SOCIAL CONDITIONS REFLECTED IN THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD

            Goldsmith is one of the all-rounders of English literature.  There is no form of literature which Goldsmith did not leave untouched.  He made a name in all that he attempted. He wrote remarkable poems, plays and essays. Dr.Johnson wondered at Goldsmith’s versatility and said “He touched nothing that he did not adorn”.

            The work by which Goldsmith is still remembered is The Vicar of Wakefield. It is the best novel in the English language which won him recognition as a novelist. By relating a simple story in a simple manner, Goldsmith has presented in The Vicar of Wakefield the new literary form which became immensely popular. The novel reflects the social conditions that existed in England during Goldsmith’s time.

            The whole novel revolves around the central character, Dr.Primrose, the Vicar of Wakefield. He is quite happy with his six children. Misfortune strikes him when the town merchant to whom he has entrusted all his money becomes bankrupt.  Primrose shifts to a far-off village where he takes on lease the land of one Squire Thornhill. Thornhill is a notorious libertine.  He carries away Primrose’s eldest daughter Olivia, marries her and then abandons her. He then tries to spoil Miss Arabella whom Primrose’s eldest son George loves. To get rid of the impediments to his plan, he gets Primrose imprisoned for non-payment of rent. In the meantime George is also imprisoned on charge of having fatally wounded one of Thornhill’s men.

            Sir William Thornhill, uncle of Squire Thornhill comes to prison at the end and arranges for the release of the good-natured Primrose and punishes his unscrupulous nephew, Squire Thornhill.

            During Goldsmith’s time, there were two distinct classes in the country – the rural and the urban.  The rural tilled the soil and lived contentedly.  The urban dwellers ran after money.  The two town ladies Lady Blarney and Miss Carolina infect Primrose’s girls with their city fashions. They help Thornhill seduce Olivia.  This shows the fast spreading of the corrupt town culture.

            The rural areas could not support the rising population.  As a result, the young men living in villages went to far-off cities in search of jobs.  This condition was most vividly represented in The Deserted Village.  It figures in The Vicar of Wakefield also. When  Dr.Primrose becomes penniless and is forced to leave Wakefield, George decides to go  to London  in search of a suitable job.

            One flagrant evil of the time was the hardship of prisoners making them all the more criminal-minded. In the chapters dealing with Primrose’s imprisonment, the prisoners are shown to be a demoralized mass.  Primrose says that imprisonment should be designed to correct and not to punish prisoners and that capital punishment should be abolished.  These views were gaining momentum in Goldsmith’s time.

            The Vicar of Wakefield is viewed as Goldsmith’s thinly veiled autobiography.  It has been pointed out that the viar takes after Goldsmith’s father, Charles Goldsmith.  Primrose is a Protestant clergyman like Charles Goldsmith.  Again, like Charles, Primrose also has very strong views on monogamy.

            The Vicar of Wakefield is often described as a sentimental novel, which displays the belief in the innate goodness of human beings. But it can also be read as a satire on the sentimental novel and its values, as the vicar's values are apparently not compatible with the real "sinful" world. It is only with Sir William Thornhill's help that he can get out of his calamities.

.