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The Fireplace
The Primrose family’s famously excellent gooseberry wine, which they drink around the fireplace on many an occasion, represents their humble peasant origins and the traditions of the countryside. Gooseberry wine, also known as “country wine,” has been produced in Britain for centuries. Because gooseberries grow naturally throughout Britain and tend to be ready to harvest before any other summer fruits, they are one of the most accessible and inexpensive ingredients for wine. The Primroses’ wine therefore symbolizes the endurance of a rural cultural identity that the family draws strength from, despite the great upheavals of modernity.
This symbol is closely linked to that of the fireplace, which represents a progressive vision of familial and social harmony. For Dr. Primrose, a happy, healthy country family must embrace both of these ideals. While the Primroses have had access to both religious and secular education, and while they’ve experienced the world in ways his parishioners could not imagine, they nevertheless choose to stay true to their humble origins. Indeed, the novel reveals characters who embody cosmopolitan town life, like Lady Blarney and Miss Carolina Wilelmina Amelia Skeggs, to be deeply corrupt. Meanwhile, the novel portrays simple country folk like farmer Williams as virtuous. Sir William, whose own travels and failures to embody moral virtue have taught him to respect the peasant life, echoes the Primrose family’s attitude. Goldsmith, in presenting the points of class and cultural friction as such, argues that perhaps people should view the traditional ways of life disappearing under modernity should be considered as valuable sources of virtue.
Gooseberry Wine Quotes in The Vicar of Wakefield
The The Vicar of Wakefield quotes below all refer to the symbol of Gooseberry Wine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
The place of our retreat was in a little neighbourhood, consisting of farmers, who tilled their own grounds, and were equal strangers to opulence and poverty. As they had almost all the conveniences of life within themselves, they seldom visited towns or cities in search of superfluity. Remote from the polite, they still retained the primaeval simplicity of manners, and frugal by habit, they scarce knew that temperance was a virtue. They wrought with cheerfulness on days of labour; but observed festivals as intervals of idleness and pleasure.
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Gooseberry Wine Symbol Timeline in The Vicar of Wakefield
The timeline below shows where the symbol Gooseberry Wine appears in The Vicar of Wakefield. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...and spend their time visiting and entertaining neighbors and travelers; they are renowned for their gooseberry wine . While they are the victims of petty pranks, the most these incidents do is...
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Chapter 4
...together, often with guests like their neighbor Flamborough. The Primroses sing and share their famous gooseberry wine . The first Sunday in their new home scandalizes Dr. Primrose, as he finds Mrs....
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Chapter 5
The Primroses invite Squire Thornhill to taste their gooseberry wine , and he promises to return for future visits. Mrs. Primrose schemes for a match...
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Chapter 6
...ill in his youth but has since reformed. Burchell joins them for dinner—and, of course, gooseberry wine —and stays until very late. The youngest children, Dick and Bill, generously offer him their...
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Chapter 16
...Primrose takes advantage of this to recommend Olivia to the Squire, always attributing the cooking, gooseberry wine , or other aspects of the home to her. Though Mrs. Primrose thinks she is...
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Chapter 17
...on the Death of a Mad Dog” for the family as his parents drink more gooseberry wine . Dr. Primrose interprets the song as a great tragedy and compares such old ballads...
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