Posted by Joffre on 15/9/2009, 23:06:43, in reply to "Re: The Vicar of Wakefield"
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I like The Vicar of Wakefield til near the end. Then it just becomes too much for me. When the son, whom they've just heard is so happy, is brought into the prison bloody and bandaged, I think, "Oh for God's sake." And then the dead daughter comes back to life.
I think that the word satire is thrown about too much. Even the idea that the clergy is satirized seems suspect to me. As I recall, only a couple clergyman are portrayed, Primrose and some other guy. The issue of priests marrying for a second time is Primrose's hobby horse. He will ride it whenever he gets a chance. The narrator does make clear that the question is much discussed, but he does not seem to imply that it is the only thing the clergy ever talks about. I see it as a portrait of one bumbling priest, not an indictment of the whole clergy.
Neither do I get the feeling Goldsmith is satirizing the literature of his time. I find it hard to argue this point. I will think about it. Sterling brought up the Job connection which Steven will know of from Bloom's Novelists and Novels. I wonder if it can be said that The Vicar satirizes Job or the Book of Job. It does seem to me that it makes a Job like character or a story the reminds one of the Book of Job look ridiculous. I am not sure that should be called satire.
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