. They agree that Olivia and Sophia could succeed there, but note that they must first attain confirmation of the girls’ reputations, simply as a formality. They offer to attain the reference from Squire Thornhill, whom Lady Blarney identifies as her cousin. The vicar and Deborah are quite proud, certain that the squire will provide a good reference.

Contents

In prison, the vicar befriends Ephraim Jenkinson, who had duped him of his horses. The vicar resolves to forgive Ephraim and goes ahead to turn around other prisoners with sermons. With the help of Ephraim, they write to William about Thornhill. Happier prospects begin to appear. Let us be inflexible, and fortune will at last change in our favour

The plot is thin and full of cliches. In a modern writer, I would toss it out the window, but somehow its date and language make it very palatable. There is some sermonizing (what would you expect from a book written in the 1700s?), but again, I didn’t find it objectionable and actually thought many of his ideas well ahead of his time. He pressed for reform efforts instead of punishment for minor crimes and decried a system in which two crimes, dissimilar in nature, such as murder and theft, often received the same punishment, death by hanging. The Vicar of Wakefield", based on the once popular novel, is a rather boring melodrama about the misfortunes of the vicar and his family, most of whom, apparently, are saps to any swindler, thief, impostor or scoundrel they happen to meet. The pious family seems incapable of adjusting to, and initially unrecognizing of, the sinners surrounding them. This was the second adaptation of the novel by the Thanhouser Company, who had previously made a one-reel version of it in 1910. Thanhouser seems to have specialized in such classic literary adaptations, which may be viewed thanks to the disproportionately good number of the studio's films available on home video compared to other early producers. This 1917 photoplay includes some rather odd introductory title cards, which appear original, that describe some history of the book and its author.The vicar’s family becomes arrogant as their anticipation for Olivia, and the landlord grows. However, the more proud they become, the more embarrassed they are. For example, the vicar and his son Moses are defrauded when selling off their family’s horses in exchange for more classy horses. Oliver Goldsmith's hugely successful novel of 1766 remained for generations one of the most highly regarded and beloved works of eighteenth-century fiction. It depicts the fall and rise of the Primrose family, presided over by the benevolent vicar, the narrator of a fairy-tale plot of impersonation and deception, the abduction of a beautiful heroine and the machinations of an aristocratic villain. By turns comic and sentimental, the novel's popularity owes much to its recognizable depiction of domestic life and loving family relationships. In the conclusion, George marries Arabella and Sir William marries Sophia. The squire lives with a melancholy relative far away. The vicar’s fortune is restored when the merchant who stole it is caught. Happiness and felicity reign and the vicar hopes he will be as thankful to God during the good times as he was during the times of adversity. The Vicar of Wakefield Themes Fate continues to disappoint the Primroses, as both Moses and Dr. Primrose after the same man in disguise cheats them out of money they make from selling their horses. Later, the family learns that Mr. Burchell is responsible for spreading rumors about them, causing them to end their relationship with him. Mrs. Primrose continues to scheme new ways to pair off Olivia and the Squire but is unable to induce him to propose to her. However, the vicar is disconcerted to observe Mr Burchell’s attentions towards Sophia. He later criticizes the man to his family but is admonished for his harshness by Sophia and Moses.

Afterwards, everyone converses over an elegant supper. The vicar notes that his daughters and wife are impressed by the “high life, and high lived company” of the two rich ladies (42). He is concerned that his family will eventually seem ridiculous and pretentious by mixing with a higher class. Nevertheless, fashionable ladies seem quite fond of Olivia and Sophia and ask whether the girls might accompany them home. The vicar politely refuses the request; as a result, his daughters are sullen for the rest of the night.The vicar mentions that he has a fortune of his own, and thus donates his small clergyman’s salary to orphans and widows. As he keeps no curate (an assistant), he personally knows everyone in the parish. The Vicar of Wakefield, Oliver Goldsmith’s most famous work, is often classified as a sentimental novel, and many of that genre’s elements are already apparent in these early chapters. These elements include main characters who are paragons of virtue; an idyllic pastoral setting; and most importantly, a change in fortune that challenges their morality and delicacy. (See the Additional Content section of the study guide for more information on sentimental fiction). Misfortunes will continue to beset the family as the novel proceeds, and it is already clear that the primary conflict will lie in how they adapt their virtue in the fact of these troubles. After the sermon, the vicar catches wind that Burchell has salvaged Sophia. The vicar apologizes to Burchell and blesses his marriage to Sophia. Burchell then prepares a great feast. After George leaves, the vicar sets off for his own home. Along the way, he stops at a public-house for a drink and converses with the affable innkeeper, who tells him how loathed the squire is by his tenants in the area. While they talk, the landlord’s wife enters, complaining about a female guest who continues to stay there even though she has no money. The vicar hears the girl pleading for pity, and realizes it is Olivia. He rushes to her, finding her in a wretched state, and forgives her. Eventually, the squire asked George to fight a duel on his behalf, in a matter concerning a lady’s honour. Though he felt terribly about, he performed well.