micaelamaciel94

Written by Oliver Goldsmith and published in 1766, the Vicar of Wakefield is a sentimental novel (or perhaps a satire on the sentimental novel - it is difficult to tell), which centers principally on Dr. Primrose (the guileless vicar), his wife Dorothy and his six children. The narrative opens finding Dr. Primrose living comfortably and felicitously with his wife and children: his older son, George, his older daughters, Olivia and Sophie, a younger (yet brilliant and philosophical) son Moses, and two much younger boys. Dr. Primrose is idyllic - he thinks well of the world and places everything in the best light. At the outset he is free from challenge. Soon, however, adversity strikes in waves. (Shades of Job from the Old Testament). Though the adversity is really quite catastrophic, Dr. Primrose generally weathers it pretty well. He unravels on a couple of occasions, but quickly rallies. In the end, we might borrow a title from Shakespeare: "All's Well That Ends Well." Goldsmith's plot is a bit contrived, but his literary style and gift for words lack for nothing, although his wording would be considered a bit stilted for our times. He postulates on the meaning of marriage, civil and criminal law, morality, human relationships and decency, and more. The Vicar of Wakefield was greatly heralded in its day and was cited by many of the Victorian writers; namely, George Eliot in Middlemarch, Jane Austen in Emma, Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield, Mary Shelley in Frankenstein, Charlotte Bronte in Villette, and Louisa May Alcott (non Victorian) in Little Women. It is a great and classical read.

2022-09-04 13:54