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The Vicar of Wakefield (Penguin Classics)

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Oliver Goldsmith's 1766 novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield" offers the trials and tribulations of Primrose, an ecclesiastic living in the English countryside. Primrose is content in his life, with a faithful wife, and lovely, if somewhat distracted children. Hearing that his banker has gotten into trouble and fled the country, Primrose and his family begin a series of adventures which test the strength of Primrose's convictions.

Among the issues which Goldsmith addresses in the novel are social ambition in a rigid class system, the drawbacks and benefits of a relatively liberal household, and the admittedly imperfect nature of the British legal system. Sprinkled throughout the novel are various discourses on the notion of liberty, the primacy of the monarchy, and a wealth of interesting references to British imperialism and colonial slavery.

Regarding the class system, Primrose seems throughout the novel, to eschew the idea that social or economic mobility is possible, or even desirable. He posits, in a way that follows Aristotle and Edmund Burke, that people are fit for certain stations by their very nature; and that such social partitioning is right and should be maintained. Primrose also appears as a latter day Horace, championing the virtues of simple, rustic life. This pastoral life is directly associated in the novel with the laboring classes, who, not without faults themselves, manage to avoid the intrigues and excesses of the consistently vilified city folk.

Goldsmith's writing style is fast-paced, with clear, direct language, wonderfully rendered characters, and a surprising number of plot twists for so short a work. Primrose and his eldest son George are the two finest characters in the novel. Both exhibit a picaresque tendency to wander and interact - Primrose with the intellectual/philosophical elements, and George with the material/experiential elements in the world. This is altogether a wonderful, spirited novel, and Stephen Coote's introduction to this Penguin edition is excellent in its explication of the novel's major themes and concerns.

"Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent, it seldom has justice enough to accuse." So ends chapter 13 in this delightful novel by Oliver Goldsmith, his only novel by the way.

Oliver creates a pious character in the form of the vicar, Dr Primrose, that suffers from that most deadly of the 7 deadly sins, Pride. The problem is he doesn't know it. As a result he is brought down peg by peg, and made a thorough fool of in the process, in a way that is comical and warm to the reader. The vicar becomes a most beloved character by way of his suffering and in the end I'm sure will have earned from even the most hard hearted reader that most cherished gift a reader can bestow upon any flawed character, redemption.

Oliver also creates villiany, more like evil incarnate, in the form of Mr. Thornhill. Thornhill is central to the most severe of the hardships suffered by the vicar and his family. A very meddlesome and self-centered character indeed!!

Written in the 1750's, it has it all. Greed,envy,lust,unjust imprisonment, even prostitution. Yes, It's hard to believe a novel written in the 1750's could even touch on the subject, but nevertheless it is central to the plot.

Combine all this with some of the finest wit in English literature and you've got a great way to spend a weekend. The book is less than 200 pages and moves along at nice pace from page one. Well worth everyone's time.

I agree with the reviewers who've described this as a slow read. No argument there. But it's also a very important 18th Century work and one essential to anyone interested in the literature of the period. If you read the book with an ironical slant it's much easier to see that there is actual humor in the often improbable situations. Granted, it may not be laugh out loud humor, but it is there. The poor vicar is modeled on the biblical Job, to a very exaggerated extent. It's so exaggerated that the modern reader will likely be rolling his eyes, I know. If you're looking for tight plot and fast pace this won't be your book, but those reading 18th Century literature will realize the novel was much different at the beginning that it is now. You don't read THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD for the plot. You read it for the study. It remains an important book.

I found this little book a delight from start to finish.This was a favourite little "classic" of the Victorian classroom. What entranced me was the quaint 18th century English. How can I describe the charm of the use of the preposition "AN" before words such as "HORSE" or "HUSBAND"! or the narrators's wife whose "CIVILITIES" are received with a "MUTILATED COURTESY" by the squire.? In fine, a book to be read over & over without a dimunition of pleasure at each reading.

Told with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humor and wit, The Vicar of Wakefield, published in 1766, features the delightfully innocent Dr. Primrose, a cleric who believes that kindness and virtue will always be rewarded. Surrounded by his wife and six children, Dr. Primrose lives a comfortable life, but he becomes the victim of theft when his broker runs off with all his investments, leaving him penniless, just as his son George is about to be married. When George's marriage is canceled due to his lack of prospects, the family moves to the country, where Dr. Primrose becomes vicar of a rural church.

One disaster follows another, involving Dr. Primrose and his family. The poor but kind Mr. Burchell, who saved daughter Sophia from drowning and befriended the family, later shocks Dr. Primrose by slandering the daughters and ruining their chances to become companions to two women in London. The sale of the family's only horses to a trickster leaves them virtually penniless. His older daughter Olivia is abducted and "ruined." The house catches fire, and their landlord demands his rent, knowing that the family has nothing. No matter how outrageous the calamities (and those mentioned above are only a sample), Dr. Primrose insists on seeing the bright side, even when there is no bright side. Virtue and goodness, he is convinced, will always be rewarded.

Owing as much to eighteenth century satiric comedy as to the developing novel, the story of Dr. Primrose and his family satirizes the sentimentality of early novels, such as Pamela, while it makes use of sentimental devices to further its plot. Poking gentle fun at Dr. Primrose for his innocence, Goldsmith never mocks or belittles him. Coincidence, mistaken identities, the humiliation of all the villains, innumerable surprises, and the restoration of Dr. Primrose's fortunes lead to the "deserved" happiness of Dr. Primrose and his family in the conclusion. Virtue is indeed rewarded, and evil is indeed punished. A gentle novel filled with charm, The Vicar of Wakefield feels like a "lady's novel," one which lacks the bawdy excess of Fielding and the unique humor of Sterne, while never taking itself too seriously. n Mary Whipple

She Stoops to Conquer and Other Comedies (Oxford World's Classics)
Oliver Goldsmith; a biography. By Washington Irving.
The poetical works of Oliver Goldsmith. With a life, by Thomas Babington Macaulay.

Although Goldsmith was brilliant, he was not an easy man to know and to like, and his egoism and unevenness of character does come out in this book. He was always misunderstood, as geniuses often are. This book has assured Goldsmith a place high up in the literature food chain. The theme of the book resembles somewhat the Book of Job from The Bible. Our hero is a good and innocent man who remains steadfast in faith and unbroken in courage as he faces numerous disasters. It is a story about the family Primrose and its fall from it's a place of comfort and security. The family consists of a mother and father and six children. Mr. Goldsmith's genius is in characterization, as well as his ability to evoke a pure goodness of heart and warmth and generosity of people of simple faith and warm generosity. This little book is truly a masterpiece.

The Vicar of Wakefield is a good book that shows how a family overcomes one harship after another. It is funny and at times very witty. Even though the language is a bit old fashioned, the book is still fun to read.

Goldsmith's only novel, The Vicar of Wakefield, is, as another reviewer pointed out, a modern (1766) version of the book of Job. In the book of Job, Satan attempts to make a fool of God and at the same time attack Job. Satan accomplishes this by arguing that the godliness of Job, who is God's beloved, is motivated by self-interest alone. God allows Satan to test Job in order that God and Job be vindicated.

In Goldsmith's story, Dr. Primrose is a priest with a loving wife and 6 wonderful children. They have an elegant house, the respect of their neighbors and the means to help others less fortunate. We are barely introduced to Dr. Primrose and his family when they are beset by misfortune. Their wealth is stolen and they must give up their family home and move to a distant village. From this point on, a series of ever increasing calamities occur.

Through it all we know that Dr. Primrose and family will persevere even if we can't anticipate all the twists and turns in the story. With that said, Dr. Primrose is not perfect. The introduction makes clear that he is possessed of intellectual pride. This measure of sin lends the story an air of authenticity that would be missing if Dr. Primrose was perfection personified. As a side note, the Penguin edition of this book does have a useful introduction which helps to frame the issues Goldsmith was trying to communicate as well as providing context for the times. The end notes are also of tremendous help.

The ending may be unlikely but the message of faith and family love endures. Don't let the age of this classic novel prevent you from enjoying its wit and wisdom.

"Now," cried I, holding up my children, "now let the flames burn on, and all my possessions perish. Here they are, I have saved my treasure. Here, my dearest, here are our treasures, and we shall yet be happy."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful quick read about a man (family) over coming adversities in life, yet continuing to hold on to and cherish what is important in life. Dr. Primrose never becomes jaded after all that is thrown at him. Just when you think he can take no more, more is piled onto him. In the end, of course, all is well. While I wouldn't call the book exciting itself, there are exciting elements...kidnappings, death, cheating, and more. I enjoyed it so much because Dr. Primrose is truly a stand up guy and one we can all learn lessons from.

Regarded by some as a sentimental novel, Oliver Goldsmith's "The Vicar of Wakefield" (1766) describes the fortunes and misfortunes of the first-person narrator, Dr. Primrose, along with his wife and six children. The narrative is chiefly concerned with a description of Primrose's increasing adversity and the final restoration and elevation of his condition, in a story-line reminiscent of the Biblical book of Job. First the Primrose family loses their fortune, their home is engulfed by a fire, and eventually Primrose himself finds himself in prison, one daughter reportedly dead, another abducted, and a son jailed. But all is in the end restored as the narrative returns to the idyllic life of the Primrose home and its inhabitants as described at the end of the first chapter: "In short, a family likeness prevailed through all, and properly speaking, they had but one character, that of being all equally generous, credulous, simple, and inoffensive." The circle is completed with the closing words of the final chapter: "As soon as dinner was over, according to my old custom, I requested that the table might be taken away, to have the pleasure of seeing all my family assembled once more by a cheerful fireside. My two little ones sat upon each knee, the rest of the company by their partners. I had nothing now on this side of the grave to wish for, all my cares were over, my pleasure was unspeakable. It now only remained that my gratitude in good fortune should exceed my former submission in adversity." Although Primrose is a vicar, his congregational and pastoral charge rarely comes into the picture, and it is more the events in this family circle that are the focus of his story.

In the face of more than abundant adversity, Primrose remains the eternal optimist, a sweet and naïve vicar who portrays himself unaffected by the worldliness and faults he sees in the lives of those around him. Nowhere is his naivete more evident than when he falls prey to the same deceptive character he has previously chastized his son for falling victim to. Yet Primrose remains blind to his own flawed character with its intellectual and spiritual pride. For example, when his half-dead son makes his entrance in the closing stages, Primrose affirms his own freedom from vanity, although the statement in which he makes this bold assertion suggests the opposite: "He now therefore entered, handsomely dressed in his regimentals; and without vanity (for I am above it), he appeared as handsome a fellow as ever wore a military dress."

While one must at times roll one's eyes at his excessive parade of virtue, the reader cannot help feel a strong measure of sympathy for his overly sweet character and good intentions. When his house burns down, rather than mourn the loss of his worldly possessions, he rejoices in the safety of his children: "'Now,' cried I, holding up my children, 'now let the flames burn on, and all my possessions perish. Here they are, I have saved my, treasure. Here, my dearest, here are our treasures, and we shall yet be happy.'" When misfortune results in his incarceration, he sees prison as an opportunity to convert the ungodly: "I therefore promised to repeat my lecture next day, and actually conceived some hopes of making a reformation here; for it had ever been my opinion, that no man was past the hour of amendment, every heart lying open to the shafts of reproof, if the archer could but take a proper aim." Even his most malicious oppressors are reason for optimism: "... as my oppressor has been once my parishioner, I hope one day to present him up an unpolluted soul at the eternal tribunal." And upon discovering that Jenkinson's account about the death of his daughter is false, he chooses to be overjoyed at her return rather than angered by the deception: "'How could you,' cried I, turning to Mr Jenkinson, 'how could you add to my miseries by the story of her death! But it matters not, my pleasure at finding her again, is more than a recompence for the pain.' "

While Primrose's strength of spiritual character, moral fortitude and steadfastness in the face of crisis is exaggerated to the point of humor and wild improbability, it is nonetheless admirable in what it suggests about the human spirit. He sleeps untroubled while in prison and having suffered the most grave misfortune and being deprived of all that is dear to him: "After my usual meditations, and having praised my heavenly corrector, I laid myself down and slept with the utmost tranquility till morning." And rather than grieve over his misfortune after his house has been engulfed with flames, he sees it as a positive benefit, for it humbles his wife's pride and makes her more receptive to the return of his daughter from prostitution: "I proceeded to prepare them for the reception of our lost one, and tho' we had nothing but wretchedness now to impart, I was willing to procure her a welcome to what we had. This task would have been more difficult but for our recent calamity, which had humbled my wife's pride, and blunted it by more poignant afflictions." And when too much laughter and merriness displeases Primrose in preparation for the solemn ceremony of marriage, he makes it the occasion for spiritual correction: "I told them of the grave, becoming and sublime deportment they should assume upon this Mystical occasion, and read them two homilies and a thesis of my own composing, in order to prepare them." And even some of the other characters share this virtuous approach, for rather than commiserate with Wilmot upon the loss of his fortune to deception, the senior squire remarks: "your present disappointment does not entirely displease me. Your immoderate passion for wealth is now justly punished."

Like Job, Primrose suffers at the hand of increasing disasters, but unlike his Biblical counterpart, he doesn't go to the ash-heap to mourn or struggle with his condition or grief. He remains constant in hope and optimism, sees in the greatest disasters opportunities for spiritual correction and growth, and always retains the prospect of improving his fortunes, if not in this life then in the hereafter. Despite his overly optimistic character, this naïve and simple man who wants to serve God and his family presents a somewhat charming figure. We are curious what will be the outcome of his life, and our sense of expectation is heightened by the twists and turns of the plot, which for an 18th century work is reasonably fast paced and quite accessible for modern readers. While improbable, Primrose's journey from fortune to misfortune and back again might prove morally instructive not just to its protagonist, but to us all. - GODLY GADFLY