The Way of All Flesh (Cliffs Notes)

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BUTLER'S THE WAY OF ALL FLESH Notes including • • • • • • • • •

Life and Background of the Author Introduction to the Novel A Brief Synopsis List of Characters Critical Commentaries Character Analyses Critical Essays Essay Topics and Review Questions Selected Bibliography

by Roger E. Parsell, Ph.D. Department of English James Cook University of North Queensland

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68501 1-800-228-4078 www.CLIFFS.com ISBN 0-8220-7292-0 © Copyright 1974 by Cliffs Notes, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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LIFE AND BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR Samuel Butler (1835-1902) was the second of four children in the family of Reverend and Mrs. Thomas Butler of Langar, in Nottinghamshire, England. His grandfather, for whom he was named, was for many years Bishop of Lichfield and headmaster of Shrewsbury School, which the author attended preparatory to entering St. John's College of Cambridge University. After earning an honors degree in classics and mathematics, young Butler worked briefly as a lay assistant among the poor in London and studied art. After strenuously resisting his father's wish that he enter the Anglican ministry, he sailed in 1859 to New Zealand, where he engaged in sheep farming. After doubling the capital advanced by his father, Butler returned to England in 1864 and settled into quarters at 15 Clifford's Inn, London, where he resided, alone, until his death at the age of sixty-seven. These key biographical facts barely begin to suggest the fullness and complexity of Butler's life. The tedium and terror of his younger days, of course, are vividly presented in The Way of All Flesh. Butler's relationship with his father was always difficult and probably both better and worse than the father-son relationship treated in the novel. The immediate motivation for the writing of this work came when Butler's father accused his son of having literally killed his mother by publishing two earlier books, Erewhon (1871) and The Fair Haven (1873). It is extremely doubtful, however, that Mrs. Butler had read either one of them. Erewhon was the only book written by Butler to be widely read and to turn a profit during his lifetime. Based on his experiences in New Zealand and an intense interest in Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859), it describes a topsy-turvy utopia in which all machines are banned and disease is considered a crime. The Fair Haven was written ostensibly as a defense of the miraculous elements of Christianity but was, in fact, a sophisticated refutation of them. The subsequent bewilderment of readers and reviewers alike left Butler a highly controversial figure and an unlikely recipient of future commendation from an increasingly wary reading public. Having estranged himself from the religious-minded community, Butler proceeded to vex the scientific community by relentlessly challenging Darwin's mechanistic principles of evolution in a series of books, the first and foremost of which was Life and Habit (1878). Unlike Darwin, who attributed the evolution of species to chance, Butler supported the Lamarckian concept of change: When a creature acquires necessary habits and the organs by which to perform them, these habits and organs are then passed along to their offspring by a process of unconscious memory. Butler's organic theory, however, disavowed external or divine causes in favor of internal or self-generated development. Butler was destined to be frustrated in his attempts to gain a fair hearing for his arguments, for very few professional scientists believed that a former artist turned satirical humorist should be taken seriously. During most of the years which he spent writing The Way of All Flesh (1873 to 1885), he found himself occupying an increasingly isolated position. Unfortunately, his difficulties were further compounded by financial reverses that left him on the brink of insolvency. In spite of these distressing events, however, Butler continued to live comfortably; only once did he miss his annual vacation in Italy, a country which invariably served to lift his spirits. He also enjoyed the company of a few close friends, among whom was a former fellow art student, Eliza Savage. As an incarnate bachelor, Butler could not reciprocate Miss Savage's romantic interest, but he gratefully received her words of encouragement and judicious suggestions for the improvement of his autobiographically based novel. Although Butler's financial troubles began to ease as early as 1881, it was not until the death of his father in 1886 that he completely felt that he was financially secure. He promptly engaged a clerk and began to indulge a variety of interests which spanned the fields of literature, art, and music. He published a two-volume biography of his illustrious grandfather, English translations of the Odyssey and Iliad, a book arguing that a woman wrote the Odyssey, an unorthodox but stimulating interpretation of

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www.cliffs.com Shakespeare's sonnets, a revised edition of Erewhon, and, as a fitting climax to his writing career, Erewhon Revisited--a delightful version of utopia in a state of deterioration; he also published several articles and three books on art, and was at one time seriously considered for the Slade Professorship of Art History at Cambridge; moreover, he studied musical composition and, in collaboration with a close friend, wrote two cantatas. Butler, however, is best known today for having written Erewhon and The Way of All Flesh; yet beyond producing these two landmarks of satiric literature, he deserves recognition for being one of the last of an interesting line of amateur men of letters. Butler's life, therefore, takes on a special appeal of its own, especially since his life and works are closely interwoven. If Butler is not quite as well known as he once was, he yet remains a subject of much popular and critical attention. In a way that fits his own concept of immortality--"to live on the lips of living men"--his detractors help to keep him alive even as his admirers give abundant evidence that he has much to interest the present age. His place as one of the most remarkable satirists of the Victorian era is secure.

INTRODUCTION TO THE NOVEL The Way of All Flesh, published posthumously in 1903, has been referred to as a delayed-action bomb. The novel did not cause an immediate sensation, but when, in 1907, the leading dramatist of the day, George Bernard Shaw, called Butler a neglected genius and praised The Way of All Flesh as one of the greatest novels ever written, Butler's fame skyrocketed. The ensuing critical and popular acceptance of the novel and the renewed interest in Butler's other works thoroughly vindicated the author's resolute faith in himself as a speaker addressing himself to future generations. When Butler finished the novel in 1885, Charles Darwin had been dead for three years, and Butler was already beginning to detect a wider acceptance of his stubbornly asserted views on evolution. His decision to keep his novel in a drawer, however, was possibly influenced by a desire not to offend his sisters, who compositely appear in the novel as Ernest Pontifex's sister, Charlotte, and by an awareness of the need for revisions in the work, especially the last few chapters. The present-day reader cannot appreciate the shock value of the novel in the early part of the twentieth century unless the reader is mindful of the social milieu of the age. The preceding Victorian period, which roughly corresponds to Butler's life span, was one of unparalleled peace and prosperity for England. Consequently, entrenched interests became further entrenched, and the institutions of family and education assumed a sacrosanct status traditionally limited to the church. Butler was one of the first and most outspoken critics of a materialistic and smugly self-satisfied society which had become virtually fossilized. Butler instinctively rejected Robert Browning's oft-quoted and speciously optimistic line that "God's in his heaven and all's right with the world," even as later did the disillusioned generation of World War I. Butler's rise to fame during a period of strident anti-Victorianism, however, resulted in mixed consequences for his reputation. Shaw's championing of him as a social prophet, for example, tended to distort Butler's true position, for Butler had no conception of himself as a confederate of socialist revolutionaries. He simply wanted people to look at themselves in the light of their own humanity in order to become a better kind of people, who reflect the potential of their own best inherited characteristics and capacities for adaptation. Even though seemingly written in anger, The Way of All Flesh is fundamentally a celebration of the ability of humanity to overcome both external and internal threats to the realization of its highest personal and social identities. In short, Ernest Pontifex, by assuming an isolated position as an intellectual gadfly, is primarily the embodiment of the author's principle of evolutionary development.

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www.cliffs.com When Butler entered the speculative title, The Baptism of Fire and Folly, in his notebook of 1893, he undoubtedly was thinking of The Way of All Flesh. It is in the tradition of the bildungsroman, or novel of maturation, that the book was written. Although Ernest Pontifex is not another David Copperfield, the two protagonists have much in common. Both Butler's and Dickens' novels attempt to come to terms with unhappy childhood experiences; furthermore, their separate histories closely resemble each other in structure, plot, and characterization. The chief difference between the two novels lies in the "unaccustomed angle," as one critic perceptively notes, in which Butler casts his story. By questioning the comfortable assumptions generally held concerning marriage, family life, education, and religion, Butler was, figuratively, exposing the floor under the parlor rug in the Victorian mansion of complacency. Furthermore, and somewhat paradoxically, Butler's villains are not as thoroughly villainous as those drawn by Dickens. Butler concedes that even though George Pontifex was a tyrannical and miserly father to Theobald, he was quite successful when measured by everyday standards; to all but a few people, George's son Theobald was an exemplary clergyman; in the academic world, Dr. Skinner was widely respected. It is this kind of double vision by Butler which goes beyond an attempt to be fair, and into the realm of relative values where ambiguity rules and only the fully realizable self is held sacred. The crux of the novel, however, firmly centers on the necessity of an individual's rebelling against personally oppressive authority. When young Theobald succumbs to his father's will, he is destined to live a life of unconscious revenge. When Ernest successfully resists his father's will, he begins to reclaim his highest possible identity. The many novels of maturation which followed on the heels of The Way of All Flesh mark its importance in literary history. The most notable of this group of novels includes E. M. Forster's The Longest Journey (1907), Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger (1910), D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers (1913), W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage (1915), and James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916).

A BRIEF SYNOPSIS Old John Pontifex, the great-grandfather of the central character, Ernest, is a gentle, artistically gifted, and unpretentious carpenter in the village of Paleham. Unfortunately, his one and only child, George, reflects the characteristics of his obstinate and humorless mother. Following an apprenticeship, George assumes control of his uncle's London publishing house, which caters to the pious tastes of the middle-class reading public. Although outwardly a respectable businessman, George is a domestic tyrant, particularly to his youngest son, Theobald. Weak-willed and unable to execute his vague aspirations to become a seafaring man, Theobald easily capitulates to his father's insistence that he enter the Anglican ministry. Shortly after taking orders, Theobald meets Christina Allaby, one of five unmarried daughters in the family of the rector whom Theobald serves as curate. After winning matrimonial rights to Theobald from her sisters in a game of cards, Christina, tacitly in league with her mother, induces Theobald to propose marriage. Following a prolonged engagement, during which Theobald realizes he holds no genuine affection for Christina, he again goes against his better judgment by honoring his commitment. George's opposition to his son's financially unprofitable match leads Theobald to rationalize that his entering into a loveless marriage is a noble act. Unlike his father in almost every other way, Theobald is very like him as an authoritarian. He is determined to seek out and destroy the least sign of individuality in any of his children, and it is the oldest child, Ernest, who is made to suffer the frontal wave of his assault. Ernest is beaten for mispronouncing words, denied pocket money, and given "pleasure" by being allowed to select his own hymn to sing at Sunday evening service. Although his mother is far better natured and more gentle than Theobald, she eventually alienates Ernest by betraying his confidences to Theobald, who promptly administers

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www.cliffs.com punishment to his son. Neither Ernest's younger brother nor sister is the kind of playmate who can alleviate the harsh domestic regime, for they invariably submit to their parents' demands. Only the household servants provide Ernest with pleasurable companionship. At age twelve, Ernest enters Roughborough School, whose headmaster, Dr. Skinner, treats his charges much the same way that Theobald treats his children. Ernest is apathetic in his studies, dislikes athletics, begins to smoke and drink, but is not unpopular with his schoolmates. When Ernest's Aunt Alethea moves to Roughborough, she provides Ernest relief from his depressing existence by arranging lessons in carpentry for him and brightening his drab life with her cheerful company. Unfortunately, she is suddenly stricken with typhoid fever and dies; she arranges her will, however, so that Ernest will receive most of her sizable estate on his twenty-eighth birthday. Another misfortune befalls Ernest when he is home during a long vacation. Ellen, a friendly and charming servant girl at Battersby, is dismissed from service by Theobald when she is discovered to be pregnant. Christina half hopes that Ernest is the father, but he is innocent; he is guilty, however, of having given Ellen all his personal possessions of any value to help her on her way. When Theobald discovers Ernest's act, he forces a confession from Ernest and then extorts knowledge from him of his and the other schoolboys' vices at Roughborough. Ernest is agonized at having to tell tales out of school, and after he returns to Roughborough, he is severely punished by Dr. Skinner. The other boys readily forgive him, however, when he voluntarily admits his perfidy, and they gain revenge on Theobald by burning him in effigy on Guy Fawke's day, ironically the day of Ernest's confirmation. After completing his studies at Roughborough, Ernest enters Emmanual College of Cambridge University; there he enjoys a new freedom, gains at least a modest reputation as an intellectual, and takes an honors degree. Unfortunately, after showing flashes of distinctive literary gifts and a sense of humor, Ernest falls under the influence of the Simeonites, a small group of evangelistically fervent students. When he writes to his parents of his religious ardor, they are more frightened than amused; Theobald nonetheless insists that his son take religious orders, and Ernest complies. Ernest requests and subsequently receives an appointment as a junior curate in a London parish which is populated by the lower classes who are, for the most part, indifferent to religion. Under the spell of a slightly older curate, Pryer, Ernest hopes to found a College of Spiritual Pathology to treat disorders of the soul in much the same manner as physicians treat ailments of the body. Unfortunately, Ernest entrusts a small inheritance to Pryer for speculation in the stock market--the intended profits of this venture will enable them to advance God's work in the world more quickly. Unable to contain his enthusiasm, however, Ernest begins a private evangelical campaign of his own within the confines of his Ashpit Place boarding house. He is rebuffed at every clumsy attempt to gain converts; the culmination of his efforts is a complete fiasco, for he mistakes a decent young woman for a prostitute, approaches her boldly, and promptly finds himself put under arrest for attempted assault. In spite of the efforts of his godfather, Edward Overton, and a college acquaintance, Towneley, Ernest is sentenced to serve six months at hard labor in Coldbath Fields Prison. Upon reaching prison, Ernest suffers an attack of brain fever and remains bedfast for two months. Once he is sufficiently recovered, Ernest is apprenticed to the prison tailor and is given the post of chapel organist. He learns of Pryer's absconding with his inheritance and his father's renunciation of him at the same time. The prison chaplain gives him practical advice and makes no attempt to dissuade Ernest from leaving the ministry. By the time his sentence is completed, Ernest has not only renounced Christianity but his parents as well, telling them to think of him as one who is dead. With the help of Overton, Ernest reenters the world but is unsuccessful in his attempts to gain employment as a tailor. A chance meeting with Ellen, the servant discharged by Theobald when Ernest

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www.cliffs.com was yet at Roughborough, gives him the idea of opening a used-clothing shop, a line of work in which Ellen is experienced. Ernest quickly becomes infatuated with Ellen, who is extremely attractive despite having led a dissolute life in London. Overton is upset by Ernest's determination to marry her but advances the young couple money for the leasing of a shop which also provides living quarters. Both the marriage and the business prosper at first, but when Ellen tires of her role as the wife of a welleducated and refined husband, she begins to drink heavily, a practice which she artfully conceals from Ernest. He attributes her strange behavior to being with child, and only after she lapses into drinking a second time, when carrying her second child, does the naive Ernest understand the true cause of her distress. Resigned to a burdensome marriage and almost certain penury, Ernest suddenly gains relief upon hearing the testimony of her father's former coachman who left Battersby at the time of Ellen's dismissal. The testimony, to the effect that the coachman and Ellen had earlier married, prompts Ernest to arrange a separation from his supposed wife and to place his children first in the care of Overton's laundress and later in a foster home. With less than two years remaining before Ernest is to receive his Aunt Alethea's legacy, now grown to a considerable fortune, Overton decides that his godson has suffered enough and employs him as his secretary. Ernest's main duty is to manage the sums of money which, unknown to him, are soon to be his own. Ernest's shock and surprise when he comes into his fortune is matched only by that of Theobald. Called to his dying mother's bedside, Ernest does not flaunt his wealth; he acts firmly with his father and gently indulges his mother's concerns for her soul-worthiness. The reconciliation with his parents rounds out Ernest's prolonged and harassing process of maturation. Financially able to do as he pleases, Ernest first goes abroad for a number of years and then returns to set himself up as an intellectual gadfly, determined to attack the shams of a society which, willing or not, needs his corrective treatment.

List of Characters Edward Overton Ernest's godfather and fictional biographer who initially acts as a detached and ironic observer and recorder of Ernest's Pontifex antecedents and his early years of development; later in the novel, he becomes an active force in promoting Ernest's maturation. One of the few idealized characters, Overton is essentially a mouthpiece of the author in his older and more mature years.

Theobald Pontifex The father of the main character and the principal target of the author's most ironic and biting satire. Bullied by his father and forced to become a clergyman against his own wishes, Theobald seeks to gain revenge on life by bullying his own children. To his wife and parishioners, however, he seems to be an exemplary man of the cloth.

Christina Pontifex Ernest's mother, a comically deluded dreamer and a source of both comfort and anxiety to her son. Although Ernest is her favorite child, she inevitably loses his affection from betraying him too many times to her husband, Theobald, to whose shortcomings she remains oblivious.

Alethea Pontifex An idealized conception of what Ernest would like his mother to be, she provides her nephew with nearly the only pleasure he experiences in his early years at home and at school. Her bequeathing a delayed inheritance later allows Ernest a life of financial security and independence of action.

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Ernest Pontifex The main character; his delayed appearance in the novel emphasizes the importance of the conflicting traits of his inheritance and upbringing on his character and development. Modest, gentle, and shy by nature, Ernest is severely handicapped by a compulsive devotion to overbearing parents bent on teaching him all the wrong things. By virtue of his essential goodness and his adult experiences, however, he survives a series of incredible follies to reclaim his identity, a triumph crowned by his Aunt Alethea's legacy.

Mrs. Jupp One of the most brilliantly realized bawds in all literature, Mrs. Jupp, Ernest's landlady, supports Overton's observations about his godson's foolish aspirations to bring spiritual reform to the lower classes of London society. Her malapropisms and earthy humor provide hilarious comic relief.

Towneley A college friend of Ernest's who, in his unconscious but perfect adaptation to life, acts as a foil to Ernest and his bumbling efforts to find his personal identity and role in society. More a type than a fully developed character, Towneley yet shows admirable loyalty in helping Ernest during his most troubled moments.

Pryer The cunning and corrupt senior curate in the London parish in which Ernest is junior curate. He easily convinces Ernest of the need to establish a "College of Spiritual Pathology," then he absconds with the money Ernest entrusts him with for its founding.

John Pontifex The unassuming founder of the modern Pontifex line. A skilled craftsman, accomplished musician, and talented artist, he represents the highest stage of evolutionary development in his unconscious perfection and closeness to nature.

Ruth Pontifex Old John's wife; she gives birth to George at an advanced age for childbearing. Humorless, domineering, and obstinate, she introduces undesirable traits into the Pontifex lineage.

George Pontifex Following an apprenticeship, he assumes control of his uncle's publishing house in London, which caters to conventionally pious tastes. His early zeal for book learning indicates an unfavorable characteristic, that of conscious knowledge; his miserliness and tyrannical treatment of his children also sharply distinguish him from his father, Old John.

Mr. Allaby The rector of Crampsford and the father of seven children, notably Christina, the second of five unmarried daughters. When he tires of her prolonged engagement, he gently prods Theobald into honoring his commitment.

Mrs. Allaby An outwardly good woman who adroitly schemes to marry off her daughters; her powers are no better demonstrated than in her promoting the match between Christina and Theobald.

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Mrs. Cowey A friend of Mrs. Allaby who, having succeeded in finding husbands for her own daughters, delights in lending her talents to the cause of Mrs. Allaby.

Mrs. Thompson A dying parishioner at Battersby who desperately seeks the comforts of religion which Theobald is unable to provide.

Gelstrap George Pontifex's butler; he is blamed for spilling the bottle of Jordan River water reserved for Ernest's christening. Actually, George is to blame and Gelstrap's quick thinking enables most of the water to be saved.

Joseph (Joey) Pontifex Ernest's younger brother and eventual curate to Theobald. He is too compliant as a son but, finally, hates his father more than does Ernest.

Charlotte Pontifex Ernest's sister, the embodiment of the worst Pontifex traits. She counters her father's will only in conniving to introduce higher ritualism into the Anglican church service.

Dr. Skinner A famous headmaster of Roughborough whose liberalism and learning seem a sham to Ernest, his reluctant pupil.

Ellen The unusually attractive and generally capable former domestic servant at Battersby whom Ernest marries. After Ellen's hopeless addiction to alcohol severely tests Ernest's powers of endurance, the discovery that their marriage is bigamous enables Ernest to regain his freedom. She is probably the least successfully portrayed character of prominence in the novel.

John, the Coachman He threatens Theobald with bodily harm when Ernest is discovered to have given Ellen a silver watch. His confession of earlier marrying Ellen releases Ernest from his supposed marital obligations.

Mrs. Cross A small shopkeeper at Roughborough, Mrs. Jones being another, who provides refreshments on credit to schoolboys with voracious appetites.

Badcock A sleazy sizar at Cambridge and leader of the Simeonites, a small group of religious zealots who live in extreme poverty.

Mr. Hawke A fervent and skillful evangelist whose passionate oratory moves Ernest to become a religious activist.

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Holt A drunken and brutal wife-beater living at Mrs. Jupp's; Ernest quickly dismisses him as a likely prospect for conversion.

Emily Snow A pretty young girl of easy virtue who lives at Mrs. Jupp's. Ernest's attempt to convert her is futile.

Miss Maitland Another pretty young girl who lives at Mrs. Jupp's, but, unlike Miss Snow, her virtue is intact. She has Ernest arrested on a charge of assault.

Dawson A Cambridge friend to whom Ernest addresses several patronizing letters which outline his plans to found a College of Spiritual Pathology.

Mr. and Mrs. Baxter A married couple living at Mrs. Jupp's whom Ernest attempts to convert, but who nearly succeed in converting him to Methodism.

Mr. Shaw A lowly tinker whose knowledge of the Bible astonishes Ernest; he plants the seeds of skepticism in the porous soul of Ernest.

Mr. Ottery Overton's attorney; he advises Ernest to throw himself on the mercy of the court; later, he manages the weekly payments to Ellen after she agrees to a separation from Ernest.

The Magistrate He pronounces sentence on Ernest after delivering the most comically ironical speech in the novel.

Mr. Hughes Ernest's chaplain at Coldbath Fields Prison and the only clergyman to give Ernest sound and practical advice.

Mr. Larkin Overton's tailor; he sensibly shows why Ernest is unemployable as a tailor in a London shop.

"An Eminent London Doctor" He prescribes therapy for Ernest which is in accord with Butler's own views on the desirability of living in harmony with nature.

Georgie and Alice Pontifex Ernest's two children by Ellen; they prosper as foster children of a simple bargeman and represent the racial "memory" of old John Pontifex's unconscious perfection.

Mr. Rollings A robust and friendly owner and operator of barges who provides Ernest's children with a suitable home.

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CRITICAL COMMENTARIES CHAPTERS 1-16 Summary Edward Overton, the fictional biographer of Ernest Pontifex, begins his story by describing three generations of Ernest's paternal forebears. As a small child, Overton knew Ernest's great-grandfather, John Pontifex, a carpenter who lived unpretentiously with his wife in the small village of Paleham until his death in 1812. Although lacking a formal education, John Pontifex was a naturally gifted artist and musician. A man of admirable character, he was held in near reverence by his fellow townspeople and especially by Overton's father, who much preferred Old John to his son, and only child, George. As a boy, George Pontifex was quick, aggressive, and eager for book learning. After being apprenticed to an uncle who lived in London, George saw less and less of his parents and eventually became the sole proprietor of his uncle's business, a publishing house which catered to the conventionally pious tastes of the general public. George's own tastes were, like those who purchased his books, distressingly Victorian in every respect, from performing the grand tour of continental Europe in the prescribed manner to beating his two sons as regularly as he trimmed his beard. As a father, his main object was to break the will of his sons and three daughters; the most vulnerable of his children to attack was the weak-willed second son, Theobald, the eventual father of Ernest. Theobald, whom Overton knew as a childhood acquaintance, wished to be a seafaring man, but he lacked the necessary courage to resist his father's plans for him to enter the Anglican ministry. After taking his orders, Theobald became an assistant to the Reverend Allaby, the father of five daughters of marriageable age. Christina, the second oldest daughter, gained exclusive matrimonial rights to Theobald by winning a card game in which he was the stakes. Christina, four years older than Theobald, was at the same time more and less stable than her intended. She knew that she wanted him for a husband, but he could not think of sufficient reasons not to want her for a wife; on the other hand, he was quite matter-of-fact and practical, but Christina regularly indulged in elaborate fantasies in anticipation of her role as a clergyman's wife. Following a lengthy engagement, Theobald finally, not without being firmly prodded by his prospective father-in-law, agreed to a wedding date; his having received a parish of his own stripped him of further reasons for delay. Once married, Theobald congratulated himself for honoring his word to Christina even in the face of his father's opposition to a financially unprofitable match. At home in their parsonage in Battersby-on-the-Hill, Theobald and his bride quickly settled into the strict and stern routine which would characterize their entire married life. Commentary Unlike most fictional autobiographies, The Way of All Flesh does not begin with the birth of the protagonist; it beings with an account of his paternal forebears of the preceding three generations. The author's purpose, however, is not simply to provide a genealogy of the Pontifex line for its own sake. Butler, in keeping with the intellectual climate of his age, is ardently engaged in weighing the consequences of evolutionary theories and doctrines which were made popular by Charles Darwin and others. Butler's interest in evolutionary theories was, in fact, so intense that he wrote four books in which he presented his own views on evolution. Ernest's antecedents, therefore, take on a special significance as biological prefigurations of Ernest's own delayed groping and struggling to attain manhood. John Pontifex, as Overton makes abundantly clear, represents the highest form of evolutionary development. A man of humble origins and modest attainments, Old John is nevertheless the kind of "mute, inglorious Milton" eulogized by Thomas Gray in his famous "Elegy." Very much at home in his

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www.cliffs.com world of everyday concerns, he found his greatest satisfaction in playing his own hand-built organ and in sketching and painting. His closeness to nature is symbolized by his words, "Good-bye, sun," which he speaks softly on the eve of his peaceful death. George Pontifex, on the other hand, represents the qualities which Butler detests. Aggressive, bookish, and conventionally pious, George is extremely heavy-handed in rearing his children. It is in the depiction of George Pontifex that the reader can first witness Butler's skillful use of irony. When Overton advises parents who wish to lead a quiet life to point out their own perfection and to make their children believe themselves to be inferior and depraved, he is, of course, using George as a target for a satiric thrust. At this point in the novel, George is redeemed only by his ability to make money and to leave most of it to his heirs. Theobald Pontifex, George's younger son, is but a pale shadow of his father. Essentially a passive and weak character, he lacks both convictions and the determination to carry them out. He accedes to his father's choice of a profession for him even as he allows himself to be drawn into marrying a woman for whom he feels little genuine attachment. Christina is also a weak person, but she is better natured than Theobald and certainly more amiable in her faults. She is perhaps Butler's most memorable character. Her precarious balance between loyalty to her husband and abandonment to her absurd daydreams is exceptionally well presented. When Theobald forces her to order their wedding day dinner at a wayside inn, the author not only captures the essence of these two characters and their relationship to each other, but he also displays his deft way of comically illustrating the significance of apparently insignificant events. At least one other observation should be made here, and that is the narrator's readiness to digress whenever he chooses to do so. Modern readers accustomed to economical prose may have difficulty in appreciating a novel which abounds in digressions. What the reader must understand, however, is that these digressions are essential to the fulfillment of the author's purpose. Butler is not only telling a story, he is also disseminating a hard-earned and fervently held philosophy of life. Furthermore, as the reader discovers before the end of the novel, Ernest is the fictional counterpart only of the younger Samuel Butler, and Edward Overton is the older, and much wiser, same person. In other words, Butler is writing this novel as an apology: an explanation and defense of his life and final position. Ernest may indeed be the prototype of the modern anti-hero in the novel--he is not intended to be an Everyman--but he is, first of all, the representative of a class of young Englishmen who, for reasons largely traceable to their upbringing, find that they are ill-prepared for life. If earlier novels of maturation were concerned with a protagonist's quest for identity, The Way of All Flesh presents this quest with a vital difference: The protagonist is compelled to discover a philosophy of life compatible with his own best inherited nature which will enable him to overcome the severe handicaps imposed on him as a child by misguided and misguiding parents.

CHAPTERS 17-21 Summary The birth of Ernest during the fifth year of Theobald and Christina's marriage is especially welcome news to George Pontifex, for Ernest is his first grandson. Wishing to mark the event in a special way, George personally enters his wine cellar to retrieve a bottle of water taken from the Jordan River. Unfortunately, he drops the bottle, but his servant's quick work with a sponge and filter saves enough of the precious fluid to be used at the infant's christening. The family dinner following the event goes exceedingly well, Overton observes, excepting George's extreme perturbation at being served a cock lobster instead of a hen lobster.

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www.cliffs.com The dinner is also notable for the presence of Theobald's sister, Alethea (who asked to be Ernest's godmother), and the narrator, Overton (who was requested to be the second godfather). Overton makes a brief comment on his long courtship of Alethea, who, for some unexplained reason, has never consented to marry him. Neither of them, Overton observes, will ever marry anyone else. In writing about Ernest's christening many years after the actual event, Overton wryly asks himself, "Why cannot we be buried as eggs in neat little cells with ten or twenty thousand pounds each wrapped round us in Bank of England notes" before we wake to find "that papa and mamma . . . have been eaten by sparrows?" The death of George Pontifex from a chronic liver condition caused by excessive eating and drinking elicits a eulogy from Overton. Admitting that the deceased had his full share of faults, Overton believes that, on the whole, George lived according to the pleasure principle which most unexceptional men should follow. If George had been a mean person, he was mean in the total sense of the word and not merely crabbed nor excessive in his virtues and vices. The observance of higher moral standards would have prevented him from obtaining the wealth he needed to live pleasurably. If he had been something of a miser, his money-gathering represents a talent which few people possess. "Judge him according to a fair average standard," Overton concludes, "and there is not much fault to be found with him." Ernest is scarcely a toddler when his parents begin the regimen which continues until Ernest is sent away to school. Theobald does not like children, and Christina wishes that they could be born as "full-grown clergymen . . . with comfortable livings." Constantly on guard against leniency, Theobald gives his eldest child daily lessons and beatings to eradicate any signs of self-will in him or in his younger brother and sister. Christina obediently tries to follow her husband's example in child rearing, but she succeeds better in entertaining idle fancies about their futures than in administrating corporal punishment. Imagining herself grown more spiritually pure from having "left off eating things strangled and blood," Christina dreams of herself as a possible Madonna and Ernest as a reincarnation of Christ. Commentary Even after the birth of Ernest, the central character in the novel, the author, through his assumed identity as the aging Edward Overton, continues to center his attention on Ernest's immediate family and the family patriarch, George Pontifex. The hilariously comic incident involving the spilling of the bottle of Jordan River water also portends the kind of life Ernest will experience as a lay Christian and cleric. The reactions of Ernest's parents and grandfather to his birth confirm the earlier descriptions of them. George is exceptionally proud of acquiring a grandson who will continue the family name; Theobald exults in having produced a grandson before his older brother produced one; Christina rejoices in Ernest's being baptized with the holiest of water. The chapter devoted to eulogizing George Pontifex is a late addition to the novel and therefore represents a softened attitude on the author's part. Butler may have been influenced in this respect from having written a biography of his own grandfather, a man of whom he had no personal recollection. The chapter is not without a desired artistic effect, however, for the reader is given the impression that no matter how bad a father George was, Theobald is worse. Having been brought up to obey his father's will and to suppress his own, Theobald resolves to stifle any signs of self-will in his children. Ernest, the firstborn child of Theobald and Christina, is unfortunately destined to suffer the initial wave of Theobald's selfrighteous paternal resolution.

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CHAPTERS 22-26 Summary Ernest's early childhood is recollected as an unrelieved succession of Victorian Sundays. Of the two parents, Christina is the more tolerable and affectionate, but her role is rather that of an accomplice to Theobald's tyranny than as a loving and kindly presence whose love and kindness are sorely needed. When Ernest, age three, cannot pronounce the word come correctly, he is whipped for being "self-willed and naughty." A measure of relief from this oppressive existence comes on Sunday evenings when the children are permitted to select their own hymns to sing. Overton confesses that "the sight of so much suffering" dissuades him from visiting the Pontifexes more often. When questioned by Overton in his later years about his childhood, Ernest, perhaps out of stubborn family loyalty, refuses to wish he had been treated differently as a child. He is quite emphatic, however, in his insistence that the family as an institution should be confined to a lower species. His point is well borne out by the reproduction of a letter written by Christina to her children at a time of confinement when she feared that she would not survive the delivery of another baby. Her solicitude for her children's welfare consists entirely of admonishing them to be obedient to their father. Their own salvation is considered only in terms of a final day of judgment, and there is no reference to their happiness as mere worldlings. Overton sums up Ernest's early years by remarking that Ernest was made to suffer from "home-sickness," a kind of "starving, through being over-crammed with the wrong things." Commentary As in the chapters prior to these, the author provides further anecdotes, scenes, and philosophical digressions related to Ernest's painful early years in the Pontifex household at Battersby. Ernest continues to be mistreated, but his own nature is shown to be naturally good, trustful, and endearing. If there are no cowslips to make tea with in heaven, Ernest says that he would not wish to die, even though he might be able to sing beautiful hymns with his grandmother there. Life on earth, however, passes as an unrelenting endurance contest. As a clergyman, Theobald is even described as a kind of "walking Sunday." To Overton, Theobald's Old Testament readings find their objective correlative in the bees which mistake the Pontifex drawing room wallpaper design of roses as actual flowers. The bees traverse the walls "without ever suspecting that so many of the associated ideas could be present, and yet the main idea be wanting hopelessly, and for ever." In these chapters, as frequently throughout the novel, Butler borrows from other of his writings on various subjects to comment on the phenomena of Ernest's early childhood. Overton takes a characteristic Butlerian stance, for instance, when he espouses the rule of clerical celibacy enforced by the Roman Catholic faith. Anglican clergymen are subject to unnatural tensions and their children are but defenseless objects of their suppressed anger. Furthermore, a man dedicated to defending an institution which for three hundred years had not changed "a single one of its opinions" is obviously unsuited for the role of father. Not content with limiting family life to a species of life lower than man, Overton would rid the world altogether of clergyman fathers. Such observations demonstrate that even before psychology was generally regarded as a scientific discipline, Butler held acute perceptions as a social psychologist.

CHAPTERS 27-31 Summary At the age of twelve, Ernest is enrolled in a grammar school at Roughborough, located about fifty miles from Battersby. Dr. Skinner, the headmaster, has a general reputation as a man of genius by virtue of his undergraduate debating record, his biblical scholarship, and his record of turning out boys who distinguish themselves as university students. Ernest, however, is one of a minority of pupils at

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www.cliffs.com Roughborough who do not fall under the spell of this man and his reputation as a "God-fearing earnest Christian and a Liberal, if not a Radical, in politics." Dr. Skinner is, in fact, a carbon copy of Ernest's father in his handling of boys. In his account of an evening of chess with Dr. Skinner, Overton reveals the petty, boorish, and pretentious qualities of the man. Although he dutifully writes to his parents as though he were happy at Roughborough, Ernest is unhappy during his first two years there. At least, however, he is free of his father's bullying, and Dr. Skinner only occasionally makes his menacing presence felt. Fortunately, Ernest's schoolmates are mostly free of the offensive behavior so often associated with English public schools of that period. Only Ernest's reluctance to participate in athletics incurs their displeasure, but Ernest's aversion to studying impresses them favorably. He drinks more beer than is good for a frail boy, and he takes up smoking. The monthly "merit money" he receives roughly indicates his social standing: "too much for him to rank among the downright bad boys, but too little to put him among the good ones. Commentary The author's satirical skill is nowhere better illustrated than in the episode in which Overton spends an evening with Dr. Skinner. Like Ernest's grandfather and father, Dr. Skinner is a successful man in the eyes of the world, but to Butler, through the alias of Overton, Dr. Skinner is the prime example of the pompous pedant, a particularly dangerous species of life. Feigning temperance, he is a glutton; pretending to great learning, he is an unblushing plagiarist; bullish among cowed pupils, he uses his office of headmaster to satisfy an insatiable ego. Overton's anecdotes which depict Dr. Skinner's "light" supper and his misconstruing of the initials "A.M.D.G." (which are engraved on a Roman Catholic chapel) give substance to Overton's indictment of the man. As Ernest's biographer, Overton makes good his warning to schoolmasters everywhere not to abuse their charges, for any one of them may one day tell the world what manner of headmasters they were. The interior monologues of Theobald and Christina on their return journey to Battersby, after enrolling Ernest at Roughborough, amplify kinds of satire begun earlier. Accusing Ernest of being ungrateful and selfish, Theobald immediately despairs of Ernest because of his unselfish sharing of pocket money with his friends. Left to her own thoughts, Christina alternately congratulates herself on the impression she has made on Mrs. Skinner and speculates on the glorious possibility for Ernest to cultivate the friendship of a future lord who might be attending Roughborough. In commenting on his subject's early school years, Overton laments Ernest's bondage to a routine which deprives him of discovering his stronger and truer self. Surrounded by prigs from birth, Ernest cannot avoid taking on some of the characteristics of priggishness, a term used by Overton to indicate all that is wrong with pursuing life as a duty and not as a pleasure. Instead of learning Latin and Greek, Ernest could spend his time more profitably in "growing bone and muscle." In other words, Ernest has little or no opportunity at Roughborough to rid himself of his father's stultifying influence; instead, he is fated to live in ignorance of the world and of his best possible natural self. By presenting this opinion in a mixture of biblical and scientific language, Overton strongly reflects the author's own deeply held anti-academic attitudes.

CHAPTERS 32-38 Summary Alethea Pontifex, the unmarried younger sister of Theobald, visits Ernest at Roughborough and is much attracted to him. Though aware of the lamentable effects of his parental training, Alethea decides to take an active interest in Ernest because of his agreeable nature and his extraordinary interest in music. On the pretext of seeking a more healthful place to live outside London, Alethea takes a small house in

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www.cliffs.com Roughborough; there she ingratiates herself with the schoolmasters and pupils and, at the same time, affords Ernest a haven from his oppressive school life. Alethea's brief period of residency in Roughborough marks the happiest period of her nephew's young life. Ernest is provided with lessons in carpentry and then is given all the necessary tools and materials to construct an organ. Ernest prospers in health and spirit while he is engaged in these activities under the cheerful guidance of his aunt. Unfortunately, Alethea is suddenly stricken with typhoid fever and, after summoning Overton and her solicitor, dictates a will which provides for the bulk of her estate to be left in trust with Overton for Ernest until he reaches the age of twenty-eight. Following the untimely demise of his aunt, the saddened Ernest falls back into the deadly routine at school, a dreary situation which her presence had done so much to relieve. Another misfortune, however, is in the making for Ernest at Battersby. A young and charming domestic servant, Ellen, is discovered to be pregnant and, consequently, is forthwith ordered off the premises by Theobald. Christina, half suspecting Ernest of being Ellen's lover, both shudders and exults at the possibility of his involvement. Ernest, however, only knows Ellen as a friendly and pleasing presence in an otherwise drab and depressing household. Commentary After having shown that Ernest's better self has been thoroughly suppressed by his parents and early teachers, Overton presents Ernest's hope for the future in the form of Ernest's Aunt Alethea. One of three or four idealized characters in the novel, Alethea, whose name is taken from the pagan Greek word for truth, represents the unconscious perfection of character reminiscent of old John Pontifex, Alethea's grandfather and Ernest's great-grandfather. Her attempt to interest Ernest in the construction of an organ characterizes Alethea's way of attempting to develop the finest traits of the Pontifex heritage in Ernest, whom she judges to be the most likely of the younger members of the family to keep them alive. Unfortunately, Alethea's demise delays the fulfillment of her expectations. A kind of dramatic irony is introduced in the novel when Alethea stipulates that most of her sizable fortune be given to Ernest when he becomes twenty-eight years old. Overton, ostensibly the chief beneficiary of Alethea's will, is actually Ernest's trustee, a fact known to only Overton and his solicitor. Consequently, Overton suffers the slings and arrows of outraged Pontifexes who are all certain that Overton is guilty of demonic subterfuge. Overton's relief at being "cut" by these relatives, particularly by Ernest's parents, supports the author's intention of presenting these people as outwardly respectable and pious, but inwardly greedy and self-serving. Ernest, kept in ignorance of the actual terms of his aunt's will, is once again forced to endure the oppressive and damaging environment which he will eventually overcome only after suffering a series of calamities which are described in the chapters to follow.

CHAPTERS 39-44 Summary Upon learning of Ellen's sudden dismissal from the Pontifex household, Ernest runs several miles in pursuit and finally intercepts the carriage bearing her away. He insists that she take his silver watch, pen knife, and his small amount of pocket money to ease her plight. At the urging of John, the coachman, she accepts these gifts and promises to repay him for them at a future time. In order to explain the loss of his possessions to his parents, Ernest fabricates a story which momentarily assuages their anger and suspicions. Soon thereafter, however, Theobald finds the missing watch at a pawnbroker's shop and uses his discovery to force Ernest to confess not only to his charity to the disgraced Ellen but also to his and other Roughborough boys' delinquencies at school.

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www.cliffs.com Once Ernest breaks his resolve to withhold information about these practices--relating to the vices of profanity, smoking, drinking, and running up bills of credit--Theobald compiles a chart on each of the schoolboys' individual conduct and submits it to the headmaster, Dr. Skinner. Ernest is punished in every way possible at the beginning of the new term and all the boys are confined to grounds. By voluntarily confessing to the other boys about his guilt in telling tales out of school, Ernest receives their forgiveness. Dr. Skinner's prompt burning of the report given him by Theobald in the latter's presence both limits the severest penalties to Ernest and deters Theobald from interfering again in school affairs. When the boys choose Theobald to burn in effigy on Guy Fawkes day--which is also the day of Ernest's confirmation into the Church--Theobald remains silent. Ernest's remaining days at school pass without further incident. By the time he leaves Roughborough, Ernest has earned at least a modicum of approval from Dr. Skinner in spite of practicing the organ with much more ardor than he could ever muster for his academic lessons. Commentary The two major incidents involving Ernest which are described in these chapters--the attempted concealment of his gifts to Ellen and confessing to his own and other schoolboys' vices--are important in completing the indictment of Christina and Theobald as incompetent parents. Butler's dramatic abilities are nowhere more apparent than when Christina attempts to coax Ernest into confessing to her the nature of his relationship with Ellen in one of Christina's memorable "sofa talks." In keeping with her past fantasies, Christina is disappointed to learn that her son cannot possibly be "a kind of Joseph and Don Juan." Theobald, on the other hand, is in no way redeemed by comical treatment. Having discovered Ernest's attempt to conceal his help to Ellen, Theobald relentlessly works on Ernest's financial worries to extort the most exact details not only of Ernest's, but the entire lot of Ernest's schoolmates', wayward habits. The burning of Theobald in effigy symbolizes his incarceration as a kind of "devil"; Ernest's confirmation on the same day, November 5, or the day the English annually observe the seventeenth-century Guy Fawke's plot to destroy Parliament, foreshadows Ernest's unpromising future as a follower of the Christian faith in the same way as the spilling of the holy water prior to Ernest's christening. A hopeful sign can be discerned, however, when Ernest leaves Roughborough after his graduation: He looks out of the window of his train to laugh at the sun, remembering how he helped to burn his father in effigy. Ernest's better and truer nature, symbolized by an act reminiscent of old John Pontifex's closeness to nature, has not been completely stifled.

CHAPTERS 45-50 Summary As a student at Emmanuel College of Cambridge University, Ernest is conscious of being happy for the first time in his life. Freedom of movement, comfortable surroundings, and the companionship of desirable friends all contribute to his sense of well being. Lacking ambition as a scholar, Ernest at least gains a modest reputation as an intellectual after arguing in an undergraduate magazine that the reputations of some of the classical Greek dramatists--Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides--are greatly exaggerated. This one essay is to remain his only triumph, however, until he surprises himself, his friends, and his family by completing an honors degree in mathematics and classics. During his last year at Emmanuel, Ernest, along with other of his classmates who plan to enter the Anglican ministry, becomes more attentive to religious topics. Ernest is especially attracted to the Simeonites, a group of evangelistically fervent students of all ages who eschew the comforts of ordinary society to live piously among themselves in extreme poverty. After Ernest falls under their spell, he vows to renounce his habitual pipe smoking, a step which he hastily retracts. When he writes to his family of his new awakening to Christ, Christina and Theobald are greatly disturbed: Religious faith, even among

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www.cliffs.com the clergy, is to be exercised in moderation. Ironically, Ernest's period of religious enthusiasm comes at a period in English history in which skeptical currents were becoming popular with the public. Commentary Ernest's four years at Cambridge are presented as a pleasant interlude between periods of strife. Neither boy nor man, Ernest experiences a reprieve from the misery of his earlier years and the harrowing experiences which will complicate his forthcoming years of early manhood. Once given the opportunity to find himself in a congenial atmosphere, Ernest reveals flashes of brilliance and yet fails to gain the knowledge of himself and of the world which he needs in order to attain manhood. His interpretation of the eminent classical Greek dramatists as important to their contemporaries only in the way most Victorian clergymen are to their congregations is nevertheless an indication of the kind of clever insight which readers associate with the mature satirical genius of Butler. Ernest, however, lacks both the appreciation of his unique talent and the method by which he can develop it. In other words, he has never been allowed by his elders, and consequently does not allow himself, to entertain the idea that he possesses distinctive intellectual gifts. The pilgrimage of Ernest to manhood is considerably helped by the Cambridge years, and yet our hero's lack of self-assurance leads him toward misadventures, mostly of his own making. In abandoning his developing sense of humor and ability to think for himself by engaging in mindless evangelical enthusiasms, Ernest becomes susceptible to the follies which will burden him for the next five years of his life. With the incipience of a new crisis, therefore, the rhythm of the novel is regained: The hero at college may be relatively happy, but this period of tranquility is neither described in detail nor permitted to continue beyond Ernest's taking of a university degree.

CHAPTERS 51-55 Summary Soon after taking his degree and being ordained as a curate, Ernest is assigned to a London parish. The senior curate, Pryer, is slightly older than Ernest and is a personable and persuasive conservative whose High Church views appeal to Ernest as much as did the diametrically opposed views of the Simeonites. Pryer's espousal of an odd mixture of clerical license and lay subservience to Church tenets gains Ernest's support, and the two of them soon agree on founding a College of Spiritual Pathology. They intend to treat people's souls in the manner that physicians treat bodies and thereby bring church practices up-todate with developments in the field of science. Ernest not only pledges the inheritance from his grandfather to this cause but also writes solemn, pompous, and patronizing letters to his college friends, describing his design to regenerate the Church and the nation. Upon visiting Ernest in his living quarters--appropriately named Ashpit Place, a squalid quarter of the oldest section of London--Overton is vexed to learn of Ernest's ill-conceived plans. Mrs. Jupp, Ernest's cockney landlady, supports Overton's judgment by referring to Ernest as "knowing no more than an unborn babe." The metaphor is more appropriate than either of these two people realize, for Ernest soon permits Pryer to assume the entire responsibility of investing his money in the stock market so that the anticipated profits from the expected "quick killing" will hasten their implementation of God's work in the world. Unfortunately, in attempting to play the Good Shepherd, Ernest unwittingly allows himself to become a sacrificial lamb. Commentary These chapters demonstrate the severe handicap imposed on a young man who enters the workaday world insufficiently prepared. As Overton observes, Ernest's belated discovery of his abilities and selfconfidence as a student at Cambridge is, as it were, "nipped by a late frost." Having caught the fever of

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www.cliffs.com evangelism, Ernest welcomes ordination as a curate only to play the fool by rushing into a ghetto where angels would certainly fear to tread. Moreover, Ernest's only angelic qualities are an apparently limitless naiveté and blind trust in anyone to whom he takes a fancy. If Ernest is more the fool, his fellow curate, Pryer, is clearly the knave. In attaching himself to Pryer, Ernest disregards both the questionable nature of Pryer's morality and his theology. Worst of all, Ernest allows Pryer the management of his financial resources. At the same time that Ernest is sinking further and further into the chasm he is digging for himself, two other characters, Overton and Mrs. Jupp, act as observers and commentators on the young man's folly. Mrs. Jupp is remarkable as a character type that dates back to Chaucer's Wife of Bath and includes the most celebrated bawds in English literature--Shakespeare's Mistress Quickly, Laurence Sterne's Mrs. SlipSlop, and even in a different sense, Richard Sheridan's Mrs. Malaprop. Although of the lowest class and lacking a formal education, Mrs. Jupp possesses an instinctive wisdom which enables her to share Overton's skeptical attitude toward his godson's antics. If she is only of incidental importance to the central action of the novel, Mrs. Jupp is nevertheless a brilliant triumph of characterization and brings riotously comic relief at a time when the main character could well be written off by the reader as one of the world's greatest dupes.

CHAPTERS 56-60 Summary While praying for the stock market to behave properly, in the way God intends it should, Ernest grows restless and impatient at the delay. Thousands of souls are being lost hourly without being saved. Ernest determines to begin his campaign of saving souls by canvassing his own neighborhood. Immediately after making this vow, however, Ernest accidentally meets a former college friend, fittingly named Towneley, an individual perfectly and effortlessly adapted to the world. When Ernest awkwardly asks Towneley whether he likes poor people, the prompt and forceful reply of "No, no, no" produces a devastating effect on Ernest. After rationalizing Towneley's rejoinder to be the voice of the devil, Ernest resolves to carry out his scheme of saving souls by first calling on the other tenants of Mrs. Jupp. Unfortunately, the result of this decision, to paraphrase Overton, is that one tenant, Mr. Holt, puts him in fear of physical harm; a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, nearly convert him to Methodism; a lowly tinker, Mr. Shaw, undermines his faith in the Resurrection; and an alluring young woman, Miss Snow, nearly ruins his moral character. It is while he is speaking to Miss Snow that Ernest is startled by the unexpected and untimely arrival of Towneley, although "at his appointed time," as Miss Snow comments. Ernest goes back to his own room, where he agitatedly kicks his Bible across the floor. He then forces himself into the room of a second young woman, Miss Maitland, whom he supposes to be of the same moral persuasion as Miss Snow. Terrified by the sudden intrusion into her chambers, Miss Maitland flees in alarm to the street, where an overly zealous police officer is stationed. Moments later, Ernest is arrested on a charge of attempted assault. Commentary Ernest's "malaise," according to Overton, is comparable to a very young foal's inclination "to eat some objectionable refuse." In other words, Ernest needs guidance, for he is incapable of foraging for himself. Lamentably, he cannot discriminate between a series of attractive choices which are personified most prominently by the evangelistic Mr. Hawke, the theologically conservative Pryer, and the urbane Towneley. The disastrous conclusion of Ernest's short-lived evangelistic campaign is the climactic event in his increasingly severe befuddlement over his proper identity and course of action.

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www.cliffs.com One of the strongest impressions one receives from these chapters is that the many assorted characters all act as foils to the vacillating and confused main character. Although these secondary characters represent differing philosophies and conditions of life, they all are firmly placed. Mr. Holt's brutality, the Baxters' Methodism, and Miss Snow's promiscuity, for example, may be in various degrees repugnant from an authorial point of view, but there is no uncertainty as to each character's identity. Ernest cannot recognize these qualities any more than Don Quixote was capable of distinguishing wrongdoers from windmills. Moreover, the narration is all the more remarkable in these chapters for preserving a comic tone while relating Ernest's pathetic catastrophe.

CHAPTERS 61-66 (61-65 in other than Riverside editions) Summary Upon hearing of Ernest's arrest, both Towneley and Overton rush to his assistance, but neither one is able to save him from being held overnight in jail or from the embarrassment of having his name mentioned in one of the journals. Before pronouncing sentence of six months of hard labor at Coldbath Fields Prison, the judge hearing the case reprimands Ernest for having betrayed his genteel upbringing. "At Cambridge," the judge intones, "you were shielded from impurity by every obstacle which virtuous and vigilant authorities could devise . . . but it seems as though their only result had been this--that you have not even the common sense to be able to distinguish between a respectable girl and a prostitute." Even before reaching prison, Ernest collapses with an incipient attack of brain fever which leaves him bedfast for nearly two months in the prison infirmary. During his slow recovery, Ernest realizes his mistake of becoming a clergyman and convinces himself that the underlying principle of Christianity, the evidence for the Resurrection, is false. Once satisfying himself on this point, he embraces rationalism and determines to undo all the wrong done to himself and others from Christian teaching: He will try to persuade the Archbishop of Canterbury to publicly renounce Christianity as a monstrous hoax. In the meantime, however, Theobald has already renounced Ernest as his son. Overton, who assumed the burden of bearing the bad news of Ernest's misfortune to Theobald, is pleased by this development, for he is certain that Ernest's chances for straightening himself out are much better without further parental interference. Commentary The speech by the magistrate to Ernest supports the judgment of those critics who place Butler in the company of Swift and Byron as a brilliant satirist. Ostensibly a reprimand of Ernest, the speech is actually the denunciation of the institutions of family, education, and religion for keeping young people in ignorance of sexual knowledge. The logic of the judge's reprimand is that since Ernest has been protected from "contaminating influences" since birth, surrounded by females intentionally selected "on the score of age and ugliness," and then assumed to be free of any impure thoughts by virtue of ordination, he should not be subject to any improper carnal desires. Ernest's arrest and imprisonment represent the culmination of a series of grievous errors in judgment; his attack of brain fever symbolizes the collapse of a spiritual house of false cards. Unfortunately, however, Ernest's physical recovery does not signal a commensurate spiritual recovery. Ernest has yet to learn that truth does not come in the form of moral absolutes. Evidence for the truth of the Resurrection may not be incontrovertible, but lack of belief on this one point alone need not destroy one's faith altogether. Ernest would now have the whole world renounce Christianity by "salting the tail" of the Archbishop of Canterbury and, if it could be arranged, the Pope of Rome as well. The prison chaplain, however, will have none of Ernest's arguments; he wisely directs his charge to consider what he plans to do after he is released from prison.

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CHAPTERS 67-71 (66-69) Summary After two months of convalescence in the infirmary, Ernest is told by the prison chaplain that Pryer absconded with the remainder of his inheritance. Ernest immediately abandons his plan to emigrate to Australia or New Zealand and decides, instead, to become a tailor. Following the completion of his apprenticeship at this trade, Ernest is praised for learning as much in three months as most inmates learn in a year. More pleased with his lessons in tailoring than he ever was with those in Greek and Latin, Ernest also enjoys another kind of relief from the restrictions of prison life by serving as chapel organist. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of his confinement, however, is the time he has to think about the new life he must begin when he regains his freedom. Most of Ernest's thoughts focus on religion and his parents. Although he is depressed to learn of his penury, he is not as alarmed by this fact as would be a mature adult. According to Overton, the loss of money is far worse than the loss of one's health or reputation; Ernest, on the other hand, is far more concerned with the threat to his welfare posed by his parents. At first outraged by his son's misconduct and imprisonment, Theobald gradually becomes more conciliatory toward Ernest and is prepared to offer him a small sum to begin life anew as an office clerk. Ernest, determined to be independent, reaches the conclusion that he must give up his parents for Christ's sake, and he does just that. When Theobald and Christina confront him upon his release, Ernest curtly tells them to think of him as one who is dead. In making a complete break with his parents, Ernest executes his conviction that the highest possible religious principle is the pursuit of self-satisfaction. Emotionally drained by his ordeal, Ernest resolutely seeks out the only person in whom he can confide, his friend and godfather, Edward Overton. Commentary Unlike Charles Dickens and other nineteenth-century writers who vividly described the horrors of life in English prisons, Butler presents Coldbath Fields as perhaps the most enjoyable and beneficial environment of Ernest's life. Critics have often cited this innovation as unrealistic and therefore as a weakness in the novel. The relative comfort Ernest experiences, however, is not beyond credibility, and the reader should recognize that a basic theme of the novel is supported by Ernest's finding prison more to his liking than any of his previous residences, especially Battersby and Roughborough. The irony which Butler achieves is further sustained by his depiction of a prison chaplain who is much more effective in ministering to Ernest's needs than were any of the many clergymen who were associated with him in the past. The most significant aspect of Ernest's experience in prison is his realization of the vital importance of claiming an independent course of action for himself. He disavows his passive identity and resolves to assert his own judgment. He begins by redefining Christianity to serve his own interests and concludes that the only tenable philosophy to live by is one which is consistent in its inconsistency. He will also "kiss the soil" in the manner prescribed by his Aunt Alethea by becoming a tailor and by shedding all pretensions to gentility. Ironically, Ernest's life in prison liberates him from most of the external and internal forces which have ill-served him in the past. The dramatic renunciation of his parents and the seeking out of Overton for guidance confirm the implementing of his newly forged resolutions.

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CHAPTERS 72-76 (70-72) Summary Ernest relishes the comforts of Overton's room but declines to stay more than a few days with his gracious host. Theobald and Christina call on Overton without pointedly asking him about their son's whereabouts. After moving into rooms of his own, Ernest seeks work as a tailor, albeit fruitlessly. The problem, as Overton's tailor explains, is that Ernest is hopelessly handicapped by his age and genteel background; tailors, who begin their apprenticeship at an early age, simply will not accept him into their ranks. While growing despondent from the bleakness of his prospects, Ernest chances to meet Ellen, the former servant at Battersby who was dismissed when it was discovered that she was pregnant. Without realizing that she is a streetwalker, Ernest renews his acquaintance with Ellen as though he were the one who had fallen into greater disgrace. Ernest's defensiveness increases when Ellen chides him for disparaging his parents and recalls her years in their service with pleasure. He is nonetheless infatuated with Ellen, who has lost little of her attractiveness in spite of the dissolute life she has led since leaving Battersby. Her attractiveness to him is, in fact, so great that Ernest quickly determines that he wants her to be his wife. Overton, the incarnate bachelor, is dismayed by this news and attempts to dissuade Ernest from committing yet another impulsive and foolish act. Ernest will not be deterred, however, especially after Ellen suggests that they open a used-clothing shop, a line of endeavor in which she has had experience. Overton once again resigns himself to his godson's will by offering financial help to the young couple so that they can obtain a shop which will also provide living quarters. Commentary That Ernest has not yet succeeded in attaining full maturity is amply demonstrated in these chapters. By this point in the story, the reader has become accustomed to rely on Overton's judgment, and Overton instinctively judges Ernest's involvement with Ellen to be imprudent. Ernest believes Ellen to be an answer to his prayers; Overton, on the other hand, observes that people who think of themselves as favored by Providence are usually self-deluded. Overton admits that as a confirmed bachelor he is constitutionally opposed to marriage, but he also senses that Ellen's background, especially her resorting to prostitution to satisfy an addiction to alcohol, does not bode well for the future of a young man who is destined to regain a respectable position in society when he comes into a delayed inheritance. Clearly, then, Ernest's trials and tribulations are certain to continue. Having realized the impracticality of his religious and educational training and the harm caused by his parents' baleful influence, Ernest has not yet learned the essential matter of how to govern his sexual impulses. His deficiency in this matter, of course, was vividly presented in the earlier episode involving Miss Maitland. When Ernest agitatedly wanders the streets of London at night without effecting a satisfactory liaison, Overton dryly remarks, "What he wanted was in reality so easily to be found that it took a highly educated scholar like himself to be unable to find it." Ernest's incapacity to distinguish a respectable girl from a prostitute is again shown when he rashly proposes marriage to Ellen. His setting himself up as a tradesman, however, underscores a central theme in the novel: No matter how much foolishness he has yet to rid himself of, Ernest possesses at least a modicum of common sense to justify Overton's and the reader's concerns for his welfare.

CHAPTERS 77-80 (72-75) Summary As soon as it is legally possible, Ernest and Ellen are married, and their efforts at shopkeeping are quickly rewarded with a prosperity more than sufficient to meet their immediate needs. The happy couple occasionally attend concerts and plays, and Ellen at first accompanies Ernest on Sunday hikes. Ellen is

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www.cliffs.com content to allow Ernest evenings to himself in the sitting room, where he plays the piano, reads, and writes. Overton recognizes his godson's literary instincts but objects to Ernest's preoccupation with scientific and metaphysical subjects. Overton is greatly relieved when Ernest finally drops these subjects after concluding that no tenable philosophical system can be based on an absolute first principle. About six months after their marriage, Ernest returns home from a buying trip to find Ellen uncontrollably sobbing. Morning after morning the same phenomenon repeats itself, and Ernest, who does not suspect Ellen of drinking, assumes this strange conduct to be caused by her being with child. Following the birth of a daughter, Ellen remains sober for a few weeks but then relapses into her daily routine of hysteria whenever Ernest leaves the shop. As Ellen is again pregnant, Ernest does not suspect the true cause of her irrational behavior even after he discovers that she has been surreptitiously taking money from the shop cash drawer. More distressed by his wife's dishonesty than by the loss of money, Ernest gradually realizes his error in insisting on taking a moral position by marrying Ellen. As money worries once again begin to plague him, he becomes more and more despondent, the nadir of his despair being reached when Ellen suddenly comes down with delirium. Commentary The importance of the dual point of view in the novel is especially evident in these chapters, for Ernest at first enjoys good fortune, and Overton's apprehensions concerning his godson's marriage appear to be illfounded. This streak of good luck for Ernest is destined to be short-lived, however, for Ellen lapses into her earlier addiction to alcohol, a practice she artfully conceals from her unsuspecting husband. Once again, then, the naiveté, inexperience, and trustfulness of our hero work against his better interests. After meeting what he considered to be a moral obligation in marrying Ellen, Ernest finds himself in as painful a position as he ever experienced at Battersby or Roughborough. It is Overton's judgment, therefore, which is resoundingly confirmed by the events in these chapters. Not the least of his objections to Ernest's marrying stem from his apprehensions that the demands of keeping a small shop would impair Ernest's development as a thinker and writer. At first disturbed by Ernest's exclusive interest in abstruse philosophical and religious questions, Overton is relieved of this anxiety only to find that Ellen's hopeless condition prevents Ernest from having the time to think or write at all. At least the reader can be comforted by realizing that the author is not recounting an experience from his young manhood. His friend and biographer, H. F. Jones, reports that young Butler knew well enough how to distinguish between good girls and the other kind.

CHAPTERS 81-84 (75-78) Summary Following her breakdown, Ellen once again takes the pledge of abstinence. After she is delivered of a second child, a boy, her relationship with Ernest again improves, but she no longer commands Ernest's respect and increasingly resents his expectations of her. When Ellen relapses into drinking again, Ernest's lack of respect turns into hatred. He would take the children with him to America were he possessed of sufficient means, nerve, and energy. Ernest's physical and mental condition is such, however, that he can only grimly resolve to shoulder his burden in full expectation of being reduced to penury. A chance encounter with John, the coachman, however, unexpectedly brings about a sudden reversal of fortune to Ernest. John, who is taken to Overton's living quarters by Ernest, tells of having married Ellen shortly after they left the service of Ernest's parents. Ellen, who began to drink secretly at Battersby, continued her tippling as the wife of John. Her conduct as John's wife was, in fact, much the same as it was when she lived with Ernest: near perfect when sober, but impossibly irresponsible when not. Upon hearing John's story, Overton and Ernest both experience intense relief, for Ellen's previous marriage

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www.cliffs.com invalidates her marriage contract with Ernest. Overton immediately arranges for Ellen to agree to a separation from Ernest and places the children in the care of his own laundress. He also hires Ernest as his secretary, for he believes that Ernest, now twenty-six years old, has suffered enough. As Overton's secretary, Ernest will, unknown to himself, be engaged to manage the fortune which he is to receive in two years' time. Commentary This group of chapters provides both the extremes of Ernest's distress and of his good fortune. Apparently fated to live out his life married to an incorrigible alcoholic, Ernest is released from his self-imposed obligations when hitherto concealed facts are revealed by his father's former coachman. If there is cause to complain that the rescue of our hero is arbitrary or capricious, it should be remembered that Butler firmly believed in the importance of luck in the determination of one's fate. Ernest, finally, is very lucky. He is, in fact, a lucky fool. Before luck comes to his rescue, however, most of the foolishness has been knocked out of him. Overton, something of a deus ex machina, wisely refrains from actively intervening in Ernest's life until he is certain of this fact. These chapters also serve to advance other key ideas inherent in Butler's complex philosophical outlook. When Overton observes, for instance, that Ernest has been inoculated against marriage and poverty, he is ironically commenting on a human's condition as a biological organism which is subject to unalterable laws of nature. Ernest has already expressed his conviction that he, "a hewer of wood," as opposed to the unconsciously perfect Thwneley, must learn about life the hard way. Furthermore, the older and wiser Overton encourages Ernest to accept the principle of the perfection of unconscious effort even in the realm of finance: The best way to husband one's resources is to make safe investments which require minimal effort and risk on the part of the investor. In other words, the highest and best stages of humanity's development are discoverable whenever anything or anyone proceeds effortlessly and unconsciously.

CHAPTERS 85-89 (79-83) Summary Even after being saved from a disastrous marriage and awarded employment by Overton, Ernest suffers an attack of nervous prostration from his ordeal. An eminent London physician consulted by Overton prescribes rest and change for Ernest, who begins his treatment by visiting the Zoological Gardens, where he watches pigs and elephants, and by visiting the Abbey, where he listens to Te Deums. In three weeks' time, he is sufficiently recovered to travel abroad with Overton, who directs him to Italy by way of France. Upon returning to England, Ernest is physically fit but beset with feelings of guilt for resuming life as a gentleman; he cannot forget his earlier imprisonment. Consequently, he vows to avoid old friends, even Towneley, who is the only person other than Overton to know of Ernest's approaching inheritance. Ernest fears that in carrying out his intention of writing and speaking as he sees fit, he will lose the good opinion of the one man he admires most after Overton. When he seeks employment as a writer, however, he meets with little success. An editor who gives him several books to review stipulates how they are to be judged; a journal that accepts some of his articles immediately goes out of business after their publication. Threatening to resume his occupation as a dealer in used clothing, Ernest is diverted from this backward step by Overton. One shock is followed quickly by another when Ernest reaches the age of twenty-eight and receives his inheritance, for Theobald writes of Christina's critical illness and implores Ernest to leave at once for Battersby. When he presents himself to his family in fashionable attire and reports the good fortune of his

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www.cliffs.com inheritance, it is Theobald's turn to be shocked. Christina, although on her deathbed, instantly imagines Ernest as destined to become Prime Minister, and Joey, her younger son, who is now Theobald's curate, the Archbishop of Canterbury; her only discomforting thought is that there will be a problem in deciding who shall be commissioned to paint the portrait of the mother of these distinguished brothers. When Christina at last dies, she is spoken of affectionately by Overton, who helps Theobald select an appropriate epitaph for her tombstone. Commentary As these and preceding chapters attest, the author appoints Overton at first to describe Ernest's prolonged series of agonies and then to propose remedies for them. When Ernest comes to the verge of another collapse, Overton readily accepts the prescription of another authorial spokesman, an eminent London physician, to work a cure on his godson. Observing elephants and listening to Te Deums not only reflect the author's own way of regaining peace of mind, however, but also anticipate developments in the field of psychiatry. Furthermore, Ernest's frustration at attempting to build a career as a writer for small magazines and popular journals also allows Overton to disparage editors in general, a distinct species of professional life which Butler found especially repugnant. From the lengthy account of Ernest's homecoming on the sad occasion of his mother's fatal illness, one can assume the event to be of considerable importance to Ernest. Actually, this whole episode is a shrewd and skillful blending of the disparate elements of revenge, sorrow, anger, and reconciliation. The history of Ernest's relations with his parents was always complex, and his newly acquired inheritance, along with the emotional visit to his dying mother's bedside, only complicates it further. When Ernest shocks his father with the news of his inheritance, he refuses to gloat. When Christina again comically indulges in fantasies, she has to be taken seriously for begging assurance of her otherworld worthiness. The only member of Ernest's immediate family to lack even a glimmer of a redeeming quality is Charlotte, who would have Ernest bear all the responsibilities for her own problems. As a spinster lacking marital prospects and the prime exemplar of Pontifex priggishness, she represents everything Ernest might have become had he not escaped his father's net. It is essential to remember, however, that even though she emerges as the lowest form of family development, Charlotte is never treated maliciously by Butler.

CHAPTERS 90-94 (84-87) Summary Upon returning to London from Battersby, Ernest decides to go abroad in search of those societies which have the "best, comeliest and most lovable" people. At the end of three years of globetrotting, he resumes life in England well supplied with notes from which to fuel his literary ambitions. His first book is a collection of essays on a variety of topics, ostensibly written by separate authors and published anonymously. The subject matter and ironical nature of these essays are reminiscent of Butler's own earlier literary efforts. The book is received well by the public and critics alike, and when the name of the author is made known, Ernest becomes famous overnight. Unfortunately, however, his subsequent writings meet with much less success because of their controversial nature. When Theobald dies at an advanced age, a surprising number of people express their sorrow, an emotion not shared by his children. Ernest's own children, Georgie and Alice, prosper from being placed with foster parents who treat them as their own. They grow up to be handsome, healthy, and responsible adults unencumbered by a formal education. Mrs. Jupp produces strong evidence that Ernest may have sired a third child by another union, but Overton refrains from asking Ernest to confirm or deny this possibility. Even when Overton has passed his eightieth birthday, however, he continues to urge his godson to write with the general public in mind, but Ernest, like the author whom he resembles, goes his own way,

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www.cliffs.com heedless of others' opinions in the belief that a later generation of readers will give him the readership he lacks during his own lifetime. Commentary The reader who requires his hero to triumph grandly by winning a large fortune, a fair lady, and a coveted place in polite society will be at least somewhat disappointed in the ending of this novel and its hero. Although in many ways a modern kind of David Copperfield, Ernest is a distinctly unusual protagonist: a battered but unbowed nonconformist who uses his fortune to live apart from society in order to attack its shams. Admittedly, the tightly controlled comic irony which is superbly sustained throughout most of the novel loosens as Ernest's mature identity solidifies, but, as at least one critic has noted, Butler was working in a new tradition and therefore should not be inordinately blamed for not knowing his ground perfectly. To judge the success of a novel, the primary question is to determine how well it fulfills its own purpose. How well, then, can Ernest Pontifex, an intelligent and sensitive young man who is subjected to thoughtless and insensitive treatment by his elders, particularly a father who is a walking disaster as a human being, reclaim a decent existence for himself? Butler's answer to the question is plainly that he can, but in a way that is peculiarly desirable to Ernest alone. That Ernest's ultimate liberation into a comfortable second bachelorhood should displease many readers and critics would not surprise the author. If, in fact, the central intention of the novel is to be fulfilled, Ernest cannot be allowed to emerge at the end of the novel as a fully restored "normal" human being, in the usual sense of the word. Instead, and more importantly, he comes to a full realization of what his upbringing and ensuing experiences mean to him and how they render him incapable of living the way most "normal" people do. Scarred but unembittered, Ernest assumes an unconventional social role as an intellectual gadfly. His recovery is incomplete only in that he will not be able to claim for himself the natural and unconscious perfection of the best of the Pontifex line, Old John. Ernest's children, Alice and Georgie, are awarded that honor.

CHARACTER ANALYSES EDWARD OVERTON Although cast as Ernest Pontifex's biographer and the narrator of the story, Edward Overton is the mature Samuel Butler, thinly disguised. His keen interest in his godson Ernest is that of an older and wiser individual who can dissociate himself from the folly of his own youth. Overton not only narrates the life of Ernest into his middle years and describes Ernest's antecedents, but he also comments on the significance of his godson's struggle to overcome his lamentable upbringing in order to reach a stage of development consonant with that of the idealized founder of the family, old John Pontifex. The reader who insists that Overton and Ernest remain distinct entities will object to Ernest's gradual transformation into a second kind of Overton. Insistence of this sort, however, suggests obstinacy in refusing to accept the novel on its own terms. Overton, who was born in the same year as Theobald, is clearly a surrogate father whom the author not only wishes he could claim, but also the father he has been forced to become for himself. It is said that a wise father knows his son, of course, but a wise son also knows himself as his own father. Overton, therefore, fulfills a dual function in the novel: He is both the narrator of Ernest's life and the standard by which Ernest's progress can be measured. Getting to know Overton, therefore, is simply another way of getting to know Ernest, for Overton reflects the character traits and values which his troubled godson increasingly appropriates for himself. The reader is given little factual information about Overton, but, from the very beginning of the story, he is made aware of Overton's accurate comprehension of Ernest's particular disadvantages as "the son of prigs begotten in priggishness." Overton immediately sets the tone and sharpens the perceptions which inform

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www.cliffs.com the reader of the dimensions of the forces which obstruct Ernest's progress. These forces are presented as the institutional forms of family, school, and church. Although Overton is not so much concerned with why these institutions have gone wrong, he painstakingly selects the most telling instances of how they are in error. Overton, first and foremost, is the principal unifying element in the novel. He may occasionally digress on matters incidental to his main purpose, but he never bores his readers if they are in sympathy with the plight of his intelligent, honest, trusting, and sensitive godson. Through Overton, the author issues a warning to anyone who reads external signs as the truth. The truth is not easily discovered, Overton repeatedly implies, and when it is discovered, it rarely comes from the mouths of those who take themselves too seriously and speak in terms of absolutes.

THEOBALD PONTIFEX As his son's principal antagonist, Theobald Pontifex is developed more fully than any character in the novel, other than Ernest. The numerous references to his own childhood and early adult years set a pattern which is repeated after Ernest first appears in the story. Ernest, however, responds differently to parental domination than did Theobald. As the weak-willed second son of George Pontifex, Theobald lacked the vigor and determination to follow his own vaguely conceived desire to become a seafaring man. Ernest, too, acquiesces in his father's occupational choice for him, but subsequently the help and comfort extended by Alethea and Overton, the merits of his own character, and the happenstance of sheer good luck combine to spare him the kind of death-in-life which characterizes Theobald's adult years. Theobald represents the most lamentable characteristics of the Pontifex line, which were first implanted by Old John's wife, Ruth, and quickly came to bloom in George, their son and Theobald's father. Theobald's miserliness and living life out of duty and not for pleasure are his principal defects. His passive acceptance of his father's insistence that he become a clergyman is highly symbolic; George at least asserted his own will in becoming a businessman. Consequently, the weak and petty Theobald is the object of much devastating satire. When he callously forces his bride to order their wedding day dinner, for instance, he is treated in mock heroic fashion; when he frets at the demands of a dying parishioner who seeks religious solace, he is revealed as a man highly unsuited for his occupation; and, most significantly, his tyrannizing of his children exposes him as a man who is unconsciously revenging himself on life. Theobald's course in the novel runs diametrically opposite to that of Ernest. When Ernest is an infant and small child, Theobald's dominance is complete; after Ernest enters Roughborough, however, Theobald's supremacy falters when he is burned in effigy; and when Ernest leaves prison, Theobald's disowning of Ernest is balanced by Ernest's renunciation of both parents and by his turning to Overton for fatherly protection and guidance. By the time that Ernest returns home to visit his ailing mother's bedside, the reversal of roles is nearly complete. That Ernest refrains from gloating over receiving Alethea's legacy leaves Theobald more to be pitied than scorned; it also confirms Ernest's basic decency. In the final analysis, Theobald's villainy resembles that of a schoolboy bully: To the defenseless child, a bully is a very vivid horror; to the mature adult, however, a bully is merely a pathetic aberration of nature.

CHRISTINA PONTIFEX Of the many characters in the novel, Christina is possibly the most memorable. From gaining exclusive rights to Theobald by winning a game of cards to envisioning herself as the mother of the two most distinguished public servants in England, Christina is from first to last a slightly dotty, vainglorious, and delightfully deluded builder of castles in the air. Unlike Theobald's faults, however, hers are amiable and usually self-redeeming. Ernest inherits his tendency toward priggishness from his father but clearly is indebted to his mother for many of his lesser weaknesses. Christina's one serious flaw is her blind

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www.cliffs.com devotion and loyalty to her husband. Ernest, time and again, suffers from confiding in his mother during a "sofa talk" only to be delivered to his father immediately thereafter for punishment. On leaving prison, therefore, Ernest is compelled to include his mother when he instructs his parents "to think of him as one who is dead." Even when she is on her deathbed, Christina retains her comic identity. Consistent to the end in her inconsistency, Christina implores Ernest's assurances of her saintly character while, at the same time, she is contemplating her imagined fame as the mother of sons who will occupy the offices of Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury. Ernest's new wealth, of course, has so excited her imagination that she frets about the right choice of portrait painter for the mother of two such illustrious sons.

ALETHEA PONTIFEX Ernest's aunt and godmother is one of the few idealized characters in the novel. Much speculation has centered on who among the author's relatives and friends served as the model for Alethea. The most probable explanation is that she is a composite of the author's mother, favorite aunt, and Miss Eliza Savage, the friend who encouraged Butler to continue writing this novel. As delightful a person as she is, and one who clearly represents the most endearing Pontifex traits, Alethea is a chiefly functional character who is presented almost exclusively through indirect narration. Unlike Ernest, she undergoes no development, but she does remain a constant in her relationship with him. She plays a crucial role for she not only tenders Ernest much needed affection and guidance, but she also arranges for him to be the chief beneficiary of her estate. Alethea's faith in Ernest's eventual worthiness is an early sign that Ernest will triumph over the obstacles that will bestrew his path. Alethea's stature is enhanced by the respect which she commands from others, including gifted artists and writers, and the love which Overton declares for her. Alethea's having rejected Overton's proposals of marriage perhaps foreshadows Ernest's later decision to decide that he is not a fit parent for his own children.

ERNEST PONTIFEX The author delays the entrance of the main character until the eighteenth chapter to emphasize the importance of Ernest's forebears on his development. The obstacles presented by his heredity and upbringing become inextricably mixed with his own open, gentle, and trusting nature. The circumstances of Ernest's childhood are such, moreover, that his likeable qualities often work to his detriment. His father, whose own weak will was broken early in life, brings to bear all possible severity in his efforts to reduce Ernest to a likeness of himself. Time and again the reader may despair of Ernest's possibilities of winning back his birthright, but the author provides both hope for his reader and help for his hero by allowing Ernest to have prudently helpful godparents and timely good fortune. Ernest's ultimate liberation and emergence as a determinedly independent individual may, perhaps, tax the reader's powers of acceptance. Yet, however awkwardly, Ernest meets the test of coming to terms with his own best inherited characteristics in a way which is fitting to a person in his peculiar circumstances. Even though he needs and receives more good fortune than Butler ever needed or received in his own life, Ernest clearly stands for the author's realistic and viable faith in life processes. In other words, Ernest may in many ways anticipate the modern existential anti-hero in the novel, but he also emerges as the familiar hero, in the traditional sense of having triumphed over adversity to achieve a desirable goal.

MRS. JUPP A retired and unrepentant member of the oldest profession in the world, Mrs. Jupp is a hilarious blend of Mistress Quickly and Mrs. Malaprop. As Ernest's landlady in Ashpit Place, she does not vitally affect the central action of the novel, but she is emphatically one of its most vital characters. Her earthy humor, singular honesty, and common sense greatly appeal to Overton, who recognizes her as one of nature's noblewomen, carrying on under God's footstool. She instinctively evaluates Ernest as "knowing no more

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www.cliffs.com than an unborn babe" and realizes that Pryer does not have a single "upright vein in his own body." By the end of the novel, Mrs. Jupp is regularly pawning her flatiron every Friday and redeeming it on Monday. As long as the Monday redemption is made, the watchful Overton and Ernest know that she is in no need of help beyond the modest pension they have settled on her.

TOWNELEY The ideal of Ernest during his Cambridge years and during his first years in London, Towneley is more a symbol than a fully developed character. He represents that rare breed of people who are unconsciously and perfectly attuned to their environment. It is Towneley's terse "No, no, no" in reply to Ernest's question of "Don't you like poor people?" that undermines Ernest's faith in his plan to gain converts to Christianity from the lower classes. Even before he learns of Ernest's delayed inheritance, Towneley stands by Ernest, following the latter's arrest and imprisonment. Ernest's realization that Towneley, as his name suggests, is the epitome of human development forces him to the further realization that he, Ernest, is simply "a hewer of wood," one who must struggle consciously and diligently to achieve his own limited potential. Ernest's resolve to terminate his friendship with Towneley is made reluctantly but firmly, for he wisely concludes that Towneley's further negative responses to his efforts--and Towneley is certain to react negatively to his planned attacks on society--would only discourage him from carrying them out.

PRYER Slightly older than Ernest, Pryer is his senior as a curate in a London parish. Ernest's falling under Pryer's influence underscores Ernest's impressionability and vacillation. The most obvious harm done by Pryer is his cunningly executed wresting of Ernest's earlier and smaller inheritance from him under the guise of founding a preposterous College of Spiritual Pathology. Pryer's corruption, however, exceeds that of the ordinary clerical swindler.

CRITICAL ESSAYS TECHNIQUE It is quite possible and even likely that many readers will thoroughly enjoy The Way of All Flesh without a conscious awareness of its accomplishment as literary art of a high order. Overton leisurely unfolds the story of his godson in a simple, direct, and compelling fashion; there are no complicated flashbacks, intricate sub-plots, or other technical acrobatics. Digressions frequently occur, but they are usually unobtrusive and easily blend with the steady, chronologically ordered action. The absence of a dazzling or striking technique, however, is both deceptive and disarming. The effect of artlessness is in itself a notable artistic accomplishment. The two foremost elements of technique in the novel are point of view and irony; they shall be given special attention in the sections which immediately follow. First, however, it is well to note the presence of other elements that contribute to the effect of artlessness which the novel achieves. Butler early espoused what he called a plain style in opposition to the ornamental or frequently extravagant style generally practiced during the Victorian era, often referred to as "fine writing." To say that Butler is a plain writer, however, is to oversimplify the matter; certainly he wrote unostentatiously and without drawing undue attention to himself. The attendant effect of effortlessness is, of course, appropriate to his articulated philosophical stance, the position represented by Overton and later assimilated by Ernest. The structure of the novel is equally unobtrusive, for the straight chronological sequence begins with John Pontifex and steadily proceeds well into Ernest's adult years. No simpler structural scheme could be devised by any author. The point to remember, however, is that within this structure there exists a definite rhythm which both keeps the story moving and provides a desired emphasis and intensity. The alternation

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www.cliffs.com of story line and digression also contributes to the tempo. Positive and negative pulses follow in rapid succession from the start. This effect is comparable to that sought for by an artist who arranges the colors and objects on his canvas in order to capture the vitality inherent in his subject. Even before Ernest makes his appearance in the novel, he is at least figuratively tossed back and forth among his forebears, whose opposing characteristics vie for supremacy in the yet unknown and unexpected child. Throughout Ernest's early years, of course, the beat falls more heavily on the dissonant notes, but the sounds of hope, joy, and fulfillment--no matter how faint--are never completely extinguished.

POINT OF VIEW The point of view in the novel is from first to last that of Edward Overton, the author only slightly disguised. Everything the reader learns comes through Overton, an old friend of the Pontifex family who, significantly, was born the same year as Ernest's father. Overton's importance cannot be overstated, for he defines both what is related and how it is presented. He is usually on the fringe of the action as an observer, but from time to time he assumes an active role, particularly toward the end of the novel when Ernest is finally freed from his foolishness and insolvency. It is not only Overton's point of view which serves as the principal unifying device but also his set of values which plays a crucial part in the novel by providing a standard for measuring Ernest's progress. Overton's relativism stands in clear opposition to Theobald's absolutism. In other words, Overton sees life more as a process and less as a product, more as becoming than as being. It is absolutism in all its forms, of course, that torments Ernest and obstructs his vaguely conceived quest toward an independent personal position. His course of action is roughly analogous to that of an occupant of a leaky lifeboat cast adrift on an uncharted sea which is violently beset by hurricane winds; the harbor light of Overton is always there although the harried occupant of the battered lifeboat cannot see it clearly until he chances to wash ashore at its very foundation. The narration of the story from Overton's point of view allows the reader to know Overton as well as he knows Ernest. The result is that the novel thereby gains the same advantage as that achieved by the cinematic split-screen projection. The author simultaneously portrays his younger and older fictional counterparts. Some readers may object to the kind of influence exerted by Overton over Ernest, perhaps interpreting it as only another form of domination of the kind satirized in Theobald. Of the two paternal voices in the novel, however, Overton's is decidedly preferable. Another remarkable effect obtained from the chosen point of view, moreover, is the way in which it reveals the complex process by which the mature author comes to terms with himself as a young man.

IRONY Even as the point of view in the novel is its principal unifying device, the extensive use of irony provides its distinctive flavor. Overton's witty criticisms of Ernest's tormentors and, subsequently, of Ernest himself are wrapped in layers of irony. He often says exactly the opposite of what he means, or he perceives a situation in the opposite way from what one ordinarily expects. When, for instance, Dr. Skinner reluctantly consents to be served a supper of bread, butter, and water, he fully expects and receives a dinner of banquet proportions. The humor is not without its point, for the anecdote perfectly characterizes the celebrated headmaster of Roughborough. Overton follows with the question, "How could it be expected to enter into the head of such a man as this that in reality he was making his money by corrupting youth?" After Dr. Skinner is set up as a master of self-deceit, the reader's response to the question is foreordained. The author has also, once again, skillfully demonstrated the significance of an apparently insignificant event. Another kind of irony allows the writer to present his own deeply held philosophical theories under the cloak of humor. When, for example, an eminent London physician instructs the physically exhausted and

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www.cliffs.com nervously unstrung Ernest to undergo therapy by watching elephants at the zoo, the reader readily smiles at another of the author's oddly amusing but subtly persuasive truths. The prescription represents Butler's belief that people can gain restorative benefits by subjecting themselves to experiences which refresh their unconscious memories, that part of themselves which reflect their most perfect development. Other kinds of irony are also present in the novel. The parody of an epigram which employs the technique of inversion, for example, is found in Overton's words of comfort to Ernest upon his separation from Ellen: "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all." Butler delighted in "quoting from memory," as he whimsically called it, and particularly enjoyed wringing his own kind of truth from the poet laureate, Lord Tennyson, or any other source he considered unreliable. Irony also abounds in the names given to characters and places. Ernest, Theobald, Christina, Skinner, Battersby, Roughborough, Ashpit Place, and Coldbath Fields are only a handful of such ironic designations. Perhaps the most remarkable form of irony, at least in the sense of its prefiguring later novelists' extensive use of it, is the stream of consciousness observed in Ernest and his parents, most notably Christina. A clergyman's wife pledged to lead an exemplary pious life, she invariably dreams of herself as a popular heroine of high romance, be it as a martyr to her faith or as a mother of famous men. In reaping the harvest of irony in the work, however, the reader should be careful not to assume that the author's display of fairness to his satirized characters is necessarily another form of irony. In softening his blows just enough to convince his reader of a lack of malicious intent, Butler was more often than not guileless.

ESSAY TOPICS AND REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Why is so much attention given to the Pontifex forebears of Ernest? 2. What is revealed by comparing the father-son relationship of George and Theobald Pontifex with that of Theobald and Ernest? 3. What advantages are gained from Overton's serving as narrator? 4. What effect is achieved from Christina's being presented more sympathetically than Theobald? 5. How does Ernest remain a credible character even though he rapidly changes from a very foolish to a very wise person? 6. What importance can be attached to the qualities which the idealized characters share? 7. What purpose is served by the numerous digressions in the novel? 8. What qualities of Butler's humor make it especially relevant to the author's purpose? 9. As the novel progresses, what is the respective importance of the external and internal hindrances to Ernest's progress? 10. In what ways do Towneley and Pryer act as contrasting foils to Ernest? 11. What symbolic events foreshadow Ernest's final philosophical and religious position? 12. What purpose is served by the softening of the criticism leveled at Ernest's tormentors? 13. Other than providing a feast of ribaldry, what does Mrs. Jupp contribute to the novel?

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14. What is the importance of irony to the novel? 15. Does a change in the rhythm of the novel at the end add or detract from the overall success of the novel? 16. How does the novel dramatize Butler's views on evolution? 17. Why is relatively little attention given to Ernest's years as a student at Cambridge University? 18. How well does the novel fulfill its central purpose? 19. Why does Ellen fail to become a completely realized character? 20. Which of the following classifications seems most fitting to you for the novel--bildungsroman, confession, or apology--and why?

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY BIOGRAPHIES HENDERSON, PHILLIP. Samuel Butler, The Incarnate Bachelor. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1967. Contains the most readable biography since Stillman (see below) and perhaps the best balanced judgments of all biographies. JONES, HENRY FESTING. Samuel Butler, Author of Erewhon. A Memoir. 2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1919. Presents a bountiful harvest of Butleriana, especially of Butler's last sixteen years, by Butler's closest friend. STILLMAN, CLARA C. Samuel Butler, A Mid-Victorian. New York: Viking, 1932. Leans toward adulation of the subject but indicative of the enthusiasm of many admirers. CRITICAL STUDIES FRYE, NORTHROP. The Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton: Princeton University, 1957. Places and defines The Way of All Flesh as a "confessional" novel. HIMMELFARB, GERTRUDE. Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution. New York: Doubleday, 1959. Inclines to favor Butler in his quarrel with Charles Darwin over evolutionary processes. HOLT, LEE E. Samuel Butler. New York: Twayne, 1964. Comprises the best guide to Butler's complete works; includes a thorough analysis of The Way of All Flesh. KNOEPFLMACHER, U. C. Religious Humanism and the Victorian Novel. Princeton: Princeton University, 1970. Juxtaposes the responses of three apparently disparate Victorian writers--Butler, George Eliot, and Walter Pater--to the breakdown of traditional faith. Separate chapter on The Way of All Flesh. WILLEY, BASIL. Darwin and Butler: Two Versions of Evolution. London: Chatto, 1960. Thoroughly explores the controversy in both its philosophical and personal aspects.

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www.cliffs.com INDIVIDUAL ESSAYS AND ARTICLES A comprehensive bibliography of studies relating to Butler was compiled by STANLEY K. HARKNESS in The Career of Samuel Butler, 1835-1902: A Bibliography, 1955, reprinted 1968. After 1955, consult the annual bibliography carried in one of the following academic journals: Publications of the Modern Language Association, Victorian Studies, or English Literature in Transition. HOWARD, DANIEL F. "Introduction" and Notes. The Way of All Flesh, by Samuel Butler. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin (Riverside Edition), 1964. Contains a perceptive introduction to the only edition of the novel which faithfully adheres to the author's original text; includes valuable notes and miscellaneous matter. KETTLE, ARNOLD. An Introduction to the English Novel. 2 vols. London: Hutchinson, 1953. Comments on The Way of All Flesh as a significant nineteenth-century novel of protest. LINDE, ISE DUSOIR. "The Way of All Flesh and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: A Comparison." Victorian Newsletter 9 (Spring 1956): 7-10. Suggests that Joyce forfeited the humanism of Butler in going modern. MARSHALL, WILLIAM H. "The Way of All Flesh: The Dual Function of Edward Overton." University of Texas Studies in Literature and Language 4 (Winter 1963): 583-90. Construes Overton's complex role and possible contradictory values as enriching the novel. _____. "The Use of Symbols in The Way of All Flesh." Tennessee Studies in Literature 10 (1965): 10921. Uncovers a vast array of symbolism, including names, places, and leitmotifs. PRITCHETT, V. S. "A Victorian Son." The Living Novel. New York: Regnal and Hitchcock, 1947. Epitomizes the point of view of Butler's detractors.

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