Commentary on an extract of the chapter IV from The Vicar of Wakefield

LD

L2 LLCE

British Literature Exam

Subject : Organized commentary on an extract of the chapter IV from The Vicar of Wakefield.

        The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel from the 18th century written by Oliver Goldsmith. The story is about the Vicar and his family and the different events they are going through, and it is narrated by the Vicar himself. The extract we are going to analyze is the beginning of the fourth chapter. In the previous chapters, we discovered the members of the family and learnt that the Vicar who was wealthy lost all of his fortune. In chapter IV, we are going to study how the family deals with poverty and figures out that poverty does not necessarily mean misfortune.

        The introduction of the chapter says “A proof that even the humblest fortune may grant happiness, which depends not on circumstance, but constitution.”. This sentence sets the tone on the subjects which will be mentioned in the chapter, we can see the vocabulary of “happiness” and “fortune” also linked to humble which gives the reader an idea about the themes approached in the text.

The text first mentions a “retreat” so it gives an idea that they came there to cut from their old life. They live near farmers and lands so it is a rural and presumably modest town. It says “they still retained the primaeval simplicity of manners, and frugal by habit, they scarce knew that temperance was a virtue.” There is the lexical of simplicity with “simplicity”, “frugal”, “temperance”. These words are directly associated to the word “virtue” which goes against the religious view of poverty as it is considered as a sin. It also mentions “primaeval” and opposes it to “superfluity” and “intervals of idleness and pleasure” which are superficial notions and don't contribute to happiness. The narrator also links “cheerfulness” with “labour” which may be considered as an oxymoron for some people.

        He then mentions different celebrations as “Christmas”, “Valentine” or even “Michaelmas”. There is a religious connotation, but they all belong to the vocabulary of celebration, and so do “finest cloaths”, “pipe and tabor”, “feast” and “reception”. People are enjoying themselves. It is a moment of joy and share, “cheerfully” and “laughter”. This may appear as fancy compared to what was said earlier but it is a nice moment for the people there.

Then, the vicar describes his house and how the simplicity of it makes it beautiful “little habitation”, “sheltered with a beautiful underwood”, “excellent land”,the elms and hedge rows appearing with inexpressible beauty”, “an air of great snugness”. He did not need to buy things, he thinks his house is beautiful thanks to nature and it is a humble vision of life. He did not purchased anything. His house is simple but beautiful and it makes him happy which can refer to the vision that happiness can not be bought.  He even mentions the simplicity of the interior of the house which he likes “though the same room served us for parlour and kitchen, that only made it the warmer”, “and did not want richer furniture”. Modesty is seen as beautiful, things don't need to be expensive to be great and can make you happy even if you did not buy them.

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