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

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The vicar then learns that Sophia has been abducted. Almost immediately afterwards, George is brought to the jail as a prisoner, after having heard of Olivia's shame and then challenging the squire to a duel. The squire's servants beat him instead. Horrified by this succession of misfortunes, the vicar steels himself and delivers a sermon on fortitude to the entire prison. Upon Dr. Primrose and Olivia’s return, the Primrose house catches fire, leaving the family destitute. The Primroses also learn that the Squire and Miss Wilmot are engaged. Soon the Squire visits them, and Dr. Primrose angrily confronts him, telling him he will never consent to the Squire marrying anyone but Olivia. The Squire retaliates by threatening to demand his loan be repaid, and two days later officers of justice come to take Dr. Primrose to the gaol. Though an angry crowd of parishioners attempts to free him, Dr. Primrose calls them off and goes to prison willingly. There he meets Jenkinson, the man who cheated him and Moses. Jenkinson is now reformed and apologetic. Dr. Primrose sets about reforming the other inmates, preaching to them and encouraging them to live morally and productively; to everyone else’s surprise, his efforts eventually succeed.

After George leaves, the vicar sets off for his own home. Along the way, he stops at a public-house for a drink and converses with the affable innkeeper, who tells him how loathed the squire is by his tenants in the area. While they talk, the landlord’s wife enters, complaining about a female guest who continues to stay there even though she has no money. The vicar hears the girl pleading for pity, and realizes it is Olivia. He rushes to her, finding her in a wretched state, and forgives her. The vicar is a virtuous, religious man who encourages his family to avoid the traps of worldly pleasures, especially after they lose their money. It is telling that he loses his money to a shrewd crook; the fact that he placed all of his money in the hands of one merchant indicates that he truly does not concern himself with financial matters. Instead, the vicar is concerned with his family and values their hermetic, sheltered life in Wakefield. Some critics, like Thomas Preston, have excoriated the vicar as a “pious fraud who is really a money-conscious, fortune-hunting materialist, practising benevolence as a good business investment and his children as annuities for old age.” Certainly, one can see that despite his assertions that money should not matter, he sees the world largely in terms of how much money a person has. Regardless of how one interprets this issue, it is undeniable that he takes great pride in his family. There are quite a few interpolations of different literary genres, such as poems, histories or sermons, which widen the restricted view of the first person narrator and serve as didactic fables.The family endeavours to cope with their betters. The miseries of the poor when they attempt to appear above their circumstances The squire soon arrives at the Arnold house, and is surprised to see the vicar and his son there. After some time, noticing the renewed feelings between Arabella and George, the squire procures a job for George in the West Indies. Since he has no money and no one suspects the Squire of ulterior motives, George gladly departs.

In their new locality, the vicar works as a low-rank cleric and a farmer. The vicar’s family sends George, who had graduated from Oxford, to London, hoping that he earns a living to help the families. The new neighborhood is pleasant and rural, but the women specifically find it hard to adapt to a more miserable life than they are used to. Humor: The novel employs humor to lighten the mood and provide comic relief, balancing the more serious themes and moments with moments of levity and wit. Further, the vicar realizes that the truly virtuous characters are those he had begun to judge as inferior. The family’s grief is somewhat assuaged by the kindness of neighbours to whom they have thus far been rather cruel towards. They used Farmer Williams as a tool to ensnare the squire and consciously looked down upon the Flamborough girls. And yet these are the people whom truly help the family here.The vicar then learns that Sophia has been abducted. Almost immediately afterwards, George is brought to the jail as a prisoner, after having heard of Olivia’s shame and then challenging the squire to a duel. The squire’s servants beat him instead. Horrified by this succession of misfortunes, the vicar steels himself and delivers a sermon on fortitude to the entire prison. The Vicar of Wakefield, subtitled A Tale, Supposed to be written by Himself, is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774). It was written from 1761 to 1762 and published in 1766. It was one of the most popular and widely read 18th-century novels among Victorians. At one point, Mr Burchell points out Squire Thornhill’s home and explains how the squire is dependent on the generosity of his introverted uncle, Sir William Thornhill. The vicar has heard of Sir William and knows his excellent reputation of “consummate benevolence” (19). Mr Burchell confirms this impression, explaining that Sir William was dissolute and foolish when he was young, but has since grown more respectable in penance for those youthful follies. At one point during the journey, Sophia falls from her horse into a stream. Without a moment’s thought, Mr Burchell heroically leaps after her and saves her life. The Vicar of Wakefield", based on the once popular novel, is a rather boring melodrama about the misfortunes of the vicar and his family, most of whom, apparently, are saps to any swindler, thief, impostor or scoundrel they happen to meet. The pious family seems incapable of adjusting to, and initially unrecognizing of, the sinners surrounding them. This was the second adaptation of the novel by the Thanhouser Company, who had previously made a one-reel version of it in 1910. Thanhouser seems to have specialized in such classic literary adaptations, which may be viewed thanks to the disproportionately good number of the studio's films available on home video compared to other early producers. This 1917 photoplay includes some rather odd introductory title cards, which appear original, that describe some history of the book and its author.