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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Vicar of Wakefield, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humility in the Face of Adversity
The Possibility of Redemption
Family and Society
Equality, Justice, and the Law
Travel, Home, and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
While Dr. Primrose is unfazed by the loss of his fortune, he realizes this will make life much more difficult for his family. He is offered another, worse-paying job in another district, which he accepts in order to preach his strictly monogamist views freely. He then pays off the family’s debt, leaving them with only four hundred of fourteen thousand pounds. Dr. Primrose urges his family to humbly accept their newfound poverty. George is sent to London to find work as a scholar and help support the family, and Dr. Primrose is confident that he will behave honorably, whether he finds success or not.
Dr. Primrose is far from ignorant of the practical consequences of putting his own morals above all else, but he does so anyway, as he believes moral conduct in preparation for the afterlife is more important than any material advantage in this life. This scrupulous sense of right is further evidenced in his insistence on paying off the family’s last debts before leaving Wakefield, and by his faith in George’s honor rather than success.
Themes
The rest of the Primrose family departs for their new home a few days later, a longer journey than any of them have undertaken before. Stopping at an inn after the first day of traveling, Dr. Primrose invites the landlord to join them at their table, where he tells the Primroses about their future landlord, Squire Thornhill. Squire Thornhill is known as a pleasure-seeker, particularly in regard to women, none of whom can resist his charms. While this perturbs Dr. Primrose, Mrs. Primrose, Olivia, and Sophia are excited by the challenge to their virtue, which they remain completely confident in. The landlord’s wife then enters and informs them that another guest is unable to pay, despite having publicly spent three guineas to save an accused dog-thief from being whipped the previous day. Dr. Primrose asks to be introduced to this charitable stranger.
The introduction of Squire Thornhill here foreshadows the Squire’s future role in the Primroses’ story, one which the family deeply misgauges from the very beginning. Mrs. Primrose and her daughters, little experienced with the world, see an attempt on their virtue as a kind of game, not realizing that the only potential losers are themselves, not the men who would make such an attempt. The charitable stranger gives Dr. Primrose a rare opportunity to meet someone who shares his notion of charity.
Themes
Dr. Primrose goes to the stranger’s room and offers to pay for it, which the stranger gladly accepts but insists on repaying at a future date. Dr. Primrose shares his future address and finds they are traveling the same way. The next morning the stranger, Mr. Burchell, joins the Primroses on their journey. He and Dr. Primrose debate philosophy, and Burchell points out the various aristocratic estates along the way, including Squire Thornhill. Burchell reveals, however, that the Squire’s fortune is entirely dependent on the generosity of his uncle, Sir William Thornhill. William Thornhill is renowned for his excessive generosity, which almost bankrupted him, leading him to travel Europe alone to find himself and regain his fortune. Just then, Sophia falling into a stream, interrupting Burchell’s story. Burchell leaps in to save her, making a charming impression. After crossing the river, Burchell and the Primroses part ways.
Though Dr. Primrose is an unworldly man, his perceptive reading of Mr. Burchell suggests that he is not as ignorant as he sometimes appears, as he finds Burchell’s philosophical ideas somewhat incongruent with his impoverished appearance. Despite this, Dr. Primrose’s inclination to be trusting is stronger than his power of reasoning, and he takes Burchell at face value. Burchell’s explanation of the source of the Squire’s wealth further hints at the Squire’s character and behavior, deepening the aristocratic intrigue—a topic above and beyond the Primroses’ interest or understanding. Burchell’s rescuing of Sophia, however, unmistakably marks the beginning of a romance between the two.
Themes
