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all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/23.txt

finished_summaries/sparknotes/King Lear/section_9_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 7

act 4, scene 7

{"name": "act 4, scene 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section10/", "summary": "In the French camp, Cordelia speaks with Kent. She knows his real identity, but he wishes it to remain a secret to everyone else. Lear, who has been sleeping, is brought in to Cordelia. He only partially recognizes her. He says that he knows now that he is senile and not in his right mind, and he assumes that Cordelia hates him and wants to kill him, just as her sisters do. Cordelia tells him that she forgives him for banishing her. Meanwhile, the news of Cornwall's death is repeated in the camp, and we learn that Edmund is now leading Cornwall's troops. The battle between France and England rapidly approaches", "analysis": "Act 4, scenes 6-7 Besides moving the physical action of the play along, these scenes forward the play's psychological action. The strange, marvelous scene of Gloucester's supposed fall over the nonexistent cliffs of Dover, Lear's mad speeches to Gloucester and Edgar in the wilderness, and the redemptive reconciliation between Cordelia and her not-quite-sane father all set the stage for the resolution of the play's emotional movement in Act 5. The psychological motivations behind Gloucester's attempted suicide and Edgar's manipulation of it are complicated and ambiguous. Gloucester's death wish, which reflects his own despair at the cruel, uncaring universe--and perhaps the play's despair as well--would surely have been troubling to the self-consciously Christian society of Renaissance England. Shakespeare gets around much of the problem by setting King Lear in a pagan past; despite the fact that the play is full of Christian symbols and allusions, its characters pray only to the gods and never to the Christian God. Clearly, Edgar wants his father to live. He refuses to share in Gloucester's despair and still seeks a just and happy resolution to the events of the play. In letting Gloucester think that he has attempted suicide, Edgar manipulates Gloucester's understanding of divine will: he says to Gloucester after the latter's supposed fall and rebirth, \"Thy life's a miracle. . . . / . . . / The clearest gods . . . / . . . have preserved thee\" . Edgar not only stops Gloucester's suicidal thoughts but also shocks him into a rebirth. He tells his father that he should \"bear free and patient thoughts\": his life has been given back to him and he should take better care of it from now on . In these scenes, King Lear's madness brings forth some of his strangest and most interesting speeches. As Edgar notes, Lear's apparent ramblings are \"matter and impertinency mixed! / Reason in madness!\" . This description is similar to Polonius's muttering behind Hamlet's back in Hamlet: \"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't\" . Some of Lear's rambling does indeed seem to be meaningless babble, as when he talks about mice, cheese, and giants. But Lear swiftly moves on to talk of more relevant things. He finally understands that his older daughters, in Act 1, scene 1, and before, were sweet-talking him: \"They flattered me like a dog. . . . To say 'aye' and 'no' to everything that I said!\" . Lear has realized, despite what flatterers have told him and he has believed, that he is as vulnerable to the forces of nature as any human being. He cannot command the rain and thunder and is not immune to colds and fever . Just as, during the storm, he recognizes that beneath each man's clothing is \"a poor, bare, forked animal\" , Lear now understands that no amount of flattery and praise can make a king different from anyone else: \"Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; / Robes and furred gowns hide all\" . Armed with this knowledge, Lear can finally reunite with Cordelia and express his newfound humility and beg repentance. \"I am a very foolish fond old man\" , he tells her sadly, and he admits that she has \"some cause\" to hate him . Cordelia's moving response seals their reconciliation . Love and forgiveness, embodied in Lear's best daughter, join with humility and repentance, and, for a brief time, happiness prevails. But the forces that Lear's initial error unleashed--Goneril, Regan, and Edmund, with all their ambition and appetite for destruction--remain at large. We thus turn from happy reconciliation to conflict, as Cordelia leads her troops against the evil that her father's folly has set loose in Britain."}

Scaena Septima. Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman. Cor. O thou good Kent, How shall I liue and worke To match thy goodnesse? My life will be too short, And euery measure faile me Kent. To be acknowledg'd Madam is ore-pai'd, All my reports go with the modest truth, Nor more, nor clipt, but so Cor. Be better suited, These weedes are memories of those worser houres: I prythee put them off Kent. Pardon deere Madam, Yet to be knowne shortens my made intent, My boone I make it, that you know me not, Till time, and I, thinke meet Cor. Then be't so my good Lord: How do's the King? Gent. Madam sleepes still Cor. O you kind Gods! Cure this great breach in his abused Nature, Th' vntun'd and iarring senses, O winde vp, Of this childe-changed Father Gent. So please your Maiesty, That we may wake the King, he hath slept long? Cor. Be gouern'd by your knowledge, and proceede I'th' sway of your owne will: is he array'd? Enter Lear in a chaire carried by Seruants] Gent. I Madam: in the heauinesse of sleepe, We put fresh garments on him. Be by good Madam when we do awake him, I doubt of his Temperance Cor. O my deere Father, restauratian hang Thy medicine on my lippes, and let this kisse Repaire those violent harmes, that my two Sisters Haue in thy Reuerence made Kent. Kind and deere Princesse Cor. Had you not bin their Father, these white flakes Did challenge pitty of them. Was this a face To be oppos'd against the iarring windes? Mine Enemies dogge, though he had bit me, Should haue stood that night against my fire, And was't thou faine (poore Father) To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? Alacke, alacke, 'Tis wonder that thy life and wits, at once Had not concluded all. He wakes, speake to him Gen. Madam do you, 'tis fittest Cor. How does my Royall Lord? How fares your Maiesty? Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o'th' graue, Thou art a Soule in blisse, but I am bound Vpon a wheele of fire, that mine owne teares Do scal'd, like molten Lead Cor. Sir, do you know me? Lear. You are a spirit I know, where did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide Gen. He's scarse awake, Let him alone a while Lear. Where haue I bin? Where am I? Faire day light? I am mightily abus'd; I should eu'n dye with pitty To see another thus. I know not what to say: I will not sweare these are my hands: let's see, I feele this pin pricke, would I were assur'd Of my condition Cor. O looke vpon me Sir, And hold your hand in benediction o're me, You must not kneele Lear. Pray do not mocke me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourescore and vpward, Not an houre more, nor lesse: And to deale plainely, I feare I am not in my perfect mind. Me thinkes I should know you, and know this man, Yet I am doubtfull: For I am mainely ignorant What place this is: and all the skill I haue Remembers not these garments: nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me, For (as I am a man) I thinke this Lady To be my childe Cordelia Cor. And so I am: I am Lear. Be your teares wet? Yes faith: I pray weepe not, If you haue poyson for me, I will drinke it: I know you do not loue me, for your Sisters Haue (as I do remember) done me wrong. You haue some cause, they haue not Cor. No cause, no cause Lear. Am I in France? Kent. In your owne kingdome Sir Lear. Do not abuse me Gent. Be comforted good Madam, the great rage You see is kill'd in him: desire him to go in, Trouble him no more till further setling Cor. Wilt please your Highnesse walke? Lear. You must beare with me: Pray you now forget, and forgiue, I am old and foolish. Exeunt.

act 4, scene 7

https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section10/

In the French camp, Cordelia speaks with Kent. She knows his real identity, but he wishes it to remain a secret to everyone else. Lear, who has been sleeping, is brought in to Cordelia. He only partially recognizes her. He says that he knows now that he is senile and not in his right mind, and he assumes that Cordelia hates him and wants to kill him, just as her sisters do. Cordelia tells him that she forgives him for banishing her. Meanwhile, the news of Cornwall's death is repeated in the camp, and we learn that Edmund is now leading Cornwall's troops. The battle between France and England rapidly approaches

Act 4, scenes 6-7 Besides moving the physical action of the play along, these scenes forward the play's psychological action. The strange, marvelous scene of Gloucester's supposed fall over the nonexistent cliffs of Dover, Lear's mad speeches to Gloucester and Edgar in the wilderness, and the redemptive reconciliation between Cordelia and her not-quite-sane father all set the stage for the resolution of the play's emotional movement in Act 5. The psychological motivations behind Gloucester's attempted suicide and Edgar's manipulation of it are complicated and ambiguous. Gloucester's death wish, which reflects his own despair at the cruel, uncaring universe--and perhaps the play's despair as well--would surely have been troubling to the self-consciously Christian society of Renaissance England. Shakespeare gets around much of the problem by setting King Lear in a pagan past; despite the fact that the play is full of Christian symbols and allusions, its characters pray only to the gods and never to the Christian God. Clearly, Edgar wants his father to live. He refuses to share in Gloucester's despair and still seeks a just and happy resolution to the events of the play. In letting Gloucester think that he has attempted suicide, Edgar manipulates Gloucester's understanding of divine will: he says to Gloucester after the latter's supposed fall and rebirth, "Thy life's a miracle. . . . / . . . / The clearest gods . . . / . . . have preserved thee" . Edgar not only stops Gloucester's suicidal thoughts but also shocks him into a rebirth. He tells his father that he should "bear free and patient thoughts": his life has been given back to him and he should take better care of it from now on . In these scenes, King Lear's madness brings forth some of his strangest and most interesting speeches. As Edgar notes, Lear's apparent ramblings are "matter and impertinency mixed! / Reason in madness!" . This description is similar to Polonius's muttering behind Hamlet's back in Hamlet: "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't" . Some of Lear's rambling does indeed seem to be meaningless babble, as when he talks about mice, cheese, and giants. But Lear swiftly moves on to talk of more relevant things. He finally understands that his older daughters, in Act 1, scene 1, and before, were sweet-talking him: "They flattered me like a dog. . . . To say 'aye' and 'no' to everything that I said!" . Lear has realized, despite what flatterers have told him and he has believed, that he is as vulnerable to the forces of nature as any human being. He cannot command the rain and thunder and is not immune to colds and fever . Just as, during the storm, he recognizes that beneath each man's clothing is "a poor, bare, forked animal" , Lear now understands that no amount of flattery and praise can make a king different from anyone else: "Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; / Robes and furred gowns hide all" . Armed with this knowledge, Lear can finally reunite with Cordelia and express his newfound humility and beg repentance. "I am a very foolish fond old man" , he tells her sadly, and he admits that she has "some cause" to hate him . Cordelia's moving response seals their reconciliation . Love and forgiveness, embodied in Lear's best daughter, join with humility and repentance, and, for a brief time, happiness prevails. But the forces that Lear's initial error unleashed--Goneril, Regan, and Edmund, with all their ambition and appetite for destruction--remain at large. We thus turn from happy reconciliation to conflict, as Cordelia leads her troops against the evil that her father's folly has set loose in Britain.

sparknotes

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/19.txt

finished_summaries/sparknotes/King Lear/section_10_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 1

act 5, scene 1

{"name": "act 5, scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section11/", "summary": "In the British camp near Dover, Regan asks Edmund if he loves Goneril and if he has found his way into her bed. Edmund responds in the negative to both questions. Regan expresses jealousy of her sister and beseeches Edmund not to be familiar with her. Abruptly, Goneril and Albany enter with their troops. Albany states that he has heard that the invading French army has been joined by Lear and unnamed others who may have legitimate grievances against the present government. Despite his sympathy toward Lear and these other dissidents, Albany declares that he intends to fight alongside Edmund, Regan, and Goneril to repel the foreign invasion. Goneril and Regan jealously spar over Edmund, neither willing to leave the other alone with him. The three exit together. Just as Albany begins to leave, Edgar, now disguised as an ordinary peasant, catches up to him. He gives Albany the letter that he took from Oswald's body--the letter in which Goneril's involvement with Edmund is revealed and in which Goneril asks Edmund to kill Albany. Edgar tells Albany to read the letter and says that if Albany wins the upcoming battle, he can sound a trumpet and Edgar will provide a champion to defend the claims made in the letter. Edgar vanishes and Edmund returns. Edmund tells Albany that the battle is almost upon them, and Albany leaves. Alone, Edmund addresses the audience, stating that he has sworn his love to both Regan and Goneril. He debates what he should do, reflecting that choosing either one would anger the other. He decides to put off the decision until after the battle, observing that if Albany survives it, Goneril can take care of killing him herself. He asserts menacingly that if the British win the battle and he captures Lear and Cordelia, he will show them no mercy", "analysis": "Act 5, scenes 1-2 In these scenes, the battle is quickly commenced and just as quickly concluded. The actual fighting happens offstage, during the short Act 5, scene 2. Meanwhile, the tangled web of affection, romance, manipulation, power, and betrayal among Goneril, Regan, Albany, and Edmund has finally taken on a clear shape. We learn from Edmund that he has promised himself to both sisters; we do not know whether he is lying to Regan when he states that he has not slept with Goneril. Nor can we deduce from Edmund's speech which of the sisters he prefers--or, in fact, whether he really loves either of them--but it is clear that he has created a problem for himself by professing love for both. It is clear now which characters support Lear and Cordelia and which characters are against them. Albany plans to show Lear and Cordelia mercy; Edmund, like Goneril and Regan, does not. Since all of these characters are, theoretically, fighting on the same side--the British--it is unclear what the fate of the captured Lear and Cordelia will be. Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is of evil turning inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Now, though, with power concentrated in their hands, they fall to squabbling over Edmund's affections. Edmund himself has come into his own, taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each other. It is suddenly clear that he, more than anyone else, will benefit from Lear's division of the kingdom. Gloucester's bastard may, indeed, shortly make himself king."}

Actus Quintus. Scena Prima. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Edmund, Regan. Gentlemen, and Souldiers. Bast. Know of the Duke if his last purpose hold, Or whether since he is aduis'd by ought To change the course, he's full of alteration, And selfereprouing, bring his constant pleasure Reg. Our Sisters man is certainely miscarried Bast. 'Tis to be doubted Madam Reg. Now sweet Lord, You know the goodnesse I intend vpon you: Tell me but truly, but then speake the truth, Do you not loue my Sister? Bast. In honour'd Loue Reg. But haue you neuer found my Brothers way, To the fore-fended place? Bast. No by mine honour, Madam Reg. I neuer shall endure her, deere my Lord Be not familiar with her Bast. Feare not, she and the Duke her husband. Enter with Drum and Colours, Albany, Gonerill, Soldiers. Alb. Our very louing Sister, well be-met: Sir, this I heard, the King is come to his Daughter With others, whom the rigour of our State Forc'd to cry out Regan. Why is this reasond? Gone. Combine together 'gainst the Enemie: For these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere Alb. Let's then determine with th' ancient of warre On our proceeding Reg. Sister you'le go with vs? Gon. No Reg. 'Tis most conuenient, pray go with vs Gon. Oh ho, I know the Riddle, I will goe. Exeunt. both the Armies. Enter Edgar. Edg. If ere your Grace had speech with man so poore, Heare me one word Alb. Ile ouertake you, speake Edg. Before you fight the Battaile, ope this Letter: If you haue victory, let the Trumpet sound For him that brought it: wretched though I seeme, I can produce a Champion, that will proue What is auouched there. If you miscarry, Your businesse of the world hath so an end, And machination ceases. Fortune loues you Alb. Stay till I haue read the Letter Edg. I was forbid it: When time shall serue, let but the Herald cry, And Ile appeare againe. Enter. Alb. Why farethee well, I will o're-looke thy paper. Enter Edmund. Bast. The Enemy's in view, draw vp your powers, Heere is the guesse of their true strength and Forces, By dilligent discouerie, but your hast Is now vrg'd on you Alb. We will greet the time. Enter. Bast. To both these Sisters haue I sworne my loue: Each iealous of the other, as the stung Are of the Adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enioy'd If both remaine aliue: To take the Widdow, Exasperates, makes mad her Sister Gonerill, And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being aliue. Now then, wee'l vse His countenance for the Battaile, which being done, Let her who would be rid of him, deuise His speedy taking off. As for the mercie Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, The Battaile done, and they within our power, Shall neuer see his pardon: for my state, Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Enter.

act 5, scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section11/

In the British camp near Dover, Regan asks Edmund if he loves Goneril and if he has found his way into her bed. Edmund responds in the negative to both questions. Regan expresses jealousy of her sister and beseeches Edmund not to be familiar with her. Abruptly, Goneril and Albany enter with their troops. Albany states that he has heard that the invading French army has been joined by Lear and unnamed others who may have legitimate grievances against the present government. Despite his sympathy toward Lear and these other dissidents, Albany declares that he intends to fight alongside Edmund, Regan, and Goneril to repel the foreign invasion. Goneril and Regan jealously spar over Edmund, neither willing to leave the other alone with him. The three exit together. Just as Albany begins to leave, Edgar, now disguised as an ordinary peasant, catches up to him. He gives Albany the letter that he took from Oswald's body--the letter in which Goneril's involvement with Edmund is revealed and in which Goneril asks Edmund to kill Albany. Edgar tells Albany to read the letter and says that if Albany wins the upcoming battle, he can sound a trumpet and Edgar will provide a champion to defend the claims made in the letter. Edgar vanishes and Edmund returns. Edmund tells Albany that the battle is almost upon them, and Albany leaves. Alone, Edmund addresses the audience, stating that he has sworn his love to both Regan and Goneril. He debates what he should do, reflecting that choosing either one would anger the other. He decides to put off the decision until after the battle, observing that if Albany survives it, Goneril can take care of killing him herself. He asserts menacingly that if the British win the battle and he captures Lear and Cordelia, he will show them no mercy

Act 5, scenes 1-2 In these scenes, the battle is quickly commenced and just as quickly concluded. The actual fighting happens offstage, during the short Act 5, scene 2. Meanwhile, the tangled web of affection, romance, manipulation, power, and betrayal among Goneril, Regan, Albany, and Edmund has finally taken on a clear shape. We learn from Edmund that he has promised himself to both sisters; we do not know whether he is lying to Regan when he states that he has not slept with Goneril. Nor can we deduce from Edmund's speech which of the sisters he prefers--or, in fact, whether he really loves either of them--but it is clear that he has created a problem for himself by professing love for both. It is clear now which characters support Lear and Cordelia and which characters are against them. Albany plans to show Lear and Cordelia mercy; Edmund, like Goneril and Regan, does not. Since all of these characters are, theoretically, fighting on the same side--the British--it is unclear what the fate of the captured Lear and Cordelia will be. Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is of evil turning inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Now, though, with power concentrated in their hands, they fall to squabbling over Edmund's affections. Edmund himself has come into his own, taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each other. It is suddenly clear that he, more than anyone else, will benefit from Lear's division of the kingdom. Gloucester's bastard may, indeed, shortly make himself king.

sparknotes

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/20.txt

finished_summaries/sparknotes/King Lear/section_10_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 2

act 5, scene 2

{"name": "act 5, scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section11/", "summary": "The battle begins. Edgar, in peasant's clothing, leads Gloucester to the shelter of a tree and goes into battle to fight on Lear's side. He soon returns, shouting that Lear's side has lost and that Lear and Cordelia have been captured. Gloucester states that he will stay where he is and wait to be captured or killed, but Edgar says that one's death occurs at a predestined time. Persuaded, Gloucester goes with Edgar", "analysis": "Act 5, scenes 1-2 In these scenes, the battle is quickly commenced and just as quickly concluded. The actual fighting happens offstage, during the short Act 5, scene 2. Meanwhile, the tangled web of affection, romance, manipulation, power, and betrayal among Goneril, Regan, Albany, and Edmund has finally taken on a clear shape. We learn from Edmund that he has promised himself to both sisters; we do not know whether he is lying to Regan when he states that he has not slept with Goneril. Nor can we deduce from Edmund's speech which of the sisters he prefers--or, in fact, whether he really loves either of them--but it is clear that he has created a problem for himself by professing love for both. It is clear now which characters support Lear and Cordelia and which characters are against them. Albany plans to show Lear and Cordelia mercy; Edmund, like Goneril and Regan, does not. Since all of these characters are, theoretically, fighting on the same side--the British--it is unclear what the fate of the captured Lear and Cordelia will be. Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is of evil turning inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Now, though, with power concentrated in their hands, they fall to squabbling over Edmund's affections. Edmund himself has come into his own, taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each other. It is suddenly clear that he, more than anyone else, will benefit from Lear's division of the kingdom. Gloucester's bastard may, indeed, shortly make himself king."}

Scena Secunda. Alarum within. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Souldiers, ouer the Stage, and Exeunt. Enter Edgar, and Gloster. Edg. Heere Father, take the shadow of this Tree For your good hoast: pray that the right may thriue: If euer I returne to you againe, Ile bring you comfort Glo. Grace go with you Sir. Enter. Alarum and Retreat within. Enter Edgar. Edgar. Away old man, giue me thy hand, away: King Lear hath lost, he and his Daughter tane, Giue me thy hand: Come on Glo. No further Sir, a man may rot euen heere Edg. What in ill thoughts againe? Men must endure Their going hence, euen as their comming hither, Ripenesse is all come on Glo. And that's true too. Exeunt.

act 5, scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section11/

The battle begins. Edgar, in peasant's clothing, leads Gloucester to the shelter of a tree and goes into battle to fight on Lear's side. He soon returns, shouting that Lear's side has lost and that Lear and Cordelia have been captured. Gloucester states that he will stay where he is and wait to be captured or killed, but Edgar says that one's death occurs at a predestined time. Persuaded, Gloucester goes with Edgar

Act 5, scenes 1-2 In these scenes, the battle is quickly commenced and just as quickly concluded. The actual fighting happens offstage, during the short Act 5, scene 2. Meanwhile, the tangled web of affection, romance, manipulation, power, and betrayal among Goneril, Regan, Albany, and Edmund has finally taken on a clear shape. We learn from Edmund that he has promised himself to both sisters; we do not know whether he is lying to Regan when he states that he has not slept with Goneril. Nor can we deduce from Edmund's speech which of the sisters he prefers--or, in fact, whether he really loves either of them--but it is clear that he has created a problem for himself by professing love for both. It is clear now which characters support Lear and Cordelia and which characters are against them. Albany plans to show Lear and Cordelia mercy; Edmund, like Goneril and Regan, does not. Since all of these characters are, theoretically, fighting on the same side--the British--it is unclear what the fate of the captured Lear and Cordelia will be. Ultimately, the sense that one has in these scenes is of evil turning inward and devouring itself. As long as Lear and Gloucester served as victims, Goneril and Regan were united. Now, though, with power concentrated in their hands, they fall to squabbling over Edmund's affections. Edmund himself has come into his own, taking command of an army and playing the two queens off against each other. It is suddenly clear that he, more than anyone else, will benefit from Lear's division of the kingdom. Gloucester's bastard may, indeed, shortly make himself king.

sparknotes

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/21.txt

finished_summaries/sparknotes/King Lear/section_11_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 3

act 5, scene 3

{"name": "Act 5, scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section12/", "summary": "Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones . . . Edmund leads in Lear and Cordelia as his prisoners. Cordelia expects to confront Regan and Goneril, but Lear vehemently refuses to do so. He describes a vividly imagined fantasy, in which he and Cordelia live alone together like birds in a cage, hearing about the outside world but observed by no one. Edmund sends them away, giving the captain who guards them a note with instructions as to what to do with them. He doesn't make the note's contents clear to the audience, but he speaks ominously. The captain agrees to follow Edmund's orders. Albany enters accompanied by Goneril and Regan. He praises Edmund for his brave fighting on the British side and orders that he produce Lear and Cordelia. Edmund lies to Albany, claiming that he sent Lear and Cordelia far away because he feared that they would excite the sympathy of the British forces and create a mutiny. Albany rebukes him for putting himself above his place, but Regan breaks in to declare that she plans to make Edmund her husband. Goneril tells Regan that Edmund will not marry her, but Regan, who is unexpectedly beginning to feel sick, claims Edmund as her husband and lord. Albany intervenes, arresting Edmund on a charge of treason. Albany challenges Edmund to defend himself against the charge in a trial by combat, and he sounds the trumpet to summon his champion. While Regan, who is growing ill, is helped to Albany's tent, Edgar appears in full armor to accuse Edmund of treason and face him in single combat. Edgar defeats Edmund, and Albany cries out to Edgar to leave Edmund alive for questioning. Goneril tries to help the wounded Edmund, but Albany brings out the treacherous letter to show that he knows of her conspiracy against him. Goneril rushes off in desperation. Edgar takes off his helmet and reveals his identity. He reconciles with Albany and tells the company how he disguised himself as a mad beggar and led Gloucester through the countryside. He adds that he revealed himself to his father only as he was preparing to fight Edmund and that Gloucester, torn between joy and grief, died. A gentleman rushes in carrying a bloody knife. He announces that Goneril has committed suicide. Moreover, she fatally poisoned Regan before she died. The two bodies are carried in and laid out. Kent enters and asks where Lear is. Albany recalls with horror that Lear and Cordelia are still imprisoned and demands from Edmund their whereabouts. Edmund repents his crimes and determines to do good before his death. He tells the others that he had ordered that Cordelia be hanged and sends a messenger to try to intervene. Lear enters, carrying the dead Cordelia in his arms: the messenger arrived too late. Slipping in and out of sanity, Lear grieves over Cordelia's body. Kent speaks to Lear, but Lear barely recognizes him. A messenger enters and reveals that Edmund has also died. Lear asks Edgar to loosen Cordelia's button; then, just as Lear thinks that he sees her beginning to breathe again, he dies. Albany gives Edgar and Kent their power and titles back, inviting them to rule with him. Kent, feeling himself near death, refuses, but Edgar seems to accept. The few remaining survivors exit sadly as a funeral march plays.", "analysis": "Analysis This long scene brings the play to its resolution, ending it on a note of relentless depression and gloom. Almost all of the main characters wind up dead; only Albany, Edgar, and Kent walk off the stage at the end, and the aging, unhappy Kent predicts his imminent demise. Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Lear lie dead onstage, and Edmund and Gloucester have passed away offstage. Albany philosophizes about his merciless end when he says, \"All friends shall taste / The wages of their virtue, and all foes / The cup of their deserving\" . One can argue that these words suggest that, in some sense, order and justice have triumphed over villainy and cruelty, and that the world is a just place after all. But one can also argue that Albany's words ring hollow: most of the virtuous characters die along with the villains, making it difficult to interpret the scene as poetic justice. Indeed, death seems to be a defining motif for the play, embracing characters indiscriminately. We may feel that the disloyal Goneril and Regan, the treacherous Edmund, the odious Oswald, and the brutal Cornwall richly deserve their deaths. But, in the last scene, when the audience expects some kind of justice to be doled out, the good characters--Gloucester, Cordelia, Lear--die as well, and their bodies litter the stage alongside the corpses of the wicked. This final, harrowing wave of death raises, yet again, a question that has burned throughout the play: is there any justice in the world? Albany's suggestion that the good and the evil both ultimately get what they deserve does not seem to hold true. Lear, howling over Cordelia's body, asks, \"Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all?\" . This question can be answered only with the stark truth that death comes to all, regardless of each individual's virtue or youth. The world of King Lear is not a Christian cosmos: there is no messiah to give meaning to suffering and no promise of an afterlife. All that King Lear offers is despair. The play's emotional extremes of hope and despair, joy and grief, love and hate, are brought to the fore as well in this final scene. Lear's address to Cordelia at the beginning of the scene is strangely joyful. He creates an intimate world that knows only love: \"We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage. / When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, / And ask of thee forgiveness\" . This blissful vision, however, is countered by the terrible despair that Lear evokes at Cordelia's death: \"Thou'lt come no more, / Never, never, never, never, never.\" . Yet, despite his grief, Lear expires in a flash of utterly misguided hope, thinking that Cordelia is coming back to life. In a sense, this final, false hope is the most depressing moment of all. Similarly, Gloucester, as Edgar announces, dies partly of joy: \"his flawed heart-- / . . . / 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, / Burst smilingly\" . Even Edmund, learning of Goneril's and Regan's deaths, says, \"Yet Edmund was beloved. / The one the other poisoned for my sake, / And after slew herself\" . Even the cruel Edmund thinks of love in his last moments, a reminder of the warmth of which his bastard birth deprived him. But for him and the two sister queens, as for everyone else in King Lear, love seems to lead only to death. In perhaps the play's final cruelty, the audience is left with only a terrifying uncertainty: the good and the evil alike die, and joy and pain both lead to madness or death. The corpses on the stage at the end of the play, of the young as well as the old, symbolize despair and death--just as the storm at the play's center symbolizes chaos and madness. For Lear, at least, death is a mercy. As Kent says, \"The wonder is, he hath endured so long\" in his grief and madness . For the others, however, we are left wondering whether there is any justice, any system of punishment and reward in the \"tough world\" of this powerful but painful play ."}

Scena Tertia. Enter in conquest with Drum and Colours, Edmund, Lear, and Cordelia, as prisoners, Souldiers, Captaine. Bast. Some Officers take them away: good guard, Vntill their greater pleasures first be knowne That are to censure them Cor. We are not the first, Who with best meaning haue incurr'd the worst: For thee oppressed King I am cast downe, My selfe could else out-frowne false Fortunes frowne. Shall we not see these Daughters, and these Sisters? Lear. No, no, no, no: come let's away to prison, We two alone will sing like Birds i'th' Cage: When thou dost aske me blessing, Ile kneele downe And aske of thee forgiuenesse: So wee'l liue, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded Butterflies: and heere (poore Rogues) Talke of Court newes, and wee'l talke with them too, Who looses, and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take vpon's the mystery of things, As if we were Gods spies: And wee'l weare out In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebbe and flow by th' Moone Bast. Take them away Lear. Vpon such sacrifices my Cordelia, The Gods themselues throw Incense. Haue I caught thee? He that parts vs, shall bring a Brand from Heauen, And fire vs hence, like Foxes: wipe thine eyes, The good yeares shall deuoure them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make vs weepe? Weele see 'em staru'd first: come. Enter. Bast. Come hither Captaine, hearke. Take thou this note, go follow them to prison, One step I haue aduanc'd thee, if thou do'st As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To Noble Fortunes: know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender minded Do's not become a Sword, thy great imployment Will not beare question: either say thou'lt do't, Or thriue by other meanes Capt. Ile do't my Lord Bast. About it, and write happy, when th'hast done, Marke I say instantly, and carry it so As I haue set it downe. Exit Captaine. Flourish. Enter Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Soldiers. Alb. Sir, you haue shew'd to day your valiant straine And Fortune led you well: you haue the Captiues Who were the opposites of this dayes strife: I do require them of you so to vse them, As we shall find their merites, and our safety May equally determine Bast. Sir, I thought it fit, To send the old and miserable King to some retention, Whose age had Charmes in it, whose Title more, To plucke the common bosome on his side, And turne our imprest Launces in our eies Which do command them. With him I sent the Queen: My reason all the same, and they are ready To morrow, or at further space, t' appeare Where you shall hold your Session Alb. Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subiect of this Warre, Not as a Brother Reg. That's as we list to grace him. Methinkes our pleasure might haue bin demanded Ere you had spoke so farre. He led our Powers, Bore the Commission of my place and person, The which immediacie may well stand vp, And call it selfe your Brother Gon. Not so hot: In his owne grace he doth exalt himselfe, More then in your addition Reg. In my rights, By me inuested, he compeeres the best Alb. That were the most, if he should husband you Reg. Iesters do oft proue Prophets Gon. Hola, hola, That eye that told you so, look'd but a squint Rega. Lady I am not well, else I should answere From a full flowing stomack. Generall, Take thou my Souldiers, prisoners, patrimony, Dispose of them, of me, the walls is thine: Witnesse the world, that I create thee heere My Lord, and Master Gon. Meane you to enioy him? Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will Bast. Nor in thine Lord Alb. Halfe-blooded fellow, yes Reg. Let the Drum strike, and proue my title thine Alb. Stay yet, heare reason: Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent: for your claime faire Sisters, I bare it in the interest of my wife, 'Tis she is sub-contracted to this Lord, And I her husband contradict your Banes. If you will marry, make your loues to me, My Lady is bespoke Gon. An enterlude Alb. Thou art armed Gloster, Let the Trumpet sound: If none appeare to proue vpon thy person, Thy heynous, manifest, and many Treasons, There is my pledge: Ile make it on thy heart Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing lesse Then I haue heere proclaim'd thee Reg. Sicke, O sicke Gon. If not, Ile nere trust medicine Bast. There's my exchange, what in the world hes That names me Traitor, villain-like he lies, Call by the Trumpet: he that dares approach; On him, on you, who not, I will maintaine My truth and honor firmely. Enter a Herald. Alb. A Herald, ho. Trust to thy single vertue, for thy Souldiers All leuied in my name, haue in my name Tooke their discharge Regan. My sicknesse growes vpon me Alb. She is not well, conuey her to my Tent. Come hither Herald, let the Trumpet sound, And read out this. A Trumpet sounds. Herald reads. If any man of qualitie or degree, within the lists of the Army, will maintaine vpon Edmund, supposed Earle of Gloster, that he is a manifold Traitor, let him appeare by the third sound of the Trumpet: he is bold in his defence. 1 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 2 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 3 Trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar armed. Alb. Aske him his purposes, why he appeares Vpon this Call o'th' Trumpet Her. What are you? Your name, your quality, and why you answer This present Summons? Edg. Know my name is lost By Treasons tooth: bare-gnawne, and Canker-bit, Yet am I Noble as the Aduersary I come to cope Alb. Which is that Aduersary? Edg. What's he that speakes for Edmund Earle of Gloster? Bast. Himselfe, what saist thou to him? Edg. Draw thy Sword, That if my speech offend a Noble heart, Thy arme may do thee Iustice, heere is mine: Behold it is my priuiledge, The priuiledge of mine Honours, My oath, and my profession. I protest, Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence, Despise thy victor-Sword, and fire new Fortune, Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a Traitor: False to thy Gods, thy Brother, and thy Father, Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious Prince, And from th' extremest vpward of thy head, To the discent and dust below thy foote, A most Toad-spotted Traitor. Say thou no, This Sword, this arme, and my best spirits are bent To proue vpon thy heart, where to I speake, Thou lyest Bast. In wisedome I should aske thy name, But since thy out-side lookes so faire and Warlike, And that thy tongue (some say) of breeding breathes, What safe, and nicely I might well delay, By rule of Knight-hood, I disdaine and spurne: Backe do I tosse these Treasons to thy head, With the hell-hated Lye, ore-whelme thy heart, Which for they yet glance by, and scarcely bruise, This Sword of mine shall giue them instant way, Where they shall rest for euer. Trumpets speake Alb. Saue him, saue him. Alarums. Fights. Gon. This is practise Gloster, By th' law of Warre, thou wast not bound to answer An vnknowne opposite: thou art not vanquish'd, But cozend, and beguild Alb. Shut your mouth Dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it: hold Sir, Thou worse then any name, reade thine owne euill: No tearing Lady, I perceiue you know it Gon. Say if I do, the Lawes are mine not thine, Who can araigne me for't? Enter. Alb. Most monstrous! O, know'st thou this paper? Bast. Aske me not what I know Alb. Go after her, she's desperate, gouerne her Bast. What you haue charg'd me with, That haue I done, And more, much more, the time will bring it out. 'Tis past, and so am I: But what art thou That hast this Fortune on me? If thou'rt Noble, I do forgiue thee Edg. Let's exchange charity: I am no lesse in blood then thou art Edmond, If more, the more th'hast wrong'd me. My name is Edgar and thy Fathers Sonne, The Gods are iust, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague vs: The darke and vitious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes Bast. Th'hast spoken right, 'tis true, The Wheele is come full circle, I am heere Alb. Me thought thy very gate did prophesie A Royall Noblenesse: I must embrace thee, Let sorrow split my heart, if euer I Did hate thee, or thy Father Edg. Worthy Prince I know't Alb. Where haue you hid your selfe? How haue you knowne the miseries of your Father? Edg. By nursing them my Lord. List a breefe tale, And when 'tis told, O that my heart would burst. The bloody proclamation to escape That follow'd me so neere, (O our liues sweetnesse, That we the paine of death would hourely dye, Rather then die at once) taught me to shift Into a mad-mans rags, t' assume a semblance That very Dogges disdain'd: and in this habit Met I my Father with his bleeding Rings, Their precious Stones new lost: became his guide, Led him, begg'd for him, sau'd him from dispaire. Neuer (O fault) reueal'd my selfe vnto him, Vntill some halfe houre past when I was arm'd, Not sure, though hoping of this good successe, I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last Told him our pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart (Alacke too weake the conflict to support) Twixt two extremes of passion, ioy and greefe, Burst smilingly Bast. This speech of yours hath mou'd me, And shall perchance do good, but speake you on, You looke as you had something more to say Alb. If there be more, more wofull, hold it in, For I am almost ready to dissolue, Hearing of this. Enter a Gentleman. Gen. Helpe, helpe: O helpe Edg. What kinde of helpe? Alb. Speake man Edg. What meanes this bloody Knife? Gen. 'Tis hot, it smoakes, it came euen from the heart of- O she's dead Alb. Who dead? Speake man Gen. Your Lady Sir, your Lady; and her Sister By her is poyson'd: she confesses it Bast. I was contracted to them both, all three Now marry in an instant Edg. Here comes Kent. Enter Kent. Alb. Produce the bodies, be they aliue or dead; Gonerill and Regans bodies brought out. This iudgement of the Heauens that makes vs tremble. Touches vs not with pitty: O, is this he? The time will not allow the complement Which very manners vrges Kent. I am come To bid my King and Master aye good night. Is he not here? Alb. Great thing of vs forgot, Speake Edmund, where's the King? and where's Cordelia? Seest thou this obiect Kent? Kent. Alacke, why thus? Bast. Yet Edmund was belou'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herselfe Alb. Euen so: couer their faces Bast. I pant for life: some good I meane to do Despight of mine owne Nature. Quickly send, (Be briefe in it) to'th' Castle, for my Writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia: Nay, send in time Alb. Run, run, O run Edg. To who my Lord? Who ha's the Office? Send thy token of repreeue Bast. Well thought on, take my Sword, Giue it the Captaine Edg. Hast thee for thy life Bast. He hath Commission from thy Wife and me, To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame vpon her owne dispaire, That she for-did her selfe Alb. The Gods defend her, beare him hence awhile. Enter Lear with Cordelia in his armes. Lear. Howle, howle, howle: O you are men of stones, Had I your tongues and eyes, Il'd vse them so, That Heauens vault should crack: she's gone for euer. I know when one is dead, and when one liues, She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glasse, If that her breath will mist or staine the stone, Why then she liues Kent. Is this the promis'd end? Edg. Or image of that horror Alb. Fall and cease Lear. This feather stirs, she liues: if it be so, It is a chance which do's redeeme all sorrowes That euer I haue felt Kent. O my good Master Lear. Prythee away Edg. 'Tis Noble Kent your Friend Lear. A plague vpon you Murderors, Traitors all, I might haue sau'd her, now she's gone for euer: Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha: What is't thou saist? Her voice was euer soft, Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill'd the Slaue that was a hanging thee Gent. 'Tis true (my Lords) he did Lear. Did I not fellow? I haue seene the day, with my good biting Faulchion I would haue made him skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoile me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o'th' best, Ile tell you straight Kent. If Fortune brag of two, she lou'd and hated, One of them we behold Lear. This is a dull sight, are you not Kent? Kent. The same: your Seruant Kent, Where is your Seruant Caius? Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that, He'le strike and quickly too, he's dead and rotten Kent. No my good Lord, I am the very man Lear. Ile see that straight Kent. That from your first of difference and decay, Haue follow'd your sad steps Lear. You are welcome hither Kent. Nor no man else: All's cheerlesse, darke, and deadly, Your eldest Daughters haue fore-done themselues, And desperately are dead Lear. I so I thinke Alb. He knowes not what he saies, and vaine is it That we present vs to him. Enter a Messenger. Edg. Very bootlesse Mess. Edmund is dead my Lord Alb. That's but a trifle heere: You Lords and Noble Friends, know our intent, What comfort to this great decay may come, Shall be appli'd. For vs we will resigne, During the life of this old Maiesty To him our absolute power, you to your rights, With boote, and such addition as your Honours Haue more then merited. All Friends shall Taste the wages of their vertue, and all Foes The cup of their deseruings: O see, see Lear. And my poore Foole is hang'd: no, no, no life? Why should a Dog, a Horse, a Rat haue life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer. Pray you vndo this Button. Thanke you Sir, Do you see this? Looke on her? Looke her lips, Looke there, looke there. He dies. Edg. He faints, my Lord, my Lord Kent. Breake heart, I prythee breake Edg. Looke vp my Lord Kent. Vex not his ghost, O let him passe, he hates him, That would vpon the wracke of this tough world Stretch him out longer Edg. He is gon indeed Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long, He but vsurpt his life Alb. Beare them from hence, our present businesse Is generall woe: Friends of my soule, you twaine, Rule in this Realme, and the gor'd state sustaine Kent. I haue a iourney Sir, shortly to go, My Master calls me, I must not say no Edg. The waight of this sad time we must obey, Speake what we feele, not what we ought to say: The oldest hath borne most, we that are yong, Shall neuer see so much, nor liue so long. Exeunt. with a dead March. FINIS. THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR.

Act 5, scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20210118050344/https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section12/

Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones . . . Edmund leads in Lear and Cordelia as his prisoners. Cordelia expects to confront Regan and Goneril, but Lear vehemently refuses to do so. He describes a vividly imagined fantasy, in which he and Cordelia live alone together like birds in a cage, hearing about the outside world but observed by no one. Edmund sends them away, giving the captain who guards them a note with instructions as to what to do with them. He doesn't make the note's contents clear to the audience, but he speaks ominously. The captain agrees to follow Edmund's orders. Albany enters accompanied by Goneril and Regan. He praises Edmund for his brave fighting on the British side and orders that he produce Lear and Cordelia. Edmund lies to Albany, claiming that he sent Lear and Cordelia far away because he feared that they would excite the sympathy of the British forces and create a mutiny. Albany rebukes him for putting himself above his place, but Regan breaks in to declare that she plans to make Edmund her husband. Goneril tells Regan that Edmund will not marry her, but Regan, who is unexpectedly beginning to feel sick, claims Edmund as her husband and lord. Albany intervenes, arresting Edmund on a charge of treason. Albany challenges Edmund to defend himself against the charge in a trial by combat, and he sounds the trumpet to summon his champion. While Regan, who is growing ill, is helped to Albany's tent, Edgar appears in full armor to accuse Edmund of treason and face him in single combat. Edgar defeats Edmund, and Albany cries out to Edgar to leave Edmund alive for questioning. Goneril tries to help the wounded Edmund, but Albany brings out the treacherous letter to show that he knows of her conspiracy against him. Goneril rushes off in desperation. Edgar takes off his helmet and reveals his identity. He reconciles with Albany and tells the company how he disguised himself as a mad beggar and led Gloucester through the countryside. He adds that he revealed himself to his father only as he was preparing to fight Edmund and that Gloucester, torn between joy and grief, died. A gentleman rushes in carrying a bloody knife. He announces that Goneril has committed suicide. Moreover, she fatally poisoned Regan before she died. The two bodies are carried in and laid out. Kent enters and asks where Lear is. Albany recalls with horror that Lear and Cordelia are still imprisoned and demands from Edmund their whereabouts. Edmund repents his crimes and determines to do good before his death. He tells the others that he had ordered that Cordelia be hanged and sends a messenger to try to intervene. Lear enters, carrying the dead Cordelia in his arms: the messenger arrived too late. Slipping in and out of sanity, Lear grieves over Cordelia's body. Kent speaks to Lear, but Lear barely recognizes him. A messenger enters and reveals that Edmund has also died. Lear asks Edgar to loosen Cordelia's button; then, just as Lear thinks that he sees her beginning to breathe again, he dies. Albany gives Edgar and Kent their power and titles back, inviting them to rule with him. Kent, feeling himself near death, refuses, but Edgar seems to accept. The few remaining survivors exit sadly as a funeral march plays.

Analysis This long scene brings the play to its resolution, ending it on a note of relentless depression and gloom. Almost all of the main characters wind up dead; only Albany, Edgar, and Kent walk off the stage at the end, and the aging, unhappy Kent predicts his imminent demise. Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Lear lie dead onstage, and Edmund and Gloucester have passed away offstage. Albany philosophizes about his merciless end when he says, "All friends shall taste / The wages of their virtue, and all foes / The cup of their deserving" . One can argue that these words suggest that, in some sense, order and justice have triumphed over villainy and cruelty, and that the world is a just place after all. But one can also argue that Albany's words ring hollow: most of the virtuous characters die along with the villains, making it difficult to interpret the scene as poetic justice. Indeed, death seems to be a defining motif for the play, embracing characters indiscriminately. We may feel that the disloyal Goneril and Regan, the treacherous Edmund, the odious Oswald, and the brutal Cornwall richly deserve their deaths. But, in the last scene, when the audience expects some kind of justice to be doled out, the good characters--Gloucester, Cordelia, Lear--die as well, and their bodies litter the stage alongside the corpses of the wicked. This final, harrowing wave of death raises, yet again, a question that has burned throughout the play: is there any justice in the world? Albany's suggestion that the good and the evil both ultimately get what they deserve does not seem to hold true. Lear, howling over Cordelia's body, asks, "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, / And thou no breath at all?" . This question can be answered only with the stark truth that death comes to all, regardless of each individual's virtue or youth. The world of King Lear is not a Christian cosmos: there is no messiah to give meaning to suffering and no promise of an afterlife. All that King Lear offers is despair. The play's emotional extremes of hope and despair, joy and grief, love and hate, are brought to the fore as well in this final scene. Lear's address to Cordelia at the beginning of the scene is strangely joyful. He creates an intimate world that knows only love: "We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage. / When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, / And ask of thee forgiveness" . This blissful vision, however, is countered by the terrible despair that Lear evokes at Cordelia's death: "Thou'lt come no more, / Never, never, never, never, never." . Yet, despite his grief, Lear expires in a flash of utterly misguided hope, thinking that Cordelia is coming back to life. In a sense, this final, false hope is the most depressing moment of all. Similarly, Gloucester, as Edgar announces, dies partly of joy: "his flawed heart-- / . . . / 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, / Burst smilingly" . Even Edmund, learning of Goneril's and Regan's deaths, says, "Yet Edmund was beloved. / The one the other poisoned for my sake, / And after slew herself" . Even the cruel Edmund thinks of love in his last moments, a reminder of the warmth of which his bastard birth deprived him. But for him and the two sister queens, as for everyone else in King Lear, love seems to lead only to death. In perhaps the play's final cruelty, the audience is left with only a terrifying uncertainty: the good and the evil alike die, and joy and pain both lead to madness or death. The corpses on the stage at the end of the play, of the young as well as the old, symbolize despair and death--just as the storm at the play's center symbolizes chaos and madness. For Lear, at least, death is a mercy. As Kent says, "The wonder is, he hath endured so long" in his grief and madness . For the others, however, we are left wondering whether there is any justice, any system of punishment and reward in the "tough world" of this powerful but painful play .

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/1.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_1_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 1

act 1, scene 1

{"name": "Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear11.asp", "summary": "The play opens in King Lear's palace with Kent and Gloucester in conversation. They are discussing King Lear's regard for his two sons-in-law, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. Kent suggests that the King favors one over the other and fears that the favoritism will cause a problem and affect the kingdom. Listening to them is a young man, Edmund. Gloucester explains that Edmund is his illegitimate son--a folly of his youth. He then declares that he also has a legitimate son named Edgar. Gloucester prides himself on loving both of them equally even though Edmund is socially considered an outcast and a bastard. There is then an exchange of formalities between Kent and Edmund as they are introduced. The King enters with his procession. Due to his age, he has decided to abdicate his throne in the near future. He will divide his kingdom among his three daughters; the largest share will go to the child who proves that she loves him the most. He assumes that Cordelia, his youngest and favorite child, will receive the largest portion. After sitting on his throne, he makes public his plans to divide the kingdom into three parts and takes out a map to show the dividing lines. One will go to Goneril, who is married to the Duke of Albany; one will go to Regan, who is married to the Duke of Cornwall; and the last will go to the unmarried Cordelia, who is currently being courted by the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. Lear asks his daughters to publicly explain their love for their father. Goneril answers with rich words that are loaded with flattery; everyone but Lear seems to know that Goneril praises her father only for personal gain. Regan states that nothing except her love for her father could possibly give her any joy. Both elder daughters promise that they love the King more than they love their husbands. Lear next calls on Cordelia; since she is Lear's favorite, he is expecting great praise and flowery speech from her; instead, her reply is short and unexpected. When Lear asks, \"What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?\" Cordelia replies, \"Nothing.\" She then adds, \"I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less.\" This blunt, honest reply infuriates Lear. After asking her once again to reveal her love in words, Cordelia explains that she cannot. Lear grows more enraged. Then, much to the dismay of the others, the King curses Cordelia and disinherits her. When Kent pleads Cordelia's case, he is also sent away, banished like Cordelia. The King of France and the Duke of Burgundy arrive to court Cordelia. Hearing of her disgrace and banishment, the Duke withdraws his proposal of marriage. The King of France, however, seeks to know the reason for Lear's anger; when he hears what Cordelia has said, he understands her true worth and is all the more eager to wed her. The king and his retinue exit. Cordelia turns to her two older sisters and warns them to treat their father well. Her entreaties, however, fall on deaf ears. Goneril and Regan immediately begin their plotting. They comment on Lear's rashness and the general defects that age brings and agree that something must be done with him.", "analysis": "Notes In this first scene, all the major characters are introduced, either in person or in conversation. By the end of the scene, the major conflict has unfolded as Cordelia is disinherited and Goneril and Regan plot against their father. Many critics state that Lear makes several fatal mistakes in this first scene of the play. His plan for his daughters is not a wise one, for it totally removes power from the King and divides the kingdom. Since the British people believed in a centralized government and thought their king was a link between the divine and the human, they would be very displeased over Lear's plan. They would also believe that disavowing one's role as king would be to defy the divine ordination and to invite chaos and strife. Lear's plan will also inevitably pit one sibling against another in a struggle for more power. Even before the daughters declare their love to him, Lear has a plan for parceling out the kingdom, as revealed on the map that he unfolds; his youngest and favorite daughter will get the largest portion. Since his mind seems to be made up about the kingdom, it is obviously his pride and greed that cause him to demand his daughters' public declarations of fatherly devotion. It is a foolish mistake on Lear's part, for it appears that he is trying to buy the love of his daughters. The speeches of Goneril and Regan are flowery and pretentious; they praise their father profusely and state that they love him much more than their own husbands. They are flattering to Lear only because they hope to get more from him. Lear is blind to their hypocrisy and praises their spoken devotion to him. The pure and honest Cordelia refuses to play the game; she will not try and outdo her hypocritical older sisters. She simply states her love for her father and says she will also love her future husband; she also reprimands him for being so indulgent as to ask for a public display of love. Lear is shocked by her brevity and brashness and pushes her to say more, but Cordelia refuses. She will not make a public show of true love for Lear, least of all in exchange for riches. Lear grows enraged over her response and banishes Cordelia. He then redivides the kingdom between Regan and Goneril, fully proving his \"blindness.\" Throughout the rest of the play, images and allusions or lack of sight or insight will be developed. Kent, in trying to persuade Lear to change his mind about banishing Cordelia, speaks with a bluntness that is characteristic of his personality. He is known for his stubbornness and straightforward approach. Although Lear knows his friend well, for they have been together for many years, the King is enraged by Kent's argument. In anger, Lear tells him not to come \"between the dragon and his wrath;\" the dragon, an ancient symbol of royalty of Britain, is a clear reference to the King. When Kent refuses to back down in his opinion, he, too, is banished, like Cordelia. After his interactions with Kent and Cordelia, Lear has emerged as a person whose judgement is clouded; he is flattered by those who are false and manipulative and blinded to those who are loyal and honest. The loss of judgement is very significant, for a king must be trusted to make correct decisions. The two suitors of Cordelia arrive and Lear explains to them what has happened to his youngest daughter. The shallow Duke of Burgundy quickly bows out from his proposal of marriage when he realizes that Cordelia no longer has a dowry. The King of France, however, is more eager than ever to wed Cordelia. He recognizes that she is \"most rich, being poor; most choice, forsaken. . .To him Cordelia is herself a dowry.\" As Cordelia leaves to become the Queen of France, she is sad to be leaving her father. She fears that her sisters will manipulate him and treat him cruelly; as a result, she warns her sisters to take care of the King. As soon as Cordelia leaves, Regan and Goneril begin to plot against Lear. The subplot of the play revolves around Gloucester, a man who is passionate about life and irreverent about society and its tradition. In his youth, he fathered an illegitimate son, Edmund. To his credit, Gloucester loves Edmund as much as he loves Edgar, his legitimate son. The society around Gloucester, however, is not as liberal as he; Edmund is considered to be an unworthy bastard. By the end of the play, it will be obvious that Gloucester's love for Edmund was misplaced."}

Actus Primus. Scoena Prima. Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmond. Kent. I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany, then Cornwall Glou. It did alwayes seeme so to vs: But now in the diuision of the Kingdome, it appeares not which of the Dukes hee valewes most, for qualities are so weigh'd, that curiosity in neither, can make choise of eithers moity Kent. Is not this your Son, my Lord? Glou. His breeding Sir, hath bin at my charge. I haue so often blush'd to acknowledge him, that now I am braz'd too't Kent. I cannot conceiue you Glou. Sir, this yong Fellowes mother could; wherevpon she grew round womb'd, and had indeede (Sir) a Sonne for her Cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault vndone, the issue of it, being so proper Glou. But I haue a Sonne, Sir, by order of Law, some yeere elder then this; who, yet is no deerer in my account, though this Knaue came somthing sawcily to the world before he was sent for: yet was his Mother fayre, there was good sport at his making, and the horson must be acknowledged. Doe you know this Noble Gentleman, Edmond? Edm. No, my Lord Glou. My Lord of Kent: Remember him heereafter, as my Honourable Friend Edm. My seruices to your Lordship Kent. I must loue you, and sue to know you better Edm. Sir, I shall study deseruing Glou. He hath bin out nine yeares, and away he shall againe. The King is comming. Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia, and attendants. Lear. Attend the Lords of France & Burgundy, Gloster Glou. I shall, my Lord. Enter. Lear. Meane time we shal expresse our darker purpose. Giue me the Map there. Know, that we haue diuided In three our Kingdome: and 'tis our fast intent, To shake all Cares and Businesse from our Age, Conferring them on yonger strengths, while we Vnburthen'd crawle toward death. Our son of Cornwal, And you our no lesse louing Sonne of Albany, We haue this houre a constant will to publish Our daughters seuerall Dowers, that future strife May be preuented now. The Princes, France & Burgundy, Great Riuals in our yongest daughters loue, Long in our Court, haue made their amorous soiourne, And heere are to be answer'd. Tell me my daughters (Since now we will diuest vs both of Rule, Interest of Territory, Cares of State) Which of you shall we say doth loue vs most, That we, our largest bountie may extend Where Nature doth with merit challenge. Gonerill, Our eldest borne, speake first Gon. Sir, I loue you more then word can weild y matter, Deerer then eye-sight, space, and libertie, Beyond what can be valewed, rich or rare, No lesse then life, with grace, health, beauty, honor: As much as Childe ere lou'd, or Father found. A loue that makes breath poore, and speech vnable, Beyond all manner of so much I loue you Cor. What shall Cordelia speake? Loue, and be silent Lear. Of all these bounds euen from this Line, to this, With shadowie Forrests, and with Champains rich'd With plenteous Riuers, and wide-skirted Meades We make thee Lady. To thine and Albanies issues Be this perpetuall. What sayes our second Daughter? Our deerest Regan, wife of Cornwall? Reg. I am made of that selfe-mettle as my Sister, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart, I finde she names my very deede of loue: Onely she comes too short, that I professe My selfe an enemy to all other ioyes, Which the most precious square of sense professes, And finde I am alone felicitate In your deere Highnesse loue Cor. Then poore Cordelia, And yet not so, since I am sure my loue's More ponderous then my tongue Lear. To thee, and thine hereditarie euer, Remaine this ample third of our faire Kingdome, No lesse in space, validitie, and pleasure Then that conferr'd on Gonerill. Now our Ioy, Although our last and least; to whose yong loue, The Vines of France, and Milke of Burgundie, Striue to be interest. What can you say, to draw A third, more opilent then your Sisters? speake Cor. Nothing my Lord Lear. Nothing? Cor. Nothing Lear. Nothing will come of nothing, speake againe Cor. Vnhappie that I am, I cannot heaue My heart into my mouth: I loue your Maiesty According to my bond, no more nor lesse Lear. How, how Cordelia? Mend your speech a little, Least you may marre your Fortunes Cor. Good my Lord, You haue begot me, bred me, lou'd me. I returne those duties backe as are right fit, Obey you, Loue you, and most Honour you. Why haue my Sisters Husbands, if they say They loue you all? Happily when I shall wed, That Lord, whose hand must take my plight, shall carry Halfe my loue with him, halfe my Care, and Dutie, Sure I shall neuer marry like my Sisters Lear. But goes thy heart with this? Cor. I my good Lord Lear. So young, and so vntender? Cor. So young my Lord, and true Lear. Let it be so, thy truth then be thy dowre: For by the sacred radience of the Sunne, The misteries of Heccat and the night: By all the operation of the Orbes, From whom we do exist, and cease to be, Heere I disclaime all my Paternall care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me, Hold thee from this for euer. The barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosome Be as well neighbour'd, pittied, and releeu'd, As thou my sometime Daughter Kent. Good my Liege Lear. Peace Kent, Come not betweene the Dragon and his wrath, I lou'd her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nursery. Hence and avoid my sight: So be my graue my peace, as here I giue Her Fathers heart from her; call France, who stirres? Call Burgundy, Cornwall, and Albanie, With my two Daughters Dowres, digest the third, Let pride, which she cals plainnesse, marry her: I doe inuest you ioyntly with my power, Preheminence, and all the large effects That troope with Maiesty. Our selfe by Monthly course, With reseruation of an hundred Knights, By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode Make with you by due turne, onely we shall retaine The name, and all th' addition to a King: the Sway, Reuennew, Execution of the rest, Beloued Sonnes be yours, which to confirme, This Coronet part betweene you Kent. Royall Lear, Whom I haue euer honor'd as my King, Lou'd as my Father, as my Master follow'd, As my great Patron thought on in my praiers Le. The bow is bent & drawne, make from the shaft Kent. Let it fall rather, though the forke inuade The region of my heart, be Kent vnmannerly, When Lear is mad, what wouldest thou do old man? Think'st thou that dutie shall haue dread to speake, When power to flattery bowes? To plainnesse honour's bound, When Maiesty falls to folly, reserue thy state, And in thy best consideration checke This hideous rashnesse, answere my life, my iudgement: Thy yongest Daughter do's not loue thee least, Nor are those empty hearted, whose low sounds Reuerbe no hollownesse Lear. Kent, on thy life no more Kent. My life I neuer held but as pawne To wage against thine enemies, nere feare to loose it, Thy safety being motiue Lear. Out of my sight Kent. See better Lear, and let me still remaine The true blanke of thine eie Lear. Now by Apollo, Kent. Now by Apollo, King Thou swear'st thy Gods in vaine Lear. O Vassall! Miscreant Alb. Cor. Deare Sir forbeare Kent. Kill thy Physition, and thy fee bestow Vpon the foule disease, reuoke thy guift, Or whil'st I can vent clamour from my throate, Ile tell thee thou dost euill Lea. Heare me recreant, on thine allegeance heare me; That thou hast sought to make vs breake our vowes, Which we durst neuer yet; and with strain'd pride, To come betwixt our sentences, and our power, Which, nor our nature, nor our place can beare; Our potencie made good, take thy reward. Fiue dayes we do allot thee for prouision, To shield thee from disasters of the world, And on the sixt to turne thy hated backe Vpon our kingdome: if on the tenth day following, Thy banisht trunke be found in our Dominions, The moment is thy death, away. By Iupiter, This shall not be reuok'd, Kent. Fare thee well King, sith thus thou wilt appeare, Freedome liues hence, and banishment is here; The Gods to their deere shelter take thee Maid, That iustly think'st, and hast most rightly said: And your large speeches, may your deeds approue, That good effects may spring from words of loue: Thus Kent, O Princes, bids you all adew, Hee'l shape his old course, in a Country new. Enter. Flourish. Enter Gloster with France, and Burgundy, Attendants. Cor. Heere's France and Burgundy, my Noble Lord Lear. My Lord of Burgundie, We first addresse toward you, who with this King Hath riuald for our Daughter; what in the least Will you require in present Dower with her, Or cease your quest of Loue? Bur. Most Royall Maiesty, I craue no more then hath your Highnesse offer'd, Nor will you tender lesse? Lear. Right Noble Burgundy, When she was deare to vs, we did hold her so, But now her price is fallen: Sir, there she stands, If ought within that little seeming substance, Or all of it with our displeasure piec'd, And nothing more may fitly like your Grace, Shee's there, and she is yours Bur. I know no answer Lear. Will you with those infirmities she owes, Vnfriended, new adopted to our hate, Dow'rd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath, Take her or, leaue her Bur. Pardon me Royall Sir, Election makes not vp in such conditions Le. Then leaue her sir, for by the powre that made me, I tell you all her wealth. For you great King, I would not from your loue make such a stray, To match you where I hate, therefore beseech you T' auert your liking a more worthier way, Then on a wretch whom Nature is asham'd Almost t' acknowledge hers Fra. This is most strange, That she whom euen but now, was your obiect, The argument of your praise, balme of your age, The best, the deerest, should in this trice of time Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle So many folds of fauour: sure her offence Must be of such vnnaturall degree, That monsters it: Or your fore-voucht affection Fall into taint, which to beleeue of her Must be a faith that reason without miracle Should neuer plant in me Cor. I yet beseech your Maiesty. If for I want that glib and oylie Art, To speake and purpose not, since what I will intend, Ile do't before I speake, that you make knowne It is no vicious blot, murther, or foulenesse, No vnchaste action or dishonoured step That hath depriu'd me of your Grace and fauour, But euen for want of that, for which I am richer, A still soliciting eye, and such a tongue, That I am glad I haue not, though not to haue it, Hath lost me in your liking Lear. Better thou had'st Not beene borne, then not t'haue pleas'd me better Fra. Is it but this? A tardinesse in nature, Which often leaues the history vnspoke That it intends to do: my Lord of Burgundy, What say you to the Lady? Loue's not loue When it is mingled with regards, that stands Aloofe from th' intire point, will you haue her? She is herselfe a Dowrie Bur. Royall King, Giue but that portion which your selfe propos'd, And here I take Cordelia by the hand, Dutchesse of Burgundie Lear. Nothing, I haue sworne, I am firme Bur. I am sorry then you haue so lost a Father, That you must loose a husband Cor. Peace be with Burgundie, Since that respect and Fortunes are his loue, I shall not be his wife Fra. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poore, Most choise forsaken, and most lou'd despis'd, Thee and thy vertues here I seize vpon, Be it lawfull I take vp what's cast away. Gods, Gods! 'Tis strange, that from their cold'st neglect My Loue should kindle to enflam'd respect. Thy dowrelesse Daughter King, throwne to my chance, Is Queene of vs, of ours, and our faire France: Not all the Dukes of watrish Burgundy, Can buy this vnpriz'd precious Maid of me. Bid them farewell Cordelia, though vnkinde, Thou loosest here a better where to finde Lear. Thou hast her France, let her be thine, for we Haue no such Daughter, nor shall euer see That face of hers againe, therfore be gone, Without our Grace, our Loue, our Benizon: Come Noble Burgundie. Flourish. Exeunt. Fra. Bid farwell to your Sisters Cor. The Iewels of our Father, with wash'd eies Cordelia leaues you, I know you what you are, And like a Sister am most loth to call Your faults as they are named. Loue well our Father: To your professed bosomes I commit him, But yet alas, stood I within his Grace, I would prefer him to a better place, So farewell to you both Regn. Prescribe not vs our dutie Gon. Let your study Be to content your Lord, who hath receiu'd you At Fortunes almes, you haue obedience scanted, And well are worth the want that you haue wanted Cor. Time shall vnfold what plighted cunning hides, Who couers faults, at last with shame derides: Well may you prosper Fra. Come my faire Cordelia. Exit France and Cor. Gon. Sister, it is not little I haue to say, Of what most neerely appertaines to vs both, I thinke our Father will hence to night Reg. That's most certaine, and with you: next moneth with vs Gon. You see how full of changes his age is, the obseruation we haue made of it hath beene little; he alwaies lou'd our Sister most, and with what poore iudgement he hath now cast her off, appeares too grossely Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age, yet he hath euer but slenderly knowne himselfe Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath bin but rash, then must we looke from his age, to receiue not alone the imperfections of long ingraffed condition, but therewithall the vnruly way-wardnesse, that infirme and cholericke yeares bring with them Reg. Such vnconstant starts are we like to haue from him, as this of Kents banishment Gon. There is further complement of leaue-taking betweene France and him, pray you let vs sit together, if our Father carry authority with such disposition as he beares, this last surrender of his will but offend vs Reg. We shall further thinke of it Gon. We must do something, and i'th' heate. Exeunt.

Scene 1

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The play opens in King Lear's palace with Kent and Gloucester in conversation. They are discussing King Lear's regard for his two sons-in-law, the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. Kent suggests that the King favors one over the other and fears that the favoritism will cause a problem and affect the kingdom. Listening to them is a young man, Edmund. Gloucester explains that Edmund is his illegitimate son--a folly of his youth. He then declares that he also has a legitimate son named Edgar. Gloucester prides himself on loving both of them equally even though Edmund is socially considered an outcast and a bastard. There is then an exchange of formalities between Kent and Edmund as they are introduced. The King enters with his procession. Due to his age, he has decided to abdicate his throne in the near future. He will divide his kingdom among his three daughters; the largest share will go to the child who proves that she loves him the most. He assumes that Cordelia, his youngest and favorite child, will receive the largest portion. After sitting on his throne, he makes public his plans to divide the kingdom into three parts and takes out a map to show the dividing lines. One will go to Goneril, who is married to the Duke of Albany; one will go to Regan, who is married to the Duke of Cornwall; and the last will go to the unmarried Cordelia, who is currently being courted by the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. Lear asks his daughters to publicly explain their love for their father. Goneril answers with rich words that are loaded with flattery; everyone but Lear seems to know that Goneril praises her father only for personal gain. Regan states that nothing except her love for her father could possibly give her any joy. Both elder daughters promise that they love the King more than they love their husbands. Lear next calls on Cordelia; since she is Lear's favorite, he is expecting great praise and flowery speech from her; instead, her reply is short and unexpected. When Lear asks, "What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters?" Cordelia replies, "Nothing." She then adds, "I love your Majesty according to my bond, no more nor less." This blunt, honest reply infuriates Lear. After asking her once again to reveal her love in words, Cordelia explains that she cannot. Lear grows more enraged. Then, much to the dismay of the others, the King curses Cordelia and disinherits her. When Kent pleads Cordelia's case, he is also sent away, banished like Cordelia. The King of France and the Duke of Burgundy arrive to court Cordelia. Hearing of her disgrace and banishment, the Duke withdraws his proposal of marriage. The King of France, however, seeks to know the reason for Lear's anger; when he hears what Cordelia has said, he understands her true worth and is all the more eager to wed her. The king and his retinue exit. Cordelia turns to her two older sisters and warns them to treat their father well. Her entreaties, however, fall on deaf ears. Goneril and Regan immediately begin their plotting. They comment on Lear's rashness and the general defects that age brings and agree that something must be done with him.

Notes In this first scene, all the major characters are introduced, either in person or in conversation. By the end of the scene, the major conflict has unfolded as Cordelia is disinherited and Goneril and Regan plot against their father. Many critics state that Lear makes several fatal mistakes in this first scene of the play. His plan for his daughters is not a wise one, for it totally removes power from the King and divides the kingdom. Since the British people believed in a centralized government and thought their king was a link between the divine and the human, they would be very displeased over Lear's plan. They would also believe that disavowing one's role as king would be to defy the divine ordination and to invite chaos and strife. Lear's plan will also inevitably pit one sibling against another in a struggle for more power. Even before the daughters declare their love to him, Lear has a plan for parceling out the kingdom, as revealed on the map that he unfolds; his youngest and favorite daughter will get the largest portion. Since his mind seems to be made up about the kingdom, it is obviously his pride and greed that cause him to demand his daughters' public declarations of fatherly devotion. It is a foolish mistake on Lear's part, for it appears that he is trying to buy the love of his daughters. The speeches of Goneril and Regan are flowery and pretentious; they praise their father profusely and state that they love him much more than their own husbands. They are flattering to Lear only because they hope to get more from him. Lear is blind to their hypocrisy and praises their spoken devotion to him. The pure and honest Cordelia refuses to play the game; she will not try and outdo her hypocritical older sisters. She simply states her love for her father and says she will also love her future husband; she also reprimands him for being so indulgent as to ask for a public display of love. Lear is shocked by her brevity and brashness and pushes her to say more, but Cordelia refuses. She will not make a public show of true love for Lear, least of all in exchange for riches. Lear grows enraged over her response and banishes Cordelia. He then redivides the kingdom between Regan and Goneril, fully proving his "blindness." Throughout the rest of the play, images and allusions or lack of sight or insight will be developed. Kent, in trying to persuade Lear to change his mind about banishing Cordelia, speaks with a bluntness that is characteristic of his personality. He is known for his stubbornness and straightforward approach. Although Lear knows his friend well, for they have been together for many years, the King is enraged by Kent's argument. In anger, Lear tells him not to come "between the dragon and his wrath;" the dragon, an ancient symbol of royalty of Britain, is a clear reference to the King. When Kent refuses to back down in his opinion, he, too, is banished, like Cordelia. After his interactions with Kent and Cordelia, Lear has emerged as a person whose judgement is clouded; he is flattered by those who are false and manipulative and blinded to those who are loyal and honest. The loss of judgement is very significant, for a king must be trusted to make correct decisions. The two suitors of Cordelia arrive and Lear explains to them what has happened to his youngest daughter. The shallow Duke of Burgundy quickly bows out from his proposal of marriage when he realizes that Cordelia no longer has a dowry. The King of France, however, is more eager than ever to wed Cordelia. He recognizes that she is "most rich, being poor; most choice, forsaken. . .To him Cordelia is herself a dowry." As Cordelia leaves to become the Queen of France, she is sad to be leaving her father. She fears that her sisters will manipulate him and treat him cruelly; as a result, she warns her sisters to take care of the King. As soon as Cordelia leaves, Regan and Goneril begin to plot against Lear. The subplot of the play revolves around Gloucester, a man who is passionate about life and irreverent about society and its tradition. In his youth, he fathered an illegitimate son, Edmund. To his credit, Gloucester loves Edmund as much as he loves Edgar, his legitimate son. The society around Gloucester, however, is not as liberal as he; Edmund is considered to be an unworthy bastard. By the end of the play, it will be obvious that Gloucester's love for Edmund was misplaced.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/3.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_3_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 3

act 1, scene 3

{"name": "Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear14.asp", "summary": "This scene takes place at the Duke of Albany's castle. Goneril, Albany's wife, is in a bad temper, for she has discovered that Lear has struck her steward, Oswald, for castigating the King's Fool. She describes him as a tyrannical old man and wearies of his presence. She complains about Lear's fits of violence and the unruly behavior of his knights. She wants any excuse to quarrel openly with her father. Pretending to be sick, Goneril refuses to speak with Lear upon his return from the hunt and instructs Oswald to treat the king's men with sullen indifference. At the close of the scene, Goneril is planning to write to Regan about their next course of action concerning their father.", "analysis": "Notes Lear has given away his kingdom to avoid the problems of running the state, but he wants and expects to retain the privileges of a reigning monarch. In short, he wants the power but not the problems. Goneril is determined to deny her father the privileges that he expects. She clearly voices her contempt for Lear by the use of phrases like \"idle old man\" and \"old fool.\" In Elizabethan times, such disrespect for age and parenthood is considered blasphemous, upsetting the natural order of life. Lear's striking of Oswald, who is Goneril's \"gentleman\" steward, again reveals Lear's poor judgement and ill temper. The action greatly upsets Goneril and hastens her desire to strip her old father of all remaining power and dignity; therefore, Lear has again contributed to his own downfall. She begins her humiliation of Lear by telling Oswald to ignore both her father and his knights."}

Scena Tertia. Enter Gonerill, and Steward. Gon. Did my Father strike my Gentleman for chiding of his Foole? Ste. I Madam Gon. By day and night, he wrongs me, euery howre He flashes into one grosse crime, or other, That sets vs all at ods: Ile not endure it; His Knights grow riotous, and himselfe vpbraides vs On euery trifle. When he returnes from hunting, I will not speake with him, say I am sicke, If you come slacke of former seruices, You shall do well, the fault of it Ile answer Ste. He's comming Madam, I heare him Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please, You and your Fellowes: I'de haue it come to question; If he distaste it, let him to my Sister, Whose mind and mine I know in that are one, Remember what I haue said Ste. Well Madam Gon. And let his Knights haue colder lookes among you: what growes of it no matter, aduise your fellowes so, Ile write straight to my Sister to hold my course; prepare for dinner. Exeunt.

Scene 3

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This scene takes place at the Duke of Albany's castle. Goneril, Albany's wife, is in a bad temper, for she has discovered that Lear has struck her steward, Oswald, for castigating the King's Fool. She describes him as a tyrannical old man and wearies of his presence. She complains about Lear's fits of violence and the unruly behavior of his knights. She wants any excuse to quarrel openly with her father. Pretending to be sick, Goneril refuses to speak with Lear upon his return from the hunt and instructs Oswald to treat the king's men with sullen indifference. At the close of the scene, Goneril is planning to write to Regan about their next course of action concerning their father.

Notes Lear has given away his kingdom to avoid the problems of running the state, but he wants and expects to retain the privileges of a reigning monarch. In short, he wants the power but not the problems. Goneril is determined to deny her father the privileges that he expects. She clearly voices her contempt for Lear by the use of phrases like "idle old man" and "old fool." In Elizabethan times, such disrespect for age and parenthood is considered blasphemous, upsetting the natural order of life. Lear's striking of Oswald, who is Goneril's "gentleman" steward, again reveals Lear's poor judgement and ill temper. The action greatly upsets Goneril and hastens her desire to strip her old father of all remaining power and dignity; therefore, Lear has again contributed to his own downfall. She begins her humiliation of Lear by telling Oswald to ignore both her father and his knights.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/4.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_4_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 4

act 1, scene 4

{"name": "Scene 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear15.asp", "summary": "In this scene, Kent enters Goneril's castle in disguise; he has come to be of assistance to the King, if needed. Rather than leave the country as ordered, he has donned the garb of a menial servant. Lear enters with his retinue, having just returned from his hunting, and is impatient to be served. Since Oswald has been ordered by Goneril not to help Lear, Kent comes forward and offers his services to the King. He introduces himself and says he is an honest, trustworthy man. Lear takes a fancy to him and hires him as part of his retinue. Lear grows angry at his treatment and wants to see Goneril. Even though a knight informs him that she is ill, Lear is still determined to confront his daughter. Lear asks Oswald a question and receives a rude reply. Incensed, he again strikes Oswald, who now speaks rudely to the king. The loyal Kent trips the steward, and the King thanks him and rewards him with some money. The Fool enters the stage and with wit and jests comments on Goneril's negligence of the king. In truth, he is also poking fun at Lear. Goneril now enters, prepared to quarrel with her father. She complains about the knights' behavior and accuses Lear of encouraging them to act with insolence. Her language and manner wound the king. She also says that he needs to reduce the size of his retinue. Lear, totally amazed at his daughter's rude attitude, curses Goneril, calls her foul names, and speaks of her filial ingratitude. He orders his horses to be saddled, saying he will go and live at the house of his other daughter, Regan. Although he shows his anger, his heart is really filled with pain. Albany soon arrives, but he quickly proves he is too weak to stand up to his wife, causing Lear's anger to increase. When Lear leans that Goneril has dismissed fifty of his men, he curses his daughter again, this time with extreme passion and vehemence. He then sadly remembers how he had rejected Cordelia for a \"most small fault. \" Albany is disturbed by his wife's actions and tries to make her realize the enormity of what she has done. Goneril silences him and continues with her plans. She writes to Regan to gain her support, and sends Oswald with the message.", "analysis": "Notes Kent's selfless loyalty and steadfastness to Lear are clearly seen in this scene. He refuses to leave the country as ordered; instead, he dresses as a beggar and comes to the home of Goneril, whom he fears will harm the King. He wants to be close to Lear in order to offer assistance and protection when it is needed. Kent's goodness shines through even in his rags. As he eagerly waits on Lear, the King senses something special about this poor man and includes him in his retinue. Lear's anger continues to rage throughout the scene. He is demanding and imperious when returning from the hunt, and his knights are not any better; they have literally overtaken the castle and act in unruly ways. When Oswald refuses to serve Lear as suggested by Goneril, the King totally loses his temper, inspiring Goneril to more quickly carry out her plan against him. She is eager to get rid of her father, whom she considers to be a fool. In order to weaken Lear's power and encourage him to depart, Goneril dismisses fifty of his knights. The King is infuriated at her brazen action and suddenly realizes he has made a terrible mistake in disinheriting the gentle Cordelia while giving half the kingdom to the wicked Goneril. He cannot contain his anger for Goneril and curses her so cruelly that she seems victimized. In his anger, Lear curses Goneril of sterility, invoking the goddess to \"'suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend to make this creature fruitful! / Into her womb, convey sterility! /Dry up in her the organs of increase, And from her derogate body, never spring a babe to honor her.\" Ironically, this curse against his daughter is really a curse on Lear himself, for Goneril's offspring would be the natural inheritors of the throne. By calling for Goneril's sterility, he is destroying his lineage and the kingdom. During the scene, the foolish King calls for his Fool. As he entertains with wit and humor, Kent recognizes his keenness of insight as he jests with words filled with double meanings; he warns Lear that \"this is not altogether a fool, my Lord.\" During the scene, the Fool takes license with his privileged position and does not restrain himself from castigating the King for his foolish actions; but he also seems to sympathize with the King. In fact, the Fool actually tries to warn Lear about what is going on although he does it with ambiguous language. He also acts as Lear's conscience and says to him, \"Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav'st thy golden one away.\" Besides adding humor to the play, the Fool also clarifies events, points out personality traits, and speaks with wisdom; in the end, he helps the audience to understand that Lear is basically a good and just man who is characterized by bad judgements. In showing some sympathy for the plight of the King, the Fool, in the end, will be judged on the side of the good people in the play. In giving away his crown, Lear has lost his identity and can no longer act in a way that is fitting for a King. When the Fool calls him \"a shadow,\" it suggests that Lear is only a pale reflection of his previous, powerful self. The idea of nothing comes into play once again. The Fool asks, \"Can you make no use of nothing?\" Lear replies, \"Why no, boy; nothing can be made out of nothing. \" This is an echo of his reply to Cordelia when he angrily told her, \"Nothing will come out of nothing.\" Ironically, Lear has made much trouble out of nothing. Toward the end of the scene, Albany, the supposed master of the castle, appears. It is obvious that he is a weak man, easily cowed by his wife; he is powerless to make Goneril change, even though he points out that her intentions are evil and immoral. Goneril ignores his warning and begging words and proceeds with her plan. At the end of the scene, she sends off her letter to Regan, clarifying the scheme against Lear and asking for her assistance."}

Scena Quarta. Enter Kent. Kent. If but as will I other accents borrow, That can my speech defuse, my good intent May carry through it selfe to that full issue For which I raiz'd my likenesse. Now banisht Kent, If thou canst serue where thou dost stand condemn'd, So may it come, thy Master whom thou lou'st, Shall find thee full of labours. Hornes within. Enter Lear and Attendants. Lear. Let me not stay a iot for dinner, go get it ready: how now, what art thou? Kent. A man Sir Lear. What dost thou professe? What would'st thou with vs? Kent. I do professe to be no lesse then I seeme; to serue him truely that will put me in trust, to loue him that is honest, to conuerse with him that is wise and saies little, to feare iudgement, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eate no fish Lear. What art thou? Kent. A very honest hearted Fellow, and as poore as the King Lear. If thou be'st as poore for a subiect, as hee's for a King, thou art poore enough. What wouldst thou? Kent. Seruice Lear. Who wouldst thou serue? Kent. You Lear. Do'st thou know me fellow? Kent. No Sir, but you haue that in your countenance, which I would faine call Master Lear. What's that? Kent. Authority Lear. What seruices canst thou do? Kent. I can keepe honest counsaile, ride, run, marre a curious tale in telling it, and deliuer a plaine message bluntly: that which ordinary men are fit for, I am quallified in, and the best of me, is Dilligence Lear. How old art thou? Kent. Not so young Sir to loue a woman for singing, nor so old to dote on her for any thing. I haue yeares on my backe forty eight Lear. Follow me, thou shalt serue me, if I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet. Dinner ho, dinner, where's my knaue? my Foole? Go you and call my Foole hither. You you Sirrah, where's my Daughter? Enter Steward. Ste. So please you- Enter. Lear. What saies the Fellow there? Call the Clotpole backe: wher's my Foole? Ho, I thinke the world's asleepe, how now? Where's that Mungrell? Knigh. He saies my Lord, your Daughters is not well Lear. Why came not the slaue backe to me when I call'd him? Knigh. Sir, he answered me in the roundest manner, he would not Lear. He would not? Knight. My Lord, I know not what the matter is, but to my iudgement your Highnesse is not entertain'd with that Ceremonious affection as you were wont, theres a great abatement of kindnesse appeares as well in the generall dependants, as in the Duke himselfe also, and your Daughter Lear. Ha? Saist thou so? Knigh. I beseech you pardon me my Lord, if I bee mistaken, for my duty cannot be silent, when I thinke your Highnesse wrong'd Lear. Thou but remembrest me of mine owne Conception, I haue perceiued a most faint neglect of late, which I haue rather blamed as mine owne iealous curiositie, then as a very pretence and purpose of vnkindnesse; I will looke further intoo't: but where's my Foole? I haue not seene him this two daies Knight. Since my young Ladies going into France Sir, the Foole hath much pined away Lear. No more of that, I haue noted it well, goe you and tell my Daughter, I would speake with her. Goe you call hither my Foole; Oh you Sir, you, come you hither Sir, who am I Sir? Enter Steward. Ste. My Ladies Father Lear. My Ladies Father? my Lords knaue, you whorson dog, you slaue, you curre Ste. I am none of these my Lord, I beseech your pardon Lear. Do you bandy lookes with me, you Rascall? Ste. Ile not be strucken my Lord Kent. Nor tript neither, you base Foot-ball plaier Lear. I thanke thee fellow. Thou seru'st me, and Ile loue thee Kent. Come sir, arise, away, Ile teach you differences: away, away, if you will measure your lubbers length againe, tarry, but away, goe too, haue you wisedome, so Lear. Now my friendly knaue I thanke thee, there's earnest of thy seruice. Enter Foole. Foole. Let me hire him too, here's my Coxcombe Lear. How now my pretty knaue, how dost thou? Foole. Sirrah, you were best take my Coxcombe Lear. Why my Boy? Foole. Why? for taking ones part that's out of fauour, nay, & thou canst not smile as the wind sits, thou'lt catch colde shortly, there take my Coxcombe; why this fellow ha's banish'd two on's Daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will, if thou follow him, thou must needs weare my Coxcombe. How now Nunckle? would I had two Coxcombes and two Daughters Lear. Why my Boy? Fool. If I gaue them all my liuing, I'ld keepe my Coxcombes my selfe, there's mine, beg another of thy Daughters Lear. Take heed Sirrah, the whip Foole. Truth's a dog must to kennell, hee must bee whipt out, when the Lady Brach may stand by'th' fire and stinke Lear. A pestilent gall to me Foole. Sirha, Ile teach thee a speech Lear. Do Foole. Marke it Nuncle; Haue more then thou showest, Speake lesse then thou knowest, Lend lesse then thou owest, Ride more then thou goest, Learne more then thou trowest, Set lesse then thou throwest; Leaue thy drinke and thy whore, And keepe in a dore, And thou shalt haue more, Then two tens to a score Kent. This is nothing Foole Foole. Then 'tis like the breath of an vnfeed Lawyer, you gaue me nothing for't, can you make no vse of nothing Nuncle? Lear. Why no Boy, Nothing can be made out of nothing Foole. Prythee tell him, so much the rent of his land comes to, he will not beleeue a Foole Lear. A bitter Foole Foole. Do'st thou know the difference my Boy, betweene a bitter Foole, and a sweet one Lear. No Lad, teach me Foole. Nunckle, giue me an egge, and Ile giue thee two Crownes Lear. What two Crownes shall they be? Foole. Why after I haue cut the egge i'th' middle and eate vp the meate, the two Crownes of the egge: when thou clouest thy Crownes i'th' middle, and gau'st away both parts, thou boar'st thine Asse on thy backe o're the durt, thou hadst little wit in thy bald crowne, when thou gau'st thy golden one away; if I speake like my selfe in this, let him be whipt that first findes it so. Fooles had nere lesse grace in a yeere, For wisemen are growne foppish, And know not how their wits to weare, Their manners are so apish Le. When were you wont to be so full of Songs sirrah? Foole. I haue vsed it Nunckle, ere since thou mad'st thy Daughters thy Mothers, for when thou gau'st them the rod, and put'st downe thine owne breeches, then they For sodaine ioy did weepe, And I for sorrow sung, That such a King should play bo-peepe, And goe the Foole among. Pry'thy Nunckle keepe a Schoolemaster that can teach thy Foole to lie, I would faine learne to lie Lear. And you lie sirrah, wee'l haue you whipt Foole. I maruell what kin thou and thy daughters are, they'l haue me whipt for speaking true: thou'lt haue me whipt for lying, and sometimes I am whipt for holding my peace. I had rather be any kind o' thing then a foole, and yet I would not be thee Nunckle, thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i'th' middle; heere comes one o'the parings. Enter Gonerill. Lear. How now Daughter? what makes that Frontlet on? You are too much of late i'th' frowne Foole. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to care for her frowning, now thou art an O without a figure, I am better then thou art now, I am a Foole, thou art nothing. Yes forsooth I will hold my tongue, so your face bids me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum, he that keepes nor crust, nor crum, Weary of all, shall want some. That's a sheal'd Pescod Gon. Not only Sir this, your all-lycenc'd Foole, But other of your insolent retinue Do hourely Carpe and Quarrell, breaking forth In ranke, and (not to be endur'd) riots Sir. I had thought by making this well knowne vnto you, To haue found a safe redresse, but now grow fearefull By what your selfe too late haue spoke and done, That you protect this course, and put it on By your allowance, which if you should, the fault Would not scape censure, nor the redresses sleepe, Which in the tender of a wholesome weale, Mighty in their working do you that offence, Which else were shame, that then necessitie Will call discreet proceeding Foole. For you know Nunckle, the Hedge-Sparrow fed the Cuckoo so long, that it's had it head bit off by it young, so out went the Candle, and we were left darkling Lear. Are you our Daughter? Gon. I would you would make vse of your good wisedome (Whereof I know you are fraught), and put away These dispositions, which of late transport you From what you rightly are Foole. May not an Asse know, when the Cart drawes the Horse? Whoop Iugge I loue thee Lear. Do's any heere know me? This is not Lear: Do's Lear walke thus? Speake thus? Where are his eies? Either his Notion weakens, his Discernings Are Lethargied. Ha! Waking? 'Tis not so? Who is it that can tell me who I am? Foole. Lears shadow Lear. Your name, faire Gentlewoman? Gon. This admiration Sir, is much o'th' sauour Of other your new prankes. I do beseech you To vnderstand my purposes aright: As you are Old, and Reuerend, should be Wise. Heere do you keepe a hundred Knights and Squires, Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd and bold, That this our Court infected with their manners, Shewes like a riotous Inne; Epicurisme and Lust Makes it more like a Tauerne, or a Brothell, Then a grac'd Pallace. The shame it selfe doth speake For instant remedy. Be then desir'd By her, that else will take the thing she begges, A little to disquantity your Traine, And the remainders that shall still depend, To be such men as may besort your Age, Which know themselues, and you Lear. Darknesse, and Diuels. Saddle my horses: call my Traine together. Degenerate Bastard, Ile not trouble thee; Yet haue I left a daughter Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd rable, make Seruants of their Betters. Enter Albany. Lear. Woe, that too late repents: Is it your will, speake Sir? Prepare my Horses. Ingratitude! thou Marble-hearted Fiend, More hideous when thou shew'st thee in a Child, Then the Sea-monster Alb. Pray Sir be patient Lear. Detested Kite, thou lyest. My Traine are men of choice, and rarest parts, That all particulars of dutie know, And in the most exact regard, support The worships of their name. O most small fault, How vgly did'st thou in Cordelia shew? Which like an Engine, wrencht my frame of Nature From the fixt place: drew from my heart all loue, And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beate at this gate that let thy Folly in, And thy deere Iudgement out. Go, go, my people Alb. My Lord, I am guiltlesse, as I am ignorant Of what hath moued you Lear. It may be so, my Lord. Heare Nature, heare deere Goddesse, heare: Suspend thy purpose, if thou did'st intend To make this Creature fruitfull: Into her Wombe conuey stirrility, Drie vp in her the Organs of increase, And from her derogate body, neuer spring A Babe to honor her. If she must teeme, Create her childe of Spleene, that it may liue And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her. Let it stampe wrinkles in her brow of youth, With cadent Teares fret Channels in her cheekes, Turne all her Mothers paines, and benefits To laughter, and contempt: That she may feele, How sharper then a Serpents tooth it is, To haue a thanklesse Childe. Away, away. Enter. Alb. Now Gods that we adore, Whereof comes this? Gon. Neuer afflict your selfe to know more of it: But let his disposition haue that scope As dotage giues it. Enter Lear. Lear. What fiftie of my Followers at a clap? Within a fortnight? Alb. What's the matter, Sir? Lear. Ile tell thee: Life and death, I am asham'd That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus, That these hot teares, which breake from me perforce Should make thee worth them. Blastes and Fogges vpon thee: Th' vntented woundings of a Fathers curse Pierce euerie sense about thee. Old fond eyes, Beweepe this cause againe, Ile plucke ye out, And cast you with the waters that you loose To temper Clay. Ha? Let it be so. I haue another daughter, Who I am sure is kinde and comfortable: When she shall heare this of thee, with her nailes Shee'l flea thy Woluish visage. Thou shalt finde, That Ile resume the shape which thou dost thinke I haue cast off for euer. Exit Gon. Do you marke that? Alb. I cannot be so partiall Gonerill, To the great loue I beare you Gon. Pray you content. What Oswald, hoa? You Sir, more Knaue then Foole, after your Master Foole. Nunkle Lear, Nunkle Lear, Tarry, take the Foole with thee: A Fox, when one has caught her, And such a Daughter, Should sure to the Slaughter, If my Cap would buy a Halter, So the Foole followes after. Exit Gon. This man hath had good Counsell, A hundred Knights? 'Tis politike, and safe to let him keepe At point a hundred Knights: yes, that on euerie dreame, Each buz, each fancie, each complaint, dislike, He may enguard his dotage with their powres, And hold our liues in mercy. Oswald, I say Alb. Well, you may feare too farre Gon. Safer then trust too farre; Let me still take away the harmes I feare, Not feare still to be taken. I know his heart, What he hath vtter'd I haue writ my Sister: If she sustaine him, and his hundred Knights When I haue shew'd th' vnfitnesse. Enter Steward. How now Oswald? What haue you writ that Letter to my Sister? Stew. I Madam Gon. Take you some company, and away to horse, Informe her full of my particular feare, And thereto adde such reasons of your owne, As may compact it more. Get you gone, And hasten your returne; no, no, my Lord, This milky gentlenesse, and course of yours Though I condemne not, yet vnder pardon You are much more at task for want of wisedome, Then prais'd for harmefull mildnesse Alb. How farre your eies may pierce I cannot tell; Striuing to better, oft we marre what's well Gon. Nay then- Alb. Well, well, th' euent. Exeunt.

Scene 4

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In this scene, Kent enters Goneril's castle in disguise; he has come to be of assistance to the King, if needed. Rather than leave the country as ordered, he has donned the garb of a menial servant. Lear enters with his retinue, having just returned from his hunting, and is impatient to be served. Since Oswald has been ordered by Goneril not to help Lear, Kent comes forward and offers his services to the King. He introduces himself and says he is an honest, trustworthy man. Lear takes a fancy to him and hires him as part of his retinue. Lear grows angry at his treatment and wants to see Goneril. Even though a knight informs him that she is ill, Lear is still determined to confront his daughter. Lear asks Oswald a question and receives a rude reply. Incensed, he again strikes Oswald, who now speaks rudely to the king. The loyal Kent trips the steward, and the King thanks him and rewards him with some money. The Fool enters the stage and with wit and jests comments on Goneril's negligence of the king. In truth, he is also poking fun at Lear. Goneril now enters, prepared to quarrel with her father. She complains about the knights' behavior and accuses Lear of encouraging them to act with insolence. Her language and manner wound the king. She also says that he needs to reduce the size of his retinue. Lear, totally amazed at his daughter's rude attitude, curses Goneril, calls her foul names, and speaks of her filial ingratitude. He orders his horses to be saddled, saying he will go and live at the house of his other daughter, Regan. Although he shows his anger, his heart is really filled with pain. Albany soon arrives, but he quickly proves he is too weak to stand up to his wife, causing Lear's anger to increase. When Lear leans that Goneril has dismissed fifty of his men, he curses his daughter again, this time with extreme passion and vehemence. He then sadly remembers how he had rejected Cordelia for a "most small fault. " Albany is disturbed by his wife's actions and tries to make her realize the enormity of what she has done. Goneril silences him and continues with her plans. She writes to Regan to gain her support, and sends Oswald with the message.

Notes Kent's selfless loyalty and steadfastness to Lear are clearly seen in this scene. He refuses to leave the country as ordered; instead, he dresses as a beggar and comes to the home of Goneril, whom he fears will harm the King. He wants to be close to Lear in order to offer assistance and protection when it is needed. Kent's goodness shines through even in his rags. As he eagerly waits on Lear, the King senses something special about this poor man and includes him in his retinue. Lear's anger continues to rage throughout the scene. He is demanding and imperious when returning from the hunt, and his knights are not any better; they have literally overtaken the castle and act in unruly ways. When Oswald refuses to serve Lear as suggested by Goneril, the King totally loses his temper, inspiring Goneril to more quickly carry out her plan against him. She is eager to get rid of her father, whom she considers to be a fool. In order to weaken Lear's power and encourage him to depart, Goneril dismisses fifty of his knights. The King is infuriated at her brazen action and suddenly realizes he has made a terrible mistake in disinheriting the gentle Cordelia while giving half the kingdom to the wicked Goneril. He cannot contain his anger for Goneril and curses her so cruelly that she seems victimized. In his anger, Lear curses Goneril of sterility, invoking the goddess to "'suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend to make this creature fruitful! / Into her womb, convey sterility! /Dry up in her the organs of increase, And from her derogate body, never spring a babe to honor her." Ironically, this curse against his daughter is really a curse on Lear himself, for Goneril's offspring would be the natural inheritors of the throne. By calling for Goneril's sterility, he is destroying his lineage and the kingdom. During the scene, the foolish King calls for his Fool. As he entertains with wit and humor, Kent recognizes his keenness of insight as he jests with words filled with double meanings; he warns Lear that "this is not altogether a fool, my Lord." During the scene, the Fool takes license with his privileged position and does not restrain himself from castigating the King for his foolish actions; but he also seems to sympathize with the King. In fact, the Fool actually tries to warn Lear about what is going on although he does it with ambiguous language. He also acts as Lear's conscience and says to him, "Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown when thou gav'st thy golden one away." Besides adding humor to the play, the Fool also clarifies events, points out personality traits, and speaks with wisdom; in the end, he helps the audience to understand that Lear is basically a good and just man who is characterized by bad judgements. In showing some sympathy for the plight of the King, the Fool, in the end, will be judged on the side of the good people in the play. In giving away his crown, Lear has lost his identity and can no longer act in a way that is fitting for a King. When the Fool calls him "a shadow," it suggests that Lear is only a pale reflection of his previous, powerful self. The idea of nothing comes into play once again. The Fool asks, "Can you make no use of nothing?" Lear replies, "Why no, boy; nothing can be made out of nothing. " This is an echo of his reply to Cordelia when he angrily told her, "Nothing will come out of nothing." Ironically, Lear has made much trouble out of nothing. Toward the end of the scene, Albany, the supposed master of the castle, appears. It is obvious that he is a weak man, easily cowed by his wife; he is powerless to make Goneril change, even though he points out that her intentions are evil and immoral. Goneril ignores his warning and begging words and proceeds with her plan. At the end of the scene, she sends off her letter to Regan, clarifying the scheme against Lear and asking for her assistance.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/5.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_5_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 5

act 1, scene 5

{"name": "Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear17.asp", "summary": "Lear is on his way to Regan's castle at Gloucester, accompanied by the Fool. He has sent the disguised Kent ahead to announce his arrival. The Fool comments on Lear's pathetic condition, asking seemingly foolish questions that elicit a laugh from the King. But the bantering soon descends into self-reproach and despair as the King realizes that he may be mad. The Fool tries to calm the King's anxieties with comments that have a great deal of wisdom and common sense. During the journey, Lear's thoughts wander back to the injustice he had done to Cordelia. When he states his profound regrets, the Fool aids him in his quest for self-realization. The Fool asks Lear, \"Why a snail has a house?\" The Fool answers himself by saying, \"Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case. \" With wit, he reveals the absurdity of the King's actions in renouncing his authority without thinking of the unnaturalness of the act. He adds, \"Thou should'st not have been old till thou hadst been wise.\" He then cautions Lear that Regan will probably not act any better than Goneril.", "analysis": "Notes This scene describes Lear's tormented state of mind. He is accompanied only by the Fool and a Gentleman as he travels toward the castle of Regan. Having lost all power and wealth that he had as King, his mind is beset with regrets and a fear for the future. He begs to the Almighty, \"O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet Heaven!\" As the Fool comments on Lear's strange behavior, his humor acts as a counterpoint to the King's state of mind. He particularly mocks Lear's foolishness in giving away his power to his daughters and expecting Regan to behave better than Goneril. The brief scene is filled with the Fool's humor in which is hidden a great deal of wisdom."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Lear, Kent, Gentleman, and Foole. Lear. Go you before to Gloster with these Letters; acquaint my Daughter no further with any thing you know, then comes from her demand out of the Letter, if your Dilligence be not speedy, I shall be there afore you Kent. I will not sleepe my Lord, till I haue deliuered your Letter. Enter. Foole. If a mans braines were in's heeles, wert not in danger of kybes? Lear. I Boy Foole. Then I prythee be merry, thy wit shall not go slip-shod Lear. Ha, ha, ha Fool. Shalt see thy other Daughter will vse thee kindly, for though she's as like this, as a Crabbe's like an Apple, yet I can tell what I can tell Lear. What can'st tell Boy? Foole. She will taste as like this as, a Crabbe do's to a Crab: thou canst, tell why ones nose stands i'th' middle on's face? Lear. No Foole. Why to keepe ones eyes of either side 's nose, that what a man cannot smell out, he may spy into Lear. I did her wrong Foole. Can'st tell how an Oyster makes his shell? Lear. No Foole. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a Snaile ha's a house Lear. Why? Foole. Why to put's head in, not to giue it away to his daughters, and leaue his hornes without a case Lear. I will forget my Nature, so kind a Father? Be my Horsses ready? Foole. Thy Asses are gone about 'em; the reason why the seuen Starres are no mo then seuen, is a pretty reason Lear. Because they are not eight Foole. Yes indeed, thou would'st make a good Foole Lear. To tak't againe perforce; Monster Ingratitude! Foole. If thou wert my Foole Nunckle, Il'd haue thee beaten for being old before thy time Lear. How's that? Foole. Thou shouldst not haue bin old, till thou hadst bin wise Lear. O let me not be mad, not mad sweet Heauen: keepe me in temper, I would not be mad. How now are the Horses ready? Gent. Ready my Lord Lear. Come Boy Fool. She that's a Maid now, & laughs at my departure, Shall not be a Maid long, vnlesse things be cut shorter. Exeunt.

Scene 5

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Lear is on his way to Regan's castle at Gloucester, accompanied by the Fool. He has sent the disguised Kent ahead to announce his arrival. The Fool comments on Lear's pathetic condition, asking seemingly foolish questions that elicit a laugh from the King. But the bantering soon descends into self-reproach and despair as the King realizes that he may be mad. The Fool tries to calm the King's anxieties with comments that have a great deal of wisdom and common sense. During the journey, Lear's thoughts wander back to the injustice he had done to Cordelia. When he states his profound regrets, the Fool aids him in his quest for self-realization. The Fool asks Lear, "Why a snail has a house?" The Fool answers himself by saying, "Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case. " With wit, he reveals the absurdity of the King's actions in renouncing his authority without thinking of the unnaturalness of the act. He adds, "Thou should'st not have been old till thou hadst been wise." He then cautions Lear that Regan will probably not act any better than Goneril.

Notes This scene describes Lear's tormented state of mind. He is accompanied only by the Fool and a Gentleman as he travels toward the castle of Regan. Having lost all power and wealth that he had as King, his mind is beset with regrets and a fear for the future. He begs to the Almighty, "O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet Heaven!" As the Fool comments on Lear's strange behavior, his humor acts as a counterpoint to the King's state of mind. He particularly mocks Lear's foolishness in giving away his power to his daughters and expecting Regan to behave better than Goneril. The brief scene is filled with the Fool's humor in which is hidden a great deal of wisdom.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/6.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_6_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 1

act 2, scene 1

{"name": "Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear18.asp", "summary": "At Gloucester Castle, Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that the Duke of Cornwall and his Duchess, Regan, will be arriving the same night. When he learns that there is hostility between Goneril, Regan, and their husbands, Edmund is excited. He believes that he can use their hard feelings to help him in his plan to get rid of Edgar. Edmund again tells his half-brother that their father is displeased with him and also that Cornwall thinks he is working with Albany against him. Edmund urges Edgar to flee from the castle. He convinces Edgar that he should pretend to attack him, which Edgar does. When Edmund is sure that Gloucester has seen the attack, he tells Edgar to escape quickly; again the trusting Edgar follows the instructions. As soon as Edgar has left, Edmund slashes his own arm to make it seem that his half-brother has harmed him. He then raises an alarm against Edgar. When Gloucester enters the room, Edmund presents his wound as an injury inflicted by Edgar. He says that his half-brother was angry over the fact that he had refused to aid Edgar in patricide. Without any questions, Gloucester believes Edmund completely. He decides to disinherit Edgar and proclaim him an outlaw. Through his lies and trickery, Edmund has succeeded in supplanting Edgar as the heir to Gloucester's fortune. For the first time in the play, the plot and the subplot are interlinked as Cornwall and Regan arrive at Gloucester's castle. They have come for a visit in order to avoid receiving Lear at their own castle. They condemn Edgar's treachery, the news of which has already reached them. Since Edgar is Lear's godson, Regan attributes Edgar's lawlessness to Lear's bad influence. Edmund further adds that Edgar was a part of the riotous behavior of the king's rebellious knights. Cornwall praises Edmund's filial love and loyalty. Edmund humbly replies that he was only acting out of duty. His humble behavior endears him to all, especially Gloucester. He is praised, given honors, and immediately taken into Cornwall's service. Regan now explains that her visit to Gloucester is to seek his advice. She pretends that she wants help in trying to settle the tensions between her sister and her father. In truth, she has simply come to avoid receiving her father.", "analysis": "Notes The dissension that characterizes the play is further developed in this scene. Edmund, determined to become heir to his father's estate, cunningly plots to undo Edgar in order to cheat him out of his rightful inheritance. He convinces the trusting Edgar that he must flee the castle because Gloucester is angry with him; but first he should pretend to strike Edmund. Edgar naively follows his brother's directions. Edmund makes certain that Gloucester sees what transpires. Then out of Gloucester's sight, Edmund inflicts a surface wound on his own arm and loudly claims that Edgar has injured him. He tells his father that Edgar was angry because he would not go along with the plot to kill Gloucester. It is obvious that the amoral Edmund is also an opportunist and a good actor. Again Gloucester, like Lear, does not question the evil offspring; instead, he believes Edmund's powerful rhetoric, just as Lear believed Goneril and Regan. As a result, Gloucester disinherits Edgar and claims him to be an outlaw, reflecting Lear's similar punishment of Cordelia. The plot and the subplot of the play are brought together for the first time in this scene. Regan arrives at Gloucester's castle with her husband, Cornwall. They have come for a visit in order to escape Lear, who is coming to stay at their castle. At Gloucester's, the evil Regan immediately allies herself with the evil Edmund. She openly expresses her horror at the supposed treason of Edgar; her words are so convincing that it almost seems as if she could not commit such a deed herself. She then blames her father for having an evil influence on Edgar since Lear was the young man's godfather. Regan next tries to manipulate Gloucester's good will to her advantage, praising his honor profusely. Her husband joins in the praise and offers Edmund a place in his retinue. When Edmund accepts the offer, it is a foreshadowing of all the villains in the play joining forces. Although Cornwall does not yet project his evil side, his eagerness to take on Edmund is significant."}

Actus Secundus. Scena Prima. Enter Bastard, and Curan, seuerally. Bast. Saue thee Curan Cur. And you Sir, I haue bin With your Father, and giuen him notice That the Duke of Cornwall, and Regan his Duchesse Will be here with him this night Bast. How comes that? Cur. Nay I know not, you haue heard of the newes abroad, I meane the whisper'd ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments Bast. Not I: pray you what are they? Cur. Haue you heard of no likely Warres toward, 'Twixt the Dukes of Cornwall, and Albany? Bast. Not a word Cur. You may do then in time, Fare you well Sir. Enter. Bast. The Duke be here to night? The better best, This weaues it selfe perforce into my businesse, My Father hath set guard to take my Brother, And I haue one thing of a queazie question Which I must act, Briefenesse, and Fortune worke. Enter Edgar. Brother, a word, discend; Brother I say, My Father watches: O Sir, fly this place, Intelligence is giuen where you are hid; You haue now the good aduantage of the night, Haue you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornewall? Hee's comming hither, now i'th' night, i'th' haste, And Regan with him, haue you nothing said Vpon his partie 'gainst the Duke of Albany? Aduise your selfe Edg. I am sure on't, not a word Bast. I heare my Father comming, pardon me: In cunning, I must draw my Sword vpon you: Draw, seeme to defend your selfe, Now quit you well. Yeeld, come before my Father, light hoa, here, Fly Brother, Torches, Torches, so farewell. Exit Edgar. Some blood drawne on me, would beget opinion Of my more fierce endeauour. I haue seene drunkards Do more then this in sport; Father, Father, Stop, stop, no helpe? Enter Gloster, and Seruants with Torches. Glo. Now Edmund, where's the villaine? Bast. Here stood he in the dark, his sharpe Sword out, Mumbling of wicked charmes, coniuring the Moone To stand auspicious Mistris Glo. But where is he? Bast. Looke Sir, I bleed Glo. Where is the villaine, Edmund? Bast. Fled this way Sir, when by no meanes he could Glo. Pursue him, ho: go after. By no meanes, what? Bast. Perswade me to the murther of your Lordship, But that I told him the reuenging Gods, 'Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend, Spoke with how manifold, and strong a Bond The Child was bound to'th' Father; Sir in fine, Seeing how lothly opposite I stood To his vnnaturall purpose, in fell motion With his prepared Sword, he charges home My vnprouided body, latch'd mine arme; And when he saw my best alarum'd spirits Bold in the quarrels right, rouz'd to th' encounter, Or whether gasted by the noyse I made, Full sodainely he fled Glost. Let him fly farre: Not in this Land shall he remaine vncaught And found; dispatch, the Noble Duke my Master, My worthy Arch and Patron comes to night, By his authoritie I will proclaime it, That he which finds him shall deserue our thankes, Bringing the murderous Coward to the stake: He that conceales him death Bast. When I disswaded him from his intent, And found him pight to doe it, with curst speech I threaten'd to discouer him; he replied, Thou vnpossessing Bastard, dost thou thinke, If I would stand against thee, would the reposall Of any trust, vertue, or worth in thee Make thy words faith'd? No, what should I denie, (As this I would, though thou didst produce My very Character) I'ld turne it all To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practise: And thou must make a dullard of the world, If they not thought the profits of my death Were very pregnant and potentiall spirits To make thee seeke it. Tucket within. Glo. O strange and fastned Villaine, Would he deny his Letter, said he? Harke, the Dukes Trumpets, I know not wher he comes; All Ports Ile barre, the villaine shall not scape, The Duke must grant me that: besides, his picture I will send farre and neere, that all the kingdome May haue due note of him, and of my land, (Loyall and naturall Boy) Ile worke the meanes To make thee capable. Enter Cornewall, Regan, and Attendants. Corn. How now my Noble friend, since I came hither (Which I can call but now,) I haue heard strangenesse Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short Which can pursue th' offender; how dost my Lord? Glo. O Madam, my old heart is crack'd, it's crack'd Reg. What, did my Fathers Godsonne seeke your life? He whom my Father nam'd, your Edgar? Glo. O Lady, Lady, shame would haue it hid Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous Knights That tended vpon my Father? Glo. I know not Madam, 'tis too bad, too bad Bast. Yes Madam, he was of that consort Reg. No maruaile then, though he were ill affected, 'Tis they haue put him on the old mans death, To haue th' expence and wast of his Reuenues: I haue this present euening from my Sister Beene well inform'd of them, and with such cautions, That if they come to soiourne at my house, Ile not be there Cor. Nor I, assure thee Regan; Edmund, I heare that you haue shewne your Father A Child-like Office Bast. It was my duty Sir Glo. He did bewray his practise, and receiu'd This hurt you see, striuing to apprehend him Cor. Is he pursued? Glo. I my good Lord Cor. If he be taken, he shall neuer more Be fear'd of doing harme, make your owne purpose, How in my strength you please: for you Edmund, Whose vertue and obedience doth this instant So much commend it selfe, you shall be ours, Nature's of such deepe trust, we shall much need: You we first seize on Bast. I shall serue you Sir truely, how euer else Glo. For him I thanke your Grace Cor. You know not why we came to visit you? Reg. Thus out of season, thredding darke ey'd night, Occasions Noble Gloster of some prize, Wherein we must haue vse of your aduise. Our Father he hath writ, so hath our Sister, Of differences, which I best thought it fit To answere from our home: the seuerall Messengers From hence attend dispatch, our good old Friend, Lay comforts to your bosome, and bestow Your needfull counsaile to our businesses, Which craues the instant vse Glo. I serue you Madam, Your Graces are right welcome. Exeunt. Flourish.

Scene 1

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At Gloucester Castle, Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that the Duke of Cornwall and his Duchess, Regan, will be arriving the same night. When he learns that there is hostility between Goneril, Regan, and their husbands, Edmund is excited. He believes that he can use their hard feelings to help him in his plan to get rid of Edgar. Edmund again tells his half-brother that their father is displeased with him and also that Cornwall thinks he is working with Albany against him. Edmund urges Edgar to flee from the castle. He convinces Edgar that he should pretend to attack him, which Edgar does. When Edmund is sure that Gloucester has seen the attack, he tells Edgar to escape quickly; again the trusting Edgar follows the instructions. As soon as Edgar has left, Edmund slashes his own arm to make it seem that his half-brother has harmed him. He then raises an alarm against Edgar. When Gloucester enters the room, Edmund presents his wound as an injury inflicted by Edgar. He says that his half-brother was angry over the fact that he had refused to aid Edgar in patricide. Without any questions, Gloucester believes Edmund completely. He decides to disinherit Edgar and proclaim him an outlaw. Through his lies and trickery, Edmund has succeeded in supplanting Edgar as the heir to Gloucester's fortune. For the first time in the play, the plot and the subplot are interlinked as Cornwall and Regan arrive at Gloucester's castle. They have come for a visit in order to avoid receiving Lear at their own castle. They condemn Edgar's treachery, the news of which has already reached them. Since Edgar is Lear's godson, Regan attributes Edgar's lawlessness to Lear's bad influence. Edmund further adds that Edgar was a part of the riotous behavior of the king's rebellious knights. Cornwall praises Edmund's filial love and loyalty. Edmund humbly replies that he was only acting out of duty. His humble behavior endears him to all, especially Gloucester. He is praised, given honors, and immediately taken into Cornwall's service. Regan now explains that her visit to Gloucester is to seek his advice. She pretends that she wants help in trying to settle the tensions between her sister and her father. In truth, she has simply come to avoid receiving her father.

Notes The dissension that characterizes the play is further developed in this scene. Edmund, determined to become heir to his father's estate, cunningly plots to undo Edgar in order to cheat him out of his rightful inheritance. He convinces the trusting Edgar that he must flee the castle because Gloucester is angry with him; but first he should pretend to strike Edmund. Edgar naively follows his brother's directions. Edmund makes certain that Gloucester sees what transpires. Then out of Gloucester's sight, Edmund inflicts a surface wound on his own arm and loudly claims that Edgar has injured him. He tells his father that Edgar was angry because he would not go along with the plot to kill Gloucester. It is obvious that the amoral Edmund is also an opportunist and a good actor. Again Gloucester, like Lear, does not question the evil offspring; instead, he believes Edmund's powerful rhetoric, just as Lear believed Goneril and Regan. As a result, Gloucester disinherits Edgar and claims him to be an outlaw, reflecting Lear's similar punishment of Cordelia. The plot and the subplot of the play are brought together for the first time in this scene. Regan arrives at Gloucester's castle with her husband, Cornwall. They have come for a visit in order to escape Lear, who is coming to stay at their castle. At Gloucester's, the evil Regan immediately allies herself with the evil Edmund. She openly expresses her horror at the supposed treason of Edgar; her words are so convincing that it almost seems as if she could not commit such a deed herself. She then blames her father for having an evil influence on Edgar since Lear was the young man's godfather. Regan next tries to manipulate Gloucester's good will to her advantage, praising his honor profusely. Her husband joins in the praise and offers Edmund a place in his retinue. When Edmund accepts the offer, it is a foreshadowing of all the villains in the play joining forces. Although Cornwall does not yet project his evil side, his eagerness to take on Edmund is significant.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/7.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_7_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 2

act 2, scene 2

{"name": "Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear19.asp", "summary": "Outside the outer walls of Gloucester Castle, Kent and Oswald arrive with their communications. Oswald, not recognizing Kent, greets him; Kent, wanting a quarrel, replies offensively. Oswald is startled by the stranger's rudeness and tells Kent that he does not know him. Kent replies that he knows him as a contemptuous person and delivers a scathing list of epithets that prove too much for Oswald. Eventually, a fight breaks out between the two of them. Kent thrashes Oswald, whose cries bring Edmund, Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and others rushing to the scene. Cornwall inquires about the cause of this extraordinary exhibition of violence. Kent answers by unleashing another torrent of abuse on Oswald, even threatening to tread him \"into mortar.\" Kent calls him a rogue and further states his hatred for all rogues. When he cannot give a valid reason for his unacceptable behavior, everyone simply thinks he has gone mad. Cornwall orders Kent to be put in stocks despite Kent's protests that he is the king's messenger. He is led away in spite of Gloucester's entreaty that a king's messenger should not be treated so. When Cornwall, Regan, Edmund. and others leave the scene, Gloucester pleads helplessness. He tells Kent that the Duke's wishes cannot be disobeyed. The scene draws to an end with Kent's soliloquy on his master's sad situation, saying the king has left \"heaven's benediction\" to go into the hot sun. He removes and reads a message he is carrying from Cordelia. Her words seem to cheer Kent.", "analysis": "Notes In this scene, two loyal messengers come into conflict. Kent, the messenger from Lear, is incensed that Oswald carries a message from the impudent Goneril to her sister, Regan. With anger, he insults Oswald by calling him, \"A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited.\" Oswald, not recognizing Kent in his disguise, has no wish to pick a fight with a stranger, but Kent proceeds to hit Goneril's messenger. Oswald, seeming cowardly, refuses to fight. On being questioned about his violence, Kent speaks boldly and bluntly. He does not conceal his distrust of either Regan or Goneril and gives no other reason for the fight than \"his countenance likes me not.\" Cornwall, in ordering Kent to be put in stocks, shows his contempt and disdain for Lear. He and Regan state that Lear is no longer the king and cannot command their respect. They also demean Kent, referring to him as \"this ancient ruffian\" and \"old fellow.\" Gloucester is very uneasy about the situation. He knows that Regan and Cornwall have committed intentional errors by disrespecting age, undermining the King's authority, and placing the king's messenger in the stocks. But Gloucester makes an error as well by refusing to stand up to Regan and Cornwall. While in the stocks, Kent receives a letter from Cordelia, inquiring about her father's well being. Although the letter is not logical because of its timing, it serves the dramatic purpose of cheering Kent and reminding the audience that Cordelia is still very much concerned about Lear."}

Scena Secunda. Enter Kent, and Steward seuerally. Stew. Good dawning to thee Friend, art of this house? Kent. I Stew. Where may we set our horses? Kent. I'th' myre Stew. Prythee, if thou lou'st me, tell me Kent. I loue thee not Ste. Why then I care not for thee Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury Pinfold, I would make thee care for me Ste. Why do'st thou vse me thus? I know thee not Kent. Fellow I know thee Ste. What do'st thou know me for? Kent. A Knaue, a Rascall, an eater of broken meates, a base, proud, shallow, beggerly, three-suited-hundred pound, filthy woosted-stocking knaue, a Lilly-liuered, action-taking, whoreson glasse-gazing super-seruiceable finicall Rogue, one Trunke-inheriting slaue, one that would'st be a Baud in way of good seruice, and art nothing but the composition of a Knaue, Begger, Coward, Pandar, and the Sonne and Heire of a Mungrill Bitch, one whom I will beate into clamours whining, if thou deny'st the least sillable of thy addition Stew. Why, what a monstrous Fellow art thou, thus to raile on one, that is neither knowne of thee, nor knowes thee? Kent. What a brazen-fac'd Varlet art thou, to deny thou knowest me? Is it two dayes since I tript vp thy heeles, and beate thee before the King? Draw you rogue, for though it be night, yet the Moone shines, Ile make a sop oth' Moonshine of you, you whoreson Cullyenly Barber-monger, draw Stew. Away, I haue nothing to do with thee Kent. Draw you Rascall, you come with Letters against the King, and take Vanitie the puppets part, against the Royaltie of her Father: draw you Rogue, or Ile so carbonado your shanks, draw you Rascall, come your waies Ste. Helpe, ho, murther, helpe Kent. Strike you slaue: stand rogue, stand you neat slaue, strike Stew. Helpe hoa, murther, murther. Enter Bastard, Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Bast. How now, what's the matter? Part Kent. With you goodman Boy, if you please, come, Ile flesh ye, come on yong Master Glo. Weapons? Armes? what's the matter here? Cor. Keepe peace vpon your liues, he dies that strikes againe, what is the matter? Reg. The Messengers from our Sister, and the King? Cor. What is your difference, speake? Stew. I am scarce in breath my Lord Kent. No Maruell, you haue so bestir'd your valour, you cowardly Rascall, nature disclaimes in thee: a Taylor made thee Cor. Thou art a strange fellow, a Taylor make a man? Kent. A Taylor Sir, a Stone-cutter, or a Painter, could not haue made him so ill, though they had bin but two yeares oth' trade Cor. Speake yet, how grew your quarrell? Ste. This ancient Ruffian Sir, whose life I haue spar'd at sute of his gray-beard Kent. Thou whoreson Zed, thou vnnecessary letter: my Lord, if you will giue me leaue, I will tread this vnboulted villaine into morter, and daube the wall of a Iakes with him. Spare my gray-beard, you wagtaile? Cor. Peace sirrah, You beastly knaue, know you no reuerence? Kent. Yes Sir, but anger hath a priuiledge Cor. Why art thou angrie? Kent. That such a slaue as this should weare a Sword, Who weares no honesty: such smiling rogues as these, Like Rats oft bite the holy cords a twaine, Which are t' intrince, t' vnloose: smooth euery passion That in the natures of their Lords rebell, Being oile to fire, snow to the colder moodes, Reuenge, affirme, and turne their Halcion beakes With euery gall, and varry of their Masters, Knowing naught (like dogges) but following: A plague vpon your Epilepticke visage, Smoile you my speeches, as I were a Foole? Goose, if I had you vpon Sarum Plaine, I'ld driue ye cackling home to Camelot Corn. What art thou mad old Fellow? Glost. How fell you out, say that? Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy, Then I, and such a knaue Corn. Why do'st thou call him Knaue? What is his fault? Kent. His countenance likes me not Cor. No more perchance do's mine, nor his, nor hers Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plaine, I haue seene better faces in my Time, Then stands on any shoulder that I see Before me, at this instant Corn. This is some Fellow, Who hauing beene prais'd for bluntnesse, doth affect A saucy roughnes, and constraines the garb Quite from his Nature. He cannot flatter he, An honest mind and plaine, he must speake truth, And they will take it so, if not, hee's plaine. These kind of Knaues I know, which in this plainnesse Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends, Then twenty silly-ducking obseruants, That stretch their duties nicely Kent. Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity, Vnder th' allowance of your great aspect, Whose influence like the wreath of radient fire On flickring Phoebus front Corn. What mean'st by this? Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much; I know Sir, I am no flatterer, he that beguild you in a plaine accent, was a plaine Knaue, which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me too't Corn. What was th' offence you gaue him? Ste. I neuer gaue him any: It pleas'd the King his Master very late To strike at me vpon his misconstruction, When he compact, and flattering his displeasure Tript me behind: being downe, insulted, rail'd, And put vpon him such a deale of Man, That worthied him, got praises of the King, For him attempting, who was selfe-subdued, And in the fleshment of this dead exploit, Drew on me here againe Kent. None of these Rogues, and Cowards But Aiax is there Foole Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks? You stubborne ancient Knaue, you reuerent Bragart, Wee'l teach you Kent. Sir, I am too old to learne: Call not your Stocks for me, I serue the King. On whose imployment I was sent to you, You shall doe small respects, show too bold malice Against the Grace, and Person of my Master, Stocking his Messenger Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks; As I haue life and Honour, there shall he sit till Noone Reg. Till noone? till night my Lord, and all night too Kent. Why Madam, if I were your Fathers dog, You should not vse me so Reg. Sir, being his Knaue, I will. Stocks brought out. Cor. This is a Fellow of the selfe same colour, Our Sister speakes of. Come, bring away the Stocks Glo. Let me beseech your Grace, not to do so, The King his Master, needs must take it ill That he so slightly valued in his Messenger, Should haue him thus restrained Cor. Ile answere that Reg. My Sister may recieue it much more worsse, To haue her Gentleman abus'd, assaulted Corn. Come my Lord, away. Enter. Glo. I am sorry for thee friend, 'tis the Dukes pleasure, Whose disposition all the world well knowes Will not be rub'd nor stopt, Ile entreat for thee Kent. Pray do not Sir, I haue watch'd and trauail'd hard, Some time I shall sleepe out, the rest Ile whistle: A good mans fortune may grow out at heeles: Giue you good morrow Glo. The Duke's too blame in this, 'Twill be ill taken. Enter. Kent. Good King, that must approue the common saw, Thou out of Heauens benediction com'st To the warme Sun. Approach thou Beacon to this vnder Globe, That by thy comfortable Beames I may Peruse this Letter. Nothing almost sees miracles But miserie. I know 'tis from Cordelia, Who hath most fortunately beene inform'd Of my obscured course. And shall finde time From this enormous State, seeking to giue Losses their remedies. All weary and o're-watch'd, Take vantage heauie eyes, not to behold This shamefull lodging. Fortune goodnight, Smile once more, turne thy wheele. Enter Edgar. Edg. I heard my selfe proclaim'd, And by the happy hollow of a Tree, Escap'd the hunt. No Port is free, no place That guard, and most vnusall vigilance Do's not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape I will preserue myselfe: and am bethought To take the basest, and most poorest shape That euer penury in contempt of man, Brought neere to beast; my face Ile grime with filth, Blanket my loines, else all my haires in knots, And with presented nakednesse out-face The Windes, and persecutions of the skie; The Country giues me proofe, and president Of Bedlam beggers, who with roaring voices, Strike in their num'd and mortified Armes. Pins, Wodden-prickes, Nayles, Sprigs of Rosemarie: And with this horrible obiect, from low Farmes, Poore pelting Villages, Sheeps-Coates, and Milles, Sometimes with Lunaticke bans, sometime with Praiers Inforce their charitie: poore Turlygod poore Tom, That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am. Enter. Enter Lear, Foole, and Gentleman. Lea. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from home, And not send backe my Messengers Gent. As I learn'd, The night before, there was no purpose in them Of this remoue Kent. Haile to thee Noble Master Lear. Ha? Mak'st thou this shame thy pastime? Kent. No my Lord Foole. Hah, ha, he weares Cruell Garters Horses are tide by the heads, Dogges and Beares by'th' necke, Monkies by'th' loynes, and Men by'th' legs: when a man ouerlustie at legs, then he weares wodden nether-stocks Lear. What's he, That hath so much thy place mistooke To set thee heere? Kent. It is both he and she, Your Son, and Daughter Lear. No Kent. Yes Lear. No I say Kent. I say yea Lear. By Iupiter I sweare no Kent. By Iuno, I sweare I Lear. They durst not do't: They could not, would not do't: 'tis worse then murther, To do vpon respect such violent outrage: Resolue me with all modest haste, which way Thou might'st deserue, or they impose this vsage, Comming from vs Kent. My Lord, when at their home I did commend your Highnesse Letters to them, Ere I was risen from the place, that shewed My dutie kneeling, came there a reeking Poste, Stew'd in his haste, halfe breathlesse, painting forth From Gonerill his Mistris, salutations; Deliuer'd Letters spight of intermission, Which presently they read; on those contents They summon'd vp their meiney, straight tooke Horse, Commanded me to follow, and attend The leisure of their answer, gaue me cold lookes, And meeting heere the other Messenger, Whose welcome I perceiu'd had poison'd mine, Being the very fellow which of late Displaid so sawcily against your Highnesse, Hauing more man then wit about me, drew; He rais'd the house, with loud and coward cries, Your Sonne and Daughter found this trespasse worth The shame which heere it suffers Foole. Winters not gon yet, if the wil'd Geese fly that way, Fathers that weare rags, do make their Children blind, But Fathers that beare bags, shall see their children kind. Fortune that arrant whore, nere turns the key toth' poore. But for all this thou shalt haue as many Dolors for thy Daughters, as thou canst tell in a yeare Lear. Oh how this Mother swels vp toward my heart! Historica passio, downe thou climing sorrow, Thy Elements below where is this Daughter? Kent. With the Earle Sir, here within Lear. Follow me not, stay here. Enter. Gen. Made you no more offence, But what you speake of? Kent. None: How chance the King comes with so small a number? Foole. And thou hadst beene set i'th' Stockes for that question, thoud'st well deseru'd it Kent. Why Foole? Foole. Wee'l set thee to schoole to an Ant, to teach thee ther's no labouring i'th' winter. All that follow their noses, are led by their eyes, but blinde men, and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell him that's stinking; let go thy hold when a great wheele runs downe a hill, least it breake thy necke with following. But the great one that goes vpward, let him draw thee after: when a wiseman giues thee better counsell giue me mine againe, I would haue none but knaues follow it, since a Foole giues it. That Sir, which serues and seekes for gaine, And followes but for forme; Will packe, when it begins to raine, And leaue thee in the storme, But I will tarry, the Foole will stay, And let the wiseman flie: The knaue turnes Foole that runnes away, The Foole no knaue perdie. Enter Lear, and Gloster] : Kent. Where learn'd you this Foole? Foole. Not i'th' Stocks Foole Lear. Deny to speake with me? They are sicke, they are weary, They haue trauail'd all the night? meere fetches, The images of reuolt and flying off. Fetch me a better answer Glo. My deere Lord, You know the fiery quality of the Duke, How vnremoueable and fixt he is In his owne course Lear. Vengeance, Plague, Death, Confusion: Fiery? What quality? Why Gloster, Gloster, I'ld speake with the Duke of Cornewall, and his wife Glo. Well my good Lord, I haue inform'd them so Lear. Inform'd them? Do'st thou vnderstand me man Glo. I my good Lord Lear. The King would speake with Cornwall, The deere Father Would with his Daughter speake, commands, tends, seruice, Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood: Fiery? The fiery Duke, tell the hot Duke that- No, but not yet, may be he is not well, Infirmity doth still neglect all office, Whereto our health is bound, we are not our selues, When Nature being opprest, commands the mind To suffer with the body; Ile forbeare, And am fallen out with my more headier will, To take the indispos'd and sickly fit, For the sound man. Death on my state: wherefore Should he sit heere? This act perswades me, That this remotion of the Duke and her Is practise only. Giue me my Seruant forth; Goe tell the Duke, and's wife, Il'd speake with them: Now, presently: bid them come forth and heare me, Or at their Chamber doore Ile beate the Drum, Till it crie sleepe to death Glo. I would haue all well betwixt you. Enter. Lear. Oh me my heart! My rising heart! But downe Foole. Cry to it Nunckle, as the Cockney did to the Eeles, when she put 'em i'th' Paste aliue, she knapt 'em o'th' coxcombs with a sticke, and cryed downe wantons, downe; 'twas her Brother, that in pure kindnesse to his Horse buttered his Hay. Enter Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Lear. Good morrow to you both Corn. Haile to your Grace. Kent here set at liberty. Reg. I am glad to see your Highnesse Lear. Regan, I thinke you are. I know what reason I haue to thinke so, if thou should'st not be glad, I would diuorce me from thy Mother Tombe, Sepulchring an Adultresse. O are you free? Some other time for that. Beloued Regan, Thy Sisters naught: oh Regan, she hath tied Sharpe-tooth'd vnkindnesse, like a vulture heere, I can scarce speake to thee, thou'lt not beleeue With how deprau'd a quality. Oh Regan Reg. I pray you Sir, take patience, I haue hope You lesse know how to value her desert, Then she to scant her dutie Lear. Say? How is that? Reg. I cannot thinke my Sister in the least Would faile her Obligation. If Sir perchance She haue restrained the Riots of your Followres, 'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end, As cleeres her from all blame Lear. My curses on her Reg. O Sir, you are old, Nature in you stands on the very Verge Of his confine: you should be rul'd, and led By some discretion, that discernes your state Better then you your selfe: therefore I pray you, That to our Sister, you do make returne, Say you haue wrong'd her Lear. Aske her forgiuenesse? Do you but marke how this becomes the house? Deere daughter, I confesse that I am old; Age is vnnecessary: on my knees I begge, That you'l vouchsafe me Rayment, Bed, and Food Reg. Good Sir, no more: these are vnsightly trickes: Returne you to my Sister Lear. Neuer Regan: She hath abated me of halfe my Traine; Look'd blacke vpon me, strooke me with her Tongue Most Serpent-like, vpon the very Heart. All the stor'd Vengeances of Heauen, fall On her ingratefull top: strike her yong bones You taking Ayres, with Lamenesse Corn. Fye sir, fie Le. You nimble Lightnings, dart your blinding flames Into her scornfull eyes: Infect her Beauty, You Fen-suck'd Fogges, drawne by the powrfull Sunne, To fall, and blister Reg. O the blest Gods! So will you wish on me, when the rash moode is on Lear. No Regan, thou shalt neuer haue my curse: Thy tender-hefted Nature shall not giue Thee o're to harshnesse: Her eyes are fierce, but thine Do comfort, and not burne. 'Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my Traine, To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, And in conclusion, to oppose the bolt Against my comming in. Thou better know'st The Offices of Nature, bond of Childhood, Effects of Curtesie, dues of Gratitude: Thy halfe o'th' Kingdome hast thou not forgot, Wherein I thee endow'd Reg. Good Sir, to'th' purpose. Tucket within. Lear. Who put my man i'th' Stockes? Enter Steward. Corn. What Trumpet's that? Reg. I know't, my Sisters: this approues her Letter, That she would soone be heere. Is your Lady come? Lear. This is a Slaue, whose easie borrowed pride Dwels in the sickly grace of her he followes. Out Varlet, from my sight Corn. What meanes your Grace? Enter Gonerill. Lear. Who stockt my Seruant? Regan, I haue good hope Thou did'st not know on't. Who comes here? O Heauens! If you do loue old men; if your sweet sway Allow Obedience; if you your selues are old, Make it your cause: Send downe, and take my part. Art not asham'd to looke vpon this Beard? O Regan, will you take her by the hand? Gon. Why not by'th' hand Sir? How haue I offended? All's not offence that indiscretion findes, And dotage termes so Lear. O sides, you are too tough! Will you yet hold? How came my man i'th' Stockes? Corn. I set him there, Sir: but his owne Disorders Deseru'd much lesse aduancement Lear. You? Did you? Reg. I pray you Father being weake, seeme so. If till the expiration of your Moneth You will returne and soiourne with my Sister, Dismissing halfe your traine, come then to me, I am now from home, and out of that prouision Which shall be needfull for your entertainement Lear. Returne to her? and fifty men dismiss'd? No, rather I abiure all roofes, and chuse To wage against the enmity oth' ayre, To be a Comrade with the Wolfe, and Owle, Necessities sharpe pinch. Returne with her? Why the hot-bloodied France, that dowerlesse tooke Our yongest borne, I could as well be brought To knee his Throne, and Squire-like pension beg, To keepe base life a foote; returne with her? Perswade me rather to be slaue and sumpter To this detested groome Gon. At your choice Sir Lear. I prythee Daughter do not make me mad, I will not trouble thee my Child; farewell: Wee'l no more meete, no more see one another. But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my Daughter, Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a Byle, A plague sore, or imbossed Carbuncle In my corrupted blood. But Ile not chide thee, Let shame come when it will, I do not call it, I do not bid the Thunder-bearer shoote, Nor tell tales of thee to high-iudging Ioue, Mend when thou can'st, be better at thy leisure, I can be patient, I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred Knights Reg. Not altogether so, I look'd not for you yet, nor am prouided For your fit welcome, giue eare Sir to my Sister, For those that mingle reason with your passion, Must be content to thinke you old, and so, But she knowes what she doe's Lear. Is this well spoken? Reg. I dare auouch it Sir, what fifty Followers? Is it not well? What should you need of more? Yea, or so many? Sith that both charge and danger, Speake 'gainst so great a number? How in one house Should many people, vnder two commands Hold amity? 'Tis hard, almost impossible Gon. Why might not you my Lord, receiue attendance From those that she cals Seruants, or from mine? Reg. Why not my Lord? If then they chanc'd to slacke ye, We could comptroll them; if you will come to me, (For now I spie a danger) I entreate you To bring but fiue and twentie, to no more Will I giue place or notice Lear. I gaue you all Reg. And in good time you gaue it Lear. Made you my Guardians, my Depositaries, But kept a reseruation to be followed With such a number? What, must I come to you With fiue and twenty? Regan, said you so? Reg. And speak't againe my Lord, no more with me Lea. Those wicked Creatures yet do look wel fauor'd When others are more wicked, not being the worst Stands in some ranke of praise, Ile go with thee, Thy fifty yet doth double fiue and twenty, And thou art twice her Loue Gon. Heare me my Lord; What need you fiue and twenty? Ten? Or fiue? To follow in a house, where twice so many Haue a command to tend you? Reg. What need one? Lear. O reason not the need: our basest Beggers Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not Nature, more then Nature needs: Mans life is cheape as Beastes. Thou art a Lady; If onely to go warme were gorgeous, Why Nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, Which scarcely keepes thee warme, but for true need: You Heauens, giue me that patience, patience I need, You see me heere (you Gods) a poore old man, As full of griefe as age, wretched in both, If it be you that stirres these Daughters hearts Against their Father, foole me not so much, To beare it tamely: touch me with Noble anger, And let not womens weapons, water drops, Staine my mans cheekes. No you vnnaturall Hags, I will haue such reuenges on you both, That all the world shall- I will do such things, What they are yet, I know not, but they shalbe The terrors of the earth? you thinke Ile weepe, No, Ile not weepe, I haue full cause of weeping. Storme and Tempest. But this heart shal break into a hundred thousand flawes Or ere Ile weepe; O Foole, I shall go mad. Exeunt. Corn. Let vs withdraw, 'twill be a Storme Reg. This house is little, the old man and's people, Cannot be well bestow'd Gon. 'Tis his owne blame hath put himselfe from rest, And must needs taste his folly Reg. For his particular, Ile receiue him gladly, But not one follower Gon. So am I purpos'd, Where is my Lord of Gloster? Enter Gloster. Corn. Followed the old man forth, he is return'd Glo. The King is in high rage Corn. Whether is he going? Glo. He cals to Horse, but will I know not whether Corn. 'Tis best to giue him way, he leads himselfe Gon. My Lord, entreate him by no meanes to stay Glo. Alacke the night comes on, and the high windes Do sorely ruffle, for many Miles about There's scarce a Bush Reg. O Sir, to wilfull men, The iniuries that they themselues procure, Must be their Schoole-Masters: shut vp your doores, He is attended with a desperate traine, And what they may incense him too, being apt, To haue his eare abus'd, wisedome bids feare Cor. Shut vp your doores my Lord, 'tis a wil'd night, My Regan counsels well: come out oth' storme. Exeunt.

Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear19.asp

Outside the outer walls of Gloucester Castle, Kent and Oswald arrive with their communications. Oswald, not recognizing Kent, greets him; Kent, wanting a quarrel, replies offensively. Oswald is startled by the stranger's rudeness and tells Kent that he does not know him. Kent replies that he knows him as a contemptuous person and delivers a scathing list of epithets that prove too much for Oswald. Eventually, a fight breaks out between the two of them. Kent thrashes Oswald, whose cries bring Edmund, Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and others rushing to the scene. Cornwall inquires about the cause of this extraordinary exhibition of violence. Kent answers by unleashing another torrent of abuse on Oswald, even threatening to tread him "into mortar." Kent calls him a rogue and further states his hatred for all rogues. When he cannot give a valid reason for his unacceptable behavior, everyone simply thinks he has gone mad. Cornwall orders Kent to be put in stocks despite Kent's protests that he is the king's messenger. He is led away in spite of Gloucester's entreaty that a king's messenger should not be treated so. When Cornwall, Regan, Edmund. and others leave the scene, Gloucester pleads helplessness. He tells Kent that the Duke's wishes cannot be disobeyed. The scene draws to an end with Kent's soliloquy on his master's sad situation, saying the king has left "heaven's benediction" to go into the hot sun. He removes and reads a message he is carrying from Cordelia. Her words seem to cheer Kent.

Notes In this scene, two loyal messengers come into conflict. Kent, the messenger from Lear, is incensed that Oswald carries a message from the impudent Goneril to her sister, Regan. With anger, he insults Oswald by calling him, "A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited." Oswald, not recognizing Kent in his disguise, has no wish to pick a fight with a stranger, but Kent proceeds to hit Goneril's messenger. Oswald, seeming cowardly, refuses to fight. On being questioned about his violence, Kent speaks boldly and bluntly. He does not conceal his distrust of either Regan or Goneril and gives no other reason for the fight than "his countenance likes me not." Cornwall, in ordering Kent to be put in stocks, shows his contempt and disdain for Lear. He and Regan state that Lear is no longer the king and cannot command their respect. They also demean Kent, referring to him as "this ancient ruffian" and "old fellow." Gloucester is very uneasy about the situation. He knows that Regan and Cornwall have committed intentional errors by disrespecting age, undermining the King's authority, and placing the king's messenger in the stocks. But Gloucester makes an error as well by refusing to stand up to Regan and Cornwall. While in the stocks, Kent receives a letter from Cordelia, inquiring about her father's well being. Although the letter is not logical because of its timing, it serves the dramatic purpose of cheering Kent and reminding the audience that Cordelia is still very much concerned about Lear.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/8.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_10_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 1

act 3, scene 1

{"name": "Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear23.asp", "summary": "In this act, King Lear somewhat redeems himself. He faces the terrible fury of the storm with an inward fury, fueled by passion and rage. As he breaks down, he suffers intensely. The external tempest of nature's fury mingles with his inner one caused by filial betrayal. As he looks at the facts, he is forced to face his past mistakes and rashness and acknowledge his present impotence. The new insights into himself humble and subdue the king, giving him a genuine feeling of oneness with his fellow human beings. Stripped of his pomp and dignity, he realizes the similarities of man and beast. The scene actually begins with a meeting between Kent and the Gentleman; they are both searching for Lear. The Gentleman states that the king is wandering about in Nature's fury; he is accompanied by the Fool, who is trying his best to keep the desolate king's spirits up. Kent changes the subject and talks about the disturbances that are now occurring since Lear has given away the kingdom to his daughters. He believes that there is a growing hostility between the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. There is also a rumor that Cordelia and her husband, the French king, have landed in Britain in order to lead an invasion. Kent asks the Gentleman to travel to Dover to find out if there is truth to the rumor. He gives him a ring to give to Cordelia if she is in Dover; it will identify that the Gentleman is a messenger from Kent. The scene closes as the two men go forth to individually search for the king.", "analysis": "Notes This scene, comprised of a conversation between Kent and Lear's Gentleman, describes how the King is out in the storm, \"contending with the fretful elements.\" The Gentleman's description prepares the audience for the next scene in which Lear is seen being ravaged by the storm. The Gentleman hints that there is a threat to Lear's sanity as he \"strives in his little world of man to outscorn /the to-and-fro conflicting wind and rain. \" At least the devoted Fool is with the King, trying to protect his master and improve his spirits. Kent turns the conversation to the trouble that is brewing in England. He rails against the conspiracy hatched by Goneril, Regan, and their husbands and hopes that Cordelia may overcome them. The younger daughter has been kept abreast of what is happening to her father; she is fully aware of the horrid conduct of her sisters, Goneril and Regan. The fact that she has supposedly arrived in Britain with her husband is both good and bad news. The bad news is that she and the king have come to lead a French invasion of England; but there is also hope that she may rescue Lear and destroy the forces of evil that now reign in Britain."}

Actus Tertius. Scena Prima. Storme still. Enter Kent, and a Gentleman, seuerally. Kent. Who's there besides foule weather? Gen. One minded like the weather, most vnquietly Kent. I know you: Where's the King? Gent. Contending with the fretfull Elements; Bids the winde blow the Earth into the Sea, Or swell the curled Waters 'boue the Maine, That things might change, or cease Kent. But who is with him? Gent. None but the Foole, who labours to out-iest His heart-strooke iniuries Kent. Sir, I do know you, And dare vpon the warrant of my note Commend a deere thing to you. There is diuision (Although as yet the face of it is couer'd With mutuall cunning) 'twixt Albany, and Cornwall: Who haue, as who haue not, that their great Starres Thron'd and set high; Seruants, who seeme no lesse, Which are to France the Spies and Speculations Intelligent of our State. What hath bin seene, Either in snuffes, and packings of the Dukes, Or the hard Reine which both of them hath borne Against the old kinde King; or something deeper, Whereof (perchance) these are but furnishings Gent. I will talke further with you Kent. No, do not: For confirmation that I am much more Then my out-wall; open this Purse, and take What it containes. If you shall see Cordelia, (As feare not but you shall) shew her this Ring, And she will tell you who that Fellow is That yet you do not know. Fye on this Storme, I will go seeke the King Gent. Giue me your hand, Haue you no more to say? Kent. Few words, but to effect more then all yet; That when we haue found the King, in which your pain That way, Ile this: He that first lights on him, Holla the other. Exeunt.

Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear23.asp

In this act, King Lear somewhat redeems himself. He faces the terrible fury of the storm with an inward fury, fueled by passion and rage. As he breaks down, he suffers intensely. The external tempest of nature's fury mingles with his inner one caused by filial betrayal. As he looks at the facts, he is forced to face his past mistakes and rashness and acknowledge his present impotence. The new insights into himself humble and subdue the king, giving him a genuine feeling of oneness with his fellow human beings. Stripped of his pomp and dignity, he realizes the similarities of man and beast. The scene actually begins with a meeting between Kent and the Gentleman; they are both searching for Lear. The Gentleman states that the king is wandering about in Nature's fury; he is accompanied by the Fool, who is trying his best to keep the desolate king's spirits up. Kent changes the subject and talks about the disturbances that are now occurring since Lear has given away the kingdom to his daughters. He believes that there is a growing hostility between the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. There is also a rumor that Cordelia and her husband, the French king, have landed in Britain in order to lead an invasion. Kent asks the Gentleman to travel to Dover to find out if there is truth to the rumor. He gives him a ring to give to Cordelia if she is in Dover; it will identify that the Gentleman is a messenger from Kent. The scene closes as the two men go forth to individually search for the king.

Notes This scene, comprised of a conversation between Kent and Lear's Gentleman, describes how the King is out in the storm, "contending with the fretful elements." The Gentleman's description prepares the audience for the next scene in which Lear is seen being ravaged by the storm. The Gentleman hints that there is a threat to Lear's sanity as he "strives in his little world of man to outscorn /the to-and-fro conflicting wind and rain. " At least the devoted Fool is with the King, trying to protect his master and improve his spirits. Kent turns the conversation to the trouble that is brewing in England. He rails against the conspiracy hatched by Goneril, Regan, and their husbands and hopes that Cordelia may overcome them. The younger daughter has been kept abreast of what is happening to her father; she is fully aware of the horrid conduct of her sisters, Goneril and Regan. The fact that she has supposedly arrived in Britain with her husband is both good and bad news. The bad news is that she and the king have come to lead a French invasion of England; but there is also hope that she may rescue Lear and destroy the forces of evil that now reign in Britain.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/9.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_11_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 2

act 3, scene 2

{"name": "Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear24.asp", "summary": "In the midst of a violent storm, Lear enters; he is accompanied by the Fool, who is shivering and terrified. Lear himself is \"tempestuously\" ecstatic. He exults in the power of nature and compares it to his daughters. Ironically, he now acknowledges himself as old, infirm, defenseless, and powerless. As he looks at the truth about himself, he begins to see \"into the life of things\" and feels, for the first time, a relationship with other human beings. As a result, he leaves self-pity behind. The Fool stays close by the king, trying to cheer him with half- witted axioms. Kent enters, looks at the raving Lear, and bemoans the fate of the helpless, old king. He listens as Lear rambles on about humanity and its folly, self-deception, and false values. Kent tries to reason with the King and pleas with him to seek shelter. Lear, however, is not worried about himself; instead, he reveals a tender concern for the Fool. Finally, Kent persuades Lear to move in the direction a nearby hovel. The two of them exit the stage and Fool follows them shortly, delivering a prophecy.", "analysis": "Notes Lear, pitted against nature in its most forceful form, gains a new insight into himself. He realizes how fully he has been tricked by his two older daughters and loudly bemoans their ingratitude and injustices. He then begins to rant and rave about the miserable condition of the world and invokes merciless nature to destroy evil. Fighting against the storm, he feels powerless, just as he feels powerless in the kingdom. Ironically, Lear appears to be less weak, defenseless and old in this storm as he has seemed in previous scenes. His anger has obviously animated him. The Fool chatters on, underlining Lear's raging internal tempest and drawing the King's attention to his personal follies; therefore, the Fool actually aids Lear in his discovery of himself and his relative position in the world. The storm also heightens Lear's internal tempest. Throughout the entire scene, there is howling wind, relentless rain, claps of thunder, and bolts of lightning, all of which seem to excite Lear more. In the brief silence between two thunderbolts, he cries out loudly, \"I am a man, more sinned against, than sinning.\" Although he admits that he has done wrong, he feels his punishment is more than he deserves. When Kent tries to make Lear seek shelter, he reveals that he is more concerned about the Fool than about himself. It is the first time that Lear has fully reached out with great concern to someone else. In the process he becomes less selfish and more humanized."}

Scena Secunda. Storme still. Enter Lear, and Foole. Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's spout, Till you haue drench'd our Steeples, drown the Cockes. You Sulph'rous and Thought-executing Fires, Vaunt-curriors of Oake-cleauing Thunder-bolts, Sindge my white head. And thou all-shaking Thunder, Strike flat the thicke Rotundity o'th' world, Cracke Natures moulds, all germaines spill at once That makes ingratefull Man Foole. O Nunkle, Court holy-water in a dry house, is better then this Rain-water out o' doore. Good Nunkle, in, aske thy Daughters blessing, heere's a night pitties neither Wisemen, nor Fooles Lear. Rumble thy belly full: spit Fire, spowt Raine: Nor Raine, Winde, Thunder, Fire are my Daughters; I taxe not you, you Elements with vnkindnesse. I neuer gaue you Kingdome, call'd you Children; You owe me no subscription. Then let fall Your horrible pleasure. Heere I stand your Slaue, A poore, infirme, weake, and dispis'd old man: But yet I call you Seruile Ministers, That will with two pernicious Daughters ioyne Your high-engender'd Battailes, 'gainst a head So old, and white as this. O, ho! 'tis foule Foole. He that has a house to put's head in, has a good Head-peece: The Codpiece that will house, before the head has any; The Head, and he shall Lowse: so Beggers marry many. The man y makes his Toe, what he his Hart shold make, Shall of a Corne cry woe, and turne his sleepe to wake. For there was neuer yet faire woman, but shee made mouthes in a glasse. Enter Kent Lear. No, I will be the patterne of all patience, I will say nothing Kent. Who's there? Foole. Marry here's Grace, and a Codpiece, that's a Wiseman, and a Foole Kent. Alas Sir are you here? Things that loue night, Loue not such nights as these: The wrathfull Skies Gallow the very wanderers of the darke And make them keepe their Caues: Since I was man, Such sheets of Fire, such bursts of horrid Thunder, Such groanes of roaring Winde, and Raine, I neuer Remember to haue heard. Mans Nature cannot carry Th' affliction, nor the feare Lear. Let the great Goddes That keepe this dreadfull pudder o're our heads, Finde out their enemies now. Tremble thou Wretch, That hast within thee vndivulged Crimes Vnwhipt of Iustice. Hide thee, thou Bloudy hand; Thou Periur'd, and thou Simular of Vertue That art Incestuous. Caytiffe, to peeces shake That vnder couert, and conuenient seeming Ha's practis'd on mans life. Close pent-vp guilts, Riue your concealing Continents, and cry These dreadfull Summoners grace. I am a man, More sinn'd against, then sinning Kent. Alacke, bare-headed? Gracious my Lord, hard by heere is a Houell, Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the Tempest: Repose you there, while I to this hard house, (More harder then the stones whereof 'tis rais'd, Which euen but now, demanding after you, Deny'd me to come in) returne, and force Their scanted curtesie Lear. My wits begin to turne. Come on my boy. How dost my boy? Art cold? I am cold my selfe. Where is this straw, my Fellow? The Art of our Necessities is strange, And can make vilde things precious. Come, your Houel; Poore Foole, and Knaue, I haue one part in my heart That's sorry yet for thee Foole. He that has and a little-tyne wit, With heigh-ho, the Winde and the Raine, Must make content with his Fortunes fit, Though the Raine it raineth euery day Le. True Boy: Come bring vs to this Houell. Enter. Foole. This is a braue night to coole a Curtizan: Ile speake a Prophesie ere I go: When Priests are more in word, then matter; When Brewers marre their Malt with water; When Nobles are their Taylors Tutors, No Heretiques burn'd, but wenches Sutors; When euery Case in Law, is right; No Squire in debt, nor no poore Knight; When Slanders do not liue in Tongues; Nor Cut-purses come not to throngs; When Vsurers tell their Gold i'th' Field, And Baudes, and whores, do Churches build, Then shal the Realme of Albion, come to great confusion: Then comes the time, who liues to see't, That going shalbe vs'd with feet. This prophecie Merlin shall make, for I liue before his time. Enter.

Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear24.asp

In the midst of a violent storm, Lear enters; he is accompanied by the Fool, who is shivering and terrified. Lear himself is "tempestuously" ecstatic. He exults in the power of nature and compares it to his daughters. Ironically, he now acknowledges himself as old, infirm, defenseless, and powerless. As he looks at the truth about himself, he begins to see "into the life of things" and feels, for the first time, a relationship with other human beings. As a result, he leaves self-pity behind. The Fool stays close by the king, trying to cheer him with half- witted axioms. Kent enters, looks at the raving Lear, and bemoans the fate of the helpless, old king. He listens as Lear rambles on about humanity and its folly, self-deception, and false values. Kent tries to reason with the King and pleas with him to seek shelter. Lear, however, is not worried about himself; instead, he reveals a tender concern for the Fool. Finally, Kent persuades Lear to move in the direction a nearby hovel. The two of them exit the stage and Fool follows them shortly, delivering a prophecy.

Notes Lear, pitted against nature in its most forceful form, gains a new insight into himself. He realizes how fully he has been tricked by his two older daughters and loudly bemoans their ingratitude and injustices. He then begins to rant and rave about the miserable condition of the world and invokes merciless nature to destroy evil. Fighting against the storm, he feels powerless, just as he feels powerless in the kingdom. Ironically, Lear appears to be less weak, defenseless and old in this storm as he has seemed in previous scenes. His anger has obviously animated him. The Fool chatters on, underlining Lear's raging internal tempest and drawing the King's attention to his personal follies; therefore, the Fool actually aids Lear in his discovery of himself and his relative position in the world. The storm also heightens Lear's internal tempest. Throughout the entire scene, there is howling wind, relentless rain, claps of thunder, and bolts of lightning, all of which seem to excite Lear more. In the brief silence between two thunderbolts, he cries out loudly, "I am a man, more sinned against, than sinning." Although he admits that he has done wrong, he feels his punishment is more than he deserves. When Kent tries to make Lear seek shelter, he reveals that he is more concerned about the Fool than about himself. It is the first time that Lear has fully reached out with great concern to someone else. In the process he becomes less selfish and more humanized.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/22.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_12_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 3

act 3, scene 3

{"name": "Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear25.asp", "summary": "Back at his castle, Gloucester reveals his disapproval of the treatment given to Lear by his daughters. He condemns them for their disloyalty and declares his own loyalty to the king. His plan is to search for Lear and offer him aid, in the hope of relieving his suffering. A hypocritical Edmund also expresses his sympathy for Lear. Gloucester then talks to Edmund about the latest developments in the kingdom. He has received a secret letter containing information about the French invasion of Britain. He also expresses his concern about the hostility between the dukes. Before he departs, Gloucester warns Edmund to be wary. After his father's departure, Edmund reveals his secret plan to supplant his father.", "analysis": "Notes Shakespeare alternates the scenes of Lear's agony with the story of Gloucester, maintaining a skillful balance in the dramatic structure of the play. This scene returns to Gloucester Castle, where Edmund and his father engage in conversation. Gloucester expresses his horror over the \"unnatural dealing\" of Lear's daughters and his concern for the King. He resolves to resort secretly to doing all that he can to right the wrongs done to Lear. Gloucester's feelings reveal that he is a truly decent human being; he is just too easily duped by the deceitful Edmund, who is now planning to overcome his father."}

Enter Gloster, and Edmund. Glo. Alacke, alacke Edmund, I like not this vnnaturall dealing; when I desired their leaue that I might pity him, they tooke from me the vse of mine owne house, charg'd me on paine of perpetuall displeasure, neither to speake of him, entreat for him, or any way sustaine him Bast. Most sauage and vnnaturall Glo. Go too; say you nothing. There is diuision betweene the Dukes, and a worsse matter then that: I haue receiued a Letter this night, 'tis dangerous to be spoken, I haue lock'd the Letter in my Closset, these iniuries the King now beares, will be reuenged home; ther is part of a Power already footed, we must incline to the King, I will looke him, and priuily relieue him; goe you and maintaine talke with the Duke, that my charity be not of him perceiued; If he aske for me, I am ill, and gone to bed, if I die for it, (as no lesse is threatned me) the King my old Master must be relieued. There is strange things toward Edmund, pray you be carefull. Enter. Bast. This Curtesie forbid thee, shall the Duke Instantly know, and of that Letter too; This seemes a faire deseruing, and must draw me That which my Father looses: no lesse then all, The yonger rises, when the old doth fall. Enter.

Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear25.asp

Back at his castle, Gloucester reveals his disapproval of the treatment given to Lear by his daughters. He condemns them for their disloyalty and declares his own loyalty to the king. His plan is to search for Lear and offer him aid, in the hope of relieving his suffering. A hypocritical Edmund also expresses his sympathy for Lear. Gloucester then talks to Edmund about the latest developments in the kingdom. He has received a secret letter containing information about the French invasion of Britain. He also expresses his concern about the hostility between the dukes. Before he departs, Gloucester warns Edmund to be wary. After his father's departure, Edmund reveals his secret plan to supplant his father.

Notes Shakespeare alternates the scenes of Lear's agony with the story of Gloucester, maintaining a skillful balance in the dramatic structure of the play. This scene returns to Gloucester Castle, where Edmund and his father engage in conversation. Gloucester expresses his horror over the "unnatural dealing" of Lear's daughters and his concern for the King. He resolves to resort secretly to doing all that he can to right the wrongs done to Lear. Gloucester's feelings reveal that he is a truly decent human being; he is just too easily duped by the deceitful Edmund, who is now planning to overcome his father.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/10.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_13_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 4

act 3, scene 4

{"name": "Scene 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear26.asp", "summary": "This scene returns to Lear and his sufferings. With Kent and the Fool, the King finds a hovel that can provide some protection. He tells the Fool to enter first, thinking of others before himself. He also thinks about the contrasts between this modest hovel and the splendor of his court; amazingly, he now seems to despise all of the pomp and regality that he endured as the King. It is obvious that Lear's outlook has undergone a significant change. He states that physical sufferings pale in comparison to the keener sufferings of his emotional anguish. He knows that he can endure the fury exhibited by nature's storm, but he is totally undone by the filial ingratitude that he feels. His daughters' cruelties to him are almost unbearable. As Lear is about to enter the hovel, a pitiful creature wrapped in a filthy blanket emerges shrieking. This creature is Edgar; he is disguised as Poor Tom, a lunatic beggar. Although he recognizes the King, he does not show it; instead, he continues to act mad, muttering wild fancies. Tom pleads for charity and speaks of \"the foul fiend\" torturing him. Ironically, Lear sees a similarity between himself and the loathsome beggar before him. He is sure that the beggar, like him, has given away all his wealth to his daughters, who turned on him and reduced him to this pitiful state. Certain that Tom has evil daughters, he curses them with the plagues. Lear next contemplates the sorry state of humanity, comparing it to a bare animal that has no protection. As if to prove he is bare and vulnerable, Lear makes an effort to undo his clothing. The Fool, however, restrains him. Gloucester enters the scene; he is shocked and deeply moved at the pitiful plight of the King. He knows that it is filial ingratitude that has driven Lear into this state of misery. Since he has suffered filial ingratitude himself, Gloucester identifies closely with the King. He thinks about Edgar, whom he had loved deeply and foolishly banished. Wanting to lend a helping hand, Gloucester offers Lear and his companions shelter; but initially Lear refuses. Finally, with Kent's aid, Gloucester succeeds in leading the king away, but not until he promises Lear that Poor Tom can accompany them.", "analysis": "Notes In this scene, Lear clearly expresses the nature of his torment. Although he feels miserable from the storm outside, it is nothing when compared to the storm that rages inside him. He feels totally betrayed by his daughters, Goneril and Regan, and is totally disgusted by their ingratitude. In spite of his deep emotions, Lear tries to restrain himself, for he is very fearful of insanity; he tells himself to \"weep no more\" and claims that he will endure. Lear is a changed man. His cruel treatment at the hands of his daughters has made him capable of empathizing with \"poor and naked wretches\" to whom he had earlier been indifferent. Because of his own misery, he has a new understanding of humanity and a true sympathy for all those who suffer. He even condemns himself for having done nothing to aid them when he had the power to do so. He also condemns himself for the cruelty he has shown to his own daughter, Cordelia. Not recognizing Edgar in disguise, the King sees him as a man reduced to the barest minimum, leading an animalistic existence. In fact, Poor Tom becomes for Lear the symbol of ultimate injustice. Identifying with this mad fool, he is certain that Poor Tom has been mistreated by evil daughters, whom the King openly curses. He then chastises himself for have begotten such evil daughters himself. To make himself more like near-naked Tom, Lear even tries to undress himself, stopped only by his own Fool. As Gloucester arrives on the scene, the Fool notes, \"Here comes a walking fire.\" In truth, Gloucester has proven in the past he is a man who burns hot and cold. Now he seems genuinely concerned about the King and has come to offer him aid. He wants to lead Lear to shelter, warning that \"his daughters seek his death.\" Gloucester's concern springs out of his own unhappiness. Like Lear, he has banished the wrong offspring and suffers at the hands of Edmund, just as Lear suffers at the hands of Regan and Goneril. He can truly empathize with the King's misery, for he is miserable himself, as shown when he says, \"Thou sayest that the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend, I'm almost myself. /The grief has half- crazed my wits. \" It is ironic that Gloucester's words are overheard by Edgar, his supposedly banished son; father does not recognize son in his disguise as an insane beggar. It is also ironic that Edgar, Gloucester, and Lear, three wealthy characters who have hit rock bottom, are taking refuge together in a hovel. The small space that unites them in their exile also protects them from the outside world, where the storminess of both Nature and humanity seems bent on destroying them."}

Scena Quarta. Enter Lear, Kent, and Foole. Kent. Here is the place my Lord, good my Lord enter, The tirrany of the open night's too rough For Nature to endure. Storme still Lear. Let me alone Kent. Good my Lord enter heere Lear. Wilt breake my heart? Kent. I had rather breake mine owne, Good my Lord enter Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storme Inuades vs to the skin so: 'tis to thee, But where the greater malady is fixt, The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a Beare, But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea, Thou'dst meete the Beare i'th' mouth, when the mind's free, The bodies delicate: the tempest in my mind, Doth from my sences take all feeling else, Saue what beates there, Filliall ingratitude, Is it not as this mouth should teare this hand For lifting food too't? But I will punish home; No, I will weepe no more; in such a night, To shut me out? Poure on, I will endure: In such a night as this? O Regan, Gonerill, Your old kind Father, whose franke heart gaue all, O that way madnesse lies, let me shun that: No more of that Kent. Good my Lord enter here Lear. Prythee go in thy selfe, seeke thine owne ease, This tempest will not giue me leaue to ponder On things would hurt me more, but Ile goe in, In Boy, go first. You houselesse pouertie, Enter. Nay get thee in; Ile pray, and then Ile sleepe. Poore naked wretches, where so ere you are That bide the pelting of this pittilesse storme, How shall your House-lesse heads, and vnfed sides, Your lop'd, and window'd raggednesse defend you From seasons such as these? O I haue tane Too little care of this: Take Physicke, Pompe, Expose thy selfe to feele what wretches feele, That thou maist shake the superflux to them, And shew the Heauens more iust. Enter Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fathom, and halfe, Fathom and halfe; poore Tom Foole. Come not in heere Nuncle, here's a spirit, helpe me, helpe me Kent. Giue my thy hand, who's there? Foole. A spirite, a spirite, he sayes his name's poore Tom Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i'th' straw? Come forth Edg. Away, the foule Fiend followes me, through the sharpe Hauthorne blow the windes. Humh, goe to thy bed and warme thee Lear. Did'st thou giue all to thy Daughters? And art thou come to this? Edgar. Who giues any thing to poore Tom? Whom the foule fiend hath led through Fire, and through Flame, through Sword, and Whirle-Poole, o're Bog, and Quagmire, that hath laid Kniues vnder his Pillow, and Halters in his Pue, set Rats-bane by his Porredge, made him Proud of heart, to ride on a Bay trotting Horse, ouer foure incht Bridges, to course his owne shadow for a Traitor. Blisse thy fiue Wits, Toms a cold. O do, de, do, de, do, de, blisse thee from Whirle-Windes, Starre-blasting, and taking, do poore Tom some charitie, whom the foule Fiend vexes. There could I haue him now, and there, and there againe, and there. Storme still. Lear. Ha's his Daughters brought him to this passe? Could'st thou saue nothing? Would'st thou giue 'em all? Foole. Nay, he reseru'd a Blanket, else we had bin all sham'd Lea. Now all the plagues that in the pendulous ayre Hang fated o're mens faults, light on thy Daughters Kent. He hath no Daughters Sir Lear. Death Traitor, nothing could haue subdu'd Nature To such a lownesse, but his vnkind Daughters. Is it the fashion, that discarded Fathers, Should haue thus little mercy on their flesh: Iudicious punishment, 'twas this flesh begot Those Pelicane Daughters Edg. Pillicock sat on Pillicock hill, alow: alow, loo, loo Foole. This cold night will turne vs all to Fooles, and Madmen Edgar. Take heed o'th' foule Fiend, obey thy Parents, keepe thy words Iustice, sweare not, commit not, with mans sworne Spouse: set not thy Sweet-heart on proud array. Tom's a cold Lear. What hast thou bin? Edg. A Seruingman? Proud in heart, and minde; that curl'd my haire, wore Gloues in my cap; seru'd the Lust of my Mistris heart, and did the acte of darkenesse with her. Swore as many Oathes, as I spake words, & broke them in the sweet face of Heauen. One, that slept in the contriuing of Lust, and wak'd to doe it. Wine lou'd I deerely, Dice deerely; and in Woman, out-Paramour'd the Turke. False of heart, light of eare, bloody of hand; Hog in sloth, Foxe in stealth, Wolfe in greedinesse, Dog in madnes, Lyon in prey. Let not the creaking of shooes, Nor the rustling of Silkes, betray thy poore heart to woman. Keepe thy foote out of Brothels, thy hand out of Plackets, thy pen from Lenders Bookes, and defye the foule Fiend. Still through the Hauthorne blowes the cold winde: Sayes suum, mun, nonny, Dolphin my Boy, Boy Sesey: let him trot by. Storme still. Lear. Thou wert better in a Graue, then to answere with thy vncouer'd body, this extremitie of the Skies. Is man no more then this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the Worme no Silke; the Beast, no Hide; the Sheepe, no Wooll; the Cat, no perfume. Ha? Here's three on's are sophisticated. Thou art the thing it selfe; vnaccommodated man, is no more but such a poore, bare, forked Animall as thou art. Off, off you Lendings: Come, vnbutton heere. Enter Gloucester, with a Torch. Foole. Prythee Nunckle be contented, 'tis a naughtie night to swimme in. Now a little fire in a wilde Field, were like an old Letchers heart, a small spark, all the rest on's body, cold: Looke, heere comes a walking fire Edg. This is the foule Flibbertigibbet; hee begins at Curfew, and walkes at first Cocke: Hee giues the Web and the Pin, squints the eye, and makes the Hare-lippe; Mildewes the white Wheate, and hurts the poore Creature of earth. Swithold footed thrice the old, He met the Night-Mare, and her nine-fold; Bid her a-light, and her troth-plight, And aroynt thee Witch, aroynt thee Kent. How fares your Grace? Lear. What's he? Kent. Who's there? What is't you seeke? Glou. What are you there? Your Names? Edg. Poore Tom, that eates the swimming Frog, the Toad, the Tod-pole, the wall-Neut, and the water: that in the furie of his heart, when the foule Fiend rages, eats Cow-dung for Sallets; swallowes the old Rat, and the ditch-Dogge; drinkes the green Mantle of the standing Poole: who is whipt from Tything to Tything, and stockt, punish'd, and imprison'd: who hath three Suites to his backe, sixe shirts to his body: Horse to ride, and weapon to weare: But Mice, and Rats, and such small Deare, Haue bin Toms food, for seuen long yeare: Beware my Follower. Peace Smulkin, peace thou Fiend Glou. What, hath your Grace no better company? Edg. The Prince of Darkenesse is a Gentleman. Modo he's call'd, and Mahu Glou. Our flesh and blood, my Lord, is growne so vilde, that it doth hate what gets it Edg. Poore Tom's a cold Glou. Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer T' obey in all your daughters hard commands: Though their Iniunction be to barre my doores, And let this Tyrannous night take hold vpon you, Yet haue I ventured to come seeke you out, And bring you where both fire, and food is ready Lear. First let me talke with this Philosopher, What is the cause of Thunder? Kent. Good my Lord take his offer, Go into th' house Lear. Ile talke a word with this same lerned Theban: What is your study? Edg. How to preuent the Fiend, and to kill Vermine Lear. Let me aske you one word in priuate Kent. Importune him once more to go my Lord, His wits begin t' vnsettle Glou. Canst thou blame him? Storm still His Daughters seeke his death: Ah, that good Kent, He said it would be thus: poore banish'd man: Thou sayest the King growes mad, Ile tell thee Friend I am almost mad my selfe. I had a Sonne, Now out-law'd from my blood: he sought my life But lately: very late: I lou'd him (Friend) No Father his Sonne deerer: true to tell thee, The greefe hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this? I do beseech your grace Lear. O cry you mercy, Sir: Noble Philosopher, your company Edg. Tom's a cold Glou. In fellow there, into th' Houel; keep thee warm Lear. Come, let's in all Kent. This way, my Lord Lear. With him; I will keepe still with my Philosopher Kent. Good my Lord, sooth him: Let him take the Fellow Glou. Take him you on Kent. Sirra, come on: go along with vs Lear. Come, good Athenian Glou. No words, no words, hush Edg. Childe Rowland to the darke Tower came, His word was still, fie, foh, and fumme, I smell the blood of a Brittish man. Exeunt.

Scene 4

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear26.asp

This scene returns to Lear and his sufferings. With Kent and the Fool, the King finds a hovel that can provide some protection. He tells the Fool to enter first, thinking of others before himself. He also thinks about the contrasts between this modest hovel and the splendor of his court; amazingly, he now seems to despise all of the pomp and regality that he endured as the King. It is obvious that Lear's outlook has undergone a significant change. He states that physical sufferings pale in comparison to the keener sufferings of his emotional anguish. He knows that he can endure the fury exhibited by nature's storm, but he is totally undone by the filial ingratitude that he feels. His daughters' cruelties to him are almost unbearable. As Lear is about to enter the hovel, a pitiful creature wrapped in a filthy blanket emerges shrieking. This creature is Edgar; he is disguised as Poor Tom, a lunatic beggar. Although he recognizes the King, he does not show it; instead, he continues to act mad, muttering wild fancies. Tom pleads for charity and speaks of "the foul fiend" torturing him. Ironically, Lear sees a similarity between himself and the loathsome beggar before him. He is sure that the beggar, like him, has given away all his wealth to his daughters, who turned on him and reduced him to this pitiful state. Certain that Tom has evil daughters, he curses them with the plagues. Lear next contemplates the sorry state of humanity, comparing it to a bare animal that has no protection. As if to prove he is bare and vulnerable, Lear makes an effort to undo his clothing. The Fool, however, restrains him. Gloucester enters the scene; he is shocked and deeply moved at the pitiful plight of the King. He knows that it is filial ingratitude that has driven Lear into this state of misery. Since he has suffered filial ingratitude himself, Gloucester identifies closely with the King. He thinks about Edgar, whom he had loved deeply and foolishly banished. Wanting to lend a helping hand, Gloucester offers Lear and his companions shelter; but initially Lear refuses. Finally, with Kent's aid, Gloucester succeeds in leading the king away, but not until he promises Lear that Poor Tom can accompany them.

Notes In this scene, Lear clearly expresses the nature of his torment. Although he feels miserable from the storm outside, it is nothing when compared to the storm that rages inside him. He feels totally betrayed by his daughters, Goneril and Regan, and is totally disgusted by their ingratitude. In spite of his deep emotions, Lear tries to restrain himself, for he is very fearful of insanity; he tells himself to "weep no more" and claims that he will endure. Lear is a changed man. His cruel treatment at the hands of his daughters has made him capable of empathizing with "poor and naked wretches" to whom he had earlier been indifferent. Because of his own misery, he has a new understanding of humanity and a true sympathy for all those who suffer. He even condemns himself for having done nothing to aid them when he had the power to do so. He also condemns himself for the cruelty he has shown to his own daughter, Cordelia. Not recognizing Edgar in disguise, the King sees him as a man reduced to the barest minimum, leading an animalistic existence. In fact, Poor Tom becomes for Lear the symbol of ultimate injustice. Identifying with this mad fool, he is certain that Poor Tom has been mistreated by evil daughters, whom the King openly curses. He then chastises himself for have begotten such evil daughters himself. To make himself more like near-naked Tom, Lear even tries to undress himself, stopped only by his own Fool. As Gloucester arrives on the scene, the Fool notes, "Here comes a walking fire." In truth, Gloucester has proven in the past he is a man who burns hot and cold. Now he seems genuinely concerned about the King and has come to offer him aid. He wants to lead Lear to shelter, warning that "his daughters seek his death." Gloucester's concern springs out of his own unhappiness. Like Lear, he has banished the wrong offspring and suffers at the hands of Edmund, just as Lear suffers at the hands of Regan and Goneril. He can truly empathize with the King's misery, for he is miserable himself, as shown when he says, "Thou sayest that the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend, I'm almost myself. /The grief has half- crazed my wits. " It is ironic that Gloucester's words are overheard by Edgar, his supposedly banished son; father does not recognize son in his disguise as an insane beggar. It is also ironic that Edgar, Gloucester, and Lear, three wealthy characters who have hit rock bottom, are taking refuge together in a hovel. The small space that unites them in their exile also protects them from the outside world, where the storminess of both Nature and humanity seems bent on destroying them.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/11.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_14_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 5

act 3, scene 5

{"name": "Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear27.asp", "summary": "The next scene is a brief exchange between Edmund and Cornwall. Edmund plots against his father, Gloucester; he tells the Duke about a letter showing Gloucester to be an accomplice to the invasion of Britain by France. To reward Edmund for the warning, Cornwall makes him the Earl of Gloucester and issues orders for Gloucester's arrest. Edmund expresses his deep loyalty to the Duke. He then goes off to find the hiding place of his father. He hopes to find Gloucester helping the king so that he can incriminate him even further.", "analysis": "Notes In this scene, Edmund begins to openly implement his plot against his father. In truly hypocritical fashion, he bemoans the fact that his affection for his father must take second place to his loyalty to his country; but he has learned that his father is helping with the French invasion of Britain. In telling this lie, he shows he has no compunction in achieving his aims at the cost of destroying another person, even if it is his father. In fact, by lying, Edmund moves one step forward in achieving his objective. Cornwall is also exposed as a villain. He uses the words \"trust\" and \"love\" as if he himself were a paragon of virtue; instead, he also is a deceptive and cunning character who cannot be trusted."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Cornwall, and Edmund. Corn. I will haue my reuenge, ere I depart his house Bast. How my Lord, I may be censured, that Nature thus giues way to Loyaltie, something feares mee to thinke of Cornw. I now perceiue, it was not altogether your Brothers euill disposition made him seeke his death: but a prouoking merit set a-worke by a reprouable badnesse in himselfe Bast. How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be iust? This is the Letter which hee spoake of; which approues him an intelligent partie to the aduantages of France. O Heauens! that this Treason were not; or not I the detector Corn. Go with me to the Dutchesse Bast. If the matter of this Paper be certain, you haue mighty businesse in hand Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earle of Gloucester: seeke out where thy Father is, that hee may bee ready for our apprehension Bast. If I finde him comforting the King, it will stuffe his suspition more fully. I will perseuer in my course of Loyalty, though the conflict be sore betweene that, and my blood Corn. I will lay trust vpon thee: and thou shalt finde a deere Father in my loue. Exeunt.

Scene 5

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear27.asp

The next scene is a brief exchange between Edmund and Cornwall. Edmund plots against his father, Gloucester; he tells the Duke about a letter showing Gloucester to be an accomplice to the invasion of Britain by France. To reward Edmund for the warning, Cornwall makes him the Earl of Gloucester and issues orders for Gloucester's arrest. Edmund expresses his deep loyalty to the Duke. He then goes off to find the hiding place of his father. He hopes to find Gloucester helping the king so that he can incriminate him even further.

Notes In this scene, Edmund begins to openly implement his plot against his father. In truly hypocritical fashion, he bemoans the fact that his affection for his father must take second place to his loyalty to his country; but he has learned that his father is helping with the French invasion of Britain. In telling this lie, he shows he has no compunction in achieving his aims at the cost of destroying another person, even if it is his father. In fact, by lying, Edmund moves one step forward in achieving his objective. Cornwall is also exposed as a villain. He uses the words "trust" and "love" as if he himself were a paragon of virtue; instead, he also is a deceptive and cunning character who cannot be trusted.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/12.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_15_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 6

act 3, scene 6

{"name": "Scene 6", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear28.asp", "summary": "Gloucester leaves the King and his companions in safety at a farmhouse close to the castle and departs to find provisions. Left to his agony, Lear dwells on his mistreatment. He conjures up a mock trial of Goneril and Regan, where he sits in judgment and tries his older daughters for their cruelty towards their father. This imagined trial takes place amid the lunatic ravings of Tom and the Fool's half-witted pieces of song. The alternating dialogues of Tom and the Fool are acutely perceptive, but Kent interrupts. He cannot bear to see Lear in such a state of torment and dementia. Lear, however, continues with the imaginary trial and charges Goneril for kicking her father. He fancies Goneril trying to escape and cries that she be stopped. Kent is moved by the pathetic nature of the King's ravings, and Edgar, still in disguise, is deeply pained. Kent steps forward and pleads with Lear to rest so that he may recover. He assents, but almost immediately, Gloucester hastily returns with bad news. Gloucester informs the group about a plot to murder Lear and insists that the King leave for Dover immediately. Kent laments that the sleep, which might have soothed the King's broken nerves, is not to be. As a dazed Lear is led out to make the journey, Gloucester returns to his castle. The scene ends with a soliloquy by Edgar, in which he feels that his own misfortunes pale in comparison with the tragedies suffered by Lear. He further declares that he will remain in the disguise of a lunatic beggar until his honesty is proven, his outlaw repealed, and his position restored.", "analysis": "Notes This is the last scene in the play with comic elements, and the Fool is not seen again. His main function, in addition to providing comic relief, has been to act as Lear's conscience and instructor. The Fool brought to light the King's foibles by using his seemingly inane chatter and absurd phrases to act as an objective commentator on Lear's mistakes. The Fool is no longer needed, for Lear has accepted the error of his ways and now wants to right the wrongs. Although there is humor and absurdity throughout the scene, there is also a great seriousness about it. Lear's state of mind borders on insanity, and his life is in danger. Additionally, the scene underscores the serious theme of justice. Lear's imaginary trial, with him in the seat of judgement, is a flashback to the beginning of the play when he judged his three daughters and found Cordelia lacking. Now he is attempting to rectify his actions in his own mind by bringing Goneril and Regan, the ones he trusted, to justice for their misdeeds. Lear, in his search for understanding, wants to know, \"Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?\" Edgar, still in disguise, is very touched by Lear's ramblings and realizes the King's plight is even worse than his own. Unable to hide his sorrow for Lear, he fears that \"my tears begin to take his part so much, They mar my counterfeiting.\" Gloucester is also touched by the King's situation. To protect the King, he has hidden Lear away in a farmhouse close to his castle and gone to find provisions for him and his companions. When Gloucester returns, he brings the bad news that there is a plot to kill Lear. He encourages the King to go immediately to Dover for his own safety. At the end of the scene, Lear and his party depart, Gloucester heads for his own castle, and Edgar is left to give his emotional soliloquy."}

Scena Sexta. Enter Kent, and Gloucester. Glou. Heere is better then the open ayre, take it thankfully: I will peece out the comfort with what addition I can: I will not be long from you. Exit Kent. All the powre of his wits, haue giuen way to his impatience: the Gods reward your kindnesse. Enter Lear, Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fraterretto cals me, and tells me Nero is an Angler in the Lake of Darknesse: pray Innocent, and beware the foule Fiend Foole. Prythee Nunkle tell me, whether a madman be a Gentleman, or a Yeoman Lear. A King, a King Foole. No, he's a Yeoman, that ha's a Gentleman to his Sonne: for hee's a mad Yeoman that sees his Sonne a Gentleman before him Lear. To haue a thousand with red burning spits Come hizzing in vpon 'em Edg. Blesse thy fiue wits Kent. O pitty: Sir, where is the patience now That you so oft haue boasted to retaine? Edg. My teares begin to take his part so much, They marre my counterfetting Lear. The little dogges, and all; Trey, Blanch, and Sweet-heart: see, they barke at me Edg. Tom, will throw his head at them: Auaunt you Curres, be thy mouth or blacke or white: Tooth that poysons if it bite: Mastiffe, Grey-hound, Mongrill, Grim, Hound or Spaniell, Brache, or Hym: Or Bobtaile tight, or Troudle taile, Tom will make him weepe and waile, For with throwing thus my head; Dogs leapt the hatch, and all are fled. Do, de, de, de: sese: Come, march to Wakes and Fayres, And Market Townes: poore Tom thy horne is dry, Lear. Then let them Anatomize Regan: See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in Nature that make these hard-hearts. You sir, I entertaine for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments. You will say they are Persian; but let them bee chang'd. Enter Gloster. Kent. Now good my Lord, lye heere, and rest awhile Lear. Make no noise, make no noise, draw the Curtaines: so, so, wee'l go to Supper i'th' morning Foole. And Ile go to bed at noone Glou. Come hither Friend: Where is the King my Master? Kent. Here Sir, but trouble him not, his wits are gon Glou. Good friend, I prythee take him in thy armes; I haue ore-heard a plot of death vpon him: There is a Litter ready, lay him in't, And driue toward Douer friend, where thou shalt meete Both welcome, and protection. Take vp thy Master, If thou should'st dally halfe an houre, his life With thine, and all that offer to defend him, Stand in assured losse. Take vp, take vp, And follow me, that will to some prouision Giue thee quicke conduct. Come, come, away. Exeunt.

Scene 6

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear28.asp

Gloucester leaves the King and his companions in safety at a farmhouse close to the castle and departs to find provisions. Left to his agony, Lear dwells on his mistreatment. He conjures up a mock trial of Goneril and Regan, where he sits in judgment and tries his older daughters for their cruelty towards their father. This imagined trial takes place amid the lunatic ravings of Tom and the Fool's half-witted pieces of song. The alternating dialogues of Tom and the Fool are acutely perceptive, but Kent interrupts. He cannot bear to see Lear in such a state of torment and dementia. Lear, however, continues with the imaginary trial and charges Goneril for kicking her father. He fancies Goneril trying to escape and cries that she be stopped. Kent is moved by the pathetic nature of the King's ravings, and Edgar, still in disguise, is deeply pained. Kent steps forward and pleads with Lear to rest so that he may recover. He assents, but almost immediately, Gloucester hastily returns with bad news. Gloucester informs the group about a plot to murder Lear and insists that the King leave for Dover immediately. Kent laments that the sleep, which might have soothed the King's broken nerves, is not to be. As a dazed Lear is led out to make the journey, Gloucester returns to his castle. The scene ends with a soliloquy by Edgar, in which he feels that his own misfortunes pale in comparison with the tragedies suffered by Lear. He further declares that he will remain in the disguise of a lunatic beggar until his honesty is proven, his outlaw repealed, and his position restored.

Notes This is the last scene in the play with comic elements, and the Fool is not seen again. His main function, in addition to providing comic relief, has been to act as Lear's conscience and instructor. The Fool brought to light the King's foibles by using his seemingly inane chatter and absurd phrases to act as an objective commentator on Lear's mistakes. The Fool is no longer needed, for Lear has accepted the error of his ways and now wants to right the wrongs. Although there is humor and absurdity throughout the scene, there is also a great seriousness about it. Lear's state of mind borders on insanity, and his life is in danger. Additionally, the scene underscores the serious theme of justice. Lear's imaginary trial, with him in the seat of judgement, is a flashback to the beginning of the play when he judged his three daughters and found Cordelia lacking. Now he is attempting to rectify his actions in his own mind by bringing Goneril and Regan, the ones he trusted, to justice for their misdeeds. Lear, in his search for understanding, wants to know, "Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts?" Edgar, still in disguise, is very touched by Lear's ramblings and realizes the King's plight is even worse than his own. Unable to hide his sorrow for Lear, he fears that "my tears begin to take his part so much, They mar my counterfeiting." Gloucester is also touched by the King's situation. To protect the King, he has hidden Lear away in a farmhouse close to his castle and gone to find provisions for him and his companions. When Gloucester returns, he brings the bad news that there is a plot to kill Lear. He encourages the King to go immediately to Dover for his own safety. At the end of the scene, Lear and his party depart, Gloucester heads for his own castle, and Edgar is left to give his emotional soliloquy.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/13.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_16_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 7

act 3, scene 7

{"name": "Scene 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear29.asp", "summary": "At Gloucester Castle, Cornwall is concerned about the French invasion. He is going to send Goneril and Edmund with a letter to Albany, explaining that the French Army is about to attack Britain. He has also ordered Gloucester's arrest for \"treachery.\" Goneril suggests plucking out Gloucester's eye after his capture, and Regan wants him hanged. Oswald enters into the conversation and informs Cornwall about Gloucester's part in sending Lear to safety at Dover. Soon the arrested Gloucester is brought in. Cornwall and Regan treat him savagely. Gloucester begs for mercy and reminds them that they are his guests. Cornwall ignores his pleas and orders him to be tied. Regan calls him a foul traitor and pulls at his beard. When Gloucester is questioned about his helping to send Lear to Dover, he replies with dignity that he is trying to see that justice is done. In reaction, he is bound to a chair and one of his eyes is gouged out. Cornwall, in a barbaric manner, crushes it with his foot. Unable to endure the sight of an old man suffering, one of Cornwall's servants intervenes and challenges his master to stop his cruelty. In response, Cornwall stabs the servant, who is then killed by Regan. In retaliation to the servant's support of Gloucester, Cornwall gouges out his other eye. Blinded, bleeding, and pathetic, Gloucester is further tortured by Regan. She tells him that Edmund, the son whom he calls for in his pain, has betrayed his father and hates him fully. Her words cause Gloucester's heart more pain than that being felt by his body. Like Lear, he is fully pained by the misjudgment of his children. At the close of the scene, Cornwall, fatally wounded in the foray, is led away by Regan. After their departure, a brief conversation occurs among several of Cornwall's servants; they condemn the acts of Cornwall and Regan and judge them to be totally evil.", "analysis": "Notes This scene is one of the cruelest in all of drama as Regan and Cornwall inflict their torture upon Gloucester. Although the old man has been blind to the morality of the world, misjudging the virtue of Edgar and the evil of Edmund, he does not deserve to have his eyes gouged into physical blindness. The physical torture, however, is not as bad as the torture of the truth. Regan cruelly tells Gloucester that it was Edmund who turned him in and that his son truly hates him. Without trying to offer any excuses for his misjudgment, he assumes the burden of guilt and prays for Edgar's well being. He still has faith in the morality of the world and believes that evil will be punished. There is one element of redemption in the scene. Cornwall's own servant lashes out against his master for his cruelty to Gloucester. Even though Cornwall is a repugnant and immoral soul, his servants have not conformed to his warped view of humanity. Unfortunately, the evil ones still have the upper hand, and the kind servant is cruelly killed for his support of Gloucester; but Cornwall is wounded in the foray as well."}

Scena Septima. Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gonerill, Bastard, and Seruants. Corn. Poste speedily to my Lord your husband, shew him this Letter, the Army of France is landed: seeke out the Traitor Glouster Reg. Hang him instantly Gon. Plucke out his eyes Corn. Leaue him to my displeasure. Edmond, keepe you our Sister company: the reuenges wee are bound to take vppon your Traitorous Father, are not fit for your beholding. Aduice the Duke where you are going, to a most festinate preparation: we are bound to the like. Our Postes shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt vs. Farewell deere Sister, farewell my Lord of Glouster. Enter Steward. How now? Where's the King? Stew. My Lord of Glouster hath conuey'd him hence Some fiue or six and thirty of his Knights Hot Questrists after him, met him at gate, Who, with some other of the Lords, dependants, Are gone with him toward Douer; where they boast To haue well armed Friends Corn. Get horses for your Mistris Gon. Farewell sweet Lord, and Sister. Exit Corn. Edmund farewell: go seek the Traitor Gloster, Pinnion him like a Theefe, bring him before vs: Though well we may not passe vpon his life Without the forme of Iustice: yet our power Shall do a curt'sie to our wrath, which men May blame, but not comptroll. Enter Gloucester, and Seruants. Who's there? the Traitor? Reg. Ingratefull Fox, 'tis he Corn. Binde fast his corky armes Glou. What meanes your Graces? Good my Friends consider you are my Ghests: Do me no foule play, Friends Corn. Binde him I say Reg. Hard, hard: O filthy Traitor Glou. Vnmercifull Lady, as you are, I'me none Corn. To this Chaire binde him, Villaine, thou shalt finde Glou. By the kinde Gods, 'tis most ignobly done To plucke me by the Beard Reg. So white, and such a Traitor? Glou. Naughty Ladie, These haires which thou dost rauish from my chin Will quicken and accuse thee. I am your Host, With Robbers hands, my hospitable fauours You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? Corn. Come Sir. What Letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple answer'd, for we know the truth Corn. And what confederacie haue you with the Traitors, late footed in the Kingdome? Reg. To whose hands You haue sent the Lunaticke King: Speake Glou. I haue a Letter guessingly set downe Which came from one that's of a newtrall heart, And not from one oppos'd Corn. Cunning Reg. And false Corn. Where hast thou sent the King? Glou. To Douer Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Was't thou not charg'd at perill Corn. Wherefore to Douer? Let him answer that Glou. I am tyed to'th' Stake, And I must stand the Course Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Glou. Because I would not see thy cruell Nailes Plucke out his poore old eyes: nor thy fierce Sister, In his Annointed flesh, sticke boarish phangs. The Sea, with such a storme as his bare head, In Hell-blacke-night indur'd, would haue buoy'd vp And quench'd the Stelled fires: Yet poore old heart, he holpe the Heauens to raine. If Wolues had at thy Gate howl'd that sterne time, Thou should'st haue said, good Porter turne the Key: All Cruels else subscribe: but I shall see The winged Vengeance ouertake such Children Corn. See't shalt thou neuer. Fellowes hold y Chaire, Vpon these eyes of thine, Ile set my foote Glou. He that will thinke to liue, till he be old, Giue me some helpe. - O cruell! O you Gods Reg. One side will mocke another: Th' other too Corn. If you see vengeance Seru. Hold your hand, my Lord: I haue seru'd you euer since I was a Childe: But better seruice haue I neuer done you, Then now to bid you hold Reg. How now, you dogge? Ser. If you did weare a beard vpon your chin, I'ld shake it on this quarrell. What do you meane? Corn. My Villaine? Seru. Nay then come on, and take the chance of anger Reg. Giue me thy Sword. A pezant stand vp thus? Killes him. Ser. Oh I am slaine: my Lord, you haue one eye left To see some mischefe on him. Oh Corn. Lest it see more, preuent it; Out vilde gelly: Where is thy luster now? Glou. All darke and comfortlesse? Where's my Sonne Edmund? Edmund, enkindle all the sparkes of Nature To quit this horrid acte Reg. Out treacherous Villaine, Thou call'st on him, that hates thee. It was he That made the ouerture of thy Treasons to vs: Who is too good to pitty thee Glou. O my Follies! then Edgar was abus'd, Kinde Gods, forgiue me that, and prosper him Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell His way to Douer. Exit with Glouster. How is't my Lord? How looke you? Corn. I haue receiu'd a hurt: Follow me Lady; Turne out that eyelesse Villaine: throw this Slaue Vpon the Dunghill: Regan, I bleed apace, Vntimely comes this hurt. Giue me your arme. Exeunt.

Scene 7

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear29.asp

At Gloucester Castle, Cornwall is concerned about the French invasion. He is going to send Goneril and Edmund with a letter to Albany, explaining that the French Army is about to attack Britain. He has also ordered Gloucester's arrest for "treachery." Goneril suggests plucking out Gloucester's eye after his capture, and Regan wants him hanged. Oswald enters into the conversation and informs Cornwall about Gloucester's part in sending Lear to safety at Dover. Soon the arrested Gloucester is brought in. Cornwall and Regan treat him savagely. Gloucester begs for mercy and reminds them that they are his guests. Cornwall ignores his pleas and orders him to be tied. Regan calls him a foul traitor and pulls at his beard. When Gloucester is questioned about his helping to send Lear to Dover, he replies with dignity that he is trying to see that justice is done. In reaction, he is bound to a chair and one of his eyes is gouged out. Cornwall, in a barbaric manner, crushes it with his foot. Unable to endure the sight of an old man suffering, one of Cornwall's servants intervenes and challenges his master to stop his cruelty. In response, Cornwall stabs the servant, who is then killed by Regan. In retaliation to the servant's support of Gloucester, Cornwall gouges out his other eye. Blinded, bleeding, and pathetic, Gloucester is further tortured by Regan. She tells him that Edmund, the son whom he calls for in his pain, has betrayed his father and hates him fully. Her words cause Gloucester's heart more pain than that being felt by his body. Like Lear, he is fully pained by the misjudgment of his children. At the close of the scene, Cornwall, fatally wounded in the foray, is led away by Regan. After their departure, a brief conversation occurs among several of Cornwall's servants; they condemn the acts of Cornwall and Regan and judge them to be totally evil.

Notes This scene is one of the cruelest in all of drama as Regan and Cornwall inflict their torture upon Gloucester. Although the old man has been blind to the morality of the world, misjudging the virtue of Edgar and the evil of Edmund, he does not deserve to have his eyes gouged into physical blindness. The physical torture, however, is not as bad as the torture of the truth. Regan cruelly tells Gloucester that it was Edmund who turned him in and that his son truly hates him. Without trying to offer any excuses for his misjudgment, he assumes the burden of guilt and prays for Edgar's well being. He still has faith in the morality of the world and believes that evil will be punished. There is one element of redemption in the scene. Cornwall's own servant lashes out against his master for his cruelty to Gloucester. Even though Cornwall is a repugnant and immoral soul, his servants have not conformed to his warped view of humanity. Unfortunately, the evil ones still have the upper hand, and the kind servant is cruelly killed for his support of Gloucester; but Cornwall is wounded in the foray as well.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/14.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_17_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 1

act 4, scene 1

{"name": "Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear30.asp", "summary": "Still disguised as the filthy beggar Tom, Edgar tries to be optimistic and cheerful. He says that it is better to be openly despised than to be openly flattered and secretly despised. In his beggar's garb, he is no longer troubled by the contempt that society heaps on him. Then an old man leads Gloucester in front of Edgar. At the sight of his blinded father, Edgar's optimism breaks down. He feels tremendous pity for his father and knows that his own misfortunes are nothing in comparison to Gloucester's anguish. Still ignorant of the beggar's true identity, Gloucester asks Edgar to lead him to a cliff in Dover. Edgar agrees, and the two set out, a beggar leading a blind man.", "analysis": "Notes In his soliloquy, Edgar is presented as a model of patience and endurance in the face of adversity. He believes that he has suffered the worst that fate has in store for him and adopts a cheerful attitude for his circumstances. His optimism is quickly dashed, however, when the \"blinded and bloody\" Gloucester is led before him. Gloucester, driven to the edge of sanity, states, \"I stumbled when I saw. \" It is a reference to his figurative blindness when he could actually see; he was unable to view the truth of his sons' hearts and misjudged them both foolishly. His figurative blindness led him to stumble--to make the mistake of accepting Edmund and banishing Edgar. Now that he is literally blind, he longs for Edgar, not realizing he is at hand. He dreams of touching his son once again and says, \"Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I'd say I have eyes again.\" Gloucester's pain and misery is great, just like the pain and misery felt by Lear, who also misjudged his offspring. Gloucester is embittered by his fate and says, \"As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods/ They kill us for their sport.\" But in his misery, Gloucester has a new identification with humanity, much like Lear. Still unaware that the beggar is his son, he hands over his purse to him in generosity. Critics have often questioned why Shakespeare does not allow Edgar to reveal himself to Gloucester at this point. The answer seems to be that Gloucester must hit rock bottom, going far beyond ordinary human suffering, before he can be spiritually redeemed."}

Actus Quartus. Scena Prima. Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and knowne to be contemn'd, Then still contemn'd and flatter'd, to be worst: The lowest, and most deiected thing of Fortune, Stands still in esperance, liues not in feare: The lamentable change is from the best, The worst returnes to laughter. Welcome then, Thou vnsubstantiall ayre that I embrace: The Wretch that thou hast blowne vnto the worst, Owes nothing to thy blasts. Enter Glouster, and an Oldman. But who comes heere? My Father poorely led? World, World, O world! But that thy strange mutations make vs hate thee, Life would not yeelde to age Oldm. O my good Lord, I haue bene your Tenant, And your Fathers Tenant, these fourescore yeares Glou. Away, get thee away: good Friend be gone, Thy comforts can do me no good at all, Thee, they may hurt Oldm. You cannot see your way Glou. I haue no way, and therefore want no eyes: I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seene, Our meanes secure vs, and our meere defects Proue our Commodities. Oh deere Sonne Edgar, The food of thy abused Fathers wrath: Might I but liue to see thee in my touch, I'ld say I had eyes againe Oldm. How now? who's there? Edg. O Gods! Who is't can say I am at the worst? I am worse then ere I was Old. 'Tis poore mad Tom Edg. And worse I may be yet: the worst is not, So long as we can say this is the worst Oldm. Fellow, where goest? Glou. Is it a Beggar-man? Oldm. Madman, and beggar too Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. I'th' last nights storme, I such a fellow saw; Which made me thinke a Man, a Worme. My Sonne Came then into my minde, and yet my minde Was then scarse Friends with him. I haue heard more since: As Flies to wanton Boyes, are we to th' Gods, They kill vs for their sport Edg. How should this be? Bad is the Trade that must play Foole to sorrow, Ang'ring it selfe, and others. Blesse thee Master Glou. Is that the naked Fellow? Oldm. I, my Lord Glou. Get thee away: If for my sake Thou wilt ore-take vs hence a mile or twaine I'th' way toward Douer, do it for ancient loue, And bring some couering for this naked Soule, Which Ile intreate to leade me Old. Alacke sir, he is mad Glou. 'Tis the times plague, When Madmen leade the blinde: Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure: Aboue the rest, be gone Oldm. Ile bring him the best Parrell that I haue Come on't what will. Exit Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow Edg. Poore Tom's a cold. I cannot daub it further Glou. Come hither fellow Edg. And yet I must: Blesse thy sweete eyes, they bleede Glou. Know'st thou the way to Douer? Edg. Both style, and gate; Horseway, and foot-path: poore Tom hath bin scarr'd out of his good wits. Blesse thee good mans sonne, from the foule Fiend Glou. Here take this purse, y whom the heau'ns plagues Haue humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched Makes thee the happier: Heauens deale so still: Let the superfluous, and Lust-dieted man, That slaues your ordinance, that will not see Because he do's not feele, feele your powre quickly: So distribution should vndoo excesse, And each man haue enough. Dost thou know Douer? Edg. I Master Glou. There is a Cliffe, whose high and bending head Lookes fearfully in the confined Deepe: Bring me but to the very brimme of it, And Ile repayre the misery thou do'st beare With something rich about me: from that place, I shall no leading neede Edg. Giue me thy arme; Poore Tom shall leade thee. Exeunt.

Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear30.asp

Still disguised as the filthy beggar Tom, Edgar tries to be optimistic and cheerful. He says that it is better to be openly despised than to be openly flattered and secretly despised. In his beggar's garb, he is no longer troubled by the contempt that society heaps on him. Then an old man leads Gloucester in front of Edgar. At the sight of his blinded father, Edgar's optimism breaks down. He feels tremendous pity for his father and knows that his own misfortunes are nothing in comparison to Gloucester's anguish. Still ignorant of the beggar's true identity, Gloucester asks Edgar to lead him to a cliff in Dover. Edgar agrees, and the two set out, a beggar leading a blind man.

Notes In his soliloquy, Edgar is presented as a model of patience and endurance in the face of adversity. He believes that he has suffered the worst that fate has in store for him and adopts a cheerful attitude for his circumstances. His optimism is quickly dashed, however, when the "blinded and bloody" Gloucester is led before him. Gloucester, driven to the edge of sanity, states, "I stumbled when I saw. " It is a reference to his figurative blindness when he could actually see; he was unable to view the truth of his sons' hearts and misjudged them both foolishly. His figurative blindness led him to stumble--to make the mistake of accepting Edmund and banishing Edgar. Now that he is literally blind, he longs for Edgar, not realizing he is at hand. He dreams of touching his son once again and says, "Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I'd say I have eyes again." Gloucester's pain and misery is great, just like the pain and misery felt by Lear, who also misjudged his offspring. Gloucester is embittered by his fate and says, "As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods/ They kill us for their sport." But in his misery, Gloucester has a new identification with humanity, much like Lear. Still unaware that the beggar is his son, he hands over his purse to him in generosity. Critics have often questioned why Shakespeare does not allow Edgar to reveal himself to Gloucester at this point. The answer seems to be that Gloucester must hit rock bottom, going far beyond ordinary human suffering, before he can be spiritually redeemed.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/15.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_18_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 2

act 4, scene 2

{"name": "Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear31.asp", "summary": "Back at the castle, Oswald informs Goneril that her husband, Albany, is behaving strangely. Although earlier he had been too weak to restrain his wife's cruelty, now he is condemning her and Edmund, looking forward to the King of France's arrival in Dover. Goneril is displeased and declares she will take over. She also reveals her passion for Edmund and asks him to be her mate. Edmund, now the Earl of Gloucester, swears his love and loyalty to Goneril. He then leaves with a message for Regan, warning her to mobilize her army. Albany enters and openly accuses his wife of cruelty and filial ingratitude. He is sure that Goneril's deeds will bring the vengeance of heaven upon her. Although Goneril protests, Albany is unmoved, which greatly angers her. It is clear that husband and wife both detest each other. Their quarrel is interrupted by a messenger, who brings news of Cornwall's death. He has died from the wound he received while fighting one of his own servants. Albany is also shocked to learn that Gloucester has been blinded. Before departing, the messenger gives Goneril a letter from Regan. She secretly fears that her sister, now a widow, will become her rival for Edmund's love. Her mind filled with dark thoughts as she leaves the stage. Albany finds out the details of Gloucester's tragedy and the part that Edmund has played in it. His worst suspicions about Goneril and Regan are now confirmed. He is also fearful of Edmund, believing that he is powerful enough to bring even greater disaster on the kingdom. Albany decides his course of action; he will do his duty to avert further evils and to \"revenge Gloucester's eyes.\"", "analysis": "Notes Previously in the play, Albany has been portrayed as a weak character, unable to stand up to the strength of his evil wife. In this scene, Albany emerges as a strong character, filled with moral courage to do what is right. First he argues with Goneril, accusing her of filial ingratitude and warning her that heaven will send its vengeance upon her. She calls him a coward, showing her contempt for her \"mild husband;\" she despises the fact that he is compassionate, humane and morally upright. He tells her, \"O Goneril! You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face.\" He finds her cruelty to Lear unforgivable and asserts that the mistreatment of a parent will ensure that the offspring \"perforce must wither and come to deadly use.\" The news of Gloucester's blinding is a shock to Albany; but Cornwall's death is even more shocking for both Cornwall and his wife. With Cornwall's passing, Albany is now the King of Britain, and Goneril is his queen. In spite of this fact, he is still eager for the arrival of the French forces in England, hoping they will avenge Lear's ill treatment. He personally swears to avenge Gloucester's blinding. It is not surprising that Goneril, in rejecting her husband, turns her passion towards the evil Edmund, who also declares his love and loyalty for her; since he is an amoral being, it makes no difference to him that Goneril is the wife of Albany, now King of England. At the end of the scene, however, Goneril is troubled; she fears that Regan, her widowed sister, will have an interest in Edmund and win his love."}

Scena Secunda. Enter Gonerill, Bastard, and Steward. Gon. Welcome my Lord. I meruell our mild husband Not met vs on the way. Now, where's your Master? Stew. Madam within, but neuer man so chang'd: I told him of the Army that was Landed: He smil'd at it. I told him you were comming, His answer was, the worse. Of Glosters Treachery, And of the loyall Seruice of his Sonne When I inform'd him, then he call'd me Sot, And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out: What most he should dislike, seemes pleasant to him; What like, offensiue Gon. Then shall you go no further. It is the Cowish terror of his spirit That dares not vndertake: Hee'l not feele wrongs Which tye him to an answer: our wishes on the way May proue effects. Backe Edmond to my Brother, Hasten his Musters, and conduct his powres. I must change names at home, and giue the Distaffe Into my Husbands hands. This trustie Seruant Shall passe betweene vs: ere long you are like to heare (If you dare venture in your owne behalfe) A Mistresses command. Weare this; spare speech, Decline your head. This kisse, if it durst speake Would stretch thy Spirits vp into the ayre: Conceiue, and fare thee well Bast. Yours in the rankes of death. Enter. Gon. My most deere Gloster. Oh, the difference of man, and man, To thee a Womans seruices are due, My Foole vsurpes my body Stew. Madam, here come's my Lord. Enter Albany. Gon. I haue beene worth the whistle Alb. Oh Gonerill, You are not worth the dust which the rude winde Blowes in your face Gon. Milke-Liuer'd man, That bear'st a cheeke for blowes, a head for wrongs, Who hast not in thy browes an eye-discerning Thine Honor, from thy suffering Alb. See thy selfe diuell: Proper deformitie seemes not in the Fiend So horrid as in woman Gon. Oh vaine Foole. Enter a Messenger. Mes. Oh my good Lord, the Duke of Cornwals dead, Slaine by his Seruant, going to put out The other eye of Glouster Alb. Glousters eyes Mes. A Seruant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse, Oppos'd against the act: bending his Sword To his great Master, who, threat-enrag'd Flew on him, and among'st them fell'd him dead, But not without that harmefull stroke, which since Hath pluckt him after Alb. This shewes you are aboue You Iustices, that these our neather crimes So speedily can venge. But (O poore Glouster) Lost he his other eye? Mes. Both, both, my Lord. This Leter Madam, craues a speedy answer: 'Tis from your Sister Gon. One way I like this well. But being widdow, and my Glouster with her, May all the building in my fancie plucke Vpon my hatefull life. Another way The Newes is not so tart. Ile read, and answer Alb. Where was his Sonne, When they did take his eyes? Mes. Come with my Lady hither Alb. He is not heere Mes. No my good Lord, I met him backe againe Alb. Knowes he the wickednesse? Mes. I my good Lord: 'twas he inform'd against him And quit the house on purpose, that their punishment Might haue the freer course Alb. Glouster, I liue To thanke thee for the loue thou shew'dst the King, And to reuenge thine eyes. Come hither Friend, Tell me what more thou know'st. Exeunt.

Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear31.asp

Back at the castle, Oswald informs Goneril that her husband, Albany, is behaving strangely. Although earlier he had been too weak to restrain his wife's cruelty, now he is condemning her and Edmund, looking forward to the King of France's arrival in Dover. Goneril is displeased and declares she will take over. She also reveals her passion for Edmund and asks him to be her mate. Edmund, now the Earl of Gloucester, swears his love and loyalty to Goneril. He then leaves with a message for Regan, warning her to mobilize her army. Albany enters and openly accuses his wife of cruelty and filial ingratitude. He is sure that Goneril's deeds will bring the vengeance of heaven upon her. Although Goneril protests, Albany is unmoved, which greatly angers her. It is clear that husband and wife both detest each other. Their quarrel is interrupted by a messenger, who brings news of Cornwall's death. He has died from the wound he received while fighting one of his own servants. Albany is also shocked to learn that Gloucester has been blinded. Before departing, the messenger gives Goneril a letter from Regan. She secretly fears that her sister, now a widow, will become her rival for Edmund's love. Her mind filled with dark thoughts as she leaves the stage. Albany finds out the details of Gloucester's tragedy and the part that Edmund has played in it. His worst suspicions about Goneril and Regan are now confirmed. He is also fearful of Edmund, believing that he is powerful enough to bring even greater disaster on the kingdom. Albany decides his course of action; he will do his duty to avert further evils and to "revenge Gloucester's eyes."

Notes Previously in the play, Albany has been portrayed as a weak character, unable to stand up to the strength of his evil wife. In this scene, Albany emerges as a strong character, filled with moral courage to do what is right. First he argues with Goneril, accusing her of filial ingratitude and warning her that heaven will send its vengeance upon her. She calls him a coward, showing her contempt for her "mild husband;" she despises the fact that he is compassionate, humane and morally upright. He tells her, "O Goneril! You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face." He finds her cruelty to Lear unforgivable and asserts that the mistreatment of a parent will ensure that the offspring "perforce must wither and come to deadly use." The news of Gloucester's blinding is a shock to Albany; but Cornwall's death is even more shocking for both Cornwall and his wife. With Cornwall's passing, Albany is now the King of Britain, and Goneril is his queen. In spite of this fact, he is still eager for the arrival of the French forces in England, hoping they will avenge Lear's ill treatment. He personally swears to avenge Gloucester's blinding. It is not surprising that Goneril, in rejecting her husband, turns her passion towards the evil Edmund, who also declares his love and loyalty for her; since he is an amoral being, it makes no difference to him that Goneril is the wife of Albany, now King of England. At the end of the scene, however, Goneril is troubled; she fears that Regan, her widowed sister, will have an interest in Edmund and win his love.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/16.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_19_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 3

act 4, scene 3

{"name": "Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear32.asp", "summary": "At Dover, Kent learns from the Gentleman that the King of France has been called back to his own country, but French troops have arrived in England. The Gentleman also describes Cordelia's reactions to the letter Kent had written, telling of her father's miseries. Cordelia had wept upon reading about Lear's tragic plight. Her love shines brightly in the dark world of hatred and treachery. Kent is amazed that the kind Cordelia is really a sister to Goneril and Regan. Kent informs the Gentleman that an insane Lear has arrived in Dover. Amidst his ranting and raving, he sometimes remembers that he has banished the kind Cordelia. Although he would love to see her, his \"burning shame detains him from Cordelia.\" After his explanation, Kent sends the Gentleman to attend to the King. Kent himself will remain in hiding, for one \"dear cause\" yet remains undone.", "analysis": "Notes This short scene is often excluded from the production of the play, judged to be unimportant. It does, however, present several important pieces of information. The French troops have arrived in England, but Cordelia's husband, the King of France, has been called home; without adequate leadership, it seems likely that the French army will be defeated. Additionally, the scene reveals that Lear has arrived in Dover in a state of near insanity. In his few lucid moments, he bemoans the fact that he has banished Cordelia and longs to see her even though he is too ashamed to face her. The emphasis on Cordelia in the scene seems to foreshadow that she will eventually take control of the situation and help her father."}

Scena Tertia. Enter with Drum and Colours, Cordelia, Gentlemen, and Souldiours. Cor. Alacke, 'tis he: why he was met euen now As mad as the vext Sea, singing alowd. Crown'd with ranke Fenitar, and furrow weeds, With Hardokes, Hemlocke, Nettles, Cuckoo flowres, Darnell, and all the idle weedes that grow In our sustaining Corne. A Centery send forth; Search euery Acre in the high-growne field, And bring him to our eye. What can mans wisedome In the restoring his bereaued Sense; he that helpes him, Take all my outward worth Gent. There is meanes Madam: Our foster Nurse of Nature, is repose, The which he lackes: that to prouoke in him Are many Simples operatiue, whose power Will close the eye of Anguish Cord. All blest Secrets, All you vnpublish'd Vertues of the earth Spring with my teares; be aydant, and remediate In the Goodmans desires: seeke, seeke for him, Least his vngouern'd rage, dissolue the life That wants the meanes to leade it. Enter Messenger. Mes. Newes Madam, The Brittish Powres are marching hitherward Cor. 'Tis knowne before. Our preparation stands In expectation of them. O deere Father, It is thy businesse that I go about: Therfore great France My mourning, and importun'd teares hath pittied: No blowne Ambition doth our Armes incite, But loue, deere loue, and our ag'd Fathers Rite: Soone may I heare, and see him. Exeunt.

Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear32.asp

At Dover, Kent learns from the Gentleman that the King of France has been called back to his own country, but French troops have arrived in England. The Gentleman also describes Cordelia's reactions to the letter Kent had written, telling of her father's miseries. Cordelia had wept upon reading about Lear's tragic plight. Her love shines brightly in the dark world of hatred and treachery. Kent is amazed that the kind Cordelia is really a sister to Goneril and Regan. Kent informs the Gentleman that an insane Lear has arrived in Dover. Amidst his ranting and raving, he sometimes remembers that he has banished the kind Cordelia. Although he would love to see her, his "burning shame detains him from Cordelia." After his explanation, Kent sends the Gentleman to attend to the King. Kent himself will remain in hiding, for one "dear cause" yet remains undone.

Notes This short scene is often excluded from the production of the play, judged to be unimportant. It does, however, present several important pieces of information. The French troops have arrived in England, but Cordelia's husband, the King of France, has been called home; without adequate leadership, it seems likely that the French army will be defeated. Additionally, the scene reveals that Lear has arrived in Dover in a state of near insanity. In his few lucid moments, he bemoans the fact that he has banished Cordelia and longs to see her even though he is too ashamed to face her. The emphasis on Cordelia in the scene seems to foreshadow that she will eventually take control of the situation and help her father.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/17.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_20_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 4

act 4, scene 4

{"name": "Scene 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear33.asp", "summary": "Cordelia hears that Lear is wandering about in a deranged state of mind and is very afraid that grief will kill him. She has sought the help of a doctor, who advises that the King needs rest and herbs to help his health. She gives orders to her soldiers that they should look for Lear and bring him to her. A messenger enters with news of the movements of the British army. Cordelia states that the French invasion has only one aim - to restore Lear to his throne. She explains that she is on a mission of love, not of conquest.", "analysis": "Notes Cordelia is portrayed is a model of spiritual beauty in her compassion for her tormented, old father. She has heard about his deranged state and worries that he may die from grief over his mistreatment at the hands of her sisters. She herself has totally forgiven Lear for rejecting her for her guileless nature. She has come to Britain to heal the King and restore his sanity and power, not to invade, conquer, or gain power for herself."}

Scena Quarta. Enter Regan, and Steward. Reg. But are my Brothers Powres set forth? Stew. I Madam Reg. Himselfe in person there? Stew. Madam with much ado: Your Sister is the better Souldier Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your Lord at home? Stew. No Madam Reg. What might import my Sisters Letter to him? Stew. I know not, Lady Reg. Faith he is poasted hence on serious matter: It was great ignorance, Glousters eyes being out To let him liue. Where he arriues, he moues All hearts against vs: Edmund, I thinke is gone In pitty of his misery, to dispatch His nighted life: Moreouer to descry The strength o'th' Enemy Stew. I must needs after him, Madam, with my Letter Reg. Our troopes set forth to morrow, stay with vs: The wayes are dangerous Stew. I may not Madam: My Lady charg'd my dutie in this busines Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might not you transport her purposes by word? Belike, Some things, I know not what. Ile loue thee much Let me vnseale the Letter Stew. Madam, I had rather- Reg. I know your Lady do's not loue her Husband, I am sure of that: and at her late being heere, She gaue strange Eliads, and most speaking lookes To Noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosome Stew. I, Madam? Reg. I speake in vnderstanding: Y'are: I know't, Therefore I do aduise you take this note: My Lord is dead: Edmond, and I haue talk'd, And more conuenient is he for my hand Then for your Ladies: You may gather more: If you do finde him, pray you giue him this; And when your Mistris heares thus much from you, I pray desire her call her wisedome to her. So fare you well: If you do chance to heare of that blinde Traitor, Preferment fals on him, that cuts him off Stew. Would I could meet Madam, I should shew What party I do follow Reg. Fare thee well. Exeunt.

Scene 4

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear33.asp

Cordelia hears that Lear is wandering about in a deranged state of mind and is very afraid that grief will kill him. She has sought the help of a doctor, who advises that the King needs rest and herbs to help his health. She gives orders to her soldiers that they should look for Lear and bring him to her. A messenger enters with news of the movements of the British army. Cordelia states that the French invasion has only one aim - to restore Lear to his throne. She explains that she is on a mission of love, not of conquest.

Notes Cordelia is portrayed is a model of spiritual beauty in her compassion for her tormented, old father. She has heard about his deranged state and worries that he may die from grief over his mistreatment at the hands of her sisters. She herself has totally forgiven Lear for rejecting her for her guileless nature. She has come to Britain to heal the King and restore his sanity and power, not to invade, conquer, or gain power for herself.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/18.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_21_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 5

act 4, scene 5

{"name": "Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear34.asp", "summary": "Goneril and Regan have become adversaries, both scheming to win Edmund's love. Goneril sends a letter to Edmund through her trusted servant, Oswald. Upon reaching Gloucester Castle, Oswald is met by Regan, who tries to persuade him to reveal the contents of Goneril's letter. When he refuses, their conversation turns to the state of affairs in England. He tells her that Albany is quite reluctant to take up arms against the French army. Goneril tells Oswald that Gloucester is turning people against them and that his being alive has brought unnecessary problems. Edmund has, therefore, gone to kill his father. Regan again tries to get Goneril's letter from Oswald, but he refuses. Regan then confides that she is to wed Edmund. He has supposedly decided that Regan is the better match for him, since she is a widow. She asks Oswald to convey this news to Goneril and to convince her to act wisely. What Regan does not know is that Goneril has planned to kill Albany, becoming a widow herself; she will then be free to wed Edmund. The two evil sisters are vying to outdo each other in their wickedness.", "analysis": "Notes It is not surprising that the two evil sisters have turned against one another, for neither knows the meaning of loyalty. Desperate to have the love of Edmund, Regan has planned the murder of her husband, Albany; his death will make her a widow and free her to marry Edmund. But according to Goneril, the two-faced, amoral Edmund has already pledged himself to marry Goneril, even though he has told Regan that he loved her. By creating this sibling rivalry, Shakespeare further complicates an already complex plot."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Gloucester, and Edgar. Glou. When shall I come to th' top of that same hill? Edg. You do climbe vp it now. Look how we labor Glou. Me thinkes the ground is eeuen Edg. Horrible steepe. Hearke, do you heare the Sea? Glou. No truly Edg. Why then your other Senses grow imperfect By your eyes anguish Glou. So may it be indeed. Me thinkes thy voyce is alter'd, and thou speak'st In better phrase, and matter then thou did'st Edg. Y'are much deceiu'd: In nothing am I chang'd But in my Garments Glou. Me thinkes y'are better spoken Edg. Come on Sir, Heere's the place: stand still: how fearefull And dizie 'tis, to cast ones eyes so low, The Crowes and Choughes, that wing the midway ayre Shew scarse so grosse as Beetles. Halfe way downe Hangs one that gathers Sampire: dreadfull Trade: Me thinkes he seemes no bigger then his head. The Fishermen, that walk'd vpon the beach Appeare like Mice: and yond tall Anchoring Barke, Diminish'd to her Cocke: her Cocke, a Buoy Almost too small for sight. The murmuring Surge, That on th' vnnumbred idle Pebble chafes Cannot be heard so high. Ile looke no more, Least my braine turne, and the deficient sight Topple downe headlong Glou. Set me where you stand Edg. Giue me your hand: You are now within a foote of th' extreme Verge: For all beneath the Moone would I not leape vpright Glou. Let go my hand: Heere Friend's another purse: in it, a Iewell Well worth a poore mans taking. Fayries, and Gods Prosper it with thee. Go thou further off, Bid me farewell, and let me heare thee going Edg. Now fare ye well, good Sir Glou. With all my heart Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his dispaire, Is done to cure it Glou. O you mighty Gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights Shake patiently my great affliction off: If I could beare it longer, and not fall To quarrell with your great opposelesse willes, My snuffe, and loathed part of Nature should Burne it selfe out. If Edgar liue, O blesse him: Now Fellow, fare thee well Edg. Gone Sir, farewell: And yet I know not how conceit may rob The Treasury of life, when life it selfe Yeelds to the Theft. Had he bin where he thought, By this had thought bin past. Aliue, or dead? Hoa, you Sir: Friend, heare you Sir, speake: Thus might he passe indeed: yet he reuiues. What are you Sir? Glou. Away, and let me dye Edg. Had'st thou beene ought But Gozemore, Feathers, Ayre, (So many fathome downe precipitating) Thou'dst shiuer'd like an Egge: but thou do'st breath: Hast heauy substance, bleed'st not, speak'st, art sound, Ten Masts at each, make not the altitude Which thou hast perpendicularly fell, Thy life's a Myracle. Speake yet againe Glou. But haue I falne, or no? Edg. From the dread Somnet of this Chalkie Bourne Looke vp a height, the shrill-gorg'd Larke so farre Cannot be seene, or heard: Do but looke vp Glou. Alacke, I haue no eyes: Is wretchednesse depriu'd that benefit To end it selfe by death? 'Twas yet some comfort, When misery could beguile the Tyrants rage, And frustrate his proud will Edg. Giue me your arme. Vp, so: How is't? Feele you your Legges? You stand Glou. Too well, too well Edg. This is aboue all strangenesse, Vpon the crowne o'th' Cliffe. What thing was that Which parted from you? Glou. A poore vnfortunate Beggar Edg. As I stood heere below, me thought his eyes Were two full Moones: he had a thousand Noses, Hornes wealk'd, and waued like the enraged Sea: It was some Fiend: Therefore thou happy Father, Thinke that the cleerest Gods, who make them Honors Of mens Impossibilities, haue preserued thee Glou. I do remember now: henceforth Ile beare Affliction, till it do cry out it selfe Enough, enough, and dye. That thing you speake of, I tooke it for a man: often 'twould say The Fiend, the Fiend, he led me to that place Edgar. Beare free and patient thoughts. Enter Lear. But who comes heere? The safer sense will ne're accommodate His Master thus Lear. No, they cannot touch me for crying. I am the King himselfe Edg. O thou side-piercing sight! Lear. Nature's aboue Art, in that respect. Ther's your Presse-money. That fellow handles his bow, like a Crowkeeper: draw mee a Cloathiers yard. Looke, looke, a Mouse: peace, peace, this peece of toasted Cheese will doo't. There's my Gauntlet, Ile proue it on a Gyant. Bring vp the browne Billes. O well flowne Bird: i'th' clout, i'th' clout: Hewgh. Giue the word Edg. Sweet Mariorum Lear. Passe Glou. I know that voice Lear. Ha! Gonerill with a white beard? They flatter'd me like a Dogge, and told mee I had the white hayres in my Beard, ere the blacke ones were there. To say I, and no, to euery thing that I said: I, and no too, was no good Diuinity. When the raine came to wet me once, and the winde to make me chatter: when the Thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go too, they are not men o'their words; they told me, I was euery thing: 'Tis a Lye, I am not Agu-proofe Glou. The tricke of that voyce, I do well remember: Is't not the King? Lear. I, euery inch a King. When I do stare, see how the Subiect quakes. I pardon that mans life. What was thy cause? Adultery? thou shalt not dye: dye for Adultery? No, the Wren goes too't, and the small gilded Fly Do's letcher in my sight. Let Copulation thriue: For Glousters bastard Son was kinder to his Father, Then my Daughters got 'tweene the lawfull sheets. Too't Luxury pell-mell, for I lacke Souldiers. Behold yond simpring Dame, whose face betweene her Forkes presages Snow; that minces Vertue, & do's shake the head to heare of pleasures name. The Fitchew, nor the soyled Horse goes too't with a more riotous appetite: Downe from the waste they are Centaures, though Women all aboue: but to the Girdle do the Gods inherit, beneath is all the Fiends. There's hell, there's darkenes, there is the sulphurous pit; burning, scalding, stench, consumption: Fye, fie, fie; pah, pah: Giue me an Ounce of Ciuet; good Apothecary sweeten my immagination: There's money for thee Glou. O let me kisse that hand Lear. Let me wipe it first, It smelles of Mortality Glou. O ruin'd peece of Nature, this great world Shall so weare out to naught. Do'st thou know me? Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough: dost thou squiny at me? No, doe thy worst blinde Cupid, Ile not loue. Reade thou this challenge, marke but the penning of it Glou. Were all thy Letters Sunnes, I could not see Edg. I would not take this from report, It is, and my heart breakes at it Lear. Read Glou. What with the Case of eyes? Lear. Oh ho, are you there with me? No eies in your head, nor no mony in your purse? Your eyes are in a heauy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes Glou. I see it feelingly Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes, with no eyes. Looke with thine eares: See how yond Iustice railes vpon yond simple theefe. Hearke in thine eare: Change places, and handy-dandy, which is the Iustice, which is the theefe: Thou hast seene a Farmers dogge barke at a Beggar? Glou. I Sir Lear. And the Creature run from the Cur: there thou might'st behold the great image of Authoritie, a Dogg's obey'd in Office. Thou, Rascall Beadle, hold thy bloody hand: why dost thou lash that Whore? Strip thy owne backe, thou hotly lusts to vse her in that kind, for which thou whip'st her. The Vsurer hangs the Cozener. Thorough tatter'd cloathes great Vices do appeare: Robes, and Furr'd gownes hide all. Place sinnes with Gold, and the strong Lance of Iustice, hurtlesse breakes: Arme it in ragges, a Pigmies straw do's pierce it. None do's offend, none, I say none, Ile able 'em; take that of me my Friend, who haue the power to seale th' accusers lips. Get thee glasse-eyes, and like a scuruy Politician, seeme to see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now. Pull off my Bootes: harder, harder, so Edg. O matter, and impertinency mixt, Reason in Madnesse Lear. If thou wilt weepe my Fortunes, take my eyes. I know thee well enough, thy name is Glouster: Thou must be patient; we came crying hither: Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the Ayre We wawle, and cry. I will preach to thee: Marke Glou. Alacke, alacke the day Lear. When we are borne, we cry that we are come To this great stage of Fooles. This a good blocke: It were a delicate stratagem to shoo A Troope of Horse with Felt: Ile put't in proofe, And when I haue stolne vpon these Son in Lawes, Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Enter a Gentleman. Gent. Oh heere he is: lay hand vpon him, Sir. Your most deere Daughter- Lear. No rescue? What, a Prisoner? I am euen The Naturall Foole of Fortune. Vse me well, You shall haue ransome. Let me haue Surgeons, I am cut to'th' Braines Gent. You shall haue any thing Lear. No Seconds? All my selfe? Why, this would make a man, a man of Salt To vse his eyes for Garden water-pots. I wil die brauely, Like a smugge Bridegroome. What? I will be Iouiall: Come, come, I am a King, Masters, know you that? Gent. You are a Royall one, and we obey you Lear. Then there's life in't. Come, and you get it, You shall get it by running: Sa, sa, sa, sa. Enter. Gent. A sight most pittifull in the meanest wretch, Past speaking of in a King. Thou hast a Daughter Who redeemes Nature from the generall curse Which twaine haue brought her to Edg. Haile gentle Sir Gent. Sir, speed you: what's your will? Edg. Do you heare ought (Sir) of a Battell toward Gent. Most sure, and vulgar: Euery one heares that, which can distinguish sound Edg. But by your fauour: How neere's the other Army? Gent. Neere, and on speedy foot: the maine descry Stands on the hourely thought Edg. I thanke you Sir, that's all Gent. Though that the Queen on special cause is here Her Army is mou'd on. Enter. Edg. I thanke you Sir Glou. You euer gentle Gods, take my breath from me, Let not my worser Spirit tempt me againe To dye before you please Edg. Well pray you Father Glou. Now good sir, what are you? Edg. A most poore man, made tame to Fortunes blows Who, by the Art of knowne, and feeling sorrowes, Am pregnant to good pitty. Giue me your hand, Ile leade you to some biding Glou. Heartie thankes: The bountie, and the benizon of Heauen To boot, and boot. Enter Steward. Stew. A proclaim'd prize: most happie That eyelesse head of thine, was first fram'd flesh To raise my fortunes. Thou old, vnhappy Traitor, Breefely thy selfe remember: the Sword is out That must destroy thee Glou. Now let thy friendly hand Put strength enough too't Stew. Wherefore, bold Pezant, Dar'st thou support a publish'd Traitor? Hence, Least that th' infection of his fortune take Like hold on thee. Let go his arme Edg. Chill not let go Zir, Without vurther 'casion Stew. Let go Slaue, or thou dy'st Edg. Good Gentleman goe your gate, and let poore volke passe: and 'chud ha' bin zwaggerd out of my life, 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 'tis, by a vortnight. Nay, come not neere th' old man: keepe out che vor' ye, or Ile try whither your Costard, or my Ballow be the harder; chill be plaine with you Stew. Out Dunghill Edg. Chill picke your teeth Zir: come, no matter vor your foynes Stew. Slaue thou hast slaine me: Villain, take my purse; If euer thou wilt thriue, bury my bodie, And giue the Letters which thou find'st about me, To Edmund Earle of Glouster: seeke him out Vpon the English party. Oh vntimely death, death Edg. I know thee well. A seruiceable Villaine, As duteous to the vices of thy Mistris, As badnesse would desire Glou. What, is he dead? Edg. Sit you downe Father: rest you. Let's see these Pockets; the Letters that he speakes of May be my Friends: hee's dead; I am onely sorry He had no other Deathsman. Let vs see: Leaue gentle waxe, and manners: blame vs not To know our enemies mindes, we rip their hearts, Their Papers is more lawfull. Reads the Letter. Let our reciprocall vowes be remembred. You haue manie opportunities to cut him off: if your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully offer'd. There is nothing done. If hee returne the Conqueror, then am I the Prisoner, and his bed, my Gaole, from the loathed warmth whereof, deliuer me, and supply the place for your Labour. Your (Wife, so I would say) affectionate Seruant. Gonerill. Oh indistinguish'd space of Womans will, A plot vpon her vertuous Husbands life, And the exchange my Brother: heere, in the sands Thee Ile rake vp, the poste vnsanctified Of murtherous Letchers: and in the mature time, With this vngracious paper strike the sight Of the death-practis'd Duke: for him 'tis well, That of thy death, and businesse, I can tell Glou. The King is mad: How stiffe is my vilde sense That I stand vp, and haue ingenious feeling Of my huge Sorrowes? Better I were distract, So should my thoughts be seuer'd from my greefes, Drum afarre off. And woes, by wrong imaginations loose The knowledge of themselues Edg. Giue me your hand: Farre off methinkes I heare the beaten Drumme. Come Father, Ile bestow you with a Friend. Exeunt.

Scene 5

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear34.asp

Goneril and Regan have become adversaries, both scheming to win Edmund's love. Goneril sends a letter to Edmund through her trusted servant, Oswald. Upon reaching Gloucester Castle, Oswald is met by Regan, who tries to persuade him to reveal the contents of Goneril's letter. When he refuses, their conversation turns to the state of affairs in England. He tells her that Albany is quite reluctant to take up arms against the French army. Goneril tells Oswald that Gloucester is turning people against them and that his being alive has brought unnecessary problems. Edmund has, therefore, gone to kill his father. Regan again tries to get Goneril's letter from Oswald, but he refuses. Regan then confides that she is to wed Edmund. He has supposedly decided that Regan is the better match for him, since she is a widow. She asks Oswald to convey this news to Goneril and to convince her to act wisely. What Regan does not know is that Goneril has planned to kill Albany, becoming a widow herself; she will then be free to wed Edmund. The two evil sisters are vying to outdo each other in their wickedness.

Notes It is not surprising that the two evil sisters have turned against one another, for neither knows the meaning of loyalty. Desperate to have the love of Edmund, Regan has planned the murder of her husband, Albany; his death will make her a widow and free her to marry Edmund. But according to Goneril, the two-faced, amoral Edmund has already pledged himself to marry Goneril, even though he has told Regan that he loved her. By creating this sibling rivalry, Shakespeare further complicates an already complex plot.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/23.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_23_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 7

act 4, scene 7

{"name": "Scene 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear36.asp", "summary": "Cordelia is in her camp near Dover with Kent, a doctor, and others. Cordelia thanks Kent for all that he has done for her father. When Cordelia asks the doctor about the condition of her father who has been brought to her, the doctor replies that the king is still asleep. A sleeping Lear is brought on the scene, and Cordelia kneels before him, waiting for him to wake up. The doctor assures her that the king will be all right. Cordelia gives her father's cheek a kiss. Lear opens his eyes and sees Cordelia looking at him with both love and pity. In his amazement, he thinks she is a spirit come to comfort his poor, tormented soul. When Cordelia asks him if he knows her, Lear replies that she is a spirit. Totally dazed, the King does not know where he is; but he still remembers how much he has suffered. Lear, thinking he may still be asleep, reassures himself that he is awake by pricking his body with his fingers. Cordelia, still kneeling before him, asks him to bless her. With remorse and humility, Lear kneels with his daughter, whom he now recognizes. Ashamed of the wrong he has done to her, he wants to die and forget all the misery that he has caused. He asks for a cup of poison. The doctor suggests that Lear sleep some more; therefore, Cordelia leads her father away. Kent, left on stage, converses with a gentleman about the impending battle between the forces of Cordelia and those of Cornwall and Albany.", "analysis": "Notes In this scene, Cordelia and Lear are reunited with melodious tunes playing in the background. The music, representing harmony and peace, is meant to serve as a restorative power, suggesting that chaos can be replaced by order. Cordelia is a total contrast to her older two sisters. She reveres her father and asks for his blessing. When he tells her that she has reason to despise him, Cordelia responds, \"No cause. No cause.\" Unwilling to judge Lear harshly, even though she has many reasons to do so, she forgives him totally and unconditionally. Lear's response to his daughter's kindness and generosity is a newfound sense of humility, which gives him a sense of grace. The scene clearly emphasizes that goodness is stronger than evil."}

Scaena Septima. Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman. Cor. O thou good Kent, How shall I liue and worke To match thy goodnesse? My life will be too short, And euery measure faile me Kent. To be acknowledg'd Madam is ore-pai'd, All my reports go with the modest truth, Nor more, nor clipt, but so Cor. Be better suited, These weedes are memories of those worser houres: I prythee put them off Kent. Pardon deere Madam, Yet to be knowne shortens my made intent, My boone I make it, that you know me not, Till time, and I, thinke meet Cor. Then be't so my good Lord: How do's the King? Gent. Madam sleepes still Cor. O you kind Gods! Cure this great breach in his abused Nature, Th' vntun'd and iarring senses, O winde vp, Of this childe-changed Father Gent. So please your Maiesty, That we may wake the King, he hath slept long? Cor. Be gouern'd by your knowledge, and proceede I'th' sway of your owne will: is he array'd? Enter Lear in a chaire carried by Seruants] Gent. I Madam: in the heauinesse of sleepe, We put fresh garments on him. Be by good Madam when we do awake him, I doubt of his Temperance Cor. O my deere Father, restauratian hang Thy medicine on my lippes, and let this kisse Repaire those violent harmes, that my two Sisters Haue in thy Reuerence made Kent. Kind and deere Princesse Cor. Had you not bin their Father, these white flakes Did challenge pitty of them. Was this a face To be oppos'd against the iarring windes? Mine Enemies dogge, though he had bit me, Should haue stood that night against my fire, And was't thou faine (poore Father) To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? Alacke, alacke, 'Tis wonder that thy life and wits, at once Had not concluded all. He wakes, speake to him Gen. Madam do you, 'tis fittest Cor. How does my Royall Lord? How fares your Maiesty? Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o'th' graue, Thou art a Soule in blisse, but I am bound Vpon a wheele of fire, that mine owne teares Do scal'd, like molten Lead Cor. Sir, do you know me? Lear. You are a spirit I know, where did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide Gen. He's scarse awake, Let him alone a while Lear. Where haue I bin? Where am I? Faire day light? I am mightily abus'd; I should eu'n dye with pitty To see another thus. I know not what to say: I will not sweare these are my hands: let's see, I feele this pin pricke, would I were assur'd Of my condition Cor. O looke vpon me Sir, And hold your hand in benediction o're me, You must not kneele Lear. Pray do not mocke me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourescore and vpward, Not an houre more, nor lesse: And to deale plainely, I feare I am not in my perfect mind. Me thinkes I should know you, and know this man, Yet I am doubtfull: For I am mainely ignorant What place this is: and all the skill I haue Remembers not these garments: nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me, For (as I am a man) I thinke this Lady To be my childe Cordelia Cor. And so I am: I am Lear. Be your teares wet? Yes faith: I pray weepe not, If you haue poyson for me, I will drinke it: I know you do not loue me, for your Sisters Haue (as I do remember) done me wrong. You haue some cause, they haue not Cor. No cause, no cause Lear. Am I in France? Kent. In your owne kingdome Sir Lear. Do not abuse me Gent. Be comforted good Madam, the great rage You see is kill'd in him: desire him to go in, Trouble him no more till further setling Cor. Wilt please your Highnesse walke? Lear. You must beare with me: Pray you now forget, and forgiue, I am old and foolish. Exeunt.

Scene 7

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear36.asp

Cordelia is in her camp near Dover with Kent, a doctor, and others. Cordelia thanks Kent for all that he has done for her father. When Cordelia asks the doctor about the condition of her father who has been brought to her, the doctor replies that the king is still asleep. A sleeping Lear is brought on the scene, and Cordelia kneels before him, waiting for him to wake up. The doctor assures her that the king will be all right. Cordelia gives her father's cheek a kiss. Lear opens his eyes and sees Cordelia looking at him with both love and pity. In his amazement, he thinks she is a spirit come to comfort his poor, tormented soul. When Cordelia asks him if he knows her, Lear replies that she is a spirit. Totally dazed, the King does not know where he is; but he still remembers how much he has suffered. Lear, thinking he may still be asleep, reassures himself that he is awake by pricking his body with his fingers. Cordelia, still kneeling before him, asks him to bless her. With remorse and humility, Lear kneels with his daughter, whom he now recognizes. Ashamed of the wrong he has done to her, he wants to die and forget all the misery that he has caused. He asks for a cup of poison. The doctor suggests that Lear sleep some more; therefore, Cordelia leads her father away. Kent, left on stage, converses with a gentleman about the impending battle between the forces of Cordelia and those of Cornwall and Albany.

Notes In this scene, Cordelia and Lear are reunited with melodious tunes playing in the background. The music, representing harmony and peace, is meant to serve as a restorative power, suggesting that chaos can be replaced by order. Cordelia is a total contrast to her older two sisters. She reveres her father and asks for his blessing. When he tells her that she has reason to despise him, Cordelia responds, "No cause. No cause." Unwilling to judge Lear harshly, even though she has many reasons to do so, she forgives him totally and unconditionally. Lear's response to his daughter's kindness and generosity is a newfound sense of humility, which gives him a sense of grace. The scene clearly emphasizes that goodness is stronger than evil.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/19.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_24_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 1

act 5, scene 1

{"name": "Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear37.asp", "summary": "The battle between England and France is about to begin. Regan has made Edmund the general of her forces. As the scene opens she speaks to Edmund about her love for him; but she also questions him about Goneril. Edmund denies any interest in her and professes undying love and loyalty to Regan. Regan still warns him about the guile of her sister. Albany and Goneril arrive with their army. Goneril, noticing the rapport between Regan and Edmund, decides that she would rather lose the battle than allow her sister to win Edmund. Albany declares that his sole intention in the battle is to repel the invasion of Britain. Edgar comes in and gives Albany the letter from Goneril, written to Edmund; it is the one he had received from Oswald. He leaves before Albany opens the letter. Edmund enters, says that the battle is about to begin and asks for Albany's presence on the battlefield. Albany exits, leaving Edmund alone on the stage. Edmund unfolds his evil plans in a soliloquy. If Goneril does not first kill her husband, he plans to send Albany into battle, making sure that he is killed there. He will also have the King and Cordelia captured during the battle. His plan is to kill Lear and become the King of England himself. He is unsure who should be his queen. Having made advances to both Regan and Goneril, he knows they are both enamored with him. He also knows if he marries one, it will make the other very angry. If both sisters remain alive, his difficulty will be great; therefore, he must soon choose and act.", "analysis": "Notes Albany, now a representative of good, clearly states that his only intention in battle is to repel the French invaders; his plan is to make sure that Lear and Cordelia are protected. Edmund is a sharp contrast to him. He shows himself to be an opportunistic, double- dealing manipulator, who encourages both Goneril and Regan's affections for him. As the sisters vie for his love, Edmund schemes for his future. He wants to make sure that Albany is killed, either by Goneril or in battle; he will also make certain that Lear is captured and killed. Then by marrying one of the sisters, Edmund plans to make himself King of England. Edgar comes into the scene briefly to hand over to Albany the letter that Goneril has written to Edmund. He does not wait for it to be opened or read. Edgar, quickly departing, will next appear in the final scene of the play as the defender of righteousness."}

Actus Quintus. Scena Prima. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Edmund, Regan. Gentlemen, and Souldiers. Bast. Know of the Duke if his last purpose hold, Or whether since he is aduis'd by ought To change the course, he's full of alteration, And selfereprouing, bring his constant pleasure Reg. Our Sisters man is certainely miscarried Bast. 'Tis to be doubted Madam Reg. Now sweet Lord, You know the goodnesse I intend vpon you: Tell me but truly, but then speake the truth, Do you not loue my Sister? Bast. In honour'd Loue Reg. But haue you neuer found my Brothers way, To the fore-fended place? Bast. No by mine honour, Madam Reg. I neuer shall endure her, deere my Lord Be not familiar with her Bast. Feare not, she and the Duke her husband. Enter with Drum and Colours, Albany, Gonerill, Soldiers. Alb. Our very louing Sister, well be-met: Sir, this I heard, the King is come to his Daughter With others, whom the rigour of our State Forc'd to cry out Regan. Why is this reasond? Gone. Combine together 'gainst the Enemie: For these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere Alb. Let's then determine with th' ancient of warre On our proceeding Reg. Sister you'le go with vs? Gon. No Reg. 'Tis most conuenient, pray go with vs Gon. Oh ho, I know the Riddle, I will goe. Exeunt. both the Armies. Enter Edgar. Edg. If ere your Grace had speech with man so poore, Heare me one word Alb. Ile ouertake you, speake Edg. Before you fight the Battaile, ope this Letter: If you haue victory, let the Trumpet sound For him that brought it: wretched though I seeme, I can produce a Champion, that will proue What is auouched there. If you miscarry, Your businesse of the world hath so an end, And machination ceases. Fortune loues you Alb. Stay till I haue read the Letter Edg. I was forbid it: When time shall serue, let but the Herald cry, And Ile appeare againe. Enter. Alb. Why farethee well, I will o're-looke thy paper. Enter Edmund. Bast. The Enemy's in view, draw vp your powers, Heere is the guesse of their true strength and Forces, By dilligent discouerie, but your hast Is now vrg'd on you Alb. We will greet the time. Enter. Bast. To both these Sisters haue I sworne my loue: Each iealous of the other, as the stung Are of the Adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enioy'd If both remaine aliue: To take the Widdow, Exasperates, makes mad her Sister Gonerill, And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being aliue. Now then, wee'l vse His countenance for the Battaile, which being done, Let her who would be rid of him, deuise His speedy taking off. As for the mercie Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, The Battaile done, and they within our power, Shall neuer see his pardon: for my state, Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Enter.

Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear37.asp

The battle between England and France is about to begin. Regan has made Edmund the general of her forces. As the scene opens she speaks to Edmund about her love for him; but she also questions him about Goneril. Edmund denies any interest in her and professes undying love and loyalty to Regan. Regan still warns him about the guile of her sister. Albany and Goneril arrive with their army. Goneril, noticing the rapport between Regan and Edmund, decides that she would rather lose the battle than allow her sister to win Edmund. Albany declares that his sole intention in the battle is to repel the invasion of Britain. Edgar comes in and gives Albany the letter from Goneril, written to Edmund; it is the one he had received from Oswald. He leaves before Albany opens the letter. Edmund enters, says that the battle is about to begin and asks for Albany's presence on the battlefield. Albany exits, leaving Edmund alone on the stage. Edmund unfolds his evil plans in a soliloquy. If Goneril does not first kill her husband, he plans to send Albany into battle, making sure that he is killed there. He will also have the King and Cordelia captured during the battle. His plan is to kill Lear and become the King of England himself. He is unsure who should be his queen. Having made advances to both Regan and Goneril, he knows they are both enamored with him. He also knows if he marries one, it will make the other very angry. If both sisters remain alive, his difficulty will be great; therefore, he must soon choose and act.

Notes Albany, now a representative of good, clearly states that his only intention in battle is to repel the French invaders; his plan is to make sure that Lear and Cordelia are protected. Edmund is a sharp contrast to him. He shows himself to be an opportunistic, double- dealing manipulator, who encourages both Goneril and Regan's affections for him. As the sisters vie for his love, Edmund schemes for his future. He wants to make sure that Albany is killed, either by Goneril or in battle; he will also make certain that Lear is captured and killed. Then by marrying one of the sisters, Edmund plans to make himself King of England. Edgar comes into the scene briefly to hand over to Albany the letter that Goneril has written to Edmund. He does not wait for it to be opened or read. Edgar, quickly departing, will next appear in the final scene of the play as the defender of righteousness.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/20.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_25_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 2

act 5, scene 2

{"name": "Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear38.asp", "summary": "Edgar leads his father to a safe shelter and asks Gloucester to pray that the British will win. Edgar then leaves to go to battle. Cordelia, after making certain that Lear is safe, leads the French troops, who do not fair well in the fight. Edgar returns to Gloucester and announces that Cordelia's army has lost the battle and that Lear and Cordelia have been taken prisoners. Realizing his father is also in imminent danger, he tries to lead his father away. Gloucester loses hope and sinks into despair, speaking of suicide. Edgar, however, comforts him and finally persuades him to go away.", "analysis": "Notes The blind Gloucester plunges into deep despair and again contemplates suicide as the British lose the battle and Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoners. Edgar talks to his father about gaining control over his emotions in the face of adversity and standing strong. He finally convinces his father to come away with him to seek safety."}

Scena Secunda. Alarum within. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Souldiers, ouer the Stage, and Exeunt. Enter Edgar, and Gloster. Edg. Heere Father, take the shadow of this Tree For your good hoast: pray that the right may thriue: If euer I returne to you againe, Ile bring you comfort Glo. Grace go with you Sir. Enter. Alarum and Retreat within. Enter Edgar. Edgar. Away old man, giue me thy hand, away: King Lear hath lost, he and his Daughter tane, Giue me thy hand: Come on Glo. No further Sir, a man may rot euen heere Edg. What in ill thoughts againe? Men must endure Their going hence, euen as their comming hither, Ripenesse is all come on Glo. And that's true too. Exeunt.

Scene 2

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Edgar leads his father to a safe shelter and asks Gloucester to pray that the British will win. Edgar then leaves to go to battle. Cordelia, after making certain that Lear is safe, leads the French troops, who do not fair well in the fight. Edgar returns to Gloucester and announces that Cordelia's army has lost the battle and that Lear and Cordelia have been taken prisoners. Realizing his father is also in imminent danger, he tries to lead his father away. Gloucester loses hope and sinks into despair, speaking of suicide. Edgar, however, comforts him and finally persuades him to go away.

Notes The blind Gloucester plunges into deep despair and again contemplates suicide as the British lose the battle and Lear and Cordelia are taken prisoners. Edgar talks to his father about gaining control over his emotions in the face of adversity and standing strong. He finally convinces his father to come away with him to seek safety.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/21.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/King Lear/section_26_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 3

act 5, scene 3

{"name": "Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear39.asp", "summary": "In this final scene, Edmund enters triumphantly, having captured Lear and Cordelia. He plans to have both of them put in prison. Lear, seeming somewhat sane again, realizes the danger that threatens Cordelia and him, but he refuses to be unhappy with Cordelia at his side. She is not concerned about herself, but is grieving for her unfortunate father. Before they are taken away, Edmund orders his Captain to kill both Lear and Cordelia while they are in prison. Albany, Regan, Goneril, and their soldiers return from the battlefield. Albany demands that Edmund release the prisoners. Edmund informs him that they cannot be released, for their freedom would jeopardize the loyalty of the British soldiers. Regan, bickering with Goneril about Edmund, suddenly announces that she will marry him. Albany steps forward and forbids the marriage. He accuses Edmund and Goneril of high treason, arresting them both. Having finally read the letter that Goneril has written, he reveals her plot to murder him with the assistance of Edmund. Regan, horrified at the turn of events, feels ill and is led away. Albany offers to let Edmund fight a duel, allowing him to die with some honor. The trumpet is sounded to call for a champion to come forth and fight Edmund. Albany states that he will enter the duel if no one else rises to the challenge. An unknown opponent, dressed in armor, comes forward to duel with Edmund. In the fight that follows, Edmund is fatally wounded. Goneril, realizing her own pathetic state, runs out. As Edmund is dying, he confesses his treachery and forgives his adversary. Edgar then reveals himself. Albany welcomes Edgar, who informs them of the death of Gloucester. He tells Edmund of how he looked after their father after he was blinded and how Gloucester has died knowing the truth about Edgar's identity. Edgar also praises Kent's loyalty to both Gloucester and Lear, helping them both when they were full of misery and madness. A gentleman enters and announces the deaths of both Goneril and Regan. In her jealousy over Edmund, Goneril poisoned Regan, causing the illness seen earlier in the scene. Goneril then stabs herself, joining her sister in death. Edmund is also dying, gasping for breath. He has admitted that he led a vile life and was unworthy of the love shown him by Regan and Goneril. Kent enters to say that he is taking leave of his King. Albany then remembers that Lear and Cordelia are still prisoners and needs to get them released. In an attempt to do some \"last good\" before he dies, Edmund states that he has instructed Cordelia to be hanged and wants to rescind the order. He tells an officer to go and stop the killing and hands him his sword to take as proof. As the officer departs to save Cordelia from certain hanging, a grieved Lear staggers in carrying her dead body. The punishment was not stopped in time. The King, obviously shocked and bewildered, lays Cordelia on the ground and kneels beside her. He calls for a mirror, holding out hope that Cordelia's breath will appear on the looking glass. Kent kneels beside Lear, who is totally grief-stricken. He believes that the world is a nightmare, where men and women are barbarians and murderers. After an officer comes in with the news of Edmund's death, Albany begins to plan the future. Wanting goodness to replace evil, he reinstates Lear as King and says that Kent and Edgar will be rewarded for their loyalty. Lear's condition, however, is rapidly deteriorating. His rambling words make no sense, and he thinks that Cordelia is alive again. Then with everyone watching him, Lear simply topples over and dies. The bodies of Lear and Cordelia are taken away. Albany wishes for Kent and Edgar to rule England, but Kent has no interest. He declares that he will soon follow his master, King Lear. The play ends with a brief, logical speech by Edgar, who has been made the new ruler of Britain. It appears that order will finally be returned to the kingdom.", "analysis": "Notes In this complex final act, all of the threads of the plot and subplot are brought together into a great series of tragic events. First, Gloucester dies, \"twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief.\" Although blinded, he had at least lived long enough to gain true vision and realize that Edgar was his champion. Lear and Cordelia are captured during battle and brought forth to be imprisoned; amazingly, Lear has found happiness and sanity with his youngest daughter by his side. Cordelia, the symbol of purity in the play, realizes that good deeds are not always rewarded and says of Lear and herself, \"We are not the first who with the best meaning have incurr'd the worst. \" The worst is symbolized by the evil Edmund, who gives his command that both Lear and Cordelia are to be killed while in prison. Goneril and Regan, symbols of evil, cruelty, and greed, meet their just end. Out of jealousy over Edmund's attention to her sister, Goneril poisons Regan and then stabs herself. Edmund is also undone by Albany, who becomes a symbol of goodness in this last scene. He reveals the plot of Edmund and Goneril to have him killed, so that Edmund can marry Goneril and assume the crown. Albany arrests them both and calls for Edmund to fight a duel. The noble Edgar, another symbol of goodness, steps forward to fight his evil stepbrother and mortally wounds him. As he dies, Edmund, trying to regain one ounce of goodness, reveals that he has ordered Cordelia to be hung. Unfortunately, his warning comes too late. Lear comes in carrying the body of his beloved Cordelia. Shocked out of sanity, he at first refuses to believe that she is really dead and calls for a mirror, sure that he will see her breath on it. When he finds no life in Cordelia's still body, he topples over and dies of grief. The tragic play does, however, end on a small note of hope. Edgar's words foreshadow that there will again be a world restored to its proper order, where respect for elders is honored and evil is quelled."}

Scena Tertia. Enter in conquest with Drum and Colours, Edmund, Lear, and Cordelia, as prisoners, Souldiers, Captaine. Bast. Some Officers take them away: good guard, Vntill their greater pleasures first be knowne That are to censure them Cor. We are not the first, Who with best meaning haue incurr'd the worst: For thee oppressed King I am cast downe, My selfe could else out-frowne false Fortunes frowne. Shall we not see these Daughters, and these Sisters? Lear. No, no, no, no: come let's away to prison, We two alone will sing like Birds i'th' Cage: When thou dost aske me blessing, Ile kneele downe And aske of thee forgiuenesse: So wee'l liue, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded Butterflies: and heere (poore Rogues) Talke of Court newes, and wee'l talke with them too, Who looses, and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take vpon's the mystery of things, As if we were Gods spies: And wee'l weare out In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebbe and flow by th' Moone Bast. Take them away Lear. Vpon such sacrifices my Cordelia, The Gods themselues throw Incense. Haue I caught thee? He that parts vs, shall bring a Brand from Heauen, And fire vs hence, like Foxes: wipe thine eyes, The good yeares shall deuoure them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make vs weepe? Weele see 'em staru'd first: come. Enter. Bast. Come hither Captaine, hearke. Take thou this note, go follow them to prison, One step I haue aduanc'd thee, if thou do'st As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To Noble Fortunes: know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender minded Do's not become a Sword, thy great imployment Will not beare question: either say thou'lt do't, Or thriue by other meanes Capt. Ile do't my Lord Bast. About it, and write happy, when th'hast done, Marke I say instantly, and carry it so As I haue set it downe. Exit Captaine. Flourish. Enter Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Soldiers. Alb. Sir, you haue shew'd to day your valiant straine And Fortune led you well: you haue the Captiues Who were the opposites of this dayes strife: I do require them of you so to vse them, As we shall find their merites, and our safety May equally determine Bast. Sir, I thought it fit, To send the old and miserable King to some retention, Whose age had Charmes in it, whose Title more, To plucke the common bosome on his side, And turne our imprest Launces in our eies Which do command them. With him I sent the Queen: My reason all the same, and they are ready To morrow, or at further space, t' appeare Where you shall hold your Session Alb. Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subiect of this Warre, Not as a Brother Reg. That's as we list to grace him. Methinkes our pleasure might haue bin demanded Ere you had spoke so farre. He led our Powers, Bore the Commission of my place and person, The which immediacie may well stand vp, And call it selfe your Brother Gon. Not so hot: In his owne grace he doth exalt himselfe, More then in your addition Reg. In my rights, By me inuested, he compeeres the best Alb. That were the most, if he should husband you Reg. Iesters do oft proue Prophets Gon. Hola, hola, That eye that told you so, look'd but a squint Rega. Lady I am not well, else I should answere From a full flowing stomack. Generall, Take thou my Souldiers, prisoners, patrimony, Dispose of them, of me, the walls is thine: Witnesse the world, that I create thee heere My Lord, and Master Gon. Meane you to enioy him? Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will Bast. Nor in thine Lord Alb. Halfe-blooded fellow, yes Reg. Let the Drum strike, and proue my title thine Alb. Stay yet, heare reason: Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent: for your claime faire Sisters, I bare it in the interest of my wife, 'Tis she is sub-contracted to this Lord, And I her husband contradict your Banes. If you will marry, make your loues to me, My Lady is bespoke Gon. An enterlude Alb. Thou art armed Gloster, Let the Trumpet sound: If none appeare to proue vpon thy person, Thy heynous, manifest, and many Treasons, There is my pledge: Ile make it on thy heart Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing lesse Then I haue heere proclaim'd thee Reg. Sicke, O sicke Gon. If not, Ile nere trust medicine Bast. There's my exchange, what in the world hes That names me Traitor, villain-like he lies, Call by the Trumpet: he that dares approach; On him, on you, who not, I will maintaine My truth and honor firmely. Enter a Herald. Alb. A Herald, ho. Trust to thy single vertue, for thy Souldiers All leuied in my name, haue in my name Tooke their discharge Regan. My sicknesse growes vpon me Alb. She is not well, conuey her to my Tent. Come hither Herald, let the Trumpet sound, And read out this. A Trumpet sounds. Herald reads. If any man of qualitie or degree, within the lists of the Army, will maintaine vpon Edmund, supposed Earle of Gloster, that he is a manifold Traitor, let him appeare by the third sound of the Trumpet: he is bold in his defence. 1 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 2 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 3 Trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar armed. Alb. Aske him his purposes, why he appeares Vpon this Call o'th' Trumpet Her. What are you? Your name, your quality, and why you answer This present Summons? Edg. Know my name is lost By Treasons tooth: bare-gnawne, and Canker-bit, Yet am I Noble as the Aduersary I come to cope Alb. Which is that Aduersary? Edg. What's he that speakes for Edmund Earle of Gloster? Bast. Himselfe, what saist thou to him? Edg. Draw thy Sword, That if my speech offend a Noble heart, Thy arme may do thee Iustice, heere is mine: Behold it is my priuiledge, The priuiledge of mine Honours, My oath, and my profession. I protest, Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence, Despise thy victor-Sword, and fire new Fortune, Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a Traitor: False to thy Gods, thy Brother, and thy Father, Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious Prince, And from th' extremest vpward of thy head, To the discent and dust below thy foote, A most Toad-spotted Traitor. Say thou no, This Sword, this arme, and my best spirits are bent To proue vpon thy heart, where to I speake, Thou lyest Bast. In wisedome I should aske thy name, But since thy out-side lookes so faire and Warlike, And that thy tongue (some say) of breeding breathes, What safe, and nicely I might well delay, By rule of Knight-hood, I disdaine and spurne: Backe do I tosse these Treasons to thy head, With the hell-hated Lye, ore-whelme thy heart, Which for they yet glance by, and scarcely bruise, This Sword of mine shall giue them instant way, Where they shall rest for euer. Trumpets speake Alb. Saue him, saue him. Alarums. Fights. Gon. This is practise Gloster, By th' law of Warre, thou wast not bound to answer An vnknowne opposite: thou art not vanquish'd, But cozend, and beguild Alb. Shut your mouth Dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it: hold Sir, Thou worse then any name, reade thine owne euill: No tearing Lady, I perceiue you know it Gon. Say if I do, the Lawes are mine not thine, Who can araigne me for't? Enter. Alb. Most monstrous! O, know'st thou this paper? Bast. Aske me not what I know Alb. Go after her, she's desperate, gouerne her Bast. What you haue charg'd me with, That haue I done, And more, much more, the time will bring it out. 'Tis past, and so am I: But what art thou That hast this Fortune on me? If thou'rt Noble, I do forgiue thee Edg. Let's exchange charity: I am no lesse in blood then thou art Edmond, If more, the more th'hast wrong'd me. My name is Edgar and thy Fathers Sonne, The Gods are iust, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague vs: The darke and vitious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes Bast. Th'hast spoken right, 'tis true, The Wheele is come full circle, I am heere Alb. Me thought thy very gate did prophesie A Royall Noblenesse: I must embrace thee, Let sorrow split my heart, if euer I Did hate thee, or thy Father Edg. Worthy Prince I know't Alb. Where haue you hid your selfe? How haue you knowne the miseries of your Father? Edg. By nursing them my Lord. List a breefe tale, And when 'tis told, O that my heart would burst. The bloody proclamation to escape That follow'd me so neere, (O our liues sweetnesse, That we the paine of death would hourely dye, Rather then die at once) taught me to shift Into a mad-mans rags, t' assume a semblance That very Dogges disdain'd: and in this habit Met I my Father with his bleeding Rings, Their precious Stones new lost: became his guide, Led him, begg'd for him, sau'd him from dispaire. Neuer (O fault) reueal'd my selfe vnto him, Vntill some halfe houre past when I was arm'd, Not sure, though hoping of this good successe, I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last Told him our pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart (Alacke too weake the conflict to support) Twixt two extremes of passion, ioy and greefe, Burst smilingly Bast. This speech of yours hath mou'd me, And shall perchance do good, but speake you on, You looke as you had something more to say Alb. If there be more, more wofull, hold it in, For I am almost ready to dissolue, Hearing of this. Enter a Gentleman. Gen. Helpe, helpe: O helpe Edg. What kinde of helpe? Alb. Speake man Edg. What meanes this bloody Knife? Gen. 'Tis hot, it smoakes, it came euen from the heart of- O she's dead Alb. Who dead? Speake man Gen. Your Lady Sir, your Lady; and her Sister By her is poyson'd: she confesses it Bast. I was contracted to them both, all three Now marry in an instant Edg. Here comes Kent. Enter Kent. Alb. Produce the bodies, be they aliue or dead; Gonerill and Regans bodies brought out. This iudgement of the Heauens that makes vs tremble. Touches vs not with pitty: O, is this he? The time will not allow the complement Which very manners vrges Kent. I am come To bid my King and Master aye good night. Is he not here? Alb. Great thing of vs forgot, Speake Edmund, where's the King? and where's Cordelia? Seest thou this obiect Kent? Kent. Alacke, why thus? Bast. Yet Edmund was belou'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herselfe Alb. Euen so: couer their faces Bast. I pant for life: some good I meane to do Despight of mine owne Nature. Quickly send, (Be briefe in it) to'th' Castle, for my Writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia: Nay, send in time Alb. Run, run, O run Edg. To who my Lord? Who ha's the Office? Send thy token of repreeue Bast. Well thought on, take my Sword, Giue it the Captaine Edg. Hast thee for thy life Bast. He hath Commission from thy Wife and me, To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame vpon her owne dispaire, That she for-did her selfe Alb. The Gods defend her, beare him hence awhile. Enter Lear with Cordelia in his armes. Lear. Howle, howle, howle: O you are men of stones, Had I your tongues and eyes, Il'd vse them so, That Heauens vault should crack: she's gone for euer. I know when one is dead, and when one liues, She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glasse, If that her breath will mist or staine the stone, Why then she liues Kent. Is this the promis'd end? Edg. Or image of that horror Alb. Fall and cease Lear. This feather stirs, she liues: if it be so, It is a chance which do's redeeme all sorrowes That euer I haue felt Kent. O my good Master Lear. Prythee away Edg. 'Tis Noble Kent your Friend Lear. A plague vpon you Murderors, Traitors all, I might haue sau'd her, now she's gone for euer: Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha: What is't thou saist? Her voice was euer soft, Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill'd the Slaue that was a hanging thee Gent. 'Tis true (my Lords) he did Lear. Did I not fellow? I haue seene the day, with my good biting Faulchion I would haue made him skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoile me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o'th' best, Ile tell you straight Kent. If Fortune brag of two, she lou'd and hated, One of them we behold Lear. This is a dull sight, are you not Kent? Kent. The same: your Seruant Kent, Where is your Seruant Caius? Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that, He'le strike and quickly too, he's dead and rotten Kent. No my good Lord, I am the very man Lear. Ile see that straight Kent. That from your first of difference and decay, Haue follow'd your sad steps Lear. You are welcome hither Kent. Nor no man else: All's cheerlesse, darke, and deadly, Your eldest Daughters haue fore-done themselues, And desperately are dead Lear. I so I thinke Alb. He knowes not what he saies, and vaine is it That we present vs to him. Enter a Messenger. Edg. Very bootlesse Mess. Edmund is dead my Lord Alb. That's but a trifle heere: You Lords and Noble Friends, know our intent, What comfort to this great decay may come, Shall be appli'd. For vs we will resigne, During the life of this old Maiesty To him our absolute power, you to your rights, With boote, and such addition as your Honours Haue more then merited. All Friends shall Taste the wages of their vertue, and all Foes The cup of their deseruings: O see, see Lear. And my poore Foole is hang'd: no, no, no life? Why should a Dog, a Horse, a Rat haue life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer. Pray you vndo this Button. Thanke you Sir, Do you see this? Looke on her? Looke her lips, Looke there, looke there. He dies. Edg. He faints, my Lord, my Lord Kent. Breake heart, I prythee breake Edg. Looke vp my Lord Kent. Vex not his ghost, O let him passe, he hates him, That would vpon the wracke of this tough world Stretch him out longer Edg. He is gon indeed Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long, He but vsurpt his life Alb. Beare them from hence, our present businesse Is generall woe: Friends of my soule, you twaine, Rule in this Realme, and the gor'd state sustaine Kent. I haue a iourney Sir, shortly to go, My Master calls me, I must not say no Edg. The waight of this sad time we must obey, Speake what we feele, not what we ought to say: The oldest hath borne most, we that are yong, Shall neuer see so much, nor liue so long. Exeunt. with a dead March. FINIS. THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR.

Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820035817/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmKingLear39.asp

In this final scene, Edmund enters triumphantly, having captured Lear and Cordelia. He plans to have both of them put in prison. Lear, seeming somewhat sane again, realizes the danger that threatens Cordelia and him, but he refuses to be unhappy with Cordelia at his side. She is not concerned about herself, but is grieving for her unfortunate father. Before they are taken away, Edmund orders his Captain to kill both Lear and Cordelia while they are in prison. Albany, Regan, Goneril, and their soldiers return from the battlefield. Albany demands that Edmund release the prisoners. Edmund informs him that they cannot be released, for their freedom would jeopardize the loyalty of the British soldiers. Regan, bickering with Goneril about Edmund, suddenly announces that she will marry him. Albany steps forward and forbids the marriage. He accuses Edmund and Goneril of high treason, arresting them both. Having finally read the letter that Goneril has written, he reveals her plot to murder him with the assistance of Edmund. Regan, horrified at the turn of events, feels ill and is led away. Albany offers to let Edmund fight a duel, allowing him to die with some honor. The trumpet is sounded to call for a champion to come forth and fight Edmund. Albany states that he will enter the duel if no one else rises to the challenge. An unknown opponent, dressed in armor, comes forward to duel with Edmund. In the fight that follows, Edmund is fatally wounded. Goneril, realizing her own pathetic state, runs out. As Edmund is dying, he confesses his treachery and forgives his adversary. Edgar then reveals himself. Albany welcomes Edgar, who informs them of the death of Gloucester. He tells Edmund of how he looked after their father after he was blinded and how Gloucester has died knowing the truth about Edgar's identity. Edgar also praises Kent's loyalty to both Gloucester and Lear, helping them both when they were full of misery and madness. A gentleman enters and announces the deaths of both Goneril and Regan. In her jealousy over Edmund, Goneril poisoned Regan, causing the illness seen earlier in the scene. Goneril then stabs herself, joining her sister in death. Edmund is also dying, gasping for breath. He has admitted that he led a vile life and was unworthy of the love shown him by Regan and Goneril. Kent enters to say that he is taking leave of his King. Albany then remembers that Lear and Cordelia are still prisoners and needs to get them released. In an attempt to do some "last good" before he dies, Edmund states that he has instructed Cordelia to be hanged and wants to rescind the order. He tells an officer to go and stop the killing and hands him his sword to take as proof. As the officer departs to save Cordelia from certain hanging, a grieved Lear staggers in carrying her dead body. The punishment was not stopped in time. The King, obviously shocked and bewildered, lays Cordelia on the ground and kneels beside her. He calls for a mirror, holding out hope that Cordelia's breath will appear on the looking glass. Kent kneels beside Lear, who is totally grief-stricken. He believes that the world is a nightmare, where men and women are barbarians and murderers. After an officer comes in with the news of Edmund's death, Albany begins to plan the future. Wanting goodness to replace evil, he reinstates Lear as King and says that Kent and Edgar will be rewarded for their loyalty. Lear's condition, however, is rapidly deteriorating. His rambling words make no sense, and he thinks that Cordelia is alive again. Then with everyone watching him, Lear simply topples over and dies. The bodies of Lear and Cordelia are taken away. Albany wishes for Kent and Edgar to rule England, but Kent has no interest. He declares that he will soon follow his master, King Lear. The play ends with a brief, logical speech by Edgar, who has been made the new ruler of Britain. It appears that order will finally be returned to the kingdom.

Notes In this complex final act, all of the threads of the plot and subplot are brought together into a great series of tragic events. First, Gloucester dies, "twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief." Although blinded, he had at least lived long enough to gain true vision and realize that Edgar was his champion. Lear and Cordelia are captured during battle and brought forth to be imprisoned; amazingly, Lear has found happiness and sanity with his youngest daughter by his side. Cordelia, the symbol of purity in the play, realizes that good deeds are not always rewarded and says of Lear and herself, "We are not the first who with the best meaning have incurr'd the worst. " The worst is symbolized by the evil Edmund, who gives his command that both Lear and Cordelia are to be killed while in prison. Goneril and Regan, symbols of evil, cruelty, and greed, meet their just end. Out of jealousy over Edmund's attention to her sister, Goneril poisons Regan and then stabs herself. Edmund is also undone by Albany, who becomes a symbol of goodness in this last scene. He reveals the plot of Edmund and Goneril to have him killed, so that Edmund can marry Goneril and assume the crown. Albany arrests them both and calls for Edmund to fight a duel. The noble Edgar, another symbol of goodness, steps forward to fight his evil stepbrother and mortally wounds him. As he dies, Edmund, trying to regain one ounce of goodness, reveals that he has ordered Cordelia to be hung. Unfortunately, his warning comes too late. Lear comes in carrying the body of his beloved Cordelia. Shocked out of sanity, he at first refuses to believe that she is really dead and calls for a mirror, sure that he will see her breath on it. When he finds no life in Cordelia's still body, he topples over and dies of grief. The tragic play does, however, end on a small note of hope. Edgar's words foreshadow that there will again be a world restored to its proper order, where respect for elders is honored and evil is quelled.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/1.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_0_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 1

act 1 scene 1

{"name": "Act 1 Scene 1 ", "summary": "There is a conversation between the Earls of Kent and Gloucester where we learn that the King plans to divide his Kingdom amongst his three daughters, two of whom are married, and the youngest has two suitors, the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. The Kingdom is expected to be divided according to the worth of King Lear's sons-in-law. The audience also learns that Gloucester has two sons, Edgar his heir, and Edmund the younger son who is illegitimate. Gloucester reveals that both his sons share his affections. The King enters heralded by a trumpet, followed by his eldest daughter Goneril and her husband the Duke of Albany, then Regan and her husband the Duke of Cornwall, and finally Cordelia his youngest daughter. Cordelia's two suitors are also present, but they wait outside. King Lear announces that he is tired of ruling his Kingdom and because of his advanced age, he intends to divide his Kingdom into three parts based on his daughters' testimonies of love for their father. Lear's plan is for the extremities of his Kingdom to be divided equally between Goneril and Regan, for he hopes their husbands will be able to maintain law and order. He wishes to live in the central part of his Kingdom with his favorite youngest daughter Cordelia. The oldest two daughters fawn over their father exaggerating their affections for him. When it comes to Cordelia to make her testimony, she says, \"You have begot me, bred me, lov&#8217d me; I Return those duties back as are right fit, Obey you, love you and most honor you. Why have my sisters' husbands, if they say They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty. Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all.\" Lear asks why his daughter is untender. He fails to recognize his daughter's true affections for him and falls for the other two sisters' false declarations of love. He decides to disinherit Cordelia and split the whole Kingdom between Goneril and Regan. The Earl of Kent intercedes on Cordelia's behalf, telling the King that he is making a grave act of Foolishness, but the King will not be swayed and he banishes Kent as well. Kent departs, hoping that the gods will protect Cordelia and that Goneril and Regan's testimonies will be shown to be true. Gloucester returns with the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy and they are told that Cordelia is now destitute and without a dowry. The King of France is astonished at this news for it was well known that Cordelia was her father's favorite. Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France acknowledges Cordelia's virtues and accepts her as his bride-to-be. As Cordelia leaves, she is anxious about her father's welfare, for she knows her older sisters well. The sisters are glad to see their younger sister depart, as she has been the subject of their jealousy for a long time.", "analysis": "InterpretationMost of the primary characters of the play are introduced in this first scene. We are given information concerning the three players that make up the sub-plot, the Earl of Gloucester and his heir Edgar, and his illegitimate son Edmund. The initial conversation between Kent and Gloucester is somewhat bawdy. We read, Gloucester: But I have a son, sir, by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account. Though this knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whore son must be acknowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?\" Although Gloucester considers his two sons to be equal, Elizabethan society does not. Bastards were much discriminated against and had no rights to wealth and property. Edmund will be fully aware that he will not receive an equal inheritance, and his father's estate will go to Edgar, his legitimate heir. The sub-plot deals with Edmund's determination to obtain fortune and position. Elizabethan society would also be shocked at King Lear's plans to divide up his Kingdom. This is a path to chaos, and English history is full of power struggles when there have been different factions with claims to the throne. We are then introduced to the remaining main characters and we learn how Lear intends to divide his Kingdom. His daughters will be required to provide a testimony of their love for their father and depending on their replies; the Kingdom will be divided accordingly. This aspect of the story is probably one of the original elements of the early Pagan tale. It is thought that the events mirror similar happenings in Britain around 800 B.C. The aged Lear is still a physically vibrant man, but we suspect that his hold on reason is diminishing and we view him as a Foolish man who doesn't recognize the true feelings of his three daughters. His ego is flattered by the false declarations made by Goneril and Regan, which are purely based on material factors. When Cordelia makes her response, she realizes that she stands to have control over the choicest part of the Kingdom, but her love for her father has no price and so she resists the temptation to flatter Lear's ego. It is no coincidence that Cordelia's two suitors are both French, England's old enemy. Perhaps the Shakespearean audience at this stage of the play may consider that Cordelia poses the greatest threat to her father, rather than the other two daughters. The symbolism here is of course, that these foreign suitors are Roman Catholic as opposed to the Protestant England. The inference, therefore, is that Lear is providing a recipe for political, social and religious chaos, which will only result in the weakening of the country. As we will learn, Lear is surrounded by many who love and honor him, so we can assume that up until now he has ruled wisely, but the Earl of Kent recognizes Lear's folly and tries to advise his King to spare Cordelia the banishment, but he is also banished for his pains. Kent makes his testimony to the King by saying, \"Royal Lear, whom I have ever honour&#8217d as my King,"}

Actus Primus. Scoena Prima. Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmond. Kent. I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany, then Cornwall Glou. It did alwayes seeme so to vs: But now in the diuision of the Kingdome, it appeares not which of the Dukes hee valewes most, for qualities are so weigh'd, that curiosity in neither, can make choise of eithers moity Kent. Is not this your Son, my Lord? Glou. His breeding Sir, hath bin at my charge. I haue so often blush'd to acknowledge him, that now I am braz'd too't Kent. I cannot conceiue you Glou. Sir, this yong Fellowes mother could; wherevpon she grew round womb'd, and had indeede (Sir) a Sonne for her Cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault vndone, the issue of it, being so proper Glou. But I haue a Sonne, Sir, by order of Law, some yeere elder then this; who, yet is no deerer in my account, though this Knaue came somthing sawcily to the world before he was sent for: yet was his Mother fayre, there was good sport at his making, and the horson must be acknowledged. Doe you know this Noble Gentleman, Edmond? Edm. No, my Lord Glou. My Lord of Kent: Remember him heereafter, as my Honourable Friend Edm. My seruices to your Lordship Kent. I must loue you, and sue to know you better Edm. Sir, I shall study deseruing Glou. He hath bin out nine yeares, and away he shall againe. The King is comming. Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia, and attendants. Lear. Attend the Lords of France & Burgundy, Gloster Glou. I shall, my Lord. Enter. Lear. Meane time we shal expresse our darker purpose. Giue me the Map there. Know, that we haue diuided In three our Kingdome: and 'tis our fast intent, To shake all Cares and Businesse from our Age, Conferring them on yonger strengths, while we Vnburthen'd crawle toward death. Our son of Cornwal, And you our no lesse louing Sonne of Albany, We haue this houre a constant will to publish Our daughters seuerall Dowers, that future strife May be preuented now. The Princes, France & Burgundy, Great Riuals in our yongest daughters loue, Long in our Court, haue made their amorous soiourne, And heere are to be answer'd. Tell me my daughters (Since now we will diuest vs both of Rule, Interest of Territory, Cares of State) Which of you shall we say doth loue vs most, That we, our largest bountie may extend Where Nature doth with merit challenge. Gonerill, Our eldest borne, speake first Gon. Sir, I loue you more then word can weild y matter, Deerer then eye-sight, space, and libertie, Beyond what can be valewed, rich or rare, No lesse then life, with grace, health, beauty, honor: As much as Childe ere lou'd, or Father found. A loue that makes breath poore, and speech vnable, Beyond all manner of so much I loue you Cor. What shall Cordelia speake? Loue, and be silent Lear. Of all these bounds euen from this Line, to this, With shadowie Forrests, and with Champains rich'd With plenteous Riuers, and wide-skirted Meades We make thee Lady. To thine and Albanies issues Be this perpetuall. What sayes our second Daughter? Our deerest Regan, wife of Cornwall? Reg. I am made of that selfe-mettle as my Sister, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart, I finde she names my very deede of loue: Onely she comes too short, that I professe My selfe an enemy to all other ioyes, Which the most precious square of sense professes, And finde I am alone felicitate In your deere Highnesse loue Cor. Then poore Cordelia, And yet not so, since I am sure my loue's More ponderous then my tongue Lear. To thee, and thine hereditarie euer, Remaine this ample third of our faire Kingdome, No lesse in space, validitie, and pleasure Then that conferr'd on Gonerill. Now our Ioy, Although our last and least; to whose yong loue, The Vines of France, and Milke of Burgundie, Striue to be interest. What can you say, to draw A third, more opilent then your Sisters? speake Cor. Nothing my Lord Lear. Nothing? Cor. Nothing Lear. Nothing will come of nothing, speake againe Cor. Vnhappie that I am, I cannot heaue My heart into my mouth: I loue your Maiesty According to my bond, no more nor lesse Lear. How, how Cordelia? Mend your speech a little, Least you may marre your Fortunes Cor. Good my Lord, You haue begot me, bred me, lou'd me. I returne those duties backe as are right fit, Obey you, Loue you, and most Honour you. Why haue my Sisters Husbands, if they say They loue you all? Happily when I shall wed, That Lord, whose hand must take my plight, shall carry Halfe my loue with him, halfe my Care, and Dutie, Sure I shall neuer marry like my Sisters Lear. But goes thy heart with this? Cor. I my good Lord Lear. So young, and so vntender? Cor. So young my Lord, and true Lear. Let it be so, thy truth then be thy dowre: For by the sacred radience of the Sunne, The misteries of Heccat and the night: By all the operation of the Orbes, From whom we do exist, and cease to be, Heere I disclaime all my Paternall care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me, Hold thee from this for euer. The barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosome Be as well neighbour'd, pittied, and releeu'd, As thou my sometime Daughter Kent. Good my Liege Lear. Peace Kent, Come not betweene the Dragon and his wrath, I lou'd her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nursery. Hence and avoid my sight: So be my graue my peace, as here I giue Her Fathers heart from her; call France, who stirres? Call Burgundy, Cornwall, and Albanie, With my two Daughters Dowres, digest the third, Let pride, which she cals plainnesse, marry her: I doe inuest you ioyntly with my power, Preheminence, and all the large effects That troope with Maiesty. Our selfe by Monthly course, With reseruation of an hundred Knights, By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode Make with you by due turne, onely we shall retaine The name, and all th' addition to a King: the Sway, Reuennew, Execution of the rest, Beloued Sonnes be yours, which to confirme, This Coronet part betweene you Kent. Royall Lear, Whom I haue euer honor'd as my King, Lou'd as my Father, as my Master follow'd, As my great Patron thought on in my praiers Le. The bow is bent & drawne, make from the shaft Kent. Let it fall rather, though the forke inuade The region of my heart, be Kent vnmannerly, When Lear is mad, what wouldest thou do old man? Think'st thou that dutie shall haue dread to speake, When power to flattery bowes? To plainnesse honour's bound, When Maiesty falls to folly, reserue thy state, And in thy best consideration checke This hideous rashnesse, answere my life, my iudgement: Thy yongest Daughter do's not loue thee least, Nor are those empty hearted, whose low sounds Reuerbe no hollownesse Lear. Kent, on thy life no more Kent. My life I neuer held but as pawne To wage against thine enemies, nere feare to loose it, Thy safety being motiue Lear. Out of my sight Kent. See better Lear, and let me still remaine The true blanke of thine eie Lear. Now by Apollo, Kent. Now by Apollo, King Thou swear'st thy Gods in vaine Lear. O Vassall! Miscreant Alb. Cor. Deare Sir forbeare Kent. Kill thy Physition, and thy fee bestow Vpon the foule disease, reuoke thy guift, Or whil'st I can vent clamour from my throate, Ile tell thee thou dost euill Lea. Heare me recreant, on thine allegeance heare me; That thou hast sought to make vs breake our vowes, Which we durst neuer yet; and with strain'd pride, To come betwixt our sentences, and our power, Which, nor our nature, nor our place can beare; Our potencie made good, take thy reward. Fiue dayes we do allot thee for prouision, To shield thee from disasters of the world, And on the sixt to turne thy hated backe Vpon our kingdome: if on the tenth day following, Thy banisht trunke be found in our Dominions, The moment is thy death, away. By Iupiter, This shall not be reuok'd, Kent. Fare thee well King, sith thus thou wilt appeare, Freedome liues hence, and banishment is here; The Gods to their deere shelter take thee Maid, That iustly think'st, and hast most rightly said: And your large speeches, may your deeds approue, That good effects may spring from words of loue: Thus Kent, O Princes, bids you all adew, Hee'l shape his old course, in a Country new. Enter. Flourish. Enter Gloster with France, and Burgundy, Attendants. Cor. Heere's France and Burgundy, my Noble Lord Lear. My Lord of Burgundie, We first addresse toward you, who with this King Hath riuald for our Daughter; what in the least Will you require in present Dower with her, Or cease your quest of Loue? Bur. Most Royall Maiesty, I craue no more then hath your Highnesse offer'd, Nor will you tender lesse? Lear. Right Noble Burgundy, When she was deare to vs, we did hold her so, But now her price is fallen: Sir, there she stands, If ought within that little seeming substance, Or all of it with our displeasure piec'd, And nothing more may fitly like your Grace, Shee's there, and she is yours Bur. I know no answer Lear. Will you with those infirmities she owes, Vnfriended, new adopted to our hate, Dow'rd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath, Take her or, leaue her Bur. Pardon me Royall Sir, Election makes not vp in such conditions Le. Then leaue her sir, for by the powre that made me, I tell you all her wealth. For you great King, I would not from your loue make such a stray, To match you where I hate, therefore beseech you T' auert your liking a more worthier way, Then on a wretch whom Nature is asham'd Almost t' acknowledge hers Fra. This is most strange, That she whom euen but now, was your obiect, The argument of your praise, balme of your age, The best, the deerest, should in this trice of time Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle So many folds of fauour: sure her offence Must be of such vnnaturall degree, That monsters it: Or your fore-voucht affection Fall into taint, which to beleeue of her Must be a faith that reason without miracle Should neuer plant in me Cor. I yet beseech your Maiesty. If for I want that glib and oylie Art, To speake and purpose not, since what I will intend, Ile do't before I speake, that you make knowne It is no vicious blot, murther, or foulenesse, No vnchaste action or dishonoured step That hath depriu'd me of your Grace and fauour, But euen for want of that, for which I am richer, A still soliciting eye, and such a tongue, That I am glad I haue not, though not to haue it, Hath lost me in your liking Lear. Better thou had'st Not beene borne, then not t'haue pleas'd me better Fra. Is it but this? A tardinesse in nature, Which often leaues the history vnspoke That it intends to do: my Lord of Burgundy, What say you to the Lady? Loue's not loue When it is mingled with regards, that stands Aloofe from th' intire point, will you haue her? She is herselfe a Dowrie Bur. Royall King, Giue but that portion which your selfe propos'd, And here I take Cordelia by the hand, Dutchesse of Burgundie Lear. Nothing, I haue sworne, I am firme Bur. I am sorry then you haue so lost a Father, That you must loose a husband Cor. Peace be with Burgundie, Since that respect and Fortunes are his loue, I shall not be his wife Fra. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poore, Most choise forsaken, and most lou'd despis'd, Thee and thy vertues here I seize vpon, Be it lawfull I take vp what's cast away. Gods, Gods! 'Tis strange, that from their cold'st neglect My Loue should kindle to enflam'd respect. Thy dowrelesse Daughter King, throwne to my chance, Is Queene of vs, of ours, and our faire France: Not all the Dukes of watrish Burgundy, Can buy this vnpriz'd precious Maid of me. Bid them farewell Cordelia, though vnkinde, Thou loosest here a better where to finde Lear. Thou hast her France, let her be thine, for we Haue no such Daughter, nor shall euer see That face of hers againe, therfore be gone, Without our Grace, our Loue, our Benizon: Come Noble Burgundie. Flourish. Exeunt. Fra. Bid farwell to your Sisters Cor. The Iewels of our Father, with wash'd eies Cordelia leaues you, I know you what you are, And like a Sister am most loth to call Your faults as they are named. Loue well our Father: To your professed bosomes I commit him, But yet alas, stood I within his Grace, I would prefer him to a better place, So farewell to you both Regn. Prescribe not vs our dutie Gon. Let your study Be to content your Lord, who hath receiu'd you At Fortunes almes, you haue obedience scanted, And well are worth the want that you haue wanted Cor. Time shall vnfold what plighted cunning hides, Who couers faults, at last with shame derides: Well may you prosper Fra. Come my faire Cordelia. Exit France and Cor. Gon. Sister, it is not little I haue to say, Of what most neerely appertaines to vs both, I thinke our Father will hence to night Reg. That's most certaine, and with you: next moneth with vs Gon. You see how full of changes his age is, the obseruation we haue made of it hath beene little; he alwaies lou'd our Sister most, and with what poore iudgement he hath now cast her off, appeares too grossely Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age, yet he hath euer but slenderly knowne himselfe Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath bin but rash, then must we looke from his age, to receiue not alone the imperfections of long ingraffed condition, but therewithall the vnruly way-wardnesse, that infirme and cholericke yeares bring with them Reg. Such vnconstant starts are we like to haue from him, as this of Kents banishment Gon. There is further complement of leaue-taking betweene France and him, pray you let vs sit together, if our Father carry authority with such disposition as he beares, this last surrender of his will but offend vs Reg. We shall further thinke of it Gon. We must do something, and i'th' heate. Exeunt.

Act 1 Scene 1

There is a conversation between the Earls of Kent and Gloucester where we learn that the King plans to divide his Kingdom amongst his three daughters, two of whom are married, and the youngest has two suitors, the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France. The Kingdom is expected to be divided according to the worth of King Lear's sons-in-law. The audience also learns that Gloucester has two sons, Edgar his heir, and Edmund the younger son who is illegitimate. Gloucester reveals that both his sons share his affections. The King enters heralded by a trumpet, followed by his eldest daughter Goneril and her husband the Duke of Albany, then Regan and her husband the Duke of Cornwall, and finally Cordelia his youngest daughter. Cordelia's two suitors are also present, but they wait outside. King Lear announces that he is tired of ruling his Kingdom and because of his advanced age, he intends to divide his Kingdom into three parts based on his daughters' testimonies of love for their father. Lear's plan is for the extremities of his Kingdom to be divided equally between Goneril and Regan, for he hopes their husbands will be able to maintain law and order. He wishes to live in the central part of his Kingdom with his favorite youngest daughter Cordelia. The oldest two daughters fawn over their father exaggerating their affections for him. When it comes to Cordelia to make her testimony, she says, "You have begot me, bred me, lov&#8217d me; I Return those duties back as are right fit, Obey you, love you and most honor you. Why have my sisters' husbands, if they say They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed, That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Half my love with him, half my care and duty. Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all." Lear asks why his daughter is untender. He fails to recognize his daughter's true affections for him and falls for the other two sisters' false declarations of love. He decides to disinherit Cordelia and split the whole Kingdom between Goneril and Regan. The Earl of Kent intercedes on Cordelia's behalf, telling the King that he is making a grave act of Foolishness, but the King will not be swayed and he banishes Kent as well. Kent departs, hoping that the gods will protect Cordelia and that Goneril and Regan's testimonies will be shown to be true. Gloucester returns with the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy and they are told that Cordelia is now destitute and without a dowry. The King of France is astonished at this news for it was well known that Cordelia was her father's favorite. Burgundy withdraws his suit, but the King of France acknowledges Cordelia's virtues and accepts her as his bride-to-be. As Cordelia leaves, she is anxious about her father's welfare, for she knows her older sisters well. The sisters are glad to see their younger sister depart, as she has been the subject of their jealousy for a long time.

InterpretationMost of the primary characters of the play are introduced in this first scene. We are given information concerning the three players that make up the sub-plot, the Earl of Gloucester and his heir Edgar, and his illegitimate son Edmund. The initial conversation between Kent and Gloucester is somewhat bawdy. We read, Gloucester: But I have a son, sir, by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account. Though this knave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whore son must be acknowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?" Although Gloucester considers his two sons to be equal, Elizabethan society does not. Bastards were much discriminated against and had no rights to wealth and property. Edmund will be fully aware that he will not receive an equal inheritance, and his father's estate will go to Edgar, his legitimate heir. The sub-plot deals with Edmund's determination to obtain fortune and position. Elizabethan society would also be shocked at King Lear's plans to divide up his Kingdom. This is a path to chaos, and English history is full of power struggles when there have been different factions with claims to the throne. We are then introduced to the remaining main characters and we learn how Lear intends to divide his Kingdom. His daughters will be required to provide a testimony of their love for their father and depending on their replies; the Kingdom will be divided accordingly. This aspect of the story is probably one of the original elements of the early Pagan tale. It is thought that the events mirror similar happenings in Britain around 800 B.C. The aged Lear is still a physically vibrant man, but we suspect that his hold on reason is diminishing and we view him as a Foolish man who doesn't recognize the true feelings of his three daughters. His ego is flattered by the false declarations made by Goneril and Regan, which are purely based on material factors. When Cordelia makes her response, she realizes that she stands to have control over the choicest part of the Kingdom, but her love for her father has no price and so she resists the temptation to flatter Lear's ego. It is no coincidence that Cordelia's two suitors are both French, England's old enemy. Perhaps the Shakespearean audience at this stage of the play may consider that Cordelia poses the greatest threat to her father, rather than the other two daughters. The symbolism here is of course, that these foreign suitors are Roman Catholic as opposed to the Protestant England. The inference, therefore, is that Lear is providing a recipe for political, social and religious chaos, which will only result in the weakening of the country. As we will learn, Lear is surrounded by many who love and honor him, so we can assume that up until now he has ruled wisely, but the Earl of Kent recognizes Lear's folly and tries to advise his King to spare Cordelia the banishment, but he is also banished for his pains. Kent makes his testimony to the King by saying, "Royal Lear, whom I have ever honour&#8217d as my King,

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/2.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_1_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 2

act 1 scene 2

{"name": "Act 1 Scene 2 ", "summary": "The action switches to the Earl of Gloucester's castle where Edmund delivers a soliloquy where he appeals to nature to help him undo the laws that inhibit his prospects. He sets in motion his plan to steal Edgar's inheritance and when his father enters, he pretends to be distraught over the contents of a letter he has forged, which he tells his father is from Edgar. The letter urges Edmund to join Edgar in a conspiracy against their father where they would assassinate the Earl and split his estate. Gloucester is easily duped by Edmund's story, which is no doubt partly due to the scenes he has witnessed at King Lear's court. Left alone again, Edmund ridicules his father's stupidity. He is joined by Edgar and warns him that his father is in a rage, suggesting that he should carry a sword in order to protect himself. The reason that Edmund gives to Edgar for his father's rage has a supernatural basis. Edmund's clear skills of persuasion also work on Edgar and he believes the story.", "analysis": "Interpretation As in so many of Shakespeare's plays, he uses a soliloquy in order to reveal to the audience the direction of the plot and the character of the orator. Edmund's soliloquy starts, \"Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines Lag of my brother? Why bastard? Wherefore base? '' Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund '' Now, gods, stand up for bastards!\" It is perhaps difficult for the modern audience to appreciate the position that Edmund finds himself in as the illegitimate child of Gloucester. We must assume, knowing Edmund's character that he perhaps overheard the conversation between Kent and Gloucester in the previous scene where Gloucester declared his love for both his sons, but the love he has for Edmund is tainted. The sleight he has suffered is similar to that of Iago in 'Othello'. It is similar in intensity and causes him much pain. He is determined to have vengeance on his half-brother and father and he calls on the god of Nature to help him in his quest. Edmund possesses great powers of persuasion and he is able to convince both his father and brother of the dangers they face from each other. He is already growing in stature in both their eyes. We note his reluctance to show his father the forged letter, feigning to protect his brother from his father's anger. Shakespeare cleverly instills curiosity and horror in the audience as regards the character of Edmund. There is a supernatural element. We note in the quotation above that Edmund refers to the age gap between himself and his older brother in terms of the moon, rather than in days. Edmund calls on the gods of nature to rescind the laws of religion and society so that his 'race' of bastards might usurp those that subjugate them. The scene is framed by soliloquies and closes with Edmund saying, \"I do serve you in this business. A credulous father, and a brother noble, Whose nature is so far from doing harms That he suspects none; on whose Foolish honesty My practices ride easy! I see the business. Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit: All with me's meet that I can fashion fit.\" He mocks his father and brother for their Foolish honesty, which makes his task easy and he will gain their rank, not by birth, but by his wit."}

Scena Secunda. Enter Bastard. Bast. Thou Nature art my Goddesse, to thy Law My seruices are bound, wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custome, and permit The curiosity of Nations, to depriue me? For that I am some twelue, or fourteene Moonshines Lag of a Brother? Why Bastard? Wherefore base? When my Dimensions are as well compact, My minde as generous, and my shape as true As honest Madams issue? Why brand they vs With Base? With basenes Bastardie? Base, Base? Who in the lustie stealth of Nature, take More composition, and fierce qualitie, Then doth within a dull stale tyred bed Goe to th' creating a whole tribe of Fops Got 'tweene a sleepe, and wake? Well then, Legitimate Edgar, I must haue your land, Our Fathers loue, is to the Bastard Edmond, As to th' legitimate: fine word: Legitimate. Well, my Legittimate, if this Letter speed, And my inuention thriue, Edmond the base Shall to'th' Legitimate: I grow, I prosper: Now Gods, stand vp for Bastards. Enter Gloucester. Glo. Kent banish'd thus? and France in choller parted? And the King gone to night? Prescrib'd his powre, Confin'd to exhibition? All this done Vpon the gad? Edmond, how now? What newes? Bast. So please your Lordship, none Glou. Why so earnestly seeke you to put vp y Letter? Bast. I know no newes, my Lord Glou. What Paper were you reading? Bast. Nothing my Lord Glou. No? what needed then that terrible dispatch of it into your Pocket? The quality of nothing, hath not such neede to hide it selfe. Let's see: come, if it bee nothing, I shall not neede Spectacles Bast. I beseech you Sir, pardon mee; it is a Letter from my Brother, that I haue not all ore-read; and for so much as I haue perus'd, I finde it not fit for your ore-looking Glou. Giue me the Letter, Sir Bast. I shall offend, either to detaine, or giue it: The Contents, as in part I vnderstand them, Are too blame Glou. Let's see, let's see Bast. I hope for my Brothers iustification, hee wrote this but as an essay, or taste of my Vertue Glou. reads. This policie, and reuerence of Age, makes the world bitter to the best of our times: keepes our Fortunes from vs, till our oldnesse cannot rellish them. I begin to finde an idle and fond bondage, in the oppression of aged tyranny, who swayes not as it hath power, but as it is suffer'd. Come to me, that of this I may speake more. If our Father would sleepe till I wak'd him, you should enioy halfe his Reuennew for euer, and liue the beloued of your Brother. Edgar. Hum? Conspiracy? Sleepe till I wake him, you should enioy halfe his Reuennew: my Sonne Edgar, had hee a hand to write this? A heart and braine to breede it in? When came you to this? Who brought it? Bast. It was not brought mee, my Lord; there's the cunning of it. I found it throwne in at the Casement of my Closset Glou. You know the character to be your Brothers? Bast. If the matter were good my Lord, I durst swear it were his: but in respect of that, I would faine thinke it were not Glou. It is his Bast. It is his hand, my Lord: but I hope his heart is not in the Contents Glo. Has he neuer before sounded you in this busines? Bast. Neuer my Lord. But I haue heard him oft maintaine it to be fit, that Sonnes at perfect age, and Fathers declin'd, the Father should bee as Ward to the Son, and the Sonne manage his Reuennew Glou. O Villain, villain: his very opinion in the Letter. Abhorred Villaine, vnnaturall, detested, brutish Villaine; worse then brutish: Go sirrah, seeke him: Ile apprehend him. Abhominable Villaine, where is he? Bast. I do not well know my L[ord]. If it shall please you to suspend your indignation against my Brother, til you can deriue from him better testimony of his intent, you shold run a certaine course: where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gap in your owne Honor, and shake in peeces, the heart of his obedience. I dare pawne downe my life for him, that he hath writ this to feele my affection to your Honor, & to no other pretence of danger Glou. Thinke you so? Bast. If your Honor iudge it meete, I will place you where you shall heare vs conferre of this, and by an Auricular assurance haue your satisfaction, and that without any further delay, then this very Euening Glou. He cannot bee such a Monster. Edmond seeke him out: winde me into him, I pray you: frame the Businesse after your owne wisedome. I would vnstate my selfe, to be in a due resolution Bast. I will seeke him Sir, presently: conuey the businesse as I shall find meanes, and acquaint you withall Glou. These late Eclipses in the Sun and Moone portend no good to vs: though the wisedome of Nature can reason it thus, and thus, yet Nature finds it selfe scourg'd by the sequent effects. Loue cooles, friendship falls off, Brothers diuide. In Cities, mutinies; in Countries, discord; in Pallaces, Treason; and the Bond crack'd, 'twixt Sonne and Father. This villaine of mine comes vnder the prediction; there's Son against Father, the King fals from byas of Nature, there's Father against Childe. We haue seene the best of our time. Machinations, hollownesse, treacherie, and all ruinous disorders follow vs disquietly to our Graues. Find out this Villain, Edmond, it shall lose thee nothing, do it carefully: and the Noble & true-harted Kent banish'd; his offence, honesty. 'Tis strange. Exit Bast. This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sicke in fortune, often the surfets of our own behauiour, we make guilty of our disasters, the Sun, the Moone, and Starres, as if we were villaines on necessitie, Fooles by heauenly compulsion, Knaues, Theeues, and Treachers by Sphericall predominance. Drunkards, Lyars, and Adulterers by an inforc'd obedience of Planatary influence; and all that we are euill in, by a diuine thrusting on. An admirable euasion of Whore-master-man, to lay his Goatish disposition on the charge of a Starre, My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my Natiuity was vnder Vrsa Maior, so that it followes, I am rough and Leacherous. I should haue bin that I am, had the maidenlest Starre in the Firmament twinkled on my bastardizing. Enter Edgar. Pat: he comes like the Catastrophe of the old Comedie: my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a sighe like Tom o' Bedlam. - O these Eclipses do portend these diuisions. Fa, Sol, La, Me Edg. How now Brother Edmond, what serious contemplation are you in? Bast. I am thinking Brother of a prediction I read this other day, what should follow these Eclipses Edg. Do you busie your selfe with that? Bast. I promise you, the effects he writes of, succeede vnhappily. When saw you my Father last? Edg. The night gone by Bast. Spake you with him? Edg. I, two houres together Bast. Parted you in good termes? Found you no displeasure in him, by word, nor countenance? Edg. None at all, Bast. Bethink your selfe wherein you may haue offended him: and at my entreaty forbeare his presence, vntill some little time hath qualified the heat of his displeasure, which at this instant so rageth in him, that with the mischiefe of your person, it would scarsely alay Edg. Some Villaine hath done me wrong Edm. That's my feare, I pray you haue a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower: and as I say, retire with me to my lodging, from whence I will fitly bring you to heare my Lord speake: pray ye goe, there's my key: if you do stirre abroad, goe arm'd Edg. Arm'd, Brother? Edm. Brother, I aduise you to the best, I am no honest man, if ther be any good meaning toward you: I haue told you what I haue seene, and heard: But faintly. Nothing like the image, and horror of it, pray you away Edg. Shall I heare from you anon? Enter. Edm. I do serue you in this businesse: A Credulous Father, and a Brother Noble, Whose nature is so farre from doing harmes, That he suspects none: on whose foolish honestie My practises ride easie: I see the businesse. Let me, if not by birth, haue lands by wit, All with me's meete, that I can fashion fit. Enter.

Act 1 Scene 2

The action switches to the Earl of Gloucester's castle where Edmund delivers a soliloquy where he appeals to nature to help him undo the laws that inhibit his prospects. He sets in motion his plan to steal Edgar's inheritance and when his father enters, he pretends to be distraught over the contents of a letter he has forged, which he tells his father is from Edgar. The letter urges Edmund to join Edgar in a conspiracy against their father where they would assassinate the Earl and split his estate. Gloucester is easily duped by Edmund's story, which is no doubt partly due to the scenes he has witnessed at King Lear's court. Left alone again, Edmund ridicules his father's stupidity. He is joined by Edgar and warns him that his father is in a rage, suggesting that he should carry a sword in order to protect himself. The reason that Edmund gives to Edgar for his father's rage has a supernatural basis. Edmund's clear skills of persuasion also work on Edgar and he believes the story.

Interpretation As in so many of Shakespeare's plays, he uses a soliloquy in order to reveal to the audience the direction of the plot and the character of the orator. Edmund's soliloquy starts, "Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me, For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines Lag of my brother? Why bastard? Wherefore base? '' Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund '' Now, gods, stand up for bastards!" It is perhaps difficult for the modern audience to appreciate the position that Edmund finds himself in as the illegitimate child of Gloucester. We must assume, knowing Edmund's character that he perhaps overheard the conversation between Kent and Gloucester in the previous scene where Gloucester declared his love for both his sons, but the love he has for Edmund is tainted. The sleight he has suffered is similar to that of Iago in 'Othello'. It is similar in intensity and causes him much pain. He is determined to have vengeance on his half-brother and father and he calls on the god of Nature to help him in his quest. Edmund possesses great powers of persuasion and he is able to convince both his father and brother of the dangers they face from each other. He is already growing in stature in both their eyes. We note his reluctance to show his father the forged letter, feigning to protect his brother from his father's anger. Shakespeare cleverly instills curiosity and horror in the audience as regards the character of Edmund. There is a supernatural element. We note in the quotation above that Edmund refers to the age gap between himself and his older brother in terms of the moon, rather than in days. Edmund calls on the gods of nature to rescind the laws of religion and society so that his 'race' of bastards might usurp those that subjugate them. The scene is framed by soliloquies and closes with Edmund saying, "I do serve you in this business. A credulous father, and a brother noble, Whose nature is so far from doing harms That he suspects none; on whose Foolish honesty My practices ride easy! I see the business. Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit: All with me's meet that I can fashion fit." He mocks his father and brother for their Foolish honesty, which makes his task easy and he will gain their rank, not by birth, but by his wit.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/3.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_2_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 3

act 1 scene 3

{"name": "Act 1 Scene 3", "summary": "Goneril asks her steward, Oswald, if it is true that her father struck him because he was ridiculing the King's Fool. Oswald confirms this, and the angry Goneril tells Oswald to be unhelpful when dealing with her father and his entourage. She indicates that if her father does not like this treatment, he should move and stay with Regan. Goneril instructs all her servants to treat the King's company with coldness.", "analysis": "Interpretation There is an indication at the end of Scene.i that Goneril will not stand for any annoyance from her father, and this is now confirmed by her actions in this scene. It should be borne in mind that the stewards of great households were important people. They normally came from noble families and have much influence over their masters. This is reinforced by the fact that Goneril gives her steward permission to be rude to her father. Again, we see an indication that nature has taken over from the normal rules of family life. She shows no respect for her father. We note that she instructs her servants to show little hospitality to the King and his followers. The King still regards himself as possessing all his authority, but his daughter views him as a Foolish old man and encourages her servants to do the same. The extent to which she is cruel and callous to her father comes as a surprise to the audience. The plot is developing at speed, and again these short scenes emphasize the pace of the action. Reference is also made to the fact that Lear has been hunting, so although his actions have been Foolish, he still has the ability to participate in the exacting chase of the hunt."}

Scena Tertia. Enter Gonerill, and Steward. Gon. Did my Father strike my Gentleman for chiding of his Foole? Ste. I Madam Gon. By day and night, he wrongs me, euery howre He flashes into one grosse crime, or other, That sets vs all at ods: Ile not endure it; His Knights grow riotous, and himselfe vpbraides vs On euery trifle. When he returnes from hunting, I will not speake with him, say I am sicke, If you come slacke of former seruices, You shall do well, the fault of it Ile answer Ste. He's comming Madam, I heare him Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please, You and your Fellowes: I'de haue it come to question; If he distaste it, let him to my Sister, Whose mind and mine I know in that are one, Remember what I haue said Ste. Well Madam Gon. And let his Knights haue colder lookes among you: what growes of it no matter, aduise your fellowes so, Ile write straight to my Sister to hold my course; prepare for dinner. Exeunt.

Act 1 Scene 3

Goneril asks her steward, Oswald, if it is true that her father struck him because he was ridiculing the King's Fool. Oswald confirms this, and the angry Goneril tells Oswald to be unhelpful when dealing with her father and his entourage. She indicates that if her father does not like this treatment, he should move and stay with Regan. Goneril instructs all her servants to treat the King's company with coldness.

Interpretation There is an indication at the end of Scene.i that Goneril will not stand for any annoyance from her father, and this is now confirmed by her actions in this scene. It should be borne in mind that the stewards of great households were important people. They normally came from noble families and have much influence over their masters. This is reinforced by the fact that Goneril gives her steward permission to be rude to her father. Again, we see an indication that nature has taken over from the normal rules of family life. She shows no respect for her father. We note that she instructs her servants to show little hospitality to the King and his followers. The King still regards himself as possessing all his authority, but his daughter views him as a Foolish old man and encourages her servants to do the same. The extent to which she is cruel and callous to her father comes as a surprise to the audience. The plot is developing at speed, and again these short scenes emphasize the pace of the action. Reference is also made to the fact that Lear has been hunting, so although his actions have been Foolish, he still has the ability to participate in the exacting chase of the hunt.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/4.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_3_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 4

act 1 scene 4

{"name": "Act 1 Scene 4", "summary": "The Earl of Kent arrives at the palace in disguise and using the name Caius. He seeks a place in service for the King to whom he remains loyal. The King questions Kent and he is so impressed by his answers that he agrees to hire him. The King has a large entourage and they are already beginning to annoy Goneril and her steward Oswald. The steward makes a point of ignoring Lear's questions and he is becoming increasingly angered by the lack of respect he is shown by both his daughter and her household. He is also disturbed that he is unable to find his Fool, who is pining over the dismissal of Cordelia. The Fool loves both his master the King, and Cordelia. Lear orders one of his attendants to inform both Goneril and the Fool that he wishes to see them without delay. Oswald reappears and continues his insolence towards the King who loses his temper and strikes him. When Oswald protests at his treatment, Kent bundles him out of the hall. Lear thanks the disguised Earl and gives him some money, which is a final acknowledgement that Kent is now in the King's service. The Fool arrives and provides a series of jests and comic rhymes, some of which provide a commentary on Lear's folly in splitting his Kingdom between his daughters. Goneril arrives and scolds her father calling him all-licensed Fool\" and also shows impatience concerning the King's boisterous knights. She demands that he reduces his followers and this only fuels Lear's anger, but he is unable to influence his daughter. He has lost his power. Goneril's husband, the Duke of Albany enters and he asks Lear to be patient with his daughter, but the King cannot be placated. He curses his daughter, calling upon the gods to make her sterile, but if she should bear a child he hopes it will only bring her misery. When Albany is alone with his wife he expresses his amazement at the worsening of relations between Goneril and her father. The King re-enters having learnt that his daughter has already dismissed fifty of his followers. He tells Goneril that he has another child who, hopefully, remains kind and he will go and stay with Regan. Albany goes to protest about Lear's departure, but Goneril silences him. She instructs Oswald to deliver a letter to Regan warning her of their father's impending arrival.", "analysis": "Interpretation The scene opens with Kent still trying to serve his King and protect him, and to do this he takes on a disguise so that he can obtain a position close to the King. The audience can clearly see that he is unselfishly concerned for the King's welfare. The King questions Kent whose answers are at first ambiguous. When asked who he is, he replies that he is simply a man, in other words a human being as opposed to an evil beast. Although others around the King no longer consider him as the King of Britain, Kent still shows due respect to him even though he has made a foolish mistake. This is demonstrated by the fact that he chastises Oswald for his lack of respect when addressing the King. We will note that Kent was not deceived by Goneril and Regan at the start of the play, and that he also recognised Cordelia's virtue. He perhaps realizes the danger his master may be in now that he is left to the devices of Goneril and Regan. Although we are not aware of the extent of Goneril's evil at this stage, we suspect that she is already scheming to oust him and his knights from her castle. There may be a tendency to sympathies with her. It appears that the King intends to take no responsibility for governing his land, and to engage in frivolous behavior with his large band of unruly knights. However, as the scene progresses, we note that it is more than intolerance for Goneril is intent on bringing her father low, and she instructs her servants to act coldly towards Lear and his party. It is an indication of Lear's own willfulness and lack of control that his knights behave in an unruly fashion. Lear's personality seems to be made up of extremes. Despite his age, he still enjoys revelry. He is quick to lose his temper and become violent, and the curse he lays on his daughter of sterility appears to the audience to be an over-reaction. He has to come to terms with his change in status. Up until now he has been accustomed to giving orders and having them carried out. He is now treated like a child having tantrums and is openly ignored. He starts to wonder about his own identity. We are introduced to the Fool in this scene, and we are immediately intrigued by this odd jester. We warm to him as we sympathize with his loss of Cordelia, but we are soon aware that he has a sharp tongue and he appears to be able to say things to the King that others would fear to do. The Fool is King Lear's conscience and he is also a means for the reader to see King Lear's true character, undiminished by age and eccentricity. Although the Fool makes hardly any contribution to the plot, he is a key character of the play. Less enlightened generations were unable to come to terms with the complexity of the Fool and some productions deleted his part altogether. The Fool's main purpose is to enable the audience to understand King Lear's original nature. Like Kent, the Fool will remain loyal to his master, but he cannot stand silently by without commenting on the King's Foolishness. So, in addition to providing a fuller picture of Lear, the Fool also provides us with a commentary on the events as they unfold in the play. Ironically, the Fool is very wise and probably Lear's most experienced counselor. Shakespeare clearly delighted in introducing this character to his play. He has all the best lines and as you might expect, provides comic relief to the tragic events that are told. The Fool refers to Lear as nuncle. When the Fool enters he offers Kent his coxcomb or jester's hat, indicating that he thinks Kent is a Fool in wanting to serve the King who has no kingdom. We note the King's affection for the Fool as he says to him, \"How now, my pretty knave! How dost thou?\" The Fool gives Lear this advice, \"Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest, Ride more than thou goest, Learn more than thou trowest, Set less than thou throwest; Leave thy drink and thy whore, And keep in-a-door, And thou shalt have more Than two tens to a score.\" Lear asks the Fool to teach him more, and the Fool asks the King who told him to give away his Kingdom so that he can find him and get him to sit at his side - a jester beside a jester. Lear's misfortune is that he does not listen to the advice given by his Fool or the predictions that he makes. The Fool goes on to say, \"The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long that it had it head bit off by it young. So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling.\" The punishment for the Fool, if he stepped over the mark, was usually a whipping, but these were rare and it was one of the occupational hazards of being a court jester. Other comments that the Fool makes concern the upheavals in their world where traditional values count for nothing, and respect for elders and betters is evaporating. Despite all his jibes and criticisms of his master, the underlying devotion and affection that the Fool has for Lear shines through. The student should study carefully all the Fool's lines, for they have great relevance to the play. Towards the end of the scene, there are indications that Albany is uncomfortable with his wife's treatment of her father. He is clearly dominated by his wife, but not totally subservient. Right at the end of the scene he says to his wife, \"How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell: Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.\" On the face of it, this quotation has little significance, but it has relevance to several events in the play. Firstly, we know that Lear is unable to see through the false testimonies of love made by his daughters, and he is unable to see the virtue of Cordelia. Although he cannot see how clearly Goneril views the situation, the observer can well guess what she has her sights on. This quotation also symbolizes the fate that Gloucester will suffer when he loses his sight by having his eyes gouged. Shakespeare wishes to stress the ferocity of what will happen later in the play."}

Scena Quarta. Enter Kent. Kent. If but as will I other accents borrow, That can my speech defuse, my good intent May carry through it selfe to that full issue For which I raiz'd my likenesse. Now banisht Kent, If thou canst serue where thou dost stand condemn'd, So may it come, thy Master whom thou lou'st, Shall find thee full of labours. Hornes within. Enter Lear and Attendants. Lear. Let me not stay a iot for dinner, go get it ready: how now, what art thou? Kent. A man Sir Lear. What dost thou professe? What would'st thou with vs? Kent. I do professe to be no lesse then I seeme; to serue him truely that will put me in trust, to loue him that is honest, to conuerse with him that is wise and saies little, to feare iudgement, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eate no fish Lear. What art thou? Kent. A very honest hearted Fellow, and as poore as the King Lear. If thou be'st as poore for a subiect, as hee's for a King, thou art poore enough. What wouldst thou? Kent. Seruice Lear. Who wouldst thou serue? Kent. You Lear. Do'st thou know me fellow? Kent. No Sir, but you haue that in your countenance, which I would faine call Master Lear. What's that? Kent. Authority Lear. What seruices canst thou do? Kent. I can keepe honest counsaile, ride, run, marre a curious tale in telling it, and deliuer a plaine message bluntly: that which ordinary men are fit for, I am quallified in, and the best of me, is Dilligence Lear. How old art thou? Kent. Not so young Sir to loue a woman for singing, nor so old to dote on her for any thing. I haue yeares on my backe forty eight Lear. Follow me, thou shalt serue me, if I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet. Dinner ho, dinner, where's my knaue? my Foole? Go you and call my Foole hither. You you Sirrah, where's my Daughter? Enter Steward. Ste. So please you- Enter. Lear. What saies the Fellow there? Call the Clotpole backe: wher's my Foole? Ho, I thinke the world's asleepe, how now? Where's that Mungrell? Knigh. He saies my Lord, your Daughters is not well Lear. Why came not the slaue backe to me when I call'd him? Knigh. Sir, he answered me in the roundest manner, he would not Lear. He would not? Knight. My Lord, I know not what the matter is, but to my iudgement your Highnesse is not entertain'd with that Ceremonious affection as you were wont, theres a great abatement of kindnesse appeares as well in the generall dependants, as in the Duke himselfe also, and your Daughter Lear. Ha? Saist thou so? Knigh. I beseech you pardon me my Lord, if I bee mistaken, for my duty cannot be silent, when I thinke your Highnesse wrong'd Lear. Thou but remembrest me of mine owne Conception, I haue perceiued a most faint neglect of late, which I haue rather blamed as mine owne iealous curiositie, then as a very pretence and purpose of vnkindnesse; I will looke further intoo't: but where's my Foole? I haue not seene him this two daies Knight. Since my young Ladies going into France Sir, the Foole hath much pined away Lear. No more of that, I haue noted it well, goe you and tell my Daughter, I would speake with her. Goe you call hither my Foole; Oh you Sir, you, come you hither Sir, who am I Sir? Enter Steward. Ste. My Ladies Father Lear. My Ladies Father? my Lords knaue, you whorson dog, you slaue, you curre Ste. I am none of these my Lord, I beseech your pardon Lear. Do you bandy lookes with me, you Rascall? Ste. Ile not be strucken my Lord Kent. Nor tript neither, you base Foot-ball plaier Lear. I thanke thee fellow. Thou seru'st me, and Ile loue thee Kent. Come sir, arise, away, Ile teach you differences: away, away, if you will measure your lubbers length againe, tarry, but away, goe too, haue you wisedome, so Lear. Now my friendly knaue I thanke thee, there's earnest of thy seruice. Enter Foole. Foole. Let me hire him too, here's my Coxcombe Lear. How now my pretty knaue, how dost thou? Foole. Sirrah, you were best take my Coxcombe Lear. Why my Boy? Foole. Why? for taking ones part that's out of fauour, nay, & thou canst not smile as the wind sits, thou'lt catch colde shortly, there take my Coxcombe; why this fellow ha's banish'd two on's Daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will, if thou follow him, thou must needs weare my Coxcombe. How now Nunckle? would I had two Coxcombes and two Daughters Lear. Why my Boy? Fool. If I gaue them all my liuing, I'ld keepe my Coxcombes my selfe, there's mine, beg another of thy Daughters Lear. Take heed Sirrah, the whip Foole. Truth's a dog must to kennell, hee must bee whipt out, when the Lady Brach may stand by'th' fire and stinke Lear. A pestilent gall to me Foole. Sirha, Ile teach thee a speech Lear. Do Foole. Marke it Nuncle; Haue more then thou showest, Speake lesse then thou knowest, Lend lesse then thou owest, Ride more then thou goest, Learne more then thou trowest, Set lesse then thou throwest; Leaue thy drinke and thy whore, And keepe in a dore, And thou shalt haue more, Then two tens to a score Kent. This is nothing Foole Foole. Then 'tis like the breath of an vnfeed Lawyer, you gaue me nothing for't, can you make no vse of nothing Nuncle? Lear. Why no Boy, Nothing can be made out of nothing Foole. Prythee tell him, so much the rent of his land comes to, he will not beleeue a Foole Lear. A bitter Foole Foole. Do'st thou know the difference my Boy, betweene a bitter Foole, and a sweet one Lear. No Lad, teach me Foole. Nunckle, giue me an egge, and Ile giue thee two Crownes Lear. What two Crownes shall they be? Foole. Why after I haue cut the egge i'th' middle and eate vp the meate, the two Crownes of the egge: when thou clouest thy Crownes i'th' middle, and gau'st away both parts, thou boar'st thine Asse on thy backe o're the durt, thou hadst little wit in thy bald crowne, when thou gau'st thy golden one away; if I speake like my selfe in this, let him be whipt that first findes it so. Fooles had nere lesse grace in a yeere, For wisemen are growne foppish, And know not how their wits to weare, Their manners are so apish Le. When were you wont to be so full of Songs sirrah? Foole. I haue vsed it Nunckle, ere since thou mad'st thy Daughters thy Mothers, for when thou gau'st them the rod, and put'st downe thine owne breeches, then they For sodaine ioy did weepe, And I for sorrow sung, That such a King should play bo-peepe, And goe the Foole among. Pry'thy Nunckle keepe a Schoolemaster that can teach thy Foole to lie, I would faine learne to lie Lear. And you lie sirrah, wee'l haue you whipt Foole. I maruell what kin thou and thy daughters are, they'l haue me whipt for speaking true: thou'lt haue me whipt for lying, and sometimes I am whipt for holding my peace. I had rather be any kind o' thing then a foole, and yet I would not be thee Nunckle, thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i'th' middle; heere comes one o'the parings. Enter Gonerill. Lear. How now Daughter? what makes that Frontlet on? You are too much of late i'th' frowne Foole. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to care for her frowning, now thou art an O without a figure, I am better then thou art now, I am a Foole, thou art nothing. Yes forsooth I will hold my tongue, so your face bids me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum, he that keepes nor crust, nor crum, Weary of all, shall want some. That's a sheal'd Pescod Gon. Not only Sir this, your all-lycenc'd Foole, But other of your insolent retinue Do hourely Carpe and Quarrell, breaking forth In ranke, and (not to be endur'd) riots Sir. I had thought by making this well knowne vnto you, To haue found a safe redresse, but now grow fearefull By what your selfe too late haue spoke and done, That you protect this course, and put it on By your allowance, which if you should, the fault Would not scape censure, nor the redresses sleepe, Which in the tender of a wholesome weale, Mighty in their working do you that offence, Which else were shame, that then necessitie Will call discreet proceeding Foole. For you know Nunckle, the Hedge-Sparrow fed the Cuckoo so long, that it's had it head bit off by it young, so out went the Candle, and we were left darkling Lear. Are you our Daughter? Gon. I would you would make vse of your good wisedome (Whereof I know you are fraught), and put away These dispositions, which of late transport you From what you rightly are Foole. May not an Asse know, when the Cart drawes the Horse? Whoop Iugge I loue thee Lear. Do's any heere know me? This is not Lear: Do's Lear walke thus? Speake thus? Where are his eies? Either his Notion weakens, his Discernings Are Lethargied. Ha! Waking? 'Tis not so? Who is it that can tell me who I am? Foole. Lears shadow Lear. Your name, faire Gentlewoman? Gon. This admiration Sir, is much o'th' sauour Of other your new prankes. I do beseech you To vnderstand my purposes aright: As you are Old, and Reuerend, should be Wise. Heere do you keepe a hundred Knights and Squires, Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd and bold, That this our Court infected with their manners, Shewes like a riotous Inne; Epicurisme and Lust Makes it more like a Tauerne, or a Brothell, Then a grac'd Pallace. The shame it selfe doth speake For instant remedy. Be then desir'd By her, that else will take the thing she begges, A little to disquantity your Traine, And the remainders that shall still depend, To be such men as may besort your Age, Which know themselues, and you Lear. Darknesse, and Diuels. Saddle my horses: call my Traine together. Degenerate Bastard, Ile not trouble thee; Yet haue I left a daughter Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd rable, make Seruants of their Betters. Enter Albany. Lear. Woe, that too late repents: Is it your will, speake Sir? Prepare my Horses. Ingratitude! thou Marble-hearted Fiend, More hideous when thou shew'st thee in a Child, Then the Sea-monster Alb. Pray Sir be patient Lear. Detested Kite, thou lyest. My Traine are men of choice, and rarest parts, That all particulars of dutie know, And in the most exact regard, support The worships of their name. O most small fault, How vgly did'st thou in Cordelia shew? Which like an Engine, wrencht my frame of Nature From the fixt place: drew from my heart all loue, And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear! Beate at this gate that let thy Folly in, And thy deere Iudgement out. Go, go, my people Alb. My Lord, I am guiltlesse, as I am ignorant Of what hath moued you Lear. It may be so, my Lord. Heare Nature, heare deere Goddesse, heare: Suspend thy purpose, if thou did'st intend To make this Creature fruitfull: Into her Wombe conuey stirrility, Drie vp in her the Organs of increase, And from her derogate body, neuer spring A Babe to honor her. If she must teeme, Create her childe of Spleene, that it may liue And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her. Let it stampe wrinkles in her brow of youth, With cadent Teares fret Channels in her cheekes, Turne all her Mothers paines, and benefits To laughter, and contempt: That she may feele, How sharper then a Serpents tooth it is, To haue a thanklesse Childe. Away, away. Enter. Alb. Now Gods that we adore, Whereof comes this? Gon. Neuer afflict your selfe to know more of it: But let his disposition haue that scope As dotage giues it. Enter Lear. Lear. What fiftie of my Followers at a clap? Within a fortnight? Alb. What's the matter, Sir? Lear. Ile tell thee: Life and death, I am asham'd That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus, That these hot teares, which breake from me perforce Should make thee worth them. Blastes and Fogges vpon thee: Th' vntented woundings of a Fathers curse Pierce euerie sense about thee. Old fond eyes, Beweepe this cause againe, Ile plucke ye out, And cast you with the waters that you loose To temper Clay. Ha? Let it be so. I haue another daughter, Who I am sure is kinde and comfortable: When she shall heare this of thee, with her nailes Shee'l flea thy Woluish visage. Thou shalt finde, That Ile resume the shape which thou dost thinke I haue cast off for euer. Exit Gon. Do you marke that? Alb. I cannot be so partiall Gonerill, To the great loue I beare you Gon. Pray you content. What Oswald, hoa? You Sir, more Knaue then Foole, after your Master Foole. Nunkle Lear, Nunkle Lear, Tarry, take the Foole with thee: A Fox, when one has caught her, And such a Daughter, Should sure to the Slaughter, If my Cap would buy a Halter, So the Foole followes after. Exit Gon. This man hath had good Counsell, A hundred Knights? 'Tis politike, and safe to let him keepe At point a hundred Knights: yes, that on euerie dreame, Each buz, each fancie, each complaint, dislike, He may enguard his dotage with their powres, And hold our liues in mercy. Oswald, I say Alb. Well, you may feare too farre Gon. Safer then trust too farre; Let me still take away the harmes I feare, Not feare still to be taken. I know his heart, What he hath vtter'd I haue writ my Sister: If she sustaine him, and his hundred Knights When I haue shew'd th' vnfitnesse. Enter Steward. How now Oswald? What haue you writ that Letter to my Sister? Stew. I Madam Gon. Take you some company, and away to horse, Informe her full of my particular feare, And thereto adde such reasons of your owne, As may compact it more. Get you gone, And hasten your returne; no, no, my Lord, This milky gentlenesse, and course of yours Though I condemne not, yet vnder pardon You are much more at task for want of wisedome, Then prais'd for harmefull mildnesse Alb. How farre your eies may pierce I cannot tell; Striuing to better, oft we marre what's well Gon. Nay then- Alb. Well, well, th' euent. Exeunt.

Act 1 Scene 4

The Earl of Kent arrives at the palace in disguise and using the name Caius. He seeks a place in service for the King to whom he remains loyal. The King questions Kent and he is so impressed by his answers that he agrees to hire him. The King has a large entourage and they are already beginning to annoy Goneril and her steward Oswald. The steward makes a point of ignoring Lear's questions and he is becoming increasingly angered by the lack of respect he is shown by both his daughter and her household. He is also disturbed that he is unable to find his Fool, who is pining over the dismissal of Cordelia. The Fool loves both his master the King, and Cordelia. Lear orders one of his attendants to inform both Goneril and the Fool that he wishes to see them without delay. Oswald reappears and continues his insolence towards the King who loses his temper and strikes him. When Oswald protests at his treatment, Kent bundles him out of the hall. Lear thanks the disguised Earl and gives him some money, which is a final acknowledgement that Kent is now in the King's service. The Fool arrives and provides a series of jests and comic rhymes, some of which provide a commentary on Lear's folly in splitting his Kingdom between his daughters. Goneril arrives and scolds her father calling him all-licensed Fool" and also shows impatience concerning the King's boisterous knights. She demands that he reduces his followers and this only fuels Lear's anger, but he is unable to influence his daughter. He has lost his power. Goneril's husband, the Duke of Albany enters and he asks Lear to be patient with his daughter, but the King cannot be placated. He curses his daughter, calling upon the gods to make her sterile, but if she should bear a child he hopes it will only bring her misery. When Albany is alone with his wife he expresses his amazement at the worsening of relations between Goneril and her father. The King re-enters having learnt that his daughter has already dismissed fifty of his followers. He tells Goneril that he has another child who, hopefully, remains kind and he will go and stay with Regan. Albany goes to protest about Lear's departure, but Goneril silences him. She instructs Oswald to deliver a letter to Regan warning her of their father's impending arrival.

Interpretation The scene opens with Kent still trying to serve his King and protect him, and to do this he takes on a disguise so that he can obtain a position close to the King. The audience can clearly see that he is unselfishly concerned for the King's welfare. The King questions Kent whose answers are at first ambiguous. When asked who he is, he replies that he is simply a man, in other words a human being as opposed to an evil beast. Although others around the King no longer consider him as the King of Britain, Kent still shows due respect to him even though he has made a foolish mistake. This is demonstrated by the fact that he chastises Oswald for his lack of respect when addressing the King. We will note that Kent was not deceived by Goneril and Regan at the start of the play, and that he also recognised Cordelia's virtue. He perhaps realizes the danger his master may be in now that he is left to the devices of Goneril and Regan. Although we are not aware of the extent of Goneril's evil at this stage, we suspect that she is already scheming to oust him and his knights from her castle. There may be a tendency to sympathies with her. It appears that the King intends to take no responsibility for governing his land, and to engage in frivolous behavior with his large band of unruly knights. However, as the scene progresses, we note that it is more than intolerance for Goneril is intent on bringing her father low, and she instructs her servants to act coldly towards Lear and his party. It is an indication of Lear's own willfulness and lack of control that his knights behave in an unruly fashion. Lear's personality seems to be made up of extremes. Despite his age, he still enjoys revelry. He is quick to lose his temper and become violent, and the curse he lays on his daughter of sterility appears to the audience to be an over-reaction. He has to come to terms with his change in status. Up until now he has been accustomed to giving orders and having them carried out. He is now treated like a child having tantrums and is openly ignored. He starts to wonder about his own identity. We are introduced to the Fool in this scene, and we are immediately intrigued by this odd jester. We warm to him as we sympathize with his loss of Cordelia, but we are soon aware that he has a sharp tongue and he appears to be able to say things to the King that others would fear to do. The Fool is King Lear's conscience and he is also a means for the reader to see King Lear's true character, undiminished by age and eccentricity. Although the Fool makes hardly any contribution to the plot, he is a key character of the play. Less enlightened generations were unable to come to terms with the complexity of the Fool and some productions deleted his part altogether. The Fool's main purpose is to enable the audience to understand King Lear's original nature. Like Kent, the Fool will remain loyal to his master, but he cannot stand silently by without commenting on the King's Foolishness. So, in addition to providing a fuller picture of Lear, the Fool also provides us with a commentary on the events as they unfold in the play. Ironically, the Fool is very wise and probably Lear's most experienced counselor. Shakespeare clearly delighted in introducing this character to his play. He has all the best lines and as you might expect, provides comic relief to the tragic events that are told. The Fool refers to Lear as nuncle. When the Fool enters he offers Kent his coxcomb or jester's hat, indicating that he thinks Kent is a Fool in wanting to serve the King who has no kingdom. We note the King's affection for the Fool as he says to him, "How now, my pretty knave! How dost thou?" The Fool gives Lear this advice, "Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest, Ride more than thou goest, Learn more than thou trowest, Set less than thou throwest; Leave thy drink and thy whore, And keep in-a-door, And thou shalt have more Than two tens to a score." Lear asks the Fool to teach him more, and the Fool asks the King who told him to give away his Kingdom so that he can find him and get him to sit at his side - a jester beside a jester. Lear's misfortune is that he does not listen to the advice given by his Fool or the predictions that he makes. The Fool goes on to say, "The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long that it had it head bit off by it young. So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling." The punishment for the Fool, if he stepped over the mark, was usually a whipping, but these were rare and it was one of the occupational hazards of being a court jester. Other comments that the Fool makes concern the upheavals in their world where traditional values count for nothing, and respect for elders and betters is evaporating. Despite all his jibes and criticisms of his master, the underlying devotion and affection that the Fool has for Lear shines through. The student should study carefully all the Fool's lines, for they have great relevance to the play. Towards the end of the scene, there are indications that Albany is uncomfortable with his wife's treatment of her father. He is clearly dominated by his wife, but not totally subservient. Right at the end of the scene he says to his wife, "How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell: Striving to better, oft we mar what's well." On the face of it, this quotation has little significance, but it has relevance to several events in the play. Firstly, we know that Lear is unable to see through the false testimonies of love made by his daughters, and he is unable to see the virtue of Cordelia. Although he cannot see how clearly Goneril views the situation, the observer can well guess what she has her sights on. This quotation also symbolizes the fate that Gloucester will suffer when he loses his sight by having his eyes gouged. Shakespeare wishes to stress the ferocity of what will happen later in the play.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/5.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_4_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 5

act 1 scene 5

{"name": "Act 1 Scene 5 ", "summary": "Kent is given orders to ride to Regan's home so that she can prepare for the King's arrival. The Fool endeavors to lift the burden that his master carries and tries to lighten his mood with rhymes. However, Lear is depressed and fears for his own sanity. The scene ends with the announcement that preparations are ready for the journey.", "analysis": "Interpretation This scene is only fifty-one lines long, but it is a masterpiece of dramatic literature. It requires the actors playing Lear and the Fool to be at their best. The challenge is to do justice to the lines provided for them by Shakespeare. The Fool says of Regan, \"Shalt see, thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a crab is like an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell.\" Lear asks the Fool to explain and he goes on to say, \"She will taste as like this as a crab does to a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose stands in the middle on's face?\" We think initially that the Fool is referring to Regan, but it is in fact Cordelia that he refers to and as the conversation develops, Lear realizes his true folly in not only disposing of his Kingdom, but also losing the daughter that really loved him. He concludes, \"I did her wrong.\" Again speaking in riddles, the Fool comments on Lear's disposal of Britain by saying, \"I can tell why a snail has a house.\" Lear: \"Why?\" Fool: \"Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his daughters and leave his horns without a case.\" In giving away his Kingdom, Lear has made himself very vulnerable, like a snail without its shell. Lear finishes by saying, \"O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!\" Through their conversations, we see how close the King and the Fool are. There is even a suggestion of role reversal when the Fool suggests that if Lear were his Fool, he would have beaten him for being old before his time. The reader may have suspected that Lear's sanity was in doubt, and now he suspects that he is mad because of the recent poor decisions he has made. Perhaps he suffers from what we would today term as a kind of dementia, the symptoms of which we have previously described. The Fool tries to warn Lear about the reception he may obtain from Regan, but whatever happens to the King he will obtain support from both Kent and the Fool. Perhaps it might be appropriate if Lear swaps his crown for a coxcomb."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Lear, Kent, Gentleman, and Foole. Lear. Go you before to Gloster with these Letters; acquaint my Daughter no further with any thing you know, then comes from her demand out of the Letter, if your Dilligence be not speedy, I shall be there afore you Kent. I will not sleepe my Lord, till I haue deliuered your Letter. Enter. Foole. If a mans braines were in's heeles, wert not in danger of kybes? Lear. I Boy Foole. Then I prythee be merry, thy wit shall not go slip-shod Lear. Ha, ha, ha Fool. Shalt see thy other Daughter will vse thee kindly, for though she's as like this, as a Crabbe's like an Apple, yet I can tell what I can tell Lear. What can'st tell Boy? Foole. She will taste as like this as, a Crabbe do's to a Crab: thou canst, tell why ones nose stands i'th' middle on's face? Lear. No Foole. Why to keepe ones eyes of either side 's nose, that what a man cannot smell out, he may spy into Lear. I did her wrong Foole. Can'st tell how an Oyster makes his shell? Lear. No Foole. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a Snaile ha's a house Lear. Why? Foole. Why to put's head in, not to giue it away to his daughters, and leaue his hornes without a case Lear. I will forget my Nature, so kind a Father? Be my Horsses ready? Foole. Thy Asses are gone about 'em; the reason why the seuen Starres are no mo then seuen, is a pretty reason Lear. Because they are not eight Foole. Yes indeed, thou would'st make a good Foole Lear. To tak't againe perforce; Monster Ingratitude! Foole. If thou wert my Foole Nunckle, Il'd haue thee beaten for being old before thy time Lear. How's that? Foole. Thou shouldst not haue bin old, till thou hadst bin wise Lear. O let me not be mad, not mad sweet Heauen: keepe me in temper, I would not be mad. How now are the Horses ready? Gent. Ready my Lord Lear. Come Boy Fool. She that's a Maid now, & laughs at my departure, Shall not be a Maid long, vnlesse things be cut shorter. Exeunt.

Act 1 Scene 5

Kent is given orders to ride to Regan's home so that she can prepare for the King's arrival. The Fool endeavors to lift the burden that his master carries and tries to lighten his mood with rhymes. However, Lear is depressed and fears for his own sanity. The scene ends with the announcement that preparations are ready for the journey.

Interpretation This scene is only fifty-one lines long, but it is a masterpiece of dramatic literature. It requires the actors playing Lear and the Fool to be at their best. The challenge is to do justice to the lines provided for them by Shakespeare. The Fool says of Regan, "Shalt see, thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a crab is like an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell." Lear asks the Fool to explain and he goes on to say, "She will taste as like this as a crab does to a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose stands in the middle on's face?" We think initially that the Fool is referring to Regan, but it is in fact Cordelia that he refers to and as the conversation develops, Lear realizes his true folly in not only disposing of his Kingdom, but also losing the daughter that really loved him. He concludes, "I did her wrong." Again speaking in riddles, the Fool comments on Lear's disposal of Britain by saying, "I can tell why a snail has a house." Lear: "Why?" Fool: "Why, to put his head in; not to give it away to his daughters and leave his horns without a case." In giving away his Kingdom, Lear has made himself very vulnerable, like a snail without its shell. Lear finishes by saying, "O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!" Through their conversations, we see how close the King and the Fool are. There is even a suggestion of role reversal when the Fool suggests that if Lear were his Fool, he would have beaten him for being old before his time. The reader may have suspected that Lear's sanity was in doubt, and now he suspects that he is mad because of the recent poor decisions he has made. Perhaps he suffers from what we would today term as a kind of dementia, the symptoms of which we have previously described. The Fool tries to warn Lear about the reception he may obtain from Regan, but whatever happens to the King he will obtain support from both Kent and the Fool. Perhaps it might be appropriate if Lear swaps his crown for a coxcomb.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/6.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_5_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 1

act 2 scene 1

{"name": "Act 2 Scene 1 ", "summary": "We learn that there is some public unrest in the locality, which concerns Edmund particularly as the Duke of Cornwall and his wife Regan will arrive at the castle shortly. Edmund is pleased about recent developments, as they will all contribute to his advancement. His half-brother Edgar is in hiding and Edmund tells him that he must now flee the castle before he is discovered. Gloucester already knows Edgar has been hiding somewhere in the castle, so Edmund tells Edgar that he must make his escape look convincing. Edmund tells Edgar that he will pretend to stop him leaving the castle and they draw swords. Edgar leaves and Edmund wounds himself and cries out. Gloucester enters and is immediately convinced that Edgar is a villain and declares him an outlaw. The Duke of Cornwall says that he must be hunted down. Gloucester calls his son Edmund his loyal and natural boy. Edmund is given a place as one of the Duke of Cornwall's trusted followers. Cornwall and Regan have come to seek advice from Gloucester concerning the rift between Goneril and her father. The King is due to arrive at their castle, and they do not wish to meet with him for he is sure to complain about the treatment he has received from his eldest daughter.", "analysis": "Interpretation At the very start of this scene there is an indication of growing chaos in the land due to its partition. However, Edmund sees this as an opportunity to improve his status. He also knows the whereabouts of Edgar and it is now time for him to play this card and dispose of his rival from the castle. We see how cunning Edmund is and how he can turn events to his advantage. He dupes Edgar into thinking that he has his welfare at heart. He persuades Edgar to leave the castle using a pretence that Edmund is trying to prevent the escape. Unknown to Edgar, Edmund wounds himself in order to make his story more convincing to his father Gloucester. We marvel at Edmund's superior cunning, which makes those around him seem dim-witted, especially the noble characters in the play. Their naivety is plain for the audience to see. We see a total change in Gloucester's feelings for Edmund. He has in fact changed places with Edgar in Gloucester's eyes, and Gloucester calls him his 'natural boy', a far cry from the opening scene of the play where he is talked about as a product of a sinful but enjoyable relationship. When Regan and Cornwall arrive, they at first glance appear to be a respectable and responsible couple. They hope that civil order will soon be restored and that the evildoers will be caught and punished. We learn that Edgar is King Lear's godson, and Regan is appalled to hear that he seeks the death of Gloucester. They too seem willing to accept Edmund's deceit without question. A direct connection is made between Edgar's behavior and the outrageous behavior of Lear's followers. The aim here is to win Gloucester over to their side in opposition to Lear. We are, of course, aware that Regan and Goneril are co-conspirators against their father. Previous scenes have given us an insight into Goneril and in particular her husband, who although dominated, does appear to be honorable. The Duke of Cornwall, however, is a different prospect and we are not quite clear concerning his personality. The fact that he praises Edmund for his loyalty suggests that he perhaps recognizes a kindred spirit. Shakespeare cleverly is bringing all the villains together and as this takes place they become stronger and so do the dark powers of the play become more ominous, whilst the heroes of the story are losing their position and their power."}

Actus Secundus. Scena Prima. Enter Bastard, and Curan, seuerally. Bast. Saue thee Curan Cur. And you Sir, I haue bin With your Father, and giuen him notice That the Duke of Cornwall, and Regan his Duchesse Will be here with him this night Bast. How comes that? Cur. Nay I know not, you haue heard of the newes abroad, I meane the whisper'd ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments Bast. Not I: pray you what are they? Cur. Haue you heard of no likely Warres toward, 'Twixt the Dukes of Cornwall, and Albany? Bast. Not a word Cur. You may do then in time, Fare you well Sir. Enter. Bast. The Duke be here to night? The better best, This weaues it selfe perforce into my businesse, My Father hath set guard to take my Brother, And I haue one thing of a queazie question Which I must act, Briefenesse, and Fortune worke. Enter Edgar. Brother, a word, discend; Brother I say, My Father watches: O Sir, fly this place, Intelligence is giuen where you are hid; You haue now the good aduantage of the night, Haue you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornewall? Hee's comming hither, now i'th' night, i'th' haste, And Regan with him, haue you nothing said Vpon his partie 'gainst the Duke of Albany? Aduise your selfe Edg. I am sure on't, not a word Bast. I heare my Father comming, pardon me: In cunning, I must draw my Sword vpon you: Draw, seeme to defend your selfe, Now quit you well. Yeeld, come before my Father, light hoa, here, Fly Brother, Torches, Torches, so farewell. Exit Edgar. Some blood drawne on me, would beget opinion Of my more fierce endeauour. I haue seene drunkards Do more then this in sport; Father, Father, Stop, stop, no helpe? Enter Gloster, and Seruants with Torches. Glo. Now Edmund, where's the villaine? Bast. Here stood he in the dark, his sharpe Sword out, Mumbling of wicked charmes, coniuring the Moone To stand auspicious Mistris Glo. But where is he? Bast. Looke Sir, I bleed Glo. Where is the villaine, Edmund? Bast. Fled this way Sir, when by no meanes he could Glo. Pursue him, ho: go after. By no meanes, what? Bast. Perswade me to the murther of your Lordship, But that I told him the reuenging Gods, 'Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend, Spoke with how manifold, and strong a Bond The Child was bound to'th' Father; Sir in fine, Seeing how lothly opposite I stood To his vnnaturall purpose, in fell motion With his prepared Sword, he charges home My vnprouided body, latch'd mine arme; And when he saw my best alarum'd spirits Bold in the quarrels right, rouz'd to th' encounter, Or whether gasted by the noyse I made, Full sodainely he fled Glost. Let him fly farre: Not in this Land shall he remaine vncaught And found; dispatch, the Noble Duke my Master, My worthy Arch and Patron comes to night, By his authoritie I will proclaime it, That he which finds him shall deserue our thankes, Bringing the murderous Coward to the stake: He that conceales him death Bast. When I disswaded him from his intent, And found him pight to doe it, with curst speech I threaten'd to discouer him; he replied, Thou vnpossessing Bastard, dost thou thinke, If I would stand against thee, would the reposall Of any trust, vertue, or worth in thee Make thy words faith'd? No, what should I denie, (As this I would, though thou didst produce My very Character) I'ld turne it all To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practise: And thou must make a dullard of the world, If they not thought the profits of my death Were very pregnant and potentiall spirits To make thee seeke it. Tucket within. Glo. O strange and fastned Villaine, Would he deny his Letter, said he? Harke, the Dukes Trumpets, I know not wher he comes; All Ports Ile barre, the villaine shall not scape, The Duke must grant me that: besides, his picture I will send farre and neere, that all the kingdome May haue due note of him, and of my land, (Loyall and naturall Boy) Ile worke the meanes To make thee capable. Enter Cornewall, Regan, and Attendants. Corn. How now my Noble friend, since I came hither (Which I can call but now,) I haue heard strangenesse Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short Which can pursue th' offender; how dost my Lord? Glo. O Madam, my old heart is crack'd, it's crack'd Reg. What, did my Fathers Godsonne seeke your life? He whom my Father nam'd, your Edgar? Glo. O Lady, Lady, shame would haue it hid Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous Knights That tended vpon my Father? Glo. I know not Madam, 'tis too bad, too bad Bast. Yes Madam, he was of that consort Reg. No maruaile then, though he were ill affected, 'Tis they haue put him on the old mans death, To haue th' expence and wast of his Reuenues: I haue this present euening from my Sister Beene well inform'd of them, and with such cautions, That if they come to soiourne at my house, Ile not be there Cor. Nor I, assure thee Regan; Edmund, I heare that you haue shewne your Father A Child-like Office Bast. It was my duty Sir Glo. He did bewray his practise, and receiu'd This hurt you see, striuing to apprehend him Cor. Is he pursued? Glo. I my good Lord Cor. If he be taken, he shall neuer more Be fear'd of doing harme, make your owne purpose, How in my strength you please: for you Edmund, Whose vertue and obedience doth this instant So much commend it selfe, you shall be ours, Nature's of such deepe trust, we shall much need: You we first seize on Bast. I shall serue you Sir truely, how euer else Glo. For him I thanke your Grace Cor. You know not why we came to visit you? Reg. Thus out of season, thredding darke ey'd night, Occasions Noble Gloster of some prize, Wherein we must haue vse of your aduise. Our Father he hath writ, so hath our Sister, Of differences, which I best thought it fit To answere from our home: the seuerall Messengers From hence attend dispatch, our good old Friend, Lay comforts to your bosome, and bestow Your needfull counsaile to our businesses, Which craues the instant vse Glo. I serue you Madam, Your Graces are right welcome. Exeunt. Flourish.

Act 2 Scene 1

We learn that there is some public unrest in the locality, which concerns Edmund particularly as the Duke of Cornwall and his wife Regan will arrive at the castle shortly. Edmund is pleased about recent developments, as they will all contribute to his advancement. His half-brother Edgar is in hiding and Edmund tells him that he must now flee the castle before he is discovered. Gloucester already knows Edgar has been hiding somewhere in the castle, so Edmund tells Edgar that he must make his escape look convincing. Edmund tells Edgar that he will pretend to stop him leaving the castle and they draw swords. Edgar leaves and Edmund wounds himself and cries out. Gloucester enters and is immediately convinced that Edgar is a villain and declares him an outlaw. The Duke of Cornwall says that he must be hunted down. Gloucester calls his son Edmund his loyal and natural boy. Edmund is given a place as one of the Duke of Cornwall's trusted followers. Cornwall and Regan have come to seek advice from Gloucester concerning the rift between Goneril and her father. The King is due to arrive at their castle, and they do not wish to meet with him for he is sure to complain about the treatment he has received from his eldest daughter.

Interpretation At the very start of this scene there is an indication of growing chaos in the land due to its partition. However, Edmund sees this as an opportunity to improve his status. He also knows the whereabouts of Edgar and it is now time for him to play this card and dispose of his rival from the castle. We see how cunning Edmund is and how he can turn events to his advantage. He dupes Edgar into thinking that he has his welfare at heart. He persuades Edgar to leave the castle using a pretence that Edmund is trying to prevent the escape. Unknown to Edgar, Edmund wounds himself in order to make his story more convincing to his father Gloucester. We marvel at Edmund's superior cunning, which makes those around him seem dim-witted, especially the noble characters in the play. Their naivety is plain for the audience to see. We see a total change in Gloucester's feelings for Edmund. He has in fact changed places with Edgar in Gloucester's eyes, and Gloucester calls him his 'natural boy', a far cry from the opening scene of the play where he is talked about as a product of a sinful but enjoyable relationship. When Regan and Cornwall arrive, they at first glance appear to be a respectable and responsible couple. They hope that civil order will soon be restored and that the evildoers will be caught and punished. We learn that Edgar is King Lear's godson, and Regan is appalled to hear that he seeks the death of Gloucester. They too seem willing to accept Edmund's deceit without question. A direct connection is made between Edgar's behavior and the outrageous behavior of Lear's followers. The aim here is to win Gloucester over to their side in opposition to Lear. We are, of course, aware that Regan and Goneril are co-conspirators against their father. Previous scenes have given us an insight into Goneril and in particular her husband, who although dominated, does appear to be honorable. The Duke of Cornwall, however, is a different prospect and we are not quite clear concerning his personality. The fact that he praises Edmund for his loyalty suggests that he perhaps recognizes a kindred spirit. Shakespeare cleverly is bringing all the villains together and as this takes place they become stronger and so do the dark powers of the play become more ominous, whilst the heroes of the story are losing their position and their power.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/7.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_6_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 2

act 2 scene 2

{"name": "Act 2 Scene 2", "summary": "Both Kent, in disguise, and Oswald have letters for Regan. The two argue and Kent draws his sword and beats Oswald with it. He is still angry at the steward's disrespectful attitude towards the King. The commotion attracts the attention of Edmund and the others and they come to make the peace. Regan quickly deduces that the pair are messengers from Goneril and her father. Cornwall asks them to explain their behavior and the blunt Kent condemns Oswald. Oswald defends himself and Cornwall sides with him, and Kent is ordered to be placed in the stocks, much to Regan's satisfaction. Gloucester tries to intervene on Kent's behalf but is unsuccessful. Philosophically, Kent accepts his sentence, but finds comfort in reading a letter from Cordelia who is concerned regarding her father's plight.", "analysis": "Interpretation It is important to appreciate the significance of this event. Couriers were very important. They represented their masters and the fact that Kent is placed in the stocks is tantamount to King Lear being placed in the stocks. Although Lear is not aware of the situation at this stage, it represents the greatest insult he has faced. This fact will not be lost on the Shakespearean audience as using couriers was the main method of relaying information. We note Regan's delight at this turn of events. No doubt she thinks and hopes that the reaction from her father will be intense. We also see the lack of influence Gloucester has over this turn of events. The older characters in this story are impotent and the younger generations are taking over. A new order is being introduced - a natural order, and as the old order is melting away, with it goes law and respect. We are now getting a better picture regarding the character of Cornwall, especially when he confronts Kent. We will see that Cornwall is a habitual liar, and he cannot recognize Kent as being honest and, therefore, assumes that he must be lying too. Had we not witnessed Kent's performance in the early part of the play, we might mistake him for a thug by the way he treats Oswald. Kent, one of the old school, is trying to hold on to the principles of the past, and Oswald who is merely a tool of Goneril, is pulling these values down quickly. Through frustration the hot-headed Kent loses control and starts to thrash Oswald. Shakespeare is clearly whetting the appetite of the audience who cannot wait to see Lear's reaction to Kent being placed in the stocks. This is in fact an act of treason, thus showing how little influence and power Lear has left. The modern audience will note the flaw in the story where Kent has received a letter from Cordelia. She is already aware of her father's plight, but there has not been enough time for such messages to travel to France and back, but Shakespeare is not concerned about this, and neither was his audience. This is purely a dramatic device in order to maintain the tempo of the play."}

Scena Secunda. Enter Kent, and Steward seuerally. Stew. Good dawning to thee Friend, art of this house? Kent. I Stew. Where may we set our horses? Kent. I'th' myre Stew. Prythee, if thou lou'st me, tell me Kent. I loue thee not Ste. Why then I care not for thee Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury Pinfold, I would make thee care for me Ste. Why do'st thou vse me thus? I know thee not Kent. Fellow I know thee Ste. What do'st thou know me for? Kent. A Knaue, a Rascall, an eater of broken meates, a base, proud, shallow, beggerly, three-suited-hundred pound, filthy woosted-stocking knaue, a Lilly-liuered, action-taking, whoreson glasse-gazing super-seruiceable finicall Rogue, one Trunke-inheriting slaue, one that would'st be a Baud in way of good seruice, and art nothing but the composition of a Knaue, Begger, Coward, Pandar, and the Sonne and Heire of a Mungrill Bitch, one whom I will beate into clamours whining, if thou deny'st the least sillable of thy addition Stew. Why, what a monstrous Fellow art thou, thus to raile on one, that is neither knowne of thee, nor knowes thee? Kent. What a brazen-fac'd Varlet art thou, to deny thou knowest me? Is it two dayes since I tript vp thy heeles, and beate thee before the King? Draw you rogue, for though it be night, yet the Moone shines, Ile make a sop oth' Moonshine of you, you whoreson Cullyenly Barber-monger, draw Stew. Away, I haue nothing to do with thee Kent. Draw you Rascall, you come with Letters against the King, and take Vanitie the puppets part, against the Royaltie of her Father: draw you Rogue, or Ile so carbonado your shanks, draw you Rascall, come your waies Ste. Helpe, ho, murther, helpe Kent. Strike you slaue: stand rogue, stand you neat slaue, strike Stew. Helpe hoa, murther, murther. Enter Bastard, Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Bast. How now, what's the matter? Part Kent. With you goodman Boy, if you please, come, Ile flesh ye, come on yong Master Glo. Weapons? Armes? what's the matter here? Cor. Keepe peace vpon your liues, he dies that strikes againe, what is the matter? Reg. The Messengers from our Sister, and the King? Cor. What is your difference, speake? Stew. I am scarce in breath my Lord Kent. No Maruell, you haue so bestir'd your valour, you cowardly Rascall, nature disclaimes in thee: a Taylor made thee Cor. Thou art a strange fellow, a Taylor make a man? Kent. A Taylor Sir, a Stone-cutter, or a Painter, could not haue made him so ill, though they had bin but two yeares oth' trade Cor. Speake yet, how grew your quarrell? Ste. This ancient Ruffian Sir, whose life I haue spar'd at sute of his gray-beard Kent. Thou whoreson Zed, thou vnnecessary letter: my Lord, if you will giue me leaue, I will tread this vnboulted villaine into morter, and daube the wall of a Iakes with him. Spare my gray-beard, you wagtaile? Cor. Peace sirrah, You beastly knaue, know you no reuerence? Kent. Yes Sir, but anger hath a priuiledge Cor. Why art thou angrie? Kent. That such a slaue as this should weare a Sword, Who weares no honesty: such smiling rogues as these, Like Rats oft bite the holy cords a twaine, Which are t' intrince, t' vnloose: smooth euery passion That in the natures of their Lords rebell, Being oile to fire, snow to the colder moodes, Reuenge, affirme, and turne their Halcion beakes With euery gall, and varry of their Masters, Knowing naught (like dogges) but following: A plague vpon your Epilepticke visage, Smoile you my speeches, as I were a Foole? Goose, if I had you vpon Sarum Plaine, I'ld driue ye cackling home to Camelot Corn. What art thou mad old Fellow? Glost. How fell you out, say that? Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy, Then I, and such a knaue Corn. Why do'st thou call him Knaue? What is his fault? Kent. His countenance likes me not Cor. No more perchance do's mine, nor his, nor hers Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plaine, I haue seene better faces in my Time, Then stands on any shoulder that I see Before me, at this instant Corn. This is some Fellow, Who hauing beene prais'd for bluntnesse, doth affect A saucy roughnes, and constraines the garb Quite from his Nature. He cannot flatter he, An honest mind and plaine, he must speake truth, And they will take it so, if not, hee's plaine. These kind of Knaues I know, which in this plainnesse Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends, Then twenty silly-ducking obseruants, That stretch their duties nicely Kent. Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity, Vnder th' allowance of your great aspect, Whose influence like the wreath of radient fire On flickring Phoebus front Corn. What mean'st by this? Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much; I know Sir, I am no flatterer, he that beguild you in a plaine accent, was a plaine Knaue, which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me too't Corn. What was th' offence you gaue him? Ste. I neuer gaue him any: It pleas'd the King his Master very late To strike at me vpon his misconstruction, When he compact, and flattering his displeasure Tript me behind: being downe, insulted, rail'd, And put vpon him such a deale of Man, That worthied him, got praises of the King, For him attempting, who was selfe-subdued, And in the fleshment of this dead exploit, Drew on me here againe Kent. None of these Rogues, and Cowards But Aiax is there Foole Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks? You stubborne ancient Knaue, you reuerent Bragart, Wee'l teach you Kent. Sir, I am too old to learne: Call not your Stocks for me, I serue the King. On whose imployment I was sent to you, You shall doe small respects, show too bold malice Against the Grace, and Person of my Master, Stocking his Messenger Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks; As I haue life and Honour, there shall he sit till Noone Reg. Till noone? till night my Lord, and all night too Kent. Why Madam, if I were your Fathers dog, You should not vse me so Reg. Sir, being his Knaue, I will. Stocks brought out. Cor. This is a Fellow of the selfe same colour, Our Sister speakes of. Come, bring away the Stocks Glo. Let me beseech your Grace, not to do so, The King his Master, needs must take it ill That he so slightly valued in his Messenger, Should haue him thus restrained Cor. Ile answere that Reg. My Sister may recieue it much more worsse, To haue her Gentleman abus'd, assaulted Corn. Come my Lord, away. Enter. Glo. I am sorry for thee friend, 'tis the Dukes pleasure, Whose disposition all the world well knowes Will not be rub'd nor stopt, Ile entreat for thee Kent. Pray do not Sir, I haue watch'd and trauail'd hard, Some time I shall sleepe out, the rest Ile whistle: A good mans fortune may grow out at heeles: Giue you good morrow Glo. The Duke's too blame in this, 'Twill be ill taken. Enter. Kent. Good King, that must approue the common saw, Thou out of Heauens benediction com'st To the warme Sun. Approach thou Beacon to this vnder Globe, That by thy comfortable Beames I may Peruse this Letter. Nothing almost sees miracles But miserie. I know 'tis from Cordelia, Who hath most fortunately beene inform'd Of my obscured course. And shall finde time From this enormous State, seeking to giue Losses their remedies. All weary and o're-watch'd, Take vantage heauie eyes, not to behold This shamefull lodging. Fortune goodnight, Smile once more, turne thy wheele. Enter Edgar. Edg. I heard my selfe proclaim'd, And by the happy hollow of a Tree, Escap'd the hunt. No Port is free, no place That guard, and most vnusall vigilance Do's not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape I will preserue myselfe: and am bethought To take the basest, and most poorest shape That euer penury in contempt of man, Brought neere to beast; my face Ile grime with filth, Blanket my loines, else all my haires in knots, And with presented nakednesse out-face The Windes, and persecutions of the skie; The Country giues me proofe, and president Of Bedlam beggers, who with roaring voices, Strike in their num'd and mortified Armes. Pins, Wodden-prickes, Nayles, Sprigs of Rosemarie: And with this horrible obiect, from low Farmes, Poore pelting Villages, Sheeps-Coates, and Milles, Sometimes with Lunaticke bans, sometime with Praiers Inforce their charitie: poore Turlygod poore Tom, That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am. Enter. Enter Lear, Foole, and Gentleman. Lea. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from home, And not send backe my Messengers Gent. As I learn'd, The night before, there was no purpose in them Of this remoue Kent. Haile to thee Noble Master Lear. Ha? Mak'st thou this shame thy pastime? Kent. No my Lord Foole. Hah, ha, he weares Cruell Garters Horses are tide by the heads, Dogges and Beares by'th' necke, Monkies by'th' loynes, and Men by'th' legs: when a man ouerlustie at legs, then he weares wodden nether-stocks Lear. What's he, That hath so much thy place mistooke To set thee heere? Kent. It is both he and she, Your Son, and Daughter Lear. No Kent. Yes Lear. No I say Kent. I say yea Lear. By Iupiter I sweare no Kent. By Iuno, I sweare I Lear. They durst not do't: They could not, would not do't: 'tis worse then murther, To do vpon respect such violent outrage: Resolue me with all modest haste, which way Thou might'st deserue, or they impose this vsage, Comming from vs Kent. My Lord, when at their home I did commend your Highnesse Letters to them, Ere I was risen from the place, that shewed My dutie kneeling, came there a reeking Poste, Stew'd in his haste, halfe breathlesse, painting forth From Gonerill his Mistris, salutations; Deliuer'd Letters spight of intermission, Which presently they read; on those contents They summon'd vp their meiney, straight tooke Horse, Commanded me to follow, and attend The leisure of their answer, gaue me cold lookes, And meeting heere the other Messenger, Whose welcome I perceiu'd had poison'd mine, Being the very fellow which of late Displaid so sawcily against your Highnesse, Hauing more man then wit about me, drew; He rais'd the house, with loud and coward cries, Your Sonne and Daughter found this trespasse worth The shame which heere it suffers Foole. Winters not gon yet, if the wil'd Geese fly that way, Fathers that weare rags, do make their Children blind, But Fathers that beare bags, shall see their children kind. Fortune that arrant whore, nere turns the key toth' poore. But for all this thou shalt haue as many Dolors for thy Daughters, as thou canst tell in a yeare Lear. Oh how this Mother swels vp toward my heart! Historica passio, downe thou climing sorrow, Thy Elements below where is this Daughter? Kent. With the Earle Sir, here within Lear. Follow me not, stay here. Enter. Gen. Made you no more offence, But what you speake of? Kent. None: How chance the King comes with so small a number? Foole. And thou hadst beene set i'th' Stockes for that question, thoud'st well deseru'd it Kent. Why Foole? Foole. Wee'l set thee to schoole to an Ant, to teach thee ther's no labouring i'th' winter. All that follow their noses, are led by their eyes, but blinde men, and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell him that's stinking; let go thy hold when a great wheele runs downe a hill, least it breake thy necke with following. But the great one that goes vpward, let him draw thee after: when a wiseman giues thee better counsell giue me mine againe, I would haue none but knaues follow it, since a Foole giues it. That Sir, which serues and seekes for gaine, And followes but for forme; Will packe, when it begins to raine, And leaue thee in the storme, But I will tarry, the Foole will stay, And let the wiseman flie: The knaue turnes Foole that runnes away, The Foole no knaue perdie. Enter Lear, and Gloster] : Kent. Where learn'd you this Foole? Foole. Not i'th' Stocks Foole Lear. Deny to speake with me? They are sicke, they are weary, They haue trauail'd all the night? meere fetches, The images of reuolt and flying off. Fetch me a better answer Glo. My deere Lord, You know the fiery quality of the Duke, How vnremoueable and fixt he is In his owne course Lear. Vengeance, Plague, Death, Confusion: Fiery? What quality? Why Gloster, Gloster, I'ld speake with the Duke of Cornewall, and his wife Glo. Well my good Lord, I haue inform'd them so Lear. Inform'd them? Do'st thou vnderstand me man Glo. I my good Lord Lear. The King would speake with Cornwall, The deere Father Would with his Daughter speake, commands, tends, seruice, Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood: Fiery? The fiery Duke, tell the hot Duke that- No, but not yet, may be he is not well, Infirmity doth still neglect all office, Whereto our health is bound, we are not our selues, When Nature being opprest, commands the mind To suffer with the body; Ile forbeare, And am fallen out with my more headier will, To take the indispos'd and sickly fit, For the sound man. Death on my state: wherefore Should he sit heere? This act perswades me, That this remotion of the Duke and her Is practise only. Giue me my Seruant forth; Goe tell the Duke, and's wife, Il'd speake with them: Now, presently: bid them come forth and heare me, Or at their Chamber doore Ile beate the Drum, Till it crie sleepe to death Glo. I would haue all well betwixt you. Enter. Lear. Oh me my heart! My rising heart! But downe Foole. Cry to it Nunckle, as the Cockney did to the Eeles, when she put 'em i'th' Paste aliue, she knapt 'em o'th' coxcombs with a sticke, and cryed downe wantons, downe; 'twas her Brother, that in pure kindnesse to his Horse buttered his Hay. Enter Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Lear. Good morrow to you both Corn. Haile to your Grace. Kent here set at liberty. Reg. I am glad to see your Highnesse Lear. Regan, I thinke you are. I know what reason I haue to thinke so, if thou should'st not be glad, I would diuorce me from thy Mother Tombe, Sepulchring an Adultresse. O are you free? Some other time for that. Beloued Regan, Thy Sisters naught: oh Regan, she hath tied Sharpe-tooth'd vnkindnesse, like a vulture heere, I can scarce speake to thee, thou'lt not beleeue With how deprau'd a quality. Oh Regan Reg. I pray you Sir, take patience, I haue hope You lesse know how to value her desert, Then she to scant her dutie Lear. Say? How is that? Reg. I cannot thinke my Sister in the least Would faile her Obligation. If Sir perchance She haue restrained the Riots of your Followres, 'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end, As cleeres her from all blame Lear. My curses on her Reg. O Sir, you are old, Nature in you stands on the very Verge Of his confine: you should be rul'd, and led By some discretion, that discernes your state Better then you your selfe: therefore I pray you, That to our Sister, you do make returne, Say you haue wrong'd her Lear. Aske her forgiuenesse? Do you but marke how this becomes the house? Deere daughter, I confesse that I am old; Age is vnnecessary: on my knees I begge, That you'l vouchsafe me Rayment, Bed, and Food Reg. Good Sir, no more: these are vnsightly trickes: Returne you to my Sister Lear. Neuer Regan: She hath abated me of halfe my Traine; Look'd blacke vpon me, strooke me with her Tongue Most Serpent-like, vpon the very Heart. All the stor'd Vengeances of Heauen, fall On her ingratefull top: strike her yong bones You taking Ayres, with Lamenesse Corn. Fye sir, fie Le. You nimble Lightnings, dart your blinding flames Into her scornfull eyes: Infect her Beauty, You Fen-suck'd Fogges, drawne by the powrfull Sunne, To fall, and blister Reg. O the blest Gods! So will you wish on me, when the rash moode is on Lear. No Regan, thou shalt neuer haue my curse: Thy tender-hefted Nature shall not giue Thee o're to harshnesse: Her eyes are fierce, but thine Do comfort, and not burne. 'Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my Traine, To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, And in conclusion, to oppose the bolt Against my comming in. Thou better know'st The Offices of Nature, bond of Childhood, Effects of Curtesie, dues of Gratitude: Thy halfe o'th' Kingdome hast thou not forgot, Wherein I thee endow'd Reg. Good Sir, to'th' purpose. Tucket within. Lear. Who put my man i'th' Stockes? Enter Steward. Corn. What Trumpet's that? Reg. I know't, my Sisters: this approues her Letter, That she would soone be heere. Is your Lady come? Lear. This is a Slaue, whose easie borrowed pride Dwels in the sickly grace of her he followes. Out Varlet, from my sight Corn. What meanes your Grace? Enter Gonerill. Lear. Who stockt my Seruant? Regan, I haue good hope Thou did'st not know on't. Who comes here? O Heauens! If you do loue old men; if your sweet sway Allow Obedience; if you your selues are old, Make it your cause: Send downe, and take my part. Art not asham'd to looke vpon this Beard? O Regan, will you take her by the hand? Gon. Why not by'th' hand Sir? How haue I offended? All's not offence that indiscretion findes, And dotage termes so Lear. O sides, you are too tough! Will you yet hold? How came my man i'th' Stockes? Corn. I set him there, Sir: but his owne Disorders Deseru'd much lesse aduancement Lear. You? Did you? Reg. I pray you Father being weake, seeme so. If till the expiration of your Moneth You will returne and soiourne with my Sister, Dismissing halfe your traine, come then to me, I am now from home, and out of that prouision Which shall be needfull for your entertainement Lear. Returne to her? and fifty men dismiss'd? No, rather I abiure all roofes, and chuse To wage against the enmity oth' ayre, To be a Comrade with the Wolfe, and Owle, Necessities sharpe pinch. Returne with her? Why the hot-bloodied France, that dowerlesse tooke Our yongest borne, I could as well be brought To knee his Throne, and Squire-like pension beg, To keepe base life a foote; returne with her? Perswade me rather to be slaue and sumpter To this detested groome Gon. At your choice Sir Lear. I prythee Daughter do not make me mad, I will not trouble thee my Child; farewell: Wee'l no more meete, no more see one another. But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my Daughter, Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a Byle, A plague sore, or imbossed Carbuncle In my corrupted blood. But Ile not chide thee, Let shame come when it will, I do not call it, I do not bid the Thunder-bearer shoote, Nor tell tales of thee to high-iudging Ioue, Mend when thou can'st, be better at thy leisure, I can be patient, I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred Knights Reg. Not altogether so, I look'd not for you yet, nor am prouided For your fit welcome, giue eare Sir to my Sister, For those that mingle reason with your passion, Must be content to thinke you old, and so, But she knowes what she doe's Lear. Is this well spoken? Reg. I dare auouch it Sir, what fifty Followers? Is it not well? What should you need of more? Yea, or so many? Sith that both charge and danger, Speake 'gainst so great a number? How in one house Should many people, vnder two commands Hold amity? 'Tis hard, almost impossible Gon. Why might not you my Lord, receiue attendance From those that she cals Seruants, or from mine? Reg. Why not my Lord? If then they chanc'd to slacke ye, We could comptroll them; if you will come to me, (For now I spie a danger) I entreate you To bring but fiue and twentie, to no more Will I giue place or notice Lear. I gaue you all Reg. And in good time you gaue it Lear. Made you my Guardians, my Depositaries, But kept a reseruation to be followed With such a number? What, must I come to you With fiue and twenty? Regan, said you so? Reg. And speak't againe my Lord, no more with me Lea. Those wicked Creatures yet do look wel fauor'd When others are more wicked, not being the worst Stands in some ranke of praise, Ile go with thee, Thy fifty yet doth double fiue and twenty, And thou art twice her Loue Gon. Heare me my Lord; What need you fiue and twenty? Ten? Or fiue? To follow in a house, where twice so many Haue a command to tend you? Reg. What need one? Lear. O reason not the need: our basest Beggers Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not Nature, more then Nature needs: Mans life is cheape as Beastes. Thou art a Lady; If onely to go warme were gorgeous, Why Nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, Which scarcely keepes thee warme, but for true need: You Heauens, giue me that patience, patience I need, You see me heere (you Gods) a poore old man, As full of griefe as age, wretched in both, If it be you that stirres these Daughters hearts Against their Father, foole me not so much, To beare it tamely: touch me with Noble anger, And let not womens weapons, water drops, Staine my mans cheekes. No you vnnaturall Hags, I will haue such reuenges on you both, That all the world shall- I will do such things, What they are yet, I know not, but they shalbe The terrors of the earth? you thinke Ile weepe, No, Ile not weepe, I haue full cause of weeping. Storme and Tempest. But this heart shal break into a hundred thousand flawes Or ere Ile weepe; O Foole, I shall go mad. Exeunt. Corn. Let vs withdraw, 'twill be a Storme Reg. This house is little, the old man and's people, Cannot be well bestow'd Gon. 'Tis his owne blame hath put himselfe from rest, And must needs taste his folly Reg. For his particular, Ile receiue him gladly, But not one follower Gon. So am I purpos'd, Where is my Lord of Gloster? Enter Gloster. Corn. Followed the old man forth, he is return'd Glo. The King is in high rage Corn. Whether is he going? Glo. He cals to Horse, but will I know not whether Corn. 'Tis best to giue him way, he leads himselfe Gon. My Lord, entreate him by no meanes to stay Glo. Alacke the night comes on, and the high windes Do sorely ruffle, for many Miles about There's scarce a Bush Reg. O Sir, to wilfull men, The iniuries that they themselues procure, Must be their Schoole-Masters: shut vp your doores, He is attended with a desperate traine, And what they may incense him too, being apt, To haue his eare abus'd, wisedome bids feare Cor. Shut vp your doores my Lord, 'tis a wil'd night, My Regan counsels well: come out oth' storme. Exeunt.

Act 2 Scene 2

Both Kent, in disguise, and Oswald have letters for Regan. The two argue and Kent draws his sword and beats Oswald with it. He is still angry at the steward's disrespectful attitude towards the King. The commotion attracts the attention of Edmund and the others and they come to make the peace. Regan quickly deduces that the pair are messengers from Goneril and her father. Cornwall asks them to explain their behavior and the blunt Kent condemns Oswald. Oswald defends himself and Cornwall sides with him, and Kent is ordered to be placed in the stocks, much to Regan's satisfaction. Gloucester tries to intervene on Kent's behalf but is unsuccessful. Philosophically, Kent accepts his sentence, but finds comfort in reading a letter from Cordelia who is concerned regarding her father's plight.

Interpretation It is important to appreciate the significance of this event. Couriers were very important. They represented their masters and the fact that Kent is placed in the stocks is tantamount to King Lear being placed in the stocks. Although Lear is not aware of the situation at this stage, it represents the greatest insult he has faced. This fact will not be lost on the Shakespearean audience as using couriers was the main method of relaying information. We note Regan's delight at this turn of events. No doubt she thinks and hopes that the reaction from her father will be intense. We also see the lack of influence Gloucester has over this turn of events. The older characters in this story are impotent and the younger generations are taking over. A new order is being introduced - a natural order, and as the old order is melting away, with it goes law and respect. We are now getting a better picture regarding the character of Cornwall, especially when he confronts Kent. We will see that Cornwall is a habitual liar, and he cannot recognize Kent as being honest and, therefore, assumes that he must be lying too. Had we not witnessed Kent's performance in the early part of the play, we might mistake him for a thug by the way he treats Oswald. Kent, one of the old school, is trying to hold on to the principles of the past, and Oswald who is merely a tool of Goneril, is pulling these values down quickly. Through frustration the hot-headed Kent loses control and starts to thrash Oswald. Shakespeare is clearly whetting the appetite of the audience who cannot wait to see Lear's reaction to Kent being placed in the stocks. This is in fact an act of treason, thus showing how little influence and power Lear has left. The modern audience will note the flaw in the story where Kent has received a letter from Cordelia. She is already aware of her father's plight, but there has not been enough time for such messages to travel to France and back, but Shakespeare is not concerned about this, and neither was his audience. This is purely a dramatic device in order to maintain the tempo of the play.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/8.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_9_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 1

act 3 scene 1

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 1 ", "summary": "The raging storm continues, and Kent meets a gentleman who tells him that King Lear wanders about with only his Fool as companion. Seeing that the gentleman is a trustworthy person, Kent tells him that there is a growing mistrust between the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. The King of France has learnt of the way in which King Lear has been treated, and proposes to invade England in order to provide Lear with some protection. Kent tells the gentleman to travel to Dover and tell the loyal subjects there how their King has been made to suffer. He gives the gentleman his ring, and if he should meet Cordelia he should give her the ring. Kent goes on with his search to find Lear.", "analysis": "Interpretation Shakespeare uses a familiar device in the form of a storm to signify the growth of evil, and also to show that order is giving way to chaos. It also introduces an element of supernatural into the proceedings. The fact that we learn that the King of France is well acquainted with Lear's plight shows that he has spies abroad in England. Kent establishes that the gentleman he has met can be relied upon, and he sends him to Dover in order to contact Cordelia to show that he is active and still loyal to her father. Some light is introduced into the proceedings for the audience, as there is now a hope that the tragic Lear may be rescued, and that the forces of evil may be destroyed. The gentleman provides Kent with a vivid description of Lear and his fight against the elements. The King is contending with the fretful elements; Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea, Or swell the curled waters above the main, That things might change or cease; tears his white hair, Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage, Catch in their fury and make nothing of;\" Shakespeare provides a descriptive vision of Lear ranting and raving on the heath, shouting at the storm, pulling at his hair, and again refers to this common theme of sight eyeless rage\". We have already covered Lear's inability to see the repercussions in dividing up his Kingdom. He failed to see through his two oldest daughters' false flattery. Gloucester failed to see the villainy in Edmund, and so on. Shakespeare prepares the audience for what is to transpire in later scenes. At this stage in the play, we group together Regan and Cornwall, Edmund, Goneril and Albany as the evil characters. We have no evidence to indicate that Albany is any different from his co-conspirators."}

Actus Tertius. Scena Prima. Storme still. Enter Kent, and a Gentleman, seuerally. Kent. Who's there besides foule weather? Gen. One minded like the weather, most vnquietly Kent. I know you: Where's the King? Gent. Contending with the fretfull Elements; Bids the winde blow the Earth into the Sea, Or swell the curled Waters 'boue the Maine, That things might change, or cease Kent. But who is with him? Gent. None but the Foole, who labours to out-iest His heart-strooke iniuries Kent. Sir, I do know you, And dare vpon the warrant of my note Commend a deere thing to you. There is diuision (Although as yet the face of it is couer'd With mutuall cunning) 'twixt Albany, and Cornwall: Who haue, as who haue not, that their great Starres Thron'd and set high; Seruants, who seeme no lesse, Which are to France the Spies and Speculations Intelligent of our State. What hath bin seene, Either in snuffes, and packings of the Dukes, Or the hard Reine which both of them hath borne Against the old kinde King; or something deeper, Whereof (perchance) these are but furnishings Gent. I will talke further with you Kent. No, do not: For confirmation that I am much more Then my out-wall; open this Purse, and take What it containes. If you shall see Cordelia, (As feare not but you shall) shew her this Ring, And she will tell you who that Fellow is That yet you do not know. Fye on this Storme, I will go seeke the King Gent. Giue me your hand, Haue you no more to say? Kent. Few words, but to effect more then all yet; That when we haue found the King, in which your pain That way, Ile this: He that first lights on him, Holla the other. Exeunt.

Act 3 Scene 1

The raging storm continues, and Kent meets a gentleman who tells him that King Lear wanders about with only his Fool as companion. Seeing that the gentleman is a trustworthy person, Kent tells him that there is a growing mistrust between the Dukes of Albany and Cornwall. The King of France has learnt of the way in which King Lear has been treated, and proposes to invade England in order to provide Lear with some protection. Kent tells the gentleman to travel to Dover and tell the loyal subjects there how their King has been made to suffer. He gives the gentleman his ring, and if he should meet Cordelia he should give her the ring. Kent goes on with his search to find Lear.

Interpretation Shakespeare uses a familiar device in the form of a storm to signify the growth of evil, and also to show that order is giving way to chaos. It also introduces an element of supernatural into the proceedings. The fact that we learn that the King of France is well acquainted with Lear's plight shows that he has spies abroad in England. Kent establishes that the gentleman he has met can be relied upon, and he sends him to Dover in order to contact Cordelia to show that he is active and still loyal to her father. Some light is introduced into the proceedings for the audience, as there is now a hope that the tragic Lear may be rescued, and that the forces of evil may be destroyed. The gentleman provides Kent with a vivid description of Lear and his fight against the elements. The King is contending with the fretful elements; Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea, Or swell the curled waters above the main, That things might change or cease; tears his white hair, Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage, Catch in their fury and make nothing of;" Shakespeare provides a descriptive vision of Lear ranting and raving on the heath, shouting at the storm, pulling at his hair, and again refers to this common theme of sight eyeless rage". We have already covered Lear's inability to see the repercussions in dividing up his Kingdom. He failed to see through his two oldest daughters' false flattery. Gloucester failed to see the villainy in Edmund, and so on. Shakespeare prepares the audience for what is to transpire in later scenes. At this stage in the play, we group together Regan and Cornwall, Edmund, Goneril and Albany as the evil characters. We have no evidence to indicate that Albany is any different from his co-conspirators.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/9.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_10_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 2

act 3 scene 2

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 2", "summary": "We join a conversation between Lear and his Fool. We read, Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Storme still. Enter Lear, and Foole. Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's spout, Till you haue drench'd our Steeples, drown the Cockes. You Sulph'rous and Thought-executing Fires, Vaunt-curriors of Oake-cleauing Thunder-bolts, Sindge my white head. And thou all-shaking Thunder, Strike flat the thicke Rotundity o'th' world, Cracke Natures moulds, all germaines spill at once That makes ingratefull Man Foole. O Nunkle, Court holy-water in a dry house, is better then this Rain-water out o' doore. Good Nunkle, in, aske thy Daughters blessing, heere's a night pitties neither Wisemen, nor Fooles Lear. Rumble thy belly full: spit Fire, spowt Raine: Nor Raine, Winde, Thunder, Fire are my Daughters; I taxe not you, you Elements with vnkindnesse. I neuer gaue you Kingdome, call'd you Children; You owe me no subscription. Then let fall Your horrible pleasure. Heere I stand your Slaue, A poore, infirme, weake, and dispis'd old man: But yet I call you Seruile Ministers, That will with two pernicious Daughters ioyne Your high-engender'd Battailes, 'gainst a head So old, and white as this. O, ho! 'tis foule Foole. He that has a house to put's head in, has a good Head-peece: The Codpiece that will house, before the head has any; The Head, and he shall Lowse: so Beggers marry many. The man y makes his Toe, what he his Hart shold make, Shall of a Corne cry woe, and turne his sleepe to wake. For there was neuer yet faire woman, but shee made mouthes in a glasse. Enter Kent Lear. No, I will be the patterne of all patience, I will say nothing Kent. Who's there? Foole. Marry here's Grace, and a Codpiece, that's a Wiseman, and a Foole Kent. Alas Sir are you here? Things that loue night, Loue not such nights as these: The wrathfull Skies Gallow the very wanderers of the darke And make them keepe their Caues: Since I was man, Such sheets of Fire, such bursts of horrid Thunder, Such groanes of roaring Winde, and Raine, I neuer Remember to haue heard. Mans Nature cannot carry Th' affliction, nor the feare Lear. Let the great Goddes That keepe this dreadfull pudder o're our heads, Finde out their enemies now. Tremble thou Wretch, That hast within thee vndivulged Crimes Vnwhipt of Iustice. Hide thee, thou Bloudy hand; Thou Periur'd, and thou Simular of Vertue That art Incestuous. Caytiffe, to peeces shake That vnder couert, and conuenient seeming Ha's practis'd on mans life. Close pent-vp guilts, Riue your concealing Continents, and cry These dreadfull Summoners grace. I am a man, More sinn'd against, then sinning Kent. Alacke, bare-headed? Gracious my Lord, hard by heere is a Houell, Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the Tempest: Repose you there, while I to this hard house, (More harder then the stones whereof 'tis rais'd, Which euen but now, demanding after you, Deny'd me to come in) returne, and force Their scanted curtesie Lear. My wits begin to turne. Come on my boy. How dost my boy? Art cold? I am cold my selfe. Where is this straw, my Fellow? The Art of our Necessities is strange, And can make vilde things precious. Come, your Houel; Poore Foole, and Knaue, I haue one part in my heart That's sorry yet for thee Foole. He that has and a little-tyne wit, With heigh-ho, the Winde and the Raine, Must make content with his Fortunes fit, Though the Raine it raineth euery day Le. True Boy: Come bring vs to this Houell. Enter. Foole. This is a braue night to coole a Curtizan: Ile speake a Prophesie ere I go: When Priests are more in word, then matter; When Brewers marre their Malt with water; When Nobles are their Taylors Tutors, No Heretiques burn'd, but wenches Sutors; When euery Case in Law, is right; No Squire in debt, nor no poore Knight; When Slanders do not liue in Tongues; Nor Cut-purses come not to throngs; When Vsurers tell their Gold i'th' Field, And Baudes, and whores, do Churches build, Then shal the Realme of Albion, come to great confusion: Then comes the time, who liues to see't, That going shalbe vs'd with feet. This prophecie Merlin shall make, for I liue before his time. Enter.

Act 3 Scene 2

We join a conversation between Lear and his Fool. We read, Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/22.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_11_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 3

act 3 scene 3

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 3", "summary": "Gloucester complains to his son Edmund about the offhand way he has been treated by Regan and Cornwall. They have ordered him not to assist King Lear, and Edmund agrees with his father that this is a strange request. Gloucester tells Edmund that he has a letter containing details of a plan to put right the injustice suffered by the King, and that this will pose a threat to the Duke of Cornwall. When Gloucester exits, Edmund plans to warn Cornwall of the impending danger.", "analysis": "Interpretation Remember that Gloucester is elderly himself, like Lear, and has been slow to react to the crisis facing the Kingdom and Lear. Clearly he is basically a loyal and true servant of the King, and this is fully revealed in this scene. Unfortunately, he confides in his traitorous son Edmund, details of the plan to aid Lear. Gloucester is practically a prisoner in his own home, but we see an indication that he is going to fight back. The battle that has been waged so far in the story between young and old, good and evil, order and chaos has been very much one-sided. Hopefully, the tables will the reversed, starting with Gloucester's actions. We again see another event that the opportunist Edmund will take full advantage of."}

Enter Gloster, and Edmund. Glo. Alacke, alacke Edmund, I like not this vnnaturall dealing; when I desired their leaue that I might pity him, they tooke from me the vse of mine owne house, charg'd me on paine of perpetuall displeasure, neither to speake of him, entreat for him, or any way sustaine him Bast. Most sauage and vnnaturall Glo. Go too; say you nothing. There is diuision betweene the Dukes, and a worsse matter then that: I haue receiued a Letter this night, 'tis dangerous to be spoken, I haue lock'd the Letter in my Closset, these iniuries the King now beares, will be reuenged home; ther is part of a Power already footed, we must incline to the King, I will looke him, and priuily relieue him; goe you and maintaine talke with the Duke, that my charity be not of him perceiued; If he aske for me, I am ill, and gone to bed, if I die for it, (as no lesse is threatned me) the King my old Master must be relieued. There is strange things toward Edmund, pray you be carefull. Enter. Bast. This Curtesie forbid thee, shall the Duke Instantly know, and of that Letter too; This seemes a faire deseruing, and must draw me That which my Father looses: no lesse then all, The yonger rises, when the old doth fall. Enter.

Act 3 Scene 3

Gloucester complains to his son Edmund about the offhand way he has been treated by Regan and Cornwall. They have ordered him not to assist King Lear, and Edmund agrees with his father that this is a strange request. Gloucester tells Edmund that he has a letter containing details of a plan to put right the injustice suffered by the King, and that this will pose a threat to the Duke of Cornwall. When Gloucester exits, Edmund plans to warn Cornwall of the impending danger.

Interpretation Remember that Gloucester is elderly himself, like Lear, and has been slow to react to the crisis facing the Kingdom and Lear. Clearly he is basically a loyal and true servant of the King, and this is fully revealed in this scene. Unfortunately, he confides in his traitorous son Edmund, details of the plan to aid Lear. Gloucester is practically a prisoner in his own home, but we see an indication that he is going to fight back. The battle that has been waged so far in the story between young and old, good and evil, order and chaos has been very much one-sided. Hopefully, the tables will the reversed, starting with Gloucester's actions. We again see another event that the opportunist Edmund will take full advantage of.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/10.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_12_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 4

act 3 scene 4

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 4", "summary": "The Fool has entered the hovel, but the King still refuses to take shelter. The Fool rushes from the hovel saying that there is a spirit inside. Edgar emerges disguised as Poor Tom, and the King thinks he has found a kindred spirit, and to be like him he tears off his own clothing so that he too can be unclad like Poor Tom. Gloucester enters carrying a torch, and he is shocked to see how Lear has deteriorated. He persuades them to follow him as he has found a warm shelter and has food. Lear declines the offer, saying he wishes to converse with Tom. Gloucester agrees that Tom can accompany him, and they all proceed to the shelter.", "analysis": "Interpretation Shakespeare uses this scene to add depth to Lear's mental disintegration. Not only has Lear been battling with the storm on the heath, he has also been fighting against the tempest inside his head. The storm signifies the chaos both inside and outside the King. The storm's fury parallels the anger that Goneril and Regan have for their father. There is much irony in this scene. Only by being brought low does the King realize what life is like for his lowliest of subjects. He realizes that he is now like them and he wishes to commune with Poor Tom . He now appreciates that the only hope for the wretched people like Tom, is through a benign ruler. When he abdicated his powers to his daughters, he also abdicated his responsibilities to the least fortunate people of his land. To show his kinship for his newfound &#8216brother' Tom, he rips off his clothes so that he will be nearly naked like Tom. To the onlookers, this is just another symbol of Lear's madness, but this scene finally shows the audience that Lear's eyes have been opened to the truth of the situation and the consequences of his poor decisions. He calls Tom a learned philosopher\" as he represents the true nature of man. In this scene we are also reminded of Gloucester's initial errors, which have now placed him in a similar situation to Lear. The meeting of Gloucester and Lear is also a meeting of the main plot and sub-plot of the play. Their common plight arises from similar errors. The irony in this scene continues when we examine the various statement made regarding both Kent and Edgar, who are still in disguise, and Gloucester, Lear and perhaps the Fool fail to see through to the real people underneath. You will note that Gloucester innocently says to Kent, \"Poor banished man\" ironically that is exactly what he is. Just as in the previous scene, the Fool made a prophecy announcing it as such. In this scene, Kent makes a prophecy, but this is harder to recognize, and scholars have argued over this. We note that Kent says, His word was still - fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.\" The dark tower symbolizes death and also symbolizes the fortunes of Lear, Gloucester and Edgar, which are at their lowest ebb. Salvation is at hand, but much blood will be spent and life lost. Reference to Child Roland is merely a character derived from folklore. We note that this rhyme is used in the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. others think of your teachers"}

Scena Quarta. Enter Lear, Kent, and Foole. Kent. Here is the place my Lord, good my Lord enter, The tirrany of the open night's too rough For Nature to endure. Storme still Lear. Let me alone Kent. Good my Lord enter heere Lear. Wilt breake my heart? Kent. I had rather breake mine owne, Good my Lord enter Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storme Inuades vs to the skin so: 'tis to thee, But where the greater malady is fixt, The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a Beare, But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea, Thou'dst meete the Beare i'th' mouth, when the mind's free, The bodies delicate: the tempest in my mind, Doth from my sences take all feeling else, Saue what beates there, Filliall ingratitude, Is it not as this mouth should teare this hand For lifting food too't? But I will punish home; No, I will weepe no more; in such a night, To shut me out? Poure on, I will endure: In such a night as this? O Regan, Gonerill, Your old kind Father, whose franke heart gaue all, O that way madnesse lies, let me shun that: No more of that Kent. Good my Lord enter here Lear. Prythee go in thy selfe, seeke thine owne ease, This tempest will not giue me leaue to ponder On things would hurt me more, but Ile goe in, In Boy, go first. You houselesse pouertie, Enter. Nay get thee in; Ile pray, and then Ile sleepe. Poore naked wretches, where so ere you are That bide the pelting of this pittilesse storme, How shall your House-lesse heads, and vnfed sides, Your lop'd, and window'd raggednesse defend you From seasons such as these? O I haue tane Too little care of this: Take Physicke, Pompe, Expose thy selfe to feele what wretches feele, That thou maist shake the superflux to them, And shew the Heauens more iust. Enter Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fathom, and halfe, Fathom and halfe; poore Tom Foole. Come not in heere Nuncle, here's a spirit, helpe me, helpe me Kent. Giue my thy hand, who's there? Foole. A spirite, a spirite, he sayes his name's poore Tom Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i'th' straw? Come forth Edg. Away, the foule Fiend followes me, through the sharpe Hauthorne blow the windes. Humh, goe to thy bed and warme thee Lear. Did'st thou giue all to thy Daughters? And art thou come to this? Edgar. Who giues any thing to poore Tom? Whom the foule fiend hath led through Fire, and through Flame, through Sword, and Whirle-Poole, o're Bog, and Quagmire, that hath laid Kniues vnder his Pillow, and Halters in his Pue, set Rats-bane by his Porredge, made him Proud of heart, to ride on a Bay trotting Horse, ouer foure incht Bridges, to course his owne shadow for a Traitor. Blisse thy fiue Wits, Toms a cold. O do, de, do, de, do, de, blisse thee from Whirle-Windes, Starre-blasting, and taking, do poore Tom some charitie, whom the foule Fiend vexes. There could I haue him now, and there, and there againe, and there. Storme still. Lear. Ha's his Daughters brought him to this passe? Could'st thou saue nothing? Would'st thou giue 'em all? Foole. Nay, he reseru'd a Blanket, else we had bin all sham'd Lea. Now all the plagues that in the pendulous ayre Hang fated o're mens faults, light on thy Daughters Kent. He hath no Daughters Sir Lear. Death Traitor, nothing could haue subdu'd Nature To such a lownesse, but his vnkind Daughters. Is it the fashion, that discarded Fathers, Should haue thus little mercy on their flesh: Iudicious punishment, 'twas this flesh begot Those Pelicane Daughters Edg. Pillicock sat on Pillicock hill, alow: alow, loo, loo Foole. This cold night will turne vs all to Fooles, and Madmen Edgar. Take heed o'th' foule Fiend, obey thy Parents, keepe thy words Iustice, sweare not, commit not, with mans sworne Spouse: set not thy Sweet-heart on proud array. Tom's a cold Lear. What hast thou bin? Edg. A Seruingman? Proud in heart, and minde; that curl'd my haire, wore Gloues in my cap; seru'd the Lust of my Mistris heart, and did the acte of darkenesse with her. Swore as many Oathes, as I spake words, & broke them in the sweet face of Heauen. One, that slept in the contriuing of Lust, and wak'd to doe it. Wine lou'd I deerely, Dice deerely; and in Woman, out-Paramour'd the Turke. False of heart, light of eare, bloody of hand; Hog in sloth, Foxe in stealth, Wolfe in greedinesse, Dog in madnes, Lyon in prey. Let not the creaking of shooes, Nor the rustling of Silkes, betray thy poore heart to woman. Keepe thy foote out of Brothels, thy hand out of Plackets, thy pen from Lenders Bookes, and defye the foule Fiend. Still through the Hauthorne blowes the cold winde: Sayes suum, mun, nonny, Dolphin my Boy, Boy Sesey: let him trot by. Storme still. Lear. Thou wert better in a Graue, then to answere with thy vncouer'd body, this extremitie of the Skies. Is man no more then this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the Worme no Silke; the Beast, no Hide; the Sheepe, no Wooll; the Cat, no perfume. Ha? Here's three on's are sophisticated. Thou art the thing it selfe; vnaccommodated man, is no more but such a poore, bare, forked Animall as thou art. Off, off you Lendings: Come, vnbutton heere. Enter Gloucester, with a Torch. Foole. Prythee Nunckle be contented, 'tis a naughtie night to swimme in. Now a little fire in a wilde Field, were like an old Letchers heart, a small spark, all the rest on's body, cold: Looke, heere comes a walking fire Edg. This is the foule Flibbertigibbet; hee begins at Curfew, and walkes at first Cocke: Hee giues the Web and the Pin, squints the eye, and makes the Hare-lippe; Mildewes the white Wheate, and hurts the poore Creature of earth. Swithold footed thrice the old, He met the Night-Mare, and her nine-fold; Bid her a-light, and her troth-plight, And aroynt thee Witch, aroynt thee Kent. How fares your Grace? Lear. What's he? Kent. Who's there? What is't you seeke? Glou. What are you there? Your Names? Edg. Poore Tom, that eates the swimming Frog, the Toad, the Tod-pole, the wall-Neut, and the water: that in the furie of his heart, when the foule Fiend rages, eats Cow-dung for Sallets; swallowes the old Rat, and the ditch-Dogge; drinkes the green Mantle of the standing Poole: who is whipt from Tything to Tything, and stockt, punish'd, and imprison'd: who hath three Suites to his backe, sixe shirts to his body: Horse to ride, and weapon to weare: But Mice, and Rats, and such small Deare, Haue bin Toms food, for seuen long yeare: Beware my Follower. Peace Smulkin, peace thou Fiend Glou. What, hath your Grace no better company? Edg. The Prince of Darkenesse is a Gentleman. Modo he's call'd, and Mahu Glou. Our flesh and blood, my Lord, is growne so vilde, that it doth hate what gets it Edg. Poore Tom's a cold Glou. Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer T' obey in all your daughters hard commands: Though their Iniunction be to barre my doores, And let this Tyrannous night take hold vpon you, Yet haue I ventured to come seeke you out, And bring you where both fire, and food is ready Lear. First let me talke with this Philosopher, What is the cause of Thunder? Kent. Good my Lord take his offer, Go into th' house Lear. Ile talke a word with this same lerned Theban: What is your study? Edg. How to preuent the Fiend, and to kill Vermine Lear. Let me aske you one word in priuate Kent. Importune him once more to go my Lord, His wits begin t' vnsettle Glou. Canst thou blame him? Storm still His Daughters seeke his death: Ah, that good Kent, He said it would be thus: poore banish'd man: Thou sayest the King growes mad, Ile tell thee Friend I am almost mad my selfe. I had a Sonne, Now out-law'd from my blood: he sought my life But lately: very late: I lou'd him (Friend) No Father his Sonne deerer: true to tell thee, The greefe hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this? I do beseech your grace Lear. O cry you mercy, Sir: Noble Philosopher, your company Edg. Tom's a cold Glou. In fellow there, into th' Houel; keep thee warm Lear. Come, let's in all Kent. This way, my Lord Lear. With him; I will keepe still with my Philosopher Kent. Good my Lord, sooth him: Let him take the Fellow Glou. Take him you on Kent. Sirra, come on: go along with vs Lear. Come, good Athenian Glou. No words, no words, hush Edg. Childe Rowland to the darke Tower came, His word was still, fie, foh, and fumme, I smell the blood of a Brittish man. Exeunt.

Act 3 Scene 4

The Fool has entered the hovel, but the King still refuses to take shelter. The Fool rushes from the hovel saying that there is a spirit inside. Edgar emerges disguised as Poor Tom, and the King thinks he has found a kindred spirit, and to be like him he tears off his own clothing so that he too can be unclad like Poor Tom. Gloucester enters carrying a torch, and he is shocked to see how Lear has deteriorated. He persuades them to follow him as he has found a warm shelter and has food. Lear declines the offer, saying he wishes to converse with Tom. Gloucester agrees that Tom can accompany him, and they all proceed to the shelter.

Interpretation Shakespeare uses this scene to add depth to Lear's mental disintegration. Not only has Lear been battling with the storm on the heath, he has also been fighting against the tempest inside his head. The storm signifies the chaos both inside and outside the King. The storm's fury parallels the anger that Goneril and Regan have for their father. There is much irony in this scene. Only by being brought low does the King realize what life is like for his lowliest of subjects. He realizes that he is now like them and he wishes to commune with Poor Tom . He now appreciates that the only hope for the wretched people like Tom, is through a benign ruler. When he abdicated his powers to his daughters, he also abdicated his responsibilities to the least fortunate people of his land. To show his kinship for his newfound &#8216brother' Tom, he rips off his clothes so that he will be nearly naked like Tom. To the onlookers, this is just another symbol of Lear's madness, but this scene finally shows the audience that Lear's eyes have been opened to the truth of the situation and the consequences of his poor decisions. He calls Tom a learned philosopher" as he represents the true nature of man. In this scene we are also reminded of Gloucester's initial errors, which have now placed him in a similar situation to Lear. The meeting of Gloucester and Lear is also a meeting of the main plot and sub-plot of the play. Their common plight arises from similar errors. The irony in this scene continues when we examine the various statement made regarding both Kent and Edgar, who are still in disguise, and Gloucester, Lear and perhaps the Fool fail to see through to the real people underneath. You will note that Gloucester innocently says to Kent, "Poor banished man" ironically that is exactly what he is. Just as in the previous scene, the Fool made a prophecy announcing it as such. In this scene, Kent makes a prophecy, but this is harder to recognize, and scholars have argued over this. We note that Kent says, His word was still - fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man." The dark tower symbolizes death and also symbolizes the fortunes of Lear, Gloucester and Edgar, which are at their lowest ebb. Salvation is at hand, but much blood will be spent and life lost. Reference to Child Roland is merely a character derived from folklore. We note that this rhyme is used in the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. others think of your teachers

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/11.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_13_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 5

act 3 scene 5

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 5", "summary": "Edmund betrays his father to Cornwall and gains further favor from the Duke. Cornwall is now aware of the King of France's plans to aid King Lear, his wife's father. At the end of the scene, we note that Cornwall addresses Edmund as the Earl of Gloucester.", "analysis": "Interpretation We now see that just as Lear was betrayed by his daughters, Gloucester has been betrayed by his son Edmund. It is also a betrayal of the traditional values and virtues, which will be replaced by chaos and the law of the jungle. Although both Edmund's and Cornwall's actions are despicable they still use eloquent language in order to try and make these developments honorable. Edmund justifies his actions by viewing his father's allegiance to Lear as treasonous."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Cornwall, and Edmund. Corn. I will haue my reuenge, ere I depart his house Bast. How my Lord, I may be censured, that Nature thus giues way to Loyaltie, something feares mee to thinke of Cornw. I now perceiue, it was not altogether your Brothers euill disposition made him seeke his death: but a prouoking merit set a-worke by a reprouable badnesse in himselfe Bast. How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be iust? This is the Letter which hee spoake of; which approues him an intelligent partie to the aduantages of France. O Heauens! that this Treason were not; or not I the detector Corn. Go with me to the Dutchesse Bast. If the matter of this Paper be certain, you haue mighty businesse in hand Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earle of Gloucester: seeke out where thy Father is, that hee may bee ready for our apprehension Bast. If I finde him comforting the King, it will stuffe his suspition more fully. I will perseuer in my course of Loyalty, though the conflict be sore betweene that, and my blood Corn. I will lay trust vpon thee: and thou shalt finde a deere Father in my loue. Exeunt.

Act 3 Scene 5

Edmund betrays his father to Cornwall and gains further favor from the Duke. Cornwall is now aware of the King of France's plans to aid King Lear, his wife's father. At the end of the scene, we note that Cornwall addresses Edmund as the Earl of Gloucester.

Interpretation We now see that just as Lear was betrayed by his daughters, Gloucester has been betrayed by his son Edmund. It is also a betrayal of the traditional values and virtues, which will be replaced by chaos and the law of the jungle. Although both Edmund's and Cornwall's actions are despicable they still use eloquent language in order to try and make these developments honorable. Edmund justifies his actions by viewing his father's allegiance to Lear as treasonous.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/12.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_14_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 6

act 3 scene 6

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 6 ", "summary": "Lear, Kent, Fool and Edgar enter the farmhouse and they await Gloucester bringing them provisions. The manic Lear seeks vengeance on his daughters for the evil offences they have committed against him. He decides to set up a mock trial so that he can bring charges against his daughters, and he appoints the Fool and Edgar to be judges of the court. They use two stools to take the place of Regan and Goneril. They are referred to as \"joint-stool\". The Fool relishes his role as judge, but Edgar is reluctant to take part in this farce, and pities the King for his madness. Kent eventually persuades the King to take some rest. Just then Gloucester enters to say that there is a plot to kill Lear. In order for him to be safe, the King must be transported to Dover where he will find protection.", "analysis": "Interpretation We also note some strange behavior from Edgar in this scene, who babbles on about wicked fiends. The whole scene is a perverse comedy. Lear sets up a court in order to try his daughters in their absence, although they are represented in the court by two stools. Lear intends that for the second time in the play his two daughters should provide testimonies about their actions. In the first Act of the play, they provided testimonies of their love for their father. In this scene, testimonies will be made concerning the evil deeds they have performed against their father, which will be evidence of their hate for him. Lear's aim in this absurd farce is to establish why his daughters have treated him so badly. Is he himself to blame for the way they have turned out? There are many interesting quotations in this scene. The Fool says to Lear, \"Nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman.\" Lear: A King, a King!\" This is Lear admitting to him that he is mad. What he had prayed to the gods to save him from has not been heard. This is a clever scene, and if the reader can imagine the set and the appearance of the characters, then it becomes very entertaining and should be studied in some depth, especially in relation to Shakespeare's genius at stagecraft. This is the last scene in which the Fool appears and it is not clear what happens to him. Although Lear says in Act V - Scene.iii, \"My poor fool is hanged\", it is highly probable that he is referring to Cordelia. Fool was also an Elizabeth term of endearment. It is simpler to assume that Shakespeare has merely written the Fool out of the play because he has served his purpose. You will note that the Fool only appeared after Cordelia's exit, and now that she is to reappear in the play, the Fool exits. As we have said previously some productions omitted the Fool's part altogether, but this would have made the play very bleak. The Fool's presence provides a comic relief from the dire happenings endured by the other characters. The Fool only really interacts with Lear. In their dialogues with each other, both characters come alive. We know that the Fool pined for Cordelia when she was banished by Lear, so in some respects the Fool provided an important link between the King and his only true virtuous daughter. It can also be argued that Shakespeare used the Fool not only to introduce comedy, but also to contrast the comedy with the tragedy in the play thus giving it more effect. So what happens to the Fool? Does he predict his own death by saying in his last line, \"I'll go to bed at noon.\"? We don't know. However, his contribution to the play has been significant, and his place will be taken by Cordelia. There is much going on in this play, and coming to it for the first time much will be missed, but there are further indications that good is now in the ascendancy. We also see a subtle indication that Edgar's prospects are improving. You will note that in his end of scene soliloquy he seems more lucid. He sees hope if he can help take the King to safety."}

Scena Sexta. Enter Kent, and Gloucester. Glou. Heere is better then the open ayre, take it thankfully: I will peece out the comfort with what addition I can: I will not be long from you. Exit Kent. All the powre of his wits, haue giuen way to his impatience: the Gods reward your kindnesse. Enter Lear, Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fraterretto cals me, and tells me Nero is an Angler in the Lake of Darknesse: pray Innocent, and beware the foule Fiend Foole. Prythee Nunkle tell me, whether a madman be a Gentleman, or a Yeoman Lear. A King, a King Foole. No, he's a Yeoman, that ha's a Gentleman to his Sonne: for hee's a mad Yeoman that sees his Sonne a Gentleman before him Lear. To haue a thousand with red burning spits Come hizzing in vpon 'em Edg. Blesse thy fiue wits Kent. O pitty: Sir, where is the patience now That you so oft haue boasted to retaine? Edg. My teares begin to take his part so much, They marre my counterfetting Lear. The little dogges, and all; Trey, Blanch, and Sweet-heart: see, they barke at me Edg. Tom, will throw his head at them: Auaunt you Curres, be thy mouth or blacke or white: Tooth that poysons if it bite: Mastiffe, Grey-hound, Mongrill, Grim, Hound or Spaniell, Brache, or Hym: Or Bobtaile tight, or Troudle taile, Tom will make him weepe and waile, For with throwing thus my head; Dogs leapt the hatch, and all are fled. Do, de, de, de: sese: Come, march to Wakes and Fayres, And Market Townes: poore Tom thy horne is dry, Lear. Then let them Anatomize Regan: See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in Nature that make these hard-hearts. You sir, I entertaine for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments. You will say they are Persian; but let them bee chang'd. Enter Gloster. Kent. Now good my Lord, lye heere, and rest awhile Lear. Make no noise, make no noise, draw the Curtaines: so, so, wee'l go to Supper i'th' morning Foole. And Ile go to bed at noone Glou. Come hither Friend: Where is the King my Master? Kent. Here Sir, but trouble him not, his wits are gon Glou. Good friend, I prythee take him in thy armes; I haue ore-heard a plot of death vpon him: There is a Litter ready, lay him in't, And driue toward Douer friend, where thou shalt meete Both welcome, and protection. Take vp thy Master, If thou should'st dally halfe an houre, his life With thine, and all that offer to defend him, Stand in assured losse. Take vp, take vp, And follow me, that will to some prouision Giue thee quicke conduct. Come, come, away. Exeunt.

Act 3 Scene 6

Lear, Kent, Fool and Edgar enter the farmhouse and they await Gloucester bringing them provisions. The manic Lear seeks vengeance on his daughters for the evil offences they have committed against him. He decides to set up a mock trial so that he can bring charges against his daughters, and he appoints the Fool and Edgar to be judges of the court. They use two stools to take the place of Regan and Goneril. They are referred to as "joint-stool". The Fool relishes his role as judge, but Edgar is reluctant to take part in this farce, and pities the King for his madness. Kent eventually persuades the King to take some rest. Just then Gloucester enters to say that there is a plot to kill Lear. In order for him to be safe, the King must be transported to Dover where he will find protection.

Interpretation We also note some strange behavior from Edgar in this scene, who babbles on about wicked fiends. The whole scene is a perverse comedy. Lear sets up a court in order to try his daughters in their absence, although they are represented in the court by two stools. Lear intends that for the second time in the play his two daughters should provide testimonies about their actions. In the first Act of the play, they provided testimonies of their love for their father. In this scene, testimonies will be made concerning the evil deeds they have performed against their father, which will be evidence of their hate for him. Lear's aim in this absurd farce is to establish why his daughters have treated him so badly. Is he himself to blame for the way they have turned out? There are many interesting quotations in this scene. The Fool says to Lear, "Nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a yeoman." Lear: A King, a King!" This is Lear admitting to him that he is mad. What he had prayed to the gods to save him from has not been heard. This is a clever scene, and if the reader can imagine the set and the appearance of the characters, then it becomes very entertaining and should be studied in some depth, especially in relation to Shakespeare's genius at stagecraft. This is the last scene in which the Fool appears and it is not clear what happens to him. Although Lear says in Act V - Scene.iii, "My poor fool is hanged", it is highly probable that he is referring to Cordelia. Fool was also an Elizabeth term of endearment. It is simpler to assume that Shakespeare has merely written the Fool out of the play because he has served his purpose. You will note that the Fool only appeared after Cordelia's exit, and now that she is to reappear in the play, the Fool exits. As we have said previously some productions omitted the Fool's part altogether, but this would have made the play very bleak. The Fool's presence provides a comic relief from the dire happenings endured by the other characters. The Fool only really interacts with Lear. In their dialogues with each other, both characters come alive. We know that the Fool pined for Cordelia when she was banished by Lear, so in some respects the Fool provided an important link between the King and his only true virtuous daughter. It can also be argued that Shakespeare used the Fool not only to introduce comedy, but also to contrast the comedy with the tragedy in the play thus giving it more effect. So what happens to the Fool? Does he predict his own death by saying in his last line, "I'll go to bed at noon."? We don't know. However, his contribution to the play has been significant, and his place will be taken by Cordelia. There is much going on in this play, and coming to it for the first time much will be missed, but there are further indications that good is now in the ascendancy. We also see a subtle indication that Edgar's prospects are improving. You will note that in his end of scene soliloquy he seems more lucid. He sees hope if he can help take the King to safety.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/13.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_15_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 7

act 3 scene 7

{"name": "Act 3 Scene 7 ", "summary": "The information Cornwall received from Edmund concerning the invasion by the French army is passed on to Goneril with the assumption that the Duke of Albany will command the English forces. Cornwall then orders that the traitor Gloucester is to be captured and Regan urges that he be hanged, but the crueler Goneril suggests that eyes be plucked out. Cornwall advises Edmund that he should not be present when his father is caught and punished. Oswald, Goneril's steward, reports that the Earl of Gloucester arranged for Lear to be transported to Dover. Gloucester is captured and brought before Cornwall. Regan humiliates the old man by plucking his beard and when questioned, Gloucester freely admits that he had arranged Lear's transport to Dover in order to save him from the cruelty of his daughters. Cornwall removes one of Gloucester's eyes and crushes it on the floor with his foot. One of Cornwall's own servants pleads with his master to stop this cruelty and comes to Gloucester's defense. The servant draws his sword and wounds Cornwall, but he is slain by Regan. Cornwall then removes Gloucester's other eye, and in his anguish, the old man cries out for Edmund. The cruel Regan informs Gloucester that it was Edmund who has betrayed him. Realizing his folly, Gloucester prays for forgiveness and hopes that his true son Edgar will be spared. Gloucester is banished from the castle. Cornwall leaves, bleeding profusely from the wound he received from his servant. Some of the servants who have witnessed this scene are horrified and they follow after Gloucester in order to assist him. Poor Tom takes over the care of his father, but does not reveal his identity.", "analysis": "Interpretation Arguably, this scene is one of the most appalling to be found in dramatic literature. Its impact may have been more severe had Shakespeare not prepared his audience well in advance. We have an inkling of what the various characters are capable of and they do not disappoint us. When Gloucester is asked why he arranged for Lear to be sent to Dover he replies to Regan, Because I would not see thy cruel nails pluck out his poor old eyes; not thy fierce sister in his anointed flesh still boarish fangs.\" Cornwall then has Gloucester held in a chair and he says, \"Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot '' Out, vile jelly! Where is thy luster now?\" Gloucester responds, \"Where's my son Edmund? '' to quit this horrid act.\" As well as being tortured physically by Cornwall, Regan mentally tortures the old man by revealing Edmund's treachery. Even the modern day audience will be appalled at this scene, but it is true to say that the Shakespearean audience also had the same appetite for violence, but even by his standards Shakespeare outreaches himself in this scene. We see that this clique of evil characters have usurped the old values of love for parents, respect for the aged and sympathy for those less fortunate, and replaced these by a brutal regime, hungry for power and possessions. In particular there is a strong prejudice shown against the older characters by their children and their partners. When insulting Gloucester particular reference is made to his age and looks, his withered arms and white beard that Regan plucks. We now see Gloucester in his true light as loyal subject to King Lear and he honestly admits that he aided Lear in his escape to Dover, considering this to be a noble act. Again there is further reference to sight or the lack of it. Gloucester's inability to see Edmund's treachery is reinforced by the removal of his eyes. He realizes that he has grossly misjudged Edgar, and although he knows there is no hope of receiving forgiveness from his first-born son, he does pray for Edgar's safety. The defiant Gloucester, before losing his sight, does give the audience a glimmer of hope by saying, But I shall see the winged vengeance overtake such children.\" This prompts Cornwall to follow Goneril's instructions to remove Gloucester's eyes so that his prophecy cannot come true. The importance of this scene and its impact can only be fully appreciated by viewing this spectacle on stage. Some of the drama is lost when just reading the text. Its success depends much on the acting ability of the players. In the earlier scenes we have noted Cornwall's eloquent speech, which bolsters the fa'ade of civility that hides the beast that lies beneath this veneer of respectability. In this scene we see the beast breaking through this thin skin of civilization and it is the manifestation of evil that we witness. Cornwall does not attempt to restrain himself; his cruelty is fully vented against poor Gloucester. Many of the 'good' characters have called upon the gods to assist them, but up until now, evil has prevailed. Although both Lear and Gloucester have made many errors between them, the injustice they have suffered is disproportionate, and the audience must wonder when these brutal and cruel acts will cease so that good can prevail. We also obtain an insight into how the common people react to this situation. There are at least three servants witnessing this episode. One is moved to protect Gloucester by stabbing Cornwall, the other two pass comment on the proceedings at the end of the scene when the main characters exit. This scene is also notable for the fact that it shows the only human aspect in the character of Regan when she shows sympathy for Cornwall's wounding."}

Scena Septima. Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gonerill, Bastard, and Seruants. Corn. Poste speedily to my Lord your husband, shew him this Letter, the Army of France is landed: seeke out the Traitor Glouster Reg. Hang him instantly Gon. Plucke out his eyes Corn. Leaue him to my displeasure. Edmond, keepe you our Sister company: the reuenges wee are bound to take vppon your Traitorous Father, are not fit for your beholding. Aduice the Duke where you are going, to a most festinate preparation: we are bound to the like. Our Postes shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt vs. Farewell deere Sister, farewell my Lord of Glouster. Enter Steward. How now? Where's the King? Stew. My Lord of Glouster hath conuey'd him hence Some fiue or six and thirty of his Knights Hot Questrists after him, met him at gate, Who, with some other of the Lords, dependants, Are gone with him toward Douer; where they boast To haue well armed Friends Corn. Get horses for your Mistris Gon. Farewell sweet Lord, and Sister. Exit Corn. Edmund farewell: go seek the Traitor Gloster, Pinnion him like a Theefe, bring him before vs: Though well we may not passe vpon his life Without the forme of Iustice: yet our power Shall do a curt'sie to our wrath, which men May blame, but not comptroll. Enter Gloucester, and Seruants. Who's there? the Traitor? Reg. Ingratefull Fox, 'tis he Corn. Binde fast his corky armes Glou. What meanes your Graces? Good my Friends consider you are my Ghests: Do me no foule play, Friends Corn. Binde him I say Reg. Hard, hard: O filthy Traitor Glou. Vnmercifull Lady, as you are, I'me none Corn. To this Chaire binde him, Villaine, thou shalt finde Glou. By the kinde Gods, 'tis most ignobly done To plucke me by the Beard Reg. So white, and such a Traitor? Glou. Naughty Ladie, These haires which thou dost rauish from my chin Will quicken and accuse thee. I am your Host, With Robbers hands, my hospitable fauours You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? Corn. Come Sir. What Letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple answer'd, for we know the truth Corn. And what confederacie haue you with the Traitors, late footed in the Kingdome? Reg. To whose hands You haue sent the Lunaticke King: Speake Glou. I haue a Letter guessingly set downe Which came from one that's of a newtrall heart, And not from one oppos'd Corn. Cunning Reg. And false Corn. Where hast thou sent the King? Glou. To Douer Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Was't thou not charg'd at perill Corn. Wherefore to Douer? Let him answer that Glou. I am tyed to'th' Stake, And I must stand the Course Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Glou. Because I would not see thy cruell Nailes Plucke out his poore old eyes: nor thy fierce Sister, In his Annointed flesh, sticke boarish phangs. The Sea, with such a storme as his bare head, In Hell-blacke-night indur'd, would haue buoy'd vp And quench'd the Stelled fires: Yet poore old heart, he holpe the Heauens to raine. If Wolues had at thy Gate howl'd that sterne time, Thou should'st haue said, good Porter turne the Key: All Cruels else subscribe: but I shall see The winged Vengeance ouertake such Children Corn. See't shalt thou neuer. Fellowes hold y Chaire, Vpon these eyes of thine, Ile set my foote Glou. He that will thinke to liue, till he be old, Giue me some helpe. - O cruell! O you Gods Reg. One side will mocke another: Th' other too Corn. If you see vengeance Seru. Hold your hand, my Lord: I haue seru'd you euer since I was a Childe: But better seruice haue I neuer done you, Then now to bid you hold Reg. How now, you dogge? Ser. If you did weare a beard vpon your chin, I'ld shake it on this quarrell. What do you meane? Corn. My Villaine? Seru. Nay then come on, and take the chance of anger Reg. Giue me thy Sword. A pezant stand vp thus? Killes him. Ser. Oh I am slaine: my Lord, you haue one eye left To see some mischefe on him. Oh Corn. Lest it see more, preuent it; Out vilde gelly: Where is thy luster now? Glou. All darke and comfortlesse? Where's my Sonne Edmund? Edmund, enkindle all the sparkes of Nature To quit this horrid acte Reg. Out treacherous Villaine, Thou call'st on him, that hates thee. It was he That made the ouerture of thy Treasons to vs: Who is too good to pitty thee Glou. O my Follies! then Edgar was abus'd, Kinde Gods, forgiue me that, and prosper him Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell His way to Douer. Exit with Glouster. How is't my Lord? How looke you? Corn. I haue receiu'd a hurt: Follow me Lady; Turne out that eyelesse Villaine: throw this Slaue Vpon the Dunghill: Regan, I bleed apace, Vntimely comes this hurt. Giue me your arme. Exeunt.

Act 3 Scene 7

The information Cornwall received from Edmund concerning the invasion by the French army is passed on to Goneril with the assumption that the Duke of Albany will command the English forces. Cornwall then orders that the traitor Gloucester is to be captured and Regan urges that he be hanged, but the crueler Goneril suggests that eyes be plucked out. Cornwall advises Edmund that he should not be present when his father is caught and punished. Oswald, Goneril's steward, reports that the Earl of Gloucester arranged for Lear to be transported to Dover. Gloucester is captured and brought before Cornwall. Regan humiliates the old man by plucking his beard and when questioned, Gloucester freely admits that he had arranged Lear's transport to Dover in order to save him from the cruelty of his daughters. Cornwall removes one of Gloucester's eyes and crushes it on the floor with his foot. One of Cornwall's own servants pleads with his master to stop this cruelty and comes to Gloucester's defense. The servant draws his sword and wounds Cornwall, but he is slain by Regan. Cornwall then removes Gloucester's other eye, and in his anguish, the old man cries out for Edmund. The cruel Regan informs Gloucester that it was Edmund who has betrayed him. Realizing his folly, Gloucester prays for forgiveness and hopes that his true son Edgar will be spared. Gloucester is banished from the castle. Cornwall leaves, bleeding profusely from the wound he received from his servant. Some of the servants who have witnessed this scene are horrified and they follow after Gloucester in order to assist him. Poor Tom takes over the care of his father, but does not reveal his identity.

Interpretation Arguably, this scene is one of the most appalling to be found in dramatic literature. Its impact may have been more severe had Shakespeare not prepared his audience well in advance. We have an inkling of what the various characters are capable of and they do not disappoint us. When Gloucester is asked why he arranged for Lear to be sent to Dover he replies to Regan, Because I would not see thy cruel nails pluck out his poor old eyes; not thy fierce sister in his anointed flesh still boarish fangs." Cornwall then has Gloucester held in a chair and he says, "Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot '' Out, vile jelly! Where is thy luster now?" Gloucester responds, "Where's my son Edmund? '' to quit this horrid act." As well as being tortured physically by Cornwall, Regan mentally tortures the old man by revealing Edmund's treachery. Even the modern day audience will be appalled at this scene, but it is true to say that the Shakespearean audience also had the same appetite for violence, but even by his standards Shakespeare outreaches himself in this scene. We see that this clique of evil characters have usurped the old values of love for parents, respect for the aged and sympathy for those less fortunate, and replaced these by a brutal regime, hungry for power and possessions. In particular there is a strong prejudice shown against the older characters by their children and their partners. When insulting Gloucester particular reference is made to his age and looks, his withered arms and white beard that Regan plucks. We now see Gloucester in his true light as loyal subject to King Lear and he honestly admits that he aided Lear in his escape to Dover, considering this to be a noble act. Again there is further reference to sight or the lack of it. Gloucester's inability to see Edmund's treachery is reinforced by the removal of his eyes. He realizes that he has grossly misjudged Edgar, and although he knows there is no hope of receiving forgiveness from his first-born son, he does pray for Edgar's safety. The defiant Gloucester, before losing his sight, does give the audience a glimmer of hope by saying, But I shall see the winged vengeance overtake such children." This prompts Cornwall to follow Goneril's instructions to remove Gloucester's eyes so that his prophecy cannot come true. The importance of this scene and its impact can only be fully appreciated by viewing this spectacle on stage. Some of the drama is lost when just reading the text. Its success depends much on the acting ability of the players. In the earlier scenes we have noted Cornwall's eloquent speech, which bolsters the fa'ade of civility that hides the beast that lies beneath this veneer of respectability. In this scene we see the beast breaking through this thin skin of civilization and it is the manifestation of evil that we witness. Cornwall does not attempt to restrain himself; his cruelty is fully vented against poor Gloucester. Many of the 'good' characters have called upon the gods to assist them, but up until now, evil has prevailed. Although both Lear and Gloucester have made many errors between them, the injustice they have suffered is disproportionate, and the audience must wonder when these brutal and cruel acts will cease so that good can prevail. We also obtain an insight into how the common people react to this situation. There are at least three servants witnessing this episode. One is moved to protect Gloucester by stabbing Cornwall, the other two pass comment on the proceedings at the end of the scene when the main characters exit. This scene is also notable for the fact that it shows the only human aspect in the character of Regan when she shows sympathy for Cornwall's wounding.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/14.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_16_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 1

act 4 scene 1

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 1 ", "summary": "Just when Edgar thinks that matters cannot get any worse, he meets with his blind father, led by an old servant. Edgar dismisses Gloucester's guide, as he will be in danger if he is seen helping &#8216a traitor'. Gloucester continues to lament his ill-judged treatment of Edgar who maintains his disguise and uses the voice of Poor Tom. Gloucester remembers meeting Tom on the night of the storm. The old servant provides Edgar with decent clothing before departing. Gloucester asks Tom if he will guide him to Dover where he wishes to cast himself off the cliff.", "analysis": "Interpretation The scene opens with Edgar comforting himself that he has withstood all that fortune can throw at him, but this presumption is tested when Gloucester is led in by an old servant. We wonder at this stage why Edgar maintains his pretence and what Shakespeare's reasoning is for this. It is merely for dramatic effect, for it is not time for Gloucester to be regenerated. This will happen at the climax of the play. Later on in the play in the middle of Act V, Edgar will admit that he should have disclosed his true identity to his father now. The two old characters of Lear and Gloucester are to be pushed to the limits of human endurance, and the results of this on them and those that love them will become evident later on in the story. We also note a change in Gloucester's character, similar to that of Lear. You will remember that Lear only appreciated the hardships faced by his lowliest subjects after he too had been brought low. Now Gloucester is filled with compassion for Poor Tom. He arranges for the servant to provide him with clothing - a far cry from the man we saw in Act I of the play when he boasted about the good sport he had enjoyed in bringing about Edmund's conception. By his actions, Gloucester shows that he is sorry for his previous behavior and will try to make amends by sharing what little he has with those he had never previously noticed. Shakespeare deliberately stalls the use of divine justice until the main characters have earned their assistance."}

Actus Quartus. Scena Prima. Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and knowne to be contemn'd, Then still contemn'd and flatter'd, to be worst: The lowest, and most deiected thing of Fortune, Stands still in esperance, liues not in feare: The lamentable change is from the best, The worst returnes to laughter. Welcome then, Thou vnsubstantiall ayre that I embrace: The Wretch that thou hast blowne vnto the worst, Owes nothing to thy blasts. Enter Glouster, and an Oldman. But who comes heere? My Father poorely led? World, World, O world! But that thy strange mutations make vs hate thee, Life would not yeelde to age Oldm. O my good Lord, I haue bene your Tenant, And your Fathers Tenant, these fourescore yeares Glou. Away, get thee away: good Friend be gone, Thy comforts can do me no good at all, Thee, they may hurt Oldm. You cannot see your way Glou. I haue no way, and therefore want no eyes: I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seene, Our meanes secure vs, and our meere defects Proue our Commodities. Oh deere Sonne Edgar, The food of thy abused Fathers wrath: Might I but liue to see thee in my touch, I'ld say I had eyes againe Oldm. How now? who's there? Edg. O Gods! Who is't can say I am at the worst? I am worse then ere I was Old. 'Tis poore mad Tom Edg. And worse I may be yet: the worst is not, So long as we can say this is the worst Oldm. Fellow, where goest? Glou. Is it a Beggar-man? Oldm. Madman, and beggar too Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. I'th' last nights storme, I such a fellow saw; Which made me thinke a Man, a Worme. My Sonne Came then into my minde, and yet my minde Was then scarse Friends with him. I haue heard more since: As Flies to wanton Boyes, are we to th' Gods, They kill vs for their sport Edg. How should this be? Bad is the Trade that must play Foole to sorrow, Ang'ring it selfe, and others. Blesse thee Master Glou. Is that the naked Fellow? Oldm. I, my Lord Glou. Get thee away: If for my sake Thou wilt ore-take vs hence a mile or twaine I'th' way toward Douer, do it for ancient loue, And bring some couering for this naked Soule, Which Ile intreate to leade me Old. Alacke sir, he is mad Glou. 'Tis the times plague, When Madmen leade the blinde: Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure: Aboue the rest, be gone Oldm. Ile bring him the best Parrell that I haue Come on't what will. Exit Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow Edg. Poore Tom's a cold. I cannot daub it further Glou. Come hither fellow Edg. And yet I must: Blesse thy sweete eyes, they bleede Glou. Know'st thou the way to Douer? Edg. Both style, and gate; Horseway, and foot-path: poore Tom hath bin scarr'd out of his good wits. Blesse thee good mans sonne, from the foule Fiend Glou. Here take this purse, y whom the heau'ns plagues Haue humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched Makes thee the happier: Heauens deale so still: Let the superfluous, and Lust-dieted man, That slaues your ordinance, that will not see Because he do's not feele, feele your powre quickly: So distribution should vndoo excesse, And each man haue enough. Dost thou know Douer? Edg. I Master Glou. There is a Cliffe, whose high and bending head Lookes fearfully in the confined Deepe: Bring me but to the very brimme of it, And Ile repayre the misery thou do'st beare With something rich about me: from that place, I shall no leading neede Edg. Giue me thy arme; Poore Tom shall leade thee. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 1

Just when Edgar thinks that matters cannot get any worse, he meets with his blind father, led by an old servant. Edgar dismisses Gloucester's guide, as he will be in danger if he is seen helping &#8216a traitor'. Gloucester continues to lament his ill-judged treatment of Edgar who maintains his disguise and uses the voice of Poor Tom. Gloucester remembers meeting Tom on the night of the storm. The old servant provides Edgar with decent clothing before departing. Gloucester asks Tom if he will guide him to Dover where he wishes to cast himself off the cliff.

Interpretation The scene opens with Edgar comforting himself that he has withstood all that fortune can throw at him, but this presumption is tested when Gloucester is led in by an old servant. We wonder at this stage why Edgar maintains his pretence and what Shakespeare's reasoning is for this. It is merely for dramatic effect, for it is not time for Gloucester to be regenerated. This will happen at the climax of the play. Later on in the play in the middle of Act V, Edgar will admit that he should have disclosed his true identity to his father now. The two old characters of Lear and Gloucester are to be pushed to the limits of human endurance, and the results of this on them and those that love them will become evident later on in the story. We also note a change in Gloucester's character, similar to that of Lear. You will remember that Lear only appreciated the hardships faced by his lowliest subjects after he too had been brought low. Now Gloucester is filled with compassion for Poor Tom. He arranges for the servant to provide him with clothing - a far cry from the man we saw in Act I of the play when he boasted about the good sport he had enjoyed in bringing about Edmund's conception. By his actions, Gloucester shows that he is sorry for his previous behavior and will try to make amends by sharing what little he has with those he had never previously noticed. Shakespeare deliberately stalls the use of divine justice until the main characters have earned their assistance.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/15.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_17_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 2

act 4 scene 2

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 2", "summary": "The scene opens with Goneril and Edmund and they are joined by Oswald who has news that Albany is a changed man. The steward informs Goneril that Albany seems pleased at the impending invasion by France and showed disappointment that Edmund has replaced his father as Earl of Gloucester. As a result, Goneril takes command of her forces and orders Edmund to return to Cornwall while she deals with her husband. Goneril has been flirting with Edmund and she gives him a favor of affection and a kiss. Goneril is impressed by the vibrant Edmund compared with her own weakling husband. Albany enters scolding his wife for her inhuman treatment of King Lear. A messenger arrives to relay the news that the Duke of Cornwall has died from the wound he received from his servant. Albany declares that this act represents retribution from the gods for Cornwall's treatment of Gloucester. Albany vows revenge against Edmund for leaving his father at the mercy of Cornwall. In the evil mind of Goneril, she seeks to gain advantage from these circumstances and form an alliance with Edmund. However, she is concerned that her widowed sister may also seek Edmund's love.", "analysis": "Interpretation There are the first indications in this scene that Albany does not wish to ally him with the other three evil characters. He is becoming more critical of his wife's behavior and welcomes the developments in Dover where the French army is expected. The evil Goneril recognizes similar traits in Edmund and is consequently attracted to him. She regards her husband's virtuous behavior as a sign of weakness. She admires Edmund because he is driven to better himself, no matter what the consequences. Another indication here of loss of values is that it does not matter to Goneril that she is already married when she flirts with Edmund. The bold Albany compares Goneril and her sister to beasts. He says, \"Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; Filths savor but themselves. What have you done? Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform&#8217d? A father, and a gracious aged man, Most barbarous, most degenerate! Have you madded?\" Albany's true nature is at last revealed to the audience. All Goneril can say to him is that he is A moral fool\". Albany responds to her by saying, \"You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face.\" Albany laments the fact that the bonds that tie families and society together have been broken and that chaos will descend on them all. Again we remember Cordelia's statement at the start of the play that she loved her father in accordance with the bond between parent and child. The acts that Goneril and Regan and Edmund have performed have broken the bonds between parent and child. We will see later that Cornwall's death will place Albany in a dilemma. He could quite easily have left the other three, but with Cornwall dead, there is no-one left with experience to lead the English army against the invading French. A further complication is introduced into the plot through Goneril's lust for Edmund. This will put a strain on her relationship with her sister, should the recently widowed Regan now too desire Edmund. Edmund has the attributes that would attract both sisters."}

Scena Secunda. Enter Gonerill, Bastard, and Steward. Gon. Welcome my Lord. I meruell our mild husband Not met vs on the way. Now, where's your Master? Stew. Madam within, but neuer man so chang'd: I told him of the Army that was Landed: He smil'd at it. I told him you were comming, His answer was, the worse. Of Glosters Treachery, And of the loyall Seruice of his Sonne When I inform'd him, then he call'd me Sot, And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out: What most he should dislike, seemes pleasant to him; What like, offensiue Gon. Then shall you go no further. It is the Cowish terror of his spirit That dares not vndertake: Hee'l not feele wrongs Which tye him to an answer: our wishes on the way May proue effects. Backe Edmond to my Brother, Hasten his Musters, and conduct his powres. I must change names at home, and giue the Distaffe Into my Husbands hands. This trustie Seruant Shall passe betweene vs: ere long you are like to heare (If you dare venture in your owne behalfe) A Mistresses command. Weare this; spare speech, Decline your head. This kisse, if it durst speake Would stretch thy Spirits vp into the ayre: Conceiue, and fare thee well Bast. Yours in the rankes of death. Enter. Gon. My most deere Gloster. Oh, the difference of man, and man, To thee a Womans seruices are due, My Foole vsurpes my body Stew. Madam, here come's my Lord. Enter Albany. Gon. I haue beene worth the whistle Alb. Oh Gonerill, You are not worth the dust which the rude winde Blowes in your face Gon. Milke-Liuer'd man, That bear'st a cheeke for blowes, a head for wrongs, Who hast not in thy browes an eye-discerning Thine Honor, from thy suffering Alb. See thy selfe diuell: Proper deformitie seemes not in the Fiend So horrid as in woman Gon. Oh vaine Foole. Enter a Messenger. Mes. Oh my good Lord, the Duke of Cornwals dead, Slaine by his Seruant, going to put out The other eye of Glouster Alb. Glousters eyes Mes. A Seruant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse, Oppos'd against the act: bending his Sword To his great Master, who, threat-enrag'd Flew on him, and among'st them fell'd him dead, But not without that harmefull stroke, which since Hath pluckt him after Alb. This shewes you are aboue You Iustices, that these our neather crimes So speedily can venge. But (O poore Glouster) Lost he his other eye? Mes. Both, both, my Lord. This Leter Madam, craues a speedy answer: 'Tis from your Sister Gon. One way I like this well. But being widdow, and my Glouster with her, May all the building in my fancie plucke Vpon my hatefull life. Another way The Newes is not so tart. Ile read, and answer Alb. Where was his Sonne, When they did take his eyes? Mes. Come with my Lady hither Alb. He is not heere Mes. No my good Lord, I met him backe againe Alb. Knowes he the wickednesse? Mes. I my good Lord: 'twas he inform'd against him And quit the house on purpose, that their punishment Might haue the freer course Alb. Glouster, I liue To thanke thee for the loue thou shew'dst the King, And to reuenge thine eyes. Come hither Friend, Tell me what more thou know'st. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 2

The scene opens with Goneril and Edmund and they are joined by Oswald who has news that Albany is a changed man. The steward informs Goneril that Albany seems pleased at the impending invasion by France and showed disappointment that Edmund has replaced his father as Earl of Gloucester. As a result, Goneril takes command of her forces and orders Edmund to return to Cornwall while she deals with her husband. Goneril has been flirting with Edmund and she gives him a favor of affection and a kiss. Goneril is impressed by the vibrant Edmund compared with her own weakling husband. Albany enters scolding his wife for her inhuman treatment of King Lear. A messenger arrives to relay the news that the Duke of Cornwall has died from the wound he received from his servant. Albany declares that this act represents retribution from the gods for Cornwall's treatment of Gloucester. Albany vows revenge against Edmund for leaving his father at the mercy of Cornwall. In the evil mind of Goneril, she seeks to gain advantage from these circumstances and form an alliance with Edmund. However, she is concerned that her widowed sister may also seek Edmund's love.

Interpretation There are the first indications in this scene that Albany does not wish to ally him with the other three evil characters. He is becoming more critical of his wife's behavior and welcomes the developments in Dover where the French army is expected. The evil Goneril recognizes similar traits in Edmund and is consequently attracted to him. She regards her husband's virtuous behavior as a sign of weakness. She admires Edmund because he is driven to better himself, no matter what the consequences. Another indication here of loss of values is that it does not matter to Goneril that she is already married when she flirts with Edmund. The bold Albany compares Goneril and her sister to beasts. He says, "Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; Filths savor but themselves. What have you done? Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform&#8217d? A father, and a gracious aged man, Most barbarous, most degenerate! Have you madded?" Albany's true nature is at last revealed to the audience. All Goneril can say to him is that he is A moral fool". Albany responds to her by saying, "You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face." Albany laments the fact that the bonds that tie families and society together have been broken and that chaos will descend on them all. Again we remember Cordelia's statement at the start of the play that she loved her father in accordance with the bond between parent and child. The acts that Goneril and Regan and Edmund have performed have broken the bonds between parent and child. We will see later that Cornwall's death will place Albany in a dilemma. He could quite easily have left the other three, but with Cornwall dead, there is no-one left with experience to lead the English army against the invading French. A further complication is introduced into the plot through Goneril's lust for Edmund. This will put a strain on her relationship with her sister, should the recently widowed Regan now too desire Edmund. Edmund has the attributes that would attract both sisters.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/16.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_18_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 3

act 4 scene 3

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 3 ", "summary": "Although the King of France commanded his forces when they arrived in Dover, he has left and his army is commanded by his Marshall. A gentleman describes to Kent Cordelia's reaction on receiving Kent's letter providing information concerning King Lear's status. Cordelia is appalled at the behavior of her two older sisters. Kent tells the gentleman that Lear is nearby, but that he cannot bring himself to meet with Cordelia so filled is he with shame. The gentleman also tells Kent that the forces of Albany and Cornwall are close by. The disguised Kent informs the gentleman that he will bring Lear to Dover and then reveal his own identity.", "analysis": "Interpretation This scene is omitted from some versions of the play and may also have been amended. It was politically sensitive to have the King of France on English soil with an invading army, and so Shakespeare arranges for his return to France. Shakespeare also makes it clear that although technically the Marshall commands the forces, they are in the realm in order to protect Cordelia's father King Lear. The importance of the scene is to make it clear to the audience that Cordelia truly loves her father and is totally different from her siblings. There is also an indication that the evil flowing in Regan and Goneril's blood is a result of supernatural influences. This has an important bearing on the divine justice that will operate in later scenes. At this stage in the play, both Lear and Gloucester question whether any such justice exists. Shakespeare deliberately set this play in pre-Christian Britain and so there is still a doubt whether good will prevail over evil, and this anomaly enables the tension to be maintained."}

Scena Tertia. Enter with Drum and Colours, Cordelia, Gentlemen, and Souldiours. Cor. Alacke, 'tis he: why he was met euen now As mad as the vext Sea, singing alowd. Crown'd with ranke Fenitar, and furrow weeds, With Hardokes, Hemlocke, Nettles, Cuckoo flowres, Darnell, and all the idle weedes that grow In our sustaining Corne. A Centery send forth; Search euery Acre in the high-growne field, And bring him to our eye. What can mans wisedome In the restoring his bereaued Sense; he that helpes him, Take all my outward worth Gent. There is meanes Madam: Our foster Nurse of Nature, is repose, The which he lackes: that to prouoke in him Are many Simples operatiue, whose power Will close the eye of Anguish Cord. All blest Secrets, All you vnpublish'd Vertues of the earth Spring with my teares; be aydant, and remediate In the Goodmans desires: seeke, seeke for him, Least his vngouern'd rage, dissolue the life That wants the meanes to leade it. Enter Messenger. Mes. Newes Madam, The Brittish Powres are marching hitherward Cor. 'Tis knowne before. Our preparation stands In expectation of them. O deere Father, It is thy businesse that I go about: Therfore great France My mourning, and importun'd teares hath pittied: No blowne Ambition doth our Armes incite, But loue, deere loue, and our ag'd Fathers Rite: Soone may I heare, and see him. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 3

Although the King of France commanded his forces when they arrived in Dover, he has left and his army is commanded by his Marshall. A gentleman describes to Kent Cordelia's reaction on receiving Kent's letter providing information concerning King Lear's status. Cordelia is appalled at the behavior of her two older sisters. Kent tells the gentleman that Lear is nearby, but that he cannot bring himself to meet with Cordelia so filled is he with shame. The gentleman also tells Kent that the forces of Albany and Cornwall are close by. The disguised Kent informs the gentleman that he will bring Lear to Dover and then reveal his own identity.

Interpretation This scene is omitted from some versions of the play and may also have been amended. It was politically sensitive to have the King of France on English soil with an invading army, and so Shakespeare arranges for his return to France. Shakespeare also makes it clear that although technically the Marshall commands the forces, they are in the realm in order to protect Cordelia's father King Lear. The importance of the scene is to make it clear to the audience that Cordelia truly loves her father and is totally different from her siblings. There is also an indication that the evil flowing in Regan and Goneril's blood is a result of supernatural influences. This has an important bearing on the divine justice that will operate in later scenes. At this stage in the play, both Lear and Gloucester question whether any such justice exists. Shakespeare deliberately set this play in pre-Christian Britain and so there is still a doubt whether good will prevail over evil, and this anomaly enables the tension to be maintained.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/17.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_19_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 4

act 4 scene 4

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 4 ", "summary": "Cordelia learns from a messenger that her father is nearby. She now commands the armies of her husband and she waits to face the English army. She learns that her father is a weird sight dressed in weeds and flowers. She consults with her physician to ask whether her father can be cured. He is confident that with care Lear can be returned to sanity.", "analysis": "Interpretation Cordelia describes her father as \"mad as the vex&#8217d sea, singing aloud;\" She sends her troops to find him and bring him into her care. We hear that the King suffers from no ordinary madness, but a madness befitting a King, which not only invokes pity, but astonishment. The decking of oneself in flowers has particular symbolism, each separate flower or weed symbolizing the numerous torments suffered by Lear. The King wishes to project an image of wildness and freedom, hence the wearing of flowers representing his chaotic state of mind. This theme of wearing weeds and flowers was quite common and there are examples of this in both Richard II and Hamlet. Sometimes the weeds represent evil, but in this case they represent the madness of the King, and he no doubt wore the Cuckoo Flower also aptly named the Bedlam Cowslip, which is a fairly common weed in this part of England."}

Scena Quarta. Enter Regan, and Steward. Reg. But are my Brothers Powres set forth? Stew. I Madam Reg. Himselfe in person there? Stew. Madam with much ado: Your Sister is the better Souldier Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your Lord at home? Stew. No Madam Reg. What might import my Sisters Letter to him? Stew. I know not, Lady Reg. Faith he is poasted hence on serious matter: It was great ignorance, Glousters eyes being out To let him liue. Where he arriues, he moues All hearts against vs: Edmund, I thinke is gone In pitty of his misery, to dispatch His nighted life: Moreouer to descry The strength o'th' Enemy Stew. I must needs after him, Madam, with my Letter Reg. Our troopes set forth to morrow, stay with vs: The wayes are dangerous Stew. I may not Madam: My Lady charg'd my dutie in this busines Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might not you transport her purposes by word? Belike, Some things, I know not what. Ile loue thee much Let me vnseale the Letter Stew. Madam, I had rather- Reg. I know your Lady do's not loue her Husband, I am sure of that: and at her late being heere, She gaue strange Eliads, and most speaking lookes To Noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosome Stew. I, Madam? Reg. I speake in vnderstanding: Y'are: I know't, Therefore I do aduise you take this note: My Lord is dead: Edmond, and I haue talk'd, And more conuenient is he for my hand Then for your Ladies: You may gather more: If you do finde him, pray you giue him this; And when your Mistris heares thus much from you, I pray desire her call her wisedome to her. So fare you well: If you do chance to heare of that blinde Traitor, Preferment fals on him, that cuts him off Stew. Would I could meet Madam, I should shew What party I do follow Reg. Fare thee well. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 4

Cordelia learns from a messenger that her father is nearby. She now commands the armies of her husband and she waits to face the English army. She learns that her father is a weird sight dressed in weeds and flowers. She consults with her physician to ask whether her father can be cured. He is confident that with care Lear can be returned to sanity.

Interpretation Cordelia describes her father as "mad as the vex&#8217d sea, singing aloud;" She sends her troops to find him and bring him into her care. We hear that the King suffers from no ordinary madness, but a madness befitting a King, which not only invokes pity, but astonishment. The decking of oneself in flowers has particular symbolism, each separate flower or weed symbolizing the numerous torments suffered by Lear. The King wishes to project an image of wildness and freedom, hence the wearing of flowers representing his chaotic state of mind. This theme of wearing weeds and flowers was quite common and there are examples of this in both Richard II and Hamlet. Sometimes the weeds represent evil, but in this case they represent the madness of the King, and he no doubt wore the Cuckoo Flower also aptly named the Bedlam Cowslip, which is a fairly common weed in this part of England.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/18.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_20_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 5

act 4 scene 5

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 5", "summary": "Oswald advises Regan that the Duke of Albany has been persuaded to lead the English forces against the French army. He also carries a letter from Goneril to Edmund and Regan is more interested in the contents of the letter than the forthcoming battle. She commands Oswald to give her the letter because she is aware that Goneril has flirted with Edmund. Regan reminds Oswald that his mistress is still married and that she considers that Edmund is reserved for her. Regan instructs Oswald that if he should meet Gloucester, he should kill him.", "analysis": "Interpretation Albany is persuaded to lead the armies, not because he wishes to support his wife and her sister, but because of his obligation to defend the Kingdom against foreign invaders. Oswald makes the comment that he considers Goneril probably a better soldier than her husband. Perhaps Albany is using this as a ruse and may be able to avoid battle, rescue Lear, and protect Cordelia. If he is able to achieve this, then the foreign troops will probably depart peacefully. We note the growing suspicion between Goneril and Regan, and cracks are beginning to appear in the evil alliance. The audience senses that evil may start to prey on evil and thus consume itself. The Shakespearean audience is every bit as intrigued as we are at the battle between the two sisters over Edmund. Both these women are formidable, and we note that although Oswald is loyal to his mistress, he bends with the wind and obeys Regan as well. No doubt Edmund relishes the position where two women are fighting over him, but there is more to this, for the women in question are Princesses of the realm and this also legitimizes his position. You will recall that Regan had instructed Edmund to kill Gloucester. Now she tells Oswald the same. Hopefully he is now safe in Dover. They would obviously like to see Gloucester dead, because having him roam the land in his sorry state does nothing to promote their position."}

Scena Quinta. Enter Gloucester, and Edgar. Glou. When shall I come to th' top of that same hill? Edg. You do climbe vp it now. Look how we labor Glou. Me thinkes the ground is eeuen Edg. Horrible steepe. Hearke, do you heare the Sea? Glou. No truly Edg. Why then your other Senses grow imperfect By your eyes anguish Glou. So may it be indeed. Me thinkes thy voyce is alter'd, and thou speak'st In better phrase, and matter then thou did'st Edg. Y'are much deceiu'd: In nothing am I chang'd But in my Garments Glou. Me thinkes y'are better spoken Edg. Come on Sir, Heere's the place: stand still: how fearefull And dizie 'tis, to cast ones eyes so low, The Crowes and Choughes, that wing the midway ayre Shew scarse so grosse as Beetles. Halfe way downe Hangs one that gathers Sampire: dreadfull Trade: Me thinkes he seemes no bigger then his head. The Fishermen, that walk'd vpon the beach Appeare like Mice: and yond tall Anchoring Barke, Diminish'd to her Cocke: her Cocke, a Buoy Almost too small for sight. The murmuring Surge, That on th' vnnumbred idle Pebble chafes Cannot be heard so high. Ile looke no more, Least my braine turne, and the deficient sight Topple downe headlong Glou. Set me where you stand Edg. Giue me your hand: You are now within a foote of th' extreme Verge: For all beneath the Moone would I not leape vpright Glou. Let go my hand: Heere Friend's another purse: in it, a Iewell Well worth a poore mans taking. Fayries, and Gods Prosper it with thee. Go thou further off, Bid me farewell, and let me heare thee going Edg. Now fare ye well, good Sir Glou. With all my heart Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his dispaire, Is done to cure it Glou. O you mighty Gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights Shake patiently my great affliction off: If I could beare it longer, and not fall To quarrell with your great opposelesse willes, My snuffe, and loathed part of Nature should Burne it selfe out. If Edgar liue, O blesse him: Now Fellow, fare thee well Edg. Gone Sir, farewell: And yet I know not how conceit may rob The Treasury of life, when life it selfe Yeelds to the Theft. Had he bin where he thought, By this had thought bin past. Aliue, or dead? Hoa, you Sir: Friend, heare you Sir, speake: Thus might he passe indeed: yet he reuiues. What are you Sir? Glou. Away, and let me dye Edg. Had'st thou beene ought But Gozemore, Feathers, Ayre, (So many fathome downe precipitating) Thou'dst shiuer'd like an Egge: but thou do'st breath: Hast heauy substance, bleed'st not, speak'st, art sound, Ten Masts at each, make not the altitude Which thou hast perpendicularly fell, Thy life's a Myracle. Speake yet againe Glou. But haue I falne, or no? Edg. From the dread Somnet of this Chalkie Bourne Looke vp a height, the shrill-gorg'd Larke so farre Cannot be seene, or heard: Do but looke vp Glou. Alacke, I haue no eyes: Is wretchednesse depriu'd that benefit To end it selfe by death? 'Twas yet some comfort, When misery could beguile the Tyrants rage, And frustrate his proud will Edg. Giue me your arme. Vp, so: How is't? Feele you your Legges? You stand Glou. Too well, too well Edg. This is aboue all strangenesse, Vpon the crowne o'th' Cliffe. What thing was that Which parted from you? Glou. A poore vnfortunate Beggar Edg. As I stood heere below, me thought his eyes Were two full Moones: he had a thousand Noses, Hornes wealk'd, and waued like the enraged Sea: It was some Fiend: Therefore thou happy Father, Thinke that the cleerest Gods, who make them Honors Of mens Impossibilities, haue preserued thee Glou. I do remember now: henceforth Ile beare Affliction, till it do cry out it selfe Enough, enough, and dye. That thing you speake of, I tooke it for a man: often 'twould say The Fiend, the Fiend, he led me to that place Edgar. Beare free and patient thoughts. Enter Lear. But who comes heere? The safer sense will ne're accommodate His Master thus Lear. No, they cannot touch me for crying. I am the King himselfe Edg. O thou side-piercing sight! Lear. Nature's aboue Art, in that respect. Ther's your Presse-money. That fellow handles his bow, like a Crowkeeper: draw mee a Cloathiers yard. Looke, looke, a Mouse: peace, peace, this peece of toasted Cheese will doo't. There's my Gauntlet, Ile proue it on a Gyant. Bring vp the browne Billes. O well flowne Bird: i'th' clout, i'th' clout: Hewgh. Giue the word Edg. Sweet Mariorum Lear. Passe Glou. I know that voice Lear. Ha! Gonerill with a white beard? They flatter'd me like a Dogge, and told mee I had the white hayres in my Beard, ere the blacke ones were there. To say I, and no, to euery thing that I said: I, and no too, was no good Diuinity. When the raine came to wet me once, and the winde to make me chatter: when the Thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go too, they are not men o'their words; they told me, I was euery thing: 'Tis a Lye, I am not Agu-proofe Glou. The tricke of that voyce, I do well remember: Is't not the King? Lear. I, euery inch a King. When I do stare, see how the Subiect quakes. I pardon that mans life. What was thy cause? Adultery? thou shalt not dye: dye for Adultery? No, the Wren goes too't, and the small gilded Fly Do's letcher in my sight. Let Copulation thriue: For Glousters bastard Son was kinder to his Father, Then my Daughters got 'tweene the lawfull sheets. Too't Luxury pell-mell, for I lacke Souldiers. Behold yond simpring Dame, whose face betweene her Forkes presages Snow; that minces Vertue, & do's shake the head to heare of pleasures name. The Fitchew, nor the soyled Horse goes too't with a more riotous appetite: Downe from the waste they are Centaures, though Women all aboue: but to the Girdle do the Gods inherit, beneath is all the Fiends. There's hell, there's darkenes, there is the sulphurous pit; burning, scalding, stench, consumption: Fye, fie, fie; pah, pah: Giue me an Ounce of Ciuet; good Apothecary sweeten my immagination: There's money for thee Glou. O let me kisse that hand Lear. Let me wipe it first, It smelles of Mortality Glou. O ruin'd peece of Nature, this great world Shall so weare out to naught. Do'st thou know me? Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough: dost thou squiny at me? No, doe thy worst blinde Cupid, Ile not loue. Reade thou this challenge, marke but the penning of it Glou. Were all thy Letters Sunnes, I could not see Edg. I would not take this from report, It is, and my heart breakes at it Lear. Read Glou. What with the Case of eyes? Lear. Oh ho, are you there with me? No eies in your head, nor no mony in your purse? Your eyes are in a heauy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes Glou. I see it feelingly Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes, with no eyes. Looke with thine eares: See how yond Iustice railes vpon yond simple theefe. Hearke in thine eare: Change places, and handy-dandy, which is the Iustice, which is the theefe: Thou hast seene a Farmers dogge barke at a Beggar? Glou. I Sir Lear. And the Creature run from the Cur: there thou might'st behold the great image of Authoritie, a Dogg's obey'd in Office. Thou, Rascall Beadle, hold thy bloody hand: why dost thou lash that Whore? Strip thy owne backe, thou hotly lusts to vse her in that kind, for which thou whip'st her. The Vsurer hangs the Cozener. Thorough tatter'd cloathes great Vices do appeare: Robes, and Furr'd gownes hide all. Place sinnes with Gold, and the strong Lance of Iustice, hurtlesse breakes: Arme it in ragges, a Pigmies straw do's pierce it. None do's offend, none, I say none, Ile able 'em; take that of me my Friend, who haue the power to seale th' accusers lips. Get thee glasse-eyes, and like a scuruy Politician, seeme to see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now. Pull off my Bootes: harder, harder, so Edg. O matter, and impertinency mixt, Reason in Madnesse Lear. If thou wilt weepe my Fortunes, take my eyes. I know thee well enough, thy name is Glouster: Thou must be patient; we came crying hither: Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the Ayre We wawle, and cry. I will preach to thee: Marke Glou. Alacke, alacke the day Lear. When we are borne, we cry that we are come To this great stage of Fooles. This a good blocke: It were a delicate stratagem to shoo A Troope of Horse with Felt: Ile put't in proofe, And when I haue stolne vpon these Son in Lawes, Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Enter a Gentleman. Gent. Oh heere he is: lay hand vpon him, Sir. Your most deere Daughter- Lear. No rescue? What, a Prisoner? I am euen The Naturall Foole of Fortune. Vse me well, You shall haue ransome. Let me haue Surgeons, I am cut to'th' Braines Gent. You shall haue any thing Lear. No Seconds? All my selfe? Why, this would make a man, a man of Salt To vse his eyes for Garden water-pots. I wil die brauely, Like a smugge Bridegroome. What? I will be Iouiall: Come, come, I am a King, Masters, know you that? Gent. You are a Royall one, and we obey you Lear. Then there's life in't. Come, and you get it, You shall get it by running: Sa, sa, sa, sa. Enter. Gent. A sight most pittifull in the meanest wretch, Past speaking of in a King. Thou hast a Daughter Who redeemes Nature from the generall curse Which twaine haue brought her to Edg. Haile gentle Sir Gent. Sir, speed you: what's your will? Edg. Do you heare ought (Sir) of a Battell toward Gent. Most sure, and vulgar: Euery one heares that, which can distinguish sound Edg. But by your fauour: How neere's the other Army? Gent. Neere, and on speedy foot: the maine descry Stands on the hourely thought Edg. I thanke you Sir, that's all Gent. Though that the Queen on special cause is here Her Army is mou'd on. Enter. Edg. I thanke you Sir Glou. You euer gentle Gods, take my breath from me, Let not my worser Spirit tempt me againe To dye before you please Edg. Well pray you Father Glou. Now good sir, what are you? Edg. A most poore man, made tame to Fortunes blows Who, by the Art of knowne, and feeling sorrowes, Am pregnant to good pitty. Giue me your hand, Ile leade you to some biding Glou. Heartie thankes: The bountie, and the benizon of Heauen To boot, and boot. Enter Steward. Stew. A proclaim'd prize: most happie That eyelesse head of thine, was first fram'd flesh To raise my fortunes. Thou old, vnhappy Traitor, Breefely thy selfe remember: the Sword is out That must destroy thee Glou. Now let thy friendly hand Put strength enough too't Stew. Wherefore, bold Pezant, Dar'st thou support a publish'd Traitor? Hence, Least that th' infection of his fortune take Like hold on thee. Let go his arme Edg. Chill not let go Zir, Without vurther 'casion Stew. Let go Slaue, or thou dy'st Edg. Good Gentleman goe your gate, and let poore volke passe: and 'chud ha' bin zwaggerd out of my life, 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 'tis, by a vortnight. Nay, come not neere th' old man: keepe out che vor' ye, or Ile try whither your Costard, or my Ballow be the harder; chill be plaine with you Stew. Out Dunghill Edg. Chill picke your teeth Zir: come, no matter vor your foynes Stew. Slaue thou hast slaine me: Villain, take my purse; If euer thou wilt thriue, bury my bodie, And giue the Letters which thou find'st about me, To Edmund Earle of Glouster: seeke him out Vpon the English party. Oh vntimely death, death Edg. I know thee well. A seruiceable Villaine, As duteous to the vices of thy Mistris, As badnesse would desire Glou. What, is he dead? Edg. Sit you downe Father: rest you. Let's see these Pockets; the Letters that he speakes of May be my Friends: hee's dead; I am onely sorry He had no other Deathsman. Let vs see: Leaue gentle waxe, and manners: blame vs not To know our enemies mindes, we rip their hearts, Their Papers is more lawfull. Reads the Letter. Let our reciprocall vowes be remembred. You haue manie opportunities to cut him off: if your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully offer'd. There is nothing done. If hee returne the Conqueror, then am I the Prisoner, and his bed, my Gaole, from the loathed warmth whereof, deliuer me, and supply the place for your Labour. Your (Wife, so I would say) affectionate Seruant. Gonerill. Oh indistinguish'd space of Womans will, A plot vpon her vertuous Husbands life, And the exchange my Brother: heere, in the sands Thee Ile rake vp, the poste vnsanctified Of murtherous Letchers: and in the mature time, With this vngracious paper strike the sight Of the death-practis'd Duke: for him 'tis well, That of thy death, and businesse, I can tell Glou. The King is mad: How stiffe is my vilde sense That I stand vp, and haue ingenious feeling Of my huge Sorrowes? Better I were distract, So should my thoughts be seuer'd from my greefes, Drum afarre off. And woes, by wrong imaginations loose The knowledge of themselues Edg. Giue me your hand: Farre off methinkes I heare the beaten Drumme. Come Father, Ile bestow you with a Friend. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 5

Oswald advises Regan that the Duke of Albany has been persuaded to lead the English forces against the French army. He also carries a letter from Goneril to Edmund and Regan is more interested in the contents of the letter than the forthcoming battle. She commands Oswald to give her the letter because she is aware that Goneril has flirted with Edmund. Regan reminds Oswald that his mistress is still married and that she considers that Edmund is reserved for her. Regan instructs Oswald that if he should meet Gloucester, he should kill him.

Interpretation Albany is persuaded to lead the armies, not because he wishes to support his wife and her sister, but because of his obligation to defend the Kingdom against foreign invaders. Oswald makes the comment that he considers Goneril probably a better soldier than her husband. Perhaps Albany is using this as a ruse and may be able to avoid battle, rescue Lear, and protect Cordelia. If he is able to achieve this, then the foreign troops will probably depart peacefully. We note the growing suspicion between Goneril and Regan, and cracks are beginning to appear in the evil alliance. The audience senses that evil may start to prey on evil and thus consume itself. The Shakespearean audience is every bit as intrigued as we are at the battle between the two sisters over Edmund. Both these women are formidable, and we note that although Oswald is loyal to his mistress, he bends with the wind and obeys Regan as well. No doubt Edmund relishes the position where two women are fighting over him, but there is more to this, for the women in question are Princesses of the realm and this also legitimizes his position. You will recall that Regan had instructed Edmund to kill Gloucester. Now she tells Oswald the same. Hopefully he is now safe in Dover. They would obviously like to see Gloucester dead, because having him roam the land in his sorry state does nothing to promote their position.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/23.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_22_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 7

act 4 scene 7

{"name": "Act 4 Scene 7", "summary": "Kent reveals his true identity to Cordelia, who expresses her thanks to him for the assistance he has given to her father. Kent will continue to play the part of Caius as he has still work to do. Cordelia's physician advises that the King has slept long and when he is roused it will be to the tune of healing music. Lear is brought in carried on a chair and Cordelia tenderly kisses him. They are reconciled. At first Lear thinks that Cordelia is an angel who has rescued him from purgatory. He soon regains his senses and humbly pleads for his daughter's forgiveness. Cordelia confirms that he is still in his own country and not in France. The physician exits with Lear for he is still not fully restored. Cordelia and Kent learn that Edmund is now in command of Cornwall's army and there is a rumor abroad that both Edgar and Kent have fled to Germany. Kent states that no time must be lost as the battle is imminent.", "analysis": "Interpretation We are not clear why Kent intends to maintain his disguise, but he felt it necessary to reveal his true identity to Cordelia. We can guess that Kent views this time as the climax of his long years of service to the King and his country. Since the King's rescue, he has spent much of his time sleeping and recovering from his ordeal. It takes a while for him to return to full consciousness and he mistakes Cordelia for an angel. Shakespeare is reinforcing the idea that Cordelia represents the height of feminine virtue and honesty. There are again further indications regarding Lear's transformation. His dialogue with Cordelia makes no mention of status or tests of love, but is merely a father being reunited with his daughter. This scene contrasts greatly from the corresponding scene in Act I where father dismissed daughter. We read Lear's statement to Cordelia, Do not laugh at me; for, as I am a man, I think this lady to be my child Cordelia.\" This confirms that Lear has regained his sanity. We learn that Lear's return from a deep sleep was accompanied by soothing music. Symbolically this replaces the crashing storm that he fought with on the heath, which symbolized his own state of mind and the evil of his older daughters. The music underlines the return of order to Lear's world. Cordelia is clearly at the far end of the scale from her two sisters, for there is no indication that she desires revenge for what her father has suffered."}

Scaena Septima. Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman. Cor. O thou good Kent, How shall I liue and worke To match thy goodnesse? My life will be too short, And euery measure faile me Kent. To be acknowledg'd Madam is ore-pai'd, All my reports go with the modest truth, Nor more, nor clipt, but so Cor. Be better suited, These weedes are memories of those worser houres: I prythee put them off Kent. Pardon deere Madam, Yet to be knowne shortens my made intent, My boone I make it, that you know me not, Till time, and I, thinke meet Cor. Then be't so my good Lord: How do's the King? Gent. Madam sleepes still Cor. O you kind Gods! Cure this great breach in his abused Nature, Th' vntun'd and iarring senses, O winde vp, Of this childe-changed Father Gent. So please your Maiesty, That we may wake the King, he hath slept long? Cor. Be gouern'd by your knowledge, and proceede I'th' sway of your owne will: is he array'd? Enter Lear in a chaire carried by Seruants] Gent. I Madam: in the heauinesse of sleepe, We put fresh garments on him. Be by good Madam when we do awake him, I doubt of his Temperance Cor. O my deere Father, restauratian hang Thy medicine on my lippes, and let this kisse Repaire those violent harmes, that my two Sisters Haue in thy Reuerence made Kent. Kind and deere Princesse Cor. Had you not bin their Father, these white flakes Did challenge pitty of them. Was this a face To be oppos'd against the iarring windes? Mine Enemies dogge, though he had bit me, Should haue stood that night against my fire, And was't thou faine (poore Father) To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? Alacke, alacke, 'Tis wonder that thy life and wits, at once Had not concluded all. He wakes, speake to him Gen. Madam do you, 'tis fittest Cor. How does my Royall Lord? How fares your Maiesty? Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o'th' graue, Thou art a Soule in blisse, but I am bound Vpon a wheele of fire, that mine owne teares Do scal'd, like molten Lead Cor. Sir, do you know me? Lear. You are a spirit I know, where did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide Gen. He's scarse awake, Let him alone a while Lear. Where haue I bin? Where am I? Faire day light? I am mightily abus'd; I should eu'n dye with pitty To see another thus. I know not what to say: I will not sweare these are my hands: let's see, I feele this pin pricke, would I were assur'd Of my condition Cor. O looke vpon me Sir, And hold your hand in benediction o're me, You must not kneele Lear. Pray do not mocke me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourescore and vpward, Not an houre more, nor lesse: And to deale plainely, I feare I am not in my perfect mind. Me thinkes I should know you, and know this man, Yet I am doubtfull: For I am mainely ignorant What place this is: and all the skill I haue Remembers not these garments: nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me, For (as I am a man) I thinke this Lady To be my childe Cordelia Cor. And so I am: I am Lear. Be your teares wet? Yes faith: I pray weepe not, If you haue poyson for me, I will drinke it: I know you do not loue me, for your Sisters Haue (as I do remember) done me wrong. You haue some cause, they haue not Cor. No cause, no cause Lear. Am I in France? Kent. In your owne kingdome Sir Lear. Do not abuse me Gent. Be comforted good Madam, the great rage You see is kill'd in him: desire him to go in, Trouble him no more till further setling Cor. Wilt please your Highnesse walke? Lear. You must beare with me: Pray you now forget, and forgiue, I am old and foolish. Exeunt.

Act 4 Scene 7

Kent reveals his true identity to Cordelia, who expresses her thanks to him for the assistance he has given to her father. Kent will continue to play the part of Caius as he has still work to do. Cordelia's physician advises that the King has slept long and when he is roused it will be to the tune of healing music. Lear is brought in carried on a chair and Cordelia tenderly kisses him. They are reconciled. At first Lear thinks that Cordelia is an angel who has rescued him from purgatory. He soon regains his senses and humbly pleads for his daughter's forgiveness. Cordelia confirms that he is still in his own country and not in France. The physician exits with Lear for he is still not fully restored. Cordelia and Kent learn that Edmund is now in command of Cornwall's army and there is a rumor abroad that both Edgar and Kent have fled to Germany. Kent states that no time must be lost as the battle is imminent.

Interpretation We are not clear why Kent intends to maintain his disguise, but he felt it necessary to reveal his true identity to Cordelia. We can guess that Kent views this time as the climax of his long years of service to the King and his country. Since the King's rescue, he has spent much of his time sleeping and recovering from his ordeal. It takes a while for him to return to full consciousness and he mistakes Cordelia for an angel. Shakespeare is reinforcing the idea that Cordelia represents the height of feminine virtue and honesty. There are again further indications regarding Lear's transformation. His dialogue with Cordelia makes no mention of status or tests of love, but is merely a father being reunited with his daughter. This scene contrasts greatly from the corresponding scene in Act I where father dismissed daughter. We read Lear's statement to Cordelia, Do not laugh at me; for, as I am a man, I think this lady to be my child Cordelia." This confirms that Lear has regained his sanity. We learn that Lear's return from a deep sleep was accompanied by soothing music. Symbolically this replaces the crashing storm that he fought with on the heath, which symbolized his own state of mind and the evil of his older daughters. The music underlines the return of order to Lear's world. Cordelia is clearly at the far end of the scale from her two sisters, for there is no indication that she desires revenge for what her father has suffered.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/19.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_23_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 1

act 5 scene 1

{"name": "Act 5 Scene 1 ", "summary": "Edmund and Regan have assembled their army, but they wonder whether Albany is resolute in his intention to fight against the French. They are also concerned about Oswald's disappearance and they feel sure he has met with disaster. Regan makes it clear that she lusts after Edmund, but she is also consumed with jealousy in case he chooses Goneril. Edmund reassures Regan that he has not sought or enjoyed any favors from Goneril. Goneril and Albany enter with their army. Goneril makes an aside that she would rather lose the battle than have Regan win Edmund. Albany makes it clear that he will only fight against the French invaders and not any British subjects or King Lear. Edmund and Albany have a counsel of war before the battle. Regan and Goneril keep a close eye on one another. Edgar enters, still disguised, and gives Albany a letter that he had removed from Oswald's body. This letter contains orders from Goneril to Edmund to kill her husband Albany. Edgar leaves, and Edmund re-enters with the news that the opposing army approaches. The scene ends with Edmund delivering a soliloquy where he reveals his thoughts and plans.", "analysis": "Interpretation This scene merely provides more information concerning the triangle between Edmund, Goneril and Regan. The two sisters' jealousy heightens and their competition over Edmund intensifies. Edgar provides Albany with the evidence of Goneril's plot to kill him in order that she may be totally free to form an alliance with Edmund. The sisters' behavior in this scene is quite pathetic and their behavior is further ridiculed when we hear Edmund's soliloquy. We read, \"To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other, as the stung Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enjoy&#8217d, If both remain alive. To take the widow Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril; And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use His countenance for the battle; which being done, Let her who would be rid of him devise His speedy taking off. As for the mercy Which he intends to Lear and Cordelia The battle done, and they within our power, Shall never see his pardon; for my state Stands on me to defend, not to debate.\" Amidst all this turmoil, Edmund remains cool, calm and calculating. He debates with himself which sister to have, if any. His attitude is almost cavalier. He talks of the sisters as if they were livestock and he is the farmer at an auction, where in fact he is talking about two Princesses of the Kingdom. He is not the least bit intimidated by them. Perhaps that is why they are attracted to him, but we read above that he recognizes exactly what they are - two jealous, poisonous snakes, but he is not daunted by them. Shakespeare has created a different type of villain. He is not like Iago, who quests power over Othello so as to unravel him. He is not like Richard III who lusts for power. He is a manipulator and relishes the fact that he is a bastard. He regards himself as a representative of his kind and he wishes to reverse the conventions so that his race can have power and rule. It is almost an unholy quest that he is championing. In the end, he will let certain events run their course. He will use Albany in the forthcoming battle. He will be a figurehead and rallying point of his own troops, but once victory has been won, he will stand back and let Goneril kill her husband. He certainly does not wish Albany to exercise clemency over Lear and Cordelia, who will be disposed on when captured. What is certainly clear is that Edmund appears to have no feelings for anyone, in particular Regan and Goneril, so whether he ends up with both, one or neither, is really immaterial to him."}

Actus Quintus. Scena Prima. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Edmund, Regan. Gentlemen, and Souldiers. Bast. Know of the Duke if his last purpose hold, Or whether since he is aduis'd by ought To change the course, he's full of alteration, And selfereprouing, bring his constant pleasure Reg. Our Sisters man is certainely miscarried Bast. 'Tis to be doubted Madam Reg. Now sweet Lord, You know the goodnesse I intend vpon you: Tell me but truly, but then speake the truth, Do you not loue my Sister? Bast. In honour'd Loue Reg. But haue you neuer found my Brothers way, To the fore-fended place? Bast. No by mine honour, Madam Reg. I neuer shall endure her, deere my Lord Be not familiar with her Bast. Feare not, she and the Duke her husband. Enter with Drum and Colours, Albany, Gonerill, Soldiers. Alb. Our very louing Sister, well be-met: Sir, this I heard, the King is come to his Daughter With others, whom the rigour of our State Forc'd to cry out Regan. Why is this reasond? Gone. Combine together 'gainst the Enemie: For these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere Alb. Let's then determine with th' ancient of warre On our proceeding Reg. Sister you'le go with vs? Gon. No Reg. 'Tis most conuenient, pray go with vs Gon. Oh ho, I know the Riddle, I will goe. Exeunt. both the Armies. Enter Edgar. Edg. If ere your Grace had speech with man so poore, Heare me one word Alb. Ile ouertake you, speake Edg. Before you fight the Battaile, ope this Letter: If you haue victory, let the Trumpet sound For him that brought it: wretched though I seeme, I can produce a Champion, that will proue What is auouched there. If you miscarry, Your businesse of the world hath so an end, And machination ceases. Fortune loues you Alb. Stay till I haue read the Letter Edg. I was forbid it: When time shall serue, let but the Herald cry, And Ile appeare againe. Enter. Alb. Why farethee well, I will o're-looke thy paper. Enter Edmund. Bast. The Enemy's in view, draw vp your powers, Heere is the guesse of their true strength and Forces, By dilligent discouerie, but your hast Is now vrg'd on you Alb. We will greet the time. Enter. Bast. To both these Sisters haue I sworne my loue: Each iealous of the other, as the stung Are of the Adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enioy'd If both remaine aliue: To take the Widdow, Exasperates, makes mad her Sister Gonerill, And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being aliue. Now then, wee'l vse His countenance for the Battaile, which being done, Let her who would be rid of him, deuise His speedy taking off. As for the mercie Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, The Battaile done, and they within our power, Shall neuer see his pardon: for my state, Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Enter.

Act 5 Scene 1

Edmund and Regan have assembled their army, but they wonder whether Albany is resolute in his intention to fight against the French. They are also concerned about Oswald's disappearance and they feel sure he has met with disaster. Regan makes it clear that she lusts after Edmund, but she is also consumed with jealousy in case he chooses Goneril. Edmund reassures Regan that he has not sought or enjoyed any favors from Goneril. Goneril and Albany enter with their army. Goneril makes an aside that she would rather lose the battle than have Regan win Edmund. Albany makes it clear that he will only fight against the French invaders and not any British subjects or King Lear. Edmund and Albany have a counsel of war before the battle. Regan and Goneril keep a close eye on one another. Edgar enters, still disguised, and gives Albany a letter that he had removed from Oswald's body. This letter contains orders from Goneril to Edmund to kill her husband Albany. Edgar leaves, and Edmund re-enters with the news that the opposing army approaches. The scene ends with Edmund delivering a soliloquy where he reveals his thoughts and plans.

Interpretation This scene merely provides more information concerning the triangle between Edmund, Goneril and Regan. The two sisters' jealousy heightens and their competition over Edmund intensifies. Edgar provides Albany with the evidence of Goneril's plot to kill him in order that she may be totally free to form an alliance with Edmund. The sisters' behavior in this scene is quite pathetic and their behavior is further ridiculed when we hear Edmund's soliloquy. We read, "To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other, as the stung Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enjoy&#8217d, If both remain alive. To take the widow Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril; And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use His countenance for the battle; which being done, Let her who would be rid of him devise His speedy taking off. As for the mercy Which he intends to Lear and Cordelia The battle done, and they within our power, Shall never see his pardon; for my state Stands on me to defend, not to debate." Amidst all this turmoil, Edmund remains cool, calm and calculating. He debates with himself which sister to have, if any. His attitude is almost cavalier. He talks of the sisters as if they were livestock and he is the farmer at an auction, where in fact he is talking about two Princesses of the Kingdom. He is not the least bit intimidated by them. Perhaps that is why they are attracted to him, but we read above that he recognizes exactly what they are - two jealous, poisonous snakes, but he is not daunted by them. Shakespeare has created a different type of villain. He is not like Iago, who quests power over Othello so as to unravel him. He is not like Richard III who lusts for power. He is a manipulator and relishes the fact that he is a bastard. He regards himself as a representative of his kind and he wishes to reverse the conventions so that his race can have power and rule. It is almost an unholy quest that he is championing. In the end, he will let certain events run their course. He will use Albany in the forthcoming battle. He will be a figurehead and rallying point of his own troops, but once victory has been won, he will stand back and let Goneril kill her husband. He certainly does not wish Albany to exercise clemency over Lear and Cordelia, who will be disposed on when captured. What is certainly clear is that Edmund appears to have no feelings for anyone, in particular Regan and Goneril, so whether he ends up with both, one or neither, is really immaterial to him.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/20.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_24_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 2

act 5 scene 2

{"name": "Act 5 Scene 2 ", "summary": "Cordelia, Lear and their army move to engage with Edmund and Albany's army. Edgar and Gloucester hide nearby to await the outcome of the battle. Once Edgar has ensured that Gloucester is safe, he leaves to see how the battle progresses. He returns with bad news that Lear's forces have lost and he and Cordelia have been taken prisoner.", "analysis": "Interpretation Shakespeare snatches away from the audience their hope that Lear's suffering has been ended. The hopes raised in Act IV Scene.vii are now dashed. This comfortless epic fascinates the audience because they can feel the power of the tragedy that Lear has to endure, like the biblical Job."}

Scena Secunda. Alarum within. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Souldiers, ouer the Stage, and Exeunt. Enter Edgar, and Gloster. Edg. Heere Father, take the shadow of this Tree For your good hoast: pray that the right may thriue: If euer I returne to you againe, Ile bring you comfort Glo. Grace go with you Sir. Enter. Alarum and Retreat within. Enter Edgar. Edgar. Away old man, giue me thy hand, away: King Lear hath lost, he and his Daughter tane, Giue me thy hand: Come on Glo. No further Sir, a man may rot euen heere Edg. What in ill thoughts againe? Men must endure Their going hence, euen as their comming hither, Ripenesse is all come on Glo. And that's true too. Exeunt.

Act 5 Scene 2

Cordelia, Lear and their army move to engage with Edmund and Albany's army. Edgar and Gloucester hide nearby to await the outcome of the battle. Once Edgar has ensured that Gloucester is safe, he leaves to see how the battle progresses. He returns with bad news that Lear's forces have lost and he and Cordelia have been taken prisoner.

Interpretation Shakespeare snatches away from the audience their hope that Lear's suffering has been ended. The hopes raised in Act IV Scene.vii are now dashed. This comfortless epic fascinates the audience because they can feel the power of the tragedy that Lear has to endure, like the biblical Job.

bookwolf

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/21.txt

finished_summaries/bookwolf/King Lear/section_25_part_0.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 3

act 5 scene 3

{"name": "Act 5 Scene 3", "summary": "Lear and Cordelia are led in as prisoners. Edmund is their jailor. They are led away to prison and Edmund gives the officer in charge his orders that are to be followed immediately. Edmund is joined by Albany, Goneril and Regan. Albany demands that Lear and Cordelia be put into his custody, but Edmund refuses. Albany then orders that Edmund and Goneril be arrested for treason. They are charged with conspiracy for plotting Albany's death. Edgar enters still in disguise and he makes a statement denouncing Edmund. The two brothers fight and Edmund falls. Albany reveals the contents of the letter given to him by Edgar and Goneril flees. Edmund admits his villainy and Edgar reveals his identity and recounts the recent events with his father. Edgar had revealed his identity to Gloucester, but he suffered a heart attack and died. The part that Kent has played in the events is also revealed. A gentleman enters with the news that Goneril has killed herself after she had poisoned her sister Regan, who is also dead. Albany realizes that Edmund and Goneril planned to have Lear and Cordelia murdered, but he is too late to act. Lear enters carrying his dead daughter in his arms. She had been hanged. This last tragedy for the King is too much and he dies, covering his daughter's body with his own. Albany, Kent and Edgar are left to restore the Kingdom. Kent indicates that he too does not have long to live. Edgar closes the play, \"The weight of this sad time we must obey; Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most: we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long.\"", "analysis": "Interpretation The final scene brings both plots in the play to their conclusion. Lear and Cordelia are prisoners of the evil Edmund. As they are led away to the cells, Edmund passes orders to the jailor that they are to be executed. Lear's only wish is to be with his daughter. What the evil Edmund orders the officer to do is to make Cordelia's death look like suicide. The efforts Lear makes to save his daughter can only be imagined, but they result in his death soon after Cordelia's. In this final scene we also witness the final transformation in Albany's character, which has grown at the same pace as the evil in his wife, Regan and Cornwall. At the end, Albany has that air of authority and takes full control at the battle's conclusion. He has been forewarned of his wife's treachery through the letter he received from Edgar. Edgar is also present to support Albany and confront his brother, whom he mortally wounds. Again there are similarities to 'Hamlet', which also ended in a duel. The difference is that in Hamlet it was staged as sport, but this duel is for real and of course it symbolizes the battle between good and evil. Paradoxically it was Edmund's attempt to be noble that led to his downfall. He could quite easily have avoided a duel with his brother, but deep down he wished to obtain his goal through honorable means at the very end. He agrees to fight the duel not knowing that it is his brother. He could have easily refused to fight with an unidentified stranger. At the last, Edmund does repent his evil actions and tries to rescind his orders to execute Cordelia and Lear, in stark contrast to Iago in Shakespeare's 'Othello'. As previously prophesized in the play, Goneril and Regan are consumed by the evil they helped generate. Shakespeare introduces another element of irony through the death of Goneril. Although there have been attempts at suicide and fake suicides throughout the play, the only actual suicide is Goneril's, who appeared as such a strong individual at the start of the play. The audience is left in a quandary concerning the role of divine justice in the play because of the death of Cordelia, who had previously been likened to an angel by her father. This ending has been controversial over the centuries since the play was first performed. Some productions have altered the ending in order to ease the tragic element of the play, but Shakespeare never intended this play to be other than the greatest tragedy of the English language. The audience should leave the theatre with pain arising from Cordelia's death. One can justify the deaths of Gloucester and Lear because they have made errors of judgement, but Cordelia was young and innocent. She shared this position with Edgar, the other pure character in the plot. Her death causes an immediate relapse for Lear who is lost in madness before he dies. In my view, Shakespeare deliberately decided to make this the greatest tragedy, and the play should not be viewed in isolation. Shakespeare has provided us with alternative endings in his other tragedies. 'King Lear' should not be interfered with and as well as being the greatest tragedy, the role of King Lear poses the greatest challenge for the acting profession. The closing scene provides us with a set littered with bodies, some who have deserved death, and others are innocent victims. The whole Lear dynasty has been destroyed. Those that are left have the task of picking up the pieces. The noblest figure in the play left standing closes it with words that are self-explanatory."}

Scena Tertia. Enter in conquest with Drum and Colours, Edmund, Lear, and Cordelia, as prisoners, Souldiers, Captaine. Bast. Some Officers take them away: good guard, Vntill their greater pleasures first be knowne That are to censure them Cor. We are not the first, Who with best meaning haue incurr'd the worst: For thee oppressed King I am cast downe, My selfe could else out-frowne false Fortunes frowne. Shall we not see these Daughters, and these Sisters? Lear. No, no, no, no: come let's away to prison, We two alone will sing like Birds i'th' Cage: When thou dost aske me blessing, Ile kneele downe And aske of thee forgiuenesse: So wee'l liue, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded Butterflies: and heere (poore Rogues) Talke of Court newes, and wee'l talke with them too, Who looses, and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take vpon's the mystery of things, As if we were Gods spies: And wee'l weare out In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebbe and flow by th' Moone Bast. Take them away Lear. Vpon such sacrifices my Cordelia, The Gods themselues throw Incense. Haue I caught thee? He that parts vs, shall bring a Brand from Heauen, And fire vs hence, like Foxes: wipe thine eyes, The good yeares shall deuoure them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make vs weepe? Weele see 'em staru'd first: come. Enter. Bast. Come hither Captaine, hearke. Take thou this note, go follow them to prison, One step I haue aduanc'd thee, if thou do'st As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To Noble Fortunes: know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender minded Do's not become a Sword, thy great imployment Will not beare question: either say thou'lt do't, Or thriue by other meanes Capt. Ile do't my Lord Bast. About it, and write happy, when th'hast done, Marke I say instantly, and carry it so As I haue set it downe. Exit Captaine. Flourish. Enter Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Soldiers. Alb. Sir, you haue shew'd to day your valiant straine And Fortune led you well: you haue the Captiues Who were the opposites of this dayes strife: I do require them of you so to vse them, As we shall find their merites, and our safety May equally determine Bast. Sir, I thought it fit, To send the old and miserable King to some retention, Whose age had Charmes in it, whose Title more, To plucke the common bosome on his side, And turne our imprest Launces in our eies Which do command them. With him I sent the Queen: My reason all the same, and they are ready To morrow, or at further space, t' appeare Where you shall hold your Session Alb. Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subiect of this Warre, Not as a Brother Reg. That's as we list to grace him. Methinkes our pleasure might haue bin demanded Ere you had spoke so farre. He led our Powers, Bore the Commission of my place and person, The which immediacie may well stand vp, And call it selfe your Brother Gon. Not so hot: In his owne grace he doth exalt himselfe, More then in your addition Reg. In my rights, By me inuested, he compeeres the best Alb. That were the most, if he should husband you Reg. Iesters do oft proue Prophets Gon. Hola, hola, That eye that told you so, look'd but a squint Rega. Lady I am not well, else I should answere From a full flowing stomack. Generall, Take thou my Souldiers, prisoners, patrimony, Dispose of them, of me, the walls is thine: Witnesse the world, that I create thee heere My Lord, and Master Gon. Meane you to enioy him? Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will Bast. Nor in thine Lord Alb. Halfe-blooded fellow, yes Reg. Let the Drum strike, and proue my title thine Alb. Stay yet, heare reason: Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent: for your claime faire Sisters, I bare it in the interest of my wife, 'Tis she is sub-contracted to this Lord, And I her husband contradict your Banes. If you will marry, make your loues to me, My Lady is bespoke Gon. An enterlude Alb. Thou art armed Gloster, Let the Trumpet sound: If none appeare to proue vpon thy person, Thy heynous, manifest, and many Treasons, There is my pledge: Ile make it on thy heart Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing lesse Then I haue heere proclaim'd thee Reg. Sicke, O sicke Gon. If not, Ile nere trust medicine Bast. There's my exchange, what in the world hes That names me Traitor, villain-like he lies, Call by the Trumpet: he that dares approach; On him, on you, who not, I will maintaine My truth and honor firmely. Enter a Herald. Alb. A Herald, ho. Trust to thy single vertue, for thy Souldiers All leuied in my name, haue in my name Tooke their discharge Regan. My sicknesse growes vpon me Alb. She is not well, conuey her to my Tent. Come hither Herald, let the Trumpet sound, And read out this. A Trumpet sounds. Herald reads. If any man of qualitie or degree, within the lists of the Army, will maintaine vpon Edmund, supposed Earle of Gloster, that he is a manifold Traitor, let him appeare by the third sound of the Trumpet: he is bold in his defence. 1 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 2 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 3 Trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar armed. Alb. Aske him his purposes, why he appeares Vpon this Call o'th' Trumpet Her. What are you? Your name, your quality, and why you answer This present Summons? Edg. Know my name is lost By Treasons tooth: bare-gnawne, and Canker-bit, Yet am I Noble as the Aduersary I come to cope Alb. Which is that Aduersary? Edg. What's he that speakes for Edmund Earle of Gloster? Bast. Himselfe, what saist thou to him? Edg. Draw thy Sword, That if my speech offend a Noble heart, Thy arme may do thee Iustice, heere is mine: Behold it is my priuiledge, The priuiledge of mine Honours, My oath, and my profession. I protest, Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence, Despise thy victor-Sword, and fire new Fortune, Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a Traitor: False to thy Gods, thy Brother, and thy Father, Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious Prince, And from th' extremest vpward of thy head, To the discent and dust below thy foote, A most Toad-spotted Traitor. Say thou no, This Sword, this arme, and my best spirits are bent To proue vpon thy heart, where to I speake, Thou lyest Bast. In wisedome I should aske thy name, But since thy out-side lookes so faire and Warlike, And that thy tongue (some say) of breeding breathes, What safe, and nicely I might well delay, By rule of Knight-hood, I disdaine and spurne: Backe do I tosse these Treasons to thy head, With the hell-hated Lye, ore-whelme thy heart, Which for they yet glance by, and scarcely bruise, This Sword of mine shall giue them instant way, Where they shall rest for euer. Trumpets speake Alb. Saue him, saue him. Alarums. Fights. Gon. This is practise Gloster, By th' law of Warre, thou wast not bound to answer An vnknowne opposite: thou art not vanquish'd, But cozend, and beguild Alb. Shut your mouth Dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it: hold Sir, Thou worse then any name, reade thine owne euill: No tearing Lady, I perceiue you know it Gon. Say if I do, the Lawes are mine not thine, Who can araigne me for't? Enter. Alb. Most monstrous! O, know'st thou this paper? Bast. Aske me not what I know Alb. Go after her, she's desperate, gouerne her Bast. What you haue charg'd me with, That haue I done, And more, much more, the time will bring it out. 'Tis past, and so am I: But what art thou That hast this Fortune on me? If thou'rt Noble, I do forgiue thee Edg. Let's exchange charity: I am no lesse in blood then thou art Edmond, If more, the more th'hast wrong'd me. My name is Edgar and thy Fathers Sonne, The Gods are iust, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague vs: The darke and vitious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes Bast. Th'hast spoken right, 'tis true, The Wheele is come full circle, I am heere Alb. Me thought thy very gate did prophesie A Royall Noblenesse: I must embrace thee, Let sorrow split my heart, if euer I Did hate thee, or thy Father Edg. Worthy Prince I know't Alb. Where haue you hid your selfe? How haue you knowne the miseries of your Father? Edg. By nursing them my Lord. List a breefe tale, And when 'tis told, O that my heart would burst. The bloody proclamation to escape That follow'd me so neere, (O our liues sweetnesse, That we the paine of death would hourely dye, Rather then die at once) taught me to shift Into a mad-mans rags, t' assume a semblance That very Dogges disdain'd: and in this habit Met I my Father with his bleeding Rings, Their precious Stones new lost: became his guide, Led him, begg'd for him, sau'd him from dispaire. Neuer (O fault) reueal'd my selfe vnto him, Vntill some halfe houre past when I was arm'd, Not sure, though hoping of this good successe, I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last Told him our pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart (Alacke too weake the conflict to support) Twixt two extremes of passion, ioy and greefe, Burst smilingly Bast. This speech of yours hath mou'd me, And shall perchance do good, but speake you on, You looke as you had something more to say Alb. If there be more, more wofull, hold it in, For I am almost ready to dissolue, Hearing of this. Enter a Gentleman. Gen. Helpe, helpe: O helpe Edg. What kinde of helpe? Alb. Speake man Edg. What meanes this bloody Knife? Gen. 'Tis hot, it smoakes, it came euen from the heart of- O she's dead Alb. Who dead? Speake man Gen. Your Lady Sir, your Lady; and her Sister By her is poyson'd: she confesses it Bast. I was contracted to them both, all three Now marry in an instant Edg. Here comes Kent. Enter Kent. Alb. Produce the bodies, be they aliue or dead; Gonerill and Regans bodies brought out. This iudgement of the Heauens that makes vs tremble. Touches vs not with pitty: O, is this he? The time will not allow the complement Which very manners vrges Kent. I am come To bid my King and Master aye good night. Is he not here? Alb. Great thing of vs forgot, Speake Edmund, where's the King? and where's Cordelia? Seest thou this obiect Kent? Kent. Alacke, why thus? Bast. Yet Edmund was belou'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herselfe Alb. Euen so: couer their faces Bast. I pant for life: some good I meane to do Despight of mine owne Nature. Quickly send, (Be briefe in it) to'th' Castle, for my Writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia: Nay, send in time Alb. Run, run, O run Edg. To who my Lord? Who ha's the Office? Send thy token of repreeue Bast. Well thought on, take my Sword, Giue it the Captaine Edg. Hast thee for thy life Bast. He hath Commission from thy Wife and me, To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame vpon her owne dispaire, That she for-did her selfe Alb. The Gods defend her, beare him hence awhile. Enter Lear with Cordelia in his armes. Lear. Howle, howle, howle: O you are men of stones, Had I your tongues and eyes, Il'd vse them so, That Heauens vault should crack: she's gone for euer. I know when one is dead, and when one liues, She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glasse, If that her breath will mist or staine the stone, Why then she liues Kent. Is this the promis'd end? Edg. Or image of that horror Alb. Fall and cease Lear. This feather stirs, she liues: if it be so, It is a chance which do's redeeme all sorrowes That euer I haue felt Kent. O my good Master Lear. Prythee away Edg. 'Tis Noble Kent your Friend Lear. A plague vpon you Murderors, Traitors all, I might haue sau'd her, now she's gone for euer: Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha: What is't thou saist? Her voice was euer soft, Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill'd the Slaue that was a hanging thee Gent. 'Tis true (my Lords) he did Lear. Did I not fellow? I haue seene the day, with my good biting Faulchion I would haue made him skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoile me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o'th' best, Ile tell you straight Kent. If Fortune brag of two, she lou'd and hated, One of them we behold Lear. This is a dull sight, are you not Kent? Kent. The same: your Seruant Kent, Where is your Seruant Caius? Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that, He'le strike and quickly too, he's dead and rotten Kent. No my good Lord, I am the very man Lear. Ile see that straight Kent. That from your first of difference and decay, Haue follow'd your sad steps Lear. You are welcome hither Kent. Nor no man else: All's cheerlesse, darke, and deadly, Your eldest Daughters haue fore-done themselues, And desperately are dead Lear. I so I thinke Alb. He knowes not what he saies, and vaine is it That we present vs to him. Enter a Messenger. Edg. Very bootlesse Mess. Edmund is dead my Lord Alb. That's but a trifle heere: You Lords and Noble Friends, know our intent, What comfort to this great decay may come, Shall be appli'd. For vs we will resigne, During the life of this old Maiesty To him our absolute power, you to your rights, With boote, and such addition as your Honours Haue more then merited. All Friends shall Taste the wages of their vertue, and all Foes The cup of their deseruings: O see, see Lear. And my poore Foole is hang'd: no, no, no life? Why should a Dog, a Horse, a Rat haue life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer. Pray you vndo this Button. Thanke you Sir, Do you see this? Looke on her? Looke her lips, Looke there, looke there. He dies. Edg. He faints, my Lord, my Lord Kent. Breake heart, I prythee breake Edg. Looke vp my Lord Kent. Vex not his ghost, O let him passe, he hates him, That would vpon the wracke of this tough world Stretch him out longer Edg. He is gon indeed Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long, He but vsurpt his life Alb. Beare them from hence, our present businesse Is generall woe: Friends of my soule, you twaine, Rule in this Realme, and the gor'd state sustaine Kent. I haue a iourney Sir, shortly to go, My Master calls me, I must not say no Edg. The waight of this sad time we must obey, Speake what we feele, not what we ought to say: The oldest hath borne most, we that are yong, Shall neuer see so much, nor liue so long. Exeunt. with a dead March. FINIS. THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR.

Act 5 Scene 3

Lear and Cordelia are led in as prisoners. Edmund is their jailor. They are led away to prison and Edmund gives the officer in charge his orders that are to be followed immediately. Edmund is joined by Albany, Goneril and Regan. Albany demands that Lear and Cordelia be put into his custody, but Edmund refuses. Albany then orders that Edmund and Goneril be arrested for treason. They are charged with conspiracy for plotting Albany's death. Edgar enters still in disguise and he makes a statement denouncing Edmund. The two brothers fight and Edmund falls. Albany reveals the contents of the letter given to him by Edgar and Goneril flees. Edmund admits his villainy and Edgar reveals his identity and recounts the recent events with his father. Edgar had revealed his identity to Gloucester, but he suffered a heart attack and died. The part that Kent has played in the events is also revealed. A gentleman enters with the news that Goneril has killed herself after she had poisoned her sister Regan, who is also dead. Albany realizes that Edmund and Goneril planned to have Lear and Cordelia murdered, but he is too late to act. Lear enters carrying his dead daughter in his arms. She had been hanged. This last tragedy for the King is too much and he dies, covering his daughter's body with his own. Albany, Kent and Edgar are left to restore the Kingdom. Kent indicates that he too does not have long to live. Edgar closes the play, "The weight of this sad time we must obey; Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most: we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long."

Interpretation The final scene brings both plots in the play to their conclusion. Lear and Cordelia are prisoners of the evil Edmund. As they are led away to the cells, Edmund passes orders to the jailor that they are to be executed. Lear's only wish is to be with his daughter. What the evil Edmund orders the officer to do is to make Cordelia's death look like suicide. The efforts Lear makes to save his daughter can only be imagined, but they result in his death soon after Cordelia's. In this final scene we also witness the final transformation in Albany's character, which has grown at the same pace as the evil in his wife, Regan and Cornwall. At the end, Albany has that air of authority and takes full control at the battle's conclusion. He has been forewarned of his wife's treachery through the letter he received from Edgar. Edgar is also present to support Albany and confront his brother, whom he mortally wounds. Again there are similarities to 'Hamlet', which also ended in a duel. The difference is that in Hamlet it was staged as sport, but this duel is for real and of course it symbolizes the battle between good and evil. Paradoxically it was Edmund's attempt to be noble that led to his downfall. He could quite easily have avoided a duel with his brother, but deep down he wished to obtain his goal through honorable means at the very end. He agrees to fight the duel not knowing that it is his brother. He could have easily refused to fight with an unidentified stranger. At the last, Edmund does repent his evil actions and tries to rescind his orders to execute Cordelia and Lear, in stark contrast to Iago in Shakespeare's 'Othello'. As previously prophesized in the play, Goneril and Regan are consumed by the evil they helped generate. Shakespeare introduces another element of irony through the death of Goneril. Although there have been attempts at suicide and fake suicides throughout the play, the only actual suicide is Goneril's, who appeared as such a strong individual at the start of the play. The audience is left in a quandary concerning the role of divine justice in the play because of the death of Cordelia, who had previously been likened to an angel by her father. This ending has been controversial over the centuries since the play was first performed. Some productions have altered the ending in order to ease the tragic element of the play, but Shakespeare never intended this play to be other than the greatest tragedy of the English language. The audience should leave the theatre with pain arising from Cordelia's death. One can justify the deaths of Gloucester and Lear because they have made errors of judgement, but Cordelia was young and innocent. She shared this position with Edgar, the other pure character in the plot. Her death causes an immediate relapse for Lear who is lost in madness before he dies. In my view, Shakespeare deliberately decided to make this the greatest tragedy, and the play should not be viewed in isolation. Shakespeare has provided us with alternative endings in his other tragedies. 'King Lear' should not be interfered with and as well as being the greatest tragedy, the role of King Lear poses the greatest challenge for the acting profession. The closing scene provides us with a set littered with bodies, some who have deserved death, and others are innocent victims. The whole Lear dynasty has been destroyed. Those that are left have the task of picking up the pieces. The noblest figure in the play left standing closes it with words that are self-explanatory.

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all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/1.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_0_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 1

act 1, scene 1

{"name": "act 1, Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/novel-summary", "summary": "King Lear in his old age decides it is time to divide up his kingdom among his daughters. In order to decide how much each girl and her husband gets, he makes them each publicly declare their love. The oldest daughter Goneril has no problem doing this, nor does his middle daughter Regan. His youngest and favorite daughter, Cordelia, however, does not approve of the exercise and refuses to speak the words he longs to here. Because of her refusal, he disowns her, and because she is not married, he gives her no dowry. The portion he intended to give to her he divides instead between her sisters. The Earl of Kent stands up for Cordelia and is banished by the King for doing so. The King calls Cordelia's main suitors and asks if they will take her without her dowry. The Duke of Burgundy refuses, but the King of France wants to marry her anyway. The King of France takes her away, and King Lear tells his other daughters that he will alternate living with them", "analysis": ""}

Actus Primus. Scoena Prima. Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmond. Kent. I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany, then Cornwall Glou. It did alwayes seeme so to vs: But now in the diuision of the Kingdome, it appeares not which of the Dukes hee valewes most, for qualities are so weigh'd, that curiosity in neither, can make choise of eithers moity Kent. Is not this your Son, my Lord? Glou. His breeding Sir, hath bin at my charge. I haue so often blush'd to acknowledge him, that now I am braz'd too't Kent. I cannot conceiue you Glou. Sir, this yong Fellowes mother could; wherevpon she grew round womb'd, and had indeede (Sir) a Sonne for her Cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault vndone, the issue of it, being so proper Glou. But I haue a Sonne, Sir, by order of Law, some yeere elder then this; who, yet is no deerer in my account, though this Knaue came somthing sawcily to the world before he was sent for: yet was his Mother fayre, there was good sport at his making, and the horson must be acknowledged. Doe you know this Noble Gentleman, Edmond? Edm. No, my Lord Glou. My Lord of Kent: Remember him heereafter, as my Honourable Friend Edm. My seruices to your Lordship Kent. I must loue you, and sue to know you better Edm. Sir, I shall study deseruing Glou. He hath bin out nine yeares, and away he shall againe. The King is comming. Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Cordelia, and attendants. Lear. Attend the Lords of France & Burgundy, Gloster Glou. I shall, my Lord. Enter. Lear. Meane time we shal expresse our darker purpose. Giue me the Map there. Know, that we haue diuided In three our Kingdome: and 'tis our fast intent, To shake all Cares and Businesse from our Age, Conferring them on yonger strengths, while we Vnburthen'd crawle toward death. Our son of Cornwal, And you our no lesse louing Sonne of Albany, We haue this houre a constant will to publish Our daughters seuerall Dowers, that future strife May be preuented now. The Princes, France & Burgundy, Great Riuals in our yongest daughters loue, Long in our Court, haue made their amorous soiourne, And heere are to be answer'd. Tell me my daughters (Since now we will diuest vs both of Rule, Interest of Territory, Cares of State) Which of you shall we say doth loue vs most, That we, our largest bountie may extend Where Nature doth with merit challenge. Gonerill, Our eldest borne, speake first Gon. Sir, I loue you more then word can weild y matter, Deerer then eye-sight, space, and libertie, Beyond what can be valewed, rich or rare, No lesse then life, with grace, health, beauty, honor: As much as Childe ere lou'd, or Father found. A loue that makes breath poore, and speech vnable, Beyond all manner of so much I loue you Cor. What shall Cordelia speake? Loue, and be silent Lear. Of all these bounds euen from this Line, to this, With shadowie Forrests, and with Champains rich'd With plenteous Riuers, and wide-skirted Meades We make thee Lady. To thine and Albanies issues Be this perpetuall. What sayes our second Daughter? Our deerest Regan, wife of Cornwall? Reg. I am made of that selfe-mettle as my Sister, And prize me at her worth. In my true heart, I finde she names my very deede of loue: Onely she comes too short, that I professe My selfe an enemy to all other ioyes, Which the most precious square of sense professes, And finde I am alone felicitate In your deere Highnesse loue Cor. Then poore Cordelia, And yet not so, since I am sure my loue's More ponderous then my tongue Lear. To thee, and thine hereditarie euer, Remaine this ample third of our faire Kingdome, No lesse in space, validitie, and pleasure Then that conferr'd on Gonerill. Now our Ioy, Although our last and least; to whose yong loue, The Vines of France, and Milke of Burgundie, Striue to be interest. What can you say, to draw A third, more opilent then your Sisters? speake Cor. Nothing my Lord Lear. Nothing? Cor. Nothing Lear. Nothing will come of nothing, speake againe Cor. Vnhappie that I am, I cannot heaue My heart into my mouth: I loue your Maiesty According to my bond, no more nor lesse Lear. How, how Cordelia? Mend your speech a little, Least you may marre your Fortunes Cor. Good my Lord, You haue begot me, bred me, lou'd me. I returne those duties backe as are right fit, Obey you, Loue you, and most Honour you. Why haue my Sisters Husbands, if they say They loue you all? Happily when I shall wed, That Lord, whose hand must take my plight, shall carry Halfe my loue with him, halfe my Care, and Dutie, Sure I shall neuer marry like my Sisters Lear. But goes thy heart with this? Cor. I my good Lord Lear. So young, and so vntender? Cor. So young my Lord, and true Lear. Let it be so, thy truth then be thy dowre: For by the sacred radience of the Sunne, The misteries of Heccat and the night: By all the operation of the Orbes, From whom we do exist, and cease to be, Heere I disclaime all my Paternall care, Propinquity and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me, Hold thee from this for euer. The barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation messes To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosome Be as well neighbour'd, pittied, and releeu'd, As thou my sometime Daughter Kent. Good my Liege Lear. Peace Kent, Come not betweene the Dragon and his wrath, I lou'd her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nursery. Hence and avoid my sight: So be my graue my peace, as here I giue Her Fathers heart from her; call France, who stirres? Call Burgundy, Cornwall, and Albanie, With my two Daughters Dowres, digest the third, Let pride, which she cals plainnesse, marry her: I doe inuest you ioyntly with my power, Preheminence, and all the large effects That troope with Maiesty. Our selfe by Monthly course, With reseruation of an hundred Knights, By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode Make with you by due turne, onely we shall retaine The name, and all th' addition to a King: the Sway, Reuennew, Execution of the rest, Beloued Sonnes be yours, which to confirme, This Coronet part betweene you Kent. Royall Lear, Whom I haue euer honor'd as my King, Lou'd as my Father, as my Master follow'd, As my great Patron thought on in my praiers Le. The bow is bent & drawne, make from the shaft Kent. Let it fall rather, though the forke inuade The region of my heart, be Kent vnmannerly, When Lear is mad, what wouldest thou do old man? Think'st thou that dutie shall haue dread to speake, When power to flattery bowes? To plainnesse honour's bound, When Maiesty falls to folly, reserue thy state, And in thy best consideration checke This hideous rashnesse, answere my life, my iudgement: Thy yongest Daughter do's not loue thee least, Nor are those empty hearted, whose low sounds Reuerbe no hollownesse Lear. Kent, on thy life no more Kent. My life I neuer held but as pawne To wage against thine enemies, nere feare to loose it, Thy safety being motiue Lear. Out of my sight Kent. See better Lear, and let me still remaine The true blanke of thine eie Lear. Now by Apollo, Kent. Now by Apollo, King Thou swear'st thy Gods in vaine Lear. O Vassall! Miscreant Alb. Cor. Deare Sir forbeare Kent. Kill thy Physition, and thy fee bestow Vpon the foule disease, reuoke thy guift, Or whil'st I can vent clamour from my throate, Ile tell thee thou dost euill Lea. Heare me recreant, on thine allegeance heare me; That thou hast sought to make vs breake our vowes, Which we durst neuer yet; and with strain'd pride, To come betwixt our sentences, and our power, Which, nor our nature, nor our place can beare; Our potencie made good, take thy reward. Fiue dayes we do allot thee for prouision, To shield thee from disasters of the world, And on the sixt to turne thy hated backe Vpon our kingdome: if on the tenth day following, Thy banisht trunke be found in our Dominions, The moment is thy death, away. By Iupiter, This shall not be reuok'd, Kent. Fare thee well King, sith thus thou wilt appeare, Freedome liues hence, and banishment is here; The Gods to their deere shelter take thee Maid, That iustly think'st, and hast most rightly said: And your large speeches, may your deeds approue, That good effects may spring from words of loue: Thus Kent, O Princes, bids you all adew, Hee'l shape his old course, in a Country new. Enter. Flourish. Enter Gloster with France, and Burgundy, Attendants. Cor. Heere's France and Burgundy, my Noble Lord Lear. My Lord of Burgundie, We first addresse toward you, who with this King Hath riuald for our Daughter; what in the least Will you require in present Dower with her, Or cease your quest of Loue? Bur. Most Royall Maiesty, I craue no more then hath your Highnesse offer'd, Nor will you tender lesse? Lear. Right Noble Burgundy, When she was deare to vs, we did hold her so, But now her price is fallen: Sir, there she stands, If ought within that little seeming substance, Or all of it with our displeasure piec'd, And nothing more may fitly like your Grace, Shee's there, and she is yours Bur. I know no answer Lear. Will you with those infirmities she owes, Vnfriended, new adopted to our hate, Dow'rd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath, Take her or, leaue her Bur. Pardon me Royall Sir, Election makes not vp in such conditions Le. Then leaue her sir, for by the powre that made me, I tell you all her wealth. For you great King, I would not from your loue make such a stray, To match you where I hate, therefore beseech you T' auert your liking a more worthier way, Then on a wretch whom Nature is asham'd Almost t' acknowledge hers Fra. This is most strange, That she whom euen but now, was your obiect, The argument of your praise, balme of your age, The best, the deerest, should in this trice of time Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle So many folds of fauour: sure her offence Must be of such vnnaturall degree, That monsters it: Or your fore-voucht affection Fall into taint, which to beleeue of her Must be a faith that reason without miracle Should neuer plant in me Cor. I yet beseech your Maiesty. If for I want that glib and oylie Art, To speake and purpose not, since what I will intend, Ile do't before I speake, that you make knowne It is no vicious blot, murther, or foulenesse, No vnchaste action or dishonoured step That hath depriu'd me of your Grace and fauour, But euen for want of that, for which I am richer, A still soliciting eye, and such a tongue, That I am glad I haue not, though not to haue it, Hath lost me in your liking Lear. Better thou had'st Not beene borne, then not t'haue pleas'd me better Fra. Is it but this? A tardinesse in nature, Which often leaues the history vnspoke That it intends to do: my Lord of Burgundy, What say you to the Lady? Loue's not loue When it is mingled with regards, that stands Aloofe from th' intire point, will you haue her? She is herselfe a Dowrie Bur. Royall King, Giue but that portion which your selfe propos'd, And here I take Cordelia by the hand, Dutchesse of Burgundie Lear. Nothing, I haue sworne, I am firme Bur. I am sorry then you haue so lost a Father, That you must loose a husband Cor. Peace be with Burgundie, Since that respect and Fortunes are his loue, I shall not be his wife Fra. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poore, Most choise forsaken, and most lou'd despis'd, Thee and thy vertues here I seize vpon, Be it lawfull I take vp what's cast away. Gods, Gods! 'Tis strange, that from their cold'st neglect My Loue should kindle to enflam'd respect. Thy dowrelesse Daughter King, throwne to my chance, Is Queene of vs, of ours, and our faire France: Not all the Dukes of watrish Burgundy, Can buy this vnpriz'd precious Maid of me. Bid them farewell Cordelia, though vnkinde, Thou loosest here a better where to finde Lear. Thou hast her France, let her be thine, for we Haue no such Daughter, nor shall euer see That face of hers againe, therfore be gone, Without our Grace, our Loue, our Benizon: Come Noble Burgundie. Flourish. Exeunt. Fra. Bid farwell to your Sisters Cor. The Iewels of our Father, with wash'd eies Cordelia leaues you, I know you what you are, And like a Sister am most loth to call Your faults as they are named. Loue well our Father: To your professed bosomes I commit him, But yet alas, stood I within his Grace, I would prefer him to a better place, So farewell to you both Regn. Prescribe not vs our dutie Gon. Let your study Be to content your Lord, who hath receiu'd you At Fortunes almes, you haue obedience scanted, And well are worth the want that you haue wanted Cor. Time shall vnfold what plighted cunning hides, Who couers faults, at last with shame derides: Well may you prosper Fra. Come my faire Cordelia. Exit France and Cor. Gon. Sister, it is not little I haue to say, Of what most neerely appertaines to vs both, I thinke our Father will hence to night Reg. That's most certaine, and with you: next moneth with vs Gon. You see how full of changes his age is, the obseruation we haue made of it hath beene little; he alwaies lou'd our Sister most, and with what poore iudgement he hath now cast her off, appeares too grossely Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age, yet he hath euer but slenderly knowne himselfe Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath bin but rash, then must we looke from his age, to receiue not alone the imperfections of long ingraffed condition, but therewithall the vnruly way-wardnesse, that infirme and cholericke yeares bring with them Reg. Such vnconstant starts are we like to haue from him, as this of Kents banishment Gon. There is further complement of leaue-taking betweene France and him, pray you let vs sit together, if our Father carry authority with such disposition as he beares, this last surrender of his will but offend vs Reg. We shall further thinke of it Gon. We must do something, and i'th' heate. Exeunt.

act 1, Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/novel-summary

King Lear in his old age decides it is time to divide up his kingdom among his daughters. In order to decide how much each girl and her husband gets, he makes them each publicly declare their love. The oldest daughter Goneril has no problem doing this, nor does his middle daughter Regan. His youngest and favorite daughter, Cordelia, however, does not approve of the exercise and refuses to speak the words he longs to here. Because of her refusal, he disowns her, and because she is not married, he gives her no dowry. The portion he intended to give to her he divides instead between her sisters. The Earl of Kent stands up for Cordelia and is banished by the King for doing so. The King calls Cordelia's main suitors and asks if they will take her without her dowry. The Duke of Burgundy refuses, but the King of France wants to marry her anyway. The King of France takes her away, and King Lear tells his other daughters that he will alternate living with them

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/2.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_0_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 2

act 1, scene 2

{"name": "act 1, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/novel-summary", "summary": "Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, comes up with a plan to usurp his brother and gain his father's land and money. His father comes to him, and he quickly hides a forged letter from his brother, Edgar. Because of his strange behavior, his father asks to see the letter. He is disgusted by the treacherous content of his legitimate son, and Edmund defends his brother. He promises to help his father find the truth. After his father leaves, Edmund talks to Edgar and tells him that their father is angry with him. He tells his brother to be prepared to run and take solders with him. His brother believes him, and Edmund is happy that his plan is successful", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Enter Bastard. Bast. Thou Nature art my Goddesse, to thy Law My seruices are bound, wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custome, and permit The curiosity of Nations, to depriue me? For that I am some twelue, or fourteene Moonshines Lag of a Brother? Why Bastard? Wherefore base? When my Dimensions are as well compact, My minde as generous, and my shape as true As honest Madams issue? Why brand they vs With Base? With basenes Bastardie? Base, Base? Who in the lustie stealth of Nature, take More composition, and fierce qualitie, Then doth within a dull stale tyred bed Goe to th' creating a whole tribe of Fops Got 'tweene a sleepe, and wake? Well then, Legitimate Edgar, I must haue your land, Our Fathers loue, is to the Bastard Edmond, As to th' legitimate: fine word: Legitimate. Well, my Legittimate, if this Letter speed, And my inuention thriue, Edmond the base Shall to'th' Legitimate: I grow, I prosper: Now Gods, stand vp for Bastards. Enter Gloucester. Glo. Kent banish'd thus? and France in choller parted? And the King gone to night? Prescrib'd his powre, Confin'd to exhibition? All this done Vpon the gad? Edmond, how now? What newes? Bast. So please your Lordship, none Glou. Why so earnestly seeke you to put vp y Letter? Bast. I know no newes, my Lord Glou. What Paper were you reading? Bast. Nothing my Lord Glou. No? what needed then that terrible dispatch of it into your Pocket? The quality of nothing, hath not such neede to hide it selfe. Let's see: come, if it bee nothing, I shall not neede Spectacles Bast. I beseech you Sir, pardon mee; it is a Letter from my Brother, that I haue not all ore-read; and for so much as I haue perus'd, I finde it not fit for your ore-looking Glou. Giue me the Letter, Sir Bast. I shall offend, either to detaine, or giue it: The Contents, as in part I vnderstand them, Are too blame Glou. Let's see, let's see Bast. I hope for my Brothers iustification, hee wrote this but as an essay, or taste of my Vertue Glou. reads. This policie, and reuerence of Age, makes the world bitter to the best of our times: keepes our Fortunes from vs, till our oldnesse cannot rellish them. I begin to finde an idle and fond bondage, in the oppression of aged tyranny, who swayes not as it hath power, but as it is suffer'd. Come to me, that of this I may speake more. If our Father would sleepe till I wak'd him, you should enioy halfe his Reuennew for euer, and liue the beloued of your Brother. Edgar. Hum? Conspiracy? Sleepe till I wake him, you should enioy halfe his Reuennew: my Sonne Edgar, had hee a hand to write this? A heart and braine to breede it in? When came you to this? Who brought it? Bast. It was not brought mee, my Lord; there's the cunning of it. I found it throwne in at the Casement of my Closset Glou. You know the character to be your Brothers? Bast. If the matter were good my Lord, I durst swear it were his: but in respect of that, I would faine thinke it were not Glou. It is his Bast. It is his hand, my Lord: but I hope his heart is not in the Contents Glo. Has he neuer before sounded you in this busines? Bast. Neuer my Lord. But I haue heard him oft maintaine it to be fit, that Sonnes at perfect age, and Fathers declin'd, the Father should bee as Ward to the Son, and the Sonne manage his Reuennew Glou. O Villain, villain: his very opinion in the Letter. Abhorred Villaine, vnnaturall, detested, brutish Villaine; worse then brutish: Go sirrah, seeke him: Ile apprehend him. Abhominable Villaine, where is he? Bast. I do not well know my L[ord]. If it shall please you to suspend your indignation against my Brother, til you can deriue from him better testimony of his intent, you shold run a certaine course: where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gap in your owne Honor, and shake in peeces, the heart of his obedience. I dare pawne downe my life for him, that he hath writ this to feele my affection to your Honor, & to no other pretence of danger Glou. Thinke you so? Bast. If your Honor iudge it meete, I will place you where you shall heare vs conferre of this, and by an Auricular assurance haue your satisfaction, and that without any further delay, then this very Euening Glou. He cannot bee such a Monster. Edmond seeke him out: winde me into him, I pray you: frame the Businesse after your owne wisedome. I would vnstate my selfe, to be in a due resolution Bast. I will seeke him Sir, presently: conuey the businesse as I shall find meanes, and acquaint you withall Glou. These late Eclipses in the Sun and Moone portend no good to vs: though the wisedome of Nature can reason it thus, and thus, yet Nature finds it selfe scourg'd by the sequent effects. Loue cooles, friendship falls off, Brothers diuide. In Cities, mutinies; in Countries, discord; in Pallaces, Treason; and the Bond crack'd, 'twixt Sonne and Father. This villaine of mine comes vnder the prediction; there's Son against Father, the King fals from byas of Nature, there's Father against Childe. We haue seene the best of our time. Machinations, hollownesse, treacherie, and all ruinous disorders follow vs disquietly to our Graues. Find out this Villain, Edmond, it shall lose thee nothing, do it carefully: and the Noble & true-harted Kent banish'd; his offence, honesty. 'Tis strange. Exit Bast. This is the excellent foppery of the world, that when we are sicke in fortune, often the surfets of our own behauiour, we make guilty of our disasters, the Sun, the Moone, and Starres, as if we were villaines on necessitie, Fooles by heauenly compulsion, Knaues, Theeues, and Treachers by Sphericall predominance. Drunkards, Lyars, and Adulterers by an inforc'd obedience of Planatary influence; and all that we are euill in, by a diuine thrusting on. An admirable euasion of Whore-master-man, to lay his Goatish disposition on the charge of a Starre, My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my Natiuity was vnder Vrsa Maior, so that it followes, I am rough and Leacherous. I should haue bin that I am, had the maidenlest Starre in the Firmament twinkled on my bastardizing. Enter Edgar. Pat: he comes like the Catastrophe of the old Comedie: my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a sighe like Tom o' Bedlam. - O these Eclipses do portend these diuisions. Fa, Sol, La, Me Edg. How now Brother Edmond, what serious contemplation are you in? Bast. I am thinking Brother of a prediction I read this other day, what should follow these Eclipses Edg. Do you busie your selfe with that? Bast. I promise you, the effects he writes of, succeede vnhappily. When saw you my Father last? Edg. The night gone by Bast. Spake you with him? Edg. I, two houres together Bast. Parted you in good termes? Found you no displeasure in him, by word, nor countenance? Edg. None at all, Bast. Bethink your selfe wherein you may haue offended him: and at my entreaty forbeare his presence, vntill some little time hath qualified the heat of his displeasure, which at this instant so rageth in him, that with the mischiefe of your person, it would scarsely alay Edg. Some Villaine hath done me wrong Edm. That's my feare, I pray you haue a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower: and as I say, retire with me to my lodging, from whence I will fitly bring you to heare my Lord speake: pray ye goe, there's my key: if you do stirre abroad, goe arm'd Edg. Arm'd, Brother? Edm. Brother, I aduise you to the best, I am no honest man, if ther be any good meaning toward you: I haue told you what I haue seene, and heard: But faintly. Nothing like the image, and horror of it, pray you away Edg. Shall I heare from you anon? Enter. Edm. I do serue you in this businesse: A Credulous Father, and a Brother Noble, Whose nature is so farre from doing harmes, That he suspects none: on whose foolish honestie My practises ride easie: I see the businesse. Let me, if not by birth, haue lands by wit, All with me's meete, that I can fashion fit. Enter.

act 1, Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/novel-summary

Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, comes up with a plan to usurp his brother and gain his father's land and money. His father comes to him, and he quickly hides a forged letter from his brother, Edgar. Because of his strange behavior, his father asks to see the letter. He is disgusted by the treacherous content of his legitimate son, and Edmund defends his brother. He promises to help his father find the truth. After his father leaves, Edmund talks to Edgar and tells him that their father is angry with him. He tells his brother to be prepared to run and take solders with him. His brother believes him, and Edmund is happy that his plan is successful

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/5.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_2_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 1.scene 5

act 1, scene 5

{"name": "act 1, Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act1-scene5-act2-scene1", "summary": "Lear sends Kent, still in disguise, ahead to his daughter Regan's house so she can prepare for his arrival. While he is gone, the Fool who is traveling with them tells the former King that he could easily be the fool. When the king asks why, the fool tells him it is because he gave away his land too soon, and made himself old before he was wise", "analysis": ""}

Scena Quinta. Enter Lear, Kent, Gentleman, and Foole. Lear. Go you before to Gloster with these Letters; acquaint my Daughter no further with any thing you know, then comes from her demand out of the Letter, if your Dilligence be not speedy, I shall be there afore you Kent. I will not sleepe my Lord, till I haue deliuered your Letter. Enter. Foole. If a mans braines were in's heeles, wert not in danger of kybes? Lear. I Boy Foole. Then I prythee be merry, thy wit shall not go slip-shod Lear. Ha, ha, ha Fool. Shalt see thy other Daughter will vse thee kindly, for though she's as like this, as a Crabbe's like an Apple, yet I can tell what I can tell Lear. What can'st tell Boy? Foole. She will taste as like this as, a Crabbe do's to a Crab: thou canst, tell why ones nose stands i'th' middle on's face? Lear. No Foole. Why to keepe ones eyes of either side 's nose, that what a man cannot smell out, he may spy into Lear. I did her wrong Foole. Can'st tell how an Oyster makes his shell? Lear. No Foole. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a Snaile ha's a house Lear. Why? Foole. Why to put's head in, not to giue it away to his daughters, and leaue his hornes without a case Lear. I will forget my Nature, so kind a Father? Be my Horsses ready? Foole. Thy Asses are gone about 'em; the reason why the seuen Starres are no mo then seuen, is a pretty reason Lear. Because they are not eight Foole. Yes indeed, thou would'st make a good Foole Lear. To tak't againe perforce; Monster Ingratitude! Foole. If thou wert my Foole Nunckle, Il'd haue thee beaten for being old before thy time Lear. How's that? Foole. Thou shouldst not haue bin old, till thou hadst bin wise Lear. O let me not be mad, not mad sweet Heauen: keepe me in temper, I would not be mad. How now are the Horses ready? Gent. Ready my Lord Lear. Come Boy Fool. She that's a Maid now, & laughs at my departure, Shall not be a Maid long, vnlesse things be cut shorter. Exeunt.

act 1, Scene 5

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act1-scene5-act2-scene1

Lear sends Kent, still in disguise, ahead to his daughter Regan's house so she can prepare for his arrival. While he is gone, the Fool who is traveling with them tells the former King that he could easily be the fool. When the king asks why, the fool tells him it is because he gave away his land too soon, and made himself old before he was wise

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/6.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_2_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 1

act 2, scene 1

{"name": "Act 2, Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act1-scene5-act2-scene1", "summary": "Edmund hears that the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are coming to his father's house. He decides it is time to put his plan fully into effect. He tells his brother that more evidence has come up against him. When his father comes, he makes him draw his sword. At Edmunds behest, Edgar flees making him look like a traitor. Edmund has a wound in his arm, and his father commends him for his service. Gloucester sentences Edgar to death if he is captured. The Duke and Duchess arrive and hear of the happenings and commend Edmund for his bravery. They tell Gloucester that they have come to seek refuge because of conflicting letters that they have received from Regan's sister and her father. If her father comes to her castle, they do not want to be there. Gloucester swears to give them all the aid they need until they can figure out who's message to believe and what to do about it", "analysis": ""}

Actus Secundus. Scena Prima. Enter Bastard, and Curan, seuerally. Bast. Saue thee Curan Cur. And you Sir, I haue bin With your Father, and giuen him notice That the Duke of Cornwall, and Regan his Duchesse Will be here with him this night Bast. How comes that? Cur. Nay I know not, you haue heard of the newes abroad, I meane the whisper'd ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments Bast. Not I: pray you what are they? Cur. Haue you heard of no likely Warres toward, 'Twixt the Dukes of Cornwall, and Albany? Bast. Not a word Cur. You may do then in time, Fare you well Sir. Enter. Bast. The Duke be here to night? The better best, This weaues it selfe perforce into my businesse, My Father hath set guard to take my Brother, And I haue one thing of a queazie question Which I must act, Briefenesse, and Fortune worke. Enter Edgar. Brother, a word, discend; Brother I say, My Father watches: O Sir, fly this place, Intelligence is giuen where you are hid; You haue now the good aduantage of the night, Haue you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornewall? Hee's comming hither, now i'th' night, i'th' haste, And Regan with him, haue you nothing said Vpon his partie 'gainst the Duke of Albany? Aduise your selfe Edg. I am sure on't, not a word Bast. I heare my Father comming, pardon me: In cunning, I must draw my Sword vpon you: Draw, seeme to defend your selfe, Now quit you well. Yeeld, come before my Father, light hoa, here, Fly Brother, Torches, Torches, so farewell. Exit Edgar. Some blood drawne on me, would beget opinion Of my more fierce endeauour. I haue seene drunkards Do more then this in sport; Father, Father, Stop, stop, no helpe? Enter Gloster, and Seruants with Torches. Glo. Now Edmund, where's the villaine? Bast. Here stood he in the dark, his sharpe Sword out, Mumbling of wicked charmes, coniuring the Moone To stand auspicious Mistris Glo. But where is he? Bast. Looke Sir, I bleed Glo. Where is the villaine, Edmund? Bast. Fled this way Sir, when by no meanes he could Glo. Pursue him, ho: go after. By no meanes, what? Bast. Perswade me to the murther of your Lordship, But that I told him the reuenging Gods, 'Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend, Spoke with how manifold, and strong a Bond The Child was bound to'th' Father; Sir in fine, Seeing how lothly opposite I stood To his vnnaturall purpose, in fell motion With his prepared Sword, he charges home My vnprouided body, latch'd mine arme; And when he saw my best alarum'd spirits Bold in the quarrels right, rouz'd to th' encounter, Or whether gasted by the noyse I made, Full sodainely he fled Glost. Let him fly farre: Not in this Land shall he remaine vncaught And found; dispatch, the Noble Duke my Master, My worthy Arch and Patron comes to night, By his authoritie I will proclaime it, That he which finds him shall deserue our thankes, Bringing the murderous Coward to the stake: He that conceales him death Bast. When I disswaded him from his intent, And found him pight to doe it, with curst speech I threaten'd to discouer him; he replied, Thou vnpossessing Bastard, dost thou thinke, If I would stand against thee, would the reposall Of any trust, vertue, or worth in thee Make thy words faith'd? No, what should I denie, (As this I would, though thou didst produce My very Character) I'ld turne it all To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practise: And thou must make a dullard of the world, If they not thought the profits of my death Were very pregnant and potentiall spirits To make thee seeke it. Tucket within. Glo. O strange and fastned Villaine, Would he deny his Letter, said he? Harke, the Dukes Trumpets, I know not wher he comes; All Ports Ile barre, the villaine shall not scape, The Duke must grant me that: besides, his picture I will send farre and neere, that all the kingdome May haue due note of him, and of my land, (Loyall and naturall Boy) Ile worke the meanes To make thee capable. Enter Cornewall, Regan, and Attendants. Corn. How now my Noble friend, since I came hither (Which I can call but now,) I haue heard strangenesse Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short Which can pursue th' offender; how dost my Lord? Glo. O Madam, my old heart is crack'd, it's crack'd Reg. What, did my Fathers Godsonne seeke your life? He whom my Father nam'd, your Edgar? Glo. O Lady, Lady, shame would haue it hid Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous Knights That tended vpon my Father? Glo. I know not Madam, 'tis too bad, too bad Bast. Yes Madam, he was of that consort Reg. No maruaile then, though he were ill affected, 'Tis they haue put him on the old mans death, To haue th' expence and wast of his Reuenues: I haue this present euening from my Sister Beene well inform'd of them, and with such cautions, That if they come to soiourne at my house, Ile not be there Cor. Nor I, assure thee Regan; Edmund, I heare that you haue shewne your Father A Child-like Office Bast. It was my duty Sir Glo. He did bewray his practise, and receiu'd This hurt you see, striuing to apprehend him Cor. Is he pursued? Glo. I my good Lord Cor. If he be taken, he shall neuer more Be fear'd of doing harme, make your owne purpose, How in my strength you please: for you Edmund, Whose vertue and obedience doth this instant So much commend it selfe, you shall be ours, Nature's of such deepe trust, we shall much need: You we first seize on Bast. I shall serue you Sir truely, how euer else Glo. For him I thanke your Grace Cor. You know not why we came to visit you? Reg. Thus out of season, thredding darke ey'd night, Occasions Noble Gloster of some prize, Wherein we must haue vse of your aduise. Our Father he hath writ, so hath our Sister, Of differences, which I best thought it fit To answere from our home: the seuerall Messengers From hence attend dispatch, our good old Friend, Lay comforts to your bosome, and bestow Your needfull counsaile to our businesses, Which craues the instant vse Glo. I serue you Madam, Your Graces are right welcome. Exeunt. Flourish.

Act 2, Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act1-scene5-act2-scene1

Edmund hears that the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are coming to his father's house. He decides it is time to put his plan fully into effect. He tells his brother that more evidence has come up against him. When his father comes, he makes him draw his sword. At Edmunds behest, Edgar flees making him look like a traitor. Edmund has a wound in his arm, and his father commends him for his service. Gloucester sentences Edgar to death if he is captured. The Duke and Duchess arrive and hear of the happenings and commend Edmund for his bravery. They tell Gloucester that they have come to seek refuge because of conflicting letters that they have received from Regan's sister and her father. If her father comes to her castle, they do not want to be there. Gloucester swears to give them all the aid they need until they can figure out who's message to believe and what to do about it

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/7.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_3_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 2.scene 2

act 2, scene 2

{"name": "act 2, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act2-scene2-act2-scene3", "summary": "Kent and Oswald, messengers from Lear and Goneril, meet in the courtyard of Gloucester. Kent recognizes the steward and starts to berate him and challenges him to a fight because of his purpose against the king. Oswald refuses the fight, but Kent begins to beat him anyway. Gloucester, Regan, the Duke of Cornwall, and Edmund all appear and ask why they are fighting. When they explain, Regan sees the similarities between Kent, and the King's men her sister was complaining about, and has him put into the stocks. Everyone but Gloucester leaves Kent, and he promises the imprisoned messenger to help him in anyway possible", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Enter Kent, and Steward seuerally. Stew. Good dawning to thee Friend, art of this house? Kent. I Stew. Where may we set our horses? Kent. I'th' myre Stew. Prythee, if thou lou'st me, tell me Kent. I loue thee not Ste. Why then I care not for thee Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury Pinfold, I would make thee care for me Ste. Why do'st thou vse me thus? I know thee not Kent. Fellow I know thee Ste. What do'st thou know me for? Kent. A Knaue, a Rascall, an eater of broken meates, a base, proud, shallow, beggerly, three-suited-hundred pound, filthy woosted-stocking knaue, a Lilly-liuered, action-taking, whoreson glasse-gazing super-seruiceable finicall Rogue, one Trunke-inheriting slaue, one that would'st be a Baud in way of good seruice, and art nothing but the composition of a Knaue, Begger, Coward, Pandar, and the Sonne and Heire of a Mungrill Bitch, one whom I will beate into clamours whining, if thou deny'st the least sillable of thy addition Stew. Why, what a monstrous Fellow art thou, thus to raile on one, that is neither knowne of thee, nor knowes thee? Kent. What a brazen-fac'd Varlet art thou, to deny thou knowest me? Is it two dayes since I tript vp thy heeles, and beate thee before the King? Draw you rogue, for though it be night, yet the Moone shines, Ile make a sop oth' Moonshine of you, you whoreson Cullyenly Barber-monger, draw Stew. Away, I haue nothing to do with thee Kent. Draw you Rascall, you come with Letters against the King, and take Vanitie the puppets part, against the Royaltie of her Father: draw you Rogue, or Ile so carbonado your shanks, draw you Rascall, come your waies Ste. Helpe, ho, murther, helpe Kent. Strike you slaue: stand rogue, stand you neat slaue, strike Stew. Helpe hoa, murther, murther. Enter Bastard, Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Bast. How now, what's the matter? Part Kent. With you goodman Boy, if you please, come, Ile flesh ye, come on yong Master Glo. Weapons? Armes? what's the matter here? Cor. Keepe peace vpon your liues, he dies that strikes againe, what is the matter? Reg. The Messengers from our Sister, and the King? Cor. What is your difference, speake? Stew. I am scarce in breath my Lord Kent. No Maruell, you haue so bestir'd your valour, you cowardly Rascall, nature disclaimes in thee: a Taylor made thee Cor. Thou art a strange fellow, a Taylor make a man? Kent. A Taylor Sir, a Stone-cutter, or a Painter, could not haue made him so ill, though they had bin but two yeares oth' trade Cor. Speake yet, how grew your quarrell? Ste. This ancient Ruffian Sir, whose life I haue spar'd at sute of his gray-beard Kent. Thou whoreson Zed, thou vnnecessary letter: my Lord, if you will giue me leaue, I will tread this vnboulted villaine into morter, and daube the wall of a Iakes with him. Spare my gray-beard, you wagtaile? Cor. Peace sirrah, You beastly knaue, know you no reuerence? Kent. Yes Sir, but anger hath a priuiledge Cor. Why art thou angrie? Kent. That such a slaue as this should weare a Sword, Who weares no honesty: such smiling rogues as these, Like Rats oft bite the holy cords a twaine, Which are t' intrince, t' vnloose: smooth euery passion That in the natures of their Lords rebell, Being oile to fire, snow to the colder moodes, Reuenge, affirme, and turne their Halcion beakes With euery gall, and varry of their Masters, Knowing naught (like dogges) but following: A plague vpon your Epilepticke visage, Smoile you my speeches, as I were a Foole? Goose, if I had you vpon Sarum Plaine, I'ld driue ye cackling home to Camelot Corn. What art thou mad old Fellow? Glost. How fell you out, say that? Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy, Then I, and such a knaue Corn. Why do'st thou call him Knaue? What is his fault? Kent. His countenance likes me not Cor. No more perchance do's mine, nor his, nor hers Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plaine, I haue seene better faces in my Time, Then stands on any shoulder that I see Before me, at this instant Corn. This is some Fellow, Who hauing beene prais'd for bluntnesse, doth affect A saucy roughnes, and constraines the garb Quite from his Nature. He cannot flatter he, An honest mind and plaine, he must speake truth, And they will take it so, if not, hee's plaine. These kind of Knaues I know, which in this plainnesse Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends, Then twenty silly-ducking obseruants, That stretch their duties nicely Kent. Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity, Vnder th' allowance of your great aspect, Whose influence like the wreath of radient fire On flickring Phoebus front Corn. What mean'st by this? Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much; I know Sir, I am no flatterer, he that beguild you in a plaine accent, was a plaine Knaue, which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me too't Corn. What was th' offence you gaue him? Ste. I neuer gaue him any: It pleas'd the King his Master very late To strike at me vpon his misconstruction, When he compact, and flattering his displeasure Tript me behind: being downe, insulted, rail'd, And put vpon him such a deale of Man, That worthied him, got praises of the King, For him attempting, who was selfe-subdued, And in the fleshment of this dead exploit, Drew on me here againe Kent. None of these Rogues, and Cowards But Aiax is there Foole Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks? You stubborne ancient Knaue, you reuerent Bragart, Wee'l teach you Kent. Sir, I am too old to learne: Call not your Stocks for me, I serue the King. On whose imployment I was sent to you, You shall doe small respects, show too bold malice Against the Grace, and Person of my Master, Stocking his Messenger Corn. Fetch forth the Stocks; As I haue life and Honour, there shall he sit till Noone Reg. Till noone? till night my Lord, and all night too Kent. Why Madam, if I were your Fathers dog, You should not vse me so Reg. Sir, being his Knaue, I will. Stocks brought out. Cor. This is a Fellow of the selfe same colour, Our Sister speakes of. Come, bring away the Stocks Glo. Let me beseech your Grace, not to do so, The King his Master, needs must take it ill That he so slightly valued in his Messenger, Should haue him thus restrained Cor. Ile answere that Reg. My Sister may recieue it much more worsse, To haue her Gentleman abus'd, assaulted Corn. Come my Lord, away. Enter. Glo. I am sorry for thee friend, 'tis the Dukes pleasure, Whose disposition all the world well knowes Will not be rub'd nor stopt, Ile entreat for thee Kent. Pray do not Sir, I haue watch'd and trauail'd hard, Some time I shall sleepe out, the rest Ile whistle: A good mans fortune may grow out at heeles: Giue you good morrow Glo. The Duke's too blame in this, 'Twill be ill taken. Enter. Kent. Good King, that must approue the common saw, Thou out of Heauens benediction com'st To the warme Sun. Approach thou Beacon to this vnder Globe, That by thy comfortable Beames I may Peruse this Letter. Nothing almost sees miracles But miserie. I know 'tis from Cordelia, Who hath most fortunately beene inform'd Of my obscured course. And shall finde time From this enormous State, seeking to giue Losses their remedies. All weary and o're-watch'd, Take vantage heauie eyes, not to behold This shamefull lodging. Fortune goodnight, Smile once more, turne thy wheele. Enter Edgar. Edg. I heard my selfe proclaim'd, And by the happy hollow of a Tree, Escap'd the hunt. No Port is free, no place That guard, and most vnusall vigilance Do's not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape I will preserue myselfe: and am bethought To take the basest, and most poorest shape That euer penury in contempt of man, Brought neere to beast; my face Ile grime with filth, Blanket my loines, else all my haires in knots, And with presented nakednesse out-face The Windes, and persecutions of the skie; The Country giues me proofe, and president Of Bedlam beggers, who with roaring voices, Strike in their num'd and mortified Armes. Pins, Wodden-prickes, Nayles, Sprigs of Rosemarie: And with this horrible obiect, from low Farmes, Poore pelting Villages, Sheeps-Coates, and Milles, Sometimes with Lunaticke bans, sometime with Praiers Inforce their charitie: poore Turlygod poore Tom, That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am. Enter. Enter Lear, Foole, and Gentleman. Lea. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from home, And not send backe my Messengers Gent. As I learn'd, The night before, there was no purpose in them Of this remoue Kent. Haile to thee Noble Master Lear. Ha? Mak'st thou this shame thy pastime? Kent. No my Lord Foole. Hah, ha, he weares Cruell Garters Horses are tide by the heads, Dogges and Beares by'th' necke, Monkies by'th' loynes, and Men by'th' legs: when a man ouerlustie at legs, then he weares wodden nether-stocks Lear. What's he, That hath so much thy place mistooke To set thee heere? Kent. It is both he and she, Your Son, and Daughter Lear. No Kent. Yes Lear. No I say Kent. I say yea Lear. By Iupiter I sweare no Kent. By Iuno, I sweare I Lear. They durst not do't: They could not, would not do't: 'tis worse then murther, To do vpon respect such violent outrage: Resolue me with all modest haste, which way Thou might'st deserue, or they impose this vsage, Comming from vs Kent. My Lord, when at their home I did commend your Highnesse Letters to them, Ere I was risen from the place, that shewed My dutie kneeling, came there a reeking Poste, Stew'd in his haste, halfe breathlesse, painting forth From Gonerill his Mistris, salutations; Deliuer'd Letters spight of intermission, Which presently they read; on those contents They summon'd vp their meiney, straight tooke Horse, Commanded me to follow, and attend The leisure of their answer, gaue me cold lookes, And meeting heere the other Messenger, Whose welcome I perceiu'd had poison'd mine, Being the very fellow which of late Displaid so sawcily against your Highnesse, Hauing more man then wit about me, drew; He rais'd the house, with loud and coward cries, Your Sonne and Daughter found this trespasse worth The shame which heere it suffers Foole. Winters not gon yet, if the wil'd Geese fly that way, Fathers that weare rags, do make their Children blind, But Fathers that beare bags, shall see their children kind. Fortune that arrant whore, nere turns the key toth' poore. But for all this thou shalt haue as many Dolors for thy Daughters, as thou canst tell in a yeare Lear. Oh how this Mother swels vp toward my heart! Historica passio, downe thou climing sorrow, Thy Elements below where is this Daughter? Kent. With the Earle Sir, here within Lear. Follow me not, stay here. Enter. Gen. Made you no more offence, But what you speake of? Kent. None: How chance the King comes with so small a number? Foole. And thou hadst beene set i'th' Stockes for that question, thoud'st well deseru'd it Kent. Why Foole? Foole. Wee'l set thee to schoole to an Ant, to teach thee ther's no labouring i'th' winter. All that follow their noses, are led by their eyes, but blinde men, and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell him that's stinking; let go thy hold when a great wheele runs downe a hill, least it breake thy necke with following. But the great one that goes vpward, let him draw thee after: when a wiseman giues thee better counsell giue me mine againe, I would haue none but knaues follow it, since a Foole giues it. That Sir, which serues and seekes for gaine, And followes but for forme; Will packe, when it begins to raine, And leaue thee in the storme, But I will tarry, the Foole will stay, And let the wiseman flie: The knaue turnes Foole that runnes away, The Foole no knaue perdie. Enter Lear, and Gloster] : Kent. Where learn'd you this Foole? Foole. Not i'th' Stocks Foole Lear. Deny to speake with me? They are sicke, they are weary, They haue trauail'd all the night? meere fetches, The images of reuolt and flying off. Fetch me a better answer Glo. My deere Lord, You know the fiery quality of the Duke, How vnremoueable and fixt he is In his owne course Lear. Vengeance, Plague, Death, Confusion: Fiery? What quality? Why Gloster, Gloster, I'ld speake with the Duke of Cornewall, and his wife Glo. Well my good Lord, I haue inform'd them so Lear. Inform'd them? Do'st thou vnderstand me man Glo. I my good Lord Lear. The King would speake with Cornwall, The deere Father Would with his Daughter speake, commands, tends, seruice, Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood: Fiery? The fiery Duke, tell the hot Duke that- No, but not yet, may be he is not well, Infirmity doth still neglect all office, Whereto our health is bound, we are not our selues, When Nature being opprest, commands the mind To suffer with the body; Ile forbeare, And am fallen out with my more headier will, To take the indispos'd and sickly fit, For the sound man. Death on my state: wherefore Should he sit heere? This act perswades me, That this remotion of the Duke and her Is practise only. Giue me my Seruant forth; Goe tell the Duke, and's wife, Il'd speake with them: Now, presently: bid them come forth and heare me, Or at their Chamber doore Ile beate the Drum, Till it crie sleepe to death Glo. I would haue all well betwixt you. Enter. Lear. Oh me my heart! My rising heart! But downe Foole. Cry to it Nunckle, as the Cockney did to the Eeles, when she put 'em i'th' Paste aliue, she knapt 'em o'th' coxcombs with a sticke, and cryed downe wantons, downe; 'twas her Brother, that in pure kindnesse to his Horse buttered his Hay. Enter Cornewall, Regan, Gloster, Seruants. Lear. Good morrow to you both Corn. Haile to your Grace. Kent here set at liberty. Reg. I am glad to see your Highnesse Lear. Regan, I thinke you are. I know what reason I haue to thinke so, if thou should'st not be glad, I would diuorce me from thy Mother Tombe, Sepulchring an Adultresse. O are you free? Some other time for that. Beloued Regan, Thy Sisters naught: oh Regan, she hath tied Sharpe-tooth'd vnkindnesse, like a vulture heere, I can scarce speake to thee, thou'lt not beleeue With how deprau'd a quality. Oh Regan Reg. I pray you Sir, take patience, I haue hope You lesse know how to value her desert, Then she to scant her dutie Lear. Say? How is that? Reg. I cannot thinke my Sister in the least Would faile her Obligation. If Sir perchance She haue restrained the Riots of your Followres, 'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end, As cleeres her from all blame Lear. My curses on her Reg. O Sir, you are old, Nature in you stands on the very Verge Of his confine: you should be rul'd, and led By some discretion, that discernes your state Better then you your selfe: therefore I pray you, That to our Sister, you do make returne, Say you haue wrong'd her Lear. Aske her forgiuenesse? Do you but marke how this becomes the house? Deere daughter, I confesse that I am old; Age is vnnecessary: on my knees I begge, That you'l vouchsafe me Rayment, Bed, and Food Reg. Good Sir, no more: these are vnsightly trickes: Returne you to my Sister Lear. Neuer Regan: She hath abated me of halfe my Traine; Look'd blacke vpon me, strooke me with her Tongue Most Serpent-like, vpon the very Heart. All the stor'd Vengeances of Heauen, fall On her ingratefull top: strike her yong bones You taking Ayres, with Lamenesse Corn. Fye sir, fie Le. You nimble Lightnings, dart your blinding flames Into her scornfull eyes: Infect her Beauty, You Fen-suck'd Fogges, drawne by the powrfull Sunne, To fall, and blister Reg. O the blest Gods! So will you wish on me, when the rash moode is on Lear. No Regan, thou shalt neuer haue my curse: Thy tender-hefted Nature shall not giue Thee o're to harshnesse: Her eyes are fierce, but thine Do comfort, and not burne. 'Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my Traine, To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, And in conclusion, to oppose the bolt Against my comming in. Thou better know'st The Offices of Nature, bond of Childhood, Effects of Curtesie, dues of Gratitude: Thy halfe o'th' Kingdome hast thou not forgot, Wherein I thee endow'd Reg. Good Sir, to'th' purpose. Tucket within. Lear. Who put my man i'th' Stockes? Enter Steward. Corn. What Trumpet's that? Reg. I know't, my Sisters: this approues her Letter, That she would soone be heere. Is your Lady come? Lear. This is a Slaue, whose easie borrowed pride Dwels in the sickly grace of her he followes. Out Varlet, from my sight Corn. What meanes your Grace? Enter Gonerill. Lear. Who stockt my Seruant? Regan, I haue good hope Thou did'st not know on't. Who comes here? O Heauens! If you do loue old men; if your sweet sway Allow Obedience; if you your selues are old, Make it your cause: Send downe, and take my part. Art not asham'd to looke vpon this Beard? O Regan, will you take her by the hand? Gon. Why not by'th' hand Sir? How haue I offended? All's not offence that indiscretion findes, And dotage termes so Lear. O sides, you are too tough! Will you yet hold? How came my man i'th' Stockes? Corn. I set him there, Sir: but his owne Disorders Deseru'd much lesse aduancement Lear. You? Did you? Reg. I pray you Father being weake, seeme so. If till the expiration of your Moneth You will returne and soiourne with my Sister, Dismissing halfe your traine, come then to me, I am now from home, and out of that prouision Which shall be needfull for your entertainement Lear. Returne to her? and fifty men dismiss'd? No, rather I abiure all roofes, and chuse To wage against the enmity oth' ayre, To be a Comrade with the Wolfe, and Owle, Necessities sharpe pinch. Returne with her? Why the hot-bloodied France, that dowerlesse tooke Our yongest borne, I could as well be brought To knee his Throne, and Squire-like pension beg, To keepe base life a foote; returne with her? Perswade me rather to be slaue and sumpter To this detested groome Gon. At your choice Sir Lear. I prythee Daughter do not make me mad, I will not trouble thee my Child; farewell: Wee'l no more meete, no more see one another. But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my Daughter, Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a Byle, A plague sore, or imbossed Carbuncle In my corrupted blood. But Ile not chide thee, Let shame come when it will, I do not call it, I do not bid the Thunder-bearer shoote, Nor tell tales of thee to high-iudging Ioue, Mend when thou can'st, be better at thy leisure, I can be patient, I can stay with Regan, I and my hundred Knights Reg. Not altogether so, I look'd not for you yet, nor am prouided For your fit welcome, giue eare Sir to my Sister, For those that mingle reason with your passion, Must be content to thinke you old, and so, But she knowes what she doe's Lear. Is this well spoken? Reg. I dare auouch it Sir, what fifty Followers? Is it not well? What should you need of more? Yea, or so many? Sith that both charge and danger, Speake 'gainst so great a number? How in one house Should many people, vnder two commands Hold amity? 'Tis hard, almost impossible Gon. Why might not you my Lord, receiue attendance From those that she cals Seruants, or from mine? Reg. Why not my Lord? If then they chanc'd to slacke ye, We could comptroll them; if you will come to me, (For now I spie a danger) I entreate you To bring but fiue and twentie, to no more Will I giue place or notice Lear. I gaue you all Reg. And in good time you gaue it Lear. Made you my Guardians, my Depositaries, But kept a reseruation to be followed With such a number? What, must I come to you With fiue and twenty? Regan, said you so? Reg. And speak't againe my Lord, no more with me Lea. Those wicked Creatures yet do look wel fauor'd When others are more wicked, not being the worst Stands in some ranke of praise, Ile go with thee, Thy fifty yet doth double fiue and twenty, And thou art twice her Loue Gon. Heare me my Lord; What need you fiue and twenty? Ten? Or fiue? To follow in a house, where twice so many Haue a command to tend you? Reg. What need one? Lear. O reason not the need: our basest Beggers Are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not Nature, more then Nature needs: Mans life is cheape as Beastes. Thou art a Lady; If onely to go warme were gorgeous, Why Nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, Which scarcely keepes thee warme, but for true need: You Heauens, giue me that patience, patience I need, You see me heere (you Gods) a poore old man, As full of griefe as age, wretched in both, If it be you that stirres these Daughters hearts Against their Father, foole me not so much, To beare it tamely: touch me with Noble anger, And let not womens weapons, water drops, Staine my mans cheekes. No you vnnaturall Hags, I will haue such reuenges on you both, That all the world shall- I will do such things, What they are yet, I know not, but they shalbe The terrors of the earth? you thinke Ile weepe, No, Ile not weepe, I haue full cause of weeping. Storme and Tempest. But this heart shal break into a hundred thousand flawes Or ere Ile weepe; O Foole, I shall go mad. Exeunt. Corn. Let vs withdraw, 'twill be a Storme Reg. This house is little, the old man and's people, Cannot be well bestow'd Gon. 'Tis his owne blame hath put himselfe from rest, And must needs taste his folly Reg. For his particular, Ile receiue him gladly, But not one follower Gon. So am I purpos'd, Where is my Lord of Gloster? Enter Gloster. Corn. Followed the old man forth, he is return'd Glo. The King is in high rage Corn. Whether is he going? Glo. He cals to Horse, but will I know not whether Corn. 'Tis best to giue him way, he leads himselfe Gon. My Lord, entreate him by no meanes to stay Glo. Alacke the night comes on, and the high windes Do sorely ruffle, for many Miles about There's scarce a Bush Reg. O Sir, to wilfull men, The iniuries that they themselues procure, Must be their Schoole-Masters: shut vp your doores, He is attended with a desperate traine, And what they may incense him too, being apt, To haue his eare abus'd, wisedome bids feare Cor. Shut vp your doores my Lord, 'tis a wil'd night, My Regan counsels well: come out oth' storme. Exeunt.

act 2, Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act2-scene2-act2-scene3

Kent and Oswald, messengers from Lear and Goneril, meet in the courtyard of Gloucester. Kent recognizes the steward and starts to berate him and challenges him to a fight because of his purpose against the king. Oswald refuses the fight, but Kent begins to beat him anyway. Gloucester, Regan, the Duke of Cornwall, and Edmund all appear and ask why they are fighting. When they explain, Regan sees the similarities between Kent, and the King's men her sister was complaining about, and has him put into the stocks. Everyone but Gloucester leaves Kent, and he promises the imprisoned messenger to help him in anyway possible

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/9.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_5_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 2

act 3, scene 2

{"name": "act 3, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene2-act3-scene3", "summary": "Lear and the Fool are caught out in the storm. The Fool begs him to go back to his daughters to seek shelter, but he refuses. Kent finds them and tells them that he has found a hovel in which they can take shelter. He leads them there to stay throughout the storm", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Storme still. Enter Lear, and Foole. Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's spout, Till you haue drench'd our Steeples, drown the Cockes. You Sulph'rous and Thought-executing Fires, Vaunt-curriors of Oake-cleauing Thunder-bolts, Sindge my white head. And thou all-shaking Thunder, Strike flat the thicke Rotundity o'th' world, Cracke Natures moulds, all germaines spill at once That makes ingratefull Man Foole. O Nunkle, Court holy-water in a dry house, is better then this Rain-water out o' doore. Good Nunkle, in, aske thy Daughters blessing, heere's a night pitties neither Wisemen, nor Fooles Lear. Rumble thy belly full: spit Fire, spowt Raine: Nor Raine, Winde, Thunder, Fire are my Daughters; I taxe not you, you Elements with vnkindnesse. I neuer gaue you Kingdome, call'd you Children; You owe me no subscription. Then let fall Your horrible pleasure. Heere I stand your Slaue, A poore, infirme, weake, and dispis'd old man: But yet I call you Seruile Ministers, That will with two pernicious Daughters ioyne Your high-engender'd Battailes, 'gainst a head So old, and white as this. O, ho! 'tis foule Foole. He that has a house to put's head in, has a good Head-peece: The Codpiece that will house, before the head has any; The Head, and he shall Lowse: so Beggers marry many. The man y makes his Toe, what he his Hart shold make, Shall of a Corne cry woe, and turne his sleepe to wake. For there was neuer yet faire woman, but shee made mouthes in a glasse. Enter Kent Lear. No, I will be the patterne of all patience, I will say nothing Kent. Who's there? Foole. Marry here's Grace, and a Codpiece, that's a Wiseman, and a Foole Kent. Alas Sir are you here? Things that loue night, Loue not such nights as these: The wrathfull Skies Gallow the very wanderers of the darke And make them keepe their Caues: Since I was man, Such sheets of Fire, such bursts of horrid Thunder, Such groanes of roaring Winde, and Raine, I neuer Remember to haue heard. Mans Nature cannot carry Th' affliction, nor the feare Lear. Let the great Goddes That keepe this dreadfull pudder o're our heads, Finde out their enemies now. Tremble thou Wretch, That hast within thee vndivulged Crimes Vnwhipt of Iustice. Hide thee, thou Bloudy hand; Thou Periur'd, and thou Simular of Vertue That art Incestuous. Caytiffe, to peeces shake That vnder couert, and conuenient seeming Ha's practis'd on mans life. Close pent-vp guilts, Riue your concealing Continents, and cry These dreadfull Summoners grace. I am a man, More sinn'd against, then sinning Kent. Alacke, bare-headed? Gracious my Lord, hard by heere is a Houell, Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the Tempest: Repose you there, while I to this hard house, (More harder then the stones whereof 'tis rais'd, Which euen but now, demanding after you, Deny'd me to come in) returne, and force Their scanted curtesie Lear. My wits begin to turne. Come on my boy. How dost my boy? Art cold? I am cold my selfe. Where is this straw, my Fellow? The Art of our Necessities is strange, And can make vilde things precious. Come, your Houel; Poore Foole, and Knaue, I haue one part in my heart That's sorry yet for thee Foole. He that has and a little-tyne wit, With heigh-ho, the Winde and the Raine, Must make content with his Fortunes fit, Though the Raine it raineth euery day Le. True Boy: Come bring vs to this Houell. Enter. Foole. This is a braue night to coole a Curtizan: Ile speake a Prophesie ere I go: When Priests are more in word, then matter; When Brewers marre their Malt with water; When Nobles are their Taylors Tutors, No Heretiques burn'd, but wenches Sutors; When euery Case in Law, is right; No Squire in debt, nor no poore Knight; When Slanders do not liue in Tongues; Nor Cut-purses come not to throngs; When Vsurers tell their Gold i'th' Field, And Baudes, and whores, do Churches build, Then shal the Realme of Albion, come to great confusion: Then comes the time, who liues to see't, That going shalbe vs'd with feet. This prophecie Merlin shall make, for I liue before his time. Enter.

act 3, Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene2-act3-scene3

Lear and the Fool are caught out in the storm. The Fool begs him to go back to his daughters to seek shelter, but he refuses. Kent finds them and tells them that he has found a hovel in which they can take shelter. He leads them there to stay throughout the storm

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/22.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_5_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 3

act 3, scene 3

{"name": "act 3, Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene2-act3-scene3", "summary": "Gloucester does not like the way the duke and duchesses are treating their father. He tells Edmund of a letter he received about the division happening between the dukes and the French involvement. Gloucester decides to go to the ex-kings aid, and Edmund decides to capitalize on his father's decision. With instructions to make excuses for him if he is needed, Gloucester leaves, and Edmund goes to reveal what he knows to Cornwall", "analysis": ""}

Enter Gloster, and Edmund. Glo. Alacke, alacke Edmund, I like not this vnnaturall dealing; when I desired their leaue that I might pity him, they tooke from me the vse of mine owne house, charg'd me on paine of perpetuall displeasure, neither to speake of him, entreat for him, or any way sustaine him Bast. Most sauage and vnnaturall Glo. Go too; say you nothing. There is diuision betweene the Dukes, and a worsse matter then that: I haue receiued a Letter this night, 'tis dangerous to be spoken, I haue lock'd the Letter in my Closset, these iniuries the King now beares, will be reuenged home; ther is part of a Power already footed, we must incline to the King, I will looke him, and priuily relieue him; goe you and maintaine talke with the Duke, that my charity be not of him perceiued; If he aske for me, I am ill, and gone to bed, if I die for it, (as no lesse is threatned me) the King my old Master must be relieued. There is strange things toward Edmund, pray you be carefull. Enter. Bast. This Curtesie forbid thee, shall the Duke Instantly know, and of that Letter too; This seemes a faire deseruing, and must draw me That which my Father looses: no lesse then all, The yonger rises, when the old doth fall. Enter.

act 3, Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene2-act3-scene3

Gloucester does not like the way the duke and duchesses are treating their father. He tells Edmund of a letter he received about the division happening between the dukes and the French involvement. Gloucester decides to go to the ex-kings aid, and Edmund decides to capitalize on his father's decision. With instructions to make excuses for him if he is needed, Gloucester leaves, and Edmund goes to reveal what he knows to Cornwall

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/10.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_6_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 4

act 3, scene 4

{"name": "act 3, Scene 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene4-act3-scene5", "summary": "Lear and his men reach the hovel, and he mourns that his daughters have betrayed him. When they enter the hovel, they find Edgar disguised as a madman. When the madman speaks, Lear wonders if it was the man's daughters that drove him mad. He laments on how daughters are the roots of the evils in his life. The men begin talking to the beggar, and Gloucester enters telling them that he doesn't approve of the way they have been treated. Lear decides that he likes the beggar and continues having conversations with him while Gloucester tries to get the men to come to a house he has prepared for them. Kent and Gloucester think that Lear is beginning to go mad, and Gloucester himself admits that he feels like he's going mad with everything that happened with Edgar. They all remove to the house Gloucester has prepared, and Lear decides that he must take the beggar too because he enjoys talking to him", "analysis": ""}

Scena Quarta. Enter Lear, Kent, and Foole. Kent. Here is the place my Lord, good my Lord enter, The tirrany of the open night's too rough For Nature to endure. Storme still Lear. Let me alone Kent. Good my Lord enter heere Lear. Wilt breake my heart? Kent. I had rather breake mine owne, Good my Lord enter Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storme Inuades vs to the skin so: 'tis to thee, But where the greater malady is fixt, The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a Beare, But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea, Thou'dst meete the Beare i'th' mouth, when the mind's free, The bodies delicate: the tempest in my mind, Doth from my sences take all feeling else, Saue what beates there, Filliall ingratitude, Is it not as this mouth should teare this hand For lifting food too't? But I will punish home; No, I will weepe no more; in such a night, To shut me out? Poure on, I will endure: In such a night as this? O Regan, Gonerill, Your old kind Father, whose franke heart gaue all, O that way madnesse lies, let me shun that: No more of that Kent. Good my Lord enter here Lear. Prythee go in thy selfe, seeke thine owne ease, This tempest will not giue me leaue to ponder On things would hurt me more, but Ile goe in, In Boy, go first. You houselesse pouertie, Enter. Nay get thee in; Ile pray, and then Ile sleepe. Poore naked wretches, where so ere you are That bide the pelting of this pittilesse storme, How shall your House-lesse heads, and vnfed sides, Your lop'd, and window'd raggednesse defend you From seasons such as these? O I haue tane Too little care of this: Take Physicke, Pompe, Expose thy selfe to feele what wretches feele, That thou maist shake the superflux to them, And shew the Heauens more iust. Enter Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fathom, and halfe, Fathom and halfe; poore Tom Foole. Come not in heere Nuncle, here's a spirit, helpe me, helpe me Kent. Giue my thy hand, who's there? Foole. A spirite, a spirite, he sayes his name's poore Tom Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i'th' straw? Come forth Edg. Away, the foule Fiend followes me, through the sharpe Hauthorne blow the windes. Humh, goe to thy bed and warme thee Lear. Did'st thou giue all to thy Daughters? And art thou come to this? Edgar. Who giues any thing to poore Tom? Whom the foule fiend hath led through Fire, and through Flame, through Sword, and Whirle-Poole, o're Bog, and Quagmire, that hath laid Kniues vnder his Pillow, and Halters in his Pue, set Rats-bane by his Porredge, made him Proud of heart, to ride on a Bay trotting Horse, ouer foure incht Bridges, to course his owne shadow for a Traitor. Blisse thy fiue Wits, Toms a cold. O do, de, do, de, do, de, blisse thee from Whirle-Windes, Starre-blasting, and taking, do poore Tom some charitie, whom the foule Fiend vexes. There could I haue him now, and there, and there againe, and there. Storme still. Lear. Ha's his Daughters brought him to this passe? Could'st thou saue nothing? Would'st thou giue 'em all? Foole. Nay, he reseru'd a Blanket, else we had bin all sham'd Lea. Now all the plagues that in the pendulous ayre Hang fated o're mens faults, light on thy Daughters Kent. He hath no Daughters Sir Lear. Death Traitor, nothing could haue subdu'd Nature To such a lownesse, but his vnkind Daughters. Is it the fashion, that discarded Fathers, Should haue thus little mercy on their flesh: Iudicious punishment, 'twas this flesh begot Those Pelicane Daughters Edg. Pillicock sat on Pillicock hill, alow: alow, loo, loo Foole. This cold night will turne vs all to Fooles, and Madmen Edgar. Take heed o'th' foule Fiend, obey thy Parents, keepe thy words Iustice, sweare not, commit not, with mans sworne Spouse: set not thy Sweet-heart on proud array. Tom's a cold Lear. What hast thou bin? Edg. A Seruingman? Proud in heart, and minde; that curl'd my haire, wore Gloues in my cap; seru'd the Lust of my Mistris heart, and did the acte of darkenesse with her. Swore as many Oathes, as I spake words, & broke them in the sweet face of Heauen. One, that slept in the contriuing of Lust, and wak'd to doe it. Wine lou'd I deerely, Dice deerely; and in Woman, out-Paramour'd the Turke. False of heart, light of eare, bloody of hand; Hog in sloth, Foxe in stealth, Wolfe in greedinesse, Dog in madnes, Lyon in prey. Let not the creaking of shooes, Nor the rustling of Silkes, betray thy poore heart to woman. Keepe thy foote out of Brothels, thy hand out of Plackets, thy pen from Lenders Bookes, and defye the foule Fiend. Still through the Hauthorne blowes the cold winde: Sayes suum, mun, nonny, Dolphin my Boy, Boy Sesey: let him trot by. Storme still. Lear. Thou wert better in a Graue, then to answere with thy vncouer'd body, this extremitie of the Skies. Is man no more then this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the Worme no Silke; the Beast, no Hide; the Sheepe, no Wooll; the Cat, no perfume. Ha? Here's three on's are sophisticated. Thou art the thing it selfe; vnaccommodated man, is no more but such a poore, bare, forked Animall as thou art. Off, off you Lendings: Come, vnbutton heere. Enter Gloucester, with a Torch. Foole. Prythee Nunckle be contented, 'tis a naughtie night to swimme in. Now a little fire in a wilde Field, were like an old Letchers heart, a small spark, all the rest on's body, cold: Looke, heere comes a walking fire Edg. This is the foule Flibbertigibbet; hee begins at Curfew, and walkes at first Cocke: Hee giues the Web and the Pin, squints the eye, and makes the Hare-lippe; Mildewes the white Wheate, and hurts the poore Creature of earth. Swithold footed thrice the old, He met the Night-Mare, and her nine-fold; Bid her a-light, and her troth-plight, And aroynt thee Witch, aroynt thee Kent. How fares your Grace? Lear. What's he? Kent. Who's there? What is't you seeke? Glou. What are you there? Your Names? Edg. Poore Tom, that eates the swimming Frog, the Toad, the Tod-pole, the wall-Neut, and the water: that in the furie of his heart, when the foule Fiend rages, eats Cow-dung for Sallets; swallowes the old Rat, and the ditch-Dogge; drinkes the green Mantle of the standing Poole: who is whipt from Tything to Tything, and stockt, punish'd, and imprison'd: who hath three Suites to his backe, sixe shirts to his body: Horse to ride, and weapon to weare: But Mice, and Rats, and such small Deare, Haue bin Toms food, for seuen long yeare: Beware my Follower. Peace Smulkin, peace thou Fiend Glou. What, hath your Grace no better company? Edg. The Prince of Darkenesse is a Gentleman. Modo he's call'd, and Mahu Glou. Our flesh and blood, my Lord, is growne so vilde, that it doth hate what gets it Edg. Poore Tom's a cold Glou. Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer T' obey in all your daughters hard commands: Though their Iniunction be to barre my doores, And let this Tyrannous night take hold vpon you, Yet haue I ventured to come seeke you out, And bring you where both fire, and food is ready Lear. First let me talke with this Philosopher, What is the cause of Thunder? Kent. Good my Lord take his offer, Go into th' house Lear. Ile talke a word with this same lerned Theban: What is your study? Edg. How to preuent the Fiend, and to kill Vermine Lear. Let me aske you one word in priuate Kent. Importune him once more to go my Lord, His wits begin t' vnsettle Glou. Canst thou blame him? Storm still His Daughters seeke his death: Ah, that good Kent, He said it would be thus: poore banish'd man: Thou sayest the King growes mad, Ile tell thee Friend I am almost mad my selfe. I had a Sonne, Now out-law'd from my blood: he sought my life But lately: very late: I lou'd him (Friend) No Father his Sonne deerer: true to tell thee, The greefe hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this? I do beseech your grace Lear. O cry you mercy, Sir: Noble Philosopher, your company Edg. Tom's a cold Glou. In fellow there, into th' Houel; keep thee warm Lear. Come, let's in all Kent. This way, my Lord Lear. With him; I will keepe still with my Philosopher Kent. Good my Lord, sooth him: Let him take the Fellow Glou. Take him you on Kent. Sirra, come on: go along with vs Lear. Come, good Athenian Glou. No words, no words, hush Edg. Childe Rowland to the darke Tower came, His word was still, fie, foh, and fumme, I smell the blood of a Brittish man. Exeunt.

act 3, Scene 4

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene4-act3-scene5

Lear and his men reach the hovel, and he mourns that his daughters have betrayed him. When they enter the hovel, they find Edgar disguised as a madman. When the madman speaks, Lear wonders if it was the man's daughters that drove him mad. He laments on how daughters are the roots of the evils in his life. The men begin talking to the beggar, and Gloucester enters telling them that he doesn't approve of the way they have been treated. Lear decides that he likes the beggar and continues having conversations with him while Gloucester tries to get the men to come to a house he has prepared for them. Kent and Gloucester think that Lear is beginning to go mad, and Gloucester himself admits that he feels like he's going mad with everything that happened with Edgar. They all remove to the house Gloucester has prepared, and Lear decides that he must take the beggar too because he enjoys talking to him

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/11.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_6_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 5

act 3, scene 5

{"name": "act 3, Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene4-act3-scene5", "summary": "Edmund gives Cornwall the incriminating letter from the French and he is very angry. For the bastard's loyalty, Cornwall makes him the Earl of Gloucester, and his father an outlaw. Cornwall tells Edmund that he must accompany him to see Regan", "analysis": ""}

Scena Quinta. Enter Cornwall, and Edmund. Corn. I will haue my reuenge, ere I depart his house Bast. How my Lord, I may be censured, that Nature thus giues way to Loyaltie, something feares mee to thinke of Cornw. I now perceiue, it was not altogether your Brothers euill disposition made him seeke his death: but a prouoking merit set a-worke by a reprouable badnesse in himselfe Bast. How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be iust? This is the Letter which hee spoake of; which approues him an intelligent partie to the aduantages of France. O Heauens! that this Treason were not; or not I the detector Corn. Go with me to the Dutchesse Bast. If the matter of this Paper be certain, you haue mighty businesse in hand Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earle of Gloucester: seeke out where thy Father is, that hee may bee ready for our apprehension Bast. If I finde him comforting the King, it will stuffe his suspition more fully. I will perseuer in my course of Loyalty, though the conflict be sore betweene that, and my blood Corn. I will lay trust vpon thee: and thou shalt finde a deere Father in my loue. Exeunt.

act 3, Scene 5

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene4-act3-scene5

Edmund gives Cornwall the incriminating letter from the French and he is very angry. For the bastard's loyalty, Cornwall makes him the Earl of Gloucester, and his father an outlaw. Cornwall tells Edmund that he must accompany him to see Regan

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/12.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_7_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 6

act 3, scene 6

{"name": "act 3, Scene 6", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene6-act3-scene7", "summary": "When the men in the storm arrive at the house that Gloucester has prepared for them, the king decides to put his daughters to a mock trial. Kent urges him to sleep, but in his madness he can only think about punishing his children. Gloucester has left them to go back to his castle, but promises to be back soon. When their trial is over, Lear decides to finally sleep. Gloucester returns and tells Kent that he overheard a plot to kill the king. He urges the men to take him to Dover and meet up with the French forces where he will be safe", "analysis": ""}

Scena Sexta. Enter Kent, and Gloucester. Glou. Heere is better then the open ayre, take it thankfully: I will peece out the comfort with what addition I can: I will not be long from you. Exit Kent. All the powre of his wits, haue giuen way to his impatience: the Gods reward your kindnesse. Enter Lear, Edgar, and Foole. Edg. Fraterretto cals me, and tells me Nero is an Angler in the Lake of Darknesse: pray Innocent, and beware the foule Fiend Foole. Prythee Nunkle tell me, whether a madman be a Gentleman, or a Yeoman Lear. A King, a King Foole. No, he's a Yeoman, that ha's a Gentleman to his Sonne: for hee's a mad Yeoman that sees his Sonne a Gentleman before him Lear. To haue a thousand with red burning spits Come hizzing in vpon 'em Edg. Blesse thy fiue wits Kent. O pitty: Sir, where is the patience now That you so oft haue boasted to retaine? Edg. My teares begin to take his part so much, They marre my counterfetting Lear. The little dogges, and all; Trey, Blanch, and Sweet-heart: see, they barke at me Edg. Tom, will throw his head at them: Auaunt you Curres, be thy mouth or blacke or white: Tooth that poysons if it bite: Mastiffe, Grey-hound, Mongrill, Grim, Hound or Spaniell, Brache, or Hym: Or Bobtaile tight, or Troudle taile, Tom will make him weepe and waile, For with throwing thus my head; Dogs leapt the hatch, and all are fled. Do, de, de, de: sese: Come, march to Wakes and Fayres, And Market Townes: poore Tom thy horne is dry, Lear. Then let them Anatomize Regan: See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in Nature that make these hard-hearts. You sir, I entertaine for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments. You will say they are Persian; but let them bee chang'd. Enter Gloster. Kent. Now good my Lord, lye heere, and rest awhile Lear. Make no noise, make no noise, draw the Curtaines: so, so, wee'l go to Supper i'th' morning Foole. And Ile go to bed at noone Glou. Come hither Friend: Where is the King my Master? Kent. Here Sir, but trouble him not, his wits are gon Glou. Good friend, I prythee take him in thy armes; I haue ore-heard a plot of death vpon him: There is a Litter ready, lay him in't, And driue toward Douer friend, where thou shalt meete Both welcome, and protection. Take vp thy Master, If thou should'st dally halfe an houre, his life With thine, and all that offer to defend him, Stand in assured losse. Take vp, take vp, And follow me, that will to some prouision Giue thee quicke conduct. Come, come, away. Exeunt.

act 3, Scene 6

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene6-act3-scene7

When the men in the storm arrive at the house that Gloucester has prepared for them, the king decides to put his daughters to a mock trial. Kent urges him to sleep, but in his madness he can only think about punishing his children. Gloucester has left them to go back to his castle, but promises to be back soon. When their trial is over, Lear decides to finally sleep. Gloucester returns and tells Kent that he overheard a plot to kill the king. He urges the men to take him to Dover and meet up with the French forces where he will be safe

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/13.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_7_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 3.scene 7

act 3, scene 7

{"name": "act 3, Scene 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene6-act3-scene7", "summary": "Cornwall gives a copy of the incriminating French letter to Goneril and instructs her to take it to her husband, the Duke of Albany. He sends men to find the traitor Duke of Gloucester and sends Edmund with Goneril so he will not have to witness his father's demise. Word comes in that the king is being taken to Dover to meet up with the French forces. Cornwall issues more orders and Gloucester enters no knowing he is considered a traitor. They bind him and torture him by forcing out his eyes. One of the servants tries to stop Cornwall but is killed. Gloucester calls for Edmund, but the Duchess tells him that his son was their informant. The Earl realizes that Edgar was innocent and it was his brother who betrayed him. The Duke was hurt in the skirmish however, and they have to retreat into the castle to take care of his wounds releasing the eyeless Earl", "analysis": ""}

Scena Septima. Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gonerill, Bastard, and Seruants. Corn. Poste speedily to my Lord your husband, shew him this Letter, the Army of France is landed: seeke out the Traitor Glouster Reg. Hang him instantly Gon. Plucke out his eyes Corn. Leaue him to my displeasure. Edmond, keepe you our Sister company: the reuenges wee are bound to take vppon your Traitorous Father, are not fit for your beholding. Aduice the Duke where you are going, to a most festinate preparation: we are bound to the like. Our Postes shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt vs. Farewell deere Sister, farewell my Lord of Glouster. Enter Steward. How now? Where's the King? Stew. My Lord of Glouster hath conuey'd him hence Some fiue or six and thirty of his Knights Hot Questrists after him, met him at gate, Who, with some other of the Lords, dependants, Are gone with him toward Douer; where they boast To haue well armed Friends Corn. Get horses for your Mistris Gon. Farewell sweet Lord, and Sister. Exit Corn. Edmund farewell: go seek the Traitor Gloster, Pinnion him like a Theefe, bring him before vs: Though well we may not passe vpon his life Without the forme of Iustice: yet our power Shall do a curt'sie to our wrath, which men May blame, but not comptroll. Enter Gloucester, and Seruants. Who's there? the Traitor? Reg. Ingratefull Fox, 'tis he Corn. Binde fast his corky armes Glou. What meanes your Graces? Good my Friends consider you are my Ghests: Do me no foule play, Friends Corn. Binde him I say Reg. Hard, hard: O filthy Traitor Glou. Vnmercifull Lady, as you are, I'me none Corn. To this Chaire binde him, Villaine, thou shalt finde Glou. By the kinde Gods, 'tis most ignobly done To plucke me by the Beard Reg. So white, and such a Traitor? Glou. Naughty Ladie, These haires which thou dost rauish from my chin Will quicken and accuse thee. I am your Host, With Robbers hands, my hospitable fauours You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? Corn. Come Sir. What Letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple answer'd, for we know the truth Corn. And what confederacie haue you with the Traitors, late footed in the Kingdome? Reg. To whose hands You haue sent the Lunaticke King: Speake Glou. I haue a Letter guessingly set downe Which came from one that's of a newtrall heart, And not from one oppos'd Corn. Cunning Reg. And false Corn. Where hast thou sent the King? Glou. To Douer Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Was't thou not charg'd at perill Corn. Wherefore to Douer? Let him answer that Glou. I am tyed to'th' Stake, And I must stand the Course Reg. Wherefore to Douer? Glou. Because I would not see thy cruell Nailes Plucke out his poore old eyes: nor thy fierce Sister, In his Annointed flesh, sticke boarish phangs. The Sea, with such a storme as his bare head, In Hell-blacke-night indur'd, would haue buoy'd vp And quench'd the Stelled fires: Yet poore old heart, he holpe the Heauens to raine. If Wolues had at thy Gate howl'd that sterne time, Thou should'st haue said, good Porter turne the Key: All Cruels else subscribe: but I shall see The winged Vengeance ouertake such Children Corn. See't shalt thou neuer. Fellowes hold y Chaire, Vpon these eyes of thine, Ile set my foote Glou. He that will thinke to liue, till he be old, Giue me some helpe. - O cruell! O you Gods Reg. One side will mocke another: Th' other too Corn. If you see vengeance Seru. Hold your hand, my Lord: I haue seru'd you euer since I was a Childe: But better seruice haue I neuer done you, Then now to bid you hold Reg. How now, you dogge? Ser. If you did weare a beard vpon your chin, I'ld shake it on this quarrell. What do you meane? Corn. My Villaine? Seru. Nay then come on, and take the chance of anger Reg. Giue me thy Sword. A pezant stand vp thus? Killes him. Ser. Oh I am slaine: my Lord, you haue one eye left To see some mischefe on him. Oh Corn. Lest it see more, preuent it; Out vilde gelly: Where is thy luster now? Glou. All darke and comfortlesse? Where's my Sonne Edmund? Edmund, enkindle all the sparkes of Nature To quit this horrid acte Reg. Out treacherous Villaine, Thou call'st on him, that hates thee. It was he That made the ouerture of thy Treasons to vs: Who is too good to pitty thee Glou. O my Follies! then Edgar was abus'd, Kinde Gods, forgiue me that, and prosper him Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell His way to Douer. Exit with Glouster. How is't my Lord? How looke you? Corn. I haue receiu'd a hurt: Follow me Lady; Turne out that eyelesse Villaine: throw this Slaue Vpon the Dunghill: Regan, I bleed apace, Vntimely comes this hurt. Giue me your arme. Exeunt.

act 3, Scene 7

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act3-scene6-act3-scene7

Cornwall gives a copy of the incriminating French letter to Goneril and instructs her to take it to her husband, the Duke of Albany. He sends men to find the traitor Duke of Gloucester and sends Edmund with Goneril so he will not have to witness his father's demise. Word comes in that the king is being taken to Dover to meet up with the French forces. Cornwall issues more orders and Gloucester enters no knowing he is considered a traitor. They bind him and torture him by forcing out his eyes. One of the servants tries to stop Cornwall but is killed. Gloucester calls for Edmund, but the Duchess tells him that his son was their informant. The Earl realizes that Edgar was innocent and it was his brother who betrayed him. The Duke was hurt in the skirmish however, and they have to retreat into the castle to take care of his wounds releasing the eyeless Earl

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/14.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_8_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 1

act 4, scene 1

{"name": "act 4, Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene1-act4-scene2", "summary": "Gloucester is brought out of the castle by an old man who is a tenant of his. While on the road they run into Edgar disguised still as the beggar. Edgar hears his father's laments about how he wronged his rightful son. Gloucester tells the old man to let him go with Edgar to Dover, and Edgar agrees happily to take him. They journey, and Gloucester says that once they arrive to take him to a cliff", "analysis": ""}

Actus Quartus. Scena Prima. Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and knowne to be contemn'd, Then still contemn'd and flatter'd, to be worst: The lowest, and most deiected thing of Fortune, Stands still in esperance, liues not in feare: The lamentable change is from the best, The worst returnes to laughter. Welcome then, Thou vnsubstantiall ayre that I embrace: The Wretch that thou hast blowne vnto the worst, Owes nothing to thy blasts. Enter Glouster, and an Oldman. But who comes heere? My Father poorely led? World, World, O world! But that thy strange mutations make vs hate thee, Life would not yeelde to age Oldm. O my good Lord, I haue bene your Tenant, And your Fathers Tenant, these fourescore yeares Glou. Away, get thee away: good Friend be gone, Thy comforts can do me no good at all, Thee, they may hurt Oldm. You cannot see your way Glou. I haue no way, and therefore want no eyes: I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seene, Our meanes secure vs, and our meere defects Proue our Commodities. Oh deere Sonne Edgar, The food of thy abused Fathers wrath: Might I but liue to see thee in my touch, I'ld say I had eyes againe Oldm. How now? who's there? Edg. O Gods! Who is't can say I am at the worst? I am worse then ere I was Old. 'Tis poore mad Tom Edg. And worse I may be yet: the worst is not, So long as we can say this is the worst Oldm. Fellow, where goest? Glou. Is it a Beggar-man? Oldm. Madman, and beggar too Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. I'th' last nights storme, I such a fellow saw; Which made me thinke a Man, a Worme. My Sonne Came then into my minde, and yet my minde Was then scarse Friends with him. I haue heard more since: As Flies to wanton Boyes, are we to th' Gods, They kill vs for their sport Edg. How should this be? Bad is the Trade that must play Foole to sorrow, Ang'ring it selfe, and others. Blesse thee Master Glou. Is that the naked Fellow? Oldm. I, my Lord Glou. Get thee away: If for my sake Thou wilt ore-take vs hence a mile or twaine I'th' way toward Douer, do it for ancient loue, And bring some couering for this naked Soule, Which Ile intreate to leade me Old. Alacke sir, he is mad Glou. 'Tis the times plague, When Madmen leade the blinde: Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure: Aboue the rest, be gone Oldm. Ile bring him the best Parrell that I haue Come on't what will. Exit Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow Edg. Poore Tom's a cold. I cannot daub it further Glou. Come hither fellow Edg. And yet I must: Blesse thy sweete eyes, they bleede Glou. Know'st thou the way to Douer? Edg. Both style, and gate; Horseway, and foot-path: poore Tom hath bin scarr'd out of his good wits. Blesse thee good mans sonne, from the foule Fiend Glou. Here take this purse, y whom the heau'ns plagues Haue humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched Makes thee the happier: Heauens deale so still: Let the superfluous, and Lust-dieted man, That slaues your ordinance, that will not see Because he do's not feele, feele your powre quickly: So distribution should vndoo excesse, And each man haue enough. Dost thou know Douer? Edg. I Master Glou. There is a Cliffe, whose high and bending head Lookes fearfully in the confined Deepe: Bring me but to the very brimme of it, And Ile repayre the misery thou do'st beare With something rich about me: from that place, I shall no leading neede Edg. Giue me thy arme; Poore Tom shall leade thee. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene1-act4-scene2

Gloucester is brought out of the castle by an old man who is a tenant of his. While on the road they run into Edgar disguised still as the beggar. Edgar hears his father's laments about how he wronged his rightful son. Gloucester tells the old man to let him go with Edgar to Dover, and Edgar agrees happily to take him. They journey, and Gloucester says that once they arrive to take him to a cliff

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/15.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_8_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 2

act 4, scene 2

{"name": "act 4, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene1-act4-scene2", "summary": "When Goneril and Edmund return to Goneril's castle, they are met by Oswald and informed of the Duke of Albany's position on the French landing, and the happenings at Gloucester. Goneril, realizing that her husband feels opposite than she, sends Edmund back to her brother in law. When Albany sees his wife he berates her for her treatment of her father and they fight until a messenger enters with news of the Duke of Cornwall's death. He also tells Albany about Gloucester losing his eyes, and the Duke feels sorry for the blind Earl. With him the messenger sends a letter from Regan to Goneril, and she takes it to another room to read. Albany swears to avenge Gloucester's eyes, and goes off with the Messenger to learn more details", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Enter Gonerill, Bastard, and Steward. Gon. Welcome my Lord. I meruell our mild husband Not met vs on the way. Now, where's your Master? Stew. Madam within, but neuer man so chang'd: I told him of the Army that was Landed: He smil'd at it. I told him you were comming, His answer was, the worse. Of Glosters Treachery, And of the loyall Seruice of his Sonne When I inform'd him, then he call'd me Sot, And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out: What most he should dislike, seemes pleasant to him; What like, offensiue Gon. Then shall you go no further. It is the Cowish terror of his spirit That dares not vndertake: Hee'l not feele wrongs Which tye him to an answer: our wishes on the way May proue effects. Backe Edmond to my Brother, Hasten his Musters, and conduct his powres. I must change names at home, and giue the Distaffe Into my Husbands hands. This trustie Seruant Shall passe betweene vs: ere long you are like to heare (If you dare venture in your owne behalfe) A Mistresses command. Weare this; spare speech, Decline your head. This kisse, if it durst speake Would stretch thy Spirits vp into the ayre: Conceiue, and fare thee well Bast. Yours in the rankes of death. Enter. Gon. My most deere Gloster. Oh, the difference of man, and man, To thee a Womans seruices are due, My Foole vsurpes my body Stew. Madam, here come's my Lord. Enter Albany. Gon. I haue beene worth the whistle Alb. Oh Gonerill, You are not worth the dust which the rude winde Blowes in your face Gon. Milke-Liuer'd man, That bear'st a cheeke for blowes, a head for wrongs, Who hast not in thy browes an eye-discerning Thine Honor, from thy suffering Alb. See thy selfe diuell: Proper deformitie seemes not in the Fiend So horrid as in woman Gon. Oh vaine Foole. Enter a Messenger. Mes. Oh my good Lord, the Duke of Cornwals dead, Slaine by his Seruant, going to put out The other eye of Glouster Alb. Glousters eyes Mes. A Seruant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse, Oppos'd against the act: bending his Sword To his great Master, who, threat-enrag'd Flew on him, and among'st them fell'd him dead, But not without that harmefull stroke, which since Hath pluckt him after Alb. This shewes you are aboue You Iustices, that these our neather crimes So speedily can venge. But (O poore Glouster) Lost he his other eye? Mes. Both, both, my Lord. This Leter Madam, craues a speedy answer: 'Tis from your Sister Gon. One way I like this well. But being widdow, and my Glouster with her, May all the building in my fancie plucke Vpon my hatefull life. Another way The Newes is not so tart. Ile read, and answer Alb. Where was his Sonne, When they did take his eyes? Mes. Come with my Lady hither Alb. He is not heere Mes. No my good Lord, I met him backe againe Alb. Knowes he the wickednesse? Mes. I my good Lord: 'twas he inform'd against him And quit the house on purpose, that their punishment Might haue the freer course Alb. Glouster, I liue To thanke thee for the loue thou shew'dst the King, And to reuenge thine eyes. Come hither Friend, Tell me what more thou know'st. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene1-act4-scene2

When Goneril and Edmund return to Goneril's castle, they are met by Oswald and informed of the Duke of Albany's position on the French landing, and the happenings at Gloucester. Goneril, realizing that her husband feels opposite than she, sends Edmund back to her brother in law. When Albany sees his wife he berates her for her treatment of her father and they fight until a messenger enters with news of the Duke of Cornwall's death. He also tells Albany about Gloucester losing his eyes, and the Duke feels sorry for the blind Earl. With him the messenger sends a letter from Regan to Goneril, and she takes it to another room to read. Albany swears to avenge Gloucester's eyes, and goes off with the Messenger to learn more details

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/16.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_9_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 3

act 4, scene 3

{"name": "act 4, Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene3-act4-scene4", "summary": "Kent and the Gentleman meet in Dover to exchange news. The Gentleman tells Kent that the King of France is not present, but leaves his army to the Marshal and his wife. He also tells him of Cordelia's reaction to her sister's treatment of her father. She is devastated for him, and angry at the things they inflicted upon him. Kent informs the Gentleman that Lear is in Dover, but refuses to see his daughter because the way he treated her. He is wracked with guilt that he cheated her out of her dowry. Kent then takes him to take care of Lear", "analysis": ""}

Scena Tertia. Enter with Drum and Colours, Cordelia, Gentlemen, and Souldiours. Cor. Alacke, 'tis he: why he was met euen now As mad as the vext Sea, singing alowd. Crown'd with ranke Fenitar, and furrow weeds, With Hardokes, Hemlocke, Nettles, Cuckoo flowres, Darnell, and all the idle weedes that grow In our sustaining Corne. A Centery send forth; Search euery Acre in the high-growne field, And bring him to our eye. What can mans wisedome In the restoring his bereaued Sense; he that helpes him, Take all my outward worth Gent. There is meanes Madam: Our foster Nurse of Nature, is repose, The which he lackes: that to prouoke in him Are many Simples operatiue, whose power Will close the eye of Anguish Cord. All blest Secrets, All you vnpublish'd Vertues of the earth Spring with my teares; be aydant, and remediate In the Goodmans desires: seeke, seeke for him, Least his vngouern'd rage, dissolue the life That wants the meanes to leade it. Enter Messenger. Mes. Newes Madam, The Brittish Powres are marching hitherward Cor. 'Tis knowne before. Our preparation stands In expectation of them. O deere Father, It is thy businesse that I go about: Therfore great France My mourning, and importun'd teares hath pittied: No blowne Ambition doth our Armes incite, But loue, deere loue, and our ag'd Fathers Rite: Soone may I heare, and see him. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene3-act4-scene4

Kent and the Gentleman meet in Dover to exchange news. The Gentleman tells Kent that the King of France is not present, but leaves his army to the Marshal and his wife. He also tells him of Cordelia's reaction to her sister's treatment of her father. She is devastated for him, and angry at the things they inflicted upon him. Kent informs the Gentleman that Lear is in Dover, but refuses to see his daughter because the way he treated her. He is wracked with guilt that he cheated her out of her dowry. Kent then takes him to take care of Lear

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/17.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_9_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 4

act 4, scene 4

{"name": "act 4, Scene 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene3-act4-scene4", "summary": "Cordelia speaks with the doctor in her camp and sends out men to find her father. A messenger brings her news of the British forces advancing upon them, and she says that they are prepared for them", "analysis": ""}

Scena Quarta. Enter Regan, and Steward. Reg. But are my Brothers Powres set forth? Stew. I Madam Reg. Himselfe in person there? Stew. Madam with much ado: Your Sister is the better Souldier Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your Lord at home? Stew. No Madam Reg. What might import my Sisters Letter to him? Stew. I know not, Lady Reg. Faith he is poasted hence on serious matter: It was great ignorance, Glousters eyes being out To let him liue. Where he arriues, he moues All hearts against vs: Edmund, I thinke is gone In pitty of his misery, to dispatch His nighted life: Moreouer to descry The strength o'th' Enemy Stew. I must needs after him, Madam, with my Letter Reg. Our troopes set forth to morrow, stay with vs: The wayes are dangerous Stew. I may not Madam: My Lady charg'd my dutie in this busines Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might not you transport her purposes by word? Belike, Some things, I know not what. Ile loue thee much Let me vnseale the Letter Stew. Madam, I had rather- Reg. I know your Lady do's not loue her Husband, I am sure of that: and at her late being heere, She gaue strange Eliads, and most speaking lookes To Noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosome Stew. I, Madam? Reg. I speake in vnderstanding: Y'are: I know't, Therefore I do aduise you take this note: My Lord is dead: Edmond, and I haue talk'd, And more conuenient is he for my hand Then for your Ladies: You may gather more: If you do finde him, pray you giue him this; And when your Mistris heares thus much from you, I pray desire her call her wisedome to her. So fare you well: If you do chance to heare of that blinde Traitor, Preferment fals on him, that cuts him off Stew. Would I could meet Madam, I should shew What party I do follow Reg. Fare thee well. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 4

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene3-act4-scene4

Cordelia speaks with the doctor in her camp and sends out men to find her father. A messenger brings her news of the British forces advancing upon them, and she says that they are prepared for them

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/18.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_10_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 5

act 4, scene 5

{"name": "act 4, Scene 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene5-act4-scene6", "summary": "Oswald carries a message back to Regan from Goneril and Regan finds out that she has also sent a message to Edmund. Regan, now that her husband is dead, decides that she should marry Edmund. Thinking that her sister also has affection for him and not for her husband, she wants to win him before Goneril can get him. She sends a note back to her sister and sends someone out to find Edmund", "analysis": ""}

Scena Quinta. Enter Gloucester, and Edgar. Glou. When shall I come to th' top of that same hill? Edg. You do climbe vp it now. Look how we labor Glou. Me thinkes the ground is eeuen Edg. Horrible steepe. Hearke, do you heare the Sea? Glou. No truly Edg. Why then your other Senses grow imperfect By your eyes anguish Glou. So may it be indeed. Me thinkes thy voyce is alter'd, and thou speak'st In better phrase, and matter then thou did'st Edg. Y'are much deceiu'd: In nothing am I chang'd But in my Garments Glou. Me thinkes y'are better spoken Edg. Come on Sir, Heere's the place: stand still: how fearefull And dizie 'tis, to cast ones eyes so low, The Crowes and Choughes, that wing the midway ayre Shew scarse so grosse as Beetles. Halfe way downe Hangs one that gathers Sampire: dreadfull Trade: Me thinkes he seemes no bigger then his head. The Fishermen, that walk'd vpon the beach Appeare like Mice: and yond tall Anchoring Barke, Diminish'd to her Cocke: her Cocke, a Buoy Almost too small for sight. The murmuring Surge, That on th' vnnumbred idle Pebble chafes Cannot be heard so high. Ile looke no more, Least my braine turne, and the deficient sight Topple downe headlong Glou. Set me where you stand Edg. Giue me your hand: You are now within a foote of th' extreme Verge: For all beneath the Moone would I not leape vpright Glou. Let go my hand: Heere Friend's another purse: in it, a Iewell Well worth a poore mans taking. Fayries, and Gods Prosper it with thee. Go thou further off, Bid me farewell, and let me heare thee going Edg. Now fare ye well, good Sir Glou. With all my heart Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his dispaire, Is done to cure it Glou. O you mighty Gods! This world I do renounce, and in your sights Shake patiently my great affliction off: If I could beare it longer, and not fall To quarrell with your great opposelesse willes, My snuffe, and loathed part of Nature should Burne it selfe out. If Edgar liue, O blesse him: Now Fellow, fare thee well Edg. Gone Sir, farewell: And yet I know not how conceit may rob The Treasury of life, when life it selfe Yeelds to the Theft. Had he bin where he thought, By this had thought bin past. Aliue, or dead? Hoa, you Sir: Friend, heare you Sir, speake: Thus might he passe indeed: yet he reuiues. What are you Sir? Glou. Away, and let me dye Edg. Had'st thou beene ought But Gozemore, Feathers, Ayre, (So many fathome downe precipitating) Thou'dst shiuer'd like an Egge: but thou do'st breath: Hast heauy substance, bleed'st not, speak'st, art sound, Ten Masts at each, make not the altitude Which thou hast perpendicularly fell, Thy life's a Myracle. Speake yet againe Glou. But haue I falne, or no? Edg. From the dread Somnet of this Chalkie Bourne Looke vp a height, the shrill-gorg'd Larke so farre Cannot be seene, or heard: Do but looke vp Glou. Alacke, I haue no eyes: Is wretchednesse depriu'd that benefit To end it selfe by death? 'Twas yet some comfort, When misery could beguile the Tyrants rage, And frustrate his proud will Edg. Giue me your arme. Vp, so: How is't? Feele you your Legges? You stand Glou. Too well, too well Edg. This is aboue all strangenesse, Vpon the crowne o'th' Cliffe. What thing was that Which parted from you? Glou. A poore vnfortunate Beggar Edg. As I stood heere below, me thought his eyes Were two full Moones: he had a thousand Noses, Hornes wealk'd, and waued like the enraged Sea: It was some Fiend: Therefore thou happy Father, Thinke that the cleerest Gods, who make them Honors Of mens Impossibilities, haue preserued thee Glou. I do remember now: henceforth Ile beare Affliction, till it do cry out it selfe Enough, enough, and dye. That thing you speake of, I tooke it for a man: often 'twould say The Fiend, the Fiend, he led me to that place Edgar. Beare free and patient thoughts. Enter Lear. But who comes heere? The safer sense will ne're accommodate His Master thus Lear. No, they cannot touch me for crying. I am the King himselfe Edg. O thou side-piercing sight! Lear. Nature's aboue Art, in that respect. Ther's your Presse-money. That fellow handles his bow, like a Crowkeeper: draw mee a Cloathiers yard. Looke, looke, a Mouse: peace, peace, this peece of toasted Cheese will doo't. There's my Gauntlet, Ile proue it on a Gyant. Bring vp the browne Billes. O well flowne Bird: i'th' clout, i'th' clout: Hewgh. Giue the word Edg. Sweet Mariorum Lear. Passe Glou. I know that voice Lear. Ha! Gonerill with a white beard? They flatter'd me like a Dogge, and told mee I had the white hayres in my Beard, ere the blacke ones were there. To say I, and no, to euery thing that I said: I, and no too, was no good Diuinity. When the raine came to wet me once, and the winde to make me chatter: when the Thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go too, they are not men o'their words; they told me, I was euery thing: 'Tis a Lye, I am not Agu-proofe Glou. The tricke of that voyce, I do well remember: Is't not the King? Lear. I, euery inch a King. When I do stare, see how the Subiect quakes. I pardon that mans life. What was thy cause? Adultery? thou shalt not dye: dye for Adultery? No, the Wren goes too't, and the small gilded Fly Do's letcher in my sight. Let Copulation thriue: For Glousters bastard Son was kinder to his Father, Then my Daughters got 'tweene the lawfull sheets. Too't Luxury pell-mell, for I lacke Souldiers. Behold yond simpring Dame, whose face betweene her Forkes presages Snow; that minces Vertue, & do's shake the head to heare of pleasures name. The Fitchew, nor the soyled Horse goes too't with a more riotous appetite: Downe from the waste they are Centaures, though Women all aboue: but to the Girdle do the Gods inherit, beneath is all the Fiends. There's hell, there's darkenes, there is the sulphurous pit; burning, scalding, stench, consumption: Fye, fie, fie; pah, pah: Giue me an Ounce of Ciuet; good Apothecary sweeten my immagination: There's money for thee Glou. O let me kisse that hand Lear. Let me wipe it first, It smelles of Mortality Glou. O ruin'd peece of Nature, this great world Shall so weare out to naught. Do'st thou know me? Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough: dost thou squiny at me? No, doe thy worst blinde Cupid, Ile not loue. Reade thou this challenge, marke but the penning of it Glou. Were all thy Letters Sunnes, I could not see Edg. I would not take this from report, It is, and my heart breakes at it Lear. Read Glou. What with the Case of eyes? Lear. Oh ho, are you there with me? No eies in your head, nor no mony in your purse? Your eyes are in a heauy case, your purse in a light, yet you see how this world goes Glou. I see it feelingly Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes, with no eyes. Looke with thine eares: See how yond Iustice railes vpon yond simple theefe. Hearke in thine eare: Change places, and handy-dandy, which is the Iustice, which is the theefe: Thou hast seene a Farmers dogge barke at a Beggar? Glou. I Sir Lear. And the Creature run from the Cur: there thou might'st behold the great image of Authoritie, a Dogg's obey'd in Office. Thou, Rascall Beadle, hold thy bloody hand: why dost thou lash that Whore? Strip thy owne backe, thou hotly lusts to vse her in that kind, for which thou whip'st her. The Vsurer hangs the Cozener. Thorough tatter'd cloathes great Vices do appeare: Robes, and Furr'd gownes hide all. Place sinnes with Gold, and the strong Lance of Iustice, hurtlesse breakes: Arme it in ragges, a Pigmies straw do's pierce it. None do's offend, none, I say none, Ile able 'em; take that of me my Friend, who haue the power to seale th' accusers lips. Get thee glasse-eyes, and like a scuruy Politician, seeme to see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now. Pull off my Bootes: harder, harder, so Edg. O matter, and impertinency mixt, Reason in Madnesse Lear. If thou wilt weepe my Fortunes, take my eyes. I know thee well enough, thy name is Glouster: Thou must be patient; we came crying hither: Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the Ayre We wawle, and cry. I will preach to thee: Marke Glou. Alacke, alacke the day Lear. When we are borne, we cry that we are come To this great stage of Fooles. This a good blocke: It were a delicate stratagem to shoo A Troope of Horse with Felt: Ile put't in proofe, And when I haue stolne vpon these Son in Lawes, Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Enter a Gentleman. Gent. Oh heere he is: lay hand vpon him, Sir. Your most deere Daughter- Lear. No rescue? What, a Prisoner? I am euen The Naturall Foole of Fortune. Vse me well, You shall haue ransome. Let me haue Surgeons, I am cut to'th' Braines Gent. You shall haue any thing Lear. No Seconds? All my selfe? Why, this would make a man, a man of Salt To vse his eyes for Garden water-pots. I wil die brauely, Like a smugge Bridegroome. What? I will be Iouiall: Come, come, I am a King, Masters, know you that? Gent. You are a Royall one, and we obey you Lear. Then there's life in't. Come, and you get it, You shall get it by running: Sa, sa, sa, sa. Enter. Gent. A sight most pittifull in the meanest wretch, Past speaking of in a King. Thou hast a Daughter Who redeemes Nature from the generall curse Which twaine haue brought her to Edg. Haile gentle Sir Gent. Sir, speed you: what's your will? Edg. Do you heare ought (Sir) of a Battell toward Gent. Most sure, and vulgar: Euery one heares that, which can distinguish sound Edg. But by your fauour: How neere's the other Army? Gent. Neere, and on speedy foot: the maine descry Stands on the hourely thought Edg. I thanke you Sir, that's all Gent. Though that the Queen on special cause is here Her Army is mou'd on. Enter. Edg. I thanke you Sir Glou. You euer gentle Gods, take my breath from me, Let not my worser Spirit tempt me againe To dye before you please Edg. Well pray you Father Glou. Now good sir, what are you? Edg. A most poore man, made tame to Fortunes blows Who, by the Art of knowne, and feeling sorrowes, Am pregnant to good pitty. Giue me your hand, Ile leade you to some biding Glou. Heartie thankes: The bountie, and the benizon of Heauen To boot, and boot. Enter Steward. Stew. A proclaim'd prize: most happie That eyelesse head of thine, was first fram'd flesh To raise my fortunes. Thou old, vnhappy Traitor, Breefely thy selfe remember: the Sword is out That must destroy thee Glou. Now let thy friendly hand Put strength enough too't Stew. Wherefore, bold Pezant, Dar'st thou support a publish'd Traitor? Hence, Least that th' infection of his fortune take Like hold on thee. Let go his arme Edg. Chill not let go Zir, Without vurther 'casion Stew. Let go Slaue, or thou dy'st Edg. Good Gentleman goe your gate, and let poore volke passe: and 'chud ha' bin zwaggerd out of my life, 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 'tis, by a vortnight. Nay, come not neere th' old man: keepe out che vor' ye, or Ile try whither your Costard, or my Ballow be the harder; chill be plaine with you Stew. Out Dunghill Edg. Chill picke your teeth Zir: come, no matter vor your foynes Stew. Slaue thou hast slaine me: Villain, take my purse; If euer thou wilt thriue, bury my bodie, And giue the Letters which thou find'st about me, To Edmund Earle of Glouster: seeke him out Vpon the English party. Oh vntimely death, death Edg. I know thee well. A seruiceable Villaine, As duteous to the vices of thy Mistris, As badnesse would desire Glou. What, is he dead? Edg. Sit you downe Father: rest you. Let's see these Pockets; the Letters that he speakes of May be my Friends: hee's dead; I am onely sorry He had no other Deathsman. Let vs see: Leaue gentle waxe, and manners: blame vs not To know our enemies mindes, we rip their hearts, Their Papers is more lawfull. Reads the Letter. Let our reciprocall vowes be remembred. You haue manie opportunities to cut him off: if your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully offer'd. There is nothing done. If hee returne the Conqueror, then am I the Prisoner, and his bed, my Gaole, from the loathed warmth whereof, deliuer me, and supply the place for your Labour. Your (Wife, so I would say) affectionate Seruant. Gonerill. Oh indistinguish'd space of Womans will, A plot vpon her vertuous Husbands life, And the exchange my Brother: heere, in the sands Thee Ile rake vp, the poste vnsanctified Of murtherous Letchers: and in the mature time, With this vngracious paper strike the sight Of the death-practis'd Duke: for him 'tis well, That of thy death, and businesse, I can tell Glou. The King is mad: How stiffe is my vilde sense That I stand vp, and haue ingenious feeling Of my huge Sorrowes? Better I were distract, So should my thoughts be seuer'd from my greefes, Drum afarre off. And woes, by wrong imaginations loose The knowledge of themselues Edg. Giue me your hand: Farre off methinkes I heare the beaten Drumme. Come Father, Ile bestow you with a Friend. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 5

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene5-act4-scene6

Oswald carries a message back to Regan from Goneril and Regan finds out that she has also sent a message to Edmund. Regan, now that her husband is dead, decides that she should marry Edmund. Thinking that her sister also has affection for him and not for her husband, she wants to win him before Goneril can get him. She sends a note back to her sister and sends someone out to find Edmund

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/23.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_11_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 4.scene 7

act 4, scene 7

{"name": "act 4, Scene 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene7-act5-scene1", "summary": "Back in the French camp, Cordelia recognizes Kent, but he asks her to keep his identity a secret still. She agrees, and tells the doctor it is ok if he wakes her father who has been sleeping in their care. He awakens, and at first thinks he is dead. He then recognizes Cordelia, but thinks that she will do him harm because of all the sisters, she has the best motive. They tell him he is safe and take him away. Only the Gentleman and Kent stay and they discuss the battle that is about to brew. Edmund is leading the Duke of Cornwall's forces, and it is rumored that Edgar is in Germany", "analysis": ""}

Scaena Septima. Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman. Cor. O thou good Kent, How shall I liue and worke To match thy goodnesse? My life will be too short, And euery measure faile me Kent. To be acknowledg'd Madam is ore-pai'd, All my reports go with the modest truth, Nor more, nor clipt, but so Cor. Be better suited, These weedes are memories of those worser houres: I prythee put them off Kent. Pardon deere Madam, Yet to be knowne shortens my made intent, My boone I make it, that you know me not, Till time, and I, thinke meet Cor. Then be't so my good Lord: How do's the King? Gent. Madam sleepes still Cor. O you kind Gods! Cure this great breach in his abused Nature, Th' vntun'd and iarring senses, O winde vp, Of this childe-changed Father Gent. So please your Maiesty, That we may wake the King, he hath slept long? Cor. Be gouern'd by your knowledge, and proceede I'th' sway of your owne will: is he array'd? Enter Lear in a chaire carried by Seruants] Gent. I Madam: in the heauinesse of sleepe, We put fresh garments on him. Be by good Madam when we do awake him, I doubt of his Temperance Cor. O my deere Father, restauratian hang Thy medicine on my lippes, and let this kisse Repaire those violent harmes, that my two Sisters Haue in thy Reuerence made Kent. Kind and deere Princesse Cor. Had you not bin their Father, these white flakes Did challenge pitty of them. Was this a face To be oppos'd against the iarring windes? Mine Enemies dogge, though he had bit me, Should haue stood that night against my fire, And was't thou faine (poore Father) To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? Alacke, alacke, 'Tis wonder that thy life and wits, at once Had not concluded all. He wakes, speake to him Gen. Madam do you, 'tis fittest Cor. How does my Royall Lord? How fares your Maiesty? Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o'th' graue, Thou art a Soule in blisse, but I am bound Vpon a wheele of fire, that mine owne teares Do scal'd, like molten Lead Cor. Sir, do you know me? Lear. You are a spirit I know, where did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide Gen. He's scarse awake, Let him alone a while Lear. Where haue I bin? Where am I? Faire day light? I am mightily abus'd; I should eu'n dye with pitty To see another thus. I know not what to say: I will not sweare these are my hands: let's see, I feele this pin pricke, would I were assur'd Of my condition Cor. O looke vpon me Sir, And hold your hand in benediction o're me, You must not kneele Lear. Pray do not mocke me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourescore and vpward, Not an houre more, nor lesse: And to deale plainely, I feare I am not in my perfect mind. Me thinkes I should know you, and know this man, Yet I am doubtfull: For I am mainely ignorant What place this is: and all the skill I haue Remembers not these garments: nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me, For (as I am a man) I thinke this Lady To be my childe Cordelia Cor. And so I am: I am Lear. Be your teares wet? Yes faith: I pray weepe not, If you haue poyson for me, I will drinke it: I know you do not loue me, for your Sisters Haue (as I do remember) done me wrong. You haue some cause, they haue not Cor. No cause, no cause Lear. Am I in France? Kent. In your owne kingdome Sir Lear. Do not abuse me Gent. Be comforted good Madam, the great rage You see is kill'd in him: desire him to go in, Trouble him no more till further setling Cor. Wilt please your Highnesse walke? Lear. You must beare with me: Pray you now forget, and forgiue, I am old and foolish. Exeunt.

act 4, Scene 7

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene7-act5-scene1

Back in the French camp, Cordelia recognizes Kent, but he asks her to keep his identity a secret still. She agrees, and tells the doctor it is ok if he wakes her father who has been sleeping in their care. He awakens, and at first thinks he is dead. He then recognizes Cordelia, but thinks that she will do him harm because of all the sisters, she has the best motive. They tell him he is safe and take him away. Only the Gentleman and Kent stay and they discuss the battle that is about to brew. Edmund is leading the Duke of Cornwall's forces, and it is rumored that Edgar is in Germany

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/19.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_11_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 1

act 5, scene 1

{"name": "Act 5, Scene 1", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene7-act5-scene1", "summary": "Edmund and Regan are speaking, and Regan asks Edmund if he loves Goneril. He answers that he does, and Regan is disappointed. The Duke of Albany and Edmund decide to join forces against the invading French army when Edgar comes to them dressed in his disguise and gives a paper to Albany. Edmund enters and gives another paper to Albany all the while, trying to figure out which sister he will choose since he's sworn his love to both. He decides to wait until the battle is over, and unlike Albany intends to show no mercy to Cordelia or Lear", "analysis": ""}

Actus Quintus. Scena Prima. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Edmund, Regan. Gentlemen, and Souldiers. Bast. Know of the Duke if his last purpose hold, Or whether since he is aduis'd by ought To change the course, he's full of alteration, And selfereprouing, bring his constant pleasure Reg. Our Sisters man is certainely miscarried Bast. 'Tis to be doubted Madam Reg. Now sweet Lord, You know the goodnesse I intend vpon you: Tell me but truly, but then speake the truth, Do you not loue my Sister? Bast. In honour'd Loue Reg. But haue you neuer found my Brothers way, To the fore-fended place? Bast. No by mine honour, Madam Reg. I neuer shall endure her, deere my Lord Be not familiar with her Bast. Feare not, she and the Duke her husband. Enter with Drum and Colours, Albany, Gonerill, Soldiers. Alb. Our very louing Sister, well be-met: Sir, this I heard, the King is come to his Daughter With others, whom the rigour of our State Forc'd to cry out Regan. Why is this reasond? Gone. Combine together 'gainst the Enemie: For these domesticke and particular broiles, Are not the question heere Alb. Let's then determine with th' ancient of warre On our proceeding Reg. Sister you'le go with vs? Gon. No Reg. 'Tis most conuenient, pray go with vs Gon. Oh ho, I know the Riddle, I will goe. Exeunt. both the Armies. Enter Edgar. Edg. If ere your Grace had speech with man so poore, Heare me one word Alb. Ile ouertake you, speake Edg. Before you fight the Battaile, ope this Letter: If you haue victory, let the Trumpet sound For him that brought it: wretched though I seeme, I can produce a Champion, that will proue What is auouched there. If you miscarry, Your businesse of the world hath so an end, And machination ceases. Fortune loues you Alb. Stay till I haue read the Letter Edg. I was forbid it: When time shall serue, let but the Herald cry, And Ile appeare againe. Enter. Alb. Why farethee well, I will o're-looke thy paper. Enter Edmund. Bast. The Enemy's in view, draw vp your powers, Heere is the guesse of their true strength and Forces, By dilligent discouerie, but your hast Is now vrg'd on you Alb. We will greet the time. Enter. Bast. To both these Sisters haue I sworne my loue: Each iealous of the other, as the stung Are of the Adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enioy'd If both remaine aliue: To take the Widdow, Exasperates, makes mad her Sister Gonerill, And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being aliue. Now then, wee'l vse His countenance for the Battaile, which being done, Let her who would be rid of him, deuise His speedy taking off. As for the mercie Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia, The Battaile done, and they within our power, Shall neuer see his pardon: for my state, Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Enter.

Act 5, Scene 1

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act4-scene7-act5-scene1

Edmund and Regan are speaking, and Regan asks Edmund if he loves Goneril. He answers that he does, and Regan is disappointed. The Duke of Albany and Edmund decide to join forces against the invading French army when Edgar comes to them dressed in his disguise and gives a paper to Albany. Edmund enters and gives another paper to Albany all the while, trying to figure out which sister he will choose since he's sworn his love to both. He decides to wait until the battle is over, and unlike Albany intends to show no mercy to Cordelia or Lear

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/20.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_12_part_1.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 2

act 5, scene 2

{"name": "act 5, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act5-scene2-act5-scene3", "summary": "Edgar drags his father along and tells him that the French army has been defeated, and Cordelia and Lear wear captured", "analysis": ""}

Scena Secunda. Alarum within. Enter with Drumme and Colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Souldiers, ouer the Stage, and Exeunt. Enter Edgar, and Gloster. Edg. Heere Father, take the shadow of this Tree For your good hoast: pray that the right may thriue: If euer I returne to you againe, Ile bring you comfort Glo. Grace go with you Sir. Enter. Alarum and Retreat within. Enter Edgar. Edgar. Away old man, giue me thy hand, away: King Lear hath lost, he and his Daughter tane, Giue me thy hand: Come on Glo. No further Sir, a man may rot euen heere Edg. What in ill thoughts againe? Men must endure Their going hence, euen as their comming hither, Ripenesse is all come on Glo. And that's true too. Exeunt.

act 5, Scene 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act5-scene2-act5-scene3

Edgar drags his father along and tells him that the French army has been defeated, and Cordelia and Lear wear captured

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2266-chapters/21.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/King Lear/section_12_part_2.txt

King Lear.act 5.scene 3

act 5, scene 3

{"name": "act 5, Scene 3", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act5-scene2-act5-scene3", "summary": "Cordelia and Lear are sent to prison but plan happy ways to spend their time there. Edmund tells his captain as he's taking them that they are to be assassinated. Albany enters to discuss the conditions of the prisoners, and Edmund tells him they will discuss it later. The women then get in a fight over Edmund, and Albany challenges him for trying to steal his wife. Goneril poisons Regan, and Edgar comes forward to fight Edmund in hand-to-hand combat. They battle and Edmund is wounded. Albany then asks Goneril about her involvement in the plot to kill him and she refuses to answer. Edmund then asks his challengers name, and Edgar reveals himself. He tells his tale of dressing as a madman, and how he just witnessed his father's death. Afterwards, he pleads for Kent because of all he's done for the king. A man enters with a bloody knife and says that Goneril has killed her self and confessed to poisoning her sister. Kent arrives and asks after the king. Edmund admits that he ordered the king and Cordelia killed, and they send a man after them to prevent it. Lear comes out with a dead Cordelia in his arms, and Kent reveals himself to his king and Albany decides to give Lear back his thrown. But because of his sadness at Cordelia's death, Lear dies as well much to the sadness of his loyal followers", "analysis": ""}

Scena Tertia. Enter in conquest with Drum and Colours, Edmund, Lear, and Cordelia, as prisoners, Souldiers, Captaine. Bast. Some Officers take them away: good guard, Vntill their greater pleasures first be knowne That are to censure them Cor. We are not the first, Who with best meaning haue incurr'd the worst: For thee oppressed King I am cast downe, My selfe could else out-frowne false Fortunes frowne. Shall we not see these Daughters, and these Sisters? Lear. No, no, no, no: come let's away to prison, We two alone will sing like Birds i'th' Cage: When thou dost aske me blessing, Ile kneele downe And aske of thee forgiuenesse: So wee'l liue, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh At gilded Butterflies: and heere (poore Rogues) Talke of Court newes, and wee'l talke with them too, Who looses, and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take vpon's the mystery of things, As if we were Gods spies: And wee'l weare out In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, That ebbe and flow by th' Moone Bast. Take them away Lear. Vpon such sacrifices my Cordelia, The Gods themselues throw Incense. Haue I caught thee? He that parts vs, shall bring a Brand from Heauen, And fire vs hence, like Foxes: wipe thine eyes, The good yeares shall deuoure them, flesh and fell, Ere they shall make vs weepe? Weele see 'em staru'd first: come. Enter. Bast. Come hither Captaine, hearke. Take thou this note, go follow them to prison, One step I haue aduanc'd thee, if thou do'st As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To Noble Fortunes: know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender minded Do's not become a Sword, thy great imployment Will not beare question: either say thou'lt do't, Or thriue by other meanes Capt. Ile do't my Lord Bast. About it, and write happy, when th'hast done, Marke I say instantly, and carry it so As I haue set it downe. Exit Captaine. Flourish. Enter Albany, Gonerill, Regan, Soldiers. Alb. Sir, you haue shew'd to day your valiant straine And Fortune led you well: you haue the Captiues Who were the opposites of this dayes strife: I do require them of you so to vse them, As we shall find their merites, and our safety May equally determine Bast. Sir, I thought it fit, To send the old and miserable King to some retention, Whose age had Charmes in it, whose Title more, To plucke the common bosome on his side, And turne our imprest Launces in our eies Which do command them. With him I sent the Queen: My reason all the same, and they are ready To morrow, or at further space, t' appeare Where you shall hold your Session Alb. Sir, by your patience, I hold you but a subiect of this Warre, Not as a Brother Reg. That's as we list to grace him. Methinkes our pleasure might haue bin demanded Ere you had spoke so farre. He led our Powers, Bore the Commission of my place and person, The which immediacie may well stand vp, And call it selfe your Brother Gon. Not so hot: In his owne grace he doth exalt himselfe, More then in your addition Reg. In my rights, By me inuested, he compeeres the best Alb. That were the most, if he should husband you Reg. Iesters do oft proue Prophets Gon. Hola, hola, That eye that told you so, look'd but a squint Rega. Lady I am not well, else I should answere From a full flowing stomack. Generall, Take thou my Souldiers, prisoners, patrimony, Dispose of them, of me, the walls is thine: Witnesse the world, that I create thee heere My Lord, and Master Gon. Meane you to enioy him? Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will Bast. Nor in thine Lord Alb. Halfe-blooded fellow, yes Reg. Let the Drum strike, and proue my title thine Alb. Stay yet, heare reason: Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent: for your claime faire Sisters, I bare it in the interest of my wife, 'Tis she is sub-contracted to this Lord, And I her husband contradict your Banes. If you will marry, make your loues to me, My Lady is bespoke Gon. An enterlude Alb. Thou art armed Gloster, Let the Trumpet sound: If none appeare to proue vpon thy person, Thy heynous, manifest, and many Treasons, There is my pledge: Ile make it on thy heart Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing lesse Then I haue heere proclaim'd thee Reg. Sicke, O sicke Gon. If not, Ile nere trust medicine Bast. There's my exchange, what in the world hes That names me Traitor, villain-like he lies, Call by the Trumpet: he that dares approach; On him, on you, who not, I will maintaine My truth and honor firmely. Enter a Herald. Alb. A Herald, ho. Trust to thy single vertue, for thy Souldiers All leuied in my name, haue in my name Tooke their discharge Regan. My sicknesse growes vpon me Alb. She is not well, conuey her to my Tent. Come hither Herald, let the Trumpet sound, And read out this. A Trumpet sounds. Herald reads. If any man of qualitie or degree, within the lists of the Army, will maintaine vpon Edmund, supposed Earle of Gloster, that he is a manifold Traitor, let him appeare by the third sound of the Trumpet: he is bold in his defence. 1 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 2 Trumpet. Her. Againe. 3 Trumpet. Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar armed. Alb. Aske him his purposes, why he appeares Vpon this Call o'th' Trumpet Her. What are you? Your name, your quality, and why you answer This present Summons? Edg. Know my name is lost By Treasons tooth: bare-gnawne, and Canker-bit, Yet am I Noble as the Aduersary I come to cope Alb. Which is that Aduersary? Edg. What's he that speakes for Edmund Earle of Gloster? Bast. Himselfe, what saist thou to him? Edg. Draw thy Sword, That if my speech offend a Noble heart, Thy arme may do thee Iustice, heere is mine: Behold it is my priuiledge, The priuiledge of mine Honours, My oath, and my profession. I protest, Maugre thy strength, place, youth, and eminence, Despise thy victor-Sword, and fire new Fortune, Thy valor, and thy heart, thou art a Traitor: False to thy Gods, thy Brother, and thy Father, Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious Prince, And from th' extremest vpward of thy head, To the discent and dust below thy foote, A most Toad-spotted Traitor. Say thou no, This Sword, this arme, and my best spirits are bent To proue vpon thy heart, where to I speake, Thou lyest Bast. In wisedome I should aske thy name, But since thy out-side lookes so faire and Warlike, And that thy tongue (some say) of breeding breathes, What safe, and nicely I might well delay, By rule of Knight-hood, I disdaine and spurne: Backe do I tosse these Treasons to thy head, With the hell-hated Lye, ore-whelme thy heart, Which for they yet glance by, and scarcely bruise, This Sword of mine shall giue them instant way, Where they shall rest for euer. Trumpets speake Alb. Saue him, saue him. Alarums. Fights. Gon. This is practise Gloster, By th' law of Warre, thou wast not bound to answer An vnknowne opposite: thou art not vanquish'd, But cozend, and beguild Alb. Shut your mouth Dame, Or with this paper shall I stop it: hold Sir, Thou worse then any name, reade thine owne euill: No tearing Lady, I perceiue you know it Gon. Say if I do, the Lawes are mine not thine, Who can araigne me for't? Enter. Alb. Most monstrous! O, know'st thou this paper? Bast. Aske me not what I know Alb. Go after her, she's desperate, gouerne her Bast. What you haue charg'd me with, That haue I done, And more, much more, the time will bring it out. 'Tis past, and so am I: But what art thou That hast this Fortune on me? If thou'rt Noble, I do forgiue thee Edg. Let's exchange charity: I am no lesse in blood then thou art Edmond, If more, the more th'hast wrong'd me. My name is Edgar and thy Fathers Sonne, The Gods are iust, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague vs: The darke and vitious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes Bast. Th'hast spoken right, 'tis true, The Wheele is come full circle, I am heere Alb. Me thought thy very gate did prophesie A Royall Noblenesse: I must embrace thee, Let sorrow split my heart, if euer I Did hate thee, or thy Father Edg. Worthy Prince I know't Alb. Where haue you hid your selfe? How haue you knowne the miseries of your Father? Edg. By nursing them my Lord. List a breefe tale, And when 'tis told, O that my heart would burst. The bloody proclamation to escape That follow'd me so neere, (O our liues sweetnesse, That we the paine of death would hourely dye, Rather then die at once) taught me to shift Into a mad-mans rags, t' assume a semblance That very Dogges disdain'd: and in this habit Met I my Father with his bleeding Rings, Their precious Stones new lost: became his guide, Led him, begg'd for him, sau'd him from dispaire. Neuer (O fault) reueal'd my selfe vnto him, Vntill some halfe houre past when I was arm'd, Not sure, though hoping of this good successe, I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last Told him our pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart (Alacke too weake the conflict to support) Twixt two extremes of passion, ioy and greefe, Burst smilingly Bast. This speech of yours hath mou'd me, And shall perchance do good, but speake you on, You looke as you had something more to say Alb. If there be more, more wofull, hold it in, For I am almost ready to dissolue, Hearing of this. Enter a Gentleman. Gen. Helpe, helpe: O helpe Edg. What kinde of helpe? Alb. Speake man Edg. What meanes this bloody Knife? Gen. 'Tis hot, it smoakes, it came euen from the heart of- O she's dead Alb. Who dead? Speake man Gen. Your Lady Sir, your Lady; and her Sister By her is poyson'd: she confesses it Bast. I was contracted to them both, all three Now marry in an instant Edg. Here comes Kent. Enter Kent. Alb. Produce the bodies, be they aliue or dead; Gonerill and Regans bodies brought out. This iudgement of the Heauens that makes vs tremble. Touches vs not with pitty: O, is this he? The time will not allow the complement Which very manners vrges Kent. I am come To bid my King and Master aye good night. Is he not here? Alb. Great thing of vs forgot, Speake Edmund, where's the King? and where's Cordelia? Seest thou this obiect Kent? Kent. Alacke, why thus? Bast. Yet Edmund was belou'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herselfe Alb. Euen so: couer their faces Bast. I pant for life: some good I meane to do Despight of mine owne Nature. Quickly send, (Be briefe in it) to'th' Castle, for my Writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia: Nay, send in time Alb. Run, run, O run Edg. To who my Lord? Who ha's the Office? Send thy token of repreeue Bast. Well thought on, take my Sword, Giue it the Captaine Edg. Hast thee for thy life Bast. He hath Commission from thy Wife and me, To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame vpon her owne dispaire, That she for-did her selfe Alb. The Gods defend her, beare him hence awhile. Enter Lear with Cordelia in his armes. Lear. Howle, howle, howle: O you are men of stones, Had I your tongues and eyes, Il'd vse them so, That Heauens vault should crack: she's gone for euer. I know when one is dead, and when one liues, She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glasse, If that her breath will mist or staine the stone, Why then she liues Kent. Is this the promis'd end? Edg. Or image of that horror Alb. Fall and cease Lear. This feather stirs, she liues: if it be so, It is a chance which do's redeeme all sorrowes That euer I haue felt Kent. O my good Master Lear. Prythee away Edg. 'Tis Noble Kent your Friend Lear. A plague vpon you Murderors, Traitors all, I might haue sau'd her, now she's gone for euer: Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha: What is't thou saist? Her voice was euer soft, Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill'd the Slaue that was a hanging thee Gent. 'Tis true (my Lords) he did Lear. Did I not fellow? I haue seene the day, with my good biting Faulchion I would haue made him skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoile me. Who are you? Mine eyes are not o'th' best, Ile tell you straight Kent. If Fortune brag of two, she lou'd and hated, One of them we behold Lear. This is a dull sight, are you not Kent? Kent. The same: your Seruant Kent, Where is your Seruant Caius? Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that, He'le strike and quickly too, he's dead and rotten Kent. No my good Lord, I am the very man Lear. Ile see that straight Kent. That from your first of difference and decay, Haue follow'd your sad steps Lear. You are welcome hither Kent. Nor no man else: All's cheerlesse, darke, and deadly, Your eldest Daughters haue fore-done themselues, And desperately are dead Lear. I so I thinke Alb. He knowes not what he saies, and vaine is it That we present vs to him. Enter a Messenger. Edg. Very bootlesse Mess. Edmund is dead my Lord Alb. That's but a trifle heere: You Lords and Noble Friends, know our intent, What comfort to this great decay may come, Shall be appli'd. For vs we will resigne, During the life of this old Maiesty To him our absolute power, you to your rights, With boote, and such addition as your Honours Haue more then merited. All Friends shall Taste the wages of their vertue, and all Foes The cup of their deseruings: O see, see Lear. And my poore Foole is hang'd: no, no, no life? Why should a Dog, a Horse, a Rat haue life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer, neuer. Pray you vndo this Button. Thanke you Sir, Do you see this? Looke on her? Looke her lips, Looke there, looke there. He dies. Edg. He faints, my Lord, my Lord Kent. Breake heart, I prythee breake Edg. Looke vp my Lord Kent. Vex not his ghost, O let him passe, he hates him, That would vpon the wracke of this tough world Stretch him out longer Edg. He is gon indeed Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long, He but vsurpt his life Alb. Beare them from hence, our present businesse Is generall woe: Friends of my soule, you twaine, Rule in this Realme, and the gor'd state sustaine Kent. I haue a iourney Sir, shortly to go, My Master calls me, I must not say no Edg. The waight of this sad time we must obey, Speake what we feele, not what we ought to say: The oldest hath borne most, we that are yong, Shall neuer see so much, nor liue so long. Exeunt. with a dead March. FINIS. THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR.

act 5, Scene 3

https://web.archive.org/web/20201205114447/https://www.novelguide.com/king-lear/summaries/act5-scene2-act5-scene3

Cordelia and Lear are sent to prison but plan happy ways to spend their time there. Edmund tells his captain as he's taking them that they are to be assassinated. Albany enters to discuss the conditions of the prisoners, and Edmund tells him they will discuss it later. The women then get in a fight over Edmund, and Albany challenges him for trying to steal his wife. Goneril poisons Regan, and Edgar comes forward to fight Edmund in hand-to-hand combat. They battle and Edmund is wounded. Albany then asks Goneril about her involvement in the plot to kill him and she refuses to answer. Edmund then asks his challengers name, and Edgar reveals himself. He tells his tale of dressing as a madman, and how he just witnessed his father's death. Afterwards, he pleads for Kent because of all he's done for the king. A man enters with a bloody knife and says that Goneril has killed her self and confessed to poisoning her sister. Kent arrives and asks after the king. Edmund admits that he ordered the king and Cordelia killed, and they send a man after them to prevent it. Lear comes out with a dead Cordelia in his arms, and Kent reveals himself to his king and Albany decides to give Lear back his thrown. But because of his sadness at Cordelia's death, Lear dies as well much to the sadness of his loyal followers

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/01.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_0_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part i.chapter i

chapter i

{"name": "Chapter I", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood12.asp", "summary": "The book begins on a cold and starry Christmas Eve in Mellstock. Dick Dewy, an ordinary looking young man, is singing on his way home through the woods. Five other villagers, also traveling towards the Dewy house, join Dick, including Michael Mail , Robert Penny , Elias Spinks , Joseph Bowman , and Thomas Leaf . Dick tells all five of them that his father and grandfather have been eagerly awaiting their arrival. In fact, all of the Mellstock men's choir will be meeting at Dick's house, assembling for the annual carol sing. The five villagers tell Dick that they are delighted at the thought of drinking from the new barrel of cider that Dick's father is going to tap for them.", "analysis": "Notes This first chapter is largely introductory. Hardy begins his description of the lovely Mellstock landscape in the very first paragraph of the novel. He also establishes the harmonious co- existence of the villagers with one another and with nature. In fact, the song that Dick Dewy is singing recalls the kinship between human life and the seasons. The structure of the novel will actually follow the seasons. The mood is immediately light and cheerful. The night is cold, crisp, and starry. Dick Dewy is obviously in a jovial mood as he sings a happy song. When he encounters other villagers, he is genuinely delighted to see them and tells them that his family eagerly awaits their arrival. The unusual physical characteristics of the rustic villagers are even humorously described by the author, adding to the light mood. There is a sense of festivity about everything, for the choir is gathering to have cider at the Dewy home and then proceeding to have their annual Christmas carol sing. This first chapter clearly establishes that Hardy is writing about a setting that he knows and loves."}

To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall. And winter, which modifies the note of such trees as shed their leaves, does not destroy its individuality. On a cold and starry Christmas-eve within living memory a man was passing up a lane towards Mellstock Cross in the darkness of a plantation that whispered thus distinctively to his intelligence. All the evidences of his nature were those afforded by the spirit of his footsteps, which succeeded each other lightly and quickly, and by the liveliness of his voice as he sang in a rural cadence: "With the rose and the lily And the daffodowndilly, The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go." The lonely lane he was following connected one of the hamlets of Mellstock parish with Upper Mellstock and Lewgate, and to his eyes, casually glancing upward, the silver and black-stemmed birches with their characteristic tufts, the pale grey boughs of beech, the dark-creviced elm, all appeared now as black and flat outlines upon the sky, wherein the white stars twinkled so vehemently that their flickering seemed like the flapping of wings. Within the woody pass, at a level anything lower than the horizon, all was dark as the grave. The copse-wood forming the sides of the bower interlaced its branches so densely, even at this season of the year, that the draught from the north-east flew along the channel with scarcely an interruption from lateral breezes. After passing the plantation and reaching Mellstock Cross the white surface of the lane revealed itself between the dark hedgerows like a ribbon jagged at the edges; the irregularity being caused by temporary accumulations of leaves extending from the ditch on either side. The song (many times interrupted by flitting thoughts which took the place of several bars, and resumed at a point it would have reached had its continuity been unbroken) now received a more palpable check, in the shape of "Ho-i-i-i-i-i!" from the crossing lane to Lower Mellstock, on the right of the singer who had just emerged from the trees. "Ho-i-i-i-i-i!" he answered, stopping and looking round, though with no idea of seeing anything more than imagination pictured. "Is that thee, young Dick Dewy?" came from the darkness. "Ay, sure, Michael Mail." "Then why not stop for fellow-craters--going to thy own father's house too, as we be, and knowen us so well?" Dick Dewy faced about and continued his tune in an under-whistle, implying that the business of his mouth could not be checked at a moment's notice by the placid emotion of friendship. Having come more into the open he could now be seen rising against the sky, his profile appearing on the light background like the portrait of a gentleman in black cardboard. It assumed the form of a low-crowned hat, an ordinary-shaped nose, an ordinary chin, an ordinary neck, and ordinary shoulders. What he consisted of further down was invisible from lack of sky low enough to picture him on. Shuffling, halting, irregular footsteps of various kinds were now heard coming up the hill, and presently there emerged from the shade severally five men of different ages and gaits, all of them working villagers of the parish of Mellstock. They, too, had lost their rotundity with the daylight, and advanced against the sky in flat outlines, which suggested some processional design on Greek or Etruscan pottery. They represented the chief portion of Mellstock parish choir. The first was a bowed and bent man, who carried a fiddle under his arm, and walked as if engaged in studying some subject connected with the surface of the road. He was Michael Mail, the man who had hallooed to Dick. The next was Mr. Robert Penny, boot- and shoemaker; a little man, who, though rather round-shouldered, walked as if that fact had not come to his own knowledge, moving on with his back very hollow and his face fixed on the north-east quarter of the heavens before him, so that his lower waist-coat-buttons came first, and then the remainder of his figure. His features were invisible; yet when he occasionally looked round, two faint moons of light gleamed for an instant from the precincts of his eyes, denoting that he wore spectacles of a circular form. The third was Elias Spinks, who walked perpendicularly and dramatically. The fourth outline was Joseph Bowman's, who had now no distinctive appearance beyond that of a human being. Finally came a weak lath-like form, trotting and stumbling along with one shoulder forward and his head inclined to the left, his arms dangling nervelessly in the wind as if they were empty sleeves. This was Thomas Leaf. "Where be the boys?" said Dick to this somewhat indifferently-matched assembly. The eldest of the group, Michael Mail, cleared his throat from a great depth. "We told them to keep back at home for a time, thinken they wouldn't be wanted yet awhile; and we could choose the tuens, and so on." "Father and grandfather William have expected ye a little sooner. I have just been for a run round by Ewelease Stile and Hollow Hill to warm my feet." "To be sure father did! To be sure 'a did expect us--to taste the little barrel beyond compare that he's going to tap." "'Od rabbit it all! Never heard a word of it!" said Mr. Penny, gleams of delight appearing upon his spectacle-glasses, Dick meanwhile singing parenthetically-- "The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go." "Neighbours, there's time enough to drink a sight of drink now afore bedtime?" said Mail. "True, true--time enough to get as drunk as lords!" replied Bowman cheerfully. This opinion being taken as convincing they all advanced between the varying hedges and the trees dotting them here and there, kicking their toes occasionally among the crumpled leaves. Soon appeared glimmering indications of the few cottages forming the small hamlet of Upper Mellstock for which they were bound, whilst the faint sound of church- bells ringing a Christmas peal could be heard floating over upon the breeze from the direction of Longpuddle and Weatherbury parishes on the other side of the hills. A little wicket admitted them to the garden, and they proceeded up the path to Dick's house.

Chapter I

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood12.asp

The book begins on a cold and starry Christmas Eve in Mellstock. Dick Dewy, an ordinary looking young man, is singing on his way home through the woods. Five other villagers, also traveling towards the Dewy house, join Dick, including Michael Mail , Robert Penny , Elias Spinks , Joseph Bowman , and Thomas Leaf . Dick tells all five of them that his father and grandfather have been eagerly awaiting their arrival. In fact, all of the Mellstock men's choir will be meeting at Dick's house, assembling for the annual carol sing. The five villagers tell Dick that they are delighted at the thought of drinking from the new barrel of cider that Dick's father is going to tap for them.

Notes This first chapter is largely introductory. Hardy begins his description of the lovely Mellstock landscape in the very first paragraph of the novel. He also establishes the harmonious co- existence of the villagers with one another and with nature. In fact, the song that Dick Dewy is singing recalls the kinship between human life and the seasons. The structure of the novel will actually follow the seasons. The mood is immediately light and cheerful. The night is cold, crisp, and starry. Dick Dewy is obviously in a jovial mood as he sings a happy song. When he encounters other villagers, he is genuinely delighted to see them and tells them that his family eagerly awaits their arrival. The unusual physical characteristics of the rustic villagers are even humorously described by the author, adding to the light mood. There is a sense of festivity about everything, for the choir is gathering to have cider at the Dewy home and then proceeding to have their annual Christmas carol sing. This first chapter clearly establishes that Hardy is writing about a setting that he knows and loves.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/02.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_1_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part i.chapter ii

chapter ii

{"name": "Chapter II", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood13.asp", "summary": "The Dewy's house, a low-roofed cottage, has three chimneys and a thatched roof. The walls of the house are covered with creeping plants, and the door appears to be worn out from the coming and going of many people. A little away from the cottage is a building from which comes the sound of woodcutting. The sound of horses can also be heard. The men's church choir enters the house, wiping their boots clean on the doorstep. As they enter, they spy Dick's father, Reuben Dewy. Known to the townsfolk as the Tranter, Reuben, a stout, red-faced man of about forty, is busily engaged in opening a barrel of cider. He does not bother to look up when they enter, but he welcomes the men and tells them that the cider is made from the finest apples. The main room to the left of the cottage is decorated with a Christmas tree. The Tranter's wife and four of his children are gathered there; Susan, Jim, Bessy, and Charley are all between the ages of four and sixteen; Dick, the oldest, is twenty years old. Mrs. Dewy invites the choir to sit round the fire. She warmly asks Thomas Leaf to sit beside her and inquires about Mr. Penny's daughter, who is expecting her fifth baby. As Reuben is about to open the barrel, he remembers the deceased Sam Lawson, who had given him the cider. When the cider shoots out in a stream, he sends his daughter to get mugs and tells Michael to put his thumb over the hole while he retrieves a cork. The choir sits drinking around the table. Reuben wonders if his father, known as Grandfather William, is cutting wood or playing the violin. He goes to find him and ask him to join the party.", "analysis": "Notes In this chapter, traditional rustic hospitality and family life are introduced. The Dewy home is warmly described in careful detail. Even though the Dewys are not wealthy, they are a close family unit. They have put up a Christmas tree in the big room of their picturesque cottage and have gathered around it, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the choir. Mrs. Dewy and four of her children are also eager for the return of Dick, the oldest son. As they wait, Reuben Dewy, Dick's father, is attempting to open a barrel of cider, which he plans to share with the men from the church choir. When the choir members enter, they are warmly welcomed with familiarity, even though Reuben never looks up from the task at hand. He feels totally comfortable with these rustics and feels no need to be formal. The group gathers around the table to enjoy the cider and good-humored conversation about their lives, past and present; it is obvious that they like and enjoy one another. When Reuben realizes that his own father, Grandfather William, has not yet joined them, he calls him to the party. In totality, the chapter is a warm picture of close community filled with a festive mood."}

It was a long low cottage with a hipped roof of thatch, having dormer windows breaking up into the eaves, a chimney standing in the middle of the ridge and another at each end. The window-shutters were not yet closed, and the fire- and candle-light within radiated forth upon the thick bushes of box and laurestinus growing in clumps outside, and upon the bare boughs of several codlin-trees hanging about in various distorted shapes, the result of early training as espaliers combined with careless climbing into their boughs in later years. The walls of the dwelling were for the most part covered with creepers, though these were rather beaten back from the doorway--a feature which was worn and scratched by much passing in and out, giving it by day the appearance of an old keyhole. Light streamed through the cracks and joints of outbuildings a little way from the cottage, a sight which nourished a fancy that the purpose of the erection must be rather to veil bright attractions than to shelter unsightly necessaries. The noise of a beetle and wedges and the splintering of wood was periodically heard from this direction; and at some little distance further a steady regular munching and the occasional scurr of a rope betokened a stable, and horses feeding within it. The choir stamped severally on the door-stone to shake from their boots any fragment of earth or leaf adhering thereto, then entered the house and looked around to survey the condition of things. Through the open doorway of a small inner room on the right hand, of a character between pantry and cellar, was Dick Dewy's father Reuben, by vocation a "tranter," or irregular carrier. He was a stout florid man about forty years of age, who surveyed people up and down when first making their acquaintance, and generally smiled at the horizon or other distant object during conversations with friends, walking about with a steady sway, and turning out his toes very considerably. Being now occupied in bending over a hogshead, that stood in the pantry ready horsed for the process of broaching, he did not take the trouble to turn or raise his eyes at the entry of his visitors, well knowing by their footsteps that they were the expected old comrades. The main room, on the left, was decked with bunches of holly and other evergreens, and from the middle of the beam bisecting the ceiling hung the mistletoe, of a size out of all proportion to the room, and extending so low that it became necessary for a full-grown person to walk round it in passing, or run the risk of entangling his hair. This apartment contained Mrs. Dewy the tranter's wife, and the four remaining children, Susan, Jim, Bessy, and Charley, graduating uniformly though at wide stages from the age of sixteen to that of four years--the eldest of the series being separated from Dick the firstborn by a nearly equal interval. Some circumstance had apparently caused much grief to Charley just previous to the entry of the choir, and he had absently taken down a small looking-glass, holding it before his face to learn how the human countenance appeared when engaged in crying, which survey led him to pause at the various points in each wail that were more than ordinarily striking, for a thorough appreciation of the general effect. Bessy was leaning against a chair, and glancing under the plaits about the waist of the plaid frock she wore, to notice the original unfaded pattern of the material as there preserved, her face bearing an expression of regret that the brightness had passed away from the visible portions. Mrs. Dewy sat in a brown settle by the side of the glowing wood fire--so glowing that with a heedful compression of the lips she would now and then rise and put her hand upon the hams and flitches of bacon lining the chimney, to reassure herself that they were not being broiled instead of smoked--a misfortune that had been known to happen now and then at Christmas-time. "Hullo, my sonnies, here you be, then!" said Reuben Dewy at length, standing up and blowing forth a vehement gust of breath. "How the blood do puff up in anybody's head, to be sure, a-stooping like that! I was just going out to gate to hark for ye." He then carefully began to wind a strip of brown paper round a brass tap he held in his hand. "This in the cask here is a drop o' the right sort" (tapping the cask); "'tis a real drop o' cordial from the best picked apples--Sansoms, Stubbards, Five-corners, and such-like--you d'mind the sort, Michael?" (Michael nodded.) "And there's a sprinkling of they that grow down by the orchard- rails--streaked ones--rail apples we d'call 'em, as 'tis by the rails they grow, and not knowing the right name. The water-cider from 'em is as good as most people's best cider is." "Ay, and of the same make too," said Bowman. "'It rained when we wrung it out, and the water got into it,' folk will say. But 'tis on'y an excuse. Watered cider is too common among us." "Yes, yes; too common it is!" said Spinks with an inward sigh, whilst his eyes seemed to be looking at the case in an abstract form rather than at the scene before him. "Such poor liquor do make a man's throat feel very melancholy--and is a disgrace to the name of stimmilent." "Come in, come in, and draw up to the fire; never mind your shoes," said Mrs. Dewy, seeing that all except Dick had paused to wipe them upon the door-mat. "I am glad that you've stepped up-along at last; and, Susan, you run down to Grammer Kaytes's and see if you can borrow some larger candles than these fourteens. Tommy Leaf, don't ye be afeard! Come and sit here in the settle." This was addressed to the young man before mentioned, consisting chiefly of a human skeleton and a smock-frock, who was very awkward in his movements, apparently on account of having grown so very fast that before he had had time to get used to his height he was higher. "Hee--hee--ay!" replied Leaf, letting his mouth continue to smile for some time after his mind had done smiling, so that his teeth remained in view as the most conspicuous members of his body. "Here, Mr. Penny," resumed Mrs. Dewy, "you sit in this chair. And how's your daughter, Mrs. Brownjohn?" "Well, I suppose I must say pretty fair." He adjusted his spectacles a quarter of an inch to the right. "But she'll be worse before she's better, 'a b'lieve." "Indeed--poor soul! And how many will that make in all, four or five?" "Five; they've buried three. Yes, five; and she not much more than a maid yet. She do know the multiplication table onmistakable well. However, 'twas to be, and none can gainsay it." Mrs. Dewy resigned Mr. Penny. "Wonder where your grandfather James is?" she inquired of one of the children. "He said he'd drop in to-night." "Out in fuel-house with grandfather William," said Jimmy. "Now let's see what we can do," was heard spoken about this time by the tranter in a private voice to the barrel, beside which he had again established himself, and was stooping to cut away the cork. "Reuben, don't make such a mess o' tapping that barrel as is mostly made in this house," Mrs. Dewy cried from the fireplace. "I'd tap a hundred without wasting more than you do in one. Such a squizzling and squirting job as 'tis in your hands! There, he always was such a clumsy man indoors." "Ay, ay; I know you'd tap a hundred beautiful, Ann--I know you would; two hundred, perhaps. But I can't promise. This is a' old cask, and the wood's rotted away about the tap-hole. The husbird of a feller Sam Lawson--that ever I should call'n such, now he's dead and gone, poor heart!--took me in completely upon the feat of buying this cask. 'Reub,' says he--'a always used to call me plain Reub, poor old heart!--'Reub,' he said, says he, 'that there cask, Reub, is as good as new; yes, good as new. 'Tis a wine-hogshead; the best port-wine in the commonwealth have been in that there cask; and you shall have en for ten shillens, Reub,'--'a said, says he--'he's worth twenty, ay, five-and-twenty, if he's worth one; and an iron hoop or two put round en among the wood ones will make en worth thirty shillens of any man's money, if--'" "I think I should have used the eyes that Providence gave me to use afore I paid any ten shillens for a jimcrack wine-barrel; a saint is sinner enough not to be cheated. But 'tis like all your family was, so easy to be deceived." "That's as true as gospel of this member," said Reuben. Mrs. Dewy began a smile at the answer, then altering her lips and refolding them so that it was not a smile, commenced smoothing little Bessy's hair; the tranter having meanwhile suddenly become oblivious to conversation, occupying himself in a deliberate cutting and arrangement of some more brown paper for the broaching operation. "Ah, who can believe sellers!" said old Michael Mail in a carefully-cautious voice, by way of tiding-over this critical point of affairs. "No one at all," said Joseph Bowman, in the tone of a man fully agreeing with everybody. "Ay," said Mail, in the tone of a man who did not agree with everybody as a rule, though he did now; "I knowed a' auctioneering feller once--a very friendly feller 'a was too. And so one hot day as I was walking down the front street o' Casterbridge, jist below the King's Arms, I passed a' open winder and see him inside, stuck upon his perch, a-selling off. I jist nodded to en in a friendly way as I passed, and went my way, and thought no more about it. Well, next day, as I was oilen my boots by fuel-house door, if a letter didn't come wi' a bill charging me with a feather-bed, bolster, and pillers, that I had bid for at Mr. Taylor's sale. The slim-faced martel had knocked 'em down to me because I nodded to en in my friendly way; and I had to pay for 'em too. Now, I hold that that was coming it very close, Reuben?" "'Twas close, there's no denying," said the general voice. "Too close, 'twas," said Reuben, in the rear of the rest. "And as to Sam Lawson--poor heart! now he's dead and gone too!--I'll warrant, that if so be I've spent one hour in making hoops for that barrel, I've spent fifty, first and last. That's one of my hoops"--touching it with his elbow--"that's one of mine, and that, and that, and all these." "Ah, Sam was a man," said Mr. Penny, contemplatively. "Sam was!" said Bowman. "Especially for a drap o' drink," said the tranter. "Good, but not religious-good," suggested Mr. Penny. The tranter nodded. Having at last made the tap and hole quite ready, "Now then, Suze, bring a mug," he said. "Here's luck to us, my sonnies!" The tap went in, and the cider immediately squirted out in a horizontal shower over Reuben's hands, knees, and leggings, and into the eyes and neck of Charley, who, having temporarily put off his grief under pressure of more interesting proceedings, was squatting down and blinking near his father. "There 'tis again!" said Mrs. Dewy. "Devil take the hole, the cask, and Sam Lawson too, that good cider should be wasted like this!" exclaimed the tranter. "Your thumb! Lend me your thumb, Michael! Ram it in here, Michael! I must get a bigger tap, my sonnies." "Idd it cold inthide te hole?" inquired Charley of Michael, as he continued in a stooping posture with his thumb in the cork-hole. "What wonderful odds and ends that chiel has in his head to be sure!" Mrs. Dewy admiringly exclaimed from the distance. "I lay a wager that he thinks more about how 'tis inside that barrel than in all the other parts of the world put together." All persons present put on a speaking countenance of admiration for the cleverness alluded to, in the midst of which Reuben returned. The operation was then satisfactorily performed; when Michael arose and stretched his head to the extremest fraction of height that his body would allow of, to re-straighten his back and shoulders--thrusting out his arms and twisting his features to a mass of wrinkles to emphasize the relief aquired. A quart or two of the beverage was then brought to table, at which all the new arrivals reseated themselves with wide-spread knees, their eyes meditatively seeking out any speck or knot in the board upon which the gaze might precipitate itself. "Whatever is father a-biding out in fuel-house so long for?" said the tranter. "Never such a man as father for two things--cleaving up old dead apple-tree wood and playing the bass-viol. 'A'd pass his life between the two, that 'a would." He stepped to the door and opened it. "Father!" "Ay!" rang thinly from round the corner. "Here's the barrel tapped, and we all a-waiting!" A series of dull thuds, that had been heard without for some time past, now ceased; and after the light of a lantern had passed the window and made wheeling rays upon the ceiling inside the eldest of the Dewy family appeared.

Chapter II

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood13.asp

The Dewy's house, a low-roofed cottage, has three chimneys and a thatched roof. The walls of the house are covered with creeping plants, and the door appears to be worn out from the coming and going of many people. A little away from the cottage is a building from which comes the sound of woodcutting. The sound of horses can also be heard. The men's church choir enters the house, wiping their boots clean on the doorstep. As they enter, they spy Dick's father, Reuben Dewy. Known to the townsfolk as the Tranter, Reuben, a stout, red-faced man of about forty, is busily engaged in opening a barrel of cider. He does not bother to look up when they enter, but he welcomes the men and tells them that the cider is made from the finest apples. The main room to the left of the cottage is decorated with a Christmas tree. The Tranter's wife and four of his children are gathered there; Susan, Jim, Bessy, and Charley are all between the ages of four and sixteen; Dick, the oldest, is twenty years old. Mrs. Dewy invites the choir to sit round the fire. She warmly asks Thomas Leaf to sit beside her and inquires about Mr. Penny's daughter, who is expecting her fifth baby. As Reuben is about to open the barrel, he remembers the deceased Sam Lawson, who had given him the cider. When the cider shoots out in a stream, he sends his daughter to get mugs and tells Michael to put his thumb over the hole while he retrieves a cork. The choir sits drinking around the table. Reuben wonders if his father, known as Grandfather William, is cutting wood or playing the violin. He goes to find him and ask him to join the party.

Notes In this chapter, traditional rustic hospitality and family life are introduced. The Dewy home is warmly described in careful detail. Even though the Dewys are not wealthy, they are a close family unit. They have put up a Christmas tree in the big room of their picturesque cottage and have gathered around it, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the choir. Mrs. Dewy and four of her children are also eager for the return of Dick, the oldest son. As they wait, Reuben Dewy, Dick's father, is attempting to open a barrel of cider, which he plans to share with the men from the church choir. When the choir members enter, they are warmly welcomed with familiarity, even though Reuben never looks up from the task at hand. He feels totally comfortable with these rustics and feels no need to be formal. The group gathers around the table to enjoy the cider and good-humored conversation about their lives, past and present; it is obvious that they like and enjoy one another. When Reuben realizes that his own father, Grandfather William, has not yet joined them, he calls him to the party. In totality, the chapter is a warm picture of close community filled with a festive mood.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/03.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_2_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part i.chapter iii

chapter iii

{"name": "Chapter III", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood14.asp", "summary": "Even though Grandfather William is seventy, he is still very active although sometimes weak-minded. His bright face would remind a gardener of the \"sunny side of a ripe ribstone - pippin.\" William, a religious man, is also very good-hearted. When he joins the party, he wishes everyone a merry Christmas and throws an armful of logs on the fire. Before coming in, William has invited Grandfather James, Mrs. Dewy's father, to join them. He is a miserly stone mason who lives alone in his cottage. Grandfather William and the choir talk about which carols they will sing, for they need to practice in order to do well. Robert Penny, the local shoemaker, interrupts to exclaim that he has forgotten to deliver a pair of boots to the schoolhouse; he curses his weak-mindedness in forgetting important matters. Seeing that the mention of the boots has generated greater interest than expected, Penny explains that he has made boots for Geoffrey Day, Geoffrey's father, and Geoffrey's sister, Fancy Day. The boots that he has forgotten to deliver are the ones for Miss Day, who wanted to wear them to church the next morning. Talk turns to the new schoolmistress, whom they call \"a figure of fun\" and \"just husband-high.\" Penny then tells the story of John Woodward's brother. When he drowned, no one could identify the body; but Penny was able to identify his boots. Spinks, considered the town scholar and a good teacher, says that he can identify the ways of a man's heart from his feet. Reuben expresses surprise at the fact that a person's character could be read from his feet. Grandfather William again turns the talk to the carol sing. He wonders whether they should sing for the new schoolmistress. Dick Dewy's interest is aroused because he has heard that Fancy Day is young and beautiful.", "analysis": "Notes In this chapter the Mellstock rustics are brought to life through their conversation and the stories that they tell. They perform an almost choric function as they give information on various characters and events. Penny's discussion on boot making and his digression on John Woodward's brother are very interesting and earthy, lending realism to the dialogue. The discussion of Fancy Day is humorous, but significant, since she will become the protagonist of the story and the object of Dick's affection. Much time is spent in the description of Grandfather William, Reuben's father. He is a kind-hearted man of seventy; although he is still very active, he is often forgetful. His cheerfulness is a sharp contrast to Mrs. Dewy's father, Grandfather James, who is a miserly loner."}

William Dewy--otherwise grandfather William--was now about seventy; yet an ardent vitality still preserved a warm and roughened bloom upon his face, which reminded gardeners of the sunny side of a ripe ribstone-pippin; though a narrow strip of forehead, that was protected from the weather by lying above the line of his hat-brim, seemed to belong to some town man, so gentlemanly was its whiteness. His was a humorous and kindly nature, not unmixed with a frequent melancholy; and he had a firm religious faith. But to his neighbours he had no character in particular. If they saw him pass by their windows when they had been bottling off old mead, or when they had just been called long-headed men who might do anything in the world if they chose, they thought concerning him, "Ah, there's that good-hearted man--open as a child!" If they saw him just after losing a shilling or half-a-crown, or accidentally letting fall a piece of crockery, they thought, "There's that poor weak-minded man Dewy again! Ah, he's never done much in the world either!" If he passed when fortune neither smiled nor frowned on them, they merely thought him old William Dewy. "Ah, so's--here you be!--Ah, Michael and Joseph and John--and you too, Leaf! a merry Christmas all! We shall have a rare log-wood fire directly, Reub, to reckon by the toughness of the job I had in cleaving 'em." As he spoke he threw down an armful of logs which fell in the chimney-corner with a rumble, and looked at them with something of the admiring enmity he would have bestowed on living people who had been very obstinate in holding their own. "Come in, grandfather James." Old James (grandfather on the maternal side) had simply called as a visitor. He lived in a cottage by himself, and many people considered him a miser; some, rather slovenly in his habits. He now came forward from behind grandfather William, and his stooping figure formed a well- illuminated picture as he passed towards the fire-place. Being by trade a mason, he wore a long linen apron reaching almost to his toes, corduroy breeches and gaiters, which, together with his boots, graduated in tints of whitish-brown by constant friction against lime and stone. He also wore a very stiff fustian coat, having folds at the elbows and shoulders as unvarying in their arrangement as those in a pair of bellows: the ridges and the projecting parts of the coat collectively exhibiting a shade different from that of the hollows, which were lined with small ditch-like accumulations of stone and mortar-dust. The extremely large side-pockets, sheltered beneath wide flaps, bulged out convexly whether empty or full; and as he was often engaged to work at buildings far away--his breakfasts and dinners being eaten in a strange chimney-corner, by a garden wall, on a heap of stones, or walking along the road--he carried in these pockets a small tin canister of butter, a small canister of sugar, a small canister of tea, a paper of salt, and a paper of pepper; the bread, cheese, and meat, forming the substance of his meals, hanging up behind him in his basket among the hammers and chisels. If a passer-by looked hard at him when he was drawing forth any of these, "My buttery," he said, with a pinched smile. "Better try over number seventy-eight before we start, I suppose?" said William, pointing to a heap of old Christmas-carol books on a side table. "Wi' all my heart," said the choir generally. "Number seventy-eight was always a teaser--always. I can mind him ever since I was growing up a hard boy-chap." "But he's a good tune, and worth a mint o' practice," said Michael. "He is; though I've been mad enough wi' that tune at times to seize en and tear en all to linnit. Ay, he's a splendid carrel--there's no denying that." "The first line is well enough," said Mr. Spinks; "but when you come to 'O, thou man,' you make a mess o't." "We'll have another go into en, and see what we can make of the martel. Half-an-hour's hammering at en will conquer the toughness of en; I'll warn it." "'Od rabbit it all!" said Mr. Penny, interrupting with a flash of his spectacles, and at the same time clawing at something in the depths of a large side-pocket. "If so be I hadn't been as scatter-brained and thirtingill as a chiel, I should have called at the schoolhouse wi' a boot as I cam up along. Whatever is coming to me I really can't estimate at all!" "The brain has its weaknesses," murmured Mr. Spinks, waving his head ominously. Mr. Spinks was considered to be a scholar, having once kept a night-school, and always spoke up to that level. "Well, I must call with en the first thing to-morrow. And I'll empt my pocket o' this last too, if you don't mind, Mrs. Dewy." He drew forth a last, and placed it on a table at his elbow. The eyes of three or four followed it. "Well," said the shoemaker, seeming to perceive that the interest the object had excited was greater than he had anticipated, and warranted the last's being taken up again and exhibited; "now, whose foot do ye suppose this last was made for? It was made for Geoffrey Day's father, over at Yalbury Wood. Ah, many's the pair o' boots he've had off the last! Well, when 'a died, I used the last for Geoffrey, and have ever since, though a little doctoring was wanted to make it do. Yes, a very queer natured last it is now, 'a b'lieve," he continued, turning it over caressingly. "Now, you notice that there" (pointing to a lump of leather bradded to the toe), "that's a very bad bunion that he've had ever since 'a was a boy. Now, this remarkable large piece" (pointing to a patch nailed to the side), "shows a' accident he received by the tread of a horse, that squashed his foot a'most to a pomace. The horseshoe cam full-butt on this point, you see. And so I've just been over to Geoffrey's, to know if he wanted his bunion altered or made bigger in the new pair I'm making." During the latter part of this speech, Mr. Penny's left hand wandered towards the cider-cup, as if the hand had no connection with the person speaking; and bringing his sentence to an abrupt close, all but the extreme margin of the bootmaker's face was eclipsed by the circular brim of the vessel. "However, I was going to say," continued Penny, putting down the cup, "I ought to have called at the school"--here he went groping again in the depths of his pocket--"to leave this without fail, though I suppose the first thing to-morrow will do." He now drew forth and placed upon the table a boot--small, light, and prettily shaped--upon the heel of which he had been operating. "The new schoolmistress's!" "Ay, no less, Miss Fancy Day; as neat a little figure of fun as ever I see, and just husband-high." "Never Geoffrey's daughter Fancy?" said Bowman, as all glances present converged like wheel-spokes upon the boot in the centre of them. "Yes, sure," resumed Mr. Penny, regarding the boot as if that alone were his auditor; "'tis she that's come here schoolmistress. You knowed his daughter was in training?" "Strange, isn't it, for her to be here Christmas night, Master Penny?" "Yes; but here she is, 'a b'lieve." "I know how she comes here--so I do!" chirruped one of the children. "Why?" Dick inquired, with subtle interest. "Pa'son Maybold was afraid he couldn't manage us all to-morrow at the dinner, and he talked o' getting her jist to come over and help him hand about the plates, and see we didn't make pigs of ourselves; and that's what she's come for!" "And that's the boot, then," continued its mender imaginatively, "that she'll walk to church in to-morrow morning. I don't care to mend boots I don't make; but there's no knowing what it may lead to, and her father always comes to me." There, between the cider-mug and the candle, stood this interesting receptacle of the little unknown's foot; and a very pretty boot it was. A character, in fact--the flexible bend at the instep, the rounded localities of the small nestling toes, scratches from careless scampers now forgotten--all, as repeated in the tell-tale leather, evidencing a nature and a bias. Dick surveyed it with a delicate feeling that he had no right to do so without having first asked the owner of the foot's permission. "Now, neighbours, though no common eye can see it," the shoemaker went on, "a man in the trade can see the likeness between this boot and that last, although that is so deformed as hardly to recall one of God's creatures, and this is one of as pretty a pair as you'd get for ten-and- sixpence in Casterbridge. To you, nothing; but 'tis father's voot and daughter's voot to me, as plain as houses." "I don't doubt there's a likeness, Master Penny--a mild likeness--a fantastical likeness," said Spinks. "But I han't got imagination enough to see it, perhaps." Mr. Penny adjusted his spectacles. "Now, I'll tell ye what happened to me once on this very point. You used to know Johnson the dairyman, William?" "Ay, sure; I did." "Well, 'twasn't opposite his house, but a little lower down--by his paddock, in front o' Parkmaze Pool. I was a-bearing across towards Bloom's End, and lo and behold, there was a man just brought out o' the Pool, dead; he had un'rayed for a dip, but not being able to pitch it just there had gone in flop over his head. Men looked at en; women looked at en; children looked at en; nobody knowed en. He was covered wi' a sheet; but I catched sight of his voot, just showing out as they carried en along. 'I don't care what name that man went by,' I said, in my way, 'but he's John Woodward's brother; I can swear to the family voot.' At that very moment up comes John Woodward, weeping and teaving, 'I've lost my brother! I've lost my brother!'" "Only to think of that!" said Mrs. Dewy. "'Tis well enough to know this foot and that foot," said Mr. Spinks. "'Tis long-headed, in fact, as far as feet do go. I know little, 'tis true--I say no more; but show me a man's foot, and I'll tell you that man's heart." "You must be a cleverer feller, then, than mankind in jineral," said the tranter. "Well, that's nothing for me to speak of," returned Mr. Spinks. "A man lives and learns. Maybe I've read a leaf or two in my time. I don't wish to say anything large, mind you; but nevertheless, maybe I have." "Yes, I know," said Michael soothingly, "and all the parish knows, that ye've read sommat of everything a'most, and have been a great filler of young folks' brains. Learning's a worthy thing, and ye've got it, Master Spinks." "I make no boast, though I may have read and thought a little; and I know--it may be from much perusing, but I make no boast--that by the time a man's head is finished, 'tis almost time for him to creep underground. I am over forty-five." Mr. Spinks emitted a look to signify that if his head was not finished, nobody's head ever could be. "Talk of knowing people by their feet!" said Reuben. "Rot me, my sonnies, then, if I can tell what a man is from all his members put together, oftentimes." "But still, look is a good deal," observed grandfather William absently, moving and balancing his head till the tip of grandfather James's nose was exactly in a right line with William's eye and the mouth of a miniature cavern he was discerning in the fire. "By the way," he continued in a fresher voice, and looking up, "that young crater, the schoolmis'ess, must be sung to to-night wi' the rest? If her ear is as fine as her face, we shall have enough to do to be up-sides with her." "What about her face?" said young Dewy. "Well, as to that," Mr. Spinks replied, "'tis a face you can hardly gainsay. A very good pink face, as far as that do go. Still, only a face, when all is said and done." "Come, come, Elias Spinks, say she's a pretty maid, and have done wi' her," said the tranter, again preparing to visit the cider-barrel.

Chapter III

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820032827/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmGreenwood14.asp

Even though Grandfather William is seventy, he is still very active although sometimes weak-minded. His bright face would remind a gardener of the "sunny side of a ripe ribstone - pippin." William, a religious man, is also very good-hearted. When he joins the party, he wishes everyone a merry Christmas and throws an armful of logs on the fire. Before coming in, William has invited Grandfather James, Mrs. Dewy's father, to join them. He is a miserly stone mason who lives alone in his cottage. Grandfather William and the choir talk about which carols they will sing, for they need to practice in order to do well. Robert Penny, the local shoemaker, interrupts to exclaim that he has forgotten to deliver a pair of boots to the schoolhouse; he curses his weak-mindedness in forgetting important matters. Seeing that the mention of the boots has generated greater interest than expected, Penny explains that he has made boots for Geoffrey Day, Geoffrey's father, and Geoffrey's sister, Fancy Day. The boots that he has forgotten to deliver are the ones for Miss Day, who wanted to wear them to church the next morning. Talk turns to the new schoolmistress, whom they call "a figure of fun" and "just husband-high." Penny then tells the story of John Woodward's brother. When he drowned, no one could identify the body; but Penny was able to identify his boots. Spinks, considered the town scholar and a good teacher, says that he can identify the ways of a man's heart from his feet. Reuben expresses surprise at the fact that a person's character could be read from his feet. Grandfather William again turns the talk to the carol sing. He wonders whether they should sing for the new schoolmistress. Dick Dewy's interest is aroused because he has heard that Fancy Day is young and beautiful.

Notes In this chapter the Mellstock rustics are brought to life through their conversation and the stories that they tell. They perform an almost choric function as they give information on various characters and events. Penny's discussion on boot making and his digression on John Woodward's brother are very interesting and earthy, lending realism to the dialogue. The discussion of Fancy Day is humorous, but significant, since she will become the protagonist of the story and the object of Dick's affection. Much time is spent in the description of Grandfather William, Reuben's father. He is a kind-hearted man of seventy; although he is still very active, he is often forgetful. His cheerfulness is a sharp contrast to Mrs. Dewy's father, Grandfather James, who is a miserly loner.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_1_chapters_1_to_6.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_0_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 1.chapters 1-6

part 1 chapter 1 - 6

{"name": "Part One Chapter 1 to 6", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part1-chapter1-6", "summary": "'Mellstock-lane', Chapter Two 'The Tranter's and Chapter Three 'The Assembled Choir' The novel begins with the following sentence: 'To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature'. This reference to individuality is continued as the narrative focuses on a man passing a plantation on a Christmas Eve 'less than a generation ago'. He sings as he walks and someone answers his song and the voice then asks if that is Dick Dewy. Dick replies, \"'Ay, sure, Michael Mail!'\" Michael asks Dick to stop and wait as they are all going to the home of Dick's father. Irregular footsteps can be heard and five men of different ages emerge from the grove. They are all villagers of the parish of Mellstock and represented 'the chief portion of Mellstock parish choir'. Michael Mail is the first and eldest of them and he carries a fiddle. The next is Robert Penny, a boot and shoemaker, and then Elias Spinks. The fourth is Joseph Bowman and the fifth is Thomas Leaf. Dick asks where the boys are and Michael tells him they have been told to stay at home for a while. They head off for the hamlet Lewgate and the 'faint sound of church bells ringing a Christmas peal' can be heard. They enter a garden and go up the path to Dick's house. In Chapter Two, the cottage is described as small, low and thatched. The men enter and Dick's father, Reuben, is there and he is referred to as a 'tranter, an irregular carrier' and is aged around 40. The main room is decked with holly and other evergreens, and mistletoe is hung from the middle of a huge beam. Ann Dewy, Dick's mother, and the four other children are here and they are aged from 16 to 4. The men are welcomed in by the Dewys and Ann tells Tommy to come and sit down and asks Mr Penny about his daughter, Mrs Brownjohn. He says \"'pretty fair'\" and adds that \"'she'll be worse before she's better'\". He also says how she has had five children and buried three. Reuben is 'tapping' his barrel of cider and Ann warns him to not make a mess indoors. When he makes a hole and cider spurts out, he asks Michael to put his thumb in while he gets a bigger tap. Reuben then calls for his father and tells him the barrel is ready . Chapter Three introduces William Dewy, the father of Reuben, and he is described as being about 70. He throws down an armful of logs and calls in Grandfather James . The choir talk about the carols they will sing. Mr Penny interrupts and remembers he should have gone to the schoolhouse as he has a boot to take there. He takes a last from his pocket and then a boot which he says belongs to Fancy Day, the daughter of Geoffrey. He places the boot on the table and they converge around it like 'wheel-spokes'. Mr Penny says how he can see a resemblance between the last, which is Geoffrey's, and his daughter's boot.", "analysis": "'Mellstock-lane', Chapter Two ' The Tranter's and Chapter Three 'The Assembled Choir' These first few chapters set the scene and lay out the landscape of the novel. The rural backdrop is seen to be inhabited by these men who form a choir and they are introduced to the readers as they prepare to sing carols to those who live nearby. The tone of these and later chapters is amiable and purposely light. Furthermore, by beginning at Christmas time there is a sense of anticipation of pleasure as well as a gesture to Christianity. Many of the characters are revealed here as they chat together about the forthcoming night's events. The readers are also made aware of Fancy, although this is done via her shoe than by her presence in the text. The way the men gather around the table hints to the future as men are later seen to be attracted to her in this manner in the flesh. Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' The singing boys arrive at the tranter's house just after 10 o'clock. The older men and musicians are described as wearing thick coats and colored handkerchiefs round their necks. The others are mainly dressed in white 'smock-frocks' that are embroidered with patterns. The boys light the lanterns and because there has been a thin fall of snow those without leggings put hay round their ankles to keep the flakes from the interior of their boots. They sing in the parish of Mellstock, which is spread over a large area, and several hours are taken in singing within the hearing of each family. This includes East and West Mellstock and Lewgate. William Dewy plays the 'violincello' and his grandson, Dick, the treble violin. Reuben and Michael Mail play the tenor and second violin respectively. They set out at midnight and by 2 o'clock they pass the Home Plantation toward the main village. Michael Mail talks about how times have changed and how he thinks \"'we must be almost the last left in the country of the old string players'\". He also says barrel organs and harmoniums are replacing them. They cross toward the school and form a semi-circle and sing hymn number 78, which refers to Adam's fall. No movement comes from the schoolhouse and they sing another and again no notice is shown to have been taken of their performance. The tranter wonders if she 'sneers' at their 'doings' as she has come from the city, and Mr Penny says \"'od rabbit her!'\" They sing one more song and still no sign is given that they have been heard. A light appears in an upper floor window in Chapter Five. A young woman opens the window and thanks them and goes back inside. The men note her prettiness and agree \"'that such a sight was worth singing for'\". They go to Farmer Shinar's after this and he shouts at them for making a noise when he has a headache. They continue and William says they cannot be insulted in this way. The farmer opens a window and they play louder to drown out what he says. When they retire, William says how Shinar has been \"'unseemly'\" especially as the farmer is a churchwarden. The tranter says he has had a drink and is in \"'his worldly frame'\" now. He adds that they will invite him to their party and bear no ill will against him. They proceed to the lower village and have food and drink. William notices Dick's absence then and the tranter shouts for him. They retrace their steps and find him at the schoolhouse. The 'lost man' is leant against a wall and is looking up at the window. His father asks him what he is doing and he says nothing. They go to the vicarage after this and perform there. Mr Maybold, the vicar, does not stir at first, but cries \"'thanks villagers'\" from his bedclothes. The tranter predicts that \"'that young vision'\" will wind the \"'tinner-voiced parson'\" round her finger. In Chapter Six, Dick's sleep is disturbed with the thought of Fancy and in the morning he keeps thinking of her, 'the Vision', and wonders if she will be in church. They prepare to attend the service and grandfather, father and son take their instruments with them. The difference between the people in the gallery and the nave at church is referred to. The choir is at the back of the gallery and Dick sees Fancy enter the porch door. 'Ever afterwards' he remembers everything of the service of that Christmas morning, including the tunes, the text, the dust on the piers and the holly in the chancel archway. Mr Maybold also notices Fancy and he 'sedulously endeavoured to reduce himself to his normal state of mind'. When the singing is 'in progress', a 'strong and shrill reinforcement' comes from the schoolgirls. This has never happened before 'within the memory of man'. The girls like the others had previously been 'humble' and followed the lead of the gallery. 'A good deal of desperation' is evident among the choir. Mr Bowman calls them \"'brazen-faced hussies'\" and Mr Spinks asks \"'Shall anything bolder be found that united woman?'\" The tranter says he wants to know what business people have telling them to sing like that when they are not sat in the gallery and have never been in one. Mr Spinks says \"'we useless ones'\" should march out with their fiddles and all and laughs. Only the 'initiated body of men' understood the 'horrible bitterness of irony' of these words. The chapter ends with the information that Ann tells the family at breakfast that she intends to invite Fancy - the 'youthful leader of the culprits' - to their party that night and this brightens Dick. Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' The spirit of change is strongly suggested as the music made by the men in the choir is diminished in church by the united voices of the schoolgirls. These are referred to variously as 'united women' and 'brazen-faced hussies' and their behavior signals a challenge to the past and possibly patriarchy in the way they no longer perform in the usual 'humble' fashion. Change is also alluded to earlier in Chapter Four when Michael Mail points out they must be among the last of their kind now, of 'old string players', and considers how the harmonium and barrel organ are replacing them. Progress, it is suggested, is tied up with improvements in technology and with the redundancy of men."}

To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall. And winter, which modifies the note of such trees as shed their leaves, does not destroy its individuality. On a cold and starry Christmas-eve within living memory a man was passing up a lane towards Mellstock Cross in the darkness of a plantation that whispered thus distinctively to his intelligence. All the evidences of his nature were those afforded by the spirit of his footsteps, which succeeded each other lightly and quickly, and by the liveliness of his voice as he sang in a rural cadence: "With the rose and the lily And the daffodowndilly, The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go." The lonely lane he was following connected one of the hamlets of Mellstock parish with Upper Mellstock and Lewgate, and to his eyes, casually glancing upward, the silver and black-stemmed birches with their characteristic tufts, the pale grey boughs of beech, the dark-creviced elm, all appeared now as black and flat outlines upon the sky, wherein the white stars twinkled so vehemently that their flickering seemed like the flapping of wings. Within the woody pass, at a level anything lower than the horizon, all was dark as the grave. The copse-wood forming the sides of the bower interlaced its branches so densely, even at this season of the year, that the draught from the north-east flew along the channel with scarcely an interruption from lateral breezes. After passing the plantation and reaching Mellstock Cross the white surface of the lane revealed itself between the dark hedgerows like a ribbon jagged at the edges; the irregularity being caused by temporary accumulations of leaves extending from the ditch on either side. The song (many times interrupted by flitting thoughts which took the place of several bars, and resumed at a point it would have reached had its continuity been unbroken) now received a more palpable check, in the shape of "Ho-i-i-i-i-i!" from the crossing lane to Lower Mellstock, on the right of the singer who had just emerged from the trees. "Ho-i-i-i-i-i!" he answered, stopping and looking round, though with no idea of seeing anything more than imagination pictured. "Is that thee, young Dick Dewy?" came from the darkness. "Ay, sure, Michael Mail." "Then why not stop for fellow-craters--going to thy own father's house too, as we be, and knowen us so well?" Dick Dewy faced about and continued his tune in an under-whistle, implying that the business of his mouth could not be checked at a moment's notice by the placid emotion of friendship. Having come more into the open he could now be seen rising against the sky, his profile appearing on the light background like the portrait of a gentleman in black cardboard. It assumed the form of a low-crowned hat, an ordinary-shaped nose, an ordinary chin, an ordinary neck, and ordinary shoulders. What he consisted of further down was invisible from lack of sky low enough to picture him on. Shuffling, halting, irregular footsteps of various kinds were now heard coming up the hill, and presently there emerged from the shade severally five men of different ages and gaits, all of them working villagers of the parish of Mellstock. They, too, had lost their rotundity with the daylight, and advanced against the sky in flat outlines, which suggested some processional design on Greek or Etruscan pottery. They represented the chief portion of Mellstock parish choir. The first was a bowed and bent man, who carried a fiddle under his arm, and walked as if engaged in studying some subject connected with the surface of the road. He was Michael Mail, the man who had hallooed to Dick. The next was Mr. Robert Penny, boot- and shoemaker; a little man, who, though rather round-shouldered, walked as if that fact had not come to his own knowledge, moving on with his back very hollow and his face fixed on the north-east quarter of the heavens before him, so that his lower waist-coat-buttons came first, and then the remainder of his figure. His features were invisible; yet when he occasionally looked round, two faint moons of light gleamed for an instant from the precincts of his eyes, denoting that he wore spectacles of a circular form. The third was Elias Spinks, who walked perpendicularly and dramatically. The fourth outline was Joseph Bowman's, who had now no distinctive appearance beyond that of a human being. Finally came a weak lath-like form, trotting and stumbling along with one shoulder forward and his head inclined to the left, his arms dangling nervelessly in the wind as if they were empty sleeves. This was Thomas Leaf. "Where be the boys?" said Dick to this somewhat indifferently-matched assembly. The eldest of the group, Michael Mail, cleared his throat from a great depth. "We told them to keep back at home for a time, thinken they wouldn't be wanted yet awhile; and we could choose the tuens, and so on." "Father and grandfather William have expected ye a little sooner. I have just been for a run round by Ewelease Stile and Hollow Hill to warm my feet." "To be sure father did! To be sure 'a did expect us--to taste the little barrel beyond compare that he's going to tap." "'Od rabbit it all! Never heard a word of it!" said Mr. Penny, gleams of delight appearing upon his spectacle-glasses, Dick meanwhile singing parenthetically-- "The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go." "Neighbours, there's time enough to drink a sight of drink now afore bedtime?" said Mail. "True, true--time enough to get as drunk as lords!" replied Bowman cheerfully. This opinion being taken as convincing they all advanced between the varying hedges and the trees dotting them here and there, kicking their toes occasionally among the crumpled leaves. Soon appeared glimmering indications of the few cottages forming the small hamlet of Upper Mellstock for which they were bound, whilst the faint sound of church- bells ringing a Christmas peal could be heard floating over upon the breeze from the direction of Longpuddle and Weatherbury parishes on the other side of the hills. A little wicket admitted them to the garden, and they proceeded up the path to Dick's house. It was a long low cottage with a hipped roof of thatch, having dormer windows breaking up into the eaves, a chimney standing in the middle of the ridge and another at each end. The window-shutters were not yet closed, and the fire- and candle-light within radiated forth upon the thick bushes of box and laurestinus growing in clumps outside, and upon the bare boughs of several codlin-trees hanging about in various distorted shapes, the result of early training as espaliers combined with careless climbing into their boughs in later years. The walls of the dwelling were for the most part covered with creepers, though these were rather beaten back from the doorway--a feature which was worn and scratched by much passing in and out, giving it by day the appearance of an old keyhole. Light streamed through the cracks and joints of outbuildings a little way from the cottage, a sight which nourished a fancy that the purpose of the erection must be rather to veil bright attractions than to shelter unsightly necessaries. The noise of a beetle and wedges and the splintering of wood was periodically heard from this direction; and at some little distance further a steady regular munching and the occasional scurr of a rope betokened a stable, and horses feeding within it. The choir stamped severally on the door-stone to shake from their boots any fragment of earth or leaf adhering thereto, then entered the house and looked around to survey the condition of things. Through the open doorway of a small inner room on the right hand, of a character between pantry and cellar, was Dick Dewy's father Reuben, by vocation a "tranter," or irregular carrier. He was a stout florid man about forty years of age, who surveyed people up and down when first making their acquaintance, and generally smiled at the horizon or other distant object during conversations with friends, walking about with a steady sway, and turning out his toes very considerably. Being now occupied in bending over a hogshead, that stood in the pantry ready horsed for the process of broaching, he did not take the trouble to turn or raise his eyes at the entry of his visitors, well knowing by their footsteps that they were the expected old comrades. The main room, on the left, was decked with bunches of holly and other evergreens, and from the middle of the beam bisecting the ceiling hung the mistletoe, of a size out of all proportion to the room, and extending so low that it became necessary for a full-grown person to walk round it in passing, or run the risk of entangling his hair. This apartment contained Mrs. Dewy the tranter's wife, and the four remaining children, Susan, Jim, Bessy, and Charley, graduating uniformly though at wide stages from the age of sixteen to that of four years--the eldest of the series being separated from Dick the firstborn by a nearly equal interval. Some circumstance had apparently caused much grief to Charley just previous to the entry of the choir, and he had absently taken down a small looking-glass, holding it before his face to learn how the human countenance appeared when engaged in crying, which survey led him to pause at the various points in each wail that were more than ordinarily striking, for a thorough appreciation of the general effect. Bessy was leaning against a chair, and glancing under the plaits about the waist of the plaid frock she wore, to notice the original unfaded pattern of the material as there preserved, her face bearing an expression of regret that the brightness had passed away from the visible portions. Mrs. Dewy sat in a brown settle by the side of the glowing wood fire--so glowing that with a heedful compression of the lips she would now and then rise and put her hand upon the hams and flitches of bacon lining the chimney, to reassure herself that they were not being broiled instead of smoked--a misfortune that had been known to happen now and then at Christmas-time. "Hullo, my sonnies, here you be, then!" said Reuben Dewy at length, standing up and blowing forth a vehement gust of breath. "How the blood do puff up in anybody's head, to be sure, a-stooping like that! I was just going out to gate to hark for ye." He then carefully began to wind a strip of brown paper round a brass tap he held in his hand. "This in the cask here is a drop o' the right sort" (tapping the cask); "'tis a real drop o' cordial from the best picked apples--Sansoms, Stubbards, Five-corners, and such-like--you d'mind the sort, Michael?" (Michael nodded.) "And there's a sprinkling of they that grow down by the orchard- rails--streaked ones--rail apples we d'call 'em, as 'tis by the rails they grow, and not knowing the right name. The water-cider from 'em is as good as most people's best cider is." "Ay, and of the same make too," said Bowman. "'It rained when we wrung it out, and the water got into it,' folk will say. But 'tis on'y an excuse. Watered cider is too common among us." "Yes, yes; too common it is!" said Spinks with an inward sigh, whilst his eyes seemed to be looking at the case in an abstract form rather than at the scene before him. "Such poor liquor do make a man's throat feel very melancholy--and is a disgrace to the name of stimmilent." "Come in, come in, and draw up to the fire; never mind your shoes," said Mrs. Dewy, seeing that all except Dick had paused to wipe them upon the door-mat. "I am glad that you've stepped up-along at last; and, Susan, you run down to Grammer Kaytes's and see if you can borrow some larger candles than these fourteens. Tommy Leaf, don't ye be afeard! Come and sit here in the settle." This was addressed to the young man before mentioned, consisting chiefly of a human skeleton and a smock-frock, who was very awkward in his movements, apparently on account of having grown so very fast that before he had had time to get used to his height he was higher. "Hee--hee--ay!" replied Leaf, letting his mouth continue to smile for some time after his mind had done smiling, so that his teeth remained in view as the most conspicuous members of his body. "Here, Mr. Penny," resumed Mrs. Dewy, "you sit in this chair. And how's your daughter, Mrs. Brownjohn?" "Well, I suppose I must say pretty fair." He adjusted his spectacles a quarter of an inch to the right. "But she'll be worse before she's better, 'a b'lieve." "Indeed--poor soul! And how many will that make in all, four or five?" "Five; they've buried three. Yes, five; and she not much more than a maid yet. She do know the multiplication table onmistakable well. However, 'twas to be, and none can gainsay it." Mrs. Dewy resigned Mr. Penny. "Wonder where your grandfather James is?" she inquired of one of the children. "He said he'd drop in to-night." "Out in fuel-house with grandfather William," said Jimmy. "Now let's see what we can do," was heard spoken about this time by the tranter in a private voice to the barrel, beside which he had again established himself, and was stooping to cut away the cork. "Reuben, don't make such a mess o' tapping that barrel as is mostly made in this house," Mrs. Dewy cried from the fireplace. "I'd tap a hundred without wasting more than you do in one. Such a squizzling and squirting job as 'tis in your hands! There, he always was such a clumsy man indoors." "Ay, ay; I know you'd tap a hundred beautiful, Ann--I know you would; two hundred, perhaps. But I can't promise. This is a' old cask, and the wood's rotted away about the tap-hole. The husbird of a feller Sam Lawson--that ever I should call'n such, now he's dead and gone, poor heart!--took me in completely upon the feat of buying this cask. 'Reub,' says he--'a always used to call me plain Reub, poor old heart!--'Reub,' he said, says he, 'that there cask, Reub, is as good as new; yes, good as new. 'Tis a wine-hogshead; the best port-wine in the commonwealth have been in that there cask; and you shall have en for ten shillens, Reub,'--'a said, says he--'he's worth twenty, ay, five-and-twenty, if he's worth one; and an iron hoop or two put round en among the wood ones will make en worth thirty shillens of any man's money, if--'" "I think I should have used the eyes that Providence gave me to use afore I paid any ten shillens for a jimcrack wine-barrel; a saint is sinner enough not to be cheated. But 'tis like all your family was, so easy to be deceived." "That's as true as gospel of this member," said Reuben. Mrs. Dewy began a smile at the answer, then altering her lips and refolding them so that it was not a smile, commenced smoothing little Bessy's hair; the tranter having meanwhile suddenly become oblivious to conversation, occupying himself in a deliberate cutting and arrangement of some more brown paper for the broaching operation. "Ah, who can believe sellers!" said old Michael Mail in a carefully-cautious voice, by way of tiding-over this critical point of affairs. "No one at all," said Joseph Bowman, in the tone of a man fully agreeing with everybody. "Ay," said Mail, in the tone of a man who did not agree with everybody as a rule, though he did now; "I knowed a' auctioneering feller once--a very friendly feller 'a was too. And so one hot day as I was walking down the front street o' Casterbridge, jist below the King's Arms, I passed a' open winder and see him inside, stuck upon his perch, a-selling off. I jist nodded to en in a friendly way as I passed, and went my way, and thought no more about it. Well, next day, as I was oilen my boots by fuel-house door, if a letter didn't come wi' a bill charging me with a feather-bed, bolster, and pillers, that I had bid for at Mr. Taylor's sale. The slim-faced martel had knocked 'em down to me because I nodded to en in my friendly way; and I had to pay for 'em too. Now, I hold that that was coming it very close, Reuben?" "'Twas close, there's no denying," said the general voice. "Too close, 'twas," said Reuben, in the rear of the rest. "And as to Sam Lawson--poor heart! now he's dead and gone too!--I'll warrant, that if so be I've spent one hour in making hoops for that barrel, I've spent fifty, first and last. That's one of my hoops"--touching it with his elbow--"that's one of mine, and that, and that, and all these." "Ah, Sam was a man," said Mr. Penny, contemplatively. "Sam was!" said Bowman. "Especially for a drap o' drink," said the tranter. "Good, but not religious-good," suggested Mr. Penny. The tranter nodded. Having at last made the tap and hole quite ready, "Now then, Suze, bring a mug," he said. "Here's luck to us, my sonnies!" The tap went in, and the cider immediately squirted out in a horizontal shower over Reuben's hands, knees, and leggings, and into the eyes and neck of Charley, who, having temporarily put off his grief under pressure of more interesting proceedings, was squatting down and blinking near his father. "There 'tis again!" said Mrs. Dewy. "Devil take the hole, the cask, and Sam Lawson too, that good cider should be wasted like this!" exclaimed the tranter. "Your thumb! Lend me your thumb, Michael! Ram it in here, Michael! I must get a bigger tap, my sonnies." "Idd it cold inthide te hole?" inquired Charley of Michael, as he continued in a stooping posture with his thumb in the cork-hole. "What wonderful odds and ends that chiel has in his head to be sure!" Mrs. Dewy admiringly exclaimed from the distance. "I lay a wager that he thinks more about how 'tis inside that barrel than in all the other parts of the world put together." All persons present put on a speaking countenance of admiration for the cleverness alluded to, in the midst of which Reuben returned. The operation was then satisfactorily performed; when Michael arose and stretched his head to the extremest fraction of height that his body would allow of, to re-straighten his back and shoulders--thrusting out his arms and twisting his features to a mass of wrinkles to emphasize the relief aquired. A quart or two of the beverage was then brought to table, at which all the new arrivals reseated themselves with wide-spread knees, their eyes meditatively seeking out any speck or knot in the board upon which the gaze might precipitate itself. "Whatever is father a-biding out in fuel-house so long for?" said the tranter. "Never such a man as father for two things--cleaving up old dead apple-tree wood and playing the bass-viol. 'A'd pass his life between the two, that 'a would." He stepped to the door and opened it. "Father!" "Ay!" rang thinly from round the corner. "Here's the barrel tapped, and we all a-waiting!" A series of dull thuds, that had been heard without for some time past, now ceased; and after the light of a lantern had passed the window and made wheeling rays upon the ceiling inside the eldest of the Dewy family appeared. William Dewy--otherwise grandfather William--was now about seventy; yet an ardent vitality still preserved a warm and roughened bloom upon his face, which reminded gardeners of the sunny side of a ripe ribstone-pippin; though a narrow strip of forehead, that was protected from the weather by lying above the line of his hat-brim, seemed to belong to some town man, so gentlemanly was its whiteness. His was a humorous and kindly nature, not unmixed with a frequent melancholy; and he had a firm religious faith. But to his neighbours he had no character in particular. If they saw him pass by their windows when they had been bottling off old mead, or when they had just been called long-headed men who might do anything in the world if they chose, they thought concerning him, "Ah, there's that good-hearted man--open as a child!" If they saw him just after losing a shilling or half-a-crown, or accidentally letting fall a piece of crockery, they thought, "There's that poor weak-minded man Dewy again! Ah, he's never done much in the world either!" If he passed when fortune neither smiled nor frowned on them, they merely thought him old William Dewy. "Ah, so's--here you be!--Ah, Michael and Joseph and John--and you too, Leaf! a merry Christmas all! We shall have a rare log-wood fire directly, Reub, to reckon by the toughness of the job I had in cleaving 'em." As he spoke he threw down an armful of logs which fell in the chimney-corner with a rumble, and looked at them with something of the admiring enmity he would have bestowed on living people who had been very obstinate in holding their own. "Come in, grandfather James." Old James (grandfather on the maternal side) had simply called as a visitor. He lived in a cottage by himself, and many people considered him a miser; some, rather slovenly in his habits. He now came forward from behind grandfather William, and his stooping figure formed a well- illuminated picture as he passed towards the fire-place. Being by trade a mason, he wore a long linen apron reaching almost to his toes, corduroy breeches and gaiters, which, together with his boots, graduated in tints of whitish-brown by constant friction against lime and stone. He also wore a very stiff fustian coat, having folds at the elbows and shoulders as unvarying in their arrangement as those in a pair of bellows: the ridges and the projecting parts of the coat collectively exhibiting a shade different from that of the hollows, which were lined with small ditch-like accumulations of stone and mortar-dust. The extremely large side-pockets, sheltered beneath wide flaps, bulged out convexly whether empty or full; and as he was often engaged to work at buildings far away--his breakfasts and dinners being eaten in a strange chimney-corner, by a garden wall, on a heap of stones, or walking along the road--he carried in these pockets a small tin canister of butter, a small canister of sugar, a small canister of tea, a paper of salt, and a paper of pepper; the bread, cheese, and meat, forming the substance of his meals, hanging up behind him in his basket among the hammers and chisels. If a passer-by looked hard at him when he was drawing forth any of these, "My buttery," he said, with a pinched smile. "Better try over number seventy-eight before we start, I suppose?" said William, pointing to a heap of old Christmas-carol books on a side table. "Wi' all my heart," said the choir generally. "Number seventy-eight was always a teaser--always. I can mind him ever since I was growing up a hard boy-chap." "But he's a good tune, and worth a mint o' practice," said Michael. "He is; though I've been mad enough wi' that tune at times to seize en and tear en all to linnit. Ay, he's a splendid carrel--there's no denying that." "The first line is well enough," said Mr. Spinks; "but when you come to 'O, thou man,' you make a mess o't." "We'll have another go into en, and see what we can make of the martel. Half-an-hour's hammering at en will conquer the toughness of en; I'll warn it." "'Od rabbit it all!" said Mr. Penny, interrupting with a flash of his spectacles, and at the same time clawing at something in the depths of a large side-pocket. "If so be I hadn't been as scatter-brained and thirtingill as a chiel, I should have called at the schoolhouse wi' a boot as I cam up along. Whatever is coming to me I really can't estimate at all!" "The brain has its weaknesses," murmured Mr. Spinks, waving his head ominously. Mr. Spinks was considered to be a scholar, having once kept a night-school, and always spoke up to that level. "Well, I must call with en the first thing to-morrow. And I'll empt my pocket o' this last too, if you don't mind, Mrs. Dewy." He drew forth a last, and placed it on a table at his elbow. The eyes of three or four followed it. "Well," said the shoemaker, seeming to perceive that the interest the object had excited was greater than he had anticipated, and warranted the last's being taken up again and exhibited; "now, whose foot do ye suppose this last was made for? It was made for Geoffrey Day's father, over at Yalbury Wood. Ah, many's the pair o' boots he've had off the last! Well, when 'a died, I used the last for Geoffrey, and have ever since, though a little doctoring was wanted to make it do. Yes, a very queer natured last it is now, 'a b'lieve," he continued, turning it over caressingly. "Now, you notice that there" (pointing to a lump of leather bradded to the toe), "that's a very bad bunion that he've had ever since 'a was a boy. Now, this remarkable large piece" (pointing to a patch nailed to the side), "shows a' accident he received by the tread of a horse, that squashed his foot a'most to a pomace. The horseshoe cam full-butt on this point, you see. And so I've just been over to Geoffrey's, to know if he wanted his bunion altered or made bigger in the new pair I'm making." During the latter part of this speech, Mr. Penny's left hand wandered towards the cider-cup, as if the hand had no connection with the person speaking; and bringing his sentence to an abrupt close, all but the extreme margin of the bootmaker's face was eclipsed by the circular brim of the vessel. "However, I was going to say," continued Penny, putting down the cup, "I ought to have called at the school"--here he went groping again in the depths of his pocket--"to leave this without fail, though I suppose the first thing to-morrow will do." He now drew forth and placed upon the table a boot--small, light, and prettily shaped--upon the heel of which he had been operating. "The new schoolmistress's!" "Ay, no less, Miss Fancy Day; as neat a little figure of fun as ever I see, and just husband-high." "Never Geoffrey's daughter Fancy?" said Bowman, as all glances present converged like wheel-spokes upon the boot in the centre of them. "Yes, sure," resumed Mr. Penny, regarding the boot as if that alone were his auditor; "'tis she that's come here schoolmistress. You knowed his daughter was in training?" "Strange, isn't it, for her to be here Christmas night, Master Penny?" "Yes; but here she is, 'a b'lieve." "I know how she comes here--so I do!" chirruped one of the children. "Why?" Dick inquired, with subtle interest. "Pa'son Maybold was afraid he couldn't manage us all to-morrow at the dinner, and he talked o' getting her jist to come over and help him hand about the plates, and see we didn't make pigs of ourselves; and that's what she's come for!" "And that's the boot, then," continued its mender imaginatively, "that she'll walk to church in to-morrow morning. I don't care to mend boots I don't make; but there's no knowing what it may lead to, and her father always comes to me." There, between the cider-mug and the candle, stood this interesting receptacle of the little unknown's foot; and a very pretty boot it was. A character, in fact--the flexible bend at the instep, the rounded localities of the small nestling toes, scratches from careless scampers now forgotten--all, as repeated in the tell-tale leather, evidencing a nature and a bias. Dick surveyed it with a delicate feeling that he had no right to do so without having first asked the owner of the foot's permission. "Now, neighbours, though no common eye can see it," the shoemaker went on, "a man in the trade can see the likeness between this boot and that last, although that is so deformed as hardly to recall one of God's creatures, and this is one of as pretty a pair as you'd get for ten-and- sixpence in Casterbridge. To you, nothing; but 'tis father's voot and daughter's voot to me, as plain as houses." "I don't doubt there's a likeness, Master Penny--a mild likeness--a fantastical likeness," said Spinks. "But I han't got imagination enough to see it, perhaps." Mr. Penny adjusted his spectacles. "Now, I'll tell ye what happened to me once on this very point. You used to know Johnson the dairyman, William?" "Ay, sure; I did." "Well, 'twasn't opposite his house, but a little lower down--by his paddock, in front o' Parkmaze Pool. I was a-bearing across towards Bloom's End, and lo and behold, there was a man just brought out o' the Pool, dead; he had un'rayed for a dip, but not being able to pitch it just there had gone in flop over his head. Men looked at en; women looked at en; children looked at en; nobody knowed en. He was covered wi' a sheet; but I catched sight of his voot, just showing out as they carried en along. 'I don't care what name that man went by,' I said, in my way, 'but he's John Woodward's brother; I can swear to the family voot.' At that very moment up comes John Woodward, weeping and teaving, 'I've lost my brother! I've lost my brother!'" "Only to think of that!" said Mrs. Dewy. "'Tis well enough to know this foot and that foot," said Mr. Spinks. "'Tis long-headed, in fact, as far as feet do go. I know little, 'tis true--I say no more; but show me a man's foot, and I'll tell you that man's heart." "You must be a cleverer feller, then, than mankind in jineral," said the tranter. "Well, that's nothing for me to speak of," returned Mr. Spinks. "A man lives and learns. Maybe I've read a leaf or two in my time. I don't wish to say anything large, mind you; but nevertheless, maybe I have." "Yes, I know," said Michael soothingly, "and all the parish knows, that ye've read sommat of everything a'most, and have been a great filler of young folks' brains. Learning's a worthy thing, and ye've got it, Master Spinks." "I make no boast, though I may have read and thought a little; and I know--it may be from much perusing, but I make no boast--that by the time a man's head is finished, 'tis almost time for him to creep underground. I am over forty-five." Mr. Spinks emitted a look to signify that if his head was not finished, nobody's head ever could be. "Talk of knowing people by their feet!" said Reuben. "Rot me, my sonnies, then, if I can tell what a man is from all his members put together, oftentimes." "But still, look is a good deal," observed grandfather William absently, moving and balancing his head till the tip of grandfather James's nose was exactly in a right line with William's eye and the mouth of a miniature cavern he was discerning in the fire. "By the way," he continued in a fresher voice, and looking up, "that young crater, the schoolmis'ess, must be sung to to-night wi' the rest? If her ear is as fine as her face, we shall have enough to do to be up-sides with her." "What about her face?" said young Dewy. "Well, as to that," Mr. Spinks replied, "'tis a face you can hardly gainsay. A very good pink face, as far as that do go. Still, only a face, when all is said and done." "Come, come, Elias Spinks, say she's a pretty maid, and have done wi' her," said the tranter, again preparing to visit the cider-barrel. Shortly after ten o'clock the singing-boys arrived at the tranter's house, which was invariably the place of meeting, and preparations were made for the start. The older men and musicians wore thick coats, with stiff perpendicular collars, and coloured handkerchiefs wound round and round the neck till the end came to hand, over all which they just showed their ears and noses, like people looking over a wall. The remainder, stalwart ruddy men and boys, were dressed mainly in snow-white smock-frocks, embroidered upon the shoulders and breasts, in ornamental forms of hearts, diamonds, and zigzags. The cider-mug was emptied for the ninth time, the music-books were arranged, and the pieces finally decided upon. The boys in the meantime put the old horn-lanterns in order, cut candles into short lengths to fit the lanterns; and, a thin fleece of snow having fallen since the early part of the evening, those who had no leggings went to the stable and wound wisps of hay round their ankles to keep the insidious flakes from the interior of their boots. Mellstock was a parish of considerable acreage, the hamlets composing it lying at a much greater distance from each other than is ordinarily the case. Hence several hours were consumed in playing and singing within hearing of every family, even if but a single air were bestowed on each. There was Lower Mellstock, the main village; half a mile from this were the church and vicarage, and a few other houses, the spot being rather lonely now, though in past centuries it had been the most thickly-populated quarter of the parish. A mile north-east lay the hamlet of Upper Mellstock, where the tranter lived; and at other points knots of cottages, besides solitary farmsteads and dairies. Old William Dewy, with the violoncello, played the bass; his grandson Dick the treble violin; and Reuben and Michael Mail the tenor and second violins respectively. The singers consisted of four men and seven boys, upon whom devolved the task of carrying and attending to the lanterns, and holding the books open for the players. Directly music was the theme, old William ever and instinctively came to the front. "Now mind, neighbours," he said, as they all went out one by one at the door, he himself holding it ajar and regarding them with a critical face as they passed, like a shepherd counting out his sheep. "You two counter- boys, keep your ears open to Michael's fingering, and don't ye go straying into the treble part along o' Dick and his set, as ye did last year; and mind this especially when we be in 'Arise, and hail.' Billy Chimlen, don't you sing quite so raving mad as you fain would; and, all o' ye, whatever ye do, keep from making a great scuffle on the ground when we go in at people's gates; but go quietly, so as to strike up all of a sudden, like spirits." "Farmer Ledlow's first?" "Farmer Ledlow's first; the rest as usual." "And, Voss," said the tranter terminatively, "you keep house here till about half-past two; then heat the metheglin and cider in the warmer you'll find turned up upon the copper; and bring it wi' the victuals to church-hatch, as th'st know." * * * * * Just before the clock struck twelve they lighted the lanterns and started. The moon, in her third quarter, had risen since the snowstorm; but the dense accumulation of snow-cloud weakened her power to a faint twilight, which was rather pervasive of the landscape than traceable to the sky. The breeze had gone down, and the rustle of their feet and tones of their speech echoed with an alert rebound from every post, boundary-stone, and ancient wall they passed, even where the distance of the echo's origin was less than a few yards. Beyond their own slight noises nothing was to be heard, save the occasional bark of foxes in the direction of Yalbury Wood, or the brush of a rabbit among the grass now and then, as it scampered out of their way. Most of the outlying homesteads and hamlets had been visited by about two o'clock; they then passed across the outskirts of a wooded park toward the main village, nobody being at home at the Manor. Pursuing no recognized track, great care was necessary in walking lest their faces should come in contact with the low-hanging boughs of the old lime-trees, which in many spots formed dense over-growths of interlaced branches. "Times have changed from the times they used to be," said Mail, regarding nobody can tell what interesting old panoramas with an inward eye, and letting his outward glance rest on the ground, because it was as convenient a position as any. "People don't care much about us now! I've been thinking we must be almost the last left in the county of the old string players? Barrel-organs, and the things next door to 'em that you blow wi' your foot, have come in terribly of late years." "Ay!" said Bowman, shaking his head; and old William, on seeing him, did the same thing. "More's the pity," replied another. "Time was--long and merry ago now!--when not one of the varmits was to be heard of; but it served some of the quires right. They should have stuck to strings as we did, and kept out clarinets, and done away with serpents. If you'd thrive in musical religion, stick to strings, says I." "Strings be safe soul-lifters, as far as that do go," said Mr. Spinks. "Yet there's worse things than serpents," said Mr. Penny. "Old things pass away, 'tis true; but a serpent was a good old note: a deep rich note was the serpent." "Clar'nets, however, be bad at all times," said Michael Mail. "One Christmas--years agone now, years--I went the rounds wi' the Weatherbury quire. 'Twas a hard frosty night, and the keys of all the clar'nets froze--ah, they did freeze!--so that 'twas like drawing a cork every time a key was opened; and the players o' 'em had to go into a hedger-and-ditcher's chimley-corner, and thaw their clar'nets every now and then. An icicle o' spet hung down from the end of every man's clar'net a span long; and as to fingers--well, there, if ye'll believe me, we had no fingers at all, to our knowing." "I can well bring back to my mind," said Mr. Penny, "what I said to poor Joseph Ryme (who took the treble part in Chalk-Newton Church for two-and- forty year) when they thought of having clar'nets there. 'Joseph,' I said, says I, 'depend upon't, if so be you have them tooting clar'nets you'll spoil the whole set-out. Clar'nets were not made for the service of the Lard; you can see it by looking at 'em,' I said. And what came o't? Why, souls, the parson set up a barrel-organ on his own account within two years o' the time I spoke, and the old quire went to nothing." "As far as look is concerned," said the tranter, "I don't for my part see that a fiddle is much nearer heaven than a clar'net. 'Tis further off. There's always a rakish, scampish twist about a fiddle's looks that seems to say the Wicked One had a hand in making o'en; while angels be supposed to play clar'nets in heaven, or som'at like 'em, if ye may believe picters." "Robert Penny, you was in the right," broke in the eldest Dewy. "They should ha' stuck to strings. Your brass-man is a rafting dog--well and good; your reed-man is a dab at stirring ye--well and good; your drum-man is a rare bowel-shaker--good again. But I don't care who hears me say it, nothing will spak to your heart wi' the sweetness o' the man of strings!" "Strings for ever!" said little Jimmy. "Strings alone would have held their ground against all the new comers in creation." ("True, true!" said Bowman.) "But clarinets was death." ("Death they was!" said Mr. Penny.) "And harmonions," William continued in a louder voice, and getting excited by these signs of approval, "harmonions and barrel-organs" ("Ah!" and groans from Spinks) "be miserable--what shall I call 'em?--miserable--" "Sinners," suggested Jimmy, who made large strides like the men, and did not lag behind like the other little boys. "Miserable dumbledores!" "Right, William, and so they be--miserable dumbledores!" said the choir with unanimity. By this time they were crossing to a gate in the direction of the school, which, standing on a slight eminence at the junction of three ways, now rose in unvarying and dark flatness against the sky. The instruments were retuned, and all the band entered the school enclosure, enjoined by old William to keep upon the grass. "Number seventy-eight," he softly gave out as they formed round in a semicircle, the boys opening the lanterns to get a clearer light, and directing their rays on the books. Then passed forth into the quiet night an ancient and time-worn hymn, embodying a quaint Christianity in words orally transmitted from father to son through several generations down to the present characters, who sang them out right earnestly: "Remember Adam's fall, O thou Man: Remember Adam's fall From Heaven to Hell. Remember Adam's fall; How he hath condemn'd all In Hell perpetual There for to dwell. Remember God's goodnesse, O thou Man: Remember God's goodnesse, His promise made. Remember God's goodnesse; He sent His Son sinlesse Our ails for to redress; Be not afraid! In Bethlehem He was born, O thou Man: In Bethlehem He was born, For mankind's sake. In Bethlehem He was born, Christmas-day i' the morn: Our Saviour thought no scorn Our faults to take. Give thanks to God alway, O thou Man: Give thanks to God alway With heart-most joy. Give thanks to God alway On this our joyful day: Let all men sing and say, Holy, Holy!" Having concluded the last note, they listened for a minute or two, but found that no sound issued from the schoolhouse. "Four breaths, and then, 'O, what unbounded goodness!' number fifty-nine," said William. This was duly gone through, and no notice whatever seemed to be taken of the performance. "Good guide us, surely 'tisn't a' empty house, as befell us in the year thirty-nine and forty-three!" said old Dewy. "Perhaps she's jist come from some musical city, and sneers at our doings?" the tranter whispered. "'Od rabbit her!" said Mr. Penny, with an annihilating look at a corner of the school chimney, "I don't quite stomach her, if this is it. Your plain music well done is as worthy as your other sort done bad, a' b'lieve, souls; so say I." "Four breaths, and then the last," said the leader authoritatively. "'Rejoice, ye Tenants of the Earth,' number sixty-four." At the close, waiting yet another minute, he said in a clear loud voice, as he had said in the village at that hour and season for the previous forty years--"A merry Christmas to ye!" When the expectant stillness consequent upon the exclamation had nearly died out of them all, an increasing light made itself visible in one of the windows of the upper floor. It came so close to the blind that the exact position of the flame could be perceived from the outside. Remaining steady for an instant, the blind went upward from before it, revealing to thirty concentrated eyes a young girl, framed as a picture by the window architrave, and unconsciously illuminating her countenance to a vivid brightness by a candle she held in her left hand, close to her face, her right hand being extended to the side of the window. She was wrapped in a white robe of some kind, whilst down her shoulders fell a twining profusion of marvellously rich hair, in a wild disorder which proclaimed it to be only during the invisible hours of the night that such a condition was discoverable. Her bright eyes were looking into the grey world outside with an uncertain expression, oscillating between courage and shyness, which, as she recognized the semicircular group of dark forms gathered before her, transformed itself into pleasant resolution. Opening the window, she said lightly and warmly--"Thank you, singers, thank you!" Together went the window quickly and quietly, and the blind started downward on its return to its place. Her fair forehead and eyes vanished; her little mouth; her neck and shoulders; all of her. Then the spot of candlelight shone nebulously as before; then it moved away. "How pretty!" exclaimed Dick Dewy. "If she'd been rale wexwork she couldn't ha' been comelier," said Michael Mail. "As near a thing to a spiritual vision as ever I wish to see!" said tranter Dewy. "O, sich I never, never see!" said Leaf fervently. All the rest, after clearing their throats and adjusting their hats, agreed that such a sight was worth singing for. "Now to Farmer Shiner's, and then replenish our insides, father?" said the tranter. "Wi' all my heart," said old William, shouldering his bass-viol. Farmer Shiner's was a queer lump of a house, standing at the corner of a lane that ran into the principal thoroughfare. The upper windows were much wider than they were high, and this feature, together with a broad bay-window where the door might have been expected, gave it by day the aspect of a human countenance turned askance, and wearing a sly and wicked leer. To-night nothing was visible but the outline of the roof upon the sky. The front of this building was reached, and the preliminaries arranged as usual. "Four breaths, and number thirty-two, 'Behold the Morning Star,'" said old William. They had reached the end of the second verse, and the fiddlers were doing the up bow-stroke previously to pouring forth the opening chord of the third verse, when, without a light appearing or any signal being given, a roaring voice exclaimed-- "Shut up, woll 'ee! Don't make your blaring row here! A feller wi' a headache enough to split his skull likes a quiet night!" Slam went the window. "Hullo, that's a' ugly blow for we!" said the tranter, in a keenly appreciative voice, and turning to his companions. "Finish the carrel, all who be friends of harmony!" commanded old William; and they continued to the end. "Four breaths, and number nineteen!" said William firmly. "Give it him well; the quire can't be insulted in this manner!" A light now flashed into existence, the window opened, and the farmer stood revealed as one in a terrific passion. "Drown en!--drown en!" the tranter cried, fiddling frantically. "Play fortissimy, and drown his spaking!" "Fortissimy!" said Michael Mail, and the music and singing waxed so loud that it was impossible to know what Mr. Shiner had said, was saying, or was about to say; but wildly flinging his arms and body about in the forms of capital Xs and Ys, he appeared to utter enough invectives to consign the whole parish to perdition. "Very onseemly--very!" said old William, as they retired. "Never such a dreadful scene in the whole round o' my carrel practice--never! And he a churchwarden!" "Only a drap o' drink got into his head," said the tranter. "Man's well enough when he's in his religious frame. He's in his worldly frame now. Must ask en to our bit of a party to-morrow night, I suppose, and so put en in humour again. We bear no mortal man ill-will." They now crossed Mellstock Bridge, and went along an embowered path beside the Froom towards the church and vicarage, meeting Voss with the hot mead and bread-and-cheese as they were approaching the churchyard. This determined them to eat and drink before proceeding further, and they entered the church and ascended to the gallery. The lanterns were opened, and the whole body sat round against the walls on benches and whatever else was available, and made a hearty meal. In the pauses of conversation there could be heard through the floor overhead a little world of undertones and creaks from the halting clockwork, which never spread further than the tower they were born in, and raised in the more meditative minds a fancy that here lay the direct pathway of Time. Having done eating and drinking, they again tuned the instruments, and once more the party emerged into the night air. "Where's Dick?" said old Dewy. Every man looked round upon every other man, as if Dick might have been transmuted into one or the other; and then they said they didn't know. "Well now, that's what I call very nasty of Master Dicky, that I do," said Michael Mail. "He've clinked off home-along, depend upon't," another suggested, though not quite believing that he had. "Dick!" exclaimed the tranter, and his voice rolled sonorously forth among the yews. He suspended his muscles rigid as stone whilst listening for an answer, and finding he listened in vain, turned to the assemblage. "The treble man too! Now if he'd been a tenor or counter chap, we might ha' contrived the rest o't without en, you see. But for a quire to lose the treble, why, my sonnies, you may so well lose your . . . " The tranter paused, unable to mention an image vast enough for the occasion. "Your head at once," suggested Mr. Penny. The tranter moved a pace, as if it were puerile of people to complete sentences when there were more pressing things to be done. "Was ever heard such a thing as a young man leaving his work half done and turning tail like this!" "Never," replied Bowman, in a tone signifying that he was the last man in the world to wish to withhold the formal finish required of him. "I hope no fatal tragedy has overtook the lad!" said his grandfather. "O no," replied tranter Dewy placidly. "Wonder where he's put that there fiddle of his. Why that fiddle cost thirty shillings, and good words besides. Somewhere in the damp, without doubt; that instrument will be unglued and spoilt in ten minutes--ten! ay, two." "What in the name o' righteousness can have happened?" said old William, more uneasily. "Perhaps he's drownded!" Leaving their lanterns and instruments in the belfry they retraced their steps along the waterside track. "A strapping lad like Dick d'know better than let anything happen onawares," Reuben remarked. "There's sure to be some poor little scram reason for't staring us in the face all the while." He lowered his voice to a mysterious tone: "Neighbours, have ye noticed any sign of a scornful woman in his head, or suchlike?" "Not a glimmer of such a body. He's as clear as water yet." "And Dicky said he should never marry," cried Jimmy, "but live at home always along wi' mother and we!" "Ay, ay, my sonny; every lad has said that in his time." They had now again reached the precincts of Mr. Shiner's, but hearing nobody in that direction, one or two went across to the schoolhouse. A light was still burning in the bedroom, and though the blind was down, the window had been slightly opened, as if to admit the distant notes of the carollers to the ears of the occupant of the room. Opposite the window, leaning motionless against a beech tree, was the lost man, his arms folded, his head thrown back, his eyes fixed upon the illuminated lattice. "Why, Dick, is that thee? What b'st doing here?" Dick's body instantly flew into a more rational attitude, and his head was seen to turn east and west in the gloom, as if endeavouring to discern some proper answer to that question; and at last he said in rather feeble accents--"Nothing, father." "Th'st take long enough time about it then, upon my body," said the tranter, as they all turned anew towards the vicarage. "I thought you hadn't done having snap in the gallery," said Dick. "Why, we've been traypsing and rambling about, looking everywhere, and thinking you'd done fifty deathly things, and here have you been at nothing at all!" "The stupidness lies in that point of it being nothing at all," murmured Mr. Spinks. The vicarage front was their next field of operation, and Mr. Maybold, the lately-arrived incumbent, duly received his share of the night's harmonies. It was hoped that by reason of his profession he would have been led to open the window, and an extra carol in quick time was added to draw him forth. But Mr. Maybold made no stir. "A bad sign!" said old William, shaking his head. However, at that same instant a musical voice was heard exclaiming from inner depths of bedclothes--"Thanks, villagers!" "What did he say?" asked Bowman, who was rather dull of hearing. Bowman's voice, being therefore loud, had been heard by the vicar within. "I said, 'Thanks, villagers!'" cried the vicar again. "Oh, we didn't hear 'ee the first time!" cried Bowman. "Now don't for heaven's sake spoil the young man's temper by answering like that!" said the tranter. "You won't do that, my friends!" the vicar shouted. "Well to be sure, what ears!" said Mr. Penny in a whisper. "Beats any horse or dog in the parish, and depend upon't, that's a sign he's a proper clever chap." "We shall see that in time," said the tranter. Old William, in his gratitude for such thanks from a comparatively new inhabitant, was anxious to play all the tunes over again; but renounced his desire on being reminded by Reuben that it would be best to leave well alone. "Now putting two and two together," the tranter continued, as they went their way over the hill, and across to the last remaining houses; "that is, in the form of that young female vision we zeed just now, and this young tenor-voiced parson, my belief is she'll wind en round her finger, and twist the pore young feller about like the figure of 8--that she will so, my sonnies." The choir at last reached their beds, and slept like the rest of the parish. Dick's slumbers, through the three or four hours remaining for rest, were disturbed and slight; an exhaustive variation upon the incidents that had passed that night in connection with the school-window going on in his brain every moment of the time. In the morning, do what he would--go upstairs, downstairs, out of doors, speak of the wind and weather, or what not--he could not refrain from an unceasing renewal, in imagination, of that interesting enactment. Tilted on the edge of one foot he stood beside the fireplace, watching his mother grilling rashers; but there was nothing in grilling, he thought, unless the Vision grilled. The limp rasher hung down between the bars of the gridiron like a cat in a child's arms; but there was nothing in similes, unless She uttered them. He looked at the daylight shadows of a yellow hue, dancing with the firelight shadows in blue on the whitewashed chimney corner, but there was nothing in shadows. "Perhaps the new young wom--sch--Miss Fancy Day will sing in church with us this morning," he said. The tranter looked a long time before he replied, "I fancy she will; and yet I fancy she won't." Dick implied that such a remark was rather to be tolerated than admired; though deliberateness in speech was known to have, as a rule, more to do with the machinery of the tranter's throat than with the matter enunciated. They made preparations for going to church as usual; Dick with extreme alacrity, though he would not definitely consider why he was so religious. His wonderful nicety in brushing and cleaning his best light boots had features which elevated it to the rank of an art. Every particle and speck of last week's mud was scraped and brushed from toe and heel; new blacking from the packet was carefully mixed and made use of, regardless of expense. A coat was laid on and polished; then another coat for increased blackness; and lastly a third, to give the perfect and mirror-like jet which the hoped-for rencounter demanded. It being Christmas-day, the tranter prepared himself with Sunday particularity. Loud sousing and snorting noises were heard to proceed from a tub in the back quarters of the dwelling, proclaiming that he was there performing his great Sunday wash, lasting half-an-hour, to which his washings on working-day mornings were mere flashes in the pan. Vanishing into the outhouse with a large brown towel, and the above-named bubblings and snortings being carried on for about twenty minutes, the tranter would appear round the edge of the door, smelling like a summer fog, and looking as if he had just narrowly escaped a watery grave with the loss of much of his clothes, having since been weeping bitterly till his eyes were red; a crystal drop of water hanging ornamentally at the bottom of each ear, one at the tip of his nose, and others in the form of spangles about his hair. After a great deal of crunching upon the sanded stone floor by the feet of father, son, and grandson as they moved to and fro in these preparations, the bass-viol and fiddles were taken from their nook, and the strings examined and screwed a little above concert-pitch, that they might keep their tone when the service began, to obviate the awkward contingency of having to retune them at the back of the gallery during a cough, sneeze, or amen--an inconvenience which had been known to arise in damp wintry weather. The three left the door and paced down Mellstock-lane and across the ewe- lease, bearing under their arms the instruments in faded green-baize bags, and old brown music-books in their hands; Dick continually finding himself in advance of the other two, and the tranter moving on with toes turned outwards to an enormous angle. At the foot of an incline the church became visible through the north gate, or 'church hatch,' as it was called here. Seven agile figures in a clump were observable beyond, which proved to be the choristers waiting; sitting on an altar-tomb to pass the time, and letting their heels dangle against it. The musicians being now in sight, the youthful party scampered off and rattled up the old wooden stairs of the gallery like a regiment of cavalry; the other boys of the parish waiting outside and observing birds, cats, and other creatures till the vicar entered, when they suddenly subsided into sober church-goers, and passed down the aisle with echoing heels. The gallery of Mellstock Church had a status and sentiment of its own. A stranger there was regarded with a feeling altogether differing from that of the congregation below towards him. Banished from the nave as an intruder whom no originality could make interesting, he was received above as a curiosity that no unfitness could render dull. The gallery, too, looked down upon and knew the habits of the nave to its remotest peculiarity, and had an extensive stock of exclusive information about it; whilst the nave knew nothing of the gallery folk, as gallery folk, beyond their loud-sounding minims and chest notes. Such topics as that the clerk was always chewing tobacco except at the moment of crying amen; that he had a dust-hole in his pew; that during the sermon certain young daughters of the village had left off caring to read anything so mild as the marriage service for some years, and now regularly studied the one which chronologically follows it; that a pair of lovers touched fingers through a knot-hole between their pews in the manner ordained by their great exemplars, Pyramus and Thisbe; that Mrs. Ledlow, the farmer's wife, counted her money and reckoned her week's marketing expenses during the first lesson--all news to those below--were stale subjects here. Old William sat in the centre of the front row, his violoncello between his knees and two singers on each hand. Behind him, on the left, came the treble singers and Dick; and on the right the tranter and the tenors. Farther back was old Mail with the altos and supernumeraries. But before they had taken their places, and whilst they were standing in a circle at the back of the gallery practising a psalm or two, Dick cast his eyes over his grandfather's shoulder, and saw the vision of the past night enter the porch-door as methodically as if she had never been a vision at all. A new atmosphere seemed suddenly to be puffed into the ancient edifice by her movement, which made Dick's body and soul tingle with novel sensations. Directed by Shiner, the churchwarden, she proceeded to the small aisle on the north side of the chancel, a spot now allotted to a throng of Sunday-school girls, and distinctly visible from the gallery-front by looking under the curve of the furthermost arch on that side. Before this moment the church had seemed comparatively empty--now it was thronged; and as Miss Fancy rose from her knees and looked around her for a permanent place in which to deposit herself--finally choosing the remotest corner--Dick began to breathe more freely the warm new air she had brought with her; to feel rushings of blood, and to have impressions that there was a tie between her and himself visible to all the congregation. Ever afterwards the young man could recollect individually each part of the service of that bright Christmas morning, and the trifling occurrences which took place as its minutes slowly drew along; the duties of that day dividing themselves by a complete line from the services of other times. The tunes they that morning essayed remained with him for years, apart from all others; also the text; also the appearance of the layer of dust upon the capitals of the piers; that the holly-bough in the chancel archway was hung a little out of the centre--all the ideas, in short, that creep into the mind when reason is only exercising its lowest activity through the eye. By chance or by fate, another young man who attended Mellstock Church on that Christmas morning had towards the end of the service the same instinctive perception of an interesting presence, in the shape of the same bright maiden, though his emotion reached a far less developed stage. And there was this difference, too, that the person in question was surprised at his condition, and sedulously endeavoured to reduce himself to his normal state of mind. He was the young vicar, Mr. Maybold. The music on Christmas mornings was frequently below the standard of church-performances at other times. The boys were sleepy from the heavy exertions of the night; the men were slightly wearied; and now, in addition to these constant reasons, there was a dampness in the atmosphere that still further aggravated the evil. Their strings, from the recent long exposure to the night air, rose whole semitones, and snapped with a loud twang at the most silent moment; which necessitated more retiring than ever to the back of the gallery, and made the gallery throats quite husky with the quantity of coughing and hemming required for tuning in. The vicar looked cross. When the singing was in progress there was suddenly discovered to be a strong and shrill reinforcement from some point, ultimately found to be the school-girls' aisle. At every attempt it grew bolder and more distinct. At the third time of singing, these intrusive feminine voices were as mighty as those of the regular singers; in fact, the flood of sound from this quarter assumed such an individuality, that it had a time, a key, almost a tune of its own, surging upwards when the gallery plunged downwards, and the reverse. Now this had never happened before within the memory of man. The girls, like the rest of the congregation, had always been humble and respectful followers of the gallery; singing at sixes and sevens if without gallery leaders; never interfering with the ordinances of these practised artists--having no will, union, power, or proclivity except it was given them from the established choir enthroned above them. A good deal of desperation became noticeable in the gallery throats and strings, which continued throughout the musical portion of the service. Directly the fiddles were laid down, Mr. Penny's spectacles put in their sheath, and the text had been given out, an indignant whispering began. "Did ye hear that, souls?" Mr. Penny said, in a groaning breath. "Brazen-faced hussies!" said Bowman. "True; why, they were every note as loud as we, fiddles and all, if not louder!" "Fiddles and all!" echoed Bowman bitterly. "Shall anything saucier be found than united 'ooman?" Mr. Spinks murmured. "What I want to know is," said the tranter (as if he knew already, but that civilization required the form of words), "what business people have to tell maidens to sing like that when they don't sit in a gallery, and never have entered one in their lives? That's the question, my sonnies." "'Tis the gallery have got to sing, all the world knows," said Mr. Penny. "Why, souls, what's the use o' the ancients spending scores of pounds to build galleries if people down in the lowest depths of the church sing like that at a moment's notice?" "Really, I think we useless ones had better march out of church, fiddles and all!" said Mr. Spinks, with a laugh which, to a stranger, would have sounded mild and real. Only the initiated body of men he addressed could understand the horrible bitterness of irony that lurked under the quiet words 'useless ones,' and the ghastliness of the laughter apparently so natural. "Never mind! Let 'em sing too--'twill make it all the louder--hee, hee!" said Leaf. "Thomas Leaf, Thomas Leaf! Where have you lived all your life?" said grandfather William sternly. The quailing Leaf tried to look as if he had lived nowhere at all. "When all's said and done, my sonnies," Reuben said, "there'd have been no real harm in their singing if they had let nobody hear 'em, and only jined in now and then." "None at all," said Mr. Penny. "But though I don't wish to accuse people wrongfully, I'd say before my lord judge that I could hear every note o' that last psalm come from 'em as much as from us--every note as if 'twas their own." "Know it! ah, I should think I did know it!" Mr. Spinks was heard to observe at this moment, without reference to his fellow players--shaking his head at some idea he seemed to see floating before him, and smiling as if he were attending a funeral at the time. "Ah, do I or don't I know it!" No one said "Know what?" because all were aware from experience that what he knew would declare itself in process of time. "I could fancy last night that we should have some trouble wi' that young man," said the tranter, pending the continuance of Spinks's speech, and looking towards the unconscious Mr. Maybold in the pulpit. "I fancy," said old William, rather severely, "I fancy there's too much whispering going on to be of any spiritual use to gentle or simple." Then folding his lips and concentrating his glance on the vicar, he implied that none but the ignorant would speak again; and accordingly there was silence in the gallery, Mr. Spinks's telling speech remaining for ever unspoken. Dick had said nothing, and the tranter little, on this episode of the morning; for Mrs. Dewy at breakfast expressed it as her intention to invite the youthful leader of the culprits to the small party it was customary with them to have on Christmas night--a piece of knowledge which had given a particular brightness to Dick's reflections since he had received it. And in the tranter's slightly-cynical nature, party feeling was weaker than in the other members of the choir, though friendliness and faithful partnership still sustained in him a hearty earnestness on their account.

Part One Chapter 1 to 6

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'Mellstock-lane', Chapter Two 'The Tranter's and Chapter Three 'The Assembled Choir' The novel begins with the following sentence: 'To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature'. This reference to individuality is continued as the narrative focuses on a man passing a plantation on a Christmas Eve 'less than a generation ago'. He sings as he walks and someone answers his song and the voice then asks if that is Dick Dewy. Dick replies, "'Ay, sure, Michael Mail!'" Michael asks Dick to stop and wait as they are all going to the home of Dick's father. Irregular footsteps can be heard and five men of different ages emerge from the grove. They are all villagers of the parish of Mellstock and represented 'the chief portion of Mellstock parish choir'. Michael Mail is the first and eldest of them and he carries a fiddle. The next is Robert Penny, a boot and shoemaker, and then Elias Spinks. The fourth is Joseph Bowman and the fifth is Thomas Leaf. Dick asks where the boys are and Michael tells him they have been told to stay at home for a while. They head off for the hamlet Lewgate and the 'faint sound of church bells ringing a Christmas peal' can be heard. They enter a garden and go up the path to Dick's house. In Chapter Two, the cottage is described as small, low and thatched. The men enter and Dick's father, Reuben, is there and he is referred to as a 'tranter, an irregular carrier' and is aged around 40. The main room is decked with holly and other evergreens, and mistletoe is hung from the middle of a huge beam. Ann Dewy, Dick's mother, and the four other children are here and they are aged from 16 to 4. The men are welcomed in by the Dewys and Ann tells Tommy to come and sit down and asks Mr Penny about his daughter, Mrs Brownjohn. He says "'pretty fair'" and adds that "'she'll be worse before she's better'". He also says how she has had five children and buried three. Reuben is 'tapping' his barrel of cider and Ann warns him to not make a mess indoors. When he makes a hole and cider spurts out, he asks Michael to put his thumb in while he gets a bigger tap. Reuben then calls for his father and tells him the barrel is ready . Chapter Three introduces William Dewy, the father of Reuben, and he is described as being about 70. He throws down an armful of logs and calls in Grandfather James . The choir talk about the carols they will sing. Mr Penny interrupts and remembers he should have gone to the schoolhouse as he has a boot to take there. He takes a last from his pocket and then a boot which he says belongs to Fancy Day, the daughter of Geoffrey. He places the boot on the table and they converge around it like 'wheel-spokes'. Mr Penny says how he can see a resemblance between the last, which is Geoffrey's, and his daughter's boot.

'Mellstock-lane', Chapter Two ' The Tranter's and Chapter Three 'The Assembled Choir' These first few chapters set the scene and lay out the landscape of the novel. The rural backdrop is seen to be inhabited by these men who form a choir and they are introduced to the readers as they prepare to sing carols to those who live nearby. The tone of these and later chapters is amiable and purposely light. Furthermore, by beginning at Christmas time there is a sense of anticipation of pleasure as well as a gesture to Christianity. Many of the characters are revealed here as they chat together about the forthcoming night's events. The readers are also made aware of Fancy, although this is done via her shoe than by her presence in the text. The way the men gather around the table hints to the future as men are later seen to be attracted to her in this manner in the flesh. Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' The singing boys arrive at the tranter's house just after 10 o'clock. The older men and musicians are described as wearing thick coats and colored handkerchiefs round their necks. The others are mainly dressed in white 'smock-frocks' that are embroidered with patterns. The boys light the lanterns and because there has been a thin fall of snow those without leggings put hay round their ankles to keep the flakes from the interior of their boots. They sing in the parish of Mellstock, which is spread over a large area, and several hours are taken in singing within the hearing of each family. This includes East and West Mellstock and Lewgate. William Dewy plays the 'violincello' and his grandson, Dick, the treble violin. Reuben and Michael Mail play the tenor and second violin respectively. They set out at midnight and by 2 o'clock they pass the Home Plantation toward the main village. Michael Mail talks about how times have changed and how he thinks "'we must be almost the last left in the country of the old string players'". He also says barrel organs and harmoniums are replacing them. They cross toward the school and form a semi-circle and sing hymn number 78, which refers to Adam's fall. No movement comes from the schoolhouse and they sing another and again no notice is shown to have been taken of their performance. The tranter wonders if she 'sneers' at their 'doings' as she has come from the city, and Mr Penny says "'od rabbit her!'" They sing one more song and still no sign is given that they have been heard. A light appears in an upper floor window in Chapter Five. A young woman opens the window and thanks them and goes back inside. The men note her prettiness and agree "'that such a sight was worth singing for'". They go to Farmer Shinar's after this and he shouts at them for making a noise when he has a headache. They continue and William says they cannot be insulted in this way. The farmer opens a window and they play louder to drown out what he says. When they retire, William says how Shinar has been "'unseemly'" especially as the farmer is a churchwarden. The tranter says he has had a drink and is in "'his worldly frame'" now. He adds that they will invite him to their party and bear no ill will against him. They proceed to the lower village and have food and drink. William notices Dick's absence then and the tranter shouts for him. They retrace their steps and find him at the schoolhouse. The 'lost man' is leant against a wall and is looking up at the window. His father asks him what he is doing and he says nothing. They go to the vicarage after this and perform there. Mr Maybold, the vicar, does not stir at first, but cries "'thanks villagers'" from his bedclothes. The tranter predicts that "'that young vision'" will wind the "'tinner-voiced parson'" round her finger. In Chapter Six, Dick's sleep is disturbed with the thought of Fancy and in the morning he keeps thinking of her, 'the Vision', and wonders if she will be in church. They prepare to attend the service and grandfather, father and son take their instruments with them. The difference between the people in the gallery and the nave at church is referred to. The choir is at the back of the gallery and Dick sees Fancy enter the porch door. 'Ever afterwards' he remembers everything of the service of that Christmas morning, including the tunes, the text, the dust on the piers and the holly in the chancel archway. Mr Maybold also notices Fancy and he 'sedulously endeavoured to reduce himself to his normal state of mind'. When the singing is 'in progress', a 'strong and shrill reinforcement' comes from the schoolgirls. This has never happened before 'within the memory of man'. The girls like the others had previously been 'humble' and followed the lead of the gallery. 'A good deal of desperation' is evident among the choir. Mr Bowman calls them "'brazen-faced hussies'" and Mr Spinks asks "'Shall anything bolder be found that united woman?'" The tranter says he wants to know what business people have telling them to sing like that when they are not sat in the gallery and have never been in one. Mr Spinks says "'we useless ones'" should march out with their fiddles and all and laughs. Only the 'initiated body of men' understood the 'horrible bitterness of irony' of these words. The chapter ends with the information that Ann tells the family at breakfast that she intends to invite Fancy - the 'youthful leader of the culprits' - to their party that night and this brightens Dick. Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' Chapter Four 'Going the Rounds', Chapter Five 'The Listeners', and Chapter Six 'Christmas Morning' The spirit of change is strongly suggested as the music made by the men in the choir is diminished in church by the united voices of the schoolgirls. These are referred to variously as 'united women' and 'brazen-faced hussies' and their behavior signals a challenge to the past and possibly patriarchy in the way they no longer perform in the usual 'humble' fashion. Change is also alluded to earlier in Chapter Four when Michael Mail points out they must be among the last of their kind now, of 'old string players', and considers how the harmonium and barrel organ are replacing them. Progress, it is suggested, is tied up with improvements in technology and with the redundancy of men.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_2_chapters_1_to_5.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_1_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 2.chapters 1-5

part 2 chapter 1 - 5

{"name": "Part Two Chapter 1 to 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part2-chapter1-5", "summary": "'Passing By the School', Chapter Two 'A Meeting of the Choir' and Chapter Three 'A Turn in the Discussion' As spring advances, Dick often walks near the school on his way to or from home. The nineteenth time of doing this he sees her at her window and receives a friendly greeting. At other times, he is rewarded with 'an actual meeting face to face on the open ground'. He thinks about her 'every little movements' for hours later and is not sure how she feels about him. Chapter Two refers to the main members of the Mellstock parish choir, who are standing outside Mr Penny's workshop. His premises are described and it is explained that he has no sign over his door as 'advertising in any shape was scorned' as with 'old banks and mercantile houses': '... it would have been felt as beneath his dignity to paint, for the benefit of strangers, the name of an establishment the trade of which came solely by connection based on personal respect.' The men talk about the vicar and one says 'he' is not to blame, she is as, \"'she's the bitter weed'\". The changes brought in by the vicar are mentioned, such as how he does not let men put their hats in the font during service and now, the tranter says, \"'tis to turn us out of the quire neck and crop'\". They move on to talk about the previous vicar, Mr Grinham, and how he never troubled them: \"'And he was a very honourable good man in not wanting any of us to come and hear him if we were all on-end for a jaunt or spree, or to bring the babies to be christened if they were inclined to squalling.'\" Old William goes on to defend Mr Maybold, the latest vicar, and his son does the same as he recalls how he speaks to them whether they are dirty or clean. This chapter ends with them seeing Dick coming up the street. In Chapter Three, the tranter says his son, Dick, is \"'a lost man'\" and says it is his mother's fault for inviting \"'the young woman'\" to the party at Christmas. Mr Spinks turns the conversation slightly and asks how Mr Maybold knew that she could play the organ. When Dick approaches, they tell him of the 'alteration' and he blushes and says Miss Day particularly wished not to play because she is a friend of theirs. The tranter proposes they go down to the vicar and say they know that every tradesman likes to have his own way in his workshop and the church is his. They just ask if they can stay on until Christmas and then give way to the young woman. They agree to this and decide to go to Reuben's house for bacon and cider for fortification beforehand.", "analysis": "' Passing By the School', Chapter Two 'A Meeting of the Choir' and Chapter Three 'A Turn in the Discussion' The earlier references to change and the fear of replacement are emphasized at this point as it transpires that Fancy is to play the organ in church and will replace the choir. The older tradition is set to be replaced by the more modern individual and with the help of technology. The choir is all but made redundant. The choir's allegiance to the past is also exemplified in Mr Penny's decision to not submit to the practice of advertising his trade. By refusing to lower his dignity, in his interpretation, he avoids engaging with capitalism and lives according to his means. Both the choir and Mr Penny belong to an era which has disappeared, if it ever existed, and the narrative invites us to mourn over this loss of simplicity and relative innocence. Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' The next day at 6 pm they leave the tranter's house and he tells them to keep in step as this looks better. They are shown into the vicar's house and Reuben, William and Tommy Leaf go in to the study to talk with him. After some preamble, Reuben tells the vicar how he likes to look things in the face, and gazes out of the window. William and the vicar do the same, 'apparently under the impression that the thing's face alluded to were there visible'. Reuben asks for the choir to be given more time, till Christmas, and \"'as a fair thing between man and man'\". The vicar says he will give them more time and has no personal fault to find with the choir. He does not want to change the church music in a \"'forcible'\" manner and does not want to hurt his parishioners' feelings either. He has spoken definitely on the subject at last because one of his churchwardens has brought to his notice that he knows a player of the organ. Reuben says they understand the young lady did not want to play particularly and the vicar agrees and explains that the churchwarden \"'has been so anxious for a change'\" that he could not keep refusing his consent. The vicar then blushes and explains he has also thought of asking Miss Day to play. On being questioned, he also tells them that it was Mr Shinar who wanted the change and Reuben exclaims and says he has no ear for music and adds that he took against the choir at Christmas. The vicar says he does not think Mr Shinar bears any ill feelings toward them. The others come to the study door when they hear movement . Mr Penny tells the vicar how his chin is bleeding from a shaving cut and everyone else looks too. The vicar brings the conversation back to the choir and says he knows they will meet him half way and Michaelmas would be convenient for both parties. Reuben agrees and says, \"'then we make room for the next generation'\". On the walk home, in Chapter Five, Reuben says that Shinar is \"'at the root of the mischief'\" and sees that Shinar is for putting Miss Day forwards. Bowman blames 'Fancy Day' for them having to leave the gallery and Mr Penny says his wife thinks Mr Maybold is in love with Miss Day. They also talk of her father, Geoffrey, and how silent he is. Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' As Reuben says, the choir must now 'make room for the next generation' as Fancy is to take over the playing of the organ in church at Michaelmas. This change will occur on the instigation of Shinar and at the final request of the vicar and so the choir are relegated to the past. Fancy is used as the means to oust the choir, but by showing her preference the vicar and Shinar also demonstration an affection for her in their bid to elevate her in front of the congregation. All of these machinations occur while Fancy is off-stage, so to speak, and as yet is known only by her absence."}

It followed that, as the spring advanced, Dick walked abroad much more frequently than had hitherto been usual with him, and was continually finding that his nearest way to or from home lay by the road which skirted the garden of the school. The first-fruits of his perseverance were that, on turning the angle on the nineteenth journey by that track, he saw Miss Fancy's figure, clothed in a dark-gray dress, looking from a high open window upon the crown of his hat. The friendly greeting resulting from this rencounter was considered so valuable an elixir that Dick passed still oftener; and by the time he had almost trodden a little path under the fence where never a path was before, he was rewarded with an actual meeting face to face on the open road before her gate. This brought another meeting, and another, Fancy faintly showing by her bearing that it was a pleasure to her of some kind to see him there; but the sort of pleasure she derived, whether exultation at the hope her exceeding fairness inspired, or the true feeling which was alone Dick's concern, he could not anyhow decide, although he meditated on her every little movement for hours after it was made. It was the evening of a fine spring day. The descending sun appeared as a nebulous blaze of amber light, its outline being lost in cloudy masses hanging round it, like wild locks of hair. The chief members of Mellstock parish choir were standing in a group in front of Mr. Penny's workshop in the lower village. They were all brightly illuminated, and each was backed up by a shadow as long as a steeple; the lowness of the source of light rendering the brims of their hats of no use at all as a protection to the eyes. Mr. Penny's was the last house in that part of the parish, and stood in a hollow by the roadside so that cart-wheels and horses' legs were about level with the sill of his shop-window. This was low and wide, and was open from morning till evening, Mr. Penny himself being invariably seen working inside, like a framed portrait of a shoemaker by some modern Moroni. He sat facing the road, with a boot on his knees and the awl in his hand, only looking up for a moment as he stretched out his arms and bent forward at the pull, when his spectacles flashed in the passer's face with a shine of flat whiteness, and then returned again to the boot as usual. Rows of lasts, small and large, stout and slender, covered the wall which formed the background, in the extreme shadow of which a kind of dummy was seen sitting, in the shape of an apprentice with a string tied round his hair (probably to keep it out of his eyes). He smiled at remarks that floated in from without, but was never known to answer them in Mr. Penny's presence. Outside the window the upper-leather of a Wellington-boot was usually hung, pegged to a board as if to dry. No sign was over his door; in fact--as with old banks and mercantile houses--advertising in any shape was scorned, and it would have been felt as beneath his dignity to paint up, for the benefit of strangers, the name of an establishment whose trade came solely by connection based on personal respect. His visitors now came and stood on the outside of his window, sometimes leaning against the sill, sometimes moving a pace or two backwards and forwards in front of it. They talked with deliberate gesticulations to Mr. Penny, enthroned in the shadow of the interior. "I do like a man to stick to men who be in the same line o' life--o' Sundays, anyway--that I do so." "'Tis like all the doings of folk who don't know what a day's work is, that's what I say." "My belief is the man's not to blame; 'tis she--she's the bitter weed!" "No, not altogether. He's a poor gawk-hammer. Look at his sermon yesterday." "His sermon was well enough, a very good guessable sermon, only he couldn't put it into words and speak it. That's all was the matter wi' the sermon. He hadn't been able to get it past his pen." "Well--ay, the sermon might have been good; for, 'tis true, the sermon of Old Eccl'iastes himself lay in Eccl'iastes's ink-bottle afore he got it out." Mr. Penny, being in the act of drawing the last stitch tight, could afford time to look up and throw in a word at this point. "He's no spouter--that must be said, 'a b'lieve." "'Tis a terrible muddle sometimes with the man, as far as spout do go," said Spinks. "Well, we'll say nothing about that," the tranter answered; "for I don't believe 'twill make a penneth o' difference to we poor martels here or hereafter whether his sermons be good or bad, my sonnies." Mr. Penny made another hole with his awl, pushed in the thread, and looked up and spoke again at the extension of arms. "'Tis his goings-on, souls, that's what it is." He clenched his features for an Herculean addition to the ordinary pull, and continued, "The first thing he done when he came here was to be hot and strong about church business." "True," said Spinks; "that was the very first thing he done." Mr. Penny, having now been offered the ear of the assembly, accepted it, ceased stitching, swallowed an unimportant quantity of air as if it were a pill, and continued: "The next thing he do do is to think about altering the church, until he found 'twould be a matter o' cost and what not, and then not to think no more about it." "True: that was the next thing he done." "And the next thing was to tell the young chaps that they were not on no account to put their hats in the christening font during service." "True." "And then 'twas this, and then 'twas that, and now 'tis--" Words were not forcible enough to conclude the sentence, and Mr. Penny gave a huge pull to signify the concluding word. "Now 'tis to turn us out of the quire neck and crop," said the tranter after an interval of half a minute, not by way of explaining the pause and pull, which had been quite understood, but as a means of keeping the subject well before the meeting. Mrs. Penny came to the door at this point in the discussion. Like all good wives, however much she was inclined to play the Tory to her husband's Whiggism, and vice versa, in times of peace, she coalesced with him heartily enough in time of war. "It must be owned he's not all there," she replied in a general way to the fragments of talk she had heard from indoors. "Far below poor Mr. Grinham" (the late vicar). "Ay, there was this to be said for he, that you were quite sure he'd never come mumbudgeting to see ye, just as you were in the middle of your work, and put you out with his fuss and trouble about ye." "Never. But as for this new Mr. Maybold, though he mid be a very well- intending party in that respect, he's unbearable; for as to sifting your cinders, scrubbing your floors, or emptying your slops, why, you can't do it. I assure you I've not been able to empt them for several days, unless I throw 'em up the chimley or out of winder; for as sure as the sun you meet him at the door, coming to ask how you are, and 'tis such a confusing thing to meet a gentleman at the door when ye are in the mess o' washing." "'Tis only for want of knowing better, poor gentleman," said the tranter. "His meaning's good enough. Ay, your pa'son comes by fate: 'tis heads or tails, like pitch-halfpenny, and no choosing; so we must take en as he is, my sonnies, and thank God he's no worse, I suppose." "I fancy I've seen him look across at Miss Day in a warmer way than Christianity asked for," said Mrs. Penny musingly; "but I don't quite like to say it." "O no; there's nothing in that," said grandfather William. "If there's nothing, we shall see nothing," Mrs. Penny replied, in the tone of a woman who might possibly have private opinions still. "Ah, Mr. Grinham was the man!" said Bowman. "Why, he never troubled us wi' a visit from year's end to year's end. You might go anywhere, do anything: you'd be sure never to see him." "Yes, he was a right sensible pa'son," said Michael. "He never entered our door but once in his life, and that was to tell my poor wife--ay, poor soul, dead and gone now, as we all shall!--that as she was such a' old aged person, and lived so far from the church, he didn't at all expect her to come any more to the service." "And 'a was a very jinerous gentleman about choosing the psalms and hymns o' Sundays. 'Confound ye,' says he, 'blare and scrape what ye will, but don't bother me!'" "And he was a very honourable man in not wanting any of us to come and hear him if we were all on-end for a jaunt or spree, or to bring the babies to be christened if they were inclined to squalling. There's good in a man's not putting a parish to unnecessary trouble." "And there's this here man never letting us have a bit o' peace; but keeping on about being good and upright till 'tis carried to such a pitch as I never see the like afore nor since!" "No sooner had he got here than he found the font wouldn't hold water, as it hadn't for years off and on; and when I told him that Mr. Grinham never minded it, but used to spet upon his vinger and christen 'em just as well, 'a said, 'Good Heavens! Send for a workman immediate. What place have I come to!' Which was no compliment to us, come to that." "Still, for my part," said old William, "though he's arrayed against us, I like the hearty borussnorus ways of the new pa'son." "You, ready to die for the quire," said Bowman reproachfully, "to stick up for the quire's enemy, William!" "Nobody will feel the loss of our church-work so much as I," said the old man firmly; "that you d'all know. I've a-been in the quire man and boy ever since I was a chiel of eleven. But for all that 'tisn't in me to call the man a bad man, because I truly and sincerely believe en to be a good young feller." Some of the youthful sparkle that used to reside there animated William's eye as he uttered the words, and a certain nobility of aspect was also imparted to him by the setting sun, which gave him a Titanic shadow at least thirty feet in length, stretching away to the east in outlines of imposing magnitude, his head finally terminating upon the trunk of a grand old oak-tree. "Mayble's a hearty feller enough," the tranter replied, "and will spak to you be you dirty or be you clane. The first time I met en was in a drong, and though 'a didn't know me no more than the dead, 'a passed the time of day. 'D'ye do?' he said, says he, nodding his head. 'A fine day.' Then the second time I met en was full-buff in town street, when my breeches were tore into a long strent by getting through a copse of thorns and brimbles for a short cut home-along; and not wanting to disgrace the man by spaking in that state, I fixed my eye on the weathercock to let en pass me as a stranger. But no: 'How d'ye do, Reuben?' says he, right hearty, and shook my hand. If I'd been dressed in silver spangles from top to toe, the man couldn't have been civiller." At this moment Dick was seen coming up the village-street, and they turned and watched him. "I'm afraid Dick's a lost man," said the tranter. "What?--no!" said Mail, implying by his manner that it was a far commoner thing for his ears to report what was not said than that his judgment should be at fault. "Ay," said the tranter, still gazing at Dick's unconscious advance. "I don't at all like what I see! There's too many o' them looks out of the winder without noticing anything; too much shining of boots; too much peeping round corners; too much looking at the clock; telling about clever things she did till you be sick of it; and then upon a hint to that effect a horrible silence about her. I've walked the path once in my life and know the country, neighbours; and Dick's a lost man!" The tranter turned a quarter round and smiled a smile of miserable satire at the setting new moon, which happened to catch his eye. The others became far too serious at this announcement to allow them to speak; and they still regarded Dick in the distance. "'Twas his mother's fault," the tranter continued, "in asking the young woman to our party last Christmas. When I eyed the blue frock and light heels o' the maid, I had my thoughts directly. 'God bless thee, Dicky my sonny,' I said to myself; 'there's a delusion for thee!'" "They seemed to be rather distant in manner last Sunday, I thought?" Mail tentatively observed, as became one who was not a member of the family. "Ay, that's a part of the zickness. Distance belongs to it, slyness belongs to it, queerest things on earth belongs to it! There, 'tmay as well come early as late s'far as I know. The sooner begun, the sooner over; for come it will." "The question I ask is," said Mr. Spinks, connecting into one thread the two subjects of discourse, as became a man learned in rhetoric, and beating with his hand in a way which signified that the manner rather than the matter of his speech was to be observed, "how did Mr. Maybold know she could play the organ? You know we had it from her own lips, as far as lips go, that she has never, first or last, breathed such a thing to him; much less that she ever would play." In the midst of this puzzle Dick joined the party, and the news which had caused such a convulsion among the ancient musicians was unfolded to him. "Well," he said, blushing at the allusion to Miss Day, "I know by some words of hers that she has a particular wish not to play, because she is a friend of ours; and how the alteration comes, I don't know." "Now, this is my plan," said the tranter, reviving the spirit of the discussion by the infusion of new ideas, as was his custom--"this is my plan; if you don't like it, no harm's done. We all know one another very well, don't we, neighbours?" That they knew one another very well was received as a statement which, though familiar, should not be omitted in introductory speeches. "Then I say this"--and the tranter in his emphasis slapped down his hand on Mr. Spinks's shoulder with a momentum of several pounds, upon which Mr. Spinks tried to look not in the least startled--"I say that we all move down-along straight as a line to Pa'son Mayble's when the clock has gone six to-morrow night. There we one and all stand in the passage, then one or two of us go in and spak to en, man and man; and say, 'Pa'son Mayble, every tradesman d'like to have his own way in his workshop, and Mellstock Church is yours. Instead of turning us out neck and crop, let us stay on till Christmas, and we'll gie way to the young woman, Mr. Mayble, and make no more ado about it. And we shall always be quite willing to touch our hats when we meet ye, Mr. Mayble, just as before.' That sounds very well? Hey?" "Proper well, in faith, Reuben Dewy." "And we won't sit down in his house; 'twould be looking too familiar when only just reconciled?" "No need at all to sit down. Just do our duty man and man, turn round, and march out--he'll think all the more of us for it." "I hardly think Leaf had better go wi' us?" said Michael, turning to Leaf and taking his measure from top to bottom by the eye. "He's so terrible silly that he might ruin the concern." "He don't want to go much; do ye, Thomas Leaf?" said William. "Hee-hee! no; I don't want to. Only a teeny bit!" "I be mortal afeard, Leaf, that you'll never be able to tell how many cuts d'take to sharpen a spar," said Mail. "I never had no head, never! that's how it happened to happen, hee-hee!" They all assented to this, not with any sense of humiliating Leaf by disparaging him after an open confession, but because it was an accepted thing that Leaf didn't in the least mind having no head, that deficiency of his being an unimpassioned matter of parish history. "But I can sing my treble!" continued Thomas Leaf, quite delighted at being called a fool in such a friendly way; "I can sing my treble as well as any maid, or married woman either, and better! And if Jim had lived, I should have had a clever brother! To-morrow is poor Jim's birthday. He'd ha' been twenty-six if he'd lived till to-morrow." "You always seem very sorry for Jim," said old William musingly. "Ah! I do. Such a stay to mother as he'd always ha' been! She'd never have had to work in her old age if he had continued strong, poor Jim!" "What was his age when 'a died?" "Four hours and twenty minutes, poor Jim. 'A was born as might be at night; and 'a didn't last as might be till the morning. No, 'a didn't last. Mother called en Jim on the day that would ha' been his christening day if he had lived; and she's always thinking about en. You see he died so very young." "Well, 'twas rather youthful," said Michael. "Now to my mind that woman is very romantical on the matter o' children?" said the tranter, his eye sweeping his audience. "Ah, well she mid be," said Leaf. "She had twelve regular one after another, and they all, except myself, died very young; either before they was born or just afterwards." "Pore feller, too. I suppose th'st want to come wi' us?" the tranter murmured. "Well, Leaf, you shall come wi' us as yours is such a melancholy family," said old William rather sadly. "I never see such a melancholy family as that afore in my life," said Reuben. "There's Leaf's mother, poor woman! Every morning I see her eyes mooning out through the panes of glass like a pot-sick winder-flower; and as Leaf sings a very high treble, and we don't know what we should do without en for upper G, we'll let en come as a trate, poor feller." "Ay, we'll let en come, 'a b'lieve," said Mr. Penny, looking up, as the pull happened to be at that moment. "Now," continued the tranter, dispersing by a new tone of voice these digressions about Leaf; "as to going to see the pa'son, one of us might call and ask en his meaning, and 'twould be just as well done; but it will add a bit of flourish to the cause if the quire waits on him as a body. Then the great thing to mind is, not for any of our fellers to be nervous; so before starting we'll one and all come to my house and have a rasher of bacon; then every man-jack het a pint of cider into his inside; then we'll warm up an extra drop wi' some mead and a bit of ginger; every one take a thimbleful--just a glimmer of a drop, mind ye, no more, to finish off his inner man--and march off to Pa'son Mayble. Why, sonnies, a man's not himself till he is fortified wi' a bit and a drop? We shall be able to look any gentleman in the face then without shrink or shame." Mail recovered from a deep meditation and downward glance into the earth in time to give a cordial approval to this line of action, and the meeting adjourned. At six o'clock the next day, the whole body of men in the choir emerged from the tranter's door, and advanced with a firm step down the lane. This dignity of march gradually became obliterated as they went on, and by the time they reached the hill behind the vicarage a faint resemblance to a flock of sheep might have been discerned in the venerable party. A word from the tranter, however, set them right again; and as they descended the hill, the regular tramp, tramp, tramp of the united feet was clearly audible from the vicarage garden. At the opening of the gate there was another short interval of irregular shuffling, caused by a rather peculiar habit the gate had, when swung open quickly, of striking against the bank and slamming back into the opener's face. "Now keep step again, will ye?" said the tranter. "It looks better, and more becomes the high class of arrant which has brought us here." Thus they advanced to the door. At Reuben's ring the more modest of the group turned aside, adjusted their hats, and looked critically at any shrub that happened to lie in the line of vision; endeavouring thus to give a person who chanced to look out of the windows the impression that their request, whatever it was going to be, was rather a casual thought occurring whilst they were inspecting the vicar's shrubbery and grass-plot than a predetermined thing. The tranter, who, coming frequently to the vicarage with luggage, coals, firewood, etc., had none of the awe for its precincts that filled the breasts of most of the others, fixed his eyes firmly on the knocker during this interval of waiting. The knocker having no characteristic worthy of notice, he relinquished it for a knot in one of the door-panels, and studied the winding lines of the grain. "O, sir, please, here's Tranter Dewy, and old William Dewy, and young Richard Dewy, O, and all the quire too, sir, except the boys, a-come to see you!" said Mr. Maybold's maid-servant to Mr. Maybold, the pupils of her eyes dilating like circles in a pond. "All the choir?" said the astonished vicar (who may be shortly described as a good-looking young man with courageous eyes, timid mouth, and neutral nose), abandoning his writing and looking at his parlour-maid after speaking, like a man who fancied he had seen her face before but couldn't recollect where. "And they looks very firm, and Tranter Dewy do turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, but stares quite straight and solemn with his mind made up!" "O, all the choir," repeated the vicar to himself, trying by that simple device to trot out his thoughts on what the choir could come for. "Yes; every man-jack of 'em, as I be alive!" (The parlour-maid was rather local in manner, having in fact been raised in the same village.) "Really, sir, 'tis thoughted by many in town and country that--" "Town and country!--Heavens, I had no idea that I was public property in this way!" said the vicar, his face acquiring a hue somewhere between that of the rose and the peony. "Well, 'It is thought in town and country that--'" "It is thought that you be going to get it hot and strong!--excusen my incivility, sir." The vicar suddenly recalled to his recollection that he had long ago settled it to be decidedly a mistake to encourage his servant Jane in giving personal opinions. The servant Jane saw by the vicar's face that he recalled this fact to his mind; and removing her forehead from the edge of the door, and rubbing away the indent that edge had made, vanished into the passage as Mr. Maybold remarked, "Show them in, Jane." A few minutes later a shuffling and jostling (reduced to as refined a form as was compatible with the nature of shuffles and jostles) was heard in the passage; then an earnest and prolonged wiping of shoes, conveying the notion that volumes of mud had to be removed; but the roads being so clean that not a particle of dirt appeared on the choir's boots (those of all the elder members being newly oiled, and Dick's brightly polished), this wiping might have been set down simply as a desire to show that respectable men had no wish to take a mean advantage of clean roads for curtailing proper ceremonies. Next there came a powerful whisper from the same quarter:- "Now stand stock-still there, my sonnies, one and all! And don't make no noise; and keep your backs close to the wall, that company may pass in and out easy if they want to without squeezing through ye: and we two are enough to go in." . . . The voice was the tranter's. "I wish I could go in too and see the sight!" said a reedy voice--that of Leaf. "'Tis a pity Leaf is so terrible silly, or else he might," said another. "I never in my life seed a quire go into a study to have it out about the playing and singing," pleaded Leaf; "and I should like to see it just once!" "Very well; we'll let en come in," said the tranter. "You'll be like chips in porridge, {1} Leaf--neither good nor hurt. All right, my sonny, come along;" and immediately himself, old William, and Leaf appeared in the room. "We took the liberty to come and see 'ee, sir," said Reuben, letting his hat hang in his left hand, and touching with his right the brim of an imaginary one on his head. "We've come to see 'ee, sir, man and man, and no offence, I hope?" "None at all," said Mr. Maybold. "This old aged man standing by my side is father; William Dewy by name, sir." "Yes; I see it is," said the vicar, nodding aside to old William, who smiled. "I thought you mightn't know en without his bass-viol," the tranter apologized. "You see, he always wears his best clothes and his bass-viol a-Sundays, and it do make such a difference in a' old man's look." "And who's that young man?" the vicar said. "Tell the pa'son yer name," said the tranter, turning to Leaf, who stood with his elbows nailed back to a bookcase. "Please, Thomas Leaf, your holiness!" said Leaf, trembling. "I hope you'll excuse his looks being so very thin," continued the tranter deprecatingly, turning to the vicar again. "But 'tisn't his fault, poor feller. He's rather silly by nature, and could never get fat; though he's a' excellent treble, and so we keep him on." "I never had no head, sir," said Leaf, eagerly grasping at this opportunity for being forgiven his existence. "Ah, poor young man!" said Mr. Maybold. "Bless you, he don't mind it a bit, if you don't, sir," said the tranter assuringly. "Do ye, Leaf?" "Not I--not a morsel--hee, hee! I was afeard it mightn't please your holiness, sir, that's all." The tranter, finding Leaf get on so very well through his negative qualities, was tempted in a fit of generosity to advance him still higher, by giving him credit for positive ones. "He's very clever for a silly chap, good-now, sir. You never knowed a young feller keep his smock-frocks so clane; very honest too. His ghastly looks is all there is against en, poor feller; but we can't help our looks, you know, sir." "True: we cannot. You live with your mother, I think, Leaf?" The tranter looked at Leaf to express that the most friendly assistant to his tongue could do no more for him now, and that he must be left to his own resources. "Yes, sir: a widder, sir. Ah, if brother Jim had lived she'd have had a clever son to keep her without work!" "Indeed! poor woman. Give her this half-crown. I'll call and see your mother." "Say, 'Thank you, sir,'" the tranter whispered imperatively towards Leaf. "Thank you, sir!" said Leaf. "That's it, then; sit down, Leaf," said Mr. Maybold. "Y-yes, sir!" The tranter cleared his throat after this accidental parenthesis about Leaf, rectified his bodily position, and began his speech. "Mr. Mayble," he said, "I hope you'll excuse my common way, but I always like to look things in the face." Reuben made a point of fixing this sentence in the vicar's mind by gazing hard at him at the conclusion of it, and then out of the window. Mr. Maybold and old William looked in the same direction, apparently under the impression that the things' faces alluded to were there visible. "What I have been thinking"--the tranter implied by this use of the past tense that he was hardly so discourteous as to be positively thinking it then--"is that the quire ought to be gie'd a little time, and not done away wi' till Christmas, as a fair thing between man and man. And, Mr. Mayble, I hope you'll excuse my common way?" "I will, I will. Till Christmas," the vicar murmured, stretching the two words to a great length, as if the distance to Christmas might be measured in that way. "Well, I want you all to understand that I have no personal fault to find, and that I don't wish to change the church music by forcible means, or in a way which should hurt the feelings of any parishioners. Why I have at last spoken definitely on the subject is that a player has been brought under--I may say pressed upon--my notice several times by one of the churchwardens. And as the organ I brought with me is here waiting" (pointing to a cabinet-organ standing in the study), "there is no reason for longer delay." "We made a mistake I suppose then, sir? But we understood the young woman didn't want to play particularly?" The tranter arranged his countenance to signify that he did not want to be inquisitive in the least. "No, nor did she. Nor did I definitely wish her to just yet; for your playing is very good. But, as I said, one of the churchwardens has been so anxious for a change, that, as matters stand, I couldn't consistently refuse my consent." Now for some reason or other, the vicar at this point seemed to have an idea that he had prevaricated; and as an honest vicar, it was a thing he determined not to do. He corrected himself, blushing as he did so, though why he should blush was not known to Reuben. "Understand me rightly," he said: "the church-warden proposed it to me, but I had thought myself of getting--Miss Day to play." "Which churchwarden might that be who proposed her, sir?--excusing my common way." The tranter intimated by his tone that, so far from being inquisitive, he did not even wish to ask a single question. "Mr. Shiner, I believe." "Clk, my sonny!--beg your pardon, sir, that's only a form of words of mine, and slipped out accidental--he nourishes enmity against us for some reason or another; perhaps because we played rather hard upon en Christmas night. Anyhow 'tis certain sure that Mr. Shiner's real love for music of a particular kind isn't his reason. He've no more ear than that chair. But let that be." "I don't think you should conclude that, because Mr. Shiner wants a different music, he has any ill-feeling for you. I myself, I must own, prefer organ-music to any other. I consider it most proper, and feel justified in endeavouring to introduce it; but then, although other music is better, I don't say yours is not good." "Well then, Mr. Mayble, since death's to be, we'll die like men any day you name (excusing my common way)." Mr. Maybold bowed his head. "All we thought was, that for us old ancient singers to be choked off quiet at no time in particular, as now, in the Sundays after Easter, would seem rather mean in the eyes of other parishes, sir. But if we fell glorious with a bit of a flourish at Christmas, we should have a respectable end, and not dwindle away at some nameless paltry second-Sunday-after or Sunday-next-before something, that's got no name of his own." "Yes, yes, that's reasonable; I own it's reasonable." "You see, Mr. Mayble, we've got--do I keep you inconvenient long, sir?" "No, no." "We've got our feelings--father there especially." The tranter, in his earnestness, had advanced his person to within six inches of the vicar's. "Certainly, certainly!" said Mr. Maybold, retreating a little for convenience of seeing. "You are all enthusiastic on the subject, and I am all the more gratified to find you so. A Laodicean lukewarmness is worse than wrongheadedness itself." "Exactly, sir. In fact now, Mr. Mayble," Reuben continued, more impressively, and advancing a little closer still to the vicar, "father there is a perfect figure o' wonder, in the way of being fond of music!" The vicar drew back a little further, the tranter suddenly also standing back a foot or two, to throw open the view of his father, and pointing to him at the same time. Old William moved uneasily in the large chair, and with a minute smile on the mere edge of his lips, for good-manners, said he was indeed very fond of tunes. "Now, you see exactly how it is," Reuben continued, appealing to Mr. Maybold's sense of justice by looking sideways into his eyes. The vicar seemed to see how it was so well that the gratified tranter walked up to him again with even vehement eagerness, so that his waistcoat-buttons almost rubbed against the vicar's as he continued: "As to father, if you or I, or any man or woman of the present generation, at the time music is a-playing, was to shake your fist in father's face, as may be this way, and say, 'Don't you be delighted with that music!'"--the tranter went back to where Leaf was sitting, and held his fist so close to Leaf's face that the latter pressed his head back against the wall: "All right, Leaf, my sonny, I won't hurt you; 'tis just to show my meaning to Mr. Mayble.--As I was saying, if you or I, or any man, was to shake your fist in father's face this way, and say, 'William, your life or your music!' he'd say, 'My life!' Now that's father's nature all over; and you see, sir, it must hurt the feelings of a man of that kind for him and his bass- viol to be done away wi' neck and crop." The tranter went back to the vicar's front and again looked earnestly at his face. "True, true, Dewy," Mr. Maybold answered, trying to withdraw his head and shoulders without moving his feet; but finding this impracticable, edging back another inch. These frequent retreats had at last jammed Mr. Maybold between his easy-chair and the edge of the table. And at the moment of the announcement of the choir, Mr. Maybold had just re-dipped the pen he was using; at their entry, instead of wiping it, he had laid it on the table with the nib overhanging. At the last retreat his coat-tails came in contact with the pen, and down it rolled, first against the back of the chair, thence turning a summersault into the seat, thence falling to the floor with a rattle. The vicar stooped for his pen, and the tranter, wishing to show that, however great their ecclesiastical differences, his mind was not so small as to let this affect his social feelings, stooped also. "And have you anything else you want to explain to me, Dewy?" said Mr. Maybold from under the table. "Nothing, sir. And, Mr. Mayble, you be not offended? I hope you see our desire is reason?" said the tranter from under the chair. "Quite, quite; and I shouldn't think of refusing to listen to such a reasonable request," the vicar replied. Seeing that Reuben had secured the pen, he resumed his vertical position, and added, "You know, Dewy, it is often said how difficult a matter it is to act up to our convictions and please all parties. It may be said with equal truth, that it is difficult for a man of any appreciativeness to have convictions at all. Now in my case, I see right in you, and right in Shiner. I see that violins are good, and that an organ is good; and when we introduce the organ, it will not be that fiddles were bad, but that an organ was better. That you'll clearly understand, Dewy?" "I will; and thank you very much for such feelings, sir. Piph-h-h-h! How the blood do get into my head, to be sure, whenever I quat down like that!" said Reuben, who having also risen to his feet stuck the pen vertically in the inkstand and almost through the bottom, that it might not roll down again under any circumstances whatever. Now the ancient body of minstrels in the passage felt their curiosity surging higher and higher as the minutes passed. Dick, not having much affection for this errand, soon grew tired, and went away in the direction of the school. Yet their sense of propriety would probably have restrained them from any attempt to discover what was going on in the study had not the vicar's pen fallen to the floor. The conviction that the movement of chairs, etc., necessitated by the search, could only have been caused by the catastrophe of a bloody fight beginning, overpowered all other considerations; and they advanced to the door, which had only just fallen to. Thus, when Mr. Maybold raised his eyes after the stooping he beheld glaring through the door Mr. Penny in full- length portraiture, Mail's face and shoulders above Mr. Penny's head, Spinks's forehead and eyes over Mail's crown, and a fractional part of Bowman's countenance under Spinks's arm--crescent-shaped portions of other heads and faces being visible behind these--the whole dozen and odd eyes bristling with eager inquiry. Mr. Penny, as is the case with excitable boot-makers and men, seeing the vicar look at him and hearing no word spoken, thought it incumbent upon himself to say something of any kind. Nothing suggested itself till he had looked for about half a minute at the vicar. "You'll excuse my naming of it, sir," he said, regarding with much commiseration the mere surface of the vicar's face; "but perhaps you don't know that your chin have bust out a-bleeding where you cut yourself a-shaving this morning, sir." "Now, that was the stooping, depend upon't," the tranter suggested, also looking with much interest at the vicar's chin. "Blood always will bust out again if you hang down the member that's been bleeding." Old William raised his eyes and watched the vicar's bleeding chin likewise; and Leaf advanced two or three paces from the bookcase, absorbed in the contemplation of the same phenomenon, with parted lips and delighted eyes. "Dear me, dear me!" said Mr. Maybold hastily, looking very red, and brushing his chin with his hand, then taking out his handkerchief and wiping the place. "That's it, sir; all right again now, 'a b'lieve--a mere nothing," said Mr. Penny. "A little bit of fur off your hat will stop it in a minute if it should bust out again." "I'll let 'ee have a bit off mine," said Reuben, to show his good feeling; "my hat isn't so new as yours, sir, and 'twon't hurt mine a bit." "No, no; thank you, thank you," Mr. Maybold again nervously replied. "'Twas rather a deep cut seemingly?" said Reuben, feeling these to be the kindest and best remarks he could make. "O, no; not particularly." "Well, sir, your hand will shake sometimes a-shaving, and just when it comes into your head that you may cut yourself, there's the blood." "I have been revolving in my mind that question of the time at which we make the change," said Mr. Maybold, "and I know you'll meet me half-way. I think Christmas-day as much too late for me as the present time is too early for you. I suggest Michaelmas or thereabout as a convenient time for both parties; for I think your objection to a Sunday which has no name is not one of any real weight." "Very good, sir. I suppose mortal men mustn't expect their own way entirely; and I express in all our names that we'll make shift and be satisfied with what you say." The tranter touched the brim of his imaginary hat again, and all the choir did the same. "About Michaelmas, then, as far as you are concerned, sir, and then we make room for the next generation." "About Michaelmas," said the vicar. "'A took it very well, then?" said Mail, as they all walked up the hill. "He behaved like a man, 'a did so," said the tranter. "And I'm glad we've let en know our minds. And though, beyond that, we ha'n't got much by going, 'twas worth while. He won't forget it. Yes, he took it very well. Supposing this tree here was Pa'son Mayble, and I standing here, and thik gr't stone is father sitting in the easy-chair. 'Dewy,' says he, 'I don't wish to change the church music in a forcible way.'" "That was very nice o' the man, even though words be wind." "Proper nice--out and out nice. The fact is," said Reuben confidentially, "'tis how you take a man. Everybody must be managed. Queens must be managed: kings must be managed; for men want managing almost as much as women, and that's saying a good deal." "'Tis truly!" murmured the husbands. "Pa'son Mayble and I were as good friends all through it as if we'd been sworn brothers. Ay, the man's well enough; 'tis what's put in his head that spoils him, and that's why we've got to go." "There's really no believing half you hear about people nowadays." "Bless ye, my sonnies! 'tisn't the pa'son's move at all. That gentleman over there" (the tranter nodded in the direction of Shiner's farm) "is at the root of the mischty." "What! Shiner?" "Ay; and I see what the pa'son don't see. Why, Shiner is for putting forward that young woman that only last night I was saying was our Dick's sweet-heart, but I suppose can't be, and making much of her in the sight of the congregation, and thinking he'll win her by showing her off. Well, perhaps 'a woll." "Then the music is second to the woman, the other churchwarden is second to Shiner, the pa'son is second to the churchwardens, and God A'mighty is nowhere at all." "That's true; and you see," continued Reuben, "at the very beginning it put me in a stud as to how to quarrel wi' en. In short, to save my soul, I couldn't quarrel wi' such a civil man without belying my conscience. Says he to father there, in a voice as quiet as a lamb's, 'William, you are a' old aged man, as all shall be, so sit down in my easy-chair, and rest yourself.' And down father zot. I could fain ha' laughed at thee, father; for thou'st take it so unconcerned at first, and then looked so frightened when the chair-bottom sunk in." "You see," said old William, hastening to explain, "I was scared to find the bottom gie way--what should I know o' spring bottoms?--and thought I had broke it down: and of course as to breaking down a man's chair, I didn't wish any such thing." "And, neighbours, when a feller, ever so much up for a miff, d'see his own father sitting in his enemy's easy-chair, and a poor chap like Leaf made the best of, as if he almost had brains--why, it knocks all the wind out of his sail at once: it did out of mine." "If that young figure of fun--Fance Day, I mean," said Bowman, "hadn't been so mighty forward wi' showing herself off to Shiner and Dick and the rest, 'tis my belief we should never ha' left the gallery." "'Tis my belief that though Shiner fired the bullets, the parson made 'em," said Mr. Penny. "My wife sticks to it that he's in love wi' her." "That's a thing we shall never know. I can't onriddle her, nohow." "Thou'st ought to be able to onriddle such a little chiel as she," the tranter observed. "The littler the maid, the bigger the riddle, to my mind. And coming of such a stock, too, she may well be a twister." "Yes; Geoffrey Day is a clever man if ever there was one. Never says anything: not he." "Never." "You might live wi' that man, my sonnies, a hundred years, and never know there was anything in him." "Ay; one o' these up-country London ink-bottle chaps would call Geoffrey a fool." "Ye never find out what's in that man: never," said Spinks. "Close? ah, he is close! He can hold his tongue well. That man's dumbness is wonderful to listen to." "There's so much sense in it. Every moment of it is brimmen over wi' sound understanding." "'A can hold his tongue very clever--very clever truly," echoed Leaf. "'A do look at me as if 'a could see my thoughts running round like the works of a clock." "Well, all will agree that the man can halt well in his talk, be it a long time or be it a short time. And though we can't expect his daughter to inherit his closeness, she may have a few dribblets from his sense." "And his pocket, perhaps." "Yes; the nine hundred pound that everybody says he's worth; but I call it four hundred and fifty; for I never believe more than half I hear." "Well, he've made a pound or two, and I suppose the maid will have it, since there's nobody else. But 'tis rather sharp upon her, if she's been born to fortune, to bring her up as if not born for it, and letting her work so hard." "'Tis all upon his principle. A long-headed feller!" "Ah," murmured Spinks, "'twould be sharper upon her if she were born for fortune, and not to it! I suffer from that affliction."

Part Two Chapter 1 to 5

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'Passing By the School', Chapter Two 'A Meeting of the Choir' and Chapter Three 'A Turn in the Discussion' As spring advances, Dick often walks near the school on his way to or from home. The nineteenth time of doing this he sees her at her window and receives a friendly greeting. At other times, he is rewarded with 'an actual meeting face to face on the open ground'. He thinks about her 'every little movements' for hours later and is not sure how she feels about him. Chapter Two refers to the main members of the Mellstock parish choir, who are standing outside Mr Penny's workshop. His premises are described and it is explained that he has no sign over his door as 'advertising in any shape was scorned' as with 'old banks and mercantile houses': '... it would have been felt as beneath his dignity to paint, for the benefit of strangers, the name of an establishment the trade of which came solely by connection based on personal respect.' The men talk about the vicar and one says 'he' is not to blame, she is as, "'she's the bitter weed'". The changes brought in by the vicar are mentioned, such as how he does not let men put their hats in the font during service and now, the tranter says, "'tis to turn us out of the quire neck and crop'". They move on to talk about the previous vicar, Mr Grinham, and how he never troubled them: "'And he was a very honourable good man in not wanting any of us to come and hear him if we were all on-end for a jaunt or spree, or to bring the babies to be christened if they were inclined to squalling.'" Old William goes on to defend Mr Maybold, the latest vicar, and his son does the same as he recalls how he speaks to them whether they are dirty or clean. This chapter ends with them seeing Dick coming up the street. In Chapter Three, the tranter says his son, Dick, is "'a lost man'" and says it is his mother's fault for inviting "'the young woman'" to the party at Christmas. Mr Spinks turns the conversation slightly and asks how Mr Maybold knew that she could play the organ. When Dick approaches, they tell him of the 'alteration' and he blushes and says Miss Day particularly wished not to play because she is a friend of theirs. The tranter proposes they go down to the vicar and say they know that every tradesman likes to have his own way in his workshop and the church is his. They just ask if they can stay on until Christmas and then give way to the young woman. They agree to this and decide to go to Reuben's house for bacon and cider for fortification beforehand.

' Passing By the School', Chapter Two 'A Meeting of the Choir' and Chapter Three 'A Turn in the Discussion' The earlier references to change and the fear of replacement are emphasized at this point as it transpires that Fancy is to play the organ in church and will replace the choir. The older tradition is set to be replaced by the more modern individual and with the help of technology. The choir is all but made redundant. The choir's allegiance to the past is also exemplified in Mr Penny's decision to not submit to the practice of advertising his trade. By refusing to lower his dignity, in his interpretation, he avoids engaging with capitalism and lives according to his means. Both the choir and Mr Penny belong to an era which has disappeared, if it ever existed, and the narrative invites us to mourn over this loss of simplicity and relative innocence. Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' The next day at 6 pm they leave the tranter's house and he tells them to keep in step as this looks better. They are shown into the vicar's house and Reuben, William and Tommy Leaf go in to the study to talk with him. After some preamble, Reuben tells the vicar how he likes to look things in the face, and gazes out of the window. William and the vicar do the same, 'apparently under the impression that the thing's face alluded to were there visible'. Reuben asks for the choir to be given more time, till Christmas, and "'as a fair thing between man and man'". The vicar says he will give them more time and has no personal fault to find with the choir. He does not want to change the church music in a "'forcible'" manner and does not want to hurt his parishioners' feelings either. He has spoken definitely on the subject at last because one of his churchwardens has brought to his notice that he knows a player of the organ. Reuben says they understand the young lady did not want to play particularly and the vicar agrees and explains that the churchwarden "'has been so anxious for a change'" that he could not keep refusing his consent. The vicar then blushes and explains he has also thought of asking Miss Day to play. On being questioned, he also tells them that it was Mr Shinar who wanted the change and Reuben exclaims and says he has no ear for music and adds that he took against the choir at Christmas. The vicar says he does not think Mr Shinar bears any ill feelings toward them. The others come to the study door when they hear movement . Mr Penny tells the vicar how his chin is bleeding from a shaving cut and everyone else looks too. The vicar brings the conversation back to the choir and says he knows they will meet him half way and Michaelmas would be convenient for both parties. Reuben agrees and says, "'then we make room for the next generation'". On the walk home, in Chapter Five, Reuben says that Shinar is "'at the root of the mischief'" and sees that Shinar is for putting Miss Day forwards. Bowman blames 'Fancy Day' for them having to leave the gallery and Mr Penny says his wife thinks Mr Maybold is in love with Miss Day. They also talk of her father, Geoffrey, and how silent he is. Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' Chapter Four 'The Interview With the Vicar' and Chapter Five 'Returning Homeward' As Reuben says, the choir must now 'make room for the next generation' as Fancy is to take over the playing of the organ in church at Michaelmas. This change will occur on the instigation of Shinar and at the final request of the vicar and so the choir are relegated to the past. Fancy is used as the means to oust the choir, but by showing her preference the vicar and Shinar also demonstration an affection for her in their bid to elevate her in front of the congregation. All of these machinations occur while Fancy is off-stage, so to speak, and as yet is known only by her absence.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_2_chapters_6_to_8.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_2_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 2.chapters 6-8

part 2 chapter 6 - 8

{"name": "Part Two Chapter 6 to 8", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part2-chapter6-8", "summary": "'Yalbury Wood and the Keeper's House', Chapter Seven 'Dick Makes Himself Useful' and Chapter Eight 'Dick Meets His Father' The chapter begins with Dick going to pick up Fancy from her father's home in Yalbury Wood in order to take her and some household goods to Mellstock. Reuben has not told his son about what he thinks of 'the state of Shinar's heart' as he prefers to let 'such delicate affairs right themselves'. Fancy's father is a gamekeeper and lives in the woods. The furniture in the house is detailed and it is explained that there are two of every item as one set is for Fancy. Her mother bought these things from the time she was born. The room is described further as is the curiosity of the window in the back of the chimney. Fancy is preparing dinner and her father comes in. He is depicted as taciturn and his trapper, Enoch, is also present. Her father asks after the whereabouts of her stepmother, but before she answers they hear the Dewy cart approach. Dick is invited in and asked to eat with them, and Geoffrey talks about his absent wife and how it is 'trying' for females to be second wives especially when they have been first wives before. He also says, \"'...wives be such a provoking class of society, because though they be never right, they be never more than half wrong.'\" At the table, Fancy sits next to Dick and at one point he puts her hand on his while her father looks at his plate. They slide apart and Geoffrey speaks of Shinar and says how Fancy knows him well. Dick looks anxious and Fancy says to Dick that she has never done anything to warrant this. Following this, Geoffrey's wife comes downstairs and criticizes the tablecloth. She goes back upstairs and brings a newer and less shabby one. She also replaces the cutlery with more 'decent' ones. In Chapter Seven, Dick drives Fancy back to her home and his conversation is restrained after her father's 'incidental allusions' to Shinar. At her home, they drink tea together and she has the cup while he has the saucer. They see the vicar coming down her path to visit her, and she says she wishes he were not here as she feels awkward. Dick bids her good afternoon in 'a huff' and leaves. As he prepares his horse, he looks through the window and sees the vicar drive a nail into the wall as she holds the canary cage up to him. On the drive home in Chapter Nine, Dick is caught between thinking Fancy is and is not a coquette. His father appears and is coming down the hill and they stop and talk. His father points out that 'the maid' is taking up his thoughts more than is good for him and it is making him miserable. Dick says of his fears about the vicar and Reuben tries to comfort him. He then says how the 'bitter weed' in their being turned out of the choir is Shinar, because he is in love with \"'thy young woman'\". Dick doubts this and doubts she has \"'made up'\" to Shinar. His father questions this and also says if he \"'can't read a maid's mind by her motions, nater'd seem to say thou'st ought to be a bachelor'\". Reuben goes on his way and Dick stays where he is for a while. He goes too and at home in his room he writes a letter. He takes this to Fancy's home and wearing a 'resolute expression' at her gate he takes it off again, turns for home and tears up the letter. He decides he needs to use the tone of 'a heartless man-of-the-world'. He writes another letter asking in plain terms if she means anything by her bearing to him or not. He gets a little boy to take the note for him and takes the precaution of telling him to not turn back if he shouts for him. He waits for a response from Fancy, but hears nothing.", "analysis": "'Yalbury Wood and the Keeper's House', Chapter Seven ' Dick Makes Himself Useful' and Chapter Eight 'Dick Meets His Father' The relationships between the sexes is given more airing as Dick attempts to get closer to Fancy and Geoffrey refers to wives as a 'provoking class of society'. Such misunderstandings between men and women are emphasized when Reuben advises his son about staying a bachelor if he cannot understand a 'maid'. The comments of these older men border on misogyny at times, that is until one sees them at home in their relationships and their wives shows a certain lack of comprehension of them too. Men and women are characterized here, then, as contrasting and occasionally inexplicable to each other, and despite or rather because of this, the attraction remains."}

A mood of blitheness rarely experienced even by young men was Dick's on the following Monday morning. It was the week after the Easter holidays, and he was journeying along with Smart the mare and the light spring-cart, watching the damp slopes of the hill-sides as they streamed in the warmth of the sun, which at this unsettled season shone on the grass with the freshness of an occasional inspector rather than as an accustomed proprietor. His errand was to fetch Fancy, and some additional household goods, from her father's house in the neighbouring parish to her dwelling at Mellstock. The distant view was darkly shaded with clouds; but the nearer parts of the landscape were whitely illumined by the visible rays of the sun streaming down across the heavy gray shade behind. The tranter had not yet told his son of the state of Shiner's heart that had been suggested to him by Shiner's movements. He preferred to let such delicate affairs right themselves; experience having taught him that the uncertain phenomenon of love, as it existed in other people, was not a groundwork upon which a single action of his own life could be founded. Geoffrey Day lived in the depths of Yalbury Wood, which formed portion of one of the outlying estates of the Earl of Wessex, to whom Day was head game-keeper, timber-steward, and general overlooker for this district. The wood was intersected by the highway from Casterbridge to London at a place not far from the house, and some trees had of late years been felled between its windows and the ascent of Yalbury Hill, to give the solitary cottager a glimpse of the passers-by. It was a satisfaction to walk into the keeper's house, even as a stranger, on a fine spring morning like the present. A curl of wood-smoke came from the chimney, and drooped over the roof like a blue feather in a lady's hat; and the sun shone obliquely upon the patch of grass in front, which reflected its brightness through the open doorway and up the staircase opposite, lighting up each riser with a shiny green radiance, and leaving the top of each step in shade. The window-sill of the front room was between four and five feet from the floor, dropping inwardly to a broad low bench, over which, as well as over the whole surface of the wall beneath, there always hung a deep shade, which was considered objectionable on every ground save one, namely, that the perpetual sprinkling of seeds and water by the caged canary above was not noticed as an eyesore by visitors. The window was set with thickly-leaded diamond glazing, formed, especially in the lower panes, of knotty glass of various shades of green. Nothing was better known to Fancy than the extravagant manner in which these circular knots or eyes distorted everything seen through them from the outside--lifting hats from heads, shoulders from bodies; scattering the spokes of cart- wheels, and bending the straight fir-trunks into semicircles. The ceiling was carried by a beam traversing its midst, from the side of which projected a large nail, used solely and constantly as a peg for Geoffrey's hat; the nail was arched by a rainbow-shaped stain, imprinted by the brim of the said hat when it was hung there dripping wet. The most striking point about the room was the furniture. This was a repetition upon inanimate objects of the old principle introduced by Noah, consisting for the most part of two articles of every sort. The duplicate system of furnishing owed its existence to the forethought of Fancy's mother, exercised from the date of Fancy's birthday onwards. The arrangement spoke for itself: nobody who knew the tone of the household could look at the goods without being aware that the second set was a provision for Fancy, when she should marry and have a house of her own. The most noticeable instance was a pair of green-faced eight-day clocks, ticking alternately, which were severally two and half minutes and three minutes striking the hour of twelve, one proclaiming, in Italian flourishes, Thomas Wood as the name of its maker, and the other--arched at the top, and altogether of more cynical appearance--that of Ezekiel Saunders. They were two departed clockmakers of Casterbridge, whose desperate rivalry throughout their lives was nowhere more emphatically perpetuated than here at Geoffrey's. These chief specimens of the marriage provision were supported on the right by a couple of kitchen dressers, each fitted complete with their cups, dishes, and plates, in their turn followed by two dumb-waiters, two family Bibles, two warming- pans, and two intermixed sets of chairs. But the position last reached--the chimney-corner--was, after all, the most attractive side of the parallelogram. It was large enough to admit, in addition to Geoffrey himself, Geoffrey's wife, her chair, and her work- table, entirely within the line of the mantel, without danger or even inconvenience from the heat of the fire; and was spacious enough overhead to allow of the insertion of wood poles for the hanging of bacon, which were cloaked with long shreds of soot, floating on the draught like the tattered banners on the walls of ancient aisles. These points were common to most chimney corners of the neighbourhood; but one feature there was which made Geoffrey's fireside not only an object of interest to casual aristocratic visitors--to whom every cottage fireside was more or less a curiosity--but the admiration of friends who were accustomed to fireplaces of the ordinary hamlet model. This peculiarity was a little window in the chimney-back, almost over the fire, around which the smoke crept caressingly when it left the perpendicular course. The window-board was curiously stamped with black circles, burnt thereon by the heated bottoms of drinking-cups, which had rested there after previously standing on the hot ashes of the hearth for the purpose of warming their contents, the result giving to the ledge the look of an envelope which has passed through innumerable post-offices. Fancy was gliding about the room preparing dinner, her head inclining now to the right, now to the left, and singing the tips and ends of tunes that sprang up in her mind like mushrooms. The footsteps of Mrs. Day could be heard in the room overhead. Fancy went finally to the door. "Father! Dinner." A tall spare figure was seen advancing by the window with periodical steps, and the keeper entered from the garden. He appeared to be a man who was always looking down, as if trying to recollect something he said yesterday. The surface of his face was fissured rather than wrinkled, and over and under his eyes were folds which seemed as a kind of exterior eyelids. His nose had been thrown backwards by a blow in a poaching fray, so that when the sun was low and shining in his face, people could see far into his head. There was in him a quiet grimness, which would in his moments of displeasure have become surliness, had it not been tempered by honesty of soul, and which was often wrongheadedness because not allied with subtlety. Although not an extraordinarily taciturn man among friends slightly richer than himself, he never wasted words upon outsiders, and to his trapper Enoch his ideas were seldom conveyed by any other means than nods and shakes of the head. Their long acquaintance with each other's ways, and the nature of their labours, rendered words between them almost superfluous as vehicles of thought, whilst the coincidence of their horizons, and the astonishing equality of their social views, by startling the keeper from time to time as very damaging to the theory of master and man, strictly forbade any indulgence in words as courtesies. Behind the keeper came Enoch (who had been assisting in the garden) at the well-considered chronological distance of three minutes--an interval of non-appearance on the trapper's part not arrived at without some reflection. Four minutes had been found to express indifference to indoor arrangements, and simultaneousness had implied too great an anxiety about meals. "A little earlier than usual, Fancy," the keeper said, as he sat down and looked at the clocks. "That Ezekiel Saunders o' thine is tearing on afore Thomas Wood again." "I kept in the middle between them," said Fancy, also looking at the two clocks. "Better stick to Thomas," said her father. "There's a healthy beat in Thomas that would lead a man to swear by en offhand. He is as true as the town time. How is it your stap-mother isn't here?" As Fancy was about to reply, the rattle of wheels was heard, and "Weh- hey, Smart!" in Mr. Richard Dewy's voice rolled into the cottage from round the corner of the house. "Hullo! there's Dewy's cart come for thee, Fancy--Dick driving--afore time, too. Well, ask the lad to have pot-luck with us." Dick on entering made a point of implying by his general bearing that he took an interest in Fancy simply as in one of the same race and country as himself; and they all sat down. Dick could have wished her manner had not been so entirely free from all apparent consciousness of those accidental meetings of theirs: but he let the thought pass. Enoch sat diagonally at a table afar off, under the corner cupboard, and drank his cider from a long perpendicular pint cup, having tall fir-trees done in brown on its sides. He threw occasional remarks into the general tide of conversation, and with this advantage to himself, that he participated in the pleasures of a talk (slight as it was) at meal-times, without saddling himself with the responsibility of sustaining it. "Why don't your stap-mother come down, Fancy?" said Geoffrey. "You'll excuse her, Mister Dick, she's a little queer sometimes." "O yes,--quite," said Richard, as if he were in the habit of excusing people every day. "She d'belong to that class of womankind that become second wives: a rum class rather." "Indeed," said Dick, with sympathy for an indefinite something. "Yes; and 'tis trying to a female, especially if you've been a first wife, as she hev." "Very trying it must be." "Yes: you see her first husband was a young man, who let her go too far; in fact, she used to kick up Bob's-a-dying at the least thing in the world. And when I'd married her and found it out, I thought, thinks I, ''Tis too late now to begin to cure 'e;' and so I let her bide. But she's queer,--very queer, at times!" "I'm sorry to hear that." "Yes: there; wives be such a provoking class o' society, because though they be never right, they be never more than half wrong." Fancy seemed uneasy under the infliction of this household moralizing, which might tend to damage the airy-fairy nature that Dick, as maiden shrewdness told her, had accredited her with. Her dead silence impressed Geoffrey with the notion that something in his words did not agree with her educated ideas, and he changed the conversation. "Did Fred Shiner send the cask o' drink, Fancy?" "I think he did: O yes, he did." "Nice solid feller, Fred Shiner!" said Geoffrey to Dick as he helped himself to gravy, bringing the spoon round to his plate by way of the potato-dish, to obviate a stain on the cloth in the event of a spill. Now Geoffrey's eyes had been fixed upon his plate for the previous four or five minutes, and in removing them he had only carried them to the spoon, which, from its fulness and the distance of its transit, necessitated a steady watching through the whole of the route. Just as intently as the keeper's eyes had been fixed on the spoon, Fancy's had been fixed on her father's, without premeditation or the slightest phase of furtiveness; but there they were fastened. This was the reason why: Dick was sitting next to her on the right side, and on the side of the table opposite to her father. Fancy had laid her right hand lightly down upon the table-cloth for an instant, and to her alarm Dick, after dropping his fork and brushing his forehead as a reason, flung down his own left hand, overlapping a third of Fancy's with it, and keeping it there. So the innocent Fancy, instead of pulling her hand from the trap, settled her eyes on her father's, to guard against his discovery of this perilous game of Dick's. Dick finished his mouthful; Fancy finished her crumb, and nothing was done beyond watching Geoffrey's eyes. Then the hands slid apart; Fancy's going over six inches of cloth, Dick's over one. Geoffrey's eye had risen. "I said Fred Shiner is a nice solid feller," he repeated, more emphatically. "He is; yes, he is," stammered Dick; "but to me he is little more than a stranger." "O, sure. Now I know en as well as any man can be known. And you know en very well too, don't ye, Fancy?" Geoffrey put on a tone expressing that these words signified at present about one hundred times the amount of meaning they conveyed literally. Dick looked anxious. "Will you pass me some bread?" said Fancy in a flurry, the red of her face becoming slightly disordered, and looking as solicitous as a human being could look about a piece of bread. "Ay, that I will," replied the unconscious Geoffrey. "Ay," he continued, returning to the displaced idea, "we are likely to remain friendly wi' Mr. Shiner if the wheels d'run smooth." "An excellent thing--a very capital thing, as I should say," the youth answered with exceeding relevance, considering that his thoughts, instead of following Geoffrey's remark, were nestling at a distance of about two feet on his left the whole time. "A young woman's face will turn the north wind, Master Richard: my heart if 'twon't." Dick looked more anxious and was attentive in earnest at these words. "Yes; turn the north wind," added Geoffrey after an impressive pause. "And though she's one of my own flesh and blood . . . " "Will you fetch down a bit of raw-mil' cheese from pantry-shelf?" Fancy interrupted, as if she were famishing. "Ay, that I will, chiel; chiel, says I, and Mr. Shiner only asking last Saturday night . . . cheese you said, Fancy?" Dick controlled his emotion at these mysterious allusions to Mr. Shiner,--the better enabled to do so by perceiving that Fancy's heart went not with her father's--and spoke like a stranger to the affairs of the neighbourhood. "Yes, there's a great deal to be said upon the power of maiden faces in settling your courses," he ventured, as the keeper retreated for the cheese. "The conversation is taking a very strange turn: nothing that I have ever done warrants such things being said!" murmured Fancy with emphasis, just loud enough to reach Dick's ears. "You think to yourself, 'twas to be," cried Enoch from his distant corner, by way of filling up the vacancy caused by Geoffrey's momentary absence. "And so you marry her, Master Dewy, and there's an end o't." "Pray don't say such things, Enoch," came from Fancy severely, upon which Enoch relapsed into servitude. "If we be doomed to marry, we marry; if we be doomed to remain single, we do," replied Dick. Geoffrey had by this time sat down again, and he now made his lips thin by severely straining them across his gums, and looked out of the window along the vista to the distant highway up Yalbury Hill. "That's not the case with some folk," he said at length, as if he read the words on a board at the further end of the vista. Fancy looked interested, and Dick said, "No?" "There's that wife o' mine. It was her doom to be nobody's wife at all in the wide universe. But she made up her mind that she would, and did it twice over. Doom? Doom is nothing beside a elderly woman--quite a chiel in her hands!" A movement was now heard along the upstairs passage, and footsteps descending. The door at the foot of the stairs opened, and the second Mrs. Day appeared in view, looking fixedly at the table as she advanced towards it, with apparent obliviousness of the presence of any other human being than herself. In short, if the table had been the personages, and the persons the table, her glance would have been the most natural imaginable. She showed herself to possess an ordinary woman's face, iron-grey hair, hardly any hips, and a great deal of cleanliness in a broad white apron- string, as it appeared upon the waist of her dark stuff dress. "People will run away with a story now, I suppose," she began saying, "that Jane Day's tablecloths are as poor and ragged as any union beggar's!" Dick now perceived that the tablecloth was a little the worse for wear, and reflecting for a moment, concluded that 'people' in step-mother language probably meant himself. On lifting his eyes he found that Mrs. Day had vanished again upstairs, and presently returned with an armful of new damask-linen tablecloths, folded square and hard as boards by long compression. These she flounced down into a chair; then took one, shook it out from its folds, and spread it on the table by instalments, transferring the plates and dishes one by one from the old to the new cloth. "And I suppose they'll say, too, that she ha'n't a decent knife and fork in her house!" "I shouldn't say any such ill-natured thing, I am sure--" began Dick. But Mrs. Day had vanished into the next room. Fancy appeared distressed. "Very strange woman, isn't she?" said Geoffrey, quietly going on with his dinner. "But 'tis too late to attempt curing. My heart! 'tis so growed into her that 'twould kill her to take it out. Ay, she's very queer: you'd be amazed to see what valuable goods we've got stowed away upstairs." Back again came Mrs. Day with a box of bright steel horn-handled knives, silver-plated forks, carver, and all complete. These were wiped of the preservative oil which coated them, and then a knife and fork were laid down to each individual with a bang, the carving knife and fork thrust into the meat dish, and the old ones they had hitherto used tossed away. Geoffrey placidly cut a slice with the new knife and fork, and asked Dick if he wanted any more. The table had been spread for the mixed midday meal of dinner and tea, which was common among frugal countryfolk. "The parishioners about here," continued Mrs. Day, not looking at any living being, but snatching up the brown delf tea-things, "are the laziest, gossipest, poachest, jailest set of any ever I came among. And they'll talk about my teapot and tea-things next, I suppose!" She vanished with the teapot, cups, and saucers, and reappeared with a tea-service in white china, and a packet wrapped in brown paper. This was removed, together with folds of tissue- paper underneath; and a brilliant silver teapot appeared. "I'll help to put the things right," said Fancy soothingly, and rising from her seat. "I ought to have laid out better things, I suppose. But" (here she enlarged her looks so as to include Dick) "I have been away from home a good deal, and I make shocking blunders in my housekeeping." Smiles and suavity were then dispensed all around by this bright little bird. After a little more preparation and modification, Mrs. Day took her seat at the head of the table, and during the latter or tea division of the meal, presided with much composure. It may cause some surprise to learn that, now her vagary was over, she showed herself to be an excellent person with much common sense, and even a religious seriousness of tone on matters pertaining to her afflictions. The effect of Geoffrey's incidental allusions to Mr. Shiner was to restrain a considerable flow of spontaneous chat that would otherwise have burst from young Dewy along the drive homeward. And a certain remark he had hazarded to her, in rather too blunt and eager a manner, kept the young lady herself even more silent than Dick. On both sides there was an unwillingness to talk on any but the most trivial subjects, and their sentences rarely took a larger form than could be expressed in two or three words. Owing to Fancy being later in the day than she had promised, the charwoman had given up expecting her; whereupon Dick could do no less than stay and see her comfortably tided over the disagreeable time of entering and establishing herself in an empty house after an absence of a week. The additional furniture and utensils that had been brought (a canary and cage among the rest) were taken out of the vehicle, and the horse was unharnessed and put in the plot opposite, where there was some tender grass. Dick lighted the fire already laid; and activity began to loosen their tongues a little. "There!" said Fancy, "we forgot to bring the fire-irons!" She had originally found in her sitting-room, to bear out the expression 'nearly furnished' which the school-manager had used in his letter to her, a table, three chairs, a fender, and a piece of carpet. This 'nearly' had been supplemented hitherto by a kind friend, who had lent her fire-irons and crockery until she should fetch some from home. Dick attended to the young lady's fire, using his whip-handle for a poker till it was spoilt, and then flourishing a hurdle stick for the remainder of the time. "The kettle boils; now you shall have a cup of tea," said Fancy, diving into the hamper she had brought. "Thank you," said Dick, whose drive had made him ready for some, especially in her company. "Well, here's only one cup-and-saucer, as I breathe! Whatever could mother be thinking about? Do you mind making shift, Mr. Dewy?" "Not at all, Miss Day," said that civil person. "--And only having a cup by itself? or a saucer by itself?" "Don't mind in the least." "Which do you mean by that?" "I mean the cup, if you like the saucer." "And the saucer, if I like the cup?" "Exactly, Miss Day." "Thank you, Mr. Dewy, for I like the cup decidedly. Stop a minute; there are no spoons now!" She dived into the hamper again, and at the end of two or three minutes looked up and said, "I suppose you don't mind if I can't find a spoon?" "Not at all," said the agreeable Richard. "The fact is, the spoons have slipped down somewhere; right under the other things. O yes, here's one, and only one. You would rather have one than not, I suppose, Mr. Dewy?" "Rather not. I never did care much about spoons." "Then I'll have it. I do care about them. You must stir up your tea with a knife. Would you mind lifting the kettle off, that it may not boil dry?" Dick leapt to the fireplace, and earnestly removed the kettle. "There! you did it so wildly that you have made your hand black. We always use kettle-holders; didn't you learn housewifery as far as that, Mr. Dewy? Well, never mind the soot on your hand. Come here. I am going to rinse mine, too." They went to a basin she had placed in the back room. "This is the only basin I have," she said. "Turn up your sleeves, and by that time my hands will be washed, and you can come." Her hands were in the water now. "O, how vexing!" she exclaimed. "There's not a drop of water left for you, unless you draw it, and the well is I don't know how many furlongs deep; all that was in the pitcher I used for the kettle and this basin. Do you mind dipping the tips of your fingers in the same?" "Not at all. And to save time I won't wait till you have done, if you have no objection?" Thereupon he plunged in his hands, and they paddled together. It being the first time in his life that he had touched female fingers under water, Dick duly registered the sensation as rather a nice one. "Really, I hardly know which are my own hands and which are yours, they have got so mixed up together," she said, withdrawing her own very suddenly. "It doesn't matter at all," said Dick, "at least as far as I am concerned." "There! no towel! Whoever thinks of a towel till the hands are wet?" "Nobody." "'Nobody.' How very dull it is when people are so friendly! Come here, Mr. Dewy. Now do you think you could lift the lid of that box with your elbow, and then, with something or other, take out a towel you will find under the clean clothes? Be sure don't touch any of them with your wet hands, for the things at the top are all Starched and Ironed." Dick managed, by the aid of a knife and fork, to extract a towel from under a muslin dress without wetting the latter; and for a moment he ventured to assume a tone of criticism. "I fear for that dress," he said, as they wiped their hands together. "What?" said Miss Day, looking into the box at the dress alluded to. "O, I know what you mean--that the vicar will never let me wear muslin?" "Yes." "Well, I know it is condemned by all orders in the church as flaunting, and unfit for common wear for girls who've their living to get; but we'll see." "In the interest of the church, I hope you don't speak seriously." "Yes, I do; but we'll see." There was a comely determination on her lip, very pleasant to a beholder who was neither bishop, priest, nor deacon. "I think I can manage any vicar's views about me if he's under forty." Dick rather wished she had never thought of managing vicars. "I certainly shall be glad to get some of your delicious tea," he said in rather a free way, yet modestly, as became one in a position between that of visitor and inmate, and looking wistfully at his lonely saucer. "So shall I. Now is there anything else we want, Mr Dewy?" "I really think there's nothing else, Miss Day." She prepared to sit down, looking musingly out of the window at Smart's enjoyment of the rich grass. "Nobody seems to care about me," she murmured, with large lost eyes fixed upon the sky beyond Smart. "Perhaps Mr. Shiner does," said Dick, in the tone of a slightly injured man. "Yes, I forgot--he does, I know." Dick precipitately regretted that he had suggested Shiner, since it had produced such a miserable result as this. "I'll warrant you'll care for somebody very much indeed another day, won't you, Mr. Dewy?" she continued, looking very feelingly into the mathematical centre of his eyes. "Ah, I'll warrant I shall," said Dick, feelingly too, and looking back into her dark pupils, whereupon they were turned aside. "I meant," she went on, preventing him from speaking just as he was going to narrate a forcible story about his feelings; "I meant that nobody comes to see if I have returned--not even the vicar." "If you want to see him, I'll call at the vicarage directly we have had some tea." "No, no! Don't let him come down here, whatever you do, whilst I am in such a state of disarrangement. Parsons look so miserable and awkward when one's house is in a muddle; walking about, and making impossible suggestions in quaint academic phrases till your flesh creeps and you wish them dead. Do you take sugar?" Mr. Maybold was at this instant seen coming up the path. "There! That's he coming! How I wish you were not here!--that is, how awkward--dear, dear!" she exclaimed, with a quick ascent of blood to her face, and irritated with Dick rather than the vicar, as it seemed. "Pray don't be alarmed on my account, Miss Day--good-afternoon!" said Dick in a huff, putting on his hat, and leaving the room hastily by the back-door. The horse was caught and put in, and on mounting the shafts to start he saw through the window the vicar, standing upon some books piled in a chair, and driving a nail into the wall; Fancy, with a demure glance, holding the canary-cage up to him, as if she had never in her life thought of anything but vicars and canaries. For several minutes Dick drove along homeward, with the inner eye of reflection so anxiously set on his passages at arms with Fancy, that the road and scenery were as a thin mist over the real pictures of his mind. Was she a coquette? The balance between the evidence that she did love him and that she did not was so nicely struck, that his opinion had no stability. She had let him put his hand upon hers; she had allowed her gaze to drop plumb into the depths of his--his into hers--three or four times; her manner had been very free with regard to the basin and towel; she had appeared vexed at the mention of Shiner. On the other hand, she had driven him about the house like a quiet dog or cat, said Shiner cared for her, and seemed anxious that Mr. Maybold should do the same. Thinking thus as he neared the handpost at Mellstock Cross, sitting on the front board of the spring cart--his legs on the outside, and his whole frame jigging up and down like a candle-flame to the time of Smart's trotting--who should he see coming down the hill but his father in the light wagon, quivering up and down on a smaller scale of shakes, those merely caused by the stones in the road. They were soon crossing each other's front. "Weh-hey!" said the tranter to Smiler. "Weh-hey!" said Dick to Smart, in an echo of the same voice. "Th'st hauled her back, I suppose?" Reuben inquired peaceably. "Yes," said Dick, with such a clinching period at the end that it seemed he was never going to add another word. Smiler, thinking this the close of the conversation, prepared to move on. "Weh-hey!" said the tranter. "I tell thee what it is, Dick. That there maid is taking up thy thoughts more than's good for thee, my sonny. Thou'rt never happy now unless th'rt making thyself miserable about her in one way or another." "I don't know about that, father," said Dick rather stupidly. "But I do--Wey, Smiler!--'Od rot the women, 'tis nothing else wi' 'em nowadays but getting young men and leading 'em astray." "Pooh, father! you just repeat what all the common world says; that's all you do." "The world's a very sensible feller on things in jineral, Dick; very sensible indeed." Dick looked into the distance at a vast expanse of mortgaged estate. "I wish I was as rich as a squire when he's as poor as a crow," he murmured; "I'd soon ask Fancy something." "I wish so too, wi' all my heart, sonny; that I do. Well, mind what beest about, that's all." Smart moved on a step or two. "Supposing now, father,--We-hey, Smart!--I did think a little about her, and I had a chance, which I ha'n't; don't you think she's a very good sort of--of--one?" "Ay, good; she's good enough. When you've made up your mind to marry, take the first respectable body that comes to hand--she's as good as any other; they be all alike in the groundwork; 'tis only in the flourishes there's a difference. She's good enough; but I can't see what the nation a young feller like you--wi' a comfortable house and home, and father and mother to take care o' thee, and who sent 'ee to a school so good that 'twas hardly fair to the other children--should want to go hollering after a young woman for, when she's quietly making a husband in her pocket, and not troubled by chick nor chiel, to make a poverty-stric' wife and family of her, and neither hat, cap, wig, nor waistcoat to set 'em up with: be drowned if I can see it, and that's the long and the short o't, my sonny." Dick looked at Smart's ears, then up the hill; but no reason was suggested by any object that met his gaze. "For about the same reason that you did, father, I suppose." "Dang it, my sonny, thou'st got me there!" And the tranter gave vent to a grim admiration, with the mien of a man who was too magnanimous not to appreciate artistically a slight rap on the knuckles, even if they were his own. "Whether or no," said Dick, "I asked her a thing going along the road." "Come to that, is it? Turk! won't thy mother be in a taking! Well, she's ready, I don't doubt?" "I didn't ask her anything about having me; and if you'll let me speak, I'll tell 'ee what I want to know. I just said, Did she care about me?" "Piph-ph-ph!" "And then she said nothing for a quarter of a mile, and then she said she didn't know. Now, what I want to know is, what was the meaning of that speech?" The latter words were spoken resolutely, as if he didn't care for the ridicule of all the fathers in creation. "The meaning of that speech is," the tranter replied deliberately, "that the meaning is meant to be rather hid at present. Well, Dick, as an honest father to thee, I don't pretend to deny what you d'know well enough; that is, that her father being rather better in the pocket than we, I should welcome her ready enough if it must be somebody." "But what d'ye think she really did mean?" said the unsatisfied Dick. "I'm afeard I am not o' much account in guessing, especially as I was not there when she said it, and seeing that your mother was the only 'ooman I ever cam' into such close quarters as that with." "And what did mother say to you when you asked her?" said Dick musingly. "I don't see that that will help 'ee." "The principle is the same." "Well--ay: what did she say? Let's see. I was oiling my working-day boots without taking 'em off, and wi' my head hanging down, when she just brushed on by the garden hatch like a flittering leaf. 'Ann,' I said, says I, and then,--but, Dick I'm afeard 'twill be no help to thee; for we were such a rum couple, your mother and I, leastways one half was, that is myself--and your mother's charms was more in the manner than the material." "Never mind! 'Ann,' said you." "'Ann,' said I, as I was saying . . . 'Ann,' I said to her when I was oiling my working-day boots wi' my head hanging down, 'Woot hae me?' . . . What came next I can't quite call up at this distance o' time. Perhaps your mother would know,--she's got a better memory for her little triumphs than I. However, the long and the short o' the story is that we were married somehow, as I found afterwards. 'Twas on White Tuesday,--Mellstock Club walked the same day, every man two and two, and a fine day 'twas,--hot as fire,--how the sun did strike down upon my back going to church! I well can mind what a bath o' sweating I was in, body and soul! But Fance will ha' thee, Dick--she won't walk with another chap--no such good luck." "I don't know about that," said Dick, whipping at Smart's flank in a fanciful way, which, as Smart knew, meant nothing in connection with going on. "There's Pa'son Maybold, too--that's all against me." "What about he? She's never been stuffing into thy innocent heart that he's in hove with her? Lord, the vanity o' maidens!" "No, no. But he called, and she looked at him in such a way, and at me in such a way--quite different the ways were,--and as I was coming off, there was he hanging up her birdcage." "Well, why shouldn't the man hang up her bird-cage? Turk seize it all, what's that got to do wi' it? Dick, that thou beest a white-lyvered chap I don't say, but if thou beestn't as mad as a cappel-faced bull, let me smile no more." "O, ay." "And what's think now, Dick?" "I don't know." "Here's another pretty kettle o' fish for thee. Who d'ye think's the bitter weed in our being turned out? Did our party tell 'ee?" "No. Why, Pa'son Maybold, I suppose." "Shiner,--because he's in love with thy young woman, and d'want to see her young figure sitting up at that queer instrument, and her young fingers rum-strumming upon the keys." A sharp ado of sweet and bitter was going on in Dick during this communication from his father. "Shiner's a fool!--no, that's not it; I don't believe any such thing, father. Why, Shiner would never take a bold step like that, unless she'd been a little made up to, and had taken it kindly. Pooh!" "Who's to say she didn't?" "I do." "The more fool you." "Why, father of me?" "Has she ever done more to thee?" "No." "Then she has done as much to he--rot 'em! Now, Dick, this is how a maid is. She'll swear she's dying for thee, and she is dying for thee, and she will die for thee; but she'll fling a look over t'other shoulder at another young feller, though never leaving off dying for thee just the same." "She's not dying for me, and so she didn't fling a look at him." "But she may be dying for him, for she looked at thee." "I don't know what to make of it at all," said Dick gloomily. "All I can make of it is," the tranter said, raising his whip, arranging his different joints and muscles, and motioning to the horse to move on, "that if you can't read a maid's mind by her motions, nature d'seem to say thou'st ought to be a bachelor. Clk, clk! Smiler!" And the tranter moved on. Dick held Smart's rein firmly, and the whole concern of horse, cart, and man remained rooted in the lane. How long this condition would have lasted is unknown, had not Dick's thoughts, after adding up numerous items of misery, gradually wandered round to the fact that as something must be done, it could not be done by staying there all night. Reaching home he went up to his bedroom, shut the door as if he were going to be seen no more in this life, and taking a sheet of paper and uncorking the ink-bottle, he began a letter. The dignity of the writer's mind was so powerfully apparent in every line of this effusion that it obscured the logical sequence of facts and intentions to an appreciable degree; and it was not at all clear to a reader whether he there and then left off loving Miss Fancy Day; whether he had never loved her seriously, and never meant to; whether he had been dying up to the present moment, and now intended to get well again; or whether he had hitherto been in good health, and intended to die for her forthwith. He put this letter in an envelope, sealed it up, directed it in a stern handwriting of straight dashes--easy flourishes being rigorously excluded. He walked with it in his pocket down the lane in strides not an inch less than three feet long. Reaching her gate he put on a resolute expression--then put it off again, turned back homeward, tore up his letter, and sat down. That letter was altogether in a wrong tone--that he must own. A heartless man-of-the-world tone was what the juncture required. That he rather wanted her, and rather did not want her--the latter for choice; but that as a member of society he didn't mind making a query in jaunty terms, which could only be answered in the same way: did she mean anything by her bearing towards him, or did she not? This letter was considered so satisfactory in every way that, being put into the hands of a little boy, and the order given that he was to run with it to the school, he was told in addition not to look behind him if Dick called after him to bring it back, but to run along with it just the same. Having taken this precaution against vacillation, Dick watched his messenger down the road, and turned into the house whistling an air in such ghastly jerks and starts, that whistling seemed to be the act the very furthest removed from that which was instinctive in such a youth. The letter was left as ordered: the next morning came and passed--and no answer. The next. The next. Friday night came. Dick resolved that if no answer or sign were given by her the next day, on Sunday he would meet her face to face, and have it all out by word of mouth. "Dick," said his father, coming in from the garden at that moment--in each hand a hive of bees tied in a cloth to prevent their egress--"I think you'd better take these two swarms of bees to Mrs. Maybold's to- morrow, instead o' me, and I'll go wi' Smiler and the wagon." It was a relief; for Mrs. Maybold, the vicar's mother, who had just taken into her head a fancy for keeping bees (pleasantly disguised under the pretence of its being an economical wish to produce her own honey), lived near the watering-place of Budmouth-Regis, ten miles off, and the business of transporting the hives thither would occupy the whole day, and to some extent annihilate the vacant time between this evening and the coming Sunday. The best spring-cart was washed throughout, the axles oiled, and the bees placed therein for the journey. PART THE THIRD--SUMMER

Part Two Chapter 6 to 8

https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part2-chapter6-8

'Yalbury Wood and the Keeper's House', Chapter Seven 'Dick Makes Himself Useful' and Chapter Eight 'Dick Meets His Father' The chapter begins with Dick going to pick up Fancy from her father's home in Yalbury Wood in order to take her and some household goods to Mellstock. Reuben has not told his son about what he thinks of 'the state of Shinar's heart' as he prefers to let 'such delicate affairs right themselves'. Fancy's father is a gamekeeper and lives in the woods. The furniture in the house is detailed and it is explained that there are two of every item as one set is for Fancy. Her mother bought these things from the time she was born. The room is described further as is the curiosity of the window in the back of the chimney. Fancy is preparing dinner and her father comes in. He is depicted as taciturn and his trapper, Enoch, is also present. Her father asks after the whereabouts of her stepmother, but before she answers they hear the Dewy cart approach. Dick is invited in and asked to eat with them, and Geoffrey talks about his absent wife and how it is 'trying' for females to be second wives especially when they have been first wives before. He also says, "'...wives be such a provoking class of society, because though they be never right, they be never more than half wrong.'" At the table, Fancy sits next to Dick and at one point he puts her hand on his while her father looks at his plate. They slide apart and Geoffrey speaks of Shinar and says how Fancy knows him well. Dick looks anxious and Fancy says to Dick that she has never done anything to warrant this. Following this, Geoffrey's wife comes downstairs and criticizes the tablecloth. She goes back upstairs and brings a newer and less shabby one. She also replaces the cutlery with more 'decent' ones. In Chapter Seven, Dick drives Fancy back to her home and his conversation is restrained after her father's 'incidental allusions' to Shinar. At her home, they drink tea together and she has the cup while he has the saucer. They see the vicar coming down her path to visit her, and she says she wishes he were not here as she feels awkward. Dick bids her good afternoon in 'a huff' and leaves. As he prepares his horse, he looks through the window and sees the vicar drive a nail into the wall as she holds the canary cage up to him. On the drive home in Chapter Nine, Dick is caught between thinking Fancy is and is not a coquette. His father appears and is coming down the hill and they stop and talk. His father points out that 'the maid' is taking up his thoughts more than is good for him and it is making him miserable. Dick says of his fears about the vicar and Reuben tries to comfort him. He then says how the 'bitter weed' in their being turned out of the choir is Shinar, because he is in love with "'thy young woman'". Dick doubts this and doubts she has "'made up'" to Shinar. His father questions this and also says if he "'can't read a maid's mind by her motions, nater'd seem to say thou'st ought to be a bachelor'". Reuben goes on his way and Dick stays where he is for a while. He goes too and at home in his room he writes a letter. He takes this to Fancy's home and wearing a 'resolute expression' at her gate he takes it off again, turns for home and tears up the letter. He decides he needs to use the tone of 'a heartless man-of-the-world'. He writes another letter asking in plain terms if she means anything by her bearing to him or not. He gets a little boy to take the note for him and takes the precaution of telling him to not turn back if he shouts for him. He waits for a response from Fancy, but hears nothing.

'Yalbury Wood and the Keeper's House', Chapter Seven ' Dick Makes Himself Useful' and Chapter Eight 'Dick Meets His Father' The relationships between the sexes is given more airing as Dick attempts to get closer to Fancy and Geoffrey refers to wives as a 'provoking class of society'. Such misunderstandings between men and women are emphasized when Reuben advises his son about staying a bachelor if he cannot understand a 'maid'. The comments of these older men border on misogyny at times, that is until one sees them at home in their relationships and their wives shows a certain lack of comprehension of them too. Men and women are characterized here, then, as contrasting and occasionally inexplicable to each other, and despite or rather because of this, the attraction remains.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_3_chapters_1_to_4.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_3_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 3.chapters 1-4

part 3 chapter 1 - 4

{"name": "Part Three Chapter 1 to 4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part3-chapter1-4", "summary": "'Driving Out of Budmouth', Chapter Two 'Farther Along the Road', Chapter Three 'A Confession' and Chapter Four 'An Arrangement' Dick sees Fancy as he drives along the main street in Budmouth. He tells her he will give her a lift to Mellstock and when she does not answer he climbs down and helps her up. They are both embarrassed initially as she still has not responded to his letter. She does not answer when he asks if Shinar means any more to her than he does. He asks why she does not answer and she says, \"'Because how much you are to me depends upon how much I am to you'\". He replies, \"'everything'\" and puts his hand out towards her. She tells him to not touch her and starts when she sees a wagon approach. When they move away from them, Dick asks her to tell him she loves him. She says it is not time to do that, and he says love cannot be put on and off \"'at a mere whim'\" and asks her to be honest. She whispers tenderly that she does love him a little, and agrees he may call her Fancy and she will not call him Mr Dewy anymore. In Chapter Two, they travel along and are caught behind a farmer's cart. They are then overtaken by a brand new gig and the driver 'and owner as it appeared' is 'really a handsome man' and his companion is Shinar. As they pass, they both turn to look at Fancy. Dick glances at Fancy at this moment and returns to his driving 'with rather a sad countenance'. She asks him why he is silent and he replies \"'nothing'\". When she asks again, he says how differently she is when in love compared to how he is and says she looked flattered when the men stared at her. He also explains how Shinar persuaded the vicar to have her play the organ in church. She says truthfully that she did not know this and never wanted to turn the choir out of the church, and does not care \"'a morsel'\" for Shinar. The distance between Budmouth and Mellstock is 18 miles and 6 miles out of Budmouth they stop to feed the horse. Fancy takes a room for tea and he comes to her after seeing to the horse. She questions the propriety of this and says she has her position to think about. He proposes they get engaged, as she says she could sit with a young man if this were the case. She blushes at the proposal and says it is as though she meant him to say that. He asks if she will be his wife and her heart grows 'boisterous'. She says she will if her father will let her. He goes to kiss her and she says no. He draws back a little and she asks him to kiss her and then asks him to let her go as somebody is coming. Dick emerges from the inn half an hour later, 'and if Fancy's lips had been real cherries, Dick's would have appeared deeply stained'. He talks to the landlord who teases him about taking tea with a passenger, and Dick tells him they are engaged to be married. Chapter Three begins three months later and the course of Dick and Fancy's love has 'run on vigorously during the whole time'. There is a cloud on Fancy's horizon, though, as she tells Susan Dewy it appears that Dick has danced with a woman at a picnic. When Dick enters, the narrator explains that he only danced with Fancy's 'rival' out of 'sheer despair' of getting through the afternoon without Fancy. However, Fancy has 'settled her plan of emotion' and tells Dick she is in great trouble and has allowed herself to \"'fl...'\". He finishes her sentence and says \"'flirt'\". He is now miserable and asks who with, and she says \"'Shinar'\". They are in the garden and the silence is only broken by the sound of an apple falling. She tells him Shinar said he would show her how to catch bullfinches by the stream. She looks guilty and Dick urges her to tell him everything. She says Shinar touched her hand and told her he wanted to marry her. Upset, Dick asks if she is willing to have him and she says no, and Dick comes to his senses a little. He says she has been exaggerating and has done so to make him jealous as he went to the party. He says he will not stand for it and walks away. She trots after him and asks that he forgive her. He stops when she tells him the 'serious part', that her father has given Shinar his consent to court her. Dick takes this seriously, in Chapter Four, but the truth is that Geoffrey knows nothing about Fancy's walks with Dick as they have been careful to not be seen in public after her father said he would have to think over their meeting together . She says her father has also written her a letter to say he wishes her to encourage Shinar. Dick wants to see her father immediately, but she says they need to \"'win his brain through his heart'\", and thinks this is the way to always manage people. She says she is going to her father's a week on Saturday to help with the 'honey-taking' and he could come to her there and have something to eat and drink and not say explicitly why he is there, but let her father guess. Dick says he will come, but will ask for her \"'flat and plain'\" and not wait for him to guess. She cannot decide what to wear and he suggests she wears a bonnet rather than a hat as the bonnet is \"'more quiet and matronly'\" and the hat is \"'rather too coquettish and flirty for an engaged young woman'\". She thinks for a moment and decides the hat will do best.", "analysis": "'Driving Out of Budmouth', Chapter Two ' Farther Along the Road', Chapter Three 'A Confession' and Chapter Four 'An Arrangement' The love story between Fancy and Dick is given a boost in these chapters as Dick proposes and Fancy attempts to make him jealous after going to a party without her and dancing with another woman. For the purpose of dramatic effect, a love story necessitates having some obstacles on the way to a happy union and Fancy's desire for drama and jealousy may be interpreted in this light. Her behavior may also be read as a given symptom of her sex, however, if one understands women as stereotypically manipulative. Despite her profession as schoolteacher, of which little reference is made, Fancy is characteristically fashioned into a flighty young woman who would rather shape others to her will than be straightforward as Dick suggests."}

An easy bend of neck and graceful set of head; full and wavy bundles of dark-brown hair; light fall of little feet; pretty devices on the skirt of the dress; clear deep eyes; in short, a bunch of sweets: it was Fancy! Dick's heart went round to her with a rush. The scene was the corner of Mary Street in Budmouth-Regis, near the King's statue, at which point the white angle of the last house in the row cut perpendicularly an embayed and nearly motionless expanse of salt water projected from the outer ocean--to-day lit in bright tones of green and opal. Dick and Smart had just emerged from the street, and there on the right, against the brilliant sheet of liquid colour, stood Fancy Day; and she turned and recognized him. Dick suspended his thoughts of the letter and wonder at how she came there by driving close to the chains of the Esplanade--incontinently displacing two chairmen, who had just come to life for the summer in new clean shirts and revivified clothes, and being almost displaced in turn by a rigid boy rattling along with a baker's cart, and looking neither to the right nor the left. He asked if she were going to Mellstock that night. "Yes, I'm waiting for the carrier," she replied, seeming, too, to suspend thoughts of the letter. "Now I can drive you home nicely, and you save half an hour. Will ye come with me?" As Fancy's power to will anything seemed to have departed in some mysterious manner at that moment, Dick settled the matter by getting out and assisting her into the vehicle without another word. The temporary flush upon her cheek changed to a lesser hue, which was permanent, and at length their eyes met; there was present between them a certain feeling of embarrassment, which arises at such moments when all the instinctive acts dictated by the position have been performed. Dick, being engaged with the reins, thought less of this awkwardness than did Fancy, who had nothing to do but to feel his presence, and to be more and more conscious of the fact, that by accepting a seat beside him in this way she succumbed to the tone of his note. Smart jogged along, and Dick jogged, and the helpless Fancy necessarily jogged, too; and she felt that she was in a measure captured and made a prisoner. "I am so much obliged to you for your company, Miss Day," he observed, as they drove past the two semicircular bays of the Old Royal Hotel, where His Majesty King George the Third had many a time attended the balls of the burgesses. To Miss Day, crediting him with the same consciousness of mastery--a consciousness of which he was perfectly innocent--this remark sounded like a magnanimous intention to soothe her, the captive. "I didn't come for the pleasure of obliging you with my company," she said. The answer had an unexpected manner of incivility in it that must have been rather surprising to young Dewy. At the same time it may be observed, that when a young woman returns a rude answer to a young man's civil remark, her heart is in a state which argues rather hopefully for his case than otherwise. There was silence between them till they had left the sea-front and passed about twenty of the trees that ornamented the road leading up out of the town towards Casterbridge and Mellstock. "Though I didn't come for that purpose either, I would have done it," said Dick at the twenty-first tree. "Now, Mr. Dewy, no flirtation, because it's wrong, and I don't wish it." Dick seated himself afresh just as he had been sitting before, arranged his looks very emphatically, and cleared his throat. "Really, anybody would think you had met me on business and were just going to commence," said the lady intractably. "Yes, they would." "Why, you never have, to be sure!" This was a shaky beginning. He chopped round, and said cheerily, as a man who had resolved never to spoil his jollity by loving one of womankind-- "Well, how are you getting on, Miss Day, at the present time? Gaily, I don't doubt for a moment." "I am not gay, Dick; you know that." "Gaily doesn't mean decked in gay dresses." "I didn't suppose gaily was gaily dressed. Mighty me, what a scholar you've grown!" "Lots of things have happened to you this spring, I see." "What have you seen?" "O, nothing; I've heard, I mean!" "What have you heard?" "The name of a pretty man, with brass studs and a copper ring and a tin watch-chain, a little mixed up with your own. That's all." "That's a very unkind picture of Mr. Shiner, for that's who you mean! The studs are gold, as you know, and it's a real silver chain; the ring I can't conscientiously defend, and he only wore it once." "He might have worn it a hundred times without showing it half so much." "Well, he's nothing to me," she serenely observed. "Not any more than I am?" "Now, Mr. Dewy," said Fancy severely, "certainly he isn't any more to me than you are!" "Not so much?" She looked aside to consider the precise compass of that question. "That I can't exactly answer," she replied with soft archness. As they were going rather slowly, another spring-cart, containing a farmer, farmer's wife, and farmer's man, jogged past them; and the farmer's wife and farmer's man eyed the couple very curiously. The farmer never looked up from the horse's tail. "Why can't you exactly answer?" said Dick, quickening Smart a little, and jogging on just behind the farmer and farmer's wife and man. As no answer came, and as their eyes had nothing else to do, they both contemplated the picture presented in front, and noticed how the farmer's wife sat flattened between the two men, who bulged over each end of the seat to give her room, till they almost sat upon their respective wheels; and they looked too at the farmer's wife's silk mantle, inflating itself between her shoulders like a balloon and sinking flat again, at each jog of the horse. The farmer's wife, feeling their eyes sticking into her back, looked over her shoulder. Dick dropped ten yards further behind. "Fancy, why can't you answer?" he repeated. "Because how much you are to me depends upon how much I am to you," said she in low tones. "Everything," said Dick, putting his hand towards hers, and casting emphatic eyes upon the upper curve of her cheek. "Now, Richard Dewy, no touching me! I didn't say in what way your thinking of me affected the question--perhaps inversely, don't you see? No touching, sir! Look; goodness me, don't, Dick!" The cause of her sudden start was the unpleasant appearance over Dick's right shoulder of an empty timber-wagon and four journeymen-carpenters reclining in lazy postures inside it, their eyes directed upwards at various oblique angles into the surrounding world, the chief object of their existence being apparently to criticize to the very backbone and marrow every animate object that came within the compass of their vision. This difficulty of Dick's was overcome by trotting on till the wagon and carpenters were beginning to look rather misty by reason of a film of dust that accompanied their wagon-wheels, and rose around their heads like a fog. "Say you love me, Fancy." "No, Dick, certainly not; 'tisn't time to do that yet." "Why, Fancy?" "'Miss Day' is better at present--don't mind my saying so; and I ought not to have called you Dick." "Nonsense! when you know that I would do anything on earth for your love. Why, you make any one think that loving is a thing that can be done and undone, and put on and put off at a mere whim." "No, no, I don't," she said gently; "but there are things which tell me I ought not to give way to much thinking about you, even if--" "But you want to, don't you? Yes, say you do; it is best to be truthful. Whatever they may say about a woman's right to conceal where her love lies, and pretend it doesn't exist, and things like that, it is not best; I do know it, Fancy. And an honest woman in that, as well as in all her daily concerns, shines most brightly, and is thought most of in the long- run." "Well then, perhaps, Dick, I do love you a little," she whispered tenderly; "but I wish you wouldn't say any more now." "I won't say any more now, then, if you don't like it, dear. But you do love me a little, don't you?" "Now you ought not to want me to keep saying things twice; I can't say any more now, and you must be content with what you have." "I may at any rate call you Fancy? There's no harm in that." "Yes, you may." "And you'll not call me Mr. Dewy any more?" "Very well." Dick's spirits having risen in the course of these admissions of his sweetheart, he now touched Smart with the whip; and on Smart's neck, not far behind his ears. Smart, who had been lost in thought for some time, never dreaming that Dick could reach so far with a whip which, on this particular journey, had never been extended further than his flank, tossed his head, and scampered along with exceeding briskness, which was very pleasant to the young couple behind him till, turning a bend in the road, they came instantly upon the farmer, farmer's man, and farmer's wife with the flapping mantle, all jogging on just the same as ever. "Bother those people! Here we are upon them again." "Well, of course. They have as much right to the road as we." "Yes, but it is provoking to be overlooked so. I like a road all to myself. Look what a lumbering affair theirs is!" The wheels of the farmer's cart, just at that moment, jogged into a depression running across the road, giving the cart a twist, whereupon all three nodded to the left, and on coming out of it all three nodded to the right, and went on jerking their backs in and out as usual. "We'll pass them when the road gets wider." When an opportunity seemed to offer itself for carrying this intention into effect, they heard light flying wheels behind, and on their quartering there whizzed along past them a brand-new gig, so brightly polished that the spokes of the wheels sent forth a continual quivering light at one point in their circle, and all the panels glared like mirrors in Dick and Fancy's eyes. The driver, and owner as it appeared, was really a handsome man; his companion was Shiner. Both turned round as they passed Dick and Fancy, and stared with bold admiration in her face till they were obliged to attend to the operation of passing the farmer. Dick glanced for an instant at Fancy while she was undergoing their scrutiny; then returned to his driving with rather a sad countenance. "Why are you so silent?" she said, after a while, with real concern. "Nothing." "Yes, it is, Dick. I couldn't help those people passing." "I know that." "You look offended with me. What have I done?" "I can't tell without offending you." "Better out." "Well," said Dick, who seemed longing to tell, even at the risk of offending her, "I was thinking how different you in love are from me in love. Whilst those men were staring, you dismissed me from your thoughts altogether, and--" "You can't offend me further now; tell all!" "And showed upon your face a pleased sense of being attractive to 'em." "Don't be silly, Dick! You know very well I didn't." Dick shook his head sceptically, and smiled. "Dick, I always believe flattery if possible--and it was possible then. Now there's an open confession of weakness. But I showed no consciousness of it." Dick, perceiving by her look that she would adhere to her statement, charitably forbore saying anything that could make her prevaricate. The sight of Shiner, too, had recalled another branch of the subject to his mind; that which had been his greatest trouble till her company and words had obscured its probability. "By the way, Fancy, do you know why our quire is to be dismissed?" "No: except that it is Mr. Maybold's wish for me to play the organ." "Do you know how it came to be his wish?" "That I don't." "Mr. Shiner, being churchwarden, has persuaded the vicar; who, however, was willing enough before. Shiner, I know, is crazy to see you playing every Sunday; I suppose he'll turn over your music, for the organ will be close to his pew. But--I know you have never encouraged him?" "Never once!" said Fancy emphatically, and with eyes full of earnest truth. "I don't like him indeed, and I never heard of his doing this before! I have always felt that I should like to play in a church, but I never wished to turn you and your choir out; and I never even said that I could play till I was asked. You don't think for a moment that I did, surely, do you?" "I know you didn't, dear." "Or that I care the least morsel of a bit for him?" "I know you don't." The distance between Budmouth and Mellstock was ten or eleven miles, and there being a good inn, 'The Ship,' four miles out of Budmouth, with a mast and cross-trees in front, Dick's custom in driving thither was to divide the journey into three stages by resting at this inn going and coming, and not troubling the Budmouth stables at all, whenever his visit to the town was a mere call and deposit, as to-day. Fancy was ushered into a little tea-room, and Dick went to the stables to see to the feeding of Smart. In face of the significant twitches of feature that were visible in the ostler and labouring men idling around, Dick endeavoured to look unconscious of the fact that there was any sentiment between him and Fancy beyond a tranter's desire to carry a passenger home. He presently entered the inn and opened the door of Fancy's room. "Dick, do you know, it has struck me that it is rather awkward, my being here alone with you like this. I don't think you had better come in with me." "That's rather unpleasant, dear." "Yes, it is, and I wanted you to have some tea as well as myself too, because you must be tired." "Well, let me have some with you, then. I was denied once before, if you recollect, Fancy." "Yes, yes, never mind! And it seems unfriendly of me now, but I don't know what to do." "It shall be as you say, then." Dick began to retreat with a dissatisfied wrinkling of face, and a farewell glance at the cosy tea- tray. "But you don't see how it is, Dick, when you speak like that," she said, with more earnestness than she had ever shown before. "You do know, that even if I care very much for you, I must remember that I have a difficult position to maintain. The vicar would not like me, as his schoolmistress, to indulge in a tete-a-tete anywhere with anybody." "But I am not any body!" exclaimed Dick. "No, no, I mean with a young man;" and she added softly, "unless I were really engaged to be married to him." "Is that all? Then, dearest, dearest, why we'll be engaged at once, to be sure we will, and down I sit! There it is, as easy as a glove!" "Ah! but suppose I won't! And, goodness me, what have I done!" she faltered, getting very red. "Positively, it seems as if I meant you to say that!" "Let's do it! I mean get engaged," said Dick. "Now, Fancy, will you be my wife?" "Do you know, Dick, it was rather unkind of you to say what you did coming along the road," she remarked, as if she had not heard the latter part of his speech; though an acute observer might have noticed about her breast, as the word 'wife' fell from Dick's lips, a soft silent escape of breaths, with very short rests between each. "What did I say?" "About my trying to look attractive to those men in the gig." "You couldn't help looking so, whether you tried or no. And, Fancy, you do care for me?" "Yes." "Very much?" "Yes." "And you'll be my own wife?" Her heart quickened, adding to and withdrawing from her cheek varying tones of red to match each varying thought. Dick looked expectantly at the ripe tint of her delicate mouth, waiting for what was coming forth. "Yes--if father will let me." Dick drew himself close to her, compressing his lips and pouting them out, as if he were about to whistle the softest melody known. "O no!" said Fancy solemnly. The modest Dick drew back a little. "Dick, Dick, kiss me and let me go instantly!--here's somebody coming!" she whisperingly exclaimed. * * * Half an hour afterwards Dick emerged from the inn, and if Fancy's lips had been real cherries probably Dick's would have appeared deeply stained. The landlord was standing in the yard. "Heu-heu! hay-hay, Master Dewy! Ho-ho!" he laughed, letting the laugh slip out gently and by degrees that it might make little noise in its exit, and smiting Dick under the fifth rib at the same time. "This will never do, upon my life, Master Dewy! calling for tay for a feymel passenger, and then going in and sitting down and having some too, and biding such a fine long time!" "But surely you know?" said Dick, with great apparent surprise. "Yes, yes! Ha-ha!" smiting the landlord under the ribs in return. "Why, what? Yes, yes; ha-ha!" "You know, of course!" "Yes, of course! But--that is--I don't." "Why about--between that young lady and me?" nodding to the window of the room that Fancy occupied. "No; not I!" said the innkeeper, bringing his eyes into circles. "And you don't!" "Not a word, I'll take my oath!" "But you laughed when I laughed." "Ay, that was me sympathy; so did you when I laughed!" "Really, you don't know? Goodness--not knowing that!" "I'll take my oath I don't!" "O yes," said Dick, with frigid rhetoric of pitying astonishment, "we're engaged to be married, you see, and I naturally look after her." "Of course, of course! I didn't know that, and I hope ye'll excuse any little freedom of mine, Mr. Dewy. But it is a very odd thing; I was talking to your father very intimate about family matters only last Friday in the world, and who should come in but Keeper Day, and we all then fell a-talking o' family matters; but neither one o' them said a mortal word about it; knowen me too so many years, and I at your father's own wedding. 'Tisn't what I should have expected from an old neighbour!" "Well, to say the truth, we hadn't told father of the engagement at that time; in fact, 'twasn't settled." "Ah! the business was done Sunday. Yes, yes, Sunday's the courting day. Heu-heu!" "No, 'twasn't done Sunday in particular." "After school-hours this week? Well, a very good time, a very proper good time." "O no, 'twasn't done then." "Coming along the road to-day then, I suppose?" "Not at all; I wouldn't think of getting engaged in a dog-cart." "Dammy--might as well have said at once, the when be blowed! Anyhow, 'tis a fine day, and I hope next time you'll come as one." Fancy was duly brought out and assisted into the vehicle, and the newly affianced youth and maiden passed up the steep hill to the Ridgeway, and vanished in the direction of Mellstock. It was a morning of the latter summer-time; a morning of lingering dews, when the grass is never dry in the shade. Fuchsias and dahlias were laden till eleven o'clock with small drops and dashes of water, changing the colour of their sparkle at every movement of the air; and elsewhere hanging on twigs like small silver fruit. The threads of garden spiders appeared thick and polished. In the dry and sunny places, dozens of long- legged crane-flies whizzed off the grass at every step the passer took. Fancy Day and her friend Susan Dewy the tranter's daughter, were in such a spot as this, pulling down a bough laden with early apples. Three months had elapsed since Dick and Fancy had journeyed together from Budmouth, and the course of their love had run on vigorously during the whole time. There had been just enough difficulty attending its development, and just enough finesse required in keeping it private, to lend the passion an ever-increasing freshness on Fancy's part, whilst, whether from these accessories or not, Dick's heart had been at all times as fond as could be desired. But there was a cloud on Fancy's horizon now. "She is so well off--better than any of us," Susan Dewy was saying. "Her father farms five hundred acres, and she might marry a doctor or curate or anything of that kind if she contrived a little." "I don't think Dick ought to have gone to that gipsy-party at all when he knew I couldn't go," replied Fancy uneasily. "He didn't know that you would not be there till it was too late to refuse the invitation," said Susan. "And what was she like? Tell me." "Well, she was rather pretty, I must own." "Tell straight on about her, can't you! Come, do, Susan. How many times did you say he danced with her?" "Once." "Twice, I think you said?" "Indeed I'm sure I didn't." "Well, and he wanted to again, I expect." "No; I don't think he did. She wanted to dance with him again bad enough, I know. Everybody does with Dick, because he's so handsome and such a clever courter." "O, I wish!--How did you say she wore her hair?" "In long curls,--and her hair is light, and it curls without being put in paper: that's how it is she's so attractive." "She's trying to get him away! yes, yes, she is! And through keeping this miserable school I mustn't wear my hair in curls! But I will; I don't care if I leave the school and go home, I will wear my curls! Look, Susan, do! is her hair as soft and long as this?" Fancy pulled from its coil under her hat a twine of her own hair, and stretched it down her shoulder to show its length, looking at Susan to catch her opinion from her eyes. "It is about the same length as that, I think," said Miss Dewy. Fancy paused hopelessly. "I wish mine was lighter, like hers!" she continued mournfully. "But hers isn't so soft, is it? Tell me, now." "I don't know." Fancy abstractedly extended her vision to survey a yellow butterfly and a red-and-black butterfly that were flitting along in company, and then became aware that Dick was advancing up the garden. "Susan, here's Dick coming; I suppose that's because we've been talking about him." "Well, then, I shall go indoors now--you won't want me;" and Susan turned practically and walked off. Enter the single-minded Dick, whose only fault at the gipsying, or picnic, had been that of loving Fancy too exclusively, and depriving himself of the innocent pleasure the gathering might have afforded him, by sighing regretfully at her absence,--who had danced with the rival in sheer despair of ever being able to get through that stale, flat, and unprofitable afternoon in any other way; but this she would not believe. Fancy had settled her plan of emotion. To reproach Dick? O no, no. "I am in great trouble," said she, taking what was intended to be a hopelessly melancholy survey of a few small apples lying under the tree; yet a critical ear might have noticed in her voice a tentative tone as to the effect of the words upon Dick when she uttered them. "What are you in trouble about? Tell me of it," said Dick earnestly. "Darling, I will share it with 'ee and help 'ee." "No, no: you can't! Nobody can!" "Why not? You don't deserve it, whatever it is. Tell me, dear." "O, it isn't what you think! It is dreadful: my own sin!" "Sin, Fancy! as if you could sin! I know it can't be." "'Tis, 'tis!" said the young lady, in a pretty little frenzy of sorrow. "I have done wrong, and I don't like to tell it! Nobody will forgive me, nobody! and you above all will not! . . . I have allowed myself to--to--fl--" "What,--not flirt!" he said, controlling his emotion as it were by a sudden pressure inward from his surface. "And you said only the day before yesterday that you hadn't flirted in your life!" "Yes, I did; and that was a wicked story! I have let another love me, and--" "Good G--! Well, I'll forgive you,--yes, if you couldn't help it,--yes, I will!" said the now dismal Dick. "Did you encourage him?" "O,--I don't know,--yes--no. O, I think so!" "Who was it?" A pause. "Tell me!" "Mr. Shiner." After a silence that was only disturbed by the fall of an apple, a long- checked sigh from Dick, and a sob from Fancy, he said with real austerity-- "Tell it all;--every word!" "He looked at me, and I looked at him, and he said, 'Will you let me show you how to catch bullfinches down here by the stream?' And I--wanted to know very much--I did so long to have a bullfinch! I couldn't help that and I said, 'Yes!' and then he said, 'Come here.' And I went with him down to the lovely river, and then he said to me, 'Look and see how I do it, and then you'll know: I put this birdlime round this twig, and then I go here,' he said, 'and hide away under a bush; and presently clever Mister Bird comes and perches upon the twig, and flaps his wings, and you've got him before you can say Jack'--something; O, O, O, I forget what!" "Jack Sprat," mournfully suggested Dick through the cloud of his misery. "No, not Jack Sprat," she sobbed. "Then 'twas Jack Robinson!" he said, with the emphasis of a man who had resolved to discover every iota of the truth, or die. "Yes, that was it! And then I put my hand upon the rail of the bridge to get across, and--That's all." "Well, that isn't much, either," said Dick critically, and more cheerfully. "Not that I see what business Shiner has to take upon himself to teach you anything. But it seems--it do seem there must have been more than that to set you up in such a dreadful taking?" He looked into Fancy's eyes. Misery of miseries!--guilt was written there still. "Now, Fancy, you've not told me all!" said Dick, rather sternly for a quiet young man. "O, don't speak so cruelly! I am afraid to tell now! If you hadn't been harsh, I was going on to tell all; now I can't!" "Come, dear Fancy, tell: come. I'll forgive; I must,--by heaven and earth, I must, whether I will or no; I love you so!" "Well, when I put my hand on the bridge, he touched it--" "A scamp!" said Dick, grinding an imaginary human frame to powder. "And then he looked at me, and at last he said, 'Are you in love with Dick Dewy?' And I said, 'Perhaps I am!' and then he said, 'I wish you weren't then, for I want to marry you, with all my soul.'" "There's a villain now! Want to marry you!" And Dick quivered with the bitterness of satirical laughter. Then suddenly remembering that he might be reckoning without his host: "Unless, to be sure, you are willing to have him,--perhaps you are," he said, with the wretched indifference of a castaway. "No, indeed I am not!" she said, her sobs just beginning to take a favourable turn towards cure. "Well, then," said Dick, coming a little to his senses, "you've been stretching it very much in giving such a dreadful beginning to such a mere nothing. And I know what you've done it for,--just because of that gipsy-party!" He turned away from her and took five paces decisively, as if he were tired of an ungrateful country, including herself. "You did it to make me jealous, and I won't stand it!" He flung the words to her over his shoulder and then stalked on, apparently very anxious to walk to the remotest of the Colonies that very minute. "O, O, O, Dick--Dick!" she cried, trotting after him like a pet lamb, and really seriously alarmed at last, "you'll kill me! My impulses are bad--miserably wicked,--and I can't help it; forgive me, Dick! And I love you always; and those times when you look silly and don't seem quite good enough for me,--just the same, I do, Dick! And there is something more serious, though not concerning that walk with him." "Well, what is it?" said Dick, altering his mind about walking to the Colonies; in fact, passing to the other extreme, and standing so rooted to the road that he was apparently not even going home. "Why this," she said, drying the beginning of a new flood of tears she had been going to shed, "this is the serious part. Father has told Mr. Shiner that he would like him for a son-in-law, if he could get me;--that he has his right hearty consent to come courting me!" "That is serious," said Dick, more intellectually than he had spoken for a long time. The truth was that Geoffrey knew nothing about his daughter's continued walks and meetings with Dick. When a hint that there were symptoms of an attachment between them had first reached Geoffrey's ears, he stated so emphatically that he must think the matter over before any such thing could be allowed that, rather unwisely on Dick's part, whatever it might have been on the lady's, the lovers were careful to be seen together no more in public; and Geoffrey, forgetting the report, did not think over the matter at all. So Mr. Shiner resumed his old position in Geoffrey's brain by mere flux of time. Even Shiner began to believe that Dick existed for Fancy no more,--though that remarkably easy-going man had taken no active steps on his own account as yet. "And father has not only told Mr. Shiner that," continued Fancy, "but he has written me a letter, to say he should wish me to encourage Mr. Shiner, if 'twas convenient!" "I must start off and see your father at once!" said Dick, taking two or three vehement steps to the south, recollecting that Mr. Day lived to the north, and coming back again. "I think we had better see him together. Not tell him what you come for, or anything of the kind, until he likes you, and so win his brain through his heart, which is always the way to manage people. I mean in this way: I am going home on Saturday week to help them in the honey-taking. You might come there to me, have something to eat and drink, and let him guess what your coming signifies, without saying it in so many words." "We'll do it, dearest. But I shall ask him for you, flat and plain; not wait for his guessing." And the lover then stepped close to her, and attempted to give her one little kiss on the cheek, his lips alighting, however, on an outlying tract of her back hair by reason of an impulse that had caused her to turn her head with a jerk. "Yes, and I'll put on my second-best suit and a clean shirt and collar, and black my boots as if 'twas a Sunday. 'Twill have a good appearance, you see, and that's a great deal to start with." "You won't wear that old waistcoat, will you, Dick?" "Bless you, no! Why I--" "I didn't mean to be personal, dear Dick," she said, fearing she had hurt his feelings. "'Tis a very nice waistcoat, but what I meant was, that though it is an excellent waistcoat for a settled-down man, it is not quite one for" (she waited, and a blush expanded over her face, and then she went on again)--"for going courting in." "No, I'll wear my best winter one, with the leather lining, that mother made. It is a beautiful, handsome waistcoat inside, yes, as ever anybody saw. In fact, only the other day, I unbuttoned it to show a chap that very lining, and he said it was the strongest, handsomest lining you could wish to see on the king's waistcoat himself." "I don't quite know what to wear," she said, as if her habitual indifference alone to dress had kept back so important a subject till now. "Why, that blue frock you wore last week." "Doesn't set well round the neck. I couldn't wear that." "But I shan't care." "No, you won't mind." "Well, then it's all right. Because you only care how you look to me, do you, dear? I only dress for you, that's certain." "Yes, but you see I couldn't appear in it again very well." "Any strange gentleman you mid meet in your journey might notice the set of it, I suppose. Fancy, men in love don't think so much about how they look to other women." It is difficult to say whether a tone of playful banter or of gentle reproach prevailed in the speech. "Well then, Dick," she said, with good-humoured frankness, "I'll own it. I shouldn't like a stranger to see me dressed badly, even though I am in love. 'Tis our nature, I suppose." "You perfect woman!" "Yes; if you lay the stress on 'woman,'" she murmured, looking at a group of hollyhocks in flower, round which a crowd of butterflies had gathered like female idlers round a bonnet-shop. "But about the dress. Why not wear the one you wore at our party?" "That sets well, but a girl of the name of Bet Tallor, who lives near our house, has had one made almost like it (only in pattern, though of miserably cheap stuff), and I couldn't wear it on that account. Dear me, I am afraid I can't go now." "O yes, you must; I know you will!" said Dick, with dismay. "Why not wear what you've got on?" "What! this old one! After all, I think that by wearing my gray one Saturday, I can make the blue one do for Sunday. Yes, I will. A hat or a bonnet, which shall it be? Which do I look best in?" "Well, I think the bonnet is nicest, more quiet and matronly." "What's the objection to the hat? Does it make me look old?" "O no; the hat is well enough; but it makes you look rather too--you won't mind me saying it, dear?" "Not at all, for I shall wear the bonnet." "--Rather too coquettish and flirty for an engaged young woman." She reflected a minute. "Yes; yes. Still, after all, the hat would do best; hats are best, you see. Yes, I must wear the hat, dear Dicky, because I ought to wear a hat, you know." PART THE FOURTH--AUTUMN

Part Three Chapter 1 to 4

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'Driving Out of Budmouth', Chapter Two 'Farther Along the Road', Chapter Three 'A Confession' and Chapter Four 'An Arrangement' Dick sees Fancy as he drives along the main street in Budmouth. He tells her he will give her a lift to Mellstock and when she does not answer he climbs down and helps her up. They are both embarrassed initially as she still has not responded to his letter. She does not answer when he asks if Shinar means any more to her than he does. He asks why she does not answer and she says, "'Because how much you are to me depends upon how much I am to you'". He replies, "'everything'" and puts his hand out towards her. She tells him to not touch her and starts when she sees a wagon approach. When they move away from them, Dick asks her to tell him she loves him. She says it is not time to do that, and he says love cannot be put on and off "'at a mere whim'" and asks her to be honest. She whispers tenderly that she does love him a little, and agrees he may call her Fancy and she will not call him Mr Dewy anymore. In Chapter Two, they travel along and are caught behind a farmer's cart. They are then overtaken by a brand new gig and the driver 'and owner as it appeared' is 'really a handsome man' and his companion is Shinar. As they pass, they both turn to look at Fancy. Dick glances at Fancy at this moment and returns to his driving 'with rather a sad countenance'. She asks him why he is silent and he replies "'nothing'". When she asks again, he says how differently she is when in love compared to how he is and says she looked flattered when the men stared at her. He also explains how Shinar persuaded the vicar to have her play the organ in church. She says truthfully that she did not know this and never wanted to turn the choir out of the church, and does not care "'a morsel'" for Shinar. The distance between Budmouth and Mellstock is 18 miles and 6 miles out of Budmouth they stop to feed the horse. Fancy takes a room for tea and he comes to her after seeing to the horse. She questions the propriety of this and says she has her position to think about. He proposes they get engaged, as she says she could sit with a young man if this were the case. She blushes at the proposal and says it is as though she meant him to say that. He asks if she will be his wife and her heart grows 'boisterous'. She says she will if her father will let her. He goes to kiss her and she says no. He draws back a little and she asks him to kiss her and then asks him to let her go as somebody is coming. Dick emerges from the inn half an hour later, 'and if Fancy's lips had been real cherries, Dick's would have appeared deeply stained'. He talks to the landlord who teases him about taking tea with a passenger, and Dick tells him they are engaged to be married. Chapter Three begins three months later and the course of Dick and Fancy's love has 'run on vigorously during the whole time'. There is a cloud on Fancy's horizon, though, as she tells Susan Dewy it appears that Dick has danced with a woman at a picnic. When Dick enters, the narrator explains that he only danced with Fancy's 'rival' out of 'sheer despair' of getting through the afternoon without Fancy. However, Fancy has 'settled her plan of emotion' and tells Dick she is in great trouble and has allowed herself to "'fl...'". He finishes her sentence and says "'flirt'". He is now miserable and asks who with, and she says "'Shinar'". They are in the garden and the silence is only broken by the sound of an apple falling. She tells him Shinar said he would show her how to catch bullfinches by the stream. She looks guilty and Dick urges her to tell him everything. She says Shinar touched her hand and told her he wanted to marry her. Upset, Dick asks if she is willing to have him and she says no, and Dick comes to his senses a little. He says she has been exaggerating and has done so to make him jealous as he went to the party. He says he will not stand for it and walks away. She trots after him and asks that he forgive her. He stops when she tells him the 'serious part', that her father has given Shinar his consent to court her. Dick takes this seriously, in Chapter Four, but the truth is that Geoffrey knows nothing about Fancy's walks with Dick as they have been careful to not be seen in public after her father said he would have to think over their meeting together . She says her father has also written her a letter to say he wishes her to encourage Shinar. Dick wants to see her father immediately, but she says they need to "'win his brain through his heart'", and thinks this is the way to always manage people. She says she is going to her father's a week on Saturday to help with the 'honey-taking' and he could come to her there and have something to eat and drink and not say explicitly why he is there, but let her father guess. Dick says he will come, but will ask for her "'flat and plain'" and not wait for him to guess. She cannot decide what to wear and he suggests she wears a bonnet rather than a hat as the bonnet is "'more quiet and matronly'" and the hat is "'rather too coquettish and flirty for an engaged young woman'". She thinks for a moment and decides the hat will do best.

'Driving Out of Budmouth', Chapter Two ' Farther Along the Road', Chapter Three 'A Confession' and Chapter Four 'An Arrangement' The love story between Fancy and Dick is given a boost in these chapters as Dick proposes and Fancy attempts to make him jealous after going to a party without her and dancing with another woman. For the purpose of dramatic effect, a love story necessitates having some obstacles on the way to a happy union and Fancy's desire for drama and jealousy may be interpreted in this light. Her behavior may also be read as a given symptom of her sex, however, if one understands women as stereotypically manipulative. Despite her profession as schoolteacher, of which little reference is made, Fancy is characteristically fashioned into a flighty young woman who would rather shape others to her will than be straightforward as Dick suggests.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_4_chapters_1_to_2.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_4_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 4.chapters 1-2

part 4 chapter 1 - 2

{"name": "Part Four Chapter 1 to 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part4-chapter1-2", "summary": "'Going Nutting' and Chapter Two 'Honey-Taking, and Afterwards' Dick visits Fancy on the Friday before their arranged visit to her father and as both are free he suggests they go collecting nuts. She agrees, but asks him to wait while she alters one of her dresses. He waits for her for hours and remembers she had said she would wear this blue dress on Sunday and he would not be there to see it. She says how lots of other people will be looking at her, though. He goes outside to wait as she says she will only be another quarter of an hour. He fumes as he thinks that she has warm but not deep feelings and cares too much about how she appears 'in the eyes of other men'. He also thinks she loves her hair and complexion best, then her dresses, and then him, 'perhaps'. A cruel thought crosses his mind, that he will punish her and not call after a quarter of an hour. He decides to go nutting instead, which is as he first intended. He walks for 2 miles to the hazel copse and collects nuts until the sun sets. He takes up his 2 pecks, which are as much use to him as 'stones from the road', and whistles as he walks along the bridle path. On the way back, he sees Fancy and she runs to him and sobs that she has suffered agony and thought he would never come back again. She has been walking miles to find him. She also says she has not finished her dress and never will and will wear an old one on Sunday. He renounces 'his freedom' and kisses her 10 times over. In Chapter Two, Dick visits the home of Fancy's father as arranged and unseen he notices a small procession made up of Miss and Mrs Day, Enoch and Shinar. He sees them head toward Geoffrey who is standing near the beehives. Stakes of wood are fixed in the ground and kindled and two hives are placed over the holes. Fancy says how the holes will be the graves of thousands and that it is a cruel thing to do. Her father disagrees and says that this way they are suffocated only once and if they are fumigated in the 'new way' they come to life again and so suffer death pangs twice. She says she would never like to take the honey from them and Enoch says it is done for money, \"'and without money man is a shadder!'\" Some stray bees fly about and all but Geoffrey move away, and he stands firm even though he has been stung. Shinar is the last to return and asks if it is safe. As they go in the house, Shinar and Fancy are the last ones and she is careful to avoid trifling with him. The lantern falls to the ground and they make their way to the house in the dark. Shinar asks her to lend her hand and she gives him the extreme tips of her fingers. He says about offering her his attentions and love, and she says it will not be taken, \"'not at all'\". They go to the storehouse and while Fancy removes the honeycombs from the hives, her father goes in the house to remove the bees from his shirt. Fancy is with Shinar when Dick appears and Shinar shows his apparent nonchalance by singing. Fancy offers Dick some honey and she says she will try some too. Shinar asks for some as well and as he holds it the cell crushes and honey runs down his fingers. Fancy gives a faint cry and says a bee has stung the inside of her lip as it must have been in one of the cells she was eating. Shinar asks to see it and she says no. Dick asks and with some hesitation she shows him. Both men go at once to find the oil and hartshorn and both approach Mrs Day for it. She finds it and asks who the 'head man' is. As neither answer, she hands it to Shinar. He goes to return to Fancy when Geoffrey comes downstairs and Dick asks to speak to him. Geoffrey looks for his hat while Dick goes to the garden, as it is the custom there to 'reserve the garden for very important affairs' . The two men talk and Dick says he has come to ask for Fancy's hand. Her father says he has come on a \"'foolish errand'\" as her mother was a governess and Fancy lived with her aunt when he went \"'a-wandering'\" after her mother's death. Her aunt kept a boarding school and married a lawyer. Fancy also has \"'the highest of the first class'\" in her teaching certificate. He asks Dick if he thinks he is good enough and Dick says no. They say goodnight to each other and Dick wonders at his 'presumption in asking for a woman whom he had seen from the beginning to be so superior to him'.", "analysis": "'Going Nutting' and Chapter Two 'Honey-Taking, and Afterwards' The question of class difference arises when Dick asks Geoffrey for Fancy's hand in marriage. Geoffrey points out the privileges his daughter has had, in education, upbringing and employment, and claims these points demonstrate her superiority. As a tranter and son of a tranter, Dick is reminded of the inequality in their positions in the class system, but rather than rail against the unfairness he accepts Geoffrey's argument that Fancy is 'superior' to him. This apparent acceptance is in keeping with the acquiescence shown by the other local men when ousted from their role in church. Submission has become a standard for those who represent the nostalgic past."}

Dick, dressed in his 'second-best' suit, burst into Fancy's sitting-room with a glow of pleasure on his face. It was two o'clock on Friday, the day before her contemplated visit to her father, and for some reason connected with cleaning the school the children had been given this Friday afternoon for pastime, in addition to the usual Saturday. "Fancy! it happens just right that it is a leisure half day with you. Smart is lame in his near-foot-afore, and so, as I can't do anything, I've made a holiday afternoon of it, and am come for you to go nutting with me!" She was sitting by the parlour window, with a blue frock lying across her lap and scissors in her hand. "Go nutting! Yes. But I'm afraid I can't go for an hour or so." "Why not? 'Tis the only spare afternoon we may both have together for weeks." "This dress of mine, that I am going to wear on Sunday at Yalbury;--I find it fits so badly that I must alter it a little, after all. I told the dressmaker to make it by a pattern I gave her at the time; instead of that, she did it her own way, and made me look a perfect fright." "How long will you be?" he inquired, looking rather disappointed. "Not long. Do wait and talk to me; come, do, dear." Dick sat down. The talking progressed very favourably, amid the snipping and sewing, till about half-past two, at which time his conversation began to be varied by a slight tapping upon his toe with a walking-stick he had cut from the hedge as he came along. Fancy talked and answered him, but sometimes the answers were so negligently given, that it was evident her thoughts lay for the greater part in her lap with the blue dress. The clock struck three. Dick arose from his seat, walked round the room with his hands behind him, examined all the furniture, then sounded a few notes on the harmonium, then looked inside all the books he could find, then smoothed Fancy's head with his hand. Still the snipping and sewing went on. The clock struck four. Dick fidgeted about, yawned privately; counted the knots in the table, yawned publicly; counted the flies on the ceiling, yawned horribly; went into the kitchen and scullery, and so thoroughly studied the principle upon which the pump was constructed that he could have delivered a lecture on the subject. Stepping back to Fancy, and finding still that she had not done, he went into her garden and looked at her cabbages and potatoes, and reminded himself that they seemed to him to wear a decidedly feminine aspect; then pulled up several weeds, and came in again. The clock struck five, and still the snipping and sewing went on. Dick attempted to kill a fly, peeled all the rind off his walking-stick, then threw the stick into the scullery because it was spoilt, produced hideous discords from the harmonium, and accidentally overturned a vase of flowers, the water from which ran in a rill across the table and dribbled to the floor, where it formed a lake, the shape of which, after the lapse of a few minutes, he began to modify considerably with his foot, till it was like a map of England and Wales. "Well, Dick, you needn't have made quite such a mess." "Well, I needn't, I suppose." He walked up to the blue dress, and looked at it with a rigid gaze. Then an idea seemed to cross his brain. "Fancy." "Yes." "I thought you said you were going to wear your gray gown all day to-morrow on your trip to Yalbury, and in the evening too, when I shall be with you, and ask your father for you?" "So I am." "And the blue one only on Sunday?" "And the blue one Sunday." "Well, dear, I sha'n't be at Yalbury Sunday to see it." "No, but I shall walk to Longpuddle church in the afternoon with father, and such lots of people will be looking at me there, you know; and it did set so badly round the neck." "I never noticed it, and 'tis like nobody else would." "They might." "Then why not wear the gray one on Sunday as well? 'Tis as pretty as the blue one." "I might make the gray one do, certainly. But it isn't so good; it didn't cost half so much as this one, and besides, it would be the same I wore Saturday." "Then wear the striped one, dear." "I might." "Or the dark one." "Yes, I might; but I want to wear a fresh one they haven't seen." "I see, I see," said Dick, in a voice in which the tones of love were decidedly inconvenienced by a considerable emphasis, his thoughts meanwhile running as follows: "I, the man she loves best in the world, as she says, am to understand that my poor half-holiday is to be lost, because she wants to wear on Sunday a gown there is not the slightest necessity for wearing, simply, in fact, to appear more striking than usual in the eyes of Longpuddle young men; and I not there, either." "Then there are three dresses good enough for my eyes, but neither is good enough for the youths of Longpuddle," he said. "No, not that exactly, Dick. Still, you see, I do want--to look pretty to them--there, that's honest! But I sha'n't be much longer." "How much?" "A quarter of an hour." "Very well; I'll come in in a quarter of an hour." "Why go away?" "I mid as well." He went out, walked down the road, and sat upon a gate. Here he meditated and meditated, and the more he meditated the more decidedly did he begin to fume, and the more positive was he that his time had been scandalously trifled with by Miss Fancy Day--that, so far from being the simple girl who had never had a sweetheart before, as she had solemnly assured him time after time, she was, if not a flirt, a woman who had had no end of admirers; a girl most certainly too anxious about her frocks; a girl, whose feelings, though warm, were not deep; a girl who cared a great deal too much how she appeared in the eyes of other men. "What she loves best in the world," he thought, with an incipient spice of his father's grimness, "is her hair and complexion. What she loves next best, her gowns and hats; what she loves next best, myself, perhaps!" Suffering great anguish at this disloyalty in himself and harshness to his darling, yet disposed to persevere in it, a horribly cruel thought crossed his mind. He would not call for her, as he had promised, at the end of a quarter of an hour! Yes, it would be a punishment she well deserved. Although the best part of the afternoon had been wasted he would go nutting as he had intended, and go by himself. He leaped over the gate, and pushed up the lane for nearly two miles, till a winding path called Snail-Creep sloped up a hill and entered a hazel copse by a hole like a rabbit's burrow. In he plunged, vanished among the bushes, and in a short time there was no sign of his existence upon earth, save an occasional rustling of boughs and snapping of twigs in divers points of Grey's Wood. Never man nutted as Dick nutted that afternoon. He worked like a galley slave. Half-hour after half-hour passed away, and still he gathered without ceasing. At last, when the sun had set, and bunches of nuts could not be distinguished from the leaves which nourished them, he shouldered his bag, containing quite two pecks of the finest produce of the wood, about as much use to him as two pecks of stones from the road, strolled down the woodland track, crossed the highway and entered the homeward lane, whistling as he went. Probably, Miss Fancy Day never before or after stood so low in Mr. Dewy's opinion as on that afternoon. In fact, it is just possible that a few more blue dresses on the Longpuddle young men's account would have clarified Dick's brain entirely, and made him once more a free man. But Venus had planned other developments, at any rate for the present. Cuckoo-Lane, the way he pursued, passed over a ridge which rose keenly against the sky about fifty yards in his van. Here, upon the bright after-glow about the horizon, was now visible an irregular shape, which at first he conceived to be a bough standing a little beyond the line of its neighbours. Then it seemed to move, and, as he advanced still further, there was no doubt that it was a living being sitting in the bank, head bowed on hand. The grassy margin entirely prevented his footsteps from being heard, and it was not till he was close that the figure recognized him. Up it sprang, and he was face to face with Fancy. "Dick, Dick! O, is it you, Dick!" "Yes, Fancy," said Dick, in a rather repentant tone, and lowering his nuts. She ran up to him, flung her parasol on the grass, put her little head against his breast, and then there began a narrative, disjointed by such a hysterical weeping as was never surpassed for intensity in the whole history of love. "O Dick," she sobbed out, "where have you been away from me? O, I have suffered agony, and thought you would never come any more! 'Tis cruel, Dick; no 'tisn't, it is justice! I've been walking miles and miles up and down Grey's Wood, trying to find you, till I was wearied and worn out, and I could walk no further, and had come back this far! O Dick, directly you were gone, I thought I had offended you and I put down the dress; 'tisn't finished now, and I never will finish, it, and I'll wear an old one Sunday! Yes, Dick, I will, because I don't care what I wear when you are not by my side--ha, you think I do, but I don't!--and I ran after you, and I saw you go up Snail-Creep and not look back once, and then you plunged in, and I after you; but I was too far behind. O, I did wish the horrid bushes had been cut down, so that I could see your dear shape again! And then I called out to you, and nobody answered, and I was afraid to call very loud, lest anybody else should hear me. Then I kept wandering and wandering about, and it was dreadful misery, Dick. And then I shut my eyes and fell to picturing you looking at some other woman, very pretty and nice, but with no affection or truth in her at all, and then imagined you saying to yourself, 'Ah, she's as good as Fancy, for Fancy told me a story, and was a flirt, and cared for herself more than me, so now I'll have this one for my sweetheart.' O, you won't, will you, Dick, for I do love you so!" It is scarcely necessary to add that Dick renounced his freedom there and then, and kissed her ten times over, and promised that no pretty woman of the kind alluded to should ever engross his thoughts; in short, that though he had been vexed with her, all such vexation was past, and that henceforth and for ever it was simply Fancy or death for him. And then they set about proceeding homewards, very slowly on account of Fancy's weariness, she leaning upon his shoulder, and in addition receiving support from his arm round her waist; though she had sufficiently recovered from her desperate condition to sing to him, 'Why are you wandering here, I pray?' during the latter part of their walk. Nor is it necessary to describe in detail how the bag of nuts was quite forgotten until three days later, when it was found among the brambles and restored empty to Mrs. Dewy, her initials being marked thereon in red cotton; and how she puzzled herself till her head ached upon the question of how on earth her meal-bag could have got into Cuckoo-Lane. Saturday evening saw Dick Dewy journeying on foot to Yalbury Wood, according to the arrangement with Fancy. The landscape being concave, at the going down of the sun everything suddenly assumed a uniform robe of shade. The evening advanced from sunset to dusk long before Dick's arrival, and his progress during the latter portion of his walk through the trees was indicated by the flutter of terrified birds that had been roosting over the path. And in crossing the glades, masses of hot dry air, that had been formed on the hills during the day, greeted his cheeks alternately with clouds of damp night air from the valleys. He reached the keeper-steward's house, where the grass-plot and the garden in front appeared light and pale against the unbroken darkness of the grove from which he had emerged, and paused at the garden gate. He had scarcely been there a minute when he beheld a sort of procession advancing from the door in his front. It consisted first of Enoch the trapper, carrying a spade on his shoulder and a lantern dangling in his hand; then came Mrs. Day, the light of the lantern revealing that she bore in her arms curious objects about a foot long, in the form of Latin crosses (made of lath and brown paper dipped in brimstone--called matches by bee-masters); next came Miss Day, with a shawl thrown over her head; and behind all, in the gloom, Mr. Frederic Shiner. Dick, in his consternation at finding Shiner present, was at a loss how to proceed, and retired under a tree to collect his thoughts. "Here I be, Enoch," said a voice; and the procession advancing farther, the lantern's rays illuminated the figure of Geoffrey, awaiting their arrival beside a row of bee-hives, in front of the path. Taking the spade from Enoch, he proceeded to dig two holes in the earth beside the hives, the others standing round in a circle, except Mrs. Day, who deposited her matches in the fork of an apple-tree and returned to the house. The party remaining were now lit up in front by the lantern in their midst, their shadows radiating each way upon the garden-plot like the spokes of a wheel. An apparent embarrassment of Fancy at the presence of Shiner caused a silence in the assembly, during which the preliminaries of execution were arranged, the matches fixed, the stake kindled, the two hives placed over the two holes, and the earth stopped round the edges. Geoffrey then stood erect, and rather more, to straighten his backbone after the digging. "They were a peculiar family," said Mr. Shiner, regarding the hives reflectively. Geoffrey nodded. "Those holes will be the grave of thousands!" said Fancy. "I think 'tis rather a cruel thing to do." Her father shook his head. "No," he said, tapping the hives to shake the dead bees from their cells, "if you suffocate 'em this way, they only die once: if you fumigate 'em in the new way, they come to life again, and die o' starvation; so the pangs o' death be twice upon 'em." "I incline to Fancy's notion," said Mr. Shiner, laughing lightly. "The proper way to take honey, so that the bees be neither starved nor murdered, is a puzzling matter," said the keeper steadily. "I should like never to take it from them," said Fancy. "But 'tis the money," said Enoch musingly. "For without money man is a shadder!" The lantern-light had disturbed many bees that had escaped from hives destroyed some days earlier, and, demoralized by affliction, were now getting a living as marauders about the doors of other hives. Several flew round the head and neck of Geoffrey; then darted upon him with an irritated bizz. Enoch threw down the lantern, and ran off and pushed his head into a currant bush; Fancy scudded up the path; and Mr. Shiner floundered away helter-skelter among the cabbages. Geoffrey stood his ground, unmoved and firm as a rock. Fancy was the first to return, followed by Enoch picking up the lantern. Mr. Shiner still remained invisible. "Have the craters stung ye?" said Enoch to Geoffrey. "No, not much--on'y a little here and there," he said with leisurely solemnity, shaking one bee out of his shirt sleeve, pulling another from among his hair, and two or three more from his neck. The rest looked on during this proceeding with a complacent sense of being out of it,--much as a European nation in a state of internal commotion is watched by its neighbours. "Are those all of them, father?" said Fancy, when Geoffrey had pulled away five. "Almost all,--though I feel one or two more sticking into my shoulder and side. Ah! there's another just begun again upon my backbone. You lively young mortals, how did you get inside there? However, they can't sting me many times more, poor things, for they must be getting weak. They mid as well stay in me till bedtime now, I suppose." As he himself was the only person affected by this arrangement, it seemed satisfactory enough; and after a noise of feet kicking against cabbages in a blundering progress among them, the voice of Mr. Shiner was heard from the darkness in that direction. "Is all quite safe again?" No answer being returned to this query, he apparently assumed that he might venture forth, and gradually drew near the lantern again. The hives were now removed from their position over the holes, one being handed to Enoch to carry indoors, and one being taken by Geoffrey himself. "Bring hither the lantern, Fancy: the spade can bide." Geoffrey and Enoch then went towards the house, leaving Shiner and Fancy standing side by side on the garden-plot. "Allow me," said Shiner, stooping for the lantern and seizing it at the same time with Fancy. "I can carry it," said Fancy, religiously repressing all inclination to trifle. She had thoroughly considered that subject after the tearful explanation of the bird-catching adventure to Dick, and had decided that it would be dishonest in her, as an engaged young woman, to trifle with men's eyes and hands any more. Finding that Shiner still retained his hold of the lantern, she relinquished it, and he, having found her retaining it, also let go. The lantern fell, and was extinguished. Fancy moved on. "Where is the path?" said Mr. Shiner. "Here," said Fancy. "Your eyes will get used to the dark in a minute or two." "Till that time will ye lend me your hand?" Fancy gave him the extreme tips of her fingers, and they stepped from the plot into the path. "You don't accept attentions very freely." "It depends upon who offers them." "A fellow like me, for instance." A dead silence. "Well, what do you say, Missie?" "It then depends upon how they are offered." "Not wildly, and yet not careless-like; not purposely, and yet not by chance; not too quick nor yet too slow." "How then?" said Fancy. "Coolly and practically," he said. "How would that kind of love be taken?" "Not anxiously, and yet not indifferently; neither blushing nor pale; nor religiously nor yet quite wickedly." "Well, how?" "Not at all." * * * * * Geoffrey Day's storehouse at the back of his dwelling was hung with bunches of dried horehound, mint, and sage; brown-paper bags of thyme and lavender; and long ropes of clean onions. On shelves were spread large red and yellow apples, and choice selections of early potatoes for seed next year;--vulgar crowds of commoner kind lying beneath in heaps. A few empty beehives were clustered around a nail in one corner, under which stood two or three barrels of new cider of the first crop, each bubbling and squirting forth from the yet open bunghole. Fancy was now kneeling beside the two inverted hives, one of which rested against her lap, for convenience in operating upon the contents. She thrust her sleeves above her elbows, and inserted her small pink hand edgewise between each white lobe of honeycomb, performing the act so adroitly and gently as not to unseal a single cell. Then cracking the piece off at the crown of the hive by a slight backward and forward movement, she lifted each portion as it was loosened into a large blue platter, placed on a bench at her side. "Bother these little mortals!" said Geoffrey, who was holding the light to her, and giving his back an uneasy twist. "I really think I may as well go indoors and take 'em out, poor things! for they won't let me alone. There's two a stinging wi' all their might now. I'm sure I wonder their strength can last so long." "All right, friend; I'll hold the candle whilst you are gone," said Mr. Shiner, leisurely taking the light, and allowing Geoffrey to depart, which he did with his usual long paces. He could hardly have gone round to the house-door when other footsteps were heard approaching the outbuilding; the tip of a finger appeared in the hole through which the wood latch was lifted, and Dick Dewy came in, having been all this time walking up and down the wood, vainly waiting for Shiner's departure. Fancy looked up and welcomed him rather confusedly. Shiner grasped the candlestick more firmly, and, lest doing this in silence should not imply to Dick with sufficient force that he was quite at home and cool, he sang invincibly-- "'King Arthur he had three sons.'" "Father here?" said Dick. "Indoors, I think," said Fancy, looking pleasantly at him. Dick surveyed the scene, and did not seem inclined to hurry off just at that moment. Shiner went on singing-- "'The miller was drown'd in his pond, The weaver was hung in his yarn, And the d--- ran away with the little tail-or, With the broadcloth under his arm.'" "That's a terrible crippled rhyme, if that's your rhyme!" said Dick, with a grain of superciliousness in his tone. "It's no use your complaining to me about the rhyme!" said Mr. Shiner. "You must go to the man that made it." Fancy by this time had acquired confidence. "Taste a bit, Mr. Dewy," she said, holding up to him a small circular piece of honeycomb that had been the last in the row of layers, remaining still on her knees and flinging back her head to look in his face; "and then I'll taste a bit too." "And I, if you please," said Mr. Shiner. Nevertheless the farmer looked superior, as if he could even now hardly join the trifling from very importance of station; and after receiving the honeycomb from Fancy, he turned it over in his hand till the cells began to be crushed, and the liquid honey ran down from his fingers in a thin string. Suddenly a faint cry from Fancy caused them to gaze at her. "What's the matter, dear?" said Dick. "It is nothing, but O-o! a bee has stung the inside of my lip! He was in one of the cells I was eating!" "We must keep down the swelling, or it may be serious!" said Shiner, stepping up and kneeling beside her. "Let me see it." "No, no!" "Just let me see it," said Dick, kneeling on the other side: and after some hesitation she pressed down her lip with one finger to show the place. "O, I hope 'twill soon be better! I don't mind a sting in ordinary places, but it is so bad upon your lip," she added with tears in her eyes, and writhing a little from the pain. Shiner held the light above his head and pushed his face close to Fancy's, as if the lip had been shown exclusively to himself, upon which Dick pushed closer, as if Shiner were not there at all. "It is swelling," said Dick to her right aspect. "It isn't swelling," said Shiner to her left aspect. "Is it dangerous on the lip?" cried Fancy. "I know it is dangerous on the tongue." "O no, not dangerous!" answered Dick. "Rather dangerous," had answered Shiner simultaneously. "I must try to bear it!" said Fancy, turning again to the hives. "Hartshorn-and-oil is a good thing to put to it, Miss Day," said Shiner with great concern. "Sweet-oil-and-hartshorn I've found to be a good thing to cure stings, Miss Day," said Dick with greater concern. "We have some mixed indoors; would you kindly run and get it for me?" she said. Now, whether by inadvertence, or whether by mischievous intention, the individuality of the you was so carelessly denoted that both Dick and Shiner sprang to their feet like twin acrobats, and marched abreast to the door; both seized the latch and lifted it, and continued marching on, shoulder to shoulder, in the same manner to the dwelling-house. Not only so, but entering the room, they marched as before straight up to Mrs. Day's chair, letting the door in the oak partition slam so forcibly, that the rows of pewter on the dresser rang like a bell. "Mrs. Day, Fancy has stung her lip, and wants you to give me the hartshorn, please," said Mr. Shiner, very close to Mrs. Day's face. "O, Mrs. Day, Fancy has asked me to bring out the hartshorn, please, because she has stung her lip!" said Dick, a little closer to Mrs. Day's face. "Well, men alive! that's no reason why you should eat me, I suppose!" said Mrs. Day, drawing back. She searched in the corner-cupboard, produced the bottle, and began to dust the cork, the rim, and every other part very carefully, Dick's hand and Shiner's hand waiting side by side. "Which is head man?" said Mrs. Day. "Now, don't come mumbudgeting so close again. Which is head man?" Neither spoke; and the bottle was inclined towards Shiner. Shiner, as a high-class man, would not look in the least triumphant, and turned to go off with it as Geoffrey came downstairs after the search in his linen for concealed bees. "O--that you, Master Dewy?" Dick assured the keeper that it was; and the young man then determined upon a bold stroke for the attainment of his end, forgetting that the worst of bold strokes is the disastrous consequences they involve if they fail. "I've come on purpose to speak to you very particular, Mr. Day," he said, with a crushing emphasis intended for the ears of Mr. Shiner, who was vanishing round the door-post at that moment. "Well, I've been forced to go upstairs and unrind myself, and shake some bees out o' me" said Geoffrey, walking slowly towards the open door, and standing on the threshold. "The young rascals got into my shirt and wouldn't be quiet nohow." Dick followed him to the door. "I've come to speak a word to you," he repeated, looking out at the pale mist creeping up from the gloom of the valley. "You may perhaps guess what it is about." The keeper lowered his hands into the depths of his pockets, twirled his eyes, balanced himself on his toes, looked as perpendicularly downward as if his glance were a plumb-line, then horizontally, collecting together the cracks that lay about his face till they were all in the neighbourhood of his eyes. "Maybe I don't know," he replied. Dick said nothing; and the stillness was disturbed only by some small bird that was being killed by an owl in the adjoining wood, whose cry passed into the silence without mingling with it. "I've left my hat up in chammer," said Geoffrey; "wait while I step up and get en." "I'll be in the garden," said Dick. He went round by a side wicket into the garden, and Geoffrey went upstairs. It was the custom in Mellstock and its vicinity to discuss matters of pleasure and ordinary business inside the house, and to reserve the garden for very important affairs: a custom which, as is supposed, originated in the desirability of getting away at such times from the other members of the family when there was only one room for living in, though it was now quite as frequently practised by those who suffered from no such limitation to the size of their domiciles. The head-keeper's form appeared in the dusky garden, and Dick walked towards him. The elder paused and leant over the rail of a piggery that stood on the left of the path, upon which Dick did the same; and they both contemplated a whitish shadowy shape that was moving about and grunting among the straw of the interior. "I've come to ask for Fancy," said Dick. "I'd as lief you hadn't." "Why should that be, Mr. Day?" "Because it makes me say that you've come to ask what ye be'n't likely to have. Have ye come for anything else?" "Nothing." "Then I'll just tell 'ee you've come on a very foolish errand. D'ye know what her mother was?" "No." "A teacher in a landed family's nursery, who was foolish enough to marry the keeper of the same establishment; for I was only a keeper then, though now I've a dozen other irons in the fire as steward here for my lord, what with the timber sales and the yearly fellings, and the gravel and sand sales and one thing and 'tother. However, d'ye think Fancy picked up her good manners, the smooth turn of her tongue, her musical notes, and her knowledge of books, in a homely hole like this?" "No." "D'ye know where?" "No." "Well, when I went a-wandering after her mother's death, she lived with her aunt, who kept a boarding-school, till her aunt married Lawyer Green--a man as sharp as a needle--and the school was broke up. Did ye know that then she went to the training-school, and that her name stood first among the Queen's scholars of her year?" "I've heard so." "And that when she sat for her certificate as Government teacher, she had the highest of the first class?" "Yes." "Well, and do ye know what I live in such a miserly way for when I've got enough to do without it, and why I make her work as a schoolmistress instead of living here?" "No." "That if any gentleman, who sees her to be his equal in polish, should want to marry her, and she want to marry him, he sha'n't be superior to her in pocket. Now do ye think after this that you be good enough for her?" "No." "Then good-night t'ee, Master Dewy." "Good-night, Mr. Day." Modest Dick's reply had faltered upon his tongue, and he turned away wondering at his presumption in asking for a woman whom he had seen from the beginning to be so superior to him.

Part Four Chapter 1 to 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part4-chapter1-2

'Going Nutting' and Chapter Two 'Honey-Taking, and Afterwards' Dick visits Fancy on the Friday before their arranged visit to her father and as both are free he suggests they go collecting nuts. She agrees, but asks him to wait while she alters one of her dresses. He waits for her for hours and remembers she had said she would wear this blue dress on Sunday and he would not be there to see it. She says how lots of other people will be looking at her, though. He goes outside to wait as she says she will only be another quarter of an hour. He fumes as he thinks that she has warm but not deep feelings and cares too much about how she appears 'in the eyes of other men'. He also thinks she loves her hair and complexion best, then her dresses, and then him, 'perhaps'. A cruel thought crosses his mind, that he will punish her and not call after a quarter of an hour. He decides to go nutting instead, which is as he first intended. He walks for 2 miles to the hazel copse and collects nuts until the sun sets. He takes up his 2 pecks, which are as much use to him as 'stones from the road', and whistles as he walks along the bridle path. On the way back, he sees Fancy and she runs to him and sobs that she has suffered agony and thought he would never come back again. She has been walking miles to find him. She also says she has not finished her dress and never will and will wear an old one on Sunday. He renounces 'his freedom' and kisses her 10 times over. In Chapter Two, Dick visits the home of Fancy's father as arranged and unseen he notices a small procession made up of Miss and Mrs Day, Enoch and Shinar. He sees them head toward Geoffrey who is standing near the beehives. Stakes of wood are fixed in the ground and kindled and two hives are placed over the holes. Fancy says how the holes will be the graves of thousands and that it is a cruel thing to do. Her father disagrees and says that this way they are suffocated only once and if they are fumigated in the 'new way' they come to life again and so suffer death pangs twice. She says she would never like to take the honey from them and Enoch says it is done for money, "'and without money man is a shadder!'" Some stray bees fly about and all but Geoffrey move away, and he stands firm even though he has been stung. Shinar is the last to return and asks if it is safe. As they go in the house, Shinar and Fancy are the last ones and she is careful to avoid trifling with him. The lantern falls to the ground and they make their way to the house in the dark. Shinar asks her to lend her hand and she gives him the extreme tips of her fingers. He says about offering her his attentions and love, and she says it will not be taken, "'not at all'". They go to the storehouse and while Fancy removes the honeycombs from the hives, her father goes in the house to remove the bees from his shirt. Fancy is with Shinar when Dick appears and Shinar shows his apparent nonchalance by singing. Fancy offers Dick some honey and she says she will try some too. Shinar asks for some as well and as he holds it the cell crushes and honey runs down his fingers. Fancy gives a faint cry and says a bee has stung the inside of her lip as it must have been in one of the cells she was eating. Shinar asks to see it and she says no. Dick asks and with some hesitation she shows him. Both men go at once to find the oil and hartshorn and both approach Mrs Day for it. She finds it and asks who the 'head man' is. As neither answer, she hands it to Shinar. He goes to return to Fancy when Geoffrey comes downstairs and Dick asks to speak to him. Geoffrey looks for his hat while Dick goes to the garden, as it is the custom there to 'reserve the garden for very important affairs' . The two men talk and Dick says he has come to ask for Fancy's hand. Her father says he has come on a "'foolish errand'" as her mother was a governess and Fancy lived with her aunt when he went "'a-wandering'" after her mother's death. Her aunt kept a boarding school and married a lawyer. Fancy also has "'the highest of the first class'" in her teaching certificate. He asks Dick if he thinks he is good enough and Dick says no. They say goodnight to each other and Dick wonders at his 'presumption in asking for a woman whom he had seen from the beginning to be so superior to him'.

'Going Nutting' and Chapter Two 'Honey-Taking, and Afterwards' The question of class difference arises when Dick asks Geoffrey for Fancy's hand in marriage. Geoffrey points out the privileges his daughter has had, in education, upbringing and employment, and claims these points demonstrate her superiority. As a tranter and son of a tranter, Dick is reminded of the inequality in their positions in the class system, but rather than rail against the unfairness he accepts Geoffrey's argument that Fancy is 'superior' to him. This apparent acceptance is in keeping with the acquiescence shown by the other local men when ousted from their role in church. Submission has become a standard for those who represent the nostalgic past.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_4_chapters_3_to_7.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_5_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 4.chapters 3-7

part 4 chapter 3 - 7

{"name": "Part Four Chapter 3 to 7", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part4-chapter3-7", "summary": "'Fancy in the Rain', Chapter Four 'The Spell' and Chapter Five 'After Gaining Her Point' The next scene is set the following month on a 'tempestuous afternoon'. Fancy is walking from her father's home towards Mellstock. She looks for shelter and goes to the nearest house, which is Elizabeth Endorfield's. Here she thinks of how firm her father's opposition has been to Dick. Nevertheless, they have seen each other since. Mrs Endorfield is described as having a reputation of something 'between distinction and notoriety'. She had 'distinctly Satanic' features and has been compared to a witch. She says to Fancy that she is down about her young man. Fancy says she wishes she could help her to put her father in \"'humour'\" for it. Mrs Endorfield says she can help and \"'the charm is worked by common sense'\". She gives Fancy a list of instructions which are not explained at this point and Fancy leaves saying she will follow them. Mrs Endorfield's advice is followed in Chapter Four. The advice is suggested when a Mellstock man tells Geoffrey he is sorry his daughter is not well and that she has no appetite. He goes to see her and has tea with her, and watches her 'narrowly'. He sees her eat just one tenth of a slice of bread and butter and hopes she will say something about Dick, but she does not. The following week Enoch says to Geoffrey that he hopes \"'poor Miss Fancy'\" will be able to keep on at the school as he has heard from the baker that the amount of bread he has left her would starve a mouse. He has also heard she has had less butter too, and this is thought to have turned sour. On Saturday, Geoffrey receives a note from Fancy saying not to send any rabbits as she fears she will not want them. Later in Casterbridge, he asks to pay her butcher's bill as well as his own and he is surprised at how little she has ordered in a month. He calls on Fancy, and Nan, the charwoman, tells him Fancy told her she is not getting up until the evening and says as she has given up eating she cannot work. He goes to Fancy's room and notices how pale she is. He says how he did it for the best, in telling Dick he could not marry her, but he cannot let her die and if she wants him she will have him. 'The invalid' sighs and says she does not want Dick against her father's will. He says it is not and that they may marry next Midsummer. On leaving the schoolhouse, Geoffrey goes to the Dewy home and William answers. He says how Dick is not chatty anymore and is not the fellow he used to be. He asks him to let Dick know he wants him to come and see him tomorrow with Fancy, if she is well enough. In Chapter Five, the visit to Geoffrey passes well and they have several days of happy courtship. The day of the Harvest Thanksgiving is chosen to be the day for 'opening the organ' in Mellstock Church and it so happens that Dick is called away to a funeral at this time. He lets Fancy know that he will miss her debut and she is described as bearing the news as best she can. On the day, Dick takes a detour to see Fancy before she sets off and is 'astonished' at how well presented she is. After his initial delight, he has less comfortable feelings. He says if she had been going away he would not have cared to be better dressed than usual. He also says how different they are and she agrees that perhaps this is so. She asks for a kiss, and he agrees to this, and they go their separate ways for the day. In church, the daughters of 'the small gentry' are critical of her hair, which is curled for the occasion, her hat and feather and the 'sober matrons' say, \"'a bonnet for church always!'\" Fancy notices the vicar admire her, but is not aware he loves her as he has never loved a woman before. The choir are no longer in the gallery and are dotted about the church, sitting with their relatives. They listen to Fancy play, but believe their simpler notes were more in keeping with 'the simplicity of their old church'.", "analysis": "'Fancy in the Rain', Chapter Four 'The Spell' and Chapter Five ' After Gaining Her Point' The replacement of the choir is made complete when Fancy arrives to play the organ. It is of note that the choir no longer even sit together and are now dispersed among the congregation. Their unity is broken and the individual takes precedence over the group in this new order of things. Fancy's individuality is made all the more evident in her appearance and in her lack of concern of the censorious views of others, such as the 'sober matrons' and the daughters of 'the small gentry'. She is depicted as vain and even flighty in her appearance, but inimical to this is a strength that will not be dominated by the opinion of others. Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Back in the schoolhouse after the service, Fancy thinks how weary she is of living alone and how 'unbearable' it would be to live with her father and stepmother again, and how it is another eight or nine long months before her wedding can take place. She sits on a window sill and looks out at the rain. She sees Dick approach and they talk while he stands outside in the rain. He explains the mark on his coat is from the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. As he tells her this, she puts her hand to her mouth and covers a yawn, 'for half a minute'. He asks for a kiss but cannot reach her as she does not want to expose her head to the rain. She offers her hand instead and they say goodbye. When he goes, she says to herself how poor and mean he looks wet through and without an umbrella. Dick disappears and as she prepares to descend she looks in the other direction and sees another man dressed in black, with an umbrella, and is approaching her house. She cannot see his face, but notices the umbrella is made of 'superior silk'. He knocks on the door and she answers to Mr Maybold the vicar. He enters and says he has come to ask her to be his wife. Silence follows and she says she cannot. He asks her to not answer in a hurry and says he has loved her for more than 6 months and asks again if she will marry him. There is silence again and he implores her to not refuse. He also says they could move to Yorkshire and she could have whatever piano she liked, \"'anything to make you happy - pony-carriage, flowers, birds, pleasant society'\". There is another pause and then she answers \"'yes, I will'\". He moves to embrace her and she says, \"'no, no, not now'\". She says the temptation is too strong to resist and asks him to leave. He waits until she controls herself and leaves saying he will come back tomorrow about this time. The next morning, in Chapter Seven, the vicar writes a letter to his friend in Yorkshire and takes it to Casterbridge so as not to lose a day in its transmission. He meets Dick on the way and they walk together. The vicar says how successful the service had been the day before and Dick says he had wanted to be there because of Miss Day and the vicar does not know what he means. Dick explains that she is his sweetheart and they are going to be married next Midsummer. The vicar agrees that time slips along, but feels a cold and sickly thrill and realizes Fancy is 'less an angel than a woman'. Dick says he has good prospects and will be a regular manager of a branch of his father's business. He has also had cards printed 'to keep pace with the times' and gives one to the vicar. Dick takes a different path and the vicar stands on a bridge as he reads his card. After 10 minutes, he takes out the letter and tears it up into 'minute fragments' and drops them in the water. He then returns to the vicarage. He writes a letter to Fancy and informs her he knows she is not a free woman and asks whether she can 'in justice to an honest man' 'honourably forsake him'. He sends the note with a boy and on his way he passes another boy who is coming to the vicarage. He has a note from Fancy and in this she explains her 'ambition and vanity' and love of praise and wants to withdraw the answer she gave him last night. She also wants him to keep their meeting a secret. The last written communication between them is a note that states the following: 'Tell him everything; it is best. He will forgive you'. Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Fancy's love of the material has been suggested up to this point, and strongly hinted at in the way she dresses, but it is the acceptance of the vicar's marriage proposal that signals how tempted she is by expressions of wealth and luxury. To her credit, she changes her mind but the acceptance is noteworthy for highlighting how this novel critiques the temptations of capitalism. By being allowed to change her mind, Fancy is made an exception in the novel as the shift to a more capitalist society is seen recurrently here as inevitable as well as lamentable."}

The next scene is a tempestuous afternoon in the following month, and Fancy Day is discovered walking from her father's home towards Mellstock. A single vast gray cloud covered the country, from which the small rain and mist had just begun to blow down in wavy sheets, alternately thick and thin. The trees of the fields and plantations writhed like miserable men as the air wound its way swiftly among them: the lowest portions of their trunks, that had hardly ever been known to move, were visibly rocked by the fiercer gusts, distressing the mind by its painful unwontedness, as when a strong man is seen to shed tears. Low-hanging boughs went up and down; high and erect boughs went to and fro; the blasts being so irregular, and divided into so many cross-currents, that neighbouring branches of the same tree swept the skies in independent motions, crossed each other, or became entangled. Across the open spaces flew flocks of green and yellowish leaves, which, after travelling a long distance from their parent trees, reached the ground, and lay there with their under-sides upward. As the rain and wind increased, and Fancy's bonnet-ribbons leapt more and more snappishly against her chin, she paused on entering Mellstock Lane to consider her latitude, and the distance to a place of shelter. The nearest house was Elizabeth Endorfield's, in Higher Mellstock, whose cottage and garden stood not far from the junction of that hamlet with the road she followed. Fancy hastened onward, and in five minutes entered a gate, which shed upon her toes a flood of water-drops as she opened it. "Come in, chiel!" a voice exclaimed, before Fancy had knocked: a promptness that would have surprised her had she not known that Mrs. Endorfield was an exceedingly and exceptionally sharp woman in the use of her eyes and ears. Fancy went in and sat down. Elizabeth was paring potatoes for her husband's supper. Scrape, scrape, scrape; then a toss, and splash went a potato into a bucket of water. Now, as Fancy listlessly noted these proceedings of the dame, she began to reconsider an old subject that lay uppermost in her heart. Since the interview between her father and Dick, the days had been melancholy days for her. Geoffrey's firm opposition to the notion of Dick as a son-in- law was more than she had expected. She had frequently seen her lover since that time, it is true, and had loved him more for the opposition than she would have otherwise dreamt of doing--which was a happiness of a certain kind. Yet, though love is thus an end in itself, it must be believed to be the means to another end if it is to assume the rosy hues of an unalloyed pleasure. And such a belief Fancy and Dick were emphatically denied just now. Elizabeth Endorfield had a repute among women which was in its nature something between distinction and notoriety. It was founded on the following items of character. She was shrewd and penetrating; her house stood in a lonely place; she never went to church; she wore a red cloak; she always retained her bonnet indoors and she had a pointed chin. Thus far her attributes were distinctly Satanic; and those who looked no further called her, in plain terms, a witch. But she was not gaunt, nor ugly in the upper part of her face, nor particularly strange in manner; so that, when her more intimate acquaintances spoke of her the term was softened, and she became simply a Deep Body, who was as long-headed as she was high. It may be stated that Elizabeth belonged to a class of suspects who were gradually losing their mysterious characteristics under the administration of the young vicar; though, during the long reign of Mr. Grinham, the parish of Mellstock had proved extremely favourable to the growth of witches. While Fancy was revolving all this in her mind, and putting it to herself whether it was worth while to tell her troubles to Elizabeth, and ask her advice in getting out of them, the witch spoke. "You be down--proper down," she said suddenly, dropping another potato into the bucket. Fancy took no notice. "About your young man." Fancy reddened. Elizabeth seemed to be watching her thoughts. Really, one would almost think she must have the powers people ascribed to her. "Father not in the humour for't, hey?" Another potato was finished and flung in. "Ah, I know about it. Little birds tell me things that people don't dream of my knowing." Fancy was desperate about Dick, and here was a chance--O, such a wicked chance--of getting help; and what was goodness beside love! "I wish you'd tell me how to put him in the humour for it?" she said. "That I could soon do," said the witch quietly. "Really? O, do; anyhow--I don't care--so that it is done! How could I do it, Mrs. Endorfield?" "Nothing so mighty wonderful in it." "Well, but how?" "By witchery, of course!" said Elizabeth. "No!" said Fancy. "'Tis, I assure ye. Didn't you ever hear I was a witch?" "Well," hesitated Fancy, "I have heard you called so." "And you believed it?" "I can't say that I did exactly believe it, for 'tis very horrible and wicked; but, O, how I do wish it was possible for you to be one!" "So I am. And I'll tell you how to bewitch your father to let you marry Dick Dewy." "Will it hurt him, poor thing?" "Hurt who?" "Father." "No; the charm is worked by common sense, and the spell can only be broke by your acting stupidly." Fancy looked rather perplexed, and Elizabeth went on: "This fear of Lizz--whatever 'tis-- By great and small; She makes pretence to common sense, And that's all. "You must do it like this." The witch laid down her knife and potato, and then poured into Fancy's ear a long and detailed list of directions, glancing up from the corner of her eye into Fancy's face with an expression of sinister humour. Fancy's face brightened, clouded, rose and sank, as the narrative proceeded. "There," said Elizabeth at length, stooping for the knife and another potato, "do that, and you'll have him by-long and by-late, my dear." "And do it I will!" said Fancy. She then turned her attention to the external world once more. The rain continued as usual, but the wind had abated considerably during the discourse. Judging that it was now possible to keep an umbrella erect, she pulled her hood again over her bonnet, bade the witch good-bye, and went her way. Mrs. Endorfield's advice was duly followed. "I be proper sorry that your daughter isn't so well as she might be," said a Mellstock man to Geoffrey one morning. "But is there anything in it?" said Geoffrey uneasily, as he shifted his hat to the right. "I can't understand the report. She didn't complain to me a bit when I saw her." "No appetite at all, they say." Geoffrey crossed to Mellstock and called at the school that afternoon. Fancy welcomed him as usual, and asked him to stay and take tea with her. "I be'n't much for tea, this time o' day," he said, but stayed. During the meal he watched her narrowly. And to his great consternation discovered the following unprecedented change in the healthy girl--that she cut herself only a diaphanous slice of bread-and-butter, and, laying it on her plate, passed the meal-time in breaking it into pieces, but eating no more than about one-tenth of the slice. Geoffrey hoped she would say something about Dick, and finish up by weeping, as she had done after the decision against him a few days subsequent to the interview in the garden. But nothing was said, and in due time Geoffrey departed again for Yalbury Wood. "'Tis to be hoped poor Miss Fancy will be able to keep on her school," said Geoffrey's man Enoch to Geoffrey the following week, as they were shovelling up ant-hills in the wood. Geoffrey stuck in the shovel, swept seven or eight ants from his sleeve, and killed another that was prowling round his ear, then looked perpendicularly into the earth as usual, waiting for Enoch to say more. "Well, why shouldn't she?" said the keeper at last. "The baker told me yesterday," continued Enoch, shaking out another emmet that had run merrily up his thigh, "that the bread he've left at that there school-house this last month would starve any mouse in the three creations; that 'twould so! And afterwards I had a pint o' small down at Morrs's, and there I heard more." "What might that ha' been?" "That she used to have a pound o' the best rolled butter a week, regular as clockwork, from Dairyman Viney's for herself, as well as just so much salted for the helping girl, and the 'ooman she calls in; but now the same quantity d'last her three weeks, and then 'tis thoughted she throws it away sour." "Finish doing the emmets, and carry the bag home-along." The keeper resumed his gun, tucked it under his arm, and went on without whistling to the dogs, who however followed, with a bearing meant to imply that they did not expect any such attentions when their master was reflecting. On Saturday morning a note came from Fancy. He was not to trouble about sending her the couple of rabbits, as was intended, because she feared she should not want them. Later in the day Geoffrey went to Casterbridge and called upon the butcher who served Fancy with fresh meat, which was put down to her father's account. "I've called to pay up our little bill, Neighbour Haylock, and you can gie me the chiel's account at the same time." Mr. Haylock turned round three quarters of a circle in the midst of a heap of joints, altered the expression of his face from meat to money, went into a little office consisting only of a door and a window, looked very vigorously into a book which possessed length but no breadth; and then, seizing a piece of paper and scribbling thereupon, handed the bill. Probably it was the first time in the history of commercial transactions that the quality of shortness in a butcher's bill was a cause of tribulation to the debtor. "Why, this isn't all she've had in a whole month!" said Geoffrey. "Every mossel," said the butcher--"(now, Dan, take that leg and shoulder to Mrs. White's, and this eleven pound here to Mr. Martin's)--you've been treating her to smaller joints lately, to my thinking, Mr. Day?" "Only two or three little scram rabbits this last week, as I am alive--I wish I had!" "Well, my wife said to me--(Dan! not too much, not too much on that tray at a time; better go twice)--my wife said to me as she posted up the books: she says, 'Miss Day must have been affronted this summer during that hot muggy weather that spolit so much for us; for depend upon't,' she says, 'she've been trying John Grimmett unknown to us: see her account else.' 'Tis little, of course, at the best of times, being only for one, but now 'tis next kin to nothing." "I'll inquire," said Geoffrey despondingly. He returned by way of Mellstock, and called upon Fancy, in fulfilment of a promise. It being Saturday, the children were enjoying a holiday, and on entering the residence Fancy was nowhere to be seen. Nan, the charwoman, was sweeping the kitchen. "Where's my da'ter?" said the keeper. "Well, you see she was tired with the week's teaching, and this morning she said, 'Nan, I sha'n't get up till the evening.' You see, Mr. Day, if people don't eat, they can't work; and as she've gie'd up eating, she must gie up working." "Have ye carried up any dinner to her?" "No; she don't want any. There, we all know that such things don't come without good reason--not that I wish to say anything about a broken heart, or anything of the kind." Geoffrey's own heart felt inconveniently large just then. He went to the staircase and ascended to his daughter's door. "Fancy!" "Come in, father." To see a person in bed from any cause whatever, on a fine afternoon, is depressing enough; and here was his only child Fancy, not only in bed, but looking very pale. Geoffrey was visibly disturbed. "Fancy, I didn't expect to see thee here, chiel," he said. "What's the matter?" "I'm not well, father." "How's that?" "Because I think of things." "What things can you have to think o' so mortal much?" "You know, father." "You think I've been cruel to thee in saying that that penniless Dick o' thine sha'n't marry thee, I suppose?" No answer. "Well, you know, Fancy, I do it for the best, and he isn't good enough for thee. You know that well enough." Here he again looked at her as she lay. "Well, Fancy, I can't let my only chiel die; and if you can't live without en, you must ha' en, I suppose." "O, I don't want him like that; all against your will, and everything so disobedient!" sighed the invalid. "No, no, 'tisn't against my will. My wish is, now I d'see how 'tis hurten thee to live without en, that he shall marry thee as soon as we've considered a little. That's my wish flat and plain, Fancy. There, never cry, my little maid! You ought to ha' cried afore; no need o' crying now 'tis all over. Well, howsoever, try to step over and see me and mother- law to-morrow, and ha' a bit of dinner wi' us." "And--Dick too?" "Ay, Dick too, 'far's I know." "And when do you think you'll have considered, father, and he may marry me?" she coaxed. "Well, there, say next Midsummer; that's not a day too long to wait." On leaving the school Geoffrey went to the tranter's. Old William opened the door. "Is your grandson Dick in 'ithin, William?" "No, not just now, Mr. Day. Though he've been at home a good deal lately." "O, how's that?" "What wi' one thing, and what wi' t'other, he's all in a mope, as might be said. Don't seem the feller he used to. Ay, 'a will sit studding and thinking as if 'a were going to turn chapel-member, and then do nothing but traypse and wamble about. Used to be such a chatty boy, too, Dick did; and now 'a don't speak at all. But won't ye step inside? Reuben will be home soon, 'a b'lieve." "No, thank you, I can't stay now. Will ye just ask Dick if he'll do me the kindness to step over to Yalbury to-morrow with my da'ter Fancy, if she's well enough? I don't like her to come by herself, now she's not so terrible topping in health." "So I've heard. Ay, sure, I'll tell him without fail." The visit to Geoffrey passed off as delightfully as a visit might have been expected to pass off when it was the first day of smooth experience in a hitherto obstructed love-course. And then came a series of several happy days, of the same undisturbed serenity. Dick could court her when he chose; stay away when he chose,--which was never; walk with her by winding streams and waterfalls and autumn scenery till dews and twilight sent them home. And thus they drew near the day of the Harvest Thanksgiving, which was also the time chosen for opening the organ in Mellstock Church. It chanced that Dick on that very day was called away from Mellstock. A young acquaintance had died of consumption at Charmley, a neighbouring village, on the previous Monday, and Dick, in fulfilment of a long-standing promise, was to assist in carrying him to the grave. When on Tuesday, Dick went towards the school to acquaint Fancy with the fact, it is difficult to say whether his own disappointment at being denied the sight of her triumphant debut as organist, was greater than his vexation that his pet should on this great occasion be deprived of the pleasure of his presence. However, the intelligence was communicated. She bore it as she best could, not without many expressions of regret, and convictions that her performance would be nothing to her now. Just before eleven o'clock on Sunday he set out upon his sad errand. The funeral was to be immediately after the morning service, and as there were four good miles to walk, driving being inconvenient, it became necessary to start comparatively early. Half an hour later would certainly have answered his purpose quite as well, yet at the last moment nothing would content his ardent mind but that he must go a mile out of his way in the direction of the school, in the hope of getting a glimpse of his Love as she started for church. Striking, therefore, into the lane towards the school, instead of across the ewelease direct to Charmley, he arrived opposite her door as his goddess emerged. If ever a woman looked a divinity, Fancy Day appeared one that morning as she floated down those school steps, in the form of a nebulous collection of colours inclining to blue. With an audacity unparalleled in the whole history of village-school-mistresses at this date--partly owing, no doubt, to papa's respectable accumulation of cash, which rendered her profession not altogether one of necessity--she had actually donned a hat and feather, and lowered her hitherto plainly looped-up hair, which now fell about her shoulders in a profusion of curls. Poor Dick was astonished: he had never seen her look so distractingly beautiful before, save on Christmas-eve, when her hair was in the same luxuriant condition of freedom. But his first burst of delighted surprise was followed by less comfortable feelings, as soon as his brain recovered its power to think. Fancy had blushed;--was it with confusion? She had also involuntarily pressed back her curls. She had not expected him. "Fancy, you didn't know me for a moment in my funeral clothes, did you?" "Good-morning, Dick--no, really, I didn't know you for an instant in such a sad suit." He looked again at the gay tresses and hat. "You've never dressed so charming before, dearest." "I like to hear you praise me in that way, Dick," she said, smiling archly. "It is meat and drink to a woman. Do I look nice really?" "Fie! you know it. Did you remember,--I mean didn't you remember about my going away to-day?" "Well, yes, I did, Dick; but, you know, I wanted to look well;--forgive me." "Yes, darling; yes, of course,--there's nothing to forgive. No, I was only thinking that when we talked on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday about my absence to-day, and I was so sorry for it, you said, Fancy, so were you sorry, and almost cried, and said it would be no pleasure to you to be the attraction of the church to-day, since I could not be there." "My dear one, neither will it be so much pleasure to me . . . But I do take a little delight in my life, I suppose," she pouted. "Apart from mine?" She looked at him with perplexed eyes. "I know you are vexed with me, Dick, and it is because the first Sunday I have curls and a hat and feather since I have been here happens to be the very day you are away and won't be with me. Yes, say it is, for that is it! And you think that all this week I ought to have remembered you wouldn't be here to- day, and not have cared to be better dressed than usual. Yes, you do, Dick, and it is rather unkind!" "No, no," said Dick earnestly and simply, "I didn't think so badly of you as that. I only thought that--if you had been going away, I shouldn't have tried new attractions for the eyes of other people. But then of course you and I are different, naturally." "Well, perhaps we are." "Whatever will the vicar say, Fancy?" "I don't fear what he says in the least!" she answered proudly. "But he won't say anything of the sort you think. No, no." "He can hardly have conscience to, indeed." "Now come, you say, Dick, that you quite forgive me, for I must go," she said with sudden gaiety, and skipped backwards into the porch. "Come here, sir;--say you forgive me, and then you shall kiss me;--you never have yet when I have worn curls, you know. Yes, just where you want to so much,--yes, you may!" Dick followed her into the inner corner, where he was probably not slow in availing himself of the privilege offered. "Now that's a treat for you, isn't it?" she continued. "Good-bye, or I shall be late. Come and see me to-morrow: you'll be tired to-night." Thus they parted, and Fancy proceeded to the church. The organ stood on one side of the chancel, close to and under the immediate eye of the vicar when he was in the pulpit, and also in full view of the congregation. Here she sat down, for the first time in such a conspicuous position, her seat having previously been in a remote spot in the aisle. "Good heavens--disgraceful! Curls and a hat and feather!" said the daughters of the small gentry, who had either only curly hair without a hat and feather, or a hat and feather without curly hair. "A bonnet for church always," said sober matrons. That Mr. Maybold was conscious of her presence close beside him during the sermon; that he was not at all angry at her development of costume; that he admired her, she perceived. But she did not see that he loved her during that sermon-time as he had never loved a woman before; that her proximity was a strange delight to him; and that he gloried in her musical success that morning in a spirit quite beyond a mere cleric's glory at the inauguration of a new order of things. The old choir, with humbled hearts, no longer took their seats in the gallery as heretofore (which was now given up to the school-children who were not singers, and a pupil-teacher), but were scattered about with their wives in different parts of the church. Having nothing to do with conducting the service for almost the first time in their lives, they all felt awkward, out of place, abashed, and inconvenienced by their hands. The tranter had proposed that they should stay away to-day and go nutting, but grandfather William would not hear of such a thing for a moment. "No," he replied reproachfully, and quoted a verse: "Though this has come upon us, let not our hearts be turned back, or our steps go out of the way." So they stood and watched the curls of hair trailing down the back of the successful rival, and the waving of her feather, as she swayed her head. After a few timid notes and uncertain touches her playing became markedly correct, and towards the end full and free. But, whether from prejudice or unbiassed judgment, the venerable body of musicians could not help thinking that the simpler notes they had been wont to bring forth were more in keeping with the simplicity of their old church than the crowded chords and interludes it was her pleasure to produce. The day was done, and Fancy was again in the school-house. About five o'clock it began to rain, and in rather a dull frame of mind she wandered into the schoolroom, for want of something better to do. She was thinking--of her lover Dick Dewy? Not precisely. Of how weary she was of living alone: how unbearable it would be to return to Yalbury under the rule of her strange-tempered step-mother; that it was far better to be married to anybody than do that; that eight or nine long months had yet to be lived through ere the wedding could take place. At the side of the room were high windows of Ham-hill stone, upon either sill of which she could sit by first mounting a desk and using it as a footstool. As the evening advanced here she perched herself, as was her custom on such wet and gloomy occasions, put on a light shawl and bonnet, opened the window, and looked out at the rain. The window overlooked a field called the Grove, and it was the position from which she used to survey the crown of Dick's passing hat in the early days of their acquaintance and meetings. Not a living soul was now visible anywhere; the rain kept all people indoors who were not forced abroad by necessity, and necessity was less importunate on Sundays than during the week. Sitting here and thinking again--of her lover, or of the sensation she had created at church that day?--well, it is unknown--thinking and thinking she saw a dark masculine figure arising into distinctness at the further end of the Grove--a man without an umbrella. Nearer and nearer he came, and she perceived that he was in deep mourning, and then that it was Dick. Yes, in the fondness and foolishness of his young heart, after walking four miles, in a drizzling rain without overcoat or umbrella, and in face of a remark from his love that he was not to come because he would be tired, he had made it his business to wander this mile out of his way again, from sheer wish of spending ten minutes in her presence. "O Dick, how wet you are!" she said, as he drew up under the window. "Why, your coat shines as if it had been varnished, and your hat--my goodness, there's a streaming hat!" "O, I don't mind, darling!" said Dick cheerfully. "Wet never hurts me, though I am rather sorry for my best clothes. However, it couldn't be helped; we lent all the umbrellas to the women. I don't know when I shall get mine back!" "And look, there's a nasty patch of something just on your shoulder." "Ah, that's japanning; it rubbed off the clamps of poor Jack's coffin when we lowered him from our shoulders upon the bier! I don't care about that, for 'twas the last deed I could do for him; and 'tis hard if you can't afford a coat for an old friend." Fancy put her hand to her mouth for half a minute. Underneath the palm of that little hand there existed for that half-minute a little yawn. "Dick, I don't like you to stand there in the wet. And you mustn't sit down. Go home and change your things. Don't stay another minute." "One kiss after coming so far," he pleaded. "If I can reach, then." He looked rather disappointed at not being invited round to the door. She twisted from her seated position and bent herself downwards, but not even by standing on the plinth was it possible for Dick to get his lips into contact with hers as she held them. By great exertion she might have reached a little lower; but then she would have exposed her head to the rain. "Never mind, Dick; kiss my hand," she said, flinging it down to him. "Now, good-bye." "Good-bye." He walked slowly away, turning and turning again to look at her till he was out of sight. During the retreat she said to herself, almost involuntarily, and still conscious of that morning's triumph--"I like Dick, and I love him; but how plain and sorry a man looks in the rain, with no umbrella, and wet through!" As he vanished, she made as if to descend from her seat; but glancing in the other direction she saw another form coming along the same track. It was also that of a man. He, too, was in black from top to toe; but he carried an umbrella. He drew nearer, and the direction of the rain caused him so to slant his umbrella that from her height above the ground his head was invisible, as she was also to him. He passed in due time directly beneath her, and in looking down upon the exterior of his umbrella her feminine eyes perceived it to be of superior silk--less common at that date than since--and of elegant make. He reached the entrance to the building, and Fancy suddenly lost sight of him. Instead of pursuing the roadway as Dick had done he had turned sharply round into her own porch. She jumped to the floor, hastily flung off her shawl and bonnet, smoothed and patted her hair till the curls hung in passable condition, and listened. No knock. Nearly a minute passed, and still there was no knock. Then there arose a soft series of raps, no louder than the tapping of a distant woodpecker, and barely distinct enough to reach her ears. She composed herself and flung open the door. In the porch stood Mr. Maybold. There was a warm flush upon his face, and a bright flash in his eyes, which made him look handsomer than she had ever seen him before. "Good-evening, Miss Day." "Good-evening, Mr. Maybold," she said, in a strange state of mind. She had noticed, beyond the ardent hue of his face, that his voice had a singular tremor in it, and that his hand shook like an aspen leaf when he laid his umbrella in the corner of the porch. Without another word being spoken by either, he came into the schoolroom, shut the door, and moved close to her. Once inside, the expression of his face was no more discernible, by reason of the increasing dusk of evening. "I want to speak to you," he then said; "seriously--on a perhaps unexpected subject, but one which is all the world to me--I don't know what it may be to you, Miss Day." No reply. "Fancy, I have come to ask you if you will be my wife?" As a person who has been idly amusing himself with rolling a snowball might start at finding he had set in motion an avalanche, so did Fancy start at these words from the vicar. And in the dead silence which followed them, the breathings of the man and of the woman could be distinctly and separately heard; and there was this difference between them--his respirations gradually grew quieter and less rapid after the enunciation, hers, from having been low and regular, increased in quickness and force, till she almost panted. "I cannot, I cannot, Mr. Maybold--I cannot! Don't ask me!" she said. "Don't answer in a hurry!" he entreated. "And do listen to me. This is no sudden feeling on my part. I have loved you for more than six months! Perhaps my late interest in teaching the children here has not been so single-minded as it seemed. You will understand my motive--like me better, perhaps, for honestly telling you that I have struggled against my emotion continually, because I have thought that it was not well for me to love you! But I resolved to struggle no longer; I have examined the feeling; and the love I bear you is as genuine as that I could bear any woman! I see your great charm; I respect your natural talents, and the refinement they have brought into your nature--they are quite enough, and more than enough for me! They are equal to anything ever required of the mistress of a quiet parsonage-house--the place in which I shall pass my days, wherever it may be situated. O Fancy, I have watched you, criticized you even severely, brought my feelings to the light of judgment, and still have found them rational, and such as any man might have expected to be inspired with by a woman like you! So there is nothing hurried, secret, or untoward in my desire to do this. Fancy, will you marry me?" No answer was returned. "Don't refuse; don't," he implored. "It would be foolish of you--I mean cruel! Of course we would not live here, Fancy. I have had for a long time the offer of an exchange of livings with a friend in Yorkshire, but I have hitherto refused on account of my mother. There we would go. Your musical powers shall be still further developed; you shall have whatever pianoforte you like; you shall have anything, Fancy, anything to make you happy--pony-carriage, flowers, birds, pleasant society; yes, you have enough in you for any society, after a few months of travel with me! Will you, Fancy, marry me?" Another pause ensued, varied only by the surging of the rain against the window-panes, and then Fancy spoke, in a faint and broken voice. "Yes, I will," she said. "God bless you, my own!" He advanced quickly, and put his arm out to embrace her. She drew back hastily. "No no, not now!" she said in an agitated whisper. "There are things;--but the temptation is, O, too strong, and I can't resist it; I can't tell you now, but I must tell you! Don't, please, don't come near me now! I want to think, I can scarcely get myself used to the idea of what I have promised yet." The next minute she turned to a desk, buried her face in her hands, and burst into a hysterical fit of weeping. "O, leave me to myself!" she sobbed; "leave me! O, leave me!" "Don't be distressed; don't, dearest!" It was with visible difficulty that he restrained himself from approaching her. "You shall tell me at your leisure what it is that grieves you so; I am happy--beyond all measure happy!--at having your simple promise." "And do go and leave me now!" "But I must not, in justice to you, leave for a minute, until you are yourself again." "There then," she said, controlling her emotion, and standing up; "I am not disturbed now." He reluctantly moved towards the door. "Good-bye!" he murmured tenderly. "I'll come to-morrow about this time." The next morning the vicar rose early. The first thing he did was to write a long and careful letter to his friend in Yorkshire. Then, eating a little breakfast, he crossed the meadows in the direction of Casterbridge, bearing his letter in his pocket, that he might post it at the town office, and obviate the loss of one day in its transmission that would have resulted had he left it for the foot-post through the village. It was a foggy morning, and the trees shed in noisy water-drops the moisture they had collected from the thick air, an acorn occasionally falling from its cup to the ground, in company with the drippings. In the meads, sheets of spiders'-web, almost opaque with wet, hung in folds over the fences, and the falling leaves appeared in every variety of brown, green, and yellow hue. A low and merry whistling was heard on the highway he was approaching, then the light footsteps of a man going in the same direction as himself. On reaching the junction of his path with the road, the vicar beheld Dick Dewy's open and cheerful face. Dick lifted his hat, and the vicar came out into the highway that Dick was pursuing. "Good-morning, Dewy. How well you are looking!" said Mr. Maybold. "Yes, sir, I am well--quite well! I am going to Casterbridge now, to get Smart's collar; we left it there Saturday to be repaired." "I am going to Casterbridge, so we'll walk together," the vicar said. Dick gave a hop with one foot to put himself in step with Mr. Maybold, who proceeded: "I fancy I didn't see you at church yesterday, Dewy. Or were you behind the pier?" "No; I went to Charmley. Poor John Dunford chose me to be one of his bearers a long time before he died, and yesterday was the funeral. Of course I couldn't refuse, though I should have liked particularly to have been at home as 'twas the day of the new music." "Yes, you should have been. The musical portion of the service was successful--very successful indeed; and what is more to the purpose, no ill-feeling whatever was evinced by any of the members of the old choir. They joined in the singing with the greatest good-will." "'Twas natural enough that I should want to be there, I suppose," said Dick, smiling a private smile; "considering who the organ-player was." At this the vicar reddened a little, and said, "Yes, yes," though not at all comprehending Dick's true meaning, who, as he received no further reply, continued hesitatingly, and with another smile denoting his pride as a lover-- "I suppose you know what I mean, sir? You've heard about me and--Miss Day?" The red in Maybold's countenance went away: he turned and looked Dick in the face. "No," he said constrainedly, "I've heard nothing whatever about you and Miss Day." "Why, she's my sweetheart, and we are going to be married next Midsummer. We are keeping it rather close just at present, because 'tis a good many months to wait; but it is her father's wish that we don't marry before, and of course we must submit. But the time 'ill soon slip along." "Yes, the time will soon slip along--Time glides away every day--yes." Maybold said these words, but he had no idea of what they were. He was conscious of a cold and sickly thrill throughout him; and all he reasoned was this that the young creature whose graces had intoxicated him into making the most imprudent resolution of his life, was less an angel than a woman. "You see, sir," continued the ingenuous Dick, "'twill be better in one sense. I shall by that time be the regular manager of a branch o' father's business, which has very much increased lately, and business, which we think of starting elsewhere. It has very much increased lately, and we expect next year to keep a' extra couple of horses. We've already our eye on one--brown as a berry, neck like a rainbow, fifteen hands, and not a gray hair in her--offered us at twenty-five want a crown. And to kip pace with the times I have had some cards prented and I beg leave to hand you one, sir." "Certainly," said the vicar, mechanically taking the card that Dick offered him. "I turn in here by Grey's Bridge," said Dick. "I suppose you go straight on and up town?" "Yes." "Good-morning, sir." "Good-morning, Dewy." Maybold stood still upon the bridge, holding the card as it had been put into his hand, and Dick's footsteps died away towards Durnover Mill. The vicar's first voluntary action was to read the card:-- DEWY AND SON, TRANTERS AND HAULIERS, MELLSTOCK. NB.--Furniture, Coals, Potatoes, Live and Dead Stock, removed to any distance on the shortest notice. Mr. Maybold leant over the parapet of the bridge and looked into the river. He saw--without heeding--how the water came rapidly from beneath the arches, glided down a little steep, then spread itself over a pool in which dace, trout, and minnows sported at ease among the long green locks of weed that lay heaving and sinking with their roots towards the current. At the end of ten minutes spent leaning thus, he drew from his pocket the letter to his friend, tore it deliberately into such minute fragments that scarcely two syllables remained in juxtaposition, and sent the whole handful of shreds fluttering into the water. Here he watched them eddy, dart, and turn, as they were carried downwards towards the ocean and gradually disappeared from his view. Finally he moved off, and pursued his way at a rapid pace back again to Mellstock Vicarage. Nerving himself by a long and intense effort, he sat down in his study and wrote as follows: "DEAR MISS DAY,--The meaning of your words, 'the temptation is too strong,' of your sadness and your tears, has been brought home to me by an accident. I know to-day what I did not know yesterday--that you are not a free woman. "Why did you not tell me--why didn't you? Did you suppose I knew? No. Had I known, my conduct in coming to you as I did would have been reprehensible. "But I don't chide you! Perhaps no blame attaches to you--I can't tell. Fancy, though my opinion of you is assailed and disturbed in a way which cannot be expressed, I love you still, and my word to you holds good yet. But will you, in justice to an honest man who relies upon your word to him, consider whether, under the circumstances, you can honourably forsake him?--Yours ever sincerely, "ARTHUR MAYBOLD." He rang the bell. "Tell Charles to take these copybooks and this note to the school at once." The maid took the parcel and the letter, and in a few minutes a boy was seen to leave the vicarage gate, with the one under his arm, and the other in his hand. The vicar sat with his hand to his brow, watching the lad as he descended Church Lane and entered the waterside path which intervened between that spot and the school. Here he was met by another boy, and after a free salutation and pugilistic frisk had passed between the two, the second boy came on his way to the vicarage, and the other vanished out of sight. The boy came to the door, and a note for Mr. Maybold was brought in. He knew the writing. Opening the envelope with an unsteady hand, he read the subjoined words: "DEAR MR. MAYBOLD,--I have been thinking seriously and sadly through the whole of the night of the question you put to me last evening and of my answer. That answer, as an honest woman, I had no right to give. "It is my nature--perhaps all women's--to love refinement of mind and manners; but even more than this, to be ever fascinated with the idea of surroundings more elegant and pleasing than those which have been customary. And you praised me, and praise is life to me. It was alone my sensations at these things which prompted my reply. Ambition and vanity they would be called; perhaps they are so. "After this explanation I hope you will generously allow me to withdraw the answer I too hastily gave. "And one more request. To keep the meeting of last night, and all that passed between us there, for ever a secret. Were it to become known, it would utterly blight the happiness of a trusting and generous man, whom I love still, and shall love always.--Yours sincerely, "FANCY DAY. The last written communication that ever passed from the vicar to Fancy, was a note containing these words only: "Tell him everything; it is best. He will forgive you." PART THE FIFTH: CONCLUSION

Part Four Chapter 3 to 7

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'Fancy in the Rain', Chapter Four 'The Spell' and Chapter Five 'After Gaining Her Point' The next scene is set the following month on a 'tempestuous afternoon'. Fancy is walking from her father's home towards Mellstock. She looks for shelter and goes to the nearest house, which is Elizabeth Endorfield's. Here she thinks of how firm her father's opposition has been to Dick. Nevertheless, they have seen each other since. Mrs Endorfield is described as having a reputation of something 'between distinction and notoriety'. She had 'distinctly Satanic' features and has been compared to a witch. She says to Fancy that she is down about her young man. Fancy says she wishes she could help her to put her father in "'humour'" for it. Mrs Endorfield says she can help and "'the charm is worked by common sense'". She gives Fancy a list of instructions which are not explained at this point and Fancy leaves saying she will follow them. Mrs Endorfield's advice is followed in Chapter Four. The advice is suggested when a Mellstock man tells Geoffrey he is sorry his daughter is not well and that she has no appetite. He goes to see her and has tea with her, and watches her 'narrowly'. He sees her eat just one tenth of a slice of bread and butter and hopes she will say something about Dick, but she does not. The following week Enoch says to Geoffrey that he hopes "'poor Miss Fancy'" will be able to keep on at the school as he has heard from the baker that the amount of bread he has left her would starve a mouse. He has also heard she has had less butter too, and this is thought to have turned sour. On Saturday, Geoffrey receives a note from Fancy saying not to send any rabbits as she fears she will not want them. Later in Casterbridge, he asks to pay her butcher's bill as well as his own and he is surprised at how little she has ordered in a month. He calls on Fancy, and Nan, the charwoman, tells him Fancy told her she is not getting up until the evening and says as she has given up eating she cannot work. He goes to Fancy's room and notices how pale she is. He says how he did it for the best, in telling Dick he could not marry her, but he cannot let her die and if she wants him she will have him. 'The invalid' sighs and says she does not want Dick against her father's will. He says it is not and that they may marry next Midsummer. On leaving the schoolhouse, Geoffrey goes to the Dewy home and William answers. He says how Dick is not chatty anymore and is not the fellow he used to be. He asks him to let Dick know he wants him to come and see him tomorrow with Fancy, if she is well enough. In Chapter Five, the visit to Geoffrey passes well and they have several days of happy courtship. The day of the Harvest Thanksgiving is chosen to be the day for 'opening the organ' in Mellstock Church and it so happens that Dick is called away to a funeral at this time. He lets Fancy know that he will miss her debut and she is described as bearing the news as best she can. On the day, Dick takes a detour to see Fancy before she sets off and is 'astonished' at how well presented she is. After his initial delight, he has less comfortable feelings. He says if she had been going away he would not have cared to be better dressed than usual. He also says how different they are and she agrees that perhaps this is so. She asks for a kiss, and he agrees to this, and they go their separate ways for the day. In church, the daughters of 'the small gentry' are critical of her hair, which is curled for the occasion, her hat and feather and the 'sober matrons' say, "'a bonnet for church always!'" Fancy notices the vicar admire her, but is not aware he loves her as he has never loved a woman before. The choir are no longer in the gallery and are dotted about the church, sitting with their relatives. They listen to Fancy play, but believe their simpler notes were more in keeping with 'the simplicity of their old church'.

'Fancy in the Rain', Chapter Four 'The Spell' and Chapter Five ' After Gaining Her Point' The replacement of the choir is made complete when Fancy arrives to play the organ. It is of note that the choir no longer even sit together and are now dispersed among the congregation. Their unity is broken and the individual takes precedence over the group in this new order of things. Fancy's individuality is made all the more evident in her appearance and in her lack of concern of the censorious views of others, such as the 'sober matrons' and the daughters of 'the small gentry'. She is depicted as vain and even flighty in her appearance, but inimical to this is a strength that will not be dominated by the opinion of others. Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Back in the schoolhouse after the service, Fancy thinks how weary she is of living alone and how 'unbearable' it would be to live with her father and stepmother again, and how it is another eight or nine long months before her wedding can take place. She sits on a window sill and looks out at the rain. She sees Dick approach and they talk while he stands outside in the rain. He explains the mark on his coat is from the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. As he tells her this, she puts her hand to her mouth and covers a yawn, 'for half a minute'. He asks for a kiss but cannot reach her as she does not want to expose her head to the rain. She offers her hand instead and they say goodbye. When he goes, she says to herself how poor and mean he looks wet through and without an umbrella. Dick disappears and as she prepares to descend she looks in the other direction and sees another man dressed in black, with an umbrella, and is approaching her house. She cannot see his face, but notices the umbrella is made of 'superior silk'. He knocks on the door and she answers to Mr Maybold the vicar. He enters and says he has come to ask her to be his wife. Silence follows and she says she cannot. He asks her to not answer in a hurry and says he has loved her for more than 6 months and asks again if she will marry him. There is silence again and he implores her to not refuse. He also says they could move to Yorkshire and she could have whatever piano she liked, "'anything to make you happy - pony-carriage, flowers, birds, pleasant society'". There is another pause and then she answers "'yes, I will'". He moves to embrace her and she says, "'no, no, not now'". She says the temptation is too strong to resist and asks him to leave. He waits until she controls herself and leaves saying he will come back tomorrow about this time. The next morning, in Chapter Seven, the vicar writes a letter to his friend in Yorkshire and takes it to Casterbridge so as not to lose a day in its transmission. He meets Dick on the way and they walk together. The vicar says how successful the service had been the day before and Dick says he had wanted to be there because of Miss Day and the vicar does not know what he means. Dick explains that she is his sweetheart and they are going to be married next Midsummer. The vicar agrees that time slips along, but feels a cold and sickly thrill and realizes Fancy is 'less an angel than a woman'. Dick says he has good prospects and will be a regular manager of a branch of his father's business. He has also had cards printed 'to keep pace with the times' and gives one to the vicar. Dick takes a different path and the vicar stands on a bridge as he reads his card. After 10 minutes, he takes out the letter and tears it up into 'minute fragments' and drops them in the water. He then returns to the vicarage. He writes a letter to Fancy and informs her he knows she is not a free woman and asks whether she can 'in justice to an honest man' 'honourably forsake him'. He sends the note with a boy and on his way he passes another boy who is coming to the vicarage. He has a note from Fancy and in this she explains her 'ambition and vanity' and love of praise and wants to withdraw the answer she gave him last night. She also wants him to keep their meeting a secret. The last written communication between them is a note that states the following: 'Tell him everything; it is best. He will forgive you'. Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Chapter Six 'Into Temptation' and Chapter Seven 'A Crisis' Fancy's love of the material has been suggested up to this point, and strongly hinted at in the way she dresses, but it is the acceptance of the vicar's marriage proposal that signals how tempted she is by expressions of wealth and luxury. To her credit, she changes her mind but the acceptance is noteworthy for highlighting how this novel critiques the temptations of capitalism. By being allowed to change her mind, Fancy is made an exception in the novel as the shift to a more capitalist society is seen recurrently here as inevitable as well as lamentable.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/2662-chapters/part_5_chapters_1_to_2.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Under the Greenwood Tree/section_6_part_0.txt

Under the Greenwood Tree.part 5.chapters 1-2

part 5 chapter 1 - 2

{"name": "Part Five Chapter 1 to 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part5-chapter1-2", "summary": "'The Knot There's No Untying' and Chapter Two 'Under the Greenwood Tree' On the last day of the story there is a gathering at Geoffrey's home and the people include the Dewys, Mr Penny and some country ladies and gentlemen. All the duplicate pieces of furniture have been moved out and Fancy is upstairs being dressed. The women talk about the previous readings of the banns and Fancy says how she is nervous and wonders how she will get through it. She also exclaims about people talking about other people, and is told \"'well, if you make songs about yourself, my dear, you can't blame other people for singing 'em'\". Fancy goes on to worry about Dick coming on time and the men downstairs can hear and tease her of how men have been known to not turn up. The best man appears and tells her to not worry. He says Dick will not be long and has been delayed because the hive of bees his mother gave him has swarmed and he said he could not afford to lose them. He thought Fancy would not want this to happen either. Geoffrey says how Dick is a \"'genuine wise man'\". Dick comes to the house and speaks of the size of the swarm and moves on to say that he cannot think what he has done to offend Mr Maybold. He explains that when the vicar first came to the parish he took to Dick and used to say he should like to see Dick married and would marry him whether his intended lived in the parish or not. He reminded him when he put in the banns but he did not seem to take kindly to the idea. Fancy only says, \"'I wonder'\" and is described as 'looking into vacancy' and has beautiful eyes, 'too refined and beautiful for a tranter's wife; but, perhaps, not too good'. It is a custom to walk around the parish in twos after the ceremony, but Fancy says she cannot make a show of herself in this way. The others say how they did it and she says, \"'respectable people'\" do not, but as her mother did she will. As they leave the house, it is noted that Reuben is wearing gloves, a 'hall-mark of respectability', for the first time and at Fancy's request. Fancy says it is proper for the bridesmaids to walk together and others of the older generation dispute this and say it was always a man walking with a woman. Dick says it is up to Fancy to decide, and is described as seeming to be 'willing to renounce all other rights in the world' now that he is on the point of marrying her. She says she would rather have it as her mother did, and every man is now with his maid. They walk among the dark perpendicular firs. In the final chapter, the scene is set after the ceremony and there is a party in Geoffrey's garden. This goes on into the evening and Fancy influences how those gathered behave with 'propriety'. Furthermore, she tries to wear a 'matronly expression'. At the end of the meal, Dick and Fancy prepare to leave for Dick's new cottage near Mellstock and he asks how long she will take to put on her bonnet. The novel ends with them driving away and Dick says they are so happy because \"'there is such entire confidence between us'\". He dates this from the time she confessed to that little flirtation with Shinar and has thought since then how \"'artless and good'\" she is for telling him such \"'a trifling thing'\". Fancy says how she can hear something, a nightingale, 'and thought of a secret she should never tell'.", "analysis": "'The Knot There's No Untying' and Chapter Two ' Under the Greenwood Tree' The marriage between Dick and Fancy concludes the novel and this is perhaps in keeping with the tone of a narrative that begins at Christmas and ends with a traditionally happy ending. This ending is, of course, made more complex than it appears, however, as Dick's forthright trust of Fancy is based on his supposition that their relationship is based on honesty. Her secret acceptance of the vicar's marriage proposal invites the readers to question the sanctity of marriage and to look at this particular ending as one that unites the lovers but casts a shadow over the notion of true love."}

The last day of the story is dated just subsequent to that point in the development of the seasons when country people go to bed among nearly naked trees, are lulled to sleep by a fall of rain, and awake next morning among green ones; when the landscape appears embarrassed with the sudden weight and brilliancy of its leaves; when the night-jar comes and strikes up for the summer his tune of one note; when the apple-trees have bloomed, and the roads and orchard-grass become spotted with fallen petals; when the faces of the delicate flowers are darkened, and their heads weighed down, by the throng of honey-bees, which increase their humming till humming is too mild a term for the all-pervading sound; and when cuckoos, blackbirds, and sparrows, that have hitherto been merry and respectful neighbours, become noisy and persistent intimates. The exterior of Geoffrey Day's house in Yalbury Wood appeared exactly as was usual at that season, but a frantic barking of the dogs at the back told of unwonted movements somewhere within. Inside the door the eyes beheld a gathering, which was a rarity indeed for the dwelling of the solitary wood-steward and keeper. About the room were sitting and standing, in various gnarled attitudes, our old acquaintance, grandfathers James and William, the tranter, Mr. Penny, two or three children, including Jimmy and Charley, besides three or four country ladies and gentlemen from a greater distance who do not require any distinction by name. Geoffrey was seen and heard stamping about the outhouse and among the bushes of the garden, attending to details of daily routine before the proper time arrived for their performance, in order that they might be off his hands for the day. He appeared with his shirt-sleeves rolled up; his best new nether garments, in which he had arrayed himself that morning, being temporarily disguised under a weekday apron whilst these proceedings were in operation. He occasionally glanced at the hives in passing, to see if his wife's bees were swarming, ultimately rolling down his shirt-sleeves and going indoors, talking to tranter Dewy whilst buttoning the wristbands, to save time; next going upstairs for his best waistcoat, and coming down again to make another remark whilst buttoning that, during the time looking fixedly in the tranter's face as if he were a looking-glass. The furniture had undergone attenuation to an alarming extent, every duplicate piece having been removed, including the clock by Thomas Wood; Ezekiel Saunders being at last left sole referee in matters of time. Fancy was stationary upstairs, receiving her layers of clothes and adornments, and answering by short fragments of laughter which had more fidgetiness than mirth in them, remarks that were made from time to time by Mrs. Dewy and Mrs. Penny, who were assisting her at the toilet, Mrs. Day having pleaded a queerness in her head as a reason for shutting herself up in an inner bedroom for the whole morning. Mrs. Penny appeared with nine corkscrew curls on each side of her temples, and a back comb stuck upon her crown like a castle on a steep. The conversation just now going on was concerning the banns, the last publication of which had been on the Sunday previous. "And how did they sound?" Fancy subtly inquired. "Very beautiful indeed," said Mrs. Penny. "I never heard any sound better." "But how?" "O, so natural and elegant, didn't they, Reuben!" she cried, through the chinks of the unceiled floor, to the tranter downstairs. "What's that?" said the tranter, looking up inquiringly at the floor above him for an answer. "Didn't Dick and Fancy sound well when they were called home in church last Sunday?" came downwards again in Mrs. Penny's voice. "Ay, that they did, my sonnies!--especially the first time. There was a terrible whispering piece of work in the congregation, wasn't there, neighbour Penny?" said the tranter, taking up the thread of conversation on his own account and, in order to be heard in the room above, speaking very loud to Mr. Penny, who sat at the distance of three feet from him, or rather less. "I never can mind seeing such a whispering as there was," said Mr. Penny, also loudly, to the room above. "And such sorrowful envy on the maidens' faces; really, I never did see such envy as there was!" Fancy's lineaments varied in innumerable little flushes, and her heart palpitated innumerable little tremors of pleasure. "But perhaps," she said, with assumed indifference, "it was only because no religion was going on just then?" "O, no; nothing to do with that. 'Twas because of your high standing in the parish. It was just as if they had one and all caught Dick kissing and coling ye to death, wasn't it, Mrs. Dewy?" "Ay; that 'twas." "How people will talk about one's doings!" Fancy exclaimed. "Well, if you make songs about yourself, my dear, you can't blame other people for singing 'em." "Mercy me! how shall I go through it?" said the young lady again, but merely to those in the bedroom, with a breathing of a kind between a sigh and a pant, round shining eyes, and warm face. "O, you'll get through it well enough, child," said Mrs. Dewy placidly. "The edge of the performance is took off at the calling home; and when once you get up to the chancel end o' the church, you feel as saucy as you please. I'm sure I felt as brave as a sodger all through the deed--though of course I dropped my face and looked modest, as was becoming to a maid. Mind you do that, Fancy." "And I walked into the church as quiet as a lamb, I'm sure," subjoined Mrs. Penny. "There, you see Penny is such a little small man. But certainly, I was flurried in the inside o' me. Well, thinks I, 'tis to be, and here goes! And do you do the same: say, ''Tis to be, and here goes!'" "Is there such wonderful virtue in ''Tis to be, and here goes!'" inquired Fancy. "Wonderful! 'Twill carry a body through it all from wedding to churching, if you only let it out with spirit enough." "Very well, then," said Fancy, blushing. "'Tis to be, and here goes!" "That's a girl for a husband!" said Mrs. Dewy. "I do hope he'll come in time!" continued the bride-elect, inventing a new cause of affright, now that the other was demolished. "'Twould be a thousand pities if he didn't come, now you be so brave," said Mrs. Penny. Grandfather James, having overheard some of these remarks, said downstairs with mischievous loudness-- "I've known some would-be weddings when the men didn't come." "They've happened not to come, before now, certainly," said Mr. Penny, cleaning one of the glasses of his spectacles. "O, do hear what they are saying downstairs," whispered Fancy. "Hush, hush!" She listened. "They have, haven't they, Geoffrey?" continued grandfather James, as Geoffrey entered. "Have what?" said Geoffrey. "The men have been known not to come." "That they have," said the keeper. "Ay; I've knowed times when the wedding had to be put off through his not appearing, being tired of the woman. And another case I knowed was when the man was catched in a man-trap crossing Oaker's Wood, and the three months had run out before he got well, and the banns had to be published over again." "How horrible!" said Fancy. "They only say it on purpose to tease 'ee, my dear," said Mrs. Dewy. "'Tis quite sad to think what wretched shifts poor maids have been put to," came again from downstairs. "Ye should hear Clerk Wilkins, my brother-law, tell his experiences in marrying couples these last thirty year: sometimes one thing, sometimes another--'tis quite heart-rending--enough to make your hair stand on end." "Those things don't happen very often, I know," said Fancy, with smouldering uneasiness. "Well, really 'tis time Dick was here," said the tranter. "Don't keep on at me so, grandfather James and Mr. Dewy, and all you down there!" Fancy broke out, unable to endure any longer. "I am sure I shall die, or do something, if you do!" "Never you hearken to these old chaps, Miss Day!" cried Nat Callcome, the best man, who had just entered, and threw his voice upward through the chinks of the floor as the others had done. "'Tis all right; Dick's coming on like a wild feller; he'll be here in a minute. The hive o' bees his mother gie'd en for his new garden swarmed jist as he was starting, and he said, 'I can't afford to lose a stock o' bees; no, that I can't, though I fain would; and Fancy wouldn't wish it on any account.' So he jist stopped to ting to 'em and shake 'em." "A genuine wise man," said Geoffrey. "To be sure, what a day's work we had yesterday!" Mr. Callcome continued, lowering his voice as if it were not necessary any longer to include those in the room above among his audience, and selecting a remote corner of his best clean handkerchief for wiping his face. "To be sure!" "Things so heavy, I suppose," said Geoffrey, as if reading through the chimney-window from the far end of the vista. "Ay," said Nat, looking round the room at points from which furniture had been removed. "And so awkward to carry, too. 'Twas ath'art and across Dick's garden; in and out Dick's door; up and down Dick's stairs; round and round Dick's chammers till legs were worn to stumps: and Dick is so particular, too. And the stores of victuals and drink that lad has laid in: why, 'tis enough for Noah's ark! I'm sure I never wish to see a choicer half-dozen of hams than he's got there in his chimley; and the cider I tasted was a very pretty drop, indeed;--none could desire a prettier cider." "They be for the love and the stalled ox both. Ah, the greedy martels!" said grandfather James. "Well, may-be they be. Surely," says I, "that couple between 'em have heaped up so much furniture and victuals, that anybody would think they were going to take hold the big end of married life first, and begin wi' a grown-up family. Ah, what a bath of heat we two chaps were in, to be sure, a-getting that furniture in order!" "I do so wish the room below was ceiled," said Fancy, as the dressing went on; "we can hear all they say and do down there." "Hark! Who's that?" exclaimed a small pupil-teacher, who also assisted this morning, to her great delight. She ran half-way down the stairs, and peeped round the banister. "O, you should, you should, you should!" she exclaimed, scrambling up to the room again. "What?" said Fancy. "See the bridesmaids! They've just a come! 'Tis wonderful, really! 'tis wonderful how muslin can be brought to it. There, they don't look a bit like themselves, but like some very rich sisters o' theirs that nobody knew they had!" "Make 'em come up to me, make 'em come up!" cried Fancy ecstatically; and the four damsels appointed, namely, Miss Susan Dewy, Miss Bessie Dewy, Miss Vashti Sniff, and Miss Mercy Onmey, surged upstairs, and floated along the passage. "I wish Dick would come!" was again the burden of Fancy. The same instant a small twig and flower from the creeper outside the door flew in at the open window, and a masculine voice said, "Ready, Fancy dearest?" "There he is, he is!" cried Fancy, tittering spasmodically, and breathing as it were for the first time that morning. The bridesmaids crowded to the window and turned their heads in the direction pointed out, at which motion eight earrings all swung as one:--not looking at Dick because they particularly wanted to see him, but with an important sense of their duty as obedient ministers of the will of that apotheosised being--the Bride. "He looks very taking!" said Miss Vashti Sniff, a young lady who blushed cream-colour and wore yellow bonnet ribbons. Dick was advancing to the door in a painfully new coat of shining cloth, primrose-coloured waistcoat, hat of the same painful style of newness, and with an extra quantity of whiskers shaved off his face, and hair cut to an unwonted shortness in honour of the occasion. "Now, I'll run down," said Fancy, looking at herself over her shoulder in the glass, and flitting off. "O Dick!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you are come! I knew you would, of course, but I thought, Oh if you shouldn't!" "Not come, Fancy! Het or wet, blow or snow, here come I to-day! Why, what's possessing your little soul? You never used to mind such things a bit." "Ah, Mr. Dick, I hadn't hoisted my colours and committed myself then!" said Fancy. "'Tis a pity I can't marry the whole five of ye!" said Dick, surveying them all round. "Heh-heh-heh!" laughed the four bridesmaids, and Fancy privately touched Dick and smoothed him down behind his shoulder, as if to assure herself that he was there in flesh and blood as her own property. "Well, whoever would have thought such a thing?" said Dick, taking off his hat, sinking into a chair, and turning to the elder members of the company. The latter arranged their eyes and lips to signify that in their opinion nobody could have thought such a thing, whatever it was. "That my bees should ha' swarmed just then, of all times and seasons!" continued Dick, throwing a comprehensive glance like a net over the whole auditory. "And 'tis a fine swarm, too: I haven't seen such a fine swarm for these ten years." "A' excellent sign," said Mrs. Penny, from the depths of experience. "A' excellent sign." "I am glad everything seems so right," said Fancy with a breath of relief. "And so am I," said the four bridesmaids with much sympathy. "Well, bees can't be put off," observed the inharmonious grandfather James. "Marrying a woman is a thing you can do at any moment; but a swarm o' bees won't come for the asking." Dick fanned himself with his hat. "I can't think," he said thoughtfully, "whatever 'twas I did to offend Mr. Maybold, a man I like so much too. He rather took to me when he came first, and used to say he should like to see me married, and that he'd marry me, whether the young woman I chose lived in his parish or no. I just hinted to him of it when I put in the banns, but he didn't seem to take kindly to the notion now, and so I said no more. I wonder how it was." "I wonder!" said Fancy, looking into vacancy with those beautiful eyes of hers--too refined and beautiful for a tranter's wife; but, perhaps, not too good. "Altered his mind, as folks will, I suppose," said the tranter. "Well, my sonnies, there'll be a good strong party looking at us to-day as we go along." "And the body of the church," said Geoffrey, "will be lined with females, and a row of young fellers' heads, as far down as the eyes, will be noticed just above the sills of the chancel-winders." "Ay, you've been through it twice," said Reuben, "and well mid know." "I can put up with it for once," said Dick, "or twice either, or a dozen times." "O Dick!" said Fancy reproachfully. "Why, dear, that's nothing,--only just a bit of a flourish. You be as nervous as a cat to-day." "And then, of course, when 'tis all over," continued the tranter, "we shall march two and two round the parish." "Yes, sure," said Mr. Penny: "two and two: every man hitched up to his woman, 'a b'lieve." "I never can make a show of myself in that way!" said Fancy, looking at Dick to ascertain if he could. "I'm agreed to anything you and the company like, my dear!" said Mr. Richard Dewy heartily. "Why, we did when we were married, didn't we, Ann?" said the tranter; "and so do everybody, my sonnies." "And so did we," said Fancy's father. "And so did Penny and I," said Mrs. Penny: "I wore my best Bath clogs, I remember, and Penny was cross because it made me look so tall." "And so did father and mother," said Miss Mercy Onmey. "And I mean to, come next Christmas!" said Nat the groomsman vigorously, and looking towards the person of Miss Vashti Sniff. "Respectable people don't nowadays," said Fancy. "Still, since poor mother did, I will." "Ay," resumed the tranter, "'twas on a White Tuesday when I committed it. Mellstock Club walked the same day, and we new-married folk went a-gaying round the parish behind 'em. Everybody used to wear something white at Whitsuntide in them days. My sonnies, I've got the very white trousers that I wore, at home in box now. Ha'n't I, Ann?" "You had till I cut 'em up for Jimmy," said Mrs. Dewy. "And we ought, by rights, after doing this parish, to go round Higher and Lower Mellstock, and call at Viney's, and so work our way hither again across He'th," said Mr. Penny, recovering scent of the matter in hand. "Dairyman Viney is a very respectable man, and so is Farmer Kex, and we ought to show ourselves to them." "True," said the tranter, "we ought to go round Mellstock to do the thing well. We shall form a very striking object walking along in rotation, good-now, neighbours?" "That we shall: a proper pretty sight for the nation," said Mrs. Penny. "Hullo!" said the tranter, suddenly catching sight of a singular human figure standing in the doorway, and wearing a long smock-frock of pillow- case cut and of snowy whiteness. "Why, Leaf! whatever dost thou do here?" "I've come to know if so be I can come to the wedding--hee-hee!" said Leaf in a voice of timidity. "Now, Leaf," said the tranter reproachfully, "you know we don't want 'ee here to-day: we've got no room for ye, Leaf." "Thomas Leaf, Thomas Leaf, fie upon ye for prying!" said old William. "I know I've got no head, but I thought, if I washed and put on a clane shirt and smock-frock, I might just call," said Leaf, turning away disappointed and trembling. "Poor feller!" said the tranter, turning to Geoffrey. "Suppose we must let en come? His looks are rather against en, and he is terrible silly; but 'a have never been in jail, and 'a won't do no harm." Leaf looked with gratitude at the tranter for these praises, and then anxiously at Geoffrey, to see what effect they would have in helping his cause. "Ay, let en come," said Geoffrey decisively. "Leaf, th'rt welcome, 'st know;" and Leaf accordingly remained. They were now all ready for leaving the house, and began to form a procession in the following order: Fancy and her father, Dick and Susan Dewy, Nat Callcome and Vashti Sniff, Ted Waywood and Mercy Onmey, and Jimmy and Bessie Dewy. These formed the executive, and all appeared in strict wedding attire. Then came the tranter and Mrs. Dewy, and last of all Mr. and Mrs. Penny;--the tranter conspicuous by his enormous gloves, size eleven and three-quarters, which appeared at a distance like boxing gloves bleached, and sat rather awkwardly upon his brown hands; this hall- mark of respectability having been set upon himself to-day (by Fancy's special request) for the first time in his life. "The proper way is for the bridesmaids to walk together," suggested Fancy. "What? 'Twas always young man and young woman, arm in crook, in my time!" said Geoffrey, astounded. "And in mine!" said the tranter. "And in ours!" said Mr. and Mrs. Penny. "Never heard o' such a thing as woman and woman!" said old William; who, with grandfather James and Mrs. Day, was to stay at home. "Whichever way you and the company like, my dear!" said Dick, who, being on the point of securing his right to Fancy, seemed willing to renounce all other rights in the world with the greatest pleasure. The decision was left to Fancy. "Well, I think I'd rather have it the way mother had it," she said, and the couples moved along under the trees, every man to his maid. "Ah!" said grandfather James to grandfather William as they retired, "I wonder which she thinks most about, Dick or her wedding raiment!" "Well, 'tis their nature," said grandfather William. "Remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah: 'Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?'" Now among dark perpendicular firs, like the shafted columns of a cathedral; now through a hazel copse, matted with primroses and wild hyacinths; now under broad beeches in bright young leaves they threaded their way into the high road over Yalbury Hill, which dipped at that point directly into the village of Geoffrey Day's parish; and in the space of a quarter of an hour Fancy found herself to be Mrs. Richard Dewy, though, much to her surprise, feeling no other than Fancy Day still. On the circuitous return walk through the lanes and fields, amid much chattering and laughter, especially when they came to stiles, Dick discerned a brown spot far up a turnip field. "Why, 'tis Enoch!" he said to Fancy. "I thought I missed him at the house this morning. How is it he's left you?" "He drank too much cider, and it got into his head, and they put him in Weatherbury stocks for it. Father was obliged to get somebody else for a day or two, and Enoch hasn't had anything to do with the woods since." "We might ask him to call down to-night. Stocks are nothing for once, considering 'tis our wedding day." The bridal party was ordered to halt. "Eno-o-o-o-ch!" cried Dick at the top of his voice. "Y-a-a-a-a-a-as!" said Enoch from the distance. "D'ye know who I be-e-e-e-e-e?" "No-o-o-o-o-o-o!" "Dick Dew-w-w-w-wy!" "O-h-h-h-h-h!" "Just a-ma-a-a-a-a-arried!" "O-h-h-h-h-h!" "This is my wife, Fa-a-a-a-a-ancy!" (holding her up to Enoch's view as if she had been a nosegay.) "O-h-h-h-h-h!" "Will ye come across to the party to-ni-i-i-i-i-i-ight!" "Ca-a-a-a-a-an't!" "Why n-o-o-o-o-ot?" "Don't work for the family no-o-o-o-ow!" "Not nice of Master Enoch," said Dick, as they resumed their walk. "You mustn't blame en," said Geoffrey; "the man's not hisself now; he's in his morning frame of mind. When he's had a gallon o' cider or ale, or a pint or two of mead, the man's well enough, and his manners be as good as anybody's in the kingdom." The point in Yalbury Wood which abutted on the end of Geoffrey Day's premises was closed with an ancient tree, horizontally of enormous extent, though having no great pretensions to height. Many hundreds of birds had been born amidst the boughs of this single tree; tribes of rabbits and hares had nibbled at its bark from year to year; quaint tufts of fungi had sprung from the cavities of its forks; and countless families of moles and earthworms had crept about its roots. Beneath and beyond its shade spread a carefully-tended grass-plot, its purpose being to supply a healthy exercise-ground for young chickens and pheasants; the hens, their mothers, being enclosed in coops placed upon the same green flooring. All these encumbrances were now removed, and as the afternoon advanced, the guests gathered on the spot, where music, dancing, and the singing of songs went forward with great spirit throughout the evening. The propriety of every one was intense by reason of the influence of Fancy, who, as an additional precaution in this direction, had strictly charged her father and the tranter to carefully avoid saying 'thee' and 'thou' in their conversation, on the plea that those ancient words sounded so very humiliating to persons of newer taste; also that they were never to be seen drawing the back of the hand across the mouth after drinking--a local English custom of extraordinary antiquity, but stated by Fancy to be decidedly dying out among the better classes of society. In addition to the local musicians present, a man who had a thorough knowledge of the tambourine was invited from the village of Tantrum Clangley,--a place long celebrated for the skill of its inhabitants as performers on instruments of percussion. These important members of the assembly were relegated to a height of two or three feet from the ground, upon a temporary erection of planks supported by barrels. Whilst the dancing progressed the older persons sat in a group under the trunk of the tree,--the space being allotted to them somewhat grudgingly by the young ones, who were greedy of pirouetting room,--and fortified by a table against the heels of the dancers. Here the gaffers and gammers, whose dancing days were over, told stories of great impressiveness, and at intervals surveyed the advancing and retiring couples from the same retreat, as people on shore might be supposed to survey a naval engagement in the bay beyond; returning again to their tales when the pause was over. Those of the whirling throng, who, during the rests between each figure, turned their eyes in the direction of these seated ones, were only able to discover, on account of the music and bustle, that a very striking circumstance was in course of narration--denoted by an emphatic sweep of the hand, snapping of the fingers, close of the lips, and fixed look into the centre of the listener's eye for the space of a quarter of a minute, which raised in that listener such a reciprocating working of face as to sometimes make the distant dancers half wish to know what such an interesting tale could refer to. Fancy caused her looks to wear as much matronly expression as was obtainable out of six hours' experience as a wife, in order that the contrast between her own state of life and that of the unmarried young women present might be duly impressed upon the company: occasionally stealing glances of admiration at her left hand, but this quite privately; for her ostensible bearing concerning the matter was intended to show that, though she undoubtedly occupied the most wondrous position in the eyes of the world that had ever been attained, she was almost unconscious of the circumstance, and that the somewhat prominent position in which that wonderfully-emblazoned left hand was continually found to be placed, when handing cups and saucers, knives, forks, and glasses, was quite the result of accident. As to wishing to excite envy in the bosoms of her maiden companions, by the exhibition of the shining ring, every one was to know it was quite foreign to the dignity of such an experienced married woman. Dick's imagination in the meantime was far less capable of drawing so much wontedness from his new condition. He had been for two or three hours trying to feel himself merely a newly- married man, but had been able to get no further in the attempt than to realize that he was Dick Dewy, the tranter's son, at a party given by Lord Wessex's head man-in-charge, on the outlying Yalbury estate, dancing and chatting with Fancy Day. Five country dances, including 'Haste to the Wedding,' two reels, and three fragments of horn-pipes, brought them to the time for supper, which, on account of the dampness of the grass from the immaturity of the summer season, was spread indoors. At the conclusion of the meal Dick went out to put the horse in; and Fancy, with the elder half of the four bridesmaids, retired upstairs to dress for the journey to Dick's new cottage near Mellstock. "How long will you be putting on your bonnet, Fancy?" Dick inquired at the foot of the staircase. Being now a man of business and married, he was strong on the importance of time, and doubled the emphasis of his words in conversing, and added vigour to his nods. "Only a minute." "How long is that?" "Well, dear, five." "Ah, sonnies!" said the tranter, as Dick retired, "'tis a talent of the female race that low numbers should stand for high, more especially in matters of waiting, matters of age, and matters of money." "True, true, upon my body," said Geoffrey. "Ye spak with feeling, Geoffrey, seemingly." "Anybody that d'know my experience might guess that." "What's she doing now, Geoffrey?" "Claning out all the upstairs drawers and cupboards, and dusting the second-best chainey--a thing that's only done once a year. 'If there's work to be done I must do it,' says she, 'wedding or no.'" "'Tis my belief she's a very good woman at bottom." "She's terrible deep, then." Mrs. Penny turned round. "Well, 'tis humps and hollers with the best of us; but still and for all that, Dick and Fancy stand as fair a chance of having a bit of sunsheen as any married pair in the land." "Ay, there's no gainsaying it." Mrs. Dewy came up, talking to one person and looking at another. "Happy, yes," she said. "'Tis always so when a couple is so exactly in tune with one another as Dick and she." "When they be'n't too poor to have time to sing," said grandfather James. "I tell ye, neighbours, when the pinch comes," said the tranter: "when the oldest daughter's boots be only a size less than her mother's, and the rest o' the flock close behind her. A sharp time for a man that, my sonnies; a very sharp time! Chanticleer's comb is a-cut then, 'a believe." "That's about the form o't," said Mr. Penny. "That'll put the stuns upon a man, when you must measure mother and daughter's lasts to tell 'em apart." "You've no cause to complain, Reuben, of such a close-coming flock," said Mrs. Dewy; "for ours was a straggling lot enough, God knows!" "I d'know it, I d'know it," said the tranter. "You be a well-enough woman, Ann." Mrs. Dewy put her mouth in the form of a smile, and put it back again without smiling. "And if they come together, they go together," said Mrs. Penny, whose family had been the reverse of the tranter's; "and a little money will make either fate tolerable. And money can be made by our young couple, I know." "Yes, that it can!" said the impulsive voice of Leaf, who had hitherto humbly admired the proceedings from a corner. "It can be done--all that's wanted is a few pounds to begin with. That's all! I know a story about it!" "Let's hear thy story, Leaf," said the tranter. "I never knew you were clever enough to tell a story. Silence, all of ye! Mr. Leaf will tell a story." "Tell your story, Thomas Leaf," said grandfather William in the tone of a schoolmaster. "Once," said the delighted Leaf, in an uncertain voice, "there was a man who lived in a house! Well, this man went thinking and thinking night and day. At last, he said to himself, as I might, 'If I had only ten pound, I'd make a fortune.' At last by hook or by crook, behold he got the ten pounds!" "Only think of that!" said Nat Callcome satirically. "Silence!" said the tranter. "Well, now comes the interesting part of the story! In a little time he made that ten pounds twenty. Then a little time after that he doubled it, and made it forty. Well, he went on, and a good while after that he made it eighty, and on to a hundred. Well, by-and-by he made it two hundred! Well, you'd never believe it, but--he went on and made it four hundred! He went on, and what did he do? Why, he made it eight hundred! Yes, he did," continued Leaf, in the highest pitch of excitement, bringing down his fist upon his knee with such force that he quivered with the pain; "yes, and he went on and made it A THOUSAND!" "Hear, hear!" said the tranter. "Better than the history of England, my sonnies!" "Thank you for your story, Thomas Leaf," said grandfather William; and then Leaf gradually sank into nothingness again. Amid a medley of laughter, old shoes, and elder-wine, Dick and his bride took their departure, side by side in the excellent new spring-cart which the young tranter now possessed. The moon was just over the full, rendering any light from lamps or their own beauties quite unnecessary to the pair. They drove slowly along Yalbury Bottom, where the road passed between two copses. Dick was talking to his companion. "Fancy," he said, "why we are so happy is because there is such full confidence between us. Ever since that time you confessed to that little flirtation with Shiner by the river (which was really no flirtation at all), I have thought how artless and good you must be to tell me o' such a trifling thing, and to be so frightened about it as you were. It has won me to tell you my every deed and word since then. We'll have no secrets from each other, darling, will we ever?--no secret at all." "None from to-day," said Fancy. "Hark! what's that?" From a neighbouring thicket was suddenly heard to issue in a loud, musical, and liquid voice-- "Tippiwit! swe-e-et! ki-ki-ki! Come hither, come hither, come hither!" "O, 'tis the nightingale," murmured she, and thought of a secret she would never tell. Footnotes: {1} This, a local expression, must be a corruption of something less questionable.

Part Five Chapter 1 to 2

https://web.archive.org/web/20210213000000/https://www.novelguide.com/under-the-greenwood-tree/summaries/part5-chapter1-2

'The Knot There's No Untying' and Chapter Two 'Under the Greenwood Tree' On the last day of the story there is a gathering at Geoffrey's home and the people include the Dewys, Mr Penny and some country ladies and gentlemen. All the duplicate pieces of furniture have been moved out and Fancy is upstairs being dressed. The women talk about the previous readings of the banns and Fancy says how she is nervous and wonders how she will get through it. She also exclaims about people talking about other people, and is told "'well, if you make songs about yourself, my dear, you can't blame other people for singing 'em'". Fancy goes on to worry about Dick coming on time and the men downstairs can hear and tease her of how men have been known to not turn up. The best man appears and tells her to not worry. He says Dick will not be long and has been delayed because the hive of bees his mother gave him has swarmed and he said he could not afford to lose them. He thought Fancy would not want this to happen either. Geoffrey says how Dick is a "'genuine wise man'". Dick comes to the house and speaks of the size of the swarm and moves on to say that he cannot think what he has done to offend Mr Maybold. He explains that when the vicar first came to the parish he took to Dick and used to say he should like to see Dick married and would marry him whether his intended lived in the parish or not. He reminded him when he put in the banns but he did not seem to take kindly to the idea. Fancy only says, "'I wonder'" and is described as 'looking into vacancy' and has beautiful eyes, 'too refined and beautiful for a tranter's wife; but, perhaps, not too good'. It is a custom to walk around the parish in twos after the ceremony, but Fancy says she cannot make a show of herself in this way. The others say how they did it and she says, "'respectable people'" do not, but as her mother did she will. As they leave the house, it is noted that Reuben is wearing gloves, a 'hall-mark of respectability', for the first time and at Fancy's request. Fancy says it is proper for the bridesmaids to walk together and others of the older generation dispute this and say it was always a man walking with a woman. Dick says it is up to Fancy to decide, and is described as seeming to be 'willing to renounce all other rights in the world' now that he is on the point of marrying her. She says she would rather have it as her mother did, and every man is now with his maid. They walk among the dark perpendicular firs. In the final chapter, the scene is set after the ceremony and there is a party in Geoffrey's garden. This goes on into the evening and Fancy influences how those gathered behave with 'propriety'. Furthermore, she tries to wear a 'matronly expression'. At the end of the meal, Dick and Fancy prepare to leave for Dick's new cottage near Mellstock and he asks how long she will take to put on her bonnet. The novel ends with them driving away and Dick says they are so happy because "'there is such entire confidence between us'". He dates this from the time she confessed to that little flirtation with Shinar and has thought since then how "'artless and good'" she is for telling him such "'a trifling thing'". Fancy says how she can hear something, a nightingale, 'and thought of a secret she should never tell'.

'The Knot There's No Untying' and Chapter Two ' Under the Greenwood Tree' The marriage between Dick and Fancy concludes the novel and this is perhaps in keeping with the tone of a narrative that begins at Christmas and ends with a traditionally happy ending. This ending is, of course, made more complex than it appears, however, as Dick's forthright trust of Fancy is based on his supposition that their relationship is based on honesty. Her secret acceptance of the vicar's marriage proposal invites the readers to question the sanctity of marriage and to look at this particular ending as one that unites the lovers but casts a shadow over the notion of true love.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_1_to_4.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Of Human Bondage/section_0_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 1-4

chapters 1-4

{"name": "Chapters I-IV", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman11.asp", "summary": "The novel opens with the scene of a dying woman attended by a doctor and the nurses. She has just delivered a stillborn child, and her condition is critical. At her request, the nurse brings her first- born child, Philip, to her bedside. Mrs. Carey caresses him, tenderly touches his feet, and bursts into tears. The doctor advises her to rest, and the boy is taken away by the nurse to his godmother, Miss Wilkens. Shortly afterwards, the woman dies. Philip is brought back home to meet his uncle, William Carey, the brother of Philip's father and the vicar of Blackstable. The Vicar informs the boy that he would be accompanying him to Blackstable to live there. Even though William Carey and his wife are kind and childless, the prospect of having a boy under their roof does not really delight them. Their means are limited, and Philip's father had left behind only 2000 pounds for the boy, which had to last him until he was old enough to earn his own living. Philip, though disturbed by the thought of leaving his home, is reconciled to the situation. As a mark of remembrance, he picks up his mother's favorite clock, visits his mother's room, and prepares to depart. As he journeys with his uncle to Blackstable, he forgets his sorrows and enjoys the countryside scenery. When they reach Blackstable, everything about the place and its people seems strange to Philip.", "analysis": "Notes In these opening chapters, Maugham conveys the poignancy of Philip's situation through clear descriptions and short conversations. It is a touching scene when his mother calls him to her bedside before she dies. They obviously had a close relationship, as evidenced by her tender touches, by his taking her favorite clock as a remembrance, and by his trying to feel her presence left in her room. Because Philip has a clubfoot, she has probably been particularly gentle and patient with her first-born son. The loss of his mother and her baby are made all the more tragic when Philip finds out he must leave home. Because he is now an orphan at the age of nine, he must go to live with his uncle, William Carey, and his wife in Blackstable; unfortunately, they are not particularly pleased about raising the child, and Philip is not pleased about going. He does not want to leave his home and the memories of his mother. He goes into her room to vent his emotions. Hiding his face in her clothes, he tries to breathe her into his being by touching and smelling the things that belonged to her. In these first chapters, Maugham does an outstanding job of presenting Philip as a sensitive and intelligent child who craves affection and sympathy. Philip shows his innocence when he looks with curiosity at all the sights on his way to Blackstable; he is struck with wonder at the vision and temporarily forgets his sorrow and loneliness. He is almost eager to see a new place. After all, as a handicapped child he has been closely watched and protected. He has not experienced much of the world. At Blackstable, Philip finds the ways of his uncle and aunt quite different. Although they are kind, he is not comfortable with them, and they feel strange with a child in the vicarage. Philip watches in amazement as his uncle offers him only the top portion of a boiled egg at tea, when he craves the whole thing. In spite of such peculiar habits, Philip learns to adjust to his surroundings and tries to please his guardians. It is important to notice several things in these opening chapters. Although Philip's clubfoot is not made an issue here, it is mentioned because it becomes more important later in the novel. The interest in money is also presented. The Careys are not well off, and they worry that the 2,000 pounds will not be enough to provide for Philip until he is on his own. A concern about money will be seen throughout the book, for Philip will have and lose a fortune. Finally, the British tradition of tea is presented and will be seen frequently throughout the novel. Tea was served in the late afternoon and really consisted of a small meal; it was also a social time of the day."}

<CHAPTER> I The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed. "Wake up, Philip," she said. She pulled down the bed-clothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was only half awake. "Your mother wants you," she said. She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side. He did not ask why he had been awakened. The woman kissed his eyes, and with thin, small hands felt the warm body through his white flannel nightgown. She pressed him closer to herself. "Are you sleepy, darling?" she said. Her voice was so weak that it seemed to come already from a great distance. The child did not answer, but smiled comfortably. He was very happy in the large, warm bed, with those soft arms about him. He tried to make himself smaller still as he cuddled up against his mother, and he kissed her sleepily. In a moment he closed his eyes and was fast asleep. The doctor came forwards and stood by the bed-side. "Oh, don't take him away yet," she moaned. The doctor, without answering, looked at her gravely. Knowing she would not be allowed to keep the child much longer, the woman kissed him again; and she passed her hand down his body till she came to his feet; she held the right foot in her hand and felt the five small toes; and then slowly passed her hand over the left one. She gave a sob. "What's the matter?" said the doctor. "You're tired." She shook her head, unable to speak, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. The doctor bent down. "Let me take him." She was too weak to resist his wish, and she gave the child up. The doctor handed him back to his nurse. "You'd better put him back in his own bed." "Very well, sir." The little boy, still sleeping, was taken away. His mother sobbed now broken-heartedly. "What will happen to him, poor child?" The monthly nurse tried to quiet her, and presently, from exhaustion, the crying ceased. The doctor walked to a table on the other side of the room, upon which, under a towel, lay the body of a still-born child. He lifted the towel and looked. He was hidden from the bed by a screen, but the woman guessed what he was doing. "Was it a girl or a boy?" she whispered to the nurse. "Another boy." The woman did not answer. In a moment the child's nurse came back. She approached the bed. "Master Philip never woke up," she said. There was a pause. Then the doctor felt his patient's pulse once more. "I don't think there's anything I can do just now," he said. "I'll call again after breakfast." "I'll show you out, sir," said the child's nurse. They walked downstairs in silence. In the hall the doctor stopped. "You've sent for Mrs. Carey's brother-in-law, haven't you?" "Yes, sir." "D'you know at what time he'll be here?" "No, sir, I'm expecting a telegram." "What about the little boy? I should think he'd be better out of the way." "Miss Watkin said she'd take him, sir." "Who's she?" "She's his godmother, sir. D'you think Mrs. Carey will get over it, sir?" The doctor shook his head. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> II It was a week later. Philip was sitting on the floor in the drawing-room at Miss Watkin's house in Onslow gardens. He was an only child and used to amusing himself. The room was filled with massive furniture, and on each of the sofas were three big cushions. There was a cushion too in each arm-chair. All these he had taken and, with the help of the gilt rout chairs, light and easy to move, had made an elaborate cave in which he could hide himself from the Red Indians who were lurking behind the curtains. He put his ear to the floor and listened to the herd of buffaloes that raced across the prairie. Presently, hearing the door open, he held his breath so that he might not be discovered; but a violent hand pulled away a chair and the cushions fell down. "You naughty boy, Miss Watkin WILL be cross with you." "Hulloa, Emma!" he said. The nurse bent down and kissed him, then began to shake out the cushions, and put them back in their places. "Am I to come home?" he asked. "Yes, I've come to fetch you." "You've got a new dress on." It was in eighteen-eighty-five, and she wore a bustle. Her gown was of black velvet, with tight sleeves and sloping shoulders, and the skirt had three large flounces. She wore a black bonnet with velvet strings. She hesitated. The question she had expected did not come, and so she could not give the answer she had prepared. "Aren't you going to ask how your mamma is?" she said at length. "Oh, I forgot. How is mamma?" Now she was ready. "Your mamma is quite well and happy." "Oh, I am glad." "Your mamma's gone away. You won't ever see her any more." Philip did not know what she meant. "Why not?" "Your mamma's in heaven." She began to cry, and Philip, though he did not quite understand, cried too. Emma was a tall, big-boned woman, with fair hair and large features. She came from Devonshire and, notwithstanding her many years of service in London, had never lost the breadth of her accent. Her tears increased her emotion, and she pressed the little boy to her heart. She felt vaguely the pity of that child deprived of the only love in the world that is quite unselfish. It seemed dreadful that he must be handed over to strangers. But in a little while she pulled herself together. "Your Uncle William is waiting in to see you," she said. "Go and say good-bye to Miss Watkin, and we'll go home." "I don't want to say good-bye," he answered, instinctively anxious to hide his tears. "Very well, run upstairs and get your hat." He fetched it, and when he came down Emma was waiting for him in the hall. He heard the sound of voices in the study behind the dining-room. He paused. He knew that Miss Watkin and her sister were talking to friends, and it seemed to him--he was nine years old--that if he went in they would be sorry for him. "I think I'll go and say good-bye to Miss Watkin." "I think you'd better," said Emma. "Go in and tell them I'm coming," he said. He wished to make the most of his opportunity. Emma knocked at the door and walked in. He heard her speak. "Master Philip wants to say good-bye to you, miss." There was a sudden hush of the conversation, and Philip limped in. Henrietta Watkin was a stout woman, with a red face and dyed hair. In those days to dye the hair excited comment, and Philip had heard much gossip at home when his godmother's changed colour. She lived with an elder sister, who had resigned herself contentedly to old age. Two ladies, whom Philip did not know, were calling, and they looked at him curiously. "My poor child," said Miss Watkin, opening her arms. She began to cry. Philip understood now why she had not been in to luncheon and why she wore a black dress. She could not speak. "I've got to go home," said Philip, at last. He disengaged himself from Miss Watkin's arms, and she kissed him again. Then he went to her sister and bade her good-bye too. One of the strange ladies asked if she might kiss him, and he gravely gave her permission. Though crying, he keenly enjoyed the sensation he was causing; he would have been glad to stay a little longer to be made much of, but felt they expected him to go, so he said that Emma was waiting for him. He went out of the room. Emma had gone downstairs to speak with a friend in the basement, and he waited for her on the landing. He heard Henrietta Watkin's voice. "His mother was my greatest friend. I can't bear to think that she's dead." "You oughtn't to have gone to the funeral, Henrietta," said her sister. "I knew it would upset you." Then one of the strangers spoke. "Poor little boy, it's dreadful to think of him quite alone in the world. I see he limps." "Yes, he's got a club-foot. It was such a grief to his mother." Then Emma came back. They called a hansom, and she told the driver where to go. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> III When they reached the house Mrs. Carey had died in--it was in a dreary, respectable street between Notting Hill Gate and High Street, Kensington--Emma led Philip into the drawing-room. His uncle was writing letters of thanks for the wreaths which had been sent. One of them, which had arrived too late for the funeral, lay in its cardboard box on the hall-table. "Here's Master Philip," said Emma. Mr. Carey stood up slowly and shook hands with the little boy. Then on second thoughts he bent down and kissed his forehead. He was a man of somewhat less than average height, inclined to corpulence, with his hair, worn long, arranged over the scalp so as to conceal his baldness. He was clean-shaven. His features were regular, and it was possible to imagine that in his youth he had been good-looking. On his watch-chain he wore a gold cross. "You're going to live with me now, Philip," said Mr. Carey. "Shall you like that?" Two years before Philip had been sent down to stay at the vicarage after an attack of chicken-pox; but there remained with him a recollection of an attic and a large garden rather than of his uncle and aunt. "Yes." "You must look upon me and your Aunt Louisa as your father and mother." The child's mouth trembled a little, he reddened, but did not answer. "Your dear mother left you in my charge." Mr. Carey had no great ease in expressing himself. When the news came that his sister-in-law was dying, he set off at once for London, but on the way thought of nothing but the disturbance in his life that would be caused if her death forced him to undertake the care of her son. He was well over fifty, and his wife, to whom he had been married for thirty years, was childless; he did not look forward with any pleasure to the presence of a small boy who might be noisy and rough. He had never much liked his sister-in-law. "I'm going to take you down to Blackstable tomorrow," he said. "With Emma?" The child put his hand in hers, and she pressed it. "I'm afraid Emma must go away," said Mr. Carey. "But I want Emma to come with me." Philip began to cry, and the nurse could not help crying too. Mr. Carey looked at them helplessly. "I think you'd better leave me alone with Master Philip for a moment." "Very good, sir." Though Philip clung to her, she released herself gently. Mr. Carey took the boy on his knee and put his arm round him. "You mustn't cry," he said. "You're too old to have a nurse now. We must see about sending you to school." "I want Emma to come with me," the child repeated. "It costs too much money, Philip. Your father didn't leave very much, and I don't know what's become of it. You must look at every penny you spend." Mr. Carey had called the day before on the family solicitor. Philip's father was a surgeon in good practice, and his hospital appointments suggested an established position; so that it was a surprise on his sudden death from blood-poisoning to find that he had left his widow little more than his life insurance and what could be got for the lease of their house in Bruton Street. This was six months ago; and Mrs. Carey, already in delicate health, finding herself with child, had lost her head and accepted for the lease the first offer that was made. She stored her furniture, and, at a rent which the parson thought outrageous, took a furnished house for a year, so that she might suffer from no inconvenience till her child was born. But she had never been used to the management of money, and was unable to adapt her expenditure to her altered circumstances. The little she had slipped through her fingers in one way and another, so that now, when all expenses were paid, not much more than two thousand pounds remained to support the boy till he was able to earn his own living. It was impossible to explain all this to Philip and he was sobbing still. "You'd better go to Emma," Mr. Carey said, feeling that she could console the child better than anyone. Without a word Philip slipped off his uncle's knee, but Mr. Carey stopped him. "We must go tomorrow, because on Saturday I've got to prepare my sermon, and you must tell Emma to get your things ready today. You can bring all your toys. And if you want anything to remember your father and mother by you can take one thing for each of them. Everything else is going to be sold." The boy slipped out of the room. Mr. Carey was unused to work, and he turned to his correspondence with resentment. On one side of the desk was a bundle of bills, and these filled him with irritation. One especially seemed preposterous. Immediately after Mrs. Carey's death Emma had ordered from the florist masses of white flowers for the room in which the dead woman lay. It was sheer waste of money. Emma took far too much upon herself. Even if there had been no financial necessity, he would have dismissed her. But Philip went to her, and hid his face in her bosom, and wept as though his heart would break. And she, feeling that he was almost her own son--she had taken him when he was a month old--consoled him with soft words. She promised that she would come and see him sometimes, and that she would never forget him; and she told him about the country he was going to and about her own home in Devonshire--her father kept a turnpike on the high-road that led to Exeter, and there were pigs in the sty, and there was a cow, and the cow had just had a calf--till Philip forgot his tears and grew excited at the thought of his approaching journey. Presently she put him down, for there was much to be done, and he helped her to lay out his clothes on the bed. She sent him into the nursery to gather up his toys, and in a little while he was playing happily. But at last he grew tired of being alone and went back to the bed-room, in which Emma was now putting his things into a big tin box; he remembered then that his uncle had said he might take something to remember his father and mother by. He told Emma and asked her what he should take. "You'd better go into the drawing-room and see what you fancy." "Uncle William's there." "Never mind that. They're your own things now." Philip went downstairs slowly and found the door open. Mr. Carey had left the room. Philip walked slowly round. They had been in the house so short a time that there was little in it that had a particular interest to him. It was a stranger's room, and Philip saw nothing that struck his fancy. But he knew which were his mother's things and which belonged to the landlord, and presently fixed on a little clock that he had once heard his mother say she liked. With this he walked again rather disconsolately upstairs. Outside the door of his mother's bed-room he stopped and listened. Though no one had told him not to go in, he had a feeling that it would be wrong to do so; he was a little frightened, and his heart beat uncomfortably; but at the same time something impelled him to turn the handle. He turned it very gently, as if to prevent anyone within from hearing, and then slowly pushed the door open. He stood on the threshold for a moment before he had the courage to enter. He was not frightened now, but it seemed strange. He closed the door behind him. The blinds were drawn, and the room, in the cold light of a January afternoon, was dark. On the dressing-table were Mrs. Carey's brushes and the hand mirror. In a little tray were hairpins. There was a photograph of himself on the chimney-piece and one of his father. He had often been in the room when his mother was not in it, but now it seemed different. There was something curious in the look of the chairs. The bed was made as though someone were going to sleep in it that night, and in a case on the pillow was a night-dress. Philip opened a large cupboard filled with dresses and, stepping in, took as many of them as he could in his arms and buried his face in them. They smelt of the scent his mother used. Then he pulled open the drawers, filled with his mother's things, and looked at them: there were lavender bags among the linen, and their scent was fresh and pleasant. The strangeness of the room left it, and it seemed to him that his mother had just gone out for a walk. She would be in presently and would come upstairs to have nursery tea with him. And he seemed to feel her kiss on his lips. It was not true that he would never see her again. It was not true simply because it was impossible. He climbed up on the bed and put his head on the pillow. He lay there quite still. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> IV Philip parted from Emma with tears, but the journey to Blackstable amused him, and, when they arrived, he was resigned and cheerful. Blackstable was sixty miles from London. Giving their luggage to a porter, Mr. Carey set out to walk with Philip to the vicarage; it took them little more than five minutes, and, when they reached it, Philip suddenly remembered the gate. It was red and five-barred: it swung both ways on easy hinges; and it was possible, though forbidden, to swing backwards and forwards on it. They walked through the garden to the front-door. This was only used by visitors and on Sundays, and on special occasions, as when the Vicar went up to London or came back. The traffic of the house took place through a side-door, and there was a back door as well for the gardener and for beggars and tramps. It was a fairly large house of yellow brick, with a red roof, built about five and twenty years before in an ecclesiastical style. The front-door was like a church porch, and the drawing-room windows were gothic. Mrs. Carey, knowing by what train they were coming, waited in the drawing-room and listened for the click of the gate. When she heard it she went to the door. "There's Aunt Louisa," said Mr. Carey, when he saw her. "Run and give her a kiss." Philip started to run, awkwardly, trailing his club-foot, and then stopped. Mrs. Carey was a little, shrivelled woman of the same age as her husband, with a face extraordinarily filled with deep wrinkles, and pale blue eyes. Her gray hair was arranged in ringlets according to the fashion of her youth. She wore a black dress, and her only ornament was a gold chain, from which hung a cross. She had a shy manner and a gentle voice. "Did you walk, William?" she said, almost reproachfully, as she kissed her husband. "I didn't think of it," he answered, with a glance at his nephew. "It didn't hurt you to walk, Philip, did it?" she asked the child. "No. I always walk." He was a little surprised at their conversation. Aunt Louisa told him to come in, and they entered the hall. It was paved with red and yellow tiles, on which alternately were a Greek Cross and the Lamb of God. An imposing staircase led out of the hall. It was of polished pine, with a peculiar smell, and had been put in because fortunately, when the church was reseated, enough wood remained over. The balusters were decorated with emblems of the Four Evangelists. "I've had the stove lighted as I thought you'd be cold after your journey," said Mrs. Carey. It was a large black stove that stood in the hall and was only lighted if the weather was very bad and the Vicar had a cold. It was not lighted if Mrs. Carey had a cold. Coal was expensive. Besides, Mary Ann, the maid, didn't like fires all over the place. If they wanted all them fires they must keep a second girl. In the winter Mr. and Mrs. Carey lived in the dining-room so that one fire should do, and in the summer they could not get out of the habit, so the drawing-room was used only by Mr. Carey on Sunday afternoons for his nap. But every Saturday he had a fire in the study so that he could write his sermon. Aunt Louisa took Philip upstairs and showed him into a tiny bed-room that looked out on the drive. Immediately in front of the window was a large tree, which Philip remembered now because the branches were so low that it was possible to climb quite high up it. "A small room for a small boy," said Mrs. Carey. "You won't be frightened at sleeping alone?" "Oh, no." On his first visit to the vicarage he had come with his nurse, and Mrs. Carey had had little to do with him. She looked at him now with some uncertainty. "Can you wash your own hands, or shall I wash them for you?" "I can wash myself," he answered firmly. "Well, I shall look at them when you come down to tea," said Mrs. Carey. She knew nothing about children. After it was settled that Philip should come down to Blackstable, Mrs. Carey had thought much how she should treat him; she was anxious to do her duty; but now he was there she found herself just as shy of him as he was of her. She hoped he would not be noisy and rough, because her husband did not like rough and noisy boys. Mrs. Carey made an excuse to leave Philip alone, but in a moment came back and knocked at the door; she asked him, without coming in, if he could pour out the water himself. Then she went downstairs and rang the bell for tea. The dining-room, large and well-proportioned, had windows on two sides of it, with heavy curtains of red rep; there was a big table in the middle; and at one end an imposing mahogany sideboard with a looking-glass in it. In one corner stood a harmonium. On each side of the fireplace were chairs covered in stamped leather, each with an antimacassar; one had arms and was called the husband, and the other had none and was called the wife. Mrs. Carey never sat in the arm-chair: she said she preferred a chair that was not too comfortable; there was always a lot to do, and if her chair had had arms she might not be so ready to leave it. Mr. Carey was making up the fire when Philip came in, and he pointed out to his nephew that there were two pokers. One was large and bright and polished and unused, and was called the Vicar; and the other, which was much smaller and had evidently passed through many fires, was called the Curate. "What are we waiting for?" said Mr. Carey. "I told Mary Ann to make you an egg. I thought you'd be hungry after your journey." Mrs. Carey thought the journey from London to Blackstable very tiring. She seldom travelled herself, for the living was only three hundred a year, and, when her husband wanted a holiday, since there was not money for two, he went by himself. He was very fond of Church Congresses and usually managed to go up to London once a year; and once he had been to Paris for the exhibition, and two or three times to Switzerland. Mary Ann brought in the egg, and they sat down. The chair was much too low for Philip, and for a moment neither Mr. Carey nor his wife knew what to do. "I'll put some books under him," said Mary Ann. She took from the top of the harmonium the large Bible and the prayer-book from which the Vicar was accustomed to read prayers, and put them on Philip's chair. "Oh, William, he can't sit on the Bible," said Mrs. Carey, in a shocked tone. "Couldn't you get him some books out of the study?" Mr. Carey considered the question for an instant. "I don't think it matters this once if you put the prayer-book on the top, Mary Ann," he said. "The book of Common Prayer is the composition of men like ourselves. It has no claim to divine authorship." "I hadn't thought of that, William," said Aunt Louisa. Philip perched himself on the books, and the Vicar, having said grace, cut the top off his egg. "There," he said, handing it to Philip, "you can eat my top if you like." Philip would have liked an egg to himself, but he was not offered one, so took what he could. "How have the chickens been laying since I went away?" asked the Vicar. "Oh, they've been dreadful, only one or two a day." "How did you like that top, Philip?" asked his uncle. "Very much, thank you." "You shall have another one on Sunday afternoon." Mr. Carey always had a boiled egg at tea on Sunday, so that he might be fortified for the evening service. </CHAPTER>

Chapters I-IV

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman11.asp

The novel opens with the scene of a dying woman attended by a doctor and the nurses. She has just delivered a stillborn child, and her condition is critical. At her request, the nurse brings her first- born child, Philip, to her bedside. Mrs. Carey caresses him, tenderly touches his feet, and bursts into tears. The doctor advises her to rest, and the boy is taken away by the nurse to his godmother, Miss Wilkens. Shortly afterwards, the woman dies. Philip is brought back home to meet his uncle, William Carey, the brother of Philip's father and the vicar of Blackstable. The Vicar informs the boy that he would be accompanying him to Blackstable to live there. Even though William Carey and his wife are kind and childless, the prospect of having a boy under their roof does not really delight them. Their means are limited, and Philip's father had left behind only 2000 pounds for the boy, which had to last him until he was old enough to earn his own living. Philip, though disturbed by the thought of leaving his home, is reconciled to the situation. As a mark of remembrance, he picks up his mother's favorite clock, visits his mother's room, and prepares to depart. As he journeys with his uncle to Blackstable, he forgets his sorrows and enjoys the countryside scenery. When they reach Blackstable, everything about the place and its people seems strange to Philip.

Notes In these opening chapters, Maugham conveys the poignancy of Philip's situation through clear descriptions and short conversations. It is a touching scene when his mother calls him to her bedside before she dies. They obviously had a close relationship, as evidenced by her tender touches, by his taking her favorite clock as a remembrance, and by his trying to feel her presence left in her room. Because Philip has a clubfoot, she has probably been particularly gentle and patient with her first-born son. The loss of his mother and her baby are made all the more tragic when Philip finds out he must leave home. Because he is now an orphan at the age of nine, he must go to live with his uncle, William Carey, and his wife in Blackstable; unfortunately, they are not particularly pleased about raising the child, and Philip is not pleased about going. He does not want to leave his home and the memories of his mother. He goes into her room to vent his emotions. Hiding his face in her clothes, he tries to breathe her into his being by touching and smelling the things that belonged to her. In these first chapters, Maugham does an outstanding job of presenting Philip as a sensitive and intelligent child who craves affection and sympathy. Philip shows his innocence when he looks with curiosity at all the sights on his way to Blackstable; he is struck with wonder at the vision and temporarily forgets his sorrow and loneliness. He is almost eager to see a new place. After all, as a handicapped child he has been closely watched and protected. He has not experienced much of the world. At Blackstable, Philip finds the ways of his uncle and aunt quite different. Although they are kind, he is not comfortable with them, and they feel strange with a child in the vicarage. Philip watches in amazement as his uncle offers him only the top portion of a boiled egg at tea, when he craves the whole thing. In spite of such peculiar habits, Philip learns to adjust to his surroundings and tries to please his guardians. It is important to notice several things in these opening chapters. Although Philip's clubfoot is not made an issue here, it is mentioned because it becomes more important later in the novel. The interest in money is also presented. The Careys are not well off, and they worry that the 2,000 pounds will not be enough to provide for Philip until he is on his own. A concern about money will be seen throughout the book, for Philip will have and lose a fortune. Finally, the British tradition of tea is presented and will be seen frequently throughout the novel. Tea was served in the late afternoon and really consisted of a small meal; it was also a social time of the day.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_5_to_9.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Of Human Bondage/section_1_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 5-9

chapters 5-9

{"name": "Chapters V-IX", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman12.asp", "summary": "These chapters tell about life in Blackstable. Philip gets used to the routine at the Vicarage. Every morning he observes his uncle reading the newspaper and then accompanies his aunt on her errands. Philip is taught Latin and mathematics by his uncle, and his aunt teaches him French and music. They seldom have company, but Philip, as an only child, is used to a solitary existence and can entertain himself. Sometimes, his aunt and uncle will talk about Philip's parents. He learns that his father was a brilliant doctor at St. Luke's hospital and was earning enough to lead a comfortable life. However, his generosity and his ostentatious living, coupled with his wife's careless management of their resources, has left very little financial security for Philip. Since the vicar is the brother of Philip's father, he and his wife seem to resent Philip's mother. In fact, one day a parcel arrives from Miss Watkins; it contains photographs, intended for Philip. His mother had the photographs taken before her death to leave behind as a remembrance for her son. Mr. Carey allows Phillip to keep only one of the pictures and returns to rest to Miss Watkins. Sunday is the most important day in Blackstable. After a hurried breakfast, Philip accompanies his aunt and uncle to church. On the way, the vicar acts important and takes precautions to keep his voice intact for the sermon. Philip is always bored in church and looks forward to hearing the last hymn, signaling the end of the service. On Sunday evening, Philip must again accompany his uncle to the church for evensong. One Sunday afternoon, the Vicar scolds Philip for disturbing his afternoon nap. The innocent boy, unaware of his uncle's angry mood, feels hurt. That evening Mr. Carey refuses to take Philip to church with him, which makes the boy feel even worse. In his frustration, Philip speaks harshly to his aunt but he soon regrets his rudeness. The next Sunday afternoon, to keep Philip busy, the Vicar asks him to learn the text for the day. Philip does his best, but grows frustrated, for the text is too hard. Mrs. Carey pities the boy and gives him religious picture books from his uncle's library. The boy reads them with interest and asks for more, establishing his habit of reading.", "analysis": "Notes These chapters show the lifestyle of a country vicar in Victorian England. As would be expected, Mr. Carey is a conformist who believes in discipline and a pragmatic approach to life. He and his wife follow a very set pattern of living, never realizing the monotony of it. They bathe once a week; meals do not vary, with menus for their supper fixed for the whole week; and Sundays are largely devoted to church, with services in the morning and evening. Every Sunday there is commotion in the house as the Vicar gets ready to accomplish his tasks for the day. Soon after he dresses in the morning, he polishes the communion plate and cuts bread. Before leaving for the church, he has a glass of sherry to keep his voice steady during the sermon. He stands on ceremony with no variety to his regimen. In fact, he is easily upset if his routine is broken, as shown when Philip interrupts his Sunday afternoon nap. Maugham's description of this authoritarian minister is outstanding. Through his actions and his conversation, he is shown to be filled with self-importance and ignorant of the feelings of his wife or the boy. He clearly does not understand the lonely Philip. Mrs. Carey is a typical Victorian housewife, meek and submissive; her husband's word is her command. She likes to dress in cheerful clothes, but the Vicar insists on her wearing plain black without any ornamentation, and she gives in to his demands. Even though she likes Philip and feels affectionate towards him, she suppresses her maternal feelings out of respect for her husband. But she hates it when Mr. Carey punishes him and takes pity on him when the Vicar expects too much of the boy. Philip is largely ignored by his aunt and uncle; therefore, he keeps himself busy by talking to Mary, the maid, and playing with his blocks. The Vicar resents his childish activities and expects him to behave like a responsible adult. He wants the boy to forgo his fun and games and study deep religious texts that are too difficult for Philip. Fortunately, his aunt is more sensitive to his needs and gives him picture books, which he enjoys; they provide his company and allow his to escape from his lonely, largely silent existence. Through his portrayal of the Vicar, Maugham is openly criticizing the officers of the church who talk about the ways of God, but fail to act in a godly way. Mr. Carey seems to have little concern for the feelings of his fellow humans. He is thinking about sending Philip off to school, and the reader has the impression it is because he does not want to be bothered with the boy."}

<CHAPTER> V Philip came gradually to know the people he was to live with, and by fragments of conversation, some of it not meant for his ears, learned a good deal both about himself and about his dead parents. Philip's father had been much younger than the Vicar of Blackstable. After a brilliant career at St. Luke's Hospital he was put on the staff, and presently began to earn money in considerable sums. He spent it freely. When the parson set about restoring his church and asked his brother for a subscription, he was surprised by receiving a couple of hundred pounds: Mr. Carey, thrifty by inclination and economical by necessity, accepted it with mingled feelings; he was envious of his brother because he could afford to give so much, pleased for the sake of his church, and vaguely irritated by a generosity which seemed almost ostentatious. Then Henry Carey married a patient, a beautiful girl but penniless, an orphan with no near relations, but of good family; and there was an array of fine friends at the wedding. The parson, on his visits to her when he came to London, held himself with reserve. He felt shy with her and in his heart he resented her great beauty: she dressed more magnificently than became the wife of a hardworking surgeon; and the charming furniture of her house, the flowers among which she lived even in winter, suggested an extravagance which he deplored. He heard her talk of entertainments she was going to; and, as he told his wife on getting home again, it was impossible to accept hospitality without making some return. He had seen grapes in the dining-room that must have cost at least eight shillings a pound; and at luncheon he had been given asparagus two months before it was ready in the vicarage garden. Now all he had anticipated was come to pass: the Vicar felt the satisfaction of the prophet who saw fire and brimstone consume the city which would not mend its way to his warning. Poor Philip was practically penniless, and what was the good of his mother's fine friends now? He heard that his father's extravagance was really criminal, and it was a mercy that Providence had seen fit to take his dear mother to itself: she had no more idea of money than a child. When Philip had been a week at Blackstable an incident happened which seemed to irritate his uncle very much. One morning he found on the breakfast table a small packet which had been sent on by post from the late Mrs. Carey's house in London. It was addressed to her. When the parson opened it he found a dozen photographs of Mrs. Carey. They showed the head and shoulders only, and her hair was more plainly done than usual, low on the forehead, which gave her an unusual look; the face was thin and worn, but no illness could impair the beauty of her features. There was in the large dark eyes a sadness which Philip did not remember. The first sight of the dead woman gave Mr. Carey a little shock, but this was quickly followed by perplexity. The photographs seemed quite recent, and he could not imagine who had ordered them. "D'you know anything about these, Philip?" he asked. "I remember mamma said she'd been taken," he answered. "Miss Watkin scolded her.... She said: I wanted the boy to have something to remember me by when he grows up." Mr. Carey looked at Philip for an instant. The child spoke in a clear treble. He recalled the words, but they meant nothing to him. "You'd better take one of the photographs and keep it in your room," said Mr. Carey. "I'll put the others away." He sent one to Miss Watkin, and she wrote and explained how they came to be taken. One day Mrs. Carey was lying in bed, but she was feeling a little better than usual, and the doctor in the morning had seemed hopeful; Emma had taken the child out, and the maids were downstairs in the basement: suddenly Mrs. Carey felt desperately alone in the world. A great fear seized her that she would not recover from the confinement which she was expecting in a fortnight. Her son was nine years old. How could he be expected to remember her? She could not bear to think that he would grow up and forget, forget her utterly; and she had loved him so passionately, because he was weakly and deformed, and because he was her child. She had no photographs of herself taken since her marriage, and that was ten years before. She wanted her son to know what she looked like at the end. He could not forget her then, not forget utterly. She knew that if she called her maid and told her she wanted to get up, the maid would prevent her, and perhaps send for the doctor, and she had not the strength now to struggle or argue. She got out of bed and began to dress herself. She had been on her back so long that her legs gave way beneath her, and then the soles of her feet tingled so that she could hardly bear to put them to the ground. But she went on. She was unused to doing her own hair and, when she raised her arms and began to brush it, she felt faint. She could never do it as her maid did. It was beautiful hair, very fine, and of a deep rich gold. Her eyebrows were straight and dark. She put on a black skirt, but chose the bodice of the evening dress which she liked best: it was of a white damask which was fashionable in those days. She looked at herself in the glass. Her face was very pale, but her skin was clear: she had never had much colour, and this had always made the redness of her beautiful mouth emphatic. She could not restrain a sob. But she could not afford to be sorry for herself; she was feeling already desperately tired; and she put on the furs which Henry had given her the Christmas before--she had been so proud of them and so happy then--and slipped downstairs with beating heart. She got safely out of the house and drove to a photographer. She paid for a dozen photographs. She was obliged to ask for a glass of water in the middle of the sitting; and the assistant, seeing she was ill, suggested that she should come another day, but she insisted on staying till the end. At last it was finished, and she drove back again to the dingy little house in Kensington which she hated with all her heart. It was a horrible house to die in. She found the front door open, and when she drove up the maid and Emma ran down the steps to help her. They had been frightened when they found her room empty. At first they thought she must have gone to Miss Watkin, and the cook was sent round. Miss Watkin came back with her and was waiting anxiously in the drawing-room. She came downstairs now full of anxiety and reproaches; but the exertion had been more than Mrs. Carey was fit for, and when the occasion for firmness no longer existed she gave way. She fell heavily into Emma's arms and was carried upstairs. She remained unconscious for a time that seemed incredibly long to those that watched her, and the doctor, hurriedly sent for, did not come. It was next day, when she was a little better, that Miss Watkin got some explanation out of her. Philip was playing on the floor of his mother's bed-room, and neither of the ladies paid attention to him. He only understood vaguely what they were talking about, and he could not have said why those words remained in his memory. "I wanted the boy to have something to remember me by when he grows up." "I can't make out why she ordered a dozen," said Mr. Carey. "Two would have done." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VI One day was very like another at the vicarage. Soon after breakfast Mary Ann brought in The Times. Mr. Carey shared it with two neighbours. He had it from ten till one, when the gardener took it over to Mr. Ellis at the Limes, with whom it remained till seven; then it was taken to Miss Brooks at the Manor House, who, since she got it late, had the advantage of keeping it. In summer Mrs. Carey, when she was making jam, often asked her for a copy to cover the pots with. When the Vicar settled down to his paper his wife put on her bonnet and went out to do the shopping. Philip accompanied her. Blackstable was a fishing village. It consisted of a high street in which were the shops, the bank, the doctor's house, and the houses of two or three coalship owners; round the little harbor were shabby streets in which lived fishermen and poor people; but since they went to chapel they were of no account. When Mrs. Carey passed the dissenting ministers in the street she stepped over to the other side to avoid meeting them, but if there was not time for this fixed her eyes on the pavement. It was a scandal to which the Vicar had never resigned himself that there were three chapels in the High Street: he could not help feeling that the law should have stepped in to prevent their erection. Shopping in Blackstable was not a simple matter; for dissent, helped by the fact that the parish church was two miles from the town, was very common; and it was necessary to deal only with churchgoers; Mrs. Carey knew perfectly that the vicarage custom might make all the difference to a tradesman's faith. There were two butchers who went to church, and they would not understand that the Vicar could not deal with both of them at once; nor were they satisfied with his simple plan of going for six months to one and for six months to the other. The butcher who was not sending meat to the vicarage constantly threatened not to come to church, and the Vicar was sometimes obliged to make a threat: it was very wrong of him not to come to church, but if he carried iniquity further and actually went to chapel, then of course, excellent as his meat was, Mr. Carey would be forced to leave him for ever. Mrs. Carey often stopped at the bank to deliver a message to Josiah Graves, the manager, who was choir-master, treasurer, and churchwarden. He was a tall, thin man with a sallow face and a long nose; his hair was very white, and to Philip he seemed extremely old. He kept the parish accounts, arranged the treats for the choir and the schools; though there was no organ in the parish church, it was generally considered (in Blackstable) that the choir he led was the best in Kent; and when there was any ceremony, such as a visit from the Bishop for confirmation or from the Rural Dean to preach at the Harvest Thanksgiving, he made the necessary preparations. But he had no hesitation in doing all manner of things without more than a perfunctory consultation with the Vicar, and the Vicar, though always ready to be saved trouble, much resented the churchwarden's managing ways. He really seemed to look upon himself as the most important person in the parish. Mr. Carey constantly told his wife that if Josiah Graves did not take care he would give him a good rap over the knuckles one day; but Mrs. Carey advised him to bear with Josiah Graves: he meant well, and it was not his fault if he was not quite a gentleman. The Vicar, finding his comfort in the practice of a Christian virtue, exercised forbearance; but he revenged himself by calling the churchwarden Bismarck behind his back. Once there had been a serious quarrel between the pair, and Mrs. Carey still thought of that anxious time with dismay. The Conservative candidate had announced his intention of addressing a meeting at Blackstable; and Josiah Graves, having arranged that it should take place in the Mission Hall, went to Mr. Carey and told him that he hoped he would say a few words. It appeared that the candidate had asked Josiah Graves to take the chair. This was more than Mr. Carey could put up with. He had firm views upon the respect which was due to the cloth, and it was ridiculous for a churchwarden to take the chair at a meeting when the Vicar was there. He reminded Josiah Graves that parson meant person, that is, the vicar was the person of the parish. Josiah Graves answered that he was the first to recognise the dignity of the church, but this was a matter of politics, and in his turn he reminded the Vicar that their Blessed Saviour had enjoined upon them to render unto Caesar the things that were Caesar's. To this Mr. Carey replied that the devil could quote scripture to his purpose, himself had sole authority over the Mission Hall, and if he were not asked to be chairman he would refuse the use of it for a political meeting. Josiah Graves told Mr. Carey that he might do as he chose, and for his part he thought the Wesleyan Chapel would be an equally suitable place. Then Mr. Carey said that if Josiah Graves set foot in what was little better than a heathen temple he was not fit to be churchwarden in a Christian parish. Josiah Graves thereupon resigned all his offices, and that very evening sent to the church for his cassock and surplice. His sister, Miss Graves, who kept house for him, gave up her secretaryship of the Maternity Club, which provided the pregnant poor with flannel, baby linen, coals, and five shillings. Mr. Carey said he was at last master in his own house. But soon he found that he was obliged to see to all sorts of things that he knew nothing about; and Josiah Graves, after the first moment of irritation, discovered that he had lost his chief interest in life. Mrs. Carey and Miss Graves were much distressed by the quarrel; they met after a discreet exchange of letters, and made up their minds to put the matter right: they talked, one to her husband, the other to her brother, from morning till night; and since they were persuading these gentlemen to do what in their hearts they wanted, after three weeks of anxiety a reconciliation was effected. It was to both their interests, but they ascribed it to a common love for their Redeemer. The meeting was held at the Mission Hall, and the doctor was asked to be chairman. Mr. Carey and Josiah Graves both made speeches. When Mrs. Carey had finished her business with the banker, she generally went upstairs to have a little chat with his sister; and while the ladies talked of parish matters, the curate or the new bonnet of Mrs. Wilson--Mr. Wilson was the richest man in Blackstable, he was thought to have at least five hundred a year, and he had married his cook--Philip sat demurely in the stiff parlour, used only to receive visitors, and busied himself with the restless movements of goldfish in a bowl. The windows were never opened except to air the room for a few minutes in the morning, and it had a stuffy smell which seemed to Philip to have a mysterious connection with banking. Then Mrs. Carey remembered that she had to go to the grocer, and they continued their way. When the shopping was done they often went down a side street of little houses, mostly of wood, in which fishermen dwelt (and here and there a fisherman sat on his doorstep mending his nets, and nets hung to dry upon the doors), till they came to a small beach, shut in on each side by warehouses, but with a view of the sea. Mrs. Carey stood for a few minutes and looked at it, it was turbid and yellow, [and who knows what thoughts passed through her mind?] while Philip searched for flat stones to play ducks and drakes. Then they walked slowly back. They looked into the post office to get the right time, nodded to Mrs. Wigram the doctor's wife, who sat at her window sewing, and so got home. Dinner was at one o'clock; and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday it consisted of beef, roast, hashed, and minced, and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of mutton. On Sunday they ate one of their own chickens. In the afternoon Philip did his lessons, He was taught Latin and mathematics by his uncle who knew neither, and French and the piano by his aunt. Of French she was ignorant, but she knew the piano well enough to accompany the old-fashioned songs she had sung for thirty years. Uncle William used to tell Philip that when he was a curate his wife had known twelve songs by heart, which she could sing at a moment's notice whenever she was asked. She often sang still when there was a tea-party at the vicarage. There were few people whom the Careys cared to ask there, and their parties consisted always of the curate, Josiah Graves with his sister, Dr. Wigram and his wife. After tea Miss Graves played one or two of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words, and Mrs. Carey sang When the Swallows Homeward Fly, or Trot, Trot, My Pony. But the Careys did not give tea-parties often; the preparations upset them, and when their guests were gone they felt themselves exhausted. They preferred to have tea by themselves, and after tea they played backgammon. Mrs. Carey arranged that her husband should win, because he did not like losing. They had cold supper at eight. It was a scrappy meal because Mary Ann resented getting anything ready after tea, and Mrs. Carey helped to clear away. Mrs. Carey seldom ate more than bread and butter, with a little stewed fruit to follow, but the Vicar had a slice of cold meat. Immediately after supper Mrs. Carey rang the bell for prayers, and then Philip went to bed. He rebelled against being undressed by Mary Ann and after a while succeeded in establishing his right to dress and undress himself. At nine o'clock Mary Ann brought in the eggs and the plate. Mrs. Carey wrote the date on each egg and put the number down in a book. She then took the plate-basket on her arm and went upstairs. Mr. Carey continued to read one of his old books, but as the clock struck ten he got up, put out the lamps, and followed his wife to bed. When Philip arrived there was some difficulty in deciding on which evening he should have his bath. It was never easy to get plenty of hot water, since the kitchen boiler did not work, and it was impossible for two persons to have a bath on the same day. The only man who had a bathroom in Blackstable was Mr. Wilson, and it was thought ostentatious of him. Mary Ann had her bath in the kitchen on Monday night, because she liked to begin the week clean. Uncle William could not have his on Saturday, because he had a heavy day before him and he was always a little tired after a bath, so he had it on Friday. Mrs. Carey had hers on Thursday for the same reason. It looked as though Saturday were naturally indicated for Philip, but Mary Ann said she couldn't keep the fire up on Saturday night: what with all the cooking on Sunday, having to make pastry and she didn't know what all, she did not feel up to giving the boy his bath on Saturday night; and it was quite clear that he could not bath himself. Mrs. Carey was shy about bathing a boy, and of course the Vicar had his sermon. But the Vicar insisted that Philip should be clean and sweet for the lord's Day. Mary Ann said she would rather go than be put upon--and after eighteen years she didn't expect to have more work given her, and they might show some consideration--and Philip said he didn't want anyone to bath him, but could very well bath himself. This settled it. Mary Ann said she was quite sure he wouldn't bath himself properly, and rather than he should go dirty--and not because he was going into the presence of the Lord, but because she couldn't abide a boy who wasn't properly washed--she'd work herself to the bone even if it was Saturday night. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VII Sunday was a day crowded with incident. Mr. Carey was accustomed to say that he was the only man in his parish who worked seven days a week. The household got up half an hour earlier than usual. No lying abed for a poor parson on the day of rest, Mr. Carey remarked as Mary Ann knocked at the door punctually at eight. It took Mrs. Carey longer to dress, and she got down to breakfast at nine, a little breathless, only just before her husband. Mr. Carey's boots stood in front of the fire to warm. Prayers were longer than usual, and the breakfast more substantial. After breakfast the Vicar cut thin slices of bread for the communion, and Philip was privileged to cut off the crust. He was sent to the study to fetch a marble paperweight, with which Mr. Carey pressed the bread till it was thin and pulpy, and then it was cut into small squares. The amount was regulated by the weather. On a very bad day few people came to church, and on a very fine one, though many came, few stayed for communion. There were most when it was dry enough to make the walk to church pleasant, but not so fine that people wanted to hurry away. Then Mrs. Carey brought the communion plate out of the safe, which stood in the pantry, and the Vicar polished it with a chamois leather. At ten the fly drove up, and Mr. Carey got into his boots. Mrs. Carey took several minutes to put on her bonnet, during which the Vicar, in a voluminous cloak, stood in the hall with just such an expression on his face as would have become an early Christian about to be led into the arena. It was extraordinary that after thirty years of marriage his wife could not be ready in time on Sunday morning. At last she came, in black satin; the Vicar did not like colours in a clergyman's wife at any time, but on Sundays he was determined that she should wear black; now and then, in conspiracy with Miss Graves, she ventured a white feather or a pink rose in her bonnet, but the Vicar insisted that it should disappear; he said he would not go to church with the scarlet woman: Mrs. Carey sighed as a woman but obeyed as a wife. They were about to step into the carriage when the Vicar remembered that no one had given him his egg. They knew that he must have an egg for his voice, there were two women in the house, and no one had the least regard for his comfort. Mrs. Carey scolded Mary Ann, and Mary Ann answered that she could not think of everything. She hurried away to fetch an egg, and Mrs. Carey beat it up in a glass of sherry. The Vicar swallowed it at a gulp. The communion plate was stowed in the carriage, and they set off. The fly came from The Red Lion and had a peculiar smell of stale straw. They drove with both windows closed so that the Vicar should not catch cold. The sexton was waiting at the porch to take the communion plate, and while the Vicar went to the vestry Mrs. Carey and Philip settled themselves in the vicarage pew. Mrs. Carey placed in front of her the sixpenny bit she was accustomed to put in the plate, and gave Philip threepence for the same purpose. The church filled up gradually and the service began. Philip grew bored during the sermon, but if he fidgetted Mrs. Carey put a gentle hand on his arm and looked at him reproachfully. He regained interest when the final hymn was sung and Mr. Graves passed round with the plate. When everyone had gone Mrs. Carey went into Miss Graves' pew to have a few words with her while they were waiting for the gentlemen, and Philip went to the vestry. His uncle, the curate, and Mr. Graves were still in their surplices. Mr. Carey gave him the remains of the consecrated bread and told him he might eat it. He had been accustomed to eat it himself, as it seemed blasphemous to throw it away, but Philip's keen appetite relieved him from the duty. Then they counted the money. It consisted of pennies, sixpences and threepenny bits. There were always two single shillings, one put in the plate by the Vicar and the other by Mr. Graves; and sometimes there was a florin. Mr. Graves told the Vicar who had given this. It was always a stranger to Blackstable, and Mr. Carey wondered who he was. But Miss Graves had observed the rash act and was able to tell Mrs. Carey that the stranger came from London, was married and had children. During the drive home Mrs. Carey passed the information on, and the Vicar made up his mind to call on him and ask for a subscription to the Additional Curates Society. Mr. Carey asked if Philip had behaved properly; and Mrs. Carey remarked that Mrs. Wigram had a new mantle, Mr. Cox was not in church, and somebody thought that Miss Phillips was engaged. When they reached the vicarage they all felt that they deserved a substantial dinner. When this was over Mrs. Carey went to her room to rest, and Mr. Carey lay down on the sofa in the drawing-room for forty winks. They had tea at five, and the Vicar ate an egg to support himself for evensong. Mrs. Carey did not go to this so that Mary Ann might, but she read the service through and the hymns. Mr. Carey walked to church in the evening, and Philip limped along by his side. The walk through the darkness along the country road strangely impressed him, and the church with all its lights in the distance, coming gradually nearer, seemed very friendly. At first he was shy with his uncle, but little by little grew used to him, and he would slip his hand in his uncle's and walk more easily for the feeling of protection. They had supper when they got home. Mr. Carey's slippers were waiting for him on a footstool in front of the fire and by their side Philip's, one the shoe of a small boy, the other misshapen and odd. He was dreadfully tired when he went up to bed, and he did not resist when Mary Ann undressed him. She kissed him after she tucked him up, and he began to love her. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VIII Philip had led always the solitary life of an only child, and his loneliness at the vicarage was no greater than it had been when his mother lived. He made friends with Mary Ann. She was a chubby little person of thirty-five, the daughter of a fisherman, and had come to the vicarage at eighteen; it was her first place and she had no intention of leaving it; but she held a possible marriage as a rod over the timid heads of her master and mistress. Her father and mother lived in a little house off Harbour Street, and she went to see them on her evenings out. Her stories of the sea touched Philip's imagination, and the narrow alleys round the harbour grew rich with the romance which his young fancy lent them. One evening he asked whether he might go home with her; but his aunt was afraid that he might catch something, and his uncle said that evil communications corrupted good manners. He disliked the fisher folk, who were rough, uncouth, and went to chapel. But Philip was more comfortable in the kitchen than in the dining-room, and, whenever he could, he took his toys and played there. His aunt was not sorry. She did not like disorder, and though she recognised that boys must be expected to be untidy she preferred that he should make a mess in the kitchen. If he fidgeted his uncle was apt to grow restless and say it was high time he went to school. Mrs. Carey thought Philip very young for this, and her heart went out to the motherless child; but her attempts to gain his affection were awkward, and the boy, feeling shy, received her demonstrations with so much sullenness that she was mortified. Sometimes she heard his shrill voice raised in laughter in the kitchen, but when she went in, he grew suddenly silent, and he flushed darkly when Mary Ann explained the joke. Mrs. Carey could not see anything amusing in what she heard, and she smiled with constraint. "He seems happier with Mary Ann than with us, William," she said, when she returned to her sewing. "One can see he's been very badly brought up. He wants licking into shape." On the second Sunday after Philip arrived an unlucky incident occurred. Mr. Carey had retired as usual after dinner for a little snooze in the drawing-room, but he was in an irritable mood and could not sleep. Josiah Graves that morning had objected strongly to some candlesticks with which the Vicar had adorned the altar. He had bought them second-hand in Tercanbury, and he thought they looked very well. But Josiah Graves said they were popish. This was a taunt that always aroused the Vicar. He had been at Oxford during the movement which ended in the secession from the Established Church of Edward Manning, and he felt a certain sympathy for the Church of Rome. He would willingly have made the service more ornate than had been usual in the low-church parish of Blackstable, and in his secret soul he yearned for processions and lighted candles. He drew the line at incense. He hated the word protestant. He called himself a Catholic. He was accustomed to say that Papists required an epithet, they were Roman Catholic; but the Church of England was Catholic in the best, the fullest, and the noblest sense of the term. He was pleased to think that his shaven face gave him the look of a priest, and in his youth he had possessed an ascetic air which added to the impression. He often related that on one of his holidays in Boulogne, one of those holidays upon which his wife for economy's sake did not accompany him, when he was sitting in a church, the cure had come up to him and invited him to preach a sermon. He dismissed his curates when they married, having decided views on the celibacy of the unbeneficed clergy. But when at an election the Liberals had written on his garden fence in large blue letters: This way to Rome, he had been very angry, and threatened to prosecute the leaders of the Liberal party in Blackstable. He made up his mind now that nothing Josiah Graves said would induce him to remove the candlesticks from the altar, and he muttered Bismarck to himself once or twice irritably. Suddenly he heard an unexpected noise. He pulled the handkerchief off his face, got up from the sofa on which he was lying, and went into the dining-room. Philip was seated on the table with all his bricks around him. He had built a monstrous castle, and some defect in the foundation had just brought the structure down in noisy ruin. "What are you doing with those bricks, Philip? You know you're not allowed to play games on Sunday." Philip stared at him for a moment with frightened eyes, and, as his habit was, flushed deeply. "I always used to play at home," he answered. "I'm sure your dear mamma never allowed you to do such a wicked thing as that." Philip did not know it was wicked; but if it was, he did not wish it to be supposed that his mother had consented to it. He hung his head and did not answer. "Don't you know it's very, very wicked to play on Sunday? What d'you suppose it's called the day of rest for? You're going to church tonight, and how can you face your Maker when you've been breaking one of His laws in the afternoon?" Mr. Carey told him to put the bricks away at once, and stood over him while Philip did so. "You're a very naughty boy," he repeated. "Think of the grief you're causing your poor mother in heaven." Philip felt inclined to cry, but he had an instinctive disinclination to letting other people see his tears, and he clenched his teeth to prevent the sobs from escaping. Mr. Carey sat down in his arm-chair and began to turn over the pages of a book. Philip stood at the window. The vicarage was set back from the highroad to Tercanbury, and from the dining-room one saw a semicircular strip of lawn and then as far as the horizon green fields. Sheep were grazing in them. The sky was forlorn and gray. Philip felt infinitely unhappy. Presently Mary Ann came in to lay the tea, and Aunt Louisa descended the stairs. "Have you had a nice little nap, William?" she asked. "No," he answered. "Philip made so much noise that I couldn't sleep a wink." This was not quite accurate, for he had been kept awake by his own thoughts; and Philip, listening sullenly, reflected that he had only made a noise once, and there was no reason why his uncle should not have slept before or after. When Mrs. Carey asked for an explanation the Vicar narrated the facts. "He hasn't even said he was sorry," he finished. "Oh, Philip, I'm sure you're sorry," said Mrs. Carey, anxious that the child should not seem wickeder to his uncle than need be. Philip did not reply. He went on munching his bread and butter. He did not know what power it was in him that prevented him from making any expression of regret. He felt his ears tingling, he was a little inclined to cry, but no word would issue from his lips. "You needn't make it worse by sulking," said Mr. Carey. Tea was finished in silence. Mrs. Carey looked at Philip surreptitiously now and then, but the Vicar elaborately ignored him. When Philip saw his uncle go upstairs to get ready for church he went into the hall and got his hat and coat, but when the Vicar came downstairs and saw him, he said: "I don't wish you to go to church tonight, Philip. I don't think you're in a proper frame of mind to enter the House of God." Philip did not say a word. He felt it was a deep humiliation that was placed upon him, and his cheeks reddened. He stood silently watching his uncle put on his broad hat and his voluminous cloak. Mrs. Carey as usual went to the door to see him off. Then she turned to Philip. "Never mind, Philip, you won't be a naughty boy next Sunday, will you, and then your uncle will take you to church with him in the evening." She took off his hat and coat, and led him into the dining-room. "Shall you and I read the service together, Philip, and we'll sing the hymns at the harmonium. Would you like that?" Philip shook his head decidedly. Mrs. Carey was taken aback. If he would not read the evening service with her she did not know what to do with him. "Then what would you like to do until your uncle comes back?" she asked helplessly. Philip broke his silence at last. "I want to be left alone," he said. "Philip, how can you say anything so unkind? Don't you know that your uncle and I only want your good? Don't you love me at all?" "I hate you. I wish you was dead." Mrs. Carey gasped. He said the words so savagely that it gave her quite a start. She had nothing to say. She sat down in her husband's chair; and as she thought of her desire to love the friendless, crippled boy and her eager wish that he should love her--she was a barren woman and, even though it was clearly God's will that she should be childless, she could scarcely bear to look at little children sometimes, her heart ached so--the tears rose to her eyes and one by one, slowly, rolled down her cheeks. Philip watched her in amazement. She took out her handkerchief, and now she cried without restraint. Suddenly Philip realised that she was crying because of what he had said, and he was sorry. He went up to her silently and kissed her. It was the first kiss he had ever given her without being asked. And the poor lady, so small in her black satin, shrivelled up and sallow, with her funny corkscrew curls, took the little boy on her lap and put her arms around him and wept as though her heart would break. But her tears were partly tears of happiness, for she felt that the strangeness between them was gone. She loved him now with a new love because he had made her suffer. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> IX On the following Sunday, when the Vicar was making his preparations to go into the drawing-room for his nap--all the actions of his life were conducted with ceremony--and Mrs. Carey was about to go upstairs, Philip asked: "What shall I do if I'm not allowed to play?" "Can't you sit still for once and be quiet?" "I can't sit still till tea-time." Mr. Carey looked out of the window, but it was cold and raw, and he could not suggest that Philip should go into the garden. "I know what you can do. You can learn by heart the collect for the day." He took the prayer-book which was used for prayers from the harmonium, and turned the pages till he came to the place he wanted. "It's not a long one. If you can say it without a mistake when I come in to tea you shall have the top of my egg." Mrs. Carey drew up Philip's chair to the dining-room table--they had bought him a high chair by now--and placed the book in front of him. "The devil finds work for idle hands to do," said Mr. Carey. He put some more coals on the fire so that there should be a cheerful blaze when he came in to tea, and went into the drawing-room. He loosened his collar, arranged the cushions, and settled himself comfortably on the sofa. But thinking the drawing-room a little chilly, Mrs. Carey brought him a rug from the hall; she put it over his legs and tucked it round his feet. She drew the blinds so that the light should not offend his eyes, and since he had closed them already went out of the room on tiptoe. The Vicar was at peace with himself today, and in ten minutes he was asleep. He snored softly. It was the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, and the collect began with the words: O God, whose blessed Son was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil, and make us the sons of God, and heirs of Eternal life. Philip read it through. He could make no sense of it. He began saying the words aloud to himself, but many of them were unknown to him, and the construction of the sentence was strange. He could not get more than two lines in his head. And his attention was constantly wandering: there were fruit trees trained on the walls of the vicarage, and a long twig beat now and then against the windowpane; sheep grazed stolidly in the field beyond the garden. It seemed as though there were knots inside his brain. Then panic seized him that he would not know the words by tea-time, and he kept on whispering them to himself quickly; he did not try to understand, but merely to get them parrot-like into his memory. Mrs. Carey could not sleep that afternoon, and by four o'clock she was so wide awake that she came downstairs. She thought she would hear Philip his collect so that he should make no mistakes when he said it to his uncle. His uncle then would be pleased; he would see that the boy's heart was in the right place. But when Mrs. Carey came to the dining-room and was about to go in, she heard a sound that made her stop suddenly. Her heart gave a little jump. She turned away and quietly slipped out of the front-door. She walked round the house till she came to the dining-room window and then cautiously looked in. Philip was still sitting on the chair she had put him in, but his head was on the table buried in his arms, and he was sobbing desperately. She saw the convulsive movement of his shoulders. Mrs. Carey was frightened. A thing that had always struck her about the child was that he seemed so collected. She had never seen him cry. And now she realised that his calmness was some instinctive shame of showing his feelings: he hid himself to weep. Without thinking that her husband disliked being wakened suddenly, she burst into the drawing-room. "William, William," she said. "The boy's crying as though his heart would break." Mr. Carey sat up and disentangled himself from the rug about his legs. "What's he got to cry about?" "I don't know.... Oh, William, we can't let the boy be unhappy. D'you think it's our fault? If we'd had children we'd have known what to do." Mr. Carey looked at her in perplexity. He felt extraordinarily helpless. "He can't be crying because I gave him the collect to learn. It's not more than ten lines." "Don't you think I might take him some picture books to look at, William? There are some of the Holy Land. There couldn't be anything wrong in that." "Very well, I don't mind." Mrs. Carey went into the study. To collect books was Mr. Carey's only passion, and he never went into Tercanbury without spending an hour or two in the second-hand shop; he always brought back four or five musty volumes. He never read them, for he had long lost the habit of reading, but he liked to turn the pages, look at the illustrations if they were illustrated, and mend the bindings. He welcomed wet days because on them he could stay at home without pangs of conscience and spend the afternoon with white of egg and a glue-pot, patching up the Russia leather of some battered quarto. He had many volumes of old travels, with steel engravings, and Mrs. Carey quickly found two which described Palestine. She coughed elaborately at the door so that Philip should have time to compose himself, she felt that he would be humiliated if she came upon him in the midst of his tears, then she rattled the door handle. When she went in Philip was poring over the prayer-book, hiding his eyes with his hands so that she might not see he had been crying. "Do you know the collect yet?" she said. He did not answer for a moment, and she felt that he did not trust his voice. She was oddly embarrassed. "I can't learn it by heart," he said at last, with a gasp. "Oh, well, never mind," she said. "You needn't. I've got some picture books for you to look at. Come and sit on my lap, and we'll look at them together." Philip slipped off his chair and limped over to her. He looked down so that she should not see his eyes. She put her arms round him. "Look," she said, "that's the place where our blessed Lord was born." She showed him an Eastern town with flat roofs and cupolas and minarets. In the foreground was a group of palm-trees, and under them were resting two Arabs and some camels. Philip passed his hand over the picture as if he wanted to feel the houses and the loose habiliments of the nomads. "Read what it says," he asked. Mrs. Carey in her even voice read the opposite page. It was a romantic narrative of some Eastern traveller of the thirties, pompous maybe, but fragrant with the emotion with which the East came to the generation that followed Byron and Chateaubriand. In a moment or two Philip interrupted her. "I want to see another picture." When Mary Ann came in and Mrs. Carey rose to help her lay the cloth. Philip took the book in his hands and hurried through the illustrations. It was with difficulty that his aunt induced him to put the book down for tea. He had forgotten his horrible struggle to get the collect by heart; he had forgotten his tears. Next day it was raining, and he asked for the book again. Mrs. Carey gave it him joyfully. Talking over his future with her husband she had found that both desired him to take orders, and this eagerness for the book which described places hallowed by the presence of Jesus seemed a good sign. It looked as though the boy's mind addressed itself naturally to holy things. But in a day or two he asked for more books. Mr. Carey took him into his study, showed him the shelf in which he kept illustrated works, and chose for him one that dealt with Rome. Philip took it greedily. The pictures led him to a new amusement. He began to read the page before and the page after each engraving to find out what it was about, and soon he lost all interest in his toys. Then, when no one was near, he took out books for himself; and perhaps because the first impression on his mind was made by an Eastern town, he found his chief amusement in those which described the Levant. His heart beat with excitement at the pictures of mosques and rich palaces; but there was one, in a book on Constantinople, which peculiarly stirred his imagination. It was called the Hall of the Thousand Columns. It was a Byzantine cistern, which the popular fancy had endowed with fantastic vastness; and the legend which he read told that a boat was always moored at the entrance to tempt the unwary, but no traveller venturing into the darkness had ever been seen again. And Philip wondered whether the boat went on for ever through one pillared alley after another or came at last to some strange mansion. One day a good fortune befell him, for he hit upon Lane's translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night. He was captured first by the illustrations, and then he began to read, to start with, the stories that dealt with magic, and then the others; and those he liked he read again and again. He could think of nothing else. He forgot the life about him. He had to be called two or three times before he would come to his dinner. Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment. Presently he began to read other things. His brain was precocious. His uncle and aunt, seeing that he occupied himself and neither worried nor made a noise, ceased to trouble themselves about him. Mr. Carey had so many books that he did not know them, and as he read little he forgot the odd lots he had bought at one time and another because they were cheap. Haphazard among the sermons and homilies, the travels, the lives of the Saints, the Fathers, the histories of the church, were old-fashioned novels; and these Philip at last discovered. He chose them by their titles, and the first he read was The Lancashire Witches, and then he read The Admirable Crichton, and then many more. Whenever he started a book with two solitary travellers riding along the brink of a desperate ravine he knew he was safe. The summer was come now, and the gardener, an old sailor, made him a hammock and fixed it up for him in the branches of a weeping willow. And here for long hours he lay, hidden from anyone who might come to the vicarage, reading, reading passionately. Time passed and it was July; August came: on Sundays the church was crowded with strangers, and the collection at the offertory often amounted to two pounds. Neither the Vicar nor Mrs. Carey went out of the garden much during this period; for they disliked strange faces, and they looked upon the visitors from London with aversion. The house opposite was taken for six weeks by a gentleman who had two little boys, and he sent in to ask if Philip would like to go and play with them; but Mrs. Carey returned a polite refusal. She was afraid that Philip would be corrupted by little boys from London. He was going to be a clergyman, and it was necessary that he should be preserved from contamination. She liked to see in him an infant Samuel. </CHAPTER>

Chapters V-IX

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman12.asp

These chapters tell about life in Blackstable. Philip gets used to the routine at the Vicarage. Every morning he observes his uncle reading the newspaper and then accompanies his aunt on her errands. Philip is taught Latin and mathematics by his uncle, and his aunt teaches him French and music. They seldom have company, but Philip, as an only child, is used to a solitary existence and can entertain himself. Sometimes, his aunt and uncle will talk about Philip's parents. He learns that his father was a brilliant doctor at St. Luke's hospital and was earning enough to lead a comfortable life. However, his generosity and his ostentatious living, coupled with his wife's careless management of their resources, has left very little financial security for Philip. Since the vicar is the brother of Philip's father, he and his wife seem to resent Philip's mother. In fact, one day a parcel arrives from Miss Watkins; it contains photographs, intended for Philip. His mother had the photographs taken before her death to leave behind as a remembrance for her son. Mr. Carey allows Phillip to keep only one of the pictures and returns to rest to Miss Watkins. Sunday is the most important day in Blackstable. After a hurried breakfast, Philip accompanies his aunt and uncle to church. On the way, the vicar acts important and takes precautions to keep his voice intact for the sermon. Philip is always bored in church and looks forward to hearing the last hymn, signaling the end of the service. On Sunday evening, Philip must again accompany his uncle to the church for evensong. One Sunday afternoon, the Vicar scolds Philip for disturbing his afternoon nap. The innocent boy, unaware of his uncle's angry mood, feels hurt. That evening Mr. Carey refuses to take Philip to church with him, which makes the boy feel even worse. In his frustration, Philip speaks harshly to his aunt but he soon regrets his rudeness. The next Sunday afternoon, to keep Philip busy, the Vicar asks him to learn the text for the day. Philip does his best, but grows frustrated, for the text is too hard. Mrs. Carey pities the boy and gives him religious picture books from his uncle's library. The boy reads them with interest and asks for more, establishing his habit of reading.

Notes These chapters show the lifestyle of a country vicar in Victorian England. As would be expected, Mr. Carey is a conformist who believes in discipline and a pragmatic approach to life. He and his wife follow a very set pattern of living, never realizing the monotony of it. They bathe once a week; meals do not vary, with menus for their supper fixed for the whole week; and Sundays are largely devoted to church, with services in the morning and evening. Every Sunday there is commotion in the house as the Vicar gets ready to accomplish his tasks for the day. Soon after he dresses in the morning, he polishes the communion plate and cuts bread. Before leaving for the church, he has a glass of sherry to keep his voice steady during the sermon. He stands on ceremony with no variety to his regimen. In fact, he is easily upset if his routine is broken, as shown when Philip interrupts his Sunday afternoon nap. Maugham's description of this authoritarian minister is outstanding. Through his actions and his conversation, he is shown to be filled with self-importance and ignorant of the feelings of his wife or the boy. He clearly does not understand the lonely Philip. Mrs. Carey is a typical Victorian housewife, meek and submissive; her husband's word is her command. She likes to dress in cheerful clothes, but the Vicar insists on her wearing plain black without any ornamentation, and she gives in to his demands. Even though she likes Philip and feels affectionate towards him, she suppresses her maternal feelings out of respect for her husband. But she hates it when Mr. Carey punishes him and takes pity on him when the Vicar expects too much of the boy. Philip is largely ignored by his aunt and uncle; therefore, he keeps himself busy by talking to Mary, the maid, and playing with his blocks. The Vicar resents his childish activities and expects him to behave like a responsible adult. He wants the boy to forgo his fun and games and study deep religious texts that are too difficult for Philip. Fortunately, his aunt is more sensitive to his needs and gives him picture books, which he enjoys; they provide his company and allow his to escape from his lonely, largely silent existence. Through his portrayal of the Vicar, Maugham is openly criticizing the officers of the church who talk about the ways of God, but fail to act in a godly way. Mr. Carey seems to have little concern for the feelings of his fellow humans. He is thinking about sending Philip off to school, and the reader has the impression it is because he does not want to be bothered with the boy.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_10_to_14.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Of Human Bondage/section_2_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 10-14

chapters 10-14

{"name": "Chapters X-XIV", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman13.asp", "summary": "These chapters relate the experience of Philip at the preparatory King's School, which helps to prepare a boy for the ministry. As he accompanies his uncle to the school at Tercanbury, he is full of apprehension and feels self-conscious about his clubfoot. His uncle leaves him in the care of Mr. Watson. True to his fears, the boys immediately notice his deformed foot. Some of them take pity on him, while others mock him and even abuse him physically. He feels isolated because of his disability. When he is unable to bear the humiliation of his tormentors any longer, he cries and remembers his mother. After a time, his deformity is taken for granted and ignored, but Philip still remains sensitive and withdrawn, avoiding participation in the boys' activities. He does excel, however, in his studies and wins several prizes. Mr. Watson appreciates his efforts and expects to secure him a scholarship for additional education. When the school is gripped with a religious fever, Philip joins a study group and starts reading the Bible everynight. He excitedly reads the words, \"Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.\" Encouraged by the Vicar, he begins to pray fervently. He asks God to heal his foot and waits anxiously for the results. When no miracle occurs, Philip feels that his uncle has lied to him and loses faith.", "analysis": "Notes School is a new experience for Philip. Having led a protected life in the past, he now becomes aware of the harsh realities of life. The students make fun of his clubfoot, making him feel ashamed and isolating him further. To avoid the taunts of the students, he visualizes his mother's presence, seeking her protection. He also escapes into his studies and excels. Maugham is able to give a very sensitive portrayal of Philip's pain and loneliness, because he experienced the same kind of isolation due to his speech impediment. Philip craves companionship, affection, understanding, and sympathy. He longs to lead the life of a normal boy. When a student breaks his penholder by mistake, he concocts a story about its being a gift from his dead mother, hoping to win sympathy and acceptance. When he reads the words of Christ extolling the virtues of faith and the power of prayer to work miracles, he starts praying in earnest, asking God to heal his deformity. When his prayer is not answered, he loses faith. Philip realizes he will never escape his handicap and resigns himself to his sad situation."}

<CHAPTER> X The Careys made up their minds to send Philip to King's School at Tercanbury. The neighbouring clergy sent their sons there. It was united by long tradition to the Cathedral: its headmaster was an honorary Canon, and a past headmaster was the Archdeacon. Boys were encouraged there to aspire to Holy Orders, and the education was such as might prepare an honest lad to spend his life in God's service. A preparatory school was attached to it, and to this it was arranged that Philip should go. Mr. Carey took him into Tercanbury one Thursday afternoon towards the end of September. All day Philip had been excited and rather frightened. He knew little of school life but what he had read in the stories of The Boy's Own Paper. He had also read Eric, or Little by Little. When they got out of the train at Tercanbury, Philip felt sick with apprehension, and during the drive in to the town sat pale and silent. The high brick wall in front of the school gave it the look of a prison. There was a little door in it, which opened on their ringing; and a clumsy, untidy man came out and fetched Philip's tin trunk and his play-box. They were shown into the drawing-room; it was filled with massive, ugly furniture, and the chairs of the suite were placed round the walls with a forbidding rigidity. They waited for the headmaster. "What's Mr. Watson like?" asked Philip, after a while. "You'll see for yourself." There was another pause. Mr. Carey wondered why the headmaster did not come. Presently Philip made an effort and spoke again. "Tell him I've got a club-foot," he said. Before Mr. Carey could speak the door burst open and Mr. Watson swept into the room. To Philip he seemed gigantic. He was a man of over six feet high, and broad, with enormous hands and a great red beard; he talked loudly in a jovial manner; but his aggressive cheerfulness struck terror in Philip's heart. He shook hands with Mr. Carey, and then took Philip's small hand in his. "Well, young fellow, are you glad to come to school?" he shouted. Philip reddened and found no word to answer. "How old are you?" "Nine," said Philip. "You must say sir," said his uncle. "I expect you've got a good lot to learn," the headmaster bellowed cheerily. To give the boy confidence he began to tickle him with rough fingers. Philip, feeling shy and uncomfortable, squirmed under his touch. "I've put him in the small dormitory for the present.... You'll like that, won't you?" he added to Philip. "Only eight of you in there. You won't feel so strange." Then the door opened, and Mrs. Watson came in. She was a dark woman with black hair, neatly parted in the middle. She had curiously thick lips and a small round nose. Her eyes were large and black. There was a singular coldness in her appearance. She seldom spoke and smiled more seldom still. Her husband introduced Mr. Carey to her, and then gave Philip a friendly push towards her. "This is a new boy, Helen, His name's Carey." Without a word she shook hands with Philip and then sat down, not speaking, while the headmaster asked Mr. Carey how much Philip knew and what books he had been working with. The Vicar of Blackstable was a little embarrassed by Mr. Watson's boisterous heartiness, and in a moment or two got up. "I think I'd better leave Philip with you now." "That's all right," said Mr. Watson. "He'll be safe with me. He'll get on like a house on fire. Won't you, young fellow?" Without waiting for an answer from Philip the big man burst into a great bellow of laughter. Mr. Carey kissed Philip on the forehead and went away. "Come along, young fellow," shouted Mr. Watson. "I'll show you the school-room." He swept out of the drawing-room with giant strides, and Philip hurriedly limped behind him. He was taken into a long, bare room with two tables that ran along its whole length; on each side of them were wooden forms. "Nobody much here yet," said Mr. Watson. "I'll just show you the playground, and then I'll leave you to shift for yourself." Mr. Watson led the way. Philip found himself in a large play-ground with high brick walls on three sides of it. On the fourth side was an iron railing through which you saw a vast lawn and beyond this some of the buildings of King's School. One small boy was wandering disconsolately, kicking up the gravel as he walked. "Hulloa, Venning," shouted Mr. Watson. "When did you turn up?" The small boy came forward and shook hands. "Here's a new boy. He's older and bigger than you, so don't you bully him." The headmaster glared amicably at the two children, filling them with fear by the roar of his voice, and then with a guffaw left them. "What's your name?" "Carey." "What's your father?" "He's dead." "Oh! Does your mother wash?" "My mother's dead, too." Philip thought this answer would cause the boy a certain awkwardness, but Venning was not to be turned from his facetiousness for so little. "Well, did she wash?" he went on. "Yes," said Philip indignantly. "She was a washerwoman then?" "No, she wasn't." "Then she didn't wash." The little boy crowed with delight at the success of his dialectic. Then he caught sight of Philip's feet. "What's the matter with your foot?" Philip instinctively tried to withdraw it from sight. He hid it behind the one which was whole. "I've got a club-foot," he answered. "How did you get it?" "I've always had it." "Let's have a look." "No." "Don't then." The little boy accompanied the words with a sharp kick on Philip's shin, which Philip did not expect and thus could not guard against. The pain was so great that it made him gasp, but greater than the pain was the surprise. He did not know why Venning kicked him. He had not the presence of mind to give him a black eye. Besides, the boy was smaller than he, and he had read in The Boy's Own Paper that it was a mean thing to hit anyone smaller than yourself. While Philip was nursing his shin a third boy appeared, and his tormentor left him. In a little while he noticed that the pair were talking about him, and he felt they were looking at his feet. He grew hot and uncomfortable. But others arrived, a dozen together, and then more, and they began to talk about their doings during the holidays, where they had been, and what wonderful cricket they had played. A few new boys appeared, and with these presently Philip found himself talking. He was shy and nervous. He was anxious to make himself pleasant, but he could not think of anything to say. He was asked a great many questions and answered them all quite willingly. One boy asked him whether he could play cricket. "No," answered Philip. "I've got a club-foot." The boy looked down quickly and reddened. Philip saw that he felt he had asked an unseemly question. He was too shy to apologise and looked at Philip awkwardly. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XI Next morning when the clanging of a bell awoke Philip he looked round his cubicle in astonishment. Then a voice sang out, and he remembered where he was. "Are you awake, Singer?" The partitions of the cubicle were of polished pitch-pine, and there was a green curtain in front. In those days there was little thought of ventilation, and the windows were closed except when the dormitory was aired in the morning. Philip got up and knelt down to say his prayers. It was a cold morning, and he shivered a little; but he had been taught by his uncle that his prayers were more acceptable to God if he said them in his nightshirt than if he waited till he was dressed. This did not surprise him, for he was beginning to realise that he was the creature of a God who appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers. Then he washed. There were two baths for the fifty boarders, and each boy had a bath once a week. The rest of his washing was done in a small basin on a wash-stand, which with the bed and a chair, made up the furniture of each cubicle. The boys chatted gaily while they dressed. Philip was all ears. Then another bell sounded, and they ran downstairs. They took their seats on the forms on each side of the two long tables in the school-room; and Mr. Watson, followed by his wife and the servants, came in and sat down. Mr. Watson read prayers in an impressive manner, and the supplications thundered out in his loud voice as though they were threats personally addressed to each boy. Philip listened with anxiety. Then Mr. Watson read a chapter from the Bible, and the servants trooped out. In a moment the untidy youth brought in two large pots of tea and on a second journey immense dishes of bread and butter. Philip had a squeamish appetite, and the thick slabs of poor butter on the bread turned his stomach, but he saw other boys scraping it off and followed their example. They all had potted meats and such like, which they had brought in their play-boxes; and some had 'extras,' eggs or bacon, upon which Mr. Watson made a profit. When he had asked Mr. Carey whether Philip was to have these, Mr. Carey replied that he did not think boys should be spoilt. Mr. Watson quite agreed with him--he considered nothing was better than bread and butter for growing lads--but some parents, unduly pampering their offspring, insisted on it. Philip noticed that 'extras' gave boys a certain consideration and made up his mind, when he wrote to Aunt Louisa, to ask for them. After breakfast the boys wandered out into the play-ground. Here the day-boys were gradually assembling. They were sons of the local clergy, of the officers at the Depot, and of such manufacturers or men of business as the old town possessed. Presently a bell rang, and they all trooped into school. This consisted of a large, long room at opposite ends of which two under-masters conducted the second and third forms, and of a smaller one, leading out of it, used by Mr. Watson, who taught the first form. To attach the preparatory to the senior school these three classes were known officially, on speech days and in reports, as upper, middle, and lower second. Philip was put in the last. The master, a red-faced man with a pleasant voice, was called Rice; he had a jolly manner with boys, and the time passed quickly. Philip was surprised when it was a quarter to eleven and they were let out for ten minutes' rest. The whole school rushed noisily into the play-ground. The new boys were told to go into the middle, while the others stationed themselves along opposite walls. They began to play Pig in the Middle. The old boys ran from wall to wall while the new boys tried to catch them: when one was seized and the mystic words said--one, two, three, and a pig for me--he became a prisoner and, turning sides, helped to catch those who were still free. Philip saw a boy running past and tried to catch him, but his limp gave him no chance; and the runners, taking their opportunity, made straight for the ground he covered. Then one of them had the brilliant idea of imitating Philip's clumsy run. Other boys saw it and began to laugh; then they all copied the first; and they ran round Philip, limping grotesquely, screaming in their treble voices with shrill laughter. They lost their heads with the delight of their new amusement, and choked with helpless merriment. One of them tripped Philip up and he fell, heavily as he always fell, and cut his knee. They laughed all the louder when he got up. A boy pushed him from behind, and he would have fallen again if another had not caught him. The game was forgotten in the entertainment of Philip's deformity. One of them invented an odd, rolling limp that struck the rest as supremely ridiculous, and several of the boys lay down on the ground and rolled about in laughter: Philip was completely scared. He could not make out why they were laughing at him. His heart beat so that he could hardly breathe, and he was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He stood still stupidly while the boys ran round him, mimicking and laughing; they shouted to him to try and catch them; but he did not move. He did not want them to see him run any more. He was using all his strength to prevent himself from crying. Suddenly the bell rang, and they all trooped back to school. Philip's knee was bleeding, and he was dusty and dishevelled. For some minutes Mr. Rice could not control his form. They were excited still by the strange novelty, and Philip saw one or two of them furtively looking down at his feet. He tucked them under the bench. In the afternoon they went up to play football, but Mr. Watson stopped Philip on the way out after dinner. "I suppose you can't play football, Carey?" he asked him. Philip blushed self-consciously. "No, sir." "Very well. You'd better go up to the field. You can walk as far as that, can't you?" Philip had no idea where the field was, but he answered all the same. "Yes, sir." The boys went in charge of Mr. Rice, who glanced at Philip and seeing he had not changed, asked why he was not going to play. "Mr. Watson said I needn't, sir," said Philip. "Why?" There were boys all round him, looking at him curiously, and a feeling of shame came over Philip. He looked down without answering. Others gave the reply. "He's got a club-foot, sir." "Oh, I see." Mr. Rice was quite young; he had only taken his degree a year before; and he was suddenly embarrassed. His instinct was to beg the boy's pardon, but he was too shy to do so. He made his voice gruff and loud. "Now then, you boys, what are you waiting about for? Get on with you." Some of them had already started and those that were left now set off, in groups of two or three. "You'd better come along with me, Carey," said the master "You don't know the way, do you?" Philip guessed the kindness, and a sob came to his throat. "I can't go very fast, sir." "Then I'll go very slow," said the master, with a smile. Philip's heart went out to the red-faced, commonplace young man who said a gentle word to him. He suddenly felt less unhappy. But at night when they went up to bed and were undressing, the boy who was called Singer came out of his cubicle and put his head in Philip's. "I say, let's look at your foot," he said. "No," answered Philip. He jumped into bed quickly. "Don't say no to me," said Singer. "Come on, Mason." The boy in the next cubicle was looking round the corner, and at the words he slipped in. They made for Philip and tried to tear the bed-clothes off him, but he held them tightly. "Why can't you leave me alone?" he cried. Singer seized a brush and with the back of it beat Philip's hands clenched on the blanket. Philip cried out. "Why don't you show us your foot quietly?" "I won't." In desperation Philip clenched his fist and hit the boy who tormented him, but he was at a disadvantage, and the boy seized his arm. He began to turn it. "Oh, don't, don't," said Philip. "You'll break my arm." "Stop still then and put out your foot." Philip gave a sob and a gasp. The boy gave the arm another wrench. The pain was unendurable. "All right. I'll do it," said Philip. He put out his foot. Singer still kept his hand on Philip's wrist. He looked curiously at the deformity. "Isn't it beastly?" said Mason. Another came in and looked too. "Ugh," he said, in disgust. "My word, it is rum," said Singer, making a face. "Is it hard?" He touched it with the tip of his forefinger, cautiously, as though it were something that had a life of its own. Suddenly they heard Mr. Watson's heavy tread on the stairs. They threw the clothes back on Philip and dashed like rabbits into their cubicles. Mr. Watson came into the dormitory. Raising himself on tiptoe he could see over the rod that bore the green curtain, and he looked into two or three of the cubicles. The little boys were safely in bed. He put out the light and went out. Singer called out to Philip, but he did not answer. He had got his teeth in the pillow so that his sobbing should be inaudible. He was not crying for the pain they had caused him, nor for the humiliation he had suffered when they looked at his foot, but with rage at himself because, unable to stand the torture, he had put out his foot of his own accord. And then he felt the misery of his life. It seemed to his childish mind that this unhappiness must go on for ever. For no particular reason he remembered that cold morning when Emma had taken him out of bed and put him beside his mother. He had not thought of it once since it happened, but now he seemed to feel the warmth of his mother's body against his and her arms around him. Suddenly it seemed to him that his life was a dream, his mother's death, and the life at the vicarage, and these two wretched days at school, and he would awake in the morning and be back again at home. His tears dried as he thought of it. He was too unhappy, it must be nothing but a dream, and his mother was alive, and Emma would come up presently and go to bed. He fell asleep. But when he awoke next morning it was to the clanging of a bell, and the first thing his eyes saw was the green curtain of his cubicle. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XII As time went on Philip's deformity ceased to interest. It was accepted like one boy's red hair and another's unreasonable corpulence. But meanwhile he had grown horribly sensitive. He never ran if he could help it, because he knew it made his limp more conspicuous, and he adopted a peculiar walk. He stood still as much as he could, with his club-foot behind the other, so that it should not attract notice, and he was constantly on the look out for any reference to it. Because he could not join in the games which other boys played, their life remained strange to him; he only interested himself from the outside in their doings; and it seemed to him that there was a barrier between them and him. Sometimes they seemed to think that it was his fault if he could not play football, and he was unable to make them understand. He was left a good deal to himself. He had been inclined to talkativeness, but gradually he became silent. He began to think of the difference between himself and others. The biggest boy in his dormitory, Singer, took a dislike to him, and Philip, small for his age, had to put up with a good deal of hard treatment. About half-way through the term a mania ran through the school for a game called Nibs. It was a game for two, played on a table or a form with steel pens. You had to push your nib with the finger-nail so as to get the point of it over your opponent's, while he manoeuvred to prevent this and to get the point of his nib over the back of yours; when this result was achieved you breathed on the ball of your thumb, pressed it hard on the two nibs, and if you were able then to lift them without dropping either, both nibs became yours. Soon nothing was seen but boys playing this game, and the more skilful acquired vast stores of nibs. But in a little while Mr. Watson made up his mind that it was a form of gambling, forbade the game, and confiscated all the nibs in the boys' possession. Philip had been very adroit, and it was with a heavy heart that he gave up his winning; but his fingers itched to play still, and a few days later, on his way to the football field, he went into a shop and bought a pennyworth of J pens. He carried them loose in his pocket and enjoyed feeling them. Presently Singer found out that he had them. Singer had given up his nibs too, but he had kept back a very large one, called a Jumbo, which was almost unconquerable, and he could not resist the opportunity of getting Philip's Js out of him. Though Philip knew that he was at a disadvantage with his small nibs, he had an adventurous disposition and was willing to take the risk; besides, he was aware that Singer would not allow him to refuse. He had not played for a week and sat down to the game now with a thrill of excitement. He lost two of his small nibs quickly, and Singer was jubilant, but the third time by some chance the Jumbo slipped round and Philip was able to push his J across it. He crowed with triumph. At that moment Mr. Watson came in. "What are you doing?" he asked. He looked from Singer to Philip, but neither answered. "Don't you know that I've forbidden you to play that idiotic game?" Philip's heart beat fast. He knew what was coming and was dreadfully frightened, but in his fright there was a certain exultation. He had never been swished. Of course it would hurt, but it was something to boast about afterwards. "Come into my study." The headmaster turned, and they followed him side by side Singer whispered to Philip: "We're in for it." Mr. Watson pointed to Singer. "Bend over," he said. Philip, very white, saw the boy quiver at each stroke, and after the third he heard him cry out. Three more followed. "That'll do. Get up." Singer stood up. The tears were streaming down his face. Philip stepped forward. Mr. Watson looked at him for a moment. "I'm not going to cane you. You're a new boy. And I can't hit a cripple. Go away, both of you, and don't be naughty again." When they got back into the school-room a group of boys, who had learned in some mysterious way what was happening, were waiting for them. They set upon Singer at once with eager questions. Singer faced them, his face red with the pain and marks of tears still on his cheeks. He pointed with his head at Philip, who was standing a little behind him. "He got off because he's a cripple," he said angrily. Philip stood silent and flushed. He felt that they looked at him with contempt. "How many did you get?" one boy asked Singer. But he did not answer. He was angry because he had been hurt "Don't ask me to play Nibs with you again," he said to Philip. "It's jolly nice for you. You don't risk anything." "I didn't ask you." "Didn't you!" He quickly put out his foot and tripped Philip up. Philip was always rather unsteady on his feet, and he fell heavily to the ground. "Cripple," said Singer. For the rest of the term he tormented Philip cruelly, and, though Philip tried to keep out of his way, the school was so small that it was impossible; he tried being friendly and jolly with him; he abased himself, so far as to buy him a knife; but though Singer took the knife he was not placated. Once or twice, driven beyond endurance, he hit and kicked the bigger boy, but Singer was so much stronger that Philip was helpless, and he was always forced after more or less torture to beg his pardon. It was that which rankled with Philip: he could not bear the humiliation of apologies, which were wrung from him by pain greater than he could bear. And what made it worse was that there seemed no end to his wretchedness; Singer was only eleven and would not go to the upper school till he was thirteen. Philip realised that he must live two years with a tormentor from whom there was no escape. He was only happy while he was working and when he got into bed. And often there recurred to him then that queer feeling that his life with all its misery was nothing but a dream, and that he would awake in the morning in his own little bed in London. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIII Two years passed, and Philip was nearly twelve. He was in the first form, within two or three places of the top, and after Christmas when several boys would be leaving for the senior school he would be head boy. He had already quite a collection of prizes, worthless books on bad paper, but in gorgeous bindings decorated with the arms of the school: his position had freed him from bullying, and he was not unhappy. His fellows forgave him his success because of his deformity. "After all, it's jolly easy for him to get prizes," they said, "there's nothing he CAN do but swat." He had lost his early terror of Mr. Watson. He had grown used to the loud voice, and when the headmaster's heavy hand was laid on his shoulder Philip discerned vaguely the intention of a caress. He had the good memory which is more useful for scholastic achievements than mental power, and he knew Mr. Watson expected him to leave the preparatory school with a scholarship. But he had grown very self-conscious. The new-born child does not realise that his body is more a part of himself than surrounding objects, and will play with his toes without any feeling that they belong to him more than the rattle by his side; and it is only by degrees, through pain, that he understands the fact of the body. And experiences of the same kind are necessary for the individual to become conscious of himself; but here there is the difference that, although everyone becomes equally conscious of his body as a separate and complete organism, everyone does not become equally conscious of himself as a complete and separate personality. The feeling of apartness from others comes to most with puberty, but it is not always developed to such a degree as to make the difference between the individual and his fellows noticeable to the individual. It is such as he, as little conscious of himself as the bee in a hive, who are the lucky in life, for they have the best chance of happiness: their activities are shared by all, and their pleasures are only pleasures because they are enjoyed in common; you will see them on Whit-Monday dancing on Hampstead Heath, shouting at a football match, or from club windows in Pall Mall cheering a royal procession. It is because of them that man has been called a social animal. Philip passed from the innocence of childhood to bitter consciousness of himself by the ridicule which his club-foot had excited. The circumstances of his case were so peculiar that he could not apply to them the ready-made rules which acted well enough in ordinary affairs, and he was forced to think for himself. The many books he had read filled his mind with ideas which, because he only half understood them, gave more scope to his imagination. Beneath his painful shyness something was growing up within him, and obscurely he realised his personality. But at times it gave him odd surprises; he did things, he knew not why, and afterwards when he thought of them found himself all at sea. There was a boy called Luard between whom and Philip a friendship had arisen, and one day, when they were playing together in the school-room, Luard began to perform some trick with an ebony pen-holder of Philip's. "Don't play the giddy ox," said Philip. "You'll only break it." "I shan't." But no sooner were the words out of the boy's mouth than the pen-holder snapped in two. Luard looked at Philip with dismay. "Oh, I say, I'm awfully sorry." The tears rolled down Philip's cheeks, but he did not answer. "I say, what's the matter?" said Luard, with surprise. "I'll get you another one exactly the same." "It's not about the pen-holder I care," said Philip, in a trembling voice, "only it was given me by my mater, just before she died." "I say, I'm awfully sorry, Carey." "It doesn't matter. It wasn't your fault." Philip took the two pieces of the pen-holder and looked at them. He tried to restrain his sobs. He felt utterly miserable. And yet he could not tell why, for he knew quite well that he had bought the pen-holder during his last holidays at Blackstable for one and twopence. He did not know in the least what had made him invent that pathetic story, but he was quite as unhappy as though it had been true. The pious atmosphere of the vicarage and the religious tone of the school had made Philip's conscience very sensitive; he absorbed insensibly the feeling about him that the Tempter was ever on the watch to gain his immortal soul; and though he was not more truthful than most boys he never told a lie without suffering from remorse. When he thought over this incident he was very much distressed, and made up his mind that he must go to Luard and tell him that the story was an invention. Though he dreaded humiliation more than anything in the world, he hugged himself for two or three days at the thought of the agonising joy of humiliating himself to the Glory of God. But he never got any further. He satisfied his conscience by the more comfortable method of expressing his repentance only to the Almighty. But he could not understand why he should have been so genuinely affected by the story he was making up. The tears that flowed down his grubby cheeks were real tears. Then by some accident of association there occurred to him that scene when Emma had told him of his mother's death, and, though he could not speak for crying, he had insisted on going in to say good-bye to the Misses Watkin so that they might see his grief and pity him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIV Then a wave of religiosity passed through the school. Bad language was no longer heard, and the little nastinesses of small boys were looked upon with hostility; the bigger boys, like the lords temporal of the Middle Ages, used the strength of their arms to persuade those weaker than themselves to virtuous courses. Philip, his restless mind avid for new things, became very devout. He heard soon that it was possible to join a Bible League, and wrote to London for particulars. These consisted in a form to be filled up with the applicant's name, age, and school; a solemn declaration to be signed that he would read a set portion of Holy Scripture every night for a year; and a request for half a crown; this, it was explained, was demanded partly to prove the earnestness of the applicant's desire to become a member of the League, and partly to cover clerical expenses. Philip duly sent the papers and the money, and in return received a calendar worth about a penny, on which was set down the appointed passage to be read each day, and a sheet of paper on one side of which was a picture of the Good Shepherd and a lamb, and on the other, decoratively framed in red lines, a short prayer which had to be said before beginning to read. Every evening he undressed as quickly as possible in order to have time for his task before the gas was put out. He read industriously, as he read always, without criticism, stories of cruelty, deceit, ingratitude, dishonesty, and low cunning. Actions which would have excited his horror in the life about him, in the reading passed through his mind without comment, because they were committed under the direct inspiration of God. The method of the League was to alternate a book of the Old Testament with a book of the New, and one night Philip came across these words of Jesus Christ: If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all this, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. They made no particular impression on him, but it happened that two or three days later, being Sunday, the Canon in residence chose them for the text of his sermon. Even if Philip had wanted to hear this it would have been impossible, for the boys of King's School sit in the choir, and the pulpit stands at the corner of the transept so that the preacher's back is almost turned to them. The distance also is so great that it needs a man with a fine voice and a knowledge of elocution to make himself heard in the choir; and according to long usage the Canons of Tercanbury are chosen for their learning rather than for any qualities which might be of use in a cathedral church. But the words of the text, perhaps because he had read them so short a while before, came clearly enough to Philip's ears, and they seemed on a sudden to have a personal application. He thought about them through most of the sermon, and that night, on getting into bed, he turned over the pages of the Gospel and found once more the passage. Though he believed implicitly everything he saw in print, he had learned already that in the Bible things that said one thing quite clearly often mysteriously meant another. There was no one he liked to ask at school, so he kept the question he had in mind till the Christmas holidays, and then one day he made an opportunity. It was after supper and prayers were just finished. Mrs. Carey was counting the eggs that Mary Ann had brought in as usual and writing on each one the date. Philip stood at the table and pretended to turn listlessly the pages of the Bible. "I say, Uncle William, this passage here, does it really mean that?" He put his finger against it as though he had come across it accidentally. Mr. Carey looked up over his spectacles. He was holding The Blackstable Times in front of the fire. It had come in that evening damp from the press, and the Vicar always aired it for ten minutes before he began to read. "What passage is that?" he asked. "Why, this about if you have faith you can remove mountains." "If it says so in the Bible it is so, Philip," said Mrs. Carey gently, taking up the plate-basket. Philip looked at his uncle for an answer. "It's a matter of faith." "D'you mean to say that if you really believed you could move mountains you could?" "By the grace of God," said the Vicar. "Now, say good-night to your uncle, Philip," said Aunt Louisa. "You're not wanting to move a mountain tonight, are you?" Philip allowed himself to be kissed on the forehead by his uncle and preceded Mrs. Carey upstairs. He had got the information he wanted. His little room was icy, and he shivered when he put on his nightshirt. But he always felt that his prayers were more pleasing to God when he said them under conditions of discomfort. The coldness of his hands and feet were an offering to the Almighty. And tonight he sank on his knees; buried his face in his hands, and prayed to God with all his might that He would make his club-foot whole. It was a very small thing beside the moving of mountains. He knew that God could do it if He wished, and his own faith was complete. Next morning, finishing his prayers with the same request, he fixed a date for the miracle. "Oh, God, in Thy loving mercy and goodness, if it be Thy will, please make my foot all right on the night before I go back to school." He was glad to get his petition into a formula, and he repeated it later in the dining-room during the short pause which the Vicar always made after prayers, before he rose from his knees. He said it again in the evening and again, shivering in his nightshirt, before he got into bed. And he believed. For once he looked forward with eagerness to the end of the holidays. He laughed to himself as he thought of his uncle's astonishment when he ran down the stairs three at a time; and after breakfast he and Aunt Louisa would have to hurry out and buy a new pair of boots. At school they would be astounded. "Hulloa, Carey, what have you done with your foot?" "Oh, it's all right now," he would answer casually, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. He would be able to play football. His heart leaped as he saw himself running, running, faster than any of the other boys. At the end of the Easter term there were the sports, and he would be able to go in for the races; he rather fancied himself over the hurdles. It would be splendid to be like everyone else, not to be stared at curiously by new boys who did not know about his deformity, nor at the baths in summer to need incredible precautions, while he was undressing, before he could hide his foot in the water. He prayed with all the power of his soul. No doubts assailed him. He was confident in the word of God. And the night before he was to go back to school he went up to bed tremulous with excitement. There was snow on the ground, and Aunt Louisa had allowed herself the unaccustomed luxury of a fire in her bed-room; but in Philip's little room it was so cold that his fingers were numb, and he had great difficulty in undoing his collar. His teeth chattered. The idea came to him that he must do something more than usual to attract the attention of God, and he turned back the rug which was in front of his bed so that he could kneel on the bare boards; and then it struck him that his nightshirt was a softness that might displease his Maker, so he took it off and said his prayers naked. When he got into bed he was so cold that for some time he could not sleep, but when he did, it was so soundly that Mary Ann had to shake him when she brought in his hot water next morning. She talked to him while she drew the curtains, but he did not answer; he had remembered at once that this was the morning for the miracle. His heart was filled with joy and gratitude. His first instinct was to put down his hand and feel the foot which was whole now, but to do this seemed to doubt the goodness of God. He knew that his foot was well. But at last he made up his mind, and with the toes of his right foot he just touched his left. Then he passed his hand over it. He limped downstairs just as Mary Ann was going into the dining-room for prayers, and then he sat down to breakfast. "You're very quiet this morning, Philip," said Aunt Louisa presently. "He's thinking of the good breakfast he'll have at school to-morrow," said the Vicar. When Philip answered, it was in a way that always irritated his uncle, with something that had nothing to do with the matter in hand. He called it a bad habit of wool-gathering. "Supposing you'd asked God to do something," said Philip, "and really believed it was going to happen, like moving a mountain, I mean, and you had faith, and it didn't happen, what would it mean?" "What a funny boy you are!" said Aunt Louisa. "You asked about moving mountains two or three weeks ago." "It would just mean that you hadn't got faith," answered Uncle William. Philip accepted the explanation. If God had not cured him, it was because he did not really believe. And yet he did not see how he could believe more than he did. But perhaps he had not given God enough time. He had only asked Him for nineteen days. In a day or two he began his prayer again, and this time he fixed upon Easter. That was the day of His Son's glorious resurrection, and God in His happiness might be mercifully inclined. But now Philip added other means of attaining his desire: he began to wish, when he saw a new moon or a dappled horse, and he looked out for shooting stars; during exeat they had a chicken at the vicarage, and he broke the lucky bone with Aunt Louisa and wished again, each time that his foot might be made whole. He was appealing unconsciously to gods older to his race than the God of Israel. And he bombarded the Almighty with his prayer, at odd times of the day, whenever it occurred to him, in identical words always, for it seemed to him important to make his request in the same terms. But presently the feeling came to him that this time also his faith would not be great enough. He could not resist the doubt that assailed him. He made his own experience into a general rule. "I suppose no one ever has faith enough," he said. It was like the salt which his nurse used to tell him about: you could catch any bird by putting salt on his tail; and once he had taken a little bag of it into Kensington Gardens. But he could never get near enough to put the salt on a bird's tail. Before Easter he had given up the struggle. He felt a dull resentment against his uncle for taking him in. The text which spoke of the moving of mountains was just one of those that said one thing and meant another. He thought his uncle had been playing a practical joke on him. </CHAPTER>

Chapters X-XIV

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman13.asp

These chapters relate the experience of Philip at the preparatory King's School, which helps to prepare a boy for the ministry. As he accompanies his uncle to the school at Tercanbury, he is full of apprehension and feels self-conscious about his clubfoot. His uncle leaves him in the care of Mr. Watson. True to his fears, the boys immediately notice his deformed foot. Some of them take pity on him, while others mock him and even abuse him physically. He feels isolated because of his disability. When he is unable to bear the humiliation of his tormentors any longer, he cries and remembers his mother. After a time, his deformity is taken for granted and ignored, but Philip still remains sensitive and withdrawn, avoiding participation in the boys' activities. He does excel, however, in his studies and wins several prizes. Mr. Watson appreciates his efforts and expects to secure him a scholarship for additional education. When the school is gripped with a religious fever, Philip joins a study group and starts reading the Bible everynight. He excitedly reads the words, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Encouraged by the Vicar, he begins to pray fervently. He asks God to heal his foot and waits anxiously for the results. When no miracle occurs, Philip feels that his uncle has lied to him and loses faith.

Notes School is a new experience for Philip. Having led a protected life in the past, he now becomes aware of the harsh realities of life. The students make fun of his clubfoot, making him feel ashamed and isolating him further. To avoid the taunts of the students, he visualizes his mother's presence, seeking her protection. He also escapes into his studies and excels. Maugham is able to give a very sensitive portrayal of Philip's pain and loneliness, because he experienced the same kind of isolation due to his speech impediment. Philip craves companionship, affection, understanding, and sympathy. He longs to lead the life of a normal boy. When a student breaks his penholder by mistake, he concocts a story about its being a gift from his dead mother, hoping to win sympathy and acceptance. When he reads the words of Christ extolling the virtues of faith and the power of prayer to work miracles, he starts praying in earnest, asking God to heal his deformity. When his prayer is not answered, he loses faith. Philip realizes he will never escape his handicap and resigns himself to his sad situation.

pinkmonkey

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_15_to_21.txt

finished_summaries/pinkmonkey/Of Human Bondage/section_3_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 15-21

chapters 15-21

{"name": "Chapters XV-XXI", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman14.asp", "summary": "Philip graduates from preparatory school and at the age of thirteen enters King's School, a well established institution known for its excellence in learning. It is conforming and traditional in every way, with a curriculum based on the classics. When Mr. Perkins replaces the old headmaster, he is looked down upon. Though he is well qualified for the job, others judge him as unfit because he belongs to a family of linen drapers. Perkins brings many changes to the school, which harms his reputation even more. Philip, however, admires the new headmaster for his kindness, intelligence, and insight. He even starts taking an interest in religion again because it is taught by Perkins and for a time considers being ordained. Philip makes friends with a boy named Rose, who helps him gain confidence. Then Philip contracts scarlet fever and has to stay away from school for a long while. When he returns from Blackstable after recovering, he finds that Rose has a new friend and little interest in him. Deprived of friendship once again, Philip starts losing interest in school and thinks about leaving. Perkins and his uncle try unsuccessfully to dissuade him. He finally departs the King's School and heads to Germany, for he wants to see the world.", "analysis": "Notes In these chapters, Maugham cynically mocks the old staff at the King's School who value tradition and social status more than education and erudition. Perkins, though very intelligent and well- educated, is rejected by them because he is not considered to be a gentleman due to his family's status. When he changes the curriculum, to allow French and German to be taught, they are horrified. Philip, however, is attracted to Perkins, probably because the older teachers taunted him about his deformity and belittled his intelligence. Perkins, on the other hand, recognizes his intelligence, appreciates his knowledge, and encourages him to do his best. As Philip grows from child to adolescent, there is a transformation in his attitude and behavior, as seen in these chapters. Like most boys his age, he goes through significant mood swings and rapid change of opinion. One moment he cares, and the next moment he hates. He also becomes intolerant of those who lack his intelligence and makes bitter remarks about them, an action that isolates him even further. When Rose extends a hand of friendship to Philip, he is delighted and blossoms with the companionship. The friendship is an odd one, for Rose is a complete contrast to Philip. He is big, athletic, well-liked, charming, and not a very good student. Unfortunately, Philip is jealous of Rose and does not want to share his attention. He quarrels often with his friend, which irritates Rose. When Rose rejects him after his long absence due to the scarlet fever, Philip is miserable, and his studies suffer. Despite the encouragement of his uncle and Perkins to stay in school, Philip decides to leave. He has lost interest in ever joining the clergy, for he is very critical of the behavior of his uncle and the other Vicars and religious leaders. He is especially upset when Perkins and his uncle try to trick him into staying. Philip wants to see the world and decides to travel to Germany. It is important to notice that Philip's aunt is still sensitive and caring in her own inept way. She buys him a watercolor set, and Philip enjoys using it. His paintings show that he has some natural talent, which comes into play later in the novel."}

<CHAPTER> XV The King's School at Tercanbury, to which Philip went when he was thirteen, prided itself on its antiquity. It traced its origin to an abbey school, founded before the Conquest, where the rudiments of learning were taught by Augustine monks; and, like many another establishment of this sort, on the destruction of the monasteries it had been reorganised by the officers of King Henry VIII and thus acquired its name. Since then, pursuing its modest course, it had given to the sons of the local gentry and of the professional people of Kent an education sufficient to their needs. One or two men of letters, beginning with a poet, than whom only Shakespeare had a more splendid genius, and ending with a writer of prose whose view of life has affected profoundly the generation of which Philip was a member, had gone forth from its gates to achieve fame; it had produced one or two eminent lawyers, but eminent lawyers are common, and one or two soldiers of distinction; but during the three centuries since its separation from the monastic order it had trained especially men of the church, bishops, deans, canons, and above all country clergymen: there were boys in the school whose fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, had been educated there and had all been rectors of parishes in the diocese of Tercanbury; and they came to it with their minds made up already to be ordained. But there were signs notwithstanding that even there changes were coming; for a few, repeating what they had heard at home, said that the Church was no longer what it used to be. It wasn't so much the money; but the class of people who went in for it weren't the same; and two or three boys knew curates whose fathers were tradesmen: they'd rather go out to the Colonies (in those days the Colonies were still the last hope of those who could get nothing to do in England) than be a curate under some chap who wasn't a gentleman. At King's School, as at Blackstable Vicarage, a tradesman was anyone who was not lucky enough to own land (and here a fine distinction was made between the gentleman farmer and the landowner), or did not follow one of the four professions to which it was possible for a gentleman to belong. Among the day-boys, of whom there were about a hundred and fifty, sons of the local gentry and of the men stationed at the depot, those whose fathers were engaged in business were made to feel the degradation of their state. The masters had no patience with modern ideas of education, which they read of sometimes in The Times or The Guardian, and hoped fervently that King's School would remain true to its old traditions. The dead languages were taught with such thoroughness that an old boy seldom thought of Homer or Virgil in after life without a qualm of boredom; and though in the common room at dinner one or two bolder spirits suggested that mathematics were of increasing importance, the general feeling was that they were a less noble study than the classics. Neither German nor chemistry was taught, and French only by the form-masters; they could keep order better than a foreigner, and, since they knew the grammar as well as any Frenchman, it seemed unimportant that none of them could have got a cup of coffee in the restaurant at Boulogne unless the waiter had known a little English. Geography was taught chiefly by making boys draw maps, and this was a favourite occupation, especially when the country dealt with was mountainous: it was possible to waste a great deal of time in drawing the Andes or the Apennines. The masters, graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, were ordained and unmarried; if by chance they wished to marry they could only do so by accepting one of the smaller livings at the disposal of the Chapter; but for many years none of them had cared to leave the refined society of Tercanbury, which owing to the cavalry depot had a martial as well as an ecclesiastical tone, for the monotony of life in a country rectory; and they were now all men of middle age. The headmaster, on the other hand, was obliged to be married and he conducted the school till age began to tell upon him. When he retired he was rewarded with a much better living than any of the under-masters could hope for, and an honorary Canonry. But a year before Philip entered the school a great change had come over it. It had been obvious for some time that Dr. Fleming, who had been headmaster for the quarter of a century, was become too deaf to continue his work to the greater glory of God; and when one of the livings on the outskirts of the city fell vacant, with a stipend of six hundred a year, the Chapter offered it to him in such a manner as to imply that they thought it high time for him to retire. He could nurse his ailments comfortably on such an income. Two or three curates who had hoped for preferment told their wives it was scandalous to give a parish that needed a young, strong, and energetic man to an old fellow who knew nothing of parochial work, and had feathered his nest already; but the mutterings of the unbeneficed clergy do not reach the ears of a cathedral Chapter. And as for the parishioners they had nothing to say in the matter, and therefore nobody asked for their opinion. The Wesleyans and the Baptists both had chapels in the village. When Dr. Fleming was thus disposed of it became necessary to find a successor. It was contrary to the traditions of the school that one of the lower-masters should be chosen. The common-room was unanimous in desiring the election of Mr. Watson, headmaster of the preparatory school; he could hardly be described as already a master of King's School, they had all known him for twenty years, and there was no danger that he would make a nuisance of himself. But the Chapter sprang a surprise on them. It chose a man called Perkins. At first nobody knew who Perkins was, and the name favourably impressed no one; but before the shock of it had passed away, it was realised that Perkins was the son of Perkins the linendraper. Dr. Fleming informed the masters just before dinner, and his manner showed his consternation. Such of them as were dining in, ate their meal almost in silence, and no reference was made to the matter till the servants had left the room. Then they set to. The names of those present on this occasion are unimportant, but they had been known to generations of school-boys as Sighs, Tar, Winks, Squirts, and Pat. They all knew Tom Perkins. The first thing about him was that he was not a gentleman. They remembered him quite well. He was a small, dark boy, with untidy black hair and large eyes. He looked like a gipsy. He had come to the school as a day-boy, with the best scholarship on their endowment, so that his education had cost him nothing. Of course he was brilliant. At every Speech-Day he was loaded with prizes. He was their show-boy, and they remembered now bitterly their fear that he would try to get some scholarship at one of the larger public schools and so pass out of their hands. Dr. Fleming had gone to the linendraper his father--they all remembered the shop, Perkins and Cooper, in St. Catherine's Street--and said he hoped Tom would remain with them till he went to Oxford. The school was Perkins and Cooper's best customer, and Mr. Perkins was only too glad to give the required assurance. Tom Perkins continued to triumph, he was the finest classical scholar that Dr. Fleming remembered, and on leaving the school took with him the most valuable scholarship they had to offer. He got another at Magdalen and settled down to a brilliant career at the University. The school magazine recorded the distinctions he achieved year after year, and when he got his double first Dr. Fleming himself wrote a few words of eulogy on the front page. It was with greater satisfaction that they welcomed his success, since Perkins and Cooper had fallen upon evil days: Cooper drank like a fish, and just before Tom Perkins took his degree the linendrapers filed their petition in bankruptcy. In due course Tom Perkins took Holy Orders and entered upon the profession for which he was so admirably suited. He had been an assistant master at Wellington and then at Rugby. But there was quite a difference between welcoming his success at other schools and serving under his leadership in their own. Tar had frequently given him lines, and Squirts had boxed his ears. They could not imagine how the Chapter had made such a mistake. No one could be expected to forget that he was the son of a bankrupt linendraper, and the alcoholism of Cooper seemed to increase the disgrace. It was understood that the Dean had supported his candidature with zeal, so the Dean would probably ask him to dinner; but would the pleasant little dinners in the precincts ever be the same when Tom Perkins sat at the table? And what about the depot? He really could not expect officers and gentlemen to receive him as one of themselves. It would do the school incalculable harm. Parents would be dissatisfied, and no one could be surprised if there were wholesale withdrawals. And then the indignity of calling him Mr. Perkins! The masters thought by way of protest of sending in their resignations in a body, but the uneasy fear that they would be accepted with equanimity restrained them. "The only thing is to prepare ourselves for changes," said Sighs, who had conducted the fifth form for five and twenty years with unparalleled incompetence. And when they saw him they were not reassured. Dr. Fleming invited them to meet him at luncheon. He was now a man of thirty-two, tall and lean, but with the same wild and unkempt look they remembered on him as a boy. His clothes, ill-made and shabby, were put on untidily. His hair was as black and as long as ever, and he had plainly never learned to brush it; it fell over his forehead with every gesture, and he had a quick movement of the hand with which he pushed it back from his eyes. He had a black moustache and a beard which came high up on his face almost to the cheek-bones, He talked to the masters quite easily, as though he had parted from them a week or two before; he was evidently delighted to see them. He seemed unconscious of the strangeness of the position and appeared not to notice any oddness in being addressed as Mr. Perkins. When he bade them good-bye, one of the masters, for something to say, remarked that he was allowing himself plenty of time to catch his train. "I want to go round and have a look at the shop," he answered cheerfully. There was a distinct embarrassment. They wondered that he could be so tactless, and to make it worse Dr. Fleming had not heard what he said. His wife shouted it in his ear. "He wants to go round and look at his father's old shop." Only Tom Perkins was unconscious of the humiliation which the whole party felt. He turned to Mrs. Fleming. "Who's got it now, d'you know?" She could hardly answer. She was very angry. "It's still a linendraper's," she said bitterly. "Grove is the name. We don't deal there any more." "I wonder if he'd let me go over the house." "I expect he would if you explain who you are." It was not till the end of dinner that evening that any reference was made in the common-room to the subject that was in all their minds. Then it was Sighs who asked: "Well, what did you think of our new head?" They thought of the conversation at luncheon. It was hardly a conversation; it was a monologue. Perkins had talked incessantly. He talked very quickly, with a flow of easy words and in a deep, resonant voice. He had a short, odd little laugh which showed his white teeth. They had followed him with difficulty, for his mind darted from subject to subject with a connection they did not always catch. He talked of pedagogics, and this was natural enough; but he had much to say of modern theories in Germany which they had never heard of and received with misgiving. He talked of the classics, but he had been to Greece, and he discoursed of archaeology; he had once spent a winter digging; they could not see how that helped a man to teach boys to pass examinations, He talked of politics. It sounded odd to them to hear him compare Lord Beaconsfield with Alcibiades. He talked of Mr. Gladstone and Home Rule. They realised that he was a Liberal. Their hearts sank. He talked of German philosophy and of French fiction. They could not think a man profound whose interests were so diverse. It was Winks who summed up the general impression and put it into a form they all felt conclusively damning. Winks was the master of the upper third, a weak-kneed man with drooping eye-lids, He was too tall for his strength, and his movements were slow and languid. He gave an impression of lassitude, and his nickname was eminently appropriate. "He's very enthusiastic," said Winks. Enthusiasm was ill-bred. Enthusiasm was ungentlemanly. They thought of the Salvation Army with its braying trumpets and its drums. Enthusiasm meant change. They had goose-flesh when they thought of all the pleasant old habits which stood in imminent danger. They hardly dared to look forward to the future. "He looks more of a gipsy than ever," said one, after a pause. "I wonder if the Dean and Chapter knew that he was a Radical when they elected him," another observed bitterly. But conversation halted. They were too much disturbed for words. When Tar and Sighs were walking together to the Chapter House on Speech-Day a week later, Tar, who had a bitter tongue, remarked to his colleague: "Well, we've seen a good many Speech-Days here, haven't we? I wonder if we shall see another." Sighs was more melancholy even than usual. "If anything worth having comes along in the way of a living I don't mind when I retire." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVI A year passed, and when Philip came to the school the old masters were all in their places; but a good many changes had taken place notwithstanding their stubborn resistance, none the less formidable because it was concealed under an apparent desire to fall in with the new head's ideas. Though the form-masters still taught French to the lower school, another master had come, with a degree of doctor of philology from the University of Heidelberg and a record of three years spent in a French lycee, to teach French to the upper forms and German to anyone who cared to take it up instead of Greek. Another master was engaged to teach mathematics more systematically than had been found necessary hitherto. Neither of these was ordained. This was a real revolution, and when the pair arrived the older masters received them with distrust. A laboratory had been fitted up, army classes were instituted; they all said the character of the school was changing. And heaven only knew what further projects Mr. Perkins turned in that untidy head of his. The school was small as public schools go, there were not more than two hundred boarders; and it was difficult for it to grow larger, for it was huddled up against the Cathedral; the precincts, with the exception of a house in which some of the masters lodged, were occupied by the cathedral clergy; and there was no more room for building. But Mr. Perkins devised an elaborate scheme by which he might obtain sufficient space to make the school double its present size. He wanted to attract boys from London. He thought it would be good for them to be thrown in contact with the Kentish lads, and it would sharpen the country wits of these. "It's against all our traditions," said Sighs, when Mr. Perkins made the suggestion to him. "We've rather gone out of our way to avoid the contamination of boys from London." "Oh, what nonsense!" said Mr. Perkins. No one had ever told the form-master before that he talked nonsense, and he was meditating an acid reply, in which perhaps he might insert a veiled reference to hosiery, when Mr. Perkins in his impetuous way attacked him outrageously. "That house in the precincts--if you'd only marry I'd get the Chapter to put another couple of stories on, and we'd make dormitories and studies, and your wife could help you." The elderly clergyman gasped. Why should he marry? He was fifty-seven, a man couldn't marry at fifty-seven. He couldn't start looking after a house at his time of life. He didn't want to marry. If the choice lay between that and the country living he would much sooner resign. All he wanted now was peace and quietness. "I'm not thinking of marrying," he said. Mr. Perkins looked at him with his dark, bright eyes, and if there was a twinkle in them poor Sighs never saw it. "What a pity! Couldn't you marry to oblige me? It would help me a great deal with the Dean and Chapter when I suggest rebuilding your house." But Mr. Perkins' most unpopular innovation was his system of taking occasionally another man's form. He asked it as a favour, but after all it was a favour which could not be refused, and as Tar, otherwise Mr. Turner, said, it was undignified for all parties. He gave no warning, but after morning prayers would say to one of the masters: "I wonder if you'd mind taking the Sixth today at eleven. We'll change over, shall we?" They did not know whether this was usual at other schools, but certainly it had never been done at Tercanbury. The results were curious. Mr. Turner, who was the first victim, broke the news to his form that the headmaster would take them for Latin that day, and on the pretence that they might like to ask him a question or two so that they should not make perfect fools of themselves, spent the last quarter of an hour of the history lesson in construing for them the passage of Livy which had been set for the day; but when he rejoined his class and looked at the paper on which Mr. Perkins had written the marks, a surprise awaited him; for the two boys at the top of the form seemed to have done very ill, while others who had never distinguished themselves before were given full marks. When he asked Eldridge, his cleverest boy, what was the meaning of this the answer came sullenly: "Mr. Perkins never gave us any construing to do. He asked me what I knew about General Gordon." Mr. Turner looked at him in astonishment. The boys evidently felt they had been hardly used, and he could not help agreeing with their silent dissatisfaction. He could not see either what General Gordon had to do with Livy. He hazarded an inquiry afterwards. "Eldridge was dreadfully put out because you asked him what he knew about General Gordon," he said to the headmaster, with an attempt at a chuckle. Mr. Perkins laughed. "I saw they'd got to the agrarian laws of Caius Gracchus, and I wondered if they knew anything about the agrarian troubles in Ireland. But all they knew about Ireland was that Dublin was on the Liffey. So I wondered if they'd ever heard of General Gordon." Then the horrid fact was disclosed that the new head had a mania for general information. He had doubts about the utility of examinations on subjects which had been crammed for the occasion. He wanted common sense. Sighs grew more worried every month; he could not get the thought out of his head that Mr. Perkins would ask him to fix a day for his marriage; and he hated the attitude the head adopted towards classical literature. There was no doubt that he was a fine scholar, and he was engaged on a work which was quite in the right tradition: he was writing a treatise on the trees in Latin literature; but he talked of it flippantly, as though it were a pastime of no great importance, like billiards, which engaged his leisure but was not to be considered with seriousness. And Squirts, the master of the Middle Third, grew more ill-tempered every day. It was in his form that Philip was put on entering the school. The Rev. B. B. Gordon was a man by nature ill-suited to be a schoolmaster: he was impatient and choleric. With no one to call him to account, with only small boys to face him, he had long lost all power of self-control. He began his work in a rage and ended it in a passion. He was a man of middle height and of a corpulent figure; he had sandy hair, worn very short and now growing gray, and a small bristly moustache. His large face, with indistinct features and small blue eyes, was naturally red, but during his frequent attacks of anger it grew dark and purple. His nails were bitten to the quick, for while some trembling boy was construing he would sit at his desk shaking with the fury that consumed him, and gnaw his fingers. Stories, perhaps exaggerated, were told of his violence, and two years before there had been some excitement in the school when it was heard that one father was threatening a prosecution: he had boxed the ears of a boy named Walters with a book so violently that his hearing was affected and the boy had to be taken away from the school. The boy's father lived in Tercanbury, and there had been much indignation in the city, the local paper had referred to the matter; but Mr. Walters was only a brewer, so the sympathy was divided. The rest of the boys, for reasons best known to themselves, though they loathed the master, took his side in the affair, and, to show their indignation that the school's business had been dealt with outside, made things as uncomfortable as they could for Walters' younger brother, who still remained. But Mr. Gordon had only escaped the country living by the skin of his teeth, and he had never hit a boy since. The right the masters possessed to cane boys on the hand was taken away from them, and Squirts could no longer emphasize his anger by beating his desk with the cane. He never did more now than take a boy by the shoulders and shake him. He still made a naughty or refractory lad stand with one arm stretched out for anything from ten minutes to half an hour, and he was as violent as before with his tongue. No master could have been more unfitted to teach things to so shy a boy as Philip. He had come to the school with fewer terrors than he had when first he went to Mr. Watson's. He knew a good many boys who had been with him at the preparatory school. He felt more grownup, and instinctively realised that among the larger numbers his deformity would be less noticeable. But from the first day Mr. Gordon struck terror in his heart; and the master, quick to discern the boys who were frightened of him, seemed on that account to take a peculiar dislike to him. Philip had enjoyed his work, but now he began to look upon the hours passed in school with horror. Rather than risk an answer which might be wrong and excite a storm of abuse from the master, he would sit stupidly silent, and when it came towards his turn to stand up and construe he grew sick and white with apprehension. His happy moments were those when Mr. Perkins took the form. He was able to gratify the passion for general knowledge which beset the headmaster; he had read all sorts of strange books beyond his years, and often Mr. Perkins, when a question was going round the room, would stop at Philip with a smile that filled the boy with rapture, and say: "Now, Carey, you tell them." The good marks he got on these occasions increased Mr. Gordon's indignation. One day it came to Philip's turn to translate, and the master sat there glaring at him and furiously biting his thumb. He was in a ferocious mood. Philip began to speak in a low voice. "Don't mumble," shouted the master. Something seemed to stick in Philip's throat. "Go on. Go on. Go on." Each time the words were screamed more loudly. The effect was to drive all he knew out of Philip's head, and he looked at the printed page vacantly. Mr. Gordon began to breathe heavily. "If you don't know why don't you say so? Do you know it or not? Did you hear all this construed last time or not? Why don't you speak? Speak, you blockhead, speak!" The master seized the arms of his chair and grasped them as though to prevent himself from falling upon Philip. They knew that in past days he often used to seize boys by the throat till they almost choked. The veins in his forehead stood out and his face grew dark and threatening. He was a man insane. Philip had known the passage perfectly the day before, but now he could remember nothing. "I don't know it," he gasped. "Why don't you know it? Let's take the words one by one. We'll soon see if you don't know it." Philip stood silent, very white, trembling a little, with his head bent down on the book. The master's breathing grew almost stertorous. "The headmaster says you're clever. I don't know how he sees it. General information." He laughed savagely. "I don't know what they put you in his form for, Blockhead." He was pleased with the word, and he repeated it at the top of his voice. "Blockhead! Blockhead! Club-footed blockhead!" That relieved him a little. He saw Philip redden suddenly. He told him to fetch the Black Book. Philip put down his Caesar and went silently out. The Black Book was a sombre volume in which the names of boys were written with their misdeeds, and when a name was down three times it meant a caning. Philip went to the headmaster's house and knocked at his study-door. Mr. Perkins was seated at his table. "May I have the Black Book, please, sir." "There it is," answered Mr. Perkins, indicating its place by a nod of his head. "What have you been doing that you shouldn't?" "I don't know, sir." Mr. Perkins gave him a quick look, but without answering went on with his work. Philip took the book and went out. When the hour was up, a few minutes later, he brought it back. "Let me have a look at it," said the headmaster. "I see Mr. Gordon has black-booked you for 'gross impertinence.' What was it?" "I don't know, sir. Mr. Gordon said I was a club-footed blockhead." Mr. Perkins looked at him again. He wondered whether there was sarcasm behind the boy's reply, but he was still much too shaken. His face was white and his eyes had a look of terrified distress. Mr. Perkins got up and put the book down. As he did so he took up some photographs. "A friend of mine sent me some pictures of Athens this morning," he said casually. "Look here, there's the Akropolis." He began explaining to Philip what he saw. The ruin grew vivid with his words. He showed him the theatre of Dionysus and explained in what order the people sat, and how beyond they could see the blue Aegean. And then suddenly he said: "I remember Mr. Gordon used to call me a gipsy counter-jumper when I was in his form." And before Philip, his mind fixed on the photographs, had time to gather the meaning of the remark, Mr. Perkins was showing him a picture of Salamis, and with his finger, a finger of which the nail had a little black edge to it, was pointing out how the Greek ships were placed and how the Persian. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVII Philip passed the next two years with comfortable monotony. He was not bullied more than other boys of his size; and his deformity, withdrawing him from games, acquired for him an insignificance for which he was grateful. He was not popular, and he was very lonely. He spent a couple of terms with Winks in the Upper Third. Winks, with his weary manner and his drooping eyelids, looked infinitely bored. He did his duty, but he did it with an abstracted mind. He was kind, gentle, and foolish. He had a great belief in the honour of boys; he felt that the first thing to make them truthful was not to let it enter your head for a moment that it was possible for them to lie. "Ask much," he quoted, "and much shall be given to you." Life was easy in the Upper Third. You knew exactly what lines would come to your turn to construe, and with the crib that passed from hand to hand you could find out all you wanted in two minutes; you could hold a Latin Grammar open on your knees while questions were passing round; and Winks never noticed anything odd in the fact that the same incredible mistake was to be found in a dozen different exercises. He had no great faith in examinations, for he noticed that boys never did so well in them as in form: it was disappointing, but not significant. In due course they were moved up, having learned little but a cheerful effrontery in the distortion of truth, which was possibly of greater service to them in after life than an ability to read Latin at sight. Then they fell into the hands of Tar. His name was Turner; he was the most vivacious of the old masters, a short man with an immense belly, a black beard turning now to gray, and a swarthy skin. In his clerical dress there was indeed something in him to suggest the tar-barrel; and though on principle he gave five hundred lines to any boy on whose lips he overheard his nickname, at dinner-parties in the precincts he often made little jokes about it. He was the most worldly of the masters; he dined out more frequently than any of the others, and the society he kept was not so exclusively clerical. The boys looked upon him as rather a dog. He left off his clerical attire during the holidays and had been seen in Switzerland in gay tweeds. He liked a bottle of wine and a good dinner, and having once been seen at the Cafe Royal with a lady who was very probably a near relation, was thenceforward supposed by generations of schoolboys to indulge in orgies the circumstantial details of which pointed to an unbounded belief in human depravity. Mr. Turner reckoned that it took him a term to lick boys into shape after they had been in the Upper Third; and now and then he let fall a sly hint, which showed that he knew perfectly what went on in his colleague's form. He took it good-humouredly. He looked upon boys as young ruffians who were more apt to be truthful if it was quite certain a lie would be found out, whose sense of honour was peculiar to themselves and did not apply to dealings with masters, and who were least likely to be troublesome when they learned that it did not pay. He was proud of his form and as eager at fifty-five that it should do better in examinations than any of the others as he had been when he first came to the school. He had the choler of the obese, easily roused and as easily calmed, and his boys soon discovered that there was much kindliness beneath the invective with which he constantly assailed them. He had no patience with fools, but was willing to take much trouble with boys whom he suspected of concealing intelligence behind their wilfulness. He was fond of inviting them to tea; and, though vowing they never got a look in with him at the cakes and muffins, for it was the fashion to believe that his corpulence pointed to a voracious appetite, and his voracious appetite to tapeworms, they accepted his invitations with real pleasure. Philip was now more comfortable, for space was so limited that there were only studies for boys in the upper school, and till then he had lived in the great hall in which they all ate and in which the lower forms did preparation in a promiscuity which was vaguely distasteful to him. Now and then it made him restless to be with people and he wanted urgently to be alone. He set out for solitary walks into the country. There was a little stream, with pollards on both sides of it, that ran through green fields, and it made him happy, he knew not why, to wander along its banks. When he was tired he lay face-downward on the grass and watched the eager scurrying of minnows and of tadpoles. It gave him a peculiar satisfaction to saunter round the precincts. On the green in the middle they practised at nets in the summer, but during the rest of the year it was quiet: boys used to wander round sometimes arm in arm, or a studious fellow with abstracted gaze walked slowly, repeating to himself something he had to learn by heart. There was a colony of rooks in the great elms, and they filled the air with melancholy cries. Along one side lay the Cathedral with its great central tower, and Philip, who knew as yet nothing of beauty, felt when he looked at it a troubling delight which he could not understand. When he had a study (it was a little square room looking on a slum, and four boys shared it), he bought a photograph of that view of the Cathedral, and pinned it up over his desk. And he found himself taking a new interest in what he saw from the window of the Fourth Form room. It looked on to old lawns, carefully tended, and fine trees with foliage dense and rich. It gave him an odd feeling in his heart, and he did not know if it was pain or pleasure. It was the first dawn of the aesthetic emotion. It accompanied other changes. His voice broke. It was no longer quite under his control, and queer sounds issued from his throat. Then he began to go to the classes which were held in the headmaster's study, immediately after tea, to prepare boys for confirmation. Philip's piety had not stood the test of time, and he had long since given up his nightly reading of the Bible; but now, under the influence of Mr. Perkins, with this new condition of the body which made him so restless, his old feelings revived, and he reproached himself bitterly for his backsliding. The fires of Hell burned fiercely before his mind's eye. If he had died during that time when he was little better than an infidel he would have been lost; he believed implicitly in pain everlasting, he believed in it much more than in eternal happiness; and he shuddered at the dangers he had run. Since the day on which Mr. Perkins had spoken kindly to him, when he was smarting under the particular form of abuse which he could least bear, Philip had conceived for his headmaster a dog-like adoration. He racked his brains vainly for some way to please him. He treasured the smallest word of commendation which by chance fell from his lips. And when he came to the quiet little meetings in his house he was prepared to surrender himself entirely. He kept his eyes fixed on Mr. Perkins' shining eyes, and sat with mouth half open, his head a little thrown forward so as to miss no word. The ordinariness of the surroundings made the matters they dealt with extraordinarily moving. And often the master, seized himself by the wonder of his subject, would push back the book in front of him, and with his hands clasped together over his heart, as though to still the beating, would talk of the mysteries of their religion. Sometimes Philip did not understand, but he did not want to understand, he felt vaguely that it was enough to feel. It seemed to him then that the headmaster, with his black, straggling hair and his pale face, was like those prophets of Israel who feared not to take kings to task; and when he thought of the Redeemer he saw Him only with the same dark eyes and those wan cheeks. Mr. Perkins took this part of his work with great seriousness. There was never here any of that flashing humour which made the other masters suspect him of flippancy. Finding time for everything in his busy day, he was able at certain intervals to take separately for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes the boys whom he was preparing for confirmation. He wanted to make them feel that this was the first consciously serious step in their lives; he tried to grope into the depths of their souls; he wanted to instil in them his own vehement devotion. In Philip, notwithstanding his shyness, he felt the possibility of a passion equal to his own. The boy's temperament seemed to him essentially religious. One day he broke off suddenly from the subject on which he had been talking. "Have you thought at all what you're going to be when you grow up?" he asked. "My uncle wants me to be ordained," said Philip. "And you?" Philip looked away. He was ashamed to answer that he felt himself unworthy. "I don't know any life that's so full of happiness as ours. I wish I could make you feel what a wonderful privilege it is. One can serve God in every walk, but we stand nearer to Him. I don't want to influence you, but if you made up your mind--oh, at once--you couldn't help feeling that joy and relief which never desert one again." Philip did not answer, but the headmaster read in his eyes that he realised already something of what he tried to indicate. "If you go on as you are now you'll find yourself head of the school one of these days, and you ought to be pretty safe for a scholarship when you leave. Have you got anything of your own?" "My uncle says I shall have a hundred a year when I'm twenty-one." "You'll be rich. I had nothing." The headmaster hesitated a moment, and then, idly drawing lines with a pencil on the blotting paper in front of him, went on. "I'm afraid your choice of professions will be rather limited. You naturally couldn't go in for anything that required physical activity." Philip reddened to the roots of his hair, as he always did when any reference was made to his club-foot. Mr. Perkins looked at him gravely. "I wonder if you're not oversensitive about your misfortune. Has it ever struck you to thank God for it?" Philip looked up quickly. His lips tightened. He remembered how for months, trusting in what they told him, he had implored God to heal him as He had healed the Leper and made the Blind to see. "As long as you accept it rebelliously it can only cause you shame. But if you looked upon it as a cross that was given you to bear only because your shoulders were strong enough to bear it, a sign of God's favour, then it would be a source of happiness to you instead of misery." He saw that the boy hated to discuss the matter and he let him go. But Philip thought over all that the headmaster had said, and presently, his mind taken up entirely with the ceremony that was before him, a mystical rapture seized him. His spirit seemed to free itself from the bonds of the flesh and he seemed to be living a new life. He aspired to perfection with all the passion that was in him. He wanted to surrender himself entirely to the service of God, and he made up his mind definitely that he would be ordained. When the great day arrived, his soul deeply moved by all the preparation, by the books he had studied and above all by the overwhelming influence of the head, he could hardly contain himself for fear and joy. One thought had tormented him. He knew that he would have to walk alone through the chancel, and he dreaded showing his limp thus obviously, not only to the whole school, who were attending the service, but also to the strangers, people from the city or parents who had come to see their sons confirmed. But when the time came he felt suddenly that he could accept the humiliation joyfully; and as he limped up the chancel, very small and insignificant beneath the lofty vaulting of the Cathedral, he offered consciously his deformity as a sacrifice to the God who loved him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVIII But Philip could not live long in the rarefied air of the hilltops. What had happened to him when first he was seized by the religious emotion happened to him now. Because he felt so keenly the beauty of faith, because the desire for self-sacrifice burned in his heart with such a gem-like glow, his strength seemed inadequate to his ambition. He was tired out by the violence of his passion. His soul was filled on a sudden with a singular aridity. He began to forget the presence of God which had seemed so surrounding; and his religious exercises, still very punctually performed, grew merely formal. At first he blamed himself for this falling away, and the fear of hell-fire urged him to renewed vehemence; but the passion was dead, and gradually other interests distracted his thoughts. Philip had few friends. His habit of reading isolated him: it became such a need that after being in company for some time he grew tired and restless; he was vain of the wider knowledge he had acquired from the perusal of so many books, his mind was alert, and he had not the skill to hide his contempt for his companions' stupidity. They complained that he was conceited; and, since he excelled only in matters which to them were unimportant, they asked satirically what he had to be conceited about. He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw; he said them because they amused him, hardly realising how much they hurt, and was much offended when he found that his victims regarded him with active dislike. The humiliations he suffered when first he went to school had caused in him a shrinking from his fellows which he could never entirely overcome; he remained shy and silent. But though he did everything to alienate the sympathy of other boys he longed with all his heart for the popularity which to some was so easily accorded. These from his distance he admired extravagantly; and though he was inclined to be more sarcastic with them than with others, though he made little jokes at their expense, he would have given anything to change places with them. Indeed he would gladly have changed places with the dullest boy in the school who was whole of limb. He took to a singular habit. He would imagine that he was some boy whom he had a particular fancy for; he would throw his soul, as it were, into the other's body, talk with his voice and laugh with his heart; he would imagine himself doing all the things the other did. It was so vivid that he seemed for a moment really to be no longer himself. In this way he enjoyed many intervals of fantastic happiness. At the beginning of the Christmas term which followed on his confirmation Philip found himself moved into another study. One of the boys who shared it was called Rose. He was in the same form as Philip, and Philip had always looked upon him with envious admiration. He was not good-looking; though his large hands and big bones suggested that he would be a tall man, he was clumsily made; but his eyes were charming, and when he laughed (he was constantly laughing) his face wrinkled all round them in a jolly way. He was neither clever nor stupid, but good enough at his work and better at games. He was a favourite with masters and boys, and he in his turn liked everyone. When Philip was put in the study he could not help seeing that the others, who had been together for three terms, welcomed him coldly. It made him nervous to feel himself an intruder; but he had learned to hide his feelings, and they found him quiet and unobtrusive. With Rose, because he was as little able as anyone else to resist his charm, Philip was even more than usually shy and abrupt; and whether on account of this, unconsciously bent upon exerting the fascination he knew was his only by the results, or whether from sheer kindness of heart, it was Rose who first took Philip into the circle. One day, quite suddenly, he asked Philip if he would walk to the football field with him. Philip flushed. "I can't walk fast enough for you," he said. "Rot. Come on." And just before they were setting out some boy put his head in the study-door and asked Rose to go with him. "I can't," he answered. "I've already promised Carey." "Don't bother about me," said Philip quickly. "I shan't mind." "Rot," said Rose. He looked at Philip with those good-natured eyes of his and laughed. Philip felt a curious tremor in his heart. In a little while, their friendship growing with boyish rapidity, the pair were inseparable. Other fellows wondered at the sudden intimacy, and Rose was asked what he saw in Philip. "Oh, I don't know," he answered. "He's not half a bad chap really." Soon they grew accustomed to the two walking into chapel arm in arm or strolling round the precincts in conversation; wherever one was the other could be found also, and, as though acknowledging his proprietorship, boys who wanted Rose would leave messages with Carey. Philip at first was reserved. He would not let himself yield entirely to the proud joy that filled him; but presently his distrust of the fates gave way before a wild happiness. He thought Rose the most wonderful fellow he had ever seen. His books now were insignificant; he could not bother about them when there was something infinitely more important to occupy him. Rose's friends used to come in to tea in the study sometimes or sit about when there was nothing better to do--Rose liked a crowd and the chance of a rag--and they found that Philip was quite a decent fellow. Philip was happy. When the last day of term came he and Rose arranged by which train they should come back, so that they might meet at the station and have tea in the town before returning to school. Philip went home with a heavy heart. He thought of Rose all through the holidays, and his fancy was active with the things they would do together next term. He was bored at the vicarage, and when on the last day his uncle put him the usual question in the usual facetious tone: "Well, are you glad to be going back to school?" Philip answered joyfully. "Rather." In order to be sure of meeting Rose at the station he took an earlier train than he usually did, and he waited about the platform for an hour. When the train came in from Faversham, where he knew Rose had to change, he ran along it excitedly. But Rose was not there. He got a porter to tell him when another train was due, and he waited; but again he was disappointed; and he was cold and hungry, so he walked, through side-streets and slums, by a short cut to the school. He found Rose in the study, with his feet on the chimney-piece, talking eighteen to the dozen with half a dozen boys who were sitting on whatever there was to sit on. He shook hands with Philip enthusiastically, but Philip's face fell, for he realised that Rose had forgotten all about their appointment. "I say, why are you so late?" said Rose. "I thought you were never coming." "You were at the station at half-past four," said another boy. "I saw you when I came." Philip blushed a little. He did not want Rose to know that he had been such a fool as to wait for him. "I had to see about a friend of my people's," he invented readily. "I was asked to see her off." But his disappointment made him a little sulky. He sat in silence, and when spoken to answered in monosyllables. He was making up his mind to have it out with Rose when they were alone. But when the others had gone Rose at once came over and sat on the arm of the chair in which Philip was lounging. "I say, I'm jolly glad we're in the same study this term. Ripping, isn't it?" He seemed so genuinely pleased to see Philip that Philip's annoyance vanished. They began as if they had not been separated for five minutes to talk eagerly of the thousand things that interested them. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIX At first Philip had been too grateful for Rose's friendship to make any demands on him. He took things as they came and enjoyed life. But presently he began to resent Rose's universal amiability; he wanted a more exclusive attachment, and he claimed as a right what before he had accepted as a favour. He watched jealously Rose's companionship with others; and though he knew it was unreasonable could not help sometimes saying bitter things to him. If Rose spent an hour playing the fool in another study, Philip would receive him when he returned to his own with a sullen frown. He would sulk for a day, and he suffered more because Rose either did not notice his ill-humour or deliberately ignored it. Not seldom Philip, knowing all the time how stupid he was, would force a quarrel, and they would not speak to one another for a couple of days. But Philip could not bear to be angry with him long, and even when convinced that he was in the right, would apologise humbly. Then for a week they would be as great friends as ever. But the best was over, and Philip could see that Rose often walked with him merely from old habit or from fear of his anger; they had not so much to say to one another as at first, and Rose was often bored. Philip felt that his lameness began to irritate him. Towards the end of the term two or three boys caught scarlet fever, and there was much talk of sending them all home in order to escape an epidemic; but the sufferers were isolated, and since no more were attacked it was supposed that the outbreak was stopped. One of the stricken was Philip. He remained in hospital through the Easter holidays, and at the beginning of the summer term was sent home to the vicarage to get a little fresh air. The Vicar, notwithstanding medical assurance that the boy was no longer infectious, received him with suspicion; he thought it very inconsiderate of the doctor to suggest that his nephew's convalescence should be spent by the seaside, and consented to have him in the house only because there was nowhere else he could go. Philip went back to school at half-term. He had forgotten the quarrels he had had with Rose, but remembered only that he was his greatest friend. He knew that he had been silly. He made up his mind to be more reasonable. During his illness Rose had sent him in a couple of little notes, and he had ended each with the words: "Hurry up and come back." Philip thought Rose must be looking forward as much to his return as he was himself to seeing Rose. He found that owing to the death from scarlet fever of one of the boys in the Sixth there had been some shifting in the studies and Rose was no longer in his. It was a bitter disappointment. But as soon as he arrived he burst into Rose's study. Rose was sitting at his desk, working with a boy called Hunter, and turned round crossly as Philip came in. "Who the devil's that?" he cried. And then, seeing Philip: "Oh, it's you." Philip stopped in embarrassment. "I thought I'd come in and see how you were." "We were just working." Hunter broke into the conversation. "When did you get back?" "Five minutes ago." They sat and looked at him as though he was disturbing them. They evidently expected him to go quickly. Philip reddened. "I'll be off. You might look in when you've done," he said to Rose. "All right." Philip closed the door behind him and limped back to his own study. He felt frightfully hurt. Rose, far from seeming glad to see him, had looked almost put out. They might never have been more than acquaintances. Though he waited in his study, not leaving it for a moment in case just then Rose should come, his friend never appeared; and next morning when he went in to prayers he saw Rose and Hunter singing along arm in arm. What he could not see for himself others told him. He had forgotten that three months is a long time in a schoolboy's life, and though he had passed them in solitude Rose had lived in the world. Hunter had stepped into the vacant place. Philip found that Rose was quietly avoiding him. But he was not the boy to accept a situation without putting it into words; he waited till he was sure Rose was alone in his study and went in. "May I come in?" he asked. Rose looked at him with an embarrassment that made him angry with Philip. "Yes, if you want to." "It's very kind of you," said Philip sarcastically. "What d'you want?" "I say, why have you been so rotten since I came back?" "Oh, don't be an ass," said Rose. "I don't know what you see in Hunter." "That's my business." Philip looked down. He could not bring himself to say what was in his heart. He was afraid of humiliating himself. Rose got up. "I've got to go to the Gym," he said. When he was at the door Philip forced himself to speak. "I say, Rose, don't be a perfect beast." "Oh, go to hell." Rose slammed the door behind him and left Philip alone. Philip shivered with rage. He went back to his study and turned the conversation over in his mind. He hated Rose now, he wanted to hurt him, he thought of biting things he might have said to him. He brooded over the end to their friendship and fancied that others were talking of it. In his sensitiveness he saw sneers and wonderings in other fellows' manner when they were not bothering their heads with him at all. He imagined to himself what they were saying. "After all, it wasn't likely to last long. I wonder he ever stuck Carey at all. Blighter!" To show his indifference he struck up a violent friendship with a boy called Sharp whom he hated and despised. He was a London boy, with a loutish air, a heavy fellow with the beginnings of a moustache on his lip and bushy eyebrows that joined one another across the bridge of his nose. He had soft hands and manners too suave for his years. He spoke with the suspicion of a cockney accent. He was one of those boys who are too slack to play games, and he exercised great ingenuity in making excuses to avoid such as were compulsory. He was regarded by boys and masters with a vague dislike, and it was from arrogance that Philip now sought his society. Sharp in a couple of terms was going to Germany for a year. He hated school, which he looked upon as an indignity to be endured till he was old enough to go out into the world. London was all he cared for, and he had many stories to tell of his doings there during the holidays. From his conversation--he spoke in a soft, deep-toned voice--there emerged the vague rumour of the London streets by night. Philip listened to him at once fascinated and repelled. With his vivid fancy he seemed to see the surging throng round the pit-door of theatres, and the glitter of cheap restaurants, bars where men, half drunk, sat on high stools talking with barmaids; and under the street lamps the mysterious passing of dark crowds bent upon pleasure. Sharp lent him cheap novels from Holywell Row, which Philip read in his cubicle with a sort of wonderful fear. Once Rose tried to effect a reconciliation. He was a good-natured fellow, who did not like having enemies. "I say, Carey, why are you being such a silly ass? It doesn't do you any good cutting me and all that." "I don't know what you mean," answered Philip. "Well, I don't see why you shouldn't talk." "You bore me," said Philip. "Please yourself." Rose shrugged his shoulders and left him. Philip was very white, as he always became when he was moved, and his heart beat violently. When Rose went away he felt suddenly sick with misery. He did not know why he had answered in that fashion. He would have given anything to be friends with Rose. He hated to have quarrelled with him, and now that he saw he had given him pain he was very sorry. But at the moment he had not been master of himself. It seemed that some devil had seized him, forcing him to say bitter things against his will, even though at the time he wanted to shake hands with Rose and meet him more than halfway. The desire to wound had been too strong for him. He had wanted to revenge himself for the pain and the humiliation he had endured. It was pride: it was folly too, for he knew that Rose would not care at all, while he would suffer bitterly. The thought came to him that he would go to Rose, and say: "I say, I'm sorry I was such a beast. I couldn't help it. Let's make it up." But he knew he would never be able to do it. He was afraid that Rose would sneer at him. He was angry with himself, and when Sharp came in a little while afterwards he seized upon the first opportunity to quarrel with him. Philip had a fiendish instinct for discovering other people's raw spots, and was able to say things that rankled because they were true. But Sharp had the last word. "I heard Rose talking about you to Mellor just now," he said. "Mellor said: Why didn't you kick him? It would teach him manners. And Rose said: I didn't like to. Damned cripple." Philip suddenly became scarlet. He could not answer, for there was a lump in his throat that almost choked him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XX Philip was moved into the Sixth, but he hated school now with all his heart, and, having lost his ambition, cared nothing whether he did ill or well. He awoke in the morning with a sinking heart because he must go through another day of drudgery. He was tired of having to do things because he was told; and the restrictions irked him, not because they were unreasonable, but because they were restrictions. He yearned for freedom. He was weary of repeating things that he knew already and of the hammering away, for the sake of a thick-witted fellow, at something that he understood from the beginning. With Mr. Perkins you could work or not as you chose. He was at once eager and abstracted. The Sixth Form room was in a part of the old abbey which had been restored, and it had a gothic window: Philip tried to cheat his boredom by drawing this over and over again; and sometimes out of his head he drew the great tower of the Cathedral or the gateway that led into the precincts. He had a knack for drawing. Aunt Louisa during her youth had painted in water colours, and she had several albums filled with sketches of churches, old bridges, and picturesque cottages. They were often shown at the vicarage tea-parties. She had once given Philip a paint-box as a Christmas present, and he had started by copying her pictures. He copied them better than anyone could have expected, and presently he did little pictures of his own. Mrs. Carey encouraged him. It was a good way to keep him out of mischief, and later on his sketches would be useful for bazaars. Two or three of them had been framed and hung in his bed-room. But one day, at the end of the morning's work, Mr. Perkins stopped him as he was lounging out of the form-room. "I want to speak to you, Carey." Philip waited. Mr. Perkins ran his lean fingers through his beard and looked at Philip. He seemed to be thinking over what he wanted to say. "What's the matter with you, Carey?" he said abruptly. Philip, flushing, looked at him quickly. But knowing him well by now, without answering, he waited for him to go on. "I've been dissatisfied with you lately. You've been slack and inattentive. You seem to take no interest in your work. It's been slovenly and bad." "I'm very sorry, sir," said Philip. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Philip looked down sulkily. How could he answer that he was bored to death? "You know, this term you'll go down instead of up. I shan't give you a very good report." Philip wondered what he would say if he knew how the report was treated. It arrived at breakfast, Mr. Carey glanced at it indifferently, and passed it over to Philip. "There's your report. You'd better see what it says," he remarked, as he ran his fingers through the wrapper of a catalogue of second-hand books. Philip read it. "Is it good?" asked Aunt Louisa. "Not so good as I deserve," answered Philip, with a smile, giving it to her. "I'll read it afterwards when I've got my spectacles," she said. But after breakfast Mary Ann came in to say the butcher was there, and she generally forgot. Mr. Perkins went on. "I'm disappointed with you. And I can't understand. I know you can do things if you want to, but you don't seem to want to any more. I was going to make you a monitor next term, but I think I'd better wait a bit." Philip flushed. He did not like the thought of being passed over. He tightened his lips. "And there's something else. You must begin thinking of your scholarship now. You won't get anything unless you start working very seriously." Philip was irritated by the lecture. He was angry with the headmaster, and angry with himself. "I don't think I'm going up to Oxford," he said. "Why not? I thought your idea was to be ordained." "I've changed my mind." "Why?" Philip did not answer. Mr. Perkins, holding himself oddly as he always did, like a figure in one of Perugino's pictures, drew his fingers thoughtfully through his beard. He looked at Philip as though he were trying to understand and then abruptly told him he might go. Apparently he was not satisfied, for one evening, a week later, when Philip had to go into his study with some papers, he resumed the conversation; but this time he adopted a different method: he spoke to Philip not as a schoolmaster with a boy but as one human being with another. He did not seem to care now that Philip's work was poor, that he ran small chance against keen rivals of carrying off the scholarship necessary for him to go to Oxford: the important matter was his changed intention about his life afterwards. Mr. Perkins set himself to revive his eagerness to be ordained. With infinite skill he worked on his feelings, and this was easier since he was himself genuinely moved. Philip's change of mind caused him bitter distress, and he really thought he was throwing away his chance of happiness in life for he knew not what. His voice was very persuasive. And Philip, easily moved by the emotion of others, very emotional himself notwithstanding a placid exterior--his face, partly by nature but also from the habit of all these years at school, seldom except by his quick flushing showed what he felt--Philip was deeply touched by what the master said. He was very grateful to him for the interest he showed, and he was conscience-stricken by the grief which he felt his behaviour caused him. It was subtly flattering to know that with the whole school to think about Mr. Perkins should trouble with him, but at the same time something else in him, like another person standing at his elbow, clung desperately to two words. "I won't. I won't. I won't." He felt himself slipping. He was powerless against the weakness that seemed to well up in him; it was like the water that rises up in an empty bottle held over a full basin; and he set his teeth, saying the words over and over to himself. "I won't. I won't. I won't." At last Mr. Perkins put his hand on Philip's shoulder. "I don't want to influence you," he said. "You must decide for yourself. Pray to Almighty God for help and guidance." When Philip came out of the headmaster's house there was a light rain falling. He went under the archway that led to the precincts, there was not a soul there, and the rooks were silent in the elms. He walked round slowly. He felt hot, and the rain did him good. He thought over all that Mr. Perkins had said, calmly now that he was withdrawn from the fervour of his personality, and he was thankful he had not given way. In the darkness he could but vaguely see the great mass of the Cathedral: he hated it now because of the irksomeness of the long services which he was forced to attend. The anthem was interminable, and you had to stand drearily while it was being sung; you could not hear the droning sermon, and your body twitched because you had to sit still when you wanted to move about. Then Philip thought of the two services every Sunday at Blackstable. The church was bare and cold, and there was a smell all about one of pomade and starched clothes. The curate preached once and his uncle preached once. As he grew up he had learned to know his uncle; Philip was downright and intolerant, and he could not understand that a man might sincerely say things as a clergyman which he never acted up to as a man. The deception outraged him. His uncle was a weak and selfish man, whose chief desire it was to be saved trouble. Mr. Perkins had spoken to him of the beauty of a life dedicated to the service of God. Philip knew what sort of lives the clergy led in the corner of East Anglia which was his home. There was the Vicar of Whitestone, a parish a little way from Blackstable: he was a bachelor and to give himself something to do had lately taken up farming: the local paper constantly reported the cases he had in the county court against this one and that, labourers he would not pay their wages to or tradesmen whom he accused of cheating him; scandal said he starved his cows, and there was much talk about some general action which should be taken against him. Then there was the Vicar of Ferne, a bearded, fine figure of a man: his wife had been forced to leave him because of his cruelty, and she had filled the neighbourhood with stories of his immorality. The Vicar of Surle, a tiny hamlet by the sea, was to be seen every evening in the public house a stone's throw from his vicarage; and the churchwardens had been to Mr. Carey to ask his advice. There was not a soul for any of them to talk to except small farmers or fishermen; there were long winter evenings when the wind blew, whistling drearily through the leafless trees, and all around they saw nothing but the bare monotony of ploughed fields; and there was poverty, and there was lack of any work that seemed to matter; every kink in their characters had free play; there was nothing to restrain them; they grew narrow and eccentric: Philip knew all this, but in his young intolerance he did not offer it as an excuse. He shivered at the thought of leading such a life; he wanted to get out into the world. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXI Mr. Perkins soon saw that his words had had no effect on Philip, and for the rest of the term ignored him. He wrote a report which was vitriolic. When it arrived and Aunt Louisa asked Philip what it was like, he answered cheerfully. "Rotten." "Is it?" said the Vicar. "I must look at it again." "Do you think there's any use in my staying on at Tercanbury? I should have thought it would be better if I went to Germany for a bit." "What has put that in your head?" said Aunt Louisa. "Don't you think it's rather a good idea?" Sharp had already left King's School and had written to Philip from Hanover. He was really starting life, and it made Philip more restless to think of it. He felt he could not bear another year of restraint. "But then you wouldn't get a scholarship." "I haven't a chance of getting one anyhow. And besides, I don't know that I particularly want to go to Oxford." "But if you're going to be ordained, Philip?" Aunt Louisa exclaimed in dismay. "I've given up that idea long ago." Mrs. Carey looked at him with startled eyes, and then, used to self-restraint, she poured out another cup of tea for his uncle. They did not speak. In a moment Philip saw tears slowly falling down her cheeks. His heart was suddenly wrung because he caused her pain. In her tight black dress, made by the dressmaker down the street, with her wrinkled face and pale tired eyes, her gray hair still done in the frivolous ringlets of her youth, she was a ridiculous but strangely pathetic figure. Philip saw it for the first time. Afterwards, when the Vicar was shut up in his study with the curate, he put his arms round her waist. "I say, I'm sorry you're upset, Aunt Louisa," he said. "But it's no good my being ordained if I haven't a real vocation, is it?" "I'm so disappointed, Philip," she moaned. "I'd set my heart on it. I thought you could be your uncle's curate, and then when our time came--after all, we can't last for ever, can we?--you might have taken his place." Philip shivered. He was seized with panic. His heart beat like a pigeon in a trap beating with its wings. His aunt wept softly, her head upon his shoulder. "I wish you'd persuade Uncle William to let me leave Tercanbury. I'm so sick of it." But the Vicar of Blackstable did not easily alter any arrangements he had made, and it had always been intended that Philip should stay at King's School till he was eighteen, and should then go to Oxford. At all events he would not hear of Philip leaving then, for no notice had been given and the term's fee would have to be paid in any case. "Then will you give notice for me to leave at Christmas?" said Philip, at the end of a long and often bitter conversation. "I'll write to Mr. Perkins about it and see what he says." "Oh, I wish to goodness I were twenty-one. It is awful to be at somebody else's beck and call." "Philip, you shouldn't speak to your uncle like that," said Mrs. Carey gently. "But don't you see that Perkins will want me to stay? He gets so much a head for every chap in the school." "Why don't you want to go to Oxford?" "What's the good if I'm not going into the Church?" "You can't go into the Church: you're in the Church already," said the Vicar. "Ordained then," replied Philip impatiently. "What are you going to be, Philip?" asked Mrs. Carey. "I don't know. I've not made up my mind. But whatever I am, it'll be useful to know foreign languages. I shall get far more out of a year in Germany than by staying on at that hole." He would not say that he felt Oxford would be little better than a continuation of his life at school. He wished immensely to be his own master. Besides he would be known to a certain extent among old schoolfellows, and he wanted to get away from them all. He felt that his life at school had been a failure. He wanted to start fresh. It happened that his desire to go to Germany fell in with certain ideas which had been of late discussed at Blackstable. Sometimes friends came to stay with the doctor and brought news of the world outside; and the visitors spending August by the sea had their own way of looking at things. The Vicar had heard that there were people who did not think the old-fashioned education so useful nowadays as it had been in the past, and modern languages were gaining an importance which they had not had in his own youth. His own mind was divided, for a younger brother of his had been sent to Germany when he failed in some examination, thus creating a precedent but since he had there died of typhoid it was impossible to look upon the experiment as other than dangerous. The result of innumerable conversations was that Philip should go back to Tercanbury for another term, and then should leave. With this agreement Philip was not dissatisfied. But when he had been back a few days the headmaster spoke to him. "I've had a letter from your uncle. It appears you want to go to Germany, and he asks me what I think about it." Philip was astounded. He was furious with his guardian for going back on his word. "I thought it was settled, sir," he said. "Far from it. I've written to say I think it the greatest mistake to take you away." Philip immediately sat down and wrote a violent letter to his uncle. He did not measure his language. He was so angry that he could not get to sleep till quite late that night, and he awoke in the early morning and began brooding over the way they had treated him. He waited impatiently for an answer. In two or three days it came. It was a mild, pained letter from Aunt Louisa, saying that he should not write such things to his uncle, who was very much distressed. He was unkind and unchristian. He must know they were only trying to do their best for him, and they were so much older than he that they must be better judges of what was good for him. Philip clenched his hands. He had heard that statement so often, and he could not see why it was true; they did not know the conditions as he did, why should they accept it as self-evident that their greater age gave them greater wisdom? The letter ended with the information that Mr. Carey had withdrawn the notice he had given. Philip nursed his wrath till the next half-holiday. They had them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since on Saturday afternoons they had to go to a service in the Cathedral. He stopped behind when the rest of the Sixth went out. "May I go to Blackstable this afternoon, please, sir?" he asked. "No," said the headmaster briefly. "I wanted to see my uncle about something very important." "Didn't you hear me say no?" Philip did not answer. He went out. He felt almost sick with humiliation, the humiliation of having to ask and the humiliation of the curt refusal. He hated the headmaster now. Philip writhed under that despotism which never vouchsafed a reason for the most tyrannous act. He was too angry to care what he did, and after dinner walked down to the station, by the back ways he knew so well, just in time to catch the train to Blackstable. He walked into the vicarage and found his uncle and aunt sitting in the dining-room. "Hulloa, where have you sprung from?" said the Vicar. It was very clear that he was not pleased to see him. He looked a little uneasy. "I thought I'd come and see you about my leaving. I want to know what you mean by promising me one thing when I was here, and doing something different a week after." He was a little frightened at his own boldness, but he had made up his mind exactly what words to use, and, though his heart beat violently, he forced himself to say them. "Have you got leave to come here this afternoon?" "No. I asked Perkins and he refused. If you like to write and tell him I've been here you can get me into a really fine old row." Mrs. Carey sat knitting with trembling hands. She was unused to scenes and they agitated her extremely. "It would serve you right if I told him," said Mr. Carey. "If you like to be a perfect sneak you can. After writing to Perkins as you did you're quite capable of it." It was foolish of Philip to say that, because it gave the Vicar exactly the opportunity he wanted. "I'm not going to sit still while you say impertinent things to me," he said with dignity. He got up and walked quickly out of the room into his study. Philip heard him shut the door and lock it. "Oh, I wish to God I were twenty-one. It is awful to be tied down like this." Aunt Louisa began to cry quietly. "Oh, Philip, you oughtn't to have spoken to your uncle like that. Do please go and tell him you're sorry." "I'm not in the least sorry. He's taking a mean advantage. Of course it's just waste of money keeping me on at school, but what does he care? It's not his money. It was cruel to put me under the guardianship of people who know nothing about things." "Philip." Philip in his voluble anger stopped suddenly at the sound of her voice. It was heart-broken. He had not realised what bitter things he was saying. "Philip, how can you be so unkind? You know we are only trying to do our best for you, and we know that we have no experience; it isn't as if we'd had any children of our own: that's why we consulted Mr. Perkins." Her voice broke. "I've tried to be like a mother to you. I've loved you as if you were my own son." She was so small and frail, there was something so pathetic in her old-maidish air, that Philip was touched. A great lump came suddenly in his throat and his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to be beastly." He knelt down beside her and took her in his arms, and kissed her wet, withered cheeks. She sobbed bitterly, and he seemed to feel on a sudden the pity of that wasted life. She had never surrendered herself before to such a display of emotion. "I know I've not been what I wanted to be to you, Philip, but I didn't know how. It's been just as dreadful for me to have no children as for you to have no mother." Philip forgot his anger and his own concerns, but thought only of consoling her, with broken words and clumsy little caresses. Then the clock struck, and he had to bolt off at once to catch the only train that would get him back to Tercanbury in time for call-over. As he sat in the corner of the railway carriage he saw that he had done nothing. He was angry with himself for his weakness. It was despicable to have allowed himself to be turned from his purpose by the pompous airs of the Vicar and the tears of his aunt. But as the result of he knew not what conversations between the couple another letter was written to the headmaster. Mr. Perkins read it with an impatient shrug of the shoulders. He showed it to Philip. It ran: Dear Mr. Perkins, Forgive me for troubling you again about my ward, but both his Aunt and I have been uneasy about him. He seems very anxious to leave school, and his Aunt thinks he is unhappy. It is very difficult for us to know what to do as we are not his parents. He does not seem to think he is doing very well and he feels it is wasting his money to stay on. I should be very much obliged if you would have a talk to him, and if he is still of the same mind perhaps it would be better if he left at Christmas as I originally intended. Yours very truly, William Carey. Philip gave him back the letter. He felt a thrill of pride in his triumph. He had got his own way, and he was satisfied. His will had gained a victory over the wills of others. "It's not much good my spending half an hour writing to your uncle if he changes his mind the next letter he gets from you," said the headmaster irritably. Philip said nothing, and his face was perfectly placid; but he could not prevent the twinkle in his eyes. Mr. Perkins noticed it and broke into a little laugh. "You've rather scored, haven't you?" he said. Then Philip smiled outright. He could not conceal his exultation. "Is it true that you're very anxious to leave?" "Yes, sir." "Are you unhappy here?" Philip blushed. He hated instinctively any attempt to get into the depths of his feelings. "Oh, I don't know, sir." Mr. Perkins, slowly dragging his fingers through his beard, looked at him thoughtfully. He seemed to speak almost to himself. "Of course schools are made for the average. The holes are all round, and whatever shape the pegs are they must wedge in somehow. One hasn't time to bother about anything but the average." Then suddenly he addressed himself to Philip: "Look here, I've got a suggestion to make to you. It's getting on towards the end of the term now. Another term won't kill you, and if you want to go to Germany you'd better go after Easter than after Christmas. It'll be much pleasanter in the spring than in midwinter. If at the end of the next term you still want to go I'll make no objection. What d'you say to that?" "Thank you very much, sir." Philip was so glad to have gained the last three months that he did not mind the extra term. The school seemed less of a prison when he knew that before Easter he would be free from it for ever. His heart danced within him. That evening in chapel he looked round at the boys, standing according to their forms, each in his due place, and he chuckled with satisfaction at the thought that soon he would never see them again. It made him regard them almost with a friendly feeling. His eyes rested on Rose. Rose took his position as a monitor very seriously: he had quite an idea of being a good influence in the school; it was his turn to read the lesson that evening, and he read it very well. Philip smiled when he thought that he would be rid of him for ever, and it would not matter in six months whether Rose was tall and straight-limbed; and where would the importance be that he was a monitor and captain of the eleven? Philip looked at the masters in their gowns. Gordon was dead, he had died of apoplexy two years before, but all the rest were there. Philip knew now what a poor lot they were, except Turner perhaps, there was something of a man in him; and he writhed at the thought of the subjection in which they had held him. In six months they would not matter either. Their praise would mean nothing to him, and he would shrug his shoulders at their censure. Philip had learned not to express his emotions by outward signs, and shyness still tormented him, but he had often very high spirits; and then, though he limped about demurely, silent and reserved, it seemed to be hallooing in his heart. He seemed to himself to walk more lightly. All sorts of ideas danced through his head, fancies chased one another so furiously that he could not catch them; but their coming and their going filled him with exhilaration. Now, being happy, he was able to work, and during the remaining weeks of the term set himself to make up for his long neglect. His brain worked easily, and he took a keen pleasure in the activity of his intellect. He did very well in the examinations that closed the term. Mr. Perkins made only one remark: he was talking to him about an essay he had written, and, after the usual criticisms, said: "So you've made up your mind to stop playing the fool for a bit, have you?" He smiled at him with his shining teeth, and Philip, looking down, gave an embarrassed smile. The half dozen boys who expected to divide between them the various prizes which were given at the end of the summer term had ceased to look upon Philip as a serious rival, but now they began to regard him with some uneasiness. He told no one that he was leaving at Easter and so was in no sense a competitor, but left them to their anxieties. He knew that Rose flattered himself on his French, for he had spent two or three holidays in France; and he expected to get the Dean's Prize for English essay; Philip got a good deal of satisfaction in watching his dismay when he saw how much better Philip was doing in these subjects than himself. Another fellow, Norton, could not go to Oxford unless he got one of the scholarships at the disposal of the school. He asked Philip if he was going in for them. "Have you any objection?" asked Philip. It entertained him to think that he held someone else's future in his hand. There was something romantic in getting these various rewards actually in his grasp, and then leaving them to others because he disdained them. At last the breaking-up day came, and he went to Mr. Perkins to bid him good-bye. "You don't mean to say you really want to leave?" Philip's face fell at the headmaster's evident surprise. "You said you wouldn't put any objection in the way, sir," he answered. "I thought it was only a whim that I'd better humour. I know you're obstinate and headstrong. What on earth d'you want to leave for now? You've only got another term in any case. You can get the Magdalen scholarship easily; you'll get half the prizes we've got to give." Philip looked at him sullenly. He felt that he had been tricked; but he had the promise, and Perkins would have to stand by it. "You'll have a very pleasant time at Oxford. You needn't decide at once what you're going to do afterwards. I wonder if you realise how delightful the life is up there for anyone who has brains." "I've made all my arrangements now to go to Germany, sir," said Philip. "Are they arrangements that couldn't possibly be altered?" asked Mr. Perkins, with his quizzical smile. "I shall be very sorry to lose you. In schools the rather stupid boys who work always do better than the clever boy who's idle, but when the clever boy works--why then, he does what you've done this term." Philip flushed darkly. He was unused to compliments, and no one had ever told him he was clever. The headmaster put his hand on Philip's shoulder. "You know, driving things into the heads of thick-witted boys is dull work, but when now and then you have the chance of teaching a boy who comes half-way towards you, who understands almost before you've got the words out of your mouth, why, then teaching is the most exhilarating thing in the world." Philip was melted by kindness; it had never occurred to him that it mattered really to Mr. Perkins whether he went or stayed. He was touched and immensely flattered. It would be pleasant to end up his school-days with glory and then go to Oxford: in a flash there appeared before him the life which he had heard described from boys who came back to play in the O.K.S. match or in letters from the University read out in one of the studies. But he was ashamed; he would look such a fool in his own eyes if he gave in now; his uncle would chuckle at the success of the headmaster's ruse. It was rather a come-down from the dramatic surrender of all these prizes which were in his reach, because he disdained to take them, to the plain, ordinary winning of them. It only required a little more persuasion, just enough to save his self-respect, and Philip would have done anything that Mr. Perkins wished; but his face showed nothing of his conflicting emotions. It was placid and sullen. "I think I'd rather go, sir," he said. Mr. Perkins, like many men who manage things by their personal influence, grew a little impatient when his power was not immediately manifest. He had a great deal of work to do, and could not waste more time on a boy who seemed to him insanely obstinate. "Very well, I promised to let you if you really wanted it, and I keep my promise. When do you go to Germany?" Philip's heart beat violently. The battle was won, and he did not know whether he had not rather lost it. "At the beginning of May, sir," he answered. "Well, you must come and see us when you get back." He held out his hand. If he had given him one more chance Philip would have changed his mind, but he seemed to look upon the matter as settled. Philip walked out of the house. His school-days were over, and he was free; but the wild exultation to which he had looked forward at that moment was not there. He walked round the precincts slowly, and a profound depression seized him. He wished now that he had not been foolish. He did not want to go, but he knew he could never bring himself to go to the headmaster and tell him he would stay. That was a humiliation he could never put upon himself. He wondered whether he had done right. He was dissatisfied with himself and with all his circumstances. He asked himself dully whether whenever you got your way you wished afterwards that you hadn't. </CHAPTER>

Chapters XV-XXI

https://web.archive.org/web/20180820052247/http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman14.asp

Philip graduates from preparatory school and at the age of thirteen enters King's School, a well established institution known for its excellence in learning. It is conforming and traditional in every way, with a curriculum based on the classics. When Mr. Perkins replaces the old headmaster, he is looked down upon. Though he is well qualified for the job, others judge him as unfit because he belongs to a family of linen drapers. Perkins brings many changes to the school, which harms his reputation even more. Philip, however, admires the new headmaster for his kindness, intelligence, and insight. He even starts taking an interest in religion again because it is taught by Perkins and for a time considers being ordained. Philip makes friends with a boy named Rose, who helps him gain confidence. Then Philip contracts scarlet fever and has to stay away from school for a long while. When he returns from Blackstable after recovering, he finds that Rose has a new friend and little interest in him. Deprived of friendship once again, Philip starts losing interest in school and thinks about leaving. Perkins and his uncle try unsuccessfully to dissuade him. He finally departs the King's School and heads to Germany, for he wants to see the world.

Notes In these chapters, Maugham cynically mocks the old staff at the King's School who value tradition and social status more than education and erudition. Perkins, though very intelligent and well- educated, is rejected by them because he is not considered to be a gentleman due to his family's status. When he changes the curriculum, to allow French and German to be taught, they are horrified. Philip, however, is attracted to Perkins, probably because the older teachers taunted him about his deformity and belittled his intelligence. Perkins, on the other hand, recognizes his intelligence, appreciates his knowledge, and encourages him to do his best. As Philip grows from child to adolescent, there is a transformation in his attitude and behavior, as seen in these chapters. Like most boys his age, he goes through significant mood swings and rapid change of opinion. One moment he cares, and the next moment he hates. He also becomes intolerant of those who lack his intelligence and makes bitter remarks about them, an action that isolates him even further. When Rose extends a hand of friendship to Philip, he is delighted and blossoms with the companionship. The friendship is an odd one, for Rose is a complete contrast to Philip. He is big, athletic, well-liked, charming, and not a very good student. Unfortunately, Philip is jealous of Rose and does not want to share his attention. He quarrels often with his friend, which irritates Rose. When Rose rejects him after his long absence due to the scarlet fever, Philip is miserable, and his studies suffer. Despite the encouragement of his uncle and Perkins to stay in school, Philip decides to leave. He has lost interest in ever joining the clergy, for he is very critical of the behavior of his uncle and the other Vicars and religious leaders. He is especially upset when Perkins and his uncle try to trick him into staying. Philip wants to see the world and decides to travel to Germany. It is important to notice that Philip's aunt is still sensitive and caring in her own inept way. She buys him a watercolor set, and Philip enjoys using it. His paintings show that he has some natural talent, which comes into play later in the novel.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_1_to_4.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_1_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 1-4

chapters 1-4

{"name": "Chapters 1-4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter1-4", "summary": "It is a grey day in London, 1885, and Philip Carey, a small boy, is taken by his nurse to his mother's bed. She has just given birth to a still-born child and is dying. He is half asleep and snuggles close to his mother. The doctor tries to remove the child, but she knows it is the last time she will see him and clings to him, caressing him, especially his deformed foot. As she touches it, she cries. . The doctor gives the child to the nurse and makes arrangements. The boy will go temporarily to Miss Watkin, his godmother, and afterwards to his aunt and uncle. . A week later Philip is playing in the drawingroom at Miss Watkin's house. Since he has been an only child he is used to amusing himself and has made a cave with pillows, pretending he is hiding from Red Indians. His nurse Emma comes in dressed in black. He remarks on her new dress. She explains his mother has gone away and he will never see her again. She is in heaven. Philip cries, and Emma cries, though he doesn't understand. . He says good by to his godmother, Henrietta Watkin, who had been his mother's friend and enjoys getting pity from a circle of ladies, but he hears Miss Watkin explain that he has a clubfoot, and it was a grief to his mother. . When he goes home with Emma, he meets his uncle, Rev. William Carey. He explains that Philip will live with him and his Aunt Louisa at the vicarage. His uncle is over fifty, and he and his wife are childless. The uncle explains that his nurse, Emma, won't be coming with him. He cries and clings to her. The uncle takes him on his knee. . Although Philip's father had been a surgeon with a good practice, he had died suddenly from blood poisoning six months earlier and had left only life insurance and a house. Philip's mother rented the house out and took another house for a year till the posthumous child was born. She did not know how to manage money. Philip was left with only two thousand pounds. Mr. Carey says Philip may bring all his toys and one thing to remember each parent. . The boy goes to his mother's empty room, opens the closet where her dresses still hold the scent she wore. He buries his face in them, then chooses a small clock his mother liked. It seems like his mother has just gone out for a walk. . Blackstable parsonage is sixty miles from London. His aunt and uncle try to be kind, but they don't know how to handle children and expect him to conform to their strict and penurious ways. The uncle is vicar in the Church of England and has an unvarying routine. Mrs. Carey always gets second best, for her husband is first in the household. His uncle is the only one who gets a boiled egg, but he offers the top to Philip.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters I-IV . The style is subdued and factual, making the bleakness of the young boy's tragic life even more stark. He is an orphan, just losing both parents within the same year. His mother obviously loved him deeply and is worried about his deformed foot. She is characterized as beautiful but careless with money. She liked beauty, and for that reason probably, the nurse Emma had ordered masses of white flowers for the death room. The uncle thinks this an extravagance, and this is a first hint that the boy's life is going to be very different now. He has been in a sort of cocoon with his parents and nurse, unaware that there is anything wrong with him. His overhearing Miss Watkin's conversation about his clubfoot is a new revelation. . Suddenly, he loses everything, including his home, parents, and nurse. His aunt and uncle take him in but are older and have different values. This is the late Victorian period in England, and Mr. Carey is an old-fashioned clergyman in the established Church of England. Whatever little extravagances Philip may enjoyed with his parents in London are now gone, and the aunt and uncle must manage a very tight budget at the vicarage. It is cold, and they light as few fires as possible. He gets a tiny bedroom. The top of the egg is all he is offered, and the aunt gets no egg at all, for she is a typical Victorian wife who gives up pleasures for others, letting her husband have the comfortable chair and best food. . While the story sounds like the beginning of a Dickens novel in terms of the plot, there is no sentimentality or overt emotion. The narrative details the psychological state of the characters but more in the manner of a reporter. The emptiness and drabness of the boy's life are thus economically conveyed through the few details. . Important early facts about Philip are his closeness with his beautiful mother and the sudden loss of love and security. He is a delicate child with an imagination and a deformed foot."}

<CHAPTER> I The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed. "Wake up, Philip," she said. She pulled down the bed-clothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was only half awake. "Your mother wants you," she said. She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side. He did not ask why he had been awakened. The woman kissed his eyes, and with thin, small hands felt the warm body through his white flannel nightgown. She pressed him closer to herself. "Are you sleepy, darling?" she said. Her voice was so weak that it seemed to come already from a great distance. The child did not answer, but smiled comfortably. He was very happy in the large, warm bed, with those soft arms about him. He tried to make himself smaller still as he cuddled up against his mother, and he kissed her sleepily. In a moment he closed his eyes and was fast asleep. The doctor came forwards and stood by the bed-side. "Oh, don't take him away yet," she moaned. The doctor, without answering, looked at her gravely. Knowing she would not be allowed to keep the child much longer, the woman kissed him again; and she passed her hand down his body till she came to his feet; she held the right foot in her hand and felt the five small toes; and then slowly passed her hand over the left one. She gave a sob. "What's the matter?" said the doctor. "You're tired." She shook her head, unable to speak, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. The doctor bent down. "Let me take him." She was too weak to resist his wish, and she gave the child up. The doctor handed him back to his nurse. "You'd better put him back in his own bed." "Very well, sir." The little boy, still sleeping, was taken away. His mother sobbed now broken-heartedly. "What will happen to him, poor child?" The monthly nurse tried to quiet her, and presently, from exhaustion, the crying ceased. The doctor walked to a table on the other side of the room, upon which, under a towel, lay the body of a still-born child. He lifted the towel and looked. He was hidden from the bed by a screen, but the woman guessed what he was doing. "Was it a girl or a boy?" she whispered to the nurse. "Another boy." The woman did not answer. In a moment the child's nurse came back. She approached the bed. "Master Philip never woke up," she said. There was a pause. Then the doctor felt his patient's pulse once more. "I don't think there's anything I can do just now," he said. "I'll call again after breakfast." "I'll show you out, sir," said the child's nurse. They walked downstairs in silence. In the hall the doctor stopped. "You've sent for Mrs. Carey's brother-in-law, haven't you?" "Yes, sir." "D'you know at what time he'll be here?" "No, sir, I'm expecting a telegram." "What about the little boy? I should think he'd be better out of the way." "Miss Watkin said she'd take him, sir." "Who's she?" "She's his godmother, sir. D'you think Mrs. Carey will get over it, sir?" The doctor shook his head. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> II It was a week later. Philip was sitting on the floor in the drawing-room at Miss Watkin's house in Onslow gardens. He was an only child and used to amusing himself. The room was filled with massive furniture, and on each of the sofas were three big cushions. There was a cushion too in each arm-chair. All these he had taken and, with the help of the gilt rout chairs, light and easy to move, had made an elaborate cave in which he could hide himself from the Red Indians who were lurking behind the curtains. He put his ear to the floor and listened to the herd of buffaloes that raced across the prairie. Presently, hearing the door open, he held his breath so that he might not be discovered; but a violent hand pulled away a chair and the cushions fell down. "You naughty boy, Miss Watkin WILL be cross with you." "Hulloa, Emma!" he said. The nurse bent down and kissed him, then began to shake out the cushions, and put them back in their places. "Am I to come home?" he asked. "Yes, I've come to fetch you." "You've got a new dress on." It was in eighteen-eighty-five, and she wore a bustle. Her gown was of black velvet, with tight sleeves and sloping shoulders, and the skirt had three large flounces. She wore a black bonnet with velvet strings. She hesitated. The question she had expected did not come, and so she could not give the answer she had prepared. "Aren't you going to ask how your mamma is?" she said at length. "Oh, I forgot. How is mamma?" Now she was ready. "Your mamma is quite well and happy." "Oh, I am glad." "Your mamma's gone away. You won't ever see her any more." Philip did not know what she meant. "Why not?" "Your mamma's in heaven." She began to cry, and Philip, though he did not quite understand, cried too. Emma was a tall, big-boned woman, with fair hair and large features. She came from Devonshire and, notwithstanding her many years of service in London, had never lost the breadth of her accent. Her tears increased her emotion, and she pressed the little boy to her heart. She felt vaguely the pity of that child deprived of the only love in the world that is quite unselfish. It seemed dreadful that he must be handed over to strangers. But in a little while she pulled herself together. "Your Uncle William is waiting in to see you," she said. "Go and say good-bye to Miss Watkin, and we'll go home." "I don't want to say good-bye," he answered, instinctively anxious to hide his tears. "Very well, run upstairs and get your hat." He fetched it, and when he came down Emma was waiting for him in the hall. He heard the sound of voices in the study behind the dining-room. He paused. He knew that Miss Watkin and her sister were talking to friends, and it seemed to him--he was nine years old--that if he went in they would be sorry for him. "I think I'll go and say good-bye to Miss Watkin." "I think you'd better," said Emma. "Go in and tell them I'm coming," he said. He wished to make the most of his opportunity. Emma knocked at the door and walked in. He heard her speak. "Master Philip wants to say good-bye to you, miss." There was a sudden hush of the conversation, and Philip limped in. Henrietta Watkin was a stout woman, with a red face and dyed hair. In those days to dye the hair excited comment, and Philip had heard much gossip at home when his godmother's changed colour. She lived with an elder sister, who had resigned herself contentedly to old age. Two ladies, whom Philip did not know, were calling, and they looked at him curiously. "My poor child," said Miss Watkin, opening her arms. She began to cry. Philip understood now why she had not been in to luncheon and why she wore a black dress. She could not speak. "I've got to go home," said Philip, at last. He disengaged himself from Miss Watkin's arms, and she kissed him again. Then he went to her sister and bade her good-bye too. One of the strange ladies asked if she might kiss him, and he gravely gave her permission. Though crying, he keenly enjoyed the sensation he was causing; he would have been glad to stay a little longer to be made much of, but felt they expected him to go, so he said that Emma was waiting for him. He went out of the room. Emma had gone downstairs to speak with a friend in the basement, and he waited for her on the landing. He heard Henrietta Watkin's voice. "His mother was my greatest friend. I can't bear to think that she's dead." "You oughtn't to have gone to the funeral, Henrietta," said her sister. "I knew it would upset you." Then one of the strangers spoke. "Poor little boy, it's dreadful to think of him quite alone in the world. I see he limps." "Yes, he's got a club-foot. It was such a grief to his mother." Then Emma came back. They called a hansom, and she told the driver where to go. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> III When they reached the house Mrs. Carey had died in--it was in a dreary, respectable street between Notting Hill Gate and High Street, Kensington--Emma led Philip into the drawing-room. His uncle was writing letters of thanks for the wreaths which had been sent. One of them, which had arrived too late for the funeral, lay in its cardboard box on the hall-table. "Here's Master Philip," said Emma. Mr. Carey stood up slowly and shook hands with the little boy. Then on second thoughts he bent down and kissed his forehead. He was a man of somewhat less than average height, inclined to corpulence, with his hair, worn long, arranged over the scalp so as to conceal his baldness. He was clean-shaven. His features were regular, and it was possible to imagine that in his youth he had been good-looking. On his watch-chain he wore a gold cross. "You're going to live with me now, Philip," said Mr. Carey. "Shall you like that?" Two years before Philip had been sent down to stay at the vicarage after an attack of chicken-pox; but there remained with him a recollection of an attic and a large garden rather than of his uncle and aunt. "Yes." "You must look upon me and your Aunt Louisa as your father and mother." The child's mouth trembled a little, he reddened, but did not answer. "Your dear mother left you in my charge." Mr. Carey had no great ease in expressing himself. When the news came that his sister-in-law was dying, he set off at once for London, but on the way thought of nothing but the disturbance in his life that would be caused if her death forced him to undertake the care of her son. He was well over fifty, and his wife, to whom he had been married for thirty years, was childless; he did not look forward with any pleasure to the presence of a small boy who might be noisy and rough. He had never much liked his sister-in-law. "I'm going to take you down to Blackstable tomorrow," he said. "With Emma?" The child put his hand in hers, and she pressed it. "I'm afraid Emma must go away," said Mr. Carey. "But I want Emma to come with me." Philip began to cry, and the nurse could not help crying too. Mr. Carey looked at them helplessly. "I think you'd better leave me alone with Master Philip for a moment." "Very good, sir." Though Philip clung to her, she released herself gently. Mr. Carey took the boy on his knee and put his arm round him. "You mustn't cry," he said. "You're too old to have a nurse now. We must see about sending you to school." "I want Emma to come with me," the child repeated. "It costs too much money, Philip. Your father didn't leave very much, and I don't know what's become of it. You must look at every penny you spend." Mr. Carey had called the day before on the family solicitor. Philip's father was a surgeon in good practice, and his hospital appointments suggested an established position; so that it was a surprise on his sudden death from blood-poisoning to find that he had left his widow little more than his life insurance and what could be got for the lease of their house in Bruton Street. This was six months ago; and Mrs. Carey, already in delicate health, finding herself with child, had lost her head and accepted for the lease the first offer that was made. She stored her furniture, and, at a rent which the parson thought outrageous, took a furnished house for a year, so that she might suffer from no inconvenience till her child was born. But she had never been used to the management of money, and was unable to adapt her expenditure to her altered circumstances. The little she had slipped through her fingers in one way and another, so that now, when all expenses were paid, not much more than two thousand pounds remained to support the boy till he was able to earn his own living. It was impossible to explain all this to Philip and he was sobbing still. "You'd better go to Emma," Mr. Carey said, feeling that she could console the child better than anyone. Without a word Philip slipped off his uncle's knee, but Mr. Carey stopped him. "We must go tomorrow, because on Saturday I've got to prepare my sermon, and you must tell Emma to get your things ready today. You can bring all your toys. And if you want anything to remember your father and mother by you can take one thing for each of them. Everything else is going to be sold." The boy slipped out of the room. Mr. Carey was unused to work, and he turned to his correspondence with resentment. On one side of the desk was a bundle of bills, and these filled him with irritation. One especially seemed preposterous. Immediately after Mrs. Carey's death Emma had ordered from the florist masses of white flowers for the room in which the dead woman lay. It was sheer waste of money. Emma took far too much upon herself. Even if there had been no financial necessity, he would have dismissed her. But Philip went to her, and hid his face in her bosom, and wept as though his heart would break. And she, feeling that he was almost her own son--she had taken him when he was a month old--consoled him with soft words. She promised that she would come and see him sometimes, and that she would never forget him; and she told him about the country he was going to and about her own home in Devonshire--her father kept a turnpike on the high-road that led to Exeter, and there were pigs in the sty, and there was a cow, and the cow had just had a calf--till Philip forgot his tears and grew excited at the thought of his approaching journey. Presently she put him down, for there was much to be done, and he helped her to lay out his clothes on the bed. She sent him into the nursery to gather up his toys, and in a little while he was playing happily. But at last he grew tired of being alone and went back to the bed-room, in which Emma was now putting his things into a big tin box; he remembered then that his uncle had said he might take something to remember his father and mother by. He told Emma and asked her what he should take. "You'd better go into the drawing-room and see what you fancy." "Uncle William's there." "Never mind that. They're your own things now." Philip went downstairs slowly and found the door open. Mr. Carey had left the room. Philip walked slowly round. They had been in the house so short a time that there was little in it that had a particular interest to him. It was a stranger's room, and Philip saw nothing that struck his fancy. But he knew which were his mother's things and which belonged to the landlord, and presently fixed on a little clock that he had once heard his mother say she liked. With this he walked again rather disconsolately upstairs. Outside the door of his mother's bed-room he stopped and listened. Though no one had told him not to go in, he had a feeling that it would be wrong to do so; he was a little frightened, and his heart beat uncomfortably; but at the same time something impelled him to turn the handle. He turned it very gently, as if to prevent anyone within from hearing, and then slowly pushed the door open. He stood on the threshold for a moment before he had the courage to enter. He was not frightened now, but it seemed strange. He closed the door behind him. The blinds were drawn, and the room, in the cold light of a January afternoon, was dark. On the dressing-table were Mrs. Carey's brushes and the hand mirror. In a little tray were hairpins. There was a photograph of himself on the chimney-piece and one of his father. He had often been in the room when his mother was not in it, but now it seemed different. There was something curious in the look of the chairs. The bed was made as though someone were going to sleep in it that night, and in a case on the pillow was a night-dress. Philip opened a large cupboard filled with dresses and, stepping in, took as many of them as he could in his arms and buried his face in them. They smelt of the scent his mother used. Then he pulled open the drawers, filled with his mother's things, and looked at them: there were lavender bags among the linen, and their scent was fresh and pleasant. The strangeness of the room left it, and it seemed to him that his mother had just gone out for a walk. She would be in presently and would come upstairs to have nursery tea with him. And he seemed to feel her kiss on his lips. It was not true that he would never see her again. It was not true simply because it was impossible. He climbed up on the bed and put his head on the pillow. He lay there quite still. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> IV Philip parted from Emma with tears, but the journey to Blackstable amused him, and, when they arrived, he was resigned and cheerful. Blackstable was sixty miles from London. Giving their luggage to a porter, Mr. Carey set out to walk with Philip to the vicarage; it took them little more than five minutes, and, when they reached it, Philip suddenly remembered the gate. It was red and five-barred: it swung both ways on easy hinges; and it was possible, though forbidden, to swing backwards and forwards on it. They walked through the garden to the front-door. This was only used by visitors and on Sundays, and on special occasions, as when the Vicar went up to London or came back. The traffic of the house took place through a side-door, and there was a back door as well for the gardener and for beggars and tramps. It was a fairly large house of yellow brick, with a red roof, built about five and twenty years before in an ecclesiastical style. The front-door was like a church porch, and the drawing-room windows were gothic. Mrs. Carey, knowing by what train they were coming, waited in the drawing-room and listened for the click of the gate. When she heard it she went to the door. "There's Aunt Louisa," said Mr. Carey, when he saw her. "Run and give her a kiss." Philip started to run, awkwardly, trailing his club-foot, and then stopped. Mrs. Carey was a little, shrivelled woman of the same age as her husband, with a face extraordinarily filled with deep wrinkles, and pale blue eyes. Her gray hair was arranged in ringlets according to the fashion of her youth. She wore a black dress, and her only ornament was a gold chain, from which hung a cross. She had a shy manner and a gentle voice. "Did you walk, William?" she said, almost reproachfully, as she kissed her husband. "I didn't think of it," he answered, with a glance at his nephew. "It didn't hurt you to walk, Philip, did it?" she asked the child. "No. I always walk." He was a little surprised at their conversation. Aunt Louisa told him to come in, and they entered the hall. It was paved with red and yellow tiles, on which alternately were a Greek Cross and the Lamb of God. An imposing staircase led out of the hall. It was of polished pine, with a peculiar smell, and had been put in because fortunately, when the church was reseated, enough wood remained over. The balusters were decorated with emblems of the Four Evangelists. "I've had the stove lighted as I thought you'd be cold after your journey," said Mrs. Carey. It was a large black stove that stood in the hall and was only lighted if the weather was very bad and the Vicar had a cold. It was not lighted if Mrs. Carey had a cold. Coal was expensive. Besides, Mary Ann, the maid, didn't like fires all over the place. If they wanted all them fires they must keep a second girl. In the winter Mr. and Mrs. Carey lived in the dining-room so that one fire should do, and in the summer they could not get out of the habit, so the drawing-room was used only by Mr. Carey on Sunday afternoons for his nap. But every Saturday he had a fire in the study so that he could write his sermon. Aunt Louisa took Philip upstairs and showed him into a tiny bed-room that looked out on the drive. Immediately in front of the window was a large tree, which Philip remembered now because the branches were so low that it was possible to climb quite high up it. "A small room for a small boy," said Mrs. Carey. "You won't be frightened at sleeping alone?" "Oh, no." On his first visit to the vicarage he had come with his nurse, and Mrs. Carey had had little to do with him. She looked at him now with some uncertainty. "Can you wash your own hands, or shall I wash them for you?" "I can wash myself," he answered firmly. "Well, I shall look at them when you come down to tea," said Mrs. Carey. She knew nothing about children. After it was settled that Philip should come down to Blackstable, Mrs. Carey had thought much how she should treat him; she was anxious to do her duty; but now he was there she found herself just as shy of him as he was of her. She hoped he would not be noisy and rough, because her husband did not like rough and noisy boys. Mrs. Carey made an excuse to leave Philip alone, but in a moment came back and knocked at the door; she asked him, without coming in, if he could pour out the water himself. Then she went downstairs and rang the bell for tea. The dining-room, large and well-proportioned, had windows on two sides of it, with heavy curtains of red rep; there was a big table in the middle; and at one end an imposing mahogany sideboard with a looking-glass in it. In one corner stood a harmonium. On each side of the fireplace were chairs covered in stamped leather, each with an antimacassar; one had arms and was called the husband, and the other had none and was called the wife. Mrs. Carey never sat in the arm-chair: she said she preferred a chair that was not too comfortable; there was always a lot to do, and if her chair had had arms she might not be so ready to leave it. Mr. Carey was making up the fire when Philip came in, and he pointed out to his nephew that there were two pokers. One was large and bright and polished and unused, and was called the Vicar; and the other, which was much smaller and had evidently passed through many fires, was called the Curate. "What are we waiting for?" said Mr. Carey. "I told Mary Ann to make you an egg. I thought you'd be hungry after your journey." Mrs. Carey thought the journey from London to Blackstable very tiring. She seldom travelled herself, for the living was only three hundred a year, and, when her husband wanted a holiday, since there was not money for two, he went by himself. He was very fond of Church Congresses and usually managed to go up to London once a year; and once he had been to Paris for the exhibition, and two or three times to Switzerland. Mary Ann brought in the egg, and they sat down. The chair was much too low for Philip, and for a moment neither Mr. Carey nor his wife knew what to do. "I'll put some books under him," said Mary Ann. She took from the top of the harmonium the large Bible and the prayer-book from which the Vicar was accustomed to read prayers, and put them on Philip's chair. "Oh, William, he can't sit on the Bible," said Mrs. Carey, in a shocked tone. "Couldn't you get him some books out of the study?" Mr. Carey considered the question for an instant. "I don't think it matters this once if you put the prayer-book on the top, Mary Ann," he said. "The book of Common Prayer is the composition of men like ourselves. It has no claim to divine authorship." "I hadn't thought of that, William," said Aunt Louisa. Philip perched himself on the books, and the Vicar, having said grace, cut the top off his egg. "There," he said, handing it to Philip, "you can eat my top if you like." Philip would have liked an egg to himself, but he was not offered one, so took what he could. "How have the chickens been laying since I went away?" asked the Vicar. "Oh, they've been dreadful, only one or two a day." "How did you like that top, Philip?" asked his uncle. "Very much, thank you." "You shall have another one on Sunday afternoon." Mr. Carey always had a boiled egg at tea on Sunday, so that he might be fortified for the evening service. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 1-4

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It is a grey day in London, 1885, and Philip Carey, a small boy, is taken by his nurse to his mother's bed. She has just given birth to a still-born child and is dying. He is half asleep and snuggles close to his mother. The doctor tries to remove the child, but she knows it is the last time she will see him and clings to him, caressing him, especially his deformed foot. As she touches it, she cries. . The doctor gives the child to the nurse and makes arrangements. The boy will go temporarily to Miss Watkin, his godmother, and afterwards to his aunt and uncle. . A week later Philip is playing in the drawingroom at Miss Watkin's house. Since he has been an only child he is used to amusing himself and has made a cave with pillows, pretending he is hiding from Red Indians. His nurse Emma comes in dressed in black. He remarks on her new dress. She explains his mother has gone away and he will never see her again. She is in heaven. Philip cries, and Emma cries, though he doesn't understand. . He says good by to his godmother, Henrietta Watkin, who had been his mother's friend and enjoys getting pity from a circle of ladies, but he hears Miss Watkin explain that he has a clubfoot, and it was a grief to his mother. . When he goes home with Emma, he meets his uncle, Rev. William Carey. He explains that Philip will live with him and his Aunt Louisa at the vicarage. His uncle is over fifty, and he and his wife are childless. The uncle explains that his nurse, Emma, won't be coming with him. He cries and clings to her. The uncle takes him on his knee. . Although Philip's father had been a surgeon with a good practice, he had died suddenly from blood poisoning six months earlier and had left only life insurance and a house. Philip's mother rented the house out and took another house for a year till the posthumous child was born. She did not know how to manage money. Philip was left with only two thousand pounds. Mr. Carey says Philip may bring all his toys and one thing to remember each parent. . The boy goes to his mother's empty room, opens the closet where her dresses still hold the scent she wore. He buries his face in them, then chooses a small clock his mother liked. It seems like his mother has just gone out for a walk. . Blackstable parsonage is sixty miles from London. His aunt and uncle try to be kind, but they don't know how to handle children and expect him to conform to their strict and penurious ways. The uncle is vicar in the Church of England and has an unvarying routine. Mrs. Carey always gets second best, for her husband is first in the household. His uncle is the only one who gets a boiled egg, but he offers the top to Philip.

Commentary on Chapters I-IV . The style is subdued and factual, making the bleakness of the young boy's tragic life even more stark. He is an orphan, just losing both parents within the same year. His mother obviously loved him deeply and is worried about his deformed foot. She is characterized as beautiful but careless with money. She liked beauty, and for that reason probably, the nurse Emma had ordered masses of white flowers for the death room. The uncle thinks this an extravagance, and this is a first hint that the boy's life is going to be very different now. He has been in a sort of cocoon with his parents and nurse, unaware that there is anything wrong with him. His overhearing Miss Watkin's conversation about his clubfoot is a new revelation. . Suddenly, he loses everything, including his home, parents, and nurse. His aunt and uncle take him in but are older and have different values. This is the late Victorian period in England, and Mr. Carey is an old-fashioned clergyman in the established Church of England. Whatever little extravagances Philip may enjoyed with his parents in London are now gone, and the aunt and uncle must manage a very tight budget at the vicarage. It is cold, and they light as few fires as possible. He gets a tiny bedroom. The top of the egg is all he is offered, and the aunt gets no egg at all, for she is a typical Victorian wife who gives up pleasures for others, letting her husband have the comfortable chair and best food. . While the story sounds like the beginning of a Dickens novel in terms of the plot, there is no sentimentality or overt emotion. The narrative details the psychological state of the characters but more in the manner of a reporter. The emptiness and drabness of the boy's life are thus economically conveyed through the few details. . Important early facts about Philip are his closeness with his beautiful mother and the sudden loss of love and security. He is a delicate child with an imagination and a deformed foot.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_5_to_9.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_2_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 5-9

chapters 5-9

{"name": "Chapters 5-9", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter5-9", "summary": "At the vicarage Philip learns more about his parents. His father was a brilliant surgeon on the staff of St. Luke's Hospital in London. He earned a lot of money but spent it freely, for instance, on his marriage to one of his patients, a penniless but well-connected young woman. . The parson, seeing the lavish entertaining at his younger brother's home in London prophesies the worst will happen. He had seen grapes in the dining room, an expense he could not even imagine! When a packet of photographs arrives at the parsonage for Philip, the parson is surprised. Mrs. Carey, fearing she would die in childbirth, had gotten out of bed and had photographs taken of her so her son would not forget her. She had beautiful blonde hair and had put on an evening dress and furs. The parson cannot understand why she had a dozen taken instead of one. . The vicarage at Blackstable in Kent is very dull and never changes its routine. Mr. Carey shares The Times with two neighbors and starts his day with the newspaper. Philip accompanies Mrs. Carey to the market in the fishing village of Blackstable. She is careful to patronize the merchants who are church members. . When the churchwarden, Josiah Graves, quarrels with the vicar over whether he can chair a committee or whether the vicar should do it, Graves resigns, and then Mrs. Carey and Miss Graves have to mend fences behind the scenes. Philip has to wait while his aunt visits with people in town and amuses himself by skipping stones on the beach. In the afternoons, Philip learns Latin and mathematics from his uncle, and French and piano from his aunt. . There are few parties, and the Careys do not mingle much. They like to have tea and backgammon by themselves. Sundays are more tense because they are church days, and Philip has to attend two services while his uncle preaches and not fidget, though he is bored. . He begins to love the maid, Mary Ann, for she bathes him, tucks him in bed and tells him stories of the sea that touch his imagination. He spends time near her playing in the kitchen. . The uncle will not let Philip go home with Mary Ann, for he fears the rough fisher folk who go to chapel instead of church. The aunt wants to mother Philip, but she doesn't know how and feels awkward around the boy. . When Philip accidentally makes a noise playing on Sunday while his uncle is napping, the vicar shames him as wicked for playing on Sunday and won't let him go to service. His aunt tries to cheer him up, but he lashes out at her, saying he hates her. She begins to cry and takes him on her lap. . The next Sunday the vicar gives Philip prayers to memorize to keep him busy, so he won't play. The boy doesn't understand them and goes into panic. His aunt finds him sobbing. She intervenes with her husband, allowing him to look at picture books from their library to amuse him. This is how he gets into the habit of reading. He soon begins a course of unsupervised reading, picking out what is most thrilling. In the summer, he reads for hours in a hammock in the garden. He is not allowed to play with visiting children from London who might be a bad influence. The Careys expect Philip to take holy orders when he grows up.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters V-IX . The narrator does not comment but details the smallness of the world Philip inhabits with his aunt and uncle in the vicarage. For instance, his aunt will not look at any dissenter or non-Anglican she passes in the street. The uncle believes the fisher folk who go to chapel to be rough and wicked. This is the late Victorian period when such religious differences were important. His uncle drums into him that only gentlemen belong to the Church of England, while the lower classes go to \"chapel,\" run by other Protestant sects. From a larger point of view, the divisions are minute: Christian against Christian. But the various sects had doctrinal and class differences. . Josiah Graves, the church warden, is in a power struggle with his pastor. One of their petty quarrels concerns the vicar's love of candlesticks and other \"popish\" customs. The vicar had been influenced by the Oxford Movement when many Anglicans were lured over to the Church of Rome because of its ritual, and consequently, Mr. Carey has some sympathy with lavish ceremonies. The more Puritan Anglicans, like Josiah Graves, are deeply suspicious of such practice. The Anglican or Church of England prided itself on being a \"middle way\" between the extremes of the Roman Catholic Church and the more Puritan dissenters who did not want any images between them and God. . Philip is made to feel guilty over equally small things, such as playing on Sunday. The vicar shames him, saying his mother will be grieved in heaven. He feels humiliation, the beginning of his deep shame about being inadequate. His aunt tries to help him escape the restrictions the uncle puts on him, and once she introduces him to picture books and stories, he has found his refuge, his escape. He chooses books that have magic and adventure. His aunt and uncle cannot be bothered with him much, so he reads whatever books he wants. A warning note sounds when it is revealed they expect him to be an Anglican minister, like the uncle. . The perceptive reader sees already he doesn't seem to fit into that mold. His sensitivity comes to the surface when he breaks down under his uncle's harshness. His uncle is surprised, saying he gave the boy a simple task. The uncle is not really mean but very rigid and unsympathetic. He doesn't know how to teach or motivate a child. . Philip is precocious and restless, with an active imagination. His uncle and aunt bore him. His reading liberates him. However, \"he did not know that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment\" . Like many sensitive people, Philip will have a great difficulty with the discrepancies and injustices of life. This is especially compounded by the era he grows up in, for Victorian convention is very narrow and stuffy. He is too different."}

<CHAPTER> V Philip came gradually to know the people he was to live with, and by fragments of conversation, some of it not meant for his ears, learned a good deal both about himself and about his dead parents. Philip's father had been much younger than the Vicar of Blackstable. After a brilliant career at St. Luke's Hospital he was put on the staff, and presently began to earn money in considerable sums. He spent it freely. When the parson set about restoring his church and asked his brother for a subscription, he was surprised by receiving a couple of hundred pounds: Mr. Carey, thrifty by inclination and economical by necessity, accepted it with mingled feelings; he was envious of his brother because he could afford to give so much, pleased for the sake of his church, and vaguely irritated by a generosity which seemed almost ostentatious. Then Henry Carey married a patient, a beautiful girl but penniless, an orphan with no near relations, but of good family; and there was an array of fine friends at the wedding. The parson, on his visits to her when he came to London, held himself with reserve. He felt shy with her and in his heart he resented her great beauty: she dressed more magnificently than became the wife of a hardworking surgeon; and the charming furniture of her house, the flowers among which she lived even in winter, suggested an extravagance which he deplored. He heard her talk of entertainments she was going to; and, as he told his wife on getting home again, it was impossible to accept hospitality without making some return. He had seen grapes in the dining-room that must have cost at least eight shillings a pound; and at luncheon he had been given asparagus two months before it was ready in the vicarage garden. Now all he had anticipated was come to pass: the Vicar felt the satisfaction of the prophet who saw fire and brimstone consume the city which would not mend its way to his warning. Poor Philip was practically penniless, and what was the good of his mother's fine friends now? He heard that his father's extravagance was really criminal, and it was a mercy that Providence had seen fit to take his dear mother to itself: she had no more idea of money than a child. When Philip had been a week at Blackstable an incident happened which seemed to irritate his uncle very much. One morning he found on the breakfast table a small packet which had been sent on by post from the late Mrs. Carey's house in London. It was addressed to her. When the parson opened it he found a dozen photographs of Mrs. Carey. They showed the head and shoulders only, and her hair was more plainly done than usual, low on the forehead, which gave her an unusual look; the face was thin and worn, but no illness could impair the beauty of her features. There was in the large dark eyes a sadness which Philip did not remember. The first sight of the dead woman gave Mr. Carey a little shock, but this was quickly followed by perplexity. The photographs seemed quite recent, and he could not imagine who had ordered them. "D'you know anything about these, Philip?" he asked. "I remember mamma said she'd been taken," he answered. "Miss Watkin scolded her.... She said: I wanted the boy to have something to remember me by when he grows up." Mr. Carey looked at Philip for an instant. The child spoke in a clear treble. He recalled the words, but they meant nothing to him. "You'd better take one of the photographs and keep it in your room," said Mr. Carey. "I'll put the others away." He sent one to Miss Watkin, and she wrote and explained how they came to be taken. One day Mrs. Carey was lying in bed, but she was feeling a little better than usual, and the doctor in the morning had seemed hopeful; Emma had taken the child out, and the maids were downstairs in the basement: suddenly Mrs. Carey felt desperately alone in the world. A great fear seized her that she would not recover from the confinement which she was expecting in a fortnight. Her son was nine years old. How could he be expected to remember her? She could not bear to think that he would grow up and forget, forget her utterly; and she had loved him so passionately, because he was weakly and deformed, and because he was her child. She had no photographs of herself taken since her marriage, and that was ten years before. She wanted her son to know what she looked like at the end. He could not forget her then, not forget utterly. She knew that if she called her maid and told her she wanted to get up, the maid would prevent her, and perhaps send for the doctor, and she had not the strength now to struggle or argue. She got out of bed and began to dress herself. She had been on her back so long that her legs gave way beneath her, and then the soles of her feet tingled so that she could hardly bear to put them to the ground. But she went on. She was unused to doing her own hair and, when she raised her arms and began to brush it, she felt faint. She could never do it as her maid did. It was beautiful hair, very fine, and of a deep rich gold. Her eyebrows were straight and dark. She put on a black skirt, but chose the bodice of the evening dress which she liked best: it was of a white damask which was fashionable in those days. She looked at herself in the glass. Her face was very pale, but her skin was clear: she had never had much colour, and this had always made the redness of her beautiful mouth emphatic. She could not restrain a sob. But she could not afford to be sorry for herself; she was feeling already desperately tired; and she put on the furs which Henry had given her the Christmas before--she had been so proud of them and so happy then--and slipped downstairs with beating heart. She got safely out of the house and drove to a photographer. She paid for a dozen photographs. She was obliged to ask for a glass of water in the middle of the sitting; and the assistant, seeing she was ill, suggested that she should come another day, but she insisted on staying till the end. At last it was finished, and she drove back again to the dingy little house in Kensington which she hated with all her heart. It was a horrible house to die in. She found the front door open, and when she drove up the maid and Emma ran down the steps to help her. They had been frightened when they found her room empty. At first they thought she must have gone to Miss Watkin, and the cook was sent round. Miss Watkin came back with her and was waiting anxiously in the drawing-room. She came downstairs now full of anxiety and reproaches; but the exertion had been more than Mrs. Carey was fit for, and when the occasion for firmness no longer existed she gave way. She fell heavily into Emma's arms and was carried upstairs. She remained unconscious for a time that seemed incredibly long to those that watched her, and the doctor, hurriedly sent for, did not come. It was next day, when she was a little better, that Miss Watkin got some explanation out of her. Philip was playing on the floor of his mother's bed-room, and neither of the ladies paid attention to him. He only understood vaguely what they were talking about, and he could not have said why those words remained in his memory. "I wanted the boy to have something to remember me by when he grows up." "I can't make out why she ordered a dozen," said Mr. Carey. "Two would have done." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VI One day was very like another at the vicarage. Soon after breakfast Mary Ann brought in The Times. Mr. Carey shared it with two neighbours. He had it from ten till one, when the gardener took it over to Mr. Ellis at the Limes, with whom it remained till seven; then it was taken to Miss Brooks at the Manor House, who, since she got it late, had the advantage of keeping it. In summer Mrs. Carey, when she was making jam, often asked her for a copy to cover the pots with. When the Vicar settled down to his paper his wife put on her bonnet and went out to do the shopping. Philip accompanied her. Blackstable was a fishing village. It consisted of a high street in which were the shops, the bank, the doctor's house, and the houses of two or three coalship owners; round the little harbor were shabby streets in which lived fishermen and poor people; but since they went to chapel they were of no account. When Mrs. Carey passed the dissenting ministers in the street she stepped over to the other side to avoid meeting them, but if there was not time for this fixed her eyes on the pavement. It was a scandal to which the Vicar had never resigned himself that there were three chapels in the High Street: he could not help feeling that the law should have stepped in to prevent their erection. Shopping in Blackstable was not a simple matter; for dissent, helped by the fact that the parish church was two miles from the town, was very common; and it was necessary to deal only with churchgoers; Mrs. Carey knew perfectly that the vicarage custom might make all the difference to a tradesman's faith. There were two butchers who went to church, and they would not understand that the Vicar could not deal with both of them at once; nor were they satisfied with his simple plan of going for six months to one and for six months to the other. The butcher who was not sending meat to the vicarage constantly threatened not to come to church, and the Vicar was sometimes obliged to make a threat: it was very wrong of him not to come to church, but if he carried iniquity further and actually went to chapel, then of course, excellent as his meat was, Mr. Carey would be forced to leave him for ever. Mrs. Carey often stopped at the bank to deliver a message to Josiah Graves, the manager, who was choir-master, treasurer, and churchwarden. He was a tall, thin man with a sallow face and a long nose; his hair was very white, and to Philip he seemed extremely old. He kept the parish accounts, arranged the treats for the choir and the schools; though there was no organ in the parish church, it was generally considered (in Blackstable) that the choir he led was the best in Kent; and when there was any ceremony, such as a visit from the Bishop for confirmation or from the Rural Dean to preach at the Harvest Thanksgiving, he made the necessary preparations. But he had no hesitation in doing all manner of things without more than a perfunctory consultation with the Vicar, and the Vicar, though always ready to be saved trouble, much resented the churchwarden's managing ways. He really seemed to look upon himself as the most important person in the parish. Mr. Carey constantly told his wife that if Josiah Graves did not take care he would give him a good rap over the knuckles one day; but Mrs. Carey advised him to bear with Josiah Graves: he meant well, and it was not his fault if he was not quite a gentleman. The Vicar, finding his comfort in the practice of a Christian virtue, exercised forbearance; but he revenged himself by calling the churchwarden Bismarck behind his back. Once there had been a serious quarrel between the pair, and Mrs. Carey still thought of that anxious time with dismay. The Conservative candidate had announced his intention of addressing a meeting at Blackstable; and Josiah Graves, having arranged that it should take place in the Mission Hall, went to Mr. Carey and told him that he hoped he would say a few words. It appeared that the candidate had asked Josiah Graves to take the chair. This was more than Mr. Carey could put up with. He had firm views upon the respect which was due to the cloth, and it was ridiculous for a churchwarden to take the chair at a meeting when the Vicar was there. He reminded Josiah Graves that parson meant person, that is, the vicar was the person of the parish. Josiah Graves answered that he was the first to recognise the dignity of the church, but this was a matter of politics, and in his turn he reminded the Vicar that their Blessed Saviour had enjoined upon them to render unto Caesar the things that were Caesar's. To this Mr. Carey replied that the devil could quote scripture to his purpose, himself had sole authority over the Mission Hall, and if he were not asked to be chairman he would refuse the use of it for a political meeting. Josiah Graves told Mr. Carey that he might do as he chose, and for his part he thought the Wesleyan Chapel would be an equally suitable place. Then Mr. Carey said that if Josiah Graves set foot in what was little better than a heathen temple he was not fit to be churchwarden in a Christian parish. Josiah Graves thereupon resigned all his offices, and that very evening sent to the church for his cassock and surplice. His sister, Miss Graves, who kept house for him, gave up her secretaryship of the Maternity Club, which provided the pregnant poor with flannel, baby linen, coals, and five shillings. Mr. Carey said he was at last master in his own house. But soon he found that he was obliged to see to all sorts of things that he knew nothing about; and Josiah Graves, after the first moment of irritation, discovered that he had lost his chief interest in life. Mrs. Carey and Miss Graves were much distressed by the quarrel; they met after a discreet exchange of letters, and made up their minds to put the matter right: they talked, one to her husband, the other to her brother, from morning till night; and since they were persuading these gentlemen to do what in their hearts they wanted, after three weeks of anxiety a reconciliation was effected. It was to both their interests, but they ascribed it to a common love for their Redeemer. The meeting was held at the Mission Hall, and the doctor was asked to be chairman. Mr. Carey and Josiah Graves both made speeches. When Mrs. Carey had finished her business with the banker, she generally went upstairs to have a little chat with his sister; and while the ladies talked of parish matters, the curate or the new bonnet of Mrs. Wilson--Mr. Wilson was the richest man in Blackstable, he was thought to have at least five hundred a year, and he had married his cook--Philip sat demurely in the stiff parlour, used only to receive visitors, and busied himself with the restless movements of goldfish in a bowl. The windows were never opened except to air the room for a few minutes in the morning, and it had a stuffy smell which seemed to Philip to have a mysterious connection with banking. Then Mrs. Carey remembered that she had to go to the grocer, and they continued their way. When the shopping was done they often went down a side street of little houses, mostly of wood, in which fishermen dwelt (and here and there a fisherman sat on his doorstep mending his nets, and nets hung to dry upon the doors), till they came to a small beach, shut in on each side by warehouses, but with a view of the sea. Mrs. Carey stood for a few minutes and looked at it, it was turbid and yellow, [and who knows what thoughts passed through her mind?] while Philip searched for flat stones to play ducks and drakes. Then they walked slowly back. They looked into the post office to get the right time, nodded to Mrs. Wigram the doctor's wife, who sat at her window sewing, and so got home. Dinner was at one o'clock; and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday it consisted of beef, roast, hashed, and minced, and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of mutton. On Sunday they ate one of their own chickens. In the afternoon Philip did his lessons, He was taught Latin and mathematics by his uncle who knew neither, and French and the piano by his aunt. Of French she was ignorant, but she knew the piano well enough to accompany the old-fashioned songs she had sung for thirty years. Uncle William used to tell Philip that when he was a curate his wife had known twelve songs by heart, which she could sing at a moment's notice whenever she was asked. She often sang still when there was a tea-party at the vicarage. There were few people whom the Careys cared to ask there, and their parties consisted always of the curate, Josiah Graves with his sister, Dr. Wigram and his wife. After tea Miss Graves played one or two of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words, and Mrs. Carey sang When the Swallows Homeward Fly, or Trot, Trot, My Pony. But the Careys did not give tea-parties often; the preparations upset them, and when their guests were gone they felt themselves exhausted. They preferred to have tea by themselves, and after tea they played backgammon. Mrs. Carey arranged that her husband should win, because he did not like losing. They had cold supper at eight. It was a scrappy meal because Mary Ann resented getting anything ready after tea, and Mrs. Carey helped to clear away. Mrs. Carey seldom ate more than bread and butter, with a little stewed fruit to follow, but the Vicar had a slice of cold meat. Immediately after supper Mrs. Carey rang the bell for prayers, and then Philip went to bed. He rebelled against being undressed by Mary Ann and after a while succeeded in establishing his right to dress and undress himself. At nine o'clock Mary Ann brought in the eggs and the plate. Mrs. Carey wrote the date on each egg and put the number down in a book. She then took the plate-basket on her arm and went upstairs. Mr. Carey continued to read one of his old books, but as the clock struck ten he got up, put out the lamps, and followed his wife to bed. When Philip arrived there was some difficulty in deciding on which evening he should have his bath. It was never easy to get plenty of hot water, since the kitchen boiler did not work, and it was impossible for two persons to have a bath on the same day. The only man who had a bathroom in Blackstable was Mr. Wilson, and it was thought ostentatious of him. Mary Ann had her bath in the kitchen on Monday night, because she liked to begin the week clean. Uncle William could not have his on Saturday, because he had a heavy day before him and he was always a little tired after a bath, so he had it on Friday. Mrs. Carey had hers on Thursday for the same reason. It looked as though Saturday were naturally indicated for Philip, but Mary Ann said she couldn't keep the fire up on Saturday night: what with all the cooking on Sunday, having to make pastry and she didn't know what all, she did not feel up to giving the boy his bath on Saturday night; and it was quite clear that he could not bath himself. Mrs. Carey was shy about bathing a boy, and of course the Vicar had his sermon. But the Vicar insisted that Philip should be clean and sweet for the lord's Day. Mary Ann said she would rather go than be put upon--and after eighteen years she didn't expect to have more work given her, and they might show some consideration--and Philip said he didn't want anyone to bath him, but could very well bath himself. This settled it. Mary Ann said she was quite sure he wouldn't bath himself properly, and rather than he should go dirty--and not because he was going into the presence of the Lord, but because she couldn't abide a boy who wasn't properly washed--she'd work herself to the bone even if it was Saturday night. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VII Sunday was a day crowded with incident. Mr. Carey was accustomed to say that he was the only man in his parish who worked seven days a week. The household got up half an hour earlier than usual. No lying abed for a poor parson on the day of rest, Mr. Carey remarked as Mary Ann knocked at the door punctually at eight. It took Mrs. Carey longer to dress, and she got down to breakfast at nine, a little breathless, only just before her husband. Mr. Carey's boots stood in front of the fire to warm. Prayers were longer than usual, and the breakfast more substantial. After breakfast the Vicar cut thin slices of bread for the communion, and Philip was privileged to cut off the crust. He was sent to the study to fetch a marble paperweight, with which Mr. Carey pressed the bread till it was thin and pulpy, and then it was cut into small squares. The amount was regulated by the weather. On a very bad day few people came to church, and on a very fine one, though many came, few stayed for communion. There were most when it was dry enough to make the walk to church pleasant, but not so fine that people wanted to hurry away. Then Mrs. Carey brought the communion plate out of the safe, which stood in the pantry, and the Vicar polished it with a chamois leather. At ten the fly drove up, and Mr. Carey got into his boots. Mrs. Carey took several minutes to put on her bonnet, during which the Vicar, in a voluminous cloak, stood in the hall with just such an expression on his face as would have become an early Christian about to be led into the arena. It was extraordinary that after thirty years of marriage his wife could not be ready in time on Sunday morning. At last she came, in black satin; the Vicar did not like colours in a clergyman's wife at any time, but on Sundays he was determined that she should wear black; now and then, in conspiracy with Miss Graves, she ventured a white feather or a pink rose in her bonnet, but the Vicar insisted that it should disappear; he said he would not go to church with the scarlet woman: Mrs. Carey sighed as a woman but obeyed as a wife. They were about to step into the carriage when the Vicar remembered that no one had given him his egg. They knew that he must have an egg for his voice, there were two women in the house, and no one had the least regard for his comfort. Mrs. Carey scolded Mary Ann, and Mary Ann answered that she could not think of everything. She hurried away to fetch an egg, and Mrs. Carey beat it up in a glass of sherry. The Vicar swallowed it at a gulp. The communion plate was stowed in the carriage, and they set off. The fly came from The Red Lion and had a peculiar smell of stale straw. They drove with both windows closed so that the Vicar should not catch cold. The sexton was waiting at the porch to take the communion plate, and while the Vicar went to the vestry Mrs. Carey and Philip settled themselves in the vicarage pew. Mrs. Carey placed in front of her the sixpenny bit she was accustomed to put in the plate, and gave Philip threepence for the same purpose. The church filled up gradually and the service began. Philip grew bored during the sermon, but if he fidgetted Mrs. Carey put a gentle hand on his arm and looked at him reproachfully. He regained interest when the final hymn was sung and Mr. Graves passed round with the plate. When everyone had gone Mrs. Carey went into Miss Graves' pew to have a few words with her while they were waiting for the gentlemen, and Philip went to the vestry. His uncle, the curate, and Mr. Graves were still in their surplices. Mr. Carey gave him the remains of the consecrated bread and told him he might eat it. He had been accustomed to eat it himself, as it seemed blasphemous to throw it away, but Philip's keen appetite relieved him from the duty. Then they counted the money. It consisted of pennies, sixpences and threepenny bits. There were always two single shillings, one put in the plate by the Vicar and the other by Mr. Graves; and sometimes there was a florin. Mr. Graves told the Vicar who had given this. It was always a stranger to Blackstable, and Mr. Carey wondered who he was. But Miss Graves had observed the rash act and was able to tell Mrs. Carey that the stranger came from London, was married and had children. During the drive home Mrs. Carey passed the information on, and the Vicar made up his mind to call on him and ask for a subscription to the Additional Curates Society. Mr. Carey asked if Philip had behaved properly; and Mrs. Carey remarked that Mrs. Wigram had a new mantle, Mr. Cox was not in church, and somebody thought that Miss Phillips was engaged. When they reached the vicarage they all felt that they deserved a substantial dinner. When this was over Mrs. Carey went to her room to rest, and Mr. Carey lay down on the sofa in the drawing-room for forty winks. They had tea at five, and the Vicar ate an egg to support himself for evensong. Mrs. Carey did not go to this so that Mary Ann might, but she read the service through and the hymns. Mr. Carey walked to church in the evening, and Philip limped along by his side. The walk through the darkness along the country road strangely impressed him, and the church with all its lights in the distance, coming gradually nearer, seemed very friendly. At first he was shy with his uncle, but little by little grew used to him, and he would slip his hand in his uncle's and walk more easily for the feeling of protection. They had supper when they got home. Mr. Carey's slippers were waiting for him on a footstool in front of the fire and by their side Philip's, one the shoe of a small boy, the other misshapen and odd. He was dreadfully tired when he went up to bed, and he did not resist when Mary Ann undressed him. She kissed him after she tucked him up, and he began to love her. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> VIII Philip had led always the solitary life of an only child, and his loneliness at the vicarage was no greater than it had been when his mother lived. He made friends with Mary Ann. She was a chubby little person of thirty-five, the daughter of a fisherman, and had come to the vicarage at eighteen; it was her first place and she had no intention of leaving it; but she held a possible marriage as a rod over the timid heads of her master and mistress. Her father and mother lived in a little house off Harbour Street, and she went to see them on her evenings out. Her stories of the sea touched Philip's imagination, and the narrow alleys round the harbour grew rich with the romance which his young fancy lent them. One evening he asked whether he might go home with her; but his aunt was afraid that he might catch something, and his uncle said that evil communications corrupted good manners. He disliked the fisher folk, who were rough, uncouth, and went to chapel. But Philip was more comfortable in the kitchen than in the dining-room, and, whenever he could, he took his toys and played there. His aunt was not sorry. She did not like disorder, and though she recognised that boys must be expected to be untidy she preferred that he should make a mess in the kitchen. If he fidgeted his uncle was apt to grow restless and say it was high time he went to school. Mrs. Carey thought Philip very young for this, and her heart went out to the motherless child; but her attempts to gain his affection were awkward, and the boy, feeling shy, received her demonstrations with so much sullenness that she was mortified. Sometimes she heard his shrill voice raised in laughter in the kitchen, but when she went in, he grew suddenly silent, and he flushed darkly when Mary Ann explained the joke. Mrs. Carey could not see anything amusing in what she heard, and she smiled with constraint. "He seems happier with Mary Ann than with us, William," she said, when she returned to her sewing. "One can see he's been very badly brought up. He wants licking into shape." On the second Sunday after Philip arrived an unlucky incident occurred. Mr. Carey had retired as usual after dinner for a little snooze in the drawing-room, but he was in an irritable mood and could not sleep. Josiah Graves that morning had objected strongly to some candlesticks with which the Vicar had adorned the altar. He had bought them second-hand in Tercanbury, and he thought they looked very well. But Josiah Graves said they were popish. This was a taunt that always aroused the Vicar. He had been at Oxford during the movement which ended in the secession from the Established Church of Edward Manning, and he felt a certain sympathy for the Church of Rome. He would willingly have made the service more ornate than had been usual in the low-church parish of Blackstable, and in his secret soul he yearned for processions and lighted candles. He drew the line at incense. He hated the word protestant. He called himself a Catholic. He was accustomed to say that Papists required an epithet, they were Roman Catholic; but the Church of England was Catholic in the best, the fullest, and the noblest sense of the term. He was pleased to think that his shaven face gave him the look of a priest, and in his youth he had possessed an ascetic air which added to the impression. He often related that on one of his holidays in Boulogne, one of those holidays upon which his wife for economy's sake did not accompany him, when he was sitting in a church, the cure had come up to him and invited him to preach a sermon. He dismissed his curates when they married, having decided views on the celibacy of the unbeneficed clergy. But when at an election the Liberals had written on his garden fence in large blue letters: This way to Rome, he had been very angry, and threatened to prosecute the leaders of the Liberal party in Blackstable. He made up his mind now that nothing Josiah Graves said would induce him to remove the candlesticks from the altar, and he muttered Bismarck to himself once or twice irritably. Suddenly he heard an unexpected noise. He pulled the handkerchief off his face, got up from the sofa on which he was lying, and went into the dining-room. Philip was seated on the table with all his bricks around him. He had built a monstrous castle, and some defect in the foundation had just brought the structure down in noisy ruin. "What are you doing with those bricks, Philip? You know you're not allowed to play games on Sunday." Philip stared at him for a moment with frightened eyes, and, as his habit was, flushed deeply. "I always used to play at home," he answered. "I'm sure your dear mamma never allowed you to do such a wicked thing as that." Philip did not know it was wicked; but if it was, he did not wish it to be supposed that his mother had consented to it. He hung his head and did not answer. "Don't you know it's very, very wicked to play on Sunday? What d'you suppose it's called the day of rest for? You're going to church tonight, and how can you face your Maker when you've been breaking one of His laws in the afternoon?" Mr. Carey told him to put the bricks away at once, and stood over him while Philip did so. "You're a very naughty boy," he repeated. "Think of the grief you're causing your poor mother in heaven." Philip felt inclined to cry, but he had an instinctive disinclination to letting other people see his tears, and he clenched his teeth to prevent the sobs from escaping. Mr. Carey sat down in his arm-chair and began to turn over the pages of a book. Philip stood at the window. The vicarage was set back from the highroad to Tercanbury, and from the dining-room one saw a semicircular strip of lawn and then as far as the horizon green fields. Sheep were grazing in them. The sky was forlorn and gray. Philip felt infinitely unhappy. Presently Mary Ann came in to lay the tea, and Aunt Louisa descended the stairs. "Have you had a nice little nap, William?" she asked. "No," he answered. "Philip made so much noise that I couldn't sleep a wink." This was not quite accurate, for he had been kept awake by his own thoughts; and Philip, listening sullenly, reflected that he had only made a noise once, and there was no reason why his uncle should not have slept before or after. When Mrs. Carey asked for an explanation the Vicar narrated the facts. "He hasn't even said he was sorry," he finished. "Oh, Philip, I'm sure you're sorry," said Mrs. Carey, anxious that the child should not seem wickeder to his uncle than need be. Philip did not reply. He went on munching his bread and butter. He did not know what power it was in him that prevented him from making any expression of regret. He felt his ears tingling, he was a little inclined to cry, but no word would issue from his lips. "You needn't make it worse by sulking," said Mr. Carey. Tea was finished in silence. Mrs. Carey looked at Philip surreptitiously now and then, but the Vicar elaborately ignored him. When Philip saw his uncle go upstairs to get ready for church he went into the hall and got his hat and coat, but when the Vicar came downstairs and saw him, he said: "I don't wish you to go to church tonight, Philip. I don't think you're in a proper frame of mind to enter the House of God." Philip did not say a word. He felt it was a deep humiliation that was placed upon him, and his cheeks reddened. He stood silently watching his uncle put on his broad hat and his voluminous cloak. Mrs. Carey as usual went to the door to see him off. Then she turned to Philip. "Never mind, Philip, you won't be a naughty boy next Sunday, will you, and then your uncle will take you to church with him in the evening." She took off his hat and coat, and led him into the dining-room. "Shall you and I read the service together, Philip, and we'll sing the hymns at the harmonium. Would you like that?" Philip shook his head decidedly. Mrs. Carey was taken aback. If he would not read the evening service with her she did not know what to do with him. "Then what would you like to do until your uncle comes back?" she asked helplessly. Philip broke his silence at last. "I want to be left alone," he said. "Philip, how can you say anything so unkind? Don't you know that your uncle and I only want your good? Don't you love me at all?" "I hate you. I wish you was dead." Mrs. Carey gasped. He said the words so savagely that it gave her quite a start. She had nothing to say. She sat down in her husband's chair; and as she thought of her desire to love the friendless, crippled boy and her eager wish that he should love her--she was a barren woman and, even though it was clearly God's will that she should be childless, she could scarcely bear to look at little children sometimes, her heart ached so--the tears rose to her eyes and one by one, slowly, rolled down her cheeks. Philip watched her in amazement. She took out her handkerchief, and now she cried without restraint. Suddenly Philip realised that she was crying because of what he had said, and he was sorry. He went up to her silently and kissed her. It was the first kiss he had ever given her without being asked. And the poor lady, so small in her black satin, shrivelled up and sallow, with her funny corkscrew curls, took the little boy on her lap and put her arms around him and wept as though her heart would break. But her tears were partly tears of happiness, for she felt that the strangeness between them was gone. She loved him now with a new love because he had made her suffer. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> IX On the following Sunday, when the Vicar was making his preparations to go into the drawing-room for his nap--all the actions of his life were conducted with ceremony--and Mrs. Carey was about to go upstairs, Philip asked: "What shall I do if I'm not allowed to play?" "Can't you sit still for once and be quiet?" "I can't sit still till tea-time." Mr. Carey looked out of the window, but it was cold and raw, and he could not suggest that Philip should go into the garden. "I know what you can do. You can learn by heart the collect for the day." He took the prayer-book which was used for prayers from the harmonium, and turned the pages till he came to the place he wanted. "It's not a long one. If you can say it without a mistake when I come in to tea you shall have the top of my egg." Mrs. Carey drew up Philip's chair to the dining-room table--they had bought him a high chair by now--and placed the book in front of him. "The devil finds work for idle hands to do," said Mr. Carey. He put some more coals on the fire so that there should be a cheerful blaze when he came in to tea, and went into the drawing-room. He loosened his collar, arranged the cushions, and settled himself comfortably on the sofa. But thinking the drawing-room a little chilly, Mrs. Carey brought him a rug from the hall; she put it over his legs and tucked it round his feet. She drew the blinds so that the light should not offend his eyes, and since he had closed them already went out of the room on tiptoe. The Vicar was at peace with himself today, and in ten minutes he was asleep. He snored softly. It was the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, and the collect began with the words: O God, whose blessed Son was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil, and make us the sons of God, and heirs of Eternal life. Philip read it through. He could make no sense of it. He began saying the words aloud to himself, but many of them were unknown to him, and the construction of the sentence was strange. He could not get more than two lines in his head. And his attention was constantly wandering: there were fruit trees trained on the walls of the vicarage, and a long twig beat now and then against the windowpane; sheep grazed stolidly in the field beyond the garden. It seemed as though there were knots inside his brain. Then panic seized him that he would not know the words by tea-time, and he kept on whispering them to himself quickly; he did not try to understand, but merely to get them parrot-like into his memory. Mrs. Carey could not sleep that afternoon, and by four o'clock she was so wide awake that she came downstairs. She thought she would hear Philip his collect so that he should make no mistakes when he said it to his uncle. His uncle then would be pleased; he would see that the boy's heart was in the right place. But when Mrs. Carey came to the dining-room and was about to go in, she heard a sound that made her stop suddenly. Her heart gave a little jump. She turned away and quietly slipped out of the front-door. She walked round the house till she came to the dining-room window and then cautiously looked in. Philip was still sitting on the chair she had put him in, but his head was on the table buried in his arms, and he was sobbing desperately. She saw the convulsive movement of his shoulders. Mrs. Carey was frightened. A thing that had always struck her about the child was that he seemed so collected. She had never seen him cry. And now she realised that his calmness was some instinctive shame of showing his feelings: he hid himself to weep. Without thinking that her husband disliked being wakened suddenly, she burst into the drawing-room. "William, William," she said. "The boy's crying as though his heart would break." Mr. Carey sat up and disentangled himself from the rug about his legs. "What's he got to cry about?" "I don't know.... Oh, William, we can't let the boy be unhappy. D'you think it's our fault? If we'd had children we'd have known what to do." Mr. Carey looked at her in perplexity. He felt extraordinarily helpless. "He can't be crying because I gave him the collect to learn. It's not more than ten lines." "Don't you think I might take him some picture books to look at, William? There are some of the Holy Land. There couldn't be anything wrong in that." "Very well, I don't mind." Mrs. Carey went into the study. To collect books was Mr. Carey's only passion, and he never went into Tercanbury without spending an hour or two in the second-hand shop; he always brought back four or five musty volumes. He never read them, for he had long lost the habit of reading, but he liked to turn the pages, look at the illustrations if they were illustrated, and mend the bindings. He welcomed wet days because on them he could stay at home without pangs of conscience and spend the afternoon with white of egg and a glue-pot, patching up the Russia leather of some battered quarto. He had many volumes of old travels, with steel engravings, and Mrs. Carey quickly found two which described Palestine. She coughed elaborately at the door so that Philip should have time to compose himself, she felt that he would be humiliated if she came upon him in the midst of his tears, then she rattled the door handle. When she went in Philip was poring over the prayer-book, hiding his eyes with his hands so that she might not see he had been crying. "Do you know the collect yet?" she said. He did not answer for a moment, and she felt that he did not trust his voice. She was oddly embarrassed. "I can't learn it by heart," he said at last, with a gasp. "Oh, well, never mind," she said. "You needn't. I've got some picture books for you to look at. Come and sit on my lap, and we'll look at them together." Philip slipped off his chair and limped over to her. He looked down so that she should not see his eyes. She put her arms round him. "Look," she said, "that's the place where our blessed Lord was born." She showed him an Eastern town with flat roofs and cupolas and minarets. In the foreground was a group of palm-trees, and under them were resting two Arabs and some camels. Philip passed his hand over the picture as if he wanted to feel the houses and the loose habiliments of the nomads. "Read what it says," he asked. Mrs. Carey in her even voice read the opposite page. It was a romantic narrative of some Eastern traveller of the thirties, pompous maybe, but fragrant with the emotion with which the East came to the generation that followed Byron and Chateaubriand. In a moment or two Philip interrupted her. "I want to see another picture." When Mary Ann came in and Mrs. Carey rose to help her lay the cloth. Philip took the book in his hands and hurried through the illustrations. It was with difficulty that his aunt induced him to put the book down for tea. He had forgotten his horrible struggle to get the collect by heart; he had forgotten his tears. Next day it was raining, and he asked for the book again. Mrs. Carey gave it him joyfully. Talking over his future with her husband she had found that both desired him to take orders, and this eagerness for the book which described places hallowed by the presence of Jesus seemed a good sign. It looked as though the boy's mind addressed itself naturally to holy things. But in a day or two he asked for more books. Mr. Carey took him into his study, showed him the shelf in which he kept illustrated works, and chose for him one that dealt with Rome. Philip took it greedily. The pictures led him to a new amusement. He began to read the page before and the page after each engraving to find out what it was about, and soon he lost all interest in his toys. Then, when no one was near, he took out books for himself; and perhaps because the first impression on his mind was made by an Eastern town, he found his chief amusement in those which described the Levant. His heart beat with excitement at the pictures of mosques and rich palaces; but there was one, in a book on Constantinople, which peculiarly stirred his imagination. It was called the Hall of the Thousand Columns. It was a Byzantine cistern, which the popular fancy had endowed with fantastic vastness; and the legend which he read told that a boat was always moored at the entrance to tempt the unwary, but no traveller venturing into the darkness had ever been seen again. And Philip wondered whether the boat went on for ever through one pillared alley after another or came at last to some strange mansion. One day a good fortune befell him, for he hit upon Lane's translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night. He was captured first by the illustrations, and then he began to read, to start with, the stories that dealt with magic, and then the others; and those he liked he read again and again. He could think of nothing else. He forgot the life about him. He had to be called two or three times before he would come to his dinner. Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment. Presently he began to read other things. His brain was precocious. His uncle and aunt, seeing that he occupied himself and neither worried nor made a noise, ceased to trouble themselves about him. Mr. Carey had so many books that he did not know them, and as he read little he forgot the odd lots he had bought at one time and another because they were cheap. Haphazard among the sermons and homilies, the travels, the lives of the Saints, the Fathers, the histories of the church, were old-fashioned novels; and these Philip at last discovered. He chose them by their titles, and the first he read was The Lancashire Witches, and then he read The Admirable Crichton, and then many more. Whenever he started a book with two solitary travellers riding along the brink of a desperate ravine he knew he was safe. The summer was come now, and the gardener, an old sailor, made him a hammock and fixed it up for him in the branches of a weeping willow. And here for long hours he lay, hidden from anyone who might come to the vicarage, reading, reading passionately. Time passed and it was July; August came: on Sundays the church was crowded with strangers, and the collection at the offertory often amounted to two pounds. Neither the Vicar nor Mrs. Carey went out of the garden much during this period; for they disliked strange faces, and they looked upon the visitors from London with aversion. The house opposite was taken for six weeks by a gentleman who had two little boys, and he sent in to ask if Philip would like to go and play with them; but Mrs. Carey returned a polite refusal. She was afraid that Philip would be corrupted by little boys from London. He was going to be a clergyman, and it was necessary that he should be preserved from contamination. She liked to see in him an infant Samuel. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 5-9

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At the vicarage Philip learns more about his parents. His father was a brilliant surgeon on the staff of St. Luke's Hospital in London. He earned a lot of money but spent it freely, for instance, on his marriage to one of his patients, a penniless but well-connected young woman. . The parson, seeing the lavish entertaining at his younger brother's home in London prophesies the worst will happen. He had seen grapes in the dining room, an expense he could not even imagine! When a packet of photographs arrives at the parsonage for Philip, the parson is surprised. Mrs. Carey, fearing she would die in childbirth, had gotten out of bed and had photographs taken of her so her son would not forget her. She had beautiful blonde hair and had put on an evening dress and furs. The parson cannot understand why she had a dozen taken instead of one. . The vicarage at Blackstable in Kent is very dull and never changes its routine. Mr. Carey shares The Times with two neighbors and starts his day with the newspaper. Philip accompanies Mrs. Carey to the market in the fishing village of Blackstable. She is careful to patronize the merchants who are church members. . When the churchwarden, Josiah Graves, quarrels with the vicar over whether he can chair a committee or whether the vicar should do it, Graves resigns, and then Mrs. Carey and Miss Graves have to mend fences behind the scenes. Philip has to wait while his aunt visits with people in town and amuses himself by skipping stones on the beach. In the afternoons, Philip learns Latin and mathematics from his uncle, and French and piano from his aunt. . There are few parties, and the Careys do not mingle much. They like to have tea and backgammon by themselves. Sundays are more tense because they are church days, and Philip has to attend two services while his uncle preaches and not fidget, though he is bored. . He begins to love the maid, Mary Ann, for she bathes him, tucks him in bed and tells him stories of the sea that touch his imagination. He spends time near her playing in the kitchen. . The uncle will not let Philip go home with Mary Ann, for he fears the rough fisher folk who go to chapel instead of church. The aunt wants to mother Philip, but she doesn't know how and feels awkward around the boy. . When Philip accidentally makes a noise playing on Sunday while his uncle is napping, the vicar shames him as wicked for playing on Sunday and won't let him go to service. His aunt tries to cheer him up, but he lashes out at her, saying he hates her. She begins to cry and takes him on her lap. . The next Sunday the vicar gives Philip prayers to memorize to keep him busy, so he won't play. The boy doesn't understand them and goes into panic. His aunt finds him sobbing. She intervenes with her husband, allowing him to look at picture books from their library to amuse him. This is how he gets into the habit of reading. He soon begins a course of unsupervised reading, picking out what is most thrilling. In the summer, he reads for hours in a hammock in the garden. He is not allowed to play with visiting children from London who might be a bad influence. The Careys expect Philip to take holy orders when he grows up.

Commentary on Chapters V-IX . The narrator does not comment but details the smallness of the world Philip inhabits with his aunt and uncle in the vicarage. For instance, his aunt will not look at any dissenter or non-Anglican she passes in the street. The uncle believes the fisher folk who go to chapel to be rough and wicked. This is the late Victorian period when such religious differences were important. His uncle drums into him that only gentlemen belong to the Church of England, while the lower classes go to "chapel," run by other Protestant sects. From a larger point of view, the divisions are minute: Christian against Christian. But the various sects had doctrinal and class differences. . Josiah Graves, the church warden, is in a power struggle with his pastor. One of their petty quarrels concerns the vicar's love of candlesticks and other "popish" customs. The vicar had been influenced by the Oxford Movement when many Anglicans were lured over to the Church of Rome because of its ritual, and consequently, Mr. Carey has some sympathy with lavish ceremonies. The more Puritan Anglicans, like Josiah Graves, are deeply suspicious of such practice. The Anglican or Church of England prided itself on being a "middle way" between the extremes of the Roman Catholic Church and the more Puritan dissenters who did not want any images between them and God. . Philip is made to feel guilty over equally small things, such as playing on Sunday. The vicar shames him, saying his mother will be grieved in heaven. He feels humiliation, the beginning of his deep shame about being inadequate. His aunt tries to help him escape the restrictions the uncle puts on him, and once she introduces him to picture books and stories, he has found his refuge, his escape. He chooses books that have magic and adventure. His aunt and uncle cannot be bothered with him much, so he reads whatever books he wants. A warning note sounds when it is revealed they expect him to be an Anglican minister, like the uncle. . The perceptive reader sees already he doesn't seem to fit into that mold. His sensitivity comes to the surface when he breaks down under his uncle's harshness. His uncle is surprised, saying he gave the boy a simple task. The uncle is not really mean but very rigid and unsympathetic. He doesn't know how to teach or motivate a child. . Philip is precocious and restless, with an active imagination. His uncle and aunt bore him. His reading liberates him. However, "he did not know that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment" . Like many sensitive people, Philip will have a great difficulty with the discrepancies and injustices of life. This is especially compounded by the era he grows up in, for Victorian convention is very narrow and stuffy. He is too different.

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Of Human Bondage.chapters 10-14

chapters 10-14

{"name": "Chapters 10-14", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter10-14", "summary": "The Careys decide the boy must go to the prep school attached to King's School, Tercanbury, where the clergy send their sons to prepare for Holy Orders. Philip is a little frightened for he has read stories about going to school. Even driving up to the building is a bad omen, for it looks like a prison. They are greeted by the headmaster, Mr. Watson, who is unbearably and forcefully cheery and loud. He shows Philip to the playground and introduces him to another boy, Venning. . Venning asks about his clubfoot and asks to see it. When Philip refuses, the boy kicks him hard in the shin. Philip is so surprised he does nothing. Other boys arrive and talk about cricket. Philip explains he can't play because of his clubfoot. . He is awakened in the morning by a bell in his own dormitory cubicle that contains a bed, chair, and washstand. There are fifty boarders and many day students. After prayers with Mr. Watson, there is a sickening breakfast of bread and poor butter. The other boys have treats from home like potted meats or can buy bacon and eggs. Philip decides he will write to Aunt Louisa for some extras. . On the playground, he sees the day-boys, considered inferior because they are from local people or merchant families. Philip is put into the lower-second form class with Master Rice, who has a nice manner with the boys. On the playground, however, the boys play a running game, and because he limps, Philip cannot play well. The boys imitate his clumsy run and torment him. He is frightened and does not understand why he is being attacked. When the boys go off to play football, Mr. Rice kindly shows Philip the way to the field where he watches them. He is excused from sports because of his foot. . At night, in the dormitory, the boys beat up on him until he shows them his clubfoot. They express disgust. He stifles his tears in his pillow in his humiliation. In time, they lose interest in his deformity, but he becomes extremely sensitive and withdrawn. The biggest bully, Singer, dislikes him and gives him a hard time. In one way he is triumphant and that is at the game of Nibs, when the boys gamble for nibs or pen tips. Philip wins from Singer, but Mr. Watson had forbidden this form of gambling. When the two are caught, Watson canes or hits Singer as punishment, but he doesn't hit Philip, saying \"I can't hit a cripple\" . The other boys scorn him because he got off for being a cripple. In fights with the other boys, he is forced into backing down, and this misery makes him dread the future. . Two years pass, however, and he has earned a different kind of respect as being almost at the top of his class. He will be head boy, with all his collection of prizes. Yet this is a difficult time of life, for he is twelve and entering adolescence, where the narrator explains, a person becomes aware of himself as an individual. This is not a pleasant awakening for Philip who finds himself cut off from others because of his disability. He is forced to think for himself. . He is surprised to find himself making up stories to another boy who breaks his pen-holder. He begins to cry and says it was given him by his mother before she died. He cries as if the lie were true, and then feels remorse. He is worried that the Tempter is forcing him to sin. . In a wave of religious feeling that sweeps the school, he joins a Bible League and discovers the verse about prayer being able to move mountains if one has the faith. He decides to pray for his foot to be healed. He gives a date for the miracle, by the end of Christmas break, and prays with his whole heart. When it does not heal, he asks his uncle why prayers are not answered. The vicar says it means faith is not great enough. Philip is disillusioned, thinking probably no one ever has enough faith, for he had truly tried. .", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters X-XIV . The narrator shows us the formation of mind and character as Philip begins to grow up. We see the seminal incidents in his life. For instance, it is only at school that he truly becomes aware he is a \"cripple.\" Until school, he has been around few people and none his age. In English schools, as in most other private or public schools, children can be cruel to one another. They engage in power struggles without sympathy or understanding. This was even worse for Philip, who is sensitive, and made to feel different, shut out from society. He does not have a chance for the same give and take with others, to get a perspective on his life, or find common ground. This mirrors Maugham's own difficulty with his stammer. . As before, his outlet is through the imagination and intellect. He excels at his studies, and yet, he cannot understand why he made up the lie about the pen to get sympathy. He believes his own lie because he has a good imagination to act out his part, and as was said before, the line can become blurred between imagination and reality. In fact, when he is bullied, \"It seemed to his childish mind that this unhappiness must go on for ever\" . He thinks he is living in a bad dream, and that one day he will wake to find his mother. This motif is repeated when he is unhappy: life is a bad dream; it is unreal. . Philip is terrified by his own temptation to manipulate others for sympathy, since he can't win their admiration. The admirable thing about Philip is that he is unusually reflective for a young boy. But is this a blessing or curse? The narrator intrudes with his analysis. He says that although every child becomes aware that it is a separate and individual body, not every one becomes fully conscious enough to be an individual personality. The luckiest people are not conscious of themselves, for \"their activities are shared by all\" . Philip is forced to live the inner life of the mind; \"he was forced to think for himself\" . In this way, he is alone, though conscious, able to come to his own original conclusions about life. This is both good and bad, for he may not be accurate in his assessment: \"He made his own experience into a general rule\" . . This ability to form his own conclusions is seen when he prays to God to heal his foot. When it does not happen, his uncle's explanation that a rejected prayer means there was not enough faith does not make sense to him. He knows he tried with every ounce of innocent faith he had. He concludes his uncle doesn't know what he is talking about or else God demands too much: \"I suppose no one ever has faith enough\" . While he was praying, he tried to be as uncomfortable as possible, freezing in the cold, assuming that prayers were more acceptable to God if he was uncomfortable. These are all the remnants of the Victorian religious belief he is about to slough off, making him too full of doubt to take Holy Orders."}

<CHAPTER> X The Careys made up their minds to send Philip to King's School at Tercanbury. The neighbouring clergy sent their sons there. It was united by long tradition to the Cathedral: its headmaster was an honorary Canon, and a past headmaster was the Archdeacon. Boys were encouraged there to aspire to Holy Orders, and the education was such as might prepare an honest lad to spend his life in God's service. A preparatory school was attached to it, and to this it was arranged that Philip should go. Mr. Carey took him into Tercanbury one Thursday afternoon towards the end of September. All day Philip had been excited and rather frightened. He knew little of school life but what he had read in the stories of The Boy's Own Paper. He had also read Eric, or Little by Little. When they got out of the train at Tercanbury, Philip felt sick with apprehension, and during the drive in to the town sat pale and silent. The high brick wall in front of the school gave it the look of a prison. There was a little door in it, which opened on their ringing; and a clumsy, untidy man came out and fetched Philip's tin trunk and his play-box. They were shown into the drawing-room; it was filled with massive, ugly furniture, and the chairs of the suite were placed round the walls with a forbidding rigidity. They waited for the headmaster. "What's Mr. Watson like?" asked Philip, after a while. "You'll see for yourself." There was another pause. Mr. Carey wondered why the headmaster did not come. Presently Philip made an effort and spoke again. "Tell him I've got a club-foot," he said. Before Mr. Carey could speak the door burst open and Mr. Watson swept into the room. To Philip he seemed gigantic. He was a man of over six feet high, and broad, with enormous hands and a great red beard; he talked loudly in a jovial manner; but his aggressive cheerfulness struck terror in Philip's heart. He shook hands with Mr. Carey, and then took Philip's small hand in his. "Well, young fellow, are you glad to come to school?" he shouted. Philip reddened and found no word to answer. "How old are you?" "Nine," said Philip. "You must say sir," said his uncle. "I expect you've got a good lot to learn," the headmaster bellowed cheerily. To give the boy confidence he began to tickle him with rough fingers. Philip, feeling shy and uncomfortable, squirmed under his touch. "I've put him in the small dormitory for the present.... You'll like that, won't you?" he added to Philip. "Only eight of you in there. You won't feel so strange." Then the door opened, and Mrs. Watson came in. She was a dark woman with black hair, neatly parted in the middle. She had curiously thick lips and a small round nose. Her eyes were large and black. There was a singular coldness in her appearance. She seldom spoke and smiled more seldom still. Her husband introduced Mr. Carey to her, and then gave Philip a friendly push towards her. "This is a new boy, Helen, His name's Carey." Without a word she shook hands with Philip and then sat down, not speaking, while the headmaster asked Mr. Carey how much Philip knew and what books he had been working with. The Vicar of Blackstable was a little embarrassed by Mr. Watson's boisterous heartiness, and in a moment or two got up. "I think I'd better leave Philip with you now." "That's all right," said Mr. Watson. "He'll be safe with me. He'll get on like a house on fire. Won't you, young fellow?" Without waiting for an answer from Philip the big man burst into a great bellow of laughter. Mr. Carey kissed Philip on the forehead and went away. "Come along, young fellow," shouted Mr. Watson. "I'll show you the school-room." He swept out of the drawing-room with giant strides, and Philip hurriedly limped behind him. He was taken into a long, bare room with two tables that ran along its whole length; on each side of them were wooden forms. "Nobody much here yet," said Mr. Watson. "I'll just show you the playground, and then I'll leave you to shift for yourself." Mr. Watson led the way. Philip found himself in a large play-ground with high brick walls on three sides of it. On the fourth side was an iron railing through which you saw a vast lawn and beyond this some of the buildings of King's School. One small boy was wandering disconsolately, kicking up the gravel as he walked. "Hulloa, Venning," shouted Mr. Watson. "When did you turn up?" The small boy came forward and shook hands. "Here's a new boy. He's older and bigger than you, so don't you bully him." The headmaster glared amicably at the two children, filling them with fear by the roar of his voice, and then with a guffaw left them. "What's your name?" "Carey." "What's your father?" "He's dead." "Oh! Does your mother wash?" "My mother's dead, too." Philip thought this answer would cause the boy a certain awkwardness, but Venning was not to be turned from his facetiousness for so little. "Well, did she wash?" he went on. "Yes," said Philip indignantly. "She was a washerwoman then?" "No, she wasn't." "Then she didn't wash." The little boy crowed with delight at the success of his dialectic. Then he caught sight of Philip's feet. "What's the matter with your foot?" Philip instinctively tried to withdraw it from sight. He hid it behind the one which was whole. "I've got a club-foot," he answered. "How did you get it?" "I've always had it." "Let's have a look." "No." "Don't then." The little boy accompanied the words with a sharp kick on Philip's shin, which Philip did not expect and thus could not guard against. The pain was so great that it made him gasp, but greater than the pain was the surprise. He did not know why Venning kicked him. He had not the presence of mind to give him a black eye. Besides, the boy was smaller than he, and he had read in The Boy's Own Paper that it was a mean thing to hit anyone smaller than yourself. While Philip was nursing his shin a third boy appeared, and his tormentor left him. In a little while he noticed that the pair were talking about him, and he felt they were looking at his feet. He grew hot and uncomfortable. But others arrived, a dozen together, and then more, and they began to talk about their doings during the holidays, where they had been, and what wonderful cricket they had played. A few new boys appeared, and with these presently Philip found himself talking. He was shy and nervous. He was anxious to make himself pleasant, but he could not think of anything to say. He was asked a great many questions and answered them all quite willingly. One boy asked him whether he could play cricket. "No," answered Philip. "I've got a club-foot." The boy looked down quickly and reddened. Philip saw that he felt he had asked an unseemly question. He was too shy to apologise and looked at Philip awkwardly. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XI Next morning when the clanging of a bell awoke Philip he looked round his cubicle in astonishment. Then a voice sang out, and he remembered where he was. "Are you awake, Singer?" The partitions of the cubicle were of polished pitch-pine, and there was a green curtain in front. In those days there was little thought of ventilation, and the windows were closed except when the dormitory was aired in the morning. Philip got up and knelt down to say his prayers. It was a cold morning, and he shivered a little; but he had been taught by his uncle that his prayers were more acceptable to God if he said them in his nightshirt than if he waited till he was dressed. This did not surprise him, for he was beginning to realise that he was the creature of a God who appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers. Then he washed. There were two baths for the fifty boarders, and each boy had a bath once a week. The rest of his washing was done in a small basin on a wash-stand, which with the bed and a chair, made up the furniture of each cubicle. The boys chatted gaily while they dressed. Philip was all ears. Then another bell sounded, and they ran downstairs. They took their seats on the forms on each side of the two long tables in the school-room; and Mr. Watson, followed by his wife and the servants, came in and sat down. Mr. Watson read prayers in an impressive manner, and the supplications thundered out in his loud voice as though they were threats personally addressed to each boy. Philip listened with anxiety. Then Mr. Watson read a chapter from the Bible, and the servants trooped out. In a moment the untidy youth brought in two large pots of tea and on a second journey immense dishes of bread and butter. Philip had a squeamish appetite, and the thick slabs of poor butter on the bread turned his stomach, but he saw other boys scraping it off and followed their example. They all had potted meats and such like, which they had brought in their play-boxes; and some had 'extras,' eggs or bacon, upon which Mr. Watson made a profit. When he had asked Mr. Carey whether Philip was to have these, Mr. Carey replied that he did not think boys should be spoilt. Mr. Watson quite agreed with him--he considered nothing was better than bread and butter for growing lads--but some parents, unduly pampering their offspring, insisted on it. Philip noticed that 'extras' gave boys a certain consideration and made up his mind, when he wrote to Aunt Louisa, to ask for them. After breakfast the boys wandered out into the play-ground. Here the day-boys were gradually assembling. They were sons of the local clergy, of the officers at the Depot, and of such manufacturers or men of business as the old town possessed. Presently a bell rang, and they all trooped into school. This consisted of a large, long room at opposite ends of which two under-masters conducted the second and third forms, and of a smaller one, leading out of it, used by Mr. Watson, who taught the first form. To attach the preparatory to the senior school these three classes were known officially, on speech days and in reports, as upper, middle, and lower second. Philip was put in the last. The master, a red-faced man with a pleasant voice, was called Rice; he had a jolly manner with boys, and the time passed quickly. Philip was surprised when it was a quarter to eleven and they were let out for ten minutes' rest. The whole school rushed noisily into the play-ground. The new boys were told to go into the middle, while the others stationed themselves along opposite walls. They began to play Pig in the Middle. The old boys ran from wall to wall while the new boys tried to catch them: when one was seized and the mystic words said--one, two, three, and a pig for me--he became a prisoner and, turning sides, helped to catch those who were still free. Philip saw a boy running past and tried to catch him, but his limp gave him no chance; and the runners, taking their opportunity, made straight for the ground he covered. Then one of them had the brilliant idea of imitating Philip's clumsy run. Other boys saw it and began to laugh; then they all copied the first; and they ran round Philip, limping grotesquely, screaming in their treble voices with shrill laughter. They lost their heads with the delight of their new amusement, and choked with helpless merriment. One of them tripped Philip up and he fell, heavily as he always fell, and cut his knee. They laughed all the louder when he got up. A boy pushed him from behind, and he would have fallen again if another had not caught him. The game was forgotten in the entertainment of Philip's deformity. One of them invented an odd, rolling limp that struck the rest as supremely ridiculous, and several of the boys lay down on the ground and rolled about in laughter: Philip was completely scared. He could not make out why they were laughing at him. His heart beat so that he could hardly breathe, and he was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He stood still stupidly while the boys ran round him, mimicking and laughing; they shouted to him to try and catch them; but he did not move. He did not want them to see him run any more. He was using all his strength to prevent himself from crying. Suddenly the bell rang, and they all trooped back to school. Philip's knee was bleeding, and he was dusty and dishevelled. For some minutes Mr. Rice could not control his form. They were excited still by the strange novelty, and Philip saw one or two of them furtively looking down at his feet. He tucked them under the bench. In the afternoon they went up to play football, but Mr. Watson stopped Philip on the way out after dinner. "I suppose you can't play football, Carey?" he asked him. Philip blushed self-consciously. "No, sir." "Very well. You'd better go up to the field. You can walk as far as that, can't you?" Philip had no idea where the field was, but he answered all the same. "Yes, sir." The boys went in charge of Mr. Rice, who glanced at Philip and seeing he had not changed, asked why he was not going to play. "Mr. Watson said I needn't, sir," said Philip. "Why?" There were boys all round him, looking at him curiously, and a feeling of shame came over Philip. He looked down without answering. Others gave the reply. "He's got a club-foot, sir." "Oh, I see." Mr. Rice was quite young; he had only taken his degree a year before; and he was suddenly embarrassed. His instinct was to beg the boy's pardon, but he was too shy to do so. He made his voice gruff and loud. "Now then, you boys, what are you waiting about for? Get on with you." Some of them had already started and those that were left now set off, in groups of two or three. "You'd better come along with me, Carey," said the master "You don't know the way, do you?" Philip guessed the kindness, and a sob came to his throat. "I can't go very fast, sir." "Then I'll go very slow," said the master, with a smile. Philip's heart went out to the red-faced, commonplace young man who said a gentle word to him. He suddenly felt less unhappy. But at night when they went up to bed and were undressing, the boy who was called Singer came out of his cubicle and put his head in Philip's. "I say, let's look at your foot," he said. "No," answered Philip. He jumped into bed quickly. "Don't say no to me," said Singer. "Come on, Mason." The boy in the next cubicle was looking round the corner, and at the words he slipped in. They made for Philip and tried to tear the bed-clothes off him, but he held them tightly. "Why can't you leave me alone?" he cried. Singer seized a brush and with the back of it beat Philip's hands clenched on the blanket. Philip cried out. "Why don't you show us your foot quietly?" "I won't." In desperation Philip clenched his fist and hit the boy who tormented him, but he was at a disadvantage, and the boy seized his arm. He began to turn it. "Oh, don't, don't," said Philip. "You'll break my arm." "Stop still then and put out your foot." Philip gave a sob and a gasp. The boy gave the arm another wrench. The pain was unendurable. "All right. I'll do it," said Philip. He put out his foot. Singer still kept his hand on Philip's wrist. He looked curiously at the deformity. "Isn't it beastly?" said Mason. Another came in and looked too. "Ugh," he said, in disgust. "My word, it is rum," said Singer, making a face. "Is it hard?" He touched it with the tip of his forefinger, cautiously, as though it were something that had a life of its own. Suddenly they heard Mr. Watson's heavy tread on the stairs. They threw the clothes back on Philip and dashed like rabbits into their cubicles. Mr. Watson came into the dormitory. Raising himself on tiptoe he could see over the rod that bore the green curtain, and he looked into two or three of the cubicles. The little boys were safely in bed. He put out the light and went out. Singer called out to Philip, but he did not answer. He had got his teeth in the pillow so that his sobbing should be inaudible. He was not crying for the pain they had caused him, nor for the humiliation he had suffered when they looked at his foot, but with rage at himself because, unable to stand the torture, he had put out his foot of his own accord. And then he felt the misery of his life. It seemed to his childish mind that this unhappiness must go on for ever. For no particular reason he remembered that cold morning when Emma had taken him out of bed and put him beside his mother. He had not thought of it once since it happened, but now he seemed to feel the warmth of his mother's body against his and her arms around him. Suddenly it seemed to him that his life was a dream, his mother's death, and the life at the vicarage, and these two wretched days at school, and he would awake in the morning and be back again at home. His tears dried as he thought of it. He was too unhappy, it must be nothing but a dream, and his mother was alive, and Emma would come up presently and go to bed. He fell asleep. But when he awoke next morning it was to the clanging of a bell, and the first thing his eyes saw was the green curtain of his cubicle. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XII As time went on Philip's deformity ceased to interest. It was accepted like one boy's red hair and another's unreasonable corpulence. But meanwhile he had grown horribly sensitive. He never ran if he could help it, because he knew it made his limp more conspicuous, and he adopted a peculiar walk. He stood still as much as he could, with his club-foot behind the other, so that it should not attract notice, and he was constantly on the look out for any reference to it. Because he could not join in the games which other boys played, their life remained strange to him; he only interested himself from the outside in their doings; and it seemed to him that there was a barrier between them and him. Sometimes they seemed to think that it was his fault if he could not play football, and he was unable to make them understand. He was left a good deal to himself. He had been inclined to talkativeness, but gradually he became silent. He began to think of the difference between himself and others. The biggest boy in his dormitory, Singer, took a dislike to him, and Philip, small for his age, had to put up with a good deal of hard treatment. About half-way through the term a mania ran through the school for a game called Nibs. It was a game for two, played on a table or a form with steel pens. You had to push your nib with the finger-nail so as to get the point of it over your opponent's, while he manoeuvred to prevent this and to get the point of his nib over the back of yours; when this result was achieved you breathed on the ball of your thumb, pressed it hard on the two nibs, and if you were able then to lift them without dropping either, both nibs became yours. Soon nothing was seen but boys playing this game, and the more skilful acquired vast stores of nibs. But in a little while Mr. Watson made up his mind that it was a form of gambling, forbade the game, and confiscated all the nibs in the boys' possession. Philip had been very adroit, and it was with a heavy heart that he gave up his winning; but his fingers itched to play still, and a few days later, on his way to the football field, he went into a shop and bought a pennyworth of J pens. He carried them loose in his pocket and enjoyed feeling them. Presently Singer found out that he had them. Singer had given up his nibs too, but he had kept back a very large one, called a Jumbo, which was almost unconquerable, and he could not resist the opportunity of getting Philip's Js out of him. Though Philip knew that he was at a disadvantage with his small nibs, he had an adventurous disposition and was willing to take the risk; besides, he was aware that Singer would not allow him to refuse. He had not played for a week and sat down to the game now with a thrill of excitement. He lost two of his small nibs quickly, and Singer was jubilant, but the third time by some chance the Jumbo slipped round and Philip was able to push his J across it. He crowed with triumph. At that moment Mr. Watson came in. "What are you doing?" he asked. He looked from Singer to Philip, but neither answered. "Don't you know that I've forbidden you to play that idiotic game?" Philip's heart beat fast. He knew what was coming and was dreadfully frightened, but in his fright there was a certain exultation. He had never been swished. Of course it would hurt, but it was something to boast about afterwards. "Come into my study." The headmaster turned, and they followed him side by side Singer whispered to Philip: "We're in for it." Mr. Watson pointed to Singer. "Bend over," he said. Philip, very white, saw the boy quiver at each stroke, and after the third he heard him cry out. Three more followed. "That'll do. Get up." Singer stood up. The tears were streaming down his face. Philip stepped forward. Mr. Watson looked at him for a moment. "I'm not going to cane you. You're a new boy. And I can't hit a cripple. Go away, both of you, and don't be naughty again." When they got back into the school-room a group of boys, who had learned in some mysterious way what was happening, were waiting for them. They set upon Singer at once with eager questions. Singer faced them, his face red with the pain and marks of tears still on his cheeks. He pointed with his head at Philip, who was standing a little behind him. "He got off because he's a cripple," he said angrily. Philip stood silent and flushed. He felt that they looked at him with contempt. "How many did you get?" one boy asked Singer. But he did not answer. He was angry because he had been hurt "Don't ask me to play Nibs with you again," he said to Philip. "It's jolly nice for you. You don't risk anything." "I didn't ask you." "Didn't you!" He quickly put out his foot and tripped Philip up. Philip was always rather unsteady on his feet, and he fell heavily to the ground. "Cripple," said Singer. For the rest of the term he tormented Philip cruelly, and, though Philip tried to keep out of his way, the school was so small that it was impossible; he tried being friendly and jolly with him; he abased himself, so far as to buy him a knife; but though Singer took the knife he was not placated. Once or twice, driven beyond endurance, he hit and kicked the bigger boy, but Singer was so much stronger that Philip was helpless, and he was always forced after more or less torture to beg his pardon. It was that which rankled with Philip: he could not bear the humiliation of apologies, which were wrung from him by pain greater than he could bear. And what made it worse was that there seemed no end to his wretchedness; Singer was only eleven and would not go to the upper school till he was thirteen. Philip realised that he must live two years with a tormentor from whom there was no escape. He was only happy while he was working and when he got into bed. And often there recurred to him then that queer feeling that his life with all its misery was nothing but a dream, and that he would awake in the morning in his own little bed in London. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIII Two years passed, and Philip was nearly twelve. He was in the first form, within two or three places of the top, and after Christmas when several boys would be leaving for the senior school he would be head boy. He had already quite a collection of prizes, worthless books on bad paper, but in gorgeous bindings decorated with the arms of the school: his position had freed him from bullying, and he was not unhappy. His fellows forgave him his success because of his deformity. "After all, it's jolly easy for him to get prizes," they said, "there's nothing he CAN do but swat." He had lost his early terror of Mr. Watson. He had grown used to the loud voice, and when the headmaster's heavy hand was laid on his shoulder Philip discerned vaguely the intention of a caress. He had the good memory which is more useful for scholastic achievements than mental power, and he knew Mr. Watson expected him to leave the preparatory school with a scholarship. But he had grown very self-conscious. The new-born child does not realise that his body is more a part of himself than surrounding objects, and will play with his toes without any feeling that they belong to him more than the rattle by his side; and it is only by degrees, through pain, that he understands the fact of the body. And experiences of the same kind are necessary for the individual to become conscious of himself; but here there is the difference that, although everyone becomes equally conscious of his body as a separate and complete organism, everyone does not become equally conscious of himself as a complete and separate personality. The feeling of apartness from others comes to most with puberty, but it is not always developed to such a degree as to make the difference between the individual and his fellows noticeable to the individual. It is such as he, as little conscious of himself as the bee in a hive, who are the lucky in life, for they have the best chance of happiness: their activities are shared by all, and their pleasures are only pleasures because they are enjoyed in common; you will see them on Whit-Monday dancing on Hampstead Heath, shouting at a football match, or from club windows in Pall Mall cheering a royal procession. It is because of them that man has been called a social animal. Philip passed from the innocence of childhood to bitter consciousness of himself by the ridicule which his club-foot had excited. The circumstances of his case were so peculiar that he could not apply to them the ready-made rules which acted well enough in ordinary affairs, and he was forced to think for himself. The many books he had read filled his mind with ideas which, because he only half understood them, gave more scope to his imagination. Beneath his painful shyness something was growing up within him, and obscurely he realised his personality. But at times it gave him odd surprises; he did things, he knew not why, and afterwards when he thought of them found himself all at sea. There was a boy called Luard between whom and Philip a friendship had arisen, and one day, when they were playing together in the school-room, Luard began to perform some trick with an ebony pen-holder of Philip's. "Don't play the giddy ox," said Philip. "You'll only break it." "I shan't." But no sooner were the words out of the boy's mouth than the pen-holder snapped in two. Luard looked at Philip with dismay. "Oh, I say, I'm awfully sorry." The tears rolled down Philip's cheeks, but he did not answer. "I say, what's the matter?" said Luard, with surprise. "I'll get you another one exactly the same." "It's not about the pen-holder I care," said Philip, in a trembling voice, "only it was given me by my mater, just before she died." "I say, I'm awfully sorry, Carey." "It doesn't matter. It wasn't your fault." Philip took the two pieces of the pen-holder and looked at them. He tried to restrain his sobs. He felt utterly miserable. And yet he could not tell why, for he knew quite well that he had bought the pen-holder during his last holidays at Blackstable for one and twopence. He did not know in the least what had made him invent that pathetic story, but he was quite as unhappy as though it had been true. The pious atmosphere of the vicarage and the religious tone of the school had made Philip's conscience very sensitive; he absorbed insensibly the feeling about him that the Tempter was ever on the watch to gain his immortal soul; and though he was not more truthful than most boys he never told a lie without suffering from remorse. When he thought over this incident he was very much distressed, and made up his mind that he must go to Luard and tell him that the story was an invention. Though he dreaded humiliation more than anything in the world, he hugged himself for two or three days at the thought of the agonising joy of humiliating himself to the Glory of God. But he never got any further. He satisfied his conscience by the more comfortable method of expressing his repentance only to the Almighty. But he could not understand why he should have been so genuinely affected by the story he was making up. The tears that flowed down his grubby cheeks were real tears. Then by some accident of association there occurred to him that scene when Emma had told him of his mother's death, and, though he could not speak for crying, he had insisted on going in to say good-bye to the Misses Watkin so that they might see his grief and pity him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIV Then a wave of religiosity passed through the school. Bad language was no longer heard, and the little nastinesses of small boys were looked upon with hostility; the bigger boys, like the lords temporal of the Middle Ages, used the strength of their arms to persuade those weaker than themselves to virtuous courses. Philip, his restless mind avid for new things, became very devout. He heard soon that it was possible to join a Bible League, and wrote to London for particulars. These consisted in a form to be filled up with the applicant's name, age, and school; a solemn declaration to be signed that he would read a set portion of Holy Scripture every night for a year; and a request for half a crown; this, it was explained, was demanded partly to prove the earnestness of the applicant's desire to become a member of the League, and partly to cover clerical expenses. Philip duly sent the papers and the money, and in return received a calendar worth about a penny, on which was set down the appointed passage to be read each day, and a sheet of paper on one side of which was a picture of the Good Shepherd and a lamb, and on the other, decoratively framed in red lines, a short prayer which had to be said before beginning to read. Every evening he undressed as quickly as possible in order to have time for his task before the gas was put out. He read industriously, as he read always, without criticism, stories of cruelty, deceit, ingratitude, dishonesty, and low cunning. Actions which would have excited his horror in the life about him, in the reading passed through his mind without comment, because they were committed under the direct inspiration of God. The method of the League was to alternate a book of the Old Testament with a book of the New, and one night Philip came across these words of Jesus Christ: If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all this, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. They made no particular impression on him, but it happened that two or three days later, being Sunday, the Canon in residence chose them for the text of his sermon. Even if Philip had wanted to hear this it would have been impossible, for the boys of King's School sit in the choir, and the pulpit stands at the corner of the transept so that the preacher's back is almost turned to them. The distance also is so great that it needs a man with a fine voice and a knowledge of elocution to make himself heard in the choir; and according to long usage the Canons of Tercanbury are chosen for their learning rather than for any qualities which might be of use in a cathedral church. But the words of the text, perhaps because he had read them so short a while before, came clearly enough to Philip's ears, and they seemed on a sudden to have a personal application. He thought about them through most of the sermon, and that night, on getting into bed, he turned over the pages of the Gospel and found once more the passage. Though he believed implicitly everything he saw in print, he had learned already that in the Bible things that said one thing quite clearly often mysteriously meant another. There was no one he liked to ask at school, so he kept the question he had in mind till the Christmas holidays, and then one day he made an opportunity. It was after supper and prayers were just finished. Mrs. Carey was counting the eggs that Mary Ann had brought in as usual and writing on each one the date. Philip stood at the table and pretended to turn listlessly the pages of the Bible. "I say, Uncle William, this passage here, does it really mean that?" He put his finger against it as though he had come across it accidentally. Mr. Carey looked up over his spectacles. He was holding The Blackstable Times in front of the fire. It had come in that evening damp from the press, and the Vicar always aired it for ten minutes before he began to read. "What passage is that?" he asked. "Why, this about if you have faith you can remove mountains." "If it says so in the Bible it is so, Philip," said Mrs. Carey gently, taking up the plate-basket. Philip looked at his uncle for an answer. "It's a matter of faith." "D'you mean to say that if you really believed you could move mountains you could?" "By the grace of God," said the Vicar. "Now, say good-night to your uncle, Philip," said Aunt Louisa. "You're not wanting to move a mountain tonight, are you?" Philip allowed himself to be kissed on the forehead by his uncle and preceded Mrs. Carey upstairs. He had got the information he wanted. His little room was icy, and he shivered when he put on his nightshirt. But he always felt that his prayers were more pleasing to God when he said them under conditions of discomfort. The coldness of his hands and feet were an offering to the Almighty. And tonight he sank on his knees; buried his face in his hands, and prayed to God with all his might that He would make his club-foot whole. It was a very small thing beside the moving of mountains. He knew that God could do it if He wished, and his own faith was complete. Next morning, finishing his prayers with the same request, he fixed a date for the miracle. "Oh, God, in Thy loving mercy and goodness, if it be Thy will, please make my foot all right on the night before I go back to school." He was glad to get his petition into a formula, and he repeated it later in the dining-room during the short pause which the Vicar always made after prayers, before he rose from his knees. He said it again in the evening and again, shivering in his nightshirt, before he got into bed. And he believed. For once he looked forward with eagerness to the end of the holidays. He laughed to himself as he thought of his uncle's astonishment when he ran down the stairs three at a time; and after breakfast he and Aunt Louisa would have to hurry out and buy a new pair of boots. At school they would be astounded. "Hulloa, Carey, what have you done with your foot?" "Oh, it's all right now," he would answer casually, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. He would be able to play football. His heart leaped as he saw himself running, running, faster than any of the other boys. At the end of the Easter term there were the sports, and he would be able to go in for the races; he rather fancied himself over the hurdles. It would be splendid to be like everyone else, not to be stared at curiously by new boys who did not know about his deformity, nor at the baths in summer to need incredible precautions, while he was undressing, before he could hide his foot in the water. He prayed with all the power of his soul. No doubts assailed him. He was confident in the word of God. And the night before he was to go back to school he went up to bed tremulous with excitement. There was snow on the ground, and Aunt Louisa had allowed herself the unaccustomed luxury of a fire in her bed-room; but in Philip's little room it was so cold that his fingers were numb, and he had great difficulty in undoing his collar. His teeth chattered. The idea came to him that he must do something more than usual to attract the attention of God, and he turned back the rug which was in front of his bed so that he could kneel on the bare boards; and then it struck him that his nightshirt was a softness that might displease his Maker, so he took it off and said his prayers naked. When he got into bed he was so cold that for some time he could not sleep, but when he did, it was so soundly that Mary Ann had to shake him when she brought in his hot water next morning. She talked to him while she drew the curtains, but he did not answer; he had remembered at once that this was the morning for the miracle. His heart was filled with joy and gratitude. His first instinct was to put down his hand and feel the foot which was whole now, but to do this seemed to doubt the goodness of God. He knew that his foot was well. But at last he made up his mind, and with the toes of his right foot he just touched his left. Then he passed his hand over it. He limped downstairs just as Mary Ann was going into the dining-room for prayers, and then he sat down to breakfast. "You're very quiet this morning, Philip," said Aunt Louisa presently. "He's thinking of the good breakfast he'll have at school to-morrow," said the Vicar. When Philip answered, it was in a way that always irritated his uncle, with something that had nothing to do with the matter in hand. He called it a bad habit of wool-gathering. "Supposing you'd asked God to do something," said Philip, "and really believed it was going to happen, like moving a mountain, I mean, and you had faith, and it didn't happen, what would it mean?" "What a funny boy you are!" said Aunt Louisa. "You asked about moving mountains two or three weeks ago." "It would just mean that you hadn't got faith," answered Uncle William. Philip accepted the explanation. If God had not cured him, it was because he did not really believe. And yet he did not see how he could believe more than he did. But perhaps he had not given God enough time. He had only asked Him for nineteen days. In a day or two he began his prayer again, and this time he fixed upon Easter. That was the day of His Son's glorious resurrection, and God in His happiness might be mercifully inclined. But now Philip added other means of attaining his desire: he began to wish, when he saw a new moon or a dappled horse, and he looked out for shooting stars; during exeat they had a chicken at the vicarage, and he broke the lucky bone with Aunt Louisa and wished again, each time that his foot might be made whole. He was appealing unconsciously to gods older to his race than the God of Israel. And he bombarded the Almighty with his prayer, at odd times of the day, whenever it occurred to him, in identical words always, for it seemed to him important to make his request in the same terms. But presently the feeling came to him that this time also his faith would not be great enough. He could not resist the doubt that assailed him. He made his own experience into a general rule. "I suppose no one ever has faith enough," he said. It was like the salt which his nurse used to tell him about: you could catch any bird by putting salt on his tail; and once he had taken a little bag of it into Kensington Gardens. But he could never get near enough to put the salt on a bird's tail. Before Easter he had given up the struggle. He felt a dull resentment against his uncle for taking him in. The text which spoke of the moving of mountains was just one of those that said one thing and meant another. He thought his uncle had been playing a practical joke on him. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 10-14

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter10-14

The Careys decide the boy must go to the prep school attached to King's School, Tercanbury, where the clergy send their sons to prepare for Holy Orders. Philip is a little frightened for he has read stories about going to school. Even driving up to the building is a bad omen, for it looks like a prison. They are greeted by the headmaster, Mr. Watson, who is unbearably and forcefully cheery and loud. He shows Philip to the playground and introduces him to another boy, Venning. . Venning asks about his clubfoot and asks to see it. When Philip refuses, the boy kicks him hard in the shin. Philip is so surprised he does nothing. Other boys arrive and talk about cricket. Philip explains he can't play because of his clubfoot. . He is awakened in the morning by a bell in his own dormitory cubicle that contains a bed, chair, and washstand. There are fifty boarders and many day students. After prayers with Mr. Watson, there is a sickening breakfast of bread and poor butter. The other boys have treats from home like potted meats or can buy bacon and eggs. Philip decides he will write to Aunt Louisa for some extras. . On the playground, he sees the day-boys, considered inferior because they are from local people or merchant families. Philip is put into the lower-second form class with Master Rice, who has a nice manner with the boys. On the playground, however, the boys play a running game, and because he limps, Philip cannot play well. The boys imitate his clumsy run and torment him. He is frightened and does not understand why he is being attacked. When the boys go off to play football, Mr. Rice kindly shows Philip the way to the field where he watches them. He is excused from sports because of his foot. . At night, in the dormitory, the boys beat up on him until he shows them his clubfoot. They express disgust. He stifles his tears in his pillow in his humiliation. In time, they lose interest in his deformity, but he becomes extremely sensitive and withdrawn. The biggest bully, Singer, dislikes him and gives him a hard time. In one way he is triumphant and that is at the game of Nibs, when the boys gamble for nibs or pen tips. Philip wins from Singer, but Mr. Watson had forbidden this form of gambling. When the two are caught, Watson canes or hits Singer as punishment, but he doesn't hit Philip, saying "I can't hit a cripple" . The other boys scorn him because he got off for being a cripple. In fights with the other boys, he is forced into backing down, and this misery makes him dread the future. . Two years pass, however, and he has earned a different kind of respect as being almost at the top of his class. He will be head boy, with all his collection of prizes. Yet this is a difficult time of life, for he is twelve and entering adolescence, where the narrator explains, a person becomes aware of himself as an individual. This is not a pleasant awakening for Philip who finds himself cut off from others because of his disability. He is forced to think for himself. . He is surprised to find himself making up stories to another boy who breaks his pen-holder. He begins to cry and says it was given him by his mother before she died. He cries as if the lie were true, and then feels remorse. He is worried that the Tempter is forcing him to sin. . In a wave of religious feeling that sweeps the school, he joins a Bible League and discovers the verse about prayer being able to move mountains if one has the faith. He decides to pray for his foot to be healed. He gives a date for the miracle, by the end of Christmas break, and prays with his whole heart. When it does not heal, he asks his uncle why prayers are not answered. The vicar says it means faith is not great enough. Philip is disillusioned, thinking probably no one ever has enough faith, for he had truly tried. .

Commentary on Chapters X-XIV . The narrator shows us the formation of mind and character as Philip begins to grow up. We see the seminal incidents in his life. For instance, it is only at school that he truly becomes aware he is a "cripple." Until school, he has been around few people and none his age. In English schools, as in most other private or public schools, children can be cruel to one another. They engage in power struggles without sympathy or understanding. This was even worse for Philip, who is sensitive, and made to feel different, shut out from society. He does not have a chance for the same give and take with others, to get a perspective on his life, or find common ground. This mirrors Maugham's own difficulty with his stammer. . As before, his outlet is through the imagination and intellect. He excels at his studies, and yet, he cannot understand why he made up the lie about the pen to get sympathy. He believes his own lie because he has a good imagination to act out his part, and as was said before, the line can become blurred between imagination and reality. In fact, when he is bullied, "It seemed to his childish mind that this unhappiness must go on for ever" . He thinks he is living in a bad dream, and that one day he will wake to find his mother. This motif is repeated when he is unhappy: life is a bad dream; it is unreal. . Philip is terrified by his own temptation to manipulate others for sympathy, since he can't win their admiration. The admirable thing about Philip is that he is unusually reflective for a young boy. But is this a blessing or curse? The narrator intrudes with his analysis. He says that although every child becomes aware that it is a separate and individual body, not every one becomes fully conscious enough to be an individual personality. The luckiest people are not conscious of themselves, for "their activities are shared by all" . Philip is forced to live the inner life of the mind; "he was forced to think for himself" . In this way, he is alone, though conscious, able to come to his own original conclusions about life. This is both good and bad, for he may not be accurate in his assessment: "He made his own experience into a general rule" . . This ability to form his own conclusions is seen when he prays to God to heal his foot. When it does not happen, his uncle's explanation that a rejected prayer means there was not enough faith does not make sense to him. He knows he tried with every ounce of innocent faith he had. He concludes his uncle doesn't know what he is talking about or else God demands too much: "I suppose no one ever has faith enough" . While he was praying, he tried to be as uncomfortable as possible, freezing in the cold, assuming that prayers were more acceptable to God if he was uncomfortable. These are all the remnants of the Victorian religious belief he is about to slough off, making him too full of doubt to take Holy Orders.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_15_to_21.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_4_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 15-21

chapters 15-21

{"name": "Chapters 15-21", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter15-21", "summary": "At thirteen Philip goes to the King's School itself, an ancient abbey school taught by monks, reorganized in the time of King Henry VIII. It has produced many notable people and clergymen, but there are complaints that the class quality is slipping, for more merchants, fewer gentlemen are attending. The teachers have no patience with modern ideas of education and stick to Latin and Greek. Just before Philip comes there a new headmaster is elected, Mr. Tom Perkins, who was the son of a linen-draper and was a day-boy when he had been there. It is a sign of the times that the new headmaster is not a gentleman. . Perkins knows the new ideas from Germany. He is a Liberal, \"enthusiastic,\" and ungentlemanly in the eyes of the other masters . He initiates reforms such as adding German and French and mathematics. Further, he wants to attract boys from London, which is frowned upon as a corrupting influence. He tries to initiate the study of general information and practical application. He does away with corporal punishment and takes over the classes of the other masters sometimes. Philip likes that, for the changes suit his own tastes, and Perkins recognizes his precocity. Perkins is contrasted to his usual teacher, Mr. Gordon, who frightens Philip with his bullying so he can't remember answers. He calls Philip, \"Club-footed blockhead!\" . Perkins is kind and speaks to him of his travels, trying to calm Philip down. . The next two years are monotonous and lonely. His classes are tolerable but he wants to be alone and sets out for long walks near the cathedral with its rooks. There are romantic scenes, and he is attracted to what is beautiful. His voice is breaking, and Perkins prepares the boys for confirmation. Philip feels he must go to hell, for he cannot read the Bible. Philip would like to please Perkins who has a passion for religion, and Perkins thinks Philip has a similar religious passion. He tells Philip he will be head boy and win a scholarship. He tells him that maybe he should thank God for his deformity instead of be ashamed of it. Philip experiences a mystical rapture; he could offer his deformity to God! . But he is unable to sustain this idea of self-sacrifice. He gets distracted. The other students think he is conceited because of his intellectual superiority, but he would rather change places with them and have popularity and normalcy. His wit is caustic, and he alienates those he would like to be friends with. He becomes friends with a boy called Rose who brings Philip into the circle of other boys. Rose, however, has other friends while Philip is jealous and needy. He tries not to make demands on Rose, afraid of losing him. Eventually, he starts fights with him, and Rose cools off. When Philip is taken with scarlet fever, he is out of school for weeks. When he returns, Rose has another friend. He hates Rose and for spite chooses Sharp for a friend, whom he despises. From Sharp he hears about the streets of London and travel to Germany. . Rose tries conciliation with Philip, but Philip's pride makes him insult Rose. This makes him sick because he wanted to make up, but revenge was a stronger motive. The incident with Rose makes him hate school, and he wants to leave. His grades slip, and Perkins tries to rally him, saying he'll lose the scholarship. Philip tells him he doesn't want to go to Oxford or be a clergyman. Perkins tries hard to be a friend to the boy, but Philip is stubborn. He writes to the Careys. . Philip tells his aunt and uncle he wants to leave King's. The uncle tells him to stay one more term and then he can leave for Germany. The uncle writes to Perkins for advice, and Perkins says no to the idea. Philip is furious and writes a nasty letter to his uncle. He asks the headmaster for permission to go home to talk to his uncle. Perkins refuses, so Philip runs away. He argues bitterly with the Careys, making his aunt cry. His uncle writes to Perkins confirming that Philip will leave at the end of term. Philip uses the time for revenge, to be in the position to win all the prizes, then leave because he despises them and the school. This is his first taste of power over those who have hurt him. . Perkins makes one more try, explaining how much it has meant to him to have a smart boy like Philip for a student. Philip is melted by his kindness and gets a flash of going on to Oxford. He feels conflicting emotions but will not back down. He walks away free at last but is depressed, not knowing if he has thrown his life away.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XV-XXI . The Headmaster at King's, Mr. Perkins, upholds the traditions of the clergy and religion, but he is not a gentleman who comes from one of the four gentlemanly occupations: landowner, military, law, or clergy. His father was a shopkeeper, and no one forgets it. He is a Liberal with the new ideas of education that are in vogue: modern languages, science and mathematics. Philip is inspired by him and wants to please him, though it is becoming increasingly clear to him that he doesn't want to be a clergyman, and that King's is stifling. It is a typical English school for the times and is trying to reform itself, but Philip is not suited for many reasons. . He is losing his faith and is interested in a wide range of topics. He is strongly moved by what he reads and the beauty of landscapes and would like to travel to see the world, expand his horizons. He hears about London and Germany from Sharp and makes up his mind, that though he could take top honors at King's and go on to Oxford, he doesn't see himself as a vicar like his uncle. All the vicars he knows are isolated in rural places and suffocated in the boring life his uncle has chosen. . Philip has endured loneliness because of his handicap, but almost worse is the negative cycle he gets into with people he cares about. He alienates both Perkins and Rose who reach out to him. His pride and fear of pity make him harsh and sarcastic. His tongue becomes a substitute for physical power, and he learns the taste of revenge. This was also a flaw in Maugham; he wrote barbed memoirs of people he met, making people afraid to be around him. . Perkins recognizes Philip's talent and encourages him both in his studies and on a personal level. Perkins is actually a remarkable man, for though people would snub him and talk about him behind his back for not being a gentleman, as they snub Philip for his foot, he has not let it affect him. Perkins retains his innocence, enthusiasm, and is sincere about education and religion. He is a breath of fresh air. Philip would like to please him but is proud and independent. He rejects his help and holds to his own plans. . Another important lesson Perkins tries to impart is an alternate view of his handicap. Perhaps he needn't be ashamed of his lameness but offer it as a gift to God. He only suffers because he is rebellious about it. This mystic idea strikes Philip, but he is unable to maintain this passionate vision: \"He was tired out by the violence of his passion\" . He then tastes \"aridity\" or dryness. This trait will become important later. He is capable of violent passion but burns out from it. . Rose is the sort of boy Philip would like to be: popular, strong, athletic. In addition, Rose is kind and well balanced. Philip is overwhelmed by the attention from him. He has had no friends before and does not know how to handle any relationship. Sometimes he \"would throw his soul as it were into the other's body,\" identifying and pretending he is someone else to escape his own limitation . . He doesn't know how to stay friends; he becomes jealous and pushes Rose away. He starts fights with him, and Rose finally gives up when Philip insults him. Rose cannot understand his behavior, and neither can Philip. He is sick with remorse, but he cannot apologize, as he wishes he could: \"he had not been master of himself\" . He seems to do things against his will, such as the violent scene with his aunt and uncle, who are only trying to do the best for him. . This seems to be a period of his life when Philip needs to exert his will in order to grow up and be himself. He feels triumphant when the vicar yields, and he has won. He feels superior to all of them when he walks away from the prizes at King's in revenge, but he has discovered a bitter pattern. When he hurts others, he also hurts himself. Thinking his life at school has been a failure, he longs for a fresh start."}

<CHAPTER> XV The King's School at Tercanbury, to which Philip went when he was thirteen, prided itself on its antiquity. It traced its origin to an abbey school, founded before the Conquest, where the rudiments of learning were taught by Augustine monks; and, like many another establishment of this sort, on the destruction of the monasteries it had been reorganised by the officers of King Henry VIII and thus acquired its name. Since then, pursuing its modest course, it had given to the sons of the local gentry and of the professional people of Kent an education sufficient to their needs. One or two men of letters, beginning with a poet, than whom only Shakespeare had a more splendid genius, and ending with a writer of prose whose view of life has affected profoundly the generation of which Philip was a member, had gone forth from its gates to achieve fame; it had produced one or two eminent lawyers, but eminent lawyers are common, and one or two soldiers of distinction; but during the three centuries since its separation from the monastic order it had trained especially men of the church, bishops, deans, canons, and above all country clergymen: there were boys in the school whose fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, had been educated there and had all been rectors of parishes in the diocese of Tercanbury; and they came to it with their minds made up already to be ordained. But there were signs notwithstanding that even there changes were coming; for a few, repeating what they had heard at home, said that the Church was no longer what it used to be. It wasn't so much the money; but the class of people who went in for it weren't the same; and two or three boys knew curates whose fathers were tradesmen: they'd rather go out to the Colonies (in those days the Colonies were still the last hope of those who could get nothing to do in England) than be a curate under some chap who wasn't a gentleman. At King's School, as at Blackstable Vicarage, a tradesman was anyone who was not lucky enough to own land (and here a fine distinction was made between the gentleman farmer and the landowner), or did not follow one of the four professions to which it was possible for a gentleman to belong. Among the day-boys, of whom there were about a hundred and fifty, sons of the local gentry and of the men stationed at the depot, those whose fathers were engaged in business were made to feel the degradation of their state. The masters had no patience with modern ideas of education, which they read of sometimes in The Times or The Guardian, and hoped fervently that King's School would remain true to its old traditions. The dead languages were taught with such thoroughness that an old boy seldom thought of Homer or Virgil in after life without a qualm of boredom; and though in the common room at dinner one or two bolder spirits suggested that mathematics were of increasing importance, the general feeling was that they were a less noble study than the classics. Neither German nor chemistry was taught, and French only by the form-masters; they could keep order better than a foreigner, and, since they knew the grammar as well as any Frenchman, it seemed unimportant that none of them could have got a cup of coffee in the restaurant at Boulogne unless the waiter had known a little English. Geography was taught chiefly by making boys draw maps, and this was a favourite occupation, especially when the country dealt with was mountainous: it was possible to waste a great deal of time in drawing the Andes or the Apennines. The masters, graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, were ordained and unmarried; if by chance they wished to marry they could only do so by accepting one of the smaller livings at the disposal of the Chapter; but for many years none of them had cared to leave the refined society of Tercanbury, which owing to the cavalry depot had a martial as well as an ecclesiastical tone, for the monotony of life in a country rectory; and they were now all men of middle age. The headmaster, on the other hand, was obliged to be married and he conducted the school till age began to tell upon him. When he retired he was rewarded with a much better living than any of the under-masters could hope for, and an honorary Canonry. But a year before Philip entered the school a great change had come over it. It had been obvious for some time that Dr. Fleming, who had been headmaster for the quarter of a century, was become too deaf to continue his work to the greater glory of God; and when one of the livings on the outskirts of the city fell vacant, with a stipend of six hundred a year, the Chapter offered it to him in such a manner as to imply that they thought it high time for him to retire. He could nurse his ailments comfortably on such an income. Two or three curates who had hoped for preferment told their wives it was scandalous to give a parish that needed a young, strong, and energetic man to an old fellow who knew nothing of parochial work, and had feathered his nest already; but the mutterings of the unbeneficed clergy do not reach the ears of a cathedral Chapter. And as for the parishioners they had nothing to say in the matter, and therefore nobody asked for their opinion. The Wesleyans and the Baptists both had chapels in the village. When Dr. Fleming was thus disposed of it became necessary to find a successor. It was contrary to the traditions of the school that one of the lower-masters should be chosen. The common-room was unanimous in desiring the election of Mr. Watson, headmaster of the preparatory school; he could hardly be described as already a master of King's School, they had all known him for twenty years, and there was no danger that he would make a nuisance of himself. But the Chapter sprang a surprise on them. It chose a man called Perkins. At first nobody knew who Perkins was, and the name favourably impressed no one; but before the shock of it had passed away, it was realised that Perkins was the son of Perkins the linendraper. Dr. Fleming informed the masters just before dinner, and his manner showed his consternation. Such of them as were dining in, ate their meal almost in silence, and no reference was made to the matter till the servants had left the room. Then they set to. The names of those present on this occasion are unimportant, but they had been known to generations of school-boys as Sighs, Tar, Winks, Squirts, and Pat. They all knew Tom Perkins. The first thing about him was that he was not a gentleman. They remembered him quite well. He was a small, dark boy, with untidy black hair and large eyes. He looked like a gipsy. He had come to the school as a day-boy, with the best scholarship on their endowment, so that his education had cost him nothing. Of course he was brilliant. At every Speech-Day he was loaded with prizes. He was their show-boy, and they remembered now bitterly their fear that he would try to get some scholarship at one of the larger public schools and so pass out of their hands. Dr. Fleming had gone to the linendraper his father--they all remembered the shop, Perkins and Cooper, in St. Catherine's Street--and said he hoped Tom would remain with them till he went to Oxford. The school was Perkins and Cooper's best customer, and Mr. Perkins was only too glad to give the required assurance. Tom Perkins continued to triumph, he was the finest classical scholar that Dr. Fleming remembered, and on leaving the school took with him the most valuable scholarship they had to offer. He got another at Magdalen and settled down to a brilliant career at the University. The school magazine recorded the distinctions he achieved year after year, and when he got his double first Dr. Fleming himself wrote a few words of eulogy on the front page. It was with greater satisfaction that they welcomed his success, since Perkins and Cooper had fallen upon evil days: Cooper drank like a fish, and just before Tom Perkins took his degree the linendrapers filed their petition in bankruptcy. In due course Tom Perkins took Holy Orders and entered upon the profession for which he was so admirably suited. He had been an assistant master at Wellington and then at Rugby. But there was quite a difference between welcoming his success at other schools and serving under his leadership in their own. Tar had frequently given him lines, and Squirts had boxed his ears. They could not imagine how the Chapter had made such a mistake. No one could be expected to forget that he was the son of a bankrupt linendraper, and the alcoholism of Cooper seemed to increase the disgrace. It was understood that the Dean had supported his candidature with zeal, so the Dean would probably ask him to dinner; but would the pleasant little dinners in the precincts ever be the same when Tom Perkins sat at the table? And what about the depot? He really could not expect officers and gentlemen to receive him as one of themselves. It would do the school incalculable harm. Parents would be dissatisfied, and no one could be surprised if there were wholesale withdrawals. And then the indignity of calling him Mr. Perkins! The masters thought by way of protest of sending in their resignations in a body, but the uneasy fear that they would be accepted with equanimity restrained them. "The only thing is to prepare ourselves for changes," said Sighs, who had conducted the fifth form for five and twenty years with unparalleled incompetence. And when they saw him they were not reassured. Dr. Fleming invited them to meet him at luncheon. He was now a man of thirty-two, tall and lean, but with the same wild and unkempt look they remembered on him as a boy. His clothes, ill-made and shabby, were put on untidily. His hair was as black and as long as ever, and he had plainly never learned to brush it; it fell over his forehead with every gesture, and he had a quick movement of the hand with which he pushed it back from his eyes. He had a black moustache and a beard which came high up on his face almost to the cheek-bones, He talked to the masters quite easily, as though he had parted from them a week or two before; he was evidently delighted to see them. He seemed unconscious of the strangeness of the position and appeared not to notice any oddness in being addressed as Mr. Perkins. When he bade them good-bye, one of the masters, for something to say, remarked that he was allowing himself plenty of time to catch his train. "I want to go round and have a look at the shop," he answered cheerfully. There was a distinct embarrassment. They wondered that he could be so tactless, and to make it worse Dr. Fleming had not heard what he said. His wife shouted it in his ear. "He wants to go round and look at his father's old shop." Only Tom Perkins was unconscious of the humiliation which the whole party felt. He turned to Mrs. Fleming. "Who's got it now, d'you know?" She could hardly answer. She was very angry. "It's still a linendraper's," she said bitterly. "Grove is the name. We don't deal there any more." "I wonder if he'd let me go over the house." "I expect he would if you explain who you are." It was not till the end of dinner that evening that any reference was made in the common-room to the subject that was in all their minds. Then it was Sighs who asked: "Well, what did you think of our new head?" They thought of the conversation at luncheon. It was hardly a conversation; it was a monologue. Perkins had talked incessantly. He talked very quickly, with a flow of easy words and in a deep, resonant voice. He had a short, odd little laugh which showed his white teeth. They had followed him with difficulty, for his mind darted from subject to subject with a connection they did not always catch. He talked of pedagogics, and this was natural enough; but he had much to say of modern theories in Germany which they had never heard of and received with misgiving. He talked of the classics, but he had been to Greece, and he discoursed of archaeology; he had once spent a winter digging; they could not see how that helped a man to teach boys to pass examinations, He talked of politics. It sounded odd to them to hear him compare Lord Beaconsfield with Alcibiades. He talked of Mr. Gladstone and Home Rule. They realised that he was a Liberal. Their hearts sank. He talked of German philosophy and of French fiction. They could not think a man profound whose interests were so diverse. It was Winks who summed up the general impression and put it into a form they all felt conclusively damning. Winks was the master of the upper third, a weak-kneed man with drooping eye-lids, He was too tall for his strength, and his movements were slow and languid. He gave an impression of lassitude, and his nickname was eminently appropriate. "He's very enthusiastic," said Winks. Enthusiasm was ill-bred. Enthusiasm was ungentlemanly. They thought of the Salvation Army with its braying trumpets and its drums. Enthusiasm meant change. They had goose-flesh when they thought of all the pleasant old habits which stood in imminent danger. They hardly dared to look forward to the future. "He looks more of a gipsy than ever," said one, after a pause. "I wonder if the Dean and Chapter knew that he was a Radical when they elected him," another observed bitterly. But conversation halted. They were too much disturbed for words. When Tar and Sighs were walking together to the Chapter House on Speech-Day a week later, Tar, who had a bitter tongue, remarked to his colleague: "Well, we've seen a good many Speech-Days here, haven't we? I wonder if we shall see another." Sighs was more melancholy even than usual. "If anything worth having comes along in the way of a living I don't mind when I retire." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVI A year passed, and when Philip came to the school the old masters were all in their places; but a good many changes had taken place notwithstanding their stubborn resistance, none the less formidable because it was concealed under an apparent desire to fall in with the new head's ideas. Though the form-masters still taught French to the lower school, another master had come, with a degree of doctor of philology from the University of Heidelberg and a record of three years spent in a French lycee, to teach French to the upper forms and German to anyone who cared to take it up instead of Greek. Another master was engaged to teach mathematics more systematically than had been found necessary hitherto. Neither of these was ordained. This was a real revolution, and when the pair arrived the older masters received them with distrust. A laboratory had been fitted up, army classes were instituted; they all said the character of the school was changing. And heaven only knew what further projects Mr. Perkins turned in that untidy head of his. The school was small as public schools go, there were not more than two hundred boarders; and it was difficult for it to grow larger, for it was huddled up against the Cathedral; the precincts, with the exception of a house in which some of the masters lodged, were occupied by the cathedral clergy; and there was no more room for building. But Mr. Perkins devised an elaborate scheme by which he might obtain sufficient space to make the school double its present size. He wanted to attract boys from London. He thought it would be good for them to be thrown in contact with the Kentish lads, and it would sharpen the country wits of these. "It's against all our traditions," said Sighs, when Mr. Perkins made the suggestion to him. "We've rather gone out of our way to avoid the contamination of boys from London." "Oh, what nonsense!" said Mr. Perkins. No one had ever told the form-master before that he talked nonsense, and he was meditating an acid reply, in which perhaps he might insert a veiled reference to hosiery, when Mr. Perkins in his impetuous way attacked him outrageously. "That house in the precincts--if you'd only marry I'd get the Chapter to put another couple of stories on, and we'd make dormitories and studies, and your wife could help you." The elderly clergyman gasped. Why should he marry? He was fifty-seven, a man couldn't marry at fifty-seven. He couldn't start looking after a house at his time of life. He didn't want to marry. If the choice lay between that and the country living he would much sooner resign. All he wanted now was peace and quietness. "I'm not thinking of marrying," he said. Mr. Perkins looked at him with his dark, bright eyes, and if there was a twinkle in them poor Sighs never saw it. "What a pity! Couldn't you marry to oblige me? It would help me a great deal with the Dean and Chapter when I suggest rebuilding your house." But Mr. Perkins' most unpopular innovation was his system of taking occasionally another man's form. He asked it as a favour, but after all it was a favour which could not be refused, and as Tar, otherwise Mr. Turner, said, it was undignified for all parties. He gave no warning, but after morning prayers would say to one of the masters: "I wonder if you'd mind taking the Sixth today at eleven. We'll change over, shall we?" They did not know whether this was usual at other schools, but certainly it had never been done at Tercanbury. The results were curious. Mr. Turner, who was the first victim, broke the news to his form that the headmaster would take them for Latin that day, and on the pretence that they might like to ask him a question or two so that they should not make perfect fools of themselves, spent the last quarter of an hour of the history lesson in construing for them the passage of Livy which had been set for the day; but when he rejoined his class and looked at the paper on which Mr. Perkins had written the marks, a surprise awaited him; for the two boys at the top of the form seemed to have done very ill, while others who had never distinguished themselves before were given full marks. When he asked Eldridge, his cleverest boy, what was the meaning of this the answer came sullenly: "Mr. Perkins never gave us any construing to do. He asked me what I knew about General Gordon." Mr. Turner looked at him in astonishment. The boys evidently felt they had been hardly used, and he could not help agreeing with their silent dissatisfaction. He could not see either what General Gordon had to do with Livy. He hazarded an inquiry afterwards. "Eldridge was dreadfully put out because you asked him what he knew about General Gordon," he said to the headmaster, with an attempt at a chuckle. Mr. Perkins laughed. "I saw they'd got to the agrarian laws of Caius Gracchus, and I wondered if they knew anything about the agrarian troubles in Ireland. But all they knew about Ireland was that Dublin was on the Liffey. So I wondered if they'd ever heard of General Gordon." Then the horrid fact was disclosed that the new head had a mania for general information. He had doubts about the utility of examinations on subjects which had been crammed for the occasion. He wanted common sense. Sighs grew more worried every month; he could not get the thought out of his head that Mr. Perkins would ask him to fix a day for his marriage; and he hated the attitude the head adopted towards classical literature. There was no doubt that he was a fine scholar, and he was engaged on a work which was quite in the right tradition: he was writing a treatise on the trees in Latin literature; but he talked of it flippantly, as though it were a pastime of no great importance, like billiards, which engaged his leisure but was not to be considered with seriousness. And Squirts, the master of the Middle Third, grew more ill-tempered every day. It was in his form that Philip was put on entering the school. The Rev. B. B. Gordon was a man by nature ill-suited to be a schoolmaster: he was impatient and choleric. With no one to call him to account, with only small boys to face him, he had long lost all power of self-control. He began his work in a rage and ended it in a passion. He was a man of middle height and of a corpulent figure; he had sandy hair, worn very short and now growing gray, and a small bristly moustache. His large face, with indistinct features and small blue eyes, was naturally red, but during his frequent attacks of anger it grew dark and purple. His nails were bitten to the quick, for while some trembling boy was construing he would sit at his desk shaking with the fury that consumed him, and gnaw his fingers. Stories, perhaps exaggerated, were told of his violence, and two years before there had been some excitement in the school when it was heard that one father was threatening a prosecution: he had boxed the ears of a boy named Walters with a book so violently that his hearing was affected and the boy had to be taken away from the school. The boy's father lived in Tercanbury, and there had been much indignation in the city, the local paper had referred to the matter; but Mr. Walters was only a brewer, so the sympathy was divided. The rest of the boys, for reasons best known to themselves, though they loathed the master, took his side in the affair, and, to show their indignation that the school's business had been dealt with outside, made things as uncomfortable as they could for Walters' younger brother, who still remained. But Mr. Gordon had only escaped the country living by the skin of his teeth, and he had never hit a boy since. The right the masters possessed to cane boys on the hand was taken away from them, and Squirts could no longer emphasize his anger by beating his desk with the cane. He never did more now than take a boy by the shoulders and shake him. He still made a naughty or refractory lad stand with one arm stretched out for anything from ten minutes to half an hour, and he was as violent as before with his tongue. No master could have been more unfitted to teach things to so shy a boy as Philip. He had come to the school with fewer terrors than he had when first he went to Mr. Watson's. He knew a good many boys who had been with him at the preparatory school. He felt more grownup, and instinctively realised that among the larger numbers his deformity would be less noticeable. But from the first day Mr. Gordon struck terror in his heart; and the master, quick to discern the boys who were frightened of him, seemed on that account to take a peculiar dislike to him. Philip had enjoyed his work, but now he began to look upon the hours passed in school with horror. Rather than risk an answer which might be wrong and excite a storm of abuse from the master, he would sit stupidly silent, and when it came towards his turn to stand up and construe he grew sick and white with apprehension. His happy moments were those when Mr. Perkins took the form. He was able to gratify the passion for general knowledge which beset the headmaster; he had read all sorts of strange books beyond his years, and often Mr. Perkins, when a question was going round the room, would stop at Philip with a smile that filled the boy with rapture, and say: "Now, Carey, you tell them." The good marks he got on these occasions increased Mr. Gordon's indignation. One day it came to Philip's turn to translate, and the master sat there glaring at him and furiously biting his thumb. He was in a ferocious mood. Philip began to speak in a low voice. "Don't mumble," shouted the master. Something seemed to stick in Philip's throat. "Go on. Go on. Go on." Each time the words were screamed more loudly. The effect was to drive all he knew out of Philip's head, and he looked at the printed page vacantly. Mr. Gordon began to breathe heavily. "If you don't know why don't you say so? Do you know it or not? Did you hear all this construed last time or not? Why don't you speak? Speak, you blockhead, speak!" The master seized the arms of his chair and grasped them as though to prevent himself from falling upon Philip. They knew that in past days he often used to seize boys by the throat till they almost choked. The veins in his forehead stood out and his face grew dark and threatening. He was a man insane. Philip had known the passage perfectly the day before, but now he could remember nothing. "I don't know it," he gasped. "Why don't you know it? Let's take the words one by one. We'll soon see if you don't know it." Philip stood silent, very white, trembling a little, with his head bent down on the book. The master's breathing grew almost stertorous. "The headmaster says you're clever. I don't know how he sees it. General information." He laughed savagely. "I don't know what they put you in his form for, Blockhead." He was pleased with the word, and he repeated it at the top of his voice. "Blockhead! Blockhead! Club-footed blockhead!" That relieved him a little. He saw Philip redden suddenly. He told him to fetch the Black Book. Philip put down his Caesar and went silently out. The Black Book was a sombre volume in which the names of boys were written with their misdeeds, and when a name was down three times it meant a caning. Philip went to the headmaster's house and knocked at his study-door. Mr. Perkins was seated at his table. "May I have the Black Book, please, sir." "There it is," answered Mr. Perkins, indicating its place by a nod of his head. "What have you been doing that you shouldn't?" "I don't know, sir." Mr. Perkins gave him a quick look, but without answering went on with his work. Philip took the book and went out. When the hour was up, a few minutes later, he brought it back. "Let me have a look at it," said the headmaster. "I see Mr. Gordon has black-booked you for 'gross impertinence.' What was it?" "I don't know, sir. Mr. Gordon said I was a club-footed blockhead." Mr. Perkins looked at him again. He wondered whether there was sarcasm behind the boy's reply, but he was still much too shaken. His face was white and his eyes had a look of terrified distress. Mr. Perkins got up and put the book down. As he did so he took up some photographs. "A friend of mine sent me some pictures of Athens this morning," he said casually. "Look here, there's the Akropolis." He began explaining to Philip what he saw. The ruin grew vivid with his words. He showed him the theatre of Dionysus and explained in what order the people sat, and how beyond they could see the blue Aegean. And then suddenly he said: "I remember Mr. Gordon used to call me a gipsy counter-jumper when I was in his form." And before Philip, his mind fixed on the photographs, had time to gather the meaning of the remark, Mr. Perkins was showing him a picture of Salamis, and with his finger, a finger of which the nail had a little black edge to it, was pointing out how the Greek ships were placed and how the Persian. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVII Philip passed the next two years with comfortable monotony. He was not bullied more than other boys of his size; and his deformity, withdrawing him from games, acquired for him an insignificance for which he was grateful. He was not popular, and he was very lonely. He spent a couple of terms with Winks in the Upper Third. Winks, with his weary manner and his drooping eyelids, looked infinitely bored. He did his duty, but he did it with an abstracted mind. He was kind, gentle, and foolish. He had a great belief in the honour of boys; he felt that the first thing to make them truthful was not to let it enter your head for a moment that it was possible for them to lie. "Ask much," he quoted, "and much shall be given to you." Life was easy in the Upper Third. You knew exactly what lines would come to your turn to construe, and with the crib that passed from hand to hand you could find out all you wanted in two minutes; you could hold a Latin Grammar open on your knees while questions were passing round; and Winks never noticed anything odd in the fact that the same incredible mistake was to be found in a dozen different exercises. He had no great faith in examinations, for he noticed that boys never did so well in them as in form: it was disappointing, but not significant. In due course they were moved up, having learned little but a cheerful effrontery in the distortion of truth, which was possibly of greater service to them in after life than an ability to read Latin at sight. Then they fell into the hands of Tar. His name was Turner; he was the most vivacious of the old masters, a short man with an immense belly, a black beard turning now to gray, and a swarthy skin. In his clerical dress there was indeed something in him to suggest the tar-barrel; and though on principle he gave five hundred lines to any boy on whose lips he overheard his nickname, at dinner-parties in the precincts he often made little jokes about it. He was the most worldly of the masters; he dined out more frequently than any of the others, and the society he kept was not so exclusively clerical. The boys looked upon him as rather a dog. He left off his clerical attire during the holidays and had been seen in Switzerland in gay tweeds. He liked a bottle of wine and a good dinner, and having once been seen at the Cafe Royal with a lady who was very probably a near relation, was thenceforward supposed by generations of schoolboys to indulge in orgies the circumstantial details of which pointed to an unbounded belief in human depravity. Mr. Turner reckoned that it took him a term to lick boys into shape after they had been in the Upper Third; and now and then he let fall a sly hint, which showed that he knew perfectly what went on in his colleague's form. He took it good-humouredly. He looked upon boys as young ruffians who were more apt to be truthful if it was quite certain a lie would be found out, whose sense of honour was peculiar to themselves and did not apply to dealings with masters, and who were least likely to be troublesome when they learned that it did not pay. He was proud of his form and as eager at fifty-five that it should do better in examinations than any of the others as he had been when he first came to the school. He had the choler of the obese, easily roused and as easily calmed, and his boys soon discovered that there was much kindliness beneath the invective with which he constantly assailed them. He had no patience with fools, but was willing to take much trouble with boys whom he suspected of concealing intelligence behind their wilfulness. He was fond of inviting them to tea; and, though vowing they never got a look in with him at the cakes and muffins, for it was the fashion to believe that his corpulence pointed to a voracious appetite, and his voracious appetite to tapeworms, they accepted his invitations with real pleasure. Philip was now more comfortable, for space was so limited that there were only studies for boys in the upper school, and till then he had lived in the great hall in which they all ate and in which the lower forms did preparation in a promiscuity which was vaguely distasteful to him. Now and then it made him restless to be with people and he wanted urgently to be alone. He set out for solitary walks into the country. There was a little stream, with pollards on both sides of it, that ran through green fields, and it made him happy, he knew not why, to wander along its banks. When he was tired he lay face-downward on the grass and watched the eager scurrying of minnows and of tadpoles. It gave him a peculiar satisfaction to saunter round the precincts. On the green in the middle they practised at nets in the summer, but during the rest of the year it was quiet: boys used to wander round sometimes arm in arm, or a studious fellow with abstracted gaze walked slowly, repeating to himself something he had to learn by heart. There was a colony of rooks in the great elms, and they filled the air with melancholy cries. Along one side lay the Cathedral with its great central tower, and Philip, who knew as yet nothing of beauty, felt when he looked at it a troubling delight which he could not understand. When he had a study (it was a little square room looking on a slum, and four boys shared it), he bought a photograph of that view of the Cathedral, and pinned it up over his desk. And he found himself taking a new interest in what he saw from the window of the Fourth Form room. It looked on to old lawns, carefully tended, and fine trees with foliage dense and rich. It gave him an odd feeling in his heart, and he did not know if it was pain or pleasure. It was the first dawn of the aesthetic emotion. It accompanied other changes. His voice broke. It was no longer quite under his control, and queer sounds issued from his throat. Then he began to go to the classes which were held in the headmaster's study, immediately after tea, to prepare boys for confirmation. Philip's piety had not stood the test of time, and he had long since given up his nightly reading of the Bible; but now, under the influence of Mr. Perkins, with this new condition of the body which made him so restless, his old feelings revived, and he reproached himself bitterly for his backsliding. The fires of Hell burned fiercely before his mind's eye. If he had died during that time when he was little better than an infidel he would have been lost; he believed implicitly in pain everlasting, he believed in it much more than in eternal happiness; and he shuddered at the dangers he had run. Since the day on which Mr. Perkins had spoken kindly to him, when he was smarting under the particular form of abuse which he could least bear, Philip had conceived for his headmaster a dog-like adoration. He racked his brains vainly for some way to please him. He treasured the smallest word of commendation which by chance fell from his lips. And when he came to the quiet little meetings in his house he was prepared to surrender himself entirely. He kept his eyes fixed on Mr. Perkins' shining eyes, and sat with mouth half open, his head a little thrown forward so as to miss no word. The ordinariness of the surroundings made the matters they dealt with extraordinarily moving. And often the master, seized himself by the wonder of his subject, would push back the book in front of him, and with his hands clasped together over his heart, as though to still the beating, would talk of the mysteries of their religion. Sometimes Philip did not understand, but he did not want to understand, he felt vaguely that it was enough to feel. It seemed to him then that the headmaster, with his black, straggling hair and his pale face, was like those prophets of Israel who feared not to take kings to task; and when he thought of the Redeemer he saw Him only with the same dark eyes and those wan cheeks. Mr. Perkins took this part of his work with great seriousness. There was never here any of that flashing humour which made the other masters suspect him of flippancy. Finding time for everything in his busy day, he was able at certain intervals to take separately for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes the boys whom he was preparing for confirmation. He wanted to make them feel that this was the first consciously serious step in their lives; he tried to grope into the depths of their souls; he wanted to instil in them his own vehement devotion. In Philip, notwithstanding his shyness, he felt the possibility of a passion equal to his own. The boy's temperament seemed to him essentially religious. One day he broke off suddenly from the subject on which he had been talking. "Have you thought at all what you're going to be when you grow up?" he asked. "My uncle wants me to be ordained," said Philip. "And you?" Philip looked away. He was ashamed to answer that he felt himself unworthy. "I don't know any life that's so full of happiness as ours. I wish I could make you feel what a wonderful privilege it is. One can serve God in every walk, but we stand nearer to Him. I don't want to influence you, but if you made up your mind--oh, at once--you couldn't help feeling that joy and relief which never desert one again." Philip did not answer, but the headmaster read in his eyes that he realised already something of what he tried to indicate. "If you go on as you are now you'll find yourself head of the school one of these days, and you ought to be pretty safe for a scholarship when you leave. Have you got anything of your own?" "My uncle says I shall have a hundred a year when I'm twenty-one." "You'll be rich. I had nothing." The headmaster hesitated a moment, and then, idly drawing lines with a pencil on the blotting paper in front of him, went on. "I'm afraid your choice of professions will be rather limited. You naturally couldn't go in for anything that required physical activity." Philip reddened to the roots of his hair, as he always did when any reference was made to his club-foot. Mr. Perkins looked at him gravely. "I wonder if you're not oversensitive about your misfortune. Has it ever struck you to thank God for it?" Philip looked up quickly. His lips tightened. He remembered how for months, trusting in what they told him, he had implored God to heal him as He had healed the Leper and made the Blind to see. "As long as you accept it rebelliously it can only cause you shame. But if you looked upon it as a cross that was given you to bear only because your shoulders were strong enough to bear it, a sign of God's favour, then it would be a source of happiness to you instead of misery." He saw that the boy hated to discuss the matter and he let him go. But Philip thought over all that the headmaster had said, and presently, his mind taken up entirely with the ceremony that was before him, a mystical rapture seized him. His spirit seemed to free itself from the bonds of the flesh and he seemed to be living a new life. He aspired to perfection with all the passion that was in him. He wanted to surrender himself entirely to the service of God, and he made up his mind definitely that he would be ordained. When the great day arrived, his soul deeply moved by all the preparation, by the books he had studied and above all by the overwhelming influence of the head, he could hardly contain himself for fear and joy. One thought had tormented him. He knew that he would have to walk alone through the chancel, and he dreaded showing his limp thus obviously, not only to the whole school, who were attending the service, but also to the strangers, people from the city or parents who had come to see their sons confirmed. But when the time came he felt suddenly that he could accept the humiliation joyfully; and as he limped up the chancel, very small and insignificant beneath the lofty vaulting of the Cathedral, he offered consciously his deformity as a sacrifice to the God who loved him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XVIII But Philip could not live long in the rarefied air of the hilltops. What had happened to him when first he was seized by the religious emotion happened to him now. Because he felt so keenly the beauty of faith, because the desire for self-sacrifice burned in his heart with such a gem-like glow, his strength seemed inadequate to his ambition. He was tired out by the violence of his passion. His soul was filled on a sudden with a singular aridity. He began to forget the presence of God which had seemed so surrounding; and his religious exercises, still very punctually performed, grew merely formal. At first he blamed himself for this falling away, and the fear of hell-fire urged him to renewed vehemence; but the passion was dead, and gradually other interests distracted his thoughts. Philip had few friends. His habit of reading isolated him: it became such a need that after being in company for some time he grew tired and restless; he was vain of the wider knowledge he had acquired from the perusal of so many books, his mind was alert, and he had not the skill to hide his contempt for his companions' stupidity. They complained that he was conceited; and, since he excelled only in matters which to them were unimportant, they asked satirically what he had to be conceited about. He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw; he said them because they amused him, hardly realising how much they hurt, and was much offended when he found that his victims regarded him with active dislike. The humiliations he suffered when first he went to school had caused in him a shrinking from his fellows which he could never entirely overcome; he remained shy and silent. But though he did everything to alienate the sympathy of other boys he longed with all his heart for the popularity which to some was so easily accorded. These from his distance he admired extravagantly; and though he was inclined to be more sarcastic with them than with others, though he made little jokes at their expense, he would have given anything to change places with them. Indeed he would gladly have changed places with the dullest boy in the school who was whole of limb. He took to a singular habit. He would imagine that he was some boy whom he had a particular fancy for; he would throw his soul, as it were, into the other's body, talk with his voice and laugh with his heart; he would imagine himself doing all the things the other did. It was so vivid that he seemed for a moment really to be no longer himself. In this way he enjoyed many intervals of fantastic happiness. At the beginning of the Christmas term which followed on his confirmation Philip found himself moved into another study. One of the boys who shared it was called Rose. He was in the same form as Philip, and Philip had always looked upon him with envious admiration. He was not good-looking; though his large hands and big bones suggested that he would be a tall man, he was clumsily made; but his eyes were charming, and when he laughed (he was constantly laughing) his face wrinkled all round them in a jolly way. He was neither clever nor stupid, but good enough at his work and better at games. He was a favourite with masters and boys, and he in his turn liked everyone. When Philip was put in the study he could not help seeing that the others, who had been together for three terms, welcomed him coldly. It made him nervous to feel himself an intruder; but he had learned to hide his feelings, and they found him quiet and unobtrusive. With Rose, because he was as little able as anyone else to resist his charm, Philip was even more than usually shy and abrupt; and whether on account of this, unconsciously bent upon exerting the fascination he knew was his only by the results, or whether from sheer kindness of heart, it was Rose who first took Philip into the circle. One day, quite suddenly, he asked Philip if he would walk to the football field with him. Philip flushed. "I can't walk fast enough for you," he said. "Rot. Come on." And just before they were setting out some boy put his head in the study-door and asked Rose to go with him. "I can't," he answered. "I've already promised Carey." "Don't bother about me," said Philip quickly. "I shan't mind." "Rot," said Rose. He looked at Philip with those good-natured eyes of his and laughed. Philip felt a curious tremor in his heart. In a little while, their friendship growing with boyish rapidity, the pair were inseparable. Other fellows wondered at the sudden intimacy, and Rose was asked what he saw in Philip. "Oh, I don't know," he answered. "He's not half a bad chap really." Soon they grew accustomed to the two walking into chapel arm in arm or strolling round the precincts in conversation; wherever one was the other could be found also, and, as though acknowledging his proprietorship, boys who wanted Rose would leave messages with Carey. Philip at first was reserved. He would not let himself yield entirely to the proud joy that filled him; but presently his distrust of the fates gave way before a wild happiness. He thought Rose the most wonderful fellow he had ever seen. His books now were insignificant; he could not bother about them when there was something infinitely more important to occupy him. Rose's friends used to come in to tea in the study sometimes or sit about when there was nothing better to do--Rose liked a crowd and the chance of a rag--and they found that Philip was quite a decent fellow. Philip was happy. When the last day of term came he and Rose arranged by which train they should come back, so that they might meet at the station and have tea in the town before returning to school. Philip went home with a heavy heart. He thought of Rose all through the holidays, and his fancy was active with the things they would do together next term. He was bored at the vicarage, and when on the last day his uncle put him the usual question in the usual facetious tone: "Well, are you glad to be going back to school?" Philip answered joyfully. "Rather." In order to be sure of meeting Rose at the station he took an earlier train than he usually did, and he waited about the platform for an hour. When the train came in from Faversham, where he knew Rose had to change, he ran along it excitedly. But Rose was not there. He got a porter to tell him when another train was due, and he waited; but again he was disappointed; and he was cold and hungry, so he walked, through side-streets and slums, by a short cut to the school. He found Rose in the study, with his feet on the chimney-piece, talking eighteen to the dozen with half a dozen boys who were sitting on whatever there was to sit on. He shook hands with Philip enthusiastically, but Philip's face fell, for he realised that Rose had forgotten all about their appointment. "I say, why are you so late?" said Rose. "I thought you were never coming." "You were at the station at half-past four," said another boy. "I saw you when I came." Philip blushed a little. He did not want Rose to know that he had been such a fool as to wait for him. "I had to see about a friend of my people's," he invented readily. "I was asked to see her off." But his disappointment made him a little sulky. He sat in silence, and when spoken to answered in monosyllables. He was making up his mind to have it out with Rose when they were alone. But when the others had gone Rose at once came over and sat on the arm of the chair in which Philip was lounging. "I say, I'm jolly glad we're in the same study this term. Ripping, isn't it?" He seemed so genuinely pleased to see Philip that Philip's annoyance vanished. They began as if they had not been separated for five minutes to talk eagerly of the thousand things that interested them. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XIX At first Philip had been too grateful for Rose's friendship to make any demands on him. He took things as they came and enjoyed life. But presently he began to resent Rose's universal amiability; he wanted a more exclusive attachment, and he claimed as a right what before he had accepted as a favour. He watched jealously Rose's companionship with others; and though he knew it was unreasonable could not help sometimes saying bitter things to him. If Rose spent an hour playing the fool in another study, Philip would receive him when he returned to his own with a sullen frown. He would sulk for a day, and he suffered more because Rose either did not notice his ill-humour or deliberately ignored it. Not seldom Philip, knowing all the time how stupid he was, would force a quarrel, and they would not speak to one another for a couple of days. But Philip could not bear to be angry with him long, and even when convinced that he was in the right, would apologise humbly. Then for a week they would be as great friends as ever. But the best was over, and Philip could see that Rose often walked with him merely from old habit or from fear of his anger; they had not so much to say to one another as at first, and Rose was often bored. Philip felt that his lameness began to irritate him. Towards the end of the term two or three boys caught scarlet fever, and there was much talk of sending them all home in order to escape an epidemic; but the sufferers were isolated, and since no more were attacked it was supposed that the outbreak was stopped. One of the stricken was Philip. He remained in hospital through the Easter holidays, and at the beginning of the summer term was sent home to the vicarage to get a little fresh air. The Vicar, notwithstanding medical assurance that the boy was no longer infectious, received him with suspicion; he thought it very inconsiderate of the doctor to suggest that his nephew's convalescence should be spent by the seaside, and consented to have him in the house only because there was nowhere else he could go. Philip went back to school at half-term. He had forgotten the quarrels he had had with Rose, but remembered only that he was his greatest friend. He knew that he had been silly. He made up his mind to be more reasonable. During his illness Rose had sent him in a couple of little notes, and he had ended each with the words: "Hurry up and come back." Philip thought Rose must be looking forward as much to his return as he was himself to seeing Rose. He found that owing to the death from scarlet fever of one of the boys in the Sixth there had been some shifting in the studies and Rose was no longer in his. It was a bitter disappointment. But as soon as he arrived he burst into Rose's study. Rose was sitting at his desk, working with a boy called Hunter, and turned round crossly as Philip came in. "Who the devil's that?" he cried. And then, seeing Philip: "Oh, it's you." Philip stopped in embarrassment. "I thought I'd come in and see how you were." "We were just working." Hunter broke into the conversation. "When did you get back?" "Five minutes ago." They sat and looked at him as though he was disturbing them. They evidently expected him to go quickly. Philip reddened. "I'll be off. You might look in when you've done," he said to Rose. "All right." Philip closed the door behind him and limped back to his own study. He felt frightfully hurt. Rose, far from seeming glad to see him, had looked almost put out. They might never have been more than acquaintances. Though he waited in his study, not leaving it for a moment in case just then Rose should come, his friend never appeared; and next morning when he went in to prayers he saw Rose and Hunter singing along arm in arm. What he could not see for himself others told him. He had forgotten that three months is a long time in a schoolboy's life, and though he had passed them in solitude Rose had lived in the world. Hunter had stepped into the vacant place. Philip found that Rose was quietly avoiding him. But he was not the boy to accept a situation without putting it into words; he waited till he was sure Rose was alone in his study and went in. "May I come in?" he asked. Rose looked at him with an embarrassment that made him angry with Philip. "Yes, if you want to." "It's very kind of you," said Philip sarcastically. "What d'you want?" "I say, why have you been so rotten since I came back?" "Oh, don't be an ass," said Rose. "I don't know what you see in Hunter." "That's my business." Philip looked down. He could not bring himself to say what was in his heart. He was afraid of humiliating himself. Rose got up. "I've got to go to the Gym," he said. When he was at the door Philip forced himself to speak. "I say, Rose, don't be a perfect beast." "Oh, go to hell." Rose slammed the door behind him and left Philip alone. Philip shivered with rage. He went back to his study and turned the conversation over in his mind. He hated Rose now, he wanted to hurt him, he thought of biting things he might have said to him. He brooded over the end to their friendship and fancied that others were talking of it. In his sensitiveness he saw sneers and wonderings in other fellows' manner when they were not bothering their heads with him at all. He imagined to himself what they were saying. "After all, it wasn't likely to last long. I wonder he ever stuck Carey at all. Blighter!" To show his indifference he struck up a violent friendship with a boy called Sharp whom he hated and despised. He was a London boy, with a loutish air, a heavy fellow with the beginnings of a moustache on his lip and bushy eyebrows that joined one another across the bridge of his nose. He had soft hands and manners too suave for his years. He spoke with the suspicion of a cockney accent. He was one of those boys who are too slack to play games, and he exercised great ingenuity in making excuses to avoid such as were compulsory. He was regarded by boys and masters with a vague dislike, and it was from arrogance that Philip now sought his society. Sharp in a couple of terms was going to Germany for a year. He hated school, which he looked upon as an indignity to be endured till he was old enough to go out into the world. London was all he cared for, and he had many stories to tell of his doings there during the holidays. From his conversation--he spoke in a soft, deep-toned voice--there emerged the vague rumour of the London streets by night. Philip listened to him at once fascinated and repelled. With his vivid fancy he seemed to see the surging throng round the pit-door of theatres, and the glitter of cheap restaurants, bars where men, half drunk, sat on high stools talking with barmaids; and under the street lamps the mysterious passing of dark crowds bent upon pleasure. Sharp lent him cheap novels from Holywell Row, which Philip read in his cubicle with a sort of wonderful fear. Once Rose tried to effect a reconciliation. He was a good-natured fellow, who did not like having enemies. "I say, Carey, why are you being such a silly ass? It doesn't do you any good cutting me and all that." "I don't know what you mean," answered Philip. "Well, I don't see why you shouldn't talk." "You bore me," said Philip. "Please yourself." Rose shrugged his shoulders and left him. Philip was very white, as he always became when he was moved, and his heart beat violently. When Rose went away he felt suddenly sick with misery. He did not know why he had answered in that fashion. He would have given anything to be friends with Rose. He hated to have quarrelled with him, and now that he saw he had given him pain he was very sorry. But at the moment he had not been master of himself. It seemed that some devil had seized him, forcing him to say bitter things against his will, even though at the time he wanted to shake hands with Rose and meet him more than halfway. The desire to wound had been too strong for him. He had wanted to revenge himself for the pain and the humiliation he had endured. It was pride: it was folly too, for he knew that Rose would not care at all, while he would suffer bitterly. The thought came to him that he would go to Rose, and say: "I say, I'm sorry I was such a beast. I couldn't help it. Let's make it up." But he knew he would never be able to do it. He was afraid that Rose would sneer at him. He was angry with himself, and when Sharp came in a little while afterwards he seized upon the first opportunity to quarrel with him. Philip had a fiendish instinct for discovering other people's raw spots, and was able to say things that rankled because they were true. But Sharp had the last word. "I heard Rose talking about you to Mellor just now," he said. "Mellor said: Why didn't you kick him? It would teach him manners. And Rose said: I didn't like to. Damned cripple." Philip suddenly became scarlet. He could not answer, for there was a lump in his throat that almost choked him. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XX Philip was moved into the Sixth, but he hated school now with all his heart, and, having lost his ambition, cared nothing whether he did ill or well. He awoke in the morning with a sinking heart because he must go through another day of drudgery. He was tired of having to do things because he was told; and the restrictions irked him, not because they were unreasonable, but because they were restrictions. He yearned for freedom. He was weary of repeating things that he knew already and of the hammering away, for the sake of a thick-witted fellow, at something that he understood from the beginning. With Mr. Perkins you could work or not as you chose. He was at once eager and abstracted. The Sixth Form room was in a part of the old abbey which had been restored, and it had a gothic window: Philip tried to cheat his boredom by drawing this over and over again; and sometimes out of his head he drew the great tower of the Cathedral or the gateway that led into the precincts. He had a knack for drawing. Aunt Louisa during her youth had painted in water colours, and she had several albums filled with sketches of churches, old bridges, and picturesque cottages. They were often shown at the vicarage tea-parties. She had once given Philip a paint-box as a Christmas present, and he had started by copying her pictures. He copied them better than anyone could have expected, and presently he did little pictures of his own. Mrs. Carey encouraged him. It was a good way to keep him out of mischief, and later on his sketches would be useful for bazaars. Two or three of them had been framed and hung in his bed-room. But one day, at the end of the morning's work, Mr. Perkins stopped him as he was lounging out of the form-room. "I want to speak to you, Carey." Philip waited. Mr. Perkins ran his lean fingers through his beard and looked at Philip. He seemed to be thinking over what he wanted to say. "What's the matter with you, Carey?" he said abruptly. Philip, flushing, looked at him quickly. But knowing him well by now, without answering, he waited for him to go on. "I've been dissatisfied with you lately. You've been slack and inattentive. You seem to take no interest in your work. It's been slovenly and bad." "I'm very sorry, sir," said Philip. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Philip looked down sulkily. How could he answer that he was bored to death? "You know, this term you'll go down instead of up. I shan't give you a very good report." Philip wondered what he would say if he knew how the report was treated. It arrived at breakfast, Mr. Carey glanced at it indifferently, and passed it over to Philip. "There's your report. You'd better see what it says," he remarked, as he ran his fingers through the wrapper of a catalogue of second-hand books. Philip read it. "Is it good?" asked Aunt Louisa. "Not so good as I deserve," answered Philip, with a smile, giving it to her. "I'll read it afterwards when I've got my spectacles," she said. But after breakfast Mary Ann came in to say the butcher was there, and she generally forgot. Mr. Perkins went on. "I'm disappointed with you. And I can't understand. I know you can do things if you want to, but you don't seem to want to any more. I was going to make you a monitor next term, but I think I'd better wait a bit." Philip flushed. He did not like the thought of being passed over. He tightened his lips. "And there's something else. You must begin thinking of your scholarship now. You won't get anything unless you start working very seriously." Philip was irritated by the lecture. He was angry with the headmaster, and angry with himself. "I don't think I'm going up to Oxford," he said. "Why not? I thought your idea was to be ordained." "I've changed my mind." "Why?" Philip did not answer. Mr. Perkins, holding himself oddly as he always did, like a figure in one of Perugino's pictures, drew his fingers thoughtfully through his beard. He looked at Philip as though he were trying to understand and then abruptly told him he might go. Apparently he was not satisfied, for one evening, a week later, when Philip had to go into his study with some papers, he resumed the conversation; but this time he adopted a different method: he spoke to Philip not as a schoolmaster with a boy but as one human being with another. He did not seem to care now that Philip's work was poor, that he ran small chance against keen rivals of carrying off the scholarship necessary for him to go to Oxford: the important matter was his changed intention about his life afterwards. Mr. Perkins set himself to revive his eagerness to be ordained. With infinite skill he worked on his feelings, and this was easier since he was himself genuinely moved. Philip's change of mind caused him bitter distress, and he really thought he was throwing away his chance of happiness in life for he knew not what. His voice was very persuasive. And Philip, easily moved by the emotion of others, very emotional himself notwithstanding a placid exterior--his face, partly by nature but also from the habit of all these years at school, seldom except by his quick flushing showed what he felt--Philip was deeply touched by what the master said. He was very grateful to him for the interest he showed, and he was conscience-stricken by the grief which he felt his behaviour caused him. It was subtly flattering to know that with the whole school to think about Mr. Perkins should trouble with him, but at the same time something else in him, like another person standing at his elbow, clung desperately to two words. "I won't. I won't. I won't." He felt himself slipping. He was powerless against the weakness that seemed to well up in him; it was like the water that rises up in an empty bottle held over a full basin; and he set his teeth, saying the words over and over to himself. "I won't. I won't. I won't." At last Mr. Perkins put his hand on Philip's shoulder. "I don't want to influence you," he said. "You must decide for yourself. Pray to Almighty God for help and guidance." When Philip came out of the headmaster's house there was a light rain falling. He went under the archway that led to the precincts, there was not a soul there, and the rooks were silent in the elms. He walked round slowly. He felt hot, and the rain did him good. He thought over all that Mr. Perkins had said, calmly now that he was withdrawn from the fervour of his personality, and he was thankful he had not given way. In the darkness he could but vaguely see the great mass of the Cathedral: he hated it now because of the irksomeness of the long services which he was forced to attend. The anthem was interminable, and you had to stand drearily while it was being sung; you could not hear the droning sermon, and your body twitched because you had to sit still when you wanted to move about. Then Philip thought of the two services every Sunday at Blackstable. The church was bare and cold, and there was a smell all about one of pomade and starched clothes. The curate preached once and his uncle preached once. As he grew up he had learned to know his uncle; Philip was downright and intolerant, and he could not understand that a man might sincerely say things as a clergyman which he never acted up to as a man. The deception outraged him. His uncle was a weak and selfish man, whose chief desire it was to be saved trouble. Mr. Perkins had spoken to him of the beauty of a life dedicated to the service of God. Philip knew what sort of lives the clergy led in the corner of East Anglia which was his home. There was the Vicar of Whitestone, a parish a little way from Blackstable: he was a bachelor and to give himself something to do had lately taken up farming: the local paper constantly reported the cases he had in the county court against this one and that, labourers he would not pay their wages to or tradesmen whom he accused of cheating him; scandal said he starved his cows, and there was much talk about some general action which should be taken against him. Then there was the Vicar of Ferne, a bearded, fine figure of a man: his wife had been forced to leave him because of his cruelty, and she had filled the neighbourhood with stories of his immorality. The Vicar of Surle, a tiny hamlet by the sea, was to be seen every evening in the public house a stone's throw from his vicarage; and the churchwardens had been to Mr. Carey to ask his advice. There was not a soul for any of them to talk to except small farmers or fishermen; there were long winter evenings when the wind blew, whistling drearily through the leafless trees, and all around they saw nothing but the bare monotony of ploughed fields; and there was poverty, and there was lack of any work that seemed to matter; every kink in their characters had free play; there was nothing to restrain them; they grew narrow and eccentric: Philip knew all this, but in his young intolerance he did not offer it as an excuse. He shivered at the thought of leading such a life; he wanted to get out into the world. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXI Mr. Perkins soon saw that his words had had no effect on Philip, and for the rest of the term ignored him. He wrote a report which was vitriolic. When it arrived and Aunt Louisa asked Philip what it was like, he answered cheerfully. "Rotten." "Is it?" said the Vicar. "I must look at it again." "Do you think there's any use in my staying on at Tercanbury? I should have thought it would be better if I went to Germany for a bit." "What has put that in your head?" said Aunt Louisa. "Don't you think it's rather a good idea?" Sharp had already left King's School and had written to Philip from Hanover. He was really starting life, and it made Philip more restless to think of it. He felt he could not bear another year of restraint. "But then you wouldn't get a scholarship." "I haven't a chance of getting one anyhow. And besides, I don't know that I particularly want to go to Oxford." "But if you're going to be ordained, Philip?" Aunt Louisa exclaimed in dismay. "I've given up that idea long ago." Mrs. Carey looked at him with startled eyes, and then, used to self-restraint, she poured out another cup of tea for his uncle. They did not speak. In a moment Philip saw tears slowly falling down her cheeks. His heart was suddenly wrung because he caused her pain. In her tight black dress, made by the dressmaker down the street, with her wrinkled face and pale tired eyes, her gray hair still done in the frivolous ringlets of her youth, she was a ridiculous but strangely pathetic figure. Philip saw it for the first time. Afterwards, when the Vicar was shut up in his study with the curate, he put his arms round her waist. "I say, I'm sorry you're upset, Aunt Louisa," he said. "But it's no good my being ordained if I haven't a real vocation, is it?" "I'm so disappointed, Philip," she moaned. "I'd set my heart on it. I thought you could be your uncle's curate, and then when our time came--after all, we can't last for ever, can we?--you might have taken his place." Philip shivered. He was seized with panic. His heart beat like a pigeon in a trap beating with its wings. His aunt wept softly, her head upon his shoulder. "I wish you'd persuade Uncle William to let me leave Tercanbury. I'm so sick of it." But the Vicar of Blackstable did not easily alter any arrangements he had made, and it had always been intended that Philip should stay at King's School till he was eighteen, and should then go to Oxford. At all events he would not hear of Philip leaving then, for no notice had been given and the term's fee would have to be paid in any case. "Then will you give notice for me to leave at Christmas?" said Philip, at the end of a long and often bitter conversation. "I'll write to Mr. Perkins about it and see what he says." "Oh, I wish to goodness I were twenty-one. It is awful to be at somebody else's beck and call." "Philip, you shouldn't speak to your uncle like that," said Mrs. Carey gently. "But don't you see that Perkins will want me to stay? He gets so much a head for every chap in the school." "Why don't you want to go to Oxford?" "What's the good if I'm not going into the Church?" "You can't go into the Church: you're in the Church already," said the Vicar. "Ordained then," replied Philip impatiently. "What are you going to be, Philip?" asked Mrs. Carey. "I don't know. I've not made up my mind. But whatever I am, it'll be useful to know foreign languages. I shall get far more out of a year in Germany than by staying on at that hole." He would not say that he felt Oxford would be little better than a continuation of his life at school. He wished immensely to be his own master. Besides he would be known to a certain extent among old schoolfellows, and he wanted to get away from them all. He felt that his life at school had been a failure. He wanted to start fresh. It happened that his desire to go to Germany fell in with certain ideas which had been of late discussed at Blackstable. Sometimes friends came to stay with the doctor and brought news of the world outside; and the visitors spending August by the sea had their own way of looking at things. The Vicar had heard that there were people who did not think the old-fashioned education so useful nowadays as it had been in the past, and modern languages were gaining an importance which they had not had in his own youth. His own mind was divided, for a younger brother of his had been sent to Germany when he failed in some examination, thus creating a precedent but since he had there died of typhoid it was impossible to look upon the experiment as other than dangerous. The result of innumerable conversations was that Philip should go back to Tercanbury for another term, and then should leave. With this agreement Philip was not dissatisfied. But when he had been back a few days the headmaster spoke to him. "I've had a letter from your uncle. It appears you want to go to Germany, and he asks me what I think about it." Philip was astounded. He was furious with his guardian for going back on his word. "I thought it was settled, sir," he said. "Far from it. I've written to say I think it the greatest mistake to take you away." Philip immediately sat down and wrote a violent letter to his uncle. He did not measure his language. He was so angry that he could not get to sleep till quite late that night, and he awoke in the early morning and began brooding over the way they had treated him. He waited impatiently for an answer. In two or three days it came. It was a mild, pained letter from Aunt Louisa, saying that he should not write such things to his uncle, who was very much distressed. He was unkind and unchristian. He must know they were only trying to do their best for him, and they were so much older than he that they must be better judges of what was good for him. Philip clenched his hands. He had heard that statement so often, and he could not see why it was true; they did not know the conditions as he did, why should they accept it as self-evident that their greater age gave them greater wisdom? The letter ended with the information that Mr. Carey had withdrawn the notice he had given. Philip nursed his wrath till the next half-holiday. They had them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since on Saturday afternoons they had to go to a service in the Cathedral. He stopped behind when the rest of the Sixth went out. "May I go to Blackstable this afternoon, please, sir?" he asked. "No," said the headmaster briefly. "I wanted to see my uncle about something very important." "Didn't you hear me say no?" Philip did not answer. He went out. He felt almost sick with humiliation, the humiliation of having to ask and the humiliation of the curt refusal. He hated the headmaster now. Philip writhed under that despotism which never vouchsafed a reason for the most tyrannous act. He was too angry to care what he did, and after dinner walked down to the station, by the back ways he knew so well, just in time to catch the train to Blackstable. He walked into the vicarage and found his uncle and aunt sitting in the dining-room. "Hulloa, where have you sprung from?" said the Vicar. It was very clear that he was not pleased to see him. He looked a little uneasy. "I thought I'd come and see you about my leaving. I want to know what you mean by promising me one thing when I was here, and doing something different a week after." He was a little frightened at his own boldness, but he had made up his mind exactly what words to use, and, though his heart beat violently, he forced himself to say them. "Have you got leave to come here this afternoon?" "No. I asked Perkins and he refused. If you like to write and tell him I've been here you can get me into a really fine old row." Mrs. Carey sat knitting with trembling hands. She was unused to scenes and they agitated her extremely. "It would serve you right if I told him," said Mr. Carey. "If you like to be a perfect sneak you can. After writing to Perkins as you did you're quite capable of it." It was foolish of Philip to say that, because it gave the Vicar exactly the opportunity he wanted. "I'm not going to sit still while you say impertinent things to me," he said with dignity. He got up and walked quickly out of the room into his study. Philip heard him shut the door and lock it. "Oh, I wish to God I were twenty-one. It is awful to be tied down like this." Aunt Louisa began to cry quietly. "Oh, Philip, you oughtn't to have spoken to your uncle like that. Do please go and tell him you're sorry." "I'm not in the least sorry. He's taking a mean advantage. Of course it's just waste of money keeping me on at school, but what does he care? It's not his money. It was cruel to put me under the guardianship of people who know nothing about things." "Philip." Philip in his voluble anger stopped suddenly at the sound of her voice. It was heart-broken. He had not realised what bitter things he was saying. "Philip, how can you be so unkind? You know we are only trying to do our best for you, and we know that we have no experience; it isn't as if we'd had any children of our own: that's why we consulted Mr. Perkins." Her voice broke. "I've tried to be like a mother to you. I've loved you as if you were my own son." She was so small and frail, there was something so pathetic in her old-maidish air, that Philip was touched. A great lump came suddenly in his throat and his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to be beastly." He knelt down beside her and took her in his arms, and kissed her wet, withered cheeks. She sobbed bitterly, and he seemed to feel on a sudden the pity of that wasted life. She had never surrendered herself before to such a display of emotion. "I know I've not been what I wanted to be to you, Philip, but I didn't know how. It's been just as dreadful for me to have no children as for you to have no mother." Philip forgot his anger and his own concerns, but thought only of consoling her, with broken words and clumsy little caresses. Then the clock struck, and he had to bolt off at once to catch the only train that would get him back to Tercanbury in time for call-over. As he sat in the corner of the railway carriage he saw that he had done nothing. He was angry with himself for his weakness. It was despicable to have allowed himself to be turned from his purpose by the pompous airs of the Vicar and the tears of his aunt. But as the result of he knew not what conversations between the couple another letter was written to the headmaster. Mr. Perkins read it with an impatient shrug of the shoulders. He showed it to Philip. It ran: Dear Mr. Perkins, Forgive me for troubling you again about my ward, but both his Aunt and I have been uneasy about him. He seems very anxious to leave school, and his Aunt thinks he is unhappy. It is very difficult for us to know what to do as we are not his parents. He does not seem to think he is doing very well and he feels it is wasting his money to stay on. I should be very much obliged if you would have a talk to him, and if he is still of the same mind perhaps it would be better if he left at Christmas as I originally intended. Yours very truly, William Carey. Philip gave him back the letter. He felt a thrill of pride in his triumph. He had got his own way, and he was satisfied. His will had gained a victory over the wills of others. "It's not much good my spending half an hour writing to your uncle if he changes his mind the next letter he gets from you," said the headmaster irritably. Philip said nothing, and his face was perfectly placid; but he could not prevent the twinkle in his eyes. Mr. Perkins noticed it and broke into a little laugh. "You've rather scored, haven't you?" he said. Then Philip smiled outright. He could not conceal his exultation. "Is it true that you're very anxious to leave?" "Yes, sir." "Are you unhappy here?" Philip blushed. He hated instinctively any attempt to get into the depths of his feelings. "Oh, I don't know, sir." Mr. Perkins, slowly dragging his fingers through his beard, looked at him thoughtfully. He seemed to speak almost to himself. "Of course schools are made for the average. The holes are all round, and whatever shape the pegs are they must wedge in somehow. One hasn't time to bother about anything but the average." Then suddenly he addressed himself to Philip: "Look here, I've got a suggestion to make to you. It's getting on towards the end of the term now. Another term won't kill you, and if you want to go to Germany you'd better go after Easter than after Christmas. It'll be much pleasanter in the spring than in midwinter. If at the end of the next term you still want to go I'll make no objection. What d'you say to that?" "Thank you very much, sir." Philip was so glad to have gained the last three months that he did not mind the extra term. The school seemed less of a prison when he knew that before Easter he would be free from it for ever. His heart danced within him. That evening in chapel he looked round at the boys, standing according to their forms, each in his due place, and he chuckled with satisfaction at the thought that soon he would never see them again. It made him regard them almost with a friendly feeling. His eyes rested on Rose. Rose took his position as a monitor very seriously: he had quite an idea of being a good influence in the school; it was his turn to read the lesson that evening, and he read it very well. Philip smiled when he thought that he would be rid of him for ever, and it would not matter in six months whether Rose was tall and straight-limbed; and where would the importance be that he was a monitor and captain of the eleven? Philip looked at the masters in their gowns. Gordon was dead, he had died of apoplexy two years before, but all the rest were there. Philip knew now what a poor lot they were, except Turner perhaps, there was something of a man in him; and he writhed at the thought of the subjection in which they had held him. In six months they would not matter either. Their praise would mean nothing to him, and he would shrug his shoulders at their censure. Philip had learned not to express his emotions by outward signs, and shyness still tormented him, but he had often very high spirits; and then, though he limped about demurely, silent and reserved, it seemed to be hallooing in his heart. He seemed to himself to walk more lightly. All sorts of ideas danced through his head, fancies chased one another so furiously that he could not catch them; but their coming and their going filled him with exhilaration. Now, being happy, he was able to work, and during the remaining weeks of the term set himself to make up for his long neglect. His brain worked easily, and he took a keen pleasure in the activity of his intellect. He did very well in the examinations that closed the term. Mr. Perkins made only one remark: he was talking to him about an essay he had written, and, after the usual criticisms, said: "So you've made up your mind to stop playing the fool for a bit, have you?" He smiled at him with his shining teeth, and Philip, looking down, gave an embarrassed smile. The half dozen boys who expected to divide between them the various prizes which were given at the end of the summer term had ceased to look upon Philip as a serious rival, but now they began to regard him with some uneasiness. He told no one that he was leaving at Easter and so was in no sense a competitor, but left them to their anxieties. He knew that Rose flattered himself on his French, for he had spent two or three holidays in France; and he expected to get the Dean's Prize for English essay; Philip got a good deal of satisfaction in watching his dismay when he saw how much better Philip was doing in these subjects than himself. Another fellow, Norton, could not go to Oxford unless he got one of the scholarships at the disposal of the school. He asked Philip if he was going in for them. "Have you any objection?" asked Philip. It entertained him to think that he held someone else's future in his hand. There was something romantic in getting these various rewards actually in his grasp, and then leaving them to others because he disdained them. At last the breaking-up day came, and he went to Mr. Perkins to bid him good-bye. "You don't mean to say you really want to leave?" Philip's face fell at the headmaster's evident surprise. "You said you wouldn't put any objection in the way, sir," he answered. "I thought it was only a whim that I'd better humour. I know you're obstinate and headstrong. What on earth d'you want to leave for now? You've only got another term in any case. You can get the Magdalen scholarship easily; you'll get half the prizes we've got to give." Philip looked at him sullenly. He felt that he had been tricked; but he had the promise, and Perkins would have to stand by it. "You'll have a very pleasant time at Oxford. You needn't decide at once what you're going to do afterwards. I wonder if you realise how delightful the life is up there for anyone who has brains." "I've made all my arrangements now to go to Germany, sir," said Philip. "Are they arrangements that couldn't possibly be altered?" asked Mr. Perkins, with his quizzical smile. "I shall be very sorry to lose you. In schools the rather stupid boys who work always do better than the clever boy who's idle, but when the clever boy works--why then, he does what you've done this term." Philip flushed darkly. He was unused to compliments, and no one had ever told him he was clever. The headmaster put his hand on Philip's shoulder. "You know, driving things into the heads of thick-witted boys is dull work, but when now and then you have the chance of teaching a boy who comes half-way towards you, who understands almost before you've got the words out of your mouth, why, then teaching is the most exhilarating thing in the world." Philip was melted by kindness; it had never occurred to him that it mattered really to Mr. Perkins whether he went or stayed. He was touched and immensely flattered. It would be pleasant to end up his school-days with glory and then go to Oxford: in a flash there appeared before him the life which he had heard described from boys who came back to play in the O.K.S. match or in letters from the University read out in one of the studies. But he was ashamed; he would look such a fool in his own eyes if he gave in now; his uncle would chuckle at the success of the headmaster's ruse. It was rather a come-down from the dramatic surrender of all these prizes which were in his reach, because he disdained to take them, to the plain, ordinary winning of them. It only required a little more persuasion, just enough to save his self-respect, and Philip would have done anything that Mr. Perkins wished; but his face showed nothing of his conflicting emotions. It was placid and sullen. "I think I'd rather go, sir," he said. Mr. Perkins, like many men who manage things by their personal influence, grew a little impatient when his power was not immediately manifest. He had a great deal of work to do, and could not waste more time on a boy who seemed to him insanely obstinate. "Very well, I promised to let you if you really wanted it, and I keep my promise. When do you go to Germany?" Philip's heart beat violently. The battle was won, and he did not know whether he had not rather lost it. "At the beginning of May, sir," he answered. "Well, you must come and see us when you get back." He held out his hand. If he had given him one more chance Philip would have changed his mind, but he seemed to look upon the matter as settled. Philip walked out of the house. His school-days were over, and he was free; but the wild exultation to which he had looked forward at that moment was not there. He walked round the precincts slowly, and a profound depression seized him. He wished now that he had not been foolish. He did not want to go, but he knew he could never bring himself to go to the headmaster and tell him he would stay. That was a humiliation he could never put upon himself. He wondered whether he had done right. He was dissatisfied with himself and with all his circumstances. He asked himself dully whether whenever you got your way you wished afterwards that you hadn't. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 15-21

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter15-21

At thirteen Philip goes to the King's School itself, an ancient abbey school taught by monks, reorganized in the time of King Henry VIII. It has produced many notable people and clergymen, but there are complaints that the class quality is slipping, for more merchants, fewer gentlemen are attending. The teachers have no patience with modern ideas of education and stick to Latin and Greek. Just before Philip comes there a new headmaster is elected, Mr. Tom Perkins, who was the son of a linen-draper and was a day-boy when he had been there. It is a sign of the times that the new headmaster is not a gentleman. . Perkins knows the new ideas from Germany. He is a Liberal, "enthusiastic," and ungentlemanly in the eyes of the other masters . He initiates reforms such as adding German and French and mathematics. Further, he wants to attract boys from London, which is frowned upon as a corrupting influence. He tries to initiate the study of general information and practical application. He does away with corporal punishment and takes over the classes of the other masters sometimes. Philip likes that, for the changes suit his own tastes, and Perkins recognizes his precocity. Perkins is contrasted to his usual teacher, Mr. Gordon, who frightens Philip with his bullying so he can't remember answers. He calls Philip, "Club-footed blockhead!" . Perkins is kind and speaks to him of his travels, trying to calm Philip down. . The next two years are monotonous and lonely. His classes are tolerable but he wants to be alone and sets out for long walks near the cathedral with its rooks. There are romantic scenes, and he is attracted to what is beautiful. His voice is breaking, and Perkins prepares the boys for confirmation. Philip feels he must go to hell, for he cannot read the Bible. Philip would like to please Perkins who has a passion for religion, and Perkins thinks Philip has a similar religious passion. He tells Philip he will be head boy and win a scholarship. He tells him that maybe he should thank God for his deformity instead of be ashamed of it. Philip experiences a mystical rapture; he could offer his deformity to God! . But he is unable to sustain this idea of self-sacrifice. He gets distracted. The other students think he is conceited because of his intellectual superiority, but he would rather change places with them and have popularity and normalcy. His wit is caustic, and he alienates those he would like to be friends with. He becomes friends with a boy called Rose who brings Philip into the circle of other boys. Rose, however, has other friends while Philip is jealous and needy. He tries not to make demands on Rose, afraid of losing him. Eventually, he starts fights with him, and Rose cools off. When Philip is taken with scarlet fever, he is out of school for weeks. When he returns, Rose has another friend. He hates Rose and for spite chooses Sharp for a friend, whom he despises. From Sharp he hears about the streets of London and travel to Germany. . Rose tries conciliation with Philip, but Philip's pride makes him insult Rose. This makes him sick because he wanted to make up, but revenge was a stronger motive. The incident with Rose makes him hate school, and he wants to leave. His grades slip, and Perkins tries to rally him, saying he'll lose the scholarship. Philip tells him he doesn't want to go to Oxford or be a clergyman. Perkins tries hard to be a friend to the boy, but Philip is stubborn. He writes to the Careys. . Philip tells his aunt and uncle he wants to leave King's. The uncle tells him to stay one more term and then he can leave for Germany. The uncle writes to Perkins for advice, and Perkins says no to the idea. Philip is furious and writes a nasty letter to his uncle. He asks the headmaster for permission to go home to talk to his uncle. Perkins refuses, so Philip runs away. He argues bitterly with the Careys, making his aunt cry. His uncle writes to Perkins confirming that Philip will leave at the end of term. Philip uses the time for revenge, to be in the position to win all the prizes, then leave because he despises them and the school. This is his first taste of power over those who have hurt him. . Perkins makes one more try, explaining how much it has meant to him to have a smart boy like Philip for a student. Philip is melted by his kindness and gets a flash of going on to Oxford. He feels conflicting emotions but will not back down. He walks away free at last but is depressed, not knowing if he has thrown his life away.

Commentary on Chapters XV-XXI . The Headmaster at King's, Mr. Perkins, upholds the traditions of the clergy and religion, but he is not a gentleman who comes from one of the four gentlemanly occupations: landowner, military, law, or clergy. His father was a shopkeeper, and no one forgets it. He is a Liberal with the new ideas of education that are in vogue: modern languages, science and mathematics. Philip is inspired by him and wants to please him, though it is becoming increasingly clear to him that he doesn't want to be a clergyman, and that King's is stifling. It is a typical English school for the times and is trying to reform itself, but Philip is not suited for many reasons. . He is losing his faith and is interested in a wide range of topics. He is strongly moved by what he reads and the beauty of landscapes and would like to travel to see the world, expand his horizons. He hears about London and Germany from Sharp and makes up his mind, that though he could take top honors at King's and go on to Oxford, he doesn't see himself as a vicar like his uncle. All the vicars he knows are isolated in rural places and suffocated in the boring life his uncle has chosen. . Philip has endured loneliness because of his handicap, but almost worse is the negative cycle he gets into with people he cares about. He alienates both Perkins and Rose who reach out to him. His pride and fear of pity make him harsh and sarcastic. His tongue becomes a substitute for physical power, and he learns the taste of revenge. This was also a flaw in Maugham; he wrote barbed memoirs of people he met, making people afraid to be around him. . Perkins recognizes Philip's talent and encourages him both in his studies and on a personal level. Perkins is actually a remarkable man, for though people would snub him and talk about him behind his back for not being a gentleman, as they snub Philip for his foot, he has not let it affect him. Perkins retains his innocence, enthusiasm, and is sincere about education and religion. He is a breath of fresh air. Philip would like to please him but is proud and independent. He rejects his help and holds to his own plans. . Another important lesson Perkins tries to impart is an alternate view of his handicap. Perhaps he needn't be ashamed of his lameness but offer it as a gift to God. He only suffers because he is rebellious about it. This mystic idea strikes Philip, but he is unable to maintain this passionate vision: "He was tired out by the violence of his passion" . He then tastes "aridity" or dryness. This trait will become important later. He is capable of violent passion but burns out from it. . Rose is the sort of boy Philip would like to be: popular, strong, athletic. In addition, Rose is kind and well balanced. Philip is overwhelmed by the attention from him. He has had no friends before and does not know how to handle any relationship. Sometimes he "would throw his soul as it were into the other's body," identifying and pretending he is someone else to escape his own limitation . . He doesn't know how to stay friends; he becomes jealous and pushes Rose away. He starts fights with him, and Rose finally gives up when Philip insults him. Rose cannot understand his behavior, and neither can Philip. He is sick with remorse, but he cannot apologize, as he wishes he could: "he had not been master of himself" . He seems to do things against his will, such as the violent scene with his aunt and uncle, who are only trying to do the best for him. . This seems to be a period of his life when Philip needs to exert his will in order to grow up and be himself. He feels triumphant when the vicar yields, and he has won. He feels superior to all of them when he walks away from the prizes at King's in revenge, but he has discovered a bitter pattern. When he hurts others, he also hurts himself. Thinking his life at school has been a failure, he longs for a fresh start.

novelguide

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Of Human Bondage.chapters 22-31

chapters 22-31

{"name": "Chapters 22-31", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter22-31", "summary": "These chapters concern Philip's stay in Heidelberg, Germany, where he studies German, Latin, French, mathematics, philosophy and literature. . Miss Wilkinson, an old friend of Mr. Carey's, lives in Berlin and recommends Professor Erlin, a high school teacher, to teach Philip in Heidelberg. His wife runs the boarding house where Philip lives with the family, including boarders, and two grown daughters Thekla and Anna. . Philip is shown his room in a turret, and he is thrilled to be free at last. At dinner in the dining room he meets the tall middle-aged professor, who speaks archaic English, and he counts sixteen people there. Some are old ladies, but two young girls catch his attention, Fraulein Hedwig and Cacilie with a long braid down her back. There is a Chinaman and some Americans, whom he has been taught are barbaric. . The young ladies ask him to go for a walk, and he walks by Anna and Hedwig. He had never known any girls before. His only image of how to be with women comes from books, especially Byron. He is embarrassed and says nothing but is thrilled by the beauty of the Rhine valley from a hill. . He enjoys his new freedom. He studies Latin and German with the professor, French from a Frenchman and mathematics from Wharton, an Englishman at the university. Wharton lives in a shabby room but loves the freedom of university life. Philip learns more about life from him than math. Philip tells him he has a year in Germany and then he is expected to go to Oxford. Wharton is contemptuous of Oxford, and this is a new perspective for Philip. . Philip is dazzled by the colors in the German landscape and wanders around the hills with the young women of the house. Philip hears conversations at table about cultural topics. Professor Erlin is upset by the plays of Ibsen and the music of Wagner. He makes a list of safe books for Philip, including Goethe. He predicts that Wagner has no future. . Philip's French teacher, Monsieur Ducroz from Geneva, is an odd old man with shabby clothes. He teaches well but without enthusiasm. He is an old revolutionary who had fought for liberty and human rights in the period around 1848 but now is broken by poverty and age. Philip kindly pays him in advance during a period of illness so he can rest. The money keeps him from starving. . An Englishman named Hayward comes to stay at the house and befriends Philip. He is twenty-six and fair-haired. Philip listens to the conversations between Hayward and Weeks, the American theology student, learning important issues of the day. He has never heard conversation like this, and at first is most impressed by Hayward who likes to talk. Hayward puts down everything Philip was taught to revere and extols authors and ideas that are popular with intellectuals. He speaks of avant garde literature like Madame Bovary, Verlaine, Omar Khayyam, and Browning. He had spent time at Cambridge but makes getting a degree sound vulgar. He tries to avoid the ugly in life and is a follower of the ideas of the art critic, Ruskin. . Hayward has a true love of literature, which he passes on to Philip. Weeks, the American, seems a bloodless man but is a very intellectual Unitarian. Philip and Hayward join Weeks in his rooms for conversations. Each man gives Philip the books and ideas he would never get at home that lead to his intellectual growth and independence. These conversations amuse the two men but represent a revolution in thinking for the young Philip, for though he has been rebellious, he had no idea that others discussed religion as an intellectual topic. . Philip is amazed that someone he had been taught was wicked--a Unitarian--a virtual unbeliever, is kind and more Christian than Christians. Philip experiments by going to a Lutheran church, a Catholic church, and then he wonders whether the Chinaman, Sung, is condemned to hell just because he is Chinese. Suddenly, Philip realizes he does not believe in God. He puts off the faith of childhood like a cloak, and feels free. . Standing on the hill overlooking the valley, he is moved by its beauty and his freedom. He wants to experience life free of shame. He feels intellectual pride. Attending the plays of Ibsen with Hayward, he becomes passionate about theatre, for it opens the world of intense experience to him, even if it is sordid and depressing. He wants to go to London and begin his own life. He becomes vaguely aware that Hayward visits prostitutes, and he is horrified passing through the red light district but feels ridiculous that he has not experienced sex. . He becomes aware of the affair going on between Cacilie and Herr Sung. They do not hide it, and the Frau Professor does not know what to do, for it means the ruin of her establishment. The boarders threaten to leave, so the Frau writes to Cacile's uncle to take her away, forcing the couple to elope. Philip has been fascinated but repulsed by their forbidden passion. . Hayward goes to Italy, writing Philip letters that lure him, but he settles down to work, taking courses at the university on philosophy. At last, at the age of nineteen, he leaves Heidelberg for home.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XXII--XXXI . Philip is fairly happy in his life for the first time since his mother died, living comfortably in a home that contrasts to the Carey's in terms of freedom and good will. In addition, he learns a perspective in Germany he could not have received at Oxford. He confronts many social and religious beliefs that he grew up with and finds them false. His physical freedom is matched with intellectual freedom to investigate and discuss. . One assumption is class superiority. Weeks, the American, and Hayward, the English traveler, poke fun at the definition of a gentleman. Philip realizes that it refers to only someone English from the Church of England who has a proper occupation and way of speaking and acting. This excludes most of the world from consideration. He finds Weeks very good and worth listening to, despite his prejudice that he, Philip, is a gentleman and Weeks is not. . Hayward, though a \"waster\" or idle talker, opens Philip to an interest in literature and theatre. Hayward, a follower of Ruskin's ideas on art, believes only in The Whole, the Good, and the Beautiful. This makes him an aesthete, more moved by the feeling that something is beautiful, than by its usefulness. Other words for this kind of person might be Bohemian or hippie in more recent times. He likes to be hip with books and art and ideas, but he also shows Philip the theatre and is good at reciting poetry. Weeks sums him up as a common type: \"He lives in small hotels . . . he stands by . . . the Botticellis in Florence . . . He always admires the right thing . . . and one of these days he's going to write a great work\" . The narrator admits Hayward was a dangerous person to be influencing Philip, for he sees things larger than life size \"with the outlines blurred\" . . Another important discussion is religion. Hayward does not take anything very seriously and vaguely yearns to be Catholic because of the beauty of the ceremony. Weeks is the kind of person his aunt and uncle would not look at in the street or admit existed--a Unitarian, or dissenter. Weeks and Hayward both laugh when Philip says the word, \"dissenter\" as though it means a monster. Weeks is a Unitarian, the religion of Emerson. Unitarians believe in a divine being but not in the divinity of Christ. Weeks gives him Renan's book on the life of Jesus, which asserts Christ was only a man. Such new ideas were quickly tearing down the solid Victorian smugness that the Careys represent. . Philip decides that he no longer believes in God: \"faith had been forced on him from the outside\" . He feels superior to those who do believe and free of the old shame. He realizes the price, however, for it means he will never see his mother again if he does not believe in immortality. He ironically wants to thank God for no longer believing in Him! . Finally, Philip begins to awaken to sex, both attracted and repulsed by it. The affair between Sung and the German girl seems like \"beastly passion\" and \"Oriental depravity\" . The hint of Hayward's visit to prostitutes \"differed too terribly from the ideal of his dreams\" . He wants, however, to have a romance. . The narrator concludes from this section that youth is not as happy as we suppose, for it is a time of rude awakening to the lies that have been told about life. The young want to embrace experience as an antidote and see for themselves."}

<CHAPTER> XXII Philip's uncle had an old friend, called Miss Wilkinson, who lived in Berlin. She was the daughter of a clergyman, and it was with her father, the rector of a village in Lincolnshire, that Mr. Carey had spent his last curacy; on his death, forced to earn her living, she had taken various situations as a governess in France and Germany. She had kept up a correspondence with Mrs. Carey, and two or three times had spent her holidays at Blackstable Vicarage, paying as was usual with the Careys' unfrequent guests a small sum for her keep. When it became clear that it was less trouble to yield to Philip's wishes than to resist them, Mrs. Carey wrote to ask her for advice. Miss Wilkinson recommended Heidelberg as an excellent place to learn German in and the house of Frau Professor Erlin as a comfortable home. Philip might live there for thirty marks a week, and the Professor himself, a teacher at the local high school, would instruct him. Philip arrived in Heidelberg one morning in May. His things were put on a barrow and he followed the porter out of the station. The sky was bright blue, and the trees in the avenue through which they passed were thick with leaves; there was something in the air fresh to Philip, and mingled with the timidity he felt at entering on a new life, among strangers, was a great exhilaration. He was a little disconsolate that no one had come to meet him, and felt very shy when the porter left him at the front door of a big white house. An untidy lad let him in and took him into a drawing-room. It was filled with a large suite covered in green velvet, and in the middle was a round table. On this in water stood a bouquet of flowers tightly packed together in a paper frill like the bone of a mutton chop, and carefully spaced round it were books in leather bindings. There was a musty smell. Presently, with an odour of cooking, the Frau Professor came in, a short, very stout woman with tightly dressed hair and a red face; she had little eyes, sparkling like beads, and an effusive manner. She took both Philip's hands and asked him about Miss Wilkinson, who had twice spent a few weeks with her. She spoke in German and in broken English. Philip could not make her understand that he did not know Miss Wilkinson. Then her two daughters appeared. They seemed hardly young to Philip, but perhaps they were not more than twenty-five: the elder, Thekla, was as short as her mother, with the same, rather shifty air, but with a pretty face and abundant dark hair; Anna, her younger sister, was tall and plain, but since she had a pleasant smile Philip immediately preferred her. After a few minutes of polite conversation the Frau Professor took Philip to his room and left him. It was in a turret, looking over the tops of the trees in the Anlage; and the bed was in an alcove, so that when you sat at the desk it had not the look of a bed-room at all. Philip unpacked his things and set out all his books. He was his own master at last. A bell summoned him to dinner at one o'clock, and he found the Frau Professor's guests assembled in the drawing-room. He was introduced to her husband, a tall man of middle age with a large fair head, turning now to gray, and mild blue eyes. He spoke to Philip in correct, rather archaic English, having learned it from a study of the English classics, not from conversation; and it was odd to hear him use words colloquially which Philip had only met in the plays of Shakespeare. Frau Professor Erlin called her establishment a family and not a pension; but it would have required the subtlety of a metaphysician to find out exactly where the difference lay. When they sat down to dinner in a long dark apartment that led out of the drawing-room, Philip, feeling very shy, saw that there were sixteen people. The Frau Professor sat at one end and carved. The service was conducted, with a great clattering of plates, by the same clumsy lout who had opened the door for him; and though he was quick it happened that the first persons to be served had finished before the last had received their appointed portions. The Frau Professor insisted that nothing but German should be spoken, so that Philip, even if his bashfulness had permitted him to be talkative, was forced to hold his tongue. He looked at the people among whom he was to live. By the Frau Professor sat several old ladies, but Philip did not give them much of his attention. There were two young girls, both fair and one of them very pretty, whom Philip heard addressed as Fraulein Hedwig and Fraulein Cacilie. Fraulein Cacilie had a long pig-tail hanging down her back. They sat side by side and chattered to one another, with smothered laughter: now and then they glanced at Philip and one of them said something in an undertone; they both giggled, and Philip blushed awkwardly, feeling that they were making fun of him. Near them sat a Chinaman, with a yellow face and an expansive smile, who was studying Western conditions at the University. He spoke so quickly, with a queer accent, that the girls could not always understand him, and then they burst out laughing. He laughed too, good-humouredly, and his almond eyes almost closed as he did so. There were two or three American men, in black coats, rather yellow and dry of skin: they were theological students; Philip heard the twang of their New England accent through their bad German, and he glanced at them with suspicion; for he had been taught to look upon Americans as wild and desperate barbarians. Afterwards, when they had sat for a little on the stiff green velvet chairs of the drawing-room, Fraulein Anna asked Philip if he would like to go for a walk with them. Philip accepted the invitation. They were quite a party. There were the two daughters of the Frau Professor, the two other girls, one of the American students, and Philip. Philip walked by the side of Anna and Fraulein Hedwig. He was a little fluttered. He had never known any girls. At Blackstable there were only the farmers' daughters and the girls of the local tradesmen. He knew them by name and by sight, but he was timid, and he thought they laughed at his deformity. He accepted willingly the difference which the Vicar and Mrs. Carey put between their own exalted rank and that of the farmers. The doctor had two daughters, but they were both much older than Philip and had been married to successive assistants while Philip was still a small boy. At school there had been two or three girls of more boldness than modesty whom some of the boys knew; and desperate stories, due in all probability to the masculine imagination, were told of intrigues with them; but Philip had always concealed under a lofty contempt the terror with which they filled him. His imagination and the books he had read had inspired in him a desire for the Byronic attitude; and he was torn between a morbid self-consciousness and a conviction that he owed it to himself to be gallant. He felt now that he should be bright and amusing, but his brain seemed empty and he could not for the life of him think of anything to say. Fraulein Anna, the Frau Professor's daughter, addressed herself to him frequently from a sense of duty, but the other said little: she looked at him now and then with sparkling eyes, and sometimes to his confusion laughed outright. Philip felt that she thought him perfectly ridiculous. They walked along the side of a hill among pine-trees, and their pleasant odour caused Philip a keen delight. The day was warm and cloudless. At last they came to an eminence from which they saw the valley of the Rhine spread out before them under the sun. It was a vast stretch of country, sparkling with golden light, with cities in the distance; and through it meandered the silver ribband of the river. Wide spaces are rare in the corner of Kent which Philip knew, the sea offers the only broad horizon, and the immense distance he saw now gave him a peculiar, an indescribable thrill. He felt suddenly elated. Though he did not know it, it was the first time that he had experienced, quite undiluted with foreign emotions, the sense of beauty. They sat on a bench, the three of them, for the others had gone on, and while the girls talked in rapid German, Philip, indifferent to their proximity, feasted his eyes. "By Jove, I am happy," he said to himself unconsciously. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXIII Philip thought occasionally of the King's School at Tercanbury, and laughed to himself as he remembered what at some particular moment of the day they were doing. Now and then he dreamed that he was there still, and it gave him an extraordinary satisfaction, on awaking, to realise that he was in his little room in the turret. From his bed he could see the great cumulus clouds that hung in the blue sky. He revelled in his freedom. He could go to bed when he chose and get up when the fancy took him. There was no one to order him about. It struck him that he need not tell any more lies. It had been arranged that Professor Erlin should teach him Latin and German; a Frenchman came every day to give him lessons in French; and the Frau Professor had recommended for mathematics an Englishman who was taking a philological degree at the university. This was a man named Wharton. Philip went to him every morning. He lived in one room on the top floor of a shabby house. It was dirty and untidy, and it was filled with a pungent odour made up of many different stinks. He was generally in bed when Philip arrived at ten o'clock, and he jumped out, put on a filthy dressing-gown and felt slippers, and, while he gave instruction, ate his simple breakfast. He was a short man, stout from excessive beer drinking, with a heavy moustache and long, unkempt hair. He had been in Germany for five years and was become very Teutonic. He spoke with scorn of Cambridge where he had taken his degree and with horror of the life which awaited him when, having taken his doctorate in Heidelberg, he must return to England and a pedagogic career. He adored the life of the German university with its happy freedom and its jolly companionships. He was a member of a Burschenschaft, and promised to take Philip to a Kneipe. He was very poor and made no secret that the lessons he was giving Philip meant the difference between meat for his dinner and bread and cheese. Sometimes after a heavy night he had such a headache that he could not drink his coffee, and he gave his lesson with heaviness of spirit. For these occasions he kept a few bottles of beer under the bed, and one of these and a pipe would help him to bear the burden of life. "A hair of the dog that bit him," he would say as he poured out the beer, carefully so that the foam should not make him wait too long to drink. Then he would talk to Philip of the university, the quarrels between rival corps, the duels, and the merits of this and that professor. Philip learnt more of life from him than of mathematics. Sometimes Wharton would sit back with a laugh and say: "Look here, we've not done anything today. You needn't pay me for the lesson." "Oh, it doesn't matter," said Philip. This was something new and very interesting, and he felt that it was of greater import than trigonometry, which he never could understand. It was like a window on life that he had a chance of peeping through, and he looked with a wildly beating heart. "No, you can keep your dirty money," said Wharton. "But how about your dinner?" said Philip, with a smile, for he knew exactly how his master's finances stood. Wharton had even asked him to pay him the two shillings which the lesson cost once a week rather than once a month, since it made things less complicated. "Oh, never mind my dinner. It won't be the first time I've dined off a bottle of beer, and my mind's never clearer than when I do." He dived under the bed (the sheets were gray with want of washing), and fished out another bottle. Philip, who was young and did not know the good things of life, refused to share it with him, so he drank alone. "How long are you going to stay here?" asked Wharton. Both he and Philip had given up with relief the pretence of mathematics. "Oh, I don't know. I suppose about a year. Then my people want me to go to Oxford." Wharton gave a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders. It was a new experience for Philip to learn that there were persons who did not look upon that seat of learning with awe. "What d'you want to go there for? You'll only be a glorified schoolboy. Why don't you matriculate here? A year's no good. Spend five years here. You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action. In France you get freedom of action: you can do what you like and nobody bothers, but you must think like everybody else. In Germany you must do what everybody else does, but you may think as you choose. They're both very good things. I personally prefer freedom of thought. But in England you get neither: you're ground down by convention. You can't think as you like and you can't act as you like. That's because it's a democratic nation. I expect America's worse." He leaned back cautiously, for the chair on which he sat had a ricketty leg, and it was disconcerting when a rhetorical flourish was interrupted by a sudden fall to the floor. "I ought to go back to England this year, but if I can scrape together enough to keep body and soul on speaking terms I shall stay another twelve months. But then I shall have to go. And I must leave all this"--he waved his arm round the dirty garret, with its unmade bed, the clothes lying on the floor, a row of empty beer bottles against the wall, piles of unbound, ragged books in every corner--"for some provincial university where I shall try and get a chair of philology. And I shall play tennis and go to tea-parties." He interrupted himself and gave Philip, very neatly dressed, with a clean collar on and his hair well-brushed, a quizzical look. "And, my God! I shall have to wash." Philip reddened, feeling his own spruceness an intolerable reproach; for of late he had begun to pay some attention to his toilet, and he had come out from England with a pretty selection of ties. The summer came upon the country like a conqueror. Each day was beautiful. The sky had an arrogant blue which goaded the nerves like a spur. The green of the trees in the Anlage was violent and crude; and the houses, when the sun caught them, had a dazzling white which stimulated till it hurt. Sometimes on his way back from Wharton Philip would sit in the shade on one of the benches in the Anlage, enjoying the coolness and watching the patterns of light which the sun, shining through the leaves, made on the ground. His soul danced with delight as gaily as the sunbeams. He revelled in those moments of idleness stolen from his work. Sometimes he sauntered through the streets of the old town. He looked with awe at the students of the corps, their cheeks gashed and red, who swaggered about in their coloured caps. In the afternoons he wandered about the hills with the girls in the Frau Professor's house, and sometimes they went up the river and had tea in a leafy beer-garden. In the evenings they walked round and round the Stadtgarten, listening to the band. Philip soon learned the various interests of the household. Fraulein Thekla, the professor's elder daughter, was engaged to a man in England who had spent twelve months in the house to learn German, and their marriage was to take place at the end of the year. But the young man wrote that his father, an india-rubber merchant who lived in Slough, did not approve of the union, and Fraulein Thekla was often in tears. Sometimes she and her mother might be seen, with stern eyes and determined mouths, looking over the letters of the reluctant lover. Thekla painted in water colour, and occasionally she and Philip, with another of the girls to keep them company, would go out and paint little pictures. The pretty Fraulein Hedwig had amorous troubles too. She was the daughter of a merchant in Berlin and a dashing hussar had fallen in love with her, a von if you please: but his parents opposed a marriage with a person of her condition, and she had been sent to Heidelberg to forget him. She could never, never do this, and corresponded with him continually, and he was making every effort to induce an exasperating father to change his mind. She told all this to Philip with pretty sighs and becoming blushes, and showed him the photograph of the gay lieutenant. Philip liked her best of all the girls at the Frau Professor's, and on their walks always tried to get by her side. He blushed a great deal when the others chaffed him for his obvious preference. He made the first declaration in his life to Fraulein Hedwig, but unfortunately it was an accident, and it happened in this manner. In the evenings when they did not go out, the young women sang little songs in the green velvet drawing-room, while Fraulein Anna, who always made herself useful, industriously accompanied. Fraulein Hedwig's favourite song was called Ich liebe dich, I love you; and one evening after she had sung this, when Philip was standing with her on the balcony, looking at the stars, it occurred to him to make some remark about it. He began: "Ich liebe dich." His German was halting, and he looked about for the word he wanted. The pause was infinitesimal, but before he could go on Fraulein Hedwig said: "Ach, Herr Carey, Sie mussen mir nicht du sagen--you mustn't talk to me in the second person singular." Philip felt himself grow hot all over, for he would never have dared to do anything so familiar, and he could think of nothing on earth to say. It would be ungallant to explain that he was not making an observation, but merely mentioning the title of a song. "Entschuldigen Sie," he said. "I beg your pardon." "It does not matter," she whispered. She smiled pleasantly, quietly took his hand and pressed it, then turned back into the drawing-room. Next day he was so embarrassed that he could not speak to her, and in his shyness did all that was possible to avoid her. When he was asked to go for the usual walk he refused because, he said, he had work to do. But Fraulein Hedwig seized an opportunity to speak to him alone. "Why are you behaving in this way?" she said kindly. "You know, I'm not angry with you for what you said last night. You can't help it if you love me. I'm flattered. But although I'm not exactly engaged to Hermann I can never love anyone else, and I look upon myself as his bride." Philip blushed again, but he put on quite the expression of a rejected lover. "I hope you'll be very happy," he said. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXIV Professor Erlin gave Philip a lesson every day. He made out a list of books which Philip was to read till he was ready for the final achievement of Faust, and meanwhile, ingeniously enough, started him on a German translation of one of the plays by Shakespeare which Philip had studied at school. It was the period in Germany of Goethe's highest fame. Notwithstanding his rather condescending attitude towards patriotism he had been adopted as the national poet, and seemed since the war of seventy to be one of the most significant glories of national unity. The enthusiastic seemed in the wildness of the Walpurgisnacht to hear the rattle of artillery at Gravelotte. But one mark of a writer's greatness is that different minds can find in him different inspirations; and Professor Erlin, who hated the Prussians, gave his enthusiastic admiration to Goethe because his works, Olympian and sedate, offered the only refuge for a sane mind against the onslaughts of the present generation. There was a dramatist whose name of late had been much heard at Heidelberg, and the winter before one of his plays had been given at the theatre amid the cheers of adherents and the hisses of decent people. Philip heard discussions about it at the Frau Professor's long table, and at these Professor Erlin lost his wonted calm: he beat the table with his fist, and drowned all opposition with the roar of his fine deep voice. It was nonsense and obscene nonsense. He forced himself to sit the play out, but he did not know whether he was more bored or nauseated. If that was what the theatre was coming to, then it was high time the police stepped in and closed the playhouses. He was no prude and could laugh as well as anyone at the witty immorality of a farce at the Palais Royal, but here was nothing but filth. With an emphatic gesture he held his nose and whistled through his teeth. It was the ruin of the family, the uprooting of morals, the destruction of Germany. "Aber, Adolf," said the Frau Professor from the other end of the table. "Calm yourself." He shook his fist at her. He was the mildest of creatures and ventured upon no action of his life without consulting her. "No, Helene, I tell you this," he shouted. "I would sooner my daughters were lying dead at my feet than see them listening to the garbage of that shameless fellow." The play was The Doll's House and the author was Henrik Ibsen. Professor Erlin classed him with Richard Wagner, but of him he spoke not with anger but with good-humoured laughter. He was a charlatan but a successful charlatan, and in that was always something for the comic spirit to rejoice in. "Verruckter Kerl! A madman!" he said. He had seen Lohengrin and that passed muster. It was dull but no worse. But Siegfried! When he mentioned it Professor Erlin leaned his head on his hand and bellowed with laughter. Not a melody in it from beginning to end! He could imagine Richard Wagner sitting in his box and laughing till his sides ached at the sight of all the people who were taking it seriously. It was the greatest hoax of the nineteenth century. He lifted his glass of beer to his lips, threw back his head, and drank till the glass was empty. Then wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he said: "I tell you young people that before the nineteenth century is out Wagner will be as dead as mutton. Wagner! I would give all his works for one opera by Donizetti." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXV The oddest of Philip's masters was his teacher of French. Monsieur Ducroz was a citizen of Geneva. He was a tall old man, with a sallow skin and hollow cheeks; his gray hair was thin and long. He wore shabby black clothes, with holes at the elbows of his coat and frayed trousers. His linen was very dirty. Philip had never seen him in a clean collar. He was a man of few words, who gave his lesson conscientiously but without enthusiasm, arriving as the clock struck and leaving on the minute. His charges were very small. He was taciturn, and what Philip learnt about him he learnt from others: it appeared that he had fought with Garibaldi against the Pope, but had left Italy in disgust when it was clear that all his efforts for freedom, by which he meant the establishment of a republic, tended to no more than an exchange of yokes; he had been expelled from Geneva for it was not known what political offences. Philip looked upon him with puzzled surprise; for he was very unlike his idea of the revolutionary: he spoke in a low voice and was extraordinarily polite; he never sat down till he was asked to; and when on rare occasions he met Philip in the street took off his hat with an elaborate gesture; he never laughed, he never even smiled. A more complete imagination than Philip's might have pictured a youth of splendid hope, for he must have been entering upon manhood in 1848 when kings, remembering their brother of France, went about with an uneasy crick in their necks; and perhaps that passion for liberty which passed through Europe, sweeping before it what of absolutism and tyranny had reared its head during the reaction from the revolution of 1789, filled no breast with a hotter fire. One might fancy him, passionate with theories of human equality and human rights, discussing, arguing, fighting behind barricades in Paris, flying before the Austrian cavalry in Milan, imprisoned here, exiled from there, hoping on and upborne ever with the word which seemed so magical, the word Liberty; till at last, broken with disease and starvation, old, without means to keep body and soul together but such lessons as he could pick up from poor students, he found himself in that little neat town under the heel of a personal tyranny greater than any in Europe. Perhaps his taciturnity hid a contempt for the human race which had abandoned the great dreams of his youth and now wallowed in sluggish ease; or perhaps these thirty years of revolution had taught him that men are unfit for liberty, and he thought that he had spent his life in the pursuit of that which was not worth the finding. Or maybe he was tired out and waited only with indifference for the release of death. One day Philip, with the bluntness of his age, asked him if it was true he had been with Garibaldi. The old man did not seem to attach any importance to the question. He answered quite quietly in as low a voice as usual. "Oui, monsieur." "They say you were in the Commune?" "Do they? Shall we get on with our work?" He held the book open and Philip, intimidated, began to translate the passage he had prepared. One day Monsieur Ducroz seemed to be in great pain. He had been scarcely able to drag himself up the many stairs to Philip's room: and when he arrived sat down heavily, his sallow face drawn, with beads of sweat on his forehead, trying to recover himself. "I'm afraid you're ill," said Philip. "It's of no consequence." But Philip saw that he was suffering, and at the end of the hour asked whether he would not prefer to give no more lessons till he was better. "No," said the old man, in his even low voice. "I prefer to go on while I am able." Philip, morbidly nervous when he had to make any reference to money, reddened. "But it won't make any difference to you," he said. "I'll pay for the lessons just the same. If you wouldn't mind I'd like to give you the money for next week in advance." Monsieur Ducroz charged eighteen pence an hour. Philip took a ten-mark piece out of his pocket and shyly put it on the table. He could not bring himself to offer it as if the old man were a beggar. "In that case I think I won't come again till I'm better." He took the coin and, without anything more than the elaborate bow with which he always took his leave, went out. "Bonjour, monsieur." Philip was vaguely disappointed. Thinking he had done a generous thing, he had expected that Monsieur Ducroz would overwhelm him with expressions of gratitude. He was taken aback to find that the old teacher accepted the present as though it were his due. He was so young, he did not realise how much less is the sense of obligation in those who receive favours than in those who grant them. Monsieur Ducroz appeared again five or six days later. He tottered a little more and was very weak, but seemed to have overcome the severity of the attack. He was no more communicative than he had been before. He remained mysterious, aloof, and dirty. He made no reference to his illness till after the lesson: and then, just as he was leaving, at the door, which he held open, he paused. He hesitated, as though to speak were difficult. "If it hadn't been for the money you gave me I should have starved. It was all I had to live on." He made his solemn, obsequious bow, and went out. Philip felt a little lump in his throat. He seemed to realise in a fashion the hopeless bitterness of the old man's struggle, and how hard life was for him when to himself it was so pleasant. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXVI Philip had spent three months in Heidelberg when one morning the Frau Professor told him that an Englishman named Hayward was coming to stay in the house, and the same evening at supper he saw a new face. For some days the family had lived in a state of excitement. First, as the result of heaven knows what scheming, by dint of humble prayers and veiled threats, the parents of the young Englishman to whom Fraulein Thekla was engaged had invited her to visit them in England, and she had set off with an album of water colours to show how accomplished she was and a bundle of letters to prove how deeply the young man had compromised himself. A week later Fraulein Hedwig with radiant smiles announced that the lieutenant of her affections was coming to Heidelberg with his father and mother. Exhausted by the importunity of their son and touched by the dowry which Fraulein Hedwig's father offered, the lieutenant's parents had consented to pass through Heidelberg to make the young woman's acquaintance. The interview was satisfactory and Fraulein Hedwig had the satisfaction of showing her lover in the Stadtgarten to the whole of Frau Professor Erlin's household. The silent old ladies who sat at the top of the table near the Frau Professor were in a flutter, and when Fraulein Hedwig said she was to go home at once for the formal engagement to take place, the Frau Professor, regardless of expense, said she would give a Maibowle. Professor Erlin prided himself on his skill in preparing this mild intoxicant, and after supper the large bowl of hock and soda, with scented herbs floating in it and wild strawberries, was placed with solemnity on the round table in the drawing-room. Fraulein Anna teased Philip about the departure of his lady-love, and he felt very uncomfortable and rather melancholy. Fraulein Hedwig sang several songs, Fraulein Anna played the Wedding March, and the Professor sang Die Wacht am Rhein. Amid all this jollification Philip paid little attention to the new arrival. They had sat opposite one another at supper, but Philip was chattering busily with Fraulein Hedwig, and the stranger, knowing no German, had eaten his food in silence. Philip, observing that he wore a pale blue tie, had on that account taken a sudden dislike to him. He was a man of twenty-six, very fair, with long, wavy hair through which he passed his hand frequently with a careless gesture. His eyes were large and blue, but the blue was very pale, and they looked rather tired already. He was clean-shaven, and his mouth, notwithstanding its thin lips, was well-shaped. Fraulein Anna took an interest in physiognomy, and she made Philip notice afterwards how finely shaped was his skull, and how weak was the lower part of his face. The head, she remarked, was the head of a thinker, but the jaw lacked character. Fraulein Anna, foredoomed to a spinster's life, with her high cheek-bones and large misshapen nose, laid great stress upon character. While they talked of him he stood a little apart from the others, watching the noisy party with a good-humoured but faintly supercilious expression. He was tall and slim. He held himself with a deliberate grace. Weeks, one of the American students, seeing him alone, went up and began to talk to him. The pair were oddly contrasted: the American very neat in his black coat and pepper-and-salt trousers, thin and dried-up, with something of ecclesiastical unction already in his manner; and the Englishman in his loose tweed suit, large-limbed and slow of gesture. Philip did not speak to the newcomer till next day. They found themselves alone on the balcony of the drawing-room before dinner. Hayward addressed him. "You're English, aren't you?" "Yes." "Is the food always as bad it was last night?" "It's always about the same." "Beastly, isn't it?" "Beastly." Philip had found nothing wrong with the food at all, and in fact had eaten it in large quantities with appetite and enjoyment, but he did not want to show himself a person of so little discrimination as to think a dinner good which another thought execrable. Fraulein Thekla's visit to England made it necessary for her sister to do more in the house, and she could not often spare the time for long walks; and Fraulein Cacilie, with her long plait of fair hair and her little snub-nosed face, had of late shown a certain disinclination for society. Fraulein Hedwig was gone, and Weeks, the American who generally accompanied them on their rambles, had set out for a tour of South Germany. Philip was left a good deal to himself. Hayward sought his acquaintance; but Philip had an unfortunate trait: from shyness or from some atavistic inheritance of the cave-dweller, he always disliked people on first acquaintance; and it was not till he became used to them that he got over his first impression. It made him difficult of access. He received Hayward's advances very shyly, and when Hayward asked him one day to go for a walk he accepted only because he could not think of a civil excuse. He made his usual apology, angry with himself for the flushing cheeks he could not control, and trying to carry it off with a laugh. "I'm afraid I can't walk very fast." "Good heavens, I don't walk for a wager. I prefer to stroll. Don't you remember the chapter in Marius where Pater talks of the gentle exercise of walking as the best incentive to conversation?" Philip was a good listener; though he often thought of clever things to say, it was seldom till after the opportunity to say them had passed; but Hayward was communicative; anyone more experienced than Philip might have thought he liked to hear himself talk. His supercilious attitude impressed Philip. He could not help admiring, and yet being awed by, a man who faintly despised so many things which Philip had looked upon as almost sacred. He cast down the fetish of exercise, damning with the contemptuous word pot-hunters all those who devoted themselves to its various forms; and Philip did not realise that he was merely putting up in its stead the other fetish of culture. They wandered up to the castle, and sat on the terrace that overlooked the town. It nestled in the valley along the pleasant Neckar with a comfortable friendliness. The smoke from the chimneys hung over it, a pale blue haze; and the tall roofs, the spires of the churches, gave it a pleasantly medieval air. There was a homeliness in it which warmed the heart. Hayward talked of Richard Feverel and Madame Bovary, of Verlaine, Dante, and Matthew Arnold. In those days Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam was known only to the elect, and Hayward repeated it to Philip. He was very fond of reciting poetry, his own and that of others, which he did in a monotonous sing-song. By the time they reached home Philip's distrust of Hayward was changed to enthusiastic admiration. They made a practice of walking together every afternoon, and Philip learned presently something of Hayward's circumstances. He was the son of a country judge, on whose death some time before he had inherited three hundred a year. His record at Charterhouse was so brilliant that when he went to Cambridge the Master of Trinity Hall went out of his way to express his satisfaction that he was going to that college. He prepared himself for a distinguished career. He moved in the most intellectual circles: he read Browning with enthusiasm and turned up his well-shaped nose at Tennyson; he knew all the details of Shelley's treatment of Harriet; he dabbled in the history of art (on the walls of his rooms were reproductions of pictures by G. F. Watts, Burne-Jones, and Botticelli); and he wrote not without distinction verses of a pessimistic character. His friends told one another that he was a man of excellent gifts, and he listened to them willingly when they prophesied his future eminence. In course of time he became an authority on art and literature. He came under the influence of Newman's Apologia; the picturesqueness of the Roman Catholic faith appealed to his esthetic sensibility; and it was only the fear of his father's wrath (a plain, blunt man of narrow ideas, who read Macaulay) which prevented him from 'going over.' When he only got a pass degree his friends were astonished; but he shrugged his shoulders and delicately insinuated that he was not the dupe of examiners. He made one feel that a first class was ever so slightly vulgar. He described one of the vivas with tolerant humour; some fellow in an outrageous collar was asking him questions in logic; it was infinitely tedious, and suddenly he noticed that he wore elastic-sided boots: it was grotesque and ridiculous; so he withdrew his mind and thought of the gothic beauty of the Chapel at King's. But he had spent some delightful days at Cambridge; he had given better dinners than anyone he knew; and the conversation in his rooms had been often memorable. He quoted to Philip the exquisite epigram: "They told me, Herakleitus, they told me you were dead." And now, when he related again the picturesque little anecdote about the examiner and his boots, he laughed. "Of course it was folly," he said, "but it was a folly in which there was something fine." Philip, with a little thrill, thought it magnificent. Then Hayward went to London to read for the Bar. He had charming rooms in Clement's Inn, with panelled walls, and he tried to make them look like his old rooms at the Hall. He had ambitions that were vaguely political, he described himself as a Whig, and he was put up for a club which was of Liberal but gentlemanly flavour. His idea was to practise at the Bar (he chose the Chancery side as less brutal), and get a seat for some pleasant constituency as soon as the various promises made him were carried out; meanwhile he went a great deal to the opera, and made acquaintance with a small number of charming people who admired the things that he admired. He joined a dining-club of which the motto was, The Whole, The Good, and The Beautiful. He formed a platonic friendship with a lady some years older than himself, who lived in Kensington Square; and nearly every afternoon he drank tea with her by the light of shaded candles, and talked of George Meredith and Walter Pater. It was notorious that any fool could pass the examinations of the Bar Council, and he pursued his studies in a dilatory fashion. When he was ploughed for his final he looked upon it as a personal affront. At the same time the lady in Kensington Square told him that her husband was coming home from India on leave, and was a man, though worthy in every way, of a commonplace mind, who would not understand a young man's frequent visits. Hayward felt that life was full of ugliness, his soul revolted from the thought of affronting again the cynicism of examiners, and he saw something rather splendid in kicking away the ball which lay at his feet. He was also a good deal in debt: it was difficult to live in London like a gentleman on three hundred a year; and his heart yearned for the Venice and Florence which John Ruskin had so magically described. He felt that he was unsuited to the vulgar bustle of the Bar, for he had discovered that it was not sufficient to put your name on a door to get briefs; and modern politics seemed to lack nobility. He felt himself a poet. He disposed of his rooms in Clement's Inn and went to Italy. He had spent a winter in Florence and a winter in Rome, and now was passing his second summer abroad in Germany so that he might read Goethe in the original. Hayward had one gift which was very precious. He had a real feeling for literature, and he could impart his own passion with an admirable fluency. He could throw himself into sympathy with a writer and see all that was best in him, and then he could talk about him with understanding. Philip had read a great deal, but he had read without discrimination everything that he happened to come across, and it was very good for him now to meet someone who could guide his taste. He borrowed books from the small lending library which the town possessed and began reading all the wonderful things that Hayward spoke of. He did not read always with enjoyment but invariably with perseverance. He was eager for self-improvement. He felt himself very ignorant and very humble. By the end of August, when Weeks returned from South Germany, Philip was completely under Hayward's influence. Hayward did not like Weeks. He deplored the American's black coat and pepper-and-salt trousers, and spoke with a scornful shrug of his New England conscience. Philip listened complacently to the abuse of a man who had gone out of his way to be kind to him, but when Weeks in his turn made disagreeable remarks about Hayward he lost his temper. "Your new friend looks like a poet," said Weeks, with a thin smile on his careworn, bitter mouth. "He is a poet." "Did he tell you so? In America we should call him a pretty fair specimen of a waster." "Well, we're not in America," said Philip frigidly. "How old is he? Twenty-five? And he does nothing but stay in pensions and write poetry." "You don't know him," said Philip hotly. "Oh yes, I do: I've met a hundred and forty-seven of him." Weeks' eyes twinkled, but Philip, who did not understand American humour, pursed his lips and looked severe. Weeks to Philip seemed a man of middle age, but he was in point of fact little more than thirty. He had a long, thin body and the scholar's stoop; his head was large and ugly; he had pale scanty hair and an earthy skin; his thin mouth and thin, long nose, and the great protuberance of his frontal bones, gave him an uncouth look. He was cold and precise in his manner, a bloodless man, without passion; but he had a curious vein of frivolity which disconcerted the serious-minded among whom his instincts naturally threw him. He was studying theology in Heidelberg, but the other theological students of his own nationality looked upon him with suspicion. He was very unorthodox, which frightened them; and his freakish humour excited their disapproval. "How can you have known a hundred and forty-seven of him?" asked Philip seriously. "I've met him in the Latin Quarter in Paris, and I've met him in pensions in Berlin and Munich. He lives in small hotels in Perugia and Assisi. He stands by the dozen before the Botticellis in Florence, and he sits on all the benches of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. In Italy he drinks a little too much wine, and in Germany he drinks a great deal too much beer. He always admires the right thing whatever the right thing is, and one of these days he's going to write a great work. Think of it, there are a hundred and forty-seven great works reposing in the bosoms of a hundred and forty-seven great men, and the tragic thing is that not one of those hundred and forty-seven great works will ever be written. And yet the world goes on." Weeks spoke seriously, but his gray eyes twinkled a little at the end of his long speech, and Philip flushed when he saw that the American was making fun of him. "You do talk rot," he said crossly. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXVII Weeks had two little rooms at the back of Frau Erlin's house, and one of them, arranged as a parlour, was comfortable enough for him to invite people to sit in. After supper, urged perhaps by the impish humour which was the despair of his friends in Cambridge, Mass., he often asked Philip and Hayward to come in for a chat. He received them with elaborate courtesy and insisted on their sitting in the only two comfortable chairs in the room. Though he did not drink himself, with a politeness of which Philip recognised the irony, he put a couple of bottles of beer at Hayward's elbow, and he insisted on lighting matches whenever in the heat of argument Hayward's pipe went out. At the beginning of their acquaintance Hayward, as a member of so celebrated a university, had adopted a patronising attitude towards Weeks, who was a graduate of Harvard; and when by chance the conversation turned upon the Greek tragedians, a subject upon which Hayward felt he spoke with authority, he had assumed the air that it was his part to give information rather than to exchange ideas. Weeks had listened politely, with smiling modesty, till Hayward finished; then he asked one or two insidious questions, so innocent in appearance that Hayward, not seeing into what a quandary they led him, answered blandly; Weeks made a courteous objection, then a correction of fact, after that a quotation from some little known Latin commentator, then a reference to a German authority; and the fact was disclosed that he was a scholar. With smiling ease, apologetically, Weeks tore to pieces all that Hayward had said; with elaborate civility he displayed the superficiality of his attainments. He mocked him with gentle irony. Philip could not help seeing that Hayward looked a perfect fool, and Hayward had not the sense to hold his tongue; in his irritation, his self-assurance undaunted, he attempted to argue: he made wild statements and Weeks amicably corrected them; he reasoned falsely and Weeks proved that he was absurd: Weeks confessed that he had taught Greek Literature at Harvard. Hayward gave a laugh of scorn. "I might have known it. Of course you read Greek like a schoolmaster," he said. "I read it like a poet." "And do you find it more poetic when you don't quite know what it means? I thought it was only in revealed religion that a mistranslation improved the sense." At last, having finished the beer, Hayward left Weeks' room hot and dishevelled; with an angry gesture he said to Philip: "Of course the man's a pedant. He has no real feeling for beauty. Accuracy is the virtue of clerks. It's the spirit of the Greeks that we aim at. Weeks is like that fellow who went to hear Rubenstein and complained that he played false notes. False notes! What did they matter when he played divinely?" Philip, not knowing how many incompetent people have found solace in these false notes, was much impressed. Hayward could never resist the opportunity which Weeks offered him of regaining ground lost on a previous occasion, and Weeks was able with the greatest ease to draw him into a discussion. Though he could not help seeing how small his attainments were beside the American's, his British pertinacity, his wounded vanity (perhaps they are the same thing), would not allow him to give up the struggle. Hayward seemed to take a delight in displaying his ignorance, self-satisfaction, and wrongheadedness. Whenever Hayward said something which was illogical, Weeks in a few words would show the falseness of his reasoning, pause for a moment to enjoy his triumph, and then hurry on to another subject as though Christian charity impelled him to spare the vanquished foe. Philip tried sometimes to put in something to help his friend, and Weeks gently crushed him, but so kindly, differently from the way in which he answered Hayward, that even Philip, outrageously sensitive, could not feel hurt. Now and then, losing his calm as he felt himself more and more foolish, Hayward became abusive, and only the American's smiling politeness prevented the argument from degenerating into a quarrel. On these occasions when Hayward left Weeks' room he muttered angrily: "Damned Yankee!" That settled it. It was a perfect answer to an argument which had seemed unanswerable. Though they began by discussing all manner of subjects in Weeks' little room eventually the conversation always turned to religion: the theological student took a professional interest in it, and Hayward welcomed a subject in which hard facts need not disconcert him; when feeling is the gauge you can snap your angers at logic, and when your logic is weak that is very agreeable. Hayward found it difficult to explain his beliefs to Philip without a great flow of words; but it was clear (and this fell in with Philip's idea of the natural order of things), that he had been brought up in the church by law established. Though he had now given up all idea of becoming a Roman Catholic, he still looked upon that communion with sympathy. He had much to say in its praise, and he compared favourably its gorgeous ceremonies with the simple services of the Church of England. He gave Philip Newman's Apologia to read, and Philip, finding it very dull, nevertheless read it to the end. "Read it for its style, not for its matter," said Hayward. He talked enthusiastically of the music at the Oratory, and said charming things about the connection between incense and the devotional spirit. Weeks listened to him with his frigid smile. "You think it proves the truth of Roman Catholicism that John Henry Newman wrote good English and that Cardinal Manning has a picturesque appearance?" Hayward hinted that he had gone through much trouble with his soul. For a year he had swum in a sea of darkness. He passed his fingers through his fair, waving hair and told them that he would not for five hundred pounds endure again those agonies of mind. Fortunately he had reached calm waters at last. "But what do you believe?" asked Philip, who was never satisfied with vague statements. "I believe in the Whole, the Good, and the Beautiful." Hayward with his loose large limbs and the fine carriage of his head looked very handsome when he said this, and he said it with an air. "Is that how you would describe your religion in a census paper?" asked Weeks, in mild tones. "I hate the rigid definition: it's so ugly, so obvious. If you like I will say that I believe in the church of the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Gladstone." "That's the Church of England," said Philip. "Oh wise young man!" retorted Hayward, with a smile which made Philip blush, for he felt that in putting into plain words what the other had expressed in a paraphrase, he had been guilty of vulgarity. "I belong to the Church of England. But I love the gold and the silk which clothe the priest of Rome, and his celibacy, and the confessional, and purgatory: and in the darkness of an Italian cathedral, incense-laden and mysterious, I believe with all my heart in the miracle of the Mass. In Venice I have seen a fisherwoman come in, barefoot, throw down her basket of fish by her side, fall on her knees, and pray to the Madonna; and that I felt was the real faith, and I prayed and believed with her. But I believe also in Aphrodite and Apollo and the Great God Pan." He had a charming voice, and he chose his words as he spoke; he uttered them almost rhythmically. He would have gone on, but Weeks opened a second bottle of beer. "Let me give you something to drink." Hayward turned to Philip with the slightly condescending gesture which so impressed the youth. "Now are you satisfied?" he asked. Philip, somewhat bewildered, confessed that he was. "I'm disappointed that you didn't add a little Buddhism," said Weeks. "And I confess I have a sort of sympathy for Mahomet; I regret that you should have left him out in the cold." Hayward laughed, for he was in a good humour with himself that evening, and the ring of his sentences still sounded pleasant in his ears. He emptied his glass. "I didn't expect you to understand me," he answered. "With your cold American intelligence you can only adopt the critical attitude. Emerson and all that sort of thing. But what is criticism? Criticism is purely destructive; anyone can destroy, but not everyone can build up. You are a pedant, my dear fellow. The important thing is to construct: I am constructive; I am a poet." Weeks looked at him with eyes which seemed at the same time to be quite grave and yet to be smiling brightly. "I think, if you don't mind my saying so, you're a little drunk." "Nothing to speak of," answered Hayward cheerfully. "And not enough for me to be unable to overwhelm you in argument. But come, I have unbosomed my soul; now tell us what your religion is." Weeks put his head on one side so that he looked like a sparrow on a perch. "I've been trying to find that out for years. I think I'm a Unitarian." "But that's a dissenter," said Philip. He could not imagine why they both burst into laughter, Hayward uproariously, and Weeks with a funny chuckle. "And in England dissenters aren't gentlemen, are they?" asked Weeks. "Well, if you ask me point-blank, they're not," replied Philip rather crossly. He hated being laughed at, and they laughed again. "And will you tell me what a gentleman is?" asked Weeks. "Oh, I don't know; everyone knows what it is." "Are you a gentleman?" No doubt had ever crossed Philip's mind on the subject, but he knew it was not a thing to state of oneself. "If a man tells you he's a gentleman you can bet your boots he isn't," he retorted. "Am I a gentleman?" Philip's truthfulness made it difficult for him to answer, but he was naturally polite. "Oh, well, you're different," he said. "You're American, aren't you?" "I suppose we may take it that only Englishmen are gentlemen," said Weeks gravely. Philip did not contradict him. "Couldn't you give me a few more particulars?" asked Weeks. Philip reddened, but, growing angry, did not care if he made himself ridiculous. "I can give you plenty." He remembered his uncle's saying that it took three generations to make a gentleman: it was a companion proverb to the silk purse and the sow's ear. "First of all he's the son of a gentleman, and he's been to a public school, and to Oxford or Cambridge." "Edinburgh wouldn't do, I suppose?" asked Weeks. "And he talks English like a gentleman, and he wears the right sort of things, and if he's a gentleman he can always tell if another chap's a gentleman." It seemed rather lame to Philip as he went on, but there it was: that was what he meant by the word, and everyone he had ever known had meant that too. "It is evident to me that I am not a gentleman," said Weeks. "I don't see why you should have been so surprised because I was a dissenter." "I don't quite know what a Unitarian is," said Philip. Weeks in his odd way again put his head on one side: you almost expected him to twitter. "A Unitarian very earnestly disbelieves in almost everything that anybody else believes, and he has a very lively sustaining faith in he doesn't quite know what." "I don't see why you should make fun of me," said Philip. "I really want to know." "My dear friend, I'm not making fun of you. I have arrived at that definition after years of great labour and the most anxious, nerve-racking study." When Philip and Hayward got up to go, Weeks handed Philip a little book in a paper cover. "I suppose you can read French pretty well by now. I wonder if this would amuse you." Philip thanked him and, taking the book, looked at the title. It was Renan's Vie de Jesus. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXVIII It occurred neither to Hayward nor to Weeks that the conversations which helped them to pass an idle evening were being turned over afterwards in Philip's active brain. It had never struck him before that religion was a matter upon which discussion was possible. To him it meant the Church of England, and not to believe in its tenets was a sign of wilfulness which could not fail of punishment here or hereafter. There was some doubt in his mind about the chastisement of unbelievers. It was possible that a merciful judge, reserving the flames of hell for the heathen--Mahommedans, Buddhists, and the rest--would spare Dissenters and Roman Catholics (though at the cost of how much humiliation when they were made to realise their error!), and it was also possible that He would be pitiful to those who had had no chance of learning the truth,--this was reasonable enough, though such were the activities of the Missionary Society there could not be many in this condition--but if the chance had been theirs and they had neglected it (in which category were obviously Roman Catholics and Dissenters), the punishment was sure and merited. It was clear that the miscreant was in a parlous state. Perhaps Philip had not been taught it in so many words, but certainly the impression had been given him that only members of the Church of England had any real hope of eternal happiness. One of the things that Philip had heard definitely stated was that the unbeliever was a wicked and a vicious man; but Weeks, though he believed in hardly anything that Philip believed, led a life of Christian purity. Philip had received little kindness in his life, and he was touched by the American's desire to help him: once when a cold kept him in bed for three days, Weeks nursed him like a mother. There was neither vice nor wickedness in him, but only sincerity and loving-kindness. It was evidently possible to be virtuous and unbelieving. Also Philip had been given to understand that people adhered to other faiths only from obstinacy or self-interest: in their hearts they knew they were false; they deliberately sought to deceive others. Now, for the sake of his German he had been accustomed on Sunday mornings to attend the Lutheran service, but when Hayward arrived he began instead to go with him to Mass. He noticed that, whereas the Protestant church was nearly empty and the congregation had a listless air, the Jesuit on the other hand was crowded and the worshippers seemed to pray with all their hearts. They had not the look of hypocrites. He was surprised at the contrast; for he knew of course that the Lutherans, whose faith was closer to that of the Church of England, on that account were nearer the truth than the Roman Catholics. Most of the men--it was largely a masculine congregation--were South Germans; and he could not help saying to himself that if he had been born in South Germany he would certainly have been a Roman Catholic. He might just as well have been born in a Roman Catholic country as in England; and in England as well in a Wesleyan, Baptist, or Methodist family as in one that fortunately belonged to the church by law established. He was a little breathless at the danger he had run. Philip was on friendly terms with the little Chinaman who sat at table with him twice each day. His name was Sung. He was always smiling, affable, and polite. It seemed strange that he should frizzle in hell merely because he was a Chinaman; but if salvation was possible whatever a man's faith was, there did not seem to be any particular advantage in belonging to the Church of England. Philip, more puzzled than he had ever been in his life, sounded Weeks. He had to be careful, for he was very sensitive to ridicule; and the acidulous humour with which the American treated the Church of England disconcerted him. Weeks only puzzled him more. He made Philip acknowledge that those South Germans whom he saw in the Jesuit church were every bit as firmly convinced of the truth of Roman Catholicism as he was of that of the Church of England, and from that he led him to admit that the Mahommedan and the Buddhist were convinced also of the truth of their respective religions. It looked as though knowing that you were right meant nothing; they all knew they were right. Weeks had no intention of undermining the boy's faith, but he was deeply interested in religion, and found it an absorbing topic of conversation. He had described his own views accurately when he said that he very earnestly disbelieved in almost everything that other people believed. Once Philip asked him a question, which he had heard his uncle put when the conversation at the vicarage had fallen upon some mildly rationalistic work which was then exciting discussion in the newspapers. "But why should you be right and all those fellows like St. Anselm and St. Augustine be wrong?" "You mean that they were very clever and learned men, while you have grave doubts whether I am either?" asked Weeks. "Yes," answered Philip uncertainly, for put in that way his question seemed impertinent. "St. Augustine believed that the earth was flat and that the sun turned round it." "I don't know what that proves." "Why, it proves that you believe with your generation. Your saints lived in an age of faith, when it was practically impossible to disbelieve what to us is positively incredible." "Then how d'you know that we have the truth now?" "I don't." Philip thought this over for a moment, then he said: "I don't see why the things we believe absolutely now shouldn't be just as wrong as what they believed in the past." "Neither do I." "Then how can you believe anything at all?" "I don't know." Philip asked Weeks what he thought of Hayward's religion. "Men have always formed gods in their own image," said Weeks. "He believes in the picturesque." Philip paused for a little while, then he said: "I don't see why one should believe in God at all." The words were no sooner out of his mouth than he realised that he had ceased to do so. It took his breath away like a plunge into cold water. He looked at Weeks with startled eyes. Suddenly he felt afraid. He left Weeks as quickly as he could. He wanted to be alone. It was the most startling experience that he had ever had. He tried to think it all out; it was very exciting, since his whole life seemed concerned (he thought his decision on this matter must profoundly affect its course) and a mistake might lead to eternal damnation; but the more he reflected the more convinced he was; and though during the next few weeks he read books, aids to scepticism, with eager interest it was only to confirm him in what he felt instinctively. The fact was that he had ceased to believe not for this reason or the other, but because he had not the religious temperament. Faith had been forced upon him from the outside. It was a matter of environment and example. A new environment and a new example gave him the opportunity to find himself. He put off the faith of his childhood quite simply, like a cloak that he no longer needed. At first life seemed strange and lonely without the belief which, though he never realised it, had been an unfailing support. He felt like a man who has leaned on a stick and finds himself forced suddenly to walk without assistance. It really seemed as though the days were colder and the nights more solitary. But he was upheld by the excitement; it seemed to make life a more thrilling adventure; and in a little while the stick which he had thrown aside, the cloak which had fallen from his shoulders, seemed an intolerable burden of which he had been eased. The religious exercises which for so many years had been forced upon him were part and parcel of religion to him. He thought of the collects and epistles which he had been made to learn by heart, and the long services at the Cathedral through which he had sat when every limb itched with the desire for movement; and he remembered those walks at night through muddy roads to the parish church at Blackstable, and the coldness of that bleak building; he sat with his feet like ice, his fingers numb and heavy, and all around was the sickly odour of pomatum. Oh, he had been so bored! His heart leaped when he saw he was free from all that. He was surprised at himself because he ceased to believe so easily, and, not knowing that he felt as he did on account of the subtle workings of his inmost nature, he ascribed the certainty he had reached to his own cleverness. He was unduly pleased with himself. With youth's lack of sympathy for an attitude other than its own he despised not a little Weeks and Hayward because they were content with the vague emotion which they called God and would not take the further step which to himself seemed so obvious. One day he went alone up a certain hill so that he might see a view which, he knew not why, filled him always with wild exhilaration. It was autumn now, but often the days were cloudless still, and then the sky seemed to glow with a more splendid light: it was as though nature consciously sought to put a fuller vehemence into the remaining days of fair weather. He looked down upon the plain, a-quiver with the sun, stretching vastly before him: in the distance were the roofs of Mannheim and ever so far away the dimness of Worms. Here and there a more piercing glitter was the Rhine. The tremendous spaciousness of it was glowing with rich gold. Philip, as he stood there, his heart beating with sheer joy, thought how the tempter had stood with Jesus on a high mountain and shown him the kingdoms of the earth. To Philip, intoxicated with the beauty of the scene, it seemed that it was the whole world which was spread before him, and he was eager to step down and enjoy it. He was free from degrading fears and free from prejudice. He could go his way without the intolerable dread of hell-fire. Suddenly he realised that he had lost also that burden of responsibility which made every action of his life a matter of urgent consequence. He could breathe more freely in a lighter air. He was responsible only to himself for the things he did. Freedom! He was his own master at last. From old habit, unconsciously he thanked God that he no longer believed in Him. Drunk with pride in his intelligence and in his fearlessness, Philip entered deliberately upon a new life. But his loss of faith made less difference in his behaviour than he expected. Though he had thrown on one side the Christian dogmas it never occurred to him to criticise the Christian ethics; he accepted the Christian virtues, and indeed thought it fine to practise them for their own sake, without a thought of reward or punishment. There was small occasion for heroism in the Frau Professor's house, but he was a little more exactly truthful than he had been, and he forced himself to be more than commonly attentive to the dull, elderly ladies who sometimes engaged him in conversation. The gentle oath, the violent adjective, which are typical of our language and which he had cultivated before as a sign of manliness, he now elaborately eschewed. Having settled the whole matter to his satisfaction he sought to put it out of his mind, but that was more easily said than done; and he could not prevent the regrets nor stifle the misgivings which sometimes tormented him. He was so young and had so few friends that immortality had no particular attractions for him, and he was able without trouble to give up belief in it; but there was one thing which made him wretched; he told himself that he was unreasonable, he tried to laugh himself out of such pathos; but the tears really came to his eyes when he thought that he would never see again the beautiful mother whose love for him had grown more precious as the years since her death passed on. And sometimes, as though the influence of innumerable ancestors, Godfearing and devout, were working in him unconsciously, there seized him a panic fear that perhaps after all it was all true, and there was, up there behind the blue sky, a jealous God who would punish in everlasting flames the atheist. At these times his reason could offer him no help, he imagined the anguish of a physical torment which would last endlessly, he felt quite sick with fear and burst into a violent sweat. At last he would say to himself desperately: "After all, it's not my fault. I can't force myself to believe. If there is a God after all and he punishes me because I honestly don't believe in Him I can't help it." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXIX Winter set in. Weeks went to Berlin to attend the lectures of Paulssen, and Hayward began to think of going South. The local theatre opened its doors. Philip and Hayward went to it two or three times a week with the praiseworthy intention of improving their German, and Philip found it a more diverting manner of perfecting himself in the language than listening to sermons. They found themselves in the midst of a revival of the drama. Several of Ibsen's plays were on the repertory for the winter; Sudermann's Die Ehre was then a new play, and on its production in the quiet university town caused the greatest excitement; it was extravagantly praised and bitterly attacked; other dramatists followed with plays written under the modern influence, and Philip witnessed a series of works in which the vileness of mankind was displayed before him. He had never been to a play in his life till then (poor touring companies sometimes came to the Assembly Rooms at Blackstable, but the Vicar, partly on account of his profession, partly because he thought it would be vulgar, never went to see them) and the passion of the stage seized him. He felt a thrill the moment he got into the little, shabby, ill-lit theatre. Soon he came to know the peculiarities of the small company, and by the casting could tell at once what were the characteristics of the persons in the drama; but this made no difference to him. To him it was real life. It was a strange life, dark and tortured, in which men and women showed to remorseless eyes the evil that was in their hearts: a fair face concealed a depraved mind; the virtuous used virtue as a mask to hide their secret vice, the seeming-strong fainted within with their weakness; the honest were corrupt, the chaste were lewd. You seemed to dwell in a room where the night before an orgy had taken place: the windows had not been opened in the morning; the air was foul with the dregs of beer, and stale smoke, and flaring gas. There was no laughter. At most you sniggered at the hypocrite or the fool: the characters expressed themselves in cruel words that seemed wrung out of their hearts by shame and anguish. Philip was carried away by the sordid intensity of it. He seemed to see the world again in another fashion, and this world too he was anxious to know. After the play was over he went to a tavern and sat in the bright warmth with Hayward to eat a sandwich and drink a glass of beer. All round were little groups of students, talking and laughing; and here and there was a family, father and mother, a couple of sons and a girl; and sometimes the girl said a sharp thing, and the father leaned back in his chair and laughed, laughed heartily. It was very friendly and innocent. There was a pleasant homeliness in the scene, but for this Philip had no eyes. His thoughts ran on the play he had just come from. "You do feel it's life, don't you?" he said excitedly. "You know, I don't think I can stay here much longer. I want to get to London so that I can really begin. I want to have experiences. I'm so tired of preparing for life: I want to live it now." Sometimes Hayward left Philip to go home by himself. He would never exactly reply to Philip's eager questioning, but with a merry, rather stupid laugh, hinted at a romantic amour; he quoted a few lines of Rossetti, and once showed Philip a sonnet in which passion and purple, pessimism and pathos, were packed together on the subject of a young lady called Trude. Hayward surrounded his sordid and vulgar little adventures with a glow of poetry, and thought he touched hands with Pericles and Pheidias because to describe the object of his attentions he used the word hetaira instead of one of those, more blunt and apt, provided by the English language. Philip in the daytime had been led by curiosity to pass through the little street near the old bridge, with its neat white houses and green shutters, in which according to Hayward the Fraulein Trude lived; but the women, with brutal faces and painted cheeks, who came out of their doors and cried out to him, filled him with fear; and he fled in horror from the rough hands that sought to detain him. He yearned above all things for experience and felt himself ridiculous because at his age he had not enjoyed that which all fiction taught him was the most important thing in life; but he had the unfortunate gift of seeing things as they were, and the reality which was offered him differed too terribly from the ideal of his dreams. He did not know how wide a country, arid and precipitous, must be crossed before the traveller through life comes to an acceptance of reality. It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real they are bruised and wounded. It looks as if they were victims of a conspiracy; for the books they read, ideal by the necessity of selection, and the conversation of their elders, who look back upon the past through a rosy haze of forgetfulness, prepare them for an unreal life. They must discover for themselves that all they have read and all they have been told are lies, lies, lies; and each discovery is another nail driven into the body on the cross of life. The strange thing is that each one who has gone through that bitter disillusionment adds to it in his turn, unconsciously, by the power within him which is stronger than himself. The companionship of Hayward was the worst possible thing for Philip. He was a man who saw nothing for himself, but only through a literary atmosphere, and he was dangerous because he had deceived himself into sincerity. He honestly mistook his sensuality for romantic emotion, his vacillation for the artistic temperament, and his idleness for philosophic calm. His mind, vulgar in its effort at refinement, saw everything a little larger than life size, with the outlines blurred, in a golden mist of sentimentality. He lied and never knew that he lied, and when it was pointed out to him said that lies were beautiful. He was an idealist. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXX Philip was restless and dissatisfied. Hayward's poetic allusions troubled his imagination, and his soul yearned for romance. At least that was how he put it to himself. And it happened that an incident was taking place in Frau Erlin's house which increased Philip's preoccupation with the matter of sex. Two or three times on his walks among the hills he had met Fraulein Cacilie wandering by herself. He had passed her with a bow, and a few yards further on had seen the Chinaman. He thought nothing of it; but one evening on his way home, when night had already fallen, he passed two people walking very close together. Hearing his footstep, they separated quickly, and though he could not see well in the darkness he was almost certain they were Cacilie and Herr Sung. Their rapid movement apart suggested that they had been walking arm in arm. Philip was puzzled and surprised. He had never paid much attention to Fraulein Cacilie. She was a plain girl, with a square face and blunt features. She could not have been more than sixteen, since she still wore her long fair hair in a plait. That evening at supper he looked at her curiously; and, though of late she had talked little at meals, she addressed him. "Where did you go for your walk today, Herr Carey?" she asked. "Oh, I walked up towards the Konigstuhl." "I didn't go out," she volunteered. "I had a headache." The Chinaman, who sat next to her, turned round. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I hope it's better now." Fraulein Cacilie was evidently uneasy, for she spoke again to Philip. "Did you meet many people on the way?" Philip could not help reddening when he told a downright lie. "No. I don't think I saw a living soul." He fancied that a look of relief passed across her eyes. Soon, however, there could be no doubt that there was something between the pair, and other people in the Frau Professor's house saw them lurking in dark places. The elderly ladies who sat at the head of the table began to discuss what was now a scandal. The Frau Professor was angry and harassed. She had done her best to see nothing. The winter was at hand, and it was not as easy a matter then as in the summer to keep her house full. Herr Sung was a good customer: he had two rooms on the ground floor, and he drank a bottle of Moselle at each meal. The Frau Professor charged him three marks a bottle and made a good profit. None of her other guests drank wine, and some of them did not even drink beer. Neither did she wish to lose Fraulein Cacilie, whose parents were in business in South America and paid well for the Frau Professor's motherly care; and she knew that if she wrote to the girl's uncle, who lived in Berlin, he would immediately take her away. The Frau Professor contented herself with giving them both severe looks at table and, though she dared not be rude to the Chinaman, got a certain satisfaction out of incivility to Cacilie. But the three elderly ladies were not content. Two were widows, and one, a Dutchwoman, was a spinster of masculine appearance; they paid the smallest possible sum for their pension, and gave a good deal of trouble, but they were permanent and therefore had to be put up with. They went to the Frau Professor and said that something must be done; it was disgraceful, and the house was ceasing to be respectable. The Frau Professor tried obstinacy, anger, tears, but the three old ladies routed her, and with a sudden assumption of virtuous indignation she said that she would put a stop to the whole thing. After luncheon she took Cacilie into her bed-room and began to talk very seriously to her; but to her amazement the girl adopted a brazen attitude; she proposed to go about as she liked; and if she chose to walk with the Chinaman she could not see it was anybody's business but her own. The Frau Professor threatened to write to her uncle. "Then Onkel Heinrich will put me in a family in Berlin for the winter, and that will be much nicer for me. And Herr Sung will come to Berlin too." The Frau Professor began to cry. The tears rolled down her coarse, red, fat cheeks; and Cacilie laughed at her. "That will mean three rooms empty all through the winter," she said. Then the Frau Professor tried another plan. She appealed to Fraulein Cacilie's better nature: she was kind, sensible, tolerant; she treated her no longer as a child, but as a grown woman. She said that it wouldn't be so dreadful, but a Chinaman, with his yellow skin and flat nose, and his little pig's eyes! That's what made it so horrible. It filled one with disgust to think of it. "Bitte, bitte," said Cacilie, with a rapid intake of the breath. "I won't listen to anything against him." "But it's not serious?" gasped Frau Erlin. "I love him. I love him. I love him." "Gott im Himmel!" The Frau Professor stared at her with horrified surprise; she had thought it was no more than naughtiness on the child's part, and innocent, folly. but the passion in her voice revealed everything. Cacilie looked at her for a moment with flaming eyes, and then with a shrug of her shoulders went out of the room. Frau Erlin kept the details of the interview to herself, and a day or two later altered the arrangement of the table. She asked Herr Sung if he would not come and sit at her end, and he with his unfailing politeness accepted with alacrity. Cacilie took the change indifferently. But as if the discovery that the relations between them were known to the whole household made them more shameless, they made no secret now of their walks together, and every afternoon quite openly set out to wander about the hills. It was plain that they did not care what was said of them. At last even the placidity of Professor Erlin was moved, and he insisted that his wife should speak to the Chinaman. She took him aside in his turn and expostulated; he was ruining the girl's reputation, he was doing harm to the house, he must see how wrong and wicked his conduct was; but she was met with smiling denials; Herr Sung did not know what she was talking about, he was not paying any attention to Fraulein Cacilie, he never walked with her; it was all untrue, every word of it. "Ach, Herr Sung, how can you say such things? You've been seen again and again." "No, you're mistaken. It's untrue." He looked at her with an unceasing smile, which showed his even, little white teeth. He was quite calm. He denied everything. He denied with bland effrontery. At last the Frau Professor lost her temper and said the girl had confessed she loved him. He was not moved. He continued to smile. "Nonsense! Nonsense! It's all untrue." She could get nothing out of him. The weather grew very bad; there was snow and frost, and then a thaw with a long succession of cheerless days, on which walking was a poor amusement. One evening when Philip had just finished his German lesson with the Herr Professor and was standing for a moment in the drawing-room, talking to Frau Erlin, Anna came quickly in. "Mamma, where is Cacilie?" she said. "I suppose she's in her room." "There's no light in it." The Frau Professor gave an exclamation, and she looked at her daughter in dismay. The thought which was in Anna's head had flashed across hers. "Ring for Emil," she said hoarsely. This was the stupid lout who waited at table and did most of the housework. He came in. "Emil, go down to Herr Sung's room and enter without knocking. If anyone is there say you came in to see about the stove." No sign of astonishment appeared on Emil's phlegmatic face. He went slowly downstairs. The Frau Professor and Anna left the door open and listened. Presently they heard Emil come up again, and they called him. "Was anyone there?" asked the Frau Professor. "Yes, Herr Sung was there." "Was he alone?" The beginning of a cunning smile narrowed his mouth. "No, Fraulein Cacilie was there." "Oh, it's disgraceful," cried the Frau Professor. Now he smiled broadly. "Fraulein Cacilie is there every evening. She spends hours at a time there." Frau Professor began to wring her hands. "Oh, how abominable! But why didn't you tell me?" "It was no business of mine," he answered, slowly shrugging his shoulders. "I suppose they paid you well. Go away. Go." He lurched clumsily to the door. "They must go away, mamma," said Anna. "And who is going to pay the rent? And the taxes are falling due. It's all very well for you to say they must go away. If they go away I can't pay the bills." She turned to Philip, with tears streaming down her face. "Ach, Herr Carey, you will not say what you have heard. If Fraulein Forster--" this was the Dutch spinster--"if Fraulein Forster knew she would leave at once. And if they all go we must close the house. I cannot afford to keep it." "Of course I won't say anything." "If she stays, I will not speak to her," said Anna. That evening at supper Fraulein Cacilie, redder than usual, with a look of obstinacy on her face, took her place punctually; but Herr Sung did not appear, and for a while Philip thought he was going to shirk the ordeal. At last he came, very smiling, his little eyes dancing with the apologies he made for his late arrival. He insisted as usual on pouring out the Frau Professor a glass of his Moselle, and he offered a glass to Fraulein Forster. The room was very hot, for the stove had been alight all day and the windows were seldom opened. Emil blundered about, but succeeded somehow in serving everyone quickly and with order. The three old ladies sat in silence, visibly disapproving: the Frau Professor had scarcely recovered from her tears; her husband was silent and oppressed. Conversation languished. It seemed to Philip that there was something dreadful in that gathering which he had sat with so often; they looked different under the light of the two hanging lamps from what they had ever looked before; he was vaguely uneasy. Once he caught Cacilie's eye, and he thought she looked at him with hatred and contempt. The room was stifling. It was as though the beastly passion of that pair troubled them all; there was a feeling of Oriental depravity; a faint savour of joss-sticks, a mystery of hidden vices, seemed to make their breath heavy. Philip could feel the beating of the arteries in his forehead. He could not understand what strange emotion distracted him; he seemed to feel something infinitely attractive, and yet he was repelled and horrified. For several days things went on. The air was sickly with the unnatural passion which all felt about them, and the nerves of the little household seemed to grow exasperated. Only Herr Sung remained unaffected; he was no less smiling, affable, and polite than he had been before: one could not tell whether his manner was a triumph of civilisation or an expression of contempt on the part of the Oriental for the vanquished West. Cacilie was flaunting and cynical. At last even the Frau Professor could bear the position no longer. Suddenly panic seized her; for Professor Erlin with brutal frankness had suggested the possible consequences of an intrigue which was now manifest to everyone, and she saw her good name in Heidelberg and the repute of her house ruined by a scandal which could not possibly be hidden. For some reason, blinded perhaps by her interests, this possibility had never occurred to her; and now, her wits muddled by a terrible fear, she could hardly be prevented from turning the girl out of the house at once. It was due to Anna's good sense that a cautious letter was written to the uncle in Berlin suggesting that Cacilie should be taken away. But having made up her mind to lose the two lodgers, the Frau Professor could not resist the satisfaction of giving rein to the ill-temper she had curbed so long. She was free now to say anything she liked to Cacilie. "I have written to your uncle, Cacilie, to take you away. I cannot have you in my house any longer." Her little round eyes sparkled when she noticed the sudden whiteness of the girl's face. "You're shameless. Shameless," she went on. She called her foul names. "What did you say to my uncle Heinrich, Frau Professor?" the girl asked, suddenly falling from her attitude of flaunting independence. "Oh, he'll tell you himself. I expect to get a letter from him tomorrow." Next day, in order to make the humiliation more public, at supper she called down the table to Cacilie. "I have had a letter from your uncle, Cacilie. You are to pack your things tonight, and we will put you in the train tomorrow morning. He will meet you himself in Berlin at the Central Bahnhof." "Very good, Frau Professor." Herr Sung smiled in the Frau Professor's eyes, and notwithstanding her protests insisted on pouring out a glass of wine for her. The Frau Professor ate her supper with a good appetite. But she had triumphed unwisely. Just before going to bed she called the servant. "Emil, if Fraulein Cacilie's box is ready you had better take it downstairs tonight. The porter will fetch it before breakfast." The servant went away and in a moment came back. "Fraulein Cacilie is not in her room, and her bag has gone." With a cry the Frau Professor hurried along: the box was on the floor, strapped and locked; but there was no bag, and neither hat nor cloak. The dressing-table was empty. Breathing heavily, the Frau Professor ran downstairs to the Chinaman's rooms, she had not moved so quickly for twenty years, and Emil called out after her to beware she did not fall; she did not trouble to knock, but burst in. The rooms were empty. The luggage had gone, and the door into the garden, still open, showed how it had been got away. In an envelope on the table were notes for the money due on the month's board and an approximate sum for extras. Groaning, suddenly overcome by her haste, the Frau Professor sank obesely on to a sofa. There could be no doubt. The pair had gone off together. Emil remained stolid and unmoved. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXI Hayward, after saying for a month that he was going South next day and delaying from week to week out of inability to make up his mind to the bother of packing and the tedium of a journey, had at last been driven off just before Christmas by the preparations for that festival. He could not support the thought of a Teutonic merry-making. It gave him goose-flesh to think of the season's aggressive cheerfulness, and in his desire to avoid the obvious he determined to travel on Christmas Eve. Philip was not sorry to see him off, for he was a downright person and it irritated him that anybody should not know his own mind. Though much under Hayward's influence, he would not grant that indecision pointed to a charming sensitiveness; and he resented the shadow of a sneer with which Hayward looked upon his straight ways. They corresponded. Hayward was an admirable letter-writer, and knowing his talent took pains with his letters. His temperament was receptive to the beautiful influences with which he came in contact, and he was able in his letters from Rome to put a subtle fragrance of Italy. He thought the city of the ancient Romans a little vulgar, finding distinction only in the decadence of the Empire; but the Rome of the Popes appealed to his sympathy, and in his chosen words, quite exquisitely, there appeared a rococo beauty. He wrote of old church music and the Alban Hills, and of the languor of incense and the charm of the streets by night, in the rain, when the pavements shone and the light of the street lamps was mysterious. Perhaps he repeated these admirable letters to various friends. He did not know what a troubling effect they had upon Philip; they seemed to make his life very humdrum. With the spring Hayward grew dithyrambic. He proposed that Philip should come down to Italy. He was wasting his time at Heidelberg. The Germans were gross and life there was common; how could the soul come to her own in that prim landscape? In Tuscany the spring was scattering flowers through the land, and Philip was nineteen; let him come and they could wander through the mountain towns of Umbria. Their names sang in Philip's heart. And Cacilie too, with her lover, had gone to Italy. When he thought of them Philip was seized with a restlessness he could not account for. He cursed his fate because he had no money to travel, and he knew his uncle would not send him more than the fifteen pounds a month which had been agreed upon. He had not managed his allowance very well. His pension and the price of his lessons left him very little over, and he had found going about with Hayward expensive. Hayward had often suggested excursions, a visit to the play, or a bottle of wine, when Philip had come to the end of his month's money; and with the folly of his age he had been unwilling to confess he could not afford an extravagance. Luckily Hayward's letters came seldom, and in the intervals Philip settled down again to his industrious life. He had matriculated at the university and attended one or two courses of lectures. Kuno Fischer was then at the height of his fame and during the winter had been lecturing brilliantly on Schopenhauer. It was Philip's introduction to philosophy. He had a practical mind and moved uneasily amid the abstract; but he found an unexpected fascination in listening to metaphysical disquisitions; they made him breathless; it was a little like watching a tight-rope dancer doing perilous feats over an abyss; but it was very exciting. The pessimism of the subject attracted his youth; and he believed that the world he was about to enter was a place of pitiless woe and of darkness. That made him none the less eager to enter it; and when, in due course, Mrs. Carey, acting as the correspondent for his guardian's views, suggested that it was time for him to come back to England, he agreed with enthusiasm. He must make up his mind now what he meant to do. If he left Heidelberg at the end of July they could talk things over during August, and it would be a good time to make arrangements. The date of his departure was settled, and Mrs. Carey wrote to him again. She reminded him of Miss Wilkinson, through whose kindness he had gone to Frau Erlin's house at Heidelberg, and told him that she had arranged to spend a few weeks with them at Blackstable. She would be crossing from Flushing on such and such a day, and if he travelled at the same time he could look after her and come on to Blackstable in her company. Philip's shyness immediately made him write to say that he could not leave till a day or two afterwards. He pictured himself looking out for Miss Wilkinson, the embarrassment of going up to her and asking if it were she (and he might so easily address the wrong person and be snubbed), and then the difficulty of knowing whether in the train he ought to talk to her or whether he could ignore her and read his book. At last he left Heidelberg. For three months he had been thinking of nothing but the future; and he went without regret. He never knew that he had been happy there. Fraulein Anna gave him a copy of Der Trompeter von Sackingen and in return he presented her with a volume of William Morris. Very wisely neither of them ever read the other's present. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 22-31

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These chapters concern Philip's stay in Heidelberg, Germany, where he studies German, Latin, French, mathematics, philosophy and literature. . Miss Wilkinson, an old friend of Mr. Carey's, lives in Berlin and recommends Professor Erlin, a high school teacher, to teach Philip in Heidelberg. His wife runs the boarding house where Philip lives with the family, including boarders, and two grown daughters Thekla and Anna. . Philip is shown his room in a turret, and he is thrilled to be free at last. At dinner in the dining room he meets the tall middle-aged professor, who speaks archaic English, and he counts sixteen people there. Some are old ladies, but two young girls catch his attention, Fraulein Hedwig and Cacilie with a long braid down her back. There is a Chinaman and some Americans, whom he has been taught are barbaric. . The young ladies ask him to go for a walk, and he walks by Anna and Hedwig. He had never known any girls before. His only image of how to be with women comes from books, especially Byron. He is embarrassed and says nothing but is thrilled by the beauty of the Rhine valley from a hill. . He enjoys his new freedom. He studies Latin and German with the professor, French from a Frenchman and mathematics from Wharton, an Englishman at the university. Wharton lives in a shabby room but loves the freedom of university life. Philip learns more about life from him than math. Philip tells him he has a year in Germany and then he is expected to go to Oxford. Wharton is contemptuous of Oxford, and this is a new perspective for Philip. . Philip is dazzled by the colors in the German landscape and wanders around the hills with the young women of the house. Philip hears conversations at table about cultural topics. Professor Erlin is upset by the plays of Ibsen and the music of Wagner. He makes a list of safe books for Philip, including Goethe. He predicts that Wagner has no future. . Philip's French teacher, Monsieur Ducroz from Geneva, is an odd old man with shabby clothes. He teaches well but without enthusiasm. He is an old revolutionary who had fought for liberty and human rights in the period around 1848 but now is broken by poverty and age. Philip kindly pays him in advance during a period of illness so he can rest. The money keeps him from starving. . An Englishman named Hayward comes to stay at the house and befriends Philip. He is twenty-six and fair-haired. Philip listens to the conversations between Hayward and Weeks, the American theology student, learning important issues of the day. He has never heard conversation like this, and at first is most impressed by Hayward who likes to talk. Hayward puts down everything Philip was taught to revere and extols authors and ideas that are popular with intellectuals. He speaks of avant garde literature like Madame Bovary, Verlaine, Omar Khayyam, and Browning. He had spent time at Cambridge but makes getting a degree sound vulgar. He tries to avoid the ugly in life and is a follower of the ideas of the art critic, Ruskin. . Hayward has a true love of literature, which he passes on to Philip. Weeks, the American, seems a bloodless man but is a very intellectual Unitarian. Philip and Hayward join Weeks in his rooms for conversations. Each man gives Philip the books and ideas he would never get at home that lead to his intellectual growth and independence. These conversations amuse the two men but represent a revolution in thinking for the young Philip, for though he has been rebellious, he had no idea that others discussed religion as an intellectual topic. . Philip is amazed that someone he had been taught was wicked--a Unitarian--a virtual unbeliever, is kind and more Christian than Christians. Philip experiments by going to a Lutheran church, a Catholic church, and then he wonders whether the Chinaman, Sung, is condemned to hell just because he is Chinese. Suddenly, Philip realizes he does not believe in God. He puts off the faith of childhood like a cloak, and feels free. . Standing on the hill overlooking the valley, he is moved by its beauty and his freedom. He wants to experience life free of shame. He feels intellectual pride. Attending the plays of Ibsen with Hayward, he becomes passionate about theatre, for it opens the world of intense experience to him, even if it is sordid and depressing. He wants to go to London and begin his own life. He becomes vaguely aware that Hayward visits prostitutes, and he is horrified passing through the red light district but feels ridiculous that he has not experienced sex. . He becomes aware of the affair going on between Cacilie and Herr Sung. They do not hide it, and the Frau Professor does not know what to do, for it means the ruin of her establishment. The boarders threaten to leave, so the Frau writes to Cacile's uncle to take her away, forcing the couple to elope. Philip has been fascinated but repulsed by their forbidden passion. . Hayward goes to Italy, writing Philip letters that lure him, but he settles down to work, taking courses at the university on philosophy. At last, at the age of nineteen, he leaves Heidelberg for home.

Commentary on Chapters XXII--XXXI . Philip is fairly happy in his life for the first time since his mother died, living comfortably in a home that contrasts to the Carey's in terms of freedom and good will. In addition, he learns a perspective in Germany he could not have received at Oxford. He confronts many social and religious beliefs that he grew up with and finds them false. His physical freedom is matched with intellectual freedom to investigate and discuss. . One assumption is class superiority. Weeks, the American, and Hayward, the English traveler, poke fun at the definition of a gentleman. Philip realizes that it refers to only someone English from the Church of England who has a proper occupation and way of speaking and acting. This excludes most of the world from consideration. He finds Weeks very good and worth listening to, despite his prejudice that he, Philip, is a gentleman and Weeks is not. . Hayward, though a "waster" or idle talker, opens Philip to an interest in literature and theatre. Hayward, a follower of Ruskin's ideas on art, believes only in The Whole, the Good, and the Beautiful. This makes him an aesthete, more moved by the feeling that something is beautiful, than by its usefulness. Other words for this kind of person might be Bohemian or hippie in more recent times. He likes to be hip with books and art and ideas, but he also shows Philip the theatre and is good at reciting poetry. Weeks sums him up as a common type: "He lives in small hotels . . . he stands by . . . the Botticellis in Florence . . . He always admires the right thing . . . and one of these days he's going to write a great work" . The narrator admits Hayward was a dangerous person to be influencing Philip, for he sees things larger than life size "with the outlines blurred" . . Another important discussion is religion. Hayward does not take anything very seriously and vaguely yearns to be Catholic because of the beauty of the ceremony. Weeks is the kind of person his aunt and uncle would not look at in the street or admit existed--a Unitarian, or dissenter. Weeks and Hayward both laugh when Philip says the word, "dissenter" as though it means a monster. Weeks is a Unitarian, the religion of Emerson. Unitarians believe in a divine being but not in the divinity of Christ. Weeks gives him Renan's book on the life of Jesus, which asserts Christ was only a man. Such new ideas were quickly tearing down the solid Victorian smugness that the Careys represent. . Philip decides that he no longer believes in God: "faith had been forced on him from the outside" . He feels superior to those who do believe and free of the old shame. He realizes the price, however, for it means he will never see his mother again if he does not believe in immortality. He ironically wants to thank God for no longer believing in Him! . Finally, Philip begins to awaken to sex, both attracted and repulsed by it. The affair between Sung and the German girl seems like "beastly passion" and "Oriental depravity" . The hint of Hayward's visit to prostitutes "differed too terribly from the ideal of his dreams" . He wants, however, to have a romance. . The narrator concludes from this section that youth is not as happy as we suppose, for it is a time of rude awakening to the lies that have been told about life. The young want to embrace experience as an antidote and see for themselves.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_32_to_35.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_6_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 32-35

chapters 32-35

{"name": "Chapters 32-35", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter32-35", "summary": "These chapters tell the summer visit to his aunt and uncle Carey in Blackstable where Philip has his first affair. . At the vicarage, Philip meets Emily Wilkinson, the governess friend of the Careys who had recommended his teacher in Germany. She is also staying the summer on vacation. She is somewhat attractive, estimated by the Careys to be between 35 and 40. She and Philip get on because she is a modern woman influenced by her years working in Paris and Berlin. She has some affectations, speaks French phrases and English with a French accent. She talks incessantly of the mysteries of Paris, exciting Philip with hinted stories of her love affairs and the artists she met. She has a sense of humor and understands his jokes. . He realizes slowly that she is flirting, and he has to figure out how to court a woman, taking her suggestions about how the French men know how to make love. He is somewhat repulsed by her older appearance, though she dresses well. He cannot understand why she looks old in the morning and pretty at night in the dark. They walk in the gardens, read and discuss, and she gives him music lessons. They attend parties and tennis matches. Finally, he figures out a way to be alone with her in the house while the family is at church. He goes to her bedroom, and despite the fact he is suddenly not attracted, he manages to have his first sexual experience. . The next day he is revolted by her, but she is suddenly in love with him and speaks French endearments. He thinks, \"What rot women talk!\" But he ironically speaks equal rot by writing a letter to Hayward of his exploit, dressing it up with his fantasy of the way he wished it had been--a young beautiful girl whose \"laughter was like a rippling brook\" . . Philip takes it as an adventure and feels manly, completely surprised that Miss Wilkinson expresses real love and wants his constant attention now. She tries to make him feel guilty and obligated, and he is happy when the summer is over and he can be rid of her demands. She expects him to write every day. He receives a letter from Hayward full of enthusiasm for his perfect first love, and Philip is disgusted because everyone has taken seriously what for him was play. . Meanwhile, Philip has been surprised at how old his aunt and uncle appear. The uncle now seems insignificant to him and his aunt very frail and ready to blow away. He thinks what a pity their lives never amounted to anything and they will die, a waste. He does not want this for himself. He does feel some affection for his aunt who obviously loves him and has missed him. . He does not want to go to Oxford, and his uncle can't afford it. They settle on his being a chartered accountant. He does not much care, just so he can get to London to begin his life. He will pay three hundred pounds to Herbert Carter to be an articled pupil for five years. The uncle is assured that although accountancy is not one of the traditional occupations for a gentleman, it is becoming so in the modern world with the rise of business.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XXXII-XXXV . Philip is the arrogant young man of nineteen here, but there is a lot of humor in these chapters, while they introduce themes that will later become tragic. It is all from the young man's point of view, and his aim and Emily's are opposite. . She is the clergy daughter whose only chances have been marriage or becoming a governess. She is too much of a free spirit to have stayed at home and tries to make her governess positions sound glamorous. Whether or not she has had all the affairs she hints of, she does have some genuine feeling for Philip and even suggests moving to London to be near him. He is appalled at her demanding ways and declaration of love, because for him, \"It was the most thrilling game he had ever played; and the wonderful thing was that he felt almost all he said\" . Here it is evident that he is not clear about the difference between his fantasy and reality. He is just trying to learn the part of a lover because it is a new role. He is a bit cold and heartless. . When first aware that Emily is flirting, he is surprised because \"he had expected more glamour\" . She is not the heroine of a book, and he is constantly agonizing about her age or turned off every other moment by some defect like her thick ankles. He describes his exploit in the letter to Hayward, not as it happened, but as a scene out of the novel he just read, Scenes of Bohemian Life by Murger. . It is a game and a part for him. He can't understand why her feelings are hurt. For that matter, he has trouble relating to his aunt and uncle as human beings as well, dismissing them as useless old people whose lives are past. Emily is the first woman who has been attracted to him, and that gives him the confidence to flirt with girls at a tennis match, an act that hurts her. He has not yet learned what others feel or his effect on them. . Perhaps Emily wants a husband or lover to get out of being a governess. The Careys make much of her social standing. She is defined as a \"lady\" because she is a clergyman's daughter. She is getting older, and there is more at stake for her than for him, as she points out. They do have some important things in common: they come from the same class, are educated, have a liberal modern point of view, have the same sense of humor, and even smoke cigarettes together. They amuse one another, and she teaches him music. However, her possessiveness and demands on him spoil it. He \"felt a queer pang of bitterness because reality seemed so different from the ideal\" . But he puts it behind him easily, anxious to get on to his real life. . One of the surprising things is that his lameness does not seem to be an issue for her, and he has surprisingly been able to learn tennis and is good at it."}

<CHAPTER> XXXII Philip was surprised when he saw his uncle and aunt. He had never noticed before that they were quite old people. The Vicar received him with his usual, not unamiable indifference. He was a little stouter, a little balder, a little grayer. Philip saw how insignificant he was. His face was weak and self-indulgent. Aunt Louisa took him in her arms and kissed him; and tears of happiness flowed down her cheeks. Philip was touched and embarrassed; he had not known with what a hungry love she cared for him. "Oh, the time has seemed long since you've been away, Philip," she cried. She stroked his hands and looked into his face with glad eyes. "You've grown. You're quite a man now." There was a very small moustache on his upper lip. He had bought a razor and now and then with infinite care shaved the down off his smooth chin. "We've been so lonely without you." And then shyly, with a little break in her voice, she asked: "You are glad to come back to your home, aren't you?" "Yes, rather." She was so thin that she seemed almost transparent, the arms she put round his neck were frail bones that reminded you of chicken bones, and her faded face was oh! so wrinkled. The gray curls which she still wore in the fashion of her youth gave her a queer, pathetic look; and her little withered body was like an autumn leaf, you felt it might be blown away by the first sharp wind. Philip realised that they had done with life, these two quiet little people: they belonged to a past generation, and they were waiting there patiently, rather stupidly, for death; and he, in his vigour and his youth, thirsting for excitement and adventure, was appalled at the waste. They had done nothing, and when they went it would be just as if they had never been. He felt a great pity for Aunt Louisa, and he loved her suddenly because she loved him. Then Miss Wilkinson, who had kept discreetly out of the way till the Careys had had a chance of welcoming their nephew, came into the room. "This is Miss Wilkinson, Philip," said Mrs. Carey. "The prodigal has returned," she said, holding out her hand. "I have brought a rose for the prodigal's buttonhole." With a gay smile she pinned to Philip's coat the flower she had just picked in the garden. He blushed and felt foolish. He knew that Miss Wilkinson was the daughter of his Uncle William's last rector, and he had a wide acquaintance with the daughters of clergymen. They wore ill-cut clothes and stout boots. They were generally dressed in black, for in Philip's early years at Blackstable homespuns had not reached East Anglia, and the ladies of the clergy did not favour colours. Their hair was done very untidily, and they smelt aggressively of starched linen. They considered the feminine graces unbecoming and looked the same whether they were old or young. They bore their religion arrogantly. The closeness of their connection with the church made them adopt a slightly dictatorial attitude to the rest of mankind. Miss Wilkinson was very different. She wore a white muslin gown stamped with gay little bunches of flowers, and pointed, high-heeled shoes, with open-work stockings. To Philip's inexperience it seemed that she was wonderfully dressed; he did not see that her frock was cheap and showy. Her hair was elaborately dressed, with a neat curl in the middle of the forehead: it was very black, shiny and hard, and it looked as though it could never be in the least disarranged. She had large black eyes and her nose was slightly aquiline; in profile she had somewhat the look of a bird of prey, but full face she was prepossessing. She smiled a great deal, but her mouth was large and when she smiled she tried to hide her teeth, which were big and rather yellow. But what embarrassed Philip most was that she was heavily powdered: he had very strict views on feminine behaviour and did not think a lady ever powdered; but of course Miss Wilkinson was a lady because she was a clergyman's daughter, and a clergyman was a gentleman. Philip made up his mind to dislike her thoroughly. She spoke with a slight French accent; and he did not know why she should, since she had been born and bred in the heart of England. He thought her smile affected, and the coy sprightliness of her manner irritated him. For two or three days he remained silent and hostile, but Miss Wilkinson apparently did not notice it. She was very affable. She addressed her conversation almost exclusively to him, and there was something flattering in the way she appealed constantly to his sane judgment. She made him laugh too, and Philip could never resist people who amused him: he had a gift now and then of saying neat things; and it was pleasant to have an appreciative listener. Neither the Vicar nor Mrs. Carey had a sense of humour, and they never laughed at anything he said. As he grew used to Miss Wilkinson, and his shyness left him, he began to like her better; he found the French accent picturesque; and at a garden party which the doctor gave she was very much better dressed than anyone else. She wore a blue foulard with large white spots, and Philip was tickled at the sensation it caused. "I'm certain they think you're no better than you should be," he told her, laughing. "It's the dream of my life to be taken for an abandoned hussy," she answered. One day when Miss Wilkinson was in her room he asked Aunt Louisa how old she was. "Oh, my dear, you should never ask a lady's age; but she's certainly too old for you to marry." The Vicar gave his slow, obese smile. "She's no chicken, Louisa," he said. "She was nearly grown up when we were in Lincolnshire, and that was twenty years ago. She wore a pigtail hanging down her back." "She may not have been more than ten," said Philip. "She was older than that," said Aunt Louisa. "I think she was near twenty," said the Vicar. "Oh no, William. Sixteen or seventeen at the outside." "That would make her well over thirty," said Philip. At that moment Miss Wilkinson tripped downstairs, singing a song by Benjamin Goddard. She had put her hat on, for she and Philip were going for a walk, and she held out her hand for him to button her glove. He did it awkwardly. He felt embarrassed but gallant. Conversation went easily between them now, and as they strolled along they talked of all manner of things. She told Philip about Berlin, and he told her of his year in Heidelberg. As he spoke, things which had appeared of no importance gained a new interest: he described the people at Frau Erlin's house; and to the conversations between Hayward and Weeks, which at the time seemed so significant, he gave a little twist, so that they looked absurd. He was flattered at Miss Wilkinson's laughter. "I'm quite frightened of you," she said. "You're so sarcastic." Then she asked him playfully whether he had not had any love affairs at Heidelberg. Without thinking, he frankly answered that he had not; but she refused to believe him. "How secretive you are!" she said. "At your age is it likely?" He blushed and laughed. "You want to know too much," he said. "Ah, I thought so," she laughed triumphantly. "Look at him blushing." He was pleased that she should think he had been a sad dog, and he changed the conversation so as to make her believe he had all sorts of romantic things to conceal. He was angry with himself that he had not. There had been no opportunity. Miss Wilkinson was dissatisfied with her lot. She resented having to earn her living and told Philip a long story of an uncle of her mother's, who had been expected to leave her a fortune but had married his cook and changed his will. She hinted at the luxury of her home and compared her life in Lincolnshire, with horses to ride and carriages to drive in, with the mean dependence of her present state. Philip was a little puzzled when he mentioned this afterwards to Aunt Louisa, and she told him that when she knew the Wilkinsons they had never had anything more than a pony and a dog-cart; Aunt Louisa had heard of the rich uncle, but as he was married and had children before Emily was born she could never have had much hope of inheriting his fortune. Miss Wilkinson had little good to say of Berlin, where she was now in a situation. She complained of the vulgarity of German life, and compared it bitterly with the brilliance of Paris, where she had spent a number of years. She did not say how many. She had been governess in the family of a fashionable portrait-painter, who had married a Jewish wife of means, and in their house she had met many distinguished people. She dazzled Philip with their names. Actors from the Comedie Francaise had come to the house frequently, and Coquelin, sitting next her at dinner, had told her he had never met a foreigner who spoke such perfect French. Alphonse Daudet had come also, and he had given her a copy of Sappho: he had promised to write her name in it, but she had forgotten to remind him. She treasured the volume none the less and she would lend it to Philip. Then there was Maupassant. Miss Wilkinson with a rippling laugh looked at Philip knowingly. What a man, but what a writer! Hayward had talked of Maupassant, and his reputation was not unknown to Philip. "Did he make love to you?" he asked. The words seemed to stick funnily in his throat, but he asked them nevertheless. He liked Miss Wilkinson very much now, and was thrilled by her conversation, but he could not imagine anyone making love to her. "What a question!" she cried. "Poor Guy, he made love to every woman he met. It was a habit that he could not break himself of." She sighed a little, and seemed to look back tenderly on the past. "He was a charming man," she murmured. A greater experience than Philip's would have guessed from these words the probabilities of the encounter: the distinguished writer invited to luncheon en famille, the governess coming in sedately with the two tall girls she was teaching; the introduction: "Notre Miss Anglaise." "Mademoiselle." And the luncheon during which the Miss Anglaise sat silent while the distinguished writer talked to his host and hostess. But to Philip her words called up much more romantic fancies. "Do tell me all about him," he said excitedly. "There's nothing to tell," she said truthfully, but in such a manner as to convey that three volumes would scarcely have contained the lurid facts. "You mustn't be curious." She began to talk of Paris. She loved the boulevards and the Bois. There was grace in every street, and the trees in the Champs Elysees had a distinction which trees had not elsewhere. They were sitting on a stile now by the high-road, and Miss Wilkinson looked with disdain upon the stately elms in front of them. And the theatres: the plays were brilliant, and the acting was incomparable. She often went with Madame Foyot, the mother of the girls she was educating, when she was trying on clothes. "Oh, what a misery to be poor!" she cried. "These beautiful things, it's only in Paris they know how to dress, and not to be able to afford them! Poor Madame Foyot, she had no figure. Sometimes the dressmaker used to whisper to me: 'Ah, Mademoiselle, if she only had your figure.'" Philip noticed then that Miss Wilkinson had a robust form and was proud of it. "Men are so stupid in England. They only think of the face. The French, who are a nation of lovers, know how much more important the figure is." Philip had never thought of such things before, but he observed now that Miss Wilkinson's ankles were thick and ungainly. He withdrew his eyes quickly. "You should go to France. Why don't you go to Paris for a year? You would learn French, and it would--deniaiser you." "What is that?" asked Philip. She laughed slyly. "You must look it out in the dictionary. Englishmen do not know how to treat women. They are so shy. Shyness is ridiculous in a man. They don't know how to make love. They can't even tell a woman she is charming without looking foolish." Philip felt himself absurd. Miss Wilkinson evidently expected him to behave very differently; and he would have been delighted to say gallant and witty things, but they never occurred to him; and when they did he was too much afraid of making a fool of himself to say them. "Oh, I love Paris," sighed Miss Wilkinson. "But I had to go to Berlin. I was with the Foyots till the girls married, and then I could get nothing to do, and I had the chance of this post in Berlin. They're relations of Madame Foyot, and I accepted. I had a tiny apartment in the Rue Breda, on the cinquieme: it wasn't at all respectable. You know about the Rue Breda--ces dames, you know." Philip nodded, not knowing at all what she meant, but vaguely suspecting, and anxious she should not think him too ignorant. "But I didn't care. Je suis libre, n'est-ce pas?" She was very fond of speaking French, which indeed she spoke well. "Once I had such a curious adventure there." She paused a little and Philip pressed her to tell it. "You wouldn't tell me yours in Heidelberg," she said. "They were so unadventurous," he retorted. "I don't know what Mrs. Carey would say if she knew the sort of things we talk about together." "You don't imagine I shall tell her." "Will you promise?" When he had done this, she told him how an art-student who had a room on the floor above her--but she interrupted herself. "Why don't you go in for art? You paint so prettily." "Not well enough for that." "That is for others to judge. Je m'y connais, and I believe you have the making of a great artist." "Can't you see Uncle William's face if I suddenly told him I wanted to go to Paris and study art?" "You're your own master, aren't you?" "You're trying to put me off. Please go on with the story." Miss Wilkinson, with a little laugh, went on. The art-student had passed her several times on the stairs, and she had paid no particular attention. She saw that he had fine eyes, and he took off his hat very politely. And one day she found a letter slipped under her door. It was from him. He told her that he had adored her for months, and that he waited about the stairs for her to pass. Oh, it was a charming letter! Of course she did not reply, but what woman could help being flattered? And next day there was another letter! It was wonderful, passionate, and touching. When next she met him on the stairs she did not know which way to look. And every day the letters came, and now he begged her to see him. He said he would come in the evening, vers neuf heures, and she did not know what to do. Of course it was impossible, and he might ring and ring, but she would never open the door; and then while she was waiting for the tinkling of the bell, all nerves, suddenly he stood before her. She had forgotten to shut the door when she came in. "C'etait une fatalite." "And what happened then?" asked Philip. "That is the end of the story," she replied, with a ripple of laughter. Philip was silent for a moment. His heart beat quickly, and strange emotions seemed to be hustling one another in his heart. He saw the dark staircase and the chance meetings, and he admired the boldness of the letters--oh, he would never have dared to do that--and then the silent, almost mysterious entrance. It seemed to him the very soul of romance. "What was he like?" "Oh, he was handsome. Charmant garcon." "Do you know him still?" Philip felt a slight feeling of irritation as he asked this. "He treated me abominably. Men are always the same. You're heartless, all of you." "I don't know about that," said Philip, not without embarrassment. "Let us go home," said Miss Wilkinson. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXIII Philip could not get Miss Wilkinson's story out of his head. It was clear enough what she meant even though she cut it short, and he was a little shocked. That sort of thing was all very well for married women, he had read enough French novels to know that in France it was indeed the rule, but Miss Wilkinson was English and unmarried; her father was a clergyman. Then it struck him that the art-student probably was neither the first nor the last of her lovers, and he gasped: he had never looked upon Miss Wilkinson like that; it seemed incredible that anyone should make love to her. In his ingenuousness he doubted her story as little as he doubted what he read in books, and he was angry that such wonderful things never happened to him. It was humiliating that if Miss Wilkinson insisted upon his telling her of his adventures in Heidelberg he would have nothing to tell. It was true that he had some power of invention, but he was not sure whether he could persuade her that he was steeped in vice; women were full of intuition, he had read that, and she might easily discover that he was fibbing. He blushed scarlet as he thought of her laughing up her sleeve. Miss Wilkinson played the piano and sang in a rather tired voice; but her songs, Massenet, Benjamin Goddard, and Augusta Holmes, were new to Philip; and together they spent many hours at the piano. One day she wondered if he had a voice and insisted on trying it. She told him he had a pleasant baritone and offered to give him lessons. At first with his usual bashfulness he refused, but she insisted, and then every morning at a convenient time after breakfast she gave him an hour's lesson. She had a natural gift for teaching, and it was clear that she was an excellent governess. She had method and firmness. Though her French accent was so much part of her that it remained, all the mellifluousness of her manner left her when she was engaged in teaching. She put up with no nonsense. Her voice became a little peremptory, and instinctively she suppressed inattention and corrected slovenliness. She knew what she was about and put Philip to scales and exercises. When the lesson was over she resumed without effort her seductive smiles, her voice became again soft and winning, but Philip could not so easily put away the pupil as she the pedagogue; and this impression convicted with the feelings her stories had aroused in him. He looked at her more narrowly. He liked her much better in the evening than in the morning. In the morning she was rather lined and the skin of her neck was just a little rough. He wished she would hide it, but the weather was very warm just then and she wore blouses which were cut low. She was very fond of white; in the morning it did not suit her. At night she often looked very attractive, she put on a gown which was almost a dinner dress, and she wore a chain of garnets round her neck; the lace about her bosom and at her elbows gave her a pleasant softness, and the scent she wore (at Blackstable no one used anything but Eau de Cologne, and that only on Sundays or when suffering from a sick headache) was troubling and exotic. She really looked very young then. Philip was much exercised over her age. He added twenty and seventeen together, and could not bring them to a satisfactory total. He asked Aunt Louisa more than once why she thought Miss Wilkinson was thirty-seven: she didn't look more than thirty, and everyone knew that foreigners aged more rapidly than English women; Miss Wilkinson had lived so long abroad that she might almost be called a foreigner. He personally wouldn't have thought her more than twenty-six. "She's more than that," said Aunt Louisa. Philip did not believe in the accuracy of the Careys' statements. All they distinctly remembered was that Miss Wilkinson had not got her hair up the last time they saw her in Lincolnshire. Well, she might have been twelve then: it was so long ago and the Vicar was always so unreliable. They said it was twenty years ago, but people used round figures, and it was just as likely to be eighteen years, or seventeen. Seventeen and twelve were only twenty-nine, and hang it all, that wasn't old, was it? Cleopatra was forty-eight when Antony threw away the world for her sake. It was a fine summer. Day after day was hot and cloudless; but the heat was tempered by the neighbourhood of the sea, and there was a pleasant exhilaration in the air, so that one was excited and not oppressed by the August sunshine. There was a pond in the garden in which a fountain played; water lilies grew in it and gold fish sunned themselves on the surface. Philip and Miss Wilkinson used to take rugs and cushions there after dinner and lie on the lawn in the shade of a tall hedge of roses. They talked and read all the afternoon. They smoked cigarettes, which the Vicar did not allow in the house; he thought smoking a disgusting habit, and used frequently to say that it was disgraceful for anyone to grow a slave to a habit. He forgot that he was himself a slave to afternoon tea. One day Miss Wilkinson gave Philip La Vie de Boheme. She had found it by accident when she was rummaging among the books in the Vicar's study. It had been bought in a lot with something Mr. Carey wanted and had remained undiscovered for ten years. Philip began to read Murger's fascinating, ill-written, absurd masterpiece, and fell at once under its spell. His soul danced with joy at that picture of starvation which is so good-humoured, of squalor which is so picturesque, of sordid love which is so romantic, of bathos which is so moving. Rodolphe and Mimi, Musette and Schaunard! They wander through the gray streets of the Latin Quarter, finding refuge now in one attic, now in another, in their quaint costumes of Louis Philippe, with their tears and their smiles, happy-go-lucky and reckless. Who can resist them? It is only when you return to the book with a sounder judgment that you find how gross their pleasures were, how vulgar their minds; and you feel the utter worthlessness, as artists and as human beings, of that gay procession. Philip was enraptured. "Don't you wish you were going to Paris instead of London?" asked Miss Wilkinson, smiling at his enthusiasm. "It's too late now even if I did," he answered. During the fortnight he had been back from Germany there had been much discussion between himself and his uncle about his future. He had refused definitely to go to Oxford, and now that there was no chance of his getting scholarships even Mr. Carey came to the conclusion that he could not afford it. His entire fortune had consisted of only two thousand pounds, and though it had been invested in mortgages at five per cent, he had not been able to live on the interest. It was now a little reduced. It would be absurd to spend two hundred a year, the least he could live on at a university, for three years at Oxford which would lead him no nearer to earning his living. He was anxious to go straight to London. Mrs. Carey thought there were only four professions for a gentleman, the Army, the Navy, the Law, and the Church. She had added medicine because her brother-in-law practised it, but did not forget that in her young days no one ever considered the doctor a gentleman. The first two were out of the question, and Philip was firm in his refusal to be ordained. Only the law remained. The local doctor had suggested that many gentlemen now went in for engineering, but Mrs. Carey opposed the idea at once. "I shouldn't like Philip to go into trade," she said. "No, he must have a profession," answered the Vicar. "Why not make him a doctor like his father?" "I should hate it," said Philip. Mrs. Carey was not sorry. The Bar seemed out of the question, since he was not going to Oxford, for the Careys were under the impression that a degree was still necessary for success in that calling; and finally it was suggested that he should become articled to a solicitor. They wrote to the family lawyer, Albert Nixon, who was co-executor with the Vicar of Blackstable for the late Henry Carey's estate, and asked him whether he would take Philip. In a day or two the answer came back that he had not a vacancy, and was very much opposed to the whole scheme; the profession was greatly overcrowded, and without capital or connections a man had small chance of becoming more than a managing clerk; he suggested, however, that Philip should become a chartered accountant. Neither the Vicar nor his wife knew in the least what this was, and Philip had never heard of anyone being a chartered accountant; but another letter from the solicitor explained that the growth of modern businesses and the increase of companies had led to the formation of many firms of accountants to examine the books and put into the financial affairs of their clients an order which old-fashioned methods had lacked. Some years before a Royal Charter had been obtained, and the profession was becoming every year more respectable, lucrative, and important. The chartered accountants whom Albert Nixon had employed for thirty years happened to have a vacancy for an articled pupil, and would take Philip for a fee of three hundred pounds. Half of this would be returned during the five years the articles lasted in the form of salary. The prospect was not exciting, but Philip felt that he must decide on something, and the thought of living in London over-balanced the slight shrinking he felt. The Vicar of Blackstable wrote to ask Mr. Nixon whether it was a profession suited to a gentleman; and Mr. Nixon replied that, since the Charter, men were going into it who had been to public schools and a university; moreover, if Philip disliked the work and after a year wished to leave, Herbert Carter, for that was the accountant's name, would return half the money paid for the articles. This settled it, and it was arranged that Philip should start work on the fifteenth of September. "I have a full month before me," said Philip. "And then you go to freedom and I to bondage," returned Miss Wilkinson. Her holidays were to last six weeks, and she would be leaving Blackstable only a day or two before Philip. "I wonder if we shall ever meet again," she said. "I don't know why not." "Oh, don't speak in that practical way. I never knew anyone so unsentimental." Philip reddened. He was afraid that Miss Wilkinson would think him a milksop: after all she was a young woman, sometimes quite pretty, and he was getting on for twenty; it was absurd that they should talk of nothing but art and literature. He ought to make love to her. They had talked a good deal of love. There was the art-student in the Rue Breda, and then there was the painter in whose family she had lived so long in Paris: he had asked her to sit for him, and had started to make love to her so violently that she was forced to invent excuses not to sit to him again. It was clear enough that Miss Wilkinson was used to attentions of that sort. She looked very nice now in a large straw hat: it was hot that afternoon, the hottest day they had had, and beads of sweat stood in a line on her upper lip. He called to mind Fraulein Cacilie and Herr Sung. He had never thought of Cacilie in an amorous way, she was exceedingly plain; but now, looking back, the affair seemed very romantic. He had a chance of romance too. Miss Wilkinson was practically French, and that added zest to a possible adventure. When he thought of it at night in bed, or when he sat by himself in the garden reading a book, he was thrilled by it; but when he saw Miss Wilkinson it seemed less picturesque. At all events, after what she had told him, she would not be surprised if he made love to her. He had a feeling that she must think it odd of him to make no sign: perhaps it was only his fancy, but once or twice in the last day or two he had imagined that there was a suspicion of contempt in her eyes. "A penny for your thoughts," said Miss Wilkinson, looking at him with a smile. "I'm not going to tell you," he answered. He was thinking that he ought to kiss her there and then. He wondered if she expected him to do it; but after all he didn't see how he could without any preliminary business at all. She would just think him mad, or she might slap his face; and perhaps she would complain to his uncle. He wondered how Herr Sung had started with Fraulein Cacilie. It would be beastly if she told his uncle: he knew what his uncle was, he would tell the doctor and Josiah Graves; and he would look a perfect fool. Aunt Louisa kept on saying that Miss Wilkinson was thirty-seven if she was a day; he shuddered at the thought of the ridicule he would be exposed to; they would say she was old enough to be his mother. "Twopence for your thoughts," smiled Miss Wilkinson. "I was thinking about you," he answered boldly. That at all events committed him to nothing. "What were you thinking?" "Ah, now you want to know too much." "Naughty boy!" said Miss Wilkinson. There it was again! Whenever he had succeeded in working himself up she said something which reminded him of the governess. She called him playfully a naughty boy when he did not sing his exercises to her satisfaction. This time he grew quite sulky. "I wish you wouldn't treat me as if I were a child." "Are you cross?" "Very." "I didn't mean to." She put out her hand and he took it. Once or twice lately when they shook hands at night he had fancied she slightly pressed his hand, but this time there was no doubt about it. He did not quite know what he ought to say next. Here at last was his chance of an adventure, and he would be a fool not to take it; but it was a little ordinary, and he had expected more glamour. He had read many descriptions of love, and he felt in himself none of that uprush of emotion which novelists described; he was not carried off his feet in wave upon wave of passion; nor was Miss Wilkinson the ideal: he had often pictured to himself the great violet eyes and the alabaster skin of some lovely girl, and he had thought of himself burying his face in the rippling masses of her auburn hair. He could not imagine himself burying his face in Miss Wilkinson's hair, it always struck him as a little sticky. All the same it would be very satisfactory to have an intrigue, and he thrilled with the legitimate pride he would enjoy in his conquest. He owed it to himself to seduce her. He made up his mind to kiss Miss Wilkinson; not then, but in the evening; it would be easier in the dark, and after he had kissed her the rest would follow. He would kiss her that very evening. He swore an oath to that effect. He laid his plans. After supper he suggested that they should take a stroll in the garden. Miss Wilkinson accepted, and they sauntered side by side. Philip was very nervous. He did not know why, but the conversation would not lead in the right direction; he had decided that the first thing to do was to put his arm round her waist; but he could not suddenly put his arm round her waist when she was talking of the regatta which was to be held next week. He led her artfully into the darkest parts of the garden, but having arrived there his courage failed him. They sat on a bench, and he had really made up his mind that here was his opportunity when Miss Wilkinson said she was sure there were earwigs and insisted on moving. They walked round the garden once more, and Philip promised himself he would take the plunge before they arrived at that bench again; but as they passed the house, they saw Mrs. Carey standing at the door. "Hadn't you young people better come in? I'm sure the night air isn't good for you." "Perhaps we had better go in," said Philip. "I don't want you to catch cold." He said it with a sigh of relief. He could attempt nothing more that night. But afterwards, when he was alone in his room, he was furious with himself. He had been a perfect fool. He was certain that Miss Wilkinson expected him to kiss her, otherwise she wouldn't have come into the garden. She was always saying that only Frenchmen knew how to treat women. Philip had read French novels. If he had been a Frenchman he would have seized her in his arms and told her passionately that he adored her; he would have pressed his lips on her nuque. He did not know why Frenchmen always kissed ladies on the nuque. He did not himself see anything so very attractive in the nape of the neck. Of course it was much easier for Frenchmen to do these things; the language was such an aid; Philip could never help feeling that to say passionate things in English sounded a little absurd. He wished now that he had never undertaken the siege of Miss Wilkinson's virtue; the first fortnight had been so jolly, and now he was wretched; but he was determined not to give in, he would never respect himself again if he did, and he made up his mind irrevocably that the next night he would kiss her without fail. Next day when he got up he saw it was raining, and his first thought was that they would not be able to go into the garden that evening. He was in high spirits at breakfast. Miss Wilkinson sent Mary Ann in to say that she had a headache and would remain in bed. She did not come down till tea-time, when she appeared in a becoming wrapper and a pale face; but she was quite recovered by supper, and the meal was very cheerful. After prayers she said she would go straight to bed, and she kissed Mrs. Carey. Then she turned to Philip. "Good gracious!" she cried. "I was just going to kiss you too." "Why don't you?" he said. She laughed and held out her hand. She distinctly pressed his. The following day there was not a cloud in the sky, and the garden was sweet and fresh after the rain. Philip went down to the beach to bathe and when he came home ate a magnificent dinner. They were having a tennis party at the vicarage in the afternoon and Miss Wilkinson put on her best dress. She certainly knew how to wear her clothes, and Philip could not help noticing how elegant she looked beside the curate's wife and the doctor's married daughter. There were two roses in her waistband. She sat in a garden chair by the side of the lawn, holding a red parasol over herself, and the light on her face was very becoming. Philip was fond of tennis. He served well and as he ran clumsily played close to the net: notwithstanding his club-foot he was quick, and it was difficult to get a ball past him. He was pleased because he won all his sets. At tea he lay down at Miss Wilkinson's feet, hot and panting. "Flannels suit you," she said. "You look very nice this afternoon." He blushed with delight. "I can honestly return the compliment. You look perfectly ravishing." She smiled and gave him a long look with her black eyes. After supper he insisted that she should come out. "Haven't you had enough exercise for one day?" "It'll be lovely in the garden tonight. The stars are all out." He was in high spirits. "D'you know, Mrs. Carey has been scolding me on your account?" said Miss Wilkinson, when they were sauntering through the kitchen garden. "She says I mustn't flirt with you." "Have you been flirting with me? I hadn't noticed it." "She was only joking." "It was very unkind of you to refuse to kiss me last night." "If you saw the look your uncle gave me when I said what I did!" "Was that all that prevented you?" "I prefer to kiss people without witnesses." "There are no witnesses now." Philip put his arm round her waist and kissed her lips. She only laughed a little and made no attempt to withdraw. It had come quite naturally. Philip was very proud of himself. He said he would, and he had. It was the easiest thing in the world. He wished he had done it before. He did it again. "Oh, you mustn't," she said. "Why not?" "Because I like it," she laughed. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXIV Next day after dinner they took their rugs and cushions to the fountain, and their books; but they did not read. Miss Wilkinson made herself comfortable and she opened the red sun-shade. Philip was not at all shy now, but at first she would not let him kiss her. "It was very wrong of me last night," she said. "I couldn't sleep, I felt I'd done so wrong." "What nonsense!" he cried. "I'm sure you slept like a top." "What do you think your uncle would say if he knew?" "There's no reason why he should know." He leaned over her, and his heart went pit-a-pat. "Why d'you want to kiss me?" He knew he ought to reply: "Because I love you." But he could not bring himself to say it. "Why do you think?" he asked instead. She looked at him with smiling eyes and touched his face with the tips of her fingers. "How smooth your face is," she murmured. "I want shaving awfully," he said. It was astonishing how difficult he found it to make romantic speeches. He found that silence helped him much more than words. He could look inexpressible things. Miss Wilkinson sighed. "Do you like me at all?" "Yes, awfully." When he tried to kiss her again she did not resist. He pretended to be much more passionate than he really was, and he succeeded in playing a part which looked very well in his own eyes. "I'm beginning to be rather frightened of you," said Miss Wilkinson. "You'll come out after supper, won't you?" he begged. "Not unless you promise to behave yourself." "I'll promise anything." He was catching fire from the flame he was partly simulating, and at tea-time he was obstreperously merry. Miss Wilkinson looked at him nervously. "You mustn't have those shining eyes," she said to him afterwards. "What will your Aunt Louisa think?" "I don't care what she thinks." Miss Wilkinson gave a little laugh of pleasure. They had no sooner finished supper than he said to her: "Are you going to keep me company while I smoke a cigarette?" "Why don't you let Miss Wilkinson rest?" said Mrs. Carey. "You must remember she's not as young as you." "Oh, I'd like to go out, Mrs. Carey," she said, rather acidly. "After dinner walk a mile, after supper rest a while," said the Vicar. "Your aunt is very nice, but she gets on my nerves sometimes," said Miss Wilkinson, as soon as they closed the side-door behind them. Philip threw away the cigarette he had just lighted, and flung his arms round her. She tried to push him away. "You promised you'd be good, Philip." "You didn't think I was going to keep a promise like that?" "Not so near the house, Philip," she said. "Supposing someone should come out suddenly?" He led her to the kitchen garden where no one was likely to come, and this time Miss Wilkinson did not think of earwigs. He kissed her passionately. It was one of the things that puzzled him that he did not like her at all in the morning, and only moderately in the afternoon, but at night the touch of her hand thrilled him. He said things that he would never have thought himself capable of saying; he could certainly never have said them in the broad light of day; and he listened to himself with wonder and satisfaction. "How beautifully you make love," she said. That was what he thought himself. "Oh, if I could only say all the things that burn my heart!" he murmured passionately. It was splendid. It was the most thrilling game he had ever played; and the wonderful thing was that he felt almost all he said. It was only that he exaggerated a little. He was tremendously interested and excited in the effect he could see it had on her. It was obviously with an effort that at last she suggested going in. "Oh, don't go yet," he cried. "I must," she muttered. "I'm frightened." He had a sudden intuition what was the right thing to do then. "I can't go in yet. I shall stay here and think. My cheeks are burning. I want the night-air. Good-night." He held out his hand seriously, and she took it in silence. He thought she stifled a sob. Oh, it was magnificent! When, after a decent interval during which he had been rather bored in the dark garden by himself, he went in he found that Miss Wilkinson had already gone to bed. After that things were different between them. The next day and the day after Philip showed himself an eager lover. He was deliciously flattered to discover that Miss Wilkinson was in love with him: she told him so in English, and she told him so in French. She paid him compliments. No one had ever informed him before that his eyes were charming and that he had a sensual mouth. He had never bothered much about his personal appearance, but now, when occasion presented, he looked at himself in the glass with satisfaction. When he kissed her it was wonderful to feel the passion that seemed to thrill her soul. He kissed her a good deal, for he found it easier to do that than to say the things he instinctively felt she expected of him. It still made him feel a fool to say he worshipped her. He wished there were someone to whom he could boast a little, and he would willingly have discussed minute points of his conduct. Sometimes she said things that were enigmatic, and he was puzzled. He wished Hayward had been there so that he could ask him what he thought she meant, and what he had better do next. He could not make up his mind whether he ought to rush things or let them take their time. There were only three weeks more. "I can't bear to think of that," she said. "It breaks my heart. And then perhaps we shall never see one another again." "If you cared for me at all, you wouldn't be so unkind to me," he whispered. "Oh, why can't you be content to let it go on as it is? Men are always the same. They're never satisfied." And when he pressed her, she said: "But don't you see it's impossible. How can we here?" He proposed all sorts of schemes, but she would not have anything to do with them. "I daren't take the risk. It would be too dreadful if your aunt found out." A day or two later he had an idea which seemed brilliant. "Look here, if you had a headache on Sunday evening and offered to stay at home and look after the house, Aunt Louisa would go to church." Generally Mrs. Carey remained in on Sunday evening in order to allow Mary Ann to go to church, but she would welcome the opportunity of attending evensong. Philip had not found it necessary to impart to his relations the change in his views on Christianity which had occurred in Germany; they could not be expected to understand; and it seemed less trouble to go to church quietly. But he only went in the morning. He regarded this as a graceful concession to the prejudices of society and his refusal to go a second time as an adequate assertion of free thought. When he made the suggestion, Miss Wilkinson did not speak for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I won't," she said. But on Sunday at tea-time she surprised Philip. "I don't think I'll come to church this evening," she said suddenly. "I've really got a dreadful headache." Mrs. Carey, much concerned, insisted on giving her some 'drops' which she was herself in the habit of using. Miss Wilkinson thanked her, and immediately after tea announced that she would go to her room and lie down. "Are you sure there's nothing you'll want?" asked Mrs. Carey anxiously. "Quite sure, thank you." "Because, if there isn't, I think I'll go to church. I don't often have the chance of going in the evening." "Oh yes, do go." "I shall be in," said Philip. "If Miss Wilkinson wants anything, she can always call me." "You'd better leave the drawing-room door open, Philip, so that if Miss Wilkinson rings, you'll hear." "Certainly," said Philip. So after six o'clock Philip was left alone in the house with Miss Wilkinson. He felt sick with apprehension. He wished with all his heart that he had not suggested the plan; but it was too late now; he must take the opportunity which he had made. What would Miss Wilkinson think of him if he did not! He went into the hall and listened. There was not a sound. He wondered if Miss Wilkinson really had a headache. Perhaps she had forgotten his suggestion. His heart beat painfully. He crept up the stairs as softly as he could, and he stopped with a start when they creaked. He stood outside Miss Wilkinson's room and listened; he put his hand on the knob of the door-handle. He waited. It seemed to him that he waited for at least five minutes, trying to make up his mind; and his hand trembled. He would willingly have bolted, but he was afraid of the remorse which he knew would seize him. It was like getting on the highest diving-board in a swimming-bath; it looked nothing from below, but when you got up there and stared down at the water your heart sank; and the only thing that forced you to dive was the shame of coming down meekly by the steps you had climbed up. Philip screwed up his courage. He turned the handle softly and walked in. He seemed to himself to be trembling like a leaf. Miss Wilkinson was standing at the dressing-table with her back to the door, and she turned round quickly when she heard it open. "Oh, it's you. What d'you want?" She had taken off her skirt and blouse, and was standing in her petticoat. It was short and only came down to the top of her boots; the upper part of it was black, of some shiny material, and there was a red flounce. She wore a camisole of white calico with short arms. She looked grotesque. Philip's heart sank as he stared at her; she had never seemed so unattractive; but it was too late now. He closed the door behind him and locked it. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXV Philip woke early next morning. His sleep had been restless; but when he stretched his legs and looked at the sunshine that slid through the Venetian blinds, making patterns on the floor, he sighed with satisfaction. He was delighted with himself. He began to think of Miss Wilkinson. She had asked him to call her Emily, but, he knew not why, he could not; he always thought of her as Miss Wilkinson. Since she chid him for so addressing her, he avoided using her name at all. During his childhood he had often heard a sister of Aunt Louisa, the widow of a naval officer, spoken of as Aunt Emily. It made him uncomfortable to call Miss Wilkinson by that name, nor could he think of any that would have suited her better. She had begun as Miss Wilkinson, and it seemed inseparable from his impression of her. He frowned a little: somehow or other he saw her now at her worst; he could not forget his dismay when she turned round and he saw her in her camisole and the short petticoat; he remembered the slight roughness of her skin and the sharp, long lines on the side of the neck. His triumph was short-lived. He reckoned out her age again, and he did not see how she could be less than forty. It made the affair ridiculous. She was plain and old. His quick fancy showed her to him, wrinkled, haggard, made-up, in those frocks which were too showy for her position and too young for her years. He shuddered; he felt suddenly that he never wanted to see her again; he could not bear the thought of kissing her. He was horrified with himself. Was that love? He took as long as he could over dressing in order to put back the moment of seeing her, and when at last he went into the dining-room it was with a sinking heart. Prayers were over, and they were sitting down at breakfast. "Lazybones," Miss Wilkinson cried gaily. He looked at her and gave a little gasp of relief. She was sitting with her back to the window. She was really quite nice. He wondered why he had thought such things about her. His self-satisfaction returned to him. He was taken aback by the change in her. She told him in a voice thrilling with emotion immediately after breakfast that she loved him; and when a little later they went into the drawing-room for his singing lesson and she sat down on the music-stool she put up her face in the middle of a scale and said: "Embrasse-moi." When he bent down she flung her arms round his neck. It was slightly uncomfortable, for she held him in such a position that he felt rather choked. "Ah, je t'aime. Je t'aime. Je t'aime," she cried, with her extravagantly French accent. Philip wished she would speak English. "I say, I don't know if it's struck you that the gardener's quite likely to pass the window any minute." "Ah, je m'en fiche du jardinier. Je m'en refiche, et je m'en contrefiche." Philip thought it was very like a French novel, and he did not know why it slightly irritated him. At last he said: "Well, I think I'll tootle along to the beach and have a dip." "Oh, you're not going to leave me this morning--of all mornings?" Philip did not quite know why he should not, but it did not matter. "Would you like me to stay?" he smiled. "Oh, you darling! But no, go. Go. I want to think of you mastering the salt sea waves, bathing your limbs in the broad ocean." He got his hat and sauntered off. "What rot women talk!" he thought to himself. But he was pleased and happy and flattered. She was evidently frightfully gone on him. As he limped along the high street of Blackstable he looked with a tinge of superciliousness at the people he passed. He knew a good many to nod to, and as he gave them a smile of recognition he thought to himself, if they only knew! He did want someone to know very badly. He thought he would write to Hayward, and in his mind composed the letter. He would talk of the garden and the roses, and the little French governess, like an exotic flower amongst them, scented and perverse: he would say she was French, because--well, she had lived in France so long that she almost was, and besides it would be shabby to give the whole thing away too exactly, don't you know; and he would tell Hayward how he had seen her first in her pretty muslin dress and of the flower she had given him. He made a delicate idyl of it: the sunshine and the sea gave it passion and magic, and the stars added poetry, and the old vicarage garden was a fit and exquisite setting. There was something Meredithian about it: it was not quite Lucy Feverel and not quite Clara Middleton; but it was inexpressibly charming. Philip's heart beat quickly. He was so delighted with his fancies that he began thinking of them again as soon as he crawled back, dripping and cold, into his bathing-machine. He thought of the object of his affections. She had the most adorable little nose and large brown eyes--he would describe her to Hayward--and masses of soft brown hair, the sort of hair it was delicious to bury your face in, and a skin which was like ivory and sunshine, and her cheek was like a red, red rose. How old was she? Eighteen perhaps, and he called her Musette. Her laughter was like a rippling brook, and her voice was so soft, so low, it was the sweetest music he had ever heard. "What ARE you thinking about?" Philip stopped suddenly. He was walking slowly home. "I've been waving at you for the last quarter of a mile. You ARE absent-minded." Miss Wilkinson was standing in front of him, laughing at his surprise. "I thought I'd come and meet you." "That's awfully nice of you," he said. "Did I startle you?" "You did a bit," he admitted. He wrote his letter to Hayward all the same. There were eight pages of it. The fortnight that remained passed quickly, and though each evening, when they went into the garden after supper, Miss Wilkinson remarked that one day more had gone, Philip was in too cheerful spirits to let the thought depress him. One night Miss Wilkinson suggested that it would be delightful if she could exchange her situation in Berlin for one in London. Then they could see one another constantly. Philip said it would be very jolly, but the prospect aroused no enthusiasm in him; he was looking forward to a wonderful life in London, and he preferred not to be hampered. He spoke a little too freely of all he meant to do, and allowed Miss Wilkinson to see that already he was longing to be off. "You wouldn't talk like that if you loved me," she cried. He was taken aback and remained silent. "What a fool I've been," she muttered. To his surprise he saw that she was crying. He had a tender heart, and hated to see anyone miserable. "Oh, I'm awfully sorry. What have I done? Don't cry." "Oh, Philip, don't leave me. You don't know what you mean to me. I have such a wretched life, and you've made me so happy." He kissed her silently. There really was anguish in her tone, and he was frightened. It had never occurred to him that she meant what she said quite, quite seriously. "I'm awfully sorry. You know I'm frightfully fond of you. I wish you would come to London." "You know I can't. Places are almost impossible to get, and I hate English life." Almost unconscious that he was acting a part, moved by her distress, he pressed her more and more. Her tears vaguely flattered him, and he kissed her with real passion. But a day or two later she made a real scene. There was a tennis-party at the vicarage, and two girls came, daughters of a retired major in an Indian regiment who had lately settled in Blackstable. They were very pretty, one was Philip's age and the other was a year or two younger. Being used to the society of young men (they were full of stories of hill-stations in India, and at that time the stories of Rudyard Kipling were in every hand) they began to chaff Philip gaily; and he, pleased with the novelty--the young ladies at Blackstable treated the Vicar's nephew with a certain seriousness--was gay and jolly. Some devil within him prompted him to start a violent flirtation with them both, and as he was the only young man there, they were quite willing to meet him half-way. It happened that they played tennis quite well and Philip was tired of pat-ball with Miss Wilkinson (she had only begun to play when she came to Blackstable), so when he arranged the sets after tea he suggested that Miss Wilkinson should play against the curate's wife, with the curate as her partner; and he would play later with the new-comers. He sat down by the elder Miss O'Connor and said to her in an undertone: "We'll get the duffers out of the way first, and then we'll have a jolly set afterwards." Apparently Miss Wilkinson overheard him, for she threw down her racket, and, saying she had a headache, went away. It was plain to everyone that she was offended. Philip was annoyed that she should make the fact public. The set was arranged without her, but presently Mrs. Carey called him. "Philip, you've hurt Emily's feelings. She's gone to her room and she's crying." "What about?" "Oh, something about a duffer's set. Do go to her, and say you didn't mean to be unkind, there's a good boy." "All right." He knocked at Miss Wilkinson's door, but receiving no answer went in. He found her lying face downwards on her bed, weeping. He touched her on the shoulder. "I say, what on earth's the matter?" "Leave me alone. I never want to speak to you again." "What have I done? I'm awfully sorry if I've hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to. I say, do get up." "Oh, I'm so unhappy. How could you be cruel to me? You know I hate that stupid game. I only play because I want to play with you." She got up and walked towards the dressing-table, but after a quick look in the glass sank into a chair. She made her handkerchief into a ball and dabbed her eyes with it. "I've given you the greatest thing a woman can give a man--oh, what a fool I was--and you have no gratitude. You must be quite heartless. How could you be so cruel as to torment me by flirting with those vulgar girls. We've only got just over a week. Can't you even give me that?" Philip stood over her rather sulkily. He thought her behaviour childish. He was vexed with her for having shown her ill-temper before strangers. "But you know I don't care twopence about either of the O'Connors. Why on earth should you think I do?" Miss Wilkinson put away her handkerchief. Her tears had made marks on her powdered face, and her hair was somewhat disarranged. Her white dress did not suit her very well just then. She looked at Philip with hungry, passionate eyes. "Because you're twenty and so's she," she said hoarsely. "And I'm old." Philip reddened and looked away. The anguish of her tone made him feel strangely uneasy. He wished with all his heart that he had never had anything to do with Miss Wilkinson. "I don't want to make you unhappy," he said awkwardly. "You'd better go down and look after your friends. They'll wonder what has become of you." "All right." He was glad to leave her. The quarrel was quickly followed by a reconciliation, but the few days that remained were sometimes irksome to Philip. He wanted to talk of nothing but the future, and the future invariably reduced Miss Wilkinson to tears. At first her weeping affected him, and feeling himself a beast he redoubled his protestations of undying passion; but now it irritated him: it would have been all very well if she had been a girl, but it was silly of a grown-up woman to cry so much. She never ceased reminding him that he was under a debt of gratitude to her which he could never repay. He was willing to acknowledge this since she made a point of it, but he did not really know why he should be any more grateful to her than she to him. He was expected to show his sense of obligation in ways which were rather a nuisance: he had been a good deal used to solitude, and it was a necessity to him sometimes; but Miss Wilkinson looked upon it as an unkindness if he was not always at her beck and call. The Miss O'Connors asked them both to tea, and Philip would have liked to go, but Miss Wilkinson said she only had five days more and wanted him entirely to herself. It was flattering, but a bore. Miss Wilkinson told him stories of the exquisite delicacy of Frenchmen when they stood in the same relation to fair ladies as he to Miss Wilkinson. She praised their courtesy, their passion for self-sacrifice, their perfect tact. Miss Wilkinson seemed to want a great deal. Philip listened to her enumeration of the qualities which must be possessed by the perfect lover, and he could not help feeling a certain satisfaction that she lived in Berlin. "You will write to me, won't you? Write to me every day. I want to know everything you're doing. You must keep nothing from me." "I shall be awfully, busy" he answered. "I'll write as often as I can." She flung her arms passionately round his neck. He was embarrassed sometimes by the demonstrations of her affection. He would have preferred her to be more passive. It shocked him a little that she should give him so marked a lead: it did not tally altogether with his prepossessions about the modesty of the feminine temperament. At length the day came on which Miss Wilkinson was to go, and she came down to breakfast, pale and subdued, in a serviceable travelling dress of black and white check. She looked a very competent governess. Philip was silent too, for he did not quite know what to say that would fit the circumstance; and he was terribly afraid that, if he said something flippant, Miss Wilkinson would break down before his uncle and make a scene. They had said their last good-bye to one another in the garden the night before, and Philip was relieved that there was now no opportunity for them to be alone. He remained in the dining-room after breakfast in case Miss Wilkinson should insist on kissing him on the stairs. He did not want Mary Ann, now a woman hard upon middle age with a sharp tongue, to catch them in a compromising position. Mary Ann did not like Miss Wilkinson and called her an old cat. Aunt Louisa was not very well and could not come to the station, but the Vicar and Philip saw her off. Just as the train was leaving she leaned out and kissed Mr. Carey. "I must kiss you too, Philip," she said. "All right," he said, blushing. He stood up on the step and she kissed him quickly. The train started, and Miss Wilkinson sank into the corner of her carriage and wept disconsolately. Philip, as he walked back to the vicarage, felt a distinct sensation of relief. "Well, did you see her safely off?" asked Aunt Louisa, when they got in. "Yes, she seemed rather weepy. She insisted on kissing me and Philip." "Oh, well, at her age it's not dangerous." Mrs. Carey pointed to the sideboard. "There's a letter for you, Philip. It came by the second post." It was from Hayward and ran as follows: My dear boy, I answer your letter at once. I ventured to read it to a great friend of mine, a charming woman whose help and sympathy have been very precious to me, a woman withal with a real feeling for art and literature; and we agreed that it was charming. You wrote from your heart and you do not know the delightful naivete which is in every line. And because you love you write like a poet. Ah, dear boy, that is the real thing: I felt the glow of your young passion, and your prose was musical from the sincerity of your emotion. You must be happy! I wish I could have been present unseen in that enchanted garden while you wandered hand in hand, like Daphnis and Chloe, amid the flowers. I can see you, my Daphnis, with the light of young love in your eyes, tender, enraptured, and ardent; while Chloe in your arms, so young and soft and fresh, vowing she would ne'er consent--consented. Roses and violets and honeysuckle! Oh, my friend, I envy you. It is so good to think that your first love should have been pure poetry. Treasure the moments, for the immortal gods have given you the Greatest Gift of All, and it will be a sweet, sad memory till your dying day. You will never again enjoy that careless rapture. First love is best love; and she is beautiful and you are young, and all the world is yours. I felt my pulse go faster when with your adorable simplicity you told me that you buried your face in her long hair. I am sure that it is that exquisite chestnut which seems just touched with gold. I would have you sit under a leafy tree side by side, and read together Romeo and Juliet; and then I would have you fall on your knees and on my behalf kiss the ground on which her foot has left its imprint; then tell her it is the homage of a poet to her radiant youth and to your love for her. Yours always, G. Etheridge Hayward. "What damned rot!" said Philip, when he finished the letter. Miss Wilkinson oddly enough had suggested that they should read Romeo and Juliet together; but Philip had firmly declined. Then, as he put the letter in his pocket, he felt a queer little pang of bitterness because reality seemed so different from the ideal. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 32-35

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter32-35

These chapters tell the summer visit to his aunt and uncle Carey in Blackstable where Philip has his first affair. . At the vicarage, Philip meets Emily Wilkinson, the governess friend of the Careys who had recommended his teacher in Germany. She is also staying the summer on vacation. She is somewhat attractive, estimated by the Careys to be between 35 and 40. She and Philip get on because she is a modern woman influenced by her years working in Paris and Berlin. She has some affectations, speaks French phrases and English with a French accent. She talks incessantly of the mysteries of Paris, exciting Philip with hinted stories of her love affairs and the artists she met. She has a sense of humor and understands his jokes. . He realizes slowly that she is flirting, and he has to figure out how to court a woman, taking her suggestions about how the French men know how to make love. He is somewhat repulsed by her older appearance, though she dresses well. He cannot understand why she looks old in the morning and pretty at night in the dark. They walk in the gardens, read and discuss, and she gives him music lessons. They attend parties and tennis matches. Finally, he figures out a way to be alone with her in the house while the family is at church. He goes to her bedroom, and despite the fact he is suddenly not attracted, he manages to have his first sexual experience. . The next day he is revolted by her, but she is suddenly in love with him and speaks French endearments. He thinks, "What rot women talk!" But he ironically speaks equal rot by writing a letter to Hayward of his exploit, dressing it up with his fantasy of the way he wished it had been--a young beautiful girl whose "laughter was like a rippling brook" . . Philip takes it as an adventure and feels manly, completely surprised that Miss Wilkinson expresses real love and wants his constant attention now. She tries to make him feel guilty and obligated, and he is happy when the summer is over and he can be rid of her demands. She expects him to write every day. He receives a letter from Hayward full of enthusiasm for his perfect first love, and Philip is disgusted because everyone has taken seriously what for him was play. . Meanwhile, Philip has been surprised at how old his aunt and uncle appear. The uncle now seems insignificant to him and his aunt very frail and ready to blow away. He thinks what a pity their lives never amounted to anything and they will die, a waste. He does not want this for himself. He does feel some affection for his aunt who obviously loves him and has missed him. . He does not want to go to Oxford, and his uncle can't afford it. They settle on his being a chartered accountant. He does not much care, just so he can get to London to begin his life. He will pay three hundred pounds to Herbert Carter to be an articled pupil for five years. The uncle is assured that although accountancy is not one of the traditional occupations for a gentleman, it is becoming so in the modern world with the rise of business.

Commentary on Chapters XXXII-XXXV . Philip is the arrogant young man of nineteen here, but there is a lot of humor in these chapters, while they introduce themes that will later become tragic. It is all from the young man's point of view, and his aim and Emily's are opposite. . She is the clergy daughter whose only chances have been marriage or becoming a governess. She is too much of a free spirit to have stayed at home and tries to make her governess positions sound glamorous. Whether or not she has had all the affairs she hints of, she does have some genuine feeling for Philip and even suggests moving to London to be near him. He is appalled at her demanding ways and declaration of love, because for him, "It was the most thrilling game he had ever played; and the wonderful thing was that he felt almost all he said" . Here it is evident that he is not clear about the difference between his fantasy and reality. He is just trying to learn the part of a lover because it is a new role. He is a bit cold and heartless. . When first aware that Emily is flirting, he is surprised because "he had expected more glamour" . She is not the heroine of a book, and he is constantly agonizing about her age or turned off every other moment by some defect like her thick ankles. He describes his exploit in the letter to Hayward, not as it happened, but as a scene out of the novel he just read, Scenes of Bohemian Life by Murger. . It is a game and a part for him. He can't understand why her feelings are hurt. For that matter, he has trouble relating to his aunt and uncle as human beings as well, dismissing them as useless old people whose lives are past. Emily is the first woman who has been attracted to him, and that gives him the confidence to flirt with girls at a tennis match, an act that hurts her. He has not yet learned what others feel or his effect on them. . Perhaps Emily wants a husband or lover to get out of being a governess. The Careys make much of her social standing. She is defined as a "lady" because she is a clergyman's daughter. She is getting older, and there is more at stake for her than for him, as she points out. They do have some important things in common: they come from the same class, are educated, have a liberal modern point of view, have the same sense of humor, and even smoke cigarettes together. They amuse one another, and she teaches him music. However, her possessiveness and demands on him spoil it. He "felt a queer pang of bitterness because reality seemed so different from the ideal" . But he puts it behind him easily, anxious to get on to his real life. . One of the surprising things is that his lameness does not seem to be an issue for her, and he has surprisingly been able to learn tennis and is good at it.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_36_to_39.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_7_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 36-39

chapters 36-39

{"name": "Chapters 36-39", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter36-39", "summary": "Philip settles into his new rooms in Barnes, London, but he is depressed by the dingy place and that part of town. He goes to the offices of Herbert Carter in Chancery Lane. The managing clerk, Mr. Goodworthy, who is both patronizing and timid, tells Philip the work is lucrative but drudgery and puts him to work alphabetizing letters. He meets Watson, a fellow articled clerk, who is the son of a rich brewer. He dresses and acts like a gentleman, fond of sports and the hunt. He has been to Oxford and condescends to Philip, but Philip thinks it is ironic that at school they looked down on brewers. Mr. Carter tries to give the impression that he is a gentleman and that they want gentlemen in the business to raise the profession. . Philip is interested in the work at first as a novelty. He has to add columns of figures, not one of his strong points. He attends lectures for his examination. In his spare time, he goes to galleries and reads, but Sundays are difficult, for he is alone. He spends one Sunday with Mr. Nixon, the solicitor, but he is shy about going back. Loneliness weighs on him more and more. He spends an evening with Watson, but the man has no culture, and he is ill at ease with him. Suddenly, he despises his own acquirements because of his poverty. He admires Watson's life because he has money and a place. . When he goes to the post office, he finds three letters from Miss Wilkinson. He replies awkwardly, and she bombards him with angry letters about his neglect. She says she cannot live without him. She wants to come see him at Christmas. He lies that he has an engagement. He regrets he had the affair. Watson tells him he has no trouble breaking off with women. He just tells them to go away. . He is alone on Christmas because his aunt and uncle are in Cornwall for their health. After a year at the firm, he works with a clerk named Thompson who is irritated at his mistakes and enjoys insulting him. Philip sees he has no aptitude for this work and slacks off. He tries to imagine what his life would be like if he were Watson. For amusement, he sketches Watson. Watson's family like the sketches and think Philip should be an artist. Mr. Carter finds out he is drawing on office time and scolds him. Philip knows he cannot stand much more of this life. Hayward writes to him of Italy, telling him the only things in life are love and art. He tells Philip to take a risk and study art in Paris. . Philip remembers that people have always told him he has talent, and he begins to think of the French novel about bohemian life in Paris. The artists were poor but they enjoyed life. He yearns for romance and beauty. Goodworthy asks Philip one day if he would like to go to Paris to do some accounts there. Philip jumps at the chance. He is intoxicated by Paris, though Mr. Goodworthy only wants to go to the more vulgar places, the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres. Philip decides he will wait out the year and then go to Paris. . His uncle is shocked by Philip's decision. He is a gentleman, and art and Paris are immoral. Philip bluntly replies he is neither Christian nor a gentleman. He will not inherit his money for another year, so he says he will sell his father's jewelry and use the money to go. His aunt has a soft spot for Philip and does not want him to sell the jewelry, so she offers what is left of her own bridal settlement. It is a very small amount, but she offers up to him 100 pounds. She thinks she hasn't much time to live, and she truly wants to give Philip something so he can realize his dreams.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XXXVI-XXXIX . Philip's aunt, like his mother, truly loves him with an unselfish love, one of the few pure relationships he has enjoyed. He comes to believe that only parents have disinterested love. She reveals that she is not as much of an old fool as he had thought, for she perfectly understands that his uncle is not in love with her and will not miss her when she dies. She wants to pass on her one precious thing to Philip, who was as close as she could come to having a child. . Philip discovers the loneliness of the big city and not fitting into his surroundings. The life is drab and so is the work, for which he is ill suited. He is astonished at the class issues at Carter's. Carter and Watson represent the middle classes aspiring to the status and culture that have been the privilege of the upper classes. It is now possible for merchant's sons to go to university and hunt and act and dress like gentlemen. Philip thinks how at his school these people were looked down on because they were not born gentlemen. It was perfectly clear who was and who wasn't; people didn't talk about their class all the time. . Yet when his uncle brings up class issues, he reveals the eroding influence of time and his experience on his own thought; he does not easily identify with being either Christian or a gentleman. He thinks he would like the money Watson has so he can pursue his own interests, but he is too cultured to want to hang out with London trades people. Their interests are mundane. He wants not the life of a gentleman, but a romantic and adventurous life, a bohemian life, as he has read about. As Hayward suggests, beauty and love are the only things worth living for. Even Miss Wilkinson has encouraged him that he could be an artist and live on the amount he has from his aunt for a year. . There is a certain cynicism about women in this section. Philip lets the relationship with Miss Wilkinson drop in an awkward manner. He admires Watson for being able to have affairs and then tell the woman to go away, without any conscience."}

<CHAPTER> XXXVI A few days later Philip went to London. The curate had recommended rooms in Barnes, and these Philip engaged by letter at fourteen shillings a week. He reached them in the evening; and the landlady, a funny little old woman with a shrivelled body and a deeply wrinkled face, had prepared high tea for him. Most of the sitting-room was taken up by the sideboard and a square table; against one wall was a sofa covered with horsehair, and by the fireplace an arm-chair to match: there was a white antimacassar over the back of it, and on the seat, because the springs were broken, a hard cushion. After having his tea he unpacked and arranged his books, then he sat down and tried to read; but he was depressed. The silence in the street made him slightly uncomfortable, and he felt very much alone. Next day he got up early. He put on his tail-coat and the tall hat which he had worn at school; but it was very shabby, and he made up his mind to stop at the Stores on his way to the office and buy a new one. When he had done this he found himself in plenty of time and so walked along the Strand. The office of Messrs. Herbert Carter & Co. was in a little street off Chancery Lane, and he had to ask his way two or three times. He felt that people were staring at him a great deal, and once he took off his hat to see whether by chance the label had been left on. When he arrived he knocked at the door; but no one answered, and looking at his watch he found it was barely half past nine; he supposed he was too early. He went away and ten minutes later returned to find an office-boy, with a long nose, pimply face, and a Scotch accent, opening the door. Philip asked for Mr. Herbert Carter. He had not come yet. "When will he be here?" "Between ten and half past." "I'd better wait," said Philip. "What are you wanting?" asked the office-boy. Philip was nervous, but tried to hide the fact by a jocose manner. "Well, I'm going to work here if you have no objection." "Oh, you're the new articled clerk? You'd better come in. Mr. Goodworthy'll be here in a while." Philip walked in, and as he did so saw the office-boy--he was about the same age as Philip and called himself a junior clerk--look at his foot. He flushed and, sitting down, hid it behind the other. He looked round the room. It was dark and very dingy. It was lit by a skylight. There were three rows of desks in it and against them high stools. Over the chimney-piece was a dirty engraving of a prize-fight. Presently a clerk came in and then another; they glanced at Philip and in an undertone asked the office-boy (Philip found his name was Macdougal) who he was. A whistle blew, and Macdougal got up. "Mr. Goodworthy's come. He's the managing clerk. Shall I tell him you're here?" "Yes, please," said Philip. The office-boy went out and in a moment returned. "Will you come this way?" Philip followed him across the passage and was shown into a room, small and barely furnished, in which a little, thin man was standing with his back to the fireplace. He was much below the middle height, but his large head, which seemed to hang loosely on his body, gave him an odd ungainliness. His features were wide and flattened, and he had prominent, pale eyes; his thin hair was sandy; he wore whiskers that grew unevenly on his face, and in places where you would have expected the hair to grow thickly there was no hair at all. His skin was pasty and yellow. He held out his hand to Philip, and when he smiled showed badly decayed teeth. He spoke with a patronising and at the same time a timid air, as though he sought to assume an importance which he did not feel. He said he hoped Philip would like the work; there was a good deal of drudgery about it, but when you got used to it, it was interesting; and one made money, that was the chief thing, wasn't it? He laughed with his odd mixture of superiority and shyness. "Mr. Carter will be here presently," he said. "He's a little late on Monday mornings sometimes. I'll call you when he comes. In the meantime I must give you something to do. Do you know anything about book-keeping or accounts?" "I'm afraid not," answered Philip. "I didn't suppose you would. They don't teach you things at school that are much use in business, I'm afraid." He considered for a moment. "I think I can find you something to do." He went into the next room and after a little while came out with a large cardboard box. It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder, and he told Philip to sort them out and arrange them alphabetically according to the names of the writers. "I'll take you to the room in which the articled clerk generally sits. There's a very nice fellow in it. His name is Watson. He's a son of Watson, Crag, and Thompson--you know--the brewers. He's spending a year with us to learn business." Mr. Goodworthy led Philip through the dingy office, where now six or eight clerks were working, into a narrow room behind. It had been made into a separate apartment by a glass partition, and here they found Watson sitting back in a chair, reading The Sportsman. He was a large, stout young man, elegantly dressed, and he looked up as Mr. Goodworthy entered. He asserted his position by calling the managing clerk Goodworthy. The managing clerk objected to the familiarity, and pointedly called him Mr. Watson, but Watson, instead of seeing that it was a rebuke, accepted the title as a tribute to his gentlemanliness. "I see they've scratched Rigoletto," he said to Philip, as soon as they were left alone. "Have they?" said Philip, who knew nothing about horse-racing. He looked with awe upon Watson's beautiful clothes. His tail-coat fitted him perfectly, and there was a valuable pin artfully stuck in the middle of an enormous tie. On the chimney-piece rested his tall hat; it was saucy and bell-shaped and shiny. Philip felt himself very shabby. Watson began to talk of hunting--it was such an infernal bore having to waste one's time in an infernal office, he would only be able to hunt on Saturdays--and shooting: he had ripping invitations all over the country and of course he had to refuse them. It was infernal luck, but he wasn't going to put up with it long; he was only in this internal hole for a year, and then he was going into the business, and he would hunt four days a week and get all the shooting there was. "You've got five years of it, haven't you?" he said, waving his arm round the tiny room. "I suppose so," said Philip. "I daresay I shall see something of you. Carter does our accounts, you know." Philip was somewhat overpowered by the young gentleman's condescension. At Blackstable they had always looked upon brewing with civil contempt, the Vicar made little jokes about the beerage, and it was a surprising experience for Philip to discover that Watson was such an important and magnificent fellow. He had been to Winchester and to Oxford, and his conversation impressed the fact upon one with frequency. When he discovered the details of Philip's education his manner became more patronising still. "Of course, if one doesn't go to a public school those sort of schools are the next best thing, aren't they?" Philip asked about the other men in the office. "Oh, I don't bother about them much, you know," said Watson. "Carter's not a bad sort. We have him to dine now and then. All the rest are awful bounders." Presently Watson applied himself to some work he had in hand, and Philip set about sorting his letters. Then Mr. Goodworthy came in to say that Mr. Carter had arrived. He took Philip into a large room next door to his own. There was a big desk in it, and a couple of big arm-chairs; a Turkey carpet adorned the floor, and the walls were decorated with sporting prints. Mr. Carter was sitting at the desk and got up to shake hands with Philip. He was dressed in a long frock coat. He looked like a military man; his moustache was waxed, his gray hair was short and neat, he held himself upright, he talked in a breezy way, he lived at Enfield. He was very keen on games and the good of the country. He was an officer in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry and chairman of the Conservative Association. When he was told that a local magnate had said no one would take him for a City man, he felt that he had not lived in vain. He talked to Philip in a pleasant, off-hand fashion. Mr. Goodworthy would look after him. Watson was a nice fellow, perfect gentleman, good sportsman--did Philip hunt? Pity, THE sport for gentlemen. Didn't have much chance of hunting now, had to leave that to his son. His son was at Cambridge, he'd sent him to Rugby, fine school Rugby, nice class of boys there, in a couple of years his son would be articled, that would be nice for Philip, he'd like his son, thorough sportsman. He hoped Philip would get on well and like the work, he mustn't miss his lectures, they were getting up the tone of the profession, they wanted gentlemen in it. Well, well, Mr. Goodworthy was there. If he wanted to know anything Mr. Goodworthy would tell him. What was his handwriting like? Ah well, Mr. Goodworthy would see about that. Philip was overwhelmed by so much gentlemanliness: in East Anglia they knew who were gentlemen and who weren't, but the gentlemen didn't talk about it. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXVII At first the novelty of the work kept Philip interested. Mr. Carter dictated letters to him, and he had to make fair copies of statements of accounts. Mr. Carter preferred to conduct the office on gentlemanly lines; he would have nothing to do with typewriting and looked upon shorthand with disfavour: the office-boy knew shorthand, but it was only Mr. Goodworthy who made use of his accomplishment. Now and then Philip with one of the more experienced clerks went out to audit the accounts of some firm: he came to know which of the clients must be treated with respect and which were in low water. Now and then long lists of figures were given him to add up. He attended lectures for his first examination. Mr. Goodworthy repeated to him that the work was dull at first, but he would grow used to it. Philip left the office at six and walked across the river to Waterloo. His supper was waiting for him when he reached his lodgings and he spent the evening reading. On Saturday afternoons he went to the National Gallery. Hayward had recommended to him a guide which had been compiled out of Ruskin's works, and with this in hand he went industriously through room after room: he read carefully what the critic had said about a picture and then in a determined fashion set himself to see the same things in it. His Sundays were difficult to get through. He knew no one in London and spent them by himself. Mr. Nixon, the solicitor, asked him to spend a Sunday at Hampstead, and Philip passed a happy day with a set of exuberant strangers; he ate and drank a great deal, took a walk on the heath, and came away with a general invitation to come again whenever he liked; but he was morbidly afraid of being in the way, so waited for a formal invitation. Naturally enough it never came, for with numbers of friends of their own the Nixons did not think of the lonely, silent boy whose claim upon their hospitality was so small. So on Sundays he got up late and took a walk along the tow-path. At Barnes the river is muddy, dingy, and tidal; it has neither the graceful charm of the Thames above the locks nor the romance of the crowded stream below London Bridge. In the afternoon he walked about the common; and that is gray and dingy too; it is neither country nor town; the gorse is stunted; and all about is the litter of civilisation. He went to a play every Saturday night and stood cheerfully for an hour or more at the gallery-door. It was not worth while to go back to Barnes for the interval between the closing of the Museum and his meal in an A. B. C. shop, and the time hung heavily on his hands. He strolled up Bond Street or through the Burlington Arcade, and when he was tired went and sat down in the Park or in wet weather in the public library in St. Martin's Lane. He looked at the people walking about and envied them because they had friends; sometimes his envy turned to hatred because they were happy and he was miserable. He had never imagined that it was possible to be so lonely in a great city. Sometimes when he was standing at the gallery-door the man next to him would attempt a conversation; but Philip had the country boy's suspicion of strangers and answered in such a way as to prevent any further acquaintance. After the play was over, obliged to keep to himself all he thought about it, he hurried across the bridge to Waterloo. When he got back to his rooms, in which for economy no fire had been lit, his heart sank. It was horribly cheerless. He began to loathe his lodgings and the long solitary evenings he spent in them. Sometimes he felt so lonely that he could not read, and then he sat looking into the fire hour after hour in bitter wretchedness. He had spent three months in London now, and except for that one Sunday at Hampstead had never talked to anyone but his fellow-clerks. One evening Watson asked him to dinner at a restaurant and they went to a music-hall together; but he felt shy and uncomfortable. Watson talked all the time of things he did not care about, and while he looked upon Watson as a Philistine he could not help admiring him. He was angry because Watson obviously set no store on his culture, and with his way of taking himself at the estimate at which he saw others held him he began to despise the acquirements which till then had seemed to him not unimportant. He felt for the first time the humiliation of poverty. His uncle sent him fourteen pounds a month and he had had to buy a good many clothes. His evening suit cost him five guineas. He had not dared tell Watson that it was bought in the Strand. Watson said there was only one tailor in London. "I suppose you don't dance," said Watson, one day, with a glance at Philip's club-foot. "No," said Philip. "Pity. I've been asked to bring some dancing men to a ball. I could have introduced you to some jolly girls." Once or twice, hating the thought of going back to Barnes, Philip had remained in town, and late in the evening wandered through the West End till he found some house at which there was a party. He stood among the little group of shabby people, behind the footmen, watching the guests arrive, and he listened to the music that floated through the window. Sometimes, notwithstanding the cold, a couple came on to the balcony and stood for a moment to get some fresh air; and Philip, imagining that they were in love with one another, turned away and limped along the street with a heavy hurt. He would never be able to stand in that man's place. He felt that no woman could ever really look upon him without distaste for his deformity. That reminded him of Miss Wilkinson. He thought of her without satisfaction. Before parting they had made an arrangement that she should write to Charing Cross Post Office till he was able to send her an address, and when he went there he found three letters from her. She wrote on blue paper with violet ink, and she wrote in French. Philip wondered why she could not write in English like a sensible woman, and her passionate expressions, because they reminded him of a French novel, left him cold. She upbraided him for not having written, and when he answered he excused himself by saying that he had been busy. He did not quite know how to start the letter. He could not bring himself to use dearest or darling, and he hated to address her as Emily, so finally he began with the word dear. It looked odd, standing by itself, and rather silly, but he made it do. It was the first love letter he had ever written, and he was conscious of its tameness; he felt that he should say all sorts of vehement things, how he thought of her every minute of the day and how he longed to kiss her beautiful hands and how he trembled at the thought of her red lips, but some inexplicable modesty prevented him; and instead he told her of his new rooms and his office. The answer came by return of post, angry, heart-broken, reproachful: how could he be so cold? Did he not know that she hung on his letters? She had given him all that a woman could give, and this was her reward. Was he tired of her already? Then, because he did not reply for several days, Miss Wilkinson bombarded him with letters. She could not bear his unkindness, she waited for the post, and it never brought her his letter, she cried herself to sleep night after night, she was looking so ill that everyone remarked on it: if he did not love her why did he not say so? She added that she could not live without him, and the only thing was for her to commit suicide. She told him he was cold and selfish and ungrateful. It was all in French, and Philip knew that she wrote in that language to show off, but he was worried all the same. He did not want to make her unhappy. In a little while she wrote that she could not bear the separation any longer, she would arrange to come over to London for Christmas. Philip wrote back that he would like nothing better, only he had already an engagement to spend Christmas with friends in the country, and he did not see how he could break it. She answered that she did not wish to force herself on him, it was quite evident that he did not wish to see her; she was deeply hurt, and she never thought he would repay with such cruelty all her kindness. Her letter was touching, and Philip thought he saw marks of her tears on the paper; he wrote an impulsive reply saying that he was dreadfully sorry and imploring her to come; but it was with relief that he received her answer in which she said that she found it would be impossible for her to get away. Presently when her letters came his heart sank: he delayed opening them, for he knew what they would contain, angry reproaches and pathetic appeals; they would make him feel a perfect beast, and yet he did not see with what he had to blame himself. He put off his answer from day to day, and then another letter would come, saying she was ill and lonely and miserable. "I wish to God I'd never had anything to do with her," he said. He admired Watson because he arranged these things so easily. The young man had been engaged in an intrigue with a girl who played in touring companies, and his account of the affair filled Philip with envious amazement. But after a time Watson's young affections changed, and one day he described the rupture to Philip. "I thought it was no good making any bones about it so I just told her I'd had enough of her," he said. "Didn't she make an awful scene?" asked Philip. "The usual thing, you know, but I told her it was no good trying on that sort of thing with me." "Did she cry?" "She began to, but I can't stand women when they cry, so I said she'd better hook it." Philip's sense of humour was growing keener with advancing years. "And did she hook it?" he asked smiling. "Well, there wasn't anything else for her to do, was there?" Meanwhile the Christmas holidays approached. Mrs. Carey had been ill all through November, and the doctor suggested that she and the Vicar should go to Cornwall for a couple of weeks round Christmas so that she should get back her strength. The result was that Philip had nowhere to go, and he spent Christmas Day in his lodgings. Under Hayward's influence he had persuaded himself that the festivities that attend this season were vulgar and barbaric, and he made up his mind that he would take no notice of the day; but when it came, the jollity of all around affected him strangely. His landlady and her husband were spending the day with a married daughter, and to save trouble Philip announced that he would take his meals out. He went up to London towards mid-day and ate a slice of turkey and some Christmas pudding by himself at Gatti's, and since he had nothing to do afterwards went to Westminster Abbey for the afternoon service. The streets were almost empty, and the people who went along had a preoccupied look; they did not saunter but walked with some definite goal in view, and hardly anyone was alone. To Philip they all seemed happy. He felt himself more solitary than he had ever done in his life. His intention had been to kill the day somehow in the streets and then dine at a restaurant, but he could not face again the sight of cheerful people, talking, laughing, and making merry; so he went back to Waterloo, and on his way through the Westminster Bridge Road bought some ham and a couple of mince pies and went back to Barnes. He ate his food in his lonely little room and spent the evening with a book. His depression was almost intolerable. When he was back at the office it made him very sore to listen to Watson's account of the short holiday. They had had some jolly girls staying with them, and after dinner they had cleared out the drawing-room and had a dance. "I didn't get to bed till three and I don't know how I got there then. By George, I was squiffy." At last Philip asked desperately: "How does one get to know people in London?" Watson looked at him with surprise and with a slightly contemptuous amusement. "Oh, I don't know, one just knows them. If you go to dances you soon get to know as many people as you can do with." Philip hated Watson, and yet he would have given anything to change places with him. The old feeling that he had had at school came back to him, and he tried to throw himself into the other's skin, imagining what life would be if he were Watson. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXVIII At the end of the year there was a great deal to do. Philip went to various places with a clerk named Thompson and spent the day monotonously calling out items of expenditure, which the other checked; and sometimes he was given long pages of figures to add up. He had never had a head for figures, and he could only do this slowly. Thompson grew irritated at his mistakes. His fellow-clerk was a long, lean man of forty, sallow, with black hair and a ragged moustache; he had hollow cheeks and deep lines on each side of his nose. He took a dislike to Philip because he was an articled clerk. Because he could put down three hundred guineas and keep himself for five years Philip had the chance of a career; while he, with his experience and ability, had no possibility of ever being more than a clerk at thirty-five shillings a week. He was a cross-grained man, oppressed by a large family, and he resented the superciliousness which he fancied he saw in Philip. He sneered at Philip because he was better educated than himself, and he mocked at Philip's pronunciation; he could not forgive him because he spoke without a cockney accent, and when he talked to him sarcastically exaggerated his aitches. At first his manner was merely gruff and repellent, but as he discovered that Philip had no gift for accountancy he took pleasure in humiliating him; his attacks were gross and silly, but they wounded Philip, and in self-defence he assumed an attitude of superiority which he did not feel. "Had a bath this morning?" Thompson said when Philip came to the office late, for his early punctuality had not lasted. "Yes, haven't you?" "No, I'm not a gentleman, I'm only a clerk. I have a bath on Saturday night." "I suppose that's why you're more than usually disagreeable on Monday." "Will you condescend to do a few sums in simple addition today? I'm afraid it's asking a great deal from a gentleman who knows Latin and Greek." "Your attempts at sarcasm are not very happy." But Philip could not conceal from himself that the other clerks, ill-paid and uncouth, were more useful than himself. Once or twice Mr. Goodworthy grew impatient with him. "You really ought to be able to do better than this by now," he said. "You're not even as smart as the office-boy." Philip listened sulkily. He did not like being blamed, and it humiliated him, when, having been given accounts to make fair copies of, Mr. Goodworthy was not satisfied and gave them to another clerk to do. At first the work had been tolerable from its novelty, but now it grew irksome; and when he discovered that he had no aptitude for it, he began to hate it. Often, when he should have been doing something that was given him, he wasted his time drawing little pictures on the office note-paper. He made sketches of Watson in every conceivable attitude, and Watson was impressed by his talent. It occurred to him to take the drawings home, and he came back next day with the praises of his family. "I wonder you didn't become a painter," he said. "Only of course there's no money in it." It chanced that Mr. Carter two or three days later was dining with the Watsons, and the sketches were shown him. The following morning he sent for Philip. Philip saw him seldom and stood in some awe of him. "Look here, young fellow, I don't care what you do out of office-hours, but I've seen those sketches of yours and they're on office-paper, and Mr. Goodworthy tells me you're slack. You won't do any good as a chartered accountant unless you look alive. It's a fine profession, and we're getting a very good class of men in it, but it's a profession in which you have to..." he looked for the termination of his phrase, but could not find exactly what he wanted, so finished rather tamely, "in which you have to look alive." Perhaps Philip would have settled down but for the agreement that if he did not like the work he could leave after a year, and get back half the money paid for his articles. He felt that he was fit for something better than to add up accounts, and it was humiliating that he did so ill something which seemed contemptible. The vulgar scenes with Thompson got on his nerves. In March Watson ended his year at the office and Philip, though he did not care for him, saw him go with regret. The fact that the other clerks disliked them equally, because they belonged to a class a little higher than their own, was a bond of union. When Philip thought that he must spend over four years more with that dreary set of fellows his heart sank. He had expected wonderful things from London and it had given him nothing. He hated it now. He did not know a soul, and he had no idea how he was to get to know anyone. He was tired of going everywhere by himself. He began to feel that he could not stand much more of such a life. He would lie in bed at night and think of the joy of never seeing again that dingy office or any of the men in it, and of getting away from those drab lodgings. A great disappointment befell him in the spring. Hayward had announced his intention of coming to London for the season, and Philip had looked forward very much to seeing him again. He had read so much lately and thought so much that his mind was full of ideas which he wanted to discuss, and he knew nobody who was willing to interest himself in abstract things. He was quite excited at the thought of talking his fill with someone, and he was wretched when Hayward wrote to say that the spring was lovelier than ever he had known it in Italy, and he could not bear to tear himself away. He went on to ask why Philip did not come. What was the use of squandering the days of his youth in an office when the world was beautiful? The letter proceeded. I wonder you can bear it. I think of Fleet Street and Lincoln's Inn now with a shudder of disgust. There are only two things in the world that make life worth living, love and art. I cannot imagine you sitting in an office over a ledger, and do you wear a tall hat and an umbrella and a little black bag? My feeling is that one should look upon life as an adventure, one should burn with the hard, gem-like flame, and one should take risks, one should expose oneself to danger. Why do you not go to Paris and study art? I always thought you had talent. The suggestion fell in with the possibility that Philip for some time had been vaguely turning over in his mind. It startled him at first, but he could not help thinking of it, and in the constant rumination over it he found his only escape from the wretchedness of his present state. They all thought he had talent; at Heidelberg they had admired his water colours, Miss Wilkinson had told him over and over again that they were chasing; even strangers like the Watsons had been struck by his sketches. La Vie de Boheme had made a deep impression on him. He had brought it to London and when he was most depressed he had only to read a few pages to be transported into those chasing attics where Rodolphe and the rest of them danced and loved and sang. He began to think of Paris as before he had thought of London, but he had no fear of a second disillusion; he yearned for romance and beauty and love, and Paris seemed to offer them all. He had a passion for pictures, and why should he not be able to paint as well as anybody else? He wrote to Miss Wilkinson and asked her how much she thought he could live on in Paris. She told him that he could manage easily on eighty pounds a year, and she enthusiastically approved of his project. She told him he was too good to be wasted in an office. Who would be a clerk when he might be a great artist, she asked dramatically, and she besought Philip to believe in himself: that was the great thing. But Philip had a cautious nature. It was all very well for Hayward to talk of taking risks, he had three hundred a year in gilt-edged securities; Philip's entire fortune amounted to no more than eighteen-hundred pounds. He hesitated. Then it chanced that one day Mr. Goodworthy asked him suddenly if he would like to go to Paris. The firm did the accounts for a hotel in the Faubourg St. Honore, which was owned by an English company, and twice a year Mr. Goodworthy and a clerk went over. The clerk who generally went happened to be ill, and a press of work prevented any of the others from getting away. Mr. Goodworthy thought of Philip because he could best be spared, and his articles gave him some claim upon a job which was one of the pleasures of the business. Philip was delighted. "You'll 'ave to work all day," said Mr. Goodworthy, "but we get our evenings to ourselves, and Paris is Paris." He smiled in a knowing way. "They do us very well at the hotel, and they give us all our meals, so it don't cost one anything. That's the way I like going to Paris, at other people's expense." When they arrived at Calais and Philip saw the crowd of gesticulating porters his heart leaped. "This is the real thing," he said to himself. He was all eyes as the train sped through the country; he adored the sand dunes, their colour seemed to him more lovely than anything he had ever seen; and he was enchanted with the canals and the long lines of poplars. When they got out of the Gare du Nord, and trundled along the cobbled streets in a ramshackle, noisy cab, it seemed to him that he was breathing a new air so intoxicating that he could hardly restrain himself from shouting aloud. They were met at the door of the hotel by the manager, a stout, pleasant man, who spoke tolerable English; Mr. Goodworthy was an old friend and he greeted them effusively; they dined in his private room with his wife, and to Philip it seemed that he had never eaten anything so delicious as the beefsteak aux pommes, nor drunk such nectar as the vin ordinaire, which were set before them. To Mr. Goodworthy, a respectable householder with excellent principles, the capital of France was a paradise of the joyously obscene. He asked the manager next morning what there was to be seen that was 'thick.' He thoroughly enjoyed these visits of his to Paris; he said they kept you from growing rusty. In the evenings, after their work was over and they had dined, he took Philip to the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergeres. His little eyes twinkled and his face wore a sly, sensual smile as he sought out the pornographic. He went into all the haunts which were specially arranged for the foreigner, and afterwards said that a nation could come to no good which permitted that sort of thing. He nudged Philip when at some revue a woman appeared with practically nothing on, and pointed out to him the most strapping of the courtesans who walked about the hall. It was a vulgar Paris that he showed Philip, but Philip saw it with eyes blinded with illusion. In the early morning he would rush out of the hotel and go to the Champs Elysees, and stand at the Place de la Concorde. It was June, and Paris was silvery with the delicacy of the air. Philip felt his heart go out to the people. Here he thought at last was romance. They spent the inside of a week there, leaving on Sunday, and when Philip late at night reached his dingy rooms in Barnes his mind was made up; he would surrender his articles, and go to Paris to study art; but so that no one should think him unreasonable he determined to stay at the office till his year was up. He was to have his holiday during the last fortnight in August, and when he went away he would tell Herbert Carter that he had no intention of returning. But though Philip could force himself to go to the office every day he could not even pretend to show any interest in the work. His mind was occupied with the future. After the middle of July there was nothing much to do and he escaped a good deal by pretending he had to go to lectures for his first examination. The time he got in this way he spent in the National Gallery. He read books about Paris and books about painting. He was steeped in Ruskin. He read many of Vasari's lives of the painters. He liked that story of Correggio, and he fancied himself standing before some great masterpiece and crying: Anch' io son' pittore. His hesitation had left him now, and he was convinced that he had in him the makings of a great painter. "After all, I can only try," he said to himself. "The great thing in life is to take risks." At last came the middle of August. Mr. Carter was spending the month in Scotland, and the managing clerk was in charge of the office. Mr. Goodworthy had seemed pleasantly disposed to Philip since their trip to Paris, and now that Philip knew he was so soon to be free, he could look upon the funny little man with tolerance. "You're going for your holiday tomorrow, Carey?" he said to him in the evening. All day Philip had been telling himself that this was the last time he would ever sit in that hateful office. "Yes, this is the end of my year." "I'm afraid you've not done very well. Mr. Carter's very dissatisfied with you." "Not nearly so dissatisfied as I am with Mr. Carter," returned Philip cheerfully. "I don't think you should speak like that, Carey." "I'm not coming back. I made the arrangement that if I didn't like accountancy Mr. Carter would return me half the money I paid for my articles and I could chuck it at the end of a year." "You shouldn't come to such a decision hastily." "For ten months I've loathed it all, I've loathed the work, I've loathed the office, I loathe London. I'd rather sweep a crossing than spend my days here." "Well, I must say, I don't think you're very fitted for accountancy." "Good-bye," said Philip, holding out his hand. "I want to thank you for your kindness to me. I'm sorry if I've been troublesome. I knew almost from the beginning I was no good." "Well, if you really do make up your mind it is good-bye. I don't know what you're going to do, but if you're in the neighbourhood at any time come in and see us." Philip gave a little laugh. "I'm afraid it sounds very rude, but I hope from the bottom of my heart that I shall never set eyes on any of you again." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XXXIX The Vicar of Blackstable would have nothing to do with the scheme which Philip laid before him. He had a great idea that one should stick to whatever one had begun. Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind. "You chose to be an accountant of your own free will," he said. "I just took that because it was the only chance I saw of getting up to town. I hate London, I hate the work, and nothing will induce me to go back to it." Mr. and Mrs. Carey were frankly shocked at Philip's idea of being an artist. He should not forget, they said, that his father and mother were gentlefolk, and painting wasn't a serious profession; it was Bohemian, disreputable, immoral. And then Paris! "So long as I have anything to say in the matter, I shall not allow you to live in Paris," said the Vicar firmly. It was a sink of iniquity. The scarlet woman and she of Babylon flaunted their vileness there; the cities of the plain were not more wicked. "You've been brought up like a gentleman and Christian, and I should be false to the trust laid upon me by your dead father and mother if I allowed you to expose yourself to such temptation." "Well, I know I'm not a Christian and I'm beginning to doubt whether I'm a gentleman," said Philip. The dispute grew more violent. There was another year before Philip took possession of his small inheritance, and during that time Mr. Carey proposed only to give him an allowance if he remained at the office. It was clear to Philip that if he meant not to continue with accountancy he must leave it while he could still get back half the money that had been paid for his articles. The Vicar would not listen. Philip, losing all reserve, said things to wound and irritate. "You've got no right to waste my money," he said at last. "After all it's my money, isn't it? I'm not a child. You can't prevent me from going to Paris if I make up my mind to. You can't force me to go back to London." "All I can do is to refuse you money unless you do what I think fit." "Well, I don't care, I've made up my mind to go to Paris. I shall sell my clothes, and my books, and my father's jewellery." Aunt Louisa sat by in silence, anxious and unhappy. She saw that Philip was beside himself, and anything she said then would but increase his anger. Finally the Vicar announced that he wished to hear nothing more about it and with dignity left the room. For the next three days neither Philip nor he spoke to one another. Philip wrote to Hayward for information about Paris, and made up his mind to set out as soon as he got a reply. Mrs. Carey turned the matter over in her mind incessantly; she felt that Philip included her in the hatred he bore her husband, and the thought tortured her. She loved him with all her heart. At length she spoke to him; she listened attentively while he poured out all his disillusionment of London and his eager ambition for the future. "I may be no good, but at least let me have a try. I can't be a worse failure than I was in that beastly office. And I feel that I can paint. I know I've got it in me." She was not so sure as her husband that they did right in thwarting so strong an inclination. She had read of great painters whose parents had opposed their wish to study, the event had shown with what folly; and after all it was just as possible for a painter to lead a virtuous life to the glory of God as for a chartered accountant. "I'm so afraid of your going to Paris," she said piteously. "It wouldn't be so bad if you studied in London." "If I'm going in for painting I must do it thoroughly, and it's only in Paris that you can get the real thing." At his suggestion Mrs. Carey wrote to the solicitor, saying that Philip was discontented with his work in London, and asking what he thought of a change. Mr. Nixon answered as follows: Dear Mrs. Carey, I have seen Mr. Herbert Carter, and I am afraid I must tell you that Philip has not done so well as one could have wished. If he is very strongly set against the work, perhaps it is better that he should take the opportunity there is now to break his articles. I am naturally very disappointed, but as you know you can take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. Yours very sincerely, Albert Nixon. The letter was shown to the Vicar, but served only to increase his obstinacy. He was willing enough that Philip should take up some other profession, he suggested his father's calling, medicine, but nothing would induce him to pay an allowance if Philip went to Paris. "It's a mere excuse for self-indulgence and sensuality," he said. "I'm interested to hear you blame self-indulgence in others," retorted Philip acidly. But by this time an answer had come from Hayward, giving the name of a hotel where Philip could get a room for thirty francs a month and enclosing a note of introduction to the massiere of a school. Philip read the letter to Mrs. Carey and told her he proposed to start on the first of September. "But you haven't got any money?" she said. "I'm going into Tercanbury this afternoon to sell the jewellery." He had inherited from his father a gold watch and chain, two or three rings, some links, and two pins. One of them was a pearl and might fetch a considerable sum. "It's a very different thing, what a thing's worth and what it'll fetch," said Aunt Louisa. Philip smiled, for this was one of his uncle's stock phrases. "I know, but at the worst I think I can get a hundred pounds on the lot, and that'll keep me till I'm twenty-one." Mrs. Carey did not answer, but she went upstairs, put on her little black bonnet, and went to the bank. In an hour she came back. She went to Philip, who was reading in the drawing-room, and handed him an envelope. "What's this?" he asked. "It's a little present for you," she answered, smiling shyly. He opened it and found eleven five-pound notes and a little paper sack bulging with sovereigns. "I couldn't bear to let you sell your father's jewellery. It's the money I had in the bank. It comes to very nearly a hundred pounds." Philip blushed, and, he knew not why, tears suddenly filled his eyes. "Oh, my dear, I can't take it," he said. "It's most awfully good of you, but I couldn't bear to take it." When Mrs. Carey was married she had three hundred pounds, and this money, carefully watched, had been used by her to meet any unforeseen expense, any urgent charity, or to buy Christmas and birthday presents for her husband and for Philip. In the course of years it had diminished sadly, but it was still with the Vicar a subject for jesting. He talked of his wife as a rich woman and he constantly spoke of the 'nest egg.' "Oh, please take it, Philip. I'm so sorry I've been extravagant, and there's only that left. But it'll make me so happy if you'll accept it." "But you'll want it," said Philip. "No, I don't think I shall. I was keeping it in case your uncle died before me. I thought it would be useful to have a little something I could get at immediately if I wanted it, but I don't think I shall live very much longer now." "Oh, my dear, don't say that. Why, of course you're going to live for ever. I can't possibly spare you." "Oh, I'm not sorry." Her voice broke and she hid her eyes, but in a moment, drying them, she smiled bravely. "At first, I used to pray to God that He might not take me first, because I didn't want your uncle to be left alone, I didn't want him to have all the suffering, but now I know that it wouldn't mean so much to your uncle as it would mean to me. He wants to live more than I do, I've never been the wife he wanted, and I daresay he'd marry again if anything happened to me. So I should like to go first. You don't think it's selfish of me, Philip, do you? But I couldn't bear it if he went." Philip kissed her wrinkled, thin cheek. He did not know why the sight he had of that overwhelming love made him feel strangely ashamed. It was incomprehensible that she should care so much for a man who was so indifferent, so selfish, so grossly self-indulgent; and he divined dimly that in her heart she knew his indifference and his selfishness, knew them and loved him humbly all the same. "You will take the money, Philip?" she said, gently stroking his hand. "I know you can do without it, but it'll give me so much happiness. I've always wanted to do something for you. You see, I never had a child of my own, and I've loved you as if you were my son. When you were a little boy, though I knew it was wicked, I used to wish almost that you might be ill, so that I could nurse you day and night. But you were only ill once and then it was at school. I should so like to help you. It's the only chance I shall ever have. And perhaps some day when you're a great artist you won't forget me, but you'll remember that I gave you your start." "It's very good of you," said Philip. "I'm very grateful." A smile came into her tired eyes, a smile of pure happiness. "Oh, I'm so glad." </CHAPTER>

Chapters 36-39

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Philip settles into his new rooms in Barnes, London, but he is depressed by the dingy place and that part of town. He goes to the offices of Herbert Carter in Chancery Lane. The managing clerk, Mr. Goodworthy, who is both patronizing and timid, tells Philip the work is lucrative but drudgery and puts him to work alphabetizing letters. He meets Watson, a fellow articled clerk, who is the son of a rich brewer. He dresses and acts like a gentleman, fond of sports and the hunt. He has been to Oxford and condescends to Philip, but Philip thinks it is ironic that at school they looked down on brewers. Mr. Carter tries to give the impression that he is a gentleman and that they want gentlemen in the business to raise the profession. . Philip is interested in the work at first as a novelty. He has to add columns of figures, not one of his strong points. He attends lectures for his examination. In his spare time, he goes to galleries and reads, but Sundays are difficult, for he is alone. He spends one Sunday with Mr. Nixon, the solicitor, but he is shy about going back. Loneliness weighs on him more and more. He spends an evening with Watson, but the man has no culture, and he is ill at ease with him. Suddenly, he despises his own acquirements because of his poverty. He admires Watson's life because he has money and a place. . When he goes to the post office, he finds three letters from Miss Wilkinson. He replies awkwardly, and she bombards him with angry letters about his neglect. She says she cannot live without him. She wants to come see him at Christmas. He lies that he has an engagement. He regrets he had the affair. Watson tells him he has no trouble breaking off with women. He just tells them to go away. . He is alone on Christmas because his aunt and uncle are in Cornwall for their health. After a year at the firm, he works with a clerk named Thompson who is irritated at his mistakes and enjoys insulting him. Philip sees he has no aptitude for this work and slacks off. He tries to imagine what his life would be like if he were Watson. For amusement, he sketches Watson. Watson's family like the sketches and think Philip should be an artist. Mr. Carter finds out he is drawing on office time and scolds him. Philip knows he cannot stand much more of this life. Hayward writes to him of Italy, telling him the only things in life are love and art. He tells Philip to take a risk and study art in Paris. . Philip remembers that people have always told him he has talent, and he begins to think of the French novel about bohemian life in Paris. The artists were poor but they enjoyed life. He yearns for romance and beauty. Goodworthy asks Philip one day if he would like to go to Paris to do some accounts there. Philip jumps at the chance. He is intoxicated by Paris, though Mr. Goodworthy only wants to go to the more vulgar places, the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergeres. Philip decides he will wait out the year and then go to Paris. . His uncle is shocked by Philip's decision. He is a gentleman, and art and Paris are immoral. Philip bluntly replies he is neither Christian nor a gentleman. He will not inherit his money for another year, so he says he will sell his father's jewelry and use the money to go. His aunt has a soft spot for Philip and does not want him to sell the jewelry, so she offers what is left of her own bridal settlement. It is a very small amount, but she offers up to him 100 pounds. She thinks she hasn't much time to live, and she truly wants to give Philip something so he can realize his dreams.

Commentary on Chapters XXXVI-XXXIX . Philip's aunt, like his mother, truly loves him with an unselfish love, one of the few pure relationships he has enjoyed. He comes to believe that only parents have disinterested love. She reveals that she is not as much of an old fool as he had thought, for she perfectly understands that his uncle is not in love with her and will not miss her when she dies. She wants to pass on her one precious thing to Philip, who was as close as she could come to having a child. . Philip discovers the loneliness of the big city and not fitting into his surroundings. The life is drab and so is the work, for which he is ill suited. He is astonished at the class issues at Carter's. Carter and Watson represent the middle classes aspiring to the status and culture that have been the privilege of the upper classes. It is now possible for merchant's sons to go to university and hunt and act and dress like gentlemen. Philip thinks how at his school these people were looked down on because they were not born gentlemen. It was perfectly clear who was and who wasn't; people didn't talk about their class all the time. . Yet when his uncle brings up class issues, he reveals the eroding influence of time and his experience on his own thought; he does not easily identify with being either Christian or a gentleman. He thinks he would like the money Watson has so he can pursue his own interests, but he is too cultured to want to hang out with London trades people. Their interests are mundane. He wants not the life of a gentleman, but a romantic and adventurous life, a bohemian life, as he has read about. As Hayward suggests, beauty and love are the only things worth living for. Even Miss Wilkinson has encouraged him that he could be an artist and live on the amount he has from his aunt for a year. . There is a certain cynicism about women in this section. Philip lets the relationship with Miss Wilkinson drop in an awkward manner. He admires Watson for being able to have affairs and then tell the woman to go away, without any conscience.

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Of Human Bondage.chapters 40-51

chapters 40-51

{"name": "Chapters 40-51", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter40-51", "summary": "Mrs. Carey sees Philip off to France, but he can hardly pay attention to her because he is excited about the future. He stops thinking of her the minute the train pulls out. Hayward had given him an introduction to Mrs. Otter, the studio manager at Amitrano's Art School, the best in Paris. He has a tiny room in the Latin Quarter in an attic. He goes out to see the lights of Paris on the first night, the cafes, the noise and conversations, exhilarated. . Mrs. Otter is a painter who manages the studio and is kind to Philip, telling him where to get his supplies and setting him up in the studio. He sits next to Fanny Price, an unattractive woman who helps him get started drawing the nude model. She corrects his mistakes, something he appreciates at first. Clutton takes him to lunch at Gravier's where all the artists go and tells him Fanny knows the ropes but she herself cannot draw. . Clutton introduces him to other students: Flanagan, an American, and Lawson, from England. They discuss the work of the Impressionist painters who are the important artists of the time. Philip loves the easy-going atmosphere of Paris and feels at home. He runs into Fanny Price at the Gardens of Luxembourg. Though she is rough and unpleasant, she tells him she will do anything to help him. She tells him about the advanced sketching session in the evening, and he goes though he is not good enough. He does a poor job and realizes he is not as good as he thought he was. . At supper Philip hears Flanagan and Lawson discussing art and finds out the latest ideas on art in Paris, including a description of the Olympia by Manet, currently the sensation .The art students argue about whether art should be moral. The art critic, Ruskin, whom Hayward taught Philip to adore, is old-fashioned to these students who damn all the Victorians. . They take Philip to another cafe to find their mentor, Cronshaw, a poet who supposedly knows all the great writers of the day, including Pater, Oscar Wilde, and Mallarme. Cronshaw holds forth after he is drunk every night. He is a big older man, stout, with a mustache. He has a very cynical philosophy, which is popular with the young men. Philip is excited by all these new ideas and feels great power and self-confidence. . Two of the teachers, Michel Rollin and Monsieur Foinet, come a couple of times a week to critique the students' paintings. Foinet at Fanny's insistence, critiques her work, telling her it is terrible and she should give up. She rejects Philip's sympathy. Later, she shows Philip all the famous art works in Paris and lectures him on them. He is surprised that the Impressionist paintings have no moral content. Philip feels uncomfortable that Fanny believes she is a good artist when it is obvious she isn't. When he finally talks her into a lunch, he is disgusted by her behavior of gobbling her food. The others tease him that she is in love with him. Philip pities her, for all the art students seem on the verge of utter poverty. . They all want a mistress but have no money to keep one. Cronshaw keeps a coarse fat woman and their baby in squalid quarters, living on his writing reviews. Philip moves into a studio with Lawson, and Fanny is jealous. He agrees to look at her work and finds it hideous but tries to placate her. Hayward shows up for a party in Philip's and Lawson's studio, but Hayward's ideas seem old-fashioned now. . In the hot summer, Philip goes off to the forests of Fontainebleau with Lawson and Ruth Chalice to paint. Philip is now painting in oils but is merely copying Lawson. He realizes Ruth and Lawson are having an affair and feels left out. He thinks no woman will want him because of his deformity. . Back at Amitrano's he finds Fanny Price has left and no one knows where she is. Clutton argues that he wants to paint soul like El Greco. Philip begins to paint the portrait of a Spanish man named Miguel, but he finally concludes the man is handsome with no particular soul or depth. He begins to wonder what is the point and if he is wasting his time with painting. He gets an urgent note from Fanny Price and finds that she has committed suicide in her flat. She has been quietly starving to death and was out of money, though too proud to ask for help. . Philip is shaken. Flanagan tries to cheer him up and takes him to a dance hall. Philip only sees the animal nature of all the sweaty bodies. A painting of Philip's is rejected by the Salon, and he asks Foinet to come look at his art. Foinet tells him he merely copies; he is adequate, but he should give up painting, for it is a hopeless life of poverty. Cronshaw gives him similar advice, and not wanting to waste his life any longer, Philip decides to go home. He receives a letter from his uncle that his aunt has died, so he leaves Paris for the funeral. .", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XL-LI Once again Philip has romantic ideas that are dashed. He goes to Paris thinking of the idealism of bohemian life, only to find that it involves the degradation of poverty. These are not the happy poor artists of the novel he read. Fanny Price illustrates the tragedy of self-deception. She has everything that an artist needs: dedication, austerity, self-confidence, but no talent or money, and no ability to admit defeat. The other reigning giants of this circle, Monsieur Foinet and Cronshaw, manage to hang on, but are not actually great or successful artists. They have capitulated to smaller roles and have pumped up their images and influence. Both are honest with Philip that he should not get caught up in a sordid lifestyle, especially since his talent is only mediocre. A starving artist is no joke. The initial feeling of freedom and intellectual inquiry are replaced with the threat of poverty and failure. The horror with suicide may have something to do with the suicide of Maugham's own brother. . Yet Philip has had his worldview revolutionized in the two years in Paris, a center for modern art and literature. He puts away forever his stuffy Victorian ideas. The many lengthy cafe discussions not only give the passionate flavor of the young discovering new ideas but also serve as the historical background of Philip's development. Cronshaw rightly points out that he may have given up Christian doctrine, but he has not given up Christian ethics of right and wrong. Cronshaw introduces more daring modern ideas based on a Darwinian view of human nature. Humans are motivated by their own survival needs and act only from self-interest. There is no right and wrong, only what is expedient or necessary or enjoyable. There is not even free will, according to Cronshaw, so there can be no guilt. . These ideas are reflected in the art of the time. Philip can find no moral point of view in Impressionist art. Sometimes it does not even seek the beautiful, so we see the students, for instance, \"turning their backs on the obvious beauty of the town\" when they look for subjects . Lawson includes an advertisement for chocolate in his painting. This goes against what Philip learned from Hayward about seeking out beauty and living for beauty. . Philip cries to Cronshaw, \"If you take away duty and goodness and beauty, why are we brought into the world?\" . Cronshaw tells him he'll find the answer in a Persian carpet, a mystery he keeps in mind, though he doesn't understand the riddle. . Philip is testing out all of these new ideas. He is torn between Cronshaw's notion of people acting like animals, verified in the spectacle at the dance he goes to with Flanagan, and Clutton's wanting to paint soul, as El Greco does. When Philip paints Miguel's portrait, he sees nothing behind the facade. The man is beautiful but empty. . Again, he wishes for passion and romance, especially when he sees Lawson and Ruth together. However, he is confused because of his awareness of her physical defects and wonders how anyone could get past the physical flaws to enjoy a relationship. He is titillated by the lewd stories of the fat ex-prostitute he talks to, and he is horrified by Fanny Price's attachment to him, especially when she mentions she is attracted by his deformity, thinking they have something in common. He finds her repulsive and difficult, especially when she, like Miss Wilkinson, begins to act as if she owns him. He pities her, though, and she haunts his dreams. He was careless at nineteen with whatever Miss Wilkinson might be feeling, but at the age of twenty-one he begins to feel sympathy for others, after witnessing the death of Fanny: \"Philip loathed them , and yet his heart ached with the infinite pity which filled him\" . . Afraid that he is failing as an artist, he asks Clutton if he is any good. His friend replies that it makes no difference, for \"The only reason one paints is that one can't help it\" . Philip, however, still has enough of his old views to want to be a success: he \"could not wrench out of his nature the instincts of the middle-class from which he came\" . He decides he wants to live life rather than portray it. Finally, Foinet tells him that poverty does not make good artists; it makes people \"mean\"; \"it eats into your soul like a cancer\" . Maugham also feared poverty, failure, and especially, mediocrity."}

<CHAPTER> XL A few days later Mrs. Carey went to the station to see Philip off. She stood at the door of the carriage, trying to keep back her tears. Philip was restless and eager. He wanted to be gone. "Kiss me once more," she said. He leaned out of the window and kissed her. The train started, and she stood on the wooden platform of the little station, waving her handkerchief till it was out of sight. Her heart was dreadfully heavy, and the few hundred yards to the vicarage seemed very, very long. It was natural enough that he should be eager to go, she thought, he was a boy and the future beckoned to him; but she--she clenched her teeth so that she should not cry. She uttered a little inward prayer that God would guard him, and keep him out of temptation, and give him happiness and good fortune. But Philip ceased to think of her a moment after he had settled down in his carriage. He thought only of the future. He had written to Mrs. Otter, the massiere to whom Hayward had given him an introduction, and had in his pocket an invitation to tea on the following day. When he arrived in Paris he had his luggage put on a cab and trundled off slowly through the gay streets, over the bridge, and along the narrow ways of the Latin Quarter. He had taken a room at the Hotel des Deux Ecoles, which was in a shabby street off the Boulevard du Montparnasse; it was convenient for Amitrano's School at which he was going to work. A waiter took his box up five flights of stairs, and Philip was shown into a tiny room, fusty from unopened windows, the greater part of which was taken up by a large wooden bed with a canopy over it of red rep; there were heavy curtains on the windows of the same dingy material; the chest of drawers served also as a washing-stand; and there was a massive wardrobe of the style which is connected with the good King Louis Philippe. The wall-paper was discoloured with age; it was dark gray, and there could be vaguely seen on it garlands of brown leaves. To Philip the room seemed quaint and charming. Though it was late he felt too excited to sleep and, going out, made his way into the boulevard and walked towards the light. This led him to the station; and the square in front of it, vivid with arc-lamps, noisy with the yellow trams that seemed to cross it in all directions, made him laugh aloud with joy. There were cafes all round, and by chance, thirsty and eager to get a nearer sight of the crowd, Philip installed himself at a little table outside the Cafe de Versailles. Every other table was taken, for it was a fine night; and Philip looked curiously at the people, here little family groups, there a knot of men with odd-shaped hats and beards talking loudly and gesticulating; next to him were two men who looked like painters with women who Philip hoped were not their lawful wives; behind him he heard Americans loudly arguing on art. His soul was thrilled. He sat till very late, tired out but too happy to move, and when at last he went to bed he was wide awake; he listened to the manifold noise of Paris. Next day about tea-time he made his way to the Lion de Belfort, and in a new street that led out of the Boulevard Raspail found Mrs. Otter. She was an insignificant woman of thirty, with a provincial air and a deliberately lady-like manner; she introduced him to her mother. He discovered presently that she had been studying in Paris for three years and later that she was separated from her husband. She had in her small drawing-room one or two portraits which she had painted, and to Philip's inexperience they seemed extremely accomplished. "I wonder if I shall ever be able to paint as well as that," he said to her. "Oh, I expect so," she replied, not without self-satisfaction. "You can't expect to do everything all at once, of course." She was very kind. She gave him the address of a shop where he could get a portfolio, drawing-paper, and charcoal. "I shall be going to Amitrano's about nine tomorrow, and if you'll be there then I'll see that you get a good place and all that sort of thing." She asked him what he wanted to do, and Philip felt that he should not let her see how vague he was about the whole matter. "Well, first I want to learn to draw," he said. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. People always want to do things in such a hurry. I never touched oils till I'd been here for two years, and look at the result." She gave a glance at the portrait of her mother, a sticky piece of painting that hung over the piano. "And if I were you, I would be very careful about the people you get to know. I wouldn't mix myself up with any foreigners. I'm very careful myself." Philip thanked her for the suggestion, but it seemed to him odd. He did not know that he particularly wanted to be careful. "We live just as we would if we were in England," said Mrs. Otter's mother, who till then had spoken little. "When we came here we brought all our own furniture over." Philip looked round the room. It was filled with a massive suite, and at the window were the same sort of white lace curtains which Aunt Louisa put up at the vicarage in summer. The piano was draped in Liberty silk and so was the chimney-piece. Mrs. Otter followed his wandering eye. "In the evening when we close the shutters one might really feel one was in England." "And we have our meals just as if we were at home," added her mother. "A meat breakfast in the morning and dinner in the middle of the day." When he left Mrs. Otter Philip went to buy drawing materials; and next morning at the stroke of nine, trying to seem self-assured, he presented himself at the school. Mrs. Otter was already there, and she came forward with a friendly smile. He had been anxious about the reception he would have as a nouveau, for he had read a good deal of the rough joking to which a newcomer was exposed at some of the studios; but Mrs. Otter had reassured him. "Oh, there's nothing like that here," she said. "You see, about half our students are ladies, and they set a tone to the place." The studio was large and bare, with gray walls, on which were pinned the studies that had received prizes. A model was sitting in a chair with a loose wrap thrown over her, and about a dozen men and women were standing about, some talking and others still working on their sketch. It was the first rest of the model. "You'd better not try anything too difficult at first," said Mrs. Otter. "Put your easel here. You'll find that's the easiest pose." Philip placed an easel where she indicated, and Mrs. Otter introduced him to a young woman who sat next to him. "Mr. Carey--Miss Price. Mr. Carey's never studied before, you won't mind helping him a little just at first will you?" Then she turned to the model. "La Pose." The model threw aside the paper she had been reading, La Petite Republique, and sulkily, throwing off her gown, got on to the stand. She stood, squarely on both feet with her hands clasped behind her head. "It's a stupid pose," said Miss Price. "I can't imagine why they chose it." When Philip entered, the people in the studio had looked at him curiously, and the model gave him an indifferent glance, but now they ceased to pay attention to him. Philip, with his beautiful sheet of paper in front of him, stared awkwardly at the model. He did not know how to begin. He had never seen a naked woman before. She was not young and her breasts were shrivelled. She had colourless, fair hair that fell over her forehead untidily, and her face was covered with large freckles. He glanced at Miss Price's work. She had only been working on it two days, and it looked as though she had had trouble; her paper was in a mess from constant rubbing out, and to Philip's eyes the figure looked strangely distorted. "I should have thought I could do as well as that," he said to himself. He began on the head, thinking that he would work slowly downwards, but, he could not understand why, he found it infinitely more difficult to draw a head from the model than to draw one from his imagination. He got into difficulties. He glanced at Miss Price. She was working with vehement gravity. Her brow was wrinkled with eagerness, and there was an anxious look in her eyes. It was hot in the studio, and drops of sweat stood on her forehead. She was a girl of twenty-six, with a great deal of dull gold hair; it was handsome hair, but it was carelessly done, dragged back from her forehead and tied in a hurried knot. She had a large face, with broad, flat features and small eyes; her skin was pasty, with a singular unhealthiness of tone, and there was no colour in the cheeks. She had an unwashed air and you could not help wondering if she slept in her clothes. She was serious and silent. When the next pause came, she stepped back to look at her work. "I don't know why I'm having so much bother," she said. "But I mean to get it right." She turned to Philip. "How are you getting on?" "Not at all," he answered, with a rueful smile. She looked at what he had done. "You can't expect to do anything that way. You must take measurements. And you must square out your paper." She showed him rapidly how to set about the business. Philip was impressed by her earnestness, but repelled by her want of charm. He was grateful for the hints she gave him and set to work again. Meanwhile other people had come in, mostly men, for the women always arrived first, and the studio for the time of year (it was early yet) was fairly full. Presently there came in a young man with thin, black hair, an enormous nose, and a face so long that it reminded you of a horse. He sat down next to Philip and nodded across him to Miss Price. "You're very late," she said. "Are you only just up?" "It was such a splendid day, I thought I'd lie in bed and think how beautiful it was out." Philip smiled, but Miss Price took the remark seriously. "That seems a funny thing to do, I should have thought it would be more to the point to get up and enjoy it." "The way of the humorist is very hard," said the young man gravely. He did not seem inclined to work. He looked at his canvas; he was working in colour, and had sketched in the day before the model who was posing. He turned to Philip. "Have you just come out from England?" "Yes." "How did you find your way to Amitrano's?" "It was the only school I knew of." "I hope you haven't come with the idea that you will learn anything here which will be of the smallest use to you." "It's the best school in Paris," said Miss Price. "It's the only one where they take art seriously." "Should art be taken seriously?" the young man asked; and since Miss Price replied only with a scornful shrug, he added: "But the point is, all schools are bad. They are academical, obviously. Why this is less injurious than most is that the teaching is more incompetent than elsewhere. Because you learn nothing...." "But why d'you come here then?" interrupted Philip. "I see the better course, but do not follow it. Miss Price, who is cultured, will remember the Latin of that." "I wish you would leave me out of your conversation, Mr. Clutton," said Miss Price brusquely. "The only way to learn to paint," he went on, imperturbable, "is to take a studio, hire a model, and just fight it out for yourself." "That seems a simple thing to do," said Philip. "It only needs money," replied Clutton. He began to paint, and Philip looked at him from the corner of his eye. He was long and desperately thin; his huge bones seemed to protrude from his body; his elbows were so sharp that they appeared to jut out through the arms of his shabby coat. His trousers were frayed at the bottom, and on each of his boots was a clumsy patch. Miss Price got up and went over to Philip's easel. "If Mr. Clutton will hold his tongue for a moment, I'll just help you a little," she said. "Miss Price dislikes me because I have humour," said Clutton, looking meditatively at his canvas, "but she detests me because I have genius." He spoke with solemnity, and his colossal, misshapen nose made what he said very quaint. Philip was obliged to laugh, but Miss Price grew darkly red with anger. "You're the only person who has ever accused you of genius." "Also I am the only person whose opinion is of the least value to me." Miss Price began to criticise what Philip had done. She talked glibly of anatomy and construction, planes and lines, and of much else which Philip did not understand. She had been at the studio a long time and knew the main points which the masters insisted upon, but though she could show what was wrong with Philip's work she could not tell him how to put it right. "It's awfully kind of you to take so much trouble with me," said Philip. "Oh, it's nothing," she answered, flushing awkwardly. "People did the same for me when I first came, I'd do it for anyone." "Miss Price wants to indicate that she is giving you the advantage of her knowledge from a sense of duty rather than on account of any charms of your person," said Clutton. Miss Price gave him a furious look, and went back to her own drawing. The clock struck twelve, and the model with a cry of relief stepped down from the stand. Miss Price gathered up her things. "Some of us go to Gravier's for lunch," she said to Philip, with a look at Clutton. "I always go home myself." "I'll take you to Gravier's if you like," said Clutton. Philip thanked him and made ready to go. On his way out Mrs. Otter asked him how he had been getting on. "Did Fanny Price help you?" she asked. "I put you there because I know she can do it if she likes. She's a disagreeable, ill-natured girl, and she can't draw herself at all, but she knows the ropes, and she can be useful to a newcomer if she cares to take the trouble." On the way down the street Clutton said to him: "You've made an impression on Fanny Price. You'd better look out." Philip laughed. He had never seen anyone on whom he wished less to make an impression. They came to the cheap little restaurant at which several of the students ate, and Clutton sat down at a table at which three or four men were already seated. For a franc, they got an egg, a plate of meat, cheese, and a small bottle of wine. Coffee was extra. They sat on the pavement, and yellow trams passed up and down the boulevard with a ceaseless ringing of bells. "By the way, what's your name?" said Clutton, as they took their seats. "Carey." "Allow me to introduce an old and trusted friend, Carey by name," said Clutton gravely. "Mr. Flanagan, Mr. Lawson." They laughed and went on with their conversation. They talked of a thousand things, and they all talked at once. No one paid the smallest attention to anyone else. They talked of the places they had been to in the summer, of studios, of the various schools; they mentioned names which were unfamiliar to Philip, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas. Philip listened with all his ears, and though he felt a little out of it, his heart leaped with exultation. The time flew. When Clutton got up he said: "I expect you'll find me here this evening if you care to come. You'll find this about the best place for getting dyspepsia at the lowest cost in the Quarter." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLI Philip walked down the Boulevard du Montparnasse. It was not at all like the Paris he had seen in the spring during his visit to do the accounts of the Hotel St. Georges--he thought already of that part of his life with a shudder--but reminded him of what he thought a provincial town must be. There was an easy-going air about it, and a sunny spaciousness which invited the mind to day-dreaming. The trimness of the trees, the vivid whiteness of the houses, the breadth, were very agreeable; and he felt himself already thoroughly at home. He sauntered along, staring at the people; there seemed an elegance about the most ordinary, workmen with their broad red sashes and their wide trousers, little soldiers in dingy, charming uniforms. He came presently to the Avenue de l'Observatoire, and he gave a sigh of pleasure at the magnificent, yet so graceful, vista. He came to the gardens of the Luxembourg: children were playing, nurses with long ribbons walked slowly two by two, busy men passed through with satchels under their arms, youths strangely dressed. The scene was formal and dainty; nature was arranged and ordered, but so exquisitely, that nature unordered and unarranged seemed barbaric. Philip was enchanted. It excited him to stand on that spot of which he had read so much; it was classic ground to him; and he felt the awe and the delight which some old don might feel when for the first time he looked on the smiling plain of Sparta. As he wandered he chanced to see Miss Price sitting by herself on a bench. He hesitated, for he did not at that moment want to see anyone, and her uncouth way seemed out of place amid the happiness he felt around him; but he had divined her sensitiveness to affront, and since she had seen him thought it would be polite to speak to her. "What are you doing here?" she said, as he came up. "Enjoying myself. Aren't you?" "Oh, I come here every day from four to five. I don't think one does any good if one works straight through." "May I sit down for a minute?" he said. "If you want to." "That doesn't sound very cordial," he laughed. "I'm not much of a one for saying pretty things." Philip, a little disconcerted, was silent as he lit a cigarette. "Did Clutton say anything about my work?" she asked suddenly. "No, I don't think he did," said Philip. "He's no good, you know. He thinks he's a genius, but he isn't. He's too lazy, for one thing. Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains. The only thing is to peg away. If one only makes up one's mind badly enough to do a thing one can't help doing it." She spoke with a passionate strenuousness which was rather striking. She wore a sailor hat of black straw, a white blouse which was not quite clean, and a brown skirt. She had no gloves on, and her hands wanted washing. She was so unattractive that Philip wished he had not begun to talk to her. He could not make out whether she wanted him to stay or go. "I'll do anything I can for you," she said all at once, without reference to anything that had gone before. "I know how hard it is." "Thank you very much," said Philip, then in a moment: "Won't you come and have tea with me somewhere?" She looked at him quickly and flushed. When she reddened her pasty skin acquired a curiously mottled look, like strawberries and cream that had gone bad. "No, thanks. What d'you think I want tea for? I've only just had lunch." "I thought it would pass the time," said Philip. "If you find it long you needn't bother about me, you know. I don't mind being left alone." At that moment two men passed, in brown velveteens, enormous trousers, and basque caps. They were young, but both wore beards. "I say, are those art-students?" said Philip. "They might have stepped out of the Vie de Boheme." "They're Americans," said Miss Price scornfully. "Frenchmen haven't worn things like that for thirty years, but the Americans from the Far West buy those clothes and have themselves photographed the day after they arrive in Paris. That's about as near to art as they ever get. But it doesn't matter to them, they've all got money." Philip liked the daring picturesqueness of the Americans' costume; he thought it showed the romantic spirit. Miss Price asked him the time. "I must be getting along to the studio," she said. "Are you going to the sketch classes?" Philip did not know anything about them, and she told him that from five to six every evening a model sat, from whom anyone who liked could go and draw at the cost of fifty centimes. They had a different model every day, and it was very good practice. "I don't suppose you're good enough yet for that. You'd better wait a bit." "I don't see why I shouldn't try. I haven't got anything else to do." They got up and walked to the studio. Philip could not tell from her manner whether Miss Price wished him to walk with her or preferred to walk alone. He remained from sheer embarrassment, not knowing how to leave her; but she would not talk; she answered his questions in an ungracious manner. A man was standing at the studio door with a large dish into which each person as he went in dropped his half franc. The studio was much fuller than it had been in the morning, and there was not the preponderance of English and Americans; nor were women there in so large a proportion. Philip felt the assemblage was more the sort of thing he had expected. It was very warm, and the air quickly grew fetid. It was an old man who sat this time, with a vast gray beard, and Philip tried to put into practice the little he had learned in the morning; but he made a poor job of it; he realised that he could not draw nearly as well as he thought. He glanced enviously at one or two sketches of men who sat near him, and wondered whether he would ever be able to use the charcoal with that mastery. The hour passed quickly. Not wishing to press himself upon Miss Price he sat down at some distance from her, and at the end, as he passed her on his way out, she asked him brusquely how he had got on. "Not very well," he smiled. "If you'd condescended to come and sit near me I could have given you some hints. I suppose you thought yourself too grand." "No, it wasn't that. I was afraid you'd think me a nuisance." "When I do that I'll tell you sharp enough." Philip saw that in her uncouth way she was offering him help. "Well, tomorrow I'll just force myself upon you." "I don't mind," she answered. Philip went out and wondered what he should do with himself till dinner. He was eager to do something characteristic. Absinthe! of course it was indicated, and so, sauntering towards the station, he seated himself outside a cafe and ordered it. He drank with nausea and satisfaction. He found the taste disgusting, but the moral effect magnificent; he felt every inch an art-student; and since he drank on an empty stomach his spirits presently grew very high. He watched the crowds, and felt all men were his brothers. He was happy. When he reached Gravier's the table at which Clutton sat was full, but as soon as he saw Philip limping along he called out to him. They made room. The dinner was frugal, a plate of soup, a dish of meat, fruit, cheese, and half a bottle of wine; but Philip paid no attention to what he ate. He took note of the men at the table. Flanagan was there again: he was an American, a short, snub-nosed youth with a jolly face and a laughing mouth. He wore a Norfolk jacket of bold pattern, a blue stock round his neck, and a tweed cap of fantastic shape. At that time impressionism reigned in the Latin Quarter, but its victory over the older schools was still recent; and Carolus-Duran, Bouguereau, and their like were set up against Manet, Monet, and Degas. To appreciate these was still a sign of grace. Whistler was an influence strong with the English and his compatriots, and the discerning collected Japanese prints. The old masters were tested by new standards. The esteem in which Raphael had been for centuries held was a matter of derision to wise young men. They offered to give all his works for Velasquez' head of Philip IV in the National Gallery. Philip found that a discussion on art was raging. Lawson, whom he had met at luncheon, sat opposite to him. He was a thin youth with a freckled face and red hair. He had very bright green eyes. As Philip sat down he fixed them on him and remarked suddenly: "Raphael was only tolerable when he painted other people's pictures. When he painted Peruginos or Pinturichios he was charming; when he painted Raphaels he was," with a scornful shrug, "Raphael." Lawson spoke so aggressively that Philip was taken aback, but he was not obliged to answer because Flanagan broke in impatiently. "Oh, to hell with art!" he cried. "Let's get ginny." "You were ginny last night, Flanagan," said Lawson. "Nothing to what I mean to be tonight," he answered. "Fancy being in Pa-ris and thinking of nothing but art all the time." He spoke with a broad Western accent. "My, it is good to be alive." He gathered himself together and then banged his fist on the table. "To hell with art, I say." "You not only say it, but you say it with tiresome iteration," said Clutton severely. There was another American at the table. He was dressed like those fine fellows whom Philip had seen that afternoon in the Luxembourg. He had a handsome face, thin, ascetic, with dark eyes; he wore his fantastic garb with the dashing air of a buccaneer. He had a vast quantity of dark hair which fell constantly over his eyes, and his most frequent gesture was to throw back his head dramatically to get some long wisp out of the way. He began to talk of the Olympia by Manet, which then hung in the Luxembourg. "I stood in front of it for an hour today, and I tell you it's not a good picture." Lawson put down his knife and fork. His green eyes flashed fire, he gasped with rage; but he could be seen imposing calm upon himself. "It's very interesting to hear the mind of the untutored savage," he said. "Will you tell us why it isn't a good picture?" Before the American could answer someone else broke in vehemently. "D'you mean to say you can look at the painting of that flesh and say it's not good?" "I don't say that. I think the right breast is very well painted." "The right breast be damned," shouted Lawson. "The whole thing's a miracle of painting." He began to describe in detail the beauties of the picture, but at this table at Gravier's they who spoke at length spoke for their own edification. No one listened to him. The American interrupted angrily. "You don't mean to say you think the head's good?" Lawson, white with passion now, began to defend the head; but Clutton, who had been sitting in silence with a look on his face of good-humoured scorn, broke in. "Give him the head. We don't want the head. It doesn't affect the picture." "All right, I'll give you the head," cried Lawson. "Take the head and be damned to you." "What about the black line?" cried the American, triumphantly pushing back a wisp of hair which nearly fell in his soup. "You don't see a black line round objects in nature." "Oh, God, send down fire from heaven to consume the blasphemer," said Lawson. "What has nature got to do with it? No one knows what's in nature and what isn't! The world sees nature through the eyes of the artist. Why, for centuries it saw horses jumping a fence with all their legs extended, and by Heaven, sir, they were extended. It saw shadows black until Monet discovered they were coloured, and by Heaven, sir, they were black. If we choose to surround objects with a black line, the world will see the black line, and there will be a black line; and if we paint grass red and cows blue, it'll see them red and blue, and, by Heaven, they will be red and blue." "To hell with art," murmured Flanagan. "I want to get ginny." Lawson took no notice of the interruption. "Now look here, when Olympia was shown at the Salon, Zola--amid the jeers of the Philistines and the hisses of the pompiers, the academicians, and the public, Zola said: 'I look forward to the day when Manet's picture will hang in the Louvre opposite the Odalisque of Ingres, and it will not be the Odalisque which will gain by comparison.' It'll be there. Every day I see the time grow nearer. In ten years the Olympia will be in the Louvre." "Never," shouted the American, using both hands now with a sudden desperate attempt to get his hair once for all out of the way. "In ten years that picture will be dead. It's only a fashion of the moment. No picture can live that hasn't got something which that picture misses by a million miles." "And what is that?" "Great art can't exist without a moral element." "Oh God!" cried Lawson furiously. "I knew it was that. He wants morality." He joined his hands and held them towards heaven in supplication. "Oh, Christopher Columbus, Christopher Columbus, what did you do when you discovered America?" "Ruskin says..." But before he could add another word, Clutton rapped with the handle of his knife imperiously on the table. "Gentlemen," he said in a stern voice, and his huge nose positively wrinkled with passion, "a name has been mentioned which I never thought to hear again in decent society. Freedom of speech is all very well, but we must observe the limits of common propriety. You may talk of Bouguereau if you will: there is a cheerful disgustingness in the sound which excites laughter; but let us not sully our chaste lips with the names of J. Ruskin, G. F. Watts, or E. B. Jones." "Who was Ruskin anyway?" asked Flanagan. "He was one of the Great Victorians. He was a master of English style." "Ruskin's style--a thing of shreds and purple patches," said Lawson. "Besides, damn the Great Victorians. Whenever I open a paper and see Death of a Great Victorian, I thank Heaven there's one more of them gone. Their only talent was longevity, and no artist should be allowed to live after he's forty; by then a man has done his best work, all he does after that is repetition. Don't you think it was the greatest luck in the world for them that Keats, Shelley, Bonnington, and Byron died early? What a genius we should think Swinburne if he had perished on the day the first series of Poems and Ballads was published!" The suggestion pleased, for no one at the table was more than twenty-four, and they threw themselves upon it with gusto. They were unanimous for once. They elaborated. Someone proposed a vast bonfire made out of the works of the Forty Academicians into which the Great Victorians might be hurled on their fortieth birthday. The idea was received with acclamation. Carlyle and Ruskin, Tennyson, Browning, G. F. Watts, E. B. Jones, Dickens, Thackeray, they were hurried into the flames; Mr. Gladstone, John Bright, and Cobden; there was a moment's discussion about George Meredith, but Matthew Arnold and Emerson were given up cheerfully. At last came Walter Pater. "Not Walter Pater," murmured Philip. Lawson stared at him for a moment with his green eyes and then nodded. "You're quite right, Walter Pater is the only justification for Mona Lisa. D'you know Cronshaw? He used to know Pater." "Who's Cronshaw?" asked Philip. "Cronshaw's a poet. He lives here. Let's go to the Lilas." La Closerie des Lilas was a cafe to which they often went in the evening after dinner, and here Cronshaw was invariably to be found between the hours of nine at night and two in the morning. But Flanagan had had enough of intellectual conversation for one evening, and when Lawson made his suggestion, turned to Philip. "Oh gee, let's go where there are girls," he said. "Come to the Gaite Montparnasse, and we'll get ginny." "I'd rather go and see Cronshaw and keep sober," laughed Philip. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLII There was a general disturbance. Flanagan and two or three more went on to the music-hall, while Philip walked slowly with Clutton and Lawson to the Closerie des Lilas. "You must go to the Gaite Montparnasse," said Lawson to him. "It's one of the loveliest things in Paris. I'm going to paint it one of these days." Philip, influenced by Hayward, looked upon music-halls with scornful eyes, but he had reached Paris at a time when their artistic possibilities were just discovered. The peculiarities of lighting, the masses of dingy red and tarnished gold, the heaviness of the shadows and the decorative lines, offered a new theme; and half the studios in the Quarter contained sketches made in one or other of the local theatres. Men of letters, following in the painters' wake, conspired suddenly to find artistic value in the turns; and red-nosed comedians were lauded to the skies for their sense of character; fat female singers, who had bawled obscurely for twenty years, were discovered to possess inimitable drollery; there were those who found an aesthetic delight in performing dogs; while others exhausted their vocabulary to extol the distinction of conjurers and trick-cyclists. The crowd too, under another influence, was become an object of sympathetic interest. With Hayward, Philip had disdained humanity in the mass; he adopted the attitude of one who wraps himself in solitariness and watches with disgust the antics of the vulgar; but Clutton and Lawson talked of the multitude with enthusiasm. They described the seething throng that filled the various fairs of Paris, the sea of faces, half seen in the glare of acetylene, half hidden in the darkness, and the blare of trumpets, the hooting of whistles, the hum of voices. What they said was new and strange to Philip. They told him about Cronshaw. "Have you ever read any of his work?" "No," said Philip. "It came out in The Yellow Book." They looked upon him, as painters often do writers, with contempt because he was a layman, with tolerance because he practised an art, and with awe because he used a medium in which themselves felt ill-at-ease. "He's an extraordinary fellow. You'll find him a bit disappointing at first, he only comes out at his best when he's drunk." "And the nuisance is," added Clutton, "that it takes him a devil of a time to get drunk." When they arrived at the cafe Lawson told Philip that they would have to go in. There was hardly a bite in the autumn air, but Cronshaw had a morbid fear of draughts and even in the warmest weather sat inside. "He knows everyone worth knowing," Lawson explained. "He knew Pater and Oscar Wilde, and he knows Mallarme and all those fellows." The object of their search sat in the most sheltered corner of the cafe, with his coat on and the collar turned up. He wore his hat pressed well down on his forehead so that he should avoid cold air. He was a big man, stout but not obese, with a round face, a small moustache, and little, rather stupid eyes. His head did not seem quite big enough for his body. It looked like a pea uneasily poised on an egg. He was playing dominoes with a Frenchman, and greeted the new-comers with a quiet smile; he did not speak, but as if to make room for them pushed away the little pile of saucers on the table which indicated the number of drinks he had already consumed. He nodded to Philip when he was introduced to him, and went on with the game. Philip's knowledge of the language was small, but he knew enough to tell that Cronshaw, although he had lived in Paris for several years, spoke French execrably. At last he leaned back with a smile of triumph. "Je vous ai battu," he said, with an abominable accent. "Garcong!" He called the waiter and turned to Philip. "Just out from England? See any cricket?" Philip was a little confused at the unexpected question. "Cronshaw knows the averages of every first-class cricketer for the last twenty years," said Lawson, smiling. The Frenchman left them for friends at another table, and Cronshaw, with the lazy enunciation which was one of his peculiarities, began to discourse on the relative merits of Kent and Lancashire. He told them of the last test match he had seen and described the course of the game wicket by wicket. "That's the only thing I miss in Paris," he said, as he finished the bock which the waiter had brought. "You don't get any cricket." Philip was disappointed, and Lawson, pardonably anxious to show off one of the celebrities of the Quarter, grew impatient. Cronshaw was taking his time to wake up that evening, though the saucers at his side indicated that he had at least made an honest attempt to get drunk. Clutton watched the scene with amusement. He fancied there was something of affectation in Cronshaw's minute knowledge of cricket; he liked to tantalise people by talking to them of things that obviously bored them; Clutton threw in a question. "Have you seen Mallarme lately?" Cronshaw looked at him slowly, as if he were turning the inquiry over in his mind, and before he answered rapped on the marble table with one of the saucers. "Bring my bottle of whiskey," he called out. He turned again to Philip. "I keep my own bottle of whiskey. I can't afford to pay fifty centimes for every thimbleful." The waiter brought the bottle, and Cronshaw held it up to the light. "They've been drinking it. Waiter, who's been helping himself to my whiskey?" "Mais personne, Monsieur Cronshaw." "I made a mark on it last night, and look at it." "Monsieur made a mark, but he kept on drinking after that. At that rate Monsieur wastes his time in making marks." The waiter was a jovial fellow and knew Cronshaw intimately. Cronshaw gazed at him. "If you give me your word of honour as a nobleman and a gentleman that nobody but I has been drinking my whiskey, I'll accept your statement." This remark, translated literally into the crudest French, sounded very funny, and the lady at the comptoir could not help laughing. "Il est impayable," she murmured. Cronshaw, hearing her, turned a sheepish eye upon her; she was stout, matronly, and middle-aged; and solemnly kissed his hand to her. She shrugged her shoulders. "Fear not, madam," he said heavily. "I have passed the age when I am tempted by forty-five and gratitude." He poured himself out some whiskey and water, and slowly drank it. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "He talked very well." Lawson and Clutton knew that Cronshaw's remark was an answer to the question about Mallarme. Cronshaw often went to the gatherings on Tuesday evenings when the poet received men of letters and painters, and discoursed with subtle oratory on any subject that was suggested to him. Cronshaw had evidently been there lately. "He talked very well, but he talked nonsense. He talked about art as though it were the most important thing in the world." "If it isn't, what are we here for?" asked Philip. "What you're here for I don't know. It is no business of mine. But art is a luxury. Men attach importance only to self-preservation and the propagation of their species. It is only when these instincts are satisfied that they consent to occupy themselves with the entertainment which is provided for them by writers, painters, and poets." Cronshaw stopped for a moment to drink. He had pondered for twenty years the problem whether he loved liquor because it made him talk or whether he loved conversation because it made him thirsty. Then he said: "I wrote a poem yesterday." Without being asked he began to recite it, very slowly, marking the rhythm with an extended forefinger. It was possibly a very fine poem, but at that moment a young woman came in. She had scarlet lips, and it was plain that the vivid colour of her cheeks was not due to the vulgarity of nature; she had blackened her eyelashes and eyebrows, and painted both eyelids a bold blue, which was continued to a triangle at the corner of the eyes. It was fantastic and amusing. Her dark hair was done over her ears in the fashion made popular by Mlle. Cleo de Merode. Philip's eyes wandered to her, and Cronshaw, having finished the recitation of his verses, smiled upon him indulgently. "You were not listening," he said. "Oh yes, I was." "I do not blame you, for you have given an apt illustration of the statement I just made. What is art beside love? I respect and applaud your indifference to fine poetry when you can contemplate the meretricious charms of this young person." She passed by the table at which they were sitting, and he took her arm. "Come and sit by my side, dear child, and let us play the divine comedy of love." "Fichez-moi la paix," she said, and pushing him on one side continued her perambulation. "Art," he continued, with a wave of the hand, "is merely the refuge which the ingenious have invented, when they were supplied with food and women, to escape the tediousness of life." Cronshaw filled his glass again, and began to talk at length. He spoke with rotund delivery. He chose his words carefully. He mingled wisdom and nonsense in the most astounding manner, gravely making fun of his hearers at one moment, and at the next playfully giving them sound advice. He talked of art, and literature, and life. He was by turns devout and obscene, merry and lachrymose. He grew remarkably drunk, and then he began to recite poetry, his own and Milton's, his own and Shelley's, his own and Kit Marlowe's. At last Lawson, exhausted, got up to go home. "I shall go too," said Philip. Clutton, the most silent of them all, remained behind listening, with a sardonic smile on his lips, to Cronshaw's maunderings. Lawson accompanied Philip to his hotel and then bade him good-night. But when Philip got to bed he could not sleep. All these new ideas that had been flung before him carelessly seethed in his brain. He was tremendously excited. He felt in himself great powers. He had never before been so self-confident. "I know I shall be a great artist," he said to himself. "I feel it in me." A thrill passed through him as another thought came, but even to himself he would not put it into words: "By George, I believe I've got genius." He was in fact very drunk, but as he had not taken more than one glass of beer, it could have been due only to a more dangerous intoxicant than alcohol. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLIII On Tuesdays and Fridays masters spent the morning at Amitrano's, criticising the work done. In France the painter earns little unless he paints portraits and is patronised by rich Americans; and men of reputation are glad to increase their incomes by spending two or three hours once a week at one of the numerous studios where art is taught. Tuesday was the day upon which Michel Rollin came to Amitrano's. He was an elderly man, with a white beard and a florid complexion, who had painted a number of decorations for the State, but these were an object of derision to the students he instructed: he was a disciple of Ingres, impervious to the progress of art and angrily impatient with that tas de farceurs whose names were Manet, Degas, Monet, and Sisley; but he was an excellent teacher, helpful, polite, and encouraging. Foinet, on the other hand, who visited the studio on Fridays, was a difficult man to get on with. He was a small, shrivelled person, with bad teeth and a bilious air, an untidy gray beard, and savage eyes; his voice was high and his tone sarcastic. He had had pictures bought by the Luxembourg, and at twenty-five looked forward to a great career; but his talent was due to youth rather than to personality, and for twenty years he had done nothing but repeat the landscape which had brought him his early success. When he was reproached with monotony, he answered: "Corot only painted one thing. Why shouldn't I?" He was envious of everyone else's success, and had a peculiar, personal loathing of the impressionists; for he looked upon his own failure as due to the mad fashion which had attracted the public, sale bete, to their works. The genial disdain of Michel Rollin, who called them impostors, was answered by him with vituperation, of which crapule and canaille were the least violent items; he amused himself with abuse of their private lives, and with sardonic humour, with blasphemous and obscene detail, attacked the legitimacy of their births and the purity of their conjugal relations: he used an Oriental imagery and an Oriental emphasis to accentuate his ribald scorn. Nor did he conceal his contempt for the students whose work he examined. By them he was hated and feared; the women by his brutal sarcasm he reduced often to tears, which again aroused his ridicule; and he remained at the studio, notwithstanding the protests of those who suffered too bitterly from his attacks, because there could be no doubt that he was one of the best masters in Paris. Sometimes the old model who kept the school ventured to remonstrate with him, but his expostulations quickly gave way before the violent insolence of the painter to abject apologies. It was Foinet with whom Philip first came in contact. He was already in the studio when Philip arrived. He went round from easel to easel, with Mrs. Otter, the massiere, by his side to interpret his remarks for the benefit of those who could not understand French. Fanny Price, sitting next to Philip, was working feverishly. Her face was sallow with nervousness, and every now and then she stopped to wipe her hands on her blouse; for they were hot with anxiety. Suddenly she turned to Philip with an anxious look, which she tried to hide by a sullen frown. "D'you think it's good?" she asked, nodding at her drawing. Philip got up and looked at it. He was astounded; he felt she must have no eye at all; the thing was hopelessly out of drawing. "I wish I could draw half as well myself," he answered. "You can't expect to, you've only just come. It's a bit too much to expect that you should draw as well as I do. I've been here two years." Fanny Price puzzled Philip. Her conceit was stupendous. Philip had already discovered that everyone in the studio cordially disliked her; and it was no wonder, for she seemed to go out of her way to wound people. "I complained to Mrs. Otter about Foinet," she said now. "The last two weeks he hasn't looked at my drawings. He spends about half an hour on Mrs. Otter because she's the massiere. After all I pay as much as anybody else, and I suppose my money's as good as theirs. I don't see why I shouldn't get as much attention as anybody else." She took up her charcoal again, but in a moment put it down with a groan. "I can't do any more now. I'm so frightfully nervous." She looked at Foinet, who was coming towards them with Mrs. Otter. Mrs. Otter, meek, mediocre, and self-satisfied, wore an air of importance. Foinet sat down at the easel of an untidy little Englishwoman called Ruth Chalice. She had the fine black eyes, languid but passionate, the thin face, ascetic but sensual, the skin like old ivory, which under the influence of Burne-Jones were cultivated at that time by young ladies in Chelsea. Foinet seemed in a pleasant mood; he did not say much to her, but with quick, determined strokes of her charcoal pointed out her errors. Miss Chalice beamed with pleasure when he rose. He came to Clutton, and by this time Philip was nervous too but Mrs. Otter had promised to make things easy for him. Foinet stood for a moment in front of Clutton's work, biting his thumb silently, then absent-mindedly spat out upon the canvas the little piece of skin which he had bitten off. "That's a fine line," he said at last, indicating with his thumb what pleased him. "You're beginning to learn to draw." Clutton did not answer, but looked at the master with his usual air of sardonic indifference to the world's opinion. "I'm beginning to think you have at least a trace of talent." Mrs. Otter, who did not like Clutton, pursed her lips. She did not see anything out of the way in his work. Foinet sat down and went into technical details. Mrs. Otter grew rather tired of standing. Clutton did not say anything, but nodded now and then, and Foinet felt with satisfaction that he grasped what he said and the reasons of it; most of them listened to him, but it was clear they never understood. Then Foinet got up and came to Philip. "He only arrived two days ago," Mrs. Otter hurried to explain. "He's a beginner. He's never studied before." "Ca se voit," the master said. "One sees that." He passed on, and Mrs. Otter murmured to him: "This is the young lady I told you about." He looked at her as though she were some repulsive animal, and his voice grew more rasping. "It appears that you do not think I pay enough attention to you. You have been complaining to the massiere. Well, show me this work to which you wish me to give attention." Fanny Price coloured. The blood under her unhealthy skin seemed to be of a strange purple. Without answering she pointed to the drawing on which she had been at work since the beginning of the week. Foinet sat down. "Well, what do you wish me to say to you? Do you wish me to tell you it is good? It isn't. Do you wish me to tell you it is well drawn? It isn't. Do you wish me to say it has merit? It hasn't. Do you wish me to show you what is wrong with it? It is all wrong. Do you wish me to tell you what to do with it? Tear it up. Are you satisfied now?" Miss Price became very white. She was furious because he had said all this before Mrs. Otter. Though she had been in France so long and could understand French well enough, she could hardly speak two words. "He's got no right to treat me like that. My money's as good as anyone else's. I pay him to teach me. That's not teaching me." "What does she say? What does she say?" asked Foinet. Mrs. Otter hesitated to translate, and Miss Price repeated in execrable French. "Je vous paye pour m'apprendre." His eyes flashed with rage, he raised his voice and shook his fist. "Mais, nom de Dieu, I can't teach you. I could more easily teach a camel." He turned to Mrs. Otter. "Ask her, does she do this for amusement, or does she expect to earn money by it?" "I'm going to earn my living as an artist," Miss Price answered. "Then it is my duty to tell you that you are wasting your time. It would not matter that you have no talent, talent does not run about the streets in these days, but you have not the beginning of an aptitude. How long have you been here? A child of five after two lessons would draw better than you do. I only say one thing to you, give up this hopeless attempt. You're more likely to earn your living as a bonne a tout faire than as a painter. Look." He seized a piece of charcoal, and it broke as he applied it to the paper. He cursed, and with the stump drew great firm lines. He drew rapidly and spoke at the same time, spitting out the words with venom. "Look, those arms are not the same length. That knee, it's grotesque. I tell you a child of five. You see, she's not standing on her legs. That foot!" With each word the angry pencil made a mark, and in a moment the drawing upon which Fanny Price had spent so much time and eager trouble was unrecognisable, a confusion of lines and smudges. At last he flung down the charcoal and stood up. "Take my advice, Mademoiselle, try dressmaking." He looked at his watch. "It's twelve. A la semaine prochaine, messieurs." Miss Price gathered up her things slowly. Philip waited behind after the others to say to her something consolatory. He could think of nothing but: "I say, I'm awfully sorry. What a beast that man is!" She turned on him savagely. "Is that what you're waiting about for? When I want your sympathy I'll ask for it. Please get out of my way." She walked past him, out of the studio, and Philip, with a shrug of the shoulders, limped along to Gravier's for luncheon. "It served her right," said Lawson, when Philip told him what had happened. "Ill-tempered slut." Lawson was very sensitive to criticism and, in order to avoid it, never went to the studio when Foinet was coming. "I don't want other people's opinion of my work," he said. "I know myself if it's good or bad." "You mean you don't want other people's bad opinion of your work," answered Clutton dryly. In the afternoon Philip thought he would go to the Luxembourg to see the pictures, and walking through the garden he saw Fanny Price sitting in her accustomed seat. He was sore at the rudeness with which she had met his well-meant attempt to say something pleasant, and passed as though he had not caught sight of her. But she got up at once and came towards him. "Are you trying to cut me?" she said. "No, of course not. I thought perhaps you didn't want to be spoken to." "Where are you going?" "I wanted to have a look at the Manet, I've heard so much about it." "Would you like me to come with you? I know the Luxembourg rather well. I could show you one or two good things." He understood that, unable to bring herself to apologise directly, she made this offer as amends. "It's awfully kind of you. I should like it very much." "You needn't say yes if you'd rather go alone," she said suspiciously. "I wouldn't." They walked towards the gallery. Caillebotte's collection had lately been placed on view, and the student for the first time had the opportunity to examine at his ease the works of the impressionists. Till then it had been possible to see them only at Durand-Ruel's shop in the Rue Lafitte (and the dealer, unlike his fellows in England, who adopt towards the painter an attitude of superiority, was always pleased to show the shabbiest student whatever he wanted to see), or at his private house, to which it was not difficult to get a card of admission on Tuesdays, and where you might see pictures of world-wide reputation. Miss Price led Philip straight up to Manet's Olympia. He looked at it in astonished silence. "Do you like it?" asked Miss Price. "I don't know," he answered helplessly. "You can take it from me that it's the best thing in the gallery except perhaps Whistler's portrait of his mother." She gave him a certain time to contemplate the masterpiece and then took him to a picture representing a railway-station. "Look, here's a Monet," she said. "It's the Gare St. Lazare." "But the railway lines aren't parallel," said Philip. "What does that matter?" she asked, with a haughty air. Philip felt ashamed of himself. Fanny Price had picked up the glib chatter of the studios and had no difficulty in impressing Philip with the extent of her knowledge. She proceeded to explain the pictures to him, superciliously but not without insight, and showed him what the painters had attempted and what he must look for. She talked with much gesticulation of the thumb, and Philip, to whom all she said was new, listened with profound but bewildered interest. Till now he had worshipped Watts and Burne-Jones. The pretty colour of the first, the affected drawing of the second, had entirely satisfied his aesthetic sensibilities. Their vague idealism, the suspicion of a philosophical idea which underlay the titles they gave their pictures, accorded very well with the functions of art as from his diligent perusal of Ruskin he understood it; but here was something quite different: here was no moral appeal; and the contemplation of these works could help no one to lead a purer and a higher life. He was puzzled. At last he said: "You know, I'm simply dead. I don't think I can absorb anything more profitably. Let's go and sit down on one of the benches." "It's better not to take too much art at a time," Miss Price answered. When they got outside he thanked her warmly for the trouble she had taken. "Oh, that's all right," she said, a little ungraciously. "I do it because I enjoy it. We'll go to the Louvre tomorrow if you like, and then I'll take you to Durand-Ruel's." "You're really awfully good to me." "You don't think me such a beast as the most of them do." "I don't," he smiled. "They think they'll drive me away from the studio; but they won't; I shall stay there just exactly as long as it suits me. All that this morning, it was Lucy Otter's doing, I know it was. She always has hated me. She thought after that I'd take myself off. I daresay she'd like me to go. She's afraid I know too much about her." Miss Price told him a long, involved story, which made out that Mrs. Otter, a humdrum and respectable little person, had scabrous intrigues. Then she talked of Ruth Chalice, the girl whom Foinet had praised that morning. "She's been with every one of the fellows at the studio. She's nothing better than a street-walker. And she's dirty. She hasn't had a bath for a month. I know it for a fact." Philip listened uncomfortably. He had heard already that various rumours were in circulation about Miss Chalice; but it was ridiculous to suppose that Mrs. Otter, living with her mother, was anything but rigidly virtuous. The woman walking by his side with her malignant lying positively horrified him. "I don't care what they say. I shall go on just the same. I know I've got it in me. I feel I'm an artist. I'd sooner kill myself than give it up. Oh, I shan't be the first they've all laughed at in the schools and then he's turned out the only genius of the lot. Art's the only thing I care for, I'm willing to give my whole life to it. It's only a question of sticking to it and pegging away." She found discreditable motives for everyone who would not take her at her own estimate of herself. She detested Clutton. She told Philip that his friend had no talent really; it was just flashy and superficial; he couldn't compose a figure to save his life. And Lawson: "Little beast, with his red hair and his freckles. He's so afraid of Foinet that he won't let him see his work. After all, I don't funk it, do I? I don't care what Foinet says to me, I know I'm a real artist." They reached the street in which she lived, and with a sigh of relief Philip left her. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLIV But notwithstanding when Miss Price on the following Sunday offered to take him to the Louvre Philip accepted. She showed him Mona Lisa. He looked at it with a slight feeling of disappointment, but he had read till he knew by heart the jewelled words with which Walter Pater has added beauty to the most famous picture in the world; and these now he repeated to Miss Price. "That's all literature," she said, a little contemptuously. "You must get away from that." She showed him the Rembrandts, and she said many appropriate things about them. She stood in front of the Disciples at Emmaus. "When you feel the beauty of that," she said, "you'll know something about painting." She showed him the Odalisque and La Source of Ingres. Fanny Price was a peremptory guide, she would not let him look at the things he wished, and attempted to force his admiration for all she admired. She was desperately in earnest with her study of art, and when Philip, passing in the Long Gallery a window that looked out on the Tuileries, gay, sunny, and urbane, like a picture by Raffaelli, exclaimed: "I say, how jolly! Do let's stop here a minute." She said, indifferently: "Yes, it's all right. But we've come here to look at pictures." The autumn air, blithe and vivacious, elated Philip; and when towards mid-day they stood in the great court-yard of the Louvre, he felt inclined to cry like Flanagan: To hell with art. "I say, do let's go to one of those restaurants in the Boul' Mich' and have a snack together, shall we?" he suggested. Miss Price gave him a suspicious look. "I've got my lunch waiting for me at home," she answered. "That doesn't matter. You can eat it tomorrow. Do let me stand you a lunch." "I don't know why you want to." "It would give me pleasure," he replied, smiling. They crossed the river, and at the corner of the Boulevard St. Michel there was a restaurant. "Let's go in there." "No, I won't go there, it looks too expensive." She walked on firmly, and Philip was obliged to follow. A few steps brought them to a smaller restaurant, where a dozen people were already lunching on the pavement under an awning; on the window was announced in large white letters: Dejeuner 1.25, vin compris. "We couldn't have anything cheaper than this, and it looks quite all right." They sat down at a vacant table and waited for the omelette which was the first article on the bill of fare. Philip gazed with delight upon the passers-by. His heart went out to them. He was tired but very happy. "I say, look at that man in the blouse. Isn't he ripping!" He glanced at Miss Price, and to his astonishment saw that she was looking down at her plate, regardless of the passing spectacle, and two heavy tears were rolling down her cheeks. "What on earth's the matter?" he exclaimed. "If you say anything to me I shall get up and go at once," she answered. He was entirely puzzled, but fortunately at that moment the omelette came. He divided it in two and they began to eat. Philip did his best to talk of indifferent things, and it seemed as though Miss Price were making an effort on her side to be agreeable; but the luncheon was not altogether a success. Philip was squeamish, and the way in which Miss Price ate took his appetite away. She ate noisily, greedily, a little like a wild beast in a menagerie, and after she had finished each course rubbed the plate with pieces of bread till it was white and shining, as if she did not wish to lose a single drop of gravy. They had Camembert cheese, and it disgusted Philip to see that she ate rind and all of the portion that was given her. She could not have eaten more ravenously if she were starving. Miss Price was unaccountable, and having parted from her on one day with friendliness he could never tell whether on the next she would not be sulky and uncivil; but he learned a good deal from her: though she could not draw well herself, she knew all that could be taught, and her constant suggestions helped his progress. Mrs. Otter was useful to him too, and sometimes Miss Chalice criticised his work; he learned from the glib loquacity of Lawson and from the example of Clutton. But Fanny Price hated him to take suggestions from anyone but herself, and when he asked her help after someone else had been talking to him she would refuse with brutal rudeness. The other fellows, Lawson, Clutton, Flanagan, chaffed him about her. "You be careful, my lad," they said, "she's in love with you." "Oh, what nonsense," he laughed. The thought that Miss Price could be in love with anyone was preposterous. It made him shudder when he thought of her uncomeliness, the bedraggled hair and the dirty hands, the brown dress she always wore, stained and ragged at the hem: he supposed she was hard up, they were all hard up, but she might at least be clean; and it was surely possible with a needle and thread to make her skirt tidy. Philip began to sort his impressions of the people he was thrown in contact with. He was not so ingenuous as in those days which now seemed so long ago at Heidelberg, and, beginning to take a more deliberate interest in humanity, he was inclined to examine and to criticise. He found it difficult to know Clutton any better after seeing him every day for three months than on the first day of their acquaintance. The general impression at the studio was that he was able; it was supposed that he would do great things, and he shared the general opinion; but what exactly he was going to do neither he nor anybody else quite knew. He had worked at several studios before Amitrano's, at Julian's, the Beaux Arts, and MacPherson's, and was remaining longer at Amitrano's than anywhere because he found himself more left alone. He was not fond of showing his work, and unlike most of the young men who were studying art neither sought nor gave advice. It was said that in the little studio in the Rue Campagne Premiere, which served him for work-room and bed-room, he had wonderful pictures which would make his reputation if only he could be induced to exhibit them. He could not afford a model but painted still life, and Lawson constantly talked of a plate of apples which he declared was a masterpiece. He was fastidious, and, aiming at something he did not quite fully grasp, was constantly dissatisfied with his work as a whole: perhaps a part would please him, the forearm or the leg and foot of a figure, a glass or a cup in a still-life; and he would cut this out and keep it, destroying the rest of the canvas; so that when people invited themselves to see his work he could truthfully answer that he had not a single picture to show. In Brittany he had come across a painter whom nobody else had heard of, a queer fellow who had been a stockbroker and taken up painting at middle-age, and he was greatly influenced by his work. He was turning his back on the impressionists and working out for himself painfully an individual way not only of painting but of seeing. Philip felt in him something strangely original. At Gravier's where they ate, and in the evening at the Versailles or at the Closerie des Lilas Clutton was inclined to taciturnity. He sat quietly, with a sardonic expression on his gaunt face, and spoke only when the opportunity occurred to throw in a witticism. He liked a butt and was most cheerful when someone was there on whom he could exercise his sarcasm. He seldom talked of anything but painting, and then only with the one or two persons whom he thought worth while. Philip wondered whether there was in him really anything: his reticence, the haggard look of him, the pungent humour, seemed to suggest personality, but might be no more than an effective mask which covered nothing. With Lawson on the other hand Philip soon grew intimate. He had a variety of interests which made him an agreeable companion. He read more than most of the students and though his income was small, loved to buy books. He lent them willingly; and Philip became acquainted with Flaubert and Balzac, with Verlaine, Heredia, and Villiers de l'Isle Adam. They went to plays together and sometimes to the gallery of the Opera Comique. There was the Odeon quite near them, and Philip soon shared his friend's passion for the tragedians of Louis XIV and the sonorous Alexandrine. In the Rue Taitbout were the Concerts Rouge, where for seventy-five centimes they could hear excellent music and get into the bargain something which it was quite possible to drink: the seats were uncomfortable, the place was crowded, the air thick with caporal horrible to breathe, but in their young enthusiasm they were indifferent. Sometimes they went to the Bal Bullier. On these occasions Flanagan accompanied them. His excitability and his roisterous enthusiasm made them laugh. He was an excellent dancer, and before they had been ten minutes in the room he was prancing round with some little shop-girl whose acquaintance he had just made. The desire of all of them was to have a mistress. It was part of the paraphernalia of the art-student in Paris. It gave consideration in the eyes of one's fellows. It was something to boast about. But the difficulty was that they had scarcely enough money to keep themselves, and though they argued that French-women were so clever it cost no more to keep two then one, they found it difficult to meet young women who were willing to take that view of the circumstances. They had to content themselves for the most part with envying and abusing the ladies who received protection from painters of more settled respectability than their own. It was extraordinary how difficult these things were in Paris. Lawson would become acquainted with some young thing and make an appointment; for twenty-four hours he would be all in a flutter and describe the charmer at length to everyone he met; but she never by any chance turned up at the time fixed. He would come to Gravier's very late, ill-tempered, and exclaim: "Confound it, another rabbit! I don't know why it is they don't like me. I suppose it's because I don't speak French well, or my red hair. It's too sickening to have spent over a year in Paris without getting hold of anyone." "You don't go the right way to work," said Flanagan. He had a long and enviable list of triumphs to narrate, and though they took leave not to believe all he said, evidence forced them to acknowledge that he did not altogether lie. But he sought no permanent arrangement. He only had two years in Paris: he had persuaded his people to let him come and study art instead of going to college; but at the end of that period he was to return to Seattle and go into his father's business. He had made up his mind to get as much fun as possible into the time, and demanded variety rather than duration in his love affairs. "I don't know how you get hold of them," said Lawson furiously. "There's no difficulty about that, sonny," answered Flanagan. "You just go right in. The difficulty is to get rid of them. That's where you want tact." Philip was too much occupied with his work, the books he was reading, the plays he saw, the conversation he listened to, to trouble himself with the desire for female society. He thought there would be plenty of time for that when he could speak French more glibly. It was more than a year now since he had seen Miss Wilkinson, and during his first weeks in Paris he had been too busy to answer a letter she had written to him just before he left Blackstable. When another came, knowing it would be full of reproaches and not being just then in the mood for them, he put it aside, intending to open it later; but he forgot and did not run across it till a month afterwards, when he was turning out a drawer to find some socks that had no holes in them. He looked at the unopened letter with dismay. He was afraid that Miss Wilkinson had suffered a good deal, and it made him feel a brute; but she had probably got over the suffering by now, at all events the worst of it. It suggested itself to him that women were often very emphatic in their expressions. These did not mean so much as when men used them. He had quite made up his mind that nothing would induce him ever to see her again. He had not written for so long that it seemed hardly worth while to write now. He made up his mind not to read the letter. "I daresay she won't write again," he said to himself. "She can't help seeing the thing's over. After all, she was old enough to be my mother; she ought to have known better." For an hour or two he felt a little uncomfortable. His attitude was obviously the right one, but he could not help a feeling of dissatisfaction with the whole business. Miss Wilkinson, however, did not write again; nor did she, as he absurdly feared, suddenly appear in Paris to make him ridiculous before his friends. In a little while he clean forgot her. Meanwhile he definitely forsook his old gods. The amazement with which at first he had looked upon the works of the impressionists, changed to admiration; and presently he found himself talking as emphatically as the rest on the merits of Manet, Monet, and Degas. He bought a photograph of a drawing by Ingres of the Odalisque and a photograph of the Olympia. They were pinned side by side over his washing-stand so that he could contemplate their beauty while he shaved. He knew now quite positively that there had been no painting of landscape before Monet; and he felt a real thrill when he stood in front of Rembrandt's Disciples at Emmaus or Velasquez' Lady with the Flea-bitten Nose. That was not her real name, but by that she was distinguished at Gravier's to emphasise the picture's beauty notwithstanding the somewhat revolting peculiarity of the sitter's appearance. With Ruskin, Burne-Jones, and Watts, he had put aside his bowler hat and the neat blue tie with white spots which he had worn on coming to Paris; and now disported himself in a soft, broad-brimmed hat, a flowing black cravat, and a cape of romantic cut. He walked along the Boulevard du Montparnasse as though he had known it all his life, and by virtuous perseverance he had learnt to drink absinthe without distaste. He was letting his hair grow, and it was only because Nature is unkind and has no regard for the immortal longings of youth that he did not attempt a beard. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLV Philip soon realised that the spirit which informed his friends was Cronshaw's. It was from him that Lawson got his paradoxes; and even Clutton, who strained after individuality, expressed himself in the terms he had insensibly acquired from the older man. It was his ideas that they bandied about at table, and on his authority they formed their judgments. They made up for the respect with which unconsciously they treated him by laughing at his foibles and lamenting his vices. "Of course, poor old Cronshaw will never do any good," they said. "He's quite hopeless." They prided themselves on being alone in appreciating his genius; and though, with the contempt of youth for the follies of middle-age, they patronised him among themselves, they did not fail to look upon it as a feather in their caps if he had chosen a time when only one was there to be particularly wonderful. Cronshaw never came to Gravier's. For the last four years he had lived in squalid conditions with a woman whom only Lawson had once seen, in a tiny apartment on the sixth floor of one of the most dilapidated houses on the Quai des Grands Augustins: Lawson described with gusto the filth, the untidiness, the litter. "And the stink nearly blew your head off." "Not at dinner, Lawson," expostulated one of the others. But he would not deny himself the pleasure of giving picturesque details of the odours which met his nostril. With a fierce delight in his own realism he described the woman who had opened the door for him. She was dark, small, and fat, quite young, with black hair that seemed always on the point of coming down. She wore a slatternly blouse and no corsets. With her red cheeks, large sensual mouth, and shining, lewd eyes, she reminded you of the Bohemienne in the Louvre by Franz Hals. She had a flaunting vulgarity which amused and yet horrified. A scrubby, unwashed baby was playing on the floor. It was known that the slut deceived Cronshaw with the most worthless ragamuffins of the Quarter, and it was a mystery to the ingenuous youths who absorbed his wisdom over a cafe table that Cronshaw with his keen intellect and his passion for beauty could ally himself to such a creature. But he seemed to revel in the coarseness of her language and would often report some phrase which reeked of the gutter. He referred to her ironically as la fille de mon concierge. Cronshaw was very poor. He earned a bare subsistence by writing on the exhibitions of pictures for one or two English papers, and he did a certain amount of translating. He had been on the staff of an English paper in Paris, but had been dismissed for drunkenness; he still however did odd jobs for it, describing sales at the Hotel Drouot or the revues at music-halls. The life of Paris had got into his bones, and he would not change it, notwithstanding its squalor, drudgery, and hardship, for any other in the world. He remained there all through the year, even in summer when everyone he knew was away, and felt himself only at ease within a mile of the Boulevard St. Michel. But the curious thing was that he had never learnt to speak French passably, and he kept in his shabby clothes bought at La Belle Jardiniere an ineradicably English appearance. He was a man who would have made a success of life a century and a half ago when conversation was a passport to good company and inebriety no bar. "I ought to have lived in the eighteen hundreds," he said himself. "What I want is a patron. I should have published my poems by subscription and dedicated them to a nobleman. I long to compose rhymed couplets upon the poodle of a countess. My soul yearns for the love of chamber-maids and the conversation of bishops." He quoted the romantic Rolla, "Je suis venu trop tard dans un monde trop vieux." He liked new faces, and he took a fancy to Philip, who seemed to achieve the difficult feat of talking just enough to suggest conversation and not too much to prevent monologue. Philip was captivated. He did not realise that little that Cronshaw said was new. His personality in conversation had a curious power. He had a beautiful and a sonorous voice, and a manner of putting things which was irresistible to youth. All he said seemed to excite thought, and often on the way home Lawson and Philip would walk to and from one another's hotels, discussing some point which a chance word of Cronshaw had suggested. It was disconcerting to Philip, who had a youthful eagerness for results, that Cronshaw's poetry hardly came up to expectation. It had never been published in a volume, but most of it had appeared in periodicals; and after a good deal of persuasion Cronshaw brought down a bundle of pages torn out of The Yellow Book, The Saturday Review, and other journals, on each of which was a poem. Philip was taken aback to find that most of them reminded him either of Henley or of Swinburne. It needed the splendour of Cronshaw's delivery to make them personal. He expressed his disappointment to Lawson, who carelessly repeated his words; and next time Philip went to the Closerie des Lilas the poet turned to him with his sleek smile: "I hear you don't think much of my verses." Philip was embarrassed. "I don't know about that," he answered. "I enjoyed reading them very much." "Do not attempt to spare my feelings," returned Cronshaw, with a wave of his fat hand. "I do not attach any exaggerated importance to my poetical works. Life is there to be lived rather than to be written about. My aim is to search out the manifold experience that it offers, wringing from each moment what of emotion it presents. I look upon my writing as a graceful accomplishment which does not absorb but rather adds pleasure to existence. And as for posterity--damn posterity." Philip smiled, for it leaped to one's eyes that the artist in life had produced no more than a wretched daub. Cronshaw looked at him meditatively and filled his glass. He sent the waiter for a packet of cigarettes. "You are amused because I talk in this fashion and you know that I am poor and live in an attic with a vulgar trollop who deceives me with hair-dressers and garcons de cafe; I translate wretched books for the British public, and write articles upon contemptible pictures which deserve not even to be abused. But pray tell me what is the meaning of life?" "I say, that's rather a difficult question. Won't you give the answer yourself?" "No, because it's worthless unless you yourself discover it. But what do you suppose you are in the world for?" Philip had never asked himself, and he thought for a moment before replying. "Oh, I don't know: I suppose to do one's duty, and make the best possible use of one's faculties, and avoid hurting other people." "In short, to do unto others as you would they should do unto you?" "I suppose so." "Christianity." "No, it isn't," said Philip indignantly. "It has nothing to do with Christianity. It's just abstract morality." "But there's no such thing as abstract morality." "In that case, supposing under the influence of liquor you left your purse behind when you leave here and I picked it up, why do you imagine that I should return it to you? It's not the fear of the police." "It's the dread of hell if you sin and the hope of Heaven if you are virtuous." "But I believe in neither." "That may be. Neither did Kant when he devised the Categorical Imperative. You have thrown aside a creed, but you have preserved the ethic which was based upon it. To all intents you are a Christian still, and if there is a God in Heaven you will undoubtedly receive your reward. The Almighty can hardly be such a fool as the churches make out. If you keep His laws I don't think He can care a packet of pins whether you believe in Him or not." "But if I left my purse behind you would certainly return it to me," said Philip. "Not from motives of abstract morality, but only from fear of the police." "It's a thousand to one that the police would never find out." "My ancestors have lived in a civilised state so long that the fear of the police has eaten into my bones. The daughter of my concierge would not hesitate for a moment. You answer that she belongs to the criminal classes; not at all, she is merely devoid of vulgar prejudice." "But then that does away with honour and virtue and goodness and decency and everything," said Philip. "Have you ever committed a sin?" "I don't know, I suppose so," answered Philip. "You speak with the lips of a dissenting minister. I have never committed a sin." Cronshaw in his shabby great-coat, with the collar turned up, and his hat well down on his head, with his red fat face and his little gleaming eyes, looked extraordinarily comic; but Philip was too much in earnest to laugh. "Have you never done anything you regret?" "How can I regret when what I did was inevitable?" asked Cronshaw in return. "But that's fatalism." "The illusion which man has that his will is free is so deeply rooted that I am ready to accept it. I act as though I were a free agent. But when an action is performed it is clear that all the forces of the universe from all eternity conspired to cause it, and nothing I could do could have prevented it. It was inevitable. If it was good I can claim no merit; if it was bad I can accept no censure." "My brain reels," said Philip. "Have some whiskey," returned Cronshaw, passing over the bottle. "There's nothing like it for clearing the head. You must expect to be thick-witted if you insist upon drinking beer." Philip shook his head, and Cronshaw proceeded: "You're not a bad fellow, but you won't drink. Sobriety disturbs conversation. But when I speak of good and bad..." Philip saw he was taking up the thread of his discourse, "I speak conventionally. I attach no meaning to those words. I refuse to make a hierarchy of human actions and ascribe worthiness to some and ill-repute to others. The terms vice and virtue have no signification for me. I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all things. I am the centre of the world." "But there are one or two other people in the world," objected Philip. "I speak only for myself. I know them only as they limit my activities. Round each of them too the world turns, and each one for himself is the centre of the universe. My right over them extends only as far as my power. What I can do is the only limit of what I may do. Because we are gregarious we live in society, and society holds together by means of force, force of arms (that is the policeman) and force of public opinion (that is Mrs. Grundy). You have society on one hand and the individual on the other: each is an organism striving for self-preservation. It is might against might. I stand alone, bound to accept society and not unwilling, since in return for the taxes I pay it protects me, a weakling, against the tyranny of another stronger than I am; but I submit to its laws because I must; I do not acknowledge their justice: I do not know justice, I only know power. And when I have paid for the policeman who protects me and, if I live in a country where conscription is in force, served in the army which guards my house and land from the invader, I am quits with society: for the rest I counter its might with my wiliness. It makes laws for its self-preservation, and if I break them it imprisons or kills me: it has the might to do so and therefore the right. If I break the laws I will accept the vengeance of the state, but I will not regard it as punishment nor shall I feel myself convicted of wrong-doing. Society tempts me to its service by honours and riches and the good opinion of my fellows; but I am indifferent to their good opinion, I despise honours and I can do very well without riches." "But if everyone thought like you things would go to pieces at once." "I have nothing to do with others, I am only concerned with myself. I take advantage of the fact that the majority of mankind are led by certain rewards to do things which directly or indirectly tend to my convenience." "It seems to me an awfully selfish way of looking at things," said Philip. "But are you under the impression that men ever do anything except for selfish reasons?" "Yes." "It is impossible that they should. You will find as you grow older that the first thing needful to make the world a tolerable place to live in is to recognise the inevitable selfishness of humanity. You demand unselfishness from others, which is a preposterous claim that they should sacrifice their desires to yours. Why should they? When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably. Men seek but one thing in life--their pleasure." "No, no, no!" cried Philip. Cronshaw chuckled. "You rear like a frightened colt, because I use a word to which your Christianity ascribes a deprecatory meaning. You have a hierarchy of values; pleasure is at the bottom of the ladder, and you speak with a little thrill of self-satisfaction, of duty, charity, and truthfulness. You think pleasure is only of the senses; the wretched slaves who manufactured your morality despised a satisfaction which they had small means of enjoying. You would not be so frightened if I had spoken of happiness instead of pleasure: it sounds less shocking, and your mind wanders from the sty of Epicurus to his garden. But I will speak of pleasure, for I see that men aim at that, and I do not know that they aim at happiness. It is pleasure that lurks in the practice of every one of your virtues. Man performs actions because they are good for him, and when they are good for other people as well they are thought virtuous: if he finds pleasure in giving alms he is charitable; if he finds pleasure in helping others he is benevolent; if he finds pleasure in working for society he is public-spirited; but it is for your private pleasure that you give twopence to a beggar as much as it is for my private pleasure that I drink another whiskey and soda. I, less of a humbug than you, neither applaud myself for my pleasure nor demand your admiration." "But have you never known people do things they didn't want to instead of things they did?" "No. You put your question foolishly. What you mean is that people accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure. The objection is as foolish as your manner of putting it. It is clear that men accept an immediate pain rather than an immediate pleasure, but only because they expect a greater pleasure in the future. Often the pleasure is illusory, but their error in calculation is no refutation of the rule. You are puzzled because you cannot get over the idea that pleasures are only of the senses; but, child, a man who dies for his country dies because he likes it as surely as a man eats pickled cabbage because he likes it. It is a law of creation. If it were possible for men to prefer pain to pleasure the human race would have long since become extinct." "But if all that is true," cried Philip, "what is the use of anything? If you take away duty and goodness and beauty why are we brought into the world?" "Here comes the gorgeous East to suggest an answer," smiled Cronshaw. He pointed to two persons who at that moment opened the door of the cafe, and, with a blast of cold air, entered. They were Levantines, itinerant vendors of cheap rugs, and each bore on his arm a bundle. It was Sunday evening, and the cafe was very full. They passed among the tables, and in that atmosphere heavy and discoloured with tobacco smoke, rank with humanity, they seemed to bring an air of mystery. They were clad in European, shabby clothes, their thin great-coats were threadbare, but each wore a tarbouch. Their faces were gray with cold. One was of middle age, with a black beard, but the other was a youth of eighteen, with a face deeply scarred by smallpox and with one eye only. They passed by Cronshaw and Philip. "Allah is great, and Mahomet is his prophet," said Cronshaw impressively. The elder advanced with a cringing smile, like a mongrel used to blows. With a sidelong glance at the door and a quick surreptitious movement he showed a pornographic picture. "Are you Masr-ed-Deen, the merchant of Alexandria, or is it from far Bagdad that you bring your goods, O, my uncle; and yonder one-eyed youth, do I see in him one of the three kings of whom Scheherazade told stories to her lord?" The pedlar's smile grew more ingratiating, though he understood no word of what Cronshaw said, and like a conjurer he produced a sandalwood box. "Nay, show us the priceless web of Eastern looms," quoth Cronshaw. "For I would point a moral and adorn a tale." The Levantine unfolded a table-cloth, red and yellow, vulgar, hideous, and grotesque. "Thirty-five francs," he said. "O, my uncle, this cloth knew not the weavers of Samarkand, and those colours were never made in the vats of Bokhara." "Twenty-five francs," smiled the pedlar obsequiously. "Ultima Thule was the place of its manufacture, even Birmingham the place of my birth." "Fifteen francs," cringed the bearded man. "Get thee gone, fellow," said Cronshaw. "May wild asses defile the grave of thy maternal grandmother." Imperturbably, but smiling no more, the Levantine passed with his wares to another table. Cronshaw turned to Philip. "Have you ever been to the Cluny, the museum? There you will see Persian carpets of the most exquisite hue and of a pattern the beautiful intricacy of which delights and amazes the eye. In them you will see the mystery and the sensual beauty of the East, the roses of Hafiz and the wine-cup of Omar; but presently you will see more. You were asking just now what was the meaning of life. Go and look at those Persian carpets, and one of these days the answer will come to you." "You are cryptic," said Philip. "I am drunk," answered Cronshaw. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLVI Philip did not find living in Paris as cheap as he had been led to believe and by February had spent most of the money with which he started. He was too proud to appeal to his guardian, nor did he wish Aunt Louisa to know that his circumstances were straitened, since he was certain she would make an effort to send him something from her own pocket, and he knew how little she could afford to. In three months he would attain his majority and come into possession of his small fortune. He tided over the interval by selling the few trinkets which he had inherited from his father. At about this time Lawson suggested that they should take a small studio which was vacant in one of the streets that led out of the Boulevard Raspail. It was very cheap. It had a room attached, which they could use as a bed-room; and since Philip was at the school every morning Lawson could have the undisturbed use of the studio then; Lawson, after wandering from school to school, had come to the conclusion that he could work best alone, and proposed to get a model in three or four days a week. At first Philip hesitated on account of the expense, but they reckoned it out; and it seemed (they were so anxious to have a studio of their own that they calculated pragmatically) that the cost would not be much greater than that of living in a hotel. Though the rent and the cleaning by the concierge would come to a little more, they would save on the petit dejeuner, which they could make themselves. A year or two earlier Philip would have refused to share a room with anyone, since he was so sensitive about his deformed foot, but his morbid way of looking at it was growing less marked: in Paris it did not seem to matter so much, and, though he never by any chance forgot it himself, he ceased to feel that other people were constantly noticing it. They moved in, bought a couple of beds, a washing-stand, a few chairs, and felt for the first time the thrill of possession. They were so excited that the first night they went to bed in what they could call a home they lay awake talking till three in the morning; and next day found lighting the fire and making their own coffee, which they had in pyjamas, such a jolly business that Philip did not get to Amitrano's till nearly eleven. He was in excellent spirits. He nodded to Fanny Price. "How are you getting on?" he asked cheerily. "What does that matter to you?" she asked in reply. Philip could not help laughing. "Don't jump down my throat. I was only trying to make myself polite." "I don't want your politeness." "D'you think it's worth while quarrelling with me too?" asked Philip mildly. "There are so few people you're on speaking terms with, as it is." "That's my business, isn't it?" "Quite." He began to work, vaguely wondering why Fanny Price made herself so disagreeable. He had come to the conclusion that he thoroughly disliked her. Everyone did. People were only civil to her at all from fear of the malice of her tongue; for to their faces and behind their backs she said abominable things. But Philip was feeling so happy that he did not want even Miss Price to bear ill-feeling towards him. He used the artifice which had often before succeeded in banishing her ill-humour. "I say, I wish you'd come and look at my drawing. I've got in an awful mess." "Thank you very much, but I've got something better to do with my time." Philip stared at her in surprise, for the one thing she could be counted upon to do with alacrity was to give advice. She went on quickly in a low voice, savage with fury. "Now that Lawson's gone you think you'll put up with me. Thank you very much. Go and find somebody else to help you. I don't want anybody else's leavings." Lawson had the pedagogic instinct; whenever he found anything out he was eager to impart it; and because he taught with delight he talked with profit. Philip, without thinking anything about it, had got into the habit of sitting by his side; it never occurred to him that Fanny Price was consumed with jealousy, and watched his acceptance of someone else's tuition with ever-increasing anger. "You were very glad to put up with me when you knew nobody here," she said bitterly, "and as soon as you made friends with other people you threw me aside, like an old glove"--she repeated the stale metaphor with satisfaction--"like an old glove. All right, I don't care, but I'm not going to be made a fool of another time." There was a suspicion of truth in what she said, and it made Philip angry enough to answer what first came into his head. "Hang it all, I only asked your advice because I saw it pleased you." She gave a gasp and threw him a sudden look of anguish. Then two tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked frowsy and grotesque. Philip, not knowing what on earth this new attitude implied, went back to his work. He was uneasy and conscience-stricken; but he would not go to her and say he was sorry if he had caused her pain, because he was afraid she would take the opportunity to snub him. For two or three weeks she did not speak to him, and, after Philip had got over the discomfort of being cut by her, he was somewhat relieved to be free from so difficult a friendship. He had been a little disconcerted by the air of proprietorship she assumed over him. She was an extraordinary woman. She came every day to the studio at eight o'clock, and was ready to start working when the model was in position; she worked steadily, talking to no one, struggling hour after hour with difficulties she could not overcome, and remained till the clock struck twelve. Her work was hopeless. There was not in it the smallest approach even to the mediocre achievement at which most of the young persons were able after some months to arrive. She wore every day the same ugly brown dress, with the mud of the last wet day still caked on the hem and with the raggedness, which Philip had noticed the first time he saw her, still unmended. But one day she came up to him, and with a scarlet face asked whether she might speak to him afterwards. "Of course, as much as you like," smiled Philip. "I'll wait behind at twelve." He went to her when the day's work was over. "Will you walk a little bit with me?" she said, looking away from him with embarrassment. "Certainly." They walked for two or three minutes in silence. "D'you remember what you said to me the other day?" she asked then on a sudden. "Oh, I say, don't let's quarrel," said Philip. "It really isn't worth while." She gave a quick, painful inspiration. "I don't want to quarrel with you. You're the only friend I had in Paris. I thought you rather liked me. I felt there was something between us. I was drawn towards you--you know what I mean, your club-foot." Philip reddened and instinctively tried to walk without a limp. He did not like anyone to mention the deformity. He knew what Fanny Price meant. She was ugly and uncouth, and because he was deformed there was between them a certain sympathy. He was very angry with her, but he forced himself not to speak. "You said you only asked my advice to please me. Don't you think my work's any good?" "I've only seen your drawing at Amitrano's. It's awfully hard to judge from that." "I was wondering if you'd come and look at my other work. I've never asked anyone else to look at it. I should like to show it to you." "It's awfully kind of you. I'd like to see it very much." "I live quite near here," she said apologetically. "It'll only take you ten minutes." "Oh, that's all right," he said. They were walking along the boulevard, and she turned down a side street, then led him into another, poorer still, with cheap shops on the ground floor, and at last stopped. They climbed flight after flight of stairs. She unlocked a door, and they went into a tiny attic with a sloping roof and a small window. This was closed and the room had a musty smell. Though it was very cold there was no fire and no sign that there had been one. The bed was unmade. A chair, a chest of drawers which served also as a wash-stand, and a cheap easel, were all the furniture. The place would have been squalid enough in any case, but the litter, the untidiness, made the impression revolting. On the chimney-piece, scattered over with paints and brushes, were a cup, a dirty plate, and a tea-pot. "If you'll stand over there I'll put them on the chair so that you can see them better." She showed him twenty small canvases, about eighteen by twelve. She placed them on the chair, one after the other, watching his face; he nodded as he looked at each one. "You do like them, don't you?" she said anxiously, after a bit. "I just want to look at them all first," he answered. "I'll talk afterwards." He was collecting himself. He was panic-stricken. He did not know what to say. It was not only that they were ill-drawn, or that the colour was put on amateurishly by someone who had no eye for it; but there was no attempt at getting the values, and the perspective was grotesque. It looked like the work of a child of five, but a child would have had some naivete and might at least have made an attempt to put down what he saw; but here was the work of a vulgar mind chock full of recollections of vulgar pictures. Philip remembered that she had talked enthusiastically about Monet and the Impressionists, but here were only the worst traditions of the Royal Academy. "There," she said at last, "that's the lot." Philip was no more truthful than anybody else, but he had a great difficulty in telling a thundering, deliberate lie, and he blushed furiously when he answered: "I think they're most awfully good." A faint colour came into her unhealthy cheeks, and she smiled a little. "You needn't say so if you don't think so, you know. I want the truth." "But I do think so." "Haven't you got any criticism to offer? There must be some you don't like as well as others." Philip looked round helplessly. He saw a landscape, the typical picturesque 'bit' of the amateur, an old bridge, a creeper-clad cottage, and a leafy bank. "Of course I don't pretend to know anything about it," he said. "But I wasn't quite sure about the values of that." She flushed darkly and taking up the picture quickly turned its back to him. "I don't know why you should have chosen that one to sneer at. It's the best thing I've ever done. I'm sure my values are all right. That's a thing you can't teach anyone, you either understand values or you don't." "I think they're all most awfully good," repeated Philip. She looked at them with an air of self-satisfaction. "I don't think they're anything to be ashamed of." Philip looked at his watch. "I say, it's getting late. Won't you let me give you a little lunch?" "I've got my lunch waiting for me here." Philip saw no sign of it, but supposed perhaps the concierge would bring it up when he was gone. He was in a hurry to get away. The mustiness of the room made his head ache. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLVII In March there was all the excitement of sending in to the Salon. Clutton, characteristically, had nothing ready, and he was very scornful of the two heads that Lawson sent; they were obviously the work of a student, straight-forward portraits of models, but they had a certain force; Clutton, aiming at perfection, had no patience with efforts which betrayed hesitancy, and with a shrug of the shoulders told Lawson it was an impertinence to exhibit stuff which should never have been allowed out of his studio; he was not less contemptuous when the two heads were accepted. Flanagan tried his luck too, but his picture was refused. Mrs. Otter sent a blameless Portrait de ma Mere, accomplished and second-rate; and was hung in a very good place. Hayward, whom Philip had not seen since he left Heidelberg, arrived in Paris to spend a few days in time to come to the party which Lawson and Philip were giving in their studio to celebrate the hanging of Lawson's pictures. Philip had been eager to see Hayward again, but when at last they met, he experienced some disappointment. Hayward had altered a little in appearance: his fine hair was thinner, and with the rapid wilting of the very fair, he was becoming wizened and colourless; his blue eyes were paler than they had been, and there was a muzziness about his features. On the other hand, in mind he did not seem to have changed at all, and the culture which had impressed Philip at eighteen aroused somewhat the contempt of Philip at twenty-one. He had altered a good deal himself, and regarding with scorn all his old opinions of art, life, and letters, had no patience with anyone who still held them. He was scarcely conscious of the fact that he wanted to show off before Hayward, but when he took him round the galleries he poured out to him all the revolutionary opinions which himself had so recently adopted. He took him to Manet's Olympia and said dramatically: "I would give all the old masters except Velasquez, Rembrandt, and Vermeer for that one picture." "Who was Vermeer?" asked Hayward. "Oh, my dear fellow, don't you know Vermeer? You're not civilised. You mustn't live a moment longer without making his acquaintance. He's the one old master who painted like a modern." He dragged Hayward out of the Luxembourg and hurried him off to the Louvre. "But aren't there any more pictures here?" asked Hayward, with the tourist's passion for thoroughness. "Nothing of the least consequence. You can come and look at them by yourself with your Baedeker." When they arrived at the Louvre Philip led his friend down the Long Gallery. "I should like to see The Gioconda," said Hayward. "Oh, my dear fellow, it's only literature," answered Philip. At last, in a small room, Philip stopped before The Lacemaker of Vermeer van Delft. "There, that's the best picture in the Louvre. It's exactly like a Manet." With an expressive, eloquent thumb Philip expatiated on the charming work. He used the jargon of the studios with overpowering effect. "I don't know that I see anything so wonderful as all that in it," said Hayward. "Of course it's a painter's picture," said Philip. "I can quite believe the layman would see nothing much in it." "The what?" said Hayward. "The layman." Like most people who cultivate an interest in the arts, Hayward was extremely anxious to be right. He was dogmatic with those who did not venture to assert themselves, but with the self-assertive he was very modest. He was impressed by Philip's assurance, and accepted meekly Philip's implied suggestion that the painter's arrogant claim to be the sole possible judge of painting has anything but its impertinence to recommend it. A day or two later Philip and Lawson gave their party. Cronshaw, making an exception in their favour, agreed to eat their food; and Miss Chalice offered to come and cook for them. She took no interest in her own sex and declined the suggestion that other girls should be asked for her sake. Clutton, Flanagan, Potter, and two others made up the party. Furniture was scarce, so the model stand was used as a table, and the guests were to sit on portmanteaux if they liked, and if they didn't on the floor. The feast consisted of a pot-au-feu, which Miss Chalice had made, of a leg of mutton roasted round the corner and brought round hot and savoury (Miss Chalice had cooked the potatoes, and the studio was redolent of the carrots she had fried; fried carrots were her specialty); and this was to be followed by poires flambees, pears with burning brandy, which Cronshaw had volunteered to make. The meal was to finish with an enormous fromage de Brie, which stood near the window and added fragrant odours to all the others which filled the studio. Cronshaw sat in the place of honour on a Gladstone bag, with his legs curled under him like a Turkish bashaw, beaming good-naturedly on the young people who surrounded him. From force of habit, though the small studio with the stove lit was very hot, he kept on his great-coat, with the collar turned up, and his bowler hat: he looked with satisfaction on the four large fiaschi of Chianti which stood in front of him in a row, two on each side of a bottle of whiskey; he said it reminded him of a slim fair Circassian guarded by four corpulent eunuchs. Hayward in order to put the rest of them at their ease had clothed himself in a tweed suit and a Trinity Hall tie. He looked grotesquely British. The others were elaborately polite to him, and during the soup they talked of the weather and the political situation. There was a pause while they waited for the leg of mutton, and Miss Chalice lit a cigarette. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair," she said suddenly. With an elegant gesture she untied a ribbon so that her tresses fell over her shoulders. She shook her head. "I always feel more comfortable with my hair down." With her large brown eyes, thin, ascetic face, her pale skin, and broad forehead, she might have stepped out of a picture by Burne-Jones. She had long, beautiful hands, with fingers deeply stained by nicotine. She wore sweeping draperies, mauve and green. There was about her the romantic air of High Street, Kensington. She was wantonly aesthetic; but she was an excellent creature, kind and good natured; and her affectations were but skin-deep. There was a knock at the door, and they all gave a shout of exultation. Miss Chalice rose and opened. She took the leg of mutton and held it high above her, as though it were the head of John the Baptist on a platter; and, the cigarette still in her mouth, advanced with solemn, hieratic steps. "Hail, daughter of Herodias," cried Cronshaw. The mutton was eaten with gusto, and it did one good to see what a hearty appetite the pale-faced lady had. Clutton and Potter sat on each side of her, and everyone knew that neither had found her unduly coy. She grew tired of most people in six weeks, but she knew exactly how to treat afterwards the gentlemen who had laid their young hearts at her feet. She bore them no ill-will, though having loved them she had ceased to do so, and treated them with friendliness but without familiarity. Now and then she looked at Lawson with melancholy eyes. The poires flambees were a great success, partly because of the brandy, and partly because Miss Chalice insisted that they should be eaten with the cheese. "I don't know whether it's perfectly delicious, or whether I'm just going to vomit," she said, after she had thoroughly tried the mixture. Coffee and cognac followed with sufficient speed to prevent any untoward consequence, and they settled down to smoke in comfort. Ruth Chalice, who could do nothing that was not deliberately artistic, arranged herself in a graceful attitude by Cronshaw and just rested her exquisite head on his shoulder. She looked into the dark abyss of time with brooding eyes, and now and then with a long meditative glance at Lawson she sighed deeply. Then came the summer, and restlessness seized these young people. The blue skies lured them to the sea, and the pleasant breeze sighing through the leaves of the plane-trees on the boulevard drew them towards the country. Everyone made plans for leaving Paris; they discussed what was the most suitable size for the canvases they meant to take; they laid in stores of panels for sketching; they argued about the merits of various places in Brittany. Flanagan and Potter went to Concarneau; Mrs. Otter and her mother, with a natural instinct for the obvious, went to Pont-Aven; Philip and Lawson made up their minds to go to the forest of Fontainebleau, and Miss Chalice knew of a very good hotel at Moret where there was lots of stuff to paint; it was near Paris, and neither Philip nor Lawson was indifferent to the railway fare. Ruth Chalice would be there, and Lawson had an idea for a portrait of her in the open air. Just then the Salon was full of portraits of people in gardens, in sunlight, with blinking eyes and green reflections of sunlit leaves on their faces. They asked Clutton to go with them, but he preferred spending the summer by himself. He had just discovered Cezanne, and was eager to go to Provence; he wanted heavy skies from which the hot blue seemed to drip like beads of sweat, and broad white dusty roads, and pale roofs out of which the sun had burnt the colour, and olive trees gray with heat. The day before they were to start, after the morning class, Philip, putting his things together, spoke to Fanny Price. "I'm off tomorrow," he said cheerfully. "Off where?" she said quickly. "You're not going away?" Her face fell. "I'm going away for the summer. Aren't you?" "No, I'm staying in Paris. I thought you were going to stay too. I was looking forward...." She stopped and shrugged her shoulders. "But won't it be frightfully hot here? It's awfully bad for you." "Much you care if it's bad for me. Where are you going?" "Moret." "Chalice is going there. You're not going with her?" "Lawson and I are going. And she's going there too. I don't know that we're actually going together." She gave a low guttural sound, and her large face grew dark and red. "How filthy! I thought you were a decent fellow. You were about the only one here. She's been with Clutton and Potter and Flanagan, even with old Foinet--that's why he takes so much trouble about her--and now two of you, you and Lawson. It makes me sick." "Oh, what nonsense! She's a very decent sort. One treats her just as if she were a man." "Oh, don't speak to me, don't speak to me." "But what can it matter to you?" asked Philip. "It's really no business of yours where I spend my summer." "I was looking forward to it so much," she gasped, speaking it seemed almost to herself. "I didn't think you had the money to go away, and there wouldn't have been anyone else here, and we could have worked together, and we'd have gone to see things." Then her thoughts flung back to Ruth Chalice. "The filthy beast," she cried. "She isn't fit to speak to." Philip looked at her with a sinking heart. He was not a man to think girls were in love with him; he was too conscious of his deformity, and he felt awkward and clumsy with women; but he did not know what else this outburst could mean. Fanny Price, in the dirty brown dress, with her hair falling over her face, sloppy, untidy, stood before him; and tears of anger rolled down her cheeks. She was repellent. Philip glanced at the door, instinctively hoping that someone would come in and put an end to the scene. "I'm awfully sorry," he said. "You're just the same as all of them. You take all you can get, and you don't even say thank you. I've taught you everything you know. No one else would take any trouble with you. Has Foinet ever bothered about you? And I can tell you this--you can work here for a thousand years and you'll never do any good. You haven't got any talent. You haven't got any originality. And it's not only me--they all say it. You'll never be a painter as long as you live." "That is no business of yours either, is it?" said Philip, flushing. "Oh, you think it's only my temper. Ask Clutton, ask Lawson, ask Chalice. Never, never, never. You haven't got it in you." Philip shrugged his shoulders and walked out. She shouted after him. "Never, never, never." Moret was in those days an old-fashioned town of one street at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau, and the Ecu d'Or was a hotel which still had about it the decrepit air of the Ancien Regime. It faced the winding river, the Loing; and Miss Chalice had a room with a little terrace overlooking it, with a charming view of the old bridge and its fortified gateway. They sat here in the evenings after dinner, drinking coffee, smoking, and discussing art. There ran into the river, a little way off, a narrow canal bordered by poplars, and along the banks of this after their day's work they often wandered. They spent all day painting. Like most of their generation they were obsessed by the fear of the picturesque, and they turned their backs on the obvious beauty of the town to seek subjects which were devoid of a prettiness they despised. Sisley and Monet had painted the canal with its poplars, and they felt a desire to try their hands at what was so typical of France; but they were frightened of its formal beauty, and set themselves deliberately to avoid it. Miss Chalice, who had a clever dexterity which impressed Lawson notwithstanding his contempt for feminine art, started a picture in which she tried to circumvent the commonplace by leaving out the tops of the trees; and Lawson had the brilliant idea of putting in his foreground a large blue advertisement of chocolat Menier in order to emphasise his abhorrence of the chocolate box. Philip began now to paint in oils. He experienced a thrill of delight when first he used that grateful medium. He went out with Lawson in the morning with his little box and sat by him painting a panel; it gave him so much satisfaction that he did not realise he was doing no more than copy; he was so much under his friend's influence that he saw only with his eyes. Lawson painted very low in tone, and they both saw the emerald of the grass like dark velvet, while the brilliance of the sky turned in their hands to a brooding ultramarine. Through July they had one fine day after another; it was very hot; and the heat, searing Philip's heart, filled him with languor; he could not work; his mind was eager with a thousand thoughts. Often he spent the mornings by the side of the canal in the shade of the poplars, reading a few lines and then dreaming for half an hour. Sometimes he hired a rickety bicycle and rode along the dusty road that led to the forest, and then lay down in a clearing. His head was full of romantic fancies. The ladies of Watteau, gay and insouciant, seemed to wander with their cavaliers among the great trees, whispering to one another careless, charming things, and yet somehow oppressed by a nameless fear. They were alone in the hotel but for a fat Frenchwoman of middle age, a Rabelaisian figure with a broad, obscene laugh. She spent the day by the river patiently fishing for fish she never caught, and Philip sometimes went down and talked to her. He found out that she had belonged to a profession whose most notorious member for our generation was Mrs. Warren, and having made a competence she now lived the quiet life of the bourgeoise. She told Philip lewd stories. "You must go to Seville," she said--she spoke a little broken English. "The most beautiful women in the world." She leered and nodded her head. Her triple chin, her large belly, shook with inward laughter. It grew so hot that it was almost impossible to sleep at night. The heat seemed to linger under the trees as though it were a material thing. They did not wish to leave the starlit night, and the three of them would sit on the terrace of Ruth Chalice's room, silent, hour after hour, too tired to talk any more, but in voluptuous enjoyment of the stillness. They listened to the murmur of the river. The church clock struck one and two and sometimes three before they could drag themselves to bed. Suddenly Philip became aware that Ruth Chalice and Lawson were lovers. He divined it in the way the girl looked at the young painter, and in his air of possession; and as Philip sat with them he felt a kind of effluence surrounding them, as though the air were heavy with something strange. The revelation was a shock. He had looked upon Miss Chalice as a very good fellow and he liked to talk to her, but it had never seemed to him possible to enter into a closer relationship. One Sunday they had all gone with a tea-basket into the forest, and when they came to a glade which was suitably sylvan, Miss Chalice, because it was idyllic, insisted on taking off her shoes and stockings. It would have been very charming only her feet were rather large and she had on both a large corn on the third toe. Philip felt it made her proceeding a little ridiculous. But now he looked upon her quite differently; there was something softly feminine in her large eyes and her olive skin; he felt himself a fool not to have seen that she was attractive. He thought he detected in her a touch of contempt for him, because he had not had the sense to see that she was there, in his way, and in Lawson a suspicion of superiority. He was envious of Lawson, and he was jealous, not of the individual concerned, but of his love. He wished that he was standing in his shoes and feeling with his heart. He was troubled, and the fear seized him that love would pass him by. He wanted a passion to seize him, he wanted to be swept off his feet and borne powerless in a mighty rush he cared not whither. Miss Chalice and Lawson seemed to him now somehow different, and the constant companionship with them made him restless. He was dissatisfied with himself. Life was not giving him what he wanted, and he had an uneasy feeling that he was losing his time. The stout Frenchwoman soon guessed what the relations were between the couple, and talked of the matter to Philip with the utmost frankness. "And you," she said, with the tolerant smile of one who had fattened on the lust of her fellows, "have you got a petite amie?" "No," said Philip, blushing. "And why not? C'est de votre age." He shrugged his shoulders. He had a volume of Verlaine in his hands, and he wandered off. He tried to read, but his passion was too strong. He thought of the stray amours to which he had been introduced by Flanagan, the sly visits to houses in a cul-de-sac, with the drawing-room in Utrecht velvet, and the mercenary graces of painted women. He shuddered. He threw himself on the grass, stretching his limbs like a young animal freshly awaked from sleep; and the rippling water, the poplars gently tremulous in the faint breeze, the blue sky, were almost more than he could bear. He was in love with love. In his fancy he felt the kiss of warm lips on his, and around his neck the touch of soft hands. He imagined himself in the arms of Ruth Chalice, he thought of her dark eyes and the wonderful texture of her skin; he was mad to have let such a wonderful adventure slip through his fingers. And if Lawson had done it why should not he? But this was only when he did not see her, when he lay awake at night or dreamed idly by the side of the canal; when he saw her he felt suddenly quite different; he had no desire to take her in his arms, and he could not imagine himself kissing her. It was very curious. Away from her he thought her beautiful, remembering only her magnificent eyes and the creamy pallor of her face; but when he was with her he saw only that she was flat-chested and that her teeth were slightly decayed; he could not forget the corns on her toes. He could not understand himself. Would he always love only in absence and be prevented from enjoying anything when he had the chance by that deformity of vision which seemed to exaggerate the revolting? He was not sorry when a change in the weather, announcing the definite end of the long summer, drove them all back to Paris. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLVIII When Philip returned to Amitrano's he found that Fanny Price was no longer working there. She had given up the key of her locker. He asked Mrs. Otter whether she knew what had become of her; and Mrs. Otter, with a shrug of the shoulders, answered that she had probably gone back to England. Philip was relieved. He was profoundly bored by her ill-temper. Moreover she insisted on advising him about his work, looked upon it as a slight when he did not follow her precepts, and would not understand that he felt himself no longer the duffer he had been at first. Soon he forgot all about her. He was working in oils now and he was full of enthusiasm. He hoped to have something done of sufficient importance to send to the following year's Salon. Lawson was painting a portrait of Miss Chalice. She was very paintable, and all the young men who had fallen victims to her charm had made portraits of her. A natural indolence, joined with a passion for picturesque attitude, made her an excellent sitter; and she had enough technical knowledge to offer useful criticisms. Since her passion for art was chiefly a passion to live the life of artists, she was quite content to neglect her own work. She liked the warmth of the studio, and the opportunity to smoke innumerable cigarettes; and she spoke in a low, pleasant voice of the love of art and the art of love. She made no clear distinction between the two. Lawson was painting with infinite labour, working till he could hardly stand for days and then scraping out all he had done. He would have exhausted the patience of anyone but Ruth Chalice. At last he got into a hopeless muddle. "The only thing is to take a new canvas and start fresh," he said. "I know exactly what I want now, and it won't take me long." Philip was present at the time, and Miss Chalice said to him: "Why don't you paint me too? You'll be able to learn a lot by watching Mr. Lawson." It was one of Miss Chalice's delicacies that she always addressed her lovers by their surnames. "I should like it awfully if Lawson wouldn't mind." "I don't care a damn," said Lawson. It was the first time that Philip set about a portrait, and he began with trepidation but also with pride. He sat by Lawson and painted as he saw him paint. He profited by the example and by the advice which both Lawson and Miss Chalice freely gave him. At last Lawson finished and invited Clutton in to criticise. Clutton had only just come back to Paris. From Provence he had drifted down to Spain, eager to see Velasquez at Madrid, and thence he had gone to Toledo. He stayed there three months, and he was returned with a name new to the young men: he had wonderful things to say of a painter called El Greco, who it appeared could only be studied in Toledo. "Oh yes, I know about him," said Lawson, "he's the old master whose distinction it is that he painted as badly as the moderns." Clutton, more taciturn than ever, did not answer, but he looked at Lawson with a sardonic air. "Are you going to show us the stuff you've brought back from Spain?" asked Philip. "I didn't paint in Spain, I was too busy." "What did you do then?" "I thought things out. I believe I'm through with the Impressionists; I've got an idea they'll seem very thin and superficial in a few years. I want to make a clean sweep of everything I've learnt and start fresh. When I came back I destroyed everything I'd painted. I've got nothing in my studio now but an easel, my paints, and some clean canvases." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know yet. I've only got an inkling of what I want." He spoke slowly, in a curious manner, as though he were straining to hear something which was only just audible. There seemed to be a mysterious force in him which he himself did not understand, but which was struggling obscurely to find an outlet. His strength impressed you. Lawson dreaded the criticism he asked for and had discounted the blame he thought he might get by affecting a contempt for any opinion of Clutton's; but Philip knew there was nothing which would give him more pleasure than Clutton's praise. Clutton looked at the portrait for some time in silence, then glanced at Philip's picture, which was standing on an easel. "What's that?" he asked. "Oh, I had a shot at a portrait too." "The sedulous ape," he murmured. He turned away again to Lawson's canvas. Philip reddened but did not speak. "Well, what d'you think of it?" asked Lawson at length. "The modelling's jolly good," said Clutton. "And I think it's very well drawn." "D'you think the values are all right?" "Quite." Lawson smiled with delight. He shook himself in his clothes like a wet dog. "I say, I'm jolly glad you like it." "I don't. I don't think it's of the smallest importance." Lawson's face fell, and he stared at Clutton with astonishment: he had no notion what he meant, Clutton had no gift of expression in words, and he spoke as though it were an effort. What he had to say was confused, halting, and verbose; but Philip knew the words which served as the text of his rambling discourse. Clutton, who never read, had heard them first from Cronshaw; and though they had made small impression, they had remained in his memory; and lately, emerging on a sudden, had acquired the character of a revelation: a good painter had two chief objects to paint, namely, man and the intention of his soul. The Impressionists had been occupied with other problems, they had painted man admirably, but they had troubled themselves as little as the English portrait painters of the eighteenth century with the intention of his soul. "But when you try to get that you become literary," said Lawson, interrupting. "Let me paint the man like Manet, and the intention of his soul can go to the devil." "That would be all very well if you could beat Manet at his own game, but you can't get anywhere near him. You can't feed yourself on the day before yesterday, it's ground which has been swept dry. You must go back. It's when I saw the Grecos that I felt one could get something more out of portraits than we knew before." "It's just going back to Ruskin," cried Lawson. "No--you see, he went for morality: I don't care a damn for morality: teaching doesn't come in, ethics and all that, but passion and emotion. The greatest portrait painters have painted both, man and the intention of his soul; Rembrandt and El Greco; it's only the second-raters who've only painted man. A lily of the valley would be lovely even if it didn't smell, but it's more lovely because it has perfume. That picture"--he pointed to Lawson's portrait--"well, the drawing's all right and so's the modelling all right, but just conventional; it ought to be drawn and modelled so that you know the girl's a lousy slut. Correctness is all very well: El Greco made his people eight feet high because he wanted to express something he couldn't get any other way." "Damn El Greco," said Lawson, "what's the good of jawing about a man when we haven't a chance of seeing any of his work?" Clutton shrugged his shoulders, smoked a cigarette in silence, and went away. Philip and Lawson looked at one another. "There's something in what he says," said Philip. Lawson stared ill-temperedly at his picture. "How the devil is one to get the intention of the soul except by painting exactly what one sees?" About this time Philip made a new friend. On Monday morning models assembled at the school in order that one might be chosen for the week, and one day a young man was taken who was plainly not a model by profession. Philip's attention was attracted by the manner in which he held himself: when he got on to the stand he stood firmly on both feet, square, with clenched hands, and with his head defiantly thrown forward; the attitude emphasised his fine figure; there was no fat on him, and his muscles stood out as though they were of iron. His head, close-cropped, was well-shaped, and he wore a short beard; he had large, dark eyes and heavy eyebrows. He held the pose hour after hour without appearance of fatigue. There was in his mien a mixture of shame and of determination. His air of passionate energy excited Philip's romantic imagination, and when, the sitting ended, he saw him in his clothes, it seemed to him that he wore them as though he were a king in rags. He was uncommunicative, but in a day or two Mrs. Otter told Philip that the model was a Spaniard and that he had never sat before. "I suppose he was starving," said Philip. "Have you noticed his clothes? They're quite neat and decent, aren't they?" It chanced that Potter, one of the Americans who worked at Amitrano's, was going to Italy for a couple of months, and offered his studio to Philip. Philip was pleased. He was growing a little impatient of Lawson's peremptory advice and wanted to be by himself. At the end of the week he went up to the model and on the pretence that his drawing was not finished asked whether he would come and sit to him one day. "I'm not a model," the Spaniard answered. "I have other things to do next week." "Come and have luncheon with me now, and we'll talk about it," said Philip, and as the other hesitated, he added with a smile: "It won't hurt you to lunch with me." With a shrug of the shoulders the model consented, and they went off to a cremerie. The Spaniard spoke broken French, fluent but difficult to follow, and Philip managed to get on well enough with him. He found out that he was a writer. He had come to Paris to write novels and kept himself meanwhile by all the expedients possible to a penniless man; he gave lessons, he did any translations he could get hold of, chiefly business documents, and at last had been driven to make money by his fine figure. Sitting was well paid, and what he had earned during the last week was enough to keep him for two more; he told Philip, amazed, that he could live easily on two francs a day; but it filled him with shame that he was obliged to show his body for money, and he looked upon sitting as a degradation which only hunger could excuse. Philip explained that he did not want him to sit for the figure, but only for the head; he wished to do a portrait of him which he might send to the next Salon. "But why should you want to paint me?" asked the Spaniard. Philip answered that the head interested him, he thought he could do a good portrait. "I can't afford the time. I grudge every minute that I have to rob from my writing." "But it would only be in the afternoon. I work at the school in the morning. After all, it's better to sit to me than to do translations of legal documents." There were legends in the Latin quarter of a time when students of different countries lived together intimately, but this was long since passed, and now the various nations were almost as much separated as in an Oriental city. At Julian's and at the Beaux Arts a French student was looked upon with disfavour by his fellow-countrymen when he consorted with foreigners, and it was difficult for an Englishman to know more than quite superficially any native inhabitants of the city in which he dwelt. Indeed, many of the students after living in Paris for five years knew no more French than served them in shops and lived as English a life as though they were working in South Kensington. Philip, with his passion for the romantic, welcomed the opportunity to get in touch with a Spaniard; he used all his persuasiveness to overcome the man's reluctance. "I'll tell you what I'll do," said the Spaniard at last. "I'll sit to you, but not for money, for my own pleasure." Philip expostulated, but the other was firm, and at length they arranged that he should come on the following Monday at one o'clock. He gave Philip a card on which was printed his name: Miguel Ajuria. Miguel sat regularly, and though he refused to accept payment he borrowed fifty francs from Philip every now and then: it was a little more expensive than if Philip had paid for the sittings in the usual way; but gave the Spaniard a satisfactory feeling that he was not earning his living in a degrading manner. His nationality made Philip regard him as a representative of romance, and he asked him about Seville and Granada, Velasquez and Calderon. But Miguel had no patience with the grandeur of his country. For him, as for so many of his compatriots, France was the only country for a man of intelligence and Paris the centre of the world. "Spain is dead," he cried. "It has no writers, it has no art, it has nothing." Little by little, with the exuberant rhetoric of his race, he revealed his ambitions. He was writing a novel which he hoped would make his name. He was under the influence of Zola, and he had set his scene in Paris. He told Philip the story at length. To Philip it seemed crude and stupid; the naive obscenity--c'est la vie, mon cher, c'est la vie, he cried--the naive obscenity served only to emphasise the conventionality of the anecdote. He had written for two years, amid incredible hardships, denying himself all the pleasures of life which had attracted him to Paris, fighting with starvation for art's sake, determined that nothing should hinder his great achievement. The effort was heroic. "But why don't you write about Spain?" cried Philip. "It would be so much more interesting. You know the life." "But Paris is the only place worth writing about. Paris is life." One day he brought part of the manuscript, and in his bad French, translating excitedly as he went along so that Philip could scarcely understand, he read passages. It was lamentable. Philip, puzzled, looked at the picture he was painting: the mind behind that broad brow was trivial; and the flashing, passionate eyes saw nothing in life but the obvious. Philip was not satisfied with his portrait, and at the end of a sitting he nearly always scraped out what he had done. It was all very well to aim at the intention of the soul: who could tell what that was when people seemed a mass of contradictions? He liked Miguel, and it distressed him to realise that his magnificent struggle was futile: he had everything to make a good writer but talent. Philip looked at his own work. How could you tell whether there was anything in it or whether you were wasting your time? It was clear that the will to achieve could not help you and confidence in yourself meant nothing. Philip thought of Fanny Price; she had a vehement belief in her talent; her strength of will was extraordinary. "If I thought I wasn't going to be really good, I'd rather give up painting," said Philip. "I don't see any use in being a second-rate painter." Then one morning when he was going out, the concierge called out to him that there was a letter. Nobody wrote to him but his Aunt Louisa and sometimes Hayward, and this was a handwriting he did not know. The letter was as follows: Please come at once when you get this. I couldn't put up with it any more. Please come yourself. I can't bear the thought that anyone else should touch me. I want you to have everything. F. Price I have not had anything to eat for three days. Philip felt on a sudden sick with fear. He hurried to the house in which she lived. He was astonished that she was in Paris at all. He had not seen her for months and imagined she had long since returned to England. When he arrived he asked the concierge whether she was in. "Yes, I've not seen her go out for two days." Philip ran upstairs and knocked at the door. There was no reply. He called her name. The door was locked, and on bending down he found the key was in the lock. "Oh, my God, I hope she hasn't done something awful," he cried aloud. He ran down and told the porter that she was certainly in the room. He had had a letter from her and feared a terrible accident. He suggested breaking open the door. The porter, who had been sullen and disinclined to listen, became alarmed; he could not take the responsibility of breaking into the room; they must go for the commissaire de police. They walked together to the bureau, and then they fetched a locksmith. Philip found that Miss Price had not paid the last quarter's rent: on New Year's Day she had not given the concierge the present which old-established custom led him to regard as a right. The four of them went upstairs, and they knocked again at the door. There was no reply. The locksmith set to work, and at last they entered the room. Philip gave a cry and instinctively covered his eyes with his hands. The wretched woman was hanging with a rope round her neck, which she had tied to a hook in the ceiling fixed by some previous tenant to hold up the curtains of the bed. She had moved her own little bed out of the way and had stood on a chair, which had been kicked away. It was lying on its side on the floor. They cut her down. The body was quite cold. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XLIX The story which Philip made out in one way and another was terrible. One of the grievances of the women-students was that Fanny Price would never share their gay meals in restaurants, and the reason was obvious: she had been oppressed by dire poverty. He remembered the luncheon they had eaten together when first he came to Paris and the ghoulish appetite which had disgusted him: he realised now that she ate in that manner because she was ravenous. The concierge told him what her food had consisted of. A bottle of milk was left for her every day and she brought in her own loaf of bread; she ate half the loaf and drank half the milk at mid-day when she came back from the school, and consumed the rest in the evening. It was the same day after day. Philip thought with anguish of what she must have endured. She had never given anyone to understand that she was poorer than the rest, but it was clear that her money had been coming to an end, and at last she could not afford to come any more to the studio. The little room was almost bare of furniture, and there were no other clothes than the shabby brown dress she had always worn. Philip searched among her things for the address of some friend with whom he could communicate. He found a piece of paper on which his own name was written a score of times. It gave him a peculiar shock. He supposed it was true that she had loved him; he thought of the emaciated body, in the brown dress, hanging from the nail in the ceiling; and he shuddered. But if she had cared for him why did she not let him help her? He would so gladly have done all he could. He felt remorseful because he had refused to see that she looked upon him with any particular feeling, and now these words in her letter were infinitely pathetic: I can't bear the thought that anyone else should touch me. She had died of starvation. Philip found at length a letter signed: your loving brother, Albert. It was two or three weeks old, dated from some road in Surbiton, and refused a loan of five pounds. The writer had his wife and family to think of, he didn't feel justified in lending money, and his advice was that Fanny should come back to London and try to get a situation. Philip telegraphed to Albert Price, and in a little while an answer came: "Deeply distressed. Very awkward to leave my business. Is presence essential. Price." Philip wired a succinct affirmative, and next morning a stranger presented himself at the studio. "My name's Price," he said, when Philip opened the door. He was a commonish man in black with a band round his bowler hat; he had something of Fanny's clumsy look; he wore a stubbly moustache, and had a cockney accent. Philip asked him to come in. He cast sidelong glances round the studio while Philip gave him details of the accident and told him what he had done. "I needn't see her, need I?" asked Albert Price. "My nerves aren't very strong, and it takes very little to upset me." He began to talk freely. He was a rubber-merchant, and he had a wife and three children. Fanny was a governess, and he couldn't make out why she hadn't stuck to that instead of coming to Paris. "Me and Mrs. Price told her Paris was no place for a girl. And there's no money in art--never 'as been." It was plain enough that he had not been on friendly terms with his sister, and he resented her suicide as a last injury that she had done him. He did not like the idea that she had been forced to it by poverty; that seemed to reflect on the family. The idea struck him that possibly there was a more respectable reason for her act. "I suppose she 'adn't any trouble with a man, 'ad she? You know what I mean, Paris and all that. She might 'ave done it so as not to disgrace herself." Philip felt himself reddening and cursed his weakness. Price's keen little eyes seemed to suspect him of an intrigue. "I believe your sister to have been perfectly virtuous," he answered acidly. "She killed herself because she was starving." "Well, it's very 'ard on her family, Mr. Carey. She only 'ad to write to me. I wouldn't have let my sister want." Philip had found the brother's address only by reading the letter in which he refused a loan; but he shrugged his shoulders: there was no use in recrimination. He hated the little man and wanted to have done with him as soon as possible. Albert Price also wished to get through the necessary business quickly so that he could get back to London. They went to the tiny room in which poor Fanny had lived. Albert Price looked at the pictures and the furniture. "I don't pretend to know much about art," he said. "I suppose these pictures would fetch something, would they?" "Nothing," said Philip. "The furniture's not worth ten shillings." Albert Price knew no French and Philip had to do everything. It seemed that it was an interminable process to get the poor body safely hidden away under ground: papers had to be obtained in one place and signed in another; officials had to be seen. For three days Philip was occupied from morning till night. At last he and Albert Price followed the hearse to the cemetery at Montparnasse. "I want to do the thing decent," said Albert Price, "but there's no use wasting money." The short ceremony was infinitely dreadful in the cold gray morning. Half a dozen people who had worked with Fanny Price at the studio came to the funeral, Mrs. Otter because she was massiere and thought it her duty, Ruth Chalice because she had a kind heart, Lawson, Clutton, and Flanagan. They had all disliked her during her life. Philip, looking across the cemetery crowded on all sides with monuments, some poor and simple, others vulgar, pretentious, and ugly, shuddered. It was horribly sordid. When they came out Albert Price asked Philip to lunch with him. Philip loathed him now and he was tired; he had not been sleeping well, for he dreamed constantly of Fanny Price in the torn brown dress, hanging from the nail in the ceiling; but he could not think of an excuse. "You take me somewhere where we can get a regular slap-up lunch. All this is the very worst thing for my nerves." "Lavenue's is about the best place round here," answered Philip. Albert Price settled himself on a velvet seat with a sigh of relief. He ordered a substantial luncheon and a bottle of wine. "Well, I'm glad that's over," he said. He threw out a few artful questions, and Philip discovered that he was eager to hear about the painter's life in Paris. He represented it to himself as deplorable, but he was anxious for details of the orgies which his fancy suggested to him. With sly winks and discreet sniggering he conveyed that he knew very well that there was a great deal more than Philip confessed. He was a man of the world, and he knew a thing or two. He asked Philip whether he had ever been to any of those places in Montmartre which are celebrated from Temple Bar to the Royal Exchange. He would like to say he had been to the Moulin Rouge. The luncheon was very good and the wine excellent. Albert Price expanded as the processes of digestion went satisfactorily forwards. "Let's 'ave a little brandy," he said when the coffee was brought, "and blow the expense." He rubbed his hands. "You know, I've got 'alf a mind to stay over tonight and go back tomorrow. What d'you say to spending the evening together?" "If you mean you want me to take you round Montmartre tonight, I'll see you damned," said Philip. "I suppose it wouldn't be quite the thing." The answer was made so seriously that Philip was tickled. "Besides it would be rotten for your nerves," he said gravely. Albert Price concluded that he had better go back to London by the four o'clock train, and presently he took leave of Philip. "Well, good-bye, old man," he said. "I tell you what, I'll try and come over to Paris again one of these days and I'll look you up. And then we won't 'alf go on the razzle." Philip was too restless to work that afternoon, so he jumped on a bus and crossed the river to see whether there were any pictures on view at Durand-Ruel's. After that he strolled along the boulevard. It was cold and wind-swept. People hurried by wrapped up in their coats, shrunk together in an effort to keep out of the cold, and their faces were pinched and careworn. It was icy underground in the cemetery at Montparnasse among all those white tombstones. Philip felt lonely in the world and strangely homesick. He wanted company. At that hour Cronshaw would be working, and Clutton never welcomed visitors; Lawson was painting another portrait of Ruth Chalice and would not care to be disturbed. He made up his mind to go and see Flanagan. He found him painting, but delighted to throw up his work and talk. The studio was comfortable, for the American had more money than most of them, and warm; Flanagan set about making tea. Philip looked at the two heads that he was sending to the Salon. "It's awful cheek my sending anything," said Flanagan, "but I don't care, I'm going to send. D'you think they're rotten?" "Not so rotten as I should have expected," said Philip. They showed in fact an astounding cleverness. The difficulties had been avoided with skill, and there was a dash about the way in which the paint was put on which was surprising and even attractive. Flanagan, without knowledge or technique, painted with the loose brush of a man who has spent a lifetime in the practice of the art. "If one were forbidden to look at any picture for more than thirty seconds you'd be a great master, Flanagan," smiled Philip. These young people were not in the habit of spoiling one another with excessive flattery. "We haven't got time in America to spend more than thirty seconds in looking at any picture," laughed the other. Flanagan, though he was the most scatter-brained person in the world, had a tenderness of heart which was unexpected and charming. Whenever anyone was ill he installed himself as sick-nurse. His gaiety was better than any medicine. Like many of his countrymen he had not the English dread of sentimentality which keeps so tight a hold on emotion; and, finding nothing absurd in the show of feeling, could offer an exuberant sympathy which was often grateful to his friends in distress. He saw that Philip was depressed by what he had gone through and with unaffected kindliness set himself boisterously to cheer him up. He exaggerated the Americanisms which he knew always made the Englishmen laugh and poured out a breathless stream of conversation, whimsical, high-spirited, and jolly. In due course they went out to dinner and afterwards to the Gaite Montparnasse, which was Flanagan's favourite place of amusement. By the end of the evening he was in his most extravagant humour. He had drunk a good deal, but any inebriety from which he suffered was due much more to his own vivacity than to alcohol. He proposed that they should go to the Bal Bullier, and Philip, feeling too tired to go to bed, willingly enough consented. They sat down at a table on the platform at the side, raised a little from the level of the floor so that they could watch the dancing, and drank a bock. Presently Flanagan saw a friend and with a wild shout leaped over the barrier on to the space where they were dancing. Philip watched the people. Bullier was not the resort of fashion. It was Thursday night and the place was crowded. There were a number of students of the various faculties, but most of the men were clerks or assistants in shops; they wore their everyday clothes, ready-made tweeds or queer tail-coats, and their hats, for they had brought them in with them, and when they danced there was no place to put them but their heads. Some of the women looked like servant-girls, and some were painted hussies, but for the most part they were shop-girls. They were poorly-dressed in cheap imitation of the fashions on the other side of the river. The hussies were got up to resemble the music-hall artiste or the dancer who enjoyed notoriety at the moment; their eyes were heavy with black and their cheeks impudently scarlet. The hall was lit by great white lights, low down, which emphasised the shadows on the faces; all the lines seemed to harden under it, and the colours were most crude. It was a sordid scene. Philip leaned over the rail, staring down, and he ceased to hear the music. They danced furiously. They danced round the room, slowly, talking very little, with all their attention given to the dance. The room was hot, and their faces shone with sweat. It seemed to Philip that they had thrown off the guard which people wear on their expression, the homage to convention, and he saw them now as they really were. In that moment of abandon they were strangely animal: some were foxy and some were wolf-like; and others had the long, foolish face of sheep. Their skins were sallow from the unhealthy life they led and the poor food they ate. Their features were blunted by mean interests, and their little eyes were shifty and cunning. There was nothing of nobility in their bearing, and you felt that for all of them life was a long succession of petty concerns and sordid thoughts. The air was heavy with the musty smell of humanity. But they danced furiously as though impelled by some strange power within them, and it seemed to Philip that they were driven forward by a rage for enjoyment. They were seeking desperately to escape from a world of horror. The desire for pleasure which Cronshaw said was the only motive of human action urged them blindly on, and the very vehemence of the desire seemed to rob it of all pleasure. They were hurried on by a great wind, helplessly, they knew not why and they knew not whither. Fate seemed to tower above them, and they danced as though everlasting darkness were beneath their feet. Their silence was vaguely alarming. It was as if life terrified them and robbed them of power of speech so that the shriek which was in their hearts died at their throats. Their eyes were haggard and grim; and notwithstanding the beastly lust that disfigured them, and the meanness of their faces, and the cruelty, notwithstanding the stupidness which was worst of all, the anguish of those fixed eyes made all that crowd terrible and pathetic. Philip loathed them, and yet his heart ached with the infinite pity which filled him. He took his coat from the cloak-room and went out into the bitter coldness of the night. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> L Philip could not get the unhappy event out of his head. What troubled him most was the uselessness of Fanny's effort. No one could have worked harder than she, nor with more sincerity; she believed in herself with all her heart; but it was plain that self-confidence meant very little, all his friends had it, Miguel Ajuria among the rest; and Philip was shocked by the contrast between the Spaniard's heroic endeavour and the triviality of the thing he attempted. The unhappiness of Philip's life at school had called up in him the power of self-analysis; and this vice, as subtle as drug-taking, had taken possession of him so that he had now a peculiar keenness in the dissection of his feelings. He could not help seeing that art affected him differently from others. A fine picture gave Lawson an immediate thrill. His appreciation was instinctive. Even Flanagan felt certain things which Philip was obliged to think out. His own appreciation was intellectual. He could not help thinking that if he had in him the artistic temperament (he hated the phrase, but could discover no other) he would feel beauty in the emotional, unreasoning way in which they did. He began to wonder whether he had anything more than a superficial cleverness of the hand which enabled him to copy objects with accuracy. That was nothing. He had learned to despise technical dexterity. The important thing was to feel in terms of paint. Lawson painted in a certain way because it was his nature to, and through the imitativeness of a student sensitive to every influence, there pierced individuality. Philip looked at his own portrait of Ruth Chalice, and now that three months had passed he realised that it was no more than a servile copy of Lawson. He felt himself barren. He painted with the brain, and he could not help knowing that the only painting worth anything was done with the heart. He had very little money, barely sixteen hundred pounds, and it would be necessary for him to practise the severest economy. He could not count on earning anything for ten years. The history of painting was full of artists who had earned nothing at all. He must resign himself to penury; and it was worth while if he produced work which was immortal; but he had a terrible fear that he would never be more than second-rate. Was it worth while for that to give up one's youth, and the gaiety of life, and the manifold chances of being? He knew the existence of foreign painters in Paris enough to see that the lives they led were narrowly provincial. He knew some who had dragged along for twenty years in the pursuit of a fame which always escaped them till they sunk into sordidness and alcoholism. Fanny's suicide had aroused memories, and Philip heard ghastly stories of the way in which one person or another had escaped from despair. He remembered the scornful advice which the master had given poor Fanny: it would have been well for her if she had taken it and given up an attempt which was hopeless. Philip finished his portrait of Miguel Ajuria and made up his mind to send it to the Salon. Flanagan was sending two pictures, and he thought he could paint as well as Flanagan. He had worked so hard on the portrait that he could not help feeling it must have merit. It was true that when he looked at it he felt that there was something wrong, though he could not tell what; but when he was away from it his spirits went up and he was not dissatisfied. He sent it to the Salon and it was refused. He did not mind much, since he had done all he could to persuade himself that there was little chance that it would be taken, till Flanagan a few days later rushed in to tell Lawson and Philip that one of his pictures was accepted. With a blank face Philip offered his congratulations, and Flanagan was so busy congratulating himself that he did not catch the note of irony which Philip could not prevent from coming into his voice. Lawson, quicker-witted, observed it and looked at Philip curiously. His own picture was all right, he knew that a day or two before, and he was vaguely resentful of Philip's attitude. But he was surprised at the sudden question which Philip put him as soon as the American was gone. "If you were in my place would you chuck the whole thing?" "What do you mean?" "I wonder if it's worth while being a second-rate painter. You see, in other things, if you're a doctor or if you're in business, it doesn't matter so much if you're mediocre. You make a living and you get along. But what is the good of turning out second-rate pictures?" Lawson was fond of Philip and, as soon as he thought he was seriously distressed by the refusal of his picture, he set himself to console him. It was notorious that the Salon had refused pictures which were afterwards famous; it was the first time Philip had sent, and he must expect a rebuff; Flanagan's success was explicable, his picture was showy and superficial: it was just the sort of thing a languid jury would see merit in. Philip grew impatient; it was humiliating that Lawson should think him capable of being seriously disturbed by so trivial a calamity and would not realise that his dejection was due to a deep-seated distrust of his powers. Of late Clutton had withdrawn himself somewhat from the group who took their meals at Gravier's, and lived very much by himself. Flanagan said he was in love with a girl, but Clutton's austere countenance did not suggest passion; and Philip thought it more probable that he separated himself from his friends so that he might grow clear with the new ideas which were in him. But that evening, when the others had left the restaurant to go to a play and Philip was sitting alone, Clutton came in and ordered dinner. They began to talk, and finding Clutton more loquacious and less sardonic than usual, Philip determined to take advantage of his good humour. "I say I wish you'd come and look at my picture," he said. "I'd like to know what you think of it." "No, I won't do that." "Why not?" asked Philip, reddening. The request was one which they all made of one another, and no one ever thought of refusing. Clutton shrugged his shoulders. "People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise. Besides, what's the good of criticism? What does it matter if your picture is good or bad?" "It matters to me." "No. The only reason that one paints is that one can't help it. It's a function like any of the other functions of the body, only comparatively few people have got it. One paints for oneself: otherwise one would commit suicide. Just think of it, you spend God knows how long trying to get something on to canvas, putting the sweat of your soul into it, and what is the result? Ten to one it will be refused at the Salon; if it's accepted, people glance at it for ten seconds as they pass; if you're lucky some ignorant fool will buy it and put it on his walls and look at it as little as he looks at his dining-room table. Criticism has nothing to do with the artist. It judges objectively, but the objective doesn't concern the artist." Clutton put his hands over his eyes so that he might concentrate his mind on what he wanted to say. "The artist gets a peculiar sensation from something he sees, and is impelled to express it and, he doesn't know why, he can only express his feeling by lines and colours. It's like a musician; he'll read a line or two, and a certain combination of notes presents itself to him: he doesn't know why such and such words call forth in him such and such notes; they just do. And I'll tell you another reason why criticism is meaningless: a great painter forces the world to see nature as he sees it; but in the next generation another painter sees the world in another way, and then the public judges him not by himself but by his predecessor. So the Barbizon people taught our fathers to look at trees in a certain manner, and when Monet came along and painted differently, people said: But trees aren't like that. It never struck them that trees are exactly how a painter chooses to see them. We paint from within outwards--if we force our vision on the world it calls us great painters; if we don't it ignores us; but we are the same. We don't attach any meaning to greatness or to smallness. What happens to our work afterwards is unimportant; we have got all we could out of it while we were doing it." There was a pause while Clutton with voracious appetite devoured the food that was set before him. Philip, smoking a cheap cigar, observed him closely. The ruggedness of the head, which looked as though it were carved from a stone refractory to the sculptor's chisel, the rough mane of dark hair, the great nose, and the massive bones of the jaw, suggested a man of strength; and yet Philip wondered whether perhaps the mask concealed a strange weakness. Clutton's refusal to show his work might be sheer vanity: he could not bear the thought of anyone's criticism, and he would not expose himself to the chance of a refusal from the Salon; he wanted to be received as a master and would not risk comparisons with other work which might force him to diminish his own opinion of himself. During the eighteen months Philip had known him Clutton had grown more harsh and bitter; though he would not come out into the open and compete with his fellows, he was indignant with the facile success of those who did. He had no patience with Lawson, and the pair were no longer on the intimate terms upon which they had been when Philip first knew them. "Lawson's all right," he said contemptuously, "he'll go back to England, become a fashionable portrait painter, earn ten thousand a year and be an A. R. A. before he's forty. Portraits done by hand for the nobility and gentry!" Philip, too, looked into the future, and he saw Clutton in twenty years, bitter, lonely, savage, and unknown; still in Paris, for the life there had got into his bones, ruling a small cenacle with a savage tongue, at war with himself and the world, producing little in his increasing passion for a perfection he could not reach; and perhaps sinking at last into drunkenness. Of late Philip had been captivated by an idea that since one had only one life it was important to make a success of it, but he did not count success by the acquiring of money or the achieving of fame; he did not quite know yet what he meant by it, perhaps variety of experience and the making the most of his abilities. It was plain anyway that the life which Clutton seemed destined to was failure. Its only justification would be the painting of imperishable masterpieces. He recollected Cronshaw's whimsical metaphor of the Persian carpet; he had thought of it often; but Cronshaw with his faun-like humour had refused to make his meaning clear: he repeated that it had none unless one discovered it for oneself. It was this desire to make a success of life which was at the bottom of Philip's uncertainty about continuing his artistic career. But Clutton began to talk again. "D'you remember my telling you about that chap I met in Brittany? I saw him the other day here. He's just off to Tahiti. He was broke to the world. He was a brasseur d'affaires, a stockbroker I suppose you call it in English; and he had a wife and family, and he was earning a large income. He chucked it all to become a painter. He just went off and settled down in Brittany and began to paint. He hadn't got any money and did the next best thing to starving." "And what about his wife and family?" asked Philip. "Oh, he dropped them. He left them to starve on their own account." "It sounds a pretty low-down thing to do." "Oh, my dear fellow, if you want to be a gentleman you must give up being an artist. They've got nothing to do with one another. You hear of men painting pot-boilers to keep an aged mother--well, it shows they're excellent sons, but it's no excuse for bad work. They're only tradesmen. An artist would let his mother go to the workhouse. There's a writer I know over here who told me that his wife died in childbirth. He was in love with her and he was mad with grief, but as he sat at the bedside watching her die he found himself making mental notes of how she looked and what she said and the things he was feeling. Gentlemanly, wasn't it?" "But is your friend a good painter?" asked Philip. "No, not yet, he paints just like Pissarro. He hasn't found himself, but he's got a sense of colour and a sense of decoration. But that isn't the question. It's the feeling, and that he's got. He's behaved like a perfect cad to his wife and children, he's always behaving like a perfect cad; the way he treats the people who've helped him--and sometimes he's been saved from starvation merely by the kindness of his friends--is simply beastly. He just happens to be a great artist." Philip pondered over the man who was willing to sacrifice everything, comfort, home, money, love, honour, duty, for the sake of getting on to canvas with paint the emotion which the world gave him. It was magnificent, and yet his courage failed him. Thinking of Cronshaw recalled to him the fact that he had not seen him for a week, and so, when Clutton left him, he wandered along to the cafe in which he was certain to find the writer. During the first few months of his stay in Paris Philip had accepted as gospel all that Cronshaw said, but Philip had a practical outlook and he grew impatient with the theories which resulted in no action. Cronshaw's slim bundle of poetry did not seem a substantial result for a life which was sordid. Philip could not wrench out of his nature the instincts of the middle-class from which he came; and the penury, the hack work which Cronshaw did to keep body and soul together, the monotony of existence between the slovenly attic and the cafe table, jarred with his respectability. Cronshaw was astute enough to know that the young man disapproved of him, and he attacked his philistinism with an irony which was sometimes playful but often very keen. "You're a tradesman," he told Philip, "you want to invest life in consols so that it shall bring you in a safe three per cent. I'm a spendthrift, I run through my capital. I shall spend my last penny with my last heartbeat." The metaphor irritated Philip, because it assumed for the speaker a romantic attitude and cast a slur upon the position which Philip instinctively felt had more to say for it than he could think of at the moment. But this evening Philip, undecided, wanted to talk about himself. Fortunately it was late already and Cronshaw's pile of saucers on the table, each indicating a drink, suggested that he was prepared to take an independent view of things in general. "I wonder if you'd give me some advice," said Philip suddenly. "You won't take it, will you?" Philip shrugged his shoulders impatiently. "I don't believe I shall ever do much good as a painter. I don't see any use in being second-rate. I'm thinking of chucking it." "Why shouldn't you?" Philip hesitated for an instant. "I suppose I like the life." A change came over Cronshaw's placid, round face. The corners of the mouth were suddenly depressed, the eyes sunk dully in their orbits; he seemed to become strangely bowed and old. "This?" he cried, looking round the cafe in which they sat. His voice really trembled a little. "If you can get out of it, do while there's time." Philip stared at him with astonishment, but the sight of emotion always made him feel shy, and he dropped his eyes. He knew that he was looking upon the tragedy of failure. There was silence. Philip thought that Cronshaw was looking upon his own life; and perhaps he considered his youth with its bright hopes and the disappointments which wore out the radiancy; the wretched monotony of pleasure, and the black future. Philip's eyes rested on the little pile of saucers, and he knew that Cronshaw's were on them too. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LI Two months passed. It seemed to Philip, brooding over these matters, that in the true painters, writers, musicians, there was a power which drove them to such complete absorption in their work as to make it inevitable for them to subordinate life to art. Succumbing to an influence they never realised, they were merely dupes of the instinct that possessed them, and life slipped through their fingers unlived. But he had a feeling that life was to be lived rather than portrayed, and he wanted to search out the various experiences of it and wring from each moment all the emotion that it offered. He made up his mind at length to take a certain step and abide by the result, and, having made up his mind, he determined to take the step at once. Luckily enough the next morning was one of Foinet's days, and he resolved to ask him point-blank whether it was worth his while to go on with the study of art. He had never forgotten the master's brutal advice to Fanny Price. It had been sound. Philip could never get Fanny entirely out of his head. The studio seemed strange without her, and now and then the gesture of one of the women working there or the tone of a voice would give him a sudden start, reminding him of her: her presence was more noticable now she was dead than it had ever been during her life; and he often dreamed of her at night, waking with a cry of terror. It was horrible to think of all the suffering she must have endured. Philip knew that on the days Foinet came to the studio he lunched at a little restaurant in the Rue d'Odessa, and he hurried his own meal so that he could go and wait outside till the painter came out. Philip walked up and down the crowded street and at last saw Monsieur Foinet walking, with bent head, towards him; Philip was very nervous, but he forced himself to go up to him. "Pardon, monsieur, I should like to speak to you for one moment." Foinet gave him a rapid glance, recognised him, but did not smile a greeting. "Speak," he said. "I've been working here nearly two years now under you. I wanted to ask you to tell me frankly if you think it worth while for me to continue." Philip's voice was trembling a little. Foinet walked on without looking up. Philip, watching his face, saw no trace of expression upon it. "I don't understand." "I'm very poor. If I have no talent I would sooner do something else." "Don't you know if you have talent?" "All my friends know they have talent, but I am aware some of them are mistaken." Foinet's bitter mouth outlined the shadow of a smile, and he asked: "Do you live near here?" Philip told him where his studio was. Foinet turned round. "Let us go there? You shall show me your work." "Now?" cried Philip. "Why not?" Philip had nothing to say. He walked silently by the master's side. He felt horribly sick. It had never struck him that Foinet would wish to see his things there and then; he meant, so that he might have time to prepare himself, to ask him if he would mind coming at some future date or whether he might bring them to Foinet's studio. He was trembling with anxiety. In his heart he hoped that Foinet would look at his picture, and that rare smile would come into his face, and he would shake Philip's hand and say: "Pas mal. Go on, my lad. You have talent, real talent." Philip's heart swelled at the thought. It was such a relief, such a joy! Now he could go on with courage; and what did hardship matter, privation, and disappointment, if he arrived at last? He had worked very hard, it would be too cruel if all that industry were futile. And then with a start he remembered that he had heard Fanny Price say just that. They arrived at the house, and Philip was seized with fear. If he had dared he would have asked Foinet to go away. He did not want to know the truth. They went in and the concierge handed him a letter as they passed. He glanced at the envelope and recognised his uncle's handwriting. Foinet followed him up the stairs. Philip could think of nothing to say; Foinet was mute, and the silence got on his nerves. The professor sat down; and Philip without a word placed before him the picture which the Salon had rejected; Foinet nodded but did not speak; then Philip showed him the two portraits he had made of Ruth Chalice, two or three landscapes which he had painted at Moret, and a number of sketches. "That's all," he said presently, with a nervous laugh. Monsieur Foinet rolled himself a cigarette and lit it. "You have very little private means?" he asked at last. "Very little," answered Philip, with a sudden feeling of cold at his heart. "Not enough to live on." "There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood. I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent. I pity with all my heart the artist, whether he writes or paints, who is entirely dependent for subsistence upon his art." Philip quietly put away the various things which he had shown. "I'm afraid that sounds as if you didn't think I had much chance." Monsieur Foinet slightly shrugged his shoulders. "You have a certain manual dexterity. With hard work and perseverance there is no reason why you should not become a careful, not incompetent painter. You would find hundreds who painted worse than you, hundreds who painted as well. I see no talent in anything you have shown me. I see industry and intelligence. You will never be anything but mediocre." Philip obliged himself to answer quite steadily. "I'm very grateful to you for having taken so much trouble. I can't thank you enough." Monsieur Foinet got up and made as if to go, but he changed his mind and, stopping, put his hand on Philip's shoulder. "But if you were to ask me my advice, I should say: take your courage in both hands and try your luck at something else. It sounds very hard, but let me tell you this: I would give all I have in the world if someone had given me that advice when I was your age and I had taken it." Philip looked up at him with surprise. The master forced his lips into a smile, but his eyes remained grave and sad. "It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late. It does not improve the temper." He gave a little laugh as he said the last words and quickly walked out of the room. Philip mechanically took up the letter from his uncle. The sight of his handwriting made him anxious, for it was his aunt who always wrote to him. She had been ill for the last three months, and he had offered to go over to England and see her; but she, fearing it would interfere with his work, had refused. She did not want him to put himself to inconvenience; she said she would wait till August and then she hoped he would come and stay at the vicarage for two or three weeks. If by any chance she grew worse she would let him know, since she did not wish to die without seeing him again. If his uncle wrote to him it must be because she was too ill to hold a pen. Philip opened the letter. It ran as follows: My dear Philip, I regret to inform you that your dear Aunt departed this life early this morning. She died very suddenly, but quite peacefully. The change for the worse was so rapid that we had no time to send for you. She was fully prepared for the end and entered into rest with the complete assurance of a blessed resurrection and with resignation to the divine will of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Your Aunt would have liked you to be present at the funeral so I trust you will come as soon as you can. There is naturally a great deal of work thrown upon my shoulders and I am very much upset. I trust that you will be able to do everything for me. Your affectionate uncle, William Carey. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 40-51

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Mrs. Carey sees Philip off to France, but he can hardly pay attention to her because he is excited about the future. He stops thinking of her the minute the train pulls out. Hayward had given him an introduction to Mrs. Otter, the studio manager at Amitrano's Art School, the best in Paris. He has a tiny room in the Latin Quarter in an attic. He goes out to see the lights of Paris on the first night, the cafes, the noise and conversations, exhilarated. . Mrs. Otter is a painter who manages the studio and is kind to Philip, telling him where to get his supplies and setting him up in the studio. He sits next to Fanny Price, an unattractive woman who helps him get started drawing the nude model. She corrects his mistakes, something he appreciates at first. Clutton takes him to lunch at Gravier's where all the artists go and tells him Fanny knows the ropes but she herself cannot draw. . Clutton introduces him to other students: Flanagan, an American, and Lawson, from England. They discuss the work of the Impressionist painters who are the important artists of the time. Philip loves the easy-going atmosphere of Paris and feels at home. He runs into Fanny Price at the Gardens of Luxembourg. Though she is rough and unpleasant, she tells him she will do anything to help him. She tells him about the advanced sketching session in the evening, and he goes though he is not good enough. He does a poor job and realizes he is not as good as he thought he was. . At supper Philip hears Flanagan and Lawson discussing art and finds out the latest ideas on art in Paris, including a description of the Olympia by Manet, currently the sensation .The art students argue about whether art should be moral. The art critic, Ruskin, whom Hayward taught Philip to adore, is old-fashioned to these students who damn all the Victorians. . They take Philip to another cafe to find their mentor, Cronshaw, a poet who supposedly knows all the great writers of the day, including Pater, Oscar Wilde, and Mallarme. Cronshaw holds forth after he is drunk every night. He is a big older man, stout, with a mustache. He has a very cynical philosophy, which is popular with the young men. Philip is excited by all these new ideas and feels great power and self-confidence. . Two of the teachers, Michel Rollin and Monsieur Foinet, come a couple of times a week to critique the students' paintings. Foinet at Fanny's insistence, critiques her work, telling her it is terrible and she should give up. She rejects Philip's sympathy. Later, she shows Philip all the famous art works in Paris and lectures him on them. He is surprised that the Impressionist paintings have no moral content. Philip feels uncomfortable that Fanny believes she is a good artist when it is obvious she isn't. When he finally talks her into a lunch, he is disgusted by her behavior of gobbling her food. The others tease him that she is in love with him. Philip pities her, for all the art students seem on the verge of utter poverty. . They all want a mistress but have no money to keep one. Cronshaw keeps a coarse fat woman and their baby in squalid quarters, living on his writing reviews. Philip moves into a studio with Lawson, and Fanny is jealous. He agrees to look at her work and finds it hideous but tries to placate her. Hayward shows up for a party in Philip's and Lawson's studio, but Hayward's ideas seem old-fashioned now. . In the hot summer, Philip goes off to the forests of Fontainebleau with Lawson and Ruth Chalice to paint. Philip is now painting in oils but is merely copying Lawson. He realizes Ruth and Lawson are having an affair and feels left out. He thinks no woman will want him because of his deformity. . Back at Amitrano's he finds Fanny Price has left and no one knows where she is. Clutton argues that he wants to paint soul like El Greco. Philip begins to paint the portrait of a Spanish man named Miguel, but he finally concludes the man is handsome with no particular soul or depth. He begins to wonder what is the point and if he is wasting his time with painting. He gets an urgent note from Fanny Price and finds that she has committed suicide in her flat. She has been quietly starving to death and was out of money, though too proud to ask for help. . Philip is shaken. Flanagan tries to cheer him up and takes him to a dance hall. Philip only sees the animal nature of all the sweaty bodies. A painting of Philip's is rejected by the Salon, and he asks Foinet to come look at his art. Foinet tells him he merely copies; he is adequate, but he should give up painting, for it is a hopeless life of poverty. Cronshaw gives him similar advice, and not wanting to waste his life any longer, Philip decides to go home. He receives a letter from his uncle that his aunt has died, so he leaves Paris for the funeral. .

Commentary on Chapters XL-LI Once again Philip has romantic ideas that are dashed. He goes to Paris thinking of the idealism of bohemian life, only to find that it involves the degradation of poverty. These are not the happy poor artists of the novel he read. Fanny Price illustrates the tragedy of self-deception. She has everything that an artist needs: dedication, austerity, self-confidence, but no talent or money, and no ability to admit defeat. The other reigning giants of this circle, Monsieur Foinet and Cronshaw, manage to hang on, but are not actually great or successful artists. They have capitulated to smaller roles and have pumped up their images and influence. Both are honest with Philip that he should not get caught up in a sordid lifestyle, especially since his talent is only mediocre. A starving artist is no joke. The initial feeling of freedom and intellectual inquiry are replaced with the threat of poverty and failure. The horror with suicide may have something to do with the suicide of Maugham's own brother. . Yet Philip has had his worldview revolutionized in the two years in Paris, a center for modern art and literature. He puts away forever his stuffy Victorian ideas. The many lengthy cafe discussions not only give the passionate flavor of the young discovering new ideas but also serve as the historical background of Philip's development. Cronshaw rightly points out that he may have given up Christian doctrine, but he has not given up Christian ethics of right and wrong. Cronshaw introduces more daring modern ideas based on a Darwinian view of human nature. Humans are motivated by their own survival needs and act only from self-interest. There is no right and wrong, only what is expedient or necessary or enjoyable. There is not even free will, according to Cronshaw, so there can be no guilt. . These ideas are reflected in the art of the time. Philip can find no moral point of view in Impressionist art. Sometimes it does not even seek the beautiful, so we see the students, for instance, "turning their backs on the obvious beauty of the town" when they look for subjects . Lawson includes an advertisement for chocolate in his painting. This goes against what Philip learned from Hayward about seeking out beauty and living for beauty. . Philip cries to Cronshaw, "If you take away duty and goodness and beauty, why are we brought into the world?" . Cronshaw tells him he'll find the answer in a Persian carpet, a mystery he keeps in mind, though he doesn't understand the riddle. . Philip is testing out all of these new ideas. He is torn between Cronshaw's notion of people acting like animals, verified in the spectacle at the dance he goes to with Flanagan, and Clutton's wanting to paint soul, as El Greco does. When Philip paints Miguel's portrait, he sees nothing behind the facade. The man is beautiful but empty. . Again, he wishes for passion and romance, especially when he sees Lawson and Ruth together. However, he is confused because of his awareness of her physical defects and wonders how anyone could get past the physical flaws to enjoy a relationship. He is titillated by the lewd stories of the fat ex-prostitute he talks to, and he is horrified by Fanny Price's attachment to him, especially when she mentions she is attracted by his deformity, thinking they have something in common. He finds her repulsive and difficult, especially when she, like Miss Wilkinson, begins to act as if she owns him. He pities her, though, and she haunts his dreams. He was careless at nineteen with whatever Miss Wilkinson might be feeling, but at the age of twenty-one he begins to feel sympathy for others, after witnessing the death of Fanny: "Philip loathed them , and yet his heart ached with the infinite pity which filled him" . . Afraid that he is failing as an artist, he asks Clutton if he is any good. His friend replies that it makes no difference, for "The only reason one paints is that one can't help it" . Philip, however, still has enough of his old views to want to be a success: he "could not wrench out of his nature the instincts of the middle-class from which he came" . He decides he wants to live life rather than portray it. Finally, Foinet tells him that poverty does not make good artists; it makes people "mean"; "it eats into your soul like a cancer" . Maugham also feared poverty, failure, and especially, mediocrity.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_52_to_55.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_9_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 52-55

chapters 52-55

{"name": "Chapters 52-55", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter52-55", "summary": "Philip is unexpectedly shaken by his aunt's death, for she has been the closest relative since his mother died. He feels his own mortality. Thinking his uncle will be incapacitated with grief he is surprised to find him at the vicarage carrying on as usual, counting the number of wreaths his wife receives, trying to see if she will outdo the wife of the Vicar of Ferne. His uncle no longer scorns his artistic training but brags to his friends that Philip will paint his portrait. Philip perversely announces he has given up painting. Mr. Carey is astonished at his lack of perseverance and says he supposes he will then become a doctor like his father. Philip answers yes, for he has nothing better in mind. Philip sees the beauty of the English landscape for the first time, because of his painter's training. He congratulates himself on his self-control, bitterly bought by experience. He is told he is unemotional, but that is because he does not let out his feelings. He likes the idea of consciously shaping his own plan to live by. Thinking of what he learned in Paris, especially Cronshaw's remarks about his conventional morality, he begins to read and work out for himself what his views are now. He delights in the philosophy of Hobbes, Spinoza, and Hume. . He decides the Darwinian view of life suits him. There is no good or evil, just the struggle for survival. He makes himself a provisional rule: \"Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman around the corner\" . Now that he has his new theory of life and sixteen hundred pounds, he sets off for London a second time to try his fortune. He arrives at St. Luke's Medical School and attends the opening lecture by Mr. Cameron in the Anatomy Theatre with sixty other students. Philip is older than most of the students and looks down on them, but they are more prepared and catch on quicker. He makes friends with Dunsford, a nice young student, who does not seem particularly bright. While dissecting a corpse together, the students chat about sports and other topics of the day. They warn Philip to be careful not to cut himself, for it could lead to blood poisoning. Philip's attention wanders in lectures because he is out of the habit of paying attention at school, and the knowledge bores him. He wants to be liked by the others but patronizes them. Dunsford takes him to a tea shop and begins flirting with a waitress called Mildred. Mildred ignores them, and Philip thinks she is not pretty. When Mildred is rude to a remark he makes to be sociable, Philip is wounded and decides to punish her by coming back and embarrassing her. No matter what he does, Mildred insults and humiliates him, not the other way around. He doesn't know why he is being petty, and why he can't let it drop.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters LII-LV Philip and his uncle do not communicate well because they have different values. Above all, the vicar believes in sticking to one thing. He does not see life as an adventure or journey of discovery the way Philip does. He has inherited his beliefs and ideas and thinks no more about them. He has duty. Philip is born at the cusp between the Victorian and modern ages. He likes changing scenes and philosophies as he progresses. He feels free to experiment, to throw off what no longer fits. His uncle sees this as irresponsible. Philip moves on to each new stage of his life as a reaction to the previous stage. He can't stand the stuffiness of England, so he goes to the continent. He hates the wasted lives of the artists in Paris, so he comes back home to be a bourgeois doctor. Nothing seems permanently charming, but like the animals in Darwin's theory, he keeps moving and evolving, he \"does everything he likes\" to test out his own powers. When his uncle asks if Paris was a waste of time, he says no; he learned to look at hands and trees. He is being flippant, but he has learned the art of close observation, and this serves him well as his self-analysis and analysis of others becomes sharper. It is not a surprise that he does not especially take to medical school. The students are not interested in the arts or ideas. Philip is intellectual, but he doesn't like to memorize factual information. He thinks he will become a doctor for the money and free time. He is condescending to the young students around him, thinking they are not cultured or worth knowing. It is interesting that he characterizes himself as unemotional and controlled, for now he meets Mildred, one of the more intense episodes of his life, over which he has no control whatever; hence, the title of the book. His new philosophies will not help him here."}

<CHAPTER> LII Next day Philip arrived at Blackstable. Since the death of his mother he had never lost anyone closely connected with him; his aunt's death shocked him and filled him also with a curious fear; he felt for the first time his own mortality. He could not realise what life would be for his uncle without the constant companionship of the woman who had loved and tended him for forty years. He expected to find him broken down with hopeless grief. He dreaded the first meeting; he knew that he could say nothing which would be of use. He rehearsed to himself a number of apposite speeches. He entered the vicarage by the side-door and went into the dining-room. Uncle William was reading the paper. "Your train was late," he said, looking up. Philip was prepared to give way to his emotion, but the matter-of-fact reception startled him. His uncle, subdued but calm, handed him the paper. "There's a very nice little paragraph about her in The Blackstable Times," he said. Philip read it mechanically. "Would you like to come up and see her?" Philip nodded and together they walked upstairs. Aunt Louisa was lying in the middle of the large bed, with flowers all round her. "Would you like to say a short prayer?" said the Vicar. He sank on his knees, and because it was expected of him Philip followed his example. He looked at the little shrivelled face. He was only conscious of one emotion: what a wasted life! In a minute Mr. Carey gave a cough, and stood up. He pointed to a wreath at the foot of the bed. "That's from the Squire," he said. He spoke in a low voice as though he were in church, but one felt that, as a clergyman, he found himself quite at home. "I expect tea is ready." They went down again to the dining-room. The drawn blinds gave a lugubrious aspect. The Vicar sat at the end of the table at which his wife had always sat and poured out the tea with ceremony. Philip could not help feeling that neither of them should have been able to eat anything, but when he saw that his uncle's appetite was unimpaired he fell to with his usual heartiness. They did not speak for a while. Philip set himself to eat an excellent cake with the air of grief which he felt was decent. "Things have changed a great deal since I was a curate," said the Vicar presently. "In my young days the mourners used always to be given a pair of black gloves and a piece of black silk for their hats. Poor Louisa used to make the silk into dresses. She always said that twelve funerals gave her a new dress." Then he told Philip who had sent wreaths; there were twenty-four of them already; when Mrs. Rawlingson, wife of the Vicar at Ferne, had died she had had thirty-two; but probably a good many more would come the next day; the funeral would start at eleven o'clock from the vicarage, and they should beat Mrs. Rawlingson easily. Louisa never liked Mrs. Rawlingson. "I shall take the funeral myself. I promised Louisa I would never let anyone else bury her." Philip looked at his uncle with disapproval when he took a second piece of cake. Under the circumstances he could not help thinking it greedy. "Mary Ann certainly makes capital cakes. I'm afraid no one else will make such good ones." "She's not going?" cried Philip, with astonishment. Mary Ann had been at the vicarage ever since he could remember. She never forgot his birthday, but made a point always of sending him a trifle, absurd but touching. He had a real affection for her. "Yes," answered Mr. Carey. "I didn't think it would do to have a single woman in the house." "But, good heavens, she must be over forty." "Yes, I think she is. But she's been rather troublesome lately, she's been inclined to take too much on herself, and I thought this was a very good opportunity to give her notice." "It's certainly one which isn't likely to recur," said Philip. He took out a cigarette, but his uncle prevented him from lighting it. "Not till after the funeral, Philip," he said gently. "All right," said Philip. "It wouldn't be quite respectful to smoke in the house so long as your poor Aunt Louisa is upstairs." Josiah Graves, churchwarden and manager of the bank, came back to dinner at the vicarage after the funeral. The blinds had been drawn up, and Philip, against his will, felt a curious sensation of relief. The body in the house had made him uncomfortable: in life the poor woman had been all that was kind and gentle; and yet, when she lay upstairs in her bed-room, cold and stark, it seemed as though she cast upon the survivors a baleful influence. The thought horrified Philip. He found himself alone for a minute or two in the dining-room with the churchwarden. "I hope you'll be able to stay with your uncle a while," he said. "I don't think he ought to be left alone just yet." "I haven't made any plans," answered Philip. "If he wants me I shall be very pleased to stay." By way of cheering the bereaved husband the churchwarden during dinner talked of a recent fire at Blackstable which had partly destroyed the Wesleyan chapel. "I hear they weren't insured," he said, with a little smile. "That won't make any difference," said the Vicar. "They'll get as much money as they want to rebuild. Chapel people are always ready to give money." "I see that Holden sent a wreath." Holden was the dissenting minister, and, though for Christ's sake who died for both of them, Mr. Carey nodded to him in the street, he did not speak to him. "I think it was very pushing," he remarked. "There were forty-one wreaths. Yours was beautiful. Philip and I admired it very much." "Don't mention it," said the banker. He had noticed with satisfaction that it was larger than anyone's else. It had looked very well. They began to discuss the people who attended the funeral. Shops had been closed for it, and the churchwarden took out of his pocket the notice which had been printed: "Owing to the funeral of Mrs. Carey this establishment will not be opened till one o'clock." "It was my idea," he said. "I think it was very nice of them to close," said the Vicar. "Poor Louisa would have appreciated that." Philip ate his dinner. Mary Ann had treated the day as Sunday, and they had roast chicken and a gooseberry tart. "I suppose you haven't thought about a tombstone yet?" said the churchwarden. "Yes, I have. I thought of a plain stone cross. Louisa was always against ostentation." "I don't think one can do much better than a cross. If you're thinking of a text, what do you say to: With Christ, which is far better?" The Vicar pursed his lips. It was just like Bismarck to try and settle everything himself. He did not like that text; it seemed to cast an aspersion on himself. "I don't think I should put that. I much prefer: The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away." "Oh, do you? That always seems to me a little indifferent." The Vicar answered with some acidity, and Mr. Graves replied in a tone which the widower thought too authoritative for the occasion. Things were going rather far if he could not choose his own text for his own wife's tombstone. There was a pause, and then the conversation drifted to parish matters. Philip went into the garden to smoke his pipe. He sat on a bench, and suddenly began to laugh hysterically. A few days later his uncle expressed the hope that he would spend the next few weeks at Blackstable. "Yes, that will suit me very well," said Philip. "I suppose it'll do if you go back to Paris in September." Philip did not reply. He had thought much of what Foinet said to him, but he was still so undecided that he did not wish to speak of the future. There would be something fine in giving up art because he was convinced that he could not excel; but unfortunately it would seem so only to himself: to others it would be an admission of defeat, and he did not want to confess that he was beaten. He was an obstinate fellow, and the suspicion that his talent did not lie in one direction made him inclined to force circumstances and aim notwithstanding precisely in that direction. He could not bear that his friends should laugh at him. This might have prevented him from ever taking the definite step of abandoning the study of painting, but the different environment made him on a sudden see things differently. Like many another he discovered that crossing the Channel makes things which had seemed important singularly futile. The life which had been so charming that he could not bear to leave it now seemed inept; he was seized with a distaste for the cafes, the restaurants with their ill-cooked food, the shabby way in which they all lived. He did not care any more what his friends thought about him: Cronshaw with his rhetoric, Mrs. Otter with her respectability, Ruth Chalice with her affectations, Lawson and Clutton with their quarrels; he felt a revulsion from them all. He wrote to Lawson and asked him to send over all his belongings. A week later they arrived. When he unpacked his canvases he found himself able to examine his work without emotion. He noticed the fact with interest. His uncle was anxious to see his pictures. Though he had so greatly disapproved of Philip's desire to go to Paris, he accepted the situation now with equanimity. He was interested in the life of students and constantly put Philip questions about it. He was in fact a little proud of him because he was a painter, and when people were present made attempts to draw him out. He looked eagerly at the studies of models which Philip showed him. Philip set before him his portrait of Miguel Ajuria. "Why did you paint him?" asked Mr. Carey. "Oh, I wanted a model, and his head interested me." "As you haven't got anything to do here I wonder you don't paint me." "It would bore you to sit." "I think I should like it." "We must see about it." Philip was amused at his uncle's vanity. It was clear that he was dying to have his portrait painted. To get something for nothing was a chance not to be missed. For two or three days he threw out little hints. He reproached Philip for laziness, asked him when he was going to start work, and finally began telling everyone he met that Philip was going to paint him. At last there came a rainy day, and after breakfast Mr. Carey said to Philip: "Now, what d'you say to starting on my portrait this morning?" Philip put down the book he was reading and leaned back in his chair. "I've given up painting," he said. "Why?" asked his uncle in astonishment. "I don't think there's much object in being a second-rate painter, and I came to the conclusion that I should never be anything else." "You surprise me. Before you went to Paris you were quite certain that you were a genius." "I was mistaken," said Philip. "I should have thought now you'd taken up a profession you'd have the pride to stick to it. It seems to me that what you lack is perseverance." Philip was a little annoyed that his uncle did not even see how truly heroic his determination was. "'A rolling stone gathers no moss,'" proceeded the clergyman. Philip hated that proverb above all, and it seemed to him perfectly meaningless. His uncle had repeated it often during the arguments which had preceded his departure from business. Apparently it recalled that occasion to his guardian. "You're no longer a boy, you know; you must begin to think of settling down. First you insist on becoming a chartered accountant, and then you get tired of that and you want to become a painter. And now if you please you change your mind again. It points to..." He hesitated for a moment to consider what defects of character exactly it indicated, and Philip finished the sentence. "Irresolution, incompetence, want of foresight, and lack of determination." The Vicar looked up at his nephew quickly to see whether he was laughing at him. Philip's face was serious, but there was a twinkle in his eyes which irritated him. Philip should really be getting more serious. He felt it right to give him a rap over the knuckles. "Your money matters have nothing to do with me now. You're your own master; but I think you should remember that your money won't last for ever, and the unlucky deformity you have doesn't exactly make it easier for you to earn your living." Philip knew by now that whenever anyone was angry with him his first thought was to say something about his club-foot. His estimate of the human race was determined by the fact that scarcely anyone failed to resist the temptation. But he had trained himself not to show any sign that the reminder wounded him. He had even acquired control over the blushing which in his boyhood had been one of his torments. "As you justly remark," he answered, "my money matters have nothing to do with you and I am my own master." "At all events you will do me the justice to acknowledge that I was justified in my opposition when you made up your mind to become an art-student." "I don't know so much about that. I daresay one profits more by the mistakes one makes off one's own bat than by doing the right thing on somebody's else advice. I've had my fling, and I don't mind settling down now." "What at?" Philip was not prepared for the question, since in fact he had not made up his mind. He had thought of a dozen callings. "The most suitable thing you could do is to enter your father's profession and become a doctor." "Oddly enough that is precisely what I intend." He had thought of doctoring among other things, chiefly because it was an occupation which seemed to give a good deal of personal freedom, and his experience of life in an office had made him determine never to have anything more to do with one; his answer to the Vicar slipped out almost unawares, because it was in the nature of a repartee. It amused him to make up his mind in that accidental way, and he resolved then and there to enter his father's old hospital in the autumn. "Then your two years in Paris may be regarded as so much wasted time?" "I don't know about that. I had a very jolly two years, and I learned one or two useful things." "What?" Philip reflected for an instant, and his answer was not devoid of a gentle desire to annoy. "I learned to look at hands, which I'd never looked at before. And instead of just looking at houses and trees I learned to look at houses and trees against the sky. And I learned also that shadows are not black but coloured." "I suppose you think you're very clever. I think your flippancy is quite inane." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LIII Taking the paper with him Mr. Carey retired to his study. Philip changed his chair for that in which his uncle had been sitting (it was the only comfortable one in the room), and looked out of the window at the pouring rain. Even in that sad weather there was something restful about the green fields that stretched to the horizon. There was an intimate charm in the landscape which he did not remember ever to have noticed before. Two years in France had opened his eyes to the beauty of his own countryside. He thought with a smile of his uncle's remark. It was lucky that the turn of his mind tended to flippancy. He had begun to realise what a great loss he had sustained in the death of his father and mother. That was one of the differences in his life which prevented him from seeing things in the same way as other people. The love of parents for their children is the only emotion which is quite disinterested. Among strangers he had grown up as best he could, but he had seldom been used with patience or forbearance. He prided himself on his self-control. It had been whipped into him by the mockery of his fellows. Then they called him cynical and callous. He had acquired calmness of demeanour and under most circumstances an unruffled exterior, so that now he could not show his feelings. People told him he was unemotional; but he knew that he was at the mercy of his emotions: an accidental kindness touched him so much that sometimes he did not venture to speak in order not to betray the unsteadiness of his voice. He remembered the bitterness of his life at school, the humiliation which he had endured, the banter which had made him morbidly afraid of making himself ridiculous; and he remembered the loneliness he had felt since, faced with the world, the disillusion and the disappointment caused by the difference between what it promised to his active imagination and what it gave. But notwithstanding he was able to look at himself from the outside and smile with amusement. "By Jove, if I weren't flippant, I should hang myself," he thought cheerfully. His mind went back to the answer he had given his uncle when he asked him what he had learnt in Paris. He had learnt a good deal more than he told him. A conversation with Cronshaw had stuck in his memory, and one phrase he had used, a commonplace one enough, had set his brain working. "My dear fellow," Cronshaw said, "there's no such thing as abstract morality." When Philip ceased to believe in Christianity he felt that a great weight was taken from his shoulders; casting off the responsibility which weighed down every action, when every action was infinitely important for the welfare of his immortal soul, he experienced a vivid sense of liberty. But he knew now that this was an illusion. When he put away the religion in which he had been brought up, he had kept unimpaired the morality which was part and parcel of it. He made up his mind therefore to think things out for himself. He determined to be swayed by no prejudices. He swept away the virtues and the vices, the established laws of good and evil, with the idea of finding out the rules of life for himself. He did not know whether rules were necessary at all. That was one of the things he wanted to discover. Clearly much that seemed valid seemed so only because he had been taught it from his earliest youth. He had read a number of books, but they did not help him much, for they were based on the morality of Christianity; and even the writers who emphasised the fact that they did not believe in it were never satisfied till they had framed a system of ethics in accordance with that of the Sermon on the Mount. It seemed hardly worth while to read a long volume in order to learn that you ought to behave exactly like everybody else. Philip wanted to find out how he ought to behave, and he thought he could prevent himself from being influenced by the opinions that surrounded him. But meanwhile he had to go on living, and, until he formed a theory of conduct, he made himself a provisional rule. "Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner." He thought the best thing he had gained in Paris was a complete liberty of spirit, and he felt himself at last absolutely free. In a desultory way he had read a good deal of philosophy, and he looked forward with delight to the leisure of the next few months. He began to read at haphazard. He entered upon each system with a little thrill of excitement, expecting to find in each some guide by which he could rule his conduct; he felt himself like a traveller in unknown countries and as he pushed forward the enterprise fascinated him; he read emotionally, as other men read pure literature, and his heart leaped as he discovered in noble words what himself had obscurely felt. His mind was concrete and moved with difficulty in regions of the abstract; but, even when he could not follow the reasoning, it gave him a curious pleasure to follow the tortuosities of thoughts that threaded their nimble way on the edge of the incomprehensible. Sometimes great philosophers seemed to have nothing to say to him, but at others he recognised a mind with which he felt himself at home. He was like the explorer in Central Africa who comes suddenly upon wide uplands, with great trees in them and stretches of meadow, so that he might fancy himself in an English park. He delighted in the robust common sense of Thomas Hobbes; Spinoza filled him with awe, he had never before come in contact with a mind so noble, so unapproachable and austere; it reminded him of that statue by Rodin, L'Age d'Airain, which he passionately admired; and then there was Hume: the scepticism of that charming philosopher touched a kindred note in Philip; and, revelling in the lucid style which seemed able to put complicated thought into simple words, musical and measured, he read as he might have read a novel, a smile of pleasure on his lips. But in none could he find exactly what he wanted. He had read somewhere that every man was born a Platonist, an Aristotelian, a Stoic, or an Epicurean; and the history of George Henry Lewes (besides telling you that philosophy was all moonshine) was there to show that the thought of each philosopher was inseparably connected with the man he was. When you knew that you could guess to a great extent the philosophy he wrote. It looked as though you did not act in a certain way because you thought in a certain way, but rather that you thought in a certain way because you were made in a certain way. Truth had nothing to do with it. There was no such thing as truth. Each man was his own philosopher, and the elaborate systems which the great men of the past had composed were only valid for the writers. The thing then was to discover what one was and one's system of philosophy would devise itself. It seemed to Philip that there were three things to find out: man's relation to the world he lives in, man's relation with the men among whom he lives, and finally man's relation to himself. He made an elaborate plan of study. The advantage of living abroad is that, coming in contact with the manners and customs of the people among whom you live, you observe them from the outside and see that they have not the necessity which those who practise them believe. You cannot fail to discover that the beliefs which to you are self-evident to the foreigner are absurd. The year in Germany, the long stay in Paris, had prepared Philip to receive the sceptical teaching which came to him now with such a feeling of relief. He saw that nothing was good and nothing was evil; things were merely adapted to an end. He read The Origin of Species. It seemed to offer an explanation of much that troubled him. He was like an explorer now who has reasoned that certain natural features must present themselves, and, beating up a broad river, finds here the tributary that he expected, there the fertile, populated plains, and further on the mountains. When some great discovery is made the world is surprised afterwards that it was not accepted at once, and even on those who acknowledge its truth the effect is unimportant. The first readers of The Origin of Species accepted it with their reason; but their emotions, which are the ground of conduct, were untouched. Philip was born a generation after this great book was published, and much that horrified its contemporaries had passed into the feeling of the time, so that he was able to accept it with a joyful heart. He was intensely moved by the grandeur of the struggle for life, and the ethical rule which it suggested seemed to fit in with his predispositions. He said to himself that might was right. Society stood on one side, an organism with its own laws of growth and self-preservation, while the individual stood on the other. The actions which were to the advantage of society it termed virtuous and those which were not it called vicious. Good and evil meant nothing more than that. Sin was a prejudice from which the free man should rid himself. Society had three arms in its contest with the individual, laws, public opinion, and conscience: the first two could be met by guile, guile is the only weapon of the weak against the strong: common opinion put the matter well when it stated that sin consisted in being found out; but conscience was the traitor within the gates; it fought in each heart the battle of society, and caused the individual to throw himself, a wanton sacrifice, to the prosperity of his enemy. For it was clear that the two were irreconcilable, the state and the individual conscious of himself. THAT uses the individual for its own ends, trampling upon him if he thwarts it, rewarding him with medals, pensions, honours, when he serves it faithfully; THIS, strong only in his independence, threads his way through the state, for convenience' sake, paying in money or service for certain benefits, but with no sense of obligation; and, indifferent to the rewards, asks only to be left alone. He is the independent traveller, who uses Cook's tickets because they save trouble, but looks with good-humoured contempt on the personally conducted parties. The free man can do no wrong. He does everything he likes--if he can. His power is the only measure of his morality. He recognises the laws of the state and he can break them without sense of sin, but if he is punished he accepts the punishment without rancour. Society has the power. But if for the individual there was no right and no wrong, then it seemed to Philip that conscience lost its power. It was with a cry of triumph that he seized the knave and flung him from his breast. But he was no nearer to the meaning of life than he had been before. Why the world was there and what men had come into existence for at all was as inexplicable as ever. Surely there must be some reason. He thought of Cronshaw's parable of the Persian carpet. He offered it as a solution of the riddle, and mysteriously he stated that it was no answer at all unless you found it out for yourself. "I wonder what the devil he meant," Philip smiled. And so, on the last day of September, eager to put into practice all these new theories of life, Philip, with sixteen hundred pounds and his club-foot, set out for the second time to London to make his third start in life. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LIV The examination Philip had passed before he was articled to a chartered accountant was sufficient qualification for him to enter a medical school. He chose St. Luke's because his father had been a student there, and before the end of the summer session had gone up to London for a day in order to see the secretary. He got a list of rooms from him, and took lodgings in a dingy house which had the advantage of being within two minutes' walk of the hospital. "You'll have to arrange about a part to dissect," the secretary told him. "You'd better start on a leg; they generally do; they seem to think it easier." Philip found that his first lecture was in anatomy, at eleven, and about half past ten he limped across the road, and a little nervously made his way to the Medical School. Just inside the door a number of notices were pinned up, lists of lectures, football fixtures, and the like; and these he looked at idly, trying to seem at his ease. Young men and boys dribbled in and looked for letters in the rack, chatted with one another, and passed downstairs to the basement, in which was the student's reading-room. Philip saw several fellows with a desultory, timid look dawdling around, and surmised that, like himself, they were there for the first time. When he had exhausted the notices he saw a glass door which led into what was apparently a museum, and having still twenty minutes to spare he walked in. It was a collection of pathological specimens. Presently a boy of about eighteen came up to him. "I say, are you first year?" he said. "Yes," answered Philip. "Where's the lecture room, d'you know? It's getting on for eleven." "We'd better try to find it." They walked out of the museum into a long, dark corridor, with the walls painted in two shades of red, and other youths walking along suggested the way to them. They came to a door marked Anatomy Theatre. Philip found that there were a good many people already there. The seats were arranged in tiers, and just as Philip entered an attendant came in, put a glass of water on the table in the well of the lecture-room and then brought in a pelvis and two thigh-bones, right and left. More men entered and took their seats and by eleven the theatre was fairly full. There were about sixty students. For the most part they were a good deal younger than Philip, smooth-faced boys of eighteen, but there were a few who were older than he: he noticed one tall man, with a fierce red moustache, who might have been thirty; another little fellow with black hair, only a year or two younger; and there was one man with spectacles and a beard which was quite gray. The lecturer came in, Mr. Cameron, a handsome man with white hair and clean-cut features. He called out the long list of names. Then he made a little speech. He spoke in a pleasant voice, with well-chosen words, and he seemed to take a discreet pleasure in their careful arrangement. He suggested one or two books which they might buy and advised the purchase of a skeleton. He spoke of anatomy with enthusiasm: it was essential to the study of surgery; a knowledge of it added to the appreciation of art. Philip pricked up his ears. He heard later that Mr. Cameron lectured also to the students at the Royal Academy. He had lived many years in Japan, with a post at the University of Tokyo, and he flattered himself on his appreciation of the beautiful. "You will have to learn many tedious things," he finished, with an indulgent smile, "which you will forget the moment you have passed your final examination, but in anatomy it is better to have learned and lost than never to have learned at all." He took up the pelvis which was lying on the table and began to describe it. He spoke well and clearly. At the end of the lecture the boy who had spoken to Philip in the pathological museum and sat next to him in the theatre suggested that they should go to the dissecting-room. Philip and he walked along the corridor again, and an attendant told them where it was. As soon as they entered Philip understood what the acrid smell was which he had noticed in the passage. He lit a pipe. The attendant gave a short laugh. "You'll soon get used to the smell. I don't notice it myself." He asked Philip's name and looked at a list on the board. "You've got a leg--number four." Philip saw that another name was bracketed with his own. "What's the meaning of that?" he asked. "We're very short of bodies just now. We've had to put two on each part." The dissecting-room was a large apartment painted like the corridors, the upper part a rich salmon and the dado a dark terra-cotta. At regular intervals down the long sides of the room, at right angles with the wall, were iron slabs, grooved like meat-dishes; and on each lay a body. Most of them were men. They were very dark from the preservative in which they had been kept, and the skin had almost the look of leather. They were extremely emaciated. The attendant took Philip up to one of the slabs. A youth was standing by it. "Is your name Carey?" he asked. "Yes." "Oh, then we've got this leg together. It's lucky it's a man, isn't it?" "Why?" asked Philip. "They generally always like a male better," said the attendant. "A female's liable to have a lot of fat about her." Philip looked at the body. The arms and legs were so thin that there was no shape in them, and the ribs stood out so that the skin over them was tense. A man of about forty-five with a thin, gray beard, and on his skull scanty, colourless hair: the eyes were closed and the lower jaw sunken. Philip could not feel that this had ever been a man, and yet in the row of them there was something terrible and ghastly. "I thought I'd start at two," said the young man who was dissecting with Philip. "All right, I'll be here then." He had bought the day before the case of instruments which was needful, and now he was given a locker. He looked at the boy who had accompanied him into the dissecting-room and saw that he was white. "Make you feel rotten?" Philip asked him. "I've never seen anyone dead before." They walked along the corridor till they came to the entrance of the school. Philip remembered Fanny Price. She was the first dead person he had ever seen, and he remembered how strangely it had affected him. There was an immeasurable distance between the quick and the dead: they did not seem to belong to the same species; and it was strange to think that but a little while before they had spoken and moved and eaten and laughed. There was something horrible about the dead, and you could imagine that they might cast an evil influence on the living. "What d'you say to having something to eat?" said his new friend to Philip. They went down into the basement, where there was a dark room fitted up as a restaurant, and here the students were able to get the same sort of fare as they might have at an aerated bread shop. While they ate (Philip had a scone and butter and a cup of chocolate), he discovered that his companion was called Dunsford. He was a fresh-complexioned lad, with pleasant blue eyes and curly, dark hair, large-limbed, slow of speech and movement. He had just come from Clifton. "Are you taking the Conjoint?" he asked Philip. "Yes, I want to get qualified as soon as I can." "I'm taking it too, but I shall take the F. R. C. S. afterwards. I'm going in for surgery." Most of the students took the curriculum of the Conjoint Board of the College of Surgeons and the College of Physicians; but the more ambitious or the more industrious added to this the longer studies which led to a degree from the University of London. When Philip went to St. Luke's changes had recently been made in the regulations, and the course took five years instead of four as it had done for those who registered before the autumn of 1892. Dunsford was well up in his plans and told Philip the usual course of events. The "first conjoint" examination consisted of biology, anatomy, and chemistry; but it could be taken in sections, and most fellows took their biology three months after entering the school. This science had been recently added to the list of subjects upon which the student was obliged to inform himself, but the amount of knowledge required was very small. When Philip went back to the dissecting-room, he was a few minutes late, since he had forgotten to buy the loose sleeves which they wore to protect their shirts, and he found a number of men already working. His partner had started on the minute and was busy dissecting out cutaneous nerves. Two others were engaged on the second leg, and more were occupied with the arms. "You don't mind my having started?" "That's all right, fire away," said Philip. He took the book, open at a diagram of the dissected part, and looked at what they had to find. "You're rather a dab at this," said Philip. "Oh, I've done a good deal of dissecting before, animals, you know, for the Pre Sci." There was a certain amount of conversation over the dissecting-table, partly about the work, partly about the prospects of the football season, the demonstrators, and the lectures. Philip felt himself a great deal older than the others. They were raw schoolboys. But age is a matter of knowledge rather than of years; and Newson, the active young man who was dissecting with him, was very much at home with his subject. He was perhaps not sorry to show off, and he explained very fully to Philip what he was about. Philip, notwithstanding his hidden stores of wisdom, listened meekly. Then Philip took up the scalpel and the tweezers and began working while the other looked on. "Ripping to have him so thin," said Newson, wiping his hands. "The blighter can't have had anything to eat for a month." "I wonder what he died of," murmured Philip. "Oh, I don't know, any old thing, starvation chiefly, I suppose.... I say, look out, don't cut that artery." "It's all very fine to say, don't cut that artery," remarked one of the men working on the opposite leg. "Silly old fool's got an artery in the wrong place." "Arteries always are in the wrong place," said Newson. "The normal's the one thing you practically never get. That's why it's called the normal." "Don't say things like that," said Philip, "or I shall cut myself." "If you cut yourself," answered Newson, full of information, "wash it at once with antiseptic. It's the one thing you've got to be careful about. There was a chap here last year who gave himself only a prick, and he didn't bother about it, and he got septicaemia." "Did he get all right?" "Oh, no, he died in a week. I went and had a look at him in the P. M. room." Philip's back ached by the time it was proper to have tea, and his luncheon had been so light that he was quite ready for it. His hands smelt of that peculiar odour which he had first noticed that morning in the corridor. He thought his muffin tasted of it too. "Oh, you'll get used to that," said Newson. "When you don't have the good old dissecting-room stink about, you feel quite lonely." "I'm not going to let it spoil my appetite," said Philip, as he followed up the muffin with a piece of cake. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LV Philip's ideas of the life of medical students, like those of the public at large, were founded on the pictures which Charles Dickens drew in the middle of the nineteenth century. He soon discovered that Bob Sawyer, if he ever existed, was no longer at all like the medical student of the present. It is a mixed lot which enters upon the medical profession, and naturally there are some who are lazy and reckless. They think it is an easy life, idle away a couple of years; and then, because their funds come to an end or because angry parents refuse any longer to support them, drift away from the hospital. Others find the examinations too hard for them; one failure after another robs them of their nerve; and, panic-stricken, they forget as soon as they come into the forbidding buildings of the Conjoint Board the knowledge which before they had so pat. They remain year after year, objects of good-humoured scorn to younger men: some of them crawl through the examination of the Apothecaries Hall; others become non-qualified assistants, a precarious position in which they are at the mercy of their employer; their lot is poverty, drunkenness, and Heaven only knows their end. But for the most part medical students are industrious young men of the middle-class with a sufficient allowance to live in the respectable fashion they have been used to; many are the sons of doctors who have already something of the professional manner; their career is mapped out: as soon as they are qualified they propose to apply for a hospital appointment, after holding which (and perhaps a trip to the Far East as a ship's doctor), they will join their father and spend the rest of their days in a country practice. One or two are marked out as exceptionally brilliant: they will take the various prizes and scholarships which are open each year to the deserving, get one appointment after another at the hospital, go on the staff, take a consulting-room in Harley Street, and, specialising in one subject or another, become prosperous, eminent, and titled. The medical profession is the only one which a man may enter at any age with some chance of making a living. Among the men of Philip's year were three or four who were past their first youth: one had been in the Navy, from which according to report he had been dismissed for drunkenness; he was a man of thirty, with a red face, a brusque manner, and a loud voice. Another was a married man with two children, who had lost money through a defaulting solicitor; he had a bowed look as if the world were too much for him; he went about his work silently, and it was plain that he found it difficult at his age to commit facts to memory. His mind worked slowly. His effort at application was painful to see. Philip made himself at home in his tiny rooms. He arranged his books and hung on the walls such pictures and sketches as he possessed. Above him, on the drawing-room floor, lived a fifth-year man called Griffiths; but Philip saw little of him, partly because he was occupied chiefly in the wards and partly because he had been to Oxford. Such of the students as had been to a university kept a good deal together: they used a variety of means natural to the young in order to impress upon the less fortunate a proper sense of their inferiority; the rest of the students found their Olympian serenity rather hard to bear. Griffiths was a tall fellow, with a quantity of curly red hair and blue eyes, a white skin and a very red mouth; he was one of those fortunate people whom everybody liked, for he had high spirits and a constant gaiety. He strummed a little on the piano and sang comic songs with gusto; and evening after evening, while Philip was reading in his solitary room, he heard the shouts and the uproarious laughter of Griffiths' friends above him. He thought of those delightful evenings in Paris when they would sit in the studio, Lawson and he, Flanagan and Clutton, and talk of art and morals, the love-affairs of the present, and the fame of the future. He felt sick at heart. He found that it was easy to make a heroic gesture, but hard to abide by its results. The worst of it was that the work seemed to him very tedious. He had got out of the habit of being asked questions by demonstrators. His attention wandered at lectures. Anatomy was a dreary science, a mere matter of learning by heart an enormous number of facts; dissection bored him; he did not see the use of dissecting out laboriously nerves and arteries when with much less trouble you could see in the diagrams of a book or in the specimens of the pathological museum exactly where they were. He made friends by chance, but not intimate friends, for he seemed to have nothing in particular to say to his companions. When he tried to interest himself in their concerns, he felt that they found him patronising. He was not of those who can talk of what moves them without caring whether it bores or not the people they talk to. One man, hearing that he had studied art in Paris, and fancying himself on his taste, tried to discuss art with him; but Philip was impatient of views which did not agree with his own; and, finding quickly that the other's ideas were conventional, grew monosyllabic. Philip desired popularity but could bring himself to make no advances to others. A fear of rebuff prevented him from affability, and he concealed his shyness, which was still intense, under a frigid taciturnity. He was going through the same experience as he had done at school, but here the freedom of the medical students' life made it possible for him to live a good deal by himself. It was through no effort of his that he became friendly with Dunsford, the fresh-complexioned, heavy lad whose acquaintance he had made at the beginning of the session. Dunsford attached himself to Philip merely because he was the first person he had known at St. Luke's. He had no friends in London, and on Saturday nights he and Philip got into the habit of going together to the pit of a music-hall or the gallery of a theatre. He was stupid, but he was good-humoured and never took offence; he always said the obvious thing, but when Philip laughed at him merely smiled. He had a very sweet smile. Though Philip made him his butt, he liked him; he was amused by his candour and delighted with his agreeable nature: Dunsford had the charm which himself was acutely conscious of not possessing. They often went to have tea at a shop in Parliament Street, because Dunsford admired one of the young women who waited. Philip did not find anything attractive in her. She was tall and thin, with narrow hips and the chest of a boy. "No one would look at her in Paris," said Philip scornfully. "She's got a ripping face," said Dunsford. "What DOES the face matter?" She had the small regular features, the blue eyes, and the broad low brow, which the Victorian painters, Lord Leighton, Alma Tadema, and a hundred others, induced the world they lived in to accept as a type of Greek beauty. She seemed to have a great deal of hair: it was arranged with peculiar elaboration and done over the forehead in what she called an Alexandra fringe. She was very anaemic. Her thin lips were pale, and her skin was delicate, of a faint green colour, without a touch of red even in the cheeks. She had very good teeth. She took great pains to prevent her work from spoiling her hands, and they were small, thin, and white. She went about her duties with a bored look. Dunsford, very shy with women, had never succeeded in getting into conversation with her; and he urged Philip to help him. "All I want is a lead," he said, "and then I can manage for myself." Philip, to please him, made one or two remarks, but she answered with monosyllables. She had taken their measure. They were boys, and she surmised they were students. She had no use for them. Dunsford noticed that a man with sandy hair and a bristly moustache, who looked like a German, was favoured with her attention whenever he came into the shop; and then it was only by calling her two or three times that they could induce her to take their order. She used the clients whom she did not know with frigid insolence, and when she was talking to a friend was perfectly indifferent to the calls of the hurried. She had the art of treating women who desired refreshment with just that degree of impertinence which irritated them without affording them an opportunity of complaining to the management. One day Dunsford told him her name was Mildred. He had heard one of the other girls in the shop address her. "What an odious name," said Philip. "Why?" asked Dunsford. "I like it." "It's so pretentious." It chanced that on this day the German was not there, and, when she brought the tea, Philip, smiling, remarked: "Your friend's not here today." "I don't know what you mean," she said coldly. "I was referring to the nobleman with the sandy moustache. Has he left you for another?" "Some people would do better to mind their own business," she retorted. She left them, and, since for a minute or two there was no one to attend to, sat down and looked at the evening paper which a customer had left behind him. "You are a fool to put her back up," said Dunsford. "I'm really quite indifferent to the attitude of her vertebrae," replied Philip. But he was piqued. It irritated him that when he tried to be agreeable with a woman she should take offence. When he asked for the bill, he hazarded a remark which he meant to lead further. "Are we no longer on speaking terms?" he smiled. "I'm here to take orders and to wait on customers. I've got nothing to say to them, and I don't want them to say anything to me." She put down the slip of paper on which she had marked the sum they had to pay, and walked back to the table at which she had been sitting. Philip flushed with anger. "That's one in the eye for you, Carey," said Dunsford, when they got outside. "Ill-mannered slut," said Philip. "I shan't go there again." His influence with Dunsford was strong enough to get him to take their tea elsewhere, and Dunsford soon found another young woman to flirt with. But the snub which the waitress had inflicted on him rankled. If she had treated him with civility he would have been perfectly indifferent to her; but it was obvious that she disliked him rather than otherwise, and his pride was wounded. He could not suppress a desire to be even with her. He was impatient with himself because he had so petty a feeling, but three or four days' firmness, during which he would not go to the shop, did not help him to surmount it; and he came to the conclusion that it would be least trouble to see her. Having done so he would certainly cease to think of her. Pretexting an appointment one afternoon, for he was not a little ashamed of his weakness, he left Dunsford and went straight to the shop which he had vowed never again to enter. He saw the waitress the moment he came in and sat down at one of her tables. He expected her to make some reference to the fact that he had not been there for a week, but when she came up for his order she said nothing. He had heard her say to other customers: "You're quite a stranger." She gave no sign that she had ever seen him before. In order to see whether she had really forgotten him, when she brought his tea, he asked: "Have you seen my friend tonight?" "No, he's not been in here for some days." He wanted to use this as the beginning of a conversation, but he was strangely nervous and could think of nothing to say. She gave him no opportunity, but at once went away. He had no chance of saying anything till he asked for his bill. "Filthy weather, isn't it?" he said. It was mortifying that he had been forced to prepare such a phrase as that. He could not make out why she filled him with such embarrassment. "It don't make much difference to me what the weather is, having to be in here all day." There was an insolence in her tone that peculiarly irritated him. A sarcasm rose to his lips, but he forced himself to be silent. "I wish to God she'd say something really cheeky," he raged to himself, "so that I could report her and get her sacked. It would serve her damned well right." </CHAPTER>

Chapters 52-55

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Philip is unexpectedly shaken by his aunt's death, for she has been the closest relative since his mother died. He feels his own mortality. Thinking his uncle will be incapacitated with grief he is surprised to find him at the vicarage carrying on as usual, counting the number of wreaths his wife receives, trying to see if she will outdo the wife of the Vicar of Ferne. His uncle no longer scorns his artistic training but brags to his friends that Philip will paint his portrait. Philip perversely announces he has given up painting. Mr. Carey is astonished at his lack of perseverance and says he supposes he will then become a doctor like his father. Philip answers yes, for he has nothing better in mind. Philip sees the beauty of the English landscape for the first time, because of his painter's training. He congratulates himself on his self-control, bitterly bought by experience. He is told he is unemotional, but that is because he does not let out his feelings. He likes the idea of consciously shaping his own plan to live by. Thinking of what he learned in Paris, especially Cronshaw's remarks about his conventional morality, he begins to read and work out for himself what his views are now. He delights in the philosophy of Hobbes, Spinoza, and Hume. . He decides the Darwinian view of life suits him. There is no good or evil, just the struggle for survival. He makes himself a provisional rule: "Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman around the corner" . Now that he has his new theory of life and sixteen hundred pounds, he sets off for London a second time to try his fortune. He arrives at St. Luke's Medical School and attends the opening lecture by Mr. Cameron in the Anatomy Theatre with sixty other students. Philip is older than most of the students and looks down on them, but they are more prepared and catch on quicker. He makes friends with Dunsford, a nice young student, who does not seem particularly bright. While dissecting a corpse together, the students chat about sports and other topics of the day. They warn Philip to be careful not to cut himself, for it could lead to blood poisoning. Philip's attention wanders in lectures because he is out of the habit of paying attention at school, and the knowledge bores him. He wants to be liked by the others but patronizes them. Dunsford takes him to a tea shop and begins flirting with a waitress called Mildred. Mildred ignores them, and Philip thinks she is not pretty. When Mildred is rude to a remark he makes to be sociable, Philip is wounded and decides to punish her by coming back and embarrassing her. No matter what he does, Mildred insults and humiliates him, not the other way around. He doesn't know why he is being petty, and why he can't let it drop.

Commentary on Chapters LII-LV Philip and his uncle do not communicate well because they have different values. Above all, the vicar believes in sticking to one thing. He does not see life as an adventure or journey of discovery the way Philip does. He has inherited his beliefs and ideas and thinks no more about them. He has duty. Philip is born at the cusp between the Victorian and modern ages. He likes changing scenes and philosophies as he progresses. He feels free to experiment, to throw off what no longer fits. His uncle sees this as irresponsible. Philip moves on to each new stage of his life as a reaction to the previous stage. He can't stand the stuffiness of England, so he goes to the continent. He hates the wasted lives of the artists in Paris, so he comes back home to be a bourgeois doctor. Nothing seems permanently charming, but like the animals in Darwin's theory, he keeps moving and evolving, he "does everything he likes" to test out his own powers. When his uncle asks if Paris was a waste of time, he says no; he learned to look at hands and trees. He is being flippant, but he has learned the art of close observation, and this serves him well as his self-analysis and analysis of others becomes sharper. It is not a surprise that he does not especially take to medical school. The students are not interested in the arts or ideas. Philip is intellectual, but he doesn't like to memorize factual information. He thinks he will become a doctor for the money and free time. He is condescending to the young students around him, thinking they are not cultured or worth knowing. It is interesting that he characterizes himself as unemotional and controlled, for now he meets Mildred, one of the more intense episodes of his life, over which he has no control whatever; hence, the title of the book. His new philosophies will not help him here.

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Of Human Bondage.chapters 87-89

chapters 87-89

{"name": "Chapters 87-89", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter87-89", "summary": "Philip goes to the house of Athelny, the ex-patient, in a slum area that was once grand. Athelny is 5'5\" and speaks eloquently on everything from Spanish literature to the seventeenth century ceiling of the slum house, built by the famous Inigo Jones. Philip meets the nine children of Athelny by his common law wife, Betty, a former servant in his upper class wife's house with whom he ran away. Now he is poor but happy, doing odd jobs to keep his family. . The family takes him in, and he goes there every Sunday for dinner to play with the children and have philosophical discussions with the father. Athelny reminds him of Cronshaw with his independent thought and bohemian lifestyle. Most of all, he feels some spiritual awakening when Athelny introduces him to Spanish art, especially El Greco, the painter of soul whom he had heard about in Paris. He likes the virile idealism of El Greco, but he doesn't quite know how to respond to its message. This is the first real family circle Philip has been part of, and it is natural and charming.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters LXXXVII-LXXXIX . This idyllic family life in the middle of a London slum is a surprise in the story, which so far seems to have centered on Philip's ideals getting smashed one by one. He has learned a modern cynical view of life, and even the artist's ideas of freedom have seemed contradicted by experience. Here he meets the charming Athelny family, hidden in a London slum, fuelled by a fantastic father with wild and mystic ideas. He discourses on old architecture and manners, while raising a brood of beautiful but bastard children. He gives Philip a glance into Spanish mysticism and some force of life he has not yet met: \"he felt strangely that he was on the threshold of some new discovery in life\" and longs to go to Toledo . El Greco seems to \"have the power to touch the incorporeal and see the invisible\" . . So far Philip has disdained idealism because it seemed the weak philosophy of Hayward. He had rejected that early love for beauty for what was gritty and real: \"he wanted man in his nakedness\" . Then in Paris he wanted truth. But here was something better than realism or idealism. It was \"some higher pitch, in which facts were transformed by the more vivid light in which they were seen\" . In his journey through this story, Philip is searching for the meaning of life. So far, he has had many teachers and philosophies offered. Athelny shows him another alternative that is full of light but not sentimental. He doesn't know what it is but is attracted. Philip sees a man that should be cast down and overwhelmed by his poverty and large family; instead, he is full of life and love and energy and learning. He gives Philip an example and a lot of advice. . One of the more important pieces of advice he gives Philip is about the choice of wife. Athelny's legal wife was concerned with convention and appearances. Betty is real. He tells the story of the halcyon, the female bird who carries her mate on her own wings when the male bird is tired. Betty is a true partner and help-meet. She is strong and motherly. This interlude with the Athelnys comes between two episodes with Mildred, forming a strong contrast with her, as well as an example for Philip of an unusual family group, out of ordinary convention. Athelny has praised lower class women as being better for partners than upper class women. Philip is about to find his own unconventional family bond."}

<CHAPTER> LXXXVII Ten days later Thorpe Athelny was well enough to leave the hospital. He gave Philip his address, and Philip promised to dine with him at one o'clock on the following Sunday. Athelny had told him that he lived in a house built by Inigo Jones; he had raved, as he raved over everything, over the balustrade of old oak; and when he came down to open the door for Philip he made him at once admire the elegant carving of the lintel. It was a shabby house, badly needing a coat of paint, but with the dignity of its period, in a little street between Chancery Lane and Holborn, which had once been fashionable but was now little better than a slum: there was a plan to pull it down in order to put up handsome offices; meanwhile the rents were small, and Athelny was able to get the two upper floors at a price which suited his income. Philip had not seen him up before and was surprised at his small size; he was not more than five feet and five inches high. He was dressed fantastically in blue linen trousers of the sort worn by working men in France, and a very old brown velvet coat; he wore a bright red sash round his waist, a low collar, and for tie a flowing bow of the kind used by the comic Frenchman in the pages of Punch. He greeted Philip with enthusiasm. He began talking at once of the house and passed his hand lovingly over the balusters. "Look at it, feel it, it's like silk. What a miracle of grace! And in five years the house-breaker will sell it for firewood." He insisted on taking Philip into a room on the first floor, where a man in shirt sleeves, a blousy woman, and three children were having their Sunday dinner. "I've just brought this gentleman in to show him your ceiling. Did you ever see anything so wonderful? How are you, Mrs. Hodgson? This is Mr. Carey, who looked after me when I was in the hospital." "Come in, sir," said the man. "Any friend of Mr. Athelny's is welcome. Mr. Athelny shows the ceiling to all his friends. And it don't matter what we're doing, if we're in bed or if I'm 'aving a wash, in 'e comes." Philip could see that they looked upon Athelny as a little queer; but they liked him none the less and they listened open-mouthed while he discoursed with his impetuous fluency on the beauty of the seventeenth-century ceiling. "What a crime to pull this down, eh, Hodgson? You're an influential citizen, why don't you write to the papers and protest?" The man in shirt sleeves gave a laugh and said to Philip: "Mr. Athelny will 'ave his little joke. They do say these 'ouses are that insanitory, it's not safe to live in them." "Sanitation be damned, give me art," cried Athelny. "I've got nine children and they thrive on bad drains. No, no, I'm not going to take any risk. None of your new-fangled notions for me! When I move from here I'm going to make sure the drains are bad before I take anything." There was a knock at the door, and a little fair-haired girl opened it. "Daddy, mummy says, do stop talking and come and eat your dinner." "This is my third daughter," said Athelny, pointing to her with a dramatic forefinger. "She is called Maria del Pilar, but she answers more willingly to the name of Jane. Jane, your nose wants blowing." "I haven't got a hanky, daddy." "Tut, tut, child," he answered, as he produced a vast, brilliant bandanna, "what do you suppose the Almighty gave you fingers for?" They went upstairs, and Philip was taken into a room with walls panelled in dark oak. In the middle was a narrow table of teak on trestle legs, with two supporting bars of iron, of the kind called in Spain mesa de hieraje. They were to dine there, for two places were laid, and there were two large arm-chairs, with broad flat arms of oak and leathern backs, and leathern seats. They were severe, elegant, and uncomfortable. The only other piece of furniture was a bargueno, elaborately ornamented with gilt iron-work, on a stand of ecclesiastical design roughly but very finely carved. There stood on this two or three lustre plates, much broken but rich in colour; and on the walls were old masters of the Spanish school in beautiful though dilapidated frames: though gruesome in subject, ruined by age and bad treatment, and second-rate in their conception, they had a glow of passion. There was nothing in the room of any value, but the effect was lovely. It was magnificent and yet austere. Philip felt that it offered the very spirit of old Spain. Athelny was in the middle of showing him the inside of the bargueno, with its beautiful ornamentation and secret drawers, when a tall girl, with two plaits of bright brown hair hanging down her back, came in. "Mother says dinner's ready and waiting and I'm to bring it in as soon as you sit down." "Come and shake hands with Mr. Carey, Sally." He turned to Philip. "Isn't she enormous? She's my eldest. How old are you, Sally?" "Fifteen, father, come next June." "I christened her Maria del Sol, because she was my first child and I dedicated her to the glorious sun of Castile; but her mother calls her Sally and her brother Pudding-Face." The girl smiled shyly, she had even, white teeth, and blushed. She was well set-up, tall for her age, with pleasant gray eyes and a broad forehead. She had red cheeks. "Go and tell your mother to come in and shake hands with Mr. Carey before he sits down." "Mother says she'll come in after dinner. She hasn't washed herself yet." "Then we'll go in and see her ourselves. He mustn't eat the Yorkshire pudding till he's shaken the hand that made it." Philip followed his host into the kitchen. It was small and much overcrowded. There had been a lot of noise, but it stopped as soon as the stranger entered. There was a large table in the middle and round it, eager for dinner, were seated Athelny's children. A woman was standing at the oven, taking out baked potatoes one by one. "Here's Mr. Carey, Betty," said Athelny. "Fancy bringing him in here. What will he think?" She wore a dirty apron, and the sleeves of her cotton dress were turned up above her elbows; she had curling pins in her hair. Mrs. Athelny was a large woman, a good three inches taller than her husband, fair, with blue eyes and a kindly expression; she had been a handsome creature, but advancing years and the bearing of many children had made her fat and blousy; her blue eyes had become pale, her skin was coarse and red, the colour had gone out of her hair. She straightened herself, wiped her hand on her apron, and held it out. "You're welcome, sir," she said, in a slow voice, with an accent that seemed oddly familiar to Philip. "Athelny said you was very kind to him in the 'orspital." "Now you must be introduced to the live stock," said Athelny. "That is Thorpe," he pointed to a chubby boy with curly hair, "he is my eldest son, heir to the title, estates, and responsibilities of the family. There is Athelstan, Harold, Edward." He pointed with his forefinger to three smaller boys, all rosy, healthy, and smiling, though when they felt Philip's smiling eyes upon them they looked shyly down at their plates. "Now the girls in order: Maria del Sol..." "Pudding-Face," said one of the small boys. "Your sense of humour is rudimentary, my son. Maria de los Mercedes, Maria del Pilar, Maria de la Concepcion, Maria del Rosario." "I call them Sally, Molly, Connie, Rosie, and Jane," said Mrs. Athelny. "Now, Athelny, you go into your own room and I'll send you your dinner. I'll let the children come in afterwards for a bit when I've washed them." "My dear, if I'd had the naming of you I should have called you Maria of the Soapsuds. You're always torturing these wretched brats with soap." "You go first, Mr. Carey, or I shall never get him to sit down and eat his dinner." Athelny and Philip installed themselves in the great monkish chairs, and Sally brought them in two plates of beef, Yorkshire pudding, baked potatoes, and cabbage. Athelny took sixpence out of his pocket and sent her for a jug of beer. "I hope you didn't have the table laid here on my account," said Philip. "I should have been quite happy to eat with the children." "Oh no, I always have my meals by myself. I like these antique customs. I don't think that women ought to sit down at table with men. It ruins conversation and I'm sure it's very bad for them. It puts ideas in their heads, and women are never at ease with themselves when they have ideas." Both host and guest ate with a hearty appetite. "Did you ever taste such Yorkshire pudding? No one can make it like my wife. That's the advantage of not marrying a lady. You noticed she wasn't a lady, didn't you?" It was an awkward question, and Philip did not know how to answer it. "I never thought about it," he said lamely. Athelny laughed. He had a peculiarly joyous laugh. "No, she's not a lady, nor anything like it. Her father was a farmer, and she's never bothered about aitches in her life. We've had twelve children and nine of them are alive. I tell her it's about time she stopped, but she's an obstinate woman, she's got into the habit of it now, and I don't believe she'll be satisfied till she's had twenty." At that moment Sally came in with the beer, and, having poured out a glass for Philip, went to the other side of the table to pour some out for her father. He put his hand round her waist. "Did you ever see such a handsome, strapping girl? Only fifteen and she might be twenty. Look at her cheeks. She's never had a day's illness in her life. It'll be a lucky man who marries her, won't it, Sally?" Sally listened to all this with a slight, slow smile, not much embarrassed, for she was accustomed to her father's outbursts, but with an easy modesty which was very attractive. "Don't let your dinner get cold, father," she said, drawing herself away from his arm. "You'll call when you're ready for your pudding, won't you?" They were left alone, and Athelny lifted the pewter tankard to his lips. He drank long and deep. "My word, is there anything better than English beer?" he said. "Let us thank God for simple pleasures, roast beef and rice pudding, a good appetite and beer. I was married to a lady once. My God! Don't marry a lady, my boy." Philip laughed. He was exhilarated by the scene, the funny little man in his odd clothes, the panelled room and the Spanish furniture, the English fare: the whole thing had an exquisite incongruity. "You laugh, my boy, you can't imagine marrying beneath you. You want a wife who's an intellectual equal. Your head is crammed full of ideas of comradeship. Stuff and nonsense, my boy! A man doesn't want to talk politics to his wife, and what do you think I care for Betty's views upon the Differential Calculus? A man wants a wife who can cook his dinner and look after his children. I've tried both and I know. Let's have the pudding in." He clapped his hands and presently Sally came. When she took away the plates, Philip wanted to get up and help her, but Athelny stopped him. "Let her alone, my boy. She doesn't want you to fuss about, do you, Sally? And she won't think it rude of you to sit still while she waits upon you. She don't care a damn for chivalry, do you, Sally?" "No, father," answered Sally demurely. "Do you know what I'm talking about, Sally?" "No, father. But you know mother doesn't like you to swear." Athelny laughed boisterously. Sally brought them plates of rice pudding, rich, creamy, and luscious. Athelny attacked his with gusto. "One of the rules of this house is that Sunday dinner should never alter. It is a ritual. Roast beef and rice pudding for fifty Sundays in the year. On Easter Sunday lamb and green peas, and at Michaelmas roast goose and apple sauce. Thus we preserve the traditions of our people. When Sally marries she will forget many of the wise things I have taught her, but she will never forget that if you want to be good and happy you must eat on Sundays roast beef and rice pudding." "You'll call when you're ready for cheese," said Sally impassively. "D'you know the legend of the halcyon?" said Athelny: Philip was growing used to his rapid leaping from one subject to another. "When the kingfisher, flying over the sea, is exhausted, his mate places herself beneath him and bears him along upon her stronger wings. That is what a man wants in a wife, the halcyon. I lived with my first wife for three years. She was a lady, she had fifteen hundred a year, and we used to give nice little dinner parties in our little red brick house in Kensington. She was a charming woman; they all said so, the barristers and their wives who dined with us, and the literary stockbrokers, and the budding politicians; oh, she was a charming woman. She made me go to church in a silk hat and a frock coat, she took me to classical concerts, and she was very fond of lectures on Sunday afternoon; and she sat down to breakfast every morning at eight-thirty, and if I was late breakfast was cold; and she read the right books, admired the right pictures, and adored the right music. My God, how that woman bored me! She is charming still, and she lives in the little red brick house in Kensington, with Morris papers and Whistler's etchings on the walls, and gives the same nice little dinner parties, with veal creams and ices from Gunter's, as she did twenty years ago." Philip did not ask by what means the ill-matched couple had separated, but Athelny told him. "Betty's not my wife, you know; my wife wouldn't divorce me. The children are bastards, every jack one of them, and are they any the worse for that? Betty was one of the maids in the little red brick house in Kensington. Four or five years ago I was on my uppers, and I had seven children, and I went to my wife and asked her to help me. She said she'd make me an allowance if I'd give Betty up and go abroad. Can you see me giving Betty up? We starved for a while instead. My wife said I loved the gutter. I've degenerated; I've come down in the world; I earn three pounds a week as press agent to a linendraper, and every day I thank God that I'm not in the little red brick house in Kensington." Sally brought in Cheddar cheese, and Athelny went on with his fluent conversation. "It's the greatest mistake in the world to think that one needs money to bring up a family. You need money to make them gentlemen and ladies, but I don't want my children to be ladies and gentlemen. Sally's going to earn her living in another year. She's to be apprenticed to a dressmaker, aren't you, Sally? And the boys are going to serve their country. I want them all to go into the Navy; it's a jolly life and a healthy life, good food, good pay, and a pension to end their days on." Philip lit his pipe. Athelny smoked cigarettes of Havana tobacco, which he rolled himself. Sally cleared away. Philip was reserved, and it embarrassed him to be the recipient of so many confidences. Athelny, with his powerful voice in the diminutive body, with his bombast, with his foreign look, with his emphasis, was an astonishing creature. He reminded Philip a good deal of Cronshaw. He appeared to have the same independence of thought, the same bohemianism, but he had an infinitely more vivacious temperament; his mind was coarser, and he had not that interest in the abstract which made Cronshaw's conversation so captivating. Athelny was very proud of the county family to which he belonged; he showed Philip photographs of an Elizabethan mansion, and told him: "The Athelnys have lived there for seven centuries, my boy. Ah, if you saw the chimney-pieces and the ceilings!" There was a cupboard in the wainscoting and from this he took a family tree. He showed it to Philip with child-like satisfaction. It was indeed imposing. "You see how the family names recur, Thorpe, Athelstan, Harold, Edward; I've used the family names for my sons. And the girls, you see, I've given Spanish names to." An uneasy feeling came to Philip that possibly the whole story was an elaborate imposture, not told with any base motive, but merely from a wish to impress, startle, and amaze. Athelny had told him that he was at Winchester; but Philip, sensitive to differences of manner, did not feel that his host had the characteristics of a man educated at a great public school. While he pointed out the great alliances which his ancestors had formed, Philip amused himself by wondering whether Athelny was not the son of some tradesman in Winchester, auctioneer or coal-merchant, and whether a similarity of surname was not his only connection with the ancient family whose tree he was displaying. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LXXXVIII There was a knock at the door and a troop of children came in. They were clean and tidy, now. Their faces shone with soap, and their hair was plastered down; they were going to Sunday school under Sally's charge. Athelny joked with them in his dramatic, exuberant fashion, and you could see that he was devoted to them all. His pride in their good health and their good looks was touching. Philip felt that they were a little shy in his presence, and when their father sent them off they fled from the room in evident relief. In a few minutes Mrs. Athelny appeared. She had taken her hair out of the curling pins and now wore an elaborate fringe. She had on a plain black dress, a hat with cheap flowers, and was forcing her hands, red and coarse from much work, into black kid gloves. "I'm going to church, Athelny," she said. "There's nothing you'll be wanting, is there?" "Only your prayers, my Betty." "They won't do you much good, you're too far gone for that," she smiled. Then, turning to Philip, she drawled: "I can't get him to go to church. He's no better than an atheist." "Doesn't she look like Rubens' second wife?" cried Athelny. "Wouldn't she look splendid in a seventeenth-century costume? That's the sort of wife to marry, my boy. Look at her." "I believe you'd talk the hind leg off a donkey, Athelny," she answered calmly. She succeeded in buttoning her gloves, but before she went she turned to Philip with a kindly, slightly embarrassed smile. "You'll stay to tea, won't you? Athelny likes someone to talk to, and it's not often he gets anybody who's clever enough." "Of course he'll stay to tea," said Athelny. Then when his wife had gone: "I make a point of the children going to Sunday school, and I like Betty to go to church. I think women ought to be religious. I don't believe myself, but I like women and children to." Philip, strait-laced in matters of truth, was a little shocked by this airy attitude. "But how can you look on while your children are being taught things which you don't think are true?" "If they're beautiful I don't much mind if they're not true. It's asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as to your sense of the aesthetic. I wanted Betty to become a Roman Catholic, I should have liked to see her converted in a crown of paper flowers, but she's hopelessly Protestant. Besides, religion is a matter of temperament; you will believe anything if you have the religious turn of mind, and if you haven't it doesn't matter what beliefs were instilled into you, you will grow out of them. Perhaps religion is the best school of morality. It is like one of those drugs you gentlemen use in medicine which carries another in solution: it is of no efficacy in itself, but enables the other to be absorbed. You take your morality because it is combined with religion; you lose the religion and the morality stays behind. A man is more likely to be a good man if he has learned goodness through the love of God than through a perusal of Herbert Spencer." This was contrary to all Philip's ideas. He still looked upon Christianity as a degrading bondage that must be cast away at any cost; it was connected subconsciously in his mind with the dreary services in the cathedral at Tercanbury, and the long hours of boredom in the cold church at Blackstable; and the morality of which Athelny spoke was to him no more than a part of the religion which a halting intelligence preserved, when it had laid aside the beliefs which alone made it reasonable. But while he was meditating a reply Athelny, more interested in hearing himself speak than in discussion, broke into a tirade upon Roman Catholicism. For him it was an essential part of Spain; and Spain meant much to him, because he had escaped to it from the conventionality which during his married life he had found so irksome. With large gestures and in the emphatic tone which made what he said so striking, Athelny described to Philip the Spanish cathedrals with their vast dark spaces, the massive gold of the altar-pieces, and the sumptuous iron-work, gilt and faded, the air laden with incense, the silence: Philip almost saw the Canons in their short surplices of lawn, the acolytes in red, passing from the sacristy to the choir; he almost heard the monotonous chanting of vespers. The names which Athelny mentioned, Avila, Tarragona, Saragossa, Segovia, Cordova, were like trumpets in his heart. He seemed to see the great gray piles of granite set in old Spanish towns amid a landscape tawny, wild, and windswept. "I've always thought I should love to go to Seville," he said casually, when Athelny, with one hand dramatically uplifted, paused for a moment. "Seville!" cried Athelny. "No, no, don't go there. Seville: it brings to the mind girls dancing with castanets, singing in gardens by the Guadalquivir, bull-fights, orange-blossom, mantillas, mantones de Manila. It is the Spain of comic opera and Montmartre. Its facile charm can offer permanent entertainment only to an intelligence which is superficial. Theophile Gautier got out of Seville all that it has to offer. We who come after him can only repeat his sensations. He put large fat hands on the obvious and there is nothing but the obvious there; and it is all finger-marked and frayed. Murillo is its painter." Athelny got up from his chair, walked over to the Spanish cabinet, let down the front with its great gilt hinges and gorgeous lock, and displayed a series of little drawers. He took out a bundle of photographs. "Do you know El Greco?" he asked. "Oh, I remember one of the men in Paris was awfully impressed by him." "El Greco was the painter of Toledo. Betty couldn't find the photograph I wanted to show you. It's a picture that El Greco painted of the city he loved, and it's truer than any photograph. Come and sit at the table." Philip dragged his chair forward, and Athelny set the photograph before him. He looked at it curiously, for a long time, in silence. He stretched out his hand for other photographs, and Athelny passed them to him. He had never before seen the work of that enigmatic master; and at the first glance he was bothered by the arbitrary drawing: the figures were extraordinarily elongated; the heads were very small; the attitudes were extravagant. This was not realism, and yet, and yet even in the photographs you had the impression of a troubling reality. Athelny was describing eagerly, with vivid phrases, but Philip only heard vaguely what he said. He was puzzled. He was curiously moved. These pictures seemed to offer some meaning to him, but he did not know what the meaning was. There were portraits of men with large, melancholy eyes which seemed to say you knew not what; there were long monks in the Franciscan habit or in the Dominican, with distraught faces, making gestures whose sense escaped you; there was an Assumption of the Virgin; there was a Crucifixion in which the painter by some magic of feeling had been able to suggest that the flesh of Christ's dead body was not human flesh only but divine; and there was an Ascension in which the Saviour seemed to surge up towards the empyrean and yet to stand upon the air as steadily as though it were solid ground: the uplifted arms of the Apostles, the sweep of their draperies, their ecstatic gestures, gave an impression of exultation and of holy joy. The background of nearly all was the sky by night, the dark night of the soul, with wild clouds swept by strange winds of hell and lit luridly by an uneasy moon. "I've seen that sky in Toledo over and over again," said Athelny. "I have an idea that when first El Greco came to the city it was by such a night, and it made so vehement an impression upon him that he could never get away from it." Philip remembered how Clutton had been affected by this strange master, whose work he now saw for the first time. He thought that Clutton was the most interesting of all the people he had known in Paris. His sardonic manner, his hostile aloofness, had made it difficult to know him; but it seemed to Philip, looking back, that there had been in him a tragic force, which sought vainly to express itself in painting. He was a man of unusual character, mystical after the fashion of a time that had no leaning to mysticism, who was impatient with life because he found himself unable to say the things which the obscure impulses of his heart suggested. His intellect was not fashioned to the uses of the spirit. It was not surprising that he felt a deep sympathy with the Greek who had devised a new technique to express the yearnings of his soul. Philip looked again at the series of portraits of Spanish gentlemen, with ruffles and pointed beards, their faces pale against the sober black of their clothes and the darkness of the background. El Greco was the painter of the soul; and these gentlemen, wan and wasted, not by exhaustion but by restraint, with their tortured minds, seem to walk unaware of the beauty of the world; for their eyes look only in their hearts, and they are dazzled by the glory of the unseen. No painter has shown more pitilessly that the world is but a place of passage. The souls of the men he painted speak their strange longings through their eyes: their senses are miraculously acute, not for sounds and odours and colour, but for the very subtle sensations of the soul. The noble walks with the monkish heart within him, and his eyes see things which saints in their cells see too, and he is unastounded. His lips are not lips that smile. Philip, silent still, returned to the photograph of Toledo, which seemed to him the most arresting picture of them all. He could not take his eyes off it. He felt strangely that he was on the threshold of some new discovery in life. He was tremulous with a sense of adventure. He thought for an instant of the love that had consumed him: love seemed very trivial beside the excitement which now leaped in his heart. The picture he looked at was a long one, with houses crowded upon a hill; in one corner a boy was holding a large map of the town; in another was a classical figure representing the river Tagus; and in the sky was the Virgin surrounded by angels. It was a landscape alien to all Philip's notion, for he had lived in circles that worshipped exact realism; and yet here again, strangely to himself, he felt a reality greater than any achieved by the masters in whose steps humbly he had sought to walk. He heard Athelny say that the representation was so precise that when the citizens of Toledo came to look at the picture they recognised their houses. The painter had painted exactly what he saw but he had seen with the eyes of the spirit. There was something unearthly in that city of pale gray. It was a city of the soul seen by a wan light that was neither that of night nor day. It stood on a green hill, but of a green not of this world, and it was surrounded by massive walls and bastions to be stormed by no machines or engines of man's invention, but by prayer and fasting, by contrite sighs and by mortifications of the flesh. It was a stronghold of God. Those gray houses were made of no stone known to masons, there was something terrifying in their aspect, and you did not know what men might live in them. You might walk through the streets and be unamazed to find them all deserted, and yet not empty; for you felt a presence invisible and yet manifest to every inner sense. It was a mystical city in which the imagination faltered like one who steps out of the light into darkness; the soul walked naked to and fro, knowing the unknowable, and conscious strangely of experience, intimate but inexpressible, of the absolute. And without surprise, in that blue sky, real with a reality that not the eye but the soul confesses, with its rack of light clouds driven by strange breezes, like the cries and the sighs of lost souls, you saw the Blessed Virgin with a gown of red and a cloak of blue, surrounded by winged angels. Philip felt that the inhabitants of that city would have seen the apparition without astonishment, reverent and thankful, and have gone their ways. Athelny spoke of the mystical writers of Spain, of Teresa de Avila, San Juan de la Cruz, Fray Luis de Leon; in all of them was that passion for the unseen which Philip felt in the pictures of El Greco: they seemed to have the power to touch the incorporeal and see the invisible. They were Spaniards of their age, in whom were tremulous all the mighty exploits of a great nation: their fancies were rich with the glories of America and the green islands of the Caribbean Sea; in their veins was the power that had come from age-long battling with the Moor; they were proud, for they were masters of the world; and they felt in themselves the wide distances, the tawny wastes, the snow-capped mountains of Castile, the sunshine and the blue sky, and the flowering plains of Andalusia. Life was passionate and manifold, and because it offered so much they felt a restless yearning for something more; because they were human they were unsatisfied; and they threw this eager vitality of theirs into a vehement striving after the ineffable. Athelny was not displeased to find someone to whom he could read the translations with which for some time he had amused his leisure; and in his fine, vibrating voice he recited the canticle of the Soul and Christ her lover, the lovely poem which begins with the words en una noche oscura, and the noche serena of Fray Luis de Leon. He had translated them quite simply, not without skill, and he had found words which at all events suggested the rough-hewn grandeur of the original. The pictures of El Greco explained them, and they explained the pictures. Philip had cultivated a certain disdain for idealism. He had always had a passion for life, and the idealism he had come across seemed to him for the most part a cowardly shrinking from it. The idealist withdrew himself, because he could not suffer the jostling of the human crowd; he had not the strength to fight and so called the battle vulgar; he was vain, and since his fellows would not take him at his own estimate, consoled himself with despising his fellows. For Philip his type was Hayward, fair, languid, too fat now and rather bald, still cherishing the remains of his good looks and still delicately proposing to do exquisite things in the uncertain future; and at the back of this were whiskey and vulgar amours of the street. It was in reaction from what Hayward represented that Philip clamoured for life as it stood; sordidness, vice, deformity, did not offend him; he declared that he wanted man in his nakedness; and he rubbed his hands when an instance came before him of meanness, cruelty, selfishness, or lust: that was the real thing. In Paris he had learned that there was neither ugliness nor beauty, but only truth: the search after beauty was sentimental. Had he not painted an advertisement of chocolat Menier in a landscape in order to escape from the tyranny of prettiness? But here he seemed to divine something new. He had been coming to it, all hesitating, for some time, but only now was conscious of the fact; he felt himself on the brink of a discovery. He felt vaguely that here was something better than the realism which he had adored; but certainly it was not the bloodless idealism which stepped aside from life in weakness; it was too strong; it was virile; it accepted life in all its vivacity, ugliness and beauty, squalor and heroism; it was realism still; but it was realism carried to some higher pitch, in which facts were transformed by the more vivid light in which they were seen. He seemed to see things more profoundly through the grave eyes of those dead noblemen of Castile; and the gestures of the saints, which at first had seemed wild and distorted, appeared to have some mysterious significance. But he could not tell what that significance was. It was like a message which it was very important for him to receive, but it was given him in an unknown tongue, and he could not understand. He was always seeking for a meaning in life, and here it seemed to him that a meaning was offered; but it was obscure and vague. He was profoundly troubled. He saw what looked like the truth as by flashes of lightning on a dark, stormy night you might see a mountain range. He seemed to see that a man need not leave his life to chance, but that his will was powerful; he seemed to see that self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion; he seemed to see that the inward life might be as manifold, as varied, as rich with experience, as the life of one who conquered realms and explored unknown lands. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> LXXXIX The conversation between Philip and Athelny was broken into by a clatter up the stairs. Athelny opened the door for the children coming back from Sunday school, and with laughter and shouting they came in. Gaily he asked them what they had learned. Sally appeared for a moment, with instructions from her mother that father was to amuse the children while she got tea ready; and Athelny began to tell them one of Hans Andersen's stories. They were not shy children, and they quickly came to the conclusion that Philip was not formidable. Jane came and stood by him and presently settled herself on his knees. It was the first time that Philip in his lonely life had been present in a family circle: his eyes smiled as they rested on the fair children engrossed in the fairy tale. The life of his new friend, eccentric as it appeared at first glance, seemed now to have the beauty of perfect naturalness. Sally came in once more. "Now then, children, tea's ready," she said. Jane slipped off Philip's knees, and they all went back to the kitchen. Sally began to lay the cloth on the long Spanish table. "Mother says, shall she come and have tea with you?" she asked. "I can give the children their tea." "Tell your mother that we shall be proud and honoured if she will favour us with her company," said Athelny. It seemed to Philip that he could never say anything without an oratorical flourish. "Then I'll lay for her," said Sally. She came back again in a moment with a tray on which were a cottage loaf, a slab of butter, and a jar of strawberry jam. While she placed the things on the table her father chaffed her. He said it was quite time she was walking out; he told Philip that she was very proud, and would have nothing to do with aspirants to that honour who lined up at the door, two by two, outside the Sunday school and craved the honour of escorting her home. "You do talk, father," said Sally, with her slow, good-natured smile. "You wouldn't think to look at her that a tailor's assistant has enlisted in the army because she would not say how d'you do to him and an electrical engineer, an electrical engineer, mind you, has taken to drink because she refused to share her hymn-book with him in church. I shudder to think what will happen when she puts her hair up." "Mother'll bring the tea along herself," said Sally. "Sally never pays any attention to me," laughed Athelny, looking at her with fond, proud eyes. "She goes about her business indifferent to wars, revolutions, and cataclysms. What a wife she'll make to an honest man!" Mrs. Athelny brought in the tea. She sat down and proceeded to cut bread and butter. It amused Philip to see that she treated her husband as though he were a child. She spread jam for him and cut up the bread and butter into convenient slices for him to eat. She had taken off her hat; and in her Sunday dress, which seemed a little tight for her, she looked like one of the farmers' wives whom Philip used to call on sometimes with his uncle when he was a small boy. Then he knew why the sound of her voice was familiar to him. She spoke just like the people round Blackstable. "What part of the country d'you come from?" he asked her. "I'm a Kentish woman. I come from Ferne." "I thought as much. My uncle's Vicar of Blackstable." "That's a funny thing now," she said. "I was wondering in Church just now whether you was any connection of Mr. Carey. Many's the time I've seen 'im. A cousin of mine married Mr. Barker of Roxley Farm, over by Blackstable Church, and I used to go and stay there often when I was a girl. Isn't that a funny thing now?" She looked at him with a new interest, and a brightness came into her faded eyes. She asked him whether he knew Ferne. It was a pretty village about ten miles across country from Blackstable, and the Vicar had come over sometimes to Blackstable for the harvest thanksgiving. She mentioned names of various farmers in the neighbourhood. She was delighted to talk again of the country in which her youth was spent, and it was a pleasure to her to recall scenes and people that had remained in her memory with the tenacity peculiar to her class. It gave Philip a queer sensation too. A breath of the country-side seemed to be wafted into that panelled room in the middle of London. He seemed to see the fat Kentish fields with their stately elms; and his nostrils dilated with the scent of the air; it is laden with the salt of the North Sea, and that makes it keen and sharp. Philip did not leave the Athelnys' till ten o'clock. The children came in to say good-night at eight and quite naturally put up their faces for Philip to kiss. His heart went out to them. Sally only held out her hand. "Sally never kisses gentlemen till she's seen them twice," said her father. "You must ask me again then," said Philip. "You mustn't take any notice of what father says," remarked Sally, with a smile. "She's a most self-possessed young woman," added her parent. They had supper of bread and cheese and beer, while Mrs. Athelny was putting the children to bed; and when Philip went into the kitchen to bid her good-night (she had been sitting there, resting herself and reading The Weekly Despatch) she invited him cordially to come again. "There's always a good dinner on Sundays so long as Athelny's in work," she said, "and it's a charity to come and talk to him." On the following Saturday Philip received a postcard from Athelny saying that they were expecting him to dinner next day; but fearing their means were not such that Mr. Athelny would desire him to accept, Philip wrote back that he would only come to tea. He bought a large plum cake so that his entertainment should cost nothing. He found the whole family glad to see him, and the cake completed his conquest of the children. He insisted that they should all have tea together in the kitchen, and the meal was noisy and hilarious. Soon Philip got into the habit of going to Athelny's every Sunday. He became a great favourite with the children, because he was simple and unaffected and because it was so plain that he was fond of them. As soon as they heard his ring at the door one of them popped a head out of window to make sure it was he, and then they all rushed downstairs tumultuously to let him in. They flung themselves into his arms. At tea they fought for the privilege of sitting next to him. Soon they began to call him Uncle Philip. Athelny was very communicative, and little by little Philip learned the various stages of his life. He had followed many occupations, and it occurred to Philip that he managed to make a mess of everything he attempted. He had been on a tea plantation in Ceylon and a traveller in America for Italian wines; his secretaryship of the water company in Toledo had lasted longer than any of his employments; he had been a journalist and for some time had worked as police-court reporter for an evening paper; he had been sub-editor of a paper in the Midlands and editor of another on the Riviera. From all his occupations he had gathered amusing anecdotes, which he told with a keen pleasure in his own powers of entertainment. He had read a great deal, chiefly delighting in books which were unusual; and he poured forth his stores of abstruse knowledge with child-like enjoyment of the amazement of his hearers. Three or four years before abject poverty had driven him to take the job of press-representative to a large firm of drapers; and though he felt the work unworthy his abilities, which he rated highly, the firmness of his wife and the needs of his family had made him stick to it. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 87-89

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter87-89

Philip goes to the house of Athelny, the ex-patient, in a slum area that was once grand. Athelny is 5'5" and speaks eloquently on everything from Spanish literature to the seventeenth century ceiling of the slum house, built by the famous Inigo Jones. Philip meets the nine children of Athelny by his common law wife, Betty, a former servant in his upper class wife's house with whom he ran away. Now he is poor but happy, doing odd jobs to keep his family. . The family takes him in, and he goes there every Sunday for dinner to play with the children and have philosophical discussions with the father. Athelny reminds him of Cronshaw with his independent thought and bohemian lifestyle. Most of all, he feels some spiritual awakening when Athelny introduces him to Spanish art, especially El Greco, the painter of soul whom he had heard about in Paris. He likes the virile idealism of El Greco, but he doesn't quite know how to respond to its message. This is the first real family circle Philip has been part of, and it is natural and charming.

Commentary on Chapters LXXXVII-LXXXIX . This idyllic family life in the middle of a London slum is a surprise in the story, which so far seems to have centered on Philip's ideals getting smashed one by one. He has learned a modern cynical view of life, and even the artist's ideas of freedom have seemed contradicted by experience. Here he meets the charming Athelny family, hidden in a London slum, fuelled by a fantastic father with wild and mystic ideas. He discourses on old architecture and manners, while raising a brood of beautiful but bastard children. He gives Philip a glance into Spanish mysticism and some force of life he has not yet met: "he felt strangely that he was on the threshold of some new discovery in life" and longs to go to Toledo . El Greco seems to "have the power to touch the incorporeal and see the invisible" . . So far Philip has disdained idealism because it seemed the weak philosophy of Hayward. He had rejected that early love for beauty for what was gritty and real: "he wanted man in his nakedness" . Then in Paris he wanted truth. But here was something better than realism or idealism. It was "some higher pitch, in which facts were transformed by the more vivid light in which they were seen" . In his journey through this story, Philip is searching for the meaning of life. So far, he has had many teachers and philosophies offered. Athelny shows him another alternative that is full of light but not sentimental. He doesn't know what it is but is attracted. Philip sees a man that should be cast down and overwhelmed by his poverty and large family; instead, he is full of life and love and energy and learning. He gives Philip an example and a lot of advice. . One of the more important pieces of advice he gives Philip is about the choice of wife. Athelny's legal wife was concerned with convention and appearances. Betty is real. He tells the story of the halcyon, the female bird who carries her mate on her own wings when the male bird is tired. Betty is a true partner and help-meet. She is strong and motherly. This interlude with the Athelnys comes between two episodes with Mildred, forming a strong contrast with her, as well as an example for Philip of an unusual family group, out of ordinary convention. Athelny has praised lower class women as being better for partners than upper class women. Philip is about to find his own unconventional family bond.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_90_to_97.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_16_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 90-97

chapters 90-97

{"name": "Chapters 90-97", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter90-97", "summary": "of Chapters XC-XCVII . Once, when leaving the Athelny house, Philip runs into Mildred on the street, and he is horrified when he sees that she is a prostitute soliciting business. He speaks to her and is shaken. She brushes him off, but he tries to offer her money, out of pity. She takes him to her dingy room, and he notices she is thin and rouged. She says, \"You don't think I do it because I like it, do you?\" . She has the baby with her now and could not get any other work. . He feels he is finally over his love for her, and feels free but sorry for her at the same time. She sobs, and he has an inspiration. He invites her to live with him in his rooms. She can be his charwoman to earn her keep and stay home with the baby. He is happy when she agrees. . Mildred turns up with her baby and looks pathetic. Philip is very happy to have her there with the baby, though he is sure he does not love her. He asks her to fix his breakfast in the morning before he goes to a lecture. They sleep in different rooms. . Philip loves having the baby around, but he goes out on his regular nights with the boys at the Beak St. Tavern and treats the arrangement with Mildred as a business deal. She cooks and cleans in exchange for room and board. . Philip is envious that Lawson and Hayward made money on the stock exchange with a tip from Macalister, and he decides he will try investing to increase his small fortune. Mildred waits up for him in her best dress, and Philip does not know why. He goes to bed. Mildred tells the landlady they are married, and Philip is annoyed by her constant lies. He takes her out one night and enjoys her simple excitement. Yet \"She was a puzzle to him\" . Looking at her he can only feel compassion and forgiveness. She tries to initiate sexual activity, but he refuses and says he does not want that; it would spoil everything. He doesn't expect that from her. She is sulky and angry at his refusal. He tries to explain his ethics to her but she doesn't understand and accepts him as strange. . He continues seeing his friends and the Athelnys and doing his work. Her life is monotonous and occasionally he takes her out. He begins spending too much money, but he becomes very fond of the child. Mildred realizes he loves the baby more than her. The baby prefers Philip to its mother. Philip makes a little money on the stock market and is elated. He asks Mr. Jacobs to perform the surgery on his foot. He enjoys his rest in the hospital for a month, so he can read. Mildred visits him and so do his friends. . In August he takes Mildred and the baby to Brighton. She tries to get one bedroom, but he insists on two. She wants to know why they can't live as a married couple, and he explains he loved her too much at one time, and now--he can't explain. Philip finds her boring, and the vacation is difficult. He finds it tragic that he loved her so madly and now not at all. He thinks his suffering was a waste. . Philip begins to work in the emergency ward dealing with accidents. When the Boer War breaks out, he begins to worry about his investments on the stock exchange. Mildred delays in trying to get a job, but he feels comfortable with her and the baby around. Christmas is a tender time. She tells Philip she loves him now, and he says it is so strange the way love comes and goes. He kisses her good night on the brow and goes to bed. . The narrator switches suddenly to Mildred's point of view. Three weeks later she is driven to exasperation by his indifference. She has never understood him or liked him, but she could control him and all men through sex. Now he is good to her but does not want sex. It makes her feel humiliated. He is no longer subservient. Thinking he must be in love with someone else she watches him, but he is not, so she thinks that he must still love her. Once she realizes he doesn't want her, she feels powerless. She thinks he might cast her out if she has no hold over him, so she begins obsessively to try to seduce him. When he won't give in, she begins shouting and abusing him. The next day when he comes home, she has left and destroyed everything in his apartment with a knife. He is thankful to be rid of her and moves into cheaper rooms.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XC-XCVII For Mildred, sex is part of the power game with men, and she is out of her depth with Philip's simple human kindness towards her, his desire to rescue her and appreciate family warmth as he has known it at the Athelnys. He is trying to give her a chance to get out of her trouble. It is obvious she doesn't love Philip, but she wants to get back her old control over him. She feels powerless in the situation. She is neither wife nor lover. She feels degraded as a sort of servant, yet does not try to find a job or better herself. She has fallen into the pattern of using men to get what she wants. . The narrator is forced into explaining from first Philip's view and then Mildred's perspective because the two minds are so far apart. Philip is appalled at her lack of humanity, her inability to learn from experience. Norah had once said that she knew no one who learned more from experience than she did. She seems to soak up the lessons of life and move on. Mildred, on the other hand, is a tragic figure, who has learned one pattern and keeps repeating it, each time falling lower. Philip sees she cannot deal with abstractions, or even why he cannot love her after her treachery and affairs with other men. It has destroyed intimacy and trust, though he can charitably forgive her. . The Athelnys have given him a new touchstone. They represent one quality he has never found in people before: \"it was the beauty of their goodness which attracted him. In theory he did not believe in it\" . They are kind and generous, and it is the spiritual instinct of humans that Philip finally sees is more important and enduring than the sexual or power instincts that he thought ruled people. This simple goodness in Philip puts him out of Mildred's reach, and she is so angry, she destroys his paintings and belongings with a knife. He has acted out of something like Christian charity without being a Christian. His own journey has been through selfishness, passion, envy, power, and intellectual cynicism, towards love and compassionate respect for others. He has left Mildred and what she represents behind. He, like Norah, knows how to learn from experience. He becomes more discriminating. He is no longer an addict."}

<CHAPTER> XC When he left the Athelnys' Philip walked down Chancery Lane and along the Strand to get a 'bus at the top of Parliament Street. One Sunday, when he had known them about six weeks, he did this as usual, but he found the Kennington 'bus full. It was June, but it had rained during the day and the night was raw and cold. He walked up to Piccadilly Circus in order to get a seat; the 'bus waited at the fountain, and when it arrived there seldom had more than two or three people in it. This service ran every quarter of an hour, and he had some time to wait. He looked idly at the crowd. The public-houses were closing, and there were many people about. His mind was busy with the ideas Athelny had the charming gift of suggesting. Suddenly his heart stood still. He saw Mildred. He had not thought of her for weeks. She was crossing over from the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and stopped at the shelter till a string of cabs passed by. She was watching her opportunity and had no eyes for anything else. She wore a large black straw hat with a mass of feathers on it and a black silk dress; at that time it was fashionable for women to wear trains; the road was clear, and Mildred crossed, her skirt trailing on the ground, and walked down Piccadilly. Philip, his heart beating excitedly, followed her. He did not wish to speak to her, but he wondered where she was going at that hour; he wanted to get a look at her face. She walked slowly along and turned down Air Street and so got through into Regent Street. She walked up again towards the Circus. Philip was puzzled. He could not make out what she was doing. Perhaps she was waiting for somebody, and he felt a great curiosity to know who it was. She overtook a short man in a bowler hat, who was strolling very slowly in the same direction as herself; she gave him a sidelong glance as she passed. She walked a few steps more till she came to Swan and Edgar's, then stopped and waited, facing the road. When the man came up she smiled. The man stared at her for a moment, turned away his head, and sauntered on. Then Philip understood. He was overwhelmed with horror. For a moment he felt such a weakness in his legs that he could hardly stand; then he walked after her quickly; he touched her on the arm. "Mildred." She turned round with a violent start. He thought that she reddened, but in the obscurity he could not see very well. For a while they stood and looked at one another without speaking. At last she said: "Fancy seeing you!" He did not know what to answer; he was horribly shaken; and the phrases that chased one another through his brain seemed incredibly melodramatic. "It's awful," he gasped, almost to himself. She did not say anything more, she turned away from him, and looked down at the pavement. He felt that his face was distorted with misery. "Isn't there anywhere we can go and talk?" "I don't want to talk," she said sullenly. "Leave me alone, can't you?" The thought struck him that perhaps she was in urgent need of money and could not afford to go away at that hour. "I've got a couple of sovereigns on me if you're hard up," he blurted out. "I don't know what you mean. I was just walking along here on my way back to my lodgings. I expected to meet one of the girls from where I work." "For God's sake don't lie now," he said. Then he saw that she was crying, and he repeated his question. "Can't we go and talk somewhere? Can't I come back to your rooms?" "No, you can't do that," she sobbed. "I'm not allowed to take gentlemen in there. If you like I'll meet you tomorrow." He felt certain that she would not keep an appointment. He was not going to let her go. "No. You must take me somewhere now." "Well, there is a room I know, but they'll charge six shillings for it." "I don't mind that. Where is it?" She gave him the address, and he called a cab. They drove to a shabby street beyond the British Museum in the neighbourhood of the Gray's Inn Road, and she stopped the cab at the corner. "They don't like you to drive up to the door," she said. They were the first words either of them had spoken since getting into the cab. They walked a few yards and Mildred knocked three times, sharply, at a door. Philip noticed in the fanlight a cardboard on which was an announcement that apartments were to let. The door was opened quietly, and an elderly, tall woman let them in. She gave Philip a stare and then spoke to Mildred in an undertone. Mildred led Philip along a passage to a room at the back. It was quite dark; she asked him for a match, and lit the gas; there was no globe, and the gas flared shrilly. Philip saw that he was in a dingy little bed-room with a suite of furniture, painted to look like pine much too large for it; the lace curtains were very dirty; the grate was hidden by a large paper fan. Mildred sank on the chair which stood by the side of the chimney-piece. Philip sat on the edge of the bed. He felt ashamed. He saw now that Mildred's cheeks were thick with rouge, her eyebrows were blackened; but she looked thin and ill, and the red on her cheeks exaggerated the greenish pallor of her skin. She stared at the paper fan in a listless fashion. Philip could not think what to say, and he had a choking in his throat as if he were going to cry. He covered his eyes with his hands. "My God, it is awful," he groaned. "I don't know what you've got to fuss about. I should have thought you'd have been rather pleased." Philip did not answer, and in a moment she broke into a sob. "You don't think I do it because I like it, do you?" "Oh, my dear," he cried. "I'm so sorry, I'm so awfully sorry." "That'll do me a fat lot of good." Again Philip found nothing to say. He was desperately afraid of saying anything which she might take for a reproach or a sneer. "Where's the baby?" he asked at last. "I've got her with me in London. I hadn't got the money to keep her on at Brighton, so I had to take her. I've got a room up Highbury way. I told them I was on the stage. It's a long way to have to come down to the West End every day, but it's a rare job to find anyone who'll let to ladies at all." "Wouldn't they take you back at the shop?" "I couldn't get any work to do anywhere. I walked my legs off looking for work. I did get a job once, but I was off for a week because I was queer, and when I went back they said they didn't want me any more. You can't blame them either, can you? Them places, they can't afford to have girls that aren't strong." "You don't look very well now," said Philip. "I wasn't fit to come out tonight, but I couldn't help myself, I wanted the money. I wrote to Emil and told him I was broke, but he never even answered the letter." "You might have written to me." "I didn't like to, not after what happened, and I didn't want you to know I was in difficulties. I shouldn't have been surprised if you'd just told me I'd only got what I deserved." "You don't know me very well, do you, even now?" For a moment he remembered all the anguish he had suffered on her account, and he was sick with the recollection of his pain. But it was no more than recollection. When he looked at her he knew that he no longer loved her. He was very sorry for her, but he was glad to be free. Watching her gravely, he asked himself why he had been so besotted with passion for her. "You're a gentleman in every sense of the word," she said. "You're the only one I've ever met." She paused for a minute and then flushed. "I hate asking you, Philip, but can you spare me anything?" "It's lucky I've got some money on me. I'm afraid I've only got two pounds." He gave her the sovereigns. "I'll pay you back, Philip." "Oh, that's all right," he smiled. "You needn't worry." He had said nothing that he wanted to say. They had talked as if the whole thing were natural; and it looked as though she would go now, back to the horror of her life, and he would be able to do nothing to prevent it. She had got up to take the money, and they were both standing. "Am I keeping you?" she asked. "I suppose you want to be getting home." "No, I'm in no hurry," he answered. "I'm glad to have a chance of sitting down." Those words, with all they implied, tore his heart, and it was dreadfully painful to see the weary way in which she sank back into the chair. The silence lasted so long that Philip in his embarrassment lit a cigarette. "It's very good of you not to have said anything disagreeable to me, Philip. I thought you might say I didn't know what all." He saw that she was crying again. He remembered how she had come to him when Emil Miller had deserted her and how she had wept. The recollection of her suffering and of his own humiliation seemed to render more overwhelming the compassion he felt now. "If I could only get out of it!" she moaned. "I hate it so. I'm unfit for the life, I'm not the sort of girl for that. I'd do anything to get away from it, I'd be a servant if I could. Oh, I wish I was dead." And in pity for herself she broke down now completely. She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. "Oh, you don't know what it is. Nobody knows till they've done it." Philip could not bear to see her cry. He was tortured by the horror of her position. "Poor child," he whispered. "Poor child." He was deeply moved. Suddenly he had an inspiration. It filled him with a perfect ecstasy of happiness. "Look here, if you want to get away from it, I've got an idea. I'm frightfully hard up just now, I've got to be as economical as I can; but I've got a sort of little flat now in Kennington and I've got a spare room. If you like you and the baby can come and live there. I pay a woman three and sixpence a week to keep the place clean and to do a little cooking for me. You could do that and your food wouldn't come to much more than the money I should save on her. It doesn't cost any more to feed two than one, and I don't suppose the baby eats much." She stopped crying and looked at him. "D'you mean to say that you could take me back after all that's happened?" Philip flushed a little in embarrassment at what he had to say. "I don't want you to mistake me. I'm just giving you a room which doesn't cost me anything and your food. I don't expect anything more from you than that you should do exactly the same as the woman I have in does. Except for that I don't want anything from you at all. I daresay you can cook well enough for that." She sprang to her feet and was about to come towards him. "You are good to me, Philip." "No, please stop where you are," he said hurriedly, putting out his hand as though to push her away. He did not know why it was, but he could not bear the thought that she should touch him. "I don't want to be anything more than a friend to you." "You are good to me," she repeated. "You are good to me." "Does that mean you'll come?" "Oh, yes, I'd do anything to get away from this. You'll never regret what you've done, Philip, never. When can I come, Philip?" "You'd better come tomorrow." Suddenly she burst into tears again. "What on earth are you crying for now?" he smiled. "I'm so grateful to you. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you?" "Oh, that's all right. You'd better go home now." He wrote out the address and told her that if she came at half past five he would be ready for her. It was so late that he had to walk home, but it did not seem a long way, for he was intoxicated with delight; he seemed to walk on air. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCI Next day he got up early to make the room ready for Mildred. He told the woman who had looked after him that he would not want her any more. Mildred came about six, and Philip, who was watching from the window, went down to let her in and help her to bring up the luggage: it consisted now of no more than three large parcels wrapped in brown paper, for she had been obliged to sell everything that was not absolutely needful. She wore the same black silk dress she had worn the night before, and, though she had now no rouge on her cheeks, there was still about her eyes the black which remained after a perfunctory wash in the morning: it made her look very ill. She was a pathetic figure as she stepped out of the cab with the baby in her arms. She seemed a little shy, and they found nothing but commonplace things to say to one another. "So you've got here all right." "I've never lived in this part of London before." Philip showed her the room. It was that in which Cronshaw had died. Philip, though he thought it absurd, had never liked the idea of going back to it; and since Cronshaw's death he had remained in the little room, sleeping on a fold-up bed, into which he had first moved in order to make his friend comfortable. The baby was sleeping placidly. "You don't recognise her, I expect," said Mildred. "I've not seen her since we took her down to Brighton." "Where shall I put her? She's so heavy I can't carry her very long." "I'm afraid I haven't got a cradle," said Philip, with a nervous laugh. "Oh, she'll sleep with me. She always does." Mildred put the baby in an arm-chair and looked round the room. She recognised most of the things which she had known in his old diggings. Only one thing was new, a head and shoulders of Philip which Lawson had painted at the end of the preceding summer; it hung over the chimney-piece; Mildred looked at it critically. "In some ways I like it and in some ways I don't. I think you're better looking than that." "Things are looking up," laughed Philip. "You've never told me I was good-looking before." "I'm not one to worry myself about a man's looks. I don't like good-looking men. They're too conceited for me." Her eyes travelled round the room in an instinctive search for a looking-glass, but there was none; she put up her hand and patted her large fringe. "What'll the other people in the house say to my being here?" she asked suddenly. "Oh, there's only a man and his wife living here. He's out all day, and I never see her except on Saturday to pay my rent. They keep entirely to themselves. I've not spoken two words to either of them since I came." Mildred went into the bedroom to undo her things and put them away. Philip tried to read, but his spirits were too high: he leaned back in his chair, smoking a cigarette, and with smiling eyes looked at the sleeping child. He felt very happy. He was quite sure that he was not at all in love with Mildred. He was surprised that the old feeling had left him so completely; he discerned in himself a faint physical repulsion from her; and he thought that if he touched her it would give him goose-flesh. He could not understand himself. Presently, knocking at the door, she came in again. "I say, you needn't knock," he said. "Have you made the tour of the mansion?" "It's the smallest kitchen I've ever seen." "You'll find it large enough to cook our sumptuous repasts," he retorted lightly. "I see there's nothing in. I'd better go out and get something." "Yes, but I venture to remind you that we must be devilish economical." "What shall I get for supper?" "You'd better get what you think you can cook," laughed Philip. He gave her some money and she went out. She came in half an hour later and put her purchases on the table. She was out of breath from climbing the stairs. "I say, you are anaemic," said Philip. "I'll have to dose you with Blaud's Pills." "It took me some time to find the shops. I bought some liver. That's tasty, isn't it? And you can't eat much of it, so it's more economical than butcher's meat." There was a gas stove in the kitchen, and when she had put the liver on, Mildred came into the sitting-room to lay the cloth. "Why are you only laying one place?" asked Philip. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" Mildred flushed. "I thought you mightn't like me to have my meals with you." "Why on earth not?" "Well, I'm only a servant, aren't I?" "Don't be an ass. How can you be so silly?" He smiled, but her humility gave him a curious twist in his heart. Poor thing! He remembered what she had been when first he knew her. He hesitated for an instant. "Don't think I'm conferring any benefit on you," he said. "It's simply a business arrangement, I'm giving you board and lodging in return for your work. You don't owe me anything. And there's nothing humiliating to you in it." She did not answer, but tears rolled heavily down her cheeks. Philip knew from his experience at the hospital that women of her class looked upon service as degrading: he could not help feeling a little impatient with her; but he blamed himself, for it was clear that she was tired and ill. He got up and helped her to lay another place at the table. The baby was awake now, and Mildred had prepared some Mellin's Food for it. The liver and bacon were ready and they sat down. For economy's sake Philip had given up drinking anything but water, but he had in the house a half a bottle of whiskey, and he thought a little would do Mildred good. He did his best to make the supper pass cheerfully, but Mildred was subdued and exhausted. When they had finished she got up to put the baby to bed. "I think you'll do well to turn in early yourself," said Philip. "You look absolute done up." "I think I will after I've washed up." Philip lit his pipe and began to read. It was pleasant to hear somebody moving about in the next room. Sometimes his loneliness had oppressed him. Mildred came in to clear the table, and he heard the clatter of plates as she washed up. Philip smiled as he thought how characteristic it was of her that she should do all that in a black silk dress. But he had work to do, and he brought his book up to the table. He was reading Osler's Medicine, which had recently taken the place in the students' favour of Taylor's work, for many years the text-book most in use. Presently Mildred came in, rolling down her sleeves. Philip gave her a casual glance, but did not move; the occasion was curious, and he felt a little nervous. He feared that Mildred might imagine he was going to make a nuisance of himself, and he did not quite know how without brutality to reassure her. "By the way, I've got a lecture at nine, so I should want breakfast at a quarter past eight. Can you manage that?" "Oh, yes. Why, when I was in Parliament Street I used to catch the eight-twelve from Herne Hill every morning." "I hope you'll find your room comfortable. You'll be a different woman tomorrow after a long night in bed." "I suppose you work till late?" "I generally work till about eleven or half-past." "I'll say good-night then." "Good-night." The table was between them. He did not offer to shake hands with her. She shut the door quietly. He heard her moving about in the bed-room, and in a little while he heard the creaking of the bed as she got in. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCII The following day was Tuesday. Philip as usual hurried through his breakfast and dashed off to get to his lecture at nine. He had only time to exchange a few words with Mildred. When he came back in the evening he found her seated at the window, darning his socks. "I say, you are industrious," he smiled. "What have you been doing with yourself all day?" "Oh, I gave the place a good cleaning and then I took baby out for a little." She was wearing an old black dress, the same as she had worn as uniform when she served in the tea-shop; it was shabby, but she looked better in it than in the silk of the day before. The baby was sitting on the floor. She looked up at Philip with large, mysterious eyes and broke into a laugh when he sat down beside her and began playing with her bare toes. The afternoon sun came into the room and shed a mellow light. "It's rather jolly to come back and find someone about the place. A woman and a baby make very good decoration in a room." He had gone to the hospital dispensary and got a bottle of Blaud's Pills, He gave them to Mildred and told her she must take them after each meal. It was a remedy she was used to, for she had taken it off and on ever since she was sixteen. "I'm sure Lawson would love that green skin of yours," said Philip. "He'd say it was so paintable, but I'm terribly matter of fact nowadays, and I shan't be happy till you're as pink and white as a milkmaid." "I feel better already." After a frugal supper Philip filled his pouch with tobacco and put on his hat. It was on Tuesdays that he generally went to the tavern in Beak Street, and he was glad that this day came so soon after Mildred's arrival, for he wanted to make his relations with her perfectly clear. "Are you going out?" she said. "Yes, on Tuesdays I give myself a night off. I shall see you tomorrow. Good-night." Philip always went to the tavern with a sense of pleasure. Macalister, the philosophic stockbroker, was generally there and glad to argue upon any subject under the sun; Hayward came regularly when he was in London; and though he and Macalister disliked one another they continued out of habit to meet on that one evening in the week. Macalister thought Hayward a poor creature, and sneered at his delicacies of sentiment: he asked satirically about Hayward's literary work and received with scornful smiles his vague suggestions of future masterpieces; their arguments were often heated; but the punch was good, and they were both fond of it; towards the end of the evening they generally composed their differences and thought each other capital fellows. This evening Philip found them both there, and Lawson also; Lawson came more seldom now that he was beginning to know people in London and went out to dinner a good deal. They were all on excellent terms with themselves, for Macalister had given them a good thing on the Stock Exchange, and Hayward and Lawson had made fifty pounds apiece. It was a great thing for Lawson, who was extravagant and earned little money: he had arrived at that stage of the portrait-painter's career when he was noticed a good deal by the critics and found a number of aristocratic ladies who were willing to allow him to paint them for nothing (it advertised them both, and gave the great ladies quite an air of patronesses of the arts); but he very seldom got hold of the solid philistine who was ready to pay good money for a portrait of his wife. Lawson was brimming over with satisfaction. "It's the most ripping way of making money that I've ever struck," he cried. "I didn't have to put my hand in my pocket for sixpence." "You lost something by not being here last Tuesday, young man," said Macalister to Philip. "My God, why didn't you write to me?" said Philip. "If you only knew how useful a hundred pounds would be to me." "Oh, there wasn't time for that. One has to be on the spot. I heard of a good thing last Tuesday, and I asked these fellows if they'd like to have a flutter, I bought them a thousand shares on Wednesday morning, and there was a rise in the afternoon so I sold them at once. I made fifty pounds for each of them and a couple of hundred for myself." Philip was sick with envy. He had recently sold the last mortgage in which his small fortune had been invested and now had only six hundred pounds left. He was panic-stricken sometimes when he thought of the future. He had still to keep himself for two years before he could be qualified, and then he meant to try for hospital appointments, so that he could not expect to earn anything for three years at least. With the most rigid economy he would not have more than a hundred pounds left then. It was very little to have as a stand-by in case he was ill and could not earn money or found himself at any time without work. A lucky gamble would make all the difference to him. "Oh, well, it doesn't matter," said Macalister. "Something is sure to turn up soon. There'll be a boom in South Africans again one of these days, and then I'll see what I can do for you." Macalister was in the Kaffir market and often told them stories of the sudden fortunes that had been made in the great boom of a year or two back. "Well, don't forget next time." They sat on talking till nearly midnight, and Philip, who lived furthest off, was the first to go. If he did not catch the last tram he had to walk, and that made him very late. As it was he did not reach home till nearly half past twelve. When he got upstairs he was surprised to find Mildred still sitting in his arm-chair. "Why on earth aren't you in bed?" he cried. "I wasn't sleepy." "You ought to go to bed all the same. It would rest you." She did not move. He noticed that since supper she had changed into her black silk dress. "I thought I'd rather wait up for you in case you wanted anything." She looked at him, and the shadow of a smile played upon her thin pale lips. Philip was not sure whether he understood or not. He was slightly embarrassed, but assumed a cheerful, matter-of-fact air. "It's very nice of you, but it's very naughty also. Run off to bed as fast as you can, or you won't be able to get up tomorrow morning." "I don't feel like going to bed." "Nonsense," he said coldly. She got up, a little sulkily, and went into her room. He smiled when he heard her lock the door loudly. The next few days passed without incident. Mildred settled down in her new surroundings. When Philip hurried off after breakfast she had the whole morning to do the housework. They ate very simply, but she liked to take a long time to buy the few things they needed; she could not be bothered to cook anything for her dinner, but made herself some cocoa and ate bread and butter; then she took the baby out in the gocart, and when she came in spent the rest of the afternoon in idleness. She was tired out, and it suited her to do so little. She made friends with Philip's forbidding landlady over the rent, which he left with Mildred to pay, and within a week was able to tell him more about his neighbours than he had learned in a year. "She's a very nice woman," said Mildred. "Quite the lady. I told her we was married." "D'you think that was necessary?" "Well, I had to tell her something. It looks so funny me being here and not married to you. I didn't know what she'd think of me." "I don't suppose she believed you for a moment." "That she did, I lay. I told her we'd been married two years--I had to say that, you know, because of baby--only your people wouldn't hear of it, because you was only a student"--she pronounced it stoodent--"and so we had to keep it a secret, but they'd given way now and we were all going down to stay with them in the summer." "You're a past mistress of the cock-and-bull story," said Philip. He was vaguely irritated that Mildred still had this passion for telling fibs. In the last two years she had learnt nothing. But he shrugged his shoulders. "When all's said and done," he reflected, "she hasn't had much chance." It was a beautiful evening, warm and cloudless, and the people of South London seemed to have poured out into the streets. There was that restlessness in the air which seizes the cockney sometimes when a turn in the weather calls him into the open. After Mildred had cleared away the supper she went and stood at the window. The street noises came up to them, noises of people calling to one another, of the passing traffic, of a barrel-organ in the distance. "I suppose you must work tonight, Philip?" she asked him, with a wistful expression. "I ought, but I don't know that I must. Why, d'you want me to do anything else?" "I'd like to go out for a bit. Couldn't we take a ride on the top of a tram?" "If you like." "I'll just go and put on my hat," she said joyfully. The night made it almost impossible to stay indoors. The baby was asleep and could be safely left; Mildred said she had always left it alone at night when she went out; it never woke. She was in high spirits when she came back with her hat on. She had taken the opportunity to put on a little rouge. Philip thought it was excitement which had brought a faint colour to her pale cheeks; he was touched by her child-like delight, and reproached himself for the austerity with which he had treated her. She laughed when she got out into the air. The first tram they saw was going towards Westminster Bridge and they got on it. Philip smoked his pipe, and they looked at the crowded street. The shops were open, gaily lit, and people were doing their shopping for the next day. They passed a music-hall called the Canterbury and Mildred cried out: "Oh, Philip, do let's go there. I haven't been to a music-hall for months." "We can't afford stalls, you know." "Oh, I don't mind, I shall be quite happy in the gallery." They got down and walked back a hundred yards till they came to the doors. They got capital seats for sixpence each, high up but not in the gallery, and the night was so fine that there was plenty of room. Mildred's eyes glistened. She enjoyed herself thoroughly. There was a simple-mindedness in her which touched Philip. She was a puzzle to him. Certain things in her still pleased him, and he thought that there was a lot in her which was very good: she had been badly brought up, and her life was hard; he had blamed her for much that she could not help; and it was his own fault if he had asked virtues from her which it was not in her power to give. Under different circumstances she might have been a charming girl. She was extraordinarily unfit for the battle of life. As he watched her now in profile, her mouth slightly open and that delicate flush on her cheeks, he thought she looked strangely virginal. He felt an overwhelming compassion for her, and with all his heart he forgave her for the misery she had caused him. The smoky atmosphere made Philip's eyes ache, but when he suggested going she turned to him with beseeching face and asked him to stay till the end. He smiled and consented. She took his hand and held it for the rest of the performance. When they streamed out with the audience into the crowded street she did not want to go home; they wandered up the Westminster Bridge Road, looking at the people. "I've not had such a good time as this for months," she said. Philip's heart was full, and he was thankful to the fates because he had carried out his sudden impulse to take Mildred and her baby into his flat. It was very pleasant to see her happy gratitude. At last she grew tired and they jumped on a tram to go home; it was late now, and when they got down and turned into their own street there was no one about. Mildred slipped her arm through his. "It's just like old times, Phil," she said. She had never called him Phil before, that was what Griffiths called him; and even now it gave him a curious pang. He remembered how much he had wanted to die then; his pain had been so great that he had thought quite seriously of committing suicide. It all seemed very long ago. He smiled at his past self. Now he felt nothing for Mildred but infinite pity. They reached the house, and when they got into the sitting-room Philip lit the gas. "Is the baby all right?" he asked. "I'll just go in and see." When she came back it was to say that it had not stirred since she left it. It was a wonderful child. Philip held out his hand. "Well, good-night." "D'you want to go to bed already?" "It's nearly one. I'm not used to late hours these days," said Philip. She took his hand and holding it looked into his eyes with a little smile. "Phil, the other night in that room, when you asked me to come and stay here, I didn't mean what you thought I meant, when you said you didn't want me to be anything to you except just to cook and that sort of thing." "Didn't you?" answered Philip, withdrawing his hand. "I did." "Don't be such an old silly," she laughed. He shook his head. "I meant it quite seriously. I shouldn't have asked you to stay here on any other condition." "Why not?" "I feel I couldn't. I can't explain it, but it would spoil it all." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, very well, it's just as you choose. I'm not one to go down on my hands and knees for that, and chance it." She went out, slamming the door behind her. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCIII Next morning Mildred was sulky and taciturn. She remained in her room till it was time to get the dinner ready. She was a bad cook and could do little more than chops and steaks; and she did not know how to use up odds and ends, so that Philip was obliged to spend more money than he had expected. When she served up she sat down opposite Philip, but would eat nothing; he remarked on it; she said she had a bad headache and was not hungry. He was glad that he had somewhere to spend the rest of the day; the Athelnys were cheerful and friendly. It was a delightful and an unexpected thing to realise that everyone in that household looked forward with pleasure to his visit. Mildred had gone to bed when he came back, but next day she was still silent. At supper she sat with a haughty expression on her face and a little frown between her eyes. It made Philip impatient, but he told himself that he must be considerate to her; he was bound to make allowance. "You're very silent," he said, with a pleasant smile. "I'm paid to cook and clean, I didn't know I was expected to talk as well." He thought it an ungracious answer, but if they were going to live together he must do all he could to make things go easily. "I'm afraid you're cross with me about the other night," he said. It was an awkward thing to speak about, but apparently it was necessary to discuss it. "I don't know what you mean," she answered. "Please don't be angry with me. I should never have asked you to come and live here if I'd not meant our relations to be merely friendly. I suggested it because I thought you wanted a home and you would have a chance of looking about for something to do." "Oh, don't think I care." "I don't for a moment," he hastened to say. "You mustn't think I'm ungrateful. I realise that you only proposed it for my sake. It's just a feeling I have, and I can't help it, it would make the whole thing ugly and horrid." "You are funny," she said, looking at him curiously. "I can't make you out." She was not angry with him now, but puzzled; she had no idea what he meant: she accepted the situation, she had indeed a vague feeling that he was behaving in a very noble fashion and that she ought to admire it; but also she felt inclined to laugh at him and perhaps even to despise him a little. "He's a rum customer," she thought. Life went smoothly enough with them. Philip spent all day at the hospital and worked at home in the evening except when he went to the Athelnys' or to the tavern in Beak Street. Once the physician for whom he clerked asked him to a solemn dinner, and two or three times he went to parties given by fellow-students. Mildred accepted the monotony of her life. If she minded that Philip left her sometimes by herself in the evening she never mentioned it. Occasionally he took her to a music hall. He carried out his intention that the only tie between them should be the domestic service she did in return for board and lodging. She had made up her mind that it was no use trying to get work that summer, and with Philip's approval determined to stay where she was till the autumn. She thought it would be easy to get something to do then. "As far as I'm concerned you can stay on here when you've got a job if it's convenient. The room's there, and the woman who did for me before can come in to look after the baby." He grew very much attached to Mildred's child. He had a naturally affectionate disposition, which had had little opportunity to display itself. Mildred was not unkind to the little girl. She looked after her very well and once when she had a bad cold proved herself a devoted nurse; but the child bored her, and she spoke to her sharply when she bothered; she was fond of her, but had not the maternal passion which might have induced her to forget herself. Mildred had no demonstrativeness, and she found the manifestations of affection ridiculous. When Philip sat with the baby on his knees, playing with it and kissing it, she laughed at him. "You couldn't make more fuss of her if you was her father," she said. "You're perfectly silly with the child." Philip flushed, for he hated to be laughed at. It was absurd to be so devoted to another man's baby, and he was a little ashamed of the overflowing of his heart. But the child, feeling Philip's attachment, would put her face against his or nestle in his arms. "It's all very fine for you," said Mildred. "You don't have any of the disagreeable part of it. How would you like being kept awake for an hour in the middle of the night because her ladyship wouldn't go to sleep?" Philip remembered all sorts of things of his childhood which he thought he had long forgotten. He took hold of the baby's toes. "This little pig went to market, this little pig stayed at home." When he came home in the evening and entered the sitting-room his first glance was for the baby sprawling on the floor, and it gave him a little thrill of delight to hear the child's crow of pleasure at seeing him. Mildred taught her to call him daddy, and when the child did this for the first time of her own accord, laughed immoderately. "I wonder if you're that stuck on baby because she's mine," asked Mildred, "or if you'd be the same with anybody's baby." "I've never known anybody else's baby, so I can't say," said Philip. Towards the end of his second term as in-patients' clerk a piece of good fortune befell Philip. It was the middle of July. He went one Tuesday evening to the tavern in Beak Street and found nobody there but Macalister. They sat together, chatting about their absent friends, and after a while Macalister said to him: "Oh, by the way, I heard of a rather good thing today, New Kleinfonteins; it's a gold mine in Rhodesia. If you'd like to have a flutter you might make a bit." Philip had been waiting anxiously for such an opportunity, but now that it came he hesitated. He was desperately afraid of losing money. He had little of the gambler's spirit. "I'd love to, but I don't know if I dare risk it. How much could I lose if things went wrong?" "I shouldn't have spoken of it, only you seemed so keen about it," Macalister answered coldly. Philip felt that Macalister looked upon him as rather a donkey. "I'm awfully keen on making a bit," he laughed. "You can't make money unless you're prepared to risk money." Macalister began to talk of other things and Philip, while he was answering him, kept thinking that if the venture turned out well the stockbroker would be very facetious at his expense next time they met. Macalister had a sarcastic tongue. "I think I will have a flutter if you don't mind," said Philip anxiously. "All right. I'll buy you two hundred and fifty shares and if I see a half-crown rise I'll sell them at once." Philip quickly reckoned out how much that would amount to, and his mouth watered; thirty pounds would be a godsend just then, and he thought the fates owed him something. He told Mildred what he had done when he saw her at breakfast next morning. She thought him very silly. "I never knew anyone who made money on the Stock Exchange," she said. "That's what Emil always said, you can't expect to make money on the Stock Exchange, he said." Philip bought an evening paper on his way home and turned at once to the money columns. He knew nothing about these things and had difficulty in finding the stock which Macalister had spoken of. He saw they had advanced a quarter. His heart leaped, and then he felt sick with apprehension in case Macalister had forgotten or for some reason had not bought. Macalister had promised to telegraph. Philip could not wait to take a tram home. He jumped into a cab. It was an unwonted extravagance. "Is there a telegram for me?" he said, as he burst in. "No," said Mildred. His face fell, and in bitter disappointment he sank heavily into a chair. "Then he didn't buy them for me after all. Curse him," he added violently. "What cruel luck! And I've been thinking all day of what I'd do with the money." "Why, what were you going to do?" she asked. "What's the good of thinking about that now? Oh, I wanted the money so badly." She gave a laugh and handed him a telegram. "I was only having a joke with you. I opened it." He tore it out of her hands. Macalister had bought him two hundred and fifty shares and sold them at the half-crown profit he had suggested. The commission note was to follow next day. For one moment Philip was furious with Mildred for her cruel jest, but then he could only think of his joy. "It makes such a difference to me," he cried. "I'll stand you a new dress if you like." "I want it badly enough," she answered. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to be operated upon at the end of July." "Why, have you got something the matter with you?" she interrupted. It struck her that an illness she did not know might explain what had so much puzzled her. He flushed, for he hated to refer to his deformity. "No, but they think they can do something to my foot. I couldn't spare the time before, but now it doesn't matter so much. I shall start my dressing in October instead of next month. I shall only be in hospital a few weeks and then we can go away to the seaside for the rest of the summer. It'll do us all good, you and the baby and me." "Oh, let's go to Brighton, Philip, I like Brighton, you get such a nice class of people there." Philip had vaguely thought of some little fishing village in Cornwall, but as she spoke it occurred to him that Mildred would be bored to death there. "I don't mind where we go as long as I get the sea." He did not know why, but he had suddenly an irresistible longing for the sea. He wanted to bathe, and he thought with delight of splashing about in the salt water. He was a good swimmer, and nothing exhilarated him like a rough sea. "I say, it will be jolly," he cried. "It'll be like a honeymoon, won't it?" she said. "How much can I have for my new dress, Phil?" </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCIV Philip asked Mr. Jacobs, the assistant-surgeon for whom he had dressed, to do the operation. Jacobs accepted with pleasure, since he was interested just then in neglected talipes and was getting together materials for a paper. He warned Philip that he could not make his foot like the other, but he thought he could do a good deal; and though he would always limp he would be able to wear a boot less unsightly than that which he had been accustomed to. Philip remembered how he had prayed to a God who was able to remove mountains for him who had faith, and he smiled bitterly. "I don't expect a miracle," he answered. "I think you're wise to let me try what I can do. You'll find a club-foot rather a handicap in practice. The layman is full of fads, and he doesn't like his doctor to have anything the matter with him." Philip went into a 'small ward', which was a room on the landing, outside each ward, reserved for special cases. He remained there a month, for the surgeon would not let him go till he could walk; and, bearing the operation very well, he had a pleasant enough time. Lawson and Athelny came to see him, and one day Mrs. Athelny brought two of her children; students whom he knew looked in now and again to have a chat; Mildred came twice a week. Everyone was very kind to him, and Philip, always surprised when anyone took trouble with him, was touched and grateful. He enjoyed the relief from care; he need not worry there about the future, neither whether his money would last out nor whether he would pass his final examinations; and he could read to his heart's content. He had not been able to read much of late, since Mildred disturbed him: she would make an aimless remark when he was trying to concentrate his attention, and would not be satisfied unless he answered; whenever he was comfortably settled down with a book she would want something done and would come to him with a cork she could not draw or a hammer to drive in a nail. They settled to go to Brighton in August. Philip wanted to take lodgings, but Mildred said that she would have to do housekeeping, and it would only be a holiday for her if they went to a boarding-house. "I have to see about the food every day at home, I get that sick of it I want a thorough change." Philip agreed, and it happened that Mildred knew of a boarding-house at Kemp Town where they would not be charged more than twenty-five shillings a week each. She arranged with Philip to write about rooms, but when he got back to Kennington he found that she had done nothing. He was irritated. "I shouldn't have thought you had so much to do as all that," he said. "Well, I can't think of everything. It's not my fault if I forget, is it?" Philip was so anxious to get to the sea that he would not wait to communicate with the mistress of the boarding-house. "We'll leave the luggage at the station and go to the house and see if they've got rooms, and if they have we can just send an outside porter for our traps." "You can please yourself," said Mildred stiffly. She did not like being reproached, and, retiring huffily into a haughty silence, she sat by listlessly while Philip made the preparations for their departure. The little flat was hot and stuffy under the August sun, and from the road beat up a malodorous sultriness. As he lay in his bed in the small ward with its red, distempered walls he had longed for fresh air and the splashing of the sea against his breast. He felt he would go mad if he had to spend another night in London. Mildred recovered her good temper when she saw the streets of Brighton crowded with people making holiday, and they were both in high spirits as they drove out to Kemp Town. Philip stroked the baby's cheek. "We shall get a very different colour into them when we've been down here a few days," he said, smiling. They arrived at the boarding-house and dismissed the cab. An untidy maid opened the door and, when Philip asked if they had rooms, said she would inquire. She fetched her mistress. A middle-aged woman, stout and business-like, came downstairs, gave them the scrutinising glance of her profession, and asked what accommodation they required. "Two single rooms, and if you've got such a thing we'd rather like a cot in one of them." "I'm afraid I haven't got that. I've got one nice large double room, and I could let you have a cot." "I don't think that would do," said Philip. "I could give you another room next week. Brighton's very full just now, and people have to take what they can get." "If it were only for a few days, Philip, I think we might be able to manage," said Mildred. "I think two rooms would be more convenient. Can you recommend any other place where they take boarders?" "I can, but I don't suppose they'd have room any more than I have." "Perhaps you wouldn't mind giving me the address." The house the stout woman suggested was in the next street, and they walked towards it. Philip could walk quite well, though he had to lean on a stick, and he was rather weak. Mildred carried the baby. They went for a little in silence, and then he saw she was crying. It annoyed him, and he took no notice, but she forced his attention. "Lend me a hanky, will you? I can't get at mine with baby," she said in a voice strangled with sobs, turning her head away from him. He gave her his handkerchief, but said nothing. She dried her eyes, and as he did not speak, went on. "I might be poisonous." "Please don't make a scene in the street," he said. "It'll look so funny insisting on separate rooms like that. What'll they think of us?" "If they knew the circumstances I imagine they'd think us surprisingly moral," said Philip. She gave him a sidelong glance. "You're not going to give it away that we're not married?" she asked quickly. "No." "Why won't you live with me as if we were married then?" "My dear, I can't explain. I don't want to humiliate you, but I simply can't. I daresay it's very silly and unreasonable, but it's stronger than I am. I loved you so much that now..." he broke off. "After all, there's no accounting for that sort of thing." "A fat lot you must have loved me!" she exclaimed. The boarding-house to which they had been directed was kept by a bustling maiden lady, with shrewd eyes and voluble speech. They could have one double room for twenty-five shillings a week each, and five shillings extra for the baby, or they could have two single rooms for a pound a week more. "I have to charge that much more," the woman explained apologetically, "because if I'm pushed to it I can put two beds even in the single rooms." "I daresay that won't ruin us. What do you think, Mildred?" "Oh, I don't mind. Anything's good enough for me," she answered. Philip passed off her sulky reply with a laugh, and, the landlady having arranged to send for their luggage, they sat down to rest themselves. Philip's foot was hurting him a little, and he was glad to put it up on a chair. "I suppose you don't mind my sitting in the same room with you," said Mildred aggressively. "Don't let's quarrel, Mildred," he said gently. "I didn't know you was so well off you could afford to throw away a pound a week." "Don't be angry with me. I assure you it's the only way we can live together at all." "I suppose you despise me, that's it." "Of course I don't. Why should I?" "It's so unnatural." "Is it? You're not in love with me, are you?" "Me? Who d'you take me for?" "It's not as if you were a very passionate woman, you're not that." "It's so humiliating," she said sulkily. "Oh, I wouldn't fuss about that if I were you." There were about a dozen people in the boarding-house. They ate in a narrow, dark room at a long table, at the head of which the landlady sat and carved. The food was bad. The landlady called it French cooking, by which she meant that the poor quality of the materials was disguised by ill-made sauces: plaice masqueraded as sole and New Zealand mutton as lamb. The kitchen was small and inconvenient, so that everything was served up lukewarm. The people were dull and pretentious; old ladies with elderly maiden daughters; funny old bachelors with mincing ways; pale-faced, middle-aged clerks with wives, who talked of their married daughters and their sons who were in a very good position in the Colonies. At table they discussed Miss Corelli's latest novel; some of them liked Lord Leighton better than Mr. Alma-Tadema, and some of them liked Mr. Alma-Tadema better than Lord Leighton. Mildred soon told the ladies of her romantic marriage with Philip; and he found himself an object of interest because his family, county people in a very good position, had cut him off with a shilling because he married while he was only a stoodent; and Mildred's father, who had a large place down Devonshire way, wouldn't do anything for them because she had married Philip. That was why they had come to a boarding-house and had not a nurse for the baby; but they had to have two rooms because they were both used to a good deal of accommodation and they didn't care to be cramped. The other visitors also had explanations of their presence: one of the single gentlemen generally went to the Metropole for his holiday, but he liked cheerful company and you couldn't get that at one of those expensive hotels; and the old lady with the middle-aged daughter was having her beautiful house in London done up and she said to her daughter: "Gwennie, my dear, we must have a cheap holiday this year," and so they had come there, though of course it wasn't at all the kind of thing they were used to. Mildred found them all very superior, and she hated a lot of common, rough people. She liked gentlemen to be gentlemen in every sense of the word. "When people are gentlemen and ladies," she said, "I like them to be gentlemen and ladies." The remark seemed cryptic to Philip, but when he heard her say it two or three times to different persons, and found that it aroused hearty agreement, he came to the conclusion that it was only obscure to his own intelligence. It was the first time that Philip and Mildred had been thrown entirely together. In London he did not see her all day, and when he came home the household affairs, the baby, the neighbours, gave them something to talk about till he settled down to work. Now he spent the whole day with her. After breakfast they went down to the beach; the morning went easily enough with a bathe and a stroll along the front; the evening, which they spent on the pier, having put the baby to bed, was tolerable, for there was music to listen to and a constant stream of people to look at; (Philip amused himself by imagining who they were and weaving little stories about them; he had got into the habit of answering Mildred's remarks with his mouth only so that his thoughts remained undisturbed;) but the afternoons were long and dreary. They sat on the beach. Mildred said they must get all the benefit they could out of Doctor Brighton, and he could not read because Mildred made observations frequently about things in general. If he paid no attention she complained. "Oh, leave that silly old book alone. It can't be good for you always reading. You'll addle your brain, that's what you'll do, Philip." "Oh, rot!" he answered. "Besides, it's so unsociable." He discovered that it was difficult to talk to her. She had not even the power of attending to what she was herself saying, so that a dog running in front of her or the passing of a man in a loud blazer would call forth a remark and then she would forget what she had been speaking of. She had a bad memory for names, and it irritated her not to be able to think of them, so that she would pause in the middle of some story to rack her brains. Sometimes she had to give it up, but it often occurred to her afterwards, and when Philip was talking of something she would interrupt him. "Collins, that was it. I knew it would come back to me some time. Collins, that's the name I couldn't remember." It exasperated him because it showed that she was not listening to anything he said, and yet, if he was silent, she reproached him for sulkiness. Her mind was of an order that could not deal for five minutes with the abstract, and when Philip gave way to his taste for generalising she very quickly showed that she was bored. Mildred dreamt a great deal, and she had an accurate memory for her dreams, which she would relate every day with prolixity. One morning he received a long letter from Thorpe Athelny. He was taking his holiday in the theatrical way, in which there was much sound sense, which characterised him. He had done the same thing for ten years. He took his whole family to a hop-field in Kent, not far from Mrs. Athelny's home, and they spent three weeks hopping. It kept them in the open air, earned them money, much to Mrs. Athelny's satisfaction, and renewed their contact with mother earth. It was upon this that Athelny laid stress. The sojourn in the fields gave them a new strength; it was like a magic ceremony, by which they renewed their youth and the power of their limbs and the sweetness of the spirit: Philip had heard him say many fantastic, rhetorical, and picturesque things on the subject. Now Athelny invited him to come over for a day, he had certain meditations on Shakespeare and the musical glasses which he desired to impart, and the children were clamouring for a sight of Uncle Philip. Philip read the letter again in the afternoon when he was sitting with Mildred on the beach. He thought of Mrs. Athelny, cheerful mother of many children, with her kindly hospitality and her good humour; of Sally, grave for her years, with funny little maternal ways and an air of authority, with her long plait of fair hair and her broad forehead; and then in a bunch of all the others, merry, boisterous, healthy, and handsome. His heart went out to them. There was one quality which they had that he did not remember to have noticed in people before, and that was goodness. It had not occurred to him till now, but it was evidently the beauty of their goodness which attracted him. In theory he did not believe in it: if morality were no more than a matter of convenience good and evil had no meaning. He did not like to be illogical, but here was simple goodness, natural and without effort, and he thought it beautiful. Meditating, he slowly tore the letter into little pieces; he did not see how he could go without Mildred, and he did not want to go with her. It was very hot, the sky was cloudless, and they had been driven to a shady corner. The baby was gravely playing with stones on the beach, and now and then she crawled up to Philip and gave him one to hold, then took it away again and placed it carefully down. She was playing a mysterious and complicated game known only to herself. Mildred was asleep. She lay with her head thrown back and her mouth slightly open; her legs were stretched out, and her boots protruded from her petticoats in a grotesque fashion. His eyes had been resting on her vaguely, but now he looked at her with peculiar attention. He remembered how passionately he had loved her, and he wondered why now he was entirely indifferent to her. The change in him filled him with dull pain. It seemed to him that all he had suffered had been sheer waste. The touch of her hand had filled him with ecstasy; he had desired to enter into her soul so that he could share every thought with her and every feeling; he had suffered acutely because, when silence had fallen between them, a remark of hers showed how far their thoughts had travelled apart, and he had rebelled against the unsurmountable wall which seemed to divide every personality from every other. He found it strangely tragic that he had loved her so madly and now loved her not at all. Sometimes he hated her. She was incapable of learning, and the experience of life had taught her nothing. She was as unmannerly as she had always been. It revolted Philip to hear the insolence with which she treated the hard-worked servant at the boarding-house. Presently he considered his own plans. At the end of his fourth year he would be able to take his examination in midwifery, and a year more would see him qualified. Then he might manage a journey to Spain. He wanted to see the pictures which he knew only from photographs; he felt deeply that El Greco held a secret of peculiar moment to him; and he fancied that in Toledo he would surely find it out. He did not wish to do things grandly, and on a hundred pounds he might live for six months in Spain: if Macalister put him on to another good thing he could make that easily. His heart warmed at the thought of those old beautiful cities, and the tawny plains of Castile. He was convinced that more might be got out of life than offered itself at present, and he thought that in Spain he could live with greater intensity: it might be possible to practise in one of those old cities, there were a good many foreigners, passing or resident, and he should be able to pick up a living. But that would be much later; first he must get one or two hospital appointments; they gave experience and made it easy to get jobs afterwards. He wished to get a berth as ship's doctor on one of the large tramps that took things leisurely enough for a man to see something of the places at which they stopped. He wanted to go to the East; and his fancy was rich with pictures of Bangkok and Shanghai, and the ports of Japan: he pictured to himself palm-trees and skies blue and hot, dark-skinned people, pagodas; the scents of the Orient intoxicated his nostrils. His heart beat with passionate desire for the beauty and the strangeness of the world. Mildred awoke. "I do believe I've been asleep," she said. "Now then, you naughty girl, what have you been doing to yourself? Her dress was clean yesterday and just look at it now, Philip." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCV When they returned to London Philip began his dressing in the surgical wards. He was not so much interested in surgery as in medicine, which, a more empirical science, offered greater scope to the imagination. The work was a little harder than the corresponding work on the medical side. There was a lecture from nine till ten, when he went into the wards; there wounds had to be dressed, stitches taken out, bandages renewed: Philip prided himself a little on his skill in bandaging, and it amused him to wring a word of approval from a nurse. On certain afternoons in the week there were operations; and he stood in the well of the theatre, in a white jacket, ready to hand the operating surgeon any instrument he wanted or to sponge the blood away so that he could see what he was about. When some rare operation was to be performed the theatre would fill up, but generally there were not more than half a dozen students present, and then the proceedings had a cosiness which Philip enjoyed. At that time the world at large seemed to have a passion for appendicitis, and a good many cases came to the operating theatre for this complaint: the surgeon for whom Philip dressed was in friendly rivalry with a colleague as to which could remove an appendix in the shortest time and with the smallest incision. In due course Philip was put on accident duty. The dressers took this in turn; it lasted three days, during which they lived in hospital and ate their meals in the common-room; they had a room on the ground floor near the casualty ward, with a bed that shut up during the day into a cupboard. The dresser on duty had to be at hand day and night to see to any casualty that came in. You were on the move all the time, and not more than an hour or two passed during the night without the clanging of the bell just above your head which made you leap out of bed instinctively. Saturday night was of course the busiest time and the closing of the public-houses the busiest hour. Men would be brought in by the police dead drunk and it would be necessary to administer a stomach-pump; women, rather the worse for liquor themselves, would come in with a wound on the head or a bleeding nose which their husbands had given them: some would vow to have the law on him, and others, ashamed, would declare that it had been an accident. What the dresser could manage himself he did, but if there was anything important he sent for the house-surgeon: he did this with care, since the house-surgeon was not vastly pleased to be dragged down five flights of stairs for nothing. The cases ranged from a cut finger to a cut throat. Boys came in with hands mangled by some machine, men were brought who had been knocked down by a cab, and children who had broken a limb while playing: now and then attempted suicides were carried in by the police: Philip saw a ghastly, wild-eyed man with a great gash from ear to ear, and he was in the ward for weeks afterwards in charge of a constable, silent, angry because he was alive, and sullen; he made no secret of the fact that he would try again to kill himself as soon as he was released. The wards were crowded, and the house-surgeon was faced with a dilemma when patients were brought in by the police: if they were sent on to the station and died there disagreeable things were said in the papers; and it was very difficult sometimes to tell if a man was dying or drunk. Philip did not go to bed till he was tired out, so that he should not have the bother of getting up again in an hour; and he sat in the casualty ward talking in the intervals of work with the night-nurse. She was a gray-haired woman of masculine appearance, who had been night-nurse in the casualty department for twenty years. She liked the work because she was her own mistress and had no sister to bother her. Her movements were slow, but she was immensely capable and she never failed in an emergency. The dressers, often inexperienced or nervous, found her a tower of strength. She had seen thousands of them, and they made no impression upon her: she always called them Mr. Brown; and when they expostulated and told her their real names, she merely nodded and went on calling them Mr. Brown. It interested Philip to sit with her in the bare room, with its two horse-hair couches and the flaring gas, and listen to her. She had long ceased to look upon the people who came in as human beings; they were drunks, or broken arms, or cut throats. She took the vice and misery and cruelty of the world as a matter of course; she found nothing to praise or blame in human actions: she accepted. She had a certain grim humour. "I remember one suicide," she said to Philip, "who threw himself into the Thames. They fished him out and brought him here, and ten days later he developed typhoid fever from swallowing Thames water." "Did he die?" "Yes, he did all right. I could never make up my mind if it was suicide or not.... They're a funny lot, suicides. I remember one man who couldn't get any work to do and his wife died, so he pawned his clothes and bought a revolver; but he made a mess of it, he only shot out an eye and he got all right. And then, if you please, with an eye gone and a piece of his face blow away, he came to the conclusion that the world wasn't such a bad place after all, and he lived happily ever afterwards. Thing I've always noticed, people don't commit suicide for love, as you'd expect, that's just a fancy of novelists; they commit suicide because they haven't got any money. I wonder why that is." "I suppose money's more important than love," suggested Philip. Money was in any case occupying Philip's thoughts a good deal just then. He discovered the little truth there was in the airy saying which himself had repeated, that two could live as cheaply as one, and his expenses were beginning to worry him. Mildred was not a good manager, and it cost them as much to live as if they had eaten in restaurants; the child needed clothes, and Mildred boots, an umbrella, and other small things which it was impossible for her to do without. When they returned from Brighton she had announced her intention of getting a job, but she took no definite steps, and presently a bad cold laid her up for a fortnight. When she was well she answered one or two advertisements, but nothing came of it: either she arrived too late and the vacant place was filled, or the work was more than she felt strong enough to do. Once she got an offer, but the wages were only fourteen shillings a week, and she thought she was worth more than that. "It's no good letting oneself be put upon," she remarked. "People don't respect you if you let yourself go too cheap." "I don't think fourteen shillings is so bad," answered Philip, drily. He could not help thinking how useful it would be towards the expenses of the household, and Mildred was already beginning to hint that she did not get a place because she had not got a decent dress to interview employers in. He gave her the dress, and she made one or two more attempts, but Philip came to the conclusion that they were not serious. She did not want to work. The only way he knew to make money was on the Stock Exchange, and he was very anxious to repeat the lucky experiment of the summer; but war had broken out with the Transvaal and nothing was doing in South Africans. Macalister told him that Redvers Buller would march into Pretoria in a month and then everything would boom. The only thing was to wait patiently. What they wanted was a British reverse to knock things down a bit, and then it might be worth while buying. Philip began reading assiduously the 'city chat' of his favourite newspaper. He was worried and irritable. Once or twice he spoke sharply to Mildred, and since she was neither tactful nor patient she answered with temper, and they quarrelled. Philip always expressed his regret for what he had said, but Mildred had not a forgiving nature, and she would sulk for a couple of days. She got on his nerves in all sorts of ways; by the manner in which she ate, and by the untidiness which made her leave articles of clothing about their sitting-room: Philip was excited by the war and devoured the papers, morning and evening; but she took no interest in anything that happened. She had made the acquaintance of two or three people who lived in the street, and one of them had asked if she would like the curate to call on her. She wore a wedding-ring and called herself Mrs. Carey. On Philip's walls were two or three of the drawings which he had made in Paris, nudes, two of women and one of Miguel Ajuria, standing very square on his feet, with clenched fists. Philip kept them because they were the best things he had done, and they reminded him of happy days. Mildred had long looked at them with disfavour. "I wish you'd take those drawings down, Philip," she said to him at last. "Mrs. Foreman, of number thirteen, came in yesterday afternoon, and I didn't know which way to look. I saw her staring at them." "What's the matter with them?" "They're indecent. Disgusting, that's what I call it, to have drawings of naked people about. And it isn't nice for baby either. She's beginning to notice things now." "How can you be so vulgar?" "Vulgar? Modest, I call it. I've never said anything, but d'you think I like having to look at those naked people all day long." "Have you no sense of humour at all, Mildred?" he asked frigidly. "I don't know what sense of humour's got to do with it. I've got a good mind to take them down myself. If you want to know what I think about them, I think they're disgusting." "I don't want to know what you think about them, and I forbid you to touch them." When Mildred was cross with him she punished him through the baby. The little girl was as fond of Philip as he was of her, and it was her great pleasure every morning to crawl into his room (she was getting on for two now and could walk pretty well), and be taken up into his bed. When Mildred stopped this the poor child would cry bitterly. To Philip's remonstrances she replied: "I don't want her to get into habits." And if then he said anything more she said: "It's nothing to do with you what I do with my child. To hear you talk one would think you was her father. I'm her mother, and I ought to know what's good for her, oughtn't I?" Philip was exasperated by Mildred's stupidity; but he was so indifferent to her now that it was only at times she made him angry. He grew used to having her about. Christmas came, and with it a couple of days holiday for Philip. He brought some holly in and decorated the flat, and on Christmas Day he gave small presents to Mildred and the baby. There were only two of them so they could not have a turkey, but Mildred roasted a chicken and boiled a Christmas pudding which she had bought at a local grocer's. They stood themselves a bottle of wine. When they had dined Philip sat in his arm-chair by the fire, smoking his pipe; and the unaccustomed wine had made him forget for a while the anxiety about money which was so constantly with him. He felt happy and comfortable. Presently Mildred came in to tell him that the baby wanted him to kiss her good-night, and with a smile he went into Mildred's bed-room. Then, telling the child to go to sleep, he turned down the gas and, leaving the door open in case she cried, went back into the sitting-room. "Where are you going to sit?" he asked Mildred. "You sit in your chair. I'm going to sit on the floor." When he sat down she settled herself in front of the fire and leaned against his knees. He could not help remembering that this was how they had sat together in her rooms in the Vauxhall Bridge Road, but the positions had been reversed; it was he who had sat on the floor and leaned his head against her knee. How passionately he had loved her then! Now he felt for her a tenderness he had not known for a long time. He seemed still to feel twined round his neck the baby's soft little arms. "Are you comfy?" he asked. She looked up at him, gave a slight smile, and nodded. They gazed into the fire dreamily, without speaking to one another. At last she turned round and stared at him curiously. "D'you know that you haven't kissed me once since I came here?" she said suddenly. "D'you want me to?" he smiled. "I suppose you don't care for me in that way any more?" "I'm very fond of you." "You're much fonder of baby." He did not answer, and she laid her cheek against his hand. "You're not angry with me any more?" she asked presently, with her eyes cast down. "Why on earth should I be?" "I've never cared for you as I do now. It's only since I passed through the fire that I've learnt to love you." It chilled Philip to hear her make use of the sort of phrase she read in the penny novelettes which she devoured. Then he wondered whether what she said had any meaning for her: perhaps she knew no other way to express her genuine feelings than the stilted language of The Family Herald. "It seems so funny our living together like this." He did not reply for quite a long time, and silence fell upon them again; but at last he spoke and seemed conscious of no interval. "You mustn't be angry with me. One can't help these things. I remember that I thought you wicked and cruel because you did this, that, and the other; but it was very silly of me. You didn't love me, and it was absurd to blame you for that. I thought I could make you love me, but I know now that was impossible. I don't know what it is that makes someone love you, but whatever it is, it's the only thing that matters, and if it isn't there you won't create it by kindness, or generosity, or anything of that sort." "I should have thought if you'd loved me really you'd have loved me still." "I should have thought so too. I remember how I used to think that it would last for ever, I felt I would rather die than be without you, and I used to long for the time when you would be faded and wrinkled so that nobody cared for you any more and I should have you all to myself." She did not answer, and presently she got up and said she was going to bed. She gave a timid little smile. "It's Christmas Day, Philip, won't you kiss me good-night?" He gave a laugh, blushed slightly, and kissed her. She went to her bed-room and he began to read. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCVI The climax came two or three weeks later. Mildred was driven by Philip's behaviour to a pitch of strange exasperation. There were many different emotions in her soul, and she passed from mood to mood with facility. She spent a great deal of time alone and brooded over her position. She did not put all her feelings into words, she did not even know what they were, but certain things stood out in her mind, and she thought of them over and over again. She had never understood Philip, nor had very much liked him; but she was pleased to have him about her because she thought he was a gentleman. She was impressed because his father had been a doctor and his uncle was a clergyman. She despised him a little because she had made such a fool of him, and at the same time was never quite comfortable in his presence; she could not let herself go, and she felt that he was criticising her manners. When she first came to live in the little rooms in Kennington she was tired out and ashamed. She was glad to be left alone. It was a comfort to think that there was no rent to pay; she need not go out in all weathers, and she could lie quietly in bed if she did not feel well. She had hated the life she led. It was horrible to have to be affable and subservient; and even now when it crossed her mind she cried with pity for herself as she thought of the roughness of men and their brutal language. But it crossed her mind very seldom. She was grateful to Philip for coming to her rescue, and when she remembered how honestly he had loved her and how badly she had treated him, she felt a pang of remorse. It was easy to make it up to him. It meant very little to her. She was surprised when he refused her suggestion, but she shrugged her shoulders: let him put on airs if he liked, she did not care, he would be anxious enough in a little while, and then it would be her turn to refuse; if he thought it was any deprivation to her he was very much mistaken. She had no doubt of her power over him. He was peculiar, but she knew him through and through. He had so often quarrelled with her and sworn he would never see her again, and then in a little while he had come on his knees begging to be forgiven. It gave her a thrill to think how he had cringed before her. He would have been glad to lie down on the ground for her to walk on him. She had seen him cry. She knew exactly how to treat him, pay no attention to him, just pretend you didn't notice his tempers, leave him severely alone, and in a little while he was sure to grovel. She laughed a little to herself, good-humouredly, when she thought how he had come and eaten dirt before her. She had had her fling now. She knew what men were and did not want to have anything more to do with them. She was quite ready to settle down with Philip. When all was said, he was a gentleman in every sense of the word, and that was something not to be sneezed at, wasn't it? Anyhow she was in no hurry, and she was not going to take the first step. She was glad to see how fond he was growing of the baby, though it tickled her a good deal; it was comic that he should set so much store on another man's child. He was peculiar and no mistake. But one or two things surprised her. She had been used to his subservience: he was only too glad to do anything for her in the old days, she was accustomed to see him cast down by a cross word and in ecstasy at a kind one; he was different now, and she said to herself that he had not improved in the last year. It never struck her for a moment that there could be any change in his feelings, and she thought it was only acting when he paid no heed to her bad temper. He wanted to read sometimes and told her to stop talking: she did not know whether to flare up or to sulk, and was so puzzled that she did neither. Then came the conversation in which he told her that he intended their relations to be platonic, and, remembering an incident of their common past, it occurred to her that he dreaded the possibility of her being pregnant. She took pains to reassure him. It made no difference. She was the sort of woman who was unable to realise that a man might not have her own obsession with sex; her relations with men had been purely on those lines; and she could not understand that they ever had other interests. The thought struck her that Philip was in love with somebody else, and she watched him, suspecting nurses at the hospital or people he met out; but artful questions led her to the conclusion that there was no one dangerous in the Athelny household; and it forced itself upon her also that Philip, like most medical students, was unconscious of the sex of the nurses with whom his work threw him in contact. They were associated in his mind with a faint odour of iodoform. Philip received no letters, and there was no girl's photograph among his belongings. If he was in love with someone, he was very clever at hiding it; and he answered all Mildred's questions with frankness and apparently without suspicion that there was any motive in them. "I don't believe he's in love with anybody else," she said to herself at last. It was a relief, for in that case he was certainly still in love with her; but it made his behaviour very puzzling. If he was going to treat her like that why did he ask her to come and live at the flat? It was unnatural. Mildred was not a woman who conceived the possibility of compassion, generosity, or kindness. Her only conclusion was that Philip was queer. She took it into her head that the reasons for his conduct were chivalrous; and, her imagination filled with the extravagances of cheap fiction, she pictured to herself all sorts of romantic explanations for his delicacy. Her fancy ran riot with bitter misunderstandings, purifications by fire, snow-white souls, and death in the cruel cold of a Christmas night. She made up her mind that when they went to Brighton she would put an end to all his nonsense; they would be alone there, everyone would think them husband and wife, and there would be the pier and the band. When she found that nothing would induce Philip to share the same room with her, when he spoke to her about it with a tone in his voice she had never heard before, she suddenly realised that he did not want her. She was astounded. She remembered all he had said in the past and how desperately he had loved her. She felt humiliated and angry, but she had a sort of native insolence which carried her through. He needn't think she was in love with him, because she wasn't. She hated him sometimes, and she longed to humble him; but she found herself singularly powerless; she did not know which way to handle him. She began to be a little nervous with him. Once or twice she cried. Once or twice she set herself to be particularly nice to him; but when she took his arm while they walked along the front at night he made some excuse in a while to release himself, as though it were unpleasant for him to be touched by her. She could not make it out. The only hold she had over him was through the baby, of whom he seemed to grow fonder and fonder: she could make him white with anger by giving the child a slap or a push; and the only time the old, tender smile came back into his eyes was when she stood with the baby in her arms. She noticed it when she was being photographed like that by a man on the beach, and afterwards she often stood in the same way for Philip to look at her. When they got back to London Mildred began looking for the work she had asserted was so easy to find; she wanted now to be independent of Philip; and she thought of the satisfaction with which she would announce to him that she was going into rooms and would take the child with her. But her heart failed her when she came into closer contact with the possibility. She had grown unused to the long hours, she did not want to be at the beck and call of a manageress, and her dignity revolted at the thought of wearing once more a uniform. She had made out to such of the neighbours as she knew that they were comfortably off: it would be a come-down if they heard that she had to go out and work. Her natural indolence asserted itself. She did not want to leave Philip, and so long as he was willing to provide for her, she did not see why she should. There was no money to throw away, but she got her board and lodging, and he might get better off. His uncle was an old man and might die any day, he would come into a little then, and even as things were, it was better than slaving from morning till night for a few shillings a week. Her efforts relaxed; she kept on reading the advertisement columns of the daily paper merely to show that she wanted to do something if anything that was worth her while presented itself. But panic seized her, and she was afraid that Philip would grow tired of supporting her. She had no hold over him at all now, and she fancied that he only allowed her to stay there because he was fond of the baby. She brooded over it all, and she thought to herself angrily that she would make him pay for all this some day. She could not reconcile herself to the fact that he no longer cared for her. She would make him. She suffered from pique, and sometimes in a curious fashion she desired Philip. He was so cold now that it exasperated her. She thought of him in that way incessantly. She thought that he was treating her very badly, and she did not know what she had done to deserve it. She kept on saying to herself that it was unnatural they should live like that. Then she thought that if things were different and she were going to have a baby, he would be sure to marry her. He was funny, but he was a gentleman in every sense of the word, no one could deny that. At last it became an obsession with her, and she made up her mind to force a change in their relations. He never even kissed her now, and she wanted him to: she remembered how ardently he had been used to press her lips. It gave her a curious feeling to think of it. She often looked at his mouth. One evening, at the beginning of February, Philip told her that he was dining with Lawson, who was giving a party in his studio to celebrate his birthday; and he would not be in till late; Lawson had bought a couple of bottles of the punch they favoured from the tavern in Beak Street, and they proposed to have a merry evening. Mildred asked if there were going to be women there, but Philip told her there were not; only men had been invited; and they were just going to sit and talk and smoke: Mildred did not think it sounded very amusing; if she were a painter she would have half a dozen models about. She went to bed, but could not sleep, and presently an idea struck her; she got up and fixed the catch on the wicket at the landing, so that Philip could not get in. He came back about one, and she heard him curse when he found that the wicket was closed. She got out of bed and opened. "Why on earth did you shut yourself in? I'm sorry I've dragged you out of bed." "I left it open on purpose, I can't think how it came to be shut." "Hurry up and get back to bed, or you'll catch cold." He walked into the sitting-room and turned up the gas. She followed him in. She went up to the fire. "I want to warm my feet a bit. They're like ice." He sat down and began to take off his boots. His eyes were shining and his cheeks were flushed. She thought he had been drinking. "Have you been enjoying yourself?" she asked, with a smile. "Yes, I've had a ripping time." Philip was quite sober, but he had been talking and laughing, and he was excited still. An evening of that sort reminded him of the old days in Paris. He was in high spirits. He took his pipe out of his pocket and filled it. "Aren't you going to bed?" she asked. "Not yet, I'm not a bit sleepy. Lawson was in great form. He talked sixteen to the dozen from the moment I got there till the moment I left." "What did you talk about?" "Heaven knows! Of every subject under the sun. You should have seen us all shouting at the tops of our voices and nobody listening." Philip laughed with pleasure at the recollection, and Mildred laughed too. She was pretty sure he had drunk more than was good for him. That was exactly what she had expected. She knew men. "Can I sit down?" she said. Before he could answer she settled herself on his knees. "If you're not going to bed you'd better go and put on a dressing-gown." "Oh, I'm all right as I am." Then putting her arms round his neck, she placed her face against his and said: "Why are you so horrid to me, Phil?" He tried to get up, but she would not let him. "I do love you, Philip," she said. "Don't talk damned rot." "It isn't, it's true. I can't live without you. I want you." He released himself from her arms. "Please get up. You're making a fool of yourself and you're making me feel a perfect idiot." "I love you, Philip. I want to make up for all the harm I did you. I can't go on like this, it's not in human nature." He slipped out of the chair and left her in it. "I'm very sorry, but it's too late." She gave a heart-rending sob. "But why? How can you be so cruel?" "I suppose it's because I loved you too much. I wore the passion out. The thought of anything of that sort horrifies me. I can't look at you now without thinking of Emil and Griffiths. One can't help those things, I suppose it's just nerves." She seized his hand and covered it with kisses. "Don't," he cried. She sank back into the chair. "I can't go on like this. If you won't love me, I'd rather go away." "Don't be foolish, you haven't anywhere to go. You can stay here as long as you like, but it must be on the definite understanding that we're friends and nothing more." Then she dropped suddenly the vehemence of passion and gave a soft, insinuating laugh. She sidled up to Philip and put her arms round him. She made her voice low and wheedling. "Don't be such an old silly. I believe you're nervous. You don't know how nice I can be." She put her face against his and rubbed his cheek with hers. To Philip her smile was an abominable leer, and the suggestive glitter of her eyes filled him with horror. He drew back instinctively. "I won't," he said. But she would not let him go. She sought his mouth with her lips. He took her hands and tore them roughly apart and pushed her away. "You disgust me," he said. "Me?" She steadied herself with one hand on the chimney-piece. She looked at him for an instant, and two red spots suddenly appeared on her cheeks. She gave a shrill, angry laugh. "I disgust YOU." She paused and drew in her breath sharply. Then she burst into a furious torrent of abuse. She shouted at the top of her voice. She called him every foul name she could think of. She used language so obscene that Philip was astounded; she was always so anxious to be refined, so shocked by coarseness, that it had never occurred to him that she knew the words she used now. She came up to him and thrust her face in his. It was distorted with passion, and in her tumultuous speech the spittle dribbled over her lips. "I never cared for you, not once, I was making a fool of you always, you bored me, you bored me stiff, and I hated you, I would never have let you touch me only for the money, and it used to make me sick when I had to let you kiss me. We laughed at you, Griffiths and me, we laughed because you was such a mug. A mug! A mug!" Then she burst again into abominable invective. She accused him of every mean fault; she said he was stingy, she said he was dull, she said he was vain, selfish; she cast virulent ridicule on everything upon which he was most sensitive. And at last she turned to go. She kept on, with hysterical violence, shouting at him an opprobrious, filthy epithet. She seized the handle of the door and flung it open. Then she turned round and hurled at him the injury which she knew was the only one that really touched him. She threw into the word all the malice and all the venom of which she was capable. She flung it at him as though it were a blow. "Cripple!" </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCVII Philip awoke with a start next morning, conscious that it was late, and looking at his watch found it was nine o'clock. He jumped out of bed and went into the kitchen to get himself some hot water to shave with. There was no sign of Mildred, and the things which she had used for her supper the night before still lay in the sink unwashed. He knocked at her door. "Wake up, Mildred. It's awfully late." She did not answer, even after a second louder knocking, and he concluded that she was sulking. He was in too great a hurry to bother about that. He put some water on to boil and jumped into his bath which was always poured out the night before in order to take the chill off. He presumed that Mildred would cook his breakfast while he was dressing and leave it in the sitting-room. She had done that two or three times when she was out of temper. But he heard no sound of her moving, and realised that if he wanted anything to eat he would have to get it himself. He was irritated that she should play him such a trick on a morning when he had over-slept himself. There was still no sign of her when he was ready, but he heard her moving about her room. She was evidently getting up. He made himself some tea and cut himself a couple of pieces of bread and butter, which he ate while he was putting on his boots, then bolted downstairs and along the street into the main road to catch his tram. While his eyes sought out the newspaper shops to see the war news on the placards, he thought of the scene of the night before: now that it was over and he had slept on it, he could not help thinking it grotesque; he supposed he had been ridiculous, but he was not master of his feelings; at the time they had been overwhelming. He was angry with Mildred because she had forced him into that absurd position, and then with renewed astonishment he thought of her outburst and the filthy language she had used. He could not help flushing when he remembered her final jibe; but he shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. He had long known that when his fellows were angry with him they never failed to taunt him with his deformity. He had seen men at the hospital imitate his walk, not before him as they used at school, but when they thought he was not looking. He knew now that they did it from no wilful unkindness, but because man is naturally an imitative animal, and because it was an easy way to make people laugh: he knew it, but he could never resign himself to it. He was glad to throw himself into his work. The ward seemed pleasant and friendly when he entered it. The sister greeted him with a quick, business-like smile. "You're very late, Mr. Carey." "I was out on the loose last night." "You look it." "Thank you." Laughing, he went to the first of his cases, a boy with tuberculous ulcers, and removed his bandages. The boy was pleased to see him, and Philip chaffed him as he put a clean dressing on the wound. Philip was a favourite with the patients; he treated them good-humouredly; and he had gentle, sensitive hands which did not hurt them: some of the dressers were a little rough and happy-go-lucky in their methods. He lunched with his friends in the club-room, a frugal meal consisting of a scone and butter, with a cup of cocoa, and they talked of the war. Several men were going out, but the authorities were particular and refused everyone who had not had a hospital appointment. Someone suggested that, if the war went on, in a while they would be glad to take anyone who was qualified; but the general opinion was that it would be over in a month. Now that Roberts was there things would get all right in no time. This was Macalister's opinion too, and he had told Philip that they must watch their chance and buy just before peace was declared. There would be a boom then, and they might all make a bit of money. Philip had left with Macalister instructions to buy him stock whenever the opportunity presented itself. His appetite had been whetted by the thirty pounds he had made in the summer, and he wanted now to make a couple of hundred. He finished his day's work and got on a tram to go back to Kennington. He wondered how Mildred would behave that evening. It was a nuisance to think that she would probably be surly and refuse to answer his questions. It was a warm evening for the time of year, and even in those gray streets of South London there was the languor of February; nature is restless then after the long winter months, growing things awake from their sleep, and there is a rustle in the earth, a forerunner of spring, as it resumes its eternal activities. Philip would have liked to drive on further, it was distasteful to him to go back to his rooms, and he wanted the air; but the desire to see the child clutched suddenly at his heartstrings, and he smiled to himself as he thought of her toddling towards him with a crow of delight. He was surprised, when he reached the house and looked up mechanically at the windows, to see that there was no light. He went upstairs and knocked, but got no answer. When Mildred went out she left the key under the mat and he found it there now. He let himself in and going into the sitting-room struck a match. Something had happened, he did not at once know what; he turned the gas on full and lit it; the room was suddenly filled with the glare and he looked round. He gasped. The whole place was wrecked. Everything in it had been wilfully destroyed. Anger seized him, and he rushed into Mildred's room. It was dark and empty. When he had got a light he saw that she had taken away all her things and the baby's (he had noticed on entering that the go-cart was not in its usual place on the landing, but thought Mildred had taken the baby out;) and all the things on the washing-stand had been broken, a knife had been drawn cross-ways through the seats of the two chairs, the pillow had been slit open, there were large gashes in the sheets and the counterpane, the looking-glass appeared to have been broken with a hammer. Philip was bewildered. He went into his own room, and here too everything was in confusion. The basin and the ewer had been smashed, the looking-glass was in fragments, and the sheets were in ribands. Mildred had made a slit large enough to put her hand into the pillow and had scattered the feathers about the room. She had jabbed a knife into the blankets. On the dressing-table were photographs of Philip's mother, the frames had been smashed and the glass shivered. Philip went into the tiny kitchen. Everything that was breakable was broken, glasses, pudding-basins, plates, dishes. It took Philip's breath away. Mildred had left no letter, nothing but this ruin to mark her anger, and he could imagine the set face with which she had gone about her work. He went back into the sitting-room and looked about him. He was so astonished that he no longer felt angry. He looked curiously at the kitchen-knife and the coal-hammer, which were lying on the table where she had left them. Then his eye caught a large carving-knife in the fireplace which had been broken. It must have taken her a long time to do so much damage. Lawson's portrait of him had been cut cross-ways and gaped hideously. His own drawings had been ripped in pieces; and the photographs, Manet's Olympia and the Odalisque of Ingres, the portrait of Philip IV, had been smashed with great blows of the coal-hammer. There were gashes in the table-cloth and in the curtains and in the two arm-chairs. They were quite ruined. On one wall over the table which Philip used as his desk was the little bit of Persian rug which Cronshaw had given him. Mildred had always hated it. "If it's a rug it ought to go on the floor," she said, "and it's a dirty stinking bit of stuff, that's all it is." It made her furious because Philip told her it contained the answer to a great riddle. She thought he was making fun of her. She had drawn the knife right through it three times, it must have required some strength, and it hung now in tatters. Philip had two or three blue and white plates, of no value, but he had bought them one by one for very small sums and liked them for their associations. They littered the floor in fragments. There were long gashes on the backs of his books, and she had taken the trouble to tear pages out of the unbound French ones. The little ornaments on the chimney-piece lay on the hearth in bits. Everything that it had been possible to destroy with a knife or a hammer was destroyed. The whole of Philip's belongings would not have sold for thirty pounds, but most of them were old friends, and he was a domestic creature, attached to all those odds and ends because they were his; he had been proud of his little home, and on so little money had made it pretty and characteristic. He sank down now in despair. He asked himself how she could have been so cruel. A sudden fear got him on his feet again and into the passage, where stood a cupboard in which he kept his clothes. He opened it and gave a sigh of relief. She had apparently forgotten it and none of his things was touched. He went back into the sitting-room and, surveying the scene, wondered what to do; he had not the heart to begin trying to set things straight; besides there was no food in the house, and he was hungry. He went out and got himself something to eat. When he came in he was cooler. A little pang seized him as he thought of the child, and he wondered whether she would miss him, at first perhaps, but in a week she would have forgotten him; and he was thankful to be rid of Mildred. He did not think of her with wrath, but with an overwhelming sense of boredom. "I hope to God I never see her again," he said aloud. The only thing now was to leave the rooms, and he made up his mind to give notice the next morning. He could not afford to make good the damage done, and he had so little money left that he must find cheaper lodgings still. He would be glad to get out of them. The expense had worried him, and now the recollection of Mildred would be in them always. Philip was impatient and could never rest till he had put in action the plan which he had in mind; so on the following afternoon he got in a dealer in second-hand furniture who offered him three pounds for all his goods damaged and undamaged; and two days later he moved into the house opposite the hospital in which he had had rooms when first he became a medical student. The landlady was a very decent woman. He took a bed-room at the top, which she let him have for six shillings a week; it was small and shabby and looked on the yard of the house that backed on to it, but he had nothing now except his clothes and a box of books, and he was glad to lodge so cheaply. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 90-97

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of Chapters XC-XCVII . Once, when leaving the Athelny house, Philip runs into Mildred on the street, and he is horrified when he sees that she is a prostitute soliciting business. He speaks to her and is shaken. She brushes him off, but he tries to offer her money, out of pity. She takes him to her dingy room, and he notices she is thin and rouged. She says, "You don't think I do it because I like it, do you?" . She has the baby with her now and could not get any other work. . He feels he is finally over his love for her, and feels free but sorry for her at the same time. She sobs, and he has an inspiration. He invites her to live with him in his rooms. She can be his charwoman to earn her keep and stay home with the baby. He is happy when she agrees. . Mildred turns up with her baby and looks pathetic. Philip is very happy to have her there with the baby, though he is sure he does not love her. He asks her to fix his breakfast in the morning before he goes to a lecture. They sleep in different rooms. . Philip loves having the baby around, but he goes out on his regular nights with the boys at the Beak St. Tavern and treats the arrangement with Mildred as a business deal. She cooks and cleans in exchange for room and board. . Philip is envious that Lawson and Hayward made money on the stock exchange with a tip from Macalister, and he decides he will try investing to increase his small fortune. Mildred waits up for him in her best dress, and Philip does not know why. He goes to bed. Mildred tells the landlady they are married, and Philip is annoyed by her constant lies. He takes her out one night and enjoys her simple excitement. Yet "She was a puzzle to him" . Looking at her he can only feel compassion and forgiveness. She tries to initiate sexual activity, but he refuses and says he does not want that; it would spoil everything. He doesn't expect that from her. She is sulky and angry at his refusal. He tries to explain his ethics to her but she doesn't understand and accepts him as strange. . He continues seeing his friends and the Athelnys and doing his work. Her life is monotonous and occasionally he takes her out. He begins spending too much money, but he becomes very fond of the child. Mildred realizes he loves the baby more than her. The baby prefers Philip to its mother. Philip makes a little money on the stock market and is elated. He asks Mr. Jacobs to perform the surgery on his foot. He enjoys his rest in the hospital for a month, so he can read. Mildred visits him and so do his friends. . In August he takes Mildred and the baby to Brighton. She tries to get one bedroom, but he insists on two. She wants to know why they can't live as a married couple, and he explains he loved her too much at one time, and now--he can't explain. Philip finds her boring, and the vacation is difficult. He finds it tragic that he loved her so madly and now not at all. He thinks his suffering was a waste. . Philip begins to work in the emergency ward dealing with accidents. When the Boer War breaks out, he begins to worry about his investments on the stock exchange. Mildred delays in trying to get a job, but he feels comfortable with her and the baby around. Christmas is a tender time. She tells Philip she loves him now, and he says it is so strange the way love comes and goes. He kisses her good night on the brow and goes to bed. . The narrator switches suddenly to Mildred's point of view. Three weeks later she is driven to exasperation by his indifference. She has never understood him or liked him, but she could control him and all men through sex. Now he is good to her but does not want sex. It makes her feel humiliated. He is no longer subservient. Thinking he must be in love with someone else she watches him, but he is not, so she thinks that he must still love her. Once she realizes he doesn't want her, she feels powerless. She thinks he might cast her out if she has no hold over him, so she begins obsessively to try to seduce him. When he won't give in, she begins shouting and abusing him. The next day when he comes home, she has left and destroyed everything in his apartment with a knife. He is thankful to be rid of her and moves into cheaper rooms.

Commentary on Chapters XC-XCVII For Mildred, sex is part of the power game with men, and she is out of her depth with Philip's simple human kindness towards her, his desire to rescue her and appreciate family warmth as he has known it at the Athelnys. He is trying to give her a chance to get out of her trouble. It is obvious she doesn't love Philip, but she wants to get back her old control over him. She feels powerless in the situation. She is neither wife nor lover. She feels degraded as a sort of servant, yet does not try to find a job or better herself. She has fallen into the pattern of using men to get what she wants. . The narrator is forced into explaining from first Philip's view and then Mildred's perspective because the two minds are so far apart. Philip is appalled at her lack of humanity, her inability to learn from experience. Norah had once said that she knew no one who learned more from experience than she did. She seems to soak up the lessons of life and move on. Mildred, on the other hand, is a tragic figure, who has learned one pattern and keeps repeating it, each time falling lower. Philip sees she cannot deal with abstractions, or even why he cannot love her after her treachery and affairs with other men. It has destroyed intimacy and trust, though he can charitably forgive her. . The Athelnys have given him a new touchstone. They represent one quality he has never found in people before: "it was the beauty of their goodness which attracted him. In theory he did not believe in it" . They are kind and generous, and it is the spiritual instinct of humans that Philip finally sees is more important and enduring than the sexual or power instincts that he thought ruled people. This simple goodness in Philip puts him out of Mildred's reach, and she is so angry, she destroys his paintings and belongings with a knife. He has acted out of something like Christian charity without being a Christian. His own journey has been through selfishness, passion, envy, power, and intellectual cynicism, towards love and compassionate respect for others. He has left Mildred and what she represents behind. He, like Norah, knows how to learn from experience. He becomes more discriminating. He is no longer an addict.

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all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_98_to_102.txt

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Of Human Bondage.chapters 98-102

chapters 98-102

{"name": "Chapters 98-102", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter98-102", "summary": "of Chapters XCVIII-CII . Philip has won a moral victory over his life, but he still has much testing ahead of him. He has not yet tasted the bitterness of poverty. He, like the rest of the country, is affected by events out of his control. The Boer War in South Africa drags on, costing Britain troops and money; meanwhile the stock market fails, and Philip, like many, loses all his money. He has no money to finish school or even to live on. . Hayward of all people, joins the military and leaves for South Africa. Philip questions Hayward about why he is going, since he doesn't really believe in patriotism. He hardly feels himself English. War is a mysterious draw for men. Philip would go too, except for his lameness. Philip writes to his uncle of his situation and asks to borrow money. His uncle writes back, refusing. In panic, he writes again saying he is desperate. His uncle gloats over his own prediction that Philip is a spendthrift. Philip should be supporting himself. . Philip pawns his clothes and all his belongings. He falls short on the rent. He had never thought he would not have enough to eat. At least on Sundays he can get a meal at the Athelnys. He applies for medical posts, but he is not yet qualified. He looks for translation jobs in the papers and any other kind of work. He thinks of suicide if things get worse. He is ashamed of his poverty and tells no one. His landlady sees he is hungry and offers him dinner, but he refuses. . When he can't pay his rent, he decides to sleep in the open. It is June, and he sleeps on benches for a few days. He is hungry, and he cannot believe someone from his class could starve. He has no idea what to do. He borrows a little money from Lawson for food but doesn't tell him what is the matter. He starts joining lines of men who apply for every job, but he has no experience. He sees the same men each day. He wishes he could go to war with the others. Pride prevents him from going to the Athelnys for Sunday dinner. . Finally, in a state of starvation, he drags himself to the Athelnys the next Sunday. They are not fooled. Sally remarks, \"He's just skin and bones\" . The Athelnys understand poverty and take him in. He knows they live hand to mouth and that he must get a job. Athelny says he can get him a place where he works, at Lynn and Sedley, linen-drapers, or a large department store. Philip is hired as a shop-walker in a frock coat, directing shoppers to the right department in the store.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters XCVIII-CII . Though Philip has become flexible about class and class issues over the years, he still has been part of the privileged upper classes. He has treated the poor in his hospital work with sympathy, but he has never been subject to their problems. Now, he becomes just one of the masses, struggling for survival. All his thoughts, learning, refinement, mean nothing. He finds what Monsieur Foinet had predicted was true, that poverty is not romantic. It makes people stupid and stunted and desperate. Philip loses hope and contemplates suicide, perhaps understanding Fanny Price's fate. Like Fanny, he is too proud to ask for charity and only goes to the Athelnys for dinner. He doesn't think they will guess his real state. It is significant that Sally notices his thinness, for she will play a larger role in the story later on. . Philip has Thorpe Athelny for an example, for he is a learned aristocrat, reduced to working as a copywriter in a department store to keep his lower-class family, and yet he has adapted and remained cheerful. Athelny understands Philip's position as Lawson could not. Lawson is a sort of social friend who might give him a handout, but Athelny knows how to give the kindness that can solve a problem and lift Philip up to become self-sufficient."}

<CHAPTER> XCVIII And now it happened that the fortunes of Philip Carey, of no consequence to any but himself, were affected by the events through which his country was passing. History was being made, and the process was so significant that it seemed absurd it should touch the life of an obscure medical student. Battle after battle, Magersfontein, Colenso, Spion Kop, lost on the playing fields of Eton, had humiliated the nation and dealt the death-blow to the prestige of the aristocracy and gentry who till then had found no one seriously to oppose their assertion that they possessed a natural instinct of government. The old order was being swept away: history was being made indeed. Then the colossus put forth his strength, and, blundering again, at last blundered into the semblance of victory. Cronje surrendered at Paardeberg, Ladysmith was relieved, and at the beginning of March Lord Roberts marched into Bloemfontein. It was two or three days after the news of this reached London that Macalister came into the tavern in Beak Street and announced joyfully that things were looking brighter on the Stock Exchange. Peace was in sight, Roberts would march into Pretoria within a few weeks, and shares were going up already. There was bound to be a boom. "Now's the time to come in," he told Philip. "It's no good waiting till the public gets on to it. It's now or never." He had inside information. The manager of a mine in South Africa had cabled to the senior partner of his firm that the plant was uninjured. They would start working again as soon as possible. It wasn't a speculation, it was an investment. To show how good a thing the senior partner thought it Macalister told Philip that he had bought five hundred shares for both his sisters: he never put them into anything that wasn't as safe as the Bank of England. "I'm going to put my shirt on it myself," he said. The shares were two and an eighth to a quarter. He advised Philip not to be greedy, but to be satisfied with a ten-shilling rise. He was buying three hundred for himself and suggested that Philip should do the same. He would hold them and sell when he thought fit. Philip had great faith in him, partly because he was a Scotsman and therefore by nature cautious, and partly because he had been right before. He jumped at the suggestion. "I daresay we shall be able to sell before the account," said Macalister, "but if not, I'll arrange to carry them over for you." It seemed a capital system to Philip. You held on till you got your profit, and you never even had to put your hand in your pocket. He began to watch the Stock Exchange columns of the paper with new interest. Next day everything was up a little, and Macalister wrote to say that he had had to pay two and a quarter for the shares. He said that the market was firm. But in a day or two there was a set-back. The news that came from South Africa was less reassuring, and Philip with anxiety saw that his shares had fallen to two; but Macalister was optimistic, the Boers couldn't hold out much longer, and he was willing to bet a top-hat that Roberts would march into Johannesburg before the middle of April. At the account Philip had to pay out nearly forty pounds. It worried him considerably, but he felt that the only course was to hold on: in his circumstances the loss was too great for him to pocket. For two or three weeks nothing happened; the Boers would not understand that they were beaten and nothing remained for them but to surrender: in fact they had one or two small successes, and Philip's shares fell half a crown more. It became evident that the war was not finished. There was a lot of selling. When Macalister saw Philip he was pessimistic. "I'm not sure if the best thing wouldn't be to cut the loss. I've been paying out about as much as I want to in differences." Philip was sick with anxiety. He could not sleep at night; he bolted his breakfast, reduced now to tea and bread and butter, in order to get over to the club reading-room and see the paper; sometimes the news was bad, and sometimes there was no news at all, but when the shares moved it was to go down. He did not know what to do. If he sold now he would lose altogether hard on three hundred and fifty pounds; and that would leave him only eighty pounds to go on with. He wished with all his heart that he had never been such a fool as to dabble on the Stock Exchange, but the only thing was to hold on; something decisive might happen any day and the shares would go up; he did not hope now for a profit, but he wanted to make good his loss. It was his only chance of finishing his course at the hospital. The Summer session was beginning in May, and at the end of it he meant to take the examination in midwifery. Then he would only have a year more; he reckoned it out carefully and came to the conclusion that he could manage it, fees and all, on a hundred and fifty pounds; but that was the least it could possibly be done on. Early in April he went to the tavern in Beak Street anxious to see Macalister. It eased him a little to discuss the situation with him; and to realise that numerous people beside himself were suffering from loss of money made his own trouble a little less intolerable. But when Philip arrived no one was there but Hayward, and no sooner had Philip seated himself than he said: "I'm sailing for the Cape on Sunday." "Are you!" exclaimed Philip. Hayward was the last person he would have expected to do anything of the kind. At the hospital men were going out now in numbers; the Government was glad to get anyone who was qualified; and others, going out as troopers, wrote home that they had been put on hospital work as soon as it was learned that they were medical students. A wave of patriotic feeling had swept over the country, and volunteers were coming from all ranks of society. "What are you going as?" asked Philip. "Oh, in the Dorset Yeomanry. I'm going as a trooper." Philip had known Hayward for eight years. The youthful intimacy which had come from Philip's enthusiastic admiration for the man who could tell him of art and literature had long since vanished; but habit had taken its place; and when Hayward was in London they saw one another once or twice a week. He still talked about books with a delicate appreciation. Philip was not yet tolerant, and sometimes Hayward's conversation irritated him. He no longer believed implicitly that nothing in the world was of consequence but art. He resented Hayward's contempt for action and success. Philip, stirring his punch, thought of his early friendship and his ardent expectation that Hayward would do great things; it was long since he had lost all such illusions, and he knew now that Hayward would never do anything but talk. He found his three hundred a year more difficult to live on now that he was thirty-five than he had when he was a young man; and his clothes, though still made by a good tailor, were worn a good deal longer than at one time he would have thought possible. He was too stout and no artful arrangement of his fair hair could conceal the fact that he was bald. His blue eyes were dull and pale. It was not hard to guess that he drank too much. "What on earth made you think of going out to the Cape?" asked Philip. "Oh, I don't know, I thought I ought to." Philip was silent. He felt rather silly. He understood that Hayward was being driven by an uneasiness in his soul which he could not account for. Some power within him made it seem necessary to go and fight for his country. It was strange, since he considered patriotism no more than a prejudice, and, flattering himself on his cosmopolitanism, he had looked upon England as a place of exile. His countrymen in the mass wounded his susceptibilities. Philip wondered what it was that made people do things which were so contrary to all their theories of life. It would have been reasonable for Hayward to stand aside and watch with a smile while the barbarians slaughtered one another. It looked as though men were puppets in the hands of an unknown force, which drove them to do this and that; and sometimes they used their reason to justify their actions; and when this was impossible they did the actions in despite of reason. "People are very extraordinary," said Philip. "I should never have expected you to go out as a trooper." Hayward smiled, slightly embarrassed, and said nothing. "I was examined yesterday," he remarked at last. "It was worth while undergoing the gene of it to know that one was perfectly fit." Philip noticed that he still used a French word in an affected way when an English one would have served. But just then Macalister came in. "I wanted to see you, Carey," he said. "My people don't feel inclined to hold those shares any more, the market's in such an awful state, and they want you to take them up." Philip's heart sank. He knew that was impossible. It meant that he must accept the loss. His pride made him answer calmly. "I don't know that I think that's worth while. You'd better sell them." "It's all very fine to say that, I'm not sure if I can. The market's stagnant, there are no buyers." "But they're marked down at one and an eighth." "Oh yes, but that doesn't mean anything. You can't get that for them." Philip did not say anything for a moment. He was trying to collect himself. "D'you mean to say they're worth nothing at all?" "Oh, I don't say that. Of course they're worth something, but you see, nobody's buying them now." "Then you must just sell them for what you can get." Macalister looked at Philip narrowly. He wondered whether he was very hard hit. "I'm awfully sorry, old man, but we're all in the same boat. No one thought the war was going to hang on this way. I put you into them, but I was in myself too." "It doesn't matter at all," said Philip. "One has to take one's chance." He moved back to the table from which he had got up to talk to Macalister. He was dumfounded; his head suddenly began to ache furiously; but he did not want them to think him unmanly. He sat on for an hour. He laughed feverishly at everything they said. At last he got up to go. "You take it pretty coolly," said Macalister, shaking hands with him. "I don't suppose anyone likes losing between three and four hundred pounds." When Philip got back to his shabby little room he flung himself on his bed, and gave himself over to his despair. He kept on regretting his folly bitterly; and though he told himself that it was absurd to regret for what had happened was inevitable just because it had happened, he could not help himself. He was utterly miserable. He could not sleep. He remembered all the ways he had wasted money during the last few years. His head ached dreadfully. The following evening there came by the last post the statement of his account. He examined his pass-book. He found that when he had paid everything he would have seven pounds left. Seven pounds! He was thankful he had been able to pay. It would have been horrible to be obliged to confess to Macalister that he had not the money. He was dressing in the eye-department during the summer session, and he had bought an ophthalmoscope off a student who had one to sell. He had not paid for this, but he lacked the courage to tell the student that he wanted to go back on his bargain. Also he had to buy certain books. He had about five pounds to go on with. It lasted him six weeks; then he wrote to his uncle a letter which he thought very business-like; he said that owing to the war he had had grave losses and could not go on with his studies unless his uncle came to his help. He suggested that the Vicar should lend him a hundred and fifty pounds paid over the next eighteen months in monthly instalments; he would pay interest on this and promised to refund the capital by degrees when he began to earn money. He would be qualified in a year and a half at the latest, and he could be pretty sure then of getting an assistantship at three pounds a week. His uncle wrote back that he could do nothing. It was not fair to ask him to sell out when everything was at its worst, and the little he had he felt that his duty to himself made it necessary for him to keep in case of illness. He ended the letter with a little homily. He had warned Philip time after time, and Philip had never paid any attention to him; he could not honestly say he was surprised; he had long expected that this would be the end of Philip's extravagance and want of balance. Philip grew hot and cold when he read this. It had never occurred to him that his uncle would refuse, and he burst into furious anger; but this was succeeded by utter blankness: if his uncle would not help him he could not go on at the hospital. Panic seized him and, putting aside his pride, he wrote again to the Vicar of Blackstable, placing the case before him more urgently; but perhaps he did not explain himself properly and his uncle did not realise in what desperate straits he was, for he answered that he could not change his mind; Philip was twenty-five and really ought to be earning his living. When he died Philip would come into a little, but till then he refused to give him a penny. Philip felt in the letter the satisfaction of a man who for many years had disapproved of his courses and now saw himself justified. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> XCIX Philip began to pawn his clothes. He reduced his expenses by eating only one meal a day beside his breakfast; and he ate it, bread and butter and cocoa, at four so that it should last him till next morning. He was so hungry by nine o'clock that he had to go to bed. He thought of borrowing money from Lawson, but the fear of a refusal held him back; at last he asked him for five pounds. Lawson lent it with pleasure, but, as he did so, said: "You'll let me have it back in a week or so, won't you? I've got to pay my framer, and I'm awfully broke just now." Philip knew he would not be able to return it, and the thought of what Lawson would think made him so ashamed that in a couple of days he took the money back untouched. Lawson was just going out to luncheon and asked Philip to come too. Philip could hardly eat, he was so glad to get some solid food. On Sunday he was sure of a good dinner from Athelny. He hesitated to tell the Athelnys what had happened to him: they had always looked upon him as comparatively well-to-do, and he had a dread that they would think less well of him if they knew he was penniless. Though he had always been poor, the possibility of not having enough to eat had never occurred to him; it was not the sort of thing that happened to the people among whom he lived; and he was as ashamed as if he had some disgraceful disease. The situation in which he found himself was quite outside the range of his experience. He was so taken aback that he did not know what else to do than to go on at the hospital; he had a vague hope that something would turn up; he could not quite believe that what was happening to him was true; and he remembered how during his first term at school he had often thought his life was a dream from which he would awake to find himself once more at home. But very soon he foresaw that in a week or so he would have no money at all. He must set about trying to earn something at once. If he had been qualified, even with a club-foot, he could have gone out to the Cape, since the demand for medical men was now great. Except for his deformity he might have enlisted in one of the yeomanry regiments which were constantly being sent out. He went to the secretary of the Medical School and asked if he could give him the coaching of some backward student; but the secretary held out no hope of getting him anything of the sort. Philip read the advertisement columns of the medical papers, and he applied for the post of unqualified assistant to a man who had a dispensary in the Fulham Road. When he went to see him, he saw the doctor glance at his club-foot; and on hearing that Philip was only in his fourth year at the hospital he said at once that his experience was insufficient: Philip understood that this was only an excuse; the man would not have an assistant who might not be as active as he wanted. Philip turned his attention to other means of earning money. He knew French and German and thought there might be some chance of finding a job as correspondence clerk; it made his heart sink, but he set his teeth; there was nothing else to do. Though too shy to answer the advertisements which demanded a personal application, he replied to those which asked for letters; but he had no experience to state and no recommendations: he was conscious that neither his German nor his French was commercial; he was ignorant of the terms used in business; he knew neither shorthand nor typewriting. He could not help recognising that his case was hopeless. He thought of writing to the solicitor who had been his father's executor, but he could not bring himself to, for it was contrary to his express advice that he had sold the mortgages in which his money had been invested. He knew from his uncle that Mr. Nixon thoroughly disapproved of him. He had gathered from Philip's year in the accountant's office that he was idle and incompetent. "I'd sooner starve," Philip muttered to himself. Once or twice the possibility of suicide presented itself to him; it would be easy to get something from the hospital dispensary, and it was a comfort to think that if the worst came to the worst he had at hand means of making a painless end of himself; but it was not a course that he considered seriously. When Mildred had left him to go with Griffiths his anguish had been so great that he wanted to die in order to get rid of the pain. He did not feel like that now. He remembered that the Casualty Sister had told him how people oftener did away with themselves for want of money than for want of love; and he chuckled when he thought that he was an exception. He wished only that he could talk his worries over with somebody, but he could not bring himself to confess them. He was ashamed. He went on looking for work. He left his rent unpaid for three weeks, explaining to his landlady that he would get money at the end of the month; she did not say anything, but pursed her lips and looked grim. When the end of the month came and she asked if it would be convenient for him to pay something on account, it made him feel very sick to say that he could not; he told her he would write to his uncle and was sure to be able to settle his bill on the following Saturday. "Well, I 'ope you will, Mr. Carey, because I 'ave my rent to pay, and I can't afford to let accounts run on." She did not speak with anger, but with determination that was rather frightening. She paused for a moment and then said: "If you don't pay next Saturday, I shall 'ave to complain to the secretary of the 'ospital." "Oh yes, that'll be all right." She looked at him for a little and glanced round the bare room. When she spoke it was without any emphasis, as though it were quite a natural thing to say. "I've got a nice 'ot joint downstairs, and if you like to come down to the kitchen you're welcome to a bit of dinner." Philip felt himself redden to the soles of his feet, and a sob caught at his throat. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Higgins, but I'm not at all hungry." "Very good, sir." When she left the room Philip threw himself on his bed. He had to clench his fists in order to prevent himself from crying. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> C Saturday. It was the day on which he had promised to pay his landlady. He had been expecting something to turn up all through the week. He had found no work. He had never been driven to extremities before, and he was so dazed that he did not know what to do. He had at the back of his mind a feeling that the whole thing was a preposterous joke. He had no more than a few coppers left, he had sold all the clothes he could do without; he had some books and one or two odds and ends upon which he might have got a shilling or two, but the landlady was keeping an eye on his comings and goings: he was afraid she would stop him if he took anything more from his room. The only thing was to tell her that he could not pay his bill. He had not the courage. It was the middle of June. The night was fine and warm. He made up his mind to stay out. He walked slowly along the Chelsea Embankment, because the river was restful and quiet, till he was tired, and then sat on a bench and dozed. He did not know how long he slept; he awoke with a start, dreaming that he was being shaken by a policeman and told to move on; but when he opened his eyes he found himself alone. He walked on, he did not know why, and at last came to Chiswick, where he slept again. Presently the hardness of the bench roused him. The night seemed very long. He shivered. He was seized with a sense of his misery; and he did not know what on earth to do: he was ashamed at having slept on the Embankment; it seemed peculiarly humiliating, and he felt his cheeks flush in the darkness. He remembered stories he had heard of those who did and how among them were officers, clergymen, and men who had been to universities: he wondered if he would become one of them, standing in a line to get soup from a charitable institution. It would be much better to commit suicide. He could not go on like that: Lawson would help him when he knew what straits he was in; it was absurd to let his pride prevent him from asking for assistance. He wondered why he had come such a cropper. He had always tried to do what he thought best, and everything had gone wrong. He had helped people when he could, he did not think he had been more selfish than anyone else, it seemed horribly unjust that he should be reduced to such a pass. But it was no good thinking about it. He walked on. It was now light: the river was beautiful in the silence, and there was something mysterious in the early day; it was going to be very fine, and the sky, pale in the dawn, was cloudless. He felt very tired, and hunger was gnawing at his entrails, but he could not sit still; he was constantly afraid of being spoken to by a policeman. He dreaded the mortification of that. He felt dirty and wished he could have a wash. At last he found himself at Hampton Court. He felt that if he did not have something to eat he would cry. He chose a cheap eating-house and went in; there was a smell of hot things, and it made him feel slightly sick: he meant to eat something nourishing enough to keep up for the rest of the day, but his stomach revolted at the sight of food. He had a cup of tea and some bread and butter. He remembered then that it was Sunday and he could go to the Athelnys; he thought of the roast beef and the Yorkshire pudding they would eat; but he was fearfully tired and could not face the happy, noisy family. He was feeling morose and wretched. He wanted to be left alone. He made up his mind that he would go into the gardens of the palace and lie down. His bones ached. Perhaps he would find a pump so that he could wash his hands and face and drink something; he was very thirsty; and now that he was no longer hungry he thought with pleasure of the flowers and the lawns and the great leafy trees. He felt that there he could think out better what he must do. He lay on the grass, in the shade, and lit his pipe. For economy's sake he had for a long time confined himself to two pipes a day; he was thankful now that his pouch was full. He did not know what people did when they had no money. Presently he fell asleep. When he awoke it was nearly mid-day, and he thought that soon he must be setting out for London so as to be there in the early morning and answer any advertisements which seemed to promise. He thought of his uncle, who had told him that he would leave him at his death the little he had; Philip did not in the least know how much this was: it could not be more than a few hundred pounds. He wondered whether he could raise money on the reversion. Not without the old man's consent, and that he would never give. "The only thing I can do is to hang on somehow till he dies." Philip reckoned his age. The Vicar of Blackstable was well over seventy. He had chronic bronchitis, but many old men had that and lived on indefinitely. Meanwhile something must turn up; Philip could not get away from the feeling that his position was altogether abnormal; people in his particular station did not starve. It was because he could not bring himself to believe in the reality of his experience that he did not give way to utter despair. He made up his mind to borrow half a sovereign from Lawson. He stayed in the garden all day and smoked when he felt very hungry; he did not mean to eat anything until he was setting out again for London: it was a long way and he must keep up his strength for that. He started when the day began to grow cooler, and slept on benches when he was tired. No one disturbed him. He had a wash and brush up, and a shave at Victoria, some tea and bread and butter, and while he was eating this read the advertisement columns of the morning paper. As he looked down them his eye fell upon an announcement asking for a salesman in the 'furnishing drapery' department of some well-known stores. He had a curious little sinking of the heart, for with his middle-class prejudices it seemed dreadful to go into a shop; but he shrugged his shoulders, after all what did it matter? and he made up his mind to have a shot at it. He had a queer feeling that by accepting every humiliation, by going out to meet it even, he was forcing the hand of fate. When he presented himself, feeling horribly shy, in the department at nine o'clock he found that many others were there before him. They were of all ages, from boys of sixteen to men of forty; some were talking to one another in undertones, but most were silent; and when he took up his place those around him gave him a look of hostility. He heard one man say: "The only thing I look forward to is getting my refusal soon enough to give me time to look elsewhere." The man, standing next him, glanced at Philip and asked: "Had any experience?" "No," said Philip. He paused a moment and then made a remark: "Even the smaller houses won't see you without appointment after lunch." Philip looked at the assistants. Some were draping chintzes and cretonnes, and others, his neighbour told him were preparing country orders that had come in by post. At about a quarter past nine the buyer arrived. He heard one of the men who were waiting say to another that it was Mr. Gibbons. He was middle-aged, short and corpulent, with a black beard and dark, greasy hair. He had brisk movements and a clever face. He wore a silk hat and a frock coat, the lapel of which was adorned with a white geranium surrounded by leaves. He went into his office, leaving the door open; it was very small and contained only an American roll-desk in the corner, a bookcase, and a cupboard. The men standing outside watched him mechanically take the geranium out of his coat and put it in an ink-pot filled with water. It was against the rules to wear flowers in business. During the day the department men who wanted to keep in with the governor admired the flower. "I've never seen better," they said, "you didn't grow it yourself?" "Yes I did," he smiled, and a gleam of pride filled his intelligent eyes. He took off his hat and changed his coat, glanced at the letters and then at the men who were waiting to see him. He made a slight sign with one finger, and the first in the queue stepped into the office. They filed past him one by one and answered his questions. He put them very briefly, keeping his eyes fixed on the applicant's face. "Age? Experience? Why did you leave your job?" He listened to the replies without expression. When it came to Philip's turn he fancied that Mr. Gibbons stared at him curiously. Philip's clothes were neat and tolerably cut. He looked a little different from the others. "Experience?" "I'm afraid I haven't any," said Philip. "No good." Philip walked out of the office. The ordeal had been so much less painful than he expected that he felt no particular disappointment. He could hardly hope to succeed in getting a place the first time he tried. He had kept the newspaper and now looked at the advertisements again: a shop in Holborn needed a salesman too, and he went there; but when he arrived he found that someone had already been engaged. If he wanted to get anything to eat that day he must go to Lawson's studio before he went out to luncheon, so he made his way along the Brompton Road to Yeoman's Row. "I say, I'm rather broke till the end of the month," he said as soon as he found an opportunity. "I wish you'd lend me half a sovereign, will you?" It was incredible the difficulty he found in asking for money; and he remembered the casual way, as though almost they were conferring a favour, men at the hospital had extracted small sums out of him which they had no intention of repaying. "Like a shot," said Lawson. But when he put his hand in his pocket he found that he had only eight shillings. Philip's heart sank. "Oh well, lend me five bob, will you?" he said lightly. "Here you are." Philip went to the public baths in Westminster and spent sixpence on a bath. Then he got himself something to eat. He did not know what to do with himself in the afternoon. He would not go back to the hospital in case anyone should ask him questions, and besides, he had nothing to do there now; they would wonder in the two or three departments he had worked in why he did not come, but they must think what they chose, it did not matter: he would not be the first student who had dropped out without warning. He went to the free library, and looked at the papers till they wearied him, then he took out Stevenson's New Arabian Nights; but he found he could not read: the words meant nothing to him, and he continued to brood over his helplessness. He kept on thinking the same things all the time, and the fixity of his thoughts made his head ache. At last, craving for fresh air, he went into the Green Park and lay down on the grass. He thought miserably of his deformity, which made it impossible for him to go to the war. He went to sleep and dreamt that he was suddenly sound of foot and out at the Cape in a regiment of Yeomanry; the pictures he had looked at in the illustrated papers gave materials for his fancy; and he saw himself on the Veldt, in khaki, sitting with other men round a fire at night. When he awoke he found that it was still quite light, and presently he heard Big Ben strike seven. He had twelve hours to get through with nothing to do. He dreaded the interminable night. The sky was overcast and he feared it would rain; he would have to go to a lodging-house where he could get a bed; he had seen them advertised on lamps outside houses in Lambeth: Good Beds sixpence; he had never been inside one, and dreaded the foul smell and the vermin. He made up his mind to stay in the open air if he possibly could. He remained in the park till it was closed and then began to walk about. He was very tired. The thought came to him that an accident would be a piece of luck, so that he could be taken to a hospital and lie there, in a clean bed, for weeks. At midnight he was so hungry that he could not go without food any more, so he went to a coffee stall at Hyde Park Corner and ate a couple of potatoes and had a cup of coffee. Then he walked again. He felt too restless to sleep, and he had a horrible dread of being moved on by the police. He noted that he was beginning to look upon the constable from quite a new angle. This was the third night he had spent out. Now and then he sat on the benches in Piccadilly and towards morning he strolled down to The Embankment. He listened to the striking of Big Ben, marking every quarter of an hour, and reckoned out how long it left till the city woke again. In the morning he spent a few coppers on making himself neat and clean, bought a paper to read the advertisements, and set out once more on the search for work. He went on in this way for several days. He had very little food and began to feel weak and ill, so that he had hardly enough energy to go on looking for the work which seemed so desperately hard to find. He was growing used now to the long waiting at the back of a shop on the chance that he would be taken on, and the curt dismissal. He walked to all parts of London in answer to the advertisements, and he came to know by sight men who applied as fruitlessly as himself. One or two tried to make friends with him, but he was too tired and too wretched to accept their advances. He did not go any more to Lawson, because he owed him five shillings. He began to be too dazed to think clearly and ceased very much to care what would happen to him. He cried a good deal. At first he was very angry with himself for this and ashamed, but he found it relieved him, and somehow made him feel less hungry. In the very early morning he suffered a good deal from cold. One night he went into his room to change his linen; he slipped in about three, when he was quite sure everyone would be asleep, and out again at five; he lay on the bed and its softness was enchanting; all his bones ached, and as he lay he revelled in the pleasure of it; it was so delicious that he did not want to go to sleep. He was growing used to want of food and did not feel very hungry, but only weak. Constantly now at the back of his mind was the thought of doing away with himself, but he used all the strength he had not to dwell on it, because he was afraid the temptation would get hold of him so that he would not be able to help himself. He kept on saying to himself that it would be absurd to commit suicide, since something must happen soon; he could not get over the impression that his situation was too preposterous to be taken quite seriously; it was like an illness which must be endured but from which he was bound to recover. Every night he swore that nothing would induce him to put up with such another and determined next morning to write to his uncle, or to Mr. Nixon, the solicitor, or to Lawson; but when the time came he could not bring himself to make the humiliating confession of his utter failure. He did not know how Lawson would take it. In their friendship Lawson had been scatter-brained and he had prided himself on his common sense. He would have to tell the whole history of his folly. He had an uneasy feeling that Lawson, after helping him, would turn the cold shoulder on him. His uncle and the solicitor would of course do something for him, but he dreaded their reproaches. He did not want anyone to reproach him: he clenched his teeth and repeated that what had happened was inevitable just because it had happened. Regret was absurd. The days were unending, and the five shillings Lawson had lent him would not last much longer. Philip longed for Sunday to come so that he could go to Athelny's. He did not know what prevented him from going there sooner, except perhaps that he wanted so badly to get through on his own; for Athelny, who had been in straits as desperate, was the only person who could do anything for him. Perhaps after dinner he could bring himself to tell Athelny that he was in difficulties. Philip repeated to himself over and over again what he should say to him. He was dreadfully afraid that Athelny would put him off with airy phrases: that would be so horrible that he wanted to delay as long as possible the putting of him to the test. Philip had lost all confidence in his fellows. Saturday night was cold and raw. Philip suffered horribly. From midday on Saturday till he dragged himself wearily to Athelny's house he ate nothing. He spent his last twopence on Sunday morning on a wash and a brush up in the lavatory at Charing Cross. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CI When Philip rang a head was put out of the window, and in a minute he heard a noisy clatter on the stairs as the children ran down to let him in. It was a pale, anxious, thin face that he bent down for them to kiss. He was so moved by their exuberant affection that, to give himself time to recover, he made excuses to linger on the stairs. He was in a hysterical state and almost anything was enough to make him cry. They asked him why he had not come on the previous Sunday, and he told them he had been ill; they wanted to know what was the matter with him; and Philip, to amuse them, suggested a mysterious ailment, the name of which, double-barrelled and barbarous with its mixture of Greek and Latin (medical nomenclature bristled with such), made them shriek with delight. They dragged Philip into the parlour and made him repeat it for their father's edification. Athelny got up and shook hands with him. He stared at Philip, but with his round, bulging eyes he always seemed to stare, Philip did not know why on this occasion it made him self-conscious. "We missed you last Sunday," he said. Philip could never tell lies without embarrassment, and he was scarlet when he finished his explanation for not coming. Then Mrs. Athelny entered and shook hands with him. "I hope you're better, Mr. Carey," she said. He did not know why she imagined that anything had been the matter with him, for the kitchen door was closed when he came up with the children, and they had not left him. "Dinner won't be ready for another ten minutes," she said, in her slow drawl. "Won't you have an egg beaten up in a glass of milk while you're waiting?" There was a look of concern on her face which made Philip uncomfortable. He forced a laugh and answered that he was not at all hungry. Sally came in to lay the table, and Philip began to chaff her. It was the family joke that she would be as fat as an aunt of Mrs. Athelny, called Aunt Elizabeth, whom the children had never seen but regarded as the type of obscene corpulence. "I say, what HAS happened since I saw you last, Sally?" Philip began. "Nothing that I know of." "I believe you've been putting on weight." "I'm sure you haven't," she retorted. "You're a perfect skeleton." Philip reddened. "That's a tu quoque, Sally," cried her father. "You will be fined one golden hair of your head. Jane, fetch the shears." "Well, he is thin, father," remonstrated Sally. "He's just skin and bone." "That's not the question, child. He is at perfect liberty to be thin, but your obesity is contrary to decorum." As he spoke he put his arm proudly round her waist and looked at her with admiring eyes. "Let me get on with the table, father. If I am comfortable there are some who don't seem to mind it." "The hussy!" cried Athelny, with a dramatic wave of the hand. "She taunts me with the notorious fact that Joseph, a son of Levi who sells jewels in Holborn, has made her an offer of marriage." "Have you accepted him, Sally?" asked Philip. "Don't you know father better than that by this time? There's not a word of truth in it." "Well, if he hasn't made you an offer of marriage," cried Athelny, "by Saint George and Merry England, I will seize him by the nose and demand of him immediately what are his intentions." "Sit down, father, dinner's ready. Now then, you children, get along with you and wash your hands all of you, and don't shirk it, because I mean to look at them before you have a scrap of dinner, so there." Philip thought he was ravenous till he began to eat, but then discovered that his stomach turned against food, and he could eat hardly at all. His brain was weary; and he did not notice that Athelny, contrary to his habit, spoke very little. Philip was relieved to be sitting in a comfortable house, but every now and then he could not prevent himself from glancing out of the window. The day was tempestuous. The fine weather had broken; and it was cold, and there was a bitter wind; now and again gusts of rain drove against the window. Philip wondered what he should do that night. The Athelnys went to bed early, and he could not stay where he was after ten o'clock. His heart sank at the thought of going out into the bleak darkness. It seemed more terrible now that he was with his friends than when he was outside and alone. He kept on saying to himself that there were plenty more who would be spending the night out of doors. He strove to distract his mind by talking, but in the middle of his words a spatter of rain against the window would make him start. "It's like March weather," said Athelny. "Not the sort of day one would like to be crossing the Channel." Presently they finished, and Sally came in and cleared away. "Would you like a twopenny stinker?" said Athelny, handing him a cigar. Philip took it and inhaled the smoke with delight. It soothed him extraordinarily. When Sally had finished Athelny told her to shut the door after her. "Now we shan't be disturbed," he said, turning to Philip. "I've arranged with Betty not to let the children come in till I call them." Philip gave him a startled look, but before he could take in the meaning of his words, Athelny, fixing his glasses on his nose with the gesture habitual to him, went on. "I wrote to you last Sunday to ask if anything was the matter with you, and as you didn't answer I went to your rooms on Wednesday." Philip turned his head away and did not answer. His heart began to beat violently. Athelny did not speak, and presently the silence seemed intolerable to Philip. He could not think of a single word to say. "Your landlady told me you hadn't been in since Saturday night, and she said you owed her for the last month. Where have you been sleeping all this week?" It made Philip sick to answer. He stared out of the window. "Nowhere." "I tried to find you." "Why?" asked Philip. "Betty and I have been just as broke in our day, only we had babies to look after. Why didn't you come here?" "I couldn't." Philip was afraid he was going to cry. He felt very weak. He shut his eyes and frowned, trying to control himself. He felt a sudden flash of anger with Athelny because he would not leave him alone; but he was broken; and presently, his eyes still closed, slowly in order to keep his voice steady, he told him the story of his adventures during the last few weeks. As he spoke it seemed to him that he had behaved inanely, and it made it still harder to tell. He felt that Athelny would think him an utter fool. "Now you're coming to live with us till you find something to do," said Athelny, when he had finished. Philip flushed, he knew not why. "Oh, it's awfully kind of you, but I don't think I'll do that." "Why not?" Philip did not answer. He had refused instinctively from fear that he would be a bother, and he had a natural bashfulness of accepting favours. He knew besides that the Athelnys lived from hand to mouth, and with their large family had neither space nor money to entertain a stranger. "Of course you must come here," said Athelny. "Thorpe will tuck in with one of his brothers and you can sleep in his bed. You don't suppose your food's going to make any difference to us." Philip was afraid to speak, and Athelny, going to the door, called his wife. "Betty," he said, when she came in, "Mr. Carey's coming to live with us." "Oh, that is nice," she said. "I'll go and get the bed ready." She spoke in such a hearty, friendly tone, taking everything for granted, that Philip was deeply touched. He never expected people to be kind to him, and when they were it surprised and moved him. Now he could not prevent two large tears from rolling down his cheeks. The Athelnys discussed the arrangements and pretended not to notice to what a state his weakness had brought him. When Mrs. Athelny left them Philip leaned back in his chair, and looking out of the window laughed a little. "It's not a very nice night to be out, is it?" </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CII Athelny told Philip that he could easily get him something to do in the large firm of linendrapers in which himself worked. Several of the assistants had gone to the war, and Lynn and Sedley with patriotic zeal had promised to keep their places open for them. They put the work of the heroes on those who remained, and since they did not increase the wages of these were able at once to exhibit public spirit and effect an economy; but the war continued and trade was less depressed; the holidays were coming, when numbers of the staff went away for a fortnight at a time: they were bound to engage more assistants. Philip's experience had made him doubtful whether even then they would engage him; but Athelny, representing himself as a person of consequence in the firm, insisted that the manager could refuse him nothing. Philip, with his training in Paris, would be very useful; it was only a matter of waiting a little and he was bound to get a well-paid job to design costumes and draw posters. Philip made a poster for the summer sale and Athelny took it away. Two days later he brought it back, saying that the manager admired it very much and regretted with all his heart that there was no vacancy just then in that department. Philip asked whether there was nothing else he could do. "I'm afraid not." "Are you quite sure?" "Well, the fact is they're advertising for a shop-walker tomorrow," said Athelny, looking at him doubtfully through his glasses. "D'you think I stand any chance of getting it?" Athelny was a little confused; he had led Philip to expect something much more splendid; on the other hand he was too poor to go on providing him indefinitely with board and lodging. "You might take it while you wait for something better. You always stand a better chance if you're engaged by the firm already." "I'm not proud, you know," smiled Philip. "If you decide on that you must be there at a quarter to nine tomorrow morning." Notwithstanding the war there was evidently much difficulty in finding work, for when Philip went to the shop many men were waiting already. He recognised some whom he had seen in his own searching, and there was one whom he had noticed lying about the park in the afternoon. To Philip now that suggested that he was as homeless as himself and passed the night out of doors. The men were of all sorts, old and young, tall and short; but every one had tried to make himself smart for the interview with the manager: they had carefully brushed hair and scrupulously clean hands. They waited in a passage which Philip learnt afterwards led up to the dining-hall and the work rooms; it was broken every few yards by five or six steps. Though there was electric light in the shop here was only gas, with wire cages over it for protection, and it flared noisily. Philip arrived punctually, but it was nearly ten o'clock when he was admitted into the office. It was three-cornered, like a cut of cheese lying on its side: on the walls were pictures of women in corsets, and two poster-proofs, one of a man in pyjamas, green and white in large stripes, and the other of a ship in full sail ploughing an azure sea: on the sail was printed in large letters 'great white sale.' The widest side of the office was the back of one of the shop-windows, which was being dressed at the time, and an assistant went to and fro during the interview. The manager was reading a letter. He was a florid man, with sandy hair and a large sandy moustache; from the middle of his watch-chain hung a bunch of football medals. He sat in his shirt sleeves at a large desk with a telephone by his side; before him were the day's advertisements, Athelny's work, and cuttings from newspapers pasted on a card. He gave Philip a glance but did not speak to him; he dictated a letter to the typist, a girl who sat at a small table in one corner; then he asked Philip his name, age, and what experience he had had. He spoke with a cockney twang in a high, metallic voice which he seemed not able always to control; Philip noticed that his upper teeth were large and protruding; they gave you the impression that they were loose and would come out if you gave them a sharp tug. "I think Mr. Athelny has spoken to you about me," said Philip. "Oh, you are the young feller who did that poster?" "Yes, sir." "No good to us, you know, not a bit of good." He looked Philip up and down. He seemed to notice that Philip was in some way different from the men who had preceded him. "You'd 'ave to get a frock coat, you know. I suppose you 'aven't got one. You seem a respectable young feller. I suppose you found art didn't pay." Philip could not tell whether he meant to engage him or not. He threw remarks at him in a hostile way. "Where's your home?" "My father and mother died when I was a child." "I like to give young fellers a chance. Many's the one I've given their chance to and they're managers of departments now. And they're grateful to me, I'll say that for them. They know what I done for them. Start at the bottom of the ladder, that's the only way to learn the business, and then if you stick to it there's no knowing what it can lead to. If you suit, one of these days you may find yourself in a position like what mine is. Bear that in mind, young feller." "I'm very anxious to do my best, sir," said Philip. He knew that he must put in the sir whenever he could, but it sounded odd to him, and he was afraid of overdoing it. The manager liked talking. It gave him a happy consciousness of his own importance, and he did not give Philip his decision till he had used a great many words. "Well, I daresay you'll do," he said at last, in a pompous way. "Anyhow I don't mind giving you a trial." "Thank you very much, sir." "You can start at once. I'll give you six shillings a week and your keep. Everything found, you know; the six shillings is only pocket money, to do what you like with, paid monthly. Start on Monday. I suppose you've got no cause of complaint with that." "No, sir." "Harrington Street, d'you know where that is, Shaftesbury Avenue. That's where you sleep. Number ten, it is. You can sleep there on Sunday night, if you like; that's just as you please, or you can send your box there on Monday." The manager nodded: "Good-morning." </CHAPTER>

Chapters 98-102

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter98-102

of Chapters XCVIII-CII . Philip has won a moral victory over his life, but he still has much testing ahead of him. He has not yet tasted the bitterness of poverty. He, like the rest of the country, is affected by events out of his control. The Boer War in South Africa drags on, costing Britain troops and money; meanwhile the stock market fails, and Philip, like many, loses all his money. He has no money to finish school or even to live on. . Hayward of all people, joins the military and leaves for South Africa. Philip questions Hayward about why he is going, since he doesn't really believe in patriotism. He hardly feels himself English. War is a mysterious draw for men. Philip would go too, except for his lameness. Philip writes to his uncle of his situation and asks to borrow money. His uncle writes back, refusing. In panic, he writes again saying he is desperate. His uncle gloats over his own prediction that Philip is a spendthrift. Philip should be supporting himself. . Philip pawns his clothes and all his belongings. He falls short on the rent. He had never thought he would not have enough to eat. At least on Sundays he can get a meal at the Athelnys. He applies for medical posts, but he is not yet qualified. He looks for translation jobs in the papers and any other kind of work. He thinks of suicide if things get worse. He is ashamed of his poverty and tells no one. His landlady sees he is hungry and offers him dinner, but he refuses. . When he can't pay his rent, he decides to sleep in the open. It is June, and he sleeps on benches for a few days. He is hungry, and he cannot believe someone from his class could starve. He has no idea what to do. He borrows a little money from Lawson for food but doesn't tell him what is the matter. He starts joining lines of men who apply for every job, but he has no experience. He sees the same men each day. He wishes he could go to war with the others. Pride prevents him from going to the Athelnys for Sunday dinner. . Finally, in a state of starvation, he drags himself to the Athelnys the next Sunday. They are not fooled. Sally remarks, "He's just skin and bones" . The Athelnys understand poverty and take him in. He knows they live hand to mouth and that he must get a job. Athelny says he can get him a place where he works, at Lynn and Sedley, linen-drapers, or a large department store. Philip is hired as a shop-walker in a frock coat, directing shoppers to the right department in the store.

Commentary on Chapters XCVIII-CII . Though Philip has become flexible about class and class issues over the years, he still has been part of the privileged upper classes. He has treated the poor in his hospital work with sympathy, but he has never been subject to their problems. Now, he becomes just one of the masses, struggling for survival. All his thoughts, learning, refinement, mean nothing. He finds what Monsieur Foinet had predicted was true, that poverty is not romantic. It makes people stupid and stunted and desperate. Philip loses hope and contemplates suicide, perhaps understanding Fanny Price's fate. Like Fanny, he is too proud to ask for charity and only goes to the Athelnys for dinner. He doesn't think they will guess his real state. It is significant that Sally notices his thinness, for she will play a larger role in the story later on. . Philip has Thorpe Athelny for an example, for he is a learned aristocrat, reduced to working as a copywriter in a department store to keep his lower-class family, and yet he has adapted and remained cheerful. Athelny understands Philip's position as Lawson could not. Lawson is a sort of social friend who might give him a handout, but Athelny knows how to give the kindness that can solve a problem and lift Philip up to become self-sufficient.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_103_to_109.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_18_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 103-109

chapters 103-109

{"name": "Chapters 103-109", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter103-109", "summary": "of Chapters CIII-CIX . Philip is given a company room in a dumpy boardinghouse with the other workers. It is a degrading life, and he is never alone for a moment. The work is tiring, and the food is bad. He drags himself to the social evenings with the other workers so he will not seem a snob. It is quite a Dickensian scene of good-natured lower-class people enjoying themselves. Philip has to turn off his mind and not think of the life he is leading, though the other workers are kind to him and accept him. His one consolation is to go once a week to the Athelnys. . He tries to keep up with his medical books, but he is too tired to focus. He begins to fixate on the death of his uncle, the only thing that will free him. He might inherit enough to finish medical school. He is humiliated when he is asked to be the window dresser of the store, afraid some acquaintance will see him, but he does so well, with his artist's eye that they make him continue. . One day he runs into Lawson and explains his disappearance and new job. Lawson sees his embarrassment and does not know what to say. He asks Philip to come to his studio for a chat, but Philip refuses, realizing it would make it worse for him to discuss what he is going through. Lawson mentions that Hayward died in the war of typhoid fever, and Philip is shocked, for he has not lost friends his age before. . On days off he goes to the British Museum and looks at the Greek sculpture. He tries to get over his nerves at being bombarded all day with the masses of people who look ugly and mean to him. They do not look evil, only petty. The marble statues tend to quiet him, though they remind him of human mortality. The statue of two men holding hands reminds him of his friendship with Hayward. He is struck by the futility of life when death is waiting. . Pondering once again the meaning of life, he thinks of Cronshaw's Persian rug, and suddenly he solves the riddle: \"Life had no meaning\" . He feels suddenly free: \"his insignificance was turned to power\" . Life is just life and needs no justification. Success and failure are equal. . Mr. Sampson, the buyer, gives Philip a chance to become a designer since he can draw. He begins to design clothes after the Paris fashions. He enjoys the work. Occasionally he goes to the hospital for his mail, and there is a letter from his uncle, asking if he will spend his vacation at Blackstable. Philip realizes his uncle is lonely, and decides to go. His uncle has aged significantly, and Philip begins to obsess about his dying. The doctor does not say how much longer he will live. Philip senses his uncle is afraid of dying. . Philip gets a letter from Mildred asking for help. At first he ignores it, but he knows he will get no peace until he answers. She is back to being a prostitute and very ill. She is terrified, for she understands she could die. It is implied that she has syphilis, and he gives her a prescription and tells her she must quit this work. She says the baby died, and he says he is glad. She understands that he means the baby is spared this suffering and degradation. He cares for her till she is better, but he spies on her and sees she is continuing her work as a prostitute. He is angry that she exposes others, but she does not care; she is lost. He realizes he has done all for her he can. \" He did not see her again\" .", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters CIII-CIX . Maugham paints the portraits of Philip's vulgar co-workers at the store with no comments. It is obvious to the reader that he would be feeling out of his own sphere, but he tries to bear his hardship with the thought that one day he will go back to medical school. He talks with Athelny of trips to Spain and dreams of going there someday. This is how Athelny keeps himself going as well. He talks about his travels and philosophy with Philip. . Lawson is hurt that Philip refuses his friendship, for he is trying to reach out. Philip curses his own pride but thinks it would be too hard on him to go backwards and grasp at what is lost to him. He has to keep on going with fortitude. He lets Lawson go, along with his past. Hayward is gone. His uncle is dying, and finally, he sees Mildred for the last time. She ends as a tragic figure, unable to alter, not only dying from syphilis herself, , but Mildred is so hardened, she doesn't mind passing the disease on to others. He feels only pity, but finally, washes his hands of her. . Philip, as usual, contemplates the meaning of life and this time solves the riddle of Cronshaw's Persian carpet, which, he had said, held the meaning of life. Philip has the aha! notion that life is meaningless, and this frees him. He reaches a sort of existential understanding that life is not good or bad; it just is. What defeats us is our expectations that it must be one way or another. He had been thinking that Hayward's death was as useless as his life, and feeling sick at all the lost years. His work at the store had also filled him with the sordidness of life as he watches all the people: \"their features were distorted with paltry desires\" . If life is actually meaningless, then \"the world was robbed of its cruelty\" . At the same time, he feels a great energy to make something of life, for it \"would be a work of art, and it would be none the less beautiful because he alone knew of its existence\" . . There is an elegiac note in his considering the loss of Hayward's and Lawson's friendships, and even his passion for Mildred. One does not know in the beginning enthusiasm that disillusionment and then indifference will set in, and that finally, a relationship, which once meant everything, means nothing, and life just goes on as if it had never happened. Things come and go."}

<CHAPTER> CIII Mrs. Athelny lent Philip money to pay his landlady enough of her bill to let him take his things away. For five shillings and the pawn-ticket on a suit he was able to get from a pawnbroker a frock coat which fitted him fairly well. He redeemed the rest of his clothes. He sent his box to Harrington Street by Carter Patterson and on Monday morning went with Athelny to the shop. Athelny introduced him to the buyer of the costumes and left him. The buyer was a pleasant, fussy little man of thirty, named Sampson; he shook hands with Philip, and, in order to show his own accomplishment of which he was very proud, asked him if he spoke French. He was surprised when Philip told him he did. "Any other language?" "I speak German." "Oh! I go over to Paris myself occasionally. Parlez-vous francais? Ever been to Maxim's?" Philip was stationed at the top of the stairs in the 'costumes.' His work consisted in directing people to the various departments. There seemed a great many of them as Mr. Sampson tripped them off his tongue. Suddenly he noticed that Philip limped. "What's the matter with your leg?" he asked. "I've got a club-foot," said Philip. "But it doesn't prevent my walking or anything like that." The buyer looked at it for a moment doubtfully, and Philip surmised that he was wondering why the manager had engaged him. Philip knew that he had not noticed there was anything the matter with him. "I don't expect you to get them all correct the first day. If you're in any doubt all you've got to do is to ask one of the young ladies." Mr. Sampson turned away; and Philip, trying to remember where this or the other department was, watched anxiously for the customer in search of information. At one o'clock he went up to dinner. The dining-room, on the top floor of the vast building, was large, long, and well lit; but all the windows were shut to keep out the dust, and there was a horrid smell of cooking. There were long tables covered with cloths, with big glass bottles of water at intervals, and down the centre salt cellars and bottles of vinegar. The assistants crowded in noisily, and sat down on forms still warm from those who had dined at twelve-thirty. "No pickles," remarked the man next to Philip. He was a tall thin young man, with a hooked nose and a pasty face; he had a long head, unevenly shaped as though the skull had been pushed in here and there oddly, and on his forehead and neck were large acne spots red and inflamed. His name was Harris. Philip discovered that on some days there were large soup-plates down the table full of mixed pickles. They were very popular. There were no knives and forks, but in a minute a large fat boy in a white coat came in with a couple of handfuls of them and threw them loudly on the middle of the table. Each man took what he wanted; they were warm and greasy from recent washing in dirty water. Plates of meat swimming in gravy were handed round by boys in white jackets, and as they flung each plate down with the quick gesture of a prestidigitator the gravy slopped over on to the table-cloth. Then they brought large dishes of cabbages and potatoes; the sight of them turned Philip's stomach; he noticed that everyone poured quantities of vinegar over them. The noise was awful. They talked and laughed and shouted, and there was the clatter of knives and forks, and strange sounds of eating. Philip was glad to get back into the department. He was beginning to remember where each one was, and had less often to ask one of the assistants, when somebody wanted to know the way. "First to the right. Second on the left, madam." One or two of the girls spoke to him, just a word when things were slack, and he felt they were taking his measure. At five he was sent up again to the dining-room for tea. He was glad to sit down. There were large slices of bread heavily spread with butter; and many had pots of jam, which were kept in the 'store' and had their names written on. Philip was exhausted when work stopped at half past six. Harris, the man he had sat next to at dinner, offered to take him over to Harrington Street to show him where he was to sleep. He told Philip there was a spare bed in his room, and, as the other rooms were full, he expected Philip would be put there. The house in Harrington Street had been a bootmaker's; and the shop was used as a bed-room; but it was very dark, since the window had been boarded three parts up, and as this did not open the only ventilation came from a small skylight at the far end. There was a musty smell, and Philip was thankful that he would not have to sleep there. Harris took him up to the sitting-room, which was on the first floor; it had an old piano in it with a keyboard that looked like a row of decayed teeth; and on the table in a cigar-box without a lid was a set of dominoes; old numbers of The Strand Magazine and of The Graphic were lying about. The other rooms were used as bed-rooms. That in which Philip was to sleep was at the top of the house. There were six beds in it, and a trunk or a box stood by the side of each. The only furniture was a chest of drawers: it had four large drawers and two small ones, and Philip as the new-comer had one of these; there were keys to them, but as they were all alike they were not of much use, and Harris advised him to keep his valuables in his trunk. There was a looking-glass on the chimney-piece. Harris showed Philip the lavatory, which was a fairly large room with eight basins in a row, and here all the inmates did their washing. It led into another room in which were two baths, discoloured, the woodwork stained with soap; and in them were dark rings at various intervals which indicated the water marks of different baths. When Harris and Philip went back to their bed-room they found a tall man changing his clothes and a boy of sixteen whistling as loud as he could while he brushed his hair. In a minute or two without saying a word to anybody the tall man went out. Harris winked at the boy, and the boy, whistling still, winked back. Harris told Philip that the man was called Prior; he had been in the army and now served in the silks; he kept pretty much to himself, and he went off every night, just like that, without so much as a good-evening, to see his girl. Harris went out too, and only the boy remained to watch Philip curiously while he unpacked his things. His name was Bell and he was serving his time for nothing in the haberdashery. He was much interested in Philip's evening clothes. He told him about the other men in the room and asked him every sort of question about himself. He was a cheerful youth, and in the intervals of conversation sang in a half-broken voice snatches of music-hall songs. When Philip had finished he went out to walk about the streets and look at the crowd; occasionally he stopped outside the doors of restaurants and watched the people going in; he felt hungry, so he bought a bath bun and ate it while he strolled along. He had been given a latch-key by the prefect, the man who turned out the gas at a quarter past eleven, but afraid of being locked out he returned in good time; he had learned already the system of fines: you had to pay a shilling if you came in after eleven, and half a crown after a quarter past, and you were reported besides: if it happened three times you were dismissed. All but the soldier were in when Philip arrived and two were already in bed. Philip was greeted with cries. "Oh, Clarence! Naughty boy!" He discovered that Bell had dressed up the bolster in his evening clothes. The boy was delighted with his joke. "You must wear them at the social evening, Clarence." "He'll catch the belle of Lynn's, if he's not careful." Philip had already heard of the social evenings, for the money stopped from the wages to pay for them was one of the grievances of the staff. It was only two shillings a month, and it covered medical attendance and the use of a library of worn novels; but as four shillings a month besides was stopped for washing, Philip discovered that a quarter of his six shillings a week would never be paid to him. Most of the men were eating thick slices of fat bacon between a roll of bread cut in two. These sandwiches, the assistants' usual supper, were supplied by a small shop a few doors off at twopence each. The soldier rolled in; silently, rapidly, took off his clothes and threw himself into bed. At ten minutes past eleven the gas gave a big jump and five minutes later went out. The soldier went to sleep, but the others crowded round the big window in their pyjamas and night-shirts and, throwing remains of their sandwiches at the women who passed in the street below, shouted to them facetious remarks. The house opposite, six storeys high, was a workshop for Jewish tailors who left off work at eleven; the rooms were brightly lit and there were no blinds to the windows. The sweater's daughter--the family consisted of father, mother, two small boys, and a girl of twenty--went round the house to put out the lights when work was over, and sometimes she allowed herself to be made love to by one of the tailors. The shop assistants in Philip's room got a lot of amusement out of watching the manoeuvres of one man or another to stay behind, and they made small bets on which would succeed. At midnight the people were turned out of the Harrington Arms at the end of the street, and soon after they all went to bed: Bell, who slept nearest the door, made his way across the room by jumping from bed to bed, and even when he got to his own would not stop talking. At last everything was silent but for the steady snoring of the soldier, and Philip went to sleep. He was awaked at seven by the loud ringing of a bell, and by a quarter to eight they were all dressed and hurrying downstairs in their stockinged feet to pick out their boots. They laced them as they ran along to the shop in Oxford Street for breakfast. If they were a minute later than eight they got none, nor, once in, were they allowed out to get themselves anything to eat. Sometimes, if they knew they could not get into the building in time, they stopped at the little shop near their quarters and bought a couple of buns; but this cost money, and most went without food till dinner. Philip ate some bread and butter, drank a cup of tea, and at half past eight began his day's work again. "First to the right. Second on the left, madam." Soon he began to answer the questions quite mechanically. The work was monotonous and very tiring. After a few days his feet hurt him so that he could hardly stand: the thick soft carpets made them burn, and at night his socks were painful to remove. It was a common complaint, and his fellow 'floormen' told him that socks and boots just rotted away from the continual sweating. All the men in his room suffered in the same fashion, and they relieved the pain by sleeping with their feet outside the bed-clothes. At first Philip could not walk at all and was obliged to spend a good many of his evenings in the sitting-room at Harrington Street with his feet in a pail of cold water. His companion on these occasions was Bell, the lad in the haberdashery, who stayed in often to arrange the stamps he collected. As he fastened them with little pieces of stamp-paper he whistled monotonously. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CIV The social evenings took place on alternate Mondays. There was one at the beginning of Philip's second week at Lynn's. He arranged to go with one of the women in his department. "Meet 'em 'alf-way," she said, "same as I do." This was Mrs. Hodges, a little woman of five-and-forty, with badly dyed hair; she had a yellow face with a network of small red veins all over it, and yellow whites to her pale blue eyes. She took a fancy to Philip and called him by his Christian name before he had been in the shop a week. "We've both known what it is to come down," she said. She told Philip that her real name was not Hodges, but she always referred to "me 'usband Misterodges;" he was a barrister and he treated her simply shocking, so she left him as she preferred to be independent like; but she had known what it was to drive in her own carriage, dear--she called everyone dear--and they always had late dinner at home. She used to pick her teeth with the pin of an enormous silver brooch. It was in the form of a whip and a hunting-crop crossed, with two spurs in the middle. Philip was ill at ease in his new surroundings, and the girls in the shop called him 'sidey.' One addressed him as Phil, and he did not answer because he had not the least idea that she was speaking to him; so she tossed her head, saying he was a 'stuck-up thing,' and next time with ironical emphasis called him Mister Carey. She was a Miss Jewell, and she was going to marry a doctor. The other girls had never seen him, but they said he must be a gentleman as he gave her such lovely presents. "Never you mind what they say, dear," said Mrs. Hodges. "I've 'ad to go through it same as you 'ave. They don't know any better, poor things. You take my word for it, they'll like you all right if you 'old your own same as I 'ave." The social evening was held in the restaurant in the basement. The tables were put on one side so that there might be room for dancing, and smaller ones were set out for progressive whist. "The 'eads 'ave to get there early," said Mrs. Hodges. She introduced him to Miss Bennett, who was the belle of Lynn's. She was the buyer in the 'Petticoats,' and when Philip entered was engaged in conversation with the buyer in the 'Gentlemen's Hosiery;' Miss Bennett was a woman of massive proportions, with a very large red face heavily powdered and a bust of imposing dimensions; her flaxen hair was arranged with elaboration. She was overdressed, but not badly dressed, in black with a high collar, and she wore black glace gloves, in which she played cards; she had several heavy gold chains round her neck, bangles on her wrists, and circular photograph pendants, one being of Queen Alexandra; she carried a black satin bag and chewed Sen-sens. "Please to meet you, Mr. Carey," she said. "This is your first visit to our social evenings, ain't it? I expect you feel a bit shy, but there's no cause to, I promise you that." She did her best to make people feel at home. She slapped them on the shoulders and laughed a great deal. "Ain't I a pickle?" she cried, turning to Philip. "What must you think of me? But I can't 'elp meself." Those who were going to take part in the social evening came in, the younger members of the staff mostly, boys who had not girls of their own, and girls who had not yet found anyone to walk with. Several of the young gentlemen wore lounge suits with white evening ties and red silk handkerchiefs; they were going to perform, and they had a busy, abstracted air; some were self-confident, but others were nervous, and they watched their public with an anxious eye. Presently a girl with a great deal of hair sat at the piano and ran her hands noisily across the keyboard. When the audience had settled itself she looked round and gave the name of her piece. "A Drive in Russia." There was a round of clapping during which she deftly fixed bells to her wrists. She smiled a little and immediately burst into energetic melody. There was a great deal more clapping when she finished, and when this was over, as an encore, she gave a piece which imitated the sea; there were little trills to represent the lapping waves and thundering chords, with the loud pedal down, to suggest a storm. After this a gentleman sang a song called Bid me Good-bye, and as an encore obliged with Sing me to Sleep. The audience measured their enthusiasm with a nice discrimination. Everyone was applauded till he gave an encore, and so that there might be no jealousy no one was applauded more than anyone else. Miss Bennett sailed up to Philip. "I'm sure you play or sing, Mr. Carey," she said archly. "I can see it in your face." "I'm afraid I don't." "Don't you even recite?" "I have no parlour tricks." The buyer in the 'gentleman's hosiery' was a well-known reciter, and he was called upon loudly to perform by all the assistants in his department. Needing no pressing, he gave a long poem of tragic character, in which he rolled his eyes, put his hand on his chest, and acted as though he were in great agony. The point, that he had eaten cucumber for supper, was divulged in the last line and was greeted with laughter, a little forced because everyone knew the poem well, but loud and long. Miss Bennett did not sing, play, or recite. "Oh no, she 'as a little game of her own," said Mrs. Hodges. "Now, don't you begin chaffing me. The fact is I know quite a lot about palmistry and second sight." "Oh, do tell my 'and, Miss Bennett," cried the girls in her department, eager to please her. "I don't like telling 'ands, I don't really. I've told people such terrible things and they've all come true, it makes one superstitious like." "Oh, Miss Bennett, just for once." A little crowd collected round her, and, amid screams of embarrassment, giggles, blushings, and cries of dismay or admiration, she talked mysteriously of fair and dark men, of money in a letter, and of journeys, till the sweat stood in heavy beads on her painted face. "Look at me," she said. "I'm all of a perspiration." Supper was at nine. There were cakes, buns, sandwiches, tea and coffee, all free; but if you wanted mineral water you had to pay for it. Gallantry often led young men to offer the ladies ginger beer, but common decency made them refuse. Miss Bennett was very fond of ginger beer, and she drank two and sometimes three bottles during the evening; but she insisted on paying for them herself. The men liked her for that. "She's a rum old bird," they said, "but mind you, she's not a bad sort, she's not like what some are." After supper progressive whist was played. This was very noisy, and there was a great deal of laughing and shouting, as people moved from table to table. Miss Bennett grew hotter and hotter. "Look at me," she said. "I'm all of a perspiration." In due course one of the more dashing of the young men remarked that if they wanted to dance they'd better begin. The girl who had played the accompaniments sat at the piano and placed a decided foot on the loud pedal. She played a dreamy waltz, marking the time with the bass, while with the right hand she 'tiddled' in alternate octaves. By way of a change she crossed her hands and played the air in the bass. "She does play well, doesn't she?" Mrs. Hodges remarked to Philip. "And what's more she's never 'ad a lesson in 'er life; it's all ear." Miss Bennett liked dancing and poetry better than anything in the world. She danced well, but very, very slowly, and an expression came into her eyes as though her thoughts were far, far away. She talked breathlessly of the floor and the heat and the supper. She said that the Portman Rooms had the best floor in London and she always liked the dances there; they were very select, and she couldn't bear dancing with all sorts of men you didn't know anything about; why, you might be exposing yourself to you didn't know what all. Nearly all the people danced very well, and they enjoyed themselves. Sweat poured down their faces, and the very high collars of the young men grew limp. Philip looked on, and a greater depression seized him than he remembered to have felt for a long time. He felt intolerably alone. He did not go, because he was afraid to seem supercilious, and he talked with the girls and laughed, but in his heart was unhappiness. Miss Bennett asked him if he had a girl. "No," he smiled. "Oh, well, there's plenty to choose from here. And they're very nice respectable girls, some of them. I expect you'll have a girl before you've been here long." She looked at him very archly. "Meet 'em 'alf-way," said Mrs. Hodges. "That's what I tell him." It was nearly eleven o'clock, and the party broke up. Philip could not get to sleep. Like the others he kept his aching feet outside the bed-clothes. He tried with all his might not to think of the life he was leading. The soldier was snoring quietly. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CV The wages were paid once a month by the secretary. On pay-day each batch of assistants, coming down from tea, went into the passage and joined the long line of people waiting orderly like the audience in a queue outside a gallery door. One by one they entered the office. The secretary sat at a desk with wooden bowls of money in front of him, and he asked the employe's name; he referred to a book, quickly, after a suspicious glance at the assistant, said aloud the sum due, and taking money out of the bowl counted it into his hand. "Thank you," he said. "Next." "Thank you," was the reply. The assistant passed on to the second secretary and before leaving the room paid him four shillings for washing money, two shillings for the club, and any fines that he might have incurred. With what he had left he went back into his department and there waited till it was time to go. Most of the men in Philip's house were in debt with the woman who sold the sandwiches they generally ate for supper. She was a funny old thing, very fat, with a broad, red face, and black hair plastered neatly on each side of the forehead in the fashion shown in early pictures of Queen Victoria. She always wore a little black bonnet and a white apron; her sleeves were tucked up to the elbow; she cut the sandwiches with large, dirty, greasy hands; and there was grease on her bodice, grease on her apron, grease on her skirt. She was called Mrs. Fletcher, but everyone addressed her as 'Ma'; she was really fond of the shop assistants, whom she called her boys; she never minded giving credit towards the end of the month, and it was known that now and then she had lent someone or other a few shillings when he was in straits. She was a good woman. When they were leaving or when they came back from the holidays, the boys kissed her fat red cheek; and more than one, dismissed and unable to find another job, had got for nothing food to keep body and soul together. The boys were sensible of her large heart and repaid her with genuine affection. There was a story they liked to tell of a man who had done well for himself at Bradford, and had five shops of his own, and had come back after fifteen years and visited Ma Fletcher and given her a gold watch. Philip found himself with eighteen shillings left out of his month's pay. It was the first money he had ever earned in his life. It gave him none of the pride which might have been expected, but merely a feeling of dismay. The smallness of the sum emphasised the hopelessness of his position. He took fifteen shillings to Mrs. Athelny to pay back part of what he owed her, but she would not take more than half a sovereign. "D'you know, at that rate it'll take me eight months to settle up with you." "As long as Athelny's in work I can afford to wait, and who knows, p'raps they'll give you a rise." Athelny kept on saying that he would speak to the manager about Philip, it was absurd that no use should be made of his talents; but he did nothing, and Philip soon came to the conclusion that the press-agent was not a person of so much importance in the manager's eyes as in his own. Occasionally he saw Athelny in the shop. His flamboyance was extinguished; and in neat, commonplace, shabby clothes he hurried, a subdued, unassuming little man, through the departments as though anxious to escape notice. "When I think of how I'm wasted there," he said at home, "I'm almost tempted to give in my notice. There's no scope for a man like me. I'm stunted, I'm starved." Mrs. Athelny, quietly sewing, took no notice of his complaints. Her mouth tightened a little. "It's very hard to get jobs in these times. It's regular and it's safe; I expect you'll stay there as long as you give satisfaction." It was evident that Athelny would. It was interesting to see the ascendency which the uneducated woman, bound to him by no legal tie, had acquired over the brilliant, unstable man. Mrs. Athelny treated Philip with motherly kindness now that he was in a different position, and he was touched by her anxiety that he should make a good meal. It was the solace of his life (and when he grew used to it, the monotony of it was what chiefly appalled him) that he could go every Sunday to that friendly house. It was a joy to sit in the stately Spanish chairs and discuss all manner of things with Athelny. Though his condition seemed so desperate he never left him to go back to Harrington Street without a feeling of exultation. At first Philip, in order not to forget what he had learned, tried to go on reading his medical books, but he found it useless; he could not fix his attention on them after the exhausting work of the day; and it seemed hopeless to continue working when he did not know in how long he would be able to go back to the hospital. He dreamed constantly that he was in the wards. The awakening was painful. The sensation of other people sleeping in the room was inexpressibly irksome to him; he had been used to solitude, and to be with others always, never to be by himself for an instant was at these moments horrible to him. It was then that he found it most difficult to combat his despair. He saw himself going on with that life, first to the right, second on the left, madam, indefinitely; and having to be thankful if he was not sent away: the men who had gone to the war would be coming home soon, the firm had guaranteed to take them back, and this must mean that others would be sacked; he would have to stir himself even to keep the wretched post he had. There was only one thing to free him and that was the death of his uncle. He would get a few hundred pounds then, and on this he could finish his course at the hospital. Philip began to wish with all his might for the old man's death. He reckoned out how long he could possibly live: he was well over seventy, Philip did not know his exact age, but he must be at least seventy-five; he suffered from chronic bronchitis and every winter had a bad cough. Though he knew them by heart Philip read over and over again the details in his text-book of medicine of chronic bronchitis in the old. A severe winter might be too much for the old man. With all his heart Philip longed for cold and rain. He thought of it constantly, so that it became a monomania. Uncle William was affected by the great heat too, and in August they had three weeks of sweltering weather. Philip imagined to himself that one day perhaps a telegram would come saying that the Vicar had died suddenly, and he pictured to himself his unutterable relief. As he stood at the top of the stairs and directed people to the departments they wanted, he occupied his mind with thinking incessantly what he would do with the money. He did not know how much it would be, perhaps no more than five hundred pounds, but even that would be enough. He would leave the shop at once, he would not bother to give notice, he would pack his box and go without saying a word to anybody; and then he would return to the hospital. That was the first thing. Would he have forgotten much? In six months he could get it all back, and then he would take his three examinations as soon as he could, midwifery first, then medicine and surgery. The awful fear seized him that his uncle, notwithstanding his promises, might leave everything he had to the parish or the church. The thought made Philip sick. He could not be so cruel. But if that happened Philip was quite determined what to do, he would not go on in that way indefinitely; his life was only tolerable because he could look forward to something better. If he had no hope he would have no fear. The only brave thing to do then would be to commit suicide, and, thinking this over too, Philip decided minutely what painless drug he would take and how he would get hold of it. It encouraged him to think that, if things became unendurable, he had at all events a way out. "Second to the right, madam, and down the stairs. First on the left and straight through. Mr. Philips, forward please." Once a month, for a week, Philip was 'on duty.' He had to go to the department at seven in the morning and keep an eye on the sweepers. When they finished he had to take the sheets off the cases and the models. Then, in the evening when the assistants left, he had to put back the sheets on the models and the cases and 'gang' the sweepers again. It was a dusty, dirty job. He was not allowed to read or write or smoke, but just had to walk about, and the time hung heavily on his hands. When he went off at half past nine he had supper given him, and this was the only consolation; for tea at five o'clock had left him with a healthy appetite, and the bread and cheese, the abundant cocoa which the firm provided, were welcome. One day when Philip had been at Lynn's for three months, Mr. Sampson, the buyer, came into the department, fuming with anger. The manager, happening to notice the costume window as he came in, had sent for the buyer and made satirical remarks upon the colour scheme. Forced to submit in silence to his superior's sarcasm, Mr. Sampson took it out of the assistants; and he rated the wretched fellow whose duty it was to dress the window. "If you want a thing well done you must do it yourself," Mr. Sampson stormed. "I've always said it and I always shall. One can't leave anything to you chaps. Intelligent you call yourselves, do you? Intelligent!" He threw the word at the assistants as though it were the bitterest term of reproach. "Don't you know that if you put an electric blue in the window it'll kill all the other blues?" He looked round the department ferociously, and his eye fell upon Philip. "You'll dress the window next Friday, Carey. Let's see what you can make of it." He went into his office, muttering angrily. Philip's heart sank. When Friday morning came he went into the window with a sickening sense of shame. His cheeks were burning. It was horrible to display himself to the passers-by, and though he told himself it was foolish to give way to such a feeling he turned his back to the street. There was not much chance that any of the students at the hospital would pass along Oxford Street at that hour, and he knew hardly anyone else in London; but as Philip worked, with a huge lump in his throat, he fancied that on turning round he would catch the eye of some man he knew. He made all the haste he could. By the simple observation that all reds went together, and by spacing the costumes more than was usual, Philip got a very good effect; and when the buyer went into the street to look at the result he was obviously pleased. "I knew I shouldn't go far wrong in putting you on the window. The fact is, you and me are gentlemen, mind you I wouldn't say this in the department, but you and me are gentlemen, and that always tells. It's no good your telling me it doesn't tell, because I know it does tell." Philip was put on the job regularly, but he could not accustom himself to the publicity; and he dreaded Friday morning, on which the window was dressed, with a terror that made him awake at five o'clock and lie sleepless with sickness in his heart. The girls in the department noticed his shamefaced way, and they very soon discovered his trick of standing with his back to the street. They laughed at him and called him 'sidey.' "I suppose you're afraid your aunt'll come along and cut you out of her will." On the whole he got on well enough with the girls. They thought him a little queer; but his club-foot seemed to excuse his not being like the rest, and they found in due course that he was good-natured. He never minded helping anyone, and he was polite and even tempered. "You can see he's a gentleman," they said. "Very reserved, isn't he?" said one young woman, to whose passionate enthusiasm for the theatre he had listened unmoved. Most of them had 'fellers,' and those who hadn't said they had rather than have it supposed that no one had an inclination for them. One or two showed signs of being willing to start a flirtation with Philip, and he watched their manoeuvres with grave amusement. He had had enough of love-making for some time; and he was nearly always tired and often hungry. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CVI Philip avoided the places he had known in happier times. The little gatherings at the tavern in Beak Street were broken up: Macalister, having let down his friends, no longer went there, and Hayward was at the Cape. Only Lawson remained; and Philip, feeling that now the painter and he had nothing in common, did not wish to see him; but one Saturday afternoon, after dinner, having changed his clothes he walked down Regent Street to go to the free library in St. Martin's Lane, meaning to spend the afternoon there, and suddenly found himself face to face with him. His first instinct was to pass on without a word, but Lawson did not give him the opportunity. "Where on earth have you been all this time?" he cried. "I?" said Philip. "I wrote you and asked you to come to the studio for a beano and you never even answered." "I didn't get your letter." "No, I know. I went to the hospital to ask for you, and I saw my letter in the rack. Have you chucked the Medical?" Philip hesitated for a moment. He was ashamed to tell the truth, but the shame he felt angered him, and he forced himself to speak. He could not help reddening. "Yes, I lost the little money I had. I couldn't afford to go on with it." "I say, I'm awfully sorry. What are you doing?" "I'm a shop-walker." The words choked Philip, but he was determined not to shirk the truth. He kept his eyes on Lawson and saw his embarrassment. Philip smiled savagely. "If you went into Lynn and Sedley, and made your way into the 'made robes' department, you would see me in a frock coat, walking about with a degage air and directing ladies who want to buy petticoats or stockings. First to the right, madam, and second on the left." Lawson, seeing that Philip was making a jest of it, laughed awkwardly. He did not know what to say. The picture that Philip called up horrified him, but he was afraid to show his sympathy. "That's a bit of a change for you," he said. His words seemed absurd to him, and immediately he wished he had not said them. Philip flushed darkly. "A bit," he said. "By the way, I owe you five bob." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some silver. "Oh, it doesn't matter. I'd forgotten all about it." "Go on, take it." Lawson received the money silently. They stood in the middle of the pavement, and people jostled them as they passed. There was a sardonic twinkle in Philip's eyes, which made the painter intensely uncomfortable, and he could not tell that Philip's heart was heavy with despair. Lawson wanted dreadfully to do something, but he did not know what to do. "I say, won't you come to the studio and have a talk?" "No," said Philip. "Why not?" "There's nothing to talk about." He saw the pain come into Lawson's eyes, he could not help it, he was sorry, but he had to think of himself; he could not bear the thought of discussing his situation, he could endure it only by determining resolutely not to think about it. He was afraid of his weakness if once he began to open his heart. Moreover, he took irresistible dislikes to the places where he had been miserable: he remembered the humiliation he had endured when he had waited in that studio, ravenous with hunger, for Lawson to offer him a meal, and the last occasion when he had taken the five shillings off him. He hated the sight of Lawson, because he recalled those days of utter abasement. "Then look here, come and dine with me one night. Choose your own evening." Philip was touched with the painter's kindness. All sorts of people were strangely kind to him, he thought. "It's awfully good of you, old man, but I'd rather not." He held out his hand. "Good-bye." Lawson, troubled by a behaviour which seemed inexplicable, took his hand, and Philip quickly limped away. His heart was heavy; and, as was usual with him, he began to reproach himself for what he had done: he did not know what madness of pride had made him refuse the offered friendship. But he heard someone running behind him and presently Lawson's voice calling him; he stopped and suddenly the feeling of hostility got the better of him; he presented to Lawson a cold, set face. "What is it?" "I suppose you heard about Hayward, didn't you?" "I know he went to the Cape." "He died, you know, soon after landing." For a moment Philip did not answer. He could hardly believe his ears. "How?" he asked. "Oh, enteric. Hard luck, wasn't it? I thought you mightn't know. Gave me a bit of a turn when I heard it." Lawson nodded quickly and walked away. Philip felt a shiver pass through his heart. He had never before lost a friend of his own age, for the death of Cronshaw, a man so much older than himself, had seemed to come in the normal course of things. The news gave him a peculiar shock. It reminded him of his own mortality, for like everyone else Philip, knowing perfectly that all men must die, had no intimate feeling that the same must apply to himself; and Hayward's death, though he had long ceased to have any warm feeling for him, affected him deeply. He remembered on a sudden all the good talks they had had, and it pained him to think that they would never talk with one another again; he remembered their first meeting and the pleasant months they had spent together in Heidelberg. Philip's heart sank as he thought of the lost years. He walked on mechanically, not noticing where he went, and realised suddenly, with a movement of irritation, that instead of turning down the Haymarket he had sauntered along Shaftesbury Avenue. It bored him to retrace his steps; and besides, with that news, he did not want to read, he wanted to sit alone and think. He made up his mind to go to the British Museum. Solitude was now his only luxury. Since he had been at Lynn's he had often gone there and sat in front of the groups from the Parthenon; and, not deliberately thinking, had allowed their divine masses to rest his troubled soul. But this afternoon they had nothing to say to him, and after a few minutes, impatiently, he wandered out of the room. There were too many people, provincials with foolish faces, foreigners poring over guide-books; their hideousness besmirched the everlasting masterpieces, their restlessness troubled the god's immortal repose. He went into another room and here there was hardly anyone. Philip sat down wearily. His nerves were on edge. He could not get the people out of his mind. Sometimes at Lynn's they affected him in the same way, and he looked at them file past him with horror; they were so ugly and there was such meanness in their faces, it was terrifying; their features were distorted with paltry desires, and you felt they were strange to any ideas of beauty. They had furtive eyes and weak chins. There was no wickedness in them, but only pettiness and vulgarity. Their humour was a low facetiousness. Sometimes he found himself looking at them to see what animal they resembled (he tried not to, for it quickly became an obsession,) and he saw in them all the sheep or the horse or the fox or the goat. Human beings filled him with disgust. But presently the influence of the place descended upon him. He felt quieter. He began to look absently at the tombstones with which the room was lined. They were the work of Athenian stone masons of the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ, and they were very simple, work of no great talent but with the exquisite spirit of Athens upon them; time had mellowed the marble to the colour of honey, so that unconsciously one thought of the bees of Hymettus, and softened their outlines. Some represented a nude figure, seated on a bench, some the departure of the dead from those who loved him, and some the dead clasping hands with one who remained behind. On all was the tragic word farewell; that and nothing more. Their simplicity was infinitely touching. Friend parted from friend, the son from his mother, and the restraint made the survivor's grief more poignant. It was so long, long ago, and century upon century had passed over that unhappiness; for two thousand years those who wept had been dust as those they wept for. Yet the woe was alive still, and it filled Philip's heart so that he felt compassion spring up in it, and he said: "Poor things, poor things." And it came to him that the gaping sight-seers and the fat strangers with their guide-books, and all those mean, common people who thronged the shop, with their trivial desires and vulgar cares, were mortal and must die. They too loved and must part from those they loved, the son from his mother, the wife from her husband; and perhaps it was more tragic because their lives were ugly and sordid, and they knew nothing that gave beauty to the world. There was one stone which was very beautiful, a bas relief of two young men holding each other's hand; and the reticence of line, the simplicity, made one like to think that the sculptor here had been touched with a genuine emotion. It was an exquisite memorial to that than which the world offers but one thing more precious, to a friendship; and as Philip looked at it, he felt the tears come to his eyes. He thought of Hayward and his eager admiration for him when first they met, and how disillusion had come and then indifference, till nothing held them together but habit and old memories. It was one of the queer things of life that you saw a person every day for months and were so intimate with him that you could not imagine existence without him; then separation came, and everything went on in the same way, and the companion who had seemed essential proved unnecessary. Your life proceeded and you did not even miss him. Philip thought of those early days in Heidelberg when Hayward, capable of great things, had been full of enthusiasm for the future, and how, little by little, achieving nothing, he had resigned himself to failure. Now he was dead. His death had been as futile as his life. He died ingloriously, of a stupid disease, failing once more, even at the end, to accomplish anything. It was just the same now as if he had never lived. Philip asked himself desperately what was the use of living at all. It all seemed inane. It was the same with Cronshaw: it was quite unimportant that he had lived; he was dead and forgotten, his book of poems sold in remainder by second-hand booksellers; his life seemed to have served nothing except to give a pushing journalist occasion to write an article in a review. And Philip cried out in his soul: "What is the use of it?" The effort was so incommensurate with the result. The bright hopes of youth had to be paid for at such a bitter price of disillusionment. Pain and disease and unhappiness weighed down the scale so heavily. What did it all mean? He thought of his own life, the high hopes with which he had entered upon it, the limitations which his body forced upon him, his friendlessness, and the lack of affection which had surrounded his youth. He did not know that he had ever done anything but what seemed best to do, and what a cropper he had come! Other men, with no more advantages than he, succeeded, and others again, with many more, failed. It seemed pure chance. The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore. Thinking of Cronshaw, Philip remembered the Persian rug which he had given him, telling him that it offered an answer to his question upon the meaning of life; and suddenly the answer occurred to him: he chuckled: now that he had it, it was like one of the puzzles which you worry over till you are shown the solution and then cannot imagine how it could ever have escaped you. The answer was obvious. Life had no meaning. On the earth, satellite of a star speeding through space, living things had arisen under the influence of conditions which were part of the planet's history; and as there had been a beginning of life upon it so, under the influence of other conditions, there would be an end: man, no more significant than other forms of life, had come not as the climax of creation but as a physical reaction to the environment. Philip remembered the story of the Eastern King who, desiring to know the history of man, was brought by a sage five hundred volumes; busy with affairs of state, he bade him go and condense it; in twenty years the sage returned and his history now was in no more than fifty volumes, but the King, too old then to read so many ponderous tomes, bade him go and shorten it once more; twenty years passed again and the sage, old and gray, brought a single book in which was the knowledge the King had sought; but the King lay on his death-bed, and he had no time to read even that; and then the sage gave him the history of man in a single line; it was this: he was born, he suffered, and he died. There was no meaning in life, and man by living served no end. It was immaterial whether he was born or not born, whether he lived or ceased to live. Life was insignificant and death without consequence. Philip exulted, as he had exulted in his boyhood when the weight of a belief in God was lifted from his shoulders: it seemed to him that the last burden of responsibility was taken from him; and for the first time he was utterly free. His insignificance was turned to power, and he felt himself suddenly equal with the cruel fate which had seemed to persecute him; for, if life was meaningless, the world was robbed of its cruelty. What he did or left undone did not matter. Failure was unimportant and success amounted to nothing. He was the most inconsiderate creature in that swarming mass of mankind which for a brief space occupied the surface of the earth; and he was almighty because he had wrenched from chaos the secret of its nothingness. Thoughts came tumbling over one another in Philip's eager fancy, and he took long breaths of joyous satisfaction. He felt inclined to leap and sing. He had not been so happy for months. "Oh, life," he cried in his heart, "Oh life, where is thy sting?" For the same uprush of fancy which had shown him with all the force of mathematical demonstration that life had no meaning, brought with it another idea; and that was why Cronshaw, he imagined, had given him the Persian rug. As the weaver elaborated his pattern for no end but the pleasure of his aesthetic sense, so might a man live his life, or if one was forced to believe that his actions were outside his choosing, so might a man look at his life, that it made a pattern. There was as little need to do this as there was use. It was merely something he did for his own pleasure. Out of the manifold events of his life, his deeds, his feelings, his thoughts, he might make a design, regular, elaborate, complicated, or beautiful; and though it might be no more than an illusion that he had the power of selection, though it might be no more than a fantastic legerdemain in which appearances were interwoven with moonbeams, that did not matter: it seemed, and so to him it was. In the vast warp of life (a river arising from no spring and flowing endlessly to no sea), with the background to his fancies that there was no meaning and that nothing was important, a man might get a personal satisfaction in selecting the various strands that worked out the pattern. There was one pattern, the most obvious, perfect, and beautiful, in which a man was born, grew to manhood, married, produced children, toiled for his bread, and died; but there were others, intricate and wonderful, in which happiness did not enter and in which success was not attempted; and in them might be discovered a more troubling grace. Some lives, and Hayward's was among them, the blind indifference of chance cut off while the design was still imperfect; and then the solace was comfortable that it did not matter; other lives, such as Cronshaw's, offered a pattern which was difficult to follow, the point of view had to be shifted and old standards had to be altered before one could understand that such a life was its own justification. Philip thought that in throwing over the desire for happiness he was casting aside the last of his illusions. His life had seemed horrible when it was measured by its happiness, but now he seemed to gather strength as he realised that it might be measured by something else. Happiness mattered as little as pain. They came in, both of them, as all the other details of his life came in, to the elaboration of the design. He seemed for an instant to stand above the accidents of his existence, and he felt that they could not affect him again as they had done before. Whatever happened to him now would be one more motive to add to the complexity of the pattern, and when the end approached he would rejoice in its completion. It would be a work of art, and it would be none the less beautiful because he alone knew of its existence, and with his death it would at once cease to be. Philip was happy. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CVII Mr. Sampson, the buyer, took a fancy to Philip. Mr. Sampson was very dashing, and the girls in his department said they would not be surprised if he married one of the rich customers. He lived out of town and often impressed the assistants by putting on his evening clothes in the office. Sometimes he would be seen by those on sweeping duty coming in next morning still dressed, and they would wink gravely to one another while he went into his office and changed into a frock coat. On these occasions, having slipped out for a hurried breakfast, he also would wink at Philip as he walked up the stairs on his way back and rub his hands. "What a night! What a night!" he said. "My word!" He told Philip that he was the only gentleman there, and he and Philip were the only fellows who knew what life was. Having said this, he changed his manner suddenly, called Philip Mr. Carey instead of old boy, assumed the importance due to his position as buyer, and put Philip back into his place of shop-walker. Lynn and Sedley received fashion papers from Paris once a week and adapted the costumes illustrated in them to the needs of their customers. Their clientele was peculiar. The most substantial part consisted of women from the smaller manufacturing towns, who were too elegant to have their frocks made locally and not sufficiently acquainted with London to discover good dressmakers within their means. Beside these, incongruously, was a large number of music-hall artistes. This was a connection that Mr. Sampson had worked up for himself and took great pride in. They had begun by getting their stage-costumes at Lynn's, and he had induced many of them to get their other clothes there as well. "As good as Paquin and half the price," he said. He had a persuasive, hail-fellow well-met air with him which appealed to customers of this sort, and they said to one another: "What's the good of throwing money away when you can get a coat and skirt at Lynn's that nobody knows don't come from Paris?" Mr. Sampson was very proud of his friendship with the popular favourites whose frocks he made, and when he went out to dinner at two o'clock on Sunday with Miss Victoria Virgo--"she was wearing that powder blue we made her and I lay she didn't let on it come from us, I 'ad to tell her meself that if I 'adn't designed it with my own 'ands I'd have said it must come from Paquin"--at her beautiful house in Tulse Hill, he regaled the department next day with abundant details. Philip had never paid much attention to women's clothes, but in course of time he began, a little amused at himself, to take a technical interest in them. He had an eye for colour which was more highly trained than that of anyone in the department, and he had kept from his student days in Paris some knowledge of line. Mr. Sampson, an ignorant man conscious of his incompetence, but with a shrewdness that enabled him to combine other people's suggestions, constantly asked the opinion of the assistants in his department in making up new designs; and he had the quickness to see that Philip's criticisms were valuable. But he was very jealous, and would never allow that he took anyone's advice. When he had altered some drawing in accordance with Philip's suggestion, he always finished up by saying: "Well, it comes round to my own idea in the end." One day, when Philip had been at the shop for five months, Miss Alice Antonia, the well-known serio-comic, came in and asked to see Mr. Sampson. She was a large woman, with flaxen hair, and a boldly painted face, a metallic voice, and the breezy manner of a comedienne accustomed to be on friendly terms with the gallery boys of provincial music-halls. She had a new song and wished Mr. Sampson to design a costume for her. "I want something striking," she said. "I don't want any old thing you know. I want something different from what anybody else has." Mr. Sampson, bland and familiar, said he was quite certain they could get her the very thing she required. He showed her sketches. "I know there's nothing here that would do, but I just want to show you the kind of thing I would suggest." "Oh no, that's not the sort of thing at all," she said, as she glanced at them impatiently. "What I want is something that'll just hit 'em in the jaw and make their front teeth rattle." "Yes, I quite understand, Miss Antonia," said the buyer, with a bland smile, but his eyes grew blank and stupid. "I expect I shall 'ave to pop over to Paris for it in the end." "Oh, I think we can give you satisfaction, Miss Antonia. What you can get in Paris you can get here." When she had swept out of the department Mr. Sampson, a little worried, discussed the matter with Mrs. Hodges. "She's a caution and no mistake," said Mrs. Hodges. "Alice, where art thou?" remarked the buyer, irritably, and thought he had scored a point against her. His ideas of music-hall costumes had never gone beyond short skirts, a swirl of lace, and glittering sequins; but Miss Antonia had expressed herself on that subject in no uncertain terms. "Oh, my aunt!" she said. And the invocation was uttered in such a tone as to indicate a rooted antipathy to anything so commonplace, even if she had not added that sequins gave her the sick. Mr. Sampson 'got out' one or two ideas, but Mrs. Hodges told him frankly she did not think they would do. It was she who gave Philip the suggestion: "Can you draw, Phil? Why don't you try your 'and and see what you can do?" Philip bought a cheap box of water colours, and in the evening while Bell, the noisy lad of sixteen, whistling three notes, busied himself with his stamps, he made one or two sketches. He remembered some of the costumes he had seen in Paris, and he adapted one of them, getting his effect from a combination of violent, unusual colours. The result amused him and next morning he showed it to Mrs. Hodges. She was somewhat astonished, but took it at once to the buyer. "It's unusual," he said, "there's no denying that." It puzzled him, and at the same time his trained eye saw that it would make up admirably. To save his face he began making suggestions for altering it, but Mrs. Hodges, with more sense, advised him to show it to Miss Antonia as it was. "It's neck or nothing with her, and she may take a fancy to it." "It's a good deal more nothing than neck," said Mr. Sampson, looking at the decolletage. "He can draw, can't he? Fancy 'im keeping it dark all this time." When Miss Antonia was announced, the buyer placed the design on the table in such a position that it must catch her eye the moment she was shown into his office. She pounced on it at once. "What's that?" she said. "Why can't I 'ave that?" "That's just an idea we got out for you," said Mr. Sampson casually. "D'you like it?" "Do I like it!" she said. "Give me 'alf a pint with a little drop of gin in it." "Ah, you see, you don't have to go to Paris. You've only got to say what you want and there you are." The work was put in hand at once, and Philip felt quite a thrill of satisfaction when he saw the costume completed. The buyer and Mrs. Hodges took all the credit of it; but he did not care, and when he went with them to the Tivoli to see Miss Antonia wear it for the first time he was filled with elation. In answer to her questions he at last told Mrs. Hodges how he had learnt to draw--fearing that the people he lived with would think he wanted to put on airs, he had always taken the greatest care to say nothing about his past occupations--and she repeated the information to Mr. Sampson. The buyer said nothing to him on the subject, but began to treat him a little more deferentially and presently gave him designs to do for two of the country customers. They met with satisfaction. Then he began to speak to his clients of a "clever young feller, Paris art-student, you know," who worked for him; and soon Philip, ensconced behind a screen, in his shirt sleeves, was drawing from morning till night. Sometimes he was so busy that he had to dine at three with the 'stragglers.' He liked it, because there were few of them and they were all too tired to talk; the food also was better, for it consisted of what was left over from the buyers' table. Philip's rise from shop-walker to designer of costumes had a great effect on the department. He realised that he was an object of envy. Harris, the assistant with the queer-shaped head, who was the first person he had known at the shop and had attached himself to Philip, could not conceal his bitterness. "Some people 'ave all the luck," he said. "You'll be a buyer yourself one of these days, and we shall all be calling you sir." He told Philip that he should demand higher wages, for notwithstanding the difficult work he was now engaged in, he received no more than the six shillings a week with which he started. But it was a ticklish matter to ask for a rise. The manager had a sardonic way of dealing with such applicants. "Think you're worth more, do you? How much d'you think you're worth, eh?" The assistant, with his heart in his mouth, would suggest that he thought he ought to have another two shillings a week. "Oh, very well, if you think you're worth it. You can 'ave it." Then he paused and sometimes, with a steely eye, added: "And you can 'ave your notice too." It was no use then to withdraw your request, you had to go. The manager's idea was that assistants who were dissatisfied did not work properly, and if they were not worth a rise it was better to sack them at once. The result was that they never asked for one unless they were prepared to leave. Philip hesitated. He was a little suspicious of the men in his room who told him that the buyer could not do without him. They were decent fellows, but their sense of humour was primitive, and it would have seemed funny to them if they had persuaded Philip to ask for more wages and he were sacked. He could not forget the mortification he had suffered in looking for work, he did not wish to expose himself to that again, and he knew there was small chance of his getting elsewhere a post as designer: there were hundreds of people about who could draw as well as he. But he wanted money very badly; his clothes were worn out, and the heavy carpets rotted his socks and boots; he had almost persuaded himself to take the venturesome step when one morning, passing up from breakfast in the basement through the passage that led to the manager's office, he saw a queue of men waiting in answer to an advertisement. There were about a hundred of them, and whichever was engaged would be offered his keep and the same six shillings a week that Philip had. He saw some of them cast envious glances at him because he had employment. It made him shudder. He dared not risk it. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CVIII The winter passed. Now and then Philip went to the hospital, slinking in when it was late and there was little chance of meeting anyone he knew, to see whether there were letters for him. At Easter he received one from his uncle. He was surprised to hear from him, for the Vicar of Blackstable had never written him more than half a dozen letters in his whole life, and they were on business matters. Dear Philip, If you are thinking of taking a holiday soon and care to come down here I shall be pleased to see you. I was very ill with my bronchitis in the winter and Doctor Wigram never expected me to pull through. I have a wonderful constitution and I made, thank God, a marvellous recovery. Yours affectionately, William Carey. The letter made Philip angry. How did his uncle think he was living? He did not even trouble to inquire. He might have starved for all the old man cared. But as he walked home something struck him; he stopped under a lamp-post and read the letter again; the handwriting had no longer the business-like firmness which had characterised it; it was larger and wavering: perhaps the illness had shaken him more than he was willing to confess, and he sought in that formal note to express a yearning to see the only relation he had in the world. Philip wrote back that he could come down to Blackstable for a fortnight in July. The invitation was convenient, for he had not known what to do, with his brief holiday. The Athelnys went hopping in September, but he could not then be spared, since during that month the autumn models were prepared. The rule of Lynn's was that everyone must take a fortnight whether he wanted it or not; and during that time, if he had nowhere to go, the assistant might sleep in his room, but he was not allowed food. A number had no friends within reasonable distance of London, and to these the holiday was an awkward interval when they had to provide food out of their small wages and, with the whole day on their hands, had nothing to spend. Philip had not been out of London since his visit to Brighton with Mildred, now two years before, and he longed for fresh air and the silence of the sea. He thought of it with such a passionate desire, all through May and June, that, when at length the time came for him to go, he was listless. On his last evening, when he talked with the buyer of one or two jobs he had to leave over, Mr. Sampson suddenly said to him: "What wages have you been getting?" "Six shillings." "I don't think it's enough. I'll see that you're put up to twelve when you come back." "Thank you very much," smiled Philip. "I'm beginning to want some new clothes badly." "If you stick to your work and don't go larking about with the girls like what some of them do, I'll look after you, Carey. Mind you, you've got a lot to learn, but you're promising, I'll say that for you, you're promising, and I'll see that you get a pound a week as soon as you deserve it." Philip wondered how long he would have to wait for that. Two years? He was startled at the change in his uncle. When last he had seen him he was a stout man, who held himself upright, clean-shaven, with a round, sensual face; but he had fallen in strangely, his skin was yellow; there were great bags under the eyes, and he was bent and old. He had grown a beard during his last illness, and he walked very slowly. "I'm not at my best today," he said when Philip, having just arrived, was sitting with him in the dining-room. "The heat upsets me." Philip, asking after the affairs of the parish, looked at him and wondered how much longer he could last. A hot summer would finish him; Philip noticed how thin his hands were; they trembled. It meant so much to Philip. If he died that summer he could go back to the hospital at the beginning of the winter session; his heart leaped at the thought of returning no more to Lynn's. At dinner the Vicar sat humped up on his chair, and the housekeeper who had been with him since his wife's death said: "Shall Mr. Philip carve, sir?" The old man, who had been about to do so from disinclination to confess his weakness, seemed glad at the first suggestion to relinquish the attempt. "You've got a very good appetite," said Philip. "Oh yes, I always eat well. But I'm thinner than when you were here last. I'm glad to be thinner, I didn't like being so fat. Dr. Wigram thinks I'm all the better for being thinner than I was." When dinner was over the housekeeper brought him some medicine. "Show the prescription to Master Philip," he said. "He's a doctor too. I'd like him to see that he thinks it's all right. I told Dr. Wigram that now you're studying to be a doctor he ought to make a reduction in his charges. It's dreadful the bills I've had to pay. He came every day for two months, and he charges five shillings a visit. It's a lot of money, isn't it? He comes twice a week still. I'm going to tell him he needn't come any more. I'll send for him if I want him." He looked at Philip eagerly while he read the prescriptions. They were narcotics. There were two of them, and one was a medicine which the Vicar explained he was to use only if his neuritis grew unendurable. "I'm very careful," he said. "I don't want to get into the opium habit." He did not mention his nephew's affairs. Philip fancied that it was by way of precaution, in case he asked for money, that his uncle kept dwelling on the financial calls upon him. He had spent so much on the doctor and so much more on the chemist, while he was ill they had had to have a fire every day in his bed-room, and now on Sunday he needed a carriage to go to church in the evening as well as in the morning. Philip felt angrily inclined to say he need not be afraid, he was not going to borrow from him, but he held his tongue. It seemed to him that everything had left the old man now but two things, pleasure in his food and a grasping desire for money. It was a hideous old age. In the afternoon Dr. Wigram came, and after the visit Philip walked with him to the garden gate. "How d'you think he is?" said Philip. Dr. Wigram was more anxious not to do wrong than to do right, and he never hazarded a definite opinion if he could help it. He had practised at Blackstable for five-and-thirty years. He had the reputation of being very safe, and many of his patients thought it much better that a doctor should be safe than clever. There was a new man at Blackstable--he had been settled there for ten years, but they still looked upon him as an interloper--and he was said to be very clever; but he had not much practice among the better people, because no one really knew anything about him. "Oh, he's as well as can be expected," said Dr. Wigram in answer to Philip's inquiry. "Has he got anything seriously the matter with him?" "Well, Philip, your uncle is no longer a young man," said the doctor with a cautious little smile, which suggested that after all the Vicar of Blackstable was not an old man either. "He seems to think his heart's in a bad way." "I'm not satisfied with his heart," hazarded the doctor, "I think he should be careful, very careful." On the tip of Philip's tongue was the question: how much longer can he live? He was afraid it would shock. In these matters a periphrase was demanded by the decorum of life, but, as he asked another question instead, it flashed through him that the doctor must be accustomed to the impatience of a sick man's relatives. He must see through their sympathetic expressions. Philip, with a faint smile at his own hypocrisy, cast down his eyes. "I suppose he's in no immediate danger?" This was the kind of question the doctor hated. If you said a patient couldn't live another month the family prepared itself for a bereavement, and if then the patient lived on they visited the medical attendant with the resentment they felt at having tormented themselves before it was necessary. On the other hand, if you said the patient might live a year and he died in a week the family said you did not know your business. They thought of all the affection they would have lavished on the defunct if they had known the end was so near. Dr. Wigram made the gesture of washing his hands. "I don't think there's any grave risk so long as he--remains as he is," he ventured at last. "But on the other hand, we mustn't forget that he's no longer a young man, and well, the machine is wearing out. If he gets over the hot weather I don't see why he shouldn't get on very comfortably till the winter, and then if the winter does not bother him too much, well, I don't see why anything should happen." Philip went back to the dining-room where his uncle was sitting. With his skull-cap and a crochet shawl over his shoulders he looked grotesque. His eyes had been fixed on the door, and they rested on Philip's face as he entered. Philip saw that his uncle had been waiting anxiously for his return. "Well, what did he say about me?" Philip understood suddenly that the old man was frightened of dying. It made Philip a little ashamed, so that he looked away involuntarily. He was always embarrassed by the weakness of human nature. "He says he thinks you're much better," said Philip. A gleam of delight came into his uncle's eyes. "I've got a wonderful constitution," he said. "What else did he say?" he added suspiciously. Philip smiled. "He said that if you take care of yourself there's no reason why you shouldn't live to be a hundred." "I don't know that I can expect to do that, but I don't see why I shouldn't see eighty. My mother lived till she was eighty-four." There was a little table by the side of Mr. Carey's chair, and on it were a Bible and the large volume of the Common Prayer from which for so many years he had been accustomed to read to his household. He stretched out now his shaking hand and took his Bible. "Those old patriarchs lived to a jolly good old age, didn't they?" he said, with a queer little laugh in which Philip read a sort of timid appeal. The old man clung to life. Yet he believed implicitly all that his religion taught him. He had no doubt in the immortality of the soul, and he felt that he had conducted himself well enough, according to his capacities, to make it very likely that he would go to heaven. In his long career to how many dying persons must he have administered the consolations of religion! Perhaps he was like the doctor who could get no benefit from his own prescriptions. Philip was puzzled and shocked by that eager cleaving to the earth. He wondered what nameless horror was at the back of the old man's mind. He would have liked to probe into his soul so that he might see in its nakedness the dreadful dismay of the unknown which he suspected. The fortnight passed quickly and Philip returned to London. He passed a sweltering August behind his screen in the costumes department, drawing in his shirt sleeves. The assistants in relays went for their holidays. In the evening Philip generally went into Hyde Park and listened to the band. Growing more accustomed to his work it tired him less, and his mind, recovering from its long stagnation, sought for fresh activity. His whole desire now was set on his uncle's death. He kept on dreaming the same dream: a telegram was handed to him one morning, early, which announced the Vicar's sudden demise, and freedom was in his grasp. When he awoke and found it was nothing but a dream he was filled with sombre rage. He occupied himself, now that the event seemed likely to happen at any time, with elaborate plans for the future. In these he passed rapidly over the year which he must spend before it was possible for him to be qualified and dwelt on the journey to Spain on which his heart was set. He read books about that country, which he borrowed from the free library, and already he knew from photographs exactly what each city looked like. He saw himself lingering in Cordova on the bridge that spanned the Gaudalquivir; he wandered through tortuous streets in Toledo and sat in churches where he wrung from El Greco the secret which he felt the mysterious painter held for him. Athelny entered into his humour, and on Sunday afternoons they made out elaborate itineraries so that Philip should miss nothing that was noteworthy. To cheat his impatience Philip began to teach himself Spanish, and in the deserted sitting-room in Harrington Street he spent an hour every evening doing Spanish exercises and puzzling out with an English translation by his side the magnificent phrases of Don Quixote. Athelny gave him a lesson once a week, and Philip learned a few sentences to help him on his journey. Mrs. Athelny laughed at them. "You two and your Spanish!" she said. "Why don't you do something useful?" But Sally, who was growing up and was to put up her hair at Christmas, stood by sometimes and listened in her grave way while her father and Philip exchanged remarks in a language she did not understand. She thought her father the most wonderful man who had ever existed, and she expressed her opinion of Philip only through her father's commendations. "Father thinks a rare lot of your Uncle Philip," she remarked to her brothers and sisters. Thorpe, the eldest boy, was old enough to go on the Arethusa, and Athelny regaled his family with magnificent descriptions of the appearance the lad would make when he came back in uniform for his holidays. As soon as Sally was seventeen she was to be apprenticed to a dressmaker. Athelny in his rhetorical way talked of the birds, strong enough to fly now, who were leaving the parental nest, and with tears in his eyes told them that the nest would be there still if ever they wished to return to it. A shakedown and a dinner would always be theirs, and the heart of a father would never be closed to the troubles of his children. "You do talk, Athelny," said his wife. "I don't know what trouble they're likely to get into so long as they're steady. So long as you're honest and not afraid of work you'll never be out of a job, that's what I think, and I can tell you I shan't be sorry when I see the last of them earning their own living." Child-bearing, hard work, and constant anxiety were beginning to tell on Mrs. Athelny; and sometimes her back ached in the evening so that she had to sit down and rest herself. Her ideal of happiness was to have a girl to do the rough work so that she need not herself get up before seven. Athelny waved his beautiful white hand. "Ah, my Betty, we've deserved well of the state, you and I. We've reared nine healthy children, and the boys shall serve their king; the girls shall cook and sew and in their turn breed healthy children." He turned to Sally, and to comfort her for the anti-climax of the contrast added grandiloquently: "They also serve who only stand and wait." Athelny had lately added socialism to the other contradictory theories he vehemently believed in, and he stated now: "In a socialist state we should be richly pensioned, you and I, Betty." "Oh, don't talk to me about your socialists, I've got no patience with them," she cried. "It only means that another lot of lazy loafers will make a good thing out of the working classes. My motto is, leave me alone; I don't want anyone interfering with me; I'll make the best of a bad job, and the devil take the hindmost." "D'you call life a bad job?" said Athelny. "Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always been poor, but it's been worth it, ay, worth it a hundred times I say when I look round at my children." "You do talk, Athelny," she said, looking at him, not with anger but with scornful calm. "You've had the pleasant part of the children, I've had the bearing of them, and the bearing with them. I don't say that I'm not fond of them, now they're there, but if I had my time over again I'd remain single. Why, if I'd remained single I might have a little shop by now, and four or five hundred pounds in the bank, and a girl to do the rough work. Oh, I wouldn't go over my life again, not for something." Philip thought of the countless millions to whom life is no more than unending labour, neither beautiful nor ugly, but just to be accepted in the same spirit as one accepts the changes of the seasons. Fury seized him because it all seemed useless. He could not reconcile himself to the belief that life had no meaning and yet everything he saw, all his thoughts, added to the force of his conviction. But though fury seized him it was a joyful fury. Life was not so horrible if it was meaningless, and he faced it with a strange sense of power. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CIX The autumn passed into winter. Philip had left his address with Mrs. Foster, his uncle's housekeeper, so that she might communicate with him, but still went once a week to the hospital on the chance of there being a letter. One evening he saw his name on an envelope in a handwriting he had hoped never to see again. It gave him a queer feeling. For a little while he could not bring himself to take it. It brought back a host of hateful memories. But at length, impatient with himself, he ripped open the envelope. 7 William Street, Fitzroy Square. Dear Phil, Can I see you for a minute or two as soon as possible. I am in awful trouble and don't know what to do. It's not money. Yours truly, Mildred. He tore the letter into little bits and going out into the street scattered them in the darkness. "I'll see her damned," he muttered. A feeling of disgust surged up in him at the thought of seeing her again. He did not care if she was in distress, it served her right whatever it was, he thought of her with hatred, and the love he had had for her aroused his loathing. His recollections filled him with nausea, and as he walked across the Thames he drew himself aside in an instinctive withdrawal from his thought of her. He went to bed, but he could not sleep; he wondered what was the matter with her, and he could not get out of his head the fear that she was ill and hungry; she would not have written to him unless she were desperate. He was angry with himself for his weakness, but he knew that he would have no peace unless he saw her. Next morning he wrote a letter-card and posted it on his way to the shop. He made it as stiff as he could and said merely that he was sorry she was in difficulties and would come to the address she had given at seven o'clock that evening. It was that of a shabby lodging-house in a sordid street; and when, sick at the thought of seeing her, he asked whether she was in, a wild hope seized him that she had left. It looked the sort of place people moved in and out of frequently. He had not thought of looking at the postmark on her letter and did not know how many days it had lain in the rack. The woman who answered the bell did not reply to his inquiry, but silently preceded him along the passage and knocked on a door at the back. "Mrs. Miller, a gentleman to see you," she called. The door was slightly opened, and Mildred looked out suspiciously. "Oh, it's you," she said. "Come in." He walked in and she closed the door. It was a very small bed-room, untidy as was every place she lived in; there was a pair of shoes on the floor, lying apart from one another and uncleaned; a hat was on the chest of drawers, with false curls beside it; and there was a blouse on the table. Philip looked for somewhere to put his hat. The hooks behind the door were laden with skirts, and he noticed that they were muddy at the hem. "Sit down, won't you?" she said. Then she gave a little awkward laugh. "I suppose you were surprised to hear from me again." "You're awfully hoarse," he answered. "Have you got a sore throat?" "Yes, I have had for some time." He did not say anything. He waited for her to explain why she wanted to see him. The look of the room told him clearly enough that she had gone back to the life from which he had taken her. He wondered what had happened to the baby; there was a photograph of it on the chimney-piece, but no sign in the room that a child was ever there. Mildred was holding her handkerchief. She made it into a little ball, and passed it from hand to hand. He saw that she was very nervous. She was staring at the fire, and he could look at her without meeting her eyes. She was much thinner than when she had left him; and the skin, yellow and dryish, was drawn more tightly over her cheekbones. She had dyed her hair and it was now flaxen: it altered her a good deal, and made her look more vulgar. "I was relieved to get your letter, I can tell you," she said at last. "I thought p'raps you weren't at the 'ospital any more." Philip did not speak. "I suppose you're qualified by now, aren't you?" "No." "How's that?" "I'm no longer at the hospital. I had to give it up eighteen months ago." "You are changeable. You don't seem as if you could stick to anything." Philip was silent for another moment, and when he went on it was with coldness. "I lost the little money I had in an unlucky speculation and I couldn't afford to go on with the medical. I had to earn my living as best I could." "What are you doing then?" "I'm in a shop." "Oh!" She gave him a quick glance and turned her eyes away at once. He thought that she reddened. She dabbed her palms nervously with the handkerchief. "You've not forgotten all your doctoring, have you?" She jerked the words out quite oddly. "Not entirely." "Because that's why I wanted to see you." Her voice sank to a hoarse whisper. "I don't know what's the matter with me." "Why don't you go to a hospital?" "I don't like to do that, and have all the stoodents staring at me, and I'm afraid they'd want to keep me." "What are you complaining of?" asked Philip coldly, with the stereotyped phrase used in the out-patients' room. "Well, I've come out in a rash, and I can't get rid of it." Philip felt a twinge of horror in his heart. Sweat broke out on his forehead. "Let me look at your throat?" He took her over to the window and made such examination as he could. Suddenly he caught sight of her eyes. There was deadly fear in them. It was horrible to see. She was terrified. She wanted him to reassure her; she looked at him pleadingly, not daring to ask for words of comfort but with all her nerves astrung to receive them: he had none to offer her. "I'm afraid you're very ill indeed," he said. "What d'you think it is?" When he told her she grew deathly pale, and her lips even turned, yellow. she began to cry, hopelessly, quietly at first and then with choking sobs. "I'm awfully sorry," he said at last. "But I had to tell you." "I may just as well kill myself and have done with it." He took no notice of the threat. "Have you got any money?" he asked. "Six or seven pounds." "You must give up this life, you know. Don't you think you could find some work to do? I'm afraid I can't help you much. I only get twelve bob a week." "What is there I can do now?" she cried impatiently. "Damn it all, you MUST try to get something." He spoke to her very gravely, telling her of her own danger and the danger to which she exposed others, and she listened sullenly. He tried to console her. At last he brought her to a sulky acquiescence in which she promised to do all he advised. He wrote a prescription, which he said he would leave at the nearest chemist's, and he impressed upon her the necessity of taking her medicine with the utmost regularity. Getting up to go, he held out his hand. "Don't be downhearted, you'll soon get over your throat." But as he went her face became suddenly distorted, and she caught hold of his coat. "Oh, don't leave me," she cried hoarsely. "I'm so afraid, don't leave me alone yet. Phil, please. There's no one else I can go to, you're the only friend I've ever had." He felt the terror of her soul, and it was strangely like that terror he had seen in his uncle's eyes when he feared that he might die. Philip looked down. Twice that woman had come into his life and made him wretched; she had no claim upon him; and yet, he knew not why, deep in his heart was a strange aching; it was that which, when he received her letter, had left him no peace till he obeyed her summons. "I suppose I shall never really quite get over it," he said to himself. What perplexed him was that he felt a curious physical distaste, which made it uncomfortable for him to be near her. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. "Let's go out and dine together. I'll pay." He hesitated. He felt that she was creeping back again into his life when he thought she was gone out of it for ever. She watched him with sickening anxiety. "Oh, I know I've treated you shocking, but don't leave me alone now. You've had your revenge. If you leave me by myself now I don't know what I shall do." "All right, I don't mind," he said, "but we shall have to do it on the cheap, I haven't got money to throw away these days." She sat down and put her shoes on, then changed her skirt and put on a hat; and they walked out together till they found a restaurant in the Tottenham Court Road. Philip had got out of the habit of eating at those hours, and Mildred's throat was so sore that she could not swallow. They had a little cold ham and Philip drank a glass of beer. They sat opposite one another, as they had so often sat before; he wondered if she remembered; they had nothing to say to one another and would have sat in silence if Philip had not forced himself to talk. In the bright light of the restaurant, with its vulgar looking-glasses that reflected in an endless series, she looked old and haggard. Philip was anxious to know about the child, but he had not the courage to ask. At last she said: "You know baby died last summer." "Oh!" he said. "You might say you're sorry." "I'm not," he answered, "I'm very glad." She glanced at him and, understanding what he meant, looked away "You were rare stuck on it at one time, weren't you? I always thought it funny like how you could see so much in another man's child." When they had finished eating they called at the chemist's for the medicine Philip had ordered, and going back to the shabby room he made her take a dose. Then they sat together till it was time for Philip to go back to Harrington Street. He was hideously bored. Philip went to see her every day. She took the medicine he had prescribed and followed his directions, and soon the results were so apparent that she gained the greatest confidence in Philip's skill. As she grew better she grew less despondent. She talked more freely. "As soon as I can get a job I shall be all right," she said. "I've had my lesson now and I mean to profit by it. No more racketing about for yours truly." Each time he saw her, Philip asked whether she had found work. She told him not to worry, she would find something to do as soon as she wanted it; she had several strings to her bow; it was all the better not to do anything for a week or two. He could not deny this, but at the end of that time he became more insistent. She laughed at him, she was much more cheerful now, and said he was a fussy old thing. She told him long stories of the manageresses she interviewed, for her idea was to get work at some eating-house; what they said and what she answered. Nothing definite was fixed, but she was sure to settle something at the beginning of the following week: there was no use hurrying, and it would be a mistake to take something unsuitable. "It's absurd to talk like that," he said impatiently. "You must take anything you can get. I can't help you, and your money won't last for ever." "Oh, well, I've not come to the end of it yet and chance it." He looked at her sharply. It was three weeks since his first visit, and she had then less than seven pounds. Suspicion seized him. He remembered some of the things she had said. He put two and two together. He wondered whether she had made any attempt to find work. Perhaps she had been lying to him all the time. It was very strange that her money should have lasted so long. "What is your rent here?" "Oh, the landlady's very nice, different from what some of them are; she's quite willing to wait till it's convenient for me to pay." He was silent. What he suspected was so horrible that he hesitated. It was no use to ask her, she would deny everything; if he wanted to know he must find out for himself. He was in the habit of leaving her every evening at eight, and when the clock struck he got up; but instead of going back to Harrington Street he stationed himself at the corner of Fitzroy Square so that he could see anyone who came along William Street. It seemed to him that he waited an interminable time, and he was on the point of going away, thinking his surmise had been mistaken, when the door of No. 7 opened and Mildred came out. He fell back into the darkness and watched her walk towards him. She had on the hat with a quantity of feathers on it which he had seen in her room, and she wore a dress he recognized, too showy for the street and unsuitable to the time of year. He followed her slowly till she came into the Tottenham Court Road, where she slackened her pace; at the corner of Oxford Street she stopped, looked round, and crossed over to a music-hall. He went up to her and touched her on the arm. He saw that she had rouged her cheeks and painted her lips. "Where are you going, Mildred?" She started at the sound of his voice and reddened as she always did when she was caught in a lie; then the flash of anger which he knew so well came into her eyes as she instinctively sought to defend herself by abuse. But she did not say the words which were on the tip of her tongue. "Oh, I was only going to see the show. It gives me the hump sitting every night by myself." He did not pretend to believe her. "You mustn't. Good heavens, I've told you fifty times how dangerous it is. You must stop this sort of thing at once." "Oh, hold your jaw," she cried roughly. "How d'you suppose I'm going to live?" He took hold of her arm and without thinking what he was doing tried to drag her away. "For God's sake come along. Let me take you home. You don't know what you're doing. It's criminal." "What do I care? Let them take their chance. Men haven't been so good to me that I need bother my head about them." She pushed him away and walking up to the box-office put down her money. Philip had threepence in his pocket. He could not follow. He turned away and walked slowly down Oxford Street. "I can't do anything more," he said to himself. That was the end. He did not see her again. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 103-109

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter103-109

of Chapters CIII-CIX . Philip is given a company room in a dumpy boardinghouse with the other workers. It is a degrading life, and he is never alone for a moment. The work is tiring, and the food is bad. He drags himself to the social evenings with the other workers so he will not seem a snob. It is quite a Dickensian scene of good-natured lower-class people enjoying themselves. Philip has to turn off his mind and not think of the life he is leading, though the other workers are kind to him and accept him. His one consolation is to go once a week to the Athelnys. . He tries to keep up with his medical books, but he is too tired to focus. He begins to fixate on the death of his uncle, the only thing that will free him. He might inherit enough to finish medical school. He is humiliated when he is asked to be the window dresser of the store, afraid some acquaintance will see him, but he does so well, with his artist's eye that they make him continue. . One day he runs into Lawson and explains his disappearance and new job. Lawson sees his embarrassment and does not know what to say. He asks Philip to come to his studio for a chat, but Philip refuses, realizing it would make it worse for him to discuss what he is going through. Lawson mentions that Hayward died in the war of typhoid fever, and Philip is shocked, for he has not lost friends his age before. . On days off he goes to the British Museum and looks at the Greek sculpture. He tries to get over his nerves at being bombarded all day with the masses of people who look ugly and mean to him. They do not look evil, only petty. The marble statues tend to quiet him, though they remind him of human mortality. The statue of two men holding hands reminds him of his friendship with Hayward. He is struck by the futility of life when death is waiting. . Pondering once again the meaning of life, he thinks of Cronshaw's Persian rug, and suddenly he solves the riddle: "Life had no meaning" . He feels suddenly free: "his insignificance was turned to power" . Life is just life and needs no justification. Success and failure are equal. . Mr. Sampson, the buyer, gives Philip a chance to become a designer since he can draw. He begins to design clothes after the Paris fashions. He enjoys the work. Occasionally he goes to the hospital for his mail, and there is a letter from his uncle, asking if he will spend his vacation at Blackstable. Philip realizes his uncle is lonely, and decides to go. His uncle has aged significantly, and Philip begins to obsess about his dying. The doctor does not say how much longer he will live. Philip senses his uncle is afraid of dying. . Philip gets a letter from Mildred asking for help. At first he ignores it, but he knows he will get no peace until he answers. She is back to being a prostitute and very ill. She is terrified, for she understands she could die. It is implied that she has syphilis, and he gives her a prescription and tells her she must quit this work. She says the baby died, and he says he is glad. She understands that he means the baby is spared this suffering and degradation. He cares for her till she is better, but he spies on her and sees she is continuing her work as a prostitute. He is angry that she exposes others, but she does not care; she is lost. He realizes he has done all for her he can. " He did not see her again" .

Commentary on Chapters CIII-CIX . Maugham paints the portraits of Philip's vulgar co-workers at the store with no comments. It is obvious to the reader that he would be feeling out of his own sphere, but he tries to bear his hardship with the thought that one day he will go back to medical school. He talks with Athelny of trips to Spain and dreams of going there someday. This is how Athelny keeps himself going as well. He talks about his travels and philosophy with Philip. . Lawson is hurt that Philip refuses his friendship, for he is trying to reach out. Philip curses his own pride but thinks it would be too hard on him to go backwards and grasp at what is lost to him. He has to keep on going with fortitude. He lets Lawson go, along with his past. Hayward is gone. His uncle is dying, and finally, he sees Mildred for the last time. She ends as a tragic figure, unable to alter, not only dying from syphilis herself, , but Mildred is so hardened, she doesn't mind passing the disease on to others. He feels only pity, but finally, washes his hands of her. . Philip, as usual, contemplates the meaning of life and this time solves the riddle of Cronshaw's Persian carpet, which, he had said, held the meaning of life. Philip has the aha! notion that life is meaningless, and this frees him. He reaches a sort of existential understanding that life is not good or bad; it just is. What defeats us is our expectations that it must be one way or another. He had been thinking that Hayward's death was as useless as his life, and feeling sick at all the lost years. His work at the store had also filled him with the sordidness of life as he watches all the people: "their features were distorted with paltry desires" . If life is actually meaningless, then "the world was robbed of its cruelty" . At the same time, he feels a great energy to make something of life, for it "would be a work of art, and it would be none the less beautiful because he alone knew of its existence" . . There is an elegiac note in his considering the loss of Hayward's and Lawson's friendships, and even his passion for Mildred. One does not know in the beginning enthusiasm that disillusionment and then indifference will set in, and that finally, a relationship, which once meant everything, means nothing, and life just goes on as if it had never happened. Things come and go.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_110_to_111.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_19_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 110-111

chapters 110-111

{"name": "Chapters 110-111", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter110-111", "summary": "of Chapters CX and CXI . Philip spends the Christmas holidays with his uncle, who is dying. Philip has to keep pretending that his uncle looks good, but Mr. Carey is completely helpless and cared for by his housekeeper, Mrs. Foster. Philip thinks it strange that his uncle has been preaching eternal life for decades and yet is afraid to die. He looks around the house, gauging the worth of every item for sale. He thinks how easy it would be to kill the old man with an overdose of medicine and he is horrified that he had such an idea. His uncle, intuiting his thought, tells him he must not look forward to his death or it will not profit him. Philip hears that Miss Wilkinson has married, and he feels the loss of his own youth without the accomplishment he thought he would have by now. . In the summer he receives a letter that his uncle is actually dying, and he hurries to Blackstable. The doctor says he is keeping him alive on drugs, but it can't last. The housekeeper thinks that something is on his mind, and he won't let go until he has confessed. Finally, his uncle asks to have final communion. He holds Philip's hand in fear. Philip is overcome with compassion. The vicar, Mr. Simmonds, comes to give communion, and to hear a final confession. Philip is astonished, for afterwards, his uncle is serene and happy. It seems a miracle to him. His uncle dies in peace.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters CX and CXI Uncle Carey is the last of Philip's family, and though he did not feel close to him and wished for his death so he could resume his own life, he feels compassion watching him die. He cannot understand how the final sacraments eased his uncle's soul, but he is happy for him. This death pretty much closes out his past life. . Maugham is very honest with all of Philip's worst emotions, as well as reporting his more unselfish ones. His desire to kill his uncle is momentary and born of frustration. His conscience will not let him do such a deed. Perhaps Maugham includes it because he wishes to show that a human being contains the whole range of life, from noble to bestial. Even his sensitive hero can be guilty of gross passion, stupidity, and mistakes, although what makes him differ from others is restraint and conscience, and above all, the ability to grow. . For all the philosophical discussions about morality and the meaning of life, there are some fundamental values that the book, through Philip, seems to endorse: love, compassion, respect, non-violence, work, and charity. These are Christian values, but Philip finds them after he loses his religion on a personal level. With the inheritance, he is able to finish his schooling and take up his right work. Nevertheless, the two years working with the rest of the masses at the department store has been valuable in teaching Philip what is worthwhile in life. It has connected him on a more intimate level with other human beings. The chip he has carried on his shoulder since school is gone."}

<CHAPTER> CX Christmas that year falling on Thursday, the shop was to close for four days: Philip wrote to his uncle asking whether it would be convenient for him to spend the holidays at the vicarage. He received an answer from Mrs. Foster, saying that Mr. Carey was not well enough to write himself, but wished to see his nephew and would be glad if he came down. She met Philip at the door, and when she shook hands with him, said: "You'll find him changed since you was here last, sir; but you'll pretend you don't notice anything, won't you, sir? He's that nervous about himself." Philip nodded, and she led him into the dining-room. "Here's Mr. Philip, sir." The Vicar of Blackstable was a dying man. There was no mistaking that when you looked at the hollow cheeks and the shrunken body. He sat huddled in the arm-chair, with his head strangely thrown back, and a shawl over his shoulders. He could not walk now without the help of sticks, and his hands trembled so that he could only feed himself with difficulty. "He can't last long now," thought Philip, as he looked at him. "How d'you think I'm looking?" asked the Vicar. "D'you think I've changed since you were here last?" "I think you look stronger than you did last summer." "It was the heat. That always upsets me." Mr. Carey's history of the last few months consisted in the number of weeks he had spent in his bed-room and the number of weeks he had spent downstairs. He had a hand-bell by his side and while he talked he rang it for Mrs. Foster, who sat in the next room ready to attend to his wants, to ask on what day of the month he had first left his room. "On the seventh of November, sir." Mr. Carey looked at Philip to see how he took the information. "But I eat well still, don't I, Mrs. Foster?" "Yes, sir, you've got a wonderful appetite." "I don't seem to put on flesh though." Nothing interested him now but his health. He was set upon one thing indomitably and that was living, just living, notwithstanding the monotony of his life and the constant pain which allowed him to sleep only when he was under the influence of morphia. "It's terrible, the amount of money I have to spend on doctor's bills." He tinkled his bell again. "Mrs. Foster, show Master Philip the chemist's bill." Patiently she took it off the chimney-piece and handed it to Philip. "That's only one month. I was wondering if as you're doctoring yourself you couldn't get me the drugs cheaper. I thought of getting them down from the stores, but then there's the postage." Though apparently taking so little interest in him that he did not trouble to inquire what Phil was doing, he seemed glad to have him there. He asked how long he could stay, and when Philip told him he must leave on Tuesday morning, expressed a wish that the visit might have been longer. He told him minutely all his symptoms and repeated what the doctor had said of him. He broke off to ring his bell, and when Mrs. Foster came in, said: "Oh, I wasn't sure if you were there. I only rang to see if you were." When she had gone he explained to Philip that it made him uneasy if he was not certain that Mrs. Foster was within earshot; she knew exactly what to do with him if anything happened. Philip, seeing that she was tired and that her eyes were heavy from want of sleep, suggested that he was working her too hard. "Oh, nonsense," said the Vicar, "she's as strong as a horse." And when next she came in to give him his medicine he said to her: "Master Philip says you've got too much to do, Mrs. Foster. You like looking after me, don't you?" "Oh, I don't mind, sir. I want to do everything I can." Presently the medicine took effect and Mr. Carey fell asleep. Philip went into the kitchen and asked Mrs. Foster whether she could stand the work. He saw that for some months she had had little peace. "Well, sir, what can I do?" she answered. "The poor old gentleman's so dependent on me, and, although he is troublesome sometimes, you can't help liking him, can you? I've been here so many years now, I don't know what I shall do when he comes to go." Philip saw that she was really fond of the old man. She washed and dressed him, gave him his food, and was up half a dozen times in the night; for she slept in the next room to his and whenever he awoke he tinkled his little bell till she came in. He might die at any moment, but he might live for months. It was wonderful that she should look after a stranger with such patient tenderness, and it was tragic and pitiful that she should be alone in the world to care for him. It seemed to Philip that the religion which his uncle had preached all his life was now of no more than formal importance to him: every Sunday the curate came and administered to him Holy Communion, and he often read his Bible; but it was clear that he looked upon death with horror. He believed that it was the gateway to life everlasting, but he did not want to enter upon that life. In constant pain, chained to his chair and having given up the hope of ever getting out into the open again, like a child in the hands of a woman to whom he paid wages, he clung to the world he knew. In Philip's head was a question he could not ask, because he was aware that his uncle would never give any but a conventional answer: he wondered whether at the very end, now that the machine was painfully wearing itself out, the clergyman still believed in immortality; perhaps at the bottom of his soul, not allowed to shape itself into words in case it became urgent, was the conviction that there was no God and after this life nothing. On the evening of Boxing Day Philip sat in the dining-room with his uncle. He had to start very early next morning in order to get to the shop by nine, and he was to say good-night to Mr. Carey then. The Vicar of Blackstable was dozing and Philip, lying on the sofa by the window, let his book fall on his knees and looked idly round the room. He asked himself how much the furniture would fetch. He had walked round the house and looked at the things he had known from his childhood; there were a few pieces of china which might go for a decent price and Philip wondered if it would be worth while to take them up to London; but the furniture was of the Victorian order, of mahogany, solid and ugly; it would go for nothing at an auction. There were three or four thousand books, but everyone knew how badly they sold, and it was not probable that they would fetch more than a hundred pounds. Philip did not know how much his uncle would leave, and he reckoned out for the hundredth time what was the least sum upon which he could finish the curriculum at the hospital, take his degree, and live during the time he wished to spend on hospital appointments. He looked at the old man, sleeping restlessly: there was no humanity left in that shrivelled face; it was the face of some queer animal. Philip thought how easy it would be to finish that useless life. He had thought it each evening when Mrs. Foster prepared for his uncle the medicine which was to give him an easy night. There were two bottles: one contained a drug which he took regularly, and the other an opiate if the pain grew unendurable. This was poured out for him and left by his bed-side. He generally took it at three or four in the morning. It would be a simple thing to double the dose; he would die in the night, and no one would suspect anything; for that was how Doctor Wigram expected him to die. The end would be painless. Philip clenched his hands as he thought of the money he wanted so badly. A few more months of that wretched life could matter nothing to the old man, but the few more months meant everything to him: he was getting to the end of his endurance, and when he thought of going back to work in the morning he shuddered with horror. His heart beat quickly at the thought which obsessed him, and though he made an effort to put it out of his mind he could not. It would be so easy, so desperately easy. He had no feeling for the old man, he had never liked him; he had been selfish all his life, selfish to his wife who adored him, indifferent to the boy who had been put in his charge; he was not a cruel man, but a stupid, hard man, eaten up with a small sensuality. It would be easy, desperately easy. Philip did not dare. He was afraid of remorse; it would be no good having the money if he regretted all his life what he had done. Though he had told himself so often that regret was futile, there were certain things that came back to him occasionally and worried him. He wished they were not on his conscience. His uncle opened his eyes; Philip was glad, for he looked a little more human then. He was frankly horrified at the idea that had come to him, it was murder that he was meditating; and he wondered if other people had such thoughts or whether he was abnormal and depraved. He supposed he could not have done it when it came to the point, but there the thought was, constantly recurring: if he held his hand it was from fear. His uncle spoke. "You're not looking forward to my death, Philip?" Philip felt his heart beat against his chest. "Good heavens, no." "That's a good boy. I shouldn't like you to do that. You'll get a little bit of money when I pass away, but you mustn't look forward to it. It wouldn't profit you if you did." He spoke in a low voice, and there was a curious anxiety in his tone. It sent a pang into Philip's heart. He wondered what strange insight might have led the old man to surmise what strange desires were in Philip's mind. "I hope you'll live for another twenty years," he said. "Oh, well, I can't expect to do that, but if I take care of myself I don't see why I shouldn't last another three or four." He was silent for a while, and Philip found nothing to say. Then, as if he had been thinking it all over, the old man spoke again. "Everyone has the right to live as long as he can." Philip wanted to distract his mind. "By the way, I suppose you never hear from Miss Wilkinson now?" "Yes, I had a letter some time this year. She's married, you know." "Really?" "Yes, she married a widower. I believe they're quite comfortable." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXI Next day Philip began work again, but the end which he expected within a few weeks did not come. The weeks passed into months. The winter wore away, and in the parks the trees burst into bud and into leaf. A terrible lassitude settled upon Philip. Time was passing, though it went with such heavy feet, and he thought that his youth was going and soon he would have lost it and nothing would have been accomplished. His work seemed more aimless now that there was the certainty of his leaving it. He became skilful in the designing of costumes, and though he had no inventive faculty acquired quickness in the adaptation of French fashions to the English market. Sometimes he was not displeased with his drawings, but they always bungled them in the execution. He was amused to notice that he suffered from a lively irritation when his ideas were not adequately carried out. He had to walk warily. Whenever he suggested something original Mr. Sampson turned it down: their customers did not want anything outre, it was a very respectable class of business, and when you had a connection of that sort it wasn't worth while taking liberties with it. Once or twice he spoke sharply to Philip; he thought the young man was getting a bit above himself, because Philip's ideas did not always coincide with his own. "You jolly well take care, my fine young fellow, or one of these days you'll find yourself in the street." Philip longed to give him a punch on the nose, but he restrained himself. After all it could not possibly last much longer, and then he would be done with all these people for ever. Sometimes in comic desperation he cried out that his uncle must be made of iron. What a constitution! The ills he suffered from would have killed any decent person twelve months before. When at last the news came that the Vicar was dying Philip, who had been thinking of other things, was taken by surprise. It was in July, and in another fortnight he was to have gone for his holiday. He received a letter from Mrs. Foster to say the doctor did not give Mr. Carey many days to live, and if Philip wished to see him again he must come at once. Philip went to the buyer and told him he wanted to leave. Mr. Sampson was a decent fellow, and when he knew the circumstances made no difficulties. Philip said good-bye to the people in his department; the reason of his leaving had spread among them in an exaggerated form, and they thought he had come into a fortune. Mrs. Hodges had tears in her eyes when she shook hands with him. "I suppose we shan't often see you again," she said. "I'm glad to get away from Lynn's," he answered. It was strange, but he was actually sorry to leave these people whom he thought he had loathed, and when he drove away from the house in Harrington Street it was with no exultation. He had so anticipated the emotions he would experience on this occasion that now he felt nothing: he was as unconcerned as though he were going for a few days' holiday. "I've got a rotten nature," he said to himself. "I look forward to things awfully, and then when they come I'm always disappointed." He reached Blackstable early in the afternoon. Mrs. Foster met him at the door, and her face told him that his uncle was not yet dead. "He's a little better today," she said. "He's got a wonderful constitution." She led him into the bed-room where Mr. Carey lay on his back. He gave Philip a slight smile, in which was a trace of satisfied cunning at having circumvented his enemy once more. "I thought it was all up with me yesterday," he said, in an exhausted voice. "They'd all given me up, hadn't you, Mrs. Foster?" "You've got a wonderful constitution, there's no denying that." "There's life in the old dog yet." Mrs. Foster said that the Vicar must not talk, it would tire him; she treated him like a child, with kindly despotism; and there was something childish in the old man's satisfaction at having cheated all their expectations. It struck him at once that Philip had been sent for, and he was amused that he had been brought on a fool's errand. If he could only avoid another of his heart attacks he would get well enough in a week or two; and he had had the attacks several times before; he always felt as if he were going to die, but he never did. They all talked of his constitution, but they none of them knew how strong it was. "Are you going to stay a day or two?" He asked Philip, pretending to believe he had come down for a holiday. "I was thinking of it," Philip answered cheerfully. "A breath of sea-air will do you good." Presently Dr. Wigram came, and after he had seen the Vicar talked with Philip. He adopted an appropriate manner. "I'm afraid it is the end this time, Philip," he said. "It'll be a great loss to all of us. I've known him for five-and-thirty years." "He seems well enough now," said Philip. "I'm keeping him alive on drugs, but it can't last. It was dreadful these last two days, I thought he was dead half a dozen times." The doctor was silent for a minute or two, but at the gate he said suddenly to Philip: "Has Mrs. Foster said anything to you?" "What d'you mean?" "They're very superstitious, these people: she's got hold of an idea that he's got something on his mind, and he can't die till he gets rid of it; and he can't bring himself to confess it." Philip did not answer, and the doctor went on. "Of course it's nonsense. He's led a very good life, he's done his duty, he's been a good parish priest, and I'm sure we shall all miss him; he can't have anything to reproach himself with. I very much doubt whether the next vicar will suit us half so well." For several days Mr. Carey continued without change. His appetite which had been excellent left him, and he could eat little. Dr. Wigram did not hesitate now to still the pain of the neuritis which tormented him; and that, with the constant shaking of his palsied limbs, was gradually exhausting him. His mind remained clear. Philip and Mrs. Foster nursed him between them. She was so tired by the many months during which she had been attentive to all his wants that Philip insisted on sitting up with the patient so that she might have her night's rest. He passed the long hours in an arm-chair so that he should not sleep soundly, and read by the light of shaded candles The Thousand and One Nights. He had not read them since he was a little boy, and they brought back his childhood to him. Sometimes he sat and listened to the silence of the night. When the effects of the opiate wore off Mr. Carey grew restless and kept him constantly busy. At last, early one morning, when the birds were chattering noisily in the trees, he heard his name called. He went up to the bed. Mr. Carey was lying on his back, with his eyes looking at the ceiling; he did not turn them on Philip. Philip saw that sweat was on his forehead, and he took a towel and wiped it. "Is that you, Philip?" the old man asked. Philip was startled because the voice was suddenly changed. It was hoarse and low. So would a man speak if he was cold with fear. "Yes, d'you want anything?" There was a pause, and still the unseeing eyes stared at the ceiling. Then a twitch passed over the face. "I think I'm going to die," he said. "Oh, what nonsense!" cried Philip. "You're not going to die for years." Two tears were wrung from the old man's eyes. They moved Philip horribly. His uncle had never betrayed any particular emotion in the affairs of life; and it was dreadful to see them now, for they signified a terror that was unspeakable. "Send for Mr. Simmonds," he said. "I want to take the Communion." Mr. Simmonds was the curate. "Now?" asked Philip. "Soon, or else it'll be too late." Philip went to awake Mrs. Foster, but it was later than he thought and she was up already. He told her to send the gardener with a message, and he went back to his uncle's room. "Have you sent for Mr. Simmonds?" "Yes." There was a silence. Philip sat by the bed-side, and occasionally wiped the sweating forehead. "Let me hold your hand, Philip," the old man said at last. Philip gave him his hand and he clung to it as to life, for comfort in his extremity. Perhaps he had never really loved anyone in all his days, but now he turned instinctively to a human being. His hand was wet and cold. It grasped Philip's with feeble, despairing energy. The old man was fighting with the fear of death. And Philip thought that all must go through that. Oh, how monstrous it was, and they could believe in a God that allowed his creatures to suffer such a cruel torture! He had never cared for his uncle, and for two years he had longed every day for his death; but now he could not overcome the compassion that filled his heart. What a price it was to pay for being other than the beasts! They remained in silence broken only once by a low inquiry from Mr. Carey. "Hasn't he come yet?" At last the housekeeper came in softly to say that Mr. Simmonds was there. He carried a bag in which were his surplice and his hood. Mrs. Foster brought the communion plate. Mr. Simmonds shook hands silently with Philip, and then with professional gravity went to the sick man's side. Philip and the maid went out of the room. Philip walked round the garden all fresh and dewy in the morning. The birds were singing gaily. The sky was blue, but the air, salt-laden, was sweet and cool. The roses were in full bloom. The green of the trees, the green of the lawns, was eager and brilliant. Philip walked, and as he walked he thought of the mystery which was proceeding in that bedroom. It gave him a peculiar emotion. Presently Mrs. Foster came out to him and said that his uncle wished to see him. The curate was putting his things back into the black bag. The sick man turned his head a little and greeted him with a smile. Philip was astonished, for there was a change in him, an extraordinary change; his eyes had no longer the terror-stricken look, and the pinching of his face had gone: he looked happy and serene. "I'm quite prepared now," he said, and his voice had a different tone in it. "When the Lord sees fit to call me I am ready to give my soul into his hands." Philip did not speak. He could see that his uncle was sincere. It was almost a miracle. He had taken the body and blood of his Savior, and they had given him strength so that he no longer feared the inevitable passage into the night. He knew he was going to die: he was resigned. He only said one thing more: "I shall rejoin my dear wife." It startled Philip. He remembered with what a callous selfishness his uncle had treated her, how obtuse he had been to her humble, devoted love. The curate, deeply moved, went away and Mrs. Foster, weeping, accompanied him to the door. Mr. Carey, exhausted by his effort, fell into a light doze, and Philip sat down by the bed and waited for the end. The morning wore on, and the old man's breathing grew stertorous. The doctor came and said he was dying. He was unconscious and he pecked feebly at the sheets; he was restless and he cried out. Dr. Wigram gave him a hypodermic injection. "It can't do any good now, he may die at any moment." The doctor looked at his watch and then at the patient. Philip saw that it was one o'clock. Dr. Wigram was thinking of his dinner. "It's no use your waiting," he said. "There's nothing I can do," said the doctor. When he was gone Mrs. Foster asked Philip if he would go to the carpenter, who was also the undertaker, and tell him to send up a woman to lay out the body. "You want a little fresh air," she said, "it'll do you good." The undertaker lived half a mile away. When Philip gave him his message, he said: "When did the poor old gentleman die?" Philip hesitated. It occurred to him that it would seem brutal to fetch a woman to wash the body while his uncle still lived, and he wondered why Mrs. Foster had asked him to come. They would think he was in a great hurry to kill the old man off. He thought the undertaker looked at him oddly. He repeated the question. It irritated Philip. It was no business of his. "When did the Vicar pass away?" Philip's first impulse was to say that it had just happened, but then it would seem inexplicable if the sick man lingered for several hours. He reddened and answered awkwardly. "Oh, he isn't exactly dead yet." The undertaker looked at him in perplexity, and he hurried to explain. "Mrs. Foster is all alone and she wants a woman there. You understood, don't you? He may be dead by now." The undertaker nodded. "Oh, yes, I see. I'll send someone up at once." When Philip got back to the vicarage he went up to the bed-room. Mrs. Foster rose from her chair by the bed-side. "He's just as he was when you left," she said. She went down to get herself something to eat, and Philip watched curiously the process of death. There was nothing human now in the unconscious being that struggled feebly. Sometimes a muttered ejaculation issued from the loose mouth. The sun beat down hotly from a cloudless sky, but the trees in the garden were pleasant and cool. It was a lovely day. A bluebottle buzzed against the windowpane. Suddenly there was a loud rattle, it made Philip start, it was horribly frightening; a movement passed through the limbs and the old man was dead. The machine had run down. The bluebottle buzzed, buzzed noisily against the windowpane. </CHAPTER>

Chapters 110-111

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of Chapters CX and CXI . Philip spends the Christmas holidays with his uncle, who is dying. Philip has to keep pretending that his uncle looks good, but Mr. Carey is completely helpless and cared for by his housekeeper, Mrs. Foster. Philip thinks it strange that his uncle has been preaching eternal life for decades and yet is afraid to die. He looks around the house, gauging the worth of every item for sale. He thinks how easy it would be to kill the old man with an overdose of medicine and he is horrified that he had such an idea. His uncle, intuiting his thought, tells him he must not look forward to his death or it will not profit him. Philip hears that Miss Wilkinson has married, and he feels the loss of his own youth without the accomplishment he thought he would have by now. . In the summer he receives a letter that his uncle is actually dying, and he hurries to Blackstable. The doctor says he is keeping him alive on drugs, but it can't last. The housekeeper thinks that something is on his mind, and he won't let go until he has confessed. Finally, his uncle asks to have final communion. He holds Philip's hand in fear. Philip is overcome with compassion. The vicar, Mr. Simmonds, comes to give communion, and to hear a final confession. Philip is astonished, for afterwards, his uncle is serene and happy. It seems a miracle to him. His uncle dies in peace.

Commentary on Chapters CX and CXI Uncle Carey is the last of Philip's family, and though he did not feel close to him and wished for his death so he could resume his own life, he feels compassion watching him die. He cannot understand how the final sacraments eased his uncle's soul, but he is happy for him. This death pretty much closes out his past life. . Maugham is very honest with all of Philip's worst emotions, as well as reporting his more unselfish ones. His desire to kill his uncle is momentary and born of frustration. His conscience will not let him do such a deed. Perhaps Maugham includes it because he wishes to show that a human being contains the whole range of life, from noble to bestial. Even his sensitive hero can be guilty of gross passion, stupidity, and mistakes, although what makes him differ from others is restraint and conscience, and above all, the ability to grow. . For all the philosophical discussions about morality and the meaning of life, there are some fundamental values that the book, through Philip, seems to endorse: love, compassion, respect, non-violence, work, and charity. These are Christian values, but Philip finds them after he loses his religion on a personal level. With the inheritance, he is able to finish his schooling and take up his right work. Nevertheless, the two years working with the rest of the masses at the department store has been valuable in teaching Philip what is worthwhile in life. It has connected him on a more intimate level with other human beings. The chip he has carried on his shoulder since school is gone.

novelguide

all_chapterized_books/351-chapters/chapters_112_to_122.txt

finished_summaries/novelguide/Of Human Bondage/section_20_part_0.txt

Of Human Bondage.chapters 112-122

chapters 112-122

{"name": "Chapters 112-122", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter112-122", "summary": "of Chapters CXII-CXXII Philip's legacy is enough to continue his education. He feels that \"now he could begin a new life, and he would put behind him all the errors, follies, and miseries of the past\" . He reenters St. Luke's and begins the midwifery duties, averaging three births a day. He inspires the poor people he works among, for he has learned a lot in the last two years as a worker. He has a gentleness about him the people like, and he makes friends with his patients. Though he sees death, he learns that the greatest tragedy for the poor is not death but the loss of work. They are not sentimental or dramatic but accept their lots stoically. Philip gives a gold chain of his aunt's to Sally Athelny. She is now apprenticed to a dressmaker. She is beautiful and has many admirers, but she refuses them all. Philip has always been shy around her, because she is very quiet. When a suitor comes to tea, the family approves of him, but she rejects him for apparently no good reason. Philip is in his last year and works hard, contented with life. The Athelnys are his only friends. After he receives his diploma, he gets an assistantship with Dr. South at Farnley in Dorsetshire. He is very crusty and hard to get along with, but he takes to Philip. His patients also like Philip, and Dr. South offers him a partnership. It is not a lucrative practice, but it is near the sea among simple people. Philip refuses because he has his heart set on traveling the world. He spends a vacation with the Athelnys and their children where they go every summer to harvest the hops in Kent, Betty Athelny's home. They stay in a cabin in the fields and camp out, with outdoor cooking, swimming in the sea, dances, and hop collecting in the day. Hopping season is also local courting season, and Philip and Sally are attracted. She is sunburned and natural, with a peasant and earthy beauty. Philip swims with Sally and the children in the sea every day. He likes her natural and unaffected manners, and they walk together, though they are mostly silent. The smell of hops in the air makes lovemaking easy, and one night, Philip and Sally make love in the field. The next day she acts quite natural with him, making no demands or sign that anything has altered. Philip feels guilt about losing his head, but she does not seem to mind. They continue to meet, and her loving makes him happy. He calls it \"milk and honey\" . In London, he gets an appointment at St. Luke's, and Sally works at the dressmaker's. They meet regularly for walks, but no words of love pass between them. She does not insist on anything. They enjoy one another's company. He has affection for her, but he does not think he loves her. One day she tells him she is worried. He realizes she could be pregnant and thinks what a fool he is to have ruined his life just when he wanted to travel. His first thought is that he should not divert his plans. They both went into it with open eyes. But on the other hand, he owes so much to the Athelnys. He should marry her. As soon as he thinks of her as his wife and himself as a father, he becomes very happy. He wires Dr. South to accept the offered appointment, so he will have a home for her. Sally tells him it was a false alarm, and he is disappointed. He proposes to her, and she accepts. He sees that the simplest pattern of life is being born, working, getting married, having children, and dying. It is good enough for him.", "analysis": "Commentary on Chapters CXII-CXXII When Philip returns to the hospital, he is a different person. He now has \"a certain confidence in himself and a different outlook upon many things\" . He has had to survive on his own in completely alien circumstances for two years. When he goes back to visit his old school, he sees young boys going through the same scenes he did. Life has a certain rhythm, and he forgives his old suffering. He sees tragedies, but he also sees \"the beauty of the world. Beside that nothing seemed to matter\" . When Philip sees Lawson in the street, he avoids him because he no longer has anything in common with him. He doesn't want to create art now; he wants to create beauty in his life: \"he was occupied with the forming of a pattern out of the manifold chaos of life\" . It is significant that the story ends in the rural hop fields where he falls in love with Sally, for most of the book takes place in buildings and cities, often in ugly scenes. In the open air, he sees Sally as \"a milkmaid in a fairy story\" . Her natural ways are contrasted to the possessiveness of Miss Wilkinson or Fanny Price or Mildred. She does not make any claim on Philip after they make love, though she has obviously been interested in him for years. Her beauty is not only a healthy physical beauty , but a beauty from within. She is maternal and kind, like all the \"good\" women in the book. He does not associate his feelings for Sally with love at first: \"He could not understand anything of what happened to him\" . Sally gives herself freely, but \"He was convinced of her purity\" . He decides she has \"the healthy instincts of the natural woman\" . When he thinks she is pregnant, he finally understands he is very happy, and that he wants to participate in the natural force of life with this woman as his partner. He feels her honesty and reliability. Maugham does take up the theme of women's issues in his writings, and here, he makes a case for Sally being a young woman with natural sexual desire, but still pure. A Victorian woman was not allowed to have sexual desire. Only prostitutes like Mildred were sexual. Sally not only has sex, she does not use it as a weapon or threat, even when she thinks she might be pregnant. Lucy Otter, Ruth Chalice, Norah Nesbit, Emily Wilkinson, and Sally are all women who go beyond conventional women's roles. Philip begins to understand the joy of \"self-sacrifice\" for the sake of a family. He had felt this toward Mildred and her child too, but Mildred spoiled it by taking advantage of him. Finally, this love is different because he begins for once to accept himself and his deformity. He realizes that his deformity has made him thoughtful and appreciative. He can forgive everyone now. He once thinks he sees Mildred on the street; it isn't her, but his heart skips a beat, and he knows that there is still a shadow of that passion that will remain in his heart. It is Sally and their future, however, that will justify life for him, not a philosophy or \"meaning.\" Sally can help him create a beautiful pattern out of life, as Thorpe Athelny did with Betty."}

<CHAPTER> CXII Josiah Graves in his masterful way made arrangements, becoming but economical, for the funeral; and when it was over came back to the vicarage with Philip. The will was in his charge, and with a due sense of the fitness of things he read it to Philip over an early cup of tea. It was written on half a sheet of paper and left everything Mr. Carey had to his nephew. There was the furniture, about eighty pounds at the bank, twenty shares in the A. B. C. company, a few in Allsop's brewery, some in the Oxford music-hall, and a few more in a London restaurant. They had been bought under Mr. Graves' direction, and he told Philip with satisfaction: "You see, people must eat, they will drink, and they want amusement. You're always safe if you put your money in what the public thinks necessities." His words showed a nice discrimination between the grossness of the vulgar, which he deplored but accepted, and the finer taste of the elect. Altogether in investments there was about five hundred pounds; and to that must be added the balance at the bank and what the furniture would fetch. It was riches to Philip. He was not happy but infinitely relieved. Mr. Graves left him, after they had discussed the auction which must be held as soon as possible, and Philip sat himself down to go through the papers of the deceased. The Rev. William Carey had prided himself on never destroying anything, and there were piles of correspondence dating back for fifty years and bundles upon bundles of neatly docketed bills. He had kept not only letters addressed to him, but letters which himself had written. There was a yellow packet of letters which he had written to his father in the forties, when as an Oxford undergraduate he had gone to Germany for the long vacation. Philip read them idly. It was a different William Carey from the William Carey he had known, and yet there were traces in the boy which might to an acute observer have suggested the man. The letters were formal and a little stilted. He showed himself strenuous to see all that was noteworthy, and he described with a fine enthusiasm the castles of the Rhine. The falls of Schaffhausen made him 'offer reverent thanks to the all-powerful Creator of the universe, whose works were wondrous and beautiful,' and he could not help thinking that they who lived in sight of 'this handiwork of their blessed Maker must be moved by the contemplation to lead pure and holy lives.' Among some bills Philip found a miniature which had been painted of William Carey soon after he was ordained. It represented a thin young curate, with long hair that fell over his head in natural curls, with dark eyes, large and dreamy, and a pale ascetic face. Philip remembered the chuckle with which his uncle used to tell of the dozens of slippers which were worked for him by adoring ladies. The rest of the afternoon and all the evening Philip toiled through the innumerable correspondence. He glanced at the address and at the signature, then tore the letter in two and threw it into the washing-basket by his side. Suddenly he came upon one signed Helen. He did not know the writing. It was thin, angular, and old-fashioned. It began: my dear William, and ended: your affectionate sister. Then it struck him that it was from his own mother. He had never seen a letter of hers before, and her handwriting was strange to him. It was about himself. My dear William, Stephen wrote to you to thank you for your congratulations on the birth of our son and your kind wishes to myself. Thank God we are both well and I am deeply thankful for the great mercy which has been shown me. Now that I can hold a pen I want to tell you and dear Louisa myself how truly grateful I am to you both for all your kindness to me now and always since my marriage. I am going to ask you to do me a great favour. Both Stephen and I wish you to be the boy's godfather, and we hope that you will consent. I know I am not asking a small thing, for I am sure you will take the responsibilities of the position very seriously, but I am especially anxious that you should undertake this office because you are a clergyman as well as the boy's uncle. I am very anxious for the boy's welfare and I pray God night and day that he may grow into a good, honest, and Christian man. With you to guide him I hope that he will become a soldier in Christ's Faith and be all the days of his life God-fearing, humble, and pious. Your affectionate sister, Helen. Philip pushed the letter away and, leaning forward, rested his face on his hands. It deeply touched and at the same time surprised him. He was astonished at its religious tone, which seemed to him neither mawkish nor sentimental. He knew nothing of his mother, dead now for nearly twenty years, but that she was beautiful, and it was strange to learn that she was simple and pious. He had never thought of that side of her. He read again what she said about him, what she expected and thought about him; he had turned out very differently; he looked at himself for a moment; perhaps it was better that she was dead. Then a sudden impulse caused him to tear up the letter; its tenderness and simplicity made it seem peculiarly private; he had a queer feeling that there was something indecent in his reading what exposed his mother's gentle soul. He went on with the Vicar's dreary correspondence. A few days later he went up to London, and for the first time for two years entered by day the hall of St. Luke's Hospital. He went to see the secretary of the Medical School; he was surprised to see him and asked Philip curiously what he had been doing. Philip's experiences had given him a certain confidence in himself and a different outlook upon many things: such a question would have embarrassed him before; but now he answered coolly, with a deliberate vagueness which prevented further inquiry, that private affairs had obliged him to make a break in the curriculum; he was now anxious to qualify as soon as possible. The first examination he could take was in midwifery and the diseases of women, and he put his name down to be a clerk in the ward devoted to feminine ailments; since it was holiday time there happened to be no difficulty in getting a post as obstetric clerk; he arranged to undertake that duty during the last week of August and the first two of September. After this interview Philip walked through the Medical School, more or less deserted, for the examinations at the end of the summer session were all over; and he wandered along the terrace by the river-side. His heart was full. He thought that now he could begin a new life, and he would put behind him all the errors, follies, and miseries of the past. The flowing river suggested that everything passed, was passing always, and nothing mattered; the future was before him rich with possibilities. He went back to Blackstable and busied himself with the settling up of his uncle's estate. The auction was fixed for the middle of August, when the presence of visitors for the summer holidays would make it possible to get better prices. Catalogues were made out and sent to the various dealers in second-hand books at Tercanbury, Maidstone, and Ashford. One afternoon Philip took it into his head to go over to Tercanbury and see his old school. He had not been there since the day when, with relief in his heart, he had left it with the feeling that thenceforward he was his own master. It was strange to wander through the narrow streets of Tercanbury which he had known so well for so many years. He looked at the old shops, still there, still selling the same things; the booksellers with school-books, pious works, and the latest novels in one window and photographs of the Cathedral and of the city in the other; the games shop, with its cricket bats, fishing tackle, tennis rackets, and footballs; the tailor from whom he had got clothes all through his boyhood; and the fishmonger where his uncle whenever he came to Tercanbury bought fish. He wandered along the sordid street in which, behind a high wall, lay the red brick house which was the preparatory school. Further on was the gateway that led into King's School, and he stood in the quadrangle round which were the various buildings. It was just four and the boys were hurrying out of school. He saw the masters in their gowns and mortar-boards, and they were strange to him. It was more than ten years since he had left and many changes had taken place. He saw the headmaster; he walked slowly down from the schoolhouse to his own, talking to a big boy who Philip supposed was in the sixth; he was little changed, tall, cadaverous, romantic as Philip remembered him, with the same wild eyes; but the black beard was streaked with gray now and the dark, sallow face was more deeply lined. Philip had an impulse to go up and speak to him, but he was afraid he would have forgotten him, and he hated the thought of explaining who he was. Boys lingered talking to one another, and presently some who had hurried to change came out to play fives; others straggled out in twos and threes and went out of the gateway, Philip knew they were going up to the cricket ground; others again went into the precincts to bat at the nets. Philip stood among them a stranger; one or two gave him an indifferent glance; but visitors, attracted by the Norman staircase, were not rare and excited little attention. Philip looked at them curiously. He thought with melancholy of the distance that separated him from them, and he thought bitterly how much he had wanted to do and how little done. It seemed to him that all those years, vanished beyond recall, had been utterly wasted. The boys, fresh and buoyant, were doing the same things that he had done, it seemed that not a day had passed since he left the school, and yet in that place where at least by name he had known everybody now he knew not a soul. In a few years these too, others taking their place, would stand alien as he stood; but the reflection brought him no solace; it merely impressed upon him the futility of human existence. Each generation repeated the trivial round. He wondered what had become of the boys who were his companions: they were nearly thirty now; some would be dead, but others were married and had children; they were soldiers and parsons, doctors, lawyers; they were staid men who were beginning to put youth behind them. Had any of them made such a hash of life as he? He thought of the boy he had been devoted to; it was funny, he could not recall his name; he remembered exactly what he looked like, he had been his greatest friend; but his name would not come back to him. He looked back with amusement on the jealous emotions he had suffered on his account. It was irritating not to recollect his name. He longed to be a boy again, like those he saw sauntering through the quadrangle, so that, avoiding his mistakes, he might start fresh and make something more out of life. He felt an intolerable loneliness. He almost regretted the penury which he had suffered during the last two years, since the desperate struggle merely to keep body and soul together had deadened the pain of living. In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou earn thy daily bread: it was not a curse upon mankind, but the balm which reconciled it to existence. But Philip was impatient with himself; he called to mind his idea of the pattern of life: the unhappiness he had suffered was no more than part of a decoration which was elaborate and beautiful; he told himself strenuously that he must accept with gaiety everything, dreariness and excitement, pleasure and pain, because it added to the richness of the design. He sought for beauty consciously, and he remembered how even as a boy he had taken pleasure in the Gothic cathedral as one saw it from the precincts; he went there and looked at the massive pile, gray under the cloudy sky, with the central tower that rose like the praise of men to their God; but the boys were batting at the nets, and they were lissom and strong and active; he could not help hearing their shouts and laughter. The cry of youth was insistent, and he saw the beautiful thing before him only with his eyes. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXIII At the beginning of the last week in August Philip entered upon his duties in the 'district.' They were arduous, for he had to attend on an average three confinements a day. The patient had obtained a 'card' from the hospital some time before; and when her time came it was taken to the porter by a messenger, generally a little girl, who was then sent across the road to the house in which Philip lodged. At night the porter, who had a latch-key, himself came over and awoke Philip. It was mysterious then to get up in the darkness and walk through the deserted streets of the South Side. At those hours it was generally the husband who brought the card. If there had been a number of babies before he took it for the most part with surly indifference, but if newly married he was nervous and then sometimes strove to allay his anxiety by getting drunk. Often there was a mile or more to walk, during which Philip and the messenger discussed the conditions of labour and the cost of living; Philip learnt about the various trades which were practised on that side of the river. He inspired confidence in the people among whom he was thrown, and during the long hours that he waited in a stuffy room, the woman in labour lying on a large bed that took up half of it, her mother and the midwife talked to him as naturally as they talked to one another. The circumstances in which he had lived during the last two years had taught him several things about the life of the very poor, which it amused them to find he knew; and they were impressed because he was not deceived by their little subterfuges. He was kind, and he had gentle hands, and he did not lose his temper. They were pleased because he was not above drinking a cup of tea with them, and when the dawn came and they were still waiting they offered him a slice of bread and dripping; he was not squeamish and could eat most things now with a good appetite. Some of the houses he went to, in filthy courts off a dingy street, huddled against one another without light or air, were merely squalid; but others, unexpectedly, though dilapidated, with worm-eaten floors and leaking roofs, had the grand air: you found in them oak balusters exquisitely carved, and the walls had still their panelling. These were thickly inhabited. One family lived in each room, and in the daytime there was the incessant noise of children playing in the court. The old walls were the breeding-place of vermin; the air was so foul that often, feeling sick, Philip had to light his pipe. The people who dwelt here lived from hand to mouth. Babies were unwelcome, the man received them with surly anger, the mother with despair; it was one more mouth to feed, and there was little enough wherewith to feed those already there. Philip often discerned the wish that the child might be born dead or might die quickly. He delivered one woman of twins (a source of humour to the facetious) and when she was told she burst into a long, shrill wail of misery. Her mother said outright: "I don't know how they're going to feed 'em." "Maybe the Lord'll see fit to take 'em to 'imself," said the midwife. Philip caught sight of the husband's face as he looked at the tiny pair lying side by side, and there was a ferocious sullenness in it which startled him. He felt in the family assembled there a hideous resentment against those poor atoms who had come into the world unwished for; and he had a suspicion that if he did not speak firmly an 'accident' would occur. Accidents occurred often; mothers 'overlay' their babies, and perhaps errors of diet were not always the result of carelessness. "I shall come every day," he said. "I warn you that if anything happens to them there'll have to be an inquest." The father made no reply, but he gave Philip a scowl. There was murder in his soul. "Bless their little 'earts," said the grandmother, "what should 'appen to them?" The great difficulty was to keep the mothers in bed for ten days, which was the minimum upon which the hospital practice insisted. It was awkward to look after the family, no one would see to the children without payment, and the husband tumbled because his tea was not right when he came home tired from his work and hungry. Philip had heard that the poor helped one another, but woman after woman complained to him that she could not get anyone in to clean up and see to the children's dinner without paying for the service, and she could not afford to pay. By listening to the women as they talked and by chance remarks from which he could deduce much that was left unsaid, Philip learned how little there was in common between the poor and the classes above them. They did not envy their betters, for the life was too different, and they had an ideal of ease which made the existence of the middle-classes seem formal and stiff; moreover, they had a certain contempt for them because they were soft and did not work with their hands. The proud merely wished to be left alone, but the majority looked upon the well-to-do as people to be exploited; they knew what to say in order to get such advantages as the charitable put at their disposal, and they accepted benefits as a right which came to them from the folly of their superiors and their own astuteness. They bore the curate with contemptuous indifference, but the district visitor excited their bitter hatred. She came in and opened your windows without so much as a by your leave or with your leave, 'and me with my bronchitis, enough to give me my death of cold;' she poked her nose into corners, and if she didn't say the place was dirty you saw what she thought right enough, 'an' it's all very well for them as 'as servants, but I'd like to see what she'd make of 'er room if she 'ad four children, and 'ad to do the cookin', and mend their clothes, and wash them.' Philip discovered that the greatest tragedy of life to these people was not separation or death, that was natural and the grief of it could be assuaged with tears, but loss of work. He saw a man come home one afternoon, three days after his wife's confinement, and tell her he had been dismissed; he was a builder and at that time work was slack; he stated the fact, and sat down to his tea. "Oh, Jim," she said. The man ate stolidly some mess which had been stewing in a sauce-pan against his coming; he stared at his plate; his wife looked at him two or three times, with little startled glances, and then quite silently began to cry. The builder was an uncouth little fellow with a rough, weather-beaten face and a long white scar on his forehead; he had large, stubbly hands. Presently he pushed aside his plate as if he must give up the effort to force himself to eat, and turned a fixed gaze out of the window. The room was at the top of the house, at the back, and one saw nothing but sullen clouds. The silence seemed heavy with despair. Philip felt that there was nothing to be said, he could only go; and as he walked away wearily, for he had been up most of the night, his heart was filled with rage against the cruelty of the world. He knew the hopelessness of the search for work and the desolation which is harder to bear than hunger. He was thankful not to have to believe in God, for then such a condition of things would be intolerable; one could reconcile oneself to existence only because it was meaningless. It seemed to Philip that the people who spent their time in helping the poorer classes erred because they sought to remedy things which would harass them if themselves had to endure them without thinking that they did not in the least disturb those who were used to them. The poor did not want large airy rooms; they suffered from cold, for their food was not nourishing and their circulation bad; space gave them a feeling of chilliness, and they wanted to burn as little coal as need be; there was no hardship for several to sleep in one room, they preferred it; they were never alone for a moment, from the time they were born to the time they died, and loneliness oppressed them; they enjoyed the promiscuity in which they dwelt, and the constant noise of their surroundings pressed upon their ears unnoticed. They did not feel the need of taking a bath constantly, and Philip often heard them speak with indignation of the necessity to do so with which they were faced on entering the hospital: it was both an affront and a discomfort. They wanted chiefly to be left alone; then if the man was in regular work life went easily and was not without its pleasures: there was plenty of time for gossip, after the day's work a glass of beer was very good to drink, the streets were a constant source of entertainment, if you wanted to read there was Reynolds' or The News of the World; 'but there, you couldn't make out 'ow the time did fly, the truth was and that's a fact, you was a rare one for reading when you was a girl, but what with one thing and another you didn't get no time now not even to read the paper.' The usual practice was to pay three visits after a confinement, and one Sunday Philip went to see a patient at the dinner hour. She was up for the first time. "I couldn't stay in bed no longer, I really couldn't. I'm not one for idling, and it gives me the fidgets to be there and do nothing all day long, so I said to 'Erb, I'm just going to get up and cook your dinner for you." 'Erb was sitting at table with his knife and fork already in his hands. He was a young man, with an open face and blue eyes. He was earning good money, and as things went the couple were in easy circumstances. They had only been married a few months, and were both delighted with the rosy boy who lay in the cradle at the foot of the bed. There was a savoury smell of beefsteak in the room and Philip's eyes turned to the range. "I was just going to dish up this minute," said the woman. "Fire away," said Philip. "I'll just have a look at the son and heir and then I'll take myself off." Husband and wife laughed at Philip's expression, and 'Erb getting up went over with Philip to the cradle. He looked at his baby proudly. "There doesn't seem much wrong with him, does there?" said Philip. He took up his hat, and by this time 'Erb's wife had dished up the beefsteak and put on the table a plate of green peas. "You're going to have a nice dinner," smiled Philip. "He's only in of a Sunday and I like to 'ave something special for him, so as he shall miss his 'ome when he's out at work." "I suppose you'd be above sittin' down and 'avin' a bit of dinner with us?" said 'Erb. "Oh, 'Erb," said his wife, in a shocked tone. "Not if you ask me," answered Philip, with his attractive smile. "Well, that's what I call friendly, I knew 'e wouldn't take offence, Polly. Just get another plate, my girl." Polly was flustered, and she thought 'Erb a regular caution, you never knew what ideas 'e'd get in 'is 'ead next; but she got a plate and wiped it quickly with her apron, then took a new knife and fork from the chest of drawers, where her best cutlery rested among her best clothes. There was a jug of stout on the table, and 'Erb poured Philip out a glass. He wanted to give him the lion's share of the beefsteak, but Philip insisted that they should share alike. It was a sunny room with two windows that reached to the floor; it had been the parlour of a house which at one time was if not fashionable at least respectable: it might have been inhabited fifty years before by a well-to-do tradesman or an officer on half pay. 'Erb had been a football player before he married, and there were photographs on the wall of various teams in self-conscious attitudes, with neatly plastered hair, the captain seated proudly in the middle holding a cup. There were other signs of prosperity: photographs of the relations of 'Erb and his wife in Sunday clothes; on the chimney-piece an elaborate arrangement of shells stuck on a miniature rock; and on each side mugs, 'A present from Southend' in Gothic letters, with pictures of a pier and a parade on them. 'Erb was something of a character; he was a non-union man and expressed himself with indignation at the efforts of the union to force him to join. The union wasn't no good to him, he never found no difficulty in getting work, and there was good wages for anyone as 'ad a head on his shoulders and wasn't above puttin' 'is 'and to anything as come 'is way. Polly was timorous. If she was 'im she'd join the union, the last time there was a strike she was expectin' 'im to be brought back in an ambulance every time he went out. She turned to Philip. "He's that obstinate, there's no doing anything with 'im." "Well, what I say is, it's a free country, and I won't be dictated to." "It's no good saying it's a free country," said Polly, "that won't prevent 'em bashin' your 'ead in if they get the chanst." When they had finished Philip passed his pouch over to 'Erb and they lit their pipes; then he got up, for a 'call' might be waiting for him at his rooms, and shook hands. He saw that it had given them pleasure that he shared their meal, and they saw that he had thoroughly enjoyed it. "Well, good-bye, sir," said 'Erb, "and I 'ope we shall 'ave as nice a doctor next time the missus disgraces 'erself." "Go on with you, 'Erb," she retorted. "'Ow d'you know there's going to be a next time?" </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXIV The three weeks which the appointment lasted drew to an end. Philip had attended sixty-two cases, and he was tired out. When he came home about ten o'clock on his last night he hoped with all his heart that he would not be called out again. He had not had a whole night's rest for ten days. The case which he had just come from was horrible. He had been fetched by a huge, burly man, the worse for liquor, and taken to a room in an evil-smelling court, which was filthier than any he had seen: it was a tiny attic; most of the space was taken up by a wooden bed, with a canopy of dirty red hangings, and the ceiling was so low that Philip could touch it with the tips of his fingers; with the solitary candle that afforded what light there was he went over it, frizzling up the bugs that crawled upon it. The woman was a blowsy creature of middle age, who had had a long succession of still-born children. It was a story that Philip was not unaccustomed to: the husband had been a soldier in India; the legislation forced upon that country by the prudery of the English public had given a free run to the most distressing of all diseases; the innocent suffered. Yawning, Philip undressed and took a bath, then shook his clothes over the water and watched the animals that fell out wriggling. He was just going to get into bed when there was a knock at the door, and the hospital porter brought him a card. "Curse you," said Philip. "You're the last person I wanted to see tonight. Who's brought it?" "I think it's the 'usband, sir. Shall I tell him to wait?" Philip looked at the address, saw that the street was familiar to him, and told the porter that he would find his own way. He dressed himself and in five minutes, with his black bag in his hand, stepped into the street. A man, whom he could not see in the darkness, came up to him, and said he was the husband. "I thought I'd better wait, sir," he said. "It's a pretty rough neighbour'ood, and them not knowing who you was." Philip laughed. "Bless your heart, they all know the doctor, I've been in some damned sight rougher places than Waver Street." It was quite true. The black bag was a passport through wretched alleys and down foul-smelling courts into which a policeman was not ready to venture by himself. Once or twice a little group of men had looked at Philip curiously as he passed; he heard a mutter of observations and then one say: "It's the 'orspital doctor." As he went by one or two of them said: "Good-night, sir." "We shall 'ave to step out if you don't mind, sir," said the man who accompanied him now. "They told me there was no time to lose." "Why did you leave it so late?" asked Philip, as he quickened his pace. He glanced at the fellow as they passed a lamp-post. "You look awfully young," he said. "I'm turned eighteen, sir." He was fair, and he had not a hair on his face, he looked no more than a boy; he was short, but thick set. "You're young to be married," said Philip. "We 'ad to." "How much d'you earn?" "Sixteen, sir." Sixteen shillings a week was not much to keep a wife and child on. The room the couple lived in showed that their poverty was extreme. It was a fair size, but it looked quite large, since there was hardly any furniture in it; there was no carpet on the floor; there were no pictures on the walls; and most rooms had something, photographs or supplements in cheap frames from the Christmas numbers of the illustrated papers. The patient lay on a little iron bed of the cheapest sort. It startled Philip to see how young she was. "By Jove, she can't be more than sixteen," he said to the woman who had come in to 'see her through.' She had given her age as eighteen on the card, but when they were very young they often put on a year or two. Also she was pretty, which was rare in those classes in which the constitution has been undermined by bad food, bad air, and unhealthy occupations; she had delicate features and large blue eyes, and a mass of dark hair done in the elaborate fashion of the coster girl. She and her husband were very nervous. "You'd better wait outside, so as to be at hand if I want you," Philip said to him. Now that he saw him better Philip was surprised again at his boyish air: you felt that he should be larking in the street with the other lads instead of waiting anxiously for the birth of a child. The hours passed, and it was not till nearly two that the baby was born. Everything seemed to be going satisfactorily; the husband was called in, and it touched Philip to see the awkward, shy way in which he kissed his wife; Philip packed up his things. Before going he felt once more his patient's pulse. "Hulloa!" he said. He looked at her quickly: something had happened. In cases of emergency the S. O. C.--senior obstetric clerk--had to be sent for; he was a qualified man, and the 'district' was in his charge. Philip scribbled a note, and giving it to the husband, told him to run with it to the hospital; he bade him hurry, for his wife was in a dangerous state. The man set off. Philip waited anxiously; he knew the woman was bleeding to death; he was afraid she would die before his chief arrived; he took what steps he could. He hoped fervently that the S. O. C. would not have been called elsewhere. The minutes were interminable. He came at last, and, while he examined the patient, in a low voice asked Philip questions. Philip saw by his face that he thought the case very grave. His name was Chandler. He was a tall man of few words, with a long nose and a thin face much lined for his age. He shook his head. "It was hopeless from the beginning. Where's the husband?" "I told him to wait on the stairs," said Philip. "You'd better bring him in." Philip opened the door and called him. He was sitting in the dark on the first step of the flight that led to the next floor. He came up to the bed. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Why, there's internal bleeding. It's impossible to stop it." The S. O. C. hesitated a moment, and because it was a painful thing to say he forced his voice to become brusque. "She's dying." The man did not say a word; he stopped quite still, looking at his wife, who lay, pale and unconscious, on the bed. It was the midwife who spoke. "The gentlemen 'ave done all they could, 'Arry," she said. "I saw what was comin' from the first." "Shut up," said Chandler. There were no curtains on the windows, and gradually the night seemed to lighten; it was not yet the dawn, but the dawn was at hand. Chandler was keeping the woman alive by all the means in his power, but life was slipping away from her, and suddenly she died. The boy who was her husband stood at the end of the cheap iron bed with his hands resting on the rail; he did not speak; but he looked very pale and once or twice Chandler gave him an uneasy glance, thinking he was going to faint: his lips were gray. The midwife sobbed noisily, but he took no notice of her. His eyes were fixed upon his wife, and in them was an utter bewilderment. He reminded you of a dog whipped for something he did not know was wrong. When Chandler and Philip had gathered together their things Chandler turned to the husband. "You'd better lie down for a bit. I expect you're about done up." "There's nowhere for me to lie down, sir," he answered, and there was in his voice a humbleness which was very distressing. "Don't you know anyone in the house who'll give you a shakedown?" "No, sir." "They only moved in last week," said the midwife. "They don't know nobody yet." Chandler hesitated a moment awkwardly, then he went up to the man and said: "I'm very sorry this has happened." He held out his hand and the man, with an instinctive glance at his own to see if it was clean, shook it. "Thank you, sir." Philip shook hands with him too. Chandler told the midwife to come and fetch the certificate in the morning. They left the house and walked along together in silence. "It upsets one a bit at first, doesn't it?" said Chandler at last. "A bit," answered Philip. "If you like I'll tell the porter not to bring you any more calls tonight." "I'm off duty at eight in the morning in any case." "How many cases have you had?" "Sixty-three." "Good. You'll get your certificate then." They arrived at the hospital, and the S. O. C. went in to see if anyone wanted him. Philip walked on. It had been very hot all the day before, and even now in the early morning there was a balminess in the air. The street was very still. Philip did not feel inclined to go to bed. It was the end of his work and he need not hurry. He strolled along, glad of the fresh air and the silence; he thought that he would go on to the bridge and look at day break on the river. A policeman at the corner bade him good-morning. He knew who Philip was from his bag. "Out late tonight, sir," he said. Philip nodded and passed. He leaned against the parapet and looked towards the morning. At that hour the great city was like a city of the dead. The sky was cloudless, but the stars were dim at the approach of day; there was a light mist on the river, and the great buildings on the north side were like palaces in an enchanted island. A group of barges was moored in midstream. It was all of an unearthly violet, troubling somehow and awe-inspiring; but quickly everything grew pale, and cold, and gray. Then the sun rose, a ray of yellow gold stole across the sky, and the sky was iridescent. Philip could not get out of his eyes the dead girl lying on the bed, wan and white, and the boy who stood at the end of it like a stricken beast. The bareness of the squalid room made the pain of it more poignant. It was cruel that a stupid chance should have cut off her life when she was just entering upon it; but in the very moment of saying this to himself, Philip thought of the life which had been in store for her, the bearing of children, the dreary fight with poverty, the youth broken by toil and deprivation into a slatternly middle age--he saw the pretty face grow thin and white, the hair grow scanty, the pretty hands, worn down brutally by work, become like the claws of an old animal--then, when the man was past his prime, the difficulty of getting jobs, the small wages he had to take; and the inevitable, abject penury of the end: she might be energetic, thrifty, industrious, it would not have saved her; in the end was the workhouse or subsistence on the charity of her children. Who could pity her because she had died when life offered so little? But pity was inane. Philip felt it was not that which these people needed. They did not pity themselves. They accepted their fate. It was the natural order of things. Otherwise, good heavens! otherwise they would swarm over the river in their multitude to the side where those great buildings were, secure and stately, and they would pillage, burn, and sack. But the day, tender and pale, had broken now, and the mist was tenuous; it bathed everything in a soft radiance; and the Thames was gray, rosy, and green; gray like mother-of-pearl and green like the heart of a yellow rose. The wharfs and store-houses of the Surrey Side were massed in disorderly loveliness. The scene was so exquisite that Philip's heart beat passionately. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the world. Beside that nothing seemed to matter. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXV Philip spent the few weeks that remained before the beginning of the winter session in the out-patients' department, and in October settled down to regular work. He had been away from the hospital for so long that he found himself very largely among new people; the men of different years had little to do with one another, and his contemporaries were now mostly qualified: some had left to take up assistantships or posts in country hospitals and infirmaries, and some held appointments at St. Luke's. The two years during which his mind had lain fallow had refreshed him, he fancied, and he was able now to work with energy. The Athelnys were delighted with his change of fortune. He had kept aside a few things from the sale of his uncle's effects and gave them all presents. He gave Sally a gold chain that had belonged to his aunt. She was now grown up. She was apprenticed to a dressmaker and set out every morning at eight to work all day in a shop in Regent Street. Sally had frank blue eyes, a broad brow, and plentiful shining hair; she was buxom, with broad hips and full breasts; and her father, who was fond of discussing her appearance, warned her constantly that she must not grow fat. She attracted because she was healthy, animal, and feminine. She had many admirers, but they left her unmoved; she gave one the impression that she looked upon love-making as nonsense; and it was easy to imagine that young men found her unapproachable. Sally was old for her years: she had been used to help her mother in the household work and in the care of the children, so that she had acquired a managing air, which made her mother say that Sally was a bit too fond of having things her own way. She did not speak very much, but as she grew older she seemed to be acquiring a quiet sense of humour, and sometimes uttered a remark which suggested that beneath her impassive exterior she was quietly bubbling with amusement at her fellow-creatures. Philip found that with her he never got on the terms of affectionate intimacy upon which he was with the rest of Athelny's huge family. Now and then her indifference slightly irritated him. There was something enigmatic in her. When Philip gave her the necklace Athelny in his boisterous way insisted that she must kiss him; but Sally reddened and drew back. "No, I'm not going to," she said. "Ungrateful hussy!" cried Athelny. "Why not?" "I don't like being kissed by men," she said. Philip saw her embarrassment, and, amused, turned Athelny's attention to something else. That was never a very difficult thing to do. But evidently her mother spoke of the matter later, for next time Philip came she took the opportunity when they were alone for a couple of minutes to refer to it. "You didn't think it disagreeable of me last week when I wouldn't kiss you?" "Not a bit," he laughed. "It's not because I wasn't grateful." She blushed a little as she uttered the formal phrase which she had prepared. "I shall always value the necklace, and it was very kind of you to give it me." Philip found it always a little difficult to talk to her. She did all that she had to do very competently, but seemed to feel no need of conversation; yet there was nothing unsociable in her. One Sunday afternoon when Athelny and his wife had gone out together, and Philip, treated as one of the family, sat reading in the parlour, Sally came in and sat by the window to sew. The girls' clothes were made at home and Sally could not afford to spend Sundays in idleness. Philip thought she wished to talk and put down his book. "Go on reading," she said. "I only thought as you were alone I'd come and sit with you." "You're the most silent person I've ever struck," said Philip. "We don't want another one who's talkative in this house," she said. There was no irony in her tone: she was merely stating a fact. But it suggested to Philip that she measured her father, alas, no longer the hero he was to her childhood, and in her mind joined together his entertaining conversation and the thriftlessness which often brought difficulties into their life; she compared his rhetoric with her mother's practical common sense; and though the liveliness of her father amused her she was perhaps sometimes a little impatient with it. Philip looked at her as she bent over her work; she was healthy, strong, and normal; it must be odd to see her among the other girls in the shop with their flat chests and anaemic faces. Mildred suffered from anaemia. After a time it appeared that Sally had a suitor. She went out occasionally with friends she had made in the work-room, and had met a young man, an electrical engineer in a very good way of business, who was a most eligible person. One day she told her mother that he had asked her to marry him. "What did you say?" said her mother. "Oh, I told him I wasn't over-anxious to marry anyone just yet awhile." She paused a little as was her habit between observations. "He took on so that I said he might come to tea on Sunday." It was an occasion that thoroughly appealed to Athelny. He rehearsed all the afternoon how he should play the heavy father for the young man's edification till he reduced his children to helpless giggling. Just before he was due Athelny routed out an Egyptian tarboosh and insisted on putting it on. "Go on with you, Athelny," said his wife, who was in her best, which was of black velvet, and, since she was growing stouter every year, very tight for her. "You'll spoil the girl's chances." She tried to pull it off, but the little man skipped nimbly out of her way. "Unhand me, woman. Nothing will induce me to take it off. This young man must be shown at once that it is no ordinary family he is preparing to enter." "Let him keep it on, mother," said Sally, in her even, indifferent fashion. "If Mr. Donaldson doesn't take it the way it's meant he can take himself off, and good riddance." Philip thought it was a severe ordeal that the young man was being exposed to, since Athelny, in his brown velvet jacket, flowing black tie, and red tarboosh, was a startling spectacle for an innocent electrical engineer. When he came he was greeted by his host with the proud courtesy of a Spanish grandee and by Mrs. Athelny in an altogether homely and natural fashion. They sat down at the old ironing-table in the high-backed monkish chairs, and Mrs. Athelny poured tea out of a lustre teapot which gave a note of England and the country-side to the festivity. She had made little cakes with her own hand, and on the table was home-made jam. It was a farm-house tea, and to Philip very quaint and charming in that Jacobean house. Athelny for some fantastic reason took it into his head to discourse upon Byzantine history; he had been reading the later volumes of the Decline and Fall; and, his forefinger dramatically extended, he poured into the astonished ears of the suitor scandalous stories about Theodora and Irene. He addressed himself directly to his guest with a torrent of rhodomontade; and the young man, reduced to helpless silence and shy, nodded his head at intervals to show that he took an intelligent interest. Mrs. Athelny paid no attention to Thorpe's conversation, but interrupted now and then to offer the young man more tea or to press upon him cake and jam. Philip watched Sally; she sat with downcast eyes, calm, silent, and observant; and her long eye-lashes cast a pretty shadow on her cheek. You could not tell whether she was amused at the scene or if she cared for the young man. She was inscrutable. But one thing was certain: the electrical engineer was good-looking, fair and clean-shaven, with pleasant, regular features, and an honest face; he was tall and well-made. Philip could not help thinking he would make an excellent mate for her, and he felt a pang of envy for the happiness which he fancied was in store for them. Presently the suitor said he thought it was about time he was getting along. Sally rose to her feet without a word and accompanied him to the door. When she came back her father burst out: "Well, Sally, we think your young man very nice. We are prepared to welcome him into our family. Let the banns be called and I will compose a nuptial song." Sally set about clearing away the tea-things. She did not answer. Suddenly she shot a swift glance at Philip. "What did you think of him, Mr. Philip?" She had always refused to call him Uncle Phil as the other children did, and would not call him Philip. "I think you'd make an awfully handsome pair." She looked at him quickly once more, and then with a slight blush went on with her business. "I thought him a very nice civil-spoken young fellow," said Mrs. Athelny, "and I think he's just the sort to make any girl happy." Sally did not reply for a minute or two, and Philip looked at her curiously: it might be thought that she was meditating upon what her mother had said, and on the other hand she might be thinking of the man in the moon. "Why don't you answer when you're spoken to, Sally?" remarked her mother, a little irritably. "I thought he was a silly." "Aren't you going to have him then?" "No, I'm not." "I don't know how much more you want," said Mrs. Athelny, and it was quite clear now that she was put out. "He's a very decent young fellow and he can afford to give you a thorough good home. We've got quite enough to feed here without you. If you get a chance like that it's wicked not to take it. And I daresay you'd be able to have a girl to do the rough work." Philip had never before heard Mrs. Athelny refer so directly to the difficulties of her life. He saw how important it was that each child should be provided for. "It's no good your carrying on, mother," said Sally in her quiet way. "I'm not going to marry him." "I think you're a very hard-hearted, cruel, selfish girl." "If you want me to earn my own living, mother, I can always go into service." "Don't be so silly, you know your father would never let you do that." Philip caught Sally's eye, and he thought there was in it a glimmer of amusement. He wondered what there had been in the conversation to touch her sense of humour. She was an odd girl. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXVI During his last year at St. Luke's Philip had to work hard. He was contented with life. He found it very comfortable to be heart-free and to have enough money for his needs. He had heard people speak contemptuously of money: he wondered if they had ever tried to do without it. He knew that the lack made a man petty, mean, grasping; it distorted his character and caused him to view the world from a vulgar angle; when you had to consider every penny, money became of grotesque importance: you needed a competency to rate it at its proper value. He lived a solitary life, seeing no one except the Athelnys, but he was not lonely; he busied himself with plans for the future, and sometimes he thought of the past. His recollection dwelt now and then on old friends, but he made no effort to see them. He would have liked to know what was become of Norah Nesbit; she was Norah something else now, but he could not remember the name of the man she was going to marry; he was glad to have known her: she was a good and a brave soul. One evening about half past eleven he saw Lawson, walking along Piccadilly; he was in evening clothes and might be supposed to be coming back from a theatre. Philip gave way to a sudden impulse and quickly turned down a side street. He had not seen him for two years and felt that he could not now take up again the interrupted friendship. He and Lawson had nothing more to say to one another. Philip was no longer interested in art; it seemed to him that he was able to enjoy beauty with greater force than when he was a boy; but art appeared to him unimportant. He was occupied with the forming of a pattern out of the manifold chaos of life, and the materials with which he worked seemed to make preoccupation with pigments and words very trivial. Lawson had served his turn. Philip's friendship with him had been a motive in the design he was elaborating: it was merely sentimental to ignore the fact that the painter was of no further interest to him. Sometimes Philip thought of Mildred. He avoided deliberately the streets in which there was a chance of seeing her; but occasionally some feeling, perhaps curiosity, perhaps something deeper which he would not acknowledge, made him wander about Piccadilly and Regent Street during the hours when she might be expected to be there. He did not know then whether he wished to see her or dreaded it. Once he saw a back which reminded him of hers, and for a moment he thought it was she; it gave him a curious sensation: it was a strange sharp pain in his heart, there was fear in it and a sickening dismay; and when he hurried on and found that he was mistaken he did not know whether it was relief that he experienced or disappointment. At the beginning of August Philip passed his surgery, his last examination, and received his diploma. It was seven years since he had entered St. Luke's Hospital. He was nearly thirty. He walked down the stairs of the Royal College of Surgeons with the roll in his hand which qualified him to practice, and his heart beat with satisfaction. "Now I'm really going to begin life," he thought. Next day he went to the secretary's office to put his name down for one of the hospital appointments. The secretary was a pleasant little man with a black beard, whom Philip had always found very affable. He congratulated him on his success, and then said: "I suppose you wouldn't like to do a locum for a month on the South coast? Three guineas a week with board and lodging." "I wouldn't mind," said Philip. "It's at Farnley, in Dorsetshire. Doctor South. You'd have to go down at once; his assistant has developed mumps. I believe it's a very pleasant place." There was something in the secretary's manner that puzzled Philip. It was a little doubtful. "What's the crab in it?" he asked. The secretary hesitated a moment and laughed in a conciliating fashion. "Well, the fact is, I understand he's rather a crusty, funny old fellow. The agencies won't send him anyone any more. He speaks his mind very openly, and men don't like it." "But d'you think he'll be satisfied with a man who's only just qualified? After all I have no experience." "He ought to be glad to get you," said the secretary diplomatically. Philip thought for a moment. He had nothing to do for the next few weeks, and he was glad of the chance to earn a bit of money. He could put it aside for the holiday in Spain which he had promised himself when he had finished his appointment at St. Luke's or, if they would not give him anything there, at some other hospital. "All right. I'll go." "The only thing is, you must go this afternoon. Will that suit you? If so, I'll send a wire at once." Philip would have liked a few days to himself; but he had seen the Athelnys the night before (he had gone at once to take them his good news) and there was really no reason why he should not start immediately. He had little luggage to pack. Soon after seven that evening he got out of the station at Farnley and took a cab to Doctor South's. It was a broad low stucco house, with a Virginia creeper growing over it. He was shown into the consulting-room. An old man was writing at a desk. He looked up as the maid ushered Philip in. He did not get up, and he did not speak; he merely stared at Philip. Philip was taken aback. "I think you're expecting me," he said. "The secretary of St. Luke's wired to you this morning." "I kept dinner back for half an hour. D'you want to wash?" "I do," said Philip. Doctor South amused him by his odd manner. He got up now, and Philip saw that he was a man of middle height, thin, with white hair cut very short and a long mouth closed so tightly that he seemed to have no lips at all; he was clean-shaven but for small white whiskers, and they increased the squareness of face which his firm jaw gave him. He wore a brown tweed suit and a white stock. His clothes hung loosely about him as though they had been made for a much larger man. He looked like a respectable farmer of the middle of the nineteenth century. He opened the door. "There is the dining-room," he said, pointing to the door opposite. "Your bed-room is the first door you come to when you get on the landing. Come downstairs when you're ready." During dinner Philip knew that Doctor South was examining him, but he spoke little, and Philip felt that he did not want to hear his assistant talk. "When were you qualified?" he asked suddenly. "Yesterday." "Were you at a university?" "No." "Last year when my assistant took a holiday they sent me a 'Varsity man. I told 'em not to do it again. Too damned gentlemanly for me." There was another pause. The dinner was very simple and very good. Philip preserved a sedate exterior, but in his heart he was bubbling over with excitement. He was immensely elated at being engaged as a locum; it made him feel extremely grown up; he had an insane desire to laugh at nothing in particular; and the more he thought of his professional dignity the more he was inclined to chuckle. But Doctor South broke suddenly into his thoughts. "How old are you?" "Getting on for thirty." "How is it you're only just qualified?" "I didn't go in for the medical till I was nearly twenty-three, and I had to give it up for two years in the middle." "Why?" "Poverty." Doctor South gave him an odd look and relapsed into silence. At the end of dinner he got up from the table. "D'you know what sort of a practice this is?" "No," answered Philip. "Mostly fishermen and their families. I have the Union and the Seamen's Hospital. I used to be alone here, but since they tried to make this into a fashionable sea-side resort a man has set up on the cliff, and the well-to-do people go to him. I only have those who can't afford to pay for a doctor at all." Philip saw that the rivalry was a sore point with the old man. "You know that I have no experience," said Philip. "You none of you know anything." He walked out of the room without another word and left Philip by himself. When the maid came in to clear away she told Philip that Doctor South saw patients from six till seven. Work for that night was over. Philip fetched a book from his room, lit his pipe, and settled himself down to read. It was a great comfort, since he had read nothing but medical books for the last few months. At ten o'clock Doctor South came in and looked at him. Philip hated not to have his feet up, and he had dragged up a chair for them. "You seem able to make yourself pretty comfortable," said Doctor South, with a grimness which would have disturbed Philip if he had not been in such high spirits. Philip's eyes twinkled as he answered. "Have you any objection?" Doctor South gave him a look, but did not reply directly. "What's that you're reading?" "Peregrine Pickle. Smollett." "I happen to know that Smollett wrote Peregrine Pickle." "I beg your pardon. Medical men aren't much interested in literature, are they?" Philip had put the book down on the table, and Doctor South took it up. It was a volume of an edition which had belonged to the Vicar of Blackstable. It was a thin book bound in faded morocco, with a copperplate engraving as a frontispiece; the pages were musty with age and stained with mould. Philip, without meaning to, started forward a little as Doctor South took the volume in his hands, and a slight smile came into his eyes. Very little escaped the old doctor. "Do I amuse you?" he asked icily. "I see you're fond of books. You can always tell by the way people handle them." Doctor South put down the novel immediately. "Breakfast at eight-thirty," he said and left the room. "What a funny old fellow!" thought Philip. He soon discovered why Doctor South's assistants found it difficult to get on with him. In the first place, he set his face firmly against all the discoveries of the last thirty years: he had no patience with the drugs which became modish, were thought to work marvellous cures, and in a few years were discarded; he had stock mixtures which he had brought from St. Luke's where he had been a student, and had used all his life; he found them just as efficacious as anything that had come into fashion since. Philip was startled at Doctor South's suspicion of asepsis; he had accepted it in deference to universal opinion; but he used the precautions which Philip had known insisted upon so scrupulously at the hospital with the disdainful tolerance of a man playing at soldiers with children. "I've seen antiseptics come along and sweep everything before them, and then I've seen asepsis take their place. Bunkum!" The young men who were sent down to him knew only hospital practice; and they came with the unconcealed scorn for the General Practitioner which they had absorbed in the air at the hospital; but they had seen only the complicated cases which appeared in the wards; they knew how to treat an obscure disease of the suprarenal bodies, but were helpless when consulted for a cold in the head. Their knowledge was theoretical and their self-assurance unbounded. Doctor South watched them with tightened lips; he took a savage pleasure in showing them how great was their ignorance and how unjustified their conceit. It was a poor practice, of fishing folk, and the doctor made up his own prescriptions. Doctor South asked his assistant how he expected to make both ends meet if he gave a fisherman with a stomach-ache a mixture consisting of half a dozen expensive drugs. He complained too that the young medical men were uneducated: their reading consisted of The Sporting Times and The British Medical Journal; they could neither write a legible hand nor spell correctly. For two or three days Doctor South watched Philip closely, ready to fall on him with acid sarcasm if he gave him the opportunity; and Philip, aware of this, went about his work with a quiet sense of amusement. He was pleased with the change of occupation. He liked the feeling of independence and of responsibility. All sorts of people came to the consulting-room. He was gratified because he seemed able to inspire his patients with confidence; and it was entertaining to watch the process of cure which at a hospital necessarily could be watched only at distant intervals. His rounds took him into low-roofed cottages in which were fishing tackle and sails and here and there mementoes of deep-sea travelling, a lacquer box from Japan, spears and oars from Melanesia, or daggers from the bazaars of Stamboul; there was an air of romance in the stuffy little rooms, and the salt of the sea gave them a bitter freshness. Philip liked to talk to the sailor-men, and when they found that he was not supercilious they told him long yarns of the distant journeys of their youth. Once or twice he made a mistake in diagnosis: (he had never seen a case of measles before, and when he was confronted with the rash took it for an obscure disease of the skin;) and once or twice his ideas of treatment differed from Doctor South's. The first time this happened Doctor South attacked him with savage irony; but Philip took it with good humour; he had some gift for repartee, and he made one or two answers which caused Doctor South to stop and look at him curiously. Philip's face was grave, but his eyes were twinkling. The old gentleman could not avoid the impression that Philip was chaffing him. He was used to being disliked and feared by his assistants, and this was a new experience. He had half a mind to fly into a passion and pack Philip off by the next train, he had done that before with his assistants; but he had an uneasy feeling that Philip then would simply laugh at him outright; and suddenly he felt amused. His mouth formed itself into a smile against his will, and he turned away. In a little while he grew conscious that Philip was amusing himself systematically at his expense. He was taken aback at first and then diverted. "Damn his impudence," he chuckled to himself. "Damn his impudence." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXVII Philip had written to Athelny to tell him that he was doing a locum in Dorsetshire and in due course received an answer from him. It was written in the formal manner he affected, studded with pompous epithets as a Persian diadem was studded with precious stones; and in the beautiful hand, like black letter and as difficult to read, upon which he prided himself. He suggested that Philip should join him and his family in the Kentish hop-field to which he went every year; and to persuade him said various beautiful and complicated things about Philip's soul and the winding tendrils of the hops. Philip replied at once that he would come on the first day he was free. Though not born there, he had a peculiar affection for the Isle of Thanet, and he was fired with enthusiasm at the thought of spending a fortnight so close to the earth and amid conditions which needed only a blue sky to be as idyllic as the olive groves of Arcady. The four weeks of his engagement at Farnley passed quickly. On the cliff a new town was springing up, with red brick villas round golf links, and a large hotel had recently been opened to cater for the summer visitors; but Philip went there seldom. Down below, by the harbour, the little stone houses of a past century were clustered in a delightful confusion, and the narrow streets, climbing down steeply, had an air of antiquity which appealed to the imagination. By the water's edge were neat cottages with trim, tiny gardens in front of them; they were inhabited by retired captains in the merchant service, and by mothers or widows of men who had gained their living by the sea; and they had an appearance which was quaint and peaceful. In the little harbour came tramps from Spain and the Levant, ships of small tonnage; and now and then a windjammer was borne in by the winds of romance. It reminded Philip of the dirty little harbour with its colliers at Blackstable, and he thought that there he had first acquired the desire, which was now an obsession, for Eastern lands and sunlit islands in a tropic sea. But here you felt yourself closer to the wide, deep ocean than on the shore of that North Sea which seemed always circumscribed; here you could draw a long breath as you looked out upon the even vastness; and the west wind, the dear soft salt wind of England, uplifted the heart and at the same time melted it to tenderness. One evening, when Philip had reached his last week with Doctor South, a child came to the surgery door while the old doctor and Philip were making up prescriptions. It was a little ragged girl with a dirty face and bare feet. Philip opened the door. "Please, sir, will you come to Mrs. Fletcher's in Ivy Lane at once?" "What's the matter with Mrs. Fletcher?" called out Doctor South in his rasping voice. The child took no notice of him, but addressed herself again to Philip. "Please, sir, her little boy's had an accident and will you come at once?" "Tell Mrs. Fletcher I'm coming," called out Doctor South. The little girl hesitated for a moment, and putting a dirty finger in a dirty mouth stood still and looked at Philip. "What's the matter, Kid?" said Philip, smiling. "Please, sir, Mrs. Fletcher says, will the new doctor come?" There was a sound in the dispensary and Doctor South came out into the passage. "Isn't Mrs. Fletcher satisfied with me?" he barked. "I've attended Mrs. Fletcher since she was born. Why aren't I good enough to attend her filthy brat?" The little girl looked for a moment as though she were going to cry, then she thought better of it; she put out her tongue deliberately at Doctor South, and, before he could recover from his astonishment, bolted off as fast as she could run. Philip saw that the old gentleman was annoyed. "You look rather fagged, and it's a goodish way to Ivy Lane," he said, by way of giving him an excuse not to go himself. Doctor South gave a low snarl. "It's a damned sight nearer for a man who's got the use of both legs than for a man who's only got one and a half." Philip reddened and stood silent for a while. "Do you wish me to go or will you go yourself?" he said at last frigidly. "What's the good of my going? They want you." Philip took up his hat and went to see the patient. It was hard upon eight o'clock when he came back. Doctor South was standing in the dining-room with his back to the fireplace. "You've been a long time," he said. "I'm sorry. Why didn't you start dinner?" "Because I chose to wait. Have you been all this while at Mrs. Fletcher's?" "No, I'm afraid I haven't. I stopped to look at the sunset on my way back, and I didn't think of the time." Doctor South did not reply, and the servant brought in some grilled sprats. Philip ate them with an excellent appetite. Suddenly Doctor South shot a question at him. "Why did you look at the sunset?" Philip answered with his mouth full. "Because I was happy." Doctor South gave him an odd look, and the shadow of a smile flickered across his old, tired face. They ate the rest of the dinner in silence; but when the maid had given them the port and left the room, the old man leaned back and fixed his sharp eyes on Philip. "It stung you up a bit when I spoke of your game leg, young fellow?" he said. "People always do, directly or indirectly, when they get angry with me." "I suppose they know it's your weak point." Philip faced him and looked at him steadily. "Are you very glad to have discovered it?" The doctor did not answer, but he gave a chuckle of bitter mirth. They sat for a while staring at one another. Then Doctor South surprised Philip extremely. "Why don't you stay here and I'll get rid of that damned fool with his mumps?" "It's very kind of you, but I hope to get an appointment at the hospital in the autumn. It'll help me so much in getting other work later." "I'm offering you a partnership," said Doctor South grumpily. "Why?" asked Philip, with surprise. "They seem to like you down here." "I didn't think that was a fact which altogether met with your approval," Philip said drily. "D'you suppose that after forty years' practice I care a twopenny damn whether people prefer my assistant to me? No, my friend. There's no sentiment between my patients and me. I don't expect gratitude from them, I expect them to pay my fees. Well, what d'you say to it?" Philip made no reply, not because he was thinking over the proposal, but because he was astonished. It was evidently very unusual for someone to offer a partnership to a newly qualified man; and he realised with wonder that, although nothing would induce him to say so, Doctor South had taken a fancy to him. He thought how amused the secretary at St. Luke's would be when he told him. "The practice brings in about seven hundred a year. We can reckon out how much your share would be worth, and you can pay me off by degrees. And when I die you can succeed me. I think that's better than knocking about hospitals for two or three years, and then taking assistantships until you can afford to set up for yourself." Philip knew it was a chance that most people in his profession would jump at; the profession was over-crowded, and half the men he knew would be thankful to accept the certainty of even so modest a competence as that. "I'm awfully sorry, but I can't," he said. "It means giving up everything I've aimed at for years. In one way and another I've had a roughish time, but I always had that one hope before me, to get qualified so that I might travel; and now, when I wake in the morning, my bones simply ache to get off, I don't mind where particularly, but just away, to places I've never been to." Now the goal seemed very near. He would have finished his appointment at St. Luke's by the middle of the following year, and then he would go to Spain; he could afford to spend several months there, rambling up and down the land which stood to him for romance; after that he would get a ship and go to the East. Life was before him and time of no account. He could wander, for years if he chose, in unfrequented places, amid strange peoples, where life was led in strange ways. He did not know what he sought or what his journeys would bring him; but he had a feeling that he would learn something new about life and gain some clue to the mystery that he had solved only to find more mysterious. And even if he found nothing he would allay the unrest which gnawed at his heart. But Doctor South was showing him a great kindness, and it seemed ungrateful to refuse his offer for no adequate reason; so in his shy way, trying to appear as matter of fact as possible, he made some attempt to explain why it was so important to him to carry out the plans he had cherished so passionately. Doctor South listened quietly, and a gentle look came into his shrewd old eyes. It seemed to Philip an added kindness that he did not press him to accept his offer. Benevolence is often very peremptory. He appeared to look upon Philip's reasons as sound. Dropping the subject, he began to talk of his own youth; he had been in the Royal Navy, and it was his long connection with the sea that, when he retired, had made him settle at Farnley. He told Philip of old days in the Pacific and of wild adventures in China. He had taken part in an expedition against the head-hunters of Borneo and had known Samoa when it was still an independent state. He had touched at coral islands. Philip listened to him entranced. Little by little he told Philip about himself. Doctor South was a widower, his wife had died thirty years before, and his daughter had married a farmer in Rhodesia; he had quarrelled with him, and she had not come to England for ten years. It was just as if he had never had wife or child. He was very lonely. His gruffness was little more than a protection which he wore to hide a complete disillusionment; and to Philip it seemed tragic to see him just waiting for death, not impatiently, but rather with loathing for it, hating old age and unable to resign himself to its limitations, and yet with the feeling that death was the only solution of the bitterness of his life. Philip crossed his path, and the natural affection which long separation from his daughter had killed--she had taken her husband's part in the quarrel and her children he had never seen--settled itself upon Philip. At first it made him angry, he told himself it was a sign of dotage; but there was something in Philip that attracted him, and he found himself smiling at him he knew not why. Philip did not bore him. Once or twice he put his hand on his shoulder: it was as near a caress as he had got since his daughter left England so many years before. When the time came for Philip to go Doctor South accompanied him to the station: he found himself unaccountably depressed. "I've had a ripping time here," said Philip. "You've been awfully kind to me." "I suppose you're very glad to go?" "I've enjoyed myself here." "But you want to get out into the world? Ah, you have youth." He hesitated a moment. "I want you to remember that if you change your mind my offer still stands." "That's awfully kind of you." Philip shook hands with him out of the carriage window, and the train steamed out of the station. Philip thought of the fortnight he was going to spend in the hop-field: he was happy at the idea of seeing his friends again, and he rejoiced because the day was fine. But Doctor South walked slowly back to his empty house. He felt very old and very lonely. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXVIII It was late in the evening when Philip arrived at Ferne. It was Mrs. Athelny's native village, and she had been accustomed from her childhood to pick in the hop-field to which with her husband and her children she still went every year. Like many Kentish folk her family had gone out regularly, glad to earn a little money, but especially regarding the annual outing, looked forward to for months, as the best of holidays. The work was not hard, it was done in common, in the open air, and for the children it was a long, delightful picnic; here the young men met the maidens; in the long evenings when work was over they wandered about the lanes, making love; and the hopping season was generally followed by weddings. They went out in carts with bedding, pots and pans, chairs and tables; and Ferne while the hopping lasted was deserted. They were very exclusive and would have resented the intrusion of foreigners, as they called the people who came from London; they looked down upon them and feared them too; they were a rough lot, and the respectable country folk did not want to mix with them. In the old days the hoppers slept in barns, but ten years ago a row of huts had been erected at the side of a meadow; and the Athelnys, like many others, had the same hut every year. Athelny met Philip at the station in a cart he had borrowed from the public-house at which he had got a room for Philip. It was a quarter of a mile from the hop-field. They left his bag there and walked over to the meadow in which were the huts. They were nothing more than a long, low shed, divided into little rooms about twelve feet square. In front of each was a fire of sticks, round which a family was grouped, eagerly watching the cooking of supper. The sea-air and the sun had browned already the faces of Athelny's children. Mrs. Athelny seemed a different woman in her sun-bonnet: you felt that the long years in the city had made no real difference to her; she was the country woman born and bred, and you could see how much at home she found herself in the country. She was frying bacon and at the same time keeping an eye on the younger children, but she had a hearty handshake and a jolly smile for Philip. Athelny was enthusiastic over the delights of a rural existence. "We're starved for sun and light in the cities we live in. It isn't life, it's a long imprisonment. Let us sell all we have, Betty, and take a farm in the country." "I can see you in the country," she answered with good-humoured scorn. "Why, the first rainy day we had in the winter you'd be crying for London." She turned to Philip. "Athelny's always like this when we come down here. Country, I like that! Why, he don't know a swede from a mangel-wurzel." "Daddy was lazy today," remarked Jane, with the frankness which characterized her, "he didn't fill one bin." "I'm getting into practice, child, and tomorrow I shall fill more bins than all of you put together." "Come and eat your supper, children," said Mrs. Athelny. "Where's Sally?" "Here I am, mother." She stepped out of their little hut, and the flames of the wood fire leaped up and cast sharp colour upon her face. Of late Philip had only seen her in the trim frocks she had taken to since she was at the dressmaker's, and there was something very charming in the print dress she wore now, loose and easy to work in; the sleeves were tucked up and showed her strong, round arms. She too had a sun-bonnet. "You look like a milkmaid in a fairy story," said Philip, as he shook hands with her. "She's the belle of the hop-fields," said Athelny. "My word, if the Squire's son sees you he'll make you an offer of marriage before you can say Jack Robinson." "The Squire hasn't got a son, father," said Sally. She looked about for a place to sit down in, and Philip made room for her beside him. She looked wonderful in the night lit by wood fires. She was like some rural goddess, and you thought of those fresh, strong girls whom old Herrick had praised in exquisite numbers. The supper was simple, bread and butter, crisp bacon, tea for the children, and beer for Mr. and Mrs. Athelny and Philip. Athelny, eating hungrily, praised loudly all he ate. He flung words of scorn at Lucullus and piled invectives upon Brillat-Savarin. "There's one thing one can say for you, Athelny," said his wife, "you do enjoy your food and no mistake!" "Cooked by your hand, my Betty," he said, stretching out an eloquent forefinger. Philip felt himself very comfortable. He looked happily at the line of fires, with people grouped about them, and the colour of the flames against the night; at the end of the meadow was a line of great elms, and above the starry sky. The children talked and laughed, and Athelny, a child among them, made them roar by his tricks and fancies. "They think a rare lot of Athelny down here," said his wife. "Why, Mrs. Bridges said to me, I don't know what we should do without Mr. Athelny now, she said. He's always up to something, he's more like a schoolboy than the father of a family." Sally sat in silence, but she attended to Philip's wants in a thoughtful fashion that charmed him. It was pleasant to have her beside him, and now and then he glanced at her sunburned, healthy face. Once he caught her eyes, and she smiled quietly. When supper was over Jane and a small brother were sent down to a brook that ran at the bottom of the meadow to fetch a pail of water for washing up. "You children, show your Uncle Philip where we sleep, and then you must be thinking of going to bed." Small hands seized Philip, and he was dragged towards the hut. He went in and struck a match. There was no furniture in it; and beside a tin box, in which clothes were kept, there was nothing but the beds; there were three of them, one against each wall. Athelny followed Philip in and showed them proudly. "That's the stuff to sleep on," he cried. "None of your spring-mattresses and swansdown. I never sleep so soundly anywhere as here. YOU will sleep between sheets. My dear fellow, I pity you from the bottom of my soul." The beds consisted of a thick layer of hopvine, on the top of which was a coating of straw, and this was covered with a blanket. After a day in the open air, with the aromatic scent of the hops all round them, the happy pickers slept like tops. By nine o'clock all was quiet in the meadow and everyone in bed but one or two men who still lingered in the public-house and would not come back till it was closed at ten. Athelny walked there with Philip. But before he went Mrs. Athelny said to him: "We breakfast about a quarter to six, but I daresay you won't want to get up as early as that. You see, we have to set to work at six." "Of course he must get up early," cried Athelny, "and he must work like the rest of us. He's got to earn his board. No work, no dinner, my lad." "The children go down to bathe before breakfast, and they can give you a call on their way back. They pass The Jolly Sailor." "If they'll wake me I'll come and bathe with them," said Philip. Jane and Harold and Edward shouted with delight at the prospect, and next morning Philip was awakened out of a sound sleep by their bursting into his room. The boys jumped on his bed, and he had to chase them out with his slippers. He put on a coat and a pair of trousers and went down. The day had only just broken, and there was a nip in the air; but the sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining yellow. Sally, holding Connie's hand, was standing in the middle of the road, with a towel and a bathing-dress over her arm. He saw now that her sun-bonnet was of the colour of lavender, and against it her face, red and brown, was like an apple. She greeted him with her slow, sweet smile, and he noticed suddenly that her teeth were small and regular and very white. He wondered why they had never caught his attention before. "I was for letting you sleep on," she said, "but they would go up and wake you. I said you didn't really want to come." "Oh, yes, I did." They walked down the road and then cut across the marshes. That way it was under a mile to the sea. The water looked cold and gray, and Philip shivered at the sight of it; but the others tore off their clothes and ran in shouting. Sally did everything a little slowly, and she did not come into the water till all the rest were splashing round Philip. Swimming was his only accomplishment; he felt at home in the water; and soon he had them all imitating him as he played at being a porpoise, and a drowning man, and a fat lady afraid of wetting her hair. The bathe was uproarious, and it was necessary for Sally to be very severe to induce them all to come out. "You're as bad as any of them," she said to Philip, in her grave, maternal way, which was at once comic and touching. "They're not anything like so naughty when you're not here." They walked back, Sally with her bright hair streaming over one shoulder and her sun-bonnet in her hand, but when they got to the huts Mrs. Athelny had already started for the hop-garden. Athleny, in a pair of the oldest trousers anyone had ever worn, his jacket buttoned up to show he had no shirt on, and in a wide-brimmed soft hat, was frying kippers over a fire of sticks. He was delighted with himself: he looked every inch a brigand. As soon as he saw the party he began to shout the witches' chorus from Macbeth over the odorous kippers. "You mustn't dawdle over your breakfast or mother will be angry," he said, when they came up. And in a few minutes, Harold and Jane with pieces of bread and butter in their hands, they sauntered through the meadow into the hop-field. They were the last to leave. A hop-garden was one of the sights connected with Philip's boyhood and the oast-houses to him the most typical feature of the Kentish scene. It was with no sense of strangeness, but as though he were at home, that Philip followed Sally through the long lines of the hops. The sun was bright now and cast a sharp shadow. Philip feasted his eyes on the richness of the green leaves. The hops were yellowing, and to him they had the beauty and the passion which poets in Sicily have found in the purple grape. As they walked along Philip felt himself overwhelmed by the rich luxuriance. A sweet scent arose from the fat Kentish soil, and the fitful September breeze was heavy with the goodly perfume of the hops. Athelstan felt the exhilaration instinctively, for he lifted up his voice and sang; it was the cracked voice of the boy of fifteen, and Sally turned round. "You be quiet, Athelstan, or we shall have a thunderstorm." In a moment they heard the hum of voices, and in a moment more came upon the pickers. They were all hard at work, talking and laughing as they picked. They sat on chairs, on stools, on boxes, with their baskets by their sides, and some stood by the bin throwing the hops they picked straight into it. There were a lot of children about and a good many babies, some in makeshift cradles, some tucked up in a rug on the soft brown dry earth. The children picked a little and played a great deal. The women worked busily, they had been pickers from childhood, and they could pick twice as fast as foreigners from London. They boasted about the number of bushels they had picked in a day, but they complained you could not make money now as in former times: then they paid you a shilling for five bushels, but now the rate was eight and even nine bushels to the shilling. In the old days a good picker could earn enough in the season to keep her for the rest of the year, but now there was nothing in it; you got a holiday for nothing, and that was about all. Mrs. Hill had bought herself a pianner out of what she made picking, so she said, but she was very near, one wouldn't like to be near like that, and most people thought it was only what she said, if the truth was known perhaps it would be found that she had put a bit of money from the savings bank towards it. The hoppers were divided into bin companies of ten pickers, not counting children, and Athelny loudly boasted of the day when he would have a company consisting entirely of his own family. Each company had a bin-man, whose duty it was to supply it with strings of hops at their bins (the bin was a large sack on a wooden frame, about seven feet high, and long rows of them were placed between the rows of hops;) and it was to this position that Athelny aspired when his family was old enough to form a company. Meanwhile he worked rather by encouraging others than by exertions of his own. He sauntered up to Mrs. Athelny, who had been busy for half an hour and had already emptied a basket into the bin, and with his cigarette between his lips began to pick. He asserted that he was going to pick more than anyone that day, but mother; of course no one could pick so much as mother; that reminded him of the trials which Aphrodite put upon the curious Psyche, and he began to tell his children the story of her love for the unseen bridegroom. He told it very well. It seemed to Philip, listening with a smile on his lips, that the old tale fitted in with the scene. The sky was very blue now, and he thought it could not be more lovely even in Greece. The children with their fair hair and rosy cheeks, strong, healthy, and vivacious; the delicate form of the hops; the challenging emerald of the leaves, like a blare of trumpets; the magic of the green alley, narrowing to a point as you looked down the row, with the pickers in their sun-bonnets: perhaps there was more of the Greek spirit there than you could find in the books of professors or in museums. He was thankful for the beauty of England. He thought of the winding white roads and the hedgerows, the green meadows with their elm-trees, the delicate line of the hills and the copses that crowned them, the flatness of the marshes, and the melancholy of the North Sea. He was very glad that he felt its loveliness. But presently Athelny grew restless and announced that he would go and ask how Robert Kemp's mother was. He knew everyone in the garden and called them all by their Christian names; he knew their family histories and all that had happened to them from birth. With harmless vanity he played the fine gentleman among them, and there was a touch of condescension in his familiarity. Philip would not go with him. "I'm going to earn my dinner," he said. "Quite right, my boy," answered Athelny, with a wave of the hand, as he strolled away. "No work, no dinner." </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXIX Philip had not a basket of his own, but sat with Sally. Jane thought it monstrous that he should help her elder sister rather than herself, and he had to promise to pick for her when Sally's basket was full. Sally was almost as quick as her mother. "Won't it hurt your hands for sewing?" asked Philip. "Oh, no, it wants soft hands. That's why women pick better than men. If your hands are hard and your fingers all stiff with a lot of rough work you can't pick near so well." He liked to see her deft movements, and she watched him too now and then with that maternal spirit of hers which was so amusing and yet so charming. He was clumsy at first, and she laughed at him. When she bent over and showed him how best to deal with a whole line their hands met. He was surprised to see her blush. He could not persuade himself that she was a woman; because he had known her as a flapper, he could not help looking upon her as a child still; yet the number of her admirers showed that she was a child no longer; and though they had only been down a few days one of Sally's cousins was already so attentive that she had to endure a lot of chaffing. His name was Peter Gann, and he was the son of Mrs. Athelny's sister, who had married a farmer near Ferne. Everyone knew why he found it necessary to walk through the hop-field every day. A call-off by the sounding of a horn was made for breakfast at eight, and though Mrs. Athelny told them they had not deserved it, they ate it very heartily. They set to work again and worked till twelve, when the horn sounded once more for dinner. At intervals the measurer went his round from bin to bin, accompanied by the booker, who entered first in his own book and then in the hopper's the number of bushels picked. As each bin was filled it was measured out in bushel baskets into a huge bag called a poke; and this the measurer and the pole-puller carried off between them and put on the waggon. Athelny came back now and then with stories of how much Mrs. Heath or Mrs. Jones had picked, and he conjured his family to beat her: he was always wanting to make records, and sometimes in his enthusiasm picked steadily for an hour. His chief amusement in it, however, was that it showed the beauty of his graceful hands, of which he was excessively proud. He spent much time manicuring them. He told Philip, as he stretched out his tapering fingers, that the Spanish grandees had always slept in oiled gloves to preserve their whiteness. The hand that wrung the throat of Europe, he remarked dramatically, was as shapely and exquisite as a woman's; and he looked at his own, as he delicately picked the hops, and sighed with self-satisfaction. When he grew tired of this he rolled himself a cigarette and discoursed to Philip of art and literature. In the afternoon it grew very hot. Work did not proceed so actively and conversation halted. The incessant chatter of the morning dwindled now to desultory remarks. Tiny beads of sweat stood on Sally's upper lip, and as she worked her lips were slightly parted. She was like a rosebud bursting into flower. Calling-off time depended on the state of the oast-house. Sometimes it was filled early, and as many hops had been picked by three or four as could be dried during the night. Then work was stopped. But generally the last measuring of the day began at five. As each company had its bin measured it gathered up its things and, chatting again now that work was over, sauntered out of the garden. The women went back to the huts to clean up and prepare the supper, while a good many of the men strolled down the road to the public-house. A glass of beer was very pleasant after the day's work. The Athelnys' bin was the last to be dealt with. When the measurer came Mrs. Athelny, with a sigh of relief, stood up and stretched her arms: she had been sitting in the same position for many hours and was stiff. "Now, let's go to The Jolly Sailor," said Athelny. "The rites of the day must be duly performed, and there is none more sacred than that." "Take a jug with you, Athelny," said his wife, "and bring back a pint and a half for supper." She gave him the money, copper by copper. The bar-parlour was already well filled. It had a sanded floor, benches round it, and yellow pictures of Victorian prize-fighters on the walls. The licencee knew all his customers by name, and he leaned over his bar smiling benignly at two young men who were throwing rings on a stick that stood up from the floor: their failure was greeted with a good deal of hearty chaff from the rest of the company. Room was made for the new arrivals. Philip found himself sitting between an old labourer in corduroys, with string tied under his knees, and a shiny-faced lad of seventeen with a love-lock neatly plastered on his red forehead. Athelny insisted on trying his hand at the throwing of rings. He backed himself for half a pint and won it. As he drank the loser's health he said: "I would sooner have won this than won the Derby, my boy." He was an outlandish figure, with his wide-brimmed hat and pointed beard, among those country folk, and it was easy to see that they thought him very queer; but his spirits were so high, his enthusiasm so contagious, that it was impossible not to like him. Conversation went easily. A certain number of pleasantries were exchanged in the broad, slow accent of the Isle of Thanet, and there was uproarious laughter at the sallies of the local wag. A pleasant gathering! It would have been a hard-hearted person who did not feel a glow of satisfaction in his fellows. Philip's eyes wandered out of the window where it was bright and sunny still; there were little white curtains in it tied up with red ribbon like those of a cottage window, and on the sill were pots of geraniums. In due course one by one the idlers got up and sauntered back to the meadow where supper was cooking. "I expect you'll be ready for your bed," said Mrs. Athelny to Philip. "You're not used to getting up at five and staying in the open air all day." "You're coming to bathe with us, Uncle Phil, aren't you?" the boys cried. "Rather." He was tired and happy. After supper, balancing himself against the wall of the hut on a chair without a back, he smoked his pipe and looked at the night. Sally was busy. She passed in and out of the hut, and he lazily watched her methodical actions. Her walk attracted his notice; it was not particularly graceful, but it was easy and assured; she swung her legs from the hips, and her feet seemed to tread the earth with decision. Athelny had gone off to gossip with one of the neighbours, and presently Philip heard his wife address the world in general. "There now, I'm out of tea and I wanted Athelny to go down to Mrs. Black's and get some." A pause, and then her voice was raised: "Sally, just run down to Mrs. Black's and get me half a pound of tea, will you? I've run quite out of it." "All right, mother." Mrs. Black had a cottage about half a mile along the road, and she combined the office of postmistress with that of universal provider. Sally came out of the hut, turning down her sleeves. "Shall I come with you, Sally?" asked Philip. "Don't you trouble. I'm not afraid to go alone." "I didn't think you were; but it's getting near my bedtime, and I was just thinking I'd like to stretch my legs." Sally did not answer, and they set out together. The road was white and silent. There was not a sound in the summer night. They did not speak much. "It's quite hot even now, isn't it?" said Philip. "I think it's wonderful for the time of year." But their silence did not seem awkward. They found it was pleasant to walk side by side and felt no need of words. Suddenly at a stile in the hedgerow they heard a low murmur of voices, and in the darkness they saw the outline of two people. They were sitting very close to one another and did not move as Philip and Sally passed. "I wonder who that was," said Sally. "They looked happy enough, didn't they?" "I expect they took us for lovers too." They saw the light of the cottage in front of them, and in a minute went into the little shop. The glare dazzled them for a moment. "You are late," said Mrs. Black. "I was just going to shut up." She looked at the clock. "Getting on for nine." Sally asked for her half pound of tea (Mrs. Athelny could never bring herself to buy more than half a pound at a time), and they set off up the road again. Now and then some beast of the night made a short, sharp sound, but it seemed only to make the silence more marked. "I believe if you stood still you could hear the sea," said Sally. They strained their ears, and their fancy presented them with a faint sound of little waves lapping up against the shingle. When they passed the stile again the lovers were still there, but now they were not speaking; they were in one another's arms, and the man's lips were pressed against the girl's. "They seem busy," said Sally. They turned a corner, and a breath of warm wind beat for a moment against their faces. The earth gave forth its freshness. There was something strange in the tremulous night, and something, you knew not what, seemed to be waiting; the silence was on a sudden pregnant with meaning. Philip had a queer feeling in his heart, it seemed very full, it seemed to melt (the hackneyed phrases expressed precisely the curious sensation), he felt happy and anxious and expectant. To his memory came back those lines in which Jessica and Lorenzo murmur melodious words to one another, capping each other's utterance; but passion shines bright and clear through the conceits that amuse them. He did not know what there was in the air that made his senses so strangely alert; it seemed to him that he was pure soul to enjoy the scents and the sounds and the savours of the earth. He had never felt such an exquisite capacity for beauty. He was afraid that Sally by speaking would break the spell, but she said never a word, and he wanted to hear the sound of her voice. Its low richness was the voice of the country night itself. They arrived at the field through which she had to walk to get back to the huts. Philip went in to hold the gate open for her. "Well, here I think I'll say good-night." "Thank you for coming all that way with me." She gave him her hand, and as he took it, he said: "If you were very nice you'd kiss me good-night like the rest of the family." "I don't mind," she said. Philip had spoken in jest. He merely wanted to kiss her, because he was happy and he liked her and the night was so lovely. "Good-night then," he said, with a little laugh, drawing her towards him. She gave him her lips; they were warm and full and soft; he lingered a little, they were like a flower; then, he knew not how, without meaning it, he flung his arms round her. She yielded quite silently. Her body was firm and strong. He felt her heart beat against his. Then he lost his head. His senses overwhelmed him like a flood of rushing waters. He drew her into the darker shadow of the hedge. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXX Philip slept like a log and awoke with a start to find Harold tickling his face with a feather. There was a shout of delight when he opened his eyes. He was drunken with sleep. "Come on, lazybones," said Jane. "Sally says she won't wait for you unless you hurry up." Then he remembered what had happened. His heart sank, and, half out of bed already, he stopped; he did not know how he was going to face her; he was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of self-reproach, and bitterly, bitterly, he regretted what he had done. What would she say to him that morning? He dreaded meeting her, and he asked himself how he could have been such a fool. But the children gave him no time; Edward took his bathing-drawers and his towel, Athelstan tore the bed-clothes away; and in three minutes they all clattered down into the road. Sally gave him a smile. It was as sweet and innocent as it had ever been. "You do take a time to dress yourself," she said. "I thought you was never coming." There was not a particle of difference in her manner. He had expected some change, subtle or abrupt; he fancied that there would be shame in the way she treated him, or anger, or perhaps some increase of familiarity; but there was nothing. She was exactly the same as before. They walked towards the sea all together, talking and laughing; and Sally was quiet, but she was always that, reserved, but he had never seen her otherwise, and gentle. She neither sought conversation with him nor avoided it. Philip was astounded. He had expected the incident of the night before to have caused some revolution in her, but it was just as though nothing had happened; it might have been a dream; and as he walked along, a little girl holding on to one hand and a little boy to the other, while he chatted as unconcernedly as he could, he sought for an explanation. He wondered whether Sally meant the affair to be forgotten. Perhaps her senses had run away with her just as his had, and, treating what had occurred as an accident due to unusual circumstances, it might be that she had decided to put the matter out of her mind. It was ascribing to her a power of thought and a mature wisdom which fitted neither with her age nor with her character. But he realised that he knew nothing of her. There had been in her always something enigmatic. They played leap-frog in the water, and the bathe was as uproarious as on the previous day. Sally mothered them all, keeping a watchful eye on them, and calling to them when they went out too far. She swam staidly backwards and forwards while the others got up to their larks, and now and then turned on her back to float. Presently she went out and began drying herself; she called to the others more or less peremptorily, and at last only Philip was left in the water. He took the opportunity to have a good hard swim. He was more used to the cold water this second morning, and he revelled in its salt freshness; it rejoiced him to use his limbs freely, and he covered the water with long, firm strokes. But Sally, with a towel round her, went down to the water's edge. "You're to come out this minute, Philip," she called, as though he were a small boy under her charge. And when, smiling with amusement at her authoritative way, he came towards her, she upbraided him. "It is naughty of you to stay in so long. Your lips are quite blue, and just look at your teeth, they're chattering." "All right. I'll come out." She had never talked to him in that manner before. It was as though what had happened gave her a sort of right over him, and she looked upon him as a child to be cared for. In a few minutes they were dressed, and they started to walk back. Sally noticed his hands. "Just look, they're quite blue." "Oh, that's all right. It's only the circulation. I shall get the blood back in a minute." "Give them to me." She took his hands in hers and rubbed them, first one and then the other, till the colour returned. Philip, touched and puzzled, watched her. He could not say anything to her on account of the children, and he did not meet her eyes; but he was sure they did not avoid his purposely, it just happened that they did not meet. And during the day there was nothing in her behaviour to suggest a consciousness in her that anything had passed between them. Perhaps she was a little more talkative than usual. When they were all sitting again in the hop-field she told her mother how naughty Philip had been in not coming out of the water till he was blue with cold. It was incredible, and yet it seemed that the only effect of the incident of the night before was to arouse in her a feeling of protection towards him: she had the same instinctive desire to mother him as she had with regard to her brothers and sisters. It was not till the evening that he found himself alone with her. She was cooking the supper, and Philip was sitting on the grass by the side of the fire. Mrs. Athelny had gone down to the village to do some shopping, and the children were scattered in various pursuits of their own. Philip hesitated to speak. He was very nervous. Sally attended to her business with serene competence and she accepted placidly the silence which to him was so embarrassing. He did not know how to begin. Sally seldom spoke unless she was spoken to or had something particular to say. At last he could not bear it any longer. "You're not angry with me, Sally?" he blurted out suddenly. She raised her eyes quietly and looked at him without emotion. "Me? No. Why should I be?" He was taken aback and did not reply. She took the lid off the pot, stirred the contents, and put it on again. A savoury smell spread over the air. She looked at him once more, with a quiet smile which barely separated her lips; it was more a smile of the eyes. "I always liked you," she said. His heart gave a great thump against his ribs, and he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. He forced a faint laugh. "I didn't know that." "That's because you're a silly." "I don't know why you liked me." "I don't either." She put a little more wood on the fire. "I knew I liked you that day you came when you'd been sleeping out and hadn't had anything to eat, d'you remember? And me and mother, we got Thorpy's bed ready for you." He flushed again, for he did not know that she was aware of that incident. He remembered it himself with horror and shame. "That's why I wouldn't have anything to do with the others. You remember that young fellow mother wanted me to have? I let him come to tea because he bothered so, but I knew I'd say no." Philip was so surprised that he found nothing to say. There was a queer feeling in his heart; he did not know what it was, unless it was happiness. Sally stirred the pot once more. "I wish those children would make haste and come. I don't know where they've got to. Supper's ready now." "Shall I go and see if I can find them?" said Philip. It was a relief to talk about practical things. "Well, it wouldn't be a bad idea, I must say.... There's mother coming." Then, as he got up, she looked at him without embarrassment. "Shall I come for a walk with you tonight when I've put the children to bed?" "Yes." "Well, you wait for me down by the stile, and I'll come when I'm ready." He waited under the stars, sitting on the stile, and the hedges with their ripening blackberries were high on each side of him. From the earth rose rich scents of the night, and the air was soft and still. His heart was beating madly. He could not understand anything of what happened to him. He associated passion with cries and tears and vehemence, and there was nothing of this in Sally; but he did not know what else but passion could have caused her to give herself. But passion for him? He would not have been surprised if she had fallen to her cousin, Peter Gann, tall, spare, and straight, with his sunburned face and long, easy stride. Philip wondered what she saw in him. He did not know if she loved him as he reckoned love. And yet? He was convinced of her purity. He had a vague inkling that many things had combined, things that she felt though was unconscious of, the intoxication of the air and the hops and the night, the healthy instincts of the natural woman, a tenderness that overflowed, and an affection that had in it something maternal and something sisterly; and she gave all she had to give because her heart was full of charity. He heard a step on the road, and a figure came out of the darkness. "Sally," he murmured. She stopped and came to the stile, and with her came sweet, clean odours of the country-side. She seemed to carry with her scents of the new-mown hay, and the savour of ripe hops, and the freshness of young grass. Her lips were soft and full against his, and her lovely, strong body was firm within his arms. "Milk and honey," he said. "You're like milk and honey." He made her close her eyes and kissed her eyelids, first one and then the other. Her arm, strong and muscular, was bare to the elbow; he passed his hand over it and wondered at its beauty; it gleamed in the darkness; she had the skin that Rubens painted, astonishingly fair and transparent, and on one side were little golden hairs. It was the arm of a Saxon goddess; but no immortal had that exquisite, homely naturalness; and Philip thought of a cottage garden with the dear flowers which bloom in all men's hearts, of the hollyhock and the red and white rose which is called York and Lancaster, and of love--in-a-mist and Sweet William, and honeysuckle, larkspur, and London Pride. "How can you care for me?" he said. "I'm insignificant and crippled and ordinary and ugly." She took his face in both her hands and kissed his lips. "You're an old silly, that's what you are," she said. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXXI When the hops were picked, Philip with the news in his pocket that he had got the appointment as assistant house-physician at St. Luke's, accompanied the Athelnys back to London. He took modest rooms in Westminster and at the beginning of October entered upon his duties. The work was interesting and varied; every day he learned something new; he felt himself of some consequence; and he saw a good deal of Sally. He found life uncommonly pleasant. He was free about six, except on the days on which he had out-patients, and then he went to the shop at which Sally worked to meet her when she came out. There were several young men, who hung about opposite the 'trade entrance' or a little further along, at the first corner; and the girls, coming out two and two or in little groups, nudged one another and giggled as they recognised them. Sally in her plain black dress looked very different from the country lass who had picked hops side by side with him. She walked away from the shop quickly, but she slackened her pace when they met, and greeted him with her quiet smile. They walked together through the busy street. He talked to her of his work at the hospital, and she told him what she had been doing in the shop that day. He came to know the names of the girls she worked with. He found that Sally had a restrained, but keen, sense of the ridiculous, and she made remarks about the girls or the men who were set over them which amused him by their unexpected drollery. She had a way of saying a thing which was very characteristic, quite gravely, as though there were nothing funny in it at all, and yet it was so sharp-sighted that Philip broke into delighted laughter. Then she would give him a little glance in which the smiling eyes showed she was not unaware of her own humour. They met with a handshake and parted as formally. Once Philip asked her to come and have tea with him in his rooms, but she refused. "No, I won't do that. It would look funny." Never a word of love passed between them. She seemed not to desire anything more than the companionship of those walks. Yet Philip was positive that she was glad to be with him. She puzzled him as much as she had done at the beginning. He did not begin to understand her conduct; but the more he knew her the fonder he grew of her; she was competent and self controlled, and there was a charming honesty in her: you felt that you could rely upon her in every circumstance. "You are an awfully good sort," he said to her once a propos of nothing at all. "I expect I'm just the same as everyone else," she answered. He knew that he did not love her. It was a great affection that he felt for her, and he liked her company; it was curiously soothing; and he had a feeling for her which seemed to him ridiculous to entertain towards a shop-girl of nineteen: he respected her. And he admired her magnificent healthiness. She was a splendid animal, without defect; and physical perfection filled him always with admiring awe. She made him feel unworthy. Then, one day, about three weeks after they had come back to London as they walked together, he noticed that she was unusually silent. The serenity of her expression was altered by a slight line between the eyebrows: it was the beginning of a frown. "What's the matter, Sally?" he asked. She did not look at him, but straight in front of her, and her colour darkened. "I don't know." He understood at once what she meant. His heart gave a sudden, quick beat, and he felt the colour leave his cheeks. "What d'you mean? Are you afraid that... ?" He stopped. He could not go on. The possibility that anything of the sort could happen had never crossed his mind. Then he saw that her lips were trembling, and she was trying not to cry. "I'm not certain yet. Perhaps it'll be all right." They walked on in silence till they came to the corner of Chancery Lane, where he always left her. She held out her hand and smiled. "Don't worry about it yet. Let's hope for the best." He walked away with a tumult of thoughts in his head. What a fool he had been! That was the first thing that struck him, an abject, miserable fool, and he repeated it to himself a dozen times in a rush of angry feeling. He despised himself. How could he have got into such a mess? But at the same time, for his thoughts chased one another through his brain and yet seemed to stand together, in a hopeless confusion, like the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle seen in a nightmare, he asked himself what he was going to do. Everything was so clear before him, all he had aimed at so long within reach at last, and now his inconceivable stupidity had erected this new obstacle. Philip had never been able to surmount what he acknowledged was a defect in his resolute desire for a well ordered life, and that was his passion for living in the future; and no sooner was he settled in his work at the hospital than he had busied himself with arrangements for his travels. In the past he had often tried not to think too circumstantially of his plans for the future, it was only discouraging; but now that his goal was so near he saw no harm in giving away to a longing that was so difficult to resist. First of all he meant to go to Spain. That was the land of his heart; and by now he was imbued with its spirit, its romance and colour and history and grandeur; he felt that it had a message for him in particular which no other country could give. He knew the fine old cities already as though he had trodden their tortuous streets from childhood. Cordova, Seville, Toledo, Leon, Tarragona, Burgos. The great painters of Spain were the painters of his soul, and his pulse beat quickly as he pictured his ecstasy on standing face to face with those works which were more significant than any others to his own tortured, restless heart. He had read the great poets, more characteristic of their race than the poets of other lands; for they seemed to have drawn their inspiration not at all from the general currents of the world's literature but directly from the torrid, scented plains and the bleak mountains of their country. A few short months now, and he would hear with his own ears all around him the language which seemed most apt for grandeur of soul and passion. His fine taste had given him an inkling that Andalusia was too soft and sensuous, a little vulgar even, to satisfy his ardour; and his imagination dwelt more willingly among the wind-swept distances of Castile and the rugged magnificence of Aragon and Leon. He did not know quite what those unknown contacts would give him, but he felt that he would gather from them a strength and a purpose which would make him more capable of affronting and comprehending the manifold wonders of places more distant and more strange. For this was only a beginning. He had got into communication with the various companies which took surgeons out on their ships, and knew exactly what were their routes, and from men who had been on them what were the advantages and disadvantages of each line. He put aside the Orient and the P. & O. It was difficult to get a berth with them; and besides their passenger traffic allowed the medical officer little freedom; but there were other services which sent large tramps on leisurely expeditions to the East, stopping at all sorts of ports for various periods, from a day or two to a fortnight, so that you had plenty of time, and it was often possible to make a trip inland. The pay was poor and the food no more than adequate, so that there was not much demand for the posts, and a man with a London degree was pretty sure to get one if he applied. Since there were no passengers other than a casual man or so, shipping on business from some out-of-the-way port to another, the life on board was friendly and pleasant. Philip knew by heart the list of places at which they touched; and each one called up in him visions of tropical sunshine, and magic colour, and of a teeming, mysterious, intense life. Life! That was what he wanted. At last he would come to close quarters with Life. And perhaps, from Tokyo or Shanghai it would be possible to tranship into some other line and drip down to the islands of the South Pacific. A doctor was useful anywhere. There might be an opportunity to go up country in Burmah, and what rich jungles in Sumatra or Borneo might he not visit? He was young still and time was no object to him. He had no ties in England, no friends; he could go up and down the world for years, learning the beauty and the wonder and the variedness of life. Now this thing had come. He put aside the possibility that Sally was mistaken; he felt strangely certain that she was right; after all, it was so likely; anyone could see that Nature had built her to be the mother of children. He knew what he ought to do. He ought not to let the incident divert him a hair's breadth from his path. He thought of Griffiths; he could easily imagine with what indifference that young man would have received such a piece of news; he would have thought it an awful nuisance and would at once have taken to his heels, like a wise fellow; he would have left the girl to deal with her troubles as best she could. Philip told himself that if this had happened it was because it was inevitable. He was no more to blame than Sally; she was a girl who knew the world and the facts of life, and she had taken the risk with her eyes open. It would be madness to allow such an accident to disturb the whole pattern of his life. He was one of the few people who was acutely conscious of the transitoriness of life, and how necessary it was to make the most of it. He would do what he could for Sally; he could afford to give her a sufficient sum of money. A strong man would never allow himself to be turned from his purpose. Philip said all this to himself, but he knew he could not do it. He simply could not. He knew himself. "I'm so damned weak," he muttered despairingly. She had trusted him and been kind to him. He simply could not do a thing which, notwithstanding all his reason, he felt was horrible. He knew he would have no peace on his travels if he had the thought constantly with him that she was wretched. Besides, there were her father and mother: they had always treated him well; it was not possible to repay them with ingratitude. The only thing was to marry Sally as quickly as possible. He would write to Doctor South, tell him he was going to be married at once, and say that if his offer still held he was willing to accept it. That sort of practice, among poor people, was the only one possible for him; there his deformity did not matter, and they would not sneer at the simple manners of his wife. It was curious to think of her as his wife, it gave him a queer, soft feeling; and a wave of emotion spread over him as he thought of the child which was his. He had little doubt that Doctor South would be glad to have him, and he pictured to himself the life he would lead with Sally in the fishing village. They would have a little house within sight of the sea, and he would watch the mighty ships passing to the lands he would never know. Perhaps that was the wisest thing. Cronshaw had told him that the facts of life mattered nothing to him who by the power of fancy held in fee the twin realms of space and time. It was true. Forever wilt thou love and she be fair! His wedding present to his wife would be all his high hopes. Self-sacrifice! Philip was uplifted by its beauty, and all through the evening he thought of it. He was so excited that he could not read. He seemed to be driven out of his rooms into the streets, and he walked up and down Birdcage Walk, his heart throbbing with joy. He could hardly bear his impatience. He wanted to see Sally's happiness when he made her his offer, and if it had not been so late he would have gone to her there and then. He pictured to himself the long evenings he would spend with Sally in the cosy sitting-room, the blinds undrawn so that they could watch the sea; he with his books, while she bent over her work, and the shaded lamp made her sweet face more fair. They would talk over the growing child, and when she turned her eyes to his there was in them the light of love. And the fishermen and their wives who were his patients would come to feel a great affection for them, and they in their turn would enter into the pleasures and pains of those simple lives. But his thoughts returned to the son who would be his and hers. Already he felt in himself a passionate devotion to it. He thought of passing his hands over his little perfect limbs, he knew he would be beautiful; and he would make over to him all his dreams of a rich and varied life. And thinking over the long pilgrimage of his past he accepted it joyfully. He accepted the deformity which had made life so hard for him; he knew that it had warped his character, but now he saw also that by reason of it he had acquired that power of introspection which had given him so much delight. Without it he would never have had his keen appreciation of beauty, his passion for art and literature, and his interest in the varied spectacle of life. The ridicule and the contempt which had so often been heaped upon him had turned his mind inward and called forth those flowers which he felt would never lose their fragrance. Then he saw that the normal was the rarest thing in the world. Everyone had some defect, of body or of mind: he thought of all the people he had known (the whole world was like a sick-house, and there was no rhyme or reason in it), he saw a long procession, deformed in body and warped in mind, some with illness of the flesh, weak hearts or weak lungs, and some with illness of the spirit, languor of will, or a craving for liquor. At this moment he could feel a holy compassion for them all. They were the helpless instruments of blind chance. He could pardon Griffiths for his treachery and Mildred for the pain she had caused him. They could not help themselves. The only reasonable thing was to accept the good of men and be patient with their faults. The words of the dying God crossed his memory: Forgive them, for they know not what they do. </CHAPTER> <CHAPTER> CXXII He had arranged to meet Sally on Saturday in the National Gallery. She was to come there as soon as she was released from the shop and had agreed to lunch with him. Two days had passed since he had seen her, and his exultation had not left him for a moment. It was because he rejoiced in the feeling that he had not attempted to see her. He had repeated to himself exactly what he would say to her and how he should say it. Now his impatience was unbearable. He had written to Doctor South and had in his pocket a telegram from him received that morning: "Sacking the mumpish fool. When will you come?" Philip walked along Parliament Street. It was a fine day, and there was a bright, frosty sun which made the light dance in the street. It was crowded. There was a tenuous mist in the distance, and it softened exquisitely the noble lines of the buildings. He crossed Trafalgar Square. Suddenly his heart gave a sort of twist in his body; he saw a woman in front of him who he thought was Mildred. She had the same figure, and she walked with that slight dragging of the feet which was so characteristic of her. Without thinking, but with a beating heart, he hurried till he came alongside, and then, when the woman turned, he saw it was someone unknown to him. It was the face of a much older person, with a lined, yellow skin. He slackened his pace. He was infinitely relieved, but it was not only relief that he felt; it was disappointment too; he was seized with horror of himself. Would he never be free from that passion? At the bottom of his heart, notwithstanding everything, he felt that a strange, desperate thirst for that vile woman would always linger. That love had caused him so much suffering that he knew he would never, never quite be free of it. Only death could finally assuage his desire. But he wrenched the pang from his heart. He thought of Sally, with her kind blue eyes; and his lips unconsciously formed themselves into a smile. He walked up the steps of the National Gallery and sat down in the first room, so that he should see her the moment she came in. It always comforted him to get among pictures. He looked at none in particular, but allowed the magnificence of their colour, the beauty of their lines, to work upon his soul. His imagination was busy with Sally. It would be pleasant to take her away from that London in which she seemed an unusual figure, like a cornflower in a shop among orchids and azaleas; he had learned in the Kentish hop-field that she did not belong to the town; and he was sure that she would blossom under the soft skies of Dorset to a rarer beauty. She came in, and he got up to meet her. She was in black, with white cuffs at her wrists and a lawn collar round her neck. They shook hands. "Have you been waiting long?" "No. Ten minutes. Are you hungry?" "Not very." "Let's sit here for a bit, shall we?" "If you like." They sat quietly, side by side, without speaking. Philip enjoyed having her near him. He was warmed by her radiant health. A glow of life seemed like an aureole to shine about her. "Well, how have you been?" he said at last, with a little smile. "Oh, it's all right. It was a false alarm." "Was it?" "Aren't you glad?" An extraordinary sensation filled him. He had felt certain that Sally's suspicion was well-founded; it had never occurred to him for an instant that there was a possibility of error. All his plans were suddenly overthrown, and the existence, so elaborately pictured, was no more than a dream which would never be realised. He was free once more. Free! He need give up none of his projects, and life still was in his hands for him to do what he liked with. He felt no exhilaration, but only dismay. His heart sank. The future stretched out before him in desolate emptiness. It was as though he had sailed for many years over a great waste of waters, with peril and privation, and at last had come upon a fair haven, but as he was about to enter, some contrary wind had arisen and drove him out again into the open sea; and because he had let his mind dwell on these soft meads and pleasant woods of the land, the vast deserts of the ocean filled him with anguish. He could not confront again the loneliness and the tempest. Sally looked at him with her clear eyes. "Aren't you glad?" she asked again. "I thought you'd be as pleased as Punch." He met her gaze haggardly. "I'm not sure," he muttered. "You are funny. Most men would." He realised that he had deceived himself; it was no self-sacrifice that had driven him to think of marrying, but the desire for a wife and a home and love; and now that it all seemed to slip through his fingers he was seized with despair. He wanted all that more than anything in the world. What did he care for Spain and its cities, Cordova, Toledo, Leon; what to him were the pagodas of Burmah and the lagoons of South Sea Islands? America was here and now. It seemed to him that all his life he had followed the ideals that other people, by their words or their writings, had instilled into him, and never the desires of his own heart. Always his course had been swayed by what he thought he should do and never by what he wanted with his whole soul to do. He put all that aside now with a gesture of impatience. He had lived always in the future, and the present always, always had slipped through his fingers. His ideals? He thought of his desire to make a design, intricate and beautiful, out of the myriad, meaningless facts of life: had he not seen also that the simplest pattern, that in which a man was born, worked, married, had children, and died, was likewise the most perfect? It might be that to surrender to happiness was to accept defeat, but it was a defeat better than many victories. He glanced quickly at Sally, he wondered what she was thinking, and then looked away again. "I was going to ask you to marry me," he said. "I thought p'raps you might, but I shouldn't have liked to stand in your way." "You wouldn't have done that." "How about your travels, Spain and all that?" "How d'you know I want to travel?" "I ought to know something about it. I've heard you and Dad talk about it till you were blue in the face." "I don't care a damn about all that." He paused for an instant and then spoke in a low, hoarse whisper. "I don't want to leave you! I can't leave you." She did not answer. He could not tell what she thought. "I wonder if you'll marry me, Sally." She did not move and there was no flicker of emotion on her face, but she did not look at him when she answered. "If you like." "Don't you want to?" "Oh, of course I'd like to have a house of my own, and it's about time I was settling down." He smiled a little. He knew her pretty well by now, and her manner did not surprise him. "But don't you want to marry ME?" "There's no one else I would marry." "Then that settles it." "Mother and Dad will be surprised, won't they?" "I'm so happy." "I want my lunch," she said. "Dear!" He smiled and took her hand and pressed it. They got up and walked out of the gallery. They stood for a moment at the balustrade and looked at Trafalgar Square. Cabs and omnibuses hurried to and fro, and crowds passed, hastening in every direction, and the sun was shining. </CHAPTER> End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Of Human Bondage, by W. 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Chapters 112-122

https://web.archive.org/web/20201022042309/https://www.novelguide.com/of-human-bondage/summaries/chapter112-122

of Chapters CXII-CXXII Philip's legacy is enough to continue his education. He feels that "now he could begin a new life, and he would put behind him all the errors, follies, and miseries of the past" . He reenters St. Luke's and begins the midwifery duties, averaging three births a day. He inspires the poor people he works among, for he has learned a lot in the last two years as a worker. He has a gentleness about him the people like, and he makes friends with his patients. Though he sees death, he learns that the greatest tragedy for the poor is not death but the loss of work. They are not sentimental or dramatic but accept their lots stoically. Philip gives a gold chain of his aunt's to Sally Athelny. She is now apprenticed to a dressmaker. She is beautiful and has many admirers, but she refuses them all. Philip has always been shy around her, because she is very quiet. When a suitor comes to tea, the family approves of him, but she rejects him for apparently no good reason. Philip is in his last year and works hard, contented with life. The Athelnys are his only friends. After he receives his diploma, he gets an assistantship with Dr. South at Farnley in Dorsetshire. He is very crusty and hard to get along with, but he takes to Philip. His patients also like Philip, and Dr. South offers him a partnership. It is not a lucrative practice, but it is near the sea among simple people. Philip refuses because he has his heart set on traveling the world. He spends a vacation with the Athelnys and their children where they go every summer to harvest the hops in Kent, Betty Athelny's home. They stay in a cabin in the fields and camp out, with outdoor cooking, swimming in the sea, dances, and hop collecting in the day. Hopping season is also local courting season, and Philip and Sally are attracted. She is sunburned and natural, with a peasant and earthy beauty. Philip swims with Sally and the children in the sea every day. He likes her natural and unaffected manners, and they walk together, though they are mostly silent. The smell of hops in the air makes lovemaking easy, and one night, Philip and Sally make love in the field. The next day she acts quite natural with him, making no demands or sign that anything has altered. Philip feels guilt about losing his head, but she does not seem to mind. They continue to meet, and her loving makes him happy. He calls it "milk and honey" . In London, he gets an appointment at St. Luke's, and Sally works at the dressmaker's. They meet regularly for walks, but no words of love pass between them. She does not insist on anything. They enjoy one another's company. He has affection for her, but he does not think he loves her. One day she tells him she is worried. He realizes she could be pregnant and thinks what a fool he is to have ruined his life just when he wanted to travel. His first thought is that he should not divert his plans. They both went into it with open eyes. But on the other hand, he owes so much to the Athelnys. He should marry her. As soon as he thinks of her as his wife and himself as a father, he becomes very happy. He wires Dr. South to accept the offered appointment, so he will have a home for her. Sally tells him it was a false alarm, and he is disappointed. He proposes to her, and she accepts. He sees that the simplest pattern of life is being born, working, getting married, having children, and dying. It is good enough for him.

Commentary on Chapters CXII-CXXII When Philip returns to the hospital, he is a different person. He now has "a certain confidence in himself and a different outlook upon many things" . He has had to survive on his own in completely alien circumstances for two years. When he goes back to visit his old school, he sees young boys going through the same scenes he did. Life has a certain rhythm, and he forgives his old suffering. He sees tragedies, but he also sees "the beauty of the world. Beside that nothing seemed to matter" . When Philip sees Lawson in the street, he avoids him because he no longer has anything in common with him. He doesn't want to create art now; he wants to create beauty in his life: "he was occupied with the forming of a pattern out of the manifold chaos of life" . It is significant that the story ends in the rural hop fields where he falls in love with Sally, for most of the book takes place in buildings and cities, often in ugly scenes. In the open air, he sees Sally as "a milkmaid in a fairy story" . Her natural ways are contrasted to the possessiveness of Miss Wilkinson or Fanny Price or Mildred. She does not make any claim on Philip after they make love, though she has obviously been interested in him for years. Her beauty is not only a healthy physical beauty , but a beauty from within. She is maternal and kind, like all the "good" women in the book. He does not associate his feelings for Sally with love at first: "He could not understand anything of what happened to him" . Sally gives herself freely, but "He was convinced of her purity" . He decides she has "the healthy instincts of the natural woman" . When he thinks she is pregnant, he finally understands he is very happy, and that he wants to participate in the natural force of life with this woman as his partner. He feels her honesty and reliability. Maugham does take up the theme of women's issues in his writings, and here, he makes a case for Sally being a young woman with natural sexual desire, but still pure. A Victorian woman was not allowed to have sexual desire. Only prostitutes like Mildred were sexual. Sally not only has sex, she does not use it as a weapon or threat, even when she thinks she might be pregnant. Lucy Otter, Ruth Chalice, Norah Nesbit, Emily Wilkinson, and Sally are all women who go beyond conventional women's roles. Philip begins to understand the joy of "self-sacrifice" for the sake of a family. He had felt this toward Mildred and her child too, but Mildred spoiled it by taking advantage of him. Finally, this love is different because he begins for once to accept himself and his deformity. He realizes that his deformity has made him thoughtful and appreciative. He can forgive everyone now. He once thinks he sees Mildred on the street; it isn't her, but his heart skips a beat, and he knows that there is still a shadow of that passion that will remain in his heart. It is Sally and their future, however, that will justify life for him, not a philosophy or "meaning." Sally can help him create a beautiful pattern out of life, as Thorpe Athelny did with Betty.

gradesaver

all_chapterized_books/2833-chapters/chapters_1_to_2.txt

finished_summaries/gradesaver/The Portrait of a Lady/section_1_part_0.txt

The Portrait of a Lady.chapters 1-2

chapters 1-2

{"name": "Chapters 1-2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180325075811/http://www.gradesaver.com/the-portrait-of-a-lady/study-guide/summary-chapters-1-2", "summary": "An old man, a collie dog, and two younger men are sitting in the garden of an old English mansion to tea. The narrator attests that the house, and the whole scene, appears to be characteristically English. The manor is called \"Gardencourt.\" The old man, Mr. Touchett, is an American banker who has owned the house for twenty years. Initially he thought it was ugly, but now he feels that it is an aesthetic object. He knows the history of the house very well, it having passed through the hands of many Englishmen until he himself bought it. The man has a very American face, and seems to have an air of having been both successful at life, and also something of a failure. One of the young men, Lord Warburton, appears to be thirty-five and looks very English. The other of the young men, Ralph Touchett, the son of Mr. Touchett, looks both very clever and very ill. The men are joking about one another's interest in life: Warburton claims that Ralph is \"sick of life,\" while Ralph thinks that Warburton is bored. Ralph counsels Warburton to take a wife, and Mr. Touchett agrees, believing that such a wife would help make life interesting, and that there is furthermore the benefit that women will be protected from any political and social changes yet to come. The old man then jokes that Lord Warburton may fall in love with anyone but his niece who is slated to arrive very soon. The old man explains that his niece will arrive from America for the first time, having been discovered by his estranged wife, Mrs. Touchett. The wife has recently sent a telegram informing him of their impending arrival. \"Taken sister's girl, died last year, go to Europe, two sisters, quite independent,\" the telegram informed him. Mr. Touchett wonders over the many interpretations of this cryptic telegram: who is \"quite independent\" and does Mrs. Touchett mean financially or morally independent? Lord Warburton asks to be informed of the arrival of this niece, and Mr. Touchett half-seriously jokes that he will, so long as he promises not to fall in love with her! Just as Lord Warburton and Mr. Touchett are discussing the arrival of Mr. Touchett's niece, Ralph wanders off and notes a young lady in the distance. Ralph's dog runs up to her, who happens to be the very niece who had been under discussion, Isabel Archer. She delivers a message from Mrs. Touchett that Ralph is to meet his mother at 7pm for dinner. Upon meeting Lord Warburton, she declares: \"Oh, I hoped there would be a lord; it's just like a novel!\" She has a pleasurable impression of the house and the entire atmosphere, and she reflects this to her companions in her upbeat nature and smiling countenance. Ralph wonders that he never knew of her existence, and she responds that there was some disagreement between her own father and Mrs. Touchett, his sister. Mr. Touchett then goes off with Isabel alone, to discuss Mrs. Touchett. Lord Warburton tells Ralph: \"You wished a while ago to see my idea of an interesting woman. There it is!\"", "analysis": "A theme of typical Englishness and the encroachment of American-ness upon such a scene are introduced in the tea scene in the garden. The setting is representative of a larger theme in the novel: the Old World vs. the New World . While the narrator claims that the picture appears typically English, it is clear that the Americans are infiltrating the English aristocracy through their money. The house has passed through the hands of many Englishmen, only now to land in the hands of an American banker who originally thought the house ugly. However these men seem pretty well adjusted to English society now, represented in the fact that Mr. Touchett now appreciates the aesthetics of the house, the presence of an English lord in their garden, and the fact that his son was likely born in England. The chapter foreshadows that Lord Warburton will in fact do exactly what Mr. Touchett counsels him not to: fall in love with his niece. Further, it paints a picture of a degraded state of marriage: while Mr. Touchett believes that women will make life \"interesting,\" his own estranged wife appears to make his own life lonely. She does not come to greet her own family upon her arrival, and he has to ask Isabel Archer for \"information\" about her. Why do people marry, and why should they marry? The many possible varying motivations people might have for marriage are foreshadowed here: money, an ethereal \"idea\" of what a woman should be, insularity from political life, a vague notion of making life \"interesting.\" These chapters also show some authorial irony in the character's awareness of their own fictional circumstances. Generally, characters do not know they are located in a fictional world: that is part of the illusion of reality that novels create. Yet, the author embeds two ironic references to this fictitiousness. First, Isabel Archer believes herself to be in the world of a \"novel\" when she sees the representative English picture, complete with a real lord. This ironic because little does she know, she actually is in a novel. Second, the Lord believes that his \"idea\" of a good woman is Isabel Archer, realized in the flesh. This mirror's the author's own approach to the book , where he details how his \"sense of a character\" was the \"germ\" of an idea, of Isabel Archer. Isabel has appeared out of thin air at the very moment the men have been thinking about her. Will their idea of her conform to her reality?"}

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. There are circumstances in which, whether you partake of the tea or not--some people of course never do,--the situation is in itself delightful. Those that I have in mind in beginning to unfold this simple history offered an admirable setting to an innocent pastime. The implements of the little feast had been disposed upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I should call the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon. Part of the afternoon had waned, but much of it was left, and what was left was of the finest and rarest quality. Real dusk would not arrive for many hours; but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows were long upon the smooth, dense turf. They lengthened slowly, however, and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps the chief source of one's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour. From five o'clock to eight is on certain occasions a little eternity; but on such an occasion as this the interval could be only an eternity of pleasure. The persons concerned in it were taking their pleasure quietly, and they were not of the sex which is supposed to furnish the regular votaries of the ceremony I have mentioned. The shadows on the perfect lawn were straight and angular; they were the shadows of an old man sitting in a deep wicker-chair near the low table on which the tea had been served, and of two younger men strolling to and fro, in desultory talk, in front of him. The old man had his cup in his hand; it was an unusually large cup, of a different pattern from the rest of the set and painted in brilliant colours. He disposed of its contents with much circumspection, holding it for a long time close to his chin, with his face turned to the house. His companions had either finished their tea or were indifferent to their privilege; they smoked cigarettes as they continued to stroll. One of them, from time to time, as he passed, looked with a certain attention at the elder man, who, unconscious of observation, rested his eyes upon the rich red front of his dwelling. The house that rose beyond the lawn was a structure to repay such consideration and was the most characteristic object in the peculiarly English picture I have attempted to sketch. It stood upon a low hill, above the river--the river being the Thames at some forty miles from London. A long gabled front of red brick, with the complexion of which time and the weather had played all sorts of pictorial tricks, only, however, to improve and refine it, presented to the lawn its patches of ivy, its clustered chimneys, its windows smothered in creepers. The house had a name and a history; the old gentleman taking his tea would have been delighted to tell you these things: how it had been built under Edward the Sixth, had offered a night's hospitality to the great Elizabeth (whose august person had extended itself upon a huge, magnificent and terribly angular bed which still formed the principal honour of the sleeping apartments), had been a good deal bruised and defaced in Cromwell's wars, and then, under the Restoration, repaired and much enlarged; and how, finally, after having been remodelled and disfigured in the eighteenth century, it had passed into the careful keeping of a shrewd American banker, who had bought it originally because (owing to circumstances too complicated to set forth) it was offered at a great bargain: bought it with much grumbling at its ugliness, its antiquity, its incommodity, and who now, at the end of twenty years, had become conscious of a real aesthetic passion for it, so that he knew all its points and would tell you just where to stand to see them in combination and just the hour when the shadows of its various protuberances which fell so softly upon the warm, weary brickwork--were of the right measure. Besides this, as I have said, he could have counted off most of the successive owners and occupants, several of whom were known to general fame; doing so, however, with an undemonstrative conviction that the latest phase of its destiny was not the least honourable. The front of the house overlooking that portion of the lawn with which we are concerned was not the entrance-front; this was in quite another quarter. Privacy here reigned supreme, and the wide carpet of turf that covered the level hill-top seemed but the extension of a luxurious interior. The great still oaks and beeches flung down a shade as dense as that of velvet curtains; and the place was furnished, like a room, with cushioned seats, with rich-coloured rugs, with the books and papers that lay upon the grass. The river was at some distance; where the ground began to slope the lawn, properly speaking, ceased. But it was none the less a charming walk down to the water. The old gentleman at the tea-table, who had come from America thirty years before, had brought with him, at the top of his baggage, his American physiognomy; and he had not only brought it with him, but he had kept it in the best order, so that, if necessary, he might have taken it back to his own country with perfect confidence. At present, obviously, nevertheless, he was not likely to displace himself; his journeys were over and he was taking the rest that precedes the great rest. He had a narrow, clean-shaven face, with features evenly distributed and an expression of placid acuteness. It was evidently a face in which the range of representation was not large, so that the air of contented shrewdness was all the more of a merit. It seemed to tell that he had been successful in life, yet it seemed to tell also that his success had not been exclusive and invidious, but had had much of the inoffensiveness of failure. He had certainly had a great experience of men, but there was an almost rustic simplicity in the faint smile that played upon his lean, spacious cheek and lighted up his humorous eye as he at last slowly and carefully deposited his big tea-cup upon the table. He was neatly dressed, in well-brushed black; but a shawl was folded upon his knees, and his feet were encased in thick, embroidered slippers. A beautiful collie dog lay upon the grass near his chair, watching the master's face almost as tenderly as the master took in the still more magisterial physiognomy of the house; and a little bristling, bustling terrier bestowed a desultory attendance upon the other gentlemen. One of these was a remarkably well-made man of five-and-thirty, with a face as English as that of the old gentleman I have just sketched was something else; a noticeably handsome face, fresh-coloured, fair and frank, with firm, straight features, a lively grey eye and the rich adornment of a chestnut beard. This person had a certain fortunate, brilliant exceptional look--the air of a happy temperament fertilised by a high civilisation--which would have made almost any observer envy him at a venture. He was booted and spurred, as if he had dismounted from a long ride; he wore a white hat, which looked too large for him; he held his two hands behind him, and in one of them--a large, white, well-shaped fist--was crumpled a pair of soiled dog-skin gloves. His companion, measuring the length of the lawn beside him, was a person of quite a different pattern, who, although he might have excited grave curiosity, would not, like the other, have provoked you to wish yourself, almost blindly, in his place. Tall, lean, loosely and feebly put together, he had an ugly, sickly, witty, charming face, furnished, but by no means decorated, with a straggling moustache and whisker. He looked clever and ill--a combination by no means felicitous; and he wore a brown velvet jacket. He carried his hands in his pockets, and there was something in the way he did it that showed the habit was inveterate. His gait had a shambling, wandering quality; he was not very firm on his legs. As I have said, whenever he passed the old man in the chair he rested his eyes upon him; and at this moment, with their faces brought into relation, you would easily have seen they were father and son. The father caught his son's eye at last and gave him a mild, responsive smile. "I'm getting on very well," he said. "Have you drunk your tea?" asked the son. "Yes, and enjoyed it." "Shall I give you some more?" The old man considered, placidly. "Well, I guess I'll wait and see." He had, in speaking, the American tone. "Are you cold?" the son enquired. The father slowly rubbed his legs. "Well, I don't know. I can't tell till I feel." "Perhaps some one might feel for you," said the younger man, laughing. "Oh, I hope some one will always feel for me! Don't you feel for me, Lord Warburton?" "Oh yes, immensely," said the gentleman addressed as Lord Warburton, promptly. "I'm bound to say you look wonderfully comfortable." "Well, I suppose I am, in most respects." And the old man looked down at his green shawl and smoothed it over his knees. "The fact is I've been comfortable so many years that I suppose I've got so used to it I don't know it." "Yes, that's the bore of comfort," said Lord Warburton. "We only know when we're uncomfortable." "It strikes me we're rather particular," his companion remarked. "Oh yes, there's no doubt we're particular," Lord Warburton murmured. And then the three men remained silent a while; the two younger ones standing looking down at the other, who presently asked for more tea. "I should think you would be very unhappy with that shawl," Lord Warburton resumed while his companion filled the old man's cup again. "Oh no, he must have the shawl!" cried the gentleman in the velvet coat. "Don't put such ideas as that into his head." "It belongs to my wife," said the old man simply. "Oh, if it's for sentimental reasons--" And Lord Warburton made a gesture of apology. "I suppose I must give it to her when she comes," the old man went on. "You'll please to do nothing of the kind. You'll keep it to cover your poor old legs." "Well, you mustn't abuse my legs," said the old man. "I guess they are as good as yours." "Oh, you're perfectly free to abuse mine," his son replied, giving him his tea. "Well, we're two lame ducks; I don't think there's much difference." "I'm much obliged to you for calling me a duck. How's your tea?" "Well, it's rather hot." "That's intended to be a merit." "Ah, there's a great deal of merit," murmured the old man, kindly. "He's a very good nurse, Lord Warburton." "Isn't he a bit clumsy?" asked his lordship. "Oh no, he's not clumsy--considering that he's an invalid himself. He's a very good nurse--for a sick-nurse. I call him my sick-nurse because he's sick himself." "Oh, come, daddy!" the ugly young man exclaimed. "Well, you are; I wish you weren't. But I suppose you can't help it." "I might try: that's an idea," said the young man. "Were you ever sick, Lord Warburton?" his father asked. Lord Warburton considered a moment. "Yes, sir, once, in the Persian Gulf." "He's making light of you, daddy," said the other young man. "That's a sort of joke." "Well, there seem to be so many sorts now," daddy replied, serenely. "You don't look as if you had been sick, anyway, Lord Warburton." "He's sick of life; he was just telling me so; going on fearfully about it," said Lord Warburton's friend. "Is that true, sir?" asked the old man gravely. "If it is, your son gave me no consolation. He's a wretched fellow to talk to--a regular cynic. He doesn't seem to believe in anything." "That's another sort of joke," said the person accused of cynicism. "It's because his health is so poor," his father explained to Lord Warburton. "It affects his mind and colours his way of looking at things; he seems to feel as if he had never had a chance. But it's almost entirely theoretical, you know; it doesn't seem to affect his spirits. I've hardly ever seen him when he wasn't cheerful--about as he is at present. He often cheers me up." The young man so described looked at Lord Warburton and laughed. "Is it a glowing eulogy or an accusation of levity? Should you like me to carry out my theories, daddy?" "By Jove, we should see some queer things!" cried Lord Warburton. "I hope you haven't taken up that sort of tone," said the old man. "Warburton's tone is worse than mine; he pretends to be bored. I'm not in the least bored; I find life only too interesting." "Ah, too interesting; you shouldn't allow it to be that, you know!" "I'm never bored when I come here," said Lord Warburton. "One gets such uncommonly good talk." "Is that another sort of joke?" asked the old man. "You've no excuse for being bored anywhere. When I was your age I had never heard of such a thing." "You must have developed very late." "No, I developed very quick; that was just the reason. When I was twenty years old I was very highly developed indeed. I was working tooth and nail. You wouldn't be bored if you had something to do; but all you young men are too idle. You think too much of your pleasure. You're too fastidious, and too indolent, and too rich." "Oh, I say," cried Lord Warburton, "you're hardly the person to accuse a fellow-creature of being too rich!" "Do you mean because I'm a banker?" asked the old man. "Because of that, if you like; and because you have--haven't you?--such unlimited means." "He isn't very rich," the other young man mercifully pleaded. "He has given away an immense deal of money." "Well, I suppose it was his own," said Lord Warburton; "and in that case could there be a better proof of wealth? Let not a public benefactor talk of one's being too fond of pleasure." "Daddy's very fond of pleasure--of other people's." The old man shook his head. "I don't pretend to have contributed anything to the amusement of my contemporaries." "My dear father, you're too modest!" "That's a kind of joke, sir," said Lord Warburton. "You young men have too many jokes. When there are no jokes you've nothing left." "Fortunately there are always more jokes," the ugly young man remarked. "I don't believe it--I believe things are getting more serious. You young men will find that out." "The increasing seriousness of things, then that's the great opportunity of jokes." "They'll have to be grim jokes," said the old man. "I'm convinced there will be great changes, and not all for the better." "I quite agree with you, sir," Lord Warburton declared. "I'm very sure there will be great changes, and that all sorts of queer things will happen. That's why I find so much difficulty in applying your advice; you know you told me the other day that I ought to 'take hold' of something. One hesitates to take hold of a thing that may the next moment be knocked sky-high." "You ought to take hold of a pretty woman," said his companion. "He's trying hard to fall in love," he added, by way of explanation, to his father. "The pretty women themselves may be sent flying!" Lord Warburton exclaimed. "No, no, they'll be firm," the old man rejoined; "they'll not be affected by the social and political changes I just referred to." "You mean they won't be abolished? Very well, then, I'll lay hands on one as soon as possible and tie her round my neck as a life-preserver." "The ladies will save us," said the old man; "that is the best of them will--for I make a difference between them. Make up to a good one and marry her, and your life will become much more interesting." A momentary silence marked perhaps on the part of his auditors a sense of the magnanimity of this speech, for it was a secret neither for his son nor for his visitor that his own experiment in matrimony had not been a happy one. As he said, however, he made a difference; and these words may have been intended as a confession of personal error; though of course it was not in place for either of his companions to remark that apparently the lady of his choice had not been one of the best. "If I marry an interesting woman I shall be interested: is that what you say?" Lord Warburton asked. "I'm not at all keen about marrying--your son misrepresented me; but there's no knowing what an interesting woman might do with me." "I should like to see your idea of an interesting woman," said his friend. "My dear fellow, you can't see ideas--especially such highly ethereal ones as mine. If I could only see it myself--that would be a great step in advance." "Well, you may fall in love with whomsoever you please; but you mustn't fall in love with my niece," said the old man. His son broke into a laugh. "He'll think you mean that as a provocation! My dear father, you've lived with the English for thirty years, and you've picked up a good many of the things they say. But you've never learned the things they don't say!" "I say what I please," the old man returned with all his serenity. "I haven't the honour of knowing your niece," Lord Warburton said. "I think it's the first time I've heard of her." "She's a niece of my wife's; Mrs. Touchett brings her to England." Then young Mr. Touchett explained. "My mother, you know, has been spending the winter in America, and we're expecting her back. She writes that she has discovered a niece and that she has invited her to come out with her." "I see,--very kind of her," said Lord Warburton. Is the young lady interesting?" "We hardly know more about her than you; my mother has not gone into details. She chiefly communicates with us by means of telegrams, and her telegrams are rather inscrutable. They say women don't know how to write them, but my mother has thoroughly mastered the art of condensation. 'Tired America, hot weather awful, return England with niece, first steamer decent cabin.' That's the sort of message we get from her--that was the last that came. But there had been another before, which I think contained the first mention of the niece. 'Changed hotel, very bad, impudent clerk, address here. Taken sister's girl, died last year, go to Europe, two sisters, quite independent.' Over that my father and I have scarcely stopped puzzling; it seems to admit of so many interpretations." "There's one thing very clear in it," said the old man; "she has given the hotel-clerk a dressing." "I'm not sure even of that, since he has driven her from the field. We thought at first that the sister mentioned might be the sister of the clerk; but the subsequent mention of a niece seems to prove that the allusion is to one of my aunts. Then there was a question as to whose the two other sisters were; they are probably two of my late aunt's daughters. But who's 'quite independent,' and in what sense is the term used?--that point's not yet settled. Does the expression apply more particularly to the young lady my mother has adopted, or does it characterise her sisters equally?--and is it used in a moral or in a financial sense? Does it mean that they've been left well off, or that they wish to be under no obligations? or does it simply mean that they're fond of their own way?" "Whatever else it means, it's pretty sure to mean that," Mr. Touchett remarked. "You'll see for yourself," said Lord Warburton. "When does Mrs. Touchett arrive?" "We're quite in the dark; as soon as she can find a decent cabin. She may be waiting for it yet; on the other hand she may already have disembarked in England." "In that case she would probably have telegraphed to you." "She never telegraphs when you would expect it--only when you don't," said the old man. "She likes to drop on me suddenly; she thinks she'll find me doing something wrong. She has never done so yet, but she's not discouraged." "It's her share in the family trait, the independence she speaks of." Her son's appreciation of the matter was more favourable. "Whatever the high spirit of those young ladies may be, her own is a match for it. She likes to do everything for herself and has no belief in any one's power to help her. She thinks me of no more use than a postage-stamp without gum, and she would never forgive me if I should presume to go to Liverpool to meet her." "Will you at least let me know when your cousin arrives?" Lord Warburton asked. "Only on the condition I've mentioned--that you don't fall in love with her!" Mr. Touchett replied. "That strikes me as hard, don't you think me good enough?" "I think you too good--because I shouldn't like her to marry you. She hasn't come here to look for a husband, I hope; so many young ladies are doing that, as if there were no good ones at home. Then she's probably engaged; American girls are usually engaged, I believe. Moreover I'm not sure, after all, that you'd be a remarkable husband." "Very likely she's engaged; I've known a good many American girls, and they always were; but I could never see that it made any difference, upon my word! As for my being a good husband," Mr. Touchett's visitor pursued, "I'm not sure of that either. One can but try!" "Try as much as you please, but don't try on my niece," smiled the old man, whose opposition to the idea was broadly humorous. "Ah, well," said Lord Warburton with a humour broader still, "perhaps, after all, she's not worth trying on!" While this exchange of pleasantries took place between the two Ralph Touchett wandered away a little, with his usual slouching gait, his hands in his pockets and his little rowdyish terrier at his heels. His face was turned toward the house, but his eyes were bent musingly on the lawn; so that he had been an object of observation to a person who had just made her appearance in the ample doorway for some moments before he perceived her. His attention was called to her by the conduct of his dog, who had suddenly darted forward with a little volley of shrill barks, in which the note of welcome, however, was more sensible than that of defiance. The person in question was a young lady, who seemed immediately to interpret the greeting of the small beast. He advanced with great rapidity and stood at her feet, looking up and barking hard; whereupon, without hesitation, she stooped and caught him in her hands, holding him face to face while he continued his quick chatter. His master now had had time to follow and to see that Bunchie's new friend was a tall girl in a black dress, who at first sight looked pretty. She was bareheaded, as if she were staying in the house--a fact which conveyed perplexity to the son of its master, conscious of that immunity from visitors which had for some time been rendered necessary by the latter's ill-health. Meantime the two other gentlemen had also taken note of the new-comer. "Dear me, who's that strange woman?" Mr. Touchett had asked. "Perhaps it's Mrs. Touchett's niece--the independent young lady," Lord Warburton suggested. "I think she must be, from the way she handles the dog." The collie, too, had now allowed his attention to be diverted, and he trotted toward the young lady in the doorway, slowly setting his tail in motion as he went. "But where's my wife then?" murmured the old man. "I suppose the young lady has left her somewhere: that's a part of the independence." The girl spoke to Ralph, smiling, while she still held up the terrier. "Is this your little dog, sir?" "He was mine a moment ago; but you've suddenly acquired a remarkable air of property in him." "Couldn't we share him?" asked the girl. "He's such a perfect little darling." Ralph looked at her a moment; she was unexpectedly pretty. "You may have him altogether," he then replied. The young lady seemed to have a great deal of confidence, both in herself and in others; but this abrupt generosity made her blush. "I ought to tell you that I'm probably your cousin," she brought out, putting down the dog. "And here's another!" she added quickly, as the collie came up. "Probably?" the young man exclaimed, laughing. "I supposed it was quite settled! Have you arrived with my mother?" "Yes, half an hour ago." "And has she deposited you and departed again?" "No, she went straight to her room, and she told me that, if I should see you, I was to say to you that you must come to her there at a quarter to seven." The young man looked at his watch. "Thank you very much; I shall be punctual." And then he looked at his cousin. "You're very welcome here. I'm delighted to see you." She was looking at everything, with an eye that denoted clear perception--at her companion, at the two dogs, at the two gentlemen under the trees, at the beautiful scene that surrounded her. "I've never seen anything so lovely as this place. I've been all over the house; it's too enchanting." "I'm sorry you should have been here so long without our knowing it." "Your mother told me that in England people arrived very quietly; so I thought it was all right. Is one of those gentlemen your father?" "Yes, the elder one--the one sitting down," said Ralph. The girl gave a laugh. "I don't suppose it's the other. Who's the other?" "He's a friend of ours--Lord Warburton." "Oh, I hoped there would be a lord; it's just like a novel!" And then, "Oh you adorable creature!" she suddenly cried, stooping down and picking up the small dog again. She remained standing where they had met, making no offer to advance or to speak to Mr. Touchett, and while she lingered so near the threshold, slim and charming, her interlocutor wondered if she expected the old man to come and pay her his respects. American girls were used to a great deal of deference, and it had been intimated that this one had a high spirit. Indeed Ralph could see that in her face. "Won't you come and make acquaintance with my father?" he nevertheless ventured to ask. "He's old and infirm--he doesn't leave his chair." "Ah, poor man, I'm very sorry!" the girl exclaimed, immediately moving forward. "I got the impression from your mother that he was rather intensely active." Ralph Touchett was silent a moment. "She hasn't seen him for a year." "Well, he has a lovely place to sit. Come along, little hound." "It's a dear old place," said the young man, looking sidewise at his neighbour. "What's his name?" she asked, her attention having again reverted to the terrier. "My father's name?" "Yes," said the young lady with amusement; "but don't tell him I asked you." They had come by this time to where old Mr. Touchett was sitting, and he slowly got up from his chair to introduce himself. "My mother has arrived," said Ralph, "and this is Miss Archer." The old man placed his two hands on her shoulders, looked at her a moment with extreme benevolence and then gallantly kissed her. "It's a great pleasure to me to see you here; but I wish you had given us a chance to receive you." "Oh, we were received," said the girl. "There were about a dozen servants in the hall. And there was an old woman curtseying at the gate." "We can do better than that--if we have notice!" And the old man stood there smiling, rubbing his hands and slowly shaking his head at her. "But Mrs. Touchett doesn't like receptions." "She went straight to her room." "Yes--and locked herself in. She always does that. Well, I suppose I shall see her next week." And Mrs. Touchett's husband slowly resumed his former posture. "Before that," said Miss Archer. "She's coming down to dinner--at eight o'clock. Don't you forget a quarter to seven," she added, turning with a smile to Ralph. "What's to happen at a quarter to seven?" "I'm to see my mother," said Ralph. "Ah, happy boy!" the old man commented. "You must sit down--you must have some tea," he observed to his wife's niece. "They gave me some tea in my room the moment I got there," this young lady answered. "I'm sorry you're out of health," she added, resting her eyes upon her venerable host. "Oh, I'm an old man, my dear; it's time for me to be old. But I shall be the better for having you here." She had been looking all round her again--at the lawn, the great trees, the reedy, silvery Thames, the beautiful old house; and while engaged in this survey she had made room in it for her companions; a comprehensiveness of observation easily conceivable on the part of a young woman who was evidently both intelligent and excited. She had seated herself and had put away the little dog; her white hands, in her lap, were folded upon her black dress; her head was erect, her eye lighted, her flexible figure turned itself easily this way and that, in sympathy with the alertness with which she evidently caught impressions. Her impressions were numerous, and they were all reflected in a clear, still smile. "I've never seen anything so beautiful as this." "It's looking very well," said Mr. Touchett. "I know the way it strikes you. I've been through all that. But you're very beautiful yourself," he added with a politeness by no means crudely jocular and with the happy consciousness that his advanced age gave him the privilege of saying such things--even to young persons who might possibly take alarm at them. What degree of alarm this young person took need not be exactly measured; she instantly rose, however, with a blush which was not a refutation. "Oh yes, of course I'm lovely!" she returned with a quick laugh. "How old is your house? Is it Elizabethan?" "It's early Tudor," said Ralph Touchett. She turned toward him, watching his face. "Early Tudor? How very delightful! And I suppose there are a great many others." "There are many much better ones." "Don't say that, my son!" the old man protested. "There's nothing better than this." "I've got a very good one; I think in some respects it's rather better," said Lord Warburton, who as yet had not spoken, but who had kept an attentive eye upon Miss Archer. He slightly inclined himself, smiling; he had an excellent manner with women. The girl appreciated it in an instant; she had not forgotten that this was Lord Warburton. "I should like very much to show it to you," he added. "Don't believe him," cried the old man; "don't look at it! It's a wretched old barrack--not to be compared with this." "I don't know--I can't judge," said the girl, smiling at Lord Warburton. In this discussion Ralph Touchett took no interest whatever; he stood with his hands in his pockets, looking greatly as if he should like to renew his conversation with his new-found cousin. "Are you very fond of dogs?" he enquired by way of beginning. He seemed to recognise that it was an awkward beginning for a clever man. "Very fond of them indeed." "You must keep the terrier, you know," he went on, still awkwardly. "I'll keep him while I'm here, with pleasure." "That will be for a long time, I hope." "You're very kind. I hardly know. My aunt must settle that." "I'll settle it with her--at a quarter to seven." And Ralph looked at his watch again. "I'm glad to be here at all," said the girl. "I don't believe you allow things to be settled for you." "Oh yes; if they're settled as I like them." "I shall settle this as I like it," said Ralph. "It's most unaccountable that we should never have known you." "I was there--you had only to come and see me." "There? Where do you mean?" "In the United States: in New York and Albany and other American places." "I've been there--all over, but I never saw you. I can't make it out." Miss Archer just hesitated. "It was because there had been some disagreement between your mother and my father, after my mother's death, which took place when I was a child. In consequence of it we never expected to see you." "Ah, but I don't embrace all my mother's quarrels--heaven forbid!" the young man cried. "You've lately lost your father?" he went on more gravely. "Yes; more than a year ago. After that my aunt was very kind to me; she came to see me and proposed that I should come with her to Europe." "I see," said Ralph. "She has adopted you." "Adopted me?" The girl stared, and her blush came back to her, together with a momentary look of pain which gave her interlocutor some alarm. He had underestimated the effect of his words. Lord Warburton, who appeared constantly desirous of a nearer view of Miss Archer, strolled toward the two cousins at the moment, and as he did so she rested her wider eyes on him. "Oh no; she has not adopted me. I'm not a candidate for adoption." "I beg a thousand pardons," Ralph murmured. "I meant--I meant--" He hardly knew what he meant. "You meant she has taken me up. Yes; she likes to take people up. She has been very kind to me; but," she added with a certain visible eagerness of desire to be explicit, "I'm very fond of my liberty." "Are you talking about Mrs. Touchett?" the old man called out from his chair. "Come here, my dear, and tell me about her. I'm always thankful for information." The girl hesitated again, smiling. "She's really very benevolent," she answered; after which she went over to her uncle, whose mirth was excited by her words. Lord Warburton was left standing with Ralph Touchett, to whom in a moment he said: "You wished a while ago to see my idea of an interesting woman. There it is!"

Chapters 1-2

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An old man, a collie dog, and two younger men are sitting in the garden of an old English mansion to tea. The narrator attests that the house, and the whole scene, appears to be characteristically English. The manor is called "Gardencourt." The old man, Mr. Touchett, is an American banker who has owned the house for twenty years. Initially he thought it was ugly, but now he feels that it is an aesthetic object. He knows the history of the house very well, it having passed through the hands of many Englishmen until he himself bought it. The man has a very American face, and seems to have an air of having been both successful at life, and also something of a failure. One of the young men, Lord Warburton, appears to be thirty-five and looks very English. The other of the young men, Ralph Touchett, the son of Mr. Touchett, looks both very clever and very ill. The men are joking about one another's interest in life: Warburton claims that Ralph is "sick of life," while Ralph thinks that Warburton is bored. Ralph counsels Warburton to take a wife, and Mr. Touchett agrees, believing that such a wife would help make life interesting, and that there is furthermore the benefit that women will be protected from any political and social changes yet to come. The old man then jokes that Lord Warburton may fall in love with anyone but his niece who is slated to arrive very soon. The old man explains that his niece will arrive from America for the first time, having been discovered by his estranged wife, Mrs. Touchett. The wife has recently sent a telegram informing him of their impending arrival. "Taken sister's girl, died last year, go to Europe, two sisters, quite independent," the telegram informed him. Mr. Touchett wonders over the many interpretations of this cryptic telegram: who is "quite independent" and does Mrs. Touchett mean financially or morally independent? Lord Warburton asks to be informed of the arrival of this niece, and Mr. Touchett half-seriously jokes that he will, so long as he promises not to fall in love with her! Just as Lord Warburton and Mr. Touchett are discussing the arrival of Mr. Touchett's niece, Ralph wanders off and notes a young lady in the distance. Ralph's dog runs up to her, who happens to be the very niece who had been under discussion, Isabel Archer. She delivers a message from Mrs. Touchett that Ralph is to meet his mother at 7pm for dinner. Upon meeting Lord Warburton, she declares: "Oh, I hoped there would be a lord; it's just like a novel!" She has a pleasurable impression of the house and the entire atmosphere, and she reflects this to her companions in her upbeat nature and smiling countenance. Ralph wonders that he never knew of her existence, and she responds that there was some disagreement between her own father and Mrs. Touchett, his sister. Mr. Touchett then goes off with Isabel alone, to discuss Mrs. Touchett. Lord Warburton tells Ralph: "You wished a while ago to see my idea of an interesting woman. There it is!"

A theme of typical Englishness and the encroachment of American-ness upon such a scene are introduced in the tea scene in the garden. The setting is representative of a larger theme in the novel: the Old World vs. the New World . While the narrator claims that the picture appears typically English, it is clear that the Americans are infiltrating the English aristocracy through their money. The house has passed through the hands of many Englishmen, only now to land in the hands of an American banker who originally thought the house ugly. However these men seem pretty well adjusted to English society now, represented in the fact that Mr. Touchett now appreciates the aesthetics of the house, the presence of an English lord in their garden, and the fact that his son was likely born in England. The chapter foreshadows that Lord Warburton will in fact do exactly what Mr. Touchett counsels him not to: fall in love with his niece. Further, it paints a picture of a degraded state of marriage: while Mr. Touchett believes that women will make life "interesting," his own estranged wife appears to make his own life lonely. She does not come to greet her own family upon her arrival, and he has to ask Isabel Archer for "information" about her. Why do people marry, and why should they marry? The many possible varying motivations people might have for marriage are foreshadowed here: money, an ethereal "idea" of what a woman should be, insularity from political life, a vague notion of making life "interesting." These chapters also show some authorial irony in the character's awareness of their own fictional circumstances. Generally, characters do not know they are located in a fictional world: that is part of the illusion of reality that novels create. Yet, the author embeds two ironic references to this fictitiousness. First, Isabel Archer believes herself to be in the world of a "novel" when she sees the representative English picture, complete with a real lord. This ironic because little does she know, she actually is in a novel. Second, the Lord believes that his "idea" of a good woman is Isabel Archer, realized in the flesh. This mirror's the author's own approach to the book , where he details how his "sense of a character" was the "germ" of an idea, of Isabel Archer. Isabel has appeared out of thin air at the very moment the men have been thinking about her. Will their idea of her conform to her reality?

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all_chapterized_books/2833-chapters/chapters_3_to_4.txt

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The Portrait of a Lady.chapters 3-4

chapters 3-4

{"name": "Chapters 3-4", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180325075811/http://www.gradesaver.com/the-portrait-of-a-lady/study-guide/summary-chapters-3-4", "summary": "Mrs. Touchett is described as having a no-nonsense personality: \"the edges of her conduct were so very clear-cut... that it sometimes had a knife-like effect.\" She realized early on that her husband and herself would never desire the same thing at any moment, and thus she has purchased her own house in Florence, separating her own affairs from his. It is her ceremony to return from long journeys and to enter into her own seclusion. Mrs. Touchett had happened upon Isabel four months earlier, in the library of Isabel's grandmother's house, which is adjoined to her father's. Isabel is described as undisturbed by her own solitude, preoccupied with her reading, having a love of knowledge. The library is having one door that is bolted shut: Isabel had no wish to look out of this door, because she liked to imagine a place on the other side that is a region of delight or terror. When Mrs. Touchett finds Isabel in the library, Isabel is deep in reading a history of German Thought, in the most depressing corner she can find. Isabel's own mind is described as a \"vagabond\" which she had to train to \"advance, to halt, to retreat, to perform\" some \"marching orders\" . Isabel recognizes Mrs. Touchett as \"our crazy Aunt Lydia!\" to which Mrs. Touchett responds that she has not a single delusion. Mrs. Touchett straightforwardly asks Isabel what she has inherited, and Isabel tells her she has not the least idea about money. Mrs. Touchett finds it extraordinary that Isabel does not know what she has. Isabel only responds that she hopes her sister and brother-in-law do not decide to tear down the house, because it is \"full of life,\" defined to her as a place where many people have died. Mrs. Touchett responds that her own house has many more who died there, and Isabel says she would like to one day go to Florence, where Mrs. Touchett lives. Isabel finds Mrs. Touchett to be a \"strange and interesting figure: a figure essentially--almost the first she had ever met\" . Isabel is described by her sister Lillian as an \"original,\" and Lilian's husband, Mr. Ludlow, notes that it is as if Isabel is \"written in a foreign tongue\" . In a private conversation, Lillian hopes that Mrs. Touchett will do something grand for Isabel, such as taking her abroad. Meanwhile, Isabel feels as if there has been a real change in her life. She has a desire to leave the past behind. She closes her eyes because she \"wished to check the sense of seeing too many things at once\" -- she is described as having the \"faculty of seeing without judging.\" We now enter something like Isabel's mind's eye -- Isabel is thinking about her own circumstances in life, her own history, as memories. She notes that she had been a very fortunate person who has had the best of everything, guarded from unpleasant things. The narrator notes that many persons were of the opinion though that Mr. Archer had squandered his money and had hardly raised his own daughters, allowing them to be brought up by maids and governesses. Had Isabel known this, she would have felt some indignation. Her father had a \"large way of looking at life\" and had wanted to show the world to his daughters. He had even brought her and her sisters across the Atlantic three times to do so. If he had had trouble with money, he had certainly not let his daughters know about it. When the daughters came of age to be wed, it became apparent that her sister Edith was the best looking. However it does not seem that Isabel is unbecoming so much as intimidating. The men who came to see Edith are described as \"afraid of\" Isabel, as if they had to be particularly prepared to speak to her . She also had a reputation for being a girl who likes books and reading. Isabel likes being thought clever but not bookish. She liked gathering knowledge but she preferred to gain knowledge from sources other than the printed page. Thus, \"her deepest enjoyment was to feel the continuity between movements of her own soul and the agitations of the world\" . The narrator concludes this scene in Isabel's mind's eye by noting that the view of this history is \"kaleidoscopic\" during this scene in which Isabel has closed her eyes . She is interrupted by the announcement from a servant that Caspar Goodwood has come to visit her. He has written her several times from New York and wishes to marry her, although this has not yet been made public. Isabel does not seem to really want to see him, although she had expected him. He is described as having an angular jaw, and being a person who demands attention. \"He was not, it may be added, a man weakly to accept defeat\" .", "analysis": "Isabel is depicted as somewhat naive about money, and as idealistic. It is not a coincidence that she is reading a book on German Thought when Mrs. Touchett happens upon her. This book, along with Lord Warburton's previous assertion that she is an \"idea\" made into flesh, is a reference to German Idealism. German Idealism was a philosophy that was interested in the relationship between the self and world. It believes that the self actually made the world into what it was -- the world exists insofar as it can be thought. We make the world what it is by thinking about it. This reflects Henry James' understanding of the value of Isabel Archer, as articulated in his preface: she is an interesting character because others think about her, and she thinks about others. The content of these ideas is vague. Instead, it is the fact of thinking of many possibilities that makes her imagination so vivid. This is further reflected in her relationship to the door that is barred shut in the library. She is not interested in what lies behind the door so much as what she can imagine lies behind the door. The scene that plays in Isabel's mind's eye is interesting because it is not exactly the knowledge of an omniscient narrator, so much as a speculative one. The narrator has obviously assisted certain thoughts to appear more clearly in Isabel's mind than they appear to herself: so for example, Isabel does not know that others speak ill of her father, but she does seem to have articulated the indignation with which she would have received such comments within herself. Often times during the narrator's description of Isabel's thoughts, it is unclear whether or not it is the narrator directly translating Isabel's thoughts, or if he is lending a helping hand to these thoughts merely by lending his own vocabulary to them, or if he is speculating what she could have been thinking without knowing for himself. This is a narrative technique that James will develop to an extreme extent in his later works, but it is already present here. \"Free indirect discourse\" is the technique employed here, where the narrator more literally translates the thoughts of a character, but does not use quotation marks. For example, he tells us: \"Isabel said to herself that it bespoke resolution tonight\" rather than \"Isabel said to herself, 'It bespeaks resolution tonight.'\" It is significant because it lends ambiguity to the question: what thoughts are actually articulated in the mind of Isabel? What does she really know? There is also a method employed here which Arlene Young has called \"hypothetical discourse\" , where the narrator speculates what would be going on in the mind of the character, if a certain circumstance had presented itself. This lends even more ambiguity to the question of what Isabel in actuality knows."}

Mrs. Touchett was certainly a person of many oddities, of which her behaviour on returning to her husband's house after many months was a noticeable specimen. She had her own way of doing all that she did, and this is the simplest description of a character which, although by no means without liberal motions, rarely succeeded in giving an impression of suavity. Mrs. Touchett might do a great deal of good, but she never pleased. This way of her own, of which she was so fond, was not intrinsically offensive--it was just unmistakeably distinguished from the ways of others. The edges of her conduct were so very clear-cut that for susceptible persons it sometimes had a knife-like effect. That hard fineness came out in her deportment during the first hours of her return from America, under circumstances in which it might have seemed that her first act would have been to exchange greetings with her husband and son. Mrs. Touchett, for reasons which she deemed excellent, always retired on such occasions into impenetrable seclusion, postponing the more sentimental ceremony until she had repaired the disorder of dress with a completeness which had the less reason to be of high importance as neither beauty nor vanity were concerned in it. She was a plain-faced old woman, without graces and without any great elegance, but with an extreme respect for her own motives. She was usually prepared to explain these--when the explanation was asked as a favour; and in such a case they proved totally different from those that had been attributed to her. She was virtually separated from her husband, but she appeared to perceive nothing irregular in the situation. It had become clear, at an early stage of their community, that they should never desire the same thing at the same moment, and this appearance had prompted her to rescue disagreement from the vulgar realm of accident. She did what she could to erect it into a law--a much more edifying aspect of it--by going to live in Florence, where she bought a house and established herself; and by leaving her husband to take care of the English branch of his bank. This arrangement greatly pleased her; it was so felicitously definite. It struck her husband in the same light, in a foggy square in London, where it was at times the most definite fact he discerned; but he would have preferred that such unnatural things should have a greater vagueness. To agree to disagree had cost him an effort; he was ready to agree to almost anything but that, and saw no reason why either assent or dissent should be so terribly consistent. Mrs. Touchett indulged in no regrets nor speculations, and usually came once a year to spend a month with her husband, a period during which she apparently took pains to convince him that she had adopted the right system. She was not fond of the English style of life, and had three or four reasons for it to which she currently alluded; they bore upon minor points of that ancient order, but for Mrs. Touchett they amply justified non-residence. She detested bread-sauce, which, as she said, looked like a poultice and tasted like soap; she objected to the consumption of beer by her maid-servants; and she affirmed that the British laundress (Mrs. Touchett was very particular about the appearance of her linen) was not a mistress of her art. At fixed intervals she paid a visit to her own country; but this last had been longer than any of its predecessors. She had taken up her niece--there was little doubt of that. One wet afternoon, some four months earlier than the occurrence lately narrated, this young lady had been seated alone with a book. To say she was so occupied is to say that her solitude did not press upon her; for her love of knowledge had a fertilising quality and her imagination was strong. There was at this time, however, a want of fresh taste in her situation which the arrival of an unexpected visitor did much to correct. The visitor had not been announced; the girl heard her at last walking about the adjoining room. It was in an old house at Albany, a large, square, double house, with a notice of sale in the windows of one of the lower apartments. There were two entrances, one of which had long been out of use but had never been removed. They were exactly alike--large white doors, with an arched frame and wide side-lights, perched upon little "stoops" of red stone, which descended sidewise to the brick pavement of the street. The two houses together formed a single dwelling, the party-wall having been removed and the rooms placed in communication. These rooms, above-stairs, were extremely numerous, and were painted all over exactly alike, in a yellowish white which had grown sallow with time. On the third floor there was a sort of arched passage, connecting the two sides of the house, which Isabel and her sisters used in their childhood to call the tunnel and which, though it was short and well lighted, always seemed to the girl to be strange and lonely, especially on winter afternoons. She had been in the house, at different periods, as a child; in those days her grandmother lived there. Then there had been an absence of ten years, followed by a return to Albany before her father's death. Her grandmother, old Mrs. Archer, had exercised, chiefly within the limits of the family, a large hospitality in the early period, and the little girls often spent weeks under her roof--weeks of which Isabel had the happiest memory. The manner of life was different from that of her own home--larger, more plentiful, practically more festal; the discipline of the nursery was delightfully vague and the opportunity of listening to the conversation of one's elders (which with Isabel was a highly-valued pleasure) almost unbounded. There was a constant coming and going; her grandmother's sons and daughters and their children appeared to be in the enjoyment of standing invitations to arrive and remain, so that the house offered to a certain extent the appearance of a bustling provincial inn kept by a gentle old landlady who sighed a great deal and never presented a bill. Isabel of course knew nothing about bills; but even as a child she thought her grandmother's home romantic. There was a covered piazza behind it, furnished with a swing which was a source of tremulous interest; and beyond this was a long garden, sloping down to the stable and containing peach-trees of barely credible familiarity. Isabel had stayed with her grandmother at various seasons, but somehow all her visits had a flavour of peaches. On the other side, across the street, was an old house that was called the Dutch House--a peculiar structure dating from the earliest colonial time, composed of bricks that had been painted yellow, crowned with a gable that was pointed out to strangers, defended by a rickety wooden paling and standing sidewise to the street. It was occupied by a primary school for children of both sexes, kept or rather let go, by a demonstrative lady of whom Isabel's chief recollection was that her hair was fastened with strange bedroomy combs at the temples and that she was the widow of some one of consequence. The little girl had been offered the opportunity of laying a foundation of knowledge in this establishment; but having spent a single day in it, she had protested against its laws and had been allowed to stay at home, where, in the September days, when the windows of the Dutch House were open, she used to hear the hum of childish voices repeating the multiplication table--an incident in which the elation of liberty and the pain of exclusion were indistinguishably mingled. The foundation of her knowledge was really laid in the idleness of her grandmother's house, where, as most of the other inmates were not reading people, she had uncontrolled use of a library full of books with frontispieces, which she used to climb upon a chair to take down. When she had found one to her taste--she was guided in the selection chiefly by the frontispiece--she carried it into a mysterious apartment which lay beyond the library and which was called, traditionally, no one knew why, the office. Whose office it had been and at what period it had flourished, she never learned; it was enough for her that it contained an echo and a pleasant musty smell and that it was a chamber of disgrace for old pieces of furniture whose infirmities were not always apparent (so that the disgrace seemed unmerited and rendered them victims of injustice) and with which, in the manner of children, she had established relations almost human, certainly dramatic. There was an old haircloth sofa in especial, to which she had confided a hundred childish sorrows. The place owed much of its mysterious melancholy to the fact that it was properly entered from the second door of the house, the door that had been condemned, and that it was secured by bolts which a particularly slender little girl found it impossible to slide. She knew that this silent, motionless portal opened into the street; if the sidelights had not been filled with green paper she might have looked out upon the little brown stoop and the well-worn brick pavement. But she had no wish to look out, for this would have interfered with her theory that there was a strange, unseen place on the other side--a place which became to the child's imagination, according to its different moods, a region of delight or of terror. It was in the "office" still that Isabel was sitting on that melancholy afternoon of early spring which I have just mentioned. At this time she might have had the whole house to choose from, and the room she had selected was the most depressed of its scenes. She had never opened the bolted door nor removed the green paper (renewed by other hands) from its sidelights; she had never assured herself that the vulgar street lay beyond. A crude, cold rain fell heavily; the spring-time was indeed an appeal--and it seemed a cynical, insincere appeal--to patience. Isabel, however, gave as little heed as possible to cosmic treacheries; she kept her eyes on her book and tried to fix her mind. It had lately occurred to her that her mind was a good deal of a vagabond, and she had spent much ingenuity in training it to a military step and teaching it to advance, to halt, to retreat, to perform even more complicated manoeuvres, at the word of command. Just now she had given it marching orders and it had been trudging over the sandy plains of a history of German Thought. Suddenly she became aware of a step very different from her own intellectual pace; she listened a little and perceived that some one was moving in the library, which communicated with the office. It struck her first as the step of a person from whom she was looking for a visit, then almost immediately announced itself as the tread of a woman and a stranger--her possible visitor being neither. It had an inquisitive, experimental quality which suggested that it would not stop short of the threshold of the office; and in fact the doorway of this apartment was presently occupied by a lady who paused there and looked very hard at our heroine. She was a plain, elderly woman, dressed in a comprehensive waterproof mantle; she had a face with a good deal of rather violent point. "Oh," she began, "is that where you usually sit?" She looked about at the heterogeneous chairs and tables. "Not when I have visitors," said Isabel, getting up to receive the intruder. She directed their course back to the library while the visitor continued to look about her. "You seem to have plenty of other rooms; they're in rather better condition. But everything's immensely worn." "Have you come to look at the house?" Isabel asked. "The servant will show it to you." "Send her away; I don't want to buy it. She has probably gone to look for you and is wandering about upstairs; she didn't seem at all intelligent. You had better tell her it's no matter." And then, since the girl stood there hesitating and wondering, this unexpected critic said to her abruptly: "I suppose you're one of the daughters?" Isabel thought she had very strange manners. "It depends upon whose daughters you mean." "The late Mr. Archer's--and my poor sister's." "Ah," said Isabel slowly, "you must be our crazy Aunt Lydia!" "Is that what your father told you to call me? I'm your Aunt Lydia, but I'm not at all crazy: I haven't a delusion! And which of the daughters are you?" "I'm the youngest of the three, and my name's Isabel." "Yes; the others are Lilian and Edith. And are you the prettiest?" "I haven't the least idea," said the girl. "I think you must be." And in this way the aunt and the niece made friends. The aunt had quarrelled years before with her brother-in-law, after the death of her sister, taking him to task for the manner in which he brought up his three girls. Being a high-tempered man he had requested her to mind her own business, and she had taken him at his word. For many years she held no communication with him and after his death had addressed not a word to his daughters, who had been bred in that disrespectful view of her which we have just seen Isabel betray. Mrs. Touchett's behaviour was, as usual, perfectly deliberate. She intended to go to America to look after her investments (with which her husband, in spite of his great financial position, had nothing to do) and would take advantage of this opportunity to enquire into the condition of her nieces. There was no need of writing, for she should attach no importance to any account of them she should elicit by letter; she believed, always, in seeing for one's self. Isabel found, however, that she knew a good deal about them, and knew about the marriage of the two elder girls; knew that their poor father had left very little money, but that the house in Albany, which had passed into his hands, was to be sold for their benefit; knew, finally, that Edmund Ludlow, Lilian's husband, had taken upon himself to attend to this matter, in consideration of which the young couple, who had come to Albany during Mr. Archer's illness, were remaining there for the present and, as well as Isabel herself, occupying the old place. "How much money do you expect for it?" Mrs. Touchett asked of her companion, who had brought her to sit in the front parlour, which she had inspected without enthusiasm. "I haven't the least idea," said the girl. "That's the second time you have said that to me," her aunt rejoined. "And yet you don't look at all stupid." "I'm not stupid; but I don't know anything about money." "Yes, that's the way you were brought up--as if you were to inherit a million. What have you in point of fact inherited?" "I really can't tell you. You must ask Edmund and Lilian; they'll be back in half an hour." "In Florence we should call it a very bad house," said Mrs. Touchett; "but here, I dare say, it will bring a high price. It ought to make a considerable sum for each of you. In addition to that you must have something else; it's most extraordinary your not knowing. The position's of value, and they'll probably pull it down and make a row of shops. I wonder you don't do that yourself; you might let the shops to great advantage." Isabel stared; the idea of letting shops was new to her. "I hope they won't pull it down," she said; "I'm extremely fond of it." "I don't see what makes you fond of it; your father died here." "Yes; but I don't dislike it for that," the girl rather strangely returned. "I like places in which things have happened--even if they're sad things. A great many people have died here; the place has been full of life." "Is that what you call being full of life?" "I mean full of experience--of people's feelings and sorrows. And not of their sorrows only, for I've been very happy here as a child." "You should go to Florence if you like houses in which things have happened--especially deaths. I live in an old palace in which three people have been murdered; three that were known and I don't know how many more besides." "In an old palace?" Isabel repeated. "Yes, my dear; a very different affair from this. This is very bourgeois." Isabel felt some emotion, for she had always thought highly of her grandmother's house. But the emotion was of a kind which led her to say: "I should like very much to go to Florence." "Well, if you'll be very good, and do everything I tell you I'll take you there," Mrs. Touchett declared. Our young woman's emotion deepened; she flushed a little and smiled at her aunt in silence. "Do everything you tell me? I don't think I can promise that." "No, you don't look like a person of that sort. You're fond of your own way; but it's not for me to blame you." "And yet, to go to Florence," the girl exclaimed in a moment, "I'd promise almost anything!" Edmund and Lilian were slow to return, and Mrs. Touchett had an hour's uninterrupted talk with her niece, who found her a strange and interesting figure: a figure essentially--almost the first she had ever met. She was as eccentric as Isabel had always supposed; and hitherto, whenever the girl had heard people described as eccentric, she had thought of them as offensive or alarming. The term had always suggested to her something grotesque and even sinister. But her aunt made it a matter of high but easy irony, or comedy, and led her to ask herself if the common tone, which was all she had known, had ever been as interesting. No one certainly had on any occasion so held her as this little thin-lipped, bright-eyed, foreign-looking woman, who retrieved an insignificant appearance by a distinguished manner and, sitting there in a well-worn waterproof, talked with striking familiarity of the courts of Europe. There was nothing flighty about Mrs. Touchett, but she recognised no social superiors, and, judging the great ones of the earth in a way that spoke of this, enjoyed the consciousness of making an impression on a candid and susceptible mind. Isabel at first had answered a good many questions, and it was from her answers apparently that Mrs. Touchett derived a high opinion of her intelligence. But after this she had asked a good many, and her aunt's answers, whatever turn they took, struck her as food for deep reflexion. Mrs. Touchett waited for the return of her other niece as long as she thought reasonable, but as at six o'clock Mrs. Ludlow had not come in she prepared to take her departure. "Your sister must be a great gossip. Is she accustomed to staying out so many hours?" "You've been out almost as long as she," Isabel replied; "she can have left the house but a short time before you came in." Mrs. Touchett looked at the girl without resentment; she appeared to enjoy a bold retort and to be disposed to be gracious. "Perhaps she hasn't had so good an excuse as I. Tell her at any rate that she must come and see me this evening at that horrid hotel. She may bring her husband if she likes, but she needn't bring you. I shall see plenty of you later." Mrs. Ludlow was the eldest of the three sisters, and was usually thought the most sensible; the classification being in general that Lilian was the practical one, Edith the beauty and Isabel the "intellectual" superior. Mrs. Keyes, the second of the group, was the wife of an officer of the United States Engineers, and as our history is not further concerned with her it will suffice that she was indeed very pretty and that she formed the ornament of those various military stations, chiefly in the unfashionable West, to which, to her deep chagrin, her husband was successively relegated. Lilian had married a New York lawyer, a young man with a loud voice and an enthusiasm for his profession; the match was not brilliant, any more than Edith's, but Lilian had occasionally been spoken of as a young woman who might be thankful to marry at all--she was so much plainer than her sisters. She was, however, very happy, and now, as the mother of two peremptory little boys and the mistress of a wedge of brown stone violently driven into Fifty-third Street, seemed to exult in her condition as in a bold escape. She was short and solid, and her claim to figure was questioned, but she was conceded presence, though not majesty; she had moreover, as people said, improved since her marriage, and the two things in life of which she was most distinctly conscious were her husband's force in argument and her sister Isabel's originality. "I've never kept up with Isabel--it would have taken all my time," she had often remarked; in spite of which, however, she held her rather wistfully in sight; watching her as a motherly spaniel might watch a free greyhound. "I want to see her safely married--that's what I want to see," she frequently noted to her husband. "Well, I must say I should have no particular desire to marry her," Edmund Ludlow was accustomed to answer in an extremely audible tone. "I know you say that for argument; you always take the opposite ground. I don't see what you've against her except that she's so original." "Well, I don't like originals; I like translations," Mr. Ludlow had more than once replied. "Isabel's written in a foreign tongue. I can't make her out. She ought to marry an Armenian or a Portuguese." "That's just what I'm afraid she'll do!" cried Lilian, who thought Isabel capable of anything. She listened with great interest to the girl's account of Mrs. Touchett's appearance and in the evening prepared to comply with their aunt's commands. Of what Isabel then said no report has remained, but her sister's words had doubtless prompted a word spoken to her husband as the two were making ready for their visit. "I do hope immensely she'll do something handsome for Isabel; she has evidently taken a great fancy to her." "What is it you wish her to do?" Edmund Ludlow asked. "Make her a big present?" "No indeed; nothing of the sort. But take an interest in her--sympathise with her. She's evidently just the sort of person to appreciate her. She has lived so much in foreign society; she told Isabel all about it. You know you've always thought Isabel rather foreign." "You want her to give her a little foreign sympathy, eh? Don't you think she gets enough at home?" "Well, she ought to go abroad," said Mrs. Ludlow. "She's just the person to go abroad." "And you want the old lady to take her, is that it?" "She has offered to take her--she's dying to have Isabel go. But what I want her to do when she gets her there is to give her all the advantages. I'm sure all we've got to do," said Mrs. Ludlow, "is to give her a chance." "A chance for what?" "A chance to develop." "Oh Moses!" Edmund Ludlow exclaimed. "I hope she isn't going to develop any more!" "If I were not sure you only said that for argument I should feel very badly," his wife replied. "But you know you love her." "Do you know I love you?" the young man said, jocosely, to Isabel a little later, while he brushed his hat. "I'm sure I don't care whether you do or not!" exclaimed the girl; whose voice and smile, however, were less haughty than her words. "Oh, she feels so grand since Mrs. Touchett's visit," said her sister. But Isabel challenged this assertion with a good deal of seriousness. "You must not say that, Lily. I don't feel grand at all." "I'm sure there's no harm," said the conciliatory Lily. "Ah, but there's nothing in Mrs. Touchett's visit to make one feel grand." "Oh," exclaimed Ludlow, "she's grander than ever!" "Whenever I feel grand," said the girl, "it will be for a better reason." Whether she felt grand or no, she at any rate felt different, as if something had happened to her. Left to herself for the evening she sat a while under the lamp, her hands empty, her usual avocations unheeded. Then she rose and moved about the room, and from one room to another, preferring the places where the vague lamplight expired. She was restless and even agitated; at moments she trembled a little. The importance of what had happened was out of proportion to its appearance; there had really been a change in her life. What it would bring with it was as yet extremely indefinite; but Isabel was in a situation that gave a value to any change. She had a desire to leave the past behind her and, as she said to herself, to begin afresh. This desire indeed was not a birth of the present occasion; it was as familiar as the sound of the rain upon the window and it had led to her beginning afresh a great many times. She closed her eyes as she sat in one of the dusky corners of the quiet parlour; but it was not with a desire for dozing forgetfulness. It was on the contrary because she felt too wide-eyed and wished to check the sense of seeing too many things at once. Her imagination was by habit ridiculously active; when the door was not open it jumped out of the window. She was not accustomed indeed to keep it behind bolts; and at important moments, when she would have been thankful to make use of her judgement alone, she paid the penalty of having given undue encouragement to the faculty of seeing without judging. At present, with her sense that the note of change had been struck, came gradually a host of images of the things she was leaving behind her. The years and hours of her life came back to her, and for a long time, in a stillness broken only by the ticking of the big bronze clock, she passed them in review. It had been a very happy life and she had been a very fortunate person--this was the truth that seemed to emerge most vividly. She had had the best of everything, and in a world in which the circumstances of so many people made them unenviable it was an advantage never to have known anything particularly unpleasant. It appeared to Isabel that the unpleasant had been even too absent from her knowledge, for she had gathered from her acquaintance with literature that it was often a source of interest and even of instruction. Her father had kept it away from her--her handsome, much loved father, who always had such an aversion to it. It was a great felicity to have been his daughter; Isabel rose even to pride in her parentage. Since his death she had seemed to see him as turning his braver side to his children and as not having managed to ignore the ugly quite so much in practice as in aspiration. But this only made her tenderness for him greater; it was scarcely even painful to have to suppose him too generous, too good-natured, too indifferent to sordid considerations. Many persons had held that he carried this indifference too far, especially the large number of those to whom he owed money. Of their opinions Isabel was never very definitely informed; but it may interest the reader to know that, while they had recognised in the late Mr. Archer a remarkably handsome head and a very taking manner (indeed, as one of them had said, he was always taking something), they had declared that he was making a very poor use of his life. He had squandered a substantial fortune, he had been deplorably convivial, he was known to have gambled freely. A few very harsh critics went so far as to say that he had not even brought up his daughters. They had had no regular education and no permanent home; they had been at once spoiled and neglected; they had lived with nursemaids and governesses (usually very bad ones) or had been sent to superficial schools, kept by the French, from which, at the end of a month, they had been removed in tears. This view of the matter would have excited Isabel's indignation, for to her own sense her opportunities had been large. Even when her father had left his daughters for three months at Neufchatel with a French bonne who had eloped with a Russian nobleman staying at the same hotel--even in this irregular situation (an incident of the girl's eleventh year) she had been neither frightened nor ashamed, but had thought it a romantic episode in a liberal education. Her father had a large way of looking at life, of which his restlessness and even his occasional incoherency of conduct had been only a proof. He wished his daughters, even as children, to see as much of the world as possible; and it was for this purpose that, before Isabel was fourteen, he had transported them three times across the Atlantic, giving them on each occasion, however, but a few months' view of the subject proposed: a course which had whetted our heroine's curiosity without enabling her to satisfy it. She ought to have been a partisan of her father, for she was the member of his trio who most "made up" to him for the disagreeables he didn't mention. In his last days his general willingness to take leave of a world in which the difficulty of doing as one liked appeared to increase as one grew older had been sensibly modified by the pain of separation from his clever, his superior, his remarkable girl. Later, when the journeys to Europe ceased, he still had shown his children all sorts of indulgence, and if he had been troubled about money-matters nothing ever disturbed their irreflective consciousness of many possessions. Isabel, though she danced very well, had not the recollection of having been in New York a successful member of the choreographic circle; her sister Edith was, as every one said, so very much more fetching. Edith was so striking an example of success that Isabel could have no illusions as to what constituted this advantage, or as to the limits of her own power to frisk and jump and shriek--above all with rightness of effect. Nineteen persons out of twenty (including the younger sister herself) pronounced Edith infinitely the prettier of the two; but the twentieth, besides reversing this judgement, had the entertainment of thinking all the others aesthetic vulgarians. Isabel had in the depths of her nature an even more unquenchable desire to please than Edith; but the depths of this young lady's nature were a very out-of-the-way place, between which and the surface communication was interrupted by a dozen capricious forces. She saw the young men who came in large numbers to see her sister; but as a general thing they were afraid of her; they had a belief that some special preparation was required for talking with her. Her reputation of reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic; it was supposed to engender difficult questions and to keep the conversation at a low temperature. The poor girl liked to be thought clever, but she hated to be thought bookish; she used to read in secret and, though her memory was excellent, to abstain from showy reference. She had a great desire for knowledge, but she really preferred almost any source of information to the printed page; she had an immense curiosity about life and was constantly staring and wondering. She carried within herself a great fund of life, and her deepest enjoyment was to feel the continuity between the movements of her own soul and the agitations of the world. For this reason she was fond of seeing great crowds and large stretches of country, of reading about revolutions and wars, of looking at historical pictures--a class of efforts as to which she had often committed the conscious solecism of forgiving them much bad painting for the sake of the subject. While the Civil War went on she was still a very young girl; but she passed months of this long period in a state of almost passionate excitement, in which she felt herself at times (to her extreme confusion) stirred almost indiscriminately by the valour of either army. Of course the circumspection of suspicious swains had never gone the length of making her a social proscript; for the number of those whose hearts, as they approached her, beat only just fast enough to remind them they had heads as well, had kept her unacquainted with the supreme disciplines of her sex and age. She had had everything a girl could have: kindness, admiration, bonbons, bouquets, the sense of exclusion from none of the privileges of the world she lived in, abundant opportunity for dancing, plenty of new dresses, the London Spectator, the latest publications, the music of Gounod, the poetry of Browning, the prose of George Eliot. These things now, as memory played over them, resolved themselves into a multitude of scenes and figures. Forgotten things came back to her; many others, which she had lately thought of great moment, dropped out of sight. The result was kaleidoscopic, but the movement of the instrument was checked at last by the servant's coming in with the name of a gentleman. The name of the gentleman was Caspar Goodwood; he was a straight young man from Boston, who had known Miss Archer for the last twelvemonth and who, thinking her the most beautiful young woman of her time, had pronounced the time, according to the rule I have hinted at, a foolish period of history. He sometimes wrote to her and had within a week or two written from New York. She had thought it very possible he would come in--had indeed all the rainy day been vaguely expecting him. Now that she learned he was there, nevertheless, she felt no eagerness to receive him. He was the finest young man she had ever seen, was indeed quite a splendid young man; he inspired her with a sentiment of high, of rare respect. She had never felt equally moved to it by any other person. He was supposed by the world in general to wish to marry her, but this of course was between themselves. It at least may be affirmed that he had travelled from New York to Albany expressly to see her; having learned in the former city, where he was spending a few days and where he had hoped to find her, that she was still at the State capital. Isabel delayed for some minutes to go to him; she moved about the room with a new sense of complications. But at last she presented herself and found him standing near the lamp. He was tall, strong and somewhat stiff; he was also lean and brown. He was not romantically, he was much rather obscurely, handsome; but his physiognomy had an air of requesting your attention, which it rewarded according to the charm you found in blue eyes of remarkable fixedness, the eyes of a complexion other than his own, and a jaw of the somewhat angular mould which is supposed to bespeak resolution. Isabel said to herself that it bespoke resolution to-night; in spite of which, in half an hour, Caspar Goodwood, who had arrived hopeful as well as resolute, took his way back to his lodging with the feeling of a man defeated. He was not, it may be added, a man weakly to accept defeat.

Chapters 3-4

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Mrs. Touchett is described as having a no-nonsense personality: "the edges of her conduct were so very clear-cut... that it sometimes had a knife-like effect." She realized early on that her husband and herself would never desire the same thing at any moment, and thus she has purchased her own house in Florence, separating her own affairs from his. It is her ceremony to return from long journeys and to enter into her own seclusion. Mrs. Touchett had happened upon Isabel four months earlier, in the library of Isabel's grandmother's house, which is adjoined to her father's. Isabel is described as undisturbed by her own solitude, preoccupied with her reading, having a love of knowledge. The library is having one door that is bolted shut: Isabel had no wish to look out of this door, because she liked to imagine a place on the other side that is a region of delight or terror. When Mrs. Touchett finds Isabel in the library, Isabel is deep in reading a history of German Thought, in the most depressing corner she can find. Isabel's own mind is described as a "vagabond" which she had to train to "advance, to halt, to retreat, to perform" some "marching orders" . Isabel recognizes Mrs. Touchett as "our crazy Aunt Lydia!" to which Mrs. Touchett responds that she has not a single delusion. Mrs. Touchett straightforwardly asks Isabel what she has inherited, and Isabel tells her she has not the least idea about money. Mrs. Touchett finds it extraordinary that Isabel does not know what she has. Isabel only responds that she hopes her sister and brother-in-law do not decide to tear down the house, because it is "full of life," defined to her as a place where many people have died. Mrs. Touchett responds that her own house has many more who died there, and Isabel says she would like to one day go to Florence, where Mrs. Touchett lives. Isabel finds Mrs. Touchett to be a "strange and interesting figure: a figure essentially--almost the first she had ever met" . Isabel is described by her sister Lillian as an "original," and Lilian's husband, Mr. Ludlow, notes that it is as if Isabel is "written in a foreign tongue" . In a private conversation, Lillian hopes that Mrs. Touchett will do something grand for Isabel, such as taking her abroad. Meanwhile, Isabel feels as if there has been a real change in her life. She has a desire to leave the past behind. She closes her eyes because she "wished to check the sense of seeing too many things at once" -- she is described as having the "faculty of seeing without judging." We now enter something like Isabel's mind's eye -- Isabel is thinking about her own circumstances in life, her own history, as memories. She notes that she had been a very fortunate person who has had the best of everything, guarded from unpleasant things. The narrator notes that many persons were of the opinion though that Mr. Archer had squandered his money and had hardly raised his own daughters, allowing them to be brought up by maids and governesses. Had Isabel known this, she would have felt some indignation. Her father had a "large way of looking at life" and had wanted to show the world to his daughters. He had even brought her and her sisters across the Atlantic three times to do so. If he had had trouble with money, he had certainly not let his daughters know about it. When the daughters came of age to be wed, it became apparent that her sister Edith was the best looking. However it does not seem that Isabel is unbecoming so much as intimidating. The men who came to see Edith are described as "afraid of" Isabel, as if they had to be particularly prepared to speak to her . She also had a reputation for being a girl who likes books and reading. Isabel likes being thought clever but not bookish. She liked gathering knowledge but she preferred to gain knowledge from sources other than the printed page. Thus, "her deepest enjoyment was to feel the continuity between movements of her own soul and the agitations of the world" . The narrator concludes this scene in Isabel's mind's eye by noting that the view of this history is "kaleidoscopic" during this scene in which Isabel has closed her eyes . She is interrupted by the announcement from a servant that Caspar Goodwood has come to visit her. He has written her several times from New York and wishes to marry her, although this has not yet been made public. Isabel does not seem to really want to see him, although she had expected him. He is described as having an angular jaw, and being a person who demands attention. "He was not, it may be added, a man weakly to accept defeat" .

Isabel is depicted as somewhat naive about money, and as idealistic. It is not a coincidence that she is reading a book on German Thought when Mrs. Touchett happens upon her. This book, along with Lord Warburton's previous assertion that she is an "idea" made into flesh, is a reference to German Idealism. German Idealism was a philosophy that was interested in the relationship between the self and world. It believes that the self actually made the world into what it was -- the world exists insofar as it can be thought. We make the world what it is by thinking about it. This reflects Henry James' understanding of the value of Isabel Archer, as articulated in his preface: she is an interesting character because others think about her, and she thinks about others. The content of these ideas is vague. Instead, it is the fact of thinking of many possibilities that makes her imagination so vivid. This is further reflected in her relationship to the door that is barred shut in the library. She is not interested in what lies behind the door so much as what she can imagine lies behind the door. The scene that plays in Isabel's mind's eye is interesting because it is not exactly the knowledge of an omniscient narrator, so much as a speculative one. The narrator has obviously assisted certain thoughts to appear more clearly in Isabel's mind than they appear to herself: so for example, Isabel does not know that others speak ill of her father, but she does seem to have articulated the indignation with which she would have received such comments within herself. Often times during the narrator's description of Isabel's thoughts, it is unclear whether or not it is the narrator directly translating Isabel's thoughts, or if he is lending a helping hand to these thoughts merely by lending his own vocabulary to them, or if he is speculating what she could have been thinking without knowing for himself. This is a narrative technique that James will develop to an extreme extent in his later works, but it is already present here. "Free indirect discourse" is the technique employed here, where the narrator more literally translates the thoughts of a character, but does not use quotation marks. For example, he tells us: "Isabel said to herself that it bespoke resolution tonight" rather than "Isabel said to herself, 'It bespeaks resolution tonight.'" It is significant because it lends ambiguity to the question: what thoughts are actually articulated in the mind of Isabel? What does she really know? There is also a method employed here which Arlene Young has called "hypothetical discourse" , where the narrator speculates what would be going on in the mind of the character, if a certain circumstance had presented itself. This lends even more ambiguity to the question of what Isabel in actuality knows.